Notes on This Issue 1985

Notes on This Issue Editor 1985

Vol. CV           January, 1985               No. 1

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      Were it not for the striking presentation by Dr. Kintner this issue would be in danger of being called "the Homeopathy issue." Eighty years ago the editor of this magazine invited doctors to give their evaluation of Homeopathy. We do not find a response to this, but in 1911 an article on medicine appeared which was unfavorable to Homeopathy, (p. 584), and the editor hoped that "friendly discussion" would ensue. Some spirited discussion followed in 1912. In spite of the traditional interest in this subject, we are sympathetic to readers who doubt whether it belongs in this magazine, and we do not propose to sustain the discussion for long.
     "At the beginning of the 1984-1985 school year a special evening service was held in the Bryn Athyn Cathedral attended by the faculty and students of the Academy schools. Many people have commented on this memorable occasion, and we are pleased to print in this issue the sermon preached at that time by the President of the Academy. "Something is going to happen to each one of us, this year and in the years to come. The Lord is going to stir us with an affection, a deep-seated love for the truth . . ." (p. 4). We consider this an apt lesson with which to begin a new year.
     In the news from Glenview we note that a bumper crop of babies ensures an enlarged enrollment in the Glenview school. Also in those notes: "For the first time, our society held a pre-Thanksgiving food collection to donate to our less fortunate neighbors in the surrounding community."
     The main piece in this issue is the one entitled "Written with the Finger of God." Please note that the author would like to hear from readers, and "the earlier such comments are made, the better" (p. 25).
     Those who follow the Calendar Readings should see the note on page 26.
ACADEMY SUMMER CAMP 1985

ACADEMY SUMMER CAMP 1985

     The 5th annual Summer Camp will be held at The Academy of the New Church from Sunday, July 7 to Saturday, July 13.
     A program of religious, academic. and recreational activities will be offered by Academy faculty, staff and other New Church men and women. The program is under the auspices of The Academy of the New Church, and the directors are Mr. T. Dudley Davis and Mrs. G. Morgan Jones.
     The summer camp is designed to familiarize students who have just completed grades 8 or 9, with the Academy. It provides a time when New Church young people can socialize in a friendly, informal atmosphere.

JACOB AND THE SHEPHERDESS OF HARAN 1985

JACOB AND THE SHEPHERDESS OF HARAN Rev. PETER M. BUSS 1985

     A SERMON FOR THE OPENING OF THE ACADEMY

     "Now while he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess. And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel . . . that he went near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother. Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept" (Genesis 29:9-11).

     The whole of the Word is a love story. It speaks of the marriage between the Lord and His church, an everlasting covenant of love which is freely given and gratefully received. It tells of the union between true ideas and good feelings, between strong principle and tender concern for others. It breathes the promise of the love of a man for his wife and hers for him.
     There is also one simple love story in the Word-the romance and the enduring love between Jacob and his shepherdess out of Haran. It was not written in the Christian era. Jacob and his people accepted polygamy, so he had children by three other wives. Yet he loved only Rachel. For her he worked seven years, and then seven more. It was her children he longed for, and he loved them most when they were born. She died giving him his youngest son, and he called him "the son of my right hand," and felt that if Benjamin died he would have no reason to go on living.
     We don't know what kind of man Jacob truly was, but we do know that when he met Rachel he found a beauty which took him out of himself and made him work for others. Before that moment at the well in Haran he was a self-centered, grasping young man. He had bargained with his brother Esau for Esau's birthright. He had joined with his mother in cheating Esau out of the blessing which was rightfully his, and had lied to his father to do it. Now he was exiled, forced to flee from his brother's wrath.
     He came to the well of Haran, and the shepherds were there, but there was a great stone on the mouth of the well. Normally they waited until all the flocks had arrived and then rolled the stone aside to water the animals. But when Jacob saw Rachel the shepherdess, who was beautiful in form and in appearance, his heart was most deeply moved. Apparently single-handed he rolled the rock aside, and watered her nock for her, and kissed her and wept for joy.

     Rachel, the beautiful young woman who kept her father's sheep in Haran, represents a quality hidden deep in the heart of every person on earth. It is a feeling most precious, always to be loved and treasured, because unless we are married to it we will not know the true joy of heaven. Everyone here has that spiritual Rachel. The Writings call it the affection of interior truth. It is the love of those truths which teach us how to love the Lord and to love the neighbor.
     As we start a new school year in the Academy of the New Church we are like Jacob coming to the well of Haran. For that well represents the Word. We are here because we believe the Lord will teach us. The good part of us-represented by Jacob wants to live a worthwhile life. We want to live good lives. We want to care for other people and help them. We want to love the Lord and serve Him. We want to be happy doing so.
     We may have many other feelings in our minds, but the good parts of us want to love the Lord and to serve other human beings.
     It is this that brings us to the Word, to search for meaning in life. But at first the Word is closed just as there was a great stone on the mouth of the well. If you take a book of the Word and read it you might not get an immediate idea of how to live a worthwhile, caring life. You might complain that much of what it teaches is hard to understand, and not terribly relevant to your life. You might not find its message very beautiful or stirring. Why? Because before the spiritual Rachel comes, the stone remains on the mouth of the well. The Word does not reveal its life-giving waters to us.
     But something is going to happen to each one of us, this year and in the years to come. The Lord is going to stir us with an affection, a deep-seated love for the truth, and it will inspire us with the strength to open the Word and find meaning in it. Remember when Rachel the shepherdess came with the flock Jacob got up, all by himself, and rolled the rock aside so that he could water her flock. It was her presence that gave him the strength and the Inspiration.
     It is a picture of a strong man removing obstructions to what his beloved wants to do, and serving her-doing what she would want to be done. It is a picture of a beautiful woman inspiring a man to serve her instead of himself and to find such happiness in doing it that he wept for joy.
     That kind of joy comes when you find in yourself the affection of interior truth. The Writings tell us that this whole story is about how a person comes to understand that the Word teaches nothing except how to love the Lord and to love the neighbor. Rachel represents the affection for the truths which do this. When you feel that affection, a love is born which uplifts and excites you.

     Think of the many reasons that you might learn things. You may study because you have to-you are obliged to be in school. You may do so to excel and beat others in grades. You might find a certain pride in knowledge. Some people learn for the sake of earning a good salary in their jobs.
     We can learn from the Word for lots of reasons. Sometimes we are forced to study it. There are people who are proud of their understanding, then there are some fairly good reasons. We learn the truth because we think it's right. We do it because we are obedient to the Lord who expects us to learn truth. We want to find out what heaven is like because we would rather like to go there. We want to know about marriage or Providence so we will understand what is going to happen to us.
     There are lots of feelings which cause us to learn. We can go through life responding only to these feelings, and the Word will be closed to us. There will be a great stone on the well, and the water cannot be reached.
     But there is that one, precious, exciting feeling inside of us which opens the storehouse of the Word. It is loving the truth because it teaches us how to serve the Lord and other people.
     When a man meets the girl of his dreams it seems it is a miracle. He can't believe the Lord made someone so beautiful and so able to touch his heart. When the spiritual Rachel appears to us it seems like a miracle too. We find ourselves moved, deeply moved with excitement about life, and about what is true. We want to know more. We feel it is important. We feel that we are seeing something that we can use in our lives. Where did such a feeling come from? How good the Lord is to send it to us!
      Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, and they seemed like seven days to him because he loved her so much. The Writings tell us that the seven years represent time spent learning from the Word. They seem like seven days because when we are in a state of love, time doesn't matter. There's no impatience. The thing we are doing is too important to worry about minutes. We are in a state of heaven, where love determines time (see AC 3827).
     There will be lots of days in the coming year when you learn the truth because you have to or because of some other, maybe perfectly good, feeling. But your eye will he on the clock, and at a certain time you will feel you have done enough. Then there are those special times when you don't notice the clock, when what you are learning is helping you to help someone else, when it seems important enough that the minutes slip by. And when the time is over, there is a feeling of excitement about the church, about the Word, about the Lord Himself and what He wants you to do in life, and how He will show you, and lead you.

     That is the idealism which we must search for. It is the precious sparkle in our lives, a gift from the Lord that starts to transform us from rather selfish people to caring people, people with a mission to help others, people who feel the Lord's presence and want to serve Him.
     There isn't a truth in the Word that doesn't teach us how to help someone else, and how to love the Lord. Not one. But at times we look at the Word and we don't see this. We read about heaven and it seems far distant-a land full of people who don't think the way we do. We learn about the Lord's Providence and wonder what it all means. We hear about charity and it seems technical. The mouth of the well is closed up. We can't reach the water.
     But when the Lord stirs us, we look at the same truths and get excited. Heaven becomes a real place, and the angels are ordinary people who have been made kind and loving by the Lord. Hell is a sad place, a terrible waste of human love and talent, a place to be avoided at all costs. When we hear of the Lord's Providence we think of Him leading us. We find ourselves wondering how He is guiding us through the valley of the shadow of death, what kinds of loves He is sowing in our hearts. We might even find ourselves waking up and asking ourselves what happiness our Lord has planned for us today. We learn about charity and love to the neighbor so that we can go out and live charitable lives.
     We do this because the spirit of truth has touched us.
     The love story of Jacob with the shepherdess of Haran tells of a spiritual marriage in every human heart which wends its way toward heaven. It tells of the holy wedding between your wish to do what is right and the precious idealism the Lord has sown in your hearts. As the years go by, each one of us will be temporarily wedded to many different motives, just as Jacob had children by three other women. But the heavenly marriage, the one which is of love, the one which will endure, is between our wish to follow the Lord and our love for the living truth of the Lord's Word.
     Never stop seeking that precious idealism. Never stop asking yourselves, "How can these truths I am learning help me to be a better neighbor, help me to serve the Lord?" If we search for these answers, the Lord will send us a spiritual affection, and we will have the strength to open the Word and find the answers.
     There is one more thing about the love story of Jacob and the shepherdess of Haran. Jacob doubtless thought he had chosen Rachel as his love. Yet it was his love which did the choosing. It was love that caused him to work fourteen years for her; it was love that kept him caring for her; it was love that made him name their second child, "son of my right hand."

In freedom he chose that love, but in a deeper sense it chose him.
     The same is true for our idealistic love of the truth. It seems to us that we choose to love the truth, and to follow it where it leads us. It seems we study the Word and work out what the Lord wants us to do and do it. In fact we do all these things in freedom, but we do them because the Lord has stirred us with a precious affection, and we want to do them.
     That is why the Lord said, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another'' (John 15:16, 17).
     He has chosen each one of you to live a life of love for one another. and He has chosen you by inspiring within you a love for the Word which teaches such a life. Follow that love, and there is nothing you will ask of your Father that He will not give you. Amen.

     LESSONS: Genesis 29:1-20; John 15:9-14; AC 3762, 3798

     Readings from the Word

     AC 3762: Those truths are called the truths of love which have been elsewhere termed celestial truths, for they are knowledges that relate to charity toward the neighbor and love to the Lord . . . . These truths, that relate to charity toward the neighbor and love to the Lord, must be learned before it is possible for a man to be regenerated; and must also be acknowledged and believed; and to the degree that they are acknowledged, believed, and ingrafted in the life, to that degree the man is regenerated.

     AC 3798: It is from the love in which each man is that he sees the things which are of that love, and what he sees he calls truths, because they are in agreement with that love. There is in each man's love the light of his life, for love is like a flame from which light issues; such therefore as is the love or flame, such is the man's light of truth. They who are in the love of good can see that which is of this love, consequently the truths that are in the Word. and this in accordance with the amount and the quality of their love of good; for then light or intelligence flows in from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord.

     AC 3768:2: A man may know from the rational faculty that is possessed by everyone that his neighbor ought to be loved, and that God ought to be worshiped; but how the neighbor is to be loved, and how God is to be worshiped, thus what spiritual good and truth are, can be known only from the Word.

WRITTEN WITH THE FINGER OF GOD 1985

WRITTEN WITH THE FINGER OF GOD Dr. WILLIAM R. KINTNER 1985

     This article outlines a proposal for writing a history of the Jewish people from Abram to Christ based on the Old Testament and utilizing the inspired insights of Emanuel Swedenborg, particularly his detailed exposition of Genesis and Exodus contained in the Arcana Coelestia or Heavenly Secrets. The rationale for the proposed research and subsequent book follows:

Rationale

     A most inexplicable miracle of history is how a small Semitic tribe survived over 4,000 years in mostly hostile environments and served as the wellspring of three great religions. Frequently dispersed, despised and decimated, members of this tribe have contributed to mankind's cultural achievements far disproportionately to their numbers. Only the two most populous peoples on earth, the Chinese and Hindus, can match the historical longevity of the unique Jewish tribe. The empires that once enslaved them-the Egyptians, the Hittites, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans-have long disappeared. The people they fought to win the promised land of Canaan, the Amalekites, the Jebusites, the Philistines and others, were lost in the pages of history thousands of years ago.
     Why and how the Jews survived remains a largely unanswered question. Does history have purpose or was the unique trace of the Jews on its pages a freak occurrence ever beyond explanation? Many scholars, especially Jewish scholars, have sought to solve the Jewish riddle.
     Most attach great importance to the binding power of the Bible, particularly to its first five books called the Torah. But there is no consensus among Jewish or Christian scholars as to whether the Bible was divinely inspired or whether it was a fantastic creation of human imagination, whose most miraculous events can be explained by modern psychoanalysis.
     Jewish history begins with Abram (later Abraham) some 2,000 years B.C. A man named Terah decided to leave Ur in Babylonia with his son Abram and Abram's wife Sarai and his grandson Lot. They emigrated 600 miles to Haran in the southern part of what is now Turkey. At the beginning of this long journey they crossed the Euphrates River and became the first Hebrews-literally the people "from the other side of the river"-or nomads. Shortly after Terah died in Haran, Abraham had a unique experience. He became the first man in recorded history to meet the Lord God. It is thus described in the Bible:

     Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation . . . (Genesis 12).
     The Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.
     And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly . . .
     As for Me, behold My covenant is with you and you shall be a father of many nations.
     No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham for I have made you a father of many nations.
     Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God . . .
     This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised . . ." (Genesis 17).

     This encounter between God and Abraham set the Jews apart from all other people from that time on. It is God who proposes a covenant to the patriarch. If Abraham will follow the commandments of God, then He, in His turn, will make the descendants of Abraham His chosen people and place them under His protection. We must note that God did not say that they should be better-merely that they should exist as separate and distinct from all other nations and be His people. How this was to be brought about is not revealed. God at this time stipulated only one commandment, and made only one promise. The commandment is that all males of His chosen people must be circumcised on the eighth day after birth or, if converted into the faith, then circumcised upon conversion. The promise was to give them the land of Canaan.
     Not only did Abraham's meeting with God give the Jews a unique and lasting identity, it also launched the process by which the mighty, spiritual forces of Christianity and Islam were subsequently to arise. In a fascinating book, Jews, God and History,1 Max I. Dimont asks concerning the meeting between God and Abram:

Did this really happen? Views vary all the way from the fundamentalist position of a literal acceptance of every word to the rejection of every word by the skeptics. We say it could have happened, but in a slightly different way. If we view this encounter through the laws of modern psychoanalysis, it might be understandable in the modern terms . . . From a psychoanalytic viewpoint, therefore, it could be that Abraham himself conceived the idea of a covenant with an almighty father figure, represented by Jehovah, and projected onto this father figure his own wish to safeguard his children and his children's children for future generations.

     Ignoring for the moment the fact that Abraham, who was then ninety-nine years of age, had no children, Dimont made this judgment about this event.

     From a historical viewpoint, it makes no difference whether it was Abraham who projected this experience onto an imaginary or a real Jehovah who proposed it to Abraham. The fact remains that after four thousand years the idea of a covenant between the Jews and Jehovah is still alive and mentioned daily in prayers in synagogues throughout the world.

     While Dimont begins Jewish history with the meeting between God and Abram a widely publicized Public TV series launched October 1, 1984, entitled "Heritage, Civilization and the Jews" omitted the meeting altogether. Abba Eban, former Foreign Minister of Israel who was the narrator of this program, explained his personal opinion in the office of his home in Herzliya in Israel:

     We begin when the two civilizations were Egypt and Sumer, what is now Iraq. They were sort of the Soviet Union and United States of those times, enormous powers with enormous wealth. And all of a sudden you find a tablet in the year 1234 in which one of the Egyptian kings says, "I conquered those stubborn Israelites."

In other words, apart from the Bible nobody would have known Jews existed at all. People ask how is it that nobody talks about the Jews in antiquity except the Jews themselves? Suppose there wasn't a Bible. How would you know they existed? Well we have this tablet, and I would ask why should these powerful empires have cared about a scraggly little people with no temples, no monuments, and no armies? Because they were making a nuisance of themselves.2

     In common with Mr. Eban, the producers, historical experts and probably a portion of the television audience, the late Anwar el-Sadat, the president of Egypt, had his own special interpretation of a portion of Jewish history. He said, "You can come back here as long as you make it clear that Jewish history begins in Egypt and not in Babylonia. All that stuff about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-this is just legend, not history. History begins with Moses"-"which incidentally is true," added Mr. Eban.
     Jewish history in a formal sense begins with Moses both as a nation and as a religion. Every church begins with a Divine Revelation such as Moses received from God on Mount Sinai. Furthermore until the exodus from Egypt there were too few Hebrews to constitute a nation. Yet when God first appeared to Moses out of the burning bush He said: "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob."

Moses was also told that "by the name Jehovah I was not known to them." The patriarchs play a role in the history of the Jews much as Great Britain plays with respect to American history, which would be incomprehensible without its European origins. It would be futile to understand the Israelites without investigating the part played by the patriarchs.
     Modern Judaism relates to the Old Testament, particularly to the Torah or Pentateuch in somewhat the same fashion as Christianity and Islam. Judaism had its origin in the aftermath of the exile to Babylon in 586 B.C. The prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah believed that God had used the Babylonians to punish the Israelites for their sins but would redeem them and restore a Judean kingdom under a descendant of the house of David. Subsequently, Jewish rabbis began writing commentaries on the Torah called the "Talmud"-that which is learned or memorized. Modern Judaism still looks for the coming of the Messiah, "one anointed" who will regain their sovereignty over Canaan. For modern Jews, Old Testament theology finds its ultimation in the Talmud. The Old Testament hope of a Messiah is as yet unfulfilled, awaited by some and given up by others. For Christians the Old Testament's promise was fulfilled by Christ and His gospel. Hence for them the history of Israel terminates with Christ although the history of the Jews and Judaism continues. For Christians Old Testament history is a redemptive saga leading to a conclusion in Christianity and the beginning of a new era.
     Islam also had its roots in the Old Testament and in the New. Moslems (who comprise one-seventh of the human race) believe that Islam's holy book, the Koran, was actually dictated by God. It teaches that only one God and one true religion exist. The Koran contains the Islamic religious, civil, social, commercial, legal and military codes, and provides integrated rules for individual and national conduct. In this respect it is much like pre-modern Judaism which provides an integrated religious cultural system encompassing both individual and communal existence. Another central tenet of Islam is that whenever mankind strayed from the truth, God sent prophets to turn them back to the right path. The greatest of these were Moses, Jesus Christ and Mohammed.
     The remarkable fact that the Old Testament is the wellspring of three related religions that have played a major role in shaping world history makes it all the more important to explore all possible approaches to understanding a history of a people "written with the finger of God."

The General Approach

     Before proposing a new approach to explaining Jewish history that differs from Dimont's, Eban's, the fundamentalists' or the anarchial conclusion that history is a heap of unconnected events, let us briefly review the various contemporary schools of history.

     Any study of history would be nothing but a cataloguing of endless facts of small value in themselves unless an effort was made to interpret and synthesize them. The proper aim of history should be to discover that inner connection which gives the facts significance. There have been many endeavors to explain the facts of history, starting from various a priori assumptions.
     Every historian writes with a sense of direction and a set of values which enable him to order and interpret the events of the past. According to Edward H. Carr:

     Progress in history is achieved through the interdependence of facts and values. Our values are an essential part of our equipment as human beings. It is through our values that we have that capacity to adapt ourselves to our environment . . . . A clue to this problem of facts and values is provided by an ordinary use of the word "truth" which straddles the world of fact and the world of value and is made up of the elements of both.3

     In seeking to interpret history from the perspective of Swedenborg one faces the same task as that confronting a historian owning to a different orientation. This task is to design a model of the past and then attempt to validate it with all the empirical data available. History should be written for the world at large. This requires sensitivity to the wide world of thought as well as high standards of scholarly objectivity. Yet can a history keyed to Swedenborg's thesis of the rise and fall of past churches be written separately from history in general? Rather, should not the part be set in the whole?
     The established schools of historical interpretation utilize the same data. But since their analysis is informed by different values, there is little hope that they can aid in producing a collective understanding of humanity's development. Some historians believe that history obeys no ascertainable laws. Most historians, however, belong to one of the following schools: 1) the "great man" theory; 2) the scientific or technological; 3) the economic; 4) the geographical; 5) the sociological; 6) the "collective psychological"; and finally 7) the spiritual or idealistic.
     Those who subscribe to the "great man" interpretation hold that great personalities are the mainsprings of historical development, without delving into the origin of the great men themselves.
     The invention of the wheel and the sailing ship, and in this century the atom bomb and the computer, are events which, according to the school of scientific and technological interpretation, are of fundamental importance in shaping the structure of history. But again, this school of historian does not go beyond the event.

It is not enough to acknowledge that the invention of the printing press profoundly influenced the growth of western civilization. This invention also and equally importantly provided the means of bringing the Bible to the mass of humanity.
     The doctrine of economic determinism, expounded by Karl Marx and a legion of followers, holds that economic relations decide to an overwhelming degree the nature of social organization and change. Yet things economic are only the external clothing of more interior relationships.
     The geographical school lays its main emphasis on the influence of climate, soil fertility, and closeness to natural routes of travel in developing its interpretations of history. Certainly, human existence does not proceed in a vacuum, and the physical stage on which the drama of life unfolds is important to the play called history. But the setting is not the play.
     The sociological school endeavors to visualize history in accordance with the forms and institutions of society itself. It uses the increasingly better tools of the social sciences both for its measuring devices and for its yardstick of values. Although it is concerned with physical and psyche forces operating in society, it makes no inquiry as to their origin or their influence on historical events.
     The "collective psychological" approach to history represents a synthesis of the others. No one cause, according to this historical school, can explain the meaning of the past. Instead, it is the "collective psychology" of an entire period taken together that sets the pattern of historical change. This approach will produce a more valid picture of humanity's journey through time, but because of its concern solely with the world of effects it cannot by itself produce an integration of causes with effects.
     This resume of historical methods has purposely left discussing the "spiritual" school until last. Does it offer a solution for a more fundamental insight into history? Unfortunately, the modern meaning of "spiritual" is inadequate. According to one authority:

The spiritual interpretation of history must be found in the discovery of spiritual forces co-operating with geographical and economic to produce a general tendency toward conditions which are truly personal. And these conditions (whatever they may be) will not be found in generalizations concerning metaphysical entities, but in the activities of worthwhile men finding self-expression for the ever more complete subjection of physical nature to human welfare.4

     This approach is closely akin to the "great man" theory, masked by some theological trappings.
     Anything spiritual in the sense of transcendental is generally alien to the modern mind. Secular historians have vigorously rejected Christian appraisals of history.

According to them the Christian school of history, which arose in the first centuries after Christ, created a barrier against any objective understanding of human life. In the words of James T. Shotwell: "It was a calamity for historiography that the new standards won the day. The authority of a revealed religion sanctioned but one scheme of history throughout the vast and intricate evolution of the antique world. A well-nigh insurmountable obstacle was erected to scientific inquiry, one which has at least taken almost nineteen centuries to surmount.5
     It would seem that those who subscribe to the authority of a revealed religion cannot find the meaning of history in the histories published for the secular world. Rather, the meaning of history must be found by examining and ordering historical facts with the light of spiritual insights.
     If we try to do this, the problems we face will be formidable but perhaps not unmanageable. History, as we know it today, originated with the Greeks, who were the first people to attempt an explanation of the past in accordance with some rational rules of evidence. The Greeks regarded the course of history as flexible, since they believed that nothing which happens is really inevitable. From the perspective of Swedenborg's Writings the Greek role in history was to lay the foundations of the rational mind-an essential prerequisite for the modern age.
     Under the Christian impact, the historical process was regarded as the working out of God's purposes, operating through the activity of free and conflicting human wills. This view of history makes it possible to see man as the vehicle of this purpose and therefore historically important. The early Christians also conceived of God as a Creator bringing the universe into existence for His own inherent ends. This Christian concept of history has a pervasive universality, because, willy-nilly, all people are involved in the unfolding of the Lord's work of creation.
     According to R. G. Collingwood,6 Christian history 1) will be universal; 2) will ascribe events to the workings of Providence; 3) will detect an intelligible pattern in the course of events critically related to the life of Christ. This description is compatible with a Swedenborgian view of history. One might add the concept that the natural theater of life, together with the events that happen there, relate to spiritual forces which together reflect the checkered historical development of man. Ralph Waldo Emerson perhaps foresaw the need for such an approach toward history when he wrote, in Swedenborg the Mystic:

. . . the earth had led its mankind through five or six milleniums, and they had sciences, religions, philosophies; and yet had failed to see the correspondence of meaning between every part and every other part.

And, down to this hour, literature has no book in which the symbolism of things is scientifically opened.

     Perhaps a key which can unlock the unique history of the Jews as well as history in general is to apply the inspired writings of Emanuel Swedenborg to opening the Jewish riddle. Who was and is Swedenborg? Swedenborg claims that he was commissioned by God to reveal truths appropriate to this age when man's rational understanding had been opened. Swedenborg can be regarded as one of a chain of revelators going back to Moses and the prophets. Swedenborg wrote at the beginning of the modern scientific age (the 18th century) when it was still possible for a brilliant intellect to encompass the whole range of scientific inquiry.
     Robert Ripley wrote concerning Swedenborg that "no single individual in the world's history ever encompassed in himself so great a variety of useful knowledge." John Eastman wrote in "Scientific Saint," "There has never been a theologian quite like him, before or since, because science and theology ordinarily don't mix. In Swedenborg they did."7 John Harold Talbott, in an article entitled "Natural Scientist, Neurophysiologist, Theologian" wrote that Swedenborg "was an extremely diligent worker, a keen observer, an unprejudiced man of research, which established him as an outstanding pioneer in the knowledge of cerebral localizations.8 As to his theological writings Helen Keller wrote concerning Swedenborg's book Heaven and Hell:

     I wish I might be able to radiate the spiritual illumination that came to me when I read with my own fingers Heaven and Hell. All the days of my life since have "proved the doctrine" and found it true. If anyone would only begin to read Swedenborg's books with at first a little patience, they would soon be reading them for pure joy.

     The Schaff Herzog Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics declares that Swedenborg was "in many respects the most remarkable man of his own or any age. He was a scientist whose achievements have seldom been surpassed. He wrote 30 penetrating volumes on theological matters."9
     The central tenets of Swedenborg's revealed cosmology are:

     The universe was created by an Infinite Being whose essence was love and wisdom. God's purpose in creation was to make beings (in the image and likeness of God) who could freely receive and return His love. Since no real love can come from compulsion, the universe was so made that man is free to accept or reject God's love-and accept or reject His love by logical explanations. Evil, therefore, arose from man's turning away from God, falsifying and perverting the life inflowing from Him.

There was no original sin, but the evil chosen by one generation was passed on hereditarily to the next. This cumulative growth in evil inclinations led to the spiritual decline of mankind. Mankind thus passed from a golden age, the Most Ancient Church, to a silver age of the Ancient Church, represented by Noah and his descendants. From that distant period to the time of Abraham idolatry and abominations began to engulf mankind. The connections between God and heaven and man on earth were almost sundered. Swedenborg informs us that unless Divine influx were received on earth by some people, even if by a few, mankind would perish. So Abraham and his descendants were chosen to form a representative church which would serve the purpose of receiving the Divine influx of life until the proper stage was set for the Messiah to come. The Jews were not chosen for the exalted mission because they were better than the other people living but because they could enact or represent Jehovah's guidance of mankind more accurately than anyone else. Sometimes they did remarkably well, sometimes perversely. Thus, for example, the book of Exodus records the wickedness of the Children of Israel having just been led out of Egyptian bondage, making a golden calf to worship, while Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the ten commandments, "written with the finger of
God.
     Archeology is increasingly demonstrating that the Old Testament Bible is a selective but true history of the Jewish people from the time of Abraham to the advent of Christ. Yet from start to finish, it is written in the language of correspondences so that the external events of the biblical history internally treat of spiritual issues and most specifically of the coming Messiah.
     Swedenborg, called the "Aristotle of the North," claimed that he was inspired by God to explicate the spiritual sense of the Bible. He asserted that the Bible was written in the language of correspondence in which spiritual things are contained and correspond to natural things and natural language. This can be explained by the story of Noah's ark. As already mentioned, Swedenborg asserted that the Bible was to be understood spiritually, not just literally.10
     Pointing out that in the Adam and Eve story the serpent could not actually have spoken to Eve, he concluded that it was a parable. He even undertook to demonstrate verse by verse that the first eleven chapters of Genesis, written in parabolic form, were not myths but parables, having a "spiritual sense" within every detail of the literal meaning. This spiritual sense, Swedenborg argued, dealt exclusively with religious subjects-such as God, heaven, and spiritual growth or decline.
     On this basis, Swedenborg regarded the flood that covered the earth in the Noah story as a flood of evil and falsity that covered the church on earth at that time.

In support of the idea that the subject is the decadent state of the church in those days, he referred to a verse at the beginning of the account: "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."
     The building of the ark and the coming on board of one male and one female of every living creature is a fascinating story but difficult to believe. Even the QE2 is not large enough to hold this many creatures. Swedenborg's interpretation of this story makes much more sense than taking it literally. Furthermore his approach makes fascinating reading. He claims that every single detail is significant. According to Swedenborg, the story of the ark was common in the ancient world, and was written with what he calls "the science of correspondences"-the idea that every natural object "corresponds" to some spiritual quality.
     For example, the heart corresponds to love because it performs the same function on a physical plane as love does in the mind or spirit. Physical sight corresponds to understanding or "seeing" spiritually. The eye corresponds to the intellect. In other words, the Bible was written to describe the way the Creator made everything-so that natural objects correspond in every detail to spiritual qualities.
     Some scholars claim that the Noah myth (or rather, parable) probably originated in Mesopotamia, as did the tower of Babel story.11 Yet Moses had access to other sources for these stories. In ancient times there existed a forerunner of the Old Testament in the region. Its contents included a creation story, an account of a flood, and a narrative resembling the tower of Babel story in the eleventh chapter of Genesis. This forerunner was obviously the source of several so-called "myths" circulating throughout the near east. Swedenborg calls this book The Ancient Word, and suggests that, under Divine guidance, Moses copied what became the first eleven chapters of Genesis from that book.
     The contention that the Old Testament contains a hidden spiritual meaning can be traced back to the early Christians, particularly to Augustine. It is contested by the fundamentalist belief that everything in the Sacred Scriptures is to be believed literally. As one fundamentalist put it:

The old arguments of so-called scientists have fallen apart piece by piece by the archaeological discoveries of the last 50 years. Every challenge to the authenticity and literal interpretation of the Scriptures (yes, even Jonah being swallowed by a fish!) has gone down in the face of facts.

     No insight into history can be gained from a literal belief in the Bible. For one thing the earth is vastly older than the literalist date of creation.

What sets Swedenborg apart from other spiritual interpreters is his claim to have discovered the code to an exact spiritual interpretation via the science of correspondences. The doctrine of correspondences demonstrates that everything in the world of nature is derived from a cause and correspondent in the spiritual world. Thus the expression on our faces and the tone of our voices evidence the affection of our spirits. Mountains and valleys depict the height and depth of feeling. Sun, moon and stars; waters and lands; plants and animals--all correspond to things of the spirit which image the Divine. Ancient men made a science of these correspondences. Myths and fables of old were originated with an exact knowledge of what they symbolized, but became garbled and perverted as this science was obscured by the evil in men's hearts. Rut this science is now restored and can help unlock the enigma of Jewish history.
Fortunately, the perception of a relationship between inward things and outward has not been wholly lost. Swedenborg provides a concise key to unlock the spiritual meaning of Scripture. Utilizing the science of correspondences we undertake a study of the history of the Jewish people from Abraham to Christ with the perspective of Swedenborg's revelation as well as the work of many scholars from many disciplines and philosophical positions. Rich insights and conclusions can be drawn from this approach. There was a special Providence guiding the history of the Israelitish people and the way it was recorded in the Old Testament-a candid history which alternately presents both flattering and unflattering portraits of its subjects. Many modern-day Jews draw more inspiration from the rabbinical period than the Biblical period. To them the Talmud is more important than the Torah. Some of them regard the Old Testament as a history of a long-gone agricultural people which does not address the problems of the modern world. Yet since the Old Testament provides the foundations of three great religions, a deeper understanding of its eternal significance would be beneficial to humankind. The idea of God acting in history is a central motif of the Old Testament. History is not simply a stringing out of so called facts, but an interpretation of them from the perspective of the author's intellectual position-whether he be Marx or Hegel or Collingwood. This study will be an honest attempt to present what is generally known and accepted of the Old Testament record with what has been revealed by Swedenborg.
Until recently most histories of the ancient Jews have been nothing but rehashes of the Old Testament. Archeology and anthropology have broadened our understanding of the ancient world, and give an opportunity for a new study and new insights which might be acceptable to present-day scholars.

Few Jews today are practicing believers in the Torah (perhaps 20%) but they are bound into their cultural heritage, and any attempt to explain their history sympathetically should be received affirmatively.
     To illustrate how such an interpretive history of the Biblical phase of Jewish history might be written, a few excerpts from a book by a Swedenborgian scholar, Hugo Lj. Odhner entitled Saul, David and Solomon are quoted or paraphrased in what follows.

     The story of the three kings of united Israel marks the nearest fulfillment of Jehovah's promise of a homeland for Abraham's seed. The conquest of Canaan under Joshua was never complete. Only the common shrine-the tabernacle at Shiloh-kept the scattered tribes together. The period under the judges was one of political and moral confusion. In fact, Israel almost annihilated the tribe of Benjamin. "In those days there was no king in Israel but everyone did what was right in his own eyes."
     Finally God raised up Samuel, whom his mother lent "to the Lord" while yet a child. In a period of upheaval the ark was captured by the Philistines but was voluntarily returned after it had inflicted its captors with many misfortunes. Samuel, an admirable man whose name means obedience to the literal commandments of God, had two sons who took bribes and perverted judgment. The people were fearful that these men might succeed him and pleaded that he would appoint a king over Israel. Samuel was disturbed by their request but God told him to accede to their request and eventually Samuel made Saul king. Shortly afterwards Samuel announced this tall, handsome man as Israel's first king. Samuel soon had reason to regret having anointed the headstrong, impulsive new king. Saul sacrificed on the altar in Samuel's absence and disobeyed the command to utterly destroy Agag, the king of the Amalekites.
     At that time the major foes of the Israelites were the Philistines who worshiped Dagon and who represented the doctrine of faith separated from charity. Saul when faithful to his office represented the Divine truth in the literal sense of the Word-not as it is in itself but as perceived by man. Such a person applies authoritative information in an argumentative, combative way to prove a point and defend his own misconceptions. In such a state man has no weapons to fight the Philistines for he too may succumb to the temptation to rely on faith alone.
     Aware of Saul's inherent deficiencies Samuel went to Bethlehem to find a new king among the seven sons of Jesse. Finally, David the youngest was chosen, "And the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward."
     There were many steps between this anointing of David and his ascension to the throne, most notable being his battle with Goliath. Many have no doubt noticed that the story of David seems like a nursery tale in which the lonely shepherd boy cuts off the head of the giant, reaps great riches, marries the princess and inherits the kingdom.

Yet the story of David bears all the marks of history, and is told with a detail of local color which only archeologists can appreciate to the full. It even retains some of those apparent inconsistencies which a fictional account characteristically avoids.
     David's story is more than history-it is part of the Divine Word. It is, in all its details, pregnant with an internal meaning, meant for the illustration of men now and in the unending future. When examined in the light of Swedenborg's writings. It is found to be a Divine drama of the development in the church and of the opening of the human mind. It reveals the secret spiritual conflict and victories.
     In this context the mode by which David slew the giant is particularly inspiring-he defeated the falsities represented by Goliath with spiritual truth-the truth men come to see in times of spiritual need and in the Light of charity, love, and use-which does not meet confirmation by confirmation or array one set of apparent truths to counter another, one passage of the literal sense against another! For this-in such a case-is a futile procedure. Our spiritual David instead places the simplicity of the truth against the elaborate complexities of error. He only gathers "five smooth stones" from the brook.
     Note that these stones were not taken from a desert or from a wall or from a stagnant pool, but from a brook. The selected stones signified truths not of the memory alone, not merely from tradition nor from a persuasive faith; but truths perceived in the Word when this is looked to as a source of living intelligence and inspiration-homely truths of common sense rounded out by experience and frequent usage; polished and cleansed by uncounted waves of Divine instruction; truths which belong to the wisdom of good life, and are collected into the shepherd's bag which we may identify as a personal concept of charity.
     Such truth is not mere sentimentality. It is militant, powerful against falsities of evil, penetrating to the very head and principle of falsity; more effective than a whole artillery of theological learning based on a literalistic and pedantic interpretation of the Word. And it cannot be reached by the sword of the Philistine.
     After the slaying of Goliath, David enjoyed Saul's favor. "Saul set him over the men of war"-the royal bodyguard. He was accepted in the sight of all the people and all Saul's servants. And when the army again returned victorious under his leadership, new honors were heaped upon him by the women of the towns they passed through. For these met King Saul with music and dance, and as they sang they used the refrain, "Saul hath slain his thousands and David his ten thousands!"
     Then Saul's jealousy was aroused; and the next day "the evil spirit from God came upon Saul and he prophesied in the midst of the house." And as David played his harp Saul cast his javelin at him so that it stuck in the wall. David was not harmed. But the more prudently David behaved, the more Saul was afraid of him, realizing now that the Lord was with David.

So the king used subtlety. He had married off his older daughter after promising her to David. But he offered David the younger daughter, Michal, if he would kill a hundred Philistines. For Saul thought that surely David would perish in the attempt.
     Finally, Saul decided to kill David. When Jonathan, Saul's son and David's friend, signaled David that Saul had decided upon his death, David became an outlaw. The difficulties he faced describe the temptations which a regenerating man must overcome to gain the strength and wisdom needed to conquer Saul-David was to overcome the psychotic king not by the sword but by the power of loyalty, of generosity and self-effacing charity.
     Many exciting happenings took place in the campaigns Saul launched to seize and capture David. Twice David caught Saul alive, asleep and unattended, but did not harm him. Finally, Saul was defeated in battle by the Philistines, and Saul fell on his own sword. Saul's death signified the end of man's reliance on the appearances which he finds in the literal sense of the Word-which have been misused by mankind throughout history.
     When David became king the spiritual truth contained within the literal truth of the Bible became evident. But David represented this truth only so far as he acted as the Lord's anointed. He often acted contrary to the truth he represented. He also displayed cruelties, lusts, hatreds, and envies, which also comprise the human heredity. After some years of struggle with the adherents of Saul the elders of all the tribes came to David and anointed him king of all Israel. He immediately captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites. To him and to his people it was "beautiful in situation, the joy of the whole earth."
     David eventually made Jerusalem a fortress city and finally brought the ark into the city. On the last stage of the ark's journey, David with all his might danced before Jehovah, girt only in a linen ephod. Michal, Saul's daughter and David's wife, taunted him for dancing in view of his maid servants. The contrast between the stiffness of Saul's daughter and the ecstasy of David's joy marks the difference between a love of truth which judges by worldly standards and a spiritual love of truth which is forgetful of self.
     David's kingdom represented the central region of the mind which had come under the control of a spiritual conscience after the defeat of the various evils and falsities represented by the Canaanites, the Amorites. the Hittites, the Philistines and the Jebusites.
     The empire won by David was the fulfillment of Jehovah's promise to Abram. "Unto thy seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river of the Euphrates." Around about this central kingdom there was Egypt standing for memory knowledges, Syria of cognitions or religious knowledge, the Babylonia of the imagination, and Assyria of worldly reassuring-all exerting their influence on the spiritual church of Israel.

     In the latter half of David's reign, David no longer is a model of charity and nobility and becomes guilty of heinous crimes and cruelties including adultery and murder. Sin has consequences which follow the inescapable laws of retribution. David's sins are recorded in the Bible with characteristic candor.
     Why was David, the hero and poet, interpreter of some of the heart's deepest emotions, touched with vice and portrayed as weak and sinful? The story of David shows how the Lord can open the spiritual degree of a regenerating man's mind by the affection of truth for its own sake. In this process impure delights rise up in the mind so that man's conscience is covered over by desires of the natural mind. Yet David is said to have been forgiven by the Lord, for his sin represented a perversion of truth which repentance can cure. David's life represented the combats of temptation. His sins, so fully depicted, represent evils which a man discovers in himself which are forgiven when he recognizes their nature and rejects them.
     After many trials and tribulations, including the pestilence that fell upon Israel for his numbering the people, David approaches death.
     "And these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet singer of Israel, said: The Spirit of Jehovah spake by me, and His word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me . . ."
     The inspired message then follows. It contrasted the qualities of a true king with those who are lawless and worthless. "He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God, and be as light of the morning sunrise, a morning without clouds; as the tender grass out of the earth sparkling after rain. . ." But those of "Belial" would be as thorns which cannot be touched except by iron tools and must be burned with fire. Although Solomon was David's choice to succeed him, Adonijah, the older son, conspired to take the throne. The plot was foiled, however, and Solomon became king.
     Solomon, like David, represented the spiritual mind which is opened during regeneration, although man is unaware of it. But Solomon represents a higher degree of the mind than David, the third or celestial. It is opened when man has a total aversion to evil. In such a man not only is the natural plane regenerated but also the natural or outermost degree of the mind. In Solomon's reign this is represented by the first story told about him-that he took the daughter of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to wife. Egypt signifies the knowledge of all scientifics about natural things and their causes. That was why both Abraham and later his descendants went down into Egypt prior to coming into the promised land of Canaan.
     David for all of his greatness never measured up to Solomon. All of King Solomon's cups and platters and utensils and even the shields that hung in his hall were of solid gold: None were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon!

     "This is the picture of the mind that has been opened to the celestial degree and has been integrated so that the internal man has been conjoined with the natural. The celestial is characterized by love to the Lord. This is represented by Solomon's building of the temple and by the gold that abounded in his kingdom; and also by the peace that prevailed in his reign, and the humility and wisdom with which he was endowed."12

     The three kings of united Israel each had special qualities of greatness. Their story can be read for enlightenment, knowing that all greatness and virtue can represent something Divine.

Some Implications

     The preservation of the Old Testament and the role of the Jews in reading and spreading it may be because of the spiritual treasures contained within it. Not only did the Christian Church originate in the Israelitish Church but the Jews helped Christianity spread to the gentiles. Long before the time of Christ many Jews had emigrated from Canaan to countries throughout the Mediterranean world. At the end of the Israelitish era there were more Jews outside Palestine than within it. There were more in ancient Alexandria, in Egypt, than within Jerusalem. Many of them became Greek-speaking Hence the Old Testament was translated into Greek, the well-known Septuagint version. When Paul and the apostles moved out into the gentile world their task of spreading the new Christian faith was made easier by the work which the Jews had done-unwittingly, but in reality providentially for them. There is a parallel in the later expansion of Europeans into every corner of the world for their most precious cargo was the Word of the Old and New Testaments.
     By now we can begin to propose some hypotheses as to why this miniscule Semitic tribe has survived when all of its contemporaries have disappeared in the vast vortex of history. It is because of the unique role the ancient Jews played in enacting the Divine drama of the Old Testament. Certain survival propositions will be tested in this study.
     Without the Jewish peoples' effort to be unique and distinct, the Chosen People, that sweep of history would be a patch work. But with the development of the Jews from the simple single element of Abram through complex family relationships until it became a complete nation of myriads of aspects of faith (for each individual represents some particular aspect), the representative Israelitish Church becomes a unifying force in the presentation of the history of revelation.
     Within this context we can examine the many theories as to why and how the Jews survived. It will take much research to explore the various factors that have contributed to their survival. There is general agreement among Jewish intellectuals that the Torah is the single most important factor in uniting and maintaining the Jewish people as a religion and as a community.

The Torah is a covenant with Abraham and the other patriarchs, Moses and with the Jewish people. The Torah is essentially God's law for Israel. The prophets reinforced the message of the Torah down almost to the very end of the Israelitish Church promising renewal if the Jews would turn back from their evils and repent and once more worship Jehovah. To say the Torah is the single most important point involves other aspects of Jewish survival including awareness of the covenant, the feeling of pride and importance to the world of the chosen people serving as the connection of man with God.
The second most universally ascribed cause of the Jewish survival in many alien lands is their observance of the Sabbath. This has become a rite in its own setting, for the Sabbath is almost personalized. The Jewish Sabbath was established in the Ten Commandments. It is a day of rest from material and natural things but a day of involvement and practice of worship and the study of the Torah as well as a time of brotherhood. The Sabbath is revered and practiced by Jews in all countries and therefore has been a strong binding force. Another factor helping to preserve the Jewish people is their pessimistic-optimism or optimistic-pessimism. The Old Testament had been honest in reporting all of their backsliding, their turning away from the law and the Lord and then recording the inevitable punishment. But the Old Testament also recorded a never-failing forgiveness from Jehovah and a reestablishment of the chosen peoples' well-being. This was even prophesied for the future, so that as generations went by, the Jews could come to feel that there was no persecution and no evil that was not actually permitted or even sent by God to correct their backsliding. Therefore it was universally accepted that when atonement had been made by their suffering and persecution, the Lord would reestablish their importance to Him and to the world, and so they retained an optimistic view throughout their vastations. In the long run, they believed the Lord established His purposes through them, the chosen people. This is brought out in many ways. The holocaust, the diaspora and other well known persecutions have established a dual state in the minds of the Jews. All seem to carry some of the debt by acknowledging that the other Jews who suffered under the holocaust or diaspora were dying for them.
Another strong influence in Jewish survival is their racial pride. It was racial pride that made them the chosen people The Lord accepted their pressure, their willingness to take on the burden despite warnings given to them. They insisted upon this role and so it was granted to them. They became a representative of a church so their history and customs as recorded in the Bible could convey the spiritual revelation of God with man.

The Jewish stubborn pride in their unique and difficult role has contributed greatly to their survival. This pride in race, in religious forms and in the ancient theocratic government is shared by most Jews, even those who have come into states of atheism and agnosticism or to a rejection of Judaism proper. But it is so strong that they delight in the fact that the government of Israel is based on the religious background of the Jews and reflects religious overtones in every aspect of moral and civil life. Divorce and permission to marry under certain conditions are based on the old religious laws. This acceptance of old religious laws shows the tenacious hold that everything Jewish has upon even intellectually rebellious Jews. Thus pride in their unique historical role has preserved the identity of the Jewish people to a great extent-even by those Jews who reject their spiritual inheritance.
     The Torah was written in ancient Hebrew, a language which Swedenborg asserts comes closer than any other human language to the speech of heaven. The reverent reading of the Torah in ancient Hebrew is a conduit by which spiritual influx comes down from heaven to the minds of men on earth. This use is the capstone of all the factors which help explain the otherwise inexplicable survival of a small Semitic tribe originating in ancient Mesopotamia over four thousand years ago. The forces that led to the survival of the Jews to the present day despite their dispersal into many lands among many peoples are all intimately linked to the Old Testament.
     The burden of this study will be an endeavor to demonstrate that the Old Testament was indeed "written with the finger of God." If this study can convince only a few men and women that the story of the people of the Book represent some divinely inspired pages in the evolving history of mankind, it will have served its purpose.

     Editor's note:

     This research proposal, which is still under development, has already benefitted from comments of ministers and scholars living in Bryn Athyn. The author would welcome comments and criticism from all readers of NEW CHURCH LIFE. He plans to begin research on this study after retiring from the University of Pennsylvania in the middle of 1985. The earlier such comments are made, the better.

     FOOTNOTES
1 A Signet Book, 1964, page 29
2 Feron, James. "Public TV presents a 9-hour History of the Jews." New York Times, Section 2, September 30, 1984, page
3 Edward H. Carr, What is History, p. 174
4 Shaller, Matthews, The Spiritual Interpretation of History, Harvard Univ.

5 James T. Shotwell, Introduction to the History of History, Columbia Press
6 Collingwood. R. G., Ideas of History, 1956
7 Eastman, John, "Scientific Saint," Christian Century, Vol. I. XXXXVI, Jan. 29, 1969
8 Talbott, John Howard, JAMA. Vol. 206, Oct. 21, 1968
9 Douglass, Earl, "Religious Offbeat." Christian Herald, Aug. 1961 (None of the foregoing footnotes is associated with any Swedenborgian church.)
10 With thanks to Douglas Taylor, "Why Noah's Ark Won't Be Found," Philadelphia Inquirer September 18, 1984
11 Ceram. C.W., Gods, Grades and Scholars, Bantam Books, 1972
12 Odhner, Hugo, op cit.
NCL 50 AND 100 YEARS AGO 1985

NCL 50 AND 100 YEARS AGO 1985

In January of 1935 Dr. Hugo Odhner published two pages of notes entitled "The Role of Simple Good." "Simple good, by virtue of its humility, its practical directness, exerts a tremendous steadying influence . . . ." He spoke of common sense and "common perception from simple good." By coincidence in January of 1885 a forthright article appeared entitled "The New Church to be Established with the Simple." It is asserted that "the missionary work of the future will be with the simple." We are to look "not among the learned, but in the ranks of the simple." This documented estimation of prospects for missionary work notes "that it is not learning itself that has closed heaven, but the conceit of learning in which is concealed contempt of others . . . ."
ABOUT THE CALENDAR READINGS 1985

ABOUT THE CALENDAR READINGS 1985

     Last year we published the daily calendar readings in detail, but discussion since then has led to the decision to mail these readings only to those who request them. Please address the request to the Secretary of the General Church, Cairncrest, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009. Last month we indicated in a general way what the readings are for January. In February the Scripture readings go from Deuteronomy 31 through Joshua 17 and the readings from the Writings from AC 4801 through 4899.

March:      Joshua 18-Judges 11, AC 4900-5028
April:      Matt. chapters 21-28; Joshua 11 through I Samuel 2, AC 5029-5116:3
May:           I Samuel chapters 3-24, AC 5116:4-5194
June:      I Samuel 25, Matt. 24, John chapters 14 and 16, AC 5195-5297

NEW CHURCH CONGRESSMAN ON RECONSTRUCTION 1985

NEW CHURCH CONGRESSMAN ON RECONSTRUCTION RICHARD R. GLADISH 1985

     One of the most rational and upbeat speeches delivered in the American House of Representatives in 1866 on reconstruction of the nation after the Civil War was that given by Judge T. A. Plantz (or Plants, in the Congressional publication). Judge Plantz, representative from Ohio, some time later served also as vice president of the General Convention of the New Jerusalem in the United States for ten years. He held high posts of honor and trust in Ohio, and also, as a licentiate, for many years preached to New Church societies in Middleport and Pomeroy.
     His speech on reconstruction had been called forth by President Andrew Johnson's message to Congress on the same topic, and we see in it more than one New Church idea presented thus before the nation with charm and eloquence. He had heard too many rabid and senseless speeches from his colleagues in Congress, we gather, when he rose to address the House February 24, 1566, less than a year after the assassination of Lincoln.
     "Nor will I repeat again the story that we have passed through the most gigantic rebellion that ever raised a traitorous arm against a just and beneficent government," he observes near the start of his address. "I have been struck with the almost uniformly repeated declaration that this was a perfectly causeless rebellion, that there was absolutely no cause at all for the war through which we have just passed.
     "But, Mr. Speaker, this is not so. Everywhere cause and effect are married together. No event ever did or ever can happen without a cause.
     "Let us see, then, if we can trace the rebellion and its consequences back to the germs from which they grew. For I maintain that all things with which we are surrounded, our institutions and ourselves as well, are subject to the universal law of growth . . . . The child inherits, by the very constitution of its being, the germs of all human possibilities; and its life's work is to develop from them by the joint action of impulses from within and circumstances from without, a fixed and permanent character. It has the merely animal instincts, selfish propensities, that center all their activities in their own gratification, and also the higher sentiments, which, fully developed, form the noblest work and image of God. And it is the contest for the mastery between these contending forces that makes the life of every one a grand battlefield, and virtue and vice significant terms . . . .
     "And what is true of the man is equally true of a community, which is but a man in a larger form, as our everyday language assumes when we speak of the whole people as the body corporate.

But this body-corporate is composed of all the individuals which make up the aggregate of its population. These individual men stand in the same relations to the "grand man" as the separate faculties of the brain do to the individual . . . .
     "Hence . . . the constitutions, laws, and institutions of a country are as much a growth as the people themselves . . . . Our Constitution . . . has worked well with us in the main, . . . [but] a progressive people cannot long be confined within the rigid terms of a written constitution . . . And so our fathers . . . wisely Provided for its amendment as the development and growth of the people should demand . . . .
     "And, after all, Mr. Speaker, what is our Constitution? Sir, it is like the unwritten constitution of England, or the written Bible-precisely what the prevailing sentiment makes it by interpretation."
     Then taking up the subject of slavery as a basic cause of the rebellion and the Civil War, Judge Plantz shows that neither the Bible nor history justifies slavery; that Washington, Jefferson, and Madison, though slave owners, opposed the institution and looked toward its abolishment; that the claim that the Negro was meant to be a slave was without foundation in history: in ancient Rome and Greece and contemporary Russia the slaves were white. And he continues,
     "Sir, the slave holders did bring themselves to believe that they had a right to hold slaves, that God and nature and the Constitution sanctified and sanctioned and guaranteed it to them. And, so believing, they believed they had a right to all the means requisite to their full enjoyment of that guarantee. But they could not be secure in this right if the slaves were acknowledged to be men; and they therefore had the right to class and treat them as brutes and punish with death the crime of teaching a slave to read. Again, the system would not be secure if men in the slave states were to discuss the matter in any form, and hence the freedom of speech and the press must be suppressed as the highest of crimes; and no man could utter the simplest truths but at the risk of his life. For more than a quarter of a century the world knew no despotism so absolute and relentless as that which ruled the South."
     Judge Plantz goes on to accuse the northern Democrats of much responsibility for the rebellion, saying, "Jeff Davis and his co-conspirators in the South would not, nay, they could not, have struck the first blow but for the hope they indulged of accomplishing their fell purpose. But if the whole North had been united in sustaining the government he could not have had any hope of its overthrow."
     Now Judge Plantz turns to a halcyon view of America's future, saying, ". . . the census shows that we have doubled our population and far more than doubled our wealth every 25 years . . . .

We are today a mighty nation, with 36 great states, and territory enough for forty more, and a population of 35 millions . . . Every variety of soil and climate and our natural position combine to make our country the Eden of the world. And, O, thank God, the shackles have been stricken from the limbs of the slave, and we have become the land of the free for evermore!
     "And now, Sir, at this commencement of our regenerated life, and standing on this out-look, the panorama unrolls a scene of glory and grandeur . . . ." Here the speaker pictures emigrants pouring into America, "where aristocracy is unknown and worth alone ennobles; where all men are free; where labor is adequately rewarded and the laborer respected; where the child of the emigrant is welcome to the school and his father to the ballot."
     "And with this stream of glorious workers will mingle the universal Yankee, and the two millions of our glorious soldiers, made nobler and better by the toils they have endured and the patriotism that inspired the endurance, and this mighty tide, resistless and ever-increasing in volume, will roll to the south now as well as to the west, RECONSTRUCTING AS THEY GO!
     "Sir, today a child will be born into this nation of 35 million people. When he casts his first ballot, he will have stepped into his young manhood in the same nation numbering 70 millions. At 45, he will be carving his fortune in the midst of the same nation, numbering 140 millions. At 65, . . . he will take the place of one of us in this hall, one of the honored representatives of 280 million people! . . . And where will these swarming, busy-working millions build their homes? Ah, Sir, the sacred soil of even old Virginia, as well as the other states, will be invaded, not indeed with hate and sectional animosity, but carrying with them the blessings and institutions of civilization-not to destroy but to rebuild. The waste places will be restored . . . . The Atlantic and the Pacific will be tied together with bands of iron . . . . All laws founded upon caste will be repealed. All races and all sexes will be enfranchised. Man in his strength and woman in her purity, stepping side by side to the ballot-box, will redeem politics from the stigma of coarseness. Statesmen will take the place of demagogues, and the people will demand that their reason be addressed instead of their prejudices. Education will keep pace with our material development, and religion, purified from superstition, will give its benediction . . . .
     "And that banner of beauty and glory that floats over your seat, with its galaxy increased to a hundred stars-the emblem of resistless power, and carrying in its folds freedom, justice, and protection to all-will wave over a reconstructed country without a traitor, a continent without a slave."

REVIEW 1985

REVIEW Rev. Douglas Taylor 1985

     The "As from Self," by Rev. Erik Sandstrom, a 32-page booklet

     The full title of this booklet is: The "As from Self" and the Two Essentials of the Church. It first appeared as an address to the Council of the Clergy of the General Church of the New Jerusalem in March of 1983. Since then it has been published as a 32-page booklet by the Sandstrom family.
     The church can be very grateful to Mr. Sandstrom and his family for this initiative. As befits a treatise by a life-long scholar of the church and a former Dean of the Theological School, this is a very penetrating analysis of a profound subject. The Council of the Clergy applauded it and enjoyed discussing it. But since not all the scholars of the church are clergymen, the publication of this address in booklet form is very welcome.
     Very appropriately Mr. Sandstrom begins with definitions. Although the Latin sicut a se is usually translated "as of self," Mr. Sandstrom prefers what is closer to the Latin-"as from self." He considers "the distinction is not without importance," but whether he proves this point is open to question. Attention is then focused on the implications of a very important distinction: that between the prepositions a and ex. "The preposition 'a' has the connotation of final origin, and is generally so used in the Writings, while 'ex' denotes a mediate origin, and is generally so used in the Writings" (page 1). The operative word in that statement is "generally"; the distinction certainly holds up wherever the Writings make a contrast between the final (or first) origin and the mediate origin. This is clear from the example used-TCR 153-where it is said that "the Lord operated of (ex-or out of) Himself from ('a') the Father, and not the reverse." The implication of this, as far as man is concerned, is that he is to act out of self from the Lord, self being the mediate origin, the Lord the first origin.
     Mr. Sandstrom relates the "as from self" to the two essentials of the New Church-acknowledging the Lord and performing actual repentance (see AB 9). "As if" implies acknowledging the Lord, while "from self' implies man's initiative in confession and repentance. Linking the two essentials of the New Church to the Two Great Commandments, on which "hang all the law and the prophets" (Matt. 22:40), Mr. Sandstrom asks the rhetorical question: "Is it right, therefore, to conclude that in the words 'as if from self' everything of truth is contained? I believe it is, for 'as from self' stands for cooperation, that is, for conjunction; and conjunction is the purpose of creation and the essence of the Word" (page 6).

     He next moves to a discussion of the Lord's infinite life compared with man's finite life, the latter being "a product of the Divine operation in man" (page 7). We can know this only from Divine revelation, and supremely from the Writings.
     Man's life is aptly described as "life from Life" (page 8). It is produced while the Lord's life proceeds (page 12). He continues the same theme in discussing "reception and the thing received." Reception is equated with man's life produced, "the thing received" being the Divine life, which in itself remains eternally Divine-even after being received. For illustration Mr. Sandstrom refers to the eye receiving light: "yet the eye does not become part of the light, nor does the light cease to be light after reception by the eye. Again, the flower receives the heat and light of the sun; but the flower does not become heat and light, nor do the sun rays cease to be sun rays after they have produced growth and color and scent"(page 13).
     This leads into a consideration of the distinction between to make and to constitute, which in turn requires that the terms continuous and contiguous be clearly distinguished. A useful summary of this section is provided on pages 16-17.
     The remainder of the address explains the relationship of the "as from self" to such subjects as influx and efflux; the visible God; the image and likeness of God; proprium-love-freedom; perception, sensation, and acknowledgement; the origin of man and his essence; conscience; the Lord's Own with man; and finally the tree of life and the tree of knowledge. The latter subject fittingly draws everything together, for "those two trees contrast the reality and the appearance. The reality is that man lives from the Lord alone . . . the appearance is that man lives from himself, independently of God" (page 31).
     There is only one place where this reviewer wished that a statement had been phrased differently or even omitted. That was the parenthetical statement on page 8. Mr. Sandstrom referred there to the organics mentioned in DP 279 and 319, and adds parenthetically that the "inmost (of these organics) are our limbus." He must surely mean their outmost, for the passages referred to mention specifically "the organics of the mind" (emphasis added). Since the limbus consists of natural substance-"the purest things of nature" (TCR 103)-it could hardly be identified with the inmost of the organics of the mind. It could well be considered the outmost of the mind, because this does consist of natural substances as well as spiritual (see DLW 257). Actually, the statement might well have been omitted, since it was not germane to the argument being developed.

     The question just raised must not be allowed to detract from the overall excellence of this outstanding address. In explaining the relationship of acting "as from self" to so many other subjects, Mr. Sandstrom has done the church a great service. For we need such explanations; we need to see how one teaching is connected with all the others. These connections Mr. Sandstrom has made abundantly clear.
     We should not be surprised at the universal nature of the subject before us, because, as pointed out in TCR 3, it is a matter of "the conjunction of charity and faith, thus of the conj unction of the Lord and man"-hence its universality.

     I heartily recommend this address to the attention of every thoughtful New Churchman and urge that it be studied. It is not meant to be skimmed. Even after three readings it still has secrets to reveal. Rev. Douglas Taylor
MEDICINE, THE NEW CHURCH AND HOMEOPATHY-REVISITED 1985

MEDICINE, THE NEW CHURCH AND HOMEOPATHY-REVISITED PHILIP B. DE MAINE,, AND JAMES B. DE MAINE 1985

     Several times we have gone back to this article, published in NEW CHURCH LIFE, August 1984, and each time with more admiration and sympathy for the author. To develop in limited space this combination of subjects is difficult, whatever its thrust. The following is not a critical review but rather a commentary with additional thoughts and background.
     Dr. Heilman's paper might be divided into three parts: first a description of what modern, conventional scientific medicine is and how it has come about; secondly, the art of practice; lastly he speaks of the placebo and then describes and decries homeopathy and the number of New Churchmen who subscribe to that school and the smaller number who actively promote it.
     Modern scientific medicine speaks eloquently for itself, especially in the years since 1910. There is no gainsaying what science has accomplished, nor do we question the dedication of men to the effort. We agree with Dr. Heilman that there are many fine men in the field who are just as conscious of Divine influx as are we in the church. As a quotation from him so aptly illustrates: "As cohabitants of the earth, we are all in the same kettle of life, brewing and simmering with our individual recipes, each with a body, a mind, a spirit, and connections with Forces which exceed ourselves and nature."

The scientific effort has been truly explosive, but as it goes rumbling faster, there are disturbing factors on the horizon. Graduating classes of physicians are partially removing themselves from physical and "word" contact with their patients, training to become skilled in various departments that may be further subdivided as their training progresses. Specialists become subspecialists, doing technical procedures generating income and prestige, but with a tendency to overlook or even denigrate the healing power of words, faith, trust and personal contact. "Ancillary" medical personnel, nurse practitioners, technicians and medical trainees are taught to do much patient contact, assisted by mechanical monitors of various kinds. Government intervention in the form of subsidies such as Medicare and Medicaid have created great, shiny, sterile hospitals and laboratories, beautiful, comfortable, and packed with the latest technology. Now we are reaching the point where there are not enough donor organs for recipients, where tremendous bioethical problems are created by genetic research. We are discovering defects in the developing fetus and we are freezing human sperm, thawing them later and artificially impregnating human ova. Our aging population, with all its aches and pains and needs, is burgeoning far past three score years and ten. We have just found that neither we nor our government can pay for all this, and even if we could, there are many difficult questions and problems that lack easy answers. People are not unequivocally happy with what science has brought them.
There has been overall a neglect of the art of medicine during this age of science and we have all suffered. Dr. Heilman states that the art of medical practice is "the bridge between science and the spirit" and that it is "above and beyond its science." It is here that love of the neighbor finds the physician at his best, where faith, confidence and peace are infused. The timing and proper use of words, the healing power of one's hands, can be learned and improved with study and practice, but mostly emanates from one individual who cares, trying to help another. The sensitive practitioner also knows when to be objective, analytical and more distant. It has been said that telling a patient what he or she has to know is a good test of medical artistry. That these things have not been sufficiently emphasized has created a real void in practice.
Homeopathy originated in Europe from the doctrines of Christian Fredrich Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician (1755-1843), and in the early 1800s these teachings were brought to this country. There were many able disciples here and, remarkably, a number of strong, articulate, early New Churchmen, many of them theologians, among them, back in the middle of the last century.

     At that time the standard medical system was struggling. Such things as anesthesia and asepsis in surgery were lacking. Bloodletting, purging, and use of many toxic substances made their treatment something the Patient had to resist in addition to his disease. Homeopathy came into this milieu-strong men of philosophical bent, dealing in good nursing care, using medications that were harmless, offering faith and support. When Lister introduced antiseptic methods about 1900, the good homeopaths adopted his methods, and overall results during the 1840-1910 period were admittedly better than those of standard physicians. Dr. Heilman explained the "placebo" (literally "I shall please"), and the homeopaths applied it knowingly and successfully. The homeopathic physician gave his remedies with solemn faith and confidence because he believed in them. So these medicines, dispensed in astronomical dilutions (and the more dilute the more potent) were placebos par excellence, weighted with faith and delivered by fine men who were very supportive, thus allowing a full range of psychodynamics.
     In the last half of the 1800s, homeopathy gained rapidly. Many large cities developed homeopathic hospitals. Their clientele came from all walks of life and they claimed many highly educated people from all fields, numbering many New Churchmen among them. In various cities homeopathic schools developed. All was well until modern science began its ascendency about 1910. At that time anti-seras and anti-toxins were beginning. Smallpox vaccination was established and it was suggested that it become compulsory for public school admission. Then came insulin for diabetes, anti-sera and later antibiotics for pneumonia, mosquito control for malaria, yellow fever, encephalitis and other diseases, the vitamins with their various uses, X-rays for diagnosis and treatment, hormones, and so on. Then on to the sulfonamides in the 1930s, penicillin in the '40s, as well as other antibiotics. Tuberculosis had rapidly disappeared in the '50s and after World War II there was a literal explosion of biological science. Dr. Freeman Dyson, an internationally known physicist, has just published a book titled Weapons and Hope. He says that if he were a young man just starting out, he would be a biologist rather than a physicist. He thinks that is where all great breakthroughs will occur, as though what has happened is but the beginning.
     With the advent of modern scientific medicine about 1910 came the first drastic control-the Flexner report on medical education, instituted by Dr. Abraham Flexner, a New York pathologist. Under the aegis of the Carnegie Foundation, with federal and state help, a complete reorganization of medical schools was established.

The first accreditation boards appeared. There were many schools graduating M.D.'s, many of them second rate "diploma mills." These were eliminated and the total number of schools was reduced by 50%, and those remaining were encouraged to become part of university programs along with their other graduate schools. National, state and local regulations followed, as did accreditation of hospitals. The specialty boards for all medical and surgical specialties became established. So began our modern "health care delivery" system, starry-eyed at first, but rather jaded at present, with many problems, some already detailed.
     We left the homeopaths back about 1910 at the beginning of modern scientific medicine. They really had but little choice. During their palmy days, the last half of the 1800s, they had failed to establish any lasting institution except Hahnemann Medical School and Hospital in Philadelphia, where there were facilities for research and advanced study. It was a real dilemma for the individual homeopathic physician who believed in what he was doing. Many have remained in the system, modifying their practice to fit modern advances insomuch as they are able. Even Hahnemann Medical School has not for several years taught a homeopathic course. To our knowledge there is no national congress, no ongoing research, no regional or state meetings, no recognitions as homeopaths for hospital or teaching appointments. The surviving homeopath is one who has had a standard medical education and postgraduate training and then, by studying alone and, if fortunate, by contact with other practicing homeopaths, he is able to work in his chosen field. The difficulties and persuasions are almost insurmountable, so the physician applying himself solely to homeopathy is slowly disappearing.
     It is true that over the years since 1825, homeopathy has appealed to many New Churchmen, at least on a philosophical plane. Hahnemann was perceptive, far-seeing and persuasive in his philosophy. One tenet of his three basic doctrines is the integrated view that disease is a whole organism property or whole organism aberration from the normal state of health. This appeals to some students of the Writings, where it is taught that all disease is from evil and involves the whole man, both natural and spiritual.
     Interesting at this point is a reminder that during Swedenborg's life there was no homeopathy. Hahnemann's work appeared in publication probably about 75 years after publication of the Writings. There is no hard evidence that Hahnemann had any knowledge of Swedenborg or the Writings, unless he learned of them through an able emissary to America. Dr. Constantine Hering.

Dr. Hering was one of a group of German immigrants who settled in southeastern Pennsylvania about 1830. In 1833 he published A Concise View of the Rise and Progress of Homeopathic Medicine (Philadelphia Hahnemanian Society, 1833). In the early years of the New Church in this area, he became a professed believer in the doctrines of Swedenborg. The nucleus of homeopaths and New Churchmen that was formed here could be partly responsible for the association between them that still exists.
     Our feeling is that at this time we can ill afford to confront each other with our favorite medical beliefs within the church, whether these be diets, vitamins, acupuncture, exercise or other "schools of medicine" of which there are so many lately.
     It would seem, though, that we should continue to be encouraged to use "natural means" in treating human illness. We read, "diseases can be, and also ought to be, cured by natural means, for the Providence of the Lord concurs with such means . . ." (SD 4585). And also, Swedenborg continues: "But, because we do not believe spirits to be about us, all these things are ascribed to natural causes. Medicines help. But still more the Lord's Providence-as people do confess" (SD 4650).
     Wise physicians in every age have realized that their scientific knowledge is limited and yet have striven to master and apply it. They have known by experience that their best efforts might go awry, have acknowledged that the Lord's Providence is present in their cures and failures; and have found the limitations of their art most humbling.
     Although the Writings do not reveal the specific scientific answers that we seek, we are provided a unique rational and spiritual foundation for thought and logic. Hopefully, using these truths in a sphere of charity, those of us in the church interested in medicine may recognize our differences, accept them, and then go forward to explore the very important medical and bioethical issues being forced on us by the explosion of scientific knowledge
MODERN MEDICINE AND HOMEOPATHY 1985

MODERN MEDICINE AND HOMEOPATHY C. J. STROEMPLE 1985

The hue and cry against homeopathy is that past a certain dilution and potentization point (24X), according to Avogadro's number, a physical constant, there would be no molecule left of the original substance and only sugar pills are left. The first law of thermodynamics is merely a statement of the principle of the conservation of energy, according to which energy cannot be created nor destroyed.

Matter, like energy, is indestructible in the sense that neither can become nothing; but as energy can be composed into matter, so matter can become dissolved into energy. Homeopathic preparations are not merely dilutions. Remedies, be they mineral, plant or animal (not just herbal essence), are potentized by vigorous energy input which in turn releases the energy of the substance.
     Provings of the potentized remedies are made on healthy people (not animals), who upon repeated doses reveal their particular drug pictures, which are recorded in the homeopathic Materia Medica. Those symptoms which are most prominent in a majority of the individuals are given special attention as the "red letter symptoms" of the remedy. Those provings made by Hahnemann and others many years ago can still be duplicated today. Remedies that were proved curative then are in use and curative today. None of these remedies has been discarded and many new remedies have been added. This is not true for allopathic drugs. Pick up any Physician's Desk Reference (PDR) and note the number of discontinued products in the past year. A 1982 reference shows 287 discontinued products! Many drugs are discontinued because of poisonous side effects. The PDR is a book of horrors on what modern drugs can do to a susceptible person.
     In the October 1984 AARP bulletin, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which administers the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has been submitted a petition by the Health Research Group (HRG) to ban the sale of two prescription drugs used by arthritis patients on the grounds that the drugs pose "imminent danger to human health." The drugs are Butazolidin and Tandearil (Ciba Geigy) and Azolid and Oxalid (USV Corp.). HRG claims the drugs may have caused more than 10,000 deaths, about 3,000 in the U.S. Some countries, including Israel, Norway, Sweden and Britain have banned one or both drugs. Ciba Geigy has offered opposite views in protection of its large research investments.
     This picture of drugging happens over and over again. An article in the June 27, 1984, Medical Tribune reports on a study conducted on forty patients who had severe migraine or other headaches. The average patient was taking 35.6 analgesic tablets a week. The patients all were hospitalized and their medicine abruptly withdrawn. Withdrawal symptoms included: increased headaches, nausea, vomiting, tachycardia, sweating, and sleep disorders. Following withdrawal the chronic headaches markedly improved or disappeared in 77% of the patients by the end of their hospital stay, and continued significantly improved in 70% after a 16-month follow-up.

Those who understand and are familiar with Hahnemann's concept of primary and secondary reaction will understand the phenomenon illustrated above.
     How does the modern physician operate? Certainly he has scientific instruments for diagnosis including analysis of blood samples from the chemical pot in every individual patient. The patient is drugged with chemicals according to information obtained from the drug companies.

     Look in the PDR again. Take the diagnosis of the disease cause, look up the disease, choose a drug that fits the disease, dose (titrate) the patient below the poisonous limits. This hardly requires thinking. The result is palliation-contain the disease, not a cure of the condition. The effects of this method may well be detrimental to one's health. In one study in 1980, the diagnosis, even if confirmed by lab tests, could very well be erroneous. In a nationwide examination of "high standard" laboratories, fifty percent failed.
     Dr. Robert S. Mendelsohn argues cogently that drugs are now being so over-prescribed that more illnesses are being caused by their side effects than are being cured. An R. N. in a Los Angeles hospital estimates that 10 to 15% of those admitted to the hospital are there because of side effects of prescribed drugs.
     In about 1845, the French minister F. Guizot said, "If homeopathy is a chimera or a method without value, it will disappear. But if, on the contrary, it represents a progress, it will spread whatever is done to stop it." And spread it has, and in the United States! At present an M.D. can take homeopathic instruction in summer sessions in one month stints each year at three different locations in the country, or attend the school in Athens, Greece, for the summer. The principal of this school is now in the U.S. and is setting up a homeopathic school on the west coast. Naturopaths with three medical schools on the west coast, in addition to their usual curricula, offer a full year course in homeopathy and graduate up to 30 N.D. practitioners in homeopathy each year. So, is homeopathy dying in the U.S.?
     On the subject of placebo effects: As indicated before, results of provings on healthy humans (not animals) are usually done with potentized remedies at the 30X potency. This is above dilutions where the Avogadro number says there is no drug remedy left. Now, how does one explain that those given the remedy exhibit symptoms that are confirmed by others receiving the remedy but not by those receiving the placebo? How does one explain that babies and animals treated with homeopathic remedies are benefitted by the treatment without being influenced by the prescriber?
     Going back in history as far as the ancient Jewish Bible, we find the Mekilta stating, in effect, that whereas man heals with contrary remedies, God heals with similars!

"Come and see, the healing of the Holy One, blessed be He, is not like the healing of man. Man does not heal with the same thing which he wounds, but he wounds with a knife and heals with a plaster. The Holy One, blessed be He, however, is not so but He heals with the very same thing which He smites" (From Mekilta De-Rabbi Ishmael, The Jewish Publication Society of America, Phila., page 239).
     "Homeopathy is a systematic science which correctly applies the laws of nature (like cures like) to stimulate the healing energies of the human being" (Dr. Bill Gray, a west coast physician).
     The amount of the remedy in a potentized preparation is not as important as the ability to match the remedy provings' result to that of the symptoms of the patient (like cures like). One is not prescribing "a tiny amount of the alkaloid used for a wee bit of cancer." Current medicine prescribes massive doses of drugs. Homeopathy prescribes potentized energy in a remedy that stimulates the vital force of the person. It is the person and his vital force that promotes the body to cure, not the medicine. The Arndt-Schulz law says that small amounts of a substance stimulate a person, larger amounts depress, and gross amounts poison. Hahnemann recognized the drug problems of his day, and his first attempts at prescribing were with dilutions to offset poisonous effects. Later the enhanced effects of potentization were discovered.
     If allopathic medicines, antibiotics, and immunizations have lowered or eradicated certain diseases, why have new 20th century illnesses emerged? These include Legionaires disease, Reye's Syndrome, Toxic Shock Syndrome, an Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
     People interested in homeopathy know that an artificial suppression of susceptibility to infectious diseases may result in a shift of the center of gravity of illness to a different and perhaps deeper level. Allopathic drugs suppress a diseased state; they do not cure. Homeopathic remedies reinforce the body's effort to cure itself, and according to Hering's law. By this law a cure can be followed as proceeding from the top down, from the inside out, from the more vital organs to the less vital and in the reverse order in which the disease progressed.
     Homeopathy need not be "quaint" nor "nostalgic." There are a number of people in the church who support homeopathy in this modern age of reason. It is the pseudo-intellectuals that thwart many individuals in coming into the church. Who is to judge who is "quaint"? There are many gates to the New Jerusalem and everyone is welcome.

Editorial Pages 1985

Editorial Pages Editor 1985

     LISTING THINGS WE WANT TO DO

     Swedenborg's encounters with people in the other world provide intriguing glimpses of the active life to be anticipated. One man made a remark about his new enterprising life. "He said that he is in such a life of activity as he had been in the world; and that every morning he proposes nine or ten things to himself which he wants to have accomplished before the evening" (AR 752).
     If you or I proposed such a number of things we would have to write them down, and we would be prudent to list them by priority, for the distractions of the day and the overestimations of our efficiency might mean that only some would be accomplished at day's end. What about a list for tomorrow? There is a wonderful sentence about charity in the man of business. "He thinks of what should be done on the morrow, and how it should be done" (Charity 167). One imagines here also a priority list. Of course the point of this passage is that the man ideally thinks of the morrow but does nor think of it.

He thinks of the morrow, and yet does not think of it. He thinks of what should be done on the morrow and how it should be done; end yet does not think of the morrow, because he ascribes the future to the Divine Providence and not to his own prudence. Even his prudence he ascribes to the Divine Providence.

     As we look ahead into the year 1985 it might be beneficial to propose to ourselves things we want to have accomplished before the year is out. Listing them by priority is very helpful, but the really helpful thing is consciously to ascribe the future to the Lord, consciously to ascribe uses to the Lord and then to apply ourselves to them with wisdom and energy.

     A NEW BOOKLET

     Your attention is called to a beautifully produced booklet entitled Heaven's Happiness. Illustrated by Linda S. Odhner, it consists in a delightful translation of the early Memorable Relations in Conjugial Love. Rev. John L. Odhner has succeeded in keeping the wording at a level that may be understood by children and greatly enjoyed by adults.

WINTER 1985

WINTER Richard Linquist 1985

     Communications
Dear Editor,

     Your series of inspiring editorials on the restoration of cheerfulness breathed a spirit into me which precipitated a middle-aged senility. Concerned and anxious to find personal happiness, I find it much too easy to leap over the confining walls of present problems and fly away toward the happy times of my youth.
     That such dreaming need not be limited to our sleeping hours seems especially important in winter. In this season it is natural to think of warmth and perhaps it is healthy for our spirits to recall happy, cheery feelings of past experiences. Several years ago, I returned to my hometown, Erie, Pennsylvania, to be restored with inner warmth. There I was and here I am now in my memory, standing on 8th Street, between State and Peach Streets. It's summer and I intend to go to a movie to watch a Western motion picture at the Columbia Theater. To inhabit again the fantastic adventures of Roy Rogers and Hollywood's heroes is my goal. But I find myself standing on the hard pavement of a parking lot. The theater had vanished.
     Now, returning to the present, my mother, Mae Soneson Linguist, while looking backward into our family's past, located some buried treasure. During the Civil War, Rev. Arthur Otto Brickman, a New Church minister and a chaplain in that conflict, gave a copy of the Writings to a prisoner of war named Mr. Stedham. After the war, he and my mother's great uncle, Edwin Johnson, worked together in Erie. Mr. Stedham gave a copy of True Christian Religion to her uncle. He, in turn, gave a copy of the Writings to her father, Gustaf W. Soneson. They attended doctrinal classes, in the early part of this century, with a small group of New Churchmen. Can you guess where? They met to share their thoughts and the delights of friendship in a room above the Columbia Theater.
     Symbolically and actually, they gathered together in an area above the world of my happy but youthful dreams. Unseen and unfelt, above the fantasies of pleasure which the purely natural man constructs, there is a realm of peace and good cheer where regenerating men dwell. My search for happiness during this cold period, therefore, did not leave me alone on a lifeless parking lot.

Instead I have gained a new and warm awareness of the Lord's Providence. I see Him reaching down through the hands of one good Samaritan, Rev. Brickman, to bless and lead us heavenward. Now four generations, totaling about fifty people, have found themselves in a garden of lasting delights.
     Indeed, it is winter and our circumstances hard, but our internal garden of the good feelings of mutual love is not cold or frozen. The French novelist and essayist Albert Camus observed: "In the midst of winter, I finally realized that there was in me an invincible summer." The winter season of our lives can awaken us to the world of inner warmth and its Source.
     Just consider the many cold blocks of granite which form the outer walls of our cathedral. Similar in shape but with much variety, they are like words which we find again and again on the pages of the Writings. For example: "To the extent, therefore, that the truths of the understanding and the goods of the will are conjoined, that is, to the extent that a man wills truths and does them from his will, he has heaven in himself: since the conjunction of good and truth, as just said, is heaven" (HH 425).
     To me, truth + good = happiness, like the warmth of worship within the protective walls of our cathedral. As a layman, I stand among you on my own two feet and suggest how personal happiness can be found. Use the key of the good of truth to enter the church which the Lord is building above, within you.

     Have a happy winter!
          Richard Linquist,
               Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania
CORRECTION CONCERNING THE NEW LIBRARY 1985

CORRECTION CONCERNING THE NEW LIBRARY E. Bruce Glenn 1985

To the Editor:

     I am writing to correct a small but significant error in the report of the Joint Council (November, p. 561) regarding the new Academy library, that "we want a library and not just because the government is telling us to get one."

     It is absolutely true that we in the Academy who are acutely aware of the need and its importance want the new library; but it is not the government which is also telling us to get one. It is rather the Middle States Association, the voluntary accrediting agency for colleges of which the Academy is a member, that has helped us to face this responsibility squarely.
     E. Bruce Glenn,
          The Academy of the New Church

DOCTOR'S RESPONSE 1985

DOCTOR'S RESPONSE Dr. J. Daniel Heilman 1985

Dear Editor,

     My article on the correspondence of the practice of medicine and the teachings of the church seemed relevant for a publication entitled NEW CHURCH LIFE. The latter 1 1/2 pages dealt with homeopathy, and apparently was seen as divisive by some. The article was written with ideas in mind; not a single individual came to view. I meant not so much to polarize as to stimulate. It must be admitted that I have received substantial favorable comment on the article, though of less than landslide dimensions.
     If someone takes hold of your mind and shakes it, several things may happen. Those ideas loosely attached may be tossed into the air. Those embedded may be better seated. Contrary to this material image, the human mind is more complex. It can be flexible and open, ready for examination. It can be firm and resolute, backed by reason or faith. It may be shielded by and laden with prejudice. In this seemingly wayward world, one man's reason may be another man's prejudice.
     I am amazed and a little pleased at the stir this single article created. I shall confine much of my retort to the criticisms levied on behalf of homeopathy. I not only respect them, but my article agreed with many of them.
     I chose my words carefully for the article appearing in the August 1984 issue. At no time did I describe homeopathy as being bad or wrong. By describing it as a branch of medicine arising out of a time less certain, scientifically, than our own, I inferred only that its origin might be understandable. I believe in the "historical context" when speaking of the record of man's ideas.
     That homeopathy "works" is undeniable. The term placebo seems to have an ugly connotation. In addition to its definition as an inert medicament used for psychological effect, for instance, to satisfy as a control in an experimental series, it is also defined as something soothing and gratifying (Webster's Third New International Dictionary, unabridged). Any physician, of any ilk or strain, has used the placebo effect in his practice. It is not intrinsically disreputable.
     I did not suggest that the power of homeopathy Lies entirely with the placebo effect. Homeopathy also works within the great framework of life's righting force.

Intellectual honesty dictates that any physician ask him or herself the question of whether the patient got better because of, irrespective of or in spite of his or her ministrations. When one treats a patient out of the grasp of pulmonary edema (acute congestive heart failure), or places a drainage tube in the space around the lung thereby relieving the air pressure built up as a result of a hole in the lung, one is impressed with the notion that one's presence was important for the patient. The return of color from blue to pink, or respirations from gasping to breathing, is simply impressive. Having administered the medicine, or having placed the tube, one is honestly haunted by the question of agency. Who really did what, with the sanction of Whom? Such dramatic results and interventions might lead one to a sense of arrogance and supremacy were it not for the well-documented occurrence of failure and even humiliation at one's impotence or misadventure. In this imperfect world we welcome the ratio, the balance of benefit to risk, the composite experience. We welcome even more the glimpse at validity in our search for some measurement of, if not ourselves, at least our standing.
     Homeopathy seems to say that it works, without saying how it works. In this sense it avoids all the foibles of the scientific method. If it is extra-scientific then it might stake its claim as such and avoid any semblance of scientific reporting. I would enjoy seeing an article in a homeopathic journal which asserts a design flaw or an incorrect conclusion from another homeopathic study. This is the nature of the scientific effort, which, in the main, is not collusive or conspiratorial. Science, historically, as an integral part of man and not some abstraction, has been self-reflective to a grand degree. In an essay entitled "The Drive to Discover," found in The American Scholar, Autumn 1984, E. O. Wilson poetically depicts the nature of science and its relationship with art. In it he quotes David Hilbert, an early 1900s mathematician: "So long as a branch of science offers an abundance of problems, it will stay alive; a lack of problems foreshadows extinction or the cessation of independent development." The scientific effort mirrors contemporary man. I, for one, am not willing to give up on either.
     That man is capable of avarice and greed in any profession should not be a shock. I doubt, however, that a modern hospital encumbered by the latest federal reimbursement schedules deals any more from avarice than from a sense of survival.
     One of the insights I take from our teachings is that we might properly focus on human attributes rather than whole individuals. If, in righteous zeal, we include a whole set of people with our judgment, we reveal more about ourselves than the group warranting our scrutiny.

To lasso a whole profession with the constraint of stereotype is a comic act.
     I agree that a pluralistic society is preferable to the monolithic state. In a real sense, modern medicine is a reflection of modern America. Vitamins are consumed by the ton to offset a prevalent fatigue. See pollen is probably a near perfect food (provided you're not allergic to it). A little imagination in the kitchen could do the same, however. In our quest for well being, in diet, yoga, in fitness, in the fountain of youth, we have somehow forgotten the magnificent garden within ourselves-our purposeful physiology and our intricate biochemistry, primed with wondrous health. Disease is more mystical, less understandable, certainly on a personal level.
     Humans have always had an infatuation with the mystical, the not readily explainable. Human health is more explainable today than it ever was, and its understanding will be crystallized further.
     A society as free as ours is Prone to indulgence. Laetrile, the cyano-essence of the apricot, once flourished as a cancer remedy. Through state congressional mandate, it was studied. The editor of the New England Journal of Medicine in January 1982 wrote an editorial entitled "Closing the Books on Laetrile" in which he describes the history of this drug with toxicity, but without benefit. (Those who automatically assume that he was protecting a conspiracy may not be interested, but those interested in the evolution of human hope set against despair, seen in the shadow of quackery and the light of valid human inquiry, may also be interested in this article.) Undoubtedly, there will be more cancer cures before we're done. (The reason that there will not be a single cancer cure is probably because "cancer" is not one disease, but rather hundreds.)
     The ideal "cancer cure," of course, is the one which contains "selective toxicity"-it kills the cancer cells and it leaves the normal cells unharmed. Medical science is not quite there, but it is on the verge of this ideal in the way of monoclonal antibodies and assorted genetic methods which, though scientifically explicable, will certainly call for an element of faith on the part of the supplicant.
     The PDR, or Physician's Desk Reference, is a reference work, made in small print, for the use of physicians. The reason that homeopathic remedies are not included is that they are innocuous. In an open society, it seems only logical that it might find its way to the bookshelves of the neighborhood bookstore. By FDA regulation, every known or even suspected side effect or toxic manifestation must be registered in this manual.

It speaks, however, of numerators. It does not speak of ratios, in that it does not speak of the whole experience with a drug. For example, if a drug treats 99 out of 100 people effectively, and produces toxicity or side effect in the one instance gets listed without connotation of risk/benefit ratio. The reason this is so, of course, is that the publishers feel that physicians will have the judgment to see the ratio. The publishers have been wrong in this, for sure. Some physicians don't.
     It is the prodigious patient. I've found, who is equipped with the kind of judgment (resident with the profession of medicine), who can read the PDR with circumspection.
     I once met a man who lived out the bulk of his life denying himself the fruits of medical science. In short, he said he would have nothing to do with doctors (he didn't say whether they were to be homeopathic or allopathic). He was able to live this way until his state of decrepitude arrived at a point where his family simply couldn't stand it any more, and they brought him to the hospital. I'm sure this was against his formulated wish. I can honestly say that I appreciate this man in terms of his consistency, if not his judgment. There are many more who pick and choose what they want for themselves from the hired advice of their physicians. Insofar as they do this, outside of dialogue and normal human interaction, they become their own physicians. In this regard, one aphorism states that the physician who undertakes to treat himself has a fool for a patient.
     Certainly we must feel free to seek out our particular brand of medicine. I favor pluralism in medicine. Monolithic health schemes are drab, intrusive to the vitality of what can occur between a caring physician and the patient.
     I appreciate the opportunity to read the study of homeopathy compared to placebos in patients with chematoid arthritis. The study has design flaws with potentially biased patient entry and less than statistically convincing data in the small groups described. More convincing would have been to have used the patient as his own control by alternating placebo with one of the many homeopathic remedies used, of course, in a double-binded manner. This was not done because "homeopathic agents remain active for months." Later in the article it is stated that "nobody knows how homeopathy works." This is not a rigorous study.
     The most controversial part of my article has to do with the choice of the word "quaint." I chose that word carefully. "Quaint" means incongruous, strange, unusual. Within the construct of personal freedom there is certainly no harm, for instance, in reaching into the medicine cabinet for a dash of arnica.

To espouse the virtues of homeopathy in an organized way in 1984 is, from my perspective, quaint.
     Finally, I must confess that in making this statement I was incorporating a portion of myself. I was trying to hint at the notion that it may not be altogether unprofitable to consider why Swedenborgianism is considered quaint by contemporary man. This is a palpable and a legitimate concern considering the present stasis of our condition as a growing church. Before you let this offend you, test it. Read the Denney report and the Gyllenhaal questionnaire; go out and venture the attitudes of our church. Before you despair, realize that the attitudes and the teachings are not one and the same. I gather from the teachings that God in His infinite mercy will consider those garbed with falsity and with prejudice according to His own formula. I gather that it is really non-productive for us New Churchmen to ruminate on God's judgment of others; we have our hands full with ourselves. Perhaps the greatest challenge for New Church men and women for the next few decades is for us to feel at home with and a part of the world. The Writings do not so much belong to us as do we belong to the world. But this is the subject of another article.
     Dr. J. Daniel Heilman,
          Sarver, Pennsylvania
HOMEOPATHY 1985

HOMEOPATHY Paul M. Schoenberger 1985

Dear Editor:

     Your November issue has a letter concerning homeopathy. I feel I must take issue with the statement therein that NEW CHURCH LIFE is not the publication for publishing what appears to be non-religious material. On the contrary, perhaps what is needed is more articles by the laymen of the church, which, to my way of thinking, would act as a barometer as to how the church as a whole feels about issues that we all face daily. This would give the powers that be a better idea of what is needed religiously speaking within the covers of NEW CHURCH LIFE.
     On the other side of the coin, I should like to thank the writer of that letter, as it has enlightened me on the whole subject of homeopathy. The only thing I knew about the subject before reading that letter was that the medicine used seemed always to taste good to me!
     Paul M. Schoenberger,
          Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

MEDICINE 1985

MEDICINE Norbert H. Rogers 1985

Dear Editor:

     I have read with much interest Dr. Heilman's article discussing medicine in the New Church as well as the various comments it provoked from readers, especially in defense of homeopathy.
     It seems more than a little surprising that neither the article nor the comments, though written by New Church members, were concerned with New Church doctrinal teachings either as a basis of an opinion or as a confirmation of any argument advanced.
     I have not made a study of the subject, but I would say that an intrinsic part of a New Churchman's thought about medicine should be what the Writings teach about the function of the soul in conception and the subsequent development of mind and body in utero and extra utero in maintaining both the natural mind and body in health throughout natural life.
     Should not medicine properly assist the soul's efforts to defend the wholesomeness of the body from foreign bodies, and not try to bypass those efforts as antibiotics seem to do?
     Norbert H. Rogers,
          Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania
CORRECTION NOTICE ON THE CLERGY REPORT 1985

CORRECTION NOTICE ON THE CLERGY REPORT Rev. L. R. Soneson 1985

To the Editor:

     The report of the clergy meetings, published in the November issue, needs a correction to a motion made at the 6th session (p. 554). The council did indeed recommend to the Bishop the use of the NKJV actively in the church, but it was not said that we need to wait until March, 1985, to determine this. Subsequently, Bishop King informed the church of this recommendation in his letter mailed on August 14th.
     Rev. L. R. Soneson,
          Secretary of the Council

Church News 1985

Church News Various 1985

     GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS

     Despite a change in pastoral leadership, this has been another year of smooth transition for the Glenview society. Rev. Brian Keith has ably guided the society into its many uses. He has continued the practice of communicating with and informing the society through pastoral letters concerning current issues of the society.
     Our assistant pastor, Rev. Eric Carswell, is also principal of the Midwestern Academy (MANC). As such he has introduced the high school students to the uses of the church and has led them on many trips, including a trip to Bryn Athyn and a week's intersession program at the Klippenstein farm in Missouri. A new Saturday school for lower elementary students unable to attend the school was initiated this year. It too is directed by Eric Carswell.
     This has been an exciting year for missionary work in this area under the leadership of Rev. Grant Schnarr. Two discussion groups were started in two Chicago suburbs and one group is now holding biweekly church in homes. There has been a lot of publicity in local newspapers. Advertising was increased this past year to increase the image and awareness of the church.
     An addition to our multi-purpose building will be added soon to provide larger physical space for the evangelization functions. This will be called the Swedenborg Center.
     An expansion of the little manse and the Grant Schnarr residence are badly needed. These renovation projects are in progress, with the usual assistance of much volunteer labor. Also, the renovation of the school classroom project was completed.
     Again this summer a family retreat camp, Oak Leaf, was held at a lovely campground about an hour away from Glenview. The weather was beautiful and the Sunday service was well attended.
     At present our school enrollment is more reduced than it has been for years. However, a bumper crop of babies in the past few years assures future enlarged enrollment.
     One of the highlights this past year was the ordination of Grant Schnarr into the second degree of the ministry.
     For the first time, our society held a pre-Thanksgiving food collection to donate to our less fortunate neighbors in the surrounding community.
     The boys club, girls club. Theta Alpha and Women's Guild have been as busy as usual. The efforts of the members of the society in promoting the uses of the church bear much fruit. Each year provides special opportunities to serve the Lord.
     Doris A. Millam
ASSIGNMENT OF REV. DANIEL FITZPATRICK 1985

ASSIGNMENT OF REV. DANIEL FITZPATRICK 1985

Because of immigration delays Rev. Daniel Fitzpatrick will not immediately take up the assignment in Australia mentioned in the December issue (p. 614). He is presently assisting the pastor in the San Diego society and preaching occasionally in other California locations.

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1985

     Announcements

     General Church of the New Jerusalem

     ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS

     The annual meetings of the Council of the Clergy and of the Board of Directors of the General Church have been scheduled to take place in the week of March 4th to the 9th, 1985, at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.

Swedenborg Epic 1985

The Life and Works of Emanuel Swedenborg
by
Cyriel Odhner Sigstedt

Price including postage

GENERAL CHURCH
BOOK CENTER
Box 277
Bryn Athyn
PA 19009

Hours: 9:00 to 12:00

Mon. thru Fri.
(215) 947-7920

Notes in This Issue 1985

Notes in This Issue Editor 1985

Vol. CV February, 1985 No. 2
NEW CHURCH LIFE

     A question about the Gospels that is asked over and over again is: Why did the Lord forbid people to tell about His miracles, when they did so anyway? In 1928 Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal addressed himself to this question under the heading, "Tell No Man!"(NCL, 1928, p. 327). In his book Harmony of the Four Gospels George de Charms alludes to the explanation suggested by John Clowes but suggests that there is more for future scholars to discover on this (p. 263). We have never seen the question more completely outlined than is done by Rev. William Clifford in this issue. Mr. Clifford first introduced this in the magazine New Church Canadian.
     In this issue is the first of two articles by Rev. Douglas Taylor concentrating on what the Writings teach directly on the subject of the growth of the New Church. "What do we mean by the New Church?" he asks, and he supplies the answer.
     In March of 1982 we published a study by Rev. Andrew Heilman on the subject of the pearl of great price as it appears in the 13th chapter of the gospel of Matthew. The title appears again in this issue, but Rev. Orthwein considers it in relation to the "precious jewel" mentioned in Conjugial Love (457, 466, 531). It is also called "the precious treasure of human life" (CL 466). "Whether or not we are married in this imperfect world, we must all strive toward the conjugial, and keep [it] as a precious treasure in our hearts. The price may seem very high and we may be inclined now and then to give up. But whatever price we have to pay on earth, we will be laying up treasure in heaven" (p. 59).
     Your attention is called to the announcement on page 94 of a new magazine entitled Chrysalis.
CHAPEL DEDICATION IN FRANCE 1985

CHAPEL DEDICATION IN FRANCE 1985

On the 16th of September, 1984, the Rt. Rev. Louis B. King dedicated a "Chapel of the New Church in France" in Bourguignon.

PEARL OF GREAT PRICE-CONJUGIAL LOVE 1985

PEARL OF GREAT PRICE-CONJUGIAL LOVE Rev. WALTER E. ORTHWEIN 1985

     A SERMON

     "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hid in a field . . . Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it" (Matt. 13:44-46).

     "The conjugial of one man with one wife is the precious jewel of human life and the repository of the Christian religion" (CL 457).

     Coming into heaven is not easy. Hereditarily, we incline to evils of every kind. We are born into the loves of self and the world. We are born, as it were, upside down, and it is only through a lifetime of struggling with temptations of many kinds that our lives are finally brought into order, and we become truly human. But a wise person keeps seeking what is good and true; he perseveres in this spiritual quest because he knows in his heart that the reward is worth the effort. He knows he will never be at peace until he finds it.
     The same is true of conjugial love. Coming into it involves temptation combats; it involves overcoming many obstacles to which the natural man is heir. But it is worth seeking, above all else.
     The Lord compared the kingdom of heaven to a hidden treasure, and to a pearl of great price. And in the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, the Lord tells us that conjugial love is the precious jewel of human life. Clearly, heaven and conjugial love make a one.
     But we know this from experience. When people dream of happiness, what do they dream of! They dream of a conjugial partner, a husband or wife with whom they will be most closely united, forever. They know this is what makes heaven, even without being taught that it is so. "And they lived happily ever after" is the conclusion of fairy tales, but it also represents the highest reality.
     But the dream and the reality are two different things. The dream is not realized without effort, without seeking. As fairy tales involve seeking something-an answer, a treasure, or the hero's beloved-so spiritual life involves a quest, and combat-combat with self.
     Paradoxically, nothing is easier than the life of heaven, and the path to heaven is not so hard as people imagine (see HH 528, 530, 533, 359). Yet many fail to find it. The difficulty is not in the path but comes from our hereditary love of those things which are against heaven. We know these things stand between us and happiness-but still we love them. The Lord, though, has given us the Word and has established His church so that we might live the life that leads to heaven.

     Whether we say "heaven" or "conjugial love," it is the same. Falling in love is easy; it just happens. But for that delightful state to continue to eternity requires that we regenerate. It is an angelic state-a gift from the Lord-which we lose when blinded by the world. Falling in love is easy, but staying in love requires the overcoming of self. We can do this; we can find the way back to that first heavenly state, but we have to be like the merchant who is seeking valuable pearls. We have to be able to recognize the pearl of great price when we find it, and be willing to forsake all else for its sake.
     To know the source of happiness is a great thing; and to be willing to sacrifice all else in the quest for it is even greater. It is a rare gift. Too many people don't know, or else they aren't willing to make the sacrifice-the sacrifice of self.
     The Lord is the only source of happiness and a "pearl" in the Word stands for knowledge of the Lord. Of all the treasures of the human mind, this is the pearl of great price (see AR 727, 916e).
     How many people possess it? How many people seek it?
     Te doctrines of the New Church may be compared to a lovely strand of pearls, each pearl giving us some new knowledge of the Lord. If we are merchants seeking such pearls, we know where to look.
     Each of the twelve gates leading into the holy city New Jerusalem was formed of a great pearl. Knowledge of the Lord is what introduces us into His kingdom on earth and in heaven.
     But what is this knowledge, really? We can know about the Lord, and still not know Him. For there is a deeper kind of knowledge than knowing about-that is, knowing from experience. The pearl of great price is a knowledge of the Lord from having experienced His presence and the life of His kingdom.
     If the doctrines of the New Church are so many pearls of wisdom, this knowledge of the Lord from experience is the one pearl of great price.
     But we must seek this living knowledge. We must actively seek to understand the truths which the Lord has revealed and make them our own by living by them. We have to go along the path which the Lord has revealed in His Word in order to find this hidden treasure.
     We are told that "all instruction is simply an opening of the way" (AC 1495:2). The reason for learning about the life of heaven is so that we might live it, and so come into heaven. And it is the same in regard to conjugial love the reason for learning about it is that it might become ours, that we might know it, not just in the sense of knowing about it, but in the sense of knowing it from experience.
     We learn about heavenly things by an external way, as knowledge comes into our natural minds from without (from the Word); but as we strive to live by these knowledges, an internal perception is opened up, and good from the Lord flows in and changes our ruling love from natural and selfish to spiritual and heavenly.

     All the knowledges of the Lord's kingdom which we acquire are good pearls, but this internal perception, and the charity it springs from, is the pearl of great price.
     A pearl is a good symbol for heaven, and for conjugial love, for several reasons. First of all, a pearl is a kind of living gem, in that it grows in a living creature. And the life of heaven (or conjugial love) is something that has to grow with us, little by little.
     The way a pearl is formed is significant too. It grows around a grain of sand irritating the oyster. We can compare this to the way the truths of the Word, as they come into our natural minds and are seen at first only naturally, are irritating to our selfish nature. But as they are covered over with charity, as it were, they become beautiful pearls. (And what teachings are more a source of irritation to the natural man than those concerning conjugial love?)
     The beauty of a pearl is also a fitting symbol of heaven, or of conjugial love. Unlike gemstones with sharp facets, the pearl is round. Both its shape and color suggest gentleness and peace. The radiance of a pearl is different from other gems it is soft and milky. There is something mysterious about it too-the way the iridescent sheen of a pearl shows many colors, very subtly.
     The soft and multi-hued luster of a pearl seems a good representation for knowledge of the Lord and of conjugial love. We have a feeling that this knowledge has many layers of depth in it, that there is an opaqueness about it, as well as light, like the Lord coming in the clouds. Conjugial love, too, is a mystery.
     And of course pearls are fitting representatives of conjugial love, as well as heaven in general, because they are rare and precious. And genuine pearls cannot be made by man.
     But most of all, if a pearl stands for knowledge of the Lord, then it is certainly a perfect representation of conjugial love because the fullest knowledge of the Lord we can have is that which comes to us in conjugial love.
     We can only know the Lord as we are liberated from self-love and self-intelligence. This is what is meant by the merchant selling all that he had to buy the pearl of great price. To know the Lord is to love what is good and true, to love this more than ourselves, to invest everything in it. This is to "lay up treasure in heaven."
     And is not this giving up of self precisely what is required to possess conjugial love? It is especially essential in marriage, of all human relationships, to overcome self and put concern for another first.

     Love to the Lord is not an abstraction. The Lord is Human, and from Him come all genuinely human qualities. To love what is good and true means, especially, to love what is good and true in others. This is why love of the neighbor is "like unto" love of the Lord (Matt. 22:39). The Divine love and wisdom proceeding from the Lord may be seen as they are received and manifested in the lives of human beings. To love the neighbor is to love the good in him from the Lord. In marriage, this closest of human relationships, there are great opportunities to see and love the human dualities which the Lord creates, and which are His presence.
     The pearl of great price which we are to seek in marriage, then, is also knowledge of the Lord. Knowledge of the Lord and conjugial love make a one, for if we come into love truly conjugial, we will at the same time be coming into knowledge of the Lord, more living and beautiful than the word "knowledge" can possibly convey.
     "Every advance and every step from religion and into religion is also an advance and step from the conjugial and into the conjugial" (CL 80).
     We know about the Lord through the Word; we come to know the Lord through experiencing the human qualities which flow from His Divine love and wisdom and affect our minds and lives, and those of others. In marriage, the husband and wife love what is from the Lord in the other. Here, the Lord's love and wisdom in the minds of the husband and wife are brought together-we could say reunited in a way that is most living and fruitful, beautiful and joyous.
     This is the pearl of great price "the precious jewel of human life and the repository of the Christian religion" (text).
     The Writings describe a wedding in heaven at which the bridegroom "turned to the bride and placed on her finger a gold ring. He then drew forth bracelets and a necklace of large pearls, and fastening the bracelets upon her wrists and the necklace around her neck he said, 'Accept these pledges.' And as she took them, he kissed her and said, 'Now thou art mine,' and he called her his wife" (CL 20).
     The Lord, the Bridegroom of the church, has given His church a necklace of precious pearls-that is, truths concerning the Divine and heaven. These truths form the connection between heaven and earth. Knowledge of them opens heaven to us, or, rather, opens us to heaven and leads us there. They are tokens of this sacred pledge, the marriage vow between the Lord and His church.
     When those of the church receive these truths, love them and bring them into life, they are then part of the conjugial union of the Lord and His church. In this sense, every regenerating person may be said to be "married" that is, they are part of a church which is the Lord's bride.

     Married couples must work together in a continual effort to make conjugial love a reality in their marriage, looking to the Lord for help in this, and nurturing what is good and true in each other. But whether or not we are married in this imperfect world, we must all strive toward the conjugial, and keep the conjugial principle as a precious treasure in our hearts.
     It may be that this will involve considerable effort. It may be that many things will have to be forsaken for the sake of this end. There may be many obstacles to conjugial love to overcome. In times of frustration or failure, it may seem that the quest is hopeless. The price may seem very high and we may be inclined now and then to give up. But whatever price we have to pay on earth, we will be laying up treasure in heaven.
     Actually, the jewel of human life, conjugial love, is priceless. The price is simply the price of regeneration, and the Lord pays this for us really. Through His life in the world and glorification, He has "purchased" heaven for us, and we will receive this treasure as we are prepared to receive it by keeping to the Lord's Word in our lives.
     In conclusion, though, consider that one of the greatest joys of the New Church is the confidence we can feel that this treasure, hidden for so long, can be found. For the promise has been given that in His second advent the Lord will raise up conjugial love anew, "such as it was with the ancients; for this love is from the Lord alone and is with those who are made spiritual by Him through the Word" (CL 81e). Amen.

     LESSONS: Gen. 2:4-25, Matt. 19:1-12, CL 130:1, 4 SEE THAT YOU TELL NO MAN 1985

SEE THAT YOU TELL NO MAN Rev. WILLIAM H. CLIFFORD 1985

Question: Why did the Lord, while Me was on earth, frequently ask of those who had witnessed His miracles not to tell anyone and why did these people often disobey His command?

This is a fascinating question because the Lord did this frequently, at least in comparison to the number of times which He ordered someone to tell others about His healing. Comparison can be made from the chart and comments accompanying this article.

REFERENCE     COMMAND*                    RESPONSE (REASON, IF GIVEN)

Mark 1:44     To leper: "See that you          "Instead he went out and began to talk
cp.**Luke     don't tell this to anyone,     freely, spreading the news. As a
5:14          but go, show yourself to the      result, Jesus could no longer enter
Matt. 8:4     priest and offer the          a town openly."
          sacrifices that Moses
          commanded for your cleansing,
          as a testimony to     them."

Matt. 9:30     To two blind men: "See that     "But they went out and spread the
          no one knows about this."     news about Him all over that region."
cp. Matt 20:29-34
Mark 10:46-52Luke 18:35-43

Matt 12:16     To many who were healed:     Not stated. (To fulfill prophecy
          "warning them not to tell     that He would not force Himself on
          who He was."               others-Matt. 12:17.)

Mark 8:26     To blind men at Behsaida:     Not stated. Obedience implied.
          "Don't go and tell anyone
          in the village."

Mark 5:43     To those who saw Him heal     "News of this spread through all
cp. Luke     Jairus' daughter: "He gave     that region" (Matt. 9:26)
8:56          them strict orders not to
Matt.          let anyone know about this."
9:18-26

Mark 7:36     To the crowd who saw Him     "But the more He did so, the more
cp. Matt     heal a deaf and dumb man:     they kept talking     about it."
15:29-31     "command them not to tell
          anyone."

     Commands to His disciples:

Mark 8:30     To His disciples at Peter's     Not stated. Obedience implied.
cp. Matt.     confession: "warned them not
16:20          to tell anyone about Him."
Luke 9:21Mark 9:9     To His disciples at His          "They kept the matter to themselves"
cp. Matt     Transfiguration: "gave them          (Mark 9:10)
17:9          orders not to tell anyone
Luke          what they had seen until the
9:28-36     Son of Man had risen from
          the dead."

     Commands to evil spirits which He cast out:

Mark 1:25     To an unclean spirit:          Not stated. Obedience implied.
cp. Luke     "Be quiet."
4:35

Mark 1:34     To demons: "but He would     Not stated. Obedience implied.
cp. Luke     not let the demons speak
4:41

Mark 3:12     To unclean spirits: "But     Not stated. Obedience implied.
cp. Luke     He gave them strict orders
4:41          not to tell who He was."


     * All quotations are from the New International Version of the Bible
     ** cp.-compare

     There is another incident that may be related to this, but in this case the silence is on the Lord's part: after feeding the five thousand, "Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make Him king by force, withdrew again into the hill by Himself" (John 6:15). Further, the Lord's speaking in parables could be viewed as a kind of silence.
     In contrast to the frequency of the Lord's commanding silence, there is only one instance of the Lord telling a person that He healed to make this known. Jesus told the demon-possessed man of the Gadarenes: "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you. So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him" (Mark 5:19, 20; Luke 8:39; cp. Matt. 8:28-34).
     During His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus refused to obey the plea of the Pharisees to silence His disciples, saying: "I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out" (Luke 19:40). A similar incident happened after He had entered Jerusalem (see Matt. 21:15, 16).
     Jesus told the disciples of John the Baptist who had come to find out if the Lord was the one they had been waiting for, to tell John about all the miracles they had seen Him perform (see Matt. 11:2-6; Luke 7:18-23). And to the Pharisees who told Him that Herod was planning to kill Him, Jesus said that they should tell Herod that He would continue to perform miracles for three days (see Luke 13:31-33).
     In addition, the Lord sent His twelve disciples out to preach (see Matt. 10:7; Luke 9:2), and presumably the seventy were also to preach when they went ahead of Him (see Luke 10:1-12).
     The only other times that people were commanded to tell others was after the Lord's resurrection. First there was the angel who told the women at the tomb that they should go back and tell the disciples what they had seen (see Matt. 28:7; Mark 16:7). This command was repeated by the Lord Himself while they were on their way back (see Matt. 28:10). Then before the Lord ascended into heaven, He commanded His disciples to preach throughout the world (see Matt. 28:16-20; Mark 16:15-20; John 21:15-17).
     The literal meaning of these passages gives us a number of reasons why the Lord did not generally want people to broadcast His miracles. Mark 1:45 suggests that one reason that the Lord tried to keep His fame from spreading was to preserve His freedom of movement, which would have allowed Him to teach a greater number of people. Matt. 12:16-21 tells us that the Lord desired to lead and teach people in such a way as to respect their freedom. This is even more evident from the internal meaning of Isaiah 42:1-4 quoted by Matthew as an explanation of the Lord's warning to the people not to tell who He was.

The Lord's commands to the evil spirits which He exorcised (see Mark 1:25, 34; 3:12), and to His disciples at the occasions of Peter's confession (see Mark 8:30) and His own transfiguration (see Mark 9:9) show the Lord's concern that people did not learn who He really was before they would be able to accept it. For very similar reasons the Lord often spoke in parables, since parables were a means of adapting heavenly ideas to natural men (see SD 3357) and at the same time served as a means of protection from profanation (see Matt. 13:10-17, 34, 35 and John 12:3740). See also DP 231:9; AC 302, 2520:5, 6. And finally, the Lord withdrew completely from people when they misunderstood His mission (see John 6:15).
     As New Churchmen, we are especially interested in the internal meaning of what the Lord did. The Lord's concern for people's freedom and for adapting His teachings to their state are examples of the spiritual meaning shining through the letter of the Word. Unfortunately, nowhere do the Writings explain the internal meaning of the Lord commanding people to keep His miracle-working quiet. The closest we come to such a teaching is one of Swedenborg's marginal notes to his Bible. Concerning Matt. 9:27-31, Swedenborg noted:

"The blind" for those of the nations who had not faith, and acquired the sight of intellectual faith; "house" for Judaea where this was not to be published because the instructed were first to be taught and converted so that the gospel might emanate thence. These are Galled therefore first-fruits and firstborn. Therefore "Jesus forbade them" (The Schmidius Marginalia translated by E. E. Iunegrich, q.v. Matt. 9:27-31).

     This comment suggests that the two blind men whom the Lord healed represented those who had no faith, and their being healed gave them the ability to see by intellectual faith. Intellectual faith is a faith based on a knowledge of the Lord but without any love for Him. Such people, of course, are not in a position to properly evangelize others. They need more instruction, and to be converted first, so that they can preach from their love for the Lord.
     It is interesting to compare this with the one instance in which the Lord specifically commanded a person He had healed to tell others about what He had done. This incident is also unexplained by the Writings. After Jesus bad exorcized a "legion" of evil spirits from a man, the man begged to go with the Lord. This surely indicates that the man had gone beyond mere intellectual faith. Perhaps this is why the Lord said to him, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you" (Mark 5:19), and he went through Decapolis (the Ten Cities) telling people what the Lord had done (see Mark 5:20).

Being "silent" in the Word sometimes has the internal meaning of "to think and silently ponder" (AC 4441), which would seem to be a very appropriate activity for the blind who had just gained the sight of intellectual faith. But why the leper (Mark 1:44) and the many who were healed in Matt. 12:16 were told not to speak of their healing is not presently known. It is more perplexing when we consider the fact that many other times the Lord healed people, including the blind, and did not forbid them to talk about it. Interestingly, while the Lord sometimes forbade the evil spirits He was casting out from speaking about Him, He never forbade the person thus healed from talking. And once He did command such a person to tell others, which He never did when He healed a person of a disease. Perhaps the reason why those with diseases were sometimes forbidden from talking about it, while those who had evil spirits exorcized were sometimes commanded to tell others, lies in their different representations. Perhaps the reason lies simply in the particular circumstances surrounding each incident, or perhaps these circumstances modified a basic difference in representation. To answer these questions requires much deeper study into the Gospels and their spiritual meaning than has ever been done before.
NCL A HUNDRED YEARS AGO 1985

NCL A HUNDRED YEARS AGO 1985

     By February of 1885 J. F. Potts could report real progress in the "great work" which he had undertaken. The church was then looking forward to the day when a full Concordance of all the Writings would be published.
     Also in that issue we find the following under the heading: SAYINGS FROM PAUL: "The English language is indebted to Paul for the subjoined list of quotations. They are not all given literally, but as popularly used."
     Included in the list are:

A law unto themselves
All things to all men
In the twinkling of an eye
A house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens
With you in spirit
The love of money is the root of all evil.
Entertained angels unawares.

GROWTH OF THE NEW CHURCH: WHAT THE WRITINGS SAY 1985

GROWTH OF THE NEW CHURCH: WHAT THE WRITINGS SAY Rev. DOUGLAS M. TAYLOR 1985

     Part I. In the Christian World

     What thought comes to mind when we read "The growth of the New Church"?
     Our first thought is most likely to be numerical growth-"getting more members." But that refers only to the growth of the external organization or body, more often than not to the General Church of the New Jerusalem.
     Now, this numerical growth is, of course, indispensable. We know from the doctrine that there must indeed be an organized body of the church, and common sense dictates that it must be not only financially sound but numerically growing. Numbers are important. In fact, we are taught that every society in heaven increases in number daily, and that as it increases it becomes more perfect (see HH 71).
     But, while numbers are important, they are not supremely important. Numerical growth is not necessarily the same as the real growth of the New Church. There must also be a growth of the spirit of the New Church as well as of its body. One of the underlying themes of the Heavenly Doctrine is that within every external there must be a corresponding internal. In popular language we could say that "we must keep soul and body together. After all, a body without a spirit is a dead body, a corpse. It is a familiar teaching also that every human being is a spirit clothed with a body (see HH 432-444). But the spirit is the man himself (see HH 433), the physical body being added only "in order that the spirit of man may be able to live and perform uses in the natural world" (HH 432).
     The church is a Greater Man. It too must have a spirit clothed in a body-an external organization visibly existing in the natural world. But the spirit of the church is the church itself. The external body or organization is added only so that it may be of use in this world, especially as a basis for the heavens.
     From this it is clear that the New Church on earth grows only as the Lord's kingdom on earth grows. Enlarging the body is not necessarily accompanied by an enlargement of the spirit. On the other hand, if the spirit of the church grows, if it approaches nearer to the ideal New Church, this will undoubtedly result in a numerical increase, a healthy growth of the body.

In that case everything will be according to the Divine order. "What makes heaven with man also makes the church: for just as love and faith make heaven, so also do they make the church" (NJHD 241-emphasis added). The growth of the church, then, is not merely a matter of adding warm bodies. They must be people who are at least trying to receive love and faith from the Lord; otherwise they are not really of the church. If we forget this, we could gain the whole world and yet lose our soul.

     The Ideal (or Real) New Church

     What do we mean by the New Church?
     We cannot identify it with any or all of the existing church organizations on earth. In itself, in its essence, the New Church is the Lord's creation. It is the ideal New Church; or we could say equally that it is the real New Church.
     Its qualities are outlined in the Apocalypse Revealed treatment of "the New Jerusalem," as follows:

     The Word will be understood there because translucent from its spiritual sense (AR 897); there will be justice there (AR 905); good and truth in the New Church make one, like essence and form (AR 906); all things of the New Church are from the goodness of love(AR 907); the quality of the New Church is such that it makes one with heaven (AR 910); every truth of the New Church and of its doctrine is in form the goodness of love flowing in together with light out of heaven from the Lord (AR 917); in the New Church there will not be any external separated from what is internal(AR 9 18); the people of the New Church will not be in self-love and in their own intelligence, and from that in natural light alone, but in spiritual light from the Divine truth of the Word from the Lord alone (AR 9 19); there will be no falsity of doctrine there (AR 922); those who enter will bring with them the confession, acknowledgment, and faith that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and that every truth of the church and every good of religion is from Him (AR 923).

     Obviously, this is not an actual description of any existing New Church body. It is not a description at all, but a prescription for what we should become. Those characteristics are the potential and destiny of the New Church in general-and of each individual member. They are to be our goals-a measuring rod for the true growth of the New Church, which is to be measured not simply by quantities but by qualities.
     Progress toward fulfilling the vision of the New Church, of making it actual, is the only real progress. It requires applying the doctrine and life of the New Church to every area of our personal and corporate life.

     Growth to Fullness

     This, presumably, is the meaning of the teaching that before provision is made for it among many, the New Church will "grow to fullness (AE 764:2).
     Can this mean numerical growth? If "fullness" means fullness of numbers, would it not already be among "the many"? Why, then, is it said, "until provision is made for it among many"?
     The meaning must surely be the full development of the New Church in the Christian world. The Heavenly Doctrine is addressed to the highest level of our conscious mind the rational. It has to be brought down through the scientific (middle natural) level; that is, the Heavenly Doctrine needs to be used for organizing facts and conclusions from sense experience in order to reflect and illustrate rational principles. Many examples of this are given in the Heavenly Doctrine; for instance, the infinity of God may be seen in the prolific principle on the physical plane. It may also be seen in New Church education, where the doctrine is applied to all manner of disciplines on the "scientific" or middle natural lead.
     Incidentally, these considerations add great point and purpose to the work of New Church education in all its forms. It is all directed toward the growth of the New Church to fullness.
     But there must be a further descent yet. Besides the rational and the scientific levels of the mind there is the lowest-the sensuous. The Heavenly Doctrine must descend into the sensuous level, into the level of imagery. Rational and scientific principles need to come down into concrete forms that may be seen in the imagination and then given a visible, tangible form before the senses. To the extent that that is achieved. New Church novels, plays, art, and music will abound. In that case the New Church doctrine will have descended into last things and outmosts, into its fulness and power.

     The New Heaven and the New Church

     In complete agreement with the foregoing there is the explicit teaching that the New Heaven must increase before the New Jerusalem can descend from it and the New Church grow upon the earth. "What is internal must be formed before its external, what is external being formed afterwards by means of its internal" (TCR 784).
     This makes crystal clear that our first responsibility is to cooperate with the Lord in the growth of the New Heaven. It is pointless to work at making the New Church grow without playing our part in the growth of the New Heaven.
     We all know what steps to take in order to cooperate with this Divine plan:

     1.      Look to the Lord and acknowledge Him.
     2.      Shun our evils as sins against Him.

     3.      As a consequence do what is good from Him. As True Christian Religion puts it: "What is charity but the good that a person does from the Lord? And what is faith but the truth that a person believes from the Lord?" (TCR 712).

     This first responsibility is a personal one for each one of us; it is the indispensable first step. As we take this step, we are fitted to inspire and prepare our children to walk in the same path.
     But while these things are our first responsibility, they are not our only responsibility. True, a journey of a thousand miles must begin with the first step. But the first step is not the whole journey. There are other steps to be considered. In order to understand what these are, we need to know and understand the order the Lord follows whenever He establishes a new church in the world.

     A New Church in Place of the Former

     There is a general pattern that the Lord always follows when replacing the consummated church with a new church. This is clearly set out in the Coronis, as follows:

After its consummation or end, the Lord Jehovih appears and executes a judgment on the people of the former church, and separates the good from the evil, and raises the good to Himself into heaven, and removes the evil from Himself into hell (no. 10:iv heading).

After these things, the Lord Jehovih founds a new heaven of the good raised up to Himself, and a new hell of the evil removed from Himself; and brings both into order, so that they may remain under His auspices, and under obedience to Him, to eternity (no. 14:v heading).

From this new heaven the Lord Jehovih derives and produces a new church on earth, which is done by means of a revelation of truths from His mouth, or from His Word, and by inspiration (no. 18:vi heading).

     Since this is a general pattern, we would expect it to be the same today in the establishment of the New Church. But in case any doubt on this score arises, the Heavenly Doctrine makes the following explicit statements:

A redemption has also been accomplished by the Lord at this day, because at this day is His second coming according to prophecy (Coronis 21:ix).

The present is the last time of the Christian Church, which was foretold and described by the Lord in the gospels and the Apocalypse (TCR 757, heading).

That the Christian Church, as it is today, is consummated and devastated to such an extent, those on the earth who have confirmed themselves in its falsity are unable to see, for the reason that the confirmation of falsity is the denial of truth (TCR 758-emphasis added).

     This theme is elaborated fully in chapter XIV of True Christian Religion.

     The Remnant Gathered First

     Another part of the pattern is that every new church is raised up first with the remnant of the good and faithful in the former church.
     This was the case with the Christian Church, as can be seen from these passages in the New Testament:

These twelve Jesus sent forth, commanding them, saying: Into the way of the nations [gentiles] depart ye not, and into a city of the Samaritans enter ye not. But go ye rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt. 10:5, 6-emphasis added; see also 15, 24).

     Accordingly, we read in Luke's gospel that the gospel was to be preached "beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47), and that the disciples were to tarry in the city of Jerusalem until they were imbued with power from on high (Luke 24:49).
     It is the same with the New Church, as we gather especially from the Apocalypse Revealed (emphasis added):

"Until the consummation of the age" is until the end of the church (no. 658): and then, if they do not go to the Lord Himself, and live according to His commandments, they are left by the Lord; and being left by the Lord they become like pagans, who have no religion; and then the Lord is with those only who will be of His New Church. These things are signified by "until the words of God are consummated," and by "even until the consummation of the age" (AR 750e; the same thing is taught in AC 3898, 4060:8, 9 and AR 189:2).

     It comes as no surprise, then, to read that the New Evangel is to be made known first in the Christian world.

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole inhabited earth, for a testimony unto all nations" (Matt. 24:14). These words signify that this should first be made known in the Christian world; "shall be preached" means that it should be made known, and the "gospel of the kingdom" is this truth that it is so, "gospel" being the enunciation, "kingdom" being the truth (AC 3488:8).

An invitation to the whole Christian world to enter this church; and an exhortation to worthily receive the Lord, who has Himself foretold that He would come into the world for the sake of His church and to it (Coro. LV).

     In accordance with all this we are taught that all those represented in the Christian world by the seven churches which are in Asia are called to the New Church (see AR 10, 69, 154) because they have religion, and are the people "from whom the New Church. . .can beformed, it being formed from those who approach the Lord alone, and at the same time do repentance from evil works" (AR 69-emphasis added).

     "At First With a Few"

     In several places in the Heavenly Doctrine we read that the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, will at first be with a few (AR 546, 547, AE 730, 732). This passage from the Apocalypse Explained is typical:

The New Church that is called the Holy Jerusalem, which is signified by "the woman" can as yet be instituted only with a few, by reason that the former church has become a wilderness; and the church is called a "wilderness" when there is no longer any good; and where there is no good, there are no truths. When the church is such, evils and falsities reign, which hinder the reception of its doctrine, that is, the doctrine of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor, with its truths; and when doctrine is not received there is no church, for the church is from doctrine (AE 730).

     Why With a Few?

     There are several reasons why this New Church which is called the Holy Jerusalem will first begin with a few, afterwards to be with more, and finally reach fullness. First, its doctrine, which is the doctrine of love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, cannot be acknowledged and thus received except by those who are interiorly affected by truths, and those only can be affected by truths interiorly who have the ability to see them, and those only see truths who have cultivated their intellectual faculty and have not destroyed it in themselves by the love of self and the world (AE 732-emphasis added).

     What is meant by the "intellectual faculty" needs to be understood clearly. It does not mean that only "intellectuals" will be affected interiorly. It is referring to our faculty of understanding, which everyone has unless destroyed by selfishness and worldliness.

A second reason is that the doctrine of that church cannot be acknowledged and thence received but by those who have not confirmed themselves by doctrine and at the same time by life in faith alone; confirmation by doctrine alone does not prevent reception, but confirmation by life also does prevent, for such do not know what love to the Lord is, nor what charity toward the neighbor is, nor are they willing to know (Ibid).

A third reason is that the New Church on earth grows according to its increase in the world of spirits, for spirits from that world are with men, and they are from such as while they lived on earth were in the faith of their church, and none of these receive the doctrine but those who have been in the spiritual affection of truth; these only are conjoined to heaven where that doctrine is, and they conjoin heaven to man. The number of these in the spiritual world now increases daily; therefore according to their increase does that church which is called the New Jerusalem increase on earth. These also were the reasons why the Christian Church, after the Lord had left the world, increased so slowly in Europe, and did not attain to its fullness until an age had elapsed (Ibid.-emphasis added; see also TCR 784).

The reason it is of the Lord's Divine Providence that at first the [new] church should be among a few, and should increase successively among many is that the falsities of the former church are first to be removed. The like took place with the Christian Church, in that it increased successively from a few to many (AR 547-emphasis added).

There are several passages giving the reason that the falsities of the faith of the present church must be exposed and rejected before the truths of the New Church can be revealed and received, namely, because they do not agree together in one single point or particular. The faith of the former church springs from an idea of three gods, while that of the New Church is based on the idea of one God. There is actual spiritual danger for those who embrace the faith of the New Church without first having seen the falsities of the former faith (see BE 96, 103, Inv. 25).
In addition to all this, the Heavenly Doctrine reveals that there are three spheres emanating from Christians in the spiritual world that are constantly working against the reception of the truths of the New Church. One of these takes away faith in the divinity of the Lord's Human, weakens it with many, and even makes it seem foolish with many others. A second sphere induces lethargy regarding one God, regeneration, and the means of salvation. A third sphere is strongly against the conjunction of faith and charity, "and extinguishes the marriage torches between truths and goods" (TCR 619:4). "These three spheres are like tempest-driven atmospheres coming forth from the breathing-holes of the dragon, which, being spiritual, invade the mind and control it. The spheres of spiritual truth there are as yet few-only in the New Heaven, and also with those beneath heaven who are separated from the draconic spirits. This is why those truths are so little recognized by men in the world today, just as ships in the eastern ocean are invisible to captains and shipmasters who are sailing in the western ocean" (TCR 619:6-emphasis added).

     In view of such teachings as these, it may well be wondered whether there is any hope at all for the New Church in the Christian world. We can easily succumb to pessimism if we focus only on such teachings as these. They have to be balanced with the more encouraging aspects of the situation.

     The New Church Will Grow from Many Sources

     We have already seen that there is a remnant of the good and faithful in the Christian world, and that from them the New Church can be formed (see AR 69). That is why the New Evangel must first be made known in the Christian world (see AC 3488:8). This faithful remnant is said to be few in number, consisting of those "who are in the life of good and are called 'the elect,' who now can be instructed, and with whom the New Church is to be instituted. But where these are the Lord alone knows; there will be few within the church. It was the gentiles with whom the church was established in former times (AC 3898).
     Yet some particulars are given as to where we might find these few. For example, the Apocalypse Explained, in giving the spiritual meaning of the words "the earth helped the woman"(Rev. 12:16), reveals that not all who are in the faith-alone churches believe the doctrine that they are taught. They are better than their church, and are not opposed to the New Church.

     These things must be understood as follows: it is said above that "the woman fled into the wilderness where she hath a place prepared by God," and afterwards that she received "the wings of an eagle and flew to her place," which signifies that the church called the New Jerusalem is to tarry among those who are in the doctrine of faith separate [from charity] while it grows to fullness, while provision is made for it among many. But in that church there are dragons who separate faith from good works not only in doctrine but also in life; but others in the same church who live the life of faith, which is charity, are not dragons, although they are among them, for they do not know otherwise than that it is according to doctrine that faith produces fruits, which are good works, and that the faith that justifies and saves is believing what is in the Word, and doing it. But the dragons have wholly different sentiments; but what these are the others do not comprehend, and because they do not comprehend them they do not receive them. From this it is clear that the church consisting of those who are not dragons is meant by the "earth" that "helped the woman and swallowed up the river that the dragon cast out of his mouth." But what and how crafty and even pernicious are the reasonings of those who are meant by "the dragon" about the separation of faith from good works, and about their conjunction. will, the Lord willing, be revealed elsewhere; likewise that those reasonings are only with the learned leaders of the church, and are not known to the people of the church because they are not understood by them; therefore it is by the latter that the New Church which is called the Holy Jerusalem is helped and also grows (AE 764:2 emphasis added).

     Some very encouraging teachings are given about the Roman Catholics and their receptivity. "If they recede but in part from their externals of worship, and immediately approach God the Savior Jesus Christ, and administer the Eucharist [communion] in both kinds, they may be brought into the New Church more easily than the Reformed" (BE 105).
     The reasons given for their greater degree of reception are: they do not hold to the doctrine of salvation by faith alone; they have a great reverence for the divinity of the Lord, as seen in their veneration of the Eucharist; they believe in charity, good works, repentance and amendment of life as essentials to salvation, which are also essentials of the New Church (see BE 107):
     The Heavenly Doctrines, then, while not offering much hope for a wide acceptance of the New Church in the Christian world, nevertheless give us some indications as to those who are more receptive than others.
     The Apocalypse Revealed treatment of the seven churches (meaning the seven categories of Christians who are called to the New Jerusalem) is particularly instructive.

     Some Conditions for the Growth of the New Church

     The importance of presenting the spiritual sense of the Word in our instruction is brought out in the following passages:

The New 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 my body into the spiritual world (Inv. VII-emphasis added; see also Coro. L, LI).

When the end of a church is at hand, then the interior things of the Word, of the church, and of worship, are revealed and taught . . . A revelation is necessary at the end of the church in order . . . that by means of it the good may be separated from the evil, and a new church established, and this not only in the natural world where men are, but also in the spiritual world where spirits and angels are; for [the church is] in both worlds. . .and revelation takes place in both, and thereby separation, as also the establishment of a new church (AE 641-emphasis added; see also 670:2).

     The New Church Is Destined to Endure to Eternity

     We are familiar with the teaching that "the Lord God Jesus Christ reigns, whose kingdom shall be for ages and ages" (TCR 791). In an earlier number in the same work we are given an even more explicit statement as to the nonconsummation of the New Church, as follows:

That this church is to follow those that have existed since the beginning of the world, and that it is to endure for ages of ages, and is thus to be the crown of all the churches that have preceded, was foretold by Daniel.

     The passage then goes on to quote amply from Daniel ending with these words: "I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven; and there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom; and all peoples, nations, and languages shall worship Him; His dominion is the dominion of an age, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" (Daniel 7:13, 14-emphasis added).
     This presumably does not mean that the present organizations of the New Church will necessarily continue forever, but that the New Church in itself will continue, new organizations being formed on the basis of the Heavenly Doctrines if the existing ones no longer remain faithful. This could not be done in previous dispensations because of the nature of the Word revealed to them. The appearances of truth in which the Old and New Testaments were clothed were such that as the churches based upon them descended into the fallacies of the senses, they could be easily perverted. The Heavenly Doctrines, however, "speaking plainly of the Father" (John 16:25), are far less likely to be so corrupted. The doctrine of genuine truth is so fully elaborated in them that there will always be people who can see in the light of that truth, and perpetuate the New Church.

     Conclusion

     On the basis of the foregoing teachings, we conclude that the New Church must begin with the remnant of the good in the Christian world, and continue there for some time until it grows to fullness. But it will be widely and firmly established with the Gentiles (see AC 3898). That will be the subject of a further article.
1985 WOMEN'S RENEWAL WEEKENDS 1985

1985 WOMEN'S RENEWAL WEEKENDS 1985

     You are reminded of the announcement in the fall 1984 Theta Alpha Journal about two April weekends in 1885. The specific dates have now been determined. The Deer Park (Bryn Athyn area) weekend will be April 12-14, and the Lutherlyn (Pittsburgh area) weekend will be April 19-21. The original announcement provides readings for the chosen topic (including AC 10130, 3528, 2153, 8734).

For Deer Park, contact           For Lutherlyn, contact
Claudia Gladish                    Tryn Clark
2512 Murray Avenue                5853 Smithfield
Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006           E. Lansing, MI 48823

REVOLT OF WOMEN 1985

REVOLT OF WOMEN Rev. W. L. Gladish 1985

The name of the writer is at the end of this article. You may wish to evaluate it before knowing its authorship.

     What is this sound of tumult that is borne to our ears by every passing breeze? It seems the confused clamor of a vast throng. Even as we listen, it grows ever louder and more insistent-louder as from a growing number, insistent as from persons whose purpose is kindling into flame.
     It is not the cry of a disciplined army shouting for the charge, but rather of a spontaneous gathering of people whose hearts are hot with wrong, who seek speedy redress and perhaps vengeance against their oppressors.
     It is the revolt of woman against the tyranny of man; it is the outcry of the female against the dominance of the male. This is not a war of nation against nation, nor of an enslaved people against their Egyptian oppressors. Worse than that-it is a house divided against itself. It is woman aroused, awaking as from an age-long slumber, determined to snatch the scepter from the hand of man and at least seat herself beside him on the throne, possibly, if he resists, cast him down and rule over him as he has done over her.
     What should be the attitude of the New Churchman toward this movement? Should it have his sympathy or his unqualified condemnation? There are those among us who regard it as the very voice of God, a change essential to the New Age and the establishment of the church. There are others who look upon it with horror as a grave menace to the home and destructive of that conjugial love which is the jewel of human life and the only hope for the establishment of a New Church upon the earth.
     It little matters to the great world what we think, for that world knows not even of our existence. Nor will our opinion change the march of God's providence for His children. His purposes will move steadily forward to their fruition whether we co-operate or resist.
     But it is of importance to ourselves, to our children, and to our beloved church that we think justly concerning the relation of husband and wife, of man and woman. Its supreme moment to us lies in the fact that conjugial love is the fountain whence flow all human loves, both natural and spiritual. The spiritual life of the church therefore depends upon her stand upon this question. If the church with us is to advance-as we fondly hope-into clearer light and purer love toward God and man we must be right in our understanding of the true relation of male and female to each other.

     When the time comes that the church's doctrine is formulated, the Lord grant that it be the true light unclouded by prejudice, and distorted by sentiment, shining from the rational perception of her men and glowing with the warm affection of her women.
     The doctrine of the church, not merely through the Christian dispensation but also the Israelitish and even the Ancient, has been based upon the words of Genesis 3:16, "Unto the woman He said . . . thy desire shall be to thy husband and he shall rule over thee."
     But the common thought of New Churchmen has been that this doctrine of the literal sense is to be modified in the light of the internal sense of Scripture: that if husband and wife are to be united in the bonds of conjugial love neither must exercise dominion over the other; that if she defers to his leadership in some regards he must equally submit himself to her leading in other ways. For, it has been thought, conjugial love can flourish only between equals, never where one commands and the other but obeys.
     In Conjugial Love 222 it is taught that there are several spheres which proceed from the Lord, "but the universal sphere of all is the conjugial sphere because this is also the sphere of propagation and thus in a supereminent degree the sphere of the preservation of the created universe through successive generations." And in the following, number it is said: "This sphere is received by the feminine sex and through this it is transferred into the masculine sex. That there is not any conjugial love with the masculine sex but only with the feminine sex, and that from this sex it is transferred into the masculine sex, I have seen evidenced by experience, of which see n. 161" (CL 223).
     What becomes of man's boasted superiority if he has in himself nothing of conjugial love or even of love of the sex if his reception of that most universal sphere which preserves creation depends wholly upon the female sex? May not this superiority of woman be set over against the ability of his rational to climb into a light in which women are not?

Conjugial love depends on the wife's love; and such is the husband's love in reciprocation; and the wife's love does not depend on the husband's love . . . . It is the reverse with those who are not in conjugial love (De Conj. 34).

     These passages clearly teach the superiority of woman over man, of the wife over the husband. Conjugial love is hers, not his. Consider what this involves. The conjugial sphere is the most universal sphere proceeding from the Lord. It is the sphere which preserves the created universe. It is not only the sphere of marriage, but also of religion.

Conjugial love is the source whence flow all human loves, spiritual as well as natural. Man must receive through woman not only conjugial love but also love to the Lord, mutual love, love of offspring, love of the neighbor, thus all that makes the sweetness, beauty and joy of life is given by the Lord to woman and through her is transferred to man so far as he, by return of her affection, is conjoined with her. Is it any wonder that woman represents the church?
     The truth of the matter is that the equality of man and woman results from their inequality. In his province-that of judgment and rational light man is supreme. His understanding climbs into a light in which woman is not. For the sake of marriage the Lord gives to him that light which is to guide them both.
     In her province-that of affection-woman is supreme. Her will receives the warmth of heaven. For the sake of marriage the Lord pours immediately into her soul that conjunctive sphere which is for her husband as well as herself, which, having united them, turns them to the Lord and then conjoins them with their fellows.
     Therefore each is superior to the other; and each is also inferior to the other. From the heights in which her will dwells, gently glowing with the warmth of heaven, woman stoops to man in his poverty and offers him of her abundance.
     On the other hand, man also dwells upon the heights as to his understanding. For the Lord separates his understanding from his will and lifts it up to the peaks where it catches the eternal splendor of the Sun of Heaven.
     The understanding is the only province of human life of which we have any conception. We come of a faith-alone generation to which the will and its affections were unknown. We ourselves still abide in the rind and husk and think of science as wisdom. If man can think more deeply than woman what is there left for her to do? Thought is the all of life. She can indeed prepare her husband's meals and nurse the babies. But a servant can do these things. Woman can show her equality with man only by invading his field, beating him at his own game, becoming a more astute statesman and a better general of fighting armies. Such is the thought of today.
     But if life were more truly estimated it would be seen that after man has done his part of seeing truth in its great rugged outlines, there still remains the woman's part of clothing it with grace and beauty so that it shall be attractive and human, and then the further part of leading her husband and herself to make that truth a living truth, a truth of life.
     The understanding has indeed its place and that a vital place. Without light one cannot see the path which leads to heaven. The understanding is the eye of the mind. Man sees for both. But to see the way is but a means to an end. There still remains to walk in it. And since woman is a form of will or affection, walking in the way depends upon her. Without her, man would but lift his eyes and from afar catch occasional glimpses of the celestial mountains and then sink back again to his former life without the will to toil over the dusty road and face the lions in the path.

     The regenerating man recognizes his wife his equal because she is in all things that he himself lacks so far his superior. He must acknowledge that superiority and on bended knee supplicate her to unite her grace, beauty and sweetness to his uncouth austerity. And this not only in the days of courtship before marriage but his humility before her grows with the years and his wonder that she should harken to his plea. To him she becomes the embodiment of all his heart's desire, without her unattainable. Nor does this at all involve placing his own burden of rational judgment upon her slender shoulders. Here he is superior.
     And as the understanding sees both for itself and for its will, so the husband with a clearer sight looks out the untrod path for both.

     *******

     If this study approaches a correct interpretation of the relation of man and woman it will be apparent that our sympathy should be with every movement which places her by his side as altogether his equal; that everything which tends to encourage and develop her interior leadership, or inspiration, should be most welcome; but that the church should oppose all that takes the burden of external leadership and rational judgment out of man's hands and places it in hers. For conjugial love is dependent on each being supreme in his own sphere and seeking to be led by the opposite sex in those things which belong to that sex.

     *     *     *

     This was the lead article in the July issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE in the year 1915. Since this is an abbreviated version, some may wish to look it up. The writer is Rev. W. L. Gladish. (We thank the readers who recommended its publication.)

     NCL 58 YEARS AGO

     Fifty years ago people were not talking about near-death experiences. These widely documented experiences can arouse in people a longing for some answers, which answers they may find in the Writings. Fifty years ago people did talk about psychic phenomena, and the February issue of this magazine reviewed a book entitled Swedenborg and Psychic Phenomena. The book was praised as an example of how the Writings can elucidate different fields of human interest.
     An article in the same issue observes that "there is a subtle tendency among those who have been brought up in the church to feel that they are just a bit better than others" (p 46). But when this idea actually takes form before our consciousness, we have the opportunity to reject it and be humbled by the truth.

ROY FRANSON 1985

     (1915-1984)

     (Excerpts from a memorial address delivered by Rt. Rev. Louis B. King on November 21, 1984, in the Bryn Athyn Cathedral)

     In his 70th year and in the 32nd year of his New Church ministry, the Rev. Roy Franson has been called by the Lord to conscious life in the spiritual world.
     Roy was born in Sweden. He grew up and was educated in that beautiful land of the midnight sun. Trained as an electrical engineer, Roy established himself as a capable radio technician. Early in his career, however, Roy felt a calling to enter the ministry, a call which he listened to for a number of years before responding to it.
     In his early thirties Roy entered the Academy facing a two-fold challenge-a new theology and a totally unfamiliar language. He mastered both.
     Britta, Roy's wife, and two children, Lina and Hans, joined him in Bryn Athyn after he was well into his studies; and here they made their home until Roy was inaugurated into the office of the priesthood and ordained into the first degree thereof on June 19th, 1953.
     Mature in years beyond his fellow theologs, Roy savored with deep delight the philosophical and theological discussions he had enjoyed with his professors, Bishop Alfred Acton, Dr. Hugo Odhner, Dr. William Whitehead and others. His keen insightful grasp of the doctrines, as well as his delight in their discussion, went with him out of theological school and into the active ministry, inspiring him (to the end of his life) with an intense determination to pursue and preserve the integrity of doctrine through his sermons and classes.
     Today Roy begins his ministry anew. Undoubtedly he will soon search out his old professors-now colleagues-to find joy not only in the stirring of remains but in storing up new and exciting spiritual riches.
     Boy Franson loved the ministry. His first pastorate, perhaps, was his happiest. Assigned to Dawson Creek, an unorganized group in northeast Canada, he found uncomplicated lifestyles, disciplined by physical, financial and social hardships.
     Roy delighted in drawing out the keen doctrinal interest he found in his parishioners, working diligently to accommodate doctrine to the needs of daily life.

He worked with his hands to build the first New Church chapel in Dawson Creek, and in so doing he built a shirt sleeves friendship with his new congregation. He walked the fields in seedtime and harvest discussing the glorification of the Lord and man's regeneration. He warmed his hands and feet at kitchen stoves and talked of doctrine and of life. Many of the children he taught later came to the Academy schools, providing new foundations for a growing church in Dawson Creek. Indeed, those pioneer days were fruitful-among the happiest in Roy's recollections.

[Photo of Rev. Franson]

After twelve years of service in northwest Canada, Roy and his family Britta, Lena, Hans, and now Byron and Amy left Dawson Creek to accept a call to the Miami Circle where he was to serve as visiting pastor to the southeastern United States, and later the Florida District.

     In 1974 the Fransons moved to Tucson, Arizona, where Roy served as pastor to the Southwestern District of the United States. Then, in 1982, when he could have retired altogether from the active ministry, he responded, instead, to a desperate need in Stockholm.
     Would his heart condition tolerate the cold climate of Stockholm? Would his rusty Swedish impede communication with his flock? Would he be able to fit in effectively? These were serious concerns but not impediments. He would serve the church where he was needed. He went. He served.
     Now we recollect. One of the charming characteristics Roy evidenced throughout life was his spontaneous love of children. He had a knack of instant rapport with them, whether playing the violin, walking on his hands or exhibiting his rather accomplished expertise as a magician. His generous smile and twinkling eyes always managed to transform a somewhat stern expression and wrinkled brow into a warm invitation for friendship. Children and adults alike responded appreciatively to his sense of humor and capacity for fun.
     Most to be remembered, however, was his love of doctrine. Diligent in his study of it, of penetrating inquiry and understanding, Roy became a theologian beyond what most people realized.
     Roy should be remembered as an essentially happy man. Certainly! We had problems-domestic, physical, family and financial problems. There were times also of dark introspective discouragement. But for all this Roy was a happy man because he loved his work-the Lord's ministry of teaching truth and leading to the good of life.
     The work of a priest is a happy work, filled with inspirational light of Divine truth when, after long hours of study, doctrine is intellectually perceived. It is filled with the joyous warmth of love and deep satisfaction when children, young people and adults respond to the Lord's presence in worship. One blessing of the ministry is to facilitate the Lord's presence in worship-thus changing thoughts and affections, words and deeds in parishioners.
     One might say that Roy Franson was of the old school. His dedication to traditional values of study, reflection and hard work endeared him to at least two generations of colleagues. His joy in the ministry and commitment to serve made him willing, truly willing, to go anywhere, anytime, in order to respond to the need at hand. And so he did even to his last assignment on this earth.
     Today the spiritual sun shines with unbelievable splendor. Roy stands consciously in its light and warmth before his Lord and Master. Beyond this picture we cannot conjecture, but we can give thanks for a useful association with a faithful minister, a valued colleague and good friend. May the Lord prosper the church and the ministry he loved.

COVENANTS 1985

COVENANTS Rev. MARK R. CARLSON 1985

     At this day few people realize the value of a covenant between individuals, much less the value of a covenant between man and God. A covenant is an agreement between parties which is more than an exchange of services. It is not a conditional agreement, such as "if you, then I." That is a contract. Rather, a covenant is a statement about purpose and intention regardless of outcome. The verbal form of the covenant is: "I will and you are invited to . . . ." Contracts are made and kept by the natural part within us and serve many important functions. Covenants are made by the spiritual part within us and serve eternal purposes. It is important not to confuse the two.
     Keeping a covenant regardless of outcome is in itself a wonderful thing. Even an idolator may be benefited by a commitment he makes to spend an hour a day bowing before a stone image. At least he will learn self-discipline, a valuable lesson.
     Consider for a moment the learning there may be in carrying out a covenant we have made which becomes onerous. Here is where we see the difference between a covenant and a contract. A contract focuses on what the other must do first, then we will do our part. A covenant focuses on what we will do regardless of the response we get. A covenant puts responsibility on oneself first; a contract puts responsibility on the other first.
     Our relationship to the Lord is a covenantal relationship. He will do His part regardless of the response He gets from us. He will love us and care for us and mercifully work for our salvation no matter how much we ignore Him. And similarly, if we are to accept His salvation, we must keep our relationship to the Lord as a covenant, not a contract. We must be willing to do our part even when it seems there is no response from the Lord. It is vitally important that we view out part as a covenant, because the Lord warns us there will be times when it will seem that we are getting no response from Him.
     As established by the Lord, marriage is also a covenantal relationship. It is an agreement before the Lord to be married to the other, at least naturally, regardless of the partner's response. Even in the best of marriages there are times when the response we appear to be getting requires that we remember we are in a covenant, not a contract, and simply do our part. This is the attitude, and the commitment, that the Lord will bless with eternal happiness.

NEW CHRISTIAN BOOKS 1985

     Information Swedenborg

     Evangelization, which is defined as announcing the good news, is tremendously delightful. It is fun to see someone's eyes light up when he hears for the first time that the trinity in the Lord is like our soul, body, and influence on others. Most of us have experienced this delight while raising our children, when they express their joy over learning something new about the Lord. Some of you have experienced this delight in education when a child's eyes light up with something new that he finally understands. Evangelization is delightful because it is fundamentally a work of charity, a good use commanded by the Lord for the sake of our neighbors. It is a means of loving the neighbor, which brings delight from the Lord from within. This delight, as a mediate good, encourages us onward and outward to love our neighbors even more, until finally, through repentance, we may come to love evangelization for the sake of our neighbors and not for the sake of the delight we receive.
     The bookstore in Toronto, Canada, is a conduit, a vehicle, for getting the congregation from one place to another. The bookstore is like the pipes that carry hot water from the hot water heater to the radiators and back again. The hot water heater needs to be built and operating properly first, but it does not adequately heat the house until the pipes are in place and the hot water flows through the rest of the house. Our educational facilities are like the hot water heaters. We produce a lot of hot water. The bookstore is an experiment in creating the pipes to direct and order the flow of hot water out of our educational facilities into the rest of the house, the world. where the uses of that hot water can be multiplied a hundredfold. It is an attempt to assist the Lord in the building of His spiritual New Church on earth.

     The goals of the bookstore are:

1.      To spread the Lord's New Church.
2.      To have a non-threatening place for the public to explore the Writings.
3.      To provide greater publicity for the name Swedenborg.
4.      To act as a distribution center for Canada.
5.      To foster mutual love by working together to perform uses to others.
6.      To serve the local community, especially parents and children, with literature and materials that will make the Bible easy to read, understand, teach, and live according to.
7.      To act as a means of getting the Olivet Society comfortable doing evangelization.

     This last goal, getting the people in the church comfortable doing evangelization, is our present priority. It is the first in time though it is not the first in end. First in time is getting the hot water to flow into and through the pipes to the radiators; first in end is heating the house. Our end is to spread the doctrines of the Lord's New Christianity in the world, so that the Lord's New Church may grow.
     Opening and working in a bookstore, then, is a very natural direction to go for an organization that is characterized by its academic and intellectual affinity for volumes of sacred texts and collateral books. Where New Church organizations are known, they are known for their incredible output for an organization so small. Most of us are avid readers, very comfortable with books and talking about books. We are comfortable giving books to others. We are comfortable sending out sermons to others. So it was easy for us to accept the idea of opening a bookstore, and pretty easy for us to learn how to sell books in it. It is a natural way for us to get involved in evangelization.
     The idea originated with Rev. Al Nicholson. Working with a committee, he decided to look for a location with good pedestrian traffic and visibility. The society then voted its approval for the project. It was put on hold for a year until I could get involved as Al's replacement. The committee was reformed, and the present direction was decided upon. We determined to open up in the local community to serve parents and children as well as those interested in Swedenborg. We zeroed in on the Kingsway, a prestigious shopping area nearby, as the only qualified area. We spent over a year looking for the right location.
     We spent $10,000 in renovations, and approximately 800 volunteer hours of labor in six weeks' time to prepare for our opening in late November. This involved a new store front, new floor, new ceiling, building bookshelves, acquiring and preparing inventory from all the major publishing houses. The store is staffed primarily through volunteers, though we have a paid full-time manager to maintain the day-to-day operation of the business.
     What were our hopes and expectations? We expected to sell an average of one book of the Writings or collateral literature a day in the first year. We hoped we would average five people a day during the year. We hoped we could sell two books a day the second year, and three books a day in the third year. These were the modest expectations and hopes, based on the realities of other New Church bookstores. We felt the project would have been fruitful if we could achieve these goals.
     How is it doing? Fantastic! We are selling an average of over five books of the Writings and collateral literature each day in the first sixteen weeks, approximately 15% to New Churchmen. We now expect to sell 1,500 books the first year. We are averaging 70 people a week in the store, 14 a day.

We now expect between 3,000 and 4,000 people in the store in the first year. We are located on the main street of Toronto, and I do not know how many thousands of cars go by each day, with the possibility of seeing the sign.
     Now that they have learned where things are and how to fill out a sales slip, and that the public is very nice, the volunteers are starting to become comfortable talking to customers. They are starting to enjoy opportunities to answer questions about the church. Those who have taken Rev. Douglas Taylor's excellent eight-week seminar on how to answer questions about the church are having a great time practicing the skills of charity they learned in the course. The members of the church here are beginning to experience the delights of doing the work of evangelization. I predict that in three years' time, the people in Toronto will truly enjoy sharing their religion with others, and will actively seek opportunities to do so.
     The bookstore in Toronto has been done in a big way, at a large expense of time and money. Some of the other societies in the church could do the same thing very easily on a smaller scale, and certainly the Bryn Athyn society could find the time and the money to support at least one bookstore nearby.
     Bookstores are a very natural outgrowth of our past. Bookstores leave others in complete and total freedom. No one is forced to come in or persuaded to buy. Bookstores cannot hide or water down the doctrines. With the Last Judgment, Conjugial Love, Apocalypse Revealed, and pamphlets on the Second Coming, we can't hide! Bookstores are useful to our neighbours, and to the Lord in building His church. Bookstores are fun and delightful to work in. New Church bookstores are conduits for leading us out of the hot water heaters into the house, where we can increase our usefulness one hundredfold. New Church bookstores are also conduits for leading us, and anyone else who is cold, back into the hot water heater to get warmed up. Believe me, the bookstore is a nice warm place to go to escape these long Canadian winters!
     Rev. A. W. (Terry) Schnarr

     P.S. After the first full year of operation (closed two weeks), the following measurable results have been tabulated: An average of over fifty people came into the store each week and bought an average of over twenty pieces of New Church literature (books and pamphlets). 2,649 people were in the store the first year and bought 1,176 books and pamphlets! This far exceeded our expectations.

INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE 1985

INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE RENE E. HEILMAN 1985

     I have been told of a welcome ingredient in the new translation of the Arcana Coelestia. In this fresh translation we read of the thoughts "a person" has at the moment of death (no. 77). The previous translation made that the thoughts that "man" has. The rendering of no. 181 begins: "Up to now the person who has been awakened in this way by celestial angels is in a dim kind of life." The previous translation was: "As yet the man, thus resuscitated by the celestial angels, possesses only an obscure life." No. 183 now speaks of the experience of "the person" who is granted light in the hereafter. The previous rendering spoke of "the man." Some of us would have welcomed a similar change in such headings as: "Man's Awakening from the Dead, and His Entry into Eternal Life" (168) and "Man's Entry into Eternal Life" (314).
     The concept of "inclusive language" has been accepted in academic circles in the last ten years. I have been exposed to this issue in the last few years in college and would like to promote the use of inclusive language in our church, both by ministers and lay people. I see this as a way of promoting the importance and contributions of women in our church society.
     "Inclusive language" means linguistically recognizing female humanity. It substitutes words such as mankind, the generic pronoun he, and all uses of the word man or men as suffixes which are meant to generically refer to people. Rather, substitutions such as humankind, and he or she, or whichever is appropriate in the situation, are recommended.
     Critics maintain that these substitutions subject people to having to do "mental gymnastics." We are used to interpreting the generic masculine pronoun to mean both men and women, and critics argue that changing the system leads to confusion. When first introduced to the idea. I agreed. But when accustomed to it six months later, I changed my opinion. I was relieved and joyful that women were no longer only subliminally addressed and finally overtly recognized. I am now offended by the generic use of he and must restrain myself in church and at lectures (though in the academic world this problem scarcely exists any more) when half the audience is only assumed and not addressed.
     Another criticism posits that inclusive language is awkward. This too has its validity. S/he is awkward, both when written and pronounced. Yet because I have been required to use inclusive language both in class discussions and papers by both female and male professors, I have found creative and smooth ways of incorporating inclusive language.

For instance, the word people is not an awkward substitution for the generic masculine pronoun. Humankind substitutes nicely for mankind. And a simple rule of thumb is to use the feminine pronoun she when speaking or writing explicitly and exclusively of women. In books I have seen authors' who use different pronouns for alternating chapters. For example, in chapter one, he is used generically, and in chapter 2, she is likewise used generically. This can lead to confusion, I grant, but it is a wonderful affirmation of women's existence at the same time, and when accustomed to it, one can come to enjoy, if not expect, this type of inclusive language. One can also use the word one and often pluralization of he to they can prevent limitation of one's argument to the masculine only.
     Why should we even bother with this seemingly trivial change? In and of itself language seems to be a "non-issue." But I submit that language both informs and reports on our vision of reality. Language alone is only a tool, but the naming of something can give it more or less power, or subtly change its meaning. I was struck by this when touring a New York City community college recently when I passed a door labeled "Recruitment Office." At a more selective institution this is entitled the "Admissions Office" which connotes the idea of one's need to be admitted and therefore to prove one's capabilities. "Recruitment Office" suggests that this NYC community college desires to bring in students and actively recruit students who could benefit from education.
     How does this relate to inclusive language? By including females in our language, we would affirm their importance and existence. We would also avoid another type of confusion. If inclusive language is uniformly employed, we are fully aware of whom we refer to. The use of he would then be understood to be referring to males and no confusion would exist. The need to contextually interpret what might be used as a generic term would no longer be prone to misinterpretation. We need to make the use of pronouns and gendered words a conscious decision. We owe it to the ideal of precise language.
     To those who still have reservations about the need for this change I would suggest an experiment. For those who believe that generic masculine words address both genders I would recommend that you practice using generic feminine terms for a while. Play the mental gymnastics game in reverse and note how it alters your consciousness. If the masculine pronoun can be used generically to include women, so too should the feminine pronoun be flexible. And if this is uncomfortable, as it was for me when I conducted this experiment, then you may wish to reevaluate the usage of the generic masculine.

Consider this proposal. seriously and open-mindedly. Do not minimalize the influence of language on conceptualizations of reality. Women constitute half the human race and should be recognized in language. And note that throughout this article I have used inclusive language gracefully. It can be done.
REVIEW 1985

REVIEW D.L.R 1985

The Reality of Life After Death by Rev. Grant R. Schnarr, The Swedenborg Center, Glenview, Illinois; 10 pages, 40 cents postage

     Better to review one small pamphlet than to stare at the quantity of literature yet to be reviewed.
     Small this one may be (hardly more than a dozen pages of actual text) but smallness is precisely the characteristic that makes its potential for use loom large.
     The pamphlet begins by the realistic observation that some people take little or no interest in the subject of life after death. But there are those "who would like to know more but do not know where to look." This is said under the heading, "There Is Hope." The booklet undertakes under eleven further headings to provide hope. to provide information and to arouse further interest.
     "Thousands of men and women have, so to speak, died and come back. Near-death experiences are fairly common." The second heading is "The Near Death Experience," and the third is "Emanuel-Swedenborg." "The Lord allowed him to visit the world beyond . . . [and] commissioned him to write down what he saw . . . ." Showing similarities of what is made known in the Writings to what some have glimpsed in near-death experiences, the pamphlet has such headings as "Meeting of Friends and Relatives" and "The 'Being of Light.'" Before the short conclusion is a section headed "Beyond Similarities."
     Highly readable, direct and clear, this pamphlet is a particularly valuable addition to our introductory literature. Mr. Schnarr is to be congratulated, as is also the Swedenborg Center for publishing it.
     D.L.R.

Editorial Pages 1985

Editorial Pages Editor 1985

     WINTER INDIFFERENCE

     The chill of indifference occasionally reaches most of us. In some of our states even the things we care about most deeply will seem remote and uninteresting. These states can come almost imperceptibly, and sometimes it hardly dawns upon us that we are in a state of cold. There is value in reflecting and admitting to ourselves that we are experiencing a state of indifference. The state is temporary. Our enthusiasm is not irrevocably lost.
     It is the experience of the regenerated person that he is sometimes "absent and remote from internal things, so that he not only takes no thought about them, but feels in himself cold at the thought of them" (AC 933).
     The alternations of summer and winter in the life of regeneration are not merely repetitions of identical cycles. They are really a means of progress, and the purpose behind them is that the individual may be rendered more happy than he was before (see AC 933). We may rightly hope that a return to a springtime state will bring a deeper sense of appreciation than we have known before.

     LOATHING FOR WOMEN

     Winter Misogyny

     Some men would be very surprised if told that they were cold toward the opposite sex, for they think they are anything but cold. Swedenborg saw some in the other life who were utterly cold, and he marveled that they did not realize how cold they were, for "they had in themselves no sense of coldness." They were likened to fish that live under the ice which have no sensation of coldness, because they are cold by nature (TCR 385). Of some men it is said, "They abominate conjugial love and the whole female sex, consequently all the derivative love, so that their life is at last a life of winter" (SD 3453).
     Depraved lust toward women is not warmth but rather an actual loathing coldness. Seeming attraction toward a woman can within a day or even an hour become "as intensely cold toward her as it had previously been hot" (CL 509). What is being described is not simply an alternating state of cold.

It is a hatred toward women. Those in it are called in the Writings frozen things or "things of ice" (CL 453). It is known "though little divulged" that those in the love of adultery become "cold even to the sex" (CL 433).
     An amazing phenomenon of our day is that pornography is not merely a way of making a little profit. It is a multi-million dollar business. Nor is it merely playfully degrading of women. It is related to real hostility toward them. The "hot" literature is as cold as ice.
     The feminist movement may be many things for different people. In part it may be a realization by women that there is a climate of hostility toward them against which they instinctively wish to defend themselves.

     An angel of heaven once spoke of cold, not in the sinister sense mentioned above. He said that the hearts of all men are "of themselves cold" and in need of the warmth of a wife. An angel companion added that in the universe nothing was created more perfect than woman (see CL 56).
CONVERSATIONS ON EDUCATION 1985

CONVERSATIONS ON EDUCATION Editor 1985

A hundred years ago this month a series was begun in this magazine that continued to appear regularly for some years. The facts are interestingly told starting on page 366 of Richard Gladish's biography of William Benade. We are struck with the sketchy way in which this series began. On the top of the first page of NEW CHURCH LIFE, February, 1885, we read, "The compilation of these notes of conversations on education was an after-thought. The publishers regret the necessity of leaving these notes in the fragmentary form in which they appear, and can only hope that they may be of some use to parents and teachers who are striving to obtain light from the doctrines of the church on the way of their sacred duty to the children committed to them by the Lord."
We take pleasure in reminding you that in 1976 the Academy published the conversations in an excellent format with a very helpful index. It was reviewed by Rev. Kurt Asplundh in the October issue of 1977.

THOUGHTS ON PROGRESS 1985

THOUGHTS ON PROGRESS Rex D. Ridgway 1985

     Communications
Dear Editor,
     It seems that many members of the General Church, both among laity and priesthood, are beginning to question some of the old interpretations arrived at in the past, to find out just how relevant they are in the light of our present needs and aspirations for the road ahead for the church. As I see it there are three distinct barriers to progress which can be briefly summarised without going into a great deal of supporting doctrinal detail: the role of women in the church; the relationship of priests and laymen; and the nature of the Writings. I suggest that both priests and laymen make a detailed study of all the teachings relating to these specific subjects; for example, when considering the role of women in the church, or the role of the priesthood, one should make a study of the basic teaching concerning regeneration and its application to everyone whether male or female, priest or layman.
     Also, we should look at some strongly held ideas to find out whether they are genuine truths from the Writings or are past traditions of the nation and the old Christian era, strengthened by seeming confirmations from the Writings. The world is changing rapidly in some important areas. So, too, is the church in general, particularly where the power of the priesthood and the role of women in the affairs of church and state are concerned.
     With regard to the women of the church, we are perhaps beginning to see that they were not created to love, honour and obey the wisdom of men, an attribute so obviously lacking in most males. Women, as part of the human race, were created to receive love and wisdom, not from males but from the Lord. Male and female are individual receptacles of love and wisdom, and together form a true balance both in the church and the nation. The Writings, we know, teach that the Lord is the only true Male (see L. 36:7), the Bridegroom and Husband, and the church is the female, the bride and wife. The church, made up of all of us, is the female which looks to the Lord for wisdom. The order of regeneration is the same for every individual whether male, female, single or married, everyone is a receptacle of good and truth, love and wisdom, independently and individually.

     We are created to become forms of love and wisdom, but we must not conclude that we have reached that state already, and therefore are already in a state of regeneration. Such a state is achieved only through a marriage within the individual of good with truth. Outside of this state there is no true wisdom with male or female. Married couples were created to become one mind in a truly conjugial marriage, but only by their individual progress in their conjunction of truth with good; this is the order of regeneration. If we assume that men are already in a state of wisdom, we will assume that they are to be looked to by the women of the church, and so the women will always be excluded from all the important affairs of the church both doctrinal and organizational. This will keep the door closed to progress in the true understanding of the Word for the church.
     It is from this same assumption that we not only exclude women from the important affairs of the church, but exclude single members from the conjugial marriage of good with truth, and think and act as though the conjugial state is for married partners only. This teaching can be observed in many classes and sermons, and causes much disillusionment of the whole concept of the teachings from Conjugial Love among the unmarried. This surely is not the message of Divine Revelation, which teaches that every single individual is endowed with the same potential: to receive love and wisdom from the Lord.
     The second subject that is in need of much attention is the relationship between clergy and laity in the development of doctrine for the church from the Word, which is being researched at present by Rev. D. Pendleton. The belief that priests are automatically in spiritual enlightenment merely by reason of training and ordination surely is a fallacy, because it is taught everywhere in the Writings that for priests, as well as for laymen, enlightenment in spiritual truth is given by the Lord only to those who seek Divine truths for the sake of life, that is to shun evils as sins (see TCR 231). There is no spiritual light for others, either priests or laymen. The idea that priests are automatically in enlightenment other than occupational enlightenment is a sure invitation for the laity to sit back and leave all doctrinal activity and development to the priests: active priests and passive laymen. Although it is said that the Holy Spirit is especially with the priesthood, this is purely conditional on the quality of the life of the individual priests. We know that the priestly office is holy, but unless the holy is within the priest he is not representative of that holy office; indeed he puts off that office and has no communication with heaven (see AC 3670e and AC 4311:3).
     Finally, the leading question for the General Church: what exactly do we mean when we say "The Writings are the Word"?

On our answer lies the whole future of the church. All development is dependent upon our understanding of the Word and that again depends on what we believe to be the Word. Do we really believe that what is called the crowning revelation for a New Christian Church is in fact the Word of the Lord in fullness? If we do believe this, then we know that all Divine Revelation is given in the letter within which, like the soul within the body, lies its true inner meaning. That true meaning does not appear naked in the letter, but is there within it, for every human being who goes to the Lord for His Divine Teaching for the sake of life. Is it not perfectly clear that only then can the Lord enlighten the mind of man that he may live from Him? To believe otherwise is to accept that just by reading, regardless of the quality of his or her life, even the most sensual man could perceive the very internal truth, its spiritual and celestial senses, and so do violence to the Word. In NJHD 253 and SS 26 we are taught that the spiritual sense is given to no one except him who is in illustration from the Lord, and this by the shunning of evils as sins. The crowning revelation, the Writings, surely, are the Word, complete and perfect for the New Christian Church.
     In 1934 a thorough study was made by the then Dean of the Theological School of the Academy of the New Church, Bishop Alfred Acton, on the vital question of the nature of the Writings. It was published in book form and called The Crown of Revelations. I believe that every member of the church would benefit from studying this book. Here is one short paragraph from it (page 96):
     Genuine truth, which will be of doctrine, does not appear in the sense of the letter of the Word to any but those who are in enlightenment from the Lord (SS 57).
     This statement involves that the Writings are not the naked spiritual truth or internal sense of the Word, but that they are written in human language so adapted that the sense of their letter contains the genuine truth of heaven. Any intelligent man can see the sense of the letter of the Writings, but only those who are in the genuine love of truth can see the spiritual truth within. Whether a man belongs to the one class or the other can be known only to the Lord; we cannot distinguish between them.
     Rex D. Ridgway,
          Canberra, Australia

FREDERICK EMANUEL DOERING TRUST 1985

     Applications for assistance from the above fund to enable male Canadian students to attend The Academy of the New Church at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., for the school year 1985-86 should be received by one of the pastors listed below by June 30, 1985. 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. V1G 1H1
MAPLE LEAF ACADEMY IN JUNE 1985

MAPLE LEAF ACADEMY IN JUNE 1985

     Graduates of 9th grade through 12th grade are eligible to attend the Maple Leaf Summer Academy which begins on June 18th and ends on June 28th, 1985, for the cost of $135.00 (Canadian).

     Come and have fun at Maple, and learn too. The cool, pleasant breezes off Lake Wood at Caribou Lodge will blow away your worries and cares. Come, relax and enjoy new friends, old friends, and yourself. Experience something of the meaning of your religion. Be there, and you too will be singing:

     We'll have a good time at Caribou,
     We'll be much better when we're through
     We'll have a good time at Caribou.

     Caribou Lodge is about a two-hour drive north of Toronto in the beautiful setting of Muskoka. Information and applications are available from Rev. Terry Schnarr, 279 Burnhamthorpe Road, Islington, Ontario, M9B 1Z6.

ANNOUNCING CHRYSALIS 1985

     A special sample issue of this new magazine may now be ordered from the Swedenborg Foundation, 139 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010. The cost for this particular issue is $6.50 postpaid. (It will be sent free of charge to those who make a contribution of $50 or more to the Foundation.)
     In the future the plan is to have three issues per year, the total cost for all three being $20.
     One of the purposes of the sample issue was to find out how quickly an issue can be produced. We are still hoping for a March mailing, but it is not always safe to make predictions before the pattern has been established.
     The sample or model issue will have a major article by Doris Delaney, daughter of the late Dr. Hugo Lj. Odhner. The overall theme of the issue is the "search for the soul."

     CHRYSALIS * SPECIAL ISSUE * SPRING 1985

     EDITORIAL POLICY BOARD: George F. Dole - August Ebel - Alice B. Skinner - John R Seekamp, ex officio

Alice B. Skinner, PUBLISHER
Carol S. Lawson, EDITOR
Jane Kennedy, ASSOCIATE EDITOR

     DEPARTMENT EDITORS
Image and Vision: Robin Larsen
Things Heard and Seen: Donald L. Rose
Patterns: George F. Dole
Vital Issues: Stephen Larsen
Fringe Benefits: Marian Kirven

     Laury A, Egan. DESIGN AND LAYOUT

     REVIEWERS (IN THIS ISSUE): James F. Lawrence - Perry S. Martin - Rob Lawson

     EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS (THIS ISSUE): Kate Davis - Susanna R. Lawson - Phoebe Loughrey

     CHRYSALIS IS PUBLISHED BY THE SWEDENBORG FOUNDATION, A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION DEPENDENT ON PUBLIC SUPPORT, WHICH HAS PUBLISHED SWEDENBORG'S WORKS SINCE 1850.

ANNUAL COUNCIL, OF THE CLERGY MEETINGS 1985

     Announcements

     March 4-9, 1985

Monday, March 4
10:00 a.m.      Headmasters' Meeting
2:30 p.m.      Worship (Cathedral)
3:00 p.m.      Opening Session. Council of the Clergy (Cairnwood Village)
8:00 p.m.      Consistory

Tuesday, March 5
8:30 a.m.      General Church Publication Committee
10:00 a.m.      Session II, Council of the Clergy-Papers
11:30 a.m.      Session III, Concurrent Topics
1:00 p.m.      Luncheon at Cairnwood Village
2:00 p.m.      Session IV, Papers
3:30 p.m.      Session V Concurrent Topics
8:00 p.m.      Workshop

Wednesday. March 6
8:30 a.m.      General Church Sunday School Committee (B.A. Church Pastors' Conference Room)
10:00 a.m.      Session VI, Papers
11:30 a.m.      Session VII, Concurrent Topics
1:00 p.m.      Luncheon at Cairnwood Village
2:00 p.m.      Session VIII, Papers
3:30 p.m.      Session IX- Concurrent Topics
7:00 p.m.      Dinner at Glencairn

Thursday, March 7
8:30 a.m.      Translation Committee
10:00 a.m.      Session X, Papers
11:30 a.m.      Session XI, Concurrent Topics
1.00 p.m.      Luncheon at Cairnwood Village
2:00 p.m.      Session XII, Papers
3:30 p.m.      Session XIII, Concurrent Topics
8:00 p.m.      Workshop

Friday, March 8
8:30 a.m.      Traveling Ministers' Meeting
10:00 a.m.      Session XIV, Papers
11:30 a.m.      Session XV
1:00 p.m.      Luncheon at Glencairn
2:05 p.m.      Board of Directors of the General Church
4:00 p.m.      Holy Supper Cathedral
5:00 p.m.      General Church Corporation
6:00 p.m.      Reception (Bryn Athyn Society)
7:00 p.m.      Friday Supper
8.00 p.m.      Open Meeting

Saturday, March 9
10:00 a.m.      Joint Council of the General Church (Pendleton Hall)
1:00 p.m.      Luncheon at Glencairn

PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES 1985

     GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
RIGHT REV. LOUIS B. KING, BISHOP
Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, 19009, U. S. A.
PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES
Information on public worship and doctrinal classes provided either regularly or occasionally may be obtained 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. Cristovao Rabelo Nobre, Rua Xavier does Passaros 151, Apt. 101 Piedale, Rio de Janeiro, RK 20740. Phone: 021-289-4292.

     CANADA

     Alberta:

     CALGARY
Mr. Thomas R. Fountain, 1115 Southglen Drive S. W., Calgary 13, Alberta T2W 0X2. Phone: 403-255-7283.

     EDMONTON
Mr. Daniel L. Horigan, 10524 82nd St., Edmonton, Alberta T6A 3M8. Phone: 403-469-0078.

     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 Phone: 0206-43712

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

     LONDON
Rev. Frederick Elphick, 21B Hayne Rd., Beckenham, Kent BR3 4JA. Phone: 01-658-6320.

     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. Ed Verschoor, Olmenlaan 7.3862 VG Nijkerk

     NEW ZEALAND

     AUCKLAND
Mrs. Lloyd Bartle, Secretary, 13B Seymour Rd., Henderson, Auckland 8. Phone: 836 6336.

     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
Rev. Norman E. Riley, 8 Iris Lane, Irene, 1675 R. S. A., Phone: 012-632679.

     Zululand:

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

     Mission in South Africa:
Superintendent-The Rev. Norman E. Riley (Address above)

     SWEDEN

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

     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. (501) 251-2383

     California:

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

     SACRAMENTO
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ripley, 2310 N. Cirby Way, Roseville, CA 95678. Phone: (916) 782-7837

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

     SAN FRANCISCO
Rev. Mark Carlson, 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. Donald Rogers, #12 Pawleys Ct., S. Belmont, Baltimore, MD 21236. Phone: (301) 882- 2640.

     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. Phone: (617) 651-1127.

     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. Phone: (314) 442-3475.

     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-Idaho Border.-Se 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. Phone: (Home) (215) 756-4301; (Office) (215) 756-6140.

     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
Mr. Fred Dunlap, 13410 Castleton, Dallas, TX 75234-5117. Phone: (214) 247-7775.

     Washington:

     SEATTLE
Rev. Kent Junge, 14812 N. E. 75th Street, Redmond, WA 98033. Phone: (206) 881-1955.

     Wisconsin:

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

100

Heaven's Happiness 1985

A Memorable Relation from Conjugial Love
by
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG

     Retold for Children by John L. Odhner
Illustrated by Linda Simonetti Odhner

     General Church Book Center
Box 278
Bryn Athyn, PA 19009
(215) 947-3920

     Retail          $3.65
Postpaid      $4.30

101

Notes on This Issue 1985

Notes on This Issue Editor 1985

Vol. CV March, 1985 No. 3
NEW CHURCH LIFE

102

     Following the sermon on the good ground to be sought in Christendom Douglas Taylor brings out the teachings about the fruitful fields of the gentiles. In so doing he recalls the predictions of such men as C. T. Odhner who looked forward to the presentation of the Writings to Buddhists and the followers of Confucius (p. 115). What better introduction could we have to the fascinating information about the New Church in Japan? Besides information, we are given insights into the realities the missionary faces in Japan. Thanks to Mr. Nagashima this issue is uniquely valuable.
     The word "unique" is also apt for the letter on page 140 in response to Dr. Kintner's recent article. Mr. Norman Turner sees the field of astrology as "over-populated by charlatans." but he suggests there is room for serious and respectable study in this area. An example of a student of astrology who has also found elements "consistent with a revealed religion" is Miss Agnes Near whose address is 4 Frensham Close, Stanway, Colchester, Essex, England C03 3HP. Students of this subject would find communication with her valuable.
     Last October two editions of the Academy seal (see p. 131) were prominently displayed in the crowded Bryn Athyn cathedral when Bishop King gave the Charter Day address that appears in this issue.
     Your attention is called to the advertisement, on page 152, of the Arcana Caelestia translation. In an editorial we commend the economy of words in this version.
     We have good news about a new summer camp in California this August. See the "Camp 'Tahoe" notice on page 118. Other summer camp dates include: Maple Leaf June 18-28, Family Laurel July 21-27, second Family Laurel July 28-August 3. The British Academy Summer School begins on July 20 (following the British Assembly of July 12-14 on which we expect to have more information next month).

     The Rev. Daniel Fitzpatnck will serve as an assistant to the Rev. Bjorn Boyesen, residing in Stockholm, Sweden.
     The Bishop of the General Church has recognized the Freeport Society of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, effective February 12, 1985.
     The Bishop has appointed the Reverend Ragnar Boyesen, present pastor of the Pittsburgh Society, to serve as acting pastor of the newly formed Freeport Society, until a permanent pastor can be selected.
     Louis B. King,
          Executive Bishop

103

GROWTH OF THE NEW CHURCH IN THE CHRISTIAN WORLD 1985

GROWTH OF THE NEW CHURCH IN THE CHRISTIAN WORLD Rev. ANDREW J. HEILMAN 1985

     A Time and Times, and Half a Time (Rev. 12:14)

     These words describe the duration of the persecution by the dragon of the woman clothed with the sun-the time that she is nourished by God in the wilderness from the face of the dragon. Therefore, in the internal sense, "a time, and times, and half a time" signifies that the New Church in the beginning is with only a few, while preparation is made for it to be received by many, and grow to its fulness.
     In our lesson from the Apocalypse Explained, we are taught why it is that the New Church grows so slowly in the beginning, and why it is not generally accepted in the world today. Also the parable of the sower describes in its spiritual sense the reception of the Divine truth by men on earth. By comparing the three reasons for why the church is only with a few in the beginning, given in the Apocalypse Explained, with the three types of soil in which the seed of the Sower did not grow to bear fruit, we can see a relationship between the two series. And from such a comparison we can gain a fuller understanding of the reception and growth of the New Church in the world.
     The first reason why the New Church will be received only by a few in the beginning is that the doctrine of the New Church is a doctrine of love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, which can only be received by those who can be affected interiorly by truths. Those who have not cultivated their understanding, but have destroyed it by the loves of self and the world, cannot be so affected by truths. They are like soil infested with thorns which choke and suffocate that which would grow from the seed of the Sower. For the Lord says in His explanation of the parable, "And these are they which are sown among thorns, such as hear the Word, but the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things, entering in, choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful" (Matt. 13:22).
     That such is the state of the Christian world is clear from numerous passages in the Writings. To quote just one, "Those who are in inverted order, that is, in evil and the derivative falsity, become at last so averse to the good and truth of the church that when they hear them, and especially when they hear their interior things, they so greatly abominate them that they feel nausea.

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This has been told and shown me when I have wondered why the Christian world does not receive these interior things of the Word. There appeared spirits from the Christian world who, on being compelled to hear the interior things of the Word, became nauseous, . . . and I was told that such is the Christian world at this day almost everywhere. The reason is that they have no affection of truth for the sake of truth, still less any affection of good from good" (AC 5702).
     When sensuous pleasures and worldly desires dominate our mind, they drag down the understanding and blind it to the truth, and, like thorns, they suffocate and choke out whatever truths might have been implanted. The Heavenly Doctrines of the New Church are treated in this way by many in the Christian world, as is illustrated by an incident described in the Spiritual Diary: It concerned the Arcana Coelestia. Certain spirits of the Catholic Church who were in the love of dominion consulted with each other to receive the Heavenly Doctrine given before the exposition of the chapters of Exodus. But their motive for doing this was for the purpose of adulterating those truths so as to completely destroy them. However, their plans were discovered and they were severely punished (see SD 4988).
     Also, in the Apocalypse Revealed Swedenborg records a conversation with some bishops from England in the spiritual world. in this conversation these bishops described how they had received certain works of the Writings while they were in the world, and looked at them, but did not consider them worthy of notice, and had even persuaded whoever they could not to read them. Swedenborg then asked why, "when yet these books contain arcana concerning heaven and hell, and the life after death, and more things of great worth, which have been revealed by the Lord for those who will be of His New Church, which is the New Jerusalem. To this they responded, 'What do these things matter to us?' and they poured out criticisms against them just as formerly in the world" (AR 716).
     From these instances and the general teachings of the Writings about the state of the Christian world, we can sadly see that much of the Christian world is so infested by the thorns of worldly cares and lusts of other things that they cannot hear the truths of the Heavenly Doctrines without suffocating them and considering them of no value. Thus we read at the beginning of the small work Concerning the Athanasian Creed. "There have been opened by the Lord arcana concerning heaven and hell, man's life after death, the Word and the last judgment. All these things have been written down . . . and sent to all the archbishops of the kingdom [of Great Britain] and to the nobility. So far not a voice has been heard. This is a sign that the things which pertain to heaven and the church do not affect them interiorly.

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It also shows that it is the very end of the church, and indeed that the church no longer exists" (Ath. Cr. 2).
     The second reason given in the Apocalypse Explained for why the New Church is only among a few in the beginning is the present state of falsity in the Christian world, primarily the falsity of faith alone. For the doctrine of the New Church cannot be received by those who have confirmed themselves by life in faith alone. These can be compared to the soil by the wayside, where the birds come and devour the seed sown by the Sower. For the Lord says of this soil, "These are they by the wayside where the Word is sown. But when they have heard, Satan comes immediately, and takes away the Word that was sown in their heart."
     Satan signifies falsity in general; and like the birds that devour the seed by the wayside, falsity, especially confirmed falsity, seeks to consume and destroy truths implanted in us by the Lord. Thus we are taught in the Apocalypse Revealed that "it is of the Lord's Divine Providence that the church may be at first among a few, and increase successively among many, because the falsities of the former church must first be removed. For before this, truths cannot be received, since the truths that are received and implanted before the falsities have been removed are not permanent, and are also rejected by the dragonists" (AR 547). These dragonists are those confirmed in the false doctrine of the former church, especially in the doctrine of the trinity of persons and salvation by faith alone. Such are signified by the dragon in the Apocalypse, which dragon is also called Satan.
     It may appear that the false doctrine of the former church only has real influence on a few in the Christian world, and that most Christians really believe in one God and salvation through the shunning of evils and the good of life. But is this really the case? About the belief in God, the Arcana Coelestia teaches us that "of they who at this day come from the Christian Church into the other life, almost all have the idea of the Lord as another man, not only separate from the Divine . . . but also separate from Jehovah . . . . They do indeed say 'one God,' but they think of three; and they actually divide the Divine among three; . . . Consequently it is said of Christians in the other life that they worship three gods" (AC 5256). And about the idea of salvation we read the following from Divine Providence: "I have often wondered that although the whole Christian world acknowledges that evils must be shunned as sins, and that otherwise they are net removed, and that unless they are removed there is no salvation, yet scarcely one in a thousand understands this . . . This is because they have not thought about it, and because most of them have thought only of faith, and of salvation by it alone" (DP 153).

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From these passages and many more in the Writings we are led to see that the effect of the false doctrine of the former church on the beliefs of most Christians is lamentably very deep.
     Therefore this false doctrine must be laid open and rejected before the truths of the New Church can be received, for as is said in Brief Exposition, "they do not agree together, no not in one single point or particular" (BE 96). The false doctrine of the former church is like the bird that devours the seed sown by the wayside, or as Brief Exposition says, it is like an owl, which, if together with a dove in the same nest, would tear in pieces the young of the dove, and would give them to her own for food, for the owl is a bird of prey. Therefore we read, "the faith of the New Church cannot by any means be together with the faith of the former church, and if they are together, such a collision and conflict will take place that everything of the church will perish . . . . From what has been said it follows that they who have confirmed themselves in the faith of the old church, cannot, without endangering their spiritual life, embrace the faith of the New Church until they first have disproved the particulars of the former faith, and thus have extirpated it, together with its offspring or eggs, that is, its dogmas" (BE 109).
     Sometimes, however, it appears to us that those in the old Christian faith can receive the doctrines of the New Church, at least in part, without any real conflict or collision. But such an acceptance may be illustrated by a conversation in the spiritual world between Swedenborg and an English bishop about the Four Doctrines. The bishop told Swedenborg that "in England they would indeed receive the first work concerning the Lord, and the position that a new church is meant by the New Jerusalem, also the second work concerning the holiness of the Word, and likewise the third concerning the doctrine of life, but that they would utterly reject the fourth concerning faith . . . . at length however, being convinced, he acknowledged that unless the fourth work concerning faith was received, the three former works would come to nothing" (SD 6098).
     The opposition by the false doctrines of the former Christian Church to the truths of the Heavenly Doctrines is the principal reason given in the Writings for the slow growth of the New Church in the world. And these falsities do not just remove themselves or fade away, but they attack and seek to destroy the truths revealed in the Lord's Second Coming, and thus they are exposed and judged. Therefore we read in the Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture that "for a long time the spiritual sense will not be acknowledged, and this owing entirely to those who are in falsities of doctrine, especially concerning the Lord, and who therefore do not admit truths. This is meant by 'the beast' and the 'kings of the earth' who were going to make war against Him that sat on the white horse (Rev. 19:19);

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By the 'beast' are meant the Roman Catholics (as in Rev. 17:3), and by the 'kings of the earth' are meant the Reformed who are in falsities of doctrine" (SS 25).
     The third reason why the New Church is only among a few in the beginning is that "the New Church on earth grows according to its increase in the world of spirits." For the New Church is the New Jerusalem descending from God out of heaven. It is first established in heaven and then through the world of spirits it descends to earth. Therefore conjunction with heaven through the world of spirits is essential for the growth of the church. To grow without this conjunction would be like the seed which fell on stony ground, "and sprang up because it had no depth of earth." About these the Lord says, "And these are they which are sown on stony ground, who when they have heard the Word immediately receive it with gladness, and have no root in themselves and so endure but for a time; afterward when affliction or persecution arises for the Word's sake, immediately they are offended."
     The Writings teach us that in the internal sense this treats of those who are in truths only externally but not internally, such as those in historical faith. These have no root in themselves, no interior truths through which a man can be conjoined to heaven and the Lord, and therefore they do not resist evils. When the heat of their evil loves is stirred, they either abandon the truth or distort it.
     A truly spiritual church cannot grow suddenly, but grows gradually according to its conjunction with the Lord through heaven. For if it were to grow up immediately, there would be external growth without root, that is, without the internal and spiritual accompanying its growth. All the churches which are experiencing rapid growth in the Christian world today are based upon external things, such as miracles, instantaneous salvation, or social benefits. In the New Church, however, a person needs to study the doctrine for himself and apply it to his life to receive spiritual root, to enter into association with the New Heaven. Without this study and application, a person could not withstand the first temptation, for he would ignore or bend the truths of doctrine according to his own end.
     A merely external acceptance of the Heavenly Doctrine is illustrated by an incident recorded in the Spiritual Diary. Swedenborg writes: "I was in a state of sadness, but I did not know the cause. I then heard that a vast number was being sent down out of heaven toward the lower places. The reason for this having been sought, it was said that they were those who rejoiced that they possess the Heavenly Doctrine, saying that they wished to embrace it because they believed all things which are in it.

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Many also perceived that those things were truths. But, as soon as they heard that that doctrine was not only a doctrine of faith, thus that the things in it were not only to be known and acknowledged, but that it was a doctrine of life, and the things in it were to be willed and done . . . then they became sorrowful, and all rejected it, not wanting it. Hence was my sadness" (SD 5540).
The New Church will not grow suddenly in us or in others through external or persuasive means. For such growth would be only temporary and would undermine the true spiritual growth of the church, as stony soil obstructs the seed from putting forth its roots. And in the New Church there is not to be an external without an internal. Therefore the Lord wills to establish His church through interior truths, such as the spiritual sense and the Heavenly Doctrine. And these truths are not to be received persuasively or only externally, but they are to enter into the understanding and affect it interiorly. This spiritual growth must precede the external growth of the church, and so it is that the New Church, being an internal church, grows much more slowly than the churches which concern themselves primarily with worldly things or consider salvation something received in a moment. When the first volume of the Arcana Caelestia was published, only four copies were sold in the first two months. This was communicated to the angels, and they marveled indeed, but said that "it should be left to the Providence of the Lord, which is such as to compel no one, though it might be done, but that it was not fitting that any others should read the work first except those who were in faith" (SD 4422).
But although there are three reasons for the slow growth of the New Church in the Christian world, although there are three types of soil in which the seed of the Sower will not grow to bear fruit, there is also the good ground, "those who hear the Word and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, and some a hundred." And although there is little of this ground in the Christian world today, it is only in this good soil that the New Church can take root and grow to bear fruit. Thus we need to prepare and protect good soil, especially in ourselves, which will receive the seed of the Sower. We must keep the thorns of love of self and the world from infesting our minds, and uproot these thorns where we discover them growing. We need to drive away the birds of false doctrines and fallacious opinions, and keep these from returning to devour the seeds of truth. And we need to cultivate our minds, pulling out the rocks of external persuasions, so that the truths of the Heavenly Doctrines can be received interiorly. In this way we prepare our minds to receive the Second Coming of the Lord from a spiritual affection of truth.

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     And in a similar way the Lord will prepare the world to receive the New Church. For Swedenborg wrote in a letter to Dr. Beyer: "Here I am asked about the New Church, when it will come. And to this I reply that it will come gradually as the doctrine of justification and imputation is uprooted, which should be done by means of this treatise [the Brief Exposition]" (March 15, 1769). Gradually the evils and falsities of the Christian world will be exposed and rejected, and the New Jerusalem will descend in its fulness through the interior reception and understanding of the Heavenly Doctrines.
     For the arcana revealed in the Lord's Second Coming surpass in excellence all the arcana revealed from the beginning of the church. These arcana include: the spiritual sense of the Word, angelic wisdom concerning creation, Providence and conjugial love, arcana about heaven and hell, and the life after death, and heavenly doctrine concerning the Lord, regeneration, faith, charity, and many more subjects. These doctrines of the New Church are such that when interiorly received and applied to life, they take root, grow and increase, and fill one's life with heavenly truths and goods, just as the seed that fell upon the good ground. But for this to take place, for these interior truths to be received, the mind must be properly prepared and freed from the dominion of evil loves and false persuasions. And in the same way the world in general must be prepared to receive the truths of the Lord's Second Coming. While this preparation is being made, the New Church can only be among a few, "until a time and limes and half a time" (Rev. 12:14, TCR 848). Amen.

     LESSONS: Mark 4:1-20; AE 732; TCR 846-845, parts
NCL 90 YEARS AGO AND 180 YEARS AGO 1985

NCL 90 YEARS AGO AND 180 YEARS AGO 1985

The March issue in 1935 was only 32 pages long. The news from Glenview called attention to a speech entitled "Homeopathy" by Dr. Donald Gladish. Mentioned as active in the discussion were Dr. Harvey Farrington and Dr. George Starkey.
One of the items in the March issue a hundred years ago took up the subject of "modern inventions and improvements." The existence of the telegraph and the railroad received attention as not altogether an unmixed blessing (p. 46). We are struck with the durability of Warren's Compendium. In 1885 this magazine reported: "The Swedenborg Society of England has decided to print a cheap edition of the Compendium compiled by the Rev. S. M. Warren, several American editions of which have already been published." We discover that the first edition came out in 1875. There have been many reprints. The most recent edition (1974) is still selling well.

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GROWTH OF THE NEW CHURCH: WHAT THE WRITINGS SAY 1985

GROWTH OF THE NEW CHURCH: WHAT THE WRITINGS SAY Rev. DOUGLAS M. TAYLOR 1985

     Part II. Among the Gentiles

In a previous article we have seen that, according to the Divine pattern for replacing the former church with a new church, the New Church meant by the New Jerusalem is to be instituted first in the Christian world, and that it will grow to fulness there (see AE 764:2).
     However, it will not be established there; it will be established with the gentiles.

The church rarely if ever remains with those who, when vastated, still have truths among them, but is transferred to those who know nothing at all of truths, for these embrace the faith much more easily than the former (AC 409; see also AC 2910e, 2986:2. 4747:3).

There will be few within the church: it was the gentiles with whom new churches were established in former times (AC 3898e).

[A new church is set up among the gentiles] when the old church has closed heaven against itself. Hence it is that the church from the Jewish people was transferred to the gentiles, and also that the present church is now being transferred to the gentiles (AC 9256:5, 3353 emphasis was added on the above passages).

     Who are the Gentiles?

     What is meant by "the gentiles" has already been indicated somewhat by the foregoing passages from the Writings, especially where it is said that they "know nothing at all of truths" (AC 409). But further particulars are given, namely, that gentiles are those who are born outside the church and do not have the Word (see AC 2589, HH 318, AR 110:2, 282, LJ 61:7, AC 9192:7). Because they do not have the Word, they are not in genuine truths (AC 7975:2, 7976), nor do they know anything about the Lord (HH 318). Other characteristics of the gentiles will emerge as we present the reasons for the gentiles receiving the New Church more easily than Christians.

     Why the Gentiles Will Receive the New Church More Easily

Those who are within the church and have confirmed themselves against Divine truths, especially against these-that the Lord's Human is Divine, and that the works of charity contribute to salvation-if they have confirmed themselves against them, not only by doctrine but also by life, they have reduced themselves to such a state as to their interiors that afterwards they cannot possibly be brought to receive them, for what is once confirmed by doctrine, and at the same time by life, remains to eternity.

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Those who do not know the interior state of man may suppose that anyone, no matter how he has confirmed himself against these truths, can yet easily accept them afterwards, provided he is convinced. But that this is impossible has been granted me to know by much experience in regard to such persons in the other life. For whatever is confirmed by doctrine is absorbed by the intellectual part, and what is confirmed by life is absorbed by the will part; and what is inrooted in both man's lives, the life of his understanding and the life of his will, cannot he rooted out . . . .
This is also the reason why the lot of those within the church with whom this is the case is worse than the lot of those who are out of the church; for those who are out of the church, who are called gentiles, have not confirmed themselves against these truths because they have not known them; and therefore such of them as have lived in mutual charity easily receive Divine truths, is not in the world yet in the other life (AC 4747:2; 2594).

All [gentiles] who acknowledge and worship one God the Creator of the universe have concerning Him the idea of Man: they say that concerning God, no one can have any other idea but that, which is the same as the idea of the Divine Human (Contin. LJ 74, 75; LJ 51; AE 49e, 696:5; AC 5256, 9198:2, 2009:4, 932, 1032, 1059, 2023:2).

They have not worked out for themselves any principles of falsity antagonistic to the truths of faith that will need to be shaken off, still less cavils against the Lord, as many Christians have who cherish no other idea of Him than that He is an ordinary man. The heathen, on the contrary, when they hear that God has become a Man, and has thus manifested Himself in the world, immediately acknowledge it and worship the Lord, saying that because God is the God of heaven and earth and because the human race is His, He has fully disclosed Himself to men (HH 321).

The gentiles shall come unto [the Lord]; and they come unto Him when they acknowledge Him as their God. And wonderful to say, the gentiles worship the one only God under a Human form; and therefore when they hear about the Lord, they receive and acknowledge Him; nor can a new church be set up with others (AC 9256:7).

The gentiles who are of this character are those who belong to the Lord's spiritual church; and although while in this world they do not know the Lord, yet within themselves they have the worship and tacit acknowledgment of Him when they are in good, for in all good the Lord is present, and therefore in the other life they easily acknowledge Him, and receive the truths of faith in Him more readily than Christians do who are not in good in this way (AC 3263:2. Emphasis was added to the above quotations.)

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     Various Receptive Gentile Nations

     One of the best-known passages in the Writings concerning the spread of the New Church refers to a nation "far distant from the Christian world":

I have had various conversations with angels concerning the state of the church hereafter. They said that they know not things to come, for the knowledge of things to come belongs to the Lord alone; but they know that the slavery and captivity in which the man of the church was formerly has been taken away, and that now, from restored freedom, he can better perceive interior truths, if he wills to perceive them, and thus be made more internal, if he wills to become so; but that still they have slender hope of the men of the Christian Church buy much of some nation far distant from the Christian world, and therefore removed from infesters, which nation is such that it is capable of receiving spiritual light, and of being made a celestial-spiritual man, and they said that at this day interior Divine truths are revealed in that nation, and are also received in spiritual faith, that is, in life and heart, and that they adore the Lord (LJ 74).

     The Proper Approach to the Gentiles

     Our attitude to the gentiles differs radically from that of many in the Christian Church-especially the Evangelicals. For example, we do not consider them damned through their unavoidable ignorance of the Lord and the Word. Nothing could be stated more plainly than that in many places in the Writings, of which the following is typical:

. . . That the Lord enters into a covenant, or conjoins Himself by charity, with gentiles also who are outside the church shall now be shown. The man of the church supposes that all who are out of the church and are called gentiles cannot be saved because they have no knowledges of faith, and are therefore wholly ignorant of the Lord, saying that without faith and without knowledge of the Lord there is no salvation, and thus he condemns all who are out of the church . . . The Lord has mercy toward the whole human race, and wills to save and draw to Himself all who are in the universe. (2) The mercy of the Lord is infinite, and does not allow itself to be limited to those few who are within the church, but extends itself to all in the whole world. Their being born out of the church and being thus in Ignorance of faith is not their fault; and no one is ever condemned for not having faith in the Lord when he is ignorant of Him. Who that thinks aright will ever say that the greatest part of the human race must perish in eternal death because they were not born in Europe, where there are comparatively few? (AC 1032:1, 2).

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We are to look to and respect the gentiles' goodness of life. This is taught throughout the Writings, and in particular in these passages:

I love a gentile more than a Christian if he lives well according to religion, if fro m the heart he worships God, saying, "I will not do this evil because it is against God." I do not love him according to his doctrine, but according to his life; since if I love him according to his doctrine alone, I love him as an external man; but if according to his life, I love him also as an internal man. For if he has the good of religion he has also moral and civil good. They cannot be separated. But a man who is only in doctrine cannot have religion. His moral and civil good has, therefore, no life in it. It is merely external. It wishes to be seen, and have it believed that it is good (Char. 89).

Those who are out of the church and are called gentiles live a much more moral life than those who are within the church, and embrace much more easily the doctrine of true faith, as is still more evident from souls in the other life. The worst of all come from the so-called Christian world, holding the neighbor in deadly hatred, and even the Lord. Above all others in the whole world they are adulterers. (3) It is not so with those from other parts of the world. Very many of those who have worshiped idols are of such a disposition as to abhor hatred and adultery, and to fear Christians because of their being of this character and desirous of tormenting everyone. Indeed gentiles are so disposed as to listen readily when taught by angels about the truths of faith, and that the Lord rules the universe, and to be easily imbued with faith and thus to reject their idols. For this reason gentiles who have lived a moral life and in mutual charity and innocence are regenerated in the other life. While they live in the world the Lord is present with them in charity and innocence, for there is nothing of charity and innocence except from the Lord. The Lord also gives them a conscience of what is right and good according to their religion, and insinuates innocence and charity into that conscience; and when there is innocence and charity in the conscience, they easily allow themselves to be imbued with the truth of faith from good (AC 1032:2, 3; see also 589, 3380e; TCR 340, 729; HH 318-19).

Some Christians, on the other hand, despise the gentiles (see AC 2590, 2592:3, HH 322). The gentiles are repelled by the life of Christians-presumably merely nominal Christians and especially those promulgating the doctrine of salvation by faith alone.

Many [gentiles] abhor the doctrine of Christians because they see their life. The real quality of such a faith is evident also from the fact that nowhere is there found a life more detestable than in the Christian world (AC 916).

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     Note that this refers to the Christian world, which includes many who are Christian in name only. Obviously, if the New Church is to grow among the gentiles, our righteousness will have to exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees in the Christian Church. This development of a life according to the Heavenly Doctrine in the New Church generally is probably to be included in its "growing to fulness" in the Christian world before being transferred to "many" (AE 764:2).
     The acknowledgment that there is "gentile" good in the religiosities of the gentiles, and a respect for freedom and rationality, will (or should) have a considerable bearing on our methods of instructing them in genuine truths.
     For example, we will attempt to follow the lead of the Lord, who does not break the principles a man has adopted from infancy, but bends them (see AC 1255, 2053:2). The angels do the same (AC 6205), and so should we.
     We should build on whatever goods and truths they already have. This is the approach used in the spiritual world:

All teaching there is from doctrine drawn from the Word, and not from the Word apart from doctrine. Christians are taught from heavenly doctrine, which is in entire agreement with the internal sense of the Word. All others, as the Mohammedans and heathen, are taught from doctrine suited to their apprehension, which differ from heavenly doctrine only in this, that spiritual life is taught by means of moral life in harmony, with the good tenets of their religion from which they had derived their life in the world (HH 516 emphasis added).

That there were truths among the gentiles is evident from many things, for it is known that formerly there was wisdom and intelligence among the nations, as that they acknowledged one God, and wrote concerning Him in a holy manner; also that they acknowledged the immortality of the soul, and the life after death, and also the happiness of the good and the unhappiness of the evil; and further that they had for their law the precepts of the Decalogue, namely, that God is to be worshiped, that parents are to be honored, that men must not kill, steal, commit adultery, nor covet the property of others; nor were they content to be of this character in externals, but were so in internals. It is the same at this day; the better behaved gentiles from all parts of the earth sometimes speak better things, but also live according to them. These and many other truths are among the gentiles, and conjoin themselves with the good which they have from the Lord, from the conjunction of which they are in a state to receive still more truths, because one truth recognizes another, and truths easily consociate themselves together, for they are connected with and related to each other. Hence it is that those who have been in good in the world easily receive the truths of faith in the other life . . . .

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Every truth of faith removes and separates what is false, so that at length the man is averse to it and shuns it (AC 2863:2, 3-emphasis added).

This approach was suggested years ago by Rev. Carl Theophilus Odhner in a notable article on the gentiles:

When, therefore, the time comes for special evangelistic work among the gentiles, it will be necessary for the New Church missionary to enter deeply into the study of the history, manners and customs, and especially into the religious ideas of the people which he wishes to reach, in order to adapt the new teachings to their apprehension and states of life. To the followers of Confucius it will be necessary to introduce the Heavenly Doctrine by means of its doctrine of charity, admitting and exalting the beauties of Confucian ethics, but uplifting them and filling them with genuine life by pointing out the correspondence of the old natural truths with the new spiritual truths of the doctrine of charity in the New Jerusalem.

In reaching the Buddhists, the New Church missionary will lay hold of the central ideas of self-conquest and universal charity which constitute the very foundation of Gautama's doctrine, and show that these constitute also the foundation of the New Church doctrine of life, leading to a genuine Nirvana-not of the obliteration of conscious existence but of the complete suppression of self-love in an eternity of useful love to the neighbor.

To the Brahmans he will bring a knowledge of the Ancient Church and the Ancient Word, together with a complete interpretation of the whole mythological system derived from the Vedas and Puranas, showing how and why all the different divinities are but so many names of the various essential qualities of the one and only God, even as all the different races and castes of men are but so many branches of the one human brotherhood. And to the Mohammedans he will denounce tritheism and polytheism as heartily as do the followers of Islam, while explaining the unity and trinity of the one and only God, who. even according to the Koran, revealed Himself as Man in Jesus Christ. The Mohammedan "Kismet" will afford a basis for introducing the doctrine of the Divine Providence, and their realistic ideas of "Paradise" will afford an opening for the higher and nobler revelation concerning heaven and its wonders.

Thus to the believers of all gentile religions the New Church missionary of the future will bring not damnation and threats of hell-fire for the unbaptized, but an infilling of spiritual light into the forms of their own ancient faiths. Such, at least, should be the first approach according to the directions of the Heavenly Doctrine (NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1913, pp. 471-472).

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DARKEST AND COLDEST NIGHT 1985

DARKEST AND COLDEST NIGHT Rev. CLAYTON PRIESTNAL 1985

     A MEDITATION

     It was the darkest and coldest night ever known. Never before and never since has there been such bitter chill, such inky blackness, such indescribable desolation. The earth was covered with a great white glacier and nowhere could be seen a green leaf, a sprig of flowers, a songbird, or a glimpse of the bright and warming sun. No life, no sound nothing growing-everything dead. Yet strangely enough men were moving about, working, idling, laughing, eating, enjoying to the full the pleasures of the world; the market places were open and teeming with trade, for the bleakness was not on the face of the earth but in the frigid hearts of men. Lost in this depressing loneliness were the souls of those created in the image and likeness of God. The Lord had come; He had taught in the synagogue and in the streets; He had touched the eyes of the blind; He had healed the sick; He had even restored the dead to life; in a thousand ways He had given evidence of His Divine power. But all the warmth of His glowing love and compassion, and all the light of His wisdom, had not thawed the frozen minds of men. It was the darkest and coldest night ever known.
     Rude hands had interrupted the Lord's prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane to drag Him off to the palace of Caiaphas, the high priest. The power and glory of the Lord's invisible kingdom of the spirit had grown intolerable to the jealous political and religious leaders. The hour to act had come; circumstances made it imperative that something be done to destroy the influence of this Man from Nazareth. And so it was that the infamous plot against the Lord was laid and carried out.
     Simon Peter had accompanied the Lord to the garden on that never-to-be-forgotten night. Impulsively Peter unsheathed his sword and attacked the servant of the high priest, severing his ear. He was restrained from further action by the Lord, for He could have called upon more than twelve legions of angels. Immediately thereafter Peter's faith began to fail. From a safe distance he watched the Lord being forcibly led away under guard. He followed along with ambivalent feelings of devotion to the Lord and a desire not to become involved in the impending crisis. Outside the door of the palace a group of servants and officers had built a fire to warm their chilled bodies. In front of this fire stood Peter, a disciple of the Lord, to warm himself among the enemies of righteousness. While the Lord was being interrogated and charges against Him drawn up, Peter stood outside beside the glowing embers of a fire lit by the very ones who had brought to pass this sorry scene.

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There is a lesson in the bitter chill, the darkness, and Peter by the fire.
     From time immemorial fire has been regarded as a symbol of love. In the ancient religious ceremonies of the Hebrew Church the priests were charged to keep a fire always burning upon the altar-it should never be allowed to go out. This Divine directive was symbolic of the love which should always be alive in the hearts of men. There is a holy fire which comes down from heaven and there is a fire which is kindled with the faggots of self-centered members of mankind. The prophet Isaiah compares the person who is evil and worldly-minded to an idolater who burns a part of the image he worships in a fire and says, "Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire . . . ." Then the prophet adds this solemn warning, "Behold all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow." Isaiah is saying that when anyone turns from the fire from heaven and looks to the warmth of the sparks generated in the hearts of men it is an indication that the love of the world means more to him than the love from the Lord, and thus sorrow and tribulation will eventually befall him.
     It was before a man-made fire that Peter stood. The nighttime, the chill, the loud voices and profanation of the motley crowd, all signify the state of Peter's mind. His faith had faltered; the disciple, for the time being at least, did not want to be identified as a follower of the Lord. How cheerless the fire must have been to him. The rising sparks could not dispel the gloom about him and the glowing embers could not drive away the inner cold of his spirit. Peter must have been most uncomfortable and uneasy, feeling quite out of place among the milling soldiers and uncouth citizens. The quiet, happy scenes on the hillsides and Galilean shores where the Lord spoke so feelingly about the kingdom of heaven must have seemed so far away and long ago, like a beautiful dream interrupted by a rude awakening. Then there was the stabbing voice of conscience. Three times it spoke to him in a voice which persisted in asking the same bothersome question, "Art thou not also one of the disciples?" The situation was too fraught with danger to be honest. Three times Peter stoutly denied that he had had any association with the condemned Lord. The night was cold and Peter was trying to warm himself beside the embers of a man-made fire.
     Not only do we get a picture of Peter's denial of the Lord, but in this disciple whose faith faltered is depicted the general spiritual state of mankind at the time of the incarnation. Through long ages and countless generations the religious life of the people became more and more external; false gods were worshiped and the light of heavenly wisdom had all but vanished.

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Even wicked and depraved people need the influx from heaven in order to exist, although they reject and deny the very thing by which they live. The Lord came to reestablish spiritual order so that the human race forevermore might not lose completely the consciousness of moral values and an awareness that the Divine is in the very center of all things. How clearly it can be seen from a reading of the Gospels that man was most reluctant to respond to this supreme Divine effort to reach his heart and mind. Even with the Lord among them in a bodily presence, people did not have the least desire to change their way of life. The pleasures of a worldly life and the desires of a selfish heart were more attractive than the self-denial and disciplines required for angelhood.
The cold and unresponsive attitude of so many members of mankind is vividly suggested in the description of the night-dark and cold. The blackness is the absence of truth in the mind, and the cold represents the lack of love in the heart. When people turn from the Lord and a life of charity, when falsity rather than truth becomes the guiding principle, then there is a state of bitter chill, darkness and desolation. And in this cheerless world, this gloom in minds devoid of heavenly understanding, man lights a fire from the kindling of his own wayward nature and tries to find solace and comfort. This is the state which leads to a complete denial of the Lord, just as Peter with increased emphasis asserted three times he had nothing to do with the Incarnate God.
Within each mortal there is fire burning upon the altar of the soul. The questions each one must ask of himself are these: Is my fire kindled from the sparks of my own self-centered nature? Or is the flame within me fire from heaven given by the Lord to burn forever in a loving heart?
CAMP TAHOE 1985

CAMP TAHOE 1985

There is a fabulous opportunity for those who would like to try a new summer camp. Rev. Mark Carlson is organizing a camp at beautiful Lake Tahoe in California. Available for use are canoes, sailboats, a pool, and the cost is only $72 each for the first two members of a family and $36 for each subsequent member. This covers food and lodging from Aug. 4th through 9th. Others involved in the camp include Rev. Cedric King and Rev. Michael Gladish. For information write to Rev. Mark Carlson (address on p. 98 of the February issue).

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NEW CHURCH MISSION IN JAPAN 1985

NEW CHURCH MISSION IN JAPAN TATSUYA NAGASHIMA 1985

     Being thankful to the Evangelization Committee for its short report about Japan as of 1983 in the Nov. edition of NCL, 1984, I think I have to give more recent information about what happened for a year and a half since my baptism.
     The first thing I did after my conversion into the New Church was, as Rev. D. Taylor suggested, a translation of sermon tapes into our language. On Sunday May 8, 1983, the first printed sermon Yuuwaku kara no Dasshutsu (Deliverance from Temptation) by Bishop King was read or listened to by a few Japanese, including my family. Since then a new sermon tape sent from Bryn Athyn was translated, printed, and distributed to our sympathizers each week. As of Jan. 10, 1985, eighty-eight sermons have been distributed so far for eighty-eight weeks, and subscribers are now seventy-three. That has spread only by word of mouth.
     This goes to show that all of the sermons which they read or hear are being recognized as from the Word of God. The Heavenly Doctrines show themselves to be genuine truths without human proofs or evidences. I do not personally know these readers except a few in the Tokyo area. Most of them live in many different places all over Japan from Hokkaido to Ryukyu Islands.
     Mr. Yoshiyuki Kameshima, a paper-scroll craftsman with a college degree, is the leader of twenty-six people in Naha City, Okinawa, who separated themselves from a Protestant church some years ago, but now they have Sunday services by the General Church ritual and sermons.
     Mr. Kentaroo Satoo is a medical doctor in Sendai City, and he also has his small group. Mr. Noboru Hidaka is a superintendent at an old-age home in Hoya City. He is an author of several books on gerontology, and appeared on TV as a consultant for the aged. Mr. Yoshifumi Endoo in Yokohama is an editor of Copel, a science magazine for juniors. He visited Bryn Athyn last year. Dr. Iwami Higashi, who once studied in France and Sweden, teaches chemistry at a college in Yokohama. Mr. and Mrs. Tadayuki Matsushita in Kyoto are influential spokesmen for the General Church in Japan, and have invited many people into our group. There might be some others who read our sermons out of curiosity, but there surely are those who are convinced of the genuine revealed truths in the Writings.
     The Arcana Press, as distributor of the sermons, and also as a publisher of the Writings and other collateral books, made public in March last year Shin-Erusaremu-Kookyookai-An'nai (A Guidebook to the General Church of the New Jerusalem), as was introduced by The Missionary Memo last June.

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The fund for printing was donated by one of the General Church members from Kempton, Pennsylvania. The first thirty sermons were compiled in the first volume of Shin-Dusarenlu-Kookyookai-Sekkyooshuu (A Collection of General Church Sermons, vol. I). Our press has also printed a small prayer book from pages 255-284 of the General Church Liturgy.
     For our sermon readers Arcana Press distributed each month Geppoo (a monthly four-page newsletter) since last June. We communicate with the readers in presenting a new subscriber's name and address, their letters to the editor, information on publication, financial report, the editor's address and an article, a column for New Church vocabulary, and so on. Once in a while we put in a translated article from NCL or other pamphlets and magazines.
     In order to print and publish this spring Tenkai to Jigoku (Heaven and Hell) I asked our readers to contribute ?1,500,000 ($6,000). Presently, as of Jan. 10, 1985, more than ?700,000 ($2,850) has been donated. This will be the first Japanese translation of Heaven and Hell from the original Latin text, although we have seven other different translations from the English editions since 1909. The manuscripts of all 500 pages are now undergoing proofreading.
     I suppose that the NCL readers might be wondering how our Lord will lead this tiny grain of mustard seed in Japan from now on. Nobody knows. But I can suggest some obstacles stemming from the ethnohistorical background, as well as some other perspectives which show possible fruition in the future.

I. Ethno-Historical Background

     If the New Church grows out of the old Christian churches (see AR 547, AE 730-732), we are not optimistic, because the one million Christians in Japan make up less than one percent of the population of 120,000,000. Our neighbor country, the Republic of Korea, has far better prospects than we, since her 20,000,000 Christians are nearly half of the total population.
     Some readers already know from the movie Shogun that our history has 300 years of Christian persecutions from the 16th up to the 18th century. Tens of thousands of Catholics were put into prisons, tortured, killed, or banished. But several hundred thousands recanted their faith. We are descendants of Catholic apostates.
     The second evangelization began at the Meiji Restoration in 1870. Freedom of faith and religions has, except for several years before and during World War II, generally been protected up to the present time.

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Still, less than one percent Christians has gone unchanged even with a governmental protection for thirty-five years now. I can point out why so few Christians are the only monotheists among national religious adherents. The reasons are:

     1. Language: Japanese consists of two main linguistic cultures: the original phonographs and imported ideographs from China. The former sustain our poetical sensitivity and sentimentalism, while the latter, since the 6th century when Chinese characters were brought together with Buddhism and Confucianism, have been used for introducing abstract conceptualization.
     Philosophical and theological translations of Christian terms, all of which are composed of Chinese characters, are still big barriers here. In English-speaking countries most of Christian and Biblical vocabulary such as "God," "heaven," "hell," "good," "evil," "truth," "love," "justice,"
"person," "conscience," etc. are deeply rooted in daily common life, but the Japanese equivalents of them are often coined words, and they sound to the ordinary people as sophisticated and aloof from a practical way of life.
     Moreover, for the first three quarters of the 20th century, Roman Catholic and Protestant terminology were, and still often are, different. The former pronounces, for example, lezusu for "Jesus" but the latter says lesu; the former pronounces takushin for "incarnation," but the latter says juniku, and the former says seijin for "a saint" but the latter says seito, and innumerable other examples, including proper names such as Yakoho and Yakohu for Jacob, Petoro and Petero for Peter, Nabukodonozoru and Nebukadenezaru for Nebuchadnezzar. The Lord's Prayer is different; many hymns with the same melody have differently translated Japanese verses. As many as thousands of kanji are utilized for symbolizing many different ideas. Ideological differentiation and ramification are much easier than generalization by abstraction and reduction into universal recognitions.
     2. Mentality: In addition to the above linguistic duality, and perhaps being nurtured by a historical climate of feudalism, psycho sociological duality has also been prevalent. Ooyake (public) and walakushi (private), giri (what one owes) and ninjoo (what one feels), and talemae (what one shows in outside world) and hon'ne (what one has in mind) are nominally distinguished but actually confused. This superficial distinction, however, obscures the fundamentally opposite notions such as "true" to "false," "right" to "wrong," "good" to "evil," and so on. Although someone was baptized in a Christian church, for example, it might be only for tatemae, while his hon'ne, (what he thinks inwardly) can be different. The "faith alone" Protestantism therefore is relatively more easily accepted than Catholicism.

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Hypocrisy and falsehood draw their nourishment from the psyche-sociological background.
     Syncretism in religions is accepted with open approval. A young couple is married at a Christian church; their first baby is consecrated at a Shinto shrille, and their parents' burial service is conducted by a Buddhist priest at the temple. Such religious mingling is not so much a sign of tolerance as a low-level apprehension of something spiritual and supernatural.
     3. Social structure: The inhabitants of the Japanese islands have constituted a vertically related homogeneous society since the 3rd century when the first ten'noo (emperor or sometimes queen) governed this country. The first governor was Queen Himiko, and she as a shaman held supra-natural enigmatic power over her subordinates. The present ten'noo, namely Hirohito, her descendant, is not so much a military dictator as a high priest of national Shintoism. The blood-related vertical line of the imperial household has been the backbone of all vertical minds of this nation in which polite and modest language is meticulously prescribed. They have a particular sensitivity in noting ranks among each group, company, society, and community.
     However, especially under the new Constitution. no absolute authority is attributed to anyone. So in national religions such as Shintoism, Buddhism, and often Confucianism, as far as they do not believe in absolute God, they are poly/pan-theistic atheists stemming from the animistic origin. There is no ethnical and socio-historical background to help people believe the one absolute God as the Creator of heaven and earth.
     Nevertheless, there are a few reasons for optimism about growth of the New Church in this country.

II. Some Optimistic Purviews

     Arcana Press edited the January issue of Geppoo this year, in which the editor pointed out some features of our nation as fertile receptive soils of the newly revealed truths of the Lord.
     1. Remains as natural goods: As the Writings indicate, the truths revealed to the Ancient Church were partly brought to India (see Coro. 38). So even though much was greatly transformed in the process of their transplantation and changing generations (as Professor P. A. Rogers theorizes in the July-Sept. 1984 issue of The New Philosophy magazine), some words of God are left in Buddhism, Confucianism, and also in Shintoism. Evidence of this can be seen in the enlightenment of Zen Buddhism, self-annihilation in Hinayana Buddhism, mercy and forgiveness in Mahayana Buddhism, five moral laws such as love, justice, courtesy, knowledge, and faith in Confucianism, and purified mind with reverential piety in Shintoism.

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These natural goods can possibly be conjoined with spiritual truths (see AC 3952:1:2).
     Even in today's highly developed technological age, the natural goods mentioned above are witnessed in human behavior: politeness, reverence, loyalty for one's friends and guests, and especially for one's superiors, and mental purification in some religious cults. In traditional disciplines such as sadoo (tea ceremony), kadoo (flower arrangement), shodoo (calligraphy), budoo (judo and fencing, etc.) there is, as the final doo implies, a requirement to know "a way of life" which is to be modest, polite, self-annihilating, merciful, and peaceful-minded, and so on.
     In addition, the people here are sensitive in serving others, as there is a saying, "Okayu-sama wa kami-sama" (one's guest is his god). They often feel honored when they are "used" for others' comfort and convenience. The concept of "use" in the Writings will most easily be accepted by many of us.
     2. Belief in the world beyond: One of the typical symbols of Japanese religions is ancestor-worship. Simple worshippers at their ancestors' graves believe in their life beyond. Even in this age of materialism, many occult books are sold at bookstores. Emanuel Swedenborg is known, although mistakenly, as one of the greatest mediums throughout human history. They will probably feel sympathetic with the Heavenly Doctrines which teach that the pagans outside Christian churches are saved as far as they live according to a good conscience, believing in one God and avoiding evils.
     Furthermore, the all-encompassing world view of the Heavenly Doctrines might gradually permeate into those who are not satisfied with exclusive denominationalism of many Christian churches. It may be true, when we know that non-church sect Christians by Rev. Kanzoo Uchimura flourished in a certain period of time. Even though racially and ethnically exclusive, Japanese people are ideologically inclusive and tolerant. Their minds can be receptive to the newly revealed truths which inclusively contain all other truths in sciences, morality, arts and religions.
     3. Freedom in publication: The first Japanese translation of Heaven and Hell appeared in 1909. The translator was an internationally known Buddhist, Dr. Daisetsu Suzuki, who introduced Zen Buddhism to the Western world. It was also a notable event that he was a sole delegate from Japan at the International Swedenborg Congress in London, 1910.
     Since then, six different translations were published by six other different men, among whom we have two Shintoists, one psychiatrist, and three New Church ministers.

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Most of Swedenborg's works are already translated by Rev. Yoshii Yanase, but they are translated from the English editions. They are found in the "occult" section of many bookstores. Even The Journal of Dreams and Dr. W. van Dusen's The Presence of Other Worlds are translated by an occult writer and are sold in public.
     Although Christians make up less than one percent of the nation's population, the Holy Bible is one of the bestsellers every year. The people in Japan are avid seekers of new knowledges and information, and spend much money for their children's education. If the Lord's new revelation is rightly and wisely propagated, our nation will be a fertile soil for acknowledging the Lord's Second Coming.

III. Missionary Incentives

     My missionary enthusiasm was prepared during 24 years of Catholic and 12 years of Protestant life. As a New Churchman now, although I knew that the first Christian missionary to Japan, Francis Xavier, was prompted by his personal ambition (CJ 65), I have no doubt that he was a necessary tool used by the Lord for the spiritual benefits of our nation. Many other good-hearted Catholic and Protestant missionaries from different countries have greatly influenced me and taught me why and how they have to work for the Lord's kingdom. I want to present here some of the simple motivations by which one can proceed a step ahead.
     1. On the front page of the August issue of The Missionary Memo, as also shown on p. 577 in the Nov. edition of NCL, one reads, "Unless we compel ourselves to evangelize, we will never come into the delight of evangelization-a use of charity." This passage reminds us of Paul's saying, "it is the love of Christ which compels us"(II Cor. 5:14, TCNT version). It is really a duty which compels us, but the duty from love for the Lord who loves us so much, not from cold lifeless obligation. Our love for the Lord makes us feel urgent to help others know our Lord. As a Slovakian proverb says, "Who helps quickly helps doubly."
     2. The latest statistics show that there live 4,600,000.000 inhabitants on this planet, but we wonder how many people know the Second Advent of the Lord! If it is 10,000 including some 4,000 General Church members, it is only 0.00022 percent, i.e. only one man among 460,000 citizens of a pretty big city. Consider this: what does the mayor of a city want one of his citizens, who has healing medicine, to do for the other 459,999 sick citizens? Or another example: what if one captain of a boat has a detailed sea chart for crossing a large ocean, and all others on other boats without a sea chart must cross the same ocean only relying upon stars at night and old inaccurate compasses? The captain with a sea chart would be guilty if he knows that all others will perish on the sea without a chart, even though he could afford to have it copied and distributed to each of them.

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     3. Pagans and gentiles can be saved if they follow their conscience: believing in one God and avoiding evils. It is exactly true de jure, but in this atheistic and materialistic age, more people than ever are astray de facto, without the absolute standard of conscience and morality. People of this century have less and less probability than ever of being saved, according to my opinion, without recourse to the newly revealed truths through the Writings. If a man is destined at death to heaven or hell, just as a fallen tree lies in the direction in which it falls, the people who know the Second Advent of the Lord are truly responsible for those who die without knowing the Lord.
     4. In the latest Academy Journal, Professor Glenn's address, "The Vision of the Academy," quotes Proverbs 29:18 which says, "Where there is no vision the people perish." One's vision comes from the revelation of God and the communication with Him who gives love and wisdom to those who seek them. We have to seek vision from Him in prayer. God gives vision to those who seek it. Without earnest seeking prayers. we have no vision and no inspiration. Everything good comes from Him alone, not from man. That's why we must pray. And true vision and inspiration from God invite us to perform a use of charity, and to proceed at our own "seeming" risk relying upon His guidance.
     5. "Where there is vision, there is adventure." A vision from God prompts us to stake our lives. There is another saying. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." Emanuel Swedenborg himself, by claiming the Divine authenticity of what he wrote, proceeded at his own risk. We have to proceed one step ahead, as for as we know this one step is directed by the Lord. Ventures can be tried in many different ways: In praying to God on one's knees in his private room, in offering more money than one thinks he can afford, in mailing books or writing letters to his friends, in visiting or talking with them, etc.
     6. There is a Chinese saying, "A worm shrinks before it expands." There should be the time for contracting ourselves, but there should also be the time for expanding. The former in its exclusive appearance is needed for its own self-identification, but the latter in its inclusive outreach must be eventually necessary for loving our neighbors.
     As a matter of fact, our missionary incentives do not require many quotations from the Word. If one loves the Lord, who loves our neighbors, and if as a result he loves those who are loved by the Lord, his action for doing something for others' eternal happiness must begin. And the delight comes soon after it.
     Finally, let me introduce "A Prayer for the Japanese Nation" (translated from Japanese into English), which is one item in a small prayer collection for my private use.

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The writer believes our Lord can communicate with him through his own style and form of praying:

Oh Lord, You have created a human race, and now 4,600,000,000 people live on earth. Our country has 120.000.000 people among them, and it is the seventh largest country in the world.

They are my brothers and sisters, and they are also Your beloved children. You created them out of Your infinite Wisdom so that they may be eternally happy in heaven.

However, O Lord, most of them have no idea about You. Christians are only one percent. As far as they do not believe in only one God, Buddhists and Shintoists are not aware of Your existence.

But You have already started working among them so that they may know of Your Second Coming. The Holy Bible is one of the bestsellers, and the Writings are being translated and sold in public. Your Words and Teachings are gradually permeating into their minds.

Still, many of them, allured by highly developed science and technology, are in spiritual darkness. They feel serious hunger for spiritual nourishment and satisfaction

So, O Lord, show Your Power and let many people be awakened by their endowed rational light and good conscience. Lead them to cherish their remains until finally they will find true happiness, not in anything terrestrial, but in what is heavenly and spiritual.

We pray that young people may be educated in a right way, and married couples may esteem their bonds as holy, and parents may bring their children up according to Your Wisdom and Love.

O Lord, give heavenly influx to those who are engaged in political affairs, children's education, and mass communication, so that they may be sensitive to truths and goods. Lead them to recognize You as the one only God with piety and reverence. Give our opinion leaders such thoughts as accept everything right, true and beautiful which leads to spiritual joy, conjugial love and innocence in heaven.

We believe Your infinite Wisdom of Providence. We pray, O Lord, with all our hearts and minds. We are convinced of Your Love and Mercy upon this nation. We pray, O Lord, Amen.

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[Drawing of map of Japan and several words in Japanese with this caption: This is from the 48-page guidebook to the General Church (mentioned on page 120).]

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ACADEMY SEAL-FIRST THINGS FIRST 1985

ACADEMY SEAL-FIRST THINGS FIRST Rev. LOUIS B. KING 1985

     A Charter Day Address Delivered on October 12, 1984

     There is power, beauty and strength in ultimates. So each year, all of us involved in the life of the Academy of the New Church make our pilgrimage to the house of the Lord to give thanks for the blessings of New Church education. "Thank you," we say, expressing special gratitude for this unique center of learning and distinctiveness which we affectionately call "Our Own Academy."
     Today marks the 107th anniversary of the granting of the Academy's charter by the state of Pennsylvania. How shall we celebrate this day? How best can we recall and rededicate our minds and hearts to the idealism which inspired its founders? How can we reaffirm the grand principles of the Academy, and commit ourselves to the noble purposes of her charter?
     In the next fifteen minutes we will recall briefly the history of the Academy's establishment, reflect upon its charter purposes and then investigate the meaning of the symbolism contained in the Academy seal, in order to gain some insight into the thoughts and affections which motivated the founding fathers, and perhaps savor the dreams they envisioned for the Academy's future.

History

     As early as November 25, 1859, William M. Benade, Louis H. Tafel, and Rudolph L. Tafel met in Pittsburgh, and "resolved to found the Academy."
     It was sixteen years later, in 1875, that "a meeting was held in New York for the purpose of selecting a name, and the name 'Academy' was retained."
     June 19, 1876, is the date mentioned in the charter as the official beginning of the Academy, although a charter was not granted until November of the following year. Also mentioned in the charter is the Academy's essential purpose, "propagating the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem, and establishing the New Church signified in the Apocalypse by the New Jerusalem." Spreading the Heavenly Doctrines so that the New Church might exist is the soul of the Academy which gives life and purpose to its ever-growing body. Subsidiary purposes whereby the establishment of the church would be accomplished are also mentioned, namely, "promoting education in all its various forms, educating young men for the ministry, publishing books (pamphlets and other printed matter) and establishing a library."

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     The Academy began within the organization of the General Convention. During the first twenty-one years of its existence it was affiliated with four separate church organizations: the Pennsylvania Association of Convention, the General Church of Pennsylvania, the General Church of the Advent of the Lord, and finally, the General Church of the New Jerusalem.
     In 1897 the ministers within the Academy organization withdrew from Bishop Benade's leadership, asking Bishop W. F. Pendleton to become the first executive bishop of the newly-formed General Church of the New Jerusalem.
     Since that time the Academy has served the General Church as its educational arm, supplying the General Church with its priests, teachers for its schools and a laity educated in the light of the doctrines of the New Church, from which an inspired life of use may take its rise.

Charter Purposes

     The primary purpose of the Academy was and is to teach the Heavenly Doctrines in order to establish the New Church. The Writings are crystal clear concerning the use of evangelization, and this use was uppermost in the minds of the early Academicians. They had no doubt that one day the New Church would spread until it should fill the earth. The church they would spread, however, would be a church founded upon the conviction that the Writings, given by the Lord through Emanuel Swedenborg, are the spiritual sense of the Word-the Lord Himself as the Spirit of Truth, enlightening and leading the understandings of men into all truth, showing them plainly of the Father, the Divine love.
     Next mentioned as a purpose of the Academy is the promotion of education in all its various forms. Divine revelation informs us that the church will grow especially with the gentiles. Children of New Church parents are gentiles, and were regarded from the beginning of the Academy as the most fruitful field for evangelization. Education was seen as the first work of charity in our church, our first responsibility in establishing the church with others.
     The third purpose enumerated in the charter is the training of young men for the ministry. Clearly and in many places the Writings prescribe a distinctive priesthood. The early Academicians believed that the priesthood of the New Church should be a threefold priesthood in the episcopal order. Emphasis upon the Writings as the Word, and the need for a trinal order of the priesthood, ultimately led to the separation of the Academy movement from Convention, its mother church.

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     Publishing books, pamphlets and other printed matter is the fourth purpose of the Academy. Today we are keenly aware of the need to preserve the holy text of the Word in its threefold form. The General Church has taken on the use of printing and publishing distinctive books and pamphlets, as well as the important use of translation. In this the General Church depends upon the Academy for the preparation of scholars and authors. It should be noted that one of the very first uses accomplished by the Academy was publication of pamphlets called "Words for the New Church." These pamphlets were the beginning of an important accumulation of collateral New Church literature, and will continue to form foundation stones for a new and accommodated wave of missionary literature, addressed to the outside world in years to come.
     Final among its expressed purposes is the establishment of a library. If the Academy is to become a center of distinctive learning and scholarship for the whole church, we must have a superior library. From its special and distinctive collections spiritual truth may shine forth in the reflection of knowledges and human experiences drawn from nature and revelation, then synthesized into a distinctive culture for each new generation. This very year the Academy launches a church-wide effort to erect a new Academy library, which will become a center of learning and a stronghold of distinctiveness for the whole General Church. You will have the opportunity to participate in the building of this enlarged use.

The Seal

     But what of the seal? In front of the pulpit and the lectern you will see the first and second editions of the Academy seal. Much thought was given by the early Academicians in formulating the symbolism of the seal. The first effort was crowned with an eagle, representing the affection of truth as to knowledge and understanding, particularly intellectual sight which can be elevated into exalted realms of spiritual circumspection (see AR 244, 245, 561). In Providence, the engraver in Philadelphia was unable to produce a satisfactory eagle, even after several months of concerted effort. The counselors of the Academy, becoming impatient with the delay, substituted a lion, which proved to have the more appropriate representation.
     The lion represents the power of Divine truth proceeding from the Divine Human of the Lord.
     In his paws are the keys which open and close heaven to man. The Lord said, "Whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

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[Two pictures of the Seal]

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Heaven and earth represent the spiritual and the natural minds of men. It is in our natural mind, before regeneration, that evils are active, shutting out the influence of good and truth from heaven. The power of Divine truth from the Lord's Divine Human, if we receive it through the Word and the shunning of evils as sins, enables us to bind or lock up what is evil and false, and then unlock or unloose what is good and true from the Lord. As long as evils in us predominate, good and truth are subordinate, as it were imprisoned or locked up. But when we shun evils as sins, we bind what is evil in our earth, and then unlock what is good and true. When we do this our spiritual and natural minds act as one and so, in effect, whatever we bind on earth is bound in heaven, and whatever we loose on earth is loosed in heaven. It is the Lord's Divine truth working in us, as if by our own efforts, that accomplishes this.
     The Alpha and Omega in the center of the seal refer to the Lord Jesus Christ in His Divine Human, the one God of heaven and earth-the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
     The miter which is described in the book of Exodus, and which the Lord commanded to be placed upon the head of Aaron, represents the office of the priesthood. The priesthood is the Lord's office adjoined to men, representing Divine love for the salvation of souls. This love for the salvation of souls is symbolized by the gold plate upon the miter, which rested upon the forehead of Aaron. The Hebrew words "Kodesh Laihoah" (Holiness to Jehovah) refer to the truth that is to be taught from love and for- the purpose of leading to the good of Life. This teaching function is the ministry carried out by the priesthood. The Academy founders believed that the priesthood was the Divinely appointed means whereby the salvation of souls by the Lord was to be represented in the church. You can see why a symbol for the priesthood was included in the Academy seal.
     Across from the miter is an eagle brooding over her young, representing the instruction of the young. Instruction opens the way within the mind so that vessels can be formed to receive the influx of good. As good is received in truth it is felt as love for use. As this good or love passes through truth into outward deed and word, uses come into existence. All education looks to preparation for a life of use in this world and especially in the world to come. When we reflect upon these first two symbols, the miter and the eagle brooding over her young, it is interesting to remember that the Academy first established a theological school, then a kindergarten.
     The temple bearing the inscription Nunc Licet represents the New Church which is established through the work of New Church education and New Church evangelization.

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Education in the church is an ecclesiastical use to be carried out by lay educators under the guidance and leadership of the priesthood. Its end and purpose is to establish the New Church, which is accomplished when the mind is open to receive doctrine in its purity and integrity. Then, and then only, the good to which truth leads can be intellectually perceived and understood. So we are told that a right understanding of the Word, and a life according to it, makes the church.
     Before the church can be truly established in man, the truths of doctrine in which he is educated must go forth and conquer those evils and falsities which particularly would destroy the church. The conceit of self-intelligence and other forms of faith alone are monsters within us which would destroy the tender heavenly doctrine and its remains. So the final symbolism is Michael and his angels fighting the dragon. The dragon would have devoured the man-child brought forth by the woman clothed with the sun, but the Lord provided against this.
     If the Academy is to achieve its goals, the symbolism of its seal must make its mark in your life.
     The book of Revelation speaks of those who would be saved as having the seal of the living God in their forehead. Whatever that seal may be, let us today reaffirm our commitment to teach the Heavenly Doctrines to our children and our fellows, that the New Church may be strong within and grow without. Let the Lion of the tribe of Judah be our strength. Let us acknowledge the Divine Human of the Lord as our visible God and Heavenly Father, who sends His truth to bind the evils in us and unloose His good and truth in our conscious mind and life. Let us support and attend to the office of the priesthood in the Mew Church that we may be taught the truth of the Word in the light of the doctrine of the church. Let us resolve to strengthen our acceptance of the truth through our own individual study and sharing of those truths with others, that the work of New Church education in all its forms may prosper. And let us use the truths of the church to battle against the forces of evil that would obstruct the establishment of that church at home and abroad. Let us open the doors of the New Church temple, to our children and to those outside the church, inviting them to join with us to behold the power and great glory of the Lord now revealed in this open Word. Amen.

     LESSONS: Rev. 1:4-8, 5:1-5, 12:7 and 8; TCR 508:1-3 and 5

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GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CORPORATION SECRETARY'S REPORT 1985

GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CORPORATION SECRETARY'S REPORT Stephen Pitcairn 1985

     for the year ending December 31, 1984

     MEMBERSHIP

     During the year 1984 the number of persons comprising the membership of the Corporation increased to 572. The changes in membership consisted of:

     33 New Members:
Adams, James M.                    Larsson, Robert A.
Allen, Daniel T.                     McQueen, Donald L.
Anderson, Clarence L.                Merson-Davies, Malcolm
Andrews, Robert T.                    Odhner, John L.
Childs, Robin W.                    Pavlin, Raymond C.
Coffin, Robert F.                    Pendleton, Nathaniel D.
Cole, Duncan P.                    Rogers, Edward L.
Conlew, William B.                    Romaine, Lawrence S.
Davidson, John M.                    Rose, Alan
Eller, Daniel A.                     Schnarr, Grant R.
Genzlinger, Dale B.                    Seckelman, Joseph D., Jr.
Harantschuk, Zenon                    Silverman, Ray
Hogan, Charles Patrick                Tyler, Nicholas
Hoover, Harry                     Walko, Edward S.
Horigan, Bruce A.                    Wathen, Lawrence S.
Hyatt, Wynne T.                    Woofenden, Ian
Kloc, Michael C.

     9 Deaths of Members:
Asplundh, Lester                    King, John B. S
Cronlund, Philip R.                    Schnarr, Clarence R.
Dorsey, Albert S.                    Synnestvedt, Hubert
Franson, Roy                     Waters, Philip A.
Gyllenhaal, Leonard E.

     DIRECTORS

     The bylaws of the Corporation provide for election of thirty directors, ten of whom are elected each year for terms of three years. The board presently consists of twenty-nine directors. At the 1984 annual meeting, ten directors were elected for terms expiring in 1987. The present directors, with the dates their terms expire, are as follows:

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1987 Asplundh, E. Boyd                1985 Hyatt, Carry
1985 Asplundh, Kurt H.                1987 Johns, Hyland R., Jr.
1985 Asplundh, Robert W.           1987 Junge, James F.
1987 Blair, Brian G.               1986 King, Louis R.
1985 Blair, Kenneth B.                1986 Klippenstein, Glen
1985 Bradin, Robert W.                1987 Leeper, Thomas N.
1986 Brickman, Theodore W., Jr.      1987 Lynch, Christopher W.
1986 Buick, William W.                1986 Orchard, Basil C. L.
1987 Buss, Neil M.                    1986 Pitcairn, Lachlan
1985 Coffin, Philip D.                1986 Pitcairn, Stephen
1985 Cooper, Thomas R.                1986 Schnarr, Maurice G.
1987 Frost, John A.                    1987 Smith, Robert A.
1985 Gladish, Donald P.           1985 Synnestvedt, Ralph, Jr.
1987 Henderson, Albert D.           1985 Wyncoll, John H.
1986 Horigan, W. Lee

     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 January 28, 1984, were:

President                    Louis B. King
Vice President           Kurt H. Asplundh
Secretary                    Stephen Pitcairn
Treasurer                    Neil M. Buss
Assistant Treasurer           Bruce A. Fuller
Controller                    Ian K. Henderson

     CORPORATION MEETINGS

     The 1984 annual Corporation meeting was held at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, on January 28, this being the only Corporation meeting held during the year. The president, Bishop King. presided, and there were 68 members in attendance. Reports were received from the nominating committee, treasurer, and secretary, and the election for directors was held.
     A report was heard from Gary Tennis, chairman of the Lay Participation Committee. The purpose of the committee is to study ways of increasing lay participation in the uses of the church.

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Mr. Tennis said that the best way to bring about a major improvement in lay participation in church uses is to involve the entire church membership in discussions of what those uses should be. He said his committee will arrange for small discussion groups throughout the church to deal with the question of what church uses the layman should be involved in and the responsibility of the layman to these uses.

     Stephen Pitcairn reported as chairman of a special committee appointed to study ex officio status of certain officers and directors. The committee recommended that the Executive Bishop should be ex officio director and ex officio the president of the Corporation. The vice president should also be an ex officio director but would be elected as vice president annually by the Board of Directors. The committee further recommended that the Executive Bishop annually invite one or more representatives from the Canadian Corporation and one or more representatives from the British Corporation to attend meetings of the Pennsylvania Corporation, and if the Board of Directors of either of those corporations is not represented by an elected director, it is deemed advisable to provide for additional representatives. The recommendations of the committee were approved and the necessary amendments to the bylaws to effect the change will be presented at the 1985 annual meeting.

     BOARD MEETINGS

     During the year there were four regular meetings of the Board of Directors. At the organizational meeting following the annual meeting, Rev. Kurt H. Asplundh was elected vice president to replace Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton who was stepping down from that position. The incumbent officers were reelected.
     During the regular board meeting, Bishop King on several occasions expressed his concern over the level of ministers' salaries. He said he believed that salaries were at a reasonable level and in most cases adequate. But he added we now require more of the ministers in the way of being socially astute and in the presentation of their material. The ministers are also placed under more pressure with development reviews and extended responsibilities. The salary level does require sacrifices to enable the minister to provide properly for his family. He recommended that the Salary Committee make an in-depth study to establish if the ministers' salaries are really adequate to meet the standard of living they should give their families.
     After the passing of Leonard E. Gyllenhaal, the General Church Development Officer, two committees were formed: the first to study and revise the job description of the Development Officer, and the second to institute a search for an individual to replace Mr. Gyllenhaal.

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At the October board meeting, the directors confirmed the appointment of Walter C. Childs as Development Officer. He will also assume the same position with the Academy and report to the treasurer of both organizations, Neil Buss.
     The board heard several reports from the Evangelization Committee pertaining to the Robert Denney Associates Market Research report and to a five-year evangelization plan prepared by Rev. Douglas Taylor. Consideration of these reports will continue during 1989.
     The treasurer reviewed the financial results of 1983 commenting that gross receipts were up by 11.6% and expenses up only by 7.3%. He said it was gratifying that expenses were on target with the budget. He also said it was gratifying that for the second consecutive year, contributions by societies toward their costs have exceeded the budget.
     Mr. Boyd Asplundh, chairman of the Joint Benefits Committee, reported that the Investment Savings Plan had been formalized and he reviewed two changes that had been made in the plan. He further remarked that an actuarial report showed that an increase in existing pensions in the amount of 4% per year for each of the five years since an increase was last made was financially feasible. The directors approved the increase and suggested that increases in existing pensions should be reviewed at least every three years in the future.
     John Wyncoll, chairman of the Salary Committee, reported on the committee's meeting with the treasurers of the societies held in Toronto in April. The board approved the committee's recommendations for changes in the salary scales and salary increases.
     The Finance and Development Committee recommended, and the board approved, a grant and loan to the Twin Cities Circle to enable the circle to purchase a combination church and manse building. The property will be held in the name of the General Church and when the loan is repaid, the property will be transferred to the circle. Mr. Hyland Johns, chairman of the Personnel Advisory Committee, reported at several meetings on the progress of his committee. He reviewed the committee's work in the areas of pastoral development reviews, pre-admission evaluations for the Theological School and early retirement possibilities for certain ministers and teachers in the event off difficulty. Mr. Johns commented that over the years his committee had come to have a greater appreciation and understanding of the dedication and sacrifice made by ministers and their wives. He said perhaps we sometimes have too high expectations and he emphasized the need for lay support of the clergy.
     Many other reports were heard and discussed by the board and the necessary action taken.
     Stephen Pitcairn,
          Secretary

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Editorial Pages 1985

Editorial Pages Editor 1985

     PEACE IN HEAVEN

     On the day known as Palm Sunday the Lord's disciples used a striking phrase. Loudly and joyfully they called out, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" (Luke 19:38). The phrase must have had momentous implications, for the Lord then said, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out." When the Lord was born in Bethlehem, angels spoke of glory in the highest "and on earth peace. Now the disciples speak of peace in heaven.
     The Divine Itself was about to be united with the Divine Human, and that union would provide an inmost delight or peace for those ire heaven and on earth. The Writings tell us that "peace" signifies the union of the Divine Itself and the Divine Human in the Lord, also the conjunction of the Lord with all who are in heaven and with all in the church who receive Him. Peace "springs from" that union and affects every angel (HH 286, 287).
     The rejoicing of Palm Sunday is a rejoicing because of the accomplishment at hand. As the Writings say, "When the Lord united His Human to the Divine Itself He had peace, for the combats ceased, had all things in the heavens and in the hells had been reduced into order. And accordingly there was peace not for Him only; also for the angels in the heavens, and for men on earth, there were peace and salvation" (AC 10730:2).
     The Writings point out that on the occasion of Palm Sunday the Lord was going into Jerusalem that there He might by the passion of the cross, or the final temptation, wholly unite His Human to His Divine, and might also entirely subjugate the hells. This is why the phrase was used, "peace in heaven." For all things involved in the word "peace" are from the union of the Divine Itself and the Divine Human, "and thence angels and men have them by conjunction with the Lord; for when the hells had been subjugated by the Lord, peace was established in heaven" (AE 365:11).

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     THE FIRST HUNDRED WORDS IN THE ARCANA CAELESTIA

     In the translation that has long been familiar to our readers, the first one hundred words are these:

     From the mere letter of the Word of the Old Testament no one would ever discern the fact that this part of the Word contains deep secrets of heaven, and that everything within it both in general and in particular bears reference to the Lord, to His heaven, to the church, to religious belief, and to all things connected therewith; for from the letter or sense of the letter all that anyone can see is that-to speak generally-everything therein has reference merely to the external rites and ordinances of the Jewish Church. Yet the truth is that everywhere in that Word there are internal things. . .

     Those words were chosen to render half as many words in the original Latin. The 49 Latin words are:

     Quod Verbum Veteris Testamenti contineat arcana caeli, et quod omnia et singula spectent Dominum, Ipsius caelum, Ecclesiam, fidem, et quae sunt fidei, nemo mortalium ex littera capit; nam ex littera seu sensu litterae nemo aliud videt quam quod in genere spectent externa ecclesiae
Judaicae; cum tamen ubivis interna sunt . . .

     It has been brought to our attention that the new translation by John Elliott not only more closely follows the Latin but also more nearly approaches the Latin in economy of words. The forty-nine Latin words are rendered not in a hundred but in seventy-three words as follows:

     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. . .

     We hope later to call attention to the second of the two new English volumes now in print.
Title Unspecified 1985

Title Unspecified 1985

The Word as to the letter alone is like the body without a soul.
Arcana Caelestia 3

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REACTIONS TO A PROPOSAL FOR A HISTORY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE 1985

REACTIONS TO A PROPOSAL FOR A HISTORY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE Norman Turner 1985

     Communications
     Dear Editor:
     A study such as that proposed by Dr. Kintner in the January issue must require some sort of chronological framework if events long past are to be set in their proper relationship. This statement of the obvious is made solely to indicate the starting point of a train of thought which he may or may not regard as relevant.
     I have been looking into the peculiarities of the Jewish calendar, and comparing it with other calendar systems. Bearing in mind what Dr. Kintner says early in his article regarding the derivation of both Christian and Islamic cultures from the Jewish, we see that certain philosophical implications seem to emerge.
     Any people aspiring to civilization must devise a system of recording the passage of time, recognizing the cycles of nature, short and long, and understanding the relationships one to another. The utilitarian needs of record-keeping, agricultural planning or merely keeping appointments spring readily to mind, but it soon becomes evident that the construction of calendars involves a strong religious or mystic element over and above the merely utilitarian.
     When man approaches the problems of counting and mensuration, it seems to me that he brings with him a predisposition to round numbers. He finds an intellectual satisfaction in whole numbers which is lacking in fractions. As if in accommodation to this feeling, we find the letter of the Word implying an idealized calendar. The account of the flood, for example, implies exactly 30 days to the month (see Gen. 7, xi; 8, ii-iii). Likewise in the New Testament (Rev. 11, ii-iii). This latter seems to point strongly to an idealized year of 360 days.
     The world of nature, alas, is less tidy. The three basic astronomical cycles of day, month and year do not bear whole-number relationships to each other, and the calendar-maker must try to construct a model which closely approximates the observations of astronomers.
     The civil calendar with which we are familiar today is basically solar, i.e. it seeks primarily to maintain the seasons at a constant position in the calendar, but allows the phases of the moon to fall where they will.

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The word "month" relates etymologically to "moon," but for our civil purposes the month is merely an arbitrary subdivision of the year. Indeed most of us these days regard the moon as no more than a decorative or romantic ornament of the sky, and are little concerned with understanding its movements.
     The Jewish calendar, however, is "luni-solar," and its primary emphasis is to relate months to the actual lunar phases. Ideally, the first of each month would be a new moon. To this end, the length of the calendar year is allowed to fluctuate much more widely than ours. Indeed, six different lengths of year occur, with numbers of days as below:

          Regular      Ebolismic
          (12 months) (13 months)
Deficient      353           383
Common      354           384
Abundant      355           385

     These succeed each other in a 19-year pattern devised to keep the seasonal drift within acceptable bounds. Nineteen years represents to a close approximation 235 lunations, and is referred to as the Metonic cycle. Thus near-identical positions of both sun and moon recur at this periodicity.
     The week, incidentally, is not an astronomically-based unit, merely a multiple of seven days-7 being associated with the story of creation. The even succession of days of the week has remained undisturbed even by the traumatic changes in calendar such as that from Julian to Gregorian, and I am not aware that even the most secular or atheistic countries have challenged the practice.
     Three further points about the Jewish calendar as currently used:
     a)     It is not of great antiquity, dating possibly from AD 358; and based on the observations of Hipparchus (circa 120 BC).
     b) The starting point (equivalent to 3761 BC) implies an extreme fundamentalism, comparable to that of Archbishop Ussher, whose OT and NT chronology (1654) has often been used to annotate English Bibles.
     c) The names of the months are entirely different from those (Abib, etc. given in the Old Testament (which in any case names four only; mostly they are referred to by number). This seems in character with the preference of Talmud over Torah.
     Now, fascinating as I personally find such details, the point I really want to raise is this: WHY do men in general, and ecclesiastical leaders in particular, set such store on observing festivals in the "right" astronomical environment?

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Do we have an inborn inclination to astrology, somewhat akin to the universal influx to belief in one God spoken of in TCR 8? Turning specifically to the Jews, was the interest in astrology which is surely implied in their calendar system

     a) in obedient response to Divine commandment(e.g. Exodus 12, i-ii)

     or

     b) Did it indicate a hankering after the corrupt and depraved customs of their neighbors, in defiance of Divine prohibitions?

     Most references in the Old Testament to astrologers are surely defamatory: the prophets of Jehovah have usually acted to discredit or ridicule them.
     Could the apparent astrological emphasis in the Jewish calendar be of importance to the cultures which succeeded? Islam is more overtly concerned with astrology. The Muslim calendar, incidentally, is purely lunar, of 12 months, so that their New Year may occur at any climatic season.
     What of Christianity? Astrology, as such, surely has no place in official Christian teaching, though its influence dies hard with many adherents. The Christian ecclesiastical calendar closely follows the Jewish-with just enough deliberate changes to avoid actual agreement; witness the complications surrounding the date of Easter and other related festivals.
     (Our British Parliament passed legislation in 1928 to "fix" Easter Sunday within the period 9-15 April. A clause in the bill delayed implementation until agreement could be obtained among the various Christian churches. This is still awaited.)
     Again, though, one asks WHY have the Christian churches considered it so important to celebrate Easter with the sun and moon in the right place? Why indeed, unless it be for essentially astrological reasons.
     It is with birth that astrology is most intimately concerned. (My wife Helen is a midwife by profession, and attends quite a number of Muslim women. She comments that the husbands are always most insistent that the exact minute of birth should be recorded.)
     The one important and positive Biblical reference to astrology must surely be the Christmas story of the Magi. (In partial answer to Abba Eban's question, "How would you know the Jews existed?-the Magi knew, for did they not come from afar asking, "Where is He that is born King of the Jews?") The Magi (Zoroastrians, possibly) brought their astrological wisdom from the East, but in laying their gifts before Him symbolically made it subservient to the new dispensation.

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     The field of astrology is heavily over-populated by charlatans, but there does seem some indication of "respectability"-some suggestion that its study must be consistent with a revealed religion. May I suggest that in the course of his researches, Dr. Kintner keep an eye open for any evidence of astrological interest on the part of the Jewish people.
     Norman Turner,
          Lightwater, England
FEMININE EDUCATION 1985

FEMININE EDUCATION Patricia Street Scott 1985

Dear Editor:
     I very much enjoyed Bishop Willard D. Pendleton's comprehensive discussion, "Education for Feminine Uses," which appeared in the December LIFE.
     I wanted to share a perception that the essential difference which the New Church sees between the male and female minds is being increasingly recognized by many people outside the church. In working with La Leche League and other mothering groups I have discovered that a strong belief in the distinctive functions of male and female parenting provides a basis for their message concerning the role of the mother, whose intrinsically nurturing nature they see as being a vital contribution to the family and society. The fundamentalist Christian sects which are enjoying somewhat of a renaissance among young people today also emphasize the distinct nature of the male and female roles, although some of their applications tend to be rather shallow (e.g., one article I read suggested that women should never wear trousers). I was even surprised to find, while reading some history of the women's movement of the early '70s, that its leaders saw this distinction quite clearly, and that part of their message was that many of the problems in the world today stem from the fact that the feminine has had too little influence in business and world affairs. They felt there had been too much dependence on the masculine orientation, which they saw as having many of the same limitations as those ascribed to it in the Writings. So part of their message, too, has become "blurred," and it is a tragedy that many women have indeed responded to the call for an equal contribution to society by "trying to be men" instead of making the most of their new opportunity to affect the world by virtue of their uniquely feminine influence.
     Although the distinction between the male and female minds becomes increasingly evident to me the longer I live, one thing I have never been able to understand is how this indicates a necessity for separate schools during adolescence.

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The Bishop stresses that "what is learned may have a very different orientation in the mind of a woman than in the mind of a man. Add to this that all that is learned takes form as various knowledges which serve as means whereby one's interests, affections and loves are expressed" (page 585). Again: ". . . women have a great deal to offer to any use or activity, but this is because they are women and their perspective is different from men's" (page 594).
     I must still be missing something, because when I read things like this, it occurs to me that the problem of educating the two minds differently takes care of itself. That is, while the same material is presented to a male and a female mind, each sex receives it differently, forms it differently within its own type of mind, and sees different applications. One can see this so clearly even from simple daily situations. For instance, when my husband reads me an item from the newspaper, time after time his reason for being interested in the story, and the conclusions he draws from it, are very different from my reactions. Sometimes this is frustrating, and sometimes it's informative; we learn more about each other and each get a chance for a broader view of the subject at hand.
     I do agree that boys and girls benefit from instruction from the Writings as to the qualities of their own sex and indications as to the unique contributions which they each can bring to marriage and family life, careers, and church and social involvement. But I feel that increased opportunities for coeducation can provide young people with a forum for observing both peers and adults of the opposite sex within a context where they can see firsthand, in many situations, what the differences between the two minds are, as well as to make other distinctions within their own minds, such as what is a sex trait, what is a personality or upbringing trait, what kind of mind matches well with one's own, etc.
     Concerning the preservation of our ideals of marriage with our children, I think an important factor in virtuous relationships between boys and girls in high school is respect: respect of boys and girls for each other, respect for oneself, respect for the adults of the church who are advocating its ideals. I feel all three of these areas of respect can be strengthened by coeducation in an atmosphere which encourages each student to develop his/her own mind to the best of his/her ability, and maintains a high regard for diversity of talents and affinities-something which, hopefully, all New Church schools strive to achieve. I think the final kind of respect is especially fostered by talk with adults that is current, frank and "relevant" to teenagers. In discussing the virtues of chastity, we need to talk in real psychological terms about why its opposite hurts women. In discussing adultery, we need to be frank about why and how it contains all the sins of man.

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(We can even use the images coming across in the media to show these things!) The Writings give us the basic outline; it is up to parents and teachers to fill it in with information that is current and "real" to today's kids, to "hit them where they live" in a way that shows the living truth contained in the teachings we have been given.
     Finally, I am not convinced that marriages in our church are suffering from lack of distinctiveness between the masculine and feminine roles. If anything, I think there are some negative effects on marriages as a result of overly narrow role definitions. I think sometimes men in the church can use the role ascribed to them by the Writings to justify neglecting the kind of growth that they could achieve by paying more attention to the "feminine" side of themselves: being more involved with the babies and small children in the family and benefitting from their spheres of innocence; participating in the "nitty gritty" work of the myriad repetitive household chores which does much to connect one to the ebb and flow of life, and take one out of sustained self-absorption; being more aware of the "feeling side" in oneself and in others; placing importance on spiritual development along with career success and material concerns. By the same token, many women may be shortchanging their marriages because they are not growing in ways that they could be by maintaining a larger arena of interests, such as continuing to read and increase knowledge and awareness of issues outside the concerns of the immediate family, even if it is just for the sake of contributing their feminine input into their husbands' views of life. I feel that part of the excitement of the "inmost friendship" of a marriage lies in sharing the variety of interests and loves that each sex brings to the marriage, as well as in the unique view each brings to their mutual interests.
     It is my belief that we still have much to learn in understanding the natures of the masculine and feminine minds and the richness of their unique contributions to life. I hope that this continues to be an area of discussion in future issues of NEW CHURCH LIFE.
     Patricia Street Scott,
          Sacramento, California
MASCULINE EDUCATION? 1985

MASCULINE EDUCATION? Greta Bochneak 1985

Dear Editor,
I enjoyed reading Bishop Pendleton's article "Educating the Feminine." Any information we can add to our knowledge of a subject always helps us to understand and carry out our uses a little better. As a mother I find it always helpful to be reminded of the goals we would like to set for our daughters.

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But what about our sons? The awesome role of spiritual leaders of the home, the church, and, in particular, in the world as it is today, surely must need some careful reflection also.
     I recall seeing an article in NEW CHURCH LIFE some time ago by Rev. Daniel Heinrichs suggesting some areas of masculine education that might be looked into, and I eagerly awaited the next few issues in the hope that some other men or ministers might have something to contribute in reply. I never saw anything more on the subject.
     I have seen statistics that show that the classroom situation is more suitable for girls and is difficult for boys: statistics that show that young boys perform better in all-male classrooms; statistics that show that:

Boys are much more likely than girls to fail to work up to their capacity.
Boys mature more slowly than girls.
Boys have more discipline problems in the classroom.
Boys are more likely to drop out of school.
Boys are more likely to drink, smoke and take drugs.
Boys commit more crimes.

     Could these statistics be worth looking into? Are they merely characteristics of the male of the species-just part of masculine growth that will not change no matter what the educational system used?
     Teachers and ministers are always reevaluating methods and looking into ways to perfect the education of the feminine in her role as the preserver of the conjugial. Does the role of the masculine as spiritual leader of the home, the church, and hopefully eventually the world, need no special consideration as to how his education will equip him for this role?
     To me it seems obvious that there is a lack of strong moral leadership in the world, and the need for such leadership becomes greater every day. And, forgive me Bella Abzug, it seems particularly suited to the masculine, just as it says in the Writings.
     Do we have a correct idea of leadership and what it involves? Is it something that is just innate in the masculine and needs no nurturing? I would really appreciate hearing someone else's views.
     I know that I am not the only woman who is concerned about the subject and I wonder if you as editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE (and a minister and a male) could solicit some pearls of wisdom on the subject and publish them.
     Greta Bochneak,
          Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania

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HOMEOPATHY 1985

HOMEOPATHY Kenneth Rose 1985

Dear Editor,
     When writers present opposing views in letters to editors, they cannot realistically hope to change each other's minds. What they are really trying to do is influence readers who have not yet formed their opinions. On the subject of homeopathy, the "neutral" audience has seen some good answers to the original challenge, followed by "A Doctor's Reply" with no noticeable changes in his ideas. That title emphasizes a concern I have for the undecided. I wonder how many of them have been influenced, overtly or subliminally, by the thought that people on one side of this issue are all doctors and therefore must know what they are talking about. How could someone go all the way through medical school and years of practice without learning about one whole approach to the healing art?
     The fact is that doctors who know nothing about homeopathy are even more plentiful than garage mechanics who know nothing about Volkswagens. Many doctors have discovered homeopathy after finishing medical school, and they testify that they were taught nothing about it during their education. They were also taught nothing about nutrition and very little about vitamins, and yet these are subjects on which laymen naturally turn to doctors for advice. It is very difficult for a physician (or a mechanic) to say, "I don't know anything about that." The natural reaction is to answer the question, and it may take the patient (or customer) a lot of second opinions to find out whom to believe.
     Many people who are disillusioned with orthodox medical practice are turning to homeopathy and nutritional therapy, so that these fields are enjoying a resurgent growth. This has aroused defensive reactions in doctors. The American Medical Association has opposed homeopathy from its beginning, sometimes ostracizing its own members for even consulting a homeopath.
     The term "allopathy" needs some clarification. It comes from the Greek word for "other," and is sometimes used by homeopaths to refer to a doctor who is "not one of us." But its original meaning is more benign and precise. It stands in contradistinction to the "homeo" that means "the same." This refers to the homeopathic philosophy of trying to cooperate with symptoms. These are seen not as manifestations of disease but as indications of the body's reaction to it. The human body has amazing healing powers (as Dr. Heilman acknowledged in his original article), and homeopathy consciously cooperates with them. Allopathy, on the other hand, opposes symptoms: stop the discharge, bring down the fever, suppress the cough.

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Over-the-counter remedies revel in counting the symptoms that they "relieve," and prescription medicines go the same direction but much further (with frequent side effects). This opposition reaches its ridiculous extreme when drugs are administered to knock out the body's immune system so that it will not have the sense to reject an organ that came from a baboon or a chemical factory.
     The doctors who have turned to homeopathy have not rejected allopathy, but are working to harmonize them into a balance of whatever can be brought to bear when the temple of the soul is in disorder. But some doctors are apparently unable to make this transition; they seem to have an unshakable disbelief in homeopathy. They say that it has not been proven by double-blind studies, but when they see the results of one they dismiss it as a single "flawed" test. And yet they state that laetrile has been laid to rest, and this is on the basis of one test, with the rather serious flaw that the substance tested was not laetrile.
     Another excuse for not embracing homeopathy is that we do not know how it works. But who knows how aspirin or digitalis works? Perhaps the least understood of all medicines is the placebo. It is administered by allopaths and homeopaths alike, and has effects just as real as those of psychosomatic illness. But to label all homeopathic remedies placebos reinforces the appearance that the labeler does not understand either one. Someone thoroughly ignorant of drugs and surgery could similarly attribute anything they accomplish to the placebo effect.
     If a doctor observes that homeopaths' patients do get well, but struggles to explain it away, the appearance is that he has assumed the principle that these remedies are not effective. "Everyone may know that man is governed by the principles he assumes, . . . and that all his knowledge and reasoning favor his principles; for innumerable considerations tending to support them present themselves to his mind, and thus he is confirmed . . ." (AC 129).
     Kenneth Rose,
          Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania
HOMEOPATHY 1985

HOMEOPATHY Thomas M. Cole 1985

Dear Editor,
"Nothing . . . is of more importance to man than to know what is true" (AC 794); moreover, "nothing ought to be believed except the truth" (Inv. 7).
Certainly NEW CHURCH LIFE is not a medical journal; nevertheless the New Churchman is concerned with all issues which are vital to his natural life, and his health should be a primary consideration.

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I certainly can see the use, therefore, in the discussions that have taken place in NEW CHURCH LIFE. However, it may be more useful and less divisive to focus our attention on what the Heavenly Doctrine has to say on such matters. The Heavenly Doctrine does have something to say on such things as orthodoxy (at least 13 refs.) and palliative (at least 5 refs.) and death (numerous).
     My primary concern in writing is to suggest that any kind of fatalism be avoided. I would define "natural fatalism" in terms of a false understanding of Providence. For example, someone with cancer may too quickly conclude that it is God's will that he/she is to die an early death, and yet who can make this judgment:, Such a person may immediately reject such "unorthodox" treatments as B-15 or B-17 (Laetrile) or vitamin C or even "orthodox" treatments, concluding that it is God's will that he/she die. Is not predestining oneself to a premature death similar to predestining oneself to spiritual death?
     I certainly do not believe that Dr. Heilman, who I assume is both a sincere New Churchman and a sincere doctor interested in the life and health of all men, is part of any conspiracy; nevertheless the potential efficacy of non-citrus seeds in fighting disease may have some theological basis. Seeds correspond to truth. Dr. Heilman states, "The ideal 'cancer cure,' of course, is the one which contains 'selective toxicity'-it kills the cancer cells and it leaves the normal cells unharmed." That is exactly what the cyanide in laetrile seems to do! Isn't that correspondentially what truth does, if used properly? I'm not going to reject laetrile because of any faith in an expert such as Dr. Heilman. Certainly, he has a great deal of knowledge on these matters; however, the rational man will always make up his own mind on any matter whether it be in medicine, politics, or theology. After all, the only one who really enlightens us is the Lord Himself.
     It is said in the Invitation to the New Church that miracles were not done in Swedenborg's day. Is this not because since his day men realize that whatever happens happens by some logical principle? When the Lord performs miracles does He not do so by natural laws? (Compare the "placebo effect.")
     Thomas M. Cole,
          Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania

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ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH 1985

     Announcements

     Each year the Academy invites 9th and 10th grade students from other areas to visit the Boys School and the 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 spring, between the dates of May 15 and 19, students from Canada are invited to take part in this program.
     In the next school year the Academy will arrange for visits from Glenview in the fall and Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania in the spring.
     Those who wish to participate in any of these visits may contact me or their pastor for further information.
     In addition to these visiting groups, individual students, parents, and others are welcome to visit at any time. Just write or give us a call.
     Steve M. Irwin,
     Office of Student Services,
     Academy of the New Church
     Boys and Girls Schools

     The Academy Summer Camp for students who have just completed grades 8 or 9 runs from July 7th to 13th. (See the notice in the January issue, p. 2.)

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ARCANA CAELESTIA 1985

     by Emanuel Swedenborg
Volume Two
of John Elliott's new English translation

     The Society's most significant publishing enterprise in the twentieth century.

     The first new translation of Swedenborg's major work for 120 years. Translated from the Latin by John Elliott, who has devoted the last ten years mainly to this project, assisted by consultants in the UK and USA, the work follows the third Latin edition published in 1949-73.

     Vol. I or 2                General Church Book Center
Hardcover $12.50      Box 278 "Cairncrest"

     Paperback 7.75          Bryn Athyn, PA 19009
Postage per copy .90      Hours: 9-12 Mon-Fri
               (215) 947 3920

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Notes on This Issue 1985

Notes on This Issue Editor 1985

Vol. CV April, 1985 No. 4
NEW CHURCH LIFE

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     The sermon by Rev. Christopher Bown is about a command spoken to Mary. At the sepulchre she had seen the Lord, but supposed Him to be the gardener until He spoke her name. Then she said, "Rabboni," and He commanded her not to cling to Him. In the King James Version this is rendered, "Touch Me not."
     "It is much easier to see communication problems in other people than in ourselves." Mr. Don Barber provides us with a penetrating look at some of the dynamics of personal relationships.
     We have news from France that even the town mayor was present when Bishop King dedicated the chapel last September (p. 177). In the same news we find reference to yet another "leaf" summer camp. In July there will be a "Grape Leaf" summer camp in France. In the March issue we mentioned the dates of some of the summer camps. If you would like further information on New Church summer camps, write to the editor.
     The feature on Australia is light and lively, but it packs in the information. You will have a far better picture of the General Church in Australia after you have enjoyed Rev. Erik Sandstrom's article.
     The Academy Schools Calendar for 1985-1986 appears on page 192. Now you can note on your calendar the date of Charter Day and various school events.
BRITISH ASSEMBLY 1985

BRITISH ASSEMBLY 1985

The 62nd British Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in London on Friday, July 12th through Sunday, July 14th, 1985, the Rev. Douglas M. Taylor presiding. For further information contact Rev. F. G. Elphick, 21B Hayne Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 4JA, England.

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TOUCH ME NOT 1985

TOUCH ME NOT Rev. CHRISTOPHER D. BOWN 1985

     "Jesus said to her, 'Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father'" (John 20:17)

     It is common to feel misjudged or misunderstood by others. At times we may feel that we have been understood only in terms of how we were in the past, perhaps in our childhood or youth. Or we may feel that we have been judged by partial or even false knowledge of something we have said or done-a word taken out of context, or a motive misread. It seems to happen over and over again.
     If we look at ourselves and if we are honest, we will likely see that we do the same thing. We tend to cling onto memories of how we have experienced others. We easily recall how them were in their childhood or youth, and without even realizing it, we still view them according to that. We tend to grasp onto partial truths about others we see day to day, and interpret their lives according to those appearances-really with no true fairness or justice.
     Throughout our life, even until one foot is in the grave, we need to endeavor to be just and fair. We know we must make an estimation of others; without it we cannot discern how to help them or how to serve them. We must make judgments for the sake of the preservation of society. Let us never forget, though, the Lord's words: "Do not judge according to the appearance, but judge with just judgment" (John 7:24).
     We need to remember that our judgments or estimations are limited; they can only be short-term evaluations. We need to make an effort not to judge others according to outdated memories or partial experiences. And we need to work to remove any self-serving motives we discover within ourselves.
     As we endeavor to do this, the Lord will inspire us with an affection for truth that is a deeper and deeper desire to be just and fail, with our neighbor. And He will remind us not to cling or hold onto outdated or partial appearances.
     This is what the Lord taught, in part, in His words to Mary Magdalene, "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father."
     On that first Easter, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb while it was still dark. She found the tomb open-yet the Lord was not there.

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Later, after Peter and John had come and then gone, she stood by the open tomb and wept. She was deeply grieved because she felt she had lost her Lord.
     Looking inside the tomb, she saw two angels where the body of Jesus had lain, and she spoke with them. Then as she turned around, the Lord appeared!
     At first Mary did not know that it was Jesus. It was dark, and she was weeping. He asked why she was weeping and whom she was seeking. And she, believing that He was the gardener and perhaps had taken the Lord away, asked if He had done so and if He would show her where the Lord had been taken.
     Only when Jesus spoke her name, "Mary," did she realize that it was the Lord, that it was Jesus! Turning to Him, and perhaps falling on her knees, she began to hold onto Him. Yet He told her, "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father."
     These words may seem strange to us. Probably we are more familiar with the older King James version, "Touch Me not, for I am not yet ascended to My Father." That version most likely conveys for us the gentle and tender affection in the Lord's words. If we look more closely at the original Greek, however, we will see that His words involve more than telling Mary not to touch Him. They are an imperative or command to her not to hold on or cling to Him, there in the dark.
     It is curious that this encounter took place in the dark. In the other Gospel accounts we are told that Mary Magdalene, along with other women, came at dawn-when the light of the rising sun began to fill the sky. In fact they saw the Lord in the daylight, and they even held onto His feet (Matt. 28:9). Yet here in the gospel of John we are told that Mary was told not to hold onto Him, and it was dark. Why?
     There is an important spiritual lesson here.
     Jesus was born here on earth by means of the virgin Mary and the power of the living God. As He grew up He became the "Word"-the Divine truth itself the reality of truly human life. And as He left this physical world (from the time of His death on the cross until His resurrection at dawn on Easter morning) He became one and the same as the "Father"-the living God who was the continual source of His life-the infinite love that created the universe.
     Our story takes place in the dark, before the dawn, because this last step was not finished. By death Jesus had put off everything from His earthly parent, the virgin Mary. Yet here in the dark our Lord had not yet made Himself to be entirely the infinite Divine love for the salvation of the human race. So He said simply, "I have not yet ascended to My Lather" (see AE 899:14).

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     Still, that infinite love was present within His words to Mary. They were gentle, tender words.
     The Lord did not want Mary to hold on or to cling to how He appeared to her in that state. And surely she was not to hold on or cling to the memory of how the Lord appeared as He hung on the cross just two days earlier! Mary was to worship Jesus glorified and resurrected as He now is! And like Mary, we must do the same (see TCR 728).
     Let us think for a moment of Mary. What was she like? We know that Jesus had cast seven demons out of her (Mark 16:9). She had followed Him and had served Him (Luke 8:2). She had stood by the cross (John 19:25). And she had gone to the tomb searching for Him, and unable to find Him, she wept.
     Mary gives us a picture of an affection for truth that is within us. It is an affection that has been cleansed and purified of self-serving motives. It is eager to learn and obey the spiritual truths of the Lord's Word. It will endure through all spiritual trials and struggles.
     The Lord instructs such an affection for truth within us not to latch onto appearances of truth that we have concerning Him-appearances that might be partial or mistaken-appearances that are not a true revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
     Throughout our life we must search ourselves and put off any partial and mistaken ideas we have concerning the Lord. This is especially true in old age, when we prepare for life in the other world. We then begin to put off the earthly human and put on the angelic so that we can ascend to our Father, the Lord, who is in heaven.
     In our old age, hopefully, we enter into a state of wisdom. This wisdom comes after a long and full life in which we have endeavored to flee from evil and to do what is good, and we have turned to the Lord in His Word for guidance, insight, and help in doing so. Within such wisdom is the quality of innocence. This innocence is a deep love for the Lord, a real trust in Him, and an eager willingness to be taught and led by Him alone.
     What is remarkable is that at the same time that we enter these deep states of innocence in old age, the Lord also reawakens and quickens the innocence we experienced in our preschool years. This innocence really is our preschool love and trust in our parents.
     When we were preschool children, we did not know the Lord. We only knew our parents. We loved them and trusted them. Overall, we were affirmative and willing to be taught and led by them. And we did so without really knowing it-it was almost instinctive.
     Our parents were standing in the place of the Lord; they were acting on His behalf. And the early love and trust that we had for our parents is the beginning of our love and trust in the Lord (see AC 9296:2).

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     Of course, our parents were not the Lord. They were not perfect in love or in discipline. They had shortcomings and failings, just as we have. Besides, our ideas at that early age were limited and colored by fallacies of the senses, as well as by inclinations to center life around ourselves. So our preschool ideas. Attitudes, and patterns of thought concerning our parents can only give a mistaken and misleading picture of our Lord.
     As we enter into wisdom in old age, the Lord reawakens and quickens the memories of our preschool years. Both the feelings of love and trust and the fallacious ideas come back to awareness.
     The early love and trust we have for our earthly parents need to be redirected to the Lord Himself, as our heavenly parent and Father. Our preschool innocence is to be made one and the same with the innocence gained in wisdom after many decades of the life of religion (see AC 3 183, 5608:9).
     Yet present and clinging to these tender feelings of love and trust are fallacious ideas, attitudes, and patterns of thought. These ideas even if they seem true-must be put off (see AC 9301). And we must turn directly to the Lord as He is revealing Himself to us now.
     Perhaps this is what is meant in our lesson from the gospel of John. The gospel of John shows most clearly the true wisdom of life that we can have from the Lord. It shows us most clearly the Lord's presence in our daily life, revealing who He is.
     We go through steps such as the Lord did here on earth. We ascended to His Father, and so must we ascend to our Father. And to do so we must put off the earthly human. We must put off all those fallacious and misleading ideas that would take us away from worshipping our Lord Jesus Christ, as He is today.
     The Lord gently reminds us. "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father." Amen.

     Lessons: John 20:1-18, AE 899:14 MAPLE LEAF CAMP 1985

MAPLE LEAF CAMP 1985

Here is your last reminder about the Maple Leaf Summer Academy to be held June 18th-28th in the beautiful setting of Muskoka in Canada. See the full notice in the February issue (p. 93)

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STRENGTHENING MARRIAGE BONDS 1985

STRENGTHENING MARRIAGE BONDS Rev. NATHAN D. GLADISH 1985

     Within the bonds of marriage we long to receive and enjoy the most sacred of all loves from the Lord, true conjugial love. So many blessings are within this love: innocence, peace, friendship, inmost confidence, the mutual desire of heart and mind to do the other every good, to name a few (see CL 180). Enjoying any one of these blessings-sharing a deep sense of friendship with your partner, for example-can strengthen the bonds of marriage.
     On the other hand, within the marriage bonds we are also faced with many weaknesses which can undermine our longing for the conjugial. One trivial misunderstanding ("I thought you were going to take out the trash.") can spark our conceit ("No, honey, I made it quite clear, and you agreed that on Tuesdays it's your turn."), which in turn can heat up our tendency toward self-justification ("You always bring these things up when I'm either half asleep or too busy!"), which in turn can feed a smoldering desire to dominate ("lf you really loved me you'd pay more attention to me."), which in turn can set fire to anger, stubbornness, irrationality and. eventually, can consume innocent and peaceful loves which had been shared so intimately at other times! If we let these weaknesses-conceit, self-justification, love of dominion, irrationality, and many others-develop, we turn marriage from an enjoyable bonding experience into bondage.
     To avert these negative states and to strengthen the opposite longing for the ideal, we can find help in the companion to the bonds of marriage, namely, the bonds of conscience. In the Writings, both are positive things that provide freedom to grow within the Lord's loving and wise order. The bonds of marriage form an eternal covenant between one husband and one wife who look mutually to the Lord. The bonds of conscience also form an eternal covenant, one which we make individually with the Lord in order to be led into regeneration. Conscience is a "spiritual willingness to act according to religion and faith" (TCR 666). And this willingness is intimately bound up with marriage loves: "The primary bond of conscience is founded in true conjugial love" (SD 3795). "In true conjugial love there is the inmost of conscience" (SD 4409).
     So, the Writings seem to say, strengthen your conscience regarding marriage and you will strengthen your reception and enjoyment of the blessings of conjugial love. The following are some practical suggestions derived from the Writings.

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     First, form your conscience from genuine truths of the Word as they relate to married life. Everyone's conscience is slightly different, ". . . formed from the knowledge of good and truth derived from parents and masters and from one's own study of the Word" (AC 2831), but the growth of conscience in regard to marriage takes the form of a new will, a new love we receive for understanding and applying what is true about marriage. As we are regenerated, this new will motivates us to think about and to do what we know is right. A couple can gain strength of purpose and direction by forming their individual consciences together through the mutual study of the Lord's Word. Talk about spiritual truths with your spouse. When you share enlightenment, promote and encourage a mutual understanding of application. When you disagree about what is true or about how to make applications, then pray to the Lord for more enlightenment.
     Secondly, observe the dictates of conscience. Many people mistakenly think that the primary dictates of conscience are the stings or anxieties felt after doing something bad. The Writings teach, in contrast, that the beginning of genuine conscience is in the confident assurance that something is true and good ". . . because the Lord has said so in His Word" (AC 393). Pay attention to things in marriage that strike you as true and good based on what the Lord says in His Word and concentrate on strengthening them. Make it a matter of conscience, for example, to show tender loving concern for your partner's welfare, for the Lord "says so": "Genuine conjugial love is innocence itself" (AC 2736, 308 1:7). Strengthen, as a dictate of conscience, the knowledge that marriage is for life. Of this we can be confident because the Lord has given us so many teachings about marriage as an eternal covenant. Observe the dictates regarding the shunning of evils, especially the evils that hurt marriage, the lusts of adultery. Also. be charitable to your partner. "Conscience is never possible except with those who love the neighbor as themselves and think well about the truths of faith" (AC 1919:2). What will vivify conscience in marriage is the charity that is outwardly expressed by living in accordance with these dictates from the Lord.
     Lastly, compel yourself to act in line with your own conscience, but do not try to compel your partner: "Consciences do not suffer themselves to be compelled" (AC 1947). Self-compulsion according to one's own developing conscience can bring spiritual freedom the freedom angels have to do whatever they want because they want to do only what is right. This is the freedom we experience when we shun an evil as if of ourselves. And when partners individually overcome their own evils, such spiritual freedom is born in their conjugial partnership.

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However, this kind of freedom cannot be forced on anybody. A surgeon cannot make a patient change his internal loves by installing an artificial heart. Neither can a husband change his wife's conscience by forcing her to do and speak in his way. But just as the Lord leads by inviting us to "come unto Him and sup with Him," so in marriage each partner can invite the other into new insights about genuine love and wisdom, and, through individual self-compulsion, each can come to enjoy the freedom to love the other more and more deeply to eternity.
SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION 1985

SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION 1985

     The 88th annual meeting of the Swedenborg Scientific Association will be held in Pendleton Hall auditorium, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, on Monday, April 29, 1985, at 8:00 p.m. A short business meeting for the purpose of electing a president and board of directors will precede the address.
     This year's speaker is Dr. Charles H. Ebert who holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the Academy of the New Church. Dr. Ebert will present an address on the subject "Computers and the Human Mind." Members and friends of the association are most cordially invited to attend.
     The association was organized on May 27, 1898, for the preservation, translation, publication and distribution of the scientific and philosophical works of Emanuel Swedenborg and the principles taught in these works, having in view likewise their relation to the science and philosophy of the present day.
     Membership is open to anyone interested in the association's purposes. The annual membership fee of $5.00 for regular members includes a subscription to The New Philosophy, which is published quarterly by the association. Communications regarding membership, subscriptions, or other business should be addressed to Mr. E. Boyd Asplundh, Treasurer, Box 11, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009.

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RELATIONSHIPS, COMMUNICATION, SEPARATION AND RECONCILIATION 1985

RELATIONSHIPS, COMMUNICATION, SEPARATION AND RECONCILIATION DONALD G. BARBER 1985

     Meditating about life can be fascinating. Many interesting questions arise. What is the purpose of our life?' Is there life in another world after our life ceases in this world? Is there a God? What are the qualities of God? What should be our relationship to God? What should be our relationship to other people? The many religions and systems of belief in the world are ample evidence that people have come to many different answers to these questions. The many different answers result in diverse cultures, diverse concepts of creation, and in diverse approaches to life.
     Living alone can be unrewarding and uncomfortable. We know this from our own experience and from observing the experience of others. We also know from experience the pleasure we receive from developing relationships with other people. Developing and sustaining relationships should be one of our main efforts in life. These relationships are with our God and with other people.
     The principles for developing these relationships are summarized in the Golden Rule, in the Two Great Commandments and in the Ten Commandments. We learn what to do to promote good relationships. We learn what to avoid and what would harm relationships.

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets (Matt. 7:12).

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself (Matt. 22:37-40; see also Deut. 6:4-5).

Thou shalt have no other gods.

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

Honor thy father and thy mother.

Thou shalt not commit murder.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Thou shalt not steal.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house.

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Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's (Exodus 20:1-17).

     The essentials of these quotations can also be expressed as: "the first of charity is to look to the Lord [for guidance in our life] and shun evils because they are sins, and the second of charity is to do good works" (Char. 40).
     These guidelines seem simple. Life on earth would be heavenly if everyone were able to follow them at all times. But we know that this is not the case. Daily news reports make us wonder whether some people in the world ever follow some of these principles. And when we consider our own thoughts and actions we can recognize many instances when we have departed from the principles of charity. We are certainly aware of how other peoples' actions affect our relationship with them. We should be equally aware that our actions toward other people produce a similar result.
     With the above ideas as a starting point, I would like to present some thoughts from my own study, observation and experience as to why relationships encounter problems and how such problems might be resolved.
     Relationships are developed and affected by the communications of thoughts and actions. It is easy to conclude that happy relationships develop from following the principles of life described above. We just do more of the same in order to continue a good relationship. But what about the relationships where there is friction and unhappiness? What actions have led to that result?
     I think that people generally try to be in a mentally comfortable state in their relationship with other people. If part of the relationship is uncomfortable, then a person usually adjusts to a more comfortable mental position. We might put up with discomfort for a while but eventually we take action to avoid the discomfort. It may be a reflex reaction. For example, we do not linger in a burning house. The instinct of self-preservation usually causes us to flee. If the cause of the discomfort can be discussed and resolved, i.e. if there is open and complete communication in the relationship, then the mental adjustment is not needed, or is minor, because the mental discomfort is quickly resolved and alleviated. If, however, our mental discomfort is not resolved because of lack of communication or because of poor communications-then I think that our shift to a more comfortable mental position is accompanied by an increase in our concentration on our own needs and a decrease in our consideration of the needs of others. We become very conscious of a need within ourselves which has not been filled. We have avoided the communication needed to resolve the discomfort, perhaps because we dislike the discomfort of a confrontation, perhaps because of memories of previous rejections of attempts at communication, perhaps for other reasons. The result is that the relationship suffers because a problem was not resolved. We become more aware of ourselves and of our unfilled needs.

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Future communication in the relationship becomes more difficult.

     When both people in a relationship:

(a)      shift to a more comfortable mental position,
(b)      become more aware of their own unfilled needs,
(c)      decrease communication in their relationship,

then communication in the relationship and the resolving of problems deteriorate more quickly. The effect with one person of an unresolved problem (with a decrease in communication) becomes the cause with the other person to be uncomfortable-which can lead to their shifting to a more comfortable mental position and to decrease communication. The consequence can be a steady shifting to more comfortable mental positions-with a steady weakening of the relationship.

"Fearing," or "fear," like all other emotions, though in appearance simple, involves in itself many things, namely, in worldly matters the loss of life, or reputation, of honor, and of gain; and in heavenly matters the loss of what is good and true, and of the life thence derived. As fear involves these things it also involves aversion to whatever tries to destroy them; and this the more in proportion as the man is in the affection of what is good and true (AC 2543).

Sympathies and antipathies are no other than exhalations of affections from the mind, which attract another according to similitudes, and cause aversion according to dissimilitudes (TCR 365:4).

     Problems in communication in one relationship can lead to similar problems in other relationships. For example, if parents have a communication problem-with a resulting increasing awareness of their individual unfilled needs-then I think there probably develops a communication problem with a family child (or children). Similarly, if a parent does not face up to a communication problem with a child, there probably is an effect on the relationship of the parent with his/her spouse.
     The above comments are based on the assumption that the two people in a relationship are people of good will but that the words or actions of one or both of them are unintentionally causing a communication problem.

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Alternatively we can imagine a communication problem in a relationship where one or both persons seek to intentionally impose their will on the other person. Their domineering approach seeks to satisfy their own wants without a charitable consideration of the needs of the other person. Whatever the situation, if attempts to resolve differences are not successful, then one person or both persons in the relationship will adjust to a more comfortable position to satisfy their own needs.
     In the majority of cases, I don't think that people intentionally develop a communication problem. One thing I finally realized with myself a few years ago was that a decided shyness when I was young-leading me to avoid awkward situations and to back off from confrontations and leading me to find my mental satisfactions in scholastic achievement and participation in sports-has resulted in my being a poor communicator in many situations. I was somewhat of a loner, not inclined to initiating social contacts with people.
     I have also concluded that it is much easier to see communication problems in other people than in ourselves. If, as I concluded earlier, the trend in development of a communication problem is an increasing feeling that our needs are unfulfilled, then I think it is likely that we place the responsibility for this lack on the person or persons with whom we have difficulty communicating.
     Friction and stress in varying degrees seem to be a part of many (if not most) of our relationships domestic, employment and social relationships. This fact suggests that we should learn to deal constructively with stress and friction. There is much literature in print on how to deal with stress. But what instincts have we developed to deal with stress and friction in our lives?
     Some people with domestic friction in their lives look for "escape" in their daily employment or in social organizations. Some people deal with employment friction by developing a hobby or social activity which provides a feeling of accomplishment and enjoyment. Some people who feel like a follower in some relationships try to become a leader in other relationships. But perhaps our instincts lead to a selfish reaction, to an unsatisfactory result, to developing a new but destructive relationship, to decreasing or weakening relationships. The ideal situation would be if people can learn to develop a positive reaction and a constructive reaction to friction and stress in relationships.
     One would expect that the solution for mental discomfort would be to obtain mental satisfaction. However, it is ironic that sometimes the solution is sought in physical satisfaction-from sex or the use of alcohol and/or drugs. Here the "solution" can become a problem in itself.

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We should also be aware that continuing mental discomfort can lead to physical discomfort, physical illness and even mental illness.
     When a person feels unprepared or inadequate to deal with stress and friction in his life, sometimes he has the unfortunate reaction of blaming other people for his inadequacies. Sometimes a person tries to justify his behavior, a defensive or self-preservation reaction. But if a person examines the nature of justifying his behavior or of blaming other people, he can see that he is stating his own helplessness. He is stating that his circumstances are not controlled by himself. Would he not be happier to be in control of his life, to be in control of his reactions to stress and friction, to be in control of developing happier relationships?
     Human motivation is complex. In 1943 in the Psychological Review A. H. Maslow presented a paper entitled "A Theory of Human Motivation." The author's conclusions are summarized as follows:

     1. There are at least 5 sets of goals which we may call basic needs. These are briefly psychological, safety, love, esteem and self-actualization. In addition, we are motivated by the desire to achieve or maintain the various conditions upon which these basic satisfactions rest and by certain more intellectual desires.
     2. These basic goals are related to one another, being arranged in a hierarchy or prepotency. This means that the most prepotent goal will monopolize consciousness and will tend of itself to organize the recruitment of the various capacities of the organism. The less prepotent needs are minimized, even forgotten or denied. But when a need is fairly well satisfied, the next prepotent ("higher") need emerges, in turn to dominate the conscious life and to serve as the centre of organization, of behavior, since gratified needs are not active motivators.
     Thus man is a perpetually wanting animal. Ordinarily the satisfaction of these wants is not altogether mutually exclusive but only tends to be. The average member of our society is most often partially satisfied and partially unsatisfied in all of his wants. The hierarchy principle is usually empirically observed in terms of increasing percentages of non-satisfaction as we go up the hierarchy. Reversals of the average order of the hierarchy are sometimes observed. Also it has been observed that an individual may permanently lose the higher wants in the hierarchy under special conditions. There are not only ordinarily multiple motivations for usual behaviour but, in addition, many determinants other than motives.
     3. Any thwarting or possibility of thwarting of these basic human goals, or dangers to the defenses which protect them or to the conditions upon which they rest, is considered to be a psychological threat.

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With a few exceptions, all psychopathology may be partially traced to such threats. A basically thwarted man may actually be defined as a "sick" man.
     4. It is such basic threats which bring about the general emergency reactions.
     5. Certain other basic problems have not been dealt with because of limitations of space. Among these are:

(a)      the problem of values in any definitive motivation theory,
(b)      the relation between appetites, desires, needs and what is "good" for the organism,
(c)      the cause of the basic needs and their possible derivation in early childhood.
(d)      redefinition of motivational concepts, i.e. drive, desire, wish, need, goal,
(e)      implication of our theory for hedonistic theory,
(f)      the nature of the uncompleted act of success and failure, and of aspiration-level,
(g)          the role of association, habit and conditioning.
(h)      relation to the theory of interpersonal relations.
(i)      implications for psychotherapy,
(j)      implications for theory of society,
(k)      the theory of selfishness,
(l)      the relation between needs and cultural patterns.

     These as well as certain other less important questions must be considered as motivation theory attempts to become definitive (Readings in managerial Psychology, edited by H. J. Leavitt and L. R. Pondy; pp 23-24).

     It is interesting to reflect on the above and to consider the experience of the United States soldiers held prisoner by the Chinese during the Korean war (1950-52). One activity for the prisoners was to divide into groups. The members of a group were to "help" each other by criticizing any "anti-social" behaviour of other members in the group. The Chinese captors did not punish a prisoner for his criticized behavior (e.g. stealing food). The Chinese knew that punishment would bring the wrath of prisoners on the "criticizer"-and lead to non-participation by prisoners. They simply talked to a criticized prisoner and urged him to be more considerate of other prisoners. The one basic requirement imposed by the Chinese captors was that each member of a group participate in the discussion. The group did not go to supper until each member participated. If a member of a group was unwilling to participate he soon was exposed to the anger of the other prisoners in the group who were getting hungry because of a delayed supper.

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As a consequence of this and of no one being punished by the Chinese captors, unwilling prisoners reluctantly participated.
     The criticism of "anti-social" behavior produced a defensive reaction in many prisoners of the group. After a period of time a prisoner would feel mentally exposed before the other prisoners, the resulting mental discomfort would lead a prisoner to withdraw from other prisoners to cease to communicate with them.
     This "brainwashing" was really a program of education in reverse. Instead of improving and strengthening personal relationships, the program for the prisoners resulted in a disruption and discouragement of communication between them. Certainly this was an extreme situation, but the understanding of extremes is helpful to a better understanding of the general subject of communication.
     There are many other examples in life where communication problems can be seen in relationships.

Husband/Wife

     (a)      One spouse is a "leader," the other spouse is a "follower." Situations arise where the "following" personality does not accept the lead from the "leadership" personality. The "following" personality does not feel comfortable to express disagreement to the lead of the "leadership" personality. Instead the "following" spouse withdraws--decreases communication with the "'leadership" spouse. When communication decreases, misunderstanding arises which leads to a further decrease in communication between the spouses.
     One spouse who is "secondary" in some areas of the marriage relationship may try for "leadership" in other areas of the relationship. If intentional aggressiveness or manipulation are used to gain this "leadership," then friction and a decrease in communication between the spouses likely follow.
     (b)      The spouses disagree on how to handle a problem in the raising of one of their children. Discomfort arises as each spouse continues to approach the problem in his own way. The discomfort will be felt by the child as well as by the parents. The continuing lack of agreement leads to a quiet decrease in communication between spouses on the problem, or continued discomfort from friction in unsatisfactory communication on the problem.
     (c)      One spouse is a workaholic, a compulsive achiever, or an over-achiever.

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The other spouse can feel left out, perhaps from lack of interest in a project but perhaps from not having enough time to respond in his way to a project or from not being given enough time by the spouse to respond, to be included. A pattern of being omitted can lead a spouse to decrease communication with the spouse and to a weakening of their relationship.
     (d)      One spouse is very anxious about a family problem (e.g. behavior of a child, or handling of family finances). The spouse tries various approaches to the problem but feels a lack of support from the married partner. A decrease in communication between the spouses results in each one blaming the other for either not trying to solve the behaviour of the child or for making the behaviour of the child worse than it was before.
     (e)      One spouse may feel that he/she should have an answer to a family problem (e.g. child's behaviour or family finances). When attempts at solving the problem are unsuccessful, the spouse feels frustrated and withdraws from the problem. Communication between both spouses on the problem decreases and becomes unsatisfactory.
     (f)      Other.

Parent/Child

     (a)      A child senses conflict between his/her parents. The separation or divorce of parents may be involved. He forms a conclusion as to which parent is in the right and tends to turn a deaf ear to the other parent. Parent/child conflict develops and communication decreases or is turbulent. Sometimes a child does not want to take sides but one or both parents apply pressure for him/her to do so.
     (b)      Communication from parent to child is too negative-too much criticism without the balance of praise and encouragement; too demanding without allowing the child to respond according to his or her abilities and interests, too probing which does not allow the child enough privacy and which does not encourage the child to develop the habit of freely communicating with the parent.
     (c)      A child concludes that a parent or both parents tend to have a greater interest in another child in the family. The conclusion of unfairness can lead the child to develop behaviour to attract attention, behaviour which leads to stormy communication or decreased communication between child and parent(s).
     (d)      Death of a parent might lead to poor communication of a child with the surviving parent if the child is unable to put an understandable orientation and focus on the death of a parent.

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     (e)      The economic necessity of both parents working in order to generate a satisfactory family income can result in children being unsupervised after school hours or in children missing the emotional warmth and support from a parent when they return home after school hours. If the child seeks emotional comfort outside the home to compensate for a lack of emotional support from the home, the result can be parent/child conflict if the parent is unable to accept the child's behavior which develops.
     (f)      Other.

School/Child

     (a)      If a child has been disciplined by a teacher or by school authorities in a way which the child deems unfair, the communication of the child with the school will continue as long as the child attends the school, but the child's communication could be hostile or negative or decreasing.
     (b)      If a teacher requests a greater achievement from a child than the child is able to deliver, then the child can develop negative feelings about the teacher and possibly about the school. It is difficult for a child to develop warm, positive feelings about a teacher (and/or school) that can never be satisfied.
     (c)      If a school has established behavior standards which show favoritism to some students or which allow some students an advantage over other students, some students will develop negative feelings toward the school and/or toward teachers who administer and enforce the standards.
     (d)      Other.

     In examples (a), (b), and (c) above, if the school is associated with a church, I think it is quite possible for a student to develop negative feelings against the church as well as against the school and against teachers or administrators.
     All the above examples illustrate how some communication problems can develop in the close relationships of our lives. Life has many other relationships, e.g.

-      brother/ brother
-      brother/sister
-      sister/sister
-      employer/employee
-      neighbor/neighbor
-      minister/member of congregation
-      sales clerk/customer

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-      government/taxpayer
-      friend/friend
-      self/relatives (aunts, uncles, cousins)
-      others.

     Some relationships become unhappy although this was not the intended result. A teacher may be trying to do the best for the student by asking for a greater achievement than before, but if the student usually feels unable to satisfy the expectations of the teacher, the student feels a lack of accomplishment or even feels failure. A parent may have grown up in a country and culture different from North America, which leads a child to believe that parental expectations are unrealistic for North America. A government department may be applying the letter of the law, which may not result in what the citizen considers humane solution of his problem.
     Some relationships are soured because of intentional actions of one party. An employee may try to put a colleague in a bad light in order that he may receive better consideration for a promotion than the colleague. An aging mother may pretend to be ill and ask a daughter to miss a social occasion in order to stay with her in order to discourage the daughter's potential suitors from considering marriage with her so that the mother will have a daughter to look after her in the mother's old age. A spouse may publicly belittle his/her partner's opinions in order to boost his/her feeling of superiority.

     (To be continued)
NCL 50 YEARS AGO 1985

NCL 50 YEARS AGO 1985

In April of 1935 the news from the Toronto society showed that the pastor was paying attention to the young people. "To accommodate the comparatively simple understanding of the younger members of the society, our pastor has commenced a plan of selecting for the first sermon of each month a topic which has practical application in our usual carefree lives." It seems to have worked, for "the interest and comment shown would indicate that the plan is much appreciated." The same news entry mentions an outstanding presentation by Rev. K. R. Alden on the subject of "sustained enthusiasm."
From a letter written to this magazine in November of 1981 we conclude that there was a young man, not a member of the New Church, present to hear that talk on enthusiasm. He was very much struck by it and thereafter corresponded with the speaker until, as he put it, "until I became convinced that the Writings contained all I'll know about life, here and hereafter!" (NCL 1981, p. 594). Mr. Desmond McMaster continued in the church with sustained enthusiasm until 1983 when at the age of 79 he entered life in the hereafter.

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Editorial Pages 1985

Editorial Pages Editor 1985

     SPRING CLEANING

     There is a distinct feeling one gets from achieving some spring cleaning. Sleds and skates are stored away and an accumulation of rubbish is removed. What was caked with dirt is scrubbed clean. The emotional dimension is strong enough that we can almost sense the presence of industrious spiritual associates as we warm to the task.
     Are there not intervals in our lives when we sense that there has been an accumulation of clutter on another plane? In a personal relationship we see that resentment has become piled up. The clutter can include contempt, enmity, revenge, envy and other evils. How can the life of charity flourish when these things litter the area and block off the good things that should be inflowing?
     There is a distinct feeling we get when instead of wanting to continue to harbor various resentments we decide that we want to get rid of them. Instead of nursing grudges we want to sweep them away. It gives us a feeling of hope, because when we want to clean out such things, the Lord is ready to give good things in their place.
     It was common with the ancients to speak of sweeping or cleaning the house, and of sweeping and preparing the way; and by sweeping the house was meant to purify one's self from evils, and thereby to prepare one's self for goods to enter.
     Arcana Caelestia 3142

     Here is a seasonal apology to readers in the southern hemisphere. The February issue editorialized on "Winter Indifference," and now we speak of spring. Having been a reader of this magazine for some years while living in Australia and visiting New Zealand, I am aware of the seasonal difference and ask for the indulgence of those who will be reading this in their autumn season.

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     THE LIVELY DISCUSSION OF BETROTHAL (I)

     For more than a century the rite of betrothal has been in use in the New Church. It has been clear enough that there should be a formal betrothal service. In heaven a priest ministers at a betrothal and "hears, receives, confirms and consecrates the consent" (CL 21). A chapter in the work Conjugial Low is devoted to the subject of "Betrothals and Weddings." But how shall we put into practice the teachings there given? There has been a fascinating evolution of thought on this subject, and it has brought about lively discussion in the pages of this magazine. If a betrothal is to come before the wedding, an obvious question is: How long before the wedding? There was a day when the interval between the two services was short. Bishop W. F. Pendleton typified the thinking of the day when he said in 1919 that "the interval between the formal betrothal and the marriage should not be long, for a betrothal . . . should not take place until marriage is in view, as an event of the immediate future" (NCL 1919, p. 639).
     A new wave of thinking came to the church in the 1950s. Rev. Ormond Odhner called himself "a very strong advocate of early betrothals" when he wrote a letter to this magazine in March of 1955. Young people at that time eagerly passed from hand to hand a series of talks he gave on this subject. His ten-page article "Reasons for Early Betrothal" appeared in the LIFE in October of 1955. At that time and in the pears that followed, a voluminous and lively discussion appeared in these pages. In fact, in 1974 a booklet of almost a hundred pages was published under the heading, "Reprints from NEW CHURCH LIFE concerning BETROTHAL." The booklets sold out. We propose to continue this subject, but we do not have a mere historical survey in mind, because a significant new study has taken place recently which deserves (and will certainly attract) the attention of the church.
SEPARATE EDUCATION 1985

SEPARATE EDUCATION Rev. Alan Gorange 1985

     Communications
Dear Editor,
     I was interested in the article, "Education for Feminine Uses" in your December 1984 issue, calling for the separate education of the sexes. This is widely the case in Britain, and I thoroughly agree with it.
     The final paragraph of the article says very truly that the conjugial concept must be addressed during the formative years of adolescence, and that "in later states doubts may occur and ideals seem remote."
     I believe that the conjugial concept exists in millions of Christian homes at varying depths-otherwise the consequences for our planet would be disastrous. It even exists in homes and marriages knowing neither the word "conjugial" nor even the word "conjugal" but wherever the partners shun adultery as a spiritual evil.
     Rev. Alan Gorange,
          London, England
THOUGHTS ON THE STORY OF JOB AND THE WORD "VILE" 1985

THOUGHTS ON THE STORY OF JOB AND THE WORD "VILE" John Sabol 1985

Dear Editor:
     At the conclusion of the ancient story of Job we find the man realizing how small and how insignificant he was. At this point Job did perceive how graciously God condescends and cares for him, and so Job said, "Behold, I am vile!" (chapter 40, verse 4).
     The Hebrew word for "vile" carries no suggestion of moral failure; the idea of it is "of no weight." It means that one is insignificant and relatively "nothing." The English word "vile" was perfectly in order at the time of the King James Version in 1611. The Oxford Dictionary shows that it carried the meaning "of little worth or account, paltry in respect to value."
     Job was not confessing any moral perversity or baseness as he suddenly became aware of his comparative insignificance. As he stands before the greatness and majesty of God, Job sees his own littleness and in quiet humility confesses: "I am of small account. I am nothing!"

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     The greater the man, the smaller he appears in his own eyes! This is especially true when that man beholds the superlative greatness of God and is exposed to His indescribable glory. Readers may wish to correct the word "vile" in their Bibles and put "nothing."
     The regenerate man "accounts himself as nothing" (AC 8995:4).
     On "inclusive Language"-The writer on this subject in the February issue says that "inclusive language" has been accepted in academic circles and that she has been exposed to it in the last few years of college.
     Are we improving language when we play such games as "inclusive language"? Is there a "need for change" such as the article calls for? "Humankind" is a nice brainwashed word, which I will not use!
     We have "freshmen" classes. Is our language improved if we call them "freshpersons"! As a high school teacher I put up with enough fresh persons! This is watering down the language given us from Shakespeare's time.
     John Sabol,
          Iselin, New Jersey
SUTTON'S LIVING THOUGHTS LIBRARY 1985

SUTTON'S LIVING THOUGHTS LIBRARY Rev. Bernard S. Willmott 1985

Dear Mr. Rose,
     The November issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE has just arrived and, as usual, provides stimulating reading. The immediate point of this brief note is a comment upon your own editorial comment concerning the publication of Emanuel Swedenborg: The Universal Human and Soul-Body Interaction-an excellent work, a review of which appears in the February/March issue of The New Age. It is not the first time an "outside" organization has published some of the Writings. In 1944 Cassell's printed "The Living Thoughts of Swedenborg" presented by Eric A. Sutton M.A., B.D., in my view (and of many others who were privileged to know him) the most brilliant and outstanding scholar the New Church has produced. A second edition of this work (Number 21 in The Living Thoughts Library) appeared in 1947. May the time soon come when other commercial publishers will follow the excellent and welcome examples of Paulist Press, Dent's ("Everyman" series to which you refer) and Cassell's!
     Rev. Bernard S. Willmott,
          Wahroonga, Australia

     Editor's Note: Among the works of Eric Sutton is the durable biography of Swedenborg for children entitled The Happy Isles. This was most affirmatively reviewed by Dr. Hugo Odhner in 1938.

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GROWTH OF THE CHURCH 1985

GROWTH OF THE CHURCH Naomi Walton 1985

Dear Editor.
     I wish to thank Rev. Douglas M. Taylor for his very informative and useful article, "The growth of the New Church: What the Writings Say."
     The wish to share the wonderful truths of the New Revelation is a gift from the Lord's love of all men, which He bestows upon those of His New Church, right along with their understanding of these truths, and their constant endeavor to live according to them.
     For this reason, the subject of the growth of the New Church, both from within and in the world, has been from its beginning, and will always be. of great interest to those who love the New Church.
     Naomi Walton,
          Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania
NCL 100 YEARS AGO 1985

NCL 100 YEARS AGO 1985

In the April issue of 1885 is an article entitled "Cure for Conceit." "It may perhaps be inferred that married men have less excuse for their conceit than young unmarried men, as they have more powerful means of overcoming it." Practical suggestions are offered for the man who wishes to overcome conceit. "if he, when tempted to put himself forward unduly, restrains himself, to give others a chance to talk or act because it is right and propel to do so, even if he cannot on the instant overcome the persuasion that his ideas are brilliant. will it not help him to overcome conceit? Again, ought one not, when tempted to answer sharply those who criticize him, restrain himself externally even though he cannot at once recover from the internal wound?"
We notice in the same issue a reference to Rev. Thomas A. King who "urged his listeners to study the Writings more thoroughly, and to maintain the external church as a necessary link between heaven and earth." Rev. King's fine book Allegories of Genesis has recently been published in a new attractive paperback by the Swedenborg Foundation.

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NOUVELLES DE FRANCE 1985

     A small but dedicated group of General Church people from France attended the General Assembly in Bryn Athyn in June of 1984. We were all grateful to have participated in such a spirit. It was a time of reflection on the many devoted people who have encouraged the work of the church in France and have brought us to the present stage of dedicating our own chapel. The sphere of the assembly was still with us as we prepared for this dedication and for the ordination of Rev. Alain Nicolier into the second degree of the ministry. This took place on the weekend of September 15-16.
     Bishop and Mrs. King arrived on Saturday afternoon. Approximately 26 people were present that evening to hear a most thought-provoking class on the different forms of charity (Mary and Martha). Thanks to Bishop King's clear and patient manner of speech and Rev. Nicolier's precise translations, the language barrier was hardly noticed.
     Sunday was very exciting as 65 people attended the morning service. There was a wide variety of religious backgrounds-some New Church members, many interested people wanting to know more about the church and its beliefs and activities. A few of us sent out invitations to our neighbors and friends letting them know that this would be a good opportunity for them to ask questions (after the service, of course) and find out a bit of what this New Church is all about. We were happily surprised to see how many people showed an interest and came . . . and stayed! Even the mayor and some of his family were present!
     Bishop King gave an excellent sermon to such a variety of people. He stated that the Lord respects people's free choice of faith, and we likewise should try to do the same. He continued by stressing the importance of worshipping the one Lord God Jesus Christ in spirit and in truth and of reading and understanding the Word in its fullness. He also explained why we have a priesthood and ordination into the same. He compared them to shepherds and warned us to be aware of good and bad shepherds (those who lead to the Lord and His Word or those who lead to themselves).
     The sun was shining brightly through the east window behind the stone altar as the ordination took place. This time the translation was beautifully done by Mrs. Lucien (Germaine) de Chazal. The sense of responsibility increased within us all as Bishop King dedicated the chapel (and the rest of the house) to the Lord for His use. Part of that use, as it is seen now, is to spread the threefold Word by whatever means are given to us.

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     Three of our members are also members of a nearby choir who were more than happy to come and sing "Vespergesang" by Freiligrath at the end of the service. It was a warm and friendly environment in which the gap between the oceans seemed to decrease, and a door to mutual respect between religions opened.
     The traditional Bourguignon aperitif was being busily served by the ladies while others visited, discussed or read some of the New Church literature on the display tables. Many people expressed ideas along the lines of: "I've often thought the same ideas as you but could never put it into words" or "it all seems to make sense!" There was again an exchange of cultures as "Our Glorious Church" was sung by the English-speaking folks. The French all had their own translated copy of the words. This toast to the church was followed by a "Ban Bourguignon" to our American guests as a sign of appreciation and thanks. This was followed by the presentation of two filing cabinets offered to Rev. Nicolier (much to his surprise, by the way), one from the New Church in France and one from the members of the choir. They are already well in service.
     The language barrier soon became a problem when we were left without a translator. Simple conversation was not as simple as that, but smiling laces and acknowledging nods of the head were signs of thanks to Bishop and Mrs. King for coming such a long way and for making this a very special day for those present. However, the French amongst themselves were far from silent.
     After the guests left, lunch was served by an energetic group of women to the some 25 church people that stayed on for the rest of the day. During the meal, Bishop and Mrs. King were presented with a small, traditional wedding cup which is used for the first time by the newly wed couple for their first drink together. It is a token of conjugial love given in appreciation for the concern and energy given to our group throughout these past six years.
     After a nourishing meal for the body, there was a quite stimulating question and answer discussion. A variety of subjects was treated providing an equally nourishing meal for the mind.
     The evening was very casual and most of us went for a walk through the peaceful countryside having much to think about.
     This year will mark the seventh year that we have been working in France. They have been years of hard work, and many people have freely given of their time and energy in working toward the common goal of building a church center for all its intended uses. Now, as we come to the completion of the material building, more time, energy and money will be used in carrying out the program of uses. (Although the major construction is finished there are still many details to finish.)

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     We have had 18 baptisms (10 adults and 8 children). This of course means that we have children for whom we need to' provide Sunday School material. A group of three or four women work at preparing projects and translating English material into French. In the process things have to be adapted to French culture and customs and the availability of material. Language is the biggest handicap as far as current publications are concerned. 'There are just not enough people qualified for this work.
     We have in France the "Cercle Swedenborg" which is devoted to the publication of the Writings only. This is an independent organization. We have very few sets of the Writings, and not every New Church family has even one book! Much time is put into this most important use of bringing the Word into the homes and thus into the life of the family. In the English-speaking world this is taken for granted, but in some countries it is a real problem demanding many long hours
     Those interested in learning a foreign language are enthusiastically encouraged to lend a hand. This most important use of spreading the Good News that the Lord God Jesus Christ doth reign demands the devotion of many. The harvest is ripe, but the workers are few.
     We are looking forward to Easter when we will have a weekend retreat in Bourguignon as we do for every major festival. This year the theme is the Doctrine of the Lord and heredity. Summer will bring around our 4th annual "Grape Leaf" summer camp in July.
SWEDENBORG QUARTET 1985

SWEDENBORG QUARTET 1985

     Why did this Swedish string quartet choose such a name? They have replied. "We wanted to honor the one Swedish person who has been [and still is] of major importance in cultural history. We discovered that he influenced a great number of philosophers, writers, scientists and other cultural personalities. not only in his time. but also up to this day. So with the renewed interest in spiritual development that we witness these days, we wanted to make a little contribution by perhaps helping to draw attention to this great man and his works. Additionally, he is more well-known abroad than in Sweden, so we can profit from that and the fact that it tells people where we come from."
     A tribute from France's Le Monde says of this quartet: "Truly a quartet of international grandeur. Their Debussy recalled vivid memories of a happy childhood; what colors, what an extraordinary expression of freshness."
     They may be in North America in the autumn. Their address is: c/o Holm, Lorensbergsgaten 1, S-117 33 Stockholm, Sweden.

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GENERAL CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA 1985

GENERAL CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA Rev. ERIK E. SANDSTROM 1985

     Travelers do pass through Australia on occasion, and I challenge any such fortunates to deny that a few misconceptions were knocked out of their heads on that trip!
     The first misconception is that Australia is "outback," with a few shacks where people live. In fact, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Darwin compete with any other major metropolis on every level: beauty, restaurants, shopping centres, crime, etc.
     Another misconception is that all you have to do is to take two steps outside the door and you are in Melbourne or Perth already. No, Sydney and Melbourne are about as far apart as Philadelphia and Cincinnati. And Perth is as far as the Rockies. And the Sydney Harbour Bridge does not take you to New Zealand!
     The General Church in Australia is centered in Sydney (not Sidney). The church building is in Penshurst (near Botany Bay, where Cook first explored, next bay down from the one the Harbour Bridge spans). Penshurst is a hilly section of town. Many church members live within easy access. Some live in north Sydney, others south of the city altogether.
     Membership in Hurstville Society (called so since it used to be in Hurstville before a township border change) is open to all General Church members living in Australia. Consequently other society members live in Tamworth, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Canberra and in Carlsbrook. There are also General Church members who have elected not to be Hurstville Society members, in Adelaide, Perth and elsewhere.
     At a recent count, the total active General Church membership in Australia came to 65 adults, plus 55 children and young people under age 20. Thirty-four adult members reside in or around Sydney with 20 children; and 31 adults live far enough outside Sydney not to be able to attend services (what's five hours by plane!), with 27 children. So you see it is a widely stretched church family on a big continent, served at the moment of this writing by one pastor.
     This is not to say that isolated members are too unhappy. The excellent pastoral services of Association (independent Australia New Church branch) and Conference (in Nevi Zealand) ministers are well supported by General Church members in Adelaide, Perth and Auckland. The General Church has excellent relations with her sister bodies and their ministers: Williams, Willmott, Teed, Arnold, Keyworth; and in New Zealand, Sutton and Mowe.

181

[Map of Australia and picture of church]

182

[Photo of Rev. and Mrs. Peter Buss, Rev. and Mrs. Erik Sandstrom surrounded by Australians and of the church]

183

     The solo General Church pastor situation may be remedied: following Bishop King's visit in 1983, the idea of a second minister is supported. Let me explain in three words or fewer why it is so hard for ministers now to get into Australia: the Labour Government ( Hawke) is in favour of jobs for Aussies. And so we should have Australian-born ministers. But before that, we carry on the best we can.
     Since my arrival in 1981, no fewer than six families have moved from Sydney. The strength of Hurstville Society, at first depleted by the exodus, has undergone an interesting rejuvenation. Instead of leading to apathy, it has led to determination all around. Every area where there were already General Church members has been strengthened by this migration for jobs and family ties-not the least, Auckland in New Zealand. This group has received three new families, two of them with small children. Bishop King recognized the Auckland Circle last year, and it is now in receipt of a bequest, which makes it possible to hope for growth, a church building and a resident pastor of its own-as is the hope of every circle. The Auckland Circle now has 11 adults and 5 small children. It has just lost Doris Flood and Jim Brasell, two founder members. New Zealand is of course not part of Australia-either on the national or ecclesiastical level--being 1200 miles off her starboard quarter. The New Church there has her own star to follow, although of course our interests concern each other.
     Since the groups in Australia also have received new members from Sydney, there are good prospects-on gaper so far-to use these centres for future church growth. A second minister could spend more time on extended visits, and establish missionary programs.
     Now for a whiff of the spirit of the church.
     First, you can't help but like the Aussie. The typical Aussie is summed up by the cryptic catch phrase: "She'll be right, mate." That means first that you are mates. Australia began and grew by people helping each other, as in the U.S.'s old west. "She" means anything you are doing. "She'll be right," because enough people care enough for it not to fail; even though, with long hot summers and golden beaches, not everyone is so worked up about it that it is likely to be an overnight success either! But this is no slur on the Aussie. He is thoroughly professional at being easygoing. (You may have seen Paul Hogan's ads.)
     Is this the typical attitude also of the General Church in Australia?
     Not really. There is a real dedication to the General Church. It is more "Let's make it right, mate." A steady procession of ladies and gents come to the church grounds, beautifying its gardens (Norm Heldon and Graeme McLeay), cleaning the church, preparing the chancel, doing the flowers, taking turns on the Sunday School teaching roster, ushers' duties, babysitting.

184

There are classes, seminars, Women's Guild, and Theta Alpha. It all hums as smoothly as a clockwork mango (or avocado if you prefer).
     And there are enough non-Heldons to give you a choice: Brettell, Cosgrove, Hall, Hicks, Kennedy, Kirsten, Lockhart, McLeay, MacFarlane, Sandow, Sandstrom, Simmons, Taylor, Walsh and Young. But without the Heldons, there would be 10 adults and 11 children fewer in Sydney. And one is our hard-working secretary and organist, Ruth; another our treasurer, Murray.
     Then you have the children. Already concerned about the church from coming to it periodically throughout their young lives, they are at home on its ample sloping grounds: the little bit of jungle, the tennis courts, and the runways around the property provide lots of opportunity for little legs and imagination.
     The Australian Academy is also furthering the ideals of New Church education. Two family weekends have been enjoyed already, striving to perpetuate the spirit of the Academy.
     The manse is right next to the church. This has both advantages and disadvantages, as everyone readily admits.
     The manse was extended, before it became a manse, by the Horners-Chris and Grace and tribe, now living in Tamworth (6 hours by car, or 5 if your name is Horner). The "Morse Room," named after Rev. Richard Morse who became leader and then the first pastor of the Hurstville Society in 1913, was added by the Horners as an all-purpose room large enough (just) for banquets, tableaux, etc. It is adjacent to the manse kitchen, which thus doubles for church functions.
     A balcony leads from the Morse room down to an ample garage, where are held twice-monthly veg and fruit markets for a local community co-op organized by "Parson" Gladish, hence its title "Parson's Market." The balcony overlooks a terraced garden down to the tennis court, rented out every day except Sundays. Lemons, oranges, bananas, paw-paws (papayas) and avocado trees adorn the garden, plus a plethora of flowers and native shrubs, most of them added by Lynn-Del.
     There is a room sectioned off within the garage area slated to be developed into the new Swedenborg Book Room, due to a most generous donation by Basil Lazer (of Canberra). (His effort in propagating interest in the Writings is by now legend.) This new room is work now in hand.
     Basil's work, you might be interested to know, has made him well-known to New Church people in Ghana and Nigeria, where his booklets and the Writings, which they of course quote in abundance, are in much demand. The Swedenborg Book Room here had recently become involved in sending several book parcels to West Africa, courtesy of Basil.

185

     Also in Canberra, Lavendar Ridgway is creating interest in Swedenborg at the university campus. (See Missionary Memo, January 1985.)
     The pastor's study under the house next to the garage (which is open) has the advantage of being cool in summer. However, one member has called it a dungeon; and there is a slight resemblance, even though it is pleasantly paneled. And its dungeonesque appearance is no reflection on the two pastors who have so far willingly occupied it and made it their centre for work.
     The church building has a quiet way of impressing you. Soft pastel brown in colour, it blends with the surroundings. An eye-arresting porch was added during Rev. Gladish's pastorship, and this houses the present Swedenborg Book Room and library. It also holds most of an average adult congregation standing, and is well used as a gathering place after church. The church seats 70, expanding to about 90 into the porch on special occasions.
     Inside the church, a recent renovation and repainting-following a new design by John Hicks, our own member-architect-has rendered the chancel into a delicate shrine. First, the pews obtained by Rev. Gladish shine with polish, and blue carpet up the aisle leads to the same carpeting on the chancel. Two renovated stands for flowers are outside the rail; simple straight light wood chancel furniture highlighted against off-white clear walls, a recess for the altar; two dark brown upright inset beams from floor to ceiling bracket the recess and two small windows above it.
     These windows have been reset beautifully to our chosen motif: the Genesis Garden of Eden, and the Revelation New Jerusalem, in stained glass work expertly done by John Sandow (who also chairs the Property Trust, or General Church Incorporated here). The view of the four rivers of Eden and its tree of life merges into the river of life and tree of life of the right-hand window, bringing the first and last books of Scripture, as Alpha and Omega, into one mental view.
     Living in Australia has its unreal moments: a continent the size of the U.S.A. minus Alaska on Asia's back doorstep, with only about 13 million people, mostly of English and European origins, strung out mainly round the shores and in for a couple hundred miles. The rest is desert, where the 35,000-year-old native tribes still can roam free. It is a small country living in a large place, slamming the Ancient Church right into modernity. It is a country of varied contrasts. And so it has elements both of a cozy small country and of a wide, mysterious continent.

186

     So does the New Church. Independent financially after a most generous bequest from Mrs. Fletcher, the General Church here has a certain independence of thought also. Being nearly in the opposite time zone from Bryn Athyn, we are never awake quite at the same time. Bryn Athyn becomes almost, or at times. irrelevant-no offense intended, mate! Yet the spiritual ties are as healthy as passion fruit (being long, tenacious vines with succulent fruit). For example, there was genuine concern expressed over the Cathedral needing extensive outside work due to acid rain; and the need for the new Academy library. You will be glad to know that the sincere sentiment was for success: "She'll be right, mate!"
     Names can perhaps tell the story of the General Church. In Canberra we have the Ridgways, the Smits, Lin and Beryl Heldon (Lin was former Hurstville Society leader 1946-1957), Basil Later; in Tamworth, the Horners (10 or so souls); in Brisbane and the Gold Coast: Brian and Kaye Heldon and family; Harry Beveridge. Nell Farreli, and our friends who often join us the Sheppards; in Auckland (N.Z.) the pastor visits the Bartles and Mills, Miss Tuckey, Mr. Vincent, and the recent Hurstville migrants, three Keal families; and throughout Australia: Anderson, Hart, Laidley, Lawrence, Norton, Rabone, Terre-Blanche, and White.
     Previous pastors have all left their mark. I think I can spot many elements from Rev. Richard Morse, Rev. Cairns Henderson; from the episcopal leadership during Lin Heldon's tenure as leader; from Rev. Don Rose, Rev. Doug Taylor and Rev. Mike Gladish.
     The General Church here is set on a long course into the future: a secure future, fraught with just enough uncertainties, but warmed by enough hope, and also by the comfort from the greater presence of our sister New Church body, to make it an interesting challenge, worthy of the Aussie motto: "She'll be right, mate."
     Why not look us up? You can stay on top down under.
ANTIPODAL EXAMPLE OF THE FALLACIES OF THE SENSES 1985

ANTIPODAL EXAMPLE OF THE FALLACIES OF THE SENSES 1985

For example, the sailing of a ship around the globe: they who suffer themselves to be carried away by the fallacies of the senses might believe that the ship and sailors would fall off when they came to the opposite side, and that the people at the antipodes could never stand upon their feet.

Arcana Caelestia 1378

187

VISITORS TO CHURCH SOCIETIES 1985

     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. Harvey Caldwell                    Mrs. Paul M. Schoenberger
410 Crane Avenue                         7433 Ben Hur Street
Royal Oak, MI 48067                         Pittsburgh, PA 15208
Phone: (313) 399-9243                    Phone: (412) 371-3056

Glenview, Illinois                         Sacramento, California
Mrs. Donald Edmonds                     Mr. and Mrs. Courtney D. Scott
2740 Park Lane                              3448 Vougue Court
Glenview, IL 60025                     Sacramento, CA 95826
Phone: (312) 724-2834                    Phone: (916) 364-1044

Toronto, Ont., Canada
Mr. and Mrs. John Parker                San Diego, California
17 Archerhill Drive                    Mrs. Helen L. Brown
Islington, Ont. M9P 5P2                2810 Wilbee Court
Phone: (416) 622-5967                     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

Transvaal, South Africa
Mrs. Marlene Sharpe
52 Keyes Ave., Rosebank
TVL 2196, Rep. of South Africa
Phone (0011) 4472743

Kindly call at least two weeks in advance if possible.

188

Church News 1985

Church News Rev. Daniel Fitzpatrick 1985

     WESTERN CLERGY MEETINGS

     The third annual Western Clergy Meetings were held at the Gabriel Church in La Crescenta, California, from January 15 to 17, 1985. Ten ministers, led by Rev. Frank Rose, attended.
     There were various presentations. One by Rev. Clark Echols was entitled "Towards a Philosophy of the Integrity of the Literal Sense." He suggested that we have not properly understood the use of the literal sense of the Word. We can only understand spiritual concepts when they are clothed with natural ideas or images. Therefore, we need to understand the things of the natural or literal sense of the Word before we can come to comprehend what the internal sense teaches.
     Rev. Mark Carlson had circulated a paper on marriage counseling. He shared some of the things he had learned from his formal training in this area, and he suggested ways that the doctrines might be applied in it. He thought that as counselors it is difficult for ministers to do harm to those who come to them for help. But he stressed that ministers must be able to do more than simply throw teachings at those who are distressed. Ministers need to learn how to help couples help themselves, and there are techniques which they can use to help people who come to them.
     Mark emphasized that it is harmful for any counselor to take sides in marriage counseling. It is important that the counselor see both partners together, and that he get both sides of the story. If he cannot see both partners together. Mark felt that it would not be useful to see the one who comes more than one or two times. Doing more than this could alienate the other partner even further, and might actually make the situation worse.
     Mark also gave a demonstration of a counseling technique called "sentence completion." Using a volunteer couple, he gave them a sentence such as. "Sometimes I feel hurt when . . . ." to complete. Each partner was to complete this sentence several times in a different way. Mark noted that this was a useful technique for getting people to start communicating about important issues. He also emphasized that ministers can provide an emotionally safe environment where troubled couples can work out their problems together, using this and other simple techniques.
     In closing, Mark stressed that counseling is not an opportunity to judge others, but to help them see for themselves how they can change and grow.
     Rev Jan Weiss gave a presentation on evangelization and ways to foster and promote it.
     Another discussion focused on how to use videotapes, such as Wendel Barnett's series on near death experiences, on local television. Some of the other ideas which were discussed were: counseling and how we can do it more effectively; how to cope with discouragement in our work: how to deal with frustration, especially in regard to low attendance at the church functions in our societies; various forms of ritual or orders of service which were tried in several societies; and how a younger minister can relate to the older members of our societies.
     Rev. Peter Buss gave a workshop on writing effective sermons. He emphasized that we often aim our sermons at the rational level of people's minds, and fail to stimulate their imagination. He stressed that we can use illustrations to make our sermons more appealing, more affectional, and more stimulating.

189

Illustrations which are from the letter of the Word are particularly effective in sermons. He also demonstrated some techniques for improving our reading from the chancel. This presentation was well received. as the ministers all realize that there is room for improvement in this area
     Rev. Frank Rose and his wife Louise talked about ways of promoting spiritual growth. People can be encouraged to make realistic covenants to do (or not to do) certain things, the idea being to emphasize that the work of regeneration is practical and not just theoretical.
     These are some of the specifics of meetings that were highly successful in helping ministers to understand and do their work more effectively. Among those thanked at the conclusion was Rev. Michael Gladish, the host pastor, who facilitated the organization of the meetings.
     Rev. Daniel Fitzpatrick
ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH ADMISSION POLICY 1985

ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH ADMISSION POLICY 1985

     The Academy of the New Church is a religious institution dedicated to the establishment of the New Church by means of religious and secular instruction based upon principles drawn from the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg.
     Since we believe that the most fruitful field of endeavor is with children of New Church parents, all students who have been baptized into the faith of the New Church are eligible for consideration. The reason for this is that we accept baptism as a sign of faith on the part of the parents, and therefore of their willingness to cooperate with the Academy in the instruction that is given in the Academy schools.
     We fully recognize, however, that there are others who, because of special circumstances of background and interest, are also deserving of consideration. In such cases the following requirements apply:

     a.      The parents or guardians must give satisfactory reasons why they wish to have their child enrolled in the Academy. If the applicants are eighteen years of age they may speak for themselves.
     b.      The applicant must be recommended by a minister of the General Church of the New Jerusalem.
     c.      The applicant must be approved by the President of the Academy.

     The reason for these requirements is not to exclude anyone who seriously desires a New Church education but to preserve the unique uses of the Academy and to protect the applicant from any misapprehension concerning the purposes of the institution.
     These requirements are in no way intended to be racially discriminatory, and the Academy will not discriminate against applicants and students on the basis of race, color, and national or ethnic origin.

190

Title Unspecified 1985

Announcements

CORRECTION: In the December issue on page 627 we announced the confirmation of Miss Janet Louise Pendleton. Her married name should have been used. She is Mrs. Robert H. Campbell.
DAYSPRING CAMP 1985

DAYSPRING CAMP 1985

A series of workshops by professionals in the fields of psychology and counseling, August 25th-30th at Browns Mills, New Jersey. Seminars offered by leaders with a New Church perspective. For further information contact Garry Hyatt, 3355 Baldwin Rd., Huntingdon Valley. PA 19006. Phone (215) 947-4133 (home) or (215) 947-4549 (office).

192

ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL, COLLEGE AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS CALENDAR 1985

     ONE HUNDRED AND NINTH SCHOOL YEAR 1985-1986

     1985
Sept. 3 Tue. 8:00 a.m. Academy Faculty opening service and address followed by registration of Secondary Schools local students
          Dorm students arrive (Secondary Students by 8 p.m.)
          5:30 p.m. Barbeque for dorm students and parents
4 Wed.      Registration of Secondary Schools dormitory students
          8:00 a.m.-12:00 noon Registration of all Theological and College students
          11:00-2:00 p.m. College Orientation for all new students
          7:30 p.m. Cathedral worship service for students, faculty, and parents
5 Thurs.      8:00 a.m. Opening Exercises for Secondary Schools followed by classes
          8:05 a.m. College classes begin
          11:00 a.m. College and Theological School Convocation
Oct. 18 Fri. Charter Day:
          8:30 a.m. Ann. Meeting of ANC Corporation (Pitcairn Hall)
          11:00 a.m. Worship Service (Cathedral)
19 Sat.      6:30 p.m. Banquet (Society Building)
          9:15 p.m. Dance (Society Building)
Nov. 13-15      Wed.-Fri. College Registration for Winter term
21 Thu.      Fall term ends for College after exams and scheduled student work*
26 Tues.      3:32 p.m. Secondary Schools fall term ends and
          Thanksgiving recess begins
Dec. 1 Sun. College and Secondary Schools dormitory students return by 8:00 p.m.
2 Mon.      Winter term begins in all schools
19 Thu.      Christmas recess begins for all schools after regularly scheduled classes and student work*

     1986

Jan. 5 Sun. Dorm students return (Secondary School by 8:00 p.m.)
6 Mon.      Classes resume in all schools
Feb. 17 Mon Presidents' Birthday observance
26-28 Wed.-Fri. College registration for spring term
Mar. 6 Thu. College winter term ends*
*
7 Fri.      Secondary Schools winter term ends. Spring recess begins for Secondary Schools after scheduled exams and student work*
16 Sun.      Dorm students return (Secondary Schools by 8:00 p.m.)
17 Mon.      Spring term begins in all schools
28           Good Friday holiday for all schools
31 Mon.      Easter Monday holiday for Secondary Schools
1 Tue.      Deadline for College applications
May Fri. 7:45 p.m. Joint Meeting of Faculty and Corporation (Heilman Hall)
10 Sat.      Semi-annual meeting of Academy Corporation (Pitcairn Hall)
26 Mon.      Memorial Day holiday
June 5 Thu. Spring term ends
6 Fri.      Commencement rehearsal
           8.30 p.m. Graduation dance (Field House)
7 Sat.      9:30 a.m. Commencement (Field House)

     * See Catalog or Handbook for holiday regulations.

193

PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES 1985

     GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM

RIGHT REV. LOUIS B. KING, BISHOP
Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, 19009, U. S. A.
PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES
Information on public worship and doctrinal classes provided either regularly or occasionally may be obtained 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. Cristovao Rabelo Nobre, Rua Xavier does Passaros 151, Apt. 101 Piedale, Rio de Janeiro, RK 20740. Phone: 021-289-4292.

     CANADA

     Alberta:

     CALGARY
Mr. Thomas R. Fountain, 1115 Southglen Drive S. W., Calgary 13, Alberta T2W 0X2. Phone: 403-255-7283.

     EDMONTON
Mr. Daniel L. Horigan, 10524 82nd St., Edmonton, Alberta T6A 3M8. Phone: 403-469-0078.

     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 Phone: 0206-43712

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

     LONDON
Rev. Frederick Elphick, 21B Hayne Rd., Beckenham, Kent BR3 4JA. Phone: 01-658-6320.

     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. Ed Verschoor, Olmenlaan 7.3862 VG Nijkerk

     NEW ZEALAND

     AUCKLAND
Mrs. Lloyd Bartle, Secretary, 13B Seymour Rd., Henderson, Auckland 8. Phone: 836 6336.

     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.

194

     SOUTH AFRICA

     Natal:

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

     Transvaal:

     TRANSVAAL SOCIETY
Rev. Norman E. Riley, 8 Iris Lane, Irene, 1675 R. S. A., Phone: 012-632679.

     Zululand:

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

     Mission in South Africa:
Superintendent-The Rev. Norman E. Riley (Address above)

     SWEDEN

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

     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. (501) 251-2383

     California:

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

     SACRAMENTO
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ripley, 2310 N. Cirby Way, Roseville, CA 95678. Phone: (916) 782-7837

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

     SAN FRANCISCO
Rev. Mark Carlson, 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.

195

     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.

     Maine

     BATH
Rev. Allison L. Nicholson, 897 Middle St., Bath, ME 04530 Phone: (207) 433-6410

     Maryland:

     BALTIMORE
Rev. Donald Rogers, #12 Pawleys Ct., S. Belmont, Baltimore, MD 21236. Phone: (301) 882- 2640.

     MITCHELLVILLE
Rev. Lawson Smith, 3805 Enterprise Rd., Mtichellville, MD 20716. Phone: (301) 262-2349.

     Massachusetts:

     BOSTON
Rev. Grant Odhner, 4 Park Ave., Natick, MA 01760. Phone: (617) 651-1127.

     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. Phone: (314) 442-3475.

     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-Idaho Border.-Se 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. Phone: (Home) (215) 756-4301; (Office) (215) 756-6140.

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
Mr. Fred Dunlap, 13410 Castleton, Dallas, TX 75234-5117. Phone: (214) 247-7775.

     Washington:

     SEATTLE
Rev. Kent Junge, 14812 N. E. 75th Street, Redmond, WA 98033. Phone: (206) 881-1955.

     Wisconsin:

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

196

HERITAGE OF THE LORD 1985

Selected Readings Concerning Infancy
Rev. Robert S. Junge

     GENERAL CHURCH PUBLICATION
1984

     The following readings have been selected with the hope that they will be useful to those who have recently been given a child by the Lord. They are divided so that they can be read by the parents as daily readings if they wish. We rejoice with you in that by this birth heaven is enriched and society furnished with yet another helper (CL 404). "Lo children are an heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is His reward" (Psalm 127). Postage paid $2.65

     General Church Book Center
Box 278
Bryn Athyn, PA 19009
Hours: 9-12 Mon-Fri
Phone: (215) 947-3920

197

Notes on This Issue 1985

Notes on This Issue Editor 1985

Vol. CV May, 1985 No. 5
NEW CHURCH LIFE

198

     The map on page 235 shows most of the centers of the General Church in North America. All but a few of the ministers pictured on page 236 serve in these centers. Many have a knack for relating persons to places and call readily tell what ministers go with what dots on the map. If your eyes are sharp you may discern Beaver Island in Lake Michigan. Not many weeks ago the New Churchman on the island addressed its Christian Church. Did listeners think: "I knew that guy had strange beliefs, but . . ." (p. 204).
     The sermon by Rev. Grant Schnarr (he's on the map in Glenview) is on the particular relationship of marriage. Don Barber speaks of human relations in general. How do people react who have received severe burns? An answer is given on page 220. "This leads me to wonder how people react when part of their emotional life dies, or they feel they have received a severe emotional burn" (p. 221).
     The goal of starting a New Church high school in Canada within ten years is mentioned on page 245.
     A limitation of previous studies on the subject of betrothal has been the available English translations of the book Conjugial Love. Rev. Alfred Acton has done new translating in the course of the study that begins in this issue.
PASTOR OF THE FREEPORT SOCIETY 1985

PASTOR OF THE FREEPORT SOCIETY 1985

In the March issue (p. 102) it was announced that the Bishop of the General Church has recognized the Freeport Society of the General Church. (Freeport is near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.) It was further announced that Rev. Ragnar Boyesen was appointed to serve as acting pastor until a permanent pastor could be selected. Mr. Boyesen has now been selected to become permanent pastor of Freeport but will continue for the time being as resident pastor of the Pittsburgh Society.
CORPORATION MEMBERSHIP 1985

CORPORATION MEMBERSHIP Louis B. King 1985

     After careful committee study and consideration by the Assembly in June of 1984, the Corporation of the General Church has opened membership to women of the General Church. All women and men who have been members of the General Church for three years are cordially invited to join the Corporation of the General Church. A membership application form may be obtained from Mr. Stephen Pitcairn, Secretary of the Corporation, Jenkintown Plaza, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania 19046.
     Louis B. King,
          Executive Bishop

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GENUINE FAITH IN MARRIAGE 1985

GENUINE FAITH IN MARRIAGE Rev. Grant R. SCHNARR 1985

     The Heavenly Doctrines reveal that there is a love which is so magnificent that it exceeds all other loves. It is the fundamental love of all the loves of heaven and earth (see CL 65). And into it are gathered all joys and all delights from their first to their last (see CL 68). This love is called conjugial love, and it is one of God's greatest gifts to mankind.
     Conjugial love is a gift from the Lord. The Lord desires to fill every marriage with this love of loves and its blessedness and delight. He promises us that it is real and that we can receive it. We can love our partners from true marriage love and share our lives together in ever-increasing friendship, confidence, innocence, peace and joy (see CL 180).
     And yet we do not automatically receive this gift from the Lord when we first marry. It is something which we must work for, something which we must learn to receive. Conjugial love is from the Lord alone. It is a heavenly love and a heavenly state. Therefore, it is founded on religion and can only be received according to the quality of religion in our married lives (see CL 130). "No others come into this love and can be in it except those who approach the Lord, love the truths of the church and do its goods" (CL 70).
     Thus, we are commanded to build our marriages upon religion. A genuine faith in the Lord is our only guide to true marriage love. There can be no conjugial love without it.
     But what is this genuine faith in the Lord? The Heavenly Doctrines define it as a looking to Him, as confidence that all good is from Him (see TCR 655), and as an internal acknowledgment of the truth in His Word (see Faith 13). To have this faith in marriage means to look to the Lord for enlightenment and instruction. It means to put our trust not in ourselves, not in our own preconceived notions about what marriage should be, but in the Lord and what He teaches about marriage.
     This genuine faith in the Lord can be seen in the New Testament by viewing the life of the apostle Peter. Peter represents faith (see AC 3994:5), faith not only in the life of every man, but also as it exists in marriage. By considering some of the major aspects of his life, we will discover how essential a genuine faith is to marriage and how without it there is little hope for conjugial love.
     In Matthew we are told that the Lord asked His disciples who they thought He was.

200

Peter answered the Lord by saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." The Lord praised Peter for his confession and said to him, "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:13-18)
     Peter's confession is the very essence of true faith in the Lord (see AE 820:4). It is the acknowledgment of faith that the Lord is our Savior and that He is the origin of all that is good and true. This faith in the Lord is called the rock and foundation of the church, because no evil or falsity from hell has any power against those who hold this faith. The Heavenly Doctrines tell us that evil and falsity dare not rise up against those who acknowledge the Lord as their Savior and live by what He teaches (see AE 820:4).
     And so it is that conjugial love descends into our married life when we confess that the Lord is the source of all goodness and happiness in our marriage. When we confess this and then turn to the Lord's Word as our basis for building and strengthening our marriage, then no evil or falsity of any kind can creep into our lives and destroy that conjugial bond. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
     Without an acknowledgment of the Lord, without His Word as our foundation, it is only a matter of time until our marriage spiritually dissolves. In the beginning there are many things which seem to hold the marriage together. There is external warmth, companionship, someone to talk to and share our lives with. We rely on our partner to help raise our children, to bring home the money or to keep our house in order. They give us security and help sustain our life.
     But all these things are natural bonds. Underneath them there may not be any real acknowledgment of the Lord, or care for one's partner, but only concern for self. We may live with our partner five, ten, or even twenty years with this selfish motivation as our basis. But if we do this, if we choose to build our marriage on faith in self rather than on the rock and firm foundation of faith in the Lord, eventually our marriage will crumble. Inevitably, our selfish loves will one day not be satisfied with our partner, and we will be carried off, away from marriage into all sorts of insane folly, what the Heavenly Doctrines call "the pleasures of insanity."
     This is illustrated elsewhere in the gospels by the Lord's own words to Peter when He says, "When you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish" (John 21:18).
     Here Peter represents false faith, faith in self and not in the Lord or the teachings of His Word (see AE 810:7).

201

With this false faith as our guide, we may feel happy and satisfied while our marriage is young. We do not feel as if we need the Lord or the truths of His Word. But as our marriage grows old, the love of self becomes stronger and stronger until finally it carries us off, destroying that bond that we had shared for so many years. In the literal sense, the Lord was foretelling Peter's death, that Peter would eventually be taken away against his will and crucified. So too, He warns us that without a genuine faith in Him as our foundation, our marriage will eventually be carried off and destroyed by selfishness.
     There are few marriages on this earth which do not encounter difficulties or go through temptations. Sometimes married partners can be brought into a state of total despair as they strive to live and work together. Take arguing, for example. Most arguments come and go. But some arguments can last for days or weeks and make the couple feel as if they are sinking into a whirlpool of confusion and strife. All sorts of feelings can come up-bad feelings, feelings of alienation, contempt, jealousy, guilt, grief, and many more. But it is precisely at times such as these that the Lord is telling us to stop for a brief moment and focus in on what is truly important, namely Himself and what He has taught us, to put our faith into life. This isn't easy. In fact it is one of the hardest things to do. But if we can catch ourselves for even a moment and begin to turn to Him, our desperate state will begin to change for the better. And we can start to work our way out of the hell we've put ourselves into, toward some peace.
     This is illustrated in the story of Peter walking on the water: to meet the Lord. We remember, it was a stormy night when the Lord came to the disciples' boat in the middle of the sea. The disciples were not sure who He was and were afraid. Peter called out to Him, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." The Lord replied, "Come." Then Peter came out of the boat and walked on the water toward the Lord. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous he became afraid and started to sink. He cried out, "Lord, save me!" And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him (Matt. 14:22-23).
     In the internal sense, the storm and wind represent spiritual unpeacefulness and temptation. Peter walking on the water represents faith in life (see AE 514:21).
     In marriage, in those times of severe arguing and discord, we can be, as it were, in a storm. We can feel as if we are being hit by wave after wave of spiritual temptation. Like a boat being tossed to and fro in the water it may appear that we have lost control of our marriage, that we have lost the foundation and any kind of sense of order. We can become so bewildered and confused that we no longer recognize the Lord or the power of His teachings.

202

Like the disciples who saw the Lord and were afraid, we too in times like these can look at His teachings with fear.
     They just don't look the same any more. The mercy seems to have gone out of them. They look cold and lifeless as if they cannot help, even as the Lord appeared as a ghost to some of His disciples at this time.
     And yet, here is the paradox! It is at this time the Lord beckons our faith to come forth into life and face the storm.
     In marriage this can be one of the most difficult and frightening things to do. When in a heated argument all we want to do is hold onto what is ours and what we love, even like those disciples must have been holding onto that boat in terror. But Peter did step out. And although he was afraid and began to sink, the Lord did save him.
     Putting our faith into life can bring back peace. If we can together turn toward the Lord instead of toward self, turn to His Word and what that tells us is right instead of our own feelings, the Lord can begin to lift us up out of our turmoil. It's not going to happen in a moment, but if we let Him, the Lord can work miracles within the states of our married life.
     What does this mean? It means to call to mind certain principles which the Lord has laid out for us in marriage: the doctrine of charity-how to be courteous, polite, even in an argument; the doctrine of simulations-even if you do feel cold toward your partner to simulate warmth until true warmth returns; the doctrine of order-to strive to return to some working relationship, be it temporary or lasting, so that more damage is not done. These are just a few matters of faith that when put into life can begin to bring order where there was disorder, peace and friendship where there was discord.
     To have genuine faith in the Lord not only means to trust in Him, but it also means to go to His Word for instruction. The work Conjugial Love was written for us, so that we can learn to avoid spiritual affliction or disaster in marriage. It points the way out of a mere natural bond to a spiritual and heavenly union, so magnificent and full of splendor that it can hardly be described.
     If we ignore the teachings of that book, and go on to form our marriages around our own self-centered intellect, then we are like Peter when he didn't listen or believe the Lord when He said He would be betrayed and that Peter would deny Him. Peter wouldn't accept the Lord's words but said, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You" (Matt. 16:22 emphasis added). But the Lord then replied, "Get thee behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God but the things of man" (Matt. 16:23).
     If we are not mindful of the things of God and religion in building our marriages, then in the end we too, like Peter, will deny the Lord.

203

When we do not listen to the teachings of the Word, we may think we understand what conjugial love is, and how to create a good marriage, but we are actually fooling ourselves. Like Peter, we never really understood the Lord's words and so we never prepared for the temptations ahead of us. Then, when temptation does come, and we are called upon to stand up for the ideals in marriage, instead we deny them. When we find ourselves in marital crisis, instead of looking to the Lord, we turn completely into ourselves and deny the Lord's authority. Like Peter, we inwardly proclaim, "I know not the Man!" (Matt. 25:72).
     After the Lord's crucifixion and resurrection, Peter and the Lord were reunited once again. As they sat by a fire beside the Sea of Galilee, the Lord asked Peter a certain question three times. He asked him, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?" And Peter replied, "Yes, Lord; You know I love You." Each time the Lord would answer Peter's reply by either saying, "Feed My lambs," "Tend My sheep," or "Feed My sheep" (John 21:15-17).
     In the internal sense, we are told that this is the Lord bidding man's faith to come forth into act (see AE 820:6). He is asking us whether our faith in Him is real. Do we love Him? Are we willing to use His truth in life to serve others? Are we willing to work together in marriage, with the Lord as our authority and use as our goal?
     This is the faith which the Lord wishes us to have. This is the faith which leads to genuine conjugial love. Acknowledgment of the Lord and the authority of His Word is the rock and firm foundation of true marriage love.
     He said unto them, "But who do you say that I am?" And Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus answered him and said. "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:15-18).

     LESSONS: Psalm 40; John 21:1-19; CL 70 Chrysalis 1985

Chrysalis 1985

The Swedenborg Foundation magazine, Chrysalis, (see Feb. NCL p. 94) will not be published until June.

204

THAT'S THE SPIRIT 1985

THAT'S THE SPIRIT Dr. DAVID GLADISH 1985

     An Address to the Beaver Island Christian Church on Sunday, February 24, 1985

     How many here have ever seen a spirit?
     We've all seen many spirits! In fact, we can all see quite a few spirits right now, in this room. In broad daylight!
     That sounds a little funny. Maybe you're saying to yourself, "I knew that guy had some strange beliefs, but this is too much!" So I'll explain.
     When the Bible uses the word spirit, it's using a word that basically means "breath." So all you have to do is go outside on a cold day, and you see your spirit, right?
     That's not really what I mean. What I do mean is that the word spirit is a word derived from Latin, and it means "breath." And the Hebrew and Greek words, very often, that have been translated as "spirit" also meant "breath." In fact (brace yourself) our English word ghost also goes back to a word meaning-you guessed it-"breath."
     But when I say that spirit and ghost mean "breath" that doesn't tell us much about what a spirit is, does it? Is this getting us anywhere'
     Yes, it is, because there's another interesting fact. Much of the time when we say "breath" even today in Modern English, we're really talking about something much, much more than breath. We're talking about life. I'm sure we've all had the experience of finding an animal seriously injured-maybe dead. It's upsetting. If you see its chest move, you're relieved. You know it's alive if it's breathing. And they used to tell if a dying person was still living by holding a mirror to his mouth, so the slightest breath would fog the mirror.
     Breathing has always been a sign of life. More than that, breathing is a symbol of life. The famous slogan on TV makes use of that symbolism-"It's a matter of life and breath."
     And if you recall that I said the word ghost also means breath, think about this: when we say "give up the ghost" we mean give up breathing. In other words, "He gave up the ghost" means he gave up his life, doesn't it?
     So it's no wonder that in ancient times, and still today, what we're really talking about when we say spirit, ghost or breath is life. In fact, some people define the beginning of human life as the time when a baby takes its first breath.

205

     By now I hope I don't sound as weird as I did at the beginning when I said we've all seen spirits and are looking at spirits right now in this room. It's true. We are all observing the life of each other. I could even add that everyone here has seen a ghost-many ghosts, in fact. We've seen as many ghosts as we've seen lives in ourselves and in other people.
     Spirit means "breath" means "life." But then what about that other meaning of words like spirit and ghost? Don't we use those words to mean some kind of spook, or something unreal that haunts graveyards or old houses?-something that fake carnies in a sideshow, with turbans on their heads, pretend is lifting the table or talking from "the beyond"?
     How does it come about that we take perfectly good words that mean "breath" and "life" and use them to mean something that's absurd and scientifically unproven, at best? I think it comes from confusion about life-what life is and "where" it is.
     What does the Bible tell, us about what life is?
     First of all, many of the places where we read the word life in the Bible, the Hebrew or Greek word translated as "life" is actually the Hebrew or Greek word for breath-the same word that is translated in other places as "spirit" or "ghost." For instance, Lev. 17:14, "For the life of the flesh is [in] the blood," and Matt. 6:25, "Take no thought for your life," to give just two examples out of very many. (There are columns under this heading in a concordance.) This suggests that the words spirit, ghost and breath are all ways of naming life. What a far cry from the meaning we usually associate with ghost and spirit!
     Secondly, remember that in ancient times people lost the concept of our spiritual environment as being a plane of consciousness. They had gods, but they thought the gods lived in places on our physical earth. They believed, some of them, that after death you went to somewhere underground in an eerie Hades or Gehenna. Jesus spent a lot of time teaching the new concept that He as God is right here among us and that the Holy Spirit as God is right here among us-while being spiritual. In other words, our spiritual environment is there all the time, and we're part of it, the way we're in space even though we're on earth.

     But people didn't know that. They formed myths and notions that your spirit breathed out with your last breath when you died and wafted here and there or went across the River Styx, or to Sheol, or somewhere. And this concept of spirit and ghost has persisted right into modern times, even though the idea of ghosts or spirits flying around and haunting places is pretty much considered a superstition today. We no longer take ghosts and spooks seriously, and we don't need to any more. They were invented by a plain misconception of what life is. And of where life is.

206

     But where is life? In other words, where is your spirit-in the true sense of the word spirit?
     One way to get at an answer to that is to ask the question, where is your brain? Mainly in your head, of course. But when you stop to think about it, your medulla oblongata-the lower, primitive part of your brain, in the back-turns into your spinal cord, which breaks down to all the nerves in your body. What I'm saying is that in this way your brain extends throughout your whole body, in your nerves, and makes everything in your body work. Your whole nervous system and the things it does are from, and are part of, your brain!-the way earth is in, and is part of, the sun's corona, and the sun's corona-including earth-is in, and part of, space!
     So your brain is in your head, but it's also throughout your whole body to make your body do the things your brain wants done. If I raise my hand, that's not my hand doing anything so much as it's my brain at work in my body. When I speak, my brain is using my body to make sounds I want people to hear.
     Where's your mind? In your brain. And therefore throughout your body too. Your mind is in all the things your body does on account of it. That's not hard to believe. A thought in your mind can make your face blush, or your leg jerk, or your chest produce a laugh.
     So where's your spirit? It's in your mind, it's in your brain, it's in your body, and it's in all the things you do, think and want. Because your spirit is your life.
     There's more coming, but this may be getting heavy. So let's take a little recess here. Shake hands with the ghost next to you and say hello.
     What we've just done is to express our minds-in other words our lives, or our spirits-with our hands and voices.
     As Christians we all know where life comes from. It comes from the Lord. It doesn't come from our minds, it comes through our minds. It says in John 1:4, "In Him was life," meaning in the Lord was life. Life doesn't come from DNA molecules, it comes through the molecules-the way our own actions come through our bodies from our minds, not from our bodies.
     This life from the Lord is the "spirit" that is mentioned so often in the Word. For example, in 2 Cor. 3:6 it says, "The letter killeth. The spirit giveth life." In other words, the literal words in scripture are marks on paper. It's the spirit, or life, behind them that makes them living.
     This concept has very practical applications in understanding the things in the Bible. For example, people often wonder how the virgin birth of Jesus could happen. If God is a spirit, how can a spirit have a baby?

207

The way to answer that is to ask the question, how can there be any ordinary birth? Where does the life of the baby come from? Does it come from the baby's father? No, it comes through the baby's father from the Lord. If the Lord can implant life by that roundabout way every time a baby is conceived-in fact, every time an animal, a plant, an insect, a fish, or anything is conceived-then He could implant His life in Mary's womb. His life is in all of us all the time anyway. The question is, how could anything but a spirit-that is, life-conceive a baby?
     Or, for another example of understanding scripture, what does it mean by "blasphemy against the Holy Spirit" that can't be forgiven? Blasphemy is cursing or denouncing the Holy Spirit. If you take spirit to mean life, then the Holy Spirit is Holy Life. No wonder it can't be forgiven if someone denounces Holy Life. Even God can't make you love what you hate.
     Another example: in Genesis, where it says that "the Spirit of God moved upon the faces of the waters," it's suddenly perfectly clear when you say that that means God's life was there causing creation.
     Or, going back to that puzzling term, the Holy Spirit, sometimes called the Holy Ghost, or the Comforter that Jesus said He would leave with us, how clear it becomes once you understand that spirit means life. He left life with us-the fact that there is spiritual life-the greatest comfort there could be.
     Everyone in this room has seen a spirit or a ghost. Everyone here has seen lots of spirits or ghosts. Not the kind that are supposed to shriek on Hallowe'en. That's a figment of the imagination. The spirit we have seen and see every day-the kind of spirit that really does exist-is the spirit that is in the mind, the life and the breath of every person, and in all the things the person does.
     Spirit means the life we get from the Lord.
BOOKS FOR GHANA FUND 1985

BOOKS FOR GHANA FUND 1985

On March 11th Rev. Geoffrey Howard spoke to the directors of the Swedenborg Foundation in New York. His subject was Ghana, for a few weeks previously he had been visiting that country. He expressed great appreciation for what the Foundation has done in making books available to the people there. His message, however, is that the need for books is even greater now. Following his visit, a fund was established for the purpose of providing even more books for that country than this year's budget can manage. If you wish to participate, write to the Ghana Fund, c/o Swedenborg Foundation, 139 East 23rd Street, New York. NY 10010.

208

BETROTHAL: A STATE AND A RITE 1985

BETROTHAL: A STATE AND A RITE Rev. ALFRED ACTON 1985

     In the True Christian Religion, number 803 we learn that the genius of a people, at least in part, is based on their laws and language. This is not surprising when we realize that genius is a measure of, or base for, the understanding, and when we reflect upon how much our culture (laws) and our language affect the way we think. In this world words form the basis of thought even as the customs and practices of a people color their thinking process. Because of this fact the Lord has spoken to men in languages which are "dead." Today, although it may require some real objectivity, we can enter into the language of the Lord's Word as it was first written. Of course, entering into the language itself is not sufficient. The customs described must also be known if we are to understand the meaning of the language and so hear the Lord without imposing our own finite idea of language or "law" upon His Divine truth.
     The reality of this fact has recently been brought home to me while studying the word desponsatio, usually translated into English as the word "betrothal." In reviewing what has been written on this subject in NEW CHURCH LIFE I find that all authors on the subject have been decidedly limited by the English translations they have used. In fact, so much of the discussion has turned on current customs and mistranslations that I found it necessary to make my own translations in order to understand what the Writings teach.
     There are four words which have been particularly misused. These are: desponsatio, solennis, declaratio, and sponsio. In my translation, which I will use in this article, I chose to render these words as follows:
     Desponsatio: this word in root form simply means "promised to be married." It is usually rendered "betrothal." However, it is clear that the term could just as easily be rendered "engaged," or "engagement," since both terms mean "promised to be married." The root form of desponsatio is despondeo. English equivalents for this verb include: "to promise in marriage, to betroth, engage." Several authors on betrothal have contrasted the English words "betroth" and "engage," some claiming the Writings use only the term "betroth." They, in fact, use neither word. Also, in today's English dictionaries these words are used as exact synonyms.

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"Engaged" equals "betrothed" and the reverse. However, in thinking about the English words "betroth" and '"engage" we find unfortunate overtones in each. "Betrothal" calls to mind the Jewish custom, particularly the "espousal" of Mary to Joseph. "Engagement," on the other hand, to many seems to imply something more casual than betrothal. But this apparently casual concept of the word is more a matter of feeling than the actual meaning. "Betroth" means to be true (troth means true) while "engaged" means in a pledged or promised state (gage meaning a pledge and being linguistically related to the word "wed"). Certainly in the church we should not think of a promise to marry as a casual thing, whatever English word we use to describe it. The Writings use the term desponsatio to refer to the ancient custom of betrothal or espousal, but they also use it in other ways. They speak of both the rite of engagement and the state of being promised in marriage, which are in fact two separate concepts. Wow it is not unusual for one language to use two terms where another has one. Indeed, as Rev. Ormond Odhner pointed out,1 Swedish used three terms to describe all or part of the period from consent to marriage. Just one simple example from Latin will illustrate the translator's problem when such ambiguity occurs. The Latin word caelum means both ""sky" and "heaven." A translator must choose one of the two English words as he sees the context of the passage in question; caelum becomes either sky or heaven in translation. Since it cannot be both, the English reader must trust the translator's ability to understand the Latin and render at properly. Many, many other examples could be added to demonstrate why translation is an art needing human understanding, but the point need not be belabored. Here simply note, when two concepts in English are described by one Latin concept a conscious choice as to which one is meant must be made. If it is not made, confusion arises.
Now, as I have said, desponsatio is both a state and a rite. The translator must decide how to render the term in English to avoid confusion. Because most of us think of the state as that of "being engaged," I have translated desponsatio as "engagement" or "engaged" where the state is indicated, and because we call the rite "betrothal." I have used this term for the rite. I do this not to call to mind any particular custom, current or past, of either engagement or betrothal, but rather to let the English reader see the distinction which exists in the Latin. If you would prefer, when reading my translations, to go to the root meaning "intended," "promised to be married," that is quite acceptable, but an "intended" or "promised in marriage" rite is not good English. Once again let me stress the importance of seeing the distinction between the rite and the state. They are two separate, although clearly related, concepts.2

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     Two examples will serve to illustrate how confusion arises if this distinction is blurred. In Conjugial Love 21 at the end it states that in heaven the rite of betrothal is practiced. "Yet with us a priest does administer at betrothals, and hears, receives, confirms, and consecrates the consent. Consent is the essential of marriage, all that follows being its formalities." Contrast this statement with Conjugial Love 229 (repeated in 316) which, according to our current translation, while speaking of young people meeting in heaven says: "Then . . . they deliberately speak to each other and betroth themselves." No priest is present at this "betrothal," nor should he have been since the state is what is being described, not the rite. How much clearer the Latin would be if it were translated "then they deliberately speak to each other and become engaged," the rite of betrothal to follow in due course.3 Now look at Arcana Coelestia 10837 which is currently translated: "As regards betrothals and marriages among the inhabitants on that earth . . ." The description following says nothing about a rite of betrothal. The young man simply takes the woman by the hand and if she follows he leads her to the marriage. By looking in her face he knows she is his even as they do in heaven. Again, if we think of a ceremony of betrothal instead of the state we will miss the point. The passage simply describes the state of engagement, illustrating both choice and consent, which initiates the state. He takes her hand and she follows. Then the passage continues by describing the marriage. The discussion here is about engagements and marriages, not ceremonies. I will return to the subject of what initiates the stare of betrothal later.
     Solennis (a variant of sollemnis): Solennis is both an adjective and a noun. As an adjective it means ritualistic, or having to do with a rite or ceremony. Suggested English equivalents are "established" or "appointed," both with the context of a religious rite. The word does not mean solemn as we understand that adjective. As a noun it is the rite or ceremony itself. In my translations I have chosen to render solennis as "rite." Because the adjective is used only once in the chapter on engagements and weddings, and because the context is so clearly that of the rite, I have chosen to keep the noun form in this passage as well, rendering solennem desponsationen? as '"rite of betrothal" rather than "ritualistic" or "formal betrothal."
     Declaratio: This word is given the following English equivalents: "making clear or evident," "a disclosure," "exposition," and very rarely, "a declaration." It seems obvious that the word implies "making a thing known." It is used in two passages which I have translated: once referring to a man "making known his love," that is, "proposing" to a woman, and again in referring to the "making known" of consent.

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In the first instance I have rendered it "propose"; in the second I have chosen "announcement." This second rendering is not intended to cull up visions of "engagement" parties nor is it trying to bias the reader as regards who should make the announcement. It is simply so rendered to emphasize what the Latin says, namely, that the consent of the woman ought to be "announced" or publicized, that is, "made known."
     Sponsio: Several authors on the subject of betrothal have argued that Swedenborg never used the word "engagement." As I hope is evident, he also never used the word "betrothal." However, the Latin word sponsio, in the Lewis and Shorte Dictionary, is given the English equivalent of engagement, and the Latin desponsatio the equivalent of betrothed. In what I have translated. the word sponsio appears only once. Because I have chosen to use the terms "engaged" and "betrothed" to distinguish between the rite and the state. I have therefore translated sponsio as "promised." It is important to realize that the word used is a different word as will be clear when we come to it.
     I turn now to the translation of portions of Conjugial Love 295-306 on which I will comment as I go.

     ENGAGEMENTS AND WEDDINGS4

     CL 295. We here treat of engagements and weddings and the rites connected with them primarily from the reason of the understanding . . . .

     The rites of betrothal and marriage are distinguished from the stales of engagement and marriage at the beginning of the treatment. We will later discuss the issue of whether the rite should initiate the state or not, but for now note that they are clearly two separate things.
     I continue with the last part of the introduction in number 295.

This being the case many things are mentioned in this chapter which are accepted customs. For example: choice belongs to men; parents ought to be consulted; pledges ought to be given; a marriage contract ought to be executed before the wedding, which contract ought to be consecrated by a priest and then be celebrated; besides more things which are mentioned for the purpose of allowing a person, from his rational, to see that such things are inscribed upon conjugial love as its requisites which promote and complete it.

     Note the phrase "ought to be." This phrase which describes all of the steps outlined, and also is used in describing the rite of betrothal (see CL 301), is a very strong Latin construction. It is not an "ought" that implies a take-it-or-leave-it choice. It is an "ought" that implies necessity. The classical illustration of the construction is found in the phrase "Carthago delenda est," a phrase which Cato the elder used to end every speech he gave to the Roman Senate until Carthage was in fact destroyed.

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He really meant it. The Arcana Coelestia 1618 uses this same construction as follows: "But man, while in the world, ought not to be otherwise than in external worship . . ." (italics added). While it is true you can go to heaven and not go to church, you still really should go to church. Worship is a very powerful ultimate which gives form to influx that ought not to be ignored. So also with the customs associated with marriage. They are the proper way to go about things. True, one can get to love truly conjugial without observing these proprieties, but such an approach is disorderly (see AC 9182, 9184). In other words, the Lord is here teaching us the proper order for entering into marriage, an order that ought to be the rule to which, for reasons both just and unjust, exceptions may be made.
The order itself is first mentioned here with "accepted" customs but fully outlined in the articles discussed in the treatment of the chapter. Before I comment on that order, first observe that although it will be incorporated into the proper order inscribed on the entrance into marriage, the "custom" of betrothal is not mentioned as an "accepted" custom. I refer you again to a detailed discussion on betrothal customs written by Rev. Ormond Odhner in NEW CHURCH LIFE (1962, p. 571 ff). In that article he makes it clear that although there was a custom of betrothal in vogue in Sweden in 1686, the custom had waned by 1768 when Conjugial Love was written. Mr. Odhner also makes clear that the custom which was no longer common practice involved a ceremony, but not necessarily a religious ceremony. Also in the one ceremony described, betrothal definitely is designed to formalize and make public the fact of consent. It seems clear to me that it was this older custom which had fallen into disuse that is referred to in Conjugial Love 21. This number states that a rite of betrothal existed in heaven as on earth, (why not a time lag of a generation or two there?), and that its purpose was to '"hear, receive, confirm, and consecrate consent," some of the things the older service did. It also seems clear to me that the custom of a rite of betrothal is to be restored in the New Church as a part of the prescribed order leading to marriage. However, because the custom was not an "accepted" custom in 1768, Swedenborg omitted it in his list of customs leading to marriage. One author infers that perhaps he really
meant to mention a betrothal rite, and in fact covered it in the phrase "besides more things" added after the list of customs. This seems strained. Also, if it were the fact it would place the rite of betrothal in the category of an afterthought which it certainly is not. I believe it is more reasonable to assume that the rite is not here mentioned as an "accepted" custom simply because it wasn't an accepted custom in 1768.

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Of course, that does not mean it shouldn't be so regarded once the rite is restored to the church.
     Interestingly, as far as I know, the restoration of this rite to the New Church came rather late in its history. It was not until 1853 that a Rev. A. W. Ford of New York proposed that such a service be incorporated in the General Convention's Book of Worship. His proposal was accepted by Convention, but the next Book of worship (1858) had no such service. Apparently in response, the New York society published its own edition of the Book of Worship, and in that edition there appeared a New Church service of "Betrothment." This is the first such service in our history of which I am aware. The service is interesting liturgically as well as historically. It was designed to be performed by a priest, but with the express instructions that it could be administered by a layman if a "minister cannot conveniently be had." Also, it was designed as an introduction to the state of betrothal. After a rather short preamble concerning the importance of betrothal outlining the reasons listed for it in Conjugial Love 301, and the duties a couple undertakes while in this state, the man and woman in turn were asked if they had chosen their partner and promised "hereafter at the proper time" to take him or her for their husband or wife. Each answered, "I do." Then together they were asked, "Do you now, in the presence of these witnesses, betroth yourselves one to the other, in earnest of a full and perfect marriage hereafter to be contracted between you?" Again each answered, "I do." Pledges were then exchanged, a blessing pronounced on the couple, and all joined in saying the Lord's Prayer. We shall say more on the subject of when the rite should be performed in relation to the state later, but here note that this first service of "betrothment" was designed for the beginning of the engagement period, both the questions and the giving of pledges being used to commence a state.
     Apparently this first "betrothment" service which Mr. Ford introduced was not well accepted. At least it was not known by Bishop W. F. Pendleton in 1877 when he wrote a paper in favor of a betrothal service. After acceptance by the clergy present, he went on to write the service now in our Liturgy.5
     Bishop Pendleton did not see this service as introduction to the state. Arguing that the period between the service and the wedding should not be "overlong," he spoke of a couple's betrothal and their "formal" betrothal as follows: "No undue emphasis, therefore, is to be laid upon the external ceremony of betrothal. We are to keep distinctly in mind that it is a promise of marriage that is being celebrated, and not the marriage itself. The state of privacy in which their first mutual promise was made is still the leading feature, except that now another step is taken, which is that their promise is to receive the approval and countenance of the church, in their formal acknowledgment that their betrothal is a thing of religion, preparatory to the holy state of marriage, which, after an interval of time, is to follow and which is to survive the death of the body.

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It may be added that the interval between the formal betrothal and the marriage should not be long, for a betrothal of the kind herein described should not take place until marriage is in view, as an event of the immediate future."6 The service which Bishop Pendleton wrote is a service of promise with each partner, first together being asked if they will declare their consent to be married, and then separately if they will "betroth" the other. As will become evident I am not certain these questions are the proper ones for this service, especially if the formal service is to take place after the date for the wedding is set, which is what I understand Bishop Pendleton to advocate.
     Based on the bishop's statement, ministers in the 1920s debated the timing of the service, one advocating very "early" betrothal, another suggesting three months, and still another advocating six weeks, both of these latter suggestions being based on the correspondence of the numbers proposed. In 1955 Rev. Ormond Odhner published his article on the importance of early betrothal which has gained more and more favor in the church, even to the point where one minister has stated that any betrothal other than an early one is disorderly.
     As I have said, I believe much of this discussion was based on mistranslations of the Latin which need to be seen in their proper contexts if the Word is to lead us in outlining the proper order leading to marriage. So I return to the chapter on "Engagements and Weddings," number 295.

     After outlining the "accepted" customs the number goes on to the proper sequence for discussion:
     The articles into which this treatment is divided are in the following order:

     1.      That choice belongs to the man, not the woman.
     2.      That the man ought to seek out and ask the woman to marry him and not the opposite.
     3.      That the woman ought to consult her parents, or those who are in the place of parents, and then to deliberate by herself before she consents.
     4.      That after the announcement of consent, pledges ought to be given.
     5.      That consent ought to be strengthened and confirmed by the rite of betrothal.
     6.      That each is prepared for conjugial love by engagement.

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     7.      That by engagement the mind of the one is conjoined to the mind of the other, with the result that a marriage of the spirit takes place before the marriage of the body.
     8.      That this happens in this way with those who think chastely about marriages, but in a different way with those who think unchastely.
     9.      That during the period of engagement it is not permitted to be conjoined as to the body.
     10.      That when the period of engagement is finished the wedding ought to take place . . . .

     Pause here to note the general order: The man proposes; the woman, after deliberation with parents, consents; the consent is announced so that pledges may be given; the rite of betrothal takes place; then the state of engagement and what it accomplishes is discussed.
     The question logically occurs: "When does the state of engagement begin?" The answer as seen from the general headings, and also from the passages already mentioned in the Arcana Coelestia on engagements and in Conjugial Love 21 seems to be with the consent. Once a woman says she will marry the man who proposes to her they both should realize that the state of betrothal or engagement has begun. In other words, if you consider yourself promised in marriage you are betrothed or engaged. The service does not introduce the state of being a bride or bridegroom. Consent does. Moreover, if you as a couple wish it, your consent may be made public prior to the rite of betrothal. But more on this at number 300.
     Turn now to Conjugial Love 296 which needs to be mentioned here because it is the only place before number 300 where the word declaratio is used, and because some authors on this subject seem to have taken the declaration of this number to mean the declaration of consent in number 300. Context will make it clear that this is not a proper understanding of the passage. After giving two reasons why a man should ask a woman to marry him the passage continues: "As for the third reason: It is clear that it is not unseemly for men to speak about love, and to make their feelings known, while it is unseemly for women to do so. It also follows from this that men have the responsibility for proposing [declaratio], and if they are the ones who propose they also have choice. That women have freedom of choice among those who ask them is known, but this kind of choice is restricted and limited while that of men is extended and unlimited."
     The next two numbers make it clear that the woman should talk the proposal over with parents and then decide for herself before she gives consent.

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If such discussion about the man has not already happened during the time of dating, which usually is the case, then consent should be delayed until reflection of its seriousness is possible. Certainly the parents should know the man fairly well before the woman gives consent. Parents provide the necessary objectivity that "ought not" to be ignored. In our world consulting elders is not a popular concept. We have come full cycle from the arranged marriages of the 18th century. Many today believe that the woman knows her own mind and so needs no advice. The Word speaks to the contrary. Both advice and freedom are necessary.
     I quote one final point made in this general discussion: "That it is nevertheless necessary for the woman to consider the proposal by herself before she consents is because she might be brought unwillingly to union with a man whom she did not love, since she has not consented on her own behalf, and yet this consent makes the marriage and introduces her spirit into that love . . ." (italics added).
     The spirit is initiated into marriage and its love by consent, not by the rite of betrothal. A marriage of spirits which should be an objective of the state of engagement or betrothal begins with consent which is the "essential" of marriage.
     This fact is even clearer in the next number (300), which we will discuss in detail in our next article.

     The next article will appear in the June issue.

     FOOTNOTES

1 "Eighteenth Century Swedish Betrothal," Ormond Odhner, NCL 1962, p. 571ff.
2 The first New Church discussion of this term desponsatio, of which I am aware, coined the term "betrothment" to describe the rite. This seems unnecessary, but is a curious fact of history (see New Jerusalem Magazine, Vol 26, p. 238).
3 Priests are present at the rite of betrothal in heaven and in their role as the Lord's representative they consecrate consent. They are not present at weddings in heaven because there the groom represents the Lord. On earth this representation is not to be observed, as is clearly taught in Conjugial Love 308. Here priests should be present at weddings.
4 The term "weddings," nuptiae, specifically refers to the marriage services which are called "essential" and are two in number, a civil marriage contract and a blessing on the couple by the priest. These two services are usually performed in our single rite of marriage although at times the civil ceremony does precede the priest's blessing or consecrating of the marriage. Cf. CL 306.
5 In Bishop Pendleton's Notes on Ritual published seratim in NEW CHURCH LIFE 1919-1920, the editor, however, footnotes Bishop Pendleton's statement that such a service was unknown, with the comment that he was speaking "mainly for himself" (p. 97).
6 Notes on Ritual p. 102, 103.

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RELATIONSHIPS, COMMUNICATION, SEPARATION AND RECONCILIATION 1985

RELATIONSHIPS, COMMUNICATION, SEPARATION AND RECONCILIATION DONALD G. BARBER 1985

     (This is the conclusion of an article begun in the April issue.)

     It is easier to see communication problems in other people than in ourselves. This is because we tend to act as a father or mother to our children the way our father and mother acted toward us. If we become an office supervisor we may tend to act the way the previous supervisor did towards employees. We may act in some relationships in ways where we do not realize the discomfort we are producing or why we are producing it. If we are awkward in expressing our loves or our concerns for someone (spouse, child, friend), we may irritate the person rather than bringing him pleasure or comfort. The result of our efforts may be far from what we intended. Unfortunately when a communication problem develops, then future communication tends to be affected mainly by emotion and not enough reason-a situation which clouds the problem and makes it more difficult to solve.
     This emotion is like the fire of a burning house-from which we instinctively flee for safety. We need to escape from the fire before we can begin to combat it. This is consistent with the following,

No one is reformed in states that are not of rationality and liberty . . . . this is because freedom belongs to the will and reason to the understanding, and when man acts with freedom according to reason he acts by means of his understanding, and that which is done when these two are united is appropriated to him. Now since the Lord wills that man should be reformed and regenerated in order that he may have eternal life or the life of heaven, and since no one can be regenerated unless good is appropriated to his will so as to be as it were his own, and truth is appropriated to his understanding also to be as his own, and hence nothing can be appropriated to anyone except what is done from freedom of the will according to reason, it follows that no one is reformed in states that are not of liberty and rationality (DP 138).

No one is reformed in a state of fear, because fear takes away freedom and reason, or liberty and rationality; for love opens the interiors of the mind but fear closes them (DP 139).

     We can readily see that unhappy relationships which generate feelings of discomfort or anxiety, or which generate turbulent emotional exchanges, do not improve by continuing such communication. The beginning of improvement is to remove the anxiety or fear by separation from the other person in the relationship by returning to a calm state of freedom and rationality.

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The development of such a state will take time-time to allow feelings of hurt to heal-time to let fears subside.
     With separation and a return to a state of calm and mental comfort, the conclusion might be reached that separation is the solution to resolving an unhappy relationship. But further thought will indicate to us that we still have our difficulties in communicating with other people. We still have our "hangups," our biases and prejudices, our aggressiveness or our reluctance, our tendency to talk too much or to listen poorly. New relationships which we form will suffer in the same way as old relationships if we simply change geography and people in our relationships without changing ourselves.
     Separation is not the solution to an unhappy relationship but is the first step in the solution. Time, effort, patience and understanding are needed in order to try to retrace the path that has led to the unhappy relationship. An objective third party such as a trained counsellor or a trusted friend can be very helpful in this regard, since they may notice things to which people in a relationship become blind. The unraveling of past difficulties needs time and patience and prayer to God for enlightenment in honestly examining oneself and one's motives. The attempt to retrace the path may be slow at first. By calm talking and by calm listening the true spirit of communication can gradually return-and with it the warmth and consideration of genuine friendship, friendship based on a new vision and a new understanding. But whatever the pace, it will involve a willingness by each person in the relationship to search for the path which will bring them closer together. This is especially true in a marriage relationship where the commitment at the time of marriage is a deep and lasting one. Separation is not the end of this commitment but should be the first step on the road to revitalizing and renewing the commitment.
     What then might the next step be? I next studied the nature of conjugial love and mutual love in order to try to reach a conclusion on how to repair a strained relationship.

Love truly conjugial is the union of two as to their interiors, which are of thought and will, thus which are of truth and good . . . for he who is in love truly conjugial loves what the other thinks and what the other wills; thus he also loves to think as the other, and he loves to will as the other; consequently to be united to the other, and to become one man. This is what is meant by the Lord's words in Matthew: "And the two shall be into one flesh; therefore they are no longer two, but one flesh" (Matt. 19:4-6; Gen. 2:23, 24). AC 10169

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     Conjugial love [marriage love] consists in desiring to be in the other's life as a one; but mutual love consists in wishing better to another than to one's self, as is the case with the love of parents toward their children, and as is the love of those who are in the love of doing good not for their own sake but because this is a joy to them. AC 2738

     Mutual love in heaven consists in the fact that they love the neighbor more than themselves, the effect of which is that the whole heaven represents as it were one man; for by means of mutual love all are so consociated by the Lord, and hence it is that happinesses of all are communicated to each one, and those of each one to all. Consequently, the heavenly form is such that everyone is as it were a kind of center, thus a center of communications, and consequently of happinesses, from all, and this in accordance with all the differences of mutual love, which are innumerable. And because those in that love perceive the highest happiness in being able to communicate to others that which flows into them, and this from the heart, the communication becomes perpetual and eternal; and on this account, as the Lord's kingdom increases, so the happiness of each angel increases . . . . Nothing else endeavors to destroy this form and this order than the love of self, and therefore all in the other life who are in the love of self are more deeply infernal than others, for the love of self communicates nothing to others but extinguishes and suffocates their delights and happinesses. Whatever delight flows into them from others they receive to themselves, concentrate it within themselves, turn it into the filthiness of self, prevent its going any further, and thus destroy all that tends to unanimity and consociation. From this comes disunion, and consequently destruction.     AC 2057

     Regarding Genesis 29:34 ("And she conceived again, and bore a son, and said, Now this time will my man cleave to me, because I have borne him three sons; therefore she called his name Levi.")

     Since by the expression "to cleave," from which Levi was named, there is signified spiritual love, which is the same as mutual love, by the same expression in the original tongue there is signified a mutual giving and receiving; and among the Jewish people by mutual giving and receiving there was represented mutual love . . . . mutual love differs from friendship in this respect-that mutual love regards the good which is in a man, and because it is directed to good, it is directed to him who is in good; but friendship regards the man; and this also is mutual love when it regards the man from good, or for the sake of good; but when it does not regard him from good or for the sake of good, but for the sake of self which it calls good, then friendship is not mutual love but approaches the love of self, and insofar as it approaches this, so far it is opposite to mutual love. AC 3875:5

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     Regarding Genesis 42:2 ("And he said, behold I have heard that there is produce in Egypt.")

     "Produce" is here expressed in the original language by a word that means "breaking," and by a similar word are also meant "buying" and "selling" where it is said that Jacob's sons "bought" it in Egypt and that Joseph "sold" it there. The reason for this is that . . . bread was broken when it was given to another, and by this was signified to communicate good from one's own, and [at the same time] to appropriate it from one's own, thus to make love mutual. For when bread is broken and given to another it is communicated from one's own; or when bread is broken among several, then the one piece of bread becomes a mutual possession, and consequently there is conjunction through charity. From this it is plain that the breaking of bread was significative of mutual love. AC 5405

     The conjunction of minds, or spiritual conjunction (which is charity or mutual love), is that the mind of the one presents itself in the mind of the other with all the good of its own thought and will toward him, and in this way affects him; and on the other hand, . . . spiritual disjunction (which is enmity and hatred) is that the mind of the one presents itself in the mind of the other with the thought and will of destroying him, which causes rejection. AC 8734

     The beautiful descriptions of mutual love bring warmth to our hearts, while the destructive effect of self-love makes us recoil in cold horror. When we consider the various examples of relationships in life, and the frictions which can develop in those relationships, perhaps we have some doubts that self-love can be so suffocating. Certainly it is easy to visualize this result when self-love expresses itself in the love of dominion-in the unpleasant domineering, subtle or otherwise, which suppresses other people and gradually pushes them away. But what of the relationships which come to mind, both from our own experience and from our observation of the experiences of friends and acquaintances, where friction and discord result in one or both parties to the relationship backing off-for comfort or self-preservation?
     In the Toronto Globe and Mail, May 14, 1984, page M9, there appeared an article about hospital treatment for people who have received severe burns. The article said in part:

The stages a patient goes through resemble those of people who learn they are going to die.
For the first day or two, there is shock . . . the mind mercifully closes down to some extent for a day or two, but patients remain conscious. After shock comes denial, when a patient may insist he or she is not badly hurt and will be home in a short time.

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Recognition of the reality brings anger, which patients often take out on the nurses, followed by depression as patients try to come to terms with permanently scarred hands or face, and weeks or months of rehabilitation.
Patients vary enormously in how long and how severely they react in all these phases and often vacillate back and forth-angry one day, depressed the next, and so on. Some people reach acceptance fairly quickly; a few never accept what has happened to them and remain angry, depressed and embittered.
A great deal depends on personality. A person with a sense of humor and a positive attitude to life is more likely to come through better. Most important is the support of a strong, loving family.

     This is the description of the reaction of people who learn that they are going to die or who have received severe bodily bums. This leads me to wonder how people react when part of their emotional life dies, or who feel that they have received a severe emotional burn. Is the reaction to the emotional injury not similar to the reaction to the physical injury-shock, denial, anger, depression? And, just as with a physical trauma, recovery from a mental trauma is helped by a sense of humor, by a positive attitude, and by the support of family and friends.
     As mentioned earlier, if we find ourselves in a burning house, we instinctively flee for safety. The instinct of self-preservation is proper. We are then able to fight the fire, to try to preserve the house from complete destruction so that it can be rebuilt and re-used. We suffer some discomfort by getting near the fire to fight it, but we willingly do this because of our goal. Perhaps in our zeal to put out the flames we are oblivious to the discomfort.
     A human relationship is similar to a house. It is a framework of human affections and emotions within which two minds dwell. "Therefore, in the Word the things of love and charity are expressed by 'houses' and by families'" (AC 1159, Genesis 39). "For a house, and all things of a house, correspond to man's interiors which are of his mind" (AE 208). What should we do when this house is on fire? The instinct of self-preservation spurs us to first separate ourselves, to withdraw from the relationship. What do we do then? Do we watch the house burn down?
     The subtle voice of self-love appeals to our wish for comfort, and discourages us from facing the discomfort of making an effort to save the house. Self-love appeals to us to preserve our newly-acquired position of comfort (or, at least, lack of discomfort) and, perhaps by default, to avoid consideration of the welfare of the other person in the relationship. Self-love in this case does not push the other person away but leads to quietly withdrawing from him to let him seek his own fate.

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In either case, the result for the other person can be destructive.

     Running away from problems in a relationship in this way has two unfortunate consequences. Firstly, we do not reach a position of real comfort; we have simply avoided some discomfort. Secondly, our other relationships will probably suffer from our same lack of effort to support them when problems arise.
     What, then, should we consider doing in order to actively support the other person in the relationship and to attempt to repair the relationship? Certainly it will require effort, effort to risk discomfort of previous experiences, but effort which can be supported, strengthened and enlightened by prayer to God for help. The effort is supported by communication with a minister or friend and by communication with God through reading the teachings of His Word. The effort will also hopefully be supported and matched by the gentle response of the other person in the relationship. The healing resulting from separation probably leads to much less discomfort in the effort than is anticipated. There might even be the comfort which comes from doing something constructive.
     For troubled relationships, we can imagine some casual relationships which we simply abandon-e.g. if we are treated rudely by a store clerk, we can look for service from another clerk or perhaps purchase a needed article at another store-or perhaps we speak to the store manager in order constructively to help the rude clerk and the store.
     But many relationships in our lives are not casual. They involve family, friends, neighbors, school, church, business associates, spare time interests. We make definite efforts to resolve problems in these relationships. Many problems are resolved at their beginning, when they are mild. But if they develop to produce discomfort and aversion, then separation can be the start of the healing process, followed by the efforts described above to repair the relationship.
     The marriage relationship involves a special commitment not present in other relationships. In the book Conjugial Love, which treats of the ideals and happy states in marriage as well as dealing with problems and disorderly states in marriage, there is a chapter entitled the "Causes of Coldness, Separations, and Divorces in Marriage." Various causes are discussed from the general statement that "spiritual cold in marriage is a disunion of souls and a disjunction of minds, from which come indifference, discord, contempt, loathing and aversion; from which, with many, there at length follows separation as to bed, bedroom, and house" (CL 236).

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     But also discussed are apparent love, apparent friendship, and favor between married partners. These appearances are conjugial simulations, and they are praiseworthy, because useful and necessary. They are for the sake of amendments, accommodation of actions, preserving domestic order, care of children, peace in the home, . . . and for the sake of reconciliations (see CL 278-289). It seems to me that separation can be the first step in working toward at least the conjugial simulation of cohabitation with domestic order and peace-a result of which is an attempt to return toward the original marriage commitment. The return may be partial or complete but it seems to me that one important element is the attempt being made.
     For a child or young person, separation from the cause of the discomfort may not be an available choice. They likely are dependent for food and shelter on their parents. They may be in an uncomfortable position of their own making; e.g. an unwillingness to discipline their own behavior may have led to friction with parents or with school authorities or with other adults. They may be bored or curious or be reacting to unhealthy peer pressures. They may have a genetic imbalance or a bodily chemical imbalance, imbalances perhaps not of their making, perhaps from poor diet. Alternatively, they may find themselves in uncomfortable situations because of the actions of parents, teachers or other adults. These parents, teachers or adults have their own "hangups" and blind spots. They may have good intentions toward a young person, but not realize that they are unintentionally stimulating a defensive reaction in the young person.
     The young person is in a subservient position in the relationship because of his/her lack of maturity and lack of experience. He/she may react to avoid the discomfort in the relationship and produce behavior unacceptable to the parent or teacher or adult-which leads to further conflicts in the relationship.
     Two factors in the relationship make it difficult to locate the difficulty and improve the situation. First, as far as the parent or teacher or adult is concerned, the problem in the relationship with the child apparently lies in the unacceptable behavior of the child. The parent's understanding of the real cause and nature of the child's behavior is obscured by the high profile of the child's behavior, by the child's lack of maturity and the subservient position of the child to the parent and by the child's probable lack of understanding of his/ her reaction to regular, possibly unintended, pressures. The parent or teacher or adult finds it difficult to help the child improve his/her behavior under such circumstances. It is as though the parent or teacher or adult is telling the child to stop squirming while pinching the child at the same time. The child's natural reaction is one with large elements of self-preservation.

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     The second difficulty to improving the relationship lies in the difference between adult and child maturity. The parent or teacher or adult will likely consider him- or herself mature and able to deal with his relationships. If a problem arises in a relationship with a child, he will likely conclude that the problem has its root in, the immature child. The child, however, from lack of maturity, likely does not have the ability to handle the friction in the relationship. The emotional negative imprint produced in a child's mind during one stage of mental development will likely carry an enlarged emotional memory in the child's mired during following stages of mental development. But from lack of maturity the child may fail to recognize: that a parent may be trying to improve fairness where he has been unfair in the past; that most teachers are trying to help students even though some of them in the past have lacked the judgment on how to do this in a positive way; that judgment of adults should be based on the adult's current experience and efforts and not on the adult's past imperfect efforts; that the child's judgment of people in all relationships should be the result of the child's present experience and maturity and not always on the emotional states and immature judgment of the child's younger years. Similarly, adults must develop their relationship with a child or young person according to the young person's gradually developing maturity.
     All people like to be judged fairly. All people, both adults and children like to be judged on how well they are trying to improve themselves as persons now and in the future. In our judgment of people it is easy to remember their past mistakes, but if we make the effort we will probably see many positive things which they have done recently or are doing now. We wish to be judged in this manner. Should we not make a strong and continuing effort to judge the efforts of others in the same manner?
     The development and improvement of our many relationships in life is ongoing. The challenge and the rewards are endless. Because we are imperfect human beings, there will be frictions and irritations and serious strains which will develop in our relationships. While these developments may sadden us or discourage us, should we not try to consider these developments as opportunities?-opportunities to learn about ourselves and the inner nature of our motives and actions, and their effect on other people so that we can try to be more considerate of others with better results than has occurred in the past? Do we not want others to act the same way toward us? Should not our critical judgment of their actions be moderated by the mercy of helping them or permitting them to make the effort to do better? It requires us to make the effort to examine our motives, to search out our selfish intentions and thoughtless actions, to judge these for what they are-a barrier to the development of better relationships-and to resolve to separate these unacceptable characteristics from our lives.

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     The ability to express love or caring for someone varies with different people. Similarly, the ability to receive an expression of love or caring from someone will vary. If we can develop and improve these abilities, our life, and the lives of those with whom we come in contact, will be richer and happier.
     A friend once expressed to me the thought that people have a tunnel vision approach to many problems and challenges in life. How does this idea apply to our relationships?
     If we consider the many knowledges and the many attitudes which develop and strengthen warm, caring relationships as being represented by the shiny faces of a many-faceted crystal ball, we can recognize that we begin life by seeing only a few crystal surfaces-as though we were looking down a tunnel. As we grow older, we acquire more knowledge. We develop new attitudes and revise previously developed attitudes. We have many experiences in developing, strengthening and repairing relationships. We gradually see more crystal surfaces.
     Our aim in life should be through learning and experience to improve our relationships, to gradually see as many facets as possible on the crystal ball. Unfortunately, there are times when we feel discouraged from doing so. We are content to live with our restricted vision, to see only some crystal surfaces, to keep looking down our tunnel of the moment. Also perhaps some of the crystal surfaces we see have become blurred or soiled.
     If the crystal surfaces represent the potential total of knowledge and experience provided for us by our God to help us in developing and strengthening relationships, then we can hope to see only gradually over a lifetime most of the crystal surfaces.
     Our limited finite vision cannot match the infinite vision of our Creator.

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

     Our own way involves being guided by our own limited vision and includes the hazard of the shifting sands of our limited intelligence and our selfishness. Contrast this with trying to follow the Lord's way:

     The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. Numbers 6:26

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     Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Matt. 22:37-40 see also Dent. 6:4-5

     Conclusions

     1.      Repeated friction in a relationship leads to:
     (a)      weakening of the relationship,
     (b)      increased awareness of our own needs,
     (c)      decreased awareness of the needs of others.
     2.      There is a need to return to a state of freedom in order to properly examine the relationship and respond to its problems. Separation is one method of removing anxieties and returning to a state of freedom.
     3.      Prayer to God and reading His Word are a beginning in the search for strength and enlightenment to repair and restore the relationship.
     4.      Studying the nature and qualities of mutual love and conjugial [marriage] love provide a guide to repairing the problems of a relationship.
     5.      Studying the nature and qualities of self-love-as expressed by the love of dominion or by a love of self-preservation-provides a guide to what loves and actions will destroy a relationship.
     6.      Self-love combined with self-preservation can be subtle and hard to recognize. Initially it can usefully lead to the freedom which comes from separation. If continued it becomes destructive because it concentrates on self and abandons other people.
     7.      The ability to express love or to receive an expression of love is an ability we need to develop and improve.
     8.      If we are not trying to be part of the solution, then we are part of the problem. We must try to better understand our actions and their effect on other people in order to understand whether we are (or have been) unintentionally causing friction and discomfort in our relationships.

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REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF GENERAL CHURCH RELIGION LESSONS 1985

REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF GENERAL CHURCH RELIGION LESSONS Rev. Donald L. Rose 1985

     The search for imaginative ideas has been our agenda in weekly meetings with a think tank that we call "The Religion Lessons Task Force." A motto that I have wanted to adopt is: "May the task be with you." The motto has not so far caught on, but the task has been carried forward. We have been producing family lessons and providing activity projects with each one for five different age levels. When we had completed lessons through two of the gospels, we decided that we were ready to begin moving through one of the years sequence running from the beginning of Genesis to the end of the New Testament. We are now well into the Genesis series.
     In order to produce these lessons we need not only good ideas but practical people who are able to make the decisions and see to the details in rendering them in a fixed form and mailing them out. We have reason to be grateful for many hours of efficient volunteer work.
     Because we are pleased with what has been produced, one of the imaginative ideas that emerged in 1984 was the idea of an appealing Religion Lessons brochure. Our aim is to turn out such a brochure and even to agree upon a "logo" for it and to circulate it widely in 1985. By the time you are reading this report that brochure will be available. It is being mailed out with the spring issue of Theta Alpha Journal.
     I would like in closing to mention again the remarkably inclusive Sunday School Catalogue we have available which describes many things including the details of the Religion Lessons effort.
     Below are the figures for Religion Lessons mailed in 1984.

     Grade by Grade Lessons

Kindergarten               22
Grade One                    33
Grade Two                    31
Grade Three                    22
Grade Four                    21
Grade Five                    21
Grade Six                    14
Grade Seven                    17
Grade Eight                    14
Grade Nine                    8
Grade Ten                    6
Grades Eleven and Twelve          4
Total                         213

     Continued on next page.

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     The brochure mentioned above describes Festival Lessons (176 are mailed currently), Preschool Lessons (some 200 sent out) and Family Lessons (122 being sent out).
     Rev. Donald L. Rose,
          Director
REPORT OF THE EDITOR OF NEW CHURCH LIFE 1985

REPORT OF THE EDITOR OF NEW CHURCH LIFE Donald L. Rose 1985

     In this report I would like to emphasize the virtue of brevity. Editors who were attuned to the point of view of their readers have emphasized this theme before. Using the phrase "much in a little," multum in parvo, the editor of this magazine stressed this point in a report fifty years ago.
     He said, "I find that it is not always easy to get short articles . . . and so I have been urging our writers to make an effort to produce short articles . . . . A good example of multum in parvo are the "Notes on the Calendar Readings," from two to four pages in length, so faithfully contributed by Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner. More contributions of short articles would not only assist me in making up the monthly issue, but would also provide a greater diversity of subjects and authors. However, many busy people appreciate short treatments of doctrinal subjects, and find time to read them when they cannot undertake the reading of a long article. The Reader's Digest is a good example of what can be done with a large number of short articles. Of course, many of these are long articles in condensed form, and for this they have an expert staff of condensers. I do not advocate that in our case, but I would suggest that our writers might condense their own papers, and . . . get their ideas before the church. [The Editor] has a capacious wastebasket, and many things have there found their last resting place."
     Seventy years ago the editor invited news correspondents to write "tersely" and commented on a long item: "Good and true though it may be, it is to be feared that the great volume of it will defeat the primary purpose of the editor" (1915, p. 153).
     There are other examples of editorial appeals for brevity. That need is now greater than it has ever been. Although eighty-nine people wrote for the LIFE in 1984 (more than double the number we had ten years ago) there were authors and articles for which we did not have space, even when adding a substantial number of pages. We did not have room to publish all the addresses given at the General Assembly.
     I know that past editors would have rejoiced in the increased flow of material. We are grateful to be kept active with this largess, and we are enjoying the challenge of trying to serve both our readers and our writers.

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     You will notice an increase of communication in the figures below which show how our pages were used in 1984.

                              1984     1983
Articles                         248     210
Sermons                         44     64
Reports                         52     50
Communications                    70     48
Announcements                    28     25
Church News                         28     33
Editorials                         24     35
Reviews                         31     9
Directories                         31     31
Memorials                         11     0
Miscellaneous                    62     51
     TOTAL                         629     556

Number of Contributors
     Priests                    43     36
     Laity
          Men          32     32
          Women     14     8
               TOTAL LAITY          46     40
TOTAL CONTRIBUTORS               89     76

Circulation
     Paid Subscription                         1,189     1,106
     By Gifts                              304     323
                                        1,493     1,429
Free to clergy, libraries, new members, etc.     296     342
     TOTAL                                   1,789     1,771

          Donald L. Rose,
               Editor

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GENERAL CHURCH TRANSLATION COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT-1984 1985

GENERAL CHURCH TRANSLATION COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT-1984 N. Bruce Rogers 1985

     The work of editing Latin manuscripts and translating works of the Writings continued to progress in 1984. Once more we faced some difficulties in finding needed personnel, but thanks again in part to special contributions, we were adequately funded to carry on our primary projects.
     Experientiae Spirituales (formerly Diarium Spirituale). Editing of the Latin text has progressed well into the fourth volume (of six). This fourth volume is the last of actual text, including paragraphs 4545 to the end. The fifth and sixth volumes will contain Swedenborg's indexes to the whole work as well as an appendix. To quote the editor, Dr. J. Durban Odhner, "it is important to realize that this index is much more than an index in the usual sense in that it often reformulates and elucidates the textural materials. The index entries are, in fact, so important that we would suggest incorporating them in smaller print after the text of each paragraph or article when it comes to translation; and also, perhaps, choosing some other name than 'Index' for our last two volumes."
     Toward the end of the year, complimentary copies of the first volume of Experientiae (published in 1983 by the Academy of the New Church) were sent to several persons interested in Swedenborg either as theologians or as neo-Latinists: Prof. Emin Tengstrom, University of Gothenburg; Prof. Inge Jonsson, University of Stockholm; Ambassador Lars Bergquist, Swedish Ambassador to China; Mr. Carl-Goran Ekerwald, Blillsta, Sweden; Prof. Dr. Ijsewiin, Louvain University.
     Final revisions to the second volume were made with the assistance of Mr. Jonathan S. Rose and Miss Chara Cooper acting as consultants, and fortunately, thanks to a special contribution, after about a year's delay, toward the end of the year the Academy Publication Committee was able to send this volume to press. Dr. Odhner completed most of the initial editing of what will be volume three, and large portions of it are ready for the consultants, principally Mr. Rose.
     De Verbo. A new Latin edition of this work, prepared by Rev. N. Bruce Rogers, continues to await publication until it can be published with De Ultimo Judicio (posthumous) and other companion material found in the same coder (Coder 12).
     The Word of the Lord. A new translation of De Verbo, also prepared by Mr. Rogers, likewise continues to await publication until it can be published with The last Judgment (posthumous) and other companion material from Codex 12.

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     De Ultimo Judicio (posthumous). As reported last year, the primary editing of this new Latin edition, first by Mr. Prescott A. Rogers and then by Mr. B. Erikson Odhner, has been completed. Mr. Rogers is acting as consultant on the latter part of the work, and though he continued to make some progress with it, he was still unable to finish it due to other more pressing commitments. Certain decisions still remain to be made over the placement of certain paragraphs and also over the handling of some miscellaneous material in the same codex (Codex 12).
     The Last Judgment (posthumous). Mr. B. Erikson Odhner continued to prepare his new translation of De Ultimo Judicio (posthumous), and this past summer he completed the first draft through no. 133. Mr. Prescott Rogers is acting as his consultant.
     Conjugial Love. Rev. N. Bruce Rogers devoted his summer to beginning a new English translation of this work, and he completed a first draft of approximately one-seventh of the text, reaching no. 71. The first three chapters have been sent out to consultants and initial reviewers.
     The Old and New Testaments in Latin According to the Writings. This collation of verses as quoted in the Writings remained again in a state of suspension, due primarily to a lack of personnel to carry on the project. It is a project that must be completed sometime before a New Church translation of the Word can be properly undertaken.
     Swedenborg Lexicon. Compiled and edited by Dr. John Chadwick of England, this valuable Lexicon to the Latin Text of the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg is being published in installments by the Swedenborg Society. Mr. Jonathan Rose continued to assist in producing it by verifying quotations and references, working through listings under R and S.
     Selected Memorable Relations. With Lisa (Mrs. Kent) Cooper's retirement from the work to raise a family, this project has come to a halt-we hope a temporary one. As reported last year, of these nineteen simplified translations for the young, seven are in final form and the rest are in draft form, ready for review and final revision.
     Parallel Passages in the Writings. Again, thanks to the generous support of a special contribution for the continuance of this project, work progressed during the summer under the leadership of Mr. Edward Gyllenhaal, this time assisted by Mr. Rogerio Dalcin and Miss Kirsten Hansen. Works studied for parallel passages now include Heaven and Hell, The Four Doctrines, Conjugial Love, and The Apocalypse Revealed, Vol. I. Search for parallels to True Christian Religion, Divine Providence, and The Apocalypse Revealed, Vol. II, is underway but not complete.

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Only Miscellaneous Theological Works and Posthumous Theological Works remain so far untouched.
     When and if this project can be completed, it should prove of special benefit to future translators and students of the Writings. No list of parallel passages nearly so complete has been prepared before.
     "Translator's Corner." Dr. J. Durban Odhner continued as editor of this feature appearing in The New Philosophy. The final issue of 1984 contained the second installment of the first English translation of Swedenborg's De Sale Communi (On Common Salt), being translated under Dr. Odhner's direction by Mr. Michael David for the Swedenborg Scientific Association.
     Computerizing the Translation Committee. It has become increasingly clear that the acquisition of word processing equipment would help a great deal in the work of this committee, especially if it were compatible with the electronic typesetting equipment of the General Church Press. Electronic transcription would improve efficiency, eliminate the need for re-typing, and save in preparation costs. Mr. Jonathan Rose was accordingly assigned to begin researching the availability and cost of such equipment, a task which he is still actively pursuing.
     Other activities. In addition to their formal work for the Translation Committee, several members of the committee also engaged in other activities related to the work of this committee. For the record, we mention the following:
     With the support of the Paul Carpenter Fellowship Fund, administered by the Academy of the New Church, Mr. Jonathan Rose began pursuing advanced training in Latin at the University of Pennsylvania.
     Mr. Rose and Miss Chara Cooper also did additional research connected with the new Latin edition of Experientiae Spirituales.
     Mr. Prescott Rogers made an extensive study of the translation of the Arcana Caelestia by Rev. John Elliott published by the Swedenborg Society in England, resulting in a fairly long review published in NEW CHURCH LIFE (September 1984).
     Members of the committee produced several special reports as well throughout the year relating to the financing of the committee and the publication of its completed projects.
     Conclusion. The work of the Translation Committee seems to have settled down to a state of steady progress. Several items have either been published or completed for publication, and other projects continue to go forward. We have not always found the personnel we need, but we have developed a core of committed linguists who may be counted on to lend their efforts to this most fundamental and necessary work.
     Funding remains a concern. We have come to depend on special contributions at a time when one regular funding source is gradually reducing its annual support.

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We are confident, however, that the church understands the importance of the work, and that support will be found for it commensurate with the need. The need includes not only support for the time and efforts of the linguists but also support for publishing the results of their labors. This is the real fruit of the work: publications that may be of use and benefit to the church and to the upbuilding of the church, in service of the Lord who gave the Word.
N. Bruce Rogers,
Chairman
GENERAL CHURCH PUBLICATION COMMITTEE REPORT FOR 1984 1985

GENERAL CHURCH PUBLICATION COMMITTEE REPORT FOR 1984 Lorentz R. Soneson 1985

     This was indeed a productive year for the General Church Publication Committee, having received special donations to publish the following:
     Life Is Forever, a collection of children's stories about life hereafter, by Rev. Peter M. Buss, with illustrations by Lisa S. Buss
     Heaven's Happiness, the first 26 numbers of Conjugial Love, retold by Rev. John L. Odhner for children. This lovely pamphlet is illustrated by Linda S. Odhner.
     An Heritage of the Lord by Rev. Robert S. Junge. This pamphlet of 72 pages contains passages addressed to young parents which can be read prior to the baptism of their child.
     Escape from Egypt by Rev. Douglas M. Taylor. This booklet, describing the states of young people, was compiled from a series of doctrinal classes.
     Special funds have been received for reprinting The Moral Life by Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner; The Glorification by Rt. Rev. N. D. Pendleton; and Selected Papers by Rt. Rev. N. D. Pendleton. These reprints, long out of print but in demand, should appear for sale at our General Church book centers by February or March 1985.
     The missionary pamphlet Seeing's Believing by Dr. David Gladish has been sold out and is currently being revised for a second edition in 1985.
     Other publications out of print that will be republished when funds are available include:
     The Golden Heart by Amena Pendleton (Haines)
     The Wedding Garment by Louis Pendleton
     In the King's Service by Gertrude Nelson (Diem)
     The Tabernacle by Rt. Rev. George de Charms

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     The Invisible Police by Louis Pendleton
     The Nature of the Spiritual World by Dr. Alfred Acton
     Also, nearly out of print is Bishop de Charms' newest book, The Harmony of the Gospels.
     The Publication Committee will be responsible for preparing and binding the New King James Version of the Word when the proper negotiations have been settled with Nelson Publishing Company. It is reassuring, however, to know that a sizable inventory of the old King James Version, morocco bound, is available to our members through the General Church Book Center from our supplier, the Swedenborg Society in England. There is no threat of being without copies of the Word in the near future.
     This committee, which meets monthly, reviews manuscripts that are suitable for General Church readership. It is comprised of: Rev. Messrs. Alfred Acton, Harold C. Cranch, Daniel W. Heinrichs, Dandridge Pendleton, Donald L. Rose, Erik Sandstrom, Lorentz R. Soneson (Chairman), Douglas M. Taylor; and Mrs. Ian Henderson, Secretary of the committee and Manager of the General church Book Center; and Mr. William R. Zeitz, Treasurer's Office.
     Lorentz R. Soneson,
          Chairman
ABOUT THE MAP ON THE OPPOSITE PAGE 1985

ABOUT THE MAP ON THE OPPOSITE PAGE 1985

In the December issue our Directory included twenty-one societies. Add Freeport, Pennsylvania, and we have twenty-two. All but six of these are in the area covered by this map. We list sixty "circles" and "groups," several of which are also included on the map. (Every other month we list some seventy addresses under "Information on General Church Places of Worship.")
A look at the map shows the way we are spread on this continent. One observes that, with the exception of San Diego, our church schools (of which there are ten in the world) are clustered within a radius of some 400 miles.
Directory Corrections 1985

Directory Corrections 1985

     In the directory in the December issue, Rev. Nathan Gladish was listed among the ministers of the first degree, when he should have been listed among the pastors.
     Rev. Eric H. Carswell, assistant pastor of the Immanuel Church in Glenview, is currently the Principal of the Midwestern Academy.
     Rev. Grant R. Schnarr, assistant to the pastor in Glenview, is the Director of the Evangelization Program in Glenview.

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Title Unspecified 1985

[Map of the United States with societies and circles marked.]

236

Title Unspecified 1985

[Picture of Council of the Clergy]

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IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1985

     We congratulate Dr. Erland Brock, the editor of The New Philosophy, on two studies of high quality that begin in the January-March issue. Richard L. Goerwitz III presents a thorough study on "Extraterrestrial Life." In part this is "a survey of the history of the debate over a plurality of worlds from the time of the Greek philosophers up until the eighteenth century." He also enters a study of the thinking on this subject current at Swedenborg's time. Mr. Goerwitz sets as a goal '"to provide a firm footing for future historical and theological discussion of this topic." This deserves close attention. One of the rewards that awaits the reader is the special pleasure one feels in the energy of a fine young scholar.
     Linda Simonetti Odhner presents a study entitled "Correspondences of the Developing Human Form." The several fine illustrations enhance this excellent piece of work.
     The Theta Alpha Journal needs no promotion by us. It is eagerly devoured by readers. The Spring issue does it again. Who could fail to be touched by the article entitled "The Gift"? Under the heading "Religion in Our Schools" there are four brief and interesting treatments of current developments in religious instruction. One source suggests that "we don't give sufficient attention to the prophets of the Old Testament or to the Gospels, and that we start studying the internal sense too early . . . ." This is a good example of ideas for improvement of New Church education. A new perspective is given us by Kirsten Synnestvedt in her "Thoughts on Being a New Church Organist in Other Churches." "Serving ten different denominations has been an incredibly good practical course in comparative religion." A feature in the Journal called "Let's Apply" poses searching questions and invites ministers to answer them. In this issue outstanding responses are supplied by Rev. Kent Junge and Rev. Martin Pryke. Such worthwhile content is a good reason to save your copies of this fine journal.
     A particularly popular feature of the family magazine New Church Home is the interview. In the Spring issue Mr. Walter Childs III is interviewed. Once again NCH is highly interesting and informative.

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Editorial Pages 1985

Editorial Pages Editor 1985

     THE LIVELY DISCUSSION ON BETROTHAL (II)

     In this issue Rev. Alfred Acton furnishes new insight into the subject of betrothal, based on careful research. Those who have researched this subject have used as a primary tool the Swedenborg Concordance of J. F. Potts which contains two dozen references to "betrothal." Here is an instance in which it is important to know of further references that appear in Additions to the Swedenborg Concordance published by the General Church Press in 1980.
     Among more than a dozen additional references in this volume are some that are particularly important. Included in these is a strong teaching about those who reject betrothal and rush into marriage.
     Number 312 of Conjugial Love speaks of a burning out that occurs with those who rush without regard for order.

This is the case when a man and woman precipitate marriage without order, not looking to the Lord, not consulting reason, rejecting betrothal, and yielding only to the flesh (emphasis added).

     A beautiful discussion with an angelic couple includes the following:

We are from the heaven of innocence. We came into this heavenly world as infants and were brought up under the Lord's auspices; and when I became a young man and my wife who is here with me became a marriageable girl, we were betrothed and contracted and were joined in marriage. CL 444

     The phrase "betrothed and contracted" in the above is rendered in the Warren translation "affianced and betrothed." The Latin is desponsati et pacti.
     Number 55 speaks of a melody of utmost sweetness that was heard from heaven. It was a song "of some lovely affection," but the spirits near Swedenborg were not sure what affection it was.

Some guessed that the song was an expression of the affection of a bridegroom and bride when betrothed; some that it expressed the affection of a bridegroom and bride when going to their wedding; and others, that it expressed the honeymoon love of husband and wife (emphasis added).

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A final example of a reference not to be found in the Concordance is only an illustration of a point made in Coronis 48. It is, however, an appealing passage:

Must not a bridegroom first cause himself to be seen before he proposes betrothal, and afterwards marriage?
NCL 50 AND 100 YEARS AGO 1985

NCL 50 AND 100 YEARS AGO 1985

     In May of 1935 this magazine announced that work had begun on a translation of T.C.R. into the Polish language. The Academy library had received some of it in mimeographed form. At that time the library had a Polish edition of Divine Providence published in 1876 and one of Heaven and Hell published in 1880. The same issue announces that an article in NEW CHURCH LIFE had been translated into the Bohemian language and published in a magazine in Prague.
     In the May issue of 1885 we read, "It has often been said in the New Church yhat external worship is 'a nonessential,' and the observance of rites and ceremonies have been pooh-poohed, derided, and combated, notwithstanding the doctrine concerning the usefulness" of external worship. We are reminded of the teaching that in the created universe "there is nothing which is essential in itself' (AC 5949). External worship is instrumental, but it serves what is essential. On the front page of the same issue we find the following.

ATTENTION is called to the case of a Swedish gentleman, a soldier of thirteen years' standing in the United States Army, who first saw the Writings of the New Church four years ago at a public library in Texas, but who never came in contact with New Churchmen and never saw a New Church tract, periodical, or collateral work until two months ago.

     Later in the issue is a letter from this soldier. He writes, "I never would have received the Writings as a Divine influence upon the human life if I had not been in an affirmative state with regard to their complete Divine authority . . . I hereby send my subscription for NEW CHURCH LIFE; I agree perfectly with the views this paper holds on what relates to the New Church."

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COMPARISON 1985

COMPARISON Carla Zecher 1985

     Communications
Dear Editor,
     Dr. William Kintner's proposal for a book on Jewish history reminded me of an interesting essay by Erich Auerbach in which he examines the differences in literary style between two ancient texts: the Old Testament and Homer's The Odyssey. What follows is a summary of his main points, and some thoughts they brought to my mind.
     The essay is actually the first chapter in a large work entitled Mimesis, which traces the history of the representation of reality in western literature (Erich Auerbach, Mimesis. Trans. William R. Trask. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1953, rpt. 1974). Auerbach explains that he has chosen these two texts as the starting point for his study because they exhibit two fundamental (and contrasting) literary styles which have since exerted a constitutive influence on European literature. He puts aside the issue of origins in order to concentrate on the texts as they appear in their completed form. Both are ancient; both are narratives. Yet they are quite different stylistically.
     The essence of the Homeric style is to present phenomena in a completely externalized form. Nothing is permitted to remain hidden or unexplained, and for this reason events take place without great tension. Even all the thoughts and feelings of the characters are expressed, if not to others, then in soliloquies. However, in the Old Testament we find a bare minimum of information provided. Only those aspects of phenomena are presented that pertain to the specific purpose of a story-no explicatory digressions break the course of the narrative. Only decisive moments are accentuated-other events and often personal feelings are hinted at with fragmentary phrases, or overlooked entirely. As a result the narrative projects great tension. Auerbach cites as an example the story of the sacrificing of Isaac, where all elements are obviously oriented toward one goal (God is in some way, for some reason, testing Abraham), but much remains mysterious. (In what form did God appear to Abraham? What is the significance of Abraham's enigmatic response to Isaac: "My Son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering"? What is he feeling as he lays his only son upon the altar? How did the ram suddenly appear in the thicket?) Clearly these stories contain a hidden sense-the literary style itself calls for interpretation.

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The Odyssey, although it reveals an artistic and linguistic culture superior to the Jewish one, nevertheless offers a relatively simple image of mankind. The grand figures-patriarchs, prophets and kings-of the Old Testament are much more capable of development as individual human beings, are more charged with a sense of their own past, are more carefully characterized than the heroes of Homer. They sink lower in their moments of defeat and rise higher in times of triumph than any Homeric character. And often this factor of psychological development or progression confers a historic nature even upon those sections of the Old Testament which clearly consist of legendary tradition, with the result that we find ourselves wanting to believe what we find in these stories, even though we know they cannot be literally true. (Surely the Lord's hand is at work here.)
Naturally these stylistic differences are to some extent the result of the differing goals of the two texts. Homer's tale exists to please. to recount legend in a concrete and artistic form, to draw us into another "reality." One can analyze Homer, but one cannot interpret him, for he has already done that for us. On the other hand the Old Testament writers were concerned with human history; specifically with the history of the relationship between the Jewish people and their God. Dr. Kintner writes. "A most inexplicable miracle of history is how a small Semitic tribe survived over 4,000 years in mostly hostile environments and served as the wellspring of three great religions." (If I may digress here a moment, I remember that this startling phenomenon was first brought to my attention by the opening sentence of Chaim Potok's book, Wandering: "When I turn to the Bible, I discover that my ancestor's name was Abraham." The book traces the history of the Jews from ancient to modern times.) Dr. Kintner also notes that most scholars attach great importance to the binding power of the Bible-the concretization of the message of the Torah. in this regard, from the historical point of view, another "inexplicable" miracle is how this small, continually warring, culturally rather undeveloped tribe was able to generate a Literary text of the stylistic depth of the Old Testament. The Old Testament writers drew successively upon three domains: legend, inherited from other peoples (specifically, we now know, from the Ancient Church); historical narration (a more or less accurate account of the early years of the Jewish people, including a collection of their laws); and finally interpretive theology, perhaps the most intriguing aspect of all, consisting of a series of prophecies and anticipation of the coming of a "Messiah." One wonders to what extent the Jewish writers were conscious of the import of what they were doing, as they bound together these various elements. I refer to the type of consciousness that the New Testament writers and finally Swedenborg certainly had.

242

     Dr. Kintner notes that "there is no consensus among Jewish or Christian scholars as to whether the Bible was divinely inspired or whether it was a fantastic creation of human imagination whose most miraculous events can be explained by modern psychoanalysis." At the risk of oversimplification I think it is safe to say that remarkable innovations in literary style, while of course representing to some extent the activity of the human imagination, nevertheless do derive from a historical-sociological situation. To write is to encode a mental entity and this process is to some extent conditioned by cultural phenomena. Writers write from and for a context, not a vacuum. There are evident sources for both the elements of legend and of history that we find in the Old Testament. For example, a close comparison of the first few chapters of Genesis with other ancient creation myths would produce, I imagine, many parallels, and perhaps even furnish clues about the dissemination of the Ancient Word after the fall of that church. (I display my ignorance here-perhaps this work has already been done?) But I would indeed be very surprised if such comparative studies were to find a historical precedent for such statements as: "And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel" (Genesis 3:15). Here we have a choice, to admire the remarkable, prophetic creativity of the ancient writer, or to seek another source under the heading of "Divine inspiration."
     What Swedenborg's revelation accomplishes is of course to provide us at last (after centuries of scholarly struggle) with a precise explanation of this mysterious Divine influence which surfaces in stylistic traits in the Old Testament text. Erich Auerbach defines mimesis as "the interpretation of reality through literary representation or 'imitation'" (p. 554). The Old Testament mimesis is deceptive for it really presents a diachronic history on not one but two levels: a recounting of Jewish history, and a representation of another reality on a second level, which supersedes the first in importance and therefore governs the manner of its expression. The investment of Old Testament figures with a type of psychological development previously unknown (to my knowledge) in narrative literature is a direct (and logical) consequence of the action of the internal sense-which itself deals with the topic of human "psychological development": i.e. regeneration.
     Synchronic methods of literary analysis, such as Auerbach employs, often produce results that are not only interesting in themselves but also, when joined later with a reexamination of the question of origins, provide us with a new perspective, and force us to acknowledge our preconceptions for what they are (or, to put it differently, for what they're worth).

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In the case of the Old Testament the text presents unique stylistic traits, difficult to account for in exclusively historical terms, but all perfectly explicable when joined with the insights offered in the Writings. It is time this was pointed out to Biblical scholars. I have found modern Biblical criticism to be frighteningly false. Fortunately I don't believe that the sphere of influence of this type of work extends far beyond the walls of theological school libraries, both because the style in which it is presented is unbelievably detailed and repetitious (in a negative sense), and because it is of no interest to modern Christianity, caught up in its concern for the Social Gospel. In contrast with contemporary criticism I find the point of view of some of the early Christian writers particularly refreshing. Saint Augustine, treating of a verse in Psalm 46, writes that human voices should here be silent and human reflections be stilled; that we should not contemplate incomprehensible things so as to understand them, but rather so as to participate in their mystery. We now know that in principle nothing in the Bible is "incomprehensible." Yet if we replace the word "mystery" with the idea of wonder, it is indeed true that in our continuing search for the truths contained in the internal sense we must beware of intellectual arrogance, and never lose sight of the importance of the letter of the Word-or lose our ability to approach it in a humble and childlike state. Augustine also says that we must read like a child.
     I have digressed; and my own field being mediaeval and renaissance, rather than ancient, literature, I have a feeling I should stop at this point and put the topic of the Old Testament back into Dr. Kintner's capable hands, before I wander any further in areas where I don't belong. To conclude, I am curious to know what types of intertextual study may have already been undertaken with the Old Testament and other ancient texts by New Church scholars. And with what results?
     Carla Zecher,
          Strasbourg, France
MORAL LIFE 1985

MORAL LIFE 1985

When The Moral Life by Dr. Hugo Lj. Odhner was published in 1944, 1,500 copies were printed. Thirteen years later a revised edition was printed. That was 28 years ago, and the 2,000 copies were sold out some time ago. We are delighted to report that a 1985 edition is now available (see the report on page 233).

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GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM IN CANADA 1985

GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM IN CANADA Rev. Geoffrey Childs 1985

     Report of the Bishop's Representative-March 1985

     The two-year Lecture Pilot Project is going strong and is now in its sixth month. Each lecture in selected Canadian cities is preceded by a month's advertising in the major newspaper of the area, plus publicity posters and spot radio announcements. In recent years such lectures have been given in Ottawa, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and this year in Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, and Roblin. Also, the Kitchener ministers have been giving lectures as part of their evangelization project. As well as the Book Store project and enquirers' classes, Toronto will also have a lecture this spring. What results have come from these lectures and the publicity for the Writings? Hundreds and hundreds of letters have been received requesting copies of Heaven and Hell and other books of the Writings. A number of correspondents have asked to be on our mailing list for sermons.
     So the good news of the Lord's crowning Word is spreading, and the water of true knowledge is filling the waterpots in a spiritual Cana. It is the Lord alone that can turn this water into wine-the beautiful wine of sustaining spiritual truth.
     To formalize the work of evangelization across Canada, we are in the process of forming a non-profit organization called "Information Swedenborg." This will have its own board of directors, under the sponsorship of the General Church in Canada, and the leadership of the Bishop's Representative in Canada and the Evangelization Pastor.
     One primary goal is to have an organization formed for the purpose of evangelizing for the New Church across Canada, and in this work not have the serving of any specific church organization as a sine qua non. Thus if a lecture in Edmonton helps to send worshipers to the Convention Church there, we will feel rewarded. Also, "Information Swedenborg" will have the Toronto Swedenborg Book Store as a project. At first the Toronto Book Store will be under the Olivet Society leadership, but the hope is that down the road this project may become an Information Swedenborg use. And with this there is the goal of acting as a bookstore for the New Church across Canada, until the time that other bookstores may be started.

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It is an exciting challenge, and our hopes are with it!
     As the General Church in Canada grows in strength and numbers, a future attainable goal is that we become a diocese. One part of this hoped-for growth is a solid New Church educational base, starting with kindergarten and going up through the complete high school years. The Writings present the vision and ideal of New Church education as a continuous process throughout childhood and youth. The delightful challenge in this is to warm hearts and minds with the Lord's clear presence in science, arts, and the humanities. He is there to touch the affections, and give jewels of interior truth!
     Our goal is to start a 9th and 10th grade New Church high school in Canada by 1995, or earlier. Enrollment projections and results from evangelization should make this possible. But funding is necessary, and the time to start is now, while we have 10 years to build up endowment. Looking to this end, the General Church in Canada board at its January 19th, 1985, meeting in Caryndale voted to place the recent bequest of Miss Venita Roschman into the New Church secondary education fund. This includes not only the $8,000 of the original bequest, but continuing payments from royalties that will add yearly to the fund for a while to come. Miss Venita Roschman served New Church education all of her life. Her heart and professional career were dedicated to this work. What a delightful thing that she contributes the first major endowment to a New Church high school in Canada!
     For the sake of this future vital use, we ask you to consider this need of the New Church in your financial gift planning, recognizing entirely that this is a free will offering and decision. But we need to start now if this dream is to become a reality. In the meanwhile, there are the high school classes in local societies and groups, and the young people's weekends. And in the summer there are the Dawson Creek and Maple Leaf camps. This year the Maple Leaf camp will be held from Tuesday, June 18th, to Friday, June 28th, with an excellent staff. For application forms, write to Mr. Frank Raymond, 97 Waterton Road, Weston, Ontario M9P 2R2.
     The 1986 Canadian National Assembly will be held in Caryndale, probably near June 19th (June 20th to 22nd). The term "national" is perhaps overdoing it! But it expresses a hope that church friends from across Canada will plan ahead and consider attending this special event, even as is done with General Church international assemblies.
     In line with the request of Bishop King to please give a high priority to upgrading General Church ministers' and teachers' salaries, a request was made in late 1984 for contributions to a supplemental salary fund, until a higher salary base could be planned for and arranged.

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The response to this request was heartwarming, and made for a relaxed Christmas for a number of employees! Their thanks to you, through letters to me, were very touching. On a longer range basis, the board voted to adopt a 120% salary scale (in relation to the U.S. General Church scale); this was subject to consultation. We can now report that this new scale will go into effect as of March 1st, 1985. The GCIC budget will be under heavy challenge to meet this increase, but it is the path upon which conscience takes us.
We close by thanking Mr. Gilbert Niall for his term as administrator, and by expressing our appreciation for his planning and work. We'd also thank retiring secretary Denis Kuhl for fine work at a tough job! Also retiring from the board are Mr. Philip Bellinger and Mr. Karl Parker. Karl has done research for us in the educational field, and we'll be sorry to lose his faithful services on the board. Mr. Phil Bellinger helped to found the Long-Range Planning Committee for the GCIC, and did imaginative thinking and planning in our recent initiatives in increasing evangelization and pastoral services. We'll miss him, and we thank him!
Rev. Geoffrey Childs
Now is the time to order Graduation Gifts 1985

Now is the time to order Graduation Gifts 1985

     Announcements

     New:
Divine Providence, Red Morocco                    $15.00
Arcana Caelestia, New Elliott translation, Vols. 1 and 2     ea. 10.70

     Ever popular:
Compendium of Swedenborg's Theological Writings     5.00

     Available on any book:
Gold letter imprinting, average price                    5.00
Gift wrapping                                   No charge
Postage, per book                              .70

     General Church Book Center
Box 278, Cairncrest
Bryn Athyn, PA 19009

     Hours: Mon-Fri. 9-12
or by appointment
Phone: (215) 947-3920

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Notes on This Issue 1985

Notes on This Issue Editor 1985

Vol. CV June, 1985 No. 6
NEW CHURCH LIFE

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     The month of June brings graduation time, and we have the pleasure of seeing the fruits of New Church education in the form of the students that have gone through the schools. Beginning on page 284 we are showing some of the people graduating in Bryn Athyn this month. We have a photo of the seniors in high school taken this spring during their trip to Washington, D.C.
     It is a pleasure to be able to include a selection from the photographs in the album that celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Girls School. Reflections on the First 100 Years will be on sale at graduation exercises this month.
     Are you aware of the "variety of arrangements" we have in various schools with respect to the education of girls and boys? See the letter "Separate Education" beginning on page 282.
     It has been more than ten years since we have published something by Rev. Kenneth Stroh. We are particularly pleased to have his sermon with the opening question: "How do you picture the Lord?" Mr. Stroh is now pastor of the Colchester Society in England.
     The concluding article on the subject of betrothal invites us to think of exactly what the passages in Conjugial Love say. If we find that previous interpretations of those passages were less than perfect and do some readjusting of our thinking then things are as they should be. Changing our thinking from improved understanding of what the Writings say is appropriate to the spirit of our organization.
     "The Lord has created the human mind so that when it is mature, it can look at itself. We can think about what we are doing as we do it; what we are saying . . . thinking." In the first of two articles on the steps of spiritual growth Rev. Clark Echols talks first of AFFIRMATION and then of REFLECTION. After this he speaks of MEDITATION, REPENTANCE and BREAKING PATTERNS.
VISITING PASTOR TO DENMARK 1985

VISITING PASTOR TO DENMARK 1985

Rev. Ottar Larsen is now serving as visiting pastor to the Circle in Copenhagen, Denmark, while continuing his pastoral work in England.

251

BEHOLD THE MAN! 1985

BEHOLD THE MAN! Rev. KENNETH O. STROH 1985

     "Behold the Man!" (John 19:5)

     How do you picture the Lord? When you talk with our Heavenly Father, when you pray to Him, how do you think of Him? Do you think of Him as a mighty force, governing the universe by inexorable and impersonal laws that have been called the laws of the Divine Providence-a force that does not know or care how much sugar you put in your tea or coffee or what your name is, or the color of your eyes? Or do you think of the Lord in the way that the Word describes Him, as a Man? And if Man, what sort of Man? Is He tall or short? A pygmy or a giant:, Does He smile on you or frown on you? Does He have eyes, ears and a mouth as we do?
     In our lesson from the Writings we read that, being a Man, God "has a body and everything pertaining to it, that is, a face, breast, abdomen, loins and feet; for without these He would not be a Man. And having these, He also has eyes, ears, nose, mouth and tongue; and also the parts within man, as the heart and lungs, and their dependencies, all of which, taken together, make man to be a man" (DLW 18). And were we not created after His image and into His likeness?
     Yet, in reference to the internal sense of a Psalm which speaks of the Lord hiding His face, inclining His ear and answering our prayers, the Writings tell us that "it is known that Jehovah does not have ears or eyes like a man, but that it is some attribute predicable of the Divine that is meant by the 'ear' and by the 'eye,' namely, infinite will and infinite understanding" (AG 3869e). How then does the Lord want us to think of Him? How should we picture the Lord?
     Certainly He invites us to see Him and to come to Him as a Man. For did not Jesus come before the Jews and say to them, "Behold the Man!"? These words were spoken at a time of turmoil and disgrace for the Jewish nation. Jesus, having been betrayed by Judas Iscariot, was taken by officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, was brought before the high priest, and later was conducted to the judgment hall of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. Pilate, finding no fault in Jesus, sought to release Him. But the Jews would have none of that. So Pilate, according to the Roman custom, had the prisoner whipped unmercifully-possibly hoping that this would satisfy the people. His soldiers put a crown of thorns on Jesus' head, put a purple robe on Him, hailed Him as King of the Jews, and struck His head with their hands.

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But when He was brought out to the people, the chief priests and officers still cried out, "Crucify! crucify!" It was while He was before these people that Jesus said, "Behold the Man!" What kind of Man did the Jews behold? What kind of Man do we see when the Lord comes to us, or when we approach Him-as in prayer?
     What do we see when we look at any man-any fellow human being, male or female? At first sight we may be made aware of another person's height, girth, complexion, beauty, deformity-various physical characteristics. But soon we come to regard the person not so much as a physical specimen, but as a human being having certain qualities of heart and mind. When thinking of another person's character, such as it appears to us, we may speak of him as a small man, a great man, a clever fox, or perhaps even a work horse. And we know that we are speaking of his life, and the purposes he seems to want to accomplish in his life. Almost instinctively we have at least some idea of what the Writings mean when they say that a human being is not a person from face and body, but from understanding and will" (DLW 251). We relate to others mainly according to the love we feel in them, and the wisdom they seem to display. We would not know of their qualities of mind and heart without the body which brings these qualities forth to us. The body, either natural or spiritual, is necessary as a housing or clothing for the mind. But man is man only according to his life. His life is his love and his wisdom. And these are what we must see if we are to know the man.
     So if we are to see the Divine Man, we must come to know His mind and His heart; we must learn of His love and His wisdom: for these are what make Him to be Man. The Writings caution us not to entertain a merely bodily idea of God. We are told that "those who have a bodily, natural idea of God as a Man are wholly unable to comprehend how God as a Man could have created the universe and all things thereof: for they think within themselves, How can God as a Man wander all over the universe from space to space and create? Or how can He, from His place, speak the word, and as soon as it is spoken, creation follow?" (DLW 285). But we must think of God as a Man if we are to accept Him as our Creator. So we are given the advice, "Bring your thought into the angelic idea of God as being a Man, putting away, as much as you can, the idea of space, and you will come near in thought to the truth" (Ibid. ).
     We are told further that "God is not to be thought of from space," and that if we remove space and time from our thought, then we can comprehend that God "created the universe out of Himself, and not out of nothing; also that His Human body cannot be thought great or small, that is of any one stature, because this also pertains to space" (Ibid.).

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Thus we who are living here, in time and space cannot think rightly of God in exactly the same way as we think of our fellow human beings. For we are merely human, while He is Divinely Human. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8, 9). And as the prophet Samuel said, "man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (I Samuel 16:7).
     The Lord is Man, yes, but Divine Man, because He is love itself and wisdom itself. And the Writings describe the essence of His love. He loves others outside of Himself, He wills to be one with them, and to make them happy from Himself. That is, the Lord loves the entire human race, and all things of creation which are the means of sustaining the human race. He longs to be joined with all, and is joined with the angelic heavens, and with all on the earth who receive from Him anything good and true, in which He can dwell; and He gives endless blessedness and happiness to all who receive into themselves His love. For He is love itself. And we are told that His love "breathes forth blessedness, happiness and felicity to eternity" (TCR 43). This is the essence of the Divine Man who is our Heavenly Father, who created us, who sustains us, and who will save us if we will but permit and co-operate-and who loves us. And those who know of this essence know the truth about the Lord.
     It is to reveal and affirm this truth that the Divine Word has been given in its different forms. It was to reveal this truth that the Lord came into the world. He was and is the Truth itself. As He said to Pilate, "For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice" (John 18:37). The gospel according to John declares that "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . . In Him was life, and the life was the light of men . . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:1, 4, 14). It was as this light, this truth-the Word-that Jesus came forth, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and said, "Behold the Man!" And when He did so, He was showing forth in external act the manner in which the Jewish Church received and treated the Divine Word. Truly, the Light shined in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
     How do we comprehend the Light? How do we see the Lord? What do we know and how do we feel about those Divinely Human qualities that He has revealed in the Heavenly Doctrine?

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     Let us not think that inherently we are any different from those who wished to destroy Jesus, and who shouted, "Crucify! Crucify!" We too can be interested in the Lord's miracles, but unreceptive to His call to the life of love and charity. We can have a curiosity about, and interest in, the spiritual sense of the Word that has been revealed, in the idea that we will live after death, in the accounts of Swedenborg's admission into the spiritual world, in the things we are told about heaven, the world of spirits and hell-and these things "surpass all miracles" (Coro. LI), but we still can be uncaring for the way the Lord's words apply to our lives. Sometimes we are not above thinking, "I know what the Writings say, but in my case it's different." How often do we heed the Lord's call to self-examination and repentance? How often do we take lightly what the Lord has said about the relationship between the sexes, and the order that belongs to conjugial love? How often do we prefer the broad path of self-interest and worldly pleasures to the narrower way that leads to heaven and eternal happiness?
     If we allow ourselves to make excuses for satisfying our worldly desires at the expense of the teachings of the Writings, we are doing in fact what was pictured by placing the crown of thorns on Jesus' head. Any attempt to bend the Lord's teaching-His wisdom-to our whims can be comparable to the act of those who buffeted His head. When our only purposes in life are worldly and of the body, rather than of the spirit, it is as if we are mocking our heavenly King by draping Him in a purple robe, and trying to make Him suit our purposes. If we do violence to the Lord's words, we are doing violence to the Lord Himself, whose life is in those words. We are doing what the Old Testament calls "slaying the innocent and the righteous" (Ex. 23:7). For we are told in the Arcana Coelestia that "to 'shed innocent blood' means to extinguish in a man what is Divine from the Lord, thus the Lord Himself in him; for the truth and good in a man are the Lord Himself, because they are from Him" (AC 9262:6).
     Yes, we are capable of crucifying the Lord, spiritually. But we also are capable of being His disciples; we are capable of coming to Him, following Him, learning of Him, obeying His teachings, and so coming to love Him. The Lord wants us to turn to Him for help. For He said, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). His love goes out to all, wanting to be joined with them and to make them happy from Himself. And He invites us all to learn of His ways, and to reflect on their application to our lives. He invites us to examine our relationship with Him, and to have hope for our future, no matter how direful the state of mind and of life we think we are in. "Look to Me," He says. "Behold the Man!"

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     And when we look, when we behold Him, what do we see? Surely the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, the Lord's Word to His New Church, gives us the opportunity to see the Lord Jesus Christ as the one, only God of heaven and earth. We are blessed with the opportunity to know of His Divine essence, and the nature of His boundless love and wisdom. We have been shown how, in His love and His wisdom, He governs our lives, gently leading our every step so that He can draw us to Himself in heaven, if we will allow it. In these Writings, the Lord opens to view His Divinely Human dualities, so that we may come to know Him, and to know His presence in our lives. And He has shown us how to learn to love Him, by fleeing from all that is contrary to His will, that we may open our hearts to Him from whom alone is all love. So may we come to know Him in His glorified Divine Human, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ-know Him in a life of mercy, compassion and love.
     The new revelation, the Writings of the Second Advent, have been given so that we may grow in our awareness and our reception of that love and that wisdom that is a free gift of the Lord. And He alone loves and is wise from Himself, for He alone is Man. Our Heavenly Father's love burns to go out in fullness to all who are willing to receive and respond to those qualities of life that are truly human, because they are from Him. For He is the Source of all humanity. May each one of us learn, in the best sense, to "Behold the Man!" Amen.

     LESSONS: Psalm 11; John 19:1-16; DLW 18-19 HALLEY AND SWEDENBORG (I) 1985

HALLEY AND SWEDENBORG (I) 1985

Since Halley's comet is scheduled to make its appearance in a few months there are some related trivia which this year are more worthy of pursuit than in other years. Swedenborg was personally acquainted with Sir Edmund Halley when Swedenborg was in his mid twenties. Halley was at that time the secretary of the Royal Society. Astronomy was their main common interest, and they compared notes on the problem of finding the longitude by means of the moon.
In the Writings one finds reference to faith that has no object to which it is determined. Such faith "rises like a comet with a long tail, and like it passes over and disappears" (TCR 339). In another reference angels speak with people who believe that the earth will be destroyed. The angels ask them how they imagined this would take place. Some answered that "a great comet would invade the atmosphere of the earth, and would set it on fire with the flame of its tail" (5 Mem. Rel. 11).

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STEPS OF OUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH 1985

STEPS OF OUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH Jr. Rev. J. CLARK ECHOLS 1985

     Being a Review of Some of the Major Aspects of the Regenerative Process

AFFIRMATION

     We are all endowed by the Lord from our creation with the ability to believe. But exercising that ability is something else, and is a complex and individual process. All our experience teaches us something. All that we are told by others, read in books, all the things that happen to us, everything we sense from the world-all these experiences build up a structure in our minds. It then remains for us to choose what we will believe of all that experience, what to make true for us.
     Everything that is true is, of course, from the Lord. So when speaking of our spiritual growth, the question is whether we will affirm as true what the Word teaches. Or will we deny some or all of what the Word teaches? It is our choice. Will the Word be true for us or not?
     Arcana Coelestia 2568 paints a clear picture: At any point in our lives we will be ruled either by the negative principle or by the affirmative principle. Our attitude toward what the Lord says will either be accepting or rejecting. The Lord promises that of all that we experience, if we believe the Word, we are sure to believe the truth! He promises that out of all the bits of data that come into our minds, He will lead us to believe only those that are true-if we are affirmative to Him. We may not understand a lot of truth; we may misunderstand it at times; and in temptation we lose sight of what is true; but if we maintain an affirmative attitude toward the Lord and His Word, He will be able to direct our spiritual progress. Ignorance is not held against us by the Lord, so long as we have an affirmative attitude toward what He says.
     The first step in the regenerative process, then, is to affirm that what the Word says is true, and is true for us because the Lord has said it. "When this affirmative [attitude] comes, the person is in the beginning of regeneration; goodness is being worked in the internal [of the person], and causes affirmation" (AC 3913:5). It is a great source of hope for us all to know that if we affirm that the Word contains the truth, we are being regenerated already!
     Affirmation must not be confused with faith. It is only the first step toward acquiring faith.

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However, it is the motivation to come to an understanding. Our motivation in this case is a natural goodness based on our belief that the Word of the Lord is our final authority. We come to believe that it is the only sure place we can go for guidance in our spiritual growth. If we are ruled by the negative principle, we won't make this first assumption that the Word teaches the truth. We will first require some kind of "proof' before we will believe the Lord. The spiritual truths about our regeneration, unlike natural truths about the world, as in mathematics, cannot be "proved" to our senses. If we were to require such proofs, the Lord's truth would never affect us, for we would not have any affection for it or any willingness to affirm it.
     The Lord asks us to make the intellectual acknowledgment that we should be "looking to rational things from the doctrine of faith" for that "is first believing the Word or the doctrine derived from it, and afterwards confirming the same by rational things." This is "genuine order, and causes a better belief" (AC 2568). A "better belief" is one that is free from the bonds of dogma. It is a foundation set in the truths of the Word, willingly taken in and, importantly, eventually understood as completely as is humanly possible.
     What is marvelous is that the Lord can use our affirmative attitude to open our minds to the influx of His love. When this inflowing occurs, we are ready to look at ourselves in a new light, with new motivations. We are ready to honestly compare ourselves with the truth. This is reflection.

REFLECTION

     If we love truth, we have an affirmative attitude. To make the next step, we must see ourselves in the light of truth.
     "Reflection is the mental view of a thing in regard to its nature or quality" (AC 366 1). When we reflect, we compare things; we arrange the things we have learned. It is the activity of our consciousness inspecting itself, something only the human mind call do. Reflection has its rise when we see natural things, which have entered our minds through our sense, in the light of heaven, which descends through the degrees of our soul and mind (Cf. AC 3679).
     When we reflect, we notice things we might have missed had we not been reflecting upon them. Just noticing something is not necessarily reflection. Normally we have to apply our understanding to the object of our thought, and do so consciously, or we will remain ignorant of the quality of the thing we are thinking about. But turning the mind, noticing something, is indeed the first part of reflection. If the reflection is to be productive, it must be followed by an appreciation, an estimate, an assessment, of what we reflect upon.

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     Such active thought must be learned (see AC 2298e). We begin life with no knowledge, and so nothing to reflect upon. As we live, we take in more and more sensations, building up a storehouse of material to think about. At the same time we develop "buffers" that have us automatically ignore some sensations. If these filters did not exist, our consciousness would be so bombarded that thought would be impossible, for bodily things can captivate our thought and drive out reflection (see DP 113). Pain is an example of something bodily that can demolish our ability to think. As we grow, then, we come into the habit of filtering things out.
     However, this habit can grow until we block out conscious thought about ourselves and, importantly, about our spiritual state. The merely natural person does not consider further than the things of his senses, and so is never "raised above the sensuous" or "withdrawn from it" as is the spiritual person (AC 9730). We have to learn to recognize this lack of consciousness about ourselves whenever it happens, and we have to learn how to overcome it by reflection.
     We can use the Word to remove such impediments to our spiritual development. The Lord has created the human mind so that when it is mature, it can look at itself. We can think about what we're doing as we do it, what we are saying while we say it; we can even think about what we are thinking (although that may take some practice!). When we use the Word as our- "higher thought," then what we are doing, saying, or thinking is cast in the light of the truth.
     This, then, is the core of reflection: comparing oneself to the ideal picture of the regenerate person given in the Word. What discoveries are possible then! If we stop and think about who and what we are in the light of the Word, we can picture also what we really want to be!
     Perhaps the main reason we may not like to reflect upon our spiritual state is the fear of what we will find. Surely, we think, we will find nothing but Filthy evilness for which we must harshly condemn our- selves. And so we refuse to discover anything about ourselves. One way to get around this often deeply set "buffer" is simply to observe what we are doing, what we are thinking, what is happening around us, and to do this with objectivity-without taking the next step of judgment. We will, of course, eventually judge ourselves, if not here on earth then after death. But there is a lot of living and discovering to do before that time. The Lord wants us to find out about ourselves so that we can find out in what way we need to change. The Lord does not want our reflection crippled by guilt. He wants to lead us out of whatever may make us guilty. We just have to learn to trust that the Lord is leading us to heaven, even though we assume, sometimes wrongly, that the road will be rough.

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     Not trusting the Lord to show us what we are and what we have to become is a tremendous block to our spiritual growth. Reflecting without a judgmental, negative attitude will help us remove this impediment to our real development into angels. Reflecting upon what we are, thinking about what we are without judgment, prepares us to see ourselves as we really are at that time, and it prepares us to do something about it. It gives us a view of ourselves that is accurate. And experience has shown that we will inevitably discover the goodness in ourselves from the Lord, and not just the evilness. Such reflection, unhampered by a negative attitude, will just as likely reveal the presence of the Lord Himself in us.
     Clearly, reflection is vital because it enters into every aspect of our life of regeneration. Our conscious, active thought about what we are doing, saying and thinking, while we are doing them as well as afterward, has to become habitual so that we are never asleep to what the hells may be doing to us. Reflection, discovering just what is the Lord's in us and what is not, will prepare us to turn aside from selfishness to the life of charity, and to the Lord from whom is our salvation.

MEDITATION

     Meditation is a special form of reflection. Just as there are several modes or types of thought and reflection, so there are several types of meditation. The word "meditation" has come to mean many things to many people. According to the Writings, meditation is a means or special way to reflect about ourselves and the world in relation to the Word. Thus, to sit in a quiet place, letting our mind drift, without trying to follow some set pattern, and then to consider our lives, or the meaning of a thing or event, is a useful occupation of our time. Just as we should not simply wait for some "free time" to reflect, so it is important that we make the time to stop and think about what we have done, or are doing, in a quiet, contemplative way.
     One mundane example of meditation is the kind used by many to help them fall asleep. As they lie in bed they think about each part of their body, starting at the extremities and working inward and upward. As each part is thought of, the concentration is to relax those muscles. It would seem that such concentration would only drive away sleepiness. But in fact, it stops the mind from thinking about other things-what happened that day, what tomorrow's plans will be, etc. But concentrating on bodily things will drive away these thoughts. Thus the mind is lulled into a quiet state in which sleep comes.
     This is only a mundane example, but it shows the paradox concerning meditation.

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One would think that meditating on something, say an unhappy experience, would make us go over it again and again, producing more and more aggravation within ourselves. But that is not what happens when the meditation is done correctly. If we will allow ourselves, we can close our minds to this world and focus solely on mental-spiritual-things. We then come into the light of our spirit which can illumine many things. And if we are meditating on the Word, we will gain the light of heaven! That is really the promise and goal we should be striving for.
     When a person "is in affection for understanding, and through that comes into perception of truth, he is then in the thought of his spirit. which is meditation. This passes, indeed, into the thought of the body, but into silent thought, for it is above bodily thoughts, and looks upon what belongs to thought from the memory as below itself, drawing therefrom either conclusions or confirmations. But real affection for truth is perceived only as a pressure of will from something pleasurable which is interiorly in meditation as its life, and is little noticed" (DLW 404).
     In meditation, then, we look down onto the things of our memory with the purpose of discovering conclusions-one way or the other-about some facet of our life. Such an active thought process is, however, only dimly perceived as going on in our lower mind. The "thought of the body" is that thought directed toward the world or arising from sensations. This level of thought is necessary (we have to watch where we're walking!), but it is quite limited. Its only materials are what comes in our senses. If we step above that "bodily thought" and look down upon it, we are reflecting. If we have silenced the body and its thoughts. we will become more aware of that "pressure of will" that works deep within us and is normally "little noticed." We will begin to perceive our affections. That is meditation.
     The question arises, "How can I learn anything of value if I am only listening to my own mind? Shouldn't I rely more on the Word itself!" Some say meditation is simply "contemplating one's navel." Our thoughts are inspired by the spiritual world by means of our affections, thus unconsciously. If we were never to reflect and meditate on where our affections take our thoughts, we would never learn of their quality. The use of letting our thoughts go, and removing as much sensation as possible, is that our thoughts will go in the direction our affections lead them, revealing our affections. This is what the Writings mean when they tell us that "When a person thinks solely from his spirit, as happens when he meditates at home by himself, he thinks from the affection which belongs to his love" (DP 61).
     Thinking about the Word is the key to entering the Lord's New Church. Indeed, reading the Word has always been a strong emphasis of the organized church.

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Everyone should have a knowledge of truth with which he can compare his life. To make such a comparison often requires quiet contemplation on ourselves and what our will and understanding are feeling and thinking. Only this kind of work on ourselves prepares us to search out our evils-even though, in itself, meditation may not do this, and certainly does not involve fleeing from them. Such a search can make it possible for us to take the next step in our spiritual growth-repentance.

REPENTANCE

     "True faith and genuine charity are not attainable without repentance, and none can do the work of repentance without free will . . . no one can be regenerated before the more grievous evils, which render a person detestable in the sight of God, are removed; and their removal can be effected only by repentance" (TCR 509). This is clearly true, the passage goes on to say, because the unrepentant person is "one in a state of lethargy, knowing nothing of sin." Yet we ask ourselves, "How can I, created by God, be detestable in His sight?"
     Repentance is the process of discovering sin, working on oneself so that the Lord can enter and regenerate us, and reaching out to that blessed state of true faith and genuine charity. Looked at this way, it seems very hard work. We must practice being conscious of what we are thinking and doing. We must flee from situations that would lead us to evil thoughts and actions. We must read the Word and see how we measure up. We must be willing to submit our lives to the Lord, and place ourselves in His care. We must be affirmative to Him, reflect on His Word, and meditate on how we are living up to His standards.
     Seen from another perspective, however, this work is not so hard. The Lord doesn't detest His children-He detests the evils that we have taken on as our own. The Lord wants to regenerate us. He wants to lift us up. He gives us delights in good things. If we turn our lives over to Him, He will show us the way, and give us the power to pursue it. We will be able to see what is good and what is evil. We will be able to resist and cast away the evils that get a grip on us-because the Lord is fighting on our side.
     Discovering evil is perhaps the most important part of repentance. We cannot have goodness in our hearts while evil is present in us any more than sheep can be safe in a field of wild beasts; any more than a garden can be planted before the thorns and briars are removed; any more than a city government can be set up before the enemy is driven away (see TCR 511). If we picture evil spirits assailing us like wild beasts, weeds, or an armed enemy, we are freed to see them as outside forces against which we can apply the Lord's Divine power.

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     There is a great danger that we may never search within ourselves. The good news of the second coming is that we can know the quality of our spirit. We can discover where the Lord is in us. The good news is that we determine the quality of our spirit-we are responsible for it, in fact. The only conditions put upon us before we can make the discovery or determine a good quality is that "unless a person removes them [evils] on his part by repentance, he remains in them; and whoever remains in them cannot be saved" (TCR 520). Unconsciousness, or spiritual sleep, is our first barrier. If we can observe the evil inclinations we have deep within us from heredity, we can recognize our need to flee from them, and prepare ourselves to be reformed and regenerated by the Lord.
     While we are responsible for the quality of our spiritual life, we are not responsible for its purification. That is the Lord's work. This knowledge takes a great burden off our shoulders. "Actual repentance consists in a person examining himself, recognizing and acknowledging his sins, praying to the Lord, and beginning a new life" (TCR 528). Our loves-our unconscious hereditary and acquired drives-will be changed by the Lord. Our thoughts, desires and deeds-our conscious life-are to be changed by us. Cutting down an ugly weed will remove its ugliness (just as we would never let ourselves appear evil!); however, the roots will simply produce more plants (our evil intentions will still be there!). We need to look at our motives. Do we feel hatred? Do we think ill of others? Do we covet or feel envious? Do we have feelings of lust?
     Such feelings and thoughts are inspired in us by the hells. If we notice them (examine, recognize and acknowledge them), and then turn to the Lord for help in stopping them (pray), and then change the direction of our thoughts and feelings (begin a new life) toward love, kindness and goodwill, we really repent. Then the Lord takes the evil out of us by its roots and sows good seed, changing our nature.

BREAKING PATTERNS

     Our spiritual development from a repentant state to a state of reformation is a gradual breaking of the patterns of our thought and behavior. It is like victory in a war that leads to peace. We have to repent, enter the battle, before we will feel its effects, before there is peace. We have to have confidence in the Lord-that He will keep His promise when the battle is won.
     Perhaps a good analogy is that during repentance we feel like we're climbing a ladder that never ends. We seem to be fighting the same old battle. But there are, as it were, platforms hidden from our view because we are below them. In fact, we can't see them until we are on them! What happens is that as we climb, occasionally the Lord comes to us and gives us rest from our labors (see AC 8694 and 8893).

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He has at this time reformed part of our mind, making us obedient to Him spontaneously. He enables us to rest and really enjoy the view as we reach closer and closer to Him. What we see is how pleasant it is to be one of His creations.
     The breaking of a pattern of behavior runs the scale from easy to apparently impossible. Just think of a bad habit you have. It may seem that you can never get over it. Psychology has developed tools to help us, and what a doctor may try to do is alter our thought processes. He might teach us to use our thinking and feeling faculties in a new and different way. Or perhaps he will try to alter the way our mind works-subtly or dramatically, as in the case of serious mental disorders. These techniques can help, and indeed the mentally ill can be cured.
     What we have in the sciences that help the mentally ill is an image of what the Lord does in our reformation. The results of His work in our minds will show up in our external life just as dramatically. What the Lord does for us certainly changes the processes of our thought, but the real area of His work is above our thought. What we feel is the work He is performing far above the plane of our feelings. When He reforms us He opens a pathway from heaven to our lower, conscious mind. This is His spiritual work-His healing-which is beyond our finite capabilities. This is why while we are in the active work of repentance, we don't realize that the Lord is working for us, deep within us. At least we don't feel it until, looking back down the ladder, we see that we have been made a better, spiritually healthier person.
     It is a common spiritual malady to become stuck in one pattern of thought, love or behavior without ever examining its quality. It is to be lethargic. Such a pattern can become an "old mold" that holds us back from spiritual growth. We have the responsibility of breaking the old mold! Only then can we take on a new one, which will be a better image and likeness of the Lord. Every time we repent and begin a new life, we break the old mold and a new one replaces it. Perhaps it is more accurate to say that the Lord forms the new mold, using the clay we provide. Our natural goodness (the good ness of the external parts of our life) is the clay He uses. Reformation by the Lord can occur when we do something to change our natural life into one that better reflects the spiritual values we have learned from the Word.
     We offer ourselves up for "remolding" every time we take the next rung, the next step of our repentance and new life. While we provide the vessel for the Lord by our own choices, we use the power he gives us. While we do the work, He provides the energy. He forms the new, interior mold when we break the old, exterior one.

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The patterns of behavior we take on determine the presence or absence of the Lord in our conscious lives. Ironically, when we enter temptation combats during the period of active repentance, the Lord seems absent, although He is nearer to us and working harder for us than at any other time. By choosing to repent, we choose to keep climbing the ladder, step by step, knowing for sure that the Lord has provided a platform where we will be able to rest even though we cannot see it now. We know that He will give us a time to again feel His presence. This confidence in Him keeps us going, and, in fact, gives us something of a feeling that He is with us.

(To be continued)
BETROTHAL: A STATE AND A RITE 1985

BETROTHAL: A STATE AND A RITE Rev. ALFRED ACTON 1985

PART II

In my first article I traced several terms concerning the subject of betrothal, and began a number-by-number commentary about weddings and engagements. I concluded with CL 300, noting that the spirit is initiated into marriage and its love by consent, not by the rite of betrothal. A marriage of spirits, which should be an objective of the state of engagement, begins with consent, which is the essential of marriage. We read, "That after the announcement of consent, pledges ought to be given. By pledges are meant gifts which serve as confirmations, proofs, first favors, and delights following consent. That these gifts are confirmations is because they are tokens of consent. Therefore it is said when two people consent to something, Give me a token. So when two have promised marriage and affirmed their promises (sponsiones) by gifts, it is said that they are pledged, thus confirmed. That they are proofs is because these pledges are as continual visual proof of their mutual love and so they also serve as mementos of it, especially if they are rings, earrings, and bands worn visibly.1 There is in these gifts a certain form representative of the minds of the bridegroom and bride. That these pledges are first favors is because conjugial love promises perpetual favors of which these gifts are the first. That they are the delights of love is known, for the mind is cheered at the sight of them, and because love is in them these favors are dearer and more precious than any other gifts. It is as if their hearts are in them.

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Since these pledges are supports of conjugial love, giving gifts after consent was also customary among the ancients, and after accepting them they were called bridegroom and bride. But it should be known that it is a matter of choice as to whether gifts should be given before the act of betrothal or after it. If this happens before, then they are confirmations and proofs of consent to engagement; if after the act, they are also consent to the wedding."
This passage is extremely important to those considering when the rite of betrothal should occur. Its clear answer is that the timing of the act is "a matter of choice." Whose choice? That of the couple involved, depending upon their state. But the main thesis of the number has to do with pledges given after the announcement of consent. Who should announce consent? The Word doesn't say. Our custom is that it should be the father of the bride. I believe this is a valuable custom. It clearly demonstrates that another important part of the process leading to marriage has been completed, namely, that the bride has consulted her parents. It is unfortunate that some engagement parties in the past have looked more to the natural than the spiritual purposes of marriage, but in our church we are to make things new. As this chapter from Conjugial Love indicates, we are to take "accepted" customs and fill them with proper spiritual values. The father of the bride, or whoever makes it public, can announce one of two things: the "promises" (note the Latin sponsiones) or the fact that the act of betrothal has taken place. But in either case, if the couple is desirous of giving, and so wearing, pledges, they should not do so until after the consent is announced.
The pledge is to be either a pledge to being married, an "engagement" present, or a pledge that involves consent to the wedding as well. What is the difference between consent to being married and consent to the wedding? Clearly consent should never be provisional. After due deliberation, if a woman says she will marry the man who has proposed, she should not believe she has an "out." Of course, the breaking of engagements, which are betrothals, will from time to time occur; and far better breaking a relationship at this time than after marriage. But no one should take the state so lightly as to believe it can be easily terminated. The whole period of engagement or betrothal is to accomplish momentous things which cannot be achieved if the couple is not very serious in looking together to the Lord. Initial consent is therefore consent to many. For this reason it does not seem proper to consider the phrase at the end of number 300 as being consent to a betrothal service. Accordingly, I have translated the phrase "consent to engagement" to emphasize that the consent is looking to "being married." No couple announcing their engagement is doing so for the purpose of simply being engaged. The end in view is being married.

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What then is the difference between consent to engagement or being married-which should be announced prior to the rite of betrothal-and consent to the wedding as well? A wedding involves more than two people; an engagement doesn't.
     It is rare that a couple, when they agree to marry, have thought so far ahead as to set a date for the wedding, or to consult a priest as to whether he will many them. Both these things need mutual discussion before the wedding takes place. Obviously, looking to the Lord through a priest is more important than a date on the calendar. In fact, a couple should expect the priest they ask to marry them to help them successfully fill the states that lead to their wedding. They should have a commitment with themselves and him as to an amount of time which they will spend together completing specific tasks that will work for the marriage of the spirit which is to happen in this state. Obviously, there may be circumstances of time and space which will make some of this commitment impossible. Also, a couple, for various reasons, may wish one minister to marry them and another to officiate at their betrothal. Nevertheless, in general, when a couple is ready to work with a specific representative of the Lord in a manner looking directly toward their wedding, a new commitment reinforcing their consent to marry is proper. What I am suggesting is that the matter of choice the couple has as to when the rite of betrothal should happen is closely related to their choice as to who the minister will be and when the service will be held.
     They are perfectly free to announce their engagement or betrothal prior to that time. Their desire to tell the world of their mutual love is orderly. The church must give them the freedom to do so, and with clear conscience. At the same time, when they ask a minister to marry them, they should realize that one of the first orders of business in the process of working with him to make their marriage lasting is a ritual which will strengthen and confirm their mutual consent. This step "ought not" to be omitted. In fact, discussing the betrothal ceremony and its timing with the priest is a good beginning to their relationship with him and will help them to proceed with regular meetings looking directly to the wedding.
     I have purposely refrained from mentioning what to me is a "red herring" in the issue of timing, namely, that of breaking engagements versus breaking betrothals. Some have argued that breaking one is less serious than breaking the other. Since it is clear to me that they are in fact the same state, such discussion is meaningless.
     Do not confuse the rite with the state. With consent, the woman became a bride and the man a bridegroom. With the giving of pledges before or after the rite, both the Ancients and we of the church rightly call them so.

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The state of betrothal or engagement begins with the agreement to marry, and the things which this state is designed to accomplish begin at this time as well. The service does not introduce the state, but as CL 301 declares, "strengthens and confirms" it. Do not make the mistake of believing that delaying this service will somehow magically delay the development of the states proper to the period before marriage. A conscious slowing of the development of this state, when a couple knows that the wedding is distant, is most important.2
     And perhaps a delay in the rite might serve as a part of this slowing of the state, but by itself it will not serve. It simply does not introduce the state. Consent does. If the couple desires to slow the state, not wearing tokens of consent and so not announcing consent will also serve. It is a matter of choice as to when the public should be informed as to the couple's intent to marry as well as the nature of what kind of information is to be made public. The responsibility of the church in these matters is not to dictate what ought to be a matter of choice, but to teach clearly what the choices are, and so aid a couple in approaching their marriage in a state of holiness which looks to eternal ends, not temporal concerns. The things which the state of betrothal will accomplish need reinforcing by the church. For this reason the church is enjoined to practice a rite that will focus on the true meaning of the consent that has initiated the state. Pledges as ultimates reinforce the promise of the state and so are valuable. But it is proper to make consent known, either before or after the act of betrothal.
     One rather cryptic number concerning the state before marriage is found in the Spiritual Diary. It reads: "Many descriptions are to be given of the state of conjugial love prior to the state in which the effect is. The prior state ought altogether to precede marriage and love from that, without thought of the following state. Then marriage is happy and lasting. But, so far as it partakes of the posterior state alone, so far is it lacking. I heard certain ones saying that they do not know anything of the state following. Nor did they think about it when they desired a wife and saw her. Such is the state of maidens. Such is the chaste state" (SD 6110:48).
     I have not re-translated this passage as it seems to say about what is written. But what does it mean? Apparently, it is talking about the physical relationship that begins with marriage: "the effect." Conjugial Love 305 states that, "bodily conjunction is not permissible in the engagement period." Also, Conjugial Love 502 describes the state of maidens as they look to marriage. Women raised in heaven look to marriage as a means of "friendly and trustful companionship with one man."

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The number further points out that the state before marriage is quite different with those women who "get allurement from learning about" physical love. Conjugial Love 322 further describes the orderly initiation of two young people into the fullness of marriage, concluding that there is "much variety and diversity" in the development of states. But the Diary passage is not just talking about the states of maidens. A man seeking a wife is mentioned. Apparently, this man was also raised in heaven, and apparently, he had a similar understanding of marriage.3 What the number seems to say is that the primary thought in looking to marriage should not be physical. It should look to spiritual and eternal ends. This is the purpose of engagement. I do not see how this number can be used, as two authors in fact have, to support an early betrothal service. CL 300 clearly indicates that the betrothal service, by strengthening and confirming consent, looks directly to the wedding. The period prior to the service, when the couple is "pledged" or "promised" (sponsio) is the period which looks to engagement, and so not as directly to the wedding and the state which it introduces. Our custom of calling the pledge given after consent an "engagement ring" seems more closely to reflect consent to "being married" than consent to the wedding. But, as the Word teaches, what this pledge means to the couple must be a matter of their choice.
We now turn to CL 301 which introduces the discussion about the state of engagement by noting that the state is to be strengthened and confirmed by the rite of betrothal. We read, "That consent ought to be strengthened and confirmed by the rite of betrothal. The reasons for engagements are these: (1) That after them the minds of the two incline to each other; (2) That the universal love of the opposite sex be fixed on one of that sex; (3j That each may know the other's interior affections and by bringing these together they might be conjoined in the inner joy of love; (4) That the spirits of both may enter into a marriage and be consociated more and more; (5) That in this way conjugial love may progress from its first heat to the wedding flame. Consequently, (6) that conjugial love may properly proceed and grow from its spiritual origin. The state of engagement can be likened to that of spring before summer; and the internal delightfulness of it to the state of blossoms on trees before they bear fruit. Because the initiations into conjugial love and their progressions proceed in an orderly way so that they may flow into the acts of love which begin with weddings, therefore there are also engagements in heaven."
I have mentioned several numbers describing engagements in heaven.4 Conjugial Love 21 also states that the rate of betrothal exists in heaven, and as a rite it serves the same purpose as mentioned here. The rite serves not to introduce the state but to strengthen and confirm it.

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In part, CL 21 reads: "A priest administers at betrothals and hears, receives, strengthens, and consecrates consent. Consent is the essential of marriage, and the other things that follow it are its formalities."
Several past authors on this subject have taken CL 301 to be speaking entirely about the rite of betrothal and not the state. They have gone so far as to say that without the rite the state has not begun. The context does not support this contention. The heading of the passage does refer to the rite. It speaks of it in the singular. The passage then, after pointing out the need for the rite to strengthen and confirm the state, goes on to describe the state in the plural, at one place specifically calling it "the state." None of the six things mentioned as a result of betrothals or engagements are directly referring to the rite. This seems clear from the next set of numbers as well. The rite is not that which effects the marriage of the spirit. Nor is it that high point in the state when an ascent of spirits has reached a peak from which there will be a descent to the wedding and the physical union it introduces. Both these ideas have been associated with the ceremony in the past. Both seem unsupportable from the passages. The marriage of spirits begins with consent. At that time the state of betrothal or engagement has begun. With the announcement of consent, whether before or after the rite, and with the permission this announcement gives to exchange pledges, it is proper to call the woman a "bride" and the man a "bridegroom." The next step is to strengthen and confirm the fact of the consent which ought to be done before the Lord by means of the rite of betrothal which adds formality to the consent. Because of this need to strengthen and confirm, it seems appropriate to have at least some witness besides the priest present at the betrothal service. No mention is made of who is present at betrothals in heaven, so we do not here recommend any fixed number. But it does seem that some others, parents and perhaps close friends, should be present. The betrothal is not the wedding and is not said to be an occasion for festivities, although again it seems such things could be appropriate in strengthening and confirming consent. The phrase "solemn betrothal" does not exist in the Writings. Formal rites, however, are solemn in that they are occasions when, in the presence of the Lord, actions with most profound consequences are taken.
In our present service the priest asks the couple if they will betroth each other. This seems redundant in that they are already betrothed or engaged. The service is to strengthen and confirm, not to initiate. In heaven priests hear the consent which is in fact accomplished in our service in its first question where the priest asks the couple jointly to declare their mutual love and their consent to many. The priest is then meant to receive, confirm, and consecrate that statement of consent.

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The couple's answer to the first question seems to meet the need to receive the consent. However, it might be appropriate at this juncture for the priest to make a statement such as: "Do you, by this act of mutual consent, acknowledge the holy state into which you have entered, and so mutually look to the Lord in His Word for guidance in preparation for your marriage?" The service is presently quite brief and would be enhanced by an additional question. Next, each should be asked separately a question that will confirm consent. For example, the priest might ask the man: "And will you now affirm your choice of this woman as your wedded wife, and express your desire to be united with her in spirit and in life?" And to the woman: "Will you now affirm your consent to be conjoined with this man in the holy state of marriage, and express your desire to be united with him in spirit and in life?" These questions seem better suited to confirming consent than the question "will you betroth. . .?" which implies that a new state is beginning with the answer, although Bishop Pendleton clearly had no such implication in mind when he wrote the question.
     I have already discussed the matter of pledges. They are matters of choice. In the church a custom of a second pledge at betrothal has grown up. There is nothing to support this custom. However, it does seem valuable to have some ultimate exchange in the service. If a couple wants to use the engagement ring as this pledge, and so delays public announcement of the consent until after betrothal, then obviously the ring can be used. If, however, they have already made the announcement, as is their choice, I see nothing wrong with a second gift, or perhaps even more appropriately, a consecration of the first gift. If the service is to confirm the consent, for the bride to take the ring from her finger as an expression of her free choice of the bridegroom as her husband, and then offer it to the Lord for consecration by giving it to the priest, and finally to have the groom replace the now consecrated ring on her finger as his confirmation of his initial choice, seems to be a very valuable ritualistic testification of the consent.
     Following the exchange of tokens, (and, as suggested, this would happen whatever choice the couple made) it remains for the priest to consecrate the consent by prayer and blessing.
     The charge which follows the blessing on the couple, to me, is clearly wrong when it states: "Before angels and men you have now put on the name and state of bridegroom and bride." I believe the following is a more suitable charge: "Addressing the couple by their Christian names, the minister shall say: By this act of betrothal you have, in the presence of the Lord, confirmed your mutual love for one another and your desire to be joined in the holy state of bridegroom and bride, a state which the Lord Himself has ordained as preparatory to the full joys of love truly conjugial.

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In this state, as you together look to the Lord, He can be with you, more and more closely conjoining your spirits in heavenly union. As you look ahead to your wedding, meditate upon the uses of betrothal as set forth in the Lord's Word; shun wandering lusts as an offense; search out, one with another, those interior affections you hold dear; consider their application to your life together as you delight in the inward cheerfulness of love. In this way your love will progress in proper order from its first heat even to the nuptial flame. May His blessings be upon you as your prepare for your life together."
It is the state that effects the marriage of the spirit, not the rite. This observation is confirmed by the next several numbers which all deal with the state of engagement and what it accomplishes. During this state there is to be an ascent and a descent. This is first described in number 302: "On love truly conjugial this order is inscribed: It ascends and it descends. It ascends from its first heat progressively upward, their souls seeking conjunction there, which is accomplished by continual interior openings of the minds. No love exists which more intensely seeks these openings, or which more powerfully and easily opens these interiors of the minds, for each one's soul wants it. But that love ascends toward the soul by the same changes as it descends toward the body and by this clothes itself." The very same changes which accomplish the ascent to the soul also accomplish the descent to the body. Both ascent and descent find. their ultimate when the wife first appropriates unto herself the soul of her husband which properly takes place after the wedding.5 In other words, there is a progression both upward and downward in the period of engagement from the first heat (consent) even to the conjugial torch (physical union after marriage). Obviously, an engaged couple becomes more and more intimate physically. What the Word is making clear here is how important it is that they also become more and more intimate spiritually. A period of time called betrothal or engagement is necessary to accomplish this goal. During it couples should not be conjoined bodily. They should seek out those interior things which they have in common by looking together to the Lord in His Word. A prescribed set of tasks should be accomplished. At the time of consent they are just leaving the period of dating when beauty and external similitudes served as mediate goods leading them together. They now must more deeply explore their internal similitudes: their religion, their way of life, their set of values and beliefs. Both, reading the Word together and discussing how they wish to raise children (if necessary, whether or when they wish to have children), are good ways to seek such openings. As they enter into the duties of marriage they must be able to render each other mutual assistance.

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Their distinct duties as mother and father will only become conjoint by "consultations and mutual support," (CL 176) which means they must be in agreement as to values, and skilled in communicating with one another. These skills in communicating ought to be developed during engagement as minds open more interiorly.
     Conjointly with these openings, with this sharing of spiritual values, will be an equally increasing desire for physical closeness. But the couple should beware lest the powerful physical love of the natural mind overwhelms the spiritual and so harms the ascent proper to the state. Think of this progression as from a point both upward and downward like this: <. The beginning point is that conjunction of minds which led to consent. From there the spiritual as the cause takes one small step up as the natural, as an effect, takes a corresponding small step down. Spiritual and natural intimacy increase. Both kinds of intimacy will increase to eternity with deeper and deeper joy. But until marriage there has not been sufficient progression for an angelic couple to be born, that is, for the fulness of conjugial love to begin.
     What I am saying is that we should think of this progression successively throughout the period of engagement with the marriage of the spirits not reaching fulness until just before the wedding as the ascent reaches that point where full physical intimacy is proper. This, I believe, is why the Writings clearly stress the need of neither over prolonging or of over shortening the period of engagement (see CL 305). Only a couple will know the progression. Only they can choose what ultimates they will use to reflect this progression. So the choice of this progression must be theirs. Certainly the strengthening and confirming of consent effected by the rite of betrothal is a most powerful ultimate. The choice as to when it will be employed therefore is left to the couple. The church must teach the importance of the state, offering the rite to couples as they freely, from sincere application of truth to life, seek it.

     FOOTNOTES

1 The nature of the last two gifts (myrotheca and alligamentum) is debatable. Myrotheca is not in the dictionary; however, myrothecium is, and means a box for costly ointment. Three translators have called myrotheca a scent bottle, one a perfume bottle. Alligamentum in Classical Latin refers to the band used to bind a slave. It has been rendered variously as a "pendant," a "sash," "ribbons," and a "locket." Mr. Jonathan Rose, Curator of the Academy's Swedenborgiana Library, at my request, researched these words. He pointed out that Dr. Chadwick, in his new dictionary of Swedenborg's Latin, uses myrotheca as an alternative for myrothecium translating it a "perfume container" or a "pomander."

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The Potts Concordance calls it an "ointment box." Chadwick also defined alligamentum, calling it a "sash" or an "ornament tied on." Mr. Rose goes on to point out that the same words occur in Swedenborg's Latin quotation of Isaiah 3: 19-21 where myrotheca is used for a Hebrew word which, in the Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, means "earrings, especially when made of pearls." However, translators have rendered the Latin of Isaiah quoted in the Arcana Coelestia as "ointment boxes," "collars," "chains," and "pendants." Mr. Rose prefers "earrings" to "bottles of perfume" as a proper rendering of myrotheca, particularly since they are meant to be worn and to be visible, something a bottle of perfume can't do. I take the "worn visibly" as applying only to the last mentioned item, alligamentum, but still favor Mr. Rose's suggestion and so have rendered myrotheca as "earrings." As to the word alligamentum, Mr. Rose observes that the word used in Isaiah means "girdles or bands" as worn by brides. He adds that Dr. John Kitto's Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature under marriage states: "The bridal pair were adorned with nuptial crowns . . . made of various materials-gold, silver, myrtle, or olive, varying in costliness according to the circumstances of the parties . . . and that the bride especially wore gorgeous apparel, and a peculiar girdle. . .whence she derived her name Kallah, which signifies the ornamented, the adorned." In other words, the alligamentum used in Isaiah 3 might have meant the girdle a bride wore at her wedding, although the Isaiah reference is decidedly uncomplimentary. Clearly, such a gift would look ahead to the wedding itself. Still Mr. Rose prefers necklace for alligamentum. The Interpreters Bible, in discussing the terms of Isaiah 3, begins by saying, "The identification of many of the items of feminine finery is at best uncertain, since most of the terms used occur only here in the Old Testament." The Interpreters Bible, Vol. 5, Pg. 192, goes on to suggest that the alligamentum might be "beaded belts," noting that in Neo-Hebrew the word means "band," "beads." I have decided to retain the more general term "band" which in the classical sense of the word would mean a short necklace, a bracelet, or an anklet.
2 Cf. 305
3 Observe here that men raised in heaven are of "marriageable age" when they reach puberty. The first wakening of physical desire is conjoint with the desire to marry. This is not so for us on earth. (Cf. Generation 80, 244, 290; CL 444.)
4 CL 21, 229, 316; AC 10837
5 CL 198, 199

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BRIEF NEW CHURCH DAY ADDRESS 1985

BRIEF NEW CHURCH DAY ADDRESS Rev. ROBERT H. P. COLE 1985

     "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Revelation 21:1, 2)

     Many people to this day have thought that the visible heaven and the habitable earth were to perish, Even the ocean would be no more, and a new heaven and a new earth as well would come about; not a heaven as we perhaps understand it to be a place deep within the human mind and heart, or inside everyone's soul in the other life-but people have thought that some rearranging of the earth, waters, sky and places "beyond the sunset" was involved. Others refer to the New Heaven as the "Sweet Bye and Bye" or a pleasant sort of modern-day Hades or Sheol (as the Old Testament Egyptian and Greek myths describe, with a "Valhalla" or "Elysian Fields" reserved for the bravest and the best people, especially warriors and great leaders).
     But let us lift our minds by the Lord from things natural to things spiritual. The whole Word is a parable. It means a great deal more than it seems to mean on the surface.
     The Word speaks many times about the fact that Jehovah God was to create a new heaven and a new earth, and after that Jerusalem. Jerusalem should be "a crown of glory," and be called holiness, a city of truth, the throne of Jehovah, a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that should not be taken down; there the wolf and the lamb are to feed together. The mountains would drop new wine, the hills would flow with milk, and Jerusalem would abide to generation and generation. People of many churches to this day think of Jerusalem as holy, and the land of Israel as a symbolic land, flowing with milk and honey. Mohammedans expect to find a river of honey flowing in heaven.
     It is said of the people of Jerusalem that they are holy, that they are written unto life, and shall be called the redeemed of Jehovah. Marvelously, we are taught in the New Word that all of these mysterious and profoundly glorious things have to do with the Lord's Second Coming. We can see reflections of the Second Advent in the process of regeneration, in the reawakening of nature, in springtime in the rejuvenation of a flowering fruit tree, in the new course of a meandering stream, in the rekindling of gentle and tender affections and thoughts.

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So the picture that we are given in the Writings of the New Jerusalem is the Lord's own picture of the New Church, a truly living picture of the beauty and strength of its teachings and of the life which rests upon them-upon the wondrous and holy things of conjugial love. We should keep this picture before our minds and be humbly grateful that we are allowed to live in the light of this Holy City as we worship the Lord and prepare to celebrate and enjoy New Church Day on the nineteenth of June. We firmly believe that this light is spiritual. It comes from the Lord.
NCL 50 and 100 YEARS AGO 1985

NCL 50 and 100 YEARS AGO 1985

     In June of 1935 Dr. H. Lj. Odhner presents a short piece on knowledge. Useless knowledges are those which are for the sake of one's own glory and which "do not benefit the neighbor" (AC 5214). Quoting from the Divine Wisdom Dr. Odhner speaks of things "deeply hidden in the sciences" through which we hope to see creation in its coherent form as a theater representative of uses.
     In June of 1885 NCL quoted New Jerusalem Magazine on two TRENDS OF THOUGHT in the New Church.

     Of late two tendencies have become manifest, one of which is toward ecclesiasticism, and the other in the opposite direction. The first tendency looks beyond the instruction and support of a useful ministry, even to the establishment of a priesthood, with its ranks, titles, and privileges. The other tendency goes the other way, namely toward illuminism, the inward enlightenment, apart from and superior to the enlightenment of the clergy . . . . The one utters itself in prayers written with doctrinal exactness; the other with poetic outpourings of aspiration and gratitude.

     NCL comments: "Whatever may be the actual trend of New Church thought we can be sure that it will be true New Church thought only so far as it flows from the Lord and His teachings, now given to men in His own books."

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SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT 1984 1985

SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT 1984 Rev. Douglas Taylor 1985

     In the period covered by this report-January-December, 1984-the event that looms largest was the General Assembly in June. Just imagine the extra work, organization and equipment needed to record the sessions and related activities associated with a General Assembly. The multiplication of smaller meetings at assemblies these days places greater strains on our whole operation. But once again we were able to deliver recordings for the church of all the sessions and most of the associated events. This would not have been possible without the volunteer assistance of some very helpful people not regularly associated with the committee. We also needed to purchase two more machines for this project. In case any reader of these lines is unaware of the fact, let it be known that tapes of the assembly are available for loan.
     An important decision was taken toward the end of the year-to purchase a computer. This will increase the efficiency of the office immeasurably, freeing our Office Manager, Mrs. Molly McDonough, from several onerous tasks.
     There were also some useful discussions regarding the future operations of the Sound Recording Committee. Several possibilities were discussed with the Bishop, but finally it was decided that the purchase of the computer in 1985 would allow us to continue with the present arrangements for the foreseeable future.
     Since we make no charges for our services, we are completely dependent upon contributions from users and other members of the church. For the past two years we have sent a solicitation letter to all members of the church. This has drawn much needed attention to the service provided to the church by this committee, and happily has resulted in increased income. At our annual general meeting on October 30, 1984, it was revealed that our net worth for the year ending September 30 was $62,942.68, an increase of $13,533.73 over the previous year. We also learned that we had been able to meet our expenses and make a slight profit. This, however, will be needed for the purchase of the above-mentioned computer in 1985.
     An interesting fact arising from the treasurer's report is that there has been a substantial increase in the number of people buying tapes from us. Our income from this source increased by $1,391.25 over the previous year-$4,039.25 compared with $2,648.

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     The same office-bearers were reelected for the coming year, with warm expressions of appreciation for their faithful service in the past. Everyone connected with the work of the Sound Recording Committee, wherever he or she is located, is to be congratulated on another year of fine, high-quality work.
     Rev. Douglas Taylor,
          Chairman
CAN WE HELP YOU? 1985

CAN WE HELP YOU? 1985

     The Sound Recording Library has many ways to help you-and reach you-all on tape.

     For a free introductory catalogue of our wares, send to:

     The Sound Recording Library
Buck Road, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009

     We have a wide variety of interesting material-sermons, doctrinal classes, banquets, assemblies, special events, inquirers' classes, Academy courses, Bible studies, interviews, etc.

     Among our newest and most popular offerings:

     "The Message of the Letter"-a series of six stimulating lectures on the Old and New Testaments by Prescott Rogers

     "Computers and the Human Mind"-an enlightening and entertaining talk to the Swedenborg Scientific Association by Dr. Charles Ebert

     Pendleton Hall Worship Services (lessons and sermons only)

     And we will be taping the graduation exercises in Bryn Athyn this month, including graduation address and valedictories.

     With vacation time approaching you may want to borrow some tapes of services for listening while traveling. We are there to help.
MINISTERIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS 1985

MINISTERIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS 1985

     The Reverend James P. Cooper has been appointed by the Bishop as Assistant to the Pastor of the Durban Society in South Africa.
     The Reverend Ray Silverman has answered a call to serve as the Pastor of the Pittsburgh Society.
     The Reverend Paul E. Schorran is returning to the United States to focus on New Church education.

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Editorial Pages 1985

Editorial Pages Editor 1985

     HE SAYS, "THE OLD IS BETTER"

     According to the Writings there are very many people upon this earth who cling to the old ways, and who hang onto their opinions with prodigious tenacity. "They cling tenaciously to the opinions they have received, and do not suffer themselves to be led away from them by reasons" (AC 5554).
     Lincoln observed that God must love common folks, for He made so many of them. There must be a use served by very tenacious folks if they are so numerous upon this earth. Young people get impatient and irritated with some of these folks. Young people like new ways of doing things. They like to demonstrate the value of the coming generation by offering ideas on improving things. What baffles the young people is that old methods of doing things are preferred even when the advantages of new ways are clearly demonstrated. No matter how eloquently or loudly the reasons for change are presented, there are those who have entrenched views "and do not suffer themselves to be led away from them by reasons."
     The things we decide in our societies (the wording on a new sign for the church, the timing and nature of the Christmas tableaux, the matter of gifts at the 19th of June or at Christmas, etc., etc.) are frequently a matter of what the majority happens to like. What the change-hungry should bear in mind is that familiarity is itself a reason for liking something. Your new idea might have a list of advantages, but if people do not like it or are not comfortable with it, it may not be better.
     There is a saying in the New Testament that someone accustomed to old wine doesn't want new wine, "For he says, 'The old is better'"(Luke 5:39). Just imagine if you were born in the Jewish Church and your whole life was related to its customs and precepts. Would you want to change to the Christian Church? The Writings give as an example of the meaning of "He says the old is better": "Those who were born and educated in the externals of the Jewish Church could not be led immediately into the internals of the Christian Church" (AE 376:28).
     How gently the Lord deals with us in matters which have been dear to us from childhood.

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     The principles which a man imbibes from infancy the Lord never breaks, but bends. If they are things that the man esteems holy, and are such as are not contrary to Divine order, but are in themselves matters of indifference, the Lord lets them alone, and suffers the man to remain in them (AC 1255).
     Of course we find that our patience is less than infinite, and we may incline to insist that something from the past should be dismissed because it is inferior. Sometimes we find ourselves disputing things that are really matters of taste as if there were only one answer (our own). How did we forget our high school Latin and the phrase about not arguing matters of taste? Those who like the old wine don't want new wine. To their taste the old is better.
     How often in our pastors' councils and other forums does this matter arise! And how useful it is for us to reflect objectively on the fact that de try to do things as a group when our personalities and preferences vary tremendously. We will continue this theme again, because it has to do with New Church life.
NEW CHURCH VERSION OF THE LORD'S PRAYER 1985

NEW CHURCH VERSION OF THE LORD'S PRAYER 1985

     The March issue of Lifeline (published by the General Conference of the New Church) contains a version of the Lord's Prayer presented by the ministers of the General Conference. It is being used by some societies of that organization "for a trial period."

     Here is the way it appears in Lifeline.

Our Father in heaven
May Your name be kept holy
     Your kingdom come
     Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us
Do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil

For the kingdom and the power and the glory are Yours now and for ever

     Amen.

     The wording of the prayer that was adopted by the General Conference in the year 1789 was as follows:

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     Father of us in the heavens; sanctified be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so also upon earth. Our daily bread give us this day. And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver Las from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power anal the glory for ages. Amen. (See NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1978, p. 297.)

     But people were not content with that version, and others were attempted. When one was presented in 1823 the following resolution was passed concerning it:

     That the translation be not considered definitively settled, but that it be referred to a committee to revise it, having due regard to what is fell to be the wish of the Conference.

     How one sympathizes with a committee entrusted to carry out the "wish" of a group of individuals! Could it ever be done in a perfectly satisfactory way? Well, in 1828 we find that the Liturgy of Conference contained the version of the Lord's Prayer which has been in use for a century and a half by English-speaking New Church people. (See "The Story of the Lord's Prayer," NCL, 1978, p. 118.)
GROWTH OF THE CHURCH 1985

GROWTH OF THE CHURCH Rev. Erik Sandstrom 1985

     Communications
     Dear Editor,
     I read with great delight the articles on church growth by Rev. Douglas M. Taylor in your February and March issues. His statement reads like a Charter of Evangelization and is probably the fullest and most precise statement of its kind so far presented to the church. Appropriately it comes from the man whose special function, and love, is to lead in the work of spreading the truths of the Open Word in the world.
     What makes Mr. Taylor's presentation so powerful is that it shows the order of the Lord's Providence itself in establishing the New Christian Church among people everywhere. It is not a matter of preference or human judgment as to how, in general, we are to go about the work: it is of order that the church must first be built among those who constitute the remnant from the former Christian Church, for these have within them something left of an affection of truth without which no instruction can avail.

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They are the "bruised reed He shall not break, and the smoking flax He shall not quench" (Is. 42:3); and it is "by them that the New Church called the Holy Jerusalem is helped and made to grow" (AE 764e).
     The gentiles-those who constitute the remnant of still earlier churches-will be affected by the growth of the New Church in the Christian world; and it is among them, so it is revealed, that the Lord's church will in the end have its widest and deepest reception. "And other sheep I have: them also I must bring," but first "go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (John 10, Matt. 10).
     There is, I think, a growing awareness of the use of evangelization everywhere in the General Church, and Mr. Taylor's lead seems to come at a most appropriate time.
     Rev. Erik Sandstrom, Sr.,
          Hot Springs, South Dakota
"WRITTEN WITH THE FINGER OF GOD" 1985

"WRITTEN WITH THE FINGER OF GOD" Rev. Alan Gorange 1985

Dear Editor:
     Dr. Kintner's proposed book is one of immensity indeed, and everybody will admire his courage. My humble comments are based upon acquaintance and even friendship with Jews. Our immediate neighbors are Jewish-some are liberal, some are orthodox, all are friendly, all differ in personal traits, and the surrounding synagogues represent (so I understand) differences in view. This is a London scene, but I believe you would find it much the same in other large British cities such as Manchester.
     Do we find a single view of psychology held by Jews? Once I was a humble member of the psychology department of London University, attending lectures in University College, Kings College and other institutions of the university. Some Jewish students obtained good degrees and are now heads of departments or holding other posts in universities here in England or America, Australia or elsewhere. Their interests may be Freudian, or, for example, how many whiskies can a bus driver absorb without losing ability to steer his bus through narrow openings? Others now occupy chairs in America, and some have made important statistical contributions to psychological knowledge.
     The late Karl Marx frequented the reading room of the British Museum here in Bloomsbury, and certainly Marxism is influential today in many quarters.
     I myself have found an approach to Freud (another Jewish thinker) fruitful in the sense that my disagreement with his views led me to those of Jung, my favorite psychologist, whose position was explained at Kings College here, by J. A. Hadfield, as being "not reductive," i.e. the neurosis was in the present, and so could be healed.

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It was not buried in the past as for Freud. The arguments and battles arising from Marxian views of history, and those of Lenin, are well-known.
In any case, my purpose in writing these few words is to indicate the size of Dr. Kintner's proposed history of the Jewish people. Real "Jewish courage" will be needed in completion of his vast project. Rev. Alan Gorange, London, England
SEPARATE EDUCATION 1985

SEPARATE EDUCATION Rev. Martin Pryke 1985

Dear Sir:
     May I add a few thoughts to the recent consideration in the pages of NEW CHURCH LIFE on the separate education of girls and boys?
     The idea has been expressed that any separation is unnecessary because each sex will receive the instruction in its own way. There is certainly some truth in this. Men will receive ideas in one way and women in another. However, to depend on this alone in the education of young people ignores the principle of accommodation which is so important in teaching. We accommodate to age, to ability, to background, and perhaps to other factors. We would be regarded as quite remiss if we had all ages in one classroom and let each take what he was capable of receiving. It seems to me a little strange that we would not also accommodate to the difference between the sexes. If we are to give the best education for both boys and girls we may well establish differences in curricula, in subject matter and especially in the manner of presentation.
     This is not to deny the value of exchange between the sexes exchange other than what is merely social. At certain ages it becomes especially important for boys and girls to meet together in an academic atmosphere. The Academy, for example, has in recent years moved in this direction in the secondary schools by providing some coeducational courses. The problem is that frequently it has to be done for purely practical reasons rather than because it is educationally best. In other words, we often put very small groups of boys and girls together into one class for reasons of economy when that might not be the course that is best suited to coeducation. However, we have to work within the limitations that are placed upon us.

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     For our girls to be largely under the influence of women, and boys largely under the influence of men at certain ages seems to me to be a very logical procedure and one that is justified by experience over generations.

     The point has already been made in your columns that there is a very serious body of thought in the educational world which believes that many of the learning difficulties experienced by boys are due to their earlier education by women in mixed classes. In my opinion it would be a challenging and profitable thing for the Bryn Athyn Church School (which already has at least two sections in each grade) to separate boys and girls from 4th grade up with men teaching the boys and women teaching the girls. If this could be done for five or ten years and we could assess the outcome, then we might be in a much better position to determine a policy for the future.
     Certainly extremes are rarely the answer to any problem. I am very far from recommending the extreme segregation of the sexes which used to pertain in England in its private schools. Boys were separated from girls for three quarters of the year and it was a completely unrealistic and harmful situation. On the other hand I believe complete coeducation can also have deleterious effects. We need to establish a balance.
     It is interesting that in the church at the moment we have a variety of arrangements. In the Academy we have two separate secondary schools with a number of courses taught co- educationally. In the Midwest Academy we have complete coeducation on the high school level. In the Bryn Athyn Church School we have separate classes in 7th and 8th grades but in the same school. This variety is probably a very healthy thing. The same pattern may not be best in totally different circumstances. There is not the same need for separation in a very small school where each student can be handled on an individual basis. The church can learn a great deal from these different patterns. In the future we will probably retain different patterns, and parents will be in a position to make a selection which best meets the need of their children and their own educational convictions.
     Rev. Martin Pryke,
          Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania

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SENIORS 1985

[Photo taken from the 1985 high school yearbook]

SENIORS

First Row: Erika Cole, (Mr. Jones, bus driver), Sten Alfelt, Debbie Kuhl, Pamella Klein, Kerstin Nemitz, Victoria Odhner, Breton Blair, Garth Fuller, Sonia Stevens, Todd Klippenstein, Gillian Gladish, Laurel Smith, Karl Boericke
Second Row: Erik McClarren, Casey Kearns, Michael Buss, Sarah Brock, Wade Heinrichs, Erik Synnestvedt, Amy Grubb
Third Row: (Mr. Drew, bus driver), David Tolson, Tracy Campbell, Glynis Coy, Meryl Hyatt, Janet Parker, Barbara Rose, Monica Baeckstrom, Jana Hyatt, April Leeper, Vera Goodenough, Amanda Rogers, Valerie Giles, Barret Smith, Jesse Tyler, Tom Waddoll
Fourth Row: Gabrielle Delaney, Brad Heinrichs, Dean Davis, Keene Alden, Edwin Henderson, Brenda Groot, Sarah Moore, Stephen Childs, Marah Pendleton, Annette Bochneak, Russell Cooper, Tavis Junge
Last Row: Alan David, Bruce Cronlund, Radford Sellner, Chris Cronlund, Aaron Smith, Tom Oliver, Todd Heinrichs, Sean Stevens, Andrew Mitchell, Clay McQueen, Erika Heilman, Bryan McKinnon, Chris Kerr, Brent McCurdy, Robin Asplundh, Lars Holm, Andrew Adams, Rachael Pendleton, Kimberly Friesen, Kirstin Burnham, Bonnie Hodgell, Suzanne Funk

285

[Photo of the 8th grade class of 1984.]
Back Row: David Kline, Leland Junge, Gavin Rose, Ramsey Zacharia, Bill Buick, Reed Smith, Robert Chiaravallotti, Joel Brown
Middle Row: Mrs. Peter Stevens, Shanda Friesen, Gwendolyn Pitcairn, Daniel Goodenough, Justin Allen, Mac Frazier, Brady Stevens, Mara Cunniff, Samantha Lemole, Nicole Kahle, Sarah Kees, Mr. Bob Beiswenger
Front Row: Lauren Rogers, Rebekah Funk, Holly Goerwitz, Normandie Hyatt, Venus Knipprath, Rachel Schnarr, Anne York

286

     Here are six of those graduating from the Academy College this month. The photographs are taken from the 1985 college yearbook in which the rest of the graduates are also shown.

     [Photos of:
James Theodore Gese
Laura Barger
Dzin Pyung Kwak
Glade Lael Odhner
Judith Anne Elphick
Ray George Walker]

287

[Photos of Academy banners and First ANC Girls Volleyball team 1981. Coaches: Mrs. Reed Asplundh (Elaine Synnestvedt), Miss Candy Rose]

288

[Photos take from Reflections on the First 100 Years:
The leaders of the Girls at play. Factores trip 1980.

The 1984 Girls field hockey squad in front of and atop one of the Academy buses. Dorothy Posey Jewell, one of the coaches, is at the left; Beverly Doering Connelly, head coach, is at the right.]

289

[Photos: THE GIRLS SCHOOL CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION:
View of the Great Hall and some of the guests at the Centennial Luncheon 1984.
Freya Synnestvedt King with her husband, Bishop Louis B. King, Chancellor of the Academy, Charis Pitcairn Cole is in the background.
Miss Margaret Wilde with Mrs. Odhner. President Buss is in the background.]

290

BAPTISMS, MARRIAGES, ETC. IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS 1985

     Announcements

     So far this year eighty-two baptisms have been reported in NEW CHURCH LIFE. Sixteen of these were adult baptisms. (There were sixteen last year too in the first six months.)

     We have reported seventeen confirmations and twenty-four weddings. Last year at this time we had reported twenty weddings, and the total reported during the year was fifty-two. We find that our marriage reports pick up in the July and August issues, which of course are the May and June weddings.

292

VISITORS TO CHURCH SOCIETIES 1985

     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
Mrs. Harold Sellner                     Mrs. Geoffrey P. Dawson
1805 Roswell Road, Apt. 24F               28 Parklands Road
Marietta, GA 30062                     Streatham, London, SW 16
Phone: (404) 971-6899                    Phone: 01-769-7922

Detroit, Michigan                     Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Mrs. Harvey Caldwell                    Mrs. Paul M. Schoenberger
410 Crane Avenue                         7433 Ben Hur Street
Royal Oak, MI 48067                         Pittsburgh, PA 15208
Phone: (313) 399-9243                    Phone: (412) 371-3056

Glenview, Illinois                         Sacramento, California
Mrs. Donald Edmonds                     Mr. and Mrs. Courtney D. Scott
2740 Park Lane                              3448 Vougue Court
Glenview, IL 60025                     Sacramento, CA 95826
Phone: (312) 724-2834                    Phone: (916) 364-1044

Toronto, Ont., Canada
Mr. and Mrs. John Parker                San Diego, California
17 Archerhill Drive                    Mrs. Helen L. Brown
Islington, Ont. M9P 5P2                2810 Wilbee Court
Phone: (416) 622-5967                     San Diego, CA 92123

Cincinnati, Ohio                         San Francisco, California
Mrs. Donald Gladish                     Mrs. T. L. Aye
4805 Drake Road                          P.O. Box 2391
Cincinnati, Ohio 45243                    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

Transvaal, South Africa
Mrs. Marlene Sharpe
52 Keyes Ave., Rosebank
TVL 2196, Rep. of South Africa
Phone (0011) 4472743

     Kindly call at least two weeks in advance if possible.

293

PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES 1985

GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
RIGHT REV. LOUIS B. KING, BISHOP
Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, 19009, U. S. A.
PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES
Information on public worship and doctrinal classes provided either regularly or occasionally may be obtained 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. Cristovao Rabelo Nobre, Rua Xavier does Passaros 151, Apt. 101 Piedale, Rio de Janeiro, RK 20740. Phone: 021-289-4292.

     CANADA

     Alberta:

     CALGARY
Mr. Thomas R. Fountain, 1115 Southglen Drive S. W., Calgary 13, Alberta T2W 0X2. Phone: 403-255-7283.

     EDMONTON
Mr. Daniel L. Horigan, 10524 82nd St., Edmonton, Alberta T6A 3M8. Phone: 403-469-0078.

     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 Phone: 0206-43712

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

     LONDON
Rev. Frederick Elphick, 21B Hayne Rd., Beckenham, Kent BR3 4JA. Phone: 01-658-6320.

     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. Ed Verschoor, Olmenlaan 7.3862 VG Nijkerk

     NEW ZEALAND

     AUCKLAND
Mrs. Lloyd Bartle, Secretary, 13B Seymour Rd., Henderson, Auckland 8. Phone: 836 6336.

     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.

294

     SOUTH AFRICA

     Natal:

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

     Transvaal:

     TRANSVAAL SOCIETY
Rev. Norman E. Riley, 8 Iris Lane, Irene, 1675 R. S. A., Phone: 012-632679.

Zululand:

     KENT MANOR
Mrs. D. G. Liversage, Box 7088, Empangeni Rail, 3910, Natal, South Africa. Phone: 0351- 23241

     Mission in South Africa:
Superintendent-The Rev. Norman E. Riley (Address above)

     SWEDEN

     STOCKHOLM
Contact Mr. Rolf Boley, Arvid Morners Vag 7, 161 59 Bromma. Phone: efter kl. 18.00, 08- 878280

     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. (501) 251-2383

     California:

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

     SACRAMENTO
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ripley, 2310 N. Cirby Way, Roseville, CA 95678. Phone: (916) 782-7837

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

     SAN FRANCISCO
Rev. Mark Carlson, 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, 3375 Aztec Road #72, Doraville, GA 30340. Phone: (Home) (404) 457- 4726, (Office) (404) 452-0518

     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.

295

     Indiana:
Contact Rev. Stephen Cole in Cincinnati, Ohio, or Mr. James Wood, R. R. 1, Lapel, IN 46051. Phone (317) 534-3546

     Louisiana:

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

     Maine

     BATH
Rev. Allison L. Nicholson, 897 Middle St., Bath, ME 04530 Phone: (207) 433-6410

     Maryland:

     BALTIMORE
Rev. Donald Rogers, #12 Pawleys Ct., S. Belmont, Baltimore, MD 21236. Phone: (301) 882- 2640.

     MITCHELLVILLE
Rev. Lawson Smith, 3805 Enterprise Rd., Mtichellville, MD 20716. Phone: (301) 262-2349.

     Massachusetts:

     BOSTON
Rev. Grant Odhner, 4 Park Ave., Natick, MA 01760. Phone: (617) 651-1127.

     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. Phone: (314) 442-3475.

     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-Idaho Border.-Se 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. Phone: (Home) (215) 756-4301; (Office) (215) 756-6140.

     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
Mr. Fred Dunlap, 13410 Castleton, Dallas, TX 75234-5117. Phone: (214) 247-7775.

     Washington:

     SEATTLE
Rev. Kent Junge, 14812 N. E. 75th Street, Redmond, WA 98033. Phone: (206) 881-1955.

     Wisconsin:

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

296

JOHN IN THE ISLE OF PATMOS 1985

STORIES OF REVELATION
BY
GEORGE DE CHARMS

     Illustrated by Eudora Sellner (Walsh)
Based on the Apocalypse Revealed
By Emanuel Swedenborg
Hardcover, 151 pages      Postage paid $3.40

     General Church Book Center
Box 278
Bryn Athyn, PA 19009
Hours: 9-12 Mon-Fri
Phone: (215) 947-3920

297

Notes on This Issue 1985

Notes on This Issue Editor 1985

Vol. CV July, 1985 No. 7
NEW CHURCH LIFE

298

     In Dr. Wilson van Dusen's booklet A Guide to the Enjoyment of Swedenborg (reviewed in NCL last September) he recommends certain aids to the reader, including the "Glossary" by J. S. Bogg. That glossary is now out of print, but we say a few words about it on page 333 where we mention two books that are available, Our New Church Vocabulary and Dictionary of Bible Imagery. The reason for this is that we are unveiling this month the plans of Rev. Frank S. Rose to produce a kind of dictionary for people who read the Writings in English. Please note that in his article "Words, Words, Words" he appeals for help and suggestions and invites you to write to him.
     The Lexicon we speak of on page 329 is a far greater enterprise (probably containing at least ten times as many words). Its main use is for translators and those who read the Writings in Latin. Mr. Rose has in mind the ordinary reader of the Writings. His references are usually only a single line. He has the ambition and has already done a great deal of the work. We do not know who might eventually publish the dictionary but are convinced that the exposure in the LIFE is a step that will prove very useful.
     In July of 1776 the United States had its "birth" in the city of Philadelphia. Mrs. Viola Ridgway has some intriguing historical observations about Philadelphia and the New Church (p. 319).
     This month Rev. Jeremy Simons is visiting Ghana yet again (see p. 326), and we happen to be publishing in this same issue a sermon by him, the title of which may somehow seem apt.

     [Photo of Mr. Ankra-Badu and Mr. Andrews Amoh of Ghana with Rev. Robin Childs and Rev. Jeremy Simons.]

299

GO AWAY FROM YOUR LAND 1985

GO AWAY FROM YOUR LAND Rev. JEREMY SIMONS 1985

     "And Jehovah said to Abram, 'Go away from your land and from the place of your nativity and from your father's house, to the land which I will cause you to see'" (Gen. 12:1).

     Almost everyone, at some time in his life, has heard a small voice in his ear which said, "Leave! Get away! Go out, and find something better!" When you are young the voice says, "Run away from home!" or "Run away from school!" When you are an adult it says "Quit your job," "Leave your married partner," "Leave town" or "Leave the church!" Under certain circumstances leaving may be the right thing to do, and the small voice may be giving good advice, such as when the church teaches false ideas, or when the married partner is an adulterer. But very often, when we try to leave our problems by walking out, we find that our problems walk right out after us. The same old things follow us around, and a few months or a few years later we find that our situation, instead of being better, is the same, or even worse.
     Yet this is not the fault of the idea of leaving. It is the fault of our reaction to that idea, or what we do when that idea crops up. If our state is intolerable then it is good to leave that state, but that does not necessarily mean that we should walk out the door. Our exodus does not have to be a physical one; it can be a spiritual one.

Abram Is Told to Leave Haran

     Jehovah said to Abram: "Go away from your land." It was the first thing that He said to him. Abram here represents the Lord in His infancy and childhood, and these words signify the Lord's first state after He was born (see AC 1414), or the thoughts of His first awareness as a baby (see AC 1410).
     It is significant that the Lord's first thoughts from the Divine in Him were that He should go away. But the thoughts were not that He should physically leave (Where would He go?), but that He should spiritually go away from His land and from the place of His birth. His first awareness of all things was that He was to depart from the worldly and bodily things which made up his state at that time, and journey toward heavenly and spiritual things (see AC 1411, 1412).
     When we have problems which involve our spiritual life, the very best solution may be for us to make a similar journey-not leaving the room, or the house, or our job, but leaving the state that we are in, and beginning a series of steps which will lead us into a new state.

300

     Abram's departure from Haran and his travels in Canaan to Shechem, the oak grove of Moreh, Bethel and Ai, and then on toward the south, represent the Lord's first states while He was a baby and a child. 'The different stops that Abram made, and his worship of Jehovah at them, present to us His first steps toward making His Human Divine. These steps can be applied to our own regeneration.

The First State-Haran

     When the Lord came into the world He came to call us away from our evils, and to show us the way to heaven. Yet He Himself, being born of a human mother, was born with the same hereditary evils that everyone has. The difference was that His inmost soul, which was from the Father, was Divine. It was the hereditary evil from Mary which was the cause of this first state which is meant by Abram being in Haran (see AC 1414).
     Haran was an idolatrous city in Syria, or Aram (see AC 1411, 1430). It represents the obscure state of the Lord in infancy, when He was in bodily and worldly things, such as physical pleasures and sensory perceptions, as all babies are (see AC 1412). The Lord's state as a baby was like any other infant, and He grew up like any other child. But at some point He became consciously aware of His state, and this is what is described by Jehovah's first words to Abram: "Go away from your land." His first thoughts, which were perceptions from the Divine in Him, were that He must leave these things of the external man and advance toward Divine things.
     With us this awareness is called the beginning of repentance, which is the first of regeneration and the first essential of the church (see TCR 510:2). We can never leave our "Haran" unless we know what it is that we are really leaving. We may think that we are leaving as we go out the door, only to discover years later that we are still in Haran-still in that same idolatrous worship. The Lord doesn't ask us to know where we are going. He only told Abram that he was going "to a land which I will cause you to see!" But He does ask us to know what it is we are leaving. We must first identify the state that we want to be rid of before we can go anywhere. And the unhappy truth is that when we are in such an obscure state it is very difficult to do this.
     To journey, in the Word, generally means to live and to progress in life (see HH 590). It also means to be instructed (see AC 1461, 4444:5; AE 328:16). It is important to realize that if we want to leave any state behind we have to be willing to be instructed. Frequently we are so eager to simply get going that instruction is the last thing that we are looking for.

301

     We can, however, do what Abram did. He brought together Sarai, his wife, Lot, his brother's son, and all his belongings which he had acquired in Haran. With the Lord this means that He gathered together all the goods and truths which He had, together with "every essential with life in it that was possible in that obscure state" (AC 1431). With these things He was able to leave that external state and journey toward Canaan. We can collect in ourselves-in our minds-the things that we know and the things that we love, and, on the basis of these, examine our lives and choose what it is that we want to leave behind. We always have the ability to do this, and only when this decision is made can we journey toward Canaan, that is, toward heavenly things.

The Second State-Shechem

     Canaan is called "the Holy Land" and "the Promised Land" because it represents heaven and heavenly things. The different places inside Canaan stand for various heavenly and spiritual states that we pass through. In ancient times, when travelers went from Syria to Canaan the first stopping place was Shechem, after the Jordan River was crossed. "Since the 'land of Canaan' means the celestial things of love it is clear that 'Shechem' means the first stage in the appearance of heavenly things"(AC 1441). Abram's arrival in Shechem represents the Lord's second state, which was when celestial things first became apparent to Him, that is, when He first saw heavenly things (see AC 1439). This seems to come fairly quickly and easily after He left Haran, and the fact is that when anyone shuns an evil state, a good one immediately fills the space.
     Yet in this account Abram seems to be really only passing through Canaan, not firmly established there. He stops at Shechem, the oak grove of Moreh, a place between Bethel and Ai, and then he travels on toward the south. It is only the beginning of the Lord's reception of Divine things, and it only describes the beginning of the process by which we leave bodily and worldly things and approach a life of charity. Each of these stops depicts a different state. Shechem is the Lord's second state, after Haran, when heavenly things begin to be apparent to Him. If we read the Word, or are taught about it and how to live, we begin to see the heavenly things that the Word contains. This is Shechem.

The Third State-the Oak Grove of Moreh

     When we see the heavenly things in the state meant by "Shechem" something else happens, pictured by the oak grove of Moreh. This oak grove represents a first perception, that is, the first new sight of truth revealed from the Divine in Him, which the Lord received after the things of heaven appeared to Him (see AC 1442).

302

When we love truth and see something of heaven in it and even begin to develop something of conscience about it, the Lord gives us a kind of perception through conscience, which is almost like a revelation (ibid.). From this perception we can see the truth much more clearly. And yet this first perception is relatively external, which is why it is described by an oak grove. Oaks are large, strong and rough trees, and so "oak trees meant exterior perceptions, that is, those of facts which belong to the external man. This explains why the oak grove of Moreh means the Lord's first perception, for He was still only a boy and His spiritual powers had not yet developed interiorly" (AC 1443). We need to have this rough, external perception about facts, such as the stories of the Word, or we cannot advance further. Facts such as these have a tremendous strength as a basis for spiritual understanding, even though taken by themselves they do not bring us out of our obscure states. The oak grove of Moreh is an essential stage in the journey toward the south, the first and most external perceptions of truth on the journey toward intelligence, which is meant by the south.

The Fourth State-Bethel and Ai

This first perception led the Lord to a fourth state, which is meant by Abram "removing from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitching his tent, Bethel being toward the sea, and Ai toward the east." This state is another small advance, but it is still an obscure state. In a sense it summarizes the states which have gone before. The meaning of having Ai on the east and Bethel on the west or toward the sea is that now worldly things (Ai) are in brightness (the east), but heavenly things (Bethel) are still in obscurity (the west) (see BC 1453). It takes time before interior or heavenly things become clear to us, such as why and how we should really love our neighbor, experience states of true worship, love use for the sake of use, or love eternally our married partner. The external things become clear long before, such as understanding the stories of the Word, knowing the Commandments, and seeing that they "work," or that life works better if they are obeyed. Even seeing these things is a relatively deep thing, and what we are talking about here is the very beginning of this-such as the Lord would have experienced as a baby or a small child.
This fourth state is a kind of resolution or summary of the three previous states because now there is some clarity of thought, and the journey can then be continued. First there was only an awareness of obscurity in Haran.

303

Then in Shechem and the oak grove heavenly things began to appear and there was given an external perception about them, so that now the state is one of relative clarity with regard to external things, but still obscurity as to interior ones.
     Even though this state is still obscure it prepares the way for further journeying toward the "south," or toward intelligence and brightness with regard to interior things. "And Abram traveled, going and traveling toward the south." That is, the Lord "traveled into a state that is bright as regards interior things" (AC 1456). This traveling is not described as an easy journey. In the next verses we are told that there is a famine in the land, and Abram must leave Canaan and go down into Egypt. The famine is a lack of knowledges, and Egypt is a state of acquiring knowledges. The first states of Abram in Canaan are only the first very primitive stages in the Lord's progress, and in our own progress, away from worldly things. Before this progress can go very far there must always be more instruction. The constantly repeating process is one of instruction, application, then insight or perception, followed by more instruction. It is like a journey, and it is described in great detail by the various journeys taken in the Word, such as Abram's journey through Canaan.

Spiritual Traveling

     Each one of us, as we progress in life, actually journeys in the world of spirits as to our spirit (see TCR 476). As children, we begin in the northeast quarter of the world of spirits, and as we grow up and learn we go toward the south, as Abram did. Throughout our life in this world we are free to travel spiritually north, south, east and west in the spiritual world. But we are unaware of this traveling because we are only conscious in this world. We leave the things that we don't love, and travel toward those we do love.
     When we go to the other world, we at first sometimes wander from one place to another (see SD 2547). But eventually we follow pathways which lead either to heaven or hell (see HH 590), and then we stay in the society we have chosen. There are people, especially from our earth, who continue to roam the spiritual world "from an eagerness and delight in traveling which they contracted in the world"(AC 10785:2). But for the most part once we enter our eternal society we stay there, and don't even think of leaving-if we love uses for the sake of uses. We read, in the Spiritual Diary:

     The means of going out of his own society or town, and to ramble about there, is given to every spirit. Those who love use for the sake of use never wish-they do not even know how to look beyond their own territory; nor, inasmuch as they have no such purpose, have they such a view: wherefore the territories elsewhere do not appear to them.

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It is different with those who do not love use for the sake of use. With these, the desire of seeing things outside is ingrained; and they do it. These also are the ones from whom all societies are purged; and they are cast forth to some other place, according to their life (SD 5902).

     This passage is not saying that it is not good to want to travel, but it does indicate that spiritual traveling ought to take place in this world, and that we should find our place before we die. Those who do not love use for the sake of use are not content in one place, but wander in the other world and are cast out. We are all familiar with the idea that the world seems brighter outside of our own pasture. That brightness is deceptive. If we find ourselves wanting to leave, we should start that journey by looking into ourselves.

Conclusion

     We are then to examine ourselves, and look for ways to leave our present state if it is not good. When we feel the urge to run away, we should look inside ourselves for something to run away from. Then we should leave that thing behind. The Lord came into the world to make us spiritual sojourners, traveling on the way to heaven. He calls us to this Promised Land, but our first step must be to leave our old states. "And Jehovah said to Abram, 'Go away from your land, and from the place of your nativity and from your father's house, to the land which I will cause you to see.'" Amen.

     LESSONS: Genesis 12:1-9; Arcana Caelestia 1414; True Christian Religion 476 Title Unspecified 1985

Title Unspecified 1985

COMET: (See p. 323.) In mid April, 1986, Halley's comet will be only 39 million miles away from our earth. Plan to visit New Church friends in the southern hemisphere for the best view.
Brian Marsden of Harvard is quoted as saying: "It's all very well for people to be gung ho over Halley, but there are lots of other comets in more urgent need of observation."
NEW CHURCH LIFE A HUNDRED YEARS AGO 1985

NEW CHURCH LIFE A HUNDRED YEARS AGO 1985

From the July issue, 1885, we quote the following: "The King of Sweden has sanctioned full religious liberty to the New Church Society in Stockholm . . . The first application from the New Church in Sweden for religious liberty was made by Augustus Nordenskold in 1795. Now, nearly a century later, the end so long hoped for has been attained."

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Title Unspecified 1985

     [Photo of WASHINGTON NEW CHURCH SCHOOL]

     The 1985 graduates are in the third row, standing behind the teachers. From left to right:

(10th) Ati (8th)      Amy (10th)     Justin (10th) Jamie (10th) (10th) Jessica
     Rahbani      Odhner      Coffin      Cooper                Harjess

     The staff, in addition to James Roscoe (holding the banner), consists of the following (from left to right):

Carole           Emily      Kenneth      Lawson      Mary           Sherry      Rebecca
Waelchli      Harry      Alden           Smith      Cooper           Boyce      Harry

     Gael Coffin, Deena Odhner, and Katherine Mitchell also teach.
SWEDENBORG'S ANGELS 1985

SWEDENBORG'S ANGELS 1985

Some people have already seen the theatrical production (part dance and part play) entitled "Swedenborg's Angels." it has been in Chicago and is coming to New York. We hope to explain it in the August issue.

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WORDS, WORDS, WORDS 1985

WORDS, WORDS, WORDS Rev. FRANK ROSE 1985

     For a long time we have known that there are certain words in English translations of the Writings that pose difficulties for new readers. At one time I thought that we might be able to make a list of about a dozen such words, and that it could be useful to have a little word list to help people find their way through the Writings.
     A couple of years ago I began to collect words that I thought the average reader might find hard to understand. The first collection totaled about 500 words. Suggestions from friends and further reading swelled that number to over a thousand. Now I am halfway through my first computer draft (easy to edit, to make changes, additions, subtractions, etc.), and it looks as if the total will come to over 1500 words and phrases. What you see below is a sample of some pages from this draft.
     You will notice that many of the words are ones that you might find in a good English dictionary, but which are not used in ordinary conversation. Others are phrases such as "external man" and "immediate mercy." A surprising number are not English words at all, but have come into common enough use among us that we forget that you would not find them in any ordinary dictionary. Then there are words that used to mean something very different than they do today, words like "ideal" and "imposition." In my research I have found many that seem to me to be translator's errors or peculiarities.
     Some seem like well-known words, and the casual reader might not stop to notice that these words are being used in unusual ways. In the English translations of the Writings "circus" is not something you take children to, "cleave" does not mean "to split," "express" does not mean "fast," (or "say what is on your mind"), and a "filleted primate" is not an ape with the bones taken out.
     In presenting this little sample I am hoping to stimulate you to send me any words you may have found, to increase the usefulness of the dictionary. It will help enormously if you indicate the passage in the Writings where the word is found and which translation or edition you found it in. It is a fascinating search, and I have no illusion about its containing all the unusual or difficult words that are in our English translations. Whatever help you can give would be greatly appreciated. Please send any suggestions to: Rev. Frank Rose, 2536 N. Stewart Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85716.

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SAMPLING FROM A PROPOSED DICTIONARY

Circumrotate = revolve, rotate
Circumrotation = rotation
Circumspection = prudence, caution (literally "looking around")
Circumvolution = turning around an axis
Circus = a circular arena, amphitheater
Citron = a tree in the citrus family, fruit like a lemon but larger
Civil Man = a person who lives by civil laws and customs
Cleave = join together, adhere, stick to
Clemency = mercy, kindness
Clerical Garb = clergyman's distinctive clothes
Coalesce = reunite, grow together
Cogitative- thinking
Cognitions = concepts, knowledges of ideas (rather than just of facts)
Cohabit = live together, dwell together
Cohabitation = dwelling together as married partners
Cohere = hold together, be connected
Coherence = holding together, sticking together
Cohobation = a second distillation
Cohort = a group of soldiers, a company
Colds in Marriage = conditions of coldness between married partners
Collateral Good = good from the same stock but not in the direct line of descent; goodness that is not genuine, but is related to what is genuine
Colligate = bind together, fasten together, connect
Comeliness= good looks, beauty
Common perception = common sense
Common Sensory = the brain, the cerebrum (where all the senses are experienced)
Communion = a common sharing, association. Heaven and the church are called "communions."
Compendium = a short summary
Complement = completion, something that fills up or makes complete
Complex (noun) Z a whole made up of many connected parts
Comprehend = understand, take in the entire concept
Conatus = a striving, endeavor, impulse
Concert = agreement, harmony
Concord = harmony, agreement
Concordance = concord, harmony, agreement
Concordant = harmonious
Concubinage = living with a mistress or concubine

308

Concupiscence = ardent desire (usually evil); any abnormally strong desire, sexual lust
Conduce = lead to a desired result, profit
Conducive = helpful, profitable
Confederate (verb) = unite, join together in a common cause
Conflagration = a large fire
Conformable = similar, having a corresponding form
Conformably = similarly
Confound = confuse
Confounded = confused
Congeal = freeze, stick together
Ex Priori (Latin) = from prior things, from what is higher
Ex Posteriori (Latin) = from what is later, or lower
Exasperate = irritate, make angry, rouse
Exasperation of Love = zeal, an anger defending the love
Excite = arouse, move to action
Excitations; arousals, irritations
Excrementitious = excretory; for the elimination of waste; like excrement
Excogitating = thinking out, devising
Expiration = breathing out
Excrescence I abnormal growth, tumor, parasite
Exculpate = excuse, clear of blame
Exculpation = excuse, acquittal
Execrate = curse
Execration = a curse
Execrable = cursed, damnable
Exegesis = explanation of texts in Scripture
Exhortation = encouragement
Exinanition = emptying out of the spirit, desolation
Existere (Latin) = standing forth, coming into existence, presence
Expiate = atone for
Expiation = atonement
Explication = explanation, unfolding
Express = squeeze out
Expunge = delete, blot out, erase
Exsertions = projections, extensions, (opposite of Insertions)
Extant = still in existence, not lost
Exterior Man = a somewhat external person; a somewhat external part of a person
External Church = the external aspect of religion; people who are mostly involved in external church activities

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External Good = good actions, outward acts of goodness
External Man = the external part of a person; also a person who is merely external
Externals of the Church = the worship services, rituals and other activities
External Sense = the outward or literal meaning of Scripture
External Truth = truth in the memory, doctrinal teachings and rituals
Extirpate = banish, wipe out, pull up by the roots
Extraconjargial = adulterous, extramarital, (also used in the sense of outside of marriage, non-marital)
Extravasation = a liquid spilling or being poured out of its container, as when blood is forced out of blood vessels into the surrounding tissue
Extricate = set free, disentangle
Extrication = breaking out
Extrinsic = outward, from an outer source (opposite of Intrinsic)
Exudation = oozing out, exuding
Exude = ooze out, pour forth
Exult = rejoice
Exuviae = cast off skins or coverings (as when an animal molts)
Fabulous Stories = fables, myths
Facetious = witty, humorous, funny
Faculty = ability, power (the two main human faculties are the will or the ability to desire and love, and the understanding or the ability to understand and think)
Faith = belief (usually belief in things seen to be true) (less often used in the sense of trust and confidence)
Fallacy = deceptive appearance
Fallacies of the Senses = misleading appearances, such as the appearance that the sun rises and sets
Fallacious = misleading, deceptive
Falsity = untruth, something false
Falsity of Evil = a false idea or distortion of truth caused by an evil desire (also called Falsity from Evil)
Fancies = illusions, foolish ideas, imaginary concepts
Fane = a temple
Fascicle = small bundle (also used of a portion of a book ready for binding)
Fatuous = foolish, unreal, illusory
Fatuous Eight = phosphorescent light, unreal or deceptive light (also called Ignis Fatuus)
Fauces = jaws; narrow and dangerous passageway
Feculent = foul, impure

310

Fecundate = to make fertile, to make fruitful
Feignedly = fake, deceptively, fictitiously
Felicity = happiness
Felicities = joys, happinesses
Ferirae = savage, beastly, like a wild animal
Fetid = smelling bad, stinking
Fetter = shackle, foot chains
Fillets = bands, strips of cloth on a headdress with jewels attached
Filleted Primate = a bishop with a headdress or miter (also translated Mitred primate)
Firsts = beginnings, first things, primes (opposite of Ultimates = last things, lowest things)
First Heaven = the lowest of the three heavens, (also called the Natural Heaven and the Ultimate Heaven)
Flagitiousness = scandals, outrageous behaviors
Flux = a flowing
Fluxion = a flow, flowing, a course
Foment = stir up, warm up
Forensic = public, judicial, happening outside
Forensic Doctrine = publicly stated doctrine (which may not agree with privately held beliefs); also translated Outside Doctrine
Former and Latter = the one and the other (when two things have been mentioned in a text, the first one mentioned is called The Former and the second The Latter)
Formulatory = a Liturgy, a collection of formulas
Ideal = unreal, imaginary, existing only as an idea, but not as a reality
Idealist = one who believes in the philosophy that nothing really exists
Ideally = in an imaginary way, in thought but not in reality
Ignis Fatsaus (Latin) = phosphorescent light, unreal or deceptive light, the name of marsh gas, (also translated Fataeous Light)
Ignoble = ordinary, of inferior quality, not noble
Illicitness = being unlawful or illegal
Illimitable = of unlimited number
Illumine = shine light on, enlighten
Illuminated = enlightened
Illumination = enlightenment
Illustrate = to make clear, to shed light on, to enlighten
Illustration = enlightenment
Illustrious = famous
Imbibe = drink, take in, be deeply impressed
Imbibed Persuasions = deeply impressed convictions or opinions
Imbue = absorb, impress with, stain deeply, pervade

311

Immaterial = non material, not physical
Immediate = direct, without anything coming between
Immediate Influx = a direct inflowing
Immediate Mercy = mercy given directly or without cause
Immediate Revelation = a revelation given directly, without anyone in between
Immediately = directly, without anything coming between
Immission = being let into, admission
Immoderate = unrestrained, excessive
Immutable = unchangeable, cannot be altered
Impede = block, hinder
Impious = irreverent, irreligious
Importune = beg, request
Imposition of Hands = the laying on of hands
Imprudence = thoughtlessness, lack of foresight, not paying attention
Imputation = the giving of credit or blame, making account
Impute = give credit or blame
In (this word is used in the ordinary way, and also in the sense of "in a condition or state" as "in good" meaning "in a state of goodness")
Inane = empty, void of meaning
Inanity = emptiness
Predications of Inanity = empty rhetoric, hollow preachings
Inaugurate = introduce, especially by means of a ceremony, ordain
Inauguration = introduction, ordination
Incarnate = in the flesh, in a body
Incarnation = taking on a body of flesh
Increments = additions, increased amounts
Incubus = nightmare
Indecorous = unsuitable, unbecoming
FOR COMPARISON'S SAKE 1985

FOR COMPARISON'S SAKE 1985

Of the 64 words on this and the opposite page, only three appear in Bogg's 180-page Glossary (see page 333). Contrast the one-line treatment of "Imputation" on this page with Bogg's direct quotation as follows: "Imputation. Imputatio. There is an imputation of good and of evil, which is what is meant wherever imputation is mentioned in the Word" (TCR 643).

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STEPS OF OUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH (II) 1985

STEPS OF OUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH (II) Jr. Rev. J. CLARK ECHOLS. 1985

     [Concluded from the June issue]

Reformation

     We have seen in what ways we are responsible for our spiritual state. But all the actual changes that benefit our spiritual state are the results of the Lord's secret work of reforming the order of our minds.
     The Lord originally made our minds to work in a perfect way. But over the ages of mankind's spiritual history, and even during our own individual lifetimes, a lot of muck has accumulated that gums up the operation of our mind. And, what is more serious, our spirit is inverted, and it needs to be "turned around." This turning is our reformation, which the Lord alone performs. It is the miracle of changing our nature-water to wine, black to white, dust to living soul.
     Such is the dramatic nature of this change that the Writings tell us that there are basically only two states: before reformation and regeneration, and after it (see TCR 571). Before, good people are in a state of desiring to be spiritual. We are then in a state of truth-we know the truth, and it leads us in all our life. The one drawback of this state is that we know what is good only indirectly, and so we are led by love only indirectly through truth. After our reformation by the Lord, we have attained the state we desire. We are in a state of goodness. We are directly led by what we love, not what we understand. We are guided by love rather than by truth.
     This radical and basic change in our nature is our salvation. It is our rebirth. Before this change is accomplished we cannot enter heaven! This may seem a hard saying, but it is true. We may learn a tremendous amount of truth. We may compel ourselves to obey. We may actually repent. Yet all this is simply preparation for what the Lord does. He makes us fit for heaven; for before this we were not.
     The Lord gives us to feel, painfully at times, our responsibility to grow spiritually. And yet, when it comes down to it, it is His silent, unfelt operation in the deepest parts of our spirit that makes the whole difference. This is because, first, only the Divine can forgive sins and give salvation; and second, He desires that we should have freedom so that we can love Him of our own free will. So, while He actually reforms us, He does not make His part known to us except when we look back down the ladder.

313

     Before we become spiritual people, our thoughts will at times reflect the merely natural and evil loves that are in our will from our birth and from our own choices-all so much muck and mire. However, our understanding is not necessarily bound to our will, even though it favors what we love. Our understanding can house truths-solid rocks for a foundation of His tabernacle.
     From the light of these truths we can see how a desire is evil, even though we love that evil and even do it. This separation of our will and understanding makes it possible for us to learn from the Word, receive its truth despite what we love, and make the step of determining to go against what we love in favor of what we have learned.
     First we learn from the Word the difference between what is right and wrong, good and evil.

     Once learned, the truth has to be accepted-to be received as true. We must decide to live according to it. There will come a time in our life when we have learned and taken in so much truth that we will become convinced that some of our loves are evil and must be abstained from. In this determination we set one part of our spirit against another. This is the battle of temptation. Upon the successful conclusion of the battle, when we reject the evil loves because we see them for the deadly swamp they are, the Lord steps in and removes those evil loves from the operation of our spirit. He reforms our mind so that the hells no longer influence us in that way.
     This explains why Jesus tells us to worry more about the inside of the cup, more than we want to perhaps. External things can vary; it is our internal things that determine quality. Our intentions are what we need to work on. We need to notice them in action as we go through our daily routine. As we do this, the true quality of our external life will become evident to us. We will be able to bring our external life into line. Yes, we should alter the way we live if we find we are covered with mud; but no amount of external cleanliness will change our spirit. We must work on the spiritual level if we wish to have our spirit reformed by the Lord. When the Lord is finished, we are saved, and then we are part of His kingdom.

     Knowing We're Saved

     It is theoretically possible to be saved while we live on earth. Such theorizing is not idle. We all want, indeed need the Lord's assurance that we are all right. Do we not yearn for this assurance from our friends? Our desire to be "okay" in the sight of God-to be saved-is one of the motives we use to compel ourselves to be good; at least this is so in the beginning of our rebirth.

314

     The fact that feeling saved is sometimes abused by people is no reason to denigrate the feeling, or look down on those who are convinced that they have been saved. The Lord wants us to feel good-to feel His good. There are some who proudly proclaim that they have been "saved in Jesus Christ," and then turn around and demand, "Why aren't you?" This is hard to react to, and makes us question all those who say they are saved-among whom may be those who really are!
     The Writings give us very good warnings about assessing our own state. Things may not be as they appear (see DP 215). Having truth means nothing if-we don't flee from evil loves (see AC 2388:2). We cannot know at all how the Lord is regenerating us (see AC 3570:2). We can easily confirm what we love without ever assessing its quality (see AC 2045).
     When these warnings are heeded, as is done by people serious about discovering their evils and shunning them, a knowledge of ourselves can be given by the Lord. "Anyone may see what kind of life he possesses if only he will find out what kind of end he has in view" (AC 1909). "Anyone who has Ca knowledge of correspondences] can ascertain and know what his own state after death will be, if only he knows what his love is" (HH 487). If a person "considers that [evils] are sins, and on that account abstains from them, then the uses which he does are spiritual. And while he shuns sins with abhorrence, he also begins to have a sensible perception of the love of uses for the sake of uses, and this from a spiritual enjoyment of them" (DLW 426). "Cease, therefore, from asking in yourself, 'What are the good works that I must do? or 'What good must I do to receive eternal life? Only cease from evil as sins and look to the Lord and the Lord will teach and lead you" (AE 979:2).
     So, knowing we're saved is possible. What is more likely, however, is that we will merely know the quality of our life at any one moment. We can search out our end in life and ask, Is it of heaven or the world? the neighbor or self? And the Writings have given us a means of piercing the external pictures we have of ourselves to get at our ends-our real selves. We can, by a knowledge of correspondences, assess the quality of our delights. We can ask ourselves, "What do I enjoy? What is the love of my life?" As we do this reflection, meditation and self-examination, we will discover what evils we consider to be sins. We can go into our closets and, while we pray for forgiveness, "attend to the ends," the goals or results which we propose to ourselves. We can, by means of a knowledge of the operation of our spirit given in the Writings, see through our external appearances (which tell us nothing); see through the pictures we paint of ourselves (which are invariably false and self-serving); and get at our loves.

315

     There is something wonderful here. We can discover that we do indeed have the Lord within us, that we do indeed love truth and goodness. When this is so the Lord grants us the supreme delight possible to our state. Such a state can be achieved at any time we do the work, and can be achieved by all, not just those who are "saved." The Lord's presence is available to everyone, even sinners (see DP 330). "Look to the Lord, and the Lord will teach you and lead you" (AE 979e) in perfecting you to all eternity, not just at one time and all at once.

Heaven on Earth

     Heaven is being where you want to be; doing what you want to do; being with whomever you want to be with; feeling the greatest delights possible; untroubled by anxiety or woe; and being a form of charity. Heaven has an incredible amount of variety in things to do, ideas to think about and delights to feel. Heaven is perfect, and the people there are growing more and more perfect every day. Their life is full of peace, and they are contented. It is a tribute to the Lord's Divinity that He can organize the lives of the myriads of angels so that each one has such freedom and delight.
     It seems at times that we earthbound people must be beyond the Lord's organizing power. After all, our day is regulated by the clock so much; our activities are hindered by distances; evil things, even evil people, can ruin things for us; we are prone to accidents, even if they are only the little, aggravating ones, like stubbing our toe; and there are tremendous limits to what we can do, learn and feel. If heaven is ever going to exist on earth, we think, these things must be done away with-at least in my life.
     If heaven is a state of peace, then peace on earth will be a vital ingredient to having heaven on earth, will it not? The angel announced "Peace on earth" when the Lord was born. Well, we ask, where is it? Yes, it is clear that "earth" here represents something spiritual: the church, or a person's will. So the "earth" is something above and beyond our physical situation, and so the "peace" declared may not really apply to our earthly lives at all, but rather to our spiritual life. But should we not expect this peace to affect our physical life? Should not this peace reign among us-on earth?
     There are some wonderful teachings in the Writings that give us much hope for such a time of peace on earth. The Lord flows in and "in so doing He arranges every single person into a proper order, on earth as in heaven. In this way the Lord's will is done, as He Himself teaches, 'on earth as it is in heaven'" (AC 1285). "The 'rest of Jehovah' (Exodus 31:12-18) denotes peace and salvation for the angels in the heavens, and for men on earth when they are in good and thereby in the Lord" (AC 10374-emphasis added).

316

"People possess a spiritual mind and a natural mind. The natural mind is the mind of the person's world, and the spiritual mind is the mind of his heaven . . . . By means of [his spiritual mind] he can be in heaven while still in the world" (Life 86-emphasis added).
     The thrust of these and other teachings is that genuine peace-heaven-exists primarily in a person's mind. Lf it does not exist in the spirit, it does not really exist in one's earthly life, no matter what the conditions of the world. The person "in the Lord" has a mind organized and regulated by the Lord. Charity reigns in the will and wisdom in the understanding. "Every regenerate person is a miniature heaven . . . in the Word his internal man is called heaven . . . . He is the Lord's kingdom, for the Lord's kingdom is within him . . . . The fruitfulness of good and the multiplication of truth take place in the external man; the fruitfulness of good in his affections, and the multiplication of truth in his memory" (AC 911, 913-emphasis added).
     Now let us bring these teachings together: heaven is a spiritual state and one's spiritual state determines the quality of one's physical life. So complex is this relationship of spirit and body, so various with each individual, that Swedenborg said he couldn't adequately describe it. No one but the person who is acquainted with the state of peace is capable of knowing about the serenity of peace of the external man, which ensues when conflict comes to an end. That state is so joyful that it transcends every idea of joy. It is not just an end of conflict; it is also life coming from an inward peace, influencing the external man in a way that defies description. At this point truths of faith and goods of love are born, which draw their life from the joy that peace brings (see AC 92).
     Words and ideas fail, in the end, when trying to describe feelings and delights. And yet the Word gives those of us not yet acquainted with this peace a magnificent picture of its effects: "The work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet dwelling places" (Isa. 32:17, 18). "You shall go out with joy, and be led out in peace; and the mountains and hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands" (Isa. 55:12, 13). "I will make a covenant of peace with them, and cause the wild beasts to cease from the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods" (Ezek. 34:25).
     What is our attitude toward this, the letter of the Old Testament? Certainly it is describing our spiritual state. But what is our spiritual state if it is not ultimated and given power in our earthly, physical life?

317

Nothing really is ours, or really exists in us, until it comes out in our life. And those things of our spirit that are real actually do affect our natural, bodily life. This is the law of influx and correspondence at work.
     This distinction between, and the relationship of, our spirit and body was spoken of by Jesus. As to peace, He emphasized that it is a state of one's spirit, regardless of external conditions. He warned His disciples (and so He warns us too) of coming tribulations-the bodily troubles of persecution and death; but that still they would have peace. "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives do I give you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27). "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 6:33). The peace He came to establish was clearly a spiritual state that did not exist before: a victory over the hells that was the final solution for mankind's spiritual woes. And yet, He prophesied, there would still be war and division (cf. Luke 12:51, Matt. 10:34).
     Again, we have two sets of teachings. The Old Testament prophecies describe the exquisite state of peace on the earth. The New Testament prophecies by Jesus seem closer to what we know to be the present reality-that peace is a state of mind and spirit quite apart from earthly conditions.
     Are not these two-mind and body-in fact intimately and directly related? Is not peace produced on earth when there is a spiritual state of peace? Yes, there is. But we will never find it, we will never establish it by looking to worldly ideas of peace, or by manipulating external conditions. No amount of organization or cooperation, no number of peace treaties or bodily control (as in avoiding accidents) will bring real peace.
     Heaven is established on earth when each of us is a "whole" person-when our internal and external are united by love and so working to the exact same ends. Then, miraculously, the Lord's order and organization will flow into our thoughts and affections-our consciousness. The resulting "life proceeding" from this mental state will cause a cessation of strife within us between our inner man and our outer man. We will see clearly what we are doing at any moment; we will be conscious of it and its quality; we will know why we are doing it and how it is good.
     Such consciousness leads to a peace of mind that will always rule our physical life. Our spiritual state will be supreme, regulating and organizing all that happens in our life on earth. The peace of our spirit will be the peace of our life on earth.
     Surely accidents will happen. There may be intense pain. Our life will not be as self-determined as it will be when we are in heaven.

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But we will, as Jesus said, be not of this world, and so we will be unperturbed by its vagaries (see John 17:11-19). Life will be simple, for all of it will be seen in the all-revealing light of heaven itself.
     This state is the climax of life here-to be in heaven at the same time. "As soon as the bodily interests in which a person is immersed retire into the background, the path is opened, and he finds himself among spirits, and shares his life with them" (AC 69). The Divine will be in our internals as we actually become a vehicle for the presence of the "Divine on earth" (AC 3023). Our actions will flow from, and be expressive of, our spiritual state in just the same way the letter of the Word flows from and expresses the spiritual truths of heaven and the Lord.
     What inspiration this promise is! Our whole discussion here has been an attempt to show how we walk with the Lord into His kingdom. We all know we will be happy in heaven, and there is much we need to do to get there-many, many steps to be taken, holding the hand of our Savior. And each stride we make, no matter how difficult, can be filled with the Lord's sure promise that His kingdom will come and we will have heaven on earth. We must not sit back and await the happiness of heaven. We can achieve it well before that.
     "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand . . . . The law of God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide" (Psalm 37:23, 24, 31).
NEW CHURCH LIFE FIFTY YEARS AGO 1985

NEW CHURCH LIFE FIFTY YEARS AGO 1985

The July issue, 1935, begins with an Assembly address by Bishop N. D. Pendleton entitled "States of the Church. Here we read:

We speak and we sing of the church which we love; and we love it not less, but more, when we observe its struggle for existence, when we look upon its past and note its slow and hesitating growth, its dividing contentions, its states of quiescent drifting, its intellectual endeavors, which give place to an apparent fading interest, only to be followed by the flush of renewed life. In these alternations, the church but tells in larger figure the story of each individual in his varying states; and it is just therein that the Lord's hidden guidance may become effective through ways and means above man's knowing . . . . Only God can guide with a full allowance of freedom to man; He alone can overrule to ends which man would reject if they were openly seen.

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MINI ACCOUNT OF HOW THE NEW CHURCH CAME TO THE NEW WORLD 1985

MINI ACCOUNT OF HOW THE NEW CHURCH CAME TO THE NEW WORLD VIOLA RIDGWAY 1985

     It is a curious fact that Philadelphia was the city where this great country was just awakening as an industrial giant at the very time in history when the dawn of the New Church was actually taking place, also in Philadelphia!
     Two events in particular brought Philadelphia into prominence as the birthplace of the new country and the New Church in the late 1700s.
     There were two men who were responsible for bringing these events into fruition: Jacob Duche and James Glen. All New Churchmen should know these stirring facts. Here they are:
     Jacob Duche was born in Philadelphia in 1737 and James Glen was born in Scotland. Duche was brought up in the City of Brotherly Love, and when he was old enough he went to the University of Pennsylvania. After his graduation his father sent him to London to be trained as a minister in the Episcopalian Church of Philadelphia. He not only was trained in his father's religion but, unknown to his father, he discovered in London a new religion that delighted him with its doctrines and that he accepted with joy. Like the other men he met who accepted the New Doctrines, he believed that the New Doctrines would spread entirely by permeation to the rest of the world! He returned to Philadelphia as Rev. Jacob Duche and he was determined to pass on the truths in his sermons or wherever else he could, without mentioning Swedenborg and his Writings.
     Jacob Duche met John Adams, who was to become the second president of the U.S.A., and his cousin Samuel Adams. The first meeting of the Continental Congress was held in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia from September 5 to October 26, 1774. The members couldn't agree on who was to offer the first prayer at the opening of Congress. John Adams wrote a letter to his wife describing the great occasion: "It was my cousin, Samuel Adams, who proposed that there was a man of piety and virtue who was also a friend to his country-his name was Rev. Jacob Duche," and so he desired that Duche should read the prayers to the Congress the following morning. "Little did anyone know that the hand of Providence was guiding them in this important meeting and leading them to appoint a man who would inaugurate this mighty country, just forming, under the aegis of the New Church, so to speak! For Jacob Duche, although an Episcopalian, was also a receiver of the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem.

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We can see in this event the New Church inwardly present, as it were, at our nation's birth, quickening the first impulses of the national life by influences descending from the New Heaven, baptizing it, though unbeknown to its sponsor, as a child of the New Jerusalem" (from the New Jerusalem Magazine; 1962).
     Jacob Duche said the usual prayer after the reading of the 35th Psalm. "Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me; fight against them that fight against me." John Adams was tremendously impressed with Duche that he should have chosen that Psalm, as if heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read on that day, because this was the day after they had heard of the "horrible rumor of the cannonade of Boston"! In other words, this country was on the eve of a dreadful war called the American Revolution. After the reading of the Psalm, Rev. Duche struck out into an extemporaneous prayer, "which filled the bosom of every man present." And so some of the truths of the New Doctrines made their first bow in the New World! "He said his prayer with ardor; earnestness and pathos for America . . . . Rev. Duche is one of the most ingenious men and best character, and greatest orator on this continent-yet a zealous friend of liberty and his country." And most important of all he was a New Churchman!
     That is the first of these momentous events that took place in Philadelphia. The second is no less astonishing. This is in regard to Mr. James Glen. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1750. He became a man of learning and brilliant intellectual power. He was proficient in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Arabic, German; French, Dutch and English. He built for himself a thriving coffee empire in Demerara, British Guiana, in South America. This enterprise made Mr. Glen a very wealthy man.
     On one of Glen's return trips to England to make some financial arrangements, he was delighted to find that the captain of the ship was an intelligent companion, and it wasn't long until the captain told him that he had a very remarkable book on board written in Latin called Heaven and Hell, that had been written by an extraordinary man named Emanuel Swedenborg. By the time the ship got to London, Mr. Glen had read it several times, for he was delighted with its truths. What joy he must have experienced on arriving in London when he saw advertised Mr. Hindmarsh's meeting for all those who read the books by Emanuel Swedenborg. He joined the little group with great delight and together they established the Church of the New Jerusalem in London.
     The following year Mr. Glen decided he would have to return to his home in Dernerara. On the way he would stop in Philadelphia and give some lectures in the City of Brotherly Love about the wonderful truths he had found in the books of the Writings.

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He had packed a box of all the published books of the Writings that he could find, and he had them sent at his expense to Philadelphia. He arrived before the books got there so while waiting to receive them, he set off on his lectures. He traveled through Philadelphia, Virginia, Kentucky and even as far as Massachusetts.
     In 1784 the only way to travel was by horseback or on foot-over poor roads, if any, through trackless forests, full of snakes and wild animals, not to mention hostile Indians. Men traveled hour after hour, often soaked to the skin, in the boiling heat of our summers or the freezing cold of our winters. This was endured by the men who desired above all else to proclaim, to anyone who would listen, the truths of the New Doctrines. So with their eyes on the stars and their feet on the unpredictable earth they pressed forward undaunted in spite of all the dangers and hardships that came to them.
     The lectures give by Mr. Glen in the towns of the different states where he traveled constitute the first public proclamation of the Heavenly Doctrines by the living voice in America or anywhere else in the world, and Mr. Glen did it alone. Rev. Duche, being an Episcopalian minister who was based in Philadelphia and paid by the main body in England, could only hint at the truth he had so recently found. He could hardly proclaim his new beliefs to the world!
     The box of books arrived some time after Mr. Glen had left our shores to return to his home on Third Street in Philadelphia. He died soon after the arrival of the books, so they were sold with Mr. Bell's effects. The printer for the state of Pennsylvania, Mr. Bayley, bought some of them, and he and his wife read them and were delighted to embrace the New Doctrines. They were finally all sold and several new people found the Writings. So the printed word of the New Doctrines made their appearance on the continent of America and followed closely upon the heels of the spoken word by Rev. Duche, and Philadelphia was again in the center of the birth of the New Jerusalem on American soil.

     *     *     *

     Many years later there was yet another even that was started in the City of Brotherly Love. Mr. John Pitcairn, who lived in Philadelphia, decided to purchase the whole area of the Marsh and Lesher farms in the suburbs, called by the railroad Alnwick Grove. This he did to enable the people of the Cherry Street church in Philadelphia to build their homes and start a school for their children. In this way the village of Bryn Athyn came into being!

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ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR 1985

ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR WARREN F. DAVID 1985

     In the New Church we are blessed with doctrines that are not only very simple, but also unusually well organized. This makes it easy for us to keep them in good perspective and to present them to others in a Divinely organized series. For me this means that when someone asks me to summarize my beliefs briefly, I can come right back with, "Would you like that in one, two, three or four statements, or would you like me to spend the next hour doing it?"
     In the New Church there is one supreme doctrine. There are two essentials. One may also say there are three essentials. There are four doctrines. A statement about any of these can express the most important truths of the New Church in a simple way. We do not have to wonder what to talk about if we keep these primary things in mind. We do not have to digest all thirty volumes before we can say, "Now I know what the New Church is all about." Here is the series, one, two, three, four, with a quotation from the Writings to illustrate each one.

ONE. The Lord's Human is Divine. This is shown in Joseph's dream of the sheaves, where his sheaf stood upright and the others bowed down to it. At the end of Arcana Coelestia 4687 we read, ". . . the supreme of truth Divine is the Lord's Divine Human, and hence that the supreme among the doctrinal things of the church is that His Human is Divine."
     The vision that John saw on the island of Patmos began with the Son of Man in the midst of the seven lampstands.

     TWO. The two essentials of the church. In chapter 11 of the Apocalypse we read about the two witnesses who prophesied, were slain, and were taken up to heaven. The spiritual sense of this vision is explained in Apocalypse Revealed 490 and following numbers: ". . . these two are the two essentials of the New Church. The first essential [is] that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and that His Human is Divine . . . . the second essential of the New Church [is] conjunction of the Lord by a life according to the precepts of the Decalogue."
     This concept of the two essentials is easy to recall from the two great commandments: Love the Lord your God, and your neighbor as yourself.

     THREE. The three essentials of the church. In Divine Providence 259 we read, "There are three essentials of the church, an acknowledgment of the Divine of the Lord, an acknowledgment of the holiness of the Word, and the life that is called charity."

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     These three come to mind when we remember the Lord's words, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).

     FOUR. The four doctrines. The four doctrines treat of the Lord, the Word, Life, and Faith. Briefly from the contents we quote the first heading from each treatment:

1.      Universal Holy Scripture treats of the Lord: the Lord is the Word.
2.      The Holy Scripture or Word is Divine Truth itself.
3.      All religion is of the life, and the life of religion is to do that which is good.
4.      Faith is an internal acknowledgment of truth.

     The New Jerusalem, lying four-square, reminds us of these four doctrines.
     We could go on, perhaps up to the twelve gates into the New Jerusalem but then the number of things to remember could easily scare people off. However, it is pretty clear from the four points considered here that the Lord's Divine Human is always the first in the series and reigns in all that follows.
     As we struggle through the thirty volumes of the Writings, we come to see more and more clearly how simple the doctrines really are, as simple as one, two, three, four.
     Balaam could not help exclaiming when he looked at the camp of Israel. "How good are thy tents; O Jacob, thy tabernacles, O Israel; as the valleys are they planted, as gardens by the river" (cf. AC 4236:2, AC 6335:3).
HALLEY AND SWEDENBORG (II) 1985

HALLEY AND SWEDENBORG (II) 1985

In 1711 Emanuel Swedenborg was in England, very young, very brilliant. He wrote in a letter, "With regard to astronomy I have made good progress, and discovered much which I think will be useful on this subject." At that time the British government was offering a large reward for anyone who could come up with a way of determining the longitude at sea. Swedenborg thought he could figure it out, and when he got sufficient money from home, he traveled to Oxford just a few weeks before his 24th birthday. There he spoke to Sir Edmund Halley who admitted to him that his own (Halley's) attempts to solve the problem were not really successful. When Swedenborg told people there that he was working on this they treated him the way one would expect them to treat a Swede in his early twenties. He wrote, "When I tell them I have a project regarding the longitude, they treat it as a thing absolutely impossible."
Halley had other things to which to turn his mind, including the matter of comets, and we will speak of this another time.

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Editorial Pages 1985

Editorial Pages Editor 1985

     WHY CHANGE?

     "He Says 'The Old Is Better'" was the title of a June editorial in which we mentioned the teaching that the Lord never breaks what a person has treasured from infancy. If they are "things that the man esteems holy" the Lord lets them alone (AC 1255). We spoke only in general terms of things which some people want to keep just the way they are but which others want to change.
     Specifically this month consider the matters of ritual in worship and the translation of the Word. Surely, these are examples of things esteemed holy and retained from infancy. If something has gained in affectional association why should it be changed? Why not keep the Liturgy with all its services exactly as it is? Why not retain the translations with which we are familiar, exactly as they are? The Lord does not break, but He does "bend." We might wonder why there should even be a bending. Why shouldn't it all just remain the way it is? This is a good question. An ingredient in answering it is the concept of heaven and the concept of perfection.
     Most people have the notion that heaven is a final condition in which everything is exactly as it should be. They do not think of heaven as something that should change and develop. Heaven is a final state! And along with this notion of heaven there might be various ideas of what we are trying to achieve on earth. If it is to be done on earth "as it is in heaven" perhaps people think that our aim should be to establish some final and perfect form of ritual. It might be felt that this has already been achieved! In years gone by when people used the phrase "a New Church translation of the Word," it seems that they may have had in mind some final set of words in one language that could be established as the only way of rendering something from another language. That very notion has undergone change among those who have pondered upon what translation really is.

     A NEW CONCEPT OF A CHANGING HEAVEN

     It is not realized in the world that the angels are undergoing changes. "It is worthy of mention, being wholly unknown in the world, that the states of good spirits and of angels are continually changing and perfecting . . . for in heaven there is a continual purification, and, so to speak, a new creation" (AC 4803). The New Church concept of heaven is not something static, something that remains the way it is. Heaven is not perfect!

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(That is a statement that astonishes many and might even jar some New Church people.) Two kinds of change are going on continually in heaven. One kind of change is an alternation, comparable to the changes of the season. These changes take place in order that another kind of change may take place.
     Over and over again the Writings teach that there is a continual perfecting going on in the kingdom of heaven. And no one ever reaches a final state of perfection. "There is no fixed time in which one is regenerated so that he can say, 'Now I am perfect'" (AC 894). "No angel can possibly attain absolute perfection even to eternity" (AC 4803). This is an idea that takes getting used to. "In heaven there are never-ceasing variations and changes of state; for the angels are continually being perfected" (AC 8108). Why are there changes? This question is addressed in the chapter in Heaven and Hell on "The Changes of State of the Angels of Heaven." "The angels said that there are many reasons" (HH 158). One of those reasons is that without alternating changes there would not be a continuing perfection.

     CEREMONIES

     It would be wrong to jump to the conclusion that we will have a heavenly situation merely by making blind changes in everything! If changes bring confusion, then they are not improvements. When people wish to worship together they need forms which work smoothly. If there are good reasons for changes, it is best if these consist in slight "bendings" without abrupt "breaking." We do not assume that there is only one set of words or actions that can be appropriate for a church

ceremony. Let it be remembered that among the things which "like garments, may be changed" are "ceremonies" (see TCR 55).

     TRANSLATION OF THE WORD

     In some cases one can say a translation is "wrong" or that it does its job poorly. In many cases it seems to come down to a matter of taste or individual perception.
     We happen to be at a juncture in the church in which the translation of the Old and New Testaments is a matter of concern. We are finding that one can make some regional generalizations. There are societies which generally favor the retention of the King James Version, and there are societies in virtual unanimity in their preference for more modern phrasing. A good result from the present situation will be more attention to the places in which both the King James and more modern versions are incorrect. But there is much to be done in resolving questions of what to change and what not to change. We expect to be having more in our pages on this subject.

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     GHANA-A CONTINUING STORY

     This month Rev. Jeremy Simons and Rev. Robin Childs will be traveling in Ghana. As you read these lines they will be meeting people there and observing new developments in the remarkable Ghana phenomenon. Reception of the Writings in that country has been outstanding. We have been favored with a visit from Pastor Benjamin Garna, and we now have in his final year of training in the Theological School Ankra-Badu. He will return to Ghana next year with the goal of establishing a system for theological training in that country.

     [Photo of Ankra-Badu of Ghana]

     The interest in the Writings in Ghana goes back some twenty years. By 1974 the demand for books of the Writings there had became so consistent that the Swedenborg Foundation decided to send one of its board members, Dr. Sig T. Synnestvedt, to get a first-hand view of the situation. Dr. Synnestvedt's report was clearly affirmative. He was convinced that this interest in the Writings was profound and that it showed every indication of increasing.
     The evidence since that time has shown the validity of his analysis. While Jeremy Simons was doing Peace Corps work in Togo he made visits to Ghana, and his experience there convinced him of the value of further visits.

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     In May of 1980 Rev. Geoffrey Howard spent three days in Ghana. When he arrived at the capitol, Accra, he was surprised to find that at least twelve men had come to meet him. Some had traveled more than two hundred miles to see him. Rev. Howard's account of this visit was published in the November issue of the LIFE that year. He testifies: "I have never sensed a more pleasing reception of the Lord's truth than I did with those lovely people of Ghana."
     Three months later Jeremy Simons and Philip Heilman spent a few weeks traveling in Ghana and neighboring Togo. Jeremy's comment at that time was: "The most encouraging thing to me is that Pastor Garna is cultivating a number of sincere and intelligent men who really seem to have the capacity to be ministers and leaders of the church. A few years ago there was hardly anyone like this."
     On one of his visits Mr. Simons met Ankra-Badu, who is now in the final year of training. The photograph below shows Rev. Jeremy Simons and Rev. Robin Childs discussing their coming trip with Ankra-Badu and Andrews Amoh.
     Here is a table of some of the dates in the continuing Ghana story.

1974               Sig Synnestvedt visits Ghana.
1976-1978           Jeremy Simons while working in Togo makes visits to Ghana.
1979                Jeremy Simons visits again and stays with Pastor Garna.
1980 (May)           Geoffrey Howard spends 3 days there.
1980 (summer)      Jeremy Simons and Philip Heilman visit.
1980(September)      Ankra-Badu arrives in Bryn Athyn.
1981 (winter)      Benjamin Garna visits Bryn Athyn and is baptized.
1985 (February)      Geoffrey Howard spends five days in Ghana.
1985 (July)      Jeremy Simons and Robin Childs to spend a month in Ghana.

     [Photo of Ankra-Badu and Andrews Amoh]

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[Photo of Ankra-Badu, Andrews Amoh, Robin Childs, Jeremy Simons]

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LATIN LEXICON OF THE WRITINGS 1985

LATIN LEXICON OF THE WRITINGS D.L.R 1985

     Ten years ago an enterprise that had already been moving for years entered a new phase. Dr. John Chadwick of Cambridge stated that "the task has become so pressing that I do not think it is enough to continue merely to collect materials; it is time to put our materials to work, and to make from them not the complete and perfect work we should all like to see, but at least a first draft to which additions and corrections can be made, and which will in the meantime serve for some of the uses the work is intended to fulfil." The Swedenborg Society moved into the new phase and made available Part I of A Lexicon to the Latin Text of the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. And ten years ago this month NEW CHURCH LIFE published part of Dr. Chadwick's preface.
     There it was pointed out that the lexicon "aims to include every Latin word used by Swedenborg in his theological works." One of the hopes for the lexicon's use was "to correct errors that have occurred in the existing translations, and to open the way to further improvements."
     Later in 1975 a review appeared in our pages which praised the work "for its scholarship and significant contribution to our understanding" and which looked forward to future installments. (See NCL Dec. 1975, pages 564-566.)
     By the spring of 1981 four installments had been issued amounting to more than four hundred pages. A review appeared in our June issue. Mrs. Kent Cooper (who was then Miss Lisa Hyatt) wrote: "Chadwick's lexicon of Swedenborg's Latin is a well-designed, thorough, and accurate work. I consult it constantly in my work on Swedenborg's manuscripts, but its usefulness will probably be as great for a person with little expertise in Latin who nevertheless wishes to read the Writings in the original language." She noted that Dr. Chadwick had "arranged his information to be as accessible as possible" and that he had "included illustrative quotations for most of his definitions, a practice especially valuable in the case of rarely occurring words and usages." In her final paragraph she noted that the Writings "as originally composed have a clearer and simpler style than many of our current English translations."
     When that review appeared, the Latin words had been included beginning with the letters A-K. (At a rough estimate there are some 1,300 words beginning with the letter C!) Now in 1985 six installments are available (through the letter Q). The seventh part will be published within a few months, and work has begun on the eighth part.

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     We are amazed at the patience and dedication that has sustained this work over the years. We congratulate Dr Chadwick and the Swedenborg Society, and we thank them on behalf of all those interested in the translation and indeed in the reading of the Writings. We are including in this issue a sampling from the lexicon to give readers a clear idea of its nature.
     D.L.R.

     Note: The first six parts of the lexicon may be purchased from the Swedenborg Society, 20/21 Bloomsbury Way, London WC1A 2TH, England, and from the General Church Book Center in Bryn Athyn.

DELICATE, adv. In a refined or luxurious manner: -e edere et bibere HH 358.
DELICATUS -a-um, a. 1 Refined, luxurious: edulia -a et opipara CL 3.3; -am et otiosam vitam      SD 592.
2 (of persons) Given to soft living : tales sunt qui cuticulam nimium curant qui alioquin vocantur -i SD1746; SD 4458.
DELICIAE -a -um, f.pl. also DEL'ITIAE. A source of intense pleasure, delight: summae illorum      felicitates et -ae erant conjugia AC 54; arbores fructuum et nores -arum CL 3.4.
DELICI'ATIO -onis, f. The act of taking pleasure, delightful play : -o caloris spiritualis cum luce spirituali CL 189.
DEL'ICIOR -are -atus sum, intr. also DEL'ITIOR. To take pleasure, be delighted : ad angelum qui -abatur cum sua consorte CL 71.3.
DELICI'OSUS -a -um, a. also DELITIOSUS. compar. -ior, superl. -issimus. Giving intense      pleasure, delightful : jucunditates - issimas AC 1123; sicut -a vena fontis ejus transfluit CL 68.1.
DEL'ICIUM -i, n. also DEL'ITIUM. Intense pleasure, delight : quod naudium et -urri sicut a corde veniret AC 545.2.
DEL'ICTUM -i, n. A fault, offence: remitte nobis -a nostra TR 459.12 (Matt.6.12); TR 562.2.
DELINEAM' ENTUM -i. n. An outline, drawing: -a primorum staminum licet vascula appellare AC 5726.
DELINEATIO -onis, f. An outlining, drawing : cum -one subtili alicu jus faciei LW 432.2.
DELINE'ATUS -a -um, a. (App.) Measured out with a line (referring to land occupied) : gens -ata et conculcata Isa. 18.2 (SS 86).
DEL'INEO -are -avi -atum, tr. To draw, depict : formae. . .quae non possunt. . .ulla arte -ari CL      477.5.
DEL'INQUO -nquere-qui-ctum, intr. To commit an offence, misbehave : sicut nos remittimus -entibus concra nosibus contra nos TR 459.12 (Matt. 6.12).

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DEL'IQUIUM -i, n. A state of unconsciousness, fainting : tales sphaerae ut -um causentur AC 1512; caplt. . .in -um cadit TR 119.1.
DELIR'ATIO -6nis, f. A disturbance, unhinging (of the mind) : per insaniam intelligitur -o mentis ex falsis CL 212.
DEL'IRIUM -i, n. 1 A state of mental disturbance, madness : contrahere -um TR 31.2; mentes . . .intale -um actae TR 4.2; (as the result of fever) LJ(C) 62.
2 An irrational belief, madness: caveant. . .sibi a tall -o SS 118; TR 23.1.
DEL'IRO -are -avi, intr. To go out of one's mind, become mad : ex illecebris mundi. . .aliquoties      -avit CL 48 bis.4.
DEL'IRUS -a -um, a. (of the mind or senses) Deranged, crazy : quosdam -os oculis 'having visual hallucinations' CL 9.2.
DELIT'ESCO -escere -ui, intr. To hide oneself: ibi -uit per multum tempus TR 798.3.
DELITI- : see DELICI-.
DELPHI -orum, m.pl. [Gk.] Deiphi, a town in central Greece, the site of the ancient oracle of      Apollo : qui originem illius amoris wit. . .educere. . .adeat-os CL 111.

PAR1 paris, a. 1 Equally matched, like:(w. cum) quomodo parem te praestabis cum equis? Jer. 12.5 (AC 1585.4); (w. dat.) omnis arbor in horto Dei non par fuit illi in pulchritudine Ezek. 31.8 (AE 110.2).
     2 Of equal standard, matching: quae (intelligential. . . in pari gradu est cum amore usus HH 393.2; pari passu, in step: innocentia et pax pari passu ambulant HH 188.2.
     3 (of persons) Of equal status: in caelosunt omnes sicut pares AC 7773; conjugia cum paribus CL 246.2.

PAR2 paris, n. A group of two, pair: par turturum Luke 2.24 (DL 9); par conjugum CL 42.1;      paria et paria, two by two, in pairs : apud aves quae se amant paria et paria CL 79.10; virgulta et fiores erant paria et paria CL 316.2.
PAR'ABOLA -ae, f. [Gk.] 1 A story told to convey moral lesson, parable : quod Dominms per -as cum lis locutus AC 302; in -a de divite in inferno CL 41.1; quod. . .perceperim loquelam angelorum. . .in -as cecidisse SD 3916.
          2 A derisive utterance, reproach : ut enunties hanc -am de rege Babelis Isa. 14.4 (AC 6852).
     3 (in geometry) A parabola : Formant. . .paene -am AC 5380; inter asymptotas -ae (but app. a hyperbola is intended) SD 883.
PARAB'OLICUS -a-um, a. [Gk.] Of or typical of a parable : ex una -a idea innumerabilia sequuntur applicabilia SD 4006; SD 4095.
PARABOL'IZO -are -avi -atum, tr. [Gk.] To speak derisively: -a contra domum rebellionis parabolam Ezek. 24.3 (AC 3812.5).

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PARACL'ETUS -i, m. [Gk.] An advocate, intercessor, paraclete: Ego rogabo Patrem, ut alium - m det vobis John 14.16 (AC 6788); quod Dominus per -um seu spiritum Sanctum intellexerit Se Ipsum TR 139.4.
PARADIS'IACUS -a-um, a. [Gk.] 1 Of anornamental park, park-like : in horto -o HH 337; (neut. pl. as sb.) feruntur primum ad -a AC 540.
2 Of paradise, paradisiac : somnia quae illis erant deliciosissima et -a AC 125; -am vitam SD 3097. b avis -a, a bird of paradise : AC 1594.4; CL 270.2.
PARAD'ISUS -i, m.or f. [Gk. from Persian] Gender: masc. TR 461.1; fem. AC 1588. 1 An ornamental park or garden (on earth) : calorem ex quo germinantur horti et fiunt sicut -i AC 8328.2; (in the spiritual world) sistuntur visibiles -i quae omnem imaginationis humanae ideam. . .pulchritudine excedunt AC 1588; -i et horti et in illis arbores omnis generis FA 63.1.
2 (Bibl.) The Garden of Eden or the Garden of the Lord : serpens. . . qui seduxit. . .Evam in -o ex arbore scientiae AC 6952.4; -us hortus Jehovae TR 38.2; de arbore vitae, quae in medio -i Dei Rev. 2.7 (AR).
3 The heavenly paradise : introducitur in caelum seu in -um caelestem AC 63.
PARAD'OXON -i, n. [Gk.] A statement apparently contrary to reason, paradox :-on potest videri sed usque eat verissimum AC 1776; nonne llla -a sicut contradictoria dissipantur a seipsis? CL 182.6.
LANGUAGE OF PARABLE 1985

LANGUAGE OF PARABLE Rev. WILLIAM L. WORCESTER 1985

The Swedenborg Foundation is to be congratulated on the handsome 1984 reprint of this valuable book. The cover design is brilliant. This is its tenth printing, the first being in 1892 under the title Lessons in Correspondence. This is not a dictionary like the one we mention on page 333, but the table of contents is highly useful to anyone pursuing a study in the letter of the Word. There are ten-page chapters on such subjects as the lion, birds and fishes. It is not confined to objects. There is a chapter on seeing and hearing and one on speech. The second chapter is called "High and Low" and begins as follows: "The words high and low suggest familiar natural ideas, but almost as quickly they suggest spiritual ideas." This 400-page paperback is easy to read, and it makes a good gift for friends whether in the New Church or not.
In this issue we are mentioning six different reference works with an effort to show their distinct characteristics. Without such comparison one might easily assume that they were all doing the same thing.

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OUR NEW CHURCH VOCABULARY 1985

BY REV. CAIRNS HENDERSON

This 33-page booklet was last advertised on the back page of this magazine in March of 1984. The cost is still $1.50 postpaid. It consists of the definitions of 126 terms that had appeared in the pages of NEW CHURCH LIFE, between 1961 and 1966. A careful review appeared in October of 1982. Rev. William Clifford was most favorable in his comments, but he did caution that newcomers to the Writings might find the booklet "too complex for their present needs. He also pointed out that the booklet should have contained the introduction written by Mr. Henderson when he began the series in January of 1961.
DICTIONARY OF BIBLE IMAGERY 1985

DICTIONARY OF BIBLE IMAGERY 1985

     BY ALICE SPIERS SECHRIST

     In 1841 a Dictionary of Correspondences was published which has long been out of print. Twenty years ago Rev. William F. Wunsch began the work of producing a revised version of such a dictionary. He died before the task was even half completed. But this paved the way for the work of Alice Spiers Sechrist whose Dictionary of Bible Imagery was published in 1973 and went through a second printing in 1981. This book of 380 pages (subtitled A Guide for Bible Readers) is still available for $3.95. Many hundreds of words and names from the Bible are listed with meanings and references from the Writings.

     J. S. BOGG AND HIS GLOSSARY

     John Stuart Bogg was born in 1839. When he was in his twenties the ambition came upon him to prepare a glossary of terms used by Swedenborg, and he actually did prepare a manuscript which moved around (as manuscripts do) and eventually was lost by some committee! Many years later he completed that task, and in the month of July, 1915, the old man wrote the introduction to A Glossary of Specific Terms and Phrases Used by Swedenborg in His Theological Writings Given in His Own Words. "Fifty-five years ago the compiler of this work . . . conceived [this] idea . . . ." His concluding lines were: "Much better work will doubtless be done by other compilers in time to come. But with thankfulness to Him who inspired the idea, and gave the compiler the power to carry it out, he now offers the work to the church. Bogg saw the published volumes a few months before his death. Now out of print, it is owned by many New Church people and is available in New Church libraries.

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SENSE OF THE LETTER 1985

SENSE OF THE LETTER Eyvind Boyesen 1985

     Communications
Dear Editor:

     In the March issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE I found the following statement isolated at the bottom of one of the editorial pages: "The Word as to the letter alone is like the body without a soul. Arcana Caelestia 3."
     I was quite troubled to see this statement presented out of context with no discussion explaining its significance or suggesting its relationship to other important teachings regarding the letter of the Word.
     The Writings, of course, have much to say about the power of ultimates and especially about the fulness and power of the sense of the letter of the Word. In fact, it is even said that "the Word is the Word itself in its sense of the letter . . . . The spiritual and celestial senses are not the Word without the natural sense of the letter; for they are like spirit and life without a body . . . and they are like a palace without a foundation" (SS 39). "Divine truth in the sense of the letter is in its fulness, holiness and power" (SS 37). People of our earth relate to the external or corporeal sense, in which the interior things of life terminate and find expression. It is "similar with truth Divine in the letter, which is called the Word"-for which reason it was given on this earth. (AC 9360).
     Many times the Writings repeat the teaching that the reading of the letter of the Word is a most important act. By means of it the Lord, through His angels, is conjoined with men. The Word is given that it may unite heaven and earth, and it is so written that it is spiritually apprehended by angels while it is naturally apprehended by men (see AC 6333). And no harm is done to those who, in simplicity, read the Word and only understand the literal sense, because the Word throughout teaches charity (see AC 1408).
     Incredibly, while man's external reads the Word, his internal apprehends the internal sense-even though he is not aware of it (see AC 4280). The Word is "vivified by the Lord" in the reader "according to the capacity of each one; and . . . it becomes living according to the life of his charity and his state of innocence, and this with inexpressible variety" (AC 1776). And a man's internal is enlightened according to the knowledges of the Word he possesses (see AC 10400).

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     "The style of the Word is the Divine style . . ." (SS 3). It is Divine in every sense-natural, spiritual, and celestial (see SS 6). "The sense of the letter is representative of Divine arcana, and . . . it is the receptacle and thus the repository of the Lord's celestial and spiritual things . . ." (AC 1888). Everything of church doctrine must be confirmed by the sense of the letter for there to be any holiness or power in it (see AE 816).
     "'Having a wall great and high,' signifies the Word in the sense of the letter from which is the doctrine of the New Church. When the Lord's New Church as to doctrine is meant by 'the holy city Jerusalem,' nothing else is meant by its 'wall' but the Word in the sense of the letter, from which the doctrine is; for that sense protects the spiritual sense, which lies hidden within, as the wall does a city and its inhabitants. That the sense of the letter is the basis, the containant, and the support of its spiritual sense may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture (n. 27-36). And that this sense is the guard lest the interior Divine truths, which are those of the spiritual sense, should be injured (n. 97 there). Also that the doctrine of the church is to be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word, and to be confirmed by it (n 50-61)" (AR 898).
     The quotation which prompted this communication is like a footnote or corollary to the main thrust of doctrine concerning the Word: "The Word as to the letter alone is like the body without a soul." Presented in isolation it suggests death-or at least a lack of importance due to its external nature. Yet this certainly is not the case.
     I appreciate finding provocative articles in New Church periodicals, but I would like to see doctrinally well-balanced presentations-especially in NEW CHURCH LIFE. After all, the LIFE is published by the General Church, and its readers have come to count on its doctrinal soundness.
     Eyvind Boyesen,
          Lenhartsville, Pennsylvania
TWO DATES THAT WILL BE CELEBRATED IN SOME WAY BY NEW CHURCH PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD 1985

TWO DATES THAT WILL BE CELEBRATED IN SOME WAY BY NEW CHURCH PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD 1985

A church service in London in July of 1787 included the first administration of the Holy Supper in the New Church and the first New Church baptism (the baptism of Robert Hindmarsh). January of 1988 will mark the 300th anniversary of Swedenborg's birth. No one wants to give the impression that Swedenborg is to be idolized in any way, but the date will be commemorated in various ways.

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Church News 1985

Church News Lee Smith 1985

     PITTSBURGH

     The past year has been a busy one in the Pittsburgh Society. Our monthly Reporter has documented all the activity in detail. Here are highlights.
     Ongoing, of course, have been Sunday services in Pittsburgh and Freeport. In addition, there have been numerous special doctrinal classes. Because of declining numbers of children, family services are held each Sunday. This enables families to worship together.
     The Pittsburgh New Church School-which will mark its 100th anniversary this fall-has been a beehive of activity. Enrollment was 28 (all grades except 6th). Twelve students commuted daily from the Freeport area in the familiar yellow minibus. This year's commencement had four graduates. Speeches by departing 7th and 8th graders (we will have only 6 grades next year), were followed by the traditional send-off remarks from Dr. Dan Heilman to the graduates.
     Pittsburgh continues to sponsor the annual Laurel Leaf summer camps, and a number of our members are again knee-deep in planning this year's events. Last summer, 150 came to the family camp, and 47 to the adult camp.
     Last fall the Inservice Program for New Church teachers was held here. Society members staged the banquet at the Westinghouse Club. (Our auditorium too small for the crowd!) The teachers presented an excellent program on New Church education.
     As in every society, we have many busy committees serving many uses-Friday suppers, building maintenance, rummage sales-to mention just a few.
     In April we hosted General Church treasurers from all parts of the U.S., Canada, and England for their annual meeting. At an "overflow" Friday supper we heard Rev. Alfred Acton give a stimulating talk on evangelization. Following the Saturday sessions in the PPG building, a banquet for guests, their wives, and local Executive Committee members and wives was held at the Hilton Hotel. The evening program, with three speakers and closing comments by Bishop King was a fitting windup to the day's meeting.
     The most significant happening was the establishment of the Freeport Society, with recognition by Bishop King in March. This was preceded by many months of discussion by a Feasibility Committee set up last year.
     Recently, Rev. Ragnar Boyesen accepted a call as Pastor of the new society, and Rev. Ray Silverman will become Pastor of the Pittsburgh Society. Meanwhile Rev. James Cooper, Assistant Pastor, has been appointed Assistant to the Pastor of the Durban Society in South Africa.
     In this period of change the Pittsburgh and Freeport Societies are looking to expanded church uses and growth in the Western Pennsylvania area.
     Lee Smith
CHRYSALIS DELAYED 1985

CHRYSALIS DELAYED 1985

Yet again the new magazine of the Swedenborg Foundation has had to postpone the time when it would spread its wings and emerge from its cocoon. The teething problems of such a new enterprise are considerable. We will have more information on this in the next issue.

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SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION 1985

SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION Jerome V. Sellner 1985

          The annual meeting of the Swedenborg Scientific Association was held in Pendleton Hall auditorium, the Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania on Monday, April 29, 1985. In a brief business meeting, Prof. Charles S. Cole, Jr. was re-elected President. Customary reports were heard from the Secretary, Treasurer, and Editor of The New Philosophy and will appear in a forthcoming issue of that journal.
     Dr. Charles H. Ebert presented the annual address entitled "Computers and the Human Mind." He introduced the subject by saying that computers carry out memory operations. In discussing the basic components of computers and their operation, he described methods of building computers that can store sense data relating to sight and sound. Dr. Ebert spoke of new areas in which computer application is currently under consideration. Examples were translating languages, distinguishing between various objects in a photograph, and creating computers that appear to exhibit intelligent thought and behavior. Dr. Ebert noted there are two memories in the human mind, one being natural, which deals with concrete terms and symbols, and the other being spiritual which deals with affections and controls the natural. Dr. Ebert identified the difficulty in building computers that perform operations of the human mind. This difficulty is due to the fact that computers deal only in concrete terms and symbols while operations of the human mind make use of the spiritual level. The extended responses and discussion following the address attested to the interest which was generated by the speaker.
     Jerome V. Sellner
YOU ARE THE VINE 1985

YOU ARE THE VINE 1985

     Lori's Songs from the Word III

     They're here! The beautiful, inspiring, peaceful songs by Lori Odhner are now available in the General Church Book Center for only $4.25. These very high quality sixty-minute cassettes contain a variety of new songs for children and adults! People of all ages will find these new songs perfect for

family worship
relaxation
teaching stories from the Word
listening while driving
any time you need a spiritual lift

     Because these songs are based directly on the Lord's Word, they will bring heaven closer every time you listen to them!

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ACADEMY GRADUATION June 8, 1985 1985

Announcements

The program of the Academy graduation exercises lists ten graduates of the senior college, thirty- one graduates of the junior college and seventy-one graduates from high school. These names will appear in the Academy Journal.

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ESCAPE FROM EGYPT 1985

BY
REV. DOUGLAS M. TAYLOR

     Addressed particularly to New Church young people, this book beings by asking why some of those raised within the church do not join it upon reaching adult age.

     An answer is developed from the inner meaning of the story of the exodus of Israel out of Egypt.
Postage paid $7.70

     General Church Book Center
Box 278, Cairncrest
Bryn Athyn, PA 19009
Hours: Mon-Fri. 9-12
or by appointment
Phone: (215) 947-3920

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Notes on This Issue 1985

Notes on This Issue Editor 1985

Vol. CV August, 1985 No. 8
NEW CHURCH LIFE

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     You can order the sermon "Learning to Love" from the Sound Recording Library. The code no. is 10 and 11 R 632-15. It is a moving sermon to hear or to read, and it is also a classic example of the manuscript with all the references! Mr. Rogers puts them all in, and if you want to follow out a specific idea, you are not left in doubt where to look.
     Dr. Heilman's commencement address is also available on a tape which includes the valedictories of the graduates of 1985.
     We usually publish the account of the annual clergy meetings and the Joint Council minutes in the same issue. But since the latter were ready to go, we are publishing them early.
     In a particularly interesting letter Richard Goerwitz III emphasizes that the word solernnis does not necessarily imply something somber. It is unfortunate that translators have used the word "solemn" which in our time has connotations that really do not belong to the Latin word. One of the unfortunate examples of translation is the opening line of a chapter in Conjugial Love. Until the translation of 1953 we were accustomed to the accurate rendering as follows:
     "Betrothals and nuptials, and the accompanying celebrations, are treated of here . . ."(CL 295). It is too bad that the word "solemn" was introduced in Acton's translation, which reads: "In this chapter, betrothals and weddings and the solemn ceremonies connected therewith are treated of . . . ." Some of us will be glad when the word "solemn" is cheerfully removed from our translations.
     We are continuing to publish photographs from our various elementary schools. In June we had the Bryn Athyn eighth grade graduates. In July it was the Washington school. On page 378 of this issue is a photo of the students of the Midwestern Academy in Glenview, and on page 379 a photo of the Olivet Day School in Toronto.
     Your attention is called to an outstanding editorial in a recent issue of The New Age (see p. 368).
SWEDENBORG TRICENTENARY 1988 1985

SWEDENBORG TRICENTENARY 1988 1985

     A committee in London is exploring the ways in which the 300th anniversary of Swedenborg's birth may be celebrated. They have put out a little brochure which says:

     We shall be pleased to hear from anyone with ideas who may wish to be involved, whether here or abroad.

     Tricentenary Committee (U.K.)
     Swedenborg House, 20-21 Bloomsbury Way
     London, WC1A 2TH, England

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LEARNING TO LOVE 1985

LEARNING TO LOVE Rev. N. BRUCE ROGERS 1985

     "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another"(John 13:34).

     The Word throughout was given to teach humankind two fundamental things: love of God and love of the neighbor. Therefore when the Lord was questioned concerning the first or great commandment in the Law, He answered by saying, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Matt. 22:3740, Mark 12:29-31).
     In so saying, the Lord did not actually teach anything new. Every Jew, then as now, learned the great Shema from Deuteronomy by heart as a child, and it remained the centerpiece of his confession of faith: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might" (Deut. 6:4, 5). And many knew, or might have known, from Leviticus, the second commandment: "You shall not hate your brother in your heart . . . but you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev. 19:17, 18).
     As it turned out, however, the second commandment never did in the Jewish Church receive the attention of the first. It remained, so to speak, in the background. What was new, therefore, in the Lord's teaching was His placement of this commandment at the center of religion, along with and like unto the first commandment. Love of the neighbor, indeed, in the Lord's teaching became a dominant theme. So He taught His disciples: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34, 35). Or again, "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you . . . . These things I command you, that you love one another" (John 15:12, 17).
     Love of the neighbor thus became the Christian commandment, new in importance and concept, by which Christian doctrine and life were to be set apart and distinguished from other ways of life. Today, we still seem to see this heritage at work. Even many who have fallen away from organized religion itself still seem to honor love for one's fellow man as an ethical ideal, and they also teach and preach it, as perhaps the highest social good.

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This in turn may be taken as a sign of the existence of the Lord's universal church, where charity and the good of charity are yet valued, even though its origin in Christianity-and now perhaps in the new Christianity of the Second Advent-is only vaguely seen, if it is seen at all (see HH 308; SS 104, 105, 112).
     Nevertheless, despite the widespread affirmation given to the ideal of love for one's fellow man, actually loving one's fellow man is easier in theory than in practice. The reason is that we are not born naturally loving, even as we are not born naturally wise. Whatever arguments may be launched to the contrary, and whatever we may prefer to believe of ourselves and others, the truth is that human beings are by nature self-centered and selfish, each inclined to regard the happiness and well-being of others as subordinate to his own (see AC 3701:2, 4317:5; NJHD 79, 83; DP 83:2, AR 556). The inherent nature of man, and its natural corruptness, are clearly documented in the Word, and nowhere more clearly than in the revelation to the New Church (ibid., AC 911:1, 1438, 190611, 4644, 5280:1, 6296:2, HH 202). It is also a matter confirmed by experience, in the history of mankind and in the life of every individual.
     If there is confusion on this point, it may arise from the observation that though children are from birth ignorant and plainly must be educated if they are to develop in understanding, at the same time they appear to be naturally loving. How, then, can the human being be said to be by nature corrupt? Surely corruption must be the result of environmental influences. And if these influences can be changed, cannot the human being be changed?
     But the child's loving quality is not his by nature. It is the result of angelic spheres which surround the infant and child, giving his words and actions the cast of innocent affection. These states of innocence and love are what are called in the Doctrines remains, because they remain in the child and are preserved for later use in his regeneration (see AC 661:2, 1050: 1, 2, 5342:2, 3). In adult age, as the child's own character begins to assert itself, these angelic spheres are then necessarily withdrawn, and the loving affections he once knew are withdrawn with them, out of his natural character into the unconscious interiors of his mind (see AC 1906:2, 5342:2).
     As a result, we are left with loves, but not with loves that are genuinely loving (see AC 1906:2, 3701:2, 4317:5, 5280:1, 3, 4, DP 83:2, 4, AR 908). Upon coming into adulthood, we do not often, in practice, find love for others spontaneously springing up within us. No matter how we may have learned to govern our outward behavior, inwardly we do not for the most part really feel that love which is meant in the Word by love toward the neighbor or charity (see Life 18, 21, 23, TCR 435, 437).

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And just as we do not spontaneously feel that love, neither do we instinctively know how to express it. We have to learn to love and how to love, just as we have to learn to become intelligent and wise (see AC 4317:5, 5280:1). This is an important point because it is central to our regeneration (see AC 3701:2, 3, 5280:1, 3, 4, 5342:3, 4, 8002:8, NJHD 83, DP 83:2). It requires the effort of an internal reformation. And it requires knowledge, because apart from learning what love is and how to love, we can easily mistake false love for true love.
     True love is learned from God's love. Love of the neighbor, or charity, is to imitate His love, even as the Lord taught His disciples: "if I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you"(John 13:14, 15). The Lord's life was an example, we are told, according to which we should live (see AE 254:2). So in teaching His disciples to love, the Lord said that they should love one another as He had loved them-"as I have loved you, that you also love one another" (John 13:34); "that you love one another as I have loved you" (John 15:12).
     Love cannot be sought in man because man of himself is no more loving than he is wise. And even if at times he becomes loving by inspiration in moments of proprial quiescence, he still does not know of himself truly how to love or how to express it. Therefore the Word has been given: to teach love, both what love is and how to love (see AC 36, 344, 1038:5, 2037, 2049:3, 2116:3, 10307:2), in order that we may learn to feel love in imitation of the Lord's love, and that we may learn how to love wisely, in accord with His wisdom (see D. Wis. IV.2).
     Such wise love has three essential characteristics. In the first place it has others as the objects of its love. In the second place it seeks conjunction with others. And in the third, it seeks to bless others and make them happy (see TCR 43).
     That love-real love-has others as the objects of its love seems obvious enough, yet in practice it is not so easy to achieve, nor is it so common. Loves of self and the world can also appear to love others-for the sake of some personal or worldly end. Even evil people can feel some affection for those who favor them. Even evil people treat with regard those who are of some use to them, especially if they feel a need to secure and retain their friendship for the sake of some personal gain or advantage. In the Lord's words: "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For sinners also love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you?

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For sinners also lend to sinners to receive as much again" (Luke 6:32-34; cf. Matt. 5:46, 47).
     The contrast between real love and false love in this respect is succinctly put in the Doctrine of Faith. "it is one thing," it observes, "to love the neighbor on account of the good or use he is to us, and another to love him from the good or use we may be to him" (Faith 21). False love does the first. If it loves the neighbor, it does so wittingly or unwittingly on account of the good or use he is to self, for the sake of what it can gain from the relationship in the way of personal or material benefit (see AC 3956, 802:7, 8, NJHD 152, Faith 21, TCR 404, 411). False love is therefore also fickle, for as soon as it no longer sees the benefit to self, it withdraws its love, and it can even turn against the one it professed to love when it fails to obtain what it hoped for (see TCR 441; cf. 405).
     Real love, on the other hand, is quite different. Because it really has regard for others and values them for their own sake-because they are God's creations, and not because they in some way serve self or flatter self-therefore it loves the neighbor from the good or use it may be to him, and this without any selfish motive or thought of recompense (see AC 1102:3, 2371:4, 3956, 9174:4, 9210, 9981, 9982, 9984, AE 644:23, TCR 439). Real love is consequently not fickle but steadfast and constant, because it lives from its own effort to love and does not depend on some reward to go on loving (see AC 237 1:4, 35)56, 9984, AE 644:23; cf. AC 8394).
     For the same reason, real love is also capable of loving apparent adversaries, and even actual adversaries, from the good or use it may be to them (see AC 8223:2, 3, 9174:4, 9256, AE 644:23, TCR 407). False love is incapable of this; in truth it doubts the possibility of it, because it does not really have others as the objects of its love. But real love can so love because it does love others and is in the constant effort to continue to love (see AC 8223:2). Even in struggling with another, therefore, inwardly it continues to endeavor for the other's good. That this is what the nature of love ought to be is what the Lord meant when He said, "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 5:44, 45; cf. Luke 6:27, 28).
     The second essential characteristic of real love is that it seeks conjunction with others. Indeed, "love viewed in itself is nothing but an endeavor to conjunction" (TCR 43:3). False love looks to no other association than that of a master with his servants or of a profiteer with his agents. It seeks service rather than companionship, advantage rather than fellowship (see AC 1088, 3956, TCR 418).

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Real love, by contrast, does not regard others as servants or agents but as friends (see AC 1088). It is glad in their company, and mourns at estrangement. It is distressed by whatever may interfere with friendship and fellowship. Real love is therefore quick to apologize for injuries done and tries to rectify them. It understands what the Lord meant when He said in His sermon on the mount: "if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift" (Matt. 5:23, 24).
     By the same token, love-real love-is also quick to overlook the injuries of others if it can, or it tries to excuse them and put a good interpretation on them (see AC 1079, 6655). In the spiritual world, evil spirits find pleasure in accusing and condemning other people (see AC 1079, 1088). There are some who even make a habit of going around and observing the faults and vices of others and then telling them privately to their companions; "or they whisper them in the ear when others are present; and they see and interpret everything-for the worst, and [so] set themselves above others" (AC 4657). Those without charity on earth do similarly (see AC 1079, 1088). But love excuses. It knows that attention to the mote in another's eye will do nothing to remove the beam that is in its own eye (see Matt. 7:3-5; cf. AC 9051:3, AE 746:16). "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice," says the Lord (Hosea 6:6, Matt. 9:13, 12:7). "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy"(Matt. 5:7). And love both asks and answers, "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the High God? . . . He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, and love mercy, and walk humbly with your God" (Mic. 6:6, 8).
     Love is, therefore, merciful, and because it is merciful it is also forgiving, that it may be well between him and his neighbor. Love takes the attitude of the Psalmist: "Lf Thou, Lord, should mark iniquities. O Lord, who shall stand?" (Ps. 130:3). Love accordingly forgives others their trespasses (see AE 746:15; cf. Matt. 6:12, 14, 15) from a sympathetic heart (cf. AC 1102:3), and it forgives repeatedly, as often as is needed, without counting (see AC 433, AE 257:4). That this, too, is what the nature of love ought to be is what the Lord meant by His reply to Peter in answer to the question, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? Jesus said to him, 'I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.'"(Matt. 18:21, 22; cf. AC 433, AE 257:4). Practically speaking, in such a context, seventy times seven is beyond numbering.
     Thus love does what it can in seeking conjunction with others. It apologizes for its own offenses and tries to make amends; and it overlooks, excuses and forgives the offenses of others for the sake of fellowship and harmonious friendship.

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So, too, it is adaptable and cooperative, patient and friendly, courteous, cheerful and pleasant (see CL 164). For love can do no other than try to make itself agreeable for the sake of mutual love and the companionship of others.
     The third essential characteristic of love is that it seeks to bless others and make them happy (see TCR 43). Real love has within it the desire that it should be as well with others as it is with self (see AC 3956) unlike false love, which has within it the desire that it be better for self. Because real love is thus genuinely concerned with the happiness and welfare of others, it honestly seeks to be of service or use to them (see AC 1102:3, D. Wis. XI.2). As love wills, so does it do (see AE 785:6). It studies how it may please, and how it may be helpful. It regards occasions for service as opportunities, and looks upon the favors it does as no more than its obligations. It is zealous in its duties (see CL 164), and generous in its willingness to provide assistance.
     Because love is concerned with the real welfare of others, it also therefore tries to be prudent and wise, that its effect may be for the neighbor's real good (see AC 8120, NJHD 85, 100, Char. 54, TCR 459:14-17). False love has little interest in wisdom. Either it is too shallow to be concerned with the real welfare of others (see Char. 52, TCR 428), or it is too centered on self and the world to be concerned. But true love is concerned with wisdom because it cares about the real welfare of others, including their spiritual welfare (see AC 8120, NJHD 1001Char. 52, 54, TCR 410, 418; cf. AC 6712. NJHD 86-88). Real love consequently strives to understand ever better and better how it may serve and how it may help, by studying what good is and considering well how good may best be promoted (see Faith 21).
     Sometimes love finds that it cannot wisely give another what he wants or prudently do for him what he asks (see AC 9174:3). There are occasions when love must seek to amend another, by instruction, correction, even at times by opposition and the imposition of penalties, for the sake of the neighbor's real good (see AC 1079, 8223:3, 9174:4, D. Wis. XI.2, TCR 407, 408).

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False love, of course, can do these things too, but false love instructs and corrects that it may set itself up as an oracle for others to revere, and it opposes and punishes to gain mastery. Real love may at times appear to act similarly, but there is a world of difference in the motivation. Because of this difference, where false love when wisdom makes it necessary, and it does what it does always with a view to promoting the neighbor's best good, that it may be as well with him as it is with self, or that it may be as well with him as he will allow.
     Real love finds no pleasure in such indirect benefits, because its end is to make others happy (see AC 8223:2, 3). It is willing to do these things only because it is concerned with the real welfare of others, for the reason that it is concerned with their real happiness; and as a friend it must, out of love, therefore sometimes act in opposition for the sake of the welfare of those whom it thus serves, that they may find blessing and happiness in life and not pain or the unhappiness that comes with error or wrongful action (see TCR 407).
     Love finds its pleasure, however, when it may be free to render direct benefits, when it can show kindness, when wisdom permits it to do for others what others want done and to give what others are pleased to have given (see AC 3956, 8002:8, 8223:2). This, in itself, is love's reward-the opportunity to be of direct service in blessing others and making them happy (see AC 2371:4, 8002:8).
     All this is what we have to learn if we are to love and love well, if we are to have reborn in us the capacity to love when the remains of childhood have been withdrawn and we are left to make our own choices. In our marriages, in our occupations and careers, in all our dealings with our fellow men, we have to learn what does not come spontaneously or naturally: to love and how to love. if we must compel ourselves, then we must compel ourselves, for love-true love-does not spring up without bidding. As a gift from the Lord, it is a gift we must prepare and suit ourselves to receive. We know that this is true of wisdom. So also is it true of love. Therefore the Word has been given. Therefore the Lord taught His disciples, and in so saying spoke to men of good will everywhere and in all generations: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." Amen.

     LESSONS: John 13, 15; TCR 43 ANTHOLOGY ON BLAKE AND SWEDENBORG 1985

ANTHOLOGY ON BLAKE AND SWEDENBORG 1985

Next month we expect to announce the publication of an anthology on Swedenborg and William Blake, produced by the Swedenborg Foundation.

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ACADEMY COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS, JUNE 8, 1985 1985

ACADEMY COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS, JUNE 8, 1985 J. DANIEL HEILMAN 1985

     I am both pleased and honored to have been asked to address the classes of 1985 on this exciting day. When Bishop King's invitation arrived by mail a while back, several thoughts occurred to me. A fellow can be sensitized to the Bishop's letterhead. I anticipated an announcement, or a notice, a ballot, or-in the flight of imagination-even a summons! As I recovered from the shock of its actuality, I must confide that for several years I have fancied myself standing here, much the way Thurber's Walter Mitty might have, in his secret life. The basis for this fantasy is the private conversation my wife and I have had with our three daughters, all of whom graduated from this Academy. My wife is in Minnesota at this moment, attending the college graduation of our oldest, who sat . . . over there four years ago.
     I would like to speak to you these next few minutes about the subject of friendship. In the pageantry and celebration of this moment you are immersed in a sphere of friendship. This is a genuine feeling, because it is so. Certainly, there were times these past few years when you may have wondered if you had any friends. How silly that seems now. You did, and they not only are proud of you on this your day, but they also identify with the excitement and the challenge which attends the milestone symbol of your commencement.
     As two-year residents in the dormitories, or as life members of this society, you have experienced an environment which, by any measure, has to be described as supportive and cohesive. Given the healthy rivalry of your clubs, I would suggest that their best lesson is the model for the guest and the host, or vice versa. The high school here in B.A., as we say, has been carefully crafted by concerned folks. It has evolved, and is evolving still, from a special philosophy, supplemented by the practical input of parents and teachers. The educational experience is aimed at both the instilment of New Church ideals and a curriculum which compares favorably with that of other fine schools around this country. The sports programs here for our young men and women provide the opportunities for teamwork, individual achievement and sportsmanship. Your student work, musicals, dances and banquets add even more avenues for the expression of good will, service and creativity. You have spent time in a field of experiential richness. Incidentally, you may have noticed that there has been little time left for television. I'd wager that this is no accident. In short, you have been fed and taunted, treated and entertained, censored and even punished here, by friends.

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     Everybody who graduates from this school must have felt a twinge of reprimand at some point along the way. This is healthy and good (good with a small g), because it is a part of life. Those who can will recall the sweat and glory of the legendary "coalpile." In more recent times, a weekend of dormitory confinement might have provided a reflective pause, possibly even a monastic experience in the way of sacrifice! As an assistant housemaster here 27 years ago, I learned a powerful truth which confronts this country today, as crucially as ever. In addition to fairness, rules have to be both enforceable and enforced to be meaningful. Today's America-your America-is invested with such a wealth of freedom that the flip side of the coin may seem as remote as the dark side of the moon. The more permanent side of temporal thrills and quarterly gains resides in a longer view. That view is, and will be, increasingly guided by the notions of responsibility and accountability. Every issue in this life has at least two sides. Sometimes life gets confusing. The philosophy and doctrinal teachings which permeate this campus will help you tackle life's dichotomies and choices. On your side is the simple fact that America is hungry for the truth, and almost starved for leadership.
     One word of admonition here. Remember that these are not your truths, any more than a runner's speed or a scholar's mind is his or hers. It serves no one to feel superior on account of something given him or her. In the cool comfort of your idealism, you can still be warm. Our collective record, in the light of scrutiny, shows that we belong to the world.
     As you continue to graduate along the line of your own development, you will find that marks and grades and awards are symbols. They are important ones, yes, but they have been made by man for the purpose of comparison, rank and recognition. These symbols shine with definition. What counts in this world and the next, we are told, is not so much our rank. We are told that the Lord judges us in a way which has not been fully divulged. We are told that the act of complete judgment of others belongs only to the One who holds the facts of the spirit in His omniscience. What we know more surely is that we have our hands full with our own life-its crystallization, its refinement, its purification. We call this our personal regeneration. We recognize in it our imperfection, and we see in it our ultimate way. Compared to the record of our past achievement, how well we can do is not as clear to us because we grow and we change. This is integral to the Divine Plan. You will continue then to search for yourselves as you progress in this life. This is both natural and good (with a bigger g). Your anchor against the erosive half of the tide is the bedrock of truth. You have been told more about truth than most of the world.

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     My wife and I had the opportunity to be with Erika's class in Washington earlier this spring. In the ambience of the cherry blossoms, budding students from all over the nation were buzzing about that scene. Our light brigade made an ambitious and triumphant charge under the stewardship of General Nelson and Mrs. Yardumian. We observed in its action the most open government ever conceived in the history of man. We listened to the special grievances of the placard-carriers outside Congress and the Supreme Court. We stood in awe before the war memorials. We were moved by the etched eloquence of Lincoln and Jefferson. The sunlit architecture of our capitol, against the afternoon, portrayed a sense of harmony. The backdrop of the Smithsonian provided artistic inspiration. It was a time to listen and to absorb.
     To listen to others requires the spirit of friendship. To absorb the best in this world requires the subjugation of prejudice. Together, I feel, these two efforts comprise our greatest challenge in terms of our association with the world. As graduates from a fine school you must appreciate that the antithesis of education is prejudice. The open mind must gather its facts, and form its opinions, in freedom. Prejudice is the activity of the lazy mind because it finds an eternal excuse why not to inquire.
     As graduates from our Academy you must know that we are proud of you. A part of our pride resides in the fact that you are our beacons. You can radiate the values we all revere in this mixed world. You can capture attention for our small church. You are our new evangelists. In this we justifiably feel excitement. I suggest that your quieter and greater responsibility is to yourselves. If you adjust to the world the way you can, without self-consciousness, and with a spirit of friendship, then evangelization will take care of itself.
     What is the nature of friendship? Plutarch must have been hinting at its rarity when he stated that he needed no more than seven friends. Mark Twain once said that if a person knocked on his front door for the express purpose of doing him good, he would leave quickly by way of the back door. I suspect he was commenting on the narrowness of some so-called friendships. An essayist who goes by the pen name "Aristides" counts his friends and finds them, coincidentally, to number seven. These he defines as people whose death or disappearance from his life would be devastating for him. He further characterizes them as having two things in common. The first is that none of them is what he terms a "high-maintenance friend"-that is, someone who requires regular ministering to in the form of visits, daily telephone calls, or lengthy letters. The second is that all seven have agreed to appreciate him.
     A hearty portion of friendship lies in reciprocity. We tend to feel closer to those who share our views.

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But we extend ourselves when we establish friendships with people with whom we often disagree. We stand a chance to learn in the bargain. Though we are not obliged to befriend everyone, it is well to state the difference between rejecting someone's action or belief as contrasted with condemning the whole individual. The first may be a practical necessity, born of the expediency which comes from living in this world. The second is an act which places us in the next, when we may not be quite ready.
     Swedenborg describes the degrees of friendship. They span the spectrum from the personal, or external, to the spiritual. External friendship focuses on certain expedient needs, whether they be commercial, psychological or sensual. Friendship of the spirit is more permanent, requires less maintenance, and tends to transcend time. When I think about friendship, frankly I think more about truth than I do of charity. This is because truth and friendship are inseparable. Don't think for a moment that the world does not contain a substantial deposit of truth and friendship.
     Yet ours is a world filled with inconsistency and irony, along with its hidden pearls. It is a living reflection of the Good (capital G) and Evil you have heard about. The glib messages of modern advertising lure us a bit closer to our acquisitive desires. The mixed salad of pop music is both refreshing and rotten. With your insight, you may pick what you want. You may even want what is nutrient. Though we live in a material world, there is a ghost in our machine. That ghost is our lively spirit and it is not in the least frightening. We have been given the most developed notion of the spirit ever presented, notwithstanding Dante and C. S. Lewis. If you choose carefully in this world you can continue to discover both yourselves and the spirit of friendship in the light of truth.
     Friendship embodies both the notions of giving and forgiving. If something is worth giving, it must be seen as valuable. This is why I feel that you must be your own best friend. In order to find your compass in this world you need something absolutely greater than yourselves. One of the strengths of our church is that it allows the Lord to be a personal force in our lives. I would suggest that the compass be a friendship with God. If we perceive Him to be up in the sky somewhere We may seem light years away. If we feel Him most palpably in church before the open Word, then He is, for us, a regular symbol. I suggest that we not only pray to Him in our time of need, but that we engage Him daily, even momentarily, with our silent conversation, in our attempt to incorporate Him. After all, our minds have been made not that we might knock each other about with our intellects, but so that we might transcend the time frame of our actions. Otherwise, we could have no will. And without will there would be no friendship.
     Thank you very much.

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MINUTES OF THE JOINT COUNCIL OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM 1985

MINUTES OF THE JOINT COUNCIL OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM Lorentz R. Soneson 1985

     1.      The 91st 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 Pendleton Hall, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, on March 9, 1985, at 10:00 a.m.
     2.      Attendance: Seventy men (fifty-two clergy, thirteen lay members and five invited guests).
     3.      The minutes of the 90th annual meeting were accepted as published in NEW CHURCH LIFE, November, 1984, pages 558ff.
     4.      A Memorial Resolution for Rev. Roy Franson was read by Rev. Cedric King and a moment of silence was observed in his honor. The Memorial Resolution read as follows:

     After serving thirty-two years in the priesthood of the New Church, Rev. Roy Franson was called to the spiritual world in his 70th year. Roy was born in Sweden where he grew up and later trained for a career in electrical engineering. After working for a time as a radio technician he felt a call to enter the ministry of the New Church.
     In his early thirties he entered the Academy, studying alone until his wife Britta and their children were able to join him in Bryn Athyn. Roy was ordained on June 19th, 1953.
     We are told in the Writings that priests are to teach truths and thereby lead to the good of life (NJHD 315). Roy delighted in drawing out the keen doctrinal insights of others, taking special care to soften and accommodate abstract teachings to practical, living situations. So much of a minister's effectiveness is grounded in a willingness to come down from his doctrinal pedestal and patiently listen to his people where they are. Roy had a special gift for this.
     His first pastorate was in Dawson Creek in northwest Canada. There he found a pioneering spirit among parishioners who held to New Church beliefs in the face of physical, financial, and social hardships. Roy helped them construct their own church building and he built up their understanding and appreciation of the doctrines.
     After twelve years in Canada, Roy and his family accepted a call to serve the Miami Circle and the Southeast District.

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Fondly remembered for consistently excellent sermons and classes, Roy's gentle and perceptive approach to government was also greatly appreciated.
     In 1974, the Fransons moved to Tucson, Arizona, where Roy again took up new duties as visiting pastor to many small groups in the Southwestern District. Isolated families were touched that this charming man considered it no burden to drive hundreds of miles in order to be with them and to bring the sphere of the New Church more powerfully into their homes.
     In 1982 when he could have retired from the active ministry, Roy responded to a desperate need in Stockholm, Sweden. It was not an easy decision for an older man to make who was experiencing failing health and a host of difficult family problems; but Boy was of the old school.
     In an age when ministers are increasingly demanding their prerogatives as to where and how they shall serve the church, Roy believed strongly in the necessity of responding to the call from without. His willingness to accept judgments from those whom he regarded as wiser than himself reminds us of a corresponding quality he exhibited throughout life-his spontaneous love of children and his complete ease while in their-company.
     So we remember Roy Franson as a happy man, who never permitted himself to be overwhelmed by life's problems. "In the world you will have tribulation," the Lord said. "But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).
     Be it resolved that this Joint Council wishes to express to Boy's family its deep appreciation for the cheerful service which he rendered to the New Church.

     5.      The report of the Secretary of the Council of the Clergy was accepted as published in New CHURCH LIFE, December, 1984, p. 600.
     6.      The report of the Secretary of the General Church was accepted as published in NEW CHURCH LIFE, December, 1984, pages 595ff.
     7.      The Treasurer's report was given by Mr. Neil Buss. The following are excerpts:

     The Board yesterday reviewed the 1984 financial results of the General Church and also approved the 1985 operating budget. My principal focus today will be on the five-year plan adopted by the board in January, covering the years 1985 to 1989.
     However, first I would like to touch on one particular aspect of our 1984 results. For the years 1982 and 1983 the overall support of societies, groups and circles toward minister and teacher salaries exceeded their budgets.

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This was truly fortunate for the church and we were able to pay for the travel of ministers' wives to the assembly, restore our badly depleted moving reserve, and even plough back a small amount into endowment.
     1984 unfortunately was different. While many societies and circles did achieve their budgets, several did not. The net result was an unbudgeted shortfall in society contributions to the salaries of their ministers and teachers of $20,000.
     We were most fortunate that our other income and expenses varied sufficiently to avoid a deficit in the budget of the General Church. In 1981 a similar shortfall in local society support resulted in the first deficit in the history of the General Church.
     I must ask all of you to please take the message back to your societies that we absolutely count on them to meet their targets.
     The entire five-year plan is predicated on the simple assumption that the various societies, groups and circles will meet their budgets. Of course, if results are better, then the church will be able to do more in the way of meeting the priorities which the Bishop has set.
     Five-Year Plan-Historical Perspective: In 1980 a five-year plan was compiled for the General Church. This plan was based on input received from members of the Council of the Clergy on the needs foreseen in their areas. 1984 was the last year of that plan.
     During the five years ending in 1984, we were able to add three new ministers and one new teacher each year, plus give salary increases approximating the inflation levels, and also upgrade the employee benefit package. Additionally, the Advanced Teacher Scale has been implemented, a Development Office has been added and an Adult Education program started. All this has placed a strain on the budget of the General Church. In 1980 we had revenues of $1,030,553 and expenses of $937,616, leaving a surplus of $92,937. In 1984 our revenues were $1,405,247, with expenses of $1,414,691 before transfers from reserves. After withdrawing $16,466 from reserves, we ended up with a surplus of only $7,022. The reserves are not unlimited and can only be used to meet specific needs such as moving costs.
     Current Picture: Staffing expenses are critical to the church. Here is one rough statistic: In 1982 we had 64 members of the Council of the Clergy, and a member of the Council to member ratio of 1:57. Given our expansion plan, by 1984 we had 80 members of the Council and the ratio had moved to 1:47.

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The significance of this rather rough measurement is important in looking ahead as to what the church can afford.
     Currently, of the total revenues of the General Church budget, 62% comes from endowment income. This source of funding grows at a rate of 5% each year. It will only grow by more if new contributions are made to endowment.
     However, most of our expenses are salary related, 51% to societies' salaries and employee benefits alone. If we are to provide overall salary increases (including employee benefit expenses) in excess of 5% per year for example, one or both of two things have to happen.

     1.      Our contributions must increase by substantially more than 5% and/or
     2.      We must reduce the level of support of some other use. There are simply no other alternatives. Key assumptions built into these numbers are as follows:
     a.      Where percentages were used, the relative percentage is indicated.
     b.      We have provided for the addition of one full-time salary for a minister each year in the Professional Services category. The exception is 1987, when we have included the anticipated costs of an Assistant Bishop under Administration.
     c.      A figure of $20,000 has been allowed for in 1987, for Assembly costs such as incurred this past year.
     d.      We have evenly spread over the period the anticipated $40,000 cost of printing the New King James Version of the Word and the reprinting of the Liturgy.
     e.      We asked all societies to include in their projections a 7% per yearly increase in salaries. We have consequently factored in this 7% yearly increase overall.
     f.      Continuation of all existing activities of the church has been provided for, as well as inflationary growth. The one exception is evangelization, where we have anticipated the use of the income from the Evangelization Endowment Fund to provide for that use.
     g.      The employee benefit area has been increased at a 12% annual rate-low in comparison with recent years when almost 20% growth has been the norm. Currently 26% of budget by 1989 will be 34%.

     EXPENSES: On the expenditures side, the possible weaknesses are obvious. Employee benefits, specifically the Health Plan costs, could run away with us.

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Also, we could have a repeat of 1981 or 1984 when society support fell drastically short of budget. Foreign exchange movements could affect us. The costs of operating Cairncrest have increased in recent years and this rate of increase might not be containable. Our Moving Reserve is substantial and we do not anticipate its depletion, but this is conceivable.
     The strengths are that we think we have anticipated known expenses and provided for increases. Our historical knowledge also gives some degree of comfort in the numbers.
     The greatest single possible weakness which could well make this entire plan worthless is the possibility of local support not meeting budget. This is critical.
     INCOME: An obvious strength on our revenues side is our large and stable endowment income which is predicted to rise to more than 1.1 million by 1989. If we continue to attract gifts to endowment as we have done historically, this figure will be achieved and exceeded. If not, we have a potential weakness, but growth of about 5% is virtually assured.
     The real critical line on the whole revenues side is that of regular contributions to the General Church. Our success or failure in this area impacts whether all these numbers have any meaning. I have assumed a 7% growth in this area. This is conservative in that our experience over the last five years has been in the 8% range.
     I believe we are taking all possible steps to insure success in this field. We have Walter C. Childs III, our new Development Officer, who will have responsibility to raise current income as well as to attract support for our deferred giving programs. I have so far met with boards and members of sixteen societies or circles and intend to visit with most others in a continuing program of education about what the General Church is and does and needs. Also we discuss what we can do to help societies. The Bishop provides strong support in this area. Overall, what opportunities and possible threats emerge from this projection exercise?
     The opportunities are obvious in that the five-year plan provides for the General Church to bear the full salary burden of four new ministers during this period and absorb the costs of an Assistant Bishop plus do other things as outlined. If we employ the right men and place them wisely, the potential for growth is exciting.

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     If we are successful in communicating the needs of the church, then even further opportunities for expansion and growth, and salary improvements, are there.
     The only threat I see is lack of support for the uses of the church. All of us here must seek greater commitment if we are to continue to grow. It is as simple as that!
     REVENUES: The shift in relative importance of Endowment Income is due to the variation in anticipated increase in NCIF payout through 1989. The annual rate of increase in the preceding period was at 7%. It is anticipated to increase at an annual rate of 5% for the coming five years.
     The unusual shift in other income 1980 to 1984 is the result of our ceasing the transfers into and out of the Development Fund now that the amounts of these transfers match.
     EXPENSES
     Professional Salary. Support-The decreasing trend in this expense category has been heartening and its continuation is urgent. The same applies to the support of the South African Mission, although exchange rates could be a factor.
     Facilities-There is a real need to control building expenses. Services and Information-The anticipated decline from 18% to 16% is largely due to the fact that 1984 was an Assembly year and we had an unusual budget expense of $18,000 to bring ministers' wives to the Assembly.
     Administration-The increase from 17% to 19% through 1980-1984 is due to several factors. Most significant is the establishment of a Development Office in 1982. Increased travel and the higher costs of the expanded Bishops' Representatives use are others. Given that, we anticipate absorbing a substantial administrative cost in the form of an Assistant Bishop in 1987. This expense category is being well contained. This administrative expense might seem relatively high. However, the administration costs relate to the overall church, not just the General Church itself. In this perspective, the costs are low.
     Employee Benefits-Without restraint and cooperation in other areas, it seems we would have no alternative but to cut back. We provide for all employee benefits for the entire church with the exception of Bryn Athyn Society, Toronto, and to a certain extent, Glenview. Naturally, the Academy pays for its own.
     Rampant increases in health care costs, plus our poor experience over the last four years, have really impacted the church. We are very aware of the problem and are considering many options to contain this cost.

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Members of the Board have provided some useful suggestions.
     Extension and Other-This relatively flat budget item must not be construed as a lack of commitment to evangelization. In January, 1982, the Evangelization Endowment Fund was established by the Board and it currently has a capital value approaching a quarter of a million dollars. Additionally, the Board Evangelization Committee makes an annual appeal directly to the entire membership and friends of the church.
     Our operating margins will be narrow. This is a challenge, but overall the church is in reasonably healthy financial shape, given the many tasks this small organization is funding. Of course, if we were to cut back and reduce staff and services we would have more money to spare. These steps would be negative.
     Instead we have tried to assemble a five-year budget based on your input that provides for consolidation and also for further growth. All we need is full cooperation.

     During the discussion Mr. Buss was asked the number of actual contributors, or at least the percentage. He said that the Development Officer, Mr. Walter Childs III, is making this study available to the Joint Council next year.
     Contributions to the General Church can only be described as poor. Indeed, without the major contributors and endowment funds, the General Church could not survive financially. Further discussion brought out the point that we are delinquent in training our young people to develop habits of contributing. The Development Officer said he had been meeting with students at the Academy discussing money management at which time he mentions a program for contributing to the General Church. Also, parents could help educate their children in financial responsibilities to our church. When questioned about the fringe benefits, the treasurer reported that they have been on the increase in the last five years. But they have been a tremendous help to those who have undergone serious surgery such as heart by-passes.
     Rev. Geoffrey Howard spoke for many when he thanked the treasurer's office for its fine work throughout the year in supporting the uses of the General Church. This was followed by applause.
     8.      Bishop King mentioned that he had visited one of our General Church circles where most of the members came from the Christian Church. They never discussed money-raising at their business meetings because tithing is an integral part of their religious beliefs.

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Contributions were automatically sent in and no appeals were ever made.
     9.      A report of the Board of Evangelization Committee was presented by Mr. Garth Pitcairn. He reported that a five-pear program was designed last October, and is under review and revision. It is divided into four parts. The first addresses the area of ministers, and making available to them the best training in evangelization work. (At that time the chairman of this committee made the generous offer of a two-day seminar with Mr. Cliff Craft at Glen Tonche for 20 ministers and their wives some time this summer.)
     The next category includes a program for training and inspiring our laity to spread the church. Third, designing ways to attract to the doctrines more non-members who haven't heard of them yet; and finally a fourth program of assimilation-introducing new members and finding ways in which they can offer their talents. Also, it is hoped to make the evangelization committee a resource center for ideas, materials, programs, etc., that could be made available to our societies and circles.
     Mr. Pitcairn also said there is an urgent need to increase the evangelization fund which at present is about $200,000. It should be over $1,000,000 if it is to support our evangelization efforts. It is hoped that this fund can be independent of the General Church budget, though up to this point it has been included in our annual budget. The addition of a lay administrator, Mr. King Wille, in the evangelization program has been most beneficial, not only in handling the administrative funds, but in increased communication and publicity.
     10.      A Report of the Finance and Development Committee was made by the Treasurer, Mr. Neil Buss. Mr. Buss said that they have had several meetings to review the objectives and long-term goals. A report will be made to the Board of Directors and the Council of the Clergy in the near future.
     11.      Report of the Salary Committee. The chairman, Mr. John Wyncoll, said they had added a new member to their committee. Mr. E. Boyd Asplundh. Preparations were under way for the treasurers' meetings to be held April 20th in Pittsburgh, after which they will bring the recommendations of those meetings to the May meeting of the Board of Directors. Mr. Wyncoll pointed out, in comparing 1954 to 1983, that one out of eleven schools, four out of nine non-school societies, and eighteen out of twenty-nine of our districts have asked for more General Church dollars to meet their annual budget.

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This, obviously, is a trend that needs our attention. Mr. Wyncoll felt that more education of our laity as to the needs of the General Church is indicated. The Bishop, in his travels throughout the world, does present the needs of the General Church and is perhaps the best at educating our laity. He reminded us that 80% of our General Church budget is for salaries of ministers and teachers and their fringe benefits. With lower inflation and the full support of the Board there is every indication that salaries of General Church employees can be increased in the future.
     12.      In the closing discussion a request was made for our treasurer to review the status of the loan made to Cairnwood Village from the Finance and Development Committee. Mr. Buss explained that the majority of the funds needed to construct Cairnwood Village came from gifts and loans from foundations. but one gift of $300,000 was given to the General Church, which in turn loaned it to the Cairnwood Village program. We have been notified that the Finance Committee of Cairnwood Village will be sending a check of $75,000 back to the General Church Finance and Development Fund (25% of their loan), which is a good deal quicker than the other $1,000.000 out on loan.
     13.      The meeting adjourned at 12 o'clock.
          Lorentz R. Soneson,
               Secretary
NCL 100 YEARS AGO 1985

NCL 100 YEARS AGO 1985

In the August issue of 1885 the Bishop's annual address called for patience in "the day of small things." He said we could hope for '"some forward movement" and hoped that members would be encouraged to "trust in the Lord and go forward to the extension of the sphere of your uses.
In the same issue attention is given to some revision of the King James Version of the Word. "Many of the changes in the translation are for the better, but as many for the worse." A welcome feature of the revision was "the substitution of modern words for such as have become obsolete in the sense formerly used" (p. 126).

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REPORT OF THE GENERAL CHURCH EVANGELIZATION COMMITTEE 1985

REPORT OF THE GENERAL CHURCH EVANGELIZATION COMMITTEE Rev. Douglas M. Taylor 1985

     1984

     We can again report a pleasing expansion of evangelization throughout the General Church in 1984.
     For example, the Bishop has appointed Mr. G. King Wille, a retired executive of the 3M Company, to be a lay administrator of evangelization. Mr. Wille's assistance has been invaluable, especially in the preparation of a five-year plan for the Evangelization Committee. Mr. Wille, Mr. Edward Cranch, and myself did the basic groundwork in assembling this plan. From time to time we submitted an interiin draft of it to the committee in order to have their response and suggestions for improvement. The result is a well thought-out plan of action, which we are confident will, as it is implemented, achieve some of the results envisaged by the Denney Report. The general thrust of the plan is to provide materials for our clergy in local societies throughout the church; provide help and materials both for the clergy and the laity in order to obtain free publicity and thus make the church and Swedenborg better known; provide training and resources for increasing the comfort level of our members in answering questions about the church; and provide suitable literature to be given to people who have begun to show an interest.
     The report of the chairman to the General Assembly in June focused on three very promising activities: Cable TV opportunities to present some New Church material on dying and the life after death; the emergence of satellite groups near existing societies; and the success of the Toronto Book Store as a pilot program for the future. These activities were referred to in last year's report (published in NEW CHURCH LIFE for November, pp. 567-569).
     We can now report some further results on the satellite groups and the book store. With regard to the former, Rev. Robert Junge began a group in the Hatboro area west of Bryn Athyn, which was soon followed by one in Wrightstown, north of Bryn Athyn. In Glenview Rev. Grant Schnarr, who was the first to begin this project, has had some very pleasing results. He began with a group in Evanston, which has resulted in five adult baptisms in the past year-three of them in one month. This group now has regular worship services twice a month and contributes to the expenses of having the minister's services. There are also groups in Villa Park and Elgin serviced by Mr. Schnarr.

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     The Toronto Book Store. [Because there is an article on this in the February 1985 issue, we are omitting this part of the report.]
     Last year we reported that we had to expand our bi-monthly periodical, the Missionary Memo, from six pages to eight. This year the December issue was twelve pages, reflecting the steadily increasing momentum of evangelization activity in the various societies of the church. This is most encouraging, and points the way for future development. At our monthly committee meetings, we are considerably heartened by these reports of more and more sustained experiments-including a successful door-to-door visiting program in Tucson, Arizona, which has resulted in regular visitors to church. If you would like to receive the Missionary Memo with its record of evangelization achievements, its suggestions for improving results, and its inspirational articles, you have only to send us your name and address. We will gladly send it to you free of charge.
     We have become increasingly convinced of the absolute necessity of personal contact. All the studies and our own experience confirm the idea that having New Church people answering questions about the church posed by their friends and acquaintances is by far the most effective way of spreading a knowledge, understanding and delight in the Lord's kingdom as revealed in the Heavenly Doctrine. As this increases, there will undoubtedly be an increase in the influence and numerical strength of the General Church of the New Jerusalem.
     In order to provide some help in being interesting when answering questions about the church, the committee has put the training course on tape. There are twelve tapes and reading material accompanying them. This package is available from the committee at a cost of $35.00 plus mailing charges.
     Our next annual report will be essentially an account of our efforts to implement the 1985 portion of the five-year plan.
     Rev. Douglas M. Taylor,
          Chairman

     Note: The above report was written in December of 1984. We are publishing it for the record, but would note that it is dated. In the future we will publish such reports earlier in the year.

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DISTRICT ASSEMBLY IN ATLANTA 1985

DISTRICT ASSEMBLY IN ATLANTA Terry D. Warley 1985

     "When two or three are gathered together . . . ," the sphere of love for and dedication to the church is present. It is happiness in friendship and rededication to uses. Assemblies, large or small, are wonderful!
     As visitors from Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida, and Bryn Athyn arrived at Atlanta homes and motels on Friday, May 3rd. they were welcomed with decorations of red and white balloons, streamers and signs. Hosts gave them "Grow with Atlanta" buttons and told them the schedule for the 1985 Southeastern District Assembly: social life that night, meetings and a banquet on Saturday, worship and holy supper on Sunday.
     Our first event was a welcome reception at Tom and Sarah Wheeler's beautiful new home. There were delicious refreshments which Tom claimed to have made all by himself.
     Saturday's program at the church was full of life and variety for the 60 adults who could attend. Our pastor, Rev. Christopher Bown, presented the theme, the invitation for each of us to go and meet the one living God, our Lord Jesus Christ. And we can do so in reading the Word, in the life of prayer and repentance, and in doing what is good for human society.
     Harold Eubanks, lay leader of the Americus, Georgia, circle and Anne Brantley of Albany, Georgia, each told of his long-time search for genuine truth, and how they had found it through intense prayer and reading of the Word. Their persistence and determination to understand was an inspiration to us all. We were deeply moved.
     After a short coffee break, a chance to greet old friends and new, we returned to the sanctuary for another session. This was on the subject of prayer and repentance, and was led by Rev. Nathan Gladish. He had put together a small workbook of suggestions to help us make our prayers more meaningful. He had us try some of these as part of his instruction. Sadly, we were in time and space which did not permit us to go as deeply into this session as many would have liked!
     Lunch followed. Friends went off in little groups to try out some of the nearby restaurants. In the afternoon Randy Warley of Atlanta talked about the life of religion in daily work. Using examples from his work as registrar at a nearby university, he spoke of applying Christian principles to our dealings with employers, coworkers and those we serve.
     The last session of the afternoon was a business meeting. We heard reports from the Atlanta Society and the circles and groups in the district.

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Mr. Walter Childs, Development Officer for the Academy and the General Church, told us about fund-raising efforts, how assistance from his office can make mountains from molehill contributions.
     That evening we returned for an outdoor social hour followed by a banquet in the church's society room. Bishop King spoke about the growth of the church with gentiles-many kinds of gentile-gentile states in our adult members, gentile states in children, gentiles immediately around us, and gentiles in developing countries.
     Henry and Joan Dunlap invited everybody to an after-the-banquet open house to take place as soon as the cleanup was completed at the church building. "Many hands make light work." We got to Dunlaps' quickly where a every time was insured when Henry organized a "blind" taste test of a famous old Atlanta product, Coca Cola, and some of its newer cousins and competitors. After tastes of five unmarked cola products, the group voted and found new Coca Cola was preferred by New Churchmen. Wags noted that N.C.'s go for N.C.
     On Sunday morning 102 people worshiped together and heard Bishop King preach on the theme of the Lord's ministry: the Lord came to serve-to minister. This ministry was rejected by those in the church at that day in Judea, yet it was accepted with joy by many of the gentiles in Galilee and Perea. Holy supper ended our worship service, and we left the sanctuary quietly thinking about the gifts we had shared.
     In the society room we thanked Glen Studinger, Elise Gladish, Charis Dike and Corinne Echols for their work in running our assembly. We said goodbye and hugged one another before leaving, our friendships renewed, our hearts and minds stimulated!
     Terry D. Warley

     [Photo of The New Christian Church of Atlanta, taken in May, 1985]

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[Photos of the Southeast District Assembly: John and Kathlyn Miller, Rachel and Lauren Rose; and at the Assembly Peggy Glenn, Roger Echols and Doug Glenn]

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IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1985

     The June-July issue of The New Age, published in Australia, has a substantial editorial entitled "The Nature of the Writings of Swedenborg." The editor, Rev. Bernard S. Willmott, reminds readers that this subject has been discussed in various journals of the New Church during the past 200 years. He brings to the discussion a humility and fairminded attitude that sets a promising tone for future consideration. Theological debates of the past (whether New Church or otherwise) have sometimes had something of the flavor of contests of skill which have been exciting enough but which sometimes did little to promote further thought. Skill in confirming a position one has adapted is not to be equated with wisdom.
     Mr. Willmott evidently cares about encouraging better understanding. He says, "The few ideas put forward here-not dogmatically but from deep personal conviction-may serve to stimulate further thought and discussion on a subject that is, I believe, of profound and enduring importance in the development of the New Church throughout the world."
     He quotes the statement at the beginning of Heaven and Hell about this "immediate revelation" being what is meant by the Coming of the Lord. And then he says:

     . . . It is granted, of course, that we are not asked or required to accept such a claim-nor to ask others to accept it merely because Swedenborg makes it. It is again in the whole spirit of this immediate revelation that we ourselves have to see it to be true before we can truly and fully accept it. And if this were an isolated claim it might be possible to dismiss it or modify it; but we find it reiterated many times throughout the length and breadth of these theological Writings together with the again oft-repeated affirmation by Swedenborg, and one made sincerely, deliberately and in humility, that it is the simple truth.

     To the editorial is added "one final postcript" as follows:

     . . . I believe that as the years and the centuries pass. men and women will be able to see within these Writings so much more than we can see now and that in that spiritual world itself their inner truths will shine more brightly as their real essential nature becomes more self-evident. And it is from this that I conclude this reply in full and complete agreement with Mr. Robinson in his comment concerning "a kind of forced, compulsory and blanket acceptance of current interpretations." We do indeed need to re-examine these varying interpretations that we might avoid the very real danger of accepting such interpretations as being necessarily identical with what the Writings themselves teach.

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Editorial Pages 1985

Editorial Pages Editor 1985

     A FAVORITE VOLUME OF THE WRITINGS THE LORD'S CHILDHOOD, EDUCATION, DREAMS

     What is your favorite book of the Writings? One answer is, "The one I am reading at the present time." When we are actually reading a work, we view it from present enlightenment. It is different when our thought of a book is the memory of having read it years ago, maybe even the memory of having had a course on it in our school days.
     Of course there are books that seem to hold special delight and interest for us. If the question is about a single volume, many favor the second volume of the Arcana Coelestia. Try going to the bookshelf of a friend who loves the Arcana. You may find that the second volume is more worn than the rest of the volumes. If it is a minister's bookshelf, this is partly because he uses that volume most years as part of his Christmas study.
     There are a number of subjects that seem to belong in particular to this volume. For the present we will mention only three. The first is the subject of the Lord's childhood. This volume follows the chapters in Genesis from eleven through seventeen. Chapter twelve, about the call of Abram, is inwardly about the Lord's childhood. "The things related in this chapter concerning Abram represent the Lord's state from earliest childhood up to youth" (AC 1401). The life of the Lord as a child is unfolded in these pages-His first awareness, His love, His state of worship, His learning.
     Since this is about the Lord's learning, it also throws light on the education of all children. "Before man is instructed in the things of love and faith, he is in an obscure state, that is, in regard to knowledges; which state is here described. . . ." (AC 1453). The arcana here are not only concerning the Lord; "they also involve arcana concerning the instruction and regeneration of man . . . . and further, they involve arcana concerning the instruction of little children in heaven; in a word, concerning the instruction of all who become images and likenesses of the Lord" (1502).
     It is no wonder that this volume is a favorite of those who ponder the states of infancy and childhood. In The Growth of the Mind, by George de Charms, the references in the chapter on "The First Year" are all from this volume.
     The interchapter material of the Arcana has its own special interest, and this volume has notable examples.

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The subject of dreams seems to have its most direct treatment here, particularly in numbers 1975-19W3. Here we learn of the different kinds of dreams (1976), of the particularly appealing character of people who may eventually become involved in the promotion of pleasant dreams (1977), of how the things in our memory are receiving vessels when the dream may originate in angelic conversations (1980). The nature of dreams is illustrated with specific examples.

     I dreamed a dream, but a common one. When I awoke, I related it all from beginning to end. The angels said that it coincided exactly with what they had spoken of together (1981).

     A favorite saying to be found here is that "love never sleeps," and a favorite truth made known to us here is that during sleep a person is "especially guarded by the Lord" (1982).

     NEW TRANSLATION EXAMPLES FROM THAT VOLUME

     We are focusing on the second volume of the Arcana because the new translation by John Elliott is still being evaluated by many readers. We have noticed in this volume that Mr. Elliott has brought out the meanings in some passages in a way that the previous translation did not. For example, when we read about the Lord's first conscious awareness the previous translation uses the somewhat awkward phrase "mental advertance," and the phrase "first . . . of all" in an ambiguous way.
     Contrast these two renderings from no. 1407.

     By "Jehovah said to Ahram" is signified the first mental advertance of all.

     The new translation is:

     "Jehovah said to Abram" means a first awareness of all things.

     (If anyone doubts that the verb animadventue simply means to notice or to be aware, a quick glance at the examples of the way this verb is used in the Writings will be helpful. See under "Notice" in the Swedenborg Concordance. )
     For a translation example related to education, consider the saying that innocence is "instilled" as contrasted with the old rendering of innocence being "insinuated" (1555). Or in no. 1679 note the phrase "from the absorption of such matters in early childhood" instead of the old translation: "from the man's being imbued with such things from infancy."
     An example of the phrasing of the new translation of the section on dreams is a passage about spirits who could pretend that they were someone else.

     They have impersonated me so perfectly and imitated my speaking so accurately that no one could tell the difference, and in so doing have poured in filthy thoughts and suggested ideas that were false (1983).

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     In the old translation this was:

     They have spoken . . . exactly as if they spoke from me and as if were with my speech, so like that it could not be distinguished, pouring in filthy things and persuading false ones.

     This should make us very cautious about spiritist writers who have said that they had messages directly from Swedenborg!)
175TH REPORT OF THE SWEDENBORG SOCIETY 1985

175TH REPORT OF THE SWEDENBORG SOCIETY 1985

     We have received a copy of the Swedenborg Society's annual report. It concludes with these words:

     Many devoted men and women have given over these 175 years much lime and energy to the maintenance of the vital work of this Society and we look back in admiration, and affection, for what they have done. But only briefly, for the next 175 years stretch away in front of us all. As the present torch-bearers pass the present milestone, already they are looking forward to the next one not far now down the road-the 300th anniversary celebration of the birth of Emanuel Swedenborg. The work will go on.

     The Swedenborg Society is being regarded as "the umbrella organization with overall responsibility for the time being" for celebrations of the tricentenary of Swedenborg's birth.
     The report speaks of The Lexicon to the Latin Text of the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg to which we referred (giving page examples) ill the July issue.

     This work, of major importance to translators and Latin scholars, is now nearing completion. The editor, Dr. John Chadwick, is working on the final two sections. The somewhat tedious but very necessary work of checking references is being done by the Rev. Norman Ryder and Mr. Jonathan Rose in Bryn Athyn, and the Society is most grateful for their help.

     A new English translation of True Christian Religion is to be published in 1988, the translator being Dr. John Chadwick. And a new catalogue of publications by the Society is being designed by Mr. G. Roland Smith.

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HOSTAGES RETURN SAFELY 1985

HOSTAGES RETURN SAFELY Editor 1985

     Listed among the baptisms in our July issue is the name of Jane Sharp, and among the confirmations, Blake Synnestvedt, and among the betrothals the same two names. In our present issue their marriage is announced. The service was conducted by Bishop Louis King on the last day of May. Most of our readers (but not all) know that the Synnestvedts went to Greece for their honeymoon and that their flight from Athens was hijacked. This meant two and a half weeks of frightening uncertainty, and there is a tremendous sense of relief that they have returned home safely. We were reminded of a similar homecoming in 1981, and we are simply reproducing the editorial from the March issue that year entitled "When They Come Home." It is interesting that a letter in the same issue happens to begin with these words: "Many older members will remember that it was once the custom for most New Church people to kneel briefly in prayer as they entered the church for a service of worship" (p. 154). Moments set aside for prayer were common in many places during this anxious time.
     Several people have commented that the community of Bryn Athyn has probably never had more publicity than it did during this crisis and in the days after the homecoming. Television crews and reporters were very much in evidence. Bishop King and Freya were on television over and over again, some of the broadcasts being seen overseas.
     On Monday morning, July 15th. Blake and Jane were kind enough to take the time to visit the Academy summer camp. They spoke in the Benade Hall chapel to some eighty-eight teenagers and answered questions. For those of us fortunate enough to be on hand, it was an unforgettable experience.

     WHEN THEY COME HOME

     Why were many moved so profoundly when those who had been held hostage were set free and brought home? The outpouring of feeling seemed too powerful to be attributed only to vicarious relief. Something deep in us seems to have been touched. We would suggest three aspects of what may be represented to us in such homecoming.

     1.      There is within a human being a kind of homing instinct which is not manifest in this world. We see it in birds and animals, and we know that it exists with angels (DLW 134). In the spiritual world people experience "a certain longing" (AR 611; compare HH 519), and this longing finds satisfaction when they recognize a home as their own.

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     We each have a native land in the context of eternity. The love of country in the natural world is inwardly related to a love of the Lord's kingdom (AC 6821). Consider the following teaching: "Man becomes an inhabitant of the spiritual world because that is his real dwelling place and, as it is called, his native land, for there he is to live to eternity after he has lived some years in the natural world" (AE 1094:2).
     2.      The picture of someone glad to be home has a pleasant and powerful representation, just being home is not the point. The total contentment at being there is what affects us. When a man can think of nothing he wants more than to be with his wife and family, he is portraying for us an image of conjugial love. "When a man together with his wife, whom he loves most tenderly, and with his children, lives content in the Lord" there is a picture of conjugial love (AC 5051). (The same scene in another passage makes it a humble home with. few possessions and yet a full contentment of mind. See SD 2614.)
     3.      The inmost delight that can be known is what is called "peace." Real peace is something beyond common human experience (HH 284). However, there are certain human experiences which we may compare with it. It may be compared with what is experienced after war when one can be "safe in his own city and home and living in his own fields and garden." The prophet spoke naturally of heavenly peace in saying, "They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree . . . ." Peace, although ineffable, may be compared "with the state of mind experienced by those who, after storms and dangers on the sea, reach a port and set foot on the longed-for land" (TCR 304). When men do set foot on a longed-for land, our hearts may be lifted to higher things and to such words as those of the Psalm which says, "This is my rest forever; here will I dwell; for I have longed for it."
MR. TOM SPIERS 1985

MR. TOM SPIERS 1985

Mr. Tom Spiers died on July 12th at the age of eighty-nine. Mr. Spiers was for many years the executive secretary of the Swedenborg Foundation.

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HELP WITH QUESTIONS, PLEASE 1985

HELP WITH QUESTIONS, PLEASE A Layman 1985

     Communications

Dear Editor:
     Quite suddenly, about three years ago, I came to the realization that possessors of the truth ought to share this truth with others who are not so fortunate. Sadly, I was at first hindered from putting my sentiments into practice. The reason for this was that I was saddled with an overblown reticence, and with a fear that I would not be able to answer the penetrating sorts of questions people were likely to ask. Fortunately, since that time my shyness has become much less of a problem. However, I have had only too abundant confirmation of my fears about answering other people's questions. My understanding is that the Lord must work through (or in spite of) my inadequacies. Still, though, I wish that I knew the answers to a few of the more difficult, yet frequently asked, questions.
     My problem is that I am not a professional pastor or theologian. And most of the really rough questions I am asked are of a theological nature, requiring knowledge in areas of study proper to the ministry. In hopes of finding answers to these questions, and in hopes of helping others caught in similar situations, I have kept a record of the most frequent and basic "tough questions" I am asked. I would now like to set them before the church at large, and invite response.
     Since most of these questions would require at least a short essay for a response, I will offer them a little at a time. The first question (or series of questions!) was put to me by an acute Jehovah's Witness:

     You keep talking about the "internal sense" of Scripture. But you never seem to be able to tell me what it is, except in the most general terms. A few days ago you lent me a copy of A Dictionary of Correspondences. When I started reading it, I realized that many words in it could mean almost anything. When I asked you for some explanation, you showed me a copy of The Science of Exposition. But you ended up brushing me off, saying that the subject was very complex, and only ministers were good at it. Tell me: if the internal sense is so obscure that only Swedenborg and your clergy can explain it, what use is it? I'll bet that no two ministers even call explicate a passage the same way!
     A Layman

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RESEARCH ON BETROTHAL 1985

RESEARCH ON BETROTHAL Richard L. Goerwitz 1985

Dear Mr. Rose,
     With great delight I perused Alfred Acton's two-part article on betrothal (NCL, May and June 1985). He has penetrated to the root of the betrothal question by taking a close and careful look at the actual language of the Writings. In doing this, Mr. Acton has uncovered some embarrassing doctrinal mistakes most of us have been making mistakes that stem ultimately from misleading translations of a few key words in Conjugial Love. In efforts to carry on a bit further what Mr. Acton has begun, I would like to offer a few supplementary comments on three of the words he discussed.
     The first of these three words is myrotheca. Evidently there has been some confusion over whether this word in CL 300 refers to something that hangs down, or whether it is in fact some sort of perfume bottle. The reason for this confusion is that although the latter meaning ("perfume bottle") is better attested, the former meaning ("hanging ornament") seems to fit the context. Unfortunately, as Mr. Acton has pointed out, the word is not to be found in standard Latin dictionaries, so we are left largely on our own.
     Being on our own, we are forced to apply some alternative tactics, such as:
     1)      seeing how Swedenborg uses the word myrothem,
     2)      perusing dictionaries from Swedenborg's time period to see how others in his day used it, and
     3)      looking up similar words on the assumption that parallel forms often mark parallel meanings.
     As it turns out, the last tactic gives us the best results. Myrotheca has a lot of analogues, such as bibliotheca. Both of these words end in the Greek suffix -thece, which means "a place to put something, box, chest. We might therefore define a bibliotheca as "a place where books are kept: a library." Similarly, we might define a myrorheca as "a place where myron is kept." We are then left only with the task of determining what myron means. Myron, it seems, may be found in the Greek dictionary as meaning "perfume or unguent." The compound word myrotheca thus denotes a perfume repository of some kind (myrothecium being simply its diminutive form).
     The implication this finding has for CL 300 is that the pledges Swedenborg speaks of there are not necessarily ones worn visibly-unless scent bottles were somehow suspended on chains around the neck.

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     Mr. Acton also spoke about the Latin word alligamenta (plural). We noted that in AC 10540:4 it translates the Hebrew word gishurim, and that some modern critics define gishurim as meaning "girdles or bands worn by brides." I would like to point out here that although it is important to consult the works of modern critics, we must also do the same for those active in Swedenborg's day By doing this, we can see more clearly how Swedenborg himself might have understood the words he used.
     Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Hebrew lexicons generally depict gishurim as meaning "alligamenta" or "redimicula"-that is, "ornaments which are tied around the head, neck, or breast." (Cf. among others, Christian Stockius' Clavis Linguae Sanctae VT). This is understandable, in that the Hebrew root gshr denotes a tying or binding, as does the Latin verb alligare. The word alligamenta was therefore merely a general term denoting ornaments that were tied around some portion of a woman's upper body. If we use a much more specific definition than this, we are probably going beyond what Swedenborg had in mind.
     The third and final word appearing in Mr. Acton's article that I would like to discuss is solemnis (often translated "solemn"). As Mr. Acton has pointed out, modern lexicographers define this word as meaning "established" or "appointed." A betrothal that is "solemnis" is thus simply the kind normally prescribed by customary religious rites. What I would like to emphasize is that the word solemnis does not necessarily imply something somber. The relative gravity or levity of a solemnis ceremony is mostly just a matter of the temper and traditions of the people involved.
     Almost all of the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Latin dictionaries I consulted support this neutral definition of solemnis. Interestingly, the greatest Latin lexicon of the eighteenth century, Forcellini's Totius Latinitatis Lexicon (first edition, 1771) defines solemnis as describing "something which occurs at specified times each year, and with celebration"; also "joyous, public."
     In saying this I am not advocating that we make our betrothal and wedding services into big parties. Like many others who are reading this letter, I was raised in the rather austere environment of Bryn Athyn, and my preference is for quiet and reverent exchanges of vows. However, those of us who feel this way should recognize that our sentiments are matters of taste, not doctrine. There are many congregations which, in contrast, seem to enjoy laughing and clapping after "the kiss," talking to their children about what is going on, taking pictures with flashless bulbs, etc.

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Evidently, because this is for them the formal and established (that is, solemnis) practice, it is the natural, in fact the proper, thing for them to do.
Richard L. Goerwitz III,
Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania
CREDIT TO H. CRANCH AND R. JUNGE 1985

CREDIT TO H. CRANCH AND R. JUNGE Rev. Douglas Taylor 1985

Dear Editor:
     Many thanks to Rev. Erik Sandstrom for his kind words of appreciation in the June issue for the two articles "Growth of the Church: What the Writings Say."
     I wish to give credit, however, to the spadework done by Rev. Harold Cranch and Rev. Robert Junge. It was Mr. Cranch who first gathered together the core passages from the Writings on evangelization and the growth of the New Church. This study appeared in 1965 as a manual entitled Evangelization and the New Church. The Evangelization Committee produced a second, expanded edition of this manual in 1979. In this the chapter on the gentiles was enlarged by Rev. Robert Junge.
     In writing the two articles this material was of considerable help. Those interested in pursuing the subject further may obtain the manual Evangelization and the New Church from the Evangelization Committee, Bryn Athyn, at a cost of $5 plus postage.
     Rev. Douglas Taylor,
          Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania
TWO BOOKS IN ONE 1985

TWO BOOKS IN ONE 1985

Mr. Leslie Sheppard of New Church Collateral Publishing in Australia has succeeded again. This time we have a reprint of two books by Julian Smyth, Footprints of the Saviour and Holy Names. We expect to publish a review of this volume in the near future.

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MIDWESTERN ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH 1985

     [This is a picture of the students the day before they left on the MANC 1985 Intersession trip.]

     Explanation

     The 14 students of the Midwestern Academy left on their special two-week "Intersession" trip early in the morning on April 15th and did not return until April 27th. Accompanying the students on the trip were Eric Carswell and Jerry Fuller along with Kent Fuller and Bruce and Valerie Reuter (during the first week) and Dan and Joan Woodard (during the second week). The assembled forces traveled by two large motor homes and one car on a loop that took them to visit Civil War sites in Tennessee (Fort Donelson and Stones River Battlefield) and northern Georgia (Chickamauga and Lookout Mountain) during the first week, and in Georgia (Atlanta, Savannah) and South Carolina (Fort Sumter) during the second week. The weekend at the middle of the trip was spent visiting Atlanta and the church congregation there. It was a great trip.

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Olivet Day School, 1984-5 1985

[Photo of:
Top row from the left: Mr. Philip Schnarr, Mrs. Roj Miller, Rev. Louis Synnestvedt, Jarred Raymond, Monica Middleton, Denise Braam, Scott Raymond, Daniel Les-Pierre, Terence Waring, Judy McDonald, Brian Wyncoll, Lysandra Braam, Mrs. Lee Horigan, Mrs. Richard Parker
Middle row from the left: Mrs. Richard Cook, Erik Parker, Alan Cooper, Michael Morton, Emanuel Braam, Alicia Ebbert, Anastasia Synnestvedt, Landon Synnestvedt, Chloe Les-Pierre, Rev. Geoffrey Childs
Bottom row from the left: Marco Braam, Jacob Bond, Jason King, Becca Synnestvedt, Dominic Nater, Jordan Bond, Heidi Schnarr,

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Church News 1985

Church News Ruth (Motum) Greenwold 1985

     TUCSON

     Enthusiasm is the name of the game, and Sunrise Chapel in Tucson lacks not in enthusiasm. We are on the move.
     Since our last communique appeared in the June, 1983, issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE, with a lot of prayers, faith and trust in the Lord's guidance, pressing challenges that heretofore had been mere wishful thinking have now become positive activity. Apathy has fallen by the wayside.
     In May of 1983 we began a series of brainstorming sessions on six Friday evenings, which helped us to think about growth and select a name for our church building here in Tucson. Bible studies were held on Wednesday evenings.
     In July the first of our summer camps was held in the beautiful Catalina Mountains just north of Tucson, with 19 adults and 25 children. Our pastor new to England immediately following the camp and his pastoral duties at church on the next three Sundays were capably filled by Rev. Mark Carlson who, with his family, were visiting his parents, Bob and Barbara Carlson.
     September saw most of us back in Tucson from various vacation trips, refreshed and enthusiastic to start a new year. A personal growth group was formed and met for the first of seven weekly meetings, which proved both enlightening and successful. About a year later, a "spiritual growth" group continued the theme.
     Arising out of our brainstorming, we bought 50 new chairs for our chapel, with each of us being given the opportunity to pay for one or more chairs in honor of someone. Eventually all 50 were paid for in that way.
     The Women's Guild has held several patio sales this past year-and-a-half, all highly successful. The Guild has also sponsored three Women's Renewal Days, led by Louise Rose. These have been times of rest and revival.
     Outings and hikes have continued to be held for the young and the more agile of the older-a fun time. Work parties at church have kept our church grounds beautiful and our building, inside and out, in top shape.
     1984 saw us busier than ever. An Evangelization Committee was formed to promote growth. This committee has placed ads in the newspaper, looked after book placement, planned for lectures and did other things to promote the church in Tucson.
     We have decided on a logo representing Sunrise Chapel, and in April, 1984, we held a service to dedicate the use of the new name. The beautiful service was followed by lunch at the manse with our wonderful hosts, Frank and Louise Rose.
     In October the Evangelization Committee started our most ambitious undertaking yet- co-sponsoring with IANDS (The International Association for Near Death Studies)-a lecture held at the Holiday Inn on January 25, 1985. Our main speaker was Leon Rhodes. We had approximately 190 attending, and as a result of this lecture we have seen a very definite increased interest in our church in attendance, phone calls and personal contact.
     A second lecture held on May 3 of this year on life after death had an attendance of 127. The speakers were Dr. George Nash ("The Near Death Experience as an Expression of Universal Consciousness") and our pastor ("What Swedenborg Learned About the Life After Death"). This lecture resulted in another upswing in interest.

381

Book sales at both lectures were encouraging. Our mailing list for The Territorial has increased from 92 in September 1982 to 2 15 as of May 1985.
     In February of this year we had five special guests: Mr. and Mrs. Garth Pitcairn. Mr. and Mrs. King Wille, and Mr. Neil Buss. Mr. Pitcairn. Mr. Wille and Mr. Buss met with our Board of Trustees. the Pastor's Council and the Evangelization Committee, and we have been encouraged to make plans to obtain larger facilities for our church. Following these meetings a Development Committee was named and they have been hard at work seeking ways and means to bring our plans to fruition.
     When you crowd 63 people into a building that seats 50, the walls tend to bulge!
     The past two years have been most gratifying under the inspired leadership of our pastor, Rev. Frank Rose. The hard work of a few hands has turned into the enthusiastic work of many.
     Greta Lyman

     COLCHESTER, ENGLAND

     It gives me great pleasure to report two lovely weddings in our society-one last September of Gwen Colebrook and John Appleton and the other in May this year of Margaret Colebrook (Gwen's sister) and Roger Appleton (John's second cousin).
     Both were very happy and beautiful occasions and the two couples have now settled down in homes of their own in Colchester.
     Bishop King and his wife, with Mr. and Mrs. Neil Buss, were here in September 1984, and during October Mrs. Edward (Gwen) Asplundh came to visit our Theta Alpha chapter in her capacity as president of Theta Alpha International. We laid a delicious supper, then Mrs. Asplundh spoke to us about the TAI.
     The September Young People's weekend was a successful event. Bishop King talked to the young people and Rev. Stroh, Rev. Larsen and Rev. Elphick organized classes and discussion. Catering was done by Ray and Brenda Waters. A bonfire and barbeque, walks, swimming and a film show made it a fun weekend.
     The end of October, at Hallowe'en, a dance was organized. The young people decorated the social room and church with mobiles of bats and witches. Everyone wore fancy dress and the whole thing went with a swing to the music of our resident three-piece band 'First Grade' (Geoff Wyncoll, guitar, David Glover, piano, and Roy Appleton, drums).
     November saw the start of a regular Sunday School. Lessons organized by Mr. Stroh. Hilda Waters (the N.C. teacher of our day school which closed in July 1984) and Kathy Wyncoll. Eight helpers on a weekly rota give the children instruction most Sundays during the worship service in a small room at the side of the church. The Word is opened, a recitation and reading from the Word or the Writings follows. After the Word is closed, there is a discussion, a quiz and project work is done.
     Into 1985, memories of times past were revived on April 20th when our new social head, Mrs. Enid Appleton, organized a Military Whist Drive; these were popular forty years ago.
     Enid also invited the society to picnic on Furze Hills, Mistley, near Colchester, on bank holiday Monday, May 27th. About 25 turned up to play rounders, swing ball, bowls or take a lakeside walk before tea.
     We are pleased to welcome Desmond and Rosemary Taylor as new members of the society and to congratulate Tony and Judith (Cooper) Appleton on the birth of their son Samuel on November 3rd, and his baptism on June 9th, 1985.
     Ruth (Motum) Greenwold

382

JORGE LUIS BORGES 1985

     Our attention has been called to a book published in 1969 by E.P. Dutton Inc., New York. It consists of a series of pieces by Jorge Luis Borges translated into English. The title is The Book of Imaginary Beings. On the flyleaf Borges is called "one of the half-dozen most respected writers in the world today, and among the greatest writers in Spanish of all time."
     A few of us had the great pleasure some months ago of conducting Mr. Borges (who is blind) through the Bryn Athyn Cathedral. At that time he answered in the affirmative when asked whether he was thinking of writing a book about Swedenborg. He is now 87 years old. One notices some references to Swedenborg in the book mentioned above. One such reference was originally published in the New Yorker (Oct. 4, 1969). It includes the following:
     Swedenborg's angels are those souls who have chosen Heaven . . . . It is enough that an Angel only thinks of another in order to have him at his side . . . . Two people who have loved each other on earth become a single Angel. Their world is ruled by love; every Angel is a Heaven.
ANGELS OF SWEDENBORG 1985

ANGELS OF SWEDENBORG 1985

"Angels of Swedenborg" by Ping Chong (part dance and part play) is not now scheduled to run in New York, but it may be seen in Milwaukee this October, in St. Louis in March and in Cincinnati in April. (More information will be appearing about this in Logos, the quarterly of the Swedenborg Foundation. The production was inspired by a book by Jorge Luis Borges.
NCL 50 YEARS AGO 1985

NCL 50 YEARS AGO 1985

The August issue in 1935 contains a major address by Dr. Alfred Acton entitled "The Science of Correspondences." A theme of his talk was that we are not to look for a revival of the use of correspondences like that of the Ancient Church. We are not simply to try to master a list of correspondences but to look into the realm of causes and effects in a way that was not possible in ancient times.

383

Title Unspecified 1985

Announcements

MUSIC FESTIVAL EARLY SEPT. 1986

385

PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES 1985

     GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
RIGHT REV. LOUIS B. KING, BISHOP
Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, 19009, U. S. A.
PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES
Information on public worship and doctrinal classes provided either regularly or occasionally may be obtained 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. Cristovao Rabelo Nobre, Rua Xavier does Passaros 151, Apt. 101 Piedale, Rio de Janeiro, RK 20740. Phone: 021-289-4292.

     CANADA

     Alberta:

     CALGARY
Mr. Thomas R. Fountain, 1115 Southglen Drive S. W., Calgary 13, Alberta T2W 0X2. Phone: 403-255-7283.

     EDMONTON
Mr. Daniel L. Horigan, 10524 82nd St., Edmonton, Alberta T6A 3M8. Phone: 403-469-0078.

     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 Phone: 0206-43712

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

     LONDON
Rev. Frederick Elphick, 21B Hayne Rd., Beckenham, Kent BR3 4JA. Phone: 01-658-6320.

     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. Ed Verschoor, Olmenlaan 7.3862 VG Nijkerk

     NEW ZEALAND

     AUCKLAND
Mrs. H. J. Keal, Secretary, 4 Derwent Crescent, Titirange, Auckland 7. Phone: 817-8203.

     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.

386

     SOUTH AFRICA

     Natal:

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

     Transvaal:

     TRANSVAAL SOCIETY
Rev. Norman E. Riley, 8 Iris Lane, Irene, 1675 R. S. A., Phone: 012-632679.

Zululand:

     KENT MANOR
Mrs. D. G. Liversage, Box 7088, Empangeni Rail, 3910, Natal, South Africa. Phone: 0351-23241

     Mission in South Africa:
Superintendent-The Rev. Norman E. Riley (Address above)

     SWEDEN

     STOCKHOLM
Contact Mr. Rolf Boley, Arvid Morners Vag 7, 161 59 Bromma. Phone: efter kl. 18.00, 08-878280

     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. (501) 251-2383

     California:

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

     SACRAMENTO
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ripley, 2310 N. Cirby Way, Roseville, CA 95678. Phone: (916) 782-7837

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

     SAN FRANCISCO
Rev. Mark Carlson, 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, 3375 Aztec Road #72, Doraville, GA 30340. Phone: (Home) (404) 457- 4726, (Office) (404) 452-0518

     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.

387

     Indiana:
Contact Rev. Stephen Cole in Cincinnati, Ohio, or Mr. James Wood, R. R. 1, Lapel, IN 46051.Phone (317) 534-3546

     Louisiana:

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

     Maine

     BATH
Rev. Allison L. Nicholson, 897 Middle St., Bath, ME 04530 Phone: (207) 433-6410

     Maryland:

     BALTIMORE
Rev. Donald Rogers, #12 Pawleys Ct., S. Belmont, Baltimore, MD 21236. Phone: (301) 882- 2640.

     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. Phone: (617) 651-1127.

     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. Phone: (314) 442-3475.

     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-Idaho Border.-Se 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. Phone: (Home) (215) 756-4301; (Office) (215) 756-6140.

     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
Mr. Fred Dunlap, 13410 Castleton, Dallas, TX 75234-5117. Phone: (214) 247-7775.

     Washington:

     SEATTLE
Rev. Kent Junge, 14812 N. E. 75th Street, Redmond, WA 98033. Phone: (206) 881-1955.

     Wisconsin:

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

388

NEW CHURCH IN THE NEW WORLD 1985

A STUDY OF SWEDENBORGIANISM IN AMERICA
BY
MARGUERITE BECK BLOCK

     My purpose has been to write for the general public a description of an almost unknown religious body-an answer to the puzzled question, "What is the New Church?" For it has seemed to me that, though numerically speaking this body stands close to the bottom of the list of American churches, judged qualitatively it deserves a far higher rating.

     This book is an attempt to sketch the more colorful aspects of its history, and to show its relation to the social and cultural environment in which it has had its growth.

     Copyright 1932
Third printing 1984

     SWEDENBORG PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION
NEW YORK

     Postage paid $14.15

     General Church Book Center
Box 278
Bryn Athyn, PA 19009
Hours: 9-12 Mon-Fri
Phone: (215) 947-3920

389

Notes on This Issue 1985

Notes on This Issue Editor 1985

Vol. CV September, 1985 No. 9
NEW CHURCH LIFE

390

     Some issues of the LIFE get talked about, and we think this will be one. We are confident that Marjorie Soneson's review of the Centennial Album (p. 416) will be read instantly in faculty circles. We think the "Close Encounters" article will be a conversation piece, as will the article addressing the question, "Can I Know If I Am Going to Heaven?" (The "spiritual checkup" beginning on page 403 will evoke particular attention.) Brian Keith has answered another question, and that is the question of whether very thorough scholarship and easy readability are mutually exclusive. You can have both, and you do have it in this issue. One does not feel overwhelmed by more than a hundred references to the Writings in so human an article. (This was also true of the sermon by Bruce Rogers in last month's issue.)
     Donald Rogers is no relation to Bruce. He is the resident minister in Baltimore. His sermon is very direct and clear. Just read the first paragraph, and you will know that you are in for more than theoretical theology. This is an applicable sermon, a little chastening for New Church people, but one that will be widely popular.
     As we continue attention to local New Church schools, we are pleased to have a photograph from the school in Kitchener, Ontario, and some snapshots from Kempton, PA. We are also pleased to have information about New Church activity in Chicago and to catch some of the spirit of realistic optimism in the group served by Rev. Grant Schnarr.
     A church "planning seminar" was held in Bryn Athyn in July. It sounded so useful and encouraging that we hope to print a full report, perhaps in the next issue.
     A year ago we commented that we were reporting as many as eleven weddings in the September issue. This month we list fifteen as those June reports come through.
     On the 8th of this month a special memorial service will be held at the church at 22nd and Chestnut Street in Philadelphia for the late Rev. Richard H. Tafel. (See the editorial note on page 424.)
     We are pleased to announce that the anthology on Blake and Swedenborg subtitled "Opposition Is True Friendship" has been published by the Swedenborg Foundation, and it is very well done indeed. Copies may be ordered for $8.95 (plus 75 cents postage) from the Foundation (l39 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010).
     Editorial Note: Material sent for publication in the LIFE should be typed double-spaced. It is helpful to send two copies.

391

OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE NEW CHURCH 1985

OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE NEW CHURCH Rev. DONALD ROGERS 1985

     "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives [souls] but to save them" (Luke 9:37-56).

     The Christian Church today is made up of many different sects. Each sect has its own peculiar set of beliefs. Some, if not most, of these sects believe that the other sects are wrong and that only those who hold the same beliefs as they do can be saved. Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons are prime examples. But even Christians who belong to the more mainstream sects often believe that other people will go to hell if they do not come to believe as they do. For example, Christian leaders have from time to time said on TV that if Jews and heathen do not believe in Christ they will go to hell. What is this but the same thing as saying, "If they don't believe as I do, then they are going to hell"? This kind of thinking often gets Christians to go out and evangelize with a vengeance, but they are not so much trying to enrich people's spiritual lives as they are trying to convert people over to a set of beliefs that they feel are the only saving ones. Without these beliefs, they feel, everyone else is damned to hell. This very same attitude is even seen in the disciples who in our lesson forbade a man from casting out demons in the Lord's name. It is also seen in the disciples' reaction to the Lord's rejection by the Samaritans.
     The Writings tell us that this kind of attitude is far from the attitude the Lord wants us to have toward people outside of the church. Such an attitude is uncharitable and is therefore forbidden in the Word. "Judge not and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned" (Luke 7:37). When a particular group of people or an individual thinks that only those who believe as they do are saved and all others are damned, they are making a spiritual judgment. They are claiming to know what the true spiritual character of another is. But this is really impossible. For evil people are perfectly capable of appearing good, and good people can appear to be in evil. The Lord alone knows who can be saved and who cannot be saved. That judgment is not for us to make.
     For example, the Christians who believe that the heathen are damned simply because they are not Christians are making an erroneous spiritual judgment. For no one, Christian or heathen, is damned or saved because of his knowledge about the Lord.

392

People are saved because of the life they live according to their religion. The Lord out of His wisdom and love has provided that every religion contains the two essential means of salvation. These two essentials are a belief in God and a list of evils which are to be shunned as sins against God. No religion in the world is without these two essentials. Therefore, no religion is without the means to salvation, including the heathen.
It is true that many heathen practice beliefs that are completely contrary to Christian charity, such as polygamy and idolatry. Yet, because there is innocence in their worship, they can be easily taught in the next life what is the right way to love God. In this life they are like children who try to love their parents the best way they know how, but because of their ignorance they don't always go about it in the right way. Take, for example, the child who wants to bake a cake for his mother's birthday but makes a mess of the kitchen. How can a mother punish her child for loving her? It is the same with the heathen. How could the Lord punish them for loving Him the best way they know how? It is cruel even to think that He could.
We in the New Church are just as prone to make spiritual judgments as are other Christians. For if we make holding a certain set of beliefs to be more important than living by them, we too will fall into the trap of thinking that we alone are saved and all others are damned. Look at what the disciples did. There they were with new teachings straight from the Lord's own mouth. They knew that the truths they had were more true and deeper than what the other Jews had. They alone had recognized the Lord as the Messiah, while the rest of the Jewish world still waited for the Messiah. But instead of using these truths to love others, they used them to place themselves above others, as if that were what truth was for. As a result, they disputed along the way about who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. They also tried to stop a man from casting out demons in the name of the Lord, because, they said. "He did not follow us. He was not in our group of believers." As a result, they judged this man wrongly. They had based their judgment on the fact that he did not follow them, rather than on the actions of his life. If they had judged him on the basis of his life, they would have seen that he was in fact a good man living the life of religion. For he was casting out demons, or shunning the evils of his life, as sins against God. He may not have had the same beliefs as the disciples. He may have had only a simple religion. but still he lived a life of shunning evils as sins against the Lord, which is the essential of salvation in any religion. Therefore, the Lord severely rebuked the disciples saying, "Forbid him not, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is on our side" (Mark 9:38).

393

     There is also a tendency in the New Church to use the truths we have to place ourselves above others in the Christian world. Sometimes it is hard to keep from doing so when we realize that Christians are still waiting for a Second Coming that has already happened. We may feel superior because our truths are so much deeper than what most Christians have. We may even have the feeling that we are the only ones that are going to heaven.
     But we must do our best to avoid feeling and thinking this way because it is a spiritually dangerous thing to do. For in the next life people who think that they are the only ones who are going to heaven form what the Writings call "societies of interior friendships." These are people who in the life of the body "had believed that they were the only ones who were living and in the light, and that those who were outside of their society were comparatively not living and not in the light; and because they were this way, they also thought that the Lord's heaven consists solely of those few" (AC 4805).
     Swedenborg was permitted to tell these people that "the Lord's heaven is immense, and that it consists of every people and tongue who were good and loving according to what they had believed to be true" (AC 4805). He also told them that if they "condemn others who were outside of their society, they could not have heaven; and that in this case their society is a society of interior friendship, which is of such a nature that when they approach others they deprive them of the blessedness of spiritual affection; for they regard others as not being the elect, and as not living; and when this thought is communicated, it induces sadness, which, however, according to the law of order in the other life returns to themselves" (AC 4805).
     Such people only make themselves sad, because the true life of charity consists in "thinking kindly of another, and in wishing him well; and feeling joy in one's self from the fact that others are also saved. But those have not the life of charity who desire that none should be saved except those who believe as they do; and especially is this the case with those who are indignant that it is otherwise" (AC 2284). Being indignant about someone else's happiness is not a happy feeling. It is not a warm, loving feeling. It communicates nothing but coldness. And even New Churchmen have been known to become indignant when they find out others are saved and say, "if other people are saved, what's the use of being a New Churchman?" But that's not the point. The point is that we should be glad that the Lord is able to save other people. We should feel happy that others are happy.
     Probably the hardest times we will face when it comes to believing that other people are saved is when we evangelize the Christian world and find that our beliefs are not well received or are even rejected.

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When this happens, the tendency to close ourselves off from the rest of the world and to condemn others outside of our church will be at its strongest point.
     We can see this tendency reflected in the way the disciples reacted to the Samaritans' rejection of the Lord. The Lord had sent messengers ahead to a village of the Samaritans to prepare for Him. But when He got there, the Samaritans did not receive Him because, it is said, "His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem." "His face being set for the journey to Jerusalem" means that His teachings looked to charity and the life of religion, and for this reason He was rejected. The teachings of the New Church are teachings from the Lord which look to charity and the life of religion. We say that one has to shun evils as sins and do good in order to be saved. But the teaching of the Christian Church today is that works do not save a man, because he will place merit in them. Therefore, they say, only faith is saving. So when we tell people about our religion, more often than not we find that the teachings of the New Church are not received by the Christian world, just as the Lord was not received by the Samaritans. But we must not write these people off as being damned because of it. We must not go off thinking the Lord should call down fire from heaven upon them because they don't accept the teachings of the New Church. We should not think that the Lord would condone such a spirit which seeks the damnation of others. For this is a wrong spirit or attitude. It is not the spirit of charity that the Lord would want us to have.
     When the Lord's disciples asked Him if He wanted them to call down fire from heaven and consume the Samaritans, He turned and rebuked them saying. "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them. The Lord never writes people off as being damned just because they may not accept His teachings. He never gives up. Instead He always looks to the good in people and works to bring that out, just as He would not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of ten good people.
     Besides, just because someone is not ready to receive the teachings of the New Church does not automatically mean that that person is going to hell. It could be that the person has been taught that faith alone saves and yet still Lives a life of charity. The Writings say that if a person does this, then he has never really confirmed faith alone in himself except intellectually (see Divine Providence 318:9-10). And what we think or confirm intellectually is not as important as how we live in the long run.

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For "in the spiritual world, it is not asked what your belief has been, or what your doctrine has been, but what your life has been, that is, whether it has been such or such; for it is known that as one's life is, such is his belief, and even his doctrine; for the life makes doctrine for itself. and belief for itself" (DP 101:3).
Therefore we must not make the mistake of believing that we are somehow better than other people in the world just because we have the Writings. And we must not think that everyone who does not welcome our beliefs with open arms is somehow damned to hell. Moreover, if we ourselves truly live a life according to our beliefs, we will never have to worry about feeling superior to others or of entering into a spirit of condemnation. For if we are truly living a life according to our religion, we will come to feel a deep humiliation, which is a feeling that all others are more worthy than ourselves to enter into the kingdom of heaven. We will see our own shortcomings and failings and will therefore be more forgiving of the shortcomings we see in others outside the church who do not know any better. Lastly, we will rejoice over the fact that the Lord can save people who are not as lucky as we are to be blessed with so many wonderful truths straight from the Lord's mouth. Amen.

LESSONS: Luke 9:37-56; Genesis 18:16-33; AC 2284:5 CAN I KNOW IF I AM GOING TO HEAVEN? 1985

CAN I KNOW IF I AM GOING TO HEAVEN? Rev. BRIAN W. KEITH 1985

     Part I

     Can I know if I will go to heaven after death? Can I know if I am going to hell? Do I need to know? Serious questions. When the fundamentalist asks, "Are you saved?" normal reactions are, "I'm not sure," or "I hope so!" (Either is certain to invite a lecture.) We rightly resist the idea that a person is guaranteed a place in heaven by avowed faith or specific actions. But such responses also tend to typify an attitude which says we should not think about the question, and we should especially not feel certain about any specific answer.
     But can we simply ignore the question and direct our thoughts to daily life and repentance? Should we not have at least some idea of whether we are going to heaven or hell?
     My thesis is that while there is much we cannot know, or know for certain, about our spiritual state, there is much which we can know, including our general spiritual state. In other words, we are able, and it is appropriate, to have a relatively clear idea of our ruling love.

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What We Do Not Know About Ourselves

     Thinking we cannot have a certain knowledge of our spiritual state has much support in the doctrines. We will never have a complete picture of the unconscious levels of our mind or what the Lord is accomplishing in our spirits. After all, "the affections of a person's life are known to the Lord alone" (DP 197; Char. 167e: AE 299:12, 304). What we know about ourselves, about our regeneration, is very little compared to what is taking place within. "A person knows nothing of how he is being regenerated, and scarcely that he is being regenerated (AC 3570:2). "Regeneration takes place unconsciously to a person, since the design of it is that he may become a new man" (SD 3654).
     Consider what else is beyond our sensible knowledge: our remains, how much good or truth we have, when regeneration takes place, the Lord's providential leading, the nature of our spiritual associations, our inner thoughts, the effects of reading the Word, whether we have conjugial love or not, whether we are spiritually happy, and many more. And for those who love evil, there is even less they know. (See the appendix for some references.)

Why It Is Difficult to Know Our Spiritual State

     There are numerous reasons why we might remain ignorant of our spiritual state. People are exceedingly complicated beings, and accurately evaluating them is difficult. It would be easy to uncover one aspect of ourselves, and assume it is a ruling love when it is not. As we pass through various stages of development, our current mood affects what we can see. From depression we see darkness and evil; from exhilaration, joy and good.
     Regeneration is a continual process, so how can we determine where along the continuum we are? As we establish good habits, we become unconscious of them, perhaps thinking them less important than they are. The good that may be within our lives is not always felt.
     Where there is evil, evaluating our loves is even more difficult. For evil judges all by what brings delight. If it feels "good," it must be good. Pleasure is the yardstick used to measure right and wrong. Evil does not want to be seen, so it blinds us to its presence, excusing hellish thoughts and actions. Or it creates an apparently overpowering sense of oppression, and we are led to think it is in total control over our lives. (See the appendix for references.)

Danger of Introspection

     There also seems to be something essentially unhealthy about looking within ourselves to see what is good.

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There is a "constant reflection upon self" which is from self love (AC 1321:2). Focusing upon ourselves generates feelings of merit, which are detrimental to spiritual growth:

     As often, therefore, as a person reflects within himself that he thinks good, or does good, it comes from his proprium, thus from a certain self-love, cupidity, and appetite. What he thus attributes to himself under these promptings, there is sin in every particular of it. The good, therefore, which is imparted by the Lord is wrought within him while he does not reflect from himself upon it-that is, while a person remains ignorant of it (see SD 1561; HH 558).

     Also, our lot after death "is known to the Lord only" (CL 523). To claim such a foreknowledge could take away all motivation to shun evils, and would thus destroy the human itself. "It is on this account that a person does not know his lot after death" (DP 179). Yes, there is a longing to know the future, but with those who believe in the Divine Providence "there is given them a trust that the Lord is disposing their lot" (DP 179).

     Nor is it necessary to know our lot after death, for our efforts should be directed toward shunning evils as sins. "A person need not know more than that he should shun evils as sins and look to the Lord" (DP 125e). As the story in Mark says: "the seed springs up and grows, the man does not know how" (4:27). "Moreover, of what consequence is it for a person to know how the seed grows up, provided he knows how to plough and harrow the land, to sow the seed, and when he reaps his harvest to bless God" (AE 1153e, 1154:2, 3). It is not necessary to look for good, but only to reflect "upon the evils in themselves; and, so far as they shun them as sins and turn away from them, they cast them out from themselves to hell from which they come" (DP 321:7).
     For all these reasons, there is strong basis to take the position that we should reflect upon and shun what is evil in our lives, and the Lord will then lead us unconsciously to what is good. We do not need to do more than this to be regenerated by the Lord, and attempting to discover our spiritual state, especially looking for what is good, is difficult and fraught with danger.

What Can Be Known About Our Spiritual State?

     These are strong teachings. However, another set of passages indicates that there is much we can know about our spiritual state. Our fundamental direction, for heaven or hell, can be discerned.

Everyone may see what kind of life he has if he will only search out what his end is (AC 1909:2).

A person can know among which he is, whether among the infernal or among the angelic (AC 1689:2).

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From his loves everyone can know whether heaven is in him or hell (AC 9434.2).

All these things have been said to the intent that a person may examine himself and may recognize his love by his delights; and thus, so far as he can make it out from a knowledge of correspondences, may know the state of his life after death (HH 487:3).

Of what nature is that which universally reigns can be known (AC 7648).

That which a person has as an end is plainly discerned, for it reigns universally in him (AC 5949:3).

     There are other aspects of our spiritual state which the Writings note can be seen. These include a presence of the Lord, the quality of spirits around us, if we are acting from self love, if we have been in enlightenment, and when our external life is coming into order. The appendix has many of these references.

How Can Our Spiritual State Be Seen?

     In addition to the statements about what can be known, there are ample measures given indicating how we can discern our spiritual state. How our thinking process operates, what gives us delight, what causes anxiety, feelings of good, order in our life, if we are repenting, and many more signs can disclose our spiritual state. The appendix contains many of these references and a questionnaire for taking a spiritual checkup.

But Should We Look for Good?

     Granting the point that it is possible to see good in ourselves, should we consciously look for it? Should we examine ourselves for good as we would for evil? In self-examination is it legitimate to see good along with evil?
     Self-examination as a phase of repentance Is a specific surgical procedure. It is not intended to find what is right, only what is wrong so it can be removed. If when we are examining ourselves we see what is good, it is not especially helpful because it will not enable us to repent. In fact, it may well be counterproductive since it may divert our attention from what should be seen (although if a person is abusing self-examination by turning it into self-flagellation, it is probably wise to step back and sense some of the Lord's good.)
     While self-examination is not intended to uncover good, we are encouraged to do it because it brings to light the hell within, giving us an idea of at least one aspect of ourselves. After a lengthy discussion of the love of self we read, "let those who breathe such things in intention know that they are pre-eminently in the love of self" (AC 2219e).

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Also, a lack of delight in what is good should be used as a negative indicator, for "if he does not perceive in himself anything of the affection of what is just and equitable in his employment, and of truth and good in company and in life, let him know that his delight is that of the infernals" (AC 3938:2).
     Instruction about evil is actually a way of providing a spiritual yardstick with which to measure ourselves. "From what has now been described (n. 7370) as a test, it is known who are in the love of self" (AC 7372). "Let any who are of such a nature put himself to the test" (AC 4096:2, 3957:6). I this sense, every description of evil is meant to encourage us to explore ourselves.
     While we can use descriptions of evil to test ourselves, what if we take the test and pass? Does it just mean we have not looked deeply enough? But if that is the case, then why bother with a test if the answers are known in advance? Should we look at ourselves apart from self-examination and see what is good?
     The answer would seem to be yes.

The loves of self and of the world make hell with a person; and now the quality of these loves is to be told, in order that a person may know whether he is in them, and consequently whether hell or heaven is in him (AC 7366).

     There is a place for seeing if hell or heaven is in us. Indeed, "reflecting upon one's thoughts and intentions, to see whether they are evil or good, and reflecting that the evil ones are from the devil, and good ones from God" is an external of the mind which is of worship (Char. 175).
     It is even stated that "nothing is more necessary to a person than to know whether heaven be in him or hell" (AC 7181). And, "a person can know among which he is, whether among the infernal or among the angelic . . . . Let everyone examine himself by this in order to learn what he is" (AC 1680:2, 4307).
     The love which rules in our life can be determined, and we are encouraged to know it:

     Everyone may see what kind of life he has if he will only search out what his end is; not what all his ends are-for he has numberless ones, as many as intentions, and almost as many as judgments and conclusions of thoughts, which are only intermediate ends, variously derived from the principal one, or tending to it-but let him search out the end he prefers to all the rest, and in respect to which all others are as nothing. If he has for his end himself and the world, let him know that his life is infernal; but if he has for his end the good of neighbor, the common good, the Lord's kingdom, and especially the Lord Himself, let him know that his life is heavenly (AC 1909:2-emphasis added).

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     Our end, or ruling love, is, in one sense, easy to determine; "he needs only to attend and reflect" (D. Love XVIII:4). But that attention and reflection are significantly affected by his states "for the states themselves very much vary the perception" (AC 3796:3). This does not mean that we cannot make an accurate determination, just that it is difficult and we have to be careful.
     Assuming that we can accurately determine if we have a ruling love of good, then teachings such as AC 1102:3 make sense:

     When a person 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.

     Unless it were possible and appropriate to see good in ourselves, this and similar numbers would be meaningless. Where there has been spiritual progress the Lord intends us to feel it. This is why there are so many indicators given of one's spiritual state. It is in this context that the charge is given to resist evils once a week or twice a month, "and they will perceive a change" (Life 97). Presumably this will be a change for the better.

How Much of Our Spiritual State Can Be Known?

     To what extent can we see good in our life? While nothing is explicitly said, the focus of the teachings about what can be known indicates that the generals can be seen. Whether we are in heaven or hell ought to be known. If we do not know which rules, then we could be in hell and not know it. Similarly, we could become obsessively and unnecessarily worried about our evils, always assuming the worst. It is the general pattern of our life which should be seen from all the various indicators.
     Many of the derivative affections and inner workings of the mind can be known, but precise judgment here is more suspect. All the factors that make it difficult to determine our spiritual state make it increasingly hazardous to accurately evaluate any particular aspect of it. Often this is because what takes place above consciousness cannot be directly seen or felt, so can be discerned only by various after-shocks. (See AC 10551:2 concerning "enlightenment" for an example of this.)
     Also, any individual state that is being experienced may be temporary or only indirectly related to the ruling love. Thus it is more difficult to assess particular states with any degree of certainty.

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When It Is Possible to Know Our Spiritual State?

     There are times when heaven can be seen in one's life, and there are other times when a valid judgment cannot be made.
     During regeneration the good which is within does not often show itself. But "after a person has been regenerated . . . the good, which had lain inmostly concealed, comes forth as it were from its place of confinement, and flows into those things which are outside, and makes truths its own, that is, truths of good, and thus manifests itself" (AC 3603:6). It is then that "he sensibly feels the affection of the truth that is of faith, and the affection of the good that is of charity" (AC 7442:3, 892, 4027:2, 4928, 4977; SD 6005; AE 229:2; cf. AC 4247:2, 9780:2).
     From a state of regeneration it is possible to feel in ourselves what is good, and the horror of evil. This is especially seen in marriage, for only from a state of conjugial love can the difference between it and adultery be felt (see AE 990:3; cf. CL 427). The reason for this would seem to be that prior to regeneration evil and falsity are acknowledged by the understanding only, but with repentance, "now and not before, he first perceives and also feels that evil is evil, and good is good" (DP 278). With the beginning of loving and willing good there can be a sensation of that which comes from the Lord (see AC 10219).
     While from a state of good it should be easier to determine if we have good, a reasonably accurate evaluation can be done whenever the understanding is elevated above the will. Were this not so it would be impossible for anyone to see heaven or hell within. The many changes of state and distortions of evil, such as doubts and temptations, will vary the judgment, but to the extent that the understanding is free it should be able to see clearly the general pattern of life.
     For the understanding to be free, a necessary condition is solitude. "The affections manifest themselves in the thoughts whenever a person is in the freedom of his spirit and is alone with himself; for he then thinks from the affection which belongs to his love" (AE 837; cf. AC 5141).
     It is also important to be in a spiritual state looking backwards (see DP 187, 189; AC 4364:2, 2654e; cf. SD 2595). In this sense, seeing a ruling love of good is not knowing our lot after death; it is only describing the present state of affairs. Nor does thinking our ruling love is good enable us to avoid temptations or the need to deal with remaining evils and falsities.

     (To be concluded)

     (See next page for appendix.)

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     APPENDIX

I.      What we do not know about ourselves.
          A.      Number and quality of our remains: AC 268, 561, 2284:3
          B.      Extent of our regeneration: AC 6686, 8865:2, 10049, 3179:2, 2431, 894; HH 530
          C.      How we are regenerated through mediate goods: AC 4122
          D.      Freedom in self-compulsion: AC 1937:4
          E.      How we are affected by influx: DP 156; AC 4067:2, 4977; CL 122; AE 419:6
     F.      How Divine Providence works: AC 1554, 2678; DP 125, 175
     G.      Spiritual associations: AC 687, 784:2, 4067:2; DLW 252
     H.      How our inner thought process works: AE 527:4, 625:5; AC 9051:2. 4104:2, 2494
          I.      Our understanding of the Word: AC 4280:3, 5614:2, 10551:5
          J.      Whether we are interiorly happy: AC 9103, 10722, 2379
     K.      Presence of conjugial love and interactions between husband and wife: CL 183:7, 531, 123, 193:2, 475:3
          L.      Extent of our evil loves: AC 892, 3402:2; TCR 381:5
     M.      If we are thinking of the Lord: AC 5130
     N.      Effect of the Holy Supper: AC 6789:3

II.      Why it is difficult to determine our spiritual state.
     A.      Lack of knowledge of what good is: AC 5649:2, 4027:2
          B.      Erroneous ideas of truth: AC 5096; Char. 5
          C.      Misleading appearances of zeal and temporary absence of evil: AC 1661:4, 4311:3, 2041:3
          D.      Not reflecting upon self: AC 4366:2, 933:2, 5224:2; DP 278
          E.      Obscurity in our spirits: AC 2380:2. 1043:3, 2380:4
     F.      What becomes habitual is unseen: AC 2488, 4633; HH 492
     G.      Regeneration is a continuous process: AC 894, 4638:10, 2796
     H.      Change may be natural, not spiritual: AC 4136:2, 5159:2
          I.      Daily concerns cloud ourjudgment and perception of happiness: AC 4027:2, 994:3, 3938:7, 2367; HH 401
          J.      Early in regeneration little can be sensed: AC 159, 3325:3, 3336:3, 1581, 5696, 10219, 7056e
     K.      Delight is not seen as evil: AC 2488, 1072e; DP 198, 296:9

III.      What we can know about ourselves.
     A.      If sensuous things are first or last: AC 5125:2, 5128:2
          B.      Ruling love: AC 1568:3, 3957:6, 2982:2; HH 487; AE 1138:6; D. Love XVIII:4
     C.      If there is a genuine internal: AC 3324: 10, 10614:3
     D.      If the Lord is present: AC 7056e

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          E.      If acting from selfish loves: DLW 426; AR 502e; NJHD 147
          F.      If our faith is from the Lord or ourselves: AC 9297:3
     G.      When our eternal life is coming into order: AC 3939, 5159

IV.      How to discern our spiritual state.
     A.      Reflection: AC 3980, 3570:2
     B.      Our attitude to truth, and our entire thinking process: HH 500; AE 837; DLW 278; AC 5128:2, 984, 5340e. 3876; SD 4577m
     C.      If we can see evil in ourselves: Char. 181; AC 9128:2, 2041:2
     D.      What gives us delight: AC 737 1, 3939, 7648; AE 945; NJHD 147
     E.      If evil makes us feel anxious: AC 5881, 1914:2, 5949:4, 5470
     F.      If we feel affection for the neighbor: AC 6325, 6737, 1102:3, 10614:3; CL 238:3; DP 208
     G.      Quality of our life: AC 9434:2, 4247:2, 5128; DLW 252
     H.      If we are repenting: DLW 426; DP 215:13
          I.      How we would act without restraints: SD 3716f
     J.      Signs that sins have been forgiven: NJHD 167
     K.      Misc: AC 2057:4, 5125:2; NJHD 180

     V.      A Spiritual Checkup. (Note: many more questions could be usefully asked. These are drawn from specific numbers in the Writings.)

     SPIRITUAL CHECKUP

     1.      Knowledge and Humility
           a.      Do I have a factual knowledge of what is good and evil? In spite of grey areas, can I with some clarity see what the Lord is saying in His Word to me?
           b.      Do I have the humility to recognize there is much that I do not know? (AE 117:2)
          2.      Thought Patterns
           a.      Do I have a closed mind to the truth? (I.e., Do I try to avoid and interpret teachings of the Word that make me uncomfortable?) (AC 5128:2, 1673:4)
           b.      Do I find delight in thinking of the truth, and in looking for confirmations of it? (AC 984; DLW 252)
           c.      Where do my thoughts begin, and where do they lead? (SD 4577m)
           d.      Can I see evil in myself (and see it as filthy and proprial)? AC 9128:2, 2041:2, 2654e; Char. 181) [If not, have I ever asked someone I respect about myself!(HH 487; SD 734)]
          3.      Feelings
           a.      What are the things I feel most strongly about? (AC 3570:2)
           b.      Where do I find my delight in my thinking, my conversations, my actions? (NJHD 147; AC 3939)

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          c.      What gives me the greatest sense of success? of failure? (AC 7648)
          d.      Anxiety
                    1.      Am I uncomfortable with portions of my past? (AC 5881)
                    2.      Do I grieve when I sense the presence of evil in my life? (AC 1914:2)
                    3.      Do I dislike to be forced by circumstances to act against my conscience? (AC 977)
                    4.      Do I have an inner resistance to allowing bodily pleasures to control my life? (AC 5159)
                    5.      Do I have an inner resistance to thinking, speaking, or doing anything contrary to God? (AC 5949:3, 7118)
                    6.      Do I abhor evil as hellish? (AC 892e)
                    7.      Am I uneasy when I am not doing what I should? (AC 5470)

     4.      Inner Sense of Good
          a.      Do I wish good to the neighbor for his sake? (AC 1102:3)
          b.      Do I feel sorry for the unfortunate? (AC 1102:3)
          c.      Do I feel sorry for those who have wrong ideas? (AC 1102:3)
          d.      Do I feel holiness in the Word and worship?(AC 10614:3)
          e.      Do I feel in love with my spouse? (CL 238:3)
     5.      Life
          a.      Do I perform my work sincerely and justly? (DLW 252)
          b.      Do I enjoy helping others? (AC 4247:2, 977)
          c.      Do I always obey the Ten Commandments (including: taking the Lord's name in vain, stealing, bearing false witness, coveting)? (AR 502e)
     6.      Repentance
          a.      Do I consider evils to be sins, or simply errors of judgment, faults, or the past which should not be dredged up? (DLW 426; DP 215:13)
          b.      Have I actively been searching for evils and shunning them as sins against God? (DLW 426)
          c.      What would I do if I had no fear of the law or social consequences? (HH 508:5; DP 278; SD 3716; Char. 5)
     7.      Have I observed any of the signs that my sins have not been forgiven? have been forgiven? (NJHD 167)

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CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE ?? 1985

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE ?? LAVINA LEMKY SCOTT 1985

     I have both feet on the ground. I even sit on the ground: sometimes on purpose, sometimes inadvertently. I grew up in the General Church of the New Jerusalem, being taught it from my parents, from all the General Church Religion Lessons, from the General Church ministers who came for yearly visits, like Rev. K. R. Alden, and later from our resident ministers. I attended the A.N.C. schools affirmatively for senior year of high school and the first year of college. Since Ken and I married twenty-three years ago, the Writings have been our final authority upon which we base our thinking and our understanding of life and its meanings and purpose. We both are confirmed New Churchmen, and believe the Writings when they say, "it is rarely granted at the present day, however, to talk with spirits, because it is dangerous"(HH 249); and "Many believe that man can be taught by the Lord by means of spirits speaking with him; but those who believe this and are willing to believe it do not know that it is attended with danger to their souls" (AE 1182). So we do not hold seances.
     But we also believe the Writings when they explain the dual nature of human beings. "Viewed in himself man is a spirit, and the corporeal part that is added to the spirit to enable it to perform its functions in the natural and material world is not the man, but only an instrument of his spirit" (HH 435). "The internal is what is called the spirit, the external is what is called the body. The external, called the body, is adapted for uses in the natural world: this, when a man dies, is cast off; the internal, called the spirit, is adapted for uses in the spiritual world: this does not die. The internal is, in the next world, a good spirit and an angel if the man has been a good man in the world, but an evil spirit if he has been an evil man in the world" (NJHD 224).
     We believe in a real and an immediate life after death. ". . . when in fact scarcely a day intervenes after the death of the body before they are in the other life; for death is a continuation of life (AC 70; also see DLW 390). We know and have read about the resurrection process as described in the Writings in Heaven and Hell and in the first part of Arcana Coelestia and in other places. We have no doubt whatsoever about the existence of the spiritual world, and are looking forward to taking up residence there some day after our uses in this world are finished.
     We have also noted with interest the many near-death experiences that people have reported in the past few years, and have listened attentively to our General Church ministers correlating those experiences with what the Writings teach.

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So when we discovered these intriguing statements in the Writings some months ago, Ken and I talked about their interesting implications. "it ought to be known, however, that angels cannot be seen by a man through the eyes of his body but through the eyes of his spirit within him, because this is in the spiritual world, while all things of the body are in the natural world. Like sees like from being alike. Besides, as everyone knows, the bodily organ of sight is so gross as to be unable even to see, except through magnifying glasses, the smaller things of nature; still less then can it see the things that are above the sphere of nature such as are all things in the spiritual world. But these things may be seen by a man when he is withdrawn from the sight of the body, and the sight of his spirit is opened. This takes place instantly whenever it pleases the Lord that these things should be seen. In that case, the man does not know but that he is seeing them with his bodily eyes" (HH 76). ". . . for the things that are in the heavens cannot be seen by the eyes of a man's body, but are seen by the eyes of his spirit. When it seems good to the Lord, these are opened and man then is withdrawn from the natural light in which he is from the senses of the body, and is raised up into a spiritual light in which he is from his spirit" (HH 171). ". . . all who have ever lived in the world are in the other life and live as men. And as they [newly resuscitated spirits] wondered also why this had not been disclosed to man by visions, being an essential of the faith of the church, they were told from heaven that although this might have been done, since nothing is easier when it is the Lord's good pleasure, . . ." (HH 456:3). (Yet it wouldn't have convinced those in falsities, or it may have caused them to commit profanation.) "Nevertheless, conversation with spirits is possible (though rarely with the angels of heaven); and this has been granted to many for ages back. And when it is granted, the spirits speak with man in his mother tongue, and only a few words. But those who speak by the Lord's permission never say anything that takes away the freedom of the reason, nor do they teach; for the Lord alone teaches man, but mediately by means of the Word when in a state of enlightenment" (DP 135).
For years I have dreaded the time when I knew I must see my parents, one, or both, leave us to go to the spiritual world. I was always puzzled as to why I should dread it because we firmly believe in all that the Writings tell us about the life after death. We know life continues; we know the whole spiritual world is governed by the Lord, and is orderly and fair; and for people who have tried to co-operate with the Lord's efforts to lift them up in regeneration it will not be scary. We know and believe the separation is only temporary; we know there are so many things to look forward to there, like youth and better health returning, and reunions with friends who have gone earlier.

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So why did I dread it?? I don't know.
     For several years I have had dreams in which one or both of my parents died, and it would wake me up in a cold fear, and I would pray to the Lord that it be not so, and would have to say the Lord's prayer several times before I could go to sleep again. Was this a gentle reminder and preparation for the inevitable time?
     When I got a phone call at noon on February 19th, that my mother (Emma Lemky. age 80) had just passed away suddenly, it hit like a thunderbolt. My heart was thumping and my mouth went dry and stopped producing saliva for the next three or four days. No amount of water helped. And we, like every family must at such a time, did what must needs be done to make arrangements, and tried to comfort each other. Our strong beliefs in the Writings are a constant source of comfort and consolation and help.
     So it was that I decided to spend the first night at my parents' house, so Daddy would not be alone. As it turned out, a couple of grandchildren also stayed the night. You don't sleep easy on such a night. Where was my mother now, I wondered. I am in her house. Where is her spirit?
     After a fitful night's sleep, we awoke the next morning to the same bleak reality and dry mouth of the night before. And many sad tasks had to be done.
     The next night I was the only one staying with Dad. Although we were exhausted, it was difficult-impossible-to sleep. I would just doze off for a few minutes and then surface again to the same aching emptiness of bereavement. I was lying on my stomach, and was hanging onto the turned wood spindles of the headboard. I was awake, but I had my eyes closed, and I was thinking of how Mother had told Daddy that for about the last three days she had seen a wavy line in front of her eyes wherever she looked. After a while I became aware of a single wavy line about a foot in front of my eyes. It was an even wavy line like a radio wave. I didn't think much of it but just watched it. Then it became running water of a bluish-black color. It was flowing in front of me from left to right quite swiftly, and it was about twelve feet wide and looked fairly deep. The strange thing was that it was as if someone were holding something in front of my left eye, and I could only see this water with my right eye, about a foot in front of my eyes. Both my eyes were shut, but I was fully awake, and by this time quite curious about this strange thing-only seeing it with one eye, the right one. Then I noticed that there was a six-foot wide sturdy plank bridge across the water, also right in front of me, but I hadn't noticed it at first.

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It had no side rails and the water was only about six inches below the top of the bridge and running quite swiftly. I looked across the bridge and I felt the sphere or presence of Mother there. She gave a kind of delighted girlish giggle, because she had just made it safely across the bridge, hurrying the last few steps to get on safe land again. She turned and stretched out a helping left hand in my direction, although I perceived it was not to me she was offering help but to Daddy, just as if to say, "I made it! It was easy! Now I'll help you!!" I could not see her face or the rest of her body, as it seemed to be hidden in a kind of dark fog, but all I could see was her hand and her arm, and I had a very strong perception of her presence.
     Then I started to cry because I thought it was a kind of sign that Daddy would die soon too, and who am I to try to stop them from being together! So I knew I couldn't pray to the Lord to please not let him die; but I felt if it was in the Lord's Providence. I could accept it, now that Mother was on the other side. Eventually I went to sleep till about 4 a.m., when I noticed lights on the curtain, and my sister drove in, just arriving from the U.S. I didn't tell anyone about this thing I had "seen" in the night.
     While doing research in the Writings for this paper. I found this interesting passage: "It has become evident to me from experience that the sight of the left eye corresponds to truths which are of the understanding, and the right eye to affections of truth, which are also of the understanding; and consequently that the left eye corresponds to the truths of faith, and the right eye to the goods of faith" (AC 4410). I had written down the details of these actual experiences less than a week after they happened, but have since spent a lot of time reading in the Writings to try to understand what they were and how they happened.
     After another day full of visitors and arrangements and phone calls, and neighbors bringing food and comfort, I was at home again with Ken, as my sister was staying with Daddy for the night. Finally, again very late, Ken and I went to bed. This was now the third night since my mother left this world. As soon as the busy-ness of the day subsides, the ache returns, so it was still hard to sleep, and still I had a completely dry mouth. But I slept a bit. I awoke abruptly about three o'clock in the morning, because I heard Daddy say, "It is done." I rolled over on my back, wide awake, and lay there in the darkness wondering why I heard his voice so plainly, as my parents' house is about seven miles from ours. With my eyes wide open, I looked around our dark bedroom, and I realized that I could not really see anything plain enough to tell what it was. There was no moon, so everything was pitch black, except that our heavy drapes were open about an inch or so, and the sky was just a bit lighter than the bedroom. I lay there wide awake, staring into the blackness and I wondered what it meant: "It is done."

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And then I could see my mother, and feel her presence and her sphere, and she was standing some place outdoors in the summer time, in the sunshine just beyond the foot of our bed. She was standing on a path and I could see her from head to foot, and I looked intently at her to see what she looked like. I first noticed that she had beautiful blond hair of a medium length, and she had lots of it. It was thick and very beautifully arranged around her face. (On earth she had had short fine grey hair, and it was quite thin.) She had a very happy look on her face. It was glowing with joy so that it seemed to radiate joy, and she was so happy she was almost laughing! She looked about twenty pounds lighter and about twenty years younger than she did here on earth, and she was quite tall-I would say taller than here. She had on a very pretty and becoming dress, very stylish, in an off-white or cream color, regular length and it was like delicate and shiny silk. The overall effect was that she looked like a strikingly good looking woman. The most impressive thing was that face and the lovely hair! Her face was so full of joy and so full of life!! I lay there taking a really good look at her, and soon I saw that she was holding hands with Daddy! And he looked about twenty years younger and twenty pounds lighter also! He was looking at her, and they both seemed very, very happy. She was standing on his right side and holding his right hand, and they were both looking down at me and smiling. Behind Mother and off to the side I saw Rev. and Mrs. Karl R. Alden standing together, also holding hands. But they were farther back, so that they appeared about half the size of Mother and Daddy, so I felt I could not communicate with them, but they just stood there watching Mother and Daddy and waiting for them. But they were happy too, I could see, and it was as if they were just waiting for me to say goodbye to my parents before they would go off with them together. I looked at Mom and Dad and smiled because I was so happy for them, but at the same time I was crying softly because I thought for sure that Daddy had just died, and that was why I saw them together. So I thanked Mom and Dad in whispers for being such wonderful parents, and especially for showing us the New Church, and I told them we all loved them, and I said to them, "May the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you, may the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace." I couldn't get the order of the words straight, but I said them the best I could. I asked them to be patient and kind to each other, and I said we wished them much happiness and that the Lord could bless them with conjugial love. I said I wouldn't say goodbye, but "See you soon!" and I said, "Keep the coffee pot on! We'll all come by and by." I asked them to thank the Aldens very much for all they did to show us the New Church, and to give them our love.

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Through all of this Dad and Mom never said anything but just stood there happy and smiling and looking at me, and once in a while they would nod in agreement or pleasure. I had told them both all this some years ago, but still I felt if this was to be the last time I would see them for a while, it was the most important thing I wanted to tell them.
Then I got up and went into the kitchen and turned the light on there, and looked at the time. It was 3:10 a.m., and I wrote the time on the calendar, because I felt I had just had a very momentous experience, and I wanted to remember it.
Then I went and lay down again and shut the light out. I lay on my back and looked into the darkness, and they were still all there! But I couldn't think of anything more to say. I felt at peace now that I knew that they were alive and well, and there was nothing more I could do. I thought in the morning my sister would discover that Daddy had died in the night, but I thought it most kind to let him be in peace till then. So there the two of them stood, still smiling in front of me. Then they took a large rolled up paper, like one of Ken's rolled up maps, and together they unrolled it like a scroll in front of me, and I looked at the diagrams on the map paper, and I looked for about a minute back and forth and back across the paper, and there was the solution all figured out as to how to divide up their estate fairly and evenly. in a way that would satisfy everyone. They communicated the ideas, but at the same time the idea that this was just one possible way it could be done; and if my brother and sister and I wanted to change some parts of the idea, or use it as a framework and add details, we were free to use our best judgment. They were just showing one possible way to do it. The surprising thing is that it would probably take another four pages to write down all that I saw on that paper, and yet I only looked about a minute at it. I told Ken the ideas that I had seen the next morning and they sounded reasonable in the daylight too (although there were some details that needed working on). So I thanked them for solving that problem too. I asked them if, they would go and comfort our children in Bryn Athyn. Then I said to them, "Why don't we all try to get a Little sleep before morning. There is a big day ahead of us tomorrow." They agreed it was a good idea to get some sleep, and all four of them turned and walked away together down the path. I noticed that my mom and dad walked like excited teenagers almost hippity hopping I felt as if a tremendous burden had been lifted off my shoulders, and I turned on my side and went right to sleep, and slept soundly till morning. (I think this whole vision took about ten or fifteen minutes.) ". . . when he [a newly resuscitated person] first enters upon eternal life he is among angels, and therefore appears to himself to be in the flower of youth" (AC 187).

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The next morning I waited for a phone call from Daddy's place, and at the same time dreaded it. Finally at 9 a.m., or so Daddy phoned me! It is kind of reassuring to know that I cannot foretell the future. I always thought it would be a heavy burden to have premonitions, because you suffer before a thing happens, and then again when it happens. Daddy and I talked and he mentioned that he hardly got any sleep till about 3 o'clock in the morning or so!! I asked him if he happened to be thinking of Rev. K. R. Alden. He said "Yes!!!" So I told him what I had "seen" in the night, and he had had an almost identical experience!!! He said he was in bed, but couldn't sleep. So about 3 a.m. he got up and went into the living room and sat in his chair that faced the fireplace. He didn't turn on the lights, because the yardlight shone into the kitchen and gave enough light for him to see where he was going.
No sooner had he sat down in the dark in his chair than he noticed that the glass doors on the fireplace were all lit up. He knew there had been no fire there all day, so he stared at it in surprise. There on the glass doors, as on a screen, he saw a picture like a slide of Rev. Karl K. Alden and his wife slowly moving from Iris left to his right. He shut his eyes, but he could still see it!! So he opened them again and kept watching. They were indoors somewhere, and they looked very happy and were young like he remembered them in the prime of their life; they were holding hands and were dressed very nicely in expensive-looking clothes. But he didn't notice the details of their clothing, because the Pictures were changing. Then he saw Mother holding hands with himself!! And they were both looking much younger and slimmer; and they were both together there with the Aldens!!! At this he greatly wondered how it was that he saw himself there with Mother (as if he were looking at a movie of himself) as he was acutely aware of their temporary separation. He noticed Mother looked very much as I described her earlier, with medium length light shining hair, very nicely Curled, and she had on a beautiful regular length dress of shining and lustrous white silk with pretty soft pink apple blossoms printed on it; and it was very nicely styled. He watched himself and Mother looking at each other with joy and happiness and love, and he thought he'd ask her when and where she got the beautiful dress, because he'd never seen it before. He said he noticed she looked very perceptively and very intently right at him in the pictures. Also, he kept thinking, where are these pictures coming from? Where were they taken? How come I'm with Emma? Also, he saw himself and Mother taking the holy supper (in the church we rent in Debolt for our New Church services), and when he and Mother got up to go back to their seats, he looked and the building was full of people, with standing room only, of people interested in the Writings.

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Also, he had the feeling of a great burden being lifted off his shoulders as I had had after seeing what I saw.
     And when they indicated they had to go, and the light faded, he found himself standing by his chair, but he doesn't remember standing up. And he said after he saw this he felt he could go to sleep and have a good and peaceful sleep. As we talked, we realized that both of us felt very happy and reassured that Mother was alive, that she felt well, that she was being well looked after, and yet that she was still very near to us! We were extremely happy that she was with the Aldens! We couldn't have thought of any nicer or better guides to show her around the spiritual world! For us it was a tremendous proof that there is for sure a life after death, and one that starts as soon as the body is laid off. Also, it was an amazing confirmation of how myriads of ideas can be conveyed in spiritual language that takes many, many words in natural language.
     I was not really shown anything new in this vision that I didn't already believe. It was just a confirmation of what the Writings teach. And although none of them-Mother, Dad, or the Aldens-said anything to me, I definitely did feel that they were trying to let us know that they were happy, and safe, and that they loved us.
     Somehow there was a communication across the barrier between the natural and spiritual worlds. I did not seek this communication with them. And it was not a dream. I was not, and am not, taking any drugs of any kind. I'm mentally stable, and the last alcohol I had was wine with Christmas dinner, and at the holy supper.
     Later that day, we all got together and went to the funeral home to "view the body." When I looked at her body, I had the very strong feeling that she was not there; and that what I was looking at was just a very thin, fragile, and hollow shell that had once covered her; but I had seen the real person the night before.
     The next day (which was the fifth day after Mother had left us), with the help of our minister, Rev. William Clifford, we held a short grave side service, and then he gave a beautiful memorial service in the school auditorium. And at the coffee which was served afterwards, we spent more time comforting and reassuring others than vice versa.
     Now that I look back over those days, I find myself amazed by the fact that two different people saw my mother in the company of the Aldens! What a confirmation for us about what the Writings teach about a life after death! What a comfort it has been to us! And what a comfort the memory of all this still is. What a proof of there being no time or space in the other world. And what a lot of traveling for my mother to do who was always afraid of flying. What an inspiration for the rest of us of the closeness that can be achieved with conjugial love! And what a delight to think of Rev. and Mrs. Alden still ministering to people in such a loving way!

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And you know what? That dread I used to have has evaporated like the dew in the morning sun! I am amazed at how lightly one lives upon the earth, and how little separates us here from the real world.
It is now almost six weeks since Mother entered the spiritual world, and Daddy has told me several times that although he doesn't see her, he feels her sphere and presence with him wherever he goes. And when he is trying to do some cooking, it is almost as if she guides him to the cupboard door that contains what he is looking for.
"Married partners thus united in [conjugial] marriage think and breathe what is eternal . . . and are still not separated after the death of the one, since the spirit of the deceased dwells continually with the spirit of the one not yet deceased, and this even until the death of the other, when they meet again and reunite themselves, and love each other more tenderly than before, because in the spiritual world" (Conjugial Love 321:7).
NEW CHURCH IN CHICAGO 1985

NEW CHURCH IN CHICAGO John Teschky 1985

The first seeds of a New Church society are beginning to grow in northern Chicago. Seven people who started meeting weekly in January of 1984 to discuss topics from the Compendium have tripled in number, initiated bi-monthly worship/supper/discussion meetings, and taken steps to become financially independent from its mother society, Glenview. The history, present doings, and future plans of this group will excite anyone acknowledging the Divinity of the Writings and loving the noble use of evangelization.

Late in 1983, Rev. Grant Schnarr sent the 100 or so people (who, according to the Glenview Swedenborg Center's records, had read at least one book of the Writings) a letter inviting them to meet and discuss Swedenborgian theology. Many people ignored the letter; some people expressed interest in the idea, and by March, 1984, a solid seven people were meeting weekly with Grant in a group member's apartment to read and discuss the theological topics laid out in the Compendium. Their ages ranged from the late teens to the mid-forties. Backgrounds varied from Bill Brimfield, a jazz musician ex-Baptist, to Charlotte Gyllenhaal-Davis, a New Church ethno-botanist.

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     [Photo of Glenview's satellite, the Chicago group]

     By the end of the summer we were discussing topics that, according to Grant, only theological students discuss regularly. All of this deep-minded discussion, valuable learning, love for the Writings, and camaraderie was exhilarating, but we realized that without putting our knowledge, love for the Writings and camaraderie to use, we were just wasting our time. Influx is equal to efflux, so we figured that we'd do some effluxing.
     Providentially, our treasurer, Maynard Riley, was apartment hunting at this time. Keeping the group in mind, he rented an apartment in northern Chicago with two large living rooms overlooking Lake Michigan. Saying that holding worship on the shores of one of the largest correspondences to truth in the United States is uplifting is an understatement.
     We decided to keep the services as informal as is reverently possible. We began working on a new songbook and order of service and have an acoustic interlude by our guitarist-in-residence, Rex Knauer.

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Following worship we have a potluck dinner (organized by our food-person Judi Steiner), then hold a discussion. This format appeals to the affectional, intellectual, and social aspects of a person.
     We started publishing a newsletter to remind people of the services, present an overview of the topic of each meeting, and provide a forum for minister and layman to write on New Church topics. Lay articles have ranged from "spiritual heredity" to "sexism." Also, Glenview may have the "Park Patter" column, but we have our "Malicious Gossip" section.
     The services now attract up to 25 people, with 18 people being steadfast regulars. A couple of people are long-time church members who live in the northern Chicago area or who attend Chicago services in addition to Glenview services. Most of the group members are new to the church and have been introduced to the Writings by personal contact with group members. We've found that active personal evangelization is the most effective evangelical net. It involves a lot of personal risk, but reaps the greatest rewards.
     Now that the rough edges are filed off of the services, and the newsletter is becoming respectable, the group is marshaling for evangelization. We have selected and budgeted a "sunshine" person, Peg Compton, to spread good works within the group. We have a "greeter," Steve Simon, who welcomes all people at the door. We are working on a leaflet that explains the tenets of the New Church and the aims of the Chicago group, for distribution at coffee houses and other intellectual hangouts. We are also looking for a meeting place that gives more public exposure.
     We are also doing what we can to return the Glenview society's support. We made our first monetary contribution to the society in January. Group members are being interviewed by Grant about the experience of discovering the Writings and joining the church, for broadcast on WMWA, the Glenview society's FM stereo station.
     Despite many setbacks and disappointments any such endeavor suffers, we've continued to grow. This growth has happened because the regular group members are committed to spread the good news of the Lord's second coming. We're optimistic that when our evangelization campaign gets into full swing, our growth will be even more rapid. We're confident that within a few years, the General Church of the New Jerusalem will have a new society on its rolls.
     John Teschky

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REVIEW 1985

REVIEW Marjorie Rose Soneson 1985

Reflections on the First Hundred Years-Girls School Centennial Album 1884-1984, Published by the Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, printed by the General Church Press. $15.00

     In 1976 the Academy of the New Church published a commemorative booklet to celebrate its one hundredth birthday. Entitled Toward a New Church University, it provides an absorbing analysis of the school's past and its future promise. Since editor Sanfrid Odhner's call to the spiritual world, his widow, Aubrey Cole Odhner, has been researching a companion publication. Its focus is the Girls School, where she is principal.
     Cynthia Hyatt Walker has combed ANC archives for material. Some was shared with Album editor Vera Powell Glenn. The rest is pouring into a computer where it will be word-processed into a scholarly thesis.
     Morna Hyatt is the most enduring representative of the Girls School alive today. Since 1940 she has been on its faculty, twenty years as principal. Reflections on the First Hundred Years shows her devoted leadership: no job was too large or too small in seeing that this album was born. Her dedication illustrates the Girls School motto "affectio Boni et Veri" (affection of good and truth).
     The soft blue cover is decorated with a golden lamp, embellished with a ribbon featuring the motto. This is the centennial symbol. "Reflections" is an apt title for this 100th birthday present from the Academy. Its pages are mirrors of the past. Each decade is color-coded on Pastel paper. Each section features some aspect of student life. Spreads about sports, clubs and drama give the impression of a one-hundred yearbook.
     Mrs. Glenn's monumental task was to organize letters, photos, reports, news clippings, memos and mementos into a coherent story-"HER-story" as compared to the vast collection of "History" accumulated by the Academy. Only 113 pages cover the hundred-year span. Some readers are disappointed at how much was omitted. For example, there is no complete list of ex-students. There is, however, an insert recording all teachers, keyed to show when and how they served, whether librarian, housemother, dean or coach. One hundred and fifty women's names are mentioned.
     Although her text breathes heartfelt affection, editor Glenn has not assembled a "valentine." Difficult days and hard times are somberly recorded: separation from Father Benade's leadership, legal battle over the Kramph will, sacrifice during war and depression, arson in Benade Hall, and the volatile influence of women's liberation.

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It is an honest portrait, tenderly drawn.
     Traditionally, the General Church of the New Jerusalem has been very protective of its women. Indeed it is only months since its corporate body admitted women as voting members. Paradoxically, education for General Church girls has sometimes been more advanced than for the average young lady. The Writings vividly depict the special insights of a female mind. Wise leaders have tried to develop these in the classroom.
     Folk wisdom advises that a well-educated boy becomes a gentleman. When a girl is given a fine education, the product may be more than a lady. She is also trained to raise the next generation. Girls are gaining the right to an education equal to that of boys. The Academy Girls School refines that concept by offering equal but not identical instruction. The Writings explain the complementary nature of masculine and feminine minds. From this doctrine a unique curriculum for the Girls School is evolving.
     "It has to do with a presentation of truth," writes ex-Academy president Bishop George de Charms on page 59, "in such a way as to inspire a response from the feminine love of conjoining that truth with its own good, and this without any limitation as to the truth that is in this way to be imparted." Another ex-president, Bishop Willard Pendleton, enriches this point (page 109): "We have established an educational system which not only recognizes the distinction between the sexes, but seeks to promote the differences involved so that our girls may become truly feminine women, and our boys truly masculine men."
     This album is a treasury of carefully gleaned quotations embellished with humor, pathos and perception. It entertains as it teaches. It inspires while it informs. Every detail of its creation was attended to by women. One thinks of the advertising slogan, "You've come a long way, baby!"
     In 1920 Principal Frances M. Buell had a better expression: "The development of New Church womanhood will be based on freedom and strength" (page 42).
     Every year the Girls and Boys Schools collaborate in designing a new banner for the Academy's collection, to lead a procession the following Charter Day. Many of these have been photographed for display in the center section of the Centennial Album. As we ponder the future of the Girls School, the motto on the 1984 banner offers ample reassurance: "With God all things are possible."
     Marjorie Rose Soneson

418

REVIEW 1985

REVIEW Bruce Williams 1985

     Two Books of Devotion in a Single Volume

     I have just put the book down, having enjoyed many hours of serene enjoyment in the company of Julian Kennedy Smyth in devotional study of the life and nature of our Lord. I had read the second of these two before-Holy Names (as interpretations of the story of the manger and the cross)-but was not acquainted with Footprints of Our Savior. Les Sheppard's New Church Collateral Publishing has just put this out, its second reprinted volume, the first, John Clowes' Commentary of the Gospel of Mark in 1983. We are proud that both of these works have been published and printed in Brisbane and we can expect others to follow in the distinctive banded cover. With the encouragement and support of a handful of like-minded people, this enterprise was launched three years ago by Mr. Sheppard. We appreciate his initiative and his zeal for placing in the hands of the public out-of-print treasures of the New Church. (It seemed absurd to us that the church of the Lord's Second Advent, while yet hardly out of its cradle, should have to admit to doctrinal and devotional supportive works being "out of print"!) This present volume is a treasure indeed. The author wrote both of the companion volumes while still a young man, a minister of the General Convention of the New Church. His writing is devotional rather than doctrinal; but how can I say that when these books are so replete with instruction? Is it simply the dramatic and the sense of wonder and adoration conveyed by a youthful latter-day apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ? III the preface to this 1984 two-volume edition, Rev. William Woofenden mentions the talent for journalism and the talent for drama that the young Smyth had to ward off from himself when deciding for a career in the New Church, and hints that the decision was not an easy one for him to make. This "rings a bell" with many another of us. And is not that in itself a commendation of the Writings of Swedenborg that so many young people (young men, particularly, in the past) have wrestled aside the world and its conflicting appeals to make what has to be a hard decision, aided by "meditation and earnest prayer" (as in this case)? Oh that they not cease to come forward to exercise their talents in the highest use of all, and that the sacrifice may continue to seem worth the making!
     Some might look for-and find-in the language of Footprints and Holy Names that which is outmoded and archaic, and claim a case for rewriting, rather than simply photocopying (as Mr. Sheppard has done) the original script.

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In his publisher's preface to the 1983 work by John Clowes, he has stated this quandary. But whereas such criticism might be warranted with Clowes, I am certain that it would be a quibbler indeed who would take exception to any of the language in this second production, so simple and yet eloquent is it. Mr. Smyth apparently uses the Authorized Version throughout; he also most copiously and tellingly "searches" the Scriptures, though there is not one direct reference to the Writings. And this is, in my judgment, thoroughly appropriate, because it is the credo of one modern evangelist who has completely saturated himself with the Heavenly Doctrines.
     Only in Note G (page 231 of the first of the two present works) does he direct the reader to Swedenborg, and then only in four short, though well-chosen, lines. It is my intention to lend this volume to a minister acquaintance, very prominent in (non-New) Church circles in Brisbane; this friend knows my own affiliation and will, I feel sure, be the more strongly appealed to by Julian Smyth's technique-which is to observe that Smyth is most appositely Biblical, appealing at the same time to the heart of the reader in terms that are at once lyrical and affectional-and irresistibly rational. How could any reader of this book who loves His Savior fail to see and hail the doctrine of the Divine Human? Yes, how could he?
     The typeface and the spacing between lines conduce to easy and swift reading, though I am often quite deliberately a slow reader and do confess that I was accurate, earlier, in stating that I've spent many a happy hour with Smyth-just mulling over the thousand tender moments with the Lord Jesus that he evokes. He writes with such excitement-excitement of discoveries that he has made. I think we would've been kindred spirits. I have thrilled to the concepts that have thrilled him, and rejoiced as he tumbled forth one confirmatory idea and text after another, to present the "divinely human nature of the Lord, to the end that faith may look to Him with cleared vision, and that love may cling to Him in humbleness of heart" (quoting his own preface). I also found useful the author's heading to every page being a summary of the central idea underneath. Take a glance at the head of the page before turning to the next.
     Which of you, dear readers, have in moments of ecstasy as you contemplate the Saviour, clutched Him by the feet, embraced His feet? Emanuel Swedenborg (so I think it is recorded) felt himself thrown to the ground at the very feet of Him who appeared to him: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him that bringeth good tidings . . . ." That is the text that underlies this beautiful book: "I will make the place of My feet glorious."

420

We are reminded at the outset of the number of Bible figures who knelt at Jesus' feet and "one simple but impressive fact comes to us from these and similar incidents: the Lord received and accepted men's reverence, though very many utterly rejected Him."
     Again, how many times we have wondered about those silent years at Nazareth before His public ministry began. Many times in these pages we are led to marvel at that patient early life of Jesus, knowing full well from the Writings that they were years spent in active preparation for those culminating years. "In the midst of His toil or in moments of rest, in the home of Mary or out among the industries of men, the consciousness of His Divine power has deepened, and His mission has been fully unrolled. He has heard 'the groaning of the prisoner.' and He has yearned 'to loose the children of death. He has seen their sinfulness; He knows the darkness of their ignorance . . . . He longs to go forth to save, to bind up the broken-hearted. At length He issues forth . . . . His entrance upon His ministry is as simple and as quiet as His entrance into the world."
     Another of my purple patches from this book: "Why Christ Desired Sympathy." Not weakly, as do we, so often; but "our Lord's desire for sympathy was a holy desire . . . expressed in . . . 'Father, I will that they also be with Me where I am'"- "One in spirit, one in love, one even in the suffering of self-sacrifice; a sympathy of this kind, going out from the disciples to their Lord, and binding them by ties which nothing could break . . . that is what Christ yearned for." "Lovest thou Me?" "Three times, even as He had been denied three times, He asks the question." Yet one more of my quotes this time about His temptations, from this eminently quotable book: "Have we ever thought how, in that great work of redemption which He came to accomplish, the seeming hopelessness of triumphing through Love, through Truth, just sometimes have been borne in upon Him? To be a Prince, not through any use of forces and powers such as fire men's enthusiasm and admiration, but by spiritual conquests which we are all so apt to shun! To be a Prince, not of this world, nor through the might of this world, but of Peace!" And the heading of that page has it. "Not by Might but by the Spirit."
     Finally, the notes at the end of either book in this Volume are superb. Do not miss (particularly) the notes at the end of Book 2. Drawn together there are all sorts of useful information; there is the historical evidence from the earliest fathers for the virgin birth; there is a further study of a law of creation as applied to the miraculous conception; there is the person of the So, of Man in the light of His Own testimony, beginning: "It is impressive to note in the Gospels how careful was the Lord that men's reverence for Him should not simply be hero worship.

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Why callest thou Me good:, The Lord emphasized at every turn that He spoke, lived, and acted from the Divine in Himself, and not from Himself apart from the Divine." And there is there, finally, the Christ of prophecy, the great, the eternal, "I AM."
Yes indeed, we of New Church Collaterals (for I am immensely pleased to be associated with this venture) are happy with our second production.
Bruce Williams
NCL 50 YEARS AGO 1985

NCL 50 YEARS AGO 1985

     As far as we know this is unique. There is one solitary announcement in the September issue of 1935. The lonely baptism is that of Martin Klein (now of Glenview). This is some kind of distinction.
     In the same issue is the Academy commencement address for that year, and we note that one paragraph begins this way: "The world at this day is in a state of change. I suppose that is always the case, but the changes seem to be more rapid and more drastic than heretofore." (So that's the way it felt fifty years ago.)

     NCL 100 YEARS AGO

     The September issue of this magazine in 1885 begins by observing that another magazine devoted three columns to proving that the New Church was founded on "the ravings of a madman." The magazine was called Religio-Philosophical Journal. The editors of NEW CHURCH LIFE found no valid evidence for the charges and were "forced to dispassionately deny" them.
OUTREACH 1985

OUTREACH 1985

Down and out? Stressed?                OUTREACH
Lonely? No one to turn to?                425 Woodward Drive
Try OUTREACH. Many peo-                Huntingdon Valley,
ple have already chosen to partici-      Pa. 19006
pate in this support network. We           Steering Committee (all area code 215)
are prepared to act as a contact           Gwen M. Asplundh . . . . . . 947-2682
center to connect those who would          Natri H. Carswell . . . . . 947-4140
like to share support out of their           Sarah J. Headsten . . . . . 947-6357
common experience.                         Jane K. Hogan . . . . . . . 947-6941
Try it. Tell your friends. Let us           Judith M. Hyatt . . . . . . 947-4133
know your needs and questions.          Valerie L. Rogers . . . . . 947-7823

422

Title Unspecified 1985

[Photo of:
Back Row: Mr. Karl Parker, Brent Schnarr, Alicia Kuhl, Jacquie Kuhl, Gillian Smith, Brett Schnarr, Wayne Kubert
Front row: Loretta Kubert, Lynne Schnarr, Jennifer Stewart, Patti Ann Stumph]

423

Editorial Pages 1985

Editorial Pages Editor 1985

     TWO CHILDREN'S BOOKS REVIEWED

     Last year NEW CHURCH LIFE increased the number of pages devoted to reviews, but we are not keeping up with the books and booklets yet to be reviewed. The time has come to appeal for help from readers who are willing to review publications for us. Although we know we will have some important reviews this year, we do ask you to write to the editor if you are willing to try something along this line. It is particularly useful to have points of view other than those of the editor on the publications that are continuing to come out.
     We jump at the chance to call attention to two reviews in Lifeline (published in England) of two outstanding children's books. We hope that our excerpts here will get more people to make use of these booklets and may inspire people to write letters to the LIFE giving their impressions.

     Heaven's Happiness is a booklet that was briefly announced in our January issue and advertised on the back page of the February issue. Now it has been reviewed in Lifeline by Elizabeth Jarvis. Here is a little of what she has to say:

     This is, in fact, the first twenty-six numbers of the book Conjugial Love . . . retold by John Odhner in language in which children can feel at home and understand.
     It certainly does make exciting reading. There is humor too, in the descriptions of the weird illusions that various people from this world had of what makes one happy in heaven. The account on pages 38 to 42 of the wedding in heaven is very wonderful.
     I definitely recommend this book for children (of, say, eight years and over) and young people, because it is very useful in helping them to understand the concept of what heaven and the heavenly state within them really is . . . .
     In addition, I enthusiastically recommend it as delightful reading to all adults who love Swedenborg's teachings, but find the style of many of the English translations of his works too ponderous to plough through (Lifeline, May 1985, p. 19).

     Life Is Forever was advertised on the back page of NEW CHURCH LIFE last November, one of the beautiful pictures by Elisabeth Buss being used in the advertisement. Here are some comments from the review by Bruce Jarvis in Lifeline (May issue, p. 20).

424

     The reader has occasionally to remind himself that the texts are transcripts of live talks to children. This is not to suggest that the author "talks down" to his young audience. On the contrary. Indeed, I am sure there are many adults who would enjoy and gain benefit from reading these talks.
     The opening talks on "People Cannot Die" and "Resurrection" get the series off to a really affirmative start . . . . Several talks are devoted to the care and growth of babies and young children who pass directly into the care of angels. Yet another speaks strikingly of the ways in which the Lord reveals Himself to the angels, a question which children, and adults, often pose.
     I feel that the author's success lies largely in providing a valuable resource for teachers and parents to use. Not all would wish to read them out, parrot fashion, but the book does set out many key ideas . . . .
     If this book inspires parents and other adults to fulfill their vital role in the spiritual education of young children it will have achieved much.
REV. RICHARD H. TAFEL 1985

REV. RICHARD H. TAFEL 1985

     On July 21st Richard Tafel passed into the spiritual world after fifty years of active ministry in the General Convention. A memorial article by Robert Kirven is appearing in the Messenger.

     He was a warm friend, a creative writer, a tireless editor, a dependable committee worker, and able president of Convention, a good man. But most of all, he was a minister.

     The paperback of Spalding's Introduction to Swedenborg's Religious Thought is a skillful rewrite by Richard Tafel. As Bob Kirven put it, "Dick found the time when a job had to be done and nobody else had time; he understood when nobody else would listen long enough . . . ."
HEAVEN AND HELL IN JAPANESE 1985

HEAVEN AND HELL IN JAPANESE 1985

We have had the pleasure of holding and paging through a newly published copy of Heaven and Hell. We couldn't read a word (other than the Latin on the title page).
One could say that this is the seventh version of this work in the Japanese language, the first being the rendering by Daisetsu Suzuki in 1910. But all previous versions have been translated from English. This is the first one translated directly from the Latin. This is also the first time the rendering has been into the DESU MASU style, the style of spoken Japanese, the style now used on Japanese TV and radio. Congratulations to Mr. Tatsuya Nagashima of Arcana Press.

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[Drawing of the cover page of Heaven and Hell in Japanese.]

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CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA 1985

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA Barrie Ridgway 1985

     Communications
Dear Editor:
     Following on from Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom's article in the April NEW CHURCH LIFE on Australia, I would like to add that if anyone wishes to obtain information on Canberra (or on Australia), or wishes to visit Canberra and to make contact with the small group here, they should contact me or my wife Christine at the address below. Since 1969, when we arrived in Canberra, I have conducted services in our home and am leader of the group here. At present, we receive three to four pastoral visits a year.
     Canberra is well worth visiting. It is the capital of Australia and is one of the world's unique cities in that it has been planned since inception. It is also a most attractive city in a lovely setting. It is a garden city a city for living in. not escaping from a great place for families. Canberra lies in the valleys around Lake Burley Griffin, surrounded by hills, and backed in the west by rugged mountains which rise to 6,000 feet. To the north, south and east lies attractive, undulating pastoral countryside. 100 miles away by road lies the lovely, relatively unspoiled south coast. 120 miles away by road are snowy mountains, which offer skiing in the winter and pleasant alpine walking in the summer.
     Canberra has been planted with hundreds of thousands of trees and shrubs and is most picturesque in spring when the blossoms are out, or in the autumn when the leaves take on their autumn colors.
     The climate here is ideal. Summers are relatively short, but warm. Only on a few days each year do temperatures rise to between 34 C. and 38 C., but nights are invariably cool. Winters are delightful. Night temperatures in winter usually drop to about 0 C. to -40 C but occasionally go as low as -9 C. However, the daytime maximums are usually between 13 C. and 15 C. Winter days are usually sunny and calm. The air is always clean in Canberra.
     We recommend a visit to this lovely city.
          Barrie Ridgway,
          68 Hilder Street,
          Weston, Canberra, A.C.T. 2611, Australia

427

Title Unspecified 1985

[Three photos of school and surroundings, Kempton, Pennsylvania]

428

ORDINATION 1985

Announcements
Silverman-At Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, June 19, 1985, Rev. Raymond Joel Silverman, into the second degree, Rt. Rev. Louis R. King officiating.
Title Unspecified 1985

Title Unspecified 1985

MUSIC FESTIVAL IN ONE YEAR. This is being planned for the Labor Day weekend in 1986 in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.

431

CHARTER DAY 1985

1985

     BANQUET TICKETS

     Orders should be sent to the attention of the Development Office, The Academy of the New Church, P.O. Box 278. Bryn Athyn. PA 19009 by October 11th. Tickets will be carefully held at the Development Office at Pitcairn Hall for pickup either by visitors or their hosts. No tickets can be sold at the door because of the need for advance arrangements with the caterer. It would be appreciated if local residents would pick up their tickets early. The banquet is on Saturday, October 19th. Prices: Adult-$7.00; Students (ANC and other)-$3.75. Checks should be made payable to the Academy of the New Church.

     THETA ALPHA LUNCHEON TICKETS

     Tickets for the theta Alpha luncheon, preceding the annual meeting on Saturday, October 19th, must be purchased in advance. This way we will not have to turn away anyone. Tickets will be on sale at the Development Office in Pitcairn Hall. They also can he purchased through the mail (in the same manner as banquet tickets-please see above). Orders should be in by October 16th and checks made payable to Theta Alpha International. Price: Adult and Student $3.00.
     If ordering tickets for both meals through the mail, please enclose two checks made out in the correct amounts. Please mark clearly on the envelope: "Banquet Tickets" and/or "T.A. Luncheon Tickets."

     Deadline for picking up tickets at Pitcairn Hall is 10:00 a.m. Friday, October 18th.
     Thank you very much for your cooperation.

     All ex-students, members of the General Church, and friends of the Academy are invited to attend the 69th Charter Day exercises, to be held in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, Friday and Saturday, October 18th and 19th, 1985. The program: Friday, 11:00 a.m.-Cathedral service with an address by Rev. Kent Junge; Saturday, 6:30 p.m.-banquet (toastmaster, Rev. Kurt H. Asplundh); 9:00 p.m. dance following banquet.
TO BE PUBLISHED IN TIME FOR CHARTER DAY 1985

1985

TO BE PUBLISHED IN TIME FOR CHARTER DAY: Education for Use, a book by Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton. A review will appear in the October issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE.

432

"AS FROM SELF" 1985

     THE "AS FROM SELF"
and the Two Essentials of the Church
The Rev. Erik Sandstrom

     The "As from Self" and the Two Essentials of the Church, by Rev. Erik Sandstrom, first appeared as an address to the Council of the Clergy of the General Church of the New Jerusalem in March of 1983. Since then it has been published as a 32-page booklet by the Sandstrom family.
     The church can be very grateful to Mr. Sandstrom and his family for this initiative. As befits a treatise by a life-long scholar of the church and a former Dean of the Theological School, this is a very penetrating analysis of a profound subject. The Council of the Clergy applauded it and enjoyed discussing it. But since not all the scholars of the church are clergymen, the publication of this address in booklet form is very welcome.
     See review New Church Life Jan. 1985 page 30
Postage paid $1.60

     General Church Rook Center
Box 278, Cairncrest
Bryn Athyn, PA 19009
Hours: Mon-Fri. 9-12
or by appointment
Phone: (215) 947-3920

433

Notes on This Issue 1985

Notes on This Issue Editor 1985

Vol. CV October, 1985 No. 10
NEW CHURCH LIFE

434

     The Writings indicate that only certain people can undergo temptations, only those in true charity. This is one reason that the subject of temptation belongs to the treatment of the question "Can I know if I am going to heaven?" We are taught that if man "congratulates himself" on account of temptations, he does not get the benefit that temptations should bring (AC 2273). Brian Keith concludes his presentation on how much we can know with a consideration of temptations and some "final thoughts."
     A greater participation for more people in deliberations affecting the development of church uses has been provided by the Planning Seminar that took place in July. It is particularly valuable for church members to be aware of what took place at this seminar, and a fairly full presentation appears in this issue.(See also New Church Home, p. 66.)
     Mr. Donald Dillard has provided an unusual study for us which goes thoroughly into the history of music. We would call attention in particular to the part of his article beginning on page 448 which includes "A Proposal." It is particularly useful to have this before us as we begin to look to a music festival in Bryn Athyn on the Labor Day weekend.
     Bishop George de Charms (now in his 97th year) has favored us with a review of the book by Bishop Willard Pendleton which is being published this month. More attention will be devoted to this book next month.
     In the July issue we featured the continuing story of the New Church in Ghana. What a pleasure it is to have a photograph of Pastor Benjamin Garna holding a copy of that issue in Ghana in the month of July (p. 465). We will be having more about Ghana in a later issue, and would remind readers that a fund exists to enable the Swedenborg Foundation to send even more books than it has to that country. (We described this in the May issue on page 207.)
     A Music Festival is being planned to take place between Thursday, August 28th and Monday, September 1st, 1986 in Bryn Athyn. The program will include seminars, workshops, small and large group performances, jam sessions, and the like. Here is an opportunity to make music or just enjoy it. Both religious and secular music by New Churchmen will be featured. For enquiries write to Rev. Alfred Acton, Cairncrest, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009.

435

CAN I KNOW IF I AM GOING TO HEAVEN? 1985

CAN I KNOW IF I AM GOING TO HEAVEN? Rev. BRIAN KEITH 1985

     Part II

Temptations

     As a focal point, consider temptations: what can and cannot be known about them, and what use there might be in knowing.
     In the first place, we cannot begin to know what temptation is all about unless we have had personal experience with it (see AC 1690:2, 1717:3). The Lord allows temptations to occur for the sake of regeneration, for by means of them we can overcome false ideas. "But this cause is in no way apparent to the person, because it is above the sphere of his observation, as is everything which moves, harasses, and torments the conscience" (AC 4256e, 5036).
     Temptation is a spiritual conflict, waged by spirits.

It is this combat which is perceived in a person as temptation, but so obscurely that he scarcely knows otherwise than that it is merely anxiety; for a person . . . perceives scarcely a thousandth part of the things about which the evil spirits and angels are contending (AC 5036:2, Lord 33).

     For the most part we are unaware that we are undergoing temptations. We sense the spiritual conflict only as a "remorse of conscience" (TCR 596:2). Indeed, it seems that the predominant feeling during a temptation is that of pain or sadness. It is as if hell is surrounding us. The genii who are present have the ability to change our affections for what is good and true into the lusts for evil and falsity, "So that the person cannot possibly know but that it is done by his own self, and comes forth from his own will" (AC 751:3; cf. AC 8625:2).
     The operation of the Lord in temptation is also above our consciousness. That He is gaining power over the evil and falsity, reducing good and truth to order, and insinuating the celestial things of love, "is done without a person's knowing whence and how; for it is the Lord's Divine operation" (AC 1717e). The Lord is continually fighting for us, although we are unaware of it (see AC 2406e; cf. AC 6308).
     This is because

     The falsities which are from the hells are injected and flow into the external or natural man; but the answer from the Divine flows into the internal or spiritual man.

436

This latter influx, which is from the Divine, does not come to his perception so much as do the falsities; neither does it move the singulars of his thought, but its generals, and in such a manner that it scarcely comes to the perception otherwise than as hope and the consequent consolation, in which there are nevertheless innumerable things of which the person is ignorant, being such things as are in agreement with his affection or love, especially his affection or love of truth and good, from which he has conscience (AC 8159:3).

     The Lord is flowing into the spiritual level of a person. In this arena His presence is not very perceptible because it does not "move the singulars of his thought." It can be felt, but only as a general sense of hope or consolation, apparently after the temptation is over.
     Although while experiencing the temptation we are primarily conscious of our own hell, we are still active participants in the process. Yet, we are usually not even aware this is taking place:

That he fights from truths and for truths, the person is not sensible of at the time, because truths are in the interiors; and therefore they do not come manifestly to sense, which is of the exteriors (AC 8924:2; see also AC 5044, 10685).

     It is from the arsenal of truth that we have the weapons to fight against evil and falsity. We fight from and for these truths, but again, we are not usually conscious of it. We may not even think we are resisting by means of these truths, but if we were not resisting and the Lord were not fighting for us, we would yield immediately. "This interior resistance does not come to the notice of the person at the time, because when he is in temptations he is in obscurity, from the evil and from the falsities of evil which are assailing him" (AC 10685).
     Also, our freedom during temptation is not felt as such:

When a person compels himself to resist the evil and falsity which are infused and suggested by the evil spirits, there is more of freedom than is possible in any state out of temptations, although at the time the person cannot comprehend this (AC 1937:5).

     Due to all the infernal forces surrounding us during temptations, this is not a good time to evaluate our spiritual state. Because the person's attention is focused primarily upon the presence of the hells, and his internal state is obscure "he cannot judge his state therefrom" (NJHD 197). It would seem that if we attempt to make determinations about our state during temptations, we must conclude we are hellish, for a prime characteristic of temptations "is somewhat of doubt concerning the Lord's presence and mercy, and concerning salvation and the like things" (AC 2334).
     But what can be known about our state relative to temptations? During a temptation we can know how miserable we feel.

437

This does not necessarily identify it as a spiritual temptation, for feelings of misery can arise from purely natural temptations or from disorders of the body (see AC 762, 847, 8164:2, NJHD 196; DP 141). Probably if the temptation is primarily a spiritual temptation concerning truth, as distinguished from a celestial temptation concerning good, it can be identified as a temptation while it is going on. This would be due to the doubt about a specific truth. However, such labeling, even if accurate, will not mitigate the pain: the temptation still must run its course.
     It is toward the end of the temptation, in the consolation phase, that it is possible to determine that there has been a temptation, and whether we have overcome or lost. The truth which had silently governed during the temptation then "comes into the light [and] the person who is in temptation receives consolation and is relieved" (AC 5044). The inner resistance that had been unfelt during the temptation is afterwards "noticed by those who are in the perception of truth" (AC 10685). Those who overcome in temptations "have an interior perception of uses; for by temptations the interiors of their minds are opened . . . they feel in themselves what is good, and see in themselves what is true" (AR 354). The end of the temptation could also be discerned by the sense of joy that is often experienced relative to the anguish that had been felt. This is a joy that comes from the joining of good and truth through conquering in temptations. Yet, even here, the person does not know exactly why he or she feels joyful (see NJHD 199; AC 4572, 6829). However, since often there is no clear-cut division between the anguish of the temptation and the phase of consolation, the feeling of joy may not he immediately evident (see AC 2692, 848, 874). And it is not easy or always possible to determine whether we have won or lost. With victory is the feeling of humility (see AC 2273:2, 8172). There is no conceit of "look what I just did"; rather there is the heartfelt sense of relief, and probably a desire to forget about it.
     Although there are many reasons why we might not identify a temptation as such while we are in it or afterwards, it would seem that those with a perception of truth and a knowledge of the nature of temptations would be able to make a reasonable guess as to whether they have been in temptation and whether they have overcome in it.
     Is it necessary to know if we have been in a temptation or not? In one sense, no, it is not necessary. Life goes on as before. The changes have been spiritual, not natural. Yet, it is important to recognize that the Lord was fighting for us, and "if during the temptation itself he does not believe this, because he is then in obscurity, still he should believe it after the temptation" (AC 8969). It can be believed without specifically realizing a temptation is now over; however, is it possible to think we have never been in a spiritual temptation since we could not identify one as such?

438

If we are so fearful of claiming to have been through a temptation victoriously because it would imply knowing we have a state of good, that we think we have never been in one, how can we believe and sincerely feel the Lord has fought for us? Also, since it is well known in the church that regeneration does not take place without temptation, it would seem that if we have not recognized we have been in one we must conclude that we are not going to heaven. Such negative conclusions seem to be unnecessary and probably an unhealthy opening for the hells.
     There is always much that cannot be known about the temptation. And we do not have to be certain we have been victorious; however, for there to be appropriate joy and praise for the Lord after a temptation, we should be able to say, "I was miserable, and the Lord helped me out of that hell."

False Confidence?

     One of the most serious objections raised to a Person seeing good in himself is that it can lead to false confidence. It can, but it need not. One of the criminals being crucified with the Lord asked to be remembered by Him, and He responded, "assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). It can be argued that since it was the hour of death, such knowledge would not change anything; however, it is an example of the Lord giving consolation to someone with a personal hope for heaven.
     In addition to this was the Lord's response to the scribe who had agreed with the supremacy of love over sacrifices. "So when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, 'You are not far from the kingdom of God'" (Mark 12:34). This appears to be intended as approval and encouragement for the scribe. Could it have gone to the scribe's head and produced a sense of merit? Yes, it could; however, the fact that the Lord took the risk indicates that such information in itself" is not harmful. (See also the Lord's praise of Zaccheus in Luke 19:9.)
     Consider also the angels. Certainly there is no question if they are going to heaven or hell. Their dwelling in heaven to eternity does not produce conceit (or if it does it is only a temporary affliction). It could be suggested that to the extent one has heaven within while on earth, there could be the same sense of "angelic existence" without any spiritual damage occurring.
     Although the Lord's temptations were of a different character than ours, it is interesting to note that during one of His combats He desired to be assured that the human race would be saved (AC 1781).

439

This end of His love had been thrown into doubt, hence the despair of the temptation (see AC 1818). He wanted to know if He would succeed, and "assurance respecting the result precedes the victory, and belongs to the victory" (AC 1820). The Lord was assured that He would be able to save the human race, and perhaps whenever we overcome in a temptation there is a similar and appropriate confidence that heaven is near.
     It is entirely possible to have a false sense of confidence, but we are even given a basis for determining if such is the case or not (AC 2982:2). If we could not tell, then such a measure would have no meaning. Confidence in the Lord's power to save an individual is not wrong, as long as when good is seen it is ascribed to the Lord, not self (see Char. 175). "When he reflects upon the good which he does or has done, let him think, acknowledge, and believe that the Lord has done the work in him" (AC 1712:2).

Types of Knowing

     There appear to be significant differences in how we know whether we are good or not. While we cannot sensibly feel the Lord operating in our lives, we can be aware of what He has done (see AC 3570:2). Or, as is noted about the person drawing near to heaven, "he is aware of this and yet not aware" (TCR 497:3).
     This point is rather clearly made concerning whether we can know if we are performing uses for the sake of uses or for, the sake of self:

Although a person does not sensibly perceive whether the uses which he performs are for the sake of use or for the sake of self, that is, whether the uses are spiritual or merely natural, still he can know it by this, whether or not he considers evils to be sins. If he regards them as sins, and for that reason abstains from doing them, the uses which he does are spiritual (DLW 426; cf. SD 4547m).

     He "does not sensibly perceive" it, but "he can know it." While performing uses there is a delight, and at that moment the source of the delight cannot be determined. When, however, evils are shunned as sins, then he can know with his understanding that the uses he performs are spiritual.
     This type of knowing is primarily of the understanding, especially in the early stages of regeneration. But apparently in the later stages of regeneration there can even be a sensible perception of performing uses for the sake of uses. When a person shuns evils because they are sins, and "flees from sins from a feeling of aversion, he then begins to have a sensible perception of the love of uses for the sake of uses, and this from the spiritual enjoyment of them" (DLW 426; cf. AC 3876). The feeling of revulsion that one in conjugial love has toward adultery would be of a similar nature.

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From being in a state of good there can be not only the factual knowledge of evil, but also the sensible knowledge of it (see AC 7442:3, 899, 4027, 4247:2, 4928, 4977; SD 6005; AE 229:2, 990:3). It would seem that to the extent this occurs, there is a sense of heaven, and an angelic perception of good (see AC 99, 104, 159, 1384, 1387; DLW 275).

Final Thoughts

     If we were to focus upon the teachings about how little of our spiritual state can be known, and consider them primary, then the teachings about what can be known would be difficult, if not impossible, to understand. If in this world the ruling love cannot be known, then why should we look for it? If whenever we see an indication of good in ourselves, we must set it aside because we should only look for what is evil, then there is really no point in looking for what is good.
     But if we consider the teachings on what we can know as primary, then the teachings on what cannot be known serve as warnings. The teachings on what cannot be known both describe the inner workings that will always be above our consciousness, and indicate what cannot be known with a sensitive perception while it is taking place (except perhaps in the later stages of regeneration). Those teachings concerning why we do not know our spiritual state can be seen as cautions of how and when not to determine our ruling love.
     The paradoxical passages concerning our ruling love, or the degree of regeneration, should not be viewed as opposites. Focusing upon either set can produce an imbalance of thought and judgment. Each aspect of the subject is necessary for there to be an equilibrium. The young adult who is bragging about his prospects for heaven would be well advised to look at the teachings about how difficult it is to know whether he is good or not. On the other hand, those "celestial" seniors who are certain they have nothing but hell to look forward to should consider the teachings indicating heaven can exist without sensibly being perceived. In both cases balance is desired, and in the latter case it is for the purpose of helping them think that heaven is a real possibility.
     Imbalances are likely to occur when we focus upon only what is wrong in our spirits. If we are told to look for only what is wrong, even in what appears to be good (watch out for merit or hypocrisy!), religion becomes very depressing. When this occurs, how can we sense the joy of salvation? (See Psalm 51:10.)
     At times we need to see what is good, in others and in ourselves. We are given many signs to know when our sins have been forgiven, that is, removed, so that we can move beyond the necessary guilt (see NJHD 167).

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     It can be argued that we should not need assurance concerning our spiritual state, and should tolerate uncertainty. One can believe and trust in the Lord to save the good, taking comfort from the idea that he will be saved if he deserves it. While such an approach may comfort some, others will perceive it to be about as consoling as being told, "You could die tomorrow, but whatever happens the Lord will bring good out of it." While anyone could die tomorrow, if there were a high probability of it, many would prefer to know, for it would drastically affect what they would be doing today.
     There is a legitimate concern about whether heavenly or hellish loves predominate. Many cannot adopt the position that, "since I cannot know for certain, I won't think about it." We do think about it, and if we take the position of "I can't know for certain," then it would seem to be prudent to assume the worst. After all, if we see evil, we know we must fight against it; but if we do not see evil, we should be worried, for it must be hiding within. And if we should happen to see something of good, we should probably look for the operation of the hells within it, trying to make us overly confident.
     How often should we look for what is good? Since self-examination is only recommended once or twice a year in the beginning, I suspect that that might be an appropriate guideline for making any spiritual evaluation. It is unhealthy to focus upon ourselves frequently. We are meant to be useful to others with the bulk of our time, not worrying about ourselves, good or bad. Too much introspection of any kind does not produce good. Yet, it is appropriate to take stock periodically and survey the basic lay of the land.
     Will the person who thinks his ruling love is good lose his sense of freedom or motivation in regeneration? It can happen, just as one who joins the New Church can think himself saved because he has the truth. Both are dangers, but should not stop one from joining the church or seeing a ruling love as heavenly. "Abuse does not do away with use" (DLW 331e; cf. AC 7297).
     Acting as a check upon such danger is the fact that in the early stages of regeneration there is less certainty in determining a ruling love of good, because there is less good present. Presumably the greatest danger of abuse is with the person who is not far along in regeneration. In this stage if a person could have a certain knowledge he was going to heaven, he would be more likely to slack his efforts and fall prey to a sense of merit. But good is seen from a state of good, so one is much more likely to be able to see a ruling love of good after it has already been firmly established. At such a stage there is far less $anger of a person abusing the knowledge, for he is in the habit of regeneration.

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     Is it necessary for us to determine our ruling love? Of course not. A perfectly valid mode of operating is to ignore the question and get on with living (although even those who think they have a ruling love of good will also get on with living, for it should not change their lives).
     Is there any value in seeing our ruling love? There can be. If our ruling love is evil we ought to know it. And we are less likely to discover it if we never weigh our lives. If our ruling love is good, we should not be overly anxious about whether we are going to heaven or not. While a person thinking he is evil when he is not may in some cases be of the Lord's will (see AC 2380:4), I think this is more the exception than the rule. Probably the person who only looks for and sees what is evil in his life is opening himself up to an influx from the hells (see AC 751:2, 1917, 5036:4, 5; AE 138; cf. AC 653, 705:3, 1444, 5280:3).
     Even for the person who sees a ruling love of good in himself there will be temptations, during which he will think he is going to hell (see AC 8567, 8171, 6828; SD 699, 5568, 5569, 4785m). There will also be the variations of state that bring with them confusion and doubt. To determine that one's ruling love is good is not to have it in the forefront of one's mind. Rather, it will tend to be tucked away while the person attends to his uses and shuns evils as sins. It will be a conscious perception only rarely, and when in a state of good, such as during the consolation after temptation.
     It is not essential for us to know our ruling love. There are many reasons why we would have difficulty determining it. But, at certain times it can be done, and does no harm for those who ascribe the good they find to the Lord.
NCL 50 YEARS AGO 1985

NCL 50 YEARS AGO 1985

Fifty years ago the editor of The New Age in Australia was Rev. R. H. Teed. The October issue of NCL quotes his comment on the expected arrival of Rev. Cairns Henderson in Australia.

We feel sure we are voicing the feelings of the whole church in the country in expressing satisfaction at the news that we are shortly to have the privilege of welcoming another minister to Cake up the work of the church here . . . . We congratulate our brethren at Hurstville, and trust the new appointment may prove a successful and happy arrangement, resulting in much good to all concerned.

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MUSIC IN THE NEW CHURCH 1985

MUSIC IN THE NEW CHURCH DONALD D. DILLARD 1985

What Is Music?

     When one thinks of music in the New Church one immediately brings to mind the hymns and chants of the worship celebration, the sound of the organ, and perhaps the singing of a choir. If the thought is pursued a bit more, perhaps the singing of the treasured songs of the church around the table at home or in a social gathering may come to mind, with its accompanied fond memories of special occasions or the closeness of loved ones. It may even encompass the playing of brasses or strings on New Church Day in Bryn Athyn or the strains of the Brahms Requiem mingled with the splendor of the Cathedral bathed in multicolored lights. Whatever the image or picture evoked in the mention of New Church music it is certain that its place and purpose in our lives as New Church members are both necessary to our spiritual growth and communication and desirable for our expression of love and praise to our Lord.
     Since most of these images and affections have come to us by way of our vicarious experience with the practical aspects of New Church music across the years of our association with and exposure to it, and not necessarily from a phenomenological approach to the subject, let us take a moment to look at the medium of music itself-what it is by definition; how it has developed across the years at the hands of the inspired masters; and how it acts upon us in the phenomenological realm. In this way we can both see how our present modes of New Church musical expression came to be and on what ground we may wish to stand in charting the course of New Church music for future generations.
     According to the American College Dictionary,1 music is "an art of sound in time which expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color." And the Harvard Dictionary of Music2 informs us that "some medieval writer believed the word 'music' to be derived from the Egyptian word 'moys,' which means 'water,' construing from this a connection with Moses, whose name indeed may be derived from 'moys.' Besides Moses, Jubal and Pythagoras were considered the 'inventors' of music. Of basic importance throughout the middle ages was Boethius' concept of music as an all-embracing 'harmony of the world,' divided into 'musica humana' (harmony of the human soul and body), and 'musicla instrumenralis' [music as actual sound].

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Boethius' contemporary, Cassiodorus (c. 485-c. 580), took a more down-to-earth view, adopting Plate's distinction between 'scientia hannonica' [high and low sound] 'metrica' [different meters], and 'rhythmica' [relation to text?]. St. Isidore of Seville (c. 570-636) derived the terms 'musica harmonica' [vocal] 'organica' [organ, flutes, trumpets, etc.]. Theodoricus de Campo divided music into 'mundana,' 'humana,' 'vocalis' [animal voices] and 'artjficialis' in the 14th century. As early as 300 B.C. Aristoxenos had divided music into theoretical and practical music. This classification was reintroduced in the 16th century."
Let us now trace the development of choral music, which includes congregational, or lay participation in singing, as well as that of canter and choir, and the contributions of sacred and secular music to determine the heritage of our present vocal traditions. Let us begin with a brief overview. Out of the unification of the Frankish Empire under Pepin and Charlemagne came sweeping innovations In the area of vocal music. With the acceptance of the Roman rite and the suppression of local traditions in the 8th century, we saw the development of Gregorian chant, the use of psalmody, the division of text treatment in singing into syllabic, neumatic and melismatic forms, and methods of the performance and composition of music such as direct, antiphonal and responsorial. In the 12th century we saw the use of counterpoint in the soloistic portions of the liturgy. The use of counterpoint in choral writing came to us in the 15th century. The development of the madrigal, using the sound, meter and form of the text in addition to its meaning, was a technique found in the 16th century but which has seen a revival in more recent times. The use of the concerted style in the late 16th century involved a rapid motivic exchange between the various media (such as direct, antiphonal, responsorial) giving a contrast to both the forces used and the style of performance. This practice underwent a process of simplification in the latter part of the 17th century, which saw contrasts between movements of larger works, rather than within a single movement. It also saw the development of opera and the sacred oratorio.
In the 18th century, tonality began to find use as the basis for composition. Instrumental forms show this evidence more than vocal forms. Those instrumental forms such as fugue, ground bass and certain dance rhythms came into prominence during this time. The development of "style galant" and "rococo" forms were seen in the latter part of this century, bringing with them a period of religious doubt and eclipse by music of a secular nature. The influence of earlier choral works was felt in the choral writing of the 19th century, especially through the works of Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) and Johannes Brahms (1833-1897).

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The beginning of the 20th century saw the development of music for the amateur and the use of singing schools. Later in our century we saw the development of the text-related music in which the phonetic sounds of the words of the text became as important as their meaning. This was evidenced especially in the music of Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971).
     The development of musical styles as previously outlined seems to have taken shape into recognizable forms every one hundred years, beginning about 1430. Let us look more closely at this phenomenon in our search for our musical heritage. Let us call that period prior to about 1430 the period of chant. The essence of chant is melody; there is within it nothing to detract from the importance of linear movement in presenting the text. It is the musical enhancement of the formal worship of God. The use of solo, choral or antiphonal forces is dictated by liturgical considerations. The antiphonal style was used for the introit, offertory and communion and was of undetermined length. The responsorial style was used for the gradual and the Alleluia, sections which were more musically elaborate (mostly presented by soloists). The universal nature of the kyrie, gloria, credo, sanctus and agnus dei suggested a performance by the entire chorus. Syllabic settings in the mass stressed the importance of the words of the text, as in the Psalm settings. Melismatic settings called attention to the importance of the Word within the liturgical setting, such as after the Scripture lessons. Neumatic settings, such as the Marian antiphons (established after 1400), formed a graceful melodic compromise, framed around the Psalms.
     Until the 15th century, all choral music was chant. Polyphony was soloistic (i.e., one person on a part). But after 1430 and continuing until about 1530, in what we may call the century of choral counterpoint, the emphasis was shifted to a harmonious sound, rather than on the independence of each vocal line. The cantus firmus resided in the upper voice-part, with the middle part singing in parallel 4ths, and the lowest part a 6th below. (This was called "Cantilena" style.) Examples of this style may be found in the cantus firmus masses of Dufay and Ockeghem.
     The period from 1530 to 1630 may be titled the century of textural concern. In this era, the availability of printed Scripture brought a greater emphasis on the treatment of the text. This movement began its manifestation in the madrigals of Monteverdi, and grew to encompass the motet style, both secular and sacred, with the sacred motet becoming the central form of composition in this century.

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Translations of the Psalms into the vernacular were given four-part harmonizations, with some counterpoint. Singers and instrumentalists were combined, with much doubling and/or interchanging between voices and instruments on the same part. The polychoral technique, that is, the use of multiple choirs, developed also during this period. The development of the sacred concerts began in Venice with Giovanni Gabrieli. This style was identified by contrasts in timbre (vocal and instrumental), greater soloistic display, melismatic writing and the use of contrapuntal rhythms.
     The following century (1630-1730) saw the synthesis of the concerto style in sacred music with the development of the oratorio, cantata, anthem and motet, which are actually instrumental forms with added choral parts. One need only to examine the works of Schutz, Handel and Bach to see that this is so. The English anthems of such composers as William Byrd and Christopher Tye were usually based on a biblical text, especially the Psalms. Separate styles delineated the various sections or movements of these choral works which used a chorale or text as their unifying force.
     The following century (1730-1830) took on an emphasis which saw the simplification of harmonic structure in an effort to make the melodies more easily discernable to the listener. The establishment of key feeling and tonal relationships between sections and movements became a major objective. This permitted the melody to be completely expressive. The harmony could be expressive also as well as structural. Composers during this period made use of this established tonal sense as a point of departure, expecting the listener to hear what was merely implied.
     The period from 1830 to 1930 was one of stylistic revival, with references to works written in earlier periods. It began with events leading up to and highlighted by the performance, under the auspices of Felix Mendelssohn, of Johann Bach's "St. Matthew Passion" on March 11, 1829, and the subsequent founding of the Bach-Gesellschaft in 1850, devoted to the publication of the extant works of the baroque master. The influence of Bach's motets was felt on the similar works of both Mendelssohn and Johannes Brahms. The a capella style of Giovanni Palestrina affected the choral works of Franz Liszt and Anton Bruckner, manifested in the "Musica Divina" of the period between 1853 and 1863. The works of Heinrich Schutz were reflected in the music of Ernst Pepping and Hugo Distler. Music of the Tudor period influenced the writing of Ralph Vaughan Williams; folk songs were reflected in the music of the Fisk singers, Gustav Hoist, Zoltan Kodaly and Bela Bartok: medieval influences were felt in the works of Stravinsky and Carl Orff.3

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     Having traced the growth and development of music for sacred as well as secular use which surrounds us even today in our culturally homogeneous society, and which has in many obvious ways affected our own New Church music, let us now focus our attention on the Writings, and attempt to discover what direction they give in the establishment of musical styles and forms for today and tomorrow. Although the Writings do not themselves establish forms or styles for our worship, they do illustrate those forms of heavenly communication which may serve us as models for the music of our earthly worship, which will ultimately provide a meaningful progression into the heavenly states to which we all are striving.
     In I Samuel 18:6 we read, "And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music." It may be seen from this that music speaks to the affections and the joys which they produce. Music of both a vocal and an instrumental nature may signify the worship of God from a joyful heart, with wind instruments expressing the affections of good, and stringed instruments the affections of truth. When producing harmonic sounds they actually move these affections. The cause lies in the nature of sound itself, and so from the correspondence of things in the natural world with things in the spiritual world. Musical instruments correspond to the delights and pleasantness of spiritual and celestial affections, some to the former and some to the latter (see AE 1185, AC 8337). These sounds are represented in two correspondential forms: discrete sounds excite affections of truth, while continuous sounds excite affections of good (see AE 323, AR 792). Vocal and instrumental sounds signify the affections putting themselves forth by "sounds and words." When great things are treated of, such as heaven and the Lord, those words are especially loved which employ the letters 'u' and 'o' (see Psalm 98:4-6; HH 241). The introductory words at the head of many of the Psalms give directions on how this should be applied (see AC 8337).4
     According to AC 8337, "To sing is to glorify." Heavenly songs contained prophetic teachings of the Lord and His coming into the world; they signified gladness of heart and that they who heard such songs had received blessed influx from heaven, and they seemed to be taken up into heaven. Choirs represented the harmonious music of many, making use of angelic speech which falls into unified rhythmic measures (see AC 8261). Glory, or glorification, is from Divine truth, thus from faith, and is called "Jah," as coming forth from Jehovah. We find an example of this in the Hebrew word "Hallelujah" (see AC 8267).

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According to AC 2595, gyres, or choirs, are assembled as a revolving circle and sing in harmony, meaning as one, with the words flowing from the sense in which they are. Angelic speech is continuous and flows from one idea to the next, seemingly without interruption (see AC 7191). A timbrel is predicated of spiritual good, or good of faith. Wind instruments express affections of good, stringed instruments affections of truth. The learning of these (musical ideas) is not from science and art but from the hearing and its exquisite sense; it does not come from any origin in the world, but from an origin in the spiritual world, and from correspondence with things in the spiritual world of those things in the natural world which flow from order. In AR 792 we read, "Every sound corresponds to an affection which is from love: discrete sounds correspond to spiritual affection-as stringed instruments; continuous sounds correspond to celestial affection-as wind instruments." Heaven and Hell 24 I tells us, "The speech of celestial angels is rather like a gentle stream, soft and unbroken, using 'u' and 'o' a good deal; the speech of spiritual angels is rather energetic and distinct. Vowels serve for the tone within which is affection. Distinct sound units (words) correspond to thought concepts that stem from affections. The speech of celestial angels lacks the hard consonants, and rarely puts two consonants together without slipping in a syllable beginning with a vowel (as in the word 'and')."
     From these we may be able to form a concept and goal of music for the worship of the Lord to the end that we may in our constructions permit as far as possible the affections which our music excites to reach that level of correspondence with the heavens which is here described.

     A PROPOSAL-MUSIC IN THE NEW CHURCH

     We now must take what we know about the development of music across the centuries, and the descriptions of the Scriptures and the Writings, and assimilate these into a music which carries us toward our stated goals. This is no mean task. Musicians and ministers alike throughout the generations of the church have wrestled with its complexities and challenges.

     1. Aesthetic Applications

     What is proposed here is perhaps more a direction into which we may look for solutions to the application of our heritage in the development of a comprehensive music ministry for the New Church than a solution itself. What our American society, and for that matter our world culture, seems so often to forget is that we possess, each of us, a psychobiological need to react to beauty in all of its forms-which is a way of saying that we cannot develop an industrial, technological society which views itself as a product of the nurture and favor of an almighty God, and yet neglect the exercise of our innate spiritual qualities toward our Creator as well as toward each other.

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The arts must be employed in the act of worship as vehicles through which the influx of the Lord is both received and communicated to others. One needs only to attend worship in the Bryn Athyn Cathedral to know and feel the awesome effect an aesthetically designed structure can have on one's sense of communion with things of a heightened and spiritual nature.

     2. Use of Text

     In our brief look at the development of musical styles we saw the use of music in the elevation of the text. What is proposed here is the development of music which is wholly unified with the text in a joint effort to carry both the understanding and the emotion of what is being conveyed by the text.
     The selection of texts must come under a close scrutiny. Texts must be chosen for their phonetic and their poetic content to reflect the proper affections, as well as for their adherence to New Church doctrine.

     3. Selection of Tunes

     Tunes must be selected which capture the affections of the text and convey them to the ear in a unified manner. Music for public singing should possess objectivity and a freedom from introspection, a clearness of language, giving voice to the thought and emotion of the average singer. Hymns should possess a single theme, organic unity, a boldness in the opening phrases and a definite progression of thought through the verses to a decisive conclusion. They should be brief, compact and informative.5

     4. Vocal and Instrumental Music

     In an effort to give expression to the full range of thought and affection, music should make use of congregational or collective singing (both unison and parts), the singing of a trained choir, and various solo singing. Instrumental music should show a variety of applications from solo presentations to ensembles with or without the addition of voices.

     5. Organization of Choral and Instrumental Training Programs

     Choral and instrumental presentations of music should be developed by an ongoing program of training and direction encompassing a wide variety of musical uses. In an effort to execute this task, a contingent of professional personnel should be developed and trained, if necessary, and assigned to specific geographical areas in much the same fashion as are ministers, with the express purpose of organizing, conducting and maintaining consistent graded programs of vocal and instrumental music.

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Techniques such as the Orff, Kodaly, Dalcroze and Suzuki, as well as other recognized methods, should be employed and encouraged. Vocal training should be given to all in the program to develop the singing voice of each individual to the highest level attainable at each age level. The performance of large works for chorus and orchestra, or for chorus or orchestra, should be developed and encouraged where sufficient participatory personnel are available. The expression of quality music through the media of solo vocal, solo instrumental and organ recitals should be established and maintained.

     6. Music and Ministry-a Cooperative Collaboration

     In the formulation and design of the worship service many details and problems must be addressed if a smooth, cohesive and meaningful worship is to be hoped for. Minister and musician must work closely for this goal to be realized on a regular basis. A central lesson or theme should be decided upon and then scriptures, hymns, anthems, organ and instrumental music, prayers, liturgy, etc., developed to support this main idea. Ideally, the words of all texts as well as the affections of all music should focus on this main thread to provide a cohesiveness to the worship service. This should entail weekly meetings of all persons involved in a leadership capacity in the worship. Coordination of all parts of the service, logistics, acoustical and aesthetic considerations should all be well discussed and delineated.
     There should be a direct connection between the performance of large musical works and the spiritual thrust of the church. Therefore, it is imperative that such performances be coordinated with the ongoing spiritual leadership of the church, and viewed by the general public as an extension of the church's ministry. They must, therefore, be done through the joint efforts of both minister and musician.

     7. Composing Music for the New Church

     Having explored the concepts of music in the heavenly realms and yet finding before us the reality of our present Liturgy and Psalmody, we may wonder at the task of bringing these two entities together in a way which will provide both a spiritual uplift as well as a practical availability to our church members at large. A means of achieving this elusive goal may be to provide new and fresh avenues for spiritual expression through the composition of original music written specifically for the various purposes set forth in our worship goals.

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     By this means, we may find an advantage to the adaptation of existing music to these forms of worship, which do not always meet with satisfactory results. The establishment of a corps of composers, either to function on a resident or ad hoc basis, should be considered. Such composers may represent a variety of compositional styles and genres, such as classical, folk, choral, instrumental, organ works, hymns, and dramatic works. They may also be used as consultants with other composers in collaborative projects or with music teachers or other staff. The potential for the renewal of New Church music through this means is far-reaching and exciting.

     8. Outreach and Evangelism

     When we think of outreach and evangelism in the New Church we often think of placing the written Word in the hands of those who enquire, or the mailing of sermons, articles, or the giving of doctrinal classes or lectures on New Church teaching to those expressing and interest. Perhaps we should also consider the publication of New Church music as a part of our evangelization efforts. To make New Church music-hymns, anthems, Psalmody, etc.-available in commercial bookstores, libraries, music stores and religious outlets may prove to be an effective tool for evangelization.
     Public open performances of large works held at New Church facilities and publicized through the mass media may evoke an increased curiosity of and inquiry into New Church doctrine and worship. The distribution of articles on New Church music through such professional journals as those of the Music Educators National Conference (MENC), the American Guild of Organists (AGO) and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) may reach many who would otherwise know nothing of our church and its teachings. In addition, periodical worships, seminars and conferences could be held in various locations providing training, education and support for New Church musicians, to which persons of many religious persuasions may also be invited. This could prove to be a means of offering a concentrated look at New Church music in a relatively non-threatening setting to those outside the New Church, which could, in turn, be carried back into their own churches, or provide the impetus for further inquiry.
     What we have attempted to suggest to set forth in this presentation is a series of facts, conclusions and suggestions for positive action in the development of New Church music. The concepts proposed and the arguments provided are intended to stimulate, to commend and to embrace the thinking and deliberations of those who are genuinely interested in the forward movement of music in our church.

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I am privileged to have been reached by a radio ad by Rev. Douglas Taylor for the book Heaven and Hell, which eventually, and happily, brought my wife Eleanor and myself to the deep riches of the Word of the Lord. It is my hope that we can find our use in the exposition of quality music for the New Church to the glory of God.

REFERENCES

1 American College Dictionary, 1961, Random House, NY, p. 802
2 Harvard Dictionary of Music, 1977, Willi Apel, Belknap Press. p. 548
3 "Toward a Periodization for Choral History," Alan A. Luhring, The Choral Journal, ACDA, April, May, 1985
4 Dictionary of Bible Imagery, Judith Sechrist
5 Hymns, A Congregational Study, James R. Sydnor, Hope Publ., 1983

Works of Emanuel Swedenborg:
Arcana Coelestia (AC), Nos. 8337, 8261. 2595, 7191, 1648, 1649
Apocalypse Revealed (AR), No. 792
Heaven and Hell (HH), No. 241
See also Apocalypse Explained (AE), Nos. 1185, 323
NCL 100 YEARS AGO 1985

NCL 100 YEARS AGO 1985

"Infinity and Zero" is the title of an article in the October issue, 1885. In the concluding paragraph we read: "But how can Infinity and Zero meet? How can the Ah in All of the Lord come near to the Nothingness of Man? . . . The Infinite Love, the Infinite Wisdom, the Infinite outgoing Spirit and Breath of all things in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the assumption of our nature has brought Himself close to us. Here, in this Divine Human, is the point when the Infinite can touch Zero . . . . Our own nothingness remains, but then His fullness comes to be ours also . . . The Zero and the Infinite, our humanity and His Divine Love and Wisdom are One in Him, and we too one with and in Him!"
MINISTERIAL ANNOUNCEMENT 1985

MINISTERIAL ANNOUNCEMENT 1985

Rev. Paul E. Schorran is serving this year as an instructor of religion in the Academy secondary schools while he continues studies in the field of education.

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SUMMARY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH PLANNING SEMINAR 1985

SUMMARY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH PLANNING SEMINAR Lorentz Soneson 1985

     July 25, 26 and 27 at Pitcairn Hall

     Following the 1984 General Assembly, Bishop King arranged for the first General Church Planning Seminar on August 16th to 18th of that year. Ten clergymen were invited, including some of his Bishop's Representatives, and approximately the same number of laymen. They met together to discuss mutual challenges facing the church at the present time. So successful were these eleven sessions that there was a unanimous request to hold them again the following year. Thus, on July 25th to 27th, 1985, the second seminar was held with some participants from the previous year. There were new faces, including four women.
     Bishop King, in the opening session, summarized what he felt was the state of the church today. He began with the principle that the General Church as an organization can never be more or less than a human response to the Divine teaching. "If the Lord's church were to be altogether extinct on earth, mankind could in no wise exist . . . . This was the cause of the Lord's coming into the world, for unless, out of His Divine mercy, He had come, the whole race of mankind would have perished; for the church was at the point of destruction" (AC 637). "It is the same today, and therefore without the Lord's coming again into the world in Divine truth, which is the Word, no one can be saved" (TCR 3). He quoted further: "Where men know and think according to doctrine, there the church may be; but where men act according to doctrine there alone the church is" (AC 916). With that he invited assembled members to exchange enlightenment in a sphere of charity.
     Each session began with a presentation by one or more members of the group. These were prepared in advance and followed by a discussion and finally a proposal for action if required. They were not to preempt the Board of Directors, which has authority for establishing policy and financial commitments. Rather this was a deliberative body designed to give counsel to the episcopal office.
     The Bishop reviewed some of the suggestions made the previous year and reported what action had taken place in the past twelve months. Among those mentioned was a delegation of more administrative duties by the Bishop to others reporting to him. Also, job descriptions have now been prepared for the Bishop's Representatives. Some progress has been made in educating theological students in financial and managerial matters, but even further improvement is desirable.

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Bishop King felt that the system of development reviews for our ministers had been strengthened and that noticeable improvement and affirmative support have developed in our clergy. Other action noted by Bishop King included: wide support of the treasurer's office five-year plan; training of our teachers in such a way as to prepare them for employment outside the church when necessary; significant improvement in our General Church Schools Committee for reviewing our teachers; a stronger support for episcopal government in the church as well as a better understanding of it; increased organization of our evangelization program; more attention to the study of how best to strengthen our present communities, and continued analysis of ways and means for serving the greater neighbor in nearby communities and society in general.
     Bishop King cited some of the strengths in the church today: a greater interest in the study and discussion of doctrine; more accommodation and variety in our worship ritual; new special pilot projects in our evangelization program; the Bishop's Council serving as an effective means for lay input into the episcopal office; some additional training has been provided for our clergy in communication, management and financial responsibility; and the efforts to establish satellite churches outside of Bryn Athyn and Glenview have proven most gratifying to date.
     In a recent survey of approximately 180 adults baptized since 1981, a large majority of these are still active, and supporting New Church schools whenever possible. Finally, Bishop King reported that the needs of the isolated are being met better than ever before. In addition to correspondence courses, recorded classes, and video cassettes, our ministers working out of church centers traveled over 140,000 miles last year (mostly by car) to visit 500 adults and 200 children, offering over 250 classes and giving 300 services of worship, as well as 155 children's classes. This feat of 19 of our ministers was accomplished in 73 different geographical locations in the United States, Canada and Australia.
     However, the Bishop did call attention to some of the challenges facing us today: coping with changes in our ritual, our organization, our translations of the Word, and other innovations-all necessary yet difficult to adjust to when the old ways are loved and familiar. There is also room, Bishop King pointed out, for greater commitment in volunteering talents of our laity to the many programs underway in our small organization. Falling enrollment, rising costs, and difficulty in attracting effective teachers in our New Church educational institutes is a glaring problem. Education of our children is a mandate of the Lord and cannot be ignored. Indeed, experience has confirmed the fact that without New Church education the church as an organization cannot survive.

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     Bishop King then enumerated several ongoing objectives that he envisioned for the General Church at this time:
     1. Inspire unity and use founded upon recognition that the Lord governs His church by the influx of charity into conscience according to enlightenment from His Word, as man responds to use.
     2. Establish with the laity a universal sense of freedom and responsibility to draw doctrine (principles) and life (applications) from individual study of the Writings.
     3. Establish in the laity a sense of responsibility and comfort in sharing the Heavenly Doctrines with others.
     4. Recognize that the priesthood must take counsel from the laity and then give leadership in preserving order in the administration of ecclesiastical uses.
     5. Encourage a sense of responsibility for the lives (spiritual and natural) of neighbors outside the organized church.
     Bishop King also shared some personal attitudinal goals as well as a time frame of achievements he hopes to realize for the remainder of his administrative years.
     In the second session, on administration of church uses by priests, lay men and lay women, a digest of the points covered in the previous year on this subject was distributed to the seminar, which laid a groundwork for discussion. A number of ways were suggested for helping pastors to become more effective in the role of church leadership. There was a plea for young priests to receive residency training under an older pastor as they begin their career. The training of a young man in theology does not necessarily train him to be a pastor. But time is limited in theological school to cover the many subjects deemed necessary by the faculty. Therefore, additional training in such areas as counseling, administration, and social skills should be required in their postgraduate years. Money will have to be allocated to implement this training by experts outside of our theological school faculty.
     The seminar group was in agreement with a proposal that a joint council of the theological school faculty and lay men and women be appointed. Its task would be to study further changes in the theological school curriculum, recognizing the need to improve some neglected areas in the training of our future ministers. It was felt that such a joint committee, operating for the next five years, would strengthen and stimulate improvement in our theological school training.
     Those addressing the subject of our five-year plan for the General Church spoke affirmatively of the church's general acceptance and support of this program. However, in the course of discussion the seminar did recommend:

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     1. Assistance to those societies and circles requesting funds for purchasing new church facilities or renovating current ones.
     2. Encourage those contributing to special uses to continue to do so in hopes that the habit of contributing to the General Fund will follow.
     3. Encourage the priesthood to be aware of their obligation to discuss and participate in financial programs in the church.
     4. Attempt to appeal for a wider range of financial support within the church.
     5. Establish and publicize guidelines for contributors relevant to different income levels.
     6. Perhaps establish a "possibility budget" which describes goals that could be accomplished if our membership were tithing, one and all.

     Another session of the seminar provided an analysis of church growth in areas where new ministers have been placed in the last five years. A survey of ministers responding to a questionnaire produced a wide range of answers. In general, however, a pattern of process was going on that required first: A. an adjustment of the minister to his new locale as well as his congregation; B. a structuring of programs, schedules and ritual that was a necessary part of establishing new areas; and finally C. evangelization programs could be started but not prior to the first two steps. A display map of the world noted the major societies and those locations which gained resident ministers within the last five years. In addition to establishing a platform for evangelization, these new centers showed signs of internal growth as a result of regular worship services, doctrinal classes, regular social contacts with other members of the church, and the availability of a pastor in time of spiritual need.
     The next session, dealing with "General Church Educational Objectives Reexamined," introduced a number of important issues. Administrators from the Academy and the Bryn Athyn local school, as well as a faculty member, presented some of these challenges. The ten General Church schools now require 54 full-time teachers to instruct 515 students from kindergarten through eighth grade. Some of them, however, are threatened with reduced enrollment, population shifts, rising costs for staff and facilities, and a scarcity of priests specifically trained in education and school administration. A particular issue concerned schools where there is a pastor, an assistant pastor, as well as a lay principal, and a shrinking school enrollment. Who should be the first to be released in an economic crisis? In the course of this discussion, it was encouraging to hear that the Advanced Teacher Salary Program, introduced a few years ago, involves nearly half the teachers. It increases their salary as they increase their postgraduate training.

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     An Academy teacher, in her presentation, made her position a very living experience by describing typical classroom situations and perennial campus upheavals. Dealing with rumors and checking their validity is a major task. There was discussion of New Church education as an extension of the home, especially where homes are not in harmony with church principles.
     A list of reasons for New Church education was presented, offering such points as: 1) avoiding negative concepts (e.g. "the world came about by chance," "prayer is not a part of school life," "values of teachers are not relevant" etc.), 2) teaching the Word, 3) showing harmony between the two worlds, 4) gaining an understanding of how to live, especially a clear understanding of the two wills in man and the seven steps of repentance, 5) establishing a proper atmosphere in the classroom, and 6) the continual determination to instill good affections in our students, as well as fostering scholarship in all subjects. Evaluation of how our current efforts are supporting these goals requires vigilance. The speaker admitted that New Church education is still in the "infancy" period in development of distinctive subject matter and curriculum. However, affirmativeness to our efforts is paramount if our struggling efforts are to be successful in educating our children not only for this world but for heaven.
     In the following session the chairman of the Liturgy Committee gave a progress-to-date report on the new edition. He recognized that as church members grow older, they may find it hard to accept change in ritual and music. But if the church is to be a living one, like any organism it must adjust and change constantly. Surveys have been made throughout the church, both with priests and laymen, determining preferences for such things as "Thee" and "Thou" versus "You" when addressing the Lord in prayer and in recitations. The distinct improvement of the New King James Version, though not perfect, needs to be incorporated into our next edition of the Liturgy, but this can only be done slowly so that states of deep affections stimulated in worship are not disrupted by alterations in the letter of the Word.
     A springboard binder is being considered for holding the pages of the next Liturgy. This allows for easy rebinding or changing of worn-out pages, as well as including new material. There will be more offices in this next edition, changes in the betrothal service, addition of a home dedication service, and probably a family service that can be used in the home at the death of a loved one. Contemplated are services such as "Blessing on a Marriage," "Remarriage," and perhaps a second Holy Supper service. The Music Committee, made up of nine musicians, has examined the first 90 hymns but still has over 300 more to consider.

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As well as the Liturgy Committee and the Music Committee, there is another made up of clergymen who will review the music and offices for suitability in their societies and circles. In addition, another committee (numbering over 60), scattered around the church, will review the songs, some on tape and some in printed form.
     To make it easier for strangers using our Liturgy, bold print is being considered to help them follow the order of service. The chairman was praised for the progress to date and the audience had no further suggestions for improving this important project.
     The next session dealt with publications in the church and the Academy-and marketing challenges. A thorough review was made of current and future needs. Historically it has been emphasized that the work of translating, printing and publishing is essential for the growth of the church. The speaker pointed out that most of our publishing at present is done for our own members. This, of course, reduces the number of copies of books and pamphlets produced and increases individual cost. At present we seldom print more than a thousand copies of any work because of the small market, and limited inventory space. It was made obvious that publishing is a complex business. There is urgent need for coordination among authors, printers and bookrooms. At present there is no central organization to make our publishing effective and more efficient. Such an arrangement could help by 1) previewing markets of potential publications, 2) selecting suitable covers and bindings, and 3) planning intelligent marketing and distribution. The need for such coordination was listed in a plan of action. Perhaps someone with artistic talents could help design our published works to make them more attractive. One of the greatest needs expressed in the discussion which followed was for works directed to people outside of the church, not only as an evangelization tool but also as a means to build a broader financial base.
     The eighth session dealt with support for evangelization, publication, translation, and education, from endowment funds. Included were the subjects of tithing and the worthy goal of achieving 100 0/0 support from membership. It became evident that specific goals have been achieved in the past by directing development funds toward specific current needs. This fund was established originally for acquiring land in and around some of our church centers. Caryndale, Detroit and Washington have property for sale to inspire New Church couples to cluster around the church and eventually to create schools. Some centers have received sizeable loans for purchasing church buildings and for expanding facilities. More recent assistance has gone to Cairnwood Village and the elementary school in Bryn Athyn.

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     At present, sizeable endowment funds are needed to advance evangelization, support local schools, expand translation programs, and publish both the Writings and collateral works. If significant endowments can be established for these immediate needs, over and above the General Church budget, the church should begin to feel tangible signs of growth that we all dearly long for.
     The next session addressed a proposal for establishing secondary schools outside of Bryn Athyn. Considering the fact that the trend is increased growth in Bryn Athyn and a gradual decrease in our other societies, the church might consider establishing dormitories for high schools in Canada and/or Glenview. This might lead to the Bryn Athyn society taking over their own high school educational program (with or without dormitories). This would free the Academy to center its attention exclusively on the college and theological school.
     After considerable discussion, the seminar made the following proposal:

     1.      There is need for an ongoing study of "Centers for Education" in the church.
          a.      Yet continue emphasis of local church centers through church buildings and financial support of their elementary schools, which will keep children in the sphere of the home.
          b.      Study broad implications of demographics, worldwide population moves, attractions in large church centers like Bryn Athyn.
          c.      Keep in mind the vision we aspire to for the church on earth.
     2.      Our church elementary schools should have priority at the present time. This could logically lead to establishing high schools in those church centers.

     The tenth session was about the problem of substance abuse. Addressing first the question "Do we have a problem?" the paradoxical response is "Yes, we do," and "No, we don't"-both of which are true. There are those whose sphere of contacts and friends seem to be untouched by any abuse of drugs or alcohol. For others, abuse has reached the level of crisis for their friends, relatives and children. One pastor, protecting the confidentiality of his knowledge, felt that there is a growing problem with some of our members. This is difficult to address because the common symptom of denial hides it. There is much that can be done to assist children of alcoholics, but it requires cooperation from the faculty, school administration, and parents. Recognizing alcoholism as a disease is an important first step. Preventative education from elementary school on up seems imperative as worldwide statistics reveal alarming trends of disorder in the home and community.

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     Anonymous responses to a survey from teachers and parents in the community confirmed that drug and alcohol abuse is present. It needs honest evaluation and assistance from clergy, faculty and our civic organizations. Continued monitoring of this serious danger will be actively pursued by responsible administrators.
     The final session of the seminar looked at the effect of computerization on our church at the present time. The majority of our pastors in the field have seen how computers can aid them in sermon and class composition, record keeping, mailing lists, etc. Computer training is now available in nearly all of our elementary schools and at the Academy. General Church mailing and record keeping is currently undergoing changes at the Cairncrest offices. Indeed, over $400,000 has now been invested in hardware, software and training programs throughout the church. A similar expense is anticipated in the near future. There is active investigation into putting the Writings, the Concordance, and even collateral works onto the computer for easy access and reprinting. The body supported having a committee to keep abreast of this field within the church and to assist in prioritizing future purchases.
     In addition to the daytime schedule, an address was given by one of our church psychiatrists at a dinner meeting. He spoke to the crises of marriage disorders and divorce in the church today. Based on his knowledge of doctrine and clinical experience, he made a number of strong proposals: 1) The teaching of principles of conjugial love should begin early in our home and school environment. 2) Premarital instruction should be offered to those planning marriage. 3) Marriage enrichment courses should be available for those couples soon after marriage. 4) Intelligent marriage counseling for troubled couples should be offered by qualified counselors. 5) When divorce is inevitable, assistance should be given to help our members through difficult periods.
     At another dinner meeting Bishop King explored the topic of bringing doctrine to the gentiles. He expanded the definition of the word "gentile" to include the states of children and those who have a love of the truth but lack knowledge about religion. It was timely in that the Bishop pursued this subject on the eve of his month-long visit to South Africa. There he will spend time with both members and clergy in our missions.
     The expense of bringing in out-of-town participants to this seminar, and the cost of meals, was underwritten by private donations. Thus the event did not create any additional items in the General Church budget. Those attending unanimously described the conference as constructive, inspiring and practical.

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Everyone involved gained a wider appreciation of circumstances influencing the church and the episcopal office. The Bishop expressed sincere gratitude to those who prepared excellent material for contemplation, and he thanked the attendees for discussing openly, in a sphere of mutual charity, these very pertinent subjects. Fuller reports will be shared with those involved. A close accounting of the proposals made will be implemented in the months to come.
Bishop King has requested suggestions of additional subjects for consideration next year. He also has asked for names of people who would like to be included in a future seminar.
Lorentz Soneson, Secretary
REVIEW 1985

REVIEW George de Charms 1985

Education for Use. Basic Concepts in New Church Education, by Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton

     This is a very valuable expansion of an earlier work by the same author entitled Foundations of New Church Education. It undertakes to examine those foundations, and explore their practical application to the work of education. It differs from the earlier work in undertaking an examination of their meaning, and a rational analysis of their practical application.
     I am not capable of presenting an adequate review of this treatise. I can only report my great delight in it after a careful reading of the text.
     Six brief chapters have been expanded into fourteen. The first chapter is devoted to a keen analysis of what "values" really are, leading to the conclusion that they are USES, USE BEING THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE, AND THE DIVINE END IN ALL THINGS. The next three chapters are devoted to a keen analysis of what is involved in the idea of God, and why He must be perceived as a Man in Person, with all the qualities that combine to present the mental picture of a person, but elevating this picture by a spiritual idea of those essential qualities that make man. In this process the author has analyzed the teaching of the Writings with profound insight and clarity. A careful reading will promote in the minds of many New Church men and women an understanding of that profound subject which has presented great difficulty in the past-the difficulty of rightly conceiving of the Divine Human of the Lord.
     The author then devotes four chapters to the question of "What Is Man?" and what are his responsibilities in his relation to God and the neighbor, under the titles "The Moral Man," "The Social Man" and "The Spiritual Man," the stress throughout being on the uses he is called upon to perform to the Lord and the neighbor.

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The next three chapters are devoted to an analysis of the means that contribute to the development of man's intellectual and moral faculties, namely, knowledge, will or love, God-given affections called remains-all of these leading to the ultimate use which they are designed to serve. One chapter is devoted to a keen analysis of the distinct uses of male and female, whose conjunction is essential to the formation of man.
     The final chapter is devoted to an examination of how these considerations apply in a most practical, and at the same time essential, way to the organization of a truly New Church curriculum.
     This is by no means a review of the work we are considering. It merely bears testimony to the fact that I have read the book, and welcome it as a work of profound scholarship which will be found of untold value to the thought of the church. I can only express my deepest thanks to the author, and profound appreciation for his valuable contribution to the cause of New Church education.
     George de Charms
BLAKE AND SWEDENBORG 1985

BLAKE AND SWEDENBORG 1985

Blake and Swedenborg: Opposition Is True Friendship, 158 pages, paperback, illustrated, $8.95.

     William Blake's visionary books of illuminated poems have fascinated and puzzled readers for over a century. A newly published anthology, Blake and Swedenborg: Opposition Is True Friendship, draws upon new research and historical works to uncover sources and underlying meanings of Blake's arts in the writings of the 18th century scientist/theologian, Emanuel Swedenborg.
     Dr. Kathleen Raine, the noted Blake scholar, asserts in a previously unpublished essay in this anthology:

Wonderful as are Blake's poems, his visionary paintings, his aphorisms, it is, in essence, the doctrines of Swedenborg that Blake's works embody and to which they lend poetry and eloquence.

     Dr. Raine echoes the thoughts of Samuel T. Coleridge in a letter of 1818:

I am in the very mire or commonplace commonsense compared with Mr. Blake . . . . He is a genius-and, I apprehend, a Swedenborgian.

     Nearly every major study of Blake includes at least passing reference to Swedenborg's influences. Now, for the first time, this anthology draws these together to create a new critical overview of a previously undervalued source of the inspiration for much of Blake's art and beliefs.

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     Published by the non-profit Swedenborg Foundation of New York, the anthology is edited by Harvey F. Bellin and Darrell Ruhl, who have created television docu-dramas about both Swedenborg and Blake.
     This quality paperback includes works by renowned Blake scholars Kathleen Raine and Morton D. Paley; Swedenborgian scholars Dr. George F. Dole, Rev. Peter M. Buss, Donald C. Fitzpatrick, Jr., and Harvey Bellin. It also contains articles by nineteenth century authors Alexander Gilchrist and Robert Hindmarsh. It includes tables of previously overlooked similarities in both the lives and thoughts of Swedenborg and Blake, and is illustrated with Blake's illuminated poems from the collection of Mr. Paul Mellon and other sources.
     The anthology will provide a challenging vision to those interested in the evolution of Western thought, art and literature. It provides a biographical overview of the 18th century scientist/philosopher whose writings had profound influence on the thoughts of Balzac, the Brownings, Coleridge, Goethe, Helen Keller, Strindberg, 1980 Nobel Poet Laureate Czeslaw Milosz, and numerous other molders of our modern culture.
Title Unspecified 1985

Title Unspecified 1985

[Photo of THE DETROIT NEW CHURCH SCHOOL:
Back row: Sherry McCardell (music teacher), Byron Franson (grades 4-6), Rev. Patrick Rose, Rev. Walter Orthwein (Principal), Karen Lehne (grades 1-3). Middle row: Ken McCardell, Rebbeca Bradin, Geoffrey Orthwein, Steve McCardell, Melissa Eller, Michael Bradin, Cedric Rose. Front row: Greg Bradin, Norah Childs, Trevor Filer, Simon Bradin, Stella Rose.]

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Editorial Pages 1985

Editorial Pages Editor 1985

     WRITING LETTERS

     This editorial is occasioned by the reading of a paragraph scarcely two lines long in the Spiritual Diary. It is in a section about things Swedenborg witnessed in heaven. It goes like this:

They also write letters, and send to others, and also to other places; as, likewise, I have seen (SD 5563).

     Letters may seem out of fashion these days and out of place in a technological age. Did not the invention of the telephone go a long way toward obviating the need for letters as a means of communication? Management experts have said that face-to-face communication is the best and a phone call second best, while a letter trails behind these two.
     One so-called advance is the technological facility of producing letters which pretend to have personal thought and feeling in them but do not. The word processor spits out "personalized" appeals for magazine subscriptions or donations. There may be some people on earth who believe that these "personal" letters which manage to mention them by name are personal. For most people they have simply increased skepticism about what is received through the mail.
     With a phone at our fingertips, why would we bother to go through the motions of writing to a friend? Well, you are asked for the present merely to consider why people would bother to write letters in heaven. Communication there is far more wonderful than it is on earth. If thought brings presence, why bother with letters? We would like to comment on this another time (or to print your comments), and perhaps we can refer to an appealing article on this subject that appeared this year in Guideposts magazine.
     For the present consider this: Not long ago I received a very short letter from John Kane in the Canary Islands. He simply wanted to say that a certain issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE was outstanding. (He particularly valued the article by Tatsuya Nagashima on the New Church in Japan.) This piece of paper gave me a lot of satisfaction and encouragement. I enjoyed taking it home to show to my wife. (You can't carry a phone call home and show it to someone.) And here is a phenomenon known to editors. When someone has an article published (or even a letter) he is often interested to learn from the editor whether there has been any response. If no reaction to their articles has been received, writers sometimes feel that they are speaking in a vacuum or that no one is heeding them. But it has been observed repeatedly that a single written response changes that perception dramatically. Perhaps we do value letters here on earth. Do you?

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PALESTINIANS 1985

PALESTINIANS Alan Gorange 1985

     Communications
Dear Editor,
     Thank you for publishing my letter, "Written with the Finger of God," in your number of June 1985.
     May I add the following: in 1979, here in England, Jonathan Dimbleby, member of a widely known journalistic family, published his book, The Palestinians (Quartet Books), in which he discusses Zianism-which ignores the rights of Palestinians (although Moshe Dayan, Jewish soldier of the eyeshade, had expressed the view that Israel must deal, sooner or later, with the moderate Arabs).
     I hope that you will publish these humble comments, made with respect by one who is neither Jew nor Arab.
     Alan Gorange,
          London, England

     [Photo: This photo, taken in Ghana in the month of July shows Pastor Benjamin Garna holding the July issue of New Church Life (which features Ghana).]

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HALLEY AND SWEDENBORG 1985

     We cannot doubt that Swedenborg gazed at Halley's comet late in 1758 and early in 1759. We can only wonder whether he thought of his acquaintance who had predicted the comet's reappearance (Halley had made the prediction in 1705 but died sixteen years before it appeared.) Swedenborg had other things on his mind. The publication of Heaven and Hell and four other works had just taken place, and Swedenborg supervised their distribution to various places
     Picturing Swedenborg's conversing with Halley, we see Halley as old enough to be Swedenborg's father. He probably enjoyed the brilliant young Swede's enthusiasm and remembered that when he himself was in his twenties he had seen a remarkable comet in the sky (in 1682), the observation of which led to his prediction of its return 76 years later. One gathers that Swedenborg admired Halley and appreciated his candor. It is interesting to note what Swedenborg wrote in a letter from Paris at the age of twenty-five.

     Between the mathematicians here and the English there is great emulation and jealousy. Halley, of Oxford, told me that he was the first who examined the variation of the pendulum under the equator; they keep silence about this here; the astronomers here also maintain that Cassini's paper was written before Halley made his expedition to the island of St. Helena, and so forth.
INTERVIEW WITH JORGE LUIS BORGES 1985

INTERVIEW WITH JORGE LUIS BORGES 1985

     Mr. Borges was mentioned in our August issue (p. 382) with some comments on Swedenborg. We find in the September issue of The Messenger a special interview with Mr. Borges by Christian Wildner.
     Mr. Wildner himself first heard of Swedenborg through a lecture given by Mr. Borges. Later he came upon the name in Balzac's novel, Seraphita (which has quite a number of pages dealing directly with Swedenborg) Trying to find books of Swedenborg, he found a biography at the Strand Bookstore in New York. He says, "After reading it, I returned to the Strand, now searching for books written by him. I couldn't find one. Fortunately, an employee informed me that there was a cultural foundation bearing his name, dedicated almost exclusively to the publication of his works." (This, of course, was the Swedenborg Foundation)
     "Since it was Jorge Luis Borges who led me to discover the marvelous world of Swedenborg, I decided to approach him to express my gratitude for the discovery . . . ." This led to the interview published with justifiable pride by the editor of The Messenger.

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Church News 1985

Church News Peggy Kuhl Merrell 1985

     SAN DIEGO

     The early fruit trees started blooming in February. By the middle of March the hillsides were glorious with white and purple African daisies; then came the masses of ice plant with their brilliant reds and purples; soon the road-sides and hills were covered with yellow and orange wildflowers. There is always something blooming. It is almost enough to make you forget dogwoods and daffodils!
     When you get off the airplane in San Diego and step outside, you can smell the salt air. As you drive to the freeway you pass the harbor and see all of the boats, and right away you know that the Pacific Ocean is part of San Diego life.
     Another part of life here is the hills and mountains. At first they may strike you as being rocky and barren-brown and dead looking in the heat of the summer-but they green up with the winter rains and there is a wild beauty that gets into your blood. To watch the shifting cloud patterns on the distant ranges is a joy in itself.
     Sandy beaches and wild rocky shores, mountains and valleys, flowers almost all year round-all this and a New Church society too!
     We are a small society bursting at our seams. When three new families, the Robert Merrells, the Robert Kendigs and the Ted Geses, joined our society in 1984 we frequently filled our tiny church to standing room only. Our little school is thriving under our two new teachers, Karen Schnarr and Erin Junge, but is cramped for space with limited storage and play areas. Each Sunday we have been dismantling our worship room and setting it up for school on Monday. Our hope for the future is to find a suitable piece of property and build a new facility. We are in the planning stages and many of us are working hard to make this come about. It is exciting to be involved in a growing society but it is always sad to contemplate leaving a building that has served a use so well for a number of years. A lot of hard work, time, and love went into fixing up our present building and it has served this group well.
     It has been a busy year here with regular Wednesday night doctrinal classes and a Thursday morning Arcana class attended by a staunch core group that has ploughed through three volumes already and are eager to start the fourth.
     This year there was a dedicated effort to develop a Sunday school for two groups and a nursery for the babies, to take care of the children during the second part of our Sunday worship services.
     In the summer of 1984 we held a four-day "Avocado Leaf' camp up in the hills about an hour's drive from San Diego. With friends from Los Angeles and San Jose we braved the elements with tents and outdoor cooking. One memorable thunder shower just about wiped us out, but we survived by retreating to our cars and the driest tents. It was fun comparing notes that evening on our survival techniques. The next day as the thunder clouds rolled in we were really ready, and of course it blew over. We were fortunate to have Rev. Frank Rose and Rev. Mark Carlson join Cedric to give us lectures and worship services.
     We had a small but busy women's group this year led by Marcia Pendleton. We sponsored a few dinners. a baby shower for three new babies, took care of the kitchen and chancel, looked after buying and making Christmas presents for all the children of the society, and took care of the many needs of a small society.

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We also contributed to the school. Our latest effort was to help with Costumes for the delightful play about "Winnie-the-Pooh" and his friends, put on near the end of the school year.
     In March we had a very successful "Women's Day" at Merrells'. Louise Rose from Tucson, Arizona, was our to guest speaker and we invited our friends co in Los Angeles to join us.
     Our pastor, Rev. Cedric King, is embarking on a new missionary effort this fall. With the help of a small committee, he is preparing a series of video tapes called "Death. Dying and Beyond," taken from Rev. Wendel Barnett's series about near-death experiences. They are to be aired on TV on Sunday mornings.
     Because San Diego is a lovely place to be when winter storms hit the east coast, we welcome many visitors in our society.
     Peggy Kuhl Merrell
PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES 1985

PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES 1985

     Announcements

     GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
RIGHT REV. LOUIS B. KING, BISHOP
Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, 19009, U. S. A.
PUBLIC WORSHIP AND DOCTRINAL CLASSES
Information on public worship and doctrinal classes provided either regularly or occasionally may be obtained 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. Cristovao Rabelo Nobre, Rua Xavier does Passaros 151, Apt. 101 Piedale, Rio de Janeiro, RK 20740. Phone: 021-289-4292.

     CANADA

     Alberta:

     CALGARY
Mr. Thomas R. Fountain, 1115 Southglen Drive S. W., Calgary 13, Alberta T2W 0X2. Phone: 403-255-7283.

     EDMONTON
Mr. Daniel L. Horigan, 10524 82nd St., Edmonton, Alberta T6A 3M8. Phone: 403-469-0078.

     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 Phone: 0206-43712

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

     LONDON
Rev. Frederick Elphick, 21B Hayne Rd., Beckenham, Kent BR3 4JA. Phone: 01-658-6320.

     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. Ed Verschoor, Olmenlaan 7.3862 VG Nijkerk

     NEW ZEALAND

     AUCKLAND
Mrs. H. J. Keal, Secretary, 4 Derwent Crescent, Titirange, Auckland 7. Phone: 817-8203.

     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.

470

     SOUTH AFRICA

     Natal:

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

     Transvaal:

     TRANSVAAL SOCIETY
Rev. Norman E. Riley, 8 Iris Lane, Irene, 1675 R. S. A., Phone: 012-632679.

Zululand:

     KENT MANOR
Mrs. D. G. Liversage, Box 7088, Empangeni Rail, 3910, Natal, South Africa. Phone: 0351- 23241

     Mission in South Africa:
Superintendent-The Rev. Norman E. Riley (Address as above)

     SWEDEN

     STOCKHOLM
Contact Mr. Rolf Boley, Arvid Morners Vag 7, 161 59 Bromma. Phone: efter kl. 18.00, 08- 878280

     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. (501) 251-2383

     California:

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

     SACRAMENTO
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ripley, 2310 N. Cirby Way, Roseville, CA 95678. Phone: (916) 782-7837

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

     SAN FRANCISCO
Rev. Mark Carlson, 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, 3375 Aztec Road #72, Doraville, GA 30340. Phone: (Home) (404) 457- 4726, (Office) (404) 452-0518

     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.

471

     Indiana:
Contact Rev. Stephen Cole in Cincinnati, Ohio, or Mr. James Wood, R. R. 1, Lapel, IN 46051. Phone (317) 534-3546

     Louisiana:

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

     Maine

     BATH
Rev. Allison L. Nicholson, 897 Middle St., Bath, ME 04530 Phone: (207) 433-6410

     Maryland:

     BALTIMORE
Rev. Donald Rogers, #12 Pawleys Ct., S. Belmont, Baltimore, MD 21236. Phone: (301) 882- 2640.

     MITCHELLVILLE
Rev. Lawson Smith, 3805 Enterprise Rd., Mtichellville, MD 20716. Phone: (301) 262-2349.

     Massachusetts:

     BOSTON
Rev. Grant Odhner, 4 Park Ave., Natick, MA 01760. Phone: (617) 651-1127.

     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. (612) 770-9242

     Missouri:

     COLUMBIA
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Johnson, 103 S. Greenwood, Columbia, MO 65201. Phone: (314) 442-3475.

     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-Idaho Border.-Se 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. Phone: (Home) (215) 756-4301; (Office) (215) 756-6140.

     PAUPACK
Mr. Richard Kintner, Box 172, Paupack, PA 18451. Phone: (717) 857-0688.

     PITTSBURGH
Rev. Ray Silverman, 299 Le Roi Road, 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
Mr. Fred Dunlap, 13410 Castleton, Dallas, TX 75234-5117. Phone: (214) 247-7775.

     Washington:

     SEATTLE
Rev. Kent Junge, 14812 N. E. 75th Street, Redmond, WA 98033. Phone: (206) 881-1955.

     Wisconsin:

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

472

Reprint now available 1985

THE GLORIFICATION
SERMONS AND PAPERS
BY
NATHANIEL DANDRIDGE PENDLETON

     LATE BISHOP OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM AND PRESIDENT OF THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH

     Copyright 1941
By
The Academy of the New Church
Second Edition, 1985, 1000 copies

     GENERAL CHURCH PUBLICATION COMMITTEE
BRYN ATHYN, PENNSYLVANIA
1985

     Postage paid $8.00
General Church Book Center
Box 278
Bryn Athyn, PA 19009
Hours: 9-12 Mon-Fri
Phone: (215) 947-3920

473

Notes on This Issue 1985

Notes on This Issue Editor 1985

Vol. CV November, 1985 No. 11
NEW CHURCH LIFE

474

     Harold Cranch's sermon begins in a spirit of thanksgiving and moves to insights on human life, recalling that as children we often said, "Mother, what can we do now?" We are reminded that just as a small object close to the eye will shut off a view of the world, so also our small troubles might prevent our seeing a thousand joys.
     We are a month earlier than usual in publishing the enrollments and staffs of ten local schools and the Academy schools. One of those local schools has moved into its second century of operation. Surely, Pittsburgh is to be congratulated by all of us.
     The third volume of the new translation of the Arcana has just been published in England. It has been observed that this major step in translation needs more attention than it has received thus far throughout the church (see pages 510 and 512).
     We are glad to have a report of the assembly held in London in July. Letters received eyewitness accounts support Rev. Kenneth Stroh's observation of vigorous discussion in an assembly that provided encouragement and a sense of communion among members in Great Britain.
     When this writer was living in England he enjoyed the friendship of Rev. Dennis Duckworth especially at many meetings at Swedenborg House. A calculated guess of when Mr. Duckworth started writing his talk on Halley's Comet (p. 501) puts it at about the time of a NEW CHURCH LIFE editorial decision to put in some trivia on that subject as fillers for a few months (the first appearing in June 1985, p. 255). Once again we publish the minutes of the annual meetings of the Council of the Clergy. The Secretary of the Council has the formidable task of attempting in eleven pages to cover the discussions of an entire week!
     In our announcements this month you will find twenty baptisms, eight confirmations, six betrothals and eight marriages.
     The book Education for Use by the Rt. Rev. Willard Pendleton, reviewed on page 487, may be obtained for $12.00 from the General Church Book Center, Box 278, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009.
     Date Change for Music Festival: The music festival announced last month (p. 434) has been rescheduled for June 8-10. Details next month.

475

LIFE OF HAPPINESS 1985

LIFE OF HAPPINESS Rev. HAROLD C. CRANCH 1985

     "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord . . . Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing . . . Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, into His courts with praise; be thankful unto Him and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endures to all generations" (Psalm 100).

     We should be thankful to the Lord for His many blessings. Our lives should be joyful, filled with gladness. We are to be grateful that we might know the Lord our Creator, and that we might enter through the gates of the church into His kingdom on earth.
     Why should we rejoice and be glad for the opportunity to worship God, and come to His church? If we understand what the Lord's kingdom is we will see the answer. We will see why we pray that the Lord's will be done, and that His kingdom shall be established on earth as it is in heaven. We shall also see why New Churchmen especially should be glad and live happy lives.
     We have all heard, and probably said, that the years of childhood are the happiest years of life. They are happy because then there was a complete trust in our parents. We had no worries. We lived for the moment. When an unfortunate experience was past it was quickly forgotten in new pleasures. Without thinking about it we trusted in the wisdom of our parents to provide for us. Looking back we can see that many things we did not want to do, arranged for by our parents, proved to be sources of real delight.
     But the happiness of childhood was not appreciated then. Children long to grow up. They often rebel from following programs arranged for them. They want to follow their own desires. Yet, when they are left to their own devices for a time, how quickly what they thought they wanted to do becomes monotonous, and they say: "Mother, what can we do now?" Looking back we can see that much of the pleasure of childhood came from the planning and supervision of parents who provided a change in activities before the delight of each state was lost.
     We are in exactly the same position as children in our relationship to God, our Heavenly Father. And we have the same rebellious spirit toward obeying the Lord's wise commands. We want to follow our own desires. Like children, we feel that to give up our plans because the Lord teaches something else will take away all the pleasure and happiness of life. Yet we cannot plan real happiness for ourselves.

476

We cannot create a true heaven. So it is written: "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it" (Psalm 127:1). We do build castles of illusion for ourselves. We place great value on our own plans. But after a little while the things we so wanted no longer seem very important. Only when our plans are built upon sound principles taught from the Word can we make a true heaven of happiness.
     The Word reveals the wisdom of our Divine Parent. It teaches us how to live that we may overcome the self-centered desires which bring unhappiness. And, as we are prepared, it guides our progression in wisdom and use so we can seek things of lasting happiness, rather than the temporary satisfactions of our natural desires.
     If we learn to trust in the Lord, our entire lifetime should be as the days of childhood which in retrospect seem so happy. That which made them carefree and joyous can be present throughout our lives. The Lord cares for us as parents care for their children. His loving Providence is never absent. We can trust in His leading with even greater confidence than we could have in our natural parents. Yet often our present desires turn us away from following His program, even as in childhood we rebelled. We think we know what will make us happy. We think we can build our own heaven. How sadly we are mistaken in this is now and then demonstrated with vivid force. When our desires become sated, what we had thought to be our heaven of happiness becomes boring, or even hateful. By such experience we are led to see that true happiness is only possible in thoughtful and useful service to others.
     But we are adults. We should not be as children mentally. We should not be led by our emotional desires. Understanding and common sense should lead us to subdue the strong pressures of our natural desires. We should be able to see our relationship with the Lord, and acknowledge the wisdom and love which are His guidance. This is so, then, though our selfish desires do rebel at the commands of the Word, we can put down that rebellion from our understanding. We can see that the Lord's love through the truth of the Word is leading us to that state of eternal happiness and joy which is the Lord's kingdom.
     Christians need not live sad and sorrowful lives. It is not necessary to separate ourselves from the world, nor to engage continually in pious meditations. Such a life is more apt to lead away from heaven than toward it. Amusements are both allowable and good. They relax the mind and refresh the body so we can return to our work with new zeal, vigor, and intelligence. We can enjoy genuine happiness not only during our hours of relaxation, but also during our labors. We should seek that happiness for it increases our usefulness to others, and advances our own regeneration.

477

     Everyone wants happiness. Before regeneration it seems to be the very purpose of life, and we will try to get it even at the expense of others. A merely natural man centers his attention upon himself, and he wants all others to contribute to his pleasure. This is self-defeating. If all strive to center enjoyment in themselves, none are happy very long. This selfish kind of happiness is opposite to the teachings of the New Church, and contrary to the laws of heaven. Only by seeking the happiness of others can we receive it, and happiness sought for its own sake, as an end in itself, soon turns to unhappiness (see AC 454).
     The universal longing for happiness is inspired by the Lord. All revelation teaches that the Lord desires the happiness of all, and He continually works to bring it about (see AC 4320, 4735, 8478:4). If that is the Lord's purpose we can see that it is our spiritual duty to cooperate, and learn how to be happy. And we can do this only by learning the Divine order so that we may bring our lives into agreement with it. It is to perform the uses for which we are fitted, to the very best of our ability. In doing this we obey the Lord and receive His blessing (see Char. 158). This is illustrated in the parable of the talents. There the servants faithful to their trust were commended, and the Lord said to each one: "Well done, good and faithful servant . . . enter into the joy of your Lord" (Matt. 25:21).
     Evil spirits continually oppose the Lord, and try to destroy the happiness of others. To do this they stir up our evil desires and loves. They turn our thoughts away from others toward self. The sphere of hell induces the belief that one is superior to his fellows, and he deserves their submission to his desires. From this phantasy and its selfish pursuit of happiness at the expense of others, one is held in unhappiness; but so far as he triumphs over that sphere of evil, so far he comes into the happiness which the Lord intends for all His children.
     In fact, evil spirits try to hold us back in many ways. Their delight comes from harming others. In innumerable ways they keep us from realizing our blessings. They turn our minds to our troubles, our anxieties and fears. Under their influence we become critical of our friends, overlooking their good qualities to emphasize their faults. This is from hell, for we are taught that angels scarcely see another's faults, and what they see they excuse as far as they can, seeking always to find a motive of good behind another's deeds (see AC 1079e).
     It sometimes seems to us that many days are filled with unhappiness and discontent. We have many petty annoyances and troubles. But after a few years we look back and see none of these unpleasant things, and as with the days of childhood, we may think them among the happiest days of our lives. And that is a more just estimate.

478

Our joys so far outweigh our sorrows that only by persistent effort can the hells blind us to this fact. They magnify our few annoyances so that we neglect to rejoice at our manifold blessings.
     It has been pointed out that a very small object held close to the eye will shut off the view of all the world. Just so, our small troubles held constantly before the eye of our mind can prevent our seeing a thousand joys. This is what evil spirits strive to do. They are unhappy themselves, and they cannot rest content until they make others unhappy also. In their sphere our mind hunts out causes for unhappiness, for things to brood over, for slights and annoyances and evidence of ill luck. From that sphere we seek flaws and faults, instead of looking for the good intended and rejoicing in it.
     If we tried to find our blessings, and reviewed our mercies as carefully as we notice causes for faultfinding, we would rejoice every day with full hearts. We all have reason to rejoice. There may be occasions when our joys are less than sorrows, but these hard times pass away.
     The Lord has provided innumerable means to give us happiness. We are surrounded by friendships, by family relationships, and by spiritual and natural pleasures-all the joys of sight and hearing, of touch, taste, and smell. Nature abounds in gifts which we receive through our senses. And on the mental plane, through books and direct communication, we can enter into the work of many others. We can reason with them, and view all the wonders of the visible world through their eyes. And in Divine Revelation the Lord permits us to enter into a knowledge of His wisdom to guide our lives and delight our minds, filling them with ineffable light.
     The Lord's wisdom even uses evils to minister to our happiness (see AC 1874, 6303). From momentary discomfort we learn to appreciate comfort. Our many blessings are emphasized and we appreciate them more when by seeming misfortunes we are deprived of them for a time. If we think about it, we can find cause for happiness even in those things which make us temporarily unhappy, for they will lead to greater future happiness, both here and in the spiritual world, forever.
     If we learn to reject the sphere of the hells and view all things from the Lord and His Word, we will perceive that we are blessed beyond measure. As is said in the first Psalm: "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly . . . his delight is in the law of the Lord" (1:1, 2). The Lord has supplied the means for us to live a full and joyous life. If we are not happy in our progress throughout life in this natural world, we must look to the cause, and remove it by means of truth, for the fault lies within us. In such a case we have unconsciously harkened to the council of the wicked-to the whispering influx of the sphere of hell.

479

From its influence we may turn our eyes away from every evidence of unselfishness and love, every beautiful and pleasant thing, to see only the thorns on the rose. The Lord has always provided that there is more of good than of evil in the world. Where men of true spiritual principles are lacking to bring this about, the Lord uses ambition and self-interest to advance external order and justice in the world. We can rejoice in the good that is done, and be thankful for it, whatever may be in the heart of the doer.
If we will accept the Lord's help to throw off the dominion of evil spirits, and accept the easy yoke of living the Lord's truth, we can serve Him with joy all the days of our lives, both here and in the world to come. Then we can accept the inspired invitation of the Psalmist: "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, into His courts with praise; be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations." Amen.

LESSONS: Psalm 1; Psalm 100, Matt. 25:14-30, AC 454 CHILD'S VISION OF THE LORD 1985

CHILD'S VISION OF THE LORD Rev. FREDERICK L. SCHNARR 1985

     (Banquet Address to the Education Council, August 15, 191(5)

     The inmost thesis for the theory and practice of New Church education begins and rests upon the belief that the knowledge of the Lord is the most important knowledge ever to enter and influence the human mind. In forming the human, in reforming the human, and in regenerating the human, the knowledge of the Lord stands as essential (see AE 1096).
     From the beginning, New Church teachers and scholars have seen this truth and have labored with the utmost care and research to assure that the knowledge of the Lord formed the heart and soul of each year's curriculum. In adaptation to the forming years of infancy and childhood, and based essentially on the sequence of the books of the Old Testament, a curriculum came into existence bringing into focus images of the Lord as variously reflected in those books: the Lord the Creator, the Heavenly Father, the Redeemer and Lawgiver, the Hero of War, the King, the Prophet, the Judge, the Redeemer, and Savior, and finally, the Lord as Divine Man.
     We are all aware of the great research that men like Bishop de Charms and Bishop Pendleton have given to this work over many years.

480

We are aware of their conviction and zeal, and are deeply grateful for what they have given.
     In recent years we have been thankful that many hands have taken up this work again, in a continuing quest to build a totally distinctive, ordered and integrated curriculum that openly and squarely places the doctrine of the Lord as the acknowledged center of everything we do. It is this work that holds for us such a beautiful and powerful vision, because it holds the promise of such great innocence and goodness for our children. It is a work of such importance that it should fire our research, our imagination, and our creativity in every field of scholarship.
     The development of concepts, especially about the Lord, that can form a profile for curricular use is difficult in the extreme. On the surface this does not seem to be the case, for general concepts are relatively easy to identify and confirm. Many of us have grown up with the ideas of the Lord highlighted in our religious tradition, as those previously mentioned. Early in life our children are impressed with the great universal truths about the Lord, that is:

He is all-powerful.
He is one God.
He is good.
He loves us all.
He knows everything.
He is everywhere.
He protects us all.
He is Jesus.
He leads us all.
He is Divine Man.
He will take us to heaven when we die if we are good. (Etc.)

     And yet, although such truths are in our educational system, and are pretty well entrenched with our children, they are not well structured or established as guidelines for much of our curriculum from kindergarten through college. One need only look at our curricular outlines, especially from 4th grade up, to realize that while we have a theme about the Lord for each year, we do not have an outline of concepts about the Lord to make possible a truly integrated curriculum.
     We have made a beginning, a wonderful beginning, but we are surely still in our infancy in this work, and we need to acknowledge this so that we will feel the inspiration and the challenge to go forward and see that the vision of the Lord does indeed become with us the Holy of Holies of our curriculum.

481

     The difficulty in formulating such a curriculum surely rests in great part upon our ability as adults to understand the very complicated and varied states of the mind of a child, and the limitations of that early age to understand and remember truths, to say nothing of also being affected by them. After many years of teaching 8th grade, I continue, on the one hand, to be delighted with the education most of the children receive in our New Church schools, and yet on the other hand surprised, perplexed, and sometimes dismayed over their grasp of religion, especially in reference to the doctrine of the Lord.
     Reflection on this subject over a long period of time has led me to the following five observations and conclusion. Obviously these are not presented as studied solutions, but only as areas that need serious consideration as we continue to search for the wisdom to guide our students to the greatest possible knowledge and love of the Lord.

     1. The love of the Lord and the love of the neighbor

     The mind of a child up to, and perhaps including much of, the 6th grade is opened only in the lowest degree, the sensual. The natural degree, which President Buss spoke of last year, begins to open and come into real existence during and after sixth grade. There, the development of the imagination, the focus on civil and moral life, and the vision of the Lord in the New Testament seem to come naturally together.
     With younger children, their view of the Lord is necessarily sensual, and cannot rise to the association and imagination of civil and moral concepts. They have imagination. Indeed, the Writings tell us how they incline to make all things living. But it is the living world of the sensuous and is totally dependent on that which comes to and affects the five senses.
     This not only suggests that their world of the senses must be as carefully protected and ordered as possible, but also it means that the child can only see the Lord through the objects and beings that form the sensual world about him.
     The hearing and reading of the Word brings to the mind a memory basis for the Lord to be received through the spheres of heaven. And so, special internal remains are born that will affect the child's life forever.
     The point is that even when there is the Word, and even when remains are present, these are bound in their functions by the very limitations of the sensuous degree of the mind. So a child's first simple idea of the Lord is represented in the affection and care of his father and mother. Later this representation moves to others, commonly the minister-or even many ministers.

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More subtly, it moves from this to heroes and other special people in the world, who to them, for a time, display some god-like quality.
     Children are innocent and ignorant idolators, and they cannot be otherwise in the young years of their life.
     How a child views the Lord in these early years, therefore, is very much in, and dependent upon, how he views the neighbor. It seems, therefore, of greatest importance that the structure of education, whether in the home or the school, provide every opportunity for the teachings about the Lord to be illustrated, given example, and put into act in terms of love and charity to the neighbor. The two tables of stone need to lie face-to-face from the very beginning of a child's mental growth, because the love of the Lord and the love of the neighbor so obviously can only exist when they exist together.
     If, with all of our instruction, some of our children still feel that the Lord is rather remote from them, we suspect that it is because the teachings about the Lord have not been sufficiently reflected in teachings about the neighbor.

     2. Continuing the focus of major themes

     As we noted, we have a structure of major themes concerning the Lord throughout our educational system. Apart from the separate questions of what themes are especially appropriate to what ages, and what parts of the Word are used to present such themes, we still have a need to see that each major theme, once presented, develops and grows in a rational structure all the way through our college. The Lord is not just a Heavenly father or a Shepherd image to the 1st and 2nd grade student. He is the Heavenly Father and Shepherd in every year. If the materials we have chosen for any given year do not allow this image to be seen and refreshed anew, then the materials we have chosen are not sufficient; or the theme is temporarily inappropriate; or it is no longer important; or we simply do not have the time to include it.
     When it comes to universal truths concerning the Lord, I'm sure we all are of one mind that they should grow from generals to particulars, and from what is simple and sensual to what is complex and yet beautifully rational.
     It may be the work of generations to find such a structure, but we believe this is a vision that should continue with us as it has in the past, because it is the primary light from which we see the place and importance of all other matters of curriculum.

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     3. The Use of the Three Testaments

     Much of the study being undertaken by the Religion Curriculum Committee of the General Church has focused on the need to more fully integrate the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Writings at all levels of education.
     The Old Testament, with its stories and sensual imagery, obviously serves much of the sensual state of infancy and childhood. The themes of instruction concerning the Lord for these years have therefore, in large measure, been taken from the Old Testament. The New Testament, with its civil and moral emphasis, has been used in junior high school, with appropriate themes about the Lord drawn therefrom, while beyond those years, the Writings with their appeal to the rational have been used. Increasingly, there has been greater use of each revelation at all grade levels. And this is because each revelation contains obvious materials, beginning with the vision of the Lord, that are useful and important to each level of mental growth. The Writings present an open and rational vision of the Lord that is far beyond the grasp of little minds, but they also present a vision of the Lord who lived on earth, and through the Memorable Relations is seen standing in the spiritual sun of heaven. A sensual picture? A picture little children can grasp with delight? A picture that leads them to think of the Lord in human form ruling in the heavens? Yes, and it is delightful to see the walls of our New Church schools covered by such pictures of the Lord.
     Each revelation has gifts to offer every stage of life. The more they are appropriated, interrelated, and one is seen in the light of the other, the more will the truth stand forth clearly. We have work to do to see that students entering upper school do not feel that the Old Testament is merely for little children, that high school students do not feel they have left the New Testament behind, and so on.
     We have come a distance in this effort. Hopefully, we can go forward, until we come to a time that the three parts of revelation so interweave as to cause a senior college student to understand the spiritual sense of the Old and New Testaments sufficiently to really see the Lord's Divine Human therein.

     4. Adapting to states

     One time while teaching 5th grade, I decided to find out what the students understood concerning our national anthem.

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We wrote each sentence on the board and discussed it as we went along. Remember, this is a sung they had sung frequently for years. They had used it in worship, in pageants, in school assemblies, and in countless other ways. I will never forget what I heard that day. In the clutter of wild and utterly irrelevant concepts and pictures that poured forth were images that told of a 5th grade world I had long forgotten. There is not time to describe the picture presented except to say that our flag was seen waving over a wall made of the parts of rams, while spaceship type rockets zoomed around the sky with strange enemies glaring out the windows. And so on.
     This year, at the end of 8th grade, when no one knew what the word "omnipotent" meant, although ministers and teachers have used it in their presence hundreds of times, it again reminded me of where things often are.
     Is this sometimes true of our instruction concerning the Lord? Are we conscious of the need to adapt terms and ideas to those youngsters who have little or no ability to consider abstract or rational things?
     We are convinced that this must be a conscious effort with us, especially of those who take responsibility for formal religious instruction. We can always say, as is indeed true, that the hearing or reading of the Word serves a use whether it is understood or not. This is equally true in learning the Lord's various names, and names associated with the Lord's work. It serves the heavens, and perhaps serves the implantation of remains. But educators, as parents at home or teachers in the school, are in the work of helping students to understand, and especially to understand the Lord. Something that is misunderstood, or not understood at all, is eminently our responsibility and we need to be serious about addressing it-perhaps sometimes, though, retaining a good sense of humor in doing so.

     5. The many images of the Lord

     We have referred briefly to some of the major themes about the Lord that have formed the center of our educational system for over half a century. These are good themes, and have served us well. But in serving us well have they also somewhat limited our ability to see other themes, and, in fact, provide a greater and more complete picture and understanding of the Lord? Are some of the themes too difficult or too abstract for the age at which they are presented? A Hero of War, a Judge? Is this part of the reason some of the themes have been so difficult for teachers and ministers to develop and infill?

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Perhaps we do not know yet.
     We believe continuing research should be done in seeing the Lord in the Word in other ways as well. We have noted earlier that children's minds are largely in the thought, life, and affection of what is sensual. Well, the Word in all three revelations is filled with sensual pictures of, or relating to, the Lord. There are, for example, over a thousand references to "hands" in the Old and New Testaments alone. Many of these speak openly of the Lord's hands, and the manner in which He touches and cares both for us and the things of nature. Have we marshaled such lovely sensual pictures from the Word to sufficiently support and infill the truth of the Lord as Divine Man, and that He is Jesus Christ:, Are these not the kinds of images that extend so readily to the doctrine of the neighbor, to parents, and friends and loved ones, to see that the life of charity is married to every teaching about the Lord?

     We have focused on these five areas because we believe they intimately concern the nature in which the child's image of the Lord is formed. Much has already been done, and is being done, by many of our teachers and ministers. But for all of this, we are as infants still in our effort to develop distinctive New Church curricula.
     Such curricular development about the doctrine of the Lord from kindergarten through college is of primary importance. We should not feel discouraged over where we are, but rather filled with zeal, and perhaps even a holy awe, at the magnificent wealth of materials that lies before parents and educators in the open Word. But we must not let this falter or become stagnant.
     Nothing is more important to our children and to everything that develops in their lives than the idea of the Lord that forms in their infantile and childhood states. This is the foundation upon which their whole religious life rests. It is our most precious gift to them. In their innocent, obscure, and ignorant states they are as the Gentiles. And it is a matter of thought with us that as the church reaches out to so provide for its young, it will better prepare itself as well to respond to and provide for such states all over the world. May the Lord bless this noble work, and provide laborers in His vineyard.
Title Unspecified 1985

Title Unspecified 1985

Chrysalis, the delayed model issue of this new magazine of the Swedenborg Foundation is expected this month. The price for this issue is $6.75 (which includes postage) from the foundation (139 East 23rd Street, New York, 10010).

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"NO ROOM IN THE INN" ( 1985

"NO ROOM IN THE INN" ( JOHN POWERLY 1985

Luke 2:7)     There was no room in the inn for all love, all wisdom and all compassion. Eight hundred years before the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (see John 1:1, 14), the prophet Isaiah prophesied: "The Lord Himself shall give you a sign, Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6).
     There was no room in the inn for the weary virgin Mary to bear the Christ child, of God incarnate. Throughout the Scriptures mention is made of angels who were instrumental in speaking to both Joseph and Mary of the eventual birth of our Lord and Savior. Their knowledge of coming events was, of course, of Divine Providence; yet they failed to foresee the full occupancy of the inn. However, a more interior look into the situation will reveal that such was not the case.
     To arrive at a meaningful perspective of the phrase "no room in the inn," we must consult the language of correspondences. That the birth of our Lord was preordained and an act of Divine Providence to take place in a stable, and probably no other place with greater significance than a stable, seems to be well supported by the ancient language of correspondences. The habitation of a stable houses horses, cattle and sometimes a few lambs and sheep, all gentle and innocent creatures who live in a comparative atmosphere of serenity. Such a habitation seems to characterize meaningfully an aura of spiritual majesty which was certainly more attuned to the virgin birth of our little Lamb of God. A stable, therefore, was so much more acceptable to the Lord than a human habitation of an average inn of questionable repute.
     Of the many parables of our Lord gentle animals make up a considerable number: "My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27). "Behold the Lamb of God" is one of the most beautiful symbols of our Lord. "Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb" (Rev. 19:9).
     The town of Bethlehem, the birthplace of our Lord, is known as an ancient sheepherders' town and signifies the house of bread. Bread signifies the Lord Himself, and His love toward the whole human race, and whatever appertains thereto (see AC 2165).
     What really brings fruition and spirituality to the blessed event is the intrinsic meaning and sense of values between an inn and a stable.

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Where an inn signifies a place of instruction, we find that its basic value is the concern totally, with the external or sensual principle of the church "without the internal" (AC 5495, 70410); on the other hand, the significance of a stable is solely concerned with instruction and the formation of one's interiors, and thereby the internals, which are adapted to the good things of love and the truths of faith, and thus the perception of goodness and truth (see AC 1802). Of course there was "no room in the inn" for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, where reigns the external natural or sensual principle of the church "without the internal."
And they dressed the little Lamb of God in swaddling clothes signifying the first truths, which are truths of innocence; and they placed Him in a manger, signifying the instruction for the understanding; for a horse that feeds therein signifies the knowledges and understanding of the Word (see AR 298).
How extraordinary to find in so humble an atmosphere as a stable the genesis of events eternal, events that cast their shadows before. He was born in a stable, and gave His life a ransom for many. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them (see Rev. 17:14). He did overcome them; He subjugated the hells; restored order in heaven, and finally, He glorified His Humanity, uniting it with the divinity of which it was begotten, so He became the Redeemer of the world.
REVIEW 1985

REVIEW Jr. Donald C. Fitzpatrick 1985

Education for Use by the Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton; obtainable from the General Church Book Center, Box 278, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009. Price: $12.00.

     In 1957 and 1960 Bishop Willard Pendleton presented two series of doctrinal classes which were eventually published in a book entitled Foundations of New Church Education (Bryn Athyn: The Academy Book Room, 1960). In 1964, he presented five lectures to the General Church Education Council under the title "Values and Objectives of New Church Education." These were then published in a pamphlet bearing the same title.
     Readers looking at the table of contents of this new book, Education for Use, and familiar with the earlier publications, will note that many chapter titles have been carried over. When they read the book itself, however, they will find much that is new in the treatment of the subjects represented by those titles.
     It seems particularly appropriate that this new book should appear now.

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Education, both in the sense of what happens in schools and in the broader sense of what happens in homes and under the influence of changing moral standards and of the mass media, is the focus of much attention and concern, especially in the United States. One study after another has exposed deficiencies in education, and numerous experts have joined the debate over the causes and possible cures for these deficiencies. Other experts have assessed the effect of broken homes, a permissive moral climate, and other social, economic and political factors on the way children grow up. Each expert offers his own prescription for restoring education to a state of health, but no sooner is it made known than other experts point out its weaknesses and offer other prescriptions, each of which is criticized and rejected in its turn.
     Bishop Pendleton's book provides vital material for those who seek answers to questions about what is wrong with education. for it sets in clear light the criteria against which any system of education which seeks to prepare children and young people for adult life must be judged since the Lord's second coming.
     These criteria, unlike the pronouncements of secular educational theorists, are not affected by the passage of time or the alteration of economic, civil, political, and social circumstances, for they rest upon the fundamental teachings of the Word concerning the Lord, man, values, truth, and use.
     What is more, these teachings are presented in a way that shows the author to be a wise teacher. For the book is not an abstract study. It is rather a keen analysis of what has happened to education in the homes and schools of the western world and a clear exposition of the principles and practices by which New Church parents and teachers may hope to avoid the same errors.
     As an example, take these quotations from the chapter entitled "The Education of the Will."

We cannot speak of the home as a use, however, without reference to its responsibilities, and the first of these is the mutual participation of husband and wife in the care and education of children. It is here that we are called upon to create an environment conducive to the child's spiritual development. This will not happen of itself; it must be a conscious and continuing process. The immediate question before us, however, is how do we proceed in our part in this work . . . of all the experiences of childhood there is none that has greater impact than the sight of one's parents kneeling in prayer. There are no words which can convey greater devotion than this, and although the first impact may be covered over by later states of indifference, it can never be completely eradicated.

     Or this, from the chapter entitled "The Curriculum."

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The governing doctrine in the formulation of a New Church curriculum is the doctrine of use. Here we have a primary principle that relates to every field of learning, and which serves as meaningful basis for the ordering of the curriculum. When put in the form of a question it goes to the very heart of the subjects taught, requiring of each a convincing reason for its place in the curriculum. In other words, what is the real use of history, of literature, of the arts, of the sciences, and of the skills which we teach? This is not an over-simplification of the problem. It is the core of all our educational efforts.

     Bishop Pendleton opens the book with a chapter considering values and their central importance in any philosophy of education. In three succeeding chapters he considers the concepts of God which underlie New Church educational values, showing how the Old Testament, New Testament, and Heavenly Doctrines provide an increasingly deep and full idea of God adapted to the needs of developing human minds.
     The next four chapters deal with teachings about man, his distinct nature, and the moral, social, and spiritual motives which should guide him in the journey from infancy and childhood to adult age.
     The remaining six chapters are divided into two groups of three each. The first group treats of knowledges, the education of the will, and remains, dealing with each in ways that should be valuable to parents and teachers alike. The second group is united by the theme of use, introducing this theme in one chapter and developing its application to feminine education and the curriculum in the following two.
     In sum and in its parts, this work should have wide appeal and serve many purposes with all those who are concerned about the education of new generations of children. For as Bishop Pendleton notes:

New Church education . . . is not merely a defensive measure by which we seek to hold our children in a particular religious environment. Implicit in the curriculum is a new approach to truth, an approach which is inherent in the Lord's words to His disciples: "Know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). This often quoted statement has become a shibboleth of the educational world; but it is to be noted that it is quoted out of context, for the teaching is: "If ye continue in My Word . . . ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31, 32). There is a world of difference between these two statements; for whereas the one is open to all manner of interpretations, depending upon what man holds truth to be, the other identifies the Word as the only source of truth.
     Donald C. Fitzpatrick, Jr.

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COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY MINUTES 1985

COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY MINUTES Lorentz Soneson 1985

First Session

     Following a worship service conducted by Bishop Louis R. King in the Cathedral, the first session of the Council of the Clergy was called to order at 3 p.m., Monday, March 4th, in the Cairnwood Village dining room. After words of greeting, Bishop King welcomed Rev. Alain Nicolier and Mr. Harold Eubanks to the Council meetings, as well as candidates Prescott Rogers and Jonathan Rose.
     The Bishop then placed his previously distributed report before the Council. Among items mentioned in his report were several present strengths of the church: interest in the study and discussion of doctrine is at a high level; accommodation to a variety of worship needs is extensive; there is a growing realization of our responsibility in the work of evangelization; the Academy is in a very positive cycle; ministers and teachers are accepting a greater degree of accountability for their professional services; our relationship with other church bodies is improving; and there is a slow but steady numerical growth. Areas of challenge before the church today: freedom is needed for appropriate change in distinctive traditions and rituals; we wish to encourage accountability of the priesthood and response from our societies without converting episcopal forms of government to congregational forms; except for Bryn Athyn the majority of our General Church schools are facing declining enrollment; we must train and place qualified priests and teachers within the confines of our budget; we should maintain and improve ministers' and teachers' salaries; a continual reminder to each generation of our dependence upon New Church education is necessary, both locally and in the Academy schools; we have to deal with problems that are eroding the distinctive strengths of our societies. We must be concerned about the divorce rate and about moral standards. In addition, the Bishop mentioned that financial support of the church on a broad base is essentially poor. Also he observed that we have succeeded in training fine theologians, but they still lack "people skills" for accommodating theology to the laity.
     Bishop King then listed a number of goals for himself in his remaining administrative years. This schedule included gradual introduction into the episcopal use of the Executive Assistant Bishop, to be nominated in March of 1986 and confirmed at the 1987 General Assembly.
     In response to the Bishop's report on ministers' salaries, discussion followed concerning the necessity for wives and ministers to hold "outside" jobs in order to meet expenses. One member reminded his colleagues that meeting worldly standards can lead us away from our true mission, which is to place emphasis on spiritual standards.

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     The report of the Membership Committee was then called for. Mr. Peter Buss, chairman, read again the recommendations of this committee that had been distributed in advance. A discussion followed. In essence the question was: What should be the status of those members of the council who are not actively employed by the General Church or the Academy? This would involve taking part in its governmental affairs, such as the nomination of an Executive or Assistant Bishop. The council moved to discuss it further at the Wednesday session.

Second Session

     The council heard an address by Rev. Donald L. Rose on the subject of doctrinal progress. Mr. Rose had circulated a series of questions and raised matters relating to doctrinal progress in the church. He noted that the thirty-seventh chapter of the Arcana Coelestia treats of teachers and those who preach the doctrine of the Divine Human. This is said to be "supreme among the doctrinals of the church," and yet the simple seem to understand it better than some brilliant people.
     He called attention in particular to TCR 159 which shows that some are highly pleased with the idea of an invisible God but seem to find thought of a visible God unattractive. These might want to climb up some other way than through the Door Himself. Some seemed to prefer to be "muddled by empty words" and gave high praise to a preacher for his sermon. How indignant they were when Swedenborg asked if they understood any of the sermon! (TCR 185). There can be a notion that "deep doctrine" is our goal, and there could be a fondness for a kind of language "composed of lofty-sounding words which induce external holiness and awe, and are utterly unintelligible" (see LJ 56). Swedenborg encountered some who were intent on "deeper" doctrine and warned them that it is presumptuous to climb up to God without approaching the Lord. Their anger at his saying this was dramatically illustrated (see TCR 161).
     Mr. Rose spoke of a "pet turtle syndrome" in which clergymen get popular with the laity (TCR 462). He alluded to church services in which religion could become "a mere matter of thought and something devout in the breathing, and with many merely imaginative and chimerical" (TCR 525). He invited further consideration of the Arcana treatment of Genesis 37, which enjoins upon us the preaching of the Divinity of the Lord's Human (not as something incomprehensible) and emphasis on charity.
     Mr. Rose used a number of examples in the biography of William Benade and de Charms's Harmony of the Gospels to illustrate aspects of genuine doctrinal progress.

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     In the response a number of ideas were presented: We were reminded that the New Church will grow only as false doctrines are eliminated. One minister, reflecting on a recent study of Genesis 38, concluded that he was not thinking deeply enough. He felt that we should not give up the idea of development in the natural mind because it is there that we will gain a deeper understanding of the literal sense to aid us in our development of doctrine. Another said that doctrinal progress is not measured by how deep it becomes. But when doctrine becomes so obvious that we take it for granted because we see it so clearly, that's progress. Someone questioned the concept of derived doctrines, wondering if that itself is "derived." Still another reemphasized that study of doctrine requires hard work. A member pinpointed two false ideas: one, that progress is inevitable, and two, that today we have fallen from the golden ages of the past. After studying the works of some of our first ministers, a colleague questioned whether having the Potts Concordance was a help or not. With great effort and without the Concordance they were able to develop series in their studies, perhaps better than we are doing today. It was mentioned that there have been some fine sermons presented in recent years that are built solidly on doctrine, yet laymen consider them too simple. The reason may be because there are few or no direct quotations from the Writings. One member of the council pointed out that the Writings frequently speak of progress of the individual as well as the human race in moving from one state to another. The golden age was beautiful, for example, but still very simple, and lacking in doctrinal depth. But by the same token, "progress" could be toward confused doctrine or falsity and away from clear understanding of the teachings.
     Mr. Rose in his summary reminded the group of the description of those who are delighted with doctrine but reluctant to see that it has applications to one's life. Mr. Rose said that a shallow sermon was not one lacking in quotes from the Writings but one lacking in enough study and reflection to show how it applies to life. A minister is a poor shepherd if he only teaches and does not lead to the good of life. He remarked that the complexity in which the Lord is secretly preparing us for heaven is far beyond our grasp. And in many ways it is not necessary for us to know. The area in which mankind cooperates with the Lord, however, is in the application to their everyday lives of what people do understand. The speaker's plea was that we not neglect this crucial area in our pursuit of interior doctrine.

Third Session

     The council broke up into small groups to consider the following topics: tithing, led by Rev. John Odhner; preaching to both the young and the old, led by Rev. Daniel Fitzpatrick; a progress report from the Liturgy Committee, made by Rev. Alfred Acton; some comments on Hebrew and Greek translations offered by Rev. Ottar Larsen; and a viewing of the "Genesis" project, a movie being produced to illustrate all the books of the Bible.

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These events were held three times during the week so that all members of the council could attend.

Fourth Session

     Four papers had been circulated in advance on the doctrine of the priesthood. These were then reviewed in summary by the four authors, namely, Rev. Messrs. Bruce Rogers, Frank Rose, Alfred Acton and Willard Heinrichs. Mr. Rogers, who covered the history of the priesthood in our church, emphasized that there appear to be only two degrees of the priesthood. The third one is an outgrowth of licensed laymen, set up at the time of Richard de Charms in the middle of the last century. Mr. Rogers' history of the trinal priesthood began with Augustus Nordenskjold in England in 1789. Next he spoke of Robert Hindmarsh, a founder of the New Church in England, who presented some ideas at the Third General Conference. This brief history mentioned Samuel Noble's address to the Twenty-third General Conference in 1830 and Richard de Charms, his student.
     Mr. Frank Rose, in his paper entitled "The Uncertainty Principle" explained that the application of doctrine is of necessity uncertain, subject to error and open to question. The more we study the Writings, the less sure we will become about our interpretations and applications. In his paper he stated that we take for granted that we have the three degrees in the priesthood because "that is what the Writings teach." However, the Writings seem to say clearly only that there needs to be a system of subordination in the priesthood and that there are some indications of the principle of trines. In fact, we are functioning with two degrees at the present time. The first degree is limited only in rites and sacraments until receiving the blue stole, but not in a distinct degree of subordination. His paper also suggested what questions we can ask and which ones we cannot ask of the Writings. Mr. Rose was in general agreement with the principles presented in Mr. Alfred Acton's paper on church government and the trinal order of the priesthood. But he pleaded that we do not consider it final and perfect. To do so would preclude future changes which are necessary for variety, especially in our ritual, but are also applicable to our forms of church government.
     In Mr. Alfred Acton's summary of his paper on the trinal priesthood he recommended abandoning our present form of the first "degree" (but preferably called "order").

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His suggestion for a trinal order in the priesthood was: first a blue stole for a pastor; a middle degree for those having governmental responsibilities over districts, such as a Bishop's Representative might some day perform, wearing a purple stole; and finally, a third level which we now have, an executive episcopal degree with a red stole.
     Mr. Willard Heinrichs then summarized his paper, "The Duties of the Priesthood and a Review of the Abuses of the Priesthood." In the comments that followed, one speaker felt that there were clearly three levels of government (not necessarily related to three degrees of the priesthood) that were spiritual, moral and civil. The spiritual is governed by influx, the middle by moral obligation and the external government is by civil command or by contract. The ideal form of government is the government of heaven, where there are no restrictions, only one's conscience. Several ministers cautioned not to imply that another tradition in the church (the three degrees of the priesthood) was being challenged and possibly changed. With so many traditions being re- examined in recent years, there can be a disturbance to many of our members.
     After a coffee break small groups reviewed the four papers on the priesthood and then the body reassembled for further exchange of ideas, including the following: Bishop's Representatives, originally established by Bishop Willard D. Pendleton, were designed to assist the Bishop in some episcopal functions. However, this should not be considered a separate degree. Another reminded us that in effect we have only two degrees now because there is only one person still in the first degree, a teaching priest. (Editorial note: Actually at that time there were nine.) Still another person thought that we should perhaps be yielding in externals. Externals, like garments, we are told, can be changed, even when defining degrees of the priesthood. Also, we are speaking of a living organization, and this continually changes form, just as a human body is constantly changing. So we should not dwell too long on the external forms of the organized priesthood, seeking a specific, ideal, perfect organization.
     Mr. Alfred Acton handled closing remarks for this panel. The paper he presented challenged definitions of degrees that are associated with teaching, with pastorhood and with government. His experience at the Academy showed him that there were three orders within the teaching degree: classroom teacher, supervisor of teachers, and the president in charge of administration. All priests by definition should be competent as teachers, as preachers and governors. For the essence of the priesthood is to lead in worship, which is bringing the Divine among men.

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     A workshop was offered that evening by Rev. John Odhner, who had completed a training program entitled "The Stevens Series" on lay ministry. The essence of this program was to learn the skill of training lay men and women to assist the pastor in counseling the troubled marriage, the aged, the sick and the young in each congregation.

Fifth Session

     A paper entitled "Let Us Pray" by Rev. Christopher R. J. Smith was distributed in advance to the council and summarized by him. He began by telling an embarrassing moment in his life when he was asked to give a prayer and was without his Liturgy. Mr. Smith's paper analyzed the whole subject of prayer, its place in our lives and in our role as priests. Mr. Smith had covered similar material in a mini-session at the 1984 General Assembly.
     He drew our attention to the training of our young people and children in prayer to the Lord. A number of members thanked Mr. Smith for his collection of passages on the subject, especially those referring to prayer for others. There was a word of caution about using emotion in our prayers rather than affection. This requires training. It is a skill. Others opined that it is an injustice to teach parishioners that it is wrong to pray for others. Charity is wishing well to the neighbor, and is not this prayer itself! Another said that even though we should pray for what is of the Lord within us, this does not mean words such as appear directly in the Old and New Testaments. One clergyman referred to the saying in the Doctrine of Life that prayer is the as of self. The Lord knows our words even before we say them, but because it is communication, we need to listen carefully to the Lord's answers. Also, it was mentioned that not a single word we utter in prayer reaches the spiritual world. It is only the heart that is heard. The Lord leads our prayers, and in that sense, praying is a learning process as the Lord leads us to open our hearts. Also, the teaching that thought brings presence but love brings conjunction has direct application in our prayers to the Lord about our neighbor, for we are spirits clothed with bodies.
     Following this, Rev. Douglas M. Taylor presented a few comments, "Breathing More Life into Our Worship." This topic was distributed in advance. He explained that the essence of worship is charity. We should be thinking about what we are doing on the chancel as priests. Repeating words in a monotone will come across as boring, if not dead. One of the uses of external worship is to be a means of summoning the presence of heaven and exciting interior things, as well as providing a receptacle for them (see AC 1618). So Mr. Taylor recommended reading the Word affectionally as well as with understanding.

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It is vital to conduct services with affection, to pray with meaning and genuine feeling, and to train the laity to do the same in congregational singing.
     In response several ministers pointed out the value of practicing a sermon several times before delivering it Sunday morning. This allows the minister to have real eye contact and to be thoroughly familiar with his text. It was observed that the more our congregations are trained in church ritual the more they will profit from it. Variety and more participation by our congregations will add more life to our liturgics. Also, if both priest and layman approach worship for the right reasons (to acknowledge, thank, and to humble ourselves before our Maker), ritual and liturgics will come alive and be used by the Lord to inspire and infill us.

Sixth Session

     The council discussed three' topics in separate groups. Rev. Douglas Taylor raised the familiar question of our concept of God. We see Him in His qualities of love and wisdom, and also as a Divine Person, but may struggle to link the two together. When we visualize the Lord as being far off, such as in His laws of Divine Providence, it leads to the problem of separating life and doctrine. It became evident that the clergy is partly to blame for this kind of imbalance when the laity visualizes the Lord.
     Another small group discussion was led by Rev. Messrs. Louis Synnestvedt and Martin Pryke on the subject of "Our Young People in the Church." The question was whether encouraging teenagers to attend church and other religious activities (to fulfill our obligation and responsibility) will in the final analysis take away freedom and genuine interest. A question was also raised about whether we as parents relieve our youth of any responsibilities in their choice of a faith because they are told they are not old enough.
     In a third gathering, led by Rev. Eric Carswell, the subject of the doctrines presented about the Christian Church were analyzed for their purpose and usefulness. We are obviously cautioned about the false doctrines that destroyed that church. They have a potentially lethal effect on our church, and they still persist today. One lesson is not to be so sensitive and conscious of the evils in others, but to look for good and reach out "to the sick, the imprisoned and the naked."
     That evening the ministers and their wives enjoyed a dinner at Glencairn, during which Rev. Geoffrey Howard showed slides of his recent visit to Ghana. This highly informative update on the amazing following of Pastor Garna and some of his trained ministers was warmly received.

497

Seventh Session

     A paper entitled "Betrothal" by Rev. Alfred Acton had been mailed out earlier in the year and was briefly summarized by its author. He explained that the paper was to clarify the difference between the state of the betrothed, which begins at the time of consent, and the rite itself that takes place in a church. To clarify this difference he translated the word as "engagement" when it involved the state of the couple and as "betrothal" when it clearly meant the rite itself. Mr. Acton also asked that the council consider the question: When does the marriage of the minds and souls take place? Mr. Acton suggested that this begins at the time of consent. He also asked that we not label betrothal as a spiritual marriage. He reported that Rev. Lawson Smith prepared a series of classes that can be used in pre-marriage counseling.
     Another speaker suggested that gifts might be exchanged even before consent to marry as in the case of those given to Rebecca. Mr. Acton spoke of the word "solemn" when used in connection with betrothal rites. This word means a ritual and is not necessarily an adjective describing solemnity.
     The council then invited Rev. Donald Rose to speak on the topic of teaching the Memorable Relations appearing in the work Conjugial Love. By way of introduction Mr. Rose played a portion of a recording where skilled readers read directly from the Writings. The portion he selected was Conjugial Love 232, on whether a crow is black or white, read by Dean Robert Gladish of the Academy College. In preparing to teach the book Conjugial Love in a high school course, Mr. Rose turned to the Concordance to see what the Writings themselves say about the Memorabilia. He was sad to report that Potts did not do justice to this subject. The work Conjugial Love is at least forty percent Memorable Relations and when one adds other incidents describing heaven, it would seem a serious error not to include them when teaching the subject. He quoted a number saying it is impossible to teach about conjugial love unless it comes from the mouth of angels.
     Several clergymen responded by emphasizing the need for good translations of these works to increase clarity. One educator said that integration of Memorabilia into the curriculum has made an incredible difference. Hopefully they will be further explored in our religious instruction. One final thought was the suggestion of using Memorabilia as lessons in our worship services.

Eighth Session

     A paper entitled "True Christianity" by Rev. Ottar. Larsen was called for. The speaker said he was inspired to address this subject after hearing his ten-year-old son say "We are not Christians."

498

We should, said the speaker, refer to ourselves simply as Christians as implied in the definitive work The True Christian Religion. Would it not be better to use the term positively, defining what we believe it means based on the teachings of the Old and New Testaments, and refusing to call those people Christians who do not embrace the genuine Christian faith and life? Also. it would be wise not to erect artificial barriers against the Christian world by saying we are separated from them. The name "The New Church" can act as such a barrier.
     In the response that followed, appreciation was expressed for Mr. Larsen's fine collection of passages. However, some saw an imbalance, because a number of passages showing differences of the New Church, the Christian Church and the Jewish Church were overlooked. One speaker believed that the early church fathers of the New Church had a clearer picture of who they were, clearer perhaps than we do today. Another reminded us that the New Church is the only church specific and the Christian Church is a part of the church universal. But when one gets discouraged about church growth we need only to reflect on the Lord's words as expressed in AC 1799 and 1834. The Lord's mercy is continually reaching out to His church universal to worship the Lord as He is revealed in His Word.
     Another remarked that Paul tried to establish the Christian Church within the Jewish one but failed. Indeed, he was often attacked, thus having to turn to the Gentiles. One member pleaded for us to allow the Writings themselves to define true Christianity as in the opening three numbers of the work True Christian Religion. Also, TCR 537 describes people who are well disposed toward seeking to lead the good life, but are not yet ready to accept the New Church in this world. Someone emphasized that it is not a question of "us and them," but those particular truths and falsities that exist in each individual. "Am I a Christian when I do thus and such?" And "When do I crucify the Lord by my daily actions and thoughts?" Someone else felt that the key question coming from this paper is what we call ourselves today. Have we correctly used the phrase "The New Church" with a real understanding of its meaning? It is hoped that we will continue to identify ourselves as Christian. We are, insofar as we think more and more from true charity.
     After a coffee break the Development Officer, Walter Childs, explained to the council the objectives of his office. In the area of fund-raising, he hopes to work with the treasurers of each society to help individuals set up deferred giving to the General Church and the Academy. He is also assisting the treasurers in setting up their five-year programs.

499

He is anxious to further organize the alumni within the church by continuing to send out quarterly newsletters. In addition, Mr. Childs' office has been coordinating data processing within the church, aiding the General Church office in moving data from the addressograph onto a computer for mailing out and collecting information. Also, Mr. Childs is researching ways we can put the Writings onto a computer to aid scholars in studying the Writings. He will be interviewing the clergy in the near future as to how they collect their information in preparing sermons and classes. A question/answer period followed his presentation.
     The body then turned to reports and business. There was a discussion of the recommendation of the Committee on Council Membership to limit those eligible to vote on the executive bishop and the executive assistant bishop to those actively employed. The question was finally called for and defeated.
     A report on internship was asked for from Chairman Rev. Robert Junge. Mr. Junge explained that this was a report for the Bishop because the time of ordination is an episcopal decision. However, the Bishop has asked for counsel from this group to help him in his decision. The recommendation: "A two-year period of internship be instituted" was analyzed in great detail. However, the general consensus was to make the time period flexible. Bishop King raised three questions. Though in favor of an internship period he wondered: first, if it would shift the screening responsibility from the Theological School to the internship period; second, since a high priority in nominating a pastor is confidentiality, it might encourage too wide a public discussion in the congregation; third, it would put unusual pressure on the bishop, for there might be a number of people speaking favorably of the candidate.
     That evening a workshop was offered by Rev. Jan Weiss describing his Outreach Program, a concept for developing our evangelization ideas.

Ninth Session

     Friday morning, following an update on the agenda, several new items were added, such as the texture of Holy Supper bread, life on other planets, and the rebinding of the New King James Version of the Word.
     The report of the President of the Academy was then called for. Mr. Buss, in his thorough review of activities at the Academy, reminded the group that teaching priests are truly in pastoral work and nothing less. He discussed accreditation of both the high school and the college, and assured the council that the schools are in a good state of harmony.

500

He reviewed the subject of the construction of a new library and how the funds were being assembled to do the job, which will probably be completed in 1987. A new course on conjugial love is being prepared for the senior boys and junior girls- and a textbook is being organized for that course by the president.
     In the discussion of this report a number of points were brought to mind, including the question of why more ANC students are not joining the General Church. Mr. Buss thanked the clergy for providing confidential information about prospective students coming to the Academy.
     Mr. Junge gave a report on the Theological School at this time. He asked council members to share good feelings they have about the priesthood with young men, and not just complaints.
     A report from the editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE was asked for and Mr. Donald Rose gave a brief one. He said that he is now on the Board of Directors of the Swedenborg Foundation, which allows him to have a broader perspective of various church organizations. He emphasized that he did not want NEW CHURCH LIFE to become a priests' magazine, and hoped more of the laity could be encouraged to submit articles. He wished that we could have another specialized publication for lengthy articles.
     The few minutes left in this final meeting were given to Mr. Ottar Larsen to summarize his paper, "True Christianity."
     The final session ended with a benediction by Bishop King.
          Lorentz Soneson,
               Secretary
NCL 50 YEARS AGO 1985

NCL 50 YEARS AGO 1985

There was news from Pittsburgh in the November issue of 1935. They were celebrating their 50th year of consecutive New Church education. "We hope to make this a most important year in the history of the society" (p. 395). Their pastor and school principal was Rev. Willard D. Pendleton. They had twenty pupils in their school. (Elsewhere in this issue you will find that there are 27 pupils in that school and a justifiably proud society after a century of consecutive New Church education.)
The school year opened in 1935 in Pittsburgh with a talk by Willard Pendleton on education. And in the present issue we have a review of his new book, Education for Use.

501

HALLEY'S COMET 1985

HALLEY'S COMET Rev. DENNIS DUCKWORTH 1985

     From an Address to the Swedenborg Society

     I should like to speak about the famous Halley's Comet and about two learned men with whom Swedenborg was acquainted in his youth-Edmond Halley, after whom the comet is named, and Rev. John Flamsteed, the first Astronomer-Royal.
     As you probably know, Halley's Comet is expected to appear in our skies towards the end of this year or early next year. It comes round every 75 or 76 years-the slight variation in time resulting (so we are taught) from planetary gravitational pulls. It was here last in 1910-just in time to herald the famous Swedenborg International Congress, held in London to mark the centenary of this society-The Swedenborg Society.
     Halley's Comet! I guess you are wondering why your president should be speaking about Halley's Comet. But why not? It can teach us a lesson as New Church people and members of the Swedenborg Society.
     Edmond Halley was a renowned astronomer known to Swedenborg personally. The youthful Swedenborg met him in London and Oxford, conversed with him, admired him, and in some ways modeled his scientific thinking upon him. We know this from Swedenborg's letters to his brother-in-law, Eric Benzelius.
     In 1710, the young Emanuel, twenty-two years old, fresh from Uppsala University and thirsting for knowledge, came to England for two years. Halley was in the prime of his Life; that is to say, he was fifty-four! He was Savilian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford, and Honorary Doctor of Civil Law. He had already published-five years before Swedenborg's coming-his great work on cometary orbits, a work which was to make him famous and was to link his name forever with the comet-Halley's Comet! This, then, was one of the two learned astronomers whom the young Swedenborg came to know and admire.
     The other great man personally known to Swedenborg at this time was Rev. John Flamsteed, the first Astronomer-Royal. Poor old Flamsteed! Hardly able to keep body and soul together on a stipend of one hundred pounds per annum from the Royal Greenwich Observatory, he was obliged to take Holy Orders to eke out a living, and became Vicar of Burstow in Surrey. (How times change, don't they?!) Flamsteed was an older man, and was sixty-four when the young Swedenborg first met him in 1710.

502

And whereas Halley was bluff, voluble, and even boisterous, Flamsteed was a dour, unhappy puritan, often sick. Yet, like Halley, he was a fine astronomer, and one whose name will always remain for his great work of mapping and cataloguing the starry heavens.
     Swedenborg writes of both Halley and Flamsteed with equal admiration. And yet (here's an interesting thing!) although he never mentions it, he must have been aware of the great rivalry and antagonism that existed between those two learned men at that time-a situation so strained that direct communication between them had become impossible, and information could only be exchanged through a third party, usually Isaac Newton. This, then, is how it was when Swedenborg (or Svedberg as I suppose he was then properly called) came onto the London scene in the days of good Queen Anne.
     But to return to Halley's Comet, which is one of the largest ones known: comets are luminous and nebulous; that is to say, they shine, but are cloudy in appearance. Usually they have a tail, or a beard; in fact, the word "comet" is from a Greek word meaning "a hairy tail." They are composed of gases, and emit electrical discharges. They travel each in its own particular orbit and therefore have periodic, and so predictable, times of visibility. Indeed, the most significant thing about the comets we know is that they seem to stick to their orbit and keep on returning! Halley's Comet, for example, appeared in 1682, 1758, 1835 and 1910; and it will adorn our starry skies this winter!
     Of course, in the past, comets have been regarded with much superstition, being seen as portents of great events, good or bad. For example, it is known that Halley's Comet (as we now call it) appeared before the death of Julius Caesar, and also ill 1066 before the Battle of Hastings. I wonder what great event Halley's Comet will portend for us this winter. Perhaps the appearance of our new Swedenborg Society Magazine, mentioned by our chairman of council. Let us hope so! But to be serious: there is much we can learn from Swedenborg's science. His scientific knowledge is an essential part of the great structure of his thought and philosophy-even of his illumination and seership.
     As far as I have been able to discover, there is only one clear reference to a comet in the Writings. True Christian Religion 339 treats of man's true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as God visible. But "Faith in an invisible God is like a comet with a long tail, which simply passes by and disappears." This is the kind of faith that goes on and on, and round and round, and -gets nowhere. Faith in an invisible God is natural faith-not spiritual or celestial. It is orbital faith, not spiral or vortical.
     We might say, then, that the lesson of Halley's Comet (when we see it in the London sky this Christmas) is simply this: In all our work as New Church people, and as members of the Swedenborg Society, let us center our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the visible God of heaven and earth, and combine our faith with love to Him, and charity towards our neighbor.

503

DO-IT-YOURSELF DOCTRINAL STUDY 1985

DO-IT-YOURSELF DOCTRINAL STUDY George H. Woodard 1985

     A Group Experiment

     Four years ago several Bryn Athyn couples got together and wove a dream. We saw a need for more active participation by laymen in doctrinal studies-a need to overcome the temptation to treat doctrinal classes as spectator events. Our feeling was not that we, a lay group, should try to develop new doctrinal concepts. Our purpose was simply to exercise our minds in reaching for deeper appreciation of established doctrinal truths and, through group discussion, to build these into our consciousness and daily lives. In short, we felt that the as-of-self principle was in need of thoughtful exercise within the field of doctrinal study.
     Thus, in the fall of 1981 we organized a group of seven (now six) couples, including a minister and his wife. Unlike most privately organized study groups, this was not to be structured as a "class" in the traditional manner-a course of lectures or discussions conducted or at least led by a minister. Rather, each couple, in turn, would outline in advance the appropriate study material and would later act as hosts for the meeting, with the husband leading the discussion. The minister and his wife would take their turn as host-leader like any other couple.
     However, the minister would also, and most importantly, serve as the group's "resource person"-the man to whom we would turn for moderation, correction and doctrinal clarification, and also the man to whom a leader might go for suggestions of source materials in preparing for the next group meeting. This is asking a lot in the way of patience and self-effacement of an experienced minister who in most of his public appearances is accustomed to taking the leading role. Rev. George McCurdy and his charming wife Lois have met this unusual challenge most graciously and with much dignity, sustaining the as-of-self spirit of the undertaking while giving needed guidance on thorny doctrinal questions. Their contribution has been indispensable.
     With our "charter" written, our next challenge was to develop effective modes of attack: how to select discussion topics; how to provide adequate reading materials and study outlines for members to study beforehand; how to lead discussions in such a way as to cover the assigned ground while giving every member a chance to speak his/her mind; how to subdue the everlasting human instinct to offer endless personal experiences as illustrations of doctrinal principles; and so on.

504

Obviously, we didn't foresee all of these problems but we certainly collided with them as we went along and, I think, met each one with reasonable success-and undoubtedly will meet more ahead.
     How to provide continuity of subject matter from one meeting to the next when each meeting is chaired by a different leader? Sounds simple, doesn't it? Just take a section of the Writings and progress in order from chapter to chapter. Fine, except that laymen, lacking the minister's academic discipline, often find difficulty in applying themselves effectively to abstract subjects not of their own choosing. We actually did manage such an approach last year in a study of the grand man from the interchapter sections of the Arcana. The experience was rewarding, although not an altogether easy one for some of the discussion leaders-the writer included.
     In the very beginning we achieved remarkably good continuity in a series of discussions guided not by sequential readings but by a defined topic in which the entire group was much interested-the doctrine of use. This subject is not wholly developed in sequential fashion in any one volume of the Writings but appears strongly in many separate passages, often in the development of some other leading doctrine. Fortunately, however, use has been the subject of many excellent studies since the earliest days of the church. These papers, along with appropriate selections from the Writings identified in various reference works, gave us ample food for thought and, likewise, more than ample work for laymen untrained in such research. Some of us emerged with a new respect for our ministers' labors in preparing weekly sermons and doctrinal classes!
     After the second year, during which we undertook such topics as regeneration and Divine Providence, there was an increasing desire in the group to focus more upon the letter of the Word. So we started the third year by encouraging the lead couple to pick a subject of special interest to themselves without particular regard to continuity. Among these free choice topics, all based upon the letter, have been the twenty-third Psalm, an overview of the book of Psalms, the brief book of Joel, the tower of Babel, the story of Cain and Abel, and a study of the correspondence of trees in their many different forms. These free-style excursions have served to lighten the heavier sequences of formal doctrine and also have fit quite conveniently into meetings too close to holidays or season's end for continuing programs.

505

     At other times our program has centered upon preparations for Christmas, Easter and New Church Day. These discussions have also provided especially good opportunities for concentration upon the letter of the Word.
     From the beginning, the most effective size and composition of the group have been a topic of frequent discussion. We must admit that good luck rather than planning seems to have settled these questions. Bowing to Providence, we are now very happy with both our membership and size. We find that six couples fit comfortably into our various living rooms and also that rotation of leadership happens at about the right frequency. Likewise, on sequential topics we can just about cover the program in six meetings, thereby giving each couple a shot at the subject. The members range in age from just over forty to just under eighty, and their occupations from the priesthood and teaching to engineering and management consulting. All we need to round us out is a lawyer! It is fascinating to see the warm friendships that have developed within a group which would probably never have been thus drawn together except by this strong mutual use.
     We normally meet every two weeks from early September to late May, with longer intervals at Christmas and Easter. During the past three years we have averaged fourteen meetings per season. Each formal discussion session is held to one hour, after which we conclude with refreshments and informal conversation, in the course of which the outline for the next meeting is handed out with comments.
     In June of each year we now hold a "commencement" dinner, at which our efforts of the past year are reviewed. Topics for the coming year are suggested and weighed, and a specific subject chosen for the start of the fall season. This year we are planning to begin with a series on the conjugial principle as applied to all of life. Our dinner meeting last June reflected a feeling of great reward for the efforts that all members have contributed to this experiment and confidence in the success of our undertaking.
     Lastly, we would acknowledge that while our particular style of do-it-yourself doctrinal study has evolved without conscious knowledge of a prior model, we realize that other groups elsewhere have been working toward similar ends. All of us, of course, start with the same set of Divinely given guidelines and, in this sense, none of our efforts can truly be claimed as unique.
     In reading over these notes my co-host partner and severest critic remarked, "This sounds as if we had a beautiful, set Plan and have followed it smoothly and faithfully from the start."

506

Obviously, this couldn't have happened in the real world; this has been and continues to be an experiment. We have stumbled and swerved, to be sure. But the wonderful thing is that our original objective is still intact and the dream with which we started four years ago is really coming true.
     George H. Woodard,
          Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania

     Editor's Note: The group described above is composed of:

William and Barbara Buick      George and Lois McCurdy
Robert and Bonnie Frazier      Paul and Beryl Simonetti
Bruce and Vera Glenn           George and Nancy Woodard
FROM THE WASHINGTON ECHO ABOUT MR. ROWLAND TRIMBLE 1985

FROM THE WASHINGTON ECHO ABOUT MR. ROWLAND TRIMBLE 1985

     On July 29, Rowland Trimble laid aside the body which had housed his spirit for 96 years and went home to the Lord. Mr. Trimble, known affectionately to several generations as "Uncle Rowland," was generous and unassuming by nature. Nevertheless, he was always happy to discuss the things he loved: gardening, history, especially the history of the General Church, and, above all, the doctrines of the New Church. He discovered the Writings at the age of 14, first joining Convention and later being baptized and joining the General Church.
     At the time of his death, he had been married to Chara Schott for 58 years. Over those years, countless visitors to their home in Laurel, Maryland, were inspired by, and remember fondly, the wonderful sphere of that household.
     We can only imagine the joy with which he has awakened in the other world to renew old friendships and make new ones, and to be reunited with his daughters, Mary Beth and Marcia. To Mrs. Trimble, their children Bea Newkirk and Joel Trimble, and their families, we offer those warm affections which are stirred by our memories of him.
NCL 100 YEARS AGO 1985

NCL 100 YEARS AGO 1985

The November issue in 1885 has an interesting article entitled "Uses and Means." It begins as follows:

"Our Father who art in the heavens." Day by day we utter these words; yet, do we realize what their utterance implies? Do we carry the childlike trust and confidence which the prayer to Him as our Father implies, into every single act of our daily round of duties?

507

LOCAL SCHOOLS DIRECTORY 1985

     1985-1986

BRYN ATHYN: Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr           Principal
               Mrs. Neil Buss                    Vice-Principal
          Rev. Wendel Barnett               Assistant to the Principal
               Mrs. Barbara Synnestvedt           Master Teacher
               Mrs. Peter Gyllenhaal                Supervisor of Remedial and Support Uses
               Mrs. Bruce Rogers                Kindergarten
               Mrs. Prescott Rogers                Kindergarten
          Miss Judith Elphick               Kindergarten
               Mrs. Charles Lindrooth                Grade 1
               Mrs. Charles Quintero               Grade 1
               Mrs. Grant Doering                Grade 2
               Mrs. Hugh Gyllenhaal                Grade 2
          Miss Jacqueline Biers               Grade 2
          Mr. Stephen Morley (Head Teacher - Primary)     Grade 3
          Miss Freya Heinrichs               Grade 3
               Miss Rosemary Wyncoll (Head Teacher - Intermediate)     Grade 4
               Mrs. Willard Heinrichs               Grade 4
               Mrs. David Doering                Grade 5
          Mrs. Steven Lindrooth                Grade 5
                    Mrs. Dennis Halterman               Grade 6
               Mr. Carl Engelke                     Grade 6
               Mrs. Ralph Wetzel                Girls-Grade 7
               Mr. Reed Asplundh                    Boys-Grade 7
               Mrs. Peter Stevens                Girls-Grade 8
               Mr. Robert Beiswenger (Head Teacher - Upper)     Boys-Grade 8
          Miss Nina Glebe                    Art
          Mrs. Hyland Johns, Jr.               Art Director
               Mr. Richard Show                     Music Director
          Mrs. Douglas Taylor               Music
               Mr. Robert Eidse                Physical Education

          Mrs. Harry Risley                Physical Education
               Mrs. Robert Alden                    Librarian

DETROIT:      Rev. Walter E. Orthwein           Principal
               Rev. Patrick A. Rose                Assistant
               Mrs. Stanford Lehner                Grades 1-3
               Mr. Steven Synnestvedt               Grades 4-6

DURBAN:     Rev. Geoffrey H. Howard           Headmaster
          Rev. James P. Cooper               Religion
          Miss Marian Homber                Grades 1-3
               Mrs. Oonagh M. Pienaar                Grades 4-7

508

GLENVIEW:     Rev. Brian Keith                    Pastor, Religion
               Mr. R. Gordon McClarren           Principal, Math, Science
          Miss Marie Odhner                    Kindergarten, Grade 1, 3
               Mrs. Donald Alan                     Grades 1, 2
          Mrs. Benjamin McQueen                Art, Grades 3, 4
               Mrs. Daniel Wright                Head Teacher, Grades 5, 6
               Mrs. Kent Fuller                     Grades 7, 8
               Rev. Eric Carswell                Religion
               Rev. Grant Schnarr                Religion
               Mrs. John Donnelly                Music, Physical Education
               Mrs. William Hugo                Librarian

KEMPTON:      Rev. Jeremy Simons               Principal, Social Studies, Music
               Rev. Arne Bau-Madsen               Religion
               Mr. Yorvar Synnestvedt                Language Arts
               Mrs. Ian Keal                    Kindergarten
               Mrs. William Griffin               Grades 1-3
          Rev. Robin Childs                    Grades 4-6

KITCHENER:      Mr. Karl E. Parker               Principal
               Rev. Christopher R. J. Smith      Religion
               Rev. Andrew M. T. Dibb               Religion
               Mrs. Erwin Brueckman                Kindergarten
               Mrs. Ernest Watts                Grades 1, 2
               Mrs. Claire Bostock                Grades 3, 4
               Mrs. Robert Miller               Grades 5, 6
          Mrs. Andrew M. T. Dibb               French 7, 8
          Mrs. Christopher R. J. Smith          Composition, Spelling 7, 8

MIDWESTERN     Rev. Eric Carswell               Principal, Religion, History
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. John Donnelly               Music, Physical Education
          Mrs. Grant Schnarr                First term Art
          Mrs. Ronald Holmes                Typing
          Miss Yvonne Alan                    French

PITTSBURGH: Rev. Ray Silverman                    Religion
          Mrs. Franz Sammt                    Kindergarten
               Miss Julie David                     Grades 1, 2
               Miss Marcia Smith                Grades 3, 4
          Mr. Curtis L. McQueen               Principal, Grades 5, 6
          Mrs. Paul Schoenberger                Grades 5, 6

SAN DIEGO:      Rev. Cedric King                    Principal
               Miss Erin Junge                    Kindergarten, Grade 1
               Miss Karen Schnarr                Head Teacher, Grades 3-5

509

TORONTO:      Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs, Jr.           Pastor, Religion
               Rev. Louis D. Synnestvedt           Ass't Pastor, Religion, P.E.
          Mrs. Richard Parker, Mrs. Philip Longstaff     Kindergarten
          Miss Sara Morley                    Grades 1-3
               Mrs. Richard Cook                Grades 1-3
               Mrs. Lee Horigan                Grades 4-6
          Mr. Philip Schnarr                Principal, Grades 7, 8
          Mrs. Mark Wyncoll                    Geography

WASHINGTON: Rev. Lawson M. Smith                Principal
          Rev. Kenneth J. Alden                Ass't. to the Principal, Religion, etc.
          Miss Emily Barry                Grades 1, 2
          Mr. James Roscoe                Humanities, Language Arts
          Mrs. Fred Waelchli                Math, Language Arts
          Mrs. Jeremy Odhner               Language Arts

     SCHOOL ENROLLMENTS

     1985-1986

     The Academy

Theological School (Full Time)     6
College (Full Time)               129
Girls School                    102
Boys School                         114
     Total Academy               351

     Midwestern Academy

Grades 9 and 10                    15

     Local Schools

Bryn Athyn                         287
Detroit                         13
Durban                         21
Glenview                         40
Kempton                         32
Kitchener                         40
Pittsburgh                         27
San Diego                         12
Toronto                         22
Washington                         16

     Total Local Schools          510
     Total Reported Enrollment
          in All Schools          876

510

Editorial Pages 1985

Editorial Pages Editor 1985

     A FAVORITE VOLUME OF THE WRITINGS SPHERES AND THE LORD'S TEMPTATIONS

     In the August issue we began to give reasons why many count the second volume of the Arcana Coelestia as one of their favorite volumes of the Writings. And the new translation by John Elliott should be a focus of attention at this tithe.
     Some of the most striking teachings about the Lord's temptations are to be found in this volume, and many find that they come to know the Lord personally when they enter into an understanding of His temptations. For we find that what is involved here is pure love. Let us quote parts of the striking passages from this volume as rendered in the new translation.

     The Lord's life was love toward the whole human race; indeed it was so great and of such a nature as to be nothing other than pure love. Against this life of His, temptations were directed constantly . . . (1690).
     The Lord was filled repeatedly with an inmost confidence and faith that because it was pure love out of which He was fighting for the salvation of the whole human race, He could not but be victorious (1812).
     The nature of the Lord's love surpasses all human understanding and is unbelievable in the extreme to people who do not know what heavenly love is in which angels abide. To save a soul from hell the angels think nothing of giving their own lives; indeed if it were possible they would suffer hell themselves in place of that soul. Consequently their inmost joy is to transport into heaven someone rising from the dead. They confess, however, that that love does not originate one little bit in themselves but that every single aspect of it does so in the Lord alone. Indeed they are incensed if anyone thinks anything different (2077).

     Between chapters in this volume are such subjects as dreams, and one of the subjects treated of in a striking way is the subject of human spheres. In the spiritual world the sphere of a person can be manifest to the senses in various ways. It is taught, for example, that a person who is permeated with a high opinion of himself exudes a sphere of self-regard. That sphere is in all his thought and speech, and we are told it is "in every detail of his bodily gestures" (1505). (We hope in a later issue to publish an article on "body language" expounding such teachings.)

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In the old translation, instead of "every detail of his bodily gestures" was the phrase "in the particulars of his bearing." (The Latin is in singulis gestus.) This is one example of better phrase choices in the new translation.

     WRITING LETTERS

     In October we referred to a saying that in heaven they write and send letters (Spiritual Diary 5563). We alluded to an article in the magazine Guideposts. That article (in the August issue) reminds us of how much a letter can be appreciated by someone who is in the hospital. The advocate of letter writing gives a number of suggestions, and here are the first two:

     1. SHORT IS SWEET. IF YOU wait to write till you have time to produce a lengthy masterpiece, you may never get around to it. Plain words are better than grand, and short notes better than manuscripts.
     2. DON'T WORRY ABOUT BEING FANCY. For years (says the writer) I've received notes of encouragement from an old teacher. Usually he'll use postcards, but from time to time old receipts or other scratch paper.

     In his concluding sentence the writer suggests this application of the Golden Rule. "Write to others as you would like to be written to" (Guideposts, August, 1985)

     One of the uses of letter writing noted in that article is to bring cheer and encouragement to other people. An eminent example of a short letter of genuine good cheer is the one carried by a little boy in heaven. (At a distance he seemed like a dove with a leaf in its mouth.) It was a letter to Swedenborg, bidding him to tell the inhabitants of the world in which he was living that there really is a love truly conjugial (CL 293:6).
     Because letters have seemed to be less fashionable we are defending their usefulness, and we would add that it seems to us that some of the most productive doctrinal discussions are those carried on between individuals by letter. When you try to put your point of view in writing you are not only constrained to be precise about it, you know that in the future you may have to reconcile stated points with what you have already stated, for a letter keeps it on record.
     The characteristic of our church at this day is that it is small and widely scattered around the world. Communication, therefore, is important to us in our wish to encourage one another, to share and sharpen our doctrinal interest.

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     THE SWEDENBORG SOCIETY PUBLISHES VOLUME 3 OF ARCANA COELESTIA

     We have received a copy of an attractive and excellent brochure from the Swedenborg Society on the first three volumes of the Arcana Coelestia. Write to us if you would like a copy of the brochure. From it we excerpt the following:
     The title may be in Latin, but everything else is in plain English-the best modern English consistent with what Swedenborg actually wrote. This amazing work unlocks the inner meanings of Genesis and Exodus. John Elliott's sensitive translation follows the original as it takes the Biblical stories and carefully removes the outer coverings verse by verse. An inexhaustible treasure chest for anyone interested in the secret workings of the human mind and spirit.
     Volume three continues to show how the story of Abraham is an account of the formation of the Divine Human. It details many of the spiritual perils that beset mankind, and deals in profound psychological terms with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The people and places of these Old Testament stories denote spiritual priorities, as for example in the minute examination of Faith as contained in the adventures of Abimelech. Other scriptural archetypes express such things as knowledge, charity, and the role of the intellect. This volume unravels their complex relationships, and includes a detailed analysis of Temptation epitomized in the story of Abraham and Isaac. There are spiritual world observations about children, memory, marriage, and freedom.
PITTSBURGH NEW CHURCH SCHOOL ENTERS SECOND CENTURY 1985

PITTSBURGH NEW CHURCH SCHOOL ENTERS SECOND CENTURY 1985

     The Pittsburgh New Church school has embarked on its 101st consecutive year of operation. What a milestone! They have this year adopted a new flag (see photograph). As we go to print they are working on a statement of the school's philosophy. It will probably include words something like this:

     The purpose of a Christian education in the New Church is to come to know the Lord, and to discover one's own delight in following Him.

     This process begins at home, and deepens as the child gradually learns to take more and more initiative and responsibility for him or herself. Our church is committed to a definite set of beliefs. One of these beliefs is that each individual needs to learn how to read the Lord's Word for himself, looking for ways to apply it to his own life.

     There is something special about this school. Just ask someone who has taught there or sent children there or who attended that school as a student.
     Congratulations, Pittsburgh, on your proud past and on the spirit you have as you look to the future.

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[Photo of: the Pittsburgh New Church School (taken September, 1985) and of their flag]

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OUR ATTITUDE 1985

OUR ATTITUDE Annabel Junge 1985

     Communications
Dear Editor,
     The sermon, "Our Attitude Toward People Outside the New Church," by Donald Rogers in the September NEW CHURCH LIFE is an excellent one, containing many good ideas that are applicable for all of us.
     I would like to take exception, however, to one idea that appears therein and that seems to me to be referred to over and over again by New Churchmen. That is the idea that all non-New Churchmen believe that faith is the only thing that saves them.
     This seems to me to be a completely out-dated idea and, I must confess, riles up my "remains." Just because Luther broke from the Catholic Church using "Faith Alone" as a method of doing so does not mean that the Lutherans (or other Protestants) of today believe salvation is through faith alone.
     Rather, I believe, the obstacle in our religion to many people is that they do not wish to take the time to study the Word and the Writings, and to apply themselves to the doctrines taught therein.
     The fact that we do try to take the time to read and apply does not, of course, as Rev. Rogers points out, make us any better than those who do not wish to do so. But perhaps it should make us more diligent in our own efforts.
     Annabel Junge,
          Glenview, Illinois
JACOB DUCHE 1985

JACOB DUCHE Naomi G. Smith 1985

Dear Editor,
It's stated in the July 1985 NEW CHURCH LIFE that Jacob Duche was "a zealous friend of liberty and his country" and "most important of all he was a New Churchman." That Duche was a sincere follower of Swedenborg appears beyond dispute, but even the kindest interpreter of his activities during the Revolution could regard them as little less than treasonous.
On October 16, 1777, George Washington wrote the president of congress about "a letter of a very curious and extraordinary nature which I thought proper to transmit to Congress."

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General Washington says that he would have returned the letter unopened if he'd had any idea of the contents, and ends, "Not withstanding the author's assertion, I cannot but suspect that this Measure did not originate with him, and that he was induced to it, by the hope of establishing his interest and peace more effectually with the Enemy."1
     Who had so exercised the father of our country at a time when the War of Independence was going poorly, some said, disastrously? It was the very same Rev. Jacob Duche, writing to try to convince Washington to rescind the Declaratios of Independence and declare an immediate cessation of hostilities. An extract from the fourteen-page letter on folio size paper will give its flavor better than a summary.
     "Perhaps it may be said that it is 'better to die than to be Slaves.' This is indeed a splendid maxim in theory: and perhaps in some instances may be found experimentally true. But where there is the least Probability of an happy Accommodation, surely Wisdom and Humanity call for some Sacrifices to be made to prevent inevitable Destruction . . . 'Tis to you, and you alone your bleeding Country looks, and calls aloud for this Sacrifice. Your Arm alone has Strength sufficient to remove this Bar. May Heaven inspire you with the glorious Resolution of exerting this Strength at so interesting a Crisis, and thus immortalizing Yourself as Friend and Guardian of your Country!"2
     Mr. Duche has evidently undergone a change of heart since the stirring prayer he offered before Congress in 1774. Whether this change was due to the fact that he was arrested by Sir William Howe when the latter took Philadelphia or a sincere matter of conscience no one but Mr. Duche knows. The fact remains that Duche spent only one night in prison and shortly after his release left for England where he remained throughout the war and until 1792.
     Dr. William White of Christ Church. who had trained for the ministry under Mr. Duche and had a high regard for his mentor's probity, puts the matter plainly:

     To his country, he [Duche] had become obnoxious, in consequence of a letter written by him to General Washington entreating him to use his influence with the congress, for the putting of an end to the war: and in the event of their refusing to negotiate at the head of the army. It was a very incorrect measure, but induced by despair of the American cause, and to spare the effusion of blood. On the other hand, Mr. Duche must have been aware that his having officiated as chaplain to congress, even after the declaration of independence, was known to his superiors in England. To appease in that quarter was the professed object of his voyage.3

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     I share this because it is important to be aware of the whole story when recounting tales of early New Churchmen. An interesting footnote is that when Mr. Duche finally did return to America, he asked for and was granted a visit with President Washington who "manifested generous sensibility" to the old gentleman who had suffered a stroke while in England. It would appear that Washington felt Mr. Duche was an honorable man and it would be well to let bygones be bygones. And as long as we know and acknowledge Duche's questionable exploits as well as his undisputed belief in Swedenborg, so, perhaps, should we.
     Naomi G. Smith,
          Glenview, Illinois

1 Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, John C. Fitzpatrick, Ed., U.S. Govt. Printing Office, Vol. 9
2 Ibid.
3 Memoir of the Life of the Rt. Rev. William White, D. D., Bird Wilson, D.D., James Kay, Pittsburgh, 1839
HELP ON QUESTIONS 1985

HELP ON QUESTIONS Kurt Simons 1985

Dear Editor,
I would like to offer a response to the question raised in A Layman's letter in the August LIFE. He wanted to know how to answer those more involved theological questions in discussing the church with others, since he is not a "professional pastor or theologian." He cited an example of a question from a Jehovah's Witness.
My own experience with this perennial problem suggests that, in fact, there are no tough questions, only, sometimes, "tough" people who ask questions. In other words, as the Writings point out, there are those seeking information from the affirmative principle and those from the negative principle. Those looking from the affirmative principle really want to know and won't attack your answers, debate style, as the example quoted in A Layman's letter appears to do. If you're hungry, you don't harass the cook! A truly spiritually hungry person isn't out to get you on the spot, and is more than glad to accept the reply that you'll look up the answer or talk to an expert. Indeed, the answers to all such questions may be a more telling reply than the technical theological point you don't know at the moment.

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That sphere speaks directly to your questioner's affections, his needs that underlie the questions his understanding is asking you.
     This is not to suggest that all who press you, apparently aggressively, like the question in A Layman's letter, are asking from the negative principle-i.e., interested mainly in confirming their own beliefs. But it doesn't require spiritual judgment to see that many of the people interested in getting into a religious discussion are quite content in their own beliefs and may just enjoy such discussion-or are trying to convert you!-which can be good fun, not to mention excellent practice for the "real thing," evangelistically speaking, when it comes.

     In sum, my experience from many such discussions is that you don't have to be a doctrinal expert, or even much more than an amateur, to be an effective evangelist. You just have to care, and let that "light shine." Furthermore, you can achieve amateur status from a standing start just by reading summaries such as Brian Kingslake's Swedenborg Explores the Spiritual Dimension or K. R. Alden's City of God. (Reading these will surprise you with how much basic doctrine you knew after all.) Then just develop the habit of dropping very small tidbits of doctrine into your conversations in the best "fishers of men" tradition. The people who really want to know will nibble-and come back for more.
     Kurt Simons,
          Lutherville, Maryland
APPLICATIONS FOR ADMISSION TO THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH COLLEGE 1985

APPLICATIONS FOR ADMISSION TO THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH COLLEGE 1985

     Requests for application forms for admission to the Academy College for 1986-87 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 1, 1986, if the applicant is to avoid a $40 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.

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SIXTY-SECOND BRITISH ASSEMBLY 1985

SIXTY-SECOND BRITISH ASSEMBLY Rev. Kenneth O. Stroh 1985

     On the weekend of July 14th, 1985, nearly one hundred people-men, women and children-came into London, England, for the 62nd British Assembly of the General Church. Members of the church in Great Britain were looking forward to welcoming Rev. and Mrs. Douglas M. Taylor. Mr. Taylor had been sent by the Bishop to represent him, and to preside at the assembly.
     On Friday evening, twenty-four young people descended on Swedenborg House in London for a meeting of the Young Adults Discussion Group-a group which meets monthly to discuss various topics in the light of the Writings. This evening, with Mr. Taylor present, the subject was "Disease and Influx," prepared and introduced by Mr. Stephen Elphick. After the discussion the group enjoyed a social time in a nearby pub.
     On Saturday morning, people began to assemble at Michael Church, in Brixton, south London. Under warm, sunny skies, old friends greeted each other outside the church building. There were familiar faces from the United States and Norway, as well as from Great Britain. Refreshments were available to promote our physical well-being, so that we were prepared to sit attentively to try to take in whatever spiritual nourishment might be offered to us.
     The first session of the assembly was held in Longfield Hall, a large auditorium next door to the church, and rented for the occasion. Rev. Frederick C. Elphick, pastor of the host society, welcomed everyone, and introduced Mr. Taylor, who then took on the chairmanship of the assembly. After expressing his and his wife's delight at being in England, he, in turn, introduced the speaker for the first session, Rev. Kenneth O. Stroh. The subject of this session was "The Holy Supper." The speaker noted the power of the sacrament to strengthen both our love of the Lord and love of our neighbor, and expressed the hope that the use of the communion will grow among us. Following the session. all went next door to Michael Church, where a "lunch"- actually a very satisfying hot meal-was provided downstairs by the Michael Church Women's Guild. How ninety-one people ever fitted into that room still is a mystery to some of us.
     The afternoon proceedings upstairs began with the annual general meeting of the General Church of the New Jerusalem Council Ltd.-the fiscal organization that handles the financial affairs of the General Church in Great Britain.

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This was followed by the business meeting of the assembly, during which Rev. Fred Elphick's pending editorship of the General Church's British News Letter was ratified. Then came the second session and the president's address. Mr. Taylor spoke to us about evangelization-stressing what it is (annunciation concerning the Lord) and what it is not (looking to an increase in numbers as an end in itself). His presentation was received with the same enthusiasm with which it was presented.
     After a two-hour break, all returned to Longfield Hall for the assembly banquet, which was followed by a social organized by the John Burniston family. They provided an attractive marriage of entertainment, which included a skit, vocal solos, piano solos, community singing, social dancing, and which featured Rev. Taylor singing and explaining the Australian national song, "Waltzing Matilda." A delightful evening.
     Sunday morning saw people traveling for many miles to get to Michael Church. That's what people in the London area do to get to church-travel many miles. They came for the assembly service-which included a talk to children, a sermon, both given by Mr. Taylor, and the celebration of the Holy Supper. After lunch (really a full Sunday dinner, again put on by the Women's Guild), the third and final session was held upstairs in the church. This time the speaker was Rev. Ottar T. Larsen, who addressed us on the subject "Celestial Love and the New Church." After expressions of gratitude to Rev. and Mrs. Taylor, and to the Elphicks and the Michael Church assembly committees, the session concluded with the singing of Psalm 19, followed by the benediction. And another British Assembly was over.
     After refreshments (Women's Guild again) many said their goodbyes and left for home, while about fifty or so of us made it to the home of the Michael Church pastor and his family for an informal open house and buffet supper in the garden.
     British assemblies currently are being held at two-year intervals, alternating between Colchester and London. This assembly was marked by full, continuing and vigorous discussion from the floor. Each of the presentations at the three sessions brought forth a response that could have continued far beyond the allotted time. This lay participation, besides providing encouragement to the pastors, helps to promote that sense of communion which is so vital to the health of the General Church in Great Britain.
     Rev. Kenneth O. Stroh

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CAMP TAHOE-'85 1985

CAMP TAHOE-'85 Peggy Merrell 1985

     While we were gathered together at the end of a very successful week-long camp, one of our members warned us of the dire consequences of spreading the good news too far. Above all we would not want anyone back east to discover what a great trio of ministers we have in California and try to steal them away. Their morning lectures covered different aspects of setting priorities in both family life and personal spiritual growth. These young men interacted well and set the tone for an informal but inspiring week.
     Well-thought-out planning allowed us to have a full schedule of classes for children, recreation, and relaxed visiting in a lovely wooded setting within walking distance of beautiful Lake Tahoe. The Bay Area Society is to be congratulated for its hard work that allowed things to run so smoothly.

     The obvious hard workers included Mark and Kris Carlson, Nora (Cranch) Cooper, Merrily (Alden) Evans, and Directors Jonathan and Hannah (Finkeldey) Cranch. (The other lecturers were Mike Gladish and Cedric King.)
     Probably one of the most delightful things for many of the campers was watching the children from the different California areas make friends while working and playing together. Of course, we adults also strengthened our friendships, and started some new ones that we hope will develop through the years.
     Although we joke about keeping our camp a secret, because the intimacy of a small camp (about 75 people) is a special thing, we would really like to share both the pain and struggle involved with growth, and the joys involved with a job well done. Besides, we had a few spies from east of the Mississippi, so the word will probably spread anyway.
     In conclusion I would like to say that whoever was in charge of the weather outdid himself: beautiful, clear days without a drop of rain!
     Peggy Merrell
Title Unspecified 1985

Title Unspecified 1985

"A thousand enemies cannot endure one ray of the light of heaven" (Heaven and Hell 137).

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ORDINATION 1985

Announcements
Nobre-At Copacabana, Brazil, August 25, 1985, Rev. Cristovao R. Nobre into the second degree of the priesthood, Rt. Rev. Louis B. King officiating.
Title Unspecified 1985

Title Unspecified 1985

[Photo of Cairncrest, where New Church Life is published]

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General Church Book Center 1985

Box 278, Cairncrest
Bryn Athyn, PA 19009
215-947-3920

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     Names imprinted in gold $6.00

     Gift wrapping at no additional charge.

525

Notes on This Issue 1985

Notes on This Issue Editor 1985

Vol. CV December, 1985 No. 12
NEW CHURCH LIFE

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     We have an item this month written by the late Rev. David Holm concerning Christmas peace. Mr. Olin Dygert of Indiana described himself as "a country lawyer interested in Swedenborg" when he published a pamphlet called The Secret Path in 1968. He sent us for this month an article in which he says that when God caused Himself to be born of a human mother He entered into an altogether new harmony with the human race.
     Ever since Rev. Leon LeVan (now in Florida) discovered the Writings he has read them with great delight. Now he has put together many favorite passages in the form of blank verse. Do not think that he has changed the wording to do this: It is only in the way he has set out the lines. Some have thought of printing these in booklet form, but it was recommended that first some of them be published in NEW CHURCH LIFE to get reader reaction. You are invited, please, to respond to these "Poems from Swedenborg."
     The last time we printed some sample pages for reader reaction was in the July issue when we unveiled Frank Rose's "dictionary" of Swedenborg. Response was excellent, and we do believe that this will have become a published volume by the end of this month.
     As noted on page 532 Bishop King made twenty-three episcopal visits during the year and conducted seventy-eight services (public and private) in Bryn Athyn, but he does have other things to occupy his attention; for example, forty-six grandchildren. The photographs on page 534 show members of the King family.
     You will find in this issue an up-to-date appraisal of the spread of the knowledge of the Writings in Ghana. When Jeremy Simons and Robin Childs spent the month of July there, they found that the interest there is continuing to develop. (For an outline of events see p. 327 of the July issue.)
     Your attention is called to the announcement of the Canadian National Assembly (May 16-18, 1986) on page 531.
     As noted in the November issue, the Music Festival announced in the October issue is now scheduled for- this coming June.

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PREPARING FOR THE PEACE OF CHRISTMAS 1985

PREPARING FOR THE PEACE OF CHRISTMAS Rev. B. DAVID HOLM 1985

     It is common practice at this time of year to speak of "the peace of Christmas." Probably all of us have experienced at least something of it. But do we know the origin of peace? Do we know what is the real quality of peace? Do we know what it is in us that receives it? Do we know how we can prepare ourselves for the peace of this season? With the answers to these questions, we may come to see the great power there can be in our celebration of the Lord's First Advent.
     The Lord is peace itself (AC 1726). He alone is the Prince of Peace, for this is why Me came on earth-to become peace itself and so restore peace in the heavens and on earth. He accomplished this through the wonder of the reciprocal union of His Divine Soul with His Divine Human and of the Divine Human with His Divine Soul (see AE 365:11, AC 10730:2). Thus He glorified His Human-making it totally Divine-and this by constant temptations from the hells and total victories over them. From these victories and consequent glorification came peace-Divine peace in the Lord Himself, His peace in the heavens, and the potential of His peace among men upon earth. For peace is the Lord's Divine inmostly affecting the good in those who are in His kingdom or more briefly, peace is the Divine present in good (see AC 3780:2, 8722). 50 it is that the glorified Lard is the origin of all peace. Truly this is why Me came upon earth, and we would do well to remind ourselves of this in preparation for the advent season.
     With humans-both angels and men-there can be peace only in the same proportion as there is a real trust in the Lord (see AC 5660:3). This of course involves a life of good-which is a life of mutual love (see AC 2892, 1038:2). So it is that peace is defined as charity, spiritual security and internal rest (in AR 306). As we trust in the Lord, and live the life of charity, so we come into peace, for we are then in the good of innocence and are willing to be led by the Lord in a life of use. (See HH 285e; AC 8517e.) If we would have peace, then, let us strive to cultivate a complete trust in the Lord and His Providence (see AC 8478:4). By a life of regeneration, let us not only shun evils as sins against God, but let us also strive to enter into a life of innocence and charity-a life of active use. These are the states in us that are receptive of the Lord's peace. This is because they are the means whereby good and truth are conjoined in us, and those who have good and truth conjoined in them have peace (AC 4213:2).
     Christmas, if it is properly celebrated, is a time in which the things of love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor can come forward and rule in us-at least for a time-and so be helpful to our spiritual progress.

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Our mind can be raised up toward the Lord as we think of His Divine mercy in being born among men. Our hearts can go out to others with a real desire for their spiritual well-being. We can indeed sense the peace of Christmas around us as we prepare to celebrate it. But in order for this to happen, we must prepare mentally as well as prepare externally for the many happy customs and traditions.
One of our first steps is to raise our minds above the gross materialism of the world which invades this holy time of year. Such materialism can lead us away from the very things that bring the peace of Christmas-the trust in the Lord as the Divine Human who leads us, which in turn brings out states of innocence and inner security states of mutual love and charity-states of peace.
To celebrate Christmas is a holy privilege. Let us prepare early for this happy day. Thus can the message of the herald angel come true to us, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14).
MYSTERY ON MYSTERY 1985

MYSTERY ON MYSTERY OLIN DYGERT 1985

     When the one and only God, who created the universe and everything in it, caused Himself to be born of a human mother, He began an utterly new harmony with the human race.
     No longer was He an invisible and unseen God without shape or form. He now had a body exactly like ours. Like ours in every respect-a human body.
     How in the world could He do this?!? We haven't the faintest idea. How could we? Why should we? We will never know how He made the galaxies either, and to Him, neither presented a problem. It was all a part of His original plan.
     We were created in His Likeness, but we aren't like Him in many respects. His mind is no more like ours than ours is like that of a tiny microbe.
     True, we can think and we have free will. We must thank Him for that. He made us a thinking creature. But, our thoughts aren't His. Far from it. Our wisdom is tiny; His is complete. He knows all things; we know but little. We often get puffed up over what we think we know; still our knowledge is like a teaspoon of water compared to the oceans, as compared to His.

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     We are bound by time and space; He exists beyond time and space. He has, and has always had, both foresight and foreknowledge. We have neither.
     Before He created a single thing He could see me writing this and you reading it. Impossible? Not at all. He knew exactly what would happen in the future-our future, not His. He has none. With Him everything is always present-no past and no future.
     Hard to believe, isn't it? That's because we have human minds as well as bodies. He didn't and doesn't. His mind, like Himself, is Divine-ours, but a faint image of His.
     Life here is but for a moment compared to our next. There we will continue to live in a perfect body-if male here, male there; if female here, female there.
     The New Testament is a completely new revelation given us by God. A most remarkable one, if we but think on it.
     No longer do we have an unseen God. We have crucified Jesus certainly. But then we have an event every bit as important as the creation-His resurrection and glorification. Our God has suddenly become the Divine Human! Maybe we of this century haven't seen Him but we know what He looks like. He looks just like us!
     When He then returned to the place from whence He came, He took this human body with Him. Was it exactly the same? We don't know. We know it was somehow heavier-it came through walls-but it wasn't a ghost. He said He wasn't and proved it by eating a bit of fish and honeycomb. Was it now non-atomic? According to that theory everything here is made up of tiny, whirling atoms, including this pen.
     We don't know. Why should we? This is all His affair and none of ours. We do know though that His body was human-just like ours. So now we have a God who is not only the one and only God, but also a Divine Human.
     The whole thing is to us mystery on mystery. Why worry about how all this was done? It's His business, not ours. Our business is to know what He said and what He taught while He was here on this planet. This we know because He said so! It should be enough.
THINGS THAT BELONG TO TIME 1985

THINGS THAT BELONG TO TIME 1985

Instead of adult age [the angels] have an idea of the state: of intelligence; and instead of old age an idea of the state of wisdom . . . . At this time of life man passes from the things of time to those that are of a life without time, and thus puts on a new state, and so by "old age" is meant what is new.
Arcana Coelestia 3254

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MARRIAGE OF GOOD AFFECTIONS AND TRUE THOUGHTS 1985

MARRIAGE OF GOOD AFFECTIONS AND TRUE THOUGHTS Rev. ERIC H. CARSWELL 1985

     In Arcana Coelestia 3081:7 there appears this brief definition of conjugial love: "Conjugial love is innocence itself" (see also AC 2736). What does this have to do with your daily life? It doesn't matter whether you are married or single; these words speak of something essential.
     We have been taught that genuine innocence has little to do with ignorance of the world" as common usage has it (see HH 277). Rather it's a willingness to be led by the Lord, to have your thoughts and actions guided by good affections and true ideas from Him (see HH 278:1).
     Conjugial love is the fundamental love of all other loves. It seeks to gather into a marriage all other good affections (caring) and true ideas (knowledge) (see CL, 65). Both are needed if you want to accomplish anything useful. Caring without knowing what to do has little or no effect, and a wealth of knowledge is lifeless until it is moved to action by some affection. When a marriage takes place between good affections and true ideas, something good gets done in the world. For example, if a friend is sad, your heart reaches out to your memory seeking something to say or do. When your affection meets a suitable idea, you do it. Maybe your affection and thought combine to offer some comforting words, or maybe you just gently touch your friend's shoulder. In either case what, you do is the offspring of a marriage of an affection and a thought.
     Conjugial love is intimately linked to innocence because a marriage can never take place unless there is a willingness to be led. Within the Lord's creation there are innumerable good affections and true ideas that perfectly fit each other. With the Lord they are one, but within our minds they are usually separated. Each is looking for the other-good affections for the form given by true ideas, and true ideas for the life given by good affections.
     The marriage of the two can take place within your mind. Maybe a new idea will spring from a conversation or a new affection from watching another person's life. As soon as the possibility of a new marriage occurs, your mind will move toward it with joy and a recognition of the new use that will exist.
     Sadly, a marriage will not take place in a rigid or closed mind because such a mind is not willing to be led. It may be rigid or closed from some love of evil (e.g., the pride of self-intelligence), or from fear, or from habits based on some false idea or even a small aspect of truth isolated from true wisdom.

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Whatever the reason, the lack of innocence means that a genuine marriage cannot take place. A marriage doesn't happen when you see a sad friend but hardly notice his mood because you are too intent on something else, or when you do notice but shy away because you are unsure of the "right'' thing to do. In either case nothing gets done. A genuine marriage may not take place if your affection and thought lead you to tell your friend impatiently, "Stop feeling sorry for yourself!" nor if you assure him that everything is all right when it's actually a tremendous mess.
Developing a greater willingness to be led required us to stop trains of thoughts and affections that stand in the way of hearing the truth that the Lord is trying to tell us, directly or through someone else. It means working to get rid of affections and thoughts that keep us from responding to the good ones that the Lord is stirring within our minds. Innocence is a special kind of paying attention, paying attention to what is good and true within our own minds, paying attention to the good affections and true thoughts expressed by others, and paying attention to needs that exist with those around us.
The Lord is a perfect marriage of love and wisdom. The more that this marriage establishes its home-His home-within your mind, the more useful you will be, and the happier you will be. For this marriage to take place, each of us has to become willing to be led by what is genuinely true and good in the things that the Lord places before us each day.
CANADIAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 1985

CANADIAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 1985

The 6th Canadian National Assembly has been called for the weekend of Friday, May 16th, through Sunday, May 18th, 1986, at the Carmel Church, Kitchener, Ontario. Rt. Rev. Louis B. King will preside. Members and friends of the General Church are invited to attend. For further information contact Rev. Christopher R. J. Smith, 16 Bannockburn Road, R. R. 2, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2G 3W5.

532

REPORT OF THE BISHOP OF THE GENERAL CHURCH 1985

REPORT OF THE BISHOP OF THE GENERAL CHURCH Louis B. King 1985

     September 1, 1984 to August 31, 1985

     "While man is being regenerated, that is, being made a church, the first thing must be for him to know and understand what the truth of faith is; the second must be to will and do it; and the third is to be affected with it. And when man is affected with truth, that is, when he perceives delight and bliss in acting according to truth, he is then in charity or mutual love" (AC 3876).
     When the uses of worship, doctrinal instruction, distinctive education and evangelization are carried on with diligence and delight, it is a sign that the men and women of the General Church are indeed affected with truth. And in the degree that there is full participation and cooperation in the uses or goods of the church, so is there an increase of mutual love, inspiration and peace.
     This has been a productive, happy year for the General Church. I would like to thank the membership and the friends of the General Church for the conscientious and inspirational way in which they have participated in and supported the uses of the church. It is a privilege to be able to serve as the General Pastor of this organization, and to be able to be associated with the work of the Academy of the New Church as its Chancellor.
     In March, 1986, the Council of the Clergy of the Clergy will be asked to proceed with the nomination of a candidate for the office of Assistant Bishop of the General Church. Between now and then it is appropriate for the laity of our church, both members and friends, to counsel the priesthood in preparation for carrying out this important function of government. You are invited to share with individual ministers your thoughts and affections relating to the choice they will be asked to initiate in March.

     Statistical Activities

     As Bishop of the General Church:
National Assembly - 1
District Assemblies - 2
Episcopal visits - 23
Board and Corporation meetings - 5
Joint Council - 1
Annual Council of the Clergy meetings
Bishop's Consistory - weekly
Bishop's Council - 4
Bishop's Representatives - monthly

533

Worship and Ritual Committee - monthly
General Church Planning Seminar - 3 days
General Church in Canada meetings - 2
Inaugurations into the priesthood - 1
Ordinations into the second degree of the priesthood - 5

     As Chancellor of the Academy:
Secondary School Opening
Opening Faculty Worship
Commencement
General Faculty - 4
Theological Faculty - monthly
College Chapel - 9
Secondary School Chapel - 1
Board and Corporation meetings - 9
Joint meeting of Faculty and Corporation
Glencairn Awards Committee
Teaching Assignments:
     Theology I (Doct. Of the Lord), Theological School - 2 terms
     Elective Religion - Secondary Schools - 1 term

     Ministrations in Bryn Athyn:
Total services conducted - 78 (festival, public and private)
Society doctrinal classes - 6
Arcana class - Wednesday evening series
Conjugial Love class - Wednesday morning series
Joint Council meeting
Semi-annual meeting of the Bryn Athyn Church
Bryn Athyn school worship - 9

     Louis B. King,
          Executive Bishop
HOW ANGELS SEE THE LORD 1985

HOW ANGELS SEE THE LORD 1985

No angel in the heavens ever perceives the Divine as being in any other than a human form . . . . The wiser the angels are, the more clearly they perceive this truth; and it is from this that the Lord is seen by them; for the Lord is seen in a Divine angelic form, which is the human form, by those who acknowledge and believe in a visible Divine Being, but not by those who believe in an invisible Divine. For the former can see their Divine Being, but the latter cannot.
Heaven and Hell 79

534

Title Unspecified 1985

[Two photos of some members of Bishop King's family]

535

DIRECTORY GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM 1985

DIRECTORY GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM Rev. Lorentz R. Soneson 1985

1985-1986
Officials and Councils
Bishop:           Rt. Rev. Louis B. King
Bishops Emeriti:      Rt. Rev. George de Charms
                         Rt. Rev. 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, Brian W. Keith, 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:           Rt. Rev. Louis B. King
Vice President:      Rev. Kurt H. Asplundh
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. E. Boyd Asplundh, Brian G. Blair, Kenneth B. Blair, Theodore W. Brickman, Jr., William W. Buick, Neil M. Buss, Philip D. Coffin, Thomas R. Cooper, Roy B. Evans, John A. Frost, Dale B. Genzlinger, Donald P. Gladish, Murray F. Heldon, Albert D. Henderson, W. Lee Horigan, Garry Hyatt, Hyland R. Johns, Jr., James F. Junge, Glen O. Klippenstein, Thomas N. Leeper, Christopher W. Lynch, Basil C. L. Orchard, Lachlan Pitcairn, Stephen Pitcairn, Maurice G. Schnarr, W. Roger M. Schrock, Robert A. Smith, John H. Wyncoll.
Honorary Life Members: Rt. Rev. George de Charms and Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton.
Ex officio Members: Rt. Rev. Louis B. King. Rev. Kurt H. Asplundh

536

     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. Served on the bishop's consistory, attended board meetings and wrote papers. 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. Continues to serve, conducting various rites and sacraments. Address: Box 338, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     Pastors

     ACTON, ALFRED. Ordained June 19, 1961; 2nd degree, October 30, 1966. Continued to serve as bishop's representative, director of the General Church Correspondence School, visiting pastor to Lancaster, Pa., teacher in the Academy schools, and chairman of the General Church Liturgy Committee. 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. 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 to the pastor of the Washington Society. Address: 3809 Enterprise Road, Mitchellville, Maryland 20716.

     ALDEN, MARK EDWARD. Ordained June 10, 1979; 2nd degree, May 17, 1981. Currently unassigned, attending medical school. Officiated in some General Church services during the summer. Address: 2959 Sycamore Road, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006.

     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 assistant to the pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church and principal of the Bryn Athyn Church Elementary School. Address: P. O. Box 277, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, PA 19009.

     BAU-MADSEN, ARNE. Ordained June 6, 1976; 2nd degree, June 11, 1978. Continued to serve as visiting pastor to the Wallenpaupack Circle and the Penn State Group. 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: 3375 Aztec Road, Apt. 72, Doraville, GA 30340.

     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 acting pastor of the Stockholm Society and pastor of the Jonkoping Circle. Address: Bruksater, Furusjo, S-566 00, Habo, Sweden.

537

     BOYESEN, RAGNAR. Ordained June 19, 1972; 2nd degree, June 17, 1973. Continued to serve as pastor of the Pittsburgh Society. During the summer he became pastor of the Freeport Society. Address: 122 McKean Road, Freeport, PA 16229.

     BURKE, WILLIAM HANSON. Ordained June 7, 1981; 2nd degree August 13, 1983. Continued to serve as assistant to the pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. Address: Box 277, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     BUSS, PETER MARTIN. Ordained June 19, 1964; 2nd degree, May 16, 1965. Continued to serve as 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 pastor to the San Francisco Bay Area Circle, the Sacramento Circle, the Ashland and Days Creek, Oregon, Groups. Address: 4638 Royal Garden Court, San Jose, California 95136.

     CARSWELL, ERIC HUGH. Ordained June 10. 1979; 2nd degree, February 22, 1981. Continued to serve as assistant pastor of the Immanuel Church Society, and principal of the Midwestern Academy. 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. 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. Is employed by Swedenborg Scientific Association as theological consultant and indexer at Glencairn. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     COLE, STEPHEN DANDRIDGE. Ordained June 19, 1977; 2nd degree, October 15, 1978. Continued to serve as pastor of the Cincinnati Society and visiting pastor to the South Ohio Circle. Address: 6431 Mayflower Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45237.

     COOPER, JAMES PENDLETON. Ordained June 13, 1982; 2nd degree, March 4, 1984. Continued to serve as assistant pastor of the Pittsburgh Society, principal of the Pittsburgh New Church School and pastor of the Erie Circle. As of October, assistant to the pastor of the Durban Society in South Africa. Address: 7 Sidney Drive, Westville, Natal, 3630, R. S. A.

     COWLEY, MICHAEL KEITH. Ordained June 13, 1983; 2nd degree, May 13, 1984. Continued to serve as resident pastor to Twin Cities, and visiting pastor of the Madison, Wisconsin Circle, and the Midwest District. Address: 3153 McKnight Road - #340, white Bear, Lake, Minnesota 55110.

     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, resident in Denver, Colorado, Pastor to the circles in Denver, Colorado, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas. Address: 3371 W. 94th Avenue, Westminster, Colorado 80030.

     ELPHICK, FREDERICK CHARLES. Ordained June 6, 1984; 2nd degree, September 23, 1984. Continued to serve as pastor to the Michael Church, London, England. Address: 21B Hayne Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 4JA, England.

     GLADISH, MICHAEL DAVID. Ordained June 10, 1973; 2nd degree, June 30, 1974. Continued to serve as pastor of the Los Angeles, California Society, and visiting pastor within a one hundred mile radius of Los Angeles. Address: 5022 Carolyn Way, La Crescenta, California 91214.

538

     GLADISH, NATHAN DONALD. Ordained June 13, 1982; 2nd degree November 6, 1983. Continued serve as assistant to the pastor of the Atlanta Society and the Southeast District. Address: 3795 Montford Drive, Chamblee, Georgia 30341.

     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 on the faculty of the Academy of the New Church, and until June, 1985, chaplain of Stuart Hall. 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 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 College and Theological School. 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 pastor to the Northwest District of the General Church and Vancouver and Cranbrook, B. C., 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. In addition, has been developing satellite centers around Bryn Athyn. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     KEITH, BRIAN WALTER. Ordained June 6, 1976; 2nd degree, June 4, 1978. Continued to serve as pastor of the Immanuel Church Society in Glenview, and president of the Midwestern Academy. Address: 73 Park Glenview, Illinois 60025.

     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.

539

     McMASTER, ROBERT DAVID. Ordained June 18, 1978; 2nd degree, February 15, 1981.     Unassigned. Address: 157 University Avenue, West, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3E5.

     NEMITZ, KURT PAUL. Ordained June 16, 1963; 2nd degree, March 27, 1966. Unassigned. 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. Address: 897 Middle Street, Bath, Maine 04530.

     NOBRE, CRISTOVAO RABELO. Ordained June 6, 1984; 2nd degree August 25, 1985. Resident minister of the Rio de Janeiro Society in Brazil. Address: Rua Xavier Dos Passar, 151, Apt. 101, Piedade, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 20.74, Brazil.

     ODHNER. Grant HUGO. Ordained June 7, 1981; 2nd degree, May 9, 1982. Continued to serve as resident pastor of the Boston Circle. Traveling pastor to Cape Cod and New Hampshire. 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 Lake Helen Circle and the North Florida District. Address: 363 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 College and Theological School. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     PRYKE, MARTIN. Ordained June 19, 1940; 2nd degree, March 1, 1942. Continued to serve as Director of the Glencairn Museum. 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: Box 512, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     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 resident pastor of the Transvaal Society, and of groups at Kent Manor, Carletonville and the isolated. Address: 18 Impala Avenue, Vorwondburg, Irene, TVL, 1675, R. S. A.

     ROGERS, NORBERT HENRY. Ordained June 19, 1938; 2nd degree, October 13, 1940. Retired. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     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, 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. Served as bishop's representative in the west. Address: 2536 N. Stewart Avenue, Tucson, Arizona 85716.

     ROSE, PATRICK ALAN. Ordained June 19, 1975; 2nd degree, September 5, 1977. Continued to serve as assistant to the pastor of the Detroit Society and visiting pastor of the North Ohio and Lansing Circles. Address: 132 Kirk Lane, Troy, Michigan 48048.

     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.

540

     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 elsewhere in 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 evangelization minister of the Olivet 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 principal of the Bryn Athyn Church School, assistant pastor of the Bryn Athyn Society, permanent chairman of the Education Council, chairman of the Headmasters Committee of the General Church Schools, and bishop's representative for General Church schools. Address: Box 277, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     SCHNARR, Grant RONALD. Ordained June 12, 1983; 2nd degree October 7, 1984. Director of evangelization at the Immanuel Church in Glenview. Address: 73A Park Drive, Glenview, Illinois 60025.

     SILVERMAN, RAYMOND JOEL. Ordained June 6, 1984; 2nd degree June 19, 1985. Continued to serve as an instructor in the Academy secondary schools and curator of Swedenborgian Library; as of June, pastor of the Pittsburgh Society. Address: 299 Le Roi Road, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15208.

     SIMONS, DAVID RESTYN. Ordained June 19, 1948, 2nd degree, June 19, 1950. Retired. Address: P. O. Box 277, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     SIMONS, JEREMY FREDERICK. Ordained June 13, 1982; 2nd degree, July 31, 1983. Continued to serve as 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 pastor of the Washington Society, principal of the Washington New Church School and visiting pastor to the Virginia area. 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, chairman of the Traveling Priests Committee and secretary of Consistory. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     STROH, KENNETH OLIVER. Ordained June 19, 1948; 2nd degree, June 19, 1950. Continued to serve as resident pastor of the Colchester Society and bishop's representative in Europe. Address: 2 Christ Church Court, Colchester, England CO2 3AU.

     SYNNESTVEDT, LOUIS DANIEL. Ordained June 6, 1980. Continued to serve as assistant pastor of the Olivet Church, Toronto, Canada. Also visiting pastor to the Montreal Circle and Ottawa Group. Address: 166 Shaver Avenue N., Islington, Ontario, Canada M9B 4N8.

     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. Address: 2650 Del Vista Drive, Hacienda Heights, California 91745.

541

     Ministers

     CHILDS, ROBIN WAELCHLI. Ordained June 6, 1984. Continued to serve as assistant to the pastor of the Kempton Society. Address: R. D. 2, Box 217A, Kempton, Pennsylvania 19529.

     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 has been engaged in translating. Address: Rua Des Isidro 155, Apt. 202, Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro 20521 RJ Brazil.

     DIBB, ANDREW MALCOLM. Ordained June 6, 1984. Continued to serve as assistant to the pastor of Carmel Church, Kitchener. Address: 58 Chapel Hill Drive, Kitchener, Ontario, R. R. 2, Canada N2G 3W5.

     FITZPATRICK, DANIEL. Ordained June 6, 1984. In the spring of 1985 became assistant to the pastor of the Stockholm Society and Jonkoping Circle. Address: Aladdinsvagen 27, A-161-38, Bromma, Sweden.

     ROGERS, N. BRUCE. Ordained January 12, 1969. Continued to serve as associate professor of religion, Latin and Hebrew in 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 for the Revision of the King James Version of the Word. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.

     ROGERS, DONALD KENNETH, JR. Ordained June 6, 1984. Continued to serve as resident minister of the Baltimore Society, visiting minister to Wilmington, Delaware, Group and visiting minister to Virginia District. Address: 12 Pawleys Court, Baltimore, Maryland 21236.

     SCHORRAN, PAUL EDWARD. Ordained June 12, 1983. Continued to serve as assistant to the pastor of the Durban society. As of September, teacher at the Academy schools. Address: Box 278, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009.

     Authorized Candidates

     ANKRA-BADU, WILLIAM OFEI, Box 278, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009.
     BARRY, EUGENE, Box 278, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009.
     CHAPIN, FREDERICK MERLE, Box 278, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009.
     ROGERS, PRESCOTT ANDREW, Box 278, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009.
     ROSE, JONATHAN SEARLE, 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

     BUTELEZ, ISHBORN. Ordained August 18, 1985. Resident minister of Impaphala Society and visiting minister of the Umlazi Group. Address: P. O. Box 281, Ntumeni 3830, R. S. A.

542

     MBATHA, BHEKUYISE ALFRED. Ordained June 27, 1971; 2nd degree, June 23, 1974. District pastor in Natal, visiting pastor to the Kwa Mashu Society. Address: P.O. Box 27011, Kwa Mashu, Natal 4360, R. S. A.

     MBEDZI, PAULUS M. Ordained March 23, 1958; 2nd degree, March 14, 1965. Resident pastor to Alexandra, visiting pastor to the Balfour Society, the Greylingstad Society, the Hambrook Society and the Rietfontain Group. Address: Alexandra Township, R. S. A.

     NKABINDE, PETER PIET. Ordained June 23, 1974; 2nd degree, November 13, 1977. District pastor of Transvaal, resident pastor of the Diepkloof Society, visiting pastor of 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. Address: c/o Kent Manor Farm, P-B Ntumeni, Kwa-Zulu 3830, South Africa.
SOCIETIES AND CIRCLES 1985

SOCIETIES AND CIRCLES 1985

     Society                               Pastor
ATLANTA, GEORGIA               Rev. Christopher D. Bown
                         Rev. Nathan D. Gladish, assistant to the pastor
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND           Rev. Donald K. Rogers
BATH, MAINE                    Rev. Allison L. Nicholson
BRYN ATHYN CHURCH               Rev. Kurt H. Asplundh
                          Rev. Thomas L. Kline, assistant pastor
                         Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr, assistant pastor
                         Rev. Wendel R. Barnett, assistant to the pastor
                         Rev. William H. Burke, assistant to the pastor
CARMEL CHURCH, KITCHENER, ONTARIO,
CANADA                         Rev. Christopher R. J. Smith
                          Rev. Andrew M. Dibb, assistant to the pastor
CINCINNATI, OHIO               Rev. Stephen D. Cole
COLCHESTER. ENGLAND           Rev. Kenneth O. Stroh
DETROIT, MICHIGAN               Rev. Walter E. Orthwein
                          Rev. Patrick A. Rose, assistant to the pastor
DURBAN, NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA      Rev. Geoffrey H. Howard
                          Rev. James P. Cooper, assistant to the pastor
FREEPORT, PENNSYLVANIA          Rev. Ragnar Boyesen
HURSTVILLE, N.S.W., AUSTRALIA Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom
IMMANUEL CHURCH, GLENVIEW
ILLINOIS                         Rev. Brian W. Keith
                          Rev. Eric H. Carswell, assistant pastor
                          Rev. Grant R. Schnarr, assistant to the pastor
KEMPTON, PENNSYLVANIA          Rev. Jeremy F. Simons
                         Rev. Robin W. Childs, assistant to the pastor
                         Rev. Arne Bau-Madsen, associate pastor
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA      Rev. Michael D. Gladish
MICHAEL CHURCH, LONDON, ENGLAND      Rev. Frederick C. Elphick

543

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. Raymond Silverman
RIO DE JANEIRO. BRAZIL      Rev. Cristovao R. Nobre, resident pastor
                         Rev. Jose L. de Figueiredo, retired; assistant minister
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA           Rev. Cedric King
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN               Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen
                         Rev. Daniel Fitzpatrick, assistant to the pastor
TRANSVAAL, REP. OF SOUTH AFRICA     Rev. Norman Riley
WASHINGTON, DC               Rev. Lawson M. Smith
                         Rev. Kenneth J. Alden assistant to the pastor

     Circle                                        Visiting Pastor or Minister
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO          Rev. J. Clark Echols, Jr.
AMERICUS, GEORGIA               Rev. Christopher D. Bown
                         Mr. W. Harold Eubanks, evangelist
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND           Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS          Rev. Grant H. Odhner (resident)
CONNECTICUT                Rev. Glenn G. Alden
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK           Rev. Ottar Larsen
DAWSON CREEK, B.C., CANADA      Rev. William H. Clifford (resident)
DENVER, COLORADO               Rev. J. Clark Echols, Jr. (resident)
ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA               Rev. William Burke
FORT WORTH, TEXAS               Rev. J. Clark Echols, Jr.
THE HAGUE, HOLLAND               Rev. Frederick C. Elphick
JONKOPING, SWEDEN               Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen (resident)
                         Rev. Daniel Fitzpatrick
LAKE HELEN, FLORIDA               Rev. John L. Odhner (resident)
LANSING, MICHIGAN               Rev. Patrick A. Rose
LETCHWORTH, ENGLAND           Rev. Ottar T. Larsen
MADISON. WISCONSIN               Rev. Michael K. Cowley
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND           Rev. Ottar T. Larsen
MIAMI, FLORIDA               Rev. Daniel W. Heinrichs (resident)
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA     Rev. Louis D. Synnestvedt
NORTH NEW JERSEY-NEW YORK      Rev. Donald L. Rose
NORTH OHIO                Rev. Patrick A. Rose
OSLO, NORWAY               Rev. Ottar T. Larsen
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA           Rev. Mark R. Carlson
ST. PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS. MINNESOTA      Rev. Michael K. Cowley (resident)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA     Rev. Mark R. Carlson (resident)
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON               Rev. Kent Junge (resident)
SHARON CHURCH, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS     Rev. Brian W. Keith
SOUTH OHIO                Rev. Stephen D. Cole (resident)
TUCSON, ARIZONA               Rev. Frank S. Rose (resident)
WALLENPAUPACK, PENNSYLVANIA     Rev. Arne Bau-Madsen

544

     Group                              Visiting Pastor or Minister
ASHLAND, OREGON               Rev. Mark R. Carlson
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA           Rev. Nathan D. Gladish
BLACKSBURG, VIRGINIA          Rev. Donald K. Rogers, Jr.
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA           Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom
CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA     Rev. William H. Clifford
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA          Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom
CAPE COD, MASSACHUSETTS          Rev. Grant H. Odhner
CARLETONVILLE, AFRICA           Rev. Norman E. Riley
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA     Rev. Nathan D. Gladish
CROOKED CREEK, ALBERTA, CANADA      Rev. William H. Clifford
DAYS CREEK, OREGON           Rev. Mark R. Carlson
DECATUR-WILMINGTON, ILLINOIS     Rev. Grant R. Schnarr
EDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA     Rev. William H. Clifford
FRANCE                    Rev. Alain Nicolier
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND               Rev. Ottar T. Larsen
KENT MANOR, AFRICA          Rev. Norman E. Riley
NEW HAMPSHIRE               Rev. Grant H. Odhner
ORAL-HOT SPRINGS, SOUTH DAKOTA      Rev. Erik Sandstrom
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA          Rev. Louis D. Synnestvedt
OYEN, ALBERTA, CANADA           Rev. William H. Clifford
PENN STATE, PENNSYLVANIA     Rev. Arne Bau-Madsen
PHOENIX, ARIZONA               Rev. Frank S. Rose
RED DEER, ALBERTA, CANADA      Rev. William H; Clifford
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA          Rev. Donald K. Rogers, Jr.
STAUNTON, VIRGINIA          Rev. Donald K. Rogers, Jr.
TAMWORTH, AUSTRALIA           Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom
VANCOUVER, BC., CANADA           Rev. Kent Junge
WEST COUNTRY, ENGLAND           Rev. Ottar T. Larsen
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE           Rev. Donald K. Rogers

     New Assignments for Ministers

     1985-1986

REV. RAGNAR BOYESEN Pastor of Freeport Society
REV. JAMES P. COOPER Assistant to the pastor of the Durban Society
REV. DANIEL FITZPATRICK Assistant to pastor of the Stockholm Society Australia
REV. PAUL E. SCHORRAN Teacher at Academy schools
REV. RAYMOND J. SILVERMAN Pastor of the Pittsburgh Society

545

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM 1985

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM Lorentz R. Soneson 1985

     During September, 1984, through August, 1985, seventy-six new members were received into the General Church. One member resigned, and none were dropped from the roll. Fifty-eight deaths were reported. On September 1, 1985, the roll contained three thousand eight hundred seventy-nine members.

                                             Other
                                        U.S.A.     Countries           Total
Membership, September 1, 1984           2,710      1,152           3,862
New Members (Certs. 7173 to 7248)           60          16                769
Losses: Deaths                          -43          -15                -58
     Resignations                     -1           -0               -1
     Dropped from Roll                -0           -0                -0
Membership, September 1, 1985               2,726          1,153               3,879
Net Gain during the period September
     1984, through August 1985           16          1                    17

     NEW MEMBERS

     UNITED STATES

     Arizona: Mountain Home
McCauley, Mr. Charles Robert

     Arizona: Tucson
Germain, Mrs. John T. (Kristi Gonnason)
Rose, Mr. Jeremy Harold

     California: Glendale
Richards, Miss Antoinette Lea

     Colorado: Ft. Collins
Bochneak, Miss Kelly
Glebe, Mr. Gregory Nelson
Glebe, Mrs. Gregory Nelson (Kendra June Poole)
Pitcairn, Miss Star

     Connecticut: Suffield
Ahern, Mrs. Michael (Linda Needle)

     Florida: Ft. Lauderdale
Leonard, Mr. E. Morel
Leonard, Mrs. E. Morel (Louise Elizabeth Davis)

     Florida: Georgetown
Anderson, Mrs. Edward C. (Emma Jean Seidat)

     Florida: Lighthouse Point
Gensch, Mr. Michael Robert

     Florida: Orlando
Leslie, Miss Sara Clay

     Florida: Ormond Beach
King, Mrs. Bradley (Suzanne Rebecca Brewer)

     Illinois: Chicago
Riley, Mr. Maynard H., III

     Illinois: Glenview
Gilbert, Miss Mary Dolores

546

     Indiana: Richmond
Elder, Mr. Alan Henry

     Maryland: Berwyn Heights
Johns, Mr. Bradley Hyland
Johns, Mrs. Bradley Hyland (Kathleen Cooper)

     Maryland: Mitchellville
Smith, Mr. Matthew Arrington

     Maryland: Upper Marlboro
Harjess, Mrs. Victor (Kathleen Cecelia Gately)

     Massachusetts: Brookline
Stroh, Mr. Richard Cameron
Stroh, Mrs. Richard Cameron (Elsa Bruell)

     Michigan: Troy
Gurney, Miss Wendy Katherine

     New Mexico: Albuqerque
Leach, Mr. Howard Charles, Jr.
Leach, Mrs. Howard Charles, Jr. (Janice Davison)

     New Mexico: Los Lunas
Leach, Mr. Donald Brain
Leach, Mrs. Donald Brain (Janice Elizabeth Foster

     Oklahoma: Edmond
Campbell, Mr. Robert Harold
Campbell, Mrs. Robert Harold (Janet Louise Pendleton)

     Pennsylvania: Abington
Mitchell, Mr. William J.
Mitchell, Mrs. William J. (Kathleen Lee)

     Pennsylvania: Allison Park
Uber, Mr. James Grote

     Pennsylvania: Bryn Athyn
Alfelt, Miss Elisabeth
Ankra-Badu, Mr. William Ofei
Buss, Mr. Erik James
Elphick, Miss Judith Anne
Gunther, Mr. Dean Merrell
Hunsaker, Miss Kerry
Lindemann, Mrs. Victor A. (Beth Jane Schuyler)
Pendleton, Mr. Benjamin Childs
Pendleton, Mr. Keith
Smith, Mr. Eric Nichols

     Pennsylvania: Doylestown
Brecht, Miss Suzanne Deborah
Greisiger, Mr. Arthur Eugene Jr.
Saitz, Miss Sandra Ruth

     Pennsylvania: Erie
Falconer, Mr. Edward L., Jr.
Murray, Miss Barbara Ann

     Pennsylvania: Feasterville
Zimmer, Mr. Mark Frederick
Zimmer, Mrs. Mark Frederick (Lynn Ellen Wilhoyte)

     Pennsylvania: Freeport
Heilman, Mr. Glenn Harold, II

     Pennsylvania: Huntingdon Valley
Gunther, Mr. Mark Owen
Heinrichs, Miss Leah
McFadden, Mrs. Raymond F., Jr. (Christina Odhner)

     Pennsylvania, Kempton
Odhner, Mr. Roy Delmar

     Washington: Redmond
Walter, Mr. Kurt Stuart

     Wyoming: Cheyenne
Cockett, Mr. Charles Burdette, Jr.
Cockett, Mrs. Charles Burdette, Jr. (Susan Beth Nickel)

     Texas: Corpus Christi
Mr. John Pendleton Pitcairn, Jr.

     AUSTRALIA

     New South Wales: Lugarno
MacFarlane, Mr. Donald Goranville
MacFarlane, Mrs. Donald Goranville (Kaye Margaret Heldon)

547

     CANADA

     British Columbia: Dawson Creek
Myatt, Miss Shelley Jane

     Ontario: Kitchener
Freer, Mr. Paul Arthur
Kuhl, Miss Christine
Schnarr, Mr. David Andrew
Schnarr, Mrs. David Andrew (Cindy Magdalenea Schade)

     ENGLAND

     Essex: Colchester
Amos, Mr. Patrick John

     REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

     Natal: Empangeni
Taylor, Mr. David John

     Natal: Westville
Cranch, Mr. Warren Jefferson
Lester, Mr. Barry Allan
Mansfield, Mr. Robert Kim

     Magalieskruin
Ormes, Mr. Kenneth
Ormes, Mrs. Kenneth (Carole Ann Welby)

     Pretoria: Muckleneuk
Elphick, Mr. George F. W.
Elphick, Mrs. George F. W. (Karin Brigitta Reichel)

     DEATHS

Asplundh, Mrs. Lester (Grace Horigan), March 2, 1985, Meadowbrook, Pennsylvania (83)
Barnitz, Mr. Robert Gray, July 14, 1985, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania (80)
Brickman, Mrs. Theodore W. (Amy Edith Kitzelman), August 17, 1985, Park Ridge, Illinois (78)
Brown, Mrs. Ralph Raynor (Annette Bostock), January 20, 1985, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania (60)
Buss, Mrs. J. Martin (Doreen Madeline Ridgway), January 17, 1985, Meadowbrook, Pennsylvania (74)
Coffin, Mrs. James Price, Jr. (Mary Naomi Dahms), April 11, 1985, Spartanburg, South Carolina (74)
Cole, Mr. Louis Snowden, Jr., July 12, 1985, Meadowbrook, Pennsylvania (71)
Cole, Mr. William Pendleton, November 10, 1984, Doylestown, Pennsylvania (65)
Dimon, Mr. Donald Francis, August 8, 1985, Clearwater, Florida (55)
Doering, Mrs. Reynold F. (Elizabeth Owens), Sunrise, Florida (84)
Ebert, Miss Ora May, September 14, 1985, Wyncote, Pennsylvania (92)
Ferris, Mrs. Leslie B. (Mildred Ruth Shea), August 8, 1985, Bath, Maine (73)
Franson, Rev. Roy, November 19, 1984, Nykoping, Sweden (69)
Gladish, Mrs. Robert (Marianne Nicholson), December 22, 1984, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (48)
Grant, Mrs. William Thomas (Frances Downing), Leawood, Kansas
Gunsteens, Miss Chrystal, June 13, 1985, Glendale, California (82)
Haring, Mrs. William Arthur (Alma Emma Langford), May 15, 1985, Doylestown, Pennsylvania (65)
Harmon, Mr. John Perry, February 13, 1985, Tucson, Arizona (79)

548

Harthill, Mr. Clifford Noble, September 28, 1984, Rosalia, Washington
Hedegaard, Mrs. Karen Else Ruth, October 21, 1984, Copenhagen, Denmark (71)
Hilldale, Mrs. John Harry (Mollie E. Deloach), July 16, 1985, Deland, Florida (76)
Hussenet, Mr. Elisie, January 1985, Pierre-du-Vauvray, France (88)
Iler, Miss Viola Corinne, March 24, 1985, Pleasant Hill, Oregon (83)
Jeunechamp, Mrs. Eugene L. (Desiree Myrrha Hussenet), September 22, 1984, Atlanta, Georgia (90)
Johnson, Mr. Jordan, September 23, 1984, Gainesville, Florida (74)
Kelly, Mr. George M., August 29, 1985, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania (80)
King, Mr. John Blair Smith, October 31, 1984, Madison, Wisconsin (65)
Kolbe, Mrs. August J. (Ethel Onella Soderberg), August 16, 1985, Meadowbrook, Pennsylvania (86)
Lemky, Mrs. Edward (Emma Toews), February 19, 1985, Valleyview, Alberta, Canada (80)
Levine, Mrs. Louis Isaac (Enid Elsa Cockerell), Durban, Natal, South Africa (87)
Lewin, Miss Mary Ann, October 15, 1984, London, England (96)
Lumsden. Mrs. F. D. H., (Eleanor Louisa Elphick), June 8, 1985, Irene, Transvaal, South Africa (63)
Mackenzie, Mr. Ross Kenneth, Prescott, Arizona
Nadal, Mr. Santi (Santiago), February 5, 1985, Southampton, Pennsylvania (84)
Palmer, Mr. Frank H., May 24, 1984, Huntsville, Alabama (56)
Pitcairn, Mr. Robert R., July 13, 1985, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (55)
Read, Mrs. Nathan (Lois Wilson), March 18, 1985, Atascadero, California (97)
Richter, Mrs. Jean Paul II (Stella Constance Arrington), May 17, 1985, Pompano Beach, Florida (76)
Rigg, Mrs. Ralph C., Jr. (Evelyn Dorothy Shilliday), September 11, 1984, Cape May Court House, New Jersey (52)
Roschman. Miss Carita, February 14, 1985, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada (91)
Schnarr, Mrs. Arthur (Vida Doering), February 4, 1985, Deland, Florida (93)
Schnarr, Mrs. Gerald Nelson (Margaret Scott), October 4, 1984, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada (80)
Sellner, Miss Erna, March 9, 1985, Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania (91)
Smith, Mrs. Hector Leonard (Jessie Florence Campbell), December 1, 1984, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (89)
Starkey, Miss Gertrude Thyra, December 16, 1984, Glenview, Illinois (79)
Stevens, Mrs. Jesse V. (Agnes Sophie Gyllenhaal), January 27, 1985, Cuba City, Wisconsin (97)
Stone, Mr. William Hubert Lungley, date unknown, England
Stone, Mrs. William Hubert Lungley (Flora Louisa Sarah Brewitt), date unknown, England
Synnestvedt, Mr. O. Doron, January 4, 1985, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (89)
Synnestvedt, Mrs. George (Winfrey Glenn), March 25, 1985, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania (87)
Synnestvedt, Mr. Hubert, September 14, 1984, Pottstown, Pennsylvania (88)
Taylor, Mrs. Thomas Richard (Stella Letitia Park), June 11, 1985, Carlingford, New South Wales, Australia (92)

549

Thomas, Mrs. Joseph (Lorena Bowman), February 7, 1985, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania (82)
Trimble, Mr. Rowland, July 29, 1985, Laurel, Maryland (96)
Waters, Mr. Wilfred Edward, December 15, 1984, Durban, Natal, South Africa (61)
White, Miss Evelyn Hill, August 4, 1985, Brighton, South Australia (86)
York, Mr. James Thayer, December 17, 1984, Summit, New Jersey (72)
Zuber, Mr. Donald Edward, June 26, 1985, Canoga Park, California (60)

     RESIGNATION

Krothe, Mrs. Benjamin, IV (Julie Lou Richards), February 28, 1985, Hollywood, Pennsylvania

     Lorentz R. Soneson,
          Secretary
GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM TREASURER'S REPORT 1985

GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM TREASURER'S REPORT 1985

     For Year Ending December 31, 1984

     1984 was a year of mixed results for the General Church, and some strains are beginning to be evident from our recent expansion in the number of societies or circles with resident pastors.
     Societies, groups and circles have budgets but if they fail to meet their targets, then the General Church is forced to assume more of their expenses than planned. This is somewhat a function of the fact that we now have salary scales for ministers and teachers. If a society cannot pay the agreed-upon share of its salary expenses, the General Church makes up the shortfall so that the individual employee does not suffer.
     In 1984, all ten school societies were able to meet their budgets and at least pay as much of their salary bills as they did in 1983. However, of the twenty-six other societies and circles with their own budgets, sixteen actually paid less toward supporting ministers' salaries than they did in 1983. The result was an expense to the General Church of more than $51,000.
     Extremely favorable exchange rates, plus tight control of expenses in other areas, and a transfer from our moving reserves, resulted in the offsetting of these negative results, and we completed the year with a small operating surplus of $7,022 on a budget of over $1,400,000.
     In 1984, the church completed an ambitious five-year plan which provided for the addition of three new ministers and one new teacher in each of the five years. This has been an exhilarating phase in the development of the church, and we now are entering a new five-year cycle in which we will need to consolidate on this expansion.
     Many of the ministers that have been placed are now busy planning for growth in their societies. We have had requests for seven church buildings, and many evangelization projects are being funded.

550

     The challenge to the church for the coming five years will be to support and develop these new societies and circles, and also to maintain our smaller New Church schools through the years of lower enrollments that they are experiencing.
     The audited financial statements which follow form part of this report.

     GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM

     Balance Sheet

     December 31, 1984, with comparative totals for 1983
                                   Expendable     Nonexpend-          Total
                                   Funds          able Funds     1983          1982
ASSETS
Cash, including short-term certificates
     and money market funds               $986,966     $128,805     $1,115,771     $1,173,138
Accounts receivable, principally from
     related entities                    239,101               239,101     187,670
Dividends receivable from NCIF               353,933               353,933     325,322
Inventory                               65,688               65,688     63,693
Prepaid expenses                         17,189               17,189     14,015
Loans to related societies and employees          1,287,199               1,287,199     1,254,002
Loan to Cairnwood Village, Inc.               1,100,000               1,100,000     1,100,000
Investments                              8,467,430     10,856,995     19,324,425     18,167,900
Land, buildings and equipment, net of
     accumulated depreciation               467,348               467,348     452,799
Due from Expendable Funds                              100,000     100,000     100,000
                                   $12,984,854     $11,085,800     $24,070,654     $22,838,529

     LIABILITIES AND FUND BALANCES
Accounts payable                         $83,452               $83,452     $78,071
Agency funds                              249,903               249,903     204,900
Loans payable                              800,000               800,000     800,000
Mortgages payable                         86,280               86,280     87,616
Deferred capital support                              214,114     214,114     175,445
Annuity payable                                   90,646     90,646     123,016
Total Liabilities                         1,319,635     304,760     1,624,395     1,569,048

     Fund balances:
     Unrestricted-
          available for current operations     1,018,423               1,018,423     1,026,517
     Restricted-
          available for current operations     259,242               259,242     221,055
          -designated for specific purposes     10,387,554               10,387,554     9,684,215
Endowment                                        10,781,040     10,781,040     10,337,693
Total fund balances                         11,665,219     10,781,040     22,446,269     21,269,481
                                   $12,984,854     $11,085,800     $24,070,654     $22,838,529

551

     GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
Statement of Support, Revenue, Expenses, Capital Additions and Changes in Fund Balances
Year ended December 31, 1984 with comparative totals for 1983

                                   Expendable     Nonexpend-          Total
                                   Funds          able Funds          1984          1983
Support and revenue:
     Contributions and bequests          $740,264     $194,509     $934,773     $849,155
     Investment income                    1,467,916     110,799     1,578,715     1,423,878
     Printing and publishing               221,211               221,211     175,540
     Gain on sale of investments               11,819               11,819     466,839
     Other Revenue                    148,867     9,990          158,857     87,818
Total support and revenue                    2,590,077     315,298     2,905,375     3,003,230

     Expenses:
     Program services:
          Pastoral and educational          320,156               320,156     250,546
          South African Mission          21,690               21,690     26,638
          Information and other services     198,402               198,402     192,420
          Employee benefits               382,322               382,322     318,854
          Development grants to societies     28,100               28,100     73,070
          Pensions paid                    327,036               327,036     266,647
          Investment Savings Plan
               Withdrawals               158,952               158,952     124,138
          Other services                    343,270     5,304          348,574     324,063
Total program services                    1,779,928     5,304          1,785,232     1,576,376

     Supporting services:
     Administration                    511,920     8,295          520,215     576,131

     Total expenses                         2,291,848     13,599     2,305,447     2,152,507

     Excess of support and revenue over expenses
     before capital additions               298,299     301,699     599,928     850,7234

     Capital additions:
     Contributions and bequests               24,409     85,000     109,409     281,995
     Investment income                    350          56,658     56,998     2,328

     Total capital additions                    24,759     141,648     166,407     284,323

     Excess of support and revenue over expenses
     after capital additions                    322,988     443,347     766,335     1,135,046

     Other changes:
     Pension Plan funding                    228,630               228,630     224,096
     Investment Savings Plan funding          181,813               181,813     172,024

     Total other changes                         410,443               410,443     396,120

     Excess of support and revenue over expenses
     after capital additions and other changes     733,431     443,347     1,176,778     1,531,166

     Fund balances at beginning of year               10,931,788     10,337,693     21,269,481     19,738,315

     Fund balances at end of year                    $11,665,219     $10,781,040     $22,446,259     $21,269,481

552

     GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
Statement of Changes in Financial Position

                                        Expendable     Nonexpend-          Total
                                   Funds          able Funds     1984          1983
Cash was provided by:
Excess of support and revenue over
     expenses before capital additions and
     other changes                         $298,29     $301,699     $599,928     $850,723
Capital additions:
     Contributions and bequests               24,409     85,000     109,409     281,995
     Investment income                    350.00     56,648     56,998     2,328
Excess of support and revenue over
     expenses after capital additions          322,988     443,347     766,335     1,135,046
Other changes:
     Items that do not (provide) use cash:
     Gain on sale of investments               (11,819)               (11,819)     (69,889)
     Depreciation                         13,246               13,246     10,279
     Contribution of investments               (248,861)     (753,323)     (1,002,184)     (547,985)
     Loans on disposal of fixed assets          2,679                    2,679          1,888
Proceeds from sales of investments               445,449     52,882     498,331     1,018,432
Decrease in inventory                                                       4,366
Increase in agency funds                    45,003               45,003     49,543
Increase in accounts payable                    5,381                    5,318          42,171
Increase in deferred capital support               228,630               228,630     224,096
Pension plan funding                         181,813               181,813     172,024
Decrease in prepaid expenses                                                  21,342
Increase in annuity payable                                                  54,549
Total cash provided                         984,509     (218,425)     766,084     2,117,244

     Cash was used for:
     Purchase of investments               391,353     249,500     640,853     2010,324
     Purchase of land, building and
          equipment                    30,474               30,474     34,243
     Increase in inventory                    2,005                    2,005
     Increase in loans to societies and
          employees                    33,197               33,197     21,520
     Increase in accounts receivable          80,042               80,042     337,651
     Increase in prepaid expenses               3,174                    3,174
     Decrease in annuity payable                         32,370     32,370
     Repayment of mortgages payable          1,336                    1,336          1,220
Total cash used                         541,581     281,870     823,451     2,404,958

     Increase (decrease) in cash                    442,928     (500,295)     (57,367)     (287,714)

     Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year          544,038     629,100     1,173,138     1,460,852

     Cash and cash equivalents, end of year          $986,966     $128,805     $1,115,771     $1,173,138

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DEVELOPMENT OFFICER'S REPORT 1985

DEVELOPMENT OFFICER'S REPORT Walter C. Childs 1985

     Our church is small in number, but the uses we are trying to perform are many. Our ability to financially support these activities is largely due to the continuing, generous support of our members and friends. During 1984 over 691 contributors donated directly to the General Church. The areas they supported included:

     Number of     Activity                                   Amount
Contributors     Supported                                   Donated
609          The yearly operating costs of the General Church
          via the annual fund                              $439,998
191          Evangelization and other similarly specialized areas     $202,036
106          Endowment                                        $402,148
          Total                                             $1,044,182

     The funds raised during 1984 represented an increase of about $26,000 over contributions received in 1983, and slightly exceeded the budget. If the General Church is to be able to carry out its new five-year plan, according to the priorities set by the church, all gifts to congregations and to the General Church will, continue to be of the utmost importance.
     Walter C. Childs, III,
          Development Officer
NEW CHURCH IN GHANA 1985

NEW CHURCH IN GHANA Rev. JEREMY SIMONS 1985

     From July 6 to August 2, 1985, Rev. Robin Childs and I visited readers of the Writings and church groups interested in the Heavenly Doctrines in Ghana and the neighboring country of Togo. We saw nine people who distribute the Writings for the Swedenborg Foundation, visited six church groups, went to a number of bookstores in Accra and Tema which were selling the Writings, and talked with many people about the New Church. We were also interviewed by the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation for a radio program, and by the Ghana Times, the largest national newspaper.
     Most of our time was spent with Bishop Benjamin Garna, who is the leader of the Assembly of the New Church in Ghana, and who has contacts with more readers of the Writings than anyone else in Ghana.
     Overall we felt that it was a very successful visit. Certainly more Ghanaians are reading the doctrines than ever before, and we found more individuals with a greater knowledge of them than I have found in previous visits.

554

The books were more widely available in bookstores than in the past, and the number of people asking for books such as Arcana Coelestia volume 2 and Conjugial Love was greater than in the past. As on previous visits we met many young men who would like to undergo theological training and become pastors, and we received many assurances that if a theological school was established in Ghana there would be plenty of students.
While we feel that the progress of the New Church in Ghana is extremely positive, we do not want to give the impression that there are large numbers of Ghanaians attending churches and belonging to organizations which teach the doctrines of the New Church. At this point the New Church in Ghana is very much on an individual level; that is, individuals are buying books, reading them, and understanding them as best they can. There are many small study circles which meet and discuss the teachings, and there are many individual pastors who are reading the Writings. However, there are few churches where New Church doctrines ace being preached every Sunday and which have congregations which consider themselves New Churchmen. There are many reasons for this, such as that there are no ministers in Ghana who are trained in the doctrines, or that few people have enough books of the Writings to realize that they teach an entirely new theology. But whatever the reason is, we should realize that we are not dealing with an organized church in Ghana with any certain number of members that we can count. Rather, in Ghana there are thousands of people who are being enlightened by reading the Writings and who are looking for more enlightenment. So we are dealing with a huge potential and a few small organizations which are trying to serve the Lord's ends in Ghana.

Book Distribution

In the past twenty years the Swedenborg Foundation has sent about a quarter of a million books to Ghana. Yet we received a universal cry for more books just about everywhere we went. We stopped at major and minor bookstores in Accra and found the books selling in almost every one we entered, which was not the case in 1980 on my last visit. Even street vendors had a few copies. On one occasion we found several books of the Writings with a street vendor, but when we came back a few days later the books were sold out. Whenever Pastor Garna brought books to one of the functions where we spoke they sold out immediately. In the UTC, a large department store in Accra, the manager and sales personnel from the book department gathered around us and implored us to send them more of the Arcana Coelestia.

555

They said that Heaven and Hell and Heavenly Secrets always sell out quickly when they get them in, but that they especially get many requests for the other twelve volumes of the Arcana. This was something we heard in many places, and more than on any of my previous visits we found people who said that they had read all the books that the Swedenborg Foundation sends and that they desperately sought some of the others. Most frequently mentioned of these were the further volumes of the Arcana, Conjugial Love, and True Christian Religion.

Radio Interview

     The director of Ghana's Center for Religious Affairs, Mr. I. K. Obeng, is a friend of Bishop Garna's and a reader of the Writings. The Center for Religious Affairs is a department of the government under the Ministry of Culture, and so Mr. Obeng was able to have us inter- viewed on a well-known radio program. Ghanaians do not all have televisions, but almost everyone does have a radio. Also there is only one Ghanaian radio station. We spoke for about twenty minutes on the New Church, the Swedenborg Foundation, and the reasons for our visit. We heard it broadcast on the radio, and Bishop Garna has told us that it was rebroadcast at least six more times. So there is a good chance that a large proportion of Ghanaians in all parts of the country heard it.
     Obeng also had us interviewed by the Ghana Times, the major national newspaper, but we never saw the interview published. We also could have been on national television, but we had to leave before they could set up a date. Still this shows the wide acceptance that the message of the Writings has in Ghana, and the openness to religious ideas of the Ghanaian people.

Conclusion

     The prophecy of the Heavenly Doctrines is that the New Church will grow primarily with the gentiles, or with peoples from lands that have been outside of the Christian world (see AC 2986, LJ 74). And we are told that of the gentile peoples "the best are from Africa" (HH 5 14). We do not understand how the Lord is working to prepare the people of the world to receive the New Church. But we can be assured that both in the Christian world and elsewhere these preparations are taking place. For over two hundred years followers of the Heavenly Doctrines have noticed the teachings about the Africans and have been expecting the church to take root there. Yet the church does not grow until the people have been prepared. As we now see signs of increasing reception of the New Church in places such as Japan and the Philippines as well as in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa, perhaps these preparations are nearing completion.

556

Editorial Pages 1985

Editorial Pages Editor 1985

     ANGELS

     Most of the time Christians do not think at all about the subject of angels. Christmas time is an exception, because angels are mentioned over and over again in the portion of the Gospels that receives attention at this season. So much of what occurs in the story of the Lord's birth includes the participation of angels.
     But what if a Christian wants to learn more about angels? Studies on the subject have been published with one (to us) glaring omission. Swedenborg is not mentioned. Has any writer in history recorded more on the subject of angels? More than forty pages of the Concordance are filled with the references in the Writings to this subject. More about this later.
     When one looks up angels in Christian literature one finds that the treatments are dreary and disappointing. And yet, in spite of the lack of doctrinal knowledge on this subject people seem to have an instinctive feeling about angels. The Writings refer to something implanted in people that disposes them in this way. It emerges, for example, when someone has died and people talk about their lot. Instinctively people talk of them as being in heaven "and place them among angels as talking with them and enjoying their happiness" (DP 274).
     Writers of fiction not infrequently depict angels as human beings (without wings), and the term "angel" is often used in an accurate way by thoughtful writers. The title Beast or Angel was chosen by the late Rene Dubos for his delightful and fascinating book about the nature of man. (The subtitle is Choices That Makes Us Human.)
     The seemingly instinctive good sense about angels runs contrary to Christian theology. An editorial in this magazine thirty-two years ago by the late Rev. Cairns Henderson was entitled "The New Angelology." He wrote, "Only when the Writings were given would the truth about angels be revealed . . ." (NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1953, p. 520).
     But when the truth about angels was revealed and much information was made available, how was it received in the religious world? In the preface to his book Swedenborg Explores the Spiritual Dimension, Rev. Brian Kingslake describes how religious leaders treated the things related by Swedenborg. "They boycotted him intellectually, ignoring his ideas, excluding his teachings from the syllabus of their theological seminaries, pretending he never existed! There was (and still is) a conspiracy of silence about Emanuel Swedenborg."

557

     In spite of this silence the basic good-ideas concerning angels endure. Even though people have strange doctrinal ideas about angels, they can recognize them when they see them! As it is put in The Divine Providence, "When one sees angels painted or sculptured does he not recognize them to be such? Who thinks at such a time that they are spirits without bodies, or air or clouds, as some of the learned do?" (274:7).
     Swedenborg conversed with angels about the "blind ignorance" that exists concerning angels in the Christian world. But it was said that the simple in faith and heart have implanted in them from heaven good ideas about angels. "For a like reason, angels in churches, whether sculptured or painted, are always depicted as people" (HH 74).
     Have you received any Christmas cards or observed any portrayals this year that confirm this?

     A NOTE ABOUT STATISTICS

     The December issue is full of numbers, although this year the figures on our several schools appeared in the November issue. Readers might notice that whereas there were fifty-eight deaths reported (an exceptionally high figure compared with recent years) there were sixty-nine memorial services. The reason for that discrepancy is this: only the deaths of members of the General Church are listed in the General Church statistics. In addition to this we also report the memorial services conducted for friends and relatives who were not on membership rolls.
     In June we noted that twenty-four marriages had been reported in our first six issues (see p. 291) but that more marriages are usually reported in the later issues. The total for the year was sixty-nine.
NCL 100 YEARS AGO 1985

NCL 100 YEARS AGO 1985

     In the December issue of 1885 the following news is given:
     "The Immanuel Church of the New Jerusalem" is the name of a new society in Chicago composed of forty-eight members of the congregation hitherto worshiping on the West and North sides. The new church has joined the General Church. . ."
     Membership in Glenview's Immanuel Church is presently over 350 with a total congregation of over 500.
Title Unspecified 1985

Title Unspecified 1985

"Man was created to become an angel" (Heaven and Hell 315).

558

NCL 50 YEARS AGO 1985

     Communications

     We would like to quote from two outstanding items in the December issue of 1935. In a sermon entitled "The Lord's Providence Over His Church" Rev. A. Wynne Acton said, "Often we may feel discouraged and dissatisfied with the state or the development of the church. We have our own ideas of how the church should flourish. But in such cases we should recognize that our ideas may be entirely false, and our ambitions really directed more toward the advancement of our own ideas and desires than an advancement of the church."
     He said further, "Nevertheless, all that may be said of the ruling of the Divine Providence should not in any degree lessen our own sense of responsibility. The Lord, in operating for the welfare of His church in building the house-acts through the individuals who constitute the church. It is the duty and the privilege of each member of the external church to perform his uses in such a way that the Lord may perform His Divine uses through him; and he may be an instrument in the hands of the Divine Providence for strengthening the church on earth."
     In a stirring Charter Day speech entitled "State and Church," Dr. William Whitehead said:

560

Whatever the failures of the Academy may have been in the past, I believe, in looking back over the line of men and women who have gone from us to do their work in the world, that we have helped. to train-for this country and other countries-minds and characters that are an asset to the civil state. But, in a more important sense, these graduates are the hope of the societies of the Lord's New Church. After all, that primal affection for the Divine truth which has been developed in our midst, and which we all share, however we may disagree on other grounds . . . makes the church when it is rooted in some common life of charity. And it is this affection which is the salt of a true civilization.
APPLICATIONS FOR ADMISSION TO THE ACADEMY BOYS SCHOOL AND GIRLS SCHOOL 1985

APPLICATIONS FOR ADMISSION TO THE ACADEMY BOYS SCHOOL AND GIRLS SCHOOL 1985

Requests for application forms for admission of new students to the Academy Secondary Schools should be made by March 16, 1986. 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, 1986, if the applicant is to avoid a $20 late fee.
APPLICATIONS FOR ADMISSION TO THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH COLLEGE 1985

APPLICATIONS FOR ADMISSION TO THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH COLLEGE 1985

561

COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY 1985

COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY Lorentz R. Soneson 1985

     MEMBERSHIP

     During the year ending August 31, 1985, one man was inaugurated into the first degree of the priesthood and five 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, seventy-one in the pastoral degree, and seven in the ministerial degree, for a total of eighty-one. Of these, five were mainly or essentially employed by the General Church, ten by the Academy of the New Church, fifty-three were engaged in pastoral work, ten were retired or engaged in secular work, and three were unassigned.
     In addition to the above figures 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, 1985, together with the comparative figures for the twelve-month periods five and ten years ago are shown below.

                                   1984-85      1979-80      1974-75
Baptisms
     Children                         158           155           128
          Adults                         34           45           33
               Total                         192           200           161

Holy Supper Administrations
          Public                         221           283           193
          Private                         61           56           36
          Communicants                         5,565      5,935      5,584

Confessions of Faith                    37           38           34

Betrothals                              37           38           34

Marriages                              69           70           52
          Blessings on Marriages               0           2           0

Ordinations                              6          6           2

Dedications
          Churches                         1          1          0
          Homes                              9           8           5
          Other                          2           1          0

Funerals and Memorial Services           69           62           45

     Lorentz R. Soneson,
          Secretary, Council of the Clergy

562

POEMS FROM SWEDENBORG 1985

POEMS FROM SWEDENBORG Leon C. LeVan 1985

     Announcements

     Presented by Leon C. LeVan

     (See "Notes on This Issue.")

     Everpresent

God is present
In space without space
And in time without time
Because He is always
The same
From eternity to eternity
Thus He is the same
Since the world was created
As before.
TCR 30

     Light of Truth

I have often seen
Spiritual light
Which immensely exceeds
Natural light
In clearness and splendor
For it is
As clearness and splendor
In their very essence;
It appears like
Resplendent and dazzling snow
Such as the garments of the Lord
When He was transfigured.
As light is Wisdom
Therefore the Lord
Calls Himself the Light
Which lightens every man,
And says in other places
That He is the Light-
That is,
That He is Divine Truth.
Influx 6

     Acknowledged

It is acknowledged
In the Christian world
That no mortal
Could have been saved
Unless the Lord
Had come into the world;
And this is why
The Lord is called
The First and the Last."
DP 124

     Treasures of Wisdom

Some things shall be stated
That have been
Hitherto unknown
In the learned world,
As much so
As things buried in the earth,
And yet they are
Treasures of wisdom;
And unless they are dug up
And given to the public
Man will toil in vain
To arrive
At any correct knowledge
Of God, faith, charity
And the state
Of his own life.
TCR 362

565

     Man

Man is man
So far as he speaks
From sound reason
And looks forward
To his abode in heaven;
While so far as he speaks
From perverted reason
And looks only
To his abode in the world
So far he is not man.
TCR 417

     Are Not Truths

Truths without good
Are not truths
Because they have
No life;
For all the life of truths
Is from good;
They are as a body
Without a soul.
NJHD 22

     First and Chief

Heaven within man
Is acknowledging the Divine
And being led
By the Divine.
The first and chief thing
Of every religion
Is to acknowledge the Divine;
A religion that does not
Acknowledge the Divine
Is no religion.
HH 319

     Light and Glory

The light and glory
Of faith
May be compared
To the beauty of the rainbow
Or of a field of flowers
Or of a blooming garden
In early spring.
TCR 353 OUR COVER IS CHANGING COLOR 1985

OUR COVER IS CHANGING COLOR Editor 1985

There will not be a new cover design in 1986, but we have been wanting to improve the paper. We have found that the paper of the cover does not always lie flat, nor does it pass through our machinery easily. Now we have found a paper that does both and is less expensive! To go to the better paper required a color change, which we trust will be pleasing to our readers.
The present cover color has been used since January of 1982. During 1981 we had a special white and gold color with the words "BEGINNING OUR SECOND CENTURY." From 1952 to 1979 it was green. From 1938 to 1951 it was a golden yellow. From 1921 to 1937 it was blue, and prior to that it was a greyish green.

566

NEW BOOKS AND BOOKLETS AVAILABLE 1985

     The third volume of the new translation of the Arcana Coelestia may now be purchased from the General Church Book Center. The cost (not including postage) is $10.70 for hardback and $7.00 for paperback.

     An entirely new compendium from the Writings under the title A View From Within has been published by the Swedenborg Foundation. It is also available from the General Church Book Center. The selections have been translated by Rev. George Dole and put under intriguing headings. The cover is glossy and eye-catching. 140 pages, $7.95.

     A booklet of quotations from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg entitled Love and Marriage has been published by the Swedenborg Society. This is a pocket-sized booklet very attractively presented. The translations have been revised and modernized by Dr. John Chadwick. $1.00.

     The Evangelization Committee is producing a series of pamphlets under the heading, A Religion That Makes Sense. Five of them have to do with the subject of Providence and permission. These are essays by five ministers on the following topics:

How Can a Loving God Permit Evil?
Why Are We Here?
Affliction Turned to Good
How Providence Works.

     Added to the series is one that has already been widely circulated entitled Why Did the Lord Let It Happen? This one costs 80?, the others 50 cents.

     Finally there is a brief pamphlet entitled Twenty Questions About the New Church. 50 cents.

     The Evangelization Committee is to be congratulated for providing these highly usable items.