Notes on This Issue       Editor       1983


     Vol. CIII          January, 1983          No. 1

     NEW CHURCH LIFE
     The "Cincinnati, O!" on the cover is not part of a football score. "O" is both an abbreviation for Ohio and an exclamation about the 19th society of the General Church. (How many of the other eighteen can you name without looking at page 567 of the December issue?) It is our pleasure to salute Cincinnati, and we thank Pastor Stephen Cole for helping us put the information together. Do you remember our mentioning in October the maps gathered by Dr. and Mrs. Philip deMaine? See the example on page 12. Somewhat similar maps are available to help you visit other societies. Five years ago we were listing two hospitality contacts for such society visiting. Now see how many we list on page 36.
     Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom (now in Australia) gives us this month a penetrating study of the matter of entering with the understanding into that which is in a sense beyond us.
     In a stirring and challenging sermon Rev. Martin Pryke states that "the spirit of evangelization must flourish among us if we are to be a truly living church." Something direct and relatively easy to do is to give a friend something helpful to read. We are frequently asked for guidance on what to give. Well, see page 17 for a helpful list of items now available from the Evangelization Committee, Cairncrest, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009. And what if you wanted to give a sermon printed in NEW CHURCH LIFE? We have a list (p. 33) of almost 300 sermons organized according to text. For sermons listed prior to 1959 see the January issue of that year.
     The unusual address on page 23 seems particularly suitable for the month in which we take note of Swedenborg's birthday.
     Please note that the four pages in the center of this issue may be lifted out as one large sheet of Daily Calendar Readings. More copies are available from the Secretary of the General Church. We hope that printing these (commencing with the December issue) will promote among more people a system of regular reading.
     The 1983 Date Book put out by the Swedenborg Foundation begins with the quotation from the award-winning film Images of Knowing. "All nature is a theatre representative of the Lord's kingdom, and the details of nature are symbolic." Each month has a quotation from the Writings relating to nature, its flora and fauna and seasons.

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"SEND ME" 1983

"SEND ME"       Rev. MARTIN PRYKE       1983

     "Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me" (Isaiah 6:8).

     Isaiah was a prophet in the kingdom of Judah for approximately fifty years, and at a critical time in Judah's history. During this eighth century B.C. the kingdom of Israel in the north was carried away captive by the Assyrians, and Judah was also subject to violent attack from the same people.
     The sixth chapter of Isaiah, from which our text is taken, gives Isaiah's account of his call to serve as a prophet in these troubled years. The Lord was seen sitting on a throne in the temple, flanked by two six-winged seraphim who cried unto one another, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory." Isaiah's humility is evidenced in his unwillingness to join in this praise, saying instead, "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." He deplores his interior state which makes him unworthy before the Lord (see AC 1286). But the removal of man's uncleanness is represented by his lips being touched by a coal taken from the altar of burnt sacrifice. This altar represents the Divine Human of the Lord (see AE 391) and a coal from it represents Divine love from which all purification comes (AE 580). "Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged" (Isaiah 6:7).
     Whether Isaiah regarded this as a miraculous spiritual cleansing or as a promise of the cleansing which is within the grasp of all men, the vision gave him confidence to respond willingly when the Lord said, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" for he immediately replied, "Here am I; send me." The Lord's word had to be carried to Judah if it was to be saved from utter destruction. Who would be willing to do this? Isaiah responded unhesitatingly.
     "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Obviously this question is also asked of us. Who will undertake the Lord's work? We are reminded of Moses' words to the Israelites when they were punished for worshiping the golden calf-at a time so soon after they were miraculously released from Egypt and a time so critical to their future. "Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me" (Exodus 32:26). The question, of course, is not simply a matter of discovering who is worthy or able, but rather who is willing.

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     Such a question is, in a sense, rhetorical, for the Lord indeed knows the answer. We may therefore think of it rather as the Lord's invitation to us. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me" (Rev. 3:20). "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden"(Matthew 11:28). "Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me" (Isaiah 6:8).
     Creation itself is such an invitation, for God's purpose in creation is that He might be conjoined with man in His heavenly kingdom-that there shall be a heaven from the human race. The very act of creation, therefore, is implicitly an invitation to us to "be on His side," to be willing to be "sent." This means that the question is addressed to everyone, in many different ways according to our greatly varied circumstances. yet the question-the choice-is placed squarely before every man. Simply because he is in the image of God he has the choice to go God's way or another.
     We cannot then escape the issue which is raised by the Lord's words to Isaiah, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" We have to answer. We may think that we can evade the challenge, push it aside, delay it until tomorrow, but in that very decision we have made an answer-in the negative. It is a very easy thing for man (and perhaps especially for young people) to feel that they can afford to wait before meeting the real issues of life. In the meantime he is too busy doing something else, getting an education, establishing a home, providing security for his family. The spiritual issues are left to wait, perhaps by neglect, perhaps by conscious decision. Yet our very existence, our very humanity, denies us this privilege. It simply is not possible to delay. Choices face us each day (now as well as tomorrow) and as we decide on those choices so we build our character, establish our ruling love, and determine our eternal destiny. The Lord does not cease to say, "Come unto me . . . ." Each day we accept or reject this invitation.
     If we reflect further we can see that the constant facing of this question is what makes life meaningful to us. This is what gives life its point and purpose; without it human life would be like that of an animal, directed solely by appetites and instincts.
     Today we particularly note that in Isaiah the Lord's invitation is expressed as a question, asking who is willing to be sent. This concept is important from several points of view. If a person is sent by one person to another, then clearly communication is involved (see AC 6027) and we are concerned with the one who sends, the one who is sent, and the one to whom he is sent.

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The one sending is clearly the Lord. We (as individuals, each for himself) are the ones sent; we are the messengers of God. Angels who appear so often in the Scriptures in this capacity were so named because in the Hebrew language the word "angel" means "one who is sent." We each serve then as messengers of God to our fellow man. This is an interesting and thought-provoking concept. We are invited by the Lord to be sent on His behalf, not simply for our own sake but in order that we may carry something of Him to our fellow man. This, of course, is exactly what we do in a genuine life of charity and use.
     Let us develop this idea a little further by next noting that in the Word "to be sent" signifies "to proceed." Something of the sender proceeds by means of the messenger to the recipient. This idea is seen in its most perfect form when we read in the Scriptures that the Lord was "sent" by the Father, or proceeded from Him, which signified that He was conceived of Jehovah (see L 20; AC 4710). The Lord Himself was called an "angel" (a messenger) because He, in the most perfect sense, was the proceeding of the One from whom He came.
     This can never be true of man, but in our regeneration we do this in an image. The Divine becomes reflected in us. We do indeed become the "sent" of the Lord. When the Writings treat of a servant (a messenger) being sent by Abraham to Haran to find a wife for Isaac, they say, "he that is sent puts on the personality of him who sends" (AC 3088). If we permit ourselves, in regeneration, to be sent forth by the Lord then we do not, of course, assume His personality in the sense of what took place at the incarnation, but we do permit the Lord to work by means of us so that we are brought into a finite image of His order. We truly appear then as His emissary, sent to do His work, with His imprint upon us. Such are the angels of heaven.
     We can see, then, that we permit ourselves to be sent by the Lord when we enter the life of regeneration. Then we respond to the call to carry the Lord's message to the neighbor. Then we are the means of the Lord reaching man through man. Then we enter into a life of genuine use and in doing so establish a communication between God and ourselves and between ourselves and our fellow man. In doing this we tie together God and man and establish those bonds which will hold together the kingdom of heaven.
     We are sent by God to perform uses! Let us not pass this by without recalling that by uses we mean a very wide range of activities which serve the neighbor. Worldly services are in a sense the least of these, although they serve as a foundation for all. We think rather of our effect upon the spirit of another-the truth we may pass on to him, but even more, the inspiration to good which we may instill in him.

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The Writings tell us that we are to look to the good in the neighbor, which does not only mean that we should recognize the good that is already his, but also that we should do everything we can to encourage the development or growth of good with him. Obviously none of this will be done in a blatant, offensive or condescending manner, for this will harm and not help. Instead, it will be done in a subtle way by deed and example, rather than by word, by a sphere rather than a dictate. In such ways are we sent by the Lord to our brother.
     The fact is that we are unable to have no effect on other people-we either bring the message of heaven in our conduct and our words, or we bring the tidings of hell. The alternative to the former is to insinuate a sphere of lust and greed and selfishness; to inspire thought of disorder and evil; to encourage in those about us a life which denies the message of God or acts as if it did not exist.
     The question then becomes not only an invitation but also a challenge-a challenge to be picked up with an instant response. "I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me." It is indeed a call to war, a challenge to join the church militant, a church fighting against evil of every kind that it may bring peace to the earth. The challenge is especially clear to the New Churchman. Is he willing to accept the church's mission to serve as the spiritual heart and lungs of the human race? He will not do so by verbal declarations of support or by merely external activity in its behalf. He will do so only by being one who does reject the evil and espouse the good, by making himself truly a member of the Lord's New Church. To the New Churchman, "Send me" signifies an eagerness that the quality of the Lord shall be reflected in his own life, that the Lord seen in His second coming may inspire all that he does, so that he may carry that message in his life to all about him.
     Now it is also interesting to note that in the Writings (AC 4710) we are told that "to be sent" signifies not only to go forth or to proceed, but also at the same time "to teach." To take the truth of revelation to the neighbor is indeed to be the messenger of the Lord, and this, of course, can be done in a number of different ways. We think first of the whole vital field of evangelization in which we all clearly have some responsibility in one way or another. We are not to "hide our light under a bushel" but are to make known to the world the truths of the Lord's second advent, for without these truths the world is truly doomed. How this is to be done may be a matter of debate; but that it must be done cannot be doubted. Every one of us is granted opportunities to offer these truths to those whom we meet in the world. Certainly this must be done with discretion, but a concern for discretion must not be allowed to smother the need or the endeavor.

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Then it ceases to be discretion and becomes a justification for apathy. The spirit of evangelization must flourish among us if we are to be a truly living church. Probably it will flourish most significantly with the individuals of the church rather than in any grandiose scheme of mass conversion, but the essential is that it be there in some form or other among us. The Lord cries out that His Word may be known. What can we say but, "Here am I; send me."
     The General Church has, of course, selected as its primary form of evangelization the education of its own children within the sphere of the church. This has been done both because we have this clear responsibility to the children placed under our charge and because it seems to have been the most effective way of encouraging the growth of the church. To enter into the use of New Church education is clearly a response to the challenge of our text. This is a vital use and it is a deep privilege for any man or woman to be called to it-to be involved in the instruction of youth, to be concerned with guiding them in their moral and spiritual lives.
     In scriptural times we see those sent to have been angels and prophets. Today the most significant example of one who has said "Send me" and so has become an emissary of God is, of course, the priest. We speak not, of course, of the person, the individual, but of the use he serves. The highest use to which a man can be called is to be one who teaches the truths of the Word and leads thereby to the good of life, one who is concerned above all else that human souls shall be saved, one who devotes his life to the upbuilding of the Lord's church. Perhaps all young men should search their hearts to see if they may be called to this use, yet it will only be the lot of those whom Providence selects. "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore to the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth laborers into His harvest" (Matt. 9:37, 38).
     Yet, the essential point is that whatever the specific call may be for each one of us, whatever form our service to the neighbor and for the Lord may take, our response to the call must be a ready and continuing, indeed a deepening, one. The call is from the Lord to every one of us, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" The response is of our own making. Shall we not muster our determination to whisper from our heart our own reply, "Here am I; send me." Amen.

     LESSONS: Isaiah 6:1-13; Matthew 9:36, 10:22; TCR 773, 774 (parts)

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PERMISSION TO UNDERSTAND INEFFABLE THINGS 1983

PERMISSION TO UNDERSTAND INEFFABLE THINGS       Rev. ERIK E. SANDSTROM       1983

     To the reader of the Writings there comes a time when he lays down the book and wonders, "What is real?" He is sometimes stymied by such phrases as "but this is for the intelligent," and "very few understand this." Does this mean that few in the world at large understand this, or that few readers of the Writings understand it?
     "It is now permitted to enter with the understanding into the mysteries of faith . . . and to penetrate into all the secrets [of the New Church] and to confirm them by the Word, because her [the N. C.'s] doctrines are continuous truths laid open by the Lord by means of the Word, and confirmations of these truths by rational means cause the understanding to be opened above more and more, and thus to be raised into the light in which angels of heaven are" (TCR 508:3, 5).
     So the reader of the Writings, by reading (and applying to life what he reads), has the capacity to understand all secrets in the Writings, which in fact are heavenly secrets (arcana coelestia).
     When we therefore come across passages in the Writings which say that things in heaven are ineffable, beyond man's comprehension, never seen or heard by anyone, surpassing every idea of thought, beyond words, the unutterableness of beauty, not intelligible in any way to man so long as he lives in the body (see HH 239, AC 1622, 1645, 10438), such passages seem to point to something deeper in the Writings themselves.
     And of course the reader recognizes that the Writings, being the Word above and within the Word of the Old and New Testaments, also contain unlimited depths of truth. If the Writings penetrate heavenly secrets for us, then heaven in its full extent is open to our rational view. But it takes time to "take in" the whole view! The infinity of the Creator is reflected in countless things without limit in the created universe (see DLW 155). Our understanding becomes "breathless" when we see some deep truth, just as we gasp at the scenery viewed from a lofty peak.
     How then are we to understand the "ineffable," etc., things to which the Writings refer? Can we eventually "see" these things in the Writings? and if so, how?
     We turn to the Writings themselves for answers (which may give us some clue as to what the answers will be!).
     Heaven is full of objects, just as the earth is; but heaven has spiritual objects, while the corresponding objects on earth are natural and material.

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Heavenly objects, although they appear and disappear, never perish, and she thus permanent; while natural objects are "permanent," even though they always and inevitably decay and perish, and so are impermanent.
     But because the same things are seen in both worlds, e.g. mountains, hills, rivers; valleys, therefore the Word has been written so that the same thing is meant by that object in the Word as is meant in heaven. The internal sense of a "mountain" in the Word is love to the Lord, and the "internal sense" of an actual mountain in heaven is also love to the Lord. "Such things appear in the other life, and consequently such things are signified by them; therefore similar things are signified by them in the Word" (AC 10438).
     The "Word" here refers to the Old and New Testaments, for they were written by representatives-the Old Testament "by such representatives as were with the Sons of Israel. And in order therefore that the Word might be similar in both Testaments, the things of the Apocalypse, and that were seen by John, are like those in other parts, i.e. an altar of incense was seen, . . . likewise the tabernacle, the ark and other like things" (AE 391b-emphasis added).
     All the things which appear in heaven and are termed "ineffable, unutterable, and incomprehensible" are therefore represented for us in the Old and New Testaments! As an angel put it, "The spiritual things which are proper to our world as they here appear are also described in the Word. For the Word is written by correspondences" (CL 20).
     Examples are given, e.g. the visions of John, recorded in the Apocalypse, the miracles which happened to the apostles in the book of Acts, the visions of Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Daniel, and of Elisha when he saw the chariots of fire. The Writings explain finally: "From these and many other things in the Word, it is evident that the things which exist in the spiritual world appeared to many before and after the Lord's Advent. Why wonder that they should appear now also at the beginning of a church, or at the descent of the New Jerusalem from the Lord out of heaven?" (CL 26e).
     So the New Church is not going to have the visions of heaven repeated for the benefit of those who imagine they are every bit as good as Swedenborg. The Writings have already opened such visions, notably in the Remarkable Events (memorabilia); and anyhow, they are already represented for us in the Old and New Testaments: the objects of heaven which the Writings say are "ineffable," etc., are described (although we have to envision them) by the garden of Eden, the tabernacle, the New Jerusalem, etc.
     Can we therefore see and understand ineffable and incomprehensible things?

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     We read: "Although the doctrine of faith is in itself Divine, and therefore above all human and even angelic comprehension, it has nevertheless been dictated in the Word according to man's comprehension in a rational manner" (AC 2533:2-emphasis added). The Word speaks to us as teachers who do not "hold themselves above the comprehension of those whom they teach, but speak in simplicity with them, yet rising by degrees as they are instructed. For if they were to speak from angelic wisdom, the simple would comprehend nothing at all, thus would not be led to the truths and goods of faith. The case would be the same if the Lord had not taught in the Word in accordance with man's comprehension in a rational manner. Nevertheless, in its internal sense the Word is elevated to the angelic understanding. It everywhere involves more things than the whole of heaven is capable of comprehending, although in the letter it appears so unimportant and so rude" (ibid., emphasis added).
     This passage shows us that the Writings themselves reveal the Divine doctrine of faith which is in itself above human or angelic understanding; the Writings themselves instruct us and raise our understanding by degrees above the seemingly unimportant and rude literal sense, to see the internal sense as the angels see it, or in the "light in which angels of heaven are" (TCR 508:5).
     Let us take as an example Deuteronomy 21:1-8, quoted in AC 8902: 17 (the elders washing their hands of innocent blood):
     "From the above and other passages" (Jeremiah, Zechariah, Ezekiel, Luke, Mark, etc.) "it can be seen what and how great arcana are contained in the particulars of the Word, which will not appear even as arcana if it is believed that the sense of the letter is all there is to the Word (omne Verbi), and thus it will not be believed that anything more holy and heavenly lies inwardly hidden therein; when yet the sense of the letter is for man in the world, that is the natural man, while the internal sense is for man in heaven, that is for the spiritual man" (AC 8902:17-emphasis added).
     The Writings unlock these holy and heavenly things hidden in the Old and New Testaments, giving the natural man Heavenly Secrets to penetrate even before he goes to the other life. The internal sense has been revealed, and we can see it almost as clearly as the angels see it (see De Verbo 6 below), because we can become spiritual men although born natural. Thus we can see that "the literal sense is representative and significative of the internal sense, and the internal sense is representative and significative of the supreme sense; and that what in the Word is represented and signified . . . is the Divine of the Lord" (AC 3393). "The Lord is Doctrine itself, that is, the Word" (ibid).

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     The Writings are the Divine Doctrine or Heavenly Doctrine, thus the Lord as to doctrine itself, speaking plainly of the breathtaking depths and vistas of the spiritual realm contained both in the Word and in the world; and beyond these, speaking of the supreme sense dealing with Himself. "The [arcana of heaven] can be described even to their rational comprehension by words of natural language . . . . There is not any Divine arcanum which may not be perceived and even expressed naturally, although more generally and imperfectly" (De Verbo, or The Word of the Lord from Experience, no. 6-emphasis added).
     In sum, we have the Word of the Writings, adding a fullness to which nothing can be added (see AC 3786:2, AR 959). The Writings express "more generally and imperfectly" what the angels see in light. And so there are hidden depths in the Writings themselves. Ineffable things are mentioned-although they need not remain hidden in the depths, nor remain ineffable. As we allow ourselves to be instructed, all hidden things can be explained, and what is not seen clearly now can be seen more clearly later. The objects of heaven can be seen if we use the Word of the Writings as our guide. For the Writings constantly refer us back to the literal sense of the Old and New Testaments, and reveal the internal sense "in which are truths accommodated to those who are internal men, that is, to those who are angelic as to doctrine and at the same time as to life" (AC 2531:3). When anyone actually applies doctrine to his life (and consequently is being regenerated) then "he sees what the doctrines describe] in the light and free from doubt . . . . This last is to know, whereas . . . . [thinking about something the doctrines describe, in which he is not] is both to know and not to know" (see Life 76 for full quote-emphasis added).
     We can thus both know and not know about the ineffable things of the Word. We can know about them from reading the descriptions all through the Writings, and then turn for actual pictures to the Old and New Testaments. But we can only see these things "in light and free from doubt" when we have applied them to life, and become angelic. In the meantime, the Writings reveal the internal sense of the Old and New Testaments, which "continually shows itself and sparkles in the external sense, but is noticed only by those who are in internal things" (AC 10691, explaining "the face of Moses shone"). The objects of heaven are presented for us in as full a manner as will ever be possible on earth (see CL 20, 26, AE 391b, AC 10438; further AC 6232, LJ 7, DLW 155, 300, DP 6, HH 171, TCR 851).

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GENERAL CHURCH IN THE CINCINNATI AREA 1983

GENERAL CHURCH IN THE CINCINNATI AREA       GWYNNETH MERRELL       1983


     [Photo and map of the Glendale Church, 845 Congress Avenue, Glendale, OH 45246 (Note: Congress Avenue is also Princeton Road and route #747.)]

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     HISTORICAL RECOLLECTIONS

     In 1911 Messrs. Charles G. Merrell and Colon Schott left the Convention Church to join the General Church. At their request, Rev. Willis Gladish came to Cincinnati three times a year for two years. Probably because of age and ill health, he had to stop. Rev. Fred Waelchli then came four times a year. In 1917 he and his family moved to a house quite near the Merrell home. Services and classes were then held in the Waelchli home for a group consisting of the Merrells, the Schotts and the William Smiths with three children in each family.
     In 1922 the Merrells moved to a new home in Wyoming, Ohio, three miles from Glendale. In 1924 the Waelchlis also moved to Wyoming, with the Richard Kintners and Provida (Mrs. Harry) Hilldale and two sons. Services and classes were held in the Waelchli home, and continued until 1931 when Mrs. Waelchli died. During this time Mr. Waelchli gave several public addresses on religious subjects, and these were the means of attracting Mrs. George Cowing, who became one of the staunchest members of the little Wyoming group, which included the Allen Smiths, with three children and the Donald Merrells, with eight. The Richard Waelchlis and two sons belonged to the group, and the Philip de Maines were there for several years. Mr. Waelchli and the Kintners moved to Bryn Athyn after Mrs. Waelchli's death.
     In 1932 Rev. Norman Reuter came and stayed with the Charles Merrells. Services and classes were held in their home. The congregation was never more than twelve. Mr. Reuter was married in 1935, and the Reuters came back to Wyoming and held services and classes in their home. In 1937 he was transferred, and Mr. Waelchli came back and stayed with the Charles Merrells, and services were again in their home. He was there for two years.
     In 1939 the Charles Merrells moved to Florida, and for the next ten years services were held regularly in the home of the Donald Merrells. In 1941 Victor Gladish and family came for about two years. They had been forced to leave England because of the war. Beginning in April of 1942 Mr. Reuter came back as a visiting pastor once a month. Under his direction and guidance, Donald Merrell had lay services and classes for the children.

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Mr. Merrell had spent one-and-a-half years in theological school, and left "for the good of the church," as he put it. A Young girl who attended these classes for children because of her friendship with the Merrell family finally decided she would go to school in Bryn Athyn. Her name was Jeanne Haworth. She eventually joined the church, married pen McQueen and became a teacher in the Glenview school!
     The Allen Smiths, Richard Waelchlis, Philip deMaines and Mrs. George Cowing were the nucleus of the group. This period encompassed the war years, and quite a number of travelers came to church. Warren Reuter and his fianc?e, Marjory Barber, both in the service, came several times from their different locations, and were betrothed in the Merrell home. George Brown, also in the service, came fairly often. The largest congregation during that period was twenty-four, with some coming from quite a distance. There was a fair number of children, so children's services were held, as well as the regular services. Rev. Kenneth Stroh sometimes came in place of Mr. Reuter. This was really quite an active time for this little group. Mr. Merrell really loved this work and spent much time in thoughtful planning. He died in Papril, 1949. From then until July of 1950, the few services were held in the little Glendale church.
CINCINNATI, O! 1983

CINCINNATI, O!       Stephen G. Gladish       1983

     Cincinnati has more trees than any other city its size in the United States. It is the machine tool manufacturing center of the world. It is a good place to live and work. Our new society works well together. This is evidenced by all the contributors to these newsnotes: Endrede Gladish, Helen Kresz, Rev. Stephen Cole, Betsy Gladish.
     Cincinnati is a special dish, according to Helen Kresz. It all started with the basic stock of the Latta, Merrell and Barnitz families. From there the community melting pot absorbed three branches of the Gladish family from Glenview, over a period of time. Throw in a stalk from the Williams family from Glenview, flavored by a Nelson from Washington, D.C. Add chunks of hardy Bryn Athyn ingredients-Synnestvedt, Simons, Cole, Smith, Behlert, Lee, Blair, and Moorhead.
     Take a good pinch of Philadelphia, the Kresz family, and more spice from South Africa, the Mayers. Toss in a sturdy leaf from the Heinrichs family. Every so often, add occasional seasonings from a Reuter and Heinrichs clan from Columbus, a Frazier family from Louisville, and a Pettella and Smith family from Dayton.

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Indiana ingredients include the Elder families, the Fransons, Johnsons, and Woods, and another Heinrichs clan. Less frequently, add a new Graham and a new Odhner from Columbus. Put all these together, and you have a special dish called the Cincinnati Society of the General Church.
     Cincinnati, as befits a special dish, has had its share of festivities in the past year. We had a special assembly celebrating the addition to our Glendale church in September 1981, with seven ministers and people from all over Ohio. We had Rev. Douglas Taylor here in May of this year to present a tremendously effective and popular workshop on evangelization. We enticed Rev. Bill Burke and his wife from Bryn Athyn to give the keynote address at our 19th of June banquet. Both visiting ministers had much enthusiasm and appeal. Both directed our attention to the need for our church to grow. This is indeed our mission.
     In October, after a year of preparation, voting, and hoping, we had an episcopal visit from Bishop King. The highlight of his visit was to formally announce that the South Ohio Circle had achieved society status. But first, he met with the children in the morning, speaking of the Lord as the warmth and the light of the sun, and explaining our dependence on Him, just as the vegetable and animal kingdoms depend on the natural sun for their life. He also showed the children the bishop's gold chain, with each link representing a society, and all links forming one beautiful golden chain. In the afternoon, Bishop King met with the adults of the society, and began the meeting with the formal announcement that we now were known as the Clendale Society of the General Church. It was an exciting October 23rd, and to provide future direction, the Bishop went through True Christian Religion, briefly reviewing it as the crowning work of the Writings. He stowed how it summed up the everlasting gospel carried out by the Lord's disciples, and how it was, in fact, the new evangel, there for us to read and disseminate.
     That evening was the best social event in the current society's history. The buffet supper and social at the Donald Gladishes' was marked by an experiment worked up by Pat and Ginny Latta and Duncan Lee. We were all given the first part of an old proverb or saying, and we had to come up with a new ending. Here was a whole roomful of people bound together by laughter, warmth, and good spirits.
     Though I have mentioned some of the highlights of the past year, it is important to emphasize the daily and weekly operations of this working society as well.

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The Women's Guild contributes time and labor toward the feminine uses of the church-preparing those special dishes for the church events, cleaning the church building and preparing it for services, organizing regular Sunday school classes, planning parties and purchasing supplies for special occasions. One member even designed a beautiful chancel robe for our young ladies on chancel.
     Gill Simons Mayer and Betsy Barnitz Gladish have made an exciting beginning in a New Church pre-school, which is even attended by other children as well. Sixteen children and six mothers meet once a week to give the children a planned variety of spiritual and educational experiences. Beginning with worship, a religious theme is carried through five centers womaned by five mothers-nature, art, learning, music, and food. The enthusiasm of the little innocents makes each meeting something to look forward to. The angelic sphere is evident as the children learn to see the Lord in everything they do.
     A good percentage of the male members of the society are fortunate to work in a company operating from New Christian principles, toward New Christian goals. Cincinnati is a beautiful city, the San Francisco of the east, a good place to visit, a better place in which to settle down. What do we then yet lack?
     We need you, adventurous reader. Come out or back to the old Northwest Territory. We used to be the frontier. We still are-New Churchwise. We need Rev. Douglas Taylor to make a second visit on evangelization. We need to host an ANC college trip visit. We need a bookroom. We need a budget for extension work. We are in the yellow pages. We have church services every Sunday. We have regular classes of many types. We need more people. Come and enrich our society and we will enrich you.
     Stephen G. Gladish,
          Secretary
APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION TO THE ACADEMY 1983

APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION TO THE ACADEMY              1983

     Requests should be made before March 15, 1983, for application forms for admission of new students to the Academy secondary schools in the fall of 1983. Letters should be addressed to Mrs. Sanfrid Odhner, Principal of the Girls School, or Mr. Burton Friesen, Principal of the Boys School, Box 278, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009.

17


READING GUIDE 1983

READING GUIDE              1983

     To help introduce a friend
     to the
     SPIRITUAL SENSE OF THE WORD

     You have been answering your friend's questions about the church, and have learned that he/she finds the idea of a deeper layer of spiritual meaning in the Bible quite interesting.
     What do you do next? What do you give him/her to read?
     Here are some suggestions:

     1. The Bible: More Than Meets the Eye
     This is a six-page introductory leaflet showing that correspondences are part of creation, that the Bible itself indicates that there is a deeper level of meaning within it, and explaining briefly some puzzling biblical passages.
     by Rev. Douglas Taylor

     2. The Bible That Was Lost and Is Found (74-page paperback)
     John Bigelow, a U. S. Consul to France, recounts his own experiences in coming to an abiding faith in the revelation through Swedenborg, seeking to pass on to others the knowledge and love for the Word which he gained from the Writings. Particularly good for those who still want to believe in their Bible, but are disturbed by modern attitudes.
     by John Bigelow

     3. The Language of Parable (400-page paperback)
     The appeal of this book is its convincing presentation of the doctrine of correspondence. It takes commonly used expressions, tracing them back to the letter of the Word, and skillfully presents the internal sense. It is particularly addressed to those familiar with the Bible. Its style of presentation encourages reading in small doses or in series.
     by William L. Worcester

     4. Examples of the Spiritual Meaning
a.      The Parable of Creation-a leaflet showing that the seven days of creation are the seven stages in the regeneration of the human mind.
b.      The Parable of Adam and Eve-a leaflet giving a general exposition of the spiritual sense of this well-known story.
c.      The Parable of Cain and Abel-a leaflet showing that Cain represents a merely intellectual faith which readily murders charity, represented by Abel.
d.      The Parable of Noah's Ark-a leaflet expounding in a general way the spiritual meaning of another well-known Bible story.

18



e.      The Parable of the Tower of Babel-a leaflet showing that Babel or Babylon represents the love of dominion in the individual and in the church organization.

     NOTE: In all the above leaflets, written by Rev. Douglas Taylor, something of the history of the Most Ancient and Ancient Churches is given.

f.      Ploughing with an Ox and an Ass Together-a sermon showing how a seemingly inapplicable law of rural Israel is extremely relevant to the spiritual life of people today.
          by Rev. Douglas Taylor

g.      The Signs Which Follow Belief-a sermon explaining the spiritual significance of these otherwise inexplicable signs that "shall follow them that believe: in My name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (Mark 16:17, 18).
     by Rev. Chauncey Giles

h.      Changing the Water into Wine-a leaflet expounding the spiritual significance of the first miracle that the Lord performed, showing its relevance to our spiritual life in all ages and places.
     by Rev. Douglas Taylor

i.      The Sermon on the Mount-a book of sermons on texts from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, Chapters 5-7. Written in a clear and affectional style, this demonstrates how much more can be gained from this Divine discourse when its deeper level of meaning is brought to light. This is an eminently practical approach.
     by Rev. Richard H. Teed

j.      The Ten Commandments or Decalogue Explained-extracts from the Writings on the spiritual sense of the commandments. Most useful once your friend has read some of the material listed above.

     5. Heavenly Secrets-a paperback edition of Volume I of the Arcana. This is the work to which the preparatory literature has been leading.
     NOTE: A good rule to follow is: "Never give out anything that you haven't read yourself." (What if your friend questions you about it?)
     It is advisable to read every one of these pieces of literature-so that you may make the best choice of what is most appropriate for your friend.

19


DAILY CALENDAR READINGS 1983

DAILY CALENDAR READINGS              1983

     *Indicates seasonal festival readings not in the regular sequence.

     February 1983
                         ARCANA
          DANIEL           COELESTIA
1      Tue      10               2521-2524
2      Wed      11:     1-15           2525-2531
3      Thu           16-31      2532-2534:3
4      Fri           32-45      2534:4-2538
5      Sat      12               2539-2541
          HOSEA
6      Sun      1               2542-2545
7      Mon      2:     1-13           2546-2548
8      Tue      2:     14-3:5      2549-2552
9      Wed      4               2553-2554
10      Thu      5               2555-2557
11      Fri      6               2558-2566
12      Sat      7               2567:1-6
13      Sun      8               2567:7-10
14      Mon      9               2568-2569
15      Tue      10               2570-2572
16      Wed      11               2573-2575
17      Thu      12               2576:1-6
18      Fri      13               2576:7-12
19      Sat      14               2576:13-19
          JOEL
20      Sun      1               2577-2583
21      Mon      2:     1-14           2584
22      Tue           15-32      2585-2588:1
23      Wed      3               2588:2-5
          AMOS
24      Thu      1               2588:6-8
25      Fri      2               2588:9-10
26      Sat      3               2588:11-16
27      Sun      4               2589-2592
28      Mon      5               2593-2598

     March 1983
                         ARCANA
          AMOS               COELESTIA
1      Tue      6               2599-2605
2      Wed      7               2606-2608
3      Thu      8               2609-2614
4      Fri      9               2615-2621
          OBADIAH
5      Sat      1               2622-2626

          JONAH
6      Sun      1               2627-2633
7      Mon      2               2634-2636
8      Tue      3               2637-2643
9      Wed     4                2644-2649
          MICAH
10      Thu      1               2650-2654
11      Fri      2               2655-2657
12      Sat      3               2658
13      Sun      4               2659-2663
14      Mon      5               2664-2669
15      Tue      6               2670-2677
16      Wed      7               2678-2682:1
          NAHUM
17      Thu      1               2682:2-2685
18      Fri     2               2686:1-5
19      Sat      3               2686:6-2688
          HABAKKUK
20      Sun      1               2689
21      Mon      2               2690-2693
22      Tue      3               2694
          LUKE
23      Wed      *19:     1-10           2695-2699
24      Thu           *28-48      2700-2701
25      Fri           *22:1-18      2702:1-5
          JOHN
26      Sat      *13:     1-17           2702:6-12
27      Sun      *13:     18-38      2702:13-15
28      Mon      *14:     1-20           2702:16-2706
29      Tue           *21-31      2707-2708:4
30      Wed      *18:     1-23           2708:5-9
31      Thu           *24-40      2709-2710

     April 1983
                          ARCANA
          JOHN                COELESTIA
1      Fri      *19:     1-22           2711-2713
2      Sat           *23-37      2714
3      Sun      *20:     1-18           2715
4      Mon           *19-31      2716-2718
          ZEPHANIAH
5      Tue      1               2719-2720
6      Wed      2               2721-2722:3
7      Thu      3               2722:4-7
          HAGGAI
8      Fri      1               2723
9      Sat      2               2724
          ZECHARIAH
10      Sun      1               2725-2731
11      Mon      2               2732-2735

20



12      Tue      3               2736-2741
13      Wed      4               2742-2746
14      Thu      5               2747-2751
15      Fri      6               2752-2759
16      Sat      7               Preface, 2760
17      Sun      8:     1-15           2761
18      Mon           16-23      2762-2763
19      Tue      9               2764-2770
20      Wed      10               2771-2775
21      Thu      11               2776-2778
22      Fri      12               2779-2781:2
23      Sat      13               2781:3-7
24      Sun      14:     1-11           2781:8-2785
25      Mon           12-21      2786-2788:3
          MALACHI
26      Tue      1               2788:4-13
27      Wed      2               2789-2795
28      Thu      3               2796-2798
29      Fri      4               2799:1-5
          MATTHEW
30      Sat      1               2799:6-12

     May 1983
                         ARCANA
     Matthew               COELESTIA
1     Sun      2                2799:13-18
2      Mon      3               2799:19-2802
3      Tue      4               2803-2805
4      Wed      5:     1-26           2806-2811
5      Thu           27-48      2812-2813:2
6      Fri      6:     1-15           2813:3-2816
7      Sat           16-34      2817-2819
8      Sun      7:     1-14           2820-2825
9      Mon           15-29      2826:1-3
10      Tue      8:     1-17           2826:4-7
11      Wed           18-34          2826:8-14
12      Thu      9:     1-17           2827-2830:2
13      Fri          18-38      2830:3-7
14      Sat      10:     1-21           2830:8-2831:2
15      Sun           10:22-42      2831:3-9
16      Mon      11:     1-15           2831:10-2832:4
17      Tue           16-30      2832:5-11
18      Wed      12:     1-21           2832:12-15
19      Thu           22-37      2833-2837
20      Fri          38-50          2838
21      Sat      13:     1-23           2839-2842:1
22      Sun           13:24-43      2842:2-6
23      Mon           44-58          2842:7-10
24      Tue      14:     1-21           2849-2850
25      Wed           22-36          2851:1-6
26      Thu      15:     1-20           2851:7-12
27      Fri          21-39          2851:13-15
28      Sat      16:     1-12           2852-2854
29      Sun           13-28          2855-2860
30      Mon      17:     1-13           2861-2863
31      Tue           14-27          2864-2869

     June 1983
                         ARCANA
               MATTHEW           COELESTIA
1      Wed      18:     1-20           2870-2874
2      Thu           21-35      2875-2880
3      Fri      19:     1-15           2881-2887
4      Sat           16-30      2888-2893
5      Sun      20:     1-16           2894-2900
6      Mon           17-34      2901-2905
7      Tue      21:     1-17           2906:1-7
8      Wed           18-32      2906:8-2909
9      Thu           33-46      2910-2912
10      Fri      22:     1-22           2913-2915
11      Sat           23-46      2916-2917
12      Sun      23:     1-22           2918-2921:3
13      Mon           23-39      2921:4-6
14      Tue           24:1-28      2922-2928
15      Wed           29-51      2929-2930

                    ISAIAH
16      Thu      *51:     1-8           2931-2937
17      Fri           *9-23      2938-2943
18      Sat      *52:     1-15           2944-2948
19      Sun      *53:     1-12           2949-2954
20      Mon      *54:     1-17           2955-2959:2

                    MATTHEW
21      Tue      25:     1-13           2959:3-7
22      Wed           14-30      2960-2965
23      Thu           31-46      2966-2967:3
24      Fri      26:     1-16           2967:4-8
25      Sat           17-35          2968-2972
26      Sun      26:     36-56      2973-2974
27      Mon           57-75      2975-2981
28      Tue      27:     1-26           2982-2986
29      Wed           27-44      2987-2992
30      Thu           45-66      2993-2999

     July 1983
                         ARCANA
               MATTHEW          COELESTIA
1      Fri      28               3000-3005
          MARK
2      Sat      1:     1-20           3006-3011
3      Sun      1:     21-45      3012-3017
4      Mon      2:     1-17           3018-3020
5      Tue           18-28      3021:1-3
6      Wed      3:     1-19           3021:4-8
7      Thu           20-35      3022-3024:2
8      Fri      4:     1-20           3024:3-7
9      Sat           21-41      3025-3030:2

21



10      Sun      5:     1-20           3030:3-3032
11      Mon           21-43      3033-3035
12      Tue      6:     1-13           3036-3040
13      Wed           14-29      3041-3046
14      Thu           30-44      3047-3048:4
15      Fri           45-56      3048:5-3052
16      Sat      7:     1-23           3053-3057
17      Sun      7:     24-37      3058-3060
18      Mon      8:     1-21           3061-3065
19      Tue          22-38      3066-3069:1
20      Wed     9:     1-13           3069:2-3074
21      Thu           14-29      3075-3078
22      Fri           30-50      3079-3080
23      Sat      10:     1-16           3081
24      Sun      10:     17-31      3082-3085
25      Mon           32-52      3086-3089
26      Tue      11:     1-26           3090-3094
27      Wed      11:     27-12:12      3095-3100
28      Thu      12:     13-27      3101-3103
29      Fri           28-44      3104-3107
30      Sat      13:     1-20           3108-3110
31      Sun      13:     21-37      3111-3116

     August 1983
                              ARCANA
               MARK                COELESTIA
1      Mon      14:     1-25           3117-3121
2      Tue           26-52      3122-3125
3      Wed           53-72      3126-3128
4      Thu      15:     1-15           3129-3131
5      Fri           16-32      3132-3135
6      Sat           33-47      3136-3138
7      Sun      16                3139-3141
          LUKE
8      Mon      1:     1-25           3142-3145
9      Tue           26-38      3146-7147:5
10      Wed           39-56      3147:6-9
11      Thu           57-80      3147:10-3153
12      Fri      2:     1-20           3154-3155
13      Sat           21-39      3156-3159
14      Sun      2:     40-52      3160-3161
15      Mon      3:     1-20           3162-3165
16      Tue           21-38      3166-3167
17      Wed      4:     1-15           3168-3174
18      Thu           16-32      3175-3176
19      Fri           33-44      3177-7181
20      Sat     5:     1-16           3182-3183
21      Sun      5:     17-26      3184-3 186
22      Mon           27-39      3187-3189
23      Tue      6:     1-26           3190-3194
24      Wed           27-49      3195:1-6
25      Thu      7:     1-23           3195:7-3200
26      Fri           24-50      3201-3206
27      Sat     8:     1-21           3207
28      Sun      8:     22-40      3208-3211
29      Mon           41-56      3212-3213
70      Tue      9:     1-27           3214-3218
31      Wed           28-45      3219-3223

     September 1983
                         ARCANA
               LUKE                COELESTIA
1      Thu      9:     46-52      3224-3227
2      Fri      10:     1-16           3228-3233
3      Sat           17-24      3234-3235
4      Sun      10:     25-42      3236-3239
5      Mon      11:     1-28           3240:1-4
6      Tue           29-54      3240:5-3241
7      Wed      12:     1-21           3242:1-4
8      Thu           22-40      3242:5-3245
9      Fri           41-59      3246-3248
10      Sat      13:     1-17           3249-3251
11      Sun      13:     18-35      3252-3255
12      Mon      14:     1-24           3256-3261
13      Tue      14:     25-15:10      3262-3264
14      Wed      15:     11-32      3265-3267
15      Thu      16:     1-15           3268
16      Fri           16-31      3269-3272
17      Sat      17:     1-19           3273-3281
18      Sun      17:     20-37      3282-3286
19      Mon      18:     1-14           3287-3291
20      Tue           15-70      3292-3295
21      Wed           31-43      3296-3299
22      Thu      19:     1-28           3300
23      Fri           29-48      3301:1-4
24      Sat      20:     1-19           3301:5-9
25      Sun      20:     20-47      3302-3304
26      Mon      21:     1-19           3305:1-4
27      Tue           20-38      3305:5-7
28      Wed      22:     1-18           3306-3309
29      Thu           19-34      3310
30      Fri           35-46      3311-3314

     October 1983
                              ARCANA
               LUKE                COELESTIA
1      Sat      22:     47-71      3315-3316
2      Sun      23:     1-12           3317-3318
3      Mon           13-91      3319-3321
4      Tue           32-56      3322:1-4
5      Wed      24:     1-12           3322:5-11
6      Thu           13-35      3323-3324:4
7      Fri           36-53      3724:5-9

22


JOHN
8      Sat      1:     1-28           3324:10-3325:3
9      Sun      1:     29-51      3325:4-8
10      Mon      2:     1-12           3325:9-11
11      Tue           13-25      3325:12-14
12      Wed      3:     1-21           3326-3332
13      Thu           22-36      3333-3336
14      Fri      4:     1-26           3337-3341
15      Sat           27-54      3342-3346
16      Sun      5:     1-16           3347-3348
17      Mon           17-29          3349-3352
18      Tue           30-47      3353-3354
19      Wed     6:     1-21           3355-3356
20      Thu           22-40      3357-3364
21      Fri           41-71      3365-3367
22      Sat      7:     1-24           3368-3372
23      Sun      7:     25-53      3373-3375
24      Mon      8:     1-20           3376-3380
25      Tue           21-38      3381-3382:2
26      Wed           39-59      3382:3-3383
27      Thu      9:     1-23           3384-3385
28      Fri           24-41      3386-3387
29      Sat      10:     1-21           3388-3391
30      Sun      10:     22-42      3392-3394
31      Mon      11:     1-19           3395-3398:3

     November 1983
                          ARCANA
               JOHN                COELESTIA
1      Tue      11:     20-46      3398:4-3400
2      Wed          47-57      3401-3403
3      Thu      12:     1-19           3404-3406
4      Fri           20-36      3407-3412
5      Sat           37-50      3413-3416
6      Sun      13:     1-17           3417-3418
7      Mon           18-38      3419:1-4
8      Tue      14:     1-14           3419:5-3421
9      Wed           15-31      3422-3424
10      Thu      15:     1-15           3425
11      Fri           16-27      3426-3427
12      Sat      16:     1-16           3428-3431
13      Sun      16:     17-23      3432-3436
14      Mon      17                3437-3439
15      Tue      18:     1-18           3440-3441
16      Wed           19-40      3442-3447
17      Thu      19:     1-22           3448:1-6
18      Fri           27-42      3448:7-11
19      Sat      20:      1-18           3449-3451
20      Sun      20:     19-71      3452-3458
21      Mon      21:     1-14           3459-3463
22     Tue           15-25      3464-3467

                    REVELATION
23      Wed      1                3468-3469
24      Thu      2:     1-17           3470-3471
25      Fri      2:     18-3:6      3472-3474
26      Sat      3:     7-22           3475-3478
27      Sun      4               3479-3480
28      Mon      5                3481-3483
29      Tue      6               3484-3488:3
30      Wed      7               3488:4-3489

     December 1983
                          ARCANA
               REV.                COELESTIA
1      Thu      --                Gen. 27, 3190-3493
2      Fri      8                3494-3497
3      Sat      9:     1-12           3498-3502
4      Sun      9:     13-21      3503-3507
5      Mon      10               3508-3509
6      Tue      11:     1-10           3510-3515
7      Wed           11-19      3516-3518
8      Thu      12                3519:1-7

9      
9     Fri      13               3519:8-3526
10      Sat      14:     1-13           3527
11      Sun      14:     14-15:8      3528-3534
12      Mon      16:     1-11           3535-3539:2
13      Tue           12-21          3539:3-6
14      Wed      17               3540:1-3
15      Thu      18:     1-10           3540:4-3542:3
16      Fri           11-24      3542:4-3547
17      Sat      19:     1-10           3548-3556

               LUKE
18      Sun      *1:     1-25           3557-3562
19      Mon           *26-38      3563
20      Tue           *39-56      3564-3570:1
21      Wed           *57-80      3570:2-6
22      Thu      *2:     1-20           3571-3573
23      Fri           *21-38      3574-3575
               MATTHEW
24      Sat      *2:     1-15           3576-3578
25      Sun           *16-52      3579

          LUKE
26      Mon      *2:     40-52      3580
27      Tue      *3:     1-20           3581-3585

          REVELATION
28      Wed      19     11-21          3586-3595
29      Thu      20                3596-3597
30      Fri      21:     1-14           3598-3601
31      Sat           15-27      3602-3603

23


ADDRESS TO A NON-DENOMINATIONAL CHURCH 1983

ADDRESS TO A NON-DENOMINATIONAL CHURCH       David Gladish       1983

     Delivered at the Beaver Island Non-denominational Christian Church September 12, 1982

     I'm sure that each of us can think of people we've known whom we have admired for their intelligence and their lively interest in all the things this world contains but with such good humor and humility that they only want to share their discoveries and never use them for gain or to get an advantage. It usually turns out that at the bottom of such a personality there's a deep unwavering confidence in the Lord-and consequently in themselves.
     Somewhat over two centuries ago the long life of just such a man as this culminated in the most remarkable set of religious books that the Christian era has produced. The man's name was Emanuel Swedenborg, and he lived from 1688 till 1772 (eighty-four years, for those who are slow at arithmetic like me). What makes the religious books he wrote unique is that, by his own account, the Lord not only instructed him about the spiritual element in our lives but also made it possible for Swedenborg to be conscious in our spiritual environment and our own worldly environment at the same time-not in any dreams or visions, either, but fully awake and in command of all his faculties. He reports that in the first three days after your death you gradually come "to" there and are if anything healthier than ever.
     Sounds incredible? Wait till you hear this. Swedenborg says that the reason someone was chosen to see the other world at that particular time was that the last judgment, predicted in the Gospels and throughout the Old Testament too, was taking place at that particular time. But it wasn't happening in this world at all. It was happening in the other world!

     That's a surprise, because Christianity has always tended to interpret the Word of God quite literally in worldly terms, and the prophecies all seem to describe events taking place on earth-earthquakes, the sky rolling back like a scroll, fire and pestilence, the horsemen, the dragon, and so forth. The imagery is so concrete that we think it must be about the material world we know and see around us. But wait a minute. According to Swedenborg this spiritual "world" that he observed-and this was over a period of many years, and sometimes for days at a time-this spiritual world seems just exactly as substantial once you're there as this world does to us who are still here, right now. This is what he reports.

24



     The hills, the sky, the rocks, the fields, the trees, the animals, the people-everything you can think of that's in this world is still around you once you're in the other. And he says he actually did witness such incredible events as the prophets describe as happening on the "last day." But it wasn't the last day of our world at all. It was the last day of spiritual disorders that had gotten out of hand over the centuries due to people's self-interest and materialistic preoccupations. I won't try to cover the details. It takes Swedenborg several volumes to set them forth.
     But, no. It is a surprise to think that the last judgment has already happened, and that it happened in the spiritual world instead of this. But prophecy is almost always full of surprises. It always comes out true, but it never comes out true quite in the terms you expected. The Jewish Church never expected the Messiah to be that poor carpenter's son from Samaria, who went around with the lowest class of people and insisted that He was the Lord and that His kingdom was not of this world. And when the Israelites escaped from Egypt, they probably never realized that the Promised Land they were heading for was a "land" of new religion as well as milk and honey. But come to find out, it was. And the apostles never thought they'd have to die to see the Lord once again. Yet they all died before He returned to them in the way they expected.
     So far I've just been trying to lay out the basis for why I, myself, believe there's a whole new way of thinking about religion and the other world. And the more I read about it, the less I can see any reason why Swedenborg would have said all he said except that he found out some amazing new facts and just had to tell the world about them. He offers it to all peoples and creeds without discrimination and makes no effort whatsoever to capitalize on it with anything like a new cult or interest group. He hoped that preachers of all sects would use it. It's what I've called "generic" religion-no fancy wrapper, just quality. Just the truth, in other words. He was a scientist all his life-a renowned one, in fact-and in his last twenty or thirty years he had a chance to do some scientific reporting about a whole unseen dimension of our lives here, and our spiritual futures there. He makes no pretense that he himself was special, much less super-human in any way. He just happened to be the one who got the job. There's a substantiated story that once during a formal dinner he blanched and seemed very upset. They asked what was wrong, and he said a terrible fire was raging in a certain distant town. It proved to be true a long time later when word arrived. This isn't why I believe his religious books, but it does show what a name he could have made for himself if he had been after the usual goals. He was an honest man.

25



     But if there's one concept you come away from Swedenborg with, it's the marvelously refreshing idea that there's nothing really mysterious at all about our life to come. You work, you play, you have friends, you marry or continue married, as the case may be. In fact, many people, when somebody tells them, are amazed to find out they've died and aren't still living in this world. Within hours after death, or even right away, they are beginning to wake up and are among angels-in other words, among people who have lived and gone to heaven.
     And even aside from Swedenborg's reportage, it's commonplace that people on their deathbed typically do somehow expect to see their family and friends again. After the puzzlement ("Why me?") and the anger and the despair there comes a peaceful feeling of reassurance. It's a transition. You've probably read or heard of the recent book Life after Life. From people today who have been snatched back from death, science is gathering plenty of evidence that the transition is as natural as all our other transitions-birth, adolescence, parenthood-only much more peaceful in most cases.
     We can no longer say we'd believe in the spiritual world if only someone came back to tell us. Someone has come back and told us. In fact, many have.

     As I see it, you might say our relationship with the spiritual world is like an unborn baby's relationship with our world. He's already there! He can hear some of the sounds and feel rhythms, but it's not until he takes his first breath that his eyes and ears and all his sensibilities begin to find out exactly what our world is like. Yet it was there all the time. And he was very much in it. Just the way I think we're in the spiritual world and we find out about it when the time comes.
     The little baby is in the womb all those months for a purpose. It's the only way he can develop to the point where he can fit into life outside the womb. And I'm fully convinced that our experiences and development in this life are precisely what equip us to live in the other world when we come to that transition-which happens right away when a person "dies." We should call it coming to life.
     Institutional religions, like other institutions, tend to develop mysteries. They develop their own terminology to the point where it's difficult for the layman to follow, like when doctors and lawyers used to spill out Latin and French terms nobody else could understand. But today there's a reaction to that on all levels.

26


Books by doctors are coming out that tell you how much dentistry or surgery you really need or don't need, and why. There are instances where the legal profession has loosened up so that sometimes they don't mind if you plead your own case before the judge. Some of the world's great religions are making more and more effort to meet the people where they live, after all, and not in the lofty heights of mystery.
     If Swedenborg were here today, I think he'd very likely say there's a reason for this. I think he'd say it's a direct result of that tremendous shuffling and upheaval that he saw going on in the spiritual side of our environment over two hundred years ago, which he does insist was the judgment predicted in the Apocalypse and other places. This has happened before. It happened when the Israelitish Church had become so wrapped up in mere ritual that the spirit was gone out of it. The Lord changed that and brought us back to the basic truths when He came into the world and taught that-yes-the spiritual world is alive and well and all around us. As near as from me to you. No, much nearer.
     I wanted to put these ideas before you because our little community on this island is reeling after a summer of funerals by the handful. It's impossible not to feel the grief of separation-both in our own minds, and particularly in sympathy with the people who have been right in the middle of these heart-rending events.
     But at the same time we can know-we really can know-that the people we've lost are already alive and well. And they're living, if anything, a fuller life.
MAPLE LEAF ACADEMY IN JUNE 1983

MAPLE LEAF ACADEMY IN JUNE              1983

     Possibly the last Maple Leaf Academy at Wood Lake will be held Tuesday, June 21 (following the Canadian National Assembly in Toronto) through Thursday, June 30, 1983. Assistance for transportation costs is available. Applications are available from Rev. Terry Schnarr, 279 Burnhamthorpe Road, Islington, Ontario, M9B 126. Applications must be sent by May 1, 1983! Graduates of 9th grade through 12th grade are eligible.
     Excerpts of Campers' Anonymous Evaluations of Maple Leaf 1982
     (Complete evaluations available from Rev. Terry Schnarr)

     I read last year's evaluations, and so I want to say that if anyone reads this one, do come! Maple is great.

27


When I signed up for Maple I just sort of signed up with no expectations, but Maple has been an experience. I loved it. I learned a lot and I know I've made lifelong friends.
     It is hard to explain to someone who hasn't been here how wonderful Maple is. This is my first time and I remember my friend telling me how great Maple is, and I believed him, but I didn't understand why or how it was so neat.
     Maple was more than I ever could have imagined. I learned so much about the Lord, friends, and myself. Maple is indescribable because it isn't just a camp or a place, but special states, feelings, and love. I wish more people would come so they can see how special Maple is. It really hurts me that some people have bad opinions of Maple, because they don't know how much it helps teenagers-they just have a lot of false, preformed opinions.
     Maple was great! The lectures were goad and they applied to me and my life at this stage in my life. Maple helped me learn about self-awareness and I learned to understand myself better.
     To me, Maple is making friends; it is the forming of everlasting friendships; it is learning to love everyone, everything. Maple is learning to worship the Lord and it helped enrich my relationship with Him. Last year Maple, in a way, saved my life; this year it has reinforced my friendship with God. Maple is unbeatable. Every aspect of Maple, every little thing, deals with life and making friends.
     Maple has been a very important part of my life for the last four years. It has helped me more than I can say, and many others that I know of as well. I think the camp is set up perfectly.
     I am glad I gained so much from Maple Leaf. The friendships made here are so important.
     Maple Leaf has been an experience I'll never forget, and I've made friends that I'll be thankful for in years to come. I feel really sorry for the kids that will never have the opportunity.
     I loved Maple Leaf, and I'm coming back next year! Don't stop it!
EVANGELIZATION IS LOVE 1983

EVANGELIZATION IS LOVE              1983

     The more you give, the more you receive;
     But if you give in order to receive,
          You don't receive,
     And you won't really be giving.
          "Freely ye have received,
          Freely give" (Matt. 10:8).

28


NEWS FROM BENADE 1983

NEWS FROM BENADE       R.R.G       1983

     It was about six months after his stroke, and Father Benade was still shaky and often confined to his bed. Yet his mind seemed fully normal as he wrote this greeting to Academy members gathered to celebrate Swedenborg's birthday in 1890. The letter is to W. F. Pendleton.

Dear Brother,
     Please greet warmly the assembled members of the Academy and express to them the extreme regret I feel because of my inability to be with them this evening. You have come together to commemorate the two hundred second anniversary of the birthday of the man chosen by the Lord to be His human instrumentality in effecting His Second Coming, to whom He manifested Himself in person, and whom He filled with His spirit to teach from Him the doctrines of the New Church by means of the Word. In giving to men thro' Swedenborg these doctrines of the New Church, the Lord made the most excellent of all revelations, and by means of them He instituted the Crown of all the Churches which have been until this time on the terrestrial globe. In this Crown of all Churches, each single doctrine is the setting of pure gold of a whole and perfect gem of Divine Truth which is an essential of the church and respects this as an end, that man may be in the Lord and the Lord in man, according to His words in john 14:20: "In that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you." The Christian Church is nothing else than this conjunction. From these few things it may clearly appear what is meant by these words of the Lord-"He that sat upon the throne said, behold, I make all things new and He said, Write, for these words are true and faithful."
     The doctrines of the New Church are all essentials, in each of which there is heaven and the church, and they regard this as their end, that man may be in the Lord and the Lord in man.     
     Let us hold in love and honor the servant of the Lord, thro' whose instrumentality we have freely received these essentials of heaven and the church, and let us praise the Lord in word and life, for that He has come again to make all things new and to establish that Christian Church which is conjunction of man with the Lord, in which all the essentials conjoin themselves with the faith in the one God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is salvation and eternal life.
     May your festival be a true feast of charity may the blessing of the Lord rest upon all. With Love-Yours as Ever,
                    W.M. Benade

     In November of that momentous year, Bishop Benade would lead his Academicians to sever their organic ties with the American Convention.
     R.R.G.

29


REVIEW 1983

REVIEW       PATRICK A. ROSE       1983

Rev. Christopher V. A. Hasler, The Lord's Prayer (The Swedenborg Lending Library and Enquiry Centre, Sydney, Australia, 1982)

     Attractively bound, this booklet consists of 32 pages of easy-to-read typescript. Divided into six sections, it leads the reader to reflect upon the significance of each successive part of this most holy prayer.
     So often, in this busy and exceedingly external world, we get caught up (or bogged down) in superficial and insignificant matters. Too often even the things of religion are approached in a shallow and perhaps even impatient way.
     This being the case, booklets such as this one can be of exceptional value as an aid in our spiritual development. This is not a detailed, referenced study, but rather a series of essays which lead the reader to reflect upon the awesome meaning of that prayer we say every day.

     Mr. Hasler's treatment of the subject is both profound and thought-provoking, and yet is extremely easy to read. He provides down-to-earth examples:

A ship cannot be steered if it is stationary. A man cannot be moved or affected by the Lord if he stands still, if he does not labor or love others outside himself (p. 16).

At other times he uses a penetrating clarity and brevity to provoke the reader into meditating upon the implications of the doctrines:

Our trouble is not that we ask for too much, but that we do not ask enough (p. 5).

There is not one of us who would not commit the most heinous crime within the hour if we were not protected moment by moment from above . . . . (p. 26).

     Considering the overall excellence and usefulness of this booklet, it would be petty to mention the few minor criticisms I might otherwise suggest. It would be a shame to discourage people in any way from reading a really excellent booklet.
     It doesn't take long to read; it isn't difficult to read; I would suggest that on some rainy Sunday afternoon, or during one cold, dark winter evening, you do so. I would be surprised if any sincere member of the church does not benefit from reading it. And, for the man who has become cynical about prayer, there is more than enough in this small publication to encourage him to reconsider.
     Thank you, Christopher!     
          PATRICK A. ROSE

30


Editorial Pages 1983

Editorial Pages       Editor       1983




     NEW CHURCH LIFE
     GETTING DRUNK

     Once in the spiritual world a man went around saying, "Pray, tell me, if you please, what delight is" (see CL 461, TCR 570). Some answered that delight is "getting drunk" and then chatting about various things. This did not help the inquirer, for he was seeking to find out the nature of heaven and of hell. That answer was neither of heaven nor hell, but it did say something about the natural man. It is part of human history. When people have thought of delight or of having a great time, they have often had in mind intoxicating drink.
     In so many cultures strong drink has held out a promise of human merriment. Though it has delivered merriment, it has always promised too much. As it shimmers in glass or cup it looks good enough to make one forget its sting. Wine is a "mocker" says the ancient book of Proverbs, "and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." "Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder" (Proverbs 23).
     In the centuries following the writing of that proverb how many lives have felt the stark sting of alcohol or have been scarred by its bite! Sociologists now catalog so many wounds direct and indirect. "Contempt" is a serpent's bite too. We are vulnerable to contempt when we can point to some human folly in which others indulge while we do not. If we have the good fortune not to have been harmed by alcohol, it is cause for gratitude and not pride. The indication in the Spiritual Diary is that some just happen to have a physical aversion for strong drink (see no. 2458). Some of the teachings help us realize the truth in the phrase, "There but for the grace of God go I." One man would have fallen very low had he not been in Providence kept back "from intoxicating drink, so as to have drunk simply water" (SD 3177).

32



     A powerful article by the late Ormond Odhner on the subject of alcoholism appeared in this journal in 1976 (p. 53). This is now available in pamphlet form from the office of the pastor, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009. Fifty cents covers cost and postage. It is packed with information and insight. For further insight, especially into the understanding of the states of children of alcoholics see the article, "Problem Drinking in the Home" by Jean M. Nash. This article is concluded in the November-December issue of New Church Home. Mrs. Nash quotes from editorials by the late Cairns Henderson on excessive drinking, and she provides valuable observations and comments on this problem of "epidemic proportions all over the earth."
LORD'S RESURRECTION BODY 1983

LORD'S RESURRECTION BODY       N. BRUCE ROGERS       1983




     Communications
Dear Editor:
     If I may be permitted a final word on the exchange between Rev. Erik Sandstrom and myself over the glorification of the Lord's body, I think I can pinpoint for your readers the essential difference between our interpretations of the doctrine.
     Mr. Sandstrom has the Divine consuming all that was merely human in its descent, as he argues in the October issue. I have the Divine reducing that humanity to correspondence with Itself, and finally to identity. In support of my contention, let me recall just these two teachings and place them in juxtaposition:

     AC 6716      Because [the Lord's] inmost was the Divine itself . . . , could He not have made this external that He had from the mother an image of Himself, that is, a likeness to Himself, thus making the humanity, which was external and from the mother, Divine?

     HH 316      The reason the Lord rose . . . also with respect to the body is that He glorified His entire humanity when He was in the world, that is, made it Divine. For the soul . . . was . . . the Divine itself, and the body was made a likeness of the soul . . . so that it, too, was Divine.

     I will not tax your readers' patience by pursuing the matter further.

32


I have already presented my essential analysis of the doctrine in the March and August issues, with replies from Mr. Sandstrom in the July and October issues. I only wish to add here that I believe Mr. Sandstrom anal I have more points of agreement than disagreement. In October Mr. Sandstrom pointed out some of these areas of agreement. I concur. We do have in common the wish to emphasize the need to think of the Lord as a Person, and the necessity of thinking of that Person from the Divine essence, not the reverse. And this, after all, is the important point. I would not want our differences over the process to obscure our agreement on the result, especially when the result, the vision of God made manifest in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, is the centerpiece of the revelation to the New Church.
     N. BRUCE ROGERS,
          Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania
NORTHWEST DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1983

NORTHWEST DISTRICT ASSEMBLY              1983

     A Northwest District Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in Seattle, Washington, from Friday, May 27th through Sunday, May 29th, 1983, Rt. Rev. Louis B. King, Bishop of the General Church, presiding. Members and friends of the General Church are invited to attend. For information please contact Mr. Harold W. Kunkle, 2625 106th Place, S.E., Bellevue, WA 98004, telephone: (206) 454-7887.
BRITISH ASSEMBLY 1983

BRITISH ASSEMBLY              1983

     The 61st British Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in Colchester, England, on Friday, July 8th through Sunday, July 10th, 1983, Rt. Rev. Louis B. king presiding. All members and friends of the General Church are cordially invited to attend. For further information contact Mr. Raymond F. Waters, 22 Drury Road, Colchester, Essex CO2 7UV, England.
CANADIAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 1983

CANADIAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY              1983

     All members and friends of the General Church are cordially invited to attend the 5th Canadian National Assembly, to be held at the Olivet Church in Islington, Ontario, Canada, on Friday, June 17th through Sunday, June 19th, 1983, Rt. Rev. Louis B. King, presiding. For further information contact Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs, 2 Lorraine Gardens, Islington, Ontario, Canada M9B 424.

33


SCRIPTURE TEXTS USED NEW CHURCH LIFE: 1959-1982 1983

SCRIPTURE TEXTS USED NEW CHURCH LIFE: 1959-1982              1983

OLD TESTAMENT
     Genesis
Ch. v.          Year          Page
1      14           1960          1
2      8-10           1977           261
2      15           1967           289
3      26           1963           307
4      9           1966           465
4      9           1978           55
7      1           1973           97
9      3           1969           385
9      12-13      1968           49
11      1-4, 8-9      1960           217
12      13          1982           387
13      14-17          1966           525
16      12           1969           101
18      21           1980           483
18      32           1971           141
20      14-16      1959           305
23      3, 4           1967           155
24      58           1970           305
27      36           1976           153
29      25           1979           93
30      32           1978           137
31      2           1981           387
33      1-11          1969           341
33      12-14      1975           385
35      1          1975          1
40      14           1970           345
41      51           1976          1

     Exodus
3      13, 14     1959           62
14      15           1972          1
18      13           1959          209
20      8-11           1963           377
20      12           1981           127
20      20           1965           97
22      29           1978           493
23      8           1962           449
23      14-16          1962           513
                1970           509
23      15           1973           481
23      19           1964           349
30      11, 12      1965           301

     Leviticus
26      3-6          1974           337

     Numbers
17      8           1960           49
20      11           1960           357
24      17           1969           521
               1970           553

     Deuteronomy
6      6, 7           1968           101
7      3           1972           305
16      16           1967          477
21      5           1967           338
22      5           1982           43
22      19           1966           97
23      24, 25      1971           353
24      10, 11      1975          433
31      10-13      1979           425

     Joshua
1      9           1960           313
1      9           1980           379
5      12           1964           389
5      13          1975           289

     Judges
5      7           1963           201

     I Samuel
3      10           1964           485
5      4           1965           213
14      8-10          1964           49
16      7           1961           433
24      5           1974           409
25      32, 33      1968           481
29      10           1978           185

          II Samuel
18      33           1961           49
22      2, 3      1972           481

     I Kings
3      24-25          1979           337
8      12           1969           35
8      13           1966           9
8      13, 27      1971           505
8      27           1963           54
                1972           49
8      30           1980           45
19      13, 14      1961           309
21      2, 3           1973           193
21      3           1969           205

     II Kings
4      2           1961          349
6      16           1962           301

     Psalms
1     1-3           1961           481
8      1          1964           205

34



8      3-5           1981           551
23      1           1976           357
23      1           1979           469
30      11           1975           181
32      5           1980           331
33      12           1976           411
37      3           1965           353
37      25           1963           429
38      6          1979           1
39      5           1966          1
42     3-10          1976           459
51      8           1977           57
55      6          1977           113
68      27           1976           503
71      9           1978           305
75      1           1975           470
78      2, 3           1959           8
90      1, 2          1974          1
90      12           1962           1
90      12           1977          1
91      5           1968           213
95      6           1970           197
100      4           1959           517
100      1, 2           1981           2
103      1, 2           1960           481
                    1971           481
107      8           1963           473
109      1, 5           1982           331
110      4          1972           529
115      11           1968          1
132      6, 7      1968           529
133      1           1963           337
133      1           1982           283

     Isaiah
1      16           1982           231
7      14           1971           533
7      14           1978           553
8      19-20          1981           503
9      6           1964           529
19      23, 24      1976           88
21      11, 12     1962           209
                    1965           261
22      9, 11      1971           441
40      5           1980           535
40      31           1982           91
44      6           1966           253
45      15           1971          1
53      2           1972           397
57      21           1967           373
62      1-3           1962           261
62      3, 4, 12      1967           253
64      4           1961          1
66      20           1974           281

     Jeremiah
17      7           1977           317

     Lamentations
3      26           1981           317

     Ezekiel
13      10-12      1972           193
18      21-23      1960           437

     Daniel
4      34           1974           191

     Micah
5      2           1966           573
5      2           1976           503
6      6           1966           217
6      6-8           1965           489

     Habakkuk
2      20          1973           393

     Haggai
2      7           1973           529
2      9           1959           53

     Zechariah
8      4           1968           329

     Matthew
1      18           1975           517
2      1, 2           1961           533
5      8           1974           104
5      9           1969           297
5      38, 39      1971           209
6      5           1971           267
6      7, 9           1974           369
6      9           1977           429
6      12           1982           187
6      25, 26      1971           97
6      31-34      1967           49
6      33           1967          209
6      34           1961           393
7      7           1969          1
7      9-11           1965           398
7      12           1966           289
7      13, 14      1962           101
9      15           1969           437
9      38           1965           433
10      5, 6           1981           451
11      30           1979           381
12      30           1969           64
12      39           1963           137
12      50           1959           145
13      16           1968           406
13      27, 28      1967          1
18      7           1970           393

35



18      21, 22      1982           443
19      5, 6      1975           133


19      8           1970           49
19      24           1977           209
20      1-16           1971           49
20      18, 19      1976           121
21      10, 11      1965           145
22      21           1959           434
22      37-40      1965           49
24      31           1968           261
26      29           1979           137
28      2          1975           89

     Mark
7      15           1970           133
10      9           1959           491
10      14           1974           49
10      27           1975           49
11      6           1962           135
12      29-31      1965           49

     Luke
1      25-32      1962           561
1      35           1965           537
2      4, 5          1963           513
2      6, 7           1979           497
2      10-14          1979           529
2      11          1967           525
2      15           1959           561
2      27-32          1977           591
2      49           1975           333
6      35           1972           441
7      36-38      1979           49
9      58           1964           145
11      23          1969           64
12      33           1965          1
13      20, 21      1966           49
14      16-20, 24      1961           213
15      18, 19      1966           408
18      9           1964           433
18      11-13      1978           349
23      44-46      1964          97
24      1-12           1975           95
24      12           1961           145
24      30-32          1974           143
24      39           1967           89
24      39           1981           167

      John
1      1           1964           1
1      18           1968           437
3      31, 32      1978          1
5      4           1963           97
6      47, 58, 63     1973           49
6      53-58      1980           85
7      7           1973           433
7      14           1977           483
8      31, 32      1968           365
8      31, 32      1974           329
8      31, 32      1980           133
8      32           1978           97, 449
8      36           1977           365
9      47           1967           425
10      9, 11      1978           571
11      25           1970           97
11      25           1976           41
12      23, 24      1973           145
12      24           1960           97
12      32           1972           141
12      34           1968           145
12      35          1980           283
12      47, 48      1961          97
14      15-19      1960           396
14      20           1980           431
15      1-3           1974           449
15      12           1981           123
15      16           1963           1, 245
16      25           1978           409
16     28           1959           97
16      33           1970          1
17      3           1962           49
18      38           1960           148
19      25           1966           145
20      3-9           1961           145
20      20           1982           135
20      21           1977           161
20      27-29      1981           167
20      30, 31      1969           145

     Revelation
1      1           1963           49
1      8           1963           289
1     10           1969           481
1     12, 13      1976           201
1     17, 18      1971           397
2      28           1981           603
3      5           1964           301
3      8           1976           301
3      15, 16      1973           11
7      4           1961           261
10      9           1972           353
11      15           1972           241
11      17           1976           254
12      6           1970           6
                1973           241
12      13, 14      1973           305
12      14           1962           357
                1971           309
14      6           1959           257
19      1           1980           231
19      7           1966           347
20      12, 15      1978           241

36



21      1, 2          1974           233
21      1, 2           1980           237
21      3          1960           265
                1973           358
21      5           1975           237
21      5           1977           539
21      5           1978           429
                    1982           3
21      5           1979           233
21      22           1973           225
22      7, 10      1969           249
22      10           1970           453
22      12           1977           261
22      16           1962           377
22      17           1981           271
22      17           1964           253
22      17, 20      1959           364

     THE WRITINGS
Apocalypse Explained 1194e           1972      102
Conjugial Love 183:5                1972      102
True Christian Religion 700           1965      261
(For texts used prior to these dates see NEW CHURCH LIFE 1959 p. 37.)
VISITORS TO CHURCH SOCIETIES 1983

VISITORS TO CHURCH SOCIETIES              1983

     Visitors to the following societies who are in need of hospitality accommodations are invited to contact in advance the appropriate Hospitality Committee head listed below:

Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania
Mrs. James L. Pendleton
815 Fettersmill Road
Bryn Athyn, PA 19009
Phone: (215) 947-1810

Atlanta, Georgia
Mr. and Mrs. John Robertson
5215 Sweet Air Lane
Stone Mountain, GA 30088

Detroit, Michigan
Mrs. Garry Childs
2140 East Square Lake Rd.
Troy, MI 48098
Phone: (313) 879-9914

Glenview, Illinois
Mrs. Philip Horigan
50 Park Drive
Glenview, IL 60025
Phone: (312) 729-5644

Toronto, Ont., Canada
Mrs. Sydney Parker
30 Royaleigh Avenue
Weston, Ont. M9P 255
Phone: (416) 241-3704

Cincinnati, Ohio
Mrs. Stephen Gladish
9065 Foxhunter Lane
Cincinnati, Ohio 45242

London, England
Mrs. Geoffrey P. Dawson
28 Parklands Road
Streatham, London, SW 16
Phone: 01-769-7922

Pittsburgh, Penna.
Mrs. Paul M. Schoenberger
7433 Ben Hur Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15208
Phone: (412) 371-3056

Sacramento, California
Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Ripley
2310 North Cirby Way
Roseville, CA 95678
Phone: (916) 782-7837

San Diego, California
Mrs. Helen L. Brown
2810 Wilbee Court
San Diego, CA 92123

San Francisco, California
Mrs. T. L. Aye
P.O. Box 2391
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
Phone: (408) 730-1522

Kitchener, Ont., Canada
Mrs. Maurice Schnarr
98 Evenstone Ave., R.R. 2
Kitchener, Ont. N2G 3W5

     Kindly call at least two weeks in advance if possible.

37


Church News 1983

Church News       Susan Holm       1983

     GLENVIEW

     The sunshine of our natural environment is limited by time and space, but the sunshine of our spiritual environment is free of these limitations. Celebration of New Church Day comes in early summer, for us, but during our winter, they may have beach parties in Durban. Correlating these thoughts we may recognize a few of the varieties possible in the spiritual environment of the church. The news notes from many church centers hang in the hall leading to the church, and give close-ups of the people, places and activities. Across from this bulletin board are framed photo portraits of some of the pastors who have guided this society over the years. One of Rev. Gilbert Smith will soon be added to this galaxy.
     The movement of ministers, both leaving and arriving, and those making short visits to other places is needed for development and growth of the church. Although we miss the two families who left, the Clark Echolses and the Grant Odhners, they take our thoughts with them, to the west and to the east. (Hmm-Glenview is kind of self-centered!) Two new young men and their families have arrived to carry on the work of church and school, the Michael Cowleys, a newly married couple, and candidate Grant Schnarr and his family. It is a pleasure to see well remembered family resemblances in the new "harvesters."
     Our pastor, Rev. Peter Buss, will travel for the Bishop to some of the centers far from here, and we may have a visit from Bishop King during that time. In fact, at the Arcana class today Mr. Buss told of his visit to the developing societies on the west coast, of the friends and former neighbors who are a part of the California Assembly reported recently in the LIFE. The reflected glory came through in hearing of the fine spirit and accomplishments of these New Church people. The Arcana class, progressing through the eleventh volume, is now at the description of the earths in the universe, and notes the purpose of these descriptions. Other adult education classes are offered in Bible study, for parents of young children, and for inquirers.
     The schools here are close to our hearts, and one of the most vital needs is to foster the spirit of charity, to recognize the faults that hinder it and to try to become free of them.
     Students of the Midwestern Academy visited two New Church societies this past year, and at their spring "MANCquest" were addressed by newly appointed principals and house parents of the Academy schools in Bryn Athyn.
     Theta Alpha's banquet was addressed by Rev. Tom Kline on the relation of the church specific to the church universal. The need for communication is being worked on by the Extension Committee and by individuals. One Friday class was centered on the Lord's conversation with the woman of Samaria, which illustrated this communication.
     Many more things might be said about the beautiful improvements here, but why don't you just come to Glenview and see them?
     Susan Holm

38


CORRECTION 1983

CORRECTION              1983




     Announcements





     The betrothal of Mr. David Gath and Miss Christine Turner reported as June 3, 1982, (September issue p. 438) took place on January 3, 1982.
CAIRNWOOD VILLAGE RETIREMENT HOME 1983

CAIRNWOOD VILLAGE RETIREMENT HOME              1983

     There are still apartments available at Cairnwood Village. All members of any recognized New Church organization are welcome to apply for residence. Single or widowed people 60 years or older, or married couples provided one of the partners is at least 60 years old, are eligible. For further information write Cairnwood Village, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009, or phone (215) 947-7705.

40


IN CELEBRATION OF THE BIRTHDAY OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG 1983

IN CELEBRATION OF THE BIRTHDAY OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG              1983

May we suggest the following books:

     Swedenborg, Life and Teaching, Trobridge     Rexine     $4.00
                              Paper          1.95
Swedenborg Epic, Sigstedt                         12.00
Swedenborg's Preparation, Acton                    1.60
Swedenborg as a Physical Scientist, Dingle               2.50
Illustrated Life of Swedenborg, Bogg               1.40
The Happy Isles, Sutton                         3.25
Swedenborg, Servant of the Lord, Odhner               3.50
Letters and Memorials of Swedenborg, Acton          
                    Two volume set          8.00
Swedenborg Wall Chart
     Inventions, travels, publications               1.25
                                        Please add postage

     GENERAL CHURCH BOOK CENTER
BRYN ATHYN, PA 19009

     Hours: 8 to 12
Monday thru Friday
Phone (215) 947-3920

41


Notes on This Issue 1983

Notes on This Issue       Editor       1983


Vol. CIII           February, 1983               No. 2

New Church Life
A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE TEACHINGS
REVEALED THROUGH EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
PUBLISHED BY THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
Rev. Donald L. Rose, Editor               Mr. Neil M. Buss, Business Manager
PRINTED BY THE GENERAL CHURCH PRESS
BRYN ATHYN, PA 19009
SUBSCRIPTION: $12.00 TO ANY ADDRESS. SINGLE COPY $1.25
Second-class postage paid at Bryn Athyn, PA

42


     Was it something man had done or not done that caused the Lord to come into the world? If man had not fallen, would the Lord have come? Rev. Norman Riley enters into this question in this issue (p. 60). Mr. Riley's work in South Africa is described in the Directory in the December issue (p. 564).
     In this issue Bishop de Charms alludes to the "extremely complex circumstances" under which evils are permitted. He mentions the great suffering, even death, brought upon "thousands of people" by catastrophes that challenge faith in a loving God. It is fitting that the painful example of Vietnam should be brought forward in the same issue.
     The sermon in this issue addresses the reader very directly. "The hells don't want you to face the issue." "You may feel you have gone too far to change." "Especially think about the Lord . . . . Ask Him what you should do." "When you fall into evil, the crucial moment is afterwards-the key decisions are still to be made." "No one goes through life without mistakes." "Samson's Folly" is a sermon with clear applications.
     As Swedenborg walked in gardens he was often told from heaven of the correspondences of the things he saw (see HH 109). Our editorial alludes to instruction given to him as he looked from his window onto the streets of a great European city.
     This issue reports seventeen infant baptisms and eight adult baptisms.
SWEDENBORG SOCIETY ACCOMPLISHMENT 1983

SWEDENBORG SOCIETY ACCOMPLISHMENT              1983

     In 1974 a reviewer in this magazine rightly said that "the whole church owes the Swedenborg Society a deep debt of gratitude for a magnificent accomplishment, spread over thirty labor-filled years" (p. 433). He was referring to the Third Latin Edition of Arcana Coelestia. That work paved the way for a new translation into English. With great pleasure we anticipate the publication this year of the first volume of such a translation. You will be reading more about this in later issues of NEW CHURCH LIFE.
     Read the Writings in five years. Last month we published a daily reading calendar. Did you know that there are some ambitious readers who are embarking on a program of ten pages per day? You can get information and encouragement for such reading by writing to Rev. Wendel Barnett (address on p. 78).
APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION TO THE ACADEMY FOR FALL 1983 1983

APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION TO THE ACADEMY FOR FALL 1983              1983

     As noted in January (p. 16) application forms should be requested by March 15th. The forms and accompanying material should be received by the academy by March 30, 1983.

43


SAMSON'S FOLLY 1983

SAMSON'S FOLLY       Rev. DANIEL W. GOODENOUGH       1983

     A SERMON BY     "But the Philistines took him, and gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house" (Judges 16:21).

     The story of Samson is full of ironies. This mighty Israelite hero, physically the strongest man described in the Old Testament, met his downfall while asleep on the lap of a treacherous harlot in the pay of his Philistine enemies, and Delilah was not the first woman to betray him. During his ill-advised attempt to marry a Philistine woman from Timnath, in fact at the very wedding feast, his bride betrayed his trust by explaining his riddle to her masters. Humiliated by losing both his bet and then his bride as well, Samson retaliated by undertaking various mighty adventures against the Philistines (see Judges 14: 15). But he did not seem to learn. On a later occasion the Philistines attacked him after he went in unto a harlot in the Philistine city of Gaza (see Judges 16:1-3). Near the end of his life, after some twenty years of activity against Philistines, he fell under the sphere of the seductive Delilah. The Writings say she may have been skilled in sorcery (see SD 4746m, 4747m). She must have had considerable ability to manipulate man's affections. Three times she showed she meant to test his physical strength, three times he had to flee, yet he still could not resist her seductive charms and wheedling. And when he finally told her "all his heart" (Judges 16:17), he voluntarily gave up the key to God's greatest gift to him.
     An act of greater stupidity is difficult to find in the Old Testament, and we cannot help wondering why Samson did it, after so many bad experiences should have made him wise, especially with this Delilah. It is the same question we may well ask ourselves: why do we-why do human beings in general-throw away our greatest blessings from God even after bitter experience should warn us to be careful? For as the Lord granted Samson unusual strength, so He blesses each of us with particular, individual gifts, sources of success, happiness and delight, that we too often squander in moments of folly and pride; and like Samson we feel ourselves blind and in prison, victims of no one's stupidity but our own. Everyone has this experience from time to time, but before we can understand what we should do, we need to understand the spiritual meaning of Samson's capture.

44



     Although a Nazarite from his mother's womb (Judges 13:5, 16:7), Samson was not a so-called "sanctified" Nazarite; he came into contact with dead bodies while fighting, and he may have drunk alcohol at his wedding feast. So Samson did not, like other Nazarites, represent the celestial regenerate man. Still he represented the Lord on earth, particularly the young Lord during His early temptation combats, when from sensual truths He conquered hells of sensuality (see AC 3301:4; AE 918:11). These sensual truths, such as are found in the literal sense of the Word, were represented by the hair of Samson's head. (It was Samson's uncut hair that made him a Nazarite.) So great is the power of truths from the letter of the Word that Samson, representing the Lord's Divine Natural toward the beginning of His glorification, actually had strength by means of his long hair. (At that time in the history of Israel external representatives commanded by the Lord served to bring Divine power from the spiritual world down into the natural world of material, space-time events-see AC 3301:4). Most of the Old Testament's extraordinary and miraculous happenings took place by means of various representatives which the Lord commanded, and so Samson, representing the Lord's Divine Natural near the beginning of His glorification, was granted a physical strength illustrating the power of the Word's sensual truth in overcoming evil.
     Samson also represents the man of the church, evidently during early states of regeneration, and it is significant that all his battles were waged against the Philistines, who represent faith alone. It is perhaps especially toward the beginning of our spiritual rebirth that we must do battle with the falsely comforting thought that we can be saved just by our faith, as if our beautiful New Church beliefs and ideals will save us even though we do not live as we should. How we love to talk about "our" church. How good, how New Church we can feel from possessing a host of powerful truths from the Word, and we may easily forget that in fact we belong to the Lord only to the extent that we actually live by those truths in everyday decisions, not to the extent that we learn, profess and worship by them. Samson's mortal combat with the Philistines pictures our own temptations to imagine that New Church faith saves us apart from our daily actions.
     Still it is hard to believe Samson could be so foolish. Why do people sin? Why do we do things that in our right minds we know are total folly? Like Samson, we go to sleep when we should be awake. With some, evil is simply their rejection of belief in any judgment after death.

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More typically, a man of the church finds ways to rationalize his actions and justify them to himself. Though Samson's stupidity was voluntary and free-he should have simply broken with Delilah completely-still it was apparently unwitting; he probably imagined nothing bad would really happen. So may we dismiss even our serious evils out of mind as unimportant and bearing no eternal consequences. A favorite rationalization of those in faith alone is that the evils a man does are not sins but merely "infirmities of his nature, and that voluntary or deliberate evils are forgiven, either immediately or after some repentance of the mouth" (AE 802:6). "Infirmities [or weaknesses] of nature"-this attractive interpretation of evil suppresses the concept of sin and makes evils merely a product of the way we are, rather than something to examine and shun as opposed to good from the Lord. Studies of human behavior over the last century-and-a-half have produced much apparent confirmation that evils are largely infirmities of human nature rather than sins voluntarily chosen. But we should realize that the acceptance of evil among men and in ourselves, on the grounds that it is just a weakness of our nature, is a favorite faith-alone gimmick of the Philistine dragon. Maybe this is how Samson justified telling Delilah all his heart, by accepting his weakness for coaxing women.
     Theoretically life might seem easier to live if we could not rationalize our evils to ourselves. But if we were not free to justify our evils, we could scarcely be in freedom at all. (No one sins knowing it will probably send him to hell.) Would you sin if you knew that evil would condemn you to hell, or even just start you on the road to hell? The Lord leaves us free to hide from the reality of our situation if we want to, to cover over our actions with the most absurd self-justifications. What we love He allows us to call good, and really believe it is good, or at least okay. He will not force us to see the truth about ourselves-that is a step we must willingly take ourselves, from the truths of His Word. And that is why Samson's hair is so important.
     Usually the rationalization of folly takes some form of believing that I am an exception. Ordinary right and wrong, even common sense, do not apply in my unusual, exceptional case. It is an especially appealing fantasy to those who believe they are part of the Lord's particular church on earth. Samson must have believed that he was an exception of some kind, beyond the need of ordinary precaution. Is success the source of this notion? Success apparently turned David's head, making him feel an exception to the law when he numbered the people, and again when he took Bathsheba and murdered her husband (see 2 Sam. 11:12, 24).

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Samson had been marvelously successful, and perhaps he came to feel that his great strength was his own instead of from God, even though he knew otherwise. If we feel success in the world comes from ourselves, we can be led to nearly any folly. Just think for a moment of the awful stupidities that very successful men and women get themselves into, every day and every year. Success, if not ascribed to the Lord, readily feeds the ego's fantasy that we are exceptional, different, unusual, somehow beyond the usual expectations of the laws of order. So parents and teachers, while encouraging young affections to have confidence in their abilities, should discourage the young from thinking they are exceptions, beyond everyday right and wrong. Yes, we are all different, and we each in our own ways have gifts as unique as Samson's, but we are not exceptions to Divine truth, however our various fortunes in life may persuade us. The proprium's soothing flattery, "But I'm an exception," is probably the biggest of all false rationalizations to see through. Many of the devil's lies start with this one.
     The harlot Delilah was promised an enormous sum of money to betray Samson, and with persistence she accomplished her job well. She represents an obstinate, manipulative type of spirit quite similar to what we see in her in the letter. It is indeed possible to hinder, restrict, or harm the freedom of others (see DP 130; 136-139, etc.), and Delilah represents those who so enchant man as to take away his thinking and willing, and thus so his power, and "this in a moment," leaving him no longer master of himself. The Writings describe how such are able to enchant someone and make his thoughts their own until he is completely captivated (see SD 4746m, 4747m). Samson, of course, could have refused to continue visiting her, and his voluntary acceptance of her sphere illustrates that the various pleasures of evil, especially when we are not very regenerate, can be enormously appealing to the ego. But once captivated, man is left blinded by the Delilah sphere of evil; the Writings tell us that even when man later "becomes free, he is in such an obscure state that he says he is unable to think at all, and scarcely to see" (SD 4746m). So were Samson's eyes gouged out, representing the blinding of his faculty of understanding.
     "The Philistines brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house." Samson's prison represents a loss of freedom from being in false principles, and from living in evils from these falsities, yet while still intending good (see 5037, 5096, 7501, etc.).

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His fetters of brass apparently represent the bonds of natural good (cf. AC 1944:2). When in spite of good intentions we are blinded and captivated by falsity, and are led by false ideas into follies and evils of life, then it is often natural good that chains and binds us in our ways. Natural good is that external, apparent good that all men come into not from the Lord but from heredity, from society, from our desire to appear upright in front of others. Appearances of good in ourselves and in others such as outward friendliness and acceptance-can serve to keep us bound in a way of life we really ought to change. As long as everyone acts nice in externals, the brass fetters of natural good may hold us in a prison of false self-justifications.
     To this point the story is indeed sad, and threatening to our hope that we may always be in the right. In 1983 we would rather accentuate the positive, but we also must be true-true not to ourselves but to what the Word tells us about ourselves, and this is often much less pretty than our comfortable self-images. Here is Samson, yesterday the mightiest man in the Middle East, now blind and chained in a Philistine prison. Such a dramatic change is not really so distant from the great changes in natural life and spiritual life that human beings experience all the time, and it is better to see these changes from the Word than to cover them over with proprial inspired confidence that man does not need God. The truth is that we need God desperately, that His goods and truths may lift us out of the prisons where we find ourselves, and remake our lives.
     Consider: no one goes through life without mistakes. The crucial question is what we do after our mistake, whether we let ourselves remain in the prison of self-justification. When, like Samson, we make a serious mistake through our own stupidity, a mistake we could have avoided, we are likely to feel that everything is different now. We feel in a different state, and our old resolutions don't seem so important any more, our old strength may be gone like Samson's hair. It may appear that we have already made the most important decisions, and that because we are different, our old way of life is over and done with. We may lose our perspective and sense of proportion; as Samson's eyes were put out, we cannot see things as we used to. Young people especially may feel depressed, guilty beyond repair, hopelessly sinful, as if we can never put this evil behind us. Or we may choose to turn off altogether and forget our earlier idealism, which can now seem childish, silly, too exalted for real people; we may whisper, I should grow up and live in the big, bad real world and stop thinking about the youthful ideals of my past. Nothing may appear simpler than reconciling ourselves with a life we once knew was wrong.

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     This is nothing but a Philistine prison, and it is based on a fundamentally false assumption from hell. The false assumption, the devil's lie, is that once we have made a mistake or been in disorder, we have already made the most important decision. This lie from hell will hold us in prison as long as we listen to it. The truth is that after evil the most important decision has not yet been made. By far the most important decision in cases of disorder is not the choice that led you into it, but your decision of what to do about it afterwards: to accept it as okay and embrace a new you, or to learn from your mistake, to try to put the matter right, to resolve seriously to do better in the future. This is spiritual liberation.
     Above all, the hells don't want you to face the issue. You would rather ignore what you've done, but cold, hard honesty with yourself is what you need more than anything else. After evil or almost any mistake the first thing you need to do is to think, really think-think as calmly as you can, and for a long enough time to see the situation as it truly is, from different perspectives. What exactly have I done? Why? Where am I now, and what should I do? Think! Samson grinding meal in prison means just that (cf. TCR 301; AR 484, 791, 794; AC 9213:3, 9995:7, 7780, 10303; AE 1187; etc.). You may feel you have gone too far to change, but that is a total lie from hell: the hells just don't want you to change. They want you to feel your evil is irrevocably your own. But nothing can become part of your life until you confirm it, so what are you going to do? Think! If you don't think, in effect you are saying you just don't care, and that is the decision that will really hurt you.
     And when you think, don't think only about yourself. Think about your usefulness to other people. Especially think about the Lord, and about the wisdom, the love, the strength He wants to restore to you. Pray; ask Him what His good means for you. Ask Him what you should do. And read His Word to find out. He will tell you. Samson's grinding in prison specifically represents man's search for and examination of truths from the literal sense of the Word, and then choosing truths from the Word that can serve for a life of good. (See AC 9213:3, 9960: 10, 9995:7, 7780, 10303; AR 484; AE 810:2, 1187). As grain is ground into nourishing meal, truths from the Word produce life-giving good when you choose, think about and use them in life. Whatever your mistake, the useful truths you need are right there in the Lord's three-fold Word, waiting for you to return to life. Even if you don't find a passage which directly discusses your external situation, the Lord will answer you in His Word if you look.
     And your strength will grow back like Samson's.

49


His hair represents the Divine truths of the Word in ultimates, the down-to-earth, plain direct teachings of the Word, and as these grow back in your life like Samson's hair, your strength will return as his did. Not the strength of imagining that whatever you do is okay-that is fantasy. Strength from the Lord is the ability and power to live as you know in yourself you should live. The Lord gives the confidence that whatever the stupidities of your past, He will grant you strength to shun the evils and do the goods that inside yourself you really want to shun and do. This is the only real strength there is, and it comes from the hair, understood spiritually-the plain, direct, ultimate truths of the Word.
     Samson did more good for Israel after his folly than before. "The dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life" (Judges 16:30). So it can be for everyone who repents actually, seriously, in life. When you fall into evil, the crucial moment is afterwards-the key decisions are still to be made. Don't listen to the devil's lies about yourself. Don't give up, or suppose that somehow you are an exception to what the Lord says. You need to grind meal: search the Word, examine the meaning of truths, think honestly, choose truths that will lead back into good, and then do what they say. If you grind meal even while in prison, your hair will grow and your strength will return. Amen.

     LESSONS: Judges 16:15-30; SS 49 (Selections)
DIVINE PROVIDENCE AND THE DIVINE PERMISSION OF EVIL 1983

DIVINE PROVIDENCE AND THE DIVINE PERMISSION OF EVIL       Rev. GEORGE DE CHARMS       1983

     A STUDY
     The God who created the universe, and who perpetually governs all things in it, even the most minute, must be all-powerful, all-wise, and infinitely loving. To this idea of God all men assent from an inner perception of its truth. Why then should God permit so many evils to bring untold suffering upon mankind? This has been an unsolved mystery through all past ages. The answer has not been revealed before because the human race was not yet prepared to understand it. But in the Word of His Second advent the Lord has given the only possible rational answer to this question. He has done so because without such an answer man's faith in God can no longer be preserved. In its simplicity the answer given is marvelously clear and undeniable; yet in its complexity, as it applies to all the innumerable varieties of human circumstances, it still far transcends the understanding of any finite mind. Our purpose is simply to examine and present the teaching of the Heavenly Doctrine on the subject.

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     In the first place the answer depends upon a true understanding as to the nature of the Divine love, and the reason why God created the universe. The teaching is that the Divine love, from its very nature, longs "to love others outside of itself, wills to become one with them, and to make them happy from itself." The supreme end or purpose of the Divine love is that there may be a heaven from the human race. For the achievement of this goal an entire universe of finite things had to be created. Nothing has been created, or ever will be created, which does not in some way promote the accomplishment of a heaven from the human race. By the "human race" is meant a race of finite beings who are capable of receiving life and love from God, and of loving God in return.
     How can this be possible? Divine love is one with Life Itself. This is infinite and uncreate. It can exist only in God. It cannot be divided and "pieces" of it implanted in finite things. No finite being, therefore, can possess life or love in itself as its very own. Finite things are merely vessels capable of receiving, or of being moved by the Divine life and love, as this perpetually inflows from God. All finited things receive their life from God, but man alone is so created that he may love God in return. This is what makes him human and endows him with eternal life.
     We are told in the book of Genesis that in the beginning "God created man in His own image." This "image" is the appearance that he has life in himself, even as God has, and therefore can do whatever he pleases. This appearance arises from the fact that God inflows so secretly into him that he perceives life as if it were his inmost self, and thus were his very own. For this reason all men are prone to mistake the appearance for the reality. So doing, they will refuse to love God, and center all life in the love of self.
     To counter this native tendency to self-love, the Lord appears to man, and speaks to him in His Word. By this means the Lord makes known the inner truth that God is outside of man, a Divine Being to whom man may look with love and adoration, because of untold benefits received from Him. Apart from the Word no one would know that there is a God. He would never perceive the nature and quality of the Divine love, mercy, and compassion which prompt him to love God and worship Him with praise and thanksgiving.
     God gives man of His Divine life so secretly that he may feel it as his very own; yet by means of His Word He assures man that the life he enjoys is not really his own, but comes to him as a Divine gift, for which he should feel eternally grateful. The revelation of this inner truth inspires man to love God in return and in so doing to find his greatest joy, blessing, and happiness.

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This is the first and great commandment of the Word." "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve." a second commandment is "like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Such is the covenant between God and man that makes heaven and endows man with eternal life.
     But this return of love to God must be made under the appearance that man has life in himself. This return of love cannot be made because man has to do so, but solely because he wills from the heart to do it. Nor is this possible unless he is free, if he so desires, not to return God's love because he insists upon loving himself more than God, more than the teaching of the Word. To deny God and to reject His Word is the source of all evil, yet if man is not allowed to do this, he cannot love God, or obey His Divine Word, by his own choice. This is the reason why without the permission of evil there can be no heaven from the human race.
     Now let us be perfectly clear: God has all power. Theoretically, He could insist that man love Him. But if He did so He would fail to achieve the very purpose for which He created the universe. He could not achieve the supreme end of His Divine love. He would Himself deny the laws of Divine order whereby alone He could create a heaven from the human race. For this reason He willed to permit evil for the sake of the end He had in view. From this it is clear that the permission of evil is one with the Divine Providence. It is an act of infinite Divine love and mercy for the sake of man's salvation.
     But the vital question remains, how can man be given free choice when he has no life, and no power to do anything from himself! This is brought about by what is called "particular influx." It is the influx or influence of particular spirits and angels upon the human mind. Even while he lives on earth, man's mind is in constant touch with those who are in the spiritual world. What man wills, and what he thinks, appear to originate within himself, but this is not really so. They come to him from spirits or angels who are present with him. Thought and will are the life of man's spirit. They do not come from the world of nature, although it appears to man as if they do. As to his mind man is a spiritual being, and this is the reason why he continues to live after the death of the body.
     Man alone, of all created things, is governed by "particular influx." Plants and animals are governed by "general influx." This causes them to grow as it were spontaneously, and to act from instinct. They enjoy no real freedom of choice. They merely respond to the impulse of life inflowing through their soul, and have no power whatever to modify it. They merely act without thinking. In part man also is governed by "general influx."

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This controls all the involuntary functions of the body through that portion of the brain which is called "the cerebellum." But as to the "cerebrum" or Tore-brain" man is distinguished from animals. This is the "human mind" whereby man is in constant association with particular spirits. From this comes the thinking faculty, the "rational," the ability to perceive relationships, from which arises the ability to speak.
     We have said that man, as to his mind, is constantly under the influence of spirits. Some of these are good and some are evil. Both kinds cannot influence man at the same time. If they did, he would be torn between two opposites, the will to go in apposite directions at the same time. But good spirits and evil spirits dominate man's thought and will alternately, and the Lord, by the secret operation of His Providence, maintains a balance between these opposite influences. He brings man's mind into equilibrium, and thus provides for free choice. But how is this possible, since man has no life, that is, no will of his own?
     Even while he is under the influence of evil spirits, man can remember how he felt while good spirits or angels were present with him. This memory is what is called "conscience." Man is troubled by the loss of this heavenly delight, and longs to recapture it. This causes him to reflect, "What do I really want? Shall I merely follow the impulse of the moment, or shall I struggle to regain what is temporarily lost?" Man really has no power of his own to make such a choice; but the Lord inflows, not by means of spirits or angels, but immediately from Himself through the soul. So doing, He does not make the choice but merely gives to man power to do so. The power belongs to the Lord alone, but using that power as if it were his own, man himself makes the choice. He is perfectly free to choose, either to confirm the evil, oh to make his own the impulse that comes from heaven.
     If man insists upon choosing evil, the Lard permits him to do so, and the evil spirits then take possession of his mind and bring upon him the punishment of his sin. Nevertheless, the Lord causes good spirits and angels to draw near and restore the balance or equilibrium. This enables the man to change his mind, and choose the good if only he be willing.
     Of course, as experience teaches, every time one chooses evil he increases the power of evil spirits over his mind, and therefore the choice of what is good becomes more difficult. But fortunately the reverse of this is also true. Every choice of what is good strengthens man's ability to make that choice again. It should be clearly understood that the Lord never condemns any man. He never punishes anyone for choosing evil. All punishment is imposed by evil spirits who take sadistic delight in the suffering of others. The Divine permission of evil is an act of pure mercy. It opens the way to repentance and amendment of life. It permits evil only to the end that good may come.

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It seeks to withhold man from plunging into ever greater evil, and it protects the good from any injury to their eternal life. So long as the evil can conceal their true nature under a pretense of being good, they can exercise power and hold others in bondage. But when evil exceeds all bounds, and becomes visible to all, it causes a reaction that brings about its own destruction. Such is the law of Divine order that protects the good and keeps ever open the way to heaven.
     Once man has repeatedly confirmed himself in the choice of evil, he cannot alter that choice because he will not. If the Lord then compelled him to do so, He would deprive him of the "image of God," the appearance that he has life in himself. He would cease then to be human. By refusing to compel him, the Lord preserves in him some remnant of free choice, some remnant of use, and some remnant not of happiness but pleasure and enjoyment. He is permitted to exercise his evil love and find delight ire doing so. But he is permitted to do this only so far as the Lord, in His Providence, can secretly utilize it for a good purpose. This is true not only of those in hell but also of evil men still living on earth. The Lord can inspire them to do things from their evil love which He can use for a good end of which they are totally unaware. This is illustrated in the Old Testament by the fact that the Egyptians were permitted, from the loves of self and the world, to accumulate wealth, which was used by the sons of Israel to build the tabernacle, and establish a true representation of Divine worship. It is illustrated by the historic fact that evil rulers may cause men to perform great good for society. Wars caused by the love of wealth and power may stimulate invention and greatly advance the cause of science that brings unforeseen benefits to mankind. Pat the present day, men passionately devoted to the extension of human knowledge for the advancement of a purely materialistic civilization are inspired to produce a vast store of factual knowledge which may be later used to promote the understanding of spiritual things, and help establish the Lord's kingdom on the earth.
     So also the hells are governed by the Lord through the instrumentality of evil spirits who, from hatred and revenge, bring punishment upon others, to check their evil intent and keep it within bounds. If they use this power to excess, other evil spirits combine to oppose and overthrow them. When they lose their power, they are compelled to do some work to secure food, clothing and shelter. By this means they are forced to perform a use, although they take no delight in this and struggle once more to regain power over others.
     Meanwhile, the Lord in His Providence maintains between heaven and hell a "great gulf fixed."

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Devils and satans are not permitted to infest the angels. Only in the world of spirits, where the good and the evil are indistinguishably mingled, even as they are on earth, are those who are evil permitted to exercise power over others-but only within strict limits imposed upon them by the Divine Providence for the protection of the good. Only in this way can the Lord preserve with those in hell some appearance of self-life, and some opportunity to enjoy their evil loves. Such is the mercy and compassion of the Lord toward all who insist upon choosing evil, even those in the lowest hell. It is clear therefore that the permission of evil is a necessity of the Divine Providence without which there could be no heaven from the human race.
     However, when we contemplate the extremely complex circumstances under which the Lord in His Providence permits evil, our mind becomes completely lost in astonishment. Consider, for instance, all the natural catastrophes to which human beings are exposed-floods, tempests, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and many others. They fall upon both the good and the evil without distinction. Because they are unpredictable and unavoidable they have been called "acts of God." They bring serious injury, great suffering or death to thousands of people who happen to be in one place at the crucial time. How, nevertheless, the Lord provides for the eternal welfare of each one seems to be beyond the comprehension of any finite human mind. In this sense the Divine permission of evil remains a mystery. That the Lord does provide for the eternal welfare of each one we may acknowledge as a matter of faith. But how He does so we cannot even guess.
     This much is plainly taught in the Word: nothing that affects man from without can do injury to the life of his spirit. So we read:

I say unto you: My friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after this have 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 12:1-6).

     Elsewhere we read:

And He called the multitude and said unto them, Hear and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Then answered Peter and said unto Him, Declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? Do not ye yet understand that whatsoever entereth into the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out in the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the things which defile the man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man (Matt. 15:10-20).

55




     Physical suffering or death of the body has no power to injure man's spiritual life. Man rises from the grave just as he was at the point of death, and progresses in the spiritual world according to his own choice. But what if he is maimed or injured for life? Does this not interfere with his regeneration? It may indeed do so temporarily, for no one can regenerate in a state of serious illness, or when his ability to exercise freedom of choice has been inhibited. But so far as he recovers, the effect of physical injury upon his spiritual life will depend upon whether he acknowledges the Divine Providence, and seeks to cooperate with the Lord by continuing to live according to the teaching of His Word. In this way, out of seeming tragedy great and unexpected good may come. However, this remains for human minds a hard question.
     The truth is that because the Divine Providence is infinite, It acts invisibly. Only in retrospect can some indication of its activity be dimly perceived. Nevertheless it must be acknowledged from the heart because of the teaching of the Word. A belief in the Divine Providence is one with a belief in God.
     In the Writings a distinction is made between what is done from Divine will, from good pleasure, from leave, and from permission. These are degrees of Divine concurrence with what is required by the laws of order. With all who are in good the Lord can act in accord with His own will, or love; but with all who are in evil He can act only from necessity, because man insists. In no sense can He concur with anything evil. But there are degrees of good with which the Lord can concur in some measure. It is the Lord's will that man should be closely conjoined with Himself, and, if it were possible, that he might be completely one with Himself. This is not possible because there is no ratio between the infinite and the finite. Man therefore can love the Lord, but only in a finite measure. Nevertheless the Lord said unto His disciples:

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another(John 13:34).

     By this He meant that they should love Him from the heart and from the soul, to the full extent of human ability. This is what is called the "celestial degree of love," and it is the love of all those who come into the celestial heaven after death. All who are capable only of worshiping the Lord from the heart-felt acknowledgment of the Divine truth, He welcomes with "good pleasure" into the spiritual heaven; and those who love Him from obedience, keeping the commandments because they are what the Lord requires of them, the Lord welcomes into the natural heaven from "leave." But for all who reject Him from self-will, the Lord provides a place in hell from "permission."

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There are three degrees of permission and therefore three degrees of hell corresponding by opposition to those of heaven. The Lord permits man to enter these degrees of evil, but from no will of His own. Nevertheless a place in hell is provided from mercy and compassion in order to preserve with them some remnant of free choice. From this comes some remnant of life with its delight and pleasure. The evil dwell in their own delights of punishing others, of dominating over them, of enslaving them, and thus of exalting themselves in their own eyes. Within strict limits they are permitted to enjoy such delights. But lest they bring eternal injury upon the good, they are constantly restrained and frustrated by the laws of Divine order as to truth. These laws operate with all who reject the Divine love, mercy, and compassion. When this is the case, evil brings its own punishment upon the evildoer.
     It is clear, therefore, that the Lord permits evil, not from will, nor from good pleasure, nor from leave, but solely from necessity for the sake of the end He has in view. Nevertheless, the Lord's love and mercy do not depart from those in hell. Although they know Him not, and utterly reject Him, the Lord is present with them, even to eternity, secretly governing, restraining, and offering the way to repentance and amendment of life. To this the psalmist bears witness, saying:

Whither shall I go from Thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence: If I ascend up into heaven Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea. even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me (Psalm 139:7-10).

     REFERENCES

TCR 143           The Essence of the Divine Love
AC 2768           Although He permits the Lord does not concur.
AC 6914           Evils apparently commanded by the Lord in the letter of the Word are really permitted.
AC 6489           Nothing is permitted except for a good end. See also AC 6574 and 6663.
AC 7877           The permission of evil is not from the Divine will, but of necessity for the sake of man's salvation. AC 8227 also.
AC 6874           The Lord permits evil spirits to lead the good into temptation for the sake of their spiritual life.
AC 10612           Permission is given because the evil insist.
AC 10778           Permission given to preserve the sense of freedom (N 272).
DP 16           Permission of evil is for the sake of man's salvation.

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DP 234           The laws of permission are also the laws of Divine Providence.
DP 250           Why the evil are permitted to acquire wealth and power
DP 251           Why wars are permitted
DP 259           Why heresies are permitted
DP 296, 333      Evil permitted that man may be withdrawn from it
SD 824           Every permission tends to the good of all.
SD 398           The need for opposites
TCR 479           Permission is necessary because man has free will.
AC 1857           Every evil has bounds which it is not allowed to exceed.
DP 281           If man were not allowed to think according to the delights of his love he would no longer be human.
VIETNAM MEMORANDUM 1983

VIETNAM MEMORANDUM       ZOE G. SIMONS       1983

     In the program for the dedication of the Vietnam War Memorial on November 11, 1982, John Wheeler, chairman of the board of directors of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, made a statement which moved me to write these comments for NEW CHURCH LIFE. He said in part: "The separations [caused by the war] will hurt our national life unless we take conscious steps for healing . . . . The work is to get the generation that came of age during the war to focus on each other and accept one another, across the various separations caused by the war. Academic, Church, synagogue, business and professional communities can put this matter directly to the members of the generation."
     This statement seems to me to put a challenge before us in a way we may not have thought about. People in the church-our church-have a high concept of the importance of patriotism. We are familiar with the passage 414 of T. C. R. which says: "That one's country should be loved, not as one loves himself but more than himself, is a law inscribed upon the human heart; from which has come the well-known principle, which every true man endorses, that if the country is threatened with ruin from an enemy or any other source, it is noble to die for it, and glorious for a soldier to shed his blood for it. This is said because so great should be one's love for it."
     The trouble with "Vietnam" was that there was a conflicting idea of what was right or best for the country. In its way it was as complicated a conflict as the Civil War where families and friends were split because of their view of the moral principle involved.

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     David Richard Simons wrote six months before he was killed in Vietnam: "I don't look forward to Vietnam as some spackling adventure, but as a grim reality. I desire to go, I chose to go, because it is a responsibility which must be faced up to . . . . There is no future without Vietnam. I cannot see beyond it. I must go!"
     In visiting the Vietnam Memorial in the gardens which surround the Washington Monument, was struck by the suitability of its design. The great black gash in the earth is symbolic of the deep wound the conflict tore in our nation. In the very blackness is the bitterness felt by so many: those who were against our involvement, those who know that we were not allowed to win, and those who were for the war and think we should have won it. But it is a shining blackness in which we can see ourselves reflected, and it is sacredly inscribed with each one of those 57,939 men and women who gave their lives. Whether they went willingly or not, they are remembered forever. No "Unknown Soldier" here.
     I came to terms with the pain of the loss of our son by the realization that there is a "Vietnam" in everyone's life. In every generation there is either a major or a minor war, the tragedies of the Great Depression, the widespread unemployment of today, the drug war. We cannot save ourselves or our children from the warfare each and everyone has to face. We can only try to have the courage and sense of responsibility to face what has to be faced. Just before his last Christmas on this earth, Richard wrote: "Tonight I am reminded that life must be a continual warfare against evil . . . . that the Lord came into the world not to bring peace but a sword . . . . that true peace comes only after combat. I am reminded also that life is complex, and, like this war, it's hard to tell right from wrong, the valuable from the worthless . . . . but that is the challenge, to discern the difference and make a choice, thus too, on life after this conflict . . . ."
     We should not let the fear of a nuclear war erode our courage and commitment to the ideals for which so many have died. Bishop Willard Pendleton in his address at the memorial service for our Richard said, "The freedoms we enjoy at this day are a precious heritage for which many have labored, and others given their lives. To those, therefore, who at this day stand between the free world and the carefully planned aggression of Godless materialism, we are deeply grateful. 'Who does not remember and love the man who, from the zeal of love for his country, fights with her enemies even unto death, that he may thereby deliver her from the yoke of servitude' (TCR 710)."

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NEWS FROM BENADE 1983

NEWS FROM BENADE       R.R.G       1983

     Everyone, at some time or other, is faced with the need to write a letter of condolence. Here is a model written by the aged Bishop Benade six years after the "Bethayres blow-up" and two years before his own death. Mrs. Smith and her sister were probably members of Rev. R. J. Tilson's society at Burton Road, London, where the Benades also worshiped of a Sunday. Those who thought Benade senile or insane in 1897 would find little support in the following:

Rydal Gardens
35 Riggindale Rd.
Streatham, S.W., London
Febr. 1st, 1903

My dear Mrs. Smith:

     It was very kind of you to send us the "In Memoriam" of your sister.
     Our sympathy went out to you when we heard of her removal, for we felt that to you her going must be a very great loss. For ourselves, our feeling was and is one of great regret that we had been able to see and know so little of her personally. For herself we could but rejoice that the doors of her heavenly Father's house had been opened to her and that she was about to enter into the mansion prepared for her.
     Even the heathen, the ancient Egyptians, knew from the Word that existed among them that "the day of natural death is the day of life, and the day of rising into life." This old truth was a comfort to them, and was, indeed, the internal meaning of the church ritual of embalming, of which so much was made by them, and of which so many memorials have come down to us. What was so clear and dear to them has been made definitely and immensely clearer to us at this day of the Lord's second coming. He would have us know that He takes our friends to Himself, that He has provided for them all the food which His mercy wills them to enjoy. That as He foresees all the evil they may have to encounter in this life, and foreseeing guards their inner life against its assaults, so He provides a rich store of eternal blessings for their life with the angels, and in the sphere of His everlasting love. This is how we can think, and how we ought to think of the present and coming lot of your dear sister. Her love had turned to the Lord, to His heaven and His church even amidst the clouds and mists of this life. Now it will forever rejoice in the bright light of His truth and live a full life in the ever glowing warmth of His love.

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     May He Who is Good. Whose mercy is forever, comfort you and all your sister's friends with the Divine assurance of His infinite goodness in her early removal from the clouds and sorrows of this earthly existence to the life in which His presence and love are perceived and felt in every moment of existence.
     Mrs. Benade joins me in love and sympathy to you and yours.
          As ever, Yours,
               Wm. H. Benade
     [R.R.G.]
DIVINE HUMAN IN RELATION TO THE DIVINE END IN CREATION 1983

DIVINE HUMAN IN RELATION TO THE DIVINE END IN CREATION       Rev. NORMAN E. RILEY       1983

     God is omnipotent because He acts in accordance with His own order and not contrary to it (see TCR 56).
     The order in which a man is brought to the life of heaven, or, what is the same, to the forming of human life within him, is by first forming the two ruling loves in his internal that out of these loves the external may be born anew (see TCR 571).
     Since the Divine end in creation was a heaven out of the human race, and heaven in itself is conjunction with a visible God, therefore in providing for this end God acted according to His own order in relation to His own Human, the means whereby that conjunction could be effected (see TCR 89; DP 28, 323).
     Now consider the following words from True Christian Religion number 762: "That four churches should have existed on this earth since the creation of the world is according to Divine order, which is that there should be a beginning and an end to it before a new beginning arises." The four churches therefore had nothing to do with what man had done or not done, but were part of the evolutionary process toward the Divine end of creation. That this was the case may be seen from number 520 of the same work, "Adam and his wife representatively describe the first church on this earth: the Garden of Eden, its wisdom; the tree of lives, its looking to the Lord who was to come."
     Each age or church had its specific use in relation to the Divine end. And every use has its own truth, whereby the evils may be overcome and the good established.

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In connection with this we read again from the True Christian Religion number 786, "Now all churches depend on the knowledge and acknowledgment of one God with whom the man of the church can be conjoined. As, however, all the four churches were not in that truth, it follows that a church is to succeed them which will know and acknowledge one God. For the Divine Love of God had no other end in creating the world than to conjoin man to Himself, and Himself to man, and thus to dwell with man. The former churches were not in that truth, since the Most Ancient Church worshipped an invisible God with whom there can be no conjunction; so did the Ancient Church; while the Israelitish Church worshiped Jehovah, who Himself is an invisible God (Ex. 23:18-23) but under a human form . . . . This human form was representative of the Lord who was to come. The fourth church, however, which was called Christian, acknowledged one God with the lips, but in three persons."
     Each age did have its truth applicable to the use it served. The use of the first two may be seen from the following passage from Arcana Coelestia, number 4592, "All men whatsoever are born natural, with the power to become either celestial or spiritual; but the Lord alone was born spiritual celestial, and in consequence was born in Bethlehem." When the Lord was born, the ruling loves of the celestial and spiritual kingdoms were already formed. With the Lord the ruling love of the celestial was His love of uniting the human to the Divine and the Divine to the Human, while the spiritual ruling love was His love of the salvation of the human race. The uses of the Adamic and Noachic ages were the forming of those kingdoms in relation to the Divine end of creation. It is for this reason that they are said to be representative churches, and as such there could be no conjunction until the Lord had taken the natural degree also to Himself. We therefore read in Arcana Coelestia number 8054, "before the Lord's coming, heaven was not distinguished into three heavens, namely into the inmost or third, the middle or second, and the ultimate or first, as it was after the Lord's coming, but was one." The forming of heaven out of the human race refers to the way in which the human, or external, is formed as to its willing, thinking and acting out of the ruling loves of the internal.
     "The regeneration of man is an image of the glorification of the Lord" (AC 3138). As mentioned above, the first state is when man from the external looks to the internal. In this process man meets the evils which are of the external, and the goods and truths with him are apparent goods and truths. The forming of those internal ruling loves, which takes place invisible to man, is when he shuns the evils of the external.

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When those loves have been established then there is to be a descent of the true out of those loves that the external may be made new. The evils which have now to be overcome are those which have accumulated, and which for the most part man had considered good, because he was in external appearances (see AC 1661).
     With mankind, before the Lord's coming, the uses of the ages were those of the external looking to the internal; the evils which had accumulated could not be met except by the Lord taking the human to Himself. This may be seen from what is written in Arcana Coelestia 4295, "That the Lord in temptations fought at last with the angels themselves, even with the whole angelic heaven, is an arcanum which has not previously been discovered." And further from True Christian Religion number 121, "The Lord thus redeemed not only men but also angels." Why? Because a conjunction had yet to take place by the internal loves being ultimated in the natural or external, and the evils within the apparent goods had to be overcome. We suggest that this is what is involved in the description of the Lord's temptation in the wilderness, "If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." It was a temptation to let the natural or external truths, from which man had fought against evils, be the good of life itself. The Lord's reply, not in words but in deed, was, "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." The good of life can only be with man when the true proceeds out of the internal and makes the external a true recipient of itself. Let no one, however, imagine that he is in those internal things because of what he is able to read in the revelation given by the Lord in His second coming. For the internal out of which the true is to proceed is what has to become established in man. Neither let anyone imagine that of himself he is better, and we might add worse, than those of any preceding age. For every man in his regeneration must pass through the spiritual states described as the four churches, before it can be said of his life that the Lord God Jesus Christ reigns. Otherwise we run into the danger of claiming merit for what the Lord has done.
     We are aware that there are many details involved which have not been dealt with here. Our intention at present has been to present a general pattern, the main point of which has been to establish that the Divine end in creation reached its full state from the Divine at the Second Coming, that this was of Divine order and not something which had to take place on account of seeming follies of past ages.

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Editorial Pages 1983

Editorial Pages       Editor       1983




     NEW CHURCH LIFE
     WANTED, A PHOTOGRAPH FROM A CERTAIN LONDON STREET

     Around the year 1964 in a part of east London not far from Tower Bridge I took a few walks in a section that was then known as Swedenborg Square. One sight fairly vivid in memory after almost twenty years was a sign in bold letters: "SWEDENBORG GARAGE."
     For many of us the name "Swedenborg" almost jumps out when it merely appears on a printed page in small letters. Imagine, then, the impact of that sign whose purpose was only to apprize the ordinary car owner of the location of a commercial establishment. How many times over the years have people asked with a degree of incredulity, "You don't mean there really was a Swedenborg Garage in London?"
     The bad news is that when the word came that that section of London was to be rebuilt, I was a day or two late bringing a camera along. I did get some shots of signs, now gone, and these were properly filed with the Swedenborg Society. But the photograph I really wanted to take was impossible. The Swedenborg Garage had been torn down.
     No Londoner I knew had photographed that sign, and I gave up looking for one. Quite recently, however, when talking with someone Collecting photographs, I was told that you do not ask local people for photographs. "It is always the tourists who take the photographs." Good point! There is a real chance that some Canadian or American or Australian has a picture of the Swedenborg Garage. Readers, we appeal to you. Let us know if you can help find such a photograph.

     ********************************

     Did you know that some moments of east London's history have become incorporated in the pages of Divine Revelation? "Once when going through the streets of a great city, seeking a place of abode, I entered a house where dwelt married partners who were of diverse religions" (CL 242).

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Before Swedenborg had himself ascertained the character of this household, angels told him of the discord, and he sought lodging elsewhere. From his window elsewhere in east London Swedenborg beheld boys and girls playing in the streets. "In a great city, looking from my window, I have several times seen them in the street. . ." (CL 218). He could reflect in watching the different behavior of boys and girls. The thought came of what men would be like without the benefit of feminine influence "and later with conjugial love." This little vignette is from the passage which states that the intelligence of women is in itself "unassuming, refined, peaceful, yielding, gentle, and tender," while that of men is in itself "grave, harsh, hard, daring, fond of unrestrained liberty."
     These little anecdotes, more numerous than is often supposed (see last November's issue p. 513), seem to be casually inserted in the Writings. One is reminded that a circumstance in the gospel story is said in the Writings to seem casual. "Nevertheless it was of providence, and not only this, but also all other, even the least, of the things that occur in the Word" (AC 5620: 14).
     In studying the Word Explained which Swedenborg penned before he began the Arcana Coelestia, one is struck with the evidence that he awaited Divine guidance as to whether an incident or anecdote should be included in what he wrote. (See, for example, W.E. 317, 4251, 4355, 5588.) It seems that we may apply, even to an anecdote from the streets of London, what is said at the end of one of the Memorable Relations. "The fact that I came to those abodes, and that they deliberated then about those subjects, and that it took place just as it is described was of the Divine Auspices of the Lord" (AK 484).

     WANTED, A CERTAIN INDEX FOR MINISTERS AND TEACHERS

     Sixty years ago Bishop W. F. Pendleton appealed in this magazine for someone to make up an index of the vivid illustrations and clear examples given in the Writings. Such an index, he said, "would be of great use to ministers and teachers in their work of instruction."
     On occasion when the Writings give examples they say that it is for the sake of the simple. "In order to present the subject to the apprehension of the simple, take as an example . . . ." Obviously anyone teaching the young would want to have those examples at hand. There are some concepts that "cannot be made clear except by examples" (AC 4992). In Bishop Pendleton's study of the Writings he was impressed with the number of examples and with the importance of using them in all forms of instruction.

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     If no one has responded to the need expressed sixty years ago shall we conclude that it will never be done? There is reason for optimism on this. We have witnessed examples of needs that may have seemed destined to be orphans, but which were eventually adopted. One of those needs was also seen by W. F. Pendleton. At the beginning of the volume entitled Topics from the Writings are his remarks on the special uses of the Memorable Relations in the Writings. He felt that children and young people should become familiar with them. It was obvious that they should be translated into easily readable English. To the astonishment of some, this work was not undertaken. But the news is good. For one thing there has been new attention to the religion curriculum and an effort to "draw on the stories in the Writings, and give our students in elementary school a sense of the beauty and power in the New Word" (NCL, 1982, p. 488). For another thing nineteen Memorable Relations have been selected for translation by Lisa Hyatt Cooper into easy English. They are well on the way to completion and some have appeared in the pages of New Church Home.
REVIEWS 1983

REVIEWS       DLR       1983

Baptism, by Rev. Douglas M. Taylor, General Church Publication Committee, 1980, 18 pages. General Church Book Center, $1.00.

     This small booklet has been in use for many months now. It has proved to be highly readable and helpful. Although it is informative and definitive, it by no means neglects the affectional side of this subject. "Who is not touched by the manifest willingness to be led by the Lord, the beautiful innocence of a baptism?"
     Mr. Taylor reminds us (on the first page) of the emotions that are stirred when we witness an infant baptism. He also asks, "Who is so hard of heart as to be unmoved by the forthright declaration of faith of one who has come upon the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem in adult life, perhaps after many years of searching?" And on the final page he says, "The simple act of baptism looks forward to the coming of mightier things-a long series of consequences to eternity. What makes the sphere of the baptism ceremony so powerful is the realization that we are in the presence of a potential angel."
     Mr. Taylor proceeds under separate headings to discuss the meanings and uses of baptism.

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For example he explains that baptism is a ritual of washing. "Water and truth are both cleansing agents-each on its own plane. So we say that they 'correspond' to each other."
     Under the heading of parental responsibility Mr. Taylor asks, "What loving and wise parents would not wish for their child that he should learn to worship the Lord, shun evils as sins, and be prepared for regeneration? But whoever really wishes and longs for a certain goal or end does something to achieve that goal." He comments that "we can tell how much we love the things we wish for our baptized children by the constancy of our devotion to the means of attaining them."
     Of particular value in this booklet is the section on adult baptism, for the author accurately pinpoints the questions that people ask. "But I've already been baptized . . . . Why do I have to do it again?" In anticipating the questions and indicating answers the author always shows from the Writings or the Scriptures the basis for the teaching.
     This is a particularly valuable booklet, which, as we have said, has already proved its usefulness and readability. In commending it for continued use we would mention an interesting comment from page 13. "Let us remember that all of our life is, in a certain sense, a ritual. What we do and delight in determines what we receive from the spiritual world."

     *****

Confession of Faith or Confirmation of Baptism, by Rev. B. David Holm, General Church Publication committee, 1982, 19 pages. General Church Book Center, $1.00.

     Here are some selections from this small booklet.
     "It is sometimes mistakenly thought that we declare faith in a church organization such as the General Church of the New Jerusalem. This is not the case. Rather, it is a rational and affectional declaration of faith in the Lord in His Second Coming, as He reveals Himself in His new revelation."
     "No one by confirmation becomes a member of any man-made organization of the New Church. However, if the person confirmed is sincere, rational and free, he does become a member of the New Church of the Lord-the members of which are known to the Lord alone."
     "The rite of confirmation is to be a joyful occasion. It is a coming into maturity, which every normal human being longs for. Taking on spiritual responsibility brings independence, freedom and rationality."

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     Combats of temptation "can be lonely battles when we seem to be left to ourselves. At times we may even come into despair. But the Lord is never closer to us than when we are in temptations, for it is always the Lord alone who fights for us . . . . And yet there are states of hope and delight along the way. For there is satisfaction and happiness in overcoming evils, and gratitude to the Lord."
     "In recent years there has been a reluctance, on the part of some, to join any organization. Man-made organizations, because of man's weaknesses and failings, have been suspect. Yet if the uses of the Lord's New Church are to prosper and grow there must be an organization made up of men and women who are dedicated to those uses-who want the New Church to spread from the few to the many. Uses always require organization."
     This book is addressed to a Young adult ready for confirmation. It is not generally adapted for younger people. In some places the booklet is quite specific and practical, an example being information on how to go about joining the church (p. 16). Another example is in the section on the Holy Supper. "We are not to feel self-conscious or timid the first time we take the Holy Supper. Just follow the lead of others and concentrate on the sacred meaning. . . ."
     For the most part there is a direct, almost challenging appeal to the mind mature enough to enter into a real understanding of the teachings of the Writings. "There is no place for historic or merely traditional faith in the New Dispensation except in childhood and youth." Mr. Holm emphasizes that the New Church "does not rest upon human authority." He defines traditional or historical faith as "the acceptance of doctrine because of the authority of human teachers" and he twice quotes from a powerful passage in the Arcana Coelestia which beckons us away from a dreary traditionalism. The doctrinals of the church "are not true because the heads of the church have said so and their followers confirm it, because in this way the doctrinal things of all churches and religions would have to be called true . . ." (AC 6047).
     While avoiding the kind of traditionalism which would put the church into a sleep, Mr. Holm also reminds the reader of the covenant made at the time of baptism. "We can, as young adults, renew the spiritual environment set up at our baptism. This will be of very real benefit in the life of regeneration through which we must all pass if we are to fulfill the spiritual purpose for which the Lord created each of us."
     DLR

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UNLESS THIS WORK BE ADDED 1983

UNLESS THIS WORK BE ADDED       THOMAS M. COLE       1983




     Communications
Dear Editor,

     Unless the present little work is added to the preceding work, the church cannot be healed. For it would be a mere palliative cure; a wound in which the corrupt matter remains, and which vitiates the neighboring parts. Orthodoxy is this corrupt matter itself, and the doctrine of the New Church indeed brings a healing, but only exteriorly (Inv. 25).

     The more I think about it the more this number from invitation to the New Church is what could be called a striking quotation. When I first read it a number of years ago I don't recall feeling struck. Over the years whenever I thought about it I always seemed to think it was fairly important, but then I was never really sure why what is said is said (nor am I now). It must be realized, however, that it is quite striking that we are here informed of the importance of this work. In other words, this work is not just important; it is not merely a basic work of the New Christian Church but is in reality the sine qua non, or so it would seem. It would seems to me to be a much more striking statement than the one, for example, from The Canons of the New Church which states, "In this work is contained the whole theology of the New Church which is meant by the 'New Jerusalem' in the apocalypse." One thing both these works have is their brevity; we should realize the importance of brevity! It is, after all, the difference between the Writings and the two Testaments.
     There are many reflections I have had about a number of ideas presented in this work but I feel it is best to start with the most obvious thing, which is that from the title itself we can see the importance of the work.
     There is a strong tendency in the work of evangelization to appeal to the external or natural man. We make our books with appealing covers. We talk about subjects that will interest other people. We seek to translate so they will feel comfortable. Let's say "marriage" instead of "conjugial," but why not change the title of Conjugial Love to Sex sifter Death if we are so concerned about grabbing a person's interest? For that matter why not tell them about men on the moon who go piggy back? The answer is that we are avoiding the central issues of why we exist and whom we worship.

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The invitation is, in short, ". . . that men should go and meet the Lord." That is as it were the only doctrine of the Jewish Church, the Christian Church, and the New Christian Church.
     Why does it say the doctrines of the Catholic Church and Protestant Churches are in agreement with the New Church doctrine? Is it not because the most important part of religion is a man's relationship to God or more specifically the Lord? In short the faith of the New Church is so important because it teaches that man does not live by faith alone but by a charity which can only come into being by obeying the Lord. MY own thoughts on this matter are relatively unimportant, however, and I am most interested in a reaction from others.
     THOMAS M. COLE,
          Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan
REMAINS AND PARENTAL AFFECTION 1983

REMAINS AND PARENTAL AFFECTION       Rev. MARK CARLSON       1983

Dear Editor:

     I read with interest Patricia Rose's communication in reference to Geoffrey Childs' article, "Which Self?" I am interested in this response, because I believe Mr. Childs has put before us a very challenging study which may have broad application in the church.
     Apparently Mrs. Rose understands that Mr. Childs' idea is that remains are received by children through parents, while I understood him to say that parents are "a medium of instilling remains."
     Perhaps there is a fine line of distinction, but nevertheless, I believe it is a valid and important one. Nowhere do I find Mr. Childs supporting the notion that parents are the origin of remains, or that somehow they are a funnel through which heavenly affections are received. I suspect that the possibility of being understood in this way never entered Mr. Childs' mind. A key word in Mr. Childs' statement is the use of the indefinite article in referring to parents as "a medium." They are one source of effect on the child, not the only source, and what they do, or do not do, provides the occasion for many internal states to be stimulated.
     Imagine for a moment the extreme position that parents have no other effect on a child than their role of truth teacher. We know that this is not so, and it seems reasonable to assume that parental affection has some relationship to the heavenly affections received by a child.

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     I think we can all accept the clear teaching of the Writings that every child who matures to an adult has somehow managed to receive the necessary remains of good and truth for eventual salvation. The crux of Mr. Childs' thought seems to be that a failure in parental love brings about a condition in a child that blocks the proper function of these remains, and that when such failure occurs this is part of the process which requires the Lord to withdraw these remains into the interiors (i.e., remove from consciousness) for protection. This block, he suggests, is anger and rage directed inward toward and against self, rather than outward toward parents. The child blames himself for the parental failure, because believing it is his fault is less painful. Thus the issue is not really whether or not the Lord has been able to provide remains, but what is it that may block their proper function.
     Mrs. Rose doubts that parents who withhold love are able to deeply scar a child's remains. I would question this too. On the other hand, none of us would accept that the only role parents play in opening the way to salvation is by means of truth with no regard for affection. Such a view would seem to reduce the whole purpose of creation and the uses the Lord gives into our hands to a purely mechanistic charade in which we go through the motions of manipulating knowledges but have no true responsibility for one another. If the genuine uses we may perform for one another are limited solely to the realms of truth, with the Lord providing all the love necessary from within, then the only thing we can do of real benefit for our neighbor is to program his computer better.
     Regardless of how we understand doctrine on this point, there can be little doubt that what Mr. Childs says about the importance of parental affection is well based in experience. The study of the human mind from experience (psychology) has demonstrated that the quality of parental love for infants, especially in the earliest years of life, is of utmost importance for healthy emotional development of the child.
     REV. MARK CARLSON, Kitchener,
          Ontario, Canada

     P.S. My wife has the concern that in the New Church we are at times more worried about "being good parents" than we are about caring for our children.

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"WITH HIS WHOLE BODY" 1983

"WITH HIS WHOLE BODY"       Rev. ERIK SANDSTROM       1983

Dear Editor:

     I hope the discussion between Mr. Rogers and myself on the nature of the Lord's resurrection body has been stimulating to your readers. In bowing out, if I may again have the privilege of some space, I would like to put two sets of teachings in relation to each other.
     One set is summarized in AC 6716, the passage (together with HH 316), on which Mr. Rogers so to speak rests his case. Let me re-quote it: "Because the Lord's inmost was the Divine itself, could not this have made the external that was from the mother an image of Itself, that is, like unto Itself, thus making the humanity, which was external and from the mother, Divine?"
     The key word here in the context of our discussion is "made"-". . . made the external . . . making the humanity, which was external and from the mother, Divine."
     Then the other set of teachings is marked by the words "put off." Such teachings are more than can be numbered, but of particular interest is perhaps a statement that brings "made" and "put off' together in one short line: ". . . until He had put it off and made it Divine" (AC 2159). Further, this passage identifies the "making Divine" with the "putting on" of the Divine (AC 2159:2), and also adds with emphasis: ". . . nay, at last there remained not anything whatever from the mother" (ibid.).
     All these "put off" statements are strengthened by such words as "destroyed" (AC 6872e), "extirpated" (ibid.), "dissolved" (AE 706:11), "dissipated" (AC 6849:5, Ath. 161, 162), "perish[ed]" (AC 6849:5), and "banished" (AC 2658:2). To these I added the word "consumed," which I borrowed from I Kings 18:38 and supported with AC 2265.
     Is the one set of teachings contradicted by the other? It most certainly is not. Everything hinges on what is meant by "made" in the first set. ". . . made the external that was from the mother, Divine." Not infrequently do the Writings use that dynamic word "made" with the connotation of replacement. That there was replacement in the Lord's case is taught in AC 2265 ("in its stead") and AC 6872e ("in their place"). The latter of these two numbers also speaks of man being "made altogether new," as do in a similar way AC 3138:2, Wis. IV:2, et al. And yet man is "made new" only by "putting off the old man" and "putting on the new" (AC 4904:2). So also is the church "made new" (cf. "I make all things new," Rev. 21:5) only by "the opening and rejection of the dogmas of faith of the present church, and the reception of the tenets of the faith of the New Church" (BE 95, 96); or by "the first heaven, with the first earth and the first church, with all things therein, perishing, [and by the Lord then] creating a new heaven, with a new church . . ." (AR 886).

72


The maternal human "was made" Divine in no other way; in fact, it is after the pattern of the Lord's glorification that His church and the mind of man are made new also.
     I suggest that the choice of the word "make" in the Writings in the sense of replacing something old with something new is in order to lead the reader to think and perceive (and this whether he analyzes or reads in simplicity) that the new comes about on the same plane as the old that it replaces. Remaining on the same plane there is thus the appearance of one thing simply changing into another, when yet to "change" in the Word signifies to "remove and reject" (cf. AC 5248). Certainly, in the Lord's case it is most essential that all readers should be led to the faith that the Lord glorified His Human down to the very same plane where was the maternal human, and a thus to a vision of the glory of the Lord's Human down to His Natural (see TCR 109).
     I want to call attention too to the following universal principle which-whatever conclusion we reach-must guide our search for truth: "One truth without connection with others is not confirmatory, but a number together, because from one may be seen another" (AC 4197:7).
     As I have indicated, my primary concern in this discussion has been lest anything whatever of the human from the mother-anything material-should cling to our vision of the Lord we all worship. The Divine can indeed make matter, but matter can never be made Divine.
     REV. ERIK SANDSTROM, SR.,
          Hot Springs, South Dakota
OHIO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1983

OHIO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY       LOUIS B. KING       1983

     The seventh Ohio District Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held April 15th-17th, 1983, in Cleveland, Ohio, Rev. Robert S. Junge presiding. All members and friends of the General Church are cordially invited to attend. For information please contact Mr. Alan D. Childs, 19680 Beachcliff Blvd., Rocky River, OH 44116. Telephone: (216) 333-4413.
     LOUIS B. KING,
          Bishop

73


ANNUAL COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY MEETINGS 1983

ANNUAL COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY MEETINGS              1983

     MARCH 7-12, 1983

Monday, March 7
     10:00 a.m.      Headmasters' Meeting
     2:30 p.m.      Worship
     3:00 p.m.      Opening Session, The Council of the Clergy
     5:00 p.m.      Social Hour for ministers and their wives (L. B. King home)
     8:00 p.m.      Consistory (Board Room)

Tuesday, March 8
     8:30 a.m.      General Church Translation Committee
     8:30 a.m.      General Church Publication Committee
     10:00 a.m.      Session II, The Council of the Clergy
     12:30 p.m.      Luncheon at Cairnwood Village
     2:00 p.m.      Elective Topics
     3:00 p.m.      Session III, The Council of the Clergy
     7:30 p.m.      Professional Development Workshop

Wednesday, March 9
     8:30 a.m.      General Church Sunday School Committee
     10:00 a.m.      Session IV, The Council of the Clergy
     12:30 p.m.      Luncheon at Cairnwood Village
     2:00 p.m.      Elective Topics
     3:00 p.m.      Session V, The Council of the Clergy
     6:30 p.m.      Social Supper for ministers (Cairnwood Village)

Thursday, March 10
     8:30 a.m.      Pastors' Meeting
     10:00 a.m.      Session VI, The Council of the Clergy
     12:30 p.m.      Luncheon at Cairnwood Village
     2:00 p.m.      Elective Topics
     3:00 p.m.      Session VII, The Council of the Clergy
     5:30 p.m.      Holy Supper for ministers and wives
     8:00 p.m.      Bishop's Council (Council Hall)

Friday, March 11
     8:30 a.m.      Traveling Ministers' Meeting
     10:00 a.m.      Session VIII, The Council of the Clergy
     12:30 p.m.      Glencairn Luncheon
     2:00 p.m.      Board of Directors of the General Church
     5:00 p.m.      General Church Corporation followed by an organization meeting of the Directors
     6:15 p.m.      Bryn Athyn Society Social
     7:00 p.m.      Friday Supper
     7:45 p.m.      General Church Evening

Saturday, March 12
     10:00 a.m.      Joint Council of the General Church
     12:30 p.m.      Glencairn Luncheon

74


FREDERICK EMMANUEL DOERING TRUST 1983

FREDERICK EMMANUEL DOERING TRUST              1983




     Announcements






     Applications for assistance from the above fund to enable Canadian students to attend The Academy of the New Church at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., for the school year 1983-84 should be received by one of the pastors listed below by June 30, 1983. The amount of the grant per student has been lowered, because at present there are more applicants than funds available. It has also been necessary to set an absolute deadline for applications, in order to apportion the grants evenly, and to meet the deadline for immigration forms regarding student financing.
     Before filing their applications, students should first obtain their acceptance by the Academy immediately, as dormitory space is limited.
     Any of the pastors listed below will be happy to give any further information or help that may be necessary.

Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs           Rev. Christopher R. J. Smith
2 Lorraine Gardens                16 Bannockburn Rd., R.R. 2
Islington, Ont. M9B 424           Kitchener, Ont. N2G 3W5

Rev. William H. Clifford
1536 94th Avenue
Dawson Creek, B.C. VIG 1H1
NEW CIRCLE 1983

NEW CIRCLE       LOUIS B. KING       1983

     As of December 13, 1982, the Group in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been recognized as the Albuquerque Circle of the General Church of the New Jerusalem.
     LOUIS B. KING,
          Bishop

77


PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES 1983

PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES              1983

GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
RIGHT REV. LOUIS B. KING
Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania

PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES
Public worship and doctrinal classes are provided either regularly or occasionally at the locations listed below. For details use the local phone number of the contact person mentioned or communicate with the Secretary of the General Church, Rev. L. R. Soneson, Cairncrest, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009, Phone (215) 947-4660.

     AUSTRALIA

     SYDNEY, N.S.W.
Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom, 22 Dudley Street, Penshurst, N.S.W. 2222. Phone: 57-1589.

     BRAZIL

     RIO DE JANEIRO
Rev. Andrew Heilman, Rua Ferreira de Sampaio 58. Apt. 101, Abolicao, Rio de Janeiro 20.000.

     CANADA

     British Columbia:

     DAWSON CREEK
Rev. William Clifford. 1536 94th Ave., Dawson Creek, V1G 1H1. Phone: (604) 782-3997.

     VANCOUVER
Mr. Douglas Crompton, 21-7055 Blake St., V5S 3V5. Phone: (604) 437-9136.

     Ontario:

     KITCHENER
Rev. Christopher Smith, 16 Bannockburn Rd., R.R. 2, N2G 3W5. Phone: (519) 893-7460.

     OTTAWA
Mr. and Mrs. Donald McMaster, 726 Edison Avenue, Apt. 33, Ottawa, Ontario K2C 3P8. Phone: (613) 729-6452.

     TORONTO
Rev. Geoffrey Childs, 2 Lorraine Gardens, Islington, Ontario M9B 424 Phone: (416) 231-4958.

     Quebec:

     MONTREAL
Mr. Denis de Chazal, 17 Ballantyne Ave. So., Montreal West, Quebec H4X 281. Phone: (514) 489-9861.

     DENMARK

     COPENHAGEN
Mr. Jorgen Hauptmann, Strandvejen 22, Jyllinge, 4000 Roskilde. Phone: 03-389968.

     ENGLAND

     COLCHESTER
Rev. Kenneth O. Stroh, 2 Christchurch Court, Colchester, Essex C03 3AU

     LETCHWORTH
Mr. and Mrs. R. Evans, 111 Howard Drive, Letchworth, Herts. Phone: Letchworth 4751.

     LONDON
Rev. Robert McMaster, 135 Mantilla Rd., London SW17 8DX. Phone: 672-6239.

     MANCHESTER
Mrs. Neil Rowcliffe, 135 Bury Old Road, Heywood, Lanes. Phone: Heywood 68189.

     FRANCE

     BOURGUINON-MEURSANGES
Rev. Alain Nicolier, 21200 Beaune, France. Phone: (80) 22.47.88.

     HOLLAND

     THE HAGUE
Mr. Daan Lupker, Wabserveen Straat 25, The Hague.

     NEW ZEALAND

     AUCKLAND
Mrs. Marion Mills, 8 Duders Ave., Devonport, Auckland 9. Phone: 453-043.

     NORWAY

     OSLO
Mr. Eyvind Boyesen, Vetlandsveien 82A, Oslo 6. Phone: 26-1159.

     SCOTLAND

     EDINBURGH
Mr. and Mrs. N. Laidlaw, 35 Swanspring Ave., Edinburgh EH 10-6NA. Phone: 031-445-2377.

     GLASGOW
Mrs. J. Clarkson, Hillview, Balmore, Nr. Torrance, Glasgow. Phone: Balmore 262.

     SOUTH AFRICA

     Natal:

     DURBAN
Rev. Geoffrey Howard, 30 Perth Rd., Westville, Natal. 3630. Phone: 031-821 136.

     Transvaal:

     JOHANNESBURG
Mr. D. S. Came, 110 8th St., Lindon 2195. Phone: 011-462982.

78




     Zululand:

     KENT MANOR
Louisa Allais, 129 Anderson Road, Mandini, Zululand 4490.

     Mission in South Africa:
Superintendent-The Rev. Norman E. Riley, 42 Pitlochry Rd., Westville. Natal, 3630.

     SWEDEN

     JONKOPING
Rev. Bjorn Boyesen, Bruksater, Furusjo, 5-56600, Habo. Phone: 0392-20395.

     STOCKHOLM
Rev. Roy Franson, Aladdinsvagen 27, 161 38 Bromma. Phone: 48-99-22 and 26-79-85.

     UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

     Alabama:

     BIRMINGHAM
Dr. R. Shepard, 4537 Dolly Ridge Road, Birmingham, AL 35243. Phone:(205) 967-3442.

     Arizona:

     PHOENIX
Mr. Hubert Rydstrom, 3640 E. Piccadilly Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85018. Phone: (602) 955-2290.

     TUCSON
Rev. Frank S. Rose, 2536 N. Stewart Ave., Tucson, AZ 85716. Phone: (602) 327-2612.

     California:

     LOS ANGELES
Rev. Michael Gladish, 5022 Carolyn Way, La Crescenta, CA 91214. Phone:(213) 249-5031.

     SAN DIEGO
Rev. Cedric King, 7911 Canary Way, San Diego, CA 92123. Phone: (714) 268-0379.

     SAN FRANCISCO
Rev. Wendel Barnett, 4638 Royal Garden Place, San Jose, CA 95136. Phone: (408) 224-8521.

     Colorado:

     DENVER
Rev. Clark Echols, 3371 W. 94th Ave., Westminster, CO 80030. Phone (303) 429-1239

     Connecticut:

     HARTFORD

     SHELTON
Rev. Glenn Alden, 47 Jerusalem Hill Rd., Trumbull, CT 06611. Phone: (203) 877-1141.

     Delaware:

     WILMINGTON
Mrs. Justin Hyatt, 417 Delaware Ave., McDaniel Crest, Wilmington, DE 19803. Phone: (302) 478-4213.

     District of Columbia see Mitchellville. Maryland.

     Florida:

     LAKE HELEN
Rev. John Odhner, 413 Summit Ave., Lake Helen, FL 32744. Phone: (904) 228-2337.

     MIAMI
Rev. Mark Alden, 15101 N. W. Fifth Ave., Miami, FL 33169. Phone: (305) 687-1337.

     Georgia:

     AMERICUS
Mr. W. H. Eubanks, Rt. #2, S. Lee St., Americus, GA 31709. Phone: (912) 924-9221.

     ATLANTA
Rev. Christopher Bown, 3795 Montford Dr., Chamblee. GA 30341. Phone:(404)457-4726

     Idaho:

     FRUITLAND
(Idaho-Oregon border) Mr. Harold Rand, 1705 Whitley Dr., Fruitland, ID 83619. Phone: (208) 452-3181.

     Illinois:

     CHICAGO
Rev. Brian Keith, 2712 Brassie Dr., Glenview, IL 60025. Phone: (312) 724-7829.

     DECATUR
Mr. John Aymer, 380 Oak Lane, Decatur, IL 62562. Phone: (217) 875-3215.

     GLENVIEW
Rev. Peter Buss, 73 Park Dr., Glenview, IL 60025. Phone: (312) 724-0120.

     Indiana:
Contact Rev. Stephen Cole in Cincinnati, Ohio, or Mr. James Wood, R. R. 1, Lapel, IN 46051

     Louisiana:

     BATON ROUGE
Mr. Henry Bruser, Jr., 1652 Ormandy Dr., Baton Rouge, LA 70808. Phone: (504) 921-3089.

     Maryland:

     BALTIMORE
Rev. David Simons, 13213 E. Greenbank Rd., Oliver Beach, MD 21220. Phone: (301) 335-
6763.

     MITCHELLVILLE
Rev. Daniel Heinrichs, 3809 Enterprise Rd., Mitchellville, MD 20716. Phone: (301) 262-4565.

     Massachusetts:

     BOSTON
Rev. Grant Odhner, 50 Cochituate R., Wayland, MA 01778. Phone: (617) 358-5496.

     Michigan:

     DETROIT
Rev. Walter Orthwein, 132 Kirk La., Troy, MI 48084. Phone: (313) 689-6118.

79




     EAST LANSING
Mr. Christopher Clark, 5853 Smithfield, East Lansing, MI 48823. Phone: (517) 351-2880.

     Minnesota:

     ST. PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS
Mrs. Tore Gram, 20185 Vine St., Excelsior, MN 55331. Phone: (612) 474-9574.

     Missouri:

     COLUMBIA
Mr. David Zeigler, 1616 B Norma Ct., Columbia, MO 65201. Phone: (314) 442-0569.

     KANSAS CITY
Mr. Glen Klippenstein, Glenkirk Farms, Maysville, MO 64469. Phone: (816) 449-2167.

     New Jersey-New York:

     RIDGEWOOD. N.J.
Mrs. Fred E. Munich, 474 S. Maple Ave., Glen Rock, NJ 07452. Phone: (201) 445-1141.

     New Mexico:

     ALBUQUERQUE
Dr. Andrew Doering, 1298 Sagebrush Ct., Rio Rancho, NM 87124. Phone: (505) 897-3623.

     North Carolina:

     CHARLOTTE
Mr. Gordon Smith, 38 Newriver Trace, Clover, SC 29710. Phone: (803) 831-2355.

     Ohio:

     CINCINNATI
Rev. Stephen Cole, 6431 Mayflower Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45237. Phone: (513) 631-1210.

     CLEVELAND
Mr. Alan Childs, 19680 Beachcliff Blvd., Rocky River, OH 44116. Phone: (216) 333-4413.

     COLUMBUS
Mr. Hubert Heinrichs, 8372 Todd Street Rd., Sunbury. OH 43074. Phone: (614) 524-2738.

     Oklahoma:

     TULSA
Mrs. Louise Tennis, 3546 S. Marion, Tulsa, OK 74135. Phone: (918) 742-8495.

     Oregon:

     PORTLAND
Mrs. M. D. Rich, 2655 S. W. Upper Drive Pl., Portland, OR 97201. Phone: (503) 227-4144.

     Oregon-Idaho Border.-See Idaho, Fruitland.

     Pennsylvania:

     BRYN ATHYN
Rev. Kurt Asplundh, Box 277, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009. Phone: (215) 947-3665.

     ERIE
Mrs. Paul Murray, 5648 Zuck Rd., Erie, PA 16506. Phone: (814) 833-0962.

     KEMPTON
Rev. Arne Bau-Madsen, Box 527, Rt. 1, Lenhartsville. PA 19534. Phone: (215) 756-6139.

     PITTSBURGH
Rev. Ragnar Boyesen, 7420 Ben Hur St., Pittsburgh, PA 15208. Phone: (Church) (412) 731-1061.

     South Carolina:- see North Carolina.

     South Dakota:

     ORAL-HOT SPRINGS
Rev. Erik Sandstrom, RR 1, Box 101M, Hot Springs, SD 57747. Phone: (605) 745-6714

     Texas:

     FORT WORTH
Mrs. Charles Hogan, 7513 Evelyn La., Ft. Worth, TX 76118. Phone: (817) 284-0502.

     HOUSTON
Mr. Bruce Coffin, 3560 Tamina Manor, Conroe, TX 77301. Phone: (713) 273-4989.

     Washington:

     SEATTLE
Rev. Kent Junge, 14323-123rd NE, #C, Kirkland. WA 98033. Phone: (206) 821-0157.

     Wisconsin:

     MADISON
Mrs. Charles Howell, 3912 Plymouth Circle, Madison, WI 53705. Phone: (608) 233-0209.

80


GENERAL CHURCH PUBLICATION COMMITTEE 1983

GENERAL CHURCH PUBLICATION COMMITTEE              1983

Introduces a new
PASTORAL PAMPHLET
CONFESSION OF FAITH
OR
CONFIRMATION OF BAPTISM
By the Rev. B. David Holm

     The Purpose of Confirmation

     The purpose of the rite of confirmation or "Confession of Faith" in the New Church is that a young adult may publicly declare his religious faith, and of his own free will take on for himself the promises made for him by his parents at the time of his baptism. There is great power in this rite of the New Church. It serves as an ultimate act which introduces to spiritual maturity. The young adult comes into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ to confess his faith in Him, and to seek His Divine aid in shunning evils as sins against Him. The whole of the worship of the Lord, instruction in and from the Sacred Scripture and the Heavenly Doctrine, and the life of regeneration are all implied in the Confirmation of Baptism. Postpaid $1.00

GENERAL CHURCH BOOK CENTER
BRYN ATHYN, PA 19009
Hours: 9 to 12, Monday thru Friday
Phone: (215) 947-3920

81


Notes on This Issue 1983

Notes on This Issue       Editor       1983



Vol. CIII     March, 1983          No. 3
NEW CHURCH LIFE

82


     In an address to an open session of the Council of the Clergy in 1958 Rev. Dandridge Pendleton made a significant contribution to the understanding of the Lord's temptations. Ten years later, again at an open session, Rev. Kurt Asplundh provided further significant insight into this profound subject. Although these outstanding addresses have already been published we are reprinting excerpts from them in this issue.
     We are delighted to print some pages of a new translation well before the book itself goes to press-indeed, even before the final wording is settled. The book is usually referred to as De Verbo, to distinguish it from one of the Four Doctrines. It is to be found in the first volume of Posthumous Theological Works. Eighty-three years ago this magazine published a "new translation" of this work (1900, p. 259), but the version I we now publish is based on a new Latin edition and is coming out at a time when modern translations seem to be in demand.     
     Although aware that some readers prefer not to read articles piecemeal, we have divided Rev. Alfred Acton's address into two parts. It is remarkable how many subjects and issues are touched upon in this richly interesting talk on the essentials of the Academy.
     In April of 1944 Rev. Harold C. Cranch wrote in this journal of "the frontiers of the New Church." At that time there were no General Church priests west of the Mississippi. The following year Mr. Cranch made a tour of the West. His description of prospects entitled "Western States" was published in 1947(p. 26). A few weeks ago the first western ministers' meetings were held in Los Angeles (see pages 120, 121).
AUSTRALIAN ASSEMBLY 1983

AUSTRALIAN ASSEMBLY       Louis B. King       1983

     All members and friends of the General Church are cordially invited to attend the Australian National District Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem to be held in Sydney, Australia, on April 22nd to 25th, 1983, Rev. Peter Buss, Bishop's Representative, presiding.
     Louis B. King

83


BRASS SERPENT 1983

BRASS SERPENT       Rev. FRED L. SCHNARR       1983

     "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:14, 15).

     The Lord addressed these words to a man who had come to Him stealthily in the darkness of night to inquire further concerning the nature and instruction of Jesus of Nazareth. This man, Nicodemus, was a ruler among the Jewish people. He was well versed in the law, and a member of the Jewish supreme court, the Sanhedrin. Though a Pharisee himself, he did not join with the Pharisees in their attempt to stifle and destroy the teaching and influence of Jesus of Nazareth. Indeed, he came secretly by night to be instructed; he later defended the right of the Prophet of Galilee to be heard before the law, before being rejected and condemned (John 7); and finally, it was Nicodemus who, together with Joseph of Arimathaea, brought myrrh and spices to anoint the Lord's body and place it in a new sepulcher.
     Revelation does not tell us anything concerning the quality and character of Nicodemus, nor is this important, for it is not his personality but his representation that is necessary in understanding the meaning of the instruction given to him. Though a scholar in the law, he knew nothing of spiritual things, as is evident in his question to the Lord concerning man's regeneration: can a man "enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born again?" (John 3:4) Nicodemus was representative of the state of the church with man prior to the Lord's coming. The few spiritual truths that remained with the Israelitish and Jewish Church had been completely perverted and lost, and at the Lord's coming' that church had died. Mankind had fallen into an externalism and sensuality of thought and life so great that not one spark of spiritual light and life remained. In this spiritual darkness there was no way in which man could see the nature of the Lord, and therefore no way of seeing anything spiritual, for all spiritual knowledge rests upon the knowledge of the Lord. Those who sought a knowledge of the Lord did so like Nicodemus, seeking the Lord in the darkness of the night-seeking the Lord from an external and sensual state wherein falsity and ignorance ruled. What could such a mind see of the Lord's appearance in His newly assumed Human? What can a mind immersed in merely external and sensual things understand of the Lord's Divine Human?

84


The answer is given in the Lord's words to Nicodemus, although the meaning is deeply hidden: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
     To understand the Lord's words to Nicodemus, therefore, we turn to the story in the Old Testament of how Moses raised up a serpent in the wilderness. The story took place in the last part of the forty years of wandering by the Children of Israel in the wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula. Because of their continued disobedience of the Lord's laws, most of those that had left Egypt in adult life had passed away, including Moses' brother Aaron and his sister Miriam. Although the Lord had performed many wonderful things in leading the Children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, and in guiding and caring for them in their wanderings in the wilderness, they still complained to the Lord. Even though they were now near the promised land of Canaan, they wanted to go back to Egypt. Being short of water, and tired of eating the daily manna, they spoke out against God. When they did this, fiery serpents appeared among the people and bit them so that many died. Seeing this awful punishment, the people repented and cried unto Moses to pray to the Lord for them to remove the fiery serpents. It was at this time that the Lord said to Moses: "Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass that everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass he lived" (Numbers 21:8-9).
     It is evident from the letter of the Word that serpents, vipers, and dragons commonly stand as a symbol for something evil and false. The condemnation of the serpent, and of forms relating to it or coming forth from it, appears from the beginning to the end of Scripture. The serpent is cursed by the Lord in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve succumb to its temptations. "Thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life" (Gen. 3:14). As we have noted already, the Children of Israel were plagued by fiery serpents in the wilderness when they spoke out against the Lord. And later, in speaking of the journey through the wilderness, the Lord said: "Jehovah God led thee through the great and fearful wilderness of the serpent, the fiery serpent, and the scorpion" (Deut. 8:15). In the Psalms, when warning of those in evil loves, the Lord says: "They go astray from the womb, speaking a lie. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent, like the deaf poisonous asp that stoppeth her ear that she may not hear the voice of the mutterers, of a wise one that charmeth charms" (Psalm 58:3-6).

85


Or again: "They sharpen their tongue like a serpent; the poison of the asp is under their lips" (Psalm 140:3). Similarly in the prophets we find many such warnings: "They lay asps' eggs; he that eateth of its eggs dieth, and when one presses it out, a viper is hatched" (Isa. 59:5). "Be not glad, Philistia, for out of the serpent's root shall go forth a basilisk, whose fruit is a flying fiery serpent" (Isa. 14:29).
     In the New Testament, the Lord addressed the Pharisees as "serpents, a generation of vipers" (Matt. 23:33). He gave His disciples power "to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy" (Luke 10:16). And finally, we are told in the book of Revelation of the war between the great red dragon and the God of heaven, the representative picture of the last judgment in the spiritual world, in which "the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world" (12:9).
     The Writings tell us that all animals signify and represent the affections of man. In the spiritual world, where man's internal affections stand forth clearly to view, he may appear at a distance to others as an animal, or as surrounded by various animal forms. According to the laws of the spiritual world, man's affections, both good and evil, are so represented to others. It was from this spiritual law that the most ancient people learned the exact representation of each animal form, and then used such representative forms in stories describing things relating to man's various affections. When a written revelation was formed in the Ancient Church, it was from this same source that the animals in the stories of Scripture signified and represented specific affections of good and evil loves (see AE 581).
     The serpent and its related forms from the beginning represented man's sensual affections. These affections included all the delights of the bodily senses and all of the sensations and experiences that flowed through the bodily senses from the world. It included therefore all of man's sensual delights, both of the will and of the understanding (see AC 191-7). The serpent crept on the ground and licked the dust of the ground to represent that man's sensual affections were the most external of human affections (see AC 195). When man turned from the Lord and began to reason about heavenly things from self-love and self-intelligence, his sensual affections became the means whereby he was tempted to do evil, and finally, as the hells were formed, because of their external nature, man's sensual affections received and retained all the spheres and states of the loves of hell. No longer were man's sensual affections a servant to higher affections, and a delightful means of their expression, but they became the primary servant in which self-love and self-intelligence found delight and expression.

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The inclinations of hereditary evil were impressed upon them, so that man's sensual affections became not only an image of hell, but a very form of hell with man. Because the serpent represented this perversion of man's sensual affections, he was cursed above all forms of animal life (see AC 242; DP 310:5; AE 739:9).
     The sensual man, which the Scriptures represent as a serpent, is defined in the Writings in great detail. The reason for this is clear, for all men are born sensual; that is, they first come into the life of sensual affections and delights. The Lord was addressing all men, not just the Pharisees, when He called them "serpents, a generation of vipers." For all men are born into the perverted affections and delights of the sensual. "He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44).
     The sensual man is a man in whom sensual affections rule all other affections. But this does not mean that a sensual man is one who blindly follows his sensual inclinations as an animal does its instincts. There are such men, and they are sensual; but they have only entered into some small part of the sensual affections that are possible with man. Such are represented in the Word by swine and other dirty and greedy animals. But the sensual man that is represented by fiery, poisonous and destructive serpents is the man who enters into the sensual affections of the understanding as well as those of the will. Such a man delights in the accumulation of natural knowledge and in reasoning from such knowledge. And this includes knowledges of all kinds from the Word. Such a man appears learned before others in the world; he can reason skillfully and cunningly from the evidence of the senses; he is shrewd, crafty, and ingenious in forming falsities from such evidence that subtly support the perverted loves of self and the world. These falsities, and the attitudes that surround and sponsor them, are the serpent's eggs, which man is not to eat thereof lest he die. If a man receives and uses such a falsity it will hatch out a viper, that is, it will bring forth the evil that is within the falsity. This too is what is meant by the poison and bite of the serpent that man is to fear (see DP 310; HD 50; AE 739:12, 581).
     The sensual man will not reason from Divine revelation; he will not build his faith from the truths and doctrines of the Word, for these curb, and direct, and limit the love of self and self-intelligence. He turns therefore away from the Lord to the only other apparent source acknowledge, the evidence of the senses. This evidence, however complex and detailed it may be, can be formed and fashioned according to his own designs and purposes.

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And the poison in such a faith from self is that it seems more learned, more knowledgeable, more practicable than a faith formed from Divine revelation. It has within it an exalted independence-the independence of man's sensual nature, the affections of which incline man entirely to self, and the delights of self and the world.
     This is the subtlety and this is the appeal of man's sensual affections. And it has a particular appeal to him before the life of regeneration commences, when man's faith and real acknowledgment of the Lord is only beginning to be formed. The Children of Israel knew very little of the God Jehovah whom they followed in the wilderness; again and again they had to compel themselves without delight to obey and follow where the Lord led them. This is the representative picture of man's mind when his faith in the Lord is beginning to be formed. He sees only a little of the Lord's quality and character, and what he understands of the truths of revelation he must compel himself to obey and follow, often without delight. The love of self, clothed with all the sensual affections of man's inherited nature, seeks to rise up in its great independence and cast off the Lord's leadership, and return to the Egypt of merely natural knowledges and sensual delights. Man enters into such temptations when his mind is like a barren wilderness: he has no understanding of spiritual things as yet, and there are no spiritual loves formed in him. He is surrounded with externalisms, and confused with falsities. He is inflamed with the desires of his sensual affections and his heredity; he longs for them-these are the fiery serpents that are brought forth to bite him. Yet even in such a state, where man is poisoned by the venom of the serpent that is within himself, he can seek the Lord. He can do this because the understanding of the truths of the Word stands apart from and above man's native will. He can be affected by a vision of the Lord that is outside of him and above him even as the brass serpent upon the pole that was formed and fashioned to cure the Children of Israel.
     This is then the story that we see in the Scriptures by bringing together the search of Nicodemus for the Lord in the darkness of night, and the Lord's telling Nicodemus concerning the brass serpent which Moses lifted up in the wilderness.
     For that which affects man above all else is his idea of God. The truths of the Word which teach specifically of the Lord, therefore, are the primary and essential truths of all revelation. All spiritual truths infill, serve, and confirm a just and true idea of the Lord. In man's knowledge and acknowledgment of the nature and quality of the Lord is the means for the Divine to lead, heal, reform, and finally regenerate man. And so that man can know and acknowledge and finally love the Lord, the Lord has unceasingly endeavored to present Himself to man as a Divine Human God (see AR 469).

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Man must be conjoined with the Lord through the Divine Human, for otherwise he can have no idea whatever of the Lord's infinite Divine Being. The Lord adapts Himself to man's comprehension by presenting Himself as Divinely Human. The Son of Man which the Lord raised up through His life in the world was the truths concerning His Divine Humanity. After the Lord's coming, men could come to the Father through the Son of Man, that is, they could know the Lord's infinite nature through the truths of His Divine Human, which were raised up and presented to man in a new Divine revelation.
     The brass serpent which Moses was told to raise up, therefore, represented the sensuous of the Lord's Divine Human (see AE 70; AC 197, 425; AR 49). It was prophetic of how the Lord's Divine Sensuous would be raised up, even as the Son of Man was to be raised up to be the means whereby men could be saved. The Lord took to Himself in the world the same sensuous affections that are with man an image and form of hell. These affections of the Mary human He rejected and dispersed through temptations, and in His own Human took to Himself and ordered, on the plane of the senses, all sensual affections from the Divine. Now the Lord could present Himself in Divine Human form even on the plane of man's sensual affections. Indeed, there was and is no other way whereby man in the midst of his sensual, external nature can begin to know and acknowledge the Lord. And so the Children of Israel, representing man's sensual and external state of mind, were told to look to the brass serpent, to the Sensuous of the Lord's Divine Human to be healed. And Nicodemus, likewise representing such a state of mind, was directed to the sight of the Sensuous of the Lord's Divine Human, "that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."
     All children, because they live totally in the world of the senses, see the Lord in sensual terms. They see Him with the form and quality of a human father. So too do they see the kingdom of heaven; indeed, all spiritual things are understood by them in the limitations of sensual ideas. And the same is similarly true of adults in the beginning of their life of reformation and regeneration, only the concepts of sensual thought and affection are greatly expanded. While the Lord does not will that man should remain in such thought concerning Him, but should come to know and love the Lord's Divine Natural and Divine Rational, with all that this stands for, still the knowledge and acknowledgment of the Divine Sensual must come first (see AE 581:12, AC 4211).

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And what is more, it has power to overcome and rule our perverted sensual affections wherein the love of self has its great influence and dominion. The simple, sensual concept of the Lord as Divine Man-as a loving, wise, gentle, and merciful Divine Man-is the brazen image of the serpent which the Lord has now fashioned and raised up to quell and overcome for us the power of that poisonous and fiery serpent that lies coiled in our heredity, that old serpent called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. In the sensual concept of the Lord as Divine Man, all the life of man's reformation and regeneration has its beginning. For the Son of Man has been lifted up, "that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." Amen.

     LESSONS: Numbers 21:1-9; John 3:1-15; AE 581:12 "SURELY HE HATH BORNE OUR GRIEFS" 1983

"SURELY HE HATH BORNE OUR GRIEFS"       Rev. MARK E. ALDEN       1983

     At Easter time our thoughts again turn, as at Christmas, to the Lord and His coming to redeem and save the human race. There is a difference, however, in that the Christmas story is largely one of innocence, joy and excitement. But in the Easter story, the letter of Scripture draws our attention not only to the joy of the resurrection, but also to the wrath and cruelty of hell, and to the Lord's human suffering. Of His suffering, the Lord said, "Weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves." And in the Writings, we are taught to direct our belief to the risen Lord and not to the Lord on the cross-not to suffering, but to His fight and His victory.
     To help us consider how, still today, we must "weep for ourselves" and not for Him, and to help us direct our attention to the risen Lord even while we read of His suffering, it is useful to consider in what way "He hath borne our griefs." (Please read Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22.)
     Think, what are our griefs and our sorrows? They are all the evil ways and false justifications for evil we harbor within us. Our griefs (every one of them) are caused by hell's entrance into our mind and heart. Our sorrows are all those ways of twisting to self the essential message of God's Word.
     These perversions the Lord inherited in the human He received from Mary. He "bore our griefs, and carried our sorrows" as temptations, caused by the influx of hell into the hereditary tendencies in His earthly human.

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The Lord experienced the same attacks of the hells, the same temptations as we do, and far, far more-and was victorious.
     "Surely He hath borne our griefs . . . ." "He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief . . ." (Is. 53:4, 3). "I gave My back to the smiters . . . . I hid not My face from shame and spitting"! (50:6). "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our Iniquities" (53:5).
     In the very act of "being wounded for our transgressions" (i.e., allowing hell to attempt an attack on the Divine through the human) came His victory. For the instant that the human was brought to the point of despair and so gave itself over to the Divine will, the Divine within was released in all its omnipotence against that attacking hell. "He bore all things even to the passion of the cross . . . and because He bore such things He will go forth a Victor" (Prophets and Psalms regarding Is. 53). Thus we should think of Jesus' suffering as one with His victory and glorification. What other way could there have been for the Lord to have conquered hell than to have admitted into Himself temptations from hell, the very source of our sorrows? "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?" (Luke 24:26)
     In all His temptations the Lord fought from the Human, and in the human felt the same isolation and despair that we feel. Remember, though, that the suffering was only in the human from Mary, and not in any way in the Divine or the Divine Human. Here, He was continually in the peace of infinite love for the salvation of men.
     One traditional explanation of the passion is that the Lord somehow transferred to Himself the sins of others, and took them away by His sorrows and His punishments which invoked the pity of the Father. But sins cannot be transferred away from him who has sinned. "Sins can be annulled only by repentance of life by him who has sinned" (AE 805:5).
     The Lord, by bearing the "grief" of temptation, conquered hell and cleared away the overbalance of evil in the world of spirits, giving us the freedom for salvation. At the same time, the "sins He bore" represented, and so pointed out to us, our iniquities, and what we could do about them (see TCR 130:2). The tools He used in His temptations (the Divine truths of the Word) were thus made available to man on earth. We can use these same truths to see our evils, repent, and gain victory through the Lord's power. This new ability we have to be healed of our infirmities by the Lord is actually represented in Scripture where the Lord heals the sick and casts out devils, "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, He took our weaknesses, and bore our diseases" (Matt. 8:17).

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     So to us, the message of Easter is how the Lord provided us with the means of salvation (the truths with which we can do some spiritual work). The whole of the Lord's life looked to this end, according to the Lord's words: "To this end was I born, and for this cause came into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth"(John 18:37).
     Our thoughts of the Lord at Easter time should turn to the salvation which He made possible, and be ushered in by the announcement of John the Baptist: "Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). As we focus on how the Lord provided us the means for removing these sins (His temptations), remember His words, "Weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves." For we still have sins to be taken away, and so, much weeping to do (that is, fighting of evil in temptation). And because the Lord has seen these evils face to face, and been victorious, we too can be victorious and freed from them, using the same truths He fought with. "With His stripes we are healed" (Is. 53:5). Thus to read of the sorrowful things in the Easter story need not fill us with sorrow, but with awe, wonder, and thankfulness (even joy) that the Lord had such mercy. "Surely He hath borne our griefs."
LORD'S TRIUMPH IN THE WILDERNESS 1983

LORD'S TRIUMPH IN THE WILDERNESS       Rev. KURT H. ASPLUNDH       1983

     EXCERPTS FROM AN ADDRESS

     (Published in May 1968 NCL)

     The Lord's life was one of continual combat with the hells. We know this from the Heavenly Doctrine because it does not appear clearly in the Gospels. On the face of it, we see only a series of three temptations which the Lord endured at the beginning of His ministry, and, in addition, the agony in Gethsemane and the crucifixion itself. These last, of course, were evidence of the greatest struggle of all between the Lord and the combined forces of hell.
     By comparison, the wilderness temptations seem far milder. But three incidents are recorded. First, when the Lord had fasted forty days and nights, He hungered. In the extremity of His hunger the tempter came to Him, and said: "If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread."

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     The second incident involves a similar thing. The devil had taken the Lord up on a pinnacle of the temple in the holy city. There he said: "If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee: and in their hands they shall bear Thee up."
     In the third incident, the devil took the Lord into a high mountain to show Him all the kingdoms of the world, and offered to give these to Him if only the Lord would worship him.
     Aside from the hunger which the Lord endured as a result of forty days and nights of fasting, these temptations in the wilderness presented no physical test. In fact, it may be wondered that these encounters are called temptations at all. They seem to involve little more than an exchange of words. Yet we are told in the Writings that these were interior temptations of an unimaginable intensity, and that they represent a summary of all the temptations which the Lord underwent. (See AE 730a:41; AC 1690:2.)
     To understand how this is so we must know what the Writings mean by temptation. It is not a seduction or an allurement to do what is evil. The Writings define temptation as an attack which induces doubt. The attack is directed against what a man loves.
     We will know the nature of the Lord's temptations, and their intensity, only when we know His love. The Lord's love is for the salvation of the human race; and the method of the devil's attack was to show the Lord how depraved man was, and to insinuate at the same time a feeling of hopelessness about it. It was as though the devil said: "You cannot save this human race; there is too much of evil in it. Why not give up trying?"
     As the Lord thought on these things the devil tempted Him, saying: "If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." The "stones" were not the rock formations of the Judean wilderness but the "stony ground" or the stony hearts of the inhabitants of all Judea. It was indeed the Lord's will to make of these stony hearts bread of heaven, to save them; but not in the manner suggested. For when the tempter came to Him, he said: "Command that these stones be made bread" (italics added). The devil urged the Lord to command men's souls, to force them to His will. If He was truly the Son of God could He not do what He willed?
     If He did not change stone to bread, it would seem that He had not the power of God and lacked the ability to save mankind. Is not this the apparent dilemma involved in the relation of the Lord with man? Can the Lord leave man free and yet save him? If He leaves man free, what power does He have with man?

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     The Lord said: "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone." This answered the apparent dilemma posed by the temptation by raising the thought to a higher level. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." This is the answer. Divine power is in and with the Word. It does not compel, yet it can save. Eternal truth from the Lord sustains and nourishes the spiritual man.
     So much for the first of the: temptations. It came immediately after the Lord's baptism, and it was a challenge to His Divinity. Does the Son of God have Divine power?
     It has been stated that the Lord's only love is for man; His purpose, the salvation of the whole human race. Essentially two things oppose this love and purpose: the love of self with man and the love of the world with man. These loves are opposite to the heavenly loves which the angels possess. None who loves self or the world more than the Lord or the neighbor may find a place in the heavenly kingdom. It is not surprising, then, that the two following temptations with which the devil attacked the Lord refer to these two loves. This does not mean that the ford ever thought or acted from the love of self or from the love of the world. Such loves are absolutely foreign to the Divine nature. Yet the Lord was able, by virtue of the humanity which Me had assumed from Mary, to know the power of these loves. He could experience in His own mind the fallacious thoughts induced by these loves. In this way He could come to see the degree to which these two loves stood as obstacles to His desire to save the human race. Because all evils take their origin from these two loves, all temptation regarding the salvation of man could be summarized in the two incidents.
     The devil took the Lord, in the spiritual world, to a city which was the counterpart of Jerusalem, and there took Him hip to a pinnacle of the temple. Then it was that the devil made his suggestion: "If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down." Here, as in the first temptation, appeal is made to the omnipotence of the Lord. If You are the Son of God, the devil is saying, You have the power to hold dominion over the minds of all men. Just prove Your power. Cast Yourself down. The angels will bear You up in a convincing demonstration of Your Divinity.
     What the devil suggested illustrates the nature of the love of self. It wishes to prove itself. It seeks recognition and an acquiescence in its authority. It argues for its own cause, not with any use involved, not with sensitive regard for the states of others, but simply to prove its own rightness.

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     The Lord's reply was swift and sure: "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God" (Matt. 4:7). The word "tempt" here means "test" or "prove." The Lord knew from inner perception that it would be wrong to combat man's self-love by resorting to a monstrous kind of Divine self-love such as the devil suggested. It was not the Lord's purpose to secure the most powerful dominion of all in a world where love of dominion flourished. He sought men's love and respect as freely granted and willingly given. Therefore He rejected the diabolical suggestion that He cast Himself down.
     We turn now to the final temptation, in which the devil took the Lord up into an exceeding high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them. There is no mountain on earth with such a view. What the Lord saw was a spiritual panorama of human states. In this temptation, the devil said to the Lord: "All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship Me" (Matt. 4:9). Then it was that the Lord knew the extent to which the devil could appeal to man's love of the world. The devil was not here attempting to attract the Lord to such a love; he was demonstrating the power he had over those souls which the Lord willed to save. He wanted to make it appear hopeless for the Lord to appeal to those in the love of the world: hopeless, that is, unless the Lord Himself would yield to the devil by abandoning Divine order and turn to the ways of the devil in manipulating men.
     Once again, the Lord's doubts were dispersed by the truths of Scripture. So He dismissed the devil with the words: "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve" (Matt. 4:10).
     To worship and serve the Lord is to love and obey His Divine laws of order. Herein is the Lord's supreme power over hell. The Lord's spirit touches the heart of man to raise him up, while the devil sears the flesh to draw man down.
     Man may think past the momentary passion to the harm and sorrows it may bring. Thus he may weigh, in a reflective mind, the emotions and feelings that he experiences, and control them. And the Lord has given man even more. He has given the Word. In it man may learn the true value of what he experiences. His reflections are given light and validity by its means, and in this light true comparisons may be made between the way of heaven and the way of the world. From the Word we know that the goal of life is spiritual, not natural, blessing. "What shall it profit a man," the Lord said, "if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36)

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If a man sell his soul for the world's goods, and then die, then whose shall those things be which he has provided? "So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God" (Luke 12:21).
     And so the Lord's temptations in the wilderness were ended by His final dismissal of the hells: "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." The attack was ended, the fight over. The Lord reigned triumphant. He was that Son of God to Whom all power in heaven and on earth was given.
PASTORAL CHANGES 1983

PASTORAL CHANGES              1983

     Rev. Daniel Heinrichs has resigned as pastor of the Washington Society in order to accept a call to serve as resident pastor to the Miami Circle, serving also the South Florida District, effective July 1, 1983.
     Rev. Mark Alden has received appointment by the Bishop to serve as an assistant to the pastor of the Washington Society, effective July 1, 1983.
     Rev. Arne Bau-Madsen has resigned as pastor of the Kempton Society, effective July 1, 1983. Mr. Bau-Madsen will serve as associate pastor to the Kempton Society for one year, effective July 1, 1983.
     Rev. Jeremy Simons has been called to serve as pastor of the Kempton Society, effective July 1, 1983.
     Rev. Nathan Gladish has been assigned as an assistant to the pastor of the Atlanta Society, with responsibilities as traveling minister to the Southeast District, effective July 1, 1983.
RETRACTION 1983

RETRACTION              1983

     In the December issue (p. 574) the name of Mrs. John A. Doering (Katherine Macbeth Boggess) is listed under "Resignations." Mrs. Doering did not resign from the General Church, and we regret this error for which we sincerely apologize.

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LORD'S TEMPTATIONS AFTER HIS THIRTIETH YEAR 1983

LORD'S TEMPTATIONS AFTER HIS THIRTIETH YEAR       Rev. DANDRIDGE PENDLETON       1983

     EXCERPTS FROM AN ADDRESS

     (Published in March 1958 NCL)

     In Arcana Coelestia 5335 we read: "The Lord did not manifest Himself until He was thirty years of age . . . for He was then in the fulness of remains . . . . From Him, then, it is that 'thirty years' signifies a full state as to remains . . . . For every representative is derived from the Lord, and therefore every representative looks to the Lord."
     This is the point: that the Lord commenced His public ministry when He was in "the fulness of remains," or a "full state as to remains." This, I believe, marks a distinction as to the source and nature of His temptations-a profound degree of difference between that which had gone before and that which was yet to come, in the glorification process.
     That the Lord was tempted, the Writings leave no room for doubt this from His earliest childhood even to the last hour of His life (see AC 1690, 9937). His temptations were grievous beyond comprehension (see AC 1690, 4287). For His love was the Divine Itself (see AC 4287, 9937), consisting of the "whole sum of the affection of good and the affection of truth in the highest degree" (AC 1820). From this love He fought (see AC 1789, 1812, 9937). And from it He overcame "the most malignant wiles and venom [of] all the hells" (AC 1820).
     Yet it was not from the hells alone that the Lord underwent temptation. For He "admitted all the hells into Himself in their order, yea, even to the angels" (AC 4287). Thus He "allowed angels also to tempt Him" (AC 4307). Wherefore the Lord "at last fought with the angels themselves, nay, with the whole angelic heaven . . . . Heaven is not pure in the eyes of God . . . . This being the case, in order that the Lord might reduce the universal heaven into heavenly order, He admitted into Himself temptations from the angels also, who, insofar as they were in what is their own, were so far not in good and truth. These temptations are the inmost of all, for they act solely into the ends, and with such subtlety as cannot possibly be noticed" (AC 4295).
     It has become my understanding that all temptation with the Lord, after He had reached the age of thirty, was derived through the heavens. This advances the thought that at the time of His manifesting before men He had conquered the hells as a direct force of assault upon His Human.

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Let the doctrinal proposition here be clearly stated. It is that the Lord's temptations from the time that He "began to be about thirty years of age" (Luke 3:23), and thus throughout the entire period of His public ministry, were derived solely through the angelic heavens.
     Yet it is noted that the Lord was in a state of "continual combats with the hells, even to the last on the cross" (AC 10239:4); that from earliest childhood to the last of His life He was in combats with the hells (see AC 9937); that it was not until the final temptation that He fully subjugated them (ibid.). And the categoric statement is made that "temptations are nothing else than combats against the hells" (Lord 12).
     All of this, however, need not contravert either the statement that the Lord was tempted by angels, or the proposition that this was the only avenue of His temptations from the age of thirty onward. For whatever of spiritual stress may have come upon Him from the angels must necessarily have been derived through their propria (see AC 4295, 4307) from the hells. This was not, I conceive, a thing of deliberate activity by the angels involved, but of the hells through them. Viewed in this light, all of the Lord's temptations, even to the last of them, did indeed originate in and from the hells. But the derivation of influx thence through the minds of angels evidently gave rise to a subtlety of internal stress such as cannot be imagined by man. However this may have been, we know that these latter temptations were the "inmost of all" (AC 4295).
     From "earliest childhood" (AC 1661) the Lord had undergone temptation from the hells "in their order" (AC 4287). This order commenced with the lowest of the hells-the Nephilim (AC 1673)-and "at last" involved the angels of heaven (AC 4287). Bear in mind that these combats against the hells had continued from His childhood. And in these combats, He was continually victorious (AC 1690, 4287). "As often as He fought and overcame, this was . . . added to the righteousness that He was becoming as a continual increase" (AC 1813). In a word, His power was achieved cumulatively. Once gained, it was not thereafter lost. For "victories are attended with the result that the malignant genii and spirits afterwards dare not do anything" (AC 1820). They are no longer permitted to assault, "for they instantly perceive . . . that good and truth have been confirmed . . . . This is plainly evident with the spiritual regenerate man, with whom there are evil spirits equally as with the non-regenerate, but they are subjugated, and serve" (AC 1695).

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     These states of combat and victory had been present for many years with the Lord prior to the age of thirty. And of this we may rest assured: that when "Jesus . . . began to be about thirty years of age," He had come into "the fulness of remains," or a "full state as to remains" (AC 5335). It was dependent upon this that he then, and not before, manifested Himself before men (ibid.).
     Man's regeneration being an image of the Lord's glorification, the things that took place in Him have their likeness in man. Now recall that the fulness of remains with man infills and fulfills his regenerate states in the world of spirits after death; whence he is "raised into heaven" (AC 7984:2). With the Lord, there was the fulness of remains at the age of thirty (AC 5335); whence He, too, must have been raised into the heavens: not as touching His love-for this was above the heavens from the beginning, being the very Divine Esse itself-but as to the state of His rational as to truth. For it is this that was tempted: the rational as to truth-"truth Divine bound" (AC 2813); or truth Divine in the Lord's Human Divine, which "is rational truth, such as the angels have, consisting in the appearances of truth" (AC 2814).
     I understand the Lord's temptations-all of them, from beginning to end-to have been called forth by a continual refining, or sublimating, of appearances within His Human, whereby the Divine truth itself was clothed, in the exteriors of His mind, from the gross falsities of the lowest hells, through the lesser falsities of the higher hells, thence into the fallacies of the lower heavens, and finally into the realm of the highest or inmost appearances, wherein the celestial angels perceive and comprehend the Divine. In all appearances, even with the angels, there is something of imperfection, and therefore something discretely less than the Divine truth in itself. It was of these appearances, even to the highest of them, that the Lord labored to divest His Human; this in order that that Human might rise above all human, and angelic, understanding, thus "above the order that is in the heavens, and thence on earth" (AC 1919). In transcending even the highest forms of angelic comprehension, the Lord brought opposition from them who, in His prior states, had rendered Him assistance. They are said to have become "indignant" when the Lord as it were receded from them (AC 4077). They could comprehend those of His states which were below or equal to their own. But they could not enter with illustration into those states that went beyond them. Wherefore, when the Lord's state as to truth rose above that of the angels, they were "left to what is their own" (AC 4307).

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This is described in Jacob's departure from Laban, signifying a change of state of good with the Lord when He applied the things which were of that good from Himself. In this He receded from the angelic societies. And we read that such societies, even of angels, "do not easily recede from him with whom they have been," but "are indignant, and behave themselves in like manner as did Laban . . . toward Jacob; nay, if they perceive that any good has come through their means, they say that it came to him from them; for in their indignation, they speak from evil" (AC 4077).
     In this the Lord again followed the order, but not the quality, of human states. For He, too, had around Him societies of spirits and angels. He "summoned to Himself such as might be of service, and changed them at His good pleasure; yet He did not take from them and apply to Himself anything of good and truth, but only from the Divine" (AC 4375). These societies were means of introducing His Human into wisdom from His own Divine, by His recognition of fallacy through their minds (ibid.). "This wisdom," we read, "was not from these societies, but by their means from the Divine. The case was the same with everything else" (ibid.). The purpose of this was threefold: that the hells might thereby be subjugated; that the heavens might be reordered; and that His Human might be fully glorified; all of this "by successive steps" (ibid.; cf. 10239:4, BE 730, AC 6373, AE 1087, AC 4287). Hereby He "reduced all things into order . . . producing the tranquility of peace" (AC 6373). For He thus "disposed all things into a heavenly form" (AC 4287). Ah things, that is, except Himself. For after glorification, He was above the order, and hence the form, of heaven (see AC 1919).
     Man never rises above angelic understanding and perception. And therefore, with man, influx through the heavens is ever an aid to his regeneration. With the Lord, this influx became a hindrance. That which aids man is the angels holding him in goods and truths by their own affections (AC 4249); whereas this very thing, in the latter states, was a deterrent to the Lord's progression. For while the angels' holding of man in their own goods and truths is ever an uplifting factor, these same affections with them at length resided below the Lord's states, and therefore effected a withholding force upon Him-as it were a weight upon His effort to rise higher.
     It had been my former thought that the Lord's temptation by angels came primarily from their doubting that He could so rise-as though they yet retained affirmation to His further ascent. However, I have been able to find no reference to the angels doubting, even in an affirmative sense.

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     With man, there is the appearance that he thinks and lives from himself; whereas with the Lord, the appearance of self-life in the Human became reality: when yet, in temptation, His Divine life seemed only an apparent resident of His Human. He then thought from the Divine as from Himself. The Human was "left to itself." That is, there was an appearance as of separation between His thought and perception in the Human and their Divine source, when, in truth, there was no such separation. This underlay and entered into every temptation with Him-the appearance of His very Divine self-life as though separate from His essential Human. Whereas the appearance of self-life with man gives him his sense of individuality, with the Lord it brought about the inmost turmoil of His despair-the appearance to His Human that the reality of Divine life within Him was only apparently so. In temptation, then, He thought from the Divine, but as though separate therefrom. The barrier of self-induced human heredity made that Divine thought and perception appear merely as from Himself. The difference-seemingly a thing of complete abstraction-yet involves, as I believe, the very crux of His temptation, and gives us to understand to some small extent the manner in which He who was God could yet be brought into combat.
     I would close by re-stating briefly the basic position to which the present study has led:

     That the Lord did not commence His public ministry until He had conquered the hells as a direct force of assault upon His Human.
     That it was this conquest, achieved at the time when He turned thirty years of age, that constituted the "fulness of remains" with Him.
     That thereby, and from thenceforth, the plane, or medium, of His temptations became the angelic heaven.
     That it was through these latter temptations that power was added to the Divine, in its relation to both angels and men, that had not existed before.
     That thereby, at the last, He fully subjugated the hells: not only as to their direct assault through evils and falsities, but also as to their indirect approach, through the higher appearances of truth with the angelic heaven.
     That He achieved this, first by ordering of the heavens and returning them to an essential measure of power over the hells; and at last, by transcending even angelic power of the highest degree in His own Human, thus securing for all time the continuance of essential order in the heavens and on earth.

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ESSENTIALS OF THE ACADEMY 1983

ESSENTIALS OF THE ACADEMY       Rev. ALFRED ACTON       1983

     Opening Address to the Academy Faculty

     September, 1982

     Today we begin the one hundred and fifth year of New Church education at the Academy. In September 1877, classes commenced in Philadelphia marking the beginning in ultimate form of a dream that had become known as the "Academy movement."
     The first statement of "principles" for this institution had been articulated on June nineteenth of the prior year, 1876. In this first statement of principles the Academy had not yet determined its name, but its position was clear. Chancellor Benade enunciated that Academy position by stating the need for an organized New Church set apart from the old or former Christian Church, which would be the crown of all the churches because it would worship the Lord now revealed in the pages penned by Emanuel Swedenborg which were in fact the Word of God. The Chancellor continued: "in the full and rational acknowledgment of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Jehovah in His Divine Humanity, of His Second Coming into the world in the revelation of the spiritual sense of the Word, of the spiritual things of heaven, of hell and of the world of spirits, made through the instrumentality of Emanuel Swedenborg; in the full and rational acknowledgment of the spiritual sense of the Word thus revealed, as the Lord's Divine Doctrine for the New Church; and knowing no other law, and no other authority except the Lord Himself in this His Second Coming, we, who have hereunto subscribed our names, devoutly praying that the Lord's will may be done as in heaven so on the earth, do hereby covenant together, and constitute ourselves into a body of the Lord's New Church, to be styled, 'The Academy of the New Jerusalem,' to the end that by mutual counsel and assistance, and by united action, we may be the better prepared and provided in spirit and in life to see the Lord's will in the interior revelations of His Truth, at this day given, and to do it; to cultivate and to promulgate a knowledge of those Divine revelations in their spiritual purity, and to engage in those uses of spiritual charity which have respect primarily to the growth and development of the spiritual church.

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     "And, of these uses of spiritual charity, do we name specifically, as ends proposed by our union: The instruction and preparation of young men for the office of the priesthood; the collection, publication and preservation of the manuscripts and of the original editions of those writings which constitute the Second Advent of the Lord; the preparation and publication of works treating more particularly of the spiritual doctrines revealed by the Lord, and having for their end the building up of the church in an ever more rational and intelligent reception of its heavenly truths, and leading to an ever more interior love of the Lord and the neighbor; so that the Lord in His coming may be received by His own, and the New Jerusalem may be established as His celestial and spiritual kingdom on the earth" (NCL 1917, p. 425).
     Obviously this first "Declaration of Principles" underwent some modification between June 1876 and the brief broader statement of purpose incorporated into our charter. Even the name changed. But the essential principle stated here by the Chancellor has in no way changed with us. Bishop W. F. Pendleton in 1899 reworded this essential in his first two "Principles of the Academy" as follows:
     "1. The Lord has made His Second Coming in the Writings of the New Church, revealing Himself therein, in His own Divine Human, as the only God of heaven and earth; in those Writings, therefore, are contained the very essential Word, which is the Lord; and from them the Lord speaks to His church, and the church acknowledges no other authority, and no other law.
     "2. The old or former Christian Church is consummated and dead, with no hope of a resurrection, except with those who separate themselves from it and come to the Lord in His New Church. The New Church is to be distinct from the old in its faith and practice, in its form and organization, in its religious and social life" (NCL 1899, pp. 117-8).
     The Writings are the Word and a new church must replace all other forms of Christianity because those forms are dead as to their doctrine. The Lord Himself as seen in the Word is the sole authority for His church. No man-made statement of principles can take precedence over this New Word, nor can any man, priest or layman, claim authority over the conscience of the church. Nevertheless, because this New Word so instructs, there will be a priesthood to govern the church by teaching the truth of faith and thereby leading to the good of life. This priesthood is not to be placed under external bond in the exercise of its function in the church.
     So is summarized nearly a hundred years of trial in the history of the New Church, trial which again and again tested these three basic positions drawn from revelation, trial which by the beginning of the Academy set it apart as the only organization within the New Church accepting these essentials.

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As I review this struggle, I am reminded of two teachings concerning the rise and fall of a church. First we learn that a new church grows only as it rejects the falsities of the former church (see TCR 784), and second we are taught that a church falls by embracing the very heresies which destroyed its predecessor (see AC 127 et al). This struggle was just that. Christianity fell at Nicea by separating the Divinity and the Humanity of the Lord. Three persons replaced one God. Because the Writings are the Lord's Word, they are the Divine Human with us, so refusal to accept the Divinity of this revelation separates the truth or the Human from its Divine origin, making the Word simply the work of a human mind-the mind of Emanuel Swedenborg. Once that is done, we have no need for a new church or a group of men who, as priests, will represent this new vision of the Divine. The three positions-the divinity of the New Word, the consummation of the old church, and the necessity of a priesthood unfettered by external bonds-all reflect the turmoil faced in our history by those who established the doctrinal understanding which became the Academy.
     The temptation is still with us. In every generation of the church we must reexamine these essentials else we may unwittingly fall prey to the very temptation our predecessors fought. To separate the Divinity and the Humanity of the Lord through a denial of the Divinity of the Word and so its authority over our lives is the essential temptation each generation of the church faces. For us it takes different forms than in the past, but it is still the primary challenge. Do we accept what the Word teaches or not? In the early nineteen hundreds, with the Kramph Will case, the Academy was sorely tested as regards their acceptance of the latter part of Conjugial Love. Our position had been that the teachings concerning scortatory love were laws of order for the preservation of the conjugial. Others in the church at large felt the teachings could be excluded from revelation, indeed that they were immoral and unacceptable, the words of a Swede to be rejected by the enlightened understandings of men. The Academy stood firm and persevered. We continue to hold that all of the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg are the Word of God. This includes such books as The Earths in the Universe which teaches clearly of life on our moon in the 1740s and the statement of Divine Providence 279 which defies our genetic experience by proclaiming that a black father will have a black son regardless of the mother's race and vice versa. In the church which the Academy serves, we cannot deny these teachings. It is not for us to pick and choose what part of the Writings we will accept as the Word.

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We will not separate the Divinity from the Humanity of the Lord. Nevertheless, the Lord has told us to enter into the mysteries of faith. We can no more say the Word is not entirely Divine and so discount parts of the Word as false than we can fail to seek rational understanding of apparent contradictions or inaccuracies. One of the Academy's most important missions in the church today is to have a body of both priests and laymen who have the intellectual competence to face such problems from the affirmative principle outlined in revelation and so to serve the Lord in the promulgation of the New Word, in garments accommodated to the understanding of the present.
     For example, I remember three years ago my surprise when a minister of Convention challenged a group of General Church ministers with the statement, "You don't really believe there is life on the moon?" Obviously he didn't. Perhaps many others don't. But do they know what the Writings themselves teach on this matter? Do they know that Swedenborg, even prior to his call, was well aware of the inability for life as we know it to survive on the moon, and that in his Diary he stated that such life is "in another kind of body" (cf. SD 1670, 3244, et al). Life as we know it has been demonstrated not to exist on the moon. The New Word told us this. An affirmative spirit will now wait to see if some other form of life, Perhaps even invisible to our mortal frame, exists or not. The statements of revelation are clear and although with more light we may understand them differently, we will not deny them. In this context we, of course, recognize that the spirit is that which giveth light while the letter killeth. One of the falsities of the former faith was blind adherence to the letter of scripture. We must see the spirit of truth, what angels see in the teachings of the Word, which means that deep analytical study of the Word, a careful comparison of passages, is necessary. This demands disciplined scholarship for which the Academy stands.
     Another area of the Word which now would be easier denied than understood is those teachings concerning early life on this planet. Archeology and science give us much sense experience which we must assimilate as we seek to understand the statements of the Word. Again the need for careful scholarship undertaken in the light of revelation is even more acute in the Academy today than in the past. A faculty dedicated to the essential truth that the Writings are the Word and ready to illustrate that dedication through publications reflecting their disciplined study in both the area of their particular field and the New Word is of paramount importance to the fulfillment of the purpose of the Academy.

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     In 1907, while commenting on the principles of the Academy put in twelvefold form by Bishop W. F. Pendleton, Rev. Homer Synnestvedt stated: "All the above principles were brought out more or less under the leadership of Bishop Benade, and represent, as it were, the final impress left upon the growing organization by him. Wow it seems to me that our present bishop has quietly but firmly brought about the establishment of several other vital principles, net with such violent upheavals as of yore; but nonetheless effectively and with even more severe temptations than those of external warfare. In other words, if you were asked to revise and bring these principles up-to-date, you might be surprised to find what important additions there have been, all bearing upon the development of freedom. First, that the different parts of our body, like the priesthood itself, should be 'free from external control' so as to act or react entirely as of themselves. This was made effective through council and assembly.
     "Second, that real strength consists in being firm in internals but yielding in externals.
     "Third, that we ought to be content to teach the truth without trying to enforce it-to lead rather than to drive-to inspire men to bind the bonds of the law upon their own consciences, and leave them free to do so, rather than to bind grievous burdens upon them ourselves" (NCL 1907, p. 555).
     This statement by Mr. Synnestvedt outlines an essential correlate to the first essential we have discussed. If we acknowledge the sole authority of the Lord, we must have the same respect for human beings which He exhibits in His laws of Providence. Men who work in the Academy, and all who uphold her banner, must have the freedom to act in accordance with their individual understanding of truth, and be ready to extend that same freedom to others. Obviously this freedom in the church must not contravene the essentials which make the church, our understanding of the Lord, the Word and the life of charity (see DP 259:3), but we must ever be ready to allow individuals freedom to enter more deeply into the mysteries of faith.
     Bishop Alfred Acton, also speaking in 1907, made the point as follows: "It is said in the Writings that in all growth and all progress, man begins with appearances, and as he progresses, if it is a real progress, he casts off the appearances and enters into the interior things contained within. It is also said that this progress from appearances to realities can never be accomplished without temptation, or trial and combat.

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The Academy has had its trials and its combats, and new trials and combats are still before it, not perhaps against foes in this world, but against the foes within ourselves-the evils of our own household, which would hold us to external truth, would hold us to things handed down, or endeavor to keep us from entering more and more interiorly
     "Now there is at this time in the Academy an active thought which is bringing new things to us; which is bringing new truths that promise to make our thought more full and our ideas more enlightened. If the academy is a living body, it is bound to be that in its growth new things will come, and also that these new things will cause temptation. For of ourselves we love to cling to the past, to cling to old ideas without entering more interiorly into them. This is of the natural man which clings to the earth; but the spiritual man rises to the heavens. And so with growth comes combat-combat between the natural which fears to lose its own and the spiritual which seeks after more interior treasures. If, then, we are to enter more interiorly into the truths of the Academy, we are to gird ourselves for this combat. We must not let our mind be disturbed in the thought that our old faith is going; for the faith of the old will never go, because it is the true faith; but with true growth the faith of the old shall be made new, shall be filled more full of the glory of the Lord. In these times that are before us, do not despair, do not get into any state of anxiety or worry that we are going to lose anything, that we are taking a backward step. But preserve yourselves in faith in the Lord's guidance, remain steadfast to that central doctrine of the Academy, of the Lord's real presence in His church. If the men of the Academy, if you and I remain faithful to that central doctrine, if we will recognize the Lord as present in the Divine Truth in His Writings, and if we will preserve within ourselves the love of truth for the sake of truth, then progress will come with searching and study; and things that appear obscure now will grow clear" (NCL 1907, pp. 566, 567).
     How prophetic were these words, and how important! By 1916 new studies had led to one of the worst storms to beset us. Yet because all those involved in that controversy remained true to the underlying principles of freedom, and the authority of revelation, the Academy prospered.
     Today we have been discussing the role of women in our church and appropriate education to prepare for that role. All of us have strong feelings in this matter, which is as it should be in that the most precious gift to our church is under attack-our aspirations toward love truly conjugial. In this discussion as in the past we must proceed with trust and patience. Also we must not confuse instrumentals with essentials.

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What is essential in this discussion is what the Lord tells us as to the differences and similarities between men and women. Forms follow. However, form makes substance visible. So the forms we choose to express our understanding of doctrine become relatively essential (see AC 5948). Our world would have us ignore the difference between men and women. Our Word postulates differences of soul, mind and body. We cannot adopt forms that so disguise our understanding of the Word as to confuse both our membership and the world at large. The separate Girls and Boys Schools of the Academy are such forms, and their abandonment would cause much confusion.
     The principle of freedom which I see as the necessary correlate of our acceptance of the sole authority of the Lord in our lives has been sorely tested in two other important struggles in our history: the controversy known as the vaccination issue and the controversy which in 1937 led to separation of some Academicians from the General Church. The latter issue was perceived as one which challenged the acceptance of the Writings as the sole authority for the church. Also, some saw it a dangerous celestialism which had already been rejected (see NCL 1935, Harold Pitcairn, pp. 255-269). But those who held the newer views felt a new form of government was necessary to embody their understanding of truth; separation had to follow. Two forms however harmonious in some regards cannot include the same substance. Two concepts of government necessarily need two separate forms. Obviously the controversy centered more on what was of substance-how will we view the Writings as the Word, and how will enlightenment, or the working of the Holy Spirit, affect that view? But two separate bodies were not called for until those issues of substance sought expression in form. The Academy must ever be ready to inquire into the issues raised in this controversy and, in a spirit of free inquiry, ready to examine these views and many others. (Indeed over the years I believe these two bodies have come closer together.) However, the Academy is and shall continue to be the educational arm of the General Church. We will continue to follow the leadership of its bishop.
     The vaccination issue raised different problems in the Academy. Involved in this issue was the Academy's relationship to civil authority. Would the Academy accept students whose parents, for religious reasons, were contravening the law of the land? The answer, which is as important today as then, was an emphatic, "No." Individuals, according to our doctrine of the neighbor, are subordinate to the law of the land. They have recourse through established means to change the law, but while it is in effect, it should be obeyed. The church and the Academy which serves it will not take a political position as a partisan even as the Lord in His answer to the Pharisees concerning tribute refused a partisan reply (see Matt. 22:21).

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So, although the individual conscience of members of our church and parents of our students may allow them to violate civil law, and although we respect their freedom to do so and will not seek to place external bonds on them, we will not condone such acts by entering into them.
     The use of alcohol in our community is an issue of this type. The Academy, in place of parents for dormitory students, will not break civil law; and hopefully our respect for the law will be seen as an example for others. We will punish students who drink. At the same time, we cannot, nor do we believe we should, enter into the privacy of New Church homes to enforce what is a matter for civil authorities.
     As far as I know, the use of alcohol is not condemned anywhere in revelation. What is condemned is drunkenness which destroys rationality, rendering an individual, at least for a time, as nothing more than an animal. These issues were well debated in our past as our Protestant forefathers sought to remove wine from the Holy Supper. The Academy resisted the effort, standing for moderation, not abstinence. We still do.
     While discussing this point, let me add a word on punishment. I believe the Word clearly supports degrees of punishment. A student at the Academy should realize that different acts of disorder deserve different treatment, both because of the nature of the act and the motive involved in the act. The abuses we must punish most severely are clear violations of the Decalogue. Lesser problems need lesser punishment. Also, as was the case with Pharaoh in Egypt, the person being punished needs to understand the nature of the evil he is in. Ten plagues were needed to show Pharaoh his total devastation. Only the Lord has the wisdom and patience to go so far, but we must be ready to look from principle to punishment, hopefully seeking correction before rejection. Our goal with the adolescent is to provide a conscience based on truth built up in his understanding, a conscience which recognizes evil for what it is and refrains from doing it, not yet from the internal bonds of the new will, but from an environment which makes living the truth an easier path to fellow. External bonds are essential in dealing with adolescents, but they must be used evenhandedly and with respect for the worth of the potential angel whom we seek to educate. At the college level punishment necessarily needs a different focus. Most of our students have begun to act from freedom in accordance with reason, albeit feeble. Age eighteen is cited in doctrine as the earliest age when this new freedom commences.*

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Accordingly, our appeal at this level must assure respect for this new freedom. Recognizing this basic difference in the nature of the students at these two levels of our institution hopefully will help us to understand different approaches in discipline and so build better respect for these differences.
     * While the Latin words used to describe different ages are not precise, their range does have "upper" and "lower" limits. Juvenis and juventus usually translated "youth" or "young man" have a range from age 17-46, most often referring to ages 20-40, which was the age of military service. In Conjugial Love 444e the word is clearly identified with age 18. In Arcana Coelestia 5126e it is identified with the opening of the rational.
     While considering our relations with civil authority, I noted that the Academy will not condone the violation of civil law. However, we need to add that we see the church as a still higher neighbor than the state. Where civil law legislates against what are plain teachings of doctrine, we may need to face the consequences of violation. Also, where civil law forces on us consequences which violate our principles, we must accept the consequences and hold true to what we believe. The Academy is not in violation of civil law as regards legislation concerning the education of men and women, specifically Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments. However, there are consequences which we face from this legislation which I believe will become increasingly difficult. First, our students cannot accept Federal grants or loans to aid in meeting the cost of their education. Presently we are able to offset all adverse consequences of this fact through a very modest tuition and a very generous Institutional grant system. But our grant money is limited and we are very near to the time when some deserving New Church students will have to suffer because of this reality. Another consequence of this legislation which we must face is in the area of athletics. I have already noted that forms become relatively essential as they embody principles. Athletic involvement between the sexes is such a form. When athletics are used to prove that men and women are the same, when they pit men and women together to show there is no real difference between them then politics have invaded sport, and the Academy must remain apart. We have already faced this fact in a baseball championship. The Academy refused to play because the message would have been that we condone what we, in fact, condemn. Men and women are completely complementary and, as such, equal, but an equality of sameness is contradictory to our belief. There are athletic endeavors where sport remains separate from politics, where men and women can learn to respect each other's abilities without violation of any principle, and in these endeavors we join, but the reality is still with us and will increase. We will not violate civil law, but we will accept the consequences of our convictions. (To be concluded)

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GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CORPORATION SECRETARY'S REPORT 1983

GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CORPORATION SECRETARY'S REPORT       Stephen Pitcairn       1983

     For the Year ending December 31, 1982

     MEMBERSHIP

     During the year 1982 the number of persons comprising the membership of the Corporation increased to 545. The changes in membership consisted of:

     27 New Members:
Anderson, Curtis                Horan, Richard W.
Asplundh, Reed K.           Jensen, Stephen A.
Brown, Hugh R.                Junge, Kent
Bundsen, Fredrik D.           Latta, Gordon M.
Burke, William               McQueen, Curtis L.
Cooper, G. Brian                Morley, Stephen H.
Cooper, James P.                Nicolier, Alain
Dibb, Andrew M. T.           Odhner, Jared T.
Fehon, William C.           Riley, Norman E.
Fitzpatrick, Daniel           Rogers, Donald K.
Friesen, Marvin D.           Smith, Gerald V.
Gladish, Nathan D.           Soneson, K. Karl
Hill, Paul G.               Uber, Arthur E., Jr.
Holmes, Dean N.

     4 Deaths of Members:
Fortin, Raymond A.           Gurney, John Graham
Fuller, Alan B.               Holm, B. David

     1 Dropped.
Williams, Bradford K.

     DIRECTORS

     The by-laws of the Corporation provide for election of thirty directors, ten of whom are elected each year for terms of three years. At present the board consists of thirty directors. At the 1982 annual meeting, ten directors were elected for terms expiring in 1985. The present directors, with the dates their terms expire, are as follows:

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1983      Asplundh, Edward K.           1985      Gyllenhaal, Leonard E.
1985      Asplundh, Robert H.           1983      Horigan, W. Lee
1984      Blair, Brian G.                1985      Hyatt, Garry
1985      Blair, Kenneth B.           1984      Johns, Hyland R., Jr.
1985      Bradin, Robert W.           1983      Junge, James F.
1983      Brickman, Theodore W., Jr.     1983      King, Louis B.
1983      Bruser, Henry B., Jr.           1984      Leeper, Thomas N.
1984      Buss, Neil M.                1984      Lynch, Christopher W.
1985      Coffin, Philip D.           1984      Mayer, Paul C. P.
1984      Cole, Michael S.                1983      Parker, Richard M.
1984      Cooper, Geoffrey                1983      Pitcairn, Stephen
1984      Cooper, George M.           1983      Schnarr, Maurice G.
1985      Cooper, Thomas R.           1985      Synnestvedt, Ralph, Jr.
1984      Fuller, Kent B.                1983      Waters, Philip A.
1985      Gladish, Donald P.           1985      Wyncoll, John H.

     Lifetime honorary members of the board:
de Charms, George
Pendleton, Willard D.

     OFFICERS

     The Corporation has six officers, each of whom is elected yearly for a term of one year. Those elected at the board meeting of March 12, 1982, were:

President                     King, Louis B.
Vice President               Pendleton, Willard D.
Secretary                     Pitcairn, Stephen
Treasurer                     Gyllenhaal, Leonard E.
Assistant Treasurer           Fuller, Bruce A.
Controller                     Henderson, Ian

     CORPORATION MEETINGS

     The 1982 annual Corporation meeting was held at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, on March 12, this being the only Corporation meeting held during the year. The president, Bishop King, presided, and there were 106 members in attendance. Reports were received from the nominating committee, the treasurer, and the secretary; the election for directors was held.
     The question of ballot by mail for election of directors was raised. It was noted that in the past there had been two committees appointed to study the feasibility and desirability of ballot by mail and that one of the committees had reported at the annual meeting in 1976 and the other committee at the annual meeting in 1977.

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After discussion, Bishop King said he would instruct the 1983 nominating committee to look into the question of balloting by mail and make a report with recommendations for action at the 1983 annual meeting.

     BOARD MEETINGS

     Bishop King reported in January that three new committees had been appointed. The Board Extension Committee, chaired by Neil M. Buss, will promote the use of evangelization in the church from the layman's point of view, give support to the Director of Evangelization and assist the Bishop's office in the matter of priorities in evangelization. The Personnel advisory Committee, chaired by Hyland Johns, will counsel the Bishop and the Bishop's representatives in setting up systems for evaluation that will help in the areas of screening of ministerial candidates, ministerial placements, establishing of performance and evaluation reviews for both ministers and teachers, and career adjustments of ministers and teachers who are not successful in their chosen fields. The Bishop's Council Committee consisting of both women and men will provide lay counsel to the Bishop on important matters.
     Mr. Garry Hyatt presented a proposed plan for a Career Teacher Program. The program would have two scales, the first being similar to the present scale. The second or advanced scale would provide compensation based on years of experience and the accumulation of points earned for graduate work and research. The plan was devised to encourage General Church teachers to engage in activities that further their own development as teachers and the development of educational thought and practice in the church. The plan will provide greater remuneration to teachers committed to New Church education as a career. The Career Teacher Program was refined and later approved by the board at the May meeting.
     In the March meeting, Mr. Leonard Gyllenhaal commented that the General Church had come to a turning point in the history of General Church finances. He said that expenses were increasing at too rapid a rate, and serious consideration would have to be given to reevaluating all of the financial operations if the church is to maintain its financial integrity. A report of the Budget Committee substantiated Mr. Gyllenhaal's remarks. Mr. Stephen Pitcairn, reporting as chairman of the Budget Committee, pointed out that in order to eliminate a substantial deficit in the 1982 budget, the normal transfer to the Development Fund was discontinued, and a necessary transfer to the Moving Reserve to rebuild the depleted fund was postponed.
     In May, the Board of Directors heard a report from a committee appointed to study extending the responsibility of the Development Officer to serve the General Church as well as the Academy.

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The expanded scope of the Development Office was approved and upon recommendation of a special study committee, Leonard Gyllenhaal was unanimously elected Development Officer. A third committee appointed to search for a replacement of Leonard Gyllenhaal as Treasurer upon his retirement presented the name of Neil M. Buss. The board unanimously elected Neil M. Buss to the office of Treasurer, effective September 1, 1982.
     Subsequently in October, Mr. Buss, reporting as the new treasurer, reemphasized Mr. Gyllenhaal's remarks earlier in the year, stating that we were in a period of consolidation making efforts to curtail expenses as the outlook for increased revenues continues to be questionable under a slumping economy. He said every effort will be made to broaden the base of contributors and to stimulate and encourage societies and circles to become self-supporting.
     Mr. Gyllenhaal reviewed his preliminary program for the Development Office. He said that a series of pamphlets would be mailed acquainting the potential contributor with the many important uses of the General Church. He said many people were not aware of all of the uses performed by the church and the costs associated with these uses. The pamphlets will be information-oriented and not a solicitation. A special contribution program will be conducted by Donald Gladish in cooperation with the Development Office. A new approach will also be made in the area of planned giving. This will involve explaining how planned giving through charitable remainder trusts, life insurance, pooled income funds, Uni-trusts and others can be beneficial to the donor.
     Early in the year Mr. Garry Hyatt was appointed chairman of a committee to study General Church publications. The summary of the committee's final report recommended that(l) the NEW CHURCH LIFE subscription price be raised from $5 to $12 annually even though still well below cost, and that one issue be sent each year to all church members free of charge; (2) the subscription price of New Church Home be set at $5; (3) weekly sermons be mimeographed with volunteer help and that a semi-annual notice be sent requiring a response to continue to receive the sermons; and (4) the Daily Readings be included in the free issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE.
     During the year action was taken on pastoral housing in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver. Several special pension cases were reviewed. The Finance Committee reported on church development and building programs, and reports from the other standing committees were reviewed.
     Respectfully submitted,
          Stephen Pitcairn,
               Secretary

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SACRED SCRIPTURE OR WORD OF THE LORD FROM EXPERIENCE 1983

SACRED SCRIPTURE OR WORD OF THE LORD FROM EXPERIENCE       Rev. N. BRUCE ROGERS       1983

     TRANSLATED BY REV. N. BRUCE ROGERS

     A REPRESENTATION OF THE LITERAL MEANING OF THE WORD, WHICH HAS A SPIRITUAL MEANING WITHIN

     1. I was given to see large purses, looking like sacks, in which a great deal of silver was stored. Since they were open, it seemed as if anyone might help himself to the silver deposited in them, even to plunder it, but next to them two angels were sitting as guards. The place where the sacks rested looked like a manger in a stable. In the next room I saw modest maidens, together with a chaste wife. Near that room there were two little children, and it was said they were not to be played with in a childish way, but wisely. Afterwards a harlot appeared, then a horse lying dead.
     I then perceived that this was a way of representing the literal meaning of the Word, which has a spiritual meaning within. The large purses full of silver symbolized concepts of truth there in great abundance. The sacks being open and yet guarded by angels symbolized that anyone might acquire concepts of truth there, but that one should take care not to falsify the inner meaning, where truths are in their purity. The manger in the stable where the purses were sitting symbolized spiritual instruction for the intellect. (A manger has this symbolism, like the one where the newborn Lord lay, because a horse symbolizes the understanding, consequently a manger its nourishment.) The modest maidens I saw in the next room symbolized truths of the church, and the chaste wife the conjunction of truth and good that exists throughout the Word. The little children symbolized the innocence of wisdom therein (they were angels from the third heaven, all of whom appear like little children). The harlot together with the dead horse symbolized the falsification of the Word by so many people today, whereby all understanding of the truth has been lost. (A harlot symbolizes falsification, and a dead horse no understanding of truth.)

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     THE WORD IS INWARDLY FULL OF LIFE

     2. When a person reads the Word and considers it holy, then its natural meaning becomes spiritual in the second heaven and celestial in the third. In this way its natural quality is successively removed. This takes place because natural, spiritual and celestial things correspond to each other, and the Word was written solely in terms of things that correspond. The natural meaning of the Word is the kind that exists in the meaning of the letter, and everything of this becomes spiritual and finally celestial in the heavens. When it becomes spiritual, it is then alive in that heaven from the light of truth there; and when it becomes celestial, it is alive from the flame of good there. The reason is that spiritual ideas among angels of the second heaven draw their life from the light in that heaven, which in its essence is Divine truth, while celestial ideas among angels of the third heaven draw their life from the flame of good, which in its essence is Divine good. For in the second heaven the light is bright white, and the angels there think from this; and in the third heaven the light is flaming, and the angels there think from that. The thoughts of angels are altogether different from the thoughts of men. Angels think by means of the kinds of light they have, bright white or flaming, and these are such that they cannot be described in natural terms.
     It is clear from this that the Word is inwardly full of life, consequently that it is not dead but alive with a person who reads it and thinks of it in a reverent way. Everything in the Word, moreover, is made alive by the Lord, for with the Lord it becomes life, as the Lord also says in John:

The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (John 6:63).

The life that flows in from the Lord through the Word is the light of truth that flows into the understanding and the love of good that flows into the will. This love and that light together make the life of heaven with man, which is called eternal life. The Lord also teaches:

God was the Word . . . . In Him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:1, 4).

     THE DIFFERENCE IN GENERAL BETWEEN NATURAL, SPIRITUAL AND CELESTIAL THINGS

     3. There are three heavens: a lowest one, a middle one, and the highest. In the lowest heaven the people are natural, but their natural quality stems either from the spiritual quality that belongs to the middle heaven or from the celestial quality that belongs to the third heaven. In the second heaven the people are spiritual, and in the third heaven celestial.

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There are also some in between, who are called spiritual-celestial. Many of these are preachers in the highest heaven.
     4. The difference between natural, spiritual and celestial things is such that there is no real comparison between them. Natural things cannot therefore in any way by any approximation approach in likeness spiritual things, nor spiritual things celestial things. This is why the heavens are distinct. I have been given to know this from much experience. Again and again I have been sent into the company of spiritual angels, and I then spoke with them in their spiritual way of speaking, and what I said I then made a point of remembering. When I returned into my natural state-the state every person in the world is in-I then tried to recall what I said from my earlier remembrance and write it down, but I could not. It was impossible. There were no words to be found and not even any ideas of thought by which to express it. The spiritual ideas of thought and words were so removed from natural ideas of thought and words that there was not the least approximation. Surprisingly, when I was in that heaven and spoke with the angels, I then knew no other than that I was speaking in the same way that I speak with people here. But afterwards I found out that the thoughts and speech were so dissimilar that the one could not approximate the other, consequently that there is no real comparison.
     5. There is a similar difference between spiritual and celestial things. That there is a similar difference was told to me, and also that the difference is such that no real comparison or approximation is possible. But I could not be given confirmation of this through personal experience without actually being an angel of the middle heaven. It was therefore granted some angels of the middle heaven to be together with angels of the third heaven, and while there to think and speak with them, and also to make a point of remembering what they thought and what they said, and afterwards to return to their own heaven; and they told me then that they could not express any idea or any word from the earlier state, that it was impossible; and they said in conclusion that there is no real comparison or approximation.
     6. For the same reason I have a number of times been given to be in the presence of angels of the middle and highest heaven, and to hear them talking together (whenever this happened I had been in an interior natural state, removed from worldly and bodily concerns-specifically, upon first waking from sleep); and I heard indescribable and inexpressible things, as we read happened with Paul.* And sometimes I was let into a perception and understanding of the things they talked about.

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The things they said were full of arcana about the Lord, redemption, regeneration, providence, and other like things; and afterwards I was given to see that I could not express or record those things using any spiritual or celestial term-but that they could nevertheless still be recorded in words of natural speech, even to rational comprehension; and I was told that there are not any Divine arcana that cannot be perceived and expressed also naturally, even though more generally and less perfectly. And I was told as well that those who perceive such things naturally with their rational understanding from an affection for truth, afterwards are able to both perceive and express the same things spiritually when they become spirits, and in a celestial way when they become angels. But not so others. For one Divine truth perceived and loved naturally is like a crystal or porcelain goblet which is afterwards filled with wine, the nature of the wine being such as the nature of the truth was, and the quality of its taste, so to speak, such as was the quality of the affection for the truth.
     * See 2 Cor. 12:1-4.
     7. That there is such a difference, which may be called unlimited, between natural, spiritual and celestial things can be seen from the difference in the thoughts of men and angels, and from the difference in their speech and also in the things they do, and from the difference in their forms of writing. From these things, as from so many proofs, it will become clear what the one and the other is like, and how the perfections of all things ascend and pass from the world into heaven, and so from heaven to heaven.
     8. Regarding thoughts: Ah the thoughts of men, including each single idea in them, involve conceptions drawn from space, time, person, or material-things that appear in natural light or the light of the world. For no one can think anything apart from light, just as nothing can be seen without light. And natural light or the light of the world is lifeless, being from the sun of the world, which is nothing but fire. Nevertheless, the light of heaven flows into that light everywhere and continually, giving it life and making possible the perception and understanding of things. The light of the world by itself cannot impart any perceptive or intellectual ability or confer any natural or rational sight, but it does so from the light of heaven, because the light of heaven comes from the sun of heaven, which is the Lord and so is life itself. The influx of the light of heaven into the light of the world is like the influx of a cause into its effect-the nature of which will be explained elsewhere.
     It is clear from this what natural thought is like, or ideas of thought with men, namely, that they are inseparably bound up with notions of space, time, personality and material. Because of this, those thoughts or ideas of thought are very limited and restricted; consequently they are crude, and must be called material.

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     The thoughts of angels of the middle heaven, on the other hand, are all without notions of space, time, personality and material, so that they are unlimited and unrestricted. The objects of their thoughts are, like the thoughts themselves, spiritual, so that they think about them spiritually and not naturally.
     As to the angels of the highest heaven, they do not have thoughts, but they have perceptions of the things they hear and see. Instead of thoughts they have affections, and these keep varying with them, just as thoughts keep varying in the case of spiritual angels.
     9. Regarding forms of speech: The things men say and the way they say them are like the ideas of their thoughts, for ideas of thought become words when they go out into speech. Consequently the speech of men in every word has something to do with space, time, personality, or material. The things angels of the middle heaven say and the way they say them, on the other hand, are by the same token like the ideas of their thoughts, for these are what the words of their speech express. In contrast, the things angels of the highest heaven say and the way they say them all come from the changes in their affections-though when they speak with spiritual angels, they speak as the spiritual do; but not so among themselves.
     Since that is what the speech of angels is like, and what the speech of men is like, therefore their forms of speech are so different that they have nothing in common. They are so different that a man cannot understand any word an angel says, nor an angel any word a man says. I have listened to angels speaking and memorized the words, and have afterwards tried to see whether any of those words matches any word in the expressions or languages of men, and there was not one. (Spiritual speech is the same for all people; it is innate in everyone, and everyone comes into it as soon as he becomes a spirit.)
     Regarding forms of writing, this is like their speech. The writing of spiritual angels in its letters is similar to the writing of men in the world, but every letter has a meaning. Consequently if you saw it in a natural state, you would say there were only letters. On the other hand, examples of writing in the highest heaven are not similar in their letters. They have letters formed by various curves, not unlike the letters of Hebrew, but always rounded, with no straight lines anywhere. Each letter also carries some meaning, of which they have a perception from affection and not from thought. Because of all this, one who is natural does not comprehend a thing from spiritual writing, nor one who is spiritual thing from natural writing. Neither does one who is spiritual comprehend anything from celestial writing, or one who is celestial anything from spiritual writing-unless he is with someone spiritual.

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     10. It is similar with the things they do, which are many, for everyone is engaged in some activity. How the spiritual do the things they do cannot be described to one who is natural, nor can how the celestial do the things they do be described to one who is spiritual. For these differ as much as their thoughts, speech and writing.
     11. It can be seen from this what the difference is between natural, spiritual and celestial things-that the difference is such that there is no conformity at all between them except by correspondences. This, too, is the reason why men do not know they have an association with spirits, and spirits that they have an association with men, when yet there is a perpetual association. For man could not live one minute without being in the midst of spirits in respect to his thoughts and affections, nor could spirits and angels live a moment without being with men. The reason is that there is a perpetual connection extending from first things to last things, thus from the Lord to man, and from creation the connection was established by correspondences, and it flows in through angels and spirits. Everything celestial flows into something spiritual, and everything spiritual into something natural, and it terminates in the last of this, which is physical and material, and there abides. Without such a final abode for intermediates to flow into, there would be no other permanence than that of a house built in the air. The human race is therefore the base and foundation of the heavens.
     12. No angel knows there is such a difference between natural, spiritual and celestial things. The reason is that an angel does not change his state or go from a spiritual state into a natural one so as to be able to explore the differences. I have spoken with them about this, and they said they do not know the differences. They believed they thought, spoke, wrote and did things in the same way as in the world. But they were shown the truth by their changing states so that they thought alternately now in the one, now in the other, and so that they likewise spoke alternately in the one and the other as well, and also read what they had written in a spiritual state and in a natural state, and similarly did things; and they then found out that there is such a difference that it cannot be described. It has been possible for me to instruct even angels in this regard, because I have been given to be in both worlds alternately and to explore the one from the standpoint of the other; and they have all admitted afterwards that this is the way it is.
     13. But nevertheless, there is a similarity between the natural, spiritual and celestial states in regard to the various kinds of things that present themselves as objects of sight, taste, smell and hearing, and of the sense of touch. For to the sight they all look like people in the world. Their
clothes look similar, and their houses, also their gardens and parks, and their fields, likewise their lands and waters, as well as their various kinds of food and drink, and, too, the animals of the land, the birds of the sky, and the fishes in the waters, all of various kinds in their various species.

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Their speech sounds as it did in the world, also the rhythms and melodies of their vocal and instrumental music. Flavor is similar, and also the way things smell. In a word, everything that appears or makes itself perceptible to any sense does so in a similar way. But yet the things in the other world are from a spiritual origin, and the angels therefore think of them spiritually and give them spiritual names.
     Despite what has been said, however, even all these things as they appear and are perceived in the middle and highest heaven, in the excellence of their forms and harmonies and with respect to their perfections which are of superior and surpassing preeminence, cannot be described except imperfectly. They can be described only as being like the most perfect things in the world, which are nevertheless imperfect in comparison to the things that are in heaven.
FIRST WESTERN MINISTERS' MEETINGS 1983

FIRST WESTERN MINISTERS' MEETINGS              1983

     [Photo of WESTERN MINISTERS MEET January 1983]

Back row: W. Barnett, P. Buss, C. Echols, H. Cranch, K. Junge
Front row: M. Gladish, J. Weiss, F. Rose, C. King

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     THE FIRST WESTERN MINISTERS' MEETINGS

     The first "Western Ministers' Meetings" were held January 17-18, 1983, in La Crescenta, California. In attendance was virtually every General Church priest residing west of the Mississippi in the United States. The meetings were chaired by Rev. Peter Buss, Bishop's Representative to the central, midwestern and western United States.
     Among the nine ministers present was Rev. Harold Cranch, who might be called the patriarch of our west coast priests. More than three decades ago he visited New Church people in Denver, Tucson, Seattle, Sacramento, San Francisco and San Diego (see NCL, Jan. 1947, p. 26). Who would have predicted in those days that church societies would spring up in these places where he made pioneer contacts?
     The meetings were squeezed into two days of successive sessions, allowing only enough time between sessions to take nourishment, which, by the way, was very generously provided by members of the Los Angeles society. It could be said that these meetings of our western clergy marked a "coming of age" to the newly formed California District, since we met only six months after the first California District Assembly in San Diego. Our agenda provided us the opportunity to share practical pastoral concerns founded upon a variety of doctrinal study and personal experience. We focused on three main areas of concern, namely, the development of ritual, sermon preparation and delivery, and evangelization.
     Rev. Michael Gladish presented the subject of the development of ritual. In the discussion it was pointed out that there is value in maintaining church wide continuity to our services, but that a high priority should be given to meeting the needs of one's congregation as well as the needs of the newcomer.
     Rev. Frank Rose spoke on the subject of "The Sermon." It was agreed by all that the sermon is the single most important thing a minister does and that it should serve as a powerful pastoral tool. Preaching a sermon provides an opportunity to teach, but as a result of this instruction the people in the congregation should be stirred to do what is good with truths of faith serving as the means to that end. Our discussion centered around the challenges of preparing and preaching a sermon that can truly be heard. The goal of a sermon should be to convey one idea well, rather than offering a "string of pearls" that can't be fully appreciated in such a short space of time. Mr. Rose concluded by saying that "it is better to give a person a piece of bread than to drive him past a bakery."
     The second day of the meetings was spent almost entirely on the subject of evangelization. It has become clear that while a variety of pamphlets and publications serve as excellent support material in the evangelization process, they simply cannot replace personal contact as a means for introducing inquirers to the church.

     We are all looking forward to future meetings of the western clergy.

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Editorial Pages 1983

Editorial Pages       Editor       1983

     THE GRIEVOUSNESS OF GETHSEMANE

     All readers of the Bible know that Jesus suffered. They know that He even endured agony. In what did the suffering consist? Let the question be asked: which of the two scenes was the more grievous for the Lord?     

     1) Very late at night in the house of the high priest the Lord stands blindfolded and is struck in the face while men jeer and speak blasphemously against Him. Some spit in His face and buffet Him, while others smite Him with the palms of their hands (see Matt. 26:67).
     2) Earlier that same night He is alone in a garden. No one touches Him. It is the hour remembered by the name of the place, Gethsemane.

     Although it may seem strange, the experience of Gethsemane must be called far more grievous than the experience later that night in the house of the high priest. Any reader who takes note of the calm words of the Lord in the later incident can see this. As the Lord was arrested to be taken from Gethsemane, He spoke with a masterful serenity. But previously, as He entered Gethsemane, He said that His soul was exceeding sorrowful unto death. He prayed that He might not have to endure it. The word "agony" is only used for the temptation in Gethsemane (Luke 22:44).
     The Writings refer to the Lord's "own most grievous temptation at Gethsemane" (AC 8179e). For the most part the Lord's temptations were invisible and unknown even to His disciples. There are readers of the Bible who do not even think of the terrible assault of the forces of hell which the Lord endured while He was in the world. An exceptional book is the one written by J. Paterson Smyth, A People's Life of Christ (Hodder and Stoughton, 1921). Describing the event of Gethsemane this author writes: We would veil our faces before the eternal Christ struggling in His mysterious agony. But it is meant that we should see. He is on His knees now with His face to the ground and the sweat like great drops blood gathering on His brow, and from His tortured soul goes up that cry of uttermost agony. . . "

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Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from Me." Who can explain for us that terrible conflict which rent the soul of the Son of Man that night? What was this bitter cup that He shrank from? We know of the horrible experiences before Him next day. But who that knows Him could imagine for a moment that such things should have so disturbed Him? There must have been in that hour, in some way beyond our ken, some awful burden . . . some deadly conflict with the powers of darkness that after the Temptation "departed for a season." Was the season over? Was the Evil One battling again in the supreme contest with God in human flesh?
     We have not been able to ascertain whether Paterson Smyth was a reader of the Writings. A number of things in his book make us wonder. At least he saw that the Lord's coming into the world involved a conflict with unseen forces and that far more than anticipation of physical suffering must have been involved when Jesus said, "Let this cup pass from Me."

     *****

     LET THIS CUP PASS FROM ME

     The "cup" which the Lord tasted in Gethsemane was absolutely horrible. Not once but three times He prayed that it might be removed from Him. We ma y conclude that each time He prayed this there was a greater degree of horror (see AC 2257). These words were not spoken casually or calmly. He was in terrible agony. He was "driven to despair" and "felt anguish from the very inmosts" (AC 1787).


     He did talk calmly about the "cup" before that hour was come. To James and John He spoke of "the cup that I shall drink of"; and later to Peter He said, "the cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?" (AC 5120) Those were the three men chosen to be "with the Lord in Gethsemane" (AE 821). They with the rest of the twelve had seen the Lord in the upper room offering them the wine, not calling it "wine" but "this cup" and also "My blood" (AC 5120:5). The Lord's blood symbolized His love toward the whole human race. Later that night He would be in temptations "even to the sweating of blood" (AC 1787) and He would be praying in anguish, "Let this cup pass from Me."
     "If the love is not assaulted, there is no temptation"(AC 1690). "If the end which is loved were not put in doubt, and indeed in despair, there would be no temptation" (AC 1820).
     Did the Lord know that He would succeed in His purpose in coming to earth? It is obvious that He did know.

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In the upper room He told the disciples they would weep and lament, "but your sorrow shall be turned into joy." He knew He would conquer. He had an "inmost confidence and faith that because He was fighting for the salvation of the whole human race from pure love, He could not but conquer" (AC 1812).
     One can talk of the hour of temptation objectively. You and I can counsel others and tell them that they will know suffering but that in the end all will be well. We can speak intellectually and intelligently about the temptations that yet lie ahead of us. The Lord knew of the hour that was coming perfectly well. And He welcomed that hour for through His admitting into Himself the assault of evil spirits He would achieve for mankind what He loved above all else. "What shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour." And yet in the darkness of Gethsemane He fell on the ground and "prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. And He said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto Thee; take away this cup from Me: nevertheless, not what I will, but what Thou wilt."
     There is a world of difference between talking of temptation when one is in another state, and being in the state of temptation. We can talk of what it is like when we see someone we love in pain. But when we actually witness the pain it is different. And, then, if at the time of this anguish evil spirits infest us, our minds are darkened with doubt. The very existence of God or any good is in doubt, as we experience only the pain, and then the injustice of it is an agony.
     The story of Abraham's protest at seeming injustice inwardly enfolds the Lord's state of horror. That the innocent should suffer is a great pain, and it leads to the intolerable thought that the innocent shall perish. Abraham contemplated the destruction of a great city and was appalled with the thought that good people would be destroyed (Genesis 18). His appeal to God at that time signified the Lord's urging that "possibly" it might be otherwise (AC 2248).
     Imagine sheep being scattered-the sheep being harmed although they are innocent. As the Lord contemplated the hour to come in Gethsemane He knew that He, the Shepherd, would be smitten; but then what would become of the sheep? "The sheep shall be scattered" (Mark 14:27). And then in Gethsemane would come the terrible thought. They are not sheep. They are not innocent. They are so vulnerable to evil. They are hopelessly evil. In Gethsemane the Lord "began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy," and He said to the three disciples "My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death."
     Suppose you are told that the one you love whose welfare is precious to you is really terribly evil. Or suppose you have the despairing feeling that no one is good, no one is worth loving.

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To doubt about your own salvation is one thing. There may be many voices saying of your soul that there is no salvation or help for you in God (see Psalm 3:2). But if your very life is a love for the human race, then the more terrible saying would be that there is no salvation for their souls. There is no help for them in God.
     "The Lord's life was love toward the whole human race . . . . Against this His life, continual temptations were admitted" (AC 1690). Was it not the bitterest of cups for Him to come into a feeling or perception of the evil in the human race that He loved? The actual perception "and the thought therefrom concerning the human race that such was their quality struck Him with horror." And it is no wonder that "He willed to withdraw from the perception and derivative thought" (AC 2222). He prayed, "Remove this cup from Me: nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done."
     There is a well known verse in the Psalms. "Oh that I had wings like a dove! For then would I fly away. . . ." Of this it is said in Prophets and Psalms, "He would fain give up the combats because of their grievousness." That entire psalm seems to reflect the state in Gethsemane when the Lord said, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death." "My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me." The desolation of Gethsemane might be called "the cup of trembling" (see AC 5376). The Lord "shuddered" as dense falsities infused themselves, but "after His temptations and horrors" there was consolation (AC 1865:2).

     The Consolation

     The Writings say that the Lord had consolation in Gethsemane (AC 1787). Do we sense the consolation when the third time He came to the three slumbering disciples and said, "Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough . . . ."? Any consolation for the Lord would be in the welfare of others, that they might sleep in safety and rest in the security of His redeeming work. He admitted temptations into Himself, that is, He made Himself vulnerable to the assaults of the hells that the hells might thereby be subjugated and the human race saved. "To Him the salvation of the human race was the only consolation, for He was in Divine and celestial love, and became, even as to His Human Essence, the Divine celestial Love itself, in which the love of all is alone regarded and is at heart" (AC 1865).

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ABORTION-PASSAGES TO PONDER 1983

ABORTION-PASSAGES TO PONDER       CAROLE R. MADDOCK       1983




     Communications
Dear Editor:

     In the November issue a reader asked what we would advise an unmarried teenage girl to do if she was pregnant. This is a good question, and one we should all reflect on.
     The civil law no longer protects unborn children. Most young people cannot remember when abortion was not legal. "Legal" to them may suggest that abortion is all right or good. Our young people look to us for direction and guidance.
     If we believe that a life developing in the womb is the Lord's alone and not ours to destroy we will find ways to give comfort and support to those mothers in difficult situations. It is only when we rule out abortion as a solution that we are then able to see the alternatives.
     We can encourage the girl to seek advice from a minister. We can direct her to one of the agencies that offer counselling on the alternatives to abortion.
     Surely we know that to condemn or pass harsh judgment whatever the outcome is wrong. Rather than compound a sad situation by the evil of abortion, should we not seek ways to promote what is good?
     In the New Church our conscience and thoughts about what advice to give should come from our understanding of the Lord's Word.
     With this letter are some passages for consideration. Special emphasis is indicated by italics.
     CAROLE R. MADDOCK,
          Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania

     "That Jehovah or the Lord is Divine love, and that He is infinite and the Being (Esse) of all life, and that man was created into the image of God after the likeness of God, has been shown in the work on the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom. And as every man is formed by the Lord in the womb into that image after that likeness (as has also been shown), it follows that the Lord is the heavenly Father of all men, and that men are His spiritual children. Thus is Jehovah or the Lord called in the Word, and men likewise; for He says: 'Call no man your father upon the earth, for One is your Father, who is in the heavens' (Matt. xxiii:9); which means that He alone is the Father in respect to the life; and that the earthly father is the father only in respect to the life's covering, which is the body; therefore in heaven no father is mentioned except the Lord"( Divine Providence 330).

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     ". . . because all creating is from the Lord as a Sun, He being Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, and it is by the operation of these that the creating of man is effected. The forming of the embryo, and so of a human infant, in the womb is like a creating. It is termed 'generation' because it is effected by a bringing across (traductio). Hence it follows that with man specially the first forms are receptacles of love and wisdom, and that the creating of everything else constituting a human being is effected by means of them.
     Besides, no effect comes forth from itself, but from a prior cause, called the effecting cause, and neither does this come forth from itself but from the cause called 'end' within which there is, both in effort and in idea, everything that follows-in effort in the Divine Love, in idea in the Divine Wisdom these being the end of ends" (Divine Wisdom 11:2).

     "All spirits and angels appear to themselves as men; of such a face and such a body, with organs and members; and this for the reason that their inmost conspires to such a form; just as the primitive of man, which is from the soul of the parent, endeavors toward the formation of the whole man in the ovum and the womb, although this primitive is not in the form of the body, but in another most perfect form known to the Lord alone; and inasmuch as the inmost with everyone in like manner conspires and endeavors toward such a form, therefore all there appear as men . . ." (Arcana Coelestia 3633; Cf. AC 1999:3,4; D. Wis. I-X).

     "The Lord conjoins Himself to man in the womb of the mother from his first conception, and forms man . . . . That life itself is present from first conception and is what gives form follows from this, that in order to be the form of life which man is and in order to be an image and likeness of God, which man also is, and in order to be a recipient of love and wisdom, which are life from the Lord, thus a recipient of the Lord Himself, man must be formed by life itself. That if man loves the Lord he is in the Lord and the Lord in him, and the Lord has His abode in him, the Lord Himself teaches. All of this work of preparation for Himself the Lord does in the womb . . . as will be seen in what follows.

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This is why Jehovah, or the Lord, is called in the Word: 'Creator, Former, and Maker from the womb' (Isaiah xliii:1; xliv:2, 24; xlix:5). And in David it is said that: 'Upon Him he was cast and laid from the womb' (Psalm xxii:l0; lxxi:6). While man is in the womb he is in a state of innocence; therefore, his first state after birth is a state of innocence; and the Lord dwells in man only in his innocence . . . . I foresee that when you read this, some doubts may occur to your mind; but read to the end, and afterwards recollect, and the doubts will disappear"(Divine Wisdom III:I).

     "There is life in the embryo before birth, but the embryo is not conscious of it . . . . The life from which the embryo in the womb lives is not its life, but the Lord's alone, Who alone is life" (Divine Wisdom 111.6).

     The end of creation is a heaven from the human race . . . . (1) Every man was created to live to eternity. (2) Every man was created to live to eternity in a state of blessedness. (3) Thus every man was created to come into heaven. (4) The Divine love must needs will this; and the Divine wisdom must needs provide for it" (Divine Providence 323).

     So long as the heart is moved, love with its vital heat remains and preserves life, as is evident in the cases of swoon and suffocation, and in the condition of fetal life in the womb" (Divine Love and Wisdom 390).

     "The sphere of the love of infants is a sphere of protection and support of those who cannot protect and support themselves . . . . It is of creation that the things created must be preserved, guarded, protected and sustained. Otherwise the universe would go to destruction . . . . That they are not able to protect and sustain themselves is not the cause of the love which moves mothers and fathers to protect and sustain infants, but is a rational cause from that love falling into the understanding. For from this cause alone, without the love that inspired and inspires it, or without a law and a penalty enforcing it, man would no more provide for infants than a statue" (Conjugial Love 391; see this entire paragraph).

     "All the members devoted to generation in both sexes, especially the womb, correspond to societies of the third or inmost heaven . . . therefore conjugial love which descends therefrom [from the Lord's love for the church] as the love of the heavens is innocence, which is the very being (esse) of every good in the heavens. And for this reason embryos in the womb are in a state of peace, and after birth infants are in a state of innocence; so, too, is the mother in relation to them" (Apocalypse Explained 985:3).

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     "It is the inmost heaven through which the Lord insinuates true conjugial love . . . . Hence also comes the affection for children called storge; for thus the celestial angels of the inmost heaven love infants much more than parents-even than mothers. They attend upon infants, and have charge of them; yea, they are even present with them in the maternal womb, as I was told, and are careful that they be nourished-thus they preside over the womb during gestation" (Spiritual Diary 1201; see also AE 828, 710; HH 178, 179; SD 3152, 5179; De Conj. 100-106).

     "Angels of the inmost heaven . . . love infants much more than do their fathers and mothers. They are present with infants in the womb, and through them the Lord cares for the nutrition and development of the infants therein; thus they have charge over those who are with child" (Arcana Coelestia 5052).

     See AC 5391 which speaks of the organs that "perform their main work in embryos, and also in newborn infants. It is chaste virgins who constitute this province in the Gorand Man."

     The embryo, being yet in the womb, partakes more from the good of innocence than after it is born . . . . The 'womb' signifies the inmost good of love . . . because there the fetus is conceived and grows until it is born; moreover, it is the inmost of the genital organs, and from it is also derived the maternal love that is called storge. Because the man who is regenerating is also conceived, and as it were carried in the womb and born, and because regeneration is effected by truths from the good of love so 'to bear in the womb' signifies in the spiritual sense the doctrine of truth from the good of love. There is also a correspondence of the womb with the inmost good of love, since the whole of heaven corresponds to all things with man; and thus also the members devoted to generation; these correspond to celestial love. There is also an influx of the love out of heaven with mothers during the time of gestation, and into embryos; and from it springs the love of the babe with mothers, and innocence with babes" (Apocalypse Explained 710).

     Let the interested reader reflect on AC 4322 which talks of the belief of some that man comes into existence merely naturally from the seed and the ovum and not from the Divine. Among other pertinent numbers are AC 6468:3, CL 315, HH 329, SD 2477-2483.

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Church News 1983

Church News       Mary S. Cooper       1983

     WASHINGTON, D.C.

     A great many varied things go into the making of the life of a society, some routine, some chores, instruction, study and discussion, festivals and celebrations, the sadness of loss, and the joy of gains. The Washington Society has had its share of all these aspects in 1982.
     The "chores," often made pleasant by many working together to accomplish a use; are necessary for keeping the externals of society life in order. The church building must be kept clean and in repair, the grounds must be mowed, the tractors maintained, gardens tended, snow plowed occasionally; there are Friday suppers to cook, clean up after and equip for, school and Sunday school supplies to replenish, schedules to arrange and publications to print. Many dedicated people perform these and many other uses efficiently, to keep things running smoothly. Occasionally, "work parties" are called, at which time groups of people of all ages come together to make a notable impact on the task at hand, such as planting Easter flowers, washing windows, or repairing doors. In a relatively small society such as ours, no one need feel he is not needed, and all the efforts of upkeep are appreciated.
     The Sunday services, which include a talk for the children and Sunday school programs, and our weekly Friday suppers and classes provide us with the essence for which the society exists. Our two ministers, Dan Heinrichs and Lawson Smith, and occasional visiting ministers, serve us well. In addition there are other opportunities for doctrinal study. A bi-weekly study group, consisting mostly of young people, and monthly faculty studies are examples.
     Many events, though primarily spiritual in purpose, also provide happy social opportunities. Bishop King's much appreciated visit early in the year gave us the excuse for an open house. The General Church treasurers met here in April, and it was a delight to meet so many people from all parts of the church. The New Church Day banquet featured Rev. Donald Rose as guest speaker. Picnics in honor of June 19 and July 4, and a bonfire-hot dog roast-sing in October provided great fun for all. Two dessert and discussion evenings during the summer gave us a chance to get together, with something worthwhile to talk about.
     While we often wait for years between weddings, this year we had three of these joyous events. Our annual Bazaar is a fun social time, as well as an opportunity for the whole society to support the church in one big joint effort. Held in November, this year it was an international affair, with things decorative, practical and delectable from many parts of the world. Another annual event, the Thanksgiving dinner dance, this year with an oriental theme, brings together all the young at heart for an evening of dining in style, dancing and entertainment.
     The Christmas season always brings many special activities. The school children and faculty decorated the building, had a party and presented a program to the society.

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There was a special Christmas supper and doctrinal class, and the tableaux, which bring the wondrous story to us in a powerful, visual presentation. The Christmas eve candlelight service and the peaceful Christmas morning service brought the season to its climax.
     We had some changes in our school this year. As of September, our assistant pastor, Lawson Smith, became Principal, and sadly, we lost one of our longtime teachers, Altys van Kesteren. James Roscoe joined the staff to take her place, and we have enjoyed having James and his wife, Jeannette, as part of our society. A new effort in the school is represented by a student council, consisting of the 9th and 10th grade students, who have made a notable contribution to the school in terms of organizing events and providing leadership. Parent-teacher coffees provide an opportunity for communication between home and school, and take place once each term, after report cards have gone home. And in June and December the school entertains the society with special programs. A school certainly provides a focus for a society in many ways, and we are lucky to be able to maintain ours.
     Several members left us in 1982. We said a fond farewell to Louise Coffin, who had been very much a part of our society for many years, and to Chris and Caroline Glenn, who moved to New England. We also had to say a more permanent farewell to two friends who went to the spiritual world. Daniel Needer, a young man in his twenties, left us suddenly in October, and Mrs. Philip Stebbing (Patti) passed quietly away right after Christmas, after a long illness.
     Fortunately, we also gained new people, in addition to the Roscoes, six babies came to swell our numbers, a delightful kind of addition that bodes well for the future of our society and school.
     Mary S. Cooper

     [Photo of Chancel of the Washington Society's Church]

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SWEDENBORG'S SUMMER HOUSE, HELP US SAVE IT! 1983

SWEDENBORG'S SUMMER HOUSE, HELP US SAVE IT!       RAGNAR BOEYSEN       1983




     Announcements







     One of the few natural objects still in existence in this world known to have been used by Emanuel Swedenborg is the little summer house he erected in his garden. Here he would write while inspired from the other world, here he would receive visitors, here he would read or listen to music.
     This house in the garden was later moved to Skansen, the open air museum in Stockholm, and remains the responsibility of the National Board of Culture in Sweden. However, like many other institutions trying to protect valuable cultural objects in Sweden, there is entirely too few funds fro the preservation of decaying buildings. We hear from Mr. Lennart Fornander of the Scandinavian Swedenborg Society that the house is in critical condition and needs urgent repair. Since the authorities in Sweden do not have the money, and we in the New Church have an affectional attachment to this pleasing little structure, is it not natural that we try to do something for its preservation? It is estimated that we need about $5000 for this project. Already $1,700 has been collected through the generous campaign of the Swedenborg Society a year and a half ago.

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Since we did not collect enough money to get the repairs underway, almost two years have slipped away since the time I inspected the building and found it in grave need of repair. It needs a new roof, restoration of panels and complete repainting inside and out. If we do not do something within the New Church, I doubt that there are funds elsewhere. Let the future speak of the year 1983 as the year when sensible men and women made it possible to restore and preserve a delightful little summer house, once visited by angels, but today endangered due to neglect.
     Please send your contributions to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009 and mark them "Swedenborg's Summer House."
     RAGNAR BOEYSEN
NEWS FROM BENADE 1983

NEWS FROM BENADE       R.R.G       1983

     When Bishop Benade and his third wife, the intelligent and charming Kate Gibbs Benade, formerly of London, made a tour of the Academy centers in America in 1895, nowhere were they greeted more cordially than in Glenview, the brand-new country settlement of the Immanuel Church, formerly of Chicago Every house flew Academy and national colors, and from every doorway came smiling and welcoming faces.
     When Bishop Benade had completed the tour, he wrote to his close friend, Rev. R. J. (later Bishop) Tilson of London as follows:

     The work at Glen-view was delightful to see and encouraging to consider. Dandridge [Pendleton] has the very spirit and faculty of an ecclesiastical governor. An excellent teacher of spiritual truth, and a most competent administrator of the law of the church, he is leading into ways of church life which are producing most happy and beautiful results. It is true that he has uncommonly fine material to work with, but under his skilful and wise handling nothing is wasted and everything is put to a good use.

     Since Dandridge Pendleton became Bishop of the General Church just about twenty years later, Benade's observations of 1895 were not far off the mark. The "uncommonly fine material" included the Burnhams, the Junges, the Nelsons and the Kings, to name a few.
     R.R.G

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NEW CHURCH AND MODERN CHRISTIANITY 1983

NEW CHURCH AND MODERN CHRISTIANITY              1983

     by GEORGE DE CHARMS

     This books brings out the differences between the faith of the New Church and that of the modern Christian world. Besides the fundamental issues of the Divinity of the Lord and the holiness of the Word, it brings into focus the issues of religious tolerance and trends of thought and attitude. There is also a chapter on tolerance within the organization of the new Church. Useful clarifying the thinking of each generation on the distinctiveness of the New Church. Hardcover, Postpaid $2.15

GENERAL CHURCH BOOK CENTER
BRYN ATHYN, PA
Hours: 9 to 12, Monday thru Friday
Phone: (215) 947-3920

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Notes on This Issue 1983

Notes on This Issue              1983



Vol. CIII          April, 1983          No. 4
NEW CHURCH LIFE

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     "Unless we have love one to another in our societies and circles and groups . . ." (see p. 154). The things which seem so essential to us are of no avail if there is not such a love among us. An evident theme of this issue is love to the neighbor.
     The recognition of the Transvaal society (announced below) brings to twenty the number of General Church societies. See page 181 for the address of this latest society.
     The letter on p. 173 invites us to think of a longer version of the Arcana. Coincidentally, we have recently heard of men who are interested in producing shortened versions for the purpose of getting more people to become readers of this work.
     Once more we offer the opportunity to sample a new translation of a work of the Writings (p. 155). The Word of the Lord from Experience is a work of about fifty pages. More ambitious projects are being considered.
     A film review is a rare thing in this magazine. The reviewer in this issue, Doris Delaney, is the daughter of the late Dr. H. Lj. Odhner.
     We have assumed for almost twenty years that no one had a photograph of the old Swedenborg Garage in East London. But a hopeful appeal in the February issue maintained, "There is a real chance that some Canadian or . . . ." Yes, it turned out that a Canadian reader had taken a photo some twenty years ago. We received word of it on February 28th. Since it may be the only extant photo, we are printing it, even if it is unclear (p. 175). Although this is a relatively trivial matter we confess to a kind of excitement at this find, and we thank Alec and Gwen Craigie for providing the photograph.
CHURCH BUILDING DEDICATED 1983

CHURCH BUILDING DEDICATED              1983

     On October 24th, 1982, Bishop L. B. King dedicated a church building at Alexandria, Indiana. For a sketch of church activity there see the note in the October issue (p. 487) by Mr. James Wood, whose address appears on p. 182 of this issue.
TRANSVAAL SOCIETY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH 1983

TRANSVAAL SOCIETY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH              1983

     As of January 1, 1983, the Transvaal circle in the Republic of South Africa has been recognized as the Transvaal Society of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. Rev. Norman Riley has been called to become pastor of this society.

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HOUSE UPON A ROCK 1983

HOUSE UPON A ROCK       Rev. PATRICK A. ROSE       1983

     "Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock" (Matt. 7:24).

     A house, some place in which to live, is one of the most basic necessities of human life. It is a physical necessity. A person needs a house, or some form of shelter, to protect him from the elements. It also fulfills a psychological need. Home is where we return to rest after a day's work. It is where we bring up our families. It is a place where we can be by ourselves and be with those we love. It is an oasis where we can withdraw from the pressures of life in society and enjoy privacy.
     This need for a house and home has its source deep within the human spirit. It originates in the fact that the human spirit has been given freedom by the Lord. Man has been given the ability to love whatever he wants to love, and from this, the ability to think whatever he wishes. This is where man's freedom essentially lies.
     It is true that we also have freedom to do and say what we want. Yet here our freedom is somewhat limited. We cannot always do what we want. Nor can we always say what we want. The circumstances of life on earth limit us in many ways. We are frequently prevented from doing the things we would like to do, either because they are physically or financially impossible, or else because we fear the possible consequences of our actions. It is usually evil deeds, and also evil words, which are limited in this way. Though we are perfectly free to hate somebody and to want to do him evil, fear of various penalties prevents us from actually doing evil to him. And though we are free to think ill of somebody, we seldom feel free to express this opinion in words, at least to the person's face. So it is that even though we are free to love and think what we want, we are seldom in perfect freedom when it comes to words and actions.
     Now it is obvious that without some checks on people's deeds and words, human society would not survive. But at the same time it is vital to the existence of man that he be free in at least some area. Without freedom, man would no longer exist as a man. He would be more like a puppet or a robot than a human being. Therefore man is given mental freedom by the Lord. In his mind a man is free to will and think whatever he wishes, unchecked by the pressures and the restraints of the world.

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     It is this mental freedom which is reflected in a man's life at home. It is when a man is at home that he is at liberty to express his freedom of will and thought in deeds and words. To a large extent a person can say and do whatever he wants while at home. Certainly he can say and do things there that he would newer dream of doing in public.
     It is not surprising, therefore, that a house, when mentioned in the Word, often signifies the human mind. There are in fact many similarities between the mind and a house. The very structure of a house is an image of the mind. We read that "the ancients compared the mind of man to a house, and those things which are within man to chambers. The human mind is indeed like this; for the things therein are distinct, scarcely otherwise than as a house is divided into its chambers" (AC 7353). The similarity extends also to the people within a house. We are taught that the various thoughts and affections in the human mind are related and interconnected in a fashion similar to the relationships between the members of a household (see AC 2556, 3020, 3129). There is also this in common between the mind and a house: both are or should be ruled by love. It is a man's love which orders and governs all things in his mind, and arranges and connects all his thoughts and feelings. So, too, the members of a household, and especially the husband and wife, are, or should be, bound by love for one another (see AC 1159, 710). From this it is that when a house in the Word stands for the human mind, it frequently refers specifically to the good or the love which rules the mind.
     Both the mind and the home are areas where a man's love and the attendant thoughts are free to express themselves. The very nature of a man is expressed in his mental activities, and also, to a large degree, in the way he conducts himself at home.
     The connection between man's spirit, that is, his mind, and a man's house or home is thus extremely close. It is when a man is at home, and especially when he is alone at home, that the true nature of his spirit is likely to manifest itself. Removed from the influences and the pressures of the world at large, his thoughts are free to turn to the things he loves the most (see DP 104; TCR 14:3) And since he is not on his guard the same way as he is when in the company of others, he feels more free to express his thoughts and feelings.
     The corollary to this is also true. Not only does man's spirit come out when he is at home, but he also feels at home when he is in his spirit. When a man dies and his spirit enters the other world, he can enter fully into the life of his spirit. Before long his ruling love takes over all his words and actions, and he gravitates toward those who are like himself.

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If he is evil, he comes into the company of those in a like evil. If he is good, he comes into the company of those in a like good. But whatever type of person he is, he is at home. In the company of his spiritual brothers and sisters he is more at home than he could ever be while in this world.
     It is in the spiritual world, in a man's eternal home, that all his strengths and weaknesses come out for all to see. In this world it is different. In this world our true natures are mostly hidden from the world at large. We worry what others will think and how others will react, and hesitate to reveal our weaknesses and failings to others. We keep our failings private, so that they are manifest only to ourselves, and to some degree to those in our own household.
     This privacy is important. In public, people are compelled and constrained in many ways. If they did not have privacy, they would have little freedom at all. It is right and proper that men should be able to hide their secret weaknesses from the world at large. But though these weaknesses are hidden, they still exist. And the sad thing is that these weaknesses are often serious, and can cause much unhappiness, both to the individual and to his family.
     While people usually manage to present an upright and fairly cheerful image to the world, in too many cases their minds and their home lives are full of misery. In public they keep up appearances; in private their spirits are afflicted with strife and unhappiness.
     Why? Why is it that the private lives of so many people are so often miserable? Why are so many minds, and so many homes, full of unhappiness? It is because people are foolish, and they build their homes, build their lives, on the wrong foundation.
     This is the mistake spoken of by the Lord in His Sermon on the Mount: "And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand.
     If we ever find that our thoughts and feelings are always turning to and dwelling upon evil, and if our home lives are constantly disturbed by hatred and strife, this is the reason.
     It might be thought that a man who has accepted the Writings would have a strength that others do not have. The wonderful teachings of the Writings should surely be a source of strength and support to all who accept them. And yet it sometimes happens that New Church men and women are as weak as others outside the church. They too can sometimes fall into evils and unhappiness. The homes of New Church people also can be shaken and broken by quarrels and fights and hatred.
     This can happen even to those who have the Writings when they do not do what the Writings teach, that is, if they hear the Lord's sayings and do them not.

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If we do not live the way the Writings teach, then the truths of the Writings are no real support. The reason is simple.
     If we do not try sincerely and earnestly to live according to the truths of the Writings, then we have not really accepted these truths. We may think we believe in them. But all we have done is to learn them. They have not actually entered our hearts. All they have done is entered our memories. Now, all the memory can do is store bits of information. It is only the rational of man, and especially the love within this rational, which can draw the truths of the Word together into a coherent whole. Therefore, if the truths of the Writings are only in the memory, and not in the love or the heart of man, then they remain incoherent bits and pieces of information:
     Little bits and pieces-incoherent spiritual sand. That's what the truths of the Writings are to the man who does not receive the Lord's teachings into his heart and live them. If this be the case, it is no wonder that a man's mind and home Life are weak. Just as a house built on sand is broken up by the rain, floods and winds, so, too, a man who builds his life upon spiritual sand is open to all kinds of destructive influences from the hells. The rain, floods and winds are a picture of the attacks of the hells. If a man's house or mind doesn't have a firm foundation, then his whole mind is soon engulfed by the evils and falsities of hell, and his mental and home life descend into misery and frustration.
     Therefore the Lord counsels us to build our homes upon rock. "Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock." This rock is of course the Lord and the truth of His Word. This rock is available to all of us in the Old and New Testaments and in the Writings. The question is, will we use this rock as the foundation of our houses?
     Everybody knows that a house needs a foundation. Otherwise it cannot continue to stand. What people often don't realize is that the spirit or mind of man, that is, his spiritual house, also needs a foundation. Mental things such as love and faith need a basis on which to rest.
     People sometimes think they love the Lord and believe in Him even though they don't put this love and belief into action. They think they have charity in their hearts and faith in their thoughts even though they do not really live good lives. But the Writings emphasize that unless charity and faith are expressed in a man's deeds, they are "merely fleeting mental abstractions" with no permanent existence (see TCR 375). Unless we make an effort to do good, then we will not continue to love what is good for very long.
     The things of the mind must have their foundation in the deeds of the body if they are to have permanence.

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Therefore if the Word of the Lord is to be the foundation of our minds, we must live the Word, live and do what it teaches.
     Then, and only then, will the Word be a foundation for our mental lives. Only then will our minds have strength from the Lord. This spiritual strength will then give strength and peace to the lives of our homes.
     The simple fact is that only if we do what the Lord teaches can we really love Him and His Word. And it is only if we really love the Lord that we will abide by His teachings, not only in public but also in private: both in the privacy of our minds and in the privacy of our houses.
     It must not be thought that a man who lives according to the Lord's Word will be spared the attacks by the hells. The rain, floods and wind also beat upon the house that was builded upon a rock. So, too, the sincere New Churchman who lives his religion will also find that the hells encourage him to do evil, and that his home life is occasionally disturbed by hellish influences.
     But the hells will not be able to gain a firm foothold. Evils will not come gushing into his mind. He will stand firm. He will stand firm against evil at all times. He will resist evil not only in public but also within his own mind and within his own home. He will abide by the teachings of the Lord. "And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock." Amen.
EVEN THE WINDS AND THE SEA OBEY HIM 1983

EVEN THE WINDS AND THE SEA OBEY HIM       Rev. ROBERT H. P. COLE       1983

     One of my favorite messages of faith, hope and love is in the miracle performed by the Lord on the Sea of Galilee when He calmed the storm which frightened the disciples. In this miracle I see myself in times of trouble. Jesus had been asleep on a boat with His disciples. A ferocious storm came up. In fear, the disciples woke Him. "Lord, save us: we perish," they cried. In reply, the Lord questioned their faith and calmed the storm. What manner of man had such awesome power?
     Our mind is like a sea, calm and peaceful in happy times, but easily aroused in times of trouble. We travel on this sea in a ship fashioned from principles of life which support us. Such faith seems clear and strong when things go well, but, at times, doubts assail, the storms arise and we fear for our very souls.

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At such times, the Lord appears absent or even asleep. Yet if we have faith in Him, we will seek Him. Our faith will lead us to Him, and we will pray for His aid.
     But faith by itself is not enough; there has to be love. We have to love God enough for Him to have faith in us! This kind of love is a desire to be joined with the things which flow from the Lord into our minds. Jesus said to the woman who was a sinner, and who made His feet wet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed His feet, which she also anointed with oil, "Thy sins are forgiven thee; thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace" (Luke 7:38, 48, 50).
     We can see that it was faith in the Lord's power that healed the woman of her spiritual diseases, that is, removed her sins, for the woman not only had faith in the Divine power of the Lord, but she also loved Him. Faith brings the presence of the Lord and love conjoins us with Him.
     So when we do not have faith in Him as an all-powerful Divine being, He may be in the sphere of our life, but He is not present within us, where He must be if He is to help us with our spiritual problems. For example, no one can be called just unless he or she lives according to what he believes to be true. We may all live according to civil and moral laws, but if at the same time we do not live according to spiritual laws, we are not "just" in the truest sense of the word. One who believes himself to be living a good life without seeking or accepting the truths of God's Word, according to which he should live, is deceiving himself.
     The Lord cannot make us good men and women except by the truths of His Word and by our living according to them. But it is not quite that easy. Our faith in Him has to be tested. Evil spirits attack in a ferocious manner that may be compared to that of wild beasts or an angry sea; they attack and attempt to surround and engulf one who is trying to be a better person with God's help.
     Picture in nature, for example, when the ocean lashes forth, breaking in with waves over demolished barriers upon countries and towns. But finally, it is as if the Lord's voice can be heard speaking to the wind and the sea, saying, "Peace, be still." So also He speaks to the forces of hell when temptations have run their course. And by a like Divine power the Lord fights at this day against hell in every one of us who is being made a better person. For hell attacks such individuals with diabolical fury, and unless the Lord resisted and tamed that fury, we would perish eternally.
     But He does calm the raging storms of our lives, and the Lord sets us once more on a straight course upon a glassy sea and leads us, if we cooperate, ever more toward a heavenly port (see AE 514:21).

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CHURCH NEEDS MORE GOOD TEACHERS 1983

CHURCH NEEDS MORE GOOD TEACHERS       NANCY H. WOODARD       1983

     When the Academy and the General Church were founded, before the turn of the century, the development of New Church education was considered to be a primary goal of both institutions. This use has been well supported in many ways by the men and women of the church through all the years, and in turn education has contributed much to the growth of the church. One of the important benefits has been its effectiveness as a unifying undertaking, something to draw the members together in common purpose.
     As the church grows, uses multiply and more commitments are undertaken. This is as it should be, but we must be careful not to leave or neglect our first love. The important use of education will not survive unless, like every living thing, it is constantly renewed and nurtured. Education must be just as dynamic and growing as the children and youth it serves.
     Through the past decades, there has been a reasonable steady flow of dedicated people who saw a vision of what distinctive New Church education could be and were willing to work for it. For various reasons today, it appears we may face a problem in maintaining this flow. Many different factors could be involved in this: there are now more New Church schools to be staffed; there is more variety in exciting careers opening to young women; the salary scales are not high, particularly for men and heads of households; there is a general perception that enrollments are declining, so fewer teachers are needed; an astonishing number of young women get married! And so it goes.
     Whatever may have led to the present situation, it seems to me that the New Church does need more good teachers. What is it that makes a good teacher? While others might express it differently, my primary criterion is that the person be thoroughly and intelligently committed to helping children's minds to grow. Many people who love children dearly are not necessarily fitted to be teachers. Different institutions, of which the home is the most important, share in the overall raising of children, but the school has its own particular part to play. To accomplish this, it must be staffed by people who understand this function and feel moved to commit themselves to it.
     This is true of good teachers anywhere. For teachers in New Church schools, there is added the challenge and opportunity to use the doctrines of the church in direct application to every classroom activity.

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New Church schools are not just schools staffed by professed members of the church, although that is an important starting point. The vision of education as seen by the New Church pioneers involved making all aspects of education new-a tremendous job and one which has been ably started, but is far, far from being completely realized. Those whose minds and hearts are aroused by such a task and who seek an opportunity to pioneer in a vital field could well consider New Church teaching.
     There have been three new schools opened in church societies very recently and there are other locations where a school is seen as a desirable goal in the not too distant future. Getting a new school under way places very special demands on the personnel involved. There is recognition of the need to provide support for these endeavors, but the real task falls to the minister in charge and the teacher(s) involved. This is not a job for novices, no matter how talented. Right now, there is a critical shortage of experienced teachers whose personal circumstances permit them to answer a call to such a use. There is no quick remedy for this shortage, but it certainly calls attention to an ongoing need for teachers.
     There is a further important dimension to the work of education in the New Church. Since its inception, this has been viewed as one of the uses of the priesthood. Ministers are expected to study the Writings for the purpose of developing and guiding the philosophy of education. They are to lead the way in the growth of true distinctiveness. As an ultimation of this ideal, ministers have traditionally assumed the top administrative positions in our schools. The priesthood has been looked to to supply leaders of the academy, principals and headmasters of society schools. If such a vision of New Church education is a true one, then some of those men who prepare for the ministry must also prepare to fill these leadership positions. Otherwise our educational system could lose its distinctiveness.
     For young people or those not quite so young who are looking for an inspiring challenge, these needs are well worth consideration. The primary route of preparation for this use is the education program in the Academy College. This remains the only place in the world where study of the doctrines of the church, the philosophy of education and the application of these in the realm of the classroom are brought together. An Academy education doesn't guarantee employment, but good teacher prospects don't seem to want for work.

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     How might we sum up the future need for New Church teachers? Let us first acknowledge that hiring in the Academy schools is presently on hold as declining enrollments reach this level, but this will not last. We are right now seeing the enrollment figures start up in the primary grades. Also there is a small but steady influx of new members with children to swell the ranks. Generally speaking, the educational endeavor of the church is an expanding one.
     Another important point, however, is more intangible. This is the matter of commitment and support of the use by the church as a whole, as well as a recognition of the dedication of intellect and will involved for those who choose to answer this call. The church does indeed need more good teachers, right now and in the years ahead.
ACADEMY SUMMER CAMP 1983 1983

ACADEMY SUMMER CAMP 1983              1983

     The Academy Summer Camp will again be held in Bryn Athyn. It will run from Sunday, June 26, through Saturday, July 2, 1983.
     We hope to send information on this camp to all interested young people presently in the 8th and 9th grades. In the past we have occasionally missed someone and therefore would appreciate hearing from you if you have any children in that age group not presently in New Church schools. If you would also include names and grade levels of other children in your family it will help us in future years. Please write to: ANC Office of Student Services, P.O. Box 278, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009.
     This camp has been quite popular with the young people who have attended, and we now have some of the first "campers" in the secondary schools dormitories. We feel that adjustment is made easier for many students who have spent some time here at the camp and have made friends with local students and other potential ANC students prior to attending the Academy.
LORD'S PRESENCE IN LOVE TOWARD THE NEIGHBOR 1983

LORD'S PRESENCE IN LOVE TOWARD THE NEIGHBOR              1983

     "In love toward the neighbor the Lord is present, because He is in all good.
     "The Lord is merciful to everyone, and loves everyone, and wills to make everyone happy to eternity."
     Arcana Coelestia 904

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NEW CHURCH IN GHANA 1983

NEW CHURCH IN GHANA       Rev. JEREMY SIMONS       1983

     The West African country of Ghana (pop. 12.4 million) continues to be the largest per capita receiver of the Writings in the world, as it has been since the mid 1960s. Last year the Swedenborg Foundation sent 11,795 books to Ghana, almost one-third of their total distribution.
     The vast majority of the readers of the Heavenly Doctrines in Ghana do not belong to any organized New Church. Still, there are a number of New Church organizations there, and they are making good progress. Pastor Benjamin Garna, leader of the Assembly of the New Church, has recently consolidated seven of these churches under the title "The Ghana Conference of the New Church." This "Conference" is described as a "loose association of friendly churches who subscribe to the Doctrine of the New Church." The "Ghana Conference," however, is not to be confused with the General Conference in England, with which it has no association at all. Pastor Garna has, in fact, sought affiliation with the General Church, and is himself a member of the General Church. Two members of the Ghana Conference are currently studying at the Academy in Bryn Athyn. One of them, W. O. Ankra-Badu; is in the Theological School, and the other, Andrews Amoh, is in the College.
     The repatriation from Nigeria of between one and two million Ghanaians in January and February of this year has had a severe effect on the Ghanaian economy. Their economy has been in a desperate situation for at least the past five years and is now close to total collapse. Due to the fact that the Ghanaian currency cannot be converted for foreign exchange, the Swedenborg Foundation has been sending books to Ghana free of charge.
     The Swedenborg Foundation sends Ghana all their paperback titles, with the exception of True Christian Religion and Apocalypse Revealed. They cannot, however, afford to send books which exist only in hardback, such as Conjugial Love, Arcana Coelestia, Apocalypse Explained, Last Judgment and others. The Ghana Committee, a branch of the General Church Evangelization Committee, has been operating a fund to send such books to Ghana. We feel that it is important that such doctrines as that of conjugial love be taught in Ghana, and we would like to make these books available there. To help in this work we are soliciting contributions from all who may be interested. If you would like to help, write to The Ghana Fund, c/o The Evangelization Committee, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009.

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"WHO AT THIS DAY KNOWS WHAT THE NEIGHBOR IS?" 1983

"WHO AT THIS DAY KNOWS WHAT THE NEIGHBOR IS?"              1983

     SELECTED QUOTATIONS FROM THE HEAVENLY DOCTRINES

     "[The ancients] knew . . . what is the neighbor toward whom there should be charity, namely, all in the universe, but still each with discrimination . . . . For who at the present day . . . knows that the neighbor is everyone, with discrimination according to the kind and amount of good in him?" (AC 3419:3)
     . . . they who are in external truths know the mere general truth that they ought to love their neighbor; and they believe that everyone is the neighbor in the same degree, and thus that everyone is to be embraced with the same love, and so they suffer themselves to be led astray. But they who are in internal truths know in what degree everyone is the neighbor, and that each person is so in a different degree. Consequently they know innumerable things of which those who are in external truths are ignorant; and therefore they do not suffer themselves to be led away by the mere name of neighbor, nor to do evil from the persuasion of good which the name induces" (AC 3820:3).
     "There are those who in the life of the body have known nothing but the general things of faith-as that the neighbor ought to be loved-and who from this general principle have done good to the evil and to the upright alike without discrimination, saying that everyone is the neighbor" (AC 5555).
     ". . . how the neighbor is to be loved and how God is to be worshiped . . . can be known only from the Word-as that good itself is the neighbor, consequently they who are in good, and this according to the good in which they are; and that good is the neighbor because the Lord is in good, and therefore in the love of good the Lord is loved" (AC 3768:2).
     "They who are in truth spiritual-natural regard everyone as the neighbor, but yet all in different respects and degrees; and they say at heart that those who are in good are in preference to others the neighbor to whom good is to be done; and that those who are in evil are also the neighbor, but that good is done to them when they are punished according to the laws, because by means of punishments they are amended; and in this way also care is taken lest evil be done to the good by them and by their example. Those within the church who are in truth natural-not-spiritual also say that everyone is the neighbor, but they do not admit of degrees and distinctions; and therefore if they are in natural good they do good without distinction to everyone who excites their pity, and oftener to the evil than to the good, because in their trickery the evil know how to excite pity" (AC 5008:3).

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     "The spiritual man as well as the natural man says that aid should be given to the neighbor, and he also says that everyone is the neighbor; for he thinks that one person is the neighbor in a different respect and degree than another, and that to give aid to an evil person because he calls himself neighbor is to do harm to the neighbor. The natural man . . . thinks that he who favors him is the neighbor, not caring whether he is good or evil" (AC 5028:3).
     "If you should say to yourself, 'Every man is my neighbor and is therefore to be loved without distinction,' a devil-man and an angel-man or a harlot and a virgin might be equally loved" (AE 1193:2).
     "The simple act thus: They say that every man is equally a neighbor, and that they deem it no business of theirs to search into his quality for God looks to that-I may only render assistance to a neighbor. But this is not loving the neighbor. He who from genuine charity loves the neighbor inquires what the quality of a man is and does good to him with discrimination, according to the quality of his good" (Char. 52).
     "For unless it is known who the neighbor is, charity may be exercised in the same manner and without distinction equally toward the evil as toward the good, whereby charity becomes no charity; for by virtue of its benefactions the evil do ill to the neighbor; but the good do good" (AC 6703).
     "[He who is in the first state of regeneration] is desirous to do good to all whom he believes to be in want and distress, but as yet hardly makes a distinction between the pious and the impious who are in this state, believing everyone to be his neighbor in the same respect and degree. But when he is further enlightened in these matters, he then makes the distinction and renders aid only to the upright and good, knowing that to aid the wicked is to do harm to many, inasmuch as by his benefits and services he supplies the wicked with the means of injuring others. At last, when he is regenerate, he does good only to the good and pious, because he is then affected not with the person of him to whom he does good, but with the good that is in him; and inasmuch as the Lord is present in what is good and pious, he thereby through his affection for what is good testifies his love to the Lord. When the man is in this charity from the heart, he is regenerate" (AC 3688:4).
     "When one who counts everyone equally his neighbor, and thus benefits the evil equally with the good, and by thus conferring benefits on the evil does harm to others, has committed such acts repeatedly, he afterwards defends them, saying that everyone is his neighbor, and that it is not his concern what his quality is, but only to confer benefits on him" (AC 6405:2).
     "The general opinion at the present day is that every man is equally the neighbor, and that everyone who is in need of help must be benefitted.

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But it is the part of Christian prudence to search well the quality of a man's life and to exercise charity in accordance therewith. The man of the internal church does this with discrimination, thus with intelligence; but as the man of the external church cannot thus discriminate, he does it indiscriminately" (AC 6704).
     "[A society that performs evil uses] is no otherwise neighbor than as an evil man, whose good I desire that he may become good, and, as far as possible, to provide means for his improvement, even though it be by threats, chastisement, penalties and privations" (Char. 79).
     "There is charity in punishing the evil, for to this are we impelled by our zeal to amend them, and at the same time to protect the good, lest these suffer injury at the hands of the evil. In this way does a man consult the welfare of one who is in evil, or his enemy, and express his good feeling toward him as well as to others and to the common welfare itself; and this from charity toward the neighbor" (AC 2417:7).
     "Precisely one and the same good never exists in two persons; it must vary in order for each person to subsist by himself. But all these varieties . . . can never be known to any man, nor even to any angel . . . . Nor does the Lord require more of the man of the church than to live according to what he knows" (AC 6706).
     "There are very many societies in the other life that are called societies of friendship . . . composed of those who in the life of the body preferred to every other delight that of conversation, and who loved those with whom they conversed, not caring whether they were good or evil, provided they were entertaining; and thus who were not friends to good or to truth . . . . From this it was given me to know how much injury friendship occasions man as to his spiritual life if the person and not good is regarded; everyone may indeed be friendly to another, but still he should be most friendly to what is good" (AC 4804).
     "To benefit a friend no matter what his quality, provided he is a friend, is natural-not-spiritual; but to benefit a friend for the sake of the good that is in him and still more to hold good itself as the friend which is to be benefitted, this is spiritual-natural; and when anyone is in this, he knows that he transgresses if he benefits a friend who is evil, for then through him he injures others" (AC 4992).
     "Mercy sometimes shows itself in the evil, who are in no charity; but this is grief on account of what they themselves suffer, for it is shown toward their friends who make one with them and when their friends suffer, they suffer. This mercy is not the mercy of charity, but is the mercy of friendship for the sake of self, which regarded in itself is unmercifulness; for it despises or hates all others besides itself, thus besides the friends who make one with it" (AC 5132:2).

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     "A friendship of love, contracted with a man without regard to his spiritual quality, is detrimental after death. A friendship of love means interior friendship, which is such that not only is the man's external man loved but his internal also, and this without scrutiny into the quality of his internal or spiritual . . . . [T]hose who in the world have contracted with each other friendships of love cannot be separated like others in accordance with order . . . . It has been granted me to see spirits so bound together, especially brothers and relatives . . . . I have seen some . . . who were kissing each other and swearing to maintain their former friendship . . . . It is wholly different with those who love the good in another, i.e., who love justice, judgment, sincerity and benevolence arising from charity, and especially with those who have faith in the Lord and love to Him . . . . It should be said that no one is able to explore the interiors of the mind of those with whom he associates or deals; and this is not necessary; only let him guard against a friendship of love with anyone" (TCR 446ff).
     "But as . . . the internal man rarely manifests itself in the world, it is sufficient that the neighbor be loved according to the degrees that are known" (TCR 410).
     "All this shows what the neighbor is, namely, that a man is our neighbor according to the love in which he is; and that he is truly the neighbor who is in love to the Lord and in charity toward his neighbor, and this with every possible difference; thus it is the good itself with everyone that determines the point in question" (AC 2425e).
     "The church is more the neighbor than our country because he who has regard for the church has regard also for the souls and eternal life of the men who are in the country. And the church is cared for when man is led to good, and he who does this from charity loves the neighbor, for he desires and wills for another, heaven and happiness of life to eternity" (AC 6822).
RELATIONSHIP IS NOT WHAT DETERMINES WHO IS NEIGHBOR 1983

RELATIONSHIP IS NOT WHAT DETERMINES WHO IS NEIGHBOR              1983

     "It is believed that a brother, kinsman, or relative is more a neighbor than a stranger; and that he who is born in one's country is more a neighbor than one born out of the country. But everyone is a neighbor according to his good.
     "Of ten brothers in the world, five may be in hell, and five in heaven, and these five in different societies; and when they meet they do not know each other. Also all have a face according to their affections. It is therefore plain that every man is the neighbor according to the quality of his good."
     Doctrine of Charity 75, 76

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JUDGING THE NEIGHBOR 1983

JUDGING THE NEIGHBOR       Rev. WILLIAM WHITEHEAD       1983

     FROM A SERMON BY THE LATE REV. WILLIAM WHITEHEAD

     The desire of the natural man is, interiorly viewed, a desire to rule over or influence the actions or thoughts of others from the love of self. It is a belief in the Divine authority of the judgments which proceed from self, so that those who entertain such belief think themselves to be infallible and cannot persuade themselves that their judgments are not changeless.
     Such a desire cannot bear that its judgments should be challenged, or the range of its judgments should be limited to use, for the ambition or active desire of the love of self is to rule in its world.
     This desire of self so to exalt itself and belittle all that is outside of self is the exaltation of the natural man; and when the natural man so exalts himself he desires to pass judgments as if he were a king.
     The natural man is ready at all times to undertake the most difficult of human uses-to analyze the complex and subtle elements of human character and pass judgments of a precipitate nature on it. This willingness of the natural man so to ignore the complexity of motives that go to make up the acts of men, to brush aside or override the lessons of experience given by Providence for our instruction is a mark of the Ishmael state. It results either in the harsh and trenchant judgments of self-intelligence, or on the other hand it falls into the pliant and vacillating judgments of natural good.
     Nay, the natural man is willing to arrogate to himself even more than the judgments necessary to the use immediately before him. He is ready to go beyond the bounds set for the expression of human judgments, and would censure or applaud the spiritual quality of the neighbor, and this regardless of the truth that the inmost spiritual quality of the neighbor may not be judged. For only the external quality of a man appears and may be judged. His internal quality may only be seen and judged by the Lord.
FIRST AND SECOND THINGS OF CHARITY 1983

FIRST AND SECOND THINGS OF CHARITY              1983

     "The first of charity is not to do evil to the neighbor, for not to do evil to the neighbor is to fight against the evils in one's self, and repent of them.
     "The second thing of charity is to do good to the neighbor."
          Doctrine of Charity 210

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LOVING THE NEIGHBOR IS ESSENTIAL IN THE CHURCH 1983

LOVING THE NEIGHBOR IS ESSENTIAL IN THE CHURCH       Rev. CAIRNS HENDERSON       1983

     FROM AN EDITORIAL OF THE LATE REV. CAIRNS HENDERSON

     It is not membership in an organized body that makes us to be truly of the church, not regular participation in worship and instruction, not ultimate support of its uses or activity in its offices, not even a wide knowledge and profound understanding of the Writings. All these things are indeed necessary. But unless we have love one to another in our societies and circles and groups, they will be of no avail. For that which determines whether a body organized in the name of the church has the church within it is the presence or absence of mutual love among its members.
     It is quite well known among us that genuine mutual love is spiritual and discriminating, that it looks to eternal ends, does not condone evils, wishes that all men should be reformed by the Lord and desires nothing that would limit the freedom of their relation with Him. In the Writings much is taught about how the Lord loves men, and by study and reflection on what is there revealed we can learn more and more about the way in which we should have love one to another.
     This much, however, should be clear. Where there is a climate of mistrust and fault-finding, criticism and intolerance, suspicion of the motives of others and deprecation of their achievements, an emphasis on their failings rather than their uses, there the church has not been interiorly established-though it yet may be. Mutual love by no means forbids the making of external judgments. But where the church has been truly established there will be warm appreciation of the uses of others, a wise tolerance of individual differences, a disposition to give the neighbor the benefit of the doubt, and a focusing of thought and affection upon what is of worth in others. For "by this shall all know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another."
INCREASING AFFECTION FOR THE NEIGHBOR 1983

INCREASING AFFECTION FOR THE NEIGHBOR              1983

     "With him who does good from the heart, there inflows from heaven on every side, good into the heart and soul of him who does it, and by inspiring inspires it; and then at the same time the affection of love for the neighbor to whom he does good is increased."
     Arcana Caelestia 9049

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SACRED SCRIPTURE OR WORD OF THE LORD FROM EXPERIENCE 1983

SACRED SCRIPTURE OR WORD OF THE LORD FROM EXPERIENCE       Rev. N. BRUCE ROGERS       1983

     TRANSLATED BY REV. N. BRUCE ROGERS

     A representation of the literal meaning of the word, which has a spiritual meaning within (Numbers 1-13 were published in the March issue. We conclude our sampling here with numbers 24-29.)

     NO GENUINE TRUTH IS SEEN OR FOUND IN THE WORD BY ANYONE WHOSE OBJECTIVE IS TO BECOME GREAT AND OBTAIN HONORS IN THE WORLD, AND ALSO IN HEAVEN, OR WHOSE OBJECTIVE IS WEALTH AND FINANCIAL GAIN IN THE WORLD, OR WHOSE OBJECTIVE IS A REPUTATION FOR LEARNING.
     24. I have been able to speak with many in the spiritual world who believed they would shine like stars in heaven. They believed this, they said, because they kept the Word holy, read it often, took many things from it, and defended the tenets of their faith by it. Consequently they were considered learned in the world, and they, with others, believed they would become Michaels and Raphaels.* A number of them were examined, however, to see what love prompted them to study the Word. And it was found that some did so out of self-love, in order to appear great in the world and to be worshiped as leaders of the church. Others did so to gain a reputation for learning and so be promoted to positions of honor. Still others did so to acquire riches, and some to be able to preach in a learned fashion.
     * I.e., archangels
     Afterwards they were examined to discover whether they had learned any genuine truth from the Word. And they were found to know only the obvious things which simply everyone sees in the literal meaning, but no genuine truth such as might serve them for doctrine on a deeper level. The reason for this was that their objectives were aimed at themselves and the world, instead of the Lord and heaven. And when anyone has self and the world as his focus, then he fastens his mind on them, and he thinks continually in accord with his self-interest, which is in darkness regarding everything connected with heaven. For human self-interest is nothing but evil, with its resulting falsity.

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Therefore, a person who regards himself in reading the Word-whether with an eye to honor or reputation or to financial gain-the same cannot be withdrawn by the Lord from his self-interest and so be raised into the light of heaven. Consequently, neither can he receive anything flowing in from the Lord through heaven.
     I have seen many spirits like this, and every one of them longed for heaven with all his might. They were also let into heaven. But when they got there, they were examined to see whether they knew anything of the truth possessed by angels, and they knew no more than just the words of the literal text, without any idea at all of their deeper meaning. As a consequence, in the eyes of the angels they appeared stripped of their clothing and seemingly naked, and so were sent down below. Some of them in the light of heaven lost their intellectual sight, and then the sight of their eyes, and afterwards were seized with intense pain of the heart and thus were taken down below. Still, however, there remained in them the conceit that they were deserving.
     This is the lot of those who study the Word with honor, reputation, or financial gain as their objective. It is entirely different with those who study the Word out of an affection for truth, or who in reading the Word find delight in the truth because it is true. Such people have the love of God and love of the neighbor as their goal, and their focus is on life rather than on themselves. Because they love what is true, they all receive something flowing in from the Lord, and they see and discover genuine truths in the Word. For they are enlightened intellectually, and in their enlightenment they perceive these things as though they had originated with them, even though they are not the origin. After death they are raised into heaven, where truth exists in its own light; and they become spiritual, and finally angels.

     THE OUTERMOST MEANING OF THE WORD-WHICH IS SIMPLY THE MEANING OF THE LETTER-CORRESPONDS TO THE BEARD AND HAIR OF THE HEAD OF A MAN WHO IS AN ANGEL.
     25. It may seem strange at first to have it said that the hair of the head and the beard correspond to the Word in its outmost aspects. This correspondence, however, draws its origin from the fact that every feature of the Word corresponds to a feature of heaven, and every feature of heaven corresponds to a feature of man. For heaven as a whole is, in the Lord's sight, like a single man. (Concerning this correspondence, see the work Heaven and Hell, nos. 87-102.)
     I have been given to perceive the correspondence of all things of the Word to all things of heaven from the discovery that individual chapters in the prophetic books of the Word correspond to individual societies of heaven.

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For once, when I ran through the prophetic books of the Word from Isaiah to Malachi, I was given to see that societies of heaven were stirred one by one, and they perceived the spiritual meaning corresponding to themselves. Consequently, on the basis of this and other evidence, it became apparent to me that there is a correspondence of the whole of heaven with the Word in its series.
     Now, because there is such a correspondence of the Word with heaven, and because heaven in whole and in part corresponds to man, therefore it has come to pass that the outermost aspect of the Word corresponds to the outermost features of man. The outermost aspect of the Word is its literal meaning, and the outermost features of man are the hairs of his head and beard.
     For this reason, people who have loved the Word even with respect to its outermost aspects, after death, when they become spirits, appear with attractive hair. So do angels. When these same people become angels, they also let their beards grow. On the other hand, all those who have held the literal meaning in disdain, after death, when they become spirits, appear bald. This, too, is a sign that they are lacking in truths. Consequently they also cover their heads with turbans, so as not to be a scandal to others.
     Inasmuch as hair and beards symbolize the outmost aspects of heaven and also the outmost aspects of Divine truth or the Word, therefore the Ancient of Days is described in Daniel 7:9 as having the hair of His head like pure wool; likewise the Son of man, or the Lord in relation to the Word, in Revelation 1:14. For the same reason Samson's strength lay in his hair, on the cutting of which he became weak.* And the hair of a Nazarite was consecrated,** because a Nazarite represented the Lord in regard to His outmost aspects, thus also heaven in its outermost aspects. This was why the forty-two boys were torn apart by bears, because they called Elisha a baldhead (2 Kings 2:23,24).
     * See Judg. 16:16-19
     ** See Num. 6:5, 7, 9, 11, 18, 19; Judg. 13:5.
     Elisha, like Elijah and the rest of the prophets, represented the Lord in relation to the Word, and the Word is not the Word apart from its outmost meaning, which is the meaning of the letter. For the literal meaning of the Word is like a decanter filled with fine wine. If the decanter is broken, all the wine is therefore lost. Or the literal meaning of the Word is like the bones and skin of a man. If these are taken away, the whole man perishes. This is the reason why the integrity, indeed the power, of the Word rests in its outmost meaning, which is the meaning of the letter.

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For this meaning carries and contains all the Divine truth therein.
     Since baldness symbolizes a lack of truth, because its outmost form is missing, therefore they in the Jewish Church when they left Jehovah and rejected the Word are called bald. In Jeremiah, for example:

     Every head is bald, and every beard cut off . . . (Jer. 48:37).

In Isaiah:
     On . . . their heads is baldness, and the beard is cut off (Isa. 15:2).

In Ezekiel:
     (That he was to shave his head and beard with a razor-Ezek. 5:1.)

Also In Ezekiel:
     Shame is upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads (Ezek. 7:18).

Again, in Ezekiel:
     Every head was made bald . . . (Ezek. 29:18).

     So also in other places, as in Amos 8:10 and Micah 1:16.

     26. Nevertheless, the meaning of the Word called the meaning of the letter corresponds to the hair of the head only in its outermost aspects. In other respects it corresponds to various parts of the human body-such as the head, breast, loins, and feet. However, when these parts are mentioned in the literal meaning correspondentially, the Word is as if clothed, and the literal meaning then corresponds to the clothing of these parts. For garments in general symbolize truths, and also actually correspond to them. But still, many things in the literal meaning of the Word are naked, unclothed, so to speak, and these correspond to a man's face, and also his hands-parts that are bare. These things in the Word are serviceable for the doctrine of the church, because they are in themselves spiritual truths on a natural plane. Consequently it can be seen that there is nothing to prevent a person from finding and seeing even naked truths in the Word.

     THE WISDOM OF THE ANGELS OF THE THREE HEAVENS COMES FROM THE LORD THROUGH THE WORD, WITH THE LITERAL MEANING OF THE WORD SERVING AS ITS BASE AND FOUNDATION
     27. I have heard from heaven that a direct revelation existed among the most ancients on this earth, and therefore they had no written Word. But after that time, when direct revelation could neither be given nor received without endangering their souls, then, to keep the communication and conjunction of men with the heavens from being interrupted and destroyed, it pleased the Lord to reveal Divine truth by means of a written Word.

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This Word was written so as to contain only things that correspond, and it is therefore of such a character in its outmost sense that it includes within it the wisdom of the angels of the three heavens. That wisdom is not apparent in our Word, but still it is there. How it is there shall be briefly told:
     There are three heavens, one below the other, with the world under them. In the highest heaven, angelic wisdom is in its highest degree, called celestial wisdom. In the middle heaven, angelic wisdom is in its middle degree, called spiritual wisdom. And in the lowest heaven, angelic wisdom is in its lowest degree, called spiritual-natural and celestial-natural wisdom. In the world, because it is below the heavens, wisdom is in its very lowest degree and is called natural.
     All these degrees of wisdom are present in the Word that exists in the world, but in concurrent order, for sequential order in its descent becomes concurrent. Concurrent order therefore embraces all the sequential degrees descending into it. The highest degree in sequential order becomes the inmost in concurrent order. The middle degree becomes the intermediate, and the lowest becomes the outmost.
     The Word in the world furnishes an example of such concurrence. In its inmost is the Lord, from whom Divine truth and Divine good radiate like fiery light from a sun, transmitting themselves through intermediate means all the way to outmost things. Next in that concurrence are Divine things in celestial form, such as exist in the highest or third heaven, from which the angels in that heaven have their wisdom. Divine things in spiritual form then follow, the sort that exist in the middle or second heaven, from which the angels of that heaven have their wisdom. After that come Divine things in spiritual-natural and celestial-natural form, such as exist in the lowest or first heaven, from which the angels there have their wisdom. The outmost circle of this concurrence is made up of Divine things in natural form, such as exist in the world, from which men have their wisdom. This outmost boundary surrounds, holds together, and so contains the things within, to keep them from drifting away. Thus it also serves as a foundation.
     Such is the nature of our Word in its literal meaning, as a whole and likewise in every part. Consequently, when a person reads it with reverence, then its inward contents are unlocked and uncovered, and each heaven takes its own meaning from it. Spiritual angels take from it their Divine-spiritual meaning, and celestial angels their Divine celestial meaning-this being, in either case, the source of their wisdom.
     I have not only heard it said from heaven that this is what our Word is like, but I have also been shown it and had it confirmed by a good deal of personal experience.

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Something Divine sent down from the Lord into the world could only have passed through the heavens one by one and have come forth in the world so formed that it returns through the heavens to the Lord, its origin, in the same order.

     ENLIGHTENMENT BY THE WORD

     28. Every person who possesses a spiritual affection for truth, that is, who loves real truth because it is true, is enlightened by the Lord when he reads the Word. Not so, however, one who reads the Word solely out of a natural affection for truth, which is called curiosity. Such a person sees only what accords with his love, or with his philosophic opinions, either that he has conceived for himself, or that he has adopted from others through hearing and reading. It shall be briefly told, therefore, what sort of person has enlightenment through the Word, and why:
     The person who has enlightenment is one who shuns evils because they are sins, and because they are against the Lord and are endeavors opposed to His. Divine laws. With such a one, and with no other, a spiritual mind opens, and so far as it opens, so far the light of heaven enters (all enlightenment in the Word being from the light of heaven). The reason is that the person then has a will for good. When this will is directed to that application [namely, to reading the Word], it produces in the understanding first an affection for truth, then a perception of truth, afterwards with the help of rational sight, thought of truth, consequently a decision and conclusion; and as soon as this enters the memory, it enters also into the life, and so remains.
     This is the way all enlightenment in the Word proceeds, and likewise man's reformation and regeneration. But first there must be in the memory, concepts of both spiritual and natural things; for these concepts are the receptacles into which the Lord operates through the light of heaven. The fuller they are and the freer of falsities that have been affirmed, the more enlightened the perception and the clearer the conclusion. The Divine operation simply does not descend into an empty-headed and witless person. Take, for example, someone who does not know that the Lord is pure love and pure mercy, being goodness itself and truth itself, and that love itself and goodness itself by its very nature cannot do anyone any evil or be angry and take vengeance, and who does not know that the literal meaning of the Word in many places has been written according to appearances. A person like that cannot be enlightened by the Word where it says that Jehovah becomes wrathful and angry, and attributes to Him fire and fury-as, for instance, in Deuteronomy, where it says that His anger burns unto the lowest hell;* in Amos 3:6, that there is no evil in a city which Jehovah hath not done; in Deuteronomy 28:63, that He rejoices to do evil as He rejoiced to do good; in the Lord's Prayer, that He leads into temptations;** and so on in similar passages.
     *See Deut. 32:22.
     **See Matt. 6:13, Luke 11:4.

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     HOW MUCH BETTER A MEDIATED REVELATION EFFECTED THROUGH THE WORDS IS THAN A DIRECT REVELATION EFFECTED THROUGH SPIRITS
     29. People suppose they would be more enlightened and wiser if they had a direct revelation through speech with spirits and angels, but the opposite is the case. Enlightenment by means of the Word comes by an inner path, while enlightenment by direct revelation comes by a path from without. The inner path is through the will into the understanding. The outer path is through the hearing into the understanding. A person is enlightened by the Lord by means of the Word to the degree that his will is intent on good. Granted, a person may be instructed and seemingly enlightened through the hearing even if his will is intent on evil, yet instruction that enters the understanding of a person whose will is intent on evil is not within him but remains as something apart. It is a matter solely of the memory and not of his life. And what remains apart from a person and is not a matter of his life gradually goes away, after death if not before. For a will intent on evil either rejects the instruction, or stifles it, or falsifies and profanes it.
     The fact is that a person's will constitutes his life, and his will continually acts upon his understanding. Whatever enters the understanding from the memory, therefore, the will regards as alien. On the other hand, the understanding does not act upon the will, but only informs it how it should act. Consequently, if a person ever were to know from heaven everything that angels know, or if he were to know everything in the Word, and everything taught in the doctrines of the church, and in addition to this everything written by the church fathers and pronounced by the councils-if he were to know all this and yet have a will intent on evil, after death he would still be regarded as one who knew nothing, because he would not will what he knew. And because evil hates truth, the person himself would then reject these things and in their stead adopt falsities in harmony with the evil of his will.
     Besides this, no spirit or angel is allowed to instruct anyone on this earth in Divine truths. Rather, the Lord himself instructs everyone by means of the Word, and He instructs him to the degree that he receives goodness in his will, which in turn depends on the degree to which he abstains from evils because they are sins.

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     Moreover, every person is in the company of some society of spirits in respect to his affections and the thoughts resulting from those affections. He is in this company as a member of it. If spirits speak with a person, therefore, they do so on the basis of his affections and in accordance with them. Nor can a person speak with any others until the societies with which he is already associated are first removed. This does not happen except by a reformation of his will. Because everyone is in the company of spirits who are of the same religion as he is, therefore if spirits speak with him, they affirm everything that the person has made a matter of his own religion. Thus fanatic spirits support everything that is a part of a person's fanaticism, Quaker spirits everything that is a part of his Quakerism, Moravian spirits everything that is a part of his Moravianism, and so on. The result is confirmations of falsity that can never be totally gotten rid of.
     It is apparent from this that a mediated revelation effected through the Word is better than a direct revelation effected through spirits. As for myself, I have not been permitted to take anything from the testimony of any spirit, nor from the testimony of any angel, but from the testimony of the Lord alone.
REVIEW 1983

REVIEW       Doris Delaney       1983

"Images of Knowing," A Film Produced for The Swedenborg Foundation by Global Concepts, Inc.

     New Church art has been the subject of lengthy discussions among creative people in the church. While most of our writing is expository, presenting our understanding of Divine truth objectively, art forms uniquely New Church would present our perceptions of those truths subjectively, by means of symbols of experience shared by writer (actor, dancer, sculptor, etc.) and his reader, audience, or viewer. The difference is that expository work appeals to reason only and directly, while creative work enters our affections first, moves us emotionally, and is confirmed by reason.
     The symbolism or imagery which embodies those ideas communicated in art forms consists of commonly shared experiences understood by both writer and reader, or dancer and audience.

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Rumbles of thunder and flashes of lightning are images of fear or impending danger we all understand. The still water of a lake before dawn triggers a sense of peace, or quiet waiting. The best art work relies solely upon use of images as the artist's "language." Good art is that which is understood without too much struggle by the reader and viewer, and which at the same time says something worthwhile.
     Creative people in the church recognize that the finest-in fact, the Divine-imagery is known to us, as well as the Divine truths embodied by it, and many have striven to work toward a renaissance in art by utilizing those images as a means of expressions of those truths. Our efforts have been mostly impatient and mostly doomed. New Church theater suffers from a serious lack of scripts. The language of correspondences is the Divine language, and while we are capable of understanding it by means of revelation which "breaks the code," we are not yet wise enough to create themes of any complexity or length by means of that language. One effort to dramatize the inner sense of the Battle of Armageddon in the form of a novel was abandoned finally when the writer realized it had already been done, by the Lord, and none of us could do it again by means of correspondences. Perhaps use of a slightly more humble form of imagery-using mere representatives-would make such an effort feasible.
     "Images of Knowing" is a relatively short film based upon a script by Rev. George Dole. Watching it is an incredible experience for those of us who have struggled impatiently with concepts of what "New Church art" should and could be, for "images of Knowing" is that art form, exquisitely delivered in an easy, gentle, unstrained manner, as naturally right as any work of beauty that contains within it a wealth of inner meanings which are spiritual truths unique to the New Revelation. It is as comfortable as a Christmas representation; as uplifting as a cathedral window. It is a distinctively New Church work which is receiving a great deal of attention in the world of film art and has received two awards from the Information Film Producers of America.
     The film begins with pictures of clouds moving before the sun. The narrator (film star Anne Baxter) says, "In 1749, the scientist-visionary Emanuel Swedenborg wrote: 'There is nothing in the world of nature that does not portray something in the world of spirit. . . .'"
     Correspondentially and psychologically, the clouds before the sun are rich with meaning. As a mythological figure fades into a video game, the narrator explains, "Lately, we have tried to fit everything, even the human spirit, into mechanistic molds . . . with only dim reflections of all our intuition sees as truly human."

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     The language of correspondences becomes richer. Fish are seen swimming, first below the surface of the water, then leaping above the surface, and then being caught by various birds. "Beneath the surface lies . . . Memory . . . some [of it] clear, some dimly seen . . . . From time to time, a vivid flash, and something leaps unbidden into consciousness . . . some single purpose lifts aloft. . . ."
     Clearly, to the New Church viewer, the film is describing quiet knowledges awakened by means of affections. The viewer not familiar with correspondences is still aware of the perfect images being used to communicate delight and understanding of those mental processes common to all of us.
     The film carries us along through our own mental growth. "So often that it seems to be the rule, the first steps toward the vision are the hardest . . . . We wonder whether they have any kinship with their inspiration.
     "But constancy and time work miracles . . . . There is no hardness to the deed matured. The issue is a sweet, substantial goodness, holding seeds of further growth . . . a knowing born of life." The imagery here is of the branch of an apple tree, where spring flowers wilt, and then the fruit grows, red and ripe.
     "Images of Knowing" assumes the viewer has some awareness of his mental states, and relates those to spiritual growth by means of these direct and easily perceived images. Viewing an ocean surf, we are told, "Could we but see ourselves, then we would know how necessarily this ebb and flow reflects our inclination toward our source of life." The scene moves to lovely reflections of natural scenes in still water. "We are akin to all that is . . . . It is a world translucent . . . . looking out, and seeing through, we see within . . . and find ourselves . . . and find ourselves at home."
     This simple fifteen-minute film deserves to be viewed more than once, with some opportunity for discussion and contemplation between viewings. It is a rich and powerful assurance that this seemingly complicated and complex doctrine we love is as clear and natural as the images upon the screen, and that our inner lives are guided and protected toward spiritual growth and fulfillment intended for us all.
     Doris Delaney
THIS IS LOVING THE NEIGHBOR 1983

THIS IS LOVING THE NEIGHBOR              1983

     "To feel the joy of another as joy in oneself, that is loving."
          Divine Love and Wisdom 47

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ESSENTIALS OF THE ACADEMY 1983

ESSENTIALS OF THE ACADEMY       Rev. ALFRED ACTON       1983

      (Concluded from the March Issue)

     Two other principles of the Academy, as formulated by Bishop W. F. Pendleton, are directly related to the underlying principle of freedom which we are discussing. The eleventh principle reads: "A law is a use taking form, and uses are indicated by needs. Legislation is the giving of a proper form to present needs and uses; legislation other than this is unnecessary and hurtful." The tenth principle adds: "Unanimity is a law inscribed upon the life of heaven, and ought to be inscribed upon the life of the church. Important action should not be taken without essential unanimity. A doubt gives occasion for delay, that there may be further time for consideration and reflection, in order to reach a common understanding." Both of these principles find form in the practice of council and assembly. The harmony of variety seeking a common goal will produce unanimity if we allow proper time for council and assembly. Bishop W. F. Pendleton put it this way: "Unanimity, as a law of heaven, cannot be enforced; but where it exists it can be preserved. It is assumed that there is unanimity in that which is fundamental; it is the duty of those who lead to see that this unanimity be not violated, but that it be protected and fostered. A doubt may be considered as an indication of Providence that the time is not ripe for a given action, that there is need of further thought and reflection, in order to reach a more rational judgment. To look to unanimous action, and provide for it even by delay, does not mean that we are merely to substitute a unanimous vote for a majority vote in the decision of questions: if this were all, there would be but little gain. The weighty reasons for delay, looking to unanimity, are internal rather than external; these are in sum, that the habit may be formed in the body of thinking together from a common affection. This is a ruling principle in the choirs of heaven" (NCL 1899, p. 119). Bishop Elmo C. Acton, in discussing this principle, added the following: "There are matters of purely external good judgment, and in these the principle of unanimity is not violated if decision is by a majority vote. But there are other matters involving spiritual uses in which the principle could be violated even by a unanimous vote. . . .
     "The thing most destructive of unanimity is self-love-the desire of a majority, or a minority, to impose its will upon others. Self-love is unwilling to submit even in matters of external judgment. It lacks confidence in any but its own judgment and accuses others of acting from self-interest; and it is this lack of confidence in the sincerity of others, especially of the leaders of the church, that destroys unanimity in external and internal things more than anything else . . . .

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Where there is the spiritual affection of truth there is essential unanimity, and external differences of opinion in matters of external judgment will not disturb" (NCL 1952, pp. 537;8). The Academy today fully accepts these principles as necessary to the protection of spiritual freedom.
     I have already noted the necessity of a separate church body to give appropriate form to our acceptance of the New Word. Principles four and five of the Academy deal with the need for this separate church body to accept a new view of the sacraments. Baptism into the New Church is a requisite for membership in the church, and wine will be a part of the Holy Supper. Both these issues reflect more directly on the church than on the Academy, but because we serve the church, we too must be sure that those who attend our institution are fully aware of our separatist position. For this reason, we require baptism into the New Church for admittance. When an applicant is not baptised, it is incumbent upon us to be certain that our position is clear. Usually we ascertain this by requiring a positive recommendation from a minister of the General Church. When this is impossible, the responsibility falls directly upon the President who makes a decision after discussion with appropriate administrators, the student, and where applicable, his or her parents. We do not seek to force either parents or students to join our church, but we do want them to be fully aware of our position and to express an affirmative attitude toward it. No exceptions to this policy exist.
     The doctrine of conjugial love is the most precious doctrine with us. Principles six, seven and eight of Bishop Pendleton's statement all deal with it. They refer specifically to marriage within the church, birth control, and the latter part of Conjugial Love, stating: "A marriage of a man or woman in the faith of the church with a man or woman in a false faith, or in no faith, is heinous in the sight of heaven . . . . Any interference on the part of man with the law of offspring in marriage is an abomination"; and "The laws, in the latter part of the work on conjugial love . . . are laws of order, given for the freedom and preservation of the conjugial" (NCL 1899, p. 118).
     These principles are based on nearly direct quotations from the New Word, and I would recommend to you Bishop Elmo C. Acton's discussion of them in the 1952 NEW CHURCH LIFE as Well as Mr. Harold Pitcairn's excellent observations on birth control in his 1935 discussion of these same principles. (See NCL indexes for 1935 and 1952.)
     I believe the church today has come into a deeper understanding of those plain teachings of revelation, that we better see the relationship between the leading of Providence by means of human prudence than we then did; however, although I would enjoy discussing these issues at length, I shall refrain in that they deal with adult states.

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What is essential to the academy today is our recognition that love truly conjugial is the priceless pearl of life, and our need to prepare students for it. We recognize our need to be in the world letting the light of new truth shine brightly unto all nations, but we know we must never be of the world, accepting the loves of self and the world in our lives. At the same time we believe that preparation for conjugial love is best achieved in an environment where scortatory love, which is the selfish abuse of love of the sex, is minimized. Distinctive New Church social life, which puts social life as a derivative of the life of charity in the church, is a principle with us. We do not believe that those seeking the life of the church should be excluded from its social life, but we do believe this seeking must be demonstrated prior to entering into it. In other words, New Church social life is not an end in itself, but rather the logical outgrowth of life in the church. For this reason the Academy does not sponsor social life that mingles our young people with those outside the church. We recognize that those other people may well be on the road to heaven while some of those with us may be headed the other way, but our principle does not rest on a spiritual judgment of either group; instead it rests on the conviction that distinctive social life is our best way to prepare our young people for reception of the Lord's precious gift.
     The twelfth principle of the Academy recognizes New Church education as the most fruitful field of evangelization. Some in the church in recent years have challenged this view. I believe they are wrong. However, the case for support of the Academy should not turn on this point alone. We have already seen, as we examined essentials, that the Academy, in developing the scholarship of the church, performs a use worthy of support in its own right. Further, as we educate the youth of the church for life in both this world and the next we are undertaking a use of charity specifically enjoined upon us in doctrine (see TCR 431, 564:2, D. Wis. XI:5). I believe tacit recognition of these very important other uses of the Academy led Bishop Pendleton to put this principle last. Nevertheless, it is still an important principle with us. In this field we perform three different uses, each worthy of mention. First, we develop the ministers and teachers who accommodate truth so that it can be seen by others. Second, we develop the workers who take the truth to the gentiles-the "unchurched" who for the most part are the youth of our world, and finally we develop converts, the youth with us who become dedicated members.

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     Usually in viewing the issue of the most fruitful field, the first two uses of the Academy in this field are ignored. But even ignoring these two, which we shouldn't, New Church education is still the "most fruitful" field.
     Using the analogy of a field, consider yourself a colonist in the wilderness of early America. Your first task is to farm. But where will you plant? Prudence demands that you seek out what appears to be the most fruitful field available and begin there. Once that field is yielding, you will then turn your hands elsewhere as far as your limited abilities allow. As other settlers join you in the work, you will be able to plow and harvest still other fields. But as you extend your area of productivity, prudence also dictates that you do not abandon your first and most fruitful fields. Indeed, as time passes they need more care, and may even fall somewhat short of their first abundant yield. Still, unless you wish to destroy your resources and eventually destroy your livelihood, prudent care of all fields is demanded.
     When we seek to measure Academy education as it relates to conversion, we find that our worst estimates show at least 60 out of 100 students joining the church. When we look at other efforts at evangelization, we find that conversion of one in one hundred interested contacts is an excellent performance. Can there really be a question as to which group, or field, is the most fruitful? I think not. But we can and should question the size of this field. A farmer who ignores less fruitful fields and works only on a tiny acre may well starve because the yield from that acre, no matter how good, is insufficient to his needs. Such is the case with evangelization through education in the church today. If we rely solely on our young for growth, we will not grow. Further, our need for growth is not ours, but the Lord's. He has enjoined upon us the responsibility to go unto all nations-to all the gentiles-to all those not already confirmed in the falsities of the former faith-and to proclaim unto them the truth of the New Word. Our essential conviction that the Writings are the Word demands our sharing of this truth with others. Nevertheless, we must use prudence as a servant and a minister to achieve this goal (see DP 210).
     The Academy has worked first in its most fruitful field. It is still our responsibility to keep this field productive, even as we encourage those new workers we have helped train to enter on behalf of the church in the plowing and harvesting of new fields of endeavor. We should welcome these signs of growth and be thankful that the success of these new workers will give us the opportunity to train still other workers who can go forth in the service of the Lord.
     I have now discussed the essentials of faith embodied in the "Academy Movement." But faith in itself is not essential.

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Unless faith is filled with charity, unless it gives form to love, it is barren and dead. So the real essential on which the Academy stands is not its faith but its love. Bishop Pendleton concluded his remarks on the principles of the Academy, as shall I, by noting this prime requisite. He said, "The most important principle of all, therefore, has not yet been stated, the principle that is within all, the truth that is within the doctrine of the Academy, the law that is within the law, which is the spirit of the law-this spirit of the Academy, the spirit of its doctrine and law, the spirit of its work from the beginning, is the love of truth for its own sake. Whatever spirit other than this may have entered-however much individual men may have failed, even though some have stumbled and turned aside, and all have fallen short of the ideal-still we may speak with a confident faith and say that this spirit, which is the all in all, was present in the initiament of the Academy, and gave character and quality to the teaching and work which followed; and we may speak with the same degree of confidence that without this spirit, without this principle in the principles of the Academy, its confession of doctrine is a mere form, a mere letter, a mere body of faith without the life of faith.
     "The love of the truth for its own sake is the love of truth for the sake of the truth itself, and thus for the sake of the Lord, Who is in the truth, and not for the sake of self and the world; a love that will lead a man to sacrifice himself for the sake of the truth, and not the truth for the sake of himself; a love that makes him willing to give up fame, reputation, gain, friends, even his own life, for the sake of the truth; . . . This is what is meant by the words of the Lord, 'He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it' (Matt. X. 39)" (NCL 1899, p. 120).
     The Academy today stands on these essentials. We accept the reality of the Lord's New Word which presents to us a light to lighten the gentiles. We accept the need for true freedom with us to promote inquiry into this revelation, and, as we have seen, we accept as essential the logical consequences of the plain teachings of this Word. For in the Word is spiritual truth, and we who are dedicated to it from a sincere affection for it unite our faith with love enjoying the name academicians which to us means disciples of the Lord, disciples who hear the Lord speaking even as He spoke to Joshua of old: "Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law" (Joshua 1:7).

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Editorial Pages 1983

Editorial Pages              1983

     TEST YOURSELF REGARDING THE NEIGHBOR

     Test-yourself features can stir the interest of magazine readers. People seem to enjoy tests which measure vocabulary, knowledge, personality, aptitude. There are tests to indicate how much stress and worry you have or how much contentment or how much cause to expect some kind of breakdown. This magazine once published a test to help you find out whether alcoholism is your problem (see NCL 1976, p. 61).
     The results of tests are supposed to tell you something about where you are. There are what might be called test-yourself passages in the Writings. The exercise to which they invite us is not difficult, unless overcoming our natural reluctance may be called difficult. The intended result is a new awareness. The value can be in making us more aware of our spiritual need-perhaps a sobering warning to us-or it can be to promote gratitude and encouragement, as when the Lord said to one who responded well, "Thou art not far from the kingdom of God" (Mark 12:34).
     One notices that our regard for our neighbor usually comes into these "tests." Although they are better appreciated in full context we would give some briefly here, beginning with a test that "everyone" is invited to undertake. It is to enable the individual to know whether he is among angels or evil spirits. "A man can know among which he is." It is an indication that he is among evil spirits "if he intends evil to his neighbor, thinks nothing but evil concerning him, and actually does it when he can, and takes delight therein." On the other hand it is an indication that one is among angelic spirits if he "intends good to his neighbor, and thinks nothing but good respecting him, and actually does it when he can." "This is the distinctive characteristic. Let everyone examine himself by this, in order to learn what he is" (AC 1680).
     How important it is for one "to know whether heaven or hell be within him" (AC 7181). There are assessments to make "in order that man may know" whether he is in the love of self. By certain "indications, it is discoverable" (AC 7366, 7371). Let him notice whether "he regards not the neighbor."

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Or let him note whether he "despises his neighbor in comparison with himself, considers him an enemy if he does not favor him" (AC 7370).
     What kind of thoughts do we have about our neighbor? The characteristic of those in charity is that they "think well" concerning him, while those in evil "think evilly" concerning him (AC 2380). It is important to realize that our states do not remain constant in this respect. "In some states the man may be said to be more perfect, but in very many others not so. Those who have been regenerated in the life of the body and have lived in faith in the Lord and charity toward the neighbor are continually being perfected in the other life" (AC 894).
     What is it like to be in a state of regeneration? The individual can notice the indications in the privacy of his own mind. "If he is desirous to know this, let him merely attend to the ends which he proposes to himself, and which he rarely discloses to anyone. If the ends are toward good, that is to say, if he cares more for his neighbor and the Lord than for himself, then he is in a state of regeneration; but if the ends are toward evil, that is to say, if he cares more for himself than for his neighbor and the Lord, let him know that in this case he is in no state of regeneration" (AC 3570:2).
     Suppose that by taking this test we discover that we seem to be in a state of regeneration. Will it make us complacent or conceited? Not if we realize that the state may not be lasting, and not if we realize that this is the Lord's work in us. Surely gratitude and encouragement are the intended results of these observations. What a beautiful example we have in this final quotation:
     "When a man feels or perceives in himself that he has good thoughts concerning the Lord, and that he has good thoughts concerning the neighbor, and desires to perform kind offices for him . . . then he may know that he has internal things in him through which the Lord is working" (AC 1102:3).

     THIS IS LOVE TO THE NEIGHBOR

     "All of the Lord's commandments have relation to love toward the neighbor, and in a word they are not doing evil to the neighbor, but doing good to him . . . . John says, If a man say, I love God, but hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from Him, that he who loveth God should love his brother also." True Christian Religion 458

172




     TRANSLATION OF THE SCRIPTURES

     Two years ago this month our editorial was devoted to the subject of translations of the Bible into languages throughout the earth. The facts and figures of this subject tend to stretch the mind. Considerable progress has been made since we quoted those figures, the most striking of which is the number of languages into which the entire New Testament is translated. In 1981 we reported that it was "almost 500 languages." Now it is 551.
     The entire Bible is now translated into 279 tongues and there are now 1,763 languages into which some portion of the Bible has been translated.
     The one language that has seen most translations of the Bible is the English language. The translation that is getting increasing attention in the General Church since its publication last year is the New King James Version. You will probably be reading about this version in the pages of this magazine in the near future.

     WANTING TO COMMAND THE NEIGHBOR

     Some people seem to be of a more bossy disposition than others, but the Writings indicate that every one of us is born with an inherited desire to exercise command over others (see AC 10791). They tell us, moreover, that this desire is by no means always obvious. We have to contend with it in our journey through life, and so does our neighbor. When people get married this desire to command is one of the chief threats to their relationship (see AC 10173).
     The Writings give us examples of people who come into the other life bringing with them that desire to command others. Their sphere tends to be oppressive, and conversation with them tends to be stifled. How far they are from the spirit of the angels. For when angels converse "there is nothing of command from one to another, for no one desires to be master and thereby look upon another as a servant" (AC 5732).
     There is, of course, a good love of ruling. Even in heaven there are those who govern. But the characteristic of the governors is that they put the good of the neighbor in the first place and their own good in the last (see HH 218). They do not domineer or dictate. It is a beautiful paradox. If you want to be in the high use of governing, then learn to overcome the desire of commanding others.

173


24-VOLUME ARCANA! 1983

24-VOLUME ARCANA!       V. C. ODHNER       1983




     Communication
Dear Editor,

     In a way, the Arcana Coelestia is only partially translated; it is in a primitive form. The many prior AC passages cited throughout the Arcana are so numerous that it would probably be fair to say no one has the time and patience to look all of them up. And yet these references form an integral part of the New Word and an aid in our understanding of the continuous internal sense of the Old and New Testaments. Even if one took the time to look up each reference, one would lose track of the message because of the sheer volume of work involved. There is no substitute for having all the references cited printed before you to read.
     Probably more than half of the Old and New Testament references are quoted or paraphrased in place. Yet it is the various aspects of truth, leading to further enlightenment, that all these AC references could bring if they were cited in full in place.
     While such a publication of all the primary references would have somewhat limited use, its value is hard to estimate. Certainly, numerous ministers and laymen have contemplated the benefits from it. The computer age makes it possible, and perhaps it is that very computer age which this work has been awaiting.
     Additionally, the computer age could bring us a most complete concordance of the Writings, if all of them were programmed into a computer. The computer could be dubbed "Potts II." Further, such works as New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine could be made much more coherent by citing all the Arcana references in place.
     V. C. ODHNER,
          Norwich, New York
WHAT IT IS TO LOVE THE NEIGHBOR AS ONESELF 1983

WHAT IT IS TO LOVE THE NEIGHBOR AS ONESELF              1983

     "To love the neighbor as oneself is not to hold him in light esteem in comparison with oneself, to deal justly with him, and not to pass evil judgments upon him."
     True Christian Religion 411

174


NEWS FROM BENADE 1983

NEWS FROM BENADE              1983

     Conscious of the need to educate children in right principles and New Church thinking, Benade put out two magazines and two books dedicated to that end in the 1850s. The magazines, The Little Truth Teller and The Dew Drop, contained stories for the Sunday school set. One of the books was composed of reprints from The Little Truth Teller, and the other was entitled Animals and Their Correspondences.
     A glance at modern children's stories furnishes some interesting and arresting contrasts with the literary fare Benade used to dispense. An experienced and trained children's librarian, Mrs. Yadah Alden, of Bryn Athyn, reports that problems abound in selecting suitable and acceptable-to-the-children stories. She tries to weed out the grotesque, the profane, and the earthy, such as indecent exposure and bathroom scenes. At sixth grade and up, stories crop up that seek to help children to understand such problems as their parents' separation, mom's boy friends, and drugs. Apparently their mission is to cause the children to "understand" and make peace with all the problems in the world. Science fiction is another large part of the offerings.
     Benade counseled against facing young children with ugly or frightening things (W. H. Benade, Conversations on Education, ANC, Bryn Athyn, PA, 2nd Ed. 1967, 24). No doubt he would not have put before any children "The Twits" by Roald Dahl, (Knopf, 1981) of which the reviewer writes: "The Twits are the pits-mean, nasty, cruel, evil-minded, despicable, and grossly filthy . . ." (Book review in School Library Journal, May 1981, 63). Other reviews tell of a 15-year-old girl's "trouble dealing with her parents' divorce, and her mother's frantic liaisons with countless boors" (Ibid., 73); of another girl's "unrequited love for John, obviously unworthy, unrequited until too much wine, pot, and cocaine bring about the outcome for which Mary has yearned"(lbid.). Another book, recommended for grades 3-5, is entitled Me and the Weirdos, and according to the reviewer, lives up to its title: ". . . Anyone [in the story] who is not weird is square, except our heroine, who is paranoid" (Ibid., 70).
     No doubt Benade would agree that bringing up children in today's world is no easier than in his.

175




     [Photo of THE SWEDENBORG GARAGE IN LONDON TWENTY YEARS AGO]

     As far as we know this is the only extant photograph of the "SWEDENBORG GARAGE" which was a quaint sight in East London before it was torn down two decades ago. The area that was long known as Swedenborg Square was the site of the church where Swedenborg was buried in 1772. As our readers know, 126 years after Swedenborg was buried his coffin was taken under stately ceremonies from England to Sweden.
     Obviously the garage in the photograph was named purely from its geographic location. The letters on the sign were bright red. The small print says "CAR BREAKERS all second hand SPARES in stock."
     On the right is a sign that says, "NO ENTRANCE FOR HORSE DRAWN VEHICLES."
BRITISH ASSEMBLY REMINDER 1983

BRITISH ASSEMBLY REMINDER              1983

     The Assembly in Colchester will be held from July 8th to 10th. See Jan. issue, p. 32.

176


ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL, COLLEGE AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS CALENDAR 1983

ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL, COLLEGE AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS CALENDAR              1983

     ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH SCHOOL YEAR 1983-1984

     1983
Sept. 6      Tue.           Faculty Meetings
                         Dormitory students arrive (Secondary School students before 7:30 p.m.)
                         Registration of Secondary School local students
7           Wed.           Registration of Secondary School dormitory students
8:00 a.m.-12:00 noon:      Registration of all Theological School and College students
2:00 p.m.                College Orientation for all new students
8:00 p.m.                Opening Convocation for all College students
8           Thu.           Fall Term begins in Secondary Schools following Opening Exercises
8:05 a.m.                College classes begin
1:00 p.m.                All student workers report to respective supervisors or to Benade Hall Auditorium (see notice in dormitories and schools for assignments and locations)
10           Sat.           Evening: College Program and Secondary Schools Program
Oct. 21      Fri.           Charter Day:
8:30 a.m.                Annual Meeting of ANC Corporation (Pitcairn Hall)
11:00 a.m.                Charter Day Service (Cathedral)
9:00 p.m.                President's Reception (Field House)
22      Sat. 7:00 p.m.          Charter Day Banquet (Ah Purpose Building)
Nov. 16-18 Wed.-Fri.      College Registration for Winter Term
23 Wed.                Fall Term ends and Thanksgiving Recess begins in all schools after exams and scheduled student work*
27           Sun.           Secondary Schools dormitory students return by 8:00 p.m.
28           Mon.           Winter Term begins in Secondary Schools
Dec. 4      Sun.           College dormitory students return
5           Mon.           Winter Term begins in College and Theological School
16           Fri.           Christmas Recess begins for all schools after completion of regularly scheduled classes and student work*

          * See Catalog or Handbook for holiday regulations

     1984
Jan. 2           Mon.      Dormitory students return (Secondary Schools by 8:00 p.m.)
3           Tues.      Classes resume in all schools
Feb. 20      Mon.           Presidents' Birthday Observance
Feb.-Mar. 29-2 Wed.-Fri. College Registration for Spring Term
Mar. 8      Thu.           College Winter Term ends*
9           Fri.           Secondary Schools Winter Term ends. Spring Recess begins for Secondary Schools after scheduled exams and student work*
12           Mon.          1984-1985 Preliminary Secondary Schools Applications due
18           Sun.           Dormitory students return (Secondary Schools by 8:00 p.m.)
19           Mon.           Spring Term begins in all schools
Apr. 15      Sun.           Deadline for College applications
20           Fri.           Good Friday Holiday
May 4      Fri. 7:45 p.m.      Joint Meeting of Faculty and Corporation (Assembly Hall)
5           Sat.           Semi-Annual Meeting of Academy Corporation (Pitcairn Hall)
28           Mon.           Memorial Day Holiday
June 5 Tue. 8:30 p.m.     Graduation Dance (Field House)
6 Wed. 9:30 a.m.           Commencement (Field House)
                         Afternoon Assembly Registration
7           Thu.           First Assembly Session

          * See Catalog or Handbook for holiday regulations.

177


GENERAL CHURCH PUBLICATION COMMITTEE 1983

GENERAL CHURCH PUBLICATION COMMITTEE       Lorentz R. Soneson       1983

     The General Church Publication Committee works with the Publication Committee of the Academy and the Extension Committee of the General Church to ensure publication of material for the church at large. The categories covered by the General Church Publication Committee are listed below:

     - All editions of the Writings and the Old and New Testaments, published for the church at large.
     - All books developed in the sphere of general pastoral instruction including hymnal, etc.
     - All books developed in the sphere of general pastoral instruction including those arising out of society doctrinal classes.
     - All texts designed for use in the General Church elementary schools (in consultation with the Educational Council).
     - All children's literature.
     - All New Church literary efforts (novels, etc.).
     - Reprints of those works published by the General Church Publication Committee.

     The committee welcomes submitted manuscripts from both priests and laymen, professional or amateur writers. These can be submitted to the chairman of the committee, P.O. Box 278, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009.
     Lorentz R. Soneson,
          Chairman
ACADEMY PUBLICATION COMMITTEE 1983

ACADEMY PUBLICATION COMMITTEE       Alfred Acton       1983

     The Academy Publication Committee works with the Publication Committee of the General Church of the New Jerusalem and the Extension Committee of the General Church to ensure publication of material for the church at large.
     Our mission is fivefold. We publish:

     - All Latin editions of the Writings and all the pre-Arcana works and studies of Swedenborg (except those within the scope of Swedenborg Scientific Association).
     - Indices and concordances (except those particularly accommodated to the general public).
     - Biographies of Swedenborg (excluding those more appropriately printed by the Extension Committee).
     - All works developed in the sphere of academic research to include:
     - Doctrinal works developed by the Academy schools or addressed to Academy uses and tracts, texts, etc., developed out of Academy courses-for example, research including curricular, philosophic, secular and religious studies.
     - Reprints of all those works published by the Academy.

     This notice is to invite all New Church authors who have material of a scholarly, doctrinal nature as outlined above to submit their manuscripts to us for consideration.
     Manuscripts should be submitted to the chairman of the committee, care of the Academy of the New Church, P.O. Box 278, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009.
     Alfred Acton,
          Chairman

178


CORRECTION 1983

CORRECTION              1983




     Announcements





     In the report of the death of Mrs. Elmo C. Acton (Ione Celia Odhner) her middle name was misspelled (Jan. issue, P 76).
Church News 1983

Church News       Various       1983

     HURSTVILLE, AUSTRALIA

     Serving the Lord's New Church is both a noble use and a privilege and with that in mind we can feel delight in looking back on a year of happy and useful activity in the Hurstville society.
     Firstly, a word of appreciation for our pastor, Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom, for fine sermons and classes and many other reminders of the way to heaven. His wife Lynn-Del deserves to be "mentioned in dispatches" for her gardening efforts. She could make a desert bloom.
     The Sunday school, that heavenly use so valuable in implanting remains, has worked well with more teachers sharing the load. As well as classes the children have enjoyed nature study talks with the pastor using the notes of Miss Jenny Gaskill, a gifted New Church teacher of other times.
     No doubt the highlight of the year was the Family Weekend and June 19th celebrations over a long June holiday weekend. Our numbers were swelled by visitors from country areas, and we welcomed them at a social evening on Friday, June 11th.
     At 9:45 on Saturday morning there was a short service of worship. Then the pastor explained in depth the story of the woman, the Man-Child and the dragon, which depicts the giving of New Church doctrine to the world by the Lord, its adversaries, and its subsequent protection. There followed a question and answer session, questions being fielded by a panel of four. The questions were handled quite adroitly, and there was more than a dash of humor.
     Rain having cleared away, arrangements went ahead for the bonfire and fireworks evening. The fire roared away happily and the fireworks display, superintended by Denis Keal, was quite spectacular.
     Sunday activities began at 10 a.m. and finished at 11 p.m. It was a fine, clear morning and the church was filled with people. First there was a family service at which the children each brought a gift for the church. Rev. Sandstrom took the service and spoke about the Holy City, New Jerusalem. After a short break there was a holy supper service. The theme of the pastor's sermon was that heaven and the church on earth make one, so that the genuine church on earth might be called the "human heaven." During this service the children had assembled in the Richard Morse room. Two of the Sunday school classes combined to act out for the others the story of the woman clothed with the sun, and the dragon.

180


This little plan was suggested by Owen Heldon, and he and his wife Margaret made the costumes. Other children prepared a "TV" show illustrating the story of the seven seals and the way in which the Lord revealed the true meaning of His Word.
     At 12:30 p.m. photos were taken, one of the whole group and one of the children, who then formed a procession and marched with their banners to the Richard Morse room for their banquet. After they had eaten, the children re-enacted the scene for the adults to see. A class sang two songs accompanied by Elisabeth Keal, the words of which came from the Word. Then all the children, dressed as candles, sang, "Jesus bids us shine . . . . like a little candle." They then each received a gift from Theta Alpha. These gifts are handmade each year by the ladies of Theta Alpha and are suited to the ages of the children.
     At the adult nineteenth of June banquet we were privileged to hear Rev. Ian Arnold of the Sydney society. He spoke of our "Ongoing Commission." He said that leaders of Protestant faiths recognized the failure of the church in its vital use. It was our "ongoing commission" to proclaim the tidings that the Lord God Jesus Christ reigns, and that the real apostles were the genuine truths of doctrine.
     Most people managed to turn up on Monday morning looking fresh and keen enough to tackle a business session. Later, there were two addresses, one by Mr. Norman Heldon on the language of the Word and one, read by the pastor, by Rev. Donald Rose on what it is like to die and be raised up in the spiritual world.
     These gatherings, mini-assemblies, are stimulating, challenging and enjoyable.
     Playgroup for little children continues, activities including projects, stories and songs. There are outings also. Society social activities included a most enjoyable Family Talent Night and a barbecue at the Norman Heldon home where once-a year clowns performed, with the addition this year of three-year-old Stuart Heldon, billed as the "Clown Prince."
     The society has viewed the film "Johnny Appleseed." It was appreciated, though possibly it had a lower approval rating than the film about Swedenborg.
     Christmas celebrations included tableaux by children, interspersed with readings, slides, and carol singing.
     A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since our last communiqu?, and we certainly have a lovely bridge for it to flow under. There has been quite a number of overseas visitors, come to meet us and to see our lovely city. They are always very welcome. Just now the society would also welcome some New Church settlers to rebuild it after considerable losses.
     Norman Heldon
BECAUSE I LIVE, YE SHALL LIVE ALSO ( 1983

BECAUSE I LIVE, YE SHALL LIVE ALSO (       Various       1983

John 14:19)     Insofar as anyone loves his neighbor, insofar he partakes of the Lord's life. Arcana Coelestia 2253

181


PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES 1983

PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES              1983

GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
RIGHT REV. LOUIS B. KING
Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania
PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES
Public worship and doctrinal classes are provided either regularly or occasionally at the locations listed below. For details use the local phone number of the contact person mentioned or communicate with the Secretary of the General Church, Rev. L. R. Soneson, Cairncrest, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009, Phone (215) 9474660.

     AUSTRALIA

     SYDNEY, N.S.W.
Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom, 22 Dudley Street, Penshurst, N.S.W. 2222. Phone: 57-1589.

     BRAZIL

     RIO DE JANEIRO                                             
Rev. Andrew Heilman, Rua Ferreira de Sampaio 58. Apt. 101, Abolicao, Rio de Janeiro 20.000.

     CANADA

     British Columbia:

     DAWSON CREEK
Rev. William Clifford. 1536 94th Ave., Dawson Creek, V1G 1H1. Phone: (604) 782-3997.

     VANCOUVER
Mr. Douglas Crompton, 21-7055 Blake St., V5S 3V5. Phone: (604) 437-9136.

     Ontario:

     KITCHENER
Rev. Christopher Smith, 16 Bannockburn Rd., R.R. 2, N2G 3W5. Phone: (519) 893-7460.

     OTTAWA
Mr. and Mrs. Donald McMaster, 726 Edison Avenue, Apt. 33, Ottawa, Ontario K2C 3P8. Phone: (613) 729-6452.

     TORONTO
Rev. Geoffrey Childs, 2 Lorraine Gardens, Islington, Ontario M9B 424 Phone: (416) 231-4958.

     Quebec:

     MONTREAL
Mr. Denis de Chazal, 17 Baliantyne Ave. So., Montreal West, Quebec H4X 281. Phone: (514) 489-9861.

     DENMARK

     COPENHAGEN
Mr. Jorgen Hauptmann, Strandvejen 22, Jyllinge, 4000 Roskilde. Phone: 03-389968.

     ENGLAND

     COLCHESTER
Rev. Kenneth O. Stroh, 2 Christchurch Court, Colchester, Essex C03 3AU

     LETCHWORTH
Mr. and Mrs. R. Evans, 111 Howard Drive, Letchworth, Herts. Phone: Letchworth 4751.

     LONDON
Rev. Robert McMaster, 135 Mantilla Rd., London SW17 8DX. Phone: 672-6239.

     MANCHESTER
Mrs. Neil Rowcliffe, 135 Bury Old Road, Heywood, Lanes. Phone: Heywood 68189.

     FRANCE

     BOURGUINON-MEURSANGES
Rev. Alain Nicolier, 21200 Beaune, France. Phone: (80) 22.47.88.

     HOLLAND

     THE HAGUE
Mr. Daan Lupker, Wabserveen Straat 25, The Hague.

     NEW ZEALAND

     AUCKLAND
Mrs. Marion Mills, 8 Duders Ave., Devonport, Auckland 9. Phone: 453-043.

     NORWAY

     OSLO
Mr. Eyvind Boyesen, Vetlandsveien 82A, Oslo 6. Phone: 26-1159.

     SCOTLAND

     EDINBURGH
Mr. and Mrs. N. Laidlaw, 35 Swanspring Ave., Edinburgh EH 10-6NA. Phone: 0 31-445- 2377.

     GLASGOW
Mrs. J. Clarkson, Hillview. Balmore, Nr. Torrance, Glasgow. Phone: Balmore 262.

     SOUTH AFRICA

     Natal:

     DURBAN
Rev. Geoffrey Howard, 30 Perth Rd., Westville, Natal. 3630. Phone: 031-821 136.

     Transvaal:

     JOHANNESBURG
Mr. D. S. Came, 110 8th St., Lindon 2195. Phone: 011-462982.

182




     Zululand:

     KENT MANOR
Louisa Allais, 129 Anderson Road, Mandini, Zululand 4490.

     Mission in South Africa:
Superintendent-The Rev. Norman E. Riley, 42 Pitlochry Rd., Westville. Natal, 3630.

     SWEDEN

     JONKOPING
Rev. Bjorn Boyesen, Bruksater, Furusjo, 5-56600, Habo. Phone: 0392-20395.

     STOCKHOLM
Rev. Roy Franson, Aladdinsvagen 27, 161 38 Bromma. Phone: 48-99-22 and 26-79-85.

     UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

     Alabama:

     BIRMINGHAM
Dr. R. Shepard, 4537 Dolly Ridge Road, Birmingham, AL 35243. Phone:(205) 967-3442.

     Arizona:

     PHOENIX
Mr. Hubert Rydstrom, 3640 E. Piccadilly Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85018. Phone: (602) 955-2290.

     TUCSON
Rev. Frank S. Rose, 2536 N. Stewart Ave., Tucson, AZ 85716. Phone: (602) 327-2612.

     Arkansas:

     LITTLE ROCK
Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Holmes, Rt. 6, Box 447, Batesville, AR 72501.

     California:

     LOS ANGELES
Rev. Michael Gladish, 5022 Carolyn Way, La Crescenta, CA 91214. Phone: (213) 249-5031.

     SACRAMENTO
Patricia Street Scott, 3448 Vougue Court, Sacramento, CA 95826.

     SAN DIEGO
Rev. Cedric King, 7911 Canary Way, San Diego, CA 92123. Phone: (714) 268-0379.

     SAN FRANCISCO
Rev. Wendel Barnett, 4638 Royal Garden Place, San Jose, CA 95136. Phone: (408) 224-8521.

     Colorado:

     COLORADO SPRINGS
Mr. and Mrs. William Reinstra, 708 Manitou Ave., Manitou Springs, CO 80829. Phone: (303) 685-9519.

     DENVER
Rev. Clark Echols, 3371 W. 94th Ave., Westminster, CO 80030. Phone (303) 429-1239

     Connecticut:

     HARTFORD

     SHELTON
Rev. Glenn Alden, 47 Jerusalem Hill Rd., Trumbull, CT 06611. Phone: (203) 877-1141.

     Delaware:

     WILMINGTON
Mrs. Justin Hyatt, 417 Delaware Ave., McDaniel Crest, Wilmington, DE 19803. Phone: (302) 478-4213.

     District of Columbia see Mitchellville. Maryland.

     Florida:

     LAKE HELEN
Rev. John Odhner, 413 Summit Ave., Lake Helen, FL 32744. Phone: (904) 228-2337.

     MIAMI
Rev. Mark Alden, 15101 N. W. Fifth Ave., Miami, FL 33169. Phone: (305) 687-1337.

     Georgia:

     AMERICUS
Mr. W. H. Eubanks, Rt. #2, S. Lee St., Americus, GA 31709. Phone: (912) 924-9221.

     ATLANTA
Rev. Christopher Bown, 3795 Montford Dr., Chamblee. GA 30341. Phone:(404)457-4726

     Idaho:

     FRUITLAND
(Idaho-Oregon border) Mr. Harold Rand,1705 Whitley Dr., Fruitland, ID 83619. Phone: (208) 452-3181.

     Illinois:

     CHICAGO
Rev. Brian Keith, 2712 Brassie Dr., Glenview, IL 60025. Phone: (312) 724-7829.

     DECATUR
Mr. John Aymer, 380 Oak Lane, Decatur, IL 62562. Phone: (217) 875-3215.

     GLENVIEW
Rev. Peter Buss, 73 Park Dr., Glenview, IL 60025. Phone: (312) 724-0120.

     Indiana:
Contact Rev. Stephen Cole in Cincinnati, Ohio, or Mr. James Wood, R. R. 1, Lapel, IN 46051

     Louisiana:

     BATON ROUGE
Mr. Henry Bruser, Jr., 1652 Ormandy Dr., Baton Rouge, LA 70808. Phone: (504) 921-3089.

     Maryland:

     BALTIMORE
Rev. David Simons, 13213 E. Greenbank Rd., Oliver Beach, MD 21220. Phone: (301) 335-6763.

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     MITCHELLVILLE
Rev. Daniel Heinrichs, 3809 Enterprise Rd., Mitchellville, MD 20716. Phone: (301) 262-4565.

     Massachusetts:

     BOSTON
Rev. Grant Odhner, 50 Cochituate R., Wayland, MA 01778. Phone: (617) 358-5496.

     Michigan:

     DETROIT
Rev. Walter Orthwein, 132 Kirk La., Troy, MI 48084. Phone: (313) 689-6118.

     EAST LANSING
Mr. Christopher Clark, 5853 Smithfield, East Lansing, MI 48823. Phone: (517) 351-2880.

     Minnesota:

     ST. PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS
Mrs. Tore Gram, 20185 Vine St., Excelsior, MN 55331. Phone: (612) 474-9574.

     Missouri:

     COLUMBIA
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Johnson, 103 S. Greenwood, Columbia, MO 65201.

     KANSAS CITY
Mr. Glen Klippenstein, Glenkirk Farms, Maysville, MO 64469. Phone: (816) 449-2167.

     New Jersey-New York:

     RIDGEWOOD. N.J.
Mrs. Fred E. Munich, 474 S. Maple Ave., Glen Rock, NJ 07452. Phone: (201) 445-1141.

     New Mexico:

     ALBUQUERQUE
Dr. Andrew Doering, 1298 Sagebrush Ct., Rio Rancho, NM 87124. Phone: (505) 897-3623.

     North Carolina:

     CHARLOTTE
Mr. Gordon Smith, 38 Newriver Trace, Clover, SC 29710. Phone: (803) 831-2355.

     Ohio:

     CINCINNATI
Rev. Stephen Cole, 6431 Mayflower Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45237. Phone: (513) 631-1210.

     CLEVELAND
Mr. Alan Childs, 19680 Beachcliff Blvd., Rocky River, OH 44116. Phone: (216) 333-4413.

     COLUMBUS
Mr. Hubert Heinrichs, 8372 Todd Street Rd., Sunbury, OH 43074. Phone: (614) 524-2738.

     Oklahoma:

     TULSA
Mrs. Louise Tennis, 3546 S. Marion, Tulsa, OK 74135. Phone: (918) 742-8495.

     Oregon:

     PORTLAND
Mrs. M. D. Rich, 2655 S. W. Upper Drive Pl., Portland, OR 97201. Phone: (503) 227-4144.

     Oregon-Idaho Border.-See Idaho, Fruitland.

     Pennsylvania:

     BRYN ATHYN
Rev. Kurt Asplundh, Box 277, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009. Phone: (215) 947-3665.

     ERIE
Mrs. Paul Murray, 5648 Zuck Rd., Erie, PA 16506. Phone: (814) 833-0962.

     KEMPTON
Rev. Arne Bau-Madsen, Box 527, Rt. 1, Lenhartsville. PA 19534. Phone: (215) 756-6139.

     PITTSBURGH
Rev. Ragnar Boyesen, 7420 Ben Hur St., Pittsburgh, PA 15208. Phone: (Church) (412) 731- 1061.

     South Carolina:- see North Carolina.

     South Dakota:

     ORAL-HOT SPRINGS
Rev. Erik Sandstrom, RR 1, Box 101M, Hot Springs, SD 57747. Phone: (605) 745-6714

     Texas:

     FORT WORTH
Mrs. Charles Hogan, 7513 Evelyn La., Ft. Worth, TX 76118. Phone: (817) 284-0502.

     Washington:

     SEATTLE
Rev. Kent Junge, 14323-123rd NE, #C, Kirkland. WA 98033. Phone: (206) 821-0157.

     Wisconsin:

     MADISON
Mrs. Charles Howell, 3912 Plymouth Circle, Madison, WI 53705. Phone: (608) 233-0209.

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ADDITIONS TO THE SWEDENBORG CONCORDANCE 1983

ADDITIONS TO THE SWEDENBORG CONCORDANCE              1983

     AS COMPILED BY THE REV. DONALD ROSE

     This hard-bound, 105 page collection of additions is a valuable companion for all who own the six volume Swedenborg Concordance. $6.85 postpaid

GENERAL CHURCH BOOK CENTER
Box 278
Bryn Athyn, PA 19009

Hours: 9:00 to 12:00
Mon. thru Fri.
(215) 947-3920

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Notes on This Issue 1983

Notes on This Issue       Editor       1983



Vol. CIII     May, 1983     No. 5
NEW CHURCH LIFE

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     More than thirty people are mentioned in the three reports in this issue. You may learn some things you did not know about their participation in certain aspects of New Church "life." That is one reason for the phrase on the cover, "What Some People Are Doing." On page 204 you will learn what some people will be doing next month at the Canadian National Assembly. (By the way, at the British Assembly in July speeches will be given by Bishop King and by each of the ministers resident in England.)
     Many have been aware of what some people are doing in the North Ohio Circle about designs and symbols. Their appeal to needleworkers, craftsmen and craft-collectors appeared in virtually every society publication (and in NCL last October). Among the places from which they received pictures were Atlanta, Arizona, London, San Francisco, Kitchener, Dawson Creek and Pittsburgh. Remember that they offered to "loan" out the file to other centers for study. They express gratitude for what has come in, and they add, "if any other people still wish to contribute pictures of needlework or art showing distinctive New Church symbolism which could be rendered in needlework, we will be happy to continue collecting it until we announce that we have turned our collection over to the archives."
     That are Paul and Polly Schoenberger doing with the collection of pieces of advice on marriage they asked for in January of 1982 (p. 26)? We hear that the material will be published in booklet form in the near future. Meanwhile, read the extensive response by Mr. Rey Cooper in this issue.
     On page 200 is information on what some people will be doing this summer, namely attending a church camp. For more information on these write to Mr. Paul Simonetti, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009.
     A passage in the Writings speaks of someone standing upon a high tower and seeing a city below "and all that is being done." (See the text of the sermon in this issue.)
     You probably know someone who will be deciding whether to attend the Academy College. If so, do take note of what Steve Gladish says in this issue, especially his remarks on page 217.

     Note: The death of Kate Morris is reported on page 223. The age there given is not a misprint. She seemed so young! But she was 102.

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LIFTING OUR THOUGHT TO SPIRITUAL IDEALS 1983

LIFTING OUR THOUGHT TO SPIRITUAL IDEALS       Rev. ROBERT S. JUNGE       1983

     "After this I looked and behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me: which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter" (Rev. 4: 1). In addition to our text we add from the True Christian Religion: "The man who lists his mind to God and acknowledges that all the truth of wisdom is from God, and at the same time lives in accordance with order, is like one who stands upon a lofty tower and sees beneath him a populous city and all that is being done in its streets" (TCR 69).

     The higher anyone ascends, the more his spiritual attention is awakened, the broader his view, and the more he comes "almost" into the light of heaven itself (see AE 263, 264; AR 226; TCR 588). Everyone in this congregation, whether evil or good, can have his understanding elevated almost into the light of heaven. If we will, we can see how we ought to live-the purpose and meaning in our life (see DLW 419: 16). Such an understanding thinks from that light "analytically with all variety altogether as from itself" (Inf. 15). "From above one can look down on lower things on every side, but not the reverse" (AE 569: 19). The simple fact is that our salvation depends upon such an elevated sight of truth which is clearly separated from our selfish delights. Without such a perspective the natural mind will be dragged down to the level of merely sensual delight and there will be no sight of alternatives, no possibility of spiritual change. If, on the other hand, we respond to the Lord's call to "come up hither," if we lift our minds to stand as it were upon a tower of truth, we will see the nature of God and the life after death. We will see that we were created with uniquely human souls so that we might live to eternity (see TCR 79:7). The higher we ascend into these spiritual ideals, the more broadly the vista of life and the vision of its purpose will stretch before us, like a view from a natural tower. The different aspects of the spiritual landscape will be seen in relation to each other in a breathtaking rational panorama. And what is more, we will see how we ourselves fit into the whole purpose of creation itself.
     Everything human in us cries out to see such a rational meaning to life.

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The human mind reaches for maturity, desperately wanting things to make sense. But we cannot see purpose and meaning unless our thought reaches to a firm reality-a spiritual reality beyond death. Spiritual hopes and ideals are the only answer to our basic human needs. When our understandings are elevated almost into the light of heaven, from that tower we will be able to take our spiritual bearings to see our potential choices and to respond as only human beings can.
     "The laws of order which are the truths and goods of the church" are the means to these ideals (AE 563). We come to them through "the knowledges of good and truth and by rational intuition from them" (CL 495). Only the Lord can show us the way, the truth and the life. We can wring our hands; we can say it is too hard to understand, or that we are too busy. But the threefold Word of the Lord calls us to "come up hither." Will we make idle excuses and bask in the elusive and alleged warmth of our natural delights, the lowlands where no broad view is possible, or will we look to the Lord and climb up to Him in our regular daily thoughts, patiently, perhaps even ploddingly, applying the few things we see clearly? Only such a climbing path really acknowledges the Lord-"with Thee is the fountain of life: in Thy light shall we see light" (Psalm 36:9).
     The firm statement of the Word is: "If man were not able to perfect his understanding separately, and to perfect his will by means of it, he would not be a man but a beast . . . still less could he recognize what relates to God, and thereby God Himself, and thus be conjoined with Him and live forever" (TCR 588). "Viewed in himself the natural man in no way differs in his nature from the nature of beasts. Like them he is wild; but it is as to his will that he is such; . . . in understanding he differs from beasts, in that the understanding can be elevated above the lusts of the [old] will and not only see but moderate them" (TCR 574; Inf. 15).
     But the sensual man does not wish to be moderated. The evils in the natural and the sensual man want to be indulged, not controlled. We do not innately want to think from the Lord respecting heavenly things. Far from it! Our natural disposition is to think from ourselves and from the world, about ourselves and about the world, all in an elusive light which leads to a dead end-a purposeless existence because it will not even look beyond the here and now (see AE 543). We simply will not find any eternal self, no heavenly proprium, no lasting human worth, unless we allow the Lord in His Word to call our thought up to look at spiritual ideals and consider our life in their light.

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     Still one of the great challenges to the church is that sense experience and thought from it seem so real. Do we not have to live in "the real world"? Do we not have to cope with reality? Of course we do, but the question is how? Surely not by being swallowed up by the milling of the faceless crowds below the tower. Consider the following: "He is called a sensual man who judges all things from the senses of the body, and who believes nothing but what he can see with his eyes and touch with his hands, saying that this is something, and rejecting everything else. Such a man thinks in what is ultimate and not interiorly from any spiritual light. The interiors of his mind, which see from the light of heaven, are closed, so that he sees there nothing of the truth of heaven and the church. In a word, he is in gross natural light, and thus perceives nothing that is from the light of heaven. Thence interiorly he is against the things of heaven and the church" (AE 543:5).
     Against such a background the church teaches its hopes and ideals courageously and vigorously from the Word. What is spiritual must become for us more real than merely natural experience. This truth can be seen from the tower, if we will go up thither: lasting reality is spiritual! Yet frequently when spiritual ideals are first taught they seem to be unreal, for to the merely natural mind they are. Indeed, when first taught they are not as yet a part of the reality of our life. We are still climbing the tower, perhaps catching glimpses of the view, but the broad vista is not yet opened before us. But genuine ideals are not quick glimpses, nor even a sweeping general, hazy and flat picture of life. We live with our view of life and its contrasts. Our ideals become in it specific elements upon which we can focus in a clear relation to where we are and to the whole picture. We need manageable, understandable units if the lusts of our life are to be moderated or removed.
     One of the wonders of accommodation is that the Lord Himself moderates our affections through His heavens according to our own unique character. A rich and broad ideal provides a general scene which inspires our confidence and provides a setting which leads to a sense of individual purpose. Through our individual affectional interests each of us sees specific elements in that spiritual order which have a special meaning for us, which seem particularly interesting, or particularly beautiful and important. It is like being in a tower and viewing an orderly and inspiring scene-and then in unseen ways our affections guide our eyes to one object, and the whole scene as it were turns upon that focal point. It fits into the whole. But that focal aspect of the spiritual landscape also uniquely inspires us.

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We would perhaps like to be there, or we see a series of points which must be passed on the way there. Because of the broad view, we can see clearly what is necessary to get there, and the hope of getting there becomes a tangible reality because of the ideal.
     But here again the sensual complains, for the truth exposes it. The sight of an ideal reveals obstacles along the way and demands a judgment and choice. The elevation of the understanding is, in fact, a preparation for individual judgment, even as John's answering the voice and going up revealed the judgment to him. Man cannot be separated from the impurity of his selfishness unless by means of his elevated sight of truth he sees what the evils are that defile and corrupt his life (see DLW 419). No sensual man wants to face such an elevated state. No sensual man wants to see a clearly manageable course away from the immediacy of lust and delight. He does not like being in the tower. He does not want to define a path which reaches to the eternal horizon.
     It is a simple truth that when the church teaches ideals effectively the congregation will see evils in their lives. It must be so-otherwise they will never even see the need for change. You simply cannot teach ideals without exposing the evil and challenging the natural man. Ideals then must be real; they must look to life; they must bring about judgments. But if they are from the Lord they will also inspire, mercifully bending and not breaking man's spirit.
     With these things in mind let us consider some of the teachings concerning betrothal, so beautifully and ideally set forth in the Writings. The order of love truly conjugial is that it ascends and descends. It ascends even to the souls and minds, and strives more powerfully than any other love for the opening of all these degrees. The betrothed see a spiritual panorama of love truly conjugial from a tower just as high as they are willing to ascend. They see it. They aspire for it. They can, if they will, descend from the tower clearly focused on one partner alone as their inmost goal. They have not yet trod the uneven path of life together to that focal use in heaven where they will act as one angel. Yet their love will be in its descent according to the height of its ascent. If it is in its height it descends chaste. For this reason the eternal ideal of love truly conjugial must be a high tower, a broad vision set before every marriage of the church. It must look to the eternal horizon and all that lies between.
     True, love truly conjugial is a love of heaven; its states are innocence, peace, tranquility, inmost friendship, full confidence and a mutual desire to do each other every good (see CL 180). It is founded upon the thought of what is eternal.

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Its essential is full and free consent of both will and understanding. These are but some of the rational elements in the panorama which an understanding elevated through the teachings concerning conjugial love can see concerning the ideals of the betrothal state. The more the vision is infilled from revelation-from things heard and seen by the revelator-the more real it can become, for it is based upon an eternal reality-a loving relationship which can rise above time and space-a state of eternal use and happiness. It can, indeed must, be a very present reality in the life of the church.
     And yet, not anyone here, sound in his doctrine, would be so audacious as to claim such a state as achieved in his own life. But all here need desperately to see its promise in real and human terms. The hopes of our marriages depend upon a clear and elevated sight of such a vision. The natural in us may say that the vision is unreal, or to use the vernacular, "It is not where he is at." Of course it is not. Such an ideal is given us to take us out of ourselves-to lead us beyond the things of this world to a new and heavenly self. Still it is more real than anything this world can possibly offer. It is enduring, full of purpose and leading to freedom itself.
     Seeing it will not make it so-nor will a facile ability to talk of it. Even the view of the whole spiritual landscape of love truly conjugial will not make it real for us. Only living it can do that, for only then is the will elevated with the understanding. The understanding is elevated "according to the cultivation of reason . . . the will according to the deeds of life" (Inf. 14). To live these truths we must find as it were focal points in that vision-things special and close to us-something in that vision which will enable us as if of ourselves to step forward toward it.
     Perhaps the betrothed will strive to know their interior affections in the inward cheerfulness of love." Every one of us can make an effort to be cheerful. But such a simple, tangible thing as cheerfulness can fit into the vision-fit into the ideal of love truly conjugial itself. When the Word describes the consociation of spirits during betrothal and marriage, it does not specifically mention reading the Word together, praying together, approaching communion together, conversation together. But any of these can become a beautiful focus in the rational panorama of a state elevated by the Lord; and it is possible for any of us to begin or renew these things in our life right now.
     Unchaste thoughts, lewd words, lustful acts and intentions, desire for dominion-a host of hidden evils need to be exposed. And they will be in the Lord's time, as the vision is sharpened. In contrast to the panorama of chastity we can see from our tower we will also see a vast and reeking swamp of lusts, which must be shunned little by little. But with the Lord's help they can be shunned, for they fit into the promise of the clear ideal.

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     And to those looking to marriage, an innocent heart can disclose that states of mind and soul are far more real than merely natural delight. The distance they can see is only determined by the height to which they ascend. But none of us approaching marriage, or in our marriages, will think that because the Lord has allowed us to glimpse the potential of what true love can be, that somehow it is our automatic possession. Instead, that sacred vision becomes the goal for our perfection not only in this world but to all eternity. That sight always will contrast sharply to the state we are in, but if it is genuine it will lead to the specific steps that can show both the Lord and our partner that we care for that eternal vision in our marriage more than anything else.
     How sad if we in the church come to think that true ideals will turn the mind off if they are courageously taught. What tragedy lies in the thought that spiritual goals from the Lord are too far from us to be real or so judgmental as to destroy hope. What is left of our faltering efforts if the truth is so harshly taught that we feel unjustly condemned rather than inspired to live for it? The balance of real ideals exposing manageable challenges of evil and inspiring achievable steps toward a clear goal is the way of a wise and loving God, and must be the way of His church.
     We must demand of all our teaching that it be courageously drawn from the Word, for it alone teaches spiritual realities. It alone can provide a broad sense of purpose from the Lord which can give us the strength to walk confidently. It alone can lead to the good of life in such specific terms that we can consent and respond in a truly human way. The Lord's judgment alone, founded upon the vision of His Word, is full of the mercy and compassion upon which we all depend.
     The Word in a repeated pattern calls us, "come up hither." It calls us to ideals almost in the light of heaven itself. It can show us "the things which must be hereafter." That voice will become a voice as of a trumpet to every loving disciple of the Lord. Amen.

     LESSONS: Deuteronomy 34, Revelation 4:1-11, TCR 588-9 DIFFERENCE IS 1983

DIFFERENCE IS              1983

     "The difference is that in hell uses are done from fear, but in heaven from love; and fear does not give joy, but love does."
     Apocalypse Explained 1194

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I WILL FEAR NO EVIL 1983

I WILL FEAR NO EVIL       Rev. ERIC H. CARSWELL       1983

     Introduction

     The twenty-third Psalm is one of the best known and loved portions of the Word. It expresses a sure sense of the Lord's care, care like a good shepherd watching over his sheep. And it expresses complete fearlessness. "I will fear no evil; for You are with me . . ." (New KJV). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the fear of evil as it might express itself among individuals, groups of people within our church and within our organizational decisions in general.

     Types of Fear

     Fear can refer to a broad range of affections and consequent behaviors ranging from the obvious mess of genuine paranoia to the healthy spiritual love of protecting what is good and true. Holy fear, the fear of doing injury to the Lord or to good loves and true ideas with our neighbors, is angelic and obviously desirable (see AC 2826:13). It is a fear that is like adrenalin, stimulating one to do better.
     Far different are the states of the clinically paranoid individual whose fear is based on feelings of persecution. This state of mind is nearly as far as one can get from the sense of safety conveyed in the 23rd Psalm. Paranoid thoughts are associated with the tense, insecure, suspicious person who has little trust in other people. They are associated with an underlying rigidity of thought. This rigid mental structure apparently is the outgrowth of an overwhelming insecurity that cannot tolerate suspending judgment. Mixtures of good and bad qualities or actions in other people cannot be shrugged off as signs of fallible humanity, but rather are seen as arising from a dangerously sinister origin. The person who exhibits a paranoid state of mind is said to have a tendency to "self-reference," that is, a tendency to misinterpret remarks, gestures, or acts of others as intentional slights directed at himself. The paranoid individual does not see the real world that healthy people see. His perceptions and supposed insights of paranoid thought evoke confusion, sadness, or revulsion in healthier folks. People with paranoid thoughts are not people whose company is desired. Needless to say, paranoid states cannot be the result of an angelic presence.
     King Saul, after the spirit of the Lord left him, is an image of paranoid fear. He reacted to attacks and threats that did not exist and was willing to kill anyone, even his own son Jonathan, who appeared to be supporting the source of his fear.

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Except for a few rare moments of insight, Saul would not hear that he was in error and was imagining the threats that so ruled his thoughts.
     In a well-known passage (AC 1079) the Writings present an image of angelic thought that is extremely far from that of the paranoid mind:

. . . those in the faith of charity observe what is good [in a man], and if they see anything evil and false, they excuse it, and if they can, try to amend it in him . . . . Such are the angels; this they have from the Lord, who bends all evil to good.

     The true meaning of heavenly peace is diametrically opposed to morbid fear for one's own safety and possessions. We can hope that most of us will meet very few people who are clinically paranoid, yet something of paranoid thought processes is universal to all people at some time or another and influences some people's lives significantly.

     The Traditional Doctrine of Original Sin

     Traditional Christianity itself can be seen as a source of mild paranoid mental processes. If evil is seen as all-pervasive, it is hard not to be at least somewhat paranoid, and the orthodox doctrine of original sin certainly makes the world look rather grim. This doctrine as presented by the Westminster Confession argues that because of their sin, Adam and Eve

fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholely defiled in all the faculties and parts of the soul and body. They being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this sin was imputed and the same death in sin and corrupted nature conveyed to their posterity, descending from them by ordinary generation.

     Another article in the Westminster Confession adds to this idea of original sin.

Man, by his fall into a state of sin, has wholly lost all ability to any spiritual good accompanying salvation, so that a natural man, being altogether averse from that good and dead in sin, is not able by his own strength to convert himself, or prepare himself thereunto.

     McClintock and Strong's encyclopedia of religion refers to the doctrine of original sin as pervading the whole of sacred writings and as a fundamental and essential truth of revelation. In discussing this subject they support with the following passage the idea that we are "utterly depraved by nature."

How early does this innate corruption manifest itself in children! It is impossible for us to examine our own hearts, or look around us in the world, without having the conclusion forced upon us that the wickedness which everywhere prevails must have its seat in a heart that is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Vol. 7, p. 443).

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     While the Writings contain a number of statements describing man of himself as nothing but evil, they also contain the doctrine of remains that traditional Christianity lacks. Imagine how different child rearing would be if parents believed that there was nothing in their children but a desperately wicked heart! The doctrine of remains is part of what assures us that man is not given opportunity to live of himself since the Lord never abandons him.
     The doctrine of original sin tends to give traditional Christianity a somewhat morose outlook. It has produced a great many sermons intended to convince congregations that humans in general, and they in particular, are nothing but evil. Writing a parody of this kind of sermon, one author has the seated preacher begin by staring for some time in silence at his congregation, "wearing an expression of the most profound loathing and contempt, mixed with a divine sorrow and pity."
     The hell fire and damnation that follow are truly amazing (Stella Gibbons, Cold Comfort Farm).
     How can the false idea of original sin affect the lives of those who live according to its literal implications? Nathaniel Hawthorne's allegorical short story "Young Goodman Brown" describes an individual who, through a sinister late-night journey, or perhaps merely a dream, comes to a personal recognition of all-pervading evil which taints even the best people of his village. The final paragraph describes his life after that night. "A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man did he become from the night of that terrible dream." He could no longer see anything of good in anyone or anything around him.
     For centuries now there has been a running argument between the orthodox Christian doctrine of man's fallen nature and the hopeful ideas of a variety of humanists. Humanists of many types have interpreted the emphasis on man's fallen nature in traditional Christianity as representing a paranoid state of mind. Some, upon hearing that it is based on infallible revelation from God, have felt driven to reject God and Christianity. One author describes the atheism arising from this source: "Man is getting rid of God in order to regain possession of the human greatness which, it seems to him, is being unwarrantably withheld by [Him]" (de Lubac, The Drama of Atheist Humanism, p. 6). The New Church does not side with the humanist proclamation that evil exists only as a matter of ignorance or as the product of natural deprivation, nor can it ally itself with traditional Christianity.

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     The true acknowledgment of evil produces neither the agitation of paranoia nor the passivity of depression. The celestial angels are most aware of their need for the Lord to withhold them from their evils, and they are also the most happy of all human beings. (See HH 158; AC 868, 7058:2.)

     The Proper Fear of Evil

     Does the Lord want us to be afraid of evil? There is something of fear in our efforts to shun our love of evil. Who can forget the image of evil in The True Christian Religion? ". . . everyone becomes regenerate by abstaining from the evils of sin, and shunning them as one would an infernal horde with torches in hand, endeavoring to overtake him and throw him upon a burning pile" (TCR 510). Certainly, the love of evil needs to be feared and fought against. The Writings use the term "church militant" in regard to the battle that each person must fight against false ideas and evil loves if he is to live a good life (see AC 2881; ref. also AC 59, 1664:5, 1692, 6308, 8351e, etc.). And we are given some stern warnings about the evil loves and false ideas that produced the destruction of the first Christian Church (e.g. see AR 563).
     A person's concern for his spiritual well-being must focus on removing the evil loves within his own heart. Each individual has a beam in his own eye that is vastly more detrimental to his spiritual health than the specks of dust that appear in other people's eyes. Evil loves within the individual snatch up false ideas and produce allurement when one is exposed to evil in the world. Expressing these loves in thought and deed is the only thing that can bring us hell. The Lord said that it is not the things that go into the mouth that make a man unclean, but rather it is what comes out of the mouth that makes him unclean (see Matt. 15:11-20).

     But to what extent should we have a fear of the evil that is outside our minds? Early in the history of that church, a good number of Christians interpreted the Lord's words in the New Testament to mean that a solitary existence, cenobitic monasticism, was the best spiritual life. Partially because this existence conflicted with the idea of serving others, the concept was modified to that of monasticism as a religious community. Encyclopedia Britannica states the purpose of monasticism thus:

The aim of a monk in the Christian Church is to separate himself from the unethical, sensual and irreligious attractions and distractions of customary social life of the world in order to free his spirit from those allurements and hindrances that normally prevent the attainment of moral self-control and mental tranquility (1973, vol. 15, p. 688).

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     Monasticism was founded in part on the belief that the world-"customary social life"-would lead people astray. Separation from the world has been expressed in other ways. New England was colonized by people who were seeking a remote haven for their religion. And Cotton Mather spoke of "flying from the depravations of Europe."
     Traditional Christianity has long had a fear that people can and will be seduced by the ideas and examples of others. A morbid fear of exposure to evil does injustice to the power of good and truth. It does injustice to a sense of the Lord's Divine protection. What of the words of the 23rd Psalm? "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me . . . ."The Writings clearly do speak of the contagious quality of evil. This is probably the most graphic passage on the subject:

[I]f one lives for a time with robbers and pirates, he finally becomes like them; or if one lives with adulterers and harlots, he soon thinks nothing of adultery; or if he mingles with outlaws, he soon thinks nothing of doing violence to anyone. For all evils are contagious, and may be compared to a pestilence, which is communicated merely by the breath or the effluvia of the body; also to cancer or gangrene, which spreads and infects first the nearer and then the remoter parts, until the whole body is destroyed. The delights of evil, into which every man is born, are the cause. From ah this it can be seen that without redemption by the Lord no man could be saved, nor could the angels be continued in a state of integrity (TCR 120:2, 3).

     How is it that evils are contagious? Mere exposure to something does not make a person do it. There is no physical influx from the natural world taking away our freedom to choose between good and evil. But exposure to evil does provide a basis, a foundation that evil spirits may use. This exposure is all the more dangerous when something perverted and spiritually deadly is presented as normal and healthy (e.g. open marriage). Evil spirits working from the basis of our hereditary inclinations seize upon memories that serve their goals. Yet we are always free to make essential spiritual choices.
     The New Church is especially blessed with the doctrinal clarity that can help its members recognize evil when they see it. Initially, remains provide the affectional motivation that can bring balancing ideas of what is true to a person's thoughts, thus helping to protect him from evil. Later, conquest in temptation will preserve him from the contagion of evil, just as embalming protected Jacob's body from decay (see AC 6503-6505). As one progresses on the road to heaven, he comes into greater and greater power to resist or even to be completely uninfluenced by evil.

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Eventually the only influence of evil is that of strengthening good by contrast. At the end of the gospel of Mark, the Lord promises that those who believe will be able to pick up serpents and drink poisons without any ill effects (Mark 16: 18; also Luke 10:19).
     Now, you can imagine someone saying, "This is all well and good, but am I strong enough to avoid the contagion of evil? Others don't seem to be, and what of my children or teenagers?" The Lord would certainly have us respect the dangers of exposure to evil. He told His disciples that they were to be wise as serpents (Matt. 10:16). But respect or vigilance is not a paranoid or neurotic fear. These fears make a person less effective at everything he tries. Picture a truly fearful driver in a car and his reactions on the roadway; he makes a terrible driver.
     Hereditary inclinations to evil in the human heart can be said to snap up evil ideas and experiences like a powerful magnet does iron. While no one would urge us to go stumbling through a mental junk yard, completely avoiding evil ideas and experiences is impossible. A solitary recluse will not escape. Rather than a person expending a lot of energy on keeping the external environment safe, it is much more effective to rid the human heart of the magnets that would snap up evil ideas.
     Everyone will be bitten by the serpent; problems arising from exposure to evil will come to everyone. The story of the brass serpent provides hope for the person whose spiritual life is endangered by evil. Moses was told to make the image of a serpent for the suffering Israelites to look upon and be healed (Num. 21). This serpent is an image of the Son of Man being lifted up (John 3:14-15). The Lord's Divine Sensual provides the powerful source of healing for those who have been poisoned by the serpent's bite. I understand this to mean that even in states of mental obscurity, a living image of the Lord Jesus Christ as God has great power to help when used in prayer and repentance (see AC 421 1:3, 4715). Without the redemption provided by the glorification, there could be no hope of escaping evil (see TCR 120:3).
     Prudence is expected of us when we consider how much energy we will expend in avoiding exposure to evil. Each person will make judgments for himself, and for those for whom he is responsible, such as parents for their children. Someone else might challenge his judgment as being either too fearful or too lackadaisical, but such questioning, if it is done aloud, can be done in a spirit of charity that does not impute evil motives. We can count on some of our young people to accuse us of being too fearful at times, and on some of our more mature members to suggest that we don't recognize the dangers in our chosen course of action. We can hope that each of us will make his own judgment and live his own life, not with a morbid fear of evil, but rather with a healthy respect for its power. Something of optimism can always prevail in our minds based on the Lord's universal presence and operation.

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Recall the final words in Matthew: "[L]o, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

     Fear or Lack of It Within the General Church

     Our hope is that the General Church will present, in its organizational decisions, explanations of doctrine, and the life of its members, an image of both prudence and trust in the Lord. Probably we all have heard suggestions that we are either too careful or not careful enough. For example, messages of fear or a lack of fear are conveyed to different people by our comments, policies, or decisions related to the following subjects:

- Distinctive New Church communities
- Admission of non-baptized students to our schools
- The marriage crisis in the church
- Rules for children and young people at home or at school
- The tone of voice used in different parts of sermons
- Those other people in our church (i.e. the "conservatives" if you are a "liberal," or vice versa)
- The immediate future of the New Church

     The Image of Rational Good

     The Writings provide a model that we can use as a basis for judging our part in conveying fear or a lack of it. The image of rational good presents a clear picture of power and safety, not to mention unbeatable effectiveness.

Rational good never fights, however it is assailed, because it is mild and gentle, patient and yielding; for its character is that of love and mercy. Yet although it does not fight, it conquers all, nor does it ever think about combat, or glory on account of victory; and this because it is Divine, and is safe of itself (AC 1950:2).

     The image of rational good is drawn in direct contrast to the familiar description of what we refer to as the Ishmael rational.

The man whose rational is of such a character that he is solely in truth-even though it be the truth of faith-and who is not at the same time in the good of charity, is altogether of [this] character. He is a morose man, will bear nothing, is against all, regards everyone as being in falsity, is ready to rebuke, to chastise, and to punish, has no pity, and does not apply or adapt himself to others and study to bend their minds; for he looks at everything from truth, and nothing from good (AC 1949).

     Organizations and groups of people can present either more of an image of rational truth or of rational good.

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The image of rational truth, with its battling and what could be called its paranoia about falsity (regards everyone as being in falsity), is never a desirable or necessary form for us to present.

     Rational good images the Lord's providence in each of our lives; He never compels anyone (see AC 1947). In trying to emulate this image, some people may fall into the false charity of ignoring or excusing significant problems. (E.g., rational good does not yield in the sense of condoning remarriage in cases of illegitimate divorce.) The unchangeable quality of Divine law seems rather unyielding and unmerciful in terms of the consequences it allows to befall man for certain disorderly acts. The Lord lets us experience the wilderness states of mind that we sometimes wander or even flee into. Without such experience, we would not choose to change the direction of our wanderings. Rational good doesn't supplant rational truth, but rather gives it a new life.
     Of course, merely knowing about rational good will not prevent anyone from acting like Ishmael and rational truth. The life of rational good is the product of regeneration. Its qualities and effectiveness do, however, provide us with powerful encouragement to rout out the fears and distrust that prevent us from acting from its life of good. The more we as individuals and as an organization can emulate the image of rational good, the more the Lord's presence will shine forth for all to see. This presence of the Lord in rational good, so different from the harsh life of rational truth, conquers all. Yet it conquers without the fear of battle. Rational good brings a complete sense of safety-safety like the words of the 23rd Psalm: "I will fear no evil, for You are with me.
     The above paper was delivered to the Council of the Clergy in March of this year.
SOME NEW CHURCH SUMMER CAMPS IN 1983 1983

SOME NEW CHURCH SUMMER CAMPS IN 1983              1983

June 21-30 Maple Leaf Academy in Canada (see Jan. issue p. 26)
June 26-July 2 Academy Summer Camp in Bryn Athyn
July 4-8 Arizona Mountain Camp, sponsored by the Tucson Society
July 23-30 Family Laurel Camp, sponsored by the Pittsburgh Society
July 31-Aug. 10 Adult Laurel Camp sponsored by the Pittsburgh Society
Aug. 21-28 Deer Park Family Camp sponsored by the Bryn Athyn Society

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CONCERNING WISDOM AND MARRIAGE 1983

CONCERNING WISDOM AND MARRIAGE       REY W. COOPER       1983

     Several months ago in these pages Mr. and Mrs. Paul Schoenberger asked us to suggest ways to strengthen marriages. This particular response to their invitation arose, a short time later, from a chance encounter with the following from CL 200: "I have heard from angels that the wife becomes more and more a wife as the husband becomes more and more a husband, but not contrariwise; because it rarely if ever happens that a chaste wife is wanting in love to her husband, but that a husband is wanting in a return of love to his wife; and that this return of love is wanting on account of his having no elevation of wisdom, which alone receives the love of the wife" (emphasis added).
     An imperative in considering this subject is to see clearly what real wisdom is. In CL 130 we learn how wisdom fell from its mountain peak to its valley from the time of the most ancients, who recognized no other wisdom than the wisdom of life, through the ancients, who thought that reason was wisdom, to men of Swedenborg's time and down to the present, who consider mere science to be wisdom. Later in the same number we find this key question and its answer: "What is wisdom of life? In a comprehensive summary it is this: To shun evils because they are hurtful to the soul, hurtful to the commonwealth, and hurtful to the body; and to do goods because they are beneficial to the soul, the commonwealth and the body. This is the wisdom that is meant by the wisdom with which conjugial love binds itself; for it binds itself by shunning the evil of adultery as the pest of the soul, the commonwealth and the body."
     But of course we cannot become wise in an instant. It can only come as the end product of a gradual and lengthy process starting with the learning of knowledges from the Word.
     In AC 9943 we find this: ". . . intelligence is to know and understand Divine truths, and afterwards to have faith in them; and wisdom is to will and love them, and from this to live according to them."
     By elevation of wisdom, I take it, is meant what results from a continuing effort to learn Divine truths and to live by them.
     Now, from the first quotation above (CL 200), a cause of marital malaise is the husband's lack of the elevation of his wisdom. Additionally, many observations strongly suggest that this is indeed a key factor in a lot of less-than-happy marriages. And does not even experience confirm a strong relationship between the acquisition of wisdom and happiness in marriage?

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     To help decide whether or not we really want to get involved in trying to become wise, we might consider the following: Do we want a happy marriage? Would we like to achieve a state which does not receive love of the sex, but only love of one of the sex? Do we want to possess some characteristic which our wives can love? Are we interested in being happy to eternity? Is one of our goals to become rational? Can we read in the Writings a description of internal peace and not earnestly desire to find it?
     Very many passages show that all these things depend absolutely upon wisdom. Following is just one brief reference to each point:
     Is there a greater threat to marriage than the love of adultery? "No one can reject the horrible delights of adultery but he who is wise from the Lord . . ." (CL 115). "Love truly conjugial exists solely with those who earnestly desire wisdom, and who therefore advance more and more into it" (CL 98). "The form of wisdom with man and angel does not receive love of the sex, but that of one of the sex" (CL 95). "Only the man's wisdom can receive the love of the wife" (CL 200). AC 5651 indicates that to be blessed with happiness to eternity goes along with being perfected in intelligence and wisdom. "The rational is opened solely through wisdom" (CL 102). And finally, "Internal peace is not possible except in wisdom" (HH 288).
     One may suppose that teachings about love truly conjugial are considering something so far in the future that they somehow do not apply to our present marriage. Is it not clearly taught, however, that there is no real marriage unless its eternity is kept always in mind? Thus all teachings surely apply from the first day. There would be little argument, in fact, that applicable teachings should be learned and studied well before the time of the wedding.
     In any case, it is possible to read the passages showing wisdom to be the sine qua non of so much of spiritual life without concluding that it must be sought after and enhanced by every male? Assuming a decision to proceed with the quest, consider some of the states that prevent the acquisition of wisdom, so that they may be assiduously avoided.
     One tendency to which all mortals are prone is an undue interest in material things. "Therefore, those who do not want to understand anything beyond what is of the world . . . cannot be elevated from knowledges into intelligence, and still less into wisdom" (DP 75). Surely there can scarcely be a clearer invitation to a regular and careful study of the Word.
     Similarly, in CL 95, "When man turns his face to the Lord, love and wisdom are given him. These enter man through the face, and not by the back of the neck." Therefore, if he does not turn to the Lord, he cannot become wise.

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     From CL 88 we learn, "Wisdom cannot come into existence with man except through the love of being wise." Apparently, every man (vir) is born with a love of knowing, understanding, and becoming wise. He must, by his own efforts, keep those loves alive or they will atrophy.
     In CL 137 we find that ". . . no one is wise from the Lord unless he does uses from the love of uses." The angels said to Swedenborg, ". . . so far as we perform uses from the love of them, the love increases, and with the love, the wisdom whereby the communication [of blessedness] is effected" (CL 266).
     In the Spiritual Diary there are some more helpful passages. "Wisdom from the Lord inflows solely with those who are humble" (SD 4662). This is closely related to what is taught in AC 10225, ". . . a man can be wise in proportion as he believes that he is wise in nothing from himself; but that whatever he is wise in is from the Lord."
     Or again in the Diary, we learn that chastity is one more prerequisite to wisdom (no. 6051).
     But now, having before us a few of the essentials whose acquisition is not possible apart from wisdom, and also several conditions to avoid because they would place wisdom out of reach, let us look at some of the means by which it may be achieved.
     " . . . the good of wisdom is acquired through the combats of temptation." This is actually stated only incidentally in AC 9930, but I believe it is an accurate summation of many other teachings. In DLW 422, "Man is not elevated through wisdom alone, but by a life according to it . . . . in proportion as he lives according to wisdom, he loves it; and he lives according to wisdom as he purifies himself from the unclean things which are sins."
     Another view of the path to wisdom can be drawn from this: "Genuine wisdom consists in a man's seeing from the light of heaven that the things he knows, understands and is wise in, in comparison with those he does net know, understand and be wise in, are as little as is a drop in comparison with the ocean" (AR 875).
     An especially enlightening description of how one becomes wise is given in AC 1555. "Few, if any, know how man is led to true wisdom." The rest of the number, in describing the process, shows how the Lord forms man's will with celestial things, from infancy to childhood, and endows him with understanding by means of sciences and cognitions from childhood on. When the intellectual part has been instructed, especially with cognitions of good and truth, man can for the first time be regenerated. During this process truths and goods are implanted by the Lord by means of cognitions in man's celestial things. Thus man is gifted with charity and begins to act from it as a matter of conscience. This is his new life. The light of this life is called wisdom.

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     If, when reading the Word, man would think from some knowledge of the internal sense, he would come into interior wisdom. (See HH 310.) We can start to understand the importance of this knowledge of the internal sense from the Spiritual Diary passages 5187 and 5189 where we learn that all the wisdom of the angels is given them, mediately, through angels from the Most Ancient and Ancient Churches who, when in the world, knew the internal arcana of the church and correspondences.
     We may recall that a man acquires wisdom only from a love of it, and "A man has the love of wisdom in proportion as he is averse to the concupiscences of evil and falsity" (DP 35). In other words, the way to wisdom is by shunning evils as sins against the Lord.
     In conclusion then, if we were to consider all the above teachings, and condense from them some general statements for the men of the church, I believe we could legitimately say the following:
     1) The pursuit of wisdom and its continuous enrichment on the part of every husband is essential to every marriage.
     2) Every young man approaching marriage should know, understand and accept the premise that if he is not willing to commit himself to a continuing study of the Word, and to regeneration by that means, he does not have the right to ask a girl to marry him.
CANADIAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 1983

CANADIAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY              1983

     (See January issue, p. 32.)

     The theme of this assembly in Toronto this June is "Growth and Renewal." The first session will be on Friday evening, the 17th. Rev. G. S. Childs will speak on the subject of the Lord as our Father. On Saturday morning Bishop King will give the episcopal address. On Saturday afternoon Rev. Eric Carswell will relate the assembly theme to elementary school education, and later in the afternoon Mr. Martin Klein will speak of the Glenview missionary effort.
     On Saturday evening Mr. Basil Orchard will be M. C. at the assembly banquet.
     On Sunday morning, June 19th, a New Church service for children will be held at the Olivet Church at 10:00 a.m. followed by a service for adults at 11:00 a.m. At 2:00 p.m. a New Church Day pageant will be presented by the students of the Olivet and Carmel Church schools.

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REPORT OF THE GENERAL CHURCH EVANGELIZATION COMMITTEE 1983

REPORT OF THE GENERAL CHURCH EVANGELIZATION COMMITTEE       Rev. Douglas Taylor       1983

     In some respects the period covered by this report-the year 1982-was characterized by some changes. Our name, for instance: it is now the Evangelization Committee. We have dropped the name "Extension."
     The new name is more agreeable to our philosophy. "Evangelization is annunciation about the Lord, His Coming, and the things that are from Him which belong to salvation and eternal life" (AC 9925:2). The emphasis is on announcing, promulgating, advertising. The term "extension" suggests extending the borders of the church, as if a membership drive were our chief aim. Of course, we hope that an increase in membership will be the result of our efforts, but we must aim primarily at spreading the Lord's kingdom. There has, however, been no change in the personnel comprising the committee. Nor has there been any change in our chief activities-reported at length last year (NCL 1982, p. 354-356).
     This year we had our first meetings of the Board Committee on Evangelization-a subcommittee of the Board of Directors acting as a liaison between our committee and the board. The members-all noted for their active interest in evangelization-are: Mr. Neil Buss, Chairman, Mr. Brian Blair, Mr. Theodore Brickman, Jr., Mr. Henry B. Bruser, Jr., Mr. Edward Cranch, Mr. Christopher Lynch, Mr. Garth Pitcairn, and Mr. Maurice G. Schnarr. Mr. Neil Buss, who was the original chairman, resigned the position on becoming the General Church treasurer, his place being taken by Mr. Garth Pitcairn.
     Several joint meetings of the two committees have taken place. The first major decision resulted in a fund-raising drive to increase the Evangelization Endowment Fund administered by the Board Committee. Income from this fund could augment the operating income of our committee. For this fiscal year our budget was $55,877, of which $41,777 was for salaries, leaving $14,100 for operating expenses.
     The fund-raising drive took the form of a special edition of our bi-monthly newsletter, the Missionary Memo, reporting on some of our successes so far. In October this was sent to all members of the General Church. We were highly gratified by the increased number of contributors, which indicates a growing support of evangelization throughout the church.
     There was a change in the sermon mailing program. It is now centralized in Bryn Athyn, where our committee is now responsible for sending out a monthly sermon to some 600 inquirers throughout the United States.

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Before this there were separate programs in Glenview and in New England. However, the sermon mailing program in Toronto remains unchanged, because bulk mailing privileges apply only in this country.
     While stationed in Glenview, Rev. J. Clark Echols published a quarterly newsletter entitled Discoverer, which was sent to those on the Glenview mailing list. With his transfer to Denver, Colorado, this publication is now being edited by Mr. Leon Rhodes of Bryn Athyn, and distributed by the Evangelization Committee here.
     Another innovation was the first annual report to the Council of the Clergy for many years. Prior to 1974, when this committee was transferred from the Council to the General Church, there had always been such a report. Its resumption, to judge by the comments of council members, was greatly welcomed.
     We have also had change of office secretary. For many years Mrs. Leslie Weaver (Terry) has done outstanding work in this capacity. Her cheerfulness and efficiency were much appreciated, as much by the former director, the late Rev. B. David Holm, as by the present one. With her move to San Diego, we were fortunate indeed to secure the services of Mrs. Donald Fitzpatrick (Anne) as her replacement.
     The literature subcommittee produced a series of graded pamphlets on the spiritual sense of the Word. A Reading Guide describing these attractively produced pamphlets, together with a sample of the introductory one, was mailed to every member of the church. An accompanying letter explained that this material was designed to help members of the church when a friend shows interest in this particular subject. The response of members indicates that there is a real need for this kind of material. Accordingly, we will be publishing another series on the life after death early in 1983, to be followed by some on aspects of the Divine Providence.
     At the close of the year we were embarking on our most ambitious project so far, retaining a professional market researcher to give us guidance on ways and means of identifying people whom the Lord has prepared to receive the Heavenly Doctrine. We have long hoped to do such research, but now, through the instrumentality of the Board Committee, funds are being made available from private sources to do this much needed research.
     Meantime a questionnaire sent out from our office to all pastors has yielded abundant evidence that the actual work of evangelization throughout the church is increasing at a very pleasing rate. Compared with what was being done three years ago, the current activities show definite progress in several areas.

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More societies now have active evangelization groups (such as Epsilon Societies); hand out brochures to their visitors; use free publicity to tell about the New Church; advertise the Writings in newspapers and radio announcements; list their phone number under Swedenborg Information in local telephone books; give public lectures or talks to local organizations; hold regular visitors' services; do neighborhood research to find seekers; hold inquirers' classes; or offer a training course for members on answering questions about the church.
     The grateful comments of new readers of the Writings assure us that we are engaged in a work having a series of consequences to eternity.
     Rev. Douglas Taylor,
          Chairman
GENERAL CHURCH TRANSLATION COMMITTEE 1983

GENERAL CHURCH TRANSLATION COMMITTEE       Rev. N. Bruce Rogers       1983

     Annual Report, 1982

     In the past year we continued to make progress in our several projects. Miraculously the Lord has provided the workers to labor in His vineyard. It was not so many years ago that some of us wondered where we would find men and women with the talent and interest to carry on this work. Somehow they appeared. Our principal problem now is to find the funding to support them in their efforts. Growing costs and inflation are taking their toll here as well as in other General Church activities. Already we have had to temporarily abandon one project, the completion of a compilation of scriptural passages as they are quoted in the Writings, and this despite a necessary reduction in time committed to another project, a new Latin edition of De Ultimo Judicio (post). In the coming year we will have to find still additional savings. It is our hope that we will be able to do so without serious further curtailment of our activities.
     Experientiae Spirituales (formerly Diarium Spirituale). Preparation of a new Latin edition of this work, complete with critical apparatus and appendices, continued to be our principal project. We have been fortunate to retain Dr. J. Durban Odhner in his post as editor. Assisting Dr. Odhner were Mr. Jonathan S. Rose, Miss Chara Cooper, Miss Freya Heinrichs, and Lisa Hyatt Cooper (Mrs. Kent Cooper). Mr. Rose provided substantial technical assistance in preparing the first volume for publication, including phototypesetting footnotes, printing, proofreading and correcting galleys, dividing these into pages, and arranging the footnotes properly. Miss Cooper and Miss Heinrichs acted as consultants, and also assisted in preparing the first volume for publication, including proofreading, dividing galleys into pages, and other pre-publication work.

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After completing a year's further course work in Latin at Dickinson College, Miss Lisa Hyatt-now Mrs. Kent Cooper-became available to us once more in May. Mrs. Cooper has served as Dr. Odhner's principal consultant, and this past year produced a typescript of Swedenborg's index to Experientiae Spirituales, edited according to policies set for this new Latin edition. As editor, Dr. Odhner has been closely involved throughout in every phase of the work, which has been carried on under his direction and supervision.
     As a result of these efforts, the first of the projected six volumes is now almost ready for the press. To quote Dr. Odhner:
     "The first volume (over 600 pages), introduced by a forty-page English preface that will be interesting and exciting to all readers of the Writings, contains 403 paragraphs from Explicatio in Verbum Veteris Testamenti (The Word Explained) that were intended by the author to be included in Experientiae; a reconstruction of the 'missing' numbers (1-148 1/3) from Swedenborg's index; several items from the Index Biblicus; and the paragraphs numbered 149-972. This volume has been in the process of being typeset since summer, and the final camera-ready paste-ups are almost completed.
     "The second volume is in its final stages of editing, and in fact the first portion of it (nos. 973-1375) is now in the hands of the typesetter. This will contain paragraphs 973-3427. It is hoped that this volume may bear the date 1983, though that will depend on a number of unpredictable factors.
     "The third volume is now in the initial stages of editing.
     "A good beginning, following extensive research, has been made on the fifth volume, which will contain about a half of the author's index (the sixth volume to include the other half, plus an appendix)."
     The Word of the Lord. Last year we reported the completion of a new Latin edition of De Scriptura Sacra seu Verbo Domini, with a preface and full critical apparatus, edited by Rev. N. Bruce Rogers. This year we report his completion of a new English translation, titled The Word of the Lord, with preface, notes and indices. All that remains is a final revision of the text following the response of consultants and readers.
     Despite the fact that most of the Latin and some of the English has already been typeset, again with the technical assistance of Mr. Jonathan Rose, by now it seems pretty clear that the sensible approach to publication of these two versions, the Latin edition and the English translation, is to hold them up until they can be published with companion pieces to form fuller volumes. Companion pieces would include at least the new Latin edition and English translation of De Ultimo Judicio, post. (The Last Judgment, posthumous), now in preparation.

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In the meantime, portions of The Word of the Lord will begin appearing in NEW CHURCH LIFE, according to present plan.
     De Ultimo Judicio (post mortem auctoris editum). As reported before, several people have contributed to preparation of a new Latin edition of this work. Mr. Prescott a. Rogers then took over as editor, with Mr. B. Erikson Odhner as his consultant. Due to the pressure of Mr. Rogers' other commitments, however, it became necessary later to reverse the assignments, so that the final editing has been done by Mr. Odhner, with Mr. Rogers acting as his consultant. Some difficult questions still remain to be settled, but otherwise the Latin edition is near completion.
     Selected Memorable Relations. Lisa Hyatt Cooper has prepared completely new, simplified translations of nineteen of these memorable experiences, selected from The Apocalypse Revealed, Conjugial Love, and True Christian Religion, with Mr. Jonathan Rose as her primary consultant. These translations are aimed at an approximately sixth grade reading level, for use with older children. In the history of the church we have heard repeated calls for use of the Memorabilia in the instruction of the young, but available translations have not really been suitable to the purpose. Mrs. Cooper's translations represent a major step toward meeting the need. Eventually these translations will be submitted for publication in book form. Meanwhile they are appearing serially in New Church Home.
     The Old and New Testaments in Latin according to the Writings. For a description of this project, see our reports for 1979, 1980, and 1981. Unfortunately, for financial reasons, we had to abandon the project this past year, and we will be unable to continue with it in the coming year. We hope it will turn out to be only a temporary abandonment, because the end result would be of signal value to translators of the Old and New Testaments, and to all scholars engaged in close study of the Word. Natural exigencies, however, and our other commitments compel the present course.
     Parallel Passages in the Writings. The first installment of this work, edited by Miss Marcia Smith, containing a listing of parallel passages in the Writings to numbers in the Spiritual Diary, Last Judgment, Continuation of the Last Judgment, and Last Judgment (posthumous), was published this past spring by the Academy of the New Church. The project has since been continued. Assisting in it, primarily during the summer months, were Cathy Schnarr (Mrs. Grant Schnarr), Mr. Edward Gyllenhaal, and Misses Mary Jane Cole, Anne Goerwitz, Charlotte Odhner, Elizabeth Rose, and Maret Taylor.

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Fundamental research has been completed for almost all the inter-chapter material in Arcana Coelestia. Most of the expositional passages were only skimmed after it was found that they led to few truly parallel passages. In addition, primary work has been completed for The Apocalypse Revealed through no. 378. Rev. Norman Ryder of the General Conference in England has provided a list of parallel passages to numbers in Heaven and Hell, and we expect to be able to subsume this work into our project as well. Thanks to the support of a special contributor, we are pleased to report the advance made on this project.
     "Translator's Corner." Dr. J. Durban Odhner continued as editor of this feature appearing in The New Philosophy. Potential contributors are encouraged to submit articles to Dr. Odhner for publication. Though acting on behalf of the General Church Translation Committee, Dr. Odhner welcomes suitable items from any source throughout the New Church. Our intention is that the "Translator's Corner" may serve as an international forum for the exchange and permanent record of the discoveries and insights of the linguists of the church. We are heartened in our aim by articles that have already appeared.
     Swedenborg Lexicon. Mr. Jonathan Rose continued to be employed on a part-time basis throughout the year to assist Dr. John Chadwick of England with his work in producing his Lexicon to the Latin Text of the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, sponsored and published by the Swedenborg Society. Mr. Rose's assistance is given to verifying quotations and references and adding such other comments as may seem appropriate. Part V of the Lexicon (L-OVUM) was published this past year, and Part VI (P, and probably Q) is almost ready for printing. We look forward to the completion of this important work, and we are pleased to be able to support its progress.
     Other activities. Several of the members of this committee have also been engaged in a number of related linguistic activities not directly supported by the committee and too numerous to mention. We are gratified, however, to see developing a core of professionals whose services are becoming of increasing use to the church. If only we were able to do more! The needs continue to exceed our ability to meet them all. Inevitably we experience at times a sense of frustration at our limitations, and doubtless others do too. Nevertheless, our morale is high. Our goals are clear, we are not wanting in men and women with the ability and interest to pursue those goals, and we are finding real satisfaction in what we have been able to accomplish, particularly in those efforts which have already resulted in publication, which are in process of publication, and which may be expected to be ready for publication in the near future.
     Rev. N. Bruce Rogers,
          Chairman

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REPORT OF THE GENERAL CHURCH PUBLICATION COMMITTEE 1983

REPORT OF THE GENERAL CHURCH PUBLICATION COMMITTEE       Lorentz R. Soneson       1983

     During the year of 1982 the General Church Publication Committee met monthly to review manuscripts submitted for publication. Because of the budget crunch, funds were limited for publishing in 1982. However, a General Church pamphlet entitled Confession of Faith or Confirmation of Baptism, by Rev. B. David Holm, was seen through the press and (2,000 copies-60 cents each) are now available through the General Church Book Center. This is an informative pamphlet and a must for the college age person.
     Private funds have also been received to reproduce the long out-of-print Life of the Loud by Bishop de Charms. This classic will be replenished on our shelves (500 copies) during the first part of 1983. It is hoped that funds can be found to republish Bishop de Charms' The Tabernacle, which unfortunately is also out of print.
     Another manuscript entitled Escape from Egypt, by Rev. Douglas M. Taylor, has been approved for reproduction by the Publication Committee. This booklet, originally a series of doctrinal classes, should appeal to our young people within the church, whose states are accurately described by Mr. Taylor.
     Another pamphlet being considered is Selected Passages on the Doctrine of Faith rendered by David Gladish. There is a need in the church for renditions of such pamphlets in readable English that can be used for distribution to interested inquirers.
     The committee also approved for distribution a series of six classes entitled Repentance, by Bishop N. D. Pendleton, now available at the General Church Book Center at Cairncrest.
     Finally, the plan for redistributing collateral books through the General Church Book Center has been useful. If you have such works as the Invisible Police, Unity in the Universe, etc., the Book Center would be glad to receive your contributions, and promises to make them available to those who do not possess them.
     Lorentz R. Soneson,
          Chairman

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Editorial Pages 1983

Editorial Pages       Editor       1983

     REBEKAH'S NOSE JEWEL

     When Rebekah was to become Isaac's wife (Genesis 24) she was given two bracelets for her hands and one jewel (verse 22). It was not an earring, for it is said that it was put on her face or on her "nose." The familiar' translation "earring" is not ideal.
     The correct translation in the New King James Version (called in England the Revised Authorized Version) is particularly welcome, for the internal sense rests upon the sense of the letter. The Writings say, "The jewel of gold was put upon the nose, as is evident also from what is said afterwards, that he 'put the jewel upon her nose' (verse 47)" (AC 3103).
     It seems that the jewel was "fastened above the nose to the forehead" and was called a "nose-jewel" (AC 4551). The mention of the nose in the sense of the letter makes us aware of the subject of fragrance in the teaching about conjugial love.
     Angels once declared "that the sphere of love going forth from a wife who is tenderly loved is perceived in heaven as a sweet fragrance" (CL 171). When an innocent angelic couple approached Swedenborg, "there breathed through them out of heaven a spring-like warmth, with a sweet-smelling odor as of the earliest blossomings in gardens and fields" (CL 137).
     In the spiritual world a delight can be presented visually as a beautiful or ugly sight, or it can be presented to the sense of smell (CL 430). In heaven it is so simple. The distinction between the delight of conjugial love and the delight of its opposite is as easy to detect as a fine fragrance is from a foul stench.
     In the world it is not always so easy. We live in a sphere intermediate between heaven and hell. The delight of conjugial love is an exquisite and delicate one. We can be hugely mistaken. "A sweet odor is not perceived by the nostrils while a foul stench clings to them" (CL 439).

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In our reading of the Word, notably the story of Rebekah which is about conjugial love, we deliberately attune ourselves to the precious jewel of human life. We choose and ask of the Lord a lovely partnership with one, and we "reject wandering lusts as an offence to the nostrils."

     [Drawing of woman's face with a jewel hanging in the middle of her forehead.]
GENERAL ASSEMBLY NEXT YEAR 1983

GENERAL ASSEMBLY NEXT YEAR       LOUIS B. KING       1983

     The twenty-ninth General Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, from Thursday, June 7, to Sunday, June 10, 1984.
     The program and other information will be given in later issues of NEW CHURCH LIFE.
     LOUIS B. KING,
          Bishop

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ORDER AND ORGANIZATION OF THE GENERAL CHURCH 1983

ORDER AND ORGANIZATION OF THE GENERAL CHURCH       Louis B. King       1983

     The General Church of the New Jerusalem has never had a written constitution, but it has had a statement of governmental principles and practices as interpreted by the Bishop in consultation with his Consistory.
     This magazine first printed such a statement in 1914 (p. 496). As was intended, the statement was revised from time to time as the uses of the church developed. The first revision was made in 1925, and the last one was in 1970. Yet another revision has now been published. The foreword reads as follows:

     Since the last emendation of the statement of order and Organization of the General Church, prepared by Bishop W. D. Pendleton and published in June, 1970, a remarkable number of changes have taken place in the General Church. Accordingly, a revision of this statement is needed.
     In the Academy of the New Church the office of chancellor has been reinstituted, and a full-time priest-president elected as chief executive officer of the institution.
     The Bryn Athyn Church participates now, as do other societies, in the selection of its own pastor, the Bishop no longer serving as pastor Ex Officio in the society of his residence.
     In the General Church the Bishop's title of "General Pastor of the General Church" has been given new emphasis.
     Evangelism has been recognized by the General Assembly, as one of the essential uses of the General Church, a director and committee for its implementation having been appointed by the Bishop.
     Resulting from these and other changes, this fifth revision of the original statement by Bishop W. F. Pendleton contains several deletions and a good number of additions, while the substance of the original statement, with its strong principles, carries over.
     Louis B. King,
          Bishop of the General Church

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CONSIDERATION FOR READERS OUTSIDE THE U.S. 1983

CONSIDERATION FOR READERS OUTSIDE THE U.S.              1983

     NEW CHURCH LIFE is an international publication which aspires to serve the whole of the General Church. It sometimes seems a little too American, often having a patriotic item in the month of July and a "Thanksgiving" item in November.
     A Scandinavian reader, after consulting with some readers in England, has made a suggestion. Could we print our Christmas material in the November issue? The unfortunate fact is that readers outside the United States often receive the December issue after Christmas. Would readers please join in an affirmative consideration of this suggestion? We are inclined to try it this year and will very much welcome advice and comments.
     Incidentally, one of our readers on the European continent was moving and decided that he could not take with him the issues of NEW CHURCH LIFE he had collected over a period of ten years. He did not want to throw them out and so gave them to a neighbor whom he knew to be a long-time student of the Bible. That neighbor has written to us to say that he found those back numbers "so good" that he resolved to buy a full set of the Writings and that he now reads from them every day. He says that the Writings fill his life with joy and expectancy. His letter has given us joy.
Comment on the New King James Version 1983

Comment on the New King James Version              1983

     In England the title for this new version is the Revised Authorized Version. In the March issue of Lifeline Rev. Ottar Larsen gives some examples of variation from the King James (or Authorized) Version. Among improvements he mentions "Holy Spirit" in place of "Holy Ghost," "end of the age" instead of "end of the world," and in Psalm 59: 10, the phrase "meet me" in place of the misleading "prevent me."

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TWO TOUCHSTONES 1983

TWO TOUCHSTONES       STEVE GLADISH       1983




     Communications
Dear Readers,

     Spring brings thoughts of graduations and growth and future destinations. We have two ultimate destinations. Start with the bad news first.
     Hell, it has been said, is a place where we pay for our past sins. Hell is the result of poor planning! It is the result of no self-discipline and no direction. Irresponsibility and impulsiveness and passivity are found in hell. Stupidity and irrationality live in hell, along with the lack of will to train our minds and use them as they were created to be used.
     The same things that lead to hell lead also to unemployment and underemployment. Isn't it coincidental that we can then experience hell right here? If we are not being useful, or not working at full capacity in our chosen occupation, we can taste the unhappiness of hell.
     A great writer once said, "Hell is the inability to love and to be loved. Hell is also the inability to be useful and to be fully utilized.
     How important it is then for us as parents and teachers to rightly guide our children, nieces, nephews, cousins, grandchildren, and youthful friends. The proper orientation to work is so crucial! Personal fulfillment and happiness cannot come without it. Spiritual values cannot exist without moral virtues to flow into.
     The second touchstone for a life of genuine value and contribution to society is a working, living personal relationship with God. How empty life is without this! We were created as hollow vessels so that God could flow into us. Without Him, we fill up our emptiness with ourselves: and what an unhappy load that is to carry.
     From childhood, our concept of God and our relationship with God is directly related to our relationship with our earthly father. This is a solemn responsibility. Are we then an obstacle in the path of life leading to God? Or is our stewardship an easy boost up to a living, working, dialogic relationship with our Father God? What if we are cold and distant to our children? How hard will it be to convince them that God is ever loving and ever close? And what if we are critical and harsh? What if our love is eminently conditional? Or what if we want to keep our children to ourselves, and do not help them transfer their allegiance from their earthly father to our Heavenly Father during their confirmation rite? We are then obstacles in their path to God.
     But if we instill the moral virtues, along with courage, confidence, and optimism (God did not make us to fail, but to succeed, and in succeeding, to heal and bless many others); if we challenge our children to give and to do their best, and to be, above all, productive, then we will lead them to a reasonable measure of earthly happiness.

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This combined with their close association with God will give them the final boost toward the path of life leading to heaven.

     Guiding children toward use and toward God-where can we be assisted in this? Where else but the Academy? I was fortunate enough to get a third chance at learning the essentials of life, through employment in a company with New Christian principles. But we need to do it right the first time for our children-all our New Church children. When I graduated from the Academy Boys School back in the fifties, the college was nothing like the priceless pearl it is now, and in addition, nobody encouraged or challenged or even asked me to try it. What did I know as a kid? I jumped off the boat just when the sailing got good. I missed out on going to two years of college with those I had grown up with in high school. I sentenced myself to years of loneliness and lack of fulfillment, learning things the hard way, depriving myself of growth in religious activities and further development of a New Christian lifestyle. I came back to the Academy College five years later in 1963: new college dorms, same shared campus with the high school, one basic freshman religion course. Think how far it has come since then!
     Although the experience would have been more complete had I gone through it with my high school classmates, the two years I spent at the Academy College would have been worth the price if I had paid $10,000 per year. And for values clarification, and social Newchurchmanship, the years I spent in the Boys School were also valuable-actually, their worth cannot be measured. Granted, a little more unconditional love and a little more practical application could go a long way in Bryn Athyn, but where else can our children get such a New Church education? After interviewing thousands of people, again and again I see the importance of character and upbringing and "youth-raising." Our responsibilities as parents are awesome.
     So when it comes time in the spring to help our youth-all our youth-plan that next year, don't leave them to their own devices. They may wander off and do something dumb or self-defeating. They may miss the boat. And not everybody gets a second chance. Teach them the proper orientation to work and to God. And send them to the Academy; if not high school, by all means college. How well I remember the sign in Richard R. Gladish's office that said something like, "Too soon we grow old, and too late smart."
     STEVE GLADISH,
          Cincinnati, Ohio

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IS THIS THE WAY TO TEACH? 1983

IS THIS THE WAY TO TEACH?       Jr. ALEXANDER H. LINDSAY       1983

To the Editor:

     A teaching of the Writings is followed by these words: Those who in simplicity believe this to be so do not need to know how it was effected, for knowing how it was effected is simply for the end that they may believe it to be so. But at the present day there are many who believe nothing unless they know from reason that it is so, as may be clearly seen from the fact that Sew believe in the Lord, although they confess Him with the lips because this is according to the doctrine of faith. Yet still they say to themselves and to one another that if they knew it could be so they would believe . . . . Those who believe the Word in simplicity have no need to know all these things, for they are already in the end to which the others just described cannot come except by a knowledge (cognitio) of such things (AC 2094).
     I believe that the basic doctrines of the New Church, from what my limited understanding permits me to know of them, are the most gentle and exquisitely simple doctrines of any religion of the world. Nevertheless, when I read the pages of NEW CHURCH LIFE, when I listen to many of the sermons preached by our clergy, and even when I read articles and letters written by lay people in the church, I am struck by how our doctrines are shackled by the manner in which they are presented.
     It is as if the leadership of our church believes that everyone that they speak to is one who believes nothing unless he knows from reason that it is so. It is as if we have been beset by jewelers who believe that people should not be able to read the face of a clock without knowing, in intricate detail, how the clock works. Unfortunately, there are many of us who are unable to grasp the tedious and complex logic which makes up so much of what is written and spoken in the church.
     The inclination to express these simple doctrines in such a complex manner is aggravated by the use of the peculiar language of the church. There seems to be an unusual reliance on "words of art" or "buzz words." What I'm referring to is the language which only people who have done substantial reading of the Writings understand, and, I suggest, need to understand. This peculiar language, rather than enhancing the universality of the doctrines of the church, limits the understanding of our doctrines to a very few of the intellectual elite.

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     If we would be charitable ought we not to think carefully about this continued insistence upon the use of this language in this manner of presenting the doctrines? It inhibits those persons not acquainted with the doctrines of the church from hearing what Johnny Appleseed called "the good news from heaven." Rather than to encourage and reassure those who don't understand what is being talked about, our church seems to have a great capacity to destroy those who may be in simple faith.
     As a young person in the church, I never understood half of what was being talked about. Because I did not understand half of what was being talked about, I believed that I must be bad. I entered the Academy of the New Church with an affirmative spirit toward what knew, the literal sense of the Word. I left the Academy embittered toward our religion in particular and all religion in general. My bitterness was rooted in one fact: my simple mind could not understand what these people were talking about. I think there are others who have shared my experience.
     This manner of expressing our religion gives some the appearance of selfishness. If we cannot correct this, can our church grow? Indeed should it grow?
     ALEXANDER H. LINDSAY, JR.,
          Sarver, Pennsylvania
PARENTAL LOVE 1983

PARENTAL LOVE       PATRICIA K. ROSE       1983

Dear Editor:

     Rev. Mark Carlson's response (Feb. issue, p. 69) to my letter concerning remains leads to interesting considerations
     Concerning loves being injured: When we fear that our affections will be exposed to hurt (real or imagined) by other people, we withdraw them. When we are with those who offer no threat, we extend our affections and love to them, but with "enemies" we put up barriers. But when the Lord withdraws affections and stores them deeply within us it is to protect them from our own evils, not the evils of others.
     Concerning interfering with the functioning of good loves (remains): This was given as a possible cause for mental illness. But since the Lord removes everyone's good loves and banishes them to the status of remains and we continue to function normally without them, that certainly seems to indicate that their non-functioning does not cause mental illness.

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     Regarding the withholding of parental love: Consider TCR 44, which speaks of the Lord's love pervading the universe and being the source of parents' tender love for their children. This sphere "affects not only the good but also the evil . . . ." Elsewhere we are taught that parental love exists "equally with the bad and the good, and is sometimes stronger with the bad" (TCR 441).
     A passage which distinguishes two kinds of parents speaks of some who kiss and embrace their children "beyond all measure" and yet their love of their progeny "is also a love of themselves" (CL 405). The passage points out that the love of infants with spiritual parents is more internal and tender, that they love their children according to their moral and spiritual qualities, and "if they do not see such virtues in them, they alienate the mind from them, and do nothing for them except from duty."
     Evidently both good and bad parents provide physical affection. The distinction between spiritual and natural parents emerges as the children grow. Natural parents "shut their eyes to the faults of their children." Spiritual parents react against self-will and disobedience, and this is real love, as noted in CL 405. A natural parent might also react against disobedience, but his motive would be from his own will being thwarted rather than a desire to help the child. It's interesting that when a child comes into evil, not only do spiritual parents begin to withdraw their love from him but that is also the time when the Lord withdraws His good loves from the child and stores them up as remains (see AC 5342:2).
     Concerning the blocking of loves: Charity is one of the good loves insinuated into children. If a child blames himself rather than his parents for what he sees as their failure (see NCL Sept. 1982, p. 411), the good love toward his parents certainly has not been blocked but is functioning admirably, I would say. There is the possibility that he is blaming himself because he sees that his disobedience or self-will is justifiably causing the withholding of love by the parents. And if the child does blame his parents, whether justified or not, does his charity still function in regard to other people? If so, it has not been blocked.
     Since storge causes both good and evil parents to love their children, under what circumstances, then, do some parents neglect or mistreat their children?
     There has recently come to light a surprising cause for the neglect and violence done to children. Nutritionists are finding that because people turned from God-given fresh vegetables, fruits and whole grains to man-made, sugar-laden foods, which the body has difficulty metabolizing, many people experience sudden drops in blood sugar (glucose).

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Since the brain functions only on glucose and oxygen, this lack of blood sugar may bring on an inability to function properly and, in extreme drops, a state of irrationality. Alcohol also produces low blood sugar and irrationality. When a state of irrationality is reached, a baby's crying, a child's whining, and other stresses prove too much for the irrational mind to deal with and it loses control, bursting into violence. Child abuse, wife beating, berserk random killings and other atrocities can result. Many contemplate suicide; some do commit it.
     No, it is not that sugar and other refined foods are the scapegoat for our evil loves. It's just that the evil loves that are inevitably there in every single one of us cannot be controlled when the mind has been deprived of the very thing that can control our behavior-our rationality. Man cannot "be rational unless his body is in a sound state" (DLW 330). The condition of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) can cause an apparent, though not real, lack of storge (parental love) in parents because their energy is depleted-which would account for what psychiatrists refer to as an unloving environment in childhood. Or it can be the cause for child abuse.
     I don't see a need to involve the subject of remains in the observation that children die who are deprived of love. The fact that they are so deprived and are probably in poor health is explanation enough.
     Both Mr. Carlson and Mr. Childs have mentioned the finding of psychology from experience that the parental love of infants is very important for the healthy development of the child. When parental love is lacking, we are interested in causes for this lack. Any further light on why a mother does not have storge would be welcome. I think a real understanding of health can help. Today nutritionists are demonstrating that a lack of good health is responsible for many problems, both in adults and in children. A present-day preference for man-made foods over the living foods provided by the Lord may well be related to these problems.
     PATRICIA K. ROSE,
          Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania

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ACADEMY COLLEGE ACCREDITATION 1983

ACADEMY COLLEGE ACCREDITATION              1983




     Announcements





     The accreditation of The Academy of the New Church College by the Middle States Association continues in effect while its application for reaccredidation awaits action pending further response to questions on the library and long-range academic planning. It is expected by the administration that these questions will be satisfactorily answered by October 1984 or sooner.

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GRADUATION 1983

GRADUATION              1983

Now is the time to order your gifts for graduation, especially if you want them engraved. Select from:

     The Writings
Swedenborg Society, blue edition, per volume           $10.00
Swedenborg Foundation, green, per volume                $6.50

     The Word
Morocco, hard or soft bound                          $20.00
Cloth                                         $15.00

     A Compendium of Swedenborg's Theological Writings      $5.00

     Engraving-please allow 2 weeks approx.                $4.50
Please include postage                                   approx. 60? per book

     GENERAL CHURCH BOOK CENTER
Box 278
Bryn Athyn
PA 19009

Hours: 9:00 to 12:00
Mon. thru Fri.
(215) 947-3920

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Notes on This Issue 1983

Notes on This Issue       Editor       1983



Vol. CIII     June, 1983     No. 6

     NEW CHURCH LIFE

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     "We know that the promise of an everlasting kingdom is not a promise to any organized church body. We know better than to assume that any organized body of men is the Lord's New Church." The sermon here quoted is the first thing we have published by Rev. Louis Synnestvedt (now serving in Toronto).
     We are publishing the Order and Organization (p. 242) partly for historical record and partly to enable today's readers to ascertain (by means of bold print) the changes that have been made since 1970.
     Particularly apt for a publication in which differences of view are expressed are the points made by Charis Cole on page 254 and 255. Our publication exists in part that we may speak to each other. With "abundant reason for humility" we can also hear each other and be "open to new ideas and yet hold fast to the Word.
     Rev. Geoffrey Howard has noticed with some "a certain lack of appeal felt in our services of worship" (p. 231). This led him to do an extensive study which will be concluded in the July issue.
     On page 261 we mention the Sound Recording catalogue. The material we publish is sometimes available on tape. For example, last month's sermon by Rev. R. Junge is tape number 11J954-44, and the sermon on the serpent of brass by Rev. F. Schnarr in the March issue is number 10Sc57-53s.
     A reader has suggested that we publish some stories of how people have found the New Church. So far this year we have reported twenty-one adult baptisms, which bespeak twenty-one stories. The baptism reported in this issue of a gentleman from Japan has a truly remarkable story behind it. Fortunately it has been outlined in a fascinating interview (complete with photographs) in the May-June issue of New Church Home. Be sure to read it.
     The Missionary Memo has also provided sketches of the stories of how individuals have recently discovered the Writings.
     In order to fit the news from Arizona onto page 268 we had to omit a paragraph about the first Arizona camp to be held on Mt. Lemmon this July. See the May issue (p. 200) for a list of camps being held this summer.
     General Assembly next June. See page 267.

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SEEING OUR VISIBLE GOD 1983

SEEING OUR VISIBLE GOD       Rev. LOUIS D. SYNNESTVEDT       1983

     "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?"

     In the Old Testament and in the New Testament, the Lord God tells all His people that a kingdom would be established, a kingdom of peace and charity, which would never pass away. The prophet Daniel writes:

In the days of these kings the God of the heavens shall make a kingdom to arise which shall never be destroyed . . . and it shall stand forever (Dan. 2:44).

     And in the book of Revelation the apostle John hears great voices in heaven saying,

The kingdoms of this world are become our Lord's and His Christ's; and He shall reign for ever and ever (Rev. 11:15).

     The Lord promised to set up a kingdom upon earth, a heavenly kingdom, that would know no end. Jesus Christ has now come again and revealed Himself to the sight of the understanding. God Himself is at this day visible to the mind's eye of everyone who is willing and who has the opportunity to see Him in the opened Word.
     How is it that this kingdom, the New Christian Church, will last forever? What is it that makes the Lord's New Church a permanent habitation for the Lord on earth?
     We know that this promise of an enduring kingdom is not a promise to any organized church body. Wt: know better than to assume that any organization of men is the Lord's New Church. The Lord's New Church cannot be judged or measured by external standards or outward appearance. Neither can we say, "Lo, here!" or "Lo, there!" For the kingdom of the Lord is within the true believer.
     Yet the Lord makes this most remarkable promise. And the reason the New Church will endure forever is stated simply in the True Christian Religion:

This New Church is the crown of all the churches which have hitherto existed on the earth, because it will worship one visible God in Whom is the invisible like the soul in the body (TCR 787).

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     This New Church is the crown of all the preceding churches and so will endure forever because it worships the one God in a visible, human form, within Whom is the invisible.
     The Lord's visibility, then, is the key to why the New Church will endure forever.
     The Lord is always present with everyone, urging and pressing to be received. Yet people cannot effectively approach God unless God is present and exists in their conscious minds and unless He is loved in their hearts (see the rest of TCR 787; and for contrast, see TCR 159). This approach to God is now possible. The Lord has shown to us in His new revelation that He is the true God and eternal life (as in I John 5:20). The gospel has been proclaimed that Jesus Christ is our heavenly Father, our Savior and Redeemer. For He is not merely a part of the Divine Trinity; the Trinity is within the Lord. So not only can God approach us, but we can approach Him and love Him, and so live our lives from Him.
     In the gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we have four different yet complementary accounts of the Lord's saving work in the world. Here is a picture for us of our living God born a Man. This picture is not a static one. For Jesus lived, He healed, touched and spoke to the people.
     The Lord did this work for the people at that time before their physical eyes. Now that the Lord is glorified, He does even greater works than these. He now can be present to people everywhere on earth before the eyes of the spirit, that is, to the sight of the understanding. Therefore we can see Him too. He can live with us and heal us. He can touch us and speak with us as well.
     Because we have the good fortune to read and understand the Word, the Lord is visible to us. Yet we may doubt. It's obvious that we can picture Jesus Christ in our minds as a Man. We have many thoughts about Him. We can remember His qualities. Yet we may question: "Is that picture I have in my mind really the Lord? Or we may wonder: "My picture of the Lord is so limited and imperfect. How can my sight of Him really be the Lord in my mind?" We may think that what we see in our minds is not really the Lord, because the Lord is so Divine.
     The problem with this line of thinking is that we may end up thinking that the Lord is or needs to be beyond our mental sight-that He must remain essentially invisible.

     This state of questioning and of doubt is portrayed to us in the dialogue that takes place in John, chapter 14. To understand this dialogue better, when Jesus speaks of the Father, think of the Lord's Soul which is invisible to us. And when Jesus speaks of Himself, think of the Lord as we can see Him in our thoughts.

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     The Lord begins by telling His disciples:

Let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also in Me.

     In other words, He is saying: You believe in the Divine which is invisible, don't you? Then believe also in Me Whom you can see.
     All of us believe in an infinite God, but we may not so easily believe in God Who is plainly visible to our mental sight. Remember what is said earlier in the same gospel:

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath set Him forth to view (John 1:18).

     Now in John 14, Jesus went on to tell them:

In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.

     In heaven, of course, there are many mansions. In fact, every angel can be considered a little heaven. And everyone there finds his place in heaven according to his idea of God. It shouldn't trouble us that we each have different pictures of the Lord in our minds, that we see Him differently. We see Him differently because we receive Him differently (see AC 3605e). This is true even for the angels. There are many mansions in heaven and so many ways of conceptualizing the one God. The fact that each of us may see the Lord differently does not have to diminish the wonder and the power of our personal idea of Him. Indeed, the Lord is leading each of us to see Him in a special way. For He says:

I go to prepare a place for you Ca special place for each one of us]. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know (John 14:24).

     But to this the disciple Thomas says:

Lord, we know not whither Thou goest; and how can we know the way?

     Jesus answers:

I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me (John 14:4-6).

     You see, no one can approach the invisible essence of God except by approaching the Lord Who is visible.

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You don't approach the Divine Soul except by means of His Body which you can see before your mind as a Divine Man. Therefore, the way we approach the Father is by approaching the Son. Continuing, Jesus says:

If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also; and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him (v. 7).

     That is,

If ye had known Me [visible before you], ye should have known My Father also [Whom you cannot see]: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him.

     In other words, if we have come to know the Lord as He is present with us in the form of a Divine Man, we would have come to know something of His Divine Majesty and something of His infinite Wisdom and Love.
     Then Philip asks of the Lord:

Lord, show us the Father and it sufficeth us (John 14:8).

     Philip, whose name means "a lover of horses," represents that part of our mind which really wants to understand and to understand clearly. In our search for a true understanding of the Lord, we may still imagine that our picture of the Lord is not good enough. If our picture were really a picture of the Divine, we expect that it should be different from the Lord Whom we see every day in our thoughts. But our Savior makes this reply:

Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, "Show us the Father"?(John 14:9)

     If we see the Lord in our minds, we are seeing God. This is exactly what is implied by the expression the Divine Human: a Man Who is Divine, and our God Who is Human, our God Whom we can know and draw close to.
     The New Church is the crown of all the churches which have existed in the world, because it worships one visible God in Whom is the invisible.
     You know something about the Lord. You have seen Him in your thoughts. God is visible to you. And so the Lord can be present with you at a moment's notice. You can go to Him when you feel a need for His love and when you want His understanding of your situation. He can strengthen you and guide you. If you hold onto this picture of a visible God and approach Him, the Lord will be with you and lift you up.

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He also will return to you at those times when He seems far away.
     If you acknowledge the Lord God the Savior as a Man you can see, He can enter your life and cause that gradual process of reformation and rebirth to take place. He can do wonderful works in you and bless you with incredible joy.
     We can be assured that the Lord is establishing His New Church on the earth. We are invited to come to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And the Lord's kingdom will endure for ages of ages because in it He is visibly present with the Divine power to save the human race. Amen.

     LESSONS: John 14:1-11; TCR 339 (portions)
WORSHIP 1983

WORSHIP       Rev. GEOFFREY H. HOWARD       1983

     A STUDY

     (Part I)

     The purpose of this study is to consider the subject of "worship" in an endeavor to reexamine the revealed principles pertaining to it. Everyone who enters heaven must be in a state of internal worship of the Lord (AE 391:2). It is therefore of vital importance that these principles pertaining to worship should be clearly understood both by the priesthood and the laity of the church. External worship, along with its formalities and rituals, should be of such a nature as to inspire internal worship. That services of worship should truly serve this end is a two-fold challenge to be met firstly by the priesthood and secondly by the individual worshiper. Our worship services perhaps offer the greatest opportunity that the priesthood has to influence people in the life of charity. So important is this subject that we believe it is timely and useful to consider it. It is wide in scope, and therefore this study will attempt to summarize conclusions drawn from the many references collected.
     The motivating reason for undertaking this study was an underlying concern as to the effectiveness of our services of worship. During the course of my ministerial career I have occasionally received comments, sometimes from quite affirmative sources, in which laymen have confessed a certain lack of appeal felt in our services of worship. I have studied the book on ritual written by Bishop W. F. Pendleton, and have presented classes on our worship services using his book as a guideline.

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Much research went into the composition of that book. The author presents valid and sound reasons for every aspect of ritual incorporated into our services. His arguments are logical and appealing, and are based on revealed principle. But why is it that a fair percentage of our people claim to be disaffected by our liturgical service?
     Having served in different regions of the United States for a number of years, and now in a country heavily influenced by strong English traditions, I have come to see that our service is more readily received in some regions of the church than in others. This has intrigued me and caused me to search for some explanation. In seeking the reason why some feel this disaffection, it is perhaps natural to lay the cause on the service itself. Indeed part of the problem may lie there, but from a more complete study of the subject it is quite apparent that many more things can contribute to this. It is not our intent to repeat the study so ably done by Bishop W. F. Pendleton, but rather to emphasize some of the internal aspects pertaining to worship which are so vitally important for both priest and layman to clearly understand. Essentially we will consider the subject from three different aspects. Firstly, we will trace the origin of formalized rituals of worship. Secondly we will consider the question of the attitudes and states that should develop in the person worshiping. Thirdly we will speak briefly on the question of variety in worship.

     I. THE ORIGIN OF FORMAL WORSHIP

     At the outset we would note that external forms of worship, or rituals of worship, were necessary in churches subsequent to the fall. "The men of the Most Ancient Church were internal men and had no externals of worship . . . . [they] saw external things through internal ones as in the light of the sun by day" (AC 4493:3). The quality of perception granted to the people of the Most Ancient Church was keenly revealing, because they were in the order of their lives. When they saw external things, internal correspondential things were perceived, for they saw the representative theater of heaven. Their perceptions were dynamic in that they inspired the heavenly activity of charity. As the will was brought into conformity with the representatives seen and perceived, the Lord was able to effect their regeneration. Their minds would be brought into correspondence with heavenly order. Love to the Lord motivated the subsequent states in their lives. Hence that church became a celestial church. The good of love to the Lord inflowed when their will was brought into compliance with Divine and heavenly order.
     The reason why the people of the Most Ancient Church enjoyed such exquisite perception was because they conceived of the Lord as Divine Man (see AE 808:3).

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The thought of Him in this form was confirmed by the perception that accompanied it. How this occurred is explained in the following passage. "The Most Ancient Church, which was celestial, and which above all others was Called man, adored the Infinite Esse and the derivative Infinite Manifestation (Existens). From this were their perceptions in the internal man, and those which they felt in the external man, and likewise from the visible things which were in the world. Therefore they adored the Infinite Manifestation (Existens) in which is the Infinite Esse. The Infinite Manifestation in which is the Infinite Esse they perceived as a Divine Man, because they knew that the Infinite Manifestation was produced from the Infinite Esse through heaven" (AC 4687:2). In this remarkable way the Lord accommodated His invisible Infinite Esse to the finite comprehension of the men of the Most Ancient Church.
     They further saw His Divine image reflected in everything of creation. "Whatever passes through the Gorand Man of heaven from the Infinite Esse is attended with an image thereof in each and all things" (Ibid.). Thus they saw His image in everything, "in mountains, hills, plains, and valleys, gardens, groves and forests, rivers and waters, fields and plantations, trees and animals of every kind, and the luminaries of heaven. In these they saw something representative and significative of the Lord's kingdom; . . . and this to such a degree that there was nothing at all in universal nature that did not serve them as such means" (AC 2722:5). Thus there is a certain law built into creation: "Everything in nature is representative" (Ibid.). In this way has the Lord's image been impressed upon all things in the created universe. The purpose of this accommodation of the Divine was to afford man an idea of the Lord by means of which conjunction could result.
     But how was it possible for finite man to see God while living in the consciousness of the body? With these people of the Most Ancient Church, their spiritual sight was able to function consciously, even while they were living upon this earth. Because they were in the order of their lives, they were actually able to see representatives which appeared in the world of spirits. How this happened is explained: "In the world of spirits various representations are presented to view . . . . Good spirits know perfectly well what they signify, and thus also gather from them what the angels are conversing about. For the speech of angels passing down into the world of spirits is sometimes presented in this way" (AC 2179).
     Thus all spiritual ideas which the angels have can "pass over into representatives in the world of spirits" (AC 2039:7). "As the men of the Most Ancient Church had communication with spirits and angels, and constantly had visions and dreams, . . . whenever they saw any [object or thing] there occurred to them the idea of what it signified" (AC 2179).

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The knowledge, in our world, of "representatives and significatives originated in this way, and remained long after" this most ancient era (AC 2179).
     With the fall of the Most Ancient Church, "communication with the angels began to cease" (AC 2896). Therefore, to maintain the continued possibility of human salvation, the Lord provided for some remnants of this church known as "Cain" and "Enoch" to "collect correspondences from the lips of the men of the Most Ancient Church," so that the knowledge of them would be transmitted "to posterity . . . . In consequence of this the science of correspondences was not only known but was also much cultivated in many kingdoms of Asia" (SS 21).

     Worship in the Ancient Church

     The Ancient Church which followed was not a celestial church. It is classified as "a representative church." All of its worship "consisted in rites, statutes, judgments, and commandments that represented Divine and heavenly things, which are the interior things of the church" (AC 9391:8). After the fall the mode of regeneration changed. With the advent of evil, man was no longer able to be led perceptibly within, but from truth seen with his understanding. In order for man to be led back to something of the perception of heavenly delight, the understanding first had to be instructed and subsequently the will had to be self-disciplined and brought into conformity with the truth that was seen. To inspire this course; to inspire obedience and submission to God's will, representative "rites, statutes, judgments and commandments" were instituted into a formalized external worship (Ibid.). Its purpose was to arouse and to awaken the sphere of the Lord's presence, a presence which could become more keenly perceived when the Deity was centered in the thought of the one worshiping, and when rituals were performed that were believed to be pleasing to Him. The resulting sense of peace and serenity brought upon the mind was the effect of the Lord's presence. The memory of this state lent inspiration to the worshiper to fashion his life into the order commanded by the Lord.
     With regard to the kind of worship practiced by people of this church, the details are few. The main feature of their worship centered in their conception of God, Whom they worshiped "under a human form" (AC 9139). They "knew from traditions and from collected accounts that visible objects were significative; and as they were significative they esteemed them holy. Hence came the representative worship of the Ancient Church" (AC 2722:6). In emulation of the Most Ancient Church these people likewise held their holy worship "on mountains and in groves; on mountains, because they signify the celestial things of worship, and in groves, because they signify its spiritual things" (AC 2722:1).

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Primitive altars made of "heaps" of earth and stone became used to signify "that a covenant had been made" (AC 4203). "In ancient times, before they built altars, they made heaps, and ate together upon them, for a witness that they were joined together by love. Afterwards, when the representatives of the ancients were regarded as holy, instead of heaps they built altars" (AC 4192). The representation and the signification of the holy things used in their worship came to them from the Most Ancient Church who saw heavenly representatives in their paradisal visions and dreams, for in the world of spirits representatives appear in a living manner. From this source the knowledge of these things was "passed to their posterity, and at length to those who merely knew that they had such a signification. However, because the representatives came from the most ancient times, and were used in their Divine worship, they were venerated and held sacred" (AC 2763). Thus, in order to keep alive this vital spiritual knowledge, its transmission from one generation to the next depended upon instruction. "But this knowledge, which was so much cultivated and esteemed by the ancients after the flood, and by means of which they were able to think with spirits and angels, is at this day altogether obliterated" (Ibid.). Thus we may conclude that even in these ancient times instruction must have been a vital part of their worship, although little is said directly about this.
     Their ritual included the use of instruments of music and singing. "In holy worship among the ancients it was customary to sing by means of choirs, that there might be one or more to answer. By this was represented reciprocation and response, such as is that of the church from heaven, and of heaven from the Lord" (AC 8340). Further we read: "Formerly in Divine worship many kinds of instruments were employed" (AC 8337). These were either wind instruments or stringed instruments. The wind instruments were expressive of "affections of good, and stringed instruments, affections of truth, and this from the correspondence of every sounding thing with the affections" (Ibid). While the Ancient Church remained in its integral state the rituals employed were truly representative of the Lord, and of states from the Lord in which He could be present with the men of this church.

     In time the worship of the Ancient Church became idolatrous as it declined and fell. The internal things which were represented in their worship became forgotten and lost, and yet "the external representative worship still remained" (AC 10437). This worship became idolatrous because the external representatives which were used became esteemed holy in themselves, and in time they thought "nothing at all about the holy things which they signified" (AC 6435).

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"With all worship, when man becomes external, as when he regards himself and the world as the end, and the Divine things of the church as the means, then all things of worship, with those who remain in worship, become idols, because external things are worshiped apart from internal things"(AC 10643; cf. AC 1321). Idolatry, thus perpetrated, has the effect of withdrawing "the Divine from truths, and transferring them to self and the world" (Ibid.). At the same time man then begins to "recede from charity" and as this happens "Heaven also recedes, and in its place . . . spirits from hell" lead him (AC 4680).

     Worship in the Hebrew or Second Ancient Church

     After the Ancient Church became idolatrous and fell, the Lord reestablished a semblance of worship with the Second Ancient Church which was called the Hebrew Church from its progenitor, Heber or Eber (see AC 1238). "This new church differed from the ancient one in that it made the essential of external worship to consist in sacrifices. It did indeed acknowledge the internal of worship to be charity, but not so much from the heart as did the Ancient Church" (AC 4680). In time this church also fell, and its worship became idolatrous.

     Worship in the Jewish Church

     "At last it pleased the Lord to set up among the posterity of Abraham, from Jacob, a new kind of church, and to introduce among that nation the externals of worship of the Ancient Church. But the character of this nation was such that they could not receive any internal of the church, because their hearts were altogether opposed to charity; and therefore only a representative of a church was instituted among them" (AC 4680:4).
     Abram was chosen by the Lord. With him and with his posterity "the representative of a church" was to be established. Abram was an idolator. He came from "Ur of the Chaldees" by which was signified "external worship in which there are falsities" (AC 1368). From this gentile state of ignorance the Lord bent the allegiance of Abram to His service. Through the use of representatives He provided a form of worship which was to image His Divine order both within Himself and in the heavens.
     There are many things specified in the Word concerning this worship established with the Jews. They are spoken of copiously in the Old Testament. Many of the external acts incorporated into their system of worship were of pagan origin and in themselves were not pleasing to the Lord (see Isaiah 1:11-15).

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The use of sacrifices in worship was not instituted from Divine will. "They were permitted so they might not sacrifice their sons and daughters" (AC 1241:2). However, we also read that "in the Jewish Church some of the representative rites originated in [the world of spirits], and some did not" (AC 2039:7). Among the representatives which originated in the world of spirits was the representation of the three infinite and uncreate degrees of the Lord in the threefold order bf the Jewish priesthood. The same was also represented in the three divisions of the tabernacle and of the temple. The representation of an altar was another. Also there were rituals such as singing, bowing the knee, praying, and other acts representative of glorification and humiliation. Then there was the function of teaching and instruction, assembling the people to hear the law and to listen to the Divine teachings given through the prophets.

     Worship in the Christian Church

     When the Lord came to earth He abrogated all the external representative rituals of the Jewish Church. They were all representative of Him, and "when the effigy appears, the former representatives of it must necessarily cease" (AC 4904, 9002).
     However, two representatives were established to replace all of the former washings and sacrifices of Jewish ritual. These were Baptism and the Holy Supper. They were introduced into the worship of the church at the command of the Lord, because they not only represent but also at the same time correspond to the spiritual states which the acts within the sacraments were intended to foster and inspire in man.
     If we turn to the era of the early Christian Church and examine its forms of worship, we will see that in the beginning, in externals, it was a modification of the synagogue worship that was practiced in the Jewish Church in its latter days. But the whole spirit of the Christian Church had a totally new focus. It was based upon the new and distinctive teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ Who had come to earth. The two sacraments were introduced, but in many other respects its externals of worship may not have appeared dramatically different in the beginning. However, in time many subtle changes became apparent. These reflected the new doctrine within the emerging sects of Christianity and this gave rise to new forms of ritual being adopted.

     What are appropriate representatives to be used in New Church worship?

     Now what do we expect in the New Church? Since its inception the New Church has endeavored to establish a form of worship which would be representative of the Lord as the one only God, in His Divine Human, and which would inspire the human pursuit of all states of love and faith (see AC 7550).

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In his book, Notes on Ritual, Bishop W. F. Pendleton said: "Very little of what is new in ritual is to be expected as to mere externals" in the New Church. In this church "there will be a new internal . . . . There will be in the external a new spirit and a new life." In many respects its worship might appear "outwardly similar to the forms of ritual that exist in the bodies of the Christian Church around us" (pp. 8, 9). Indeed, the externals of worship which have been incorporated into the New Church have many roots which come mainly from Anglo-Christian background. Yet, as we consider the question could we really expect anything different? It should be conceded, I believe, that the faithful objective of all General Church liturgy committees has been inspired by the hope that the Lord would be able to establish a new internal within the New Church, and that this would in time give rise to new externals of worship. It is incumbent upon each new generation to examine this question and to determine the effectiveness of our ritual in its central purpose, namely, to turn the affections of people to the Lord and heaven.
     Let us next pursue the question, What determines the forms of ritual that we may adopt? How do we proceed to establish an "order" of ritual which may be effectively utilized in our services of worship? When speaking in general terms the Writings answer clearly. "That which is from the Word is alone serviceable for Divine worship, because it is in itself alive. Within everything of the Word there is a spiritual sense, which treats of the Lord's kingdom . . . and in its inmost sense treats of the Lord alone. From this is the sanctity and the life of the Word, and not from any other source" (AC 8943). In another passage we read: "Worship is prescribed in doctrine and is performed according to it" (Lord 64). Thus it is clear that in all externals of worship the origin must be from the Word and from doctrine therefrom. It should also be a form that has within it a spiritual representation which truly corresponds to the states that are intended to be inspired in man. Since the Word inmostly regards the Lord, it is obvious that all representatives used in our worship must regard Him in the first place. Thus all activity in worship should be representative of states of humiliation and thence of glorification; of reformation and regeneration; of deliverance from evil and salvation.
     In seeking to determine what forms of ritual we should adopt, we find another answer beautifully given in a passage which speaks of the kind of music that can "actually excite" heavenly affections. It is shown that people can be so moved when there exists "a correspondence of every sounding thing with the affections" (AC 8337).

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The passage goes on to give the origin of this profound inspiration. "Men learned this at first not from science and art but from hearing and its exquisite sense. From this it is clear that it does not come from any origin in the natural world, but from an origin in the spiritual world, and accordingly from the correspondence with things in the spiritual world with those of the natural world which flow from order" ((bid.). Surely this passage implies that the quality of feeling aroused by sacred music is of prime importance. This must surely prompt us to listen carefully to what people convey as to their inmost feelings. However, we would also presume that the same principle of sensitivity must also apply to every other aspect of worship: how reverently the Word is read, or prayers spoken; the quality and style of the sermon. Worship becomes truly moving only when all things employed are in "correspondence with things in the spiritual world and with those things in the natural world which flow from order (Ibid.). Thus the external, when reduced to compliance with order, becomes receptive of heavenly influx. "The Divine truth coming down out of heaven produces gladness and the holiness of worship" (AE 502:4).
     The importance of a truly inspiring form of worship is given in the following passage: "By means of external worship external things are kept in holiness, so that internal things can flow in" (AC 1618). That passage clearly states the purpose and the ideal which should prevail in our forms of external worship. The mind can be brought into a state receptive of holiness through the use of correct representatives. Thus, the New Church objective should be a form of worship in which corresponding heavenly states may be aroused. For this to be possible the representatives must be from the Word and must be such that they inmostly embody a spiritual heavenly form. When man is affected by spheres thus created, then the external things of his mind may be "kept in holiness." And perhaps we should reflect for a moment upon the meaning of "holiness." It means "set apart" for religious use or observance. In other words, the rituals of worship are to be "set apart" or "separated" from that which is commonplace. However, the quality of the holiness into which man may come is also determined by his aspiration to pursue the life of charity in his heart. "There are more things in the good of charity with a man than he can possibly believe. All the things of his faith are in it, and consequently they are in the holiness of his worship. The quality of the holiness of his worship appears to the angels as in clear day, although man knows nothing beyond the fact that he is in a certain holy stale" (AC 2190).

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     Priestly Responsibility

     We cannot discuss the subject of external worship without considering the part played by the priesthood. To the office of the priest belongs the responsibility of "instruction" and concern "for the salvation of souls" (AE 1187:3). Priests lead in performing the rituals of worship, and also it is their duty "to preach" in the sphere of worship (C 174).
     If the Lord is to send "the Holy Spirit" and effectively stir the hearts of the faithful who turn to Him and seek the ministrations of the church, then the influence of the priest, as a man, must be minimized. "He must increase, but I [must] decrease" (John 3:30). Then, according to order, the Holy Spirit may proceed "from the Lord through the clergy to the laity by preaching, according to the reception of the doctrine of truth thence" (Can. IV:8).
     Warnings are given that the priest should not intrude himself into the sphere of worship from the selfishness of his proprium. In preaching, care should be taken not to become carried away by the zeal of enthusiastic spirits. "For zeal, considered in itself, is a glow of the natural man. [But] if it has within it a love of truth, it is like the sacred fire that descended upon the apostles" (TCR 146). Again, "if it is a delight of the love of good and of truth therefrom it is outwardly mild, smooth, resounding, and glowing, while within it is charity, grace, and mercy" (TCR 155).
     In the supplement to the True Christian Religion certain reasons are disclosed as to why some English Protestant preachers were deprived of their office in the spiritual world. These were as follows: "They did not prepare their sermons from the Word and thus from the Spirit of God, but from their own rational light, and thus from their own spirit. They begin, indeed, as a prelude, with a text from the Word, but this they merely touch with their lips, and then abandon as tasteless, immediately selecting something savory from their own intelligence . . . . Such is their teaching. It was said that as a consequence there was no more spirituality in their sermons than in the songs of birds, and that they were merely allegorical adornments, like wigs beautifully curled and powdered on bald heads" (TCR 810).
     Thus it is clear that "the human intellect ought not to have a part in explaining the interior things of the Word" (SD 3605 1/2). The sermon should be faithfully constructed from the Word, and through a proper collation of passages the light of the Lord's truth should shine through. The more thoroughly the priest prepares his sermon, cognizant of the needs of his people, the more does he become affected by the power of the Lord's truth, and the more humble does his state become. We believe that humility and fidelity to the Word are proper and becoming states for the priest serving on the chancel.

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If that kind of spirit is genuine and heartfelt, these affections will clothe themselves in suitable reverent forms of expression. Thus a further warning is to be found. In explaining "the interiors of the Word . . . human eloquence was not to be cultivated" (Ibid.). By this, we believe, was meant the kind of eloquence that draws attention to the pride of self-intelligence in the priest. Those who do this "are called by the Lord 'thieves and robbers,' in John 10:7-16" (AC 10794).
     Furthermore, the sermon must be effectively accommodated to the states, the needs and the understanding of those in the congregation. The profound ideas of the Writings must be interiorly studied by the priest, but he must constantly strive to view these in relation to life's challenges and people's application. If this is not accomplished, truths are seen academically, in a light far above and beyond the realm of distressed feelings. They never descend to alleviate the pangs of mental and spiritual suffering.
     To effectively accommodate the truths of the Word opens the way for the Lord to enter and perform His Divine work of redemption and salvation. This is aided by the ministrations of a faithful priesthood. Thus we should take careful note of the four things that contribute to the quality of priestly instruction: "enlightenment, perception, disposition, and instruction"(TCR 155). Enlightenment comes from the Lord, but its quality is dependent upon the thought, whether it is trained upon the Word, and whether the Word is being searched for the purpose of human salvation. "Perception . . . is in accordance with the state of the mind formed . . . by doctrinals . . . . Disposition is from the will's love, and that which disposes is the delight of that love . . . . Instruction follows from these as an effect from causes" (Ibid.).
     Thus the fidelity of the priesthood to these principles is one of the prime factors which contributes to the effectiveness of the externals of worship.

     [To be continued]
I SEE THAT HE WORSHIPS THE LORD 1983

I SEE THAT HE WORSHIPS THE LORD              1983

     This is my brother, I see that he worships the Lord, and is a good man.
          Arcana Coelestia 2385

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ORDER AND ORGANIZATION OF THE GENERAL CHURCH 1983

ORDER AND ORGANIZATION OF THE GENERAL CHURCH        LOUIS B. KING       1983

     AMENDED TO DATE BY BISHOP LOUIS B. KING

     We published the foreword in the May issue. The statement itself is published here with bold face to indicate anything changed or added to the 1970 version, with the exception of the headings.

     INTRODUCTION

     The following is not a written constitution. It is a statement of the governmental principles and practices of the General Church of the New Jerusalem at the present time as interpreted by the Executive Bishop in consultation with his Consistory.
     As the General Church is a living body developing under the leading of Providence, it is anticipated that in the future other statements will be called for. It is to be understood, therefore, that nothing in this statement is intended to bind the future.
     From this it follows that this statement is published for the sake of information as to the present status of government and organization in the General Church. It also serves as a record lest something of value should be forgotten.

     PURPOSE

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

     FAITH

     The faith of the members of the General Church in brief is as follows: God is one in Essence and in Person, and the Lord Jesus Christ is that God, in whom is the Divine Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
     The Lord came into the world to glorify His Human, and thereby to redeem and save the human race; and all are saved who believe in Him and keep His Commandments.
     The Sacred Scripture is the Word of God, the Divine truth. It has a spiritual sense within the literal sense, and is given for the use of angels and men.
     The Lord has made His Second Coming by means of a man, His servant Emanuel Swedenborg, before whom He manifested Himself in Person, and whom He filled with His spirit in order that He might reveal the Doctrine of the New Church, through the Word from Him.

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In the Doctrine so revealed the Lord appears as the Word to establish on earth a new Christian Church, which is signified by the New Jerusalem in the Apocalypse, and which is to be the crown of all the churches which have hitherto been in the world.

     PRINCIPLES

     The Old Testament, New Testament and the Writings together are the supreme authority in matters of faith. It is not of right or order that council or assembly should, by majority vote or by pronouncement from the chair, decide doctrinal issues and thereby bind the conscience of the Church.
     The government of the Church is carried out with the assistance of council and assembly to allow for the freedom and illustration of both clergy and laity.
     In order that a spirit of unanimity may prevail, action may be delayed at the request of a minority, but it is not the policy of the Church that an aggressive minority, or even a hasty majority, should determine its affairs. Doubtful matters are delayed for further study, counsel and enlightenment.
     It is the policy of the General Church, except where necessity dictates, to avoid passing regulations that would control its future actions. The object of this is to encourage a free and ready development of the life of the Church as represented in its form and organization.
     In the transaction of formal business, in both council and assembly, the rules of parliamentary order are followed, and decision is affirmed by voting.

     MEMBERSHIP

     The membership of the General Church is comprised of men and women who have been baptized into the faith of the New Church, and who subscribe to the principles and purposes of the General Church. Membership is primarily individual, and is not racially, nationally or geographically limited. Local churches may be received as societies of the General Church. When, however, these societies have members who are not members of the General Church, they are received with the understanding that thereafter these societies will admit to membership only those who are members of the General Church.
     Applications for membership are submitted to the Bishop. Certificates signed by the Bishop and the Secretary are given to those who are received.

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     PRIESTHOOD

     It is of faith that the Lord leads the Church by the operation of the Holy Spirit with both the clergy and the laity. "But enlightenment and instruction are communicated especially to the clergy because these belong to their office, and inauguration into the ministry carries these with it." (True Christian Religion 146).
     The General Church recognizes the priesthood as sanctioned by the Writings, and therefore as the Lord's office by Divine appointment in the Church, given for the administration of the Divine Law and worship with a view to the salvation of souls.
     To this end men are to be instructed, set apart, and inaugurated into the priesthood by the laying on of hands in the solemn act of ordination.
     By the act of inauguration, a candidate becomes a priest of the Lord's New Church. He may afterwards be received and commissioned as a member of the priesthood of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, in the degree of his ordination.
     The priesthood of the General Church provides for a three-fold ministry of instruction, worship and government.
     The ministry of instruction is provided for in the first degree of the priesthood. By inauguration into the priesthood and ordination into the first degree thereof, the candidate is recognized as a minister, and enters fully into the uses of instruction. He is therefore authorized to preach the Word of God according to the doctrine of the New Church. He is also authorized to administer the sacrament of baptism, to officiate at the rite of confirmation or confession of faith, and to lead in public worship. The sign of this degree is a white stole. The priest while ministering in this degree, may serve as an assistant to a pastor, or he may be appointed to take temporary charge of a society under the supervision of the Executive Bishop.
     The ministry of worship is provided for in the second degree of the priesthood. By ordination into the second degree of the priesthood the minister is recognized as a pastor, and enters fully into the uses of worship. In addition to the duties prescribed in the first degree, the pastor is therefore authorized to administer the sacrament of the Holy Supper, to solemnize betrothals, to consecrate marriages, and to dedicate homes. As a pastor he is also authorized to serve as the governor of a local society or church. The sign of this degree is a blue stole. A pastor may from time to time be called upon to represent the Executive Bishop in presiding over assemblies, and in dedicating churches, and also to perform such other duties connected with the episcopal office as may be delegated.

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     Representatives are appointed by the Bishop to provide greater access to the episcopal office, and to serve as consultants to him. Also a representative is appointed to act in behalf of the Bishop in matters affecting General Church schools.
     The ministry of government is provided for in the third degree of the priesthood. By ordination into this degree the pastor becomes a bishop, and enters fully into the uses of government. In addition to the duties prescribed in the first and second degrees, a bishop is therefore authorized to ordain priests, to dedicate places of public worship, and to preside over a general body of the Church. The sign of this degree is a red stole.
     Candidates for the priesthood whose ordination is pending may, in case of necessity, be authorized by the Executive Bishop to perform, pro tempore, any duties of the priesthood, save that of ordination.
     In order to nurture the early beginnings of the Church under circumstances which make it impossible to provide regular priestly ministrations, the Executive Bishop, at his discretion, may recognize a layman as an evangelist or lay leader of a group, circle or society. This action authorizes him to conduct worship, Sunday School, reading classes, group meetings, and other activities. Such authorization is granted for one year, geographically limited, and is subject to renewal.
     A priest in the first degree of the priesthood may be appointed by the Executive Bishop as assistant to the pastor of a society. He has, however, no part in the government of the society. This is in recognition of the principle that all government should be by the consent of the governed.
     Religious education in General Church schools is under the supervision of the priesthood. A society school is under the general supervision of the pastor.

     THE BISHOP OF THE GENERAL CHURCH

     To keep the affairs of the Church in order there must be wise and God-fearing governors who are skilled in the Divine Law. There also must be subordination among the governors lest from caprice or ignorance evils contrary to order be sanctioned (New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 311, 313).
     The Executive Bishop of the General Church (also referred to as the Bishop) is the chief governor and general pastor thereof. He is confirmed by the General Assembly, but his selection is progressive.
     The Executive Bishop of the General Church is named in, and by, the Council of the Clergy, and the choice of that body is then referred to the Board of Directors for counsel and response.

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The Joint Council determines the mode whereby the name is finally to be placed before the General Assembly.
     A priest of the second degree of the Priesthood may be ordained into the third degree when the need exists; but the choice of the Executive Bishop, or of any executive assistant bishop, must be confirmed by the General Assembly.
     The Bishop, as General Pastor of the General Church, visits societies, circles and groups on a regular basis, usually meeting with their Joint Council. When deemed useful, the Bishop may assume any of the pastoral responsibilities and administer any of the ecclesiastical affairs of a society, circle or group in which he is present.
     By virtue of his ordination every priest in the third degree of the priesthood has ordaining power. Yet it is important for the preservation of order within the organized body of the Church that this power should not be exercised apart from the consent of the Executive Bishop.
     When the Executive Bishop has been selected he continues in office until he resigns or is removed by death, or until he is separated from his office by the same procedure by which he was selected.
     While the procedure by which the Executive Bishop is chosen may, in case of need be invoked to unseat him, yet it should be known that the unseating of the Executive Bishop does not take from him any of the ecclesiastical powers conferred by his ordination as a minister of the third degree. The same is true of the powers conferred by ordination upon any priest. These may not be taken from him, either by Bishop, council or organized body of the Church, for the powers so conferred are from the Lord alone; the laying on of hands is but the sign and medium of their transfer and placement.
     The power of maintaining order in the Church is lodged in the episcopal office. When executive, this power may, in case of need and in accordance with the prescription in the Writings (New Jerusalem And Its Heavenly Doctrine 318), be invoked to remove from membership anyone who persistently disturbs the Church. Prior counsel with the Consistory and the local pastor is part of the procedure.
     In the event of the death, resignation, separation or prolonged incapacity of the Executive Bishop, and if at that time there is no Assistant Bishop, it will be in order for the Secretary of the General Church to call a meeting of the Joint Council to provide for the government of the Church pending the selection of the next Executive Bishop or the return of the incumbent Executive Bishop to active duty.

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     COUNCILS

     The Council of the Clergy is an ecclesiastical body consisting of priests. It considers for membership every priest who has been recognized by the Executive Bishop as a priest of the General Church, and whose name has been placed in nomination by the Bishop. Apart from its own intramural considerations this Council is not administrative, save in conjunction with the Executive Bishop and the Board of Directors. The Executive Bishop is ex officio head of the Council of the Clergy.
     To the Executive Bishop is adjoined a Consistory composed of priests selected by him. The Consistory is an advisory council, and dissolves with a change in the episcopal office. Membership of consistory changes from time to time.
     Lay counsel is provided for the Episcopal Office by the Bishop's Council, consisting of women and men, particularly married couples, appointed by the Bishop to serve for a three year term.
     Since the administration of the Divine Law and worship is the function of the priesthood, and as there are in the Church both essential and supportive ecclesiastical uses, it has been a principle of the General Church that these supportive uses be administered by laymen. This calls for unity of minds as a necessity of good government; and to further this end, the Council of the Clergy and Board of Directors of the corporation meet regularly in Joint Council. To re like end it has been provided that the Executive Bishop should preside over the Corporation and over its Board of Directors.
     The Board of Directors is a body of thirty men selected by the Corporation of the General Church to serve for a period of three years or until their successors have been appointed, it being so arranged that the terms of ten members shall expire each year. The Board of Directors administers the business, financial and legal affairs of the General Church.
     The Joint Council is comprised of all members of the Council of the Clergy and the Board of Directors. It meets annually, or at the call of the Bishop, for the purpose of mutual deliberation between priests and laymen in regard to the uses of government of the General Church.
     The Education Council is a deliberative body consisting of all teachers in the Academies and in General Church schools. It was organized to provide a forum in which all who are actively engaged in the work of formal New Church education might have the opportunity to share in the development of a distinctive educational system based upon the teachings of the Writings. Since New Church education has been recognized as a primary use of charity in the General Church, the importance of this Council may readily be seen.

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The Council, by delegation of the Episcopal Office, is directed by the Bishop's Representative in charge of matters relating to General Church schools.

     ASSEMBLIES

     A General Assembly of the members of the Church is held at the call of the Bishop, normally every three to four years. In the interim years the Joint Council acts for and represents the Assembly.
     The General Assembly is distinguished from the General Church in that it is composed only of those members of the Church who are in attendance. However, it represents the whole Church.
     The Secretary of the General Church is elected by the General Assembly. Since the Secretary will upon occasion represent the General Church, and since in time of need the Secretary must call a meeting of the Joint Council to provide for the government of the Church (see page 13) a priest is chosen for this office.
     National and District Assemblies are in some instances held annually, in others biannually, and in all others when the need arises. National Assemblies are composed of all the societies and individual members of the General Church in the nation. District Assemblies are composed of several adjoining societies, including the isolated members of the General Church residing in the district.
     A local Assembly may be held at any time with the members in any society or circle of the General Church.
     All Assemblies are called by the Bishop, and are presided over by him or by someone appointed to represent him.

     DISTRICTS, GROUPS, CIRCLES AND SOCIETIES OR LOCAL CHURCHES

     The members of the General Church are organized according to countries and districts; also into groups, circles or societies.
     A DISTRICT is a geographical area of the Church. There are two kinds of districts:
     a.      An ASSEMBLY DISTRICT, which consists of two or more societies and all other members of the Church who are resident within the area. It is organized for the purpose of assembly and consideration of mutual uses within the district.
     b.      A PASTORAL DISTRICT is an area under the direction of a priest appointed by the Bishop.
     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.

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     A CIRCLE consists of members of the General Church in any locality who are under the leadership of a resident or 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 recommendation of the 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. One becomes a member of a particular society by signing the roll of membership of that society. A circle may become a society by application to the Bishop and formal recognition by him.
     Whenever possible, members of the General Church seek to evangelize so that the Word may be made known. Evangelization includes missionary work as well as establishment and maintenance of local society schools for the education of the young. Both missionary work and education are recognized as important uses of charity, and are conducted under the leadership of local pastors, with advice and help available upon request from the Evangelization Committee and the General Church Schools Committee respectively.
     Groups and individuals having no pastor are under the direct supervision of the Bishop.
     District pastors and visiting pastors are appointed by the Bishop. The resident pastor of a society is chosen by joint action of the Bishop and the society, the Bishop nominating and the society electing. When possible the Bishop or his representative meets with a committee selected by the society to consider the names of prospective candidates for the office of pastor before the Bishop presents his nomination or nominations to the society.
     A pastor having accepted a pastorate serves in that capacity for an indefinite period. Pastoral changes are made only when the need arises. In order that such changes may be made with due regard to the welfare of the whole Church, the Bishop should be kept informed, both by the pastor and by the responsible members of the society, of any need for change that may become apparent.
     For the same reason, whenever a pastor may wish to resign, his resignation should be presented first to the Bishop and accepted by him before it is presented to the society.
     A priest may be appointed by the Bishop to take temporary charge of a society without formal action by the society. It is understood that this arrangement is only for an interim.

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     The pastor is the head of the society to which he has been nominated and elected, and as such it is his duty to preside over and maintain order in the church under his charge.
     The pastor of a society appoints a Council. This Council holds over after the resignation of a pastor, but dissolves as soon as a new pastor is chosen.
     A Society should incorporate or otherwise provide for its property through electing a business committee or board of finance. In the case of reduced uses in or dissolution of a society, the usual practice provides that the assets be preserved for the future work in that area or revert to the General Church.
     A congregation is composed of the members of a society, and others, young and old, associated for the purpose of Divine worship. Those, however, who are not members of the society may have no part in its formal government.
     The Bishop ex officio administers the ecclesiastical affairs of a society which has no pastor.
     In order that an accurate record may be kept it is important that every priest should promptly report to the office of the Secretary of the General Church all official acts to be published in NEW CHURCH LIFE. An annual report to the Bishop for all priests is due in September, together with a statistical report from the secretary of every society, circle and group.

     THE GENERAL CHURCH AS A CORPORATE BODY

     "The General Church of the New Jerusalem" is a corporate body, organized under the laws of the State of Pennsylvania, and as such is charged with the administration of the business, financial and legal affairs of the General Church unincorporated.
     The corporation was first organized under the laws of the State of Illinois, with the following objectives. To present, teach, and maintain throughout the world the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Church as contained in the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg; and to take over and carry on all the business, financial and legal uses of the ecclesiastical body known as the General Church of the New Jerusalem (See Journal of the General Assembly, NEW CHURCH LIFE for 1907, page 585).
     For reasons stated in NEW CHURCH LIFE for April 1950, pages 184-186, new articles of incorporation were taken out under the laws of the State of Pennsylvania in August 1949. The Pennsylvania Corporation was organized to engage in the same activities, and to perform the same functions as those formerly performed by the Illinois Corporation.

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     The said Corporation of the General Church holds its annual meeting in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, for the purpose of transacting such business as may come before it under its organization and charter. The Corporation elects a Board of Directors to conduct and manage the business affairs of the General Church. Every male member of the General Church who has been a member for 3 years is eligible to become a member of the Corporation.*
     * A special committee appointed by the Bishop has recommended to admit women for membership in the Corporation of the General Church. This proposal will go before the General Assembly in 1984 for its consideration, before the Corporation acts on it.
     The General Church Incorporated in Canada operates within the framework of the Order and Organization of the General Church international. Its officers include the Bishop of the General Church as its president, the Bishop's Representative in Canada as its Executive Vice-President, and a lay administrator elected by the Corporation.
     The General Church of the New Jerusalem Council Limited in Great Britain operates within the Order and Organization of the General Church International, and is responsible for operating the British Academy, which supports summer school activities for European students.

     ACADEMY

     The Academy of the New Church is a body of the Church organized under the laws of the State of Pennsylvania "for the purpose of propagating the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem, promoting education in all its various forms, educating young men for the ministry, publishing books, pamphlets, and other printed matter, and establishing a library." These uses of the Academy are now being conducted at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. The annual meeting of the Corporation is held in the borough of Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.
     At the present time, ah members of the Corporation and the Board of Directors of the Academy are members of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and the Bishop of the Church is also ex officio the Chancellor of the Academy.
     The ecclesiastical affairs of the Academy, including the religious instruction given in the schools, have, by resolution of the Beard of Directors of the Academy, been placed under the supervision of the Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, who as Chancellor nominates the President of the Academy to serve as executive administrator.

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     THE NEW CHURCH LIFE

     The NEW CHURCH LIFE is the official organ of the General Church. By this is meant that it is the editorial policy of the magazine to reflect accurately the doctrinal thought and life of the General Church. Also this magazine is the recognized medium for the publication of the official reports and transactions of that body.
     Because of this, whenever a vacancy occurs in the editorship, the Bishop may make a temporary appointment which becomes permanent only if and when it is confirmed by action of the General Assembly. As the Editor is in a pastoral relation to the whole Church, a priest is always chosen for this office.

     EVANGELIZATION COMMITTEE

     The purpose of this committee is evangelization-"annunciation about the Lord, His coming, and the things which are from Him which belong to salvation and eternal life." (AC 9925). It studies the doctrine and methodology of evangelization and gives counsel to local societies. To help educate the Church in these matters it publishes a periodical, The Missionary Memo, which records and publicizes evangelization efforts throughout the Church. The Chairman of the Committee is appointed by the Bishop, the members being selected by the Chairman who is ex officio director of evangelization. An Evangelization Committee of the General Church Board of Directors is appointed by the Bishop to provide counsel, review and assistance to the work of the Director of Evangelization and his office.

     OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

     The General Church of the New Jerusalem Mission in South Africa operates within the Order anal Organization of the General Church, looking to the Bishop of the General Church as the one responsible for leadership of its priesthood. The general operation of the Mission is delegated to the Bishop's Representative in South Africa who works with the Superintendent of the Mission appointed by the Bishop of the General Church, and a local Mission Council.
     The Midwestern Academy of the New Church looks to the Bishop of the General Church for leadership in its educational policy, and is administered by the Pastor of the Immanuel Church Society, who is presently the Bishop's Representative in the Midwestern United States and the elected President of the Midwestern Academy.
     La Nouvelle Englise de France is a separate church body in France which looks to the leadership of the Bishop of the General Church, deriving nominal support from that body. Its members may or may not be members of the General Church.

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STUDY GUIDE TO ARCANA COELESTIA 1983

STUDY GUIDE TO ARCANA COELESTIA       HUGO ODHNER       1983

     If asked to list the more simple books of the Writings, would you include Arcana Coelestia? Some people read it with great ease, but others regard it as so difficult that they do not attempt to read it.
     Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom once called attention to the way AC 3376 restructures into a series and connection what was previously presented in a disconnected and scattered way. In AC 3074 we read, "What is contained in the internal sense can in some measure be seen from the explication. But as these things are disconnected, what they involve in their series cannot appear unless they are all collected together into a single idea . . . ."
     This has sometimes been the aim of sermons and classes. A story from Genesis or Exodus may be expounded in the Arcana in dozens of pages. For some people those pages would be much more rewarding if they had first been given a simple summary idea of the meaning.
     I have attempted with a number of chapters to assemble an easy-to-read summary of the internal sense. Attempting this exercise opens up a number of possibilities, and this seems to be something in which the participation of several people would be especially valuable. One idea I have had is to give brief theme summaries hoping to fix the more prominent ideas in a reader's mind.
     The idea is not to arrive at some fixed and unchanging summary. The idea is to inspire more people to read the Arcana and to increase appreciation of the clear and simple truths contained in it.
     For the present I would appeal to others who have had this or something similar to this in mind to contact me. Comments on the idea for publication in NEW CHURCH LIFE are also invited.
     Hugo Odhner,
          2980 Marlin Road, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006

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TRUTH AND POLARIZATION 1983

TRUTH AND POLARIZATION       CHARIS P. COLE       1983

     If we look into the sun we are blinded. We cannot see a thing. But if we look at what the sun is shining on-trees, flowers, and mountains-we see so much with countless shades and colors. If any one of these hues were missing, the scene would be less beautiful, less perfect. If we look at a waterfall or mist in the air as the sun shines upon it, we see the rainbow.
     Just as we cannot look directly at the sun, we cannot behold infinity or see the whole of the Divine Truth in the Writings (see AC 2553). No wonder that no two laymen or ministers interpret the Writings exactly the same. All their interpretations are like these colors, adding interest, excitement, and beauty to our vision of truth.
     There is abundant reason for humility and modesty and willingness to recognize that our own version of truth may be less than 100% and that the insights of others may add something.
     Unfortunately we are all, to some degree, prevented from seeing clearly, because we filter out what we do not want to see. We are reluctant to examine ideas that threaten our preconceived notions, our maps of reality, our affections, our way of life, or our laziness. Many are quick to dismiss different ideas without even stopping to consider whether these ideas could possibly have anything to add to their map. They are also unwilling to put themselves into someone else's shoes or to wonder how things look from another's point of view.
     There are many facets of truth. Each adds to perfection. The Writings tell us that if we had charity our differences in doctrine would not divide the church (see AC 2385). We need this reminder because of the constant inclination to split into different "camps" of thinking. Some may tend toward one pole, and others to the opposite pole. When this gets to the point at which people are deaf to the ideas of others, there can be stagnation and bitterness. Are not poles only half truths? And in that sense are they not false? And do they then not tend to undermine charity and a real approach to truth?
     An example of a tendency to polarization may be seen in the following. At this point many in the church are longing for a loving, forgiving God who listens to prayers, helps in distress and a church which gives aid in applying doctrine to life. As well as seeking a personal God, such people have been craving affection and understanding. They feel that the doctrine taught by the church today is cold, unfeeling and hardly relevant to their lives or their frustrations and problems.

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     Others, however, fear such attitudes. They see the world around us denying God, all morals, and traditions of the past. They see the world calling for love and understanding and a listening ear but at the same time seeking pleasure at the expense of others and trying to block any expression that goes contrary to their own opinions.
     On the one side some are accused of not listening, of being unwilling to apply the doctrine to life. On the other side some are accused of watering down or perverting the doctrine.
     In a search for wisdom perhaps we have taken two different roads, the conservative way and the liberal. (I am talking in generalities, not of politics.) Both of these roads have their advantages and disadvantages. The two need to be balanced. The conservatives build on a firm belief in God and on the discoveries and knowledges of the past. This is essential. The liberals, on the other hand, try to find ways to break out of limited finite concepts to a bigger idea and one closer to "truth." This is also good. But what is not so good is that the conservative sometimes refuses to give up proven misconceptions and unworkable traditions or even to listen to different ideas. On the other hand, the liberal is likely to throw out all of man's combined moral and spiritual wisdom, even belief in God. In trying to break out of confines of the past, he destroys everything.
     On each side of these poles there is truth but also falsity because of the truth being split into halves. It is necessary to bring these halves together again. The Writings give both halves in all these things of which we have spoken. Firstly, we know that we must see God from essence but in human form. If we do not see God as man we don't see Him at all. We are taught that He is all-loving, wise, powerful, omniscient and omnipresent yet we know that He is ever caring for each of us and waiting to help us when we turn to Him. Secondly, we know that our will and affection should be ruled by truth and understanding, but we also know that love and affection are our very life and that love and understanding lead to the good of life as well as truth and discipline. Thirdly, we know that we could have no church without doctrine but doctrine would be completely useless if we didn't apply it to life. And lastly, the Word tells us that our wisdom is nothing, so we should be open to new ideas and yet hold fast to the Word.
     So let us care enough for each other to be willing to consider each other's ideas even if at first glance they seem to go contrary to our beliefs. Let's express our concern and misunderstandings to each other gently with hopes of finding common ground. Let's give each other the benefit of the doubt as to our motives and reach out to each other in affection. In this way we can make the church stronger, wiser, and more charitable.

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ORIENTATION 1983

ORIENTATION       GEOFFREY B. MYERS       1983

     At some time we have all attended an orientation class. There, something has been clarified and explained to help us in our future path.
     Taken literally, orientation means 'the east' or 'to be shown the east.' People who live in the far east, for example, are Orientals.
     When we become lost in the woods we are said to be disoriented; we have 'lost the east.'
     Then at an orientation briefing, why are we shown only the eastern path? When we are lost in the woods, don't we lose the north, south, and west also? It would seem that north is our key direction. We can look for the big dipper to point out Polaris in the night sky.

     Swedenborg tells us in Divine Love and Wisdom, numbers 122 and 123:

     Since the east is the point from which all quarters in the spiritual world are determined, and by the east, in the highest sense, is meant the Lord, and also Divine Love, it is evident that the source from which all things are is the Lord and love to Him, and that one is remote from the Lord in the measure in which he is not in that love, and dwells either in the west, or in the south, or in the north, at distances corresponding to the reception of love.
     Since the Lord as a sun is constantly in the east, the ancients, with whom all things of worship were representative of spiritual things, turned their faces to the east in their devotions; and that they might do the like in all worship, they turned their temples also in that direction. From this it is that, at the present day, churches are built in like manner.

     (The Bryn Athyn cathedral is so situated.)

     Then in a spiritual sense if we go to orientation we are expecting to be shown the Lord. When we become disoriented we have lost the Lord.

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REVIEW 1983

REVIEW       Norbert H. Rogers       1983

I Suppose I Shall Survive by Roland Smith, Seminar Books, London. 102 pages.

     This booklet differs from most, if not all, collateral literature penned by New Church authors. It is certainly different from anything I would write for publication.
     I teach and preach. Mr. Smith doesn't. He reflects and muses about matters of importance to human life. And he shares with his readers his reflections and musings, including his questionings and his doubts, as well as his unwillingness to take the easy path of simple acceptance of the voice of authority, preferring to use his intellectual faculty in the way it was intended to be employed.
     He reaches his conclusions about an abstract matter by considering various options, discarding those he finds wanting in favor of the one he deems most reasonable. He avoids presenting his conclusions as certainties, since they are unprovable to the natural mind of man. In the way he

presents each subject, his readers and thoughts can be stimulated and he allows them to reach their own conclusions in complete freedom.
     This is one of the reasons I much enjoyed reading Mr. Smith's booklet. Another special reason is his way of choosing conclusions by selecting what seems to him the most reasonable of the various options under consideration. I find this especially appealing for the rather egotistical reason that it is the way I took in reaching the basis of my faith in the truth of the Word, of the existence of God, etc. For I can't prove the existence of God, but to me that God is an ever so much more sensible idea than that creation took place and is maintained in order by happen chance; and if God is, it makes sense to conclude that He had a purpose in creating the universe, and to fulfill that purpose with mankind it is reasonable to accept that He communicates with man by means of the Word.
     Another appealing thing about Mr. Smith's booklet is its humor. It is with light humor, not cruel ridicule, that he leans away from options he finds wanting.
     Read the book, and I am sure you will agree with this assessment.
     Norbert H. Rogers,
          Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania

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REPORT OF THE EDITOR OF NEW CHURCH LIFE 1983

REPORT OF THE EDITOR OF NEW CHURCH LIFE       Donald L. Rose       1983

     One hundred people wrote for NEW CHURCH LIFE during 1982. Of the eighty-one men who wrote, forty-one were laymen. To have them outnumber the ministers was gratifying.
     In September of 1982 Mr. Neil M. Buss became business manager of this magazine, this use having been served faithfully for no fewer than thirty years by Mr. Leonard E. Gyllenhaal (see page 422).* Coincidentally with this change, our price went from $5.00 to $12.00 per year (see page 439).*
     * Sept. 1982 issue
     Thanks to the good work of those who produce the magazine we have been able to mail out copies promptly at the beginning of each month. We are still concerned at how long it takes for it to reach overseas addresses and even addresses in Canada. Speaking of mailing, the maintaining of a mailing list is a remarkable work to observe. Imagine for a moment a pile of addressed envelopes ready for the mailing of the January issue. Do you realize that by June there will probably be more than five hundred address changes?
     We seem to have more and more information to print about our organization. In ten years the number of recognized circles has risen from twenty to twenty-nine. Whereas ten years ago we occasionally printed one hospitality address for visitors to Bryn Athyn, we now have thirteen such addresses (January issue p. 272).
     The number of people who write for the LIFE has increased over the years. At one time virtually any major address (such as an address at a general assembly) was printed. The time is coming when this will be less and less feasible. Perhaps we will see a greater proportion of our material written specifically for publication. Some thirty years ago the editor of the Sons Bulletin commented that most of the things printed in the LIFE were not written specifically for publication. He commended some articles and said, "Unfortunately, time does not permit most ministers to write articles of such general interest especially for publication" (winter issue, 1954). Sermons, addresses and classes have often appeared as they were given. We may be seeing more items produced with the readers of NEW CHURCH LIFE in mind.
     Our pages in the past two years have been used as follows:

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                              1982               1983
                              (Pages)          (Pages)
Articles                         221               274
Sermons                         63               60
Reports                         53               77
Communications                    75               59
Announcements                    33               39
Church News                         33               31
Editorials                         27               43
Reviews                         9               13
Directories                         14               26
Memorials                         4               8
Miscellaneous                    56               30
          Totals                    588               660

Number of Contributors:
Priests                         40               37
Laity                              
     Men                         41               31
     Women                         19               27
          Total Laity               60               58
          TOTAL CONTRIBUTORS     100               95

Circulation Report:
Paid Subscriptions               1,149               1,132
By Gifts                         382               406
                              1,531               1,538

Free to clergy, libraries, new members,
     etc.                         324               345
                              1,855               1,883

     Donald L. Rose,
          Editor

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GENERAL CHURCH COMMITTEE FOR REVISION OF THE KING JAMES VERSION OF THE WORD 1983

GENERAL CHURCH COMMITTEE FOR REVISION OF THE KING JAMES VERSION OF THE WORD       Rev. (Rev.) N. Bruce Rogers       1983

     Annual Report, 1982

     In the past year we proposed 189 further changes, 104 of which were accepted without veto. In addition, two other emendations were accepted upon withdrawal of previously filed vetoes.
     New changes in the wording include: Stretch out instead of spread abroad (one's hands); (come) to view instead of abroad; hamstring for hough; count, number, or weigh out for tell; number for tale; power instead of virtue; hemorrhoids for emerods; patched for clouted; Judea for Jewry; food, bread, nourishment, or eating instead of meat; dined for sat, in two places; wonder for admiration in one place; untroubled for careless in one place. Changes have all been made after careful consideration of the meaning of the Hebrew or Greek words, the context, and the Writings' rendering of the terms.
     Unfortunately, hundreds and thousands of emendations still need to be made. The King James Version of the Word is further out of date than many people realize or are willing to accept. Consequently many readings today are not only obscure but even misleading.

     Because of this, some of us welcomed the appearance of The New King James Version of the Bible; commissioned and published by Thomas Nelson, Inc., which finally became available in complete form in August. It is not really a new version but a revision. It was prepared for readers of the King James Version who have come to love and revere the King James Version, but revised to remove for them archaic and obsolete terminology interfering with their ready understanding of its actual meaning.
     Without detailing the features of the New King James Version, we would simply report here that it seems that what we have set out to do in the General Church by way of revising the King James text has in this new version largely already been done for us. Faults still remain, and some are new faults, but taken as a whole they are far fewer in the new version than in the version we have been using, and far fewer than may be expected to remain in any revision we would be able to produce in the next twenty years or more.

261



     As a consequence, we have proposed to the Council of the Clergy our adoption of the text of this New King James Version for use in preparing copies of the Word for sale and distribution in the General Church through its various book centers and book rooms.
     To speak personally, I believe it is a version that we can all--or almost all-support, however conservative or liberal we may be in our thinking with respect to translations of the letter of the Word. Those who have called for a revision that will be more readable and understandable will essentially find it here. Those who have wished to retain the beauty and familiarity of the King James Version will also, I think, find it essentially retained here. Indeed, it is my opinion that if the clergy and the church as a whole cannot come to essential unanimity in adopting this new version, then it is unlikely that we could find essential unanimity with regard to any version, including any version that we might at long last produce ourselves.

[The report concludes with reference to the anticipated consideration of this matter by the Council of the Clergy. Ed.]

     (Rev.) N. Bruce Rogers,
          Chairman
SOUND RECORDINGS 1983

SOUND RECORDINGS              1983

     The 1982 Sound Recording Catalogue may be obtained for $5.00 from the Sound Recording Committee, Box 278, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009. You can choose from hundreds of different tapes.
     The accumulation of interesting tapes continues apace. Among the tapes you can order which have been made since that catalogue was published is one of Bishop de Charms addressing the Bryn Athyn Women's Guild last Christmas. There is also Bishop Pendleton's 1982 Charter Day address.
     Lectures from summer camps are proving popular. You can hear some doctrinal talks with solid content, lively presentation and sometimes audible audience reaction.
     A good number of tapes recorded in Glenview have been received in recent months as well as the steady flow of material recorded in Bryn Athyn.

262


Editorial Pages 1983

Editorial Pages       Editor       1983

     SHOULD THERE BE A NEW CHURCH ORGANIZATION?

     In what year did the New Church begin? One acceptable answer is 1783, and so we might say this year is the bicentennial of the New Church.
     What actually took place in 1783 was the first public meeting of receivers of the Writings. Marguerite Block in her fine book The New Church in the New World refers to "this historic gathering, the first public meeting of receivers of the doctrines in the world" (p. 62). But important beginnings can be traced to before 1783.
     Last December we called attention to a 200th anniversary under the heading "The Oldest New Church Institution." This was the "Society of Gentlemen" connected with Rev. John Clowes. It is said by historians that Clowes established the first New Church society among his parishioners in Wtiitefield near Manchester, England. But these people were part of the Christian establishment, and Clowes would probably have answered in the negative if asked, "Should there be a New Church organization?"
     Last June our editorial featured the 200th anniversary of the conversion of Robert Hindmarsh. Hindmarsh wrote, "In one whole year after my reception of the Writings, I found only three or four individuals in London with whom I could maintain a friendly intercourse on the subjects contained in them. In 1783 I invited these few to hold regular meetings for reading and conversation in my house . . . ." Those few men "agreed to call a public meeting of all the friends and readers of the Writings in London." They wished to "make known to the world what we could no longer in conscience conceal from their notice." Hindmarsh further states, "At this first public meeting, if it may be so called, we mutually congratulated each other on the good fortune and happiness we enjoyed in having become acquainted with the Writings . . . .
     A group of receivers is one thing; a church organization is something else. How frequently writers point out that Swedenborg did not start a church organization. This fact is often accompanied with the assertion that Swedenborg never intended or expected that there would be such an organization.
     A recent example of this occurs in the latest issue of Studia Swedenborgiana (vol. 4, no. 4) in a paper that was delivered by Dr. Eugene Taylor to the American Psychological Association. Dr. Taylor's knowledge of Swedenborg is remarkable. What a pleasure it is to see such a scholar devoting attention to Swedenborg.

263


He clearly knows his subject and obviously understands it very well. On the subject of the New Church he makes an observation similar to that of many students of Swedenborg.
     "Swedenborg believed that in 1757 the Christian Church as it was then known came to an end. In its place a New Church was born, guided now by heavenly doctrines. This church he called the New Jerusalem. By this new church, Swedenborg meant that instead of the many Christian sects, beset by doctrinal disputes, in complete decay, with many little popes, and struggling under the weight of hopeless theological dogmatism. a transformation of the entire Christian world would begin. Each person would establish contact with the Divine Himself through the opening of interior vision. The spiritual church-the real church, as he called it-would then displace the institutional church, which has become merely the over-elaborated superstructure created by man"(page 18 Studia Swedenborgiana, 1983).
     Dr. M. Block put it this way,

     It was in England, the home of religious toleration, that the New Church was born, and it was this English New Church which became the mother of practically all the branches of the New Church now existing in the world. Swedenborg himself, as we have seen, made no effort whatever toward the founding of a church. He expected his doctrines to permeate gradually the old churches until a state of spiritual regeneration should be reached, which would be the New Jerusalem. Toward this end he presented his theological works to all the bishops of the Church of England, and to all the Protestant members of the House of Lords. But the growth of the New Church came through other channels, and led to an entirely unforeseen development-a new ecclesiastical body.

     Did Swedenborg personally anticipate a new ecclesiastical body? More importantly, do the Writings themselves support the concept of such a body? Our answer is in the affirmative, but we would like to continue this subject next month, taking the time to set out reasons and evidence.
     For the present we would call attention to Swedenborg's letter written in July of 1770. Speaking of True Christian Religion he said. "I will give to the press the whole theology of the New Church, the foundation whereof will be the worship of the Lord our Savior." He said that "a temple" was to be built on that foundation. As we ponder what he meant by "a temple" we note that in the work he was about to publish was the description of a vision not mentioned in the earlier books of the Writings. He had seen a temple in heaven, and that temple "signified the New Church" (TCR 508). (To be continued)

264


EDUCATION AND EVANGELIZATION 1983

EDUCATION AND EVANGELIZATION       EDWARD J. CRANCH       1983




     Communications
To the Editor:

     Discussion of the principles of the Academy, in Rev. Alfred Acton's address, "The Essentials of the Academy" (NCL March and April, 1983), has been a valuable contribution to our ideas about the Academy. His thoughts on this twelfth principle, that New Church education is the most fruitful field of evangelization, have inspired the following comments:
     By New Church education I assume we are discussing the formal education provided in the classrooms of our New Church schools. A great deal of New Church education is also provided by the General Church, through religion lessons, doctrinal classes and publications, to children and adults who may never attend a New Church school.
     In its role as the educational arm of the General Church, the Academy is asked to provide the complete formal education of the children of the General Church. We believe it is an obligation of the General Church to provide this for its children, as an extension of the obligation each parent has for his children's education. The minds of the children, raised in the sphere of the church and educated in all the fields of learning from the principles of the Heavenly Doctrine, should certainly be the most fruitful source of members of the church and its ministers and teachers, and of its evangelists. In fact, the church is greatly concerned that so many of these fruitful minds either leave the sphere of the church entirely or postpone their active support for so long-possibly forty percent of them, according to Rev. Acton.
     Besides providing for its own, which it does with the excellent and indispensable help of the Academy, the General Church must also follow the Lord's commands in regard to His kingdom. It has an obligation to those outside of itself. This is its duty of evangelization. We have the truths for the healing of the nations, but they cannot heal until we help make them available to those the Lord has prepared to receive them.
     It is most encouraging that a growing number in the church are being inspired to take part in this vital use of charity in the church. And it does not take several years of New Church education to help an enthusiastic discoverer of the Writings become a member of its church. All we have to do is find him and welcome him and give him a use in the church. Some of our excellent ministers and teachers came in this way.

265



     One more thing is needed from the Academy in educating our children. That is to teach the principles and methods of evangelization while they are in school. Few things inspire a love of the church more than the desire to pass its truths on to others. Maybe this would inspire the other forty percent to stay with us.
     EDWARD J. CRANCH,
          Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania
FROM AN ENTREPRENEUR IN AUSTRALIA 1983

FROM AN ENTREPRENEUR IN AUSTRALIA       Leslie Sheppard       1983


To Your Readers:

     I was watching a John Wayne movie on TV. There was Big John with his gun trained on the bad guy, and standing to one side was another fellow, who also had his gun drawn but had not yet decided which side he was on. John Wayne looked him in the eye and said, "Smith: commit yourself, because until you are committed you are only taking up space."
     For me those were very strong words, because once you commit, you can be seen, because then your intentions and actions are known. In New Church terms, it is the time when you start to bring your thoughts out into the externals or actions. When you commit, you have to get on with it. A friend said to me that he is a committed Christian. And I can see that he is, because he constantly tries to bring his love of the Lord and the neighbor out into the open. You could say: to commit to something is to know where the end is; and New Church teaching tells us that ends are first in things. Who can go anywhere if he doesn't know where he wants to end up?
     Claiming to be a New Church person is, to me, making a big commitment: in committing to a life of love to the Lord and the neighbor. But it's not a commitment at all unless you bring it out into your actions.
     We use the word "commit" very freely, but. by looking it up in the dictionary, I find it is a very meaningful word indeed, one that should not be just thrown about, but thought upon deeply before being applied to the heart.
     Why all this talk of commitment? Because, while I was in England at the New Church College in 1982, I made a commitment to those who were there that I would set for myself the task of republishing priceless New Church collateral books that are no longer in print. It was my conviction that these works by New Church people which further explain the truths of our teachings cannot be lost.

266


To get a number of these books back into print is my commitment. I say it now to you all: in order to set about to do this I have registered as a corporation not for profit the name "New Church Collateral Publishing," and in addition have set up the necessary accounts and complied with Australian legal requirements. There is as yet no committee, as I feel a committee may allow the responsibility to be spread; one could say, may allow "the buck to be passed."
     Well, to get these books published is my commitment, my responsibility overall. But, I do need help-your help-both financial and spiritual. I have produced a "Supporter of Reprinting New Church Books" kit that further points out the need to republish these books. Among other things, the supporter's kit has in it a lovely lapel pin that shows you are a supporter of this effort. I have been sending these kits out to New Church ministers. All you have to do is ask your local minister if he can supply you with one of these kits; and then join our world organization by sending a donation of your choice.
     I do ask for your commitment to help. If your minister doesn't have the supporter kits, write to me direct and I'll send you one.
     Leslie Sheppard,
          New Church Collateral Publishing,
          P.O. Box 45, Woolloongabba,
          Queensland, 4102, Australia

     Editorial Note: The first books Mr. Sheppard will reprint will be the Commentaries on the Gospels by John Clowes.
PARENTS, TEACHERS, BOOKS 1983

PARENTS, TEACHERS, BOOKS              1983

     The Word needs to be taught mediately through parents, teachers, books, and especially the reading of it. Nevertheless it is not taught by these, but by the Lord through them. Divine Providence 172

     Do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.          Matthew 23:8 (NKJV)

267


NEWS FROM BENADE 1983

NEWS FROM BENADE       R.R.G       1983

     Benade and Wilkinson Compared

     The following is from a letter written on June 2nd, 1895, by C. T. Odhner. He is telling his wife his impressions of Dr. J. Garth Wilkinson.

     . . . his house corresponds to his mind-richly stored with most beautiful and interesting things. The Dr. himself is a very tall and ancient gentleman-83 years old- with white hair and beard, spectacled, benignant, lively as a young man, slightly deaf, talkative, witty, affectionate-capturing your heart and your attention at once. He reminded me greatly of Father B., and it is certain that have never met a more lovable, venerable, and inspiring old gentleman than him-with the single exception of our own beloved Chancellor, who has the same genius, but on a higher plane. We spent more than two hours with him, in unbroken conversation, and were more than charmed with our visit. Louis [Pendleton] was simply enthusiastic about him. We found him a much sounder New Churchman than we had expected . . . . He reads the Standard with great pleasure, and is especially interested in our New Church science and our study of Hebrew . . . . I extracted a promise from Dr. Wilkinson to write a prefatory notice to the new ed. of the Generative Organs, which is to be published. This will be a "drawing card" for the public . . . .
     R.R.G.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN BRYN ATHYN IN 1984 1983

GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN BRYN ATHYN IN 1984              1983

     Concerning the General Assembly (June 7th to June 10th, 1984) announced in the May issue (p. 213) please note the following:
     A general mailing with details concerning the assembly will be sent out to all church members in September or October. Registration forms will follow early in 1984.
     Suggestions or questions regarding displays, special meetings or other ideas for the assembly are welcome and should be directed to Garry Hyatt, Chairman, General Assembly, P.O. Box 29, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009; phone (215) 947-4549.

268


Church News 1983

Church News       Greta Lyman       1983

     TUCSON, ARIZONA

     After serving the Tucson Circle for eight years, Rev. Roy Franson and his wife Britta were bid farewell on May 9th at one of the best parties ever given at the church. Guy and Helen Alden made the arrangements and presented the Fransons with some gifts from the circle.
     Between the departure of the Fransons and the arrival of the Roses two other ministers visited the circle and conducted services: Rev. Robert Cole and Rev. Louis Synnestvedt.
     Our new pastor, Rev. Frank Rose, and his lovely wife Louise arrived in September, 1982, and the first Sunday saw us all gathered at the manse after service for a "get acquainted" social. To many of us it was like coming home, remembering the many wonderful times we have enjoyed at the manse in years past (when pastors Doug Taylor, Geoffrey Howard and Norman Reuter lived there).
     In September we began a series of "brainstorming" sessions to explore ways and means to further the growth of our church, and to determine a new name for our local church.
     On October 29th we were delighted to welcome Rev. Douglas Taylor, one of our former pastors, who gave a most enlightening talk, "How to talk about the church," and followed it up on Saturday with a one-day workshop attended by 32 members, including six from Phoenix. Rev. Taylor conducted our service on Sunday and we were truly sorry his visit had to be so short and that his wife Christine was unable to come with him.
     After we finished four brainstorming sessions we began a series of doctrinal classes covering the basic doctrines of the church and these have proved quite valuable.
     We had a number of enjoyable events over the Christmas season including tableaux, with the children taking the parts, and caroling. We have had a goodly number of winter visitors during the past several months, many of them arriving in time to join us in the holiday festivities. Partly for the visitors, we had a series of Bible studies from the Gospel of Mark on four successive Wednesday mornings in February.
     About twice a month we have had Saturday outings for the younger and more agile people. These outings are to some of the well known scenic spots around southern Arizona and have proved quite popular and enjoyable, offering an opportunity for communication and sharing.
     The newest addition to our church property is a trailer to be used as a Sunday school and nursery. A speaker has been installed in the trailer thus enabling the teachers and assistants to listen to the service. The trailer is called "Rainbow House" and has proved to be a most welcome addition to our facilities.
     Our Palm Sunday service saw the children coming forward waving palm branches, and on Easter Sunday floral offerings were brought forward by young and old alike. The Holy Supper was offered following the sermon. After service we all gathered once against the manse for a delightful lunch and an Easter egg hunt for the children. There were 61 at the service, including visitors from other parts of Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and California.
     The past eight months have been a period of growth and renewal, a time of drawing together. We have greatly renewed interest in the growth of our Church and the future looks bright indeed.
     Greta Lyman

269




     [Photos of The Tucson Church and Rainbow House]

270


ASSEMBLY IS ONE YEAR FROM NOW 1983

ASSEMBLY IS ONE YEAR FROM NOW              1983




     Announcements







     See page 267 for a note on next June's General Assembly.

272


VISITORS TO CHURCH SOCIETIES 1983

VISITORS TO CHURCH SOCIETIES              1983

     Visitors to the following societies who are in need of hospitality accommodations are invited to contact in advance the appropriate Hospitality Committee head listed below:

Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania               
Mrs. James L. Pendleton           
815 Fettersmill Rd.                    
Bryn Athyn, PA 19009           
Phone:(215)947-1810                
               
Atlanta, Georgia
Mr. and Mrs. John Robertson
5215 Sweet Air Lane
Stone Mountain, GA 30088

Detroit, Michigan                    
Mrs. Garry Childs                    
2140 East Square Lake Rd.           
Troy, MI 48098                    
Phone: (313) 879-9914                

Glenview, Illinois                    
Mrs. Philip Horigan                
50 Park Dr.                          
Glenview, IL 60025                
Phone: (312) 729-5644      

Toronto, Ont., Canada
Mrs. Sydney Parker
30 Royaleigh Ave.
Weston, Ont. M9P 2J5
Phone: (416) 241-3704

Cincinnati, Ohio
Mrs. Stephen Gladish
9065 Foxhunter Lane
Cincinnati, Ohio 45242
                         
Colchester, England
Mrs. Donald A. Bowyer
26 Allanbrooke Road
Colchester, Essex, CO2 8EG
Phone: 0206-43712

London, England
Mrs. Geoffrey P. Dawson
28 Parklands Rd.
Streatham, London. SW 16
Phone: 01-769-7922

Pittsburgh, Penna.
Mrs. Paul M. Schoenberger
7433 Ben Hur St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15208
Phone: (412) 171-3056

Sacramento, California
Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Ripley
2310 North Cirby Way
Roseville, CA 95678
Phone: (916) 782-7837

San Diego, California
Mrs. Helen L. Brown
2810 Wilbee Court
San Diego, CA 92123
Phone: (312) 729-5644           

San Francisco, California
Mrs. T. L. Aye
P. O. Box 2391
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
Phone: (408) 730-1522

Kitchener, Ont., Canada           
Mrs. Maurice Schnarr           
98 Evenstone Ave., R. R. 2           
Kitchener, Ont. N2G 3W5           

     Kindly call at least two weeks in advance if possible.

273


PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES 1983

PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES              1983

GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
RIGHT REV. LOUIS B. KING
Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania

PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES
Public worship and doctrinal classes are provided either regularly or occasionally at the locations listed below. For details use the local phone number of the contact person mentioned or communicate with the Secretary of the General Church, Rev. L. R. Soneson, Cairncrest, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009, Phone (215) 947-4660.                         

     AUSTRALIA

     SYDNEY, N.S.W.                                             
Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom, 22 Dudley Street, Penshurst, N.S.W. 2222. Phone: 57-1589.

     BRAZIL

     RIO DE JANEIRO                                   
Rev. Andrew Heilman, Rua Ferreira de Sampaio 58. Apt. 101, Abolicao, Rio de Janeiro 20.000.

     CANADA

     British Columbia:

     DAWSON CREEK                                        
Rev. William Clifford. 1536 94th Ave., Dawson Creek, V1G 1H1. Phone: (604) 782-3997.

     VANCOUVER
Mr. Douglas Crompton, 21-7055 Blake St., V5S 3V5. Phone: (604) 437-9136.

     Ontario:

     KITCHENER
Rev. Christopher Smith, 16 Bannockburn Rd., R.R. 2, N2G 3W5. Phone: (519) 893-7460.

     OTTAWA
Mr. and Mrs. Donald McMaster, 726 Edison Avenue, Apt. 33, Ottawa, Ontario K2C 3P8. Phone: (613) 729-6452.

     TORONTO
Rev. Geoffrey Childs, 2 Lorraine Gardens, Islington, Ontario M9B 424 Phone: (416) 231-4958.

     Quebec:

     MONTREAL
Mr. Denis de Chazal, 17 Ballantyne Ave. So., Montreal West, Quebec H4X 281. Phone: (514) 489-9861.

     DENMARK

     COPENHAGEN
Mr. Jorgen Hauptmann, Strandvejen 22, Jyllinge, 4000 Roskilde. Phone: 03-389968.

     ENGLAND

     COLCHESTER
Mrs. Donald A. Bowyer, 26 Allanbrooke Road, Colchester, Essex CO2 8EG. Rev. Kenneth O. Stroh, 2 Christchurch Court, Colchester, Essex CO3 3AU. Phone: 0206-43712

     LETCHWORTH
Mr. and Mrs. R. Evans, 111 Howard Drive, Letchworth, Herts. Phone: Letchworth 4751.

     LONDON
Rev. Robert McMaster, 135 Mantilla Rd., London SW17 8DX. Phone: 672-6239.

     MANCHESTER
Mrs. Neil Rowcliffe, 135 Bury Old Road, Heywood, Lanes. Phone: Heywood 68189.

     FRANCE

     BOURGUINON-MEURSANGES
Rev. Alain Nicolier, 21200 Beaune, France. Phone: (80) 22.47.88.

     HOLLAND

     THE HAGUE
Mr. Daan Lupker, Wabserveen Straat 25, The Hague.

     NEW ZEALAND

     AUCKLAND
Mrs. Marion Mills, 8 Duders Ave., Devonport, Auckland 9. Phone: 453-043.

     NORWAY

     OSLO
Mr. Eyvind Boyesen, Vetlandsveien 82A, Oslo 6. Phone: 26-1159.

     SCOTLAND

     EDINBURGH
Mr. and Mrs. N. Laidlaw, 35 Swanspring Ave., Edinburgh EH 10-6NA. Phone: 0 31-445- 2377.

     GLASGOW
Mrs. J. Clarkson, Hillview. Balmore, Nr. Torrance, Glasgow. Phone: Balmore 262.

     SOUTH AFRICA

     Natal:

     DURBAN
Rev. Geoffrey Howard, 30 Perth Rd., Westville, Natal. 3630. Phone: 031-821 136.

     Transvaal:

     JOHANNESBURG
Mr. D. S. Came, 110 8th St., Lindon 2195. Phone: 011-462982.

274




     Zululand:

     KENT MANOR
Louisa Allais, 129 Anderson Road, Mandini, Zululand 4490.

     Mission in South Africa:
Superintendent-The Rev. Norman E. Riley, 42 Pitlochry Rd., Westville. Natal, 3630.

     SWEDEN

     JONKOPING
Rev. Bjorn Boyesen, Bruksater, Furusjo, 5-56600, Habo. Phone: 0392-20395.

     STOCKHOLM
Rev. Roy Franson, Aladdinsvagen 27, 161 38 Bromma. Phone: 48-99-22 and 26-79-85.

     UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

     Alabama:

     BIRMINGHAM
Dr. R. Shepard, 4537 Dolly Ridge Road, Birmingham, AL 35243. Phone: (205) 967-3442.

     Arizona:

     PHOENIX
Mr. Hubert Rydstrom, 3640 E. Piccadilly Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85018. Phone: (602) 955-2290.

     TUCSON
Rev. Frank S. Rose, 2536 N. Stewart Ave., Tucson, AZ 85716. Phone: (602) 327-2612.

     Arkansas:

     LITTLE ROCK
Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Holmes, Rt. 6, Box 447, Batesville, AR 72501.

     California:

     LOS ANGELES
Rev. Michael Gladish, 5022 Carolyn Way, La Crescenta, CA 91214. Phone: (213) 249-5031.

     SACRAMENTO
Patricia Street Scott, 3448 Vougue Court, Sacramento, CA 95826.

     SAN DIEGO
Rev. Cedric King, 7911 Canary Way, San Diego, CA 92123. Phone: (714) 268-0379.

     SAN FRANCISCO
Rev. Wendel Barnett, 4638 Royal Garden Place, San Jose, CA 95136. Phone: (408) 224-8521.

     Colorado:

     COLORADO SPRINGS
Mr. and Mrs. William Reinstra, 708 Manitou Ave., Manitou Springs, CO 80829. Phone: (303) 685-9519.

     DENVER
Rev. Clark Echols, 3371 W. 94th Ave., Westminster, CO 80030. Phone (303) 429-1239

     Connecticut:

     HARTFORD

     SHELTON
Rev. Glenn Alden, 47 Jerusalem Hill Rd., Trumbull, CT 06611. Phone: (203) 877-1141.

     Delaware:

     WILMINGTON
Mrs. Justin Hyatt, 417 Delaware Ave., McDaniel Crest, Wilmington, DE 19803. Phone: (302) 478-4213.

     District of Columbia see Mitchellville. Maryland.

     Florida:

     LAKE HELEN
Rev. John Odhner, 413 Summit Ave., Lake Helen, FL 32744. Phone: (904) 228-2337.

     MIAMI
Rev. Mark Alden, 15101 N. W. Fifth Ave., Miami, FL 33169. Phone: (305) 687-1337.

     Georgia:

     AMERICUS
Mr. W. H. Eubanks, Rt. #2, S. Lee St., Americus, GA 31709. Phone: (912) 924-9221.

     ATLANTA
Rev. Christopher Bown, 3795 Montford Dr., Chamblee. GA 30341. Phone:(404)457-4726

     Idaho:

     FRUITLAND
(Idaho-Oregon border) Mr. Harold Rand,1705 Whitley Dr., Fruitland, ID 83619. Phone: (208) 452-3181.

     Illinois:

     CHICAGO
Rev. Brian Keith, 2712 Brassie Dr., Glenview, IL 60025. Phone: (312) 724-7829.

     DECATUR
Mr. John Aymer, 380 Oak Lane, Decatur, IL 62562. Phone: (217) 875-3215.

     GLENVIEW
Rev. Peter Buss, 73 Park Dr., Glenview, IL 60025. Phone: (312) 724-0120.

     Indiana:
Contact Rev. Stephen Cole in Cincinnati, Ohio, or Mr. James Wood, R. R. 1, Lapel, IN 46051

     Louisiana:

     BATON ROUGE
Mr. Henry Bruser, Jr., 1652 Ormandy Dr., Baton Rouge, LA 70808. Phone: (504) 921-3089.

     Maryland:

     BALTIMORE
Rev. David Simons, 13213 E. Greenbank Rd., Oliver Beach, MD 21220. Phone: (301) 335-6763.

275




     MITCHELLVILLE
Rev. Daniel Heinrichs, 3809 Enterprise Rd., Mitchellville, MD 20716. Phone: (301) 262-4565.

     Massachusetts:

     BOSTON
Rev. Grant Odhner, 50 Cochituate R., Wayland, MA 01778. Phone: (617) 358-5496.

     Michigan:

     DETROIT
Rev. Walter Orthwein, 132 Kirk La., Troy, MI 48084. Phone: (313) 689-6118.

     EAST LANSING
Mr. Christopher Clark, 5853 Smithfield, East Lansing, MI 48823. Phone: (517) 351-2880.

     Minnesota:

     ST. PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS
Mrs. Tore Gram, 20185 Vine St., Excelsior, MN 55331. Phone: (612) 474-9574.

     Missouri:

     COLUMBIA
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Johnson, 103 S. Greenwood, Columbia, MO 65201.

     KANSAS CITY
Mr. Glen Klippenstein, Glenkirk Farms, Maysville, MO 64469. Phone: (816) 449-2167.

     New Jersey-New York:

     RIDGEWOOD. N.J.
Mrs. Fred E. Munich, 474 S. Maple Ave., Glen Rock, NJ 07452. Phone: (201) 445-1141.

     New Mexico:

     ALBUQUERQUE
Dr. Andrew Doering, 1298 Sagebrush Ct., Rio Rancho, NM 87124. Phone: (505) 897-3623.

     North Carolina:

     CHARLOTTE
Mr. Gordon Smith, 38 Newriver Trace, Clover, SC 29710. Phone: (803) 831-2355.

     Ohio:

     CINCINNATI
Rev. Stephen Cole, 6431 Mayflower Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45237. Phone: (513) 631-1210.

     CLEVELAND
Mr. Alan Childs, 19680 Beachcliff Blvd., Rocky River, OH 44116. Phone: (216) 333-4413.

     COLUMBUS
Mr. Hubert Heinrichs, 8372 Todd Street Rd., Sunbury. OH 43074. Phone: (614) 524-2738.

     Oklahoma:

     TULSA
Mrs. Louise Tennis, 3546 S. Marion, Tulsa, OK 74135. Phone: (918) 742-8495.

     Oregon:

     PORTLAND
Mrs. M. D. Rich, 2655 S. W. Upper Drive Pl., Portland, OR 97201. Phone: (503) 227-4144.

     Oregon-Idaho Border.-See Idaho, Fruitland.

     Pennsylvania:

     BRYN ATHYN
Rev. Kurt Asplundh, Box 277, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009. Phone: (215) 947-3665.

     ERIE
Mrs. Paul Murray, 5648 Zuck Rd., Erie, PA 16506. Phone: (814) 833-0962.

     KEMPTON
Rev. Arne Bau-Madsen, Box 527, Rt. 1, Lenhartsville. PA 19534. Phone: (215) 756-6139.

     PITTSBURGH
Rev. Ragnar Boyesen, 7420 Ben Hur St., Pittsburgh, PA 15208. Phone: (Church) (412) 731- 1061.

     South Carolina:- see North Carolina.

     South Dakota:

     ORAL-HOT SPRINGS
Rev. Erik Sandstrom, RR 1, Box 101M, Hot Springs, SD 57747. Phone: (605) 745-6714

     Texas:

     FORT WORTH
Mrs. Charles Hogan, 7513 Evelyn La., Ft. Worth, TX 76118. Phone: (817) 284-0502.

     Washington:

     SEATTLE
Rev. Kent Junge, 14323-123rd NE, #C, Kirkland. WA 98033. Phone: (206) 821-0157.

     Wisconsin:

     MADISON
Mrs. Charles Howell, 3912 Plymouth Circle, Madison, WI 53705. Phone: (608) 233-0209.

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JOHN IN THE ISLE OF PATMOS 1983

JOHN IN THE ISLE OF PATMOS              1983

STORIES OF REVELATION
BY
GEORGE DE CHARMS

     Based on the Apocalypse Revealed
By Emanuel Swedenborg
These stories from Revelation based on the Apocalypse Revealed and illustrated by Eudora Sellner are ideal for family reading, or individual reading by children in the later years of grade school. Each of the twenty-eight chapters may be easily read at a single sitting.

GENERAL CHURCH
Book Center
Bryn Athyn
PA 19009

Hours 9 to 12
Monday thru Friday
Phone (215) 947-3920

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Notes on This Issue 1983

Notes on This Issue       Editor       1983


Vol. CIII     July, 1983     No. 7
NEW CHURCH LIFE

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     Among the people to thank this month is Mr. David Glenn who joined in the project of leafing through an ancient book, folding out its large 245-year-old pages and reproducing a picture (p. 299). This may be the only book mentioned in the published works of the Writings (see the editorial on page 314. (Having studied this book with delight Swedenborg gave away his copy in 1760.)
     We would thank especially Kurt Rosenquist who drew three pictures for us relating to Divine Love and Wisdom (pages 300, 301, 304). We thank Dr. George Dole for letting us use his translation (p. 297) and Dr. William Woofenden for allowing us to be the first to publish this portion.
     Mr. Vernon Graeser of Gorand Rapids, Michigan, is to be congratulated for completing a set of Religion Lessons for adults on the book Divine Love and Wisdom. "Can anyone having true rationality, after reading the description presented here in the Writings concerning the life of bees, be so dull of mind as to think all of this remarkable wisdom comes from a dead ball of fire in the sky 93,000,000 miles away?" (p. 308)
     Mr. Hugo Odhner's appeal last month (p. 253) has led to interesting discussions of which we will speak another time.
     Students of the Writings have for many years discussed the implications of a phrase in the work Invitation to the New Church. Rev. Geoffrey Howard comes up with a new perspective, calling our attention to the word "personal" (p. 318).
     Many of our readers have vivid memories of the late Otho Heilman. In fact, some of them learned about the New Church from this remarkable man. Otho's sister Rena died in 1981 in her 99th year. Those of us who have chatted with her in her kitchen will hear her tones and see the twinkle in her eye when reading the piece by her son-in-law, Edward B. Lee, Jr. (p. 309).
ANNOUNCEMENT 1983

ANNOUNCEMENT       Louis B. King       1983

     Rev. Lawson M. Smith has been affirmed as the Resident Pastor of the Washington Society of the General Church, effective July 1, 1983. Louis B. King, Bishop

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WHITE HORSE 1983

WHITE HORSE       Rev. DAVID R. SIMONS       1983

     "And I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse: and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True . . . and His name is called the Word of God"(Rev. 19:11, 13).

     From ancient times, when men knew the spiritual correspondence of natural things, horses have been used as noble symbols of the human understanding and its capacity to receive truth. Because the Lord comes to man in the form of Divine truth, as the Word which is first received by the understanding, therefore horses, or members of the horse family, are associated with every coming of the Lord. When the Lord was born on earth in His first advent, He was laid in a manger-a feeding place for horses. On Palm Sunday, just prior to His appearing in the resurrection as the One God of heaven and earth, the Lord rode into Jerusalem on the foal of an ass and established His kingship. In the Apocalypse, the same Lord Jesus Christ revealed Himself prophetically as He would make His second coming. "And I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse: and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True . . . and His name is called the Word of God." And in the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem the Lord reveals Himself in a book under the title "The White Horse mentioned in the Apocalypse with particulars respecting the Word and Its Spiritual or Internal Sense."
     In most ancient times men saw internal things in external. They saw the things of heaven in the things of the world. They saw human qualities mirrored in every natural thing. From perceptive insight, gained by open contact with the angels of heaven, the men of the Most Ancient Church learned to interpret their natural environment in spiritual terms-in terms of their own minds and in terms of the human love and wisdom of their Creator.
     For them, animals in general brought to mind good affections. Gentle and useful animals, they saw, corresponded to good affections; fierce and useless, to evil affections. Every animal had its special signification" (AC 1823). They did not make up this relation of animals to human qualities, but derived this knowledge from the spiritual world where "animals of all kinds are seen," where affections and thoughts of those in the spiritual world appear in the form of various animals (TCR 66).

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A horse, these men knew, corresponds to the affection for understanding, and a rider, one who is intelligent. When there is deep meditation-the intense use of the understanding-horses appear in the spiritual world.
     This phenomenon in the spiritual world, known to the ancients, is confirmed by Emanuel Swedenborg by his own direct experience: "I have often observed [he tells us in the work The White Horse] when any were thinking from their understanding, that at such times they appeared as if riding on horses; their meditation was thus represented before others, they themselves not knowing it" (WH 3). And further, in the work Apocalypse Explained he states: "That a 'horse' corresponds to the intellect, and [the color of the horse to the quality of the understanding] has been made familiar to me from experience; for spirits who were meditating from the understanding upon some subjects have several times been seen by me to be riding upon horses, and when I asked them whether they were riding, they said that they were not, but that they stood meditating upon some subject; which made clear that riding upon a horse is an appearance representing the operation of their understanding. There is also a place called the assembly of the intelligent and wise, to which very many resort for meditation, and when anyone is coming to it, horses of various colors and variously caparisoned, and also chariots, with some riding and others sitting in the chariots, appear to him; and then also when they are asked whether they are riding upon horses, or are carried in chariots, they say that they are not but that they are going along meditating . . . . From this [experience] it can now be seen why John saw horses when the seals of the book were opened, [and also a white horse] and what they signify. These horses were seen because all the spiritual things of the Word are presented in the literal sense by means of such things as correspond, that is, as represent and thence signify [spiritual things]; and this in order that the Divine may be [in the Word] in ultimates and consequently in fulness," holiness and power (AE 364:3).
     It is from this reality in the spiritual world, from their correspondence to the understanding of man, that horses have their place in the Word, and also in the myths and legends which come to us from antiquity and which had a prior origin in the ancient Word. The general concept of the correspondence between horses and the human intellect is that everything horses do for the bodies of men, the understanding does for the mind. Horses provide transportation; they carry burdens; they are a mount from which to fight; they are a beauty to see and a pleasure to ride. Similarly, or rather correspondentially, the understanding enables us to journey to distant ideas; the understanding carries past experience and knowledge on its back; the intellect supports our conclusions as we fight the cold war for ideas and ideals; there is beauty in a well-ordered mind, and delight in its use.

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Something of a memory of the spiritual meaning of horses has also crept into our everyday language, and we talk of "horse sense"-meaning common sense, intelligence, or understanding.
     That the ancients loved to use correspondences in their writing and in their art, and that the horse had a special place with them, is clear from the ancient Greeks who originally portrayed the many Divine qualities of the one God as different gods and goddesses, many of whom were pictured with horses and chariots. Apollo, the god of the sun, daily drove his fiery steeds across the heavens, representing intelligence from love. Neptune, god of the briny deep, had his chariot and horses picturing how the sciences came from an understanding of the sea of experience. And when the Greeks, using the language of correspondences "described the origin of the sciences from the understanding, they represented it by a winged horse (Pegasus) which with its hoof broke open a fountain, at which sat nine virgins caned the sciences. For from the ancient churches they received the knowledge that 'the horse' signifies the understanding; 'wings,' spiritual truth; 'the hoof,' what is scientific from the understanding; and a 'fountain,' doctrine from which sciences are derived" (WH 4).
     Athene was the Greek goddess of war. She represented the systematic and intelligent combat against falsity and evil. Her intelligence is reflected in the myth that gave her a crested helmet decorated with a rising line of horses. It is also said that she was the first to tame the horse and to bridle and yoke it to the chariot, "a significant fact, representing the submission of the human understanding to the authority of [the Word]" (Mythology of the Greeks and Romans. C. Th. Odhner, p. 90). Also Athene bridled Pegasus. In the Trojan war it was Athene who taught Epeus how to form the famous wooden horse by means of which the Greeks gained entrance into Troy. This wooden horse is spoken of in the Writings as "an artificial contrivance by the understanding for the purpose of destroying walls," (WH 4)-the walls of enemy falsities.
     Because the Old Testament has an internal sense, because in it spiritual things are taught correspondentially, therefore wherever horses are used they correspond to the human understanding. Soldiers battled on horses; horses were houghed or crippled; kings possessed huge stables; the mountain was seen by the lad of Elisha to be full of horses and chariots of fire; and Elisha ascended into heaven in a fiery chariot (see 2 Kings 2:11, 12). "Elijah and Elisha represented the Lord as to the Word; the doctrine of love and charity from the Word was represented by 'a fiery chariot'; and the doctrine of faith thence derived [is represented] by 'fiery horses.'

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The doctrine of faith is the same as the understanding of the Word as to its interiors, or as to its internal sense" (AC 2762).
     The New Testament also has a spiritual sense and is written entirely in correspondence-"Without a parable spake He not unto them" (Matt. 13:34). At His first advent the shepherds were told that the Lord should be found in a manger: "And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger" (Luke 2:11, 12, 16). The reason why the Lord was to be found in a manger is revealed in the work Apocalypse Explained: "'A manger' means the doctrine of truth from the Word, because 'horses' signify the understanding of the Word, and thus a manger, as a feeding place for horses, signifies the doctrine of truth from the Word" (AE 706:12). Thus "'a manger' . . . signified spiritual nourishment for the understanding, a manger having this significance because a horse, which eats from it, signifies the understanding" (TCR 277). It is doctrine from the Word which feeds the understanding so that it can grow in spiritual intelligence and wisdom.
     On Palm Sunday the Lord rode into Jerusalem on the foal of an ass to establish His kingship. The ass corresponds to the understanding-the ability to reason in the natural man, which, we are taught, "ought to serve the rational, and this the spiritual, and this the celestial, and this the Lord; such is the order of subordination" (AC 2781:9). We place the Lord on the colt when we learn to think and reason from His truth. Then he rides into our lives as King and establishes His kingdom.
     But by far the most spectacular and dramatic correspondential use of a horse in the New Testament, and one that should have a special place in the minds and hearts of the men of the New Church-in their art forms, representations and symbols-is the sight seen by John when his spiritual eyes were opened to see in prophetic vision the New Christian Church to be established at the second coming of the Lord: "And I saw heaven opened anal behold a white horse: and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True . . . and His name is called the Word of God.
     Heaven has indeed been opened! The Writings reveal the spiritual world in a fullness never before possible, so that the man of the church may know the Lord in the perfection of His own kingdom. Men who will can now behold this white horse and his majestic Rider in the clarity of heavenly light. Now that the Heavenly Doctrines have been given, men can "enter intellectually [with rational understanding] into the mysteries of [the Word]" (TCR 508). Now that the spiritual sense has been disclosed, now that the doctrine of correspondences has been restored, the men of the church can know what every detail in the book of Revelation means.

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For the understanding of spiritual truth, now open to the human intellect, brings the Lord present in the fullness and power of rational truth, so that He can be seen as "Faithful and True," as the source of all faithfulness and truth, and as the "Word of God." For it is in His Word that the Lord is to be approached and known; it is in His Own Body of Truth that the Lord comes most powerfully present with us; it is in the Word of the Old Testament, the New Testament, and now the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem that the Lord makes His advent-as the Rider on a white horse, into the minds and hearts of all who will approach Him and receive Him with intelligence, understanding and love. Amen.
NEWS FROM BENADE 1983

NEWS FROM BENADE       R.R.G       1983

     One of the things about Bishop Benade recalled by some still living is the affection with which he was remembered by their parents, from their childhood contacts with him. He seems never or rarely to have overlooked children, as adults of his generation were inclined to do.
     Here is a letter to Venita Pendleton, aged nine, (named for the Lord's Second Coming, from Latin Venio), thanking her for a gift of flowers:

     Your beautiful flowers have given me so much pleasure that they have helped me to get well. I thank you again for your kind thought, which, I think, was a flower given you by some good spirit . . . . When we see these living flowers, angels have delightful thoughts about all the good things which the LORD has promised to give to those who love Him and do His will.
     You ask me what flowers I like best. I think I like best the simple flowers that have fragrance united with pretty forms . . . roses, of course, and pansies, primroses, and especially the lovely violets, . . . and any others which the LORD gives us here, with the promise that He has others ready for us in heaven, too many and too beautiful to be described. . . .
     I miss you all, dear, quite as much as you can miss me . . . . Mrs. Benade sends love to all, especially the baby . . . . (W. H. Benade to Venita Pendleton, May 30, 1887.)
     [R.R.G.]

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WORSHIP 1983

WORSHIP       Rev. GEOFFREY H. HOWARD       1983

     A STUDY

     (Part II)

     II. ATTITUDES AND STATES OF THE WORSHIPER

     Internal Worship and the Desire to Regenerate

     We will now turn to a consideration of the states into which man needs to come if his worship is to be received by the Lord. As previously stated, 'the purpose of external worship is to keep external things "in holiness so that internal things can flow in" (AC 1618). If worship is to have any spiritual value, internal heavenly states must inflow. Hence we read, "All worship which is truly . . . Divine worship . . . must be from the truths of faith and goods of love . . . . The man who is in these is in genuine worship, for purification of evils and falsities consists in desisting from them, and in shunning and turning away from them. The implantation of good and of truth consists in thinking and willing what is good and what is true and in speaking and doing them; and the conjunction of both consists in living from them. When good and truth have been conjoined in man, he then has a new will and a new understanding, consequently a new life. When he is of this character, there is Divine worship in every work he does, for he then looks to the Divine in everything; he venerates it, and he loves it; consequently he worships it" (AC 10143). Thus true internal worship is of the life, and it proceeds from the heart. Such internal veneration of the Lord comes only by way of regeneration. Thus for worship to be received in heaven, the states of man must be receptive and in concord with the ends and purposes of the Lord. When the life of man is such interiorly he is introduced into a holy state of internal worship, which is the essential quality in all worship. When he begins to regenerate then the quality of his external worship takes on new meaning, for then "there is what is holy and living, because there is internal worship in it" (AC 1175). Internal worship is what "sanctifies and vivifies the formal or ceremonial" (Ibid.). How this sanctification takes place is next described. "The holy internal that belongs to the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, thus to the Word and the consequent worship, flows into heaven and is there received by the angels; and also mediately through that holy internal, and also immediately, there flows in from the Lord a holiness into the good spirits who are with the man who is reading the Word, or is engaged in derivative worship. This holiness is called the holy external.

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When it flows in with man it presents representatives according to the correspondences with him" (AC 9419). What this passage implies is that beautiful and powerful heavenly representatives become vivified in the mind of the man to the degree that his states correspond to the order of heaven. From this comes the delight that is perceived in the ceremonies of external worship. How important it is for man to realize that much of the delight which he perceives in worship is dependent upon his own interior state.

     Entering into Internal Worship

     While we acknowledge internal worship to be the essential of worship, many will ask how they can come into such worship and perceive the internal gladness and delight that accompanies it. In large measure the effectiveness of worship lies in the quality of heart which the worshiper himself entertains

     The Idea of the Lord

     The idea of the Lord held within the mind is of prime importance. This is universally taught (AC 4733). Man's conception of the Lord must be true if he is to be lifted above his fallen nature. The New Church is to worship a visible God and the Lord is made visible to man only if He is worshiped in His Divine Human.
     How are we to think of the Lord when we enter into church? Surely the only way we can think of Him is from that external Divine image which we derive from the New Testament stories. For "it is impossible for man to acknowledge God unless God has manifested Himself in a Personal Human Form." As His Divine Person became manifested to those who had faith in Him, as recorded in the Gospels, so can it be for us. But the idea of a "Person" whom we can infill with the qualities of "Essence" is vital, if we expect to be moved and affected by His spiritual presence.
     Thus when we enter into a church, every endeavor should be made to bring our idea of the Lord into focus; to think of His personal presence with the individual, and to mentally relax. We should picture Him before us "spreading forth His hands and inviting to His arms" (TCR 787). This is the reason why we have the opened Word upon an altar-an altar to represent worship, and the open Word to represent the Lord, and His presence with man thereby. To thus picture the Lord in His Personal Human Form brings His presence and the comfort of His love.

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     Accompanying Attitudes

     To become affected by the Lord in this way, a certain preparation is necessary. Not only must the thought entertain His presence, the heart must also. We cannot come into states of internal worship unless the heart is favorably disposed as to charity. Thoughts of love for the Lord must be accompanied by a charitable disposition toward the neighbor. This is summarized in the words of the Lord: "if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift" (Matt. 5:23, 24). The fallen human proprium is by nature proud, unsubmissive, stubborn and unforgiving. As long as such attitudes prevail, the Lord's presence is barred. Wherefore there must also exist a concerted effort, a definite determination of the will, to change these attitudes. If our worship is to be of avail we must learn how to become truly submissive and humble in spirit. "Humiliation and submission are essentials of worship, for worship without them is not worship . . . . The Lord flows solely into a humble and submissive heart, because such a heart has been fitted to receive . . . . When the heart is truly humble, nothing of the love of self and of the world stands in the way" (AC 8873).
     How do we become truly humble? "in humiliation of heart there is the acknowledgment of self as being nothing but filthiness, and at the same time the acknowledgment of the Lord's infinite mercy toward that which is such" (AC 1999). The same passage goes on to reveal the effects that such humility produces. "When the mind is kept in these two acknowledgments, the very mind droops in lowliness toward hell, and prostrates the body; nor does it uplift itself until it is uplifted by the Lord. This takes place in all true humiliation, with a perception of being lifted by the Lord's mercy" (Ibid). Thus for worship to be truly effective that which is from man's proprium, from selfish inclination, must be surrendered, or emptied out. The stubbornness of reliance upon self must give way to wholehearted trust in the Lord and in His provision. That this might come about is undoubtedly one of the reasons why the Lord permits trials and temptations to confront man, for then he tends to pray more earnestly because he then feels thoroughly helpless. Man cannot worship the Lord from anything from himself. "The worship which is from man himself is not worship . . . . For love and faith make worship, and as love and faith are from the Lord, worship is also from Him" (AC 10203). All elevation of the human spirit is effected solely by the Lord when man yields the proprium unto Him. "He that loseth his life for My sake, the same shall find it" (Matt. 16:25). Humility of this quality does not come easily to man.

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     Progressive Slates in Worship-Childhood to Maturity

     A little reflection will cause us to realize that the quality of worship varies with age, maturity and the state of regeneration. Accordingly the Writings teach that "all worship in its beginning is natural, and afterwards by truths out of the Word, and by a life according to them, becomes spiritual" (AR 161). Worship may be considered as a state brought about by consociation with angels or spirits. Its quality depends upon the love in which the consociate angels are. If we view it thus, then we can readily see that the state with little children differs progressively with advancement to a more regenerate state.
     The initiation into the worship of the Lord commences in childhood. Thus for the sake of captivating the states of little children, part of the Word was couched in the historical style. That this is the purpose is declared in the following passage: "The historical parts have been given in order that infants and children may thereby be initiated into the reading of the Word; for the historical parts are delightful, and rest in their minds, whereby communication is given them with the heavens; and this communication is grateful, because they are in a state of innocence and mutual charity" (BC 6333). Thus when children learn about the Lord, about His holiness, and accept that the Word is from Him, they are brought into a "holy delight from the historical sense" (AC 3982). This "holy delight" comes by virtue of angelic consociation, for the angels who are with them are "in the holiness of the internal sense" (Ibid). It is from this consociation that the child "perceives a kind of delight . . . that is attended with a holy feeling" (Ibid). Experience of this kind of delight prepares the mind "to receive genuine truths and goods" (AC 3665:5).
     Children, however, do not come into such states unless they are instructed and unless they fall under the influence of people who subscribe to such spiritual values. Parents are the most influential in this regard. If they revere the Lord, the holy things of the Word and of the church, and further, if they manifest that reverence in the conduct of their lives, then a certain angelic sphere is invited, to which children are perceptive, and by which they are affected. They draw from this sphere something of the Lord's presence, which carries with it the "holy delights" referred to above. The memory of such states "remain" and are reserved by the Lord for use in later life.
     In order to be led into such delights of worship, proprial inclination to evil must be rendered quiescent. To achieve this the mind must be brought into a state of order, for only then may the delight from angelic consociation be perceived. For this end the commandments were given. That man is introduced into worship through obedience to these commandments is clear.

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"These do not set forth goods that are to be done, but evils that must be shunned . . . . These commandments are the first things to be taught in the churches; for they are taught to boys and girls in order that man may begin his Christian life with them, and by no means forget them as he grows up; although he does so" (Ibid). If parents are unaware or insensitive to the power of spiritual spheres; if they do not themselves revere God in their thought and in their life, then these "holy feelings" will not be perceived by them and children will develop without experiencing such influences from their parents. In this regard the "remains" that should have been implanted will be scant. Thus the Lord's influence upon them will be somewhat impaired.
     The Writings teach the order ire which the worship of God should proceed. "Ah worship of God must needs begin with holy fear, within which is the thought that God will reward the good and punish the evil. The simple and little children must believe this . . . . And when they begin by not daring, through fear, to do what is evil, there is gradually insinuated love together with good" (AC 6071:5). Although "holy fear" is usually predicated of states advancing in the course of regeneration, it is important to note that it begins as a fear of consequence with those who are in external worship, as are children and youths. Thus we are further taught that love to God begins as "fear with those who are in external worship without internal. It becomes holy fear with those who are in spiritual worship, and it becomes love in which is holy reverence with those who are in celestial worship" (A 5459).
     However, there are those (a few within the New Church but many within the Christian world) who raise the complaint that worship in their early life was not an experience remembered with fondness and delight. The concept of fear and of compulsion had often been abused. The idea of the evil and depravity of the individual was so onerously laid upon the young person's developing concept of himself that worship became an experience to be shunned. Its effect was so negative because evil was exposed, guilt was imputed, yet the concept of mercy, love and deliverance was never intellectually accepted as a real living possibility. Without mercy and forgiveness we all stand condemned, and if we believe that of ourselves then life is wretched. Thus the teaching is given which seems so essential to proper balance and perspective: "that worship must be applied in favor of love Divine. By "love Divine' is meant love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor . . . . As the whole Word . . . has regard to these two loves as ends . . . hence also Divine worship must look to the same . . . . All worship which is truly worship is from truths . . . and the truths of worship are applied in favor of love Divine when worship is performed by man from the Lord" (AC 10308).

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The implication is that all worship must look to the end of inspiring a love for the Lord and also showing how that love can bring about the spiritual relationship of mutual love between man and his neighbor through mercy and forgiveness. Indeed evil is the only thing that impairs this relationship from developing. Therefore its destructive power must be clearly exposed. But also, the way of deliverance and the hope of deliverance must always prevail as living possibilities.
     While continuing to address the state of worship of those not yet spiritual, such as those in their youth, it is important to take cognisance of their stage of development. We must remember its limitations and its capabilities. Youths and those in early maturity may well be "in truth and not yet in good." Of these it says, "They adore external things and disregard internal. No one perceives what is internal but he who is in good" (AC 6396). We have to appreciate the limitations of this stage of development. The horror of evil, its spiritual emptiness and ugliness, cannot be appreciated nor perceived except from "good," not until evils are shunned as sins against God.
     Before adult life is reached the prevailing state is one of obedience to parents and masters (see TCR 106). And here the importance of a sound example set in the home and in the environment in general cannot be stressed too greatly. Most young people cherish an ideal for themselves and this is invariably personified in terms of those human beings they love and respect, and who in turn love them. If the adult example is born of honor for the Lord, of sincere and heartfelt respect for the things of the church, thus of manifest worship in life, something of that same example will be emulated partly because of the respect it brings to the image of oneself. This is a mediate good but its importance in leading the developing mind to worship the Lord is a significant factor. Indeed, in whatever state of life the Lord is loved, whenever His commandments are kept, the consequence is that the mind becomes disposed into a state of order. Angelic consociation is invited, and "holy delights" become perceived. Obedience, and the effort to introduce order into the mind and life, enables the Lord to impart remains. This will inspire a free worship, a desire to worship from one's own determination, and from delight.

     Compelled Worship

     Next a word should be said about compelled worship. We will quote a few references to summarise the teachings. "Compelled worship shuts in evils, which evils then lie hidden . . . while worship not compelled but spontaneous does not shut evils in . . . . The internal is so averse to compulsion that it turns itself away" (DP 136:4).

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"All true internal worship. comes from freedom, and none from compulsion" (AC 1947; see also 2879, 7439). "Worship from freedom is pleasing to the Lord, but not worship from compulsion; for worship from freedom is worship from love because all freedom is of love . . . . That which is inseminated in freedom remains, because it is inrooted in the very will of man, which is the being of his life" (AC 9588).
     Parents sometimes raise the question as to whether they should compel their children to attend church when their will seems bent against it. This, however, is often a mechanism employed in which the child or the young person is in fact unconsciously seeking to establish his values. Indeed it is a sensitive situation and the teaching concerning compulsion should be remembered. It would appear that this question is best answered by appealing to the person on behalf of his allegiance and personal responsibility to the Lord. A person comes to church not to please the minister nor the parents but to worship the Lord that his mind may be disposed into a state receptive of the Lord's love. For the Lord does not desire worship from man to enhance His glory, but so that man may humble his proprium and thus become receptive of Him (see AC 10646:3). A person's happiness and strength in life is dependent upon his relationship with the Lord, and that will be forfeited by choosing other pursuits to the neglect of worship. Real spiritual happiness comes only when man is desirous to worship the Lord as to intention, in heart and in life. However, where parental example is sound, where both father and mother truly worship the Lord, they will radiate a sphere of humility out of which spiritual strength is built.
     Because external worship assists in this course, it will come to be perceived with delight. When this attitude exists with parents, children will want to join in that sphere. Any serious question of compulsion is then most unlikely to arise.

     Regeneration and the Quality of worship

     According to the intended order of the Lord, when man reaches adult age he is given the potential "full use of his understanding and judgment" (AC 1661). From thence onward there exists the possibility for his spiritual mind to be opened through regeneration. If he applies to his life the truths he knows, "he can be perfected in respect to his intellectual" (AC 6125). When regeneration commences, this intellectual performs the use of seeing and perceiving what is good, and thereby what is true; for the intellectual carries over those things which are of the light of heaven into those which are of the light of nature" (Ibid). In this state he begins to see spiritual values for himself, and no longer from the historical faith of his developing years.

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Thus a transformation begins to occur wherein natural faith becomes replaced by spiritual faith (see TCR 8). As evils are seen as sins against the Lord, and are consequently shunned, good from the Lord begins to enter and regeneration is commenced. The result is that man's external worship becomes infilled with internal worship and made living and joyful.
     Accordingly we are taught, "regeneration is one thing, and worship another. Regeneration is first, and the worship is according to the quality of man's regeneration. His worship is accepted and pleasing to the degree that he has been purified from evil and the consequent falsities, and accordingly in proportion that the truths and the goods of faith have been implanted. For by worship is meant everything that proceeds from the love and faith with man, and is uplifted to the Lord by the Lord" (AC 10206).
     In every stage of adult life the Lord has provided that the chronological age should be accompanied by an appropriate stage of spiritual development. Regeneration commences on the plane of the rational, then should proceed to the middle natural, and finally to the sensuous. Admittedly this is speaking of a very complex subject in very general terms, but nevertheless if there is delay or avoidance on the part of man when there is the opportunity to advance spiritually, his failure to do so will register upon his consciousness a measure of frustration and disillusionment.
     If regeneration progresses according to order, according to opportunity, man will be gifted with a growing confidence, trust and faith in the Lord. One of the signs of spiritual progress, that sins have been forgiven, is manifested in this, that "delight is felt in worshiping God for the sake of God" (AC 9449).
     If, on the other hand, little or no delight is found in worship, it is symptomatic of spiritual defect. It is one of "the signs that sins have not been forgiven" (AC 9450). Unless man turns to the Word he fails to isolate the reason for his unhappy state. Through delay in attending to spiritual advancement, the Lord cannot open the spiritual mind whereby delight in things of spiritual value descends. As long as the spiritual mind remains unopened, such people "sometimes suffer hard things" (DLW 253).
     Therefore, if no delight is perceived in worship, it is perhaps indicative of the need for self-examination. If man is not in truths and in a life according to them, then it is said that the "things which are of worship shall be taken away . . . . It is said that the Lord 'will come like a thief,' because from the man who is in dead worship, the external good of worship is taken away" (AR 164). With the loss of this "external good" the delight in worship diminishes.

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     Indifference may perhaps be stimulated by the pride of self-intelligence, or the preoccupation with worldly activities. The Word may pass unread. Then falsity of ignorance begins to increase. Falsity of ignorance has its origin "either from one's having been [falsely] instructed from childhood, or from having been diverted by various occupations so that one has not examined whether that which professes to be true is really so. It can also arise from not having had much faculty of judging concerning what is true and what is false" (AC 1295).
     The point is that if there is no cooperation on the part of man to order the externals of his life, the Lord is unable to order the internals. "For those who give no thought to the evils in themselves, that is, do not examine themselves and afterwards refrain from evils, must needs be ignorant of what evil is, and must needs love it from enjoyment in it. He who fails to think about it is continually in it. Like a blind man he does not see it" (DP 101).
     Internal contentment, together with delight in worship, can be given to the degree that falsities and evils are replaced with truths and their goods, For this to happen regeneration must proceed according to its prescribed order, firstly, with the regeneration of the rational, secondly, of the middle natural, and thirdly, of the sensuous. If this progress fails to materialize, lapses, or ceases along the way, the Lord will permit an eroding sense of unhappiness and displeasure to invade, which will hopefully result in repentance and amendment of life. Unhappy states result from the absence of the Lord's love, and all states of anguish and disillusionment are symptomatic of this lack. Only through a return to a true worship of the Lord may this state become lifted.
     "The signs that sins have been forgiven are the following. Delight is felt in worshiping God for the sake of God; in being of service to the neighbor for the sake of the neighbor; thus in doing good for the sake of good, and in believing truth for the sake of truth. There is an unwillingness to merit by anything that belongs to charity and faith. Evils, such as enmities, hatreds, revenges, unmercifulness, adulteries-in a word, all things that are against God and against the neighbor-are shunned and are held in aversion" (AC 9449).

     III. VARIETY IN WORSHIP

     As we look at the many different peoples of this world, the different races, the different nationalities, each with its special and individual dispositions, we find tremendous diversity. All receive the Lord's life, yet since the form of mind in each segment of the population is different, so is their response different. We may therefore expect this diversity between peoples to be manifested in a diversity in the external rituals of worship.

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     As we noted in the first part of this study, when it comes to prescribing the specifics of ritual in external worship the Writings offer little that is direct. Only general principles are clear. We believe this is done to provide for variety in human response to the Lord, to provide for variety in the worship of Him. Thus, the question of variety is an important one to consider.
     In years to come we anticipate the further spread of the New Church to many quarters of this globe. Already we find that there exists with people quite a variety of preferences with respect to their forms of worship. The national and cultural backgrounds of people differ. The Writings refer to these differences, and we can assume that preferences for different forms of worship are likely to occur between people of differing heritage and culture. There is one passage which seems to relate to this question in quite a direct manner. "The gentiles are also distinguished according to their genius and their capacity to receive light through the heavens from the Lord; for there are among them some who are interior and some who are exterior, which difference comes partly from climate, partly from the stock from which they have sprung, partly from education and partly from religion" (TCR 835). Thus both revelation and experience testify to the variety between the different peoples of this world.
     To a lesser extent a similar variety can and does exist within a specific country. Perhaps it was for this very reason that the Anglican Church instituted its "high church" and "low church."
     Since there are infinite things in the Lord there is an indefinite variety in creation. This gives rise to differing states of reception, and this evokes a different form of response.
     It seems to be a virtually certain thing that variety in external worship will exist within the New Church. We do not believe that this need be detrimental, provided that the general principles of truth revealed in the Word are adhered to. The Writings speak of diversities of worship and how these can "contribute to the perfection of the whole," provided mutual love and charity reign. "For then, through charity, the Lord inflows and works in diverse ways, in accordance with the genius of each" (AC 1285). A further affirmation is given: "Various forms of worship are of scarcely any importance provided there be charity in all" (SD 4535). That we should expect variety to exist within the New Church is also implied by the following teaching: "That by 'the seven churches' are not meant seven churches, but the church in the whole complex, which in itself is one, but various according to reception.

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Those varieties may be compared with the various members and organs in a perfect body, which yet make one . . . . Hence it is that the whole New Church with its varieties is described, in what follows, by 'the seven churches' " (AR 73; see also AR 66). The reason given why variety can be a healthy thing is further stated. "That such various things of the Lord are represented is not because various things are in the Lord but because His Divine is variously received by men" (AC 4206). Variety in the worship of the Lord exists in heaven also. It is said that this variety takes its origin from the different qualities of good in the different societies there. It "is not harmful, but beneficial, for the perfection of heaven is therefrom" (HH 56). If variety is not harmful in the heavens, neither should it be harmful in the church, provided the Lord and His holiness is inmostly regarded and that the forms employed are corresponding representatives from the Word.

     CONCLUSION

     From the foregoing we can see that the scope of this subject is wide. Many factors contribute to the effectiveness of external worship. However, we must never lose sight of its central purpose-to provide opportunity for people to enter into a state of communion with the Lord, that He may affect them and incline their hearts to receive Him.
     Since we are born heirs to the fallen state of man, we are, to a degree, dependent upon certain external formalities of worship to develop a sensitivity to the spiritual spheres of heaven, which can be attendant upon us and affect us so deeply. It is therefore the responsibility of the church to offer to its people a form of worship which touches inmost states of delight. As we have seen, this is possible only when ritual is drawn from the Word and is prescribed by doctrine which is applicable.
     The service should be a sacred occasion. It should provide. an environment in which the individual may feel interiorly moved and personally affected by the communion of spheres received from heaven. If the service is structured upon truths from the Word, and if these are held to be sacred, angels who are moved by the internal representatives will share their communion with man. "For worship is nothing but a certain activity coming forth from the celestial which is within" (AC 1561).
     People need to be taught how to worship. They learn this mostly by example and from custom. But this is not enough. People need help to understand how to relate the interior truths of the Writings to the states in which they are.

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It is not uncommon for people to have knowledge of truth and yet fail to see that it can actually disclose the quality of their moods and feelings. Truth has the power to expose evil and falsity. It also shows the way of deliverance. Worship can heighten the glory of the Lord's presence in those truths that touch our state and can deliver us from evil. Worship can be the means of stirring the will, of stimulating the determination to change. But first the mind must be right in its attitude and approach to the Lord, to the holy things of the church and of worship.
     We will close with a comment on a statement which is sometimes leveled at the New Church service. Some wish for more dynamic expression of emotion in our services. This is an interesting request to ponder.
     We believe that there is a deeply profound sense of affection possible within the structure of our service. Indeed, this is enhanced when the external representatives of ritual are known. The service, if it is to touch the affections, must be, as far as possible, artistically harmonious. This applies to reverence in attitude of priest and people; to beauty and harmony of music; to reverent articulation of the spoken Word of God; to the construction of a sermon which flows logically and rhythmically and is thus uplifting to the mind. The greater the perfection the less de externals intrude, opening the way for heavenly spheres to descend and touch the heart of man.
     The quality of affection which can be aroused by a New Church service is interior. The Lord and the names by which He is addressed are holy. To the New Churchman they carry the sphere of sanctity. They can be spoken, but spoken only in the sphere of holiness, not in the manner in which His names are used by the fundamentalist sects.
     The idea of the Lord presented in the Writings is that of Divine Man. As such He is "set apart." He is holiness itself. There is a quality of affection which is inherent in the Divine love, which, when received by angels and men, fulfills every sense of want and desire. It carries with it its own feeling of sanctity. It can be shared only with others who similarly revere the Lord and who likewise cherish these inmost delights.
     Our place in heaven is "allotted in accordance with [our] idea of God" (DLW 13). This means that there is an ascending perfection in the angelic ideas of God from the natural heaven to the celestial heaven. Its perfection depends on the ruling love, the degree of charity that characterizes that ruling love. "They who are in the most holy idea concerning the Lord . . . are conjoined with the Lord in respect to His Divine rational; whereas they who are not in such holiness, nor in such interior idea and affection, and yet are in the good of charity, are conjoined with the Lord in respect to His Divine natural.

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They who have a holiness of a still grosser kind are conjoined with the Lord in respect to His Divine sensuous" (AC 4211).
     Let us therefore know of the existence of these interior degrees of love. Let us remember that they are the most sublime of all human delights, and let us perfect and preserve those forms of worship which alone are capable of arousing those states in man which correspond to the order of heaven, and by which he may be affected.
SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION 1983

SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION       Jerome V. Sellner       1983

     The 86th annual meeting of the Swedenborg Scientific Association was held on Monday evening, May 2, 1983, in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.
     During the business portion of the meeting, Prof. Charles S. Cole, Jr., was reelected president, and reports of the secretary, the treasurer, and the editor of The New Philosophy were read.
     Members and friends were privileged to hear, and then to respond to, an address by Rev. Daniel W. Goodenough, associate professor of religion and history in the College and Theological School of the Academy of the New Church. The address was entitled, "Rational Psychology-A Dead End or a New Beginning?"
     When Swedenborg began his search for the soul in 1733, he at first theorized a purely mechanical soul composed of the finest, inmost things within nature. He hoped to prove a finite natural soul exists and lives forever. Later, he theorized a purely spiritual soul, above nature, without parts or motion. In the Rational Psychology (1742) he developed this idea of a purely spiritual soul, but he also tied the operations of the mind to various mechanical operations of the brain. This excellent study of the natural and rational mind concluded that since all operations of the brain would eventually be dissipated after death, all the life of the mind would cease to exist; yet, the purely spiritual soul would live forever, without human form, in some purely abstract existence. Unable to solve the problem of the death of the mind, Swedenborg never published Rational Psychology. But it is in this book, more than in any other pre-theological work, that he, in fact, discovered the mind which (he later realized) lives to eternity.
     The complete text of this address, as well as the above-mentioned reports, will appear in a forthcoming issue of The New Philosophy.
     Jerome V. Sellner,
          Secretary

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MARVELS OF NATURE TESTIFY TO A DIVINE CREATOR 1983

MARVELS OF NATURE TESTIFY TO A DIVINE CREATOR              1983

     (A selection from a new translation)

     The following is taken from a new translation of Divine Love and Wisdom. The translator is Dr. George F. Dole. This has not as yet appeared in book form, but it has been appearing in installments in Studia Swedenborgiana. This valuable periodical is edited by Dr. William R. Woofenden. It is sold at one dollar a copy and may be ordered from the Swedenborg Foundation, 139 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010.

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     351. For people who do believe that the Divine is at work in the details of nature, there are many things they see in nature that enable them to decide in favor of the Divine, just as surely as people who decide in favor of nature and even more so. People who decide in favor of the Divine pay attention to the marvels they observe in the growth of both plants and animals.
     In the growth of plants, they observe that out of a tiny seed sown in the ground there emerges a root, then a stem by means of the root, and then in turn branches, leaves, blossoms, and fruit, right through to new seeds. It is exactly as though the seed knew the proper sequence or process for its own renewal.
     Can any rational person think that the sun, which is nothing but fire, knows how to do this, or that it can endow its warmth and light to cause such results, and can even form the marvels plants contain and press toward a use? If a person's rational ability is raised upward, then when he sees and ponders these phenomena, his only thought must be that they come from Him Whose wisdom is infinite-that is, from God.
     People who acknowledge a Divine do both see this and think in this way. People who do not acknowledge a Divine, though, do not see and think like this because they do not want to. Further, in this way they lower their rational ability into their sensory [mind], which draws all its concepts from the light the physical senses are involved in; and they defend their illusions by saying, "Do you see the sun doing all this with its warmth and light? What is something you can't see? Is it anything?"
     People who decide in favor of the Divine pay attention to the marvels they observe in the growth of animals. Here I need mention only the example of those of eggs. Hidden within them are the chicks, in seed or in rudiments, together with everything needed to hatch them, and even with every stage after hatching to becoming birds or flying creatures in the form of their parents.

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And if one pays attention to the actual nature of the form, he cannot on deep reflection keep from being stunned by the fact that the smallest and largest flying creatures alike-those too small to see as well as the visible ones-contain sensory organs for sight, smell, taste and touch and motor organs involving muscles, actually flying and walking, along with viscera surrounding a heart and lungs, controlled by brains.
     The fact that even insignificant insects enjoy these organs has been recognized through anatomical research on them by a number of individuals, most notably Swammerdam in his Biblia Naturae.
     People who give nature credit for everything do of course see things like this, but think simply that the phenomena are there and say that nature produces them. They say this because they have turned their minds away from thinking about the Divine. And since they have turned away from thinking about the Divine, when they see nature's marvels they cannot think rationally, let alone spiritually. They think in terms of sense-impressions and matter. So their thinking is confined to nature and depends on nature without rising above it, like that of the people in hell. The only difference between them and animals is in the strength of their rationality-that is, in the fact that they could understand and therefore think differently if they wanted to.
     352. When people who have turned away from thinking about the Divine see marvelous things in nature and become sense-centered as a result, they are not reflecting that [physical] eyesight is so crude that it sees a multitude of tiny insects as a single cloud. Yet each single insect is furnished with organs for sensation and motion-provided therefore with fibers and ducts, with minute hearts, lung-tubes, minute viscera, and brains. These are woven from the present elements of nature, and the ways they are woven are responsive to a specific life, which activates the most minute parts individually.
     If eyesight is so crude that these countless creatures, each one comprising countless parts, look like a little cloud, and if sense-centered people think and draw conclusions on the basis of this sight, we can see how debased their minds are, and how benighted as to matters of the spirit.
     353. Anyone who wants to can decide in favor of the Divine on the basis of what he can see in nature. People do make this decision if they think about God on the basis of life. When they see the birds of the air, for example, they can realize that each kind knows its own nourishment and where to find it. It knows its fellow creatures by sound and sight, recognizing which are friends and which are enemies.

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[REPRODUCED FROM SWAMMERDAM'S BOOK OF NATURE, A GNAT AS SEEN THROUGH A MICROSCOPE]

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Birds form marriages, couple sexually, build their nests ingeniously, lay their eggs, brood over them, know the incubation time, just when the chicks will hatch. They love them most tenderly, cherish them under their wings, search out food and nourish them. Yet they do all this on their own, and are able to do other like things, begetting a family and perpetuating their kind.
     Anyone who wants to think about a Divine inflow through the spiritual world into the natural can see it in these phenomena. Anyone who wants to can say at heart, "Skills like this could not flow into them from the sun, through its light rays. The sun, which gives nature its beginning and essence, is actually nothing but fire, so its light rays are completely lifeless." This enables the conclusion that things like this result from an inflow of Divine wisdom into the lowest elements of nature.

     [DRAWING OF BIRDS TENDERLY CARE FOR THEIR YOUNG. THIS CANNOT BE FROM THE SUN THROUGH ITS RAYS OF LIGHT. THE SUN IS MERE FIRE. DLW 353]

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     [DRAWING OF: WHO CAN HELP SEEING A KIND OF IMAGE OF MAN'S EARTHLY STATE IN THESE, AND IN THEM AS BUTTERFLIES AN IMAGE OF THE HEAVENLY STATE? DLW 354]

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     354. Anyone can decide in favor of the Divine on the basis of visible phenomena in nature by looking at worms. From the delight of their individual cravings, they strive and long for a changing of their earthly state into a kind of state that parallels a heavenly one. So they crawl into their nooks, put themselves into a womb, so to speak, in order to be reborn. There they turn into incipient and complete chrysalids, caterpillars, pupae, and finally butterflies. Then, with this transformation completed, endowed with lovely wings according to their species, they fly through the air as though it were their heaven. They play cheerfully there they mate, they lay their eggs, and they provide themselves with descendants; and all the while they are nourishing themselves with a delightfully sweet food from flowers.
     Can anyone who is deciding in favor of the Divine on the basis of phenomena visible in nature fail to see some image of man's earthly state in them when they are worms, and an image of our heavenly state in them when they are butterflies? In contrast, people who are deciding in favor of nature do see these processes but because they have mentally denied the human heavenly state, they call them simply natural instincts.
     355. Anyone can decide in favor of the Divine on the basis of phenomena visible in nature by looking closely at what we know about bees. They know how to gather wax from plants and flowers, and how to suck out honey. They know how to build cells like miniature houses, how to arrange them in the form of a community with avenues for entering and leaving. From a distance they scent the flowers and plants from which they gather wax for their housing and nectar for their food, and once they are loaded full, they fly straight back to their hive. In this way, they provide themselves with food and housing for the coming winter, just as though they foresaw it and knew what they were doing.
     They also appoint a mistress for themselves, like a queen, who gives birth to their descendants. They build her a kind of throne room overhead and provide her with attendants. When egg-laying time arrives, she goes from cell to cell with her attendants and lays her eggs, which her retinue seals in to prevent any damage by exposure to the air. This is how their new generation is provided.
     Later, when this generation has so come of age that it can do these same things, it is driven out of the home. Then the generation that has been driven out immediately collects itself into a swarm, then in a troop, so as not to lose contact; it flies off to find a place to live.
     Further, around autumn the useless drones are led out and their wings are shorn off to prevent their return and use of food to which they contributed no labor; and there are other processes as well.

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     We can determine from this that they have, because of the use they serve to the human race, as a result of an inflow from the spiritual world, a form of government such as we can find among people on earth, and even among angels in the heavens.
     Can anyone of sound reason fail to see that they do not get things like this from the natural world? What does the sun that nature comes from have in common with a government that resembles and parallels heavenly government?
     Observing these and like phenomena among brute animals, the devotee of nature, the nature-worshiper, decides in favor of nature, while the devotee of God, the God-worshiper, sees the same things and decides in favor of the Divine.
     For a spiritual person sees spiritual things within these phenomena and a natural person sees natural things in them-each sees what resembles himself.
     As for me, things like this have been witnesses to the inflow of the spiritual into the natural, or of the spiritual world into the natural world, from the Lord's Divine wisdom.
     Reflect, too, whether you could think analytically about any form of government, any civil law, any moral value, or any spiritual truth if the Divine did not flow in, from wisdom, through the spiritual world. As for me, I never could and I cannot now. I have been distinctly and sensibly aware of that inflow constantly for nineteen years now, so I am speaking as a witness.
     356. Can any natural thing have use as a goal, and arrange uses in patterns and forms? Only one who is wise can do this; and only God, Whose wisdom is infinite, can organize and form the universe in this way.
     Who or what else can foresee and provide all the things that serve people for food and clothing-food from the fruits of the earth and from animals, and clothing from the same sources? One of earth's miracles is that those insignificant creatures called silkworms dress us in silk and adorn us gloriously women and men, from queens and kings to maids and footmen. And these insignificant creatures called bees provide wax for the lights that add splendor to cathedrals and palaces.
     These and many other phenomena are visible pledges that the Lord by Himself is controlling through the spiritual world everything that happens in nature.
     357. We need to add that I have seen in the spiritual world people who have decided in favor of nature on the basis of visible phenomena, to the point of becoming atheists. In a spiritual light, their discernment seems opened downward but closed upward, because in thought they focused downward toward the earth, not upward toward heaven.

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There seemed to be a kind of film above their sensory level, which is the lowest level of discernment. In some of them it was flashing with a hellish fire, in some it was black as soot, and in some it was pale as a corpse.
     Let each of us beware of decisions in favor of nature. Let each decide for the Divine-there is no lack of means.

     [DRAWING THE INSIGNIFICANT BEES SUPPLY WAX FOR CANDLES BY WHICH TEMPLES ARE MADE BRILLIANT. DLW 356]

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RELIGION LESSON ON DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM 1983

RELIGION LESSON ON DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM       VERNON GRAESER       1983

     351-357

     The following is taken from Mr. Graeser's lesson on the chapter in Divine Love and Wisdom with the following heading:

"THE VISIBLE THINGS IN THE CREATED UNIVERSE BEAR WITNESS THAT NATURE HAS PRODUCED AND DOES PRODUCE NOTHING, BUT THAT THE DIVINE OUT OF ITSELF, AND THROUGH THE SPIRITUAL WORLD, HAS PRODUCED AND DOES PRODUCE ALL THINGS."

Summary: This whole section is geared to the central thought that nature is dead and consists of things created by the Lord to receive life from the spiritual world. Having no life of themselves they are unable to impart life or create forms of life.
     This section is particularly concerned with the very real possibility that people may, and sometimes do, rely on their senses alone, without trusting the revelation given in the Writings concerning the origin of life. We can easily confirm ourselves in the falsity that the sun, rain, and heat impart life to all those plants and creatures we see around us. This happens when we trust our senses alone.
     Some people believe that nature is the creator of life because they are ignorant of God's revelation and are therefore excused provided they believe that God imparts life by the means of nature.
     Nevertheless this falsity is not removed from these ignorant people until they learn the truth. The truth is stated in the Word and can be confirmed when we study nature in the light of that Word, particularly the Word as it is given in the Writings.
     The section closes with the writer describing the deformed appearance of the mind of those in hell who have rejected God as Creator and have substituted nature in the place of the Lord. We are warned not to make the same mistake.
     The Writings put forth, in number 351, the proposition that it is more reasonable to conclude, from the observation of the things of the natural world, that God is the author of life than to conclude that nature is the creator of life. The Writings say, "Those who believe in a Divine operation in all the details of nature are able by very many things they see in nature to confirm themselves in favor of the Divine as fully as others confirm themselves in favor of nature, yea, more fully."
     The above statement also bears testimony to the fact that the spiritual mind cannot be opened without a development of the proper use of the rational degree of the natural mind.

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Without such development the lowest spiritual is separated from the two higher degrees of the spiritual mind (see 345).
     This is further borne out by another sentence in this paragraph, which reads, "They say this [that nature produces life] because they have turned their minds away from thinking about the Divine; and those who have done this are unable, when they see the wonderful things in nature, to think rationally, still less spiritually; but they think sensually and materially; and then they think in nature from nature, and not above nature, just as those do who are in hell."
     Even in the mechanical things of the present age a reason can be set forth for believing that the Divine creates life while nature creates nothing.
     Consider a modern jet airliner, or a modern television set. Are not both a product of human reasoning that is marvelous and wonderful? Would it be reasonable to suppose a television set or a jet airliner came from something of less intelligence than the men who built them? Does not their intricate mechanism testify to a being of more intelligence than that which the machines display? Intelligence cannot come forth from the unintelligent; anyone can see this.
     It is the same with the animate things of this world. The sun, made of pure fire, has no power to produce that of a higher order than itself. It is an observable rule that life produces life, but dead things produce nothing, and it is folly to believe that they do.
     Concerning number 352: It should be easier today to believe in a spiritual world than it has ever been in the past. People who only believe what their senses report, could, if they wished, prove to themselves that there is much going on all around them which their senses are totally unaware of.
     The minutest particulars of the minutest insect can now be magnified a hundred or a thousand times and clearly presented to view for all who care to investigate such an insect. Electromagnetic waves sent from spaceships on the planet Mars carry sound and pictures back to earth that our scientists may study. They report the conditions existing on a planet millions of miles away. X-rays reveal to doctors a hidden tumor that you cannot begin to see with the naked eye. To believe only what you can taste, see, hear, feel and smell takes a special kind of mind, certainly not a rational mind.
     Why should it be difficult to believe that there is a spiritual world concurrent with the natural world? Are there not, even as you read this, picture-bearing and voice-bearing electromagnetic waves passing through your body? Put a radio or a television set on the chair on which you are now sitting. Will it not produce a picture or a voice?

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Couldn't there be a spiritual world coexisting with this natural world?
     In number 353 mention is made of the innate wisdom found in birds that populate this earth. For those that are rational there is no difficulty in confirming oneself in favor of the Divine as against nature when one studies the life of the birds.
     It is certainly true, as the Writings point out, that the wisdom of birds does not come from the sun, which is pure fire, since fire can only burn and create heat and thus has nothing whatever to do with wisdom. Furthermore, the wisdom that is found in birds that fly in the bright warm sunlight is also found in the fish of the sea that swim in dark, cold waters, where there is little sunlight.
     Consider the Pacific Salmon of the north Pacific Ocean. The average Pacific Salmon weighs about 20 pounds, but some have been caught weighing 100 pounds. These fish sometimes migrate from 1000 to 2000 miles inland to the very same spawning ground in which they were hatched. Here the female excavates a nest in the gravel and sand of the stream, lays her eggs and after the male fertilizes them, proceeds to stir up the bottom of the stream that mud and sand may cover the eggs and so hide them from predators.
     When the eggs are hatched and the young fish have grown to 2 or 3 inches, they descend the stream until they reach the sea from which their parents have migrated. Here in the Pacific Ocean they spend the major part of their life until the time arrives in which they in turn migrate upstream to the very same breeding ground of their parents to repeat the process which gave them life.
     How does the young salmon know the route downstream to the ocean beyond, and by what means do they know when to migrate and how to find the same river, stream, and breeding grounds in which they were hatched, as have countless generations before them? Where did they get the wisdom to hide their eggs?
     The life cycle of the salmon, as well as the life cycle of the bird, bears witness to a wisdom that comes from the Lord by way of the spiritual sun and not by the natural sun of this earth, which has no life in it.
     In number 354 butterflies while in the larval and caterpillar stage are depicted as being a kind of image of man's earthly state. Even as the caterpillar undergoes a metamorphosis and emerges from his chrysalis to become a beautiful butterfly, even so man emerges from his physical body at death with an attained spiritual body which fits him for spiritual joys in heaven.
     It can be seen that the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into the butterfly is a kind of image of change of state that attends man when he passes into the spiritual state.

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     A discourse is presented in number 355 concerning the wisdom of bees-a wisdom which is not acquired through any labor on the part of bees, but a wisdom that is inherent and innate, a wisdom put there by the Lord and maintained continually by a Divine inflowing from the spiritual sun, that bees may manifest by their social life the Creator's love for their welfare and prosperity. Can anyone having true rationality, after reading the description presented here in the Writings concerning the life of bees, be so dull of mind as to think all of this remarkable wisdom comes from a dead ball of fire in the sky 93,000,000 miles away? Isn't it much easier to believe this wisdom comes from the Lord by means of a spiritual sun in a spiritual world, a world (although invisible) coexisting with the natural world?
     But such is the inborn inclination in man to embrace evil and falsity that many reject this truth and credit mother nature with God's work. If you doubt this, tune into any of the channels on TV featuring a nature program, such as National Geographic, Nova, Those Amazing Animals, Wild Kingdom, Wild, Wild World of Animals, and others. So far I have never viewed a nature program crediting God with the creation of the world we see all about us. It is always mother nature who creates.
     Perhaps this is because so many who believe in Divine creation of the world hesitate to ascribe the creation of carnivorous and poisonous animals and serpents to the Lord, not knowing that the influences of the hells have modified originally good creatures into malignant forms capable of destruction and death. These people, having no knowledge of the second coming of the Lord, do not know how to explain the existence of evil forms of life in the midst of good forms of life. We should be on our guard that we do not fall into the same error.
     In number 356 we read, Can anything natural regard use as an end and dispose uses into series and forms? Can such things as the sun, the rain, the heat and the cold consider the things of the world (that is, all things of the animal and vegetable kingdom) as creations for the benefit of man, and so thinking organize these things into series and forms? Notice the answer: No one can do this unless he be wise; and no one but God, Whose wisdom is infinite, can so give order and form to the universe. Only a person can be wise who has consciousness and character-certainly not a thing like the sun or rain, heat or cold, but only a person who is infinitely wise. And to this description only God answers because He alone is omniscient and omnipotent. Not even man, who has character and consciousness and a limited wisdom, can create and give order and form, because he is finite and has neither omniscience, omnipotence, nor omnipresence.

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     Therefore, the truthful answer to the question asked by the Writings is: Only God, not nature, can regard use as an end and dispose uses into series and forms. To believe nature can do these things is a falsity, and to falsity clings evil, and to them both hell clings; therefore man cannot embrace this falsity without embracing hell. From all this we can safely conclude that the Lord Himself by means of the spiritual sun in the spiritual world brings about everything that comes into existence in nature.
     From what is said in number 357 it can be concluded that those who have confirmed themselves in favor of mother nature as the creator of all vegetable and animal life are atheists. Their spiritual mind in the spiritual world appears and is closed. Let us take heed to ourselves that we be not among those who reject the truth.
DEEDS NOT WORDS 1983

DEEDS NOT WORDS       Jr. EDWARD B. LEE       1983

     One day I came to Mother's house to work in her garden and help with her business affairs, but she was not there when I arrived. She had left the back door unlocked, so I went in and decided to lie down on the big comfortable couch in the living room. Having nap capacity, I soon began to dream about my wife and my last vacation, the beautiful vegetation, the warmth of the sunshine, the beach and the eternal ebb and flow of the waves stretching out to the ocean's limitless horizon. There were the little shore birds flitting in and out of the retreating and attacking surf wavelets.
     When Mother came in, I reported to her what I had seen in my dream and my reflections about the little sandpiper on the beach. I tried to quote Celia Thaxter's poem "Are we not God's creatures both, thou, little sandpiper, and I?" Mother was stirring something on the big gas range in the kitchen, and the conversation continued:

What kind of a sandpiper was it, not in the dream, but can you remember what you actually saw? Dreams reflect reality, you know.

I don't know, but it had twinkly little legs that moved so fast that they looked like a big blur.

Were they yellow legs? Probably a semi-palmated or least sandpiper, but if they were black, it was probably a sanderling.

I did not notice, nor remember.

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Why not? Don't you know it is important to get the facts and be a good observer? The Lord gave you eyes, so why don't you use them with more precision? Years ago I made a study of shore birds. I think I still have my notebook somewhere.

It's not the point to know what kind of a bird he was, because it was his actions that interested me. He would follow the outgoing wave, nuzzling and jabbing his little beak into the sand to pick up food quickly before the incoming ripple would make him retreat to safety where he could rest and look where to charge in again. This action is so unlike us humans who rush in, waves or no, dig up quantities of goods, most of which we do not eat, but store up in buckets. Only when the buckets are full do we retreat to contemplate what we have-usually more than we need. Birds are smarter.

Hogwash. Birds are not at all like humans; they know enough to survive, and that's it.

Well, you must admit that just surviving is an art.

That's no art-it's instinct. Besides, birds are dumb. Didn't you notice all the vultures flying around waiting to devour the carcasses of the weaker birds who drowned?

Even so, cannot we learn lessons from such God's creatures? I am simply reflecting on the fact that our lives could be simpler and give us more leisure to reflect, and if we take that path "less traveled by" perhaps we could become more spiritual and less material beings and thus more nearly approach regeneration.

Pshaw! Being useful is doing uses, and not contemplating silly birds.

But the Writings say that we should both perform charitable acts and read and meditate on the Word of God. That surely must mean that we should think about the thread of purpose in our lives. Birds represent thoughts, and their actions symbolize our inmost stream of consciousness which, like the tide, both moves toward evil away from good, and then the reverse. We pick up good morsels sometimes, then run away and let them disappear into the maw of life's endless errands. They correspond to our states both good and bad: sandpipers-good; vultures-bad.

There you go again prattling about opinions. Vultures are good birds; they clean up. They are the garbage men of the bird kingdom. We need garbage men, don't we?

You missed my point completely. It is not a matter of good and bad, but action and reaction and dwelling on the wonder of how the Lord turns evil into good. We can think about this correspondence and resolve to spit out the evil and swallow the good. Even if we don't do any of this pondering, what is wrong with just basking in the warmth of the pleasure of just being alive, thus sending a silent paean of praise to our Creator?

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Aha. Use is doing something, not thinking about doing something. What good do your musings and especially your basking do to anyone else? There is no charity there.

Just maybe I am being useful to myself. Just maybe I could write a poem or essay that would strike a responsive chord in some neighbor, and if I did, would that not be a most useful thing? It might be of more use than that beautiful flower in your garden, here today and gone tomorrow, add which nobody sees or enjoys except yourself.

Well, maybe, if your stuff sells well enough to get noticed and read, but as for my plant, it may go to church for the whole congregation to enjoy. If I must think about birds, I would study their habits and enlarge scientific knowledges. Did you know that birds provide the best fertilizer in the world?

Yes, yes, but don't you see that "in My house are many mansions" and therefore, many "uses"? These may involve feeding the spirit as well as the body. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Conversations with a stranger after church simply discussing how to handle life's problems may be just as useful as the sermon and surely more rewarding to him than the passing notice of your altar plant which, by the way, doesn't even smell pretty.

I'll skip that dig. We are talking about use to the neighbor in general, not just to those who happen to be in church or who are our particular associates. It's a pretty small bunch of neighbors who would be interested in poetic thoughts when they are probably busy or hungry. Half the world is hungry, you know, and you don't much care about intangible matters when you need to be fed. Besides, everybody loves flowers and lots of people do see and enjoy my plants and might carry that pleasant sensation in their memory all day, having long since forgotten your drivel.

But, Mother, use applies to one's self as well as one's neighbor. I am responsible for myself on judgment day. Am I not building up treasures in heaven when I contemplate the beauty of the bird kingdom, the sunset, and so many other glories that back up the flowers you have made to grow and shed fragrance and loveliness?

Don't butter me up, and be careful of this business of being useful to yourself. That can result in excuses not to enter into the battle of life. Doing your job in the world is what counts, that is, doing it well. That makes us useful to ourselves as well as our neighbors. We are born into this world to work and not to play, to learn and be awake and not just to dream.

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I know that. I remember a poem I learned in school:

     BE STRONG

     We are not here to play, to dream, to drift;
     We have hard work to do and loads to lift;
     Shun not the struggle-face it; 'tis God's gift.

But simply doing good acts is not the only form of charity. That is a worn out argument; words outweigh swords. Remember Stephen Collins Foster who listened to the music of slaves in the south and lazily soaked up tunes and words which he later fashioned into the songs which have lasted over a hundred years and which we enjoy even today. But who remembers his merchant brother, who was the family provider and who his generation thought by far to be the most useful of the two-far more sensible than the vagrant, penniless musician. Which do we remember today?

If it were not for the brother in providing the wherewithal to live, the poor songwriter would never have left home. So much for that argument.

But work is not enough; it must have a worthy purpose. Is it not a legitimate and honest purpose to best use our particular talents? Talents differ; some work with their hands and build. Some work with numbers and analyze and keep the world's score; some teach and help people understand, and others have the gift of words, putting thoughts on paper, or simply communication. They are all useful.

Perhaps. What you really mean to say is that you must learn to sharpen your talents. A dull pencil does not do good tax returns. Most of us have all the talents you describe in some measure and we should work to develop all of them, especially those in which we are most deficient. Purpose is to understand ourselves, our world, and our Lord, and to do that we must study to improve, and make that improvement happen. We must pray for strength to keep going even when we get old, and never, never retire.

I don't agree that we develop all our talents equally. At my age I know what I do best and what I like; that is where I will improve. No development of mechanical aptitude for me. But simply doing good deeds is not enough. The world will swallow us up. and we will spend our limited days just running here and there, "taking in each other's laundry." thinking we are helping others when they probably wish we would just go away.

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Confusing activity with accomplishment, say I, will never reward anybody. We must to "our own selves be true."

Well, suit yourself. Deeds not words, say I. Cooking Friday suppers, earning money to give to the church are more important than sitting around drinking cocktails and gossiping about who is doing the least. Besides "Res non verba" has been on our family escutcheon for nearly 400 years.

That does not follow. A word or two spoken at such sessions or to a visitor after church might very well change his life for the better. The glory of conversations is the spreading of our doctrines of truth and love to others. It seems to me this is more important than the enlargement of its treasury, or its bricks and mortar, or in the cooking of ten thousands of rivers of suppers. Remember Ozymandias.

Deeds are tangible and are the result of good intent even if they do not benefit our neighbors as much as we would like, but words are intangible and not very likely to bear fruit, and though spoken to a stranger with good intent are rarely effective. Who can measure the intent of speech anyway? Many just talk to be heard by themselves.

Ah, but deeds are not always the result of good intent. Maybe they are done to impress others. Who can measure the degree of the intent toward real charity? In this sense they too are only seeds which, like words, may or may not find fertile ground in which to grow. What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God? So you see, deeds are only part of this code, the most important element being love.

Agreed. Enough of this idle chatter. Before the table is set for dinner, let's get out and weed the upper bed. We have just time to pull those dirty weeds.

Isn't that what we have been doing?

     This conversation between New Church people could probably be called a "draw." I learned long ago that it is not good tactic with Mother to attack an entrenched position; better to move around the flank and softly infiltrate to the point that a draw is really victory.
     Editor's comment: This is a real conversation between two active New Churchmen, the author and his mother-in-law, Dr. Rena H. Lindsay (1883-1982). The editor has found out that this is an excerpt from a chapter in a book being written about Dr. Lindsay, which may be entitled Strong Medicine. We hope to hear more later from Mr. Lee about this project, but in the meanwhile readers are encouraged to improvise their own replies to the issues raised herein.

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Editorial Pages 1983

Editorial Pages       Editor       1983

     A DELIGHTFUL PASSAGE FROM THE WRITINGS READ ALOUD IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD

     Two angels, seeing Swedenborg near them, said to certain bystanders, "We know that this man has written about God and nature; let us hear him" (CL 416). They approached Swedenborg and asked that what had been written about God and nature might be read to them. Before considering the passage from the Writings he then read, let us note the drama leading up to this.
     There were some in hell who were boiling over with desire to demonstrate conclusively that what people call "God" is a mere word. They were sure their evidence that nature does everything would convince anyone. They were allowed to rise to the world of spirits between heaven and hell and there to engage in conversation two angels who came down from heaven. Swedenborg was a witness to the conversation (described in CL 415).
     Their opening speech to the two angels seemed devastating. "Who with his eyes has seen anything but nature? . . . Are not the senses of our body the sole witnesses of truth?"
     The angels told them, "You were in the natural world and died there, and you are now in the spiritual world." They eventually showed them some of the wonders of heaven and enabled them to see, if only temporarily, that "there is a God" and that nature does nothing of herself "but is actuated by life." Witnessing this conversation were some who had in the world been celebrated for their learning. And these sometimes favored what the angels said and sometimes what the satans said.
     It was to these bystanders that Swedenborg was invited to read, and he read the part of the Divine Love and Wisdom that is quoted in this issue (351-357). We find that the same passage is brought out in the Writings yet again in n. 12 of True Christian Religion.
     The passage includes a reference (DLW 351) to a book published in 1738 by Jan Swammerdam, a man who made dramatic use of the microscope, the tool that enabled people to see that there was much more in creation than the unaided eye could observe. As Swammerdam studied living things under the microscope, he made beautiful sketches of what he observed.

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His book, published two and a half centuries ago, may be seen in the Swedenborgiana Library. The picture reproduced in this issue is not of a giant mosquito. It is a little gnat or midge. As you look at it, reflect that Swedenborg studied that same drawing when it was quite new, and it was part of the scientific observation that was with him as he carried out his part of bringing the truth of the Writings to the world.
     "The sight of the eye is so gross that it sees many little insects just as if there were one obscure insect, when yet every single one of them is furnished with organs of feeling and motion, and this is possessed of fibers and vessels, a tiny heart also, and lung tubes, minute viscera and brains."
     One is reminded of Swedenborg's words to some boys, "In that living creature, small as it is, there are as many members and viscera as in a camel. It has brains, heart, pulmonary tubes, organs of sense, of motion, and of generation, a stomach, intestines, and many other things; and each of them is a contexture of fibres, nerves, blood vessels, muscles, tendons, membranes; and each of these a contexture of things still purer which lie deeply hidden beyond the reach of any eye . . . . Everything divided is more and more multiple, and not more and more simple" (CL 329).
     In our day we have the benefit of the electron microscope, and we can marvel at photos in glossy science magazines that reveal wonderful components in nature which were not seen even a generation ago.

     (Swammerdam's drawing is on page 299.)
WHO BUT GOD CAN DO THIS? 1983

WHO BUT GOD CAN DO THIS?              1983

     "Can nature pursue use as an end, and arrange uses in order and in forms? Only a wise being is able to do this; and God alone. Whose wisdom is infinite, is able so to order and form the universe. Who else can foresee and provide food and clothing for man-food from the products of the field, from the fruits of the earth, and from animals; and clothing from the same sources?"
     True Christian Religion 12:9

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SHOULD THERE BE AN ORGANIZED NEW CHURCH? 1983

SHOULD THERE BE AN ORGANIZED NEW CHURCH?              1983

     (II)

     It is often observed that Swedenborg did not start a new church. Unfortunately it is often concluded that he never expected or intended that one should exist.
     Fifteen years after Swedenborg's death one could speak of an existing New Church organization. Robert Hindmarsh then spoke of the tiny organization "now begun in much weakness and imperfection" (Rise and Progress, page 59). Although Swedenborg never saw such an organization he did converse on the matter. In fact Swedenborg wrote a letter from Amsterdam in 1769 in which he said, "Here they often ask me concerning the New Church, when it will come." And he made the comment that "the Christian Church did not come in immediately after the ascension of Christ, but increased gradually." The Christian Church may be thought of as an internal entity, but it took form in organizations constituted by fallible men. Swedenborg personally and the Writings themselves indicate that the same will be true of the New Church.
     An external form is only a husk or shell, in itself dead. As one of the familiar prayers in the General Church Liturgy says, "We acknowledge, O Lord, that without Thy Divine presence in Thy glorified Human the church is dead." Let us note that although the Writings teach that the external is only a shell, they teach at the same time that "a church in order to exist must be internal and external" (AC 6587). The Writings do teach that "the externals of the church without the internals are of no account," but they compare the church to a man who must have both an internal and an external. "The things which are of the heart make the man, not those which are of the mouth and gestures; and such is the case with the internals of the church. But still the externals of the church are like the externals of a man, in that they take charge of and administer" (AC 1795).
CONSIDER THE BIRDS OF THE AIR 1983

CONSIDER THE BIRDS OF THE AIR              1983

     "They know how to mate, to form marriages, construct their nests skillfully, place their eggs in them and hatch them, also the period of incubation; and when the young have been hatched they love them most tenderly, shelter them beneath their wings, feed and nourish them . . . ."
     True Christian Religion 12:5

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SILVER SUMMER SCHOOL ANNIVERSARY 1983

SILVER SUMMER SCHOOL ANNIVERSARY              1983

     This month the twenty-fifth British Academy Summer School is in session. Admiring congratulations are in order. In 1975 Rev. Morley Rich wrote in our pages, "Through the years, the British Academy Summer School was opened to all New Church young people in England and Europe. In the first year, there were only 11 students. But, by the tenth summer school, the registration had reached 72, including people from seven countries . . . . This 'academy' is still continuing, with much benefit to the church as a whole" (page 494).
     A write-up in 1965 notes that one summer nine nations were represented at the British school. "Its value to the church in England is proving to be great indeed, and it shows increasing promise as an aid and inspiration to church centers on the European continent" (1965, pages 504, 505).
     The British Academy Summer School seems to have played an important part in spawning other summer schools. In the 1975 article mentioned above Mr. Rich says:

     What are sometimes called the Summer Academies-British, Maple Leaf, Laurel Leaf, Pine Needle, and others-perform a very special function in aid of New Church education, evangelization and religious life; and it is difficult to define this use without risking a diminishing of a certain spirit of lovely spontaneity. What actually happens is that in a more free, affectional and relaxed atmosphere than is possible, or perhaps even desirable, in a full-fledged, programmed institution, many people gain new feelings and approaches and attitudes toward the Word and the church, and a stronger sense of relationship with each other-this by lively discussion, sorting out ideas and truths and fallacies, and seeing new truth for themselves. Were there space in these pages, I could quote many comments from participants which testify, often eloquently, to this fact.

     Mr. Rich points out that "these uses have been filled with much loving, unremunerated labor and care, and with a keen sense of responsibility, especially in regard to trying new things." For the early history one may see the article by Rev. Frank Rose printed in 1961 (p. 560). It is fitting that Mr. Rose who headed the first British Academy Summer School is this month a special guest at the 25th. We salute our friends in England in their fostering of this delightful institution.

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"UNLESS THIS WORK BE ADDED" 1983

"UNLESS THIS WORK BE ADDED"       GEOFFREY H. HOWARD       1983

Dear Editor:

     I was interested to read the communication "Unless This Work Be Added," by Mr. Thomas Cole, which appeared in the February issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE. Mr. Cole draws our attention to the striking quotation found in the posthumous work Invitation to the New Church, number 25. He raises the question as to why it is said: "Unless the present little work is added to the preceding work, the church cannot be healed."
     That statement has aroused the curiosity of many in the New Church. It has caused people to reflect upon the contents of this "little work" in an effort to discover statements of unique quality. Like Mr. Cole, I have similarly been intrigued with this fascinating statement.
     A few years ago I was asked by one of my parishioners if the Lord, as He is to be worshiped in the New Church, is a personal God. I answered this question in the affirmative, for that was certainly what I felt the Writings taught. However, wishing to confirm my answer from a direct statement in the Writings, I started to search. The only statement that I could find to that effect was in The Coronis. There it is said: "It would be impossible for a man to acknowledge God, and anything belonging to Him, unless God had manifested Himself in a Personal Human Form. . ." (Coronis 48). There was the confirmation of this most vital concept of the Lord-God in a Personal Human Form.
     We should note that this statement occurs in the posthumous work The Coronis. There is strong evidence which leads us to suppose that the work The Invitation to the New Church was intended to be part of The Coronis. In the beginning of The Coronis a summary index lists the subjects that were to be included in its contents. Number LV seems to refer to The Invitation to the New Church, indicating that this "little work" was intended to be part of The Coronis.
     When Invitation number 25 speaks of the healing truths which are necessary to cure the "corrupt matter" of "orthodoxy," so deeply entrenched in traditional Christian thought, could it be referring to this unique idea of a personal God? If that is true, then we can at the same time find several statements within The Invitation itself which are strongly supportive of this idea. We will quote some of these.

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     Throughout the work the importance of man's approaching the Lord directly is stressed. ". . . Truths ought to be drawn from the Word, and . . . man ought to live according to them. In this case, the man approaches the Lord, Who is the Word, and the Truth, and receives faith" (Inv. 7). And further: "Unless, therefore, a man approaches the Lord, he labors in vain to render himself free from sin"(Inv. 8). That man's approach to the Lord should be immediate is emphasized in the following passages: "The Lord cannot enlighten anyone with His light unless He is approached immediately, and acknowledged as the God of heaven" (Inv. 38). And again: "The sole cause why the church has immersed itself in so many falsities that not a single truth has remained in it . . . is this-that hitherto they have not approached the Lord immediately; and so long as the Lord is not approached immediately, not a single truth can appear in its own light" (Inv. 40-all italics added). How else can we approach "our Father . . . in the heavens" immediately unless we picture Him as a visible God, and more than that, as a God who is approachable, and Who is also personally concerned for the spiritual well-being of each one of us? Surely, that concept is the visible God presented to us in the Writings-God as the Divine Man "spreading forth His hands and inviting to His arms" (TCR 787).
     When the impact of these teachings is considered and taken to heart, it leads to the formation of a very close relationship between the Lord and man. From it can be born a deep and abiding faith, together with a sense of comfort, stability and peace. It answers the crying needs of the distressed human heart.
     My conclusion is that the statement found in Invitation 25 is made for the reasons stated above. Possibly many of the mental and psychological problems encountered within the church have occurred because insufficient emphasis has been given to the absolute necessity of worshiping God "in a personal human form" (Coronis 48). After the second coming of the Lord "we have now one God in the church, Who is God Man, and Man God; this church is called the crown of all the churches" (Inv. 53). It is so called "because it is to worship one visible God in Whom is the invisible like the soul in the body" (TCR 787). I believe it is this principle which alone can banish the powers of evil and falsity and bring a healing. If the Lord God Jesus Christ is to reign within the heart of the regenerating man, then He must be approached immediately. He must be approached as a visible God and as a personal God, Who is known, loved and served.
     GEOFFREY H. HOWARD,
          Durban, South Africa

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ABOUT INVITATION TO THE NEW CHURCH 1983

ABOUT INVITATION TO THE NEW CHURCH       THOMAS M. COLE       1983

Dear Editor,
     The answers to the following test can be found in the Invitation to the New Church. It is my hope that this will encourage people to read this work. It should be noted that answering every question correctly will not get you a perfect score. By saying this I have given away that "none of the above" is the correct answer to at least one question. However, even if you can supply the correct answer to every question this does not necessarily mean that you shouldn't read the work again.

     1.      There is no true church unless: (see the syllabus at the beginning of the work)
     a)      God is One
     b)      God is under a human form
     c)      God is man and man God
     d)      all of the above
     e)      none of the above

2.      Which of the following is true? (see the syllabus)
     a)      The Apostolic Church is called an unworthy mother.
     b)      The Romish Church is called an adulterous mother.
     c)      The Romish Church is called an unworthy mother.
     d)      all of the above
     e)      none of the above

3.      What are Lutherans to be called? (see the syllabus)
     a)      Christians
     b)      Heretics
     c)      Reformed
     d)      all of the above
     e)      none of the above

4.      Miracles (see #6)
     a)      close the external man
     b)      close the internal man
     c)      convinced Swedenborg to believe in the Christian religion
     d)      all of the above
     e)      none of the above

5.      Which of the following is stated? (#13, #16, #21)
     a)      Nothing is known of the union of soul and body.
     b)      All theologians, when preaching, know of the falsities of their religion.

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     c) The whole of theology at the present day is nothing but the Divine Omnipresence.
     d)      all of the above
     e)      a and c only

6.      Why was the Reformation permitted? (#24)
     a)      So ministers could marry.
     b)      To have democratic religion.
     c)      That the Word, which lay buried, might be restored to the world.
     d)      all of the above
     e)      a and c only

7.      What is the origin of all the church's errors? (#26)
     a)      The idea that man lives from himself
     b)      False idea of Divine foresight
     c)      False idea of charity
     d)      False idea of Divine Omnipresence
     e)      The marriage of church and state

8.      Nothing is more common than (#49)
     a)      faith alone
     b)      charity alone
     c)      a correct idea of Divine Omnipotence
     d)      faith, hope, and charity
     e)      none of the above

9.      When it is believed that man is only an organ of life (#50)
     a)      all things which people speak concerning the Holy Spirit fall to the ground.
     b)      all falsities disappear and are miraculously turned into goods.
     c)      all things which people speak concerning the Trinity fall to the ground.
     d)      all things which the church teaches concerning charity fall to the ground.
     e)      none of the above

10.      The last number in Invitation teaches:
     a)      Love must come first.
     b)      God is one.
     c)      Miracles have destroyed the church.
     d)      a and c only
     e)      none of the above.

     THOMAS M. COLE,
          Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan

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CROWN OF REVELATIONS 1983

CROWN OF REVELATIONS              1983




     Announcements






A DOCTRINAL STUDY
The Word is Divine Truth
The Word Contains a Spiritual Sense hitherto unknown
The Sense of the Letter Is the Basis, Containant and Firmament of the Interior Senses
In it Divine Truth Is in its Fullness, Holiness and Power
From it Is to be Drawn the Doctrine of the Church
The Writings Are the Word for the New Church

     This doctrinal study by one of the General Church's great scholars was written at a time when the New Church was giving much study and thought about the status and nature of the Writings. Since this little book was published in 1934, it does not include the results of later learned and thoughtful studies on the subject. Nevertheless it is a valuable and classic presentation and is well worth reading.

     Reprinted by the General Church Publication Committee
Postpaid $3.40

GENERAL CHURCH BOOK CENTER
BRYN ATHYN, PA 19009
Hours: 9 to 12, Monday thru Friday
Phone: (215) 947-3920

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Notes on This Issue 1983

Notes on This Issue       Editor       1983



Vol. CIII     August, 1983          No. 8
NEW CHURCH LIFE

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     How would you like the task of reducing to twelve pages the discussions, doctrinal and practical, of dozens of ministers meeting for an entire week? This is the task of the secretary of the Council of the Clergy. Some of our readers have had the benefit of hearing their pastor report on those meetings which took place in March. Perhaps they will remember hearing of the standing ovation for Bishop de Charms (p. 345). Incidentally the next clergy meetings will not be held in March; they will take place immediately following the Assembly in June.
     Rev. Norman Riley has for five years superintended the Mission in South Africa. One of the most interesting parts of his report is on page 336 where he quotes from memory the inspiring words of Rev. Mbatha and also gives some amusing anecdotes.
     It is a pleasure to have again a sermon by Rev. Norman Reuter. Norman and Beth, nominally retired, serve the uses of the church with astonishing vigor.
     Three letters appear in this issue. Interesting and enjoyable letters come to the LIFE which are not intended for print. An especially interesting one shows that Hugo Odhner was successful in the June issue in his effort to find others interested in study guides to the Arcana Coelestia. This is a good year for increased interest in this work, as we are expecting soon to have the first volume of the new translation by Rev. John Elliott. Really interesting response has been coming in as a result of Al Lindsay's letter in the May issue entitled "Is This the Way to Teach?" So far the comments have not been intended for print.
MINISTERIAL CHANGES AND PLACEMENTS 1983

MINISTERIAL CHANGES AND PLACEMENTS              1983

     Please see pages 360 and 361 for ministerial announcements.

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WORSHIP 1983

WORSHIP       Rev. NORMAN H. REUTER       1983

"O come let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand" (Psalm 95:617).

     In a man's interior attitude toward worship-toward genuine worship, which is both internal and external-is summed up and pictured forth his whole attitude toward the realities of life-toward God, toward spiritual things, toward the neighbor, and finally toward himself. But to avoid the pitfalls of misinterpretation into which the mind is apt to fall when viewing the subject of worship in the light of such a generalization, it is necessary to reflect on the particulars of doctrine concerning worship and their relative order and importance under general truths. We must take into account internal as well as external worship and their interdependence in a state of order, and their separation in disorderly conditions. There is need to keep in mind what worship, interiorly considered, really is-why it is a spontaneous expression of a regenerate man, but is resisted by the unregenerate natural of all men. It is necessary for us to see both theoretically and practically what processes are imperative for the reformation and the rebirth of man. And of course it is vital, before we can even begin to think clearly on the subject, to recognize the relation between God and man-that God is the All in All from Whom all things flow, while man is but a vessel receptive of the Divine influx in the degree that he has prepared himself for reception. Finally, it must be seen with the conviction born of experience that man of himself is unregenerate, and that he cannot become regenerate, good or wise except in the ways which are Divinely provided.
     Our text in its literal sense gives in a simple way the reason for worship. It pictures our dependence upon it as created beings. And it indicates the mode in which it is to be done. "O come let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, Our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand."
     The reason here given why we are to worship the Lord is because "He is our God." For those who fully believe this Divine proclamation no more need be added, but to subdue the rebellious impulses and reasonings of the natural, many rational arguments are necessary.

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     How much man needs the ministrations of worship-worship in its broad internal and external aspects, being dependent upon it for the food and drink of his spirit-is representatively portrayed in the words: "We are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand." Having recognized that God is the Giver of all and that we are nourished out of His hand, we find the prescribed mode of obtaining this sustenance thus given: "O come let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker."
     Worship-what does that word mean? Does it only involve attending church services and earnestly entering into their sphere? No: this is but its most external signification and application. From the root meaning of the Latin word cultus, which is translated as "worship," the following definitions are derived. The essential concept is that of "cultivation." Cultus also means "training, care, tending, and education." Specifically it means that kind of cultivation of the mind which produces "reverence, respect, and worship." Then in a more external aspect the word cultus derivatively, comes to mean "dress and adornment." Here in the root and derivative meanings of cultus is given the universal as well as internal and external aspect of worship itself. Worship is the true "cultivation" of the mind, the proper "care" and "tending" of the loves of the will, the genuine "training" and "education" of the thoughts of the intellect, and finally the appropriate "adornment" of our lives with ultimate acts which are the expression of, as well as the clothing for, a renewed will and an enlightened understanding. Such acts from spiritual love according to spiritual principles clothe a man-dress him in the "wedding garment" which prepares him for reception at the "marriage supper of the Lamb," which signifies the kingdom of heaven. Thus all genuine cultivation of the spiritual man is worship, broadly considered. For if the cultivation is genuine, it educates the intellect to see God both in the wonders of His creation and ire the guidance of His Divine Providence; indeed, in all the vast orderliness of Divine truth. It stirs his heart to love the vision and dictates of truth. Consequently this love, guided by the truth, ultimates itself in acts of formal worship and in deeds of use. All those who so believe and love and do, truly worship God. For they not only worship Him with the affections of their hearts, and revere Him with the thoughts of their understandings, but daily show their loves and put into effect their beliefs by living according to His commandments. They show their love for Him by doing His will. They evidence their acknowledgment of Him as their God by applying His teaching to their lives. They not only worship Him with their lips nor yet alone with an attitude of mind and heart, but the very actions of their lives praise and acknowledge Him. Such can be said to worship the Lord in the fullest sense of the word.

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     Like everything else, worship has an internal and an external. The internal is of the spirit and the external is of the: body. What the heart does from genuine love and the mind from Divine truth is internal worship. What the body does from the affections of such love and the understanding of these truths is external worship. Internal worship without its external is like a house without its foundation, for it soon falls to the ground and is dissipated. External worship without an internal is like a body without its soul. For then man goes through the motions of piety from mere habit, from some external compulsion, or from an unworthy motive. Hence such worship is dead, cold, lacking spiritual life, a mere form of something which is gone or has never been present, and it soon falls into decay, thus becoming putrid in the sight of heaven. For the internal lives in the external and the external lives from the internal.
     Now what relation to worship does church attendance and the private reading of and meditation upon the Word of God have? Or this thought might be put in this way: What relation does devotional worship have to man's salvation? If a man really loves the truth, earnestly endeavors to understand it, and then diligently tries to do what is right-what is good-by applying that truth to his daily life, does he not worship God regardless of what his devotional habits may be? For the teaching of the doctrines is that "True worship consists in the performance of uses, thus in the exercises of charity," (AC 7038) not mentioning in the definition devotional exercises.
     By such deductions, confirmed by revealed truth, some convince themselves that organized devotional worship is unessential. But in so doing they see only half-truths, excluding from their reasoning other equally important teachings, and thus, by pressing a truth beyond its meaning, by blindly applying it where it does not apply, they turn a truth into a falsity. For if a man "really loves the truth and earnestly endeavors to understand it" he will turn to the Source of all truth-the Word of God daily going to it for wisdom and enlightenment; he will make use of the Divinely provided ministrations of the church for his instruction. If he really tries to order his life according to truth he will heed the Lord's commandments, one of which is to "remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." For it is revealed that man of himself must seek the living waters from the Fountain of Life and that his spirit must be constantly fed with the truth and good from on high as his body is daily nourished with meat and drink. Furthermore, a New Churchman knows that when he brings himself into an external state of worship for the sake of being spiritually uplifted, he then comes into internal communication with heaven and is enlightened in the truth and strengthened in the doing of good thereby.

330


Thus worship, private and public, is the appointed means whereby man enters into the sphere of the understanding of truth and is instilled with an affection for what truth teaches. Subsequently, to the extent that this aroused affection for truth continues to affect the acts of his life, in that degree he comes into the life of worship as well as into its thought and sphere. And then he can begin to perform use and live in charity, because he is beginning to know what real use and charity are, and to love them. A man cannot do good without knowing in what good consists, and spiritual good is made clear only by spiritual truth. Man does not know it from and by himself.
     Perhaps nothing more undermines a man's recognition of his need for external devotional worship than the tacit or open denial of the fact that he is only a vessel receptive of life, that he is a subject constantly dependent upon inflowing life from which he gains his very ability to love and understand. Lf he doesn't know and believe that every thought and affection flows in either from heaven or hell, how will he see the necessity of regularly bringing himself into a prescribed external state of order for the sake of securing heavenly influx and enlightenment? If he believes that he can find the truth of himself, by his own methods and from his own sources, he is putting his trust in self-intelligence and not in the Lord, by which act he denies the reality of Divine truth as well as his dependence upon its influx into the mind to give light. When a man does not turn to the Lord in His Word, yet knows of its teachings, he averts himself either because he is in gross falsities which blind him to the truth, or because he is indifferent to the truth, or because he is in actual hatred of the truth. His only hope of salvation lies in the recognition of his pitiful state, in humbly turning to the Lord for aid in changing his attitude. Then in freedom according to reason, which is the same as saying from self-compulsion, he can put the externals of his mind and the actions of his life into order as that order is revealed in the Word. This self-imposed orderly external will then serve as a basis of influx from the Lord which will build up a genuine internal from spiritual and celestial things which in turn will descend into the self-imposed external and vivify it, making it the ultimate and free expression of the true internal received from the Lord. All orderly externals with man are first entered into from self-compulsion, and not from a spontaneous state of love, because from enlightened reason it is seen that this external is necessary as a basis-as a matrix in which the internal of love may be conceived, then be nourished, and finally grow to fullness. This is true of the externals of worship as of everything else in relation to the regenerating man.

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We read in the Apocalypse Revealed "all worship in its beginning is natural, and afterwards by truths from the Word, and a life according to them, becomes spiritual, for a man is born natural, but is educated in order that he may become civil and moral, and afterwards spiritual, for thus he is born again" (no. 161e).
     From these general truths in respect to worship the following particulars come into clearer light. That "unless there were external worship, man would know nothing of what is holy"(AC 1083:3), for the preparation to receive the holy of truth and the holy of good constitutes a state of worship. But external worship separated from internal worship, when entered into from some other reason than that of seeking guidance from Divine truth-as when it is done from a sense of merit, fear, or compulsion from some source outside of self, or when it is done for the sake of honor or reputation-such use of the forms of worship cause derision in the mind and not enlightenment, contempt and not adoration (see AC 1091). Hence it was said in the opening words of this sermon that "in a man's interior attitude toward worship-toward genuine worship which is both internal and external-is summed up his whole attitude toward the realities of life." For we are taught "that the whole man is in each thing of his worship" (AC 10298).
     Another truth in respect to worship is that "dead worship is altogether similar to living worship in its external form" (AR 159), but real worship is made living by truths and by a life according to them (AR 155). Genuine external worship is made the means of searching for truth with a humble mind, and also becomes a genuine expression of a grateful heart. Speaking of dead worship, such as that from mere habit, the Heavenly Doctrine says: "Is it not at this day a matter of indifference what truths a man knows, provided he is in worship? And because few search the Word for the purpose of learning truths and living according to them, therefore nothing is known concerning worship, whether it be dead or alive, and yet according to the quality of worship man himself is either dead or living" (BR 161). And the quality of any worship is derived from its doctrine, for doctrine is the interior truth of which worship is the exterior expression (see AR 177). If the doctrine is true, the worship is holy, but if the doctrine is false the worship is corrupt.
     There is one further teaching without the recognition of which one's worship will be invalidated. This teaching is involved in the spiritual sense of the words of our text, "Let us bow down and kneel before the Lord." It is given in the following way in the Arcana Coelestia. "Humiliation and submission are essentials of worship, for worship without them is not worship, but gesture in imitation of those who are in the truth of worship; in which gesture there is nothing of life, for life from the Lord flows solely into a humble and submissive heart, because such a heart has been fitted to receive. That such is the case is because when the heart is truly humble, nothing of the love of self and of the love of the world stands in the way" (AC 8873).

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     "As regards humiliation and submission, few know why this must be in the presence of the Divine when man is in worship; and consequently they do not know what it effects. They who are not in the knowledge of interior things cannot believe otherwise than that the Divine wills the humiliation and submission of man as a man does who is in the lust of glory; and consequently that the Divine wills glory therefrom, and is affected with the glory which man ascribes to Him. But the case is altogether different. The Divine is not in any affection of glory, for what glory has the Divine from man? But He wills humiliation and submission not for His own but for man's sake. For when man is in humiliation he feels aversion for the evils and falsities in him, and thus removes them, and on their removal the Divine can flow in with good and truth. Everyone may be aware of this in himself. He who is of elated mind is in the love of self, and not only sets himself above others but also cares nothing for the Divine, and consequently rejects the influx of good, and thence its conjunction with truths. This is the genuine reason far man's humiliation before the Divine. It is therefore manifest that good cannot be conjoined with truths, thus that man cannot be regenerated, unless he humbles himself" (AC 4347).
     How true this teaching is, every man, if he does not resist the truth, can see for himself. If he sees himself as he is, as a form created to receive influx, he sees and feels nothing unworthy, nothing degrading or belittling to himself, in submitting to that influx. Indeed, he sees in the invocation of our text the ever-present invitation that is stamped on all creation to receive life, and to receive it more abundantly. For him the text appears not as a command but as an invitation; and he enters into its fulfillment not as a duty but as a thing of joy and inspiration and strength. Although of himself he may be depressed because of the many evils he sees in himself, his spirit is lifted up by the Lord when he hears and heeds with both mind and heart the words: "O come let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Amen.

     LESSONS: Psalm 91:1-8; 92:1-6; 95:1-7; AC 10208:3, 4

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MISSION ACCOMPLISHED-Almost 1983

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED-Almost       Rev. NORMAN E. RILEY       1983

     When I was appointed superintendent of the Mission in July 1978, it was in order to implement a five-year plan to lead the Mission to a more independent status and one in which there would be greater support of their own expenses.
     Gradually, over the years, the support of the Mission from the General Church had been increasing, until in 1978 the amount had reached the figure of R50000,00. Obviously this situation could not continue.
     For the remaining months of 1978, I had to get to know the thinking of the ministers and come to understand the people-what they were capable of doing, also what was needed, so that they would be in a position of eventually taking care of their own affairs.
     Previously, contributions had been brought to the annual meeting. These had reached the figure of about R800,00. It meant that the people could only give what they had at the time of the meetings. We therefore decided to collect contributions monthly in the societies. Cards were printed for this purpose. Each quarter they would be sent to the superintendent along with the usual reports. The target set was for R1,00 for every R100,00 of earnings. In many areas that would constitute the monthly earnings! As probably every contribution collector knows, it takes time for new schemes to get on the way. But our people soon responded. From the contributions, one half was for the society to cover its own expenses, while the other half came to the central fund. The General Church had kindly offered to continue to pay the salaries of the present men.
     If the members were now to take care of their own affairs, it would only be right to see that all buildings were in order, and that where buildings had been previously promised, these would be erected.
     The first of these was in Diepkloof (Soweto). The site here had been secured and the plans passed long before I came on the scene. The reason for this was that the Administration Board in Johannesburg had decided that the people living in the Alexandra Township would have to be moved in order that all buildings could be demolished to make way for the erection of bachelor flats for the workers in Johannesburg. Compulsory purchase of the church and manse was made by the Administration Board.

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We were able to proceed with the building in Diepkloof, where the people were to be resettled, although we had some people in that area, because the General Church had bought the superintendent's house from the Mission. No sooner had we commenced building when the Administration Board had a change of mind. Alexandra Township would now be redeveloped; people would sell their homes to the board, including freehold rights, as the church had done. Little by little demolition would take place, new houses would be built either for sale or rental. We were then given the right to continue to use the church house until the time of demolition. In the new scheme all churches will be built in one area. Our application for a site has been registered. Now the people are busy finding ways to raise money for the future erection of a church building. The societies' share of their contributions and the sale of clothing is being set aside for this purpose. The manse, that once housed the pastor and his family, is now occupied by about four families in the rehabilitation scheme-even the vestry. Fortunately one of the rooms is occupied by a member of the church, so we are able to use that for a vestry.
     Our next place was Cleremont, near Durban. The congregation had used what should have been the pastor's living room. This could not continue. A building had been planned and passed for the use of the theological school, but the financial situation did not cover this use. With a few alterations and the persuading of the township manager, we were able to convert it into a church house, although it was not on a church site. Two-thirds of the money for this came from the sale of the buildings in Alexandra, before the board had changed its mind about that area.
     I noted that the white building contractor, whom we had to engage, had subcontracted to an African builder. So when the time came for us to build the church in Enkumba, where an African could be employed, I made suitable arrangements with him to build for us. This did mean, however, that I had to do all the ordering of materials, and, along with Rev. Nzimande, inspect the building and keep a check on our materials. There were times when we found he was using our materials for a house he was building, but all came right in the end, and it did prove to be cheaper. What fun!
     For the candidate and his family to be able to move to Impaphala, a manse had to be built. Once again materials had to be ordered and the building inspected. We here record our grateful thanks to Barrie Parker, whose farm is in that vicinity, for his willing assistance in loaning a truck and laborers to gather sand and convey other materials. But this is not the only way Barrie has come to our rescue.
     In our second year, while our building project was still being carried out, we launched our plan to ensure that every society appointed a secretary, treasurer and an executive committee, and not least a maintenance manager.

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A meeting of treasurers was held in Westville, when Paul Mayer, our treasurer, although an extremely busy man, gave willingly of his time to come and explain bookkeeping procedure-much appreciated by all who came.
     To ease the financial burden, we divided the Mission into two districts, Transvaal and Natal. The members would be able to meet together more regularly, adding support to each other. A pastor was appointed to supervise the work in each district, which gave them a greater sense of leadership in their own affairs. This has already begun to bear fruit.
     The district pastor for Natal, Rev. Mbatha, called together the leading members of the societies within his district to engage in doctrinal study, that they might be the means of strengthening the church in their own areas. Each member of this council pledged a subscription of R10 per month, out of which only 20% can be used for meals and travel; the remainder is placed in a special fund for future development in the district. A similar scheme has been launched in the Transvaal by the district pastor, Rev. Nkabinde. Although the members do not meet, each person who receives an annual bonus from his employer has pledged to give R30 to a special fund. These gifts are in addition to the monthly contributions.
     The distribution of contributions was now changed. One half still goes to the society, but now, one quarter is for the district fund. This covers the traveling expenses of the pastor and supplies the expenses for the annual meeting of ministers. The other quarter is sent to the central fund. We have almost trebled our contributions.
     When our appeal went out for the Mission to take a greater responsibility for its own affairs, one of the questions asked was "Why has the church cast us off?" They often refer to themselves as children, looking to the superintendent, as the General Church representative, as their father. The answer was simple. "When your children are at home you feed and clothe them, but when they grow up you do not still keep them at home while you go out to work; they also go out and feed and clothe themselves. The Mission Church has now come of age; you are now like all the other societies of the General Church." As time passed, many expressed how they now feel a greater joy from taking a more active part in the affairs of the church. It is likewise a great joy to work with them. As one overseas visitor expressed to me, "I don't think I would have the smiling countenance they have if I had to live within their budgets."
     At our last Easter gathering, Rev. Mbatha made a most inspiring and moving speech in connection with our coming to the end of the five-year plan, and the greater participation the members would have to take.

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I can only give the gist of it here, as I recall it. 'You can all see that I am a black man, that is not difficult. You are also black people. But we joined this church not because we were black, neither because it was a white man's church. We are here because we believe in the Lord as He has made Himself known in His Second Coming. We are here because we believe in its doctrines. These are from the Lord, it is His church. There was a time when our people did not have black teachers, but now we have our colleges, our children are taught by our people. Many of our people now have degrees. If we love our church then we will work for it. If we fall away because the white man no longer leads us, then it is a sign that we did not come for the right reasons. I, too, if I had my way, would say let us keep our superintendent, but because we want to keep him as a person."
     As every superintendent who has had the privilege of serving the Mission knows, there are indeed many moving and inspiring occasions, and also amusing ones. Some of you have read about these in my past newsletters. I recall attending a wedding ceremony in one of our country districts, and enjoying myself joining in the tribal dance. A young man made a comment to the pastor and when I asked what he said, the reply came, "I didn't think the old man had it in him." What it costs to have grey hair! I must admit I preferred the compliment which came from a more senior member-that it felt like having Rev. Elmo Acton back with them. I cannot say I relished seeing the beast slaughtered while I was preaching my sermon.
     Their belief in the reality of the spiritual world has no doubts. This has been brought home to me as I have conducted committals in their burial grounds. Such services can only take place on Saturday or Sunday, so you can imagine the crowds which gather. The graves are so close, as I found out on my first visit when I took one step back, and the next step would have found me down into the next grave. As I came away from the graveside I met a minister of another church. We greeted each other, then lifting up his hands he exclaimed, 'Isn't it wonderful to think of them all entering the kingdom." "Amen" I replied. The most embarrassing time is when they come to express their appreciation that a white man is willing to come amongst them. But we are all children of one Heavenly Father, and He is looking on the heart.
     Our next step in our new organizational program was instruction. A correspondence course on the work Heaven and Hell was offered. The main idea behind this was to find young men who would be able to act as lay readers, and from them hope that they would receive the call to enter the work of the priesthood. Eight persons enrolled but only two sent in answers.

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After some time we realized that due to their limited hours for study, their replies in English took too long. It was then decided that Rev. B. I. Nzimande would prepare a course in Zulu. We are just about ready to launch this course.
     An appeal went out for all members to engage in a home worship scheme, reading a passage from New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine each evening. This work was also set for confirmation classes in preparation for membership. Plans were outlined for work amongst children and young people, and for forming men's discussion groups and women's guilds. Much work has yet to be done to get these movements off the ground.
     In our last year we launched our evangelization programme. A leaflet was duplicated, translated into Zulu by our ever-willing translator, Rev. A. B. Zungu. This was for members to hand out to anyone who enquired about the church. In November we were able to place four advertisements in the African newspaper. Orders were soon to follow, so that to date we have sent out 35 copies of Heaven and Hell.
     At the beginning of this year we enrolled our first theological student. He will spend six months with each of the four tutors. In his final year he will work in one or two of our societies without a resident pastor, but under the supervision of the pastor in charge. During this time he will also have the opportunity to write his dissertation. We also have one other young man working on our correspondence course with a view to being accepted as a theological student.
     These will be the men for whom the Mission will have to find the salaries. This will be our greatest headache. As we have mentioned above, the day-to-day expenses can be met from our contributions and the small interest from our slender investments. Contributions will indeed rise, but so will expenses. The thought occurred to me that the only way is to make an appeal to the church throughout the world. If every member could give the minimum of R50,00 once, this would be sufficient to provide for future salaries and the training of men, from the interest. For such money would be invested for this purpose alone. The General Church would not have to give, so this would also mean that the money saved could be used for other purposes.
     An executive committee now exists to take care of the financial affairs of the Mission as a whole. It consists of both black and white representatives.
     Although I have been appointed resident pastor of the Transvaal society, I will continue as superintendent for another two years, during which time the new organisational programme should be in good working order. From that time on, each society, circle and group will operate on the lines laid out in the Order and Organization of the General Church, with the executive committee still in existence.

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ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY 1983

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY       Lorentz R. Soneson       1983

First Session

     Following a worship service led by Bishop Louis B. King, the first session commenced at 3:00 p.m., Monday, March 7, 1983, in the Council Hall. Two orders of business were handled first. The affirmation of the appointed secretary of the Council of the Clergy, Rev. Lorentz R. Soneson, was voted on by council members. Following this came acceptance of new members of the Council of the Clergy, recommended by Bishop King: Rev. Messrs. James P. Cooper, Michael K. Cowley, Nathan D. Gladish and Jeremy F. Simons. This was voted on by the membership. Also, a welcome was extended by the Bishop to the candidates invited to attend these meetings: Messrs. Prescott A. Rogers, Grant R. Schnarr and Paul Schorran. In addition, special guests Rev. Alain Nicolier and Mr. Harold Eubanks were welcomed. The Bishop then gave his episcopal report to the council and requested comments and discussion.
     One of the members of the council pointed out that since the new Order and Organization pamphlet, which has been revised by the Bishop, is now available, he wanted to encourage its use as an introduction to the organized church and as a missionary aid. The concept of a church with no constitution, but only the Lord as its leader, is so unique that it should have a wide appeal to inquirers. Another minister thanked the Bishop for his candid report, which acknowledged the variety of responses that he received when he requested an evaluation of his office as the episcopal leader. Furthermore, his addressing questions and problems facing the church today that need analysis and enlightenment reminded the council of the importance of the clergy meetings.
     The subject of officiating at remarriages, mentioned in the Bishop's report, was discussed by several members. It is under considerable discussion with the laity of the church.
     The matter of the New King James Version and its use in the General Church was discussed by several ministers. It was finally recommended that a whole session be dedicated to this particular subject.
     Also, another responded to an item in the Bishop's report, namely, the pending difficulty of placing ministers who are graduating from our Theological School.

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Concerning young men who wish to be priests of the New Church, one person stated that it would be unfair to discourage them from seeking training in our Theological School, even if they are unable at the time to be employed by the General Church.
     The report of the president of the Academy was then called for, and Rev. Alfred Acton presented it to the council. In his report he pointed out that the evaluation of the Secondary Schools will take place in April. The College had its evaluation the previous fall, and official reports are being awaited from the evaluation committee. Mr. Acton also spoke of two studies that he has commissioned: regarding marital status of the parents of the current students; and a study on the divorce rate within the organized church over the last seven decades. Also, a committee has been commissioned to study preparation for marriage and relevant teaching of young people. Rev. Martin Pryke hopefully will be cleared from other duties to assemble material looking to the publication of such a book on this subject.
     The report was then discussed by the council. It allowed a number of ministers from away to learn firsthand from its president what transpired at the Academy in recent months.
     The council then balloted on the select on of the papers and topics to be heard for the remainder of the sessions.

Second Session

     Rev. N. Bruce Rogers presented a paper explaining the reasons why he supports the use of the New King James Version in General Church services. Before consideration of this paper began, the Bishop expressed his understanding that the ultimate decision of what version of the Liturgy and the Word is used in the church is an episcopal one, based on counsel from the Consistory. Discussion and enlightenment will come from the body of the Council of the Clergy, and therefore he requested a thorough discussion of the subject.
     The first speaker represented himself as a minority opinion, and though he regretted disapproving this move to accept the New King James Version as the official one for the General Church, he felt that his reasons justified his position. One question to ask is, "What use will the New King James Version be put to?" Obviously, it will be read aloud for lessons from the chancel. It will be used on the altar as a copy of the Word. It will be used by individuals in the home for silent reading, study, and perhaps also in the schools. Finally, this speaker emphasized the need for multi-versions depending upon the particular use.
     Another person felt that the work we have accomplished so far in the Revision Committee has been extremely valuable.

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He hopes that it will continue now with the New King James Version. He did recommend, for chancel reading, to wrap the new version with a red velvet cover, covering the name Holy Bible, which may put some people off. The speaker was also against multiplicity of versions of the Word. We have enough confusion now, in assigning recitations to students, about whether they use the Liturgy or the King James Version.
     Another said he appreciates, and indeed loves, the New King James Version, noting that it was seventy or eighty years ago that the Conference Pentateuch was started and finally finished for an acceptable New Church version. How much longer would it take on our part to complete the whole Word? In addition, he felt that the Writings should be our key target for translation. Indeed, they are in worse condition than the Old or New Testament for readability.
     Another member felt that we don't need a special language to convey holiness. The holiness resides in the sense of the letter. It was felt that we still need a better translation for children. When words become very difficult to grasp, their frustration level is reached and they stop reading. At the present time they are not happy with the King James Version.
     Another felt that we cannot have a General Church Authorized Version in that the King James translation is for English-speaking members.
     It was later pointed out that the Nelson Publishing House is willing to sell us our canonical works unbound at a modest fee.
     Still others raised questions about the use of the New King James Version with our recitations, our Liturgy and other familiar passages. The change is probably inevitable, but it will not be without some jarring influence on members of our congregations in the English-speaking world.
     Another speaker was willing to support the change as long as we continue with our own revision committee. For after all, we are the only ones who can produce true translations.

Third Session

     A continuation of the discussion of the potential use of the New King James Version went on into the third session. According to one speaker, there is an immediate need to update the quotes from the Word in our Liturgy. There is also a more distant need, that of establishing our own New Church edition of the Word.
     One speaker said that we should not in any sense refer to an "authorized version." We have never had such a version because no version has ever been perfect. However, chancel copies throughout the whole world should have only the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin versions of the Word, rather than different translations.

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He also mentioned that we already have a variety of translation, including the English King James Version, occasional use of the Pentateuch, the Liturgy, and even in some cases a third version in our Psalmody.
     Another speaker thought there were healthy signs of something useful emerging in the deliberations of this issue among members of the council. He quoted a statement made by the late editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE, Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, when he said that on Sundays we hear many gross errors of translation when listening to the King James Version. We can reduce the amount of gross errors being read from our chancels by utilizing the New King James Version and intensifying the work of the revision committee.

     In his concluding remarks, Mr. Rogers expressed his appreciation for the response he received, and agreed that we should avoid the phrase "authorized version." He also said in closing that he is most in favor of continuing improvement on the New King James Version by his committee, whose task is to do just that.
     Following this, Rev. Donald Rose was called on to present his paper entitled "A Love of Saving Souls." Mr. Rose distributed copies of his prepared paper and offered some verbal reflections coming from his study of the subject. He called attention to uses of the word "save" and the word "soul" in the three sacred languages. Among the examples he gave was the saying to a woman at the end of Luke 7, "Thy faith hath saved thee"; and then in the next chapter to another woman, "Thy faith hath made thee whole." In the original Greek the phrases are identical. We should get comfortable with the idea of "saving" as including welfare and safety. He showed that the forty-second Psalm ends with the words, "the health [or help] of my countenance," which we are used to singing in the words, "the salvation of my faces."
     To appreciate the love of saving, consider on the one hand a constant sphere from hell which tends to harm and destroy, and then in contrast a sphere from heaven as a perpetual effort to save" (HH 595). When we truly wish the lasting well-being of those around us, we experience something of the love of saving. When the Lord was in the world, His whole life was oriented by a love of saving the human race. He asks us to continue in His love, and remarkably we are to receive something of His love toward the whole human race (see AC 4220).
     Although we do experience the love of salvation, it is a limited experience, and we should be open to a new appreciation of that love. He illustrated the very limited concept the disciples had of salvation. They tended to think of a limited few, but the Lord was leading them to a love of people "both Jews and gentiles" (see AE 746:14).

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     One of the striking teachings of the Writings is that people are saved in every religion (see AC 2284; DP 328).
     If we are sometimes uncomfortable with the concept of saving souls, it may partly be related to the old idea of salvation as a single event in a person's life. But the Lord is "unceasingly in the act of saving man" (TCR 577). The Writings show that ministers should care for the saving of souls and prefer this to honor and gain. He suggested that we do have decisions to make in which this preference makes the difference.
     In the discussion, one colleague believed that the love of saving souls was incorporated ultimately in the love of the neighbor, bringing out the good of the neighbor.
     The next speaker felt that we are probably talking about love for saving souls, rather than love of saving souls, which is setting souls free, free from grief and suffering.
     Another suggested that this love is synonymous with love of conversion, which was more comprehensible to him, and also that it is a zeal for assisting others. Someone else found the minister's prayer, "Oh Lord, save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance . . . ." a way in which he acknowledges his love of the salvation of souls.
     The speaker, in his closing remarks, said that the Lord wills the eternal well-being of all people. We cannot see to eternity, but we can love to play a part in promoting the lasting well-being of those we can serve.
     Following a short break, the paper entitled "Fear No Evil" was presented by Rev. Eric Carswell (see NCL, p. 193). One speaker pointed out that to attain to rational good, we must pass through the states of rational truth, and emphasized that this is not irrational truth.
     Another mentioned that it is impossible to have truth as a part of our life unless it is conjoined to good. We simply do not have the truth without that good. In connection with the three levels of freedom, civil, rational and spiritual, listed in Divine Providence, one speaker sees a relationship of freedom with fears. As one progresses up from the lower into the higher, there is less and less fear mentioned, and more emphasis on love.
     Another called attention to the Conjugial Love teaching that the hatred of evil is a sign of a good love, and this can even be zeal. Thus, we should not fear that evil, but hate it. Hopefully, too, this paper which discusses this pertinent subject will help us all to have the courage to face evil and thus be less judgmental. A teaching in Conjugial Love was emphasized: that there is a fear inscribed on all loves; thus there appears to be a legitimate reason for fear that goes along with good loves.
     Another explained that when we sense anxieties about evils, it can be interpreted as a good sign that things are progressing in an orderly way.

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          The next person said that rational good is a goal for all of us, and that one of our hymns, a song from the Epistles, says "perfect love will cast out fear."
     Then a speaker confessed that at one time he was very fearful of the evils he saw around him infiltrating the church. He discovered later, however, that by facing specific evils within himself, he was less fearful of those around him. There is a tendency in many, perhaps even a motivation for some entering the ministry, to assist others in overcoming their evils rather than facing their own.
     Mr. Carswell, in his summary comments, expressed his appreciation for the discussion. He reemphasized the importance of rational truth always being combined with rational good.

Fourth Session

     This session was dedicated to the program committee, starting with an address by Rev. Erik Sandstrom on the subject "As of Self."
     Mr. Sandstrom's clear and more expanded title would be "It Is a Law of Creation That There Shall Be an Activity as if of Itself in All Created Things, Which Activity Is Reaction, While the Divine by Influx Is Action." Mr. Sandstrom, offering a variety of definitions as they appear in the Writings, also discussed reception, influx and efflux, the image and likeness of man to God, as well as this study in relation to proprium, love and freedom.
     The Bishop then introduced the discussion of this paper by expressing his appreciation to Mr. Sandstrom and acknowledging that he is still teaching us in the council. He further asked for some comments from the speaker on some of the "stickier" numbers in the work Divine Providence as it applies to the subject.
     A listener asked if one can feel the Lord's operation within oneself.
     Another asked if Mr. Sandstrom would comment, in his closing remarks, on human freedom versus determinism in relation to the subject.
     One minister felt that we cannot really become effective pastors until we see the interior doctrine, which was so beautifully expressed by the program committee paper. Such a study would have been helpful at the time of the Hague conflict back in the late 1930s.
     Another said that the presentation answered the age-long question of who saves man. God or man? And the answer is in the concept that man is a receptacle and acts as if from himself. Also, it helps one to comprehend Apocalypse Explained 1141, which describes the appearance that evil arises from man. To believe this is to believe a falsity; also, that all initiative is with man and not from man.

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     Another, in expressing his enjoyment of the paper, noted that the Lord calls us His brethren. When we are conjoined with Him, that is, when we are acting from good which is from the truth and are unselfish and unconscious of self, we are in the regenerate state.
     Many questions were answered, commented another speaker, especially the key one-how to love the Lord and how to love the neighbor rightly. He mentioned Influx number 13, which clearly states that love in itself and wisdom in itself are not life, but they are the esse of life. He also mentioned Apocalypse Revealed 875. Swedenborg handed a twig to another, and asked, "Who gave you this twig, me or the Lord?" We can ask this each time we hug our child: who is doing it, ourselves or the Lord?
     Someone then spoke to the subject of testimony, wondering whether we are allowing our laity freedom to express how the Lord has changed their lives. There are many references to it in the Scripture and it should be a part of our evangelization program. This is consistent with the teaching on the "as of self' because it recognizes dependence upon the Lord and the gift of freedom simultaneously.
     Another colleague expressed his gratitude, and said that we need to be educated through such profound doctrinal papers.
     Arcana Coelestia 3742 was mentioned, which explains the perception of influx as a conscious one, and undoubtedly a delightful one.
     Another, in gratitude for the paper. labeled it more than that, rather a document on the subject. He also felt that "as of self' is a dynamic concept and not one that can be just labeled as a noun. The speaker brought this out time and again. The term often used in the Writings in this connection is qua si, which comes into the English language as "quasi," that is, "as if." This would be an understandable term for "as of self."
     Mr. Sandstrom used the simple illustration of a car. The Lord provides power and a man is capable of driving it right or left, forward or backward. Also, the love that a man feels which comes from the Lord is not the Lord's love. but it is from the Lord. By the same token, it is not love from man but from the Lord and belongs to man.

Fifth Session

     Rev. Cedric King, also of the program committee, summarized his paper (distributed earlier) on "As of Self." He presented a variety of applications of this doctrine. He showed the relationship between the second, third and fourth laws of Divine Providence which deal with self-compulsion, explaining the implications for priests as they lead and teach. In addition, he spoke of a second theme relating to God's image His likeness-emphasizing that His likeness resides in the appearance of self-life.

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In addition, Mr. King, using the second book of the Old Testament as a theme, related the as-of-self doctrine and our mission of evangelization to teachings about the Lord's work of redemption.
     The first to speak, Bishop de Charms, presented an eloquent picture of his thoughts on evangelization and certain of its practical applications. In summary, he felt there were two things to be said: 1. A proclamation that the Lord has come; 2. That we are to preach repentance for the remission of sins. He spoke of the first beginnings of the Christian Church when John the Baptist said that the Lord had come and that man was to repent. He felt the priesthood was called to do this missionary work and to reach out to touch the hearts of men; that is, they are to touch the will, yet not interfere with freedom of choice. We are to exercise patience, just as the Lord has infinite patience. Bishop de Charms hoped that we as clergymen would not be impatient in our missionary work, for what we can do for the Lord's building of the church is very little. Numerical increase should not be mistaken for inner strength. He thought the Council of the Clergy, which he admires a great deal, has shown amazing growth through its papers and doctrinal studies. Finally, he stated that all evangelization, to his mind, is education at every age. Moved by the eloquence, age and wisdom of this senior priest, the members of the Council of the Clergy gave him a standing ovation.
     Another speaker felt that the Exodus states apply to those in the church, but they should also apply to newcomers as well. He noted the seven steps referred to in previous presentations by Mr. Taylor and Mr. Junge. Perhaps the first three were conducted by angels with the individual, and we cannot drag people through the seven steps. Rather, it must be on their own from their "as of self."
     It was noted that the use of visitors' services is questionable. Rather, could we not speak to visitors as we are feeding our own?
     Another hoped that we as a group would not be too critical of missionary work performed in the past by the church as a whole. Needs and skills and talents vary from generation to generation. Also, we should bring principles of evangelization down to those who will answer the question "What does the neighbor need?' A study was made some years ago of how the Ancient Church people categorized charity to the neighbor with such titles as the blind, the lame, and so on.
     It was suggested that priests should analyze AC 6822 very carefully and not try to convey to the laity that they are only capable of communicating good to the neighbor.

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Certainly the layman can communicate the truths that he sees from the goodness in his heart.
     A member of the council then expressed his delight that studies on evangelization are still being done by our priests. He also voiced his concern that we keep a balance in our work. We still need to serve the children within our church, to reach out to our young adults and at the same time go beyond the front door, even outside, to greet the newcomer who is interested in the Heavenly Doctrines.
     Another member, who had preached to large numbers for twenty years in one of the bigger societies, now is experiencing very small numbers. However, in compensation, he finds his delight in greeting and leading one or two newcomers each year. He finds this fulfilling. He also found it rewarding to be able to assist newcomers with troubled marriages, when they gratefully embrace the teachings of the Second Coming regarding marriage.
     The next speaker, expressing his delight with the paper, observed while looking around at the seventy-some ministers, that perhaps we are too passive with the truth. This is the greatest gift the Lord has given mankind. We are challenged to spread it to others. Also, in referring to AC 2034 which regards the three highest loves, namely conjugial love, spiritual love of children, and love of society or mutual love, certainly the first two are not ends, but means to ultimating the third and final love. This passage combined with number 2039 has direct application in our effort to spread these truths to others from mutual love.


     Someone rose to say that it is important to preach and teach about evil in the New Church. He said that the Old Church doctrine today, on the subject of guilt and evil, offers the painkiller of just having faith and not worrying about the rest. The New Church, after all, does offer a cure, not just a painkiller. We can offer escape from evil spirits.
     Another said that the Lord sent out His disciples to spread the good news. But at the same time they were to preach repentance. That is, the good news can only be seen and applied to life when repentance has taken place, which is the shunning of evils within oneself.
     In his closing remarks, Cedric King thanked those who suggested new ideas of inquiry on his subject, and especially thanked Bishop de Charms for his eloquent words on evangelization. He agreed that any sermon we preach should have something that will appeal to anyone walking in off the street. This is not compromise, but accommodation. He appreciated the comments about repentance being the first of charity. But we do not have to keep looking at evil-we can indeed turn away from it.

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Sixth Session

     After the usual opening of worship, the topic presented by Rev. Robert Junge, "Blessings on a Marriage," was called for. Mr. Junge had distributed thoughts on this topic prior to the meetings, suggesting the alternative of the Holy Supper being offered instead of a blessing on a marriage. He explained that he was trying to avoid the appearance of making spiritual judgments, in this case by the clergy. If there has been a disorder, there is an imperative need to help those who are seeking support from the church. There followed deep discussion by the council.
     Mr. Junge, in his summary comments, said that individual priests must act from conscience and in a sphere of freedom. He also expressed appreciation of the sphere in which the discussion was held in the council chamber. He felt that the deep care for the conjugial from which the clergy discussed this difficult subject was heartening, even though we do not have the answers. We have to admit to the laity that we do not see absolutely clearly, and that we, too, are seeking the right ways to preserve the conjugial.

     Seventh Session

     After announcements, the council elected to hear a report on the subject of preparation for marriage in educating young people. Rev. Martin Pryke had circulated information and questions beforehand, explaining that he is planning to work on a book beginning next summer. He is seeking consultation with the council in presenting material for our young people in the church on this important matter. In essence, it is a textbook on preparation for marriage. Hopefully, also, it will stimulate our parents in the church to educate their children in this vital subject.
     There followed considerable discussion, and there was general agreement that a book such as the one proposed by the speaker is urgently needed at this time.
     One man expressed the feeling that even though such a book for our young is important, higher in priority are translations such as Dr. David Gladish's from the work Conjugial Love. It was admitted by some that we are not feeding the teenage state adequately as a church. It was even proposed that a teenage talk be offered during our Sunday morning worship service. It was also requested that the book be carefully tested with our teenagers for repeatability.
     Another requested that Mr. Pryke include the subject of self-examination as part of this whole subject, looking for motives for what one does as the key factor, rather than just the act.

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     In summary, Mr. Pryke said that he was grateful for the twenty or more responses from the council floor, and that, recognizing it as a difficult assignment, he hopes to get more assistance from the clergy. Also, he plans to report back when some of the material has been written.
     Following this came a report from the Dean of the Theological School, Rev. Robert Junge. Two men are graduating this year, and there are eight students in the next class. At the present time three students are expected to enter the school this fall, and one or two the following year. This means no graduates for 1985, three in 1986, and perhaps two in 1987. There will be a number of priests retiring in the early 1990s, which indicates that we need more optimistic talk among our young people who are considering the priesthood as a profession.
     Mr. Junge spoke of the possibility of study sabbaticals on such subjects as counseling and sermonizing. He hoped, too, that some day we might have a modest post-graduate program set up for advanced degrees.
     In response to a question about preparing our ministers to be heads of schools, Mr. Junge said they are requiring one term of teaching in the high school and one term in the elementary school, as well as the fall practicum which, for those involved in a society with a school, will provide further experience and training. As the current candidates will testify, there is an extremely full program at the present time. When questioned about the report of the Accreditation Committee, Dean Junge said that two inquiries were made. One regarded the changing of the degree from a Bachelor of Theology to a Master of Theology; the other was concerned with more advanced degrees in the faculty.

Eighth Session

     After opening worship and announcements, a paper by Bishop de Charms entitled "A King of Egypt Who Knew Not Joseph" was called for. In this study, Bishop de Charms examined the gap in the story between the end of Genesis and the beginning of Exodus, noting that this indefinite period of time is marked in Scripture by the change from a king of Egypt who was friendly to the Children of Israel to one who was antagonistic to them. Bishop de Charms suggested what this period represents, both in the life of the Lord on earth and its relationship to the glorification series and also to man's regeneration, relating it to the state that all human beings pass through in preparation for use.
     The enlightening address was discussed by the clergy, all of whom were most grateful to the Bishop for presenting the subject as he did.
     In closing, Bishop de Charms said that this presentation was only suggested for consideration and examination. It contains conclusions that he has drawn in his study on the subject.

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The council responded with applause.
     After a report of the agenda committee chairman. a number of individual projects were reviewed. There had been considerable progress. The report from the Evangelization Committee was called for. Rev. Douglas Taylor, as chairman, noted that his report had been distributed to the council in February. In it such items were included as the changing of its name to the Evangelization Committee; announcement of the members of the Board of Directors' Committee on Evangelization; a description of the fund-raising drive as described in the Missionary Memo; the centralization of the sermon-mailing out of Bryn Athyn; and the start of the publication called The Discoverer. which is being mailed to those on the sermon List. He described the publication of a series of pamphlets on the spiritual sense of the Word. He also referred to the possibility of employing a professional market researcher to assist the Evangelization Committee. In addition to his circulated report, Mr. Taylor described a new series coming off the press on life after death. It is also hoped that another pamphlet will follow on Providence. Coming soon will be one-"Why Are We Here?"-about the purpose of life. Also, now available is a ninety-page booklet composed of passages from the Acts and Epistles arranged by subject matter. Mr. Taylor thanked those pastors who took the time and trouble to fill out the questionnaire on evangelization programs in their area.
     Regarding the workshops offered in various church centers, a lot of enthusiasm is generated, but it is not too effective unless it is followed up by the pastor in the area. About five societies have pastors willing to put on this program at the present time. Tapes are available, and outlines are prepared for an eight-session course.
     In response to a question from one pastor, "What new ideas do we have on evangelization" Mr. Taylor said, "We have new ones, but more important is implementation of the ones we already have." And finally, Mr. Taylor expressed his appreciation of Bishop de Charms' astute counsel, namely, that we need to exercise patience in the spread of the church for "unless the Lord builds the house, we labor in vain to build
     The final session ended with a song and a benediction.
          Lorentz R. Soneson,
               Secretary

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ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1983

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS       LORENTZ R. SONESON       1983

     MINUTES OF JOINT COUNCIL

     1.      The 89th regular joint meeting of the Council of the Clergy and the Directors of the Corporation of the General Church of the New Jerusalem was held in the Council Hall, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, March 12, 1983.
2.      Attendance: Seventy men attended (forty-seven clergy, twenty lay members and three guests).
3.      The minutes of the 88th annual meeting were accepted as published in NEW CHURCH LIFE. November 1982. p. 522ff.
4.      The report of the Secretary of the General Church was accepted as it appeared in NEW CHURCH LIFE. December 1982, p. 569ff.
5.      The Secretary of the Council of the Clergy report by Rev. L. R. Soneson was accepted as published in NEW CHURCH LIFE. December 1982, p. 508ff.
6.      A communication from the pastor of the Bryn Athyn society to the Bishop of the General Church was read by the secretary. In effect, it was an invitation to hold the next General Assembly in Bryn Athyn on June 7th through June 10th, 1984, which immediately follows the Academy commencement exercises on the 6th. Acting on behalf of the General Church, the Joint Council then moved and seconded the acceptance of this Invitation, and it was so ordered.
7.      The report of the Treasurer was then called for, and the following are excerpts from Mr. Neil Buss' report:     

     Mr. Buss said that a treasurer's report was given to the Board of Directors at their meeting and also at the Corporation meeting. There will be a report published in NEW CHURCH LIFE that will include financial statements. Hopefully, our time can be best used here by trying to answer any questions both from the Board of Directors and the Council of the Clergy.
     The 1983 budget was just assembled and approved yesterday. Copies will be sent to treasurers around the church, and ministers can examine their figures if interested.
     Of the forty-four individual groups, societies and circles that have their budgets, thirty-one, or about 70%, met or exceeded their targets, which is gratifying. Of the remaining thirteen, the shortfalls were minor or else they were clearly explainable.

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     In response to a question regarding Canadian ministers, it was explained that the pay scale is adjusted to partially offset the difference in value of the Canadian and U.S. dollars, so as not to penalize ministers assigned to that commonwealth. Also, all ministers presently in Canada receive housing at subsidized rates from their societies. The treasurer's office is monitoring this potential inequality.
     In response to another question, Mr. Buss did not foresee any problems regarding banks charging taxes in dividends in advance since our church is tax exempt. Regarding the increase in Social Security for self-employed American ministers, Mr. Buss explained to the Joint Council that passage of this bill is most likely and will have an effect on all ministers' incomes after the first of the year. The Salary Committee will take this into account in their meetings with the treasurers in April.
     A question regarding our west coast church groups and where they stood in the 1983 budget was asked. Mr. Buss said that he plans to visit those areas in October and will discuss the individual situations with each group he visits. It is hard to generalize because each has specific problems, strengths and weaknesses. Generally they are considered as potential growth areas and the Budget Committee is willing to accept a reasonable time before they reach self-support. The subsidies are, in effect, seed money in hope that new societies, circles and groups will take root and grow. Sacramento, for example, has been very responsible in meeting their financial obligations, a portion of the pastor's salary and travel expense coming out of the San Francisco area.
     Mr. Buss also asked the ministers to speak to their treasurers about getting their information in to the treasurer's office as soon as possible for intelligent planning by the Budget Committee. If these are not in, they are forced to develop figures based on last year's experience of expenses and contributions, which allows no room for future planning and expansion.

     8.      The Salary Committee then made its report through its chairman, Mr. Theodore W. Brickman, Jr. Mr. Brickman explained that salaries are still a major part of the General Church budget. The treasurers will be meeting soon in Atlanta. They hope to review methods of hiring, as well as to review salary scales of school administrators. Inflation and inequalities of salary because of location have continued to be analyzed by this committee.

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He was happy to see the fine year-end contributions for 1982 that assisted this committee in upgrading salaries for employees of the General Church. With a continued increase in contributions, and increased services from the Development Office, things look hopeful.
     It was asked how often the committee meets and what power it has in upgrading salaries for teachers and ministers. Mr. Brickman explained that the salary scale recommended by the Salary Committee and approved by the General Church Board of Directors is in reality the actual scale for those societies that are not yet self-supporting, thus there is a potential for inequality. The committee, which is composed of five members, meets five times a year, and with the treasurers of societies with schools twice a year.
     Mr. Neil Buss explained how the fringe benefit program, especially the medical plan, has improved in recent years. An increase of 23% for the health program had a substantial effect on the General Church budget, but it offers a safe financial net under those who may face large medical bills.
     9.      The report of the Finance and Development Fund Committee was then called for. Chairman Leonard E. Gyllenhaal, explained that a pamphlet went out discussing contributions to the General Church. Approximately eighteen hundred copies were sent in the United States. There was an explanation from Bishop King describing 1982 as a critical year. (Copies were then made available to members of the Joint Council from outside of the country.) The committee on finance and development met five times during the year. On one occasion they heard a development presentation from the Twin City circle. They also accepted preliminary reports from Miami, Tucson and Kempton. They heard update reports on the Glenview development and condominium project. Also, there were reports on the Durban society's long-range plans for self-support. The committee had ongoing projects with the General Church of Canada and the Kitchener, Detroit and Glenview societies. They met once with the new Board of Directors of Cairnwood Village.
     The Development Fund had a slight improvement in its financial condition due to increased contributions. The fund had revenues of $275,000.00 and expenditures of $142.402, for a net increase of $132,000.00. At the same time, loans to societies of $255,000.00 were made resulting in decrease in cash of $122,655.

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     10.     Rev. Martin Pryke was called on to read a memorial for the late Rev. B. David Holm as follows:
     "The Reverend Bernard David Holm, who passed away on April the 20th, 1982, was born in 1926 in Chicago, Illinois. He attended two years of secondary school at the Academy of the New Church, as well as four years of college, after which he received his B.A. degree, and three years of Theological School followed by the B.Th. degree. He was inaugurated into the priesthood in 1952 and ordained into the second degree in 1957.
     "Mr. Holm served the General Church in a variety of capacities including assistance in the Mission and the Durban Society in South Africa, a longer period in Ohio, which was followed by responsibilities in Bryn Athyn, including work with the Extension Committee, directing the General Church Religion Lessons, serving as editor of New Church Home, and also as secretary of the Council of the Clergy.
     "In the Bryn Athyn Church he served as assistant dean and taught over a period of time in the elementary school. In the Academy, his most recent assignment, he was an instructor in religion and chaplain in the secondary schools.     
     "To list such details of Mr. Holm's association with the New Church does not in any way describe him or his years of service. He was a man of strong conviction, and he was ready to express his conviction. But this strength was balanced by a gentleness which sprang from a concern for his priestly use in the salvation of souls and his love of people-especially young people. This last trait was particularly evident in his work with the members of the South African Mission and, in recent years, in the secondary schools of the Academy.
     "He was a pastor in every sense of the word-anxious to teach the truths of the Lord's Word and to reach in every way possible to anybody in need. One of the greatest delights that he had in his last years was to be appointed as chaplain of the Academy secondary schools. This really meant that he was a pastor, a shepherd to these young people in the Academy, and he was prepared to devote everything he had to this high use, ready to give any amount of time to any individual student whom he could help.
     "Mr. Holm's colleagues look back on their association with him with respect and affection, and this is what we would all like to express at this time.

354


We are anxious that his wife and his family should know this and that they have our warmest condolences and support."

     11.      The Bishop called for comments on some reports that had been distributed in advance from the secretary of the corporation, the Evangelization Committee and the Board Evangelization Committee. Bishop King explained this last committee's uses to the Joint Council. It was formulated to give liaison between the Evangelization Committee and the Board of Directors. In the past, the chairman of the Evangelization Committee would take up questions and requests with the Bishop, who in turn would pass them on to the Board of Directors, either at the beginning or the end of a very busy meeting. This did not seem adequate, so a committee made up of members of the Board of Directors was formulated. It was hoped, too, that the board committee would take the lead in establishing a fund for evangelization. This has taken place. Someone asked whether the Evangelization Committee had engaged a market research consultant. There was not yet enough information to go ahead on this decision, but they are meeting again, looking over three proposals by consultants.
     Other reports were called up for discussion: Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE, the Orphanage Committee, the General Church Pension Committee and the Personnel Advisory Committee. Mr. Hyland Johns, chairman of this last committee, added the following comments: "One of the goals of this committee is the pastoral development review program. The pastor being reviewed, and the one doing the reviewing, should agree on the description of the pastor's role, similar to a job description, since they vary from one area of responsibility to another. Even though the committee is not privy to the reviews themselves, volunteer comments were most encouraging, such as that it opens communication between the Bishop's office and his priests, that it is useful beyond expectations, that the self-analysis is most helpful, and in general it is welcomed by most     priests in the field."
     The Bishop then was asked whether part-time ministry is a solution that is being considered when full-time employment may not be possible for all graduates of the Theological School. His response was that we are seeking enlightenment from day to day, but in general if a man has potential, it is hoped to train him for the ministry with no promise of employment. The Bishop also said that the Lord is going to build His church in ways that we mortals cannot begin to comprehend.

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If men are called to the ministry, it is our responsibility to train them for the future growth of the church.
     A question was raised whether salaries were adequate for ministers today in that some need to have their wives take paying jobs to provide adequate income. It was pointed out that even though the teaching profession and the ministry are recognized as lower-income professions, within that range our ministers are being paid in the upper portion of their bracket. It was further suggested that unemployed priests be placed as evangelization ministers to key societies, and perhaps supported by the Development Fund for enhancing the growth of the church.
     Another minister said that there is value in placing a priest in a small group to do secular work. This would allow him to become more familiar with people and their world, thus increasing his effectiveness when future employment full-time is feasible.     
     Other reports called for included: The General Church Publication Committee; the General Church Religion Lessons: the General Church Schools Committee, to which chairman Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr added some comments.
      Mr. Schnarr described this as a newly-formed committee made up of senior teachers and a few ministers that meet mostly to consider all aspects of our church schools, such as staffing, salaries, curriculum, etc. This committee, formed now for three years and composed of about ten members, has expanded its uses tremendously. It includes monitoring the teacher's professional development fund, and to some extent the ministers' professional development fund.
     Also reviewed were the General Church Sound Recording Committee, the Sunday School Committee, the General Church Translation Committee and the General Church Press. Chairman Garry Hyatt reported that the General Church Press is doing well, turning out professional quality work and seeking more business throughout the General Church. It was also mentioned that Cairncrest is a pickup and drop off for the United Parcel Service, so that those out of state can utilize General Church Press as easily as a local printer.
     12.      Mr. Leonard Gyllenhaal, who had received a gift from a variety of individuals and societies that allowed him and his wife to vacation in Hawaii, wanted to extend his personal thanks to those overseas societies that contributed to this generous present on the occasion of his retirement as treasurer of the General Church.

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     One minister rose to thank those far-signed and gifted men on our Board of Directors who arranged for the retirement fund, established some years ago. This was followed with applause.
     13.     Bishop King re-emphasized how much the laity is trying to raise salaries for ministers and teachers to an adequate level to remove anxieties and concerns, allowing them to turn their full attention to the work of the church.
     14.     There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

     LORENTZ R. SONESON,
          secretary
Editorial Pages 1983

Editorial Pages       Editor       1983

     JOY BECAUSE OTHERS ARE SAVED

     How does it feel to see someone else rewarded? To feel another's joy as joy in oneself, a favorite teaching says, is really loving. But does it seem fair that others should be equally blessed when we have seemingly been more faithful? The Lord addresses our natural tendency to indignation with a story of workers in the vineyard. The workers had willingly contracted for a denarius for a day's work. But their cheerfulness turned to murmuring when they saw the same reward given to those who had labored less. "These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day" (Matt. 20:12)
     In the story the landowner pointed out that he had done the workers no wrong. "Did you not agree with me for a denarius?" And he asks further, "Is your eye evil because I am good?" Rather than have their joy diminished to see others benefit, they might have had greater joy. It could have been a different story.
     The Writings mention these in Christendom who have brooded smugly on being saved. They "think much about their salvation and that they alone are saved." They experience pained indignation at the thought that others might be saved. In fact they murmur against that idea that "the Lord loves everyone" (D. Min. 4774).

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     The Writings are revolutionary on the subject of salvation. The chapter entitled "The Heathen in Heaven" is the antithesis of the Christian thinking of the 18th century. The Lord's love is "to will the salvation of all. Therefore, He has provided a religion for everyone . . . . The heathen equally with Christians are saved . . . ." (Heaven and Hell 318, 319).
     The Writings are so emphatic about the salvation of those outside the church that we might even sense some indignation. But the goodness of our Master will not make our eye resentfully evil if we allow Him to impart to us His kind of joy. This is a joy in the truth which the Lord has revealed. It is a joy that belongs to "the life of charity" mentioned in the following delightful passage:

     It is very common for those who have taken up an opinion respecting any truth of faith to judge of others that they cannot be saved unless they believe as they do-a judgment which the Lord has forbidden (Matt. vii. 1, 2). On the other hand I have learned from experience that men of every religion are saved, provided that by a life of charity they have received remains of good and of apparent truth . . . . The life of charity consists in thinking kindly of another, and in wishing him well; and in perceiving joy in one's self from the fact that others are also saved. Arcana Coelestia 2284 LESS NARROW APPLICATION 1983

LESS NARROW APPLICATION       TERYN S. ROMAINE       1983




     Communications
Dear Editor,
     I would like to respond to Mr. Steve Gladish's letter in the May issue entitled "Two Touchstones." I would agree with his message that New Church education and subsequent life of use are essential tools for building a home in heaven. But the application need not be so narrow.
     The comment that irresponsibility and impulsiveness lead to unemployment seems to imply that the unemployed have themselves done evil. Consider instead that the unemployed are victims of what may be someone else's mismanagement.

358



     Mr. Gladish makes too limited an application of the doctrine of use. Is someone who doesn't work a "regular job" useless? How about the handicapped, the invalid, young people, and the retired? People who have lost their jobs can yet be fully useful to their community and their families. The paycheck is only a secondary, material result of a certain form of use, certainly not a measure of use itself.
     Finally, I absolutely value my New Church education, but I in no way consider it a mistake in judgment to have opted for a college other than the Academy College. I dearly missed the regular religious exposure and community with New Church friends, but on the other hand I was forced to take some responsibility for my own personal spiritual growth. I wish I could have had them both, but I don't regret my choice.
     Mr. Gladish is correct in emphasizing the awesome responsibilities of parents, but I don't think making their children attend the ANC and choosing their professions are among them.
     TERYN S. ROMAINE,
          Salem, Indiana
PARENTAL LOVE 1983

PARENTAL LOVE       KRISTIN O. CARLSON       1983

Dear Editor:
     Mrs. Rose captured me with a couple of points in her letter about parental love in the May issue. She first quotes CL 405 about spiritual parents who "alienate the mind" from their children who do not show signs of good morals. The point is later made that a child may blame himself when his parents do not love him because he sees that "his disobedience or self-will is justifiably causing the withholding of love by the parents."
     My feeling is that there are many reasons why parents do not love their children, some understandable, and none justifiable. The "alienation of mind" need not be thought of as a conscious decision not to love. There may be a similarity to states of cold between married partners. The Lord never denies anyone the privilege of being a loving parent or a loving spouse just because a child or a partner is self-willed or into some kind of trouble.
     I don't believe it is out of love for the parents that children blame themselves or return to homes where they are abused. They may just be too afraid of what it would mean to admit they are not loved.
     The observation that "children die who are not loved" is a reference to studies of institutionalized children who died for no apparent reason; in other words, who were in good health, well-fed, and in all ways well cared for except that the nurses, because of concern for cleanliness, did not touch them.

359


Touching would have given important experiences, possibly life-saving ones.
     All the sciences, including studies in nutrition and psychology, are at our disposal to hold up in the light of truth. My only concern is that, because we cannot love our children as freely as our Father loves us, we will in some way try to make a principle out of our inadequacy, that is to justify not loving.
     KRISTIN O. CARLSON,
          Kitchener, Ontario, Canada

     "The Divine Love is in every man, both the wicked and the good; consequently the Lord who is Divine Love cannot act otherwise than as a father on earth acts toward his children, and infinitely more so, because the Divine Love is infinite." Divine Providence 330 SHOULD THERE BE A NEW CHURCH ORGANIZATION? 1983

SHOULD THERE BE A NEW CHURCH ORGANIZATION?       LISA HYATT COOPER       1983

Dear Mr. Rose,
     In your June editorial (NCL p. 262) you raise the question, "Should there be a New Church organization?" My answer, like yours, is in the affirmative. But at the same time it occurs to me to wonder whether the Lord has not also been building His church within the present Christian establishment. Perhaps both the separatists and the non-separatists have been right.
     A friend of my husband recently asked us what Swedenborg disagreed with in the Christian view of the Trinity. After we answered him, he asked, "But isn't it just a matter of semantics"' I believe that for him it was. Somehow he seems to have gained a true picture of the Trinity from what the Catholic Church has taught him.
     I have a growing feeling that New Church doctrine has subtly changed Christian thought over the last two centuries. I think this is especially clear in regard to the Trinity, but I see it in other areas too. The formal creeds of the Christian churches may not have changed, and obviously there is still much error in the minds of many Christians.

360


But in general, Christians have come to understand their own theology more along the lines of what we know to be true. Many of them have never even heard of Swedenborg, but I can't help thinking that the revelation given through him is behind it all.
     LISA HYATT COOPER,
          Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania
ORDINATIONS 1983

ORDINATIONS              1983

     Schnarr-at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, June 12, 1983, Rev. Grant R. Schnarr into the first degree of the priesthood, Rt. Rev. Louis B. King officiating.

     Schorran-at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, June 12, 1983, Rev. Paul E. Schorran into the first degree of the priesthood, Rt. Rev. Louis B. King officiating.
BEAUTIFUL SILK AND GLOWING CANDLES 1983

BEAUTIFUL SILK AND GLOWING CANDLES              1983

     "It is among marvelous facts that those petty worms called silkworms clothe with silk and magnificently adorn both women and men, from queens and kings even to maidservants and menservants; and that a petty insect like the bee supplies the wax for the tapers that make temples and palaces brilliant. All these and more are conclusive proofs that God from Himself through the spiritual world operates all things that take place in nature."
     True Christian Religion 12:9

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MINISTERIAL CHANGES AND PLACEMENTS 1983

MINISTERIAL CHANGES AND PLACEMENTS       Louis B. King       1983

     Rev. Alfred Acton has accepted appointment, as of September 1, 1983, to serve as a Bishop's Representative, to give assistance in conducting development reviews for ministers in the continental United States. Mr. Acton will also serve as Director of the General Church Correspondence School. This new use will develop under his leadership, providing correspondence courses in doctrine for adults. In this capacity he will also endeavor to follow up and give support to those many individuals who have attended the Academy schools, but have not as yet joined the General Church.
     In addition to the above duties, Mr. Acton has accepted appointment as Chairman of the General Church Liturgy Committee, previously chaired by the Executive Bishop.
     Finally, Mr. Acton will be available to teach certain religion courses in the academy schools.
     Rev. Peter Buss has been confirmed as the next president of the Academy of the New Church, effective September 1, 1983.
     Rev. Eric Carswell will serve as Assistant to the Pastor of the Immanuel Church Society of Glenview, Illinois, beginning September 1, 1983.
     Rev. Brian Keith will become Pastor of the Immanuel Church Society of Glenview and President of the Midwestern Academy, effective September 1, 1983.
     Rev. Grant Schnarr will serve as Assistant to the Pastor of the Immanuel Church, effective July 1, 1983.
     Rev. Paul Schorran will serve as Assistant to the Pastor of the Durban Society in South Africa, effective July 1, 1983.
     Rev. Kenneth Stroh, who has been serving, by Episcopal appointment, as Acting Pastor to the Colchester Society in England since July 1, 1982, has been called by the Colchester Society to serve as their Resident Pastor, effective July 1, 1983.
     Rev. James P. Cooper has been appointed assistant to the Pastor of the Pittsburgh Society, effective September 1st.
     Louis B. King,
          Bishop

362


Church News 1983

Church News       Charles P. Gyllenhaal       1983

     NORTH OHIO CIRCLE

     The convening of the seventh Ohio District Assembly in north Ohio in April, 1983, provides an appropriate reason while reporting the event to bring the record up-to-date on the North Ohio Circle.
     Ohio district assemblies have been happening regularly over the last decade, being held alternately in the Cleveland area or in Cincinnati to the south. When in the Cleveland area, the locale has varied with each assembly. As the North Ohio Circle has never had a truly permanent building, this year the Saturday meetings were held in a Methodist church building, the banquet in a quaint early American G.A.R. building in a town named Peninsula, and Sunday services in the Old Town Hall in Brecksville, which provides a very nice setting for our regular Sunday services these days. (Brecksville is between Cleveland and Akron on the Ohio turnpike.)
     As the Bishop was unable to attend, he designated Rev. Robert Junge, Dean of the Theological School, to preside. His presence and contributions were appreciated by everyone. Dean Junge addressed the Saturday meeting on "The Conjugial Ideal: A Present Reality." Addresses were also given on the assembly's theme of "Marriage: Where Religion and Daily Life Meet" by Rev. Stephen Cole, pastor of the South Ohio Circle who is based in Cincinnati, and by Rev. Kenneth Alden, pastor to the North Ohio Circle who is based in Detroit.
     Mr. Hubert Heinrichs of Columbus (central Ohio) was toastmaster at the banquet on Saturday evening and presented two speakers, Mr. Max Blair, who discussed the assembly theme from the "Viewpoint of a Young Married Couple" and Mrs. Leigh Latta, whose viewpoint was "From a More Advanced Stage." Some in the "advanced stage" ale still "the young in heart," as was apparent when we later toasted the 50th wedding anniversary of the ever-youthful Dr. and Mrs. Philip de Maine.
     "Delegates" from south and central Ohio and visitors from Bryn Athyn and elsewhere helped to make it a very worthwhile weekend. It began with a party Friday night at the home of Alan and Lucy Childs and ended with Sunday morning services in our pretty 1874 "church."
     The Town Hall has been our "church" since 1980, when our present pastor, Rev. Kenneth Alden, arrived, just out of theological school. Before that for many years we had used the Convention church in Cleveland. This included the years when Rev. Daniel Heinrichs and Rev. Stephen Cole were our resident pastors. Mr. Cole arrived in 1977, just after his ordination. He was resident here for two years, and was also visiting pastor to south Ohio. He moved to Cincinnati in 1979 as resident pastor there, and "visited" north Ohio. A year later, after being ordained. Mr. Alden became our pastor, splitting his time between Michigan and Cleveland.
     Through all the changes in the pastoral office and the meeting sites, the circle has remained very active, consistent in size, and quite compatible. We number about 60, including young people and children. We have sent most of our young people to the Academy, and, as is bound to happen, many of them are spread around the church. Our group includes a large number of retirees, who obviously like the area. This shows that not everyone heads for warmer climates at retirement.

363


The circle includes enough young people and children to have kept a Sunday school going for several decades. Our pastor visits twice monthly. In addition to church services, preceded by Sunday school classes for several different age groups (conducted by the pastor and various lay persons), there is a Saturday night doctrinal class in one of the homes. Careful attention is paid to church festivals: tableaux at Christmas, fruit offerings at Thanksgiving, flower offerings at Easter, a pageant or puppet show on June 19th and a special celebration on Swedenborg's birthday. A women's discussion group meets monthly during the week. Our Women's Guild is always busy and useful. Without their work the circle couldn't possibly operate. (And a new Theta Alpha chapter has been established.)
     Services coinciding with the 4th of July, followed by a picnic, are held outdoors at the Don Synnestvedt's farm. The circle's annual meeting, preceded by Sons and Theta Alpha meetings, is held at a garden center, a nice setting in Akron. North Ohio is also active in Epsilon Society work. Our monthly publication, "Around the Circle," is now in its twentieth year.
     As our area is adjacent to the main interstate from the east to the Midwest (halfway between Bryn Athyn and Glenview) we enjoy having many visitors, and often a minister from another society will fill in.
     Although we enjoy our historic (built in 1874) and inexpensive "church" building, it is still a temporary situation and presents some interesting problems. For instance, because we have no storage area at the hall, we have developed a closely-planned operation, involving almost everyone, and arrive at the building Sunday morning with: the Lectern, the repository, the candlesticks and snuffer, the number board, kneeling pads and liturgies for the congregation and the offering basket-something of a New Church road show. Although this operation works quite well, we are now hoping to buy some land in the Brecksville area, where we now meet, and eventually build our own church on it. Then we will just have to get used to functioning in a normal manner-and we will have come of age.
     Charles P. Gyllenhaal
PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES 1983

PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES              1983




     Announcements






GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
RIGHT REV. LOUIS B. KING
Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania

PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES
Public worship and doctrinal classes are provided either regularly or occasionally at the locations listed below. For details use the local phone number of the contact person mentioned or communicate with the Secretary of the General Church, Rev. L. R. Soneson, Cairncrest, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009, Phone (215) 947-4660.

     AUSTRALIA          
          
     SYDNEY, N.S.W.
Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom, 22 Dudley Street, Penshurst, N.S.W. 2222. Phone: 57-1589.

     BRAZIL

     RIO DE JANEIRO
Re. Jose Lopes de Figueiredo, Rua Desembargador Izidro 155, Apt. 202, Tijuca.

     CANADA

     British Columbia:

     DAWSON CREEK
Rev. William Clifford. 1536 94th Ave., Dawson Creek, V1G 1H1. Phone: (604) 782-3997.

     VANCOUVER
Mr. Douglas Crompton, 21-7055 Blake St., V5S 3V5. Phone: (604) 437-9136.

     Ontario:

     KITCHENER
Rev. Christopher Smith, 16 Bannockburn Rd., R.R. 2, N2G 3W5. Phone: (519) 893-7460.

     OTTAWA
Mr. and Mrs. Donald McMaster, 726 Edison Avenue, Apt. 33, Ottawa, Ontario K2C 3P8. Phone: (613) 729-6452.


     TORONTO
Rev. Geoffrey Childs, 2 Lorraine Gardens, Islington, Ontario M9B 424 Phone: (416) 231-4958.

     Quebec:

     MONTREAL
Mr. Denis de Chazal, 17 Baliantyne Ave. So., Montreal West, Quebec H4X 281. Phone: (514) 489-9861.

     DENMARK

     COPENHAGEN
Mr. Jorgen Hauptmann, Strandvejen 22, Jyllinge, 4000 Roskilde. Phone: 03-389968.

     ENGLAND

     COLCHESTER
Mrs. Donald A. Bowyer, 26 Allanbrooke Road, Colchester, Essex CO2 8EG.
Rev. Kenneth O. Stroh, 2 Christchurch Court, Colchester, Essex C03 3AU Phone: 0206-43712

     LETCHWORTH
Mr. and Mrs. R. Evans, 111 Howard Drive, Letchworth, Herts. Phone: Letchworth 4751.

     LONDON
Rev. Robert McMaster, 135 Mantilla Rd., London SW17 8DX. Phone: 672-6239.

     MANCHESTER
Mrs. Neil Rowcliffe, 135 Bury Old Road, Heywood, Lanes. Phone: Heywood 68189.

     FRANCE

     BOURGUINON-MEURSANGES
Rev. Alain Nicolier, 21200 Beaune, France. Phone: (80) 22.47.88.

     HOLLAND

     THE HAGUE
Mr. Daan Lupker, Wabserveen Straat 25, The Hague.

     NEW ZEALAND

     AUCKLAND
Mrs. Marion Mills, 8 Duders Ave., Devonport, Auckland 9. Phone: 453-043.

     NORWAY

     OSLO
Mr. Eyvind Boyesen, Vetlandsveien 82A, Oslo 6. Phone: 26-1159.

     SCOTLAND

     EDINBURGH
Mr. and Mrs. N. Laidlaw, 35 Swanspring Ave., Edinburgh EH 10-6NA. Phone: 0 31-445-2377.

     GLASGOW
Mrs. J. Clarkson, Hillview, Balmore, Nr. Torrance, Glasgow. Phone: Balmore 262.

     SOUTH AFRICA

     Natal:

     DURBAN
Rev. Geoffrey Howard, 30 Perth Rd., Westville, Natal. 3630. Phone: 031-821 136.

     Transvaal:

     JOHANNESBURG
Mr. D. S. Came, 110 8th St., Lindon 2195. Phone: 011-462982.

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     Zululand:

     KENT MANOR
Louisa Allais, 129 Anderson Road, Mandini, Zululand 4490.

     Mission in South Africa:
Superintendent-The Rev. Norman E. Riley, 42 Pitlochry Rd., Westville, Natal, 3630.

     SWEDEN

     JONKOPING
Rev. Bjorn Boyesen, Bruksater, Furusjo, 5-56600, Habo. Phone: 0392-20395.

     STOCKHOLM
Rev. Roy Franson, Aladdinsvagen 27, 161 38 Bromma. Phone: 48-99-22 and 26-79-85.

     UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

     Alabama:

     BIRMINGHAM
Dr. R. Shepard, 4537 Dolly Ridge Road, Birmingham, AL 35243. Phone:(205) 967-3442.

     Arizona:

     PHOENIX
Mr. Hubert Rydstrom, 3640 E. Piccadilly Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85018. Phone: (602) 955-2290.

     TUCSON
Rev. Frank S. Rose, 2536 N. Stewart Ave., Tucson, AZ 85716. Phone: (602) 327-2612.

     Arkansas:

     LITTLE ROCK
Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Holmes, Rt. 6, Box 447, Batesville, AR 72501.

     California:

     LOS ANGELES
Rev. Michael Gladish, 5022 Carolyn Way, La Crescenta, CA 91214. Phone:(213) 249-5031.

     SACRAMENTO
Patricia Street Scott, 3448 Vougue Court, Sacramento, CA 95826.

     SAN DIEGO
Rev. Cedric King, 7911 Canary Way, San Diego, CA 92123. Phone: (714) 268-0379.

     SAN FRANCISCO
Rev. Wendel Barnett, 4638 Royal Garden Place, San Jose, CA 95136. Phone: (408) 224-8521.

     Colorado:

     COLORADO SPRINGS
Mr. and Mrs. William Reinstra, 708 Manitou Ave., Manitou Springs, CO 80829. Phone: (303) 685-9519.

     DENVER
Rev. Clark Echols, 3371 W. 94th Ave., Westminster, CO 80030. Phone (303) 429-1239

     Connecticut:

     HARTFORD

     SHELTON
Rev. Glenn Alden, 47 Jerusalem Hill Rd., Trumbull, CT 06611. Phone: (203) 877-1141.

     Delaware:

     WILMINGTON
Mrs. Justin Hyatt, 417 Delaware Ave., McDaniel Crest, Wilmington, DE 19803. Phone: (302) 478-4213.

     District of Columbia see Mitchellville. Maryland.

     Florida:

     LAKE HELEN
Rev. John Odhner, 413 Summit Ave., Lake Helen, FL 32744. Phone: (904) 228-2337.

     MIAMI
Rev. Daniel Heinrichs, 15101 N. W. Fifth Ave., Miami, FL 33169. Phone: (305) 687-1337.

     Georgia:

     AMERICUS
Mr. W. H. Eubanks, Rt. #2, S. Lee St., Americus, GA 31709. Phone: (912) 924-9221.

     ATLANTA
Rev. Christopher Bown, 3795 Montford Dr., Chamblee. GA 30341. Phone:(404)457-4726

     Idaho:

     FRUITLAND
(Idaho-Oregon border) Mr. Harold Rand, 1705 Whitley Dr., Fruitland, ID 83619. Phone: (208) 452-3181.

     Illinois:

     CHICAGO
Rev. Brian Keith, 2712 Brassie Dr., Glenview, IL 60025. Phone: (312) 724-7829.

     DECATUR
Mr. John Aymer, 380 Oak Lane, Decatur, IL 62562. Phone: (217) 875-3215.

     GLENVIEW
Rev. Peter Buss, 73 Park Dr., Glenview, IL 60025. Phone: (312) 724-0120.

     Indiana:
Contact Rev. Stephen Cole in Cincinnati, Ohio, or Mr. James Wood, R. R. 1, Lapel, IN 46051

     Louisiana:

     BATON ROUGE
Mr. Henry Bruser, Jr., 1652 Ormandy Dr., Baton Rouge, LA 70808. Phone: (504) 921-3089.

     Maryland:

     BALTIMORE
Rev. David Simons, 13213 E. Greenbank Rd., Oliver Beach, MD 21220. Phone: (301) 335-6763.

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     MITCHELLVILLE
Rev. Lawson Smith, 3805 Enterprise Rd., Mitchellville, MD 20716. Phone: (301) 262-2349.

     Massachusetts:

     BOSTON
Rev. Grant Odhner, 4 Park Ave., Natick, MA 01760.

     Michigan:

     DETROIT
Rev. Walter Orthwein, 132 Kirk La., Troy, MI 48084. Phone: (313) 689-6118.

     EAST LANSING
Mr. Christopher Clark, 5853 Smithfield, East Lansing, MI 48823. Phone: (517) 351-2880.

     Minnesota:

     ST. PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS
Rev. Michael Cowley, 3153 McKight Road #340, White Bear Lake, MN 55110.

     Missouri:

     COLUMBIA
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Johnson, 103 S. Greenwood, Columbia, MO 65201.

     KANSAS CITY
Mr. Glen Klippenstein, Glenkirk Farms, Maysville, MO 64469. Phone: (816) 449-2167.

     New Jersey-New York:

     RIDGEWOOD. N.J.
Mrs. Fred E. Munich, 474 S. Maple Ave., Glen Rock, NJ 07452. Phone: (201) 445-1141.

     New Mexico:

     ALBUQUERQUE
Dr. Andrew Doering, 1298 Sagebrush Ct., Rio Rancho, NM 87124. Phone: (505) 897-3623.

     North Carolina:

     CHARLOTTE
Mr. Gordon Smith, 38 Newriver Trace, Clover, SC 29710. Phone: (803) 831-2355.

     Ohio:

     CINCINNATI
Rev. Stephen Cole, 6431 Mayflower Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45237. Phone: (513) 631-1210.

     CLEVELAND
Mr. Alan Childs, 19680 Beachcliff Blvd., Rocky River, OH 44116. Phone: (216) 333-4413.

     COLUMBUS
Mr. Hubert Heinrichs, 8372 Todd Street Rd., Sunbury. OH 43074. Phone: (614) 524-2738.

     Oklahoma:

     TULSA
Mrs. Louise Tennis, 3546 S. Marion, Tulsa, OK 74135. Phone: (918) 742-8495.

     Oregon:

     PORTLAND
Mrs. M. D. Rich, 2655 S. W. Upper Drive Pl., Portland, OR 97201. Phone: (503) 227-4144.

     Oregon-Idaho Border.-See Idaho, Fruitland.

     Pennsylvania:

     BRYN ATHYN
Rev. Kurt Asplundh, Box 277, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009. Phone: (215) 947-3665.

     ERIE
Mrs. Paul Murray, 5648 Zuck Rd., Erie, PA 16506. Phone: (814) 833-0962.

     KEMPTON
Rev. Jeremy Simons, RD 2, Box 217-A, Kempton, PA 19529.

     PITTSBURGH
Rev. Ragnar Boyesen, 7420 Ben Hur St., Pittsburgh, PA 15208. Phone: (Church) (412) 731- 1061.

     South Carolina:- see North Carolina.

     South Dakota:

     ORAL-HOT SPRINGS
Rev. Erik Sandstrom, RR 1, Box 101M, Hot Springs, SD 57747. Phone: (605) 745-6714

     Texas:

     FORT WORTH
Mrs. Charles Hogan, 7513 Evelyn La., Ft. Worth, TX 76118. Phone: (817) 284-0502.

     Washington:

     SEATTLE
Rev. Kent Junge, 14323-123rd NE, #C, Kirkland. WA 98033. Phone: (206) 821-0157.

     Wisconsin:

     MADISON
Mrs. Charles Howell, 3912 Plymouth Circle, Madison, WI 53705. Phone: (608) 233-0209.

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NEW KING JAMES VERSION 1983

NEW KING JAMES VERSION              1983

     Following consideration by the Council of the Clergy, the Bishop has requested that for a year's trial the church use the NEW KING JAMES VERSION of the Bible. This is a translation of the Bible that has been done with the idea of preserving as far as possible the beauty and familiarity of the traditional KING JAMES VERSION while correcting errors of translation and incorporating changes in the language that have developed over the past 370 years. It is hoped that the meaning of the WORD will be conveyed more easily and accurately by this version.

Burgundy Hardcover                         $9.75
Burgundy Leather, gold-edged pages               24.00
Please include postage                    .90

GENERAL CHURCH BOOK CENTER
BOX 278
Bryn Athyn, PA 19009

Hours 9-12
Monday thru Friday
Phone: (215) 947-3920

369


Notes on This Issue 1983

Notes on This Issue       Editor       1983



Vol. CIII     September, 1983     No. 9
NEW CHURCH LIFE

370


     The first letter in this issue is from Pastor Benjamin Garna of Ghana. The April issue reported Rev. Garna's consolidation of seven New Church organizations in Ghana. (See also the feature in November of 1980.) We have been indebted to Rev. Jeremy Simons for providing information on developments in West Africa. This is the first time we have published a sermon by Rev. Simons (having published one by his father two months ago).
     Last spring Rev. Douglas Taylor addressed the General Faculty of the Academy of the New Church on the subject of evangelization. Some people may have had the idea that we have a choice between evangelization on the one hand and the uses of the Academy on the other. No one hearing that address would continue to hold such an idea. (See page 375.)
     You have never before seen more than forty baptisms in a single issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE. In this issue you read of baptisms that have been reported to us from five nations (and ten states in the U.S.).
     Officiating at two of the baptisms was Rev. Grant Schnarr on the very day that he was ordained. Grant's photo appears on page 389. With him is Rev. Paul Schorran who has gone to take up his assignment in South Africa.
     Take note of the advertisement (last page) of the new edition of The Life of the Lord. A book of that size and quality for eight dollars is rare indeed. You will find that the maps in the book have been changed to make them easier to use.
     We have begun to tell people throughout the church that we are glad to receive clear black and white photographs of interest to readers of NEW CHURCH LIFE. What a pleasure it was to sit down with James Wood and look through a grand pile of fine photographs of the church in Alexandria (see pp. 397, 399).
     In January of 1982 Polly and Paul Schoenberger made an appeal in these pages under the heading "Advice on Marriage." They promised to put ideas received into a booklet. That laudable bit of private enterprise has been completed. The booklet actually exists and will be described in church newsletters, perhaps as early as this month.

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I WAS A STRANGER AND YE TOOK ME IN 1983

I WAS A STRANGER AND YE TOOK ME IN       Rev. JEREMY F. SIMONS       1983

     "My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass by Your servant. Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourself under the tree. And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts"(Gen. 18:3-5).

     Every day we see other people and we greet them, or we receive them into our homes or workplaces, or we are received by them. We meet people that we know, and also people that we don't know, and we deal with them according to our customs and our inclinations.
     None of us would show hospitality to someone in the same way that Abraham does in the words of our text. But there are things that we can learn from such examples of hospitality in the Word, as well as from the many teachings about it. For hospitality is an important form of charity, and ultimately the way that we receive each other is the way that we receive the Lord.
     For in the internal sense, our text describes the Lord's Human receiving and communicating with the Divine (see AC 2137). In the following story, where Lot receives the two angels who come to Sodom, the internal sense describes the way in which those of the church receive the Lord (see AC 2328). Everything with the man of the church is according to the way in which he receives the Lord (see HH 7).
     In the literal sense, however, our text is simply dealing with the way in which Abraham receives three men who came to him in the heat of the day. Such hospitality was extremely important in Old Testament times. In several instances in the Word the mark of a good man is the way in which he receives visitors, and the evil are distinguished by their inhospitality. So in this story Abraham's elaborate greeting of three strangers shows what a good man he is. Similarly, Lot's treatment of the angels sets him apart as a follower of the Lord.
     By contrast, the man who refuses to be hospitable is evil; and those who actually abuse visitors are so evil that they must be destroyed. So Lot's hospitality is contrasted with the incredible inhospitality of the men of Sodom, to illustrate why that city is to be reduced to rubble and ashes by fire and brimstone from heaven.
     The same point is made in a very similar story in the book of Judges. In that story the boundless graciousness of a certain Levite's father-in-law is contrasted with the Levite's treatment at the hands of the Benjamites in the city of Gibeah (Judges 19).

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The Benjamites received the Levite in the exact same way that the men of Sodom received the angels who came to Lot, and they abused his concubine all night, leaving her dead in the morning. Such treatment of visitors presents the utmost extremity to which evil can go, and as a result the entire tribe of Benjamin is then virtually exterminated by the other tribes of Israel.
     The reason for this emphasis on hospitality is that to receive a visitor represents our reception of the Lord (see AC 2328, 2317). As the Lord teaches in Matthew, which we read in our second lesson: "I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in . . . . Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren you did it to Me" (Matt. 25:35, 40; cf. 10:40). As we act toward each other, so we act toward the Lord. Everything depends on our reception of the Lord. Those who do not receive Him are destroyed, as the Sodomites and the Benjamites were.
     Similarly, the Lord told His disciples that those who will not receive them will be cursed, and their fate is compared to that of Sodom and Gomorrah. We read:

And when you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy let your peace be upon it. But if it is not worthy let your peace return to you. And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Truly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city (Matt. 10:12; cf. Mark 6:11, Luke 9:5).

     Sodom and Gomorrah are mentioned because they also refused to receive the Lord, in that they showed the exact opposite of hospitality to the two angels who came to them as visitors (see AC 7418:2, AE 653:8,9).
     This is the reason why the Jews were so often commanded that "the stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt" (Lev. 19:34, 24:22; Deut. 10:18, 26:12, 27:19). For, as we read, "Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren you did it to Me" (Matt. 25:30).
     But external hospitality is not only representative of our reception of the Lord; it actually is the way that we receive the Lord. That is, external acts of charity, and especially the shunning of everything contrary to charity, are the way that we are regenerated by the Lord. Hospitality is only one aspect of charity, but still it is an important one. The way in which we are received by friends and strangers when we come into their presence certainly has a great effect on our state of happiness and well-being.

373



     In our text Abraham receives the three men in a very formal and elaborate way. If we look at the way that he receives them perhaps we can see applications to our own lives.
     Very briefly, Abraham sees the men, runs to meet them and bows down before them. He begs them not to pass him by, but to stay, wash their feet, rest and eat a morsel of bread. Similarly, in the following story, Lot rises to meet the angels, bows before them, and urges them to spend the night with him, wash their feet, and eat with him.
     The elements of these two greetings are found in many stories throughout the Old and New Testaments, especially those of bowing down, urging to stay, washing of feet, and giving food to eat. These four things were basic to their hospitality. Customs of greeting and hospitality vary tremendously from culture to culture, but the basic principles of charity which they serve to express are universal. None of us would bow down before a stranger, nor would we bring him water to wash his feet. But we would do, and we ought to do, the things which these acts represent.
     For example, to bow down represents humility before the Lord and before the neighbor (AC 2153). We humble ourselves when we welcome people, especially when we are very glad to see them. That is, we forget our own worries and concerns and devote ourselves to them, and to serving them in any way that we can. We ask them about themselves and we respond to any need or want that they might express. Much of the joy of receiving guests comes from this humiliation and serving, for we are taught that "heavenly delight . . . is the delight of humiliation and of the affection of serving others" (AC 3417:2; cf. 1153:2, 5164).
     In much the same way, none of us would present a visitor with water to wash his feet. But if we pay attention to what the washing of feet is in the internal sense we will see that it stands for something that we very much ought to do. The washing of feet represents several different things, but one thing that it stands for is to avoid reflecting on the evils of another (see AC 3147:8; cf. 2162, 3147). We are not to ignore important evils in our fellow man, but neither are we to be always looking to find fault and to criticize. What is worse than to come among people and have them be looking you up and down, ready to mock and criticize you? To some extent our best friends are those who see the good in us, and who ate not always thinking about our faults, even though they are aware of them, and even though they may be doing what they can to correct them in us. Interestingly, this correction is also represented by the washing of feet, for the feet stand for a person's externals, and to wash them is to remove evils from the external man (see AC 3147).

374


So the presenting of water for someone to wash his feet is to not reflect on his evils. But at the same time, in a deeper sense, it is not simply ignoring the evils, but rather it is an endeavor to help remove them.
     If we understand, therefore, the meaning of Abraham's greeting we can perhaps see that we can receive people following much the same principles. We are to receive people humbly, not bowing down to them physically, but showing a concern for their welfare more than our own. We are to urge them to stay with us, that is, we are to make them feel welcome. We are to look to the good in them and not think about any kind of faults, although at the same time not condoning evil. The last thing that Abraham did was to offer something to eat. In the internal sense this means to communicate with them, or even to be conjoined with them (see AC 2187, 2337). We customarily do offer people things to eat or drink when they visit us, if it is appropriate, and this is good. But the communication of thoughts and feelings, and the conjunction in friendship that eating together represents is far more important than the offer of external food. What we really want to offer them is our friendship and companionship.
     All these things are taught in the story of Abraham's reception of the three men. Obviously these principles will always be applied differently according to the situation, so that a wife will not receive her husband when he returns home from work in the same way that she would greet a friend in the supermarket, or greet her best friend whom she hasn't seen in five years. And the Writings warn that charity is to be practiced with discrimination, so as not to encourage those who always take and never give, or to warmly welcome the stranger who may be dangerous or dishonest (cf. AC 3688, 561; TCR 425,426). Yet we might remember that the angels receive all who come into the other world with equal warmth, and that they always assume that they are good until proven otherwise (see HH 450).
     There are also rules which apply to us when we are visitors. Our lesson from the Arcana tells the story of a man who found himself in the other world and wondered where he would stay and what he would do. Angels then came to him and satisfied his every need and want, and then they left him. When he was alone, we are told, he thought within himself, from charity, what he could possibly do to repay kindness so great. And when this was perceived, he was immediately taken up into heaven.
     When we are a visitor, and are on the receiving end of hospitality, we are to receive it gratefully, and think within ourselves what we can do to repay such kindness. Not that hospitality is a score that must be settled, but rather that all good people want to be of service to others and to repay kindnesses.

375


We repay the Lord's kindness to us by receiving Him into our lives (see CL 56e).
     When we receive others, therefore, we are to greet them humbly, make them feel welcome, look to the good in them and not the faults, and offer them friendship. This can be done in thousands of ways, but the principles remain the same. For as we receive others so we receive the Lord. As the Lord teaches: "He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me" (Matt. 10:40). Amen.

     LESSONS: Gen. 18:1-18; 19:1-3; Matt. 25:3146; AC 318 ACADEMY'S CONTRIBUTION TO EVANGELIZATION 1983

ACADEMY'S CONTRIBUTION TO EVANGELIZATION       Rev. DOUGLAS TAYLOR       1983

     AN ADDRESS TO THE GENERAL FACULTY

     If I were to ask you what is the first purpose of the Academy, as set out in the Academy charter, you would all no doubt be able to answer: "Propagating the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem." That primary purpose is synonymous with the true meaning of evangelization. It stands out ahead of some other better-known purposes-"establishing the New Church signified in the Apocalypse by the New Jerusalem," and "promoting education in all its various forms," "educating young men for the ministry," "publishing books, pamphlets and other printed matter, and establishing a library."
     Notice that the charter does not say that the primary purpose of the Academy is "propagating the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem among children of New Church parents." It places no limits whatsoever. It is magnanimously inclusive. The writers of the charter of the Academy of the New Church quite obviously intended the Academy to be an instrument for taking the Heavenly Doctrine to the world.
     From the charter it is also clear that we are not presented with a choice between external evangelization and education. It is not a matter of either/or. Both forms of instruction are part of the Academy's reason for being in existence.
     The early Academicians-the writers of the charter were by no means opposed to what we now call external evangelization. They may have been highly critical of certain methods of evangelization, but they regarded "propagating the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem" as a matter of primary importance.

376


They were not content to let other bodies of the church do it. This is clear from a statement printed in NEW CHURCH LIFE for 1887, page 14:

Evangelization is work belonging to this body to do, and this body through its clergy is now preparing men to do it. And preparation is the first act of doing. The Lord in His Providence has placed us in these relations.

     Now, who do you suppose said that? It was none other than William Henry Benade, speaking as Bishop of the General Church of Pennsylvania. He was indeed referring to that body and not specifically to the Academy; but his commitment to evangelization cannot be questioned.
     Two years earlier, speaking to the same body, he had said:

The work of evangelization requires the united efforts of the clergy and the laity of the church: and we need to have clear and rational views of the real nature of that work in order to give it our intelligent and effective cooperation. (NCL, 1885, page 124)

     In the next paragraph Benade turns to a subject that he could not keep away from for very long-the education of children. But he calls this "one portion of the great field of evangelization." That is a very useful metaphor. Evangelization is one great field, with the education of children and young people being one portion of it-not the whole field itself. Benade then says that "this part of the field deserves a first and most diligent cultivation." He clearly means "first in time." It is first in time because it is near at hand. It is something that can be done without the extended and pioneering preparation he sees as a prerequisite for the cultivation of the remainder of the field. The whole context of Benade's utterances on evangelization shows his conviction that one day the church must enter that great field.
     In the same year an editorial in NEW CHURCH LIFE sounded this clarion call to evangelize:

Never before in the history of the churches on this earth has an evangelist been so richly provided with the requisite knowledge for preaching 'the Lord,' 'His Advent,' 'His kingdom,' 'heaven,' and 'the things that are from Him, which belong to salvation and eternal life.' The LORD Speed him in the glorious work of making the glad announcement of His coming by the revelation of the internal sense of the Word in the Writings of the New Church: of preaching to people about 'heaven' and the 'New Church, descending out of heaven from God'; and of collecting, inaugurating, and instructing them therein (AR 813), so that they will join in the chorus, 'How delightful upon the mountains [are] the feet of the evangelist who maketh to hear peace, who evangelizeth good, who maketh to hear salvation, who saith to Zion, thy King reigneth' (Isaiah 52:7).

377




     From those few quotations, then, we can understand why the early Academicians set forth the first and pre-eminent purpose of the Academy of the New Church as "propagating the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem."

     The Academy's Part and Present Contribution

     Let us see now what the Academy has done about fulfilling its first purpose.
     1. Training priests. From the beginning the Academy Theological School has trained and graduated priests for the work of the General Church. Many of these priests have been active (to various degrees) in propagating the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem. Others who wished to be active found themselves too much occupied with other forms of use to follow out their love. The personnel and resources of the Academy-including its Swedenborgiana Library-have through the years been of inestimable value to the New Church evangelist. The first and most basic gift, of course, was a knowledge, understanding, and love of the Heavenly Doctrine itself which is to be propagated.
     From time to time the theological school has had a course devoted to evangelization. Sometimes the emphasis has been more on the principles, sometimes on the practice. In more recent years there has been a course which seeks to combine the two elements, introducing the theological students into both the doctrine of evangelization as given in the Writings and also the practice of it by means of workshops.
     2. Preparing Students for the World. All ex-students of the Academy, regardless of the level at which they leave, are potential evangelists. Some of them become actual evangelists, not only at other colleges and universities that they subsequently attend but also in the societies where they choose to live. From time to time there have been some of our students at other colleges who have been especially interested in evangelization. These have formed small cells on those campuses called White Horse Societies, from which they have distributed information about the Writings.
     Some courses at the Academy are more directly applicable to the purposes of evangelization than others.

378


From all accounts the most helpful in recent years has been Philosophy 110/111-a required course. Its avowed purpose is to show that the philosophy and principles of the New Church are intellectually respectable. Students learn to identify the basic assumptions of worldly philosophers. This makes them better prepared for the world.
     In addition to that there have been at various times evangelization groups within our college itself. It is true that these were formed at the initiative of the students who happened to be in attendance at the time rather than by any official policy of the Academy. Nevertheless it was the teaching of the Academy that inspired students to move in this direction.
     3. High School Elective Religion. For the past three years there has been an elective course in the high school on evangelization, specifically addressed to helping with answering questions about the church. This course has been well received, and seems to fill a great need.
     4. Religious Assemblies. Several times the high school religious assembly has focused upon evangelization. Priests known to be either interested or active in proclaiming the New Evangel to people outside the church have been invited to speak, increasing the desire of students to go forth and tell the world.
     5. Resource People. Perhaps the most obvious way in which the Academy has contributed to evangelization is in providing resource people to whom evangelists can turn for information, understanding, and counsel. For example, members of the theological school faculty can help a colleague in the field. Science and philosophy teachers have also come to the rescue of an evangelist-priest or lay-who has encountered an inquirer with knowledge superior to his own.
     6. Epsilon Societies. The first Epsilon Society began in the Academy college and theological school. It began on the initiative of some theological students who approached Rev. Karl Alden, then a director of the Swedenborg Foundation in New York, seeking his help and advice in spreading the Writings. Now there are Epsilon Societies or their equivalents in many (if not most) societies of the church.
     From these examples we can see that the Academy, though not officially and directly involved in external evangelization, has nevertheless contributed in several ways to propagating the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem outside its own borders.

     What Is Evangelization?

     So far we have used the perfectly satisfactory definition of evangelization given in the first charter purpose of the Academy. The Apocalypse Revealed says that by "'to evangelize' is signified to announce the Advent of the Lord and to announce His kingdom" (AR 478).

379


A more elaborate definition had been given earlier in the Arcana Coelestia: "Evangelization is announcement concerning the Lord, His Advent, and concerning the things that are from Him, which belong to salvation and eternal life" (AC 9925:2). All these things are to be found in the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, which is to be propagated, promulgated, announced, and declared. Note the emphasis on announcing in our definitions. Evangelization has nothing to do with persuasion, proselytizing by means of the hard-sell, or in any way taking away a person's freedom and rationality. The essence of evangelization is announcing, presenting the Heavenly Doctrine in ways that are not only understandable but interesting to those who have been prepared for it by the Lord.
     This is the essence: teaching about the Lord and His Second Coming is the first thing in importance, although it is rarely the first thing in time. The first thing in time must always be whatever is interesting to the inquirer.
     But no matter what else causes the initial spark of interest, the inquirer has to be led to the acknowledgment of the Lord in His Second Advent before he can properly belong to the church of the Second Advent. If, for example, the doctrine about the spiritual world is the first thing in time that appeals, still our friend must be led eventually to acknowledge the God of heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ. If the internal sense of the Word causes the first interest, this must lead eventually to the vision of the Lord in the Word, and to the Word as coming entirely from Him. If it is conjugial love that first attracts, this must lead in the end to the acknowledgment that this spiritual love of marriage comes from the Lord alone (see AC 1865e, 2728, etc.) and is given only to those who acknowledge the Divine within the Lord's Human (HH 376). If it is the doctrine of life that appeals in the beginning, this must lead to acknowledging that we can do what is good only from the Lord (see Life 9-31). Any doctrine that catches an inquirer's interest is merely preparatory; it is a means of preparing him to receive the Lord in His Second Advent. But he has not been properly evangelized until he sees for himself that the Lord has indeed come again by opening up the Word in a new Divine revelation.
     This is the sense in which we use the term evangelization.

     The Scope of Evangelization

     But we shall not see all the possible contributions that the Academy may make until we consider the scope of evangelization.

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This comes to light when we realize that the many new doctrines taught in the Writings are meant to make all things new. Such is the clear teaching of the following two passages, for example: "in the Revelation occur the words, A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH: and afterwards BEHOLD I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW, which mean nothing else than that in the church now to be set up anew by the Lord THE DOCTRINE WILL BE NEW" (Doctrine of the Lord 65). ". . . The revelation and reception of the tenets of the faith of the New Church is meant by these words in the Apocalypse: 'He that sat upon the throne said, Behold I make all things new; and He said unto me, Write, for these words are true and trustworthy'" (Brief Exposition 95-emphasis added).
     It is hardly likely that in this audience there is any antipathy against or feelings of revulsion with regard to the term "doctrine." Doctrine simply means teaching, and we are all supporters of teaching.
     Now, the idea that it is the newness of the teaching that makes all things new-if received, or to the extent that it is received-carries at least two implications. The first is that any attempts at renovating the world or making a new civilization are doomed to failure unless they spring from the new teaching. No individual can be reformed and regenerated from without, by external compulsion. True, the teaching must come from without, but the free and rational response can come only from within. It is just the same with the greater man. No society, country, race, or civilization can be reformed and regenerated from without-by external compulsion. The enforcement of man-made laws by means of external pressure may indeed prevent a society or country from deteriorating into chaos, and may even hold it in some semblance of external order.
     But this cannot regenerate it, for the root of evil still remains. What is needed is an internal bond-based upon the new and true teaching coming down from God out of heaven.
     When we think of the scope of the teachings in the Heavenly Doctrine and of the way they touch all areas of our life-both individually and collectively-the second implication emerges.
     That is that this new revelation of Divine teaching is meant not only to establish a new church in place of the former and to renovate all things of religion but also to be the soul of a new civilization. Why not? A church is always the heart and soul of a civilization. The Christian Church produced a Christian culture and civilization. In the same way the New Church is to produce a new culture and civilization.

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     This we can understand if we reflect on the nature of certain groups of teachings in the Writings. For example, there are teachings that imply the need for a new kind of education, known as New Church education; there are teachings that have ramifications and implications in the field of psychology; there are teachings that give rise to a New Church philosophy; there are teachings that illuminate the whole field of the arts; there are teachings that look to the formation of a new kind of church government, based on the principles of government in heaven; there are teachings which one day will become the basis for civil government and political science; there are teachings that have profound sociological implications; there are teachings that will one day be at the forefront of a New Church version of history.
     The Heavenly Doctrines from beginning to end are full of passages on which those conclusions are based. This is neither the time nor the place to bring them forward. But some of them are especially suggestive-and at the same time inspiring. The little work Charity, for example, is particularly suited to being a blueprint for a new civilization. Section VI, for instance, is headed:
"A Man Is Born to the End That He May Become a Charity; But He Cannot Become a Charity Unless He Constantly Does the Good of Use to the Neighbor from Affection and Delight"(l26). That whole section (nos. 126-157), being an elaboration of this theme, gives the outline of an ideal society. It includes this thought-provoking definition of the general or common good: "The general good consists of these things: that in a society or kingdom there should be 1) what is Divine among them; 2) what is just among them; 3) what is moral among them; 4) diligence, skill and uprightness among them; 5) the necessaries for life; 6) the necessaries for all kinds of work; 7) the necessaries for protection; 8) sufficient wealth, because these three kinds of necessaries are procured with it" (Charity 130). There, surely, we have the mission of the Academy and the New Church.
     It is well known that the teachings given in the Writings are meant to interpenetrate every area of an individual's life. Again, the Doctrine of Charity in particular illustrates that; and we can readily acknowledge it from some experience. We can also acknowledge that it should be the same in general as well as in particular, that the doctrine should interpenetrate everything of life in a country and in the human race as a whole. What else do we mean when we pray, "Thy will be done as in heaven so upon the earth"? That would seem to be the meaning of this passage from the Apocalypse Revealed: "He who knows anything of the Lord's Coming, and of the New Heaven and New Church, thus of the Lord's kingdom, should pray that it may come" (AR 956).

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     The work Words for the New Church, which, incidentally, was explicitly proclaimed as the official organ of the academy (NCL 1887, p. 66) was a landmark in a continual effort to see the implications and applications of the Writings to various subjects, especially to the general good as well as to individual regeneration. In our own body and in other bodies of the church there have been other attempts also from time to time to study political science, sociology, history, various aspects of science, and other disciplines in the light of the Writings. They are beginnings, but only beginnings. A great deal remains to be done.
     After all, what are we looking forward to? What is our great aim in all our efforts for the Academy and the church? We are looking forward to a new civilization, in which New Churchmen, who, presumably, would be "God-fearing governors" (see MD 313)fill the offices of state, and the Lord, through the church, rules all nations from within. The church, as an organization, would not be taking part in politics, but the Heavenly Doctrine taught at the academy and in the church would lead and inspire the "God-fearing governors" to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. As a consequence, an orderly civil state would be added. The Lord's will would be then done on earth as in heaven. We would be rendering unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's. To the extent that we keep that vision before our eyes and in our hearts we will avoid obscurity and confusion in the understanding, and faint-heartedness in the will. We could never think that evangelization was something that someone else could do.
     We have to look forward to the time when New Churchmen generally own and operate printing presses, radio stations, TV stations, newspapers, commercial publishing houses, and bookstores-in other words, to the time when the New Church view will not only be heard in the media, but will actually prevail.
     We have to envision the day when the Heavenly Doctrine will be the inspiration for the arts and sciences, when the people of the church who have the talent actually write novels, plays, radio and television stories in which the New Church doctrine is dramatically applied to life's situations. Ballet and music also have their contributions to make. As we broaden our view of the aims of evangelization, we will also broaden our view of the means of accomplishing them.

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     Another use that we need to have constantly before us is to keep alive the vision set forth by Dr. William Kintner of a New Church history of civilization written for the learned world by New Churchmen. Unless this is brought to the attention of the Academy and its leaders periodically, the whole project, invaluable though it is, could easily be forgotten. Almost fifteen years have already elapsed since it was first announced
     We tend to overlook the very great assistance that the Academy, while continuing to perform its own particular function and form of use, can give to the work of evangelization. Not only can it produce well-informed young New Church men and women, who can talk articulately about the doctrines, but its teachers can also provide material of use in evangelization. For example, the study of Egyptian hieroglyphics, of educational psychology, child psychology, literature, mythology, etc., can be used as an attraction in an address on New Church doctrine. All these things, and many others, lead back to the doctrine. This approach is useful for those who shy away from straight doctrine or anything that savors of a church organization, but who can be led by other interests eventually to see its relevance.

     Possibilities for the Academy

     We have already seen to some extent that the Academy, simply by continuing to do what it does best, can make a vital contribution to evangelization To do anything less than it is doing would be disastrous. The continued study of doctrine, the efforts to keep it pure, the efforts to apply it to all areas of life are essential. Without this, it will not be the Heavenly Doctrine that is propagated, but something less than that. In any manufacturing business there must always be a department of quality control whose function is to maintain the quality of the product. The salesmen in the field depend upon this. They know that their satisfied customers are their best salesmen. They also know that there will be no satisfied customers if the quality of the product is allowed to deteriorate. It is similar with the Academy and evangelization In a sense it is the "quality control" department of the church. Just as it would be foolish for a factory to have an army of salesmen in the field trying to sell an inferior product, so would it be futile for spokesmen for the New Church to be offering people a garbled version of the doctrine.
     So it is vitally important for the Academy to maintain its standards and present activities, and, if possible, increase them. In recent years there has been a steady expansion of contact with the learned world.

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Examples that could be cited include the library contacts with other libraries, the work of the Swedenborgiana Library in particular, and most recently the opportunities afforded by the museum.
     But what more could be done within our present format?
     First of all, we could think more often of others. This would involve no increase in personnel or financial outlay, but it does involve a fundamental change of thinking and of orientation. Let me remind you of a well-known teaching in the Writings, and invite you to consider its application to evangelization. Here it is: "Man is born not for the sake of himself but for the sake of others; that is, he is born not to live for himself alone but for others" (TCR 406). The same passage goes on to quote the common saying that every man should be neighbor first to himself, acquiring for himself the necessaries of life. It then continues: "But the end should be that he may thereby be in a state to serve his fellow citizens, society, his country, the church, and thus the Lord."
     The Academy-a greater man-does not exist for its own sake alone. It is not an end in itself. If ever we lapse into thinking that it is, then we have lapsed into externalism -mistaking the means for the end. The Academy exists for the sake of the church. It is the educational arm of the church. But does the church organization exist for itself alone, only for the sake of its members? Is cooperating with the Lord in the regeneration of its own members the sole end in view of the church? If it is, it is not practicing the doctrine of charity that it teaches. The church exists for the sake of others outside its own borders. The regeneration of its own members is but a means to that end. The church very obviously has a responsibility to the Lord's kingdom as it is in the heavens and on earth. It is to be the foundation and seminary of the heavens, the link between heaven and earth. And it is to be the means of spreading the Lord's kingdom on earth-widely as well as deeply.
     The Academy, as the educational arm of the church, has exactly the same aims. It exists to educate the people of the church for worship and evangelization.
     If we will but think of others outside of our own four walls, other things will begin to follow. We might even begin to ask in our classes, after presenting a New Church concept or viewpoint, "How would you explain this to someone who has not heard of the church?" That would make a difference. If we were to put more emphasis on the history of the Christian Church, so that our students have a greater knowledge and understanding of the Christian world that they are to address, it would make a difference. If, when we make our studies, we kept in mind a readership other than ourselves-for instance, the readership of learned journals-that, too, would make a difference.

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If we thought of publishing some of our course material for the sake of presenting the New Church view to the learned world, and especially if we acted upon that thought, that would make a difference, although we would expect only a few to be responsive. Let us make a great effort-an effort of conscience-to think of others. Soon we will be willing and acting for the sake of others.

     In Defense of Dreaming

     It is good for us occasionally to lift up our noses from the grindstone and look around us. Few things narrow the field of vision more than keeping one's nose continually to the grindstone. But when we look up and look ahead, we see a marvelous vista.
     Who will say that it is impossible?
     If anyone does say it is impossible, I will remind him very sharply of two incorrigible dreamers- Robert Hindmarsh and Bishop Benade! Hindmarsh dreamed of starting the organized New Church! Benade dreamed of starting the Academy! When Benade dreamed of the future of New Church schools and painted a word picture of the Academy as we know it today in such uncanny, prognosticating detail on the occasion of the opening of the Cherry Street School, there must have been several in his audience who looked at each other and shook their heads, saying with their elevated eyes, "What a dreamer! When will he return to the real world? Where will the money come from? Where will the teachers come from? How will the Lord provide? 'What shall we eat? What shall we drink? Wherewithal shall we be clothed?'"
     The Academy has a great, great contribution to evangelization, to the task of bringing nearer that great day when the Lord's kingdom shall have come.
     Of course, with men it is impossible. But with God all things are possible.
POSSIBLE 1983

POSSIBLE              1983

     "Everything is possible to Jehovah." Arcana Coelestia 2211

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FALL? 1983

FALL?       Rev. NORMAN E. RILEY       1983

     If we view the successive states of the church from the Most Ancient to the New Jerusalem, as the stages progressing toward the Divine end in creation, as was outlined in the February issue (p. 60), we must now consider what is meant by the statement in Genesis 2:18, and the explanation in Arcana Coelestia 130-140: "And Jehovah God said, It is not good that man should be alone, I will make him a help as with him . . . . [The posterity of the Most Ancient Church, which inclined to their proprium, is here treated of."
     Preceding this statement we are given a description of the garden, eastward in Eden, in which was every tree "desirable to behold, and good for food. Out of Eden went a river to water the garden." In chapter one, however, we are told about the six stages of development leading to this peaceful and restful state.
     We suggest that the six days are like the states which a person passes through in relation to his reception of knowledges from the letter of the Word. Such knowledges enter no further than the memory. Even when he comes to some understanding of them attended by some love, as described on the sixth day, yet it is an understanding and love of knowledge, for in this state they are as yet concerned with an 'historical faith.'
     Eventually, however, there is awakened within him a realization that the Word has application to his own life. In this state he has been lifted up above himself. This is his first perception concerning life as it really is; it is the 'breath of lives.' In this state he has a wonderful perception of the Lord as the 'all in all' of life. This indeed he had known before, but it had been only as knowledge; now he feels it as a reality. This is life. He feels that this is his life, both as to the will and understanding. All the beauty of heavenly life in its wondrous order is sensed by him; he is, as it were, in heaven.
     Can he remain in such a state? How he wishes he could. But it would not be good for him. This is meant by the words, "It is not good that man should dwell alone." For it to become actual within him he requires "a help as with him." For number 132 of Arcana Coelestia tells us what the situation is in relation to what is of man himself: "man is such as not to be content to be led by the Lord, but desires to be led by himself and the world, or by his proprium, therefore the proprium which was granted him is here spoken of;" this is the 'help as with him.

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     To be led by self and the world is what has to be overcome in order that what was perceived may become actual.
     The chapters which follow, up to the birth of Seth, therefore, deal with the evils which have to be shunned as sins, within man, in order that the Lord might form, within the internal, the ruling love of the heavenly itself, usually referred to as the celestial kingdom, a love of what is of the Lord alone.
     As this period deals with the establishment of the celestial kingdom, both as it was in relation to the Lord's own ends in creation and as it is in the regeneration of each man, so the age from Noah to the call of Abram deals with the forming of the spiritual kingdom.
     In respect to this it is of interest to note the subjects dealt with between the chapters throughout the Arcana Coelestia.
     These, however, do not commence until the end of the second chapter. We suggest that the reason for this is that the first chapter is dealing with the preparatory states with man, while chapter two, which is divided into two sections, deals first with the state of perception. It gives the order of how the Lord operates in man, the rivers being the descending order from the Lord, which alone enables man to receive anything. The second section, as mentioned above, deals with the commencement of man's states of reformation in relation to the internal ruling love. The first subject therefore dealt with is "Concerning the resuscitation of man from the dead, and his entrance into eternal life." The subject of the fifth and sixth chapters is "Concerning heaven and heavenly joy." This suggests the fulfillment of that state. The seventh chapter opens with the topic "concerning hell." Here is the beginning of a new series of states in relation to the evils to be shunned in order that what is of the spiritual kingdom might be formed in the internal of man.
     The subject at the opening of the twelfth chapter is, "the perception of angels and spirits, and the spheres in the other life." This chapter commences the treatment of the glorification of the Lord's human. The two ruling loves with the Lord were the love of uniting the human to the Divine and the Divine to the human, and the love of the salvation of the human race. This was the sphere which entered into the human.
     The teaching that we are members of a fallen race, or in some way victims of a fall of man in some bygone age, is, in our opinion, the offspring of the false doctrine of original sin.
     Every generation is a new creation from the Divine Creator, for preservation is perpetual creation. Every person is created in the order of life, since this is of the soul, or human internal; but he is not born into that life; otherwise there would be no freedom of choice nor would he be the "other" for whom God created all things (see TCR 43).

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DECLARATIONS OF FAITH AND PURPOSE 1983

DECLARATIONS OF FAITH AND PURPOSE       Various       1983

     I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the one God of heaven and earth, Who is our Savior, Redeemer, Lord and King. I believe the Lord has made His second coming, not in person but in the form of a new revelation which reveals Him in His Word. Because of this, we can see and know our God such as never before. I believe that the New Church is the crown of all churches which have ever existed in the world; and those belong to that church who know the Lord through His threefold Word and who keep His commandments. I also firmly believe that the only way to heaven, the only way to true happiness, and the only way to be united with our Creator is to shun evils as sins against Him. Repentance is the first of the church and the key to salvation (TCR 510).
     I also firmly believe I have been called by the Lord to serve as a minister of the New Church. This calling is both from within and from without. It is a calling from within in that I feel a deep longing and spiritual conviction to teach the truth and thereby lead men to the good of life and thus to the Lord. It is a calling from without in that I look around the world and see that there is a great need, a great hunger and thirst for this truth, and that it is my responsibility, in some small way, to make this truth known to men, both within the church organization and without.
     In presenting myself for inauguration into the priesthood of the New Church, it is my hope and my prayer that I will be a worthy instrument of the Lord in this work. I pray that I may become a steadfast and loyal soldier in the Lord's army and yet also a gentle and loving shepherd over His sheep. To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You; let me not be ashamed. I will praise You with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. I have sworn and confirmed that I will keep Your righteous judgments. Accept, I pray, the freewill offering of my mouth and teach me Your ways. (Ps. 25, 9, 119)
     Grant RONALD SCHNARR

     *****

     I believe in one God Who manifests Himself in one Person, and that Person is the Lord Jesus Christ.
     I believe that by means of the virgin birth the Lord assumed a human form. During His life on earth He glorified this human so that a way of salvation would be open to all men.
     I believe the Lord made His Second Coming, which is not a coming in person but is a revelation of Himself in His Ward. I believe the Lord accomplished His Second Coming by means of a man, His servant Emanuel Swedenborg, before whom He manifested Himself in Person, and whom He filled with His spirit, to teach the doctrines of the New Church through the Word from Him.

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I believe that in these doctrines the Lord revealed the interior or spiritual sense of the Scriptural Word and that these doctrines are the Word of God.
     I believe the life of religion consists in acknowledging the Lord, seeking guidance and instruction from His Word and striving to shun all evils as sins against Him.
     I believe the church on earth is the Divinely appointed means for teaching the truth of the Word and in this way leading men to the Lord.
     I believe the Lord's goal in creation is a heaven from the human race. My purpose is to help the Lord fulfill His goal by teaching the truth of His Word and leading my fellow man to seek lasting, eternal values in life. In presenting myself for ordination into the priesthood I pray that my purpose be from the Lord. I pray that He will give me the ability and the genuine desire to do this work. "Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day." (Psalm 25:4, 5)
     PAUL EDWARD SCHORRAN

     [Photo of Paul Schorran and Grant Schnarr]

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Editorial Pages 1983

Editorial Pages       Editor       1983

     IN HIM WE LIVE AND MOVE AND HAVE OUR BEING

     One of the shortest numbers in the Writings is apt for framing, a reminder that might be displayed in living room, bedchamber or office. "The Divine Providence of the Lord is over the veriest singulars of man's life; for there is only one fountain of life, which is the Lord, from whom we live and act and have our being" (AC 10774).
     Seeing it written over the mantel, we might remind ourselves intellectually. However it may be inscribed, perhaps only in our memories, it is supposed to reach our hearts. It is to make us feel differently about what seems to be going on in life. It is to take away the burden of certain worries and cares. A beautiful passage in the Arcana Coelestia speaks of someone not plagued with worries, someone who lives in good and believes the Lord is governing the universe. Such a one believes "that life is from Him, and thus that from Him we live, move, and have our being." Such a one trusts that "all things are tending to his good, his blessedness, and his happiness to eternity" (AC 2892).
     People of old who benefited from a certain phrase found profound implications in the words.

     As "going" and "moving" signify living, it was therefore said by the ancients that "in God we move, live, and have our being"; and by "moving" they meant the external life, by "living" its internal, and by "being" its inmost. Arcana Coelestia 5605

     In the course of an explanation of the truth that the Lord is indeed Almighty the Writings say, "In a word, from Him we live and move, and have our being" (AR 31).
     As far as is known, this phrase was first used one day 1900 years ago in Greece. Your editor recently had the opportunity to stand at the spot where Athenians gathered and listened to a speech by a Christian missionary. The phrase occurs in verse 28 of the 17th chapter of the Book of Acts (see AE 1225).

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Ye men of Athens. . .
God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands . . . . He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being . . . .

     Paul did indeed speak from a certain kind of inspiration (see SD 6062). His words are used powerfully in the Writings, which quote a dozen times the saying concerning Christ that "in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9). Paul eloquently showed that without love the greatest faith is really nothing (see SD 5975). Paul was indeed once taken up to the third or inmost heaven (see SD 288, CL 328). The fact that Paul wrote so beautifully "does not prove" anything about his character (see SD 4412). People who are mentioned in the Bible are not "saints" by virtue of this fact, but of this we will speak another time.

     Note: A tradition (not indisputable) has it that Paul wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews. This epistle has a lovely thought which Bible commentators relate to the text and lesson of the sermon in this issue by Rev. Jeremy Simons. "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels." In the King James Version this is: "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares"(Hebrews 13).
Title Unspecified 1983

Title Unspecified              1983

     IN HIM WE LIVE, AND MOVE AND HAVE OUR BEING

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VERY GOOD NEWS FROM THE SWEDENBORG SOCIETY 1983

VERY GOOD NEWS FROM THE SWEDENBORG SOCIETY              1983

     Four books of the Writings have been virtually impossible to obtain in Latin. They are Heaven and Hell, Conjugial Love, Divine Love and Wisdom and Divine Providence. If you were able to borrow a copy it might be an old, crumbling volume.
     The news is very good. All four books are now available! (The last two, DLW and DP, are bound in one volume.) The Swedenborg Society has had them reprinted handsomely and has even added textual corrections by Norman Ryder.
     In the United States the books may be obtained from the Academy Book Room or the General Church Book Center (Costs-HH $14.40, CL $15.40, DLW and DP $18.20).

     An Achievement of Forty Years

     "In 1943, the Council of the Swedenborg Society made a momentous' decision. The time had come. A new and third edition of the Latin Arcana Coelestia must be prepared; it would be the basis in due course for a new English translation, of course."*
     * This information is taken from this year's address to the Swedenborg Society by Rev. C. H. Presland entitled, "A Translation for Our Time."

     Thirty years later a reviewer in NEW CHURCH LIFE could say that "the whole church owes the Swedenborg Society a deep debt of gratitude for a magnificent accomplishment, spread over thirty labor-filled years. (See our note "Swedenborg Society Accomplishment" this year on page 42.) The year 1983 was the target for the publication of the first volume of a new English translation based on the new Latin edition. To be more specific the proposed publication date was October 27, 1983. The very good news is that the Swedenborg Society is right on target, and we will be saying more on this next month.

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QUESTION 1983

QUESTION       B. GARNA       1983




     Communications
Dear Sir:
     I have read an Easter sermon by Rev. Douglas M. Taylor which appeared in the April 1982 issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE. I want the following points explained for the benefit of us all.
     When the Lord rose up from the dead, His disciples saw Him with their spiritual eyes, because His body was spiritual (see Apocalypse Explained 53:2). How do we reconcile the Lord's own statement with this truth when He said, "Handle Me and see" (Luke 24:39)? Can a physical body handle something spiritual? Also, "For a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have" (Luke 24:39). Can we infer from these statements that the Lord's body was then nor wholly spiritual at that material time? "And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, He said unto them, 'Have ye here any meat? And they brought Him a piece of broiled fish, and of a honeycomb. And He took it, and did eat before them." Does this eating of material food by the Lord confirm His own statement that He was not a spirit because a spirit has no flesh and bones?
     PASTOR B. GARNA,
          Tema, Ghana, West Africa
SPEAKING TO EACH OTHER 1983

SPEAKING TO EACH OTHER       PHILIP B. DE MAINE       1983

Dear Sir:
     About the time the face of NEW CHURCH LIFE changed color, there seemed to be an increased flow of communications. These are usually thoughtful and stimulating and quite enjoyable. Some obviously are stimulating to the point of provoking a variety of replies. I confess to being so affected by some that in my mind I have composed replies but have never brought pencil to paper. Now Mrs. Charis P. Cole, in her beautiful little essay, "Truth and Polarization" (NCL June 1983, p. 254) has done it for me. This philosophical gem expresses everything I wanted to say, and more.
     The editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE points up the fact that "our publication exists in part that we may speak to each other." I believe that we might speak with much more concern for our fellow New Churchmen if we would read Mrs. Cole's letter before writing ours.
     PHILIP B. DE MAINE,
          Akron, Ohio

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THROUGH A MAN 1983

THROUGH A MAN       V. C. ODHNER       1983

Dear Editor,
     Through the years, occasional doubts and dispersions have been cast on the pre-theological works of Emanuel Swedenborg and upon efforts by those who would examine them in the light of the Writings (e.g., New Philosophy, Oct.-Dec., 1979, p. 428). Yet, who but Emanuel Swedenborg, from enlightenment from the Lord, would write in the Principia I: Chap. III:10, for example: "10. That of all the finite figures the figure of the first finite is the most perfect. In the series of finites there cannot possibly be a more perfect figure than that of the finite which comes proximately from the most simple finites, or from points; which cannot admit into themselves anything but what is most perfect, because they exist immediately from the Infinite. Now if the figure of this finite be the most perfect of all finite figures, then the most perfect figure will be that of the simple. The more compound are the figures, the greater number of modes and variations must they experience; so that if they undergo several modifications, it follows, when they have become frequently modified, that in their successive degrees of [lesser] perfection they differ from the first figure immensely. . . ." Things derivative or more compound seem to be more perfect. The Writings make it clear that the extremely strong detracting effect of appearances weigh to the contrary, regardless of the above statement. Thus, this quote is a true concept, delivered in the year 1734 or thereabouts. Compare it with DP 6; DLW 201; CL 329:2e; AC 3695, 3855; TCR 280:6e. What it shows, among other things, is that because of his approach to life, Swedenborg had enlightenment from the Lord, even though the passage is not Divine Revelation.
     Yet another year has passed and little notice in the General Church has been taken of the birth (1-29-1688) of a man by whom, of all things, the Second Coming of the Lord was made. Is this as it should be? Of the commemoration of his birth alone, Swedenborg himself would wish that we take little notice. Of the process of the Second Coming of the Lord, like the wonder of the First Coming, he would wish that we take most particular notice, such notice which can never be properly taken on our 19th of June celebration.
     Underlying the celebration of Swedenborg's birthday is a basic fact and truth in our evangelization efforts. We cannot escape the truth that the Second Coming of the Lord was made by means of a man, as the First Coming was made by means of a woman. Our question to one unacquainted with the Writings is: "How do you think the Lord will come again, as promised?"

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Few would seriously believe that the Lord could reassume the Human, many of us know from experience in evangelization. To most, a rational revelation is most plausible, surprising as it may seem. Our church is largely apologetic for this means of the Second Coming, yet it is the most logical and orderly. It is unfortunate that it is not seen that the celebration of Swedenborg's birth, as in the past, should be directed to the devotion of the Divinely ordered process and development by which the Second Coming was made.
     The Writings, of which Swedenborg was the instrument, are the Word for the New Church. This is a very special part of the Word, a Body of Truth by which the preceding Divine Revelation may be rationally known and perceived. The commemoration of the process and development by which it was Divinely provided reaches to unlimited proportions. Swedenborg's preparation, the process, provides for the consideration of boundless truths which have distinct application at all times. ". . . that this church is not instituted and established through miracles, but through the revelation of the spiritual sense, and through the introduction of my spirit, and, at the same time, of my [spiritual] body, into the spiritual world, so that I might know there what heaven and hell are, and that in light I might imbibe immediately from the Lord the truths of faith, whereby man is led to eternal life" (Inv. Syllabus VII).
     Thus there is so much more to consider with Swedenborg's preparation and the process itself by which the Lord made His Second Coming through a man. The church knows as relatively little of this as it knows of the process of the First Coming, but age upon age it must develop its understanding for the benefit of all. It is its use to do so; did not Swedenborg devoutly and superbly perform his use? There is no possibility of undue veneration of the man if we are guided by the Writings.
     V. C. ODHNER,
          Norwich, New York
LORD MANIFESTED HIMSELF TO SWEDENBORG AND SENT HIM TO TEACH THE THINGS OF THE NEW CHURCH 1983

LORD MANIFESTED HIMSELF TO SWEDENBORG AND SENT HIM TO TEACH THE THINGS OF THE NEW CHURCH              1983

     "For this purpose He has opened the interiors of my mind, that is, of my spirit; and in this way it has been granted to me to be in the spiritual world with angels and at the same time in the natural world with men, and this now for twenty-seven years."
     True Christian Religion 851

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INDIANA NEWS 1983

INDIANA NEWS       James D. Wood       1983

     Sunday, October 24, 1982, 4:00 p.m. was for us at Alexandria, Indiana, a most glorious day. Its arrival marked the achievement of many long hours of work that for those involved was the most delightful, happy work they had ever done. Yes, there were some times when the goal seemed rather obscure. Yet the vision the Lord has given us proves that His Word is sure. The usefulness we were allowed to partake in has created, in the four principal people involved, a real sphere of understanding and spiritual awareness that has accented the enlightenment that seekers of truth find in the Lord.
     Since discovering the Writings in the early fifties, we had almost an immediate desire to share the wonderful pearl of truth with others, and to be able to have a place of worship in the locale. In the providence of the Lord this was not to be until we had traveled life's journey a little further and matured-not until we had experienced the joys and the sorrows that come to one's life. In the course of time and in the providence of the Lord, (on our way to work) in early 1982, we were in a gas station early one morning and a voice said, "Well if it isn't my Swedenborgian friend." The gentleman speaking was Dale Dyer whom I hadn't seen for nearly 20 years. When working together those years before, we often discussed the Writings, especially the Arcana Coelestia. Some years later, seeking the truth, he and Virginia Friend came across Swedenborg's Life and Teaching by Trobridge. Dale wished me to meet his friend and we did. The church building Virginia had acquired was an answer to her prayer, and her life-long desire for a place, a center where hungry souls could be fed. Virginia and Dale had already started the work. She invited us to become a part of it, and we accepted.
     That day we four stood amidst the clutter in the middle of what is now the sanctuary. A little sign on a table had the quotation: "Bless This Mess." Indeed, it has been blessed. Hallelujah. We four joined hands and prayed, asking the Lord to lead, guide, and give us instructions on what to do. We commenced and with some minor disappointments, we continued steadfast. Rev. Stephen Cole from Cincinnati visited, and we showed him our project. On Stephen's next visit we had Divine worship amidst the clutter. Willing hands finding things to do have made our prayers come true. Woody Friend, Virginia's son, has helped greatly, doing a lot of the electrical wiring.

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     [4 photos of the building inside and out]

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     Learning last August of the coming episcopal visit of Bishop King to Cincinnati, we inquired if it would be possible to have a dedication service. Two of our very good friends from Cincinnati, Jinny Latta and Helen Kresz, came over one Saturday and helped in our final preparation. God bless you ladies. There were many other people who lent hands and articles along the way, and continue to help. We still have a lot to do to smooth out the rough edges, but we are getting there.
     Sunday, October 24, 1982-4:00 p.m. arrived. The Bishop and his lovely wife, Stephen with his wife and family, and a wonderful entourage from the Cincinnati church arrived. A very moving worship service was participated in by all. Bishop King's message was very inspiring-the three essentials in worship. The uses of evangelization and worship in the ministry, and in all of our lives, in carrying the Gospel to our fellow men should be reaffirmed continually. Everyone's life should have inner dedication to this wonderful serving attitude.
     The service was followed by a social time of greeting friends and making introductions. A toast was proposed by Rev. Stephen Cole to the New Church, and we lent our voices in song. Pumpkin pie, popcorn balls, doughnuts, and other assorted goodies were enjoyed by all. Bidding adieu and goodbye to all the wonderful family of the Lord, gathered from near and far, was the hardest task. Oh, that these earthly yet heavenly joys could continue just a little longer at times like these. Thanks to all for a very special day.
     Since that time we have had services each third Sunday with Rev. Stephen Cole, and on March 20, 1983, we celebrated the Holy Supper the first time. We ask your prayers and support; we would ask that if you are anywhere in the vicinity of Alexandria, Indiana, come worship with us. We have service every Sunday at 4:00 p.m. We have classes every Tuesday evening at 7:00.
     James D. Wood, lay leader and lay pastor

     Home of Illuminated Thinkers
     General Church of the New Jerusalem
     R.R. 3, Box 118
     Alexandria, Indiana 46001

     Dedicated to the Worship of the Lord God Jesus Christ, Oct. 24, 1982

     James D. and Estella M. Wood
     R.R. 1, Box 79
     Lapel, IN 46051
     1-(317)-534-3546

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     [Photographs of the interior of the building.]

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Church News 1983

Church News       Various       1983

     GLENVIEW

     The news notes in NEW CHURCH LIFE arouse the wish to learn more about the people and places described. Rather surprisingly, this wish was granted in a series of happenings following close upon one another this spring.
     First, our pastor, Rev. Peter Buss, as the Bishop's representative, went with his wife Lisa to Australia and New Zealand to visit seven church centers. In Hurstville, Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom, brother of Mrs. Buss, welcomed them to that society. Members of other bodies of the New Church expressed kindly feelings for the General Church, and Mr. Buss chaired the assembly in Australia.
     During their absence, the assistant pastor, Rev. Brian Keith, took the students of the Midwestern Academy, of which he is the principal, on a trip through the southern part of the United States. The purpose was to gain background for their study of history. With four other adults, the party traveled in two motor homes through the valley of the Mississippi River and some of its tributaries. They saw the sites of battles and sieges, and came to know something of the feeling of the south. They even spent a night in a palatial mansion built before the Civil War. The sunny beaches of the Gulf and the welcome given the young people by the New Church families there are happily remembered. The slide-showing of MANCS trip after they returned was appreciated by all, with Bishop King and his wife Freya in the audience.
     The Bishop's visit of ten days brought him in contact with representative groups of adults, and he taught in the schools, while Freya found time to visit some of the house-bound church members. It was very good to have a visit from a former pastor and his wife Louis and Freya. But the office of bishop, and its viewpoint, includes the needs of individuals and groups throughout the General Church (as we were soon to find out!). The gold chain, given to Bishop W. F. Pendleton long ago, with names of the church societies set in its links, was used at the Sunday service. After church the congregation was invited to look at the beautiful emblem more closely.
     Arriving for the last few days of the Bishop's visit from some of the societies where MANC students have been entertained (Toronto, Caryndale, Detroit and Pittsburgh) were about forty young people and their chaperones. Each of the MANC students had a guest or two. and their neighbors sensed the rhythmic vibrations of dance records being tried out for the young people's Saturday night dance. Serious topics as well as food and fun filled the program for the young people, who lent a happy presence to the gathering.
     When the visitors had departed, and the pastor had returned. the vicarious memories from faraway places fulfilled the "wish" to broaden our outlook; and we could re-enter the society's familiar routine with a new awareness. But not quite the familiar routine, really, for we have just received news to prepare for a new pastor! This news makes necessary a regrouping of ideas, and the report on the doings here must be summarized as events unfold.
     Appreciation of the many uses performed for the church has been expressed in a number of ways. by gifts, permanent records of what has been done, and even by a song. Translated from the Tit Willow to "Glenviewese" was this one: "Work Party, Work Party, Work Party!"

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     A very incomplete summary of activities here includes the holiday festivities, the schools' dramatics and exhibitions, the pageant for New Church Day (with scenes about the spiritual world and the raising of children there), classes for adults, and a retreat for discussion of "Priority in Women's Uses," and the motivations which support the performance of uses, looking to a cohesive society.
     On July 5th Bishop King presided at a meeting here. Rev. Brian Keith was nominated and chosen to be pastor in Glenview, with Rev. Eric Carswell as assistant to the pastor for a year. We are learning how the uses of one part and those of the whole church fit together. We shall miss the Buss family, and wish well to the new pastor, Rev. Keith, and Rev. Eric Carswell.
     Susan G. Holmes

     LONDON, ENGLAND

     London, as I write this, is bathed in spring sunshine, and the garden at the church in Burton Road, Brixton, shows signs of being as colorful as ever this year. Do come and see for yourselves if you are passing our door, but telephone 01 672 6329 or 01 769 7922 to check if there is a service being held that week. About twice a year our church is not open on a Sunday because 85% of the congregation are away at a study weekend somewhere.
     Since our last notes there have been many changes here. The most important is the loss of Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom to Australia, and our welcome to Rev. Robert McMaster. We were sad to see Erik and Lynn-Del go; they and their children had a warm place in our hearts. However, we are enjoying having Robert and Brenda in our midst. They arrived with a little daughter Emily, and have since had a son. Now more than a year old, Danny is the youngest member of our society.
     The same month that the Sandstroms left, the Fred Elphick family departed to Bryn Athyn, where Fred entered theological school, and Mrs. Rosalie Bruell and her younger children returned to her native Canada after a stay here of thirty years. She and her husband Bob, who died in 1975, had brought up their family of eight children in the London society. But one by one they married and made homes in the New World. Only one remains, Andrew, who is studying at Durham University. During that summer we lost (I believe) eighteen members, about a third of our congregation. Also, several of our oldest friends have been unable to attend church during this past winter; the difficulties for the elderly of traveling in London get worse.
     Not the happiest of pictures I suppose, but the church has congregation, and worship and classes in Chadwell Heath, Guildford, north London, and Swedenborg House are well supported by the remaining families.
     One of these had a very important event in July 1982 when Rachel Turner was married to Tom David. The whole David family traveled from the U.S.A. Rachel was a beautiful bride. A gathering of about 150 were in church at the wedding, and a long line of cars drove the 28 miles to the bride's home. There the blue of the bridesmaids' dresses matched the tastefully decorated tables at the reception, which was held in a huge marquee on the front lawn of the Turners' lovely home.
     We have had many visits from isolated friends and people from abroad too numerous to mention. But one old friend who has returned to England, as the pastor of the Colchester society, must be named. In the early 1950's we had Rev. Kenneth Stroh as our pastor here. He was much loved and well remembered. Now we see him again, and he really is most welcome.

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     Our remaining young people are very active and between them produce a small quarterly magazine called "The Seed." If you have not seen one you might be interested in asking if there is one available to you. For so few young people it's quite a well put together publication. Depleted numbers have not lessened our ambition, and we have great hopes for the future.
     Olive Sharp

     SECOND AUSTRALIAN ASSEMBLY

     Assemblies mean a lot of work in preparation, but they are always so worthwhile. Our love for the teachings of the church is increased; and also happy memories linger for years afterwards.
     We were very fortunate to have Rev. Peter Buss presiding as the Bishop's representative. With dignity, clarity, good humor, most definitely with sincere love for the Word of the Lord, he showed how the Heavenly Doctrines do offer very practical help in the many difficult situations that are part of life.
     The assembly began on Saturday 23rd April, 1983. On Friday evening there had been a missionary film evening, not a great success in drawing the public but these efforts must be made. Worship preceded the first session, which was Part I of a presentation by Rev. Peter Buss on "Worry and Anxiety." These troublesome aspects of life afflict all people at various times. We must, he said, recognize the causes and put these things in their proper perspective. Most worries and anxieties are not legitimate and may arise from selfishness and thoughtlessness. Rev. Buss listed many of the common sources of worry. They mostly provide an opportunity for evil spirits to afflict us and take much of the joy and happiness from life. Anxieties may be turned to use by the Lord when they serve to break the lusts of the body. He calls to us, afterwards, when the fear or grief is gone. Rev. Buss pointed out also that anxieties may be felt by regenerating people, when, for instance, they have been forced to act against conscience.
     A business session followed lunch, and the treasurer in his report said that although the society is now self-supporting, members ought to review their contributions regularly so that there can be expansion of the uses of the General Church in Australia.
     At the second session there was an address by Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom entitled "Human Gestures-the Ultimate of Influx." He pointed out that without gestures and facial expressions there would be no way of ultimating the spiritual in this world. The ancients were able to communicate thoughts and affections by slight lip and eye movements. Now we have lost most of this and at times use a "poker face" to dissemble. Rev. Sandstrom's illustrative gestures and expressions unfortunately do not go onto paper.
     On that night, Saturday, the assembly banquet was held. Apart from its being a most enjoyable social occasion, we were privileged to hear an address by Rev. Peter Buss entitled "Idealism and the Real World." He described ideals as the "dreams of heaven on earth," their two enemies being cynicism and disillusionment. People become disillusioned when they find that ideals don't seem to hold up in the real world. Cynicism is scoffing at things once held true. The challenge of the church is to build by understanding and prayer a faith that doesn't fall prey to these things.
     Sunday morning service began at 10:00 a.m. Rev. Buss took the service and his sermon was about the woman whose faith led her to believe that if she but touched the hem of Jesus' garment she would be cured of her disease.

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     At the third session on Sunday afternoon the discussion on worry and anxiety was continued by Rev. Buss. He went into greater detail on depression, its causes and treatment. While we can do much to isolate and control worry and anxiety, trust in the Lord is the only ultimate cure.
     In the evening on Sunday there was a most enjoyable social occasion. It was termed "Australian Day." Almost everyone contributed and we hope we convinced Peter and Lisa Buss that Australia is a great country.
     The final session of the assembly look place on Monday morning. There were two talks, one by Mr. Chris Horner on "Conscience" and the other by Mr. Norman Heldon on "Laughter."
     Lunch followed these talks, and there was also a presentation of gifts to Rev. Peter Buss and Lisa, so that they don't forget us too soon. Mr. Buss expressed his delight at being able to visit with yet another society. We, on the other hand, hoped that he knew of our deep appreciation of his wonderful contribution to the church in Australia. It was a strenuous time for him, but he said he enjoyed it. We hope to see him and Lisa again. Norman Heldon
ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH SECONDARY SCHOOLS 1983

ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH SECONDARY SCHOOLS              1983

     Each year the Academy invites 9th and 10th grade students from other areas to visit the Boys School and Girls School for a few days. These visits have generally been useful in interesting students in Academy education and in preparing them for it.
     In order to facilitate planning for the visits we invite the students from different areas on a rotating basis. This fall (probably November) we expect students from the Midwest Academy. In May 1984, we will invite those from Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. In the fall of 1984 it will be Washington and the South, and in the spring of 1985 Canada and northeastern United States.
     Those who wish to participate in one of these visits may contact one of us or their pastor for further information.
     In addition to these groups' visits, individual students, parents, and others are welcome to visit at any time. Just write or give us a call. T. Dudley Davis, Director of Student Services, Academy of the New Church Secondary Schools
UNKNOWN TO US THE LORD ENLIGHTENS 1983

UNKNOWN TO US THE LORD ENLIGHTENS              1983

     "Although the Word as to its literal sense is such that truths may be drawn from it, it is also such that things not true may be confirmed from it, as is well known from the existence of heresies. But he who reads the Word in order to be wise, that is, to do what is good and understand what is true, is instructed according to his end and affection; for unknown to him the Lord flows in and enlightens his mind, and where he is at a loss, gives understanding from other passages."
     Arcana Coelestia 3436

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CHARTER DAY 1983

              1983




     Announcements






     All ex-students, members of the General Church, and friends of the Academy are invited to attend the 67th Charter Day exercises, to be held in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, Friday and Saturday, October 21st and 22nd, 1983. The program: Friday, 11:00 a.m. cathedral service with an address by Rev. Christopher Bown; Friday, 9:00 p.m. dance; Saturday, 7:00 p.m.-banquet (toastmaster, Rt. Rev. Louis B. King).

     CHARTER DAY BANQUET TICKETS

     In order to avoid confusion and embarrassment, those who will be guests in Bryn Athyn homes for the Charter Day weekend should order their banquet tickets in advance, by mail, unless they have made other specific arrangements with their hostesses.
     The date for the banquet is October 21st. The regular price is $7.00. For all students, including those not presently attending the Academy, the price is only $3.75. Checks should be made payable to the Academy of the New Church.
     Orders should be sent to the attention of Mrs. Donald Rose, The Academy of the New Church, Box 278, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009 before October 7th. Please mark clearly on the envelope "Banquet Tickets." Tickets will be carefully held at the switchboard in Benade Hall for pickup either by you or your hosts. No tickets can be sold at the door because of the need for advance arrangements with the caterer.
WHEN TRUTHS ARE KNOWN 1983

WHEN TRUTHS ARE KNOWN              1983

     "When they are known, they are as it were at the gate; when they are acknowledged, they are in the entrance hall; but when they are believed, they are in the inner chamber."
     Arcana Coelestia 8772

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General Church Publication Committee announces the reprint of 1983

General Church Publication Committee announces the reprint of              1983

THE LIFE OF THE LORD
BY GEORGE DE CHARMS

     REVISED EDITION
Published by The General Church of the New Jerusalem
1983

     Price $8.00 plus postage $1.10

GENERAL CHURCH BOOK CENTER
BOX 278
BRYN ATHYN, PA 19009

Hours 9 to 12
Monday thru Friday
Phone (215) 947-3920

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Notes on This Issue 1983

Notes on This Issue       Editor       1983



Vol. CIII     October, 1983          No. 10
NEW CHURCH LIFE

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     On the second page of Rev. Cedric King's sermon he shows that we should furnish a mental room to receive the Lord. The furnishing of such a room is one of the uses to which this magazine is devoted. A magazine "devoted to the teachings revealed through Emanuel Swedenborg" warmly applauds the appearance this month of a new translation of Arcana Coelestia. We thank Rev. John Elliott for allowing us to print before the publication date the part of his introduction which deals with the title Arcana Caelestia. Copies of this first volume will not be available in America for some weeks, but one can certainly buy them in plenty of time for Christmas.
     Mr. John Wyncoll observes that "there are many earnest people in the world searching desperately to order their lives to do the Lord's will" (p. 430). Were you present at those heartening graduation exercises? If not, please consider listening to the event through the Sound Recording Committee. A choice moment came during Mr. Wyncoll's son Mark's valedictory speech in which he addressed a few remarks to his father on the podium.
     "Do you fully realize who and what you are in the Lord's sight?" (p. 421) This month we publish the first of two articles on self esteem by Rev. Tom Kline.
     "It is when we grow too fond of the vessel that its contents will evaporate." Richard Goerwitz III is inviting "clear and open discussion" in his article on page 433.
     Viola Ridgway's book Lest We Forget is reviewed in this issue. Mrs. Ridgway warmly acknowledges the careful help given to her by two scholars fondly remembered in the church, Mr. Lennart Alfelt and Mr. Eldric Klein. The many months of research in a number of reference works (including back issues of this magazine) have resulted in an engaging volume, which Richard Linquist reviews with a masterful touch. Of one man Richard says, "His face is carved in stone in our cathedral's council chamber. Yet it seems unfrozen now and more youthful in my mind after having read about his life."

     Assembly News:

     The Friends of New Church Art will sponsor another art show at the assembly in Bryn Athyn, June 7-10, 1984.

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     ELISHA AND THE SHUNAMMITE WOMAN

     A SERMON BY REV. CEDRIC KING

     "One day Elisha went on to Shunem, where there was a great woman who urged him to eat bread. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat bread" (II Kings 4:8).

     We know very little about the background of this woman, except that she lived in the lovely village of Shunem. Named from the Hebrew word meaning rest, the town was a natural resting place for east-west as well as north-south travel in the land. Shunem was situated in the lush valley of Jesreel, and commanded a view of the most fruitful, as well as beautiful, terrain in Canaan.
     Here the weary pilgrim might rest from his journey over the northern mountains before heading westward to the sea coast or southward toward Samaria and Jerusalem. And here the great prophet Elisha sought relief from his pressing duties in the home of a woman who treated him most cordially. "And she said to her husband, 'Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, who is continually passing our way. Let us make a small roof chamber with walls, and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there.'"
     Biblical scholars conclude that this woman's 'greatness' refers to her wealth, since she apparently possessed the means of constructing an additional room for the prophet's use. That may be so, but her personal character reveals a more important kind of greatness-the kind which is born of a desire to serve others and put their needs and happiness above one's own.
     In recognizing the exalted nature of Elisha's use, and in subordinating her own comfort and convenience to his well-being, this woman showed a great sense of devotion and piety. Nor would she accept anything in return for her kindness, for when the man of God offered to grant her special favors, she replied, "I am content among my own people."
     How many of us are as cordial or devoted when it comes to making room for the Lord in our minds? How often do we set aside even a few minutes at the beginning or end of a busy day in order to read from His Divine Word or reflect upon the eternal goals which He has planned for each one of us? If we do remember to fit Him into our daily routine, it is often done frantically at the last minute or in a haphazard manner. Perhaps we rush the children through family worship so that we can settle them quickly and then relax in front of our favorite T.V. show.

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     Now the amount of time we give to the Lord each day or during the week is not really the essential thing. It is the quality of the time that counts. If we can't find time for home worship or personal study every day, then let us try to set aside, say, three times a week, and let's strive to make those occasions something special, subordinating all else thereto.
     The wonderful thing about making even a little time for the Lord is that He soon makes that time very special and rewarding for us. We begin to notice a change in our own priorities. Petty problems seem less important as we focus on essential matters. And sensing this new reverence in our lives, will our affections not appeal to reason, as the woman did to her husband, to set aside an inner region of our minds and furnish it with noble thoughts so that the Lord will feel welcomed?
     It's lovely to think about that upper room which the woman and her husband fashioned for Elisha. Such rooms were built on the flat roofs for guests or visiting relatives. They were the choicest rooms in the house, situated quietly above the noise and confusion below and often opened to the cool night breezes which were so welcomed in that hot climate. We are reminded that the Lord Himself instituted the Holy Supper with His disciples in such a room, and that He also said: "Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come into him and sup with him and he with Me" (Rev. 3:20).
     Here is a picture of how we must set aside an inner region of our minds, removed from the cares and anxieties of natural life. It must not be an empty room. We cannot, for instance, sit by ourselves for fifteen minutes in the dark expecting the Lord to enter and change our states with no effort on our own part. We must furnish this room, which is to say that we should, at the least, spend enough time and effort to become familiar with the basic doctrines of the church.
     Now since everyone's mental home is unique, this inner region built for the Lord's use will also be unique. What works for one person may not work for another. One person may find that he reflects upon spiritual things best during a morning walk or run. Another may find that it's easier to turn his thoughts to the Lord at the end of the day, when the pressures of work are behind him. Whatever your particular method, the important thing is to form a habit of doing it, for thereby you give the Lord, who loves you, the opportunity to bless your mind with new life.
     It's interesting to note the woman's reaction when Elisha promised her that she would bear a child. She said, "No, my lord, O man of God; do not lie to your maidservant." One is reminded of Sarah's disbelief when she was told she would have a child-she laughed.

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     Even so, there are many things which the Lord tells us in His Word that we are unable to accept at first. We want to believe, but our own experience seems to contradict the Lord's promises. We may have been spiritually barren for so long that we doubt the possibility of any other state.
     What a miracle it really is, then, when some of these Divine promises begin to come true for us. Perhaps it is the tender new love we feel for our married partner when we thought the flame had gone out. Maybe we sense a renewed feeling of challenge, excitement, and purpose in our chosen occupation, and suddenly realize that the love of being useful is a real love, not an idealistic dream of the Writings. Or perhaps we feel a lessening of delight in engaging in a particular evil, and we realize that the Lord really does have the Divine power to remove the lust of evil from our hearts. In short, we experience the joy of new spiritual life-a little taste of heaven born right here on earth.
     "And the woman conceived, and she bore a son about that time, the following spring, as Elisha had said to her."
     Of course, this world isn't heaven, is it? We know that such blissful states can't last indefinitely. Sooner or later our old hereditary loves break forth and disturb the peace. The scorching heat of self-centeredness beats down upon that tender new life from the Lord and threatens to destroy it as surely as the young lad was overcome by sunstroke in the heat of the day.
     How very quickly a heated argument or an outburst of angry temper can cloud one's thoughts, breaking down all lines of communication and leaving all parties concerned with a dead, empty feeling. "And when he had lifted him, and brought him to his mother, the child sat on her lap till noon, and then he died. And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him and went out."
     And now the woman's real greatness revealed itself. She might have resigned herself then and there to the apparent fact of her child's death. But her faith in Elisha was strong and she immediately set out on the fifteen-mile journey to Mount Carmel to find him. Elisha saw her coming and sent his servant Gehazi to meet her. Her unwillingness to discuss her problem with anyone but Elisha is clear from the sacred text, and bears a special significance for those who would be of the New Church. When asked by Gehazi how she was, she replied, "'It is well. And when she came to the mountain to the man of God, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came to thrust her away, but the man of God said, 'Let her alone, for she is in bitter distress.'"
     Gehazi pictures the literal sense of Scripture which is largely concerned with people, places, and things in this natural space-time world.

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Elisha, on the other hand, represents the inner or spiritual meaning of the Word, which deals with the realities of the human mind. It is here in the eternal realm of the human spirit that the really important issues of human existence are determined. Here, in secret, beyond the eyes of the world, a man may choose in freedom whether to follow the Lord or himself and thus embrace a life of goodness or evil. Here a person experiences the sometimes bitter conflict between these two opposing forces, and this conflict is felt as mental turmoil, temptation, the torment of a conscience that has been violated.
     The letter of the Word by itself is not sufficient to reveal the nature of this inner conflict. Nor does it possess the answers for successfully dealing with it. Even so, Gehad, Elisha's servant, was not told of the woman's crisis when he first met her, nor was he able to heal her son when he went ahead by himself to do so.
     It is the spiritual truth within the letter of the Word which alone has the power to restore a man's spiritual life and, with this Life, his happiness. It is this truth, therefore, which the man of the New Church must particularly seek above all else. "Then the mother of the child said, 'As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.' So [Elisha] arose and followed her."
     The appearance is that the Lord has abandoned us during states of spiritual temptation and sadness. We feel that we must actively leave the comfort of our own thoughts and affections in order to seek His Divine presence anew. And this appearance is good in that it stimulates a totally free response to the Lord on our part. We reach out to Him because we want to, because we feel a desperate need of His love and guidance.
     Of course the truth is that He never leaves us even for a moment. Like Elisha who saw the woman coming, He sees us turning again to Him. He understands our thoughts afar off (Psalm 139:2). Once we have freely expressed our faith in His Divine power, He is sensibly present within our minds again, resurrecting our spiritual life.
     It is a miracle, a Divine work which the Lord alone can accomplish, and this is why Elisha shut the door upon himself and the lad. Yet how very close the Lord must be to each of us in reviving us. For "He went up and lay upon the child, putting his mouth upon his mouth, his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and as he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm." What a touchingly beautiful picture of how near the Lord wills to approach our lives with His own, imparting new spiritual sight and strength, and filling us with the breath of lives. That the prophet stretched himself upon the child twice is a picture of the Lord's dual presence as to the will and the understanding.

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From His love we grow warm, and from His wisdom we gain spiritual consciousness. "Then the child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes."
     How wonderful is the knowledge that the Lord has come again into the world as the Spirit of Truth, as the spiritual sense of His Divine Word. If we will make but a little room in our minds for this new truth, then we too will surely receive the blessing of new life. And when that life comes under assault by evil spirits, we will know where to turn for help. We will go immediately to the spiritual truths of the Writings; for these truths have resurrected the whole body of the Sacred Scriptures, revealing the Divine Humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ on every page.
     "I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains, from whence cometh my help. My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth."
     "He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil. He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth and even forevermore" (Psalm 121). Amen.

     LESSON: II Kings 4:8-37 WHY WE BELIEVE 1983

WHY WE BELIEVE       Rev. Grant H. ODHNER       1983

     All things of the New Church appear in the light of truth before one in enlightenment, but as soon as they have been submitted to the orthodoxy of the church at the present day, the light of truth becomes darkness.
     Consummation of the Age

     Various orthodox Christian writers have produced refutations of the Writings. One of the first was one Enoch Pond who wrote a large tome entitled Swedenborgianism Examined. A more recent example is the book, The Kingdom of Cults by W. R. Martin, which has an eleven-page chapter on Swedenborgianism, putting ourselves in the shoes of such writers, we reflect on the nature of belief.

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     Why do we believe? How do we come to believe? What is the place of analysis when all is said and done? The following is an exercise in imagining, its purpose being to encourage reflection.
     Imagine yourself to be living in the first century. How would you evaluate the claim of Jesus of Nazareth? Could Jesus' life, works, and claim have stood up to a literal or traditional application of Hebrew Scriptures? Consider what a wary Jew might advance.

     1. Adding to the Law and Prophets
     Deuteronomy states: "You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take anything from it" (4:2). Jesus added many things which were different from orthodox teaching, and different from literal Scripture. "You have heard that it was said . . . but I say to you . . ." (Matt. 5). He nullified certain teachings of Moses: "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives . . . . I say to you . . ." (Matt. 19). Here and on other occasions Jesus reinterpreted teachings by appealing to an "inner" meaning of an abstract sense-sometimes quite cryptic (e.g. His explanation of the story of Jonah in the whale in Matthew 12, and His assertion that John the Baptist was the "Elijah" who was to come before the Messiah).

     2. Failure to fulfill prophecies
     The Lord did not come as a king. All nations were not gathered to Jerusalem in battle. The mount of Olives was not split in two. The "saints" did not come with Jesus. Waters did not flow forth from Jerusalem. The moon was not turned to blood. And so forth. (See Zech. 14:1-9; Joel 2:31.) [Note that again Jesus appealed to an inner meaning in explaining these things. "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). He said that He came to bring a sword (Matt. 10:34), but all He did was bring a sword of truth. He told the Pharisees, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation" but is "within you" (Luke 17:20).]

     3. Blasphemy
     Many of Jesus' statements would be difficult to see in any other way than blasphemy (except after accepting His claim). He asserted that He had other witnesses besides Himself which testified of Him-John the Baptist, the Scriptures, His Father, the Holy Spirit, and the works that He did (John 5,15). But we have already seen that Scripture, far from testifying to His claims, sheds a fair amount of doubt upon them when taken literally or in an orthodox way. John the Baptist could have no special authority to a Jew or other man of Jesus' time. How could the unseen "Father" bear witness?

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And as for Jesus' appeal to His works and the evidence of the "Holy Spirit," we shall consider these in what follows.

     4. Speaking with spirits
     Jesus was accused of being in league with demons, and casting them out by their power (Luke 11:14-19; John 7:20, 8:48, 10:20). The spirits whom He cast out spoke to Him: "I know you . . ." (e.g. Luke 4:34ff). And He spoke back! (The evil spirits indeed called Him the "Son of David" and "Holy One," but this is dubious testimony from their mouths.) Jesus was seen by some of His disciples talking with the spirits of Moses and Elijah (Matt. 17). He admitted to having inner revelation and authority from His "Father" (John 8:28, 12:49, 14:10). How dependable could this inner voice of His have been? Nothing bad seemed to come from His contacts (nothing obviously wicked). Quite the contrary. But isn't the devil subtle? Doesn't it give one pause in the light of Deuteronomy 18?

There shall not be found among you anyone . . . who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead (vv. 10-12; see also Lev. 19:26, 20:6, 27).

     Jesus was known to have called back the dead to life, seemingly to have mixed potions to heal People (see John 9:6), not to mention other strange, spiritual powers, which He demonstrated.

When they say to you, "Seek those who are mediums and wizards . . . ," should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony: if they do not speak according to this word it is because there is no light in them (Isaiah 8:19-20).

     There are other ways in which a person in the early days of Christianity might have tried to evaluate Jesus' claims. He might consider experiential evidences and proofs. What about the miracles Jesus performed? What about the influence of the "spirit"-inner elation, peace of mind, joy, etc.? One could also consider the pragmatic value of Jesus' teachings. But could such things really convince someone with an orthodox viewpoint of the truth of Jesus' bold claim?
     Of course not. Did not the magicians in Egypt do miracles equally with Moses? Was not Scripture full of warnings of false prophets and lying spirits in their mouths? (See Deut. 13: 1-3, 18:22; Jer. 6: 14; I Kings 22.)

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Feeling, experience, and testimony have their place, but they are not guaranteed proofs of what is true and good.
     Nor was anyone ever convinced by Scriptural argument, not in the final analysis. People accepted Jesus' claim because it was true (apart from human judgment), and the truth of it moved them. Through the new gospel they were moved by a new vision of the Divine love and its wisdom. They were moved by an entirely new spirit that His teaching brought to religion, and by the real way in which His doctrine could foster a genuine love and goodness in human life.
     Indeed, once Jesus was accepted as Christ, there was no end to the confirmations one could find in Hebrew Scriptures (and other sources, too)! This is so evident from the Gospels and Epistles. Yet Jesus Christ's teachings were a totally new thing. People (who genuinely understood and received them) accepted them on their own grounds. They could not do otherwise. The Old Testament was then meaningful only in the light of the New. And the "new wine" could be put only in new wine skins.

     Why do we believe the claims of the Second Coming?
     As with the early Christian, it is not because of Scriptural proofs or proofs from experience not in the final analysis. It is not because its teachings fulfill the spirit of prophecy and bring the Word into a unified one. It is not because its teachings are reasonable, practical, beautiful, merciful, just. We do not accept the claims of the New Church because they fill us with a new sense of love, understanding, and awe of our Creator, and trust in Him. Nor do we because they enable us to love our fellow man and see the good in him. Nor is it because they have the power to inspire in us a sense of peace and well-being. Although all these things are important, they are all subjective. And our perception in all these areas can prove false. Our feelings of enlightenment and joy can be the product of a merely human response.
     In fact, the burden is not on us to prove or verify the claims of the New Church. For we accept these claims not on our own judgment, but because, apart from human judgment, they are true, they are good. The Second Coming is a Fact. And through the Lord's merciful New Revelation, we have been affected by this Fact and by the truth and goodness of it. And while we cannot ultimately prove it to anyone (not even to ourselves), we can share with others the new vision that the Lord has given us, so that "whosoever wills" can "enter in through the gates into the city" and "take of the water of life freely."

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SELF ESTEEM 1983

SELF ESTEEM       Rev. THOMAS L. KLINE       1983

     FIRST OF TWO ARTICLES

     How do you feel about yourself! Do you feel you are worthwhile? Can you feel what the world calls "o.k ." about yourself? Do you feel o.k. about others? What about our children's sense of self-worth? Should we strive to help our children feel good about themselves, or is this catering to their innate selfish loves? Above all, should we even be concerned about these things? In the light of the teachings of the Writings, should we be concerned about our self-esteem, our self-image? Is it spiritually healthy or selfish for us to think about these things?
     What do the Writings teach about self, about feelings of self-life and self-esteem? When we go to the Writings in search of teachings on self-esteem, we have a problem-not that they are vague or mute on this subject, but because of the overabundance of teachings on this subject of "self."
     "Self" is a key concept throughout the Writings, a concept that sometimes is so broad in scope that we can have difficulties understanding the true teachings. Sometimes the teachings in the Writings approach the subject from such different angles that they almost seem to contradict themselves.
     Think of some of these teachings. The Writings call our feelings of self-life the proprium. We find teachings about the proprium, such as . . . man regarded in his proprium is nothing but a beast," or, ". . . the proprium of man is nothing but evil" (AC 714 and 597:3). And yet the Writings also speak about heavenly proprium that is a gift from the Lord (AC 1947:2).
     The Writings talk a great deal about man's proprium, and yet they also teach that only the Lord has a proprium; only the Lord is a source of life in Himself(AC 149:2). We receive life from the Lord and only feel as if it is from ourselves. Our proprium, our feeling of self-life, is just an appearance. Another teaching of the Writings is that we are to shun all selfish loves as sins against the Lord. Yet in other places in the Writings it is taught that the Lord actually instills into our minds the knowledge that all love begins from self, and that knowledge is a positive step in regeneration (AC 3701:2). In fact, the Writings talk of oneself as a neighbor to be served (AC 6934).
     The Writings teach us to shun worldly honor, reputation, and gain, but they also speak positively of mediate states of self-reward and merit. They say the Lord often allows us to feel merit in the things we do (AC 4145:2).

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These are states of mediate good-times when innocence can clothe and protect us from fully seeing our selfish states. Sometimes selfish states can be stepping stones toward regeneration.
     The Writings also teach us about humility. They say that in the loathing of self, and thus in the absence from self, man is then in a state capable of receiving the Divine from the Lord (AC 3994). Yet we are also taught that this life is not to be one of sorrow (HH 528).
     Finally, the Writings present us with a paradox concerning self-life. They say, the more man is conjoined with the Lord, the more distinctly does he seem to himself as if he were his own (DP 42). The closer we get to the Lord the more do we feel our life as our own. The Lord spoke these same words in the times of the New Testament when He said, "Whosoever will save his life will lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it" (Matt. 16:25).
     What are we to think about feelings of self-life? We need a simple, concise picture of who and what we really are, a picture of who we really are in the Lord's sight. We need a mental model that we can use in our day-to-day life.
     We find such a model of our self-life in the second chapter of the Gospel of John, in the story of the miracle of the Lord turning the water into wine. There was a marriage feast in Cana of Galilee. Jesus and His disciples were at that marriage. Mary, the mother of the Lord, came and told Jesus that there was no more wine. In that same room were six water pots made of stone. We are told that these water pots were there "after the manner of the purification of the Jews." The Jews had a ritual of cleansing their hands and feet when they came into a house. Jesus told the servants to fill those water pots with water, draw it out, and give it to the governor of the feast. Then the miracle took place; when that water had been drawn out it had been miraculously turned into wine. This was the first miracle performed by the Lord when He was upon the earth.
     Six water pots made of stone-this is the key. Six vessels waiting to be filled with water by the servants-vessels waiting for the miracle of new life from the Lord. This is the clear, simple, Divinely revealed picture of our true self-life. This is the spiritual model that we can use to know who and what we are. You are a vessel receptive of life. Your proprium-your self-life-is just a vessel. It's like a stone water pot in the house of the marriage feast. In the truest sense your proprium is not evil, nor is it good. Your proprium is just a vessel.
     The Writings do say that we are totally evil apart from the Lord. But they qualify this by adding that we are filled with hereditary inclinations toward evil (TCR 521).

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These tendencies are a selfish source of life that we have to shun, but they are not ours. The Lord never imputes these hereditary tendencies to us.
     Your true being is first just a vessel waiting to receive life from the Lord, a choice mechanism. You can become evil, or you can become good, depending upon how you eventually decide to fill up that vessel. But strictly speaking, you are still just a vessel, receptive of life. That is your true self; that is your proprium; and that is the self-image that the Lord wants you to see.
     Let's just try our question again. How do you feel about yourself! You can answer from these teachings, "Well, it depends on what I'm receiving at the moment, whether it is coming from heaven or hell."
     But better questions, more suited to the teachings of the New Church, are these: Do you fully realize who and what you are in the Lord's sight? Do you fully realize the heavenly potential for which the Lord has created you? Do you fully realize and feel what it is to be a vessel created with the potential of receiving life from the Lord Himself! Let that be your self-image.
     Think of that picture of a stone vessel waiting to receive something. It translates spiritually into the words "unlimited potential." That's what a stone vessel means, because forever it can receive more and more life from the Lord. It is unlimited-a vessel able to receive life eventually from the Infinite Itself. As we will see, it is a self-image, a kind of self-esteem that's not selfish. It's a kind of self-image that finally enables us to bow down before the Lord in humility, and finally give our lives over to Him.
     The vessel at the marriage feast was formed of stone. Stone corresponds to truth from the Word. We have to form our self-image from the truths of the Word. What are the truths that form a picture of who we are before the Lord? What truths form a solid vessel that potentially can receive life from the Lord? They are powerful truths.
     Take for example the concept: The Lord loves you. This is a foremost truth. This one truth, taught throughout the Word, is going to enable you to get through a lot of temptations. The Lord loves you.
     Second, the teaching: The Lord created you for a purpose. Your life is not an accident; it has a definite purpose. See the vessel that's being formed; see that the Lord calls you. The Lord says in the New Testament, "You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you" (John 15:16)
     Third: You are worthy. In the Lord's sight, you are worthy of performing heavenly uses-worthiness not for self-love, but for going out and serving others.
     The big teaching: Nothing is impossible. That's what the Lord said. Nothing is impossible in your life.

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     Another teaching: You are needed by the Lord. The Lord needs you in His heavenly kingdom. You are essential for the perfection of the Lord's heavenly kingdom.
     The list can go on and on. Notice the quality of these truths. Notice how they form a vessel. These truths are not selfish. They don't lead to states of pride and self-aggrandizement, but they are truths that open our minds to possibilities-possibilities of loving the Lord and serving the neighbor. We could call them "bowing down truths" or "vessel truths." From them, we come to see ourselves as a vessel waiting to begin the great task of putting away selfish loves and to receive the miracle of new life. These vessels, if they are solidly formed, can receive the water that we need to cleanse ourselves-waters of repentance. And with that cleansing, the miracle can take place: we can receive new life from the Lord. First, the stone vessel, then the waters of repentance, and finally, new life.
     That stone vessel, knowledges from the Word that show us a true self-image, is gradually formed in our minds from our earliest childhood onward. Picture little children reading the Word, learning of the Lord's love, learning the life of use, or little children feeling their parents' love, playing and interacting with peers. A stone vessel is perfected gradually in each one's life. And it can become beautiful and healthy, so that in adulthood, when we need to use it, it can be filled with the waters for spiritual cleansing, and then turned into wine. We have to be so careful with our little children that they form their self-image from the Word, not from the world. They need to feel they are worthy in the Lord's sight, that they are worthy to serve Him.
     A self-image based upon the truths of the Word-it is so beautiful that the hells will do everything they can to destroy it. As we said, that stone vessel is formed gradually, it is formed from infancy onward. The hells are there to damage that vessel, to make it misshapen, to put cracks in it, to give it soft spots, to make it unable to hold the purifying waters of repentance. They want to make us incapable of beginning the path of regeneration.
     We had that beautiful list of powerful truths that formed that stone vessel. But there is another list-another list not so beautiful-a list that is, in fact, hellish. There is another list of subtle falsities that the hells instill into our minds from earliest childhood, that can ruin that Divine self-image, that can destroy our vessel. We all know that second list. It comes from many sources. Often it comes from those who love us the most or have the greatest influence over us. The list stays with us. We have all been hurt by that second list.
     This list sometimes comes from parents, teachers, peers, and later on in life it comes directly from the hells. Here are some examples of that second list:

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     The statement "You are stupid." Or the statement "You can't do that very well." The statement to the little child: "You're not good enough" or "You are worthless." "You are ugly" is one that hurts. Or from the hells: "The Lord can't love someone as evil as you." From the hells: "It's useless to fight any more; you can't succeed." From the hells, twisting the truths from the Word: "Nothing is possible any more." Or last of all: "The Lord has left you."

     The list goes on and on. We all have our own lists of hurts, negative statements, subtle half-truths or outright falsities that we have accepted and we have believed-falsities that we have built our lives upon. They form a vessel that's closed off, a vessel hesitant, cracked, lying on its side, a vessel that's hurt and wounded. The hells will do anything they can to prevent us from going on that journey of regeneration. They will give us such a self-image that we sometimes cannot even begin that journey. Picture a person hurting so much that he can't even shun evils as sins against God. Picture a vessel that no longer can hold the purifying waters of healthy repentance.
     The Writings tell us that no one is reformed in unhealthy mental states. These states take away freedom and rationality, and these are states of melancholy, they say-a spurious conscience, grief of the mind, natural anxieties or a sick mind (DP 141). And until these states pass we cannot make spiritual progress. The miracle can't take place. The Lord puts in the purifying water, and we can't use it.
     What is your self-image? It is indeed an important question. It's an essential question for the church. And when we ask this question we do not ask it to appeal to selfishness and self-pride, but we ask it simply that we can be servants of the Lord. We ask it so that we can begin to see ourselves as the Lord sees us, as we really are. That's the point-see the truth of who you are, both the good and the bad. Realize both, so that you can stop believing the falsities about yourself and see the truth as the Lord sees it.
     With a vision built upon a solid foundation of truth from the Word, we can be on with our journey. With a vision from the Word of our self-image, we can be strong enough to begin to fight against the hells. Then, with the Lord's help we can be cleansed. We can use the water pots for their intended purposes. With that vision, then we can finally feel worthy of inviting the Lord to be with us on that journey. With that vision we can finally have the strength to lay down our self-conscious lives and use our life vessels to receive true life from the Lord.
     Next month we will continue our discussion of the story of the wedding feast and see the new wine that is formed as the result of the Lord's miracle. We will see what it is to feel the Lord's life as our own.

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TITLE ARCANA CAELESTIA 1983

TITLE ARCANA CAELESTIA       Rev. JOHN ELLIOTT       1983

     Included in the 'Translator's Introduction' to the new edition of Arcana Caelestia there is the following paragraph regarding the actual title:

The two Latin words Arcana Caelestia are preserved as the title of this new translation for the reason that although efforts have been made in the past to find a satisfactory English equivalent-Heavenly Mysteries, Heavenly Secrets, or Heavenly Arcana-none has ever won any wide or permanent acceptance. Another possible English title is 'The Secrets, or The Hidden Things of the Heavens,' but this runs the risk of being taken to mean things of an esoteric nature, reserved for a religious elite, as in Hallam's phrase 'a hidden stream of esoteric truth,' rather than to mean simply things which are as yet unknown or unrevealed, as in the expression 'the secrets of nature. Really it must be left to the reader, by immersing himself in the work itself, to discover what the words Arcana Caelestia imply, though he may well find a satisfactory definition of them in the introductory paragraphs 1-5. It is only right to advise the reader here, however, that the two words arcana caelestia, or their singular arcanum caeleste, do occur from time to time in places where they denote something other than the title of the eight volume work. In these instances I have felt free to render them "heavenly arcana' or whatever else seemed appropriate.

     According to The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English the noun "arcanum" (usually found in its plural form arcana) means "mystery, secret." It is a word taken directly from Latin without any alteration of the spelling, though the pronunciation is slightly different, for in English we say ar-kay-num or ar-kay-nah but in Latin ar-kah-num or ar-kah-nah. The Concise Oxford Dictionary also connects arcanum with the Latin word area, which means a chest, box, or ark. Understanding the expression according to the origin of it we may therefore think of arcana as the unseen contents of a chest or ark, so that the objects which were concealed in the Ark of the Covenant-that is, the two tablets of stone with the Ten Commandments inscribed on them; Aaron's rod that budded, blossomed, and produced almonds; and the urn of manna-may be called "the arcana of the ark."
     The Sacred Scriptures are indeed like a treasure chest, the visible chest itself being the outward literal meaning, and the treasures inside being all the hidden truths or arcana that constitute the internal or spiritual sense.

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To men on earth those arcana remain undisclosed and unknown until the key is provided which opens the chest so to speak, and that key is of course the knowledge of correspondences, representatives, and meaningful signs. Arcana Caelestia, published anonymously by Swedenborg in London 1749-56, unlocks the literal sense and reveals to us some of the treasures hidden in the first two books of the Old Testament. This is indicated in the full title which Swedenborg gave to volume one-"Arcana Caelestia (or The Heavenly Arcana) which the Sacred Scriptures, or the Word of the Lord, hold within them and which are now disclosed, here first those arcana in Genesis, together with. . . ." It is also worth mentioning here that the later work Apocalypse Revealed, which displays some of the hidden treasures of the final book of the New Testament, carries a similar title to that in Arcana Caelestia-"The Apocalypse Revealed, in which the arcana sere disclosed that are foretold there and until now have remained concealed."
     In reference both to Arcana Caelestia and Apocalypse Revealed I have spoken quite deliberately of the disclosing of some of the treasures hidden within Genesis, Exodus, and Revelation, since it is quite impossible for all to be revealed. For one thing, many arcana are too deep to be grasped by the minds of men, same arcana being too deep even for those of angels, as Swedenborg observes many times en passant. And for another thing the arcana comprising the inner content of Scripture are too numerous. Pat the end of the explanation of Genesis Swedenborg wrote,

This, then, is the internal sense of the Word, its very life, which is nowhere discernible from the sense of the letter. Yet so many are the arcana that several volumes would not be sufficient to explain them all. Here only a few have been stated. . . .

     Brief comment must also be made here about the second word in the title Arcana Caelestia. This is a Latin adjective, which is in most cases translated by one of two English equivalents-"celestial" and "heavenly." As may be seen in the section of the translator's introduction quoted at the beginning of this article, "heavenly" has been used in the past to produce a title consisting of English words. But how will the ordinary man or woman understand such a usage? Most people, I imagine, will think that it describes the quality of the arcana, that these are heaven-like. But the Latin adjective implies not so much their quality as the place where they are known, treasured, and belong. The arcana within the Word are heavenly in the sense that angels in heaven are in possession of them, and now also men on earth who have been so born again as to be in character like the angels in heaven are able to enter into a possession of those arcana.

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     Let me end this brief article on a cautionary note. Though based on the etymology of the term "arcana," the analogy employed above in which the literal meaning of the Word and its internal sense are likened to a treasure chest is but an analogy and no more. The treasure chest analogy serves solely to portray the relationship of the outward letter to the inward spirit of the Word. It will not do to describe the essential nature of the Word, for this is not something lifeless, which a chest is and which the treasures in it are.
     The opening section of Arcana Caelestia-paragraph 3, to be exact-presents another picture. There, in order to show that it is living, Swedenborg likens the Word of God to the human being. The Word is akin to man in that each possesses an outward form or body which in itself has no life. Like the human body, the letter of Scripture is a recipient of life from its own interior soul (which in turn possesses life itself from a Divine source). And the interior soul of the letter or sense of the letter of the Word is the internal sense, consisting of arcana caelestia or heavenly arcana.
ARCANA CAELESTIA: A Translation for Our Time 1983

ARCANA CAELESTIA: A Translation for Our Time       Rev. C. W. PRESLAND       1983

     EXCERPTS FROM AN ADDRESS

     The following few excerpts are from an address delivered to the Swedenborg Society on January 29th of this rear. Congratulating Rev. John Elliott for completing the new translation of volume 1, Rev. Presland speaks of John Clowes who first translated it two hundred years ago.

     Clowes in 1783 had had 500 copies of Volume 1 of the Arcana printed and he lived to see three reprints in England and two in America of that volume: his later volumes were in his lifetime slightly less in reprints. The Manchester friends soon opted out of publishing the Writings, and the London-based Swedenborg Society took over. The Arcana as translated by Clowes had to be of course reprinted over the years, and busy workers had little option but to reprint with, inevitably and properly, such minor revision as they could find time to undertake. The need for more and more revision was apparent with the passing years and, especially at the threshold of the 20th century, there was a great longing amongst us to bring the Arcana into the English of the times and not to keep it in the English of John Clowes.

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So we find a little team of competent men, almost all of them very busy as ministers in the General Conference, pressing towards that end. Few of them had any more Latin than they had learnt in their Victorian grammar schools.
     Some of us here will remember some of them. The scholarly, almost totally deaf, Rev. J. F. Buss of Kensington who had, as I remember from my early teens, a disconcerting habit of turning on the young people of the church and demanding to know "What are you reading now?"
     In 1943, the Council of the Swedenborg Society made a momentous decision. The time had come. A new and third edition of the Latin Arcana Caelestia must be prepared; it would be the basis in due course for a new English translation, of course. The Rev. P. H. Johnson, schoolmaster, explorer, scientist and Latinist, was ready to start on it, and the funds were available. Here let us acknowledge unfailing financial support from America. In the event, of course, it took much longer and much more money than ever had been anticipated, for Postwar inflation and failing strength with some of the people involved took their toll. And then, a new John came: the Rev. John Elliott got involved. He, with the Rev. Norman Ryder, worked with others on Volume 6, and completed Volumes 7 and 8, of the Latin. In 1973, John Elliott produced a supplementary volume and there, like the John of the 18th century, writes as it were, an epilogue prayer, "All who have been involved in the publication these past thirty years will join together to praise Him Whose merciful Providence neither slumbers nor sleeps."
     For the first time since 1783, and-more by coincidence than design-precisely 200 years onwards, you here and the members of the church everywhere are about to have the chance again to read what the Lord has given in the opening of His Word.
INTERNAL IS WHAT LIVES 1983

INTERNAL IS WHAT LIVES              1983

     It is the internal man that is alive and that causes the external man to be so, the internal man being the soul. So is it with the Word, which, in respect to the letter alone, is like the body without the soul.
     Arcana Caelestia 3

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COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS 1983

COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS       JOHN H. WYNCOLL       1983

     JUNE 11, 1983

     Welcome. One of the intriguing subjects that crosses my mind from time to time is the question of why the Lord through His Providence led us all to have contact with the teachings of His New Church. Think of the billions of people that have lived on this earth since the last judgment and the relatively small number of people that have had contact with these teachings. We are told there is no chance, so we must conclude that it was planned by the Lord for each of us to have this contact. If we believe that the very equilibrium of heaven and earth is maintained through people reading, knowing and living the three-fold Word, then we start to appreciate the situation that we find ourselves in.
     This equilibrium is indeed vital to the very existence and maintenance of this earth and its relationship to heaven. As we go through life we soon realize that with every privilege there is a responsibility that goes hand in hand. So this situation we are all in demands a response; a course of reaction has to be thought out, planned and carried through. This choice, perhaps the most vital one of our earthly lives, has to be made. There is no sitting on the fence, because no one can serve both God and man. If we attempt not to respond, then by the very fact of not reacting we are choosing not to cooperate with Providence. This response is likely to be on the minds of all of us here today-graduates, parents, faculty, and friends. Older folk probably feel it is the young who have this mental battle to consider, while young people question the dedication of their elders to the personal commitment needed to maintain a life supporting the path that leads to heaven.
     Let us consider some of the matters that are basic to this choice an individual must make. We are told, "If ye love Me, keep My commandments." Our attitude to life is so critical, for if we are positive, it fosters so much good in all our human relationships. The very establishment of an authority outside of ourselves implies we will be positive to, and respect and learn to love, its basic motivation. How important it is for little children to realize in their own time that their parents and grandparents willingly acknowledge, worship and love an authority outside of themselves. The world would have us worship many gods, but this response will tell us there is but one God of heaven and earth-the Lord Jesus Christ. Each of us must take his own time to see this clearly, acknowledge it and willingly order his life so that the Lord's love may enter. We are going to go through the valley of shadows, where doubts and concerns expressed by others weigh heavily on our minds, and try to affect our responses.

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We are tempted to run with the crowd and deny easily rather than persevere and win the battle with a positive attitude. Yes, we may have to step outside the circle, show that we are different, that our personal value system is not the normal for the world, and that we are prepared to defend our loves. This cannot be expected to come at once, and we will be tried and tested. We may even falter and find we have mentally slipped for a moment or two, only to come back stronger with a deeper commitment to confirm that we have an authority outside of ourselves. Love of self, if allowed to dominate, will eventually excite the devil and bring with it a negative attitude to life. That trend in our thought patterns needs to be recognized for what it is, and subjugated to its rightful place. Self-discipline from within needs to be nurtured and grown slowly so that order may flow in. We are told that where true order is, the Lord is present. What an incentive to order our minds and attitudes so that Providence has a chance to work with our conscience. This will take time, demand patience and trust in our long-term plan of commitment to do the Lord's will.
     The ordering of our lives is like a foundation to a building; it is key to how much we can build. No teacher, parent, or minister can make this choice for us; it has to come from within every one of us. Once we see that God is truly the one and only authority of heaven and earth, through this choice true freedom will be established in each of us. For freedom was provided by the Lord, not for us to use as an excuse, but that we may choose between a life of love and obedience to the Lord and the neighbor, or a life of love of self. True freedom comes when we have made that choice with a firm commitment to keep His commandments.
     We are told that after love of the Lord, conjugial love is the highest love a person can receive. The New Church through its Word has many teachings to offer each of us in this area. We all know how important this use is-our relationship to our closest neighbor. Once we analyze the book Conjugial Love, both the first and second parts, we can soon see that marriage is another vital choice we must make by ourselves. While the world would tell us that if marriage does not fulfill our d reams we can discard and try again, we know that this is not the Lord's plan. True love and happiness are found in serving the neighbor, and our partner is surely our closest neighbor. What the world completely misunderstands is that the heat of first love is not marriage love, but with work, devotion and trust, true love can be built-not instantly, but over a long period of planning and commitment. Patience and understanding will be needed, but the rewards are truly a gift of God.

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     Our reading today from Jeremiah 24 posed the question of whether we and our house are willing to serve the Lord. To serve implies a master and servant relationship, and we choose who is that master in our lives. To be of use to the neighbor is to recognize the good in each one with whom we come into contact. One can easily get the impression that the world is full of evil people. It has been my experience, however limited, that there are many earnest people in the world searching desperately to order their lives to do the Lord's will. True, they may not have the benefit of knowing the teachings offered through the New Church, but many of them have the perception of a moral Christian life as their foundation. I mention this because throughout the New Church there is a commitment developing toward evangelization, and with the recognition of this use it is important to realize that there are many people in this world trying to establish genuine truth and order in their lives.
     Before we discuss how we can serve the Lord through His New Church, I want to say a few words on serving the church organizations. The General Church and the Academy of the New Church are human organizations, and there is a need for involvement, especially by our young people. I would urge you all to become involved. We all have our area of interest, and each of you has a unique talent to offer the church organizations. Whether it be at the Academy in Bryn Athyn, or at your local church society, there is a need for new ideas, approaches and fresh hands. You will be delighted at the warm reception that the older generation will give to the next wave of church leaders.
     Service to the Lord and His New Church requires us to make our personal commitment to Him. This decision will not come easily and will take years to formulate solidly in our minds. We must plan, look hard at the real alternatives, and make that choice in freedom. We serve the Lord by obedience to His commandments, not on a basis that we will obey when convenient to us, but on a basis that we will obey whatever the situation. You will find that once that decision is willingly made in a positive way, a whole new attitude to life, the Lord, and the neighbor becomes evident. Gone is the pain of that decision, and joy at the birth of internal peace and happiness starts to grow. We are told that as we move down the road to spiritual regeneration this internal peace grows and grows.
     Love of the Lord, internal peace and happiness are the gifts offered by the Lord to all mankind. Whether we are worthy of these gifts is up to each one of us. It is a human characteristic to respond to challenges with vigor, and surely this challenge deserves all the vigor that each of us can give it. I will close by quoting three lines that I often think about:

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     a.      '"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me."
     b.      "O taste and see that the Lord is good."
     c.      ". . . and Joshua said-but as for me, and my house, we will serve the Lard."

     Thank you for your patience.
REVIEW 1983

REVIEW       Richard Linguist       1983

     Lest We Forget by Viola Ridgway

     Thank you, Mrs. Ridgway, for telling us such interesting stories about our church's founders. History can be about as interesting as walking through a graveyard, contemplating names and dates cut in cold stone and shuddering with childlike fears about the actual mortal remains of those six feet under. Indeed it was a different kind of earth which Mrs. Ridgway was thinking of when she titled her study: Lest We Forget Those Who Gave Us Our New Church Roots. The ground upon which our church rests is composed of more than its top layer of current personalities and methods of cultivation.
     Digging into the past is what this book does, as noted on its introductory page: "The research for this series has reached as far back into the mists of church history as possible. The object was to bring to light some great and extraordinary people whose insight and determination got our church started during the very years that Swedenborg was preparing and publishing the Writings. Some of these people might remain unknown, yet their lives may well be a source of great inspiration to those who follow.
     Biographies of twelve men and the histories of eight families form its contents. Old photographs may breathe into us something gentle and warm from the souls of those men and women especially chosen from the great mass of humanity. Writes the author: "In fancy, I can see men like Mr. Glen riding hour upon hour on horseback, weary, probably soaked to the skin in unsuitable clothing for our different kinds of weather. Stifling with the heat of our summers or freezing in our winters, hungry and sleeping in uncomfortable beds or on the floor in those smoke-filled taverns; but with their eyes on the stars and their feet on our unpredictable earth, they pressed forward undaunted with the desire to proclaim the new doctrines to all who would listen" (p. 13).

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     Dreams of heroes on great adventures may fill one's imagination while reading this account of our religion's ancestors. We even may feel like children sitting on the floor with legs crossed, as, for example, we begin the chapter on Robert Hindmarsh: "Once upon a time, long ago, there lived a young man whose favorite subject was the Word of God (the Bible)" (p. 23). His face is carved in stone in our cathedral's council chamber. Yet it seems unfrozen now and more youthful in my mind after having read about his life. No doubt, the mental portraits we have of our patriarchs can turn to flesh. It's too easy to assume that a man who lived from 1743-1831 is a very, very old man. But John Clowes, a believer and translator of the Writings, when a youth, was "a gay young blade and thought there would be no heaven for me without skating and running" (p. 5).
     Human qualities are revealed in the lives of Jacob Duche, John Clowes, James Glen, John Flaxman, Robert Hindmarsh, Richard de Charms, Sr., William Benade, John Pitcairn, Walter Childs, William F. Pendleton, Charles Whittington, and Enoch S. Price. Each is colored, however, as a pioneer in the wilderness of the former church. As such, they ascend to the realm of heroes, to the unblemished world of our ideals, there "to be a source of great inspiration to those who follow" (Introductory page).
     The second section of last We Forget traces the lineage of the Odhners, Hargroves, Gyllenhaals, Powells, Hodsons, Starkeys, de Chazals, and Heaths. My interest slumbered here a while, until the author drew lines from Swedenborg's time down to the present. Names of my neighbors were appearing before my eyes and I bolted upright when I read of the Hodson-Rose-Starkey connection: "In 1976 a family tree was compiled by Mr. Roy Hodson Rose, and he discovered that 'there are ninety different last names and if this was extended through the fourth generation [of Starkeys] it would be about half of the Bryn Athyn directory'" (page 88). After reading this book it really is difficult to feel isolated from the New Church family. Perhaps you will have the same feeling about this delightful book which cheers the good side of life.
     Richard Linguist

     This 144-page book, printed by General Church Press, is now on sale at the Academy Book Room for $7.00.

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WHY WE SHOULD NOT REVISE OUR TRANSLATIONS 1983

WHY WE SHOULD NOT REVISE OUR TRANSLATIONS       RICHARD L. GOERWITZ       1983

     For some time now I have been observing the various controversies in the church about translation. At one point it seemed to me that discussions had primarily focused on terminological distinctions. Lately, though, with the appearance of articles such as those written by David Gladish, there has been a change. Discussion now seems to revolve around what constitutes a legitimate translation.
     Unfortunately, the seeming shift of focus is not a real one. The heart of the matter still lies in terminology. Terminological questions are the main criteria by which we are accepting or rejecting new translations and new translation methods.
     It is perhaps expedient that someone explain why this is so, and why we cannot revise our translations until the matter has been examined and resolved.
     To understand why we have such a strong focus on terminology, we must understand two important principles that have had a strong influence on our translations: 1) That religious organizations tend to resist external change (this indicates caution as well as conservatism), and 2) that until the nineteenth century, perhaps into the twentieth, classical modes of inquiry held a supereminent position in scholarship, and in western civilization in general.
     In support of the first principle, two examples come to mind. The first is the retention by the old Christian Church of Latin in prayer, worship, and official discourse long after it had gone out of common use. The other is the sporadic retention by the New Church of the syntax, morphology (here-inflection), and vocabulary of seventeenth century English in its sermons, writings, and occasionally in its daily discourse.
     In support of the second principle, we need only note that up until about thirty years ago, and even now in the Academy, all students were required to take classical Latin, and to parse English sentences after the Latin manner. There exists still in many areas an opinion that teaching children Latin grammar is teaching them good English grammar, and that the classical languages surpass other languages in rhetorical and literary capacity.
     It should be known that the examination of English grammar under a Latin eye has led to countless fallacies and oversights. The true flexibility of the English language has only within the last thirty years broken its classical yoke, and begun to be appreciated as a full medium of expression.
     Language study in general, though, has yet to break this yoke. Almost all foreign language learning at this day involves extensive memorization of paradigms and phrases.

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Rarely, if ever, do students hear the language spoken at length except through records. This is in direct conflict with the natural order of language acquisition, as also with what has been shown to be the least painful and most effective method of language teaching. The only reason why it has been done this way is that Latin and Greek have always been taught this way (see Eugene Nida's Learning a Foreign Language).
     Those of us too young to know the grip classical learning had on men's minds before the turn of the century need only look at such tenacious survivals as an indication of its former power.
     These two principles, tradition and classical scholarship, are the root of all evil in New Church translation. I do not mean to say that they are misleading in themselves. They mislead only when doggedly, yet blindly, adhered to.
     As regards tradition, let us remind ourselves that there have been articles upon articles written about the Writings using the same terminology that has been used since the beginning. The same is true of sermons, prayers, and everyday speech. For instance, "love of the sex," which is more properly represented as a liking for, or attraction to, the (opposite) sex, has been used now for at least a century and a half (my oldest translation dates from the 1840's). Furthermore, this term, though certainly not meaningful to any non-New Church English-speaker, has taken on meaning to us apart from normal English grammar and vocabulary.
     One might ask why I see this as so damaging. The simplest answer, and indeed the obvious one, has to do with our youth and with newcomers. Will we, as the Catholic Church, make our ideas inaccessible to those not possessing extensive and specialized knowledge? And, seriously, are the Writings really written in such complex Latin? The answer is clearly "no." Evidently simplicity was high on Swedenborg's list of priorities. Failing to reflect this in our translations actually misrepresents his original intent.
     Let us now remind ourselves that ministers in our church, and therefore translators too, have also been steeped in this traditional terminology. They have often had minimal background in classical history, culture, and language, and have usually read no neo-Latin author other than Swedenborg. Can we realistically expect these men to have had the ability, independence, and pertinent enlightenment to have deviated from traditional methods of translation and terminology? I think not.
     Unfortunately, overthrowing the traditions involved here will not only involve overthrowing our old translations, but also our old terms.

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Ultimately, we would be forced into an outright violation of what has been labeled above as principle 1. This is no small task.
     The problem is that no new translation would "sound right." None would call up all of those familiar associations and meanings we hold so dear, for many of these associations ("remains," as many call them) are attached to the letter of the Writings. They are actually attached to harmonies produced in the sounds of the very words. Any different sort of sound that is introduced in their place would muddle or disturb this effect.
     As a new translation would mean altering so many things which have so much meaning for us, why do we dare alter these beloved externals?
     It is appropriate here to jump into a digression which will be a kind of answer to this question.
     It is said in the Writings that a long time ago, Hebrew writing was continuous, and not broken up by punctuation or spacing as it is now. This continuity was inherited from earlier forms of writing which were given men from heaven. However, there was one peculiarity to the ancient Hebrew script. It had no vowels. This interesting fact has its explanation in the workings of the Lord's Providence. It seems that the Jews were the kind of people who would have come to adore the very letters and sounds of their holy text. To prevent this, the Lord provided that no vowels or punctuation would come into their script, for in this way they could be brought to focus more on meaning of the letter, and diverted from an appalling externalism. (Read NH 241, 260; SD 2414, 2631.)
     Perhaps I have said enough about tradition, terms, elitism, and the letter of revelation. It should be clear by now that what has been masquerading in our conversation and literature as dialogue about what constitutes valid translation is actually a discussion about traditional terminology and ultimately about the external aspects of our worship.
     Before I move on to classical scholarship, I would like to make it clear that it is perhaps the healthiest thing a church can do to use different translations in all facets of worship. This does essentially the same job that leaving the Hebrew text unvocalized once did. It is when we grow too fond of the vessel that its contents will evaporate, and we will go the way of the Catholic Church.
     In my discussion of classical methods of linguistic inquiry and of translation, it is perhaps expedient that I enter another digression about language in general.
     Although we often tend to overlook the fact, it is important to realize that language is something primarily spoken and heard-secondarily written and read.

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As linguists are often eager to explain, the written form of most European languages is quite different from the spoken, and usually represents a dialect that has, for one reason or another, gained literary and social predominance. The written form of a language also has a tendency to preserve archaic forms, in some cases retaining constructions that have gone completely out of colloquial use.
     This conservatism on the part of most written languages is due partly to requirements of standardization. However, it is also due to an ancient classical (actually Alexandrian) tradition of scholarship in which men pride themselves on their ability to use the subtle ambiguities and fine distinctions made available to them by their Literary language. These men, who still abound today, learn to love their language as it is; thus when new ambiguities come into it, they claim that the language is degenerating. And yet when new distinctions arise which do not fit their prescribed standard, they are dismissed as insignificant, "colloquial," or left unnoticed.
     It has even been claimed by such men that the growing rigidity in the word-order (here-syntax) of English and other languages is connected to a degeneration in man's spiritual life, and to his increasing interest in physical things. Unfortunately, these men are not aware that the one culture that perhaps reveres materialism and science most, Russia, has a language almost as devoid of constraints on word-order as classical Latin.
     Such evidence would seem to make void the position that learned, antiquated, or Latinate English is "better" than the language of today, and makes those who would hold to it seem much like mechanics trained only to work outmoded machines, who would rather strike than retrain.
     Another point about language that is frequently overlooked is that speech and writing are multi-leveled phenomena. They consist of individual sounds (or letters), affixes and roots, words, phrases, and sentences. There is also a definite structure that each language imposes on series of sentences. This structure we call a discourse.
     Now there is a remarkable thing about discourse. In each language, the ways sentences are structured, and the way grammatical relations (subject, object, etc.) are expressed, affect the way series of sentences may be structured. This results in patterns of exposition, description, etc., that are peculiar to each language.
     This has practical results when we try to translate from one language into another. In English, for instance, where there is little grammatically-relevant morphology (meaning that it is relatively uninflected), a subject is a subject merely by virtue of its position just before some finite verb. The more material that intervenes between a subject and its verb, the more difficult it becomes for the reader or hearer to understand the sentence they occur in.

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The same is true of all integral parts of the English sentence. This is why short, clear sentences are preferred in English, and is why our discourses do not tolerate digressions, unless they are related explicitly to the main theme.
     In contrast, Latin has a rather rich grammatically-significant morphology. Being marked by a case-ending, a subject in Latin is as much a subject after the verb as twenty words before it. Although the expansion of a Latin sentence makes it less crisp, it does not render it as dense as does the expansion of a corresponding English sentence. Because of this, Latin sentences can contain many subordinate clauses and digressions. Moreover, the word order itself, freed from grammatical constraints, can be used to signal the onset of such a digression, a return to the main theme, a point of emphasis or contrast, and many other things we in English do by intonation, word choice, and syntactic transformations.*
     * A transformation is actually a relationship between sentences that are equivalent, logically speaking, but which carry different overtones or emphases.
     The squash was eaten by me.
     It was the squash that I ate.
     What I ate was the squash.
     The squash was what I ate.
     Unfortunately, there seems to be a feeling in the church that any translator who attempts to take into consideration larger linguistic patterns and structures is "unscientific," or that he is sacrificing the original language for the sake of the target language.
     As for the first objection, that attention to discourse structure, tone, style, or emphasis is not scientific, this view reflects a classical bias toward morphology and vocabulary. Such thinking has precluded translators from even analyzing a work in more comprehensive terms, still less noting cross-linguistic differences.
     Such thinking also leads to a method of translation that consists merely of recognizing endings on Latin words, knowing the vocabulary, and having a sensitivity to English style.
     As for the second objection, that using concepts such as "discourse structure" leads to a downplay of the original language, this is simply false. To transfer normal Latin constructions to English according to the sense of smaller linguistic units (that is, "literally") is to destroy their original clarity. Literal translation is thus a kind of failure. It means that the translator does not understand the grammar or overall sense of his material well enough to render it with comparable style, tone, or connotation in his own tongue, and so has left the original stranded, like an orphan in a strange land.

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     One advantage literal translations are said to have is that they reflect the original text more faithfully. Unfortunately, this is yet another fallacy. Literal translation seeks to alter the overall system of the original language as little as possible in its transfer to a target language. Consequently, in the name of "preservation," it places linguistic patterns and structures that are readily interpretable within their native system in a strange environment, where they are, by definition, deprived of relevance and import. Therefore, in order to reconstruct the original meaning of such patterns and structures, the reader must have an acquaintance with their background, that is, this original linguistic context. Oddly, though, to have enough familiarity with the original context is to be able to dispense with the translation.
     I might add that those presuming to use the original text, a lexicon, and a smattering of Latin for occasional insight into their translations are very daring men. Their insight is at times keen, but they are not consistent. In a word, they know just enough to be dangerous.
     I must also apologize here if I have, at any point, insulted scholars in the classical tradition. As I said, it is not classical methods of scholarship per se that cause us to fall into these ruts I am describing. It is rather the dogged adherence to the lower rungs on the linguistic hierarchy (see above), and the persistent belief that the study of both discourse structure and what is now called "pragmatics" is "unscientific."
     This attitude, combined with a quiet resistance to external change, is related to the two principles characterized near the beginning of this article as the root of all evil in translation. Until we are willing to re-examine our implicit assumptions about tradition, externals of worship, about language, and about what a translation really is, I don't believe we should attempt genuine revisions or retranslations of either the Writings or, for that matter, the Old and New Testaments.
     Moreover, clear and open discussion of this subject will enlighten everyone, and allow us all to have intelligent input into the decision-making process.
     I might also add that a Latin-reading public wouldn't hurt either. If we were to publish a Swedenborg's Latin text, and then start teaching that instead of classical Latin in our high school, students might find more delight and more use in such study, and would ultimately become more intelligent readers of the Writings.
     This, however, is a side issue. The real issues are the externals of worship and our views of language. Let us not walk down that shiftless path of blind traditionalism and comfort in mere externals. Doing this will set us apart from our youth, the outside world, and will obscure the true internals of the church.

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Editorial Pages 1983

Editorial Pages       Editor       1983

     DRAMATIC CONTENTS OF THAT FIRST VOLUME

     This month the Swedenborg Society is publishing a new English translation of the Arcana Coelestia. This happens to be the first book of the Writings ever to be printed. It came off the press in London (in Latin, of course) in 1749. It primarily unfolds the first chapters of the book of Genesis, but it contains also what the title page calls "wonderful things."
     Startling good news is to be found not only within the chapters of this work but also in subject presentation between the chapters. The first subject so presented in the Writings is the subject of man's awakening from the dead and his entrance into eternal life.
     You open the book and first find in less than two pages five paragraphs that could make a highly readable pamphlet. In number 5 the anonymous writer speaks in the first person and announces that ". . . it has been granted me to hear and see wonderful things in the other life which have never before come to the knowledge of any man."
     In between chapters one and two there is again dramatic use of the first person. "I am well aware that many will say that no one can possibly speak with spirits and angels. . . ." It continues, "But by all this I am not deterred, for I have seen, I have heard, I have felt" (n. 68). "It shall be told, first how the case is with man when he is being resuscitated" (n. 70). It was of the Lord's Divine mercy, we are told, that it was permitted to add this information between the chapters. "At the end of this chapter, accordingly, I am allowed to tell how man is raised from the dead and enters into the life of eternity" (n. 72).
     Then, in between the second and third chapters we have the beginning of the description of what it is like to awaken after we die. It was the Lord's purpose that Swedenborg should not only learn about this but should undergo the actual experience in such a way that he could "remember what happens" (n. 169).
     As the series develops we also get interviews with individuals who have found themselves alive in another life. We note their astonishment or relief, and one of the intriguing features of this is that they are often interviewed in connection with their own preconceptions about life after death.

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One man thought that in the next world people would be in a vague and obscure life. He marveled at what he found. "Their life, so far from being obscure, is most perfectly clear and distinct" (AC 443). Swedenborg confronted him about his typical thoughts on immortality. "I asked him what he now thought of himself, seeing that now he was a soul or spirit, and possessed sight, hearing, smell, an exquisite sense of touch, desires, thoughts. . . ."
     These individual examples and direct confrontations get even more fascinating to read when it comes to the interchapter material on heavenly joy.

     Hitherto, the nature of heaven and of heavenly joy has been known to none. Those who have thought about them have formed an idea concerning them so general and so gross as scarcely to amount to any idea at all. What notion they have conceived on the subject I have been able to learn most accurately from spirits who had recently passed from the world into the other life; for when left to themselves, as if they were in this world, they think in the same way. I may give a few examples" (n. 449).

     The "wonderful things" that follow are as entertaining as they are enlightening. The first volume of Arcana Coelestia overflows with new disclosures, human insights, and especially with the revelation of a soul or life within the Scriptural story. In this volume the culminating story* is of Noah and his three sons. Does the outwardly simple story have anything to do with our Life and conscience? No one reading that final chapter can avoid the real confrontation. It is about finding fault with others. It is about learning to think and speak well of others. It is about living your religion with all your might (see for example nos. 1077-1088).
     * Note: In English translations it has been the custom (since the time of John Clowes 200 years ago) to divide this work into 12 volumes, rather than the eight of the original Latin. The first volume in the original concludes at number 1885, while the first volume in English concludes at number 1113.
     Educators, take note that some of the anecdotes and stories in this volume are quite apt for teaching children. See, for example, the account of those who rejoiced together after making a lampstand in honor of the Lord (552) or the account of the man who went directly to heaven (318).

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VISITORS TO CHURCH SOCIETIES 1983

VISITORS TO CHURCH SOCIETIES              1983

     Visitors to the following societies who are in need of hospitality accommodations are invited to contact in advance the appropriate Hospitality Committee head listed below:

Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania                Colchester, England
Mrs. Anne T. Synnestvedt                Mrs. Donald A. Bowyer
Box 334                                   26 Allanbrooke Road
Bryn Athyn, PA 19009                     Colchester, Essex. C02 8EG
Phone: (215) 947-3725                     Phone: 0206-43712

Atlanta, Georgia                         London, England
Mr. and Mrs. John Robertson                Mrs. Geoffrey P. Dawson
5215 Sweet Air Lane                     28 Parklands Road
Stone Mountain, GA 30088                Streatham, London, SW 16
                                   Phone: 01-769-7922

Detroit, Michigan                     Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Mrs. Garry Childs                         Mrs. Paul M. Schoenberger          
2140 East Square Lake Rd.               7433 Ben Hur Street
Troy, MI 48098                              Pittsburgh, PA 15208
Phone: (313) 879-9914                    Phone: (412) 371-3056

Glenview, Illinois                         Sacramento, California     
Mrs. Philip Horigan                     Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Ripley
50 Park Drive                              2310 North Cirby Way
Glenview, IL 60025                     Roseville, CA 95678
Phone: (312) 729-5644                    Phone: (916) 782-7837

Toronto, Ont., Canada
Mrs. Sydney Parker                     San Diego, California
30 Royaleigh Avenue                     Mrs. Helen L. Brown
Weston, Ont. M9P 255                     2810 Wilbee Court
Phone: (416) 241-3704                     San Diego, CA 92123

Cincinnati, Ohio                         San Francisco, California
Mrs. Stephen Gladish                     Mrs. T. L. Aye
9065 Foxhunter Lane                     P.O. Box 2391
Cincinnati, Ohio 45242                    Sunnyvale, CA 94087
                                   Phone: (408) 730-1522

Tucson, Arizona          
Greta Lyman                              Kitchener, Ont., Canada
1085 West Schafer Drive                Mrs. Maurice Schnarr
Tucson, AZ 85705                          98 Evenstone Ave., R.R. 2
Phone: (602) 887-8367                     Kitchener, Ont. N2G 3W5

Washington, DC
Mrs. Frank Mitchell
1708 Grace Church Rd.
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Phone: (301) 589 4157

     Kindly call at least two weeks in advance if possible.

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FROM THE HILL I STAND ON 1983

FROM THE HILL I STAND ON       Leslie L. Sheppard       1983




     Communications
To Your Readers:

     I am sitting at my makeshift study desk, holding in my hand a copy of the first of our republished out-of-print New Church collateral books. But I lack that feeling of achievement that one ought to feel when he has reached a goal. Maybe it's because from the hill I now stand on I can see an even higher hill to climb. I am asking myself these questions: "Now that you have it printed, who wants it? Look at the books in the church library. Who borrows them? Who buys books in our bookrooms? Who has time to read nowadays, anyway'"
     Well, at this point the physical side of me gives up; but from the spiritual side-of which I hope the Lord has control-I hear, "Press on! Have I let you down on the first part of the project? You have the first book. Get on with it!"
     I look at my bookshelf and think about the New Church and its needs. I pull down from the shelf an old New Church collateral by John Hyde, titled On Character, dated 1896. In the middle of page 33 I read:

There is hereditary good as well as hereditary evil. Herein we may recognize the beneficial side of the Law of Inheritance.

     To me, that's great. That states a good reason for people to read and buy our books: because it will help them become better people, and that good will be passed on to future generations through inheritance.
     But when I think of how few New Church people there are in the world at the moment, then it looks as if future generations are doomed, because there are just not enough to pass on all the good that is needed. However, in the same book, on page 58, I see some hope for all those future generations and the Lord's New Church:

No impression is absolutely lost. It may be covered up and continue to be hidden from the child's conscious thought and even lie far beyond any voluntary power of his to recall it; it is then said to be forgotten, but it still remains.

     That's got to be the answer if the church is to grow. It's not going to be through heredity but through remains.
     Now there is of course a doctrine of remains, but the remains I am talking about are in one sense the physical remains that every New Church man or woman must do his or her best to leave behind. I ask myself, "Where would I be today if it weren't for such remains?-the remains being the books that have come into my hands.

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(Remember, I am not a New Churchman by birth, but by remains.)
     When I was at the New Church College in England, I remember Rev. John Booth saying that he first came into the church through a book called The Invisible Police. I have heard that the church in Africa was started by Mr. Mooki when he found a book on the scrap heap.
     It is our job, as New Church men and women, not only to read New Church books but to make sure that there are books on all our shelves, to remain for people to find. The book Mr. Mooki found started a church. The one John Booth came by gave us a minister. Just think of the power of a few dollars or pounds spent to make sure these books are in our homes, and maybe even to be put on scrap heaps to be found in another hundred years!
     I look at my bookshelf and thank the people who left behind a lot of the books that I have-with dates like 1826 and 1896. You could say that was two to four generations ago. It's now our turn to buy and place on our shelves books that will remain for the next hundred years or so.
     That's the next part of my project. I can't do it alone. I need all the Lord's help, and yours.
     Leslie L. Sheppard,
     New Church Collateral Publishing,
     P.O. Box 45, Woolloongabba,
     Queensland, 4102, Australia

     Editor's note:

     It has been a pleasure to examine a copy of Exposition of the Gospel According to Mark. The book was first published by John Clowes in 1826. A revised edition was published in 1858. It is interesting to see that the 1983 edition reproduces exactly and handsomely the 1858 version with the addition of a one page preface. In the June issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE Mr. Sheppard spoke of a commitment that he would set for himself-"the task of republishing priceless New Church collateral books that are no longer in print." We now have the best kind of proof of his fidelity to that commitment.

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Church News 1983

Church News       Various       1983

     COLCHESTER

     Colchester has recently played host to the 61st British Assembly. This lasted from 8th to 10th July 1983 and commenced with a cheese and wine party. The assembly got under way with a paper by Rev. Kenneth Stroh on "How the Lord Leads Us"(by loves and affections); this theme was repeated throughout the assembly. With five ministers present we had a feast of good things. Bishop Louis King, Rev. Robert McMaster, and Rev. Ottar Larsen all gave papers. Rev. Frank Rose, visiting from Tucson, Arizona, spoke informally and showed slides at the social evening at Kingsford Hotel. Here we ate a delicious meal and wandered out onto the wide lawns in the warm summer air.
     In the church, decorated with lovely gold and white flowers, two services were held on the Sunday; at 10:30 a.m. the Bishop gave the children a talk and also preached. The Holy Supper was administered at 3 p.m. Theta Alpha provided tea and cakes at the farewell after the service. The organization of the assembly was by Mr. Raymond Waters to whom we extend our grateful thanks.
     The latest news of our society starts with the arrival of Rev. Kenneth Stroh and his daughter Wendy on 1st July 1982. Mr. Stroh came to take up the call to lead the society as our acting pastor. By April this year (1983)we were happy to hear that after consultation with the Bishop and a special society meeting, Mr. Stroh had accepted the nomination of pastor to the society. We look forward to an active and useful future under his able leadership.
     Some of the other events in our 1982 calendar included the annual Hengrave (Suffolk) adult instruction weekend at the end of August, and a Young People's Weekend in September for the 12-year-olds and up. A lovely wedding took place on October 9th between Tony Appleton and Judith Cooper. Relatives and friends were invited to join the reception after the service held in the church/schoolroom which was a really happy occasion.

     We held our Harvest Supper on October 23rd, this is a potluck meal, everyone bringing something to eat. Our Christmas Fayre on November 27th provided lots of bargains and fun as our main fund-raiser.
     The Christmas tableaux service was on December 19th and, an innovation, a Christmas sing was arranged for December 22nd. Carols, poetry and music filled the evening plus mulled wine, fruit cake and mince pies.
     After Christmas, Swedenborg's birthday banquet was held on January 29th 1983. Papers were given by Mr. Garth Cooper and Mr. David Glover. An interesting question and answer session with Swedenborg (Mr. Eric Appleton) and an interviewer (Mr. Stroh) was held.
     We welcomed a new member on 10th March with the birth of Emily Ruth Wyncoll. Her happy parents, Mr. and Mrs. Geoff Wyncoll, sister Rebecca and brother James were delighted. Emily was baptized during morning service on June 12th with her two grandmothers, Mrs. Rose and Mrs. Wyncoll, present.
     Our new social secretary, Pat Lewin (Mrs. Roy) Appleton, organized a May Day dance. Her husband and Nigel Appleton helped and arranged a lively evening with a wide variety of music and dances to suit all ages and tastes.     
     The children had their own New Church Day party on June 17th with the presentation of gifts from the church. The adults had their celebration next day, sitting down to a delicious meal.

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Papers were given by Mr. and Mrs. Philip Waters.
     Two of our beloved members have been called by the Lord to His kingdom in the spiritual world Maude Everett (Mrs. Norman) Motum in July 1982, and Martha Mardell (Mrs. Eric) Appleton in February, 1983.
     Our day school continues under Miss Hilda Waters. Their annual sports afternoon in June was enjoyed by parents and friends watching and cheering in the hot sunshine. On July 14th the school's open morning was also well attended. After worship and coffee, the children produced a puppet play 'How Percival Caught the Tiger' and there were competitive games to play. The students' work was on show, items of woodwork, knitting, painting, and clay modeling.

The Junior Young People's group, those from 11 years to 14 years have received instruction with Mr. Stroh twice a month, followed by social time together either in homes or in the schoolroom
     With the 25th British Academy Summer School at Purley Chase now in progress, we look forward with assurance and hope to the following gear.
     Ruth Motum Greenwold

     PITTSBURGH

     As reports of the Pittsburgh society have appeared in these pages annually for the last five years and with less precise regularity during many prior gears. It seems intelligent to write this gear only of changes. The past months have brought many.
     The arrival last summer of our new pastor, Ragnar Boyesen, his wife Dorrit and their six children brought added dimensions to our society. Tall blonde children increased our school's enrollment to 37; lilting English with sporadic bursts of Swedish mixed with our Pittsburghese; and Santa Lucia charmed us during the school's Christmas program. Jack Rose, sensing the need for a cram course in English before school started in the fall, organized classes for the children that included live action scenarios, conversation, computer drill, and field trips. Evidently Jack's Berlitz imitation sufficed, as the children fit into their classroom situations with little trouble. Mr. Boyesen has encouraged change within the society structure as well. Our long-standing tradition of holding supper and class on Friday has ended with a shift to Wednesday evening. The switch encouraged a family or social evening for the ministers who previously often spent Wednesdays in meetings and Fridays in doctrinal classes. Mr. Boyesen also formed a planning committee to analyze the capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses of the society and from this analysis to make reasonable assumptions about the future and, hence, recommendations for society development. Part of the work of this committee has been to cull the responses of a society-wide questionnaire in order to make a more knowledgeable assessment of our society's needs and goals.
     Among the society events that underwent some change was our annual Sons Labor Day picnic, held this year on Sunday with a restful worship service on a high hill in Sarver, prior to our customary picnic and races. Also, twenty-two members of the Laurel camp staff-ten from out of town-met in April in Pittsburgh for an advance planning session, a first in this writer's memory, and then leaders of "families" spent a full day before Family Laurel, taking a group dynamics course, also a first. In November the staff of the Pittsburgh New Church School organized the first teacher in-service days held outside of Bryn Athyn for fifty teachers and ministers from eight schools.

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Another school-related change was the temporary retirement of Polly Schoenberger as the upper grades teacher, her position being filled by Marcia Smith from Bryn Athyn.
     We enjoyed interesting visits by people such as Douglas Taylor with his evangelization course (twenty-six participated); Gwen Asplundh (Theta Alpha International president) and Gail Cooper (Theta Alpha Journal editor) with talks to the women after a delightful luncheon together; and nearly 70 ANC College students and faculty members for a winter-fun weekend, complete with skiing in the nearby Laurel Highlands, an ice hockey game in Kittanning, lunch in Sarver, and a dance in Pittsburgh.
     New developments have included a computer programming class for the society (equivalent to a three credit college course), given to thirty people last summer and offered again by Jack Rose in summer '83, the showing of "Swedenborg, the Man Who Had to Know" and "images" to friends and neighbors of the church, and the marking of boundaries and chopping down of trees for a chapel in Sarver.
     And lastly a hard change because it meant a farewell, and that was the departure for Glenview of our assistant pastor Eric Carswell, his wife Donna and their three children. Here only four short years, Eric and Donna fast became valued partners in society work, Eric particularly for his talented leadership in the school and Donna for her cheerful willingness to help out in any way needed. They will be missed. Coming to Pittsburgh as Eric's replacement is Jim Cooper whose work in the Washington and Bryn Athyn schools has fully prepared him for his new position here. We look forward to welcoming him, his wife Pam and their two children to our lovely city. Also, in the fall Ray and Star Silverman and their five children will be with us as he completes his work toward the theological degree.
     As we move into another busy year of society activity, we wish those well who have left us and welcome those who have chosen to make their homes here. And to all of you, best wishes for your health, happiness, and usefulness to each other in the work of the church.
     Polly M. Schoenberger
CHARTER DAY BANQUET TICKETS 1983

              1983

     Orders should be sent to the attention of Mrs. Donald Rose, The Academy of the New Church, Box 278, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009 before October 7th. Please mark clearly on the envelope "Banquet Tickets." Tickets will be carefully held at the switchboard in Benade Hallfor pickup either by you or your hosts. No tickets can be sold at the door because of the need for advance arrangements with the caterer.

     CHARTER DAY THETA ALPHA LUNCHEON TICKETS

     Tickets for the Theta Alpha luncheon, preceding the annual meeting on Saturday. October 22 must be purchased in advance. This way we will know how many to prepare for and so will not have to turn away people as has happened in the past. These tickets will be on sale through the switchboard in Benade Hall, and also can be purchased through the mail in the same manner as banquet tickets (please see above).
     The price is $2.50 adult and $1.50-student.
     There will be a very limited number on sale at the door.

447


ORDINATIONS 1983

ORDINATIONS              1983

     Schnarr-At Toronto, Ontario, Canada, June 19, 1983. Rev. Arthur Willard Schnarr, Jr., into the second degree of the priesthood, Rt. Rev. Louis B. King officiating.

     Simons-At Kempton, Pennsylvania, July 31, 1983, Rev. Jeremy Frederick Simons into the second degree of the priesthood, Rt. Rev. Louis B. King officiating.
PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES 1983

PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES              1983

     Public worship and doctrinal classes are provided either regularly or occasionally at the locations listed below. For details use the local phone number of the contact person mentioned or communicate with the Secretary of the General Church, Rev. L. R. Soneson, Cairncrest, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009, Phone (215) 9474660.

     AUSTRALIA               

     SYDNEY, N.S.W.
Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom, 22 Dudley Street, Penshurst, N.S.W. 2222. Phone: 57-1589.

     BRAZIL

     RIO DE JANEIRO
Re. Jose Lopes de Figueiredo, Rua Desembargador Izidro 155, Apt. 202, Tijuca.

     CANADA

     British Columbia:

     DAWSON CREEK
Rev. William Clifford. 1536 94th Ave., Dawson Creek, V1G 1H1. Phone: (604) 782-3997.

     VANCOUVER
Mr. Douglas Crompton, 21-7055 Blake St., V5S 3V5. Phone: (604) 437-9136.

     Ontario:

     KITCHENER
Rev. Christopher Smith, 16 Bannockburn Rd., R.R. 2, N2G 3W5. Phone: (519) 893-7460.

     OTTAWA
Mr. and Mrs. Donald McMaster, 726 Edison Avenue, Apt. 33, Ottawa, Ontario K2C 3P8. Phone: (613) 729-6452.

     TORONTO
Rev. Geoffrey Childs, 2 Lorraine Gardens, Islington, Ontario M9B 424 Phone: (416) 231-4958.

     Quebec:

     MONTREAL
Mr. Denis de Chazal, 17 Baliantyne Ave. So., Montreal West, Quebec H4X 281. Phone: (514) 489-9861.

     DENMARK

     COPENHAGEN
Mr. Jorgen Hauptmann, Strandvejen 22, Jyllinge, 4000 Roskilde. Phone: 03-389968.

     ENGLAND

     COLCHESTER
Mrs. Donald A. Bowyer, 26 Allanbrooke Road, Colchester, Essex CO2 8EG.
Rev. Kenneth O. Stroh, 2 Christchurch Court, Colchester, Essex C03 3AU Phone: 0206-43712

     LETCHWORTH
Mr. and Mrs. R. Evans, 111 Howard Drive, Letchworth, Herts. Phone: Letchworth 4751.

     LONDON
Rev. Robert McMaster, 135 Mantilla Rd., London SW17 8DX. Phone: 672-6239.

     MANCHESTER
Mrs. Neil Rowcliffe, 135 Bury Old Road, Heywood, Lanes. Phone: Heywood 68189.

     FRANCE

     BOURGUINON-MEURSANGES
Rev. Alain Nicolier, 21200 Beaune, France. Phone: (80) 22.47.88.

     HOLLAND

     THE HAGUE
Mr. Daan Lupker, Wabserveen Straat 25, The Hague.

     NEW ZEALAND

     AUCKLAND
Mrs. Marion Mills, 8 Duders Ave., Devonport, Auckland 9. Phone: 453-043.

     NORWAY
OSLO
Mr. Eyvind Boyesen, Vetlandsveien 82A, Oslo 6. Phone: 26-1159.

     SCOTLAND

     EDINBURGH
Mr. and Mrs. N. Laidlaw, 35 Swanspring Ave., Edinburgh EH 10-6NA. Phone: 0 31-445- 2377.

     GLASGOW
Mrs. J. Clarkson, Hillview, Balmore, Nr. Torrance, Glasgow. Phone: Balmore 262.

     SOUTH AFRICA

     Natal:

     DURBAN
Rev. Geoffrey Howard, 30 Perth Rd., Westville, Natal. 3630. Phone: 031-821 136.

     Transvaal:

     TRANSVAAL SOCIETY
8 Iris Lane, Irene, 1675 R. S. A., Phone: 012-632679.

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     Zululand:

     KENT MANOR
Louisa Allais, 129 Anderson Road, Mandini, Zululand 4490.

     Mission in South Africa:
Superintendent-The Rev. Norman E. Riley, 42 Pitlochry Rd., Westville, Natal, 3630.

     SWEDEN

     JONKOPING
Rev. Bjorn Boyesen, Bruksater, Furusjo, 5-56600, Habo. Phone: 0392-20395.

     STOCKHOLM
Rev. Roy Franson, Aladdinsvagen 27, 161 38 Bromma. Phone: 48-99-22 and 26-79-85.

     UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

     Alabama:

     BIRMINGHAM
Dr. R. Shepard, 4537 Dolly Ridge Road, Birmingham, AL 35243. Phone:(205) 967-3442.

     Arizona:

     PHOENIX
Mr. Hubert Rydstrom, 3640 E. Piccadilly Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85018. Phone: (602) 955-2290.

     TUCSON
Rev. Frank S. Rose, 2536 N. Stewart Ave., Tucson, AZ 85716. Phone: (602) 327-2612.

     Arkansas:

     LITTLE ROCK
Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Holmes, Rt. 6, Box 447, Batesville, AR 72501.

     California:

     LOS ANGELES
Rev. Michael Gladish, 5022 Carolyn Way, La Crescenta, CA 91214. Phone:(213) 249-5031.

     SACRAMENTO
Patricia Street Scott, 3448 Vougue Court, Sacramento, CA 95826.

     SAN DIEGO
Rev. Cedric King, 7911 Canary Way, San Diego, CA 92123. Phone: (714) 268-0379.

     SAN FRANCISCO
Rev. Wendel Barnett, 4638 Royal Garden Place, San Jose, CA 95136. Phone: (408) 224-8521.

     Colorado:

     COLORADO SPRINGS
Mr. and Mrs. William Reinstra, 708 Manitou Ave., Manitou Springs, CO 80829. Phone: (303) 685-9519.

     DENVER
Rev. Clark Echols, 3371 W. 94th Ave., Westminster, CO 80030. Phone (303) 429-1239

     Connecticut:

     HARTFORD

     SHELTON
Rev. Glenn Alden, 47 Jerusalem Hill Rd., Trumbull, CT 06611. Phone: (203) 877-1141.

     Delaware:

     WILMINGTON
Mrs. Justin Hyatt, 417 Delaware Ave., McDaniel Crest, Wilmington, DE 19803. Phone: (302) 478-4213.

     District of Columbia see Mitchellville. Maryland.

     Florida:

     LAKE HELEN
Rev. John Odhner, 413 Summit Ave., Lake Helen, FL 32744. Phone: (904) 228-2337.

     MIAMI
Rev. Daniel Heinrichs, 15101 N. W. Fifth Ave., Miami, FL 33169. Phone: (305) 687-1337.

     Georgia:

     AMERICUS
Mr. W. H. Eubanks, Rt. #2, S. Lee St., Americus, GA 31709. Phone: (912) 924-9221.

     ATLANTA
Rev. Christopher Bown, 3795 Montford Dr., Chamblee. GA 30341. Phone:(404)457-4726

     Idaho:

     FRUITLAND
(Idaho-Oregon border) Mr. Harold Rand, 1705 Whitley Dr., Fruitland, ID 83619. Phone: (208) 452-3181.

     Illinois:

     CHICAGO
Rev. Brian Keith, 73 Park Dr., Glenview, IL 60025. Phone: (312) 724-0120.

     DECATUR
Mr. John Aymer, 380 Oak Lane, Decatur, IL 62562. Phone: (217) 875-3215.

     GLENVIEW
Rev. Brian Keith, 73 Park Dr., Glenview, IL 60025. Phone: (312) 724-0120.
     
     Indiana:
Contact Rev. Stephen Cole in Cincinnati, Ohio, or Mr. James Wood, R. R. 1, Lapel, IN 46051

     Louisiana:

     BATON ROUGE
Mr. Henry Bruser, Jr., 1652 Ormandy Dr., Baton Rouge, LA 70808. Phone: (504) 921-3089.

     Maryland:

     BALTIMORE
Rev. David Simons, 13213 E. Greenbank Rd., Oliver Beach, MD 21220. Phone: (301) 335-6763.

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     MITCHELLVILLE
Rev. Lawson Smith, 3805 Enterprise Rd., Mitchellville, MD 20716. Phone: (301) 262-2349.

     Massachusetts:

     BOSTON
Rev. Grant Odhner, 4 Park Ave., Natick, MA 01760.

     Michigan:

     DETROIT
Rev. Walter Orthwein, 132 Kirk La., Troy, MI 48084. Phone: (313) 689-6118.

     EAST LANSING
Mr. Christopher Clark, 5853 Smithfield, East Lansing, MI 48823. Phone: (517) 351-2880.

     Minnesota:

     ST. PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS
Rev. Michael Cowley, 3153 McKight Road #340, White Bear Lake, MN 55110.

     Missouri:

     COLUMBIA
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Johnson, 103 S. Greenwood, Columbia, MO 65201.

     KANSAS CITY
Mr. Glen Klippenstein, Glenkirk Farms, Maysville, MO 64469. Phone: (816) 449-2167.

     New Jersey-New York:

     RIDGEWOOD. N.J.
Mrs. Fred E. Munich, 474 S. Maple Ave., Glen Rock, NJ 07452. Phone: (201) 445-1141.

     New Mexico:

     ALBUQUERQUE
Dr. Andrew Doering, 1298 Sagebrush Ct., Rio Rancho, NM 87124. Phone: (505) 897-3623.

     North Carolina:

     CHARLOTTE
Mr. Gordon Smith, 38 Newriver Trace, Clover, SC 29710. Phone: (803) 831-2355.

     Ohio:

     CINCINNATI
Rev. Stephen Cole, 6431 Mayflower Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45237. Phone: (513) 631-1210.

     CLEVELAND
Mr. Alan Childs, 19680 Beachcliff Blvd., Rocky River, OH 44116. Phone: (216) 333-4413.

     COLUMBUS
Mr. Hubert Heinrichs, 8372 Todd Street Rd., Sunbury. OH 43074. Phone: (614) 524-2738.

     Oklahoma:

     TULSA
Mrs. Louise Tennis, 3546 S. Marion, Tulsa, OK 74135. Phone: (918) 742-8495.

     Oregon:

     PORTLAND
Mrs. M. D. Rich, 2655 S. W. Upper Drive Pl., Portland, OR 97201. Phone: (503) 227-4144.

     Oregon-Idaho Border.-See Idaho, Fruitland.

     Pennsylvania:

     BRYN ATHYN
Rev. Kurt Asplundh, Box 277, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009. Phone: (215) 947-3665.

     ERIE
Mrs. Paul Murray, 5648 Zuck Rd., Erie, PA 16506. Phone: (814) 833-0962.

     KEMPTON
Rev. Jeremy Simons, RD 2, Box 217-A, Kempton, PA 19529.

     PAUPACK
Mr. Richard Kintner, Box 172, Paupack, PA 18451. Phone: (717) 857-0688.

     PITTSBURGH
Rev. Ragnar Boyesen, 7420 Ben Hur St., Pittsburgh, PA 15208. Phone: (Church) (412) 731- 1061.

     South Carolina:- see North Carolina.

     South Dakota:

     ORAL-HOT SPRINGS
Rev. Erik Sandstrom, RR 1, Box 101M, Hot Springs, SD 57747. Phone: (605) 745-6714

     Texas:

     FORT WORTH
Mrs. Charles Hogan, 7513 Evelyn La., Ft. Worth, TX 76118. Phone: (817) 284-0502.

     Washington:

     SEATTLE
Rev. Kent Junge, 14323-123rd NE, #C, Kirkland. WA 98033. Phone: (206) 821-0157.

     Wisconsin:

     MADISON
Mrs. Charles Howell, 3912 Plymouth Circle, Madison, WI 53705. Phone: (608) 233-0209.

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SWEDENBORG SOCIETY 1983

SWEDENBORG SOCIETY              1983

A NEW TRANSLATION OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG'S
ARCANA CAELESTIA
BY REV. JOHN E. ELLIOTT, BA, BD
Volume 1 published October 1983
Volumes 2-12 will be published approximately one volume per year.

     Hardback copies, postpaid in the U. S.           $13.35
Paperback                              8.40

     Available soon from:

GENERAL CHURCH BOOK CENTER
Box 278
Bryn Athyn, PA 19009

Hours 9:00-12:00
Mon. thru Fri.
Phone: (215) 947-3920

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Notes on This Issue 1983

Notes on This Issue       Editor       1983



Vol. CIIII     November, 1983          No. 11

454


     Fresh thinking based on thorough study is what is offered to you this month in the article "Priest and Layman, Hand in Hand."
     Rev. Kurt Asplundh's sermon calls our attention to the effect of the Lord's redemption. "We barely reflect about the existence of the spiritual world, still less that it has a powerful influence upon our lives. Until the Writings were given, no one knew how the Lord restrained the power of the hells" (p. 457).
     The new translation of the first volume of the Arcana Caelestia (advertised in the October issue) has now been published, and we quote a sampling of the beginning paragraphs on page 482.
     "It is almost embarrassing to go about demonstrating or proving the mental equality between the sexes, just as though there were any question about it. You do not prove an axiom. Yet I felt the need to say what is really self-evident, because the question has arisen . . ." (p. 478). Rev. Erik Sandstrom undertakes briefly to demonstrate "both that there is a full and actual mental equality between men and women, and that there is a marked and eternal distinction between their minds." ASSEMBLY: A mailing has gone out to all members of the General Church concerning. the Assembly of June 7-10th. Those who are interested in the art show at the Assembly will find some information on page 497 and are invited to write for more information to the address given on the same page. See also the statement concerning art shows in NEW CHURCH LIFE March 1981 (p. 149).

     Visitors to Church Societies:
     Fifteen Hospitality Committee addresses appear in the October issue (p. 441). We have since learned that Glenview has a new committee head: Mrs. Donald Edmonds, 2740 Park Lane, Glenview, Illinois 60025. (Phone 312 724-2834.)
     Speaking of Glenview, see the photograph on page 466.

     Historical note for teachers in New Church schools:
     On Monday, December 5th, you may wish to call attention in some way to the 200th anniversary of the first public meeting of receivers of the doctrines in this world. See pages 14-17 of Rise and Progress by Hindmarsh and our editorial in June of this year.

     Summer camps:
     In May we listed six church summer camps. Among those not listed was the Oak Leaf Camp held in Elgin, Illinois, thirty miles west of Glenview. A real success. There will be another Oak Leaf in 1984.

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BALAAM'S BLESSING 1983

BALAAM'S BLESSING       Rev. KURT H. ASPLUNDH       1983

     "How good are thy tents, O Jacob, thy tabernacles, O Israel! As the valleys are they planted, as gardens by the river; as the sandal trees which the Lord hath planted, as cedar trees beside the waters" (Numbers 24:5,6).

     Today, we will consider the strange and remarkable story of Balaam, the prophet, who came to curse the tribes of Israel but could do nothing but bless them. This is a pre-Christmas story. It contains one of the early prophecies of the Lord's birth, the prophecy of the star which would appear at the time of the advent. Balaam's prophecy was handed down from generation to generation over hundreds of years, and was known to those Wise Men who came from the east to Jerusalem to worship the newborn King of the Jews.
     Before the Lord's coming, the world was endangered. Men's evils had accumulated. We were in danger of being overwhelmed by the hells. In those days, men were actually possessed by spirits and held captive by their evils. In ways unknown to our modern age, the spirit world influenced men's lives. Whole armies were destroyed by an influx of the bells. When evil spirits were unleashed from the confines of the hells they could inspire terror, insanity, and even bring death upon men.
     One reason the Lord came on earth was to prevent this destruction of the human race. His love was to save, not destroy. And, even though we brought evil upon ourselves, and were deserving of punishment and death, the Lord willed to avert it. The disciples once asked if they could call down fire from heaven to consume the Samaritans who refused to receive them. The Lord rebuked them. "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them" (Luke 9:55ff). How great is the Lord's mercy in comparison with our own. He protects us in spite of our evil tendencies, following the smallest flame of hope for our salvation to flicker and be nursed into a blazing love of the Lord.
     The Lord, by His advent, faced the fury of the hells and turned it away. He is, literally, a shield for us. And, even in His prophecies, before His actual coming, there was a protective strength.
     There is a sense in which this applies to our personal lives. Before the advent of the Lord in our lives-and He must be born in the hearts of all of us-we have need of His merciful protection. We pass through states of evil. Like those disciples who wanted to destroy the Samaritans, we are full of hatreds, enmities, and lusts to an appalling extent.

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We know not what manner of spirit we are of. We deserve death. The Lord preserves life.
     The story of Balaam's blessing of Israel is a story of the Divine blessing upon an individual's own life. Just as the Lord protected the camp of Israel from imminent destruction, so can He protect us as we progress in life. The Writings teach that we are born a hell, but to become a heaven. It is of the mercy of the Lord that we are protected from our own evils and preserved until the Lord makes His advent in our lives and a new spirit moves us.
     Balaam, the evil prophet of Syria, had been called by the king of Moab to curse the Israelites passing through his land. Balaam longed for the honors and riches promised by the king. Yet, he could speak no other words than those which the Lord caused him to speak.
     Three times Balaam went up into the mountains overlooking the camp of Israel, to the sacred Places of Baal. Seven altars were built and bullocks and rams sacrificed. But, as Balaam stood beside the smoking altars and eyed the camp of Israel below, no curses came to his lips, but blessings only.

     At this, Balak's anger rose. "I called thee to curse mine enemies," he said, and, behold, "thou hast altogether blessed them these three times" (Numbers 24:10). Balaam's anger and frustration were as deep as the king's. It was no love of Israel that prompted his blessings. It was the power of the Lord, overriding his evil intention. And, in a final parable, the Lord caused Balaam to utter a prophecy that brought fear to all corners of hell itself. "There shall come a Star out of Jacob," he said, "and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth . . ." (Numbers 24:17). This was a promise of the coming of the Lord and His power against hell.
     What happened here is an example of the Lord's protection from evil. The occult powers of this Syrian wizard were strictly controlled by the Lord, even turned to a good use.
     The Writings tell us what Balaam could have done if the Lord had not stopped him. He could have cursed Israel, and by this curse "would have stirred up turbulent hordes [of evil spirits] against that nation . . ." (SD 1778). These spirits would have destroyed Israel.
     Israel was extremely vulnerable to infernal attack. Again, the Writings explain why. There were such things in them that were "nefarious, idolatrous, and filthy" (SD 2354). They were evil men-extremely evil. The nature of the hells is such that they love to punish. "They anxiously search for whatever evil they can find," we are told, and "when they find evil, claim the right over it" to punish and destroy those souls.

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A curse upon Israel by Balaam would have unleashed the fury of the hells upon them because they were inwardly evil. "The world of spirits before the Lord's advent was of this character," we read, "but after His advent they were powerfully restrained in this respect" (SD 1778). It would be as though Balaam were leading these hellish spirits to their victims, pointing out the faults of Israel: and letting the spirits rush in to condemn and punish them. But this the Lord would not allow.
     This all may seem remarkable to us. We barely reflect about the existence of the spiritual world, still less that it has a powerful influence upon our lives. Until the Writings were given, no one knew how the Lord restrained the power of the hells.
     There is an intimate connection between the two worlds. As to our minds or spirits we are in the spiritual world and subject to the influences of spirits of every kind. It is because of this association that every evil carries its own punishment, every good its own reward. When we allow our minds to be carried into evils, we open ourselves to punishments from the spiritual world, suffering agonies of many kinds. On the other hand, in pursuit of orderly uses, the angelic spirits reward us with a sense of peace and trust.
     In the incident that we are considering, the Lord was unwilling that the evils of Israel be discovered to the world of spirits through the medium of Balaam's curse. The evils were there to be discovered and revealed, but they were hidden for good reason. Israel, though evil at heart, served to represent the church on earth. This necessary representation coupled with the fact that the Lord was to be born among this people were eminent uses for which the Lord spared Israel.
     Also, through Balaam's blessing which was forced from his lips, the Lord was able to give warning to the hells. Balaam's parting words to King Balak were a warning: "I will advise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days . . . ." This warning went beyond the political relationships of Israel and Moab. By Moab was meant also a spiritual Moab, a hellish society which seeks to destroy the goods of the church. The parable was addressed to these spirits as well as to the king. It was the clear promise that their days of unrestrained evil were numbered. The Lord would come to seek them out in every corner of their domain, and to bind and fetter them.
     The very thing that threatened Israel at that moment was just what the Lord would come to prevent. By His birth and life on earth He would face the hells in combat, vanquish them, and shut off their influence.
     The complete story of Balaam shows us two ways the Lord guards our lives. In the early part of it, when Balaam was making his journey to the land of Moab, we should recall the remarkable incident of the donkey that spoke.

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Three times Balaam's ass halted on the journey as the angel of the Lord stood in the way. When Balaam beat the animal in anger and frustration, the angel spoke as though through the mouth of the animal itself. Balaam then realized that the animal's hesitations had saved his life. Balaam's will to do evil was thwarted by the balking of the ass. What a world of application for us. The ass signifies the rational understanding. How important it is that our enlightened understanding challenge our will to do evil. The will draws us on to the doing of every love. Only through the warnings of the understanding can we turn aside from our intent. And, because of this turning aside, we are saved from spiritual death.
     But there is another kind of protection illustrated in this latter part of the story where Balaam actually stands above the camp with the intent to destroy it. This is the Lord's protection of our spiritual freedom. The hells would like nothing more than to condemn us at the very first hint of evildoing. Their most subtle attack is to seek to convince us that we are too evil to be saved. We are terribly vulnerable to this because of our interior quality. The Lord knows this, and therefore He does not allow us to suffer condemnation and punishment at the hands of the hells to the extent that we actually deserve. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
     The story of Balaam's blessing shows that the unsuspecting Israelites were held in a sphere of protection despite their evils. They did not know that Balaam stood with Balak in the hills above their camp in repeated efforts to bring the curse of hell upon them. No more do we reflect that evil spirits, unseen by us, roam the loves and affections of our mind, seeking to find a vulnerability in which to accuse us. The Lord daily protects us, even as He protected the camp of Israel.
     The means by which the Lord provides this protection is hinted at in the text itself. We remember Balaam's blessing: "How good are thy tents, O Jacob, thy tabernacles, O Israel . . . ."
     Balaam saw the camp of Israel spread out in the valley of Moab. It was an impressive sight: a city of tents in their order, tribe by tribe, family by family. At the center of all the dwellings was the tabernacle of the Lord, the place of His habitation. It was the order of this camp that made it possible for the Lord to save them in spite of their inner wickedness. There was a power in this external form.
     When Israel fled from Egypt, nearly forty years before they entered these plains of Moab, there was no ordered form. The tribes were a rabble of disorganized fugitive slaves. But now, after the hardships of the wilderness journey, they had been disciplined by the laws of Jehovah and the order of their camp was a picture of the new forms of life they had adopted.

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     We are told that the tribes arranged themselves around the tabernacle of God in a specified way. Each tribe had its place, and each family of each tribe its position. When the pillar of cloud lifted up from the tabernacle, all the tribes broke camp and followed. When the pillar of cloud came to rest and the tabernacle had been set up, the rest of the tents were pitched in their strict order, each in relation to the tabernacle and all the other tribes.
     The Lord had commanded Israel to follow this order so the physical camp could represent the pattern of heaven itself. "The Israelitish people represented the Lord's kingdom in the heavens," the Writings teach, "and thus the heavenly order there . . ." (AC 3703:18). Such an order has tremendous power. It is such that hell cannot possibly break in upon it, although it constantly tries to do so. "It is this very order, and thus heaven itself, which was represented by the encampments of the Sons of Israel in the wilderness . . ." we are told. And, "it was for this reason that when Balaam saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes, and the spirit of God came upon him, he uttered his enunciation. . ."-the blessing upon the tents of Jacob (AC 4236:2).
     Balaam could do nothing but bless this camp because its form suggested the form of heaven itself. The fact that the people in the camp were prone to evils and falsities of every kind was offset by the fact that they held to an outward form of order. This was protective. Within this protective external form they could live their lives free from the infestations of hell.
     And is not this the Lord's provision for every man? Though our life may be infected with evils of many kinds, we may yet live safe from them by observing external forms of order. Order for the sake of uses is our protective shield. Even the sufferings of the spirits of hell are, we are told, reduced and diminished when these spirits enter into orderly tasks. The reason is that work for others imposes a pattern of order upon their lives which, in some slight measure, emulates heavenly order and thus protects them from the punishments of other spirits.
     This is not to say that we may attain to a heavenly life by simply observing external forms of order. We cannot take internal evils into heaven. We must see and conquer these as well as external forms of evil. But this is not a task that we can accomplish in one or even many efforts. It is a lifelong process. Essential to this process is a protective sphere in which we can live. While we maintain external order in our lives we may quietly come to grips with the inward evil loves that we have. Under the protection of uses, customary forms, and orderly ways of life, we enjoy freedom that would not otherwise be possible.

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Only in this sphere of protection and freedom will we make true spiritual gains.
     We live in an age today when it has become popular to cast aside forms of external behavior or traditional forms to expose, instead, the essence of life. While this is an inevitable result of the abuses that have developed where externals have become stifling, we should not forget the use of protective formalities in our lives. It can be spiritually dangerous to expose our inner affections and intentions. In doing so, we may make ourselves vulnerable to influx of such power that we will be overwhelmed by it. Even in such an intimate relationship as a marriage, what do the Writings instruct us to do when states of cold arise? Simulate. Pretend affection. Compel yourself to treat your spouse as you would if you held genuine love for him or her. Such a compelled external provides an order of life within which we can work on our shortcomings. Is not the principle the same in other aspects of human life? The Writings speak of the necessity of the mind being held in order by some study or business. When it is not circumscribed in this way and outwardly disciplined, it falls prey to a multitude of dangerous influences that attach themselves to latent lusts and evil affections.
     We need to be occupied in orderly ways during our life on earth. We need to form our lives into a pattern of uses illustrated by the organization of the camp of Israel. We need even to "simulate" the heavenly form of life while we work, day by day, to infill the form with a true essence.
     Is this hypocrisy? Hypocrisy is covering evil with intent to deceive. It is not hypocrisy to cover evil with the intent to amend that evil so as not to inflict it upon another.
     Finally, we should recall that the Lord instructed the Israelites how to arrange their camp. So, too, the Lord will instruct us how to live our natural life. We must look for the patterns of an orderly life as given in the Word. If we discover there such uses of life as are Divinely ordained, and if we try to practice these, we will go a long way toward defending ourselves from infernal influx. This is the means of protection the Lord has provided for us while we make our personal wilderness journey. We may not be conscious of the strengthening we will have because of such protection. Like the unsuspecting Israelites, we may not realize what eyes are looking down upon us as possible victims of a curse. Yet, if we remain within the Lord's protective spheres of order, we need not fear these hidden watchers. Their opportunity to curse can never come. It was thus with Balaam, who longed to curse Israel. He could not. The reason is shown in the Word: "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord His God is with him . . .

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Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel" (Numbers 23:21, 23). Instead, there was a blessing, a blessing the Lord intends for every man who orders his life by the truths of His Word. Amen.

     LESSONS: Numbers 24. AC 59, SD 2354, 1778 SELF ESTEEM 1983

SELF ESTEEM       Rev. THOMAS L. KLINE       1983

     SECOND OF TWO ARTICLES

     Last month we began to speak of self esteem. We concentrated on the story of the wedding feast at Cana, the miracle of changing water into wine. Here we saw the key to understanding our self-life. It was the simple, stone water pot that was used for cleansing in the house of the marriage feast, a vessel waiting to be filled with water. We saw that this was a picture of our self-life, what the Writings call our proprium. The Writings tell us that our life can be compared to a vessel (see SD 2470, 3759). The question of who we are, or what we are to become, is simply the question of what we are going to fill that vessel with-whether we fill it with life from the Lord or with life from the hells. This month we will speak about filing that vessel with life from the Lord.
     The Lord and His disciples were at a wedding feast where the wine had run out. Jesus came to the servants of the house and gave them a simple command. He told the servants to take the stone vessels that were in the house and fill them up with water. Just think how strange this command must have seemed to those servants. Here they had run out of wine and yet the Lord told them to fill up the cleansing vessels with water. The servants probably wondered to themselves, just what does this have to do with running out of wine? Were they supposed to wash themselves? Little did they know about the miracle that was about to take place.
     The same story is often true in our lives. Spiritually, wine pictures the truth and joys of heaven. Often we find ourselves lacking that spiritual wine. We fell that a sense of heavenly fulfillment is missing from our lives. The wedding feast has been cut short. Sometimes we can feel that our lives are nearing spiritual death. And what does the Lord command us to do when we come into these states? He commands us to do something that at first appears strange. When we run out of heavenly joy the Lord commands us to go and cleanse ourselves, to fill our vessels of self-life with the waters of repentance. He commands us to cleanse ourselves by shunning evils as sins against Him.

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If we as the servants of the household don't know about the miracle that's about to take place, this can seem like a strange command. Why does the Lord want us to cleanse ourselves when what we really want is the joy of heaven?
     We come into states in our lives where we are unhappy and unfulfilled, and Jesus says to us, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 4:17). Sometimes we can't understand this command, but then comes the miracle, a miracle we have to trust will take place.
     As the servants drew the water, it was wine-the best wine. This teaching is central to the church. As we shun evils, putting away our exterior conscious evils, the Lord is secretly cleansing our interior life. In place of our old hereditary will He is implanting a new will, a new life of heavenly joy, the wine of the marriage feast.
     Wine pictures truth from good, new truth in our life that comes from the new will that the Lord has given us. Think what a beautiful miracle that is, to fill up the vessel of our self-life with new wine-to receive the Lord's life as our own. Suddenly we have something heavenly in that vessel, the joy of regeneration. We know that the Lord is present with us when the vessel is filled up. We feel the heavens opening. We feel love and kindness toward the neighbor. We feel good. And yet it's not our own good. It is the Lord's good, and we feel it as our own.
     Or do we? Can we really feel all these things as our own? Can we really feel the Lord's love when we regenerate? Can we feel that new life, that miracle wine, and know about it while we are still on this earth? Can we feel and taste the joys of regeneration?
     At first this seems to be a silly question. We want to answer to ourselves, "Of course we feel those things as we regenerate, because what would be the use of having this miracle take place if we couldn't feel its effects in our life. Why have the miracle if it is hidden from our sight?" Yet, in the light of the Writings, this is a serious question.
     We read the following teaching from the work Heaven and Hell: "Whenever man looks to himself in the good that he does he is let into what is his own, that is, into his inherited evils; for he then looks from good to himself and from himself to good, and therefore he presents an image of himself in his good, and not an image of the Divine" (no. 558). Here is a passage that seems to say that whenever we are led to consider the good that is in us, suddenly our inherited evils rise and take over. The passage goes on to explain why this is the case. It speaks of evil spirits that love nothing more than to flatter us and to give us pride and self-praise. It we start feeling good about what we think is the Lord's good, how do we really know it's from the Lord? It may be the hells flattering us. Can we ever know that the miracle has taken place?

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     The Lord, when He was in the world, taught us: "Judge not that ye be not judged" (Matt. 7:1). And in explanation of this the Writings say that no one is allowed to judge the spiritual quality of another person, for the Lord alone can see that spiritual quality (see CL 523). To what extent does this teaching apply to judging our own states? Can we judge our own spiritual states? Maybe those heavenly, good states that we feel are really not so good. Maybe they should be shunned. Maybe the hells are tempting us again.
     We read teachings such as these, and we can become hesitant about the process of regeneration. We can start feeling good in a certain area of our life, and then there is that nagging question: Are these new good feelings states of genuine life from the Lord to be nurtured and enjoyed, or are they the love of self creeping up from the hells again in self-flattery? Often we are tempted to take the apparently safe road and say, "Well, it must be the hells again," and shun them.
     We come to questions in our life such as this: "Is the new joy I felt in my marriage today from the Lord or is it the hells tripping me up again?" "Did I walk the extra mile to serve my neighbor out of heavenly love from a new will?" We ask, "Are the hells putting me on a spiritual ego trip, letting me imagine that I am making progress when I am really going downward toward hell?" Soon we become hesitant about the church. We become hesitant about the Lord's power to save us.
     Imagine knocking on someone's door to tell them about the Lord's church, that the Lord has made His second coming. We tell them about the church and then add: "But there is just one thing about this church: these doctrines really aren't going to change your life, at least as far as you can tell. The minute you start feeling good or seeing changes in your life, you had better shun them because they might be from the hells." Why would anyone join a church where the very people in that church can't testify that that church has affected their lives?
     Are we just to repent-just to keep filling those water pots with the cleansing water, and hope and trust that somehow, unknown to us, the Lord might be doing His part? Is that our destiny in the church?
     The Writings do teach that the bells often flatter us, and that we can't totally judge our spiritual state. We can never be certain about where we are. But this is not all the Writings teach. This is just part of the picture, and we need to see the whole picture. There is nothing that the hells want more than for us to take just part of the truth and to base our lives on that. There is nothing the hells want more for us to believe than the distorted truth that whenever we feel goodness from the Lord we need to shun it because it's really from hell. What better way to shut off the possibility of salvation; what better way to keep the Lord's presence out of our lives forever?

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Picture a person waking up in the next life and still rejecting heaven because he believes it's from the hells!
     What else do the Writings teach about our ability to feel and know the Lord's presence working with us? Consider these other teachings that balance the picture: One passage in the Writings begins with these words: ". . . man knows nothing of how he is being regenerated, and scarcely that he is being regenerated. But if he is desirous to know. . ." and then the passage goes on listing certain positive signs that he can look for to see that the Lord is working with him (see AC 3570:2). Another passage begins with the words: "A man can know among whom he is, whether among the infernal or among the angelic" (AC 1680). Again we are given certain positive signs that we are with the heavens. And finally, another passage: "Nothing is more necessary to man than to know whether heaven be in him, or hell" (AC 7181). And here we are given positive signs that we are to look for to know that the Lord is present with us.
     What are these positive signs? From the Writings we read: ". . . the man who intends good to his neighbor, and thinks nothing but good respecting him, and actually does it when he can, is among angelic spirits, and also becomes an angel in the other life. This is the distinctive characteristic. Let everyone examine himself by this in order to learn what he is" (AC 1680). And we read further: "When a man feels or perceives in himself that he has good thoughts concerning the Lord, and that he has good thoughts concerning the neighbor, and desires to perform kind offices for him, not for the sake of any gain or honor for himself; and when he feels that he has pity for anyone who is in trouble, and still more for one who is in error in respect to the doctrine of faith, then he may know that he dwells in the tents of Shem, that is, that he has internal things in him through which the Lord is working" (AC 1102).
     Can we know that the Lord is working in us? Can we know the difference between evil spirits' flattery and the Lord's presence? Can we see the miracle taking place-the new wine? "Yes" is the answer from the Writings. In fact, the Writings say that we must-it is necessary for us to know, for unless we know that the miracle is taking place, it is of little use in our lives.
     We can't make spiritual judgments about ourselves. We can't say that we are already completely, positively reborn. We can never make that judgment. That was the message of those first two passages that we read. We can't make that judgment. As the Writings say: ". . . there is no definite period of time within which man's regeneration is completed, so that he can say, 'I am now perfect'" (AC 894). But again, we can, and the Writings say that we even should, see certain signs that the Lord's presence is working in our lives.

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If we don't see the signs, we had better get busy and start working with the Lord.
     And the key to knowing the difference between spirit flattery and the Lord's presence is that we don't point to ourselves as the source of goodness. But we will point to the Lord as the source of progress. When we feel that goodness, we will testify not of man but of God.
     At the beginning of the first article we said that the Lord's miracle of turning water into wine was the first miracle. It thus pictures all other miracles done by the Lord. The heavenly marriage of good and truth (the new wine) is a spiritual picture of the miracle of healing the blind, the lame, the raising of the dead, the casting out of demons. They are all the miracle of new wine. And whenever the Lord healed a man, woman or child in the miracles of the New Testament there is a response from the person who was healed, a simple innocent testimony. Take for example the story of the man who was born blind. The Lord healed the blind man and then the Pharisees came to that man and argued with him, telling him that Jesus really didn't heal him of his blindness. And the man gave a response to the Pharisees, just a simple statement of fact: "One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see" (John 9:25). It was a simple testimony of the power of the Lord in his life. The man didn't point to himself-he wasn't flattering himself-he was just pointing out the reality of what the Lord had done in his life.
     Or consider the story of the man who had been possessed by the devils. Jesus commanded those devils to flee into the herd of swine. Afterwards it says that the man came seeking Jesus when Jesus was in the boat, and the Lord spoke these words to him: "Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion upon thee" (Mark 5:19). He was to speak not of the things that he had done, but the things that the Lord had done for him. It was not to be self-flattery, but a testimony of God.
     At the outset we asked the question, how do you feel about yourself! And now we can ask the final question: How do you feel about the Lord's presence in your life? This is the important question, for His presence is going to be your level of self esteem and self worth. Don't look for your own goodness, nor your own self-worth; look for the Lord's presence in you. The Lord's presence is your heavenly self. When you lay down your own self-life, and give your life to the Lord, you receive true life from Him.
     As your life progresses you will see signs of progress. If you don't, you should seek this miracle, and pray to the Lord for help. As you make progress you will see your loves change for the better. As each thread of your hereditary self-life is pulled out by the Lord and a new thread of genuine life from Him is put in its place, you will feel a change in your very being.

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You will see the miracle of new wine taking place. Enjoy these states from heaven, because they are the Lord with you. And testify of the power of the Lord in your life. Don't hesitate to know the Lord and speak of His power to others. Testify of His presence in your life as the simple people did in the New Testament. Spread the gospel, the good news that His church can change your life. Tell the message to others: "The Lord Jesus Christ reigns." Let these words of the blind man echo in your life: "One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see. Obey the words of the Lord to the man who was possessed: "Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee."
PASTORAL CHANGES IN GLENVIEW 1983

PASTORAL CHANGES IN GLENVIEW              1983

     Twenty years ago Rev. L. B. King replaced Rev. E. C. Acton as pastor of the Glenview society. The next pastor was Rev. Alfred Acton and after that Rev. Peter Buss, who is pictured above (left) congratulating the new pastor, Rev. Brian Keith. [Photo of Buss and Keith]

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PRIEST AND LAYMAN, HAND IN HAND 1983

PRIEST AND LAYMAN, HAND IN HAND       Rev. DANDRIDGE PENDLETON       1983

     A DOCTRINAL STUDY BY REV. DANDRIDGE PENDLETON, PRESENTED TO THE GENERAL FACULTY OF THE ACADEMY ON APRIL 28, 1983

     The written notice of this meeting read as follows: "The paper to be presented will be introductory to a study of the doctrine of the priesthood and the laity, looking to their proper relationship in the work of New Church education. It is my hope that the proposed series of papers to the faculties, as professionals, will stimulate further study of the Word by our priests and lay educators together." I would reiterate here that this is a doctrinal study primarily for professional lay men and women, because I want to emphasize that point.
     The title of the paper-in fact, the title of a proposed series of papers, to which this paper is an introduction-is "Priest and Layman, Hand in Hand." This title came to me early on in my study; the words are from an early Academy song, a stanza that went, "Then together let us stand/Priest and layman, hand in hand." The vision and the hope expressed were very real, and I have thought about them often in a general way over the past twenty-five years. However, it is only in the last three years that I have focused my thoughts in serious study of the doctrine on the subject.
     In this regard I remember very clearly a remark made to me by Rev. Ormond Odhner just a few months before he departed this mortal coil. I had walked into his office to chitchat, as I often did, and found him sitting at his desk with two books open in front of him: a volume of the Swedenborg Concordance and a copy of Order and Organization of the General Church. He looked up and said, "You know something? I don't think we understand the doctrine of the priesthood very well. Maybe I'll give a paper on it to the Council of the Clergy." That was in early November, 1980; three months later he was gone. His remark struck a responsive note in me at the time; mainly, I suppose, because I had felt for many years that we do not have a clear picture of the priesthood as an entire doctrine.

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Ormond's remark, therefore, stayed very much in the forefront of my mind. I, too, had come to the conclusion that we do not understand the doctrine of the priesthood very well. If this is the case, then how can our efforts to spell out the proper place of priestly leadership in the work of formal education be anything but very general and, in many of the derived particulars, faulty? Is there an entire doctrine of the priesthood? I believe there is, although it is not easy to come by. I did not begin to see that doctrine in its entirety until I had spent several extended periods of concentrated and essentially uninterrupted study time on it over a span of three years. What had formed my concept of the priestly use and function prior to that time? Doctrinal "fragments," kind of stuck together in a largely traditional and rather precarious framework. I say precarious because the fragments had a tendency to come "unglued" when I came across other fragments here or there in the Writings themselves, or even as the result of a question from a concerned layman.
     In commencing my study I decided to go back to Order and Organization of the General Church, a document that I hadn't looked at for many years. Recall that one of the two things Ormond had been studying when I walked in on him was the Order and Organization. The other was Volume V of the Swedenborg Concordance, in which he was looking up numbers on the priesthood. It was his comparing of the two-Order and Organization with teachings from the Writings on the priesthood-that caused him to comment to me as he did. As I studied Order and Organization, I realized to an extent that I had not known before how many of the statements there are derivations rather than actual statements of doctrine. This, of course, is bound to be the case, as any organizational order consists inevitably of applications derived from stated principles. What struck me, however, was the fact there are relatively few actual references cited in that document, as doctrinal principles from which the many organizational derivations, both general and particular, have been made. This was what was bothering Ormond-this along with the fact that when he went to the Writings to find the doctrinal sources, he felt (in his own words) either that they "aren't there," or that what they actually say does not necessarily derive into the organizational application that has been made, or that in several key areas a very general statement in the Writings has been cited as the basis for a whole host of particular applications.
     However, it wasn't the question of Order and Organization in itself that primarily concerned Ormond, or me. What concerned both of us was the fact of our own lack of understanding of the teachings of the Writings concerning the priesthood as an entire doctrine.

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It took only cursory examination of the Writings themselves on the subject for me to realize why: I had never studied those teachings as an entire doctrine. In order to do this, it is first necessary to bring together the many different teachings which refer directly to the priesthood, scattered throughout the thirty volumes, as it is defined under three different terms having their origin in two different languages: sacerdos (Latin), clericus (Greek), and minister (Latin). The first two of these terms always refers to an ordained priesthood as we are accustomed to think of it. The third (minister) sometimes refers to the ordained priestly use and function, sometimes it does not. However, it rapidly became evident that this initial gathering together of direct teachings was the least of my problems. A much wider and more strenuous study obviously lay ahead; for the use and function of the priesthood centers within a whole series of major doctrines: namely the doctrine of enlightenment, the doctrine of perception, the doctrine of disposition, the doctrine concerning doctrine, the doctrine concerning the church, and last, but by no means least, the doctrine concerning the laity. And I had never studied any of them as entire doctrines in themselves. To say that I felt a bit swamped at this point would be something of an understatement. However, I had gone too far to give up now, one of the reasons being that a number of the statements that I had studied so far in direct reference to the priesthood itself simply didn't tie together, unless I forced them to do so; and another of the reasons being that my reading of these numbers had brought into question a number of our traditional interpretations of the priestly use and function. This was sufficiently disturbing to me that I had to go on, if for no other reason than my own peace of mind.
     Therefore, in the early spring of 1981, and again in 1982, I applied to the Academy Research Committee for a grant, in order to undertake an in-depth study of the entire subject, with the hope of presenting the results somewhere, to someone. At first I thought of the Council of the Clergy, but realized upon a little reflection that with the council meeting only once a year, and its docket always crammed to overflowing, that body is not a forum for extended doctrinal consideration. Then an idea struck me as I was working on the doctrine of the laity. The conviction had been growing as I studied that we must somehow d raw the laity into the study of doctrine for the church (I will amplify that statement in a moment). What better forum in which to make such an appeal than the faculties of our several schools, as educated professional New Church lay men and women who all subscribe to the Heavenly Doctrines, and to include with the faculties a representative group of other lay professionals from a wide spectrum of the world's occupations who serve on our various boards of directors? Because one of the things I had become convinced of is that doctrine cannot be studied adequately by the priesthood-even an enlightened one-by itself, apart from lay participation in that study.

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I am not referring here to our usual concept of the priesthood presenting doctrine to the laity, and the laity applying that doctrine to the uses of the church; I am thinking rather of the study of doctrine by the priesthood and the laity together, with each providing something of enlightenment in reference to this doctrinal study in itself that the other does not possess, and then together applying their joint doctrinal enlightenment to the uses of the church. We read in TCR 245 that well known statement that "the church is in accordance with its doctrine, and that doctrine is from the Word; nevertheless it is not doctrine but the soundness and purity of doctrine, consequently the understanding of the Word, that establishes the church." I have come to believe that the priesthood and the laity share on an equal level, though with a difference in kind, in providing for the soundness and purity of doctrine in the church, through joint study of the Word.
     In order to accomplish this, I believe the priesthood will be required to do some adjusting of its "self image," from what the Writings themselves teach about the priesthood, and to "move over," as it were, in order to make room for the laity to do its doctrinal work. This may also require the priesthood to do some kicking of the laity into doing that work, after having moved over and made room; for the study of doctrine is hard work; it is time consuming and energy-consuming, and furthermore it must be carefully d one; for doctrinal stud y is first of all an exacting science, and secondly it is an acquired art that grows only with experience; and both-the science as well as the art-must be learned by instruction from stated principles of study and then exercised by a correct application of those principles to the study itself: In all of this, the priesthood does-or should-indeed have a leading responsibility in relation to the laity: the responsibility to lead, indeed to train, the laity (perhaps with the threat of a little hell-fire as a last resort) to participate actively in the study of doctrine for the church. For there is a difference, I believe, between studying doctrine for the church and preaching doctrine to the church: the latter is reserved, as a use and a function, for an ordained priesthood, and a male priesthood to boot, and rightly so. I think we have made the mistake of identifying these two-the study of doctrine for the church and preaching doctrine to the church-as the same thing, as far as the life of the church as a whole is concerned, and have therefore left for the layman only the study of doctrine for his own life as an individual. I am aware, of course, of what AC 6822 says in that single isolated reference to "teaching ministers"; and I think we have really bungled that one badly in several ways, in our interpretation of what that statement is telling us, especially as we have isolated it from its three-fold context-specific, general, and universal.

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But I will be treating of this point in a later paper.
     For the remainder of this presentation I am going to concentrate on a single area, and let all the rest wait for the planned series to follow this introductory consideration. This single area is major in two ways: first, in itself or in its own right; and second, in that it has initiated a rather new outlook for me on the place of and relationship between the priesthood and the laity as far as doctrine and the Word are concerned, and therefore of the communication of the Holy Spirit in and with the church as a whole. I would open consideration of this area by pointing out that we have not so far in the General Church priesthood come to unanimity, whether "essential" or otherwise, as to precisely which volumes of "the Writings" constitute the Divinely authoritative canon for the New Church. Perhaps we will never be able to come to a unanimous opinion on this, because when we come right down to it, it is a matter of opinion and will always be. Over the past several years I have taken doctrinal statements from selected volumes of the Writings to different priests and asked them, "How do you feel these statements should be regarded as far as their Divine authority is concerned?" What I received back was a wide variety of responses, ranging from "Absolute Divine authority," to "Questionable," to "No Divine authority." One priest, when I asked him how he felt we should use the Coronis (published posthumously) in this regard, said, "Very carefully!" Now that was a big help!
     The fact is that we have before us at least four different categories of what we somewhat loosely call "the Writings." First, there is the Spiritual Diary, a major portion of which was written prior to the Arcana Coelestia, over a period of time in which Swedenborg's spiritual eyes were in the process of being opened to the doctrine of genuine truth, prior to a full communication of the spiritual sense itself. This work was not published by Swedenborg. Second, there are the works from Arcana Coelestia to True Christian Religion which Swedenborg wrote and published under the claim to full Divine inspiration into and out of his study of the letter of the Word. Third, there are those completed works, some larger (such as Apocalypse Explained), some less extensive (such as the various "minor" works drawn together and contained in Posthumous Theological Works), which Swedenborg wrote after the Arcana but did not publish. Then there is a fourth category, which is the smallest of all, composed of outlines which, as far as we have been able to tell, were evidently written as the preliminary basis for a full treatise, which treatise was then written and published by Swedenborg and the outline put aside, presumably with no thought to its publication.

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Such a preliminary outline would appear to be what we have in Canonsfor the New Church, which evidently was the precursor of what he afterward wrote out in full form and published as the final work of the Writings, namely True Christian Religion. An added problem here in relation to Canons is that the material it contains covers only the first four chapters of TCR: God the Creator, the Lord the Redeemer, the Holy Spirit, and the Divine Trinity, with very briefly interwoven allusions to the Ten Commandments, Life, Faith and the Holy Supper. In other words, if Swedenborg originally wrote a complete outline for the full two-volume TCR, then what was found after his death and published posthumously is considerably less than half of that outline. Just for the sake of comparison, Canons (contained in Posthumous Works) covers 56 pages, whereas the entire two-volume standard edition of TCR covers 939 pages.
     What we have in Canons and True Christian Religion would seem to be a partial unpublished outline and the complete published work respectively, with not only a change of title but changes in wording, phrasing, and concept. In this regard I would observe two interesting facts. After studying Order and Organization, and before diving into a full study of the Writings themselves, I spent three weeks researching everything I could find in print by New Church writers on the subject of the priesthood and the Holy Spirit, starting with Hindmarsh and coming up through de Charms, Sr., Noble, and Benade, to the present day. The first of the two interesting facts mentioned above is that the great preponderance of references cited concerning the Holy Spirit. In connection with the priesthood and the laity in the extant articles and studies are from Canons-an unpublished outline-and relatively few from TCR, which constitutes the full published work. This puzzled me, as I would have thought it would be the other way around. The second interesting fact is that so far in our organizational history we have accorded Canons and TCR equal status as Divine; whereas I do not believe that simply because Swedenborg wrote them both makes them both ipso facto Divine. This, of course, brings up the whole vexing question of the nature of Swedenborg's revelation, in which Swedenborg's own natural-rational mind played an active as-of-self role quite unlike that of the Old Testament prophets or the New Testament evangelists. I have no doubt whatsoever as to the plenary Divine inspiration of what Swedenborg ended up writing and publishing. But I have also come to believe, from examination of a number of his original documents, especially in their initial form as first drafts or outlines, that these were sometimes, if not often, a mixture of genuine doctrine and Swedenborg's own human concepts which were not yet perfectly or fully Divine in their content.

473


As you undoubtedly suspect by now-some of you with interest, others perhaps with horror-I have come to my own private conclusion that we have in Canons such a mixture, and that if we are going to use it, we should at least place its statements in a position of deference to what is said in TCR on the same subject.
     What I am going to do now is to shift your attention from Canons to TCR as a matter of fundamental doctrinal concept and reflection on the subject of the doctrine of the priesthood, the laity and the transfer of the Holy Spirit from the Lord into the church. I would note, in making this shift of focus, that Swedenborg, in writing TCR immediately following Canons, made a number of significant additions to the material outlined in Canons and a number of significant changes in the wording of statements originally made in Canons, with resulting changes in the concepts themselves as they are contained in TCR.
     In moving to a comparison between Canons and True Christian Religion, I would note something which has had a great deal to do with the direction that my study has taken. In ranging over the Writings on the subject of the Holy Spirit and its communication from the Lord through the Word into the church, I realized that the Writings throughout present a fundamentally consistent pattern in this regard. In three major series-the Arcana, the Sacred Scripture, and the True Christian Religion (four, if Canons is considered separately from TCR)-the treatment given to this subject commences with a consideration of the influx of the Holy Spirit with all men in general, then moves to a specific focus on the use and function of the priesthood, then widens out again to speak of all men in general. This led me to the following order in my own doctrinal study pattern: (1) the Holy Spirit in itself; (2) the communication of the Holy Spirit to men in general; (3) the communication of the Holy Spirit to the priesthood specifically, under the following four subheadings in descending order: enlightenment, perception from doctrine, disposition, and instruction; (4) the communication of the Holy Spirit to the laity, also under the above four subheadings, but grouped according to their several occupational and professional study areas.
     And now to zero in on Canons and TCR as far as their comparative series are concerned: in Canons we find a vertical series: "The Divine which is called the Holy Spirit, proceeding from God through His Human ["above the angelic heavens" H. Sp. III:I] passes through the angelic heaven into the world, thus through angels into men"(H. Sp. III heading). "Thence it passes through men to men, and in the church chiefly through the clergy to the laity" (H. Sp. IV heading).

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The unfinished nature of the Canons outline is interestingly reinforced by a number of marginal annotations in Swedenborg's handwriting, one of which says at this point in the manuscript: "It flows into men who believe in the Lord and, if according to order, into the clergy, and thus through them into the laity."
     It is this vertical series which I believe has gotten us into trouble, because we have kept it vertical in our concept; whereas Swedenborg, in moving from the Canons outline to the extensively rewritten and published TCR, changed the order from vertical to horizontal, as far as the relationship between the priesthood and the laity in the church is concerned, placing both on the same level in reference to the Word, but with the priesthood still retaining a special, and as it were central, focus of enlightenment on that level in the study of doctrine. In effect, what appears in Canons as a difference between priests and laymen in degree of enlightenment, perception, disposition, and instruction, becomes in TCR a difference in kind on the same degree-level with all men of the church. It is interesting, and to me significant, to observe in this regard the change in the wording between Canons and TCR that is used to describe this difference. In Canons we find the phrase rendered in English, ". . . chiefly through the clergy to the laity." The Latin here is in specie, which means that which is first or primary, hence the ruling principle in any series which follows and is dependent upon it. In TCR, Swedenborg was led to change this wording to read ". . . with the clergy in particular" (TCR 146). The Latin in this case is in specie, from which we have our word "species." A species is a particular segment or category within, but on the same level as, the more generalized group, or genus. The cat family is a genus. Tigers, lions, leopards, and cheetahs are species within that genus; they are all cats belonging to the same basic family, though some are bigger, some are stronger, some are more cunning, some are faster, etc., each species possessing certain qualities which cause it to occupy its particular niche within the genus of "cathood." I suppose what I am saying here is that, priests and laymen alike, we are all "cats" when it comes to the study of the Word-different species of "cats" to be sure, but all "cats" nonetheless. Yet the priesthood is singled out in specie-in particular-within the genus of all men of the church when it comes to the inflow and communication of the Holy Spirit throughout the church generally.
     I am going to conclude this introductory consideration by asking you to look at two charts that Mr. Kenneth Rose has very kindly put on overhead transparencies for me; I am hoping that a bit of visual aids may make my point more concrete.

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     Chart #1, constructed from Canons

                                   Lord
                    |           |
                     |           Heavens
                    |           |
     "Vertical" series |          Word
                    |           |
                     |          Priesthood
                    |           |
                                   Laity
                               |     
     Scientist . . . "Doctor . . . Lawyer . . . Merchant . . . Chief . . .      Philosopher

     Observe in this chart the appearance of a difference in degree of reception and enlightenment between the priesthood (higher) and the laity (lower). Bear in mind that it is in this series that the phrase ". . . chiefly [or primarily-imprimis] through the clergy to the laity" is used. The result of this is to place the priesthood in a position of "intercessorship" between the Word and the laity.

     Chart #2, constructed from True Christian Religion
                         Lord
                     |
     H     E     A     V     E     N     S
     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     
          W           O           R          D
     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     
     Sci.     D..     L..     Priest M..     C..     Phil.
                    Hood
               "Horizontal" series

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     In this chart the apparent difference in degree of reception between priest and layman in Chart #1 becomes a difference in particular-in specie-on the same degree-level of reception and enlightenment, yet with the priesthood at the center of the "genus," so to speak, on that degree-level. This I defined earlier as constituting a difference in kind, rather than a difference in degree.
     I would note that in this chart the priesthood does not stand in a higher position of reception and enlightenment than the laity, and therefore the priesthood is no longer in a position of "intercessorship" between the Word and the laity of the church. Instead, the Word Itself stands as the sole "Intercessor" between all men-priests and laymen alike-and the Lord.
     This shift of picture and concept from vertical to horizontal, as far as the relationship of the priesthood and the laity to the Word and to each other is concerned, is of considerable-indeed, of vital-significance, to my way of thinking; for upon the picture and concept of this relationship that we have in our minds will depend, both in principle and in practice, our activation of and our response to the threefold use and function of the priesthood with the church: teaching, leading, and governing. I will be addressing these areas of the priestly use and function in future papers, commencing next October with a consideration of the distinctions (for there are distinctions, though not distinctions of degree) between priestly and lay enlightenment in the study of doctrine from the Word.
     Thank you for your attention and, I hope, your interest in this subject. It is treated far more widely, and in far greater detail, in the Writings than I had realized prior to making this study. And, as stated at the beginning of this paper, it is a subject that I believe is most important to our understanding if the church with us is to be in a state of genuine order.
EPITHETS INSTEAD OF ARGUMENTS 1983

EPITHETS INSTEAD OF ARGUMENTS              1983

     With many people, New Churchmen as well as others, epithets serve instead of arguments.

     (From the November issue of this magazine 100 years ago)

477


MALE AND FEMALE MINDS 1983

MALE AND FEMALE MINDS       Rev. ERIK SANDSTROM       1983

     Though the above subject has an obvious bearing on the question currently discussed in the General Church, and to be brought before the General Assembly in June, 1984-women in the corporation and women on boards-my purpose in submitting some brief comments is nevertheless not to 'take sides.' We all wish to think from doctrine, in this as in all matters that come before the church, and in the following I will attempt to state, clarify, and confirm two doctrines that I believe are at the heart of the issue. I will try to be brief and avoid side issues, however related and however beckoning these may be, so as to focus attention on those two doctrines only.
     They are: 1. There is full equality between the minds of the two sexes. 2. There is a clear and eternal distinction between them.
     These two must be seen together. In the current discussion in the western world about 'equal rights,' the tragedy is that the second is left out. On the other hand, there seems to be a subtle but quite unwilling recognition of it by the clamor for the opposite, namely, sameness. By making sameness the battle cry, as though there were no true equality without it, distinctness is blotted out. Is there in the secularized world around us an inherent disdain of distinctness?
     The New Church must not follow the world. Unless equality and distinctness are seen together, in fact as two aspects of the same thing, the true equality, which the Lord provided in creating man and woman, becomes unattainable. Equality and distinctness are two aspects of the conjugial. In Divine Providence the universal principle is stated, and it can be easily seen to be applicable also to the conjugial: "The form makes a one the more perfectly as the things entering into the form are individually distinct and yet united" (DP 4:4). A husband and wife in a marriage blessed by God are, and become more and more, a one, not by duplication but by completion, that is, by being individually distinct in such a way as to complement each other.
     I called the two aspects 'two doctrines.' The first is not to my knowledge spelled out in so many words in the Writings, but is universally implied. After all, angel husbands and angel wives live in the same heaven! What does this mean? It means that they live on an equal degree of discrete elevation. And this is true equality, such as does not exist between angels of a higher and lower heaven.
     Equality relates to discreteness, distinctness to variety or diversity, and in the case of men and women, to what is mutually complementary.

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Not only can you have distinctness within equality, but you must have; therefore you do not attain to equality by abdicating distinctness. Do not men love women because they are feminine? Do they love a 'masculine-type' woman? And conversely, do not women love men who are distinctly masculine? Do they love effeminate men? Sameness is a curse-ingredient in our modern-day discussion; it should have no place in the dialog of the church.
     It is almost embarrassing to go about demonstrating or proving the mental equality between the sexes, just as though there were any question about it. You do not prove an axiom. Yet I felt the need to say what is really self-evident, because the question has arisen, and this in view of certain teachings in the Writings concerning the male mind. That there are also complementary teachings about the female mind is apparently sometimes overlooked, or these teachings are not understood. This therefore leads us to the second doctrine, or aspect, namely that of distinctness.
     Let me here discuss only one teaching concerning the male, and then the corresponding teaching about the female. No, I must first preface the following comprehensive statement: "Because interiors form exteriors after their own likeness, and the masculine form is the form of the understanding, and the feminine the form of the love of that understanding, it follows that the male has a face, voice, and body different from the female . . . in general, a form less beautiful than the female. They differ also in their attitudes and their ways. In a word, nothing whatever in them is alike; and yet in their single parts there is what is conjunctive; yea, in the male the masculine is masculine in every part of his body even the most minute, and also in every idea of his thought, and in every grain of his affection; and so likewise the feminine in the female" (CL 33). In other words, there is an absolute correspondence between the mind and the body of each sex. And there is also the same perfect conjunctiveness between mind and mind as there is between body and body.
     And now for the "troublesome" teaching: "Rational wisdom is proper to the understanding of men and climbs into a light in which women are not" (CL 165; see also 168, 188, 195, 88-91, 175:3, 125, 193:1-3; HH 368; and especially AC 3952).
     Let me illustrate by means of the parable about the "pearl of great price" (Matt. 13:45, 46), and this time through the literal sense of it. (The spiritual sense speaks about the procurement of Divine truths, especially the truth concerning the Lord, by means of setting aside, or "selling," all things of one's own love-see AE 840:9.) Within the precincts of the literal sense we now imagine the merchant triumphantly bringing home the precious pearl, and he shows it to his wife.

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What do they see? They both see the same pearl; they admire the same pearl; they love the same pearl. The difference between them is not in what they are seeing, but first in the manner in which it was procured, and second in the somewhat varied affections with which they individually view their newfound treasure. So in a similar way a man and a woman may see-within a true marriage, always see-the same truth and understand and love the same truth. The difference is only that the man was the means of procuring it, and that after its procurement it is viewed in the sphere of the distinctive male and the distinctive female affection respectively. We are speaking not only of viewing an objective truth as it is verbally presented, but also of understanding and loving it on whatever discrete degree to which a husband and a wife in a true marriage may have been jointly elevated through regeneration.
     What then is meant by "climbing into a light in which women are not"? I think it means the ability of the male, given into his soul by the Divine Maker, to raise his understanding above his proprial affections. A woman, on her own, cannot do this; her soul is different by creation. She can indeed, as already implied, dissociate her proprial affections from her viewing and perceiving the truth, but only after it has been discovered for her through her husband (again in a true marriage) or generally through men. Extend this point to comprise malekind and femalekind throughout the world and throughout history. The male has been the explorer in realms of philosophy, science, and the arts, as well as on the sea and in the air; and the female has been the guardian of the home base-where she has always been able to comprehend, utilize, and enjoy what men have found and "brought home."
     A man is able to think objectively; a woman, on her own, is not. Think of it; please don't react from prejudice. A woman is by nature subjective. Unfortunately, men are not at all always objective, as they should be. This tends to obscure the issue. Men running for public office, for example, often look awfully subjective (as do, no less, women so running). But the fact that in a decadent age men and women alike spurn their God-given calling is no yardstick of what that calling is in the order of God. Nor should we think that subjective thinking is per se wrong; it is wrong only when the affection (which is the essential subjective) is from the proprium. Subjective thinking from proprium, whether by a woman or a man, always distorts the object. On the other hand, subjective thought from an affection not born of the flesh but of God is truthful thought, and now the object is not distorted. The reason is that the Lord flows in with His own light through heavenly affections (see for example AC 4214; HH 298; AE 208:3; and take also: "The will must see in the understanding," Dg 259:2, and, "Faith is the eye of love, AC 3863:12).

480


He does not flow in through proprial affections.
     Because of the order of creation as to the male mind and the female mind, therefore "the church is first implanted in the man and through the man in his wife; for the man receives its truth in his understanding, and the wife receives it from the man"(CL 125); and also: "The female is born to be voluntary-but voluntary from the intellectual of the man-or what is the same thing, she is born to be the love of man's wisdom, having been formed through his wisdom" (CL 91). And by the way, this principle stands, even if it is possible for many women to say, "We haven't seen much of that wisdom."
     I have said that the male is created to be objective and the female to be subjective. The Writings say it better: "Man is born to be intellectual, that is, to think from the understanding, while woman is born to be voluntary, that is, to think from the will" (HH 368, italics added). I have also said that women can see the same thing as men, after men have brought it to them. And that too is said better in the Writings themselves: "The conjunction of the wife with the rational wisdom of the man is from within" (CL 165).
     But then there is the peculiar wisdom of women, also the interior love with them which is not by means of man but is with them immediately from the Lord. We are now in the realm of heat rather than light. It is a sign of the low state of our age that the gentle sphere of love-and the gentle wisdom of love-is not at all held in the same esteem as various forms of intellectual bravado. Yet without the higher good with women, or the more interior love with them, the male intelligence would wander into abstractions and its product would be useless. It is woman who bears the child. It is she who bears the spiritual child also!
     Thus as there is a light in which women are not, so there is a heat in which men are not. "With men there is elevation of the mind into superior light, and with women elevation of the mind into superior heat" (CL 188). That elevation is into conjugial love, which is with women immediately from the Lord, and with men only mediately through their wives. That interior heat is a higher degree of good with her. It is not a manifest or tangible good, as is the lower-degree good with her which is generally the good of use. The latter good she has by means of truths derived through men; but the former and more interior good is what men have from, or through, her. It is a subtly steering good, not by analysis but by perception, and through it "the wife is given a perception of the affections of the husband and also the highest prudence in moderating them" (CL 166). This is wisdom of another kind than the wisdom that explores truths; but who is to be so foolish as to say that it is inferior?

481


So, rhetorically, the Writings ask: "What is a wise man or wisdom without woman, that is, without love?' (CL 56:2) And at one time angelic wives (a little peeved?) remarked: "You men glory over us on account of your wisdom, but we do not glory over you on account of ours; and yet ours excels yours because it enters into your inclinations and affections, and sees, perceives, and feels them" (CL 208:2).
     With the above I hope to have demonstrated, though briefly, both that there is full and actual mental equality between men and women, and that there is a marked and eternal distinction between their minds as to kind, or genius.
     Two things should be added in order to frame the picture, so to speak: first, the distinction that the Writings make relates to the nature of wisdom with men and women, not to the nature of the intelligence that is measured in terms of knowledges of the memory. Viewed on its own plane there is no difference between men and women with regard to such intelligence. A difference comes about only by the moderating touch of the interior wisdom (if there is one) that flows into it. "In a word, nothing whatever [in the male and the female] is alike" (CL 33).
     This leads to the second additional point. It relates to the difference between on the one hand just doing and saying things-"going through the motions," is the derogatory phrase-and on the other hand the judgment from which things are done or said. The Writings would provoke our reflection by the following observation: "It is thought by many that women can perform the offices of men if only they are initiated into them from their earliest age, as are boys. They can indeed be initiated into the exercise of them, but not into the judgment on which the right performance of the office inwardly depends . . . . On the other hand, men cannot enter into the offices proper to women . . . . Therefore, 'The garment of a man shall not be upon a woman, neither the garment of a woman upon a man, for it is an abomination,' Deut. 22:5" (CL 175:24-italics added).
     Practical applications of doctrines are always a greater challenge than their comprehension in theory. But let us not forget, there can be no proper application of doctrine unless that doctrine is first known. Let us carefully consider the few teachings referred to above, and in addition as many relevant teachings as we may individually and jointly be able to embrace, before we reach the time of decision.

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ARCANA CAELESTIA 1983

ARCANA CAELESTIA       Rev. JOHN ELLIOTT       1983

     FROM THE NEW TRANSLATION BY REV. JOHN ELLIOTT

     1. The Word of the Old Testament contains heavenly arcana, with every single detail focusing on the Lord, His heaven, the church, faith, and what belongs to faith; but no human being grasps this from the letter. Judging it by the letter or sense of the letter, nobody views it as anything more than a record, in the main, of external features of the Jewish Church. Yet at every point there are internal features that are nowhere evident in the external, apart from the very few which the Lord revealed and explained to the apostles, such as that sacrifices mean the Lord; that the land of Canaan and Jerusalem mean heaven, which is therefore called Canaan and the heavenly Jerusalem; and that paradise is similar in meaning.
     2. But that every single detail, even the smallest, down to the tiniest jot, means and embodies matters that are spiritual and celestial is a truth of which the Christian world is still profoundly ignorant, and for that reason it pays insufficient attention to the Old Testament. Nevertheless they are able to know this truth from the single consideration that because the Word is the Lord's and derives from Him, it cannot possibly exist if it does not contain within itself such things as belong to heaven, the church, and faith. If this were not so it could not be called the Word of the Lord nor be said to have any life within it. For where does its life originate except in those things which belong to life, that is, in having every single detail go back to the Lord, who is life itself? Therefore anything that does not interiorly focus on Him has no life; indeed any expression in the Word that fails to embody Him within itself, or does not in its own way go back to Him, is not Divine.
     3. Without such life the Word as regards the letter is dead, for it is the same with the Word as it is with man, who, as the Christian world knows, is internal as well as external. The external man if parted from the internal man is just a body and therefore dead. It is the internal man which lives and imparts life to the external. The internal man is the soul of the external man. The same applies to the Word which as to the letter alone is like the body without a soul.
     4. As long as the mind confines itself to the sense of the letter alone one cannot possibly see that its contents are such. Take for instance these first sections of Genesis: From the sense of the letter the only subject matter people recognize is the creation of the world, and the Garden of Eden which is called Paradise, and Adam as the first man to be created.

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GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM 1983

GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM       Neil M. Buss       1983

     TREASURER'S REPORT

     1982 was a critical year for the church from a financial point of view. In the previous year, expenses had risen by 27 %, or $253,000, but revenues had increased by 11%, or $117,000.
     The challenge in 1982 was to reverse this trend and it is gratifying to report that efforts in this regard were successful. Income in 1982 increased by 8%, or $94,000, while expenses were reduced by 1%, or $13,000.
     The most significant factor in the improvement in revenues was an increase of $66,000, or 21%, in contributions received. Endowment income increased by $35,000, or 5%. This represented a slightly smaller increase than projected and this lower figure was essentially the result of real estate transactions-mainly the purchase of three manses from endowment funds.
     The cost of providing support to societies for pastoral and educational salaries was reduced by $38,000, due to several factors. Principal of these were favorable exchange rates and increased support at a local level in some societies. In all, 31 of the 44 societies, circles, or groups with individual budgets met, or exceeded, their budgets. Variations in other expenses, principally in the cost of providing employee benefits, partially offset the reduction stated above and our overall expenses declined by a net figure of $13,000.
     Given the favorable results for 1982, we were able to transfer $55,000 to the Development Fund and $10,000 to the reserve for pastoral moves.
     If 1981 illustrated that our financial resources do have limits, 1982 showed us that the members do respond to the needs of the church. Each society is being encouraged to develop its own long-range plan, and continued careful restraints on expenses will be needed going forward. Given the continued support of members, we hope that in 1983 we will be able to consolidate and build on the progress made in 1982.
     Neil M. Buss,
          Treasurer

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     GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATION

     Statement of General Fund Revenues, Expenditures, and Other Changes
Years ended December 31, 1982 and 1981
                          1982                     1981
REVENUES
Gifts and Grants
Regular                     $384,256                $318,522
Special                     49,173      $ 433,429      60,373      $378,895
Investment Income                         704,226                    669,453
Development Fund Income                    55,470                    57,000
Printing and Publishing                    14,310                    10,823
Other Income                              33,343                    31,048
Total Revenues                         $1,240,778           $1,147,219

     EXPENDITURES
Pastoral and Educational
Salary Support and Travel and Office     $298,882           $336,840
South African Mission           27,991      $326,873      35,650      $372,490
Facilities                               64,680                    61,525
Services and Information
New Church Life                48,033                    50,452
Printing and Publishing      33,255                    37,463
Moving                     66,925                    66,625
Travel to Meetings           12,946                    15,543
Translation                    35,647                    37,671
Miscellaneous                36,279      233,085      35,557      243,311

     Administration
Episcopal Office                85,739                    77,756
Secretary's Office           18,506                    18,622
Financial and Corporate Affairs 103,401      207,646      91,640      188,018

     Employee Benefits
Pension Plan                66,272                         62,565
Health Plan                92,609                         95,696
Investment Savings           59,784                         53,700
Social Security                31,068                         27,234
Deferred Compensation           10,655                    3,859
Workmen's Compensation      4,194                         5,481
Tuition Rebates               13,359     277,941           9,422      257,957
Church Extension                         53,306                         50,672
Other Expenditures                    13,696                         16,627
Total Expenditures                         $1,177,227                $1,190,600
Transfers (to) Development Fund           $(55,000)                     $(30,000)
Transfers from Clergy Travel Fund          12,946                         15,543
Transfer (to) from Reserve for Moving      (10,000)                    60,500
Transfer (to) from Other Funds           (10,000)
Net Increase from Operations               1,497                     $2,662

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     GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
Balance Sheet
December 31, 1982, with comparative total for 1981
                              Expendable      Nonexpend-           Total
          Assets               Funds      able Funds           1982           1981

Cash, including short-term certificates
and money market funds      $908,364      $552,488      $1,460,852      $1,156,058
Accounts receivable, principally from
related entities           175,341               175,341      296,854
Inventory                     68,049                    68,049      67,852
Prepaid expenses           35,357                    35,357      1,024
loans to related societies and employees
                         1,232,482               1,232,482      1,161,574
loan to Cairnwood Village. Inc.
                         1,100,000               1,100,000     1,100,000
Investments                    7,202,729      9,055,405      16,558,134      15,353,311
land, buildings, and equipment, net of
accumulated depreciation     430,723                    430,723     435,960
Due from Expendable Funds               100,000      100,000      300,000
                         $11,453,045     $9,707,893     $21,160,938     $19,902,633
Liabilities and Fund Balances
Cash overdraft                                             $235,239
Accounts payable               $35,900               $35,900     125,705
Agency funds               155,357               155,357     236,082
Loans payable               800,000               800,000     800,000
Mortgages payable               88,836                    88,836
Due to Nonexpendable Funds     100,000               100,000     300,000
Deterred capital support               174,063     174,063
Annuity payable                         68,467     68,467
Total liabilities               $1,180,093     $242,530     $1,422,623     $1,697,026

     Fund balances:
Unrestricted-
available for current operations
                         1,003,694               1,003,694     1,001,986
Restricted
available for current operations
                         225,116               225,116     170,950
Restricted
designated for specific purposes
                         9,044,142               9,044,142     8,161,746
Endowment                              9,465,363     9,465,363     8,870,925
Total fund balances           10,272,952     9,465,363     19,738,315     18,205,607
                              11,453,045     $9,707,893     $21,160,938     $19,902,633

486


Editorial Pages 1983

Editorial Pages       Editor       1983

     PROPHETIC GLORY ACROSS THE SKY

     What was the expression on Swedenborg's face as he put the words of the Writings to paper? In some cases we have a good idea. In the case of one passage we may be certain.
     Swedenborg's heart leapt within him at what he had seen and heard, and it was in real joy that he returned to the state of the body and wrote about his exhilarating experience.
     His eyes had been dazzled at first from a brightness on high. Looking up he saw the sky above him radiant with a great light. What he then heard was more moving than what he saw. The sound of the singing was glorious, and he could detect different types of sound from different quadrants of the sky. (In modern times we are better able to imagine the sound experience than people were before the development of high fidelity quadraphonic sound equipment.)
     Although the sound of angel voices flooded gloriously into Swedenborg's ears he could not by himself discern the precise content of the glorification. An angel standing near told him the subject and actually identified for him the places in the Sacred Scripture containing the truth of the angels' song. They sang the internal sense, the inner affection and glory. You and I see it as words on a page in the material world. The Scripture passages are about the coming of the Lord, and many have been reminded in the reading of them of the music of Handel's Messiah.
     In 1978 Mr. Richard Gladish wrote an article about Handel's Messiah and the early history of the New Church. When Handel completed the score of the Hallelujah Chorus he said in tears, "I did think I did see all heaven before me, and the Great God Himself." In the course of his intriguing historical sketch, Mr. Gladish suggests that possibly "it was not accidental that the Messiah came into the world in the same decade in which Swedenborg was entering into his spiritual use; that, indeed, the first great performance in London occurred at almost the same time he beheld the countenance of the Lord in vision in 1743." (See this remarkable article in the July issue, 1978.)

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     In the weeks leading up to the celebration of the Lord's advent we read with special affection the words of prophecy. With this in mind we are publishing in this issue a new translation of Conjugial Love number 81. It begins with a sadness about the dark miseries known to the human race, but it bursts into joy at the coming of the Prince of Peace. For the Lord's servant who wrote down what he had seen and heard it was an uplifting experience. Let it be for ah who read it a passage of hope.
BECAUSE OF THE LORD'S ADVENT 1983

BECAUSE OF THE LORD'S ADVENT       Rev. N. BRUCE ROGERS       1983

     A TRANSLATION OF CONJUGIAL LOVE BY REV. N. BRUCE ROGERS

     We were talking in sorrow about these things, when suddenly a flood of light shone brilliantly down upon us, dazzling my eyes. I looked up to see where it was coming from, and behold, the whale sky above us appeared lit up, and we heard a chorus of prayers and praises echoing across in long succession from the east to the west.
     The angel said to me, "The chorus you hear is a magnification of the Lord by angels of the eastern and western heavens on account of His advent." (From the southern and northern heavens we heard only a low rumbling.)
     Since he understood it all, the angel further told me, first, that magnifications and celebrations of the Lord are taken from the Word, because then they come from the Lord, inasmuch as the Lord is the Word, in the sense that He is the essential Divine truth in the Word.
     Then the angel said, "Right now they are magnifying and celebrating the Lord by what was spoken through the prophet Daniel.

You saw iron mixed with miry clay; they will mingle by the seed of man, but will not stick together . . . . But in those days . . . the God of heaven will make to rise a kingdom which forever shall not perish . . . ; it shall crush and consume all these kingdoms, while it shall stand forever" (Dan. 2:43, 44).

     After this I heard what seemed to be the sound of singing, and deeper in the east I saw a burst of light more brilliant than the first.

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I asked the angel what they were magnifying there. The angel said, "Their words are the words in Daniel:

I was seeing in the visions of night,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven,
Was One like the Son of Man . . . .
And to Him was given dominion . . . and a kingdom,
And all peoples and nations . . .
Shall worship Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom one
Which shall not perish" (Dan. 7:13, 14).

     Moreover, the angel said, they are celebrating the Lord with phrases taken from the Book of Revelation:

     To Jesus Christ be glory and might . . . .

     Behold, He is coming with clouds . . . .

     He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last . . . .

     Who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty . . . .

     I, John, heard this from the Son of Man out of the midst of the seven lampstands (Rev. 1:5-7, 8, 9, 10-13; 22:13; also Matt. 24:30, 31).

     I looked again toward the eastern sky, and a light shone over to the right whose glow extended into the southern hemisphere. Hearing as well a sweet sound, I asked the angel, "And what aspect of the Lord are they glorifying there?" He replied that they uttered the words in the Book of Revelation:

I saw a new heaven and a new earth . . . . And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride for her husband. . .And the angel talked with me and said, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." And he carried me away in the spirit onto a great and high mountain, and showed me the city, the holy Jerusalem (Rev. 21:1, 2, 9, 10).

     They added, too, these words:

I, Jesus, am the Bright and Morning Star. And the Spirit and the bride shall say, "Come!". . . . He said, "I also am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! (Rev. 22:16, 17, 20)

     After these and other things, we heard a general celebration echoing across the sky from the east to the west and also from the south to the north, and I asked the angel, "What is happening now?" He said they were uttering these verses from the Prophets:

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Let all flesh know
That I, Jehovah, am your Savior
And your Redeemer (Isa. 49:26).

Thus said Jehovah, the King of Israel,
And his Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts:
"I am the First and the Last,
And Beside Me there is no God" (Isa. 44:6).

It will be said in that day:
"Behold, this is our God,
Whom we have waited for to free us.
This is Jehovah,

Whom we have waited for" (Isa. 25:9).

The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
"Prepare the way of Jehovah . . . ."
Behold, the Lord Jehovah comes in strength . . . .
He will feed His flock like a shepherd (Isa. 40:3, 10, 11).

Unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given . . . ,
Whose name will be
Wonderful, Counselor, God, Hero,
Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6).

Behold, the days are coming . . .
And I will raise to David a just offshoot
Who shall reign as King . . . .
And this is His name . . . :
Jehovah our Justice (Jer. 23:5, 6; 23:15, 16).

Jehovah of hosts is His name,
And your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
He shall be called God of the whole earth (Isa. 54:5).

In that day . . .
. . . Jehovah shall be for a king over all the earth.
In that day Jehovah will be one
And His name one (Zech. 14:8, 9).

     When I heard and understood these things, my heart leapt, and I went home filled with joy. There, returning from the state of my spirit into my bodily state, I wrote down what I had seen and heard. I now add one more thing, that following His advent the Lord will restore married love such as it was among the ancients. For married love comes only from the Lord, and it exists with those who are made spiritual by Him through His Word.

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COMPENDIUM 1983

COMPENDIUM       CRAIG A. MCCARDELL       1983




     Communications
Dear Editor:

     Here are some questions that your readers may have asked themselves.

     1. If you aren't sure what doctrinal interests a newcomer to the New Church has, what book should you suggest?
     2. If you want a good collection of numbers that answer basic doctrinal questions, where do you find it?
     3. If you want to read the Writings but don't know where to begin, what book would provide a good sampling?

     I believe that some people would find the answer to their questions in a long-time available, but under-publicized, book called the Compendium. This book is a compilation of extracts from the Writings, which are intended to give the reader (by use of actual numbers from the Writings) a "general view of the theology and spiritual philosophy embodied in the author's voluminous writings" (the preface). The book was first compiled by Rev. W. M. Ferdald, and later added to and rearranged by Rev. Samuel M. Warren.
     The Compendium covers 35 basic doctrines, and is made very usable by an excellent table of contents and index.
     I would also point out to your readers that while a 484-page paperback edition of Conjugial Love costs $6.00, a 750-page, hardbound copy of the Compendium is available for only $5.00-quite a bargain.
     Getting started reading the Writings can be a tough assignment for almost anyone, yet it is an assignment from the Lord. This might be just the right place to begin, don't you think?
     CRAIG A. MCCARDELL,
          Mitchellville, Maryland

491


TREASURES IN HEAVEN 1983

TREASURES IN HEAVEN       MICHAEL. A. NASH       1983

My dear Reverend Rose,

     It is truly glorious and wonderful that in both the natural and the spiritual worlds it may be said of all: "Their works do follow them."
     No doubt but that the angels' uses from the Lord may rest upon the exterior events and influences that though in one sense they leave forever behind them are yet remembered and perceived by those still living in the natural or earthly plane of life. And while from the Lord they laid for themselves treasures in heaven, these same treasures they forever share with men and women who are led to think from affection concerning those natural things which I correspond and are thus infilled with the inexhaustible wealth of the Lord's heavenly kingdom.
     My mother, whose first earthly name is "Selma" and which means "ship" in Swedish, was taken to the other world on August the 7th of this year. In her Providential discovery of the New Church at the time that I was thirteen or fourteen years of age, and all throughout my first thirty-eight years, her constant support and love for me and her untiring devotion to the teachings is surely from our blessed Lord alone a ship that guides my path. Wow inspiring to read in the gospel according to Mark, chapter six, verse forty-five: "And straightway He constrained His disciples to get into the ship . . . ." Like the command to Noah to "Go forth into the ark . . . ," it is only by entering into the doctrine or teachings that have been provided for us for our individual reception that we can be regenerated and thus escape the direful floods of the hells.
     My father, Phillip Nash, was taken December 4, 1944, by machine gun fire in the European front of World War II, but months before told my mother about a dream he had where he had foreseen the same thing, and told her also that he "knew what it was like to die." For with no exterior knowledge of the Writings at the time, he proceeded to describe the separation of the spirit from the material body. And now during the fortieth year from the date of their marriage in 1943, she who was told by him that a mother could raise a child herself has gone from this plane to spend eternity as one angel with him.
     A rather old hymn contains these precious lines sung with a beautiful and sweet melody: "There is a garden where Jesus is waiting . . . ." And we might reflect that in the laying down of the proprial self-life, the new life from the Lord alone is such a garden where He waits to receive us unto Himself. That garden He plants even in the very midst of the cross of spiritual trial and temptation, and Mary was not really wrong when she supposed Him to be the gardener, for in her natural and material thought the Lord was infilling it with the True itself: namely that He is the Divine Gardener.

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     So we have the ship or ark, and the garden of regenerated loves from Him promised to us, and something perhaps even more grand: the Holy promise of love truly conjugial. And in states where this most precious jewel of human life is Divinely conveyed to our hearts, we may know that it is nothing less than the chariot as described in the Word as written in the work Conjugial Love, number forty-two.
     Very truly it is in the New Church that our blessings, though undeserved, are as innumerable as the stars of heaven.
     MICHAEL. A. NASH,
          Mountain Home, Arkansas
VIEW OF UNIVERSAL RELIGION 1983

VIEW OF UNIVERSAL RELIGION       GEORGE DE CHARMS       1983

Dear Editor:

     I would like to comment on a view typified in an article entitled "Universal Religion and the New Church" which appeared in the September issue of the New Church Messenger. The view to which the writer, Mr. George McClure, subscribes is very plainly stated:

"The only work we have to do is the work on ourselves. Our only duty is to realize and manifest our God-nature, to reveal what is already there, to remove the dirt from the diamond; to bridge the separation between matter and spirit to regain paradise, to be established in unity with Divine Consciousness" (page 167).

     Our only duty is to realize our "God-nature" and make this manifest in our lives.
     The truth concerning God is to be found in the writings of the "Saints," the "Mystics," the great religious thinkers of history.

"The saints are the ultimate custodians of religion, and not the institutions which follow them. Saints have arisen in every time and tradition and in varying degrees of God-realization and spiritual attainments. Because they have directly experienced and been transformed by the Divine, their lives lend authority to their words. They are readily identified by any who care to look carefully . . . . This view recognizes "saints" in every authentic religious tradition, and the possibility of salvation in every religion.

493


It recognizes that many paths lead to the same goal, but that the most spiritual progress is made by choosing the path appropriate to one's temperament and circumstances, and following it with energy, concentration and devotion. And finally this view finds intolerable all forms of religious bigotry, dogmatism, sectarianism and prejudice, which usually amount to little more than personal or cultural chauvinism (p. 68).

"How is the New Church to be viewed in these perspectives? We see here an authentic offshoot (one of many) of the Christian religion (one of many), which takes as its inspiration the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, a truly illumined soul of great talent (again one of many) having genuine mystical revelations (rare but not historically infrequent). . . .The only true religion is one that is inclusive, not exclusive, one that is God-centered, not personality or revelation-centered, one that stresses love, devotion and service, not dogma, scholarship, or occult phenomena, however interesting" (p. 169).

     The clear implication of this "view" is that there is no authentic Divine Revelation. It is taken for granted that the Lord cannot speak with authority for Himself, through His Word, but is dependent upon the testimony of "mystics" and "saints." These are many, and Swedenborg is only one of them. If we choose to follow his teachings, rather than those of other "saints," it is only because we perceive these to be in accord with our special temperament. In doing so we should not set ourselves apart from others, who, for like reasons, choose to follow the teachings of other "saints."
     What Mr. McClure sees as the "universal religion" is the worship of an invisible God as He is described by enlightened men. If the Lord cannot speak for Himself, there is no authentic "Divine Revelation" in which men can have confidence. There is no possibility of a "New Church" described in the book of Revelation as "the New Jerusalem, descending from God out of heaven." God remains invisible, and true knowledge of His Divine attributes is regarded as unimportant, although perhaps interesting to certain people. We have here a very pessimistic view as to the future of our race. It must remain forever in the dark as to the nature of the true God.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS,
          Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania

494


REFLECTIONS ON MR. TAYLOR'S ADDRESS 1983

REFLECTIONS ON MR. TAYLOR'S ADDRESS       JAMES D. WOOD       1983

     Dear Editor:

     Regarding "The Academy's Contribution to Evangelization" in the September issue:
     We are all indebted to the vision and foresight that was of those men Mr. Taylor called incorrigible dreamers-Robert Hindmarsh and Bishop Benade. Theirs was not an idle dream.
     As a layman my comment would be that indeed "propagating the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem" is promoting education in all its (multitudes of) various forms, educating men for the ministry, publishing books, pamphlets etc. and establishing a library.
     In evangelization we may disagree on the methods, yet let not a one of us despair. Disseminating the Heavenly Doctrine is a primary, paramount use-no, not just for teachers and ministers but for each of us. Our lives should be so ordered in industry and sincerity that we may be the means of true charity (see AC 267, AE 458). May the sphere of this charity be felt by those with whom we come in contact. A vocation, avocation or profession is the vehicle which will allow this to become the good of life.
     The parable of the servants (Matt. 25:14) demonstrates that not all of us have the five talents or even two. Many of us have the one talent, and we are to use it as assuredly as if we had the confidence of five or two. Our ability may not be as the teacher or minister, and yet we are not to excuse ourselves and say, "I cannot help to increase the stature of heaven and the good of life in people. I'll just keep my talent clutched tight in my bosom or buried in the unproductive field of apathy, and surely the Lord will understand that I wish heavenly joy to be more abundant in the souls of my fellow man."
     If we ask, "What can I do?" let this be a positive question. Let us seek for what we can do. Let each one of us "vow" or endeavor to be instrumental in the deliverance from captivity hungry, seeking, searching souls that heaven is made for and they for heaven.
     In conclusion, let's take every endeavor around the country that is being done and garner the facts, methods, successes, advertising, radio spots, t.v. spots, newspaper freebees, word of mouth, and all pertinent data that can be found. Let's then formulate it into a package-and as others look at it, it may perchance give them incentive and maybe even some new ideas that are not now seen.
     The Swedenborg Foundation, as Gretchen Lindsay said in an interview in New Church Home (Sept.-Oct., page 66), has only a handful of field representatives in the country (5 or 6) when we should have one or two in every state.

495


Being a field representative is very interesting work, and the foundation will supply many books completely free. These can be given to individuals, libraries or placed in offices with permission, of course; and too they can be placed in book stores and sold, but this involves a little paperwork as the monies have to be accounted for and sent to the Foundation. Perhaps a lot of smaller individual efforts would prove to have outstanding, astounding results. A lot could be borrowed from the Egyptians, but why worry about the Egyptians when the Lord owns the cattle upon thousands of hills across this beautiful world He lets us live in. Thanks.
     JAMES D. WOOD,
          Alexandria, Indiana
NEWS FROM BENADE 1983

NEWS FROM BENADE       R.R.G       1983

     EGYPTIAN CONNECTIONS

     Very early in his career as a scholar, while still a teacher in the Moravian theological school, William Henry Benade began an ardent study of Egypt, and when he became acquainted with the New Church, that interest was deepened and enlarged from the teachings about Egypt's connection with the Ancient Church. And a shining goal of his life was realized when, in 1878, he and John Pitcairn spent some ten weeks in a study of Egyptology on the site. But well in advance of this journey he reveals no tyro's acquaintance with Egyptology in a letter to his friend Horace P. Chandler. Benade writes (in part):

. . . The difficulty [in contemporary works on Egypt] arises from our not understanding Egypt. It is far older than history would make it out to be . . . . We know better than this. We must look at the history of Egypt from the standpoint of the church-and remember that it was an integral part of the Ancient Church, the Semitic branch of which bad come to an end long before the time of Abraham, and the Egyptian branch of which was finally consummated at the Exodus of Israel. With Abraham in the Bible begins real history-but before Abraham, thousands and thousands of years must have elapsed after the creation of the race, during which the Most Ancient Church arose, culminated, and came to its end, and then the First Ancient and the Second Ancient or Hebrew Church.

496


In Abraham preparation was made for the Israelitish or Jewish Church. From the time of Abraham's flight to Egypt to that of the Exodus 450 years elapsed.
     The three forms of writing in Egypt indicate three distinct periods (of what duration is not known) of Egyptian history: 1. Pure hieroglyphics, 2. Hieratic or priestly, 3. Demotic or popular writing. Undoubtedly these will also indicate the decline of the Ancient Church in that country from a state of internal to one of external and finally one of idolatrous worship.
     By degrees we are getting a knowledge of the theology of Ancient Egypt written in correspondences, which when translated, give us the doctrine of the Ancient Church, which is in harmony with the doctrines of the New Church, as Swedenborg tells us it was. Some time or other I must show you my translation of these correspondences, the result of which is a most beautiful confirmation of Swedenborg-even to the statement of the belief existing in the Ancient Church of the Lord's coming into the world. What you read about Egypt in the writings of the day is but on the surface of things. Scientific grubbers bring to light the relies of ancient days-but it remains for the New Church to read them. The facts of history are one thing; the truths of history are another thing, and real truths can be reached only by correspondences, which is the key that unlocks all mysteries of the Word and world. (W. H. Benade to H.P. Chandler, Dec. 20, 1871)

     It was not till 1880, after his return from Egypt, that Benade presented his findings about Egypt and the Ancient Church in a series of twelve lectures at the Academy in Philadelphia-in the old Cherry Street church/school building. In these he views the full discovery of Ancient Church findings as still a distant goal, yet he states much of interest to New Churchmen of today. These lectures, in MISS, no doubt burned in the warehouse fire which consumed much of his books and papers, are still in a measure preserved in a series of reports by E. J. E. Schreck in the English Morning Light, a New Church periodical at that time sympathetic to the embattled Academy. It is proposed to present highlights of these reports in one or more future numbers of NEW CHURCH LIFE.
     R.R.G.

     Editorial Note:

     These "news" pieces we have been publishing come from items turned up in research for a biography of William Henry Benade by Richard R. Gladish. It is hoped that the book will be published in 1984.

497


SECOND ART SHOW AT A NEW CHURCH ASSEMBLY 1983

SECOND ART SHOW AT A NEW CHURCH ASSEMBLY              1983

     Sponsored by the Friends of New Church Art
This show is to be in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, during the time of the coming General Assembly, June 7-10, 1984.
     The show will be in two parts, junior and senior.
     Entry forms and information are now available from:

     Helen L. Lee
     1015 Jefferson Heights Drive
     Pittsburgh, PA 15235
     (Phone: 412 373-0209)

     The senior show is open to all artists. A quotation or specific reference of the artist's choice from the Writings related to the art form submitted is required. Up to three entries may be submitted. Members of the Friends of New Church Art will pay no fee; non-members should pay an $8.00 all-inclusive entry fee which should be sent in with an application form (available from the above address).
     The junior show is open to anyone under 18 years of age. Be sure to show age and grade where specified on the entry form. Each junior entrant may submit one piece. Each should be accompanied by a quotation or reference from the Writings, but the quote may or may not be on the piece itself.

GENERAL ENTRY INFORMATION:

     All categories of prints, paintings, drawings, sculpture, stained glass, pottery, photographs, needlecraft, wood carvings, plastics, or unique combinations are acceptable as long as they relate to an idea from the Writings. Size limitation is no larger than 36" x 40". Three-dimensional work must be arranged for by the artist in conjunction with the committee.

PRESENTATION:

     All works should look neat, ready to hang with secure wire. Prints and watercolors should be matted and backed. This is a professional show and the committee will do its best to help, so come early. Entries should be accompanied by a 3x5 card or cards (typed or hand-lettered) with the quotation or reference on one side.
     Entries should be brought to the Bryn Athyn Society Center (formerly known as the All Purpose Building) on Wednesday, June 6, between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.

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ORDINATION 1983

ORDINATION              1983




     Announcements
     Burke-At Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, August 13, 1983, Rev. William Hanson Burke, into the second degree of the priesthood, Rt. Rev. Louis B. King officiating.
GENERAL CHURCH BOOK CENTER 1983

GENERAL CHURCH BOOK CENTER              1983

     BRYN ATHYN, PA 19009

     Religious books make the best Christmas gifts. Order now to insure delivery before Christmas, or have us gift wrap and ship your gift directly to the recipient.

     THE WORD
Red morocco, limp or hardback               $20.00
Red cloth                              15.00

     THE BIBLE
Large Format Reference, KJV, Hardcover          $10.45
Student KJV, Limp red or black               5.60
Student RSV, Limp red or black               5.60
New King James Version, Burgundy leather          24.00
New King James Version, Cloth               9.75

     GIANT PRINT
Heaven and Hell, Hardcover                    $8.25
Bible KJV, Black imitation leather               14.20

     NEW ITEMS
Arcana Coelestia Vol. 1, New Swedenborg Society Translation     
          Hardcover                    $12.50
          Paper                         7.75
Life of the Lord, Revised                    8.00
Books can be engraved in gold, approx. $4.85. Please allow two weeks. Free gift wrapping available. Please include extra for postage, approx. 80 cents per book.

     Hours: 9 to 12, Monday thru Friday
PHONE: (215) 947-3920

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Notes on This Issue 1983

Notes on This Issue       Editor       1983



Vol. CIII     December, 1983     No. 12
NEW CHURCH LIFE

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     This issue is being mailed not only to subscribers but to all members of the General Church. One of our purposes is to encourage more subscriptions. See the invitation on page 549.
     1984 is just around the corner, and that is an Assembly year. Please see the Assembly advertisement on page 515.
     The December issue is packed with information such as the enrollments of all General Church schools and the teachers in each of the local schools (see pages 524-526).
     The complete address list of General Church ministers begins on page 528, and comparative statistics on baptisms, marriages, membership, etc. appear on pages 516 and 517.
     We would like to thank Mr. Michael Pitcairn for providing the photograph of Bishop King and his wife for the issue which contains the Bishop's annual report and his sermon, "Bread from Heaven."
     One of the themes in this issue is "gifts." In the first of a series of articles on Swedenborg's lists Rev. Frank Rose shows a most unusual gift list (page 541). Cyriel Sigstedt injected an element of romance when she commented on that remarkable list. "The hat and the cane were obviously for Swedenborg himself. Who would wear earrings, tiara, and other jewels?"
     (The giving of lovely symbolic gifts in the other world is alluded to in AC 6492 and in the series in Conjugial Love beginning with the pomegranate with seeds of gold.)
     Rev. Geoffrey Childs reminds us that "having the truth is not a matter of pride; it is the Lord's gift." And Rev. Eric Carswell asks us to pause and reflect about what is going on when we receive a gift.
     The piece about the shepherds by Rev. Harold Cranch is only two pages long. Surely this is a classic example of how much can be said in so few words.

     **********

     Your attention is called to the information on page 552 about applications for admission to the Academy schools. The charging of a "late fee" is, in the case of the high school, a new policy.
     The new Latin edition of the first volume of what we are used to calling The Spiritual Diary is described on page 551 under the heading, "Now Available."
     Our church news section this month does not focus on one particular society. Instead we follow Geoffrey and Helga Childs on their recent world tour.

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BREAD FROM HEAVEN 1983

BREAD FROM HEAVEN       Rev. LOUIS B. KING       1983

     Our text is twofold-prophecy and fulfillment.

     The first part is from Exodus: "In the morning the dew lay round about the camp. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness a small round thing, small as the hear frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it they said one to another: Manhu (what is it?), for they knew not what it was. And Moses said, It is the bread which Jehovah hath given you to eat" (l6:13-15).
     The second part is from the gospel according to Luke: "The angels said to the shepherds, There is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord; and this is a sign unto you, ye shall find the babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger" (2:11, 12, 16).
     In a desolate wilderness called "Sin," a lonely, frightened people hungered. A sign was given; their prayer for life-giving sustenance was answered. No seed had been sown, no ear harvested, no meal ground or cakes baked, yet bread was everywhere upon the face of the earth. Hesitatingly they reached to take it. It was firm to the touch, sweet to the lips, wholesome to bodily life.
     For forty years the miracle continued. Each day as the dew melted, fresh provisions of manna appeared, each man gathered "according to his eating."
     Centuries later the Psalmist reflectively sang, "They did eat angels' food." As is the case with the whole of the Old Testament, this story is a prophecy of the Lord's coming. Bethlehem means "house of bread." "The bread of God is He that cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world."
     Associating this miracle with the life of His Humanity, the Lord said, "Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead; this is the bread that cometh down from heaven that men may eat thereof and not die."
     How touchingly similar was the spiritual need of the human race when Jesus came. Intellectually impoverished, spiritually twisted and deformed, mentally unbalanced by spheres of magic inflowing from the hells, hopelessly addicted to perverse, pagan idolatry, the human race stood in desperate need of heavenly sustenance.
     In Jesus they found the wholesome nourishment their spirits craved. His compassionate words they devoured.

504


His empathetic love filled and then fulfilled their ideals. He touched their hearts with mercy and inspired them with new life, new hope, new courage. "If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever." He became the answer to their prayer, and ours, "Give us this day our daily bread."
     So Scripture records a profound moment of joy and gladness for the world: "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." Moments later an angelic host appeared to shepherds in nearby fields, announcing, "Unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior which 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."
     The shepherds came with haste and found the sign to be true. At Joseph and Mary's side they bowed down, gazing into the innocence-the profound beauty and majesty issuing forth from the manger. The Lord Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem of Judea, was a babe like and yet unlike other infants. Like other infants, there was a sphere of innocence representing angelic hosts which surround and protect with peace all newborn children. But Jesus was unlike other infants in that His finite body, though composed of material and spiritual substances, was, nevertheless, the ordered embodiment of Divine love itself, so formed that a sphere of Divine innocence and peace might be present in the light and warmth shining forth from Him. That holy thing, conceived of Jehovah and born of Mary, could be described adequately by no other name than "the Son of God."
     He was not a second person in the Godhead, but the human wherein God Himself descended into the world. His soul was infinite, indivisible, whereas the soul of every other infant is an offshoot or created division from the soul of his father.
     It is written, "The Divine love itself, which was the Esse of His life, formed the body to its likeness, thus, to its reception, even to this, that all things were forms of Divine love" (SD 4845). He was born, indeed, Immanuel-God with us in finite manifestation.
     Later, by glorification or the uniting of the Human to the Divine and of the Divine to the Human, all external coverings and finite limitations were made Divine so that the Father stood forth in the Son-the Lord's Human as it is today-the Divine love in human form. "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him . . . we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation"-our visible Lord.
     The sign whereby the shepherds would know that the babe in the manger was "a Savior which is Christ the Lord" was this: He would be "wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."

505



     A twofold sign!-wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. We must ponder these signs in relationship to both the Lord's glorification and man's regeneration.
     Clothing, whenever mentioned in the Word, represents truths. Truth is the form of good and manifests its intrinsic qualities so that it may be perceived intellectually. Swaddling clothes particularly signify appearances of truth taken from the letter of the Word. So it is written that the Lord willed to be imbued with knowledges from the letter of the Word. The appearances of truth taken from the Old Testament by the Lord became the garments which clothed and formed His Divine love into planes of conscious Divine thought whereby He could redeem mankind. As swaddling clothes are gently applied from without, so the Lord received His own Word through His physical senses, storing these truths in His finite memory. As His Infinite soul or love for the human race descended into these knowledges, the consciousness of the Lord's Humanity penetrated those literal truths even to the inmost rational forms. The Lord used these truths not only to form planes within His conscious mind wherein the Divine love might descend and become operative for the salvation of the human race, but in so doing He reformed these garments so as to be vestments of the Divine love-a Divine Doctrine whereby He might save all men of spiritual genius, and later reveal that Divine Doctrine in fullness at His second coming, as "the Spirit of Truth.
     Bethlehem represents the Word. The manger, a place for feeding horses, represents the doctrine of truth flowing forth out of the Word. Swaddling clothes specifically are the appearances of the letter. Inmostly within these is the Lord Himself, the Divine innocence appearing and, after glorification, the Divine love itself appearing in human form.
     From His love for our salvation, the Lord put on the swaddling clothes or appearances of truth in the Old Testament. In Him these became the garments through which His Divine love might appear to men, that is, in His words and deeds. In Him these truths became the instruments for uniting the Human to the Divine and the Divine to the Human, for redeeming the human race, and then revealing the Divine love in new forms or new garments as contained in the New Testament and ultimately in the Writings. In uniting the truths of the Old Testament with His Divine love, the Lord's mind became the Word made flesh, the Divine Doctrine itself, to be revealed as to its external and general forms in the New Testament, but in its fullness and in its own light as the crown of revelations, given by the Lord through Emanuel Swedenborg to establish the "crown of all the churches which have hitherto existed in the world" (TCR 787).

506



     Since the glorification, the swaddling clothes represent not only the appearances of truth in the letter of the Old Testament, but those contained in the New Testament and the Writings. And inasmuch as man's regeneration is imaged in the Lord's glorification, the sign given to the shepherds takes on a special representation for the man of the church.
     Again Bethlehem is the Word in its threefold form. The manger is that doctrine which is drawn from the letter of the Word to become a lamp in the light of which specific teachings are to be seen. When these specific teachings about the Lord are taken into the mind they become swaddling clothes in which the Divine love in human form is gently, securely wrapped. Indeed, the infant Jesus is tenderly present therein, resting in a manger of doctrine as it stands forth to view in the mind.
     The Writings refer to swaddling clothes with three expressions: "First truths, truths of innocence, and truths of Divine love." They are called first truths because they are indeed first in time and first in end, for they tell of the Lord. They are called truths of innocence because they form planes in the highest realm of the conscious mind into which angelic spirits may bring the innocence of heaven-a willingness to be led by the Lord. When so infilled with inflowing love these first truths become remains of innocence and peace. In them the Lord is gently clothed, even as the early morning dew covered and clothed the manna in the wilderness. These remains develop and grow. They are the seedbed of the new will containing every potential for the later progression of man's regeneration or salvation. Each time the stories of the nativity are heard, these remains descend and bring delight into the conscious life of men. And in their descent, remains are enriched with new things from the Word, so that eventually they become more than first truths, more even than truths of innocence-finally, they become truths of Divine love, that is, love to the Lord and to the neighbor. Reflect! Ponder this! The Lord's love cannot enter man and become as if his own without vessels or truths, without garments which in the beginning are swaddling clothes.
     So long as man lives in the world, appearances of truth are needed. Though the mental vestments of the Lord change as man's concept of Him grows, there is constant need of return to first states, to genuine truths appearing in the letter-a return to swaddling clothes and the manger.
     Again and again throughout life, as the Lord endeavors to regenerate us, we must go to Bethlehem of Judea, to the Word of the Lord and the appearances of truth in its three testaments, for we are at times in the wilderness alone, hungry and rejected.

507


At times our life becomes a swirl of materialistic indifference to spiritual essentials, not unlike the bustling and frenzied Roman world, when Jesus Christ was born, a savior unnoticed, unheeded, unwanted.
     It is then that the Lord must be born again in Bethlehem of Judea. Silently, as the world about us sleeps, the infant Jesus can be born anew in our hearts and lives. Though subjected to states of sadness and holy fear, born of the realization of our own unworthiness to receive the Lord, we may rejoice once again in His mercy and love. Though we are sad in the recognition of our own personal frailties, we may see that "without the Lord there is no salvation." With this acknowledgment the "sun of righteousness rises with healing in His wings," and warms the horizon of our life. The dew melts, and the bread of heaven lies everywhere upon the earth, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
     In wonder we behold the Divine love in human form. Irresistible innocence and peace compel us to reach out and embrace the swaddling clothes. And from within us the voice of perception, "My Lord and my God." "Glory to God in the highest and on earth to men of good will, peace.
     Then is the end of Divine love accomplished conjunction of the Supreme Divine with man (see TCR 786). By influx the Lord enters and dwells with man. By reception man enters into and dwells with the Lord. "I am in My Father and the Father in Me," said the Lord, . . . "I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you'' (John 14:11, 20). Amen.

     LESSONS: Exodus 161-15; Luke 2:1-20; AE 706:6 Title Unspecified 1983

Title Unspecified              1983


     THE JOY OF RECEIVING

     BY REV. ERIC H. CARSWELL

     We have all heard that the true joy of Christmas comes not so much from receiving presents as it does from giving them. Many of us have been reminded many times of the importance of this idea and perhaps we have worked to develop a focus of giving in our celebration of Christmas. But I wonder how many people would benefit from becoming better receivers. I don't mean learning to express thanks to the one who gave us the gift or learning to act graciously when receiving something we don't really want.

508


What I'm thinking of is the ability to take delight in receiving a gift-taking delight without feeling the need to push that delight quickly away or without having your mind filled with all sorts of qualifying thoughts as to whether the person or people really wanted to give you the gift or whether you deserved to have them spend the amount of time or money that they did. Some people find receiving very uncomfortable. Why? What stands in the way of receiving expressions of love with a sense of joy?
     If we can feel the joy of others as our own-that is, if we love the people who love us (see DLW 47)-then their joy in giving to us could be a joy that we feel when we receive something from them. Maybe a person who has trouble receiving happily has the bad habit of listening to self-deprecating thoughts, or perhaps he has himself so well trained to focus on giving that he avoids paying attention to the joy he could feel coming from someone else's love for him and the desire to express it. And if a person has trouble taking delight in his friends' and family's expressions of love for him, then how easily will he sense the Lord's love for him and delight in the gifts He has to offer us? What is Christmas all about if we cannot feel some delight in recognizing that the Lord loves us so much that He chose to come to us, born as a little infant in a simple stable?-born in order to make Himself accessible to us; born in order to give the evil spirits a chance to attack Him and learn their impotence. The Lord said "I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly." Each moment of each day, the Lord comes to us to give us the gift of life.
     What happens when we try to decide whether we deserve that life or not? Remember what happened when the Lord was washing the feet of His disciples? Peter suggested that it was not appropriate for the Lord to be doing something like that for him. The Lord told Peter that it was important that he accept the washing (i.e. the gift). Peter replied that he should be washed all over, as it were underlining his recognition of his own inadequacy. The Lord told Peter that the gift He had given to him was just what he needed. Peter's responses to the Lord's washing of his feet point up some of the thoughts that make it hard to enjoy receiving, thoughts suggesting we don't deserve the gift or that we desperately need the love of the giver.
     This Christmas when you receive a gift and start into a chain of thought that qualifies the meaning of the gift, perhaps you could change the focus of your thoughts, turning your eyes and mind to the joy of the giver. With some work, each of us can come to recognize that when we receive a gift, we can feel some of the same warm joy that we feel when we give. In both cases, we can feel the joy of another as our own. There can be as great a joy in receiving as in giving.

509


DISTINCTLY GIFTED CHURCH 1983

DISTINCTLY GIFTED CHURCH       Rev. GEOFFREY S. CHILDS       1983

     As the New Church is set apart in its revelation, it should be in its forms of worship and its practices. We must be distinctive to gain the spiritual strength to serve mankind. We must be distinctive in order to prepare the way for a universal acceptance of the new truth-the truth which can at last bring healing and happiness back to earth. But we are separated in order to serve, and not in order to be superior. We are distinctive only because we have been given a new revelation. As to the good within us, we should have no pretensions of superiority to the rest of mankind. If the feeling of superiority, or being better than others, reigns universally within our church, we are dead. Having the truth is not a matter of pride; it is the Lord's gift. It is what we do with this gift that counts-in the eyes of the Lord, and in the eyes of history.
     Evil attacks the intellect in more subtle ways than in the conceit of superiority to other churches. One dangerous conceit is the feeling that our personal idea of the truth is infallible, and binding on others. Here we must be careful in our thinking. For it is true that the Writings are infallible- that they contain absolute Divine truth. But though the Writings are Divine, our understanding of them is finitely human. Our concepts are limited, and bound to contain error. For as long as we are unregenerate, the evils within us will partially obscure our grasp of the Writings. And even if we are regenerate, still our understanding of the Writings will be limited and finite, as is the case even with the angels.
     Therefore it is a presumption to think we have a right or duty to force our ideas of the Writings upon others, or to think our ideas are infallible. Our conscience, based upon our understanding of the Writings, is limited. And any attempt we make to force our ideas of truth upon others is a manifestation of conceit-a manifestation of the illusion that our ideas are Divine.
     The conceit of the intellect reaches into all fields of human activity and thought. And in every case it brings unhappiness. In marriage, one partner may be convinced that his ideas are superior to his partner's, and therefore try to dominate. This conceit, this sense of superiority, destroys innocence and sensitivity in a marriage relationship. Moreover, the relationship of one generation to another may be spoiled by the conceit of superiority. The older generation may feel that it alone has wisdom, and therefore must force its concepts on the younger. Or the younger generation may lose all respect for the experience and wisdom of the older-this through the conceit of self-love. In either case, charity in the relationship of the young and old is destroyed, and a sense of oppression and unhappiness rules.

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     There are many other fields where conceit of the intellect poisons charity and good will. In politics, the conceit that only our own ideas can be right is a real danger to good will. And so also is the conceit that we are socially superior, or culturally superior or have family superiority. Concerning such illusions of superiority, such conceits, the Word teaches: "Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased" (Matt. 23:12). Only to those who shun feelings of superiority do visions of truth come. And such never try to force their perceptions and ideas on others. Despite any insight given them, they have no illusion that their ideas are infallible or Divine. And this honest humility and calmness gives their ideas the power of celestial truth-"he that shall humble himself shall be exalted." By celestial truth we mean ideas that have love behind them.
     There will be differences of genius within the New Church. Such varieties of genius are provided by the Lord for they lead to the perfection of the whole. The more varied the talents and individual uses of New Churchmen, the greater will be our ability to perform uses as a grand man. But our spiritual effectiveness depends upon whether there is respect and charity between different types of genius. If there is contempt, charity cannot exist. And the only way such back-biting and scorn can be avoided is by shunning the conceit that our individual ways are better than anyone else's.
     In the true New Church, there will be different ideas of worship, of culture, of politics, of social life. And yet there will be no contempt and no petty jealousies; rather, internally there will be charity as was the case with the earliest churches on earth. There will even be a deep delight in the varieties and differences within the church, backed by the vision that such variety is a wonderful thing; leading to the perfection and exaltation of uses.
     As it is conceit that divides the church, ushering in a devastating sense of superiority, it is the opposite of conceit that brings unity. It is the opposite of conceit that is a key quality in the New Church. This brings to it the sphere of the new heaven and the power of the conjugial. Insofar as the heart is humbled, the Writings say, "so far good and truth, charity and faith, flow in from the Lord" (AC 2327).
     In order to make it possible for man and woman to find this pearl of entrance the Lord gave a gift of the conjugial. For the conjugial frees man to come upon the affection of truth. Instead of loving his own intelligence, man is led to love his wife. And she turns her own love toward her husband. To each is given an affection of truth-a love of the Lord's truth that on the inner plane unites them. This above all else can bring unity to the church: homes in which the love of truth is present, and thus the Lord is there.

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SHEPHERDS 1983

SHEPHERDS       Rev. HAROLD C. CRANCH       1983

     In the fields near Bethlehem shepherds gathered to care for their sheep through the long night. As the sheep were brought in from the hills, they would gather in the fields near the town. Here were no sheepfolds, for this was not the ordinary grazing ground of the sheep. They would be brought closer to the villages, and led out every day for their food. But when they were gathered near their home villages, without the protection of the sheepfold, they were in danger. Wolves, wild dogs, and thieves would use this occasion to steal the stragglers from the flock. So the shepherds had to be particularly wary. and they would collect in small groups, uniting their flocks for the sake of better protection.
     The shepherds, accustomed to the semi-isolated life in the fields watching over their flocks, were simple, meditative people. They were close to nature, and receptive to her lessons. Seeing the stars in the heavens, the flow of the streams, the pattern and cycle of growing things preserved with them a belief in the Divine Creator and Provider of all things. Like all Jews who had a belief in God, they also had a love of the Scriptures. It was not the same love that dominated the Pharisees. They did not have the extreme pride of being the chosen people, and from this the desire to preserve the Word as to its most minute laws. Rather they loved the Psalms of David and the stories of Genesis. Like shepherds everywhere, they loved the legends of their people. That these legends were Divinely provided in the Word added to this love. The Psalms of David, written by their shepherd king, showed great understanding of their way of life. And an important part of all the Scriptures were the prophecies of the coming Messiah. The times were such that these prophecies would be searched out by simple, sincere people, for the time was at hand. Israel had reached the low point in spiritual life. Darkness prevailed as the prophets had foretold. The kingdom had been taken from the Jews. The hated Romans did suppress them. So the time of the fulfillment was near. They had heard the stories of the vision of an angel by Zacharias. And the miraculous birth of John in Elizabeth's old age, and how Zacharias had been given the gift of speech as soon as the events foretold by the angel had come to pass. It was a time of wonder and meditation. The people looked for the fulfillment of prophecy.
     Of such shepherds, keeping watch over their flocks by night in the fields near Bethlehem, it was said: "And 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 which 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.'

512


And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying: 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men'" (Luke 2:9-14).
     The shepherds have a very deep and important representation. Their simplicity, their love of nature, and their faithfulness in protecting and caring for the sheep all picture this correspondence within us. For shepherds represent the inmost or celestial remains of love and affection for spiritual things, deeply implanted during infancy and childhood-states of love for the Lord, for parents, companions, nurses, and teachers. States of innocent affection from early services, and from the stories of the Word, from worship at home, and in kindergarten, and similar things are all deeply implanted within our nature. These guard everything of innocence given into our care in later life. No matter how cynical a man may become, he does not mock these inmost affections of early childhood. They are the last recourse to which the Lord can turn in leading men back to religion. They are the last appeal. When they are destroyed, there is nothing left. Adjoined to these remains are the most basic concepts of religion. The principles of the church seen in relationship to life, and loved from early associations, are the shepherds guarding us through the darkness of the night of ignorance or despair.
     We must remember that the Lord came into the world in the days of Herod the king. It was during his reign that the shepherds watched over their flocks by night. And his reign represented the rule of falsity and slavery to evil. In the world we too live in the spiritual reign of Herod, for many men today doubt even the fact of a supreme God. They have little belief in a life after death, and in spiritual principles and duties. Through this night of doubt and ignorance we must constantly guard and protect every spiritual love and affection that has been implanted in us, for only in this way can we be prepared to find the Lord. These loves and affections given into our care are the sheep, and that which guards and protects them are the principles of truth that we know and accept. They prevent these loves and affections from being destroyed by the sphere of the world-spheres of doubt, uncertainty, and denial.
     Such states of innocent affection and love can hear the voice of the angel, can receive the message of fulfillment, and then can search it out to acknowledge and accept it in life, as the shepherds came to the manger to worship.

513


REPORT OF THE BISHOP OF THE GENERAL CHURCH 1983

REPORT OF THE BISHOP OF THE GENERAL CHURCH       Louis B. King       1983

     September 1, 1982 to August 31, 1983

     As long as a person lives in this world he is held by the Lord in a state of spiritual equilibrium. Midway between influences out of heaven and influences out of hell, man enjoys freedom of choice to exercise his responsibility to act from love according to reason.
     Each moment of man's life, therefore, is the threshold of a new beginning, and the choice he makes has consequences extending from that moment into eternity. Alternating between the two active centers of his life, proprium and conscience, man intermittently receives influx out of heaven, then out of hell. Through this exercise of his freedom of choice he has the opportunity to be led by the Lord out of the slavery of hereditary and acquired evil, and into the true and lasting freedom of love to the Lord and toward the neighbor.
     Since the church is composed of individuals in whom the real church is, it too is in the human form, and governed by the same laws of Divine order whereby the Lord leads each individual toward heaven (see AC 10773, 8717, 10778, 6488).
     It has been a privilege to serve the General Church this past year, particularly to witness the conscientious way in which its membership has responded affirmatively to many sudden changes in pastorates. A church that looks to use as its goal and charity as its means truly trusts in the Lord's unseen government of His kingdom in the heavens and on earth. Such have confidence in the Lord that He will save those who endeavor to live by His Word, that is, act rightly.

     Statistical Activities:
As Bishop of the General Church
Assemblies-4 (District 2, National 2)
Dedications-4 (Worship Room 1, Church Building 1, Homes 2)
Inaugurations into the priesthood-2
Ordinations into the second degree-3
Candidates recognized-8
Board and Corporation Meetings-5
Annual Council of the Clergy Meetings
Bishop's Consistory Meetings-weekly
Bishop's Council Meetings-4
Worship and Ritual Committee Meetings--monthly
Bishop's Representatives Meetings-monthly
General Church in Canada Meetings

514




     [Photo of Bishop Louis B. King and his wife Freya]

515




     As Chancellor of the Academy
Chaired General Faculty Meetings-4
Chaired Theological School Faculty Meetings-monthly
Academy Board and Corporation Meetings-11
Teaching Assignments:
Elective Religion-winter and spring terms
Theology 1 (Doctrine of the Lord)-winter and spring terms
Church Government-1 term

     Ministrations in Bryn Athyn
Total Services Conducted-75 (festival, public, and private)
Society Doctrinal Classes-3
Arcana Classes-35
Heaven and Hell Classes-35
True Christian Religion Classes-35
Joint Council Meeting-1

     Louis B. King,
          Executive Bishop
NEW CHURCH, FACE TO FACE 1983

NEW CHURCH, FACE TO FACE       Lorentz R. Soneson       1983

     [Four photos of people]

     Come add your face to the gathering at the 1984 Assembly in Bryn Athyn. Wednesday, June 6th-Sunday, June 10th. You'll receive your pre- registration forms by mail in January. The cost is only $48.00 per person. Help us make a better Assembly and a more perfect church.
     "A form makes a one more perfect in proportion as those things which enter into it are distinctly different, and yet are united."
     Divine Providence #4

The 29th General Assembly:
P.O. Box 29, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009          
(215) 947-4549

     1984 29th General Assembly

516


COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY MEMBERSHIP 1983

COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY MEMBERSHIP       Lorentz R. Soneson       1983

     During the year ending August 3 1, 1983, two men were inaugurated into the first degree of the priesthood and three ministers were ordained into the second degree.
     At the end of the twelve-month period the Council of the Clergy consisted of three priests of the episcopal degree, sixty-four in the pastoral degree, and five in the ministerial degree, for a total of seventy-two. Of these, five were mainly or essentially employed by the General Church, ten by the Academy of the New Church, forty-four were engaged in pastoral work, ten were retired or engaged in secular work, and three were unassigned.
     In addition to the above figures, two newly inaugurated ministers are not yet members of the Council of the Clergy. Also, the General Church has five priests of the pastoral degree in the South African Mission, besides the superintendent.

     STATISTICS

     The statistics of the sacraments and rites of the General Church administered during the year, compiled from reports of the priests of the General Church as of September 1, 1983, together with the comparative figures for the twelve-month periods five and ten years ago are shown below.
     
                              1982-83      1977-78      1972-73
Baptisms
     Children                    200           146           116
          Adults                    51           46           34
          Total                         251           192           150

Holy Supper Administrations
          Public                    238           236           163
          Private                    47           49           71
               Communicants               6,215      5,670      5,353

Confessions of Faith               40           46           37

Betrothals                         43           47           39

Marriages                         71           71           68
          Blessings on Marriages      6           3           0

Ordinations                         5           8           5

Dedications
          Churches                    1          1          1
          Homes                         13           10           8
          Other                     5           0          1

Funerals and Memorial Services      60           46           51

     Lorentz R. Soneson,
          Secretary, Council of the Clergy

517


ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM 1983

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM              1983

     During September, 1982, through August, 1983, one hundred fifteen new members were received into the General Church. One member was reinstated. Two resigned from the church and nineteen were dropped from the roll. Forty-seven deaths were reported. On September 1, 1983, the roll contained three thousand seven hundred seventy-five members.

                                             Other
                                        U.S.A.     Countries           Total
Membership, September 1, 1982           2,568      1,159           3,727
New Members (Certs. 6929 to 7043)           84           31                    115
Reinstated                               1                         1
Losses: Deaths                          -29          -18      (47)
     Resignations                     -2           0      (2)
     Dropped from Roll                -4           -15      (19)           -68
Membership, September 1, 1983           2,618      1,157           3,775
Net Gain during the period September
     1982, through August 1983           50           -2                    48

     NEW MEMBERS

     UNITED STATES

     Arizona: Tucson
Mr. Peter Macbeth Alden
Mrs. Alexander S. Waddell (Julie Anne Miller)

     California: La Crescenta
Mr. Virgil Ray Kaufman, Jr.
Mrs. Virgil Ray Kaufman, Jr. (Laurie Jane Wright)

     California: San Diego
Mr. Michael Croft McDonough

     California: Sun Valley
Miss Bethel Jean David

     Colorado: Denver
Mrs. Claire Sinclair

     Colorado: Greeley
Miss Kristin Jeannette Gurney
Mr. Dean Crockett Pitcairn

     Colorado: Nederland
Mrs. Bruce Coffin (Carol Jean Brown)

     Illinois: Champaign

Mrs. Christopher Pendleton Ebert (Joanne Rosaline Fialho)
Mr. Matthew Blake Smith

     Illinois: Glenview
Mr. Malcolm David Acton
Miss Laura Ann Barger
Miss Barbara Lee Brickman
Miss Jill Ann Brickman
Mr. David George Bullis
Mrs. Laz Kramer Chapman (Jacquelynn Brewer)
Miss Deborah Ann Farrington

     Illinois: Mundelein
Mr. Linscott Robert Hanson
Mrs. Linscott Robert Hanson (Mary Catherine Babe)

518




     Illinois: New Lenox
Mr. Branch Ferry McQueen
Mrs. Branch Ferry McQueen (Karen Marie Schink)

     Indiana: Orleans
Mr. Stanley Ward Heinrichs

     Maryland: Crownsville
Mrs. Bruce Wayne Hall (Denise Alford)

     Maryland: Edgewater
Mrs. Carl Ernest Goetzinger (Judith Boatman)

     Maryland: Mitchellville
Mr. John Edward Allen

     New Jersey: Iselin
Mr. John Sabol

     Ohio: Dublin
Mr. George Edward Graham, Jr.
Mrs. George Edward Graham, Jr. (Gretchen Bernadine Olson)

     Pennsylvania: Ambler
Mr. Edward Craig Acton

     Pennsylvania: Bensalem
Mrs. Clarence R. Schaller III (Julie Elizabeth Griffin)

     Pennsylvania: Bryn Athyn
Mr. Stewart Lindsay Asplundh
Mr. James Edmund Blair, III
Mrs. James Edmund Blair, III (Jenny Maureen Cowley)
Miss Cathleen Howard
Mr. Robert Morgan Brown
Mrs. Robert Morgan Brown (Janine Alena Doering)
Mr. Jonathan Childs
Mrs. Jonathan Childs (Karin Alfelt)
Mr. Douglas Aubrey Cranch
Miss Donette Erin Fitzpatrick
Mrs. Philip Charles Gerlach (Jane Ralston Lawson)
Mr. Leonard Anders Gyllenhaal
Mr. Brian Paul Gunther
Mr. Robert Rex Herder, Jr.
Miss Bryn Junge
Mr. Bradley King
Mr. John Cairn King
Mr. Dzin Pyung Kwak
Miss Monica Ruth Lee
Mr. David Hutchinson Lindrooth
Miss Gerda McQueen
Mr. Donald Gregory Rose
Mr. Jonathan Searle Rose
Mrs. Jonathan Searle Rose (Anne Elizabeth Barnitz)
Miss Jennifer Glenn Synnestvedt
Mrs. Thomas Moore Walton (Naomi M. Jefferies)

     Pennsylvania: Feasterville
Mr. Richard Tudor

     Pennsylvania: Huntingdon Valley
Mr. Robert Chester Fazio
Mrs. Terry Kimball Glenn (Eileen Reider)
Miss Anne Faulkner Goerwitz
Mr. Richard Stewart Nash
Mrs. Richard Stewart Nash (Neena Smith)
Miss Ingrid Maria Rohtla

     Pennsylvania: Kempton
Miss Ingrid Andrea Hansen
Mr. Jeremy K. Synnestvedt
Mrs. Jeremy K. Synnestvedt (Judith Margaret Scalbom)

     Pennsylvania: Kutztown
Mr. Martin Millis Ludwin

     Pennsylvania: Natrona Heights
Mr. James Pitcairn Lindsay
Mrs. James Pitcairn Lindsay (Mary Elener Byers)

519




     Pennsylvania: Philadelphia
Mr. Stephen Chiaravallotti
Mrs. Stephen Chiaravallotti (Rose Mary Murray)
Mrs. Eda K. Chrstos
Mr. Russell F. Lucke, III
Miss Judith Eileen Meskill
Miss Mary Theresa Mitchell

     Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh
Mr. Robert McDonald Alden
Mr. Dwight Garrison Moore, III

     Pennsylvania: Reading
Mr. Charles Brett Gamble, Jr.

     Texas: Houston
Mr. James Donald Carter

     Washington: Kirkland
Mr. George Mark Geanuleas
Mrs. George Mark Geanuleas (Diane Therese Nagy)

     Washington: Seattle
Mrs. Royce W. Harvey (Cynthia Soderberg)

     CANADA

     Ontario: Kitchener
Miss Sara Marion Morley

     Ontario: Parry Sound
Miss Irma Jean Jutras

     Ontario: Toronto
Mrs. Gerard Raymond Jutras (Amy Gladys Crampton)

     Ontario: Weston
Mr. Gilbert Llewellyn Crampton

     SOUTH AMERICA

     Brazil: Rio de Janeiro
Miss Angelina Bastes de Roure
Mr. Leci Giolito
Mr. Washington Luiz Pinto Machade
Mrs. Cristovao Rabelo Nobre (Cleia Maria de Souza)
Mr. Mario Santos de Fadua
Mrs. Enaldo Crave Peixoto (Celia Mello)
Miss Carmen Lucia Barrosa Magno Rosa

     EUROPE

     Denmark: Greve Strand
Mrs. Kenneth Glover (Inge-grete Mejer Hansen)

     England: Middlesex
Miss Diana Judy Catherine Warwick

     France: Antibes
Mr. Georges Plan
Mrs. Georges Plan (Henriette Wetzig)

     France, Paris
Miss Daniel Germaine

     REP. OF SOUTH AFRICA

     Johannesburg: Linden
Mr. Donald Selkirk Came
Mrs. Donald Selkirk Came (Stella Maude Elaine Carver)

     Krugersdorp: Wentworth Park
Mr. John Bruce Ellis
Mrs. John Bruce Ellis (Kathleen Jane Murray)
Miss Jane Astrid Ellis

     Natal, Westville
Mr. Hylton Maurice de Chazal
Miss Janet Faith MacGregor
Mrs. Oonagh Margaret Pienaar

     Transvaal: Mulderdrift
Mr. Christopher Alan Moore

     Transvaal: Braamfonrein
Mrs. Thomas Briggs (Ivy Moss)

520



Mr. Sydney James Thornley          
Mrs. Sydney James Thornley (June Elsie Briggs)

     JAPAN

     Tokyo: Shibuya
Mr. Tatsuya Nagashima

     AUSTRALIA

     New South Wales: Sydney
Mrs. Patrick Edward Cosgrave
Miss Marie Janet Young

     DEATHS
Acton, Mrs. Elmo C. (Ione Celia Odhner), November 18, 1982, Glenview, Illinois (76)
Adams, Mrs. Henry Knox (Lillis Nealon), March 3, 1983, Sarasota, Florida (86)
Anderson, Mr. Harold Pierson, August 17, 1983, St. Augustine, Florida (68)
Appleton, Mrs. Eric D. (Martha Mardell), February 27, 1983, Colchester, England (64)
Atterbom, Mr. Per-Axel Amadeus, October, 1982, Kungshacka, Sweden (69)
Bancroft, Miss Lydia Alice, April 6. 1983, Montclair, New Jersey (100)
Bobo, Miss Viola Green, January 27, 1983, Dayton, Ohio (101)
Burnham. Mr. O. T., 1983, Mashotah, Wisconsin (82)
Cadwallader, Miss Mildred, February 21, 1983, Meadowbrook, Pennsylvania (76)
Cook, Mr. Duane Clinton, October 14, 1982, Royal Oak, Michigan (54)
Coulson, Mrs. Frank F. (Eileen Maskell), February 4, 1983, London, England (78)
Craigie, Mrs. Alec (Gwen Winifred Knight), June 41 1983, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
da Silva, Mr. Edmundo Galvao, DELAYED REPORT, l980, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (87)
Day, Mrs. Frank E. (Alice Ives), November 3, 1982, Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania (79)
Deming, Mr. Malcolm Clifford Millett, September 12, 1982, Auckland, New Zealand (88)
Fortin, Mr. Raymond Arthur, September 22, 1982, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (39)
Funk, Mrs. Jacob J. (Agnes Friesen), November 27, 1982, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada (88)
Hasen, Mrs. Alfred Kenneth (Beata Marie Roschman), October 6, 1982, St. Jacobs, Ontario, Canada (90)
Heath, Mr. Bryndon Childs, November 4, 1982, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (71)
Heath, Mrs. Bryndon Childs (Jeanne Stead), January 16, 1983, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (68)
Hendricks, Mr. Erdman, DELAYED REPORT, May 23, 1982, Pouce Coupe, British Columbia, Canada (88)
Junge, Mrs. William F., Sr. (Eleonore Rauch), October 13, 1982, Glenview, Illinois (98)
Koltzoff, Mrs. Gregory J. (Vera Alexanora Egoroff), July 9, 1983, Seattle, Washington (82)

521



Kuhl, Mrs. Carl (Beatrice Farrington), August 14, 1983, Glenview, Illinois (74)
Kuhl, Mr. George Rupert, August 28, 1983, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada (38)
Lowry, Mrs. Roderick D. (Linda Wentland), December 18, 1982, Salisbury, North Carolina (42)
Lumsden, Mrs. Hubert David (Alice Kathleen Hammond), November 13, 1983, Port Shepstone, South Africa (94)
McDonough, Joseph Thomas, June 22, 1983, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania (67)
McMaster, Mr. Desmond Harold, January 15, 1983, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (79)
Melzer, Mr. George Thomas, October 2, 1982, Glenview, Illinois (75)
Morris, Mrs. Edward Batchelor (Kate Noble), February 14, 1983, Taunton, England (102)
Nedin, Mrs. Sven-Erik (Gunborg Astrid Elisabet Bergstrom), December, 1982, Jonkoping, Sweden (58)
Opperman, Mrs. Marion Lynelle (Hicks), May 22, 1983, Burlington, Ontario, Canada (73)
Pyles, Mr. William Oscar, July, 1982, Wheatridge, Colorado (57)
Rienstra, Mr. August Peter, April 4, 1983, Florence, Colorado (89)
Riepert, Mrs. Melvin Samuel (Vivian Gall Kuhl), July 2, 1983, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (59)
Smith, Mr. Dallam Vaughan, July 28, 1983, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (76)
Smith, Mr. Oliver, DELAYED REPORT, 1980, Green Valley, Arizona (84)
Stebbing, Mrs. Philip A. E. (Lucile Patricia Reiner), December 28, 1982, Washington, D.C. (81)
Stephens, Dr. Irma Mae, 1983, Americus, Georgia (82)
Stumm, Mrs. Walter William (Marilyn Klein), January 24, 1983, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (49)
Taylor, Mr. James Dickson, February 27, 1983, Birmingham, Alabama (62)
van Zyverden, Mr. Gerald Dirk, February 16, 1983, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania (50)
Waters, Mr. John Richard, March 16, 1983, Wokingham, England (51)
West, Mrs. Mary (Hamm), February 2, 1983, Maple Glen, Pennsylvania (80)
Williamson, Mrs. Marjorie Bissegger, June 28, 1983, Boyd, Texas (70)
Woodworth, Mrs. Donald D. (Kerry Pendleton), August 25, 1983, Boston, Massachusetts (43)

     RESIGNATIONS
Harrison, Mr. William D., May 21 1983, Lake Helen, Florida
Mueller, Mrs. Kenneth Carl (Virginia Schofield), Walnutport, Pennsylvania

     DROPPED FROM THE ROLL
Cabassa, Mr. Alejandro Jose, January 3, 1983, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Cabassa, Mrs. Alejandro Jose (Stella Leonardos da Silva Lima), January 3, 1983, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Castro, Mrs. Leonardo deM. A. (Ruth Pontes), January 3, 1983, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

522



de Barros, Mr. Mario, January 3, 1983, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
de Barros, Mrs. Mario (Pascoalina delli Santi), January 3, 1983, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
de Roure, Mrs. Gustavo Campos (Nelia Borges da Silva), January 3, 1983, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Estevez, Mrs. Domingo Barros (Anaia Correa de Padua), January 3, 1983, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Hamanne Mr. Hugo, January 3, 1983, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Hamann, Mr. Sergio Leonardos, January 3, 1983, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Lawson, Mr. Lawrence James, May 2, 1983, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Leonardos, Mrs. Elizabeth T.C., Barreto, January 3, 1983, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Leonardos, Mr. Roberto Barreto, January 3, 1983, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Menezes, Mr. Sergio, January 3, 1983, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Menezes, Mrs. Sergio (Adaia Correa de Padua), January 3, 1983, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Rexrode, Miss Etta Louise, September, 1982, U.S.A.
Cleare, Mrs. Troland (Rosetta Wood), September, 1982, U.S.A.
Villela, Mrs. Levindo (Carmelina Capelli), January 3, 1983, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Williams, Mr. Bradford K., September, 1982, California
Wilson, Mrs. Constance Elizabeth (Brinker), September, 1982, California

     ADDRESSES UNKNOWN

     Anyone who can supply information as to the whereabouts of the following persons is asked to communicate with the Addressograph Office, Box 278, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009. Last known addresses are shown.

     PRINTED FOR THE SECOND TIME

     United States
Miss Molly Deane Clark
2728 3rd Street-#3
Santa Monica, CA 90405

Mrs. Margaret M. Ewald
43 Brannan Street
Calistoga, CA 94515

Mr. William H. Larsen
Yorkshire Drive, R.D. #4
Doylestown, PA 18901

Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Pillitteri
5346 Autumn Winds
Mehlville, MO 63129

Mrs. Rosalyn V. Queman
648 Highland Court
Newport News, VA 23605

Mrs. Robert W. Quinlivan
Box 440
St. Augustine, FL 32084

Mr. Robert W. Quinlivan, Jr.
Box 440
St. Augustine, FL 32084

Mrs. Stella E. Shields
346 Larch Road
Rancocas Woods
Mt. Holly, NJ 08060

     Canada

Miss Patricia E. Friesen
960 Cornwall Crescent
Dawson Creek, B.C.
Canada V1G 1N9

Miss Sharon D. Friesen
9648 84th Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada T6C 1E8

Mr. Frederick A. Larsen
Box 14 - Site - 5 - RR 5
Armdale, N.S.

Canada B3L 455

Mrs. Dennis Turner
Coachman Village
Gorande Prairie, Alberta
Canada T8V 2N9

523




     Overseas

Mr. and Mrs. Trevor J. Coiling
8 St. Hillier Park
Gillitts, Natal 3600
Republic of South Africa

Mme. Joseph Klookart-Deltenre
119 Rue de Villegas
De Cherchamps
Strombeek, Belgium 1820

     PRINTED FOR THE FIRST TIME

     United States

Mrs. Edward Bradley
822 Canal Street
Turnersville, NJ 08012

Mrs. Carl Carlson
2647 N. Gunnison
Chicago, IL 60625

Mrs. Sydney Childs
115 Eighth Ave., N.
Jacksonville Reach, FL 32250

Mr. Ronald Horvath
320 Holloway Drive
Plantation, FL 33317

Mrs. Lloyd I. Johnson
9419 N. Sunlakes Blvd.
Sun Lakes, AZ 85224

Mr. and Mrs. Gary D. Larsen
4257 N. Lockwood Avenue
Chicago, IL 60641

Mrs. Robert L. Matchett
5420 McCullock-#E
Temple City, CA 91780

Mr. Charles Rinaldo
1524 Springvale Avenue
McLean, VA 22101

Mr. Lawrence R. Rinaldo
1524 Springvale Avenue
McLean, VA 22101

     Canada

Mr. and Mrs. David Braun
224 Avenue X, South
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Canada S7M 3H3

Mr. Peter Friesen
1335 - 104th Avenue
Dawson Creek, B.C.
Canada V1G 257

Mrs. Arnold R. McKee
P.O. Box 748
Enderby, B.C.
Canada V0E 1V0

Miss Lynele Sue Haft
59 Barley Drive
Yorkton, Saskatchewan
Canada S3N 252

     Overseas

Mrs. Kathleen M. Barnes
70 Great Park Street
Wellingborough
Northamptonshire, England

Miss D. V. Marjorie Stone
87 Peartree Lane
Welwyn Garden City
Herts, England

Mr. and Mrs. W. Hubert L. Stone
87 Peartree Lane
Welwyn Garden City
Herts, England

524


LOCAL SCHOOLS DIRECTORY 1983

LOCAL SCHOOLS DIRECTORY              1983

     1983-1984
BRYN ATHYN:      Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr           Principal
               Mrs. Neil Buss                         Vice-Principal
               Mrs. Barbara Synnestvedt                Master Teacher
               Mrs. Peter Gyllenhaal                     Supervisor of Remedial and Support Uses
               Mrs. Bruce Rogers                     Kindergarten
               Mrs. Prescott Rogers                     Kindergarten
               Mrs. Charles Lindrooth                     Grade 1
               Miss Candace Rose                     Grade 1
          Mrs. Willard Heinrichs                    Grade 1 (Assistant)
               Mrs. Grant Doering                     Grade 2
               Mrs. Hugh Gyllenhaal                     Grade 2
               Mr. Stephen Morley                     Grade 3
               Miss Freya Heinrichs                     Grade 3
               Miss Rosemary Wyncoll                     Grade 4
               Miss Joy Asplundh                         Grade 4
               Mrs. David Doering                     Grade 5
          Mr. Keith Rydstrom                    Grade 5 (Assistant)
               Mrs. Ralph Wetzel                     Grade 6
               Mr. Reed Asplundh                     Grade 6
               Miss Karen Schnarr                     Girls-Grade 7
               Mr. Kim Junge                          Boys-Grade 7
               Mrs. Peter Stevens                     Girls-Grade 8
               Mr. Robert Beiswenger                     Boys-Grade 8
          Mrs. Hyland Johns, Jr.                    (Primary) Art
               Mrs. Steven Lindrooth                     (Grades 4-8)
               Mr. Richard Show                          Music
               Mr. Robert Eidse                     Physical Education
          Mrs. Harry Risley                     Physical Education
               Mrs. Robert Alden                         Librarian

COLCHESTER: Rev. Kenneth O. Stroh                     Headmaster
               Miss Hilda Waters                          Grades 1-7

DETROIT:      Rev. Walter E. Orthwein                Principal
               Rev. Kenneth J. Alden                     Assistant
               Miss Sylvia D. Parker                     Head Teacher, Grades 1-3
               Mr. Byron Franson                     Grades 4-6

DURBAN:     Rev. Geoffrey H. Howard                Headmaster
          Rev. Paul E. Schorran                    Religion
          Miss Marian Homber                     Grades 1-4
               Mrs. Oonagh M. Pienaar                     Grades 5-7

525




GLENVIEW:     Rev. Brian Keith                         Pastor, Religion
               Mr. R. Gordon McClarren                Principal, Math, Science
               Mrs. Daniel Wright                     Head Teacher, Grades 5, 6
          Miss Marie Odhner                         Kindergarten, Grade 1
               Mrs. Donald Alan                          Grades 2, 3
               Mrs. Ben McQueen                          Grade 4
               Mrs. Kent Fuller                          Grade 7
               Mr. Gary Edmonds                          Grade 8
               Rev. Eric Carswell                     Religion
               Rev. Grant Schnarr                     Religion
               Mrs. Richard Acton                     Art
               Mrs. John Donelly                     Music
               Mrs. William Hugo                     Librarian
               Mrs. Wayne Hyatt                          Physical Education

KEMPTON:      Rev. Jeremy Simons                    Principal, Religion, P.E.
               Rev. Arne Bau-Madsen                    Religion
               Miss Jackie Biers                          Kindergarten
               Mrs. Kenneth Klicker                    Grades 1-3
               Miss Doris Greer                          Grades 4-6

KITCHENER:      Mr. Karl E. Parker                    Principal
               Rev. Christopher R. J. Smith           Religion
               Rev. Mark Carlson                     Religion
               Mrs. Erwin Brueckman                     Kindergarten
               Mrs. Ernest Watts                     Grades 1, 2
               Mrs. Claire Bostock                     Grades 3, 4
               Miss Sara Morley                     Grades 5, 6
          Mrs. Christopher R. J. Smith               (Composition, Spelling) 7, 8
               Mrs. Don Glebe                          Grades 7, 8

MIDWESTERN     Rev. Eric Carswell                    Principal, Religion, Latin
ACADEMY:      Rev. Brian Keith                     Religion
          Mr. R. Gordon McClarren                    Administrative Ass't., Math, Science
          Mrs. Kent Fuller                          Math, History
          Mr. Dan Woodard                          Athletic Director, English, Radio
          Mrs. William Hugo                     Librarian
          Mrs. Wayne Hyatt                          Physical Education
          Mr. Gary Edmonds                          French
          Mrs. Richard Acton                     Art
          Mrs. Ronald Holmes                     Typing
     
PITTSBURGH: Rev. James P. Cooper                     Principal, Religion, Math
               Mrs. John Gandrud                     Grades 1-3
               Mr. Curtis McQueen                     Grades 3, 4, 6
               Miss Marcia Smith, Mrs. Paul Schoenberger Grades 7, 8

SAN DIEGO:      Rev. Cedric King                         Principal
               Miss Mary Jane Cole                    Kindergarten, Grades 1, 2
               Mr. Michael McDonough                     Grades 3, 4
          Mrs. Margaret Nelson                    Assistant Teacher

526




TORONTO:      Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs                Principal
               Rev. Louis D. Synnestvedt                Assistant Principal
          Mr. Philip Schnarr                     Head Teacher, Grades 7, 8
          Mrs. Robert Miller, Mrs. Richard Parker     Kindergarten
               Mrs. Richard Cook                     Grades 1-3
               Miss Barbara Pendleton                Grades 4-6
               
WASHINGTON: Rev. Lawson M. Smith                     Principal
     Mr. Craig McCardell                          Assistant to the Principal
     Rev. Mark E. Alden                          Religion, Science
     Miss Rebecca Barry                          Grades 1-3
     Mr. James Roscoe                          Grades 4-8,
     Mrs. Fred Waelchli                          Grades 9, 10

     SCHOOL ENROLLMENTS

     1983-1984

     The Academy
Theological School (Full Time)     11
College (Full Time)               137     
Girls School                    107
Boys School                         107

     Midwestern Academy
Grades 9 and 10                    14

     Local Schools
Bryn Athyn                         280
Colchester                         6
Detroit                         18
Durban                         22
Glenview                         46
Kempton                         23
Kitchener                         46
Pittsburgh                         34
San Diego                         12
Toronto                         32
Washington                         19

     Total Local Schools          538

Total Reported Enrollment
     in All Schools               914

527


DIRECTORY 1983

DIRECTORY              1983

     GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM

     1983-1984

     Officials and Councils
Bishop:           Right Reverend Louis B. King
Bishops Emeriti:      Right Reverend George de Charms
                         Right Reverend Willard D. Pendleton
Secretary:           Rev. Lorentz R. Soneson

     Consistory

     Bishop Louis B. King                              
Rt. Rev. George de Charms; Rev. Messrs. Alfred Acton, Kurt H. Asplundh, Peter M. Buss, Geoffrey S. Childs, Geoffrey H. Howard, Robert S. Junge, Donald L. Rose, Frank S. Rose, Erik Sandstrom, Frederick L. Schnarr and Lorentz R. Soneson

     "General Church of the New Jerusalem"
(A Corporation of Pennsylvania)
Officers of the Corporation
President:           Right Reverend Louis B. King
Vice President:      Right Reverend Willard D. Pendleton
Secretary:           Mr. Stephen Pitcairn
Treasurer:           Mr. Neil M. Buss
Assistant Treasurer:      Mr. Bruce A. Fuller
Controller:           Mr. Ian K. Henderson

     Board of Directors of the Corporation
Rt. Rev. Louis B. King, Messrs. Robert H. Asplundh, Brian G. Blair, Robert W. Bradin, Theodore W. Brickman, Jr., William W. Buick, Neil M. Buss, Philip D. Coffin, Michael S. Cole, Geoffrey Cooper, George M. Cooper, Thomas R. Cooper, Kent B. Fuller, Donald P. Gladish, Leonard E. Gyllenhaal, W. Lee Horigan, Garry Hyatt, Hyland R. Johns, Glen O. Klippenstein, Thomas N. Leeper, Christopher W. Lynch, Basil C. L. Orchard, Paul C. P. Mayer, Lachlan Pitcairn, Stephen Pitcairn, Maurice G. Schnarr, Ralph Synnestvedt, Jr., Philip A. Waters, John H. Wyncoll.
Honorary Life Members: Rt. Rev. George de Charms and Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton.

528




     Bishops

     KING, LOUIS BLAIR. Ordained June 19, 1951; 2nd degree, April 19, 1953; 3rd degree, November 5, 1972. Continued to serve as Bishop of the General Church and General Pastor of the General Church, Chancellor of the Academy of the New Church, President of the General Church in Canada, President of the General Church international, Incorporated. Address: P.O. Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     DE CHARMS, GEORGE. Ordained June 28, 1913; 2nd degree, June 19, 1916; 3rd degree, March 11, 1928. Bishop Emeritus of the General Church, President Emeritus of the Academy of the New Church. Retired; reports that he has served on the Bishop's Consistory, attended board meetings and written several articles for publication in NEW CHURCH LIFE and New Church Home, and preached twice at Meadowridge. Address: Box 247, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     PENDLETON, WILLARD DANDRIDGE. Ordained June 18, 1933; 2nd degree, September 12, 1934; 3rd degree, June 19, 1946. Bishop Emeritus of the General Church, Chancellor Emeritus of the Academy of the New Church. Retired; reports conducting various sacraments, rites and services, served as consultant on three major research projects and has undertaken a comprehensive review of an earlier work on New Church education. Address: Box 338, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     Pastors

     ACTON, ALFRED. Ordained June 19, 1961; 2nd degree, October 30, 1966. Continued to serve as President of the Academy of the New Church. As of September 1, 1984, he became Bishop's Representative, Director of the General Church Correspondence School, Chairman of the General Church Liturgy Committee, and will be available to teach religion in the Academy Schools. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     ALDEN, GLENN GRAHAM. Ordained June 19, 1974; 2nd degree, June 6, 1976. Served as resident pastor of the Connecticut circle, visiting pastor in parts of the northeast district, and Editor of the North East Watchmen, a newsletter serving the district, and ran Sower Bookroom. Address: 47 Jerusalem Hill Road, Trumbull, Connecticut 06611.

     ALDEN, KENNETH JAMES. Ordained June 6, 1980; 2nd degree, May 16, 1982. Continued to serve as assistant pastor of the Detroit, Michigan, society. He also served as visiting pastor to the North Ohio circle and the Outstate Michigan group. Address: 3763 Oakshire, Berkley, Michigan 48072.

     ALDEN, MARK EDWARD. Ordained June 10, 1979; 2nd degree, May 17, 1981. Continued to serve as visiting pastor in southern Florida and pastor of the Miami circle. As of July 1, 1983, served as assistant to the pastor of the Washington society. Address: 3809 Enterprise Road, Mitchellville, Maryland 20716.

     ASPLUNDH, KURT HORIGAN. Ordained June 19, 1960; 2nd degree, June 19, 1962. Continued to serve as pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. Address: Box 277, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     BARNETT, WENDEL RYAN. Ordained June 7, 1981; 2nd degree, June 20, 1982. Continued to serve as pastor to the San Francisco Bay Area circle, the Sacramento circle, the Ashland group and the Days Creek, Oregon, groups. Address: 4638 Royal Garden Place, San Jose, California 95136.

529




     BAU-MADSEN, ARNE. Ordained June 6, 1976; 2nd degree, June 11, 1978. Continued to serve as pastor to the Kempton society, Kempton, Pennsylvania, and visiting pastor to the group in Wilmington, Delaware. As of July 1, 1983, resigned as pastor and will serve as associate pastor for one year. Address: Box 527, Rt. 1, Lenhartsville, Pennsylvania 19534.

     BOWN, CHRISTOPHER DUNCAN. Ordained June 18, 1978 2nd degree, December 23, 1979. Continued to serve as pastor of the Atlanta society, and visiting pastor to the southeastern district. Address: 3795 Montford Drive, Chamblee, Georgia 30341.

     BOYESEN, BJORN ADOLPH HILDEMAR. Ordained June 19, 1939; 2nd degree, March 30, 1941. Retired; on active assignment. Continued serving as translator of the Writings from Latin to Swedish. He also continued to serve as assistant to the pastor in Scandinavia, mostly serving the Jonkoping, circle. Address: Bruksater, Furusjo, S-566 00, Habo, Sweden.

     BOYESEN, RAGNAR. Ordained June 19, 1972; 2nd degree, June 17, 1973. Continued to serve as pastor of the Pittsburgh society. Address: 7420 Ben Hur Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15208.

     BURKE, WILLIAM HANSON. Ordained June 7, 1981; 2nd degree August 13, 1983. Continued to serve as assistant to the pastor, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. Address: Box 277, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     BUSS, PETER MARTIN. Ordained June 19, 1964; 2nd degree, May 16, 1965. Continued to serve as pastor of the Immanuel Church in Glenview, Illinois, Bishop's Representative in the midwestern and central western districts, headmaster of the Immanuel Church School, President of the Midwestern Academy. As of September 1, 1983, he became President of the Academy of the New Church. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     CARLSON. MARK ROBERT. Ordained June 10, 1973; 2nd degree, March 6, 1977. Continued to serve as assistant pastor of the Carmel Church. Address: 16 Stafford Lane, R.R. 2, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2G 3W5.

     CARSWELL, ERIC HUGH. Ordained June 10. 1979; 2nd degree, February 22, 1981. Continued to serve as assistant pastor of the Pittsburgh society, principal of the Pittsburgh New Church School, and visiting pastor to the circle in Erie, Pennsylvania. As of September 1, 1983, became assistant to the pastor of the Immanuel Church society. Address: 2700 Park Lane, Glenview, Illinois 60025.

     CHILDS, GEOFFREY STAFFORD. Ordained June 19, 1952; 2nd degree, June 19, 1954. Continued to serve as pastor of the Olivet Church society in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and as principal of the Olivet Church Day School. He also continued to serve as Bishop's representative in Canada. Address: 2 Lorraine Gardens, Islington, Ontario, Canada M9B 424.

     CLIFFORD, WILLIAM HARRISON. Ordained June 6, 1976; 2nd degree, October 8, 1978. Continued to serve as resident pastor of the Dawson Creek circle and visiting pastor for Crooked Creek, Calgary, Oyen, Red Deer, and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Address: 1536 - 94th Avenue, Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada V1G 1H1.

     COLE, ROBERT HUDSON PENDLETON. Ordained June 16, 1963; 2nd degree, October 30, 1966. Unassigned. Served as theological consultant and indexer in the Academy of the New Church Library archives. He also preached in a number of New Church centers. Address: Box 345, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     COLE, STEPHEN DANDRIDGE. Ordained June 19, 1977; 2nd degree, October 15, 1978. Continued to serve as pastor of the South Ohio circle, resident in Cincinnati. Address: 6431 Mayflower Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45237.

530




     CRANCH, HAROLD COVERT. Ordained June 19, 1941; 2nd degree, October 25, 1942. Retired. Address: 501 Porter Street, Glendale, California 91205.

     ECHOLS, JOHN CLARK, JR. Ordained August 20, 1978; 2nd degree, March 30, 1980. Continued to serve as pastor of the central western district. Address: 3371 W. 94th Avenue, Westminster, Colorado 80030.

     FRANSON, ROY. Ordained June 19, 1953; 2nd degree, January 29, 1956. Continued to serve as pastor of the Stockholm society, Sweden. Address: Aladdinsvagen 27, S-161 38, Bromma, Sweden.

     GLADISH, MICHAEL DAVID. Ordained June 10, 1973; 2nd degree, June 30, 1974. Continued to serve as pastor of the Los Angeles society, and visiting pastor within a one hundred mile radius of Los Angeles. Address: 5022 Carolyn Way, La Crescenta, California 91214.

     GLADISH, VICTOR JEREMIAH. Ordained June 17, 1928; 2nd degree, August 5, 1928. Retired. Address: 1015 Gladish Lane, Glenview, Illinois 60025.

     GOODENOUGH, DANIEL WEBSTER. Ordained June 19, 1965; 2nd degree, December 10, 1967. Continued to serve as associate professor of religion and history in the Academy of the New College and Theological School. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     HEILMAN, ANDREW JAMES. Ordained June 18, 1978; 2nd degree, March 8, 1981. Continued to serve as pastor of the Rio de Janeiro society in Brazil. As of September 1, 1983, he joined the faculty of the Academy of the New Church. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     HEINRICHS, DANIEL WINTHROP. Ordained June 19, 1957; 2nd degree, April 6, 1958. Continued to serve as pastor of the Washington, D.C., society, and pastor to the district of Maryland and Virginia. As of July 1, 1983, he became pastor of the Miami circle and visiting pastor in the south Florida district. Address: 15101 N. W. 5th Avenue, Miami, Florida 33169.

     HEINRICHS, HENRY. Ordained June 24, 1923; 2nd degree, February 8, 1925. Retired. Address: 63 Chapel Hill Drive, R.R. 2, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2G 3W5.

     HEINRICHS, WILLARD LEWIS DAVENPORT. Ordained June 19, 1965; 2nd degree, January 26, 1969. Continued to serve as instructor in theology and religion in the Academy of the New Church Theological School and College. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     HOWARD, GEOFFREY HORACE. Ordained June 18, 1961; 2nd degree, June 2, 1963. Continued to serve as pastor of the Durban society in South Africa, headmaster of Kainon School, Bishop's Representative in South Africa, Ghana and Brazil. Address: 30 Perth Road, Westville 3630, Natal, Republic of South Africa.

     JUNGE, KENT. Ordained June 10, 1979; 2nd degree, June 24, 1981. Continued to serve as pastor to the circle in Seattle, Washington, and visiting minister to the northwest district of the General Church and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Address: 14812 N.E. 75th Street, Redmond, Washington 98052.

     JUNGE, ROBERT SCHILL. Ordained June 19, 1955; 2nd degree, August 11, 1957. Continued to serve as Dean of the Academy of the New Church Theological School. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     KEITH, BRIAN WALTER. Ordained June 6, 1976; 2nd degree, June 4, 1978. Continued to serve as principal of the Midwestern Academy of the New Church, and as assistant pastor of the Immanuel Church in Glenview, Illinois. He also served as visiting pastor to the Twin Cities circle in Minnesota. As of September 1, 1983, he became pastor of the Immanuel Church society and President of the Midwestern Academy. Address: 73 Park Glenview, Illinois 60025.

531




     KING, CEDRIC. Ordained June 10, 1979; 2nd degree, November 27, 1980. Pastor of the San Diego society and headmaster of the San Diego New Church School. Address: 7911 Canary Way, San Diego, California 92123.

     KLINE, THOMAS LEROY. Ordained June 10, 1973; 2nd degree, June 15, 1975. Continued to serve as assistant pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. Address: Box 277, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     LARSEN, OTTAR TROSVIK. Ordained June 19, 1974; 2nd degree, February 2, 1977. Continued to serve as visiting pastor to the isolated and small groups in Great Britain and Scandinavia. Address: 183 Norbury Crescent, London, SW 16 4JX, England.

     McCURDY, GEORGE DANIEL. Ordained June 15, 1967; recognized as a priest of the New Church in the 2nd degree, July 5, 1979; received into the priesthood of the General Church June 9, 1980. Continued to serve as instructor of religion in the Academy of the New Church secondary schools, chaplain for the secondary schools and head of the religion department. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     McMASTER, ROBERT DAVID. Ordained June 18, 1978; 2nd degree, February 15, 1981. Continued to serve as pastor of Michael Church, London, England, and visiting pastor to The Hague, Holland. Address: 135 Mantilla Road, London, SW 17 8DX, England.

     NEMITZ, KURT PAUL. Ordained June 16, 1963; 2nd degree, March 27, 1966. Unassigned. In secular work in Bath, Maine. Address: 887 Middle Street, Bath, Maine 04530.

     NICHOLSON, ALLISON LA MARR. Ordained September 9, 1979; 2nd degree, February 15, 1981. Continued to serve as pastor of the Bath society of the New Jerusalem Church, Bath, Maine. Address: 897 Middle Street, Bath, Maine 04530.

     ODHNER. Grant HUGO. Ordained June 7, 1981; 2nd degree, May 9, 1982. Continued to serve as resident pastor of the Massachusetts circle. Address: 4 Park Avenue, Natick, Massachusetts 01760.

     ODHNER, JOHN LLEWELLYN. Ordained June 6, 1980; 2nd degree, November 22, 1981. Continued to serve as pastor to the North Florida district. Address: 413 Summit Avenue, Box 153, Lake Helen, Florida 32744.

     ORTHWEIN, WALTER EDWARD III. Ordained July 22, 1973; 2nd degree, June 12, 1978. Continued to serve as pastor of the Detroit society and also principal of the Detroit society Day School. Address: 132 Kirk Lane, Troy, Michigan 48084.

     PENDLETON, DANDRIDGE. Ordained June 19, 1952; 2nd degree, June 19, 1954. Continued to serve as instructor of theology and religion in the Academy of the New Church Theological School and College. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     PRYKE, MARTIN. Ordained June 19, 1940; 2nd degree, March 1, 1942. Continued to serve as instructor in religion in the Boys School of the Academy of the New Church. He also served as chaplain of Stuart Hall. In addition he is Director of the Academy Museum Committee. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     REUTER, NORMAN HAROLD. Ordained June 17, 1928; 2nd degree, October 13, 1930. Retired. Address: 566 Anne Street, Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania 19006.

     RICH, MORLEY DYCKMAN. Ordained June 19, 1938; 2nd degree, October 13, 1940. Retired. Address: 2655 S.W. Upper Drive Place, Portland, Oregon 97210.

     RILEY, NORMAN EDWARD. Recognized as a priest of the General Church January, 1978. Continued to serve as superintendent of the Mission in South Africa and as assistant to the pastor of the Durban society, visiting pastor to the Transvaal circle, and to the groups at Kent Manor, Carletonville, the Cape and the isolated. He was also Director of Evangelization in South Africa and Director of Religion Lessons, and from July, 1983, resident pastor of the Transvaal society. Address: 8 Iris Lane, Irene, TVL, Pretoria, 1675, Republic of South Africa.

     ROGERS, NORBERT HENRY. Ordained June 19, 1938; 2nd degree, October 13, 1940. Retired. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

532




     ROSE, DONALD LESLIE. Ordained June 16, 1957; 2nd degree June 23, 1963. Continued to serve as editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE, visiting pastor to North New Jersey/New York, circle, teacher in the Academy of the New Church, Director of General Church Religion Lessons program, and Chairman of the Sunday School Committee. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     ROSE, FRANK SHIRLEY. Ordained June 19, 1952; 2nd degree, August 2, 1953. Continued to serve as pastor of the Tucson circle, visiting pastor to the group in Phoenix and others in Arizona. Address: 2536 N. Stewart Avenue, Tucson, Arizona 85716.

     ROSE, PATRICK ALAN. Ordained June 19, 1975; 2nd degree, September 5, 1977. Continued to serve as a teacher of theology and religion in the Academy of the New Church. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     SANDSTROM, ERIK. Ordained June 10, 1934; 2nd degree, August 4, 1935. Retired and on active assignment. Served as resident pastor of the Oral-Hot Springs group in South Dakota Address: R.R. 1, Box101-M, Hot Springs, South Dakota 57747.

     SANDSTROM, ERIK EMANUEL. Ordained May 23, 1971; 2nd degree, May 21, 1972. Continued to serve as pastor of the Hurstville society, visiting pastor to the New Zealand group, and groups in Canberra and Tamworth, Brisbane, and the rest of Australia. Address: 22 Dudley Street, Penshurst, New South Wales, 2222, Australia.

     SCHNARR, ARTHUR WILLARD, JR. Ordained June 7, 1981; 2nd degree, June 19, 1983. Continued to serve as assistant to the pastor of the Olivet Church in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and responsible for the evangelization program for the Toronto society and the General Church in Canada. Address: 119 Martin Grove Road, Islington, Ontario, Canada M9B 4K7.

     SCHNARR. FREDERICK LAURIER. Ordained June 19, 1955; 2nd degree, May 12, 1957. Served as assistant pastor of the Bryn Athyn society, principal of the Bryn Athyn Church School, permanent chairman of the Education Council, chairman of the General Church Schools Committee, and Bishop's Representative for General Church schools. Address: Box 277, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     SIMONS, DAVID RESTYN. Ordained June 19, 1948, 2nd degree, June 19, 1950. Continued to serve as pastor to the Baltimore society. Address: 7204 Gunpowder Road, Baltimore, Maryland 21220.

     SIMONS, JEREMY FREDERICK. Ordained June 13, 1982; 2nd degree, July 31, 1983. Continued to serve as assistant to the pastor of the Kempton society. As of July 1, 1983, pastor of the Kempton society and headmaster of the Kempton society school. Address: R. D. 2, Box 217A, Kempton, Pennsylvania 19529.

     SMITH, CHRISTOPHER RONALD JACK. Ordained June 19, 1969; 2nd degree, May 9, 1971. Continued to serve as pastor of the Carmel Church in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Address: 16 Bannockburn Road, R.R. 2, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2G 3W5.

     SMITH, LAWSON MERRELL. Ordained June 10, 1979; 2nd degree, February 1, 1981. Continued to serve as assistant pastor in the Washington society and as visiting pastor to the Virginia area and principal of the Washington New Church School. As of August 1, 1983, pastor of the Washington society. Address: 3805 Enterprise Road, Mitchellville, Maryland 20716.

     SONESON, LORENTZ RAY. Ordained June 16, 1963; 2nd degree, May 16, 1965. Served as Secretary of the General Church, Secretary of the Council of the Clergy, Editor of New Church Home, Chairman of the General Church Publication Committee and Chairman of the Traveling Priests Committee. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     STROH, KENNETH OLIVER. Ordained June 19, 1948; 2nd degree, June 19, 1950. Continued to serve as acting pastor of the Colchester society and headmaster of the society's primary New Church School. As of July 1, 1983, resident pastor of the Colchester society. Address: 2 Christ Church Court, Colchester, England CO2 3AU.

533




     SYNNESTVEDT, LOUIS DANIEL. Ordained June 6, 1980. Continued to serve as assistant pastor of the Olivet Church, Toronto, Canada, and visiting pastor to the Montreal and Ottawa groups. Address: 279 Burnhamthorpe Road, Islington, Ontario, Canada M9B 1Z6.

     TAYLOR, DOUGLAS McLEOD. Ordained June 19, 1960; 2nd degree, June 19, 1962. Continued to serve as Director of Evangelization, Chairman of the Evangelization Committee, and Chairman of the Sound Recording Committee. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     WEISS, JAN HUGO. Ordained June 19, 1955; 2nd degree, May 12, 1957. Unassigned. Engaged in secular work. Preached several times in San Francisco and Los Angeles, California. Address: 2650 Del Vista Drive, Hacienda Heights, California 91745.

     Ministers

     COOPER, JAMES PENDLETON Ordained June 13, 1982. Continued to serve as assistant to the pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church and assistant to the principal, Bryn Athyn Church School. As of July he became assistant to the pastor of the Pittsburgh society. Address: 510 Lloyd Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15208.

     COWLEY, MICHAEL KEITH. Ordained June 13, 1982. Continued to serve as assistant to the pastor of the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Illinois. As of July, resident minister to Twin Cities and visiting minister in midwest district. Address: 3153 McKnight Road #340, White Bear Lake, Minnesota 55110.

     DE FIGUEIREDO, JOSE LOPES. Ordained October 24, 1965. Retired, on active assignment. Continued to give assistance to the pastor of the Rio de Janeiro society in Brazil. He reports that he has been engaged in translating Apocalypse Revealed into Portuguese. Address: Rua Des Isidro 155, Apt. 202, Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro 20521 RJ Brazil.

     GLADISH, NATHAN DONALD. Ordained June 13, 1982. Continued to serve as teacher of religion at the Academy of the New Church. As of July, assistant to the pastor of the Atlanta, Georgia, society and traveling minister in the southeast. Address: 3795 Montford Drive, Chamblee, Georgia 30341.

     ROGERS, N. BRUCE. Ordained January 12, 1969. Continued to serve as associate professor of religion, Latin and Hebrew at the Academy of the New Church College, head of the division of religion and sacred languages at the Academy New Church College, chairman of the General Church Translation Committee, and head of the Committee on the Revision of the King James Version of the Word. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     SCHNARR, ARTHUR WILLARD, JR. Ordained June 7, 1981. Assistant to the pastor of the Olivet Church in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and as of July 1, 1982, evangelization minister in the Olivet society and for the General Church in Canada. Address: 119 Martin Grove Road, Islington, Ontario, Canada M9B 4K7.

     Added to the above men are two priests in the first degree who are not yet members of the Council of the Clergy. They are:

     SCHNARR, Grant RONALD. Ordained June 12, 1983. Completed his final year at the theological school of the Academy of the New Church. As of July 1, 1983, assistant to the pastor at the Immanuel Church in Glenview, Illinois. Address: 73A Park Drive, Glenview, Illinois 60025.

     SCHORRAN, PAUL EDWARD. Ordained June 12, 1983. Completed his final year at the theological school of the Academy of the New Church. As of July 1, 1983, assistant to the pastor of the Durban society. Address: 30 Perth Road, Westville, Natal 3630, Republic of South Africa.

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     Authorized Candidates

CHILDS, ROBIN WAELCHLI, Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.
DIBB, ANDREW MALCOLM THOMAS, Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.
ELPHICK, FREDERICK CHARLES, Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.
FITZPATRICK, DANIEL, Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.
NOBRE, CRISTOVAO RABELO, Rua Xavier dos passar, 155, Apt. 101, Piedade, Rio de Janeiro RJ 20 740, Brazil.
ROGERS, DONALD KENNETH, JR., Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.
ROGERS, PRESCOTT ANDREW, Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.
ROSE, JONATHAN SEARLE, Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.
SILVERMAN, RAYMOND JOEL, Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     Associate Minister

     NICOLIER, ALAIN. Ordained May 31, 1979, into the first degree of the New Church. Minister to the New Church in France. Address: Bourguignon-Meursanges, 21200 Beaune, France.

     Evangelist

     EUBANKS, W. HAROLD. Rt. #2, S. Lee Street, Americus, Georgia 31709.

     South African Mission

     Pastors

     MBEDZI, PAULUS. Ordained March 23, 1958; 2nd degree, March 14, 1965. Resident pastor of the Hambrook society, visiting pastor of the Balfour society, the Greylingstad society and the Rietfontain group. Address: Hambrook Bantu School, P.B. 9912, Ladysmith, Natal 3370, South Africa.

     MBATHA, BHEKUYISE ALFRED. Ordained June 27, 1971;2nd degree, June 23, 1974. Natal district pastor, resident pastor of Kwa Mashu society. Address: P.O. Box 11, Kwa Mashu, Natal 4360, South Africa:

     NKABINDE, PETER PIET. Ordained June 23, 1974; 2nd degree, November 13, 1977. Transvaal district pastor, resident pastor of Diepkloof society, visiting pastor of the Alexandra society, visiting pastor of the Mofolo society, the Quthing society, and the Tembsia group. Address: 2375 Diepkloof, Zone 2, Soweto, Johannesburg 2100, South Africa.

     NZIMANDE, BENJAMIN ISHMAEL. Ordained August 2 1, 1938; 2nd degree, October 3, 1948. Resident pastor of the Clermont society, visiting pastor of the Enkumba society. Address: 1701-31st Avenue, Clermont Township, P.O. Clernaville, Natal 3620, South Africa.

     ZUNGU, AARON. Ordained August 21, 1938; 2nd degree, October 3, 1948. Mission translator. Visiting pastor of the Umlazi group. Address: c/o Kent Manor Farm, P-B Ntumeni, Kwa-Zulu 3830, South Africa.

     Authorized Candidate

     BUTELEZ, ISHBORN. Resident candidate of Impaphala society and visiting candidate to the Dondotha group. Address: 36 Perth Road, Westville 3630, Natal, South Africa.

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     SOCIETIES AND CIRCLES

          Society                               Pastor
ATLANTA, GEORGIA                    Rev. Christopher D. Bown
BRYN ATHYN CHURCH                    Rev. Kurt H. Asplundh
                               Rev. Thomas L. Kline, assistant pastor
                              Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr, assistant pastor
                              Rev. William H. Burke, assistant to the pastor
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND                Rev. David R. Simons
CARMEL CHURCH, KITCHENER, ONTARIO,
CANADA                              Rev. Christopher R. J. Smith
                               Rev. Mark R. Carlson, assistant pastor
CINCINNATI, OHIO                    Rev. Stephen D. Cole
COLCHESTER. ENGLAND                Rev. Kenneth O. Stroh
DETROIT, MICHIGAN                    Rev. Walter E. Orthwein
                               Rev. Kenneth J. Alden, assistant pastor
DURBAN, NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA           Rev. Geoffrey H. Howard
                               Rev. Norman E. Riley, assistant to the pastor
                              Rev. Paul E. Schorran, assistant to the pastor
KEMPTON, PENNSYLVANIA                Rev. Jeremy F. Simons
                              Rev. Arne Bau-Madsen, associate pastor
HURSTVILLE, N.S.W., AUSTRALIA      Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom
IMMANUEL CHURCH, GLENVIEW
ILLINOIS                              Rev. Brian W. Keith
                               Rev. Eric H. Carswell, assistant to the pastor
                               Rev. Grant R. Schnarr, assistant to the pastor
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA           Rev. Michael D. Gladish
MICHAEL CHURCH, LONDON, ENGLAND      Rev. Robert D. McMaster
OLIVET CHURCH, TORONTO, ONTARIO,
CANADA                              Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs
                               Rev. Louis D. Synnestvedt, assistant pastor
                               Rev. Arthur W. Schnarr, assistant to the pastor
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA           Rev. Ragnar Boyesen
                               Rev. James P. Cooper, assistant to the pastor
RIO DE JANEIRO. BRAZIL           Rev. Jose L. de Figueiredo, retired, on active assignment
                              Candidate Cristovao R. Nobre
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA                Rev. Cedric King
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN                    Rev. Roy Franson
TRANSVAAL, REP. OF SOUTH AFRICA     Rev. Norman Riley
WASHINGTON, DC.                    Rev. Lawson M. Smith
                              Rev. Mark E. Alden assistant to the pastor

     Circle                              Visiting Pastor or Minister
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO               Rev. J. Clark Echols, Jr.
AMERICUS, GEORGIA                    Rev. Christopher D. Bown
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND                Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS               Rev. Grant H. Odhner (resident)
CONNECTICUT                     Rev. Glenn G. Alden
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK                Rev. Roy Franson
DAWSON CREEK, B.C., CANADA           Rev. William H. Clifford (resident)

536



DENVER, COLORADO                    Rev. J. Clark Echols, Jr. (resident)
EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN                Rev. Kenneth J. Alden
ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA                    Rev. James P. Cooper
FORT WORTH, TEXAS                    Rev. Brian W. Keith, supervisor
THE HAGUE, HOLLAND                    Rev. Robert D. McMaster
JONKOPING, SWEDEN                    Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen (resident)
LAKE HELEN, FLORIDA                    Rev. John L. Odhner (resident)
LETCHWORTH, ENGLAND                Rev. Ottar T. Larsen
MADISON. WISCONSIN                    Rev. Brian W. Keith, supervisor
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND                Rev. Ottar T. Larsen
MASSACHUSETTS                    Rev. Grant H. Odhner (resident)
MIAMI, FLORIDA                    Rev. Daniel W. Heinrichs (resident)
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA               Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs, supervisor
NORTH NEW JERSEY-NEW YORK           Rev. Donald L. Rose
NORTH OHIO                     Rev. Kenneth J. Alden
OSLO, NORWAY                    Rev. Roy Franson
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA                Rev. Wendel R. Barnett
ST. PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS. MINNESOTA      Rev. Michael K. Cowley (resident)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA          Rev. Wendel R. Barnett (resident)
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON                    Rev. Kent Junge (resident)
SOUTH OHIO                     Rev. Stephen D. Cole (resident)
TUCSON, ARIZONA                    Rev. Frank S. Rose (resident)

     New Assignments for Ministers

     1982-1983

REV. ALFRED ACTON           Bishop's Representative, Director of the General Church Correspondence School, Chairman of the General Church Liturgy Committee and available to teach religion in the Academy schools
REV. MARK EDWARD ALDEN           Assistant to the pastor of the Washington society
REV. PETER MARTIN BUSS           President of the Academy of the New Church
REV. ERIC HUGH CARSWELL      Assistant to the pastor of the Immanuel Church society
REV. ANDREW JAMES HEILMAN      The faculty of the Academy of the New Church
REV. DANIEL WINTHROP HEINRICHS      Pastor of the Miami circle and visiting pastor in the South Florida district
REV. BRIAN WALTER KEITH      Pastor of the Immanuel Church society and President of the Midwestern Academy
REV. JEREMY FREDERICK SIMONS      Pastor of the Kempton, Pennsylvania, society
REV. JAMES PENDLETON COOPER      Assistant to the pastor of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, society
REV. MICHAEL KEITH COWLEY      Resident minister in the Twin Cities circle and visiting minister to the midwest district
REV. NATHAN DONALD GLADISH      Assistant to the pastor of the Atlanta, Georgia society and traveling minister in the southeast
REV. Grant RONALD SCHNARR      Assistant to the pastor of the Immanuel Church society
REV. PAUL EDWARD SCHORRAN      Assistant to the pastor of the Durban society

537


NEWS FROM BENADE 1983

NEWS FROM BENADE              1983

     Bishop Benade in Egypt-II

     (In 1878 Bishop Benade spent some ten weeks in Egypt with John Pitcairn, eagerly searching the ancient tombs and temples for signs of the Ancient Church. After his return, he gave a series of twelve lectures on "Antiquities of the East in the Light of the New Church." Although Benade's manuscript has not come down to us, an able contemporary account of the lectures by Rev. E. J. Schreck appeared in the Morning Light, an English New Church periodical favorable toward the young Academy movement. From these pages we will cull the main points made by Benade.)
     As an introduction, Bishop Benade read from a letter of Swedenborg to the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences in which the seer of the New Church described the Egyptian hieroglyphics as "correspondences of natural and spiritual things," and offered to publish an explanation of the hieroglyphics, which he alone could accomplish. As Benade said, Swedenborg's offer was not accepted, "and now it is left to the New Church to work out the correspondences of the hieroglyphics." He added, ". . . I will probably take a very long time to arrive at all that Swedenborg could have given on the subject, if it can be done at all."
     When Champollion, the Frenchman, deciphered the hieroglyphics from the Rosetta Stone, he made a great breakthrough, and yet it is only the literal sense. The genuine sense can be developed only by the study of correspondences in the New Church. Modern systems of philosophy, traced back through Greece and Egypt, have become so perverted that men say, "I think, therefore I am"-whereas the truth is, "I am, therefore I think."
     To the Egyptians, Egypt was the center of the world. They represented countries by human figures. To them, Egypt was a man lying on his back with his feet toward the north and head toward the south; but resting on his right arm, he looked to the north. The Egyptians determined the points of the compass from the north, while the Hebrews determined them from the east; for the spiritual looks to the east, while the scientific looks to the north.

     (To be continued)

538


REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF GENERAL CHURCH RELIGION LESSONS 1983

REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF GENERAL CHURCH RELIGION LESSONS       Donald L. Rose       1983

     In this year's report I am going to avoid naming people. This is not from a lack of gratitude! Once, when Rev. Karl Alden was Director, his report included the names of seventy-eight people! There are so many who give their time and talent.
     It is important to know the names of those who manage certain aspects of our work. Mrs. Dan McQueen is chairman of this committee. Mrs. Tom Kline is in charge of the Festival Lessons sent out on five occasions during the year. Mrs. Boyd Asplundh manages the pre-school program mailed to isolated families, and also the Resource Center in Cairncrest.
     Resources for families and Sunday Schools-that is what we are gathering in abundance. It is good to contemplate a time of plenty and to assure readers that we have more available than can be described here. You can write to us for an up-to-date catalog, and you can write for individual attention to your needs in teaching the Word to children.
     The updated catalog is overwhelming in a delightful way. It takes 31 pages to list the many things available to help in teaching the Word. These are conveniently divided into fifteen different sections, including Teaching Aids, Pictures, Maps, Tapes, Music, Lesson Plans, Festival Projects and Slides.
     A new item we are delighted to share is an article entitled "Creating Imaginative Projects about the Word." We will gladly send you a copy with the name of the highly qualified author.
     Something we notice in the General Church these days is Sunday School development. There are more Sunday Schools. They are better organized, and there is increasing effort to find effective ways of teaching. And increasingly we are seeing the adoption in different centers of the six volumes of Bible Study Notes, often referred to as the "Dole Notes."
     In some cases, these notes are being used for selected series. They can also form a curriculum which goes through the Word each year in a different way for four years.
     One of the appealing characteristics of these notes is that they provide for teaching the same story to each age level. On a given Sunday one can say that the Sunday School focused on one part of the Word, rather than have as many different stories as there are class levels. Advantages of this become evident on reflection.

539


Because this works so well, various people have undertaken the work of outlining projects and activities to go with this set of lessons. We have ready at hand the fruits of their labors. (Write to us, and we will be glad to be specific and to name names.)
     And what of the implications for Religion Lessons mailed out to families who may not have a Sunday School nearby? For years we have been hearing that some families would prefer to have lessons in which each member of the family takes the same subject, even if at different levels. The time is ripe to respond to this.
     A small "task force" now meets weekly for the purpose of producing lessons which differ from the graded lessons that are still being mailed out to those who request them. And what are those lessons? They are fully listed on page 19 of the Sunday School Catalog mentioned above.
     The lessons include a talk for the whole family, as well as projects for different age levels, and there is a new emphasis on creative activity involving more active response. The effort to produce these has been consumer-oriented. They are being improved as suggestions come back from those who use them.
     Learning by doing, the "task force" tried two sample lessons, and then produced a whole series on the Gospel of John. Currently a series on the Gospel of Mark is being produced. An obvious goal is to provide project lessons for the entire Word according to the Dole outline. Since that means more than 150 lessons, and since current volunteer work turns them out at the rate of about two a month, it would be premature to make extended promises. We are building our inventory and meeting needs of the present.
     Statistics: When we report the figures for 1983 they will reflect a new policy of sending the lessons only if they are requested. Here are the figures for religion lessons mailed in 1982.

                    Kindergarten      48
                    Grade One           28
                    Grade Two           23
                    Grade Three      33
                    Grade Four           27
                    Grade Five          20
                    Grade Six           20
                    Grade Seven      11
                    Grade Eight      14
                    Grade Wine          15
                    Grade Ten           8
                    Grade Eleven      3
                                   250

540



In the Pre-school program

               2-year-olds      60
                    3-year-olds      70
                    4-year-olds      73
                              203

     Final Note on Tape Recordings: During 1983 a delightful tape was completed on the story of Moses. Those who have enjoyed the tape on Noah will find the same appealing quality in this one. The Director of Religion Lessons will send on request tapes for teenagers produced informally.
     Donald L. Rose,
          Director
SWEDENBORG'S LISTS 1983

SWEDENBORG'S LISTS       Rev. FRANK S. ROSE       1983

     BY REV. FRANK S. ROSE WITH ASSISTANCE FROM THE CURATOR OF SWEDENBORGIANA, JONATHAN S. ROSE

     There is something fascinating about lists, as we see from a recent bestseller that consists entirely of them. Swedenborg loved making lists. When, as a young man in his twenties he was touring Europe, he wrote letters back home and in many of them numbered the points he was making.1 He wrote to his brother-in-law, Eric Benzelius, listing the books he had read,2 and the ones he bought.3 Later he included a list of fourteen of his inventions.4 When he became a member of the House of Nobles he sent a number of memorials to the Swedish Diet, and some to the king. Most of these have numbered points in them.5 When Swedenborg was 46 years old he became involved in a discussion about war with Russia. The Secret Committee was arguing that the central aim of Swedish policy should be the "annihilation of Russia," and Swedenborg drafted a memo presenting a number of reasons why such a policy would be disastrous.6
     Swedenborg traveled to the mining and manufacturing centers of Europe and returned with a number of ideas on how to improve the smelting operations used in Sweden. He was convinced that they could improve output by 10% and wanted to have a serious test made using traditional methods first and then his proposal. He set out a list of thirteen conditions for the experiment, received a reply to all of his points, and fired back a reply of his own, but evidently became discouraged with their conservative approach and dropped the project.7

541



     On his travels he was an enthusiastic tourist. He kept a journal of his trips in 1733, 1734, 1737 and 1738 and the journals are full of lists-of nobles, bishops, places of interest, things he had learned and so on.8 Ten years later his spiritual experiences began and we find in his packing list for a journey in 1748 the usual items of socks, muffler, neckties, night cap and dressing gown, tea, penknife, etc., plus various documents including a Hebrew lexicon and a note "to take the Ex. Sp. and to lay it on the top."9 Tafel thought that Swedenborg was referring to the Arcana Caelestia (The Spiritual Explanation), but more recent scholars have concluded that it was the manuscript of the Spiritual Diary which Swedenborg did not call "Spiritual Diary" but Experientiae Spiriruales, or Spiritual Experiences.10
     On the 19th of June 1770 Swedenborg was in Stockholm, and witnessed in the spiritual world the sending out of the twelve disciples to proclaim the gospel that "the Lord God Jesus Christ reigns.11 He had finished the writing of the True Christian Religion and was preparing for his final journey. He would publish the book in Amsterdam, and then move on to England where he died on the 29th of March, 1772. Before leaving Sweden he wrote out a list of the valuables he left behind never to take again. On it are various items of silverware, plates, bowls, a coffee pot, a tea caddy, a sugar bowl, scent bottle, gold watch with gold chain, six snuff boxes and his diploma of nobility, plus a number of other items.12
     Less than two years later he wrote down things of far greater value, given him by angels. These gifts would be with him after death. He wrote the list on the inside cover of his personal copy of the True Christian Religion.13

     List of Valuables

1.      A beautiful red chest, consisting of five rows, five drawers in each row
2.      A handsome dress, a handsome cap
3.      A little crown with five small diamonds, which is worn in heaven on one side of the head
4.      A beautiful little rose containing a very brilliant diamond which later was set in a golden ring
5.      A tiara, or decoration for the head
6.      A necklace of diamonds; a pendant of gold with a diamond
7.      A bracelet of diamonds
8.      Earrings of three diamonds each side

542



9.      A box in a chest wherein are shining crystals, signifying regeneration to eternity
10.      Something precious in the hand, which was placed in a beautiful box on the twenty-eighth of November, 1770
11.      A jeweled pendant containing a beautiful diamond
12.      A handsome hat for me
13.      Something precious which cannot be seen by spirits but only by angels, May twenty-eighth, 1771; a cane with a beautiful gold knob, on August 13, 1771

     There were other lists by Swedenborg. From time to time he sat down and projected the books he was going to write over the next few years. He did this in the scientific period of his life, when he was writing on anatomy, and even as he wrote the Writings. We will look at these in later articles.

     BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alfred Acton, Letters and Memorials of Emanuel Swedenborg Vol. 1, Swedenborg 'scientific Association, Bryn Athyn, 1948
R. L. Tafel, Documents Concerning the Life and Character of Emanuel Swedenborg Vol. I, 1875, Vol. II 1877, Swedenborg Society, London
Cyriel Odhner Sigstedt, The Swedenborg Epic, Bookman Associates, New York, 1952

     Footnotes

1 Examples: Letters and Memorials pp. 85-87, 183
2 Tafel I p. 224 (Doc. 44)= Letters and Memorials p. 42; see also Tafel I p. 23 (Doc. 205).
3 Tafel I p. 223 (Doc. 44)=Letters and Memorials p. 41
4 Tafel I p. 230, 231 (Doc. 46)=Letters and Memorials pp. 57, 58
5 Examples: Letters and Memorials pp. 289-296, 306-307
6 Letters and Memorials pp. 467-475
7 Letters and Memorials pp. 276-288
8 Tafel II p. 31 (Doc. 205) pp. 99-101, 106-108 (Doc. 206)
9 Tafel I pp. 384-386 (Doc. 135)
10 Dr. John Durban Odhner, preface to the new Latin edition of the Diary
11 True Christian Religion n. 791; cf. nos. 4, 108
12 Tafel I pp. 389, 390 (Doc. 139)
13 Swedenborg Epic p. 422 and footnote #735 on p. 480
Title Unspecified 1983

Title Unspecified              1983

     To be able to love another more than self is the Lord's gift (AC 1594).

543


DAILY CALENDAR READINGS 1983

DAILY CALENDAR READINGS              1983

     Extra copies of the Daily Calendar Readings for the year 1984 can be obtained by writing Rev. Lorentz R. Soneson, Secretary, General Church of the New Jerusalem, Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009. The remainder of the readings will be published in the January, 1984 issue.

     January 1983

     REVELATION               ARCANA COELESTIA
1      Sun      22:     1-9          3604-3605
2      Son           10-21      3606-3608

     GENESIS
3      Tue      1:     1-19          3609-3610
4      Wed          20-31          3611-3614:2
5      Thu     2:     1-15      3614:3-3616
6      Fri          16-25          3617-3620
7      Sat      3:      1-13          3621-3623
8      Sun          14-24          3624-3628
9      Mon      4:     1-15          3629-3634
10      Tue          16-26          3635-3639
11      Wed      5:      1-14          3640-3645
12      Thu          15-32          3646-3649
13      Fri      6:     1-11          3650-3651:4
14      Sat          12-22          3651:5-3653
15      Sun          7          3654:1-6
16      Mon     8:     1-12          3654:7-3655
17      Tue                    Gen. xxviii, 3656-3659
18      Wed      8:     13-22      3660-3664
19      Thu          9: 1-17     3665
20      Fri           18-29          3666-3669
21      Sat          10          3670-3672
22      Sun     11:     1-26          3673-3678
23      Mon     11:      27-12:9     3679
24      Tue      12:     10-20          3680-3686
25      Wed      13               3687-3688
26      Thu      14:     1-12          3689-3690
27      Fri          13-24          3691-3692
28      Sat          15          3693:1-4
29      Sun          16          3693:5-3695
30      Mon      17:     1-14          3696
31      Tue          15-27          3697-3699

544


Editorial Pages 1983

Editorial Pages       Editor       1983

     SWEDENBORG AND THE SHEPHERDS

     Last month our editorial about "glory across the sky" was centered on no. 81 of Conjugial Low, which we quoted in full. Have you noticed the similarity of that passage to the description of the shepherds around whom shone the glory of the Lord? Both use the word "suddenly." "Suddenly . . . a multitude of the heavenly host." "Suddenly a flood of light shone brilliantly down upon us."
     It was in the darkness of night that the glory of the Lord came upon the shepherds. It was when Swedenborg and an angel were in sadness for the human face that they looked up, "and behold the whole sky above us appeared lit up, and we heard a chorus. . . ." "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace . . . ."
     It is said that the shepherds gladly returned, praising God "for all the things that they had heard and seen." Swedenborg went home in joy and wrote down "the things that were seen and heard."
     It is the prediction at the close of this passage that we now commend to your attention. As New Church men and women are we optimistic or pessimistic about the future of mankind? Reasons for pessimism can seem overwhelming. Just read the pages prior to Conjugial Love no. 81. The state of the world was dramatized in such a way that Swedenborg was "grieved in spirit that marriages, which in the ancient ages were most holy, are so wretchedly changed."
     But if we really hear the message of the Writings we will be optimistic. "I now add this," says the passage and gives the promise that the precious love will be raised up anew by the Lord. Do not allow any sad scenes to rob you of the hope that is here presented. For the young people looking to marriage in our generation the New Church attitude is one of optimism, as it is for generations yet to come. The Lord's purpose is a heaven from the human race, and on earth the gift of inmost peace to men of good will.

545




     THE NEW CHURCH AND INDIVIDUAL STORIES

     Talk about a church, and you are talking about "every individual member" (see AC 82). This month we look at annual statistics, and we bear in mind that church membership is a matter of individual stories. The first public meeting of readers of the Writings, a meeting which led eventually to the formation of the New Church, took place two hundred years ago this month. One of the first things they did was tell individual stories.
     Robert Hindmarsh testifies:

     At this first public meeting, if it may be so called, we mutually congratulated each other on the good fortune and happiness we enjoyed in having become acquainted with the Writings. . . .

     He remembers with particular pleasure the spirit of the story-telling on that historic occasion.

     To hear the story of each other's first reception of the doctrines, and to observe the animation that sparkled in the eye and brightened up the countenance of each speaker as it came to his turn to relate the particulars of that by him never-to-be-forgotten event, was itself a little heaven (page 16 Rise and Progress).

     We would like to mark this occasion by telling one particular story. In any such story one can pinpoint certain events and even date them, but there are subtle elements that might not even be recognized as part of the story of the Lord's leading. An Australian in his early teens found himself fascinated with a book by Thomas Carlyle, Sartor Resartus. He marked and underlined passages which stirred his growing mind. He did not look upon that as a really significant event in the story of his life until with surprise he thought of it in retrospect many years later.
     A significant event in his adult years was his reading of the New Testament and becoming a Christian. One day while vacationing in the city of Sydney he was introduced to a widely read Christian, who happened to mention to him that he had acquired a book entitled Heaven and Hell This Dart of the story is told on the second page of a booklet recently published by the General Church Evangelization Committee. The booklet is A Great Revelation (which has been printed five times in Australia), and the writer of whom we speak is Mr. Basil Lazer.
     When he returned to his home in the capital of Australia he took with him the address of the man from whom he could obtain a copy of Heaven and Hell.

546


(The man was Rev. Don Rose, who is telling you this story now.) Basil's reactions to the book upon receiving it are also described in A Great Revelation in which he recalls, "I had never heard of Emanuel Swedenborg."
     The letters flew between Hurstville and Canberra, and soon members of the Hurstville society agreed it was time for the pastor to visit this remarkable man. I remember taking on that 600-mile journey a long typed list of questions that Basil wanted to discuss. Prominently displayed in his handsome apartment was a collection of all the New Church books he had by that time acquired.

     [Photo of Mr. Basil Lazer of Canberra, Australia, holding a copy of his latest booklet, Shunning Evils as Sins]

     Basil's story is one of influencing other people for good. In September of 1959 the news notes in NEW CHURCH LIFE described his visit to Sydney. (He was baptized in June of that year.) Norman Heldon wrote of Basil's influence on Hurstville members. "Because of his evident love for and excellent knowledge of the doctrines, his visit was an inspiration to the Hurstville society." Basil began to make friends through his letters to New Church people in different countries, especially in New Zealand. A great friendship grew between him and Rev. Karl Alden who wrote to him from Bryn Athyn.

547


In October of 1959 Mr. Alden published something of Basil's story in New Church Education in which it was noted that Basil had in Australia become "the good friend of young and old" and had inspired people "by his affectionate reception and keen understanding of the Writings."
     In concluding an article that year Basil wrote, "Eventually, I hope to read all these wonderful Writings, for which I thank the Lord with all my heart." He continued to read and to write. (At least half a dozen of his booklets have been listed in the New Church Reader's Guide.)
     In 1961 this magazine first reviewed one of Basil's booklets. "We are indebted to Mr. Lazer for his careful selection of passages from the Writings relevant to his topics" (p. 468). And 1961 was the year when he remembered his reading of Carlyle in his youth. He wrote a fascinating letter to New Church Education. First he quoted the teaching that each individual is from infancy "led by the Lord in the least particulars" (DP 203). Then he told about a discovery in his life's story. "I have just finished reading Swedenborg, Life and Teaching by Trobridge. He was amazed at a statement in the final chapter of that book.
     "Although the fact is not generally recognized. Sartor Resartus by Thomas Carlyle is saturated with Swedenborg. Basil writes: "Now I will tell you why that short sentence had such an effect upon me."
     He found the copy of Carlyle's book and the passages he had marked years before. They were the passages that reflected the teaching of the Writings. He gives several examples of such passages and the numbers from the Writings which he sees reflected in them. (See New Church Education, 1961, pp. 212-215.)
     In 1962 Rev. Kurt Asplundh reviewed in NEW CHURCH LIFE Basil's booklet All Things New. In his final paragraph he said, "We hope that wide distribution of this pamphlet in Australia and other countries will plant seeds. . . ." The "wide distribution" in other countries did come to pass. Quite a number were circulated in India, but it was in West Africa that they were most widely received. Basil, having published the booklets at his own expense, mailed them at his own expense to people requesting them from Africa. He entered into personal correspondence with many readers. Visitors to Ghana have commented that many people there learned about the Writings through this benefactor in Australia.
     Twenty years ago Basil attended a meeting of the Sons of the Academy and during the discussion resolved that he would write a booklet related to the needs expressed (see NCL, 1963, p. 236).

548


That booklet was entitled Gems from the Writings. In 1964 Rev. Cairns Henderson reviewed another booklet by the prolific Australian.

     Mr. Lazer writes with simplicity, modesty, and an evident desire to share with others the insights he has gained through his study of the Writings. It seems quite clear that he has read extensively and thought and reflected much, and his comments on human nature, occasionally seasoned with humor, show a penetration which finds confirmation of much of what the Writings teach about it (NCL, 1964, p. 423).

     In 1965 Rev. Henderson commented, "During the six years since he was first introduced to the Writings several interesting pamphlets have come from Mr. Lazer's pen" (p. 474).'The following year in reviewing yet another pamphlet Mr. Henderson spoke of "the admirable purpose of letting the Writings speak for themselves." Then in 1967 he reviewed another! Here he commented that Mr. Lazer "shows the same skill in making his selections and demonstrates that he has not forgotten the state of the beginner."
     In 1970 this magazine noted the publication of an excellent 64-page booklet entitled, The Origin, Significance and Purpose of Temptation. The most recent booklet is an excellent presentation entitled, Shunning Evils as Sins. (See the photograph in this issue.)
     On December 5, 1783, readers of the Writings "congratulated each other" on their good fortune in finding the Writings. We have chosen on this anniversary to congratulate Mr. Basil Lazer for almost twenty-five years of amazing generosity and dedication. And we invite our readers this month to reflect on that "good fortune and happiness" for which those men in London congratulated each other two hundred years ago.
SWEDENBORG FOUNDATION DATE BOOK 1983

SWEDENBORG FOUNDATION DATE BOOK              1983

     Many people like the idea of a useful date book as a means of propaganda. The Swedenborg Foundation carries this idea out with imagination and excellence. The Date Book for 1984 has the days blocked out in a way that is both attractive and handy for making appointment notes.
     There are quotations from William Blake and selections from the Writings on the corners of the pages. For example, we have juxtaposed with the teaching that the Divine is the same in greatest and the least things the following: To see a world in a grain of sand/And a heaven in a wild flower/Hold infinity in the palm of your hand/And eternity in an hour. . . .
     The art by William Blake appears "courtesy of the Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, PA.
     Copies of the Date Book are available from the Swedenborg Foundation, Inc., 139 East 23rd St., New York, NY 10010.

549


BECOME A READER OF NEW CHURCH LIFE 1983

BECOME A READER OF NEW CHURCH LIFE              1983

     We would be delighted to have new readers in 1984. We would welcome the encouragement of new subscribers, and we are talking about 12 issues for less than it costs for one cup of coffee per week. Although we think the magazine more stimulating than the coffee, they can be enjoyed simultaneously.
     We would like to sell you on our future, but it is our past we can show you. We don't just think, we know there is interesting and valuable reading coming in NEW CHURCH LIFE in 1984. We have the promises, and in some cases the material is already in our hands. It is rare when one can use the phrase "by popular demand" without overstating the case. But it is by just such demand that we are printing soon the speech given to the Sons of the Academy last Charter Day entitled "Some Thoughts on Masculinity." Those who heard Rev. Peter Buss give that speech want to read it, and those who missed it want to do so too. Another sure thing in 1984 is a review by Bishop Willard Pendleton of Richard Gladish's biography of William Benade.
     A word about letters. During 1983 we published more than two dozen from various localities in five countries. They illustrate a thinking together that is especially useful for the church. It gives us satisfaction this month to publish a letter from a woman in California who obviously enjoyed an item written by one of our readers in New England (see page 551). We are reminded that in the September issue a doctor wrote from Ohio about the "philosophical gem" written by one of our Bryn Athyn readers.
     NEW CHURCH LIFE has been in business for 103 years. It is now enjoying an era of plenty. More minds are being touched by the truths of the Writings, and expressions of their thoughts are forthcoming. A notable factor recently is the increasing number of new ministers whose acquaintance you may make through these pages.
     You are holding in your hands a detailed record of what we printed in 1983. Please take a while to page through the index in this issue. Let some of those titles catch your eye. Look at the alphabetical list under baptisms, marriages, confirmations. And if you are only partly convinced write to us for one more free issue to help you decide whether to subscribe. Subscribers may save time by phoning (215) 947-2317. We will bill you for the $12.00 and start your issues coming.

550


SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN 1983

SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN       OONAGH PIENAAR       1983




     Communications
     Dear Editor:

     Scripture tells us that we must become as little children in order to enter the kingdom of heaven of God. Young children have faith in their parents and teachers, which is of such a quality of innocence that they believe it is impossible for them to make a mistake. They also have a belief in themselves, that they are very special, and that no one will harm them. Alas, this innocence is often soon lost. We live in a highly competitive world, where "first is best," and the young child is soon made aware of this. As a teacher I watch them beginning school with the light of eagerness in their eyes for the delights of knowledge. For the lucky ones this becomes a reality, but what of the others?-the ones who soon discover that they are not going to be the first or the best in any field, perhaps for the rest of their years at school? I remember what a shock it was for me when I discovered the awful truth that I was not a "success" in any way, and that I was going to stay an "also ran." These days this reality often comes earlier. I watch the ones who never come first or second in anything, and who are consequently often social outcasts. Some of them just keep on trying, and what guts that takes! Others become aggressive and problem kids because that's the only way that they can get attention, no matter how negative; and a few become totally noncompetitive because they just can't win! What of those golden days of childhood? For many they are a torment and leave a permanent sense of humiliation. What can we, as New Churchmen, do to make childhood a happier time? Jesus often used a child or children to bring home a message to His disciples. Should we not look after our children to ensure that they grow up believing in love for each other, believing in themselves, and above all believing that God is a God of love and that He is the Supreme Being? The first two beliefs are vital to believing in the third-that God is a God of love. It is only by the examples shown us as children that we will perpetuate those examples. The love of parents, teachers and peers, and the respect they give us as children, whether or not we shine on the sports field or in the classroom, is vital to the survival of love, as our Lord meant the word. "I give unto you a new command; that you love one another as I have loved you."
     OONAGH PIENAAR,
          Durban, South Africa

551


"ORIENTATION" APPRECIATED 1983

"ORIENTATION" APPRECIATED       Mrs. CHRISTINE (MRS. PHILIP C.) PENDLETON       1983

Dear Editor:

     What a sparkling jewel was "Orientation" by G. Myers in the June issue. So simple and yet profound-truly unique. Consider for a moment where outside the body of knowledge contained in the Writings could anyone find such a clarification. It once again reminds me of my adult introduction into the New Church, and my repeated reaction to what I was hearing: "So that's what that really means!"
     If we were searching for introductory messages to use for evangelization (and we are), I would nominate this as an excellent one to use.
     The words orient, oriental, orientation, and the concept of facing east as having a spiritual meaning are commonly used and known. But only through the revelation of the Writings can we understand the truth within these words. What clearer demonstration could there be to show the true connection between religion and everyday life!
     CHRISTINE (MRS. PHILIP C.) PENDLETON,
          Palo Alto, California
Title Unspecified 1983

Title Unspecified              1983

     Man does not at all know what is given to him gratis (AC 5649).
NOW AVAILABLE 1983

NOW AVAILABLE              1983

     The second Latin edition of Swedenborg's diary (Volume I of VI), published by the Academy of the New Church and newly entitled Experientiae Spirituales is now available.
     This first volume (over 600 pages), introduced by a forty-page English preface by the editor, Dr. J. Durban Odhner, that will be interesting and exciting to all readers of Swedenborg's Writings, contains 403 paragraphs from Explicatio in Verbum Veteris Testamenti (The Word Explained) that were intended by the author to be included in this work; a reconstruction of the "missing numbers" (1-148 1/3) from the author's index; several items from the Index Biblicus Esajae et Jeremiae; and the paragraphs numbered 149-972 - (likewise, as explained in the preface, originally extracted from volumes of Index Biblicus).
     The book can be obtained from the Academy Book Room or the General Church Book Center, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009.

552


APPLICATIONS FOR ADMISSION TO THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH BOYS SCHOOL AND GIRLS SCHOOL-NEW POLICY 1983

APPLICATIONS FOR ADMISSION TO THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH BOYS SCHOOL AND GIRLS SCHOOL-NEW POLICY              1983

     Requests for application forms for admission of new students to the Academy Secondary Schools should be made by March 16, 1984. Letters should be addressed to Mrs. Sanfrid Odhner, Principal of the Girls School, or Mr. Burt Friesen, Principal of the Boys School, at The Academy of the New Church, Box 278, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009. Letters should include the student's name, parents' address, the class the student will be entering, the name and address of the school he or she is now attending, and whether the student will be a day or a dormitory student.
     Completed application forms and accompanying material should be received by the Academy by June 30, 1984.
     A late fee of $20.00 will be charged for applications that are requested after March 16, 1984, and also a late fee of $20.00 will be charged if application form and accompanying material are not in by June 30, 1984.
     We sincerely regret implementing this policy, but with more careful planning and organization being required of us we need your cooperation with this schedule.

     APPLICATIONS FOR ADMISSION TO THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH COLLEGE

     Requests for application forms for admission to the Academy College for 1984-85 should be addressed to Dean Robert W. Gladish, The Academy of the New Church College, Box 278, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009. Completed application forms and accompanying transcripts and recommendations should be received by April 15, 1984, if the applicant is to avoid a $20 late fee.
     It should also be noted that the college operates on a three-term year and that applications for entrance to the winter and spring terms of any academic year can be processed, provided that they are received by Dean Gladish at least one month prior to the beginning of the new term.
     Catalogs describing the College programs and course offerings are also available upon request at the same address.

553


Church News 1983

Church News       Helga Childs       1983

     TRAVELS WITH THE CHILDSES

     Our six-week trip is now a thing of the past, and our minds and hearts are crowded with beautiful and happy memories. We spent time in or touched down in eight countries: the U.S., Brazil, South Africa, Nairobi, Israel, Germany, Switzerland, and France.
     The first city was Rio de Janeiro. Here, in spite of language and cultural differences, we came to know a thriving church society of about 50 people, ably led by their retired pastor, Jose Lopes de Figueiredo, and their new, young aspiring minister, Cristavao Rabelo Nobre. Our kind hosts showed us all over this incredible city where beauty and appalling poverty are side by side.
Geoffrey's work included two classes and church as well as teaching Cristavao and answering his questions. It made us feel desolate to have to leave these loving people behind when it came time to move on to our next stop.
     On the way to Durban, South Africa, we touched down in Capetown and Johannesburg. After spending two nights in a restful spot on the Indian Ocean to recover from jet lag, we joined the large and very social Durban group. This society is very similar to Toronto in size and nature.
     The first weekend was a mini assembly. Geoffrey gave three talks and the sermon at church. Part of the festivities on Saturday evening included welcoming Paul Schorran, who arrived shortly after ourselves. He has been warmly and enthusiastically received and seems to be happily settling into his new life there. Sandwiched in between work were a great many social engagements a d side trips, one to Kent Manor with the Barry Parkers and one to the Drakensburg Mountains with the Geoffrey Howards, who were our hosts while we were in Durban. Once more we loved the people and hated to leave them.
     We visited mission churches at Impaphala, Claremont, and Kwamashu (where Geoffrey preached), in the Durban area, and then the Mooki New Church and Diepkloof in Soweto near Johannesburg.
     Next we spent five days in the Johannesburg area staying with Don and Stella Came, who made us feel very comfortable. This society is brand new and is in the early stages of organization. Norman Riley has been called as their pastor and is now living in Irene near the Ball family and several others. Mixed in between class and church, we saw a gold mine, the Vaal river, and a Trekker memorial. We parted from Norman and Maureen at our 7 p.m. flight to Frankfurt, with a very real sadness at leaving Africa and all our new friends.
     The trip to Israel was long and grueling, but well worth it once we reached Jerusalem. Actually, seeing the places where the familiar stories from the Word were enacted was thrilling beyond words. Any discomforts or complications fade from memory and to anyone who loves these stories we highly recommend making this pilgrimage. Our adventures on these six days are another whole story. Anyone wanting to hear it and see our pictures is very welcome to drop in at our house.

     We traveled to France by way of plane to Zurich, and then by train to Geneva and on into Burgundy. Here we entered into the family life of the minister and his wife, Alain and Kathy Nicolier. They specialize in caring for needy people. This weekend they held the first retreat in their home which has been converted from "house-barn-pig sty-chicken coop" to "home-church-Sunday school-pastor's study" virtually by their own hands.

554




[Photographs of the interior of the Durban Church and the Rev. Geoffrey Howard and family.]

555




It is a privilege to witness their devotion to the church. We felt the language barrier keenly as we tried to enter into the weekend's activities. If we ever take this trip again, we vow to improve our French!
     The use of a trip like this is two-way: we receive a great adventure, endless beautiful impressions, and much affection; the people we visit receive the excitement of participation, inspiration, and a feeling that the church cares for them way off in their far corner of the earth. We returned here with new inspiration. perspective, and dedication.
     Helga Childs
NEW TORONTO INFORMATION 1983

NEW TORONTO INFORMATION       Rev. Geoffrey Childs       1983

     We have a new telephone system here at the church, which made a change in number necessary. Our two new phone numbers are (416) 239-3054 and 239-3055.
     Also, we have a location for our book store. The address is 3074 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M8X 1C8. The phone number there is (416) 233-3929.
     Rev. Geoffrey Childs
For Christmas giving the Book Center offers: 1983

For Christmas giving the Book Center offers:              1983




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