EDITORIAL NOTES 1888

EDITORIAL NOTES Editor 1888

NEW CHURCH LIFE.

Vol. VIII     PHILADELPHIA, JANUARY, 1888=118.     No. 1.
     THERE are those who love to assert that the prejudices of Old Church people to the Doctrines of the New Church are softening, "that the doctrines which separated between the LORD and men are taught less and less;" that "the falsities fade away, and the general principles of Christianity which are in perfect accord with the doctrines of the New Church are being taught and begin to be the staple of the teachings of the pulpits and the Churches." Such assertions are easily made, but those who make them fail to appreciate that theirs is the burden of proof, but that they never adduce the proof. Sporadic instances there are where the true Christian religion is being taught from a pulpit nominally of the Old Church - but that is the most. No proof has ever been adduced that "the falsities fade away, and the general principles of Christianity which are in perfect accord with the doctrines of the New Church are being taught and begin to be the staple of the teachings of the pulpits and the Churches," and for the simple reason that no such proof can be adduced. May not the apparent "fading away of falsities" be due to a growing dimness of the sight of the beholder? Is it not, unfortunately, the fact that the spirit of proselyting has obtained such complete mastery over our people that they do not wish to see falses and evils in the Old Church, and cry "peace, peace, when there is no peace"?

     Some years ago, when this same cry was repeated to the echo, a number of New Churchmen, to convince themselves whether it be actually the case that the truths of Christianity were beginning to be preached from the pulpits, spent several weeks and months in visiting representative Churches of various denominations in three of the largest cities in this country - and everywhere they still found the Old Church falses being taught, notably the doctrine of the Trinity. This entered into prayer, song, and sermon.

     If it be true that the principles of Christianity are becoming the staple of Old Church preaching, let it be shown.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IN The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture, n. 12, we read as follows: "In the Apocalypse, Chapter vi, it is said, that "when the Lamb opened the first seal of the Book, there went forth a white horse, and that He that sat on him had a bow, to Him was given a crown; that when He opened the second seal, there went forth a red horse, and that to him who sat on him there was given a great sword; that when He opened the third seal, there went forth a black horse; and that he who sat on him held in his hand a balance; and that when He opened the fourth seal, there went forth a pale horse, and that the name of him who sat on him was Death. . . . By these things are described the successive states of the Church as to the understanding of the Word, from the beginning even to its end; by the opening of the seals of the Book by the Lamb, is signified a manifestation of those states of the Church by the LORD; by the 'horse' the understanding of the Word; by the 'white horse' the understanding of truth from the Word in the first state of the Church; by the 'bow of Him who sat on that horse,' the Doctrine of charity and faith fighting against falses; by the 'crown' eternal life, the reward of victory; by the 'red horse,' is signified the understanding of the Word destroyed as to good in the second state of the Church; by the 'great sword,' the false fighting against the truth; by the 'black horse' is signified the understanding of the Word destroyed as to truth, in the third state of the Church; by the balance, the estimation of truth so small as to be scarcely anything; by the 'pale horse' is signified no understanding of the Word, from evils of life and falses thence, in the fourth or last state of the Church, and by 'death' eternal damnation." In Apocalypse Revealed, n. 321, it is said, "by 'death' is signified spiritual death, which is the extinction of spiritual life, and by 'Hell,' which followed that death, is signified damnation." (See also T. C. R. 180.) These things being so, will some one of those who hold that the old Christian Church is now the General Church, of which the New Church is a part, tell us how, when and by what means that old Church was raised up out of the death of eternal damnation, and without any process of regeneration, come to constitute the external of the new internal Church of the LORD? Has not Hell followed after the death of that Church, and is not Hell or damnation eternal?
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

     "EVERYWHERE the lines which separate us from other religious organizations are not so closely drawn as in former years. The members of those organizations are drawing nearer to us in many ways. A more friendly disposition is manifested on their part." This seems to be the experience in many quarters. Yet is it correct to assume, as is generally done, that the change that has taken place is due to the vivification of the Old Church organizations? A searching analysis will bring to light the fact that the change has been largely with the New Church organizations. And a change not for the better. Lines necessarily grow fainter when they are methodically erased.

     In early years the distinctiveness of the New Church was emphasized and her lines clearly defined by an aggressiveness which defied attempts at compromise. The Doctrines were not only studied but formed the substance of the Church's life, entering into the thought of her meetings and into the words of her journals. Latterly all this has fallen into desuetude, and instead of the incitement to action coming from the LORD through His now opened Word, it is received from the Old Church. An example of this is to be found in an announcement in the December Magazine: "During the next year we wish to make a new departure in respect to Bible study, now so generally carried on by Christians [!] according to their light. In this respect our people are somewhat deficient, having their thoughts turned to questions of organization and missions to such a degree as to divert them from studying the Word, and from making their periodicals means of defending its inspiration by showing its genuine meaning. Only thus can it be defended, and thus our people in particular can defend it; but our contributors seldom deal directly with the Scriptures either in the literal or spiritual meanings of them."

     Well, what wonder? When the Magazine has time after time essayed to prove that the Word is not inspired why should its contributors deal with the Scriptures. And that the Magazine's sense of its deficiency is quickened by seeing "the devil contending about the body of Moses" (Jude v. 9, see A. E. 735), shows that it has not yet realized that the LORD is the Word and that when He came as the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory, He established a New Church distinct from the Old on these lines: that the Word as now revealed in His Writings consists in its complex of the Internal Sense and the External Sense, of Doctrine from the Internal Sense and Doctrine from the External Sense, and of the Primary Truths (A. C. 9370-9437), while the lines of the Old Church are those of the merely external sense disconnected from the Internal - a body without a soul.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

     UNDER the heading, "Fraternization - Five Religious Sects Unite in Giving Thanks," a Detroit paper reports as follows:

     "Swedenborgians, Unitarians, Hebrews, Spiritualists, and Universalists met together in the Church of Our Father to unite in a thanksgiving service. Giles B. Stebbins, for the Spiritualists, gave a history of Thanksgiving Day. The Rev. A. F. Frost, Swedenborgian, congratulated his hearers on the friendliness between the Churches. The Rev. Louis Grossman 'the youngest clergyman present, but the representative of the oldest faith in the world, the Jewish,' as Dr. Rexford introduced him, drew a comparison between the agreeable event in which he was participating and the persecutions of his people for centuries. Dr. Rexford told of the kindly feeling he had met among the ministers of Detroit, and declared that there was a probability that next year would see every Church in the city represented in one service. After a brief address by the Rev. Reed Stuart, Unitarian, a collection was taken up for the benefit of the workingwomen's home and the industrial school, and the services ended with the singing of America."

     New Churchmen who confess the LORD to be the one and only God, uniting in worship with four different sects who in as many different ways reject the Divinity of JESUS CHRIST! Dove and owls in the same nest! To whom, it may be asked, were thanks given on this occasion? Do Jews now confess that the Messiah has appeared in the person Of JESUS CHRIST? Have Unitarians suddenly discovered that JESUS CHRIST was not a mere man? Or have the Spiritists? Or the Universalists? It was surely on no other ground that the "Swedenborgians" considered it a cause for congratulation that there is "friendliness" between the "Churches"? The congratulation implies the former non-existence of friendliness, and the removal of the hindrances to its existence. Yet the presumption is very strong that if these hindrances have in truth been removed, if indeed the LORD now reigns supreme in the theology of the sects represented at this thanksgiving service - then the fact must be known to all the world.

     But it is idle to attempt to construe the action of the Detroit Swedenborgians as being the result of a conviction that they were meeting with men who had given up their false religions and had embraced the Truth. It is a case, apparently, where the dictates of natural affections have crowded out the Divine command, "Take heed to thyself lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land."

     It is much more pleasant to the natural man to enjoy "the good-natured toleration" of Old Church sects, and to reciprocate in kind, than to keep clear the distinction between them and the New Church.

     Friendliness cannot endure without community of ends and purposes; between Churches it presupposes a community of spiritual ends and purposes, and not of such as are merely civil or moral.

     Friendliness between the New Church and the Old is folly in its origin, being due to the passiveness of spiritual principles, and the activity of natural charity; it is iniquity in its results, its continuance depending upon the slumber of spiritual charity passing over into death.
CORNER STONE, THE SURE FOUNDATION 1888

CORNER STONE, THE SURE FOUNDATION Rev. JOHN WHITEHEAD 1888

     Wherefore thus saith the LORD JEHOVIH, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner, a firm foundation. He that believeth shall not hasten. - Isaiah xxviii, 16.

     THE LORD is called a rock, a foundation, and a corner stone, when He is represented as the Divine Truth, because on this Divine Truth, in and from the LORD, the Church in heaven and on earth is founded. The hard, firm, and enduring nature of a rock is a fit representative of the nature and quality of the Divine Truth. The Divine Truth is eternal, from eternity to eternity ever enduring, indestructible, unmoved, and untouched by the changes and commotions of time, and hence it is the very rock upon which our souls must be built if they would endure and withstand the attacks of falsity and evil, the shocks of spiritual temptation and trial.

     The external temples which we build for the worship of the LORD, the schools we build for the instruction and education of our children, and the homes we build for our habitations, are external representations and correspondences of internal things within us, and the very foundations and corner stones of these edifices are representative of something that should be within us, that the temple and house of the LORD, and the uses of worship, of education, and of a true home life may dwell within ourselves.

     The temple for the worship of the LORD represents the Divine Truth and in the Supreme Sense the Divine Human of the LORD. The Church is founded on the acknowledgment of the Divine Human of the LORD. The Church must worship the LORD in His Divine Human, and when it neglects the Divine Human, passes it by in its acknowledgment and worship, it is in the condition described by the LORD when He said:

     "The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner; this is the LORD'S doings and it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder."

     But when the LORD JESUS CHRIST is acknowledged and worshiped, who is the Divine Man in whom dwelleth the entire Divinity, as the soul dwells in the body, and when the Divine Truth He reveals is received and obeyed, then the true Church is built up within us, our life is built on an everlasting foundation, on the rock of Divine Truth, and though the winds and floods of falsity and evil rage around us, the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.

     The proper instruction and education of our children toward the attainment of such acknowledgment and worship is one of the chief duties and uses which devolves upon us in our life in this world, and in the Word this use is frequently referred to.

Thus it is written:

     "Hear, O Israel! The LORD OUR GOD is One LORD. And Thou shalt love the LORD THY GOD with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the post of thine house and on thy gates."

     This shows to us the supreme importance of the doctrine concerning God in the education of children. It should enter into each and everything of their education as the soul enters into the body and gives life and vitality to each and everything therein. The Universe created by God consists of the spiritual and the natural worlds. Man has a soul in the spiritual world and a body in the natural world. The spiritual world and the soul of man are the most important and essential and their cultivation is of supreme importance. The natural world and the body are the basis and foundation on which the spiritual world and the soul rest. The spiritual and natural worlds are intimately united; everything in the natural world derives its life, its existence, its activity, and its form from the spiritual world. Everything of man's body derives its form, life, and activity from the soul. And these two are intimately united and must not be separated. The operations and laws and the very facts of nature are produced by operations, laws, and facts in the spiritual world. The operations, laws, and states of man's body are produced by causes in his spirit or soul, and these two, the soul and the body, are intimately united.

     Our life in this world consists in the care and development of these two, the soul and the body. If we neglect the soul and devote our whole attention to the body, we are like the foolish man who commenced to build his house, and had no more than sufficient to build the foundation, and thus the house itself, which is the habitation, was not built. If we care for the body as a thing entirely distinct and separate from the care of the soul, we build a foundation on different lines and shapes from the house above, and consequently it will fall. The education of soul and body must go together, hand in hand, and the implantation of spiritual principles relating to the LORD, heaven, and the Church must be first, as the most important, the eternal thing of our education, otherwise the body of natural things will be developed out of all proportion to the development of the soul, which should wield, govern, and direct the body with its external activities and affections.

     The first condition of all the external education of the present day, is the divorce of the natural from the spiritual, and this comes into all planes of natural education - in science, in politics, in government, in morality, in medicine, in social affairs. The natural universe is regarded as complete and self-sustaining, and a complete and gross ignorance prevails even as to the very existence of the spiritual universe, and a more gross ignorance prevails as to the principles and laws governing that universe and the human soul which was created to live in and occupy it.

     All the laws governing our souls and also the spiritual universe in which the soul dwells, are Divine Truths from the Word, and these laws are one, they all cohere together in most beautiful order and connection, and when they are received by man they will make his mind and life a unit which will be harmonious and peaceful and full of heavenly happiness; and this blessed reception of the water of life can take place only by a true instruction and education in Divine Truths.

     When Divine Truth is rejected, God is rejected, because He is the Divine Truth, and hence, when the laws of heavenly order are rejected, when spiritual principles are excluded from education, when natural laws are regarded as entirely separate from the spiritual world, the stone or rock of Divine Truth is refused or rejected by the builders of the minds of our children.

     But in the New Church these internal principles and laws governing our higher degrees have been revealed by the LORD, and hence it follows as a necessary duty of our lives that we should train and educate our children in these laws, and that we shall not divorce from them the corresponding laws and principles of the natural plane. Thus the LORD, in making all things new, makes the education of our infants and children new also.

     Shall we teach our children of the LORD as the Creator and Preserver of the Universe, and then send them to schools in which He is not recognized, where theories, principles, and ideas are taught which are totally opposite to those things revealed by the LORD to the New Church? Shall we teach them of the ends and aims of man, that he was born in this world that he might become an inhabitant of heaven, and then put them in schools where the sphere of the world is active, to train them in habits of deceit and falsehood, where they will hear and learn of wicked and immoral practices; where the envies, jealousies, and emulations which cultivate selfish feelings are imbibed? Shall we divorce the spiritual from the natural and cultivate the natural at the expense of the spiritual?

     The New Church is called the Bride and Wife of the LAMB. It is described by a marriage, and in all things of the Church this marriage must become more and more manifested. Hence in the education, instruction, and training of our children we ought to constantly look to the uniting of spiritual and natural principles, that these may be brought forth into external uses, and by this be made firm and enduring.

     We must build on the Rock of Divine Truth and not on the shifting sands of human opinions. This rock is the LORD. It is the LORD in His Second Coming. Thus it is the Divine Truths He has revealed. Whatsoever these teach must be learned and be gradually embodied in our practice, and then we shall be built upon a Rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

     Knowledge concerning God is the highest, most useful, and most profitable knowledge which it is possible for man to possess, and yet it is regarded by the world as of no value, and as a sign of an advanced mind to reject or doubt it. God is the Center, the Creator, the Preserver, the Sustainer of the Universe. He is Substance Itself from which all substance is created. He is Life Itself from whom comes all life. He is the Redeemer and Savior from whom comes all safety from evil and its consequent misery and unhappiness. He is the Giver of all good gifts, the highest of which is a knowledge of Himself, by which He elevates us to Himself in heaven with its happiness of life. To know Him, to learn eternal and enduring principles from Him, is the most vital concern of human life, for by so doing and by acting according to His teachings we fulfill the end of our creation. He has revealed Himself to man in the Written Word.

He has now come again into the world to teach us the true internal and external meaning of His Word, giving it in doctrinal forms. Thus He is First, and He is Last, coming down into ultimate forms, visible to us in the world, giving us tangible things concerning Himself, which our very senses can grasp, and these ultimates which He also possesses in His Divine Human are the solid rock of Divine Truth on which we must build our souls if we would stand unmoved against the fierce attacks of hell.

     If we know the LORD, if we know the principles of life which He teaches, then we have a firm foundation for our determination to rest on. But it must be a faith in the Divine and not in the merely human; we must believe that the LORD GOD has taught the principle, and not a mere man, in order to stand firm and unmoved in temptation combats. If we believe that a mere man has taught a certain principle, we hold it subject to revision, improvement, change, rejection. We hold it as necessarily imperfect and probably false. If our own desires, inclinations, and notions are disturbed by it we reject it as a disturber of our peace and as false and evil. But if we see a principle to be Divine and from the LORD, we see that it is true, perfect, eternal, immutable, something firm, enduring, strong, on which we can rest secure and in peace. Hence we can trust in such a faith, we can grow strong in the determination to carry it out. We are not at the mercy of conflicting opinions and practices, but have a straight road to follow, which ever leads onward and upward.

     This Divine Faith in the truth of the LORD'S Second Coming, in the Truth He has now revealed for the reformation and regeneration of mankind, is the Corner Stone of our minds. It is the basis of all our educational ends and aims. It inspires us to work and to hope that some genuine good fruit may be the results of our labors. If we humbly learn from the Heavenly Doctrines the principles of our action, if we faithfully teach what they reveal, and place all natural sciences and knowledges in their true position, as handmaids of spiritual truth, we shall not be doing the Work, but the LORD Himself. In the wonderful plan of the universe all things are designed for use, and as we learn the Divine Ends and purposes, and as we enter into the sphere of them by doing the things we learn, we co-operate in the Divine Uses intended, not as originators, but as humble instruments in the LORD'S hands for the accomplishment of His most merciful and benignant ends for the eternal happiness and welfare of the human race.

     Let us consider the wonderful mercy and goodness of the LORD in creating the Universe. Infinite in wisdom, infinite in goodness, and infinite in power, He has labored for untold myriads of years in creating numberless systems and earths for the habitation of man, that he may become an inhabitant of the heavens. Man in his freedom may depart from the order of his creation, and he has departed again and again; and the LORD has labored for his recovery and fainted not. He even bowed the heavens and came down and took upon Himself our fallen nature and fought by it against and conquered our spiritual enemies, and when man again fell away from the LORD and His teachings, He came in His Divine Truth to again teach and lead man from his falsities and evils, and invites him to follow Him out of the paths of evil and Sin and be led back into the pleasant pastures of rectitude and justice.

     Living then in the beginning of this New Age, the light of which is now only beginning to dawn upon the world, with new Divine Truths to instruct us, with New Light to guide us, with new duties before us, shall we spend our time and energies in thinking and acting as the world around us, shall we fritter away our time and energies in laboring for the meat of natural affections and gratifications which perish, or shall we labor for the meat of spiritual affections which endure unto everlasting life which the Son of Man will give to us? The Son of Man is the LORD in His Divine Truth; we labor for that meat which endureth to eternal life when we labor to learn and to carry out the Divine Teachings of the LORD, for then the delight of affection which inflows is from the LORD, from His eternal and infinite Divine Love. It is the bread of God which cometh down from heaven and giveth life to the world.

      Our present knowledge and efforts to carry out the good uses, though they be but little as a grain of mustard seed, are rewarded by the LORD by His giving us a delight and satisfaction in doing and learning the things necessary for the use. We must ever be learning and endeavoring to perform uses, and the LORD Will give US the spiritual reward in the form of a pleasure in doing it. This pleasure or delight is the meat or food which supports our spiritual life. If we labor for some merely natural end, we labor for meat which perisheth; but if we labor for a spiritual end which regards and promotes a spiritual use, we labor for the meat which endureth to eternal life.

     Our beginnings may be and are small when viewed from a natural point of view. The New Church when viewed in this way is also small. But viewed spiritually, viewed from the principles involved, viewed from the Divine Ends and purposes intended, they are immense, yea, infinite. As the life and possibilities of the tree, yea, of whole forests of trees, are in a seed, so in the Doctrines of the Church the whole spiritual welfare of mankind to eternity is involved; and so in the weak and feeble efforts to educate our children according to the principles revealed in the Heavenly Doctrines, and in the slight understanding which we as yet have of these principles, there is the end and desire of being guided by the LORD Himself, there is the end of desiring to stand on the Infallible Rock of His Divine Truth, there is the end of performing the uses which the Divine Truth teaches and the Divine Good desires, and thus of building on that Corner Stone, which, although rejected by those who build for this world alone, is destined to be the Head of the Corner.

     Ends and intentions are before the LORD, thoughts and affections are manifest before the angels, but only most external effects are before men on earth. Let us then acquire true ends and purposes from the LORD, that we may stand before the LORD clothed in appropriate garments; let us acquire true thoughts and affections to carry out the Divine ends, that we may be consociated with the angels in doing the LORD'S work; and let us unite in doing the work of the Church in accordance with the revealed Truth, that we may be united together in the bonds of affection and love, actuated by the LORD and the angels, and feel the consociating delight and happiness in endeavoring to do the LORD'S Will, then shall we stand on the true Rock, the true Foundation, and the LORD will say of us:

     "Wherefore I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner, a firm foundation. He that believeth shall not hasten." Amen.
Swedenborg's philosophical work on The Soul 1888

Swedenborg's philosophical work on The Soul 1888

Swedenborg's philosophical work on The Soul, translated by the Rev. Frank Sewall, has been published by the Board of Publication. It is a fine volume of 414 pages.

CONVERSATIONS ON EDUCATION 1888

     APPLICATION.

     [Continued.]

     OBEDIENCE, as we have seen, involves and means concentration of thought and affection. In the degree in which obedience is practiced and made habitual, is the power of concentrating the mind confirmed and established. A thing commanded, in order that it may be done by him who hears, must take form in his thought, and when done, this form will be fixed in his act. Without the habit of mental concentration, the mind is unprepared to learn aright, to know aright, or to determine a right action. With the habit well formed, the external 'and internal of the mind are readily accommodated to each other, and also the mind and the body, and are thus in states which render application easy, and as it were, natural.

     The ear, with its faculty of hearing and hearkening, and the corresponding mental and voluntary faculties are to be made for the performance in their several planes of the use for which they were created. And this use is the reception of the Divine Truth which enters from the Word and teaching, and the willingness to be disposed to follow and do what so enters, from the conjunction of which two states there results the application of truth to good, and of good to truth.

     The end or use of hearing, internal and external, is one with the end of instruction; which is that infants and children may become men. How then is the habit of obedience to be formed and cultivated? The beginning of all hearing or obedience is formed by the LORD by storing up for Himself the first remains of the good of innocence. After this beginning the work of providing materials for obedience goes on from the LORD, and also through Angels and Spirits, through Parents, Friends, Teachers and Companions, as well as through all things good and true seen and learnt from others, and from the world of nature and art, and especially from the Word. Together with this more or less affirmative formation, and running parallel with it, there is a most important formative influence brought to bear by the checking, restraining, and controlling of the growing self-will, through parents, teachers and companions, and through other means; as well as by the gradual modification and removal of the fallacies that arise in the mind from the sensual appearances of the world, and which so often entice and allure the corporeal and sensual affections of children to the doing of acts contrary to order. The first point we have treated of at some length, and concerning the latter we will offer some reflections on the teaching in Arcana Coelestia, n. 3381, which relates to the obedience of Abraham to the Divine command to take his son, and to offer him a burnt-offering. (See Genesis xxii.) Of this obedience it is said that it was an evidence that he feared God, that he had back from Him his only Son. The obedience here referred to is that which results from temptations, and which effects a conjunction of the external with the internal man. When temptations result in obedience, the external man submits, and the internal rules. The temptation of Abraham, in the supreme sense, relates to the temptations by which the Divine and Human Essences of the LORD were united. Of the LORD it is written, that He prayed thus in the garden: "My Father, if this cup cannot pass from Me, except I drink it, let Thy Will be done." The cup did not pass from Him; He drank it, and the Father's Will was done; the human race was redeemed from the overwhelming power of the hells, and set free to be instructed in the Truth, to learn and live from the LORD, and to enter into conjunction with the LORD. Without temptations, without conquest in temptations and the resultant obedience, the Divine and Human essence would not have been united to effect the Redemption of man. And so in man, without temptations, and overcoming in temptations, the internal and external man cannot be conjoined, and man cannot be saved. All this is involved in every act of obedience on the part of a child; and therefore is it that obedience brings a blessing, and disobedience a curse; or, in other words, that obedience brings conjugial love and Heaven, and disobedience brings adulterous love and Hell.

     The temptations of a child are not the temptations of a man. They are the contention, the resistance, and the struggles of the self-will, aided by the fallacies of the senses, against the word of Parent or Teacher. The conquest in these temptations is not effected by the child, but by the Parent or the Teacher acting on and with the child. Such conquest is one of the sacred duties of Parent and Teacher. Accountability goes with rationality and liberty. The child is neither free nor rational. The parent and the teacher have freedom and rationality. All children are born with tendencies and dispositions to evils of every kind, to all the evils of self-love and love of the world. All children by nature and inheritance will to have their own will done, and not to do the will of another. They cannot be led to obedience by any connate delight of obedience, for there is with them no such thing as a natural love of obedience. To suppose the existence of such a love with children is a grave error; to act on the supposition is to hinder the introduction of the delight of obeying, and the formation of the love. The delight of obeying parents and teachers enters into the life of the child only after combats against command, and after a victory of the command over the will of the child. The labor and struggle of resistance, and the consequent suffering, in which evil spirits have been active, and which have brought in their accusing and afflicting sphere, cease with the act of submission. And then, from the gladly attendant good spirits comes a sphere of rest, quiet, and consolation. The contrast of feelings gives delight, and sobs yield to smiles. This delight with its smiles, is the delight of obedience with those who cannot be regenerated. Children cannot be regenerated. They can only be prepared for regeneration; and such preparation is made when they are introduced into delights, and when out of these delights repeatedly experienced, there is gradually formed a love; in the present case the love of obedience. In Arcana Coelestia, n. 8987, we have the following teaching:

     "'I will not go out free,' that this signifies the delight of obedience appears from the signification of going out free, that it is a state after combat, which [state] is only of truth confirmed and implanted (n. 8976, 8980, 8984). For, 'service,' which was of six years, and is called a week (Gen. xxix, 27, 28), signifies labor, or some combat, such as there is with those who are in truths and not in corresponding good, who are meant in the spiritual sense, by Hebrew servants. These are such as cannot be regenerated; for to be regenerated is predicated of those who by the truths which are said to be of faith, suffer themselves to be led all the way by the LORD to the good of spiritual life; but to be reformed is predicated of those who can be led by the truths which are of faith, not all the way to the good of spiritual life, but only to the delight of natural life. Those who suffer themselves to be regenerated, act from affection according to the precepts of faith; but those who do not suffer themselves to be regenerated, but only, to be reformed, do not act from affection, but from obedience; the distinction is, that those who act from affection, act from the heart, and thus from freedom; and they also do truth for the sake of truth, and good for the sake of good, and thus they exercise charity for the sake of the neighbor; but those who act from obedience, do not so act from the heart, therefore not from freedom, if they appear to themselves to act from the heart and from freedom, it is for the sake of something of self-glory, which causes it to be so apperceived; nor do they act truth for the sake of truth, or good for the sake of good, but for the sake of delight from that glory; thus neither do they exercise charity for the sake of the neighbor, but in order that they may be seen, and that they may be remunerated."

PRUDENCE IN THE MARRIAGE RELATION 1888

     A NEW CHURCHMAN of limited means asks the question: "Suppose a man's income is fixed; he can barely manage to clothe and feed two children and sees no probability of a larger income. Should he decide to have but two children?"

     The same question has frequently been asked by others, prompted by similar circumstances, or by considerations of the wife's health.

     It is a question of human prudence and of the manner of its co-operation with the Divine Providence, and the New Churchman who is grounded in the faith that the appearance of man's living and acting of himself is given to him in order that he may be man - may confidently look to the LORD for counsel to shape his prudence so as to conform with Infinite Prudence, which is the LORD'S Providence. And the LORD thus answers from the pages of His inspired Writings:

     "Unless man disposes all things which are of his function and life, from his own prudence, he cannot be led and disposed by the Divine Providence. For he would be as one who stands with hands hanging down, his mouth open, his eyes closed, his breath indrawn, in the expectation of influx; he would thus put off the human, which he has from the perception and sensation that he lives, thinks, wills, speaks, and acts as from himself, and at the same time he would then put off his two faculties, which are Liberty and Rationality, by which he is distinguished from beasts; without this appearance no man would have a receptive and a reciprocal, and thus immortality. Wherefore if thou wishest to be led by the Divine Providence, use prudence like a servant and a minister who faithfully dispenses the goods of his lord: that prudence is the mina which was given to the servants to traffic with, of which they were to render account (Luke xix, 13-25; Matthew xxv, 14-31).

     "The prudence itself appears to man as his own, and so long as it is believed to be his own, he keeps inclosed the most hostile enemy of God and the Divine Providence - the Love of Self - who dwells in the interiors of every man from birth. If thou dost not know him - for he does not want to be known - he dwells securely and guards the door, lest it be opened by man, and thus he be cast out by the LORD. That door is opened by man, by his shunning evils as sins, as of himself, with the acknowledgment that it is from the LORD. THIS IS THE PRUDENCE WITH WHICH THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE ACTS ONE." (D. P. 210.)

     If man now inquires further, "What is the evil, involved in the question under consideration, which I must shun?" the LORD answers from His Holy Word: "Her conjugial debt thou shalt not diminish." (Ex. xxi, 10.)

     And lest man, from the connection in which this commandment occurs in the letter of the Word, should misunderstand it, this explanation is given: "Because marriages on earth by love truly conjugial correspond to the heavenly marriage, which is of good and truth, therefore the laws passed in the Word concerning betrothals and marriages altogether correspond to the spiritual laws of the heavenly marriage. . . . The laws also concerning marriages which were passed in the Word of the Old Testament likewise have a correspondence with the laws of the heavenly marriage." (A. C. 4434. Compare also A. C. 9003 with A. C. 8998.)

     The "conjugial debt" is that debt of conjunction in the body which consorts owe to each other for the closer union of their souls and conjunction of their minds (without which they do not constitute one man), yea and for the health, nourishment, and development of their bodies. "The matrimonial debt involves the celestial Divine, and the love of celestial things," and opens heaven to man (S. D. 3190). The human prudence commended by the LORD does everything to further, and shuns as sin everything which hinders, the growth of the love of celestials, the opening of heaven, and the unification of husband and wife.

     He who creates man, also provides for his sustenance and his well-being. Doubts are injected by the diabolical crew, and are fostered in the worldly sphere of self-reliance, self-confidence, self-trust. Man must rise above this sphere into confidence and reliance in the LORD and His bounty. The LORD has at His disposition all the forces and all the riches of the world. He is God of heaven and earth. He controls the forces which bring a human being into existence. He will not suffer children to be born without making provision for their daily needs, and for the health and welfare of those who give them birth. If man, bearing in mind that the conjugial debt is of the LORD'S provision for the ultimation of love truly conjugial, and that the bearing of children is "the most excellent of uses," and if, with this in mind, he will confidently proceed in the path of duty, the LORD will care for results. Ways and means that lie hid from the short- sighted gaze of man will be disclosed, and the LORD'S blessing will rest upon man and his actions.
WINE IN THE HOLY SUPPER 1888

WINE IN THE HOLY SUPPER 1888

IN the discussion of the question concerning the wine to be used in the administration of the Holy Supper, too little heed has been taken of the Divine teaching, "that those who worthily approach the Holy Supper are in the LORD, and the LORD in them, therefore, that by the Holy Supper conjunction with the LORD is effected." Conjunction with the LORD is introduction into Heaven, and "the Holy Supper is introduction into Heaven." (T. C. R. 719, 725.) In n. 725 we are taught "that they who are in faith in the LORD, and in charity toward the neighbor, approach the Holy Supper worthily, and the truths of faith cause the presence of the LORD, and the goods of charity with faith effect conjunction, . . . . and that they who are conjoined with the LORD, are in Him and He in them." In Divine Providence, n. 94, we have this further instruction: "The conjunction of the LORD with man, and the reciprocal conjunction of man with the LORD is effected by his [man's] loving his neighbor as himself, and by his loving the LORD above all things." (See also T. C. R. 74, and elsewhere.) The LORD can he conjoined with man, and dwell with him only in what is His own with man. The LORD'S Own with man is good, for He is Good itself; and man receives from Him the good of charity and love when he lives according to the Commandments, which are Divine Truths. (See A. C. 10,153, 9480, 9296, etc.) With this good the Divine Good of the Divine Love conjoins itself, and in it the LORD dwells with man. (T.C.R. 371, 372.) Such conjunction, is represented by man's eating the bread and drinking the wine of the Holy Supper, and this is also understood by the LORD'S words in John vi, 56: "He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in Me and I in him."

For this reason, also, the Sacrament of the Holy Supper is the most holy act of Divine worship; for true internal worship is life according to the Divine Will, that is, the life of charity toward the neighbor and of love to the LORD.

But this life is introduced into man only by means of Divine Truth, received into the understanding and obeyed as the very law of human life. Obedience to the Divine Truth, whereby the Truth becomes the very substance of man's spiritual life in its various degrees, is brought about during reformation and regeneration. As is well understood in the Church, however, man cannot be reformed and regenerated, or come into the real life of truth, except by means of spiritual combats, which are infestations and temptations, arising for the hells and produced in him by the excitation of his own falsities and evils. The hells, by man's falsities from evil, fight against the Divine Truth, and the LORD in the Truth fights for man against the hells. The Truth as it proceeds from the LORD is infinitely pure, because infinitely good, but when received by man, it is mingled with more or less of the fallacy and falsity which fills the natural mind. Into the fallacious and false conceptions and ideas of Divine Truth, formed by such a mingling of what is from the Divine with what is natural in man, the hells inflow, and by them do they enter into conflict with the LORD'S Truth. They excite into activity the leaven of man's own falsities from evil, to produce that fermentation or conflict with what is from the LORD, on the result of which depends his reformation and regeneration. To receive the good of charity toward the neighbor and of love to the LORD, which are the substance of the Divine Truth, he must of his own reason and will reject the fallacies and falsities of his own natural thought, and obey the Truth as the LORD teaches it. For a truth obeyed and lived becomes a good of charity with man, and with such a good, and with no other, can the Divine Good be conjoined. The LORD is present in truth, and by truth leads and prepares man for conjunction with himself in the actual good of his life. As we have seen, this conjunction is represented in the Holy Supper by the LORD'S Divine act of giving the bread and wine, and by man's finite act of eating and drinking the elements which signify the LORD'S flesh and blood, or, spiritually understood, His Divine Good and Divine Truth. To the end that the outward act may be a Sacrament altogether representative of its internal and living reality, it is necessary that we should bear in mind, that this act of Divine worship has in its external forms also the representative force and validity, which the LORD gave to the merely external representatives of the Jewish Church. (T. C. R. 670.) It is, therefore, requisite to the true and orderly performance of the act, that its internals as prescribed in Doctrine should appear in its corresponding externals, and be represented therein. The externals of the Holy Supper are the Bread and Wine, and their eating and drinking. The Bread here represents and signifies the Divine Good of the Divine Love, and therefore is it required to be unleavened, because unleavened, when applied to what is Divine, signifies what is infinitely above and beyond our mingling with falses of evil; what is infinitely pure and holy. (A. C. 2342 and elsewhere.) On the other hand, the Wine, which represents the Divine Truth of the LORD, is required to be fermented wine, because the Divine Truth in which the Divine Good of the LORD proceeds and comes to man, has to go through the same process in every human mind, through which the Human, which the LORD assumed in the world as Divine Truth, had to go in order to be glorified, and to effect the redemption and salvation of men. This process is one of infestation and temptation, and, as we have seen, by such a process alone does the Truth become good in man, and thereby effect conjunction with the LORD. The representative and significative character of the Holy Supper is destroyed in its very elements, if the bread be leavened, and if the wine be unfermented. The eating of leavened bread and drinking of unfermented wine, would represent a conjunction of man's charity, such as it may happen to be, with the natural truth in his understanding, or of truth mingled with the falses of his natural mind. The use of unleavened bread with unfermented wine, would represent a profane attempt on the part of man to conjoin his impure conceits and wretched falsities with the Divine Good of the LORD. The practice in either case is contrary to Divine Order, and in so far as it is not the result of ignorance in a state of simplicity, but of confirmation in falsity from the natural rational, it is an example of the effect of leaven or ferment introduced into must, and not permitted to perform its perfect work. The whole truth concerning the Divine use and character of the Holy Supper is vitiated and practically destroyed. Let me refer the reader to the Divine teaching in Apocalypse Explained, n. 376, and add in conclusion, the following extract from that number: "Because, now, Bread signifies the good of love, and Wine the good of faith, which in its essence is truth from that good, and in the supreme sense Bread [signifies] the LORD as to the Divine Good, and Wine the LORD as to the Divine Truth, and because there is a correspondence between spiritual and natural things, and such a correspondence, that when bread and wine are in the thought of man, there is in the thought of the angels the good of love and the good of faith [observe, not the truth, but the good of faith], and because all things of Heaven and the Church refer themselves to the good of love and the good of faith, therefore the Holy Supper was instituted by the LORD, so that by means of it there might be conjunction of the Angels of Heaven with the men of the Church."
LIGHT BREAKING IN THE EAST 1888

LIGHT BREAKING IN THE EAST 1888

     FOR a number of years past there have frequently emanated from within the borders of the Massachusetts Association expressions in denial of the Divinity of the Writings, in disavowal of the revelation of the Internal Sense, and in favor of an adherence to the externals of the Word. As a necessary consequence the pleas of those have been admitted who depreciate the external and formal existence of the New Church, and who claim that the Old Church is rapidly lighting up with the light, and warming with the love of Heaven. As a further consequence there has been a strong tendency to destroy the distinctiveness of the New Church and to enter into fellowship with the Old, to expect help and guidance from its leaders, and to adopt its methods of Church work.

     The growth of this Old Church influence culminated in the production of a number of the Magazine which had little in it distinctively New Church, but much that savored of Old Church pietism and salvation by faith alone.

     This sad condition of things has at last been realized, and the Association has been directed anew to the fundamental principles which have been revealed in the Divine Writings of the Church.

     "Let us," says a minister of the Association, in a paper read at its last meeting, "let us not be afraid to look at the facts exactly as they are; for it is only when evils are seen and acknowledged that they can be removed."

And what the evils are which have infested his Association, he points out in paragraphs like the following:

     "We are regarded with more friendly feelings by members of the various Christian denominations. They acknowledge that we are not the visionaries and fanatics which they once supposed. In some cases they are ready to admit that there is much in our doctrines which is true and beautiful. But this more favorable opinion does not lead them to renounce their own religious affiliations for the sake of identifying themselves with the New Church. It is the amiable toleration of a body too feeble to do them any harm, rather than a recognition of the great principles from which it derives its right to exist. . . .

     "Our own young people, also, having daily intercourse at school and elsewhere with members of other Church bodies, and thus coming in contact with the good- natured tolerance which so generally prevails on spiritual subjects, are in danger of forming the opinion that one phase of so-called Christianity is about the same as another, and that the body with which they are connected is simply a small and feeble denomination among many that are larger and more attractive. Wherefore, unless they are carefully taught and guided, they succumb to the glamour of external appearances, and withdraw from the Church in which they have been born and bred, to unite with some other, or with none. This danger is particularly imminent in communities where no distinct New-Church worship is maintained, and it almost inevitably makes its appearance, whenever marriage connections are formed without regard to religious belief. But candor compels us to admit that it threatens us almost everywhere. If we value the specific New-Church organization which has come down to us from our fathers, or cherish in our hearts the idea of such an organization, we may well feel concerned about its future prospects, and ask ourselves what steps, if any, must be taken to preserve it.

     ". . . The fact still remains irrefutable, that the New Church, as a visible entity, fails to exert the spiritual and moral influence to which she is entitled by virtue of her doctrines. So far from convincing the community that those doctrines are the distinctive principles of a new dispensation of Christian faith and life, she is often unsuccessful in impressing that belief on her own children. Consequently, unless all signs fail, she is entering upon a struggle for existence. The very friendliness of other Churches, pleasant though it is in itself, tends to throw down the walls between them and us, and, as has been said, to awaken doubts in many minds whether the weaker body has any further cause to live.

     "How, then, is the exigency to be met? One answer, and that, perhaps which occurs most readily to almost all of us is, By conforming our methods and operations to the fashion of the times - by adapting our forms of worship and our ways of life to the customs of society - by eschewing everything which may stamp us, in the public estimation, as an odd and peculiar people; or, to sum the matter up in a single phrase, by making the New Church, on external and conventional grounds, as popular as possible. It is argued that if we are to gather recruits from other Churches, we must be careful not to shock their prejudices; we must not repel them by anything which may startle or offend; we must provide for them a sort of inclined plane" so that they will come into the New Church with the utmost ease and comfort, almost without knowing it. For the sake of our own young people, too, we must make our services as attractive as we can. We must have eloquence in the pulpit, artistic performance in the choir, and variety in the ritual; or they will be leaving us for other Churches where they can find these things.

     "Reasonings of this kind are familiar to all of us, and we would not affirm that they are to be wholly discarded. So far as we can accommodate our methods to the states of men without violating essential principles, or catering to their present moods at the expense of their permanent well-being, we are justified in doing so; yea, we have the Divine authority for it. But there is no discretionary power which can be exercised by man, that calls for nicer discernment and clearer judgment than this, or in the exercise of which he is more likely to err. Many are those in past times, who having relied on external appliances and changes, honestly believing that they were the principal, if not the only, means of effecting high ends, have mistaken temporary success for lasting achievements, and failed to accomplish their high ends, at all. The young people and others who are held in the Church by merely outward attractions, whether religious or social, add nothing to its real or spiritual strength, and are likely at any time to drift away. It will be a long while yet, if the day ever dawns, before we can successfully compete in these matters with other organizations. As for the inclined planes which we prepare for the sake of drawing new members in, let us have a care lest they prove even more effectual in letting our old members out.

     ". . . The organized New Church . . . exists for the sake of specific uses to mankind, which can be performed by no other agency. Its title to the position which it claims is made clear, in proportion as it proves its ability to perform those uses. Not in any likeness to other religious bodies, but in its distinctness from them, does its power consist. Not by conformity to existing customs, but by causing its internal life and quality to shine forth in all its doings, will it fill its proper place in the world. To be outwardly the thing which it professes to be inwardly, is its special function. To the extent of assuming a visible form which shows that it is not merely a new sect among the sects, but a new Church among the Churches, will it commend itself to all who are susceptible to its influence. This is the kind of external Church which our young people need, in order to keep them within its fold - one that is so manifestly different from all other ecclesiastical bodies, that its boundary lines cannot be obscured, and hence they, unless they fall into evils of life, cannot be tempted away from it.

     ". . . But how far is all this [the doctrine concerning Conjugial Love] made apparent by means of our external organizations? How sacredly do we cherish these great principles ourselves? How diligently do we teach them to our children? To what extent is the influence of the visible New Church perceptibly exerted in favor of marriages which rest on a purely spiritual and heavenly basis, as distinguished from those which have in view only supposed natural advantages? Does she lift up her voice and proclaim the truth on this subject, or is she ignominiously silent? We here venture the assertion that by no other means could she more forcibly appeal to the hearts of her own pure-minded youth, and to the better natures of men and women everywhere, than by her doctrine respecting Conjugial Love, especially if it were uniformly illustrated by the united and happy homes of her members.

     "Listen to Swedenborg's own language touching the state of the world in regard to this matter, the need of new light concerning it, and the importance of the revelation which has been made through his instrumentality. In a certain memorable relation, where, in conversation with some angels, having enumerated sundry doctrines, new to men on earth, which his Writings made known, he proceeds as follows:

     "'After this, speaking with the angels, I said that something further is revealed in the world by the LORD. They asked what this was. I said, Concerning love truly conjugial, and concerning its heavenly delights. The angels said, Who does not know that the delights of conjugial love exceed the delights of all loves? and who cannot see that into some love are brought together all the blessednesses, satisfactions, and enjoyments which can ever be conferred by the LORD, and that the receptacle of them is love truly conjugial, which is able to receive and perceive them to a full sense? I answered, that they do not know this, because they have not come to the LORD and lived according to His precepts, by shunning evils as sins, and by doing goods; and love truly conjugial, with its delights, is solely from the LORD, and is given to those who live according to His precepts; thus that it is given to those who are received into the New Church of the LORD, which, in the Apocalypse, is meant by the New Jerusalem.' (C. L. 534.)

     "New Churchmen of the last generation were fully alive to the fact that Swedenborg's teachings relative to Conjugial Love are of transcendent value, and belong to the distinctive truth of a new dispensation. They looked upon them as Divine laws of life, and endeavored, in every practicable way, to be faithful to them. Disregard of them they considered disobedience to the LORD. For instance, when they read (H. H. 378), that conjugial love cannot exist between two who are of different religion, and that 'marriages on earth between those who are of a different religion are accounted in heaven as heinous' (A. C. 8998), it meant to them that very great care should be exercised in this matter. But how is it in the Church to-day? We would not put any narrow interpretation on the above teaching. We freely admit that there may be cases where the external appearance is not a true index of the internal reality, and persons betrothed or married to each other are interiorly and really united in religious belief, when at first they are outwardly and norminally separated. But making every allowance of this
kind which can justly be made, must we not confess it true that far too often, among those who are ostensibly New Churchmen, the vital principle is altogether lost sight of, and the question of spiritual oneness, or sympathy in those matters which are highest and holiest, receives no serious consideration?

It is stating the fact mildly to say that there is an alarming and growing laxity in this regard. No surer means could be found of loosening the ties which bind us to the external New Church, and of doing what we can to disintegrate that Church itself.

     ". . . The LORD always provides that there shall be a Church on earth. Otherwise, connection with the heavens would be cut off, and the human race in this world would perish (A. C. 637 and elsewhere). Hence there has been, since the earth was inhabited by men, a succession of Churches or dispensations. When one has died out, another has been raised up in its place. And each has been both specific and universal. Each has had its own particular revelation of Divine truth, with doctrine derived from it, and has been the centre of an influence which extended throughout the globe. Each has existed in an outward visible form consisting of those who accepted its distinctive teachings, while at the same time it has, in a broader sense, included all good men and women everywhere. There is nothing in the Writings of Swedenborg to indicate that the New Church is to be an exception to this rule. On the contrary, he repeatedly speaks of that Church as if it were as distinct from the first Christian Church as the latter was from the Jewish. Taking him for a guide, we can reach no other conclusion. The Doctrines which he is the agent in communicating, are presented as the great charter of the new dispensation - the revelation which is at once the source of its authority and the cause of its existence. Not until some other body acknowledges this revelation and bows to this authority, will there cease to be need of an external, specific, organized New Church. In fact, whatever body meets the above requirement, must needs call itself by that name. The New Church, if it is to exist in specific form on earth, must openly recognize the truth that the Second Coming of the LORD has taken place, that it is a Coming 'not in person, but in the Word' (T. C. R. 776), and that it is effected 'by means of a man before whom He [the LORD] has manifested Himself in person, and whom He has filled with His Spirit, to teach the doctrines of the New Church, through the Word, from Him.' (T. C. R. 779.)"

     But these words have not been received without opposition. Ignoring the doctrine that "the Christian Church such as it is in itself is now first beginning; the former was Christian in name only, but not in reality and in essence," the opposition assumes that all the so-called Christian Churches are "united to the LORD in life," and that, together with the New Church, they constitute "the General Church:" that the New Church is the heart and lungs of this "community of Churches," and that they are the neighbor for whom the New Church must "sincerely, justly, and faithfully do the works of her own function or employment."

     Such are the views set forth as indicating "what the law of charity requires." But only half of the law is quoted - and, indeed, the latter half. "The first of charity is to look to the LORD and to shun evils as sins. The second of charity is to do uses to the neighbor." The evils which the New Church must shun are, comprehensively, the Old Church. The New Church is not a Church in a community of living Churches, but she is the Church in the midst of desolate and dead Churches from whose corrupting sphere she must flee. "In the days of these, the God of heaven shall cause to arise a kingdom, which shall not perish for ages; and it shall consume all those kingdoms, but it shall stand for ages." The Old Church acknowledges not the LORD as He manifested Himself at His First Coming, and still less as He manifested Himself at His Second Coming but it crucifies Him daily. "The spoonbill and the bittern possess it, and the owl and the raven dwell in it, and extend over it the line of vacuity and the plumb-line of inanity. . . And there ascend in her palaces thorns, the thistle and the bramble in her fortifications, that it is a habitation of dragons, a court for the daughters of the owl. And the Ziim come up to the Ijim, and the forest demon meets with his fellow, and the owl rests there and finds for herself a place of rest. There the arrow-snake makes its nest, and lays, and gathers, and hatches in her shadow; yea, there the kites are gathered together, one with her mate. Seek ye from upon the Book of JEHOVAH, and read; none of these is wanting, one the other they shall not desire, for with the mouth He has commanded, and His spirit it hath gathered them." (Is. xxxiv, 11-16.)

     The first of charity for the New Church is to shun the Old Church with her evils and falses, and not to call her fortifications the bulwarks of the New Church, nor her courts the outlying places of the New Church. The Divine Command of Charity is - not to return into amicable relations with the Old Church - but "Come out of her, My people, lest ye become partakers of her sins, and lest ye receive of her sins, for her sins have reached even to Heaven, and God has remembered her injustices." (Rev. xviii, 5).
Notes and Reviews 1888

Notes and Reviews 1888

THE New Church Calendar published by the Massachusetts New Church Union is similar in style to that of last year. It consists of a block of fifty-two sheets, each containing a week's calendar, a line from the Sacred Scripture, four quotations from the Writings and a quotation from the works of some New Church writer, the whole being mounted on a large card with an attractive and neatly engraved design.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

MR. HARDY has a complete set of the Arcana in Latin, one of the now very rare copies of the original edition. It is in eight vols., 4to, half calf, and in fair condition; date 1749-56. The price is thirty-two pounds. This is the edition issued by Swedenborg himself. Any one wishing to correspond with Mr. Hardy on the subject of this or other rare New Church works can address him at New Church College, Devonshire Street, Islington, London, England.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

The New Church in its Relation to Other Organizations is the title of a thirty- six-page pamphlet containing papers by the Rev. Messrs. Reed, John Worcester and Smyth, and remarks by Mr. Worcester. An introductory note says: "These three papers are printed by order of the Massachusetts Association, which devoted the principal part of its session of October 6th, 1887, to the consideration of this great and pressing subject. Mr. Reed's paper was prepared with a view to its adoption by the Committee of Ministers as its report on the subject, but it seemed best that two other papers should be read, and that in this way the fullest presentation which could be heard in a day should be made. At the close of the reading the Rev. John Worcester made some remarks which, by request of the Association, are also printed."
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

AMONG the list of knowledges which the Old Church has irrevocably lost the Writings mention the knowledge concerning the Holy Spirit. That the Old Church has no knowledge, still less a perception of the holiness of the LORD'S Spirit, is confirmed by utterances such as those of Dr. Spath, who in his address to the General Lutheran Conference in Hamburg, Germany, illustrated his argument concerning the difficulty of "transferring the genuine Lutherdom into the English language," by stating that "language is not merely a grammar, but the exposition of the spirit of a people. What has it cost the Holy Spirit, to form the language of the New Testament out of the classical Greek [!] And how difficult is it to make the Lutheran Church speak English. To be sure the theological- philosophic language of the Creed is not so difficult to translate, but the smaller catechism and the explanation of the second article! It almost seems as if the Holy Spirit could not accomplish this into English."

Title Unspecified 1888

THE passage from the Writings, wherein the Church of this day, as it is usually emphasized, is spoken of as being corrupt and wicked and come to its end, is quoted with the regularity of the seasons, and with a certain triumphant freshness each time, as of a new discovery, to prove that Swedenborg referred to the Church of his day and not to the Church of our day, which consequently may be a very good Church indeed. Swedenborg said the Church of "this" day has come to an end, also that the Church is said to come to an end when it finally rejects the LORD; that then in order to save the human race a New Church is always raised up; that the posterity of the Church, which has come to an end, excepting "the few" known to the LORD alone, goes on with an ever-increasing heredity of evil; that for a long time it retains its outward form as before (vide the Jewish Church). This is the chain of argument from the Writings. What ground, then, do those who insist that the Church of this day," spoken of in the Writings, and the Church of our day," are two quite different things, have to stand on?
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE Thirteenth Annual Festival of the New Church Evidence Society is reported in Morning Light for December 3d. The meetings of this Society are always interesting, but not always beyond criticism. At the last meeting one speaker, after reviewing the general state of the world says: "Whether the new [new phases of civil, political, and moral life] are always right we do not mean to say, but this change shows that men are dissatisfied with the old, and are striving and longing for something better." This is the old, old fallacy of seeing in the steadily growing distaste for Old Church doctrines an evidence of a desire for "something better." Instead of this desire there is in reality a falling away to lower depths of sensualism, materialism, spiritism, universalism, agnosticism, or some other cranky ism. If men desire "something better," why is it that they do not find it in the countless thousands of New Church books and tracts annually distributed? It may be admitted that they would with some difficulty find it in some of the tracts, but there is no excuse for them in the case of the True Christian Religion, tens of thousands of copies of which have been sent out gratis, and with what result? The average recipient finds much he "can accept," and can and does say the same of any other philosopher's book.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

     THE General Church of Pennsylvania has published the Calendar for the year 1888, which was announced last month. The former title, "Plan for Reading the Word and the Writings" has been changed to "Plan for Reading the Word in the Sacred Scripture and in the Writings of the New Church." A number of suggestions are made as to the most profitable manner of using the Calendar. Of the general use of the Calendar, the following is said:

     "Reading should include worship, meditation, and, as far as possible, conversation. Where these are added, the sphere of reading is made full and strong, and its use established. The habit of daily reading, thinking, and speaking of heavenly things, in a spirit of worship of the LORD from the acknowledgment of Him, will in time bear spiritual fruit in the life of man that cannot be measured or estimated.

     "In the Plan here presented to the members of the General Church of Pennsylvania an opportunity is afforded to read through all the Books of Divine Revelation in concert. The use of thus entering as it were into an image of an angelic choir at once commends itself. In reading from the affection of truth, heaven is opened, and there is consociation with the angels and conjunction with the LORD. It follows that in a concerted reading, in an actual consociation of thought and affection with our brethren in the natural world, there is at the same time a unanimous consociation with the Heavens."

     No price is set on the Calendar, and while it is primarily intended for members of the General Church of Pennsylvania, it will gladly be forwarded to any one who will apply for it. Address the General Church of Pennsylvania, 1821 Wallace Street, Philadelphia, Pa.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

     PARTICULAR attention is called to the following circular, and it is hoped that it will meet with a ready response:

     PRESERVATION OF SWEDENBORG'S MANUSCRIPTS.- The General Convention proposes to complete the photo-lithographing of the manuscripts of Swedenborg, and at its meeting held in Detroit, in June, 1887, appointed the committee whose names are here appended, to collect the funds required for the Work.

     "The English Conference has manifested its willingness to co-operate with the Convention by asking the Swedenborg Society to take the matter in hand.

     "The completion of this most important undertaking, begun some years ago under the editorship of Dr. R. L. Tafel, ought not to be delayed any longer, if the priceless original manuscripts of the writings of the New Church are to be preserved for the practical use of the Church.

     "The committee appointed by the Convention now asks the members of the Church to give their aid, according to their ability, by subscriptions of larger or smaller amounts. It will be necessary to raise at least TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS on this side of the water, to procure photo-lithographic copies of the manuscripts of the Arcana Coelestia and the Spiritual Diary, which are the principal works not yet published in this form.

     "The Church in this country is able to contribute this sum, and more; and we cannot doubt that it will do so, when it considers the immense importance of preserving and of possessing multiplied copies in facsimile of the original manuscripts containing the revelation of the LORD to the New Church, made through His servant, Emanuel Swedenborg.

     "Individual or combined subscriptions to an amount equal to the cost of full sets, estimated at $150, or of single works, will entitle subscribers to receive such volumes when completed.

     "This work will be an invaluable gift to any school, college, or society library; and such disposal is suggested to those who do not desire to retain it for personal use.

     "The treasurer of the Convention will be the custodian of the fund collected, and all amounts received will be at once placed at interest until a sufficient sum is collected to warrant the beginning of the work.

     "Subscriptions may be forwarded to the address of F. A. Dewson, Treasurer, P. O. Box 1534, Boston, Mass.

     "Members of the committee are authorized to receive and forward such subscriptions and to inaugurate methods of obtaining funds for this purpose in the districts which they represent."

     The circular is signed by the Committee: F. A. Dewson, Chairman; Rev. S. M. Warren, of Massachusetts; John Pitcairn, of Pennsylvania; T. M. Martin, of Canada; Rev. F. W. Tuerk, of Canada; Rev. Wm. B. Hayden, of Maine; J. Y. Scammon, of Illinois; C. A. E. Spamer, of Maryland; Rev. A. F. Frost, of Michigan; Rev. E. C. Mitchell, of Minnesota; E. A. Gibbens, of New York; Rev. J. C. Ager, of New York; M. G. Browne, of Ohio; W. N. Hobart, of Ohio; Rev. John Doughty, of California.

     AT a branch meeting of the New Church Temperance Society in London, the Chairman is reported as saying:

     "Their responsibility was great, and in determining to have nothing to do with the accursed thing called alcohol, they felt their only safety lay - safety for themselves, their families, and the churches. A charge has been brought against the New Church Temperance Society that it had raised the question of Sacramental Wine. He denied the charge. For some years Dr. Ellis had been circulating at his own expense his books, and without expressing an opinion, or even agreeing in all points with their contents, the New Church Temperance Society had assisted him in circulating them. Then came the 'Blue book,' which it is hardly necessary to describe. It was this, and the new Papal aggression that came with it, that had brought the question to a crisis, and he feared the next step taken would be that of persecution."

     The "organized" temperance man is an impossible sort of creature - one in whom weakish sentiment seems to have usurped the place of reason. The "accursed thing" has been used by all the greatest and wisest of men from the earliest records. It is to-day used by nearly, if not all, the people of Europe, among whom there is far less drunkenness and crime than there is in the State of Maine, where the "temperance man" and his peculiar notions have been rulers for nearly half a century.

The "accursed thing" has one very marked peculiarity - "when the wine is in the truth is out." If the man is evil it strips his mask from him and he shows his real nature. The "temperance man" says it gives him that nature. The "temperance man" somehow cannot see the very plain fact that if this were so it would cause all men to be the same when the mask falls. Oh! most absurd "temperance man!"

     The Society, "without expressing an opinion," helps Dr. Ellis to circulate his book. Surely even an "organized temperance man" can see that if the Society believes Dr. Ellis' book to be false it is doing evil in spreading falsity; if it does not why that cautious utterance?

     Then came the "Blue Book." What "Blue Book?" Probably the Academy's reply to Dr. Ellis, wherein the sham scholarship of its hired writers, and of its quotations, was stripped away, and the Church was shown that it could not serve God and the modern so-called "temperance party," which strives with false sentimentality to destroy the "holiest act of worship" by substituting an article of low correspondence which "infests the stomach" for the divinely commanded one corresponding to Divine Truth.

     "Papal aggression" came with it, and now the absurd "temperance man" fears "persecution." If we were quite sure the "temperance man" were sincere in this - it seems too much to believe even of him - we would endeavor to soothe his fears by assuring him that what his opponents want is to be free from his rather impertinent meddling with their diet and for him to keep profane hands off the "holiest act of worship." If he will agree to do this no one, we feel assured, will "persecute" him, and he will be left in freedom to organize "churches" and drink must, full of its natural impurities, to his heart's content.
SECOND VOLUME OF "THE BRAIN." 1888

SECOND VOLUME OF "THE BRAIN." 1888

     THE BRAIN: Considered anatomically, physiologically, and philosophically. By EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. Edited, translated, and annotated by R. L. Tafel, A. M. PH. D., (in Four Vols.) Volume II; treating of the Pituitary Gland, Cerebellum, and Medulla Oblongata (pp. 645). London: Jas. Speirs, 36 Bloomsbury St.

     This new volume on the Brain, and the prospect of the early completion of the entire set, will be heartily welcome, more especially when the reader learns that the sole cause of delay has been in order that more collateral material could be gathered, by which to facilitate a better comparative study of the text, and at the same time present a comprehensive view of the literature on the Brain by all known authors, from the times just preceding Swedenborg to the present. Dr. Tafel's careful digest of this material, thoroughly compared with Swedenborg's text (which comprises all that that illustrious author wrote upon the brain before the time of his illumination, all needful extracts being taken from his various scientific works and here collated), fills two hundred and twenty pages in this volume, in close type, and is drawn from the almost endless resources of the library of the British Museum, including the works of the most modern authors and investigators.

     After the particularly thorough review of the first volume in Words for the New Church (Vol. II, p. 557), and in view of the rest of the work yet to come, the present notice must be short; with the earnest wish, however, that enough will be said to induce more students of anatomy, and of its relation to the New Church, to obtain the work for themselves.

     To all who wish to know thoroughly what is known of the human body, and especially of the Brain, these books, even more than the earlier anatomical studies of Swedenborg, present a most inviting field, wherein the subjects are handled in comprehensive manner, in a style easily followed, and leading to physiological and philosophical conclusions startling in their newness but convincing in their detail. Every department of anatomy has its specialists, so that the thorough student will not rest satisfied with the ordinary text-books, whose perusal may earn him the title of Doctor of Medicine, it is true, but which will inevitably, leave large gaps in his information, to be filled only by more extended study of works like these, strengthened and confirmed by bedside and laboratory experiences. But let not the reader suppose that these books are only (though, so intensely) interesting to the physician; on the contrary, the lay reader will find that he can follow the text as well, if not so quickly, as the medical man, for he will find everything told in a manner to interest the learner, especially one who wishes to pursue the study of correspondences, in which a knowledge of human anatomy, by its exact relations to the Gorand Man, thus to Heaven and the LORD, is so very important. Then, too, this work on the Brain refers constantly to other portions of anatomy, never forgetting that a Man is a Unit, and controlled by and from the Brain. Hence, in the future volumes, the action and influence of the brain and nerves on the body, in health and disease, is to be investigated, the series closing with a set of plates, which subscribers may take or not, but which will help the subject amazingly, making the whole work, when so completed, appear beside the average text-books of the colleges, like the Cosmos of Humboldt beside a primary geography of the schools.

     The first volume treated of the Cerebrum and its parts; its fabric, motion, and function in general: this present volume takes up the remaining dependencies of the Cerebrum; the Pineal Gland (considered by Descartes to be the seat of the soul), the Third Ventricle, the Infundibulum - the Pituitary body; the Cavernous Sinuses, the Rete Mirabile; the functions of the Brain, and its Chemical Laboratory in general; a comparison between the large gland of the brain and the smaller glands of the body; (modern science hardly calls the brain a gland, except to say that it "secretes" thought!) then follow chapters on the Cerebellum, or lesser brain, the Medulla Oblongata, the Fourth Ventricle, the Cerebellar Liquid, the Cerebro-Spinal Liquid; the Arachnoid Membrane, the Pons Varolii, the Corpora Pyramidalia and Olivaria, and other subjects; then come two hundred pages of editorial notes, especially on the Pituitary Gland, the Sinuses, and the Cerebro-Spinal Liquid, concerning which much is told of the greatest interest.

     Swedenborg showed in all these wonderful details, his special preparation for the work he was afterward to do, for in Arcana Coelestia and elsewhere he often refers to the most minute anatomical points, without some knowledge of which the exact application of his remarks must be more or less obscure, as in Arcana Coelestia, n. 5386, where the "ventricles" and "mammillary processes" of the brain, "which carry off the phlegmy substances there," are mentioned; and it is said that "to these correspond in the spiritual world in general tenacities of opinions, and also scruples of conscience, in things not necessary."

     To show how minutely Swedenborg pursues his subject, he has in this volume sixty pages on the Pituitary gland, while the latest edition of Gray's Anatomy, not a week out of the press at the present writing, gives only twenty-three lines to the same organ, and does not see any use for it, does not even recognize it as a gland, but calls it the pituitary body, while Stricker, in his great Manual of Histology, in one hundred and sixteen pages devoted to the brain, does not mention it at all except to say that the pineal gland has been erroneously considered of the same structure; and Dalton in his Physiology does not allude to it.

Now in our Volume II we have, besides the sixty pages of Swedenborg's text, sixty more pages, of closer type, devoted to the same body, called by our author the "complement and crown" of the "chymical laboratory" of the brain, and "the only undivided organ belonging to both hemispheres" (although the latter distinction may be shared by the Pineal gland). Swedenborg shows demonstratively that to the Pituitary gland is intrusted the final elaboration and distribution to the blood, of the finest fluid secreted by the brain, the "animal spirit," by which new life and volatility is added to the red blood of the body, which centres under this gland, in large veins and arteries, contributing by its heat to the proper elaboration of this subtle liquid.

     This liquid, again, is shown to be different from the cerebro-spinal liquid, which bathes the outsides of the brains and nerves, flows in their sheaths through all their ramifications, serving as a lubricator, and finally being returned to the outer parts of the cranium by the spaces closest to the bones, in their covering, the periosteum; a wonderful circulation, never hinted at by any other writer, but here most clearly shown! This fluid, whose existence was first announced by Cotugno in 1761 (that is, first after Swedenborg), and was forgotten again and "re-discovered" by Magendie and others in 1825, is shown to arise from the interior of the cerebellum, where it is first secreted, and by the motion of which synchronous with the lungs, it is started on its circulation, to return to the blood close to its starting point, and be there discharged from its use like those over-conscientious spirits spoken of in the Arcana, n. 5386, cited above.

     The chapter on the Rete Mirabile (a wonderful arrangement of the larger arteries just as they enter the brain), offers some thoughtful and profitable suggestions on the right use of human reason, and shows the cause of many headaches and other phenomena of the brain; showing also a most wonderful distinction between the human brain and the animal brain, which latter is not arranged for real thinking or reflective meditation.

     Swedenborg's doctrine of order caused him to begin with the higher parts of the brain, and show how their fibres descend and order the lower parts, such as the medulla, the spinal cord, etc., whereas modern text-books, so far as the writer knows, all begin with the lower parts, and describe the fibres of the spine and medulla as ascending and "plunging into the cortex," like wires that ring an electric bell; whereas the cortical glands, "like little hearts," control each its own fibre, and send them and their fluids down into the body. Thus, as Dr. Wilkinson puts it, "the dependence of the spinal marrow is a much longer truth than its independence!" In the chapters on the cerebellum, it is most interesting to note that by pure induction our author arrives at results with far greater certainty and clearness than any modern vivisectionist, who removes the cerebellum from an animal, and then, assuming that that is all he has done, proceeds in this negative way to reason by exclusion on what the functions of the cerebellum "must have been."

     In this volume the lesser brain is shown, preserving its calm regularity in spite of the storms of excitement that agitate the cerebrum; assuming chief sway during sleep, and endeavoring to repair damages; arranging habitual motions, so that they are performed with the least possible expenditure of conscious force, giving an illustration of the constant care of Divine Providence, which, if it left things to our conscious rule, in body or mind, would soon witness our self- destruction, but which is working every moment to restrain our unruly wills and avert the destruction we wish to rush into and too often do effect,

at least in part. The cerebellum and medulla oblongata take charge of the breathing, so that it never ceases in our lives, whether we attend to it or not.

     Other deeper and hidden processes in the body are exclusively under their control, without which we would quickly perish; hence the instant death that follows injury to the medulla oblongata, as in a broken neck, and in the slaying of the bull by the sword-thrust behind the horns, after the bull-fight.

     No earnest student will regret the possession of these volumes, nor can one look them over without desiring to possess them as soon as possible.
MYTHOLOGY IN THE LIGHT OF THE NEW CHURCH 1888

MYTHOLOGY IN THE LIGHT OF THE NEW CHURCH 1888

REVELATION, MYTHOLOGY, CORRESPONDENCES. By J. J. G. Wilkinson.
London: James Spiers.

THE truth that "Thought from the eye closes the understanding, whereas thought from the understanding opens the eye," has a wider application than is generally recognized. For, the class of those who think from the eye includes all who do not think from Revelation. If others appear to think from their understanding it is still from the eye because it is from an understanding formed from the eye, and thus sensual in its origin. That the eye may be opened, therefore, there must be genuine thought, which can only proceed from an understanding that is formed by the acceptance of the truth of Revelation as the only sure guide in all researches. Thus it is the refusal to be led by those guides that causes such discrepancy of opinion as to the state of the Christian world, that blinds the eye and closes the understanding as to the true state of the case, which would otherwise be seen most plainly ultimated in the prevailing science of the day, as exposed to a considerable extent by the book under notice in the well- known racy and vigorous style of its author. Amid the deluge of books filled with that thought which is only calculated to close the understanding, in which Revelation is consulted, if at all, only for the purpose of confirming preconceived notions formed from mere sensual evidence, it must always be refreshing to the ingenuous mind to take up the work of an author who, using great talents for the purpose of confirming the truths of Revelation, looks upon the world with opened eyes and is able to have some genuine understanding of the things seen. In the book itself, as in the title, the author gives to Revelation the first place, and this openly and unreservedly, the first chapter, after the Preface, being composed entirely of an extract from The True Christian Religion, n. 201-2, concerning Correspondences and the origin of Greek Fables, followed a little later by the number 693, concerning the Winged Horse Pegasus. But in the Preface he rightly essays first to clear away false notions concerning the subject by showing the utter absurdity of those commonly held. He first of all attacks the common dogma concerning the progress of the world, that "the race has grown up from infancy through a virtuous youth and steadfast middle age to a good old age " - pointing out that, on the contrary, "the Fall has been written out in sacred history and attested by profane history many times; and it is strongly attested to-day. . . . The creed that the race is necessarily arising to more excellent life by its own progress is at war, in the votaries of the creed, with whatever can be done for them from above." There is only one way which can arrest the Fall and initiate any real progress. "Each evil thing in an individual has to be cast out and stopped from becoming hereditary.

The proportion of men and women in which this arrest is effected determines the advancement of the race, the LORD being constantly acknowledged as the Giver of its victories, the Father of its good. . . . The Divine Man showing Himself by Revelation, and giving Human Religion perpetually forth to acknowledgment and life, is the true account of all the manhood we possess, and of all the natural blessings we enjoy; and the denial of this LORD, and the heresies of ourselves, are the sound explanation of all our savagery and of all our natural curses." This denial causes all things to be viewed in a false lumen, so that what are called myths are regarded as relics of Barbarism, and their connection with the inspiration of an ancient Revelation altogether lost sight of; whereas, in fact, it is "the great part of our modern thoughts about nature and her inherent tendency and progress, that is myth in an uninspired sense; namely, in the visible sense in which the scientist means all myth: in the sense of guess work and strong baseless persuasions." So averse is Modern Thought to the least approach to super-sensual facts that our "great scientist could not bear the words 'magic lantern,' but would have the thing called scientific lantern, lest magic, which was out of his thirty nine articles, should be mentioned and advertised." But happily, "Jack the Giant-killer, a son of old Thor, has a longer lease on him than Modern Thought, and is in possession on its merits. It is a gracious circumstance that our illustrissimi are ephemeral; that their scientisms are not communicated by mediums of tripods, but by the passing learned; that they have 'short sentences' and escape out of the pillories of time by the bills of mortality." It would be a pleasurable task to continue making quotations from a book so full of suggestive thoughts and happy illustrations; given more as a series of notes to form the basis of a treatise than as a fully elaborative work. It is, perhaps, the more full of substance on that account, the spirit of which the preceding quotations may suffice to show. We will only add the final conclusion of the author that: "to every myth worth the name there is a spiritual sense, a moral sense, and a political and social sense; and these vary like light and heat; and like love, duty, and works; with the days; and are inexhaustible. . . . Only the sense and application must always be, as Bacon says, in majoram Dei Gloriam, and also ad usus humanos."
PAST 1888

PAST 1888

     IT was near the close of a long midsummer day, and the farm-yarders were idly standing about in groups, or preparing for the night's rest. The Ox had laid himself down by the straw-stack, but was not asleep but resting and meditating. Some of the chickens had mounted to their favorite perches in the trees and were standing there, or edging about, talking to each other or to their companions who were walking about under the tree and looking up at it. One of those in the tree, attempting to fly to a higher perch, missed his aim and came flapping to the ground instead, whereat the others made loud comments, and the fallen chicken looked foolish as he stalked about and gazed up at his perch. The Horse, who had been at work all day, walked down to the pond for a drink before lying down for the night. He met the Gray Goose down there and stopped to ask him the news. The Gray Goose told him of a "new movement" among the geese that day which was "to solve the problems confronting us," and then asked for his opinion. The Horse said he did not believe it would do any good, as it was contrary to all wisdom derived from the past.

     "Why should we of the living present," exclaimed the Gray Goose, oratorically, "masquerade in the obsolete and worn-out garments of a dead past, garments that bind our free young limbs, and which we have long since outgrown! Rather let us look to the brilliantly glowing future and away from the dry bones and musty opinions and truths of a bye-gone age."

     The Horse knew his friend was quoting some oratorical goose, but did not remind him of it.

     "What is a 'musty truth'?" he asked.
     "A musty truth is a sort of something or other that isn't exactly fresh, I guess," replied the Gray Goose, thrown back on himself for words.
     "Will you mention a truth of the past that isn't true to-day?"
     "Well," was the hesitating reply, "I can't just now think of one."
     "If you geese were to turn your backs, and give up all you have from the past, what would you have left?" The other kept silent. "Haven't you been talking big, wordy nonsense?"
     "I don't know," was the reply. "Somehow the last one I hear talk always seems in the right."
Communicated 1888

Communicated 1888

[Inasmuch as in this Department Correspondents have an opportunity to express their individual opinions, be they in favor of the principles on which New Church Life is conducted or adverse to them, the Editors do not hold themselves responsible for any of the views whatever that are published therein.]
CHANCELLOR BENADE'S BACCALAUREATE ADDRESS 1888

CHANCELLOR BENADE'S BACCALAUREATE ADDRESS 1888

     ON the occasion of the graduation of Messrs. Price, Odhner, and Waechly, whose discourses have been published in the Life, the Chancellor of the Academy delivered the following address:

     "The School of the Academy was opened on the third day of September, 1877, by our beloved brother, the Rev. J. P. Stuart, who has passed from us to the Church in Heaven. Since that day the work of the School has gone forward in accordance with the purpose that determined its foundation.. In its first institution, the School was a Theological Seminary of the New Church. To this Seminary there were afterward added a Collegiate Department of Instruction, a Boys' School, and, finally, a School for Girls, with a Primary Department for the instruction of very young children of both sexes.

      "We meet to-day to present to the members of the third graduating class of the College and Theological School the Diplomas of Bachelors of Arts, which in our judgments they have earned by faithful and earnest study. As we look upon these graduates and think of the ten scholars who have preceded them in the attainment of similar honors, we can see plainly the hand of the loving Providence of our LORD in the establishment and guidance of our Schools, and can feel with thankfulness a deeper trust in the same Divine aid and guidance in the work that lies before us. The life and labor of to-day, as they pass over by their fruits, into to-morrow, link the future of whatever is done to the past, in which lies its beginning. If the doing be in the name of the LORD, the beginning is from Him, who is the First and the Last.

The seed of our Theological School is in the LORD'S provision for the establishment of His New Church, and this provision is the Divine Revelation of the internal things of the Holy Word, in which the LORD makes His Second Coming. On the Infinite Truth, so revealed by the LORD out of Heaven, is founded our School. In that Truth the LORD is present with men and angels; and He who is thus present is LOVE ITSELF and WISDOM ITSELF, the one DIVINE MAN. He is with us in the Writings of the Church, and He is with us in the letter of the Word, and from them is drawn the sum and substance of the instruction imparted in our Schools. In giving this instruction, we seek to embody the Doctrine of the LORD'S Coming, in natural forms of thought and expression supplied to us by the sciences and knowledges of the world, and adapted to the states of our pupils' minds. And we hope and trust that as the day advances this instruction will be imparted with ever greater clearness and force, and thus the minds of many will be prepared for the fullness of the time when the 'LORD shall be One and His name One,' in all the Earth.

     "On the part of man, as we are taught, the coming of the LORD is the acknowledgment and reception of Him in the life, a state that can be brought about only by the opening of the mind to the truth, and by so following the truth from love that it becomes good in the life - the good of charity toward the neighbor and of love to the LORD. This good is expressed in the simple term of use, in which is comprehended the whole idea of a Heaven from the LORD, who is DIVINE USE ITSELF. To lead men to this good or use, and to prepare young men to lead others to this good or use, by teaching the truth of the LORD, is the end we have endeavored to hold in view in the conduct of our Schools.

     "This, as we understand the matter, is the way in which the LORD establishes His Church in an image and likeness of Himself. By His Light He leads man to eternal life; and the life to which He leads lives in good uses, as He Himself lives in Divine uses. This is the human form of life into which man is to be re-born, and this human form of use, begun and developed by means of a true understanding of the Divine teachings, is the form we have earnestly desired to give to our School and its work.

     "As things theological occupy the highest region of the mind, so does the Theological School hold the first and highest place in our work, and so do the teachings concerning the LORD and spiritual life from Him enter as first and supreme into all things of natural and scientific instruction, and inform them with their living essence.

     "And now that we have come to the end of the period in which our students have been making preparation for their use in life, it is fitting that we should give ultimate expression to our judgment of the manner in which they have acquitted themselves of their task, and it is most becoming that in assembling together for the purpose of giving this expression we should acknowledge the goodness of the LORD in having given to us such a use, in having guided and aided our weakness and ignorance, and imparted to them the ability to perform their part in the work. He has mercifully considered our needs, and has graciously led and sustained their advancing steps. And we may well believe that He will not leave us, nor forsake them, but will continue His Word unto all who seek Him, and who in their feebleness go forth to do His Will and make known His Truth. The Truth now revealed is to be preached to all men, to the end that the world may be brought into an order corresponding to the order that exists in the Heavens. Without such order on the earth, the Heavens would be loosened in their foundations, for they rest on the human race in the ultimate planes of its existence, and their life finds there its fullness. The LORD at this day has given to men a more excellent Revelation than any that has preceded, for the establishment of the crowning Church, in which He may be known, loved, and worshiped as He has never before been known, loved, and worshiped in earth. As we now stand together in the acknowledgment of these truths, may the LORD give us His Divine aid to continue and advance on this way to the doing of His Will on earth as it is done in the Heavens."

     The graduates then came forward, and the Chancellor, addressing them, thus proceeded:

     "Gentlemen of the Graduating Class, the Faculty of the School, with the sanction of the Council of the Academy, has decided to confer upon you severally the baccalaureate degree in the Liberal Arts. This decision is intended to express our judgment of the work done by you in the course of your studies, of your attainments, and of your preparation to begin the work of imparting instruction to others."

     Having presented to each graduate a Diploma of the degree conferred, the Chancellor concluded by saying:

     "Preserve these diplomas as tokens of our estimation of the work done by you in the past, and of our expectations of the work you will do in the future. The offices and duties which you have chosen to be the work of your life have for end the spiritual good of mankind. This is the LORD'S work, and you have completed the first steps of preparation to perform it from Him. From His revelation you have learnt something of what you are to do; and now you are to enter more independently on the doing of it, in which, day by day, you will learn better and more interiorly what lies within your duties, and what your offices involve in the sight of the LORD and in the order of Heaven and the Church. May these duties and offices be to you a perpetual admonition that you are to look to the LORD alone for all light and help on the way before you, that in an honest, sincere and faithful performance of them lies for you the love to the neighbor and to the LORD above all, which in the future of your lives, here and hereafter, will enable you to do true service to the LORD in promoting the spread of His kingdom on the earth."
AT THE ENGLISH CONFERENCE 1888

AT THE ENGLISH CONFERENCE JOHN PRESLAND 1888

EDITORS NEW CHURCH LIFE:- The account of "The English Conference," in your November number, attributes to "Mr. Presland" some remarks on the ordination of Mr. Lock, which were not made by me, who did not speak on the subject, though they were possibly offered by my brother, the Rev. W. A. Presland.

I am also clearly - and accurately - indicated in an earlier part of the article as "interrupting" my friend, the Rev. J. F. Buss, in his interesting and valuable speech, recommending the appointment of a committee to draw up from the Writings a comprehensive scheme of Church Order. My interruption, however, arose from an impression, shared by other friends of the speaker, that - through some misapprehension - he was not addressing himself to the resolution announced from the chair. The Notices of Motion comprised at least one referring very pointedly to the education of New Church children. As, therefore, Mr. Buss did not preface his remarks by quoting the resolution they were intended to introduce, several of his hearers believed he was speaking upon this subject instead of that which stood in his name.

Of course, Dr. Tafel, as President, was bound to notice the point of order raised, so that it is erroneous to describe him as "interrupting Mr. Buss. Indeed, neither he nor I, I venture to declare, had any sentiment toward the speaker except respect for his object, and admiration for the very able manner in which he was pursuing it.

     Your previous number, that for October, contained some allusions to a speech delivered by me at the Conference respecting The New Church Magazine, on which your courtesy will perhaps allow me the privilege of a remark. I certainly did refer, as an illustration, to the possibility of employing the flavor of onions or garlick without using those articles in bulk; but I did not say that I "found the New Church public liked" this arrangement, nor did my observations, so far as I am aware, justify the comment of your "regular [and anonymous] English correspondent:" - "What will the Writings be likened unto soon by those who are so desirous of giving people what they like, and not what the LORD has sent them?" The imputation to me of this desire is a striking instance of an assertion in every sense, not pertinent.

     Faithfully yours,
LONDON, Dec. 9th, 1887.      JOHN PRESLAND.
ECHOES OF THE OHIO ASSOCIATION 1888

ECHOES OF THE OHIO ASSOCIATION C. V. S 1888

     EDITORS NEW CHURCH LIFE:- A propos to the question of the female delegate lately in such a novel manner before the Ohio Association, I have something to say, which might be of interest to some of your readers.

     In the first place, I have it on good authority that a female delegate was proposed at a meeting of the Middleport and Pomeroy Society to represent this Society, and was almost, if not quite, unanimously rejected for doctrinal reasons.

     After she was appointed by the Association, she draughted a resolution of thanks and appreciation to the Cincinnati Society for the entertainment furnished by it, and handed it to a northern male delegate to offer, which was accordingly done; thus in the most natural way possible and probably without the slightest perception of the fact herself, she illustrated the disorder perfectly.

     Men from their judgment ought not to lead the weaker sex to believe that this is a use proper to woman. Truly, if man is so weak in his understanding no one can blame woman for seeking, from her will, to do that which he in his blindness persuades her is her duty.

     The annual address of the General Pastor was confined almost entirely to the consideration of the benefits resulting from the endowment of the Churches. He said, among other things, that "if the Church would be endowed the ministers would preach differently; they would be in greater freedom to correct the evils in the Church." Would not this seem to be contrary to the natural order of things? - placing the means before the end?

     If the preaching were aimed more at the evils in the Church, and these were fearlessly attacked and exposed, by being held up to and tested by the Light, the Association would find that the necessary funds would be forthcoming, as a matter of course, and the ministers would not be "compelled to beg," which is both distasteful and disorderly. Were the preaching hinted at by the General Pastor, given the people, some ministers might be surprised to see how easily the worldly matters of the New Church would run, and then they could indeed feel, that the New Church is really being supported. Of course, before the people can act from high motives they must learn to love them for themselves; before they can learn to love them, they must learn to know them, and if they do not learn to know them at least partly from the pulpit, they naturally think, Why should ministers be supported? Those ministers who fail in the first place to constantly hold before their Societies the Infallibility and Divine Authority of the Writings, will find it necessary, as heretofore, to consume a large share of the time of the yearly meetings in devising ways and means of sustaining the
Ministry, while those who preach the Truth fearlessly will be able to give a
proportionately large share of the time to the consideration of the more important questions of Doctrine.     Sincerely yours,
     CINCINNATI, November 17th, 1887.                      C. V. S.
PROCEEDING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 1888

PROCEEDING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT L. H. FINCKE 1888

     EDITORS NEW CHURCH LIFE:

     DEAR SIRS:- On comparing the article in the Life for August, page 128, concerning Mr. Artope, with Divine Providence, n. 171, we meet with a contradiction. Mr. Artope does not concern us; the following lines make us think that the two paragraphs contradict each other: "The Divine which is understood by the Holy Spirit, proceeds from the LORD through the clergy to the laity, by preaching according to the reception of the doctrine thence; and also by the Sacrament of the Holy Supper according to repentance before receiving it." Now read Divine Providence, n. 171, and also as far as n. 174. It must be admitted, unless they be further explained, that these statements do not agree.

     By giving this a little attention and a clearer explanation, you will oblige a half dozen truth seekers.

     Very respectfully, etc.,
          L. H. FINCKE.
BROOKLYN, N. Y., October 17th, 1887.

     ANSWER.

     WE presume that our correspondent's difficulty arises from the statements that "man is taught by the LORD through the Word, doctrine and preachings from it and thus immediately from Him alone," and that "man is led and taught by the LORD in externals in all appearance as from himself." There is in this no contradiction with the teaching in Canons that the Divine proceeds from the LORD through the clergy to the laity by preaching, etc. Indeed, this series of passages in Divine Providence gives a full explanation of this very matter. "The LORD is the Word, because the Word is from Him and concerning Him, and because it is the Divine Truth of the Divine Good. Thus to be taught from the Word is by the LORD Himself. That this is done mediately by preachings does not take away the immediate. The Word cannot be taught otherwise than mediately through parents, masters, preachings, books, and especially by reading it; but still it is not taught by them, but through them by the LORD: this is also of the knowledge of the preachers, who say, that they do not speak from themselves, but from the spirit of God; they can, indeed, say this, and bring it into the understanding of many, but not into the heart of any one, and what is not in the heart, this perishes in the understanding; by the heart is meant the love of man. From these things it may be seen, that man is led and taught by the LORD alone; and this immediately by Him, when it is done from the Word. This is an arcanum of arcana of Angelic Wisdom."     (D. P. 172.) - EDITORS.

NEWS GLEANINGS 1888

NEWS GLEANINGS Various 1888

NEW CHURCH LIFE.          January, 1888

     NEW CHURCH LIFE. A MONTHLY JOURNAL.

TERMS:- One Dollar per annum, payable in advance. Six months on trial for
twenty-five cents.

     All communications must be addressed to Publishers New Church Life, No. 759 Corinthian Avenue, Philadelphia. Pa.

     In Great Britain subscriptions may be sent to MR. S. WARREN POTTS, Book Steward, 61 Cathedral Street, Glasgow, Scotland.

     REV. R. J. TILSON, "Oakley," County Grove, Camberwell, London, S. E.

     MR. G. A. McQUEEN, Crowhurst Road, Colchester.

     MR. JAS. CALDWELL, 35 Diana Street, Walton, Liverpool.

     MR. C. E. SCHROEDER, 13 Ashfield Terrace, Newcastle-on-Tyne.

     Miss FLORENCE G. GIBBS, 6 Camden Square, London, N

     PHILADELPHIA, JANUARY, 1888-118.

     CONTENTS.

     Editorial Notes, pp. 1, 2. -The Corner Stone, the Sure Foundation (a Sermon), p. 2. - Conversations on Education, p. 5. -Prudence in the Marriage Relation, p. 6. -Wine in the Holy Supper, p. 6. -Light Breaking in the East, p. 7.

     Notes and Reviews, p. 9. -The Second Volume of "The Brain," p. 11. - Mythology in the Light of the New Church, p. 12. -The Past (a Fable), p. 13.

     Chancellor Benade's Baccalaureate Address, p. 13. -At the English Conference, p. 14. -Echoes of the Ohio Association, p. 15. -The Proceeding of the Holy Spirit, p. 15.

     News Gleanings, p. 16. -Births, Marriages, and Deaths, p. 16.
     AT HOME.

     California. - A Messenger correspondent says that at Alameda, Cal., "fifty or sixty people are gradually coming into a reception of the doctrines of the New Church. Hitherto the main feature of our meetings, which have been held on Sunday evenings, has been the lecture. It is desired now, however, to have services more in accord with regular worship."

     THE Rev. O. L. Barler intends to make his home in Los Angeles, Cal., where he has met several New Churchmen. He has also visited San Diego and administered the Holy Supper to nineteen communicants.

     A "BUDDHISTIC Swedenborgian Brotherhood" in Los Angeles is the latest growth on the fertile soil of California.

     Minnesota. - THE new temple of the St. Paul Society of the New Jerusalem was dedicated on November 6th, 1887, the pastor, the Rev. E. C. Mitchell, officiating. The cost of ground and building was thirteen thousand dollars, all of which has been paid. The walls are partly of unhewn stone and partly of wood.

     Pennsylvania. - A READING-CIRCLE and a Sunday-school distinct from the Pittsburgh Society, have been organized in Allegheny by dissidents.

     New York. - THE Rev. William Diehl has declined the vice-presidency of the German Synod.

     THE Riverhead Society was visited during the summer by the Rev. G. M. Davidson and the Rev. I. M. See.

     New Hampshire. - THE Rev. J. E. Werren, of Abington, Mass., ministers from time to time to the Manchester German Society.

     Ohio. - THE Greenford Society have built a robing room in their house of worship. Hereafter their Pastor, the Rev. Andrew Czerny, will wear his robe during services.

     Maine. - THE Rev. H. C. Dunham, pastor of the Portland Society, returned on September 10th from his travels in Europe.
During his absence in the summer months his pulpit was filled by the Rev. Messrs. Stone, Seward, and Mann.

     Massachusetts. - A SERIES of lectures on the Doctrines of the New Church was delivered this summer by the Rev. W. H. Hinckley in Martha's Vineyard, where, in the two preceding summers, this evangelization work had been pursued by the Rev. Dr. Hibbard and Mr. Seward.

     AN evening class for the study of the True Christian Religion was formed in the Boston Society on October 13th.

     THE Rev. Messrs. Giles and Ager are to lecture on Sunday evenings in November for the Boston Society.

     Illinois. - AT a meeting of the "Society for Ethical Culture," held in Chicago, June 26th, Mrs. Hopkins and Dr. Pratt, of Chicago, Mr. Field, of Detroit, and Dr. Holcombe, of New Orleans, delivered addresses on the relation of the New Church to "Christian Science" or mind cure, all the speakers being strongly in favor of this ultimate form of Salvation by Faith alone.

     ON his missionary tour through this State, the Rev. Jabez Fox visited and preached at Northport, where the Rev. G. N. Smith is residing.

     Indiana. - ON September 25th the Rev. John Goddard preached, morning and evening, in the "Pilgrim Church," Indianapolis, one of the largest in the city. The New Church Society there has managed to hold together by means of the Sunday- school, which meets in the Temple every Sunday.

     Canada. - ABOUT sixty persons in Toronto and thirty in Parkdale have already manifested some interest in the Doctrines of the New Church through colporteur John Kelly's work.

     THE Rev. G. L. Allbutt holds two Doctrinal classes a week in Toronto.

     IN August last the Rev. Louis H. Tafel visited Canada and preached in Berlin and Wellesley.

     DURING the summer months the Rev. Eugene J. E. Schreck visited Canada and preached in Berlin, Wellesley, Toronto, and Parkdale.

     ABROAD.

     Germany. - MR. J. G. Mittnacht has removed his residence and his New Church publication business from Frankfurt, A. M., to Biebrich-Mosbach, Germany.

     THE "German New Church Society seems to begin to doubt the soundness of Mr. Artope's paper Die Neue Kirche.

     MR. Albert Artope made a visit to New Churchmen in Strelitz, Mecklenburg, on July 24th, where he preached to an audience of fifty persons.

     Great Britain. - WILLIAM Henry Buss was ordained a New Church minister by the Rev. John Presland on October 30th at Jersey.

     THE Rev. James F. Buss was welcomed to his new pastorate, New-Castle-on- Tyne, on Tuesday, November 1st, by a large number of his parishioners.

     MR. L. A. Slight has received and accepted a call to the pastorate of the Paisley Society.

     THE English New Church Orphanage is maintaining thirty-four children.

     THE New Church Temperance Society held its annual meeting in the Argyle Spare Church in London on August 8th. From the reports presented at the meeting the Society does not seem to have met with much success during the year.

THE General Conference, reports sixty-seven societies with five thousand six hundred and fifteen members, a net decrease during the year of one hundred and fifteen persons.

     Sweden. - THE Swedish Reading Circle, which was formed two years ago, is now reading The Divine Love and Wisdom.

     Switzerland. - THE hundredth anniversary of the institution of the Sacrament of the Holy Supper in the New Church was commemorated with special services by the New Church Society in Zurich on July 31st.
EDITORIAL NOTES 1888

EDITORIAL NOTES Editor 1888

NEW CHURCH LIFE.

Vol. VIII. PHILADELPHIA, FEBRUARY, 1888=118. No. 2.
CONJUGIAL LOVE is from the LORD; from the Union of Divine Love and Wisdom in Him. It is the parent of all good loves with man and with consorts, as it is the beginning of their conduct toward each other, so is it also the source with them of all good conduct toward the neighbor, of all good manners or behavior. It is the genuine cause of the unselfishness of good conduct, and of the softness and gentleness of good manners. Thus it tends to produce among men an image and likeness of the Divine Love of the LORD to the human race. Conjugial love in man conjoins with the LORD, and from Him and His presence it is most holy, imparting holiness to the intercourse between the sexes, and to the thought concerning the relation of the sexes. In the sight of the LORD the relation of the sexes is most holy. As New Churchmen, we ought so to regard it, and to express this our regard in our conversation and in our conduct.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IN our conversation on the subject of Conjugial love it is our duty to be on our guard against the influences of evil and impure spirits, and strenuously to resist all tendencies toward trifling with it: all dispositions to annoy or tease others on the subject, to use light expressions, to indulge in jokes concerning it. Such conversations take away from the holiness, and do grave injury to conjugial love in ourselves and in others. And this injury is a violence to the life of Heaven and to the LORD.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

LET us not lose sight of the exceeding importance of keeping all holy things out of the sphere of light and foolish thought, and thus out of the expression of such thought as will bring us more fully under the power of mischievous and malignant spirits. Whatever does violence to the holy things of the Church, even in thought, is a sin against God, and as such is to be shunned. As the LORD inflows into what is decorous with man, so also does what is decorous assure the consociation of the angels. What is decorous appears in our conduct and manners, and if these express the thought of the holiness of Conjugial love, the angels will be present and help us to develop the life of that love, and the LORD will inflow and give His blessing.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IN The True Christian Religion, n. 123, under the heading: "That Redemption was a purely Divine Work" we read as follows: "Fourthly, how the LORD afterward reduced into order all things, as well in Heaven as in Hell, has not yet been described by me, because the putting into order of the Heavens and of the Hells has continued from the day of the Last Judgment even to the present day, and still continues; but after the publication of this Book, if it be desired, it shall be made public." And in The Apocalypse Explained, n. 624, we read as follows: "These, namely the non-upright, are to be separated from those, namely, the upright, before the Last Judgment comes, also after it, and they are only separated successively. This is the reason that before the time of the Last Judgment the Word is still to be taught, although interiorly, that is, as to its interiors it is undelightful, which interiors, because they are undelightful, they cannot receive, but only such things from the sense of the letter of the Word, which favor their loves and the principles thence conceived, on account of which the Word as to the sense of the letter is delightful; by means of these, therefore, the upright are separated from the non-upright. That for this cause the time is protracted after the Last Judgment before the New Church is fully established is an arcanum from Heaven, which at this day cannot enter the understanding, except of a few, and yet this is what the LORD teaches in Matthew xiii, 27-30, 37-40."

Will some one of those who believe that at the time of the Last Judgment the Old Church ceased entirely, and that since that time the New Church includes all of the Old Church, or, as others express it, that the New Church is a part of that General Church, which rejects the LORD and denies the inspiration and Divinity of the Word, tell us when the Last Judgment ceased? Also at what period in the history of the Old Church, before or after the Last Judgment, the Word was so undelightful as to the sense of the letter, as to cause it to be entirely rejected?
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

     ORIGINATING in the LORD, the law that all power resides in ultimates has infinite applications. It is applied primarily to the Word, which, in its literal sense, is in its fullness, its holiness, and its power. The literal sense consists of images of this world, which, by their representation of the realities of heaven and of the Divine Human, become filled with the Divine Omnipotence.

     The effectiveness of descriptive and figurative writing is acknowledged in the world of letters. But the cause of its power, and the laws which should govern its composition in order to restore it to its pristine purity, are not known.

     The true story is a coherent succession of images. Its perfection naturally depends upon the faithfulness with which these images reflect the main thought, and the fullness with which they portray the environment of the particular ideas composing the thought. Herein lie the great force, power, and beauty of the Memorabilia works of art whose very simplicity betokens their strength. Bringing down to us the color, the fragrance, the melody, the softness, and yet the power of heaven, where affection and thought spontaneously present themselves representatively in marvelous detail and perfection - contrasting with this the horrors of hell, which are presented in their deformity no less accurately and fully - the Memorabilia give invaluable instruction, as well as suggestions concerning the presentation, in historical form, of those matters which, above all others, should form the subject of our speech and writing.

     Occasional attempts have been made to apply lessons learned from the
Memorabilia (one appears in this issue), but as the Science of Correspondences assumes a more developed form in the mind of the Church, and ceases to be regarded as a mere collection of knowledges concerning the signification of detached words, it must lead to a complete science of rhetoric and poetry, whose governing principle will be, not to invent phrases of elegance, but, first, to lead to heavenly, and hence true and clearly defined thought, and, secondly, to clothe this thought in fitting language.

REQUISITES FOR JUST JUDGMENT 1888

REQUISITES FOR JUST JUDGMENT Rev. L. H. TAFEL 1888

     "And I saw a strong angel, proclaiming with a great voice, 'Who is worthy to open the. book and to loose the seals thereof?' And no one in heaven, nor upon the earth, nor under the earth, could open the book, nor look thereon." - Revelation v, 2, 3.

     THE book here spoken of, sealed with seven seals, is the book of life, which is that which is inscribed or implanted by the LORD on the spirit of man, i. e., on his heart and soul. By this book, as we are also taught, is signified the Word in its internal and its external sense. The LORD as the Word knows the states of life of all in the heavens and in the earths from Himself, because He is the Divine Truth, and the Divine Truth knows all things from Itself. The Divine Truth or the Word is the LORD, and at the same time it constitutes Heaven and the Church in general; and also in particular it constitutes the angel, so that Heaven may be in him; and also the man of the Church in order that the Church may be in him. According to this same truth inscribed on man, i. e., received into his life, man is inscribed into the Gorand Man, which again is nothing else than the Divine Truth as received and embodied in angels and in men. Even those who are in the perversion of Divine Truth and in antagonism to it, are inserted into the monster of hell arrayed in opposition to the Divine Truth, according to their antagonism. Therefore, it is said in the Word that man is to be judged from the Book, also that he is inscribed in the Book, or that his name is wiped from the Book, where his eternal state is treated of.

     In our chapter we are taught that the LORD alone knows the state of all in general, and of the single individuals in particular, and no one but He. This was represented by the Book written which no one could open, read, and look at, but the Lamb alone; i. e., the LORD. This is because the LORD alone forms the angelic Heaven to an image of Himself, and man to an image of Heaven, wherefore He knows all things of Heaven in general, and therefore also as to every particular, for man who is in truths from good, and the Angel is an image of Heaven for he is in its form. Thence it also follows that no one knows the state of any one in particular unless he knows the state of all in general, for the one is indivisibly connected with the other. This hidden state of life of all in heaven and on earth is further described by its being sealed with seven seals, for no one knows what is sealed up before it is opened and read; the seven seals signify that this state is entirely and totally unknown.

     "The strong angel proclaiming with a great voice signifies an influx from the LORD into Heaven, for an "Angel" signifies Heaven, because the universal angelic Heaven is before the LORD, as one angel or one man, in the same way every society of Heaven; therefore by an "Angel" in the Word is not understood one Angel but a whole angelic Society, as by Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael; here by the" strong angel" is signified the universal Heaven, and by His "proclaiming with a great voice," the influx interiorly into the universal Heaven, for what is proclaimed with power enters interiorly into the thought. The "great voice of the strong Angel" therefore signifies Divine Truth from the LORD in its power and strength. That it is an influx into the whole of Heaven may also appear from the words that follow: "No one in Heaven, nor on earth, nor under the earth, could open the book nor look thereon."

     A truth thus proclaimed with might from the LORD, which fills all the Heavens from one end to the other, must be for the same reason one of momentous importance to the Church on earth - a truth, the knowledge and reception of which in the life will produce wisdom and blessing, but the neglect of which produces confusion and destruction. The truth thus proclaimed is in its form merely a question or inquiry, but from the way in which it flows down from the LORD Himself it is evident that it is an inquiry, the asking of which and the answer to which is fraught with the most weighty and lasting consequences.

     The question which is thus to resound through the Heavens and the Church is: "Who is worthy to open the Book and to loose the seals?"

     The Book, as seen before, is the Word in its internal and its external sense, in which is Divine Truth Itself, whereby the states of all become known. The question, therefore, is: Is there any one who can of himself open the internal sense of the Word or even give the true external sense? and since the Divine Truth contained in the Word at the same time reveals the states of life of all in Heaven and in the Church, the question also means: Is there any one who of himself is able to see and perceive the state of life of all? The idea contained in the word "worthy" is justice and merit, and as investigation is treated of, it here also signifies omniscience. There are some in the Church at this day, who, without any regard to the solemnity and overpowering importance of this Divine question, claim, if not in words, at least in fact, that they are able to do this; that they are able to make known the state of the Christian world, and, indeed, of all mankind, without much or any regard to the Divine Truth of the Word - by mere ocular sight and daily experience. They talk glibly of the apparent good of universal tolerance and charitable undertakings, and do not stop to look into their causes, which may as naturally be found in religious indifference, and in the love of approbation and mutual admiration, as in the acknowledgment and love of the LORD JESUS CHRIST as the only God, and an unselfish life of use, and immediately proclaim that these are the signs of a universal change of heart and of the coming of the kingdom of the heavens with all upon the earth. If those who are so ready to deceive themselves and others by the fallacies and appearances of outward seeming are told that the LORD Himself has opened the Book and loosed its seals, and has thus revealed the interior states of all in Heaven and upon the earth, and that these revelations declare the very opposite of their opinions which are derived from appearances, they either deny the truths of the Divine revelations or declare that while they were true, and had their application a hundred years ago, they can see from the state of things around them that they are not true and have no application at the present time.

     For all such it will be well to ponder upon the Divine Answer given in the
Word of our text to the Divine Question propounded to all the Heavens, and also to the Divine Exposition given to these words in the Writings: "No one could in Heaven, or upon the earth, or under the earth, open the Book, nor look thereon;" this, we are taught, signifies the manifestation that no one can from himself know or perceive anything at all concerning the state of life of all in general nor concerning that of individuals in particular.

We can, indeed, confirm the revealed Divine Truth by our experiences, as, indeed, by all natural truth, but we cannot know or perceive anything of these states except as it is revealed to us by the LORD. The LORD, from his Omniscience, has revealed to us what is the state of the Old Church, that it is in evils and falses and thus conjoined with hell. He has also revealed to us what will be the state of the New Church, that it will be in truths and goods derived from the LORD, and that in these truths and goods the LORD makes His Coming with man, and that they form His tabernacle with man. There is no need of any addition to this revelation to reveal the varying relations of the New to the Old, as the Old gradually decreases and the New increases. Wherever the Old Church, with the evils and falses that are shown by the LORD to be its characteristics, remains, there is hell; wherever the New Church, with the truths and goods that constitute it, is formed, there is Heaven and the LORD in His tabernacle upon the earth. The Old Church cannot be changed imperceptibly into the New or into a part of the New any more than Hell can imperceptibly be transmuted into Heaven. Man, who, by inheritance, is a particular form of hell, can only be regenerated by rejecting falses and receiving the truth, and by then fighting against his evils and then receiving the opposite good. Thus little by little one falsity and evil f after the other being seen, acknowledged, fought against, and rejected, can man be made new. In no other way could a Church that has lost all truth and good and become an organic form of falsities and evils be regenerated and made new. But what sign have we of such a process going on in the Old Church? Which one of their false doctrines has been declared false and infernal? and what true doctrine has been received as from the LORD, and what evils have been confessed as belonging to their falsities and rejected, making room thereby for Divine Truth and Good? Not the slightest proof of such a change has been or can be adduced by those in the New Church who proclaim the Old Church to have become a part of the New. Not only this, but such an assumption is totally opposed to all the teachings of the letter and of the spirit of the Word with respect to any Churches that have been consummated. No Church that has been consummated has ever been vivified so as to form a part of the succeeding Church; only a small remnant has ever been found at the end of a Church ready to receive new truth and good from the LORD, and the new life has never been thereby communicated to the old and consummated Church (called in the Word a carcase), but the remains had to be gathered out and separated into a New Church in order that they might receive the new life and act as the new heart and lungs of mankind. When this takes place, then we are told that the LORD leaves the Old Church and comes to the New. That the Old Church cannot receive life and become a part of the New, after the LORD has left it, should seem apparent to all; and the endeavor of commingling them can only lead to the most fearful spiritual confusion, with the ultimate danger of direful profanation.

     To guard against the great danger of judging from appearance, and thus from self-intelligence, concerning the state of mankind, we are taught in our text that "no one in Heaven, nor upon the earth, nor under the earth can open the book nor look thereon." By those "in Heaven," as we are taught, are signified those in the third Heaven, who in the other world appear as elevated upon high mountains; those "upon the earth," the ones in the middle Heaven; but those "under the earth" are the ones in the first Heaven. Thus the expression in our text signifies that no one in the universal Heavens knows from himself the spiritual states of mankind in general nor of any individual in particular.

     In our text it is not only said that "no one could open the book," but also that no one could "look thereon," by which is signified that no one can do this at all; for the LORD alone sees the state of any one from the inmost to the outermost, as well what he was from infancy as what he will be to old age, and of what quality to all eternity. This the LORD sees in an instant and from Himself, because He is Divine Truth or the Word Itself, but the angels and men see nothing at all, because they are finite, and those who are finite see only a few things, and these external ones, and even these they see not of themselves, but from the LORD.

     The LORD has thus, in the most emphatic manner, warned us not to rely on appearances nor to trust our self-derived intelligence in judging as to the state of life in the world in general or with individuals in particular: the LORD alone is the judge, and He has judged in His Word, by disclosing to us the states of all Churches in general and of the first Christian Church in particular. Our duty is to listen to the Divine Revelation and to receive it as the Divine Truth Itself, and by acknowledging it and acting in accordance therewith, we shall unite with all the heavenly host in proclaiming: "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive the power and the riches and the wisdom and the strength and the honor and the glory and the blessing."

     It is significant that upon the opening of the book and of the seven seals depends, as it were, the whole development of events described in the Apocalypse - namely, the Last Judgment and the descent of the New Jerusalem, i. e., the establishment of the New Church. There must be a Divine Reason why the great truth of our text, proclaimed so solemnly from Heaven, should have been doubted, forgotten, and neglected, as it were, by so many New Churchmen, and even by ministers of the New Church in times gone by, and even at the present time. Is it that the Church was not strong enough as yet to serve as an instrument for the Divine Judgment upon the Earth? for the Old Church has not yet been explored, seen in its real state and rejected by all the New Church, much less by the world in general. The truth that the LORD alone can judge, and that He has judged and condemned the Old Church, must be seen and acknowledged in thought and will, in speech and act, by the whole organic New Church, even as it was from one end of the Heavens to the other, before the New Church can serve as an instrument of Divine Judgment upon the earth, and the world can be freed from this incubus, and the New Church can then be established in fullness upon the earth.

     The Divine Truth revealed by the LORD must be our only standard, our one Judge and Lawgiver, whether as to the world around us, or whether as to our own life in all its aspects, before it will be seated upon the throne judging right. Only then will all unite in proclaiming: "Blessing and honour and glory and power unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever."
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE reproduction in The New Christianity and in The Dawn of the Life's account of the services at the meeting of the General Church of Pennsylvania has called the reporter's attention to his lapsus calami. The sentence beginning, "The Rev. Messrs. Pendleton, Tafel, and Schreck were attired in like manner," should read "The Rev. Messrs. Pendleton, Whitehead, and Schreck" etc.

CONVERSATIONS ON EDUCATION 1888

     APPLICATION.

     [Continued.]

     EVERY just parent who loves the real good of his child and not his selfish gratification, knows well that the child is unhappy when self-willed, grasping, angry, or revengeful. He knows as well that when these tempers are restrained and coerced, if necessary by punishments adequate to the manifestation of evil, the child is restored to happiness, and even, at times, is made conscious of the fact that this happiness is the result of the enforced relinquishment of his selfish desires.

          It may appear to be a strange thing to some, it may be a hateful thing to others, in this day of free distribution of plenary indulgences for all manner of wrong-doing, that coercions and punishments of childish self-will and waywardness, should be put forward not only as a first means of instruction in knowledge, but also as the very means of opening the young to that active love of obedience on which rest all the other loves of the regenerate life. Strange as it may seem, hateful as it may be, it is true. The Word of the LORD declares: "Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now do I keep Thy Word." -Psalm cxix, 67.

     With the delight of obedience in the natural life of a child are mingled many other natural delights, such as the delights of filial love, of paternal love, of the love of association, etc., etc. In the obedience from these delights there is not freedom, as shown in Arcana Coelestia, n. 8987, because no rationality; and therefore no internal affection or genuine good. There may be in it a love of praise and commendation, a love of admiration, or of reward. But as these loves can be bent to good by wise and judicious treatment, it is of the Divine Providence that they are permitted to present various motives affecting the loves of obedience with children. They aid in establishing a state of obedience, without which there can be no right reception of instruction; no formation of right habits of learning, knowing, and understanding, and thence no true beginning of intelligence and wisdom.

     Obedience, therefore, is the first means of opening the mind, because it conjoins hearing and seeing and causes the internal and external of the natural man to act as one, brings the spiritual and natural worlds into co-operation and effects concentration of mind. In concentration of mind there is one end, and a subordination of all means to the attainment of the one end. It is the very state of learning, knowing, and understanding for the sake of doing. In doing the truth is life. "This do, and thou shalt live."

     The teaching of the Doctrines on the subject of hearing or obedience, may be presented in a summary form as follows:

     1. Hearing is reception of influx, that is to say of command. (A. C. 5486, 5732.)

     2. Hearing is accommodation to influx, that is to say, to command. (A. C. 5368, 7270.)

     3. Hearing is reception of command, for the formation and also for the reformation of the rational, which requires two forms: a, hearing; b, hearkening; i. e. reception and doing, or, in other words, perception and doing. (A. C. 2965,1635, 5368, 5486, 4653, 5017.)

     4. Hearing and hearkening are the reception of an object of the thought and of an object of the affection. (A. C. 8990; A. E. 14.)

     5. Hearing is apperception, perception, belief, obedience, adjunction, conjunction, life. (A. E. 14, etc.; A. C. 2932, 2963, 3507, 3869, etc.)

     6. Hearing is Providence. (A. C. 3869.)

     7. Hearing is perceiving, willing, doing. (A. C. 3869; A. R. 356; H. H. 248; A. C. 7216, 8360, 8766, 9311)

     8. Obedience is concentration of the mind and body, in will, thought, and act.
     Hearing is concentration in will and thought.
     Hearkening is concentration from will by thought in act.
     Obedience considered as concentration involves:

     1. Hearing with affection and interest.

     2. Attention, stretching forth the thought toward what enters by the ear or what is communicated.

     3. Intention, sending forth the affection, and forming a purpose.

     4. Determination, enjoining attention and intention from a purpose, and directing them, so conjoined, to a fixed, ultimate, or terminating bound.
     Determination with decision, cutting off from any other eventuality, effect, or

     5. Termination, ultimation, embodiment, Fact - what is done.

     If this brief summary be considered it will be evident that obedience, which is the first means of opening the mind of man, includes all other means. It is no less evident that if all the other means of opening the mind are to follow the first, and if the mind is to be really opened, obedience, as the first, must reign universally in all the sequent means, and carry by them the end to its termination or effect. The celestial angels receive their wisdom by hearing. What they hear, they do. Their doing is obedience in its highest form of concentration of the whole will and the all of thought, for with them perceiving, willing, and doing are one.

     Hence it is that "the province of the ear is in the axis of Heaven." (A. E. 14.) "And into that province the whole Spiritual world flows with the perception that the thing commanded is to be done, for this is the reigning perception." (Ibid.)

     "And all the people answered together, and said: All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. . . . And Moses took back the words of the people to the LORD." (Exodus xix, 8, etc.)
IMAGINATION 1888

IMAGINATION E. S. HYATT 1888

THE faculty of Imagination, like other faculties, is "duplex" (A. C. 4214), internal and external; the one coming from the light of heaven, the other from the fatuous lumen of the world. The former, therefore, can only exist with regenerating men, while the latter may be very highly cultivated by the most worldly people, and is, indeed, common to both men and animals. (E. A. K. II, 279.)

Imagination is "the interior sensual." (A. C. 3020.) The interior of a faculty is its proper life or activity. In this case it is "the activity of the memory." (A. K. II, 462 x.) The two kinds of Imagination belong respectively to the Internal and to the External memory. The one is a faculty of the Mens, the other of the Animus. (E. A. K. II, 309.) The activity of the Internal Memory is a "higher or more sublime Imagination" (E. A. K. II, 279), called in some passages the "Imaginative of thought" (A. C. 8630, 8733); and is, in fact, synonymous with thought, under which head it more properly comes. It may, therefore, except as to necessary incidental reference, be conveniently left out of the scope of this short essay, the subject of which is more specially the activity of the External Memory. It is to this that the term Imagination has the more distinctive application.

     Imagination, then, in the sense thus restricted, is "a kind of general thought." (E. A. K. II, 307.) It is the only thought that the mere scientist or the merely natural man has. Being the only kind of thought with which such men are acquainted, they are, perhaps, not so far wrong when they claim for animals the power of thinking like themselves, for as the Imagination is seated in the Animus it is common to both men and animals. (E. A. K. II, 279.) This fact explains the wonderful resemblances to thought which animals sometimes exhibit. It also helps us to understand those passages which declare that with the merely natural man there is neither will nor thought, but only cupidity and ratiocination. (A. C. 977.)

     By the Animus in which it is seated "is understood the external affections and the inclinations hence, which are principally insinuated after birth by Education, Companionship, and the habits hence; for it is said that one has an animus for doing this or that, by which the affection and inclination to it are perceived. Persuasions taken concerning this or that kind of life are also wont to form the Animus." (C. L. 246.)

     "Objects of the world which all derive something from the light of the sun enter by the eye, and repose themselves in the memory, and this manifestly under the view of a similar sight, for the things which are hence reproduced are seen within; hence is the Imagination." (A. C. 4408.) It is the subject, therefore, of interior sight and hearing - interior to the senses of the body, although still entirely in the natural degree. Hence it can exist when the sight and hearing of the Body are lost. (E. A. K. II, 281.) It is, indeed, sharpened and intensified in proportion as it is withdrawn from the latter senses, being, perhaps, most vivid of all in dreams. But in wakefulness, when a man directs his mind to any subject by the Imagination he forms a composite idea (S. D. 987), and represents to himself many things from the memory as if seen at the same time, and thence speaks or writes in an order more or less good, according to the quality and cultivation of his Imagination. This is the manner, too, in which angelic representations in the spiritual world are formed. (S. D. 3173.)

     Now as to the use of the Imagination. Although, as we have seen, it is a faculty capable of high cultivation by the unregenerate man, and is even common to animals as well as to men, it is, in its place, of very great importance to the man of the Church. For just as the sensual scientific, as the ultimate of the Intellect (A. C. 9996) provides the necessary recipient forms for spiritual truths, and just as an abundance of these forms is necessary for extended reception of truths, just so is the Imagination, as the interior of the natural sensual, the necessary ultimate of Thought, which is the interior of the spiritual sensual; just so will the quality of the Imagination, which is the activity of External memory, limit the quality of Thought, which is the activity of the Internal memory. Where the Imagination, in its arranging of the scientifics of the memory, is disorderly, there is no fit plane for the influx of true thought, which is consequently obstructed.

     Such is the state of the modern mind - not only full of false scientifics, into which truths cannot flow, but even in the New Church, where there is some measure of true scientifics received, the arranging of them into any approximate to Divine order is, like the external organizing of the Church, so neglected as unessential, that there is little or no order into which real thought can flow to combine the various truths received into any human form. Consequently, the truths remain separate and disconnected, and therefore are not genuine truths after all, as they exist in such a mind.

     It is not enough to have genuine scientifics; a false ordering of them obstructs their use, while a neglect to use the imagination upon them at all, that is, if they are merely put into the memory and taken out as put in, devoid of any added individuality in their arrangement, they have no real connection with that individual mind, and must fail in serving that particular use for which that individual was created. The use of the Imagination must, therefore, be cultivated; but if it is to be the external for spiritual thought, it must, in arranging the scientifics of the memory, submit itself to, and act under the guidance of, Divine Revelation. The resultant form will then be none the less individual; it will but have a human individuality instead of a monstrous individuality, just that form which will best serve each individual's special use.

     The office of the sensual is to sift (A. C. 9726), to take or reject according to requirements. The Imagination, being the interior sensual, ought to reject false scientifics and make use only of the true. This, too, it can only do with any certainty in proportion as it submits to the guidance of Revelation; but with that guidance it becomes, besides an arranging and combining faculty, more and more a "perceptive" faculty also (A. C. 3528, 4214), sifting out and rejecting the falses of the memory, and combining the true scientifics there into ever-new representative forms full of beautiful and living human individuality, seen mentally here, and made to some extent actual in Art, but only made fully actual in the spiritual world.
                     E. S. HYATT.
ON THE RELATION OF THE SCIENTIFIC WORKS OF SWEDENBORG TO THE WRITINGS OF THE NEW CHURCH AS REVEALED BY THE LORD THROUGH HIM 1888

ON THE RELATION OF THE SCIENTIFIC WORKS OF SWEDENBORG TO THE WRITINGS OF THE NEW CHURCH AS REVEALED BY THE LORD THROUGH HIM W. H. ACTON 1888

     THE, question I propose to discuss is one of great importance to the New Churchman who is endeavoring to form a truer system of Science by which to confirm and establish the Doctrines of the Church. It is one which has not yet received sufficient attention in the Church, and, in consequence, no real advance has been made toward a New and Truer basis of Science. The only Science studied at the present day is that of the Old Church, which is naturalistic and atheistic; and this Science is the only science acknowledged by the great majority of New Churchmen, though its teachings are, from their centre, contradictory to the teachings of the Church.

     It is to this fact that much of the opposition to the acceptance of the Writings as of Divine Authority is due; because the Scientific facts therein revealed - and they are innumerable - do not agree with the theories of the Scientists. The only Science which does agree with the Writings is, as we shall show later on, that to be found in the Scientific works of Swedenborg - works which are a dead letter to modern Scientists, and all but unknown to the Church itself.

     The difference between Modern Science and the Science of Swedenborg lies in this, that Modern Science is Godless; it is a circumference without a centre - a chaotic mass of fallacies. Whereas Swedenborg, from his earliest childhood, always had a profound reverence for Divine things, and throughout his Scientific works he makes God the centre of his philosophy and origin of all creation.

     The gigantic strides in Experimental Science, the great advancement in accuracy of observation made during the last few years, count as nothing in the face of this fact.

     We may compare the Scientists of to-day with moles, groping about in their underground dwellings, or to bats flying in the dark. Whilst Swedenborg is like the persevering engineer, forcing his way into the recesses of the earth and bringing to light her inmost treasures; or a noble eagle, soaring aloft and viewing in one comprehensive glance the scenery below. Moles and bats perform uses, so do devils and satans, but the uses of moles and bats are not the uses of the engineer and the eagle.

     The fact that Swedenborg makes God the centre and starting-point of all his philosophy, whilst the Scientist only acknowledges Nature, is of itself sufficient to make the New Church student of Science place greater faith in the reasonings of the former, than in the self-confident assertions and metaphysical, speculative theories of the latter.

     But there are other and weightier reasons for taking this position.
Swedenborg's mission was to reveal the Doctrines of the New Church in which the LORD makes His Second Coming (concerning which see T. C. R. 779). The whole of his life before this great event took place was a preparation for this work. Hence, on being asked in what manner from being a Philosopher he became a Theologian, Swedenborg replied:

     "In the same way that fishermen were made disciples and apostles by the LORD; from my earliest childhood I was a spiritual fisherman. A fisherman in the Spiritual Sense of the Word signifies, a man who investigates and teaches natural truths [verities], and afterward Spiritual [truths] rationally."- Inf. 20.

     In the following remarkable passage we have a clear proof that a thorough and therefore a true knowledge of the natural sciences was necessary to Swedenborg's preparation. He says:

     "What the acts of my life involved I could not perceive at the time they happened, but afterward I was informed as to some, yea, many particulars, from which I was at length able to see clearly that the course of Divine Providence governed the acts of my life from my very youth and directed them so that by means of the cognitions of natural things I might at length be able to understand and thus, by the Divine Mercy of God-Messiah, to serve as an instrument for opening those things which lie hidden interiorly in the Word of God-Messiah. Thus those things which heretofore were not manifest, are now made manifest."- Adv. II, 839.

     Nor is this all. We have the period in which this preparation took place given in a letter to OEtinger, written in 1766, by Swedenborg, who says:

     "I was introduced by the LORD into the Natural Sciences and thus prepared, and, indeed, from 1710 to 1744, when heaven was opened to me."- Doc. II, p. 139.

     It was during this time that he published his scientific works, beginning, as it were, at the very lowest round of the ladder. His earliest works deal, for the most part, with the structure of the earth, and in the Principia we find a complete theory of the formation of the material universe. In his later scientific works we find the same theory applied, and with the greatest success, to the growth and development of the human organism, and in that beautiful prose poem, The Worship and Love of God, which "was said to be a Divine book," we find the same theory elaborated in one of the most beautiful pieces of word-painting that has ever been written. In the Angelic Idea of Creation appended to the Apocalypse, Explained, and in The True Christian Religion, n. 76, we find the origin of the universe given from a spiritual point of view, but which fully confirms the views given in the above-mentioned works.

     All of Swedenborg's scientific works are intimately bound together by the innumerable references from the later to the earlier. His philosophy is a Palace, the foundations of which lie in his earliest productions.

     As to the accuracy of Swedenborg's later scientific works, we can have little doubt, as they were written under manifest Spiritual guidance, in proof of which we quote the following statements, which we have selected from a considerable number, mostly from the Drommar. This little book was a private diary of his dreams kept by Swedenborg during the year 1744, and contains the history of his change of state. It is to be found translated in the Documents Concerning Swedenborg, Vol. II, pp. 147-219.

     After recording one of these dream visions, he says, where he is evidently referring to the Animal Kingdom, which he was then preparing for the press:

     "I find, by this, I shall have God's assistance." (N. 163.)

     "This signifies the assistance I receive in my work, from a higher hand; so that I am employed simply as an instrument." (N. 167.)

     "This signifies that what I had written was well pleasing; it was the last of the first chapter of the Sense of Touch." (N. 170.)

     "During the whole day I found myself in a full state of illustration respecting the matters I had in hand." (N. 171.)

     On the night of October 6th and 7th he says:

     "I was further informed upon the Worship and Love of God, which was said to be a Divine Book." (N. 182.)

     Besides the above quotations, we might give several others from the work on "Sensation," written about this time. Let this suffice:

     "It is to be observed, that according to an admonition, I ought to refer to my philosophical principia "- Reg. Anim., Pt. IV, p. 82.

     In the work on The Brain, we find it twice stated that he was ordered to make certain changes and additions. (See The Brain, vol. i, p. 9, note and p. 101 note).

     At the end of a short article, entitled the Corpuscular Philosophy in Compendium, where the same subjects as contained in the Principia and Specimens of Chemistry are treated of we find the following remarkable statement:

     "These things are true because I have received the sign." Photolith, vol. VI, p. 318.

     Referring, no doubt, to the flames which often appeared to him as confirmations.

     The sole aim of Swedenborg's Studies was to arrive at the Truth. And often does he tell his readers that he will be glad if they will point out any errors he may have fallen into. He himself, however, neither retracts nor corrects anything he has written, but constantly refers to his earlier works for proof of later deductions. Nor do we find in the Writings anything to contradict what has been stated in the scientific works. On the other hand we do find on almost every page of the Doctrines full and ample confirmation of the truth of the scientific works, which in turn illustrate the Doctrines.

     Had there been anything false or misleading in the scientific works there can be no doubt that it would not have remained unnoticed and uncorrected. Swedenborg had far too high a regard for the Truth than that.

     In his Adversaria, written some time after his spiritual sight had been opened, he says:

     "In my Tractate concerning the Worship and Love of God, Pt. I, the origin of the earth, paradise, its verdant fields, and the nativity of Adam have been treated of, but according to the intellectual guide or thread of reason. But because human intelligence, unless inspired by God is in no way to be trusted, it is of importance to the truth [verity] that the things treated of in the aforesaid work be compared with what has been revealed in the Sacred Codex, and here with the History of Creation revealed by God to Moses, and thus to place under examination in what manner they may coincide. For whatever does not entirely coincide with what has been revealed is to be pronounced entirely false or a delirium of our rational mind. For this purpose I have been constrained to premise a very brief description of the first chapters of Genesis.

     "When I had sedulously compared these things I was astonished at their agreement."- Adv. vol. I, p. 7.

And he then proceeds to give the result of his examination.

     From this statement alone (and many others might be adduced), it must be plain that the reason why we find no contradictions, either in the scientific works themselves or in the Writings, but a perfect harmony, is because they are true and must therefore agree. Natural truth is never contradicted by spiritual and revealed truth, the one confirms the other.

     We are aware that many in the Church may hesitate before reaching the conclusion drawn above - that the scientific and philosophical works of Swedenborg are true, and will point to errors in the observations he quotes and to apparent contradictions. But let me ask, do not we find similar things both, in the Sacred Scripture and the Writings of the Church? Yet what rational man doubts their truth, or denies their authority?

     It must not, however, be supposed that in maintaining the truth and consequent authority of these scientific works we place them on a level with the Writings. Far from it. The Writings were written immediately by the LORD through the instrumentality of Swedenborg (A. E. 1183; S. D. 1647; Adv. Pt. ii, 5394; Pt. v, p. 66, etc.), and hence they are Divine Truth itself - the LORD.

     But the scientific works were written by Swedenborg, and although they were produced under the guidance and assistance of the LORD, as we have seen above, are as much the works of Swedenborg as the plays of Shakespeare are the works of Shakespeare. Therefore they are not to be regarded as part of the LORD'S Second Coming, or as, in themselves, necessary to the establishment of the New Church. Is not the LORD'S Second Coming to the scientific world made in those natural truths and facts contained in the Writings? The scientific works were necessary to the development and preparation of Swedenborg's mind, so that by their means a true scientific plane might be formed into which the LORD could flow and thus make His Second Coming to the world by revealing truth in all its degrees - natural, spiritual, and celestial.

     For let it be carefully borne in mind that the LORD never reveals any new truth or teaches man by an immediate influx, and therefore before He could reveal the spiritual sense of the Word, through, and in which, He makes His Second Coming, Swedenborg had to learn that the Word has a spiritual sense. Thus we learn -

     "Because the Internal or Spiritual Sense contains arcana of the state of the Church in the heavens and on the earths, and because it could not be revealed to any one unless he knew that sense,. . . the things herein contained have been unfolded to me." -L. J. 42. See also n. 41.

     In like manner what is here said of the Spiritual Sense of the Word, is also true of all that is contained in that sense. Those things which are involved in the Spiritual Sense, and which relate to the Church in the Heavens, Swedenborg learnt by consciously living there. Those natural truths and facts of the Spiritual Sense relating to the State of the Church on the earths, he could learn only in this world. It was for this purpose that he was fully and thoroughly instructed in the sciences of this world, which, as we are told, took place under the Divine Auspices of the LORD from his earliest youth.

     In this way we are led to the conclusion that the New Churchman will regard the Scientific works of Swedenborg as being immeasurably superior to those of modern times: that whilst recognizing their human, and, therefore, finite origin, he will not hesitate to accept them as being true, and in perfect harmony with the Divine Writings of the Church, and that in them, and by their means, he will be able to find the most perfect illustrations, and strongest confirmations of the Spiritual Truths of the Word.                          W. H. ACTON.
Notes and Reviews 1888

Notes and Reviews 1888

THE Rev. William H. Alden, agent for the American New Church Tract and Publication Society, now publishes the tracts of this Society in the form of a weekly little journal, entitled The Helper, which is to be issued from October 1st to July 1st for fifty cents a year.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE German translation of Skepticism and Divine Revelation, made by the Rev. A. Roeder, has been published in Vineland, N. J., by Mr. Roeder, and constitutes a book of 294 pages. This work is Dr. Ellis's best, and must prove as useful in the German language as it has proved in the original.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE New Church Pacific, a four-page paper, fourteen and a-half inches by eleven and a-half inches, is, as its name implies, an exponent, of the state of the New Church of the Far West, which, again, as the name implies, it is the intention of the editor, the Rev. John Daughty, shall always be of a peaceful nature. If, as it seems to indicate, this paper will succeed in gathering together the New Churchmen of the Pacific slope in some general form of use, it will prove valuable. Even the first number shows how much more there is of the Church in those far-off States than we of the East are apt to imagine.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE thirteenth number of the "New Church Popular Series," published by the Swedenborg Publishing Association, is a little volume of 160 pages, entitled Ends and Uses, and compiled by B. F. Barrett. It is made up entirely of quotations from the Writings, if we except five pages of preface from the pen of the compiler. Of such books there ought to be more in the New Church. Of course, its contents, culled from a Divine source, make it valuable, but in much greater proportion to New Churchmen, who in this handy manual have a number of teachings grouped under attractive headings, than to Old Churchmen, for whom Mr. Barrett designed it. We congratulate him on the uses he will perform by this volume, but do not believe that they will correspond to the ends which prompted its publication.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE Young People's League, in connection with the Cincinnati Society, has begun the publication of an eight-page monthly paper entitled The League. It is well printed and well edited, and forms an interesting addition to the historical literature of the New Church. It is intended as a medium of communication for the Cincinnati Society, and includes in its uses those performed by a Society "Manual." The first number contains the calendar of the local church appointments and a directory of the Cincinnati Society's seventeen officers. Next follows a history of the Industrial School, which is conducted under the auspices of the young people; then the prospectus of The League and its history, together with that of the body from which it emanates. The rest of the number contains reflections on the various divisions of the Cincinnati Society's work, a poem, and a letter from Switzerland.

NEW CHURCH WORK ON EDUCATION 1888

     CONVERSATIONS ON EDUCATION. By the Rev. W. H. Benade. Vol. I. The
Academy of the New Church, 1821 Wallace Street, Philadelphia, 1888. Price, $1.50

     DURING the winters of 1883-4 and 1884-5, Chancellor Benade, of The
Academy of the New Church, met with a class of teachers, parents, and students, and held weekly conversations on the subject of education. The notes taken at these meetings were arranged for publication in the Life by a member of the class, but subsequently the Chancellor himself continued the work of writing out the conversations for the press. Owing to his numerous duties, he was unable to resume his talks, but continued his monthly installments in the Life to the present day. Another member of the class collected what thus appeared in the Life, and now offers the conversations published up to the end of the year 1886, in form of a neat little volume of 222 pages, with an implied promise of one or more volumes to follow.

     In his Conversations on Education, Chancellor Benade demonstrates the great necessity of distinctively New Church education in so convincing a manner that the wonder is aroused why it has been generally neglected. From earliest times efforts have indeed been made for the establishment of New Church schools, but these efforts met with comparatively little encouragement, and where schools were established they, for the most part, failed to recognize the principles that underlie New Church education, and have eventually lost what little distinctive character they may have had. The sole fact that although professedly New Church schools have existed for decades, yet no books, and few essays, have appeared on the subject of education, shows how lukewarm has been the appreciation of educational principles.

     The book before us, it is hoped, will stimulate thought and energies in the direction of a more extended school system, built up on the principles with which, as this work shows, the Writings are replete.

     The student of this fascinating work is captivated at the very outset by the surpassing importance of the subject of which it treats; and as, following the author's lead, he penetrates into the interiors of this wonderful study, he is irresistibly drawn to the conclusion that the supreme human work of charity - of love to the LORD and love to the neighbor - is the work of education - of co- operating with the LORD in leading to Him human beings from infancy to old age through the successive states of their life, using the means which He has appointed, and has made known to us in His Writings, to open gradually one degree of their minds after another, and to store them with all things requisite for their growth into useful members of His kingdom on earth, in preparation for His kingdom in the heavens. This is the interior priestly function of leading by truths to the good of life. By the truths concerning earthly, bodily, and worldly things; by the truths concerning the civil state and its government, statutes, and laws; by the truths of moral life; and by the truths of spiritual life, which are the truths of the Church, is man gradually to be led to intelligence, - to receive the light of the spiritual world, - and to wisdom, - to receive the good which is of the life of charity.

This process constitutes the interior life of the Church.

     The observance of rituals, the establishment of external worship with prayer, praise, and sermon, is of the external life of the Church, without which its internal life can indeed not be cherished. To this external Church life - the life of piety - the attention of the Church has been mainly directed hitherto. The volume before us will fall on barren ground if it do not help New Churchmen to see that in addition to the cultivation of the life of piety, it is their duty to prepare for and to cultivate the life of charity.
"THEOSOPHISTICAL" ATTACK ON THE NEW CHURCH 1888

"THEOSOPHISTICAL" ATTACK ON THE NEW CHURCH 1888

     SWEDENBORG, THE BUDDHIST, or the Higher Swedenborgianism; its Secrets and Thibetan Origin. By Philangi Dasa. Los Angeles. The Buddhistic Swedenborgian Brotherhood. 1887.

     MODERN Theosophism, or "Esoteric Buddhism," is a late and very curious mixture of a few perverted truths of the religion which emanated from the Ancient Church into India, with all the modern isms of Western civilization, including Spiritism, Deism, Unitarianism, and Mysticism, under the supreme management of some European charlatans, whose trickery and dishonesty have lately been exposed to the whole world.

     An infestation from this quarter has been expected for some time in the New Church. Three or four years past there appeared in The Theosophist (published in Madras by Madame Blavatsky), a series of articles, entitled "Studies in Swedenborg," written by Mr. C. H. Vetterling, formerly a New Church Minister, and still on the list of the Ministers of the General Convention. In these articles the author tried to amalgamate Swedenborg with Buddha, and had already come so far in his prophanation as to deny the Divinity of the LORD JESUS CHRIST.

     The connection between these articles and the "Buddhistic Swedenborgian Brotherhood" is obvious, whose first-born - and it is a monstrosity - is the work under review.

     The author, concealing himself under the Sanscrit pseudonym of Philangi Dasa, is evidently a man who has had an intimate knowledge of the external affairs of the New Church, together with an extended reading of the Writings. Of whatever knowledges he once has had, there remain now, however, but some few sad and fragmentary ruins, out of which the author has built up a cavernous abode for an enormous conceit.

     Conceit in all its wildest forms is, indeed, the leading characteristic of the book. It appears on the title-page; in the author's account of himself; in the very language he uses everywhere. In his affected efforts for originality he has invented quite a new language, compounded of the mystic cant of all ages and nations, mixed with strained anglo-saxonisms and richly flavored with the choicest extracts of phraseology, peculiar to the boot-black or the border-ruffian. In inventing pleasant epithets, Philangi Dasa excels every adversary who has yet attacked the New Church. The following specimens are selected at random: "Villains," "mooncalves," "ignorantists," "white-livered lackbrains." Users of intoxicating spirits are all "bottlethralls and tosspots", while abstainers are "deep-mouthed teetotalers" and "sanctimonious rift-raff." Flesh-eaters are "carrion-eating scavengers" and "perambulating graveyards," and so forth. In this manner, like the lama in the zoological garden, he spits at everything and everybody, and seems in general to have adopted as his motto, "God's friend and every man's enemy," his God being his own conceit.

     Add to these general traits that the author displays considerable philological and mythological learning, but does not hesitate, whenever convenient, to draw upon his own inner consciousness for scientific "facts" (?); that the work abounds in quotations from the Writings, most of which are either dishonestly translated, garbled or actually invented by the author to suit his wild phantasies, and that, in general, the book is as imaginative, daring, bombastic, and entertaining as any dime novel, and we feel that we may proceed to particulars.

     The author starts out in his "Foreword" by giving the reader distinctly to understand that he is neither a "saint nor a sinner," but plainly and simply "a pagan," and that Emanuel Swedenborg was likewise, (!) never in his youth having been either a member of the Young Men's Christian Association, nor a "nice" young man, nor a "soft, goody-goody, whining young hypocrite," but only a thoughtful young man. (Future biographers will please observe.) Personally, the author patronizes Swedenborg very kindly, but everywhere shows contempt for his doctrines when they cannot be made to fit Buddhism. His works are referred to as being "cartilaginous, bony, petrific," "revealing and explaining nothing," and containing nothing but "the true" and "the good." All that is worth knowing in the Writings, Swedenborg learned from certain spiritual "guardians of the Lost Word" on the top of Himalaya. The doctrines concerning the personality of God, concerning the Divinity of the LORD and of the Word; concerning the eternity of the hells, etc., Swedenborg dishonestly introduced for the sake of his own personal safety. Among the "Asiatic Yogi" and other exalted Mongolian hobgobblins, Swedenborg is never referred to except as "the man that got mixed," and still less quarters are given to the "New Church Society," which is divided into various sects, "at daggers drawing one with another," not believing their own doctrines, and "in large numbers dying in doubt and despair."

     In the first chapters (the book has twenty-four of them, comprising over three hundred pages), the author relates a wonderful dream, in which he had some very sad experiences with a set of people (New Church, we surmise), by whom he was picked up out of nothing, instructed, clothed, and fed, then guillotined, kicked, and knocked about in a most surprising manner. Like the Wandering Jew he is a tramp forever, but finally comes, after wanderings along which we will not drag the exhausted reader, to a subterranean temple (cavern?), where he finds assembled a motley crowd, whose conversation fills the rest of the book.

     Among the Dramatis personae figure "a Chinese, a Parsee, an American woman, a Brahman monk, an Aztec Indian, an Icelander, and another man - Emanuel Swedenborg, a Swedish Buddhist." ! ! ! Among these "the American woman" has the most to say and is the most entertaining. She is the most extreme, the most virulent, the most shameless, the most learned, and the most slangy of the whole company.

     We cannot here recount in particular all the notions which, in the course of the conversation, were brought forth as being the tenets of this "Esoteric, Buddhistic, and Higher[!] Swedenborgianism." A few of the leading ideas will suffice. First of all, then, it holds that there is no personal God, and to prove this Swedenborg is made directly to invert passages from his own Writings, though in other places, again, he is unguardedly permitted to teach the personality of God. The Divinity of the LORD JESUS CHRIST is everywhere rejected with scorn, and His birth into the world ridiculed, though in one place the author uses it as an argument for the possibility of supernatural births. The Word is referred to only as "The Judaic-Christian Scriptures," without any value whatever, though at times the author abundantly quotes from it to prove other of his ideas.

     Neither heaven nor hell are fixed or endless states, but angels sometimes become devils and vice versa, excepting "vivisectionists and sophists," who are hopelessly lost. The old notion of Metempsychosis, or the rebirth of souls into this world, is dragged forth from its cobwebs and established as infallible truth. Supreme Angelhood is to be absolutely self-satisfied and self-absorbed, and is to be reached principally by asceticism, internal respiration, and "thinking away one's sins." Heaven, hell, and the world will all equally have an end - "because they have had a beginning." Conjugial Love is disposed of, and man is advised either to have many wives or none. Woman is treated of as a "lazy or over-burdened fool." Her love for man "shows her imbecility or weakness," and she has become the slave of man "by effemination."

     We know not, when reading such silly tirades, whether to follow Democritus or Heraclitus, whether to laugh or to weep. The author actually, in sober earnest, with the most astonishing self-confidence, endeavors to show that Swedenborg teaches all these things. We need to say no more.

     The book ends by Philangi Dasa becoming a Buddhistic monk, a teetotaler, a vegetarian, a woman hater - in short, as big a fool as a caricature of man can become. His dream ends by his being murdered by Christians in the following melodramatic manner: "I heard cat-like steps behind me, and a voice that whispered hissingly, 'In the name of the Lord, die! damned Pagan!' And the stiletto entered my back, the blood rose into my mouth, it became black before my eyes, I sank, became unconscious, and-awoke."

     An end, edifying especially to the reviewer.
DREAM 1888

DREAM L. B. P 1888

     I HAD been reading the Work on Conjugial Love, finishing with that memorable relation concerning the married pair from the third heaven, who descended in a chariot and conversed with Swedenborg, and, while still thinking of this beautiful heavenly union which had endured from the Golden Age even till now, I fell asleep.

     After the first succession of vague images which introduced the dream that followed, I seemed to myself to be in a garden filled with flowering trees and plants, such as my waking eyes had never beheld. Walking in this garden, I came upon a woman whose beauty amazed and almost dazzled me. Colors seen in a dream are afterward likely to fade or dissolve into one pale indistinct hue, as the day fades into twilight; but I most clearly recall that the hair of this wondrous woman was yellow and long and shiny, and that her brow was white till it glistened, though all her coloring was warm and life-like. Her long, flowing robe was, I think, of some unknown shade of blue, and sat upon her with such grace, and there was in her manner such a happy mingling of majesty and gentleness, that my admiration was without bounds. Her face was alight with an ineffably lovely expression, and a soft radiance seemed to spread out from it even to where I stood. There also radiated from her a perfume like the perfume of white roses, which so intoxicated me with its sweetness that I began joyfully to say within myself:

     "This is she of whom I have dreamed - my own one - my heart's ideal. Here at last I have found her whom I can love above everything in the world."

     But scarcely had this thought shaped itself in my mind when a change seemed to come over her. She quickly turned her face away and looked toward a grove on our right, whence I immediately saw a man approaching - a man whose beauty, in its own way, was almost as wondrous as her own.

As he drew nearer, I looked again at the woman and it seemed to me that her face, when turned to him, was almost glorified. It was truly as if "all her soul went forth to embrace him coming ere he came." . . . Reaching her side, the man looked long and silently in her face, then turned to me and courteously invited me to come nearer. When I had done so, he inquired what was the thought in my mind which had disturbed his wife, and I told him.

     "Then you have not found your conjugial consort," he said.

     I answered that I had often prayed that I might find her, but that my prayer had not yet been answered. Then they looked into each other's faces again, as if in voiceless interchange of ideas, and presently the husband turned to me and said:

     "The obstacle holding you apart is evil. From her perception my wife is able to feel that there is something about you antagonistic to conjugial love. You must remove it. You need to fight especially against the evils growing out of your self- conceit."

     I said that I had long acknowledged the presence of such evils and prayed to be delivered from them. To which the husband answered:

     "You have acknowledged them, but have not truly repented of them."

     Then we spoke of other things, and they told me that they had been married partners on earth and had passed into the world of spirits both in the same year. There they had now lived together for years, steadily progressing throughout that time toward the garden wherein they now were. It had been made known to them that in a short time they would be removed from that garden, which was on the confines of heaven, to heaven itself - to that society of the Gorand Man for which they were by nature fitted. They told me also - and their faces seemed to glow as they spoke - that their love for each other was of such a depth as not to be described. The husband said, however, that rather than be separated from his love eternally, he would be torn to a thousand atoms - nay, annihilated. But the wife said that her love could not be expressed, and she would not try.

     I think it was just after this that the change came - the change that carried away the beautiful garden with its inhabitants, and left me walking in a dreary wood of bare, stunted trees. . . . While in the presence of that heavenly man and woman the sphere of their conjugial union so affected me that I believed implicitly in that sublime quality of their love which they described, but now that that sphere was removed, I doubted and said within myself:

     "How can a man love a woman more than himself? It is a mere persuasion. What they told me was only the poetry of love which it pleases them to imagine that they feel. . . . And what is man without his amour-propre, his self-hood? Without self-love as chief, what is he more than a vessel with nothing in it?"

     And then it seemed to me that these reflections were interrupted by a voice from out of the wood, which said: "Look toward the east and you will see a faint light. In that quarter there is a paradise wherein dwells the one who may become your conjugial consort. As you put away the evils of your self-conceit, you will move gradually out of this wood toward that quarter; but as you confirm yourself in them, and sink back into them, you will turn your face away and wander downward into the inmost recesses of the wood, where the light from heaven can scarcely enter."

     And it seemed to me that I dwelt in that place for many months, sometimes looking hopefully toward the light in the east, but more often averting my face in reckless despondency, and bending my steps downward through the gloomy wood, until there came a time when I rarely thought to look at all toward the patient beacon light, and found all my joy in penetrating farther and farther into those twilight wooded deeps which led onward to the black and drear confines of hell. At last one day in a swampy fen, where dark night-birds hooted in the damp, molding trees above, and ugly reptiles sported in the quagmires and polluted waters below, I came face to face with a Thing which most horribly affrighted me. It was in the form of a woman - this Thing; but instinctively I knew that it was not genuine. The limbs were lank, the skin chalk-like, the cheeks were hollow and unnaturally red with paint. Its hair was false and sat awry upon its head, and its horrid lips were parted in the very caricature of a loving smile. But what most terrified me and chained me to the ground was that I saw in its face a strange, inexplicable likeness of myself. "Just so would I look in the light of heaven," thought I, "had I been a woman and gone to hell."

     "What horrible Thing are you?" I tried to ask, and only a whisper formed upon my tongue.

     "I am your Self-Conceit," it said, as if in answer to my unspoken words, with a laugh that sounded like the barking of a wild animal.

     I was as one frozen with horror, and could neither move nor speak.

     "Why do you stand idle there?" it then demanded. "I am your Self-Conceit - the maiden of your love. Why do you not make love to me, as you have done every day for years gone by? Come, we are wasting time!" And with ghastly coquetry, it turned its head to one side and ogled me.

     I started back and turned to fly, but it sprang upon me and hung about my neck, kissing me upon the cheek and suffocating me with its horrid breath, while I struggled in agony to free myself from its embrace. I put my very life into the effort and flung it away from me at last, and then we stood back panting and glaring - it and I.

     "You are a devil from hell," I said.

     "That is the bald, ugly truth," was its mocking answer," but none the less am I the beloved one of your choice."

     Then was I filled with horror and loathing unspeakable, and turned my face away and fled. But it pursued me - nay, it moved as if with the very movement of my own body, and was always there at my left hand, wherever I might fly, to whatever quarter I might turn. So at last in despair I stopped, and, as I stopped, I looked toward the east, and saw that the light had gone out wholly, and the sky above was the color of lead.

     "This, then, is hell," thought I, "for at last the gate toward heaven is shut. I am in hell, and this Thing which I have drawn to me, and warmed in my bosom for so long, and knew it not! - this hell-born Thing is here to bear me company."

     We had now reached a place where there was no more forest but only rocks, and, as It that called itself my wife flew at me again with open arms I shrunk within myself, and fell upon the ground, longing to die; and, as it stood over me, then, and laughed again its barking laugh, I opened my mouth and ground my teeth against the rocky earth in my despair. I heard it drop down over me, as a harpy would drop down; felt the touch of its hot breath upon my neck, and could no longer live. Bitter, suffocating darkness flowed over me, and left behind - oblivion.

And when the sound of human voices knocked at my dull ear at last, and I had opened my eyes upon the actual light of day, my prayer was not so much: "O LORD, I thank Thee that it was a dream," as, "O LORD, grant in Thy mercy that I may be delivered from self-conceit - that enemy of conjugial love."
L. B. P.
Communicated 1888

Communicated 1888

DEDICATION OF THE BUILDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA 1888

                              January 3d, 1887=118.

     THE main building of the Academy has a frontage of forty feet on Wallace Street. From the front door a wide passage leads to the back entrance. On either hand is a long and lofty room, extending from front to rear, thus occupying the entire depth of the main building. The room on the right is the Library; that on the left is the Reception-room of the Academy.

     On the second floor are two rooms over the Reception-room; the northern one is used for recitations in the Girls' School. The southern one is the girls' reading- room. On the same floor, over the Library, is one large room for the Infants' School.

     The third floor has four rooms, two on each side of the corridor, all occupied by the Theological School and the College.

     The fourth floor has two large rooms disposed like those on the first floor.

     -The L has, on the ground floor, two rooms, the one the Academy Book Room, where orders are taken for all New Church books, and the other a kitchen.

     Above these, on the second floor, is the former sitting-room, now the girls' school-room; over it, in the third story, is another large room, where the opening services are conducted.

     The corridors and recitation-rooms are liberally supplied with book-cases and anthropological and natural history collections. The entire building is heated by steam.

     Across the garden from the main building is the new schoolhouse for the boys. With the janitor's house, which adjoins it, this building has a frontage of sixty feet on North Street, and it is three stories high.

     On the ground floor is a very large room occupying nearly its whole extent. It is to be used for various purposes. There will be accommodations for work- benches for the boys.

     The entrance from the garden adjoins the offices and wash-rooms, where six large wash-basins are set, and provided with hot and cold water.

     The second floor has four rooms of different sizes, the three larger being used for recitations, the fourth as a general office for the teachers. The third floor has a large assembly-room, capable of seating all three schools, and also a small room to be used as the private office of the head master.

     The most careful attention has been paid in the new building to the ventilation. The vitiated atmosphere is carried off by forced currents while the pure air which takes its place is warmed by coils of steam pipes.

     THE schools and visitors assembled in the Long Room of the main or Wallace Street building. Chancellor Benade and assisting Priests (Messrs. Pendleton, Tafel, and Schreck), bearing copies of the Word of the Sacred Scripture and of the Writings for the New Church, entered the room by the first door, and, proceeding to the Sacred Repository, the Chancellor said:

     "Thou art worthy, O LORD, to receive glory and honor, and power, for Thou hast created all things and by Thy will they are and were created."

     The Chancellor, having placed the holy books in the Repository, the assisting Priests read:

     "And I Saw Heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and He that sitteth upon him is called faithful and true, and in justice He judgeth and combateth. And His eyes are as a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems, having a name written, which no one knoweth but He Himself. And He was clothed with a vesture dipt in blood and His name is called the Word of God."- Rev. xix, 11-13.

     The Chancellor then took the Word out of the Repository and opened it, whereupon all knelt and repeated the LORD'S PRAYER.

Rising from the prayer the Chancellor said:

     "This building has been purchased and set in order by the Academy of the New Church, that it may serve as a house of instruction for Students of Theology in the New Church; for Students in Languages and the Sciences, as taught in the light of the doctrines of the New Church; for girls and young children who are to be introduced into knowledges proper and useful to them through the Divine teaching of the holy Word in the letter and in the spirit, and also that it may serve as a place for the performance of other academical uses. We have placed the Word of the LORD in the midst of the house, as a sign that we do now solemnly dedicate this house to the uses designated, in the name of the LORD JESUS CHRIST, who is GOD-MAN, our REDEEMER and SAVIOUR. May His presence ever be known and felt in this place."

     Thereupon was sung Psalm xxiv, 7-10, in Hebrew.

     The Word having been replaced in the Repository, the Chancellor and assisting Priests, followed by the Councillors, the Collegiates, the Teachers, the Students, the Boys and Girls alternately in classes, and the participating friends, proceeded in the order indicated to the new building on North Street. On entering the building each priest took a copy of the Sacred Scriptures; and after passing through the room on the first floor and through the rooms on the second floor, all ascended to the third floor. In proceeding through the lower rooms the Chancellor and assisting Priests read antiphonally from Psalm cxix, Aleph, Beth, Gimel.

     Having reached the third floor, where the hall is, the Chancellor and assisting Priests advanced to the place of the Repository, and after all had arranged themselves in order, as follows: First, the Council and Faculty; second, the Collegiates, Teachers, and Students; third, the Boys and Girls; and fourth, the participating Friends, the Chancellor said: "By the new Heaven formed by the LORD after the last judgment, there will exist a new Church in the earth, which will worship the Lord alone."

     Then was read by the Chancellor and Priests by alternate verses, Revelation xxi, 1-8.

     Chancellor, v. 1.- 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.

     The Assisting Priests, v. 2.- And I, John, saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

     The Chancellor, v. 3.- And I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying: Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and He Himself, the God, will be with them, their God.

     The, Assisting Priests, v. 4.- And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes; and death shall be no more, neither sorrow nor crying, nor shall labor be any more, for the former things have passed away.

     The Chancellor, v. 5.- And He that sat upon the throne said: Behold, I make all things new, and He said unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful.

     The Assisting Priests, v. 6.- And He said unto me, It is done; I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end; I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

     The Chancellor, v. 7.- He that overcometh shall possess all things by
inheritance; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

     The Assisting Priests, v. 8.- But the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolators, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and sulphur: which is the second death.

     The Chancellor then read the faith of the New Church in its simple form, as given in the Summary Exposition, n. 43:

     1. "There is one God, in whom is a Divine Trinity, and this (one God) is the LORD JESUS CHRIST. 2. Saving Faith is to believe in Him. 3. Evils are to be shunned because they are of the devil and from the devil. 4. Goods are to be done, because they are of God and from God. 5. And these are to be done by man as from himself, but he must believe that they are from the LORD with him and by means of him."

     Then, all kneeling, the Chancellor prayed:

     "O LORD, Most merciful, our Heavenly Father, do Thou consecrate this work of our feeble hands to Thy Service. We give these houses to the heavenly uses of instruction in the Divine Revelations, and to the forming and developing of young intelligences for the true and rational reception of those Revelations. It is Thine both to will and to do in man. Let our will to do be from Thee, and full of Thy Love for saving souls; and let our doing take form and determination from Thy Divine doing and determination. Cause Thy blessing to rest on the work here performed; and Thy presence to fill all minds, all hearts, and to move all hands. Amen."

     After the prayer Psalm cxlv, 21 was sung in Hebrew: "My mouth shall speak the praise of Jehovah," etc.

     Thereupon followed the dedication: "This building, like the other that we have just left, has been purchased and in a large part newly constructed by the Academy of the New Church, that it may serve the use of instruction in the holy Word of the letter and of doctrine, and in all useful sciences and knowledges, in the light now given to the New Church. The house has been ordered, arranged, and fitted up for the special use of the boys of our Schools, and to this use we now dedicate it in the name of our LORD and SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST. As we have placed the Divine Books of the Revelation of His Will and Law, here in the east as in the centre of the house, so may He ever rest in the hearts and minds of teachers and scholars, and help them to prepare themselves by knowledges to ascend up to meet Him at His Coming."

     This was followed by the singing, in Hebrew, of Psalm cxxi, "I will lift up mine eyes to the mountains."

     At this point the Chancellor delivered the following address:

     "The Academy of the New Church has just completed a Decennial of its school work. This work was begun in the year 1877 by the institution of a school for the instruction of young men in the Theology of the New Church, in preparation for the use of the Priesthood. The first building occupied by the school for boys, which followed upon the institution of the Theological School, was the house on Cherry Street between Twentieth and Twenty-first Streets. That house had been erected in 1856 by the 'Philadelphia' Society of the New Church for the use of the New Church School, established by that Society, and also to serve as a temporary place of worship.

     "When, in the spring of last year the removal to these premises took place, the school-work had outgrown the capacity of that old building. And, reluctant as some of us were from natural feeling to leave the scene of so many hopes and labors, it was so evident that the LORD in His loving and wise Providence was pointing out other ways and giving us other means for the accomplishment of His purposes, that we could not otherwise than accept them with deep thankfulness and settle to our work in the main building on these premises, somewhat crowded though it was, filled with gladness in the present and hopefulness for the future.

     "The cases of the Theological School and of the Girls' School were somewhat different. In 1884 the former had removed from No. 110 Friedlander Street and the latter from No. 2017 Vine Street, to the pleasant and commodious premises situated on the southwest corner of Seventeenth and Summer Streets. The building was well adapted to our purposes. Our Schools occupied light and comfortable rooms and our library found good storage place and space for growth. We were well content with our place of work. But the owner of the building was not content to live out of her old home, and asked us to vacate the premises. This request led the Council of the Academy to consider and determine on the purchase of buildings of a size and character suitable for the accommodation of all the divisions of our School; buildings in which the working of the Schools could easily be supervised and carried on without interruption, loss of time, or waste of labor. The premises purchased seemed to have been provided for our present needs. The main building fronting on Wallace Street would afford space for the Theological School, the Girls' School, the Library, and other uses; the stable in the rear and facing on North Street, could fittingly be enlarged in capacity, raised in height and adapted to the uses of the Boys' School. I have said that this building could fittingly be adapted to these uses, because it had been a stable or house for the care and feeding of horses, and because, whilst horses signify the understanding of truth, stables, as we are taught in Conjugial Love, n. 76, and Apocalypse Revealed, n. 255, signify the instruction in the things of science and knowledge by means of which the understanding of the truth revealed by the LORD, is confirmed in the mind of the learner. The singular appropriateness of the former use of this building, as it appears in the light of the correspondence, to the use to which we have now adapted it, will, we trust, become in the minds of our boys, a means of helping them to respond with greater earnestness and zeal to the efforts of their teachers; to receive and store up the mental food which shall cause their faculties to develop into living receptacles of Divine Truth, and themselves to be prepared for the work of true men of the LORD'S New Church.

     "The Council of the Academy, acting for the whole body of the Academy, has provided these buildings for the performance of its great central use of instruction and education. It has endeavored to fit them up and arrange them so that this use may be carried on to the greatest advantage of all the scholars and students who may here seek their preparation for the active duties of life. Regard has been had in the alteration and construction of the buildings, as in all the details of their internal arrangement, to the health, comfort, and convenience of teachers and scholars, as well as to a proper supply of the needed means and appliances for the imparting and reception of all the knowledges useful for the formation of the understanding, and for the right growth and development of the character.

     "And now have these buildings been dedicated in the holy name of the LORD to these uses of spiritual and natural charity. They are ready to receive their occupants, and to have the work to which they are devoted to begin and go forward in them. To those who are to occupy them, and to those who have provided them, I have the pleasure, this day, of bringing most hearty and joyous greeting from the teachers and scholars of two closely-affiliated institutions, who have just had the happiness of attending the opening and dedication of New School Homes, such as we are experiencing at this time. In the city of Allegheny, in the western part of this State, and in the city of Chicago, in the State of Illinois, members of the Academy, and members of the General Church of Pennsylvania, have erected pleasant and convenient school buildings, in connection with their places of worship, in which children and youths of the New Church are to be instructed in the Heavenly Doctrines, and in all natural sciences that aid in the formation of the understanding, and prepare for the reception of the Divine Truth.

     "These our friends have made a common cause, and have entered with us upon a common use. To you, scholars and students of this School, they are associates. Though distant in space, they are near in spirit; and closely bound are they to you in the pursuit and attainment of the things that shall make for temporal and eternal welfare.

     "To-day they will be thinking of us, as those of us who knew what was taking place, thought of them on the two last LORD'S days of the year that has just ended. For them, for you, for us all, a new day has begun; we stand at the opening of a new state of life. The LORD has shown us His mercy and loving- kindness. He has helped us in our undertakings; He has provided for our needs, and He now bids us go forward in the faithful doing of our duty. Our duty is one, whether we be of those who have provided these pleasant buildings, or of those who in them are to teach and lead, or of those who are to be taught and led, on us all is laid the one duty of giving thanks and praise to the LORD for His goodness, of striving to learn His will, and of faithfully doing His commandments. In this one duty and in its faithful performance lies the strength, the only strength of our union and the only hope of a happy issue to all our efforts. In doing His commandments is love to the LORD, and from love to the LORD is mutual love. We cannot succeed in any right work, we cannot do anything well or well-pleasing to the LORD, if we be not in mutual love. Without it our selfishness may be gratified, our worldliness satisfied, but such satisfaction is reached only on the way to eternal death, and such gratification is not found in the paths of peace, and justice, and heavenly life.

     "You, scholars, are here to be taught to know the LORD, so that you may obey Him and receive His love, and by Him be led to love one another and all your fellow-men, according to their love for the LORD. The only way in which you can really learn to know the LORD, and become in His sight men and women who are being made ready to consociate with the angels, is by implicit and honest obedience to your parents and to your teachers, who in these houses, stand to you in the place of your parents. When your parents commit you to our charge, they give to us, their authority over you. The authority of your teachers is supreme in this place. To them you owe all respect and love. You can only injure yourselves; how deeply you do not know now, but will know hereafter, if you abate one jot or tittle of your duty of respect and love for those who give to you their faithful thought and arduous labor. The task is neither an easy nor a light one, to instruct your minds in true knowledges, to guide and restrain your willful and wayward steps. As the LORD'S love for man is equally Divine and Infinite in what He withholds as in what He gives, so is a parent's love for a child and a teacher's love for a scholar, as true and good in the exercise of restraint even to punishment, as in the giving and doing of what is pleasant to the child or scholar. You need to learn what we all have had to learn, that there is One who knows all things and sees all things, and who gives to men that love and obey Him the power to see and know from Him many things that are hidden from other men. The LORD gives such knowledge to men according to the uses they perform. Into the teaching use He inflows with especial light and power, because it is so great a use to men, and because so much depends on its right performance. You can help or hurt the use of your teachers by your conduct. If you are obedient, willing to heed, and loving to them; if you are grateful for their efforts to teach and lead you aright, you will give increase to their power, and make glad their hearts. If you are disobedient, self-willed, disrespectful, and unkind, you will hinder their work and fill their hearts with grief and sadness. Think of these things. Let this day be a day of firm resolve to do right - to perform your allotted tasks with cheerfulness and honest faithfulness, and to give to your teachers as to your companions kindly thoughts and affectionate good-will. Try constantly and pray to the LORD to help you to put down bad feelings, to resist the influences of evil spirits and to control your hasty tempers, so that the angels may be with you and aid you to become manly boys, womanly girls, and, in time, true men and women of the LORD'S New Church. In this way will you be loyal to your school, and loyal to your Church. What is a boy or girl, or man either a woman, who has no loyalty for what is true and good, for what is from the LORD and for what makes Heaven from Him? Set your aims high - as high as the heavens in which the LORD is the all in all, and then when you are led to look into your own hearts, and see how selfish they are, you will strive to shun what is selfish as sin against God, and 'He will teach you and lead you into all good."'

     After the address the scholars recited Psalm cxxxvii in English, the recitation being followed by the favorite Hebrew anthem, Psalm cxviii, 21-24: "I will - praise Thee for Thou hast heard me." This concluded the office in the new building.

     Returning in the order of entrance, the Chancellor placed a copy of the Word in each of the school-rooms in the new building, and the same in the main building, and pronounced the benediction at the Repository in the long room.

PITTSBURGH SCHOOL 1888

PITTSBURGH SCHOOL W. C 1888

     THE Pittsburgh school building adjoins the church and is built of wood and painted an iron-red. It is about fifty feet long and thirty feet wide, and is divided into three rooms, sixteen by twenty-five feet, and with a hall the full length of the building. On the east side of the east room is the repository for the Word, in which are the Old and New Testaments in the original languages, an original edition of The True Christian Religion (presented to the school by the Bishop, and formerly owned by Judge Young, of Greensburg), and a Latin copy of Conjugial Love. Under the Repository is a table upon which the Word is laid at the opening of school. The walls and ceilings of all the rooms are of yellow pine. Between the middle and west rooms is a chimney, and in the north end of the east room another, each with an open fire-place, the fuel used being natural gas. The mantels are of red sandstone, unhewn except on the tops of the shelves. The stones are cemented with a red cement. As one of our members said, when the builder of these mantels was toasted, they are probably more New Church than any others in the country, for they were designed and made by a New Churchman (Mr. Horigan). In the east room on one side of the chimney is the melodeon, on the other side a book-case, and above the mantel an engraving of Swedenborg. In the middle room over the mantel hangs a crayon portrait of our Bishop, presented to the school by the artist, Miss Townsend, a former pupil of the Academy School for Girls, and on the mantel are two handsome vases presented by Mrs. G. A. Macbeth. In the west room against the back wall are book-cases. By means of sliding doors the three rooms can be thrown into one, thus affording the Pittsburgh Society a place for social meetings, tea meetings, etc. Under the school is a basement kitchen. From the hall a door opens to each of the school-rooms, two doors open outside and one into the vestry or robing- room, which is between the church and school and connects the two buildings. Having this room enabled us to do away with the little rooms on each side of the chancel, and to extend the chancel the whole way across the church. Other alterations in the church were a railing around the chancel, a red light in the roof above the ark, and some repairs.

     The Bishop opened the dedication services in the church. The Rev. John
Whitehead, Pastor of the Society, and Head Master of the school, read the services (VI. Office) and the Internal Sense of Psalm cv. The Rev. Andrew Czerny, Assistant Pastor, read Psalm cv. The Bishop then made a very impressive address. He quoted several passages from the Word concerning Egypt, among them Matthew ii, 15: "Out of Egypt have I called My Son," giving the correspondence of Egypt, and explaining that the instruction given in the natural sciences in the school was the "going down into Egypt." That we all have this basis upon which all the higher degrees can rest. But when we go down into Egypt we must there find Joseph or the Divine Spiritual that proceeds from the Divine Human. In other words, we must go to the natural sciences with an acknowledgment of the LORD in His Divine Human, in His Word, both in the natural and spiritual senses. When the LORD went down into Egypt, He found Joseph there, as the sons of Israel did, and as we must do; but He was different from other men in that His Joseph, or the LORD as to the Celestial Spiritual was His Internal. We must not go to the Egypt whose ruler knew not Joseph, or we must not go to the sciences of a consummated Church which does not acknowledge the LORD.

     After the address, the 134th Selection was sung. The Bishop then took the copy of the Sacred Scripture, in the Hebrew and Greek, and gave The True Christian Religion to Pastor Whitehead, and Conjugial Love to Pastor Czerny, and led the way into the school-house. Here he placed the books in the Repository, repeating Revelation xxi, 3. Then, taking the Word from the Repository, he placed it open on the table. Then followed a prayer. Psalm 13 was repeated responsively by ministers and people. The Bishop explained the use of the Repository and of the books of the Word in the natural and spiritual senses in their application to education. Hymn xiii. was sung and the services were closed by the benediction.

     On Sunday evening we had a meeting of those interested in the school, with addresses by the Bishop, Pastor Whitehead, and Mr. Macbeth. The Bishop called our attention to the scientific writings of Swedenborg, and to the fact that they ought not to be thought of as other scientific writings, since they were the means which the LORD used to prepare Swedenborg for his mission. Among the examples given was one of salt, its form, and why it produced the taste of saltness on the tongue, and that this was in perfect correspondence with the spiritual meaning of salt given in the spiritual sense of the Word. He then went on to speak of angles and triangles, and that every reason was a triangle.

     Mr. Macbeth told us that after reading Swedenborg's work of the Principles of Chemistry he found he would have to begin his study of chemistry over again.

     On Monday evening we had a general social meeting in the school-house.
Among the toasts proposed was one to the Pittsburgh Society. Objection was made that that would be toasting ourselves. But it was decided that each one could toast the Society in general. The Bishop was called upon to respond to that toast. He gave us a history of some of the early struggles of the Society, and some of its characteristics as a Society. One of the characteristics, he said, was a certain slowness in taking in new ideas, but when these new ideas were once taken in, there was an immediate desire to carry them out, and a seeking about for means to do so. He also spoke of the uses of the social life in a Society. Besides the usual toasts to the Church, the Bishop, and our Pastor, there was one to the school, and one to Mr. Macbeth for taking so much interest in the erection of the school, and to Mr. Horigan for his mantels.
                                              W. C.
DEDICATION OF THE CHICAGO SCHOOL-HOUSE 1888

DEDICATION OF THE CHICAGO SCHOOL-HOUSE M 1888

THE dedication of the new school building of the Immanuel Church, Chicago, took place on Christmas Day, December 25th, 1887. The building, which will be used as a school-house and place of worship until the Society is in a position to erect a larger edifice, is a small but well-constructed one-story brick, 22 by 62 feet, and is located on Carroll Avenue, between Ada and Sheldon Streets, West Side.

In the rear of the main audience-room, which is 20 by 42 feet, there are two smaller rooms, which can be thrown into one by large folding-doors, and which will be used for social and other church gatherings, as well as for school-rooms.

Still further in the rear is the kitchen. The audience-room has a seating capacity of about one hundred, and is of sufficient size for the present needs of the Society. The floor is of hard wood, only the aisle being carpeted, while the seats are the movable pews used in the former place of worship. The windows are covered on the lower half by drawn Madras curtains of mixed colors. The appearance of the room as a whole is very neat and comfortable, although no attempt has been made at useless ornamentation. The church is carpeted with Brussels of a warm, red color. Back of the altar, and concealed by a heavy purple curtain, is the Repository for the Word, while directly over the altar a window of red-stained glass is so adjusted as to throw a glow upon the Word as it rests upon the altar.

     The altar and reading-desk are of appropriate and chaste designs, as are also the chairs in the chancel.

     The dedication services commenced at 10.30 o'clock, when Rt. Rev. Wm. H. Benade, Bishop of Pennsylvania, entered from the vestry, bearing a copy of the Word, followed by the members of the Council and the Board of Finance, the children and young people, and the members of the Church in the order named. He led the way to the rear portion of the building, or that part destined for the use of the school. Proceeding to the place destined for the Repository, where stood a table for temporary use, the Bishop said:

     "Thou art worthy, O LORD, to receive glory and honor and power; for thou hast created all things, and by Thy will they are and were created."

     The Word having been placed on the table the people responded: Revelation xix, 11-13.

     The dedication of the house to the use of New Church instruction and education followed.

     The Bishop, bearing a copy of the Word, and followed, as before, by the
members of the Council, two of whom carried copies of The True Christian Religion and Conjugial Love, then returned to the room set apart for Divine Worship, and, upon entering the Chancel, said:

     "Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the City of our God, in the mountain of His Holiness." Psalm xlviii, 1-4.

     Having placed the Divine Books in the Repository the Bishop said:

     "The LORD is in the Temple of His Holiness, be silent before Him all the earth." And followed by reading Psalm cxxxii (Liturgy, p. 213), the people re- responding.

     Psalm cv was then sung in the Hebrew.

     Then followed the address of dedication, after which the Introit on page 251 of the Liturgy was sung.

     The new Christmas Office, the Lessons and the sermon succeeded; the
Sacrament of the LORD'S Supper was administered, closing the services of the day.

     The address of dedication was very impressive and full of instruction. The sermon also was one of great power.

     The Bishop wore the garments suitable to his office, being a fine white linen tunic, confined at the waist by a girdle of a golden color, over which was a handsome silk robe of a ruby red.

     There was general regret that our much-loved pastor, on account of illness, was unable to be present to assist in the services.

     After temporary sojourns in different Halls of the city we are rejoiced to have our own place of worship.
                                                            M.
VESTMENTS IN HEAVEN AND IN THE CHURCH 1888

VESTMENTS IN HEAVEN AND IN THE CHURCH X 1888

     EDITORS NEW CHURCH LIFE:- "Frater," a contributor to the columns of
The New Christianity, page 21, seems to be fearfully shocked because of the use of robes by priests of the New Church. This individual, whoever he may be, has certainly not been a close student of either the letter or the spirit of the Doctrines of the New Church. In fact, his apparent lack of both knowledge and charity (as charity seems to be understood by that paper) makes it remarkable that his criticism should be published at all, where, as The New Jerusalem Tidings (page 167) puts it, "there is no inclination to be harsh and critical." This from the Writings may be useful for him to see and think about. Kindly insert it in the hope that it may meet his eye: "Those who do the goods of charity from religion . . . in heaven are clothed in garments of a red color, and after they are initiated into the goods of the New Church are clothed in garments of a purple color, which, in proportion as they receive truths also, grow beautifully yellow." (T. C. R. 537.)

     And this: "The prince and his ministers were thus attired: the prince was dressed in a long robe of a purple color adorned with silver stars wrought in needlework; under this robe he wore a bright, silk tunic of a hyacinthine color, this was open about the breast, where there appeared the front part of a kind of zone with the distinguished badge of his society." (To the end of T. C. R. 743.)

     Another thing that this correspondent might bear in mind is this: That the ten visitors to the heavenly society were given garments of fine linen with this admonition "Put these on; for no one is admitted to the prince's table unless he be clothed in the garments of heaven." (T. C. R. 742.) The condition of the admission to the table of this prince might be a useful subject of reflection for any one inflicted with an erroneous opinion on the subject of garments and their high and exquisite use. Imagine the predicament of one confirmed in these erroneous notions brought face to face with the angelic admonition "put on these."

     Kindly allow us space to refer to the Tidings' notice of The New Christianity. In the January number we find this: "It takes a firm stand on the temperance question, assailing the use of tobacco and other social evils quite as vigorously as that of intoxicating drink." (Italics mine.) Will the editor be good enough to give his authority from the Writings for classing the use of tobacco and the use of intoxicating drinks with social evils. My understanding of these matters has been that the abuse and the abuses alone are evil, and evil, too, only in the individual and not in a community to the extent to be classed social evils except so far as every citizen in the community abuses them.

     TORONTO, CANADA.                    X.
FROM the Israelitish people 1888

FROM the Israelitish people 1888

FROM the Israelitish people one-tenth was demanded, because, being external men, if more had been required, they would not have given it. To the New Church, it being a rational Church, the tithe does not mean that every one should pay one-tenth of his increase, but that he should pay a certain proportion of it, sufficient for the maintenance of ecclesiastical uses. Money thus given represents the charity of the man, which enters into the whole body, contributing its quota to the "blood" of the Church. (T. C. R. 403).

NEWS GLEANINGS 1888

NEWS GLEANINGS Various 1888

     NEW CHURCH LIFE.
     A MONTHLY JOURNAL.

TERMS:- One Dollar per annum, payable In advance.
Six months on trial for twenty-five cents.

     All communications must be addressed to Publishers New Church Life, No. 759 Corinthian Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa.

     In Great Britain subscriptions may be sent to

     MR. S. WARREN POTTS, Book Steward, 61 Cathedral Street, Glasgow, Scotland.

     REV. R. J. TILSON, "Oakley," County Grove, Camberwell, London, S. E.

     MR. G. A. MCQUEEN, Crowhurst Road, Colchester.

     MR. JAS. CALDWELL, 35 Diana Street, Walton, Liverpool.

     MR. C. E. SCHROEDER, 13 Ashfield Terrace, Newcastle-on-Tyne.

     MISS FLORENCE G. GIBBS, 6 Camden Square, London, N.

     PHILADELPHIA, FEBRUARY, 1888=118.

     CONTENTS.

     Editorial Notes, p. 17. - The Requisites for Just Judgment (a Sermon), p. 18. -Conversations on Education, p. 20. - Imagination, p. 20. - On the Relation of the Scientific Works of Swedenborg to the Writings of the New Church as Revealed by the LORD through him, p. 21.

     Notes and Reviews, p. 23. - A New Church Work on Education, p. 24. - A "Theosophistical Attack on the New Church," p. 24.

     A Dream, p. 25.

     Dedication of the Buildings of the Academy of the New Church, Philadelphia, p. 27. - The Pittsburgh School, p. 30. - Dedication of the Chicago School-House, p. 30. - Vestments in Heaven and in the Church, p. 31.

     News Gleanings, p. 32. - Births, Marriages, and Deaths, p. 32.
     AT HOME.

     Massachusetts.-THE Boston Young People's Association has issued a "call" to similar bodies connected with the New Church elsewhere, to elect delegates, one to each fifty active members, to attend a meeting in Boston, to be held prior to the 15th of May, the object being to form a union of the various Young People's Associations of the New Church.

     Washington, D. C.- THE Rev. E. D. Daniels has resigned the pastorate of the Washington Society. He will, for the present, at least, do missionary work for the Ohio Association.

     Maryland.- THE Rev. J. E. Smith will visit Georgia and Florida during January and February as a missionary.

     Michigan.- THE Rev. G. Nelson Smith has been doing missionary work for the Michigan Association, and it is desired, if the funds be forthcoming, to employ him steadily.

     Kansas.- "THE Christmas celebration (at Concordia) extended through Christmas day and evening. There were Sunday-school services before church and the usual church services, with a Christmas sermon on the birth of Christ. This was followed by a dinner. Then came toasts and responses, concluding the afternoon with social converse. Lunch was served at about six P. M. Then came the singing of sacred pieces and an entertainment by the Young Folks' Literary Society."- Messenger.

     Ohio.- ACCORDING to the Cincinnati correspondent of the Messenger "religious meetings of an entirely new kind have been inaugurated in the Sunday- school room on Wednesday evenings, alternating with the Church socials, at the request of a few who have felt the need of something of the sort. So far three of these meetings have been held, with an attendance of nineteen or twenty persons, and the beginning is considered satisfactory. The exercises consist of 'prayer, praise, and conference.'"

     THE Rev. Andrew Czerny used his robe on Christmas Day for the first time in Greenford.

     THE Middleport Society was visited about the first of the year by the new missionary of the Ohio Association, the Rev. E. D. Daniels. The attendance at worship runs up as high as sixty, and the Society has a large number of young people connected with it. W. A. Hanlin, M.D., is superintendent of the Sunday-school.

     THE Rev. E. D. Daniels will make his home at Indianapolis, Ind.

     Illinois.-THE Rev. Edward C. Bostock, Pastor of the Chicago "Immanuel Church" is gradually recovering from a long and severe illness.

     THE Rev. J. S. David, of Parkdale, Ont., will probably labor in Chicago.

     Canada.- THE prospect of a day-school has roused the Berlin Society to new life. Active preparations are going on, and it is hoped that by next fall the school will be fully under way.

     FOURTEEN persons have recently been received into the Toronto Society. The number on the roll is seventy-four.

     Iowa.-THE Rev. Stephen Wood administers the Sacrament in seventeen places in this State.

     Minnesota.- THE Rev. W. H. Butterfield is crippled with palsy.

     Oregon.- THE Rev. Stephen Wood of Iowa, has been on a two months' tour to Minnesota, Washington Territory, and Oregon.

     Pennsylvania.-THIRTEEN of the students in attendance on the Theological School and College of the Academy are preparing for the priesthood. Several young ladies are pursuing a course in the Girls' Department, with a view to the teachers' use.

     THE Advent Society has bought the lot on Twenty-first Street, running from Wallace Street to Fairmount Avenue. Ground for the new house of worship will probably be broken in spring.

     THE old building of the Academy of the New Church on Cherry Street, in which the Advent Society have been worshiping since their organization, has been sold to St. Clement's Church, and will, by them, be turned into a hospital.

     ON January 8th, the Rev. Chauncey Giles celebrated the completion of his tenth year in the services of the "First" Philadelphia Society. He says that "it is probably within the limits of fact to say that three-quarters of a million copies in all of discourses that have been delivered to this Society within the last eight years have been distributed."

     THE Reading Circles conducted under the auspices of the Chestnut Street Society, which were formerly held at seven different places each week, have been consolidated.

     A MISSION School has been begun by the Chestnut Street Society, with an attendance of twenty scholars.

     The Academy of the New Church received a dispatch from Stockholm, Sweden, announcing that members of the Royal Academies were about to honor Swedenborg's memory, and requesting that the matter be communicated to the Urbana University. Urbana was at once notified by telegraph, while the return message from the Academy flashed across the ocean: "The memory of Swedenborg will live forever." On the evening of the 29th day of January the Academy celebrated the two hundredth anniversary of Swedenborg's birthday, where these messages were read, and it became known that similar celebrations were intended to be held in Chicago, Ill.; Pittsburgh, Pa., and Berlin, Ont.

     Now York.- MR. N. N. Alling, a young Danish sculptor and a member of the Copenhagen Society, is now in New York. He has made a bust of Swedenborg, which, to judge from the photograph, is equal to, if it does not surpass, any of the two or three busts of Swedenborg in existence. Plaster casts may be obtained for the reasonable sum of six dollars. Charges for packing and shipping extra.

     ABROAD.

     Great Britain.- On January 8th, the Rev. C. Griffiths, of Brighthingsea, baptized twenty-eight adults at Colchester,

     Sweden.- THE members of the Royal Academies honored Swedenborg's memory, at the Gorand Hotel, Stockholm, on the anniversary of his birthday.

     Austria.- THE New Churchmen who were excommunicated from the Vienna Society, number, with their relations and adherents, twenty-five or thirty, and meet for worship every Sunday in a private residence. They also have weekly Doctrinal classes, which are held at the houses of those interested.
EDITORIAL NOTES 1888

EDITORIAL NOTES Editor 1888

BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS.

NEW CHURCH LIFE.

Vol. VIII.     PHILADELPHIA, MARCH, 1888=118.     No. 3.
     ONE cannot but admire the sagacity displayed throughout Rector Siljestrom's lecture (published elsewhere in these columns), particularly in his analysis of the relation existing between Swedenborg as Scientist and Philosopher, and Swedenborg as the Revelator. It is not surprising that, occupying avowedly a purely scientific point of view, he should behold the object of his sight inverted - that he should mistake the imago to be the likeness of the pupa. Though the pupa may be prior in time, the imago is potentially present and forms the pupa into a representation of what is to come. The ideas which Swedenborg elaborated in his scientific works came to him from heaven, and when heaven was opened to him he found them there. The spiritual world is thus the seat of the realities of "human life;" the natural world gives the "representation," the "painting."

     But although we do not stand together with Rector Siljestrom, we appreciate his able lecture, for it shows that an honest scientist realizes the unavoidable principle which ruled in Swedenborg's preparation for his holy office.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IGNORANT of the character of the world of causes, yet having frequent indications of its existence, pressing onward to that Light which he ultimately reached, Swedenborg was led step by step to rise above the fallacies of the senses, to trace one series of effects after another, and, so far as could be done without a knowledge of the world of causes, to ascertain the true laws that govern Nature's three kingdoms. When, finally, the light of heaven began to shed its rays upon his path, and by degrees he emerged into its noonday splendor, and viewed ends, uses, and causes in their heavenly order, and from his vantage ground looked down upon the world from which his understanding had gradually ascended, he saw that the way which he had trodden was none other than that down which leads the descent from heaven to earth. What though the Light revealed occasional missteps? It is now thrown upon his path, and in that light we also see the steps which, trodden by him, invite us likewise to the realms above.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

A FIVE-COLUMN editorial in one of the Stockholm daily papers mentions that in America, where, of all lands, the New Church flourishes best, there are no less than three universities of our faith, "the principal of them being in Philadelphia, which is complete, and, curiously enough, it is said to be founded throughout on Swedenborg's religious views and scientific system and method." Why this should seem "curious" is not easily determinable, unless the editor has shrewdly discovered that the view of which Rector Siljestrom speaks is held by a large proportion of New Churchmen - the view, namely, that, dating with the beginning of his visions, Swedenborg's activity of mind underwent a sudden and total change.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

     IN answer to the question in the Life for February, "Will some one tell us when the Last Judgment ceased?" the Rev. A. F. Frost writes: "Swedenborg will tell you in Last Judgment, n. 45, 'It was granted me to see from beginning to end how the Last Judgment was accomplished. . . . It was granted me to see ALL these things, that I might be able to testify of them. This Last Judgment was commenced in the beginning of the year 1757, and was fully accomplished at the end of that year.'"

     The question we ask is not "When was the Last Judgment fully accomplished?" but "When did the Last Judgment cease?" The Last Judgment consists in this, that "the evil are cast into the hells, and the good elevated into heaven, and that thus all things are reduced into order, and spiritual equilibrium is restored," etc. (See Last Judgment, n. 45.) These things which constitute the Last Judgment have continued from the day of the Last Judgment even to the present day and still continue. (T. C. R. 123.)

     In Apocalypse Explained, n. 624, it is said that the non-upright are to be separated from the upright before the Last Judgment and also after it, and that they are only separated successively. Our question involves these points. Now will our correspondent read once more the question we have asked, and this time in connection with the Teachings on which it is founded, and tell us, not what every New Churchman knows, but what some New Churchmen want to know. When did the Divine work of separating the evil from the good, the non-upright from the upright, cease to take place, so that what the LORD teaches in Matthew xiii, 27-30, 37-40, could be actually effected and present itself in a "fully established New Church," performing the functions of heart and lungs to an external body or General Church, which denies and rejects the LORD in His Divine Human as He now "comes in the clouds of the heavens with power and great glory?" We hope that our correspondent will try again.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE uniform teaching of the Word is that when the Church has been devastated by evils of life, "the LORD will come and destroy them, and establish the Church with others" (Isaiah i, 24-27); "that the LORD will come and give the Church to others" (Ib. v, 16, 17); "Others will know the LORD, who reject falses and remove things falsified" (Ib. viii, 17-21); "The New Church will receive the LORD, but the Old Church will not" (Ib. ix, 1-4, et al.). This being the LORD'S teaching, why do New Churchmen insist that the Old Church continues to be the LORD'S Church? They invent the fable that the Old Church is the general Christian Church, of which the New Church is the Church specific, and that the New Church bears to the Old Church the same relation which the heart and lungs bear to the whole body. The reason is plain why the LORD warns us, "Go ye out from Babel, flee ye from Chaldea with the voice of a song." (Is. xlviii, 20, 21.) None of us is regenerated to such a degree that he can safely dwell in the midst of the Old Church without becoming affected by its evils and falses.

Title Unspecified 1888

IT is a dangerous thing to lead New Churchmen to look with favoring eyes on the activities of Old Church bodies. A favorable regard for them leads to affiliation; affiliation leads to the acknowledgment of their falses, and acknowledgment of their falses leads to eternal death.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

WHILE the inventors of the fiction concerning the New Church being the heart and lungs of the Old Church are evidently blind to the fact that the corruption of the rest of the body would soon extend to the nobler organs, they are cunning enough to see that the adoption of their falsity would, on the natural plane, lead to the absorption and extinction of the organized New Church. They therefore enter into a labored explanation of the relation of the "Church specific," to the "General Church" of their invention, in which explanation truth and falsity are blended in an almost indistinguishable manner. Indeed, the leading falsity plays hide and seek under cover of an assumption as unwarranted as it is misleading - the assumption that in the Old Church "the Word is, and the LORD is known." It may, or it may not, have occurred to those who take it that this position had to be tacitly assumed, because there is absolutely no foundation, either in the Word or in fact, for it to rest upon.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

     A CORRESPONDENT objects to our criticism of the united Thanksgiving service held last year in Detroit. The nature of the objections offered may appear from this question: "Are Swedenborgians better than their neighbors?" And from this: "Has God any pets?" A reply is evidently not needed; but the letter affords an occasion for suggesting a small matter of propriety.

     New Church Life is a journal conducted on distinctively New Church principles. Its criticisms and judgments are formed in accordance with those principles. These facts are well known to the readers of the Life; and common sense, as well as common propriety, would seem to require that all objections to criticisms and views appearing in such a paper should have at least an apparent ground in the Doctrines of the New Church, as a reason and justification for sending them to the editors.

     We are sorry for our correspondent; a lapse into a denial of the LORD JESUS CHRIST is more than cause for sorrow; but of what possible consequence to us can be the objections of one who can write such words as the following? "It looks as if what we call the New Church is going so far down into ultimates that she is fast becoming a fossilized sect; and if she does not soon change her tactics, she will have her members so chained down to external worship and an external Personal God that their much eulogized seer would never think that they had read his books at all."
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

OWING to a mistake on the part of the printer, a hitch occurred in the delivery of the book on Education, but the error has been rectified, and the Academy Book Room is prepared to fill all orders. To those who are in the habit of postponing reading the monthly installments in the Life, in the expectation of reading the whole series when completed, we would suggest that they will appreciate their subsequent reading more fully from a regular monthly study of the parts as they appear, each of which is, in fact, a complete little treatise on the particular subject treated of.
WATCHMAN 1888

WATCHMAN Rev. RICHARD DE CHARMS 1888

     (This sermon was delivered in the city of Baltimore Md., December 10th, 1848. The quotations from the Authorized Version have been revised to conform with the original.- EDITORS.])

     "Son of man, speak to the sons of thy people, and say unto them,
'When I bring a sword upon the land, if the people of the land take a man from their borders and set him for their watchman; if when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet and warn the people, and the hearer hear the voice of the trumpet and take not warning, if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the voice of the trumpet and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him; for if he had taken warning, he would have delivered his soul. But when the watchman seeth the sword come, and bloweth not the trumpet, and the people are not warned, if the sword come and take a soul from them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.'" - Ezechiel xxxiii, 2-6.

     THE minister of the Church is a spiritual watchman. His duty is to be ever on the lookout from the walls and towers of the Holy City, and to give warning of approaching danger to its inhabitants. The walls of that city are those eternal doctrinal truths which contain and defend its internal principles of love and charity. And the towers on those walls are the interior truths of those doctrinals, whereby such defense is effected. Those who from the love of truth for its own sake are in the knowledge and perception of the interior truths of doctrine, can discern with more or less clearness, the states of the Church, so as to detect its false principles and its evil designs or tendencies, and make them known to those who are in simple good for their safeguard. Such persons can discern and point out the fatal results which will flow from false principles, in the garb of truth, being inconsiderately adopted by persons in mere good. So when sinister designs cover and conceal themselves with good exteriors, it is men of interior minds who can penetrate the film of apparent good, and, taking far extending views of things, can show how measures which may seem good and productive of good at present will really in future developments lead to evil. Hence those who are in interior truths are like watchmen in towers, guarding those below from approaching danger. Such are the ministers of the Church. For the ministers of the Church are, or ought to be, men of interior minds, who, in consequence of their mental elevation, can look through the guises which designing men assume for other purposes than those which they avow. Ministers of the Church have a power for this by virtue of their office, which other men have not. The uses which they perform, the pursuits in which they engage, the studies in which they delight, associate them with a peculiar order of ministering spirits, through whom they receive from the LORD an influx which peculiarly qualifies them for this scrutinizing penetration and this searching discernment. And it is an awful duty incumbent on them to exert every vigilance, that approaching danger may be seen, and then to warn their people faithfully, lest they should be whelmed in spiritual destruction unawares. The Word of God in our text makes the duties of the watchman and his awful responsibilities in this case very plain. "Son of man, speak to the sons of thy people, and say unto them, 'When I bring a sword upon the land, if the people of the land take a man of their borders, and set him for their watchman; if when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet and warn the people, and the hearer hear the voice of the trumpet, and take not warning, if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head; he heard the voice of the trumpet, and took not warning, his blood shall be upon him; for if he had taken warning he would have delivered his soul.

But when the watchman seeth the sword come and bloweth not the trumpet, and the people are not warned; if the sword come and take a soul from them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.'" The "son of man" in this passage denotes the Word as to the truth of good which it contains, the "sons of his people" denote those who are principled in such truth from the Word, the "sword upon the land" denotes the false principle assaulting the Church, the "people of the land taking a man of their borders, and setting him as a watchman," denotes a state of spiritual watchfulness among the members of the Church. . . .

And the man of the Church who is put on the high places . . . as a watchman, is a minister of truth and doctrine, who from an interior or elevated state of spiritual discernment can detect false principles and defend the Church from their assaults. His "seeing the sword coming" denotes his perception of the prevalence of what is false; his "blowing the trumpet" denotes his preachings of truth, whereby such falsity is exposed; his "warning the people of their danger" denotes his pointing out the evils in the members of the Church, whereby false principles have power to destroy them; the "hearing the voice of the trumpet and taking warning" denotes the practice of the truth preached unto the renunciation of that evil which makes the members o of the Church accessible to danger in the hour of temptation. The people's "not taking warning after the voice of the trumpet has been heard" denotes truths received and regarded only externally without any purification of the spirit from evils of life. Their "blood being upon them" in this case denotes their profanation of truth in times of trial by joining a knowledge of spiritual truth with the life of natural cupidity. For spiritual truth is profaned when it is known without the life's being conformed to its holy requisitions.* If the watchman "see the sword," discern the falsities, and "blow not the trumpet," preach not the truth which exposes them, and the "people be not warned," and the members of the Church have not those evils in them pointed out, which subjects them to danger of assaults from the false principle, so that they do not renounce them in obedience to truth taught, and, in consequence, fall in temptation, he is responsible for their spiritual wretchedness, and all the effects of their profanation of truth will be visited upon him. For his failure to point out evil when seen, as well as his failure to expose the falsity when detected, must proceed from his appropriation of that evil in himself which will pervert the knowledge of truth in him to his own most direful spiritual destruction. It is then no light matter for a man to be a minister of the truth, especially to be a minister of truth to the New Church, now in the utter perversion and consummation of the old Christian dispensation. Being as the New Church now is, in the wilderness, travailing to bring forth her doctrine, and spiritually persecuted by the spirits of the dragon, dangers are everywhere thick around her. And the danger is the greater because the dragon has the power to present himself as an angel of light, so as to deceive even the very elect. And the ground of danger in the members of the New Church is the potency of natural loves, and the consequent power of all natural principles to sway their minds through all the fallacies of the senses and the deceptive forms of only apparent good. The most common plane of danger is apparent good. For we are naturally unwilling to separate ourselves from those who seem good, and we will even seem to ourselves to make some sacrifice of our own distinctive principles, that we may keep along with them in the same common plane and so do them good. But here is the danger, for their good may cover the most direful spiritual principles of falsity, and we, by uniting with them in apparent good, are brought within the sphere of that falsity, to the imminent peril of our eternal interests. The idea is that we shall benefit them by imparting to them the sphere of our truths, but the danger is that their falsity is more liable to affect us than our truths to affect them, because our truths have as yet very imperfectly, if at all, regenerated us, and their falsities find in us much - alas! too much! - that is congenial to them, not only in the common principles of our unregenerated nature, but also, and especially, in the remnants of Old Church principles, which New Church truth has not yet done its thorough work in casting off. In this state of things, nothing is so difficult as the task which the teacher of New Church truth has to perform. The sphere of his office opens to him discernments which secular stations cannot give. He is by the very exercise of his functions, as well as the spiritual associations of his mind, elevated on a tower, so as to have a wider scope of spiritual vision than stronger heads and better hearts on inferior scales of official gradation. But from the fact that others cannot see from his position, and from the influence of a sleepy atmosphere below, they are inclined to doubt the correctness of his vision, and to slumber still, notwithstanding he may raise the note of alarm. A pride of intelligence not infrequently prompts them to think that they can see better than he because they have stronger minds than he has, and if they were in his station they could certainly see better than he does. They do not reflect that they are not in his station, and that a weaker eye in that station can see further and better than a much stronger eye out of it. Hence, when he gives the alarm, they are inclined to doubt its propriety. They see no danger, and therefore they conclude there is no danger. He is supposed to have his views distorted by jealous fears and by an exclusive spirit. And hence the more he cries out from a sense of duty, the more he is apt to be disregarded, until Old Churchmen of commanding influence are in fact found to have more influence in determining the opinions and conduct of professed New Churchmen than even their own ministers of truth. These are indeed listened to on Sunday, but those are associated with and followed as oracles on all the other days of the week. These have, indeed, some formal deference paid to them in strictly religious meetings, but those are the leaders of action and controllers of opinion in all civil, literary, or secular concerns. And if teachers of New Church truth attempt to bring that truth to bear upon common affairs, they must so accommodate that truth that it shall lose all its distinctiveness and all its alterative effect; for otherwise they cannot gain that countenance and credit among teachers of Old Church truths which will give them any consequence in the eyes of the world. And it is, in fact, this consequence in the eyes of the world which makes professed New Churchmen so desirous that their spiritual teachers and other strong men should meet the teachers and strong men of the Old Church on some common plane, and show their greater prowess by confounding them in battle.

We do indeed persuade ourselves that our only object is to do them good by correcting their errors through the means of our brighter truth, but, in fact, our real object is the delight which we feel in showing the Old Church that we have as strong men as they, or stronger than they have; it is the delight which we feel in being favorably noticed by them, and in the consequence in the eyes of the world which that notice gives us. This is proved by the fact that we rest satisfied with their notice, and trust that the efforts of our teachers among them may do good, without any clear rational perception how they will do good, or any present or subsequent discernment that they are in fact doing good. On the contrary, when we see that a distinct presentation of our principles makes us obnoxious to the Old Church and, through the prejudice which that Church excites, makes us obnoxious to common society, we are prone to accuse, oppose, and put down our own teachers on the ground that their teachings are too exclusive, sectional, and uncharitable. We impute the unpopularity which we are liable to bring upon ourselves, by a full and open avowal of our principles, and a forcible presentation of them as principles altogether distinctive from those of the Old Church, not to the distinctiveness of the principles, but to the personal character and manner of him who presents them. We suppose that it is not the principles themselves which are offensive to the Old Church and common society, but the distinctive manner in which they are presented. And we imagine that if they are only presented in another manner, they will be received. But we are greatly mistaken, and we are mistaken because we love the praise of men more than the praise of God. We look more to the effects of Truth than to Truth itself; for we love more the power and the consequence which the knowledge and the forcible presentation of the Truth gives us in the eyes of the world than we love the Truth itself, for its own sake or for the sake of the purification which it effects. And this is proved by the fact that we cannot see what the true state of the case is between the Old Church and the New, by the fact that we cannot see that there is no common ground whatever for New Churchmen and Old Churchmen to act upon together as such, by the fact that we cannot see that the New Church and the Old Church have no one spiritual motive of action whatever in common, by the fact that we cannot see that the New Church and the Old Church have internal principles of action which are entirely and diametrically opposite, and hence by the fact that we cannot or do not see that Old Churchmen never could or would allow New Churchmen to act with them, except so far as New Churchmen are instruments in effecting their own purposes. If New Churchmen are wealthy, numerous, and so influential in common society, then Old Churchmen will take their ministers by the hand and countenance them, so far as they can thereby determine a rill of moneyed or civil power from the purses or characters of those to whom they minister into the channel of common influence, which they wish to swell and sweep on to the effectuation of their own distinctive Old Church purposes; but if New Church ministers, when they come to act with them, should take any distinctive ground which will tend to advance New Church principles in contradistinction to Old Church principles and in frustration of Old Church purposes, they will very soon find themselves put out or put down. And if, in fact, New Church ministers or New Churchmen do retain any influence in Old Church associations, it is because they so lose their distinctiveness, by various accommodations, as to flow into Old Church principles and forms. For the Old Church and the New Church have an entirely different spiritual correspondence in the heavens and in the world of spirits, the New Church corresponding to a New Heaven, formed in and since the Last Judgment and entirely separated then, and ever since kept separate from the Old; while the Old Church corresponds to the Old Heaven, which has passed or is passing away. Hence the Old Church is an entirely distinct and different body from the New Church, as much so as the body of a whale is different from the body of a man, so that the New Church can no more go into the Old Church and act with it without losing its own distinctiveness and becoming assimilated to it and its principles, than Jonah when swallowed by the whale could go into the body of the fish without being digested in its stomach. And though the Old Church may swallow New Churchmen as the whale did Jonah, yet, if they do not give of their distinctiveness by accommodations of their principles to Old Church views and feelings, so as to be in fact digested in the Old Church stomach and assimilated to the Old Church body, they will be spewed up and cast out as Jonah was. The Old Church and people generally do not see this, because they regard the New Jerusalem Church as a sect of the Old Christian Church. And hence they cannot see why the New Jerusalemites may not act with the Presbyterians and Methodists and Baptists and Catholics, and so forth, just as well as Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, and Catholics can act together. And consequently, if New Churchmen feel unable or refuse to act with Old Church sectaries, people generally accuse them of bigotry and exclusiveness and uncharitableness. And half-made New Churchmen, who do not look into the grounds of their faith, who do not see or consider that their Church is an entirely new dispensation, and not a sect of the Old Christian Church, who do not see that there is a fountain of action for them in the spiritual world entirely different from that whence flow the actions of Old Churchmen, and hence who do not see that it is entirely impossible for New Churchmen and Old Churchmen to act together as such, are apt to be led away by the same notion, and to impute bigotry and exclusiveness and uncharitableness even to their own ministers whose distinctiveness of New Church character is such as to make it impossible for them to feel free to act in Old Church associations, or whose distinctive presentation of New Church truths is such as to make them obnoxious to Old Church partisans. Hence the faithful New Church minister has a very difficult task to perform. It is difficult for him faithfully and conscientiously to expose Old Church falsities and to oppose Old Church designs without having his motives impugned even by the nominal adherents of his own faith, and thus not only of provoking the opposition of the Old Church, but also of alienating from him the professed members of the New. Hence, unless he is firmly grounded in the love of his own faith for its own sake as the only true one, and is, above all, sustained by that Arm of Omnipotent Strength, which the LORD stretches out to sustain His ministers in doing the duties of their office with sole reference to Him, unswayed alike by human applause or by human censure, he is prone, when from the tower in which he is placed he sees the sword come upon the land, not to blow the trumpet, or else to give a delusive cry that all is well, until the enemy is not only at the gates but in the heart of the city, and the people are captured all unwarned. On the ear of every minister of the Church, therefore, the monition of the text should fall with an appalling interest: "If the watchman see the sword come and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come and take a soul from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand."

* The word "knowledge" in these sentences ought to read "acknowledgment." "The prophanation of good is effected by faith separated, when the truth of the Church and its good is acknowledged and believed, and yet one lives contrary to it. . . . It is otherwise with those, who although they know what is the truth and good of faith, still do not at heart believe, etc." (A. C. 4601.)- EDITORS.]
CONVERSATIONS ON EDUCATION 1888

CONVERSATIONS ON EDUCATION 1888

     APPLICATION.

     [Continued.]

     ALLUSION has been made to the temptations of infants and children, and the question has been asked, what form these temptations take. In Heaven and Hell, n. 343, we read as follows:

     "Frequently, when infants have been with me in choirs, and whilst they were still very young, they were heard [speaking] in a manner tender and unarranged, [showing] that they were not yet acting as one, as they do afterward when they become more adult; and, what is wonderful, the spirits who were with me could not refrain from leading them to speak. Such a cupidity is innate in spirits. But I observed on all such occasions that the infants were repugnant, not desiring to speak that way, refusing and resisting. This they did with a species of indignation, as I often perceived; and when leave to speak was given them, they merely said, that it is not so. I was instructed that such is the temptation of infants; [which is permitted] that they may be accustomed and inaugurated not only into resistance to the false and evil, but also that they may not think, speak, and act from others; consequently, that they may not suffer themselves to be led by any other than by the LORD alone." (See also A. C. 2294.)

     All assaults upon man's loves, and all resistance to such assaults, are temptations and temptation combats. Hence temptations are signified by combats and conflicts in the Word. Assaults on merely natural, sensual, and corporeal loves do not produce real temptations, although they are called temptations. These assaults are made by evil spirits, who excite into activity depraved mental and also bodily conditions, and thereby cause torments, anxieties, and sicknesses. They are permitted to produce these states for good, as in the cases of infants above cited, and in the case of diseases, which with some take the place of temptations. Disease may be called corporeal temptation, being permitted for the sake of freeing the body from morbid and impure conditions, and thus for the sake of health. In children evil spirits excite by their sphere states of naughtiness, and when these states are restrained and resisted even to punishments, the children suffer temptations, the punishment of the body, like diseases of the body, being the limit or terminus of the evil. "Every evil must have its limit, for the end of equilibrium." (A. C. 5798. See also n. 1857, 6559.) The punishment inflicted on the child is not to be regarded, as some have been disposed to regard it, an evidence that the child is in a state analogous to that of the adult who yields or falls when tempted; but it is a part of the necessary resistance to the assault of evil, and a means of victory in obedience. Punishment is, in fact, the aid to resistance, furnished by the Parent or Teacher, who supplies the place of the reason or rational to the child, in whom it has not yet been formed. If such punishment were to be considered as a falling in the temptation, it would imply that the Parent or Teacher, instead of helping the child to resist the naughty desires made active by evil spirits, was giving assistance to these spirits in their efforts to injure. Punishment serves as a means to establish a limit to temptation. But let this be well noted: If a child, after having been reduced to obedience by punishment, is again assailed by evil spirits and immediately lapses into disobedience, this lapse is a fall in temptation, and a restoration to a state of equilibrium or tranquillity becomes more difficult than in the former temptation. In such a case there is something of a confirmed willingness to be led into willful, naughty, and disobedient states. Because punishment is for the sake of good and not of evil, the LORD is said, in the letter of the Word, to punish the evil. He permits that which takes the place of punishment, which is so-called.

     The inquiry has been made, whether our LORD, when in the Human on Earth, and during His childhood, was punished as other children are, i. e., whether He underwent corporal punishment for the restraint of the excited evils in the human derived from the Mother? Whether He suffered such punishments or not has not been revealed. But this has been revealed, that He underwent temptations from His first childhood, even to the last hour of His life on Earth. And temptations are the excitations of evils in the mind and life, and the struggles of evil spirits by them to gain in man a victory over the goods and truths of the LORD. All the hells thus aroused the evils inherited from the mother, and this successively from infancy, even to the end of His natural life. (A. C. 1690.) Is it to be lightly supposed that the inherited evils of all humanity were overcome in the childhood of the LORD without punishments, if they could not be overcome without corporal pain and punishment, in His Human, when made almost Divine? Was He not buffeted and smitten with the palms of men's hands and with the reed, was He not scourged by command of Pilate, and did He not suffer the ignominious punishment of the Cross? Let no hasty and superficial judgment be formed on this subject, but let it be well considered in the full light of Doctrine. And let us remember, with humility and reverence, that in the things named was the Father's Will made manifest, that the Human should drink the cup and bear the punishment. This "could not pass away from Him," for the hells admitted into Him were to be punished, so that they might be subdued, overcome, and cast down; and that the Human might be made Divine in fullest obedience, that is, in the infinite Union of the Divine and Human Essence. Without this obedience unto death, the human race could not have been redeemed. And let us also bear in mind, that as the hells thus punished themselves to their own subjugation, and even continue to do the same, so the child, or the man, as such, is not punished when punishment is inflicted, but that evils in them are permitted to punish themselves to the end that they may be overcome, and that obedience to the Divine laws of order may bring peace, conjunction with the LORD and Heaven.

     (On the subject of temptations, with reference to what has above been adduced, let the reader consult A. C. 847, also A. C. 1357.)
ACHATIUS KAHL 1888

ACHATIUS KAHL 1888

THE Senior of the New Church in Sweden, the Reverend Achatius Johan Kahl, D. D., Ph. D., passed into the spiritual world on the 24th of January, 1888, in the city of Lund, in Sweden, at the old age of ninety-four years.

Dr. Kahl was the last survivor of a trine of New Churchmen on the Continent of Europe whose names are immemorial in the history of the New Church; a beautiful circle of men, who for almost half a century were the foremost champions and most arduous laborers of the New Church in three European countries: Immanuel Tafel in Germany, Le Boys des Guays in France, and Achatius Kahl in Sweden, brought together by the affection of the LORD'S Truth into a bond of friendship which lasted through life.

They are now again together, and "their works do follow after them."

     Dr. Kahl was born on the Island of Hven, on October 17th, 1794, on the coast of Sweden, where his father was Dean. He obtained the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Lund in his twentieth year, and in 1821 he became professor of Oriental languages in the same place. In 1825 he took "holy orders" in the established Church of Sweden, and in 1830 he was elected Dean of Lund, which position he filled to his death.

     While Dr. Kahl thus was eminent as a philologist, prelate, and litterateur, his greatest interest and labor was bestowed upon the cause of the New Church, with the Doctrines of which he became early acquainted. His best known work in this respect is his Nya Kyrkan och dess Inflytande pa Theologiens studium i Sverige (the New Church and its influence upon the study of theology in Sweden), an invaluable collection of documents respecting the life of Swedenborg and the history of the New Church in Sweden, and a zealous and eloquent defense of the Heavenly Doctrines. Others of his works are Eman. Swedenborgii Diarii Spiritualis Partis VII, See. 3, continens narratiunculas de vitis hominum in Diario Swedenborgii commemoratorum, (short biographies of the men mentioned in Swedenborg's Diary); further, Eman. Swedenborgii Index Biblicus Vol IV (Swedenborg's Biblical Index, Vol. IV), and Em. Swedenborgii Itinerarium (Swedenborg's Journal of Travels). Besides these contributions to the New Church literature, Dr. Kahl was the main source in supplying the "Documents concerning Swedenborg" which were published by Dr. Im. Tafel, as it also was through his direct agency that the MSS. of the Spiritual Diary were lent for publication to Dr. Tafel by the Swedish Academy of Science for publication.

     Though a high dignitary in the Swedish Lutheran Church, Dr. Kahl was a zealous member of the various New Church organizations which have existed in Sweden during this century. It is greatly owing to his influence and personal liberality that the present editions of the Writings in the Swedish language have been published, and, unchanged by his unusual old age, he was up to the time of his death an interested member of the present organization of the New Church in Sweden, and a liberal contributor to its uses.
"PROTEST MEETING." 1888

"PROTEST MEETING." 1888

     IN the columns of The Dawn we have a pretty full report of a "protest meeting" held at London, on January 21st, "to protest against the action of a certain section of the New Church in disallowing unfermented wine at the LORD'S table." For many years the "temperance" people - to give them their own misleading name - have been screaming against wine, or "fermented" wine - again to use their own terminology. The English language was searched for adjectives strong enough to express their opinion of wine, and "poisonous" and "hellish" seem to be the words most favored. But a change has come of late. The educated men of the English New Church took up the "question," and completely demolished the unfermented wine theory, leaving its advocates no ground whatever in Divine Revelation to stand on; even that term, "the fruit of the vine," which has been a very citadel for so many, was shown beyond cavil to mean a drink that was intoxicating, and never to mean anything else. This having been proved from Revelation and ancient writings, a number of English ministers refused longer to administer the communion in grape juice, as such a course would be a profanation. At this the grape-juice men shift their ground and "protest" against what they say is an infringement of their liberty on a point on which there is room for "honest difference of belief."

     The Rev. Joseph Deans moved the resolution expressing this sentiment, and made a speech, in which, among other things, he said that, "This resolution acknowledges the authority of the Divine Word and the Writings of Swedenborg." Why, then, this meeting? for the Divine Word and the "Writings of Swedenborg," in words as plain as words can be, command the use of wine - "fermented" wine - at the communion, and leave no room for even that vague thing, "honest doubt." If they do not, why do not these "temperance" men show the fact?

     Mr. Deans in his speech said that up to three years ago "fermented" wine only was used at his church at Leeds; then he noticed that some old members did not partake of the sacrament, and found that the cause was that they did not believe in "fermented" wine. The question of providing two kinds of wine, Mr. Deans says, "I did not decide myself, and then go and put it to them as to whether they would concur (cheers). I put the matter to the Society's meeting, and two of our deacons, who themselves used the fermented, moved and seconded that unfermented wine should be provided." What then becomes of Mr. Deans's position as teacher and leader of the Society?' The wisdom of this peculiar and contradictory course the speaker demonstrates by a rather startling argument: "I believe personally that I have experienced just those benefits from unfermented wine that the Writings of the Church tell us come from worthily partaking of the Holy Supper." We have taken the liberty of using the italics. Mr. Deans also holds that the minister "is bound, for the honor of his God and for the honor of his Church, to see that the spiritual wants of his people are provided for in a manner that is acceptable to his people." Suppose a man were to arise and publish and circulate at his own expense a book in which he argues and "proves" that the "fruit of the vine" was a pumpkin, and that therefore pumpkin juice was the true fruit of the vine, what then? Would Mr. Deans submit the question to his deacons, and if they decided that pumpkin juice was "wanted" by "conscientious men," would he add it to the list of cups in his Church? To be consistent he must certainly do so should ever a pumpkin party arise.

     The Rev. Mr. O'Mant seconded the resolution. He said that he firmly believed that unfermented grape juice is the true correspondent of the Divine truth, "yet my practice is always to administer the sacrament in fermented wine," from which it logically follows that Mr. O'Mant believes in avoiding priestly domination, even to the extent of administering what his party consider a "hellish poison" to his people, provided his people want it. We suppose that should Mr. O'Mant's people ever take a notion to have the Koran usurp the place of the Word he would accommodate them. Mr. Deans's resolution "was carried unanimously) there being only two dissenting votes to the contrary."

     Mr. Potter moved the next resolution, the effect of which was, though not so worded, that any minister who refuses to give his communicants the choice between "hellish poison" and "the pure," etc., violates the fundamental law of human freedom. Mr. Potter made about the only attempt at argument which occurred during the meeting; he maintained two "incontrovertible" propositions -

1st, that every man has the right to partake of the holy communion until "shown to be morally unworthy;" and, 2d, that he has the right to say what the sacrament shall consist of. We hasten to state that Mr. Potter does not put his second proposition in this bald way, but, when sifted, it amounts to nothing more nor less than the absurdity we have stated. Mr. Potter's resolution, after being seconded, was carried, there being the usual two dissentients.

     Mr. Orme moved the next resolution, in effect expressing pleasure at learning that a memorial has been drawn up to Conference looking to the providing of an "alternative wine" at its meetings. Mr. Orme thought that "there are times when it is necessary for a man to say to his brother,' My brother, that is a lie;'" but "does it follow that we look upon them as liars? No, my friends, no." The speaker also referred to those ministers who have refused to administer grape juice instead of the commanded wine at the communion (or, as he put it, "who have trodden on our corns") as saying, "You must not have this because it is not what we think right."

     Mr. T. J. Barlow, a lay preacher, we presume, followed Mr. Orme and rivaled Mr. O'Mant, for he maintained, if any one in his Society wanted fermented, "and if my pronounced opinions forbade me purchasing fermented wine, it would be the duty of the Committee to appoint another who had not my scruples to provide it for them." Again, "the resolution was put to vote and carried, with two dissentient votes." "The Chairman (the Rev. W. Crosby Barlow) then said: 'I will read a few words from New Church Life: "The use of unleavened bread with unfermented wine would represent a profane attempt on the part of man to conjoin his impure conceits and wretched falsities with the Divine Good of the LORD." Now I have to announce that the communion will be celebrated at the Pelican Hall next Sunday week, February 5th, with the use of unfermented bread and unfermented wine, because in the sight of the LORD we believe those are according to His Divine Law.'" From which it seems that the Life's warning has fallen on deaf ears.

     A letter was read from the Rev. R. R. Rodgers in which it was held "that wine is an inclusive and elastic term, and expresses any liquor made from the grape, and an indefinite number of other liquors ranging from ginger to the sap of the silver birch." This letter is a fitting absurdity to crown about as absurd a meeting as has been held lately. See: if wine means every liquor, from birch beer to brandy, as Mr. Rodgers holds, and if every man has the right to choose the drink for himself, as the meeting maintains, it follows that it is not impossible that the day may come when "temperance" churches will have to keep on hand an assortment of liquors not to be found anywhere outside of the saloon.

     This meeting will, we hope, open the eyes of a good many to the insanities which come upon those who seek to profane the Holy Supper.
"THE LUST OF SPIRITUAL DOMINION." 1888

"THE LUST OF SPIRITUAL DOMINION." 1888

ONCE upon a time a city was threatened by a vast horde of foes, and her army was sent forth under her ablest commander to oppose them. They were animated by one spirit and fought for the one good. But among them was one who thought his own notions of more importance than obedience to his commanders. He was dismissed from the army. Then arose his defender, with goose quill flowing with blackest ink, and wrote that the general of the city's army was urged on by the "Lust of Dominion. And then a smile swept through the steady ranks of the army at the trembling wrath of that inky goose quill.
TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF SWEDENBORG'S BIRTHDAY 1888

TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF SWEDENBORG'S BIRTHDAY 1888

     ON Sunday, the 29th of January, in the evening, the Academy of the New Church held a public meeting in its old building on Cherry Street, below Twenty- first, Philadelphia, to celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of Swedenborg's birth.

     After the customary religious exercises, Chancellor Benade announced the object of the meeting and touched briefly upon the importance of the day as the one on which the LORD brought into this world for His purposes a man by whom He was about to do the great work of revealing Himself.

     Mr. J. Pitcairn read a dispatch received from Stockholm, announcing that members of the Royal Academies were honoring Swedenborg's birthday at the Gorand Hotel, Stockholm. To this the Academy had replied, "The memory of Swedenborg will live forever." Telegrams had also been sent to Chicago, Pittsburgh, Urbana, and Allentown.

     As the dispatch from Stockholm was the immediate cause of the meeting, the Chancellor called upon Mr. C. T. Odhner, as a Swede, to say something about the Royal Academies. Mr. Odhner accordingly delivered the address printed elsewhere.

     Chancellor Benade thereupon read extracts from Hartley's letter to Swedenborg and Swedenborg's reply, which was in the form of a short autobiography. Commenting upon the date given by Swedenborg (1689), the Chancellor referred to Swedenborg's explanation to General Tuxen why he wrote 1689 instead of 1688, the year in which he had actually been born, that an angel had told him to write 1689 as much more suitable to himself than the other, and as time and space are nothing with the angels.

     Then followed toasts. "The Church and the World at the time of the birth of Swedenborg," was responded to by the Rev. E. J. E. Schreck.

     "Swedenborg, the Student," was responded to by Mr. Enoch S. Price.

     "Swedenborg, the Philosopher," was responded to by the Rev. W. F. Pendleton.

     " Swedenborg, the Revelator," was responded to by the Rev. L. H. Tafel.

     The toasts closed with one in memoriam of "Swedenborg, the Servant of the LORD JESUS CHRIST," the Chancellor saying impressively:

     "The book entitled The True Christian Religion, or the Universal Theology of the New Church, concludes, and, as it were, summarizes the Revelations of Divine Truth made for the New Church. On the title-page of this work is given the name of the writer, 'Emanuel Swedenborg, the Servant of the LORD JESUS CHRIST.' In this simple manner he gave to his Divine LORD and MASTER all the honor of the great work to which he had been called, for which he had been prepared and inspired. Let us do likewise.

     "In cherishing and celebrating the memory of this illustrious man, let us lift up our thoughts to the LORD, to His infinite Love and Mercy, and praise and glorify Him that it pleased Him to provide this instrument furnished by Him with such marvelous powers to be to a world threatened with total damnation the bearer of the most excellent of all Revelations.

Let us ever remember and pray the LORD to fill us with His light to see in growing clearness and with His warmth to acknowledge with profounder humility of love that in these Revelations written by Him through His servant, Swedenborg, He, the LORD of Heaven and Earth, has come again into the world, and that by them He will be perpetually present with His children.

"To Him be all glory and honor and power, forever and ever. Amen."
CELEBRATION IN ALLENTOWN 1888

CELEBRATION IN ALLENTOWN 1888

THE Allentown Church of the New Jerusalem celebrated the two hundredth anniversary of Swedenborg's birthday on Sunday evening, January 29th. The meeting was opened by reading from the WORD and prayer. No minister being present, one of the older members, after speaking of the care we must exercise lest we look upon Swedenborg other than as the servant of the LORD, read a number of extracts from a Life of Swedenborg, giving a brief sketch of his life. The extract upon which the greatest stress was laid was the letter of Swedenborg to the King in defense against the attack of the Consistory of the Diocese of Gottenburg.
Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm 1888

Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm C. T. Odhner, A. B 1888

     WHILE we, as members of the LORD'S New Church, are this evening assembled to commemorate the bi-centennial of the birth of that servant of the LORD, whom He found fit to use as the means of His Second Coming, and thus to perform the greatest use ever rendered by means of man, a body of distinguished men, not connected with the New Church, are assembled on another continent for the same purpose, though from different motives and with different principles. I refer to the Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, who to-day celebrate the birthday of one of its oldest, most learned, and famous members, Emanuel Swedenborg.

     This being probably the only body in the world, outside of the New Church, which is so engaged, and having directly communicated with us to this purport, it is but fitting that we on this occasion, as a recognition and return of their civility, should remember this Swedish Academy; not less than on account of its important historical connection with Swedenborg, its eminent services rendered to the New Church, and the interest with which it cherishes Swedenborg's memory as a member, a scientist, and a Swede.

     We can well say that the event of the Last Judgment in the past century was a turning-point also in the history of Sweden. Before that event Sweden was eminently a militant nation, fierce though small. Its annals were those of war and bloodshed, in the midst of which peaceful accomplishments, arts, and sciences could flourish to but a small degree. But a great change has taken place. Its viking-fleets no longer strike the world with terror; its Gustavus and Charles are in their own places, and the warlike spirit seemed to have exhausted itself and died with its last and greatest exponent, Charles XII. Peace has reigned now for near a century in the country of Svithiod, with an industrious, thriving, and happy people, undisturbed by the wars and turmoils of Europe, and successfully cultivating the gentle fields of arts and sciences. This change, as was said, began to take place in the beginning and middle of the eighteenth century, when men such as Polheim and Swedenborg, Carl von Linne, Retzius, Bergman, Scheele, Gjorwell, and others, arose to take positions among the leading scientists and savants of the world. Some of these men in the year 1739 united into a Swedish Academy of Natural Sciences, which subsequently, in 1741, received Royal confirmation, and since then has been known as one of the oldest, most learned, and distinguished bodies of its kind in the world. Many of its subsequent members, such as Dalin, the historian; Celsius and Berzelius, the chemists; Fries, the botanist; Retzius, Jr., the zoologist; Geijer, the historian, and Eric Adolph Nordenskjold, the explorer, are well known throughout the civilized world, and have accomplished more than war could do to make the Swedish nation honored and to render it a useful member of the Gorand Man of nations.

     Though the date is not exactly ascertained when Swedenborg became a member of this Academy, still there are reasons to believe that he was one of the very earliest called to this distinction. In his well-known letter to Hartley, Swedenborg himself refers to his membership in the following words: "I am a fellow and member, by invitation, of the Royal Academy of Sciences, but I have never sought admission into any literary society in any other place, inasmuch as I am in an angelic society." That, however, he considered his membership of sufficient value to retain it, even after this his reception into heaven, is evident from his continuous activity in its connection, which finds an expression of appreciation in the eulogy on Swedenborg published by the Royal Academy in 1772, where the eulogist, Sir Samuel Sandels, says: "He was a worthy member of this Academy, and although in course of time he entered upon the study of other than academic subjects, still, not wishing to remain a useless member, he enriched its transactions with a description of inlaid work in marble, for tables and other ornamental articles."

     This treatise, so widely differing in subject from the spiritual work he then was engaged upon, is to be found in the transactions of the Royal Academy for the year 1763. Beside this, there exists a letter from Swedenborg to the Academy, written in the year 1766, in which be dedicates to this body a reprint of his early work on A New Method of Finding the Longitude by Means of the Moon, originally published in 1721. Swedenborg's best, though least appreciated transaction with the Academy, was, however, his letter to this institution, on "The Signification of the Horse and the Hieroglyphics," in which he briefly explains the spiritual signification of the Horse in the internal sense of the Word, and announces the fact that the LORD is now about to establish a New Church, concluding in these terms: "As the science of correspondences in the eyes of the Ancients was the science of sciences, and as their wisdom was derived thence, it is of importance that some one connected with your Academy should cultivate this science, which may be done chiefly by means of the correspondences disclosed in the Apocalypse Revealed and proved from the Word. Should it be desired, I am willing to explain the Egyptian hieroglyphics, which are nothing but correspondences, and to publish my explanation. This also is a work which no other person can accomplish."

     It is evident, however, that this "was not desired," and, as a consequence, the Egyptian hieroglyphics are still in reality unexplained, and will so remain until some one connected with some New Church Academy will begin to cultivate this "science of sciences."

     That this Academy of Natural Science thus rejected the LORD'S Own Science is not to be wondered at.

It is, however, a matter of surprise and regret that modern members of this same institution should reject the only true and rational natural science that exists in the world, the science of Swedenborg's scientific works. In a report by members of the Academy, in 1870, it is said that "neither in the history of astronomy, physics, anatomy, or even mineralogy, is there any essential or great discovery which bears Swedenborg's name." That this, in a certain sense, is true we know from the fact that most of Swedenborg's discoveries, as far as they have been investigated outside of the New Church, now bear the name of other men, who have, without conscience, accepted a glory not their own.

     Were the Royal Academy, as well as other modern scientific societies, to investigate Swedenborg's scientific works as they are studied in our Academy, they would now find a greater cause for celebrating Swedenborg's memory than the mere patriotic pride in a man more famous abroad than in his own country. Such a time we believe will come, though it may as yet be in the remote future.

     Though Swedenborg may thus have been unjustly judged by the majority of his scientific countrymen, there have, however, always been men in the Royal Academy, who have had a true conception of his value. Among these I may mention Sir Samuel Sandels, who, in the year 1772, delivered a eulogium over Swedenborg, an original copy of which I am now holding in my hand. Another was the illustrious Bernhard v. Beskow, who, in 1859, read to the Swedish Academy an eloquent oration in Swedenborg's honor, awakening such enthusiasm, that a medal was subsequently struck bearing Swedenborg's image and the words, "tantoque exultat alumno."

     The relation between the Royal Academy and the New Church in England and America has been long, continuous, and very pleasant. When Swedenborg died in London, in 1772, some of his manuscripts were in that city, others in Sweden. The latter were, by Swedenborg's heirs, deposited in the archives of the Royal Academy for safe keeping, and subsequently permanently donated to this body, together with all other MSS. which afterward might be found. Some of these, such as the Apocalypsis Explicata, were borrowed from the Academy in the year 1780 and carried to England, where all traces of them were lost. In the year 1840 they reappeared, coming through various channels into the possession of the Swedenborg Society in London. When the legal claim to them by the Royal Academy became known to the Swedenborg Society, this body at once resigned their own claims, and thus after an interval of sixty years, the manuscripts were all restored to the guardianship of the Swedish Institution. These transactions were all conducted in a manner that gave entire satisfaction to all parties concerned, and were the means of establishing an intercourse of the most agreeable and honorable kind with one of the most ancient and learned bodies in Europe.

     Thus the Divine Providence has led these priceless MSS. to be collected and stored in a safer keeping than any which the New Church could as yet offer, and to entrust them to a liberal body of men, who ever have been willing to extend to the New Church an accommodating and co-operative hand in any enterprise relative to these MSS. It is owing to this honorable body that we have at present the Latin editions (by Dr. Im. Tafel), of Swedenborg's Regnum Animale, his Index Biblicus, Adversaria, and Diarium Spirituale. The same ready and helping spirit was again manifested in the important mission of Dr. R. L. Tafel, when twenty years ago he went to Sweden to commence the work of photo-lithographing the manuscripts of Swedenborg.

     This work will, I hope, soon be resumed, and I have not the slightest doubt but that the Royal Academy will again open its portals and unlock its archives to the New Church, when the time comes to photo-lithograph the remaining MSS., and thus save from obliteration and decay the exact forms of those Divinely inspired works, in which the LORD made His Second Advent.

     As the LORD, in all the Workings of His Divine Providence, has in view nothing but the salvation of the human race by means of His Word, and as the Writings are the Internal Sense of the Word, I have no doubt that one of the principal of the LORD'S ends in permitting this Royal Academy to be instituted, was that by means of it the Writings should be preserved in their integrity for the use of the New Church.

     And as the Royal Academy has most willingly and faithfully kept this Divine Charge, even though not realizing its import, the New Church owes this institution all recognition and gratitude, for the expression of which this day is a fitting occasion.
CELEBRATION IN SWEDEN 1888

CELEBRATION IN SWEDEN 1888

From Post och Inrikes Tidningar (the official paper of the Swedish Government), January 24th, 1888.

     "MEMORIAL FEAST.

     "ON Sunday, January 29th, occurs the bi-centennial of the birthday of the universal genius and Swedish thinker, Emanuel Swedenborg. To let this day pass by unnoticed in a country which with pride counts him among her most eminent sons, and particularly in the capital, in which he passed the greatest part of his active life, would be considered unworthy, and this so much the more as the day probably will be observed also outside of the boundaries of Sweden.

     "The undersigned, therefore, take the liberty of inviting subscriptions for participation in a simple memorial celebration, which will be arranged on the 29th of January at half-past seven P. M. at the Gorand Hotel, and will end with a supper. The entrance fee will not exceed six crowns [about one dollar and fifty cents].

     "Subscription lists have been placed in the bookstores of Samson & Wallin, Fritze, Loostrom, Malmberg, and Suneson.

          "STOCKHOLM, January 20th, 1888.

     "E. Edlund, Hans Hildebrand, G. E. Klemming, Christian Loven, A. E. Nordenskjold, C. T. Odhner, F. Richter, Victor Rydberg, C. D. af Wirsen, Hugo Gylden, Axel Key, D. G. Lindhagen, S. Loven, G. Nordenstrom, Gustaf Retzius, C. A. Rooswall, P. A. Siljestrom, Rich. Akermann.

     "OBS.- The dress for gentlemen is black dress coat and white necktie. Ladies who desire to honor the simple feast with their presence are welcome."
From Stockholm's Dagblad, January 30th, 1888 1888

From Stockholm's Dagblad, January 30th, 1888 1888

"MORE than two hundred persons, among whom were a great number of ladies, assembled yesterday in the Gala-rooms of the Gorand Hotel in order to celebrate the bi-centennial of the birth of Emanuel Swedenborg, the founder of a Religion, the Theosophist and the Scientist. Noteworthy among the participants were the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baron Hochschield, the Lord Chamberlain Baron Carl Jevard Bonde, the President Woern, the Professors Baron Nordenskjold, Victor Rydberg, Gylden, Members of the Academy of Science, higher officials, prominent physicians, members of the Diet, manufacturers, merchants, members of the New Church in this place, and others.

     "The memorial celebration, as such, was held in the Banqueting Hall of the Gorand Hotel, which was richly decorated for the occasion. In the background, where the rostrum was erected, appeared Swedenborg's portrait, loaned by the Academy of Sciences, crowned with laurels and surrounded with emblems and living plants. Above the whole decoration was written in large letters, 'The Truth shall make you free.' The other end of the hall was adorned with a rich decoration of banners and flags, and the whole of the long sidewall was adorned with living plants.

     "At half-past eight P. M., after some light refreshments had been partaken of, all assembled in the great hall, when the rostrum was taken by the Royal Antiquarian, Hildebrand, who rapidly and in lively words drew a sketch of Swedenborg's life and activity in the service of his Fatherland as a Patriot and Official.

     [According to another Swedish paper, Mr. Hildebrand then announced the receipt of the despatches from the Academy of the New Church and from Urbana.]

     "As in yesterday's article concerning Emanuel Swedenborg, we [the editors of the Dagblad] illustrated these features of the wonderful man, we will here give only a few of the points presented in the address not touched upon in our article.

     "The orator introduced his address with a short sketch of the general social state of the Swedish community at the time of Swedenborg's appearance. It was shown that Sweden at that time, spiritually as well as politically, held a high and respected position. Not only classical learning and the theological studies connected with it had at this time eminent representatives in our land, but also the Fine Arts were represented worthily of our position as a great State. A universal student and grand genius, such as Olof Rudbeck, and artists, such as Tessin and Ehrenstral, were then active. Men of the future arose on all sides. One of the most remarkable of these was Emanuel Swedenborg.

     "After having referred to the foreign travels of the young Swedenborg and their influence on his development, the orator said that the one idea which at this time possessed the warm patriot and the man, burning with desire for activity, was to effect something really new to the service of science and the use of mankind. That Swedenborg felt that he was capable of filling such a mission, and that he comprehended it in its whole grandeur, is apparent from this, that a century, according to his opinion, gives birth but to six, or at the highest ten, spirits which are able to effect such a work of Reformation).

     "After Swedenborg as a scientist had been silent during twelve years, there was published in 1734, by the help of a princely German patron, his famous work, the Opera Philosophica, into which he put the fruit of diligent and honest endeavors to find the Truth, which alone can satisfy the soul and make man happy.

     "In the year 1736, Swedenborg entered upon his second foreign journey, for the sake of study upon a new field: the Animal Kingdom and, principally, the human body. From the knowledge of the human body he desired to force a way, to the knowledge of the nature and quality of the soul. This work, however, he did not finish.

     "Swedenborg, as the founder of a Religion and a Theologian, never separated from the Established Church, did not wish to effect any schism, nor did he carry on any propaganda; all that he did was for the sake of Truth alone, without the least regard to the praise or sympathy of man. The famous statesman, Andrew von Hopken, who during two-and-forty years had intercourse with Swedenborg, used to remark that during his eventful life he never learnt to know a man of such blameless character. He is described as exceedingly venerable, his manners and his appearance thoroughly sympathetical.

     "A pause now ensued, which was filled by orchestral music, after which Rector (Chancellor) P. A. Siljestrom took the Rostrum, describing Swedenborg's importance in the service of the natural sciences and his activity for the sake of the useful, upon which latter, in the highest meaning of this word, Swedenborg, during his whole life, placed a deciding importance. This address is published in another place of to-day's number.

     "Finally the High Chancellor of the University of Upsala, Professor Sahlin, explained Emanuel Swedenborg's importance with regard to the history of philosophy and culture. This was a long, logically convincing, clear, and explanatory lecture.

     "With this the official part of the worthy memorial celebration was finished.

     "Supper was afterward served in both the banqueting halls, and, after the coffee, punch-bowls were brought in, when the Rev. A. Boyesen, Pastor of the New Church Society in Stockholm, requested to be heard. Pastor Boyesen, who dwelt upon Swedenborg's importance as the founder of a Religion, as a Theologian, and as a man of rare greatness, closed his speech by proposing a toast to the famous students and publishers of Swedenborg's Writings: the two learned Doctors, Tafel and Wilkinson, to which he added a toast to the Swedish Academy of Sciences, which body, by taking the initiative to this feast, had shown that it knew how to value and honor the memory of Emanuel Swedenborg."
SWEDENBORG'S memory was celebrated 1888

SWEDENBORG'S memory was celebrated 1888

"SWEDENBORG'S memory was celebrated yesterday forenoon by the Society 'New Church Receivers' by services in various localities. Thus the great hall in the house of 'The Workingmen's Union' was beautifully adorned with flowers, coats-of-arms, garlands, etc. The wall behind the pulpit was covered by a veritable forest of junipers, and before the pulpit was an altar with Thorwaldsen's statue of the Blessing Christ, surrounded by tastefully arranged pyramids of plants and flowers. Here Pastor Boyesen spoke of the signification of Swedenborg's Life and Doctrine, and of the development which the New Church has attained. Psalms and hymns were also sung by the choir of the Society.

"That also non-Swedenborgians were present is evident from the fact that not only the spacious hall, but also the vestibule and even the stairways were literally crowded with people.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

"IN the great Hall of Hotel, 'W. 6,' Pastor Manby, from Gottenburg, held a religious service of similar character as the above mentioned, and a mixed choir of ladies and gentlemen, comprising those belonging to the Society and also outsiders, sung various spiritual songs, among others David's xxxiii Psalm, by Wennerberg."
Emanuel Swedenborg 1888

Emanuel Swedenborg P. A. Siljestrom 1888

     A Lecture

     Translated from Stockholm's Dagblad, January 30th, 1888.

     "IN general it may be said that Swedenborg's influence has not visibly affected the development of Science, although, according to my opinion, and as I shall endeavor to prove, it has been greater than is generally supposed.

On the one hand, he understood but little the art of coining money out of his ideas, and he cared as little to make proselytes in the scientific field as in the religious. On the other hand, during a later period of his life, his fame as a Theosophist came to place his fame as a Scientist in the shade, and this in a double sense. At last, at this time, the sun of modern science - with Newton's Principia Philosophiae Naturalis, which was published the year before Swedenborg's birth - had begun to send forth its rays over the world, and even since the middle of the eighteenth century begun to displace those views of nature which in common with Swedenborg's took another direction. But in many cases it has been the privilege of our age to dig up out of oblivion his true merits in this respect and to do him full justice. Herein his Writings may be compared to those treasures of wisdom which in our day are dug up out of the ruins of Egypt and Assyria.

     "From a man, who in the latter part of his life in the field of Religion so strongly accentuated the Truth that the Kingdom of God is not a kingdom of dolce far niente, but, as he expressed it, a 'kingdom of uses,' one would expect, in the field of science also, a leaning toward the practically useful. This was indeed the case. Swedenborg arose primarily as a practical scientist. His position in the College of Mines caused him naturally to interest himself in the science of mining, and on this subject he wrote several treatises and works, such as concerning engines for raising ore o or water out of mines; concerning the construction of smelting-furnaces and things belonging thereto; as also concerning what pertains to the entire process of smelting. As a member of committees, together with such practical men as Polheim and Sheldon, he had occasion to interest himself in the question of the building of wharves in Karlskrona and of watersluices for promoting navigation on the 'Gota-elf' and 'Motala-strom,' in connection with the various motions proposed to effect a communication between the Baltic and the North Sea, concerning all of which there are treatises by Swedenborg. He seems, in general, to have cherished quite an interest in navigation, as may appear among other things from his proposed method of examining the serviceableness of sea vessels and their best construction, etc. During his sojourn on the Western coast during the Norwegian Campaign of Charles XII, he cherished an idea of preparing salt out of sea water. He wrote a treatise also on this subject in which Charles XII is said to have been interested. His assistance as engineer in the transportation of materials for the siege of Fredrikshall is well known. Among his other propositions of a practical nature, figure, moreover, the invention of an improvement in the construction of stoves for the heating of dwelling-rooms; a so-called 'din-tube,' a sort of colossal fog-horn to be used on shore and in war (in the time of Charles XII there was no lack of occasions for thinking of warlike matters); and even a flying-machine, etc. The whole of this practical tendency of his mind may be found concentrated in the text-book which he himself published, under the title of Regelkonsten (the Science of Arithmetical Rules), an excellent little presentation of Arithmetical Art, with short, concise rules and well-chosen examples from the fields of physics, mechanism, gunnery, and daily life. Although it may not actually belong here, it may perhaps be interesting to listen to an incidental observation which he made in the preface to this book. Though Swedenborg, according to the custom of his time, wrote most of his scientific works in Latin, he has, in his Regelkonsten, introduced a great number of Swedish translations of Latin scientific terms (as also afterward in his treatise on 'the finding of the Longitude'), and he remarks: 'I have also endeavored to translate into Swedish some expressions which formerly have had their law and name from the Latin. Have not also we a rich tongue, as well as all other nations, all of whom have benefitted themselves by giving such [expressions] in their mother tongue? We would then, indeed, appear poor enough in words as well as in sense if we did not derive this same benefit to ourselves. We, indeed, confide enough in the foreigner in other things.'

     "That in other things Swedenborg followed with his time also in the field of Mathematics, appears from this, that he intended to complete his Regelkonsten with a presentation of the Differential and Integral Calculus, then new in Sweden, although he did not bring this intention into effect. . . .

     "Swedenborg's inquiring spirit soon carried him away from practical to purely scientific questions, and in the field thus entered upon he has not left untouched any one of the physical sciences of nature, but in all of them - Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Geology - he has left traces of his knowledges and his investigation. Among the fruits of this his activity may be mentioned his proposition of A New Method of Determining the Longitude; a very detailed proposition for the investigation of the velocity of light in the air and on the ice; further, a project for the determination of the altitude of sound altogether according to the same principles which in later times have been applied by the eminent French acoustician, Savart. Swedenborg has also given the very fundamental principle in the construction of the Mercury air-pump, which in later times has come into use in a perfected form. He has, moreover, arranged a list of experiments, which, as he expresses it, can be made in the winter by means of our Swedish cold. It ought to be observed, that at this time, during the infancy of empiricism, when the newly awakening interest in the investigation of nature raised questions more readily than it solved them by means of practical experiments - the scientist often had to content himself with merely stating the propositions of the investigations which ought and might be made. Thus Lord Bacon has left long lists of questions, and even Newton in his famous questions had to limit himself to inducements and to rules for guidance in experiments which he himself could not perform. Among Swedenborg's experiments and observations may be mentioned his investigations in the rebounding of balls from snow and water, his observations in the capillary phenomena, in specific gravity, in the motion of heat in bodies, as also numerous chemical experiments with salts and metals - observations and experiments the value of which cannot be justly appreciated, if it be not remembered that they were made at a time when experimental chemistry and physics were, so to speak, in their swaddling-clothes. His chrystallographical constructions are in an eminent degree worthy of notice, and according to the authority of the chemist Dumas, they are to be considered as having laid the foundations in this branch of science.

     "In geology we possess a truly classical work by Swedenborg: the treatise on the Altitude of the Water, and the Strong Ebb and Flow in the Ancient World, a masterpiece for its time of sound natural philosophy. His treatises, also, concerning the mountains of Westro-gothia, and concerning stratified or sedimentary mountains generally in and out of Sweden, as also concerning petrifactions, concerning hot springs, and the internal heat of the earth, contain numerous interesting observations and experiments, testifying of his talent for observation, and his sound judgment, particularly in all that concerns water as a geological agent.

The general characteristics of these and all others of Swedenborg's scientific works are a great simplicity of presentation and a completeness and minuteness of description, which, indeed, might have been presupposed with an observer, who afterward, as it were, measured heaven and hell with the surveyor's chain and the compass.

     "After having thus searched through the entire inorganic nature in all its inmost recesses, Swedenborg took a further step upward - (the whole tendency of his mind was an 'excelsior') - in order to study organic nature, and particularly animal organism. A fruit of this study was his great work, the Regnum Animale, which may be regarded as essentially a complete anatomy and physiology of the human body.

     "I cannot permit myself to enter upon any sort of judgment of Swedenborg's writings concerning these subjects; but though many who understand these things better than I, have even there wished to find many proofs of a wonderful intuition concerning relations, which the experience of later times has confirmed, I am forced to agree with Wilkinson's criticism, in his talented biography of Swedenborg, when he in this case characterizes him as 'most grandly superficial,' that is, 'superficial' only in this sense, that he essentially has been a collector and compiler of the investigations of other naturalists, but 'grand' with respect to the immense extent of his learning, and the penetration by which he has known how to combine and draw conclusions. His studies in this field close with a special study of the brain, where in all times the home of the soul has been sought - a study, the realization of which is laid down in a separate and colossal work in four parts.

     "Here, where the investigator stands on the boundary of the spiritual life, the study of nature ends. During a continual ascent, Swedenborg has at last reached the pinnacles of the temple of nature, but his desire of knowing cannot rest there. He wishes to go still higher up, and he becomes a Theosophist; and thus he stands in the history of science like one of those giant Alps, which, resting upon the granite rock, raise their brows above the clouds. But is this then really the end of Swedenborg as a Scientist? Is all then said that can be said of the influence he may have had upon the world of science? This is what is generally supposed, and so it is said. It is said that the year 1743 divides Swedenborg's life into two parts, which have nothing whatever in common, and which, with respect to the end of human life, as well as with respect to its result, only point to opposite phases of human life and thought. According to my opinion, however, the latter part of his life was still more adapted than the former to give to Swedenborg a decided and a great influence upon the development of science. In order to prove this, I must ask for permission (luring a few moments, to lead my hearers in a short journey through the spiritual world in company with Swedenborg.

     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

     "But before we proceed further, it is necessary to give still another glance to the former period. What I have adduced has had regard essentially to Swedenborg as investigator of details, and has emphasized his importance in this respect. But even before the momentous year 1743 he had appeared as a builder of systems on a grand scale in the Natural Sciences. The system which he thus founded takes no account of the attraction which constitutes the very centre of the modern view of nature, neither of the universal attraction which is supposed to condition the gravity of the heavenly bodies, nor of the molecular attraction between the least parts of bodies. According to Swedenborg, the bodies consist of very minute spherical particles, which he calls, not atoms, but bubbles - in Latin 'bullae' - air, water, every particular metal consists of such bubbles, though of various sizes and specific weights, and separated from each other by greater or less inter-spaces which are filled by other particles of still finer character, as of ether, light, heat, and perhaps of yet finer, all of which, as the first mentioned, are in perpetual motion, the principal characteristic of which is spiral, and which has its inmost source in a sort of 'primum mobile,' which in Swedenborg's system, as in that of Newton and of every one else, is that x of which no investigation has as yet been able to discover the true value. The motion between particle and particle Swedenborg calls tremulation, 'quivering,' which again causes those undulations, which produce the phenomena of sound, light, and heat, and which, in fact, are the cause of the impressions upon all of our external senses; for taste, smell, and touch also depend, according to Swedenborg, only upon such undulations. The soul itself, though immortal, is still clothed with an infinitely fine substance, and in consequence being in part also material, it is thus far subjected to geometrical and mechanical laws, and its activity, thus far, also undulatory.

     "As to the heavenly bodies, and in particular the sun, they also are surrounded by that magnetic fluid which on the earth is found in magnetic bodies, and which by their gyrations or whirlings ultimately cause the motions of these heavenly bodies, which so simply and with mathematical preciseness are explained by the law of attraction.

     "It is not to be wondered that such a system could arise after Newton. Some time, indeed, passed before the Newtonian system received recognition on the Continent of Europe. As late as in 1730 the French Academy of Science gave the prize to treatises which were founded on preceding systems of similar character with Swedenborg's, as in 1730 to Johan Bernoulli, divided in 1734 between him and his son Daniel, who was a Newtonian, and in 1740 divided between four 'savants,' one of whom was a Cartesian. Swedenborg's Principia Rerum Naturalium was published in 1734. In every case one must admire the sagacity with which Swedenborg endeavored to prove his theory; and, even if this may not actually belong here, still it is not without a certain interest to find how Swedenborg from his point of view arrived at a similar hypothesis with respect to the origin of our planetary system as that which afterward became so famous under the name of the Kant-Laplacian hypothesis. And in Swedenborg's presentation of his theories of magnetism, and in the very figure by which he tried to represent the supposed spiral movement of the magnetic fluid in the magnet, it is impossible not to see as it were a prototype of Ampere's famous "Solenoid,' that spirally moving galvanic stream by which the great French naturalist tried to represent the magnet.

     "However this may be, it may be said that the immense intellectual work which is concentrated in Swedenborg's Principia is to a great extent lost labor. The Newtonian system became more and more confirmed every day and soon reigned universally, as Newton's authority increased day by day. A century passed before the Newtonian theory of the Light had at last to give place to the undulatory theory; but even if in future the same fate should overtake his theory of attraction - which it is not impossible to imagine, especially as he himself considered this theory only as an empiric hypothesis - still, it is hardly probable that a return would be made to the Swedenborgian views.

The greatest scientific endeavor of our great countryman may thus, perhaps, have been without fruit to contemporary or modern science. Quite different, in my judgment, is the case with his description of the spiritual world.

     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

     "I intend by no means to enter upon an examination as to the reality or non-reality of Swedenborg's spiritual visions or of the entire spirit-world which he has described; but if I thus place myself upon a purely scientific basis, I may also be allowed to consider these visions and this description in a somewhat different light from what is usual or from what the literal expressions may convey. It is difficult for me to imagine the possibility of such a total tearing asunder of the whole activity of the mind of a man as is usual to attribute to Swedenborg from the beginning of his visions, and this so much the less in the case of a person whose soul was developed in an order so unusual. I believe, in common with Locke and Emerson, that when God creates a prophet He does not therefore annihilate the man. I cannot, therefore, believe otherwise than that one has a right to see in Swedenborg's presentation of the conditions of the spiritual world as it were a re-presenting in another form of those ideas which became potent with him in consequence of the intellectual labor of his entire preceding life, and thus to see in his spirit-world, as it were, a painting, in glorified colors, of nature and of human life; and this spiritual world thus becomes significative not only of heaven but also of the earth. Swedenborg's Doctrine of Correspondences, in which he presents the correspondence between the heavenly and the earthly, gives authority to such a view; and in many places in the admirable work on Heaven and Hell which has scared so many by its apparent absurdities, but which is so replete with wisdom to him who enters into the depth of its meaning - he has referred to natural conditions in human life and in nature for the sake of comparison with what he says of the spiritual world.

     "If this basis, then, is taken, one cannot but see an image primarily of human life on earth, but secondarily also of nature, with its genera and species, at the same time with firmness in the idea of species preserved intact but with the possibility of variations, all under the influence of that evolutionary ('evolutive') force represented in Swedenborg by that Divine Influx which pervades all and everything. Such an image is represented in this angelic world of heavenly societies in an infinite number filling the spiritual universe and arranged according to the internal characters, distinguished one from another by the finest shades, yet not without union one with another. In this intimate harmony which the Doctrine of Correspondences establishes between the internal and the external, between the idea of every being and those conditions under which this idea has to exist and become potent, one cannot but read, as it were, the very fundamental principle, the first origin, of the doctrine of natural selection and what is connected therewith. In a word, whether application be made to social conditions or to nature, one cannot but see, as it were, a sketch of that Doctrine of Evolution which in our century has assumed such importance in the investigation of human society and of nature, with this difference, that in Swedenborg the idea itself has a higher signification from the fact that he ultimately derives all evolutionary force from an influx of God.

     "For my Own part, I am convinced that, although externally it may be noticed but little, Swedenborg's ideas in this respect have exercised a by no means insignificant influence on science; and in theology where Swedenborg has received the least acknowledgment, one often meets with tendencies which manifestly betray their origin in Swedenborg's writings.

     "The men of science have in general taken but little notice of Swedenborg and his writings, especially those which would seem to contain but empty fancies. One has almost been ashamed to betray any acquaintanceship with these writings of a visionary.

     "But Buffon, for an example, has manifestly read Swedenborg, and it appears to me that I have seen the same statement with respect to Lamarck. Many another scientist has without doubt also visited Swedenborg, even if, like Nicodemus in the Gospel, this has taken place in the night.

     "But the general opinion and judgment of Swedenborg as a Scientist has changed very much in later times, and his great value in this respect has come to be better seen and acknowledged, and not the least in our days, when a spirit in nature is so ardently sought for, and when the Infinite, with perhaps more imperative demands than ever before, puts its questions before the naturalist, be it that he beholds the Infinite in spaces through the telescope or that he embraces the Infinite in the atom. At any rate, it is certain that Swedenborg's ideas of the signification of forms, of order, series, etc., of a harmonious unity in nature, of influx, or of the power of the idea and of correspondences, have never ceased to pervade the universal consciousness, even if only in portions and in small, unnoticed streamlets; and even this kind of tributaries often find their way to the scientist, serving to irrigate the scientific investigation.

     "In the light of such a quiet and slow influence in the direction which has been described, not in epochmaking discoveries which have astonished the world, are we to recognize Swedenborg's greatest importance to the scientific world, at the same time in the nobility of his purpose, to whom the search for truth without any other motives was the all in all, and who himself so well realized what he placed highest in the heavenly world, namely, the conjunction of the knowledge of the wise with the innocence and simplicity of the child - it is in this that he has given to the scientist and the inquirer an immortal example."
Notes and Reviews 1888

Notes and Reviews 1888

WANTED. - S. Schmidtius's Latin version of the Bible with or without the Hebrew. Address Publishers of the Life.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

DR. WILKINSON has nearly completed another work to be entitled, Oannes, according to Berosus: A Study in the Church of the Ancients.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

MR. WINSLOW, of Copenhagen, Denmark, has again launched forth on the sea of New Church journalism. His new venture, the fourth or fifth, is entitled, Nykirkeligt Sendebud.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE Missionary and Tract Society, London, offer a thousand copies of The Divine Word Opened "to clergymen and ministers of other denominations, on their paying the cost of carriage."
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE New Church Board of Publication has just published a work by the Rev. E. C. Mitchell, on The Parables of the New Testament, Spiritually Unfolded, with an introduction on Scripture Parables: their nature, use, and interpretation.

The Buddhist Ray is a monthly eight-page paper evidently edited by "Philangi Dasa," or some one in all respects like him. It professes to be "devoted to Buddhism in general and to the Buddhism in Swedenborg in particular."
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

As in some of the Homeric combats, the combat between the wine and must men in the columns of Morning Light seems to have centred in the encounter between two champions - the Rev Thomas Child, fighting for wine, and Mr. S. Sutton, for raw grape juice, and Mr. Child, basing himself on Divine revelation and confirming it by ancient authorities, has served Mr. Sutton as Achilles served the Trojans unfortunate enough to meet him.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

Die Neue Kirche, Mr. Artope's paper, assumes among the German-speaking people the position filled among the English and Americans by the New Church Independent and The New Christianity. The issue of January 15th contains a translation of an article from the Independent on the "Characteristic of the Celestial Man," and a summary of Dr. Ellis's work with favorable comments by the editor, who believes that wine must undergo fermentation, but that this must take place in-his stomach.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

A SO-CALLED New Church journal asserts that the idea that God is a man is an "absurdity," for, argues this wonderful paper, if He were a man "He must eat and subsist as man eats and subsists," etc. The idea held by this editor is evidently that God is not a man but that man is God, for he says, "God is our true manhood and womanhood." The one redeeming feature we can see about the paper from which such things are emptied on the world is that it repudiates connection with the LORD'S New Church.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE Rev. J. F. Potts contends that those who believe fermented wine to be a poison and refuse to administer it at communion, while wrong, are at least consistent; but those who, believing fermented wine to be a poison, and also those who believe must to be unsuitable for the Holy Supper and yet let the communicants take their choice of two cups offered, are not, true-hearted New Churchmen. "Look at it in either way you will, in two wines to one bread there is nothing but what is uncharitable, untruthful, unclean, and unworthy of respect."
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

ANOTHER correspondent of Morning Light, arguing for two wines to one bread, contends that if "the heart is in the right place" there can be "no perversion of Divine influx." Suppose a builder with his "heart in the right place," building a church, puts in rotten beams, thinking them to be sound ones? He may be excusable, but the Church will sooner or later fall for all that. A man may "honestly" take poison thinking it to be something else, but the corresponding "influx" is nevertheless into the substance, and the effect is the same as though he took it dishonestly, let us say. The disorderly act of taking must at the communion does not condemn to hell, but it certainly does not aid to heaven.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE New Church Reading Circle, which has heretofore been published monthly at twenty-five cents a year, will in the future be issued quarterly at fifty cents a year, and the size increased from four pages to sixteen pages, making a journal about the size of the Life. The first number of the sixteen-page paper will appear in April. A "large edition" of the Circle has been issued each month for the past two years; hereafter it will be sent to subscribers only. The February number contains as a supplement a sermon by the Rev. L. P. Mercer, "The Function of the New Church." Mr. George H. Doll, who has determined to study for the ministry under Mr. Mercer, has been appointed as "agent" for the paper.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE advocates of must at the Holy Supper lay great stress on the fact that the LORD uses the words, "The fruit of the vine;" they say this "cannot" refer to fermented wine. The Rev. T. Child in his interesting letter to Morning Light (January 14th) quotes from Schaff that "the Jews from time immemorial have used this phrase to designate the wine partaken of on sacred occasions, as at the Passover and on the evening of the Sabbath." Mr. Child then quotes from ancient Jewish authorities passages proving beyond question that by the "fruit of the vine" was meant fermented wine. One will suffice: "To meet the objection, 'How can intoxication be hindered?' the Rabbi replied, 'Because wine between eating does not intoxicate a man.'" (Hiero's Talmud.) The fact is, that there is no longer any question as to the kind of wine - fruit of the vine - that the LORD commands to be used at the Holy Supper. The only question now is: Will the men of the New Church follow the LORD or modern fanatics?
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IN the February number of Harper's is an article on Socialism in London. The writer, describing a Sunday in Victoria Park, says that the stroller may listen, if he chooses, to harangues on "Malthusianism, atheism, agnosticism, secularism, Calvinism, socialism, anarchy, salvationism, Darwinism, and even, in exceptional cases, Swedenborgianism and Mormonism. . . . the Swedenborgian, a humoristic old fellow, asks us if we are foolish enough to believe in the literal meaning of the Bible, and if we do not understand that behind the text there is a mysterious and profound sense; then, with an air of pity, he concludes that the Word of God does not manifest itself to the vulgar." There is a barb of truth in this; too many who set out to "spread the truth" confine themselves to holding forth on the fact of the existence of an internal sense and are as averse to receiving the vital truths themselves almost as is the London mob - in some cases more so, perhaps.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

SOME time ago there appeared a rather warm article in a semi-New Church prohibition paper in which the writer grows highly indignant because in the published reports of the last meeting of the General Church of Pennsylvania it was stated that the ministers wore their robes when the Communion was administered; he thinks the fact itself was sad enough "to a humble and devout mind," but the publishing of it was "sadder still," and in this he rather amusingly lets his readers see that, in his opinion, doing a thing is not so bad as being found out at it. He also takes the New Church journals to task because they have not condemned the wearing of the robes, which custom, he says, "is plainly in conflict with the whole spirit and teachings of the Doctrines of heaven." One of the customs of certain reasoners is to put forth the point on which they reason as an accepted truth, as this writer has done. If he can prove that the wearing of robes is in conflict with the Doctrines, we feel safe in asserting that the ministers of the General Church will no longer wear them; but merely to say that it is "plainly in conflict" proves nothing.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

The Christian Union (temperance), has this among other things to say of Dr. Ellis's book: "No small part of the volume is occupied with the attempt to show that Swedenborg, who died in 1772, held what is now known as the two-wine theory; but in the multitude of quotations, expounded with intense anxiety, we do not find a single sentence which clearly implies that Swedenborg ever dreamed of the notion that in ancient times the good man's wine was the unfermented juice of the grape. That notion was not ushered into the world until after 1830, and had its birth in America." "Dr. Ellis's volume presents an indiscriminate gathering of what is, for the largest part, rubbish from well-known two-wine books." "The rich, unintoxicating wine which Dr. Nott, Dr. Patton, and others found described in the Odyssey is admired anew by Dr. Ellis, who, like his predecessors, has avoided the trouble of reading on a little further and discovering that this luscious unfermented juice of the grapes laid the cyclops prostrate on the floor of his cavern, vomiting in his inebriation and in a condition to have his eye bored out by Ulysses." The more light there is thrown on the "two-wine" theory the more preposterous it appears. As a cloak, its day has about passed.

Title Unspecified 1888

     "FLANEUR" of The Dawn, is horrified at the robes worn by the ministers of the General Church of Pennsylvania, and shows the iniquity of such robes to his own entire satisfaction, after which he proceeds to commend a new "order" which it seems certain women of America have started under the name of "The King's Daughters," and describes with relish the "royal color" and ribbons and crosses which the "King's Daughters" have adopted, and concludes, "I commend this order to the attention of the leaders of the New Church Army." Well! Well!

     By the way, does the "New Church Army" follow its notorious model the Salvation Army, in the way of naming its members, "Circus Sam," "Shouting Sal," etc.?

     Again, "Flaneur " - we really admire the name - instructs The Dawn's readers by giving them what an Old Church preacher has to say on "the uses of an enemy." "Always keep an enemy on hand," etc., begins "Flaneur" or the Old Churchman - there are no quotation marks used. Having edified his readers on the fine things to be had from enemies Flaneur turns to another Old Churchman for instruction. Here is a little of the pabulum dealt out: "There are some preachers who cut down the tree of life and deal it out in dry planks, sometimes even present hard knots and sawdust," etc. "A pure stream of water dries as it runs if not fed by side currents." This latter probably accounts for Flaneur's fondness for attempting to turn into the pure stream of the New Church little rivulets from the Old - Dr. Sampson's nonsense and others.
Communicated 1888

Communicated 1888

PROVIDENCE WATCHING OVER GENERATION D 1888

     EDITORS NEW CHURCH LIFE:- I was much pleased with the article in the January number on "Prudence in the Marriage Relation." The people need instruction on this more than any subject in the world. You say that the bearing of children is "the most excellent of uses," and if, with this in mind, man will confidently proceed in the path of duty, the LORD will care for results. Now, the skeptic will answer by pointing to instances where this does not seem to be the case. Apparently very good people live together as husband and wife should and have a large progeny, and often suffer the most terrible want and their children endure privations, and are not reared as children should be; and this, too, even while the parents are industrious and economical, and do the best they can. This is a fact which often engenders doubt in the timid and uninstructed soul, and which is sometimes referred to with great force by the skeptic. Will you please answer this objection from the Writings? It is said that Swedenborg's grandfather was firm in his belief that the Divine Providence would care for the little ones who came into the world, and that he often thanked his children for his daily food, believing that the LORD sent it on their account.                D.

     ANSWER.

     THE "skeptic," of whom "D." writes, and who, from his home in the nether part of the spiritual world, infests "the timid and uninstructed soul" of the New Church, is described in the Writings as "the worshiper of himself and nature." Of him it is written that he "confirms himself against the Divine Providence, when he sees the impious exalted to honors and becoming great men and leaders, also abounding in wealth and living in elegance and magnificence, and sees the worshipers of God in contempt and poverty." (D. P. 250.) The Work from which this is quoted will abundantly satisfy him who worships the LORD that the very poverty in which men live, is permitted for the very best of ends, and is by no means an indication that when they have been "doing the best they can," they have been doing wrong, or not as well as they should have done.

     From "D.'s" guarded putting of the case it may be concluded that he himself mistrusted the accuracy of the report concerning the condition of a family who are earnestly striving to live the life of charity. He admits that "apparently" their case is so. Appearances are misleading. The LORD'S Word is not. The LORD saith: "I have not seen the just forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." He who is "just," who in all that he does "first seeks the kingdom of God and its justice," has "all these things - raiment and food - added unto him." That he may be poor is freely granted. But poverty is not want. It may include times of want, but these, like the general state of poverty, are permitted by the LORD for the same end for which He gives the blessing of many children: for the growth of heavenly states and for the increase of heaven. (See A. C. 8762.)

     Only one who denies that the Divine Providence is in single, yea, in the most singular of all things of man's life (A. C. 1919, 2694, 4329, 5122, 5894; D. P. 166, 177, et al.) can doubt and deny that this Providence watches over the birth and growth of every single infant and cares for it and sends it everything needful. The principle to be established is that the marriage act is a true, and good, an orderly and a necessary one; and that on the other hand to tamper with it in any way is evil, disorderly, unnecessary, profane, and sacrilegious. The horrible lengths to which consorts will go to prevent conception has been from time to time shown by the few sincere physicians that still exist, notably by Dr. Goodell, of the Pennsylvania University, in a lecture published recently in Progress. He has there shown how they sin against their physical well-being. New Churchmen ought to know how they sin against the LORD and against heaven when they try to prevent conception. They pollute a Divine institution. They inwardly deny the Providence of the LORD. They close heaven to themselves and prevent the increase of heaven. -EDITORS.]
new method of conducting our subscription list 1888

new method of conducting our subscription list 1888

As some of our subscribers do not seem to understand the new method of conducting our subscription list, we will call attention to the matter again. Each subscriber's name is now printed, and after the name comes the date to which his or her subscription is paid; thus "Jan. 88" appended to a name means that the subscription is paid to the first of the current year, and that, consequently, the subscription of that year is still due. We no longer send out bills, as the date on the wrapper is a sufficient reminder, nor send receipts, as the change of the date after receipt of money is all that is necessary.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IT sounds rather strange, such a prayer as this, coming from the lips of a New Churchman: "O our God! hear the prayer of Thy servant and his supplications, and cause Thy face to shine upon Thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the LORD'S sake." We cannot conceive that Mr. Mercer actually prays to one God for the sake of another, but what can have been in his mind when he recommended this the first in a series of prayers, to the Chicago Society and the Illinois Association? See Supplement to New Church Reading Circle, p. 7.

NEWS GLEANINGS 1888

NEWS GLEANINGS Various 1888

NEW CHURCH LIFE.

A MONTHLY JOURNAL.

TERMS:- One Dollar per annum, payable in advance.
Six months on trial for twenty-five cents.

     All communications must be addressed to Publishers New Church Life, No. 759 Corinthian Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa.

     In Great Britain subscriptions may be sent to

     MR. S. WARREN POTTS, Book Steward, 61 Cathedral Street, Glasgow, Scotland.

     REV. R. J. TILSON, "Oakley," County Grove, Camberwell, London S. E.

     MR. G. A. MCQUEEN, Crowhurst Road, Colchester.

     MR. JAS. CALDWELL, 35 Diana Street, Walton, Liverpool.

     MR. C. E. SCHROEDER, 13 Ashfield Terrace, Newcastle-on-Tyne.

     MISS FLORENCE G. GIBBS, 6 Camden Square, London, N.

     PHILADELPHIA, MARCH, 1888=118.

     CONTENTS.

     Editorial Notes, p. 33. -The Watchman (a Sermon), p. 34. -Conversations on Education, p. 37. -Achatius Kahl, p. 37. -"Protest Meeting," p. 38. -The Lust of "Spiritual Dominion," p. 39.

     Two Hundredth Anniversary of Swedenborg's Birthday, p. 39. -The Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, p. 40. -The Celebration in Sweden, p. 41.
     Emanuel Swedenborg, p. 42.
     Notes and Reviews, p. 45.
     Providence Watching over Generation, p. 47.
     News Gleanings, p. 48. -Births, Marriages, and Deaths, p. 48.
     AT HOME.

     Pennsylvania.-AT the regular monthly tea-meeting of the Society of the Advent, Friday, February 10th, a two act comedy, "The Malthusian," written by one of the members, was acted. The characters were taken by members of the Society's Young People's Club.

     New York.- On Tuesday evening, February 21st, the First German Society of Brooklyn, E. D., held their annual reception. All the young people connected with the Society were present and also many of the older folks, besides several visitors from other Societies. This Society is remarkable for the musical talent of its members. The dancing was interspersed with several very enjoyable selections. Wine and cake were passed around during the evening. The occasion was one of great happiness to all.

     Washington, D. C.- SINCE Mr. Daniels's withdrawal from the Washington Society the Rev. Messrs. W. L. Worcester, of Philadelphia; Thos. A. King, of Baltimore, and S. H. Spencer, of Philadelphia, have preached to the Society, and lay readers conducted the services on Sundays when no minister filled the pulpit.

     Maryland.- THE Baltimore Society regards the outlook as "bright and encouraging." The congregations are good, and several new members have been received, among them the Rev. A. B. Dolby, for twenty-four years a Methodist minister. He was baptized into the New Church a short time ago. The Society is working to pay off its debt, which is now in manageable shape.

     THE Baltimore German Sunday-school (Rev. Mr. Faber) sent eleven dollars and sixty-one cents to the Orphanage in February.

     THE will of the late Emily J. Smith bequeaths $17,000 to various New Church organizations. The Baltimore Society gets $5,000 in cash, and a similar amount after the expiration of a certain life estate. The Rev. Thos. A. King gets $500; Urbana, $1,000; the Washington Society, $1,000; Baltimore Society's Sunday- school, $500; Board of Publication, $1,000; the Tract and Publication Society, Philadelphia, $500; Swedenborg Memorial Fund, $1,000; Board of Missions, $1,000; Convention's Theological School, 1,000, and Urbana, $1,000.

     THE Rev. Jabez Fox has been doing missionary work on the "Eastern Shore." At Preston the Methodists became aroused, and threatened - or their minister did - to "boycott" a firm that allowed the use of their hall for the meetings.

     Ohio.- THE Rev. Messrs. Frost and Cabell, of Detroit and Cleveland respectively, recently exchanged pulpits for one Sunday. The Society in and about Cleveland does not grow very fast, it is said.

     THE Greenford, O., Society sent five dollars to the Orphanage in January.

     Indiana.- ON the 12th of January the Rev. L. P. Mercer dedicated a church building in Kokomo, which was erected with money furnished by Mr. Lewis Defenbaugh, a New Churchman of Kansas, lately deceased. The building is of brick, and cost thirty thousand dollars. The first floor is used for stores, the income of which is to be devoted to supporting the church and library. The main room is a hall, and is to be let for all proper public purposes; it is 35x75 feet, and will seat five hundred people.

     Michigan.-THE Detroit Society is out of debt, and has one hundred and fifty- five dollars on the right side of the ledger; it is hoped to buy a fifteen hundred dollar organ in the next six months.

     Missouri.- SINCE the resignation of the Rev. S. C. Eby, the St. Louis Society has been without a pastor. The Rev. T. F. Houts preaches on alternate Sundays. It is hoped that a regular pastor will be engaged next fall. The Society is out of debt, and is said to be in a flourishing condition.

     Texas.- THE Rev. Gustave Reiche, acting as the missionary of the Board of Home and Foreign Missions, has been preaching very acceptably to the Galveston Society since November 5th.

     Tennessee.- A SOCIETY has been formed at Ridgeville, Chattanooga, near the battlefield of Missionary Ridge. The Rev. J. P. Smith officiates for this Society, and also for the Chattanooga Society.

     Georgia.- THE Rev. J. E. Smith has been doing missionary work in Georgia and Florida. The Rev. Jabez Fox will succeed him in the months of March and April.

     California.- THERE are at present, according to The New Church Pacific, ten New Church organizations on the Pacific slope, namely: the San Francisco First Society (O'Farrell St.), the San Francisco Society, (Sutter St.), the San Diego Society, the Riverside Society, the Oakland Society, the Portland (Oregon) Society, the Ballston (Oregon) Society, the Alameda Society, the Oakland New Church Association, and the Berkley Circle.

     Canada.- THE Parkdale Society held its annual meeting on January 4th. The trustees reported that they had purchased a desirable lot, and it was expected that steps would soon be taken to erect a parsonage, the lower part of which will be used for services and meetings of the Society until it will be in shape to put up a suitable house of worship.

     THE Hamilton Society held its annual meeting on January 9th. The average attendance at worship during the year past was about nineteen.

     ABROAD.

     Great Britain.- The Bi-Centenary of the birth of Emanuel Swedenborg was celebrated by the friends, in Heywood, on the eighth of February, when a public meeting was held in the Church. The meeting was presided over by the Rev. Rd. Storry, President-elect of Conference, and addressed by the Rev. W. Westall, of Middleton; the Rev. C. H. Wilkins, of Manchester, and the Rev. P. Ramage, of Radcliffe.

     THE Failsworth Society has determined to devote their entire present premises to school purposes, and erect an entirely new edifice for worship.

     AN association of Lancashire ministers has been formed, meetings of which will be held every alternate month.

     France.- THE Church property in Paris has been given in trust by Mr. Charles Humann, its owner and builder, to the General Convention of the New Church in America, with the proviso that the bequest shall be revoked should the laws of France hereafter be changed so that the property can be given to some French association of the same faith. The property cost about fifty thousand dollars, which was paid by M. and Mme. Humann, in addition to the regular expenses of maintaining services.

     THE Rev. J. R. Hibbard holds services, conducted in English, in his apartments every Sunday morning - attendance about twelve. Every Thursday evening a Reading Circle meets at one of the apartments of the English-speaking New Churchmen of Paris.

Australia.- THE New Church of Australia as one body is represented by the "Conference of the New Church in Australia," composed of four Societies, i. e., Adelaide, of fifty-three members; Melbourne, of eighty-two members; Brisbane, of Seventy members, and Sidney, of eighty-five members. There is also a small Society at Aukland, New Zealand, of a dozen members. The total number of New Churchmen in Australia is estimated at fourteen hundred. "The cause of temperance is regarded by the New Church in Australia as of great importance," and the Rev. J. J. Thornton says: "The public press is unfavorable, and is rather devoted to advocating Unitarian theology." The Conference publishes a monthly journal under the title of The New Age.
ERRATA 1888

ERRATA 1888

Page 20, second column, fourth line from bottom, before "with thought" insert "synonymous."
Last line, for "his" read "this." [Corrected In the electronic text.]

EDITORIAL NOTES 1888

EDITORIAL NOTES Editor 1888

NEW CHURCH LIFE.

Vol. VIII.     PHILADELPHIA, APRIL, 1888=118.          No. 4.
     IN reply to our last month's note, the Rev. A. F. Frost writes: "After Swedenborg has said that the Last Judgment was fully accomplished at the end of the year 1757, to then ask to be told when it ceased, is to transfer the question from the great event itself to some of its continuous effects, results, and consequences, which are mentioned in the True Christian Religion, n. 123, Apocalypse Explained, n. 624, and many other places. Thereby you also nullify all Swedenborg says in Continuation Concerning the Last Judgment, n. 8-13, on the state of the world and Church before and after the Last Judgment, which seems to be the prime object you have in view. The Last Judgment then ceased in 1757, but its results in heaven, hell, world of spirits, and church still continue. The war ceased in 1865, but the effects of the contest are still felt."

      "After Swedenborg has said that the Last Judgment was fully accomplished at the end of the year 1757, to then ask to be told when it ceased," is to ask of those who believe and teach that in consequence of the accomplishment of the Last Judgment the Old Church has not come to its end, but has assumed a new form, in which it appears as the external or General Church, of which the New Church is the heart and lungs - what Swedenborg means by the teaching in the True Christian Religion, n. 123, and the Apocalypse Explained, n. 624. If our correspondent is unable to answer the question, or does not wish to answer it, let him say so, but let him not try his hand at framing questions for us. What he says about the great event itself, and some of its continuous effects, results, and consequences, however true, is not to the point. Our correspondent's observation as to what "seems to be the prime object we have in view" is either a confession of weakness or it is an iniquity. He knows that we do not propose to "nullify all [or any thing] that Swedenborg says in Continuation Concerning the Last Judgment, n. 8-13."

     Our question has not been answered.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

     OUR report of the meeting of the New York Association throws more light upon the position of this body to the General Pastorate, and as it is the prime mover in an effort to alter the Convention's Constitution so as to meet its peculiar "needs," a view of the merits in the case, from this source, will be useful. The meeting has not shown much respect for the office of General Pastor, and yet its usefulness seems to be acknowledged in an obscure - although a very obscure - manner.

     A "head" is wanted. Yet what kind of a head? One that has no control over the most important constituent organisms of the body; one that will "not interfere with the larger societies." By implication he is supposed to "interfere" with those luckless societies which have no minister. This may be democratic justice: it would not be considered priestly justice. A head that "interferes" in an odious sense in any matter is not worth having. But if confidence can be placed in his dealings with societies which have no Pastor, ought not still greater confidence be placed in his dealings with the larger, older, and wiser societies?

     The Church will grow but poorly where her members, associated together for common uses, have no confidence in one another.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IF the recognized head of an association is to have nothing whatever to do with the larger societies, where in the human economy is their position? Will not the association remain a monstrosity, emphasizing its deformity by adding an impotent head?
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE New York Association place themselves in an awkward position. By their "champion in the Convention" they assured the Detroit meeting that they are "loyal members of the Convention, and want to abide by its Constitution." This Constitution declares that "there must be rulers to keep associations of men in order, who should be skilled in the laws, wise, and fearing God. There must also be order among the rulers, lest any, from caprice or inexperience, should permit evils against order, and so destroy it; which is guarded against when there are higher and lower rulers, among whom there is subordination. Rulers over the things among men which relate to heaven, or over ecclesiastical affairs, are called priests, and their office the priesthood." (Article V.)

The duty of "loyal members" is plain. Pastors of Societies, be these large or small, must be in subordination to the General Pastor of the Association, or else they violate the Constitution.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IN spite of the emphatic protest of the New York Association against a "prelacy," against "ecclesiasticism" and the like, there appears to be an undercurrent of conviction that the ceremony of investing a minister with the office of General Pastor does clothe him with greater authority in the eyes of his Association, and produces an effect upon him which redounds to the benefit of the Association. Else, why this ado about having their presiding minister clothed with the office? The argument advanced at the meeting is that the presiding minister ought to be the head of the Association, and that, to this end, he must be a General Pastor. The discussion permits us to frame this as the New York Association's definition of its "head:" "One who presides at its general meetings, and in the interim looks after the smaller societies and isolated receivers." The past history of the Association shows that this can be done by a minister without especial powers. The question of ordination and of authorization of candidates was not mooted - presumably from fear of opening the floodgates of eloquence with those who hold that it is not necessary for "ministers of the Gospel to be empowered and upheld by the ministry." Yet they are the only functions which, in the estimation of New York, would be added to the present incumbent of the President's chair.

Title Unspecified 1888

THE "land and labor" question has of late occupied considerable attention in certain quarters of the New Church. Those who defend Henry George's theory that land should be made common property, and the rent, dependent upon the economic value of the land, be paid to the government in the form of a tax, all other taxes being abolished - rest little or none of their argument upon What even purports to be New Church doctrine. After witnessing the foothold which other notions originating in the Old Church have obtained in the New Church, it is not surprising to see that the "Progress and Poverty" vagary should also find warm defenders.

The value of their specious arguments is manifest from the worthlessness of the basis upon which they rest, which is none other than the assumption that poverty is a curse, that it is an evil and the source of evil. That this assumption is erroneous ought to be clear to every New Churchman. (D. P. 250; H. H. 364.) Yet there are those who accept it as true, and, so accepting it, look forward to the amelioration of the human race by the equal distribution of wealth. Such a measure would fall under the category of other modern "reforms" which attempt to make man better by external means, and would prove as fruitless. But even aside from this, the George theory is opposed to the teaching that Providence gives possessions to man to hold as if they were absolutely his own, although they are all for the common good.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IT is a common idea, one regarded as a truism by many people, that education prevents crime. True instruction and education, such as the New Church Schools can or ought to give, no doubt does much to lead men to shun their evils, but even this must respect their freedom. But "education," as it is commonly given in public and private schools, seems rather, if anything, to foster crime. The cause of this is very apparent. The child is simply taught certain sciences and that is all. His natural evils are only checked for the sake of order, and being left alone they make use of the sciences he is taught. Our attention was called recently to an article in the Journal of Industrial Education in which are some figures forcibly emphasizing the importance of something more than mere "education" as it is in the schools of the world. The writer of the article, Mr. Ethelbert Stewart, takes the statistics of the Eastern Penitentiary of Pennsylvania, and shows that of the five hundred and fifty-two convicts received in 1886, not less than four hundred and seventy-seven had a fair common-school education. He also shows, and this explodes another very popular fallacy, that of this number, one hundred and four were "total abstainers." In 1885 there were received five hundred and Sixty-four convicts, of whom five hundred and fifteen had been Sunday scholars and ninety- nine were total abstainers. Taking these figures and keeping in mind the comparatively small number of total abstainers in the country, it will be seen that, if the reasoning be correct on which is based the conclusion that drink occasions crime, it would follow that total abstinence is far more provocative of crime than liquor. Between the years 1876 and 1885 there were one thousand and sixty-nine convicts received under the age of twenty-one, and of these eight hundred and sixty-four had received a common-school education. Of the one thousand four hundred and ninety-four convicts in the Joliet Penitentiary, Illinois, one thousand and eighty-seven had received a common-school education, and one hundred and twenty-seven were college graduates; four hundred and thirteen were "intemperate," and three hundred and seventeen were "total abstinence" men.
CONSUMMATION OF THE CHURCH 1888

CONSUMMATION OF THE CHURCH Rev. ANDREW CZERNY 1888

     "And Jesus went into Jerusalem, and into the Temple, and having looked around upon all things, now that the hour was late, He went to Bethany with the twelve"- Mark xi, 11.

     WE are taught in the Writings that the LORD never establishes a New Church until the former Church is wholly consummated, so that no truths or goods are remaining in it. Such was the case with the Jewish Church when the LORD came into the world, and such is the case now with the Christian Church. The Christian Church, like the Churches preceding it, passed through successive states of declension, as to faith and love, to its last end, which is a state of no love and of no light; which state is called in the Word its "night." In such a night all the Churches that have existed upon the earth have perished. "The reason of this is because evils increase every day, and so far as they increase, so far one infects another like a contagion, especially parents their children; besides that, hereditary evils are successively concentrated, and thus transmitted." (A. C. 10,134.)

     When the Church has, by such successive accumulation of evils, wholly been destroyed, so that no truth remains but what is falsified, then the LORD effects a Coming of the Divine Truth in some new form. Our text treats of the LORD as the Divine Truth. He came as the Divine Truth to teach men the laws of the Divine Order, and to establish a New Church of those who could be saved from the falses and evils of the consummated Church. But before a new Church can be established a judgment must take place, and before a judgment can be effected the state of the Church must be explored. This process is fully described in the Internal Sense of the Apocalypse, which in general is this: That when the Church has arrived at its consummation, the judgment begins; the heavens are first arranged into order, and then a powerful influx is directed into the world of spirits, by which the states of all who are collected there are revealed. Then the separation between the good and the evil begins. From the good is formed a new heaven, from which the new Church is to descend; and from the evil a new hell is formed, which remains forever separated from the new Heaven.

     When the LORD was on earth the Jewish Church was consummated, and the LORD had come to effect a judgment upon that Church. He had come to explore the Church as to its quality, and when He found what its quality was, He left it, and went to the Gentiles. The exploration of the Church at the consummation of the age, and the transference of the Church to the Gentiles is described by the words of our text: "And JESUS went into the Temple, and having looked around upon all things, now that the hour was late, He went to Bethany with the twelve."

     "Jerusalem" is the Church; the "Temple," the internal Church as to its worship; and the LORD "went into Jerusalem and into the Temple," to see what the quality of the Church and of its worship was; and as "the hour was late," that is, as the Church was at its end, "He went to Bethany with the twelve," which describes the transferring of all the goods and truths, signified by "the twelve," to the Gentiles. But it must be observed that it is only in appearance that the LORD departs from the Church. It is the evil who separate themselves from Him. He never leaves man, but when the Church does no longer afford a habitation for His Divine Good and Truth, He provides that these be transferred to those who are willing to have the LORD dwell with them. That the state of the Christian Church at the present day is such that the LORD cannot possibly be with that Church, has been revealed at the Last Judgment, as recorded in the Writings of the Church.

From numerous statements in the Writings, of which the following is one, we learn that in the Christian world the Church is so completely consummated that no vestige of the Church remains; for the Church has wholly lost the knowledge of what is good and true; evils have so corrupted the will of men, and falses so darkened their understanding, that they are no longer able to distinguish between what is Holy and what is prophane; thus they have wholly removed themselves from the LORD. We read:

     "Those who are in the interior of the Church adore the Divine Human; but those who are in its exteriors, that is, those who are in faith separate from charity, are the farthest possible from adoration; which is a necessary consequence of such a faith; because the LORD is present in charity, and in faith only through charity, for charity is the conjoining medium . . . . That those who are in faith separate from charity do not in the least adore the LORD'S HUMAN, was manifested to me by spirits of this character from the Christian world, who came into the other life, with several of whom I have discoursed; - for in that life the heart speaks and not the mouth as in the world; the thoughts of every one are there communicated much more openly than by any speech in the world, nor is it there allowed to speak otherwise than as one thinks, thus as he believes. Many of those who have even preached the LORD in the world, there altogether deny Him; and when it is inquired from what end, or from what cause they preached Him, and paid Him holy adoration in the external form, it is found that they did so because it was enjoined them from their office, and because they gained honor and wealth thereby. Those, also, who have not preached but yet confessed Him, did so because they were born in the Church, and because they would lose their reputation if they spake against religion. Not even one from the Christian world knew that His Human is Divine; and scarcely any one, that He governs heaven and the universe; still less, that His Divine is the all in heaven." (A. C. 4689.)

     The consequences of the separation of faith from charity are described in the latter portion of the same paragraph, from which it is evident that a separation of these two essentials of the Church brings utter darkness and ruin upon the Church. We read: "That faith is at this day separated from charity is evident; for Churches separate themselves according to their dogmas, and he who believes otherwise than as the dogma teaches is excommunicated and defamed; while, on the other hand, one may be guilty of theft, may deprive others of their possessions (if he does not do so openly), may devise treacherous purposes against his neighbor, may bring disgrace upon the works of charity, and may be guilty of adultery, - such a one is still called a Christian, provided he only frequent holy worship and speak from doctrine." (A. C. 4689.)

     Such, we are taught, is the Church at the present day. Hence, when the LORD at His Second Coming "went into Jerusalem and into the Temple, and when He had looked around upon all things," He found that the words of the Prophet were fulfilled where he says: "My House, which is called My Name, is become a den of robbers. Behold, ye trust to yourselves upon the words of a lie that cannot profit. Will they steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear to a lie, and burn incense unto Baal, and go after other gods whom they know not, and then come and stand before Me, in this House, upon which My Name is called, and say, 'we are delivered,' while they do all these abominations?"

     It has become "late," - the Church is at its end when such an "abomination of desolation" exists. And all this has sprung from a denial of the LORD; a denial of the Divinity of His Humanity, and from a separation of faith from charity; and as these constitute the essentials of a Church, the Church does not exist where these are rejected.

     "When the Son of Man cometh shall He find faith upon the earth?" When the LORD came, He found, that not one from the Christian world knew that He was God in the Human. He found that "the idea of God as a man, which is engrafted from heaven in every nation throughout the whole earth, is destroyed in Christendom." (A. E. 1097.)

     In the Arcana we are taught that the reason that "those who are not regenerated say that faith is the essential of the Church, is because then they can live as they please, and still say that they have hope of salvation. Hence, also, at this day, charity has so disappeared that scarcely any one knows what it is, consequently, also faith, for the one is not given without the other. If charity were in the first place, and faith in the second, the Church would have another face, for then none would be called Christians but they who lived according to the truths of faith, which is a life of charity." (A. C. 6269.) Hence, when the Church rejects charity, i. e., a life according to the precepts of the Decalogue - when it ceases to shun evils as sins against God, falsifies the truths of faith and uses them to justify an evil life - then the hour is late, and the LORD goes to Bethany with the twelve. He transfers His goods and truths, i. e., His Church, to those who place life in the first place, and who seek the truths of faith in order that they may do the good of charity, that their life may be acceptable to the LORD. And they are in general the Gentiles, and not only they, but also those who are in the Church, but not of the Church. These and those are despised and rejected by the Church, because they do not embrace the mysteries of a consummated faith. (A. R. 325.) These were chosen by the LORD when the Church was rejected, when the words: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin, were written on its wall; for God has numbered and has finished her; she was weighed and was found wanting; therefore she was left to those who have a contempt for the goods and truths of the Church; and the LORD "went to Bethany with the twelve."

     "Bethany" signifies "the House of the Afflicted." It was the village where Simon the Leper," and "Lazarus," the brother of Mary and Martha, lived. It represents the state of those who have still some remains of good, but who are infested by the evils and falses surrounding them. All those who are in such a state are represented either by "Simon the Leper" or by "Lazarus." "Simon the Leper" represents those who from ignorance prophane the truths of the Church; and "Lazarus" represents the Gentiles; that he was "a beggar and full of sores," represents that the Gentiles are in ignorance of the truth and in many falsities: in other words, "Simon" represents those who are in the Church but not of the Church; and Lazarus represents those without the Church. That those in the Christian Church are represented by "Simon the Leper" is because they have imbibed the falses of the Church, and have been infected by the sphere of prophanation prevailing in the Christian Church; and as they are in ignorance of the genuine truths of faith, they could not but misapply what truths they had from the Word. But they are in a salvable state because their prophanation was of an external kind, and sprang from ignorance.

They seek the truth and are willing to obey it, which is expressed by the name "Simon," derived from (Heb.), which means "to hear," thus, to obey. All in the Christian Church who desire the truth but are in ignorance of it are in such a state. They are in a receptive state; in a state similar to that of the Gentiles.

     But unless the LORD had come again, no flesh could have been saved; for even the Remnant of the Church from whom the New Church is to be established before it can be transferred to the Gentiles, are in "Bethany," in the House of the Afflicted; and they are leprous, i. e., they are infected by the sphere of prophanation by which they are surrounded, and this leprosy would have spread and consumed all the remains of good within them had not the LORD come before the full consummation of the Church, and brought the Church to its end.

      That the LORD has left the Christian Church and has established a New Church, where alone He is acknowledged and worshiped, is a Doctrine not yet fully understood, or if understood in the Church, not carried out in practice. For few there seem to be who are thoroughly convinced of the utter corruption of the Christian Church and of the danger there is in associating with its votaries. Few there seem to be who are aware that it is infected with every form of leprosy, and that one cannot associate with it without peril to his soul.

     It was because of the representation of "leprosy," that among the Israelites all who were infected with it were removed from the Camp; because it is a spiritual law that things holy and things prophane should not be together. Everything that was unclean had to be removed from the Camp, because the Ark of the Testimony was there. Hence also on a time when the whole people of Israel fell into open prophanation, "Moses took the Tabernacle and pitched it without the Camp, afar off from the Camp." So the New Church, to whom the LORD has intrusted the Ark of the Testimony, should have no intercourse, either spiritual or social, with the members of the Old, from which the LORD has removed the Ark, lest its contagion invade the New Camp also, and spread and consume it. "Take heed to thyself, lest peradventure thou establish a covenant with the inhabitant of the land, and thou commit whoredom after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and he call thee and thou eatest of his sacrifice, and thou takest of his daughters for thy sons, and his daughters commit whoredom after their gods, and make thy sons commit whoredom after them." For associating with those who are grounded in the faith and life of a consummated Church, cannot but be destructive of the faith and life of the New, because of the seductive influences emanating from the former.

     By such association friendships are contracted; and friendship is conjunction - and conjunction between those who have been led to the truths and goods of the
New Church, and those who are imbued with the falses and thence evils of the Old, will in the end lead to prophanation. They imperil their spiritual life, because they do not heed the warning of the LORD when He says: "Take heed to thyself, lest peradventure thou establish a covenant with the inhabitant of the land." The Writings are explicit on this subject; so is the Word; and the LORD Himself when on earth showed us what He requires of those who would be of His Church: for "JESUS went into Jerusalem, and into the Temple, and having looked around upon all things, now that the hour was late, He went to Bethany with the twelve."
CONVERSATIONS ON EDUCATION 1888

CONVERSATIONS ON EDUCATION 1888

     APPLICATION.

     [Continued.]

     OBEDIENCE to parents and teachers, as we have seen, is the first means of opening the mind of a child to instruction in matters of natural and spiritual science. By means of sciences thus introduced the thinking faculty is formed, and Rationality, without which there can be no Liberty, begins to come into actual existence. There are two lives in man: the life of the spirit and the life of the body. These two lives are to be made concordant and correspondent; and they are concordant and correspondent when the spiritual life rules, and the natural life obeys and serves. When this state exists, man is regenerate and truly lives a man, in the image and according to the likeness of the LORD. Instruction in natural and spiritual sciences has, therefore, no living value apart from its service in effecting the work of regeneration, and because the mind of the child is opened to instruction by obedience, it is evident that the state of obedience conditions not only the first formation of Rationality and Liberty, but also every successive state of human regeneration and eternal life. This being so, it is of great moment to know how the things of spiritual life obtain access to the natural life so as to obtain rule over them.

     The rational faculty, like every other part of the mind, is constituted of affections and of thoughts. In the course of its formation, this faculty is actuated by affections which cause the various sciences and knowledges of instruction to be received, and induce thinking and reasoning. These affections, taken together, are called "the good of the rational." (A. C. 2702.) Now, inasmuch as the delight of obedience, of which we have before spoken, by continuance induces the habit of obedience, it will also by accumulation of delights gradually form the affection of obedience, as an internal and moving principle in the affection of science and knowledge. Such a condition once established, it is clear that whenever a scientific truth that has been learnt and stored up in the memory so affects the mind that the child begins to think about it, to reflect upon it, and finally makes it a principle of reason, or a reason for speech or action, there will take place a conjunction of that truth with "good in the rational." (A. C. 3108.) And this good or affection in the rational will open it to the influx of what is spiritual, and when the reason becomes a word or an act, that influx will be received in the rational in which the word or the act takes form and gains existence.

     In Arcana Coelestia we are taught:

     "Man is so created that the spiritual and natural things, that is, his spiritual and natural man, should concord, or make a one; but in his case the spiritual man ought to dispose all things in the natural, and the natural ought to obey as a servant his master. But by the fall the natural man began to exalt himself above the spiritual, and so inverted the very Divine Order; and in consequence the natural man separated himself from the spiritual, and had no more spiritual things than could enter, as it were, through chinks, and give him the faculty of thinking and speaking. But in order that spiritual things might again inflow into the natural man, he was to be regenerated by the LORD, that is to say, Truth from the natural man was to be initiated into and conjoined with good in the rational. When this takes place, spiritual things accede to the natural man, for the light of heaven then inflows, and illustrates those things which are in the natural man, and causes that the things which are there receive light; the goods there, the heat of light, that is love and charity; but the Truth, the rays of light, that is faith. Thus are spiritual things [communicated] to natural good and natural truth. Natural good is then every delight and pleasure from the end of serving the spiritual, thus the neighbor, still more the Republic, still more the Kingdom of the LORD, and, above all, the LORD, and natural Truth is every doctrinal and scientific [learnt] for the end of growing wise, that is to say, of doing them." - A. C. 3167. (See also A. C. 3168, 3772.)

     It is thus apparent that obedience prepares the way for rationality, and by rationality for liberty, which is regeneration. The LORD says: "This do, and thou shalt live." (Luke x, 28.)

      A scientific of truth communicated to man under that good which is the affection of truth for the sake of truth is appropriated by his reason, and becomes human in him, and indeed his human, for the human of man is the rational. Such communication and appropriation is signified by "drinking" in the Word. The thirst which impels man to drink, in the internal man, is the affection of truth, and in the natural man it is a sensation of the need of water. With the child the desire for knowledge is at first from an unconscious activity of affection, which by degrees grows into light and consciousness as the child by obedience grows in the delight of knowing. (A. C. 5709, see also n. 5704.)

     We are now led to the further observation, that as the good or use of obedience opens the mind of the child to the truth, and enters with this into the good of the rational to make this a living use, so will it be communicated to all the forms and degrees of this good or affection, to the final production of regenerate or Christian good, which as a ruling principle will so arrange and dispose for application to life, all the truths that enter the mind; all the truths of science, of the reason, of the spirit. Truths, to be truths with man, must do the will of good; this is their use; and this use they cannot perform unless the understanding be in obedience to the good received in the rational mind from the LORD, in the way indicated. Such is the order of Heaven, and therefore of the regenerate mind. Into this order and way of thinking and doing is the mind of the child to be trained, and in this order is it to progress.

     "The truths of the Church, which are represented by the sons of Israel, do not come into any order except by Christian good, that is to say, by the good of charity toward the neighbor and of love to the LORD; for the LORD is in good, and thence Heaven is in good, consequently life is in good, thus a living, acting force, but never in truth without good. That good ordinates truths into it's own image appears manifestly from any love whatsoever, even from the loves of self and the world; or from the love of revenge, of hatred, and of like evils, which are in those who call evil good, because evil is delightful to them. This their so- called good so ordinates falses which to them are truths, that they may favor it, and it finally disposes them all, namely the falses which they call truths, into such an order that it effects persuasion. But of this order is such as is the order in hell, whilst the order of truths under the good of heavenly love is such order as is in heaven; therefore also it is, that the man with whom there is such an order, that is who is regenerate, is called a little heaven, also a heaven in least form, for his interiors correspond to the heavens.

     "That it is good which ordinates truths appears from order in the heavens; there all Societies are disposed according to the truths under good which are from the LORD; for the LORD is nothing else than Divine Good, but Divine Truth is not in the LORD, but it proceeds from the LORD; according to this Divine Truth all Societies in the Heavens are ordinated under Divine Good. That the LORD is nothing else than Divine Good, and that Divine Truth is not in Him, but proceeds from Him, may be illustrated comparatively from the sun of the world. The sun is nothing else than fire; but the light is not in it, but proceeds from it; so likewise the things which are of the light in the world, such as vegetable forms, are disposed in order by the heat which proceeds from the fire of the sun, and is in its light, as may appear in the time of spring and summer. Because universal nature is a theatre representative of the Kingdom of the LORD, so also is this universal: the sun represents the LORD, the fire there His Divine Love, heat thence the good which flows from it, and the light the truths which are of faith," etc.- A. C. 5704. (See also A. C. 5705 to 5710, 6844, 8805 to 8824.)
SEASIDE MUSINGS 1888

SEASIDE MUSINGS 1888

     THERE are few things, according to the popular opinion of the present day, more dead than the particles of sand that form the shore of the ocean.

     It is true that few things are farther removed from the Infinite Source of all life, but the mind for which the promise is being fulfilled, "Behold I make all things new," understands perfectly that the lowest ultimate of life is by no means dead.

     It only appears so - but like all other mere appearances of truth with which this world abounds, the exact opposite is true.

     To prove that life is there, it is only necessary to place in it a little seed and to keep it there under the proper conditions of heat and moisture. What then takes place?

     The life from the unseen world, with which each grain of sand is instinct, communicates itself to that in the seed, flowing into it in the form of spiritual effort, which is the internal soul of force that makes itself visible by means of motion.

     These trinal activities are always there waiting for the consenting external conditions to enable them to clothe themselves in forms of use in the material world - and as they are themselves but recipient vessels, they are constantly receiving from higher and still higher forms the ever inflowing life that comes through them from the LORD.

     What are these higher forms? As well try to measure the ocean with a cup as to enumerate them, and yet they may be classified in a general way:

     The celestial heaven is the first recipient of life from the Divine, and thence it flows down into the spiritual, and still lower into the natural heaven, from which it flows into the world of spirits. The sun of this material world receives it thence, and transmits it through the three atmospheres to the earth.

     These grains of sand are creations lying in a plane of life below that of organized or vegetable forms. They, in common with all other mineral matter, are the basis, the very lowest ultimates, of life.

     As they lie here in countless myriads they seem to have no regular form, but that appearance comes doubtless from an irregular aggregation of atoms, smaller still than the sand - for we read in The Animal Kingdom that "every individual particle of the three kingdoms, mineral, vegetable, and animal, has a form of its own, and extrinsically a figure of its own, angular, flat, or round, with infinite variety."

     We know that the mineral kingdom aspires to the degree of life above it, and constantly endeavors to express itself in some form of that life wherever the conditions are favorable. What else are crystals?

     It is certain that familiarity with the natural objects around us lessens our appreciation of their value, unless we are in the acknowledgment of the existence of the unseen spiritual part of them, and are in the constant effort to study them from that point of view.

     This acknowledgment and this effort give a new meaning and worth to the whole natural world, even to the very stones under our feet. To the stones under our feet! This expression itself shows how low down in our minds we hold them, and yet what objects have a more intimate relation to spiritual principles of a high order than stones? They even have correspondence with Divine things, for which reason certain of them are called precious.

      The LORD Himself is called a "Rock" in the Word. What a wonderful field will the study of the rocks present to the scientist of the future who enters it with the right clue to guide him!

This clue is the acknowledgment of the LORD as the God of heaven and earth, and also the acknowledgment of the constant influx of life from Him into the most distant circumference of His creation. It must be that life flows down in these ultimate forms in a twofold manner.

     Take a tree, for instance. A certain degree of spiritual life arranges its particles and builds it up for the performance of a certain use. While in the full exercise of this use it is cut down. Of course, it buds and blossoms and bears fruit no longer, but it does not for this reason disappear from the face of the earth. There is still a spiritual force that holds together the particles composing it long after the life peculiar to the tree has been withdrawn. The life peculiar to the tree? This then was a particular influx which caused the tree to bear a certain fruit, while that which holds the particles of wood so firmly together must be a general one, common to all the particles of matter in all the kingdoms of nature.

     If this be so, then it is the general influx of life from the spiritual world that compacts all these little grains of sand into one immense but shapely mass, the earth.

     Just pick up a pebble and toss it into the air. After the force that sent it upward is spent it falls to the ground, and a child asks, Why?

     Fancy two physicists in its presence - one of the Old World of thought, or lack of it, and one of the New - and set them both to answering the child's question.

The former will discourse learnedly upon the law of gravitation, and upon the influence that one object may have upon another object in the world of matter, but never for one moment does his explanation rise above the evidence of the senses. The influence of spirit upon matter, its agency in creating it, and the necessity of a continual inflow of spiritual life to enable matter to exist in a visible form, all this wisdom is utter folly to him. He constructs his own dead theory of explanation, dead for that very reason, and clings to it, and gloats over it, and all the while does not know enough to know that it is a stultification to the intellect of the young, and anything but a grateful odor in the nostrils of the LORD. Instruction, even upon the subject of a stone, that stops short of pointing clearly to the LORD as the centre and source of all knowledge, of all degrees, is a means of education for hell, not for heaven.

     But ask the other, and in language accommodated to the understanding of his pupil he will lift the curtain that hides the world of causes from this world of effects and show that the connection between them is as close as that between the soul and body of a human being. He will show that the stone has a soul that would be visible as a stone still to our spiritual eyes if they could but be opened to behold it; and that this marvelous fitting of spiritual things to natural furnishes a pathway for the inflow of the unseen forces from the unseen world, that build up all material forms. He will make it plain that this material stone falls to the earth in obedience to a spiritual law of use, expressed into the world of matter, which law is one of the infinite methods of the Divine Love and Wisdom.

     In obeying this law material substance knows no up-hill or down hill; it is simply carried by an obedient spiritual force to the point where it is most instrumental in ultimating a use. Thus, mineral matter will rise through all the obstructions in its way to the top of a tree three hundred feet high; thus, the blood in the human body, rises constantly from the extremities to the heart; thus, the waves of the ocean pile up into majestic liquid walls that would rise to the moon if the limit of their use lay there.

     How strange it is that the most convincing proofs of life to one man is furnished by objects that, to another, are the most irresistible proofs of death!

     But the stone that we tossed up has fallen and brings us back to the influx of life from the other world that binds all these masses into one round world - a sphere.

     Is not this the primary form of all creation, and that to which all creation tends?

     Look at this line of yellowish foam left here by a retreating wave. It would seem to be in the same plane as the sands on which it lies in regard to the degree of spiritual life that holds it in existence. It lies here, a fringe on the very outskirts of creation, and yet, just examine it, and see that, however far away it may seem to be from the infinite Source of life, it yet bears the impress of its origin.

     A countless number of bubbles of unequal size compose it, which when uninfluenced by surrounding objects are perfect spheres, not transparent and colorless, as they appear when cresting an incoming wave, but gilded and glorified by so many vivid hues that this froth of the ocean looks like a shivered rainbow, thrown down here to shimmer under foot. The retreating tide leaves it and forms a new line below, and so on till the rising waves wash away every vestige that the winds have left.

     This sea-foam, is it nearer the Source of life than the sands?

     It also has a definite recognized shape as well as the particles of sand. "Life flows in according to the recipient form." The human form receives the highest degree of life, therefore it is the most perfect of all forms. In the descending degrees of creation then, that form receives the least of life that least resembles the human. But is there any object that does not more or less remotely refer itself to the human form? Would it be possible for anything to exist that did not, or, to put the question differently, does not every created object exist by virtue of its correspondence with some principle in the human soul?

     This whole round world, what is it but an outbirth of the unseen world of mind? The land, the earth, through which the life of that world flows in with such mighty force in the production of vegetable forms, is a perfect image, set forth before our natural eyes, of the general principle of good that forms the basis, the continent, of our spiritual microcosm. And this ocean that rolls to shore in long lines of majestic, white-crested waves, how long would it be there in the bosom of the earth if the principle of truth which created and constantly sustains it were withdrawn?

     What is there in our souls that corresponds to these daily rising and retreating tides, that bids these plastic spheres pile up in tumultuous heaps upon the land, and then forces them back again in spite of all the winds that blow?

     It is related in the Doctrines that spirits, upon first entering the other life, are set to singing in choirs, as a means of teaching them to act in concert. Not only must they learn to sing in unison, but before entering any heavenly society they must learn to think, and, consequently, to breathe, in harmony with its members. They come into perfect accord with their own society - but this society taken as one man must look higher than itself for the law of its action - its heart must pulsate with the Divine pulsation, and its breathing be fashioned after the breath of the LORD.

     And as for us in this dim, far-off plane of life, who are trying, if ever so feebly, to shun our evils as sins against Him, does not this very effort bring us, too, within the sphere of the Divine heart-beat, and set our souls to an accordant respiration with all heaven?

     The grandeur of this view of life widens the horizon of the mind, and gives an incentive for right living of which the world can have not the faintest conception.
     But these heavenly pulsations, these accordant breathings of the soul, do they cease on the shore of our spiritual being, or do they flow through, down to this last and lowest plane of life where all power resides in ultimates?

     Is this the cause of the tides?
     With what dignity familiar objects are invested by a belief in their spiritual origin!

     We may make mistakes in tracing material things up to the principle that produces them and holds them in existence, for the Science by which we are guided is still a comparatively unexplored mine of wealth; but we are right in claiming a spiritual origin for every particle of material substance and in studying it from that point of view. No matter what path of inquiry we follow, lighted by the shining truths of the New Jerusalem, we find that path to be always the glorified radius of an infinite circle whose centre is the LORD.
Notes and Reviews 1888

Notes and Reviews 1888

A CAREFULLY executed view of the proposed new church at Failsworth, near Manchester, England, is presented in The Juvenile Magazine for March.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

MR. SEWALL'S latest work is The New Metaphysics; or, The Law of End, Cause, and Effect. With other Essays treating of the Word; the Philosophy of Swedenborg; the Church and Science; the Personality of God a Logical Necessity; and a Drama of Creation.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE New Church Board of Publication, 20 Cooper Union, New York, has published a pamphlet of six sermons on leading New Church doctrines by the Rev. Oliver Dyer. The sermons treat respectively of Love; Truth; the Word of God; Faith; the Practical Operation of Love, Truth, the Word, and Faith in Human Hearts and Minds; and the Highway out of Egypt to Assyria. They are capable expositions of doctrinal truths, written in the author's well-known vigorous style, which, however, occasionally is rather lowering in its tendency than elevating, as witness the allusion to matters of conjugial love on page 8.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE spiritual drunkenness, or insanity, which possesses those who are opposed to wine is strongly displayed in a long letter in Morning Light, February 18th, from one who after being completely refuted from the Writings, and on rational grounds, makes the following argument: "Even if it were true that intoxicating wine was the only correct wine to be used in the Holy Supper, and yet if its use there made them set an example dangerous to be followed by any weaker brother or sister for whom Christ died, their abstinence for that reason would be an act of genuine charity," etc. This means that man's proprium, his vanity, his self importance, his "example," is of greater moment than the LORD'S Truth. Could madness go further?
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

UNDER the heading, "Toleration in the Church," Mr. J. Clowes Bailey writes to Morning Light, February 25th, that "The New Church doctrines, as I understand them, concede to every truth-loving New Churchman the right of private interpretation of the inspired Writings of the Church, by which interpretation he, but nobody else, is bound," and argues from this that every man has the right to choose his own "wine" at the Holy Supper. But suppose the minister interprets them to teach that if he, the minister, administers the communion in grape-juice, unfermented, he is profaning the most Holy act of worship? What then? The Writings do teach that every one is to be left in freedom so long as he makes no disturbance. He is not to be forced to take the communion if he does not want to, but equally he is to make no "disturbance," as raw grape-juice men have been doing, when the minister refuses to make Divine Truth give way to modern whims.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

AN excellent little "Manual of New Church Doctrine," by the Rev. L. P. Mercer, has been published by the Western New Church Union, under the title The New Church, What it is, and What it Teaches. Compiled for the use of young people and inquirers, it is appropriately dedicated "To the Young People of the Chicago Society of the New Jerusalem." It commends itself to general acceptance, although a few serious objections may be made to it. The omission of the doctrine concerning the Second Redemption effected at the Second Coming is a serious defect in a treatise of this description. what shall we say to the statement on page 66: "The covenant of marriage is for life"? The life in the natural world only is evidently meant; yet "unless eternity is thought of, or eternal conjunction, she is not a wife, but a concubine." (D. S. P., III, 2, p. 213, n. 16.) The essential distinction between the New Church doctrine of marriage and the Old Church conception of this relation is the element of eternity which enters into the former. While according to the Old Church ritual a man and a woman marry "until death doth them part," in the New Church they enter into an eternal union, else the marriage ceremony is but the official sanction for a life-long concubinage.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE Rev. Frank Sewall, answering "New Church Layman" in The New Christianity, advances, among others, the following "fact:" "That our LORD at a marriage feast turned water into wine, and that the wine so made was declared by the master of the feast to be the 'good wine' such as was customarily provided at the 'beginning of the feast,' and therefore such as that wine, which, when so offered, had led to intoxication or had caused the guests to become well drunken. (The word in the original [methisko] means 'intoxicated with strong drink')." To this point of Mr. Sewall's, made directly from the Word, that the LORD Himself while on earth provided a wine that would intoxicate, for the marriage feast, and that it was pronounced the "best," "New Church Layman" makes the following remarkable reply: "Is it a fact that the master of the feast at Cana regarded fermented wine as the best wine? Let any man of unperverted taste, or any child, compare the unfermented wine put up by [we omit the advertisement] with fermented wine, and he will not select the latter as the best wine." Here, in reply to the Divine Truth of the Word, wherein we are told that the LORD furnished a "fermented" wine, and that it was called the "best," we have the assertion that it was not the best, backed up by the argument that any man of unperverted taste would prefer 's unfermented wine. "Temperance" men are noted for absurd "arguments," and we sincerely believe that "New Church Layman" in this leads the van of absurdity.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

The New Jerusalem Magazine for March contains an account of the life of the late George James Webb. He was born in England June 24th, 1803, and died in Orange, N. J., October 7th, 1887. In or about the year 1830 he came to Boston, where he met Mr. T. B. Hayward in a musical club. When visiting him at his room Mr. Webb often examined the books upon his table. Among them was The True Christian Religion, the title of which attracted his attention, and his thoughts often reverted to it. Finally he borrowed the book and became deeply interested in it. He was organist at the Old South Church at the time, and as there was nothing for the organist to do after the sermon had commenced, he would close the organ, take his hat as soon as the text was announced, and hurry up to Phillips' Place, opposite the Stone Chapel, where the New Church services were then held, which he reached in time to hear the greater part of Mr. Worcester's sermon. The members of the Old South Church called him to an account, telling him that they expected the organist to remain in the church until their services closed.

On his replying that he was hired merely to play the organ, and that after that he felt at perfect liberty to go and hear the doctrines preached in which he believed, they offered him the alternative either to remain until the close of their services or to resign his position. He immediately resigned, and became a regular attendant at the New Church. A few weeks later he was recalled to the Old South Church on his own terms. So he returned to his old custom, would leave the Old South before the sermon, and after listening to Mr. Worcester's sermon at the New Church would play the closing selection.

Mr. Webb, later on, became the organist of the Boston New Church Society, and exerted a very great and wholesome influence upon its nascent Church music and upon that of the Church at large.
WORK ON THE SOUL 1888

WORK ON THE SOUL 1888

THE SOUL, or Rational Psychology, by Emanuel Swedenborg. Translated and edited by Frank Sewall, A. M. From the Latin edition of Dr. J. F. Immanuel Tafel, Tübingen, 1849. New York: New Church Board of Publication, 20 Cooper Union. MDCCCLXXXVII.

     SWEDENBORG was once asked how from a Philosopher he was made a Theologian, and answered:

      "In the same manner in which fishermen were made disciples and apostles by the LORD; and, indeed, I was a spiritual fisherman from my youth."

     On being asked what a spiritual fisherman is, he replied:

     "A fisherman, in the spiritual sense of the Word, signifies a man who investigates and teaches natural verities, and afterward spiritual ones, rationally."

     After he had, by request, explained this more fully from the Word, his interlocutor raised his voice and said:

     "Now I can understand why the LORD called and chose fishermen to be His disciples, and therefore I do not wonder that He chose thee also, since, as thou hast said, from thy earliest youth thou hast been a fisherman in the spiritual sense, that is, an investigator of natural verities. Thou now searchest out spiritual verities because these are founded upon natural verities."

     No words can add to the force and directness with which the relation of Swedenborg's scientific and philosophical writings to his Theological Writings is here declared. The tardiness of their publication is a silent witness to the nature and extent of the foundation thus far laid for the New Church. To those faithful scholars who in the past and in the present have labored to place these works before the New Church public no higher mark of appreciation can be paid than to refer to the Memorabile which has furnished the opening to this review. This translation of De Anima reveals Mr. Sewall as a worthy compeer, so far as fidelity of translation combined with elegance of diction is concerned, of Clissold, Wilkinson and Tafel. As editor he has been equally successful. He has thrown the Work into divisions, which assist in a generalization of its contents; and, by prefixing numbers to the paragraphs, by compiling an index, and in other ways, he has rendered the Work easy of reference. It would have been an advantage if he had indicated, by the usual method, what headings are not to be found in the original, but have been added by him.

     It will readily be understood, even by those who have not yet obtained this Work, that it does not actually treat of the soul; that is beyond the ken of the Philosopher and comes within the Theologian's province. This Work was the last of a series of steps in Swedenborg's thorough but fruitless search for the soul, a search conducted by way of the body's anatomy, and of conclusions based upon it and upon the soul's manifestations of itself in the natural world.

     He proceeds from the senses to perception, imagination, memory, and ideas, thence to the intellect, thence to the animus and its affections, the mens and its affections, to the soul. Whatever wealth of material a keen observation of the manifestations of human life can offer is brought together and carefully examined. It is disposed analytically into orders, formed into reasons, and from them things are concluded in a series.

     But Swedenborg deals here only with the favors which the soul-queen has bestowed upon the people that throng the outer court-yard of her palace, and with the dim and vague conjectural reports which they who have never seen her but only felt her royal pleasure and executed her royal will, spread abroad concerning her spiritual form and beauty, her heavenly intelligence and loveliness. The queen herself and her attendant courtiers remain hid from sight, and not until, by Divine command, the portals of her celestial palace have been opened to him, and he becomes aware of the heavenly light from and in which she lives and moves and has her being, can he see her and describe her truly. Then he recognizes the futility of his endeavors and exclaims:

     "I have been elevated into that light interiorly by degrees, and as I was elevated my understanding was enlightened, so that at length I perceive what I did not perceive before, and at last such things as I could not even comprehend by thought from natural light. I was sometimes indignant that they were not comprehended, when yet they were clearly and perspicuously perceived in heavenly light." (H. H 130.)

     But of this the translator of De Anima appears to have lost sight, and, led astray by the occurrence of the word "correspondence" and by definitions which bear some analogy merely, to those found in the Writings, he makes such astounding statements as these: "The doctrine of Correspondence as a science was naturally and not supernaturally revealed to Swedenborg." "It is not the knowledge of Correspondence that is revealed or supernaturally discovered, but the knowledge of the things that correspond." "Like the science of arithmetic, of algebra, and of logic, so the science of Correspondence is a product of the human reasoning power."

     With the italics, which otherwise he uses very sparingly, the translator has emphasized one of these declarations, evidently from a pleasurable emotion over a fancied discovery. The disagreeable duty of pointing out his grave error is not lightened thereby.

     In after years Swedenborg stated very emphatically:

     It has not yet been known what the spiritual is, and what is its correspondence with the natural, and hence, what correspondence is." (D. L. W. 374.)

     If the knowledge of correspondence depends upon the knowledge of the spiritual and of its correspondence with the natural, how can it be said that "It is not the knowledge of correspondence that is revealed or supernaturally discovered, but the knowledge of the things that correspond"?

     That the science of correspondences has been "revealed" is directly affirmed in the Writings (see T. C. R. 846; C. L. 532 et al.), and that Swedenborg, as author of De Anima, knew nothing of the nature of the spiritual world, the translator himself points out at n. 521, where Swedenborg denies that "the form of the soul in heaven" is "like the human form." "This indeed I do not think, that we are to put on the human form." "In heaven souls are like birds," etc.

It is true that Swedenborg speaks of the "natural correspondence by which thought becomes speech, but his conception of thought was a natural, not a spiritual one, and hence his idea of correspondence was not a true one. The Translator does not take this view of the matter, but gives a definition of correspondence which indeed squares with the ideas presented in De Anima, but does not agree with the spiritual teachings of the Writings on the subject. He says that Correspondence "is the name we give to that kind of intercourse which is not bodily influx, or to the union that exists, not by continuity or confusion of substance, but by contiguity and modification of state." That he should have fallen into this error is all the more surprising from the fact that immediately before this he calls attention to Swedenborg's explanation of Correspondence as a sort of an agreement between the doctrines of Physical Influx, Occasional Influx, and Pre-established Harmony; when yet the Translator himself refers to the work on The Intercourse between Soul and Body to show that after his inspiration Swedenborg decides in favor of Occasional or Spiritual Influx.

Such references to the Writings, adduced by the Translator to correct erroneous conclusions, are to be found occasionally throughout the Work. They indicate what ought to be done in fullness in future editions of Swedenborg's philosophical Works to render them more fit for the high end they subserve. The natural laws and facts given in the Theological Writings, together with the spiritual truths to which they correspond, if inserted in their respective places in the philosophical Works will make of these a series of perfect textbooks. For, after all, the two great uses of science and philosophy are, first, to prepare the way for an interior understanding of spiritual things; and, secondly, to confirm them when received. Men are prepared on earth for heaven, and heaven rests upon the earth.
Communicated 1888

Communicated 1888

THAT LOVE IS LIFE AND THAT LIFE IS ETERNAL N. D. PENDLETON 1888

     THE LORD from His Divine Love created the human race in order that a heaven might be formed. This heaven, partaking of the quality of that from which it was created, is a form of love, yea, a form of Divine Love, for as we are taught, the Divine of the LORD makes heaven, and since this is so, heaven, regarded most interiorly, is the LORD, and heaven, regarded exteriorly, is a form created from the LORD, which serves as a receptacle for Himself.

     In what way this is true we can see when we realize that heaven is composed of angels created from the LORD'S Divine Love, for the purpose of receiving His Love and His Life, and of reflecting that Love and Life back to Him. This love and life received by the angels constitutes heaven, and, regarded interiorly, it is the LORD'S, the angels being merely recipient forms. Since, therefore, heaven is a form of love, it follows that each angel is a form of love in a less degree; for the parts which constitute a whole are as to their essential quality such as is the whole, therefore each angel is, as we are taught, a heaven in the least form.

     Man was created in order that a heaven might be formed capable of receiving the Divine of the LORD, which is love. From this it follows that man was created to become a form of Divine Love, and this necessitates the fact that man was created a receptacle of Divine Love; for if this were not the case he could not become a form of Divine Love, and consequently the heavens could not be formed, and the Divine Purpose would not be effected.

     From these considerations we see that as the cause of man's creation is love, and the end of man's creation is love, therefore he himself or his very life is love; and this being so, it is evident that man's life is such as is his love; if his life be orderly and his love directed to the LORD, he becomes an angel, but if his life be disorderly, and his love centered in self, be becomes a devil. In either case he is a form of love, and his life is of the quality of his love.

     Let us go forward and examine into the quality of love and life. In the first place, the LORD is love itself and life itself, and since the LORD is eternal, love and life in Him are eternal. Man receives from the LORD his love and his life, therefore the love and life of man must be eternal. But this does not prove that man as to his individuality is eternal; because he receives life and therefore has a beginning of life. Eternity is without beginning or ending, therefore man as to his individuality is not eternal but immortal. The life of man, however, is eternal, because it comes from God and returns to God.

     From the following considerations we may see how man as to his individuality lives forever. The LORD gives His life to man, and to man it becomes, as it were, his own. At the same time man is gifted with the freedom to use this life as he pleases. He may love the LORD supremely, or he may love himself. One of these two, however, he must do. If from his own free will man loves the LORD above all things, by virtue of that love he conjoins himself with that which is eternal, and therefore he cannot die. But if we should suppose that man could love the LORD alone and himself not at all, his individuality or self-hood would be lost, and his life would return to its source. This, however, is not commanded, but only that he should love the LORD supremely; which implies that he must love himself subordinately.

     By virtue, therefore, of man's loving the LORD supremely he has eternal life, and by virtue of his loving himself subordinately he retains his individuality and has a proprium Thus he becomes immortal.

     The devils, who love themselves alone, have not eternal life, but yet they live forever. This branch of the subject, however, we have not space to treat.

     We now have what may be called a rational demonstration of the fact that love is life and that life is eternal, and to the rational mind it is conclusive. But if this were all it would be insufficient, and man would not believe; for the rational mind cannot stand alone, but must rest upon the sensual; that is to say, those things which are seen by the rational alone and are not confirmed by the sensual, pass away and are lost, or they become vain reasonings which cannot be applied to the life and thus are of no use.

     This, therefore, is the reason why the LORD at His Second Advent, not only gave a rational demonstration of this most important subject, but also introduced Swedenborg, His chosen instrument, into the heavens in order that he might see the angels living in a state of eternal life, and thus through his sight establish a sensual plane upon which the rational demonstration might rest; and thus have this doctrine for the first time since the creation rationally proven and sensually confirmed.

For this purpose Swedenborg was admitted into the heavens.

     Too great an appreciation of this can never be gained by man, and the importance of those parts of the Divinely revealed Writings which give us a sensual picture of the heavens cannot be overestimated, for they are all important, and upon them rests all the rest, even our belief in God.

     When we view the Writings as the Word and the Word as the LORD, then those parts of the Writings become to us the Divine Sensual of the LORD on the spiritual plane. Therefore it is well that they who would do away with those parts, know not what they do. For such an attempt is an attack upon the Divine Sensual of the LORD, and if carried out they would do away with heaven and eternal life, yea, they would even take away the LORD.

     But our proof that life is eternal does not rest here, but comes down to a lower ultimate, even to the earth itself.

     For the LORD, from whom eternal life is, came upon the earth and lived as a man, in order that men might see with their eyes and believe. Furthermore, the LORD while on earth said with His mouth, "He that believeth on Me shall have eternal life." This men heard with their ears and this men wrote with their hands upon the very matter of the earth.

     Thus men can see this doctrine of eternal life in its various degrees coming down from God. First, they see the LORD from whom eternal life is; second, the rationale of the fact that man lives forever; third, the sensual confirmation in the heavens, and lastly, they see it written upon the very earth by the hand of God, where it is eternally fixed.
                                   N. D. PENDLETON.
MORE SUCH MINISTERS NEEDED 1888

MORE SUCH MINISTERS NEEDED C 1888

     EDITORS NEW CHURCH LIFE:- One must search long in the pages of the New Jerusalem Magazine for any other such article as that which appeared in the December issue. Of course, I refer to the remarkable paper by the Rev. James Reed, entitled "The New Church in its Relation to Other Organizations."

     It is surprising that so logical and vigorous a presentation of the truth, coming as a voice of alarm from the Pastor of the oldest and leading New Church Society in this country, should not have produced more notice and discussion in the journals and meetings of the Church. One reason probably is that while the Magazine prints the article and the Messenger publishes it as a pamphlet, still, in both cases all possible minifying effect is produced by the adverse criticism which accompanies, and which seems to be relied upon as an antidote. To a great extent this reliance is well placed, for so spiritually weakened has a large proportion of the New Church membership become through fraternizing and intermarriage with the Old Church, that even such manifest heresy as is employed in opposing Mr. Reed cannot fail to have weight. I use the term "heresy" deliberately, for it is well at times to call things by their right names, and a milder word is inappropriate to characterize such teaching by a minister as that the Old Church is that "General Church" which differs from the New Church only as to degree, and "not as to every least particular, as the LORD Himself in the Writings so distinctly tells US.

     The Church evidently needs more such ministers as Mr. Reed, men who rationally see the evils that have for so many years been sapping the very life of the New Church, and who have the courage to speak the full truth, even when that truth is one of the "hard sayings" that the cunning infestation of the Old Church makes so unpopular and so difficult of reception.      C.
APPRECIATION OF MR. REED'S PAPER 1888

APPRECIATION OF MR. REED'S PAPER 1888

     THE New Church Society of Oakland has had several interesting meetings during the past mouth. The first of these meetings was called by the Pastor, the Rev. L. G. Jordan, for the purpose of reading and considering a very important paper by the Rev. James Reed that appeared in a late number of the New Jerusalem Magazine. The subject, "The Relation of the New Church to Other Organizations," was in itself interesting, and made particularly so by Mr. Reed's treatment of it. The general sense of the meeting was one of harmony with Mr. Reed's views. Mr. Jordan spoke at intervals during the reading, supplementing the various points and making it very clear that genuine advancement for the New Church must depend upon distinctive teaching and practice such as will make the difference between the New Church and the various sects of the Old Church clear and unmistakable.

     On Sunday, February 26th, was held the Annual Meeting of the Society. This took place at a private house, whither the members of the Society adjourned immediately after the morning services. Sixteen were present. At the conclusion of the usual business of the occasion all sat down to luncheon, and the afternoon was spent in pleasant social intercourse that was most enjoyable. A feature of the day was an informal address by the Pastor upon the duty of carrying out in life the distinctive teachings of the New Church, a subject which had been brought forward in the consideration of Mr. Reed's paper, above mentioned.

     As there was only time to touch briefly upon some important points, it was the wish of all to consider the subject more fully at a later meeting to be called for the purpose. It was therefore decided to adjourn until the following Tuesday evening, when Mr. Jordan continued his remarks, beginning by treating of the dangerous state of infestation that was so prevalent in the New Church, tending with many to produce a spurious charity which confounded the Old Church with the New. Essentials, not numbers, are what we should strive for. The true method for the Church to achieve prosperity and increase both internally and externally, is to shun intermarriage with the Old Church, to believe in the blessing of having children, and to educate our children so distinctively and strongly in the doctrines of the New Church, especially in the teachings relative to Conjugial Love, that they will ever remain loyal to the Church, even under adverse circumstances.

     Mr. Jordan's remarks were listened to with deep attention and received affirmatively. At the conclusion a half hour of social conversation was enjoyed, during which wine was passed around and all united in drinking to the toast, "Distinctive New Church Teaching and Living."
     OAKLAND, CAL., March, 1888.
No New Church Society can expect to grow 1888

No New Church Society can expect to grow 1888

No New Church Society can expect to grow, in which the cultivation of an active social life is neglected, and social intercourse with Old Church friends is fostered.

NEW YORK ASSOCIATION 1888

     THE twenty-fourth annual meeting of the New York Association was held in the city of New York on the 22d day of February.

     MORNING SESSION.

     AT about eleven o'clock the meeting was called to order by President Ager. He announced that as the President's address would be delivered at twelve o'clock, he thought it would be best to postpone the religious services until that time. Thus the meeting was opened without a prayer.

     Reports.

     THE credentials of the delegates were then examined and the delegates announced. They were for the Societies whose reports had thus far come in: New York, Brooklyn, Riverhead, Brooklyn German, and Paterson. Among others there were a number of women delegates.

     The reading of the minutes was dispensed with, as they were distributed in printed form.

     The Orange delegation was announced. It included female representatives. One is led to think that the New York Association is sadly lacking in men able to conduct its affairs.

     The Treasurer's report was read and audited.

     The Board of Directors reported seven meetings held during the year. They could obtain no missionary. The President had made a trip through the State. The Board contributed four hundred dollars toward the support of the Rev. B. D. Palmer, of Paterson, N. J.; also one hundred dollars to the New York German Society to continue the services of its "Pastor."

     The Committee on the Sustaining Fund reported that nine hundred and some dollars had come in during the year.

     The Ecclesiastical Council reported that it had held one meeting, but had nothing formal to report.

The reports of Societies were now read:

     1. New York.- Usual activity; twenty-seven baptized; Young Folks' League, one hundred and nine members; income, nearly seven thousand dollars.

     2. Brooklyn.- Chief external work during past year was to extend the recognition of the Church in Brooklyn. Young Folks' League earnest.

     3. Orange.- Church dedicated; membership and attendance increased; established library.

     4. Paterson.- Also prospering.

     5. Brooklyn German.- As the Secretary was not present, Mr. Diehl read the report. It was a lengthy manuscript. The Sunday-School grows so fast they will soon need a larger hall. During the past year the Pastor broke down with the strain of too much work. He has now given up his secular business.

     6. Newark German.- Have moved into a new building. They reported the ordination of Mr. Menschner (by the "German Synod").

     7. Vineland.- The Society looks forward to a speedy and large increase.

     8. Mystic, Conn., presented a short statistical report.

     9. Riverhead, under Mr. Davison's ministration, enjoys a delightful internal growth.

     11. Hempstead.- It was announced that a Society had been formed in this place, and that two delegates were present, asking for admission into the Association.

     12. Hoboken continues to exist. A verbal report was presented by a friend.

     Dr. Moffat wanted to know how it was with the Mystic, Conn., Society. Is there not an organization in Connecticut?

     Mr. Ager said he could not tell what was the state of things there. "There is a Connecticut organization, but as long as the Mystic Society wishes to continue to remain with us and report to us, there is nothing in the Constitution of the Convention to forbid it."

     10. New York German.- The minister of this Society now entered and produced their report: Quiet year; three members added to the roll; school large; young people formed a guild; lack money; Pastor beloved and appreciated.

     Mr. Bastow reported his work on Long Island. He read an account of books sold. He has preached seven sermons and held a number of meetings. The Old Church ministers received him kindly. He had done no organizing of societies, as he did not consider it in his province. Several could be organized on his route. Dr. Ellis has concluded to continue the work another year.

     Mr. Palmer reported that most of his time had been given to Paterson, though he had engaged in another great mission. He had called at the houses of four hundred ministers in New York and Brooklyn. Two hundred and thirty of these he found at home, and was received kindly by all but one. Good effects were noticed. A number who had received the gift-books, but had never read in them, said that they now intended to do so. Mr. Palmer intends to engage in some secular work, together with his duties as Pastor.

     The President's Address.

     By this time about two hundred had assembled, and Mr. Ager conducted the services. He read Matthew x - the LORD'S charge to the disciples. He proposed in his address to consider the functions, obligations, and needs of the Association, and the spiritual principles which enter into these. The Christian Church has been a missionary Church from the beginning; has been aggressive. It is growing while others decay. Its founder initiated this missionary work in His charge to His disciples. How could the Christian Church do otherwise than earnestly obey this charge and make disciples; that is, persuade people to accept certain doctrines and the life they teach. Let us consider the LORD'S charge to His twelve disciples. It is a spiritual charge involving principles. In the Internal sense it teaches us the work of the Divine Truth in our minds. The Truth is trying to draw us to salvation. What the Spirit of Truth does for us we should try to do for others. We must be helpful to others; try to lead them to an appreciation of the LORD'S Wisdom and Love. This must enter into our missionary work; we must be true apostles and have right thoughts and right feelings.

     Mr. Ager then applied the LORD'S charge to each man in the work of regeneration - the operation of the Truth in man. We are all sick, leprous, etc., and the Truth will heal us. We must realize that we are deeply in the love of self, and that this must be overcome. We must repent. When we do this we will be truly able to help the neighbor, to love him, and lead him to receive the light of Divine Truth.

     After the address the Association took a recess.

     Mr. Menschner attended the meeting. The matter of his ordination was not discussed, but it is reported that the Association will continue Mr. Menschner's name on their list as leader until the Convention places it on its list of ministers. If the Convention does not do this, neither will they. They have never given their consent to his ordination.

     AFTERNOON SESSION.

     THE Board of Directors recommended the admission of the Hempstead Society. The Society was accordingly received. The Association rising, the President extended the right hand of fellowship to the two delegates.
     The report of the Hempstead Society was then read. Average attendance, twenty- two.

     Presidency of the Association.

     THE time for nomination of officers had now arrived.

     Mr. Ager was nominated for President. He called Mr. Seward to the chair and took the floor.

     Mr. Ager began his remarks by nominating Mr. Seward for President. He said he thought a change would be good for the Association. This he had felt more and more. This is a body without a head. The President has no power beyond presiding. By courtesy he is asked to act as President of the Board of Directors, which attends to the affairs of the Association between meetings. This Board of twelve acts, or tries to, as a head. It is true the Association had done some work under this monstrous form, but it is time that this should be changed. "I tried to resign two years ago, but did not succeed. But I now wish to be relieved, so that I can unite with others in giving the Association a real head. Were I to be President it might look as if I were working for myself. Some one we must have to look after the general work. We have a Board of twelve, but this does its work poorly, and its meetings are very poorly attended. So a few, who meet once a month, attend to business, and the same ones are not always present. In the meantime no one has direct and immediate charge. We must have a practical, working head. Arrangements should be made so that some minister could be head. We will then no longer be a monster. A headless body cannot do much. This is not a new thing with me, but has been growing with me for a long time. Of course, I see no reason why there should not be rotation in office, so that each Society could let its Pastor engage in this work. There is work which a missionary cannot do as a head can. He cannot have the same influence and appeal as strongly. Wherever I went on my trip this summer I found no organization. There are many towns in which there are from six to twenty New Churchmen without organization. In one place I found two who had worked in adjoining buildings for years without knowing one another."

     Mr. Mann: "I am in deepest sympathy with Mr. Ager in what he has said, except in the matter of rotation; for I think when we have a good person for an office we should keep him in it. I believe in civil service reform. Mr. Ager is our oldest and most experienced minister; he is the champion of our cause in Convention, a cause which we must and will win."

     Mr. Seward: "I am deeply interested in the New York Association, and therefore in the matter which Mr. Ager has brought forward, and I am anxious to help to promote it. This I can do better if I do not hold this office, as I could then better direct the efforts of others. Were I to be President I might be accused of working for personal ends. Therefore Mr. Ager as our oldest minister should be President. As to our future policy: The Association needs a head. I cannot spare any time from my work. The General Pastor is in the same relation to the Association as the Pastor to the Society. The good results of having a General Pastor can be seen in the Massachusetts Association. We need a proper man for General Pastor, and Mr. Ager is the best man."

     Dr. Moffat: "I think the Board of Directors should be cut down in number. Let Mr. Ager be General Pastor. He can make an occasional tour through the State, and then spend some time in corresponding with those whom he finds. This is far better than employing a missionary. I don't give a straw for missionary work."

     Mr. Ager: "We can find no better man than Mr. Seward or Mr. Mann. I will help all I can."

     A Delegate: "There is a feeling of opposition against a Supervising Pastor, and I share it. It is felt by those of the larger societies, who fear that the person in this office will also have authority in their affairs, which concern only themselves. Let him have charge of the smaller societies and attend to them. A man for this work can be found. But let him have nothing to do with the larger societies."

     Mr. Ager: "As I regard it, the General Pastor will have charge only of the smaller societies-"

     Mr. L. Burnham (interrupting): "I believe Mr. Ager has just used the term 'General Pastor.' Is there not objection to that term in this Association?"

     Mr. Ager: "I think Mr. Burnham is mistaken. Mr. Seward used the term, but I have carefully avoided it. I don't believe in a pastor or society being interfered with by another pastor."

     Mr. Burnham: "What does Mr. Ager want the General Pastor to do?"

     Mr. Ager: "Organize and look after smaller societies. We must look after those already interested rather than put our energies to missionary work."

     Mr. Hinckley: "I agree with Mr. Ager."

     Mr. Burnham: "We have here three able men. Over in Brooklyn we have a large city, the third in the Union; you have quite a large town here. Two of these men are pastors in these respective places, and the third is engaged in hard work for the whole Church, besides his pastoral work. We cannot spare these men; their services are better rendered to the Church by staying at home. I don't see how they can possibly do it. I think it had better be done by some other strong, sound, intelligent man. I don't think the time has come for this movement. We have not the money. The money for this undertaking will have to come from these two Societies. You can't expect to get anything from these people in the State. There is no living interest with them. They won't enthuse, except somewhat spasmodically when a minister or missionary is present. I have lived up through the State and know these folks. We cannot let one of our ablest men engage in this work. Let us have as good a missionary as we can get. We tried to get one. We had two men in mind; for one we could not raise sufficient means, and the other would do better - somewhere else."

     Mr. Ager: "Those people will contribute. They have done so before, and they can do better if they have some one to look to as a head."

     The discussion continued for some time, some thinking it would be well to agree with Mr. Ager's earnest wish, and proceed to elect Mr. Seward, while others expressed the opinion that Mr. Ager should be elected.

     The two candidates had the floor most of the time, each hoping that his friends would vote for the other man.

     At last the election took place, Mr. Ager receiving thirty-five votes and Mr. Seward seven.

     Mr. John Filmer was re-elected Secretary.

     Four members of the Board of Directors were elected, the Rev. Messrs. Ager and Schliffer, and Messrs. C. C. Parsons and R. W. Adams.

It was resolved to publish the President's address.

     A vote of thanks was accorded the ladies of the New York Society for their entertaining.

     Amendment to the Convention's Constitution.

     Mr. Mann: "We instructed our delegates two years ago to endeavor to carry a certain measure which we deemed important in the General Convention. On account of a technicality, it could not be done then. Last year we advised our delegates, if they thought best, to advocate Mr. Scammon's amendment instead. But we failed to carry it. The chief difference between the Illinois amendment and the New York amendment is that the latter makes it unnecessary for the ordaining minister to be sanctioned by the Convention. The Illinois amendment is a step ahead of ours, is broader and freer. I am confident that it can be carried. I wish to offer this resolution; If the General Convention at its approaching meeting in Boston should so change its Constitution that ordaining powers could be conferred upon the presiding ministers of Associations during their incumbency in office, and if the approval of the Convention should be necessary to such action,

     "Resolved, That the delegates of the New York Association apply for the investment of its present President with the office of General Pastor."

     On Mr. Ager's suggestion the resolution was altered so that the delegates apply to the Convention for authority to confer ordaining powers upon the present Presiding Minister of the Association.

     Mr. Ager: "I think that if this power be retained by the Convention, those who have opposed us will agree to our amendment. Whenever we wish to change the person holding this office it will be necessary to obtain the Convention's consent to the new officer."

     Dr. Ellis: "We ought not to have to ask the Convention to consent to one of our officers."

     Mr. F. J. Worcester: "I move to lay the motion on the table. Let us wait and see what the Convention will do."

     Mr. Seward: "I second the motion. I think we will be successful in accomplishing our end."

     Mr. Mann: "I don't see why we should wait. We will get all we can."

     The motion to lay on the table was lost by a vote of ten to seven.

     Mr. Worcester: "This resolution is useless. The Convention by its Constitution can do nothing but induct into the office of General Pastor."

     Dr. Ellis: "The power of the office of Ordaining Minister should come from the State. But from whom does it come if granted by the Convention?"

     Mr. Mann: "They simply approve our choice."

     'Mr. Seward: "No. They empower, and this we do not want."

     Dr. Ellis: "This is a republican country, and we must have a republican form of government in the Church. The government at Washington has no right to interfere with a State's choice of Governor."

     Mr. Parsons: "The question simply is: Will the Association be allowed to mind its own business or not? This resolution means that we have not the right. Are we willing to be vetoed by the Convention? Why should there be this external ecclesiasticism? Of the Church Noah we read that it was much like our present Church, but when Eber came then externals were adopted. Will Mr. Ager or any one here dare to say that there cannot be other ministers of the Gospel except those empowered and upheld by the ministry?"

     Mr. Ager: "Let us not wander from the question."

     Mr. Schliffer: "I have been listening to what has been said. I am a young minister in the Church, but to me it seems that we should respect the General Convention and its order. The Convention is the chief body and head of the Church in this country, and we are and should be subordinate to it."

     Dr. Ellis: "Let us wait and see what the Convention will do with the present amendment. I don't believe in one minister ordaining another."

     Mr. Hinckley: "We want the privilege of electing our own Presiding Minister, and we want it not for ourselves alone, but for all the Associations."

     Mr. Mann's motion was carried by a vote of eighteen to seven.

     Mr. Seward: "I acquiesce, but am sorry the motion has been carried. But I will do all for it I can. I am also sorry that so much time has been spent in discussion, instead of arranging for business matters of the Association."

     On motion of Mr. Mann it was "Resolved, That the Board of Directors be requested to confer with the Brooklyn Society for a part of the pastor's time."

     Dr. Ellis now rose and made a speech, commending Mr. Palmer and his work, and urging that he be employed.

     Mr. Seward moved to adjourn, and the motion was carried.
CORRECTION NOTES 1888

CORRECTION NOTES G. N. SMITH 1888

     I TAKE the following from a New Church periodical:

     "We are told in the writings of the Church that immediately after the Last Judgment the Divine influence began to pour down into the world with increased vigor, and that this outpouring of life from above was not confined to any sect or religion, but exerted itself upon all the races of mankind. This influence has continued now for a hundred years, and results can now be clearly seen, even in those Churches whose doctrines are far removed from those of the New Jerusalem."

     The writer of the above paragraph does not tell us where in the "writings" this teaching is found. I have seen similar statements quite a good many times within the last few years, but never with any reference to the number where the Doctrines teach the things claimed for them, so that I have been forced to try to find the said teaching myself. I have tried for these years in the most careful and exhaustive study that I could make. But so far in vain. I do not understand why a teaching that is so hard to find should become the basis of so wide a popular impression among teachers and taught alike in the New Church of to-day. I do find very distinctive and plain teachings on this subject, which look to me as showing that the popular impression has mixed two things that are entirely distinct, viz.: the freedom in thinking on spiritual subjects which resulted from the Last Judgment, and the influence of the teachings of the Church upon minds thus placed in freedom. Keeping these things distinct, permits a more accurate and less confusing treatment of the subject than we find generally given, and one that materially changes the resulting conclusion.

     On the first subject we may consult the work on the Last Judgment, n. 73, where the effect of that work is summarized. There that result is strictly confined to a restoration of freedom of "thinking on matters of faith." A careful study of the whole number will show that exactly this, and nothing else, is affirmed. The influx mentioned is of freedom, and not of truth at all. In the following number we are further shown that "from this restored liberty, man can better perceive interior truths if he wills to perceive them, and thus be made more internal if he wills it," but not a hint that in the same way are to come those interior truths by which he may be made more internal.

The coming of those truths is nowhere attributed to influx, or, as above stated, to the Divine "outpouring of life," but to the revelations of the LORD in His Second Coming through the opened Word. (T. C. R. 779-80.) We are further told that "the LORD does not teach man immediately from Himself, but only by the Word." (A. E. 1173 et al.) I am aware that the above and similar statements do not directly say, and their authors would deny that they mean, that truths do come by immediate influx from the LORD, but they seem to say it and their conclusions involve it. For nothing but truths can produce the reforming results attributed to this influx. (See A. R. 706.) It would be safer - it would, indeed, be the only safe way - not to seem to say so clearly an antidoctrinal and dangerous thing as that the LORD is reforming men by immediate influx from Himself, instead of by His own revelations of His Truths from the Word. That He is so reforming men, and not by any supposed influx at all, is evident. The world over it will be impossible to find a single new reforming element in human thought anywhere that some new truth of the Doctrines, or from them more or less removed, has not gone. Go anywhere among men who have not been reached by some of the new truths, and you will find them exactly where they were two hundred years ago, in all matters of faith and life, except so far as they have more and more lost their hold on both. (See my correction notes on this subject in the Life for November.) It is important to keep close to this truth, if we would not nullify entirely the use and power of the LORD'S revelations to the New Church. G. N. SMITH.
USE OF WINE AND THE USE OF TOBACCO 1888

USE OF WINE AND THE USE OF TOBACCO W. HENDRY 1888

     DEAR EDITORS:- In the February number of New Church Life, page 31, I find an instructive article signed "X," and dated at "Toronto, Canada." The last clause is what has particularly caught my attention, in which the "use" and "abuse" of "tobacco" and "intoxicating drink" are commented on.

     Many of us, myself among the number, have not ascertained, or at least intelligently comprehended, what is meant by the use of either of the articles quoted, to or in the human economy, and if "X" will kindly enlighten us, either from the Word, the Writings, or otherwise, a great favor will be conferred, and at the same time we will be better able to understand what the "abuse" of these poisons may mean as understood by "X."

     Faithfully yours,
          W. HENDRY.
BERLIN, ONT., February 9th, 1888.

     ANSWER.

     IN reply to Mr. Hendry's request, I would call his attention to the use of intoxicating drink at the marriage in Cana of Galilee, and to the use implied in this Scripture, "The wine that maketh glad the heart of man," also the use of it in the most holy act of worship (A. C. 6789) and its use in heaven, where it is referred to in the phrase, "A bubbling fountain of nectareous wine." (T. C. R. 742.) Also in Paul's advice to Timothy, "Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake, and thine often infirmities." (I Tim. v, 23.) Swedenborg was told by the spirits of the Spiritual London that wines and liquors were there, and that the use made of the liquor called punch was that it was given "Only to the sincere and industrious." The use here is quite comprehensible. We also read in the Writings that "wine excites those things which are of charity." In Conjugial Love, n. 145, we read, "Wisdom purified may be compared with alcohol, which is a highly rectified spirit," consequently of use in the human economy. Robert Dunglison, M. D., professor of medicine, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, says, "When wine is good and of a proper age it is tonic and nutritive."

     The Encyclopaedia Britannica under the head of "Diet" gives the following: "When a man has tired himself by intellectual exertion, a moderate quantity of alcoholic stimulant taken with food acts as an anaesthetic, stays the wear of the system which is going on, and allows the nerve force to be turned to the due digestion of the meal."

     With regard to the use of the other article, I would like to call attention to The New Christianity, page 77, where this will be found: "I settled down in the conclusion that . . . tobacco might not be deleterious, I myself having used it for many years without a day's sickness." The same writer asserts that he gained twenty-seven pounds in weight through abstinence from its use. My friend will no doubt see the use of tobacco here in keeping one's avoirdupois in comfortable and decent dimensions. One of our esteemed New Churchmen found it necessary after a short abstinence to resume the use of tobacco for this same reason. The following may assist my friend in comprehending the difference between the use and abuse of an article: "Just as the pleasures which are of the mind and body are not to be rejected because they destroy and blind man, but he is left to enjoy them for use as before, only so that they may be applied to uses, for pleasures are the life of the body, wherefore they are also given to uses." (S. D. 2523.)
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified X 1888

ON page 101 of The New Christianity ""Frater" repeats his expressions of grief and disgust at the use of robes by priests of the New Church. After a careful perusal of his letter I have concluded that it would be worse than useless to attempt to enlighten him unless he can first be made to acknowledge his errors. I would, therefore, as a first step to his enlightenment upon this truly sublime subject, ask him to acknowledge the mistake he made when his "inky goose-quill" penned the following: "And it would have been strange indeed if, at His Second Coming in spirit and in power . . . . He should have said anything about the dress of His children or servants, officially or otherwise." Here we have "Frater" insinuating that the LORD in His Second Coming has said nothing about dress. Now, Messrs. Editors, you must agree with me that acknowledgment of error should precede any attempt to enlighten such willful ignorance. X
TORONTO, CANADA.
AMUSEMENTS 1888

AMUSEMENTS 1888

AN amusement, like any other form of action, cannot be justified on the ground that it pleases. The natural mind is so full of impure affections, which give us pleasure when we indulge them, that it is only by examining our delights in the light of truth that we can know their real quality. Use, use from good, should determine our enjoyments; if the use be good in form and intention, so will the enjoyment be.

     So, with a play or other composition, the use may be to present spiritual truth; or it may be to excite our admiration and affection for the various forms of rational and moral wisdom enumerated in Nos. 163 and 164 of Conjugial Love, which may be embodied in living characters and enlivened by variety of incident; or it may be to stimulate the imagination, or only to divert and recreate the faculties by mirth and sportive nonsense, thus relaxing and refreshing the mind. But in any case, the manner and degree in which it accomplishes its use must determine its quality and value for us.

     Amusements "are various delights and pleasures of the bodily senses:" among these "are decorous jestings which exhilarate the mind." (Char. 126.) These are to serve for the recreation of the affection of charity, which should be within even the most external forms of diversion: hence we should select such kinds of sport and relaxation as agree, or at least do not disagree, with that affection; to do this it is requisite for us to exercise judgment formed from an acknowledgment of the Doctrines as being Divine and from a study of the Divine Laws of order, in particulars, as contained in those Doctrines. In more serious representations we should avoid showing gross evils and all else which tends to dull the finer instincts and perceptions, or to hurt the more tender affections of the mind.

     The subjects of mirthful performances may be, very properly, the more external affairs and occurrences of life; the jesting should be decorous and becoming - not unrefined nor boisterous - and if prevailing errors and faults are to be held up for ridicule and disapproval it can be done, not in a contemptuous or destructive spirit, but directing our condemnation to the things themselves and not to persons.

     But surely, sacred subjects should not be introduced in such ludicrous light or connection. The Word, in its letter and in its spirit; the Priesthood, representing the LORD in His work of saving man; Marriage, representing the Church and Heaven as established in man, all these must be guarded from light or trivial treatment or aught that might at all lessen our reverence for them. If we have any instruction at all in the New Church we will not, indeed, be likely to treat the Word with irreverence, nor, it is to be hoped, the Priesthood with disrespect; but we are apt to err in our manner of thought and speech concerning Marriage. In our fallen state and our weak and inadequate conception of the nature and holiness of this "tabernacle of God with men" we fail to realize that it has its origin in the Creator, that in its descent thence it enters and affects every plane of the human mind and forms the fundamental of Heaven and Earth, that it keeps pace with and represents the state of the Church with men, and that hence our attitude toward and treatment of it will be some index of our spiritual state.
NEWNESS OF THE CONFUSION HERESY 1888

NEWNESS OF THE CONFUSION HERESY DOCTUS 1888

     EDITORS NEW CHURCH LIFE:- From what has lately come under my observation, it would seem that many who have been surprised by the position held by the Rev. John Worcester in his effort to explain away the force of the article by the Rev. James Reed upon "The New Church in its Relation to Other Organizations" (see New Jerusalem Magazine for month of December last) are laboring under a misapprehension. Their misapprehension is their thinking that Mr. Worcester, in taking the ground that the New Church stands in the relation of heart and lungs to the Old Church body, is treating us to a new idea, evolved from some source unknown but certainly not from the Writings. I would therefore like to call attention to the fact that, however astounding may be the assertion that the New and the Old Church are members of one body - and therefore differ only as to degree, but are in no sense opposite - still there is nothing new in such a statement. Certainly it ought not to surprise the readers of the New Jerusalem Magazine, for note the following extract from an editorial of the Magazine of October, 1880: [The italics are my own.]

     "We fear we detect a patronizing tone in the utterances of some of our own people, arising from an inclination on their part to underrate the merits of the leaders of the various religious denominations, who under the influence of the LORD by means of the new heavens are brought gradually into a clearer light . . . . . . . . .

     "But it is exceedingly poor taste to speak of such encouraging signs in a patronizing way. We know that divided Churches will exist as heretofore (L. J. 73), and we are glad to believe that the noble systems of Church organization, such as Congregationalism, Episcopalianism, Presbyterianism, and the like will continue to be useful . . . . . .The Church on earth is one, and they are in the centre of it whose faith and life recognize most fully the facts of the existence of the new age and the unfolding of the Word; . . . . but if there be a tendency to look down upon any, we are in need of Paul's injunction - 'If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? and if they were all one member, where were the body? but now are they many members, yet but one body.' (I Cor. xii.)"

     Here we see that nearly eight years ago the Magazine was editorially inculcating the identical falsity that the LORD'S New Church and the various sects of the Old Church form one body.

     Those who are interested in learning what the Divine Writings teach regarding the absolute opposition of the Old Church to the New, and vice versa, are referred to No. VIII, Words for the New Church, 1881, where the Magazine theory of 1880, above mentioned, is reviewed and disposed of.      DOCTUS.
DOCTRINES AN "IMMENSE HELP." 1888

DOCTRINES AN "IMMENSE HELP." 1888

IN The New Christianity "B" closes an article thus:

"Nevertheless the doctrines of this Church (the New Church), as revealed from heaven through Swedenborg, are of priceless value and of immense help, as well as comfort, to all who are earnestly seeking the heavenly life." When one reflects that "the doctrines of this Church" are the Second Coming of the LORD, without which no flesh could have been saved, this quoted paragraph looks very peculiar. It is as though a gentleman "earnestly seeking" light were to admit frankly that the sun was an "immense help," but then there is other light - tallow dips, for instance, and gas.
WORK ON DISCRETE DEGREES 1888

WORK ON DISCRETE DEGREES 1888

THERE is a prospect that the first installment of the work on Discrete Degrees, by the Rev. N. C. Burnham, will be issued during the month of April. The forty diagrams in every copy of the work are colored by hand, and this accounts for the long delay, as some of the diagrams require considerable painstaking. The entire edition will therefore appear by "degrees," so to speak, and subscribers will be supplied in the order of their subscriptions.

Mr. F. E. Waelchly, of 1821 Wallace Street, Philadelphia, still acts as agent. The price of the book is $4.00.

NEWS GLEANINGS 1888

NEWS GLEANINGS Various 1888

NEW CHURCH LIFE

A MONTHLY JOURNAL.

TERMS:- One Dollar per annum, payable In advance.
     Six months on trial for twenty-five cents.

     All communications must be addressed to Publishers New Church Life, No. 759 Corinthian Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa.

     In Great Britain subscriptions may be sent to

     MR. S. WARREN POTTS, Book Steward, 61 Cathedral Street, Glasgow, Scotland.

     REV. R. J. TILSON, "Oakley," County Grove, Camberwell, London, S. E.

     MR. G. A. MCQUEEN, Crowhurst Road, Colchester.

     MR. JAS. CALDWELL, 35 Diana Street, Walton, Liverpool.

     MR. C. E. SCHROEDER, 13 Ashfileld Terrace, Newcastle-on-Tyne.

     MISS FLORENCE G. GIBBS, 6 Camden Square, London, N.

     PHILADELPHIA, APRIL, 1888-118.

     CONTENTS.

     Editorial Notes, p. 49. -The Consummation of the Church (a Sermon), p. 50. -Conversations on Education, p. 52. -Seaside Musings, p. 53.

     Notes and Reviews, p. 55.

     That Love is Life and that Life is Eternal, p. 57. -More such Ministers Needed, p. 58. -Appreciation of Mr. Reed's Paper, p. 58. -The New York Association, p. 59. -Correction Notes, p. 61. The Use of Wine and the Use of Tobacco 62. -Amusements, p. 62. -The Newness of the Confusion Heresy, p. 63. -The Doctrines an" Immense Help," p. 63. -The Work on Discrete Degrees, p. 63.

     News Gleanings, p. 64. -Births, Marriages, and Deaths, p. 64.
     AT HOME.

     Pennsylvania- On Easter Sunday the Advent Society will hold the last services in the Cherry Street building of the Academy of the New Church, where they have met for worship since their organization in the year 1877. Until the summer vacation they will hold their services in the hall of the Boys' School of the Academy, at No. 1826 North Street, Philadelphia.

     THE friends in Erie feel very much encouraged. Their Sunday evening meetings are held regularly, and are faithfully attended by those interested, who manifest much zeal and earnest inquiry. The little Sunday school also holds out bright hopes.

     SINCE the year 1881, the Ladies' Aid Association of the Chestnut Street Church (Rev. Chauncey Giles, pastor) has raised $9,940.08, the greater part of which was devoted to furnishing the church and other buildings of the Society. The Helper has a subscription list of about 1,200. This weekly is devoted mainly to publishing Mr. Giles' discourses.

     Massachusetts.- AFTER conferring with the officials of the Massachusetts Association, it has been determined by the representatives of the General Convention to hold the next convention in the Temple of the Boston Society, to meet on Saturday, the 19th day of May. It has been determined "that the Convention assemble on Saturday afternoon for organization, and such other business as it may be able to transact; that Sunday be observed according to the present custom, and that the business of the Convention be continued until Tuesday afternoon." Preceding the meeting of the General Convention will be that of the Council of Ministers on Tuesday, the Sunday School Association on Friday, and the General Council on Saturday morning.

     THE first meeting of the Normal Class of Sabbath School Teachers, arranged for at the last meeting of the Massachusetts Conference, was held on March 3d, and regular weekly meetings will be held until June.

     THE Massachusetts Association will meet in Boston on April 5th, in the morning. The Union will meet in the afternoon.

     Ohio.-THE Urbana University reports sixty pupils in attendance this year. "There is, however, a serious drawback in the very limited number of instructors the College is able to employ in its higher grades of instruction." There are no classes this year above the Freshman and Sophomore.

     THE new pastor of the Urbana Society, the Rev. W. H. Mayhew, seems to be doing good work.

     THE Cincinnati Society has, for the first time in twenty years, revised its roll of membership, and one hundred names have been dropped for various causes. The present number is two hundred and twenty-six, and of these, forty-eight reside in other places, but still express a desire to have their names on the rolls.

     THE neighborhood meetings of the Cincinnati Society continue weekly at Walnut Hills and Mount Adams, where the usual attendance is fifteen or twenty, and at Avondale, where ten or fifteen are usually present. Similar meetings have been commenced at Tusculum and Covington by the pastor, and at Oakley by his assistant. These occur about once a month, with an attendance of about twenty each.

     Indiana.- THE Indianapolis Society has steadily maintained its Sunday-school of about twenty-four.

     Illinois.- THE Chicago Herald says that the Rev. A. J. Bartels, formerly of the German New Church Society, has "started a new church."

     THE Pastor and another member of the Immanuel Church have begun building residences for themselves on property adjoining the church.

     MR. Felix A. Boericke, an earnest student of Swedenborg's scientific works, delivers fortnightly lectures on Anatomy and Physiology to the Immanuel Church.

     Iowa.- THE Rev. Stephen Wood returned in February from a missionary visit to Oregon and Washington Territory. There are a good many New Church families scattered through those comparatively new regions.

     California.- THE book sales of the Swedenborg Library and Tract Society, of San Francisco, have steadily increased, without advertising or other extraneous methods, from $73.90 in 1882 to $246.19 in 1887, each intervening year showing a gain over the preceding one.

     Two "tens" of the new order of "The King's Daughters" have been organized in the O'Farrell Street Society of the New Church.

     THE Rev. J. T. V. Croy has removed from Iowa to San Diego.

     ABROAD.

     Great Britain.- THE Society at Southport has determined to erect a new Temple.

     ON February 7th the Society of Walworth, London, voted, with but four dissentient votes, to allow each member to choose between "fermented" and "unfermented" wine at communion.

     THE Rev. Frank Sewall's pastorate of the Glasgow Society will terminate soon, and on May 20th he will leave Great Britain for the Continent.

     France.- A CIRCULAR has been issued with a view of forming the New Churchmen of France into one body or organization. A meeting was held on January 8th, but action was postponed.

     Hungary.- IT is reported that the Buda-Pesth Society has dwindled away, and that only a few retain their loyalty to the Church.

     Australia.- AT Adelaide "the New Year has brought with it very hot weather [January], which has somewhat affected the attendance at public worship." The annual meeting was held January 16th. The average attendance at worship during the year was thirty-two and twenty-nine respectively at morning and evening services. It was voted that no collection should be taken at meetings.

     AT Brisbane a well-attended entertainment was held on the 10th of January in the church, but the programme "was rather too long for the intensely hot night."

     New Zealand.-MR. John Lambert, once the leader of the Auckland Society, departed this life recently, aged sixty-three. He removed to Whangarei about a year before his decease, where he held regular services at his own house.

     South Africa.-THE Cape Town Society hold regular meetings at the houses of its members. A building fund has been started, and there is an opening for a missionary.
EDITORIAL NOTES 1888

EDITORIAL NOTES Editor 1888

BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS.

NEW CHURCH LIFE.

Vol. VIII. PHILADELPHIA, MAY, 1888=118. No. 5
AT the last meeting of the General Convention a member gave notice of a proposed amendment to the Constitution, virtually embodying the doctrine that man's duties are forensic, and woman's domestic. The general question arose on an application in behalf of a woman delegate, and the majority of the Convention favored her admission openly, ignoring what the LORD says on this subject and yielding to the world's notions. A year's time ought to be sufficient to review a hasty judgment, and it is to be hoped that at the coming meeting the question will be decided on the ground of Doctrine.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE Doctrine of the New Jerusalem is pre-eminently a doctrine of life. If it form the staple of thought only, and do not enter into the various concerns of life, this will not be a New Church life. In order that actions, pleasures, desires, may come under the reforming and regenerating influence of the Divine Truth of the Doctrine, it is necessary to judge of them in its light. As has often been pointed out, this applies not only to church work, but also to business life. But it applies to things of still lower degree - to social intercourse and to the merest amusements. It is injurious, to say the least, to suffer the natural affections to be carried along by a drama, an opera, or by any form of entertainment, without at the same time keeping the judgment as formed by the Truth on the alert, condemning the evil and enjoying the good.

During the past month a Toronto New Churchman gave an entertainment (see page 78) in which, to judge in the programme, this principle was embodied. Although the occasion was one wholly festive, it was begun with an uplifting of the thought to the LORD, and from time to time the guests were reminded of spiritual principles; the effect of all of which must have been excellent, tending to keep the diversions from appealing to the senses merely.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IN The New Jerusalem Magazine for April, the editor publishes approvingly a letter from the Rev. S. H. Worcester in answer to the following question: "Which is to be considered of supreme authority, the Hebrew text (and the Chaldee and Greek in their place) or the Latin translations of Swedenborg? Which would you think it proper to make the basis of the translation where both are extant? This is, of course, of relevance only where there is a disagreement." The last sentence places him who answered the question, as well as him who published the answer, in the position of belief that there are cases where there is a disagreement between the Hebrew and the Latin, and, indeed, cases sufficiently numerous to warrant a serious consideration of the question.

The LORD wrote the Hebrew, the LORD wrote the Hebrew, the Lord wrote the Greek, the Lord wrote the Latin. How can there be a Disagreement? Why not at once also settle the question (!) which to "consider of supreme authority - the Hebrew text or the [Greek] translations in the New Testament] . . . where both are extant?" Men have pointed out their "disagreements" to prove that the Scriptures are not Divine. Do not New Churchmen place themselves in a similar position when they point out the disagreements between what the LORD wrote at the establishment of former Churches, and what He has written at the establishment of His New and Crowning Church?
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

     THE reasons for the proposition that the woman whose hand is sought in marriage ought to consult the parents, or those who are in the place of the parents, even before she deliberates with herself whether to consent or not (C. L. 298-9), reach farther back than to the engagement. They cover the whole period of a girl's preceding life, and indicate how much more careful parents should be in their oversight over their daughters and their acquaintanceship than is customary in this country. While there is a charm about the freedom of the American girl, which ought by no means to be crushed out, evidences are not wanting of the injurious results of the want of sufficient supervision.

     Young people of both sexes are not regenerated. They "obey the things lusted after from the senses." (C. L. 299.) Their spheres are very active, for the stronger the love, the more active the sphere; and where, from any of numerous causes, young people meet without the controlling presence of older and wiser persons, they are unconsciously affected by one another's spheres in a manner often detrimental to conjugial states.

     One of the principal of the causes of want of supervision arises from the absence of a thorough-going interest of parents in their children, which gradually chills their filial love, and causes the desire to grow up in them to be free from the tutelage of their parents, who feel this and withdraw. Only by dint of faithful study of the principles of education can parents acquire the intelligence and wisdom necessary to develop in their children the love which they have from their infancy, of sharing all their pleasures with their parents, and of making them their confidants and counselors in all their joys, sorrows, and perplexities.
OPERATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 1888

OPERATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT Rev. EUGENE J. E. SCHRECK 1888

"And He said unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the LORD JEHOVAH, From the four winds, come, O Spirit! and breathe upon these slain that they may live." -Ezechiel xxxvii, 9.

THE Divine Mercy and Compassion of the LORD desires the salvation of all men. With an ardor of the intensity of which no finite being can have a conception, the Divine Love wills to give Its Very Self to men that they may be closely conjoined with it. But from the Divine Union of the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, Infinite Mercy, which is of Love, leaves to the Divine Wisdom the mode and order of the salvation.

For "the Father hath given all things to the, Son." "As the Father hath Life in Himself, so hath He given also to the Son to have Life in Himself, and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man." (John v, 26, 27.) So, although it was the LORD JEHOVIH that spake to the prophet Ezechiel (and by this name is signified that the Divine Good is treated of from which is salvation), yet the words were addressed to the prophet, to the "son of man," and he was to speak to the "wind," and the wind was to come from the "four winds," and "breathe upon the slain," by all of which expressions are signified the operations of the Divine Truth of the Divine Wisdom, or of the Word. There is no other mode of reformation and regeneration possible than by the Divine Truth which proceeds from Divine Good. Of itself Divine Good can effect nothing.

     The prophet Ezekiel represented the doctrine of Truth and the Word, and as our text teaches, it is only through this that we learn of the processes of regeneration and salvation, and only through this is man regenerated and saved.

     The study of the Doctrine of Truth, that is, of the Essential Word, which in Christian countries is the Writings of the New Church - such study when it arises from a genuine love of the Truth for Truth's sake, and for the purpose of conforming the daily life to it, is attended by an influx from the LORD, which illustrates the man and increases his affection for the Truth; and this influx is signified by the LORD JEHOVIH speaking to the prophet. The increased desire for the Divine teaching of Truths is then expressed by the words, "Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man," etc. Thus the Word itself, the "Son of Man," increases the desire, and urges the reception of the Divine Truth - the "wind" - into the understanding. This Divine Truth is the spiritual life of man, which comes to his consciousness in the form of a life according to the truths of the Word. In reality, it comes from the Divine of the LORD in heaven, and, indeed, from all of the Divine of the LORD in heaven, for "Thus saith the LORD JEHOVIH, 'Come from the four winds, O Spirit, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.'"

     The four winds signify all the Divine proceeding, because the winds of heaven signify the quarters of heaven, the whole heaven being distinguished into four quarters, the east, west, south, and north. Into the two quarters, the east and the west, that is, into the angels who are there, the LORD flows with Divine Good more than with Divine Truth; and into the south and north with Divine Truth more than with Divine Good. Hence these are more in wisdom and intelligence, but those toward the east and west are more in love and charity. (A. E. 418.)

     Thus in the regeneration of man the whole of heaven, with the goods of love and the truths of doctrine in one complex, conspires with the LORD. Nor can it be otherwise. The Entire, Infinite, Undivided, and Indivisible Love of the LORD wills the salvation of every individual person, and the Divine Proceeding into the whole and every part of heaven flows in with this Divine Intention.

     All the thoughts of man diffuse themselves into the spiritual world in every direction, not unlike the rays of light diffused from flame; and, indeed, they are diffused into the innumerable societies of either heaven or hell; spiritual thoughts which are of the LORD, of love and faith in Him, and of truths and goods of heaven and the Church, into heavenly societies; but thoughts merely natural, which are of self and the world and the love of the world, and not to God at the same time, into infernal societies. Man is in freedom to direct the gaze of his spiritual eyes upward or downward, to gather about him a panorama of heavenly paradises, or of the caverns and deserts of hell. His love determines his thoughts; if it be a good love, it determines them into heavenly societies; if an evil one, into infernal societies. There cannot exist the least of a thought which is not received in some society, not by the individuals of the society, but by the affection of love, from which and in which that society is; so the angels are not conscious of anything respecting the influx, nor does the influx in any manner disturb the society. There whither man's thought is directed most fondly, he is as to his spirit. Thus every man, while in the world, is either in a heavenly or in an infernal society; and when by death he leaves the material body, he enters consciously into this his particular society. Nevertheless, that is not the only society whither his thought extends. For as the light and sight of the stars in the vaulted heavens extend to all the others, no matter how far distant, though more brightly or more dimly, according to the brilliancy of the star and its distance, so do the light and the sight of the societies of the heavens in the spiritual world extend to all others. As in the material universe each star is, as it were, the centre of the whole Kosmos, so in the spiritual universe each heavenly society is the centre of influx from all the rest.

     Thought concerning the LORD JESUS CHRIST opens heaven, and as His Divine Word is studied and pondered and delighted in, more and more celestial stars appear in the ethereal blue of man's spiritual surroundings and their light waxes brighter and brighter; for the LORD is the Word, and the closer study of the Divine Word increases the knowledge and strengthens the acknowledgment of the LORD, and brings to view more of the Infinitude of the Divine Proceeding received in all and singulars of heaven. The merciful provisions of the LORD to secure this end is shown in the doctrine concerning the letter of the Word, that every verse of the Scriptures communicates with some society of heaven and thus the whole Word with the universal heaven (S. S. 113), so that as man reads the Word with delight and affection, recognizing its spiritual sense, his thought is successively extended from one society of heaven to another, and he travels on, completing the whole circuit; and though his sight rests on but one at a time, yet the light and life flowing from the LORD in all the others continue to shed a brightness on his heavenward path. It is literally true that when the Son of Man cometh, all the holy angels come with Him. (Matth. xxv, 31.) The Son of Man is the LORD as the Word, and when He is seen in His Word, transfigured as in the Internal Sense of the Word, His face shining as the sun and His garments white as the light, all the heavens are seen, for He is in them, and His Divine alone constitutes heaven. And thus, although the innumerable societies of heaven, "all the holy angels," appear with Him, yet JESUS is seen alone, for He is the One and All, the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the Ending of heaven, and without Him heaven is not. It is the Holy Spirit of the LORD Alone which "cometh from the four winds of heaven and breathes upon the slain that they may live."

     And yet it is necessary that the "Spirit" should come from the "four winds of heaven." The Truth which proceeds immediately from the Divine cannot be perceived by any one, not even by an angel.

It must first become human, and it becomes human when it passes through the heavens; and when it has passed through the heavens, it is presented in a human form, and becomes speech, which speech is uttered by spirits, who, when they are in that state, are called the holy spirit. But this holy spirit proceeds from the Divine, because the holiness of the spirit or the holy truth which the spirit then speaks is from the LORD.

     But it must be borne in mind that the Divine Truth proceeds from the LORD, both immediately and mediately. What proceeds immediately is above all the comprehension of angels. That which is adequated to the angels in the heavens and to men, by passing through the heavens and putting on the angelic and the human, is the Divine Truth, proceeding mediately. Into this Truth also the LORD flows immediately and thereby leads angels and men both mediately and immediately. For all things are from the First Esse, and the order is such that the First Esse may be present in the derivatives, both mediately and immediately, thus alike in the ultimate and in the first of order.

     The Divine Truth itself is the only substantial. The derivatives, be they the natural creation, or the spiritual world with men and spirits and angels, are nothing else but successive forms thence. Thus the Divine flows likewise immediately into all things, for from the Divine Truth all things were created, the Divine Truth being the only Essential and thus the Source of all things. The Divine Truth is the Word, and "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word; all things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made." (John i, 1, 2.) By such influx the LORD leads man not only by Providence in what is universal, but also in every single thing, even to the least of all things. (A. C. 7004.) His Providence has regard even in the least things of life to man's salvation. Not a footstep that man takes, not a word that he utters, but that Providence watches over them, guarding the foot lest it slip and placing it on a higher plane, and forming the lips to utter words that agree with His Divine Truth, and which lead on to still more interior truths - if so be the man is willing to be so guided. And even where man willfully stamps his foot into the mire of his self-conceit and self-love, Infinitely merciful Providence still withdraws it from profounder depths and restrains man from falling too low. Both the good and the evil the LORD leaves in perfect freedom. He compels neither to receive what flows in from Himself, but so far as man permits, by freedom leads him to good. Thus He leads man according to his delights and also according to fallacies, but by degrees He leads him out from thence, and this appears to man as from himself. (A. C. 6472.)

     The conjunction of the Truth, proceeding immediately from the Divine, with the Truth which proceeds mediately, cannot be given except in good, for good is the very ground. Truths are the seeds, which do not grow elsewhere than in good as in their ground. Good also is the very soul of truth; truth, that it may be truth, hence comes forth, and hence it lives. The Truth which proceeds immediately from the Divine is called truth, but in itself it is good, because it proceeds from the Divine Good, but it is the good to which ever truth Divine is united. It is called truth because in leaven it appears as light, but it is light such as that of spring, to which is united the warmth that enlivens all things of the earth. Thus the conjunction of Truth, proceeding immediately from the Divine, with the Truth which proceeds mediately, cannot be effected except in good, consequently, unless man be affected with truth for the sake of truth, especially for the sake of good, thus for the sake of life, for man is then in good.

     The Truth, proceeding immediately from the Divine, enters into man's will, this being its path; but the Truth which proceeds mediately from the Divine enters into man's understanding - the "Spirit" was to "come from the four winds and breathe upon the slain," which were the "bones," man's intellectual proprium, - his understanding. Conjunction between the two cannot be effected unless the will and understanding act in unity, that is to say, unless the will wills good, and the understanding confirms it by truth. When, therefore, there is conjunction, the LORD appears as present, and His presence is also perceived, for "the spirit enters into them, and they live, and stand upon their feet," that is, the good affections and true thoughts are grounded in and carried out by the natural man in act and speech.

     This conjunction of Truth proceeding immediately with Truth proceeding mediately is effected in the interiors of man in proportion as he examines himself prayerfully, both as to the actions of his life and the intentions of his will, especially when partaking of the Most Holy Sacrament, the LORD'S Supper, and by desisting from doing and intending what is evil and false, and thus breaking the infernal marriage of his evil will with the falses in his understanding. As man searches out the intentions of his will, he is elevated out of the natural will, which is possessed by hereditary and actual evils, into a spiritual will, by which the LORD reforms and regenerates the natural and thereby the sensual and voluntary of the body, and thus the whole man.

     Those who never examine themselves are like sick people whose blood has become corrupt from some obstruction in the smallest vessels, whence come atrophy, sluggishness of the limbs, and acute chronic disorders, from the thickness, tenacity, acrimony, and acidity of the humors and consequently of the blood, but those who examine themselves, even as to the intentions of the will, are like those who are cured of such diseases, and restored to the life which they enjoyed in their youth. Those who do not examine themselves are like the dry bones in the valley; but when they have examined themselves, they are like the same bones upon which the LORD JEHOVAH laid sinews and brought flesh, and which He covered with skin and put spirit into, and they live (T. C. R. 534), for they receive the Divine Truth proceeding mediately from the LORD through the heavens, and which on earth is clothed in the ultimate forms of the Books of the Sacred Scripture, and the Books of the Writings of the New Church, and as this Divine Truth is received in the affections of the understanding and made the rule of life, the LORD conjoins with it the Divine Truth proceeding immediately from Him, and thus His Holy Spirit enters into the man, and the form into which and for which the LORD created man is again assumed by him. "And JEHOVAH GOD formed man the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives, and man became a living soul."

     "And he said unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, Son of Man, and say unto the wind, Thus saith the LORD JEHOVIH, Come from the four winds, come, O Spirit! and breathe upon these slain that they may live."
"Conversations on Education" 1888

"Conversations on Education" 1888

THE "Conversations on Education" have attracted the attention of our German brethren. Selected extracts, translated by the Rt. Rev. F. W. Tuerk, are being published in Neukirchenblatt.

CONVERSATIONS ON EDUCATION 1888

     APPLICATION.

     [Continued]

     IF it be asked what the good or affection is in the child, to which truth can be applied so as to be received, we refer to the Divine teaching in Arcana Coelestia, n. 3512, for an answer. It is there said:

     "Truths are introduced into the natural of man by things pleasant which are suitable to it, and those which are not introduced by pleasant things, do not inhere, thus are not conjoined to the rational by correspondence. Truths also, like all other scientifics, are allotted their place in the memory, which is of the natural man, according to the pleasantnesses and delights which have introduced them, as may appear from this, that when these pleasantnesses and delights return, the things also return which were introduced by them, and vice versa, when the things are recalled, the delights and pleasantnesses to which they were adjoined are likewise excited at the same time." (See, also, A. C. 7343.)

     Pleasantnesses and delights are introduced into the natural mind through the senses, and are there stored up in the memory together with the sciences and conceptions of the things or objects which have served as means of affecting the love. The stowing up in the memory of such things is a first act or beginning of appropriation, leading in a regular series to genuine appropriation by their introduction into the good of the Rational; for what is introduced into this inheres. On this subject we have the following instruction:

     "Appropriation takes place when truths, or the cognitions of good and truth, are insinuated into the natural, and when these truths are adjoined to good there, then there takes place a communication with the truth and good of the Rational, thus with the Rational; this communication is what is called appropriation, for they (the truth and good) are of the Rational in the Natural. The things which are in the Rational are to those which are in the Natural like particulars to generals; it is known that a general exists from particulars, and that without particulars no general exists; the general of the particulars of the Rational is what is presented in the Natural, and because it is general, it appears under another form, and this according to the order of the constituent particulars, thus according to the form thence. If singulars and thence particulars of celestial good and truth are what forms the general in the natural, then there exists a celestial and spiritual form, and there is represented in a certain image in the singulars of the general something of heaven; but if the singulars and particulars which form the general in the Natural, are not of good and truth, but of evil and falsity, then there is represented in an image in the singulars of the general, something of hell." -A. C. 3513.

     It now becomes important to know what that good is, which, when affected, produces delights and pleasures by means of which scientifics and cognitions are introduced into the memory. Every man, as is well known, has a ruling love, which, with its affections, is called a good, and which is his by inheritance from his parents. Because of this derivation this good is denominated "domestic good," also "natural good." This good, however, is entirely distinct from that which inflows into the natural from the LORD, and which is called "the good of the natural," to distinguish it from that natural good which, as just stated, is specifically denominated "domestic good."

     Now, domestic or natural good is two-fold in form. It is interior and exterior, the interior form being inherited from the father, and having place in the will, or in the love of the will, and the exterior form being derived from the mother, and having its place in the affections of the understanding. These forms of good constitute, in fact, in every natural man, the one his will-proprium, and the other his understanding-proprium. Let these two forms of domestic good be kept distinct in the thought.

     Now it is evident from the origin of domestic good, that as to its interior form it is altogether evil, and as to its exterior form it is altogether false, for such is the quality of the proprium of every man. All the affections of this good are of a like quality, and the same quality is present in all the delights and pleasures by means of which sciences and cognitions are introduced and caused to inhere in the memory. In the midst of these sciences and cognitions as they rest in the memory of the natural man, are the evils of self-love and love of the world. But in spite of this, nay, because of this concordance with the actual state of man, this domestic or hereditary good or love with its affections and delights, serves in the work of man's reformation, and therefore, also, in the first formation of his mind.

     In order that these important truths may be impressed on the minds by the Divine Authority of the Revelation in which they are given, and in order that the deduction to be drawn from them may carry with them the weight of this Authority, let us read what the LORD says in opening the internal sense of the words of Rebecca to Jacob, "Go, I pray, to the flock." (Genesis xxvii, 9.)

     "'Go, I pray, to the flock,' that this signifies natural domestic good, not conjoined with the Divine Rational, appears from the signification of a 'flock,' that it is good (concerning which n. 343, 415, 1565), here natural good, because it is said to Jacob, and indeed domestic, because it was at home, whilst the field whence Esau was to take his game, by which natural good is signified (n. 3500, 3508), was a good not domestic. In other places in the Word 'flock' is predicated of the good of the Rational, but there the 'herd' [is predicated] of the good of the natural. (See n. 2566.) Natural domestic good is that good, which a man derives from parents, or into which he is born; it is very distinct from the good of the natural, which flows from the LORD (what and of what quality natural good is, may be seen n. 3470, 3471); wherefore, for the sake of distinction, the one good is called the Good of the Natural, but the other Natural Good. Moreover, every man receives domestic good from his father and from his mother, which goods also are distinct the one from the other; what he receives from his father is interior, what from the mother is exterior. With the LORD these goods were most distinct, for the good which He had from the Father was Divine, but that which he had from the mother was contaminated with hereditary evil. That Good in the Natural, which the LORD had from the Father, was His Proprium, because His very Life, and it is this that is represented by Esau. But the natural good which the LORD derived from the mother, because contaminated with hereditary evil, was evil in itself, and it is this that is meant by domestic good. This good, although of such a quality, nevertheless served for the reformation of the Natural, but after it had subserved [this purpose] it was rejected. With every, man who is regenerating, the case is similar; the good which a man receives from the LORD as a new Father, is interior, but the good which he derives from his parents is exterior; that good which he receives from the LORD is called Spiritual, but this which he derives from his parents [is called] natural good. This good, namely, that which he derives from his parents, serves first of all for his reformation; for by means of it, as by pleasure and delight, scientifics are introduced, and afterward cognitions of truth, but after it has served as a medium for this use, it is separated, and then the spiritual comes forward and manifests itself." -A. C. 3518.
SOME PARTICULARS REGARDING WHAT AND WHERE THE NEW CHURCH IS 1888

SOME PARTICULARS REGARDING WHAT AND WHERE THE NEW CHURCH IS 1888

THE Church in the world, with its institutions of ministry, instructions, sacraments, and worship, is established by the Doctrines, and in the individual man it is established by a life according therewith. The Church is true and excellent and precious, "according as its Doctrines are truths and goods of life from the LORD, or destroyed and filthy if from falsified ones."

The New Church is a new, true, and living Church, because formed by new and true Doctrines of the LORD, and by a life revealed by Him; while the old is no longer either a Church or a religion because from false tritheistic and solifidian doctrines. The truths of doctrine and life are the chief factors in creating, distinguishing, and separating the New Church from the Old. From these general and fundamental truths established by our Doctrines, let us advance to some more particular teachings regarding the quality and whereabouts of the Church.

     Prominent among them is the question, so often disputed over: Is there anything in the world of which we can say positively, this is the New Church, and this is the Old Church? Remembering our teachings, there is, most certainly. Wherever we can find the Doctrines of the New Church placed before men by the instrumentalities which they institute to teach men and lead them to the worship of the LORD alone, and the good life positively, there is the New Church. And wherever we find the old doctrines similarly placed before men to hold them in the old falsified doctrines and life, there is the Old Church. One is the new, living, true Church as to doctrine; the other is the old, false, dead one. The New Church, as to Doctrine, demands that there shall be a priesthood to minister (.ff. D. 313-319) in the work it has to do of "collecting, initiating, and instructing" men in its truths of life. If that demand is filled and such ministry has been created, who will hesitate to affirm, "This is the Ministry of the New Church"? The Old Church has its clergy as a ministry of its dogmas. Who will hesitate to class them under their real banner of the Old Church? The New Church demands that there be sacraments as gates (T. C. R. 721) of admission to its Doctrines and life, and that its ministry administer them. When we find that demand filled by their institution and administration according to the Doctrines, "in which God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are acknowledged as one because in one person" (T. C. R. 700), who shall hesitate to say positively, "These are the Sacraments of the New Church"? And when we find them instituted and administered under dogmas that teach the old tripersonal doctrine, can we say anything truthfully than that these are the Sacraments of the Old Church?

     The Doctrines demand the worship of the LORD alone as the God of Heaven and earth in His Divine Human, acknowledging the obligation to "obey His commandments for the sake of salvation." (T. C. R. 282.) When we find that demand filled and that worship instituted, shall we hesitate to say positively, "This is the worship of the New Church"? And when we find the opposite worship of three persons conjoined with the falsity that we hear sung every day all over the old Christendom:

               "There is nothing more for me to do,
                    Jesus paid it all,"

can we truthfully say anything else than "This is the worship of the Old Church"? What else does this mean: "Every person may see that by the New Jerusalem is meant a New Church or congregation, the Doctrines and articles of whose faith cannot shine in their true splendor and give light to others without Divine aid." (Letter to Dr. OEtinger. See also A. E. 641, that "this revelation effects separation in both worlds.")

     But how about membership? Are the members of these "new congregations" all members of the New Church? (A. C. 4292.) This is not in the question, we are not concerned about it. This is known to the LORD only. They are members of the Church as to doctrine as far as they have been "admitted and introduced into the things which the Church teaches from the Word concerning another life," by the means which the Doctrines institute and provide. They are members of the Church as to life, if they have "suffered themselves to be prepared and led by the LORD." Of the one membership every one may know. Of the other no one knows but the LORD alone. Nor is there any need to concern ourselves about it. The Church as to doctrine is committed to us as its instruments in aid of its mission in the world of saving men by leading them through its truths to the good of life. The LORD will do this with all who will suffer themselves to be prepared and led of Him. We have no more that we can do about it.

     There are some things that we may know about these, whoever they are, because the LORD has revealed them. One is, that they are few as compared with the mass in the Christian world. "The Church which is the New Jerusalem is at first among a few" (A. R. 546), for "scarcely any approach the LORD directly" (A. R. 504); since "the acknowledgment that He alone is the God of heaven and earth, and that His Human is Divine, is unpleasing by reason of falsifications." (A. R. 481.) "It is of the Divine Providence that the Church should at first be confined to a few and that its numbers should successively increase, because the falses of the former Church must first be removed, for before this, truths cannot be received, since truths which are received and implanted before falses are removed do not remain." (A. R. 547.) "Wherefore this cannot be done in a moment, but it is done as the falses of the former Church are removed, for what is new cannot enter where falses have been ingenerated unless these are eradicated, which will be done among the clergy and thus among the laity." (T. C. R. 784.) What clergy they are that are doing this work is plain. Those of the New Church evidently, for where their work has never gone there the old falsities remain unchanged, unchecked, exactly as they were two centuries ago. Another truth is revealed about the New Church, that in this "beginning it will be external." (A. E. 503.) For "when a new Church is created by the LORD, then first of all appears the good of the natural, that is, good in an external form with its affections and truths." (A. C. 4231.) That those who come from the Christian world into the New Church will bring with them faults and defects of various kinds which must be corrected by the truths of the New Church is shown by the messages to the Seven Churches, that is, all in the "Christian world who secede to the Church." (A. R. 10.) Which being done by understanding and obeying their truth, they form "varieties in the Church which may be compared to the various jewels in the crown of a king, or the members and organs in a perfect body." (A. R. 66.)

     It is becoming quite popular in some quarters to speak of the New Church as the Celestial Church. This is clearly anti-doctrinal. The New Church is in the natural kingdom and subject to its laws; one of which is regeneration by truths leavened and not by inflowing perception, as in the Most Ancient Celestial Church. The Doctrines do teach that there are those who may become angels of the third heaven "who have approached the LORD alone, and have done good works because they are according to the truths of the Word" (A. R. 121), or, as it is again expressed, "who live justly according to the commandments, because they are Divine laws." (A. R. 920.) But there are to be those of a spiritual and natural genius also.

In the internal degree of the Church there will be "such only as are spiritual and celestial." (A. R. 362.) But besides, the great "multitude which no man can number," "being those who compose the ultimate heaven and the external Church, whose quality no one knows but the LORD alone." (A. R. 363.) In the Apocalypse Explained the position of these is more fully exhibited. They are such as were not in the essential truths of heaven and the Church, but in the good of life according to the doctrines of their religion, which as to the most; part were not genuine truths, but falsities, but were nevertheless accepted by the LORD as truths, because they were in the good of life, by virtue of which the falsities of their religion were not tinctured with evil, but inclined to good." (A. R. 450.)

     Thus is clearly disposed of the great question over which there has been so much dispute, as to the status of the good who are in other religions, Old Church, Mohammedan, Jewish, Heathen. They constitute an external "cohering with the internal" Church which is in the essential truth of the New Church, similarly with that elsewhere called the "Communion" (H. D. 244), and similarly placed and treated by the Doctrine. (See A. E. 452.)

     What then of their doctrines, religions, and worship?

     The above characterization (A. E. 452) places them very plainly as those of good Gentiles, "who in the other life by temptations will have the falses of their religion dissipated, and genuine truths implanted in their place." If they are among Papists they come into the other life as any Gentiles, there to be instructed like Gentiles in Christian truth. (A. E. 1029.) We have already seen that in the Protestant world "there is no Church." (T. C. R. 389.) "Its worship is not worship but ceremony." (A. C. 6587.) If they do not believe in the LORD "their prayers will not hereafter be heard with acceptance." (T. C. R. 108.) It will continue in its external worship as the Jews do in theirs, in whose worship it is well known there is nothing of charity and faith, that is, nothing of a Church. (A. C. 1850.) Confessors of faith alone after death are mixed with Pagans. (T. C. R. 163.) It is predicted that "the internals and externals of the former Church should perish." (A. C. 4231.) Accordingly it is recorded, that in it is no cognition of any of the truths of the Christian religion, which are severally enumerated. (Contin. Coronis.) Also, "There is no cognition of Baptism and the Holy Supper, which are hardly anything but ceremonies: that the whole Word is not anything: hence it follows that there is no religion, no Church, no worship, no ministry." (App. to S. D., p. 138.)

     We often hear it asserted that it must be yet a true Church because the Doctrines quote some of its tenets as having truth in them notwithstanding their oft-repeated declarations that "it has not one truth left." So the Doctrines declare that there are at this day heresies in which are all "the essentials of the Church," but they are "spurious." (See T. C. R. 450.) So the angels said to some orthodox spirits from the abyss who had uttered truths: "These are truths in themselves, but with you they are truths falsified." And they illustrated: "To take from the Word this truth, that charity is to be exercised, and good done to the neighbor, if, then, any One attempts to prove that this should be done, but not for the sake of salvation, since all good from man is not good, because it is meritorious, he drags that truth out of the Word and murders it." (T. C. R. 162.) And so the doctrines of the consummated Church, though in themselves truths in some cases, yet as conjoined with the prevailing falses of tripersonalism and solifidianism, are falsities with them; and thus the fact remains that they have not one truth left. Yet this does not hinder that those who are in good of life may have their falses accepted by the LORD, as it is said of this very class, "Inasmuch as the good of life contains within it the desire of knowing truths, when such come into the other life, they easily receive truths and imbibe them." (A. E. 452.) "To the above I will add this news: All those who do good from religion, after death reject the doctrine of the present Church concerning three Divine persons from eternity, and also its faith applied to those three in order, and turn themselves to the LORD GOD the SAVIOUR and receive with pleasure those things which are of the New Church." (T. C. R. 536.) Their state before, as contrasted with that after, their reception of these truths of the New Church, is compared to "trees bearing good fruits but "few" and "small," and to olive trees and fig trees growing in forests. The state of these who are in the good of charity while in this world, is that "such, although with the wicked, are nevertheless separate from them not by civil society, but as to spiritual life." (A. C. 232.) Furthermore, as we are told, the good are held with the evil "by means of the external worship of the latter." (A. E. 426.) Hence the force of the admonition to "those who are in the truths," not to "be with those who are in no truths." (A. R. 705-706.)

     A true and safe guide for our attitude toward all out of the New Church is given in our teachings, thus: "Every one associating with others who are in other doctrine and religion, may learn and accept their goods of charity, but not imbibe them and conjoin them to his own truths." (A. C. 5117.) Heeding this, we may preserve the strictest purity and all-embracing charity.
SUNSET REFLECTIONS 1888

SUNSET REFLECTIONS 1888

IT is scarcely possible to imagine a scene of more exquisite beauty (for color) than that presented by a fine sunset in presence of the ocean. The western sky is ablaze with crimson and gold, whose splendor is enhanced by the contrast with numberless delicate tints of blue and yellow and even the lightest, loveliest green. All this is faintly reflected upon the clouds in the eastern sky, which throw it down upon the ocean so softly, that by this double reflection every brilliant color is toned down and intermingled, and thus the waters heave and swell under an indescribably beautiful haze of blended tints. If we could leave our sensuous impressions uncorrected, we might believe ourselves to be walking on a narrow strip of earth with an ocean of color on either hand, and nothing more than this in existence. It is all teeming with such unearthly loveliness that the question naturally arises, How can so much beauty exist in a world so full of disorder as this? For genuine beauty must be the natural dress, the external form, of united goodness and truth on whatever plane of life they may be found. Life flowing down from the LORD, through all the intermediate good forms, must express itself in lovely forms in this world. The fact that all is not beautiful here, proves that the inflowing life, before reaching this lowest plane, must be deflected from its normal and orderly course, and enter and infill most unbeautiful spiritual forms.

This perversion of the LORD'S life takes place in the region of mind that is under finite control, that is subject to the will of evil-minded humanity. Is this the correct, the true, way of expressing this wonderful truth?

     Life flows in according to the form of the recipient vessel. The only control that human being can exert is over the form of their own minds. With the inflow of life that keeps their minds in existence, that fills them and creates, in the plane below them, objects and conditions that portray their general quality with awful fidelity, they have nothing to do. Otherwise, among other powers and privileges, we might have the ability to arrest the inflow of our thoughts and feelings. How strange they are, these thoughts and feelings! They come and go at the bidding of a law that reigns in a region of our souls above our conscious life, although we may change their direction by a resolute effort of the will, and in an indirect manner radically affect their quality by putting our minds into an orderly form for their reception.

     What form have our thoughts and feelings? Have they not some relation to this shore and this sea?

     A grain of sand and a drop of water partake inevitably of the attributes of the land and water respectively, for it is by the aggregation of their particles that each is built up. Like these objects, though on a higher plane of life, a feeling and a thought must partake of the quality of the principles in our souls that give them birth, and these principles are either in the image of their Creator, the LORD, or else they are a monstrous distorted perversion of it. So we may know by watching the undisturbed current of our thoughts whether the affection of which they are the expression be of heaven or of hell. How many of them wear the sad livery of their father, the devil, none know better than those who have set themselves with the LORD'S help to detect them under no matter what brilliant disguise in the kingdom of the soul.

     It is an unceasing source of encouragement to know that all heaven is ready to aid a struggling human being to get possession of that kingdom, and to rule it in the name of the LORD. What a triumph, to be able, one by one, to shut and bolt the many doors that give access into the heart to spirits from hell, and to elect that, however much evil may surround us in our external lives, we will not permit it in any form to stalk abroad unchallenged within us. For it reigns around us apparently unchecked. We have become so accustomed to it in the air we breathe, in the food we eat, in the garments we wear, and in the houses we inhabit, that we accept it, often without a protest.

     In the air we breathe - the very climate is an expression into this world of the general state of the human race - the scorching heat, the arctic cold, the storms, the cyclones, the malarious air, the earthquakes - none of these things are emanations from heaven.

     In the food we eat - which is more immediately affected than the climate by the evil principles that reign in the wills of those concerned in preparing or producing it. What article of food that is not more or less adulterated by a greed for gain, a desire to get without giving an equivalent, which is another way of stealing?

     In the garments we wear - how few fabrics for our clothing that do not bear a lie upon the face of them, that are not inferior to what they pretend to be.

     In the houses we inhabit - where glossing in brick and mortar and architectural lies that do most disastrously abound, everywhere the appearance of a good quality that does not exist, sadly recalls those imaginary heavens, once piled up in the World of Spirits till they encroached on the abodes of the blessed.

     In the animal kingdom, the evil that makes of men's souls sadder ruins than ever crumbled to dust on the face of the earth, is typified by venomous reptiles, and ferocious beasts and birds of prey and horrid vermin. And the world of vegetation has its poisonous plants and trees. There is scarcely a good plant growing that is not infested with a vegetable parasite that, but for the watchful providence of the LORD, would destroy all useful growth.

     The evil is overwhelming, and yet such is the infinite care of the Divine Providence that it may all be kept in the circumference of our lives and rendered innocuous to our best interests - nay, may even be made to subserve them. All things shall work together for good to those who are in the effort to shun their evils as sins against the LORD, the God of heaven and earth. This effort tends constantly to bring the mind back to its normal and orderly form, into which unperverted life from heaven may flow. This is without question the only sure way of setting to rights the disorderly condition at present existing upon this earth, and is, in fact, the chief thing that the LORD requires of us, after acknowledging Him as the Supreme God.

     But this evil, so rampant now, so ready to arise within us, and so direfully imaged around us, is there nothing unaffected by its baleful influence? Look at that sun - is it not the same that shone in the Golden Age? It is true that the atmospheres through which its rays reach us must have degenerated, but not so greatly as to prevent some of its pristine glory from filtering through. At least one is inclined to think so in view of such a refulgent sunset. Could that crimson cloud have been more vivid, or that gold more golden then?

     After all, the difference lies much with the beholder. A man of the Most Ancient Church would be capable of seeing more beauty in such a scene than would be possible to a denizen of earth at the present time, no matter how perfect the training maybe of his soul and his sense for the appreciation of natural beauty. To the former, heaven would so vividly shine through and blend itself with all this splendor that he would behold it only as a gateway to the purer, the spiritual, glory beyond. It was thus that the people of that far-off time viewed natural objects; their eyes were open to see the spiritual causes of them, which always, probably, possessed more beauty than the material effect; because the substance of this earth, though far more plastic then to spiritual impressions than now, could never have been as yielding as the spiritual substance itself, so that, however lovely a natural object might have been, its heavenly prototype must have been lovelier still.

     It is a source of deep joy and gratitude that so much beauty still remains in the earth which evil has not been able entirely to destroy. And then the hope of the future! Does it not make all those bright colors grow brighter still to know that the tide of evil has turned, and, though so rampant now, that this is the last time when it will prevail upon the earth?

     The last time!

     More than once in the world's moral history has the tide of evil swept over and well nigh submerged it, endangering thus, not only the existence of the human race, but the stability of the heavens as well. But always some refuge has been opened by the LORD in such a crisis for the few, whose humble acknowledgment of the truth and effort to obey it in daily life have been the means used by the Divine Providence for saving from destruction, not only themselves, but the whole human race.

     Once this salvation was typified by Noah's ark, that survived the general deluge, and again it was the actual coming of the LORD, the God of heaven and earth; and now, in these latest and worst times, He has come again and established His Church, which is destined to survive all the infestations of all these direful and malignant evils.

Quietly it is hidden and nourished in the desert till this state of evil be overpast. Silently it opens up treasures to all earnest seekers for the truths of the New Church. And what truths!

Since the beginning of the world till now their like has not been known for saving power. It is as if the heavens had suddenly opened and poured out jewels and precious stones at our feet till the whole earth sparkles with their refulgent sheen. Though our eyes have been opened to acknowledge their existence and see something of their value, it remains for the people of ages yet to come - people of a spiritual robustness unimaginable in our days - to appreciate fully the length and breadth and height of this power in their application to the every-day uses of every-day life - to make them by correspondence perfectly one with the food of their earthly sustenance, with the garments of their earthly wear, and with the jewels of their earthly adornment - for princely crowns, which then only genuine princes can possibly possess, - for priestly breastplates, which, like the Urim and Thummim of the Jewish High Priest, may, in answer to the soul's questions concerning the way of life, flash back in blinding glory an expression of the Holy Will of the LORD.
REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS IN SCHOOLS 1888

REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS IN SCHOOLS 1888

     I. REWARDS.

     THE universal law concerning Rewards and Punishments is expressed in the Old Covenant in the words, "Thou shalt give soul for soul, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, bruise for bruise, wound for wound, stroke for stroke" (Ex. xxi, 2, 3), and in the New Covenant in the words, "All whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye also unto them; this is the Law and the Prophets." (Matt. vii, 12.)

     Concerning this law, it is written in the Arcana Coelestia:

     "'And thou shalt give soul for soul,' that it signifies the law of order, that thou shalt do so unto the neighbor, as thou wilt that the other should do thee, hence that what thou doest to another will be done to thee, appears from this, that 'to give soul for soul, eye for eye, tooth for tooth,' and so forth, is 'to be done to thee as thou hast done to another.' This law was given to the sons of Israel, because there is such a law in the spiritual world; there he who does good to another from the heart, receives a similar good; hence he who does evil to another from the heart, receives a similar evil; for good from the heart is conjoined with its remuneration, and evil from the heart is conjoined with its punishment; hence is heaven for the good, and hell for the evil: that it is so, has been given to know from much experience. With them the case is thus: with him who does good from the heart, therein flows out of heaven from everywhere good into the heart and soul, and inspiring inspires, and the affection of love for the neighbor to whom he does good is then at the same time increased, and with that affection, delight, which is delight heavenly, ineffable; the cause that this comes to pass, is that the good of love from the LORD reigns universally in heaven, and inflows continually according to the degree in which it is displayed to another: it is similar with evil, with him who does evil to another from the heart, evil inflows out of hell from everywhere into the heart, and exciting excites it; the affection of the love of self is then increased at the same time, and with it the delight of hatred and revenge against those who do not submit themselves; the cause that this comes to pass, is that the evil of the love of self reigns universally in hell, and inflows continually according to the degree in which it is displayed toward another: when this comes to pass, there are immediately present punishers, who treat him badly; by this, evil with its delight is restrained. These things come to pass because the laws of order in the other life are not taught from books, and hence stored up in the memory, as with men in the world, but are inscribed on the hearts; the laws of evil on the heart of the evil, and the laws of good on the heart of the good, for every man in the other life carries with him that which by a life in the world he had imparted to his heart, namely evil with the evil, and good with the good. The law of order, from which those things flow, is the one which the LORD taught in Matthew: 'All whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye also to them; this is the Law and the Prophets' (vii, 12, Luke vi, 31); order is from the Divine Truth which proceeds from the LORD, the laws of order are truths from good in heaven, and truths separated from good in hell; they are said to be separated, not from the LORD, but from man; good is separated by its non-reception. The Law which is called the law of the right of retaliation is thus described in Leviticus: 'He who smiteth the soul of a beast, shall restore it, soul for soul; if a man has imparted a defect to his neighbor, as he hath done so shall it be done unto him, breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as the manner of defect which he hath imparted to man so shall it be imparted to him; he that smiteth a beast shall restore it, and he that smiteth a man shall be killed.' (xxiv, 17-21.) Because evil has with it its punishment, therefore it is said by the LORD, that evil must not be resisted, and at the same time it is explained, how it is with this Law in the spiritual world with those who are in good, respectively to those who are evil, in these words in Matthew, 'Ye have heard that it has been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth; but I say unto you that evil ought not to be resisted; but whosoever shall give thee a stroke on thy right cheek-bone, turn to him also the other; and if any one wishes to drag thee before the law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also; and whosoever shall compel thee to go one mile, go off with him two: give to every one that asketh of thee, and him that desireth to take a loan from thee turn not away' (v, 38-42); who cannot see that these words are not to be understood according to the sense of the letter; for who will turn the left cheek-bone to him who gives him a stroke on the right cheek-bone? and who will give the cloak to him who wants to take away the coat? and who will give his own to all who ask? and who will not resist evil? -A. C. 9049.

     "The evil, who by injections of false and evil, will to do violence to the good, cast themselves into the punishment of retaliation, which is that the falses and evils which they intend to bring upon another fall back upon themselves: this punishment, which is called the punishment of retaliation, comes from this law of order in heaven, 'All things whatsoever ye will that men should do unto you, do ye also so unto them; this is the Law and the Prophets' (Matth. vii, 12); wherefore they who do good from good or from the heart, receive good from others, and also vice versa, they who do evil from evil or from the heart, receive evil from others; hence it is, that to every good there is adjoined its remuneration; and to every evil, its punishment." A. C. 8214.

     If such is the Law of Order in the spiritual world, it needs no argument that such should be the Law of Order in the natural world, and also in our schools.

     One of the first things taught to children is the golden rule so-called, quoted so frequently in the preceding. But useful as it is for them to have this law inscribed on their memories, it is highly necessary for their future regeneration, and essential for the maintenance of Order that the carrying out of the law in the school be made a thing of everyday observation by them, and be connected in their minds with this grand law of order itself. For the practical observance of this law will create in the minds of the pupils justice and equity, honor and decorum, and these are necessary as the foundation of conscience, and consequently of intelligence and wisdom. Without them the priesthood shall in vain endeavor to do the work committed to them to do - to lead men, and in preparation therefor, children, to consociation with the angels and conjunction with the LORD.

     But before enlarging on the practical application of the law in our schools, let us consider some more of the principles involved. If the truth that every good carries with it its reward, every evil its punishment, is recognized and acknowledged, it will as a matter of course divert the selfish affections of the pupils toward the rewards and the punishments, and for this reason doubts have arisen and have been expressed whether it is a wise thing to institute rewards and punishments.

Turning for light on this subject to the Writings, it will be found written:

     "The men of the Church are distinguished into two kinds, namely into those who are in good, and into those who are in truth; they who are in good are called celestial, but those in truth, spiritual; between the two there is a great difference; they who are in good, are in the affection of doing good for the sake of good, and this without remuneration for them; their remuneration is that they are allowed to do good, for hence they perceive joy; but they who are in truth, are not in the affection of doing good for the sake of good, but because it is commanded, and for the most part they think of remuneration; they have joy thence, and also from glorying; hence it appears that they who do good from good, do it from internal affection, but they who do good from truth do it from a certain external affection; hence appears the difference, namely, that the first are internal men, the second external." - A. C. 4788.

     "They who enter heaven do not think of remuneration on account of the goods which they have done. . . . They who think of reward and remuneration cannot receive heaven in themselves. . . . Heavenly felicity consists in the affection of doing good without the end of remuneration. . . . In the other life in as far as any one does good without the end of remuneration, in so far happiness flows in with augmentation from the LORD, and this is immediately dissipated when remuneration is thought of. . . . Good is to be done without the end of remuneration. Illustrated n. 9981.) By reward in the Word is meant delight and happiness in doing well to others without the end of reward, and this delight and happiness do they feel and perceive who are in genuine charity . . . . They who do good for the sake of reward, love themselves, not the neighbor. . . . They who do good for the sake of remuneration in the other life will to be served, and are never content. . . . They despise the neighbor and grow angry at the LORD Himself because they do not receive reward, saying that they have merited it. . . They who have done good for the sake of reward, in the Kingdom of the LORD are services."- H. D. 158.

     But while all this is true in its application, to the preservation of order among men who are not regenerated and children, and with whom the laws of allowance and permission are to a great extent in force, there must be added to the Doctrine just cited the following:

     "They who from the Word, or from the Doctrine of the Church, or also from any others whatsoever, yea, and they who from themselves by conclusions learn and draw truths for the sake of gain, that is, that they may gain honors or riches, or also that they may merit heaven, are those who in the internal sense are meant by mercenaries who come in their reward, that is, who submit themselves and serve; for gains should be in the last place to the man of the Church, not in the first; when they are in the last place, then they are servants, but if in the first, they are lords. He who looks to gains in the first place, is an inverted man, and is also represented as inverted in the other life, with head in hell: but he who looks to charity and faith in the first place, is an erect man, and is also presented erect in the other life, with head in heaven."- A. C. 9180.

     The conclusion from these Doctrines is that with men who are natural, and with children, rewards are looked to, and will be looked to in the first place, and it is not contrary to order that this their tendency be used in their government. As they grow out of their natural state and become spiritual, the regard for rewards gradually settles to the last place. To ignore the general law that children are natural, and that their natural unregenerated affections are then operative, is to fail of co-operation with the LORD in the work of saving souls.

     Rewards show the children that the teacher loves them, and especially their desire for doing right, and encourages them in so doing in order to delight the teacher. The guard against their ascribing merit to themselves consists in dwelling on the merit of the act dissociated from self-merit, and in the daily teaching that doing well for the mere sake of the reward cannot consociate them with the angels. (A. C. 8002.)
DESIRE FOR A NEW TRANSLATION OF THE WORD 1888

DESIRE FOR A NEW TRANSLATION OF THE WORD 1888

     SWEDENBORG was once invited by the votaries of the False Prophet to view their temple. He at first saw it as a magnificent building, and in it the image of a woman clothed in a scarlet robe, holding in her right hand a golden coin, and in her left a chain of pearls; but these things were induced by fantasy. But when the interiors of the mind were opened by the LORD, instead of the temple, there was seen a house full of chinks; and instead of the woman there was seen a beast, such as is described in Revelation xiii, 2; and under the floor there a bog, in which lay the Word, deeply concealed. But presently, an eastern wind blowing up, the temple was carried away, and the bog dried up, and the Word appeared; and then, by the light from heaven, there appeared there a Tabernacle, like that of Abraham, when the three angels came and told him concerning Isaac, who was about to be born; and afterward, light being sent forth from the second heaven, instead of the tabernacle, there appeared a Temple, such as had been at Jerusalem; and, on looking into it, he saw the stone of the foundation, under which the Word was deposited, set around with precious stones, from which bright rays, like lightning, shone upon the walls, upon which were the forms of cherubs, and beautifully variegated men, with colors. And after this, a light shone upon it from the third heaven, and then the temple disappeared, and there was seen the LORD alone, standing upon the foundation stone, where the Word was.

     Similar is the experience of him who comes out of the Old Church into the New. As the light of truth from heaven, revealed in the Writings enters his mind, it dispels the phantasy which had caused the Old Church Doctrines and worship to appear so magnificent, and the Doctrines and worship of the New Church take their place. The Word throws upon them its resplendent glories; and, as his mind is opened more and more, he comes to the acknowledgment that the LORD, who is the Word, is the One and All. It is this acknowledgment which leads him to fear lest any of the former conditions which environed the Word should still remain, to dim the lustre of those precious stones on which He sees the LORD to stand. Each word of the Sacred Scripture is now seen to reflect the Divine, and not one word does he dare to lose.

     This internal conviction of the sanctity of the Word as to every jot and tittle has led New Churchmen, from earliest times, to desire a translation of the Word as literal as possible - one that will bring to his mind word for word what the LORD has spoken.

     But the reverent fear lest something of human conceit should adhere to a translation thus made necessarily renders the work a long and laborious one. It may be said that the time hitherto has been one of preparation - of a preparation which is by no means completed. Such preparation cannot be completed until men come to the practical acknowledgment that the mire of the bog in which the Old Church has sunk the Word, is composed not only of theological and philosophical falses and evils, but also of the scientific and philological learning of the Old Church, and that none of this must be allowed to remain to obscure the ultimates of the Word.

     The sense and meaning of the words - even their lowest and most literal sense and meaning - come from the LORD, and were placed in them by Him when He first wrote the Word. They have become obscured and covered up by the learning of the Old Church, and we must follow the LORD in this as in everything else, leave the Old behind us, and obey and believe His teachings concerning His meaning of the words, as He gives these teachings in the Writings written by Him through His servant, Emanuel Swedenborg.

     To this the preparation thus far made is tending. As one looks back over the history of the Church, he will see a gradual approach to this state of mind. How near or how far even those most interested in the project of a new translation have been, the following history may serve to show.

     EARLY EXPRESSIONS.

     The first record of a desire for a literal translation, aside from the publication of the Writings themselves, is in the English Conference Minutes for the year 1790, where it was resolved to have both the LORD'S Prayer and the Decalogue translated literally for use in public worship. The minutes for the year 1793 give a translation of the former, those of the Kighley meeting for 1794 give one of the latter.

     In the year 1812 the desire was expressed more fully in the Halcyon Luminary, published for two years in New York:

     "We have now a very good foundation to hope that a new and complete translation of the whole Word will shortly appear in the English language; and to show how desirable an object such a work must be, we shall occupy a few pages in our next number in pointing out some of the many defects of that now in general use, by adducing passages wherein the translators have evidently mistaken the sense of the original."- H. L., Vol. I, p. 113.

     The promised article appeared in the next number, and, curiously enough, the occasion for the argument was made on a passage which of late years has become rather famous because the opponents to a literal translation have based on it their argument in favor of an idiomatic translation. (See Journal of General Convention for 1877, p. 54.)

     The editors of the Halcyon Luminary say:

     "The next passage which we shall notice as mistranslated in our common editions of the Bible is Isaiah v, 1: 'My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill.' Instead of which it ought to be thus translated: 'My beloved had a vineyard in a horn the son of oil.' The vineyard is the Church; a son of oil denotes truth derived from good, or faith from charity; son is truth, oil is good; it is said to be in a horn the son of oil, in order to denote the strength and power of divine truth derived from divine good, in removing all evils and falses that oppose the Church; a horn denotes power. The beauty which appears in this passage, when it is explained according to the internal sense, is not equaled by the common translation, which seems to be an attempt to amend the sacred text, as if it was not properly expressed by the inspired writer. Such conduct in the translations is, however, excusable, because they were not aware that the whole Word was written by correspondences. But the New Church, in which the science of correspondences is beginning to revive, must have a plain literal translation, not so much accommodated to the fluctuating taste, or the peculiar idiom of our language, as strictly expressive of the original terms of inspiration; for nothing else can contain the true correspondences, or be the medium of presenting to the mind the pure and internal sense of Scripture."- H. L. Vol. I, p. 162.

     DR. KAHL'S WORK.

     In the year 1825 there appeared in the Intellectual Repository an account of a work by Achatius Kahl (whose death was noticed in the Life of this year, page 37). This work seems to have been complete in MS., and was the result of thirty years' study of the Writings, and of the Hebrew and other congeneric languages of the East. Say the editors of the Repository: "The result of his labors is a work of great value to the receivers of the Heavenly Doctrines. It consists, first, of the original Hebrew of those books which together constitute the Word of God; by the side of this, verse by verse, is placed an accurate translation into Latin; and below, on the same page, the internal sense, collected from all parts of the Theological Works of our author, with critical, historical, and philological remarks by the professor himself. In his extracts from our author, on which he appears to have bestowed great labor and research, he confines himself strictly to the internal sense, without introducing the confirmations or the explication of doctrinals, - by which the internal series is preserved unbroken. . . . Of this work he has sent over, as specimens, a chapter of Genesis and another of Isaiah. To accompany and complete the work, it is his intention to publish two others, one, The Representatives and Significatives of the WORD in alphabetical order, and another entitled Spiritual and Celestial Ideas, likewise alphabetically arranged. It is supposed that THE HOLY WORD will consist of seven or eight volumes, and the others of four or five."

     Over twenty pages of the Repository (for 1825, pp. 375-382, 421-433) are devoted to specimens of the work. An account of it also appeared in the Boston Magazine (for December, 1828, p. 112). But the work was never published. A wonderful work and the fruit of enormous labor, yet it was avowedly written with a view to its acceptance by the learned of the Old Church, and although it contained much that is valuable, yet the influence of the sphere of Old Church learning is plainly discernible. Thus, in the "Enodation" on verse Isaiah ix, 14, Dr. Kahl argues that this verse is a gloss "added by some ancient possessor of this oracle to explain the proverbial phrase, head and tail." "The explication appears to be false." And this in the face of the beautiful exposition of the internal sense (from A. E. 559) which he adduces a little later. Dr. Kahl did not follow the translation in the Writings, but made one himself which is less literal. His reason for doing so is given in these words:

     "He who is able to read and study the sacred book in its original tongue ought by all means to do so. We have, therefore, given the sacred text entire, with the addition of a version, which renders it word for word, prepared with the utmost care and after a diligent consideration of the labors of critics and philologers; we have added also, but with a sparing hand, such observations as appeared to be rendered necessary by the present state of Hebrew Learning, which is, beyond all doubt, far more advanced than it was in the time of Swedenborg. He, before he applied himself to these studies, was fifty-five years of age, having till that period been occupied with intense diligence in investigating the mysteries of nature; it is, therefore, hardly reasonable to expect that he could have advanced so far in the knowledge of the language beyond all that was known to his age and his teachers as to be able in this point to teach us anything new. Taking for his guides Seb. Schmidt, Castellio, and, perhaps, the Vulgate Version, he was a faithful translator, so far as the attainments of the times and his own acquaintance with them would permit. But though he, chiefly intent upon the interiors of the Word and not thoroughly skilled in the language, might excusably neglect grammatical and philological niceties, it does not follow that they are to be neglected by us. If, therefore, he should here and there have erred in his translations it cannot be a matter of wonder; nor ought we, where we see a better rendering, to hesitate about its adoption, for to imagine that he was taught Hebrew immediately by the Holy Spirit, is to suppose what is utterly absurd and quite contrary to divine order, as he himself has explained it. We also find his translation of the same passages, when adduced in different places, not always the same; nor do we possess it entire, except in the three above-named books.

Since, therefore, the parts deficient must have been supplied by us, we preferred to give a complete version of our own, adducing however, in the explications themselves, the unaltered translation of Swedenborg as it is found in his writings."

     It is evident that Dr. Kahl did not believe in Swedenborg's inspiration. It is quite true that Swedenborg was not "taught Hebrew immediately by the Holy Spirit," if by that is understood that from being ignorant of that language he acquired a knowledge of it by inspiration. But having acquired a knowledge of the language by a mediate or posterior way, it is not "contrary to Divine Order" for him to be taught by the LORD immediately or from within what His meaning of the Hebrew words is. It is according to Divine Order for the influx from the Divine to be received in vessels stored in the mind, and to so modify and alter them as to be more perfectly adapted to the influx.

     As to the varient readings being an objection to Swedenborg's translations, Le Boys des Guays thirty years later adduced one convincing argument to prove that they in reality render it more perfect. It is indeed a serious error to suppose that any one word of another language can fully express the meanings of a Hebrew word.

     CLOWES AND SMITHSON.

     Early in this century the Rev. J. Clowes published the Gospel according to Matthew, translated by him from the original Greek, and illustrated by extracts from the Writings. In regard to his translation he remarks:

     "He has endeavored to make it as literal as possible, consistently with the different idioms of the two languages, and therefore the English reader will not be surprised at finding some deviations in this respect from the common version, especially where a regard to the internal sense made it necessary to adhere closely to the letter of the original."- Clowes Matthew, p. xx.

     This gospel was followed in due course by Luke, John, and Mark, the last mentioned appearing in the year 1826. All bear on the title-page the words, "Whoso readeth let him understand."

     Mr. Clowes died in the year 1831, aged eighty-eight years. After his death a similar work of his on the Psalms was published under the editorial supervision of the Rev. J. H. Smithson and others. In their preface the editors say:

     "There are three ways by which a translation may be accomplished. The first is a literal translation, by which every word is strictly rendered verbatim from the original. The second is an idiomatic translation, by which the original idiom is carefully conveyed into the idiom of another language. The third is a free translation, in which the sense of the author is regarded, abstractedly from the expressions he uses, and freely translated in that manner in which the translator supposes the author would have expressed it had he written in the language into which his work is translated. The first of these ways, that is, the strictly literal, is the only way by which the Scriptures can be properly translated; in this respect, as in every other, they are essentially different from all merely human compositions; in these it is only necessary to have an accurate comprehension of the author's meaning, whereas in the former the letter is divine, and cannot be departed from without injuring the base on which the internal sense rests, as upon its proper foundation. A few observations will prove this to the reader: in Psalm cxiv, 4, we read of 'the sons of the flock,' rendered in the Bible version 'lambs,' which is the idiomatic translation, but which is not a base for the internal sense. See Exposition. In Psalm xviii, 4, 5, 'cords of death,' and 'cords of hell,' are rendered in the common version, 'sorrows of death,' 'sorrows of hell;' this again is idiomatic, and not literal, and therefore not a proper base for the internal sense. These idiomatic renderings in the common version are numerous, such as 'strength,' for 'rock,' (Psalm lxxiii, 26); defence' for shield' (Psalm vii, 10, lxxxix, 18); 'power' for 'arm,' (Psalm lxxi, 18); and many others, as well verbs as substantives." -Clowes's Psalms, pp. xxv, xxvi.

     The same principles governed Mr. Smithson in his work on Isaiah published in the year 1860, and similar in plan to the Psalms. He states that "in earnest prayer for Divine guidance, he has been especially careful not to put into the sacred text what does not belong to it, and also not to take out of it what is not, as nearly as possible, its inspired literal sense."

     HILLER.

     In the year 1869 the Rev. O. Prescott Hiller published the first volume of his Notes on the Psalms, chiefly explanatory of their spiritual sense, with a new translation from the Hebrew. In regard to this translation the author remarks:

     "It may be justly said that it is entirely new. I have sought neither to follow nor to avoid the Old Translation, but to be independent of it. It was felt that the time was come when, if ever, we should have a new translation of the Divine Word. We are entering upon a new and distinct Dispensation, in which 'all things are to be made new' - and when could there be a more suitable time for the long- wished-for new translation of the Scriptures? Every word, therefore, has been translated directly from the Hebrew. Other translations have, indeed, been consulted, but only for the purpose of getting the opinions of different scholars in regard to some difficult word or phrase. For this purpose I have generally had before me several different translations."

     In none of these translations considered thus far by Kahl, Clowes, Smithson, and Hiller is the principle observed that the translation made for us by the LORD at His Second Coming is to be the basis; and, indeed, despite the expressed recognition that the rendering should be literal, it is in no case as literal as in the Writings.

     To bring the principle, indicated above, prominently before the Church was reserved for a man whose labors have had an important influence upon exegetical studies in the New Church.

     MOVEMENT OF THE WESTERN CONVENTION.

     In or about the year 1842 the question of a new translation of the Word was considered in the Western Convention. A committee appointed for the purpose addressed a letter to the Eastern and Central Conventions and the General Conference of England respecting the propriety and necessity of such a translation. The letter was dated July 28th, 1843. The Central Convention favored the movement and submitted the matter to a Committee, but did nothing further. The Eastern or General Convention also placed the matter in the hands of a committee, which in its report referred favorably to Old Church scholars, and considered the scarcity of scholars in the New Church an obstacle; on the recommendation of the Committee, the Convention adopted the resolution that "the time has not yet arrived for undertaking a new or revising the old translation of the Word," and another resolution encouraging the preparation of a commentary on the letter of the Word.

     While the Church in America was thus slow to act in this matter, it was different in Europe. The letter from the Western Convention, having been printed in the Intellectual Repository, excited the attention of some of the brethren in England, and was followed by a paper in which occur these statements:

     "It is generally allowed that our Translators [of the Authorized Version], though impartial in the main, were a little warped by Calvinistic sentiments; and other peculiarities may also be traced, arising from the influence of a popular religious system. . . . .

When we consider the Scriptures as really the Word of God, containing a Spiritual Sense, answering, by an immutable law, to the sense of the letter, we recognize, more and more, serious imperfections in all previous translations. The substitution of the thing symbolized for the symbol takes away the basis of the Spiritual Sense. Of this there are many instances. We have light for sun, defence for shield, power for hand, abundance for truth, etc. In a great number of passages an idiomatic reading has been preferred, considered, doubtless, as more intelligible because approximating to common discourse. The Spiritual Sense requires that the expression of the original should be preserved." Intel. Rep. for 1844, p. 153.

     The writer proposed the formation of a Society for a New Translation of the Scriptures into English.

     THE BIBLE SOCIETY.

     The consideration of the subject was resumed in the spring following, which led to the formation on April 18th of that year (1845) of "The New Church Bible Society," whose purpose was the "procuring and publishing an accurate translation of the Divine Word into English." Plans were drawn up for co- operation between America and England. These matters, together with the announcement of the scholars whose assistance could be had, were set forth in a letter by Dr. Henry Bateman, the Secretary and moving spirit of the Society, to the Western Convention, and copies of his letter were sent by him to the two other American Conventions.

     In the year 1846 the Bible Society published two hundred and fifty copies of a translation of the Prophet Nahum, with notes and an introduction, the work of a New Church Hebrew scholar (Dr. Nicholson?), which may be found in the Intellectual Repository for January, 1846. It does not seem to have been founded on the translation of the Writings. It met with such adverse criticism that the Society published nothing more.

     LE BOYS DES GUAYS.

     But the most important expression elicited by the circular letter of the Western Convention, and one which for the first time publicly called the Church's attention to the orderly way of procedure in making a New Church translation, was from Le Boys des Guays, of France, who, under date of January 9th, 1845, wrote to the Western Convention:

     "Your object is so praiseworthy and promises such great advantages to the New Church, that the LORD will surely, sooner or later, raise up from among you brethren of the English language one or several men qualified to guide this undertaking to a successful result. But while waiting for this favor, be kind enough to allow a brother, who has long been engaged on a new translation of the Word into French, to submit to you some observations:

     "If Swedenborg had given a complete translation in Latin of all the books of the Word as he has of Genesis, Exodus, and the Apocalypse, it is very evident that the difficulties which exist in regard to a translation into a modern language would be greatly diminished, for in accurately following the version of Swedenborg and being assisted by all the precious documents which he gives in his explication of the spiritual sense, we should always have in our hands a sure guide.

     "This reflection, which at once occurred to me when I set about translating our author, led me to ask myself if by means of the numerous passages of the Word contained in the Writings of Swedenborg, it would not be possible to compose a Swedenborgian version of the Word almost complete, if not entirely so. Although such an undertaking would necessarily require much time and patience, still, the end, though it should not be fully attained, appeared to be so important that I set immediately to work. I began by extracting all the passages contained in the Arcana Coelestia. My collection was very great, particularly as regarded the prophets. I went afterward to other works . . . .

     "But considered as auxiliary to the preparation of a translation of the Word into a modern language, the Indexes would afford but a limited assistance, for it is not sufficient always to have an isolated passage in order to discover the sense of it; it is often necessary to compare it with the context. In a word, it is necessary to have under one's eyes, as much as possible, the chapter as a whole. Now, with the Indexes alone, we can only have simple fragments of the translations of Swedenborg, unless there be done for each chapter a preliminary work, analogous to that which I have proposed to myself for the whole Word.

     "Moreover, there is another consideration which it may be well to mention. We know that Swedenborg, who quotes many passages a great number of times, presents them often with various renderings, which renderings are valuable for a translation of the Scriptures into a modern language. Indeed, without these various renderings, he would be sometimes liable to make a bad choice in the different words of his own language, which express the word to be translated, but by means of these renderings he soon decides on the most suitable word. Now, the Indexes do not point out these various renderings, and in order to find them, it would be necessary, with each passage, to consult successively all the treatises quoted, and it would often happen that, after having begun the work, we should discover that there are no variations for this passage. From this it may be seen that it would be very important to have under our eyes the selection complete of all the passages of the Word which are scattered throughout the different works of Swedenborg, with the indication at the end of each verse of the numbers of all the treatises where they are quoted, in order that the translator may be able to refer to them in cases of need, and with all the various renderings in order that he may be able to make his choice.

     "This is the labor which I undertook some years ago, and which I hope, if it please the LORD, to finish. The last three books of Moses and the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and the Kings are those which will be restored with the greatest difficulty, but the Adversaria will be of great assistance. If, indeed, the Adversaria do not present the Latin text of the verses, they at least give sometimes the principal expressions, and that is the most important.

     "When the work of selection is finished, I think that, in order to fill the vacant places, it would be necessary to make the Latin translation of Sebastian Schmidius, which is the one preferred by Swedenborg to the others, when he did not have recourse to the original text, as may be easily perceived by examining his writings. Then, in order to distinguish the passages given by Swedenborg from those taken from Schmidius to fill up the vacancies, the former may be printed in ordinary type and the others in italics.

     "This Latin translation should afterward be placed opposite to the original text, viz.: for the Old Testament, opposite to the Hebrew Bible of Everard Van der Hought, and for the New Testament opposite to one of the Greek Texts, quoted in the note of M. A. Nordenskjold (see the Revue, sixth year, page 245)." -Journal of the Western Convention for 1845, p. 19.

     We have quoted thus fully, because the writer gives the plan and purpose of works he subsequently published more clearly than in the prefaces to those works.

     Subsequently Le Boys des Guays sent an inquiry to the three American Conventions whether they "agreed with the idea of waiting until the Latin translation of Swedenborg is established, before proceeding to an English translation of the Bible." The Western Convention by resolution (in the year 1846) approved of the idea and appointed a Committee "for the purpose of ultimating this important use," but as the body was merged into the General Convention two years later and changed its name to "the Ohio Association of the New Church" nothing further resulted. The General Convention referred the substance of Des Guays's letter to the Ecclesiastical Committee, which never reported thereon.

     IN THE GENERAL CONVENTION.

     The subject again loomed up in Convention, and in the year 1854 a sub- Committee of the Executive Committee reported in favor of (1) publishing an edition of the Scriptures, containing the books of the Word only, (2) divided into paragraphs instead of, as at present, into chapters and verses, these being indicated in the margin, (3) the names of the LORD being left untranslated, (4) more modern words to be substituted for obsolete ones, and (5) undoubted errors to be amended.

The sub-Committee had appointed a committee under them to revise the common version in conformity with the points agreed upon.

     In the following year this sub-Committee reported the results of their labors. Not being familiar with the Hebrew, they had confined themselves principally to the New Testament. They say "that our confidence in the accuracy of our English translation is much strengthened by the examination we have given it." Still, they propose a number of important changes in the translation, and favor a continuance of the work of examining and revising the New Testament, and that others join in this work.

     By the year 1858 the Executive Committee seems to have come to see the necessity of a new translation of the Word, and presented a specimen of their translation of Psalm civ, together with notes in relation to it.

     There the matter rested. Nothing more was done by Convention for nearly twenty years.

     In the year following the last report to Convention (1859) Le Boys des Guays published his invaluable General Index of Passages from the Divine Word, the preface to which embodied the ideas announced in his letter to the Western Convention. This was followed in the year 1862 by a work on Isaiah. This embraced a translation of this prophet on the plan outlined in Le Boys des Guays's letter, but without the Hebrew text; its place is taken by explanations of the Spiritual Sense from the Writings. Since the editor's death his work on the Psalms, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and the Four Gospels have been published, making altogether 1687 pages octavo. It is earnestly hoped that other books will follow in due time. Their value cannot be overestimated; it is exactly the kind of work that must precede the translation into the English tongue.

     In the year 1876 the General Convention requested the Ecclesiastical Committee to consider the question of a new translation of the Scriptures. The matter was placed in the hands of a sub-Committee of seven, who presented two reports, one favoring a literal translation of the Hebrew and the other an idiomatic translation. It is unnecessary to enter here upon a review of these reports, highly interesting as they are. They were subsequently published by the Convention under the title A Discussion of the Principles which should govern a New Translation of the Word of God for the Use of the New Church, and copies of this publication can still be obtained.

     This practically ended the question of a new translation of the Word so far as the Convention is concerned, for although this body requested the Committee to proceed with preliminary studies and compilations for a translation, the difference in views as expressed in the reports of 1877 was so divergent, that there seems no way open of bringing them together. Those members of the Convention who favored a literal translation based on the Writings were mainly from the General Church of Pennsylvania, and, as was announced in the Life, this body is now occupied with the work.

     As the preparation for this surpassing use has been very slow, so its accomplishment will necessarily be very slow also. As the work goes on the translators will learn to understand more clearly the principles which should enter into this work, and, as stated at the outset of this article, the most important principle to be understood is that the LORD Himself teaches us in the Writings the true meaning of the languages in which the Scriptures were written, from their inmost down to their most ultimate sense.
Communicated 1888

Communicated 1888

FRAGMENT OF THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN IOWA STEPHEN WOOD 1888

     [From a Private Letter.]

     IN the years 1851 and 1852 I was teaching in Elkhart, Indiana, and had the free use of Dr. Beardsley's library. He had all the theological Writings, including the Apocalypse Explained. I was baptized into the New Church by the Rev. Abiel Silver, at Cassopolis, in June, 1852. 1 was a Methodist preacher.

     I came into this township in 1856. In the fall of 1857 I commenced a course of lectures on the Doctrines. These lectures were well attended and proved very useful. In the spring of 1858, I commenced preaching once in two weeks in the same place, N. E. corner of this township, Sharon. These meetings were continued until December, 1859. Six families were taking the New Church Herald and two were taking the Crisis. Many others were reading. I was then absent nearly two years. On my return I continued my labors at same place and also gave Sunday lectures at Nashville, ten miles north. At these meetings we seldom had less than thirty, often fifty, and in very pleasant weather, sixty, or even eighty. These meetings continued until 1866. I had distributed more than two hundred numbers of the Messenger, several dozen numbers of the New Church Magazine, and much other reading matter. On account of long sickness and sickness in my family, my purse was so depleted that I was not able to buy books for myself.

     There are but three persons living in this region of country that attended our meetings in Sharon up to 1866, and less than a dozen that attended the meetings at Nashville to same date. Some have died, some are in California, Oregon, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and some in the western part of this State. I commenced occasional lectures in Lost Nation in 1866. In 1869 commenced preaching once in four weeks, and have continued ever since with several vacations. There are but few persons remaining who attended our meetings previous to 1880.

     1 was ordained in June, 1882. So many of the receivers had "gone West" at that time, and others were about to remove, that the idea of organization was given up. In all my labors in these places during all this time I had said nothing about baptism, and had thought but little about it. The people had not been instructed, and in these last four years, when they desired to be recognized as New Church people and to have distinctive New Church rites, they were still not prepared to abjure their former baptism.

     I like the New Church Life because it is always loyal to the New Church and its Heavenly Doctrines. I commenced this letter for the purpose of relating the following narrative of its use to me as well as to the parties named, and the preface has become longer than the letter need be.

     In 1875 there lived in Wheatland a young widow woman with her aunt, a Miss Lenora Ewing, who in her youth had known something of the Heavenly Doctrines. They were both members of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in which they had been raised from infancy.

     They heard of the "Swedenborgians" in Lost Nation, and sent to me for tracts. Some time later I called on them. They told me that they were members of the Protestant Episcopal Church, but were pleased with the tracts, etc. I recommended the Messenger and ordered The True Christian Religion. Some time later I called again and found that they had received the book and the Messenger. They left the place and I lost sight of them for two or three years. In December, 1883, I was called to Fonda, Pocahontas County, to solemnize a marriage. The man's name was Wood, whose daughter was to be married, entire strangers. On my arrival at Fonda I learned that Miss Ewing was living near that town with her niece, who was married. Mr. Wood and his wife had been receivers for many years, and had taken the Messenger from its commencement, but had never heard a New Church sermon, and by the recommendation of Miss Ewing was induced to send for me. I found Miss Ewing and her niece hearty receivers of the Heavenly Doctrines and great admirers of the New Church Life, for which they had subscribed. They applied to me for rebaptism. I told Mr. Wood. He said that he and his wife would like to join with them. His second daughter, who was unmarried, said that she would like to join. I gave her The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrines to read. The youngest daughter, who was just married, returned with her husband on Saturday evening, to attend our Sunday meeting, and desired also to join. This was my first experience in this line. The sacraments of baptism and the LORD'S supper were celebrated on Sunday after service, before a very large audience, with six communicants. Miss Ewing and Mr. Wood have since died.

     I commenced this letter to say that it was the loyal teachings of the New Church Life that enabled Miss Ewing and her niece to see the necessity of coming into the New Church through the orderly door of baptism. It was by their application to me at that time that suggested to Mr. and Mrs. Wood the golden opportunity that at that time presented itself. It was by the application of the parents, that the daughters, who had been raised in some knowledge of the Doctrines, expressed their desire, which made an opening for preaching and rituals. Last November the sacraments were again administered, five communicants and three children baptized. Last July another member was received by baptism, and one child was baptized. There were then six communicants.

     Others are reading; many of the ten-cent books have been distributed; several have received the gift books, and the work is growing. These incidents, which were the result, direct and indirect, of the faithful teachings of the New Church Life, led to other very interesting and useful results.
LOST NATION, IOWA.                     STEPHEN WOOD.
BAYVIEW ENTERTAINMENT 1888

BAYVIEW ENTERTAINMENT 1888

EDITORS NEW CHURCH LIFE:- A very delightful "at home" was given at Bayview, Parkdale, at the magnificent residence of Mr. and Mrs. Carswell on the 20th inst., at which there were between one hundred and fifty and two hundred present. The programme provided was distinctly New Church, and occupied about two hours. After the first part was given, dancing began in a commodious room on the third floor of the building, and was continued until twelve o'clock, the hour arranged for breaking up. Refreshments, consisting of ice-cream, sandwiches, cake, tea, coffee, and wine, were served during the evening. Besides the object of social intercourse, so necessary to the life of the Church, we had in view the raising of one hundred and fifteen dollars with which to cancel the debt on the new schoolroom of the Elm Street Society. To this end the tickets, which were fifty cents each, were sold, and by this means nearly the desired amount obtained. Mr. and Mrs. Carswell having provided everything, we were at no expense whatever, leaving the entire sum realized from sale of tickets to go toward the debt. Judging from the opinion of all present, we may safely say that it was the most enjoyable affair yet given by the New Church here. In fact, it had the effect of bringing together all the New Church people of Parkdale and Toronto, and a number from other places. The addresses by the Rev. Messrs. Allbutt, Warren, and David were excellent, and the singing of our young debutante; Miss Maud Carter, was charming. Her beautiful voice, conscientious methods, and simplicity of manner elicited the admiration of all.
TORONTO, April 21st, 1888.
PROGRAMME OF THE ENTERTAINMENT 1888

PROGRAMME OF THE ENTERTAINMENT 1888

1. Chant, "Our Father who art in the Heavens," Mr. and Mrs. and the Masters Caldwell.

2. Address, "Joy and Gladness," Rev. G. Lawrence Allbutt, B. A. In these two, Joy and Gladness, is contained the Marriage of the LORD and the Church.- T. C. R. 252.

3. Piano Solo, Selections from "Martha" (Flotow), Miss Coleman.

4. Recitation, "A Reformed Man," Mr. J. Yorke Brown.
     In Heaven, as well as in the world, there are meats and drinks, there are feasts and repasts. The great ones there have tables, upon which are the richest kinds of food, dainties, and delicacies.- T. C. R. 735.

5. Song, "Never Again" (Cowen), Miss Carter.
     Moreover, every morning, from the houses around the public places, we hear the sweetest songs of virgins and young girls which resound over the whole city. T. C. R. 745.

6. Address, "Laughter," Rev. S. M. Warren.
     When I had uttered these words, he picked up his candlestick, intending to throw it with all his might in my face, but the light going out suddenly it struck the forehead of his companion and I went away laughing.- T. C. R. 505.

7. Song, "The Butterfly" (Torry), Mrs. Caldwell.
     Hence it is, that all and singular, the things contained in the universe represent the LORD'S Kingdom . . . to instance in the case of caterpillars, which creep on the ground, and feed on the leaves of plants . . . and presently are furnished with wings, and are elevated into the atmosphere, which is their heaven, where they sport one with another, and feed on the choicest parts of flowers.- A. C. 3000.

8. Recitation, "In Swedenborg's Garden," Mrs. J. Y. Brown.
     I saw a garden, constructed not of trees, but of leafy arches, somewhat lofty, with walks and entrance ways, and a virgin walking therein, and also an infant of five or six years old, beautifully clothed, and when she entered, the most exquisite wreaths of garlands of flowers sprung forth over the entrance, and shone with splendor as she approached.- S. D. 4354.

9. Piano Solo, "Second Valse Brillante" (Schuloff), Mr. Arthur Depew.

10. Address," Cheerfulness," "Alacrity," Rev. J. S. David.
     Interior joys in the body burst forth into various acts, as into singing and also into dances.- A. C. 8339.

11. Song, "Love's Old, Sweet Song" (Milloy), Miss Brown.

12. Piano Duet, "Overture to Figaro" (Mozart), Miss Martin and Miss Ethel Martin.
     Musical harmony and singing are delightful to the angels when the thoughts of man are concordant with their ideas.- S. D. 491.
13. Duet, "My Pretty Maid," Masters Caldwell.
14. Humorous Recitation, "Jno. Stott," Mr. John Carswell.
15. Song, "Softly Fall the Shades" (G. F. Root), Miss Rose Strutt.
16. Piano Solo, "Pizzicati" (Delibes), Miss M. R. Carswell.
     When they had done so, they were inspired with a desire to be gone, so they departed, the angel attending them, and then they gave thanks to the LORD. T. C. R. 752.
     Concert and literary entertainment in the drawing-room at eight o'clock, dancing in the hall, on third floor, at 9.15; refreshments any time after 9.30.

Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified J. C. JACKSON 1888

     EDITORS NEW CHURCH LIFE:- As a believer in the truthfulness of Henry George's theory, I wish to call your attention to some errors in your editorial on the subject in the April number of New Church Life. For my part, I see a close and full harmony between the general doctrines of the New Church and those of the new political economy as set forth by Henry George. Each can be illustrated and confirmed by the other. For example: the Doctrines of the New Church teach that the spiritual riches of the Old Church are not genuine (A. R. 206 to 209), because they are the outcome of evil and falsity. The possessors of such wealth imagine themselves to be rich and quite free from the possibility of spiritual hunger or thirst. In most cases they acquired their wealth suddenly, according to the false doctrine of instantaneous salvation, and not by patient perseverance in honest spiritual labor. And those in the Old Church who have not the audacity to try to enter the kingdom of heaven in such a way, remain poor and miserable, thinking themselves condemned to hell. The poor envy and hate the rich and the rich despise and contemn the poor. Now the New Church has come to destroy both the poverty and riches of the Old Church, because they are unreal. To the Old Church rich the New Church comes and takes away their vain hope of heaven, their self-satisfied and pharisaic states, their spiritual riches, and commands them to examine their hearts and minds in the light of truly spiritual doctrine, and then they may see how poor they are. And if they want genuine spiritual wealth, let them work for it. That is, do the work of repentance and keep the commandments. To the Old Church poor, the New Church message is: "Cease from spiritual idleness; use the freedom and rationality the LORD has given you; and perform honest spiritual labor, and you too will become truly wealthy." And to each of both classes will be given wealth strictly according to the labor they perform. Now, sirs, this is just what, on the natural plane, the new political economy teaches. The natural wealth and the natural poverty of most men of to-day are as unreal as the spiritual wealth and poverty. Many of the wealthy men acquired their wealth suddenly, through speculation, and not by honest labor. Consequently such men do not know how to use their ill-gotten wealth. They become proud and vain and domineering. And many of the poor are such because they are too lazy or indifferent to use the natural faculties which the LORD gives to every one to acquire sufficient natural wealth for their legitimate wants, and they allow their more cunning and powerful brethren to rule over them. Progress and Poverty says to the rich: "Stop stealing and oppression. Relinquish your hoarded and unused wealth. Examine the divine laws of wealth production and distribution and obey them, and you will then acquire wealth that you may justly hold." To the poor it says: "Your poverty is not caused by the LORD, who has made ample provision for all to have as much wealth as they can use. Go to work and do not allow others to deprive you of either the opportunity to work or the wages that you earn." No equal distribution of wealth is advocated. Equitable distribution is what we want. Natural poverty, apart from its spiritual counterpart, is not regarded as an evil and the source of evil. For anyone to claim as his own any piece of land in its natural condition, in the same sense as he claims ownership of the results of his own labor, is the natural evil and the containant and basis of the spiritual evil of claiming life itself as one's own.
     NEW YORK, April 15th, 1888.               J. C. JACKSON.

     IT would seem from our correspondent's letter that, in common with other writers in New Church periodicals, he is inclined to place Henry George's writings on a par with Swedenborg's. In doing so, and endeavoring to convince the readers of the Life of the correctness of George's theory, he should not lose sight that they stand on different ground, and that they can be convinced of the truth of George's peculiar views only by being shown that these agree with the Doctrines of the New Church. The analogy which our correspondent draws between the spiritually rich and poor and the naturally rich and poor is not convincing in this direction, as it treats of the teaching of general truths, which are not new nor Georgian. No one will find fault with Henry George or any one else who tells the evil rich to "stop stealing and oppression, to relinquish their hoarded and unused wealth," etc., and who advises the lazy poor to go to work. This has nothing to do with the particular question agitated by "progress and poverty" writers in our periodicals. The spirit and the letter of the laws of all countries are to the same effect. The distinctive tenet advocated, and which even our friend has not shown to be in consonance with the Doctrines of the New Church, but has contented himself with merely stating at the end of his letter, is, to quote his interpretation of it: "For any one to claim as his own any piece of land in its natural condition in the same sense as he claims ownership of the result of his own labor, is the natural evil and the containant and basis of the spiritual evil of claiming life itself as one's own." Reiteration, even in a new garb, will not turn New Churchmen from the conviction that, as the angels of heaven own and possess the ground on which their houses stand and with which these are surrounded, in the same sense and just as much as they own and possess the product of their labor which fills their houses and gardens, even so men on earth ought to own the land on which they rear their houses in the same sense as they own the product of their labor.- EDITORS.]
Great-grandmother of two hundred and forty 1888

Great-grandmother of two hundred and forty D 1888

"MRS. Sallie Moss, who lives nine miles South of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, is now in her ninetieth year. She is the mother of twelve sons and five daughters, fifteen of whom she raised and saw married; thirteen of those are now living-ten sons and three daughters. She is the grandmother of one hundred and twenty-six children, one hundred and eight of whom are still living; the great-grandmother of two hundred and forty, two hundred and ten of whom are still living; the great-great-grandmother of ninety-six, and seventy-five of these latter are living - in all four hundred and seventy-nine descendants, four hundred and six of whom are yet alive."

The above, from the Pittsburgh Dispatch, and which has been copied into other papers, is very suggestive. Suppose that all those descendants had been brought up in the faith of the New Church, they would make a very large society of themselves. And all this, too, during the lifetime of one person. This may be an unusual case, but it indicates the law of increase for the LORD'S New Church. Suppose that all professed receivers of the New Church should forsake the conventional customs of a hollow-hearted society, and live according to Divine Order concerning generation, as taught in the Heavenly Doctrines, and rear their children in the faith of the Church; can we not all see that more good would be done, and that the New Church would be more firmly established and her increase greater, than by all the lecturing and argumentative superiority and propagandizing of centuries? D.

NEWS GLEANINGS 1888

NEWS GLEANINGS Various 1888

NEW CHURCH LIFE.

A MONTHLY JOURNAL

TERMS.-One Dollar per annum, payable In advance.
Six months on trial for twenty-five cents.

     All communications must be addressed to Publishers New Church Life, No. 769 Corinthian Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa.

     In Great Britain subscriptions may be sent to

     MR. S. WARREN POTTS, Book Steward, 61 Cathedral Street, Glasgow, Scotland.

     Rev. R. J. TILSON, "Oakley," County Grove, Camberwell, London S. E.

     MR. G. A. MCQUEEN, Crowhurst Road, Colchester.

     MR. JAS. CALDWELL, 35 Diana Street, Walton, Liverpool.

     MR. C. E. SCHROEDER, 13 Ashfield Terrace, Newcastle-on-Tyne.

     MISS FLORENCE G. GIBBS, 6 Camden Square, London, N.

     PHILADELPHIA, MAY, 1888-118.

     CONTENTS.

     Editorial Notes, p. 65. -The Operation of the Holy Spirit (a Sermon), p. 65. - Conversations on Education, p. 68. - Some Particulars regarding what and where the New Church is, p. 68. -Sunset Reflections, p. 70. -Rewards and Punishments in Schools p. 72. -The Desire for a new Translation of the Word, p. 73.

     A Fragment of the History of the Church in Iowa, p. 77. -The Bayview Entertainment, p. 78. -Is Individual Ownership of Land Wrong? p. 79. -Source of Increase in the New Church, p. 79.

     News Gleanings, p. 80. -Births, Marriages, and Deaths, p. 80.
     AT HOME.

     Pennsylvania. - THE Allentown Church celebrated the anniversary of their organization on April 26th. The presence of Bishop Benade added very much to the usefulness and enjoyableness of the occasion.

     New York. - THE Brooklyn (E. D.) German Society has had a repository for the WORD made, which was dedicated to its use by the Rev. L. H. Tafel on Sunday, April 22d. This Society has had a similar history as the Allentown Church, and sent its greetings to the latter on its anniversary. Our correspondent comments on the fact that both bodies were organized on the same date, but a year apart, and this, too, "without our knowledge or desire."

     Massachusetts. - THE Rev. Geo. F. Stearns, State Missionary, has gathered quite a good congregation, which meets every Sunday afternoon at a hall in Lynn.

     THE semi-annual meeting of the Massachusetts Association was held April 5th at Boston. The roll-call showed thirteen ministers and eighty-one delegates present. Boston Highlands, membership one hundred and sixty, reduced its debt three thousand dollars during past year. There was nothing of special interest in the reports of the other Societies. The Rev. Joseph Pettee, General Pastor, instituted one Society during the year, that at Dorchester. The Executive Committee reported that it had determined to continue the publication of the New Jerusalem Magazine and the Children's Magazine, although at a loss, and advises that their character be improved and circulation extended. The finances of the Union are in a very gratifying state and the printing office yields an income. Subscriptions toward photo-lithographing the manuscripts of Swedenborg have been very meagre. The Orphanage Board reports one girl under its care.

     THE New Church Union held its annual meeting on the afternoon of the same day. The Rev. Chauncey Giles, was present and said that no effort to propagate the Doctrines, no matter how feeble, was lost; and that he had seen traces of the work in places where apparently everything concerning it had been forgotten. It was resolved that the General Pastor appoint a committee of three to consider the subject of church debts, and whether it is orderly and useful to contract a permanent debt in the erection of houses of worship. A resolution was offered, and referred, looking to the changing of the Missionary Board into an independent body.

     Delaware. - THE Maryland Association met at Wilmington, Del., on February 22d. From the Messenger's report we gather the following items: Six ministers and twenty-five delegates were present, besides quite a large number of visitors. The membership of the Association is three hundred and four. "The English Society of Baltimore," is not connected with the body; it numbers seventy-four. The Washington Society is still without a pastor, but services are maintained. Nothing special is reported from the Wilmington, Baltimore German, or Easton Societies. The Preston Society, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, sprang rapidly into existence during the year; the Rev. John E. Smith is its pastor. Mr. McIntosh, of Easton, was recommended for ordination. The Rev. Jabez Fox was elected presiding minister. The Association will meet at Washington next year.

     Ohio.- THE Urbana School has made a beginning in a "manual training department," having bought a "foot-power screw-cutting lathe, a small set of machine tools, two sets of carpenters' tools, a forge and anvil, and a moderate supply of working material."

     Illinois. - THE "professional card" of the "Rev. A. J. Bartels, C. M., graduate of the Illinois Metaphysical College" appears with others in the Christian Metaphysician, published at Chicago; he also contributes an article on "The teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg and of the Illinois Metaphysical College."

     THE altar of the Immanuel Church is of redwood, three feet high, and two feet square. The two reading-desks are of the same material. The repository for the school, which is not yet finished, is also of this wood, and is to be large enough to hold the WORD and the Writings, beside the copies of the WORD that the children use.

     Michigan.- THE Rev. G. N. Smith preached at Leland and Solon, and in Wexford County.

     Minnesota.- THE Rev. W. H. Butterfield has resigned the pastorate of the Minneapolis Society.

     California.- THE Land Company of Ontario has given the New Church Society of that place six building lots, and there are two thousand dollars in hand, the gift of a generous friend, toward erecting a temple. The Rev. D. V. Bowen, late of Salem, Mass., preaches every Sunday in the Land Office, which has been tendered for that purpose. There is quite a large number of New Church families who have moved to this place recently, the most of them coming from its namesake, Ontario, Canada.

     THE Society at Riverside, of which the Rev. B. Edmiston is pastor, has a neat little chapel, and a regular attendance at worship of about fifty. The Society was organized in the year 1885.

     DURING his visit in Pine City, the Rev. Stephen Wood baptized ten persons.

     Canada.- THE Rev. J. S. David lectured at Arkona, Ontario, three successive evenings (March 7th, 8th, and 9th) to good audiences.

     THE twenty-fourth anniversary of the Toronto Society was celebrated on April 3d.

     THE Ladies' Aid Society of the Church in Toronto has upholstered the Temple and carpeted it, thereby greatly increasing the comfort of the worshipers.

     Great Britain. - On Sunday, April 1st, the inauguration of "a new and magnificent memorial window" occurred in the Liverpool Society. This window is the gift of John Henry Bradford in memory of the late John Finnie. The subject represented is the Ascension of the LORD. "The treatment of the subject is strictly orthodox."

     THE Ipswich Society has become extinct, and the church building has been sold at auction.

     ON Easter day twelve adults and two children were, by the rite of baptism, introduced into the LORD'S New Church, nearly half of whom had been members of the Society for years, but had not recognized the uses of baptism. This step is a result of the faithful ministry of the pastor, the Rev. J. R. Tilson.

     France.-THE Societe Swedenborgienne offers The True Christian Religion and two other books to the Protestant clergy of France free on payment of postage.

     Australia.-SPECIAL discourses were delivered in the place of worship of the Adelaide Society in commemoration of Swedenborg's birth, two hundred years ago.

     TWENTY children are in attendance on the Sunday-school in Rocklea, Queensland.
EDITORIAL NOTES 1888

EDITORIAL NOTES Editor 1888

BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS.

NEW CHURCH LIFE.

Vol. VIII.     PHILADELPHIA, JUNE, 1888=118-119.      No. 6
     THE question is asked whether, "when a minister of the New Church separates from his wife from any of the causes given in Conjugial Love, n. 252, 253, it is permissible for him to keep a concubine? Or, would it not be the plain duty of such a minister (being wanting in self-control) to resign his office, and thus make way for a man whose morality is of a higher order?"

     There are no moral laws for ministers different from those for laymen. The doctrine applies to them as to every one else, that "concubinage apart from the wife is not unlawful" when engaged in from the causes enumerated in n. 252-3.(See C. L. 467-477.) Since those, who from such causes are in this concubinage may be at the same time in conjugial love (C. L. 485), it follows that the keeping of a concubine is not necessarily a sign that the man is immoral, but, on the contrary, it may be a sign that he has strength of character to carry out convictions formed from the Doctrines, in the face of adverse public opinion. It affords, therefore, no reason why he should resign his ministerial office.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IN the comparison of land holdings on earth with those in heaven (see page 79) a correspondent beholds an argument in favor of Henry George's theory, inasmuch as possession in heaven is for use only, and George directs his efforts against the holding of land for purposes of speculation. Our correspondent misapprehends our position. The comparison was made to dispel the illusion that land should not be owned in the same sense that the product of one's labor is owned. The abuse of a trust should be followed by condign punishment, but this abuse ought not to lead to the withdrawal of every trust. When men buy up wheat, "the result of labor," and withhold it from the market for a rise in its value, the law ought to take cognizance of their violation of the common good, but their action ought not to lead to the abolition of all ownership of wheat; the proposition is absurd on the face of it. The same applies when men buy up land and withhold it from the market for selfish objects.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

So prevalent is the notion that a man must cultivate his "self-respect" and "self- confidence," so full of it is the current literature, that it creeps unawares into the minds of New Churchmen and nestles there as if in its proper place. Yet are there few things that can claim a closer kinship with the devil. Self-respect proceeds from self-love, and self-love is opposite to love of the LORD and love of the neighbor, and until self-respect expires, the good loves, and with them heaven and the joy of heaven, cannot enter. It is commonly said that if a person is wanting in self-respect, others will not respect him and he cannot so well perform his uses. A grave fallacy. The more a person has respect to and for the things which the LORD wants, and the more his attention is turned to his neighbor and away from himself, the more will others respect - not him, for he wants not their respect - but the use which he performs, the good and truth which he establishes in the world, by his use from the LORD.

And so with self-confidence. It is generally believed that unless one has self-confidence he will lack decision, and his usefulness will be impaired. On the contrary, the less one confides in one's own power, but in the LORD'S, the more interior and more extended will his usefulness become. A Christian acts with decision and promptness, because, having his heart and mind uplifted to the LORD, he shuns the evils that come up in his path, and confiding in the LORD'S strength, his footsteps are firm and do not falter. "Peace has in it confidence in the LORD, that He rules all things, and provides all things, and that He leads to a good end; when man is in the faith of these things, then he is in peace, for then be fears nothing, and no solicitude concerning the future renders him restless; into this state man comes in so far as he is in love to the LORD: the state of peace takes away every evil, especially self-confidence."
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

"SHOULD New Churchmen insure their lives?" is a question with a rather peculiar sound. That is a matter which every one must decide for himself, as he does whether he should buy himself a house, whether he should deposit his savings in a bank, etc. If our interrogator desires by this question to ascertain whether it would be questioning the LORD'S Providence to insure his life we refer him to the Doctrine concerning the "care for the morrow," which the LORD forbids us to have. (Matthew vi, 25.) "By care for the morrow is not meant the care of acquiring food and clothing, and also means for coming time, for it is not contrary to order to provide for one's self and one's family; but they have care for the morrow who are not content with their lot, who do not trust the Divine, but themselves, and who regard only worldly and earthly, and not heavenly things; with these there reigns, universally solicitude concerning the future, the desire of possessing all things, and of ruling over all, which is enkindled and increases according to increments, and finally above every measure; such grieve if they do not get what they want, and are in anguish when they lose it; nor have they consolation, for then they grow angry against the Divine, reject it together with all of faith, and curse themselves; such are they who have care for the morrow. Altogether different is it with those who trust the Divine; although they have care for the morrow, yet they have it not, for they do not think of the morrow with solicitude, still less with anxiety; they are of an even mind whether they get what they want or not; at its loss they do not grieve, they are content with their lot; if they become rich, they do not set their heart on riches; if they are elevated to honors, they do not consider themselves more worthy than others; if they become poor, they are not saddened; if of low condition, they are not cast down; they know that for those who trust the Divine, all things succeed for a happy state to eternity; and, what happens to them in time, still conduces to the same." (A. C. 8478.)

INSTITUTION OF THE NEW CHURCH 1888

INSTITUTION OF THE NEW CHURCH Rev. LOUIS H. TAFEL 1888

     "And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the extremities of the Heavens even unto their extremities."- Matthew xxiv, 31.

     OUR text describes the institution of the new and crowning Church in Heaven as well as on the earth. The means by which this great work is accomplished is by the LORD'S "sending forth His angels with the great sound of a trumpet" to "gather His elect." By "Angel" in the Word in its spiritual sense is not Meant any particular angel, but in the supreme sense, the Divine Proceeding from the LORD, for this is sent forth as a messenger to operate and to announce that Which the LORD in his Infinite Love and Mercy wills and desires. This appears from the Word as given by the LORD, for the words in the original Hebrew and Greek, which are translated "Angel," are also in other cases translated with "Messenger." In a respective sense, however, "Angel" signifies one who receives this Divine Proceeding of the LORD, for all angels receive the Divine Proceeding from the LORD, and no angel is angel by virtue of his own proprium or of himself, but he is an Angel in so far as he receives of the Divine Proceeding. Angels, also, more than men, know, perceive, and acknowledge that all of the good of love and the truth of faith with them is not from themselves, but is a part of the Divine Proceeding; and since their intelligence and wisdom are made up of the good of love and the truth of faith with them, which constitute their very being, and are from the LORD, they know and say that they are but recipients of the Divine Proceeding from the LORD, and that they are Angels only as they thus receive. The Divine Proceeding is the Divine Truth, but Divine Truth is ever united with Divine Good, for these two proceed from the LORD united into a one. When we, therefore, read that the LORD will send forth His Angels to gather His elect, this does not mean that the Angels will do this in conjunction with the LORD, but that the LORD alone will effect this through His Divine Truths, for the Angels have nothing of power from themselves, but the LORD alone has all power through His Divine Truth. It is the LORD alone, therefore, who establishes the New Heavens and the New Church by His Truth. Angels and men are only permitted of the Divine Mercy to co- operate with the Divine in order that thereby they may work out their own salvation.

     In co-operating with the LORD in His work of building up His Church we should ever be deeply mindful that this is not our work, but the LORD'S work, and to be done not in our way, but in the LORD'S way. The proprium of man will indeed mingle in all that he thinks and wills, in all that he speaks and does, for this is the case even with the angels, and this proprium, when quickened by the reception of Divine Truth and subordinated to it, is even necessary for man's individuality, yea, for his very existence; but we should ever humbly acknowledge that all the good and the truth and the power are from the LORD, so that all the perfection, beauty, and glory of the work is the LORD'S, but ours are all the blemishes and imperfection. In so far as we thus acknowledge our nothingness, the LORD can direct and guide all the upbuilding of His Church, and it will all be done according to His Will. Men will consider themselves not as apostles and messengers of their own goodness and their own intelligence, but, accounting self as nothing, they will proclaim the Goodness and the Truth of the LORD, thus being messengers or angels of the LORD. And the words that they will utter will not be their own wisdom, springing from and agreeing with their own states of goodness (or rather of evil and wickedness), but it will be "the great sound of a trumpet," sounding forth and making known in trumpet tones a "Thus saith the LORD." Insofar as the LORD'S truth is thus proclaimed, the LORD Himself will gather to Him all His elect in all their various states, and develop from them the symmetrical structure of His Church upon the earth. Thus the LORD is in this great work, as in all others, "The Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last, the Almighty." "He sendeth forth His angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and they gather together His elect from the four winds, from the extremities of the heavens even unto their extremities."

     While thus in the supreme sense the LORD Himself does all this and is all- sufficient, being the Almighty, still He allows men to co-operate with Him in this great work, in order that, if possible, they may be raised out of their selfish, worldly and infernal states, and may be brought to receive of the Divine Life, as they take part in the Divine Operation. In the respective sense which refers to the human co-operation in this Divine work, we have in our text important and vital instruction as to how men should co-operate in this great work of the LORD. First of all we should examine ourselves and see that it is the LORD who sends us to this work, and not we ourselves: neither ambition nor love of the world can build up the kingdom of the LORD. The LORD may indeed turn even evil loves to perform uses for those who are of His kingdom, but laborers who serve for such hire have their reward here - they themselves do not enter into the living Church of the LORD; but they who are willing to give up self and the world and to be guided of the LORD, are sent of the LORD as His messengers and His representatives to men on earth. Being sent forth of the LORD, they receive of the Divine Proceeding as their life, and thus make it present among men: they are to be mouthpieces of the Divine Truth, and according to the intelligence and wisdom given them of the LORD apply the Divine laws of order to all the vicissitudes of daily life. The LORD sends them forth as His messengers "with the great sound of a trumpet."

     A "trumpet" signifies revelation from the LORD through Heaven; for Divine Truth as first revealed to man is frequently heard as the sound of a trumpet. For when Divine Truth flows down from the LORD through the Heavens to man it increases in volume as it descends, and thus flows in. But this is only in the beginning. Afterward it is heard as a human voice speaking. Divine Truth and Good in the highest degrees are peaceful and serene, but when they flow down into the lower degrees they become unpeaceful, and at last tumultuous. In itself the Divine in the higher degrees is as "the still, small voice," but as it descends it is presented as "a great and strong wind that rends the mountains and breaks in pieces the rocks before the LORD, as an earthquake and as a fire." So Divine Truth as it is in Itself is inappreciable to man, but as it descends into lower planes and meets with opposing forces it grows and increases in volume and sound, and is heard as the blast of the trumpet or as the roar of the thunder. As Divine Truth strikes upon the ear in the spiritual world, so it ought to be in this world: the trumpet should give no uncertain sound. What the messengers of the LORD teach from Him should come with weighty decision and with authority as a Divine Revelation. This is the first truth conveyed in the words: "He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet."

They who teach the truth of the LORD with uncertain sound, and as if derived from themselves, are not "messengers of the LORD sent with the great sound of a trumpet."

     Another truth contained in the expression of "the great sound of a trumpet" is that those who on earth are to co-operate with the LORD in the establishment of His Church should be well instructed so as to clearly understand the truths they are to declare, and to be firmly convinced of their Divine origin and authority; they should be altogether convinced that the truths should be sincerely believed and altogether obeyed and carried out. In order that they may attain to this state they must be instructed in numerous particular truths, whereby the general truths that they are first to teach become illustrated and confirmed: then they will speak with singleness of heart and mind and with a firmness of conviction that will arouse a similar feeling with those who have remains and who therefore are receptive of Divine Truth. We are taught in the Writings that whatever angels perceive clearly and manifestly, falls into the hearing of spirits as a loud voice, as of a trumpet speaking, so that it excites attention and thence the sight, so as to leave nothing in obscurity. This is also signified by the "sound of a trumpet" elsewhere in the Word. Divine Truth, when heard as the sound of a trumpet, has also the characteristic that it perfects the good but destroys the wicked. It perfects those who are in good because these receive the Divine Good contained in such Truth, but it destroys the wicked because these will not receive the Divine Good contained in the Divine Truth. From this correspondence it was that the Midianites were turned to flight when they heard the trumpets of the three hundred with Gideon, and at the sound of the trumpets of the priests the walls of Jericho fell to the ground.

     Another signification of the "great sound of a trumpet" is the promulgation of truth from a celestial origin and, indeed, of Divine truth, revealed through Heaven in an internal form. The truth proclaimed in order that it may serve for the establishment of the LORD'S New Church must be internal, spiritual, or celestial, and must be taught as being revealed from the LORD, then it will be open to the LORD and the LORD can be present in it and affect those who are in good and truth, i. e., those who have remains and who thence are receptive of the Divine. Hence we see how lamentable is the mistake of those who would insinuate the Divine Truth under the mere garb of its being reasonable and of human origin, and therefore simply to be believed and received so far as we may see it to be in agreement with the truths, or supposed truths, we may already possess. Truth may, indeed, be to some degree insinuated into the understanding in this way, but it is not recognized as being Divine and, therefore, altogether to be received and done. Such truth is received into the memory and the outer court of the understanding, but it is not received into the life and into the will: therefore the LORD cannot by it build up His New Church. The LORD'S presence with those who receive the Divine Truth in this way is as it was with the Jews who did not believe in His Divine nature. He was present, but merely as to His Human and not at the same time as to His Divine Nature, which has saving Omnipotence. In order that the LORD may save through the preaching of the truth this must be preached as a Divine Revelation, as the Second Coming of the LORD with power and great glory. Only in such a way is the LORD present in His Truth and gathers to Himself those who have some faith in Him and who keep His commandments, i. e., His elect or chosen ones. They, indeed, who are of the world will receive if a man comes in his own name, and are not ready to listen to one who comes in the name of the LORD, but such receivers are of but little use, for with them the seed of the Word falls either in stony places or among the thorns and brings no fruit. But they who are looking for the Coming of the LORD listen when they hear the sound of His Coming, and the soil of their heart, having been prepared of the LORD, receives the seed and it brings forth fruit some thirty, some sixty, and some an hundred fold.

     Through such preaching alone the LORD can "gather His elect from the four winds of Heaven," i. e., from the four quarters, by which are signified the same as by the east and the west, the north and the south, i. e., the various states of good and of truth in which men may be. From the east to the west signifies all those in any state of the good of love, but from the south to the north signifies all states of the truth of faith and thus of intelligence. There is no state of love and acknowledgment of JESUS CHRIST as the God of Heaven and earth, and no state of obedience to Truth as acknowledged to be from Him which may not be reached by the trumpet sound of the proclamation of the Second Coming of the LORD in the revelation of spiritual and celestial truth from Him, and this whether men be in internal states of light and love or only in obscure and general acknowledgment of the LORD and obedience thence: "from the four winds, from the extremities of the Heavens, even to their extremities the LORD gathers to Himself" and receives into His kingdom His elect by sending out His messengers "with a great sound of a trumpet." And they who are His sheep cannot but follow the Shepherd's call as they hear, but others cannot because they will not come: for as the LORD says: "No one can come to Me, except the Father who hath sent Me draw him." The Father, infinite, all-embracing love, indeed stretches out His arms unto all, eagerly longing and desirous to draw them all to Him, but only those who receive within them and embody in their life something from the Divine respond to the Divine call and are drawn up and elevated out of the sphere of hell into the sphere of the LORD, into Heaven. In so far as men receive and embody in their life of the Divine Proceeding, the Divine Truth conjoined with its Good, they are themselves embodied in the Divine Sphere, they are the "chosen," the "elect" of the LORD, who hearken to the Divine truths that come to them as the messengers and angels of their heavenly Father, and they are gathered together into the kingdom of the LORD to be His own for evermore.

     One hundred and eighteen years ago "the LORD called together His disciples who had followed Him in the world, and the following day He sent them forth into the Universal Spiritual World to preach the Gospel that the LORD GOD JESUS CHRIST reigneth, whose kingdom shall be for ages of ages, and 'Happy are they who are called to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.' This is what is meant by the words of the LORD: 'He shall send His angels and they shall gather together His elect from the extremities of the Heavens even unto their extremities.'"

     And so the LORD calls together disciples in the Natural World to acknowledge Him in this His Second Coming as their Only Authority and King, and to use all their endeavors that His Kingdom and Authority shall be acknowledged as in Heaven so in His Church and thus upon the earth, so that what has taken place before in the Spiritual World be ultimated in the Natural World, that thus the LORD may find ready and willing instruments through whom in ever-increasing circles upon the earth may be spread abroad the acknowledgment that "the LORD GOD JESUS CHRIST reigneth," that every one of His words to His Church may be received humbly in a joyous, thankful, and willing heart, as that which it is the Joy of His Church to do now and forever.

     "And the Spirit and the Bride say: Come.
     "And let him that heareth say: Come.
     "And let him that is athirst come.
     "And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."
     "He who testifieth these things saith, Surely, I come quickly. Amen.
     "Even so come, LORD JESUS."

CONVERSATIONS ON EDUCATION 1888

     APPROPRIATION.

     THAT the good derived from parents serves as a medium for the use of the formation of the mind "appears," as it is said in the continuation of Arcana Coelestia, n. 3518, "from much experience,"

     "As from this that when a boy is first instructed, he is affected with a desire for knowing, at first not for the sake of an end that is manifest to him, but from a certain pleasantness and delight connate with it, or arising from other sources. Subsequently, as he grows up, he is affected with a desire for knowing on account of some end, as, for instance, that he may excel others or his rivals; afterward, on account of some end in the world. But when he is about to be regenerated he is affected by the delight and pleasantness of truth; and when he is regenerating, which takes place in adult age, he is affected by the love of truth, and finally by the love of good. These are the ends which have preceded, together with their delights, gradually separated, and to them there succeeds interior good from the LORD, which manifests itself in the man's affection. Hence it is evident that the prior delights which appeared as goods in the external form were serviceable as means. Such successions of means are continual. The case is comparatively like that of a tree, which in its first age or spring, adorns its branches with leaves, afterward, as its age or spring advances, it decorates them with flowers, and then, about the time of summer it produces the first germinations of fruits, which subsequently become fruits, and finally it places in these [fruits] seeds, in which are contained similar new trees, and a whole garden in potency, and if they be sown, in actuality. Such comparatives exist in nature; they are also representatives, for universal nature is a theatre representative of the kingdom of the LORD in the heavens, and thence, of the kingdom of the LORD in the earths or in the Church, and finally of the kingdom of the LORD with every regenerate man. From these things it may appear how natural or domestic good, although it is a merely external delight, and, indeed, a worldly delight, may serve as a means of producing the good of the natural man, which can conjoin itself with the good of the rational, and thus become regenerate in spiritual good, that is to say, good from the LORD."- A. C. 3518.

     From this Divine teaching we learn that a child's desire for knowledge is without any distinct purpose, but not without a positive pleasure in the acquisition of knowledge, produced by an influx of spirits into the opening forms of the mind. The desire for knowledge is a certain external form of the will which is made active that it may serve for the development of the will itself. In the Providence of the LORD, such is the use of that desire with its pleasures. Infants and young children are under the control of corporeal and sensual affections and thoughts, and the love of knowing with them, at first no more than the aimless inquisitiveness and curiosity which cause so much annoyance to parents and others, to whom it seems so useless, is yet from the Spiritual World, and under the impulse of the unseen end of beginning with them the operations of thinking and willing through the introduction into the mind of objective forms of thought and will, and this by means of its own newly excited activities. What a child acquires in this manner is not knowledge, but only the means of knowledge, which are called sensual scientifics, or sensual images of objects and actions, from which ideas of thought and of knowledge may be formed. At birth, the eye of the child's mind is so covered by the thick films of utter ignorance, that it is not possible for any light to enter. The activity of an affection of knowing, which is of the will in the understanding, effects the removal of the outermost of those films, and as the light inflows and images of thought are formed, these constitute planes for an increased reception, and for the excitation of new pleasure, by the affection of the will or its love. In all pleasure and delight there is present a desire for its continuance and perpetuation, and as this pleasure is from the activity of natural good in the cases under consideration, it is evident that such a desire for the continuance of the gratification of this good is inherent in it, and produces the growing and ever growing search after knowledge.

     If now, the delight of obedience be present in the life of the child in consequence of a proper parental training, and if this have first opened the mind and then adjoin itself to the pleasure of learning and knowing, there will be produced the beginning of a delight of doing what has been learnt; in other words, the beginning of an end of use. The use of life which makes the internal of the will (S. D. App. P vii, p. 95) thus enters into its external forms in the natural. And this, also. As soon as the first idea of doing, i. e., of application to use, has been introduced, the affection of knowing begins to separate itself from the affections and delights of domestic or inherited good, and the thought of the child is so much turned away from self and from the gratification of self, or from the ends of merely natural pleasure. Although unconscious of this separation, the child's mental activity will be affected by the change, and assume the direction which it is the purpose of true education to give to it. This state having been reached, the means by which it has been formed may be laid aside and new means of advancement adopted.

     What has been said of the affection of learning and knowing is equally applicable to the affection of understanding, and also to the affection of growing wise. The delights of these affections, which at first are the "external of the will arising from the light of heaven and its variegations" (S. D. P. vii, p. 95), and existing from some love of glory, fame, etc., after they have performed their use may be separated from the hereditary or domestic good and be adjoined to internal good from the LORD, provided the love of obedience be present as the first opener of the mind and the first former of its habit of learning, knowing, and understanding. The greatest care, however, is to be exercised that the things of the natural will, which are affections and delights, be not employed beyond the measure of the service which they can fitly perform, the service, namely, of introducing ideas, and especially that the child do not become fixed in the notion, a notion but too easily adopted, that he is to learn only what pleases him or gives him delight, and that unless the cup held to his lips be flavored, to his peculiar taste it is to be refused. Such a notion will confirm and fix the external affection and its delight - the means of introducing - and close the internal. Let it be repeated, therefore, that it is the duty of Parent and Teacher to begin with the formation of obedience by commanding and requiring fulfillment of he command, and thus to teach and lead by teaching in all the succeeding formations of the opening mind away from self and the world, to the LORD and Heaven.

To this end the affections and their delights, which are first means of instruction, need to be held under the command of Parent and Teacher, and to be so led and employed that they may perform successively their functions of introducing ideas, and after this they need to be separated in order to make way for other affections and delights that shall effect a similar but more interior purpose. And so in general, domestic good is to be put away that Christian good may be received in its place, which is effected when man is regenerating, and for which preparation is to be made in the education of the child. (A. C. 3563 et al.)
REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS IN SCHOOLS 1888

REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS IN SCHOOLS 1888

     II. PUNISHMENTS.

     To the introduction of punishments it may be objected that the Doctrines say: "That no one can be reformed by threats and punishments, because they compel. It is known that the external cannot compel the internal, but that the internal can compel the external; then it is known that the internal is so averse to compulsion by the external that it averts itself, and it is also known that external delights allure the internal to consent and to love; it way also be known that there is a forced internal and a free internal."- D. P. 136.

     Far from proving that we are to do away with punishments, this passage shows that the external can be kept in order by punishments, and it is for the purpose of preserving order and thus even for preparing the way for future reformation that punishments must be used. It is further written

     "When the infernals are frightened away from doing evils, by punishments, they finally abstain from infestation and wish to relinquish them and flee away, but because the only delight of their life is to do evil and infest, therefore they cannot abstain, unless they apply all force and power to remove themselves, for whatever is the delight of the life of any one, this, because it is of his love and of his life, and carries away, cannot be resisted unless the undelightful of the punishment prevails over the delight of doing evil, hence are the punishments of the evil in the other life." - A. C. 7188.

     There are spirits who relate to the pancreatic, the hepatic, and the cystic duct, consequently to the juices which are in them, which they inject into the intestines. Those spirits are distinct among themselves, but in company they act according to the state of those to whom the operation is determined; they especially assist in castigations and punishments, which they wish to direct; those of them who are the worst, are so contumacious that they never wish to desist, unless they are deterred by fears and threats, for they fear penalties and then they promise everything. They are those who in the life of the body tenaciously stuck to their opinions, not so much from evil of life, as from natural depravity. When they are in their natural state, then they think nothing; to think nothing is to think obscurely of many things at the same time and nothing distinctly of anything; their delectation is to chastise, and so to do good; nor do they abstain from the sordid." - A. C. 5185.

     "Evil spirits in the world of spirits are grievously punished, that by punishment they may be deterred from doing evil; this also appears as from the LORD, but still nothing of punishment there is from the LORD, but from evil itself; for evil is so conjoined with its punishment that they cannot be separated, for the infernal crew desires and loves nothing more than to do evil, especially to inflict punishment and to torment, and they also do evil and inflict punishment on every one who is not protected by the LORD, therefore, when evil is done from an evil heart, then because that rejects from itself all protection from the LORD, the evil spirits rush in upon him who has done such evil and punish. This may be illustrated somewhat from evils and their punishments in the world, here they are also conjoined; for the laws there prescribe punishment to every evil, wherefore he who rushes into evil also rushes into the punishment of evil.

     The only difference is this, that evil in the world can be hidden, but not in the other life. From all this it may be manifest that the LORD does evil to no one, and that this is also as it is in the world, that neither King, nor Judge, nor Law are the cause that a guilty man is punished, because they are not the cause of the evil of the evil-doer." - H. H. 550.

     To these quotations may be added this Doctrine:

     "Fear is the only means which restrains the infernals and holds them in bond, for fear is the common bond, as well for those who are well-behaved as for those who are evil, but they who are well-behaved have an internal fear, which is for safety, namely, lest they should perish as to their souls, and for that reason lest they do anything contrary to conscience - that is, contrary to truth and good, which are of conscience; consequently they have fear lest they do anything contrary to what is just and equitable, thus lest it be contrary to the neighbor, but this fear becomes holy fear, in so far as it is conjoined to the affection of charity, and still more in so far as it is conjoined to love to the LORD; fear then becomes like that of infants toward parents whom they love; then in as far as they are in the good of love, in so far fear does not appear, but in as far as they are not in good, in so far it appears and becomes anxiety; such is the fear of God, of which often in the Word. But fear to those who are evil, is not any internal fear, namely, for safety, and thence of conscience, for such a fear in the world they rejected, as well by life, as by principles of the false favoring the life, but in place of internal fear they have external fear, namely, lest they be deprived of honors, or of gain, or of fame on account of them, or be punished according to the laws, or lose their life; these are the fears they have who are in evil when they are in the world. When they come into the other life, because they cannot be restrained and kept in bonds by internal fear, they are kept by external fear, which is impressed on them by punishments, hence they have fear of doing evil, and finally they have fear for the Divine, but external fear, as said, which is without any will of desisting from doing evil, from the affection of good, but from the terror of punishments, which finally they dread. From these things now it may be evident that fear is the only means of keeping in bonds, and that external fear, which is the fear of punishment, is the only means of restraining the evil," etc. - A. C. 7280.
GENERAL CONVENTION 1888

GENERAL CONVENTION 1888

THE sixty-seventh meeting of the General Convention was, by invitation of the Massachusetts Association, held in the house of worship of the Boston Society, on Saturday to Tuesday, May 19th to 22d. Preceding the meeting, the Council of Ministers, the General Council, and other bodies and committees held their meetings.
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS 1888

COUNCIL OF MINISTERS 1888

The Council of Ministers met on Tuesday afternoon in the church of the Boston Highlands Society and continued its sessions until Thursday evening. The meetings on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons were devoted to the reading and discussion of papers, and were open to the public.
PRAYER CURE 1888

PRAYER CURE 1888

Wednesday, May 16th.

THE first paper on Wednesday afternoon was by the Rev. C. H. Mann, of Orange, N. J., on "Healing the Sick by Prayer, and Working Miracles in the New Church." The paper presented the subject in three divisions: II, Miracles; II, Prayer, and III, Healing the Body by Spiritual Means. This question must be considered in the light of the Doctrines. Miracles are generally believed to be a setting aside of the laws of nature. But this is not the teaching of the New Church. The New Church teaches that nature is nothing, and that its laws are from the spiritual world. Divine miracles have been performed according to Divine Order, according to the order of the influx of the spiritual world into the natural world. Miracles maybe regarded as effects of unusual influx.

Miracles are brought forth on various planes of man's life. The plane of miracles is according to the plane of the Church in the age in which they occur. Miracles were performed in the time of the Jewish Church; because that Church was in merely external worship and could be led in no other way; but the Church at this day is an internal Church, and miracles would be harmful to it. The LORD at this day comes to Man by the internal way and not by miracles. Concerning prayer, Mr. Mann brought out the following teachings from the Doctrines: Prayer is the bringing forth of spiritual life into ultimate expression. Prayer is an external of charity. Truths pray in man, and man is in true prayer when he lives according to the truth. Prayer is for the sake of confirming the Divine acknowledgment and not for the sake of obtaining some object. Effectual prayer is for that which the LORD desires. There is nothing in the Doctrines which allows the use of prayer for miracles or for the healing of the body, but such practices are contrary to the teachings of the Doctrines. Health is from heaven and sickness from hell. Still we cannot regard health and sickness as the expression of individual states. One should live well spiritually and it will have its effect on the body.

     Mr. Wright, of Bridgewater, Mass.: Many believe in miracles, and we alone have the truth which must be taught on this subject. In regard to the Second Coming of the LORD, the Old Church believes that there must be in this act something externally miraculous. They want to see a sign from heaven. We must show them that this is no longer the age of miracles. The new age can only be affected by spiritual rationality.

     Mr. Benade, of Philadelphia: I am glad that Mr. Wright alluded to the Second Coming. Men want to see a sign from heaven, "but there shall no sign be given but the sign of the prophet Jonas." Jonas was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, and this is to be taken for a sign, because it signifies the LORD'S burial and resurrection, thus the glorification of His Human. Men are to be led from a natural to a spiritual state; to the spiritual must their attention be constantly directed, for they are to live therein. The natural is to be subject to the spiritual. The LORD is not to be sought in the natural but in the spiritual, for "He is not here, He is risen."

     Mr. Hinkley, of Brookline, Mass.: Many believe that the miracles which the LORD performed while on earth were for the sake of effecting, a belief in His power. But He healed for the sake of combating and driving away evil spirits. May not also at this day such miracles of healing take place? May not the spiritual flow into an ultimate and drive out evil by means of some human instrumentality? Will not the evil spirits feel the sphere of some good, kind, and gentle person at the side of the sick, and depart?

     Mr. Pendleton, of Philadelphia: There is an external and an internal means of healing. The external consists of medicines, nursing, etc.; the internal is that of right living. We cannot say that man is healed by prayers, unless we remember that truths are what pray in man. "The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations:" the leaves of the tree are truths, and these heal by the instruction of the human race and its regeneration, to which they are subservient. The more man lives rightly, the less will evil spirits assail him. Many diseases are the result of evils. Rage, anger, anxiety, cares, and similar evils are causes of disease and should be shunned.

     Mr. Seward, of New York: Regeneration is universal, and we can feel the effects of regeneration in the life of the body. Since my arrival in this city I have heard a great deal about the weather and its effect upon people. I have not noticed it at all, and have experienced no discomfort.

     Mr. W. Goddard, Jr., of Providence, R. I.: Sin and evil are causes of disease, yet, as has been said, we cannot judge individuals by their diseases, nor is it right for us to judge. There is much that is good in true Christian Science, but they make their mistake by saying that thinking we are without disease will cure disease. This is faith alone, and we need also the charity, which is the administration of medicines, nursing, etc.

     Mr. Richard Ward, of Lancaster, Mass.: Christian Science is at this day blessing many. There is no such thing as sickness. This I have myself experienced. For many years I suffered from disease, and no doctors were able to relieve me, and I was only restored to health by the blessing of the teachings of Christian Science. It is one of the remarkable evidences of the new age, and what seems significant to me is that it is coming to the female mind, and is therefore, I think, a celestial thing.

     Mr. Whitehead, of Pittsburgh, Pa.: Much of this so-called Christian Science is not at all connected with Christianity, but with Spiritism, which denies the LORD and the Word. It is an infestation from the hells, and has its origin with magical spirits.

     Mr. Reed, of Boston: We must look to the teachings of the Church on this subject. It is a universal law that natural things exist from spiritual. Diseases come from the spiritual. But the natural and spiritual are discretely different. The body cannot live without the natural. We must not forget that on the plane of the body we must keep the physical laws, and in case of disease we must use physical means.
GENERAL PASTORATE 1888

GENERAL PASTORATE 1888

THE Rev. Wm. B. Hayden, of Portland, Me., next read a paper on "How shall we best promote the functions and efficiency of our General Pastors?" In The True Christian Religion we read that on the 19th day of June the LORD called together His disciples, and on the next day sent them forth into the whole spiritual world to teach the Doctrines of the New Church. The New Church is pre-eminently a missionary Church, and its chief work is that of evangelization. We read in The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine that there must be order in ecclesiastical affairs and degrees of the pastoral office. There must be a General Pastor to take charge of general work. The more we keep away from the ministry the idea of governing, and keep the idea of serving, the more the Church will grow. This can be seen in the Methodist Church. We should all believe in a General Pastorate, and try to have this office filled. There are many places in which the Church has died out, because there was no General Pastor to look after them. It is the duty of the General Pastor to "go forth" and preach the Doctrines, and not wait for a call. The offices of General Pastor and Pastor of a Society are somewhat dissimilar, and should, when possible, not be vested in the same person. One who enters into this office should have a thorough belief in the office, and should not be too modest in presenting its claims. We hope that in time there will be ministers of means in the Church who will enter this office in places where it cannot yet be supported.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE Rev. T. F. Wright, of Bridgewater, Mass., read a short paper on the translation of the words, "kai epi teis geis" in the Greek of the LORD'S Prayer.

This is translated in the Convention Book of Worship "So also upon the earth," and in the Liturgy of the General Church of Pennsylvania, "So upon the earth." In the Writings the Latin word "etiam" is sometimes used, and sometimes "ita." But only one word is always used in any one place, and it seems advisable that this should be the case in the English also.

Mr. J. Worcester, of Newtonville, Mass.: To me there seems to be a loss of the full strength and meaning, in the omission of the word "also."

Mr. Benade: We must observe that Swedenborg uses sometimes the one word in the translation, and sometimes the other, and this undoubtedly for some internal reason, which we can learn by studying the context.
MASCULINE AND THE FEMININE 1888

MASCULINE AND THE FEMININE 1888

                                   Thursday, May 17th.

     THE first paper on Thursday afternoon, by Bishop Benade, was in explanation of the proposition: "The Nature of the Masculine and of the Feminine. The Priority of the Male, and the Posteriority of the Female; their respective Relations and Duties, and hence the True Education and Sphere of each Sex (C. L. 22, 88); Reconcile apparent Disagreements with these Fundamentals; 'She is my heart, I her lungs,' etc. Also the true Equality of the Sexes, as consistent with the Priority of the Male and the Derivative nature of the Female, set forth."

     The doctrine (in C. L. 32) was referred to as giving the essential distinction between the masculine and the feminine, and the priority of the one and posteriority of the other. This is not an account of the state of things in the Most Ancient Church, but at the beginning of the Fall, when the love of self- intelligence began to be formed. This was the proprium to which man inclined but which was formed into a woman according to the description. This, the proprium of the understanding, is the affection from the love of the will, derived into the understanding, to which correspond the blood-vessels in the lungs and the fibres from the cerebellum in the cerebrum.

     The male and female have this in common that each is a form of love; and this in distinction, that the male form of love has for its end the acquisition of wisdom, and is given according to the reception of wisdom; and that the female form of love has for its end the wisdom acquired by the male, and is given by means of this wisdom. They also have this in common, that they are loves of the same wisdom; and this in distinction, that the male form is the love of receiving that wisdom from the LORD, and that the female form is the love of receiving, that wisdom through the male. The male form of love is therefore a primary form, and the female a derivative form from the male. Hence the possibility of conjunction or of marriage; and in true order, the necessity of conjunction or of marriage.

     It is masculine to perceive from the understanding, and feminine from love. The feminine sex is such and so formed that the will or cupidity rules over the understanding; such is every disposition of their fibres, such is their nature; but the masculine sex is so formed, that the understanding or reason rules; such also is the disposition of their fibres, such their nature. The masculine is not affected by truth and good but only by their sciences, and is only affected with truths for the sake of science, but the feminine is in the affection of truth and good themselves as existing in others. Hence their duties are different, those appertaining to man being forensic, those appertaining to woman domestic.

     The masculine affection in childhood is the affection of knowing; in adolescence it is the affection of understanding; and in adult and old age, it is the affection of growing wise. But the feminine affection is, in childhood, the affection of loving the science of the male; in adolescence it is the affection of loving the understanding of the male; and in adult and old age, the affection of loving the growing intelligence and wisdom of the male, manifested in his life, or the affection of loving the practical intelligence and wisdom of the male.

     Mr. W. Goddard, Jr.: I should like to ask the question whether, in the beginning, when man was created, the male and female were in one person, or whether they were distinct as at this day. There is also a question I should like to ask in regard to the teaching that the woman's love is the love of the wisdom of the man. Suppose there is a bright, intelligent woman who has a dry stick of a husband, how can she admire his wisdom or rely on his judgment? In connection with this whole matter, the thought that the woman cannot go directly to the LORD has always seemed terrible to me.

     Mr. Mann thought that the relation of the male to the female and their respective duties, the forensic and the domestic, were presented from a special point of view. The relation of the sexes extends from the most external to the highest. The view presented on one plane is inapplicable on another; in one series the Writings declare that man is truth and woman is good; in another, that man is love and woman is wisdom. When it is said that woman's duties are domestic we must allow for modifying circumstances. In the case of a mechanic who leaves his home in the morning and goes to his work, his wife remains at home and attends to the domestic duties. But when man's use is on a higher plane, then the woman's use is no longer merely domestic. They go up together. The relation of husband and wife rises with that of the LORD and His Church; as the Church becomes more closely conjoined with the LORD, so does the woman with her husband. In this new age the relation will be more interior and more rational. How are we to arrive at this true relationship which is to exist? We must let it determine itself. We cannot legislate about it. If we leave all in freedom it will adjust itself.

     Mr. Schreck, of Philadelphia, replying to Mr. Mann, argued that as the paper was based on the general doctrine of the Church concerning the subject, it could not Justly be said to be a treatise from a special or limited point of view. To denominate woman's uses as domestic was far from degrading them or her. The drudgery of housework is by no means all that is covered by the term "domestic duties." They rise to a very high and spiritual scale, indeed, and are indicated in both series of passages to which Mr. Mann had referred. It is true that, viewed interiorly, man is love and woman wisdom, while viewed exteriorly man is wisdom and woman love, for the man is the love of acquiring wisdom, and the woman is the love of that wisdom in the man. Through this love she grows to be the wisdom that corresponds to her husband's love. Is there anything more spiritual and heavenly than this in which her life consists? Yet it finds its exercise in "domestic duties." Replying to Mr. Goddard, the speaker argued that as in the LORD Divine Love and Divine Wisdom are united, although they are most distinctly one in Him, so they proceed in like manner from Him and impart their quality to the things created by this Divine Proceeding. When man was first created, therefore, there must have been a male body and a female body, as distinct receptacles the one for the Divine Love, the other for the Divine Wisdom, but both closely united in their very creation.

This view of the matter seems to be confirmed by a statement in the Tract on Marriage, where the celestial angels are treated of. In regard to a couple where the husband is intellectually inferior to the wife to such a degree that his wisdom will not correspond to her affection, it needs to be said that a conjugial union cannot exist there, though under the law of the Church and of the State they will remain in the bonds of wedlock during their natural life. In this case the wife is in a similar state as a virgin or a widow who is dependent on the wisdom of men in general. But even here, if both be well disposed, the husband will have wisdom from the LORD adequate to his receptibility, and if the wife will love that wisdom, such as it is, it will nourish her conjugial and prepare her the better for the eternal union with her future truly conjugial consort.

     Mr. Reed: There may be danger for us to belittle some expressions. The word "domestic" is not here used in the same sense as when a domestic or servant is spoken of. The word really contains all that is meant by the woman's loving the wisdom of the man, which includes all the higher duties of the home. The husband should also love the love for his wisdom which he sees in the wife and appreciate it, and not maintain the attitude that she cannot understand him. On all planes of life there is a coming together of the man's wisdom and the woman's love of that wisdom. He in his forensic duties is never alone, but she is with him, and he is with her in her domestic duties.

     Mr. Paine, of Abington, Mass.: The relation of man and wife can be seen from the expression in the Hebrew of the Word where the creation of woman is spoken of. It is there said she shall be created as "over against" him. This can be illustrated by the two hands, which are opposite one another, yet when they are brought together one as over against the other, they form a perfect union in every part. Husband and wife must go together and consult one another in all matters.

     Mr. J. Worcester stated in answer to Mr. Goddard's question, that the wife goes directly to the LORD, just as the husband does. What she receives from Him is of value to the husband. The wife receives both mediately and immediately - mediately from the husband and immediately from the LORD. Each has will and understanding, which makes the wife an independent human being. The wisdom of her love is the perception from her affection for his wisdom. He may think himself wise at times, when she sees through this and unites herself with what little true wisdom is in him. She thus unites herself externally with her husband while the LORD conjoins Himself internally with her.

     Mr. Benade: This paper was on a subject taken from the docket, and was not intended to cover the entire ground. We must bear in mind that the man is the love of growing wise, but that the wisdom which he thus acquires is not his own but the LORD'S with him. It is Divine Wisdom received in a finite form, and the particular form of the man, which receives, is the form which the woman loves. If it is not that, her love is not the love of the wisdom of her husband but of the men. She is to love her husband's wisdom not as her husband's, but as the LORD'S wisdom which He gives to her. Such an attitude will eliminate evil states of both the man and the woman, and is the one toward which the Church is to be led. But this cannot take place until the LORD is truly acknowledged in the Church - until the Church espouses herself to her Lord and is married.

     THE second paper by the Rev. P. B. Cabell, of Cleveland, Ohio, on "The Principles of Translation of the Writings of the New Church," was an excellent presentation of the subject, written from the standpoint of the Divine authority of the Writings, and showing the great necessity of a most faithful translation of the Heavenly Doctrines and the Sacred Scriptures.

     THE Rev. A. J. Frost, of Detroit, Mich., followed with a study on "Naphtali is a Hind let Loose, Giving Discourses of Elegance," which treated chiefly of the temptations to which those in the ministry are subject on account of the love of popularity. They often feel that their efforts fall short of what they should be. The preachings do not seem to have the desired effect. They wrestle with themselves. But by temptations the interiors of the mind are opened. Those who are represented by Naphtali are those who after temptation come into a state of true acknowledgment of the LORD. The clergy receive the Divine influx into the work of their use as they shun evils as sins. They must not try to build up the Church by merely external means. They must love truth and teach truth, for the truth will make us free. They must have a spiritual affection for the truth if they wish to have the preaching gift truly.

     Mr. Paine stated that we must bring down heaven first into our own lives, and then impart it to others.
CONVENTION 1888

CONVENTION 1888

                                   Saturday Afternoon.

     THE Convention was called to order by the President, the Rev. Chauncey Giles, of Philadelphia, who opened the meeting with the reading of Isaiah lx and prayer. The afternoon was devoted to the reading of reports and to the President's address.

     THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.

     THE President opened his address by reading Isaiah liv. We have come again together to consider our agency in planting the New Jerusalem in the earth. How we may best do this is a most important question. The LORD has permitted us to co-operate with Him, and has promised to reward us by making us citizens of the New Jerusalem. He has given us revelation, and freedom to act according to it. Let us consider the fundamental principles of the Doctrines which should enter into this work. All things must proceed from centres of influence. The LORD is the chief centre. Every affection and every intellectual faculty is a centre. Every society and association is a centre. The higher the truth which an association of men possess the wider is its dominion. We have come into the possession of very interior truth, and it has come to us without any merit of our own. The New Church is a universal Church. It is a new dispensation of Divine Truth touching all great questions. Let us see wherein consists true success in our work. What work have we to do? It is co-operating with the LORD and the angels in reversing the ends of human life; to give men a new standard; to turn them from earth to heaven; to teach them how to find a substantial good in the fleeting things of life; to give them a truer and nobler conception of things; to let them find the true spiritual WORD; in fact, to co-operate in making all things new. But we are not alone in the work of the new age. The scientist helps in this work by discovering natural laws, on which alone the spiritual can be founded. Thus man is led to higher truth. But not the scientist alone is aiding, but all who are engaged in the good and kind works of charity.

They are those who, like John the Baptist, are crying: "Make straight in the desert a highway for our God." But these alone are not sufficient. This is a preparation of the ground for the New Kingdom, but the New Church is above these, and labors on a higher plane. Its special mission is to lift the human mind into a higher plane of thought and life. How shall we do this work? All progress is by new truth. We can only perform our special work by making the new truths known to men. In this work every one is an apostle. We must let the truth shine; we cannot make it shine. We must remove the obstacles. Every truth is a candle of the LORD, and we must not hide it, but we must let it shine; we must not put it under the bed of doctrine, but set it on the candlestick of speech.

Our function as the Convention is to employ all means we can to make the Doctrines known to others. All other uses are subordinate. We are not doing this work with the energy we should. Compare the energy we put into our work with that which men of the world put into their undertakings. We seem to have a poor conception of the LORD'S kingdom. We do not seem to feel our duty to the LORD and His kingdom. We seem to deem what we do for the Church as a sacrifice. Man can do nothing for the LORD without great reward, but the reward is spiritual. We have received much from the LORD, therefore much should be given by us. We should have faith in the absolute truth of our Doctrines, and therefore work for the LORD'S kingdom. There are three modes of work: The press, missions, and theological instruction. We will consider the first and second of these modes. The press speaks with a myriad tongues and enters into the very home. The Convention has not done what it should in the support of this work. We have tried too much to make it pay, and this is a mistake. It is a question of duty and use, and not of an equivalent in dollars and cents. The love of the world is the great obstacle of success. We have a paper and do not give it the support in work and means that we should. The Messenger is a good paper, but it should be the best in the world. We should meet the burning questions of the day. The missions also require our earnest attention. The New Church is essentially a missionary Church. We have the example of the LORD and His disciples. The angels are missionaries, messengers of the truth. The Board of Missions has not until of late been able to do much, but it must be enabled to do more. We must have the conviction that the missions are the most important work we have. The missionary is a pioneer, and his work will never be finished. This work should be carried on in a business-like way. It is not a charity, but a business, in which we should all take stock. The laymen should provide the stock for this business and should manage it in a business-like manner. We should have five thousand dollars this year. We must increase the business. It is a paying business, and brings great results. We do not wish to disparage former efforts; but there is a desire in the Church for a new and advanced life, and we must go forward. The LORD and His angels are with us, and those from our midst who have gone before are with us. As men of the new age we must take a new step. We must not put too much time to little questions, but, suppressing personal feelings, we must unite in this great work. Let us truly co-operate with the LORD.
Sunday 1888

Sunday 1888

ON Sunday morning the Rev. Philip B. Cabell, of Cleveland, preached in the temple of the Boston Society on the text, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place on which thou standest is holy ground." The sermon treated of the various forms of profanation, and was an excellent discourse both as to doctrine and style. Services were also conducted by visiting ministers in the churches of outlying societies. In the afternoon at three o'clock, Messrs. M. J. Callan and George S. Wheeler were ordained into the ministry. It is hard to say by whom they were ordained, as both Mr. Pettee and. Mr. Giles each laid his right hand upon the head of each candidate. Mr. Pettee, General Pastor of the Massachusetts Association, read the words of the rite. In the evening the Rev. L. P. Mercer, of Chicago, preached on "Going into all the World and preaching the Gospel to every creature."
Monday Morning 1888

Monday Morning 1888

THE meeting was called to order by the Vice-President, the Rev. John Worcester. The Opening Services were conducted by the Rev. W. F. Pendleton, of Philadelphia. The first order of business was the reading of the reports of the Associations, isolated Societies, General Pastors, and Pastors not connected with Associations.

This was followed by a consideration of the Report of the Board of Publication. The question of the greater and more permanent support of the Messenger was the chief point of discussion. After a number of addresses, a resolution was adopted reciting that a friend had offered five thousand dollars as a permanent endowment fund for the Messenger, provided fifteen thousand dollars additional were raised, and directing that a subscription be opened for this purpose. During the intermission that followed the morning session, the members partook of the collation, which was provided by the Massachusetts Association and was served in the basement of the church.
Monday Afternoon 1888

Monday Afternoon 1888

     THE afternoon session was chiefly devoted to the consideration of the Report of the Board of Home and Foreign Missions. While the addresses were being made one of the lay members of the Convention went about soliciting subscriptions for the Messenger Sustaining Fund.

     Rev. W. H. Hinkley, of Brookline, Mass., called attention to the printed report, which tells of the work that is being done by the missionaries in Nova Scotia, Canada, Texas, Chattanooga District, Savannah District, Maryland, Michigan, Kansas, Oregon, and Washington Territory. The work is acquiring a more definite form. The missionaries do not, as formerly, travel over a large extent of country, and remain only a short time at a place, but now each gives his attention to a few places. As heretofore, help has been extended to some of the foreign countries. Nothing was done for Sweden this year on account of the dissensions among the members there.

     Rev. J. Fox, of Washington, D. C., gave an account of his work in Georgia and Florida, after which blanks were distributed for subscriptions for the Missions.

     Addresses were made on the Foreign Missions by Messrs. Wright, Scammon, Dike, and Hinkley.

     The proposed Amendment to the Constitution on the subject of woman representatives in Convention, of which notice was given last year, was referred to the Council of Ministers.
Monday Evening 1888

Monday Evening 1888

IN the evening the Convention reception was held at the Hotel Brunswick. The guests were received by the Rev. and Mrs. Giles, the Rev. and Mrs. Pettee, the Rev. and Mrs. Reed, the Rev. and Mrs. Hinkley, and the Rev. and Mrs. Smyth. About eight hundred persons were present.

Music and dancing contributed largely to the pleasure of the occasion. Refreshments were served in the large dining-room between ten and eleven o'clock.
Tuesday Morning 1888

Tuesday Morning 1888

     THE Convention was called to order at ten o'clock. The opening services were conducted by the Rev. S. F. Dike.

     The address of the English Conference, prepared by its President, the Rev. Rudolph L. Tafel, was read. Great pleasure was expressed at the interest taken by the Convention in the Swedenborg Concordance compiled by the Rev. John Faulkner Potts, B. A., of Glasgow. The Conference also intends to second the movement for the photo-lithographing of the remaining manuscripts of Swedenborg.

     The Convention's reply to the Conference, prepared by the Rev. W. H. Hinkley, was read and adopted by the Convention. Messrs. Scammon and Dewson were appointed Messengers to the Conference.

     The balloting for officers took place with the following results: Of fifty-nine ballots cast for President the Rev. Chauncey Giles received fifty-one, the Rev. John Worcester, one, and seven were blank. The Rev. John Worcester was re- elected Vice-President, the Rev. Messrs. Hinkley and Seward Secretaries, and Mr. Dewson Treasurer. The members of the General Council were re-elected with the exception of Mr. Bodine, of New York, who withdrew in favor of Mr. Moses W. Field, of Michigan.

     A resolution in recognition of Mr. Pettee's fifty years' service in the ministry was adopted by a rising vote.

     A communication from the Swiss Union, respecting the possible future union of that body with the Convention, was read. The question was discussed by the Messrs. Wright, Giles, Dike, Pettee, Mason, and Diehl. Resolutions were adopted that, as the intervening distance is so great, the Convention does not deem such a union advisable, but that the Convention entertains fraternal feelings and desires to aid the Union.
PROPOSED AMENDMENT 1888

PROPOSED AMENDMENT 1888

     THE Convention now entered upon a consideration of the most important question before this meeting, namely, the amendment of the Constitution with regard to the office of General Pastor, proposed by the New York and Illinois Associations. In order that the discussion may be better understood, it will be necessary to quote part of ARTICLE V of the Constitution, which treats of the Priesthood or Ministry. (The italics in the following are ours.)

     The Preamble of this Article consists of the Doctrine of the Priesthood in New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, n. 311-319, in full.

      "SECTION 1 Treats of candidates for the ministry.

     "SEC. 2. A member of the Church who has been a candidate for a suitable term, may, with the sanction of an Association, be ordained into the ministry, with such powers as the Association shall prescribe.

     "SEC. 3. A minister who has been invited by a Society to become its pastor, may, on presentation of the proper credentials to the Presiding Minister, be installed into the pastoral office, with power, if not previously conferred, to administer the Sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Supper, and to consecrate marriages.

     "SEC. 4. A pastor, after a suitable term in the pastoral office, may, by request of an Association, and with the sanction of the General Convention, be invested with the office of General Pastor, with power to authorize candidates, ordain ministers, and preside over a general body of the Church, while acting as Presiding Minister of an Association or of the General Convention."

     Beside these constitutional provisions, the Convention has this among its Standing Recommendations to Associations:

     "Associations are recommended to make such specific rules, under the general rules for the regulation of the ministry, as they may consider necessary or desirable."

     Last year Mr. Scammon, of Illinois, gave notice of the following amendment to the Constitution:

     To be inserted after Section 4, Article V: "SECTION 5. When any Association, consisting of not less than three societies, and having not less than three pastors or ministers, shall authorize its Presiding Minister or Superintendent as General Pastor ex officio, his performance of the functions of that office under the sanction of said Association shall be reported to and recognized by this Convention as similar functions performed under Section 42."

     This amendment being referred to the Council of Ministers at this meeting, the Council now offered the following as a substitute for Mr. Scammon's amendment:

     "An Association desiring that the powers of the General Pastor should be vested in the office of Presiding Minister, and not in a separate order of the ministry, may, with the sanction of the General Convention, confer such powers upon its Presiding Minister during his term of office."

     Before the following discussion can be fully understood, it ought to be stated that an amendment to establish an order of local preachers with certain limited powers was referred to the Council of Ministers last year. The Council reported to this year's meeting, but at a later stage:

     "The Constitution already vests in the Associations authority to ordain with such powers as the Association shall prescribe. This provision appears to include the authority to limit the powers conferred in the manner contemplated in the proposed amendment, whenever in the judgment of the Associations such limitations are desirable; and the ministers are giving careful attention to the principles and uses involved in such limitations. We therefore are of the opinion that no present legislation upon the subject is needed."

     THE GENERAL PASTORATE.

     IT was now moved that the Convention adopt the recommendation of the Council of Ministers regarding the General Pastorate.

     Bishop Benade, of Pennsylvania: "Mr. President, it is proper that the Convention should know that the change in the Constitution proposed by this amendment has not the unanimous approval of the Council. For one, I am opposed to the amendment, though not opposed to the object in view, that, namely, of granting to Associations the authority to manage their affairs as they may deem right. I object to the introduction of what is now proposed into the Constitution. Under the constitution as it now stands, Associations are at liberty to do what this recommendation proposes to grant. The Constitution has been so interpreted in one case - the case of local pastors - why may it not have a like interpretation in this case? But my objection to the recommendation goes beyond this point. It lies against the introduction into the Constitution of an element which is in conflict with the fundamental principle of the order established by the adoption of the Article on the Priesthood, it violates a principle the recognition of which I hold to be vital to the existence of the Order of the Priesthood, delivered by the LORD in His Divine Revelations - and to the preservation of such a Priesthood in this General Body of the Church. To state briefly my understanding of the matter, it is this, that the highest order of the Priesthood is especially that order which pertains to the highest or General Body of the Church.

Introduction into the other degrees of the Priesthood is in the hands of the Associations, but introduction into this degree the Convention by its Constitution has rightly reserved for itself. The amendment proposed will take this prerogative away from the Convention and give it to the Associations. For although it retains for the Convention the appearance of a control over the ordaining function of the Priesthood, by insisting upon the right of sanctioning an election to the office of Ordaining Minister, it nevertheless takes from it the representation of this control, by depriving the Convention of that formal and ultimate sanction, on which rests the real sanction of the act. To the General Body is left only a vote. Such a vote is not an act of the Convention, unless it be ultimated by the body, and in this case, the ultimation is the act of investiture with the office, performed by the Convention. This amendment, therefore, deprives the Convention of the power of giving effect to its sanction of the choice of the presiding minister to whom is to be granted the ordaining function. It allows the Convention to vote, but takes from it the right to execute its vote. It is like saying: 'We will do this thing, but we will cut off the hand by which we are to do it.' The Convention divests itself, thereby, of its own peculiar power, and gives it over to an Association. For power, as is well known, resides in ultimates, in acts. We stand here asking the Convention to preserve its own freedom, by holding fast to its power to give force and fullness to its own decisions. If this amendment be adopted the vote of an Association, sanctioned by the vote of some meeting of the Convention, will give to the Church its highest officials, by whom others are to be introduced into the office of Priests and Governors in the Church without any sign of the transmission of the Spirit from the LORD by the Church.

     "Through an official so appointed there can be established no form of the succession of Priestly influx from the LORD. The acting highest official in his own appointment will have received nothing in which the influx into his office can terminate, and by termination obtain the power of further transmission. The Priesthood, Mr. President, is not established from beneath; it does not originate with the people, but it is instituted by the LORD, who is Himself the very High Priest, and the office comes down to men on earth in and with the Heavenly Doctrines now descending from God out of Heaven. In these Heavenly Doctrines it is presented in a trinal order, for all things that are in order are in a Trine, as we are taught, and all things proceed, as they exist, from the first, by the middle, to the last. To make the highest degree an unformed, incomplete something, as it will be if it have not its own determining, ultimate investiture, is contrary to every principle of order in the Church, and it will carry with it in every attempted functional act its incompleteness, and perpetuate the same in all the succeeding degrees of the ministry established through its agency. To deprive the Convention of the power of completing its sanction of the Election of a minister who is to perform the highest functions of the office, by the act of investiture, and to permit a mere vote to take the place of this act, will be to introduce a fatal wedge of disorder into the very heart of the Convention's Constitution. Having failed elsewhere to prevent this attempted disorder, I make my appeal to this General Assembly of the Church, and ask it to pause and consider well what it is now proposed. I ask it not to allow this undoing of the work of years in order to accomplish what our brethren can as-well obtain by resolution and recommendation without change of the Constitution. I pray you to judge calmly and wisely, and to leave the Constitution intact. If we thus alter our well-considered instrument of cooperation, we shall give the Church a blow from which it will not recover without serious acts of repentance and return. Under the Constitution as we have it we can act together, and the Associations now seeking this amendment can act with us, if they will."

     Rev. J. Pettee, of Massachusetts: "We ought to look at this question from a feeling of neighborly regard. Part of the Convention desire to have the Constitution arranged to meet their requirements. Let us concede this to them in a brotherly way. There is not so much danger in doing acts of neighborly love, as in strongly enforcing the law."

     Mr. Gibbens, of New York: "I am interested in this question, not as involving a law of order, but something deeper. It concerns the nature of our organization, which is different from a Methodist Conference or a legal body. Our meetings should be like the associations in heaven, where they receive from one another various ideas. We shall attain the highest good by welcoming different states of thought from all over the country. If it is the view of this body to legislate in reference to the wine question, or to re-baptism, or similar questions, then it is different from what I hope it will be. Most of our trouble comes from trying to make laws for others, from trying to make others good. I have resolved never again in any measure or form to seek to control another. We cannot lay down laws for other people. We should have increasing freedom and no constraint. If the Convention has any doubt as to this measure let us not hasten, but allow time for consideration. Is this Convention a legislative body? Or, are we to understand that it does not pretend to lay down laws of order for others?"
     The Convention then took a recess for the collation.
Tuesday Afternoon 1888

Tuesday Afternoon 1888

     THE Convention was called to order at half-past two P. M.

     Mr. Scammon offered a tribute in memoriam of the Rev. Achatius Kahl, A D., of Sweden, which was adopted.

     THE GENERAL PASTORATE.

     CONSIDERATION of the proposed amendment was resumed.

     Rev. L. P. Mercer, of Illinois: "It is only fair that there should be a plain statement of the position of those who advocate this amendment. After the question had been considered in the Council of Ministers, I had hoped that it would not again be opened. But now, that it is opened, I do not regret it, as the merits of the question can become known to all. It has been said that the Constitution grants the liberty asked for as well in this case as in that of local ministers. But the cases are not parallel. One is a matter of limiting ministers; the other is a question of assuming the power of making ministers. The one is a limitation, the other an extension of power. Our position is not that we should not have General Pastors sanctioned by the Convention, but that we fail to find in the Writings of the Church any statement or implication recognizing three grades of ministers, that is, three kinds of ministers, or that these offices in the ministry should be distinct, one order from the other, just as the ministry is an order distinct from the laity. We are here asking a privilege of the Convention. This movement is not to satisfy a sentiment, nor to relieve an uneasiness; there is no exigency requiring immediate relief, but it involves a principle in which we believe.

We are not anarchists. This movement is not to undo order. We believe the law of the Church as laid down in the Doctrines. We believe in the Preamble concerning the priesthood or ministry; that there must be order among men is granted; that there must be rules to maintain such order is granted; that the rulers over ecclesiastical affairs are called priests, and their office the priesthood is granted; and that there must be order among the rulers is also granted. But we differ in our interpretation of the Doctrine. We do not see that it teaches three degrees of the ministry. This Convention does not interpret the Doctrines for the Church. Each Association has the liberty of interpreting for itself. But it is not wise to put brethren to the test, tempting them to break the constitutional law. We do not care to be told that we are free to break the law if we wish. We hold that the General Pastorate is not to consist of men set apart to be another caste or kind of ministers, and the Convention should not compel us to receive that kind of interpretation of doctrine. We believe that a man is in an office only so long as he performs the duty of the office. We would call attention to the fact that Section 4 will be left standing, and that thus the liberties of those who believe in the trinal order will be preserved. Consider, finally, whether, if this freedom of Associations be ignored, the Convention be not thereby introducing the fatal wedge into the heart of our organization."

     SUBSTITUTE FOR THE RECOMMENDATION.

     Bishop Benade moved the following substitute for the recommendation:

     "WHEREAS, The Constitution already vests in the Associations authority to ordain 'with such powers as the Association shall prescribe.'

     "Resolved, I. That it is unnecessary to make any change in the Constitution to meet the requirements of the Associations asking the right to appoint their ordaining ministers according to their judgment of true order.

     "Resolved, II. That these Associations be recommended to proceed under the provisions of the Constitution as at present existing."

     "I was glad to hear Mr. Mercer's statement. The question lies between the two orders of the Priesthood in the Church. The Constitution provides for a three-graded ministry. Will this Convention sanction a one-graded ministry? Objection has been made that the case of local ministers referred to in the substitute and that now under consideration are not parallel. Of course they are not parallel, but the principle involved in them is the same. If you can limit, you can also extend. Again, objection has been made to the statement that the trinal order of the ministry is taught in the Doctrines of the Church. I will merely refer to Arcana Coelestia, n. 10,017, which it will be well for the members to study with care. Mr. Mercer has stated that he believes in the Preamble of the Constitution, to the effect that there must be governors among men, and that the governors over things ecclesiastical are called priests, but he has neglected to mention the matter of subordination among the governors, which is not possible unless there be orders or classes of governors, some higher and others lower.

     "In respect to the permanence of the office of the ministry in question, I ask why gentlemen oppose the permanence of this grade, and not also the permanence of the other grades? It is true, no doubt, that when an individual of his own accord leaves or resigns the office of the Priesthood, it ceases to be adjoined to him, but you cannot take away that office from him, any more than you can deprive him of his baptism."

     Rev. S. M. Warren, of Massachusetts: "But suppose a man does some wrong against the civil or moral law, can he not in this case be deprived of his office?"

     Bishop Benade: "Most certainly not. The Church, or an Association of the Church, can refuse to allow him to act within its limits, but this does not deprive him of the priesthood. Any Society that is so minded may call upon his services.

     "It has been said that those who believe in the three orders of the ministry consider them to be separate and distinct from one another, just as the ministry is separate and distinct from the laity. This is not the case. The Priesthood, as a body, is separate and distinct from the laity by virtue of the office, which is the LORD'S office, but in itself it is one office divided into its own three degrees or offices, which are all of the Priesthood.

     "It has been said that the Convention does not interpret Doctrine. I would ask, what does the Convention do when it enacts a law? Is such an enactment not an interpretation of Doctrine? It has been said that the liberties of those who believe in the trinal order will be preserved, because Section 4 will remain as it is. True. And we should make a still more determined opposition than now, if such were not the case. But this is not the question, it is this: What is the relation of the men thus introduced into the office, to those who are introduced into it by the Convention? This act will make an Association the equal of the Convention. It has been said that the Convention does not believe in three orders of the Ministry. Has the Convention repudiated its long-established position? I should like to have this question tested. I do not believe it to be true, and I do not want it to be so stated. But this I would ask, Is not this proposed amendment an attempt to fix in the Constitution an acknowledgment of a one-graded ministry?"

     Rev. J. C. Ager, of New York: "Do you ask this as a question?"

     Bishop Benade: "Yes."

     Rev. J. C. Ager: "I can answer that it is not."

     Bishop Benade: "And I answer that it is. It has been so said here in your hearing. Does the Convention propose to repudiate the trinal order of the ministry, by introducing a one-graded into its Constitution? We have heard much said about liberty. How about the liberty of those who are obliged by the adoption of this amendment into the Constitution, to sanction it, and take upon themselves the responsibility of the act? It has been said that we should act from charity in this matter. But, Mr. President, this is not a question of natural charity, but of the order of the ministry, a question of true order, a question of government. And true charity, is it not, to act according to the laws of Divine Order?"

     Mr. Gibbens, of New York: "Does the Convention sanction the order of the General Church of Pennsylvania?"

Bishop Benade: "Most certainly it does."

     Mr. Gibbens: "Is it right for you to have our sanction for what we do not believe?"

     Bishop Benade: "I am willing that the New York Association shall have their Order, as we have ours. The Constitution does not grant to us what we want, nor does it grant what others want. Let us not hasten in this matter. Young men here tell me that they have not studied this question nor been instructed concerning it. He who has not studied this question has no right to vote upon it.

Our Doctrines are full of teachings on the subject. Volumes might be written on it. Let all understand that if this one-graded ministry could be established it would wipe out the New Church. There is no such thing as a one-graded ministry; it would be a monster.

     "We do not stand here to beg a privilege of the Convention, but to demand a right - the right to retain our Constitution intact."

     Rev. S. M. Warren, of Massachusetts: "It is known that there is in the Church a wide difference of opinion on this question. If we should try to settle it by argument, we could continue until doomsday. In view of this fact the Convention formed a Constitution, so that there should be the utmost freedom to differ. I was on the Committee which drafted this Constitution. It was done with a great deal of labor. On nothing was so much time and labor spent as on this article concerning the Priesthood. The New York Association tried to get its ideas into this Constitution, but no special ideas were put into it. It was said last year that by this Constitution the New York Association was left out in the cold. It was left in the cold just as every Association was left in the cold. Section 4 was formed especially to accommodate the ideas of the New York Association. The Pennsylvania Church has been blamed because it has called its General Pastor a Bishop. Under this section it had a right to do so; but the section does not prescribe what the General Church of Pennsylvania has done."

     Bishop Benade: "Allow me to say that our action was not only under the Constitution, but in accordance with the standing recommendation to Associations."

     Rev. S. M. Warren: "The New York Association can take the privilege it wants, just as the General Church of Pennsylvania has done. Section 4 does not say by whom the General Pastor shall be invested, whether by Convention or by Association. The object why this section was so framed was that the New York Association could have the privilege it now asks, and which it thinks it cannot have without a forced interpretation. This Constitution was unanimously adopted by the Convention, and we should try to preserve it. I am in favor of Mr. Benade's substitute, though if that be lost, since the New York Association thinks it cannot be in freedom under the present form, I shall vote for the amendment; but let the New York Association take care how they force this matter; they are standing on dangerous ground, and may cause serious disturbance in the Church."

     Rev. S. S. Seward, of New York: "The arguments have gone too far. It has been taken for granted that we are settling the Doctrines of the Church, which we do not pretend to do. We need not be so sensitive about it. Let us have liberty to act as brethren, and if we are wrong we can again withdraw this part from the Constitution when from the Doctrines we see our mistake."

     Rev. J. C. Ager: "The 'whereas' of this substitute is a mystery to me. The quotation from the Constitution which appears in it is not from the section which relates to General Pastors, but from that which relates to the ordination of candidates into the ministry. The appropriateness of this 'whereas' is not at all evident to an ordinary intelligence. We are told that we have not studied the question, and we are not believed to do what we say we do. Mr. Warren said that the Constitution prescribes nothing. That is not the question. What does the Constitution permit? It permits the General Church of Pennsylvania all it wants, but it does not do so for the New York Association. We ask to have this amendment entered so that we can have this permission. The Constitution says that only one in the third degree can ordain. We ask that a minister holding the office of President of an Association can do so.

     It is said that the adoption of this amendment would involve the approval of it by all belonging to the Convention, but I cannot see that such is the case."

     Rev. C. H. Mann, of New York: "A permission is not an approval, else the Pennsylvania Association could not have done what it has. The question is, shall a man remain in an office after he no longer exercises its duties? That such is not the case can be seen by examples from civil life, as in the case of the President of the United States, or of a judge, who, after their term expires, are no longer in the office."

     Rev. J. Whitehead, of Pennsylvania: "The New York Association is reading something into the Constitution which is not there. Because the majority of the Convention interprets the Constitution in a certain way, they read this interpretation into the Constitution. We are opposed to having our interpretation put upon the Constitution and we do not wish to have that of others. If this matter is left with the Associations, then all are free; but they are not, if it is put into the Constitution. If we indorse this form of order, we will have application for the indorsement of all sorts of order and disorder, even to that of having no ordained ministers, and in the same false spirit of charity which seems now to be impending, we shall feel ourselves called upon to grant such requests."

     Rev. J. Pettee: "The difference really is that the General Church of Pennsylvania does not doubt its rights under the Constitution, but the New York Association does doubt its. The object of this amendment is to remove that doubt."

     Rev. John Goddard, of Ohio, read two letters from Cincinnati New Churchmen who have been prominent members of the Convention but were unable this time to attend. Both had in the past represented the non-ecclesiastical thought in the Church. The letters expressed their approval of Mr. Sewall's article in the May Magazine, which was directed against the present amendment. One of the writers said that he saw no cause to fear that the Church would go into extreme ecclesiasticism. The other put the question: Is there but one degree in the ministry? Are the leading minds in the Church wrong? Shall we have two orders in the Church?

     Mr. Barnard, of the Maryland Association: "Both parties are on common ground, but seem to differ only in words. The New York Association proposes to state plainly a right which the other party says they already have. I think it would be better to have a plain statement, so that there may be no doubt."

     Judge Mason, of Massachusetts: "As I am a layman, I shall not attempt to regard this question from an interior point of view. But under a general aspect the recommendation of the Council of Ministers does not seem to me orderly. But I think the substitute involves a still greater disorder. I do not think any such permission should be expressed by Convention. It is true the language of Section 4 allows it, but the three sections taken together do not. Let us wait before taking the proposed step until we see this subject in clearer light."

     THE SUBSTITUTE LOST.

     BISHOP BENADE'S substitute was now put to vote and lost.

     The question was now on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers.

     On motion, the words it "or superintending" were inserted after the word "presiding" in the proposed amendment.

     THE RECOMMENDATION TABLED.

     ON motion of the Rev. John Goddard, the whole subject was then laid on the table by a vote of 39 to 21.

     [Later on, the amendment was taken from the table and re-referred to the Council of Ministers.]

     Rev. J. C. Ager: "I move that a committee of three be appointed to give the reason why the petition of the New York and Illinois Associations has been refused. We have come before the Convention three years in succession and have been told again and again to wait. We believe that there is in this Convention a large sentiment in favor of our request. But three times we have failed to carry our measure. It is hopeless for us, and we must appeal to the sentiment of the Church at large. It is due to us that we be told why we are refused our request."

     Rev. J. Reed: "This proposition is hardly practicable. How can a committee of three answer a question on which the Convention is divided. Mr. Mercer said that there was no hurry. I favored the amendment, but I voted to lay it on the table. I hope Mr. Ager will not press his motion."
     The motion was lost.
SUBSEQUENT PROCEEDINGS 1888

SUBSEQUENT PROCEEDINGS 1888

     THE Committee on Swedenborg's Manuscripts reported that the Latin of the Four Doctrines had been stereotyped, and that the Last Judgment and Continuation are in type. The Committee are ready to go on with the photo- lithographing of the manuscripts of Swedenborg.

     The recommendation of the Council of Ministers to substitute the following for Section 5 of Article V of the Constitution, relative to suspension of ministers, was adopted:

     "When a minister is suspended from the exercise of the functions of his office by authority of an Association or other body of the Church, such suspension shall be reported to the Council of Ministers, and by them reported to the General Convention, with their recommendation as to the final disposition of the case. The General Council of the Convention may suspend any minister not within the bounds of an Association or other general body of the Church; which suspension shall in like manner be reported to the Council of Ministers, and by them reported to the General Convention. This section shall not be so construed as to prevent an Association from enjoining a minister from the exercise of his functions within its own limits."

     The report of the Council of Ministers respecting local ministers was read and accepted.

     Mr. Scammon gave notice that at the next meeting he should propose the following amendment to Section 5, Article V, of the Constitution: "No authority, is conferred upon or recognized in any minister to assume any other title or designation as an officer of this Convention than those which are named in this Article" [that is, minister, pastor, and General Pastor].

     A suitable resolution in recognition of the hospitality of the Massachusetts Association was adopted by a rising vote.

     The Committee to raise funds to enable the Rev. J. F. Potts to devote his time to the completion of the Concordance reported that they have raised two hundred and twenty-eight dollars and fifty cents, and that they have one hundred and five dollars more promised them.

     On motion of Mr. Reed, it was

      "Resolved, That the accumulated interest of the Rice Fund, so far as it is at present uninvested, be divided equally between the Board of Publication and the Fund for the aid of Mr. Potts's work on the Concordance."
     Here the reporter was obliged to leave the meeting, but he learns from the Messenger that on motion of Mr. Dewson it was

     "Resolved, That whenever in the judgment of the Committee on the Publication of the Manuscripts of Swedenborg, the amount raised in this country and in England is sufficient to warrant the commencement of the work, said Committee is authorized by the Convention to make arrangements therefor."
Notes and Reviews 1888

Notes and Reviews 1888

     MANUAL OF RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. - BIBLE SERIES IV.

OUR HEAVENLY FATHER'S BOOK. A Compilation of Truths and Facts about the Bible. Part II. - New Testament. Prepared for the American New Church Sabbath-School Association, by William B. Hayden. New York: The New Church Board of Publication, No. 20 Cooper Union. 1888.

     THIS little Manual has been prepared by a New Church clergyman, for a New Church Sabbath-School Association, and is published by the New Church Board of Publication. The student naturally expects it to be a distinctively New Church production, which either contains scientifics in regard to "Our Heavenly Father's Book" to be found nowhere else - or which is a treatment of well-known scientifics, different from that to be found elsewhere - or both. The student fails to realize his expectation. He ascertains that the Manual is simply a compilation of materials from Old Church sources, concerning the externals of the New Testament and of the Apostolic Writings, and concerning the men by whom they were written, with just sufficient references to New Church Doctrines to give it a flavor.

     The appearance of works of this kind exposes the obscurity which exists in the mind of the New Church concerning the relation of Science to Divine Revelation. The book is written on the scientific plane, but the "truths and facts about the Bible" which the Writings offer are almost completely ignored, except in the case of the Apocalypse, where no other course was open than to appeal to the Writings.

     In the light of New Church Truth the very title of the Manual stands condemned. The Gospels and the Apocalypse are books of the Word, the rest are not. (H. D. 266.) It is very important that this be clearly understood. But when a Sunday-school teacher receives a Manual, half of which treats of the purely apostolic writings, and yet the whole volume claims to be concerning "Our Heavenly Father's Book," must not his mind be confused? He, indeed, finds his attention called to "a distinction . . . with respect to the Books of the New Testament. The Divine Spirit dwells in them in different degrees of fullness. The Books of the true Word are those in which our LORD JESUS CHRIST Himself speaks and acts" (p. 16), and he finds these books enumerated (p. 21). But this does not clear up the confusion in his mind, but intensifies it, for the statement is a confusing one. Instead of keeping clearly in mind that the term "Testament" signifies the LORD'S Covenant (A. E. 492 [d]; T. C. R. 706, 730), and is therefore inapplicable to any but those books which constitute the Divine Word, the compiler of the Manual speaks of "the Divine Spirit dwelling in the Books of the New Testament in different degrees of fullness" (p. 16), and also of the New Testament consisting of twenty-seven books, which he carefully enumerates (pp. 6, 7).

     And what can he mean by saying that "the books of the true Word are those in which our LORD JESUS CHRIST Himself speaks and acts"?

Is there a Word that is not true? And do the apostolic writings come under this head? On the contrary, they are true, but they are not the Word.

     Is it not plain that in his treatment of the general subject of the New Testament the compiler fails to keep clearly before him the teachings of the New Church, and mixes up some knowledge of New Church Doctrine with Old Church thought?

     This state of mind pervades the Manual and leads to unnecessary references to what Old Church scholars "think," as that "some scholars think He (the LORD) may have read from the Septuagint" (p. 22). A preposterous suggestion! In the category of absurd conclusions of Old Church scholars, which are gravely put forth as worthy the consideration of New Church Sunday-school teachers, is the "belief" that the Gospel of Matthew was originally composed in the Hebrew tongue (pp. 15, 45, 46). But the compiler adds: "Both the ancient fathers and modern critics agree that Matthew's Gospel written in Greek is the authentic Gospel for the world, and the one to be placed in the canon" (p. 46). As if this were to determine the canonicity of the Gospel for the New Church!

     But such is the prevailing state of mind in the New Church at the present day. The fact that "modern critics" have passed upon a matter and impressed upon it the seal of their approval, is more worthy of record than that the LORD Himself has given teaching concerning it in the Divine Writings of His Second Coming. We have looked in vain in the Manual for a quotation from, or even a reference to the Doctrine concerning the canonicity and authenticity of the Gospels; the strongest argument to be found is: "The authenticity and uncorrupt preservation of these four Gospels is most fully established by the united testimony and consent of Christian antiquity, and rests on a wider and surer ground of evidence than that of any other ancient writings" (p. 36).

     The tendency of the Manual being thus in the direction of Old Church scholarship, it is not surprising that the LORD is occasionally referred to in terms which would not be unbecoming to a Unitarian: "Salome, the mother of Zebedee's children, was, according to the traditions of the fourth century, the daughter of Joseph by a former wife; making her the half-sister of Jesus Himself" (p. 70).

     Even where attempts at explanations in the light of the New Church occur they are imperfect if not wrong, as when Hades (hell) is said to be the "intermediate world of spirits" (p. 64).

     One or two illustrations may suffice to show that a due respect to the Writings of the New Church would have made the Manual more useful and interesting.

     In the first place, it would have led to correct quotations from the Word, and would, for example, have prevented the reference to Adam as the "son of God" (p. 65, compare Nine Questions); or the quotations from the New Version, that JESUS "beareth" the sin of the world (p. 33). The LORD "takes away" or "removes" sin: He does not "bear" it. (Compare A. E. 778, Doct. conc. the Lord 17.)

     In regard to John the Baptist, to whom a chapter is devoted in the Manual, and whose mission is briefly explained, Sunday-school teachers would be greatly helped to one or more useful lessons by the quotation of the teaching concerning the universal law of order in heaven and on earth, that when angels are about to come, a spirit is sent before them to prepare the way, who inspires fear and admonishes that the angels be kindly received, and that it was according to this order that John the Baptist was sent before the LORD to announce His coming and prepare the way, so that He might be worthily received. (A. C. 8028; S. D. 1656.)

     Even in regard to the Epistles, the Writings furnish "truths and facts" not obtainable elsewhere, as when they teach that the Apostle Jude adduced the ninth verse of his Epistle from ancient books which were written by correspondences - and explain the correspondences.

     It is a pity, and more than a pity, that talent, time, and money are not turned to better account in the preparation of books of religious instruction for the New Church.
SWEDENBORG'S RENDERING OF THE WORD 1888

SWEDENBORG'S RENDERING OF THE WORD 1888

     Communicated
     IN the history of the movement for a New Church translation of the Word, published last month, wherever Dr. Kahl's name occurs that of Dr. Knos ought to be substituted; and the last line on page 74, first column, ought to be crossed out.

     It ought also to be stated that Mr. Henry Tulk contributed to the Intellectual Repository for October, 1828, an excellent critique on Dr. Knos's work, under the title "Ideas on the Importance of Adhering to the Literal Sense of the Word as given by E. S." In his essay, Mr. Tulk establishes five points: One in regard to "a consistent and rational belief in the Divine Providence, which . . . uniformly adopts fit and adequate instruments for the accomplishment of its ends. Secondly: If Swedenborg's knowledge of the original language was imperfect, which, however, was the basis of his spiritual sense, we must naturally conclude that the spiritual sense, as given, must be comparatively imperfect, and, if so, faulty, in every passage wrongly understood and translated. Thirdly: This opinion saps the foundation of his authority, and leaves him not even the character upon which he alone stands pre-eminent, namely, that of an inspired Author, which, as members of the New Church, we cannot gainsay. . . . (Even on points of human science, where we have evidence he has received higher illumination, we consider his dicta as conclusive): on the subject, however, of language, from which alone the spiritual sense can be drawn, we consider his knowledge as fully adequate, and on which he would not have been permitted to err. This cannot be the case if we cherish the notion of his imperfect knowledge of the original language upon which the whole spiritual superstructure rests. Fourthly: It is absurd and inconsistent, on the one hand, to consider infallible his spiritual sense, and, on the other hand, to attempt to shake or reject his given literal version: like men who would first weaken the foundation, and then expect the house to stand; or believe that an animal could live deprived of its skin; that a thing contained could be without a container; or, further, that a representative Church could exist without symbols of representation, or with imperfect ones. Fifthly: It involves the idea that spiritual truth can be drawn from what is naturally false. But if this is impossible, and if there must exist an interpreting medium, from whence are spiritual truths to be drawn? or from whence did E. S. draw those truths, the infallibility of which we admit? If he derived them from an inventive faculty, unassisted by Divine Revelation, he is not to be designated even a philosopher - he is an impostor. If, however, from Divine illumination, surely not without the medium of the Word, which is essential truth; and surely not through that Word misunderstood in the natural sense."

NEWS GLEANINGS 1888

NEWS GLEANINGS Various 1888

NEW CHURCH LIFE.

A MONTHLY JOURNAL.

TERMS:-One Dollar per annum, payable in advance.
Six months on trial for twenty-five cents.

     All communications must be addressed to Publishers New Church Life, No. 759 Corinthian Avenue, Philadelphia. Pa.

     In Great Britain subscriptions may be sent to

     MR. S. WARREN POTTS, Book Steward, 61 Cathedral Street, Glasgow, Scotland.

     REV. R. J. TILSON, "Oakley," County Grove, Camberwell, London, S. E.

     MR. G. A. MCQUEEN, Crowhurst Road, Colchester.

     MR. JAS. CALDWELL, 35 Diana Street, Walton, Liverpool.

     MR. C. E. SCHROEDER, 13 Ashfield Terrace, Newcastle-on-Tyne.

     MISS FLORENCE G. GIBBS, 6 Camden Square, London, N.

     PHILADELPHIA, JUNE, 1888 =118-119.

     CONTENTS.

     Editorial Notes, p. 81. -The Institution of the New Church (a Sermon), p. 82. - Conversations on Education. p. 84. -Rewards and Punishments in Schools, II. Punishments, p. 85. -The General Convention, p. 85.

     Manual of Religious Instruction, Bible Series IV, p. 94

     Swedenborg's Rendering of the Word, p. 95.

     News Gleanings, p. 96. -Births, Marriages, and Deaths, p. 96.
     AT HOME.

     Pennsylvania. - ON May 4th an instrumental and vocal concert was given by the Schools of the Academy, and much enjoyed by all present.

     THE Rev. J. M. Washburn, of Frankford, has had his name stricken from the Convention's roll of ministers.

     Massachusetts. - THE closing exercises of the Convention Theological School were held on May 15th. Three students, Messrs. Hayes, Wheeler, and Callan, the last of whom had formerly been an Old Church minister, were prepared to leave the School, though not yet ready for a diploma. Messrs. Wheeler and Callan were ordained on the following Sunday.

     Washington, D. C. - THOUGH still without a pastor, the Washington Society seems to be in a live state. A great many different ministers have preached for it during the past winter, the Sunday School has increased in numbers, and in the past eighteen months the Ladies' Aid Society has raised about six hundred dollars, which has been devoted to improving the property. Among other things a kitchen was built.

     Ohio. - THE annual meeting of the Cincinnati Society was held on the first Monday in May, and the reports were generally encouraging. The Society increased by thirty-four members during the year.

     THE Rev. Andrew Czerny, of Pittsburgh, preached in Morton on April 28th and 29th. The attendance was larger than on any previous occasion, a considerable number of strangers being present.

     Illinois. - THE Society at Olney expects to build a chapel shortly.

     THE late M. C. Bissell, of Joliet, according to the Joliet Press, left an estate of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, none of which goes to "his wife and relatives." Urbana University gets two thousand five hundred dollars, the New Jerusalem Messenger one thousand two hundred dollars, the N. C. Independent two hundred dollars annually, the Swedenborg Publishing Association one thousand two hundred dollars annually. Ten thousand dollars is to be devoted to building a church in Joliet, provided a similar sum be raised. At the end of twenty years twenty-five thousand dollars is to be given to the State Association in which Joliet then is, sixty thousand dollars to the General Convention, one-half for "the publishing association at Philadelphia, and the other for publishing New Church doctrines on charity," and the remainder of the estate goes to the Convention for general Church uses. The bequests to individuals are small.

     Kansas. - THE name of the Rev. W. M. Goodner, who was formerly of the Clearfield region in Pennsylvania, has, at his request, been stricken from the roll of ministers of the General Convention.

     Oregon. - MR. William Butt, of Hebo, Tellamook County, Oregon, writes to the New Church Pacific as follows: "My work at present is confined chiefly to this southern part of Tellamook County near the coast, rather a new settlement. I organized a Society of New Church persons in my immediate neighborhood about a year and a half since. I preach regularly at three points - at Wood's, our trading point on the coast, and at two country school-houses. My congregations are good and attentive for a new and sparsely settled country. There are a number to whom I lend books and distribute tracts."

     California. - THE Ladies' Aid of the O'Farrell Street Society, San Francisco, have recushioned the pews in that church.

     THE lectures of the Rev. John Doughty, eight in all, delivered at San Jose, have been the means of bringing the New Church people of that place together.

     THE Rev. D. V. Bowen recently preached the first New Church sermon ever delivered at Pasadena.

     THE Rev. H. C. Vetterling's name has, at his request, been expunged from the list of the ministers of the Convention.

     Canada. - THE Tidings say that "The Rev. G. L. Albutt has consented to take charge of the Toronto Society for five years from the first of August."

     ON April 3d, the twenty-fourth anniversary of the Toronto Society was celebrated.

     THE Rev. J. E. Bowers on a recent missionary tour only met one New Churchman at the places he visited, but had very good-sized and interested audiences.

     THE Canada Association will meet at Berlin, Ont., on June 28th.

     THE Toronto Globe, May 18th, prints a three-column sermon, "Swedenborg vs. Talmage," being the reply of the Rev. G. L. Albutt to Talmage's statement that the Writings are "religious balderdash."

     ABROAD.

     Great Britain. - THE Walworth Society, London, has by a "very large majority" voted to continue the use of "two wines" at the Holy Supper.

     IN the year 1887 there were thirty-two adults baptized in the Camberwell Society, London, of which the Rev. R. J. Tilson is pastor. The present membership is one hundred and eleven.

     Morning Light editorially says that the Peter Street, Manchester, Society has received an offer for its property, which will probably be accepted, and that two new places of worship will be erected on the north and south sides of the city respectively instead.

     THE Council of the New Church College has resolved to establish branches "at Accrington, Birmingham, and Leeds for the purpose of assisting young men engaged as missionary preachers."

     AN attempt was made to reintroduce must at the Holy Supper in the Camberwell Society, but met with very few supporters.

     THE "wine question," excluded from the correspondence columns of Morning Light, has broken out in the advertising pages of that journal.

     IN the Colchester Society the wine used in communion is "that which the Writings ordain" -i. e., not raw grape juice.

     Australia. - THE two-hundredth anniversary of Swedenborg's birthday was commemorated in Adelaide by a special discourse by the Rev. E. J. Day, morning and evening. A meeting was also held on the following (Monday) evening at which numerous addresses were delivered.

     THE Sidney Society has approved of the proposed articles of incorporation of the New Church in Australia.
EDITORIAL NOTES 1888

EDITORIAL NOTES Editor 1888

BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS.

NEW CHURCH LIFE.

Vol. VIII.     PHILADELPHIA, JULY, 1888=119.      No. 7.
     IN an address delivered May 7th, 1885, to the graduating class of the Theological School of the General Convention, the President of the School directed the graduates to the letter of the Word for instruction, and counseled them to live what they thus learn, and to preach what they thus live. For a review of the address the reader is referred to Words for the New Church XIII, pp. 212-218.

     The instruction and counsel of the President of Convention's Theological School are bearing fruit.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

AT the closing exercises of the Convention Theological School, held in Boston in May last, one of the students delivered a sermon on Nathanael's Call (John i, 45, etc.) The sermon consisted of three clearly defined parts. The first was a description of the character of the person Nathanael, in which the letter of the Word was used to prove the goodness of the various qualities of his character. The second part was an elaboration of what was evidently intended to be the internal sense of the first part of the sermon. The third part enumerated the lessons to be drawn from the exposition.

As the letter of the Word was made the source of instruction, and the Doctrines were not, it was inevitable that neither method of treatment nor the substance of the sermon was distinctively New Church. Indeed, the method of exegesis is opposed to the method and the teachings of the Writings. The Writings do not enter into a labored explanation of the personal character of the men whose names occur in the Scripture, in order to evolve thence the internal sense. On the contrary, they teach that "it is the same what the man is who represents, whether he be evil or good, the evil can equally represent, and they do represent, the Divine of the LORD." (A. C. 3670.)
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

     THE tendency to make so much of the literal sense of the Word is injurious in a number of ways. It leads to errors, because "Divine truths, in the sense of the letter, are rarely naked, but clothed, which are called appearances of Truth: and there are many things accommodated to the capacity of the simple, who do not elevate their thoughts above such things as they see before their eyes," etc. (T. C. R. 226.)

     It keeps the mind confined to external things, and prevents its rising to those that are spiritual. This was shown by the further treatment of the text, inasmuch as spiritual matters, truly so called, were not treated of, but the "internal sense" given was rather an application of the first part of the discourse to a more intellectual and moral but not necessarily a spiritual plane.

     Such sermons may inculcate principles of morality, but they will not promote the establishment of a spiritual Church.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

ON the same occasion, the closing exercises of the Boston Theological School, another student read an essay, on the minister's use, the substance of which was that the Divine Truth is not accommodated to the needs of the people in the Writings and the Word, and that the minister who makes his sermon to consist of quotations from the Writings makes a great mistake. The minister accommodates the truth to the people by first living it himself, and by presenting what he has lived, to the people. The minister thus poses as an example before his people and must be careful that his perfection extends even to the buttons on his coat and the polish on his shoes, for he also represents the Church to the outside world, and it is not anything, if not respectable, in the eyes of that world.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE idea that the minister must first have lived what he preaches was incorporated in the ordination service that took place on "Convention Sunday" and was emphasized by the manner of the Ordaining Minister, and confirmed by him from the letter of the Word. If our memory serves us right, he quoted the LORD'S words, "The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All, therefore, whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not," and then concluded that as the Scribes and Pharisees were evil, it was the duty of good ministers to do first what they preach. Had not the preconceived error concerning the necessity of the minister being regenerated, induced the blindness, the Ordainer must have seen that by these words the LORD taught that, on the contrary, instruction from the Word ought to be attended to, without regard to the persons or characters of those who give it, but that the examples of those who teach, and do not live accordingly, are not to be followed, because they are in the knowledge of truth without the love of it.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

     To teach that ministers must first live what they preach is to inculcate a pernicious heresy.

     First, because it calls attention to the man instead of the LORD'S Word.

     Secondly, because it ignores the law of regeneration, which is that truths lead the way to good. For this was the understanding separated from the will: that in it man may rise even into the light of heaven, and then compel the will to follow into the heat of heaven.

     Thirdly, because it is opposed to the doctrine that priests, who preach holy things, and yet live badly and believe badly, have about them, not good, but evil, spirits. They have no communication with heaven, but those who hear and take hold of the truths from their mouth, if they be in a pious and holy internal, have [communication with heaven.]" (A. C. 4311.)
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

ASIDE from the presumption and folly which the idea carries with it, that a minister must first have lived what he preaches, it is wholly impracticable. How much of the life of regeneration has a young minister fresh from school lived? And has even the oldest minister in the New Church lived the general doctrines concerning the LORD, as that He is One, that in Him is a Divine Trinity that He assumed the Human, that He glorified this Human, etc., etc.?

Can these truths be lived? Man can believe them and make them of his faith, but he cannot live them and make them of his charity.

"The particulars of the faith [of the New Heaven and the New Church] on the part of man are, 1. That God is One, in whom is a Divine Trinity, and that He is the LORD GOD THE SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST. 2. That saving faith is to believe in Him. 3. That evils should not be done, because they are of the devil and from the devil. 4. That goods should be done, because they are of God and from God. 5. And that these should be done by man as from himself, but that it should be believed that they are from the LORD, with Him and through Him. The first two are of faith, the next two are of charity, and the fifth is of the conjunction of charity and faith, thus of the LORD and man." (T. C. R. 3.)
CONSCIENCE 1888

CONSCIENCE Rev. W. F. PENDLETON 1888

     Create in me a clean heart, O God, and make new a firm spirit within me." - Psalm li, 10.

     IT is known in the world that there is such a thing as conscience; it is a word that is in the mouth of every one; much is said, much is written about it; works on ethics give it an important place in their system; volume after volume has issued from the press setting forth what it is conceived to be, and what its bearing is on the inward life of man; and yet it is still a debatable subject; men ratiocinate about it, as to what it is, or whether it is; but in all the mass of thought, or statement of thought on the subject, in all the world's literature, in all the books of theology or morals in Christendom, when looked at from the light of heaven, no true view of conscience is seen; the word is used, and ratiocinations are made to conceal the ignorance that prevails on the subject; men know that there is a conscience, but they do not know what it is.

     It is thought that all, even the evil, have conscience; that the devils in hell suffer the stings and torments of conscience. This flows from the belief of some, that conscience is a pain of the mind arising from fear in the anticipation of the loss of something that is loved, as reputation or wealth, fear of the punishment that follows the exposure of some evil deed, a fear of the punishment of evil and not fear of the evil itself. Devils have this fear and so have conscience! This is the conception of conscience in the utilitarian school of philosophy, and with those who hold it practically the effort is made to drown conscience by extreme indulgence in the delights of the bodily senses and conversation on subjects that lead the mind away from the consideration of the things that are within. There is with them pain and anxiety from no other source than from non-success in evil, and when there is success in evil they are exhilarated; cheerfulness and gladness take the place of grief.

     Some, more materialistic, hold that conscience is simply a disease of the body and thence of the mind; the stomach is disordered from a state of indigestion perhaps; this infests the mind; other diseases of the mind and body result; the mind is disturbed by sickly scruples on matters of no importance, and there is no enjoyment of the things of life. But this evil condition of body and mind is removed by medicine; conscience no longer troubles, and man is left free to enjoy himself without scruple or disturbance.

     Even with those who approach the domain of a higher view and teach that conscience is an inward monitor pointing out the right and the wrong, there is a vast confusion of thought. For it is ascribed even to the evil and is considered to be inherent and inborn with man. As to what this inward monitor is, what forms it, or causes and establishes its presence in man, nothing is known. This view is apparently confirmed by the fact that every man has some knowledge of right and wrong. This knowledge which arises in the consideration of right and wrong is really what is called conscience. It is thought to be self-derived, and to spring from the light of nature, which revelation may or may not serve to confirm; and a state of good, charity, love to the neighbor is not considered essential to it. Thus they view conscience from without and not from within; and whatever is spiritual, looked at from without, or from the light of the world, is not seen except in phantasy.

     What conscience is can be seen only from the light of heaven, and so only by those who are in a state of illustration from that light; which light to man in the world is from no other source than the Revelation of the Internal Sense of the Word, which has been given for the use of the New Church. This is true of all spiritual qualities.

     It is necessary to know in general the universal doctrines of that Revelation, especially concerning the LORD and the life of man from the LORD, the life of man in heaven, in hell, and from this his life in the natural world; what the LORD is, and what man is as created by Him, and what he is as he has become by perversions, and so forth. In particular it is necessary to have a knowledge of the spiritual world and of the things that are in it; of man's close and intimate connection with that world, so that it may be clearly seen that life is not self- derived and that nothing unconnected exists; it is necessary to know of the angelic societies, and their relation and association with man in his mind and spirit, and their love for him, and of the infernal societies, their relation to man, and their hatred of him.

     An entire view of this subject cannot be given in a single discourse. We must rest content with a general statement. The LORD in His WORD teaches us how conscience is formed, and what it is when formed; there is no teaching of truth that does not bear upon the formation of conscience, for conscience is the very essential spiritual life of man. But in some passages the application is more manifest than in others. The passage chosen for the text of this discourse, in its spiritual exposition, presents the doctrine of conscience: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and make new a firm spirit within me."

     In their external form these words are a prayer for the formation of conscience. In their internal form the answer is given to the prayer, namely, instruction concerning conscience, its quality and formation. This is the LORD'S answer to prayer: instruction, granting the knowledge and perception of a truth.

     The answer in the text is that the LORD forms conscience in man by regeneration, that the work of regeneration is the work of forming a conscience, that where there is no regeneration there is no conscience.

     In the new birth of man he receives from the LORD a new will and a new understanding, signified by a clean heart and a firm spirit. The new will and the new understanding formed in man by the LORD through regeneration, united as one, are conscience.

     The new will is a will of good or charity, good-will to the neighbor. He who has no good-will in him to the neighbor, has no conscience.

There is an obscure perception of this, even in common speech, when it is said of a man who has acted with cruelty or injustice, "He has no conscience." But the perception of common sense is one thing, and the self-intelligence of man and the sentimentality of natural good another. In the ratiocinations of philosophy and theology, or in the perverted sentimentalism of the day, conscience is ascribed to the evil, as well as the good. Though it cannot be expected otherwise where faith separated from charity reigns, and conscience becomes a mere knowledge of right and wrong, regardless of a will of good. But as faith separated from charity is no faith, so the intellectual consciousness of right and wrong, without the will of good, is no conscience. It is merely the consciousness that is in thought from the memory; there is the consciousness of thought from the memory, and there is the consciousness of thought from within, or from good. The latter is consciousness in a man of right and wrong, or conscience. The former is conscience out of a man, but which he can make to appear as if it were within him.

     The new understanding, united to and proceeding from the new will, is the understanding of truth. He who has no truth in his understanding, the spiritual truth of the WORD, has no conscience, or his conscience is not yet formed, it is still in a state of chaos, out of which a true conscience may be formed, or may not, dependent on his will of good and its growth, and his instruction in genuine truths.

     Where the new understanding is not yet formed, where falses are mingled with truths in the thought, but where there is still a will of good, the conscience is called in the Writings a spurious conscience, but which will give place to a true conscience when genuine truths appear and are received. But the appearance of conscience with the evil is called a false conscience, that is, no conscience. A true conscience is found only where genuine good is conjoined to genuine truth.

     Good and truth united in man become active; there flows from it an endeavor into act, or into uses. This endeavor from that union becomes a dictate in man pointing out and restraining in the presence of evil and solicitation to it, and directing and urging in the presence of good, turning the thought away from evil and leading it to good, discriminating between good and evil in the thought. This dictate is conscience.

     Let us not think, however, of the conjunction of good and truth in man as of something separated or disconnected from the spiritual world. It is believed by men that their life is their own because it so appears; all the life of their affection and thought they believe to originate in themselves; thus believing, it is impossible for them to understand anything spiritual, and so they cannot understand the state of the mind and soul or any quality thereof, for the mind is spirit, and in the mind the spiritual world may be seen as in an image.

     Life is not in man, but with him by influx from the LORD, who is Life itself, thus the only Source of life; this life flowing in from the LORD through the spiritual world is received by man as his own, and is believed by the natural man to be solely his because he judges of all things from the appearance. The life of good and truth flows in from the angelic societies, or rather from the LORD through them; the life of the evil and the false flows in from the infernal societies, - life perverted in them after the reception of life from the LORD.

     Concerning this, the Doctrines of the Church teach as follows:

     "No person whatsoever, whether man, or spirit, or angel, can will or think from himself, but from others, nor can these others think and will from themselves, but all again from others, and so forth, and thus each from the First of Life, which is the LORD; that which is unconnected does not exist; evils and falses have connection with the hells, whence comes the power of willing and thinking with those who are in them, and also their love, affection, and delight, consequently their freedom; but goods and truths have connection with heaven, whence comes the power of willing and thinking with those who are principled in them, and also their love, affection, and delight, consequently their freedom; hence it may appear what is the source of the one freedom and of the other. That this is the real case, is perfectly well known in the other life, but at this day it is altogether unknown in the world." (A. C. 2886.)

     "There was a certain spirit who believed that he thought from himself, thus without any extension out of himself, and thence communication with societies which are out of him. That he might know that he was in a false persuasion, communication with neighboring societies was taken away from him; thence he was not only deprived of thought, but also fell down as if dead, yet he tossed about his arms as a new-born infant; after a while, the communication was restored to him, and, by degrees, as it was restored he returned into the state of his thought. Other spirits who saw this, afterward confessed that all thought and affection flows in according to communication, and because all thought and affection, also all of life; since all of man's life consists in this, that he can think and be affected, or, what is the same, that he can understand and will." (H. H. 204.)

     From this doctrine it is clearly seen that the dictate which is conscience flows in from the angelic societies, with which man is consociated as to his spirit and through them from the LORD. Man, as to his spirit, his essential life, is in the other world, and is in constant consociation with the inhabitants of that world, with the societies of the good if he is in good, with the societies of the evil if he is in evil; and if communication were cut off from those there with whom he consociates, he would at once be suffocated and fall down dead. And the state of his life depends upon the state of the life of those with whom he consociates in the spiritual world, and is altogether according to that life, giving a fullness of meaning to the common saying that a man is not above the company he keeps. If man is associated with the inhabitants of the infernal societies there can be no formation of the life of conscience with him, for he is separated from those from whom and through whom conscience comes, who live only in a sphere of mutual love, and he is conjoined with those who have no conscience, who live only in a sphere of hatred and cruelty.

     Man, however, while he lives in the world is not wholly cut off from heaven, and hence the possibility of repentance and salvation even until the death of the body. And so we are told that the dictate flows in with every man from heaven, but it becomes conscious and thus conscience only with those who receive and perceive it; and so only by those in whom the new will and the new understanding are in process of formation. It is plain, therefore, that conscience does not consist in the dictate alone, but in the distinct reception and perception of it. That man may perceive, there must be something to receive. There must be an organ that presents a plane of reaction and thus of reception; as, there must be an eye for the reception of light, which reacts in the eye causing sight, or an ear to receive sound and in which the sound reacts, causing the sense of hearing.

100

The organ receptive of the light of heaven is the new understanding formed from the new will, in which there is reception and reaction, causing man to seethe truth and judge between right and wrong. Unless there is this organ in man, the new understanding and will, the dictate from the angelic societies, inflows, indeed, but it is like a ray of invisible light that does not affect the eye, does not produce sight; or, rather, as a ray of light flowing into the eye of a blind man, of which he is unconscious, seeing no better than before.

     From all that has been said it appears clearly that conscience is a most essential principle in the regeneration of man; the means by which from the LORD through the medium of the angelic heavens he is raised gradually from a state of a beast to the state of a man, which is the state of an angel. Hence we may see the full force of the words of the text, as a prayer to the LORD, containing in its bosom its own answer, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a firm spirit within me."

     Conscience is, then, according to the state of the Church with man, or according to the state of good and truth with him, which makes the Church. Where there is no genuine Church or genuine truths of the Church, conscience is either spurious or false; and even where the Church is, and genuine truths are taught, conscience is more or less perfect according to the reception and perception of truths; this is not the same in all, it is not the same in one that it is in another, and so conscience differs in every individual. It follows that no one should wish to impose his conscience on another, for thereby freedom would be impaired; no true conscience could be formed, either in the one who wishes to impose it, or in the other on whom it is imposed, for conscience is formed only in a state of freedom, and an essential principle in the formation of a conscience is a love of the freedom of the neighbor; without such a love the principle of good-will or charity cannot grow, and the spiritual life itself halts in its development and progress. For, as we learn from the Doctrine, "The spiritual life itself of man is in a true conscience, for there his faith is conjoined to charity; wherefore to do from conscience is to them to do from their spiritual life, and to do contrary to conscience is to them to do contrary to their spiritual life." (T. C. R. 666.)

     We learn, therefore, that even where the Church is there may be a false conscience; for the understanding may be well instructed in truths, yet if the will of good be lacking the conscience is a false conscience. In such a case, the understanding is not an interior understanding of truth; it is but the formation of the exterior thought into the appearance of an understanding; the interior thought, the thought of the will itself, is full of the falsities of evil, but this is concealed for the most part from the view of men.

     It may be said in general that conscience, with the man of the Church, is to love the Doctrines of the Church from his heart, or, what is the same, it is to be interiorly affected with the truths of Doctrine; for the Doctrines of the Church teach the LORD and the way to Him; and this to the man of the Church is the knowledge of knowledges, there is nothing he so much desires to know. With him there will be a continual seeking for truths to more fully form his conscience, and every truth received will be a truth of conscience. To act against that truth is to act against conscience, and he is inwardly tortured if he finds he has been led to act against the truth of conscience. The torments and stings of conscience are thus to be found only in the regenerating man; and this torment in the regenerating man is what is called temptation. It is an awakening of the conscience of the internal man, and resistance to the evil that has been done, or that he has purposed to do, which is always accompanied by conflict and anxiety. With others, even with evil spirits, there is also torment and anxiety, but it is not the torment of conscience; the stings with them are not on account of evil done, or which they have proposed to do, but because they have been prevented from doing it, and so have been deprived of the delight of evil. All mental torment is from the deprivation of delight; with those who have conscience, or the spiritual, the torment is on account of the deprivation of the delight of good from the presence of evil; with those who have no conscience, or the evil, the torment is not on account of the presence of evil, but the presence of the punishment of evil, and thus fear, which deprives them of the delight of evil, which they love.

     The way of safety, and the only way for the man of the New Church, is to cultivate daily by all the means at his disposal an affection for the Doctrines of the Church. In this way alone can he expect or hope to have conscience formed in him, formed by growth, growing by expansion, and expanding by the continual reception of that which will then continually flow in through Heaven from the LORD, Who alone is Life.
CONVERSATIONS ON EDUCATION 1888

CONVERSATIONS ON EDUCATION 1888

     APPROPRIATION.

     [Continued.]

     By means of the natural love of man, with its various affections, also called his proprium, as we have seen, there are introduced into the mind of the young child those rudimentary forms of science and knowledge from which the formation of the understanding takes its beginning, by learning to think. Having performed this use, these forms of science and knowledge are laid aside. They are not to be cultivated with any view to a continuance of their introductory use; nor are they of a quality that fits them to serve in the formation of the rational mind; nor are they such as to be worthy of becoming reasons of life and action, because they have regard only to self and the world. So long as the man is a child, merely natural and selfish ends are not ascribed to him; but if they be cherished and confirmed in him they become of his nature. Although of service for the introduction of some useful information to the child mind, if continued to be cultivated in youth and manhood they give entrance to falsities that favor selfish and worldly lusts. At first these loves have no personal quality, afterward they take on this quality, and thus open the mind not to heavenly, but to infernal influences; for ruling loves and their ends associate man with angels or with devils, according to their nature. (A. C. 3570.) This is a point worthy of all attention on the part of Parents and Teachers.

     There are various means that can be employed to prevent such a continuance of the power of the earliest natural loves; as, for example:

     1. By withdrawing the thought of the child as much as possible from its own first delight in learning, to the things that have been learnt, and thus withdrawing it from self. This can be done even whilst that delight is employed as a means of introducing new ideas and new knowledges.

     2. By occupying the senses of the child with the appearance, the form, the qualities, and especially with the uses of the objects that have been presented.

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     3. By leading the child to see and know the application of objects to simple uses; and to make such applications itself.

     4. By bending the child's delight arising from self-gratification away from this to the gratification of the wishes of Parent or Teacher.

     5. By thus leading the child to the knowledge that the LORD has created such objects, and given them to man in order that they may be put to some use; and by basing on this knowledge the concept of the existence of similar objects in heaven, given to the angels by the LORD, for like uses to them.

     If by the employment of some such means, Parent or Teacher succeeds in the effort of supplanting the first agencies of the introduction of knowledge by other loves of a better quality, the affection of the child will be withdrawn by degrees from the pleasure of mere acquisition, or from the delight of being praised and commended; and the thought being directed to a contemplation of the object presented and its uses, the desire of self-gratification will be checked, and in its place there will come a desire to afford gratification to others.

     If, now, a child have come into obedience, and into some delight of obedience from the influx of good spirits, and from the approving sphere and words of Parents and Teachers, and if there have been a careful withdrawal of his thought from the delights and pleasures which have served as a first means of introducing knowledge - preparation will have been made for the succeeding work of opening in advancing years to the formation of a new end, or "soul of good," in the rational, which shall conjoin with itself, good and afterward truth by the natural.

     For the love of knowing is from the soul, even as the appetite for food in the body is from the soul.

     The delights of appetite and the delights of taste which succeed the former are corporeal forms corresponding to the sensual delights of knowing, and the sensual delights of perceiving and observing some quality in what has been learnt. But even as the foods introduced into the body do not all of them enter into the composition of the blood and make the life, so with the things learnt.

     These latter do not all become constituent parts of the thought, so as to form the substance and fibre of the mind's thinking. In respect to natural foods, we are instructed that some serve as menstrua or as solvents of other foods, by means of which these are more readily and fully digested, separated into their parts, made to yield up their essences, and so prepared for assimilation and appropriation. Some substances of this character serve also to temper, soften, and accommodate other substances; some are of use in opening and some of introducing the latter into the vessels in which they are to be made ready for the performance of their uses. The same is true of spiritual substances and spiritual foods. Such mental menstrua, or solvents, such means of tempering, opening, and introducing, are many of the various arts and sciences which at this day receive more attention than others. Take language, for example. As a science, language is but a means of holding, explaining, and introducing ideas into the mind; the arts of reading and writing a language are but means of enabling it to extend its mediating uses. These arts, and even language itself, do not enter into mental structure, and become of the substance of man's thinking. They remain chiefly in the memory. Much the same may be said of the science of numbers and of the science of geometrical forms. Important as these sciences are, nay, essential as they are in doing the uses for which they exist, they do not constitute mental food, they do not nourish the intellect; they open it, they expand it, they strengthen its receptive capacities, they help to bring it into orderly arrangement and to keep it in order. They also temper it, and introduce into its various parts the innumerable forms of knowledge from which the mind can learn to think, and can begin to think, and by means of which it can advance toward perfection. (See again A. C. 3570.)
STUDY OF HEBREW IN THE NEW CHURCH 1888

STUDY OF HEBREW IN THE NEW CHURCH 1888

     To the New Church, now being established upon earth, the LORD in His Second Coming has given in charge a most sacred use, the guardianship of the Letter of the Word in the original form and language in which it was first given to mankind by the LORD from Heaven through the Prophets of Israel.

     The preservation of the Word, regarded in itself, does not indeed depend upon man, for the Word is the LORD and is therefore Infinite and Eternal. But the preservation of the Word with man and its purity with him does depend upon man's willingness to receive it and keep it undefiled. Truth in the LORD can never be perverted, but truth received by man can by him be turned into falsity.

     Particularly is this the case with that ultimate form of the Truth, which is clothed in external appearances - the Word in its literal sense. For this is a flaming sword, which can be turned hither or thither, to confirm either truth or falsity. The Letter, therefore, is not Divine Truth in itself, but it is Divine Truth solely because of and from the Internal or Spiritual sense which it contains and ultimates.

     Only those to whom the LORD has given the Revelation of this Internal Sense are, therefore, able to see the Divine Truth in the literal sense, and they only can, consequently, defend the Letter from being perverted or from being in any manner altered, taken away from, or added to.

     To the New Church, alone, has been given this Internal Divine Truth, and upon the New Church, therefore, is devolved the all-important duty of preserving in its integrity with mankind that ultimate form, upon which the Internal Divine Truth rests, in which it is contained, and by means of which the LORD is present in the Church and works salvation for mankind.

     This presence of the LORD in the Church and the consequent conjunction with the LORD and consociation with Heaven through the Letter of the Word, is effected by means of the correspondences in which it is written and through which earthly and sensual images are opened for the influx of spiritual and celestial ideas, in which the LORD and Heaven are present.

     Descending from the LORD through Heaven, the Word necessarily was clothed in the language of Heaven, and, when ultimately descending through Heaven to earth, it was likewise of necessity clothed in the expressions of that earthly tongue, which of all was the one most congruous with heavenly language and in which the correspondences could be most completely expressed.

     Now we know that the language of men on earth was in most ancient times congruent with the language of Heaven, that is, it was a language the expressions of which were all correspondential. When, in the course of ages, the Church declined from its primitive heavenly state, this language was gradually lost to mankind in general.

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Remains of it were, however, by the Divine Providence, preserved in one tongue, the Hebrew, of which, therefore, it is said that "The Hebrew tongue is congruent with the language of Heaven in some things." (H. H. 237.)

     In the Hebrew language, therefore, the Word was ultimately clothed when descending from the LORD out of Heaven. In the Hebrew of the Letter of the Word, the Internal Divine Truth, which is the LORD, is present in all its fullness, holiness and power, for in it the Internal Sense is present by means of Correspondences in every word, syllable, and letter. By the Hebrew of the Letter the consociation of Heaven with the Church is in its completion, for into the expressions of the Hebrew the thoughts and affections of the angels can inflow as into their own corresponding forms.

     No translations of the Letter into any other human tongues can, therefore, effect the same as the Letter in its original form, for no other language retains so much of the heavenly character as the Hebrew, no other expresses the correspondences so completely and so ultimately. Translations may indeed effect a presence of the LORD and Heaven by means of the general sense and the general correspondences of the expressions, but they cannot have the same effects as the Hebrew as to all particulars. Translations, moreover, can never be rendered so as to express the full and exact meaning of the inspired Hebrew form, but they give the sense only proximately and generally. Only to the Letter of the Word in the Hebrew can the words of the LORD be applied literally:

     "For verily I say to you, until heaven and earth shall have passed away, one jot or one tittle shall not pass away from the Law, till all things shall have become." (Matthew v, 18.)

     If, therefore, we could suppose that the Letter of the Word in the Hebrew had been lost, heaven and earth would have passed away, for the Church which is formed from the Word would have perished, and the Heavens which rest upon the Church on earth would have passed away with it. Lest this should actually take place by the utter rejection of the Word by mankind, the LORD in His Divine Providence raised up the Jewish nation and gave into its charge the preservation of the Letter in its integrity. Being of a most external character, this nation worshiped the mere Letter of the Word, adhering to it most tenaciously, but in an idolatrous spirit, accounting it holy, not because of its internal things, but because it was handed down to them from their ancestors, and because it was their own exclusive possession. The Jews would not, therefore, suffer one jot or one tittle to be changed or removed from the Letter. They counted every word and letter in it; yea, when copying it, they even measured every single letter, in order to render the copy correct in the least particulars. This character the Jews retained even after the representative of a Church with them had been abolished by the Coming of the LORD in His Human, and hence we learn that "inasmuch as it was foreseen, that the Christians would almost totally reject the Word of the Old Testament, and would likewise defile its internal things with things prophane, therefore the Jewish nation has been hitherto preserved." (A. C. 3479, 4231, 7051; A. E. 434; D. P. 260; S. D. 5620.)

     What further testimony is needed as to the necessity of preserving the Word in the Hebrew than this miraculous preservation of a whole nation during so many ages, through so many adversities and persecutions, and after being scattered over the whole earth, and this for one sole, Divine Reason. Had not the Jews been preserved the knowledge of the Hebrew language would never have revived at the end of the Middle Ages. Had not the Jews in secret preserved the manuscripts of their sacred Code, these would probably have shared the fate of so many other ancient manuscripts now lost to us by Roman Catholic and Mohammedan fanaticism. Nor is it probable that we would now possess the Word in its integrity, had not Jewish obstinacy preserved it from the prophaning perversions of modern "Biblical Criticism."

     The Jews have, therefore, served the use of watchdogs, guarding the Holy Temple of the Word from intruding robbers during the Church's night. But when day breaks and the servants of the Temple approach, the office of these guards is over. When the true, internal Church of the LORD is established upon earth, He gives to it, together with the true understanding of the Word, also the use and guardianship of its ultimate form. Thus this office is now passing from the Jews and is given to the LORD'S New Church, for it is prophesied: "That the residue of the worship of that nation (the Jewish) is to have an end, together with the end of the present Church in Europe, the LORD predicted in Matthew, 'Verily I say to you, this generation shall not pass away, until all these things take place,' xxiv, 34, in which chapter the consummation of the age is treated of." (A. C. 10,497.)

     The effete remnants of the Jewish nation are consequently at this day rapidly passing away. Ancient Jewish orthodoxy is dying out; the Jews mix more and more with the nations in which they live, and their final extinction as a separate race is foreseen even by many of their Rabbis. With their loss of faith and interest in the religion of their fathers follows also the loss of their power of defending the Letter of the Word in the Hebrew, and thus their only raison d'etre ceases to exist.

     In the meantime the "learned" of the dead Christian Church have fallen upon the Letter of the Word in the original form with truly wolf-like rage, tearing this mantle of the LORD to shreds and tatters by modern "philological criticism," until nothing remains with them. Thus it has been discovered, in this, our nineteenth century, that the whole Word is nothing but a patchwork of various Jewish scribes, each of whom is supposed to have added or changed whatever suited himself. Wherever the name IEHOWAH occurs, it is said that the verse containing it has been inserted by one Copyist, while all places where Elohim, occurs, are asserted to have been added by another. Hence, the whole Word has been rent into two by modern critics. Then one passage here and another there is confidently torn out of its connection because of some peculiarity in the language, or on account of some grammatical form, which the learned "do not admit." Again, supposed "mistakes" by the copyists are found and "corrected;" readings are changed and substituted to suit "learned" idiosyncrasies; one part of the Word is erased as having been proved spurious, and whole passages have been inserted in other places as "no doubt once having existed there." Yea, to crown the work a whole new and "corrected" edition of the Old Testament in Hebrew has been lately published by the prince of German learning, Professor Delitsch, in which all the results of these modern "philological and critical investigations" have been incorporated.

     This work of tearing to pieces the Letter of the Word is going on with ever- increasing vigor and enthusiasm, and the result is that belief in the inspiration and integrity of the Word is being rapidly and totally lost in the Old Christian Church. Even in the New Church the influence of this pernicious, denying sphere is felt, for many so-called New Churchmen deny that the Word has been preserved entire in the Letter, the distinct declaration to the contrary of the Writings being disregarded.

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And yet, so strange is the inconsistency of man, these New Churchmen are the very ones who would have us worship as divine the mere dead Letter by itself, above and separate from the Internal Sense which gives it life. It seems, however, that it is not the Letter in its only real form, or in the Hebrew, which is thus inconsistently worshiped, but rather King James' Version, since this is so tenaciously upheld in preference to a new translation based directly on the Hebrew and on the divinely authorized rendering in the Writings of the New Church.

     It is on account of such notions of human self-conceit that the New Church has tarried so long in unwillingness to take upon herself the Divine Charge which the LORD has intrusted to her. A beginning has indeed been made by the Academy of the New Church toward this end in preparing men for the study of the Word in Hebrew. As yet, however, this new development has met with scanty sympathy of the Church in general, and the Egyptian bondage of Old Church science is still preferred.

     Acknowledging as a Divine Command the Doctrine as to the preservation of the Word in the Hebrew Letter, and realizing the state of the Christian world and the violence this Letter is suffering from it, there is, however, but one thing for the New Church to do: To obey the LORD'S will, to arise and arm herself with the Spiritual Truths and natural knowledges so abundantly held out, and to take into possession that Divine inheritance which the LORD has intrusted to her care.

     In effecting this, the primary thing for the Church is to make prevalent the study of the Hebrew language. The ministers of the Church must master it, the laity must become familiar with it, and the children must be taught it as the language of languages, until the sacred language of the Word shall have become a living and beloved thing in the LORD'S New Church.

     But not only must the Hebrew be studied and acquired; the study of it must also, as all other things in the New Church, be made new. For to New Churchmen that language is not like any other human tongue, not a mere glossary and grammar, but living and glowing with and inseparable from the internal, spiritual, and Divine things contained in every least of its expressions. The Hebrew must, therefore, be studied, not in the old, external, and irrational manner of the Old Church, which makes ability to "criticise" the highest end, but from a rational understanding of the internal character of the language as a starting point, and with the end in view of confirming the Spiritual Sense.

     This use of confirmation is in itself one of the fundamental uses which the Letter of the Word in the Hebrew renders to the Internal Sense, to which it is the "Continent, Firmament, and Basis," and this is also the primary use to the Church of a particular study of the Hebrew. As the Letter without the Spirit is dead, so also is the study of Hebrew dead if not everywhere accompanied by the correspondences, which are its soul and life. The impression that the Hebrew is a dead language to be learned by mere memorizing must never be suffered to exist among New Church students, for internal love for it, or internal understanding of it, can never then be formed. The internal principles governing the language and the correspondences vivifying it must not, therefore, for a moment be left out of view in studying the Hebrew, nor should the Word, in this use, be treated like a common text-book, but it should be kept sacred as to all particulars. The amount of Hebrew to be read, or the length of time this study will take, are considerations of such external character, that they ought by no means to be made prominent. It is far better to spend a whole year in the study of a single chapter in connection with the Internal sense than to read many books in the same time and learn nothing but words. All truly New Church education is for the life of heaven rather than for the life of the world. Such external knowledge only is of use to man after death, in which he sees something internal. One spiritual idea of the Hebrew language will, therefore, in this life and in the next, be of far more value to New Churchmen in understanding the Word and the Hebrew itself, and in effecting conjunction with the LORD and consociation with heaven, than the mere knowledge of a thousand words or grammatical niceties, which passes away from man at death.

     In the manner here outlined the study of the Hebrew will be made new, delightful, rational, and useful, and from it the New Church will derive incalculable benefits. For from such a study the Doctrines of the Internal Sense of the Word will receive a firm foundation in the minds of men. The Word itself will be seen in a new and particular light; the influx of heaven into the Church on earth will become far stronger and more complete; the LORD will be seen, as in firsts, so in lasts or least things of His Word, and finally, the New Church will thus receive strength not only to disprove and disperse the perversions of the Letter of the Word by the so-called learned, but also to rescue and defend it against the violent attacks of these hells, and thus to come into ultimate and undisputed possession of her Divinely given charge.
QUEEN FLORA'S VISIT 1888

QUEEN FLORA'S VISIT 1888

THE Queen of Flowers was coming. Many knew it by the upspringing of the grass, and the outbursting of leaf, bud, and flower into beauty and bloom. But they did not understand the voices in the wind, spreading the news of something uncommon to take place after her arrival. The weather heard it, however, and prepared a day of its brightest and best, with a high noon full of the choicest sunbeams. The winds, who were the Queen's messengers, sheathed their sharp-edged swords, returned to Jack Frost the iciness he had given them, and went about their errands in a soft, floating way that made them much beloved. They pushed a small rain cloud over just where it would be at hand when wanted by the Queen, and hung the sky full of light, fleecy ones, for ornament. They cleared the air of every impure odor, and packed it off for food to a forest of leaves near by, which eagerly sucked it in, calling on the sunbeams for help in separating it promptly into its different elements. They kept the part they needed and sent out the remainder in vast quantities, for it was just what men and animals needed to breathe in. Then the same winds flew down to the ocean and gathered no end of freshness and brought it up to the plants and flowers that drooped under the unusual blaze of sunshine. Then, when everything was ready, they made the grand announcement of the Queen's approach - they shrieked it, they whistled it, and roared it, till they set every floral bell a-tinkling and every banner of a leaf waving a glad welcome; and at last, just as the royal procession appeared in sight, they all united in several rousing blasts that sounded like a discharge of cannon, and awoke every sleeping beauty of a bud far and near. Then they rolled away to the forest, where they lay in wait to assist in the grand oratorio to be sung by the birds, and to make themselves generally useful.

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     Yes, the Queen was coming, and, what was more, she had determined upon a grand review of all the flowers of all the seasons. She passed down the river bank with her splendid train of gorgeous and stately flowers that had accompanied her from distant lands where summer was already in full bloom, and took up her headquarters in a spacious and sheltered meadow that had long been the favorite gathering-place of many of her subjects.

     "How does it happen," said a large, pedate violet, leaning over the bank, "that her Majesty comes here with such pomp and display? Usually she thinks it enough to simply pass by."

     A lovely meadow violet looked up to answer. Her face took a deep tinge of red as she spoke. "Perhaps she has heard of our troubles of last year and has come to settle them."

     True enough. The pedate violet had taken high ground in that dispute, which it had persisted in maintaining. But now it would have been glad of some of the humbler violet's leaves to conceal the fact that she could not turn a bit red.

     "Well, anyhow, I am true blue, if I cannot blush," said she, half aloud.

     "Oh! no," exclaimed the forget-me-not, "few flowers can claim that distinction, and certainly not your family," and the forget-me-not raised her corollas to the sky as if to draw in more of its color into her lovely petals.

     This made the pedate violet so angry that she tossed her head violently, and threw a poor, hungry bee out of her cup.

     At that instant the wand of Queen Flora struck the earth and the motion thrilled through the very heart of every flower far and near. Another blow, and all sprang to do her bidding and crowd around her feet. The delicate anemones and hepaticas came trooping from the forest with the blood-root and dogtooth violet, all crowding for very love. The members of the violet family from high land and low land rushed to obey the summons, the forget-me-not came with her cousin, the heliotrope, and ladies' tresses in her pure white robe floated along beside her cousin, the purple orchids; they both declared that it was early to be out, a month in fact, before the proper time, but who could disobey a royal summons to court? The hardback and meadow sweet, proud to claim kinship with the lovely wild rose, came bringing her between them. The trailing arbutus crept from under a moss bank, and the rocky corydalio and rock saxifrage came from sheltered places about the ledges which bounded the meadow. The wild columbine came from its home among the same ledges, but, owing to her extreme delicacy, had to be supported by a zephyr, and was also refreshed by a sip of water from an obliging pitcher plant near by. The little bluets, with their cheerful, innocent faces, looked up to gladden all beholders. The Queen smiled upon them. The meadow rue looked down from her lofty height of stem and wondered what her Majesty found in them to admire.

     "Corollas," said the Queen, in answer to the meadow rue's thought, upon which the latter blushed a very greenish yellow blush, as pink was out of her power, and let her graceful stamens hang down as if in shame, for she had no petals to speak of.

     These flowers came first, but presently troops of roadside and field and forest flowers were seen approaching, escorted by a wind or two, and they waved their lovely heads and tossed their tiny bells with peals of laughter as Auster and AEolus and Hesperus puffed here and blew there while trying to get them into orderly procession before reaching the Queen. At last they all stood before her, silent and expectant. The oratorio came to an end and the winds folded their wings to rest.

     "Children," said the Queen, "the sounds of your dissensions and struggles for place was blown far and wide by my messengers last year." The flowers all bowed their heads. Some looked thoughtful, as if scanning the past, in order to pass judgment upon their own conduct, some looked self-conscious, while the pokeweed and nightshade and some other flowers looked wicked. There were many, however, that bore the Queen's gaze without flinching. The pedate violet began to regret the pride that had made her look down on her lowly cousins, and resolved for the future to hold her higher place humbly. The purple cone flower, lately arrived from the West, wondered if he had been crowding out other flowers, and if he was really a welcome guest on these eastern shores.

      "No one is to blame," said the Queen, "for seeking the right conditions in which to take root and bud and blossom and bear fruit; but in doing this, there is no reason why you should not live in peace with each other. The juices that each one sucks up are not wanted by any other plant, there is enough for all; and your decaying leaves each year ought to enrich the earth for the common good."

     The misletoe glanced at the dodder and whispered: "I really don't understand what the Queen is talking about. I never cast my leaves for the common good - not if I can avoid it."

     "I have none to cast," replied the dodder. "Where is the use of putting myself out when I can depend upon my neighbors?"

     "You are a pair of selfish parasites," said the Queen, who had heard them, "and I would gladly see your entire race destroyed."

     "Why does not your Majesty destroy them," said the much-enduring oak, that had been forced to bring the misletoe into her presence.

     "Ah! their existence does not depend upon my will," answered the Queen, "but upon their relation to the world of mankind. So long as there is a human being who lives a selfish, aimless life, making no effort to be useful, demanding of others what he ought to do for himself, so long there will be parasites in my realm."

     "Better begin by destroying the poisonous plants," murmured the misletoe. "There's the pokeweed over there, and the tobacco plant."

     "Mankind has put them to such a use as to justify their existence," replied the Queen. "Put the right kind of vegetable poison, in the form of medicine, into a diseased human system, and the evil spirits that produce the disease are forced to leave it and enter the medicine, and so are carried away with it."

     "And the tobacco?"

     "No doubt it furnishes in the human body a plane for evil spirits to flow into, where they do less mischief than they would do elsewhere. That is permitted and ruled over by the great LORD of us all. But when mankind grows better and purer, when it has put away the evils that corrupt and degrade it, then my realm will be purged of many a horrid plant. But at present I can only arrange you in as orderly a manner as possible in my kingdom," and the Queen looked meditatively over the crowd of silent and breathless flowers.

     "I shall make use the basis of that arrangement, and shall give each flower a rank exactly corresponding with its usefulness to mankind."

     At these words the apple and peach blossoms blazed out in such beauty all over the meadow that the flowers below them were quite eclipsed.

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     Then myriads of tinkling voices reached Queen Flora's ear:

     "We all minister to man's delight by our beauty - and we all yield honey - and we decant and prepare the juices that go to our seeds - besides, we give quantities of pollen to the bees."

     "Just look at that wilderness of blossoms there in yonder orchard," said Queen Flora; "they do all you boast of and more. They decant the juice that goes to form fruit useful to man. That is the most noble use of all."

     Some of the flowers murmured at this new order of things, but those whose chief use was to gladden the world with their beauty went on cheerfully blooming as before, saying, every one, "He who created all things placed us where we are and gave us just this work to do and no other. Let us bloom and be glad."

     And the wild roses and bluets and violets looked up through the shower that came down from the little rain cloud and echoed, "Let us bloom and be glad."

     So through all the summer the children from the dusty town came to rejoice over them, and they said they never before had seen the earth so gayly decked.
REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS IN SCHOOLS 1888

REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS IN SCHOOLS 1888

     III. THEIR ADMINISTRATION.

     FROM the Doctrine concerning Rewards and Punishments thus far adduced it follows that in the external things of the world which are called civil and relate to the deportment of men and of children, too, there must be order. Concerning the order among men, we have specific Doctrine, which will also be found to apply to order among children:

     "Order cannot be maintained in the world without governors, who are to observe all things that are done according to Order and that are done contrary to Order, and who are to reward those who live according to Order, and to punish those who live contrary to Order; if this is not done the human race will perish, for in every one there is inborn hereditarily the will to rule over others, and to possess the goods of others, whence come enmities, hatreds, revenges, deceits, cruelties, and many other evils; wherefore unless they are kept in bonds by laws, and by remunerations adapted to their loves, which are honors and gains for those who do good and by punishments contrary to those loves, which are the loss of honors, of possessions, and of life, for those who do evils, the human race would perish.

     "There must be governors who shall keep the assemblies of men in Order, who are skilled in the law, wise, and fearing God. There must also be Order among the governors, lest any one from caprice or from ignorance permit evils contrary to Order, and thus destroy order which is guarded against when there are superior and inferior governors, among whom there is subordination.

     "Governors over those things with men which are of the World, or over Civil things, are called Magistrates, and their chief, where there are such governments, King.

     "Kings and Magistrates are governors to administer the things which are of the civil law and of judgment.

     "Because the King cannot alone administer all things, therefore there are governors under him, to every one of whom is given a province of administration where he is not able and has not the strength; these governors taken together constitute the royalty, but the King himself is chief.

     "Royalty itself is not in the person, but is adjoined to the person: the King who believes that the Royalty is in his person, and the governor who believes that the dignity of the governorship is in his person, is not wise.

     "Royalty consists in administering according to the laws of the Kingdom, and in judging according to them from justice: the King who regards the laws above himself is wise, but he who regards himself above the laws, is not wise. The King who regards the laws above himself, places the Royalty in the Law, and the Law rules over him, for he knows that the Law is Justice, and all Justice which is Justice is Divine; but he who regards himself above the laws, places the royalty in himself, and believes himself either to be the Law, or the Law which is Justice to be from himself.

     "The Law which is Justice is to be passed by such in the kingdom as are skilled in the law, wise, and Godfearing. According to it then, the king and subjects must live: the King who lives according to the Law that has been passed, and in this sets an example to his subjects, is truly King.

     "The King who has absolute authority, who believes that his subjects are such servants that he has a right over their possessions and lives, and if he exercises it, is not King, but Tyrant.

     "The king must be obeyed according to the laws of the kingdom, nor must he be injured by deed or word: for hence depends the public security." - H. D. 311- 13, 319-25.

     The Doctrine concerning Civil Government has been fully quoted, not only because of its practical bearing on the subject of school government with its rewards and punishments, but also because its due observance will foster and develop in the pupils justice and equity, honor and decorum, which, as already stated, are absolutely necessary as basis for the future life of regeneration. On this subject it is written:

     "Every man learns from parents and masters to live morally, that is, to act the civil person, and to exhibit the offices of honorableness, which relate to various virtues, which are the essentials of honorableness - and to produce them by its formalities, which are called decorum; and as he progresses in age, to superadd rational things, and to perfect the moral things of life by means of them; for the moral life with boys even to first adolescence is natural, which then becomes more and more rational." - T. C. R. 443.

     It is very evident, then, that the rewards and punishments with boys must in great part have respect to things civil, honorable, and decorous. But this will appear still more clearly from this Doctrine:

     "There is an interior natural and an exterior natural, and the exterior natural is constituted of those things which enter immediately by sensuals out of the world into the natural mind, namely, into its memory and thence into the imagination. That it may be known what is the exterior natural and what the interior, which are of the exterior man, and hence what the rational which is of the interior man, it shall be told in a few words; man from infancy even to boyhood is merely sensual, for then he receives earthly, bodily and worldly things only by the sensual things of the body; from them are also then his ideas and thoughts; communication with the interior man has not yet been opened, except in so far as he can comprehend and retain them; the innocence which he then has is only external but not internal, for true innocence dwells in wisdom; by it, namely, by external innocence, the LORD reduces to Order the things which enter by sensuals; without the influx of innocence from the LORD in that first age, nothing fundamental would ever exist, upon which the intellectual or rational, which is proper to man, could be built up.

     "From boyhood to adolescence, there is opened the communication to the interior natural, by this that he learns what is decorous, civil, and honorable, as well by instruction from parents and masters, as by studies; but from adolescence to the age of young manhood there is opened the communication between the natural and the rational; by this that he then learns the truths and goods of civil and moral life, and especially truths and goods of spiritual life, by hearing and reading of the Word," etc. - A. C. 5126.

     "The first state of a New Church is such, that first of all the LORD is unknown to them, but still, because they live in the good of charity, and as to civil life in the just and equitable, and as to the moral life in the honest and decorous, they are such that the LORD can be with them, for the presence of the LORD with man is in good, and therefore in the just and equitable, and further in the honorable and decorous (Honorableness is the complex of all moral virtues, Decorum is only its form). For these are the goods which succeed in order, and are the planes with man upon which conscience is established by the LORD, and consequently intelligence and wisdom; but they who are not in them, namely, from the heart or affection, in them there cannot be inseminated anything of heaven, there is no plane, nor is there soil, thus not a recipient; and because there cannot be inseminated anything of heaven, the LORD cannot be present there; the presence of the LORD is predicated according to good, that is, according to the quality of good, the quality of good according to the state of innocence, of love, and of charity, in which the truths of faith are implanted or can be implanted." - A. C. 2915.

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     A more particular explanation of Honorableness, which "is the complex of all moral virtues," and of Decorum, which is its "form," is thus given:

     "In civil and moral life there is given Honorableness and Decorum. Honorableness is, from the heart to will well to any one in those things which are of the civil life; but Decorum is to testify it by speech and gesture; thus Decorum, regarded in itself, is nothing else than the form of Honorableness, for hence is the origin of Decorum, wherefore when Honorableness exercises itself by Decorum, or decorously by speech and gestures, then in single things of decorum there appears the honorableness, so that whatever is pronounced by speech and shown by gestures, appears honorable: it is the form or image, through which the honorable shines forth; thus they make one, like essence and its form, or the essential and the formal; but if any one separates the honorable from the decorous, that is, if any one wills badly to his companion, and yet speaks well and behaves well toward him, then there no longer is anything of the honorable in speech and in gestures, however he may study to put on by decorum the form as of the honorable, but it is dishonorable, and he who is perspicacious also calls it dishonorable, because simulatory or fraudulent or deceitful." - A. C. 4574.

     "He is called a civil man who knows the laws of his Kingdom where he is a citizen and lives according to them; and he is called a moral man who makes those laws his manners and his virtues, and lives them from reason." - D. P. 322.

     If "honorableness is the complex of all moral virtues," and if "virtues are the essentials of honorableness," and boys are and must be initiated into them, it behooves us to know well the single virtues, and they are therefore recounted in the Writings; and, while pursuing them, to bear in mind that boys are to be educated not only to become loyal members of the Church and useful citizens of the country, but also to be New Church husbands:

     "The conjunction of the wife with the rational wisdom of the husband takes place from within, but with his moral wisdom from without. This wisdom with men is double, Rational and Moral; and that their rational wisdom is of the understanding only, and their moral wisdom is of the understanding and at the same time of the life, may be concluded and seen from intuition and exploration alone: but that it may be known what is meant by the rational wisdom of men, and what by their moral wisdom, they shall be enumerated in particular. Of moral wisdom with men are all moral virtues, which regard life and enter it; and also the spiritual virtues which flow forth from love to God, and from love toward the neighbor, and flow together into them. The virtues which pertain to the moral wisdom of men are of various names and are called Temperance, Sobriety, Probity, Benevolence, Friendship, Modesty, Sincerity, Obligingness, Civility, then Industry, Skill, Alacrity, Munificence, Liberality, Generosity, Activity, Intrepidity, Application, Prudence, besides many. The spiritual virtues with men are Love of religion, Charity, Truth, Faith, Conscience, Innocence, besides many. These and the other virtues in general may be referred to love and zeal for Religion, for the public Good, for the Country, for the Citizens, for the Parents, for the Consort, and for Children. In all of these Justice and Judgment rule and Justice is of moral wisdom, and Judgment of rational Wisdom." - C. L. 163, 164.

     In the posthumous work on the Divine Wisdom the virtues are recounted thus:

      "Moral truths are those which the Word teaches concerning the life of man with his neighbor, which are called charity, whose goods, which are uses, in a sum relate to justice and equity, to sincerity and rectitude, to chastity, to temperance, to truth, to prudence, and to benevolence; but the truths of moral life also pertain to the opposite, which destroy charity and in a sum relate to injustice and inequity, to insincerity and fraud, to lasciviousness, to intemperance, to falsehood, to cunning, to enmity hatred, and revenge, and to ill-will. These are also called truths of moral life, because everything of which man thinks that it is so, be it evil or good, he refers among truths, for he says 'It is true that this is evil and this good.' These are moral truths. But civil truths are the civil laws of kingdoms and of states, which in a sum relate to many justices which come to pass, and in the opposite to various violences which exist in act." - D. W. xi, [c] 5, (1).

     For the instituting and awarding of Rewards and Punishments in New Church Schools it then appears that the teachers, who are the governors, should observe all things which are done according to order and which are done contrary to order, - which order relates in great part to the virtues, - and that they are to reward those who live according to order, and to punish those who live contrary to order. The rewards must be suited to the loves of the boys, and are honors and gains for those who do goods. The sort of honor conferred as reward upon boys in a heavenly educational society is indicated in the following quotation:

     "At the sides of the city, in the outermost parts of it, there are various games of boys and young men; there are games of running, there are games of ball, there are games with the ball, called racket, there are contests among the boys to find who are most expert in speaking, acting, and perceiving, and for those who are most expert some leaves of laurel are given as a reward, besides many other things, which call forth into exercise the latent talents of the boys." - T. C. R. 745., C. L. 17.

     Just rewards and punishments can be determined upon by examining the various loves of the boys as they are manifested, and by concluding what rewards are suited to them, and what particular kinds of punishments, such as losses of honors, of possessions, and of life, are contrary to these loves, the "loss of life" being, of course, dismissal from school, which is the loss of school life. It is evident from the Doctrines quoted that it is the duty of the teachers, as governors of the schools, who are supposed to be skilled in the law, wise, and fearing God, to enact laws, according to which both teachers and pupils shall live. The teachers must administer the laws of the school thus enacted, and judge according to them from a principle of justice. They must live according to them, and therein set an example to the pupils.

     The teachers must be obeyed according to the laws of the school, and must not in any wise be injured by word or deed, for on this the good order of the school, depends.
Notes and Reviews 1888

Notes and Reviews 1888

MR. John A. Thompson has written a history of the Boston Highlands Society.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

MR. James Dakeyne has written and published a history of the Bolton New Church Society from the year 1781 to 1888.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

A SKETCH of Swedenborg, with two portraits representing him at two periods of his life, recently appeared in the Medium and Daybreak.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

The Creed of the New Church, by the Rev. John Presland, which was published in book-form a few years ago, has now been reissued by James Speirs in the form of a series of smaller treatises for evangelistic uses, each chapter forming a separate treatise of some eighty pages.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE valuable library of Mr. J. R. Boyle has been purchased for the Birmingham Society for L500. It contains a number of Swedenborg's autograph letters and MSS., besides original editions of his inspired and uninspired Writings, and a full collection of collateral works.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE following new, supposed-to-be New Church works by Professor P.A. Emery, are advertised in the New Church Independent: "Arcana of Nature Unveiled," "Circles of Science and Religion," "Rational Dreambook," "Diamond of Spiritual Truths," "Strikes of Humanity," "Dual Creation" "Science of Correspondences," "Paddle your own Canoe."

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Title Unspecified 1888

Notes on the "Down- Grade" Controversy, by the Rev. Joseph Deans, is another publication by James Speirs, London, and has been sent by the New Church Evidence Society to every Baptist Minister in England, as a New Church contribution to the controversial Literature, arising out of the late differences between Mr. Spurgeon and the English Baptist Union.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

A SERIES of articles on "Swedenborg and the New Church" has lately appeared in the Christliche Botschafter, the German Exponent of the "Evangelical Church." The author, who signs himself E. A. F., is known to be the Rev. E. A. Funfstuck, who several years ago was ordained a New Church "Kirchenvorsteher" by Mr. Mittnacht in Germany, but who now, has returned to the Old Church and is vigorously endeavoring to refute the Heavenly Doctrines and to expose "the mistakes" of Swedenborg. A writer in Bote der Neuen Kirche is busy replying to the calumniator.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

PART 19 of the Concordance to the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg completes Volume I of this invaluable work, and contains the Title- Page and Introduction. The publishers or the compiler seem to have had difficulty in selecting a suitable title. The monthly Parts each bear on the wrapper the title, "Concordance to the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg." On the first page the work is called a "Concordance to Swedenborg," and now that we are presented with the title-page, we gather that it is "The Swedenborg Concordance. A complete Work of Reference to the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg."
"CHRISTIAN SCIENCE." 1888

"CHRISTIAN SCIENCE." 1888

FIFTH AND SIXTH LESSONS IN CHRISTIAN SCIENCE. From the Private Lessons of Emma Hopkins. Purdy Publishing Co. McVicker's Theatre Building, Chicago.

CONDENSED THOUGHTS ABOUT CHRISTIAN SCIENCE. By Dr. William H. Holcombe, author of "Our Children in Heaven," etc. Chicago: Purdy Publishing Co. 1887.

THREE SERMONS ON THE HEALING OF THE BODY THROUGH THE SOUL. By Charles H. Mann, a Minister of the New Church. I. The Facts and their Interpretation. II. The True Doctrine; with an Appendix on the Principles of the Mind-Cure. III. The Life. New York: 20 Cooper Union. 1887.

     IN the Lessons in Christian Science, the stranger who has made quite a stir in the religious and the medical world is introduced to the reader by one of his high priestesses, whose name graces a "College of Christian Science" in Chicago.

     In the Condensed Thoughts, the stranger is taken in hand by a reputedly New Church author, and dressed in garb to fit him for acceptance in the New Church.

     In the Three Sermons, a New Church Minister, preferring to deal with the stranger as he usually appears in the world, condemns some of his features and commends others, and seems, on the whole, uncertain whether to invite him in or to politely wave him away.
EMMA HOPKINS'S EXPOSITION 1888

EMMA HOPKINS'S EXPOSITION 1888

     CHERISHING a fondness for the exact science, Emma Hopkins follows its method, and plants her idol on the indestructible pedestal of "Axiomatic Truth." We have referred to her as a priestess of "Christian Science." The figure is more than suggested by her oracular utterances, which might vie with any of the Delphic Pythia.

     "Listen," she cries, and announces herself "the accurate metaphysician": "It is hard to define and explain a negation. Still, if one has understood, another may. In the universe there is the All and the Nothing. This is axiomatic Truth. Now if the All is eternal, immortal mind, the Nothing must be temporal-mortal -no mind- pure-negation-nonentity-falsity complete-no mind at all. The All Mind is Immortal Mind. The no mind is mortal mind." (Fifth Lesson, p. 12.)

     We believe in "mortal mind." Only "mortal mind" could have given birth to such "axiomatic" nonsense, for it certainly is "falsity complete."

     Her voice is heard again: "He who knows the Real, loses sight of the unreal sense-world, or material, and turns materiality into nothingness." Thus the Old Church dictum that the world, and consequently matter, was created out of nothing, is made a "falsity complete" by this wondrous Science, which returns the matter, and thus the world, to nothing.

     As this axiom reminds one of the falses of the vastate Church, so do the characteristic tenets built up upon it, in which the principle of Faith alone or Truth alone rules:

     "The spirit of Truth is the word of Truth. To cling to this word will lead us into all Truth, where we cannot get mixed up with all sorts of strange claims and doctrines that are not Truth at all. This word is what we are commanded to preach and teach, and it is promised that it will be the salvation of all who hear it. You need not try to get saved. The Truth will save you. Whoever will give you the full statement of Truth has set your mind into the way of salvation from its errors. . . . . . No matter who speaks Truth; no matter what religion you find it in; no matter how clumsily Truth is told, when it is told - the whole truth - people must be saved. They must be made whole. They must be comforted." (Pp. 8, 9.)

     The nature of this "Truth" has been shown above and will appear from what follows. Such abandonment to the "Truth" as is outlined in these sentences is only another form of the faith which gives itself up to a sacrificed God, claiming that man can do nothing, but that Christ does everything; that "you need not try to get saved" by keeping the commandments, but that an implicit confidence in Christ - the Word - the Truth - will save you."

     Christian Science would not have us combat evil, but simply deny it:

     "Characteristics of error must be washed away by denial. That is, pride, deceit, treacherous or cruel tendencies, must be washed away by the erasive potency of denial, just as disease is washed away or erased." (P. 25.)

A perfect Utopia unfolds itself to the gaze of the "Christian Scientist." Everything that is wanted can be had merely for the wanting. "Health can be set to coming . . . by persistent thoughts setting toward health. Happiness can be brought to our hearts by persistent use of right words. Poverty can be turned into riches by the same strong law. Intellect can be intensified by the same determination. These changes are external pictures of the new establishing of mind on a new basis by the volition or willing of mind to be true, which awakens the spirit of Truth." (Pp. 23, 24.)

     The conjuring of imaginary heavens by the potent spell of Faith alone! But as the seeming heavens of the "Christian" theology concealed most damnable evils, so the seeming prosperity and health and happiness of the "Christian Sciences" have for their soul the sanction of all evils. What else does this mean? "Some make the mistake of thinking that they must choose only such blessings as may be best for them.

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But the desire in all instances is a hint of the thing we ought to have." (P. 6.)

     Christian Science denies all evil. It therefore breaks the force of the Scriptures, on which it purports to be founded, for they say, "Cease to do evil, learn to do well:" but if evil is nothing, how can one cease to do it? "If we say there is no matter, we lose sight of matter and its power. If we say there is no sin, we feel one with holiness; we purify all things around us." (P. 19.) "Now, when we are more perfectly prepared for the highest work we are expected to do, we shall give off potency and do the great work of our Father without effort. If it is healing we are to do, our presence will heal, so that wherever we go, healing virtue will flow through us - the result of our mental conviction of the non-existence of disease and sickness. If it is sin we are to conquer the Truth itself which we trust in will convict everybody of sin in its presence, and people will turn from the error of their ways just by association with us, even though we say but little," etc., etc. (P. 20.) "Error, or mistake - which is evil - is that which might be if good were not all.; a supposition of what would be if Truth were not omnipresent. Error is simply nothing, named where substance occupies all place - a supposition where Truth fills all space; as a supposition that nine and one are twelve, where ten is everywhere true." (P. 13.) "In the desire for health it seems we are to put no trust in any material aid, prop, or comfort." (P. 4.)

     The height of absurdity to which such doctrine leads its votaries is reached in the following choice extracts, which we commend to the attention of our anti- wine and anti-tobacco friends:

     "If one says this argument makes the desire for tobacco, strong drink, and other vicious tastes righteous desire - why, no! They do not exist. No desire for the undesirable has existence. The error is in supposing that it is strong drink, as such, that people want. It is the craving thirst after righteousness given another name. It is the restless desire for satisfaction seeking a false channel. To rouse and say to such an appetite - 'It is not strong drink that is wanted, it is strong thoughts; it is thoughts that shall satisfy as thirst is quenched' - is to find the old appetite falling away and a nameless peace stealing over. But all desire still remains, sign of a right which the law recognizes." (Pp. 6, 7.)

     But with all this denial of error and evil and sickness, their existence is nevertheless taken for granted in a number of places: "People preach a bit of truth and mix it with a lot of error." (P. 8.) "Look at the miserable sick bodies of the people who are idolized." (P. 15.) "Sometimes wicked and unprincipled people have sound bodies and strong intellects." (Sixth Lesson, p. 6.)

     The profanity of the principles of "Christian Science" is shown in several places, as in the following: "And without Him was not anything made that was made,' with 'God is too pure to behold iniquity,' and 'There is no iniquity with the LORD GOD and no respect of persons,' makes both the desire and the heart that desires to be in their nature and essence divine, because divinely created. To declare them evil - either the desire of the heart or the heart that desires - is to speak falsely of divine things." (P. 6.)

But why go further to demonstrate the opposition of "Christian Science" to the New Church? Emma Hopkins herself points it out in these words:

     "Swedenborg saw the symbolisms that all things make. That is, he saw that all things are symbols of ideas or thoughts. If he had seen that only the good is symbolized, and seen that to name the good as all would prove it so, his system of correspondences by symbolisms would have saved the world from its misconception of Bible translations. (P. 6.)

     But as Swedenborg did not see that only good is symbolized, and as, on the contrary, his whole theology is devoted to an exposition of the existence of evil, and the need of fighting against it, and shunning it as sin against God, it is quite plain that he has nothing whatever in common with "Christian Science."

     In her Sixth Lesson Emma Hopkins tries indeed to force Swedenborg into an assent to the worship of her idol. "Now, then," she says, "people begin to query - Do you mean that a murderer's act is a good thing? No! But the self of him is absent to our belief - and his belief; very absent. Looking down the way toward death by the shadow's distorted difference, that which we think we see is not really true; it is an ugly dream. Call to the self of him! He will turn, and the nightmare is broken. The wicked hand drops. The deed is not done. Swedenborg says the man who is hung opens his eyes and finds he was not hung. He finds that he never committed the crime. The sufferer finds that he never suffered. It was mortality's ugly phantasm." (P. 26.) In the face of this distortion, this untruthful presentation of Swedenborg's teachings (there are two more such in the Lessons), let the reader recall to his mind that the "Christian Scientist" who has given it claims to be the exponent of "absolute Truth"!
DR. HOLCOMBE'S VIEW 1888

DR. HOLCOMBE'S VIEW 1888

     AFTER having thus, at first hand, examined "Christian Science," we cannot credit Dr. Holcombe with much penetration, when he declares "Christian Scientists" to be "full of neighborly love, and intellectually trained into a high order of spiritual truths." (Condensed Thoughts, p. 3.) Nor can he retrieve his reputation among New Churchmen when he surrounds the idol with a glory reflected from the Writings of the Church, but which, instead of showing up its true character, hides it behind a dazzling glare.

     Much that Dr. Holcombe says in his brochure is true, but starting from a false premise, and disconnected from other truths, dressing up some tenets of Christian Science in New Church garb, and failing to point out its many evils, falsities, and inconsistencies, it is vitiated, false, and misleading.

     It is true that, as he says, "the soul creates, organizes, and holds in consistence every atom of its body, which is only a fleshy transcript or mirror of its own conditions." But the statement is not full enough to guard against the error of Christian Science. It needs to be stated that the soul does not do this of itself. The soul is not part of the Eternal Mind. The LORD creates the body by means of the soul, which on its part is a finite created receptacle. Again, the "fleshy transcript or mirror" is an actual existent body and not a mere mirage. And, thirdly, the soul does not "create, organize, and hold in consistence every atom of its body" by itself. It creates its body with the co-operation of forces of nature which are outside of itself. "In order that the cause may produce the effect, it must adduce from the region where the effect is, administering means, by which the cause makes the effect." (A. C. 5131.)

This principle must also be borne in mind when considering Dr. Holcombe's second statement concerning the "immense power of thought" "in the causation, prevention, and cure of physical as well as mental maladies."

109

It is not the thought so much as the affection by the thought which is thus operative. Evil lusts destroy man. But the evil lust and its corresponding false thoughts can "adduce" a great variety of "administering means from the region" of the natural world, where the body is, such as those which are commonly called the causes of the disease. On the other hand, the love which bends its energies to the curing of the disease, also "adduces" a great variety of "administering means" from the same region, such as medicines. If it be remembered that the soul does not and cannot form its body out of nothing, the assertions of "Christian Scientists" to the contrary notwithstanding, then one will not slip into the conclusions to which Dr. Holcombe's propositions lead. When he repeats the phrases of Christian Healers and speaks of the restoration of the health of their patients being effected by "divine or absolute truth, the genuine, spoken, creative word," he manifests a lamentable blindness.

It seems unnecessary to enter into the details of the Condensed Thoughts, their quality can be sufficiently recognized from a prefatory remark: "The idealism upon which Christian Science is based can be immensely reinforced by the spiritual philosophy of Swedenborg." (P. 6.) This reveals the purpose of the pamphlet. The quotations from the Lessons on Christian Science given above render it quite clear that the "idealism" referred to is that of which the Writings give this warning: "Let them therefore beware, when they come into the other world, lest they be made sport of, for evil spirits know how to present various illusions before those who have freshly arrived out of the world, and if they cannot deceive them, they nevertheless attempt to persuade by such means, that nothing is real, but that all things are ideal, even those in heaven." (A. C. 4623.) When such idealism is "reinforced by the spiritual philosophy of Swedenborg" it is done by interpreting his words to express what they do not mean, and gives support to a dangerous infestation.
MR. MANN'S DIAGNOSIS 1888

MR. MANN'S DIAGNOSIS 1888

     To turn from Dr. Holcombe's Condensed Thoughts to Mr. Mann's Three Sermons is at first quite refreshing. The first sermon is on the suggestive text, "And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments," in which, as may be anticipated, the writer admits that many of the cases in which people have been healed by the Faith Cure, by Christian Science, by Shakers, Roman Catholic relies, etc., may be authentic, but that this does not prove the truth or goodness of the means by which the cures have been effected. In his second sermon Mr. Mann presents the Doctrine for the spiritual healing of bodily disease, giving in the form of foot-notes, a number of quotations from the Writings (D. P. 132A. E. 816, A. C. 7524, H. H. 99, A. C. 5713: 5715, 5726, Minor Diary 4648, 4649, 4650). In the third sermon he inculcates a life according to the truths of the Church and makes some practical suggestions as to the mental attitude of those who are sick.

     Mr. Mann seems to find the use of prayers and of pietism generally, the most objectionable feature, and in consequence he appears to be a little more lenient with Christian Science. An appendix to the second sermon is devoted to "Christian Science and Kindred Systems," and in this the author says:

     "The mind-cure advocates are right in exalting the power of the soul over the body." We ask: What do they know about the soul?

     He says: "They are right in affirming the substantial reality of spiritual things and the unreality of natural things." We ask: What do they know about the substantial reality of spiritual things?

     He says: "They are right in making the spiritual world the world of causes, and the natural world the world of effects from those causes." We ask: What do they know about the spiritual world of causes?

     He says: "They are right in appealing to spiritual forces to effect the removal of natural diseases." And again we ask: What do they know about spiritual forces?

     And he lends a sanction to the mind-cure movement by saying that it has "demonstrated the practical ability of mental convictions to control physical conditions an to do away with physical infirmities." With one breath he admits the orderliness of the mind-cure - all except the silent treatment - and with the next he repudiates the very principles upon which it depends. In the face of the "facts" which he admits, he does not seem to know which way to turn, and suffers himself to be carried away into admissions such as that "If there be no such thing as sickness, there is at least such a thing as the mental state which produces the appearances of sickness," etc. This is in strange contrast with his quotations from the Writings in another place.
CONCLUSIONS 1888

CONCLUSIONS 1888

LIKE other infestations that have crept into the New Church from the world, so Christian Science and related movements must be met by an unshaken reliance on fundamental principles revealed in the Doctrines. Diseases correspond to evils, to lusts and passions. The cure of disease corresponds to the healing from evils. Man is not healed of his evils by denying their existence. On the contrary, "Man is allowed to think the evils of his life's love even to intention, and then they are healed by spiritual means, as diseases are by natural means." (D. P. 281.) The spiritual means for the healing of man's evils are the acknowledgment of and belief in the One God in whom is a Divine Trinity, who is the LORD GOD the SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST; the shunning of evils because they are of the devil and from the devil; the doing of goods because they are of God and from God; and the doing of all these things by man as from himself, but with the belief that they are from the LORD with him and through him. These means are of faith, of charity, and of the conjunction of charity and faith.

As the body acts from the soul and not the soul through the body, it also will act "as from itself" when the intelligent physician proffers it the natural means to rid itself of its disease and to grow in strength that it may be not a slave, but a perfect servant of the soul.
GIRLS' SCHOOL OF THE ACADEMY 1888

GIRLS' SCHOOL OF THE ACADEMY 1888

     Communicated
     DEAR MADAM:- Your letter, asking for information concerning the Girls' School of the Academy of the New Church, has been duly received and considered. You tell me that a friend has recommended this school to you as a good one in which to educate your daughter, but that you desire more particular information concerning its principles and methods before deciding to send her to it. This information I shall try to give you.

     You state that you have some general knowledge of the Doctrines of the New Church; it will not, therefore, surprise you to learn that this school is founded on a religious, rather than on a scientific basis, and that although languages and mathematics and sciences are taught, they are all kept in a subordinate place and made subservient to the study of spiritual things, to the study of the Doctrines of the Church.

110

You will see then that the aim of this school is radically different from that of those institutions of education (so called) in which it is the chief aim to cram the memory with facts, and still more facts, without at all educating the faculties. If the study of the Doctrines of the Church is held as of the first importance, how, you will ask, are subjects, usually considered so dry and abstruse, made interesting to children and youth? You might well ask this question if you were talking of the dead doctrines of the Old Church, which are condemned by the LORD in His Word; but those of the New Church are fulfilling the promise, "Behold, I make all things new."

     It is a new truth that the LORD JESUS CHRIST is the God of heaven and earth, and that in Him is a Trinity of Love, Wisdom, and Power. There is an infinite power in this Doctrine of the LORD to interest the tender minds of children. The angels who are with them give their assent the moment it is presented to the infantile mind, and it is surprising at how early an age a child understands it, which proves that the secret of successful teaching lies in forming planes for the operation of the angels, who do the best part of the work. If children can receive and love this central fundamental Doctrine of the Church there is no trouble with all the rest, which is proved by the fact that the classes in religious instruction are held by the pupils of all grades as the most, interesting in the school. It is carefully taught here that the Word is a Revelation of the LORD, that it is His Truth, and therefore is Divine and holy in every syllable. The children take this in as readily as the other.

     Now see how the study of scientifics is made subservient to that of spiritual truth. Because the Word of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and because this language furnishes a plane in the human mind for the inflow of the celestial angels, it is taught here, even to the little ones in the infant class. All the time that they are learning it (by methods adapted to their state) they are taught that the words have a holy meaning, and that they must take them on their lips with reverence and affection. Later on, the girls begin to study the New Testament in Greek with the same end in view, namely, of forming another plane in the mind for angelic influx. The sphere of these classes when thus engaged is delightful, it is a foretaste of heaven.

     The same is true of the two Latin classes which are studying the Apocalypse Explained. In the advanced class are girls from fifteen to twenty-one; in the other, from ten to fourteen. The aim, as has been said, is not to cram the memory or merely educate the intellect, but to develop good affections and store up remains. The programme of the present year has given only one recitation of forty minutes per week to each Latin class, so that during this time the members of the advanced one have learned only twenty verses of the first chapter with the preface to the Explication. But the enjoyment they have had in this recitation, the pleasure with which they come to it, the opening out of their tender minds to the influence of the angels, like so many blooming flowers to the sunshine, while reciting and listening to these holy words constitute by far the most important part of the recitation.

     You will inquire if they understand all they learn in this book? Of course not; neither would the strongest and keenest adult intellect. Neither would any angel be able to grasp all it contains, even though he should make it a subject of special study through all the unending states of eternity, because this work, like its Author, is Divine. You will see from this last statement what is taught in this school in regard to the Doctrines brought into this world by Swedenborg - that he is not the author of them, as he distinctly declares.

     They constitute the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. Consequently they are Divine and to be obeyed as such. This truth is also readily received, as well as the teaching that the study of these Doctrines forms still another plane in the mind for the inflow of the LORD'S life through the angels. This is enough for children to know before reaching a state of rationality, and it is amply enough to give a great delight to the study. Of course, some instruction was given at the beginning in regard to the holy character of the Book to be derived from a study of it, and the importance of avoiding everything that would in the least disturb or tend to destroy the influx from heaven into the mind while occupied in reciting from it. You see that an internal incentive is thus furnished for learning this lesson perfectly, and for perfect decorum during the recitation, immeasurably superior to any external one.

Let not the fact that I have devoted more space to a description of the Latin lesson lead you to infer that this branch receives more time and attention than others. I have selected it as an example of the kind of work done in all.

     In all the studies pursued in this school, the same effort is made to lead the child to look to the LORD as the Source of all knowledge, even on the lowest scientific plane. These knowledges, like everything else created by the LORD, are in the human form. The different sciences, therefore, hold the same relation to each other as the members and organs of the human body. And this body of scientific truth has for its soul the knowledges contained in the Heavenly Doctrines concerning spiritual things. It will be, as time goes on, more and more the work of a true teacher in the Church to make plain to his pupils the relation that exists between these two bodies of truth, which is that of cause and effect, and to continually keep that relation before them. Otherwise he leaves all science in the same dead and disorganized condition in which it is found at present in the Old Church.

     If these natural sciences are in the human form, then there must be some among them of more vital importance than others, although it is true that in connecting them with their spiritual source the value of all science is immeasurably enhanced. But anatomy ranks above them all because it treats of the human body, which contains and corresponds to the soul. Botany also ranks high, because it treats of objects that represent the LORD'S kingdom in the natural world, and so of all the others down to the science and art of numbers and of reading and writing the mother tongue with ease and grace - their value is determined by their relation to vital spiritual principles, to which through correspondence they owe their existence in the natural world. Thus every step in the education of these children looks to internal rather than external results in the first place - to forming planes for the influx of the angels, to storing up remains in which the LORD Himself can dwell in His vivifying love and wisdom.

     And let me say, in passing, that the intellect thus educated in subordination to the affections becomes the heavenly faculty it was destined by its Creator to be. It develops into a winged Pegasus, capable of mounting into high spiritual regions, instead of plodding, a weary, over-driven beast of burden, on the dusty highways of earth.

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     Thus educated, children may successfully combat the evil spirits that are ever ready to flow in as soon as their hereditary evils are excited. These, they are taught, must be put away as sins against the LORD. That they are naturally inclined to do nothing but evil is very readily proved to them by the ease with which they do wrong, and the difficulty they often experience in doing right, but infinitely better proofs still are given them, which are found in the teachings of the Heavenly Doctrines. So the formation of the vessels in the child's mind to receive heavenly instead of infernal influx is held of the first importance, so spiritual rather than external reasons prevail for choosing the scientifics they shall study, and internal incentives offered, whenever possible, for right doing.

     How much more powerful is the fear to a child properly educated in the Church of forcing the angels to leave her if she indulges in wrongdoing than any possible external punishment could be! But all of the pupils in this school are not in a state to be affected by such internal restraints. Such children must, therefore, be subjected to external ones for the maintenance of order, the enforcement of obedience, and the correction of faults, and this restraint would be applied even to the very extreme point of corporal punishment if necessary. For this is the plain teaching of the Doctrines, and in obedience to the order that prevails in the other world. . . .

     In this letter I have sought to give you some notion, however imperfectly, of what is taught here, and will, in closing, try to place it concisely before you.

     1st. That the LORD JESUS CHRIST is the God of heaven and earth, and that the idea of Him permeates all religion and all science, which here holds its only proper place as the hand-maid of religion in orderly subservience to it, and depending upon it for its life.

     2d. That the Word, with the Heavenly Doctrines, which are it's internal sense, is Divine and must be obeyed as such, and that this obedience requires the subjection and subordination of all the natural affections to the spiritual, the shunning of evils as sins against the LORD.

     3d. It is maintained here that the best method of teaching is to form planes in the minds of children for the influx of the angels, and to store up remains in which the LORD may dwell to enable them to successfully combat their hereditary evils when they have arrived at a state of rationality.

     And all this to the final end, the end for which the LORD and the angels unceasingly work, of preparing them for ever-increasing happiness in the LORD'S kingdom in the heavens.

     I am, dear madam, sincerely your friend,

PHILADELPHIA, June 20th, 1888=119.
CORRECTION NOTES 1888

CORRECTION NOTES G. N. SMITH 1888

     THE need of correct teaching is becoming daily a more manifestly important one. All through my life as public teacher of the Doctrines of the Church I have been made astonished very frequently by things from the lips or pens of New Churchmen for which I could find no authority in our teachings. At first, under the innocent supposition that no New Churchman would assert as a truth anything that he was not taught by the LORD, I used to search the LORD'S teachings faithfully and long to find these things, saying to myself, "Of course, they must be there." I was sorrowfully compelled at length to give this up, and later to conclude that New Churchmen will assert as truths things that are not there, but the contrary to which is there; and, later still, to find myself more and more called upon to correct and clear up erroneous and obscure notions that had somehow become current among the people where my work has been. This among isolated people who have been little familiar with the Doctrines is to be expected, and, indeed, forms a legitimate and not unpleasant part of the work of the evangelist. But there is enough of this legitimate work for him to do without having to burden himself with unteaching people things that have been given them by their teachers as Doctrines of the New Church. This last I protest against. I now wish to protest against allowing mere carelessness in those who undertake to prepare them to spoil our case by wrong or indifferent printed works. It goes against my conscience very much to give out tracts for people to get their first impressions of the New Church from that I know I shall be sure to have need of correcting the next time I come around. Yet what am I to do? I must give such or nothing, and run the risk. I find over and over in our tracts, e. g., the statement that Swedenborg was not inspired as the prophets were. And I have more than once had these statements come back to me to be reconciled with other statements drawn more directly from the Doctrines that seemed to teach differently: a confusion and uncertainty of thought thus resulting. I have of course been compelled to admit that the tract there was wrong; that the Doctrines teach not that the prophets themselves were inspired, inasmuch as they wrote the Word as it was dictated in their ears viva voce, from JEHOVAH; that is, it was not the prophets, but the Word that was inspired, the inspiration being in its internal essential heavenly and Divine truth, and hence in the Doctrines thence derived.

     I find also everywhere uncertain, if not wrong, impressions given by the tracts as to what the Church is, which I have to correct and clear up. I never yet have found them leaving the true impression that the Heavenly Doctrines with their saving agencies coming down from the LORD out of heaven are the Church, into which men are to come, to the end that it may come into them.

     And, generally, I find that as so many of our new receivers, and not a few old ones, too, do the most of their reading from these and other collaterals, instead of from the Writings themselves, and, as a consequence, get many obscure if not wholly wrong impressions, it results that the minister, if he is faithful, has as much as he can do in many places in clearing up the obscurities that perplex, and errors that mislead our own people, in order that they may be put in the way of a clearer understanding and better practice of the LORD'S Teachings, so that he is often forced to make his work with the outside world entirely subordinate to this; at least far more so than it would need to be if their preliminary teaching had been truer and clearer. And when we think that it is just as easy, while we are doing it, to state a principle truly and clearly as the Doctrines state it, as it is to change it to something else, only to be changed back again at last, at the cost of double labor, I submit the suggestion whether we are not doing this kind of thing at a loss for which we have very questionable compensation. To one up here at this "North-western limit" it looks very much as if true, clear teaching in all matters of faith and life, first, last, and always, will be more surely and speedily the winning thing than any change whatever from that for the sake of popularization or anything else in the world. G. N. SMITH.

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NEWS GLEANINGS 1888

NEWS GLEANINGS Various 1888

NEW CHURCH LIFE.
A MONTHLY JOURNAL

TERMS: - One Dollar per annum, payable In advance.
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     All communications must be addressed to Publishers New Church Life, No. 759 Corinthian Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa.

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     MR. C. E. SCHROEDER, 13 Ashfield Terrace, Newcastle-on-Tyne.

     MISS FLORENCE G. GIBBS, 6 Camden Square, London, N.

PHILADELPHIA, JULY, 1888-119.

CONTENTS.

     Editorial Notes, p. 97. - Conscience (a Sermon), p. 98. - Conversations on Education, p. 100. - The Study of Hebrew in the New Church, p. 101. - Queen Flora's Visit, p. 103. - Rewards and Punishments in Schools. III. Their Administration, p. 105.

     Notes and Reviews, p. 106. - "Christian Science," p. 107.

     The Girls' School of the Academy, p. 109. - Correction Notes, p. 111.

     News Gleanings, p. 112. - Marriages and Deaths, p. 112.
     AT HOME.

     Pennsylvania. - ON Sunday, June 10th, Messrs. Enoch S. Price, Carl Theophilus Odhner, Fred E. Waelchly, and Edward S. Hyatt were ordained into the first degree of the priesthood by Bishop Benade. The ceremony was performed in the hall of the Academy's Boys' School building on North Street. The candidates, arrayed in white robes, occupied the front row of seats during the services which were conducted by Bishop Benade, assisted by the Rev. L. H. Tafel and the Rev. W. F. Pendleton. The Bishop's sermon was a very impressive one, especially the portion wherein the duties of the New Church priesthood - what they must and what they must not do - were dwelt upon. After the words of ordination, accompanied by the laying on of hands, had been pronounced over the kneeling candidates they were invested each with an outer white linen robe and with a white silk stole, significative of the first degree of the priesthood. The first three of these young ministers have gone through a very thorough course at the Academy's schools extending over about six years and are well fitted for their work. The Rev. Messrs. Price and Odhner will be engaged as tutors and teachers in the schools of the Academy, and the Rev. Mr. Waelchly will begin life at Berlin, Ontario, where he has been invited to take charge of a New Church school to be opened next fall. The Rev. E. S. Hyatt's course was shorter than the others', he having previously studied at the New Church College in England.

     ON the 19th of June, 1770, we are told the LORD called together His twelve disciples, and on the following day sent them forth again in the Spiritual world. This latter day, the 20th of June, was celebrated by the Society of the Advent this year by special services, conducted by the pastor, the Rev. L. H. Tafel, assisted by the Rev. F. E. Waelchly. The characteristic feature of the day was the singing of a hymn composed for the occasion by Mr. W. H. Acton a student at the Theological School of the Academy, the words having been written by Miss E. E. Plummer, a teacher in the Girls' School of the same institution.

     "A NUMBER of persons and small circles of people who are interested in the truths of the New Church, feeling the need of a more intimate union with others have expressed a desire to form an Association," etc., is the way a circular letter sent out by the Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Society to New Churchmen in Pennsylvania begins. It is a little odd to read in a document emanating from a Society which for years has stood, and is still standing aloof and alone, that "It is a law of Divine Order that no one can stand alone."

     THE closing exercises of the Boys' and Girls' Schools of the Academy of the New Church were held on June 21st. As the Chancellor entered the hall, an introit, composed for the occasion by the Instructor in Music, Mr. E. Gastel, was sung by the schools, assisted by the students. The Chancellor then led in prayer, and read the lesson from the Word. A Hebrew anthem (Ex. xv, 11, 18) followed, and upon its conclusion a number of the pupils of the highest class of the Boys' School entered into a colloquy, conversing on the words just sung, on the 19th day of June 1770, and on the institution of the First Christian Church. This led to a recitation by the youngest pupils of both schools, of Deuteronomy vi, 4, 5, in Hebrew, and of Mark xii: 29, 30, in Greek. The colloquy continued and turned on a comparison of the institution of the First Christian Church with that of the New Church. This led to the Writings of the Church, whereupon the youngest pupils recited a paragraph from the Faith of the New Heaven and of the New Church in Latin, and the second class of the Boys' School recited general doctrines from the letter of the Word. A short address to the audience and to the Faculty concluded the colloquy. After the singing of another Hebrew anthem (Psalm cl) the Chancellor delivered an address and made special mention of the boys who had distinguished themselves for good behavior or well-prepared lessons, or both. In conclusion, a number of the pupils of the Girls' School sang several songs.

     ON June 22d the closing exercises of the College and Theological School of the Academy took place. A number of essays were read by the students.

     Illinois. - THE Rev. A. J. Bartels, the "Metaphysician" or "Christian Healer," and some of his followers have organized a Society separate from the one of which he was of late the Pastor. They have issued a circular and invite pecuniary aid.

     Kansas. - THE Concordia Circle has issued a printed letter, the first of a series proposed to be sent to isolated New Churchmen in Kansas, inviting them to join the Circle in Concordia. The letter sets forth the quality of the teaching in the Circle, and gives an account of the Concordia New Church seminary, worship and doctrinal meetings, recreations, membership of isolated New Church people, etc. Those desiring to enter into relations with the Circle will please address the Rev. Ellis I. Kirk, Concordia, Kansas.

     New York. - THE annual meeting of the New Church Board of Publication was held May 30th. In the election for directors the Rev. L. P. Mercer succeeded Mr. J. M. Hill, and Wm. McGeorge, Jr., was elected in place of the Rev. J. R. Hibbard.

     MR. Wm. McGeorge, Jr., in a letter to the Messenger, states that in addition to the five thousand dollars promised toward the Messenger Fund he had secured ten thousand five hundred dollars more.

     Canada. - THE New Churchmen of the Berlin Society hope to raise enough funds to open a school next fall. Considerable money has been subscribed, and Mr. Hendry has published a letter in the Tidings, asking for assistance for the work. It is proposed to use the basement of the Temple for a schoolroom. Children have been promised from other places in Canada, and Berlin will thus become the educational centre of the New Church in Canada, as it is the centre of the external Church.

     ABROAD.

     England. - THE seventeenth annual meeting of the Manchester Printing and Tract Society was held May 8th, at the church on Peter Street, Manchester. The reports showed that about sixty-three thousand tracts, nineteen hundred and thirty-nine collateral, four hundred and eight copies of books of the Writings, had been issued during the past year.

     ON May 17th the Rev. Frank Sewall and his wife bade good-bye to the Glasgow (South side) Society, where he has been Pastor for the past year.

     THERE are thirteen New Church day-schools with five thousand four hundred and seventy-five pupils in England, according to Conference Reports. But there is no distinctively New Church instruction either in science or religion.

     THE Missionary and Tract Society held its sixty-seventh annual meeting on May 31st.

     Austria. - THE New Society in Vienna enjoys regularly conducted Sunday services with an average attendance of eighteen persons. The Rev. F. Gorwitz visited the Society on May 27th.

     Sweden. - THE New Church Society in Gottenburg, has greatly prospered under the pastorate of the Rev. C. N. Manby. During the past year its membership was increased by thirteen new receivers.
EDITORIAL NOTES 1888

EDITORIAL NOTES Editor 1888

MARRIAGES AND DEATHS.

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NEW CHURCH LIFE.

Vol. VIII. PHILADELPHIA, AUGUST, 1888=119. No. 8.
MODERN progress has made so rapid strides that the Old Church - conservative, liberal, spiritistic, and all the various isms - has but few issues, if any, left, and has been forced to cast about for new ones. The Word is rejected, the creeds openly or covertly laughed at, and a raison d' etre must consequently be found for the numerous and sometimes vast organizations which are thus left without an issue. The chief among the new issues taken up are the "rights of women," "Sabbath observance," and the "liquor question." It would be true, we believe, to say that the two last are but the results of the first named. Women in the United States, the westernmost of the Christian countries geographically, and, perhaps, spiritually too, are fast becoming a power in the land, in all the things which properly belong to man. They have invaded politics, and in many of the States have now the right to vote and hold office and be in every respect civilly the same as man. They are assailing the National Government and demanding representation in the various church organizations, in all colleges and educational institutions heretofore confined exclusively to man, and are fast gaining what they seek. If defeated one year, they return the next, meet with feebler opposition, and, sooner or later, have equal "rights" with man.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

JUST in proportion as woman's power is felt outside of the proper womanly sphere, just so far does justice and reason give way to injustice and mere foolish fanaticism. Let us cite one instance by way of illustration. In Pennsylvania women have not as yet the right to vote, but through the Old Church clergy and the thousand and one societies for the suppression of this, that, and the other thing, and through the Prohibition party, which is ruled by women, they exert a tremendous power, and it was this power that was chiefly instrumental in passing what is known as the "Brooks High License" law. This law gives the Judges of the Common Pleas Courts autocratic power of granting liquor dealers and manufacturers license, or withholding them, and in the latter case they are required to give no reason. And there is no appeal. Thus, as the matter stands, the private opinion of the Judge is the law, and the fact that under previous laws men have invested all their worldly goods in a business, in the belief, as old as human law, that the State cannot dispossess a man of his goods without giving him a just equivalent, goes for naught; if the Judge refuses the license and ruins him he has no appeal. The womanish feature of this law is brought out in clear light by the fact that in one district not a license was granted, and in another all applicants were granted them, and in others the percentage ranged between these two. From this it will be seen that the as "law" is essentially not a law at all, i. e., "a rule of conduct," but simply the expression of a private feeling, of whim, to which men must helplessly bow. It is a law of Divine order that all men must be left in freedom who do not make a disturbance or violate the freedom of others; in the case under consideration this Divine law is entirely ignored.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IF the liquor business is a crime, then this law is self-condemned, for law has no right to permit crime; if it is not a crime, it is self-evident that the law is wrong in forbidding any citizen engaging in it, much less breaking up old and long-established houses, and still less, refusing them compensation for losses arbitrarily entailed. If there is anything self-evident and plainly honest in civil affairs it is this: That if the law permits a citizen to invest his money in any business the law must not dispossess him, even for the public good, without compensation. But then the Old Church must have something to do to justify its existence. It has no truth any more to teach, so it has turned its attention to violating the simplest, and at the same time the most essential, of human rights - freedom. Its whole power is now turned to "warring against evil." In doing this it flatly contradicts its own fundamental doctrine. For centuries it has been dinning into the ears of "sinners" that man is born entirely evil; that good works are a snare and a delusion, and that the only way of salvation is by faith alone. And now, without admitting its old error, it crosses its own tracks and falls to doing "good works," from which good sense is conspicuously, and genuine goodness entirely, absent. It tells people that liquor, or "Sabbath breaking," or "pernicious books," or baseball, or something else of a like nature is the "cause" of evil and bends its energies to suppressing the cause, and thereby utterly stultifies itself.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THAT the Old Church should do this is not surprising, for it has no longer any truth, but that men calling themselves New Churchmen should join in these foolish "movements" is surprising, for they have the Divine truth to enlighten them. In the other life, we know from the Writings, men are left in entire freedom. If they do evil to others, or attempt to interfere with the freedom of others, they are punished, and punished in proportion to their guilt - an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth - do unto others as ye would that they should do unto you. That is the true and the only way of dealing with evil, but that is precisely the way the world to-day does not take. The man who gets drunk is not an evildoer, but a "victim of the demon rum," and the murderer who is justly sentenced to be hanged frequently evolves into a species of martyr and escapes just punishment. On every hand we see impertinent meddling with people's rights by "societies" for the promotion or prevention of something or other, and a sickly sentimentality for the real criminals. Sound logic is hardly known any more in press or pulpit, and is beginning to be lost in courts of law; mawkish sentiment is usurping the place of reason, and the whole of the new issues of the Old Church are every day becoming more and more womanish in the wrong sense of that good word.

114

THE idea that woman has "equal rights" with man to attend to public affairs, and that the presence of her "refining influence" at the polls, and in politics, and elsewhere (wrongwhere), ad nauseum, has been so thoroughly rubbed into people's ideas by chattering "reformers" - (deformers, properly) - that most likely what we have written will tend to rouse the ire of some of our readers. The Writings define the respective functions and duties of men and women very clearly, but what we wish to bring up here is this: There is, perhaps, nothing that meets with more open or covert contempt than a womanish man. A mannish woman is quite as bad, and, unfortunately, can do much more mischief. In a remote place, a private summer-outing letter tells us the question of "wet" or "dry" came up - in other words, should liquor be sold or not. Practically, all the men used it, and had all their lives, but "the women and the preachers" turned in and "worked," and the result was almost unanimously for prohibiting liquor. There were a half-a-dozen places where it was sold before; there are now, writes our informant, about twenty, and the community is worse than it was before, as each of these places are, of course, lawless. So it is, and ever will be, wherever the blight of the deformer, yclept reformer, falls; for they profanely seek to do what Divine power itself cannot do without violating Divine truth, i. e., force men to be good.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

WHAT a lot of tilting at windmills there is nowadays! Generally, we are happy to say, the old mill grinds away in serene oblivion that a furious knight has been driving at it, and that is the state, we fancy, of the particular mill - or let us drop the figure, and say "subject" - of class distinction which "S.," after dubbing it "Aristocratic Christianity" in the New Christianity, has been charging right valiantly. He says, "But how does this affect the poor neighbor who has only to approach the social sphere of such at their homes or at church, to be so frozen out as to swear from the bottom of his soul that he will never approach them again." Though "S." does not put a question mark after his question, we will try to answer him. If the Church which has so congealed the "poor neighbor" be one of the old Churches, we should say that he is to be congratulated, as "S.," being an educated New Churchman, must know that from that Church, or what is the same, its fundamental doctrines, as from a fountain, flows all the evils of the Christian world - even drunkenness, which the Writings tell us originates in truth falsified, and not in alcohol, as numerous furiously charging knights in the same journal would have its readers believe. (What a tremendous paradox looms up! Truth falsified is the origin of drunkenness, say the Writings, and they are Divine Truth. The "product of leaven is the origin of drunkenness," say the tilters, consequently they cause - !) "The time is coming for the downfall of aristocracy," continues "S." "Its woes are already pronounced. The New Age is against it. Included in the Divine prophecy, 'I will make all things new' is this, I will make the world socially new." The italics belong to "S." The seeming putting of words into the LORD'S mouth appear, to state it mildly, in bad taste. But granting they are involved in the quotation, what then? Does it follow that there is to be no class distinction when all things are made new? On the contrary, the very reverse, it seems, must always be true, for there are superior heavens and inferior heavens, and there are the hells, and in each heavenly Society there are superiors and inferiors and in each mansion. This we know from the Writings, and "S." can hardly condemn the order of the heavens. He concludes his article in a rather amusing way by saying that "there must be a change of attitude on the part of those calling themselves Christians, toward those whom they would Christianize, etc.," from which it appears that the "poor neighbor" is not a "Christian" at all, a conclusion which most likely will again cause him to "swear from," etc. Such articles are lamentably puerile, and ignore the fact that it is the LORD'S truth that "Christianizes," and that the social conduct of the vulgar, rich or poor, is not a matter of much importance to any one but themselves.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

"FRATER," of The New Christianity (last appearance July 19th), reminds us a little of the famous three tailors of Tooley Street, who spoke as "We, the People of England." The robes worn by the Ministers of the General Church of Pennsylvania worry him a great deal, and in the name of "the great majority" of the New Church he asks them, if they must wear robes, not to mention the fact in print. Where he gets his authority to speak for "the great majority" he only can tell, and, furthermore, if it is a matter that it is so desirable to keep quiet about, why does Frater take so much pains to spread the intelligence? And why does he ignore the Writings, which have been quoted, and which plainly give the reasons why robes are to be worn? And why does he cling so persistently to the purely Old Church idea that "simplicity" means a black coat? And where in the Writings can he find a statement to the effect that the modern costume of men - and it is very modern - is the proper dress for the officiating priest of the New Church? And where in the Writings does he find a passage or teaching which forbids the wearing of a different costume by the priest in the pulpit from that which he wears on the street? We don't want his ideas or the whims of other people given in answer; we want the LORD'S truth, and nothing else. Let Frater give this from the Writings or keep silent.
SERMON 1888

SERMON BENADE 1888

     * Delivered June 10th, 1888, on the ordination of four candidates into the priesthood of the New Church.

     "Man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word which goeth forth through the mouth of God." - Matthew iv, 4.

     THE life of man is natural and spiritual. His natural life is in the Natural World and of the Natural World; but his spiritual life is in the Spiritual World and of the Spiritual World. The spirit, or the spiritual form of the life of man, is within the body, or within the natural form of his life, as the Spiritual World is within the Natural World. The spiritual form of man's life consists of spiritual substances and forms which are affections and thoughts, so organized as to constitute receptacles of the Divine Life of Love and Wisdom, and to become, by reception, the image and likeness of the Divine Man, the LORD. The natural form of man's life consists of natural substances and forms, clothed with matter, and so organized as to constitute a habitation for the spirit, and to enable the spirit to embody in ultimate forms the things of affection and thought, and thus to make for itself an abiding and eternal existence on which the image and likeness of the Divine Man may be "established and stand firm" forever. For this is even as the whole Spiritual World exists within and rests upon the whole Natural World, which is its basis, continent, and firmament.

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     The life constituted of natural substances is sustained and preserved by natural substances, and the life constituted of spiritual substances is sustained and preserved by spiritual substances, the former derived from the Natural and the latter from the Spiritual World, and both from the LORD, the Creator and Preserver, and the Giver of all things needed for the Conservation of His work of Creation. These sustaining substances, natural and spiritual, are called food, and are also meant in the Word by the general term bread. In natural language these terms express what man receives by means of the Earth, and by means of Heaven, for the nourishment and support of his two lives - of the external life of the body in this world, and of the internal life of the spirit in the other world. It needs not to be shown in this place that although man appears to procure and provide for himself what he requires for the nourishment of the body, it is the LORD who really gives all food out of His free and bountiful mercy. And the same will readily be accepted to be a most true saying in respect to the food of the Spirit. And now, passing from the idea of natural food, and fixing the thought on the spiritual food to which the words of our text refer, and to which they expressly lead us, when they declare that "Man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word which goeth forth through the mouth of God," let us call to mind that mouth in the Word stands for that which is done and produced by that organ of the body; here, for the voice, and for speaking, or enunciation, because it is in connection with "words" proceeding from the LORD. What He teaches and commands is said to proceed out of His mouth; and this is His Word; "by every word" of which, as declared in the text, "doth man live." The Word then is man's spiritual food, is that which nourishes and sustains his spirit, or the affections and thoughts, which constitute his spirit. It is the Word which supplies them with those real substances, which, when received by a willing heart and open mind, are assimilated and incorporated so as to become of the very fibre of the man's spiritually organized form of love and thought, and to constitute the very essence of the word and deed in which that form takes on the completeness of its existence. The life of man, as we know, is his love; and the form of that life is his thought or thinking; his science, intelligence, and wisdom. Love lives by loving, and thought exists by thinking; and the LORD who creates the faculties of love and thought, gives to them also objects of their loving and thinking. These are the food and drink on which they feed, and by means of which they live their own life. And such objects are "every word that goeth forth through the mouth of God." The Word is the Divine Truth from the Divine Good, and every word is a divine truth from divine good. But Divine Truth, as we learn, is the verimost real and substantial, the very essential from which are all the essences of things in both worlds, the spiritual and natural (A. C. 7004, 8200, 8861); and by the Divine Truth were "all things made and without it was not any thing made that was made." But this Word is the LORD Himself in His own Divine Human, who has given Himself for men, and who gives to men His flesh and blood, His Divine Good and Truth, that they may eat and drink Him and live forever. To drink the truth of the LORD is to believe in Him, and to eat His good is to do His Commandments, which is to love Him. The Commandments are the sum and substance of the Word, and the Essence of the Word is the love of the LORD and the Neighbor - and these again are the Lord Himself- for he is Love itself and Life itself. Hence have we this teaching in A. C. 681: What celestial and spiritual food are can be best known in the other life. The life of angels and spirits is not sustained by any food such as there is in the world, but from every Word that goes forth from the mouth of the LORD, as the LORD Himself teaches (in Matth. iv, 4). The case is this: the LORD alone is the life of all, from Him come all and single things, which Angels and spirits think, speak, and do; and not only Angels and good spirits, but also evil spirits; that these speak and do evil things, is because all goods and truths, which are of the LORD, they so receive and pervert; reception and affection are according to the form of the recipient. This may be compared with various objects which receive the light of the sun, and, according to the form, disposition, and determination of their parts, turn the light received into colors undelightful and dark, whilst other objects turn them into colors delightful and beautiful. Thus does the Universal Heaven and the Universal World of Spirits live from every word that goeth forth from the mouth of the LORD; and every one has his life thence; yea, not heaven alone and the world of spirits, but also the universal human race. I know that this will not be believed, but still I can positively assert it to be the very truth, from the continual experience of years. Evil spirits in the world of spirits are unwilling to believe that it is so, wherefore it is frequently demonstrated to them so fully to the life, that they confess with indignation that it is so. If Angels, spirits, and men were deprived of this food, they would expire instantly." (A. C. 681.)

      "My words," saith the LORD, "are spirit and are life." (John vi, 63.) "The water that I shall give shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting life." (John iv, 14.) "Therefore labor not for the food that perisheth, but for that food which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you." (John vi, 27.) "He who acknowledges the Divine Human of the LORD and the holiness of the Word can be instructed and can imbibe wisdom from the Word, as from the LORD Himself in proportion to his love, and thus he can be nourished with the same food with which the angels are nourished and in which there is life." (A. E. 1074.) And the life in that food is the Divine Love which is life itself.

     Out of the mouth of the LORD proceeds that which is from the heart of the Divine Love, the very truth that leads to the good of life and becomes the good of life. And he who teaches and leads is the LORD, and the LORD alone. He is the good Shepherd who feeds His sheep on the living substance of the Truth of His Divine doctrine of Charity and Faith, which proceeds out of His mouth and by which He leads them to shun their evils as sins against Him, and to do good from Him and according to His will. In such doing is eternal life, heaven, and conjunction with the LORD. To feed signifies to instruct. As all food, spiritual and natural, is every word that goeth forth out of the mouth of God, so all instruction is from God. He is the one, living, and Divine Teacher of men and angels, out of whose life every man and every angel takes the substance of the spiritual food which is adapted to his states of affection and thought, and eating, lives eternally.

     And He, the good Shepherd, the Divine Teacher, appoints in Heaven angels, and in the Church on Earth men, to represent Him in His office of teaching, or of feeding and leading to good, and to do from Him the work by which He saves souls. They are set apart to minister to Him in the priests' office. To the end that they may minister like good shepherds, they need to learn from Him every word of Divine Truth that goeth forth out of His mouth, that is spoken and revealed by Him.

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And above all they need to seek from Him the gift of an honest end of use to the neighbor in this learning; an end of spiritual and eternal use, so that they may have the means to instruct and the ability to instruct in those truths, which, when received into the mind of the willing learner, shall show him the way of life, sustain his affection for that way, and support him in all its trials. Let this be impressed; it cannot be too deeply imbedded in every purpose and thought of the one who is to minister in the holy things of the Church, that the doctrine which is to serve the Priest in the performance of his duty as a teacher of men, is to be received from the LORD alone. This alone is to be the word that goeth forth from His mouth; for this is full of His Divine Life. In His revelations are the LORD'S words, His doctrines of Divine Wisdom, of these the teacher is to take and to give to men, and having given them he is to leave them undisturbed in the minds of the learners, there to rest as planes provided by the LORD for His own divine working both of to will and to do. They are His vessels with which He can do, and He will do as to Him is well pleasing. He who is the very life itself, can alone provide spiritual food for the life of man; and the man alone for whom the provision is made can co-operate with the LORD in the final adaptation of this food to the needs of his spiritual constitution. One to whom the priestly office is but adjoined cannot make such provision for his fellow-man, cannot feed him by any truth out of his mouth, coming forth from his own life.

Even though that life have good in it from the LORD, the substance of truth well done, this substance is for its own living, and having been adapted to that living, it cannot be imparted to another to become again the substance of his life, and to enter into his spiritual form. "A man cannot take anything unless it be given him from heaven."

To impart good, to give a word that shall be to man the very food of his life, is possible with the Divine, which is life itself, and the life of which cometh forth in every word out of the mouth of God. Let the Priest, therefore, when he entereth in to do the work of his office, enter "with the voice of the bells of gold" on his garments, "lest he die;" let him keep himself, as a man, out of all sight and mind, lest taking to himself what belongs to the LORD alone he destroy the life of the office, which is in leading to the LORD. Let him offer himself to the service of the Divine Shepherd, leading the flock to the pastures of the tender herb provided in Doctrine from the Word, standing watchfully by to guard against foes from without, whilst the LORD'S sheep feed in the active, as in the quiet states of their lives on "the food that endureth unto everlasting life." For, "man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word which goeth forth through the mouth of God."
Declaration of Faith and Purpose read by the candidates after the sermon: 1888

Declaration of Faith and Purpose read by the candidates after the sermon: 1888

     After due deliberation and with full conviction of mind I do declare my unqualified belief in the Divine Revelations of our LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ, given to men in the Word of the Sacred Scripture, and in the Word of the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem.

     I believe that in these "Revelations," written, the first mediately, and the second immediately from Himself, Our LORD, the Infinite Esse and Existere, who is Love itself and Wisdom itself, the Creator and Preserver of the Universe of Spirit and of nature, the Redeemer and Saviour of mankind, has come down and is present with men in His own Divine Human Form.

     I believe that in His first coming as the Word made flesh, and in the works of Redemption and Glorification then performed by Him, the infinite LORD appeared as a man among men, and united His Human Essence with the Divine Essence and His Divine Essence with the Human Essence, and made Himself Emmanuel, God with us.

     I believe that in His Second Coming in the opened Word, and in the works of a Second Redemption and a Last Judgment, the LORD, who is the Infinite and Eternal Esse and Existere, appears as the Divine and only man, the only God of Heaven and Earth, in whom is the Divine Trinity of Love, Wisdom, and Operation, called in Scripture the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and from Whom is salvation, which is Eternal Life, attained by Faith in Him, and by a life according to His Commandments, given in the literal sense of the Word, and laid open to the understanding in its spiritual sense.

     I believe that now is the time of this Second Coming of the LORD, foretold in the Evangelists and in the Apocalypse; and that this is His Coming, not in Person, but in the power and glory of the spiritual sense of the Word, which is Himself, and that this Coming is effected by the instrumentality of a man, His servant, Emanuel Swedenborg, before whom He manifested Himself in person, and whom He filled with His own Spirit, to teach from Him the Doctrines of the New Church by the Word.

     I believe that the LORD by this His Second Coming has begun to raise up the true Christian Church on the Earth, in the place of the former Church, which was Christian in name only, and which has come to its consummation and end. I do believe that in this New Church all previous Revelations and Churches will attain their true fruitage and put on their most glorious crown, and that it will stand and abide forever as the LORD'S body on the Earth, because it will acknowledge and approach immediately in worship the LORD Jesus Christ, as the visible God in whom is the invisible God, because this New Church is the very bride beheld by John, coming down from God out of heaven adorned for her husband, and because that when she is married to her LORD, He will restore to the inhabitants of this Earth that holiest love in which are all the goods and delights of Heaven and the Church, and in which He, the mighty God, will dwell forever with the sons of men.

     And now it is the earnest desire and fervent prayer of my heart, that by the Divine Mercy of the LORD, I may be enabled at all times to look to Him alone for light in the path of duty and for guidance in the way of life, that from Him I may be filled with love of the truth and with love of all good; with reverence for the holy use of the Priesthood, and with sincere love for the salvation of souls; and that humbly confiding in Him, I may receive power to teach from Him the spiritual truths of His everlasting Gospel, and thereby be in His hands an instrument to lead men to the good of life and to conjunction with Him, their LORD and Saviour.
IN 1888

IN 1888

Arcana Coelestia, numbers 1507 and 1508 IN Arcana Coelestia, numbers 1507 and 1508 there is something said concerning the sphere of personal, authority in the other world. Of the good who from worldly position have contracted this sphere it is said that "in process of time, they put it off because they are good, and take pains to divest themselves of it."

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CONVERSATIONS ON EDUCATION 1888

     CONJUNCTION.

     SIMILAR things exist in the earlier stages of child-life, such as the delight of bodily movement, of the movement of various bright objects before the eyes, sports, plays, and game's with their pleasures, beautiful forms and colors, etc., all of which are means of introducing innumerable images and ideas, although they do not themselves enter into the life of the child. Even innocence, such as it is with children, is but a general medium of such introduction. (See H. H. 277, etc.) This is especially apparent from the fact that a child is always ready to accept appearances as realities. The face of things is to the child the truth of things. In the Divine Providence this state of large and almost unlimited variety of things as they appear is for the purpose of introducing rudimentary ideas, and by means of these implanting remains. Children are affected by all appearances, by all sights and sounds: their love for their parents, friends, and playmates is made active and affected by seeing and hearing them, and by their delight with the good which comes with their presence. They play innocently with their companions; they suffer themselves to be led, for they love to hearken, and thus they receive into themselves what they are taught, deriving therefrom becoming and decorous manners and speech, as well as the rudiments of memory and thought. The innocence which serves as a medium for receiving these things is with children "but external, being of the body only, and not of the mind, because the mind is not yet formed." (H. H. 277.) The soul determines what food is good for the mind and also for the body, and introduces it into the blood by processes of mental and bodily digestion which are under its control, the child meanwhile being as unconscious of the one process as of the other, and from the blood of the spirit and of the body the soul conjoins to itself what is of use to the existence under its rule. The blood of the spirit is the truth prepared for life and lived. In the child this truth is that which is given by means of parents and teachers. The Rational thus disposes the natural to its service, even as the body serves the soul. In childhood it is the Rational of parents and teachers that thus disposes the natural to serve as a means for providing knowledge, the ability to think and to judge, for the formation of a new rational to rule over a new kingdom. (See A. C. 3570 for "the conjunction of the natural with the Rational.") With the very young this conjunction is a process of connecting what has been learnt from an affection of knowing with a principle interior to that affection, the principle of obedience or of doing and making actual what is known. The affection of knowing things, as we have seen, produces a desire for knowledge, which desire is a mental appetite for the needed food, which, when introduced and assimilated, becomes a truth lived or applied. When a child is affected by the purpose of putting into act an idea obtained from instruction there is made a beginning of the formation of a Rational which will appear in the natural. As soon as it appears it becomes the earnest duty of the parent and teacher to foster this beginning and to labor to make the state habitual, and as it were a second nature.

     The LORD thus proceeds with man in his regeneration, the whole end of which is the subjection and subservience of the natural to the Rational and of this to the spiritual. The man whose thought or internal appears in the face, in the words, and in the acts of the body is one whose natural is subject to the Rational, and if this have been formed by truths from the LORD from an affection for the truth he is one whose external life is conjoined with the internal, and this with the LORD. The good of the Rational, which is the affection of truth, is conjoined with the good of the natural, which is use, by means of truth and the knowledge of truth, and a state analogous to this exists with the child when from the good of the rational with the parent or teacher he receives instruction and conjoins it with his natural by obedience in conduct and act. All the numerous means employed to introduce scientifics and knowledges into the memory of the young, so that they may learn to think and thence to act rightly, have this one end that the natural life may become subject to the spiritual and both to the LORD. (See A. C. 3573. Cf. n. 3574 to n. 3578.)

     The life of a man has its first and inmost representative forms in the cortical substances of the Brain. From these the life produces all the fibres of the body, which it arranges into forms and organs of various uses, and through these comes into its own ultimate completeness. The same is true of the good of the Rational, or the affection of truths as a life principle. According to its quality this affection opens the mind to the reception of sciences, knowledge, and truths, and these it arranges in the several planes of the understanding, in such a way that by means of them other goods may be produced, and these are produced when truth is done and use performed. Is it not clear, then, that as the life of the body depends on the blood, and that as the blood is of the quality of the food received, appropriated under the rule of the soul, so will the life of the mind depend on the scientifics and knowledges that enter into its thinking, and this again on the quality of their reception and appropriation as determined by the ruling love or proprium and its control and government by Parent and Teacher, in other words, on the state of obedience or non-obedience. (See A. C. 3579.)

     Man is created to become an angel of heaven. An angel is a heaven in form, and heaven in form is a man in the image and according to the similitude of the LORD. Man, therefore, becomes a man indeed, only so far as all things in him and in his life are so ordered and arranged, as the LORD orders and arranges all things in the Gorand Man of Heaven. A universal principle of the Order of Heaven is that the internal rules the external, and is expressed and represented in the external. This is from the correspondence of effects to causes, according to which all things of order exist and subsist. From this view of the true order of human life, we conclude that the correspondence of the external to the internal in the case of children, who are to be prepared for Heaven, lies in the reduction of their externals into conditions of compliance with a ruling internal, which is not their own, but the LORD'S, with parents and teachers, but which is to become the LORD'S with them. This relation begins to come into effect when the delight of obedience existing in the infantile innocence of the child becomes a love of obedience through right training and education. In the degree of the formation of this love the mind is opened and the delight of knowing from an affection of knowing is made active in the sensual plane of the understanding. Under right guidance the activity of this love being subjected to the universal direction of the love of obedience, the mind is gradually turned from its first aimless and apparently useless movements, and led to seek some end, some doing, in the reception of scientifics. By this means the delight of knowing is changed into an affection of knowledge, in which is the germ or primitive formation of some definite end or purpose, and in this the beginning of reason.

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Man learns to think in order that he may become rational, that is to say, human; and when, by proper instruction, he begins to be rational, then does his thinking become reasoning, that is, coherent and consistent, by being directed to an end of use, to a terminating point, in which it can rest in fullness, and resting on which the understanding can rise up from its creeping infancy, assume the more erect posture of the adolescent intellect, and finally walk before God in the full human stature of intelligence and wisdom. In this state obedience is conscience and perception of good, moving in charity toward the neighbor and love to the LORD, the man is man, because rational, free, and conjoined with the LORD. (See A. C. 3584, 3596.)
FUTURE WHEREABOUTS OF THE NEW CHURCH 1888

FUTURE WHEREABOUTS OF THE NEW CHURCH GEORGE NELSON SMITH 1888

     I.

     THE prophecies of the Sacred Scripture are so plain, placing the Gentiles in a most prominent light in the foreground of promise for the future of the "crowning" Church, as well as indicative of the reluctance of those of the regular succession to accept the truth of the New Doctrines, that we may assuredly assign that future to Gentile rather than to Old Church soil. We are clearly taught by our Doctrines that this is to be the case. And our teachings are abundantly enforced and illustrated by a powerful showing of the contrast between the receptivity of men in Gentile and in Christian lands, and thus by indisputable reasons why it must be so.

     These teachings, supported by constantly developing facts respecting the relative genius and tendencies of Gentile and Christian minds as a whole have convinced those who have given the subject most attention that the main growth of the New Church is to be in Gentile lands. More than a hundred years' teaching of the Doctrines in the Christian world have found the mass of that world either stolidly and stiffly resisting their softening, humanizing influence, still clinging stubbornly to their idolatrous ideas of a divided Godhood and of a substitutional salvation, and their gloomy hopes of immortality in a far distant material resurrection, or else gone over more or less to no faith and no interest in anything but self and world-seeking. And upon even those who profess more or less attachment to the truths of the LORD'S Revealing to the New Church there is a manifest incubus of the prevailing world-seeking, with an indifference to the learning and living of the Divinely revealed Truths of life that makes them sometimes more like what those of the Old Church are than like what those of the New Church ought to be. And so, sometimes in view of this there has come over many earnest spirits in the Church a conviction that the exclusive work now being done in the old Christian world is not one of very great or immediate promise, but an impulse to say with the apostles: "Lo, we turn to the Gentiles."

     Let us see how this question is presented in the light of our teachings, going over some of the very many statements we have. Thus it is affirmed, "that a New Church will be raised up in some region of the earth though the former still continues in its external worship as the Jews do in theirs, in which worship it is well known there is nothing of charity and faith, that is, nothing of a Church." (A. C. 1850.) As it is expressed still more positively: "When charity ceases the Church also ceases. . . . charity is its essential; external worship indeed remains, but then it is not worship but ceremony." (A. C. 6587.) Or still more strongly, of those at the end of the Church that do not approach the LORD Himself and live according to His commandments, they are left by the LORD . . . and then they become as Pagans who have no religion, and then the LORD is among those only who are of His New Church." (A. R. 750.) These and the like statements plainly treat the old tripersonal and solifidian principles as having no more of Christianity in them than any Paganism has, and no more capable of being revamped into it than Taouism or Brahmanism or the Fetichism of the Africans. So that we are not to expect the New Church to be a revivication of the Old, but to be an entirely new growth in Gentile ground - Gentile at least as to mental qualities, of whatever name or nation externally regarded.

     It is because of the Providential law, when any Church is consummated and perishes, then the LORD always raises up a New Church elsewhere, yet seldom, if ever, from the men of the former Church, but from the Gentiles who have been in ignorance. (A. C. 2910.) It is evidently very "seldom" that anything of the New Church can be found raised up in the Old Christian world, only now and then "one or two in the top of the uppermost bough," "the few who are in good." (A. C. 3898.) When a Church becomes no Church, that is, when charity perishes, and a New Church is established by the LORD, this rarely if ever happens among those of the former Church, but with those with whom there was before no Church, that is, among the Gentiles; this was the case when the Most Ancient Church perished: a new one which was called Noah or the ancient Church which was after the flood was then established among the Gentiles, that is, among those where there was no Church before; in like manner when this Church perished, then something resembling a Church was established amongst the posterity of Abraham from Jacob; thus again among the Gentiles, for Abraham when he was called was a Gentile." (A. C. 1356; see n. 1992; 2559.) The posterity of Jacob in Egypt became still more Gentile, insomuch that they were altogether ignorant of JEHOVAH, consequently of Divine worship. After this resemblance of a Church was consummated then the primitive Church was established from the Gentiles, the Jews being rejected; in like manner will it be with this Church that is called Christian. The cause that a New Church is established by the LORD among the Gentiles is that they have no false principles against the truths of faith, for they are ignorant of the truth of faith; false principles imbibed from infancy and afterward confirmed must first be dispersed before man can be regenerated, and become of the Church; yea, the Gentile cannot profane holy things by evils of life, for no one can profane what is holy who is ignorant what it is." (A. C. 593; see n. 1008-59.) "The Gentiles being ignorant and without grounds of offense, are in a better state for receiving truths than those who are of the Church, and all those among them who are in good of life easily receive truth." (A. C. 2986; see A. E. 452.) Here we are clearly shown that it is the order of Divine Providence to establish a new Church among Gentiles who are in ignorance of the Old, and further that from the laws of the reception of truth this must be the case, as only those will receive the new who are not filled with the old. And further, none can even be intrusted with the possession of the new till they have so far lost all truth that they cannot profane, as, in addition to the above, we see from the following: "The arcana of the internal sense of the Word are now revealed because at this day there is scarce any faith because not any charity, thus because it is the consummation of the age, and when this takes place then they may be revealed without danger of profanation, because they are not interiorly acknowledged." (A. C. 3398.)

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That the interiors of the Word are now opened is because the Church at this day is so void of faith and love, that although men know and understand, they still do not acknowledge, still less believe, except the few who are in a life of good, and are called the elect, who may now be instructed and with whom a New Church is to be established. Where such persons are, the LORD only knows, there will be few within the Church. The churches in former times have been established among the Gentiles." (A. C. 3898.) Mark this startling unveiling of the real internal state of the old even among the mass of its most pious members. "Had they not feared for life, and the penalties of the laws, especially if they had not feared for reputation on account of the honors which they affected and aimed at, and on account of the wealth which they desired and eagerly sought after, they would have rushed against one another with intestine hatred, according to their will tendencies and thoughts, and would have seized the goods of others without any conscience, and would also have murdered without any conscience, especially the innocent. Such are Christians at this day as to their interiors, except a few who are not known. Hence it appears what is the quality of the Church." (A. C. 3489.) Such ground evidently affords poor soil in which to plant the truths of life such as those of the New Church. So that clearly the Old cannot become the New Church. But the Gentiles easily receive. "For there is not so great a cloud in their intellectual part as there i s in general with those that are called Christians." (A. C. 1089.) "They easily suffer themselves to be principled in the truth of faith grounded in goodness." (A. C. 1032.) Such Gentiles as have lived in charity in the world as they are wont to do, embrace and receive the Doctrines of the true faith and the faith of charity much more readily than the Christians." (A. C. 932.) "Hence it is that when any New Church is to be established by the LORD, it is not established with those that are within the Church, but among those that are without, that is, with the Gentiles." (A. C. 4747.) "Hence it is that the Church was transferred from the Jewish people to the Gentiles, and likewise that the Church at this day also is now transferring to the Gentiles . . . And what is wonderful, the Gentiles adore one only God under a human form; wherefore when they hear of the LORD, they receive and acknowledge Him, neither can a New Church be established among others." (A. C. 9257.) So "now transferring;" that is, a work now progressing. Another statement shows that this work is to be a gradual one. Speaking of the "Holy Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, by which is meant a New Church among the Gentiles, after the Church at this day which is in the European world is vastated." (A. C. 9407, comp. n. 2243 et al.) In later references (T. C. R. 758, 764, 778, 787) the former Church is represented as still remaining, though consummated, just as we may say an old ruined house is consummated as to use as a house, though still remaining as a ruin. So the New Church, though in the world as to doctrine, was, is yet, in the future as to life, except among the few. It must wait the Divine order that a new heaven should be formed before a New Church on earth," "the internal before the external, and afterward the external by the internal" (n. 784), and "that this cannot be done in a moment, but it is done as the falses of the former are removed." (Ib.) So we must expect the coming of the "Church to the full," whenever it may appear, cannot be immediate.

     II.

     THE state of the world in the proximate future after the Last Judgment as regards the Church is set forth in these very like prophetic words:

     "The state of the world hereafter will be quite similar to what it has been heretofore, for the great change which has been effected in the spiritual world does nor induce any change in the natural world as regards the outward form, so that the affairs of States, peace, treaties, and wars, with all other things which belong to the societies of men in general and in particular, will exist in the future just as they have in the past; but as for the state of the Church, this it is which will be dissimilar hereafter. It will be similar indeed in the outward form, but dissimilar in the inward. To outward appearance divided Churches will exist as heretofore, and the same religions as now will exist among the Gentiles. But henceforth the men of the Church will be in a more free state of thinking on matters of faith; that is, on spiritual things which relate to heaven, because spiritual liberty has been restored to him." (L. J. 73.)

     How astonishingly has every, word of this come true. Men have indeed come into a very free way of thinking, and as yet into very little more. The full reception of the New Church in Christendom is yet a long way off. And we are warned to expect it by the words which follow. After stating that even the angels do not know things to come, but the LORD only, we read: "But they do know that the slavery and captivity in which the man of the Church formerly was is removed, and that now from restored liberty he can better perceive interior truths if he wills to perceive them, and thus be made more interior if he wills it, but that they have slender hope of the men of the Christian Church, but 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 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 it worships the LORD." (n. 74.)

     From this we see that the best hope of the New Church is not in the Christian world at all, but in thoroughly Gentile people far enough away from the Christian world to be free from its Tritheistic and Solifidian influences.

     Some good patriots there are who think that our nation is meant, reading instead of "far-distant," "colonized." But it does not answer the description. It is not removed from infesters, but is in approved "Evangelical Alliance" with them, divided Godhood, Solifideanism, world worship, and all. It is not in spiritual light, nor in Divine truths, nor does it worship the LORD.

     We have much said of the Central Africans that does answer the description. "They are more interior than the rest of the Gentiles; their idea of God is no other than the idea of a man; the same as the idea of a Divine Human. Such being their character, even in the world, there is at the present day a revelation among them which, commencing in the centre of their continent, is communicated around, but does not reach their coasts. They acknowledge our LORD as the God of heaven and earth. It was told me from heaven that the truths now published in the Doctrines of the New Jerusalem concerning the LORD, and in the Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem, are orally dictated by angelic spirits to the inhabitants of that portion of the globe." (Cont. L. J. 73-6.)

120

(Comp. T. C. R. 840 concerning Northern Africa.) It is worthy of remark that recent travelers have reported finding doctrines in Central Africa "resembling those held by the Swedenborgians." And in addition to the many favorable representations for Africa for the New Church, we have it placed spiritually in the East, with Asia in the South, and Europe in the North. (A. E. 21.)

     Of all the Gentiles it is plainly appearing that their effete, polytheistic idolatry generally sits much more lightly, and is far less interiorly destructive of the idea of one God than the tritheistic idolatry that has prevailed in Christendom; that they have retained a much more internal idea of one God under the various representations of Him that we have called their idols, than Christians have under their tripersonal Divinities, and of the plan of salvation that demands three of them to work out. And we may take the fact that it is not readily received among them as an earnest of the fact that the LORD is preserving them uncorrupted against the time that He can prepare them for the planting of the New Church among them.

     An intelligent Chinaman once said to me, "The Christianity of the missionaries will never do for my people. They would not have it, but if I could take this (New Church) doctrine there I could gather them around me by the hundred thousand." "The Gentiles will come to this light" whenever they are prepared in the LORD'S own time.

     But in the meantime, what of Christendom? Will it ever receive the LORD God, the Saviour, and His laws of life? Never while it is the Christendom of the past. Never unless it can become Gentile and "well disposed" - Gentile like the rest of the world. It has been too worldly, selfish, and piously wicked ever to become receptive without reformation, even if ever so much Gentilized. The probability or even possibility of this we must not undertake to determine by our own conjectures, but solely by what the LORD has revealed. Even the angels do not know the future, but the LORD alone.

     Let us take it in sections, and learn what the Doctrines say about them severally.

     The whole Papal world is treated as having become Gentile long ago. It is often spoken of as "Christian Gentilism, where it is permitted to adore saints and their idols" (A. C. 3447); as "Christian Gentilism where idols of sanctified men are exposed to adoration" (n. 9010); "a Gentilism differing very little from the Gentilism of the ancients who worshiped Baal, Ashteroth, and Beelzebub." (A. E. 2029.) "Wherefore after death the persons therein principled come among Pagans and no longer among Christians." (Ibid.) They are, however, described as better candidates for the new faith and life than the Protestants for these three reasons: I. They are not so much in faith alone, and are likely to become less so than now. II. They have not obliterated so entirely the idea of the Divine Humanity. III. Nor the saving efficacy of charity and good work. (D. J 108.)

     Next to the Gentiles we may expect Papal ground to be the best receptive of the New Church. Not so soon as the Gentiles, perhaps, as we are repeatedly told its worship will long continue as the worship of a Paganism." (A. E. 1029.)

     The Protestants remain to be considered. These are again divided into classes. One class is placed in a similar category with the Papists. We read, "The Word in many places treats of those who are in darkness, and in the shadow of death, and in thick darkness, whose eyes the LORD will open, and by them are meant the Gentiles who have been in good works but not in any truths, because they did not know the LORD, neither were possessed of the Word; exactly similar to these are they in the Christian world who are in works alone and in no truths of doctrine, therefore they cannot be called anything else than Gentiles; they know the LORD, indeed, but do not approach Him, and are in possession of the Word but do not search for the truths it contains." (A. R. 110.) As these are in the Christian world and have the Word as from above statements, and still more from H. D. n. 8, we see is not true of the Papists; they are evidently not Papists, but must be Protestants. Hence we have a class in the Protestant world set forth as having become "nothing else than Gentiles." "Such as were not in the essential truths of heaven and the Church, but in the good of life, according to the doctrines of their religion, which as to the most part were not genuine truths but falses, but were nevertheless accepted by the LORD as truths, because they were in the good of life, by virtue of which the falsities of their religion were not tinctured with evil but inclined to good." (A. E. 450.)

     And in regard to such "it is to be particularly observed that no one, whether he be within the Church where the Word is, or out of that Church, is damned hereafter, if he live a good life according to his religion, for it is not the fault of such that they do not know genuine truths; wherefore, inasmuch as the good of life contains within it the desire of knowing truths, when such come into the other life they easily receive truths and imbibe them. The case is altogether otherwise with those who have lived an evil life and trifled with religion." (A. E. 452.) These are the "great multitude which no man can number," that is, their "quality no one knows but the LORD alone." (A. R. 363.) We cannot, therefore, know them or point them out as such and such individuals in the Christian world. The LORD alone can do that. We must not touch this, His sole prerogative.

     There is another class in the Christian world who are given a very different character from this, "Those who have lived an evil life and trifled with religion," and are thus "Pagans who have no religion." (A. R. 750.) Notice this distinctive use of Pagan in a bad sense, especially applied to this class of Christians, whose evil lives make them opposite to the well "disposed Pagans" (A. E. 1063), or to that one that from a "Pagan becomes a Christian." (T. C. R. 525.) These Pagans in a bad sense are described in these words: "Thence is that detestable saying in the mouth of many, Who can do good of himself? and Who can acquire faith of himself? And thence they omit them and live like Pagans (n. 484), also those who as 'confirmers of Faith alone' are in the spiritual world, sent forth into a desert in which they are brought to the extremity of the Christian world and mixed with Pagans." (n. 113.)

     These are all without religion because they do not believe in the LORD and live evil lives. They may outwardly be most religious, but it is only "ceremony."
     "Their prayers are not heard with acceptance." Outwardly, however, we can tell little about them.

     Only this: all alike, good and bad, seem rapidly drifting away from the old religions, the good by throwing off their falses and evils, the bad by throwing off the bonds of all religion. It is in all a tendency that few observers fail to notice. Already very few of the people in Christendom know what their Church teaches or care to know.

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Already in Christian countries where a hundred years ago all were Church goers there is not seating capacity for one-tenth of the people, and this scantily filled. Already thus nine-tenths of the masses of Christendom have virtually gone over to a good or bad Gentilism, as the case may be. And the majority of the one-tenth are drifting into liberalism, which means indifferentism, either good or bad, as the case may be. How many of the one or the other the LORD only knows. We cannot tell.

Only sooner or later we know there must be a decision, the good in this world or the next coming into the New Church, the bad going to their own. And as we are taught, the bad will continually grow worse and worse, "For evils continually increase in a Church once perverted and extinct." (A. C. 4503, also 2910.) They are self-destructive, so that even now causes are at work diminishing the numerical increase all through Christendom. And as those who reject the only means of self-amendment, the reforming truths of the New Church, have no means of amendment, they can hardly fail to go on in their destructive evils and go out. And so literally will be fulfilled the prophecy, "The just shall inherit the land and dwell therein forever."
GEORGE NELSON SMITH.
I S M I - D A G O N 1888

I S M I - D A G O N LOUIS PENDLETON 1888

     An Assyrian Tale.

     * Copyrighted, 1888.

     I.

     BENEATH the old man's blistered feet the parched and yellow desert grass cracked harshly as he toiled toward the rocky ridge which frowned upon a waste of sand and stunted shrub. Upon his long, straight cedar staff he often leaned his weary weight, and cast his eyes up to the sky. It also was yellow and hot - like burning copper, was his thought. He marked not that the sun was low, that cooling night was drawing near; his eye was fevered, and his brain.

     A little farther on he paused to lift the hem of his long robe and wipe away a mist of dust and sweat which dimmed his weary eyes. Then he descried against the ridge a white tent, pitched among green trees, which grateful sight roused him to new and greater effort, till he drew near the lone camp and saw three men - gray-bearded elders like himself - who, with strange lack of courtesy, went not a foot to welcome him.

     "All hail, good friends!" was his weak cry when he stood close to them. "Can ye tell me the way toward the city called Jerusalem?" Then, ere there was reply, he spoke, with agony of haste, the words: "Give me to drink, or I shall die!"

     And as one of the gray beards ran within the tent to fetch a drink, he fell between the other two like some limp, broken thing. With outstretched arms they stayed his fall, then lifted him and moved to where the grass was green beneath a tree. Here they, with kindly hands, unloosed the leathern cincture round his waist and fanned his heated brow until the water had been brought, which they gave to him cautiously, meanwhile his sandals taking off, and washing his hot, bruised feet.

     "Behold in me a Ninevite," said he at last, when, much refreshed, he sat erect upon the grass.

     "That we perceived by thine address, by thine apparel," they replied. "What wouldst thou with us, who are Jews?"

     "Behold in me," quoth he again, "a priest of the Assyrians, whom men do call Tiglathi-Nin, or Adoration-Be-to-Nin."

     "And we are called Abimelech, Joab, and Shammah, and we go from Gad up to Jerusalem."

     "Up to Jerusalem! Then ye can show to me the way!"

     "And wherefore wouldst thou thither go, - thou whose fierce nation war against our people and our God?"

     "Hear me, men of Jerusalem," spoke he, with pleading countenance. "Lo, I am come from Egypt's bounds, from near the place Pelusium, where was that horror wonderful, heart-rending, wild, and terrible - 'tis now scarcely a score of days."

     At these strange words Abimelech, Joab, and Shammah quickly looked each at the other earnestly, with awe upon their faces, and, rising with hasty step, they stood apart and spoke among themselves, directing now and then toward Tiglathi- Nin glances of fear, aversion, anger - all of these. But by and by they grew more calm, and ere long went within the tent and brought forth food and wine to him. Then said Abimelech:

     "When thou hast eaten, tell thy tale, and we will hear thee, friend."

     So when his hunger was appeased, Tiglathi-Nin forthwith began, and in this wise he told the tale:

     II.

     Know, then, men of Jerusalem, Tiglathi-Nin, your servant, was a priest in mighty Beltis' house. The goddess Beltis we adore, the great Queen of Fecundity, the same who is Mylitta called by men of Babylon. Men of my father's house always have been her priests at Nineveh.

     But first 'tis meet that I should speak of Dav-Kina and her dear lord, for they it is, men say, who have estranged our gods and brought disgrace on our haughty nation. Dav-Kina was my sister's child, a maid of scarce a score of years, and within our great city's walls could not be found one beauteous more that breathed the breath of life. Yea, hers was beauty not too oft found 'mongst men's fairest daughters, and it was a joy, a very joy, to rest the eye upon her form. Hard by the goddess Beltis' fane lived she in close seclusion, and scarce a man e'er saw her face, save Ismi-Dagon, whom she loved, our lord the King, Tiglathi-Nin your servant, and Nebo, a priest.

     This Nebo, though my fellow in the goddess' house, was not my friend. A man of two score years was he - and many a fool were wiser far! - always a glutton at a feast, always a drunkard in his drink, always a coarse and wrangling knave, a very beast was this Nebo. Him ever did I much abhor, and when I knew Dav- Kina's love he sought, my soul revolted straight. "'Twould be a shame, a very sin - it must not be, O Zir-Banit!" Thus to the mother oft I spoke, but Zir-Banit much loved the thought of Nebo's gold and listened not. So Nebo came and saw the maid, but so did he repel her that she loathed his very name, and would not bend before Zir-Banit's word.

     Now, in the goddess Beltis' praise once in a lifetime it behooves each woman, be she rich or poor, to go within the sacred walls and there perform that rite, of which the fame hath no doubt reached your ears - that cruel, wicked rite, which ye e'en now cry shame upon. Now, when the appointed days arrived, when for Dav-Kina it was meet to go up into Beltis' fane, Zir-Banit's house was full of Strife; for, torn with anguished thoughts, the young maid's voice did sore, afflict the ear.

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Outraging all tradition, with most cruel moans she cried unto the gods for mercy, and would give no ear to reason, threats, commands, or listen to persuading words.

     So unto me Zir-Banit came. "Tiglathi-Nin, speak thou to her; come thou and look on this mad child," my sister begged in sore distress; "for truly she doth bear thee well, and mayhap thy wise words will heed."

     "Lead me to her," your servant said, and lo, they brought me in straightway, where all day long Dav-Kina lay, and did but weep and sigh and groan. Ah, me! 'twas grief to see her so, in her own chamber beauteous fair. Yea, it so smote upon my heart, so made rebuke a bitter task, that my unhappy thoughts soon shaped themselves in sweet, persuading words.

     "Help me, my uncle!" she implored. "My dear loved father, did he live, would save me from this horrid rite. He taught me Beltis was the queen, the goddess of sweet, heaven-sent love, which gifts life with its chiefest joys - therefore to her we should give praise - but ne'er did he tell me 'twas meet that I should do this frightful thing."

     "Thy father was a righteous man. Be sure his word to thee would be: always obey the gods' commands; therefore weep not, dear child," I begged, "but rise and wipe thy tearful orbs. Then come with me to Beltis' house, and there do as the law commands. And when 'tis done, thou may'st return, and be thy own sweet self again - the self same maid thou wast before; for so our custom wills. 'Tis true, men say the ancient ones denounced this worship as unclean, unknown to us in former times, uncalled for by the gracious gods - a vile and cruel cult which had its birth in wicked Babylon. But be this as it may, 'tis now the law and must be done. Rise, then, unhappy child, and cease this foolish waste of tears."

     Thus did I speak persuading words, while still Dav-Kina wept and smote upon my heart with her sad groans. 'Twas all in vain - her grief but grew; so, in despair, I held my peace, when on a sudden rose she up and spake with eager haste:

     "O my loved uncle, press me not; I will die ere I go! Were I a maid of callous heart, perchance thou couldst persuade, although e'en then my tears would run in rills; but as I am - not so! My uncle, hear me speak, and learn why Nebo I despised: my soul is wedded to a man whose voice I know not, but whose soul I know. Yea, I do surely know he ne'er would see me do this thing. Were he now here, he would save me from Beltis' cruel temple rites, e'en though it cost a fearful cost, e'en though it sent us homeless, both in exile from our country forth. Oh! if I knew where was his home, I would arise and go to him. This house I would forever quit (for truly it doth love me not): forth would I go, not with sad tears, but with glad prayers unto the gods, the good, the blessed gods who gave me beauty, which men love. For I do feel, if he see me he will be moved by my love: when he beholds my shining hair, when he doth see my bosom white, when my fond eyes do meet his own - he will awake to love for me! Yea, I have faith that so he will, for I do seem to hear it said in whispers by the good, sweet gods. But, woe is me! I know not where is his abiding place. But thou, my uncle, him couldst find. Yea, so thou couldst, and wilt thou not? Speak, O my uncle! wilt thou go ? - wilt thou go search for him?"

     "Thy words are wild, most wild," I said. "How should I know him, foolish child?"

      "By that perfection which doth lift him up so high above all men. Of all the men that I have seen from my high window there, not one, not one may be compared to him. Sometimes, in truth, he seems to me a very god in human shape: he is at least the king of men.

     "What man is this, O vain, mad child?"

     His name she knew not, but ofttimes from her high window she had seen him as he walked through Sargon's Park - that wide and beauteous garden which great Sargon gave forever to be free to men of Nineveh. 'Twas near Zir-Banit's house, and so Dav-Kina looked down on her king always when he walked there.

     "He is no king, unhappy maid. Some common, knavish idler with a goodly pair of legs and pleasing countenance hath thus bewitched thy non-discerning eye. No more he is, be sure; therefore leave such vain thoughts to foolish maids and come with me."

     Then she grew stern and stately in her grief - this love-lorn child - and bade me hold my peace, or speak not so; 'twas more than she could bear. "He is the king of men - to me," spake she, in proud belief. "And such 'vain thoughts' ne'er can I cease, for from them take I all my life; on them alone I feed."

     With cold, rebuking words, I rose straightway to leave her then, but ere I could depart she wrapped me in her white, bare arms, and rained fresh tears upon my cheek. "O uncle, uncle I lend thine ear to my soul's prayer," she moaned. "Hear me and hearken, for mayhap when thou dost come again I shall lie lowly with the dead. Go, go, my uncle! search for him; go search - go search for him. Tell him men call me beautiful!"

     III.

     'Twas on the morrow's morn, that in Zir-Banit's house they did essay to force her to their will (my sister and Nebo, the priest), and strove with her till 'twas a thing most brutal to behold. And lo, as they did strive with her, Dav-Kina broke and fled from them far out into the great, green garden, heedless that her head was bare, or that her beauteous hair did float upon the wind and shine as with the shining of spun gold. On, on she ran in mad, blind haste, till all at once a tall and kingly man in hunter's dress took shape before her startled eyes. In shame and fear, then paused she breathless, drawing, back as if to hide within the golden cloud of hair that fell about her shoulders white. Once, only once, she raised her eyes to him who looked on her, and in that moment roses were transformed to lilies on her cheek, pale lilies of a sickly hue. Whiter and yet whiter grew they, till all the glory of the red pomegranate flower seemed to glow in the soft oleander tints which faintly dyed her robe.

     'Twas he - the "king of men" - who time on times had passed that way, always alone, always supplied with empty quiver and strong bow, returning from a lion hunt - who filled the heart of her who watched behind her window high - who came and went, and knew not that a maid had crowned him with her love.

     "Whence fleest thou, O maiden rare?" asked he, amazed, and to her ear his voice was as the voice of moving waters, soft and slow. "Wherefore art thou afraid? Who is it could think to harm thee?"

     And then Dav-Kina, lifting not her fearful eyes, with trembling, spake : "Lo, they are come to fetch me to the fane of Beltis, and I am in anguish fled forth from before their faces, though they tell me that the Goddess' anger will pursue me, and henceforth I am accurst."

     "I ne'er looked on thy like," quoth he, this tall and kingly man. "Tell me, fair child, lov'st thou thy home?"

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     "Zir-Banit's house to me is twice a horror," spake Dav-Kina low.

     "Then wouldst thou come away? Look on me - I could save thee from this temple if I so should wish. Think not, O maiden, I blaspheme. By Asshur great, 'tis my belief this Beltis worship is man-made - not from the gods, as men do claim."

     With such words speaking, he made bold to gently draw more near.

     "Look on me, maid," spake he close to her ear - "look on a man of wars, of lion-hunts, of scars, that was a jest among his friends because he loved not womankind. Thus only have I lived; thus can I now no longer live. Henceforward always, when the white moon sails across the dusky sky, will I behold thy face; henceforward always, when the gentle wind flows sweetly through the flowering trees, thy voice will fill my ear; henceforward always will my heart cry after thee, e'en as the thirsty earth for dew from heaven."

     Then no more did Dav-Kina fear to raise her drooping eyes, and straightway the warm light of love swam forth from out her lustrous orbs and wrapped him in its glory round - wrapped him, warmed him with ecstasy, made his great heart to overflow. In wildest rapture flung he out his arms and caught her close to him. And lo, they kissed each other with soft sounds of laughter - laughter soft as notes of turtle-doves. As thus they stood, the sun-god Shamas slow reached forth his airy fingers and drew back the rainy veils which had obscured his face, that he might smile on them and bathe them in soft, golden, heaven-born fire.

     While still they stood lost in love's maze, came Zir-Banit, Nebo, the priest, Tiglathi-Nin your servant, and two slaves of the household (thick-lipped and bloated eunuchs these), in search of the mad maid. And when Nebo beheld them thus, he cried out with a loud, hoarse cry, as doth the bull in mad onslaught with lowered horns upon a foe, and would have torn them straight apart. But lo! the hunter tall and brave seized on him by the neck and flung him headlong far away, so that he beat his head most cruelly 'gainst a tree, and fell with cries of pain and rage full prone upon the ground.

     Then was Zir-Banit wroth, and on your servant called with angry words: "Art thou a coward and a fool, Tiglathi-Nin," quoth she, "that thou dost stand thus meekly by!" For verily Zir-Banit's tongue was sharp and to be feared.

     But by Dav-Kina's face I knew 'twas he she loved, and saw I too, while he with stout Nebo did strive (for then his outer robe of brown flew open at the neck), a pendant, four-rayed orb of gold, such as kings wear in Shamas' praise, which straight made me to fear. So I stood still and opened not my mouth.

     Then cried Zir-Banit to the slaves: "Loose me my daughter quick from this insolent ruffian's hold!"

     But they moved not nor spake, for by his bearing high they knew the man was more than common blood, and much they trembled as they looked.

     "Go, then, vile slaves!" Zir-Banit cried, with scornful mien; "call all the servants that I own, and mayhap then ye will not quake before one man."

     But now, still with Dav-Kina clasped tightly within his arms, the warrior brave took from beneath his tunic brown a horn of gold and blew a long, clear blast. Almost at once, from mid the trees, in answer came a troop of slaves, who straightway made obeisance low before their lord, then stood apart, awaiting his commands.

     "What are these men?" Zir-Banit cried, with fury foaming at the sight.

     And he who clasped Dav-Kina then, with slow and stately words, replied:
"These men, proud dame, are Hebrew slaves, which mighty Sargon, father of our gracious lord, the King, brought captive from Samaria."

     Then feared we all exceedingly, and would have made obeisance low, but Zir- Banit, in rash, blind wrath, still uttered loud demand:

     "And who art thou!"

      "Thy lord and master - Ismi-Dagon, brother to the King."

     Then fell we all upon our knees and kissed the dust before his feet. And lo! Dav-Kina's face did grow more white than e'en the lilies pale; for she had hearkened to his word, and now was sore afraid. In wild and anxious fear she made as if to loose herself and bow down with us at his feet. But Ismi-Dagon would not so; and held her closer yet and kissed her face and smiled the smile of love.

     "O mighty prince, forgive thy slave, thy wretched slave, for her mad sin!" Thus humbly did Zir-Banit cry.

     "Thy person shall receive no harm," spake Ismi-Dagon in reply. "But this, thy daughter, do I take from thee and from you foolish priest. No longer is she thine, but mine; she shall be mine forever more. O my Dav-Kina, what sayest thou? Wilt thou not freely go with me?"

     Then laughed Dav-Kina low and soft, and taking, kissed his band, and placed it on her head. "My lord" behold thy willing slave," she said.

     Now, Ismi-Dagon's chariot being fetched at his command, the noble lord made haste to enter with Dav-Kina by his side, and ere we knew it they were driven swiftly from before our eyes, full two score Israelitish slaves fast following in train.

     IV.

     And Ismi-Dagon's soul was knit unto Dav-Kina's soul, and her alone he took to be his wife, refusing to have more. Not slave was she to him, but wife - nay queen, had he been king. 'Twas to the palace of Sennacherib, the King, he carried her, and within all that mighty pile, except the Queen, there was not one, yea, not one woman honored more. For with her husband she went in and bowed before our lord the King, who was well pleased to favor her - nay, he was pleased to laugh, men say, and jest with Ismi-Dagon (whom verily he loved well) because of his so strange contentment with a single wife - so strange to him who hundreds had, yet ever wished for more.

     Now when the days were wholly gone - the appointed days which I did name - the inner courts of Beltis' fane still had not yet Dav-Kina known. And 'twas not from her wish alone, for Ismi-Dagon, her fond lord, swore by the gods she should not go.

     "If they do strive to force our wills by virtue of the King's decree, my only path is clear," quoth he. "If go she must, then go I, too, to stand beside her in the fane. Then let blind folly tempt a man to lay his hand upon her there. Though 'twere a king, him would I kill and give his meat to dogs!"

     But think ye not, because of this, he was an unbelieving man - a man who trusted not in gods, but in the might of his strong arm. Such men the gods abominate, and such a man he never was. But only he believed with those who say that Beltis, Queen of Love, should not be worshiped in such wise. The unknown few who so believe are very few, indeed. Yea, scarcely more than half a score of wise old men at Nineveh are known to so believe and teach.

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One of these wise old men, 'tis said, great Sargon highly did esteem, and freely gave him leave to teach within his noble palace walls. There Ismi-Dagon in his youth sat at the feet of this wise man and early hearkened to his words.

     This saying of Dav-Kina's lord, when noised abroad in Nineveh, made men to fear the goddess' wrath, and priests to angrily demand: "Shall gods dishonored be, and their priests set at naught, because a man of royal blood doth love a headstrong maid! Look ye, such daring blasphemy will find its sure reward. The gods do know 'tis blasphemy most grave - their day of wrath will come."

     But, heedless of these murmurs loud, the great King yet more honor did to Ismi-Dagon and his love. For our kings are above all priests, and do approach the gods direct, not through their ministers, as do the multitude of men. But though the priests were silent now through fear of royal wrath, their hearts were sore and they did wish almost would come to pass the direful things which they at first had boldly prophesied.

     Jerusalem, your servant not the half hath told of Ismi-Dagon's mighty fame. In all Assyria, save the King, was there no greater man than he. Though not two- score of years in age, he was the King's right hand in war, his captain of the Royal Guard, his constant, trusted counselor. Yea, to Sennacherib was he a close friend and companion, for in all the glorious lion hunts, and such great royal sports, in which the King ofttimes did lead, there Ismi-Dagon always was the foremost of the brave.

     So then, when war the King declared 'gainst Sethos, Egypt's prince, and levied troops from far and near to swell his mighty host - a host which counted slingers from each conquered alien tribe, which, though unwilling, perforce helped to make our empire feared - then truly Ismi-Dagon was the foremost man of all the world, except our lord, the King. For by Sennacherib's command, to marshal all this mighty host it was his duty then.

     Forth with this host of fighting men went many women, priests, and slaves; such is the custom in our wars. Three hundred concubines and more were needed for the King alone, while every noble was allowed such glory in a less degree, besides a retinue of slaves. In this thing Ismi-Dagon was always the sole exception, for, though with him brought he needed slaves, no concubine had he. Dav-Kina only came to share with him his toils and joys. 'Tis said, fearful of hardship great, he would have left her with the Queen, but her heart failed her at the thought of life while he was one, and her fond lord could not deny the boon she hourly craved. So did appoint the King to them a costly tent of cloth of gold bedecked with beauteous emeralds and furnished with all luxuries, which would be pitched close to his own when rested the proud host in camp.

     Now, as our army southward moved to meet Sethos, the Egyptian King, lo, up from this land of the Jews came tidings of revolt; for, as ye know, Jerusalem had till now heavy tribute paid. Such was the covenant between Sennacherib and Judah's King, who sent out to the conqueror at Lachish this most humble word: "Leave me in peace, O mighty prince; for mine offense impose on me as tribute whatsoe'er thou wilt." And when Sennacherib returned to Nineveh straightway did he write by command on plates of stone, on alabaster cylinders, the records of his victories. Therein, men say, appear these words:

     "And Hezekiah, Judah's King, who bowed not to my yoke, him like a caged bird I shut within Jerusalem, while forty-six of his fenced towns I laid siege to and sacked, and much rich booty brought away in cattle, slaves, and gold. Then round Jerusalem I raised great banks and lofty towers, till Hezekiah's soul did quake with terror of my might, and meekly made submission to Sennacherib the Great."*
     * Excerpt from the "Taylor Cylinder."

     Now when news of this fresh revolt came to us on our march, Sennacherib was very wroth and cursed your treacherous race.

     "When I have broken Egypt's strength, made Sethos kiss my feet, to this land will I then return," quoth he, in fury fierce. "Then will I crush this petty race which dares to anger me."

     And straightway then did he send forth the wise Rab-Saris, chief eunuch, and Rab-Shakeh, his cupbearer, with word to Hezekiah: "If thy trust be on Egypt's King, thou leanest on a broken staff, O ruler of Jerusalem! For I am mightier than he, and him will wipe from off the earth. Nor think, vain man, to escape my sword by calling loudly on thy God. For where was He when plundered I with fearless hand thy country wide? Where was He when my father took Israel from Samaria forth and scattered them broadcast the earth?"

     And Rab-Saris and Rab-Shakeh went up against Jerusalem, and there proclaimed, as they were bid, the word of great Sennacherib.

     Now when they were returned they found our mighty host to Egypt come. We rested on the border land hard by the place Pelusium. Across the border Sethos lay, awaiting us in mortal fear. Ten miles away in escarped camp, him our most forward scouts beheld at sunset of that day.

     Here Rab-Saris and Rab-Shakeh came in before our lord, the King, and thus did they make known to him what they heard at Jerusalem:

     "O mighty King, from Asshur sprung, Jerusalem doth not consent to go again beneath thy yoke. Her King disdained thy messengers; would not come out to speak with us, nor open unto us his gates. His servants only sent he out to hear thy word and make reply. And unto us lo, they did say that Hezekiah on their God had earnest called, and not in vain. For through His chosen one did He make promise to destroy thy might, to put a ring through thy two lips, and lead thee back whence thou didst come."

     Then laughed Sennacherib with scorn, and said:

     Let Judah's King but wait till proud Sethos hath kissed my feet."
                    [To be concluded.]
Notes and Reviews 1888

Notes and Reviews 1888

THE subscribers to the Concordance number eleven hundred.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE Canada Association, finding that the Tidings is not self-sustaining at twenty-five cents per year, have advanced the subscription price to fifty cents a year.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

SIGNOR CAPAUNA, of Rome, Italy, is said to be preparing a work on Swedenborg, biographical, expository of his doctrines, and to some extent critical, though in the best sense of the word.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE missionary of the Canada Association found a lady at London, Ontario, who was an earnest New Churchwoman, and had withdrawn from the Presbyterian Church on that account, yet, until his visit, had never heard of the New Church or of its members.

125

Title Unspecified 1888

IN his report for 1887-8 Professor Scocia says that he has been sick for the greater part of the time, but that the work has gone on, and during the year five hundred copies of the various books he has in the Italian language have been sold, and that the subscribers to his little periodical number one hundred.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

FOR several years, it seems, one volume of the Arcana in England has been out of print. The reason for this is that the Society desired to have it revised and not to reprint the old edition. The work was given a gentleman to do, but after eighteen months he gave it up. It is now in the able hands of Dr. Tafel, and will soon be ready for the printer.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IN Songs, Hymns, and Carols (Part 1), a pamphlet of thirty-two pages, published by the Massachusetts New Church Union, Mr. O. B. Brown has gathered together some very choice selections, old and new, that will be welcomed in all our schools. An attempt is made here and there to introduce sentiments peculiarly New Church, and it is to be hoped that this will lead to a collection of distinctively New Church songs.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

The editor of The Buddhist Ray sent a lot of sample copies of his paper to various parts of Asia and had no thought of return, "at least in the form of cold cash," but for all that the "cold cash" came - fifty subscribers from Ceylon alone. The editor, as our readers may know, was once a New Church minister, who has "progressed" beyond the "fossilized New Church." Slangy English seems to be one of the features of modern Buddhism.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

FOR the third or fourth time we must direct our readers' attention to the wrappers in which the Life now is mailed. No bills are sent out, the date on the printed address being both bill and receipt. For instance: "Jan., 88," after the name means that the subscription is paid to January 1st, 1888, and that, consequently, the current year is unpaid. When the remittance due is made we change the date on the wrapper to "Jan., 89," and this is regarded as a receipt.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IN the leading article of the Australian New Age on the newly formed Association, the writer gives some sound doctrine: "Its success depends, not on its becoming like other organizations, but in 'its distinctness from them,' as the Rev. James Reid points out in his recent article in the New Jerusalem Magazine." He also alludes to the doctrines concerning marriage, quoting A. C. 8998, and also warns against attempts "to draw the masses at the sacrifice of specific and clear New Church teaching."
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE publishers of The New Christianity recently submitted a proposition to the Board of Publication that that journal and the Messenger be merged into one, the former to have control of three pages a week of reading matter and one and a half columns of advertising. The Board of Publication "Resolved, That in the opinion of this Board the purposes and uses of the New Church Messenger and The New Christianity are too diverse to make a union of the two periodicals for the present desirable."
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

AT the last meeting of the Swedenborg Society the following resolution was passed - moved by Dr. Tafel and seconded by the Rev. T. Child: "In view of the close relation of science and religion in the human mind, the facts of natural science serving therein as a basis for the truths of religion, "

Resolved, That this meeting acknowledges the great importance of the
scientific and philosophical writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, and recognizes
their publication as one of the legitimate uses of the Swedenborg Society."
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE Report of the Committee to the Swedenborg Society contains the following passage: "The marvelous harmony of doctrine which the Concordance brings forth to view in all its fullness is not the least valuable use it performs."
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

Every New Churchman ought to subscribe for this work, not only because it will be of great use to him and his children, but to aid the Society in their heavy task. Mr. A. Backhouse has presented the Society with a translation by Dr. Tafel of Swedenborg's Invitation to the New Church. Mr. J. B. Keene has undertaken to complete the revision of the work, Divine Providence.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

AT the last meeting of the Swedenborg Society the Rev. J. F. Potts, speaking of the need of better and more faithful translations, says that sixteen years ago he noticed a passage in the translation which reads - speaking of certain spirits: "Some of them had collars round their necks made of twisted intestines and some of other materials." In the edition this year some one has substituted the word "membrane" for "intestines." "In the Latin," says Mr. Potts, "it reads they had 'collars with ruffles and others with points.'" He does not mention the number in which this occurs, but says it is in one of the Memorable Relations.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

MR. WILLIAM H. ALDEN, corner Twenty-second and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia, has published eight lectures on The Realities of Heaven, by the Rev. T. F. Wright, both detached and in book form. They are very readable lectures, and will doubtless prove helpful to some. But their power and usefulness would be greatly enhanced did the acknowledgment of Swedenborg's Writings as Divine authority on the existence of the spiritual world enter as a more positive factor. Too much stress is laid on the sufficiency of mere reason, and little or none on the necessity of the Writings for a knowledge of the other world.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE notorious Dr. Talmage, of Brooklyn, recently said in a sermon on Spiritism: "They attempt to substitute the writings of Swedenborg and Andrew Jackson Davis, and other religious balderdash, in the place of this old Bible." So bald a falsehood is scarcely worthy of refuting. We of the New Church see its grotesque falsity, because we know the truth on the subject. But suppose the assertion had been made of something of which we were not familiar? Do any of us ever go spreading reports of things and people of which we know nothing beyond mere hearsay? or impart information on subjects of which we are sheerly ignorant?
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

History of the Boston Highlands Society of the New Jerusalem is the title of a neat and well-printed little volume written by Mr. John A. Thompson, and published by the Society. The frontispiece is a picture of the church building - at least, we presume so, for no title is given - a very handsome edifice, indeed. The Society was organized on December 18th, 1870, and altogether has had one hundred and eighty-three members - a list of whose names is given. A peculiar feature of this list is that it contains the names of one hundred and thirty-two ladies and only fifty-one of men. The book has 109 pages and gives full details of the history and laws of the Society.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

WHO of our readers ever heard of the Chinguacousy Society? And yet of Daniel Wright, whose obituary notice appears in this number of the Life, the Tidings says: "He became interested in the Doctrines of the New Church about forty years ago by hearing the Rev. Chauncey Giles preach in Chinguacousy, and became leader of the New Church Society then existing in that place." We might exclaim with Glaucus, "Like leaves on trees," the race of Societies which spring up grow apace and wither, and those which survive year after year scarcely more than hold their original numbers - often not even that. The growth of the Church is very slow, but we know it is growing somewhere.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IN his article in the July Scribner on "Modern Greece," Mr. Thomas D. Seymour says: "The Greeks are the most frugal and temperate. people of Europe. Gluttony and drunkenness are rare vices among them. Their diet is such as it was two thousand years ago.

126

They eat little meat; barley bread, goats' cheese, or black dried olives and wine make up a bountiful repast. . . . There are many varieties of Greek wines, but almost all are strong and fiery, and are tempered with water when they are drunk." What a comment this is on the foolish "temperance" people who afflict this country and England! A foolish race who falsify the LORD'S truth and blindly strive to throw the odium of the hells that ever and anon break bonds on one of the noblest of natural productions.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

MR. THEODORE COMPTON in the New Church Magazine gives an interesting account of his being present at one of the "Hawkstone Meetings" in 1841. These meetings were originated by the Rev. John Clowes. The innkeeper, he says, "had a superstitious regard for the party, always putting off his hay-making till 'the Swedenborgs' came, because, he said, 'they always bring good luck.'" Two regular toasts were drunk each day. 1. The New Church; 2. The Queen; 3. Our beloved friend and pastor, John Clowes [this was after his death]; 4. May the gold of the wedding ring never be debased by any alloy. They seemed from the account to have had good times at these meetings, and useful, those old pioneers; but how the virtuous "temperance" New Churchmen of these days would have frowned at the presence of wine at the banquets - and in a public house, too!
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE following, it is perhaps needless to say, comes from a "temperance" source, i. e., The Dawn: "Take another illustration. The Scriptures say that God 'is angry with the wicked every day,' and that 'His mercy endureth forever.' How do we know which is the genuine and which is the apparent truth? Is it by a critical analysis of the Hebrew text? No; but by an intuitive perception that the one statement is in accordance with the appearances of things in the natural man, and the other in accordance with genuine truth." And the writer goes on to apply this to the "wine question." If the "temperance" people are going to take refuge in "perception" their case is hopeless; reason cannot reach them. The wildest absurdities are "perceived" and believed by those who claim to receive truth by perception. The LORD'S revealed truth is looked on with distrust or even contempt by these poor deluded ones.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

A WRITER in the July Tidings says of the numerous and active Prohibitionists in the New Church: "The serious side of this false teaching is, that so long as the drunkard continues in the false notion that whisky is at fault for his drunkenness, he will not look for the fault where the Divine Teacher commands him to look, into his own conceits and lusts, and herein do these teachers lay themselves open to just condemnation for the part they take in retarding man's regeneration." It is plain that a denial of the Divine truth cannot benefit any one. It is plain that to attribute the cause of evil to any material substance is to deny the Divine Truth. Hence the condemnation of these is a just one. There is but one way of dealing with evil in this world - punishment. By that legitimate means evil may be restrained. Its removal lies between man and the LORD alone, and if another interferes and attempts to remove evil from the soul of a fellow-sinner he arrogates Divine power to himself and is guilty of a terrible profanity.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IN answer to a question, The Critic, or, rather, C. P. in that journal, says: "The Brotherhood of the New Life loves mystery, and the only account that may be had of it may be gathered from a large volume of occultistic matter entitled Esoteric Science, privately printed in 1884, I think, and from a series of poems called Star-Flowers: The Woman's Mystery, three volumes of about 125 pages each, one canto in each volume, privately printed in 1886. There are numerous earlier books, whose titles I don't remember, and probably later books, of which I don't know, that would assist in giving one an idea of the religions theories held by the Brotherhood. But the system has developed through early evangelistic and Swedenborgian phases into something much more subtle - a kind of spiritualized and Orientalized Hebraism akin to Theosophy, let us say - and the books mentioned, especially Esoteric Science, would represent well enough, and better than his earlier sermonizings, the special revelation of the Rev. Thomas Lake Harris, founder of the Brotherhood. All of these publications are written by this 'Pivotal Man,' as his disciples call him, under peculiar methods of composition, and are claimed to be inspired and authoritative utterances. They are set in type by members of the Brotherhood (now resident at Fountain Grove, near Santa Rosa, Cal.), and are not for sale, but may be procured only through the hands of believers. Mr: Laurence Oliphant's 'Piccadilly' and also his last volume are saturated with Harrisism."

About the only clear thing in this is that the writer is as ignorant of the real New Church as are the "new life" men, and that is saying a good deal.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE July number of New Church Reading Circle contains the following editorial: "If we speak now of the Church as exhibited in its organization, and the conduct of its work, we must not only confess an immaturity that is natural, but an arrest of development that is unnecessary, and is to be attributed, perhaps, to our failure to grasp in faith our great charter and commission as sent of the LORD to preach the everlasting gospel. This failure to emphasize the significance of the ministry and mission of the Church appeared nowhere more conspicuously than in the closing exercises of the Theological School; because here at least one naturally turns to find that tone of confidence in the LORD and appreciation of the work of His Second Advent which alone can give vigor and prosperity to the New Church. It is certainly only a fair confession of the general feeling and conviction, to say these closing exercises were disappointing. It was not the inadequacy of the School's equipment, nor the smallness of the class, nor the grade of its scholarship, which is perhaps of less consequence than we are accustomed to think, and is certainly in a measure beyond the control of the managers. But that which we missed was the tone of apostolic witness to the LORD and His work; a thing so fundamental and essential to an efficient ministry that the managers of the School should feel themselves justified in rejecting candidates to whom they are unable to impart it. Three members of the class, leaving the School and about to take up pastoral work, delivered sermons. The subjects were thoughtfully handled, and the ideas well expressed. But in the whole two hours' deliverance there was not a word to show that it was a New Church Theological School, not a word of the LORD'S Second Coming, or of the meaning and mission of the New Church. A stranger happening in would have heard the word Christian, and much that belongs to the New Church to teach, but would have been unable to explain its origin or clearly differentiate it from the Christianity roundabout. As for the 'Everlasting Gospel,' that the LORD has come with new truths for His New Church, he would never have dreamed of it. One of the students read a paper on the 'ministerial use,' full of good sense as to the moral character and behavior of the minister as a member of society, and very felicitously written; but there was in it no recognition of the LORD'S apostolic use, which it is the office of the ministry to administer, and in and through which the LORD can operate to save souls even by the 'weak things of this world.' We need good men undoubtedly, and gentle and proper persons for 'parsons;' but above all things the Church wants the person sunk in his mission, and his apostolic office and its gospel and the LORD'S saving operation in and by means of it exalted. The LORD'S Second Coming with revelation from the Word, and the sending forth of men to teach this revelation to men that the LORD by it may regenerate and save them is so obviously the single business of a New Church Theological School, that it would be only a mistaken charity to pass without comment the failure to exalt and emphasize this mission in the deliverances of the Theological School of the General Convention."

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Communicated 1888

[Inasmuch as in this Department Correspondents have an opportunity to express their individual opinions, be they in favor of the principles on which New Church Life is conducted, or adverse to them, the Editors do not hold themselves responsible for any of the views whatever that are published therein.]
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified X 1888

     TO THE EDITORS OF NEW CHURCH LIFE:- I have been in hopes that
"Frater," the correspondent of the New Christianity who was so grieved over the use of robes by priests of the New Church, would have come forward ere this and have owned to the mistakes he made in his last letter, seeing that man should "acknowledge and confess" (A. C. 226), and thus afford us an opportunity of once more directing his thoughts to the grandeur of the Writings on the subject of garments. As he has not seen fit to do so, other of your readers may be interested to know that when I quoted from the Writings (Life, page 31) that those who do the goods of charity from religion are clothed in red, which, as they advance in goodness, becomes purple, and in proportion as they receive truth becomes beautifully yellow, I did not think it necessary to explain the inference that if this be the case with the people how magnificent must be the vestments provided for the priests, for we are taught that "all (not laymen only) in the heavens appear clothed according to intelligence, and because one excels another in intelligence one has more excellent garments than another." (H. H 178.) With this before him the reader will, I think, have no difficulty in detecting the profound logic of Frater's conclusion that while the discourse was "full of the spirit of wisdom," yet because nothing was said in T. C. R. 743 of the priests' vestments, therefore their dress was as "simple and unostentatious as that of his hearers." The profoundness of his logic will further appear from the fact that the simplicity and unostentatiousness here referred to consisted of garments of red, purple, and a beautiful yellow. It would seem that this correspondent, were he at all familiar with the Writings (and I was almost saying, did not have a false notion to bolster up) would have seen that as the angels are clothed in "shining and bright garments" (H. H. 181), those from the east in shining purple garments, and those from the south in garments of bright hyacinthine (A. R. 875), and others in crimson robes, under which they wear a coat of lustrous silk of a hyacinthine color, with stockings of bright shining linen with threads of silver interwoven and shoes of velvet (C. L. 42), that the dress of the priest who delivered the discourse "so full of wisdom" must have been resplendent and gorgeous beyond description, seeing, as above, that all are clothed according to their intelligence (H. H. 178) and that the priests are clothed in "sacerdotal vestments" (A. R. 962). Apparently it did not suit "Frater's" greatly grieved spirit to see in this way, hence his profound logic.

     The reader may have observed that Frater in his last admonished the editor of the Tidings not to attempt to enlighten me by truths from the Writings, seeing that I was unable to see without. In this connection it might be useful to say that my reason for appealing to the Writings was because "what man sees from himself is evil" (D. P. 219), and because "every one who from his own intelligence assumes a principle of religion and sets it up as the head, assumes, also, confirmations from the Word and makes them the tail, thus brings stupor upon others and so hurts them." (A. R. 438.) I have found truths of this kind useful in avoiding confirmations of the false, and I venture to say that Frater, were he to adopt a plan of submitting ideas to the test of the Writings, might at least avoid some of his numerous and varied appearances in print in favor of doctrines contrary to those of the New Church.

     With regard to that gigantic sham, "prohibition," which has recently been (almost unanimously) espoused by the Presbyterians and Methodists in their annual meetings, held at Halifax and Toronto, I will ask space for only this: "There is not in the whole spiritual world an instance of any man having been removed from evils but by means of combat and resistance, as from himself. All who come from the earth into the spiritual world are known as to their quality from their ability or inability to resist evils as from themselves." (Ath. Cr.)

     It must appear clear from this to every New Churchman that with all such shams as "prohibition" the New Church has nothing to do, the attempt to introduce such into it being an unwarranted assumption.
     TORONTO, July 10th, 1888.                     X.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified A 1888

EDITORS OF NEW CHURCH LIFE:- One of the contributors of the New Church Independent seems to approach the one of the possessions of Tennyson's Brook - he goes on forever - in a colloquial sense of the word. At one time he was ordained into the priesthood of the New Church, but now that body has no opponent more continuously spoken than he. I do not often read his papers, but glancing through the July number of his favorite journal I was struck with two passages which seem to explain things somewhat. Here is one of them: "Yet amidst the amazing discoveries of the last century, unequaled by the united discoveries of the last two thousand years, nothing is so amazing as the fact that, during that century the so-called New Church has not produced an expounder of the New Things who himself had the three degrees of his mind opened! A few readers of Swedenborg, during that century, have had the degrees opened, but they had their training outside of that organization." Since the Writings tell us that the interior state of man is known to the LORD alone, and that no man knows his own state, much less that of his neighbor, we may ask, how does Mr. -- know the things he so bravely pretends to know? If he pretends to believe the Writings of the New Church, or, as he would probably prefer to call them, "Swedenborg's writings," they convict him of foolishness. Again, from the same paper: "If, during a century, it has not supplied a single celestial teacher, the hope is not large for a supply from that direction." It may surprise the writer of the foregoing to learn that even in heaven the celestials never teach but are taught truth by the spiritual, hence it follows that those in this world who dub themselves "Celestials," and who write to spiritistic publications with the purpose of instructing their fellow-mortals, by their very act show that, whatever they may become in the future, they are not acting the celestial part in giving instruction. And now the thing explained is this: That by his own words Mr.
shows a most lamentable ignorance of what the Doctrines teach and, consequently, is not fitted to teach others in things pertaining to the New Church. He is self-convicted. A
IT is darkness when falsity prevails instead of truth 1888

IT is darkness when falsity prevails instead of truth 1888

"IT is darkness when falsity prevails instead of truth, and it is thick darkness when evil prevails instead of good; or, what is the same thing, when hatred reigns instead of charity." (A. C. 1860.)

128

NEWS GLEANINGS 1888

NEWS GLEANINGS Various 1888

NEW CHURCH LIFE.

A MONTHLY JOURNAL

TERMS:- One Dollar per annum, payable in advance.
     Six months on trial for twenty-five cents.

     All communications must be addressed to Publishers New Church Life, No. 759 Corinthian Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa.

     In Great Britain subscriptions may be sent to

     MR. S. WARREN POTTS, Book Steward, 61 Cathedral Street, Glasgow, Scotland.

     REV. R. J. TILSON, "Oakley," County Grove, Camberwell London S. E.

     MR. G. A. MCQUEEN, Crowhurst Road, Colchester.

     MR. JAS. CALDWELL, 59 County Road, N., Liverpool.

     MR. C. E. SCHROEDER, 13 Ashfield Terrace, Newcastle-on-Tyne.

     MISS FLORENCE G. GIBBS, 6 Camden Square, London, N.

     PHILADELPHIA. AUGUST, 1888=119.

     CONTENTS.

     Editorial Notes, pp. 113, 114. - Sermon, p. 114. - Conversations on Education, p. 117. - Future Whereabouts of the New Church, p. 118.

Ismi-Dagon p. 121.

Notes and Reviews, p. 124.

Communicated, p. 127.

     News Gleanings, p. 128. - Birth, Marriages, and Deaths, p. 128.
     AT HOME.

     Pennsylvania. - ON the 4th of July thirty members of the Church of the New Jerusalem in Allentown, old and young, spent the day at the pleasant home of one of the members living in South Bethlehem. Dinner and supper were partaken of under the trees on the large lawn. The sphere throughout the day was that of one large family, and was a delight to all present.

     THE Rev. C. T. Odhner is this summer ministering to the Church in Allentown. Besides preaching in English and German, leading the Sunday School, and conducting the two regular doctrinal classes, Mr. Odhner proposes to deliver a series of lectures on Mythology. The first of these was held on the 6th of July, in which the general principles which should be the guide in this study were drawn from the Doctrines. The teachings concerning the four ages were presented. It was also shown how the various forms of idolatry which existed at the close of the Silver Age had their origin in a once true religion in its beginning. These lectures promise to be a source of great benefit, and very much interest is manifested in them.

     BISHOP BENADE and the Rev. E. S. Price sailed for Europe during the latter part of June. They will attend the meeting of the Orientalists, of which body Mr. Benade is a member, to be held at Stockholm during the summer.

     THE special Finance Committee, appointed in 1881 to raise funds for the Chestnut Street Church (First Society), Philadelphia, have made their final report. The building lot and furnishing cost nearly $150,000, and is all paid for.

     Canada. - THE Rev. J. S. David will make a missionary visit to Nova Scotia in July and August.

     THE German Missionary Union met at Berlin, Canada, on the 2d day of July.

     THE Canada Association met at Berlin June 28th-July 1st. There was a large attendance. Reports showed a fairly prosperous year. The "unfermented wine question" came up, was referred to the Ecclesiastical Committee, who unanimously decided that wine was the only proper element to be used at the Holy Supper, and it is improper to use the unfermented grape juice.

     California. - ON May 23d the Oakland Society held a social meeting to celebrate the second anniversary of its existence. On June 19th the same Society held an enjoyable meeting in commemoration of the event that took place in the year 1770.

     New York. - THE will of Miss Wealtha A. Neale, of Brooklyn, was admitted to probate by Surrogate Lott on June 26th. Miss Neale died in October, 1887, leaving a will made in 1884, by which she made bequests to the executors in trust for the Faith Home for Incurables, the American New Church Tract Society, and the American Swedenborgian Printing and Publication Society. Miss Neale's sister contested the will, claiming that it was obscure and did not properly designate the Societies named as beneficiaries. Surrogate Lott says they are designated with sufficient clearness. The estate is worth $40,000.

     THE Society at Riverhead, L. I., has re-engaged the services of the Rev. George M. Davidson for another year. Through deaths and removals the Society has been somewhat reduced in numbers.

     Illinois. - THE statement in the Life's news column, June (taken from local newspapers of Joliet), that the late M. C. Bissell, of that place, had left nothing to his wife out of his large fortune was contradicted by the Universalist clergyman who assisted at the funeral. He said that the wife has "$50,000 set aside for her use to be disposed of in her own right."

     Hon. J. Y. Scammon sailed for Europe in June.

     Ohio. - THE Annual Picnic of the Sunday School of the Cincinnati Society was held this year near College Hill on the 19th of June. "At dinner," says the Messenger's correspondent, "which was eaten sitting in a circle on the grass, old- time picnic speeches were made by the two ministers and Professor French. Mr. Goddard's and Mr. Hays's remarks were on the same subject, calling attention to the date of the day, June 19th, saying that it was an anniversary in the Church, and explaining to the children what it signified." The attendance was about seventy.

     Oregon. - ISAAC BALL, of Ballston, Oregon, says the New Church Pacific, "is a veritable patriarch with forty children, grandchildren and great- grandchildren, all of whom are adherents of the New Church, and most of whom are living within fifteen or twenty miles of the old home.

     ABROAD.

     England. - WHITSUNDAY was celebrated at Besses by the Congregational, Methodist, and New Church Sunday School conjointly.

     THE Local Branch New Church Temperance Society held a meeting at the New Church College, Islington, the Rev. W. C. Barlow presiding. Among other things was the unanimous passing of a resolution condemning the "compensation clause" of the Local Government Bill now before Parliament. (This clause simply provides for paying men, who have invested their money in the liquor business under previous laws, for dispossessing them of their property.)

     "THE Society in this town, Colchester, made on Tuesday evening, June 19th, what is, as far as we are aware of, an entirely new departure in the matter of new Church celebrations. The fact that on that day, in the year 1770, the LORD sent His disciples throughout the spiritual world to preach the glad tidings of the Second Advent, was considered by our Committee to be especially worthy of remembrance by those who accept the truths of the New Dispensation. It was, therefore, arranged to hold a thanksgiving service on what was announced as New Church Day, 119. There was a full attendance of members, and altogether a very enjoyable time was spent in prayer and praise. Worship was commenced by a short responsive service, bearing upon the Second Coming of the LORD, which service had been copied from the Liturgy of the General Church of Pennsylvania. The Rev. C. Griffiths, of Brightlingsea, preached a sermon from Matthew, 24th chapter, exactly suited to the occasion. After giving a description of the state of the Christian world at the time of the Last Judgment, and spiritually applying the various statements contained in the chapter just mentioned, he concluded by showing the cause for rejoicing which those have who are able to acknowledge the LORD at His Second Coming. The collection amounted to 21s., and this, with 32s. collected from the Sunday-school children, has been forwarded to the New Church Orphanage." - Colchester letter to Morning Light.
EDITORIAL NOTES 1888

EDITORIAL NOTES Editor 1888

129

NEW CHURCH LIFE,

Vol. VIII PHILADELPHIA, SEPTEMBER, 1888=119. NO. 9
A CORRESPONDENT of New Christianity (August 2d) indexes his feelings by heading his paper "Laying the Foundations of Babylon." We have always had a general impression that the foundations of Babylon were laid a good while ago, and that the superstructure was completed and even consummated. But if this correspondent is to be believed, the foundation layers of Babylon are the members, especially the ministers, of the Canada Association. To accuse a body of "laying the foundations of Babylon" is, we believe, the same thing as accusing it of doing hellish work. The gist of the matter is this: The Canada Association refused to go contrary to what it believes the Divine Truth teaches, and at the request of the correspondent furnish him with unfermented grape juice at the Holy Supper. Now the question is simply this: Is an organization which declines to change from what it has been since its beginning infringing on any one's freedom, or playing the Babylonish part by so doing?
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

EDITOR "B," commenting on this letter, and with the utmost gravity, says that the unfermented wine people "have no desire to force their convictions on others." It is difficult to answer statements of this sort, and for this reason: The statute books of the land contain many laws (or rather edicts, for a law is something based on Divine Truth) which these people have forced on an unwilling minority; there is a political party of them to-day seeking to leap on the nation's back like another Old Man of the Sea, and the editor's own paper hotly advocates this rule of force. In view of this it is difficult to answer the assertion that they do not seek to force others. We rather look with some curiosity at a man who can seriously make such an assertion.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

RIGHT pat to all this is a question propounded by a contributor to this very number of New Christianity. "Why," he asks," should prohibition be such an unsavory idea with the Christians when nearly the whole of the Decalogue is prohibitory?" There is something perilously near profanation in this. It plainly says: "God prohibits you from doing certain things, so why should you object when we prohibit?" The Decalogue prohibits all evil, and the fact that the thing these people seek to prohibit is not to be found prohibited in the Decalogue nor in any part of Divine Revelation is conclusive that the life of their "movement" is not of heaven.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IT would not greatly surprise us to hear in response to the foregoing: "When Divine Revelation was made the fearful effects of liquor was not so well known or it would have been prohibited." There is something akin to it in this same journal of August 2d. A correspondent wants the fact that Swedenborg indulged in the "debasing and demoralizing tobacco habit" reconciled with the other fact that through him were given to the world the Writings of the New Church. Editor "B" replies - italics and all: "The habit was not sinful in his case simply because he did not know that the free use of tobacco in any of its forms was injurious to both body and mind." The same line of reasoning can be applied to explain why Swedenborg never demanded grape juice at the Holy Supper or objected to wine (in prohibition dialect "poison") at the table; "he did not know." If the question be pressed a step further and it be asked, Why, then, was he not told from heaven? What is to be the answer? Will the insanity be carried to its bitter logical end and the reply be made that Swedenborg was not told because the truth on this subject was not known in heaven at that time?
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

OUR excuse, if excuse be needed, for so constantly dwelling on this one theme, must be that all external signs go to show that the consummated Church is rapidly concentrating its life in the prohibition "movement" or party, and under this disguise seeking to dominate men by force even as it did in the days of the Inquisition. Its evil and false life has assaulted the New Church and led many of its people astray even, no doubt, as it has led many of the simple good of all sects astray. It claims a high and holy purpose as its end, and it seeks to accomplish that end by taking away human freedom, spurning truth, and denying the Lord. Some of its victims desperately strive to carry the Word with them; they explain, twist, and even shut their eyes on the clear truth and refuse to see that the Word points one way and their false god would drag them another. They cannot serve both; they cannot always blind even their own eyes to the truth, and the time must come, sooner or later, when they shall have to choose between the two.
NAME "IEHOWAH." 1888

NAME "IEHOWAH." 1888

As the Word treats inmostly of nothing but the LORD, who is the very centre, soul, and life of the Word, so, the name IEHOWAH may well be said to form the very centre and soul of all the expressions of the Letter of the Word in the Hebrew. This name is the very Holiest of the whole Sacred Tongue, and around it are grouped all other expressions of the language. No other word is of such internal and universal significance as IEHOWAH, no other so wonderful and rich in form, so ancient and primitive of origin.

And - what is significant - there seems to be no other word in the whole Hebrew language, which by the hells of the perverted sciences of the Christian world is so attacked, so torn and disputed, so distorted as to form, narrowed and vilified as to significance, application, and origin.

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In the New Church study of the Word in its original tongue it seems, therefore, of primary importance that the Divine Instruction as to this Most Holy name, given with almost bewildering abundance in the Writings, should be collected and applied, for the purpose of explaining this name as to signification, character, form, and origin, and bringing with it fruits of equal use to a true understanding as well of Theology as of Science.

Nor are the vessels of the Egyptians wanting, for the results of centuries of labor in the fields of Philology, Mythology, and History are ready to our hands.
Spiritual Signification of "Iehowah." 1888

Spiritual Signification of "Iehowah." 1888

     Names, and the calling by names in the Word, denote in general the
know- ledge of the quality of a thing (A. C. 144, 3421, 6674), and as the quality is the essential of everything, the name of a thing signifies its essence or inmost being. (A. C. 1754.)

     So also Names in application to the LORD designate His Divine Qualities, and as all the Names of the LORD are revelations or accommodations of His Inmost Divine, so they all in general signify His Divine Esse or Essence. (A. C. 1736, 3237.)

     The LORD, in the Word, has thus revealed Himself by various Names, accommodated to the different states of receptivity of different men, and they have all more or less direct reference to His Divine Essential. In none of His Names does He, however, in spirit and in letter call Himself the Esse, the "to Be," except in the name IEHOWAH; no other Divine Name, therefore, in the representative tongue of Hebrew, refers itself so directly to the Inmost Divine Itself; no other is of such internal representation; no other expresses the All of the Divine from firsts to lasts in as ultimate and universal a form as the name IEHOWAH.

     IEHOWAH signifies, therefore, primarily the "to Be," or the Divine Esse
Itself of the LORD, concerning which we read:

     "Jehovah signifies the Supreme and only Esse, from Whom is everything that is and exists in the universe." (T. C. R. 9.)

     "By Jehovah is meant the Divine Esse, which was from eternity." (T. C. R. 81; A. C. 840; A. E. 24.)

     "The LORD is called Jehovah, because He alone Is or lives, thus from essence." (A. C. 300, 1735, 3910.)

     "Nothing can be predicated of Jehovah, except that He is." (A. C. 926, 630, 708.)

     Inasmuch, further, as "to Be" and "to live" in the proximate idea signifies the same, the name IEHOWAH signifies also Life Itself, as is illustrated in the Hebrew verb Haiah, which means to be and to live.

     "To Be" and "to live" are predicable of the LORD subjectively, or as to the subjective state of the Divine Itself in First things. When the LORD reveals Himself to man with respect to His Divine Activity, or with respect to His relation to what proceeds from Him, the idea of being and living resolves itself into the idea of Loving - the only idea that can be had of the Eternal and Infinite activity of the LORD.

     Thus we find that the name IEHOWAH signifies also the Divine Love Itself, which is inseparable from the Esse and Life Itself.

     "Jehovah signifies the LORD as to the Divine Love." (A. R. 193.)

     "The Divine Love Itself is Jehovah; 'I am' or 'Is' can be predicated of no other thing than Love." (A. C. 1735.)

     This also we find illustrated in the Hebrew verb "Haiah," which when the
Breathing H is somewhat sharpened becomes Chaiah, which means "to live" and "to desire, long for," hence "to love."

     The Divine Love, when it is made known to man, is perceived as the Divine Good, correspondingly as the pure fire of the Sun, when proceeding is felt as heat. Hence the name IEHOWAH signifies also the Divine Good Itself, as we are taught in these passages:

     "The LORD, in the Word, is called Jehovah, which is the Divine Good." (A.
C. 7499.)

     "Jehovah signifies the Divine Celestial, that is, the Divine Good or Esse
Itself." (A. C. 2616.)

     The Divine Good when received by angels and by men into the faculty of their will, and thence into the things of the will called voluntary things or affections, and when received and carried out into the acts of life by men, is then ultimated in the goods of love or works of Charity. These are then IEHOWAH Himself in ultimates, and hence we read:

     "It is said Jehovah, in the Word, when voluntary things or goods of love are treated of." (A. C. 709.)

     All these significations of IEHOWAH have, as we see, reference to the Esse or Love of the LORD, and to what proceeds thence, and the name IEHOWAH is thus primarily a word of the celestial class, yea, is the very fountain-head of all such expressions in the Word.

     The Divine Esse or Love is not, however, the only Essential of the Divine. One with it, though distinctly one, is the Divine Existere or the Divine Wisdom, which is the Second Essential of the LORD. These two Essentials can never be separated either in the LORD or in proceedings from Him, and in revealing the name of His Divine Esse the LORD, therefore, in the same name revealed His Divine Existere, which is one with it. Hence, in making known to Moses His name IEHOWAH, the LORD explains this as meaning "I am who I am," which signifies "the Esse and Existere of all things in the universe." (A. C. 6873.)

     From these two essentials of the LORD proceeds the Third Essential, the Holy Spirit, the Divine Operation, and from it are all things of Good and Truth or of Charity and Faith with man in Heaven or in the Church. And hence we learn that this is also the signification of the name IEHOWAH, inasmuch as in this name are contained in one ultimate complex or focus "all the things of Faith and Love or all the things of truth and good, by which the LORD is worshiped." (A. C. 8274, 440, 3006, 3443, 3488, 6280, 6887, 9283, 10,646.)

     But the One LORD, Whose Divine Trinity is thus worshiped from Good and Truth by Charity and Faith, is no one else than the LORD JESUS CHRIST, Whose Human is Divine. Before the Incarnation and Glorification of the LORD, the Human, in which He revealed Himself to the Church, was taken from an angel and revealed to Men as IEHOWAH. After the Glorification the Human which the LORD took upon Himself in the world was IEHOWAH, for it was then made the Divine Itself. The name IEHOWAH signifies, therefore, universally, the Divine Human of the LORD, as we are taught in many passages in the Writings.

     "By 'the name of Jehovah' is properly understood the Divine Human of the LORD." (A. C. 7194, 2628, 6280, 6881, 8274, 10,646.)

     That by IEHOWAH is thus signified the LORD Himself in His Divine Human
is thus indicated in the Apocalypse, "'From Him Who is and Who was and Who is to come,' signifies from the LORD, Who is Infinite and Eternal and Jehovah." (A. R. 13.)

     As a summary, then, we learn that the LORD who is IEHOWAH, is the
"Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End." Who is the Self and the Only from First things to Lasts, from Whom are all things; thus Who is Love Itself and the Only Love, Wisdom Itself and the Only Wisdom, and Life Itself and the Only Life in Himself, and thus the Very and Only Creator, Saviour, and Illustrator from Himself, and thence the All in all things of Heaven and the Church. (A. R. 29.)

131

Variations of the Name Iehowah: Their Significations 1888

Variations of the Name Iehowah: Their Significations O 1888

     The name IEHOWAH is in the Word found with two varieties of form, bearing in them, also, variations as to signification.

     The one most frequently in use is the form IEHOWIH (I]n????)

     This form occurs exclusively in connection with the name "the LORD," in
Hebrew Adonai (Heb.), "yea, wheresoever Jehovah, 'The LORD,' is spoken of He is called not 'the Lord Jehovah,' but 'the Lord Jehovih.'" (A. C.
1793.)

     The commentators of the Old Church have endeavored to explain this singular variety in form by asserting that the vowels connected with IEHOWIH (thus, e - o - i), do not originally belong to the name. For as is well known, the Jews dared not to utter the name IEHOWAH, but always read this name Adonai, "the LORD." When, therefore, the expression, "the Lord Iehowah," occurred in the Word, the Jews would have been forced to read this "Adonai Adonai." To avoid such a repetition, it is asserted that the Masoretes placed the vowels of Elohim (Heb. "God"), under the name [Heb.]. The Jews hence read "Adonai Elohim," "the Lord God," where it is written Adonai Iehowih. Hence, then, it is said that the form Iehowih arose.

     The value of such an external explanation will be manifest to New Churchmen from this statement in the Doctrines: "In the Word of the Old Testament Jehovah is now called Jehovah, now God, now Lord, now Jehovah God, now Lord Jehovih, and now Jehovah Zebaoth; and this from an arcane cause, which cannot be known except from the Internal Sense." (A. C. 2921.)

     Rejecting, therefore, the vain speculations of hypothetical science, we will go to the Internal Sense for Light upon this secret name, the only Light that can explain to us the mysteries of the Word.

     Bearing in mind the fact that "IEHOWIH" is never found, except accompanied by the name "the LORD," we find that both expressions are, in general, of the same sense and signification.

      "In the Word of the Old Testament 'the LORD' involves the similar things as 'Jehovah;' wherefore, 'the LORD' is similarly distinguished from 'God' as 'Jehovah' from 'God."' (A. C. 2921.)

     "The Lord as to Divine Truth and as to Divine Good, Who was about to come and effect judgment, is understood by 'behold your God, behold the Lord Jehovih cometh in strength.' (Isa. xl, 10.) For the LORD is called 'God' in the Word from Divine Truth, and He is called 'Jehovah' from Divine Good; and then also the Lord Jehovih.'" (A. E. 850.)

     The names, "the Lord" and "Iehowah," have thus both reference to the Divine Good, and the expression, "the Lord Iehowih," is, therefore, one idea in the Internal Sense. (A. C. 2580, 3035, 3061, 6993.)

     This, however, is not to be taken as though both names were merely repetitions of each other. In the LORD the Divine Good is One, and only one quality can be predicated of it: Divine Good. But in proceeding from the LORD the Divine Good is perceived by man as having various qualities, which are distinguished by various names.

     Thus we learn that the expression "the Lord," in the Old Testament in particular, has reference to the Divine Power of Good, and thus to Omnipotence.

     "In general, when the celestial things of love, or of good are treated of, then it is said 'Jehovah,' but when the spiritual things of faith, then it is said 'God.' When both together, it is said 'Jehovah God,' but when the Divine Power of Good, or Omnipotence, it is said 'Jehovah Zebaoth,' or 'Jehovah of Hosts;' then also 'the Lord,' so that 'Jehovah Zebaoth' and 'the Lord' is of the same sense and signification." (A. C. 2921.)

     Since the expression "the Lord," respectively to "Iehowah," in particular signifies the Divine Power of Good which proceeds from the Divine Good Itself, or IEHOWAH, the former name also signifies the Interior Man of the LORD respectively to the Internal Man of the LORD, which is IEHOWAH. This Interior Man of the LORD in the process of glorification is the same as "the Divine Rational" (A. C. 1940), or that "middle" by which the Internal or the Divine Itself communicated with the External or Human (A. C. 1707). It was through this communication that the Human of the LORD received Divine Power to conquer in combats of temptations, and thus by Divine Truth in the Interior Man from Divine Good or the Internal Man to become the Divine Power or Omnipotence Itself. Hence we read: "That 'the Lord Jehovih' is the Internal Man respectively to the Interior Man, is manifest from those things which are said concerning the Internal Man of the LORD, that this was Jehovah Himself, from whom He was conceived and whose only Son He was, to whom the Human of the LORD was (made) united after He had purified the maternal - that is, that which He derived from the mother - by means of the combats of temptations." (A. C. 1793.)

     "He said: 'Lord Jehovih,' that this signifies, as it were, a conversing of the Interior Man with the Internal man, is manifest from those things . . . which are said in verse 2 of this chapter (Gen. xv) concerning 'the Lord Jehovih,' that it is a conversing of the Interior Man with the Internal, or Jehovah, especially when He was in temptations." (A. C. 1819.)

     From the preceding it is seen that this Divine conversing, signified by the Lord Jehovih," took place especially when the Human of the LORD was in temptations. This is particularly stated in A. C. 1793, where it is said that "the LORD is called the 'Lord Jehovih' especially where temptations are treated of." (Examples.)

     The name the Lord Iehowih is hence used, "especially where the help of
Omnipotence is sought and supplicated for." (A. C. 2921.)

     From these instructions out of the Internal Sense of the Word and by means of the Doctrine of Correspondence, we shall now be able to understand the "arcane cause" why "Iehowah" is changed into "Iehowih" when in connection with Adonai or "the LORD."

     In the Literal Sense of the Word in its original tongue there is not a jod or an apex that does not correspond to something internal and which does not involve some eternal truth. Every vowel, also, which is supplied to the mere consonants in which the Word is written in the Hebrew, corresponds similarly to something of the Divine Good, and in respect to angels and men, to some affection. Of this, however, we cannot treat at present.

     Thus in the Word and in the language of the spiritual world the vowel A (ah) is intermediate between the spiritual vowels, or those expressing affections of truth, and the celestial vowels, or those expressing affections of good. (H. H. 241; A. C. 793.)

132

     The vowel I (pronounced ee) on the other hand, is a distinctly spiritual vowel, or one expressing the affection of truth, and is the ultimate of this series of vowels. This vowel, therefore, is used particularly by the angels of the spiritual heaven, and cannot even be pronounced by the celestial angels. In the Hebrew of the Word, moreover, words sounding much from this vowel refer to truth and belong to the spiritual class of expressions. (H. H. 241; S. S. 90; S. D. 5620, 5622.) In the spiritual world, also, the vowel I signifies "that which is from the interior." (S. D. 6063.)

     From the knowledge of these Correspondences, and keeping in mind the general teaching, that temptations do not take place with the celestial but only in ultimates with the spiritual, it now becomes plain why the A in IEHOWAH is changed into I in IEHOWIH, when in connection with "the Lord." For it is stated in A. C. 1926 that "by the Interior in the LORD is meant the thought made interior by union with the Internal Man or Jehovah," and, further, in A. C. 1935, "The interior thought of the LORD was from the affection of intellectual truth, and this affection was from the Divine Good Itself."

     To this affection the vowel I corresponds, and hence we may perceive why "THE LORD IEHOWIH" signifies the Internal Man or the Divine Itself of the LORD, inflowing as Divine Good into His Interior or Rational Man, and thence as the Divine Affection of Truth inflowing into the Ultimate Human, giving to it Divine Omnipotence to conquer in all states of temptations.

     As New Churchmen we cannot, therefore, accept as true the forced explanation as to this name by the learned of the Christian world.

     For the name "God" in the Old Testament, has, as was seen above, direct reference to the Divine Truth, and does not, as both "the Lord" and "Iehowah" correspond to the Divine Good. To ascribe to "IEHOWAH" the vowels of "God" or Elohim is, therefore, to destroy in the mind that ultimate form which represents the above process in the Glorification of the LORD, and it is a confusion of the two essentials of the LORD, the Divine Good and the Divine Truth. Such an idea is destructive of all rational thought concerning the Divine. Hence, also, we can see the violation of this principle which is committed by translating "the Lord Iehowih" with "the Lord God," as is done throughout in the "Authorized Version" of King James.

     The other variant of IEHOWAH, which is found in the Word, is the form Iah (Heb.).

     This name of the LORD is found principally in texts of the intermediate or poetic form (see A. C. 66), that is, in Psalms or Songs of Praise and Glorification of the LORD, as in the Song of Moses (Ex. xv) and in the Psalms of David. It is similarly used in certain phrases of glorification, as in Hallelu-iah (Heb., "Praise ye Iah").

     In general, we know that this name is derived from IEHOWAH. (A. C. 8267.)

     It is thence also of the same root and primary signification, containing somewhat of the original idea of "to Be" or Esse. Hence we are taught:

     "Nothing can exist except from another, and so, finally, from Him, Who is and exists in Himself, who is God; whence God, also, is called Esse and Existere. 'Jah' from Esse, and 'Jehovah' from Esse and Existere in Himself." (A. E. 1206.)

     It is to be observed, however, that Iah here is said to be from "Esse," but distinguished from "Esse and Existere in Se," which is called IEHOWAH, and the former is thus here spoken of derivatively. The LORD is nothing but Esse, and all things from Him are inmostly considered nothing but Esse. But the Esse in proceeding takes the form of the Divine Existere, which thus is the Divine Esse in form.

     IEHOWAH and Iah are not, therefore, synonymous expressions, for we learn that "Jah is from Jehovah, and is called Jah, because it is not Esse, but Existere from Esse." (A. C. 8267.)

     Being thus the Divine Existere, Iah signifies also the Divine Truth, proceeding from it, as is stated in the same number, "Jah is the Divine Truth proceeding from the Divine Human of the LORD, because Jah is from Jehovah and is called Jah, because it is not Esse but Existere from Esse, for the Divine Truth is Existere, but the Divine Good is Esse." (See also, A. C. 8260, 6880.)

     Iah is, therefore, a word of the spiritual class, and particularly predicated of the LORD as to Divine Truth or as to His Royal Office in His Spiritual Kingdom. (A. C. 8267, 8625; A. C. 431.)

     From this Doctrine, then, we can understand why the name Iah is used in songs and expressions of thanksgiving, praise, and glorification, concerning which we learn further:

     "'The Song of Jah;' that this signifies that all of faith and thence of glory is of the Divine Truth which is from the LORD is manifested from the signification of 'Song,' when concerning Jehovah that it is glorification of the LORD, but when concerning man, as here, that it is the glory which is of faith, thus faith from which is glory; for all glory that man has is from faith in the LORD." (A. C. 8267.)

     The reason of this is further stated to be "because the Divine Truth, from which and by which faith is, appears before the eyes of the angels as light and the brightness of light."

     The expression "Hallelu-iah" is similarly predicated of the glory of the Divine Truth, and signifies "thanksgiving, confession, and celebration of the LORD." (A. R. 803; A. E. 1197.)

     We are now able to comprehend the reason of the change in form of IEHOWAH to Iah.

     The learned of the Old Church have a theory (which by them, of course, is hallowed as "scientific truth") that Iah (Heb.) has arisen from Iahu which form is a few times found in names, such as Eliahu (Heb.) for Eliah (Heb.); (I Kings xvii, 1). This form is supposed and asserted to be an abbreviation from Iahavoh (Heb.), which fictitious name is again supposed and asserted to have been the original form of Iehowah (Heb.).

     This forced and far-fetched "explanation," based upon three different assumptions and not a single fact, is so full of philological absurdities and bad reasoning that it seems hardly worth the while to repeat it.

     It is, however, well for the student to notice -

     1. That Heb. has not arisen from Heb., which, as a separate form is not found in the whole Hebrew language. (See Davidson's Analyt. Lex., p. ccc.) It would, moreover, be an altogether ungrammatical contraction, for the Mappig or Dot in the HEB. shows only that this breathing is to be pronounced hard, not that it indicates a contracted or assimilated Heb.

133

This, also, is in itself absurd, for the IUH is never "assimilated," but either dropped or changed into HEB., when in contracted forms. (See Gesen. Hebr. Gram., 14.)

     2. That Heb. in composition with Proper names does not arise from
any form Heb., since "immediate change of o into u is inadmissible in Hebrew."
(See Professor F. Dietrick, in Herzog's Real Encyclopadie fur Prot. Theol., vol.
vi, p. 503.) Heb. in these names is simply a contraction of Heb. (Iah-is-
He), by dropping the silent Heb., as we find exemplified first in the verbal form Heb. (For Heb. = HE shall live), which shows that Heb. grammatically can be contracted to Heb., and further in the name Elihu (Heb.) which is also written Heb., "my God is He.' (Job, xxxii, 4, 5), and which shows that Heb. can be contracted to Heb. without losing any of its original meaning of "He.' The form Heb. for Hew. is, therefore, plainly a contraction from Heb., "My God Iah is He," and the Old Church argument thus loses its force.

     3. That Iahovoh (Heb.) for Iehowah (Heb.) is merely and absolutely a
phantastic falsehood, deliberately manufactured by these "learned" jugglers, in order to present some, at least seeming, ground for their absurd arguments.

     Leaving these confused and confusing quibbles of men of learning without reason, we base ourselves on the instruction in the Doctrines, that Iah is simply derived from IEHOWAH, thus by eliminating from the latter name the middle H, the vowel o and the half-vowel w (Heb. = uaou), which leaves the sign Jod (Heb.), the vowel a and the final H.

     In this, then, we find ultimated the correspondence of Iah, which, as was shown above, is a word of the spiritual class, having reference to the Divine Truth. The celestial vowels o and ou (= Heb. or w), do not, therefore, belong to it as in IEHOWAH. The middle H in IEHOWAH represents the Divine Esse Itself, and is therefore similarly omitted. Then remains the sign Heb., Jod - the least thing in the Word - which represents the Divine Truth in the very ultimates or least things, and with it is sounded the vowel i (and also somewhat of e), which is a spiritual vowel, expressing the affection of truth. With this is, further, retained the vowel A, which is a vowel, intermediate between the spiritual and the celestial, and to this is added the final H, to indicate that Iah not only represents Truth but Truth Divine. To add still further to the spiritual character of the Name the Masoretes were, by the Divine Providence of the LORD, led to add in the final Heb. a dot, called Map-piq, which is to show that the H is to be pronounced hard or harsh, and thus to correspond to Truth. In the very ultimate form, therefore, Iah carries within itself its Divine Signification.
                                              O.
RATIONALITY - ITS USE AND ABUSE 1888

RATIONALITY - ITS USE AND ABUSE E. S. HYATT 1888

EVER since man eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, human beings have taken an ever-increasing pride in their Rationality, so that that pride at this day is exceedingly widespread, and mere human Rationality is almost universally made the one test of Truth. So much is this the case that, even among the teachers of the New Church, it is not uncommon to hear it laid down as an axiom that we should receive or reject what is presented to us as Truth according as it agrees or disagrees with our Rationality. We all, as a matter of course, claim to be rational: our self-love is flattered by our setting ourselves up as judges of the Truth. This teaching, too, has a superficial resemblance to the real state of the case that makes it all the more dangerous and seductive. For it is true that the faculty of Rationality has been given to us by the LORD to be a medium between what is Internal and what is External (A. C. 268), and thereby with our conjunction with Himself. The genuine use, therefore, of this faculty must lead us to this end; but in order that it may do so we must learn from the LORD how it is to be used. The folly of it is that we think we know without so learning. It is far from sufficiently recognized that there is no true knowledge of any spiritual subjects in the Christian world; that we, too, in common with the rest, know nothing of them except so far as we may have learned from the LORD'S Revelation. We have the names of spiritual things, and we think we understand them; we have the necessary faculties, and we take it for granted that we know how to use them. Yet we are equally dependent upon the LORD for knowledge concerning their use, as we are for the faculties themselves. Without His guidance, abuse altogether takes the place of use. The rational faculty is no exception in this respect. Apart from the Doctrines of the New Church, it is entirely unknown what true Rationality consists in; and it is also entirely unknown for what purpose it is given. The notion that Truth is to be tested by its agreement with our Rationality may be taken in evidence of what complete Irrationality goes by the opposite name. What is more irrational than to refuse to believe that the Divine Truth must be always infinitely superior, and often altogether opposite to merely human Rationality, and to reject it on that account. The LORD Himself teaches us to expect that we will find it thus opposite to our own Rationality, for He says in the very letter of His Word: "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways" (Isa. lv, 8). Instead, therefore, of rejoicing when we see the ever-increasing exaltation of Rationality around us, as an evidence of approach toward the New Church, we should rather ask if it is the Rationality which the LORD teaches, or if it is used for the purpose which He reveals, and then mourn at the answer which candor in the light of the Doctrines would oblige us to give.

"He is a rational man who thinks the good and truth of faith, never he who thinks against it: they who think evil and false are insane in thought, wherefore concerning them the Rational can never be predicated." (A. C. 1914.) The one has used his Rational faculty, the other has abused it. Let us see wherein the use and the abuse lie. Concerning the use we read: "The Rational is then said to receive life, to be in the womb, and to be born, when man begins to think that it is the evil and the false with himself which contradicts and is adverse to truth and good, and still more when he will to remove and subjugate it; unless he can apperceive and feel this, he has not any Rational, however he thinks himself to have one." (A. C. 1944.) Thus the first use is to enable us to recognize the opposite natures of good and evil, and of truth and falsity, or to recognize "that there is a good and truth superior" (A. C. 20) to our own. The other chief use of this faculty is in connection with the teaching that Truth is to be rationally received. (A. C. 7298.)

134

Absolute Truth is in the LORD alone: to angels and men it always comes clothed in appearances. These appearances may be contrary to absolute Truth, as often in the Literal Word of God and in Creation, when they are mere appearances; or they may be genuine approximations to the absolute Truth, as in the Spiritual Word of God, divinely accommodated to human understanding - these are real appearances. These approximations are necessarily of various degrees. The rational reception of Truth from the Word, then, involves some recognition of these degrees of approximation, and the subordination of those presentations of Truth which are less approximate to those which are more approximate. None are rejected, for all are Divine presentations, and therefore every one is all-important in its respective place. Thus the Rational is a medium for uniting the Internal with what is External, and for reducing the External to obedience: the reduction to obedience of what is lower to what is higher and of all to the LORD is the end for which it exists. True Rationality is therefore inseparable from a state of Obedience. This is true on every plane of Heavenly life, even, nay most of all, on the highest or Celestial plane, where loving obedience to the LORD most of all prevails. On the Spiritual plane it is intelligent obedience, on the Natural plane of Heaven it is simple obedience. Some incline to regard the principle of Obedience as belonging only to the lower stages, preparatory to the regenerate life; but it holds throughout Heaven, differing in the higher heavens only in being at the same time more interior and more external than in the lower. Yea, if we refuse to be led into the voluntary obedience of Heaven, we shall have no other alternative than to come under the laws of compulsory obedience which rules in Hell. Thus we see that ultimately there is no choice with us as to whether we come into a state of obedience or no; but only, whether by a true exercise of the Rational faculty it shall be a voluntary state, or whether by a neglect to so use that faculty it shall be a compulsory state of obedience. This being the only alternative, it is most evident that the only Rational course for us is to choose the voluntary in preference to the compulsory state of obedience.

     In opposition to these two chief uses of the Rational, there are the following two chief abuses of the same. First, that by consenting to evil, by consenting that Natural things should rule over Spiritual, instead of being a medium uniting the Internal to the External, as it was created to be by the LORD, it becomes a wall of separation between the Internal and the External, shutting off the latter from all light from the Internal. This is the result of all merely natural attempts to penetrate into spiritual things, and also of all endeavors to make the Natural Rational the supreme judge of Truth - mere darkness and blindness. The second chief abuse of the Rational faculty is to make it a mere medium for hiding the evils of one's own nature. (S. D. 719.) This is very common at the present day; and it is in proportion as people are successful in this exercise of the faculty that they are generally judged to be rational, or even spiritual by the world. The end in view in every abuse of the Rational faculty is in general that everything and everybody may be subordinated to our own self-interests, whatever we may consider those to be. It is for this end alone that the merely natural man conceals his evils, and outwardly lives a good, moral, and civil life.

     In brief, the use of the Rational faculty is as a medium by which our own judgment may be subordinated to and guided by Revealed Truth; the abuse of it is as a medium by which we may endeavor to subordinate and guide all things by our own judgment. The result of the one is to make the Divine authority, as the LORD has been pleased to reveal it to us, the one and only test and source of truth; the result of the other is to make each individual an authority for himself. In other words, the result of the one is that the LORD'S rule may descend into and regulate every degree of life; the result of the other is that the people should endeavor to rule, and also endeavor, however vainly, to extend that rule from the lowest degree upward through the higher degrees of life.

     Since the people of Saturn correspond to the Reason, which is of the Internal Rational, we may take them in illustration of the characteristics of true Rationality. Concerning them we learn from the Arcana that they are upright and modest, estimating themselves as respectively little; that in worship they are very humble, estimating themselves in that as nothing; that they express themselves as rather willing to die than be led from the LORD, whom alone they worship and acknowledge as the only God. (A. C. 8948-50.)

     The Rational is a distinctively human faculty; indeed, it is the external of the Human which extends from it to the externals. It is intimately connected with man's ability to act as of himself. Abuse comes in when that little word "as" is dropped, and man is not satisfied to live as of himself, but desires to live of himself, and to do good from himself. This is how the fall of man began, culminating when he was led, by reasonings from the sensual, into actual disobedience. It is still the confirmation of reasonings from the external that prevents mankind from the false state in which it is. The natural Rational, in common with all the natural faculties, is formed from the external by means of the senses. Therefore all natural reasoning, however plausibly it disguise itself, is sensual, that is, it is formed altogether from a knowledge of things as they appear to the senses. If it be subjugated to what is spiritual, which can be acquired only from Revelation, and not at all by our own powers, it can render subordinate and thereto; but if it be allowed to rule in the mind over spiritual things it can only lead to that confirmed inversion of true order which makes the state of Hell. The desire to act from one's self, from the reasonings of one's own intelligence, is an essential of all the states of Hell. Wherever there is anything of a heavenly state of mind there is an acknowledgment that we only live as from ourselves, and a desire to live more and more from the LORD and less from self. That is, more and more from an intelligence formed from the teachings of Divine Revelation, and less from that intelligence which has been formed in us by merely natural means from the things and teachings of this world. He, therefore, who desires to come into an orderly state studies the Spiritual Revelations of Himself and His kingdom, in which the LORD has made His Second Coming, in order that he may acquire from the teachings thereof an altogether new Rational, which is formed in him by the LORD in proportion as he also tries to live according to those teachings, irrespective of their disagreement with his natural Rational.

     The natural Rational can be a medium to this, and inasmuch as man can, by its means, if he be only willing to do so, recognize that it is more truly rational to depend upon the LORD'S Wisdom for guidance than upon our own. If we make that use of it, and begin to act accordingly we shall soon come to see that no higher reason can be given for anything than that the LORD has so said; that there is no really true Rationality except in obedience to those crowning Revelations which the LORD has given to us of His Will as it is done in the Heavens, and in seeking that it may be so done upon the earth.

135

The first Christian Church never had but a most general knowledge revealed to it of how the LORD'S Will is done in the Heavens, and that general knowledge it has altogether perverted in its consummation by the abuse of the Rational faculty. But to the New Church the LORD has been pleased to reveal most full and clear particulars of how His Will is done in the Heavens. In the New Church the great use of Rational faculty will be to bring more and more of those particulars into effect in the Church on earth, so that the New Church may become more and more what the LORD designs it to be - some realization upon earth of the Order which obtains in Heaven; an Order which is the reverse of, and infinitely superior to, that Order which the natural Rational always inclines to prefer. There is no other Order, whether as to its general form or the particulars thereof, which is truly Rational. There is no true Rationality but in seeking to come more and more into that Order, in general and in particular, according to the teaching of that Divine Revelation by means of which alone the LORD in His Second Coming is present in His Crowning Church.
E. S. HYATT.
CONVERSATIONS ON EDUCATION 1888

CONVERSATIONS ON EDUCATION 1888

     CONJUNCTION.

     [Continued.]

     SUCH is the end, and such is the order of the LORD'S leading of men. If
Parents and Teachers would follow the LORD, such is the end and such is the order in which we can serve Him in preparing children to be led of Him and to come into genuine Rationality and Liberty.

     Natural sciences and cognitions are supplied in abundance for the performance of the use according to ability. Some of these sciences and cognitions are merely external, being formed by man from the sensual appearances of nature, whilst others are both external and internal, being from the things of Revelation confirmed by the things of nature. In some cogitations there is inmostly nothing Divine; in others the Divine is inmostly present, and gives to them the quality of opening themselves and the mind into which they are introduced to more interior forms of Truth. I have considered this matter in a preceding Conversation and in another aspect and connection, but on account of its important tearing in our search for the fundamental ideas of education, it may be well to submit it to some further examination. The first scientifics learnt by a young child are altogether external and corporeal. They have no interior place in his mind, because that mind is not yet open interiorly. He does not understand them and has no interior idea from them. Nevertheless, as scientifics, and apart from his reception of them, they may have within them interior things to which he can be led to open himself. They are likened to the surface soil of the earth, which, according to its quality, receives and produces seeds of one kind and rejects and suffocates seeds of another kind. The scientifics and cognitions which are from the LORD have the quality of opening the mind in which they are to all rational, spiritual, and celestial truths and goods, for such is their innermost order and disposition from their origin; but scientifics and cognitions from man and nature have the evil quality of rejecting the interior things of truth and good and of admitting only interior falses and evils. In Arcana Coelestia, n. 3665, we read as follows:

     "The cognitions which are learnt from infancy to boyhood are like most general vessels, which are to be filled with goods, and in Proportion as they are filled man is enlightened. If these vessels be such that there can be in them genuine goods then man is illustrated from the Divine that is within them, and this successively more and more. But if they be such that there cannot be in them any genuine goods, then he is not illuminated. It appears, indeed, as if he were illustrated, but this is from a fatuous lumen, which is of the false and evil; but he is obscured more and more by it as to good and truth. Such cognitions are manifold, so manifold that they can hardly be enumerated as to their genera, still less distinguished as to their species, for they are derived in multiplicity from the Divine by the Rational in the Natural, for some inflow immediately by the Good of the Rational, and thence, into the good of the Natural, also into the Truth of this good. Thence again they inflow into the external or corporeal Natural and there go off into various streams. Others inflow mediately by the Truth of the Rational into the Truth of the Natural, also into the good of this Truth, and thence again into the external or corporeal natural. (See A. C. 3573, 3616). They are like nations, families, and houses, with consanguinities and affinities in them, in this that there are some which are in a direct line from the first father, and others which are more and more in an oblique or collateral line. In the Heavens these are most distinct, for all the Societies there are distinguished according to the genera and species of good and truth and the proximities thence, which [Societies] the most ancient people, who were celestial men, also represented by this that they dwelt so distinctly as nations, families, and houses. For this reason, also, it was commanded that those who were of the representative Church should contract marriages among the families of their own nation, for thus could heaven be represented by them, and the conjunction of its Societies as to good and truth; as in this place by Jacob, that he should go to the house of Bethuel, his mother's father, and take to himself thence a wife from the daughters of Laban his mother's brother. As to the cognitions of external or corporeal truth which are from collateral good, and, as was said, have within them the Divine, and thus can admit genuine goods, such as are the cognitions with infant children who are afterward regenerated, they are in general like the historicals of the Word, as those which treat of Paradise, of the first man there, of the tree of life in its midst, and of the tree of knowledge where the deceiving serpent was. These are cognitions which have the Divine in them, and which admit into themselves spiritual and celestial goods and truths because they represent and signify them. Such cognitions are also in other things which are in the historicals of the Word, as those which are here concerning the Tabernacle, the Temple and their constructions; in like manner those concerning the vestments of Aaron and his sons; also concerning the feast of Tabernacles, of the first fruits of the harvest, and of unleavened bread and other similar things. These and others where they are known and thought of by an infant child, then the angels who are with them think concerning the Divine things which they represent and signify, and because the angels are affected by these things, their affection is communicated and causes the delight and pleasure which the child has from them, and prepares his mind to receive genuine goods and truths. Such and very many others are the cognitions of external and corporeal truth from collateral good." (Cf. also n. 3679.)

     If the scientifics with which the mind of the child is imbued be of a nature to remove the thought from self to others, from the desire of being served to that of serving, thus to obedience and usefulness, the Divine will be in their inmost, and thence will there be light in the forming understanding. If these principles be not there there will be no genuine good in them, and no true light from them as taught in the number cited from the Arcana.
SPIRITUAL faith 1888

SPIRITUAL faith 1888

"SPIRITUAL faith is with those who do not commit sin; for those who do not commit sin, do good not from themselves but from the LORD." (D. L. 50.)
CHRISTIAN charity 1888

CHRISTIAN charity 1888

"CHRISTIAN charity, with every one, consists in his performing faithfully the duties of his calling." (D. L 144.)

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FOREVER 1888

FOREVER G. G. S 1888

OH! soft are the breezes that breathe on the ear,
And tell of a land where all sorrow and fear
Are banished in spring-time, that smiles all the year,
     Where the sea only murmurs, Forever.

'Neath a sky softly glowing, the surf gently beats,
Where the rose-scented zephyrs breathe heavenly sweets,
And the smile of the angels the wearied soul greets,
     And he shares in their gladness, Forever.

And forgot are the warfare and anguish of breast;
In that heavenly friendship are comfort and rest,
And the love that would give all to others, is blest
     With a joy that increases, Forever.

And the Father in pity looks down where we crawl,
He speaks, and if only we list to the call,
Will trust to Him fully, resigning our all,
     He leads to that heav'nly land, Ever.

There to each happy angel a loved one is given,
They together on earth may have suffered and striven,
Or they may have met first in the dawning of Heaven,
     But the two become one, there, Forever.

And deep in their bosoms this holiest love
Dwells in innermost peace, like a pure, snowy dove,
And their mutual joys, in that Eden above,
     Grow sweeter and purer, Forever.

And the LORD'S Divine Love is the life that is there,
That warms every heart and makes everything fair,
And all good He provides with an Infinite care,
     For He loveth His children, Forever.
                              G. G. S.
I S M I - D A G O N 1888

I S M I - D A G O N 1888

     * Copyrighted, 1888.

     An Assyrian Tale.

     BY LOUIS PENDLETON.

     Now that day ere the sun was set Sennacherib made sacrifice to Hoa for success in war - slew great and costly sacrifice of sheep, and goats, and lambs, and bulls. And we, the priests, stood at his side as he poured out nectar and wine before the altar built of gold, which we brought forth from Nineveh. To mighty Hoa, god of war, Sennacherib made special prayer, but raised his words of chiefest praise to Asshur, great king of the gods. And ere he ceased, forgot he not a general prayer to all the gods (four thousand they, our priests do teach) existing in the earth and sky. And when 'twas done, the King, well pleased, did straight proclaim a mighty feast. Throughout the camp then rose the sound of feasting with much merriment - of singing, dancing, laughing loud; such was the hope and confidence in our tomorrow's victory.

     That night within the royal tent, which shined, yea blazed most splendidly with cloth of gold and jewels rare and riches beyond price, Sennacherib his nobles called, and graciously vouchsafed to them to share his merriment. High on a couch of gold he sat, in splendid robes of Tyrian dyes, beneath a purple canopy decked with most costly gems. Beneath him, ranged on either hand, were the great nobles of the court whom he was well pleased to invite to share his merriment. These eagerly oft-pledged the King in nectar and in wine, shaping their speech with anxious care, lest they should give offense. Dav-Kina's lord alone could dare to freely speak his mind. Thus, as they sat and drank and talked of mighty wars and conquests bold, the nobles all felt ill at ease unless much time was spent in praise of great Sennacherib.

     And when the King this heard enough, straightway a signal he did sound, and lo, there entered musicians in number more than twice a score. These first fell on their faces and did kiss the earth before the King, then rose and took their instruments, their trumpets, harps, and psalteries, their cymbals, sackbuts, dulcimers, and straightway music made. And music 'twas most beautiful, such as Sennacherib did love. It was such music as no man or woman e'er could hope to make, which only eunuchs' voices made; for these were eunuchs all.

     Then there came in two score of maids in scanty robes, most fair to see, and lightly danced before the King. These were from 'mongst the Hebrew maids, the Hitite, Hivite, Median maids, which of his harem formed a part. To sweet, mad music lo they danced through mazes wild and wonderful, which mightily did please the King. But Ismi-Dagon, whose fond heart was with Dav-Kina in her tent, looked on with smiles, but liked it not.

     At last, men say, grown warm with wine, Sennacherib, our King, did boast so proudly of his glorious deeds that 'twas pure blasphemy.

     "Lo, I am king of kings," quoth he; "lo, I am lord of lords! My vast empire extends from where the sun doth rise to where it sets. Who is so great as I? Who on this earth is great as I, the conqueror of every race? Yea, who above is greater than Sennacherib, the mighty King? Asshur alone call I my lord."

     "Nay, thou art wrong, O mighty King!" spake Ismi-Dagon firmly then. "The very least one of the gods is greater than all earthly kings."

     And lo, Sennacherib was wroth. "Thou dost presume upon my love, O vain, unwise, officious man!" cried he aloud, with haughty mien.

     Then up rose Ismi-Dagon straight, and, with obeisance, silently went he out from before the King in grief and anger sore.

     That night I dreamed a strange, wild dream of blood and fire, of death - of hell. In this dread dream I seemed to stand upon a lofty hill, whence I could see our sleeping camp. And as I looked, lo, there went up a moaning sigh, or groan, or cry from the four quarters of the world - a cry which seemed to break my heart, to fill me with despairing pain. For I did feel it was the sigh of gods who mourned o'er fallen man - o'er man who, from his early state of innocence and charity had fallen deep and damnably into corruption vile. It came again - this mournful cry - and then in sweating agony I heard a wondrous, fearful sound, a mighty sound which seemed to split the very world in twain. And lo! the heavens opened wide and fire rained out upon our camp; not softly, like the gentle rain on forest lands in summer time, but wildly, grandly, in vast sheets, till terror blinded my dazed eyes and closed in on my storm-swept mind like some black, deathly cloud.

     When I awoke - still in my dream - lo, I stood in the camp itself, 'midst fire, and blood, and death, and hell - midst shrieking women, fleeing men, wild, snorting horses, chariots wrecked, - all fled before a cloud of death, a mottled, horrid, copper cloud of flaming fires and eddying smoke, which swiftly moved low on the ground, blasting whate'er it touched with death.

137

Before it fell the fleeing men, like sedge before devouring flame; and when it passed, lo! I beheld their blasted corpses prone in heaps through smoking vistas far and black. And - oh, strange thing! - these corpses were like wretched lepers, white as snow. On moved the cloud with angry sound, with ripping, tearing, horrid sound, and lo! within its fiery depths a demon's dusky face was seen! And as the men, who, while they fled, did tear their hair and shriek aloud - as they beheld the demon's face they wildly cried 'twas Beltis' wrath; 'twas Beltis' demon sent to kill all men for Ismi-Dagon's sin.

     "Come forth, O thou accursed man!" cried they in ecstasy of wrath. "Come forth and let us see thee die, e'en as we all do die. For thine and thy Dav-Kina's sin, lo, we like dogs must die!"

     Then Ismi-Dagon straight stood forth, nor blanched before his cruel death. "If this be Beltis' demon sent for vengeance on my love," quoth he, "then will I slay him in his might, or fall ere I do flee."

     And straightway with drawn sword he rushed into the cloud of smoke and flame, and when it passed, lo, he lay there a white and ghastly thing. O mighty gods! 'twas anguish sore to see his white corpse lying there. I sobbed a sob that burst my heart. I beat my breast; I tore my hair. I fell prone on the ground, and then - awoke, and lo, 'twas but a dream.

     Nay, 'twas not all a dream - ah, no! For from the four sides of our camp went up a mighty wail of woe. 'Twas morn, 'twas sunny, glorious morn - and all the world lay dead!

     Two hundred thousand fighting men came forth with us from Nineveh, and now out of this mighty host not the twelfth part still drew life's breath. All, save this remnant, pitiful, lay stark and cold broadcast the camp, where death o'ertook them in the night.*
     * "The fact that he was the object of a preternatural exhibition of Divine displeasure, and the remarkable circumstance that this miraculous interposition appears under a thin disguise in the records of the Greeks, have always attached an interest to his name [Sennacherib's] which the kings of this remote period and distant region very rarely awaken . . . . . . The Divine fiat had gone forth. In the night, as they slept, destruction fell upon them. 'The angel of the LORD went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred and fourscore and five thousand'" (Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies. The Second Monarchy, chapter ix.)
     "That one hundred and eighty-five thousand were killed in the camp of the Assyrians in one night was brought about by the hells which had been opened. It would be similar at this day if they were opened; therefore they are kept strictly closed by the LORD." (A. C. 7879.) - Eds. New Church Life.

     Where would this remnant, small and mean, find grave-beds for the mighty dead? When Sethos, whom but yesterday our host had laughed to scorn - when he came forth with all his strength, where would this wretched remnant be?

     "'Tis Beltis' wrath for that great sin," on every side the priests were heard. "Lo, now she is revenged indeed e'en as we prophesied."

     But, drunk with woe, I listened not, and joined the moving crowd, which went swiftly toward the royal tent. And, lo, I ran with might and main and reached the place before them all, spurred forward by anxiety to learn how fared our lord, the King. No challenge made the royal guard, for one and all lay on the ground, cold in the unyielding grasp of death. The outer chamber of the tent I found as still as death itself, although there were no dead men there. Across it moved I in mad haste, and paused before the inner door.

     "O mighty King Sennacherib! art thou in health?" I cried aloud.

     No answer came. I called again; still was there no word in reply. Then I made bold to draw aside the silken cloths which formed the door, and look within the royal room. Here there were couches for the slaves, the foreign slaves of noble blood who waited on our lord, the King. And, lo, the faces of them all showed that they all were dead. Yea, every woman, man, or child, or slave, or eunuch in the tent - in every room of that great tent-lay dead, except the King. This soon I learned, for now the voice of King Sennacherib was heard within his private chamber near, and, calling loudly, he came forth - all in his sleeping robes, and with his long black hair undressed.

     "What ho, Ben-Arpad! Nimrud, ho! Why come ye not, ye tardy slaves? What! dullards, dare ye sleep in peace, while your King needs must call?" And lo, the king in anger raised his foot to smite Ben-Arpad's thigh. But on a sudden bent he down and looked close at the long dead slaves. Then up he rose with anxious face and cast a fearful glance around. "Great gods! what is this frightful thing?" gasped he, amazed, and as he spake the air did rattle in his throat.

     VI.

     And now those following me arrived, and we went in and bowed before our lord the King, and led him forth and showed him how his mighty host lay dead broadcast the camp. And when Sennacherib it saw he cried a mighty cry of pain. He rent his clothes and flung him down, and wallowed madly in the dust; he clutched the earth, he groaned aloud, and cast earth on his head. Then sat we all down with him there, and spilled the dust upon our heads, and listened as the King did call aloud upon the gods:

     "O Asshur! my lord, where art thou? What is this fearful, monstrous thing? How have I kindled thy dread wrath? In thy name have not I made wars and spread thy glorious worship far? Have not I sacrificed to thee at all appointed times and more? O Asshur! hear me - have not I laid down adytums in thy praise? The records of the victories which thou wast pleased to give to me, have not I carved on plates of stone and placed within thy holy walls? O my lord Asshur! leave not me to dread calamity!"

     Then called he loud on many gods: "O Asshur, Anu, Hoa, Sin! O Shamas, Bel! O Nergal, Nin! O Merodach, Ninip! O Vul! - to all the gods I raise my prayer. Hear me and hearken, mighty ones! Oh, leave not me to black despair!"

     But to his prayer no answer came. He scattered dust upon his head only to call in vain. So up he rose at last and stood before us like some broken thing. "The gods are dead - to us," quoth he, "the gods have left us; we must die."

     Then spake Rab-Saris in reply - he that went to Jerusalem: "Thou sayest right, the gods are dead. Lo, Judah's God hath killed them all."

     Round turned the King, with grief dismayed, and asked with sudden growth of fear:

     "And Ismi-Dagon, my right hand? - my brother, what of him?"

     Then spake Rab-Shakeh mournfully: "Hear me, O King! he, too, is dead. At his proud tent I did inquire, and lo, he, too, lies dead."

     Then groaned the King a bitter groan, and staggered 'gainst the nearest man, who held him tenderly.

138

"My soul is sick," quoth in pain. "'Tis ended - lo, I die."

     But no - not so was it decreed; his hour of death had not drawn nigh. For on a sudden up he stood, and cried aloud with awful fear. A mighty fear fell on his soul.

     "Up! let us go!" he madly cried. "Let me go from this monstrous grave which chills my soul, numbs me like death!"

     Then called he for his chariot loud, and there was rushing to and fro, in mad haste, to prepare to go. And ere the hour was old they fled - Sennacherib and all who breathed in that dread camp of death - save two. I stood and watched them as they fled forth on the road to Nineveh, and when they went behind a hill, it seemed to me that I alone still breathed in a dead world.

     I turned me back into the camp, where death and stifling quiet reigned, where naught spake but the sobbing wind, naught moved but wind-swept things. And as I walked I strove to still my throbbing heart, and feared the sound made by my feet upon the sand. But on to Ismi-Dagon's tent, straight on I went, although the while my soul did feast on horrors wild. Before the hangings of the door, as I did halt, afraid to call aloud or enter there, lo, came a sound, a low, soft sound, which straight made me to start and quake and break out in cold drops of sweat. Then, in a moment more I knew it was naught but a human sigh - a woman's soft and mournful sigh.

     Then entered I the outer tent and called aloud Dav-Kina's name. No answer came save one sad groan, which smote my heart most cruelly. I called again, then drew aside the red-dyed silken tapestry, which richly screened love's private fane. There on a low, wide couch he lay, grief-bowed Dav-Kina by his side - not that white, ghastly thing I saw in my prophetic, awful dream, but Ismi-Dagon as in life, except that his smooth olive skin wore now the pallid tinge of death. Some pleasure this brought to my heart - my storm-swept, bruised, bleeding heart - for truly it seemed passing meet that such a man's immortal part should leave his earthly chrysalis not wholly robbed of dignity.

     Beside him there Dav-Kina lay, her head upon his lifeless breast, and when I came and stood by her, lo, she nor moved nor spake to me. "Art thou asleep, unhappy child?" I said, and touched her with my hand. Then she looked up and slowly spake:

      "So thou art come, O uncle mine! Is then the day grown old?"

     "Nay, not grown old - yet all the world is either dead or fled. We might have fled along with them, hadst thou my message heard. Why didst thou not rise and prepare when I did send thee word? Now all are fled and thou and I are here alone to die."

     "'Tis well," she said; "my place is here. I rise not from my husband's bed till I be joined in death with him. All day long have I prayed to die. But thou, my uncle, shouldst have gone. Up now and go, there may be time; thou may'st o'ertake them on their road."

     "I stir not e'en a foot, my child, till thou consent to go with me."

     Then she was silent, and I said: "How did he when he died?"

      "Ah me! I know it not," she said. "Last night when he came home to me, he talked with grief of what took place within his mighty brother's tent, and I with soothing words essayed to gently comfort him. Then, when we lay us down to sleep, I made a pillow of his breast, and so we still were when we slept. And as we slept, lo, I did dream that I heard all his heart-beats clear, and, on a sudden, in my dream his heart-beats ceased to fill my ear. Then I cried out in pain and fear, and wakened in the light of morn to find him lying cold and still in death beside me there. Yea, I called on his name in vain: his soul was gone; he was long dead. Then flung me wildly on his breast; my heart did burst, - I could not weep. So have I lain till now, always with prayers that I might die. Speak not to me: here will I lie and wait till sweet death visit me. For sure my agony will raise its voice up to the gods, and they will bend them down to hear my cry."

     Then earnestly I plead with her, and showed her how 'twas very sin to grieve in such sad strain. "Up! let us go," I bade her then. "We must go out from this dread grave, ere all the myriad dead men here sweat forth pollution on the air and cry to heaven for burial. Up! let us quit this place accurst."

     "Ne'er will I leave him," she declared. "Go thou, my uncle, - leave me here."

     "Thou knowest not what thou dost say," I answered, urgently. "Arise! I tell thee we must go. Fear not that I will leave him here. His body shall go forth with us: it on my shoulder will I bear out in the trackless wilderness. There will we find his grave, and there thou mayest stay with him."

     Then she arose with meek consent, and straightway we did wrap his corpse in many folds of linen cloth. And then I took a silken cloth and bound it o'er Dav- Kina's eyes, that she might walk and not behold the ghastly horrors I had seen. This done, the corpse I lifted up, took blind Dav-Kina by the hand, and slowly we went forth.

     VII.

     An hour after we did round a blessed hill which screened at last that heaven accursed camp of hell. Then took I off the bandage from Dav-Kina's eyes, and she looked forth upon the world again. And ere the burning sun was red upon the distant, western sky, among the rocky hills we found a place to make his grave: A crevice in the solid rock-almost a rock-hewn tomb - it was. Therein upon a leafy bed of cedar, pine, and cypress boughs, I laid him gently down, - and when Dav-Kina had cast in on him sweet leaves of many spicy shrubs, I closed the aperture with stones, and it was done - all done.

     Now sat we down in dumb despair and watched the slowly sinking lights (for Shamas who sits in the sun was gone down in the under world to bathe his watchful eyes in sleep), and, as the dusky night drew near, Dav-Kina, white and frail, who sat beside me on the drear hillside, spake with herself, forgetting me. And such strange things as these she spake:

     "He was a lofty cedar tree which towered grandly o'er the world, till envious winds with fury broke upon his mighty sides and jarred him rudely to the soul. For many days he strove with them, till they had sapped his life away. His mighty strength did slowly wane; his sinews cracked, his bones did break; he tottered, fell, and shook the world. The great gods took this king of men, and left the world that was so rich, so poor that all seems dry and dead. Like air from pine trees smelled his hair, his brow like spicy leaves; his breast was sweeter than the bark of fruit trees in their lush, green prime. There was I wont to rest my head and drink his breath like thrilling wine. Oh! my soul faints for my fond love. He seems so far - so dim and far. My heart doth break - I cannot weep. My soul is sick - Oh! let me die! Blest gods, Oh! let me die!"

     Thus spake she low, as she sat there and combed her fingers through her hair - her long and shiny yellow hair, - and watched with vacant eyes the tomb where Ismi-Dagon silent lay.

139

And when the beauteous stars shined out broadcast the dusky, arching sky, her eyes fixed on them straight and she cried out - at first with joy:

     "Lo! I do see the lights of that far country where the gods abide. There lives my husband, my dear love, - while I still wander here, and mayhap ne'er will see him more. For who knows what maybe? The gods to him may give a maid, a beauteous maid whom he will love, forgetting wholly me. O mighty gods! not so - not so! Give not to him that beauteous maid; give me to be with him instead. O mighty gods! take me! take me to be with him among the stars."

     So all night long she talked and prayed in travail sore beneath the stars, and when the morning came she looked upon my face and knew it not. In deep, dumb pain I took her hand, and led her forth from that sad place. And through that day, and yet a day we traveled far - so far! Yea, we did wander till the stones our feet had blistered grievously. And lo, we reached a desert place where there was naught to eat or drink, and mighty winds prevailed. Yea, mighty winds did buffet us until Dav-Kina's shining hair did madly swirl about her head and whip me o'er the face.

     "How strange, my uncle," quoth she then, who till now would nor eat nor
speak, - "how strange that since my loved one died the Earth hath breathed so hard with grief. Yea, she doth moan and, breathe so hard with grief for him that all things bend before the tempest of her breath."

     No answer could I give to her - this grief-bewildered, dreaming child. I
bowed my head before the blast and slowly led her on. In that dread place was naught to eat but manna from the dwarfed oak, and bitter leaves of stunted shrubs. These ofttimes I did pluck and eat, and on Dav-Kina urged the same; which she put by her silently, and would nor eat nor speak.

     At last the desert we passed by, and came again to rocky hills, where still was naught to eat or drink. And ere the light had sunk to sleep, far in among those rocky hills we fell upon a lions' lair, - a lair of lions fierce and wild, which when they saw us loud did roar with thundering, awful voice. Trembling, I seized Dav-Kina's hand with intent fast to flee away, but lo, she broke from me and ran straight down into the lions' lair, which froze my blood with desperate fear. But, wondrous thing, they did not spring on her and tear her limb from limb (as I thought sure to see), but fawned on her as though in fear, while she with gentle hand did stroke their heavy, flowing hair. Yea, e'en upon a lion's back, the mightiest lion that was there, she did make bold to rest herself. There she reclined, her white arms twined about the lion's neck, all heedless that her long, bright hair mixed with his tawny mane.

     O vision strange and wonderful! - which straight brought up remembrance of birth-giving Beltis' burning wrath. For in her fane at Nineveh her golden image proudly stands upon a moving lion's back. "O woeful day!" then did I cry, "the goddess' wrath hath brought us here to be meat for wild beasts."

     With quaking limbs, I raised my voice, and on Dav-Kina madly called to come forth from the lions' lair - to come and join me in wild flight. But lo, I had not spake two words, ere all the lions loud did roar, and drowned the voice of my far cry. Then on a rock I clambered high and looked down on the wild beasts' lair. Thence on a sudden did I see Dav-Kina start up eagerly, with low, glad cry and outstretched arms, as if before her she did see a welcome vision bright and fair. Then lo, she seemed to lose her way, and wavered, tottered, clutched the air, and forward fell upon the ground.

     Then up arose the lions all, and one by one they forward came, and smelled her where she lay, while I with groans did shut my eyes, lest I should see them rend and eat her soft, white unprotected flesh. But no; the gracious gods were near. They made the whining beasts to fear, and bade them straightway to depart. For now, with silent, stealthy tread they turned them round with one accord and stole off from that place.

     And then I scrambled wildly down the rock's steep side, and ran to where Dav- Kina lay so still and white. Her lifted I in my strong arms and ran with might and main away, till I was weary with her weight and breathless fell upon the ground. Then soon as e'er I could draw breath to frame my speech, I anxious called aloud Dav-Kina's name; and when she answered not, I raised her in my arms and held her close (for now the light was fading fast), and listened for some sign of life. I listened long, and there was none. Her prayer was answered; she was dead.

     Through all that night I held her close within my weary arms, and, when a lion roared close by, I lifted her and fled away, fled blindly far away ere I dared to sit down again. Thus many times I rose and fled, and ere the morning came I felt a bitter burden was my life, and prayed the gods to send me death. And when I still lived on, I cursed the day when I was born. At last the morning came and brought surcease of horrors black as night. And at the cool, pale hour of dawn, lo, I beheld close by me there another rocky sepulchre like that where Ismi- Dagon lay. Therein upon a bed of leaves, a bed of lush, green, spicy leaves, I laid Dav-Kina gently down, and walled her in with heavy stones.

     Then I rose up and wandered on, drunk with the fullness of my woe; and from that hour for dreary days - some half a score mayhap or more - the earth was black, the sky was red; a cloud sat on my brain. I trod a world of phantasy, of hideous, ugly prodigy. My fancy wearied of the shapes, the monstrous, lurid, nameless shapes, which sprung to life before my eyes. My soul did sicken at the sight of fire and blood and dead men heaped in great piles mountain high.

     VIII.

     But after certain days the gods were pleased to rain upon and drench my parched and blistered, dying soul with mercy's sweet and cooling dew, - to save me from dread phantasy, and show to me most goodly things. Yea, they were pleased to gift my eyes with blessed sight, and show to me sweet visions of the heavenly world. For, on a time, as wandered I on o'er the rocky hills, I saw a vision wonderful which made my heart to leap with joy.

     There, out before me in a beauteous, radiant world, a paradise, an eden, full with flowering trees, - white orange trees, pomegranates red, pink oleanders, stately palms, green olives twined with silvered vines whose lustrous white and purple grapes did sweetly glad the eye, - there I beheld a chariot drawn by proud young horses, white as snow; a golden chariot, all entwined with blushing roses and pure, white, the purple canopy of which was crowned by two white living doves. Within the chariot lo, did sit a man and woman wonderful, in robes of shining silk and wool whose colors varied as they moved. Around his neck the man did wear a band or collar of pure gold, and on his head a diadem bedecked with sapphires wondrous bright. The woman wore above her brow a beauteous fillet all aglow with white resplendent gems, and round her neck a shining string of deep-red carbuncles.

140

     But no bright gems could shine as shined their faces wondrous fair. The man's was radiant from afar, yea, one resplendent comeliness. The woman's - ah! no tongue can name the marvels of such beauty rare. And when she looked upon the man her beauty glowed as glows a flame. Out from them spread a radiant light, while from the paradise there breathed a vernal warmth and fragrance sweet, like that in spring which rises from blossoming gardens and green fields.

     And as I gazed enrapt, I said: "Lo, I do see Elysian fields; here do the gods
abide. These be two gods who take the air." And then - strange thing and wonderful - e'en as I spake the brightness of their faces was decreased, and lo, 'twas Ismi-Dagon and his love!

     Yea, truly they alone it was, for they did smile and wave their hands to me in gladsome friendliness. And I did leap to run to them, but lo! the way was barred. I know not how the way was barred; I only know I could not pass a certain bound: there did I stand and watch the chariot as it moved along a sloping upward way, till it glowed like a distant star within a zone of rainbow lights. Then, on a sudden it was gone, and with it all that paradise, - and I saw naught but rocky hills.

     In wonder great I sat me down and pondered o'er this prodigy; and, as if from inward dictate my thoughts without my will were shaped, as I do now repeat:

     "Tis Judah's God hath all this wrought: 'twas He that broke Assyria's strength - He that did humble in the dust our haughty, wicked race. 'Twas he that Ismi- Dagon raised, He that Dav-Kina lifted up, from death's cold night into the day of that bright blest abode on high, for which they were most fit. 'Twas He that gifted me with sight that I might see that heavenly world, learn of His justice and His love, and curse Him not in black despair. He is the God of all the gods; Him will I ever serve. So then let me arise and go unto Jerusalem and learn all things of His worship and laws."

     "Ye have been told, O kindly friends!" Tiglathi-Nin concluded then,
"wherefore I asked of ye the way unto Jerusalem."

     "The man doth rave," spoke Joab low, as, with the rest, he stood apart.

     "Yea, truly, 'tis a madman's tale," quoth Shammah, solemnly.

      "Nay, my good friends, he doth not rave," Abimelech replied, "but hath a wondrous vision seen, e'en as did see the men of old. 'Tis wonderful - yea, wonderful that there should dwell such righteousness in this benighted, heathen man."

     Then turned they to Tiglathi-Nin, and would have further questioned him, but saw that he was now grown faint from speaking much and long. So they led him within the tent, gave him a couch, and, as the hour was late, soon sought their own.

     And on the morrow they arose at dawn, and early turned their steps toward Jerusalem.

     [The End.]
New Church Almanac 1888

New Church Almanac 1888

A New Church Almanac is to be issued by the Massachusetts New Church Union in November next. It will include tables of Scripture lessons, a manual and directory of the Convention, associations, societies, missionary and publishing organizations, educational and charitable institutions, periodicals, etc., and give by statistics an accurate view of the state of the New Church in America.
Notes and Reviews 1888

Notes and Reviews 1888

BEGINNING with 1889 the name of the New Jerusalem Tidings will be changed to New Church Tidings.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

ONE of the cheering signs of the times is the increasing number of different New Church Societies and bodies of various kinds that are making the Nineteenth day of June a festal day. The more the better. The day is in the choicest part of summer. The event it commemorates is peculiarly New Church. It would be well - perhaps more far-reaching than any of us would suppose - for the Church to act in concert and harmony one day in the year.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE second number of Mr. William's biographical sketches (Messenger,
August 8th), treats of the Rev. Thomas Newport, one of the early ministers of the Church in Ohio. He was born in Delaware in 1759, became interested in the Doctrines in 1790, moved to Ohio in 1807, and was ordained in 1818 by the Rev. David Powell. He is said to have compiled the first collection of New Church hymns ever published. The Society for which he ministered was at Lebanon, O.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

WHAT is sometimes called the "advanced" idea of religion is peculiarly shown in a paper on Moscow in the Atlantic Monthly (August). The writer says: "Yet Moscow simply illustrates the survival of a stage in the development of all peoples, wherein the life of religion is not merely inextricably mingled with the life of affairs, but has not yet been perceived as distinct therefrom." Let us hope that the Russian people never will "advance" to the point where they will perceive that life and religion are to be separated.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE Ashland, Wisconsin, Daily News says: "The Rev. L. P. Mercer, in an address at LaPorte, Ind., declared that irreligion and ignorance were the sources of nihilism and anarchy. He might have added laziness and the desire of getting something for nothing, as one of the sources of these and other evils. But perhaps Mr. Mercer meant idleness to be embraced in the term irreligion, for the faith of Mr. Mercer's Church teaches that all religion has relation to life, and the life of religion is to do good." Now, it strikes us that both minister and editor have taken effect for cause. Do not the Writings say that the false doctrines of the Old Church are the cause? What is the use of dodging plain statements of truth?
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE London Graphic says of the Bailey Memorial Volume, "Nearly all of the Divine Word Opened might be preached in any Anglican Church, and would be vastly more interesting than the average Anglican sermon." This is no doubt quite true, for Dr. Bailey was a pleasing writer, but it seems to us to indicate very plainly that the book, whatever else it is, is not one calculated to remove falsity, which must be removed before the truth can be received, else its matter could not be safely preached in the Anglican Churches. The Graphic also says: "'The Doctrine of Correspondences' is not confined to the 'New Church,' though outside of that communion it has seldom of late been handled with skill and thoroughness." It would be interesting to know how the Graphic would define "correspondence."
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IN Mr. D. Goyder's address to the Yorkshire New Church Missionary and Colportage Association July 14th, is the following: "Our Societies seem to exist more for preaching to ourselves than to the world." Well, why not? If each minister will preach the Divine Truth to his Society can we not safely trust the Divine Providence to lead those in the world who are capable of receiving the truth to where it is preached? It seems to us that the trouble in many Societies is that the preaching is too much at the world and not enough to its members, for it does not follow that when a man becomes a member of a New Church body his duty then is to devote himself to converting his neighbors.

141

If by means of the truth he can conquer his own evils he has done all, we believe, that the LORD requires of him. We cannot conquer evil for others, and it is evil only that prevents the reception of the truth.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE reader, who, to while away a few hours on a warm summer's day, picks up Bewitched (a tale by Louis Pendleton, published by Cassell & Company, 104 and 106 Fourth Avenue, New York), is irresistibly led to forget his surroundings - Southern scenes arise before his vision; Southern dialects greet his ear; he breathes the Southern air; he leads a life in fields new and strange to him, a life in which there is little of interior thought and feeling, but which in some instances suggests them.

The tale is well-written, portions reveal considerable power, and the progress over former productions by the author promises well for the future. But we should like to see Mr. Pendleton's talents employed upon some tale which, instead of depicting conjugial love in its first external manifestations, will paint the rise and development of spiritual conjugial love and its corresponding expressions in the external.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE New Jerusalem Magazine has a poem under the title of "Love and
Change," by M. G. McClelland, of Norwood, Va. Miss McClelland is pretty well
known by her novels and, we presume, must be something of a New Church woman. The number of novelists who are in some way allied to the New Church is quite noteworthy. Among them we can recall Julian Hawthorne, Henry James, Jr., W. D. Howells, Mrs. E. D. N. Southworth, Mrs. Oliphant, Lawrence Oliphant, Louis Pendleton, Clara Burnham, H. J. Boyeson, and, doubtless, others whom we cannot at the moment recall. Nathaniel Hawthorne was accused of being a "Swedenborgian," and Bulwer and the great French novelist, Balzac, were, to judge from some of their books, at least familiar to a certain extent with the Writings. Mr. Louis Pendleton, whose new novel, Bewitched, is noticed in this number of the Life, and whose story, Ismi-Dagon, concludes with this number, is a native of Southern Georgia, and brother of the Rev. W. F. Pendleton.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THAT cynical Frenchman, Taine, found Milton's people in Paradise Lost to be peculiarly English. So, it seems, is James Johnston's Diary, a book that a considerable number of New Churchmen claim to find very edifying. We have never read the diary, but judge from quotations. One of these is made by Mr. T. Robinson anent the death of a Mr. John Martin, of Liverpool, of whom and his sons Johnston wrote: "This is at present the worldly state of the three men, and, it seems, the only three men that can be found in all the earth at this day as fit agents in the hands of our Creator to act in the representation of the four states of this, His Second Coming into His Church on earth." And furthermore, from Johnston: "St. John spoke as follows: 'We have a vote of thanks again to John Martin, both for his conduct to your son James, and also for his zeal in our cause.'" Now the idea of an angelic society which does not, nor does not desire, to have open communication with men passing votes of thanks to them, is rather laughably English.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

FROM the biographical sketch by Milo G. Williams of the Rev. Adam Hurdus (Messenger, August 1st) we gather the following of the first man who preached the Doctrines west of the Allegheny Mountains, and was the founder of the present Cincinnati Society: Mr. Hurdus was born near Manchester, England. His father was a Roman Catholic and his mother a member of the Established Church. He was an English soldier during the Revolutionary War, and was stationed at New York. Afterward he was made a prisoner by the French in the West Indies. Returning home he became a Methodist and afterward a New Churchman. Losses caused him to emigrate to this country, and he landed in Philadelphia in 1804. The following year he went to Pittsburgh in a wagon, and descended the Ohio River in a flatboat in 1806 to Cincinnati, his future home. The first services were held in his house. In 1811 the members united as a Society which was incorporated in 1818. He was ordained by the Rev. John Hargrove at Baltimore, in 1816. He served the Society at Cincinnati for twenty years, declining compensation and making a living by manufacturing organs. He died in 1843, in his eighty-fourth year.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

WHAT manner of body is that "New Church Temperance Society" of England? Not long ago it sent out a circular letter to all the Old Church bodies of the same ilk, in which the Honorable Secretary requested letters from them to be read at a meeting to be held "with the view of putting some pressure upon the ministers of London" to force them to profane the Holy Supper with raw grape juice. The idea of putting pressure on any body in the New Church is so foreign to New Church spirit that it is almost surprising that even a "temperance" society should avow it. But what won't they do for the idol they worship? The answers from the several Honorable Secretaries of the Old Church bodies came duly to hand and are printed in The Dawn. They are all unanimously in favor of the stomach infesting grape juice, of course. The Writings say there is no longer a vestige of truth left in the Old Church, and as this unanimous cry for raw grape juice for the Sacrament comes from the Old Church, it is per consequence utterly false or else the Writings are not to be believed. There is no alternative, Messrs. "New Church Temperance" men, laic and cleric - if you are right the Writings are wrong. Now which is it?
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

MR. GEO. TROBRIDGE, in a letter to Morning Light, after citing a number of recent instances of the low state of the Christian world, asks: "What is the duty of New Churchmen and New Church ministers in the presence of such a condition of society? Should we not rather set ourselves to resist the evils in society than be constantly exhibiting doctrinal inconsistencies?" If Mr. Trobridge means by resisting evils the same as is meant in the Writings we should beg leave to inform him that he (nor no other man) can resist no evils but his own; but if by the term is meant resistance in the police sense we would suggest that giving our hearty support to the police authorities is better than attempting to do their work ourselves. Now, as the Divine Truth alone has power over evil and as it is contained in the Doctrines of the New Church it seems to us to follow that, aside from combatting our own evils, all we can do is to uphold the civil laws for the punishment of evil-doers, and to uphold with all our strength the New Church in its efforts to lead men to acknowledge its Doctrines, which, being from the LORD, are the only means by which evil may be removed. And, lastly, we deny that there are any "doctrinal inconsistencies." The inconsistency is in the people - all of us.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

MR. JAMES SPEIRS sends us a pamphlet, or paper-covered book, just printed, under the title The Wine of the Holy Supper in the Light of Antiquity, Scripture and Doctrine; by the Rev. Messrs. R. L. Tafel, John Presland, Thomas Child, and R. J. Tilson. The work was prepared at the request of the Societies over which these ministers preside, and is intended to contain briefly and clearly the certain truth of the Word and the Writings on this subject. This has been most ably done and the light of the Divine Truth and the testimony of antiquity have been thrown so strongly on the "wine question" that it can be a question no longer. After reading this book any one can readily see that the mis-called "temperance" people in the New Church must now take one of two courses: They must either candidly confess that the things they have so strenuously maintained in the past are false, or they must turn their backs on the Word and the Writings and deny them. There is no middle course. The writers have thrown so strong, clear, and withal calm a light on the subject that there is no longer room for even that vague thing an "honest doubt." One by one are the arguments of the misled "temperance" shown to be based on sheer falsity, the result of ignorance, let us hope, though in some instances it almost seems, that it is the falsity of men who determinedly close their eyes and refuse to see.

142

In proof of this we will reverse the usual order of noticing books and quote the closing paragraph first:

     It is useless to refer us to the books of Dr. Ellis - books which are characterized on every page, and at every crucial point of argument, by the assumption of the position they ought to prove. It can be stated here with knowledge that a letter was sent to the editor of The Dawn, in which the writer declared himself able from personal investigation and knowledge to assert the utterly untrustworthy character of most (and it may be added, the irrelevancy of the rest) of Dr. Ellis' quotations from antiquity; - which had for their object the supposed proof that grape juice is wine. The letter was in part inserted, but the above declaration was cut out, and the public accordingly never saw it. The reflection naturally occurring at the time holds good still! Can those who do such things really want the truth?

     Let it be borne in mind that this was not an offer of argument but one to establish a question of fact. It was an offer to prove that the quotations on which the arguments of Dr. Ellis' books mainly rest are utterly untrustworthy, and yet this offer was declined. Why it was declined none but the editor of The Dawn can tell, but it looks as though he preferred a false quotation which went to uphold the cause which his paper was established to maintain, to the truth. We have pretty good cause to believe that Dr. Ellis did not misquote and garble the ancients purposely. When the book in which he so violently assails the various New Church periodicals appeared, some years ago, a well-known New York New Churchman (and one in no wise connected with the Academy) told us in conversation that its learning was gotten up by a hired writer and one, our informant added with a smile, who did not object to a friendly glass of the article he was hired to write down. If this be true, Dr. Ellis cannot be charged with deliberate misquotation, for he had no hand in that part of his own book. But true or false, the fact remains that his books have done much harm in the way of leading people away from the truth, and the antidote contained in the work under consideration is exceedingly useful at this time when the Sacraments of the Church are being assailed.

     We have not space to indulge in tempting quotations, but will give one to show how completely the work of exposing falsity is done. All who have read much "temperance" literature will remember what stress is laid on the command that during the Passover week "everything fermented" or "everything leavened" is forbidden, and the consequent triumphant query: How, then, can it be possible that fermented wine could have been used at the Passover? Now the law says nothing about "everything fermented" or "everything leavened," but it forbids "leaven," which was nothing more nor less than "sour dough" and "leavened bread."

     The command of the Law was that "leaven" was to be "put away" so that it should not remain in any house or habitation or boundary, quarter, or coast, of the land of Israel. What would be the effect of such a law as applied to the wine of the country? The complete emptying of every cellar, and removal into foreign lands of every wine cask or skin belonging to the people of Israel! This idea is, of course, too supremely ridiculous to be entertained for a moment.

     What possible reply can be made to arguments of this nature? There is no room left, apparently, for even a quibble, and yet this is one of the strongest and oftenest used arguments of the temperance advocates.

     It would be well for everyone to get a copy of this book if possible. It sheds a strong, clear light on a much-disputed subject and will enable its readers to better resist the infestations that, under the false colors of "temperance," have insidiously entered the New Church and are grievously afflicting it. A free copy may be had by addressing Mr. James Speirs, 36 Bloomsbury Street, W. C., England.
By murders of every kind 1888

By murders of every kind 1888

"By murders of every kind are understood also enmities, hatreds, and revenges of ever kind, which breathe a murderous purpose." (D. L. 67.)
Communicated 1888

Communicated 1888

[Inasmuch as in this Department Correspondents have an opportunity to express their individual opinions, be they in favor of the principles on which New Church Life is conducted, or adverse to them, the Editors do not hold them- selves responsible for any of the views whatever that are published therein.]
WORD OF EXPLANATION FROM CANADA 1888

WORD OF EXPLANATION FROM CANADA J. E. BOWERS 1888

     TO THE EDITORS OF NEW CHURCH LIFE: - At a meeting of the Ecclesiastical Council of the Canada Association of the New Jerusalem, held on August 10th, the writer of this was appointed to prepare a reply to an article in the New Christianity of August 2d, entitled: "Laying the Foundations of Babylon." What is to be here said, therefore, is in the name and on behalf of the ministers and members of the Canada Association.

     That the action of this body of the Church, at its recent annual meeting, should be characterized as it is in the New Christianity is lamentable, because it is the very opposite of the truth. For, be it known that we are not laying the foundations of Babylon; but that by our fidelity to the Divinely revealed Doctrines of the New Jerusalem, we are building the LORD'S New Church upon the Rock of Divine Truth, to the end that it may be permanently established in our midst, and "that the gates of hell may never prevail against it" (Matth. xvi, 18).

     We know that "Except the LORD build the house, the builders thereof labor in vain. Except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh in vain" (Psalm cxxvii, 1). And in the Writings given for His New Church the LORD has revealed the Divine Truth so "plainly" that the men of the Church who receive what is taught in these Writings, instead of putting the notions of their self- derived intelligence into them - and thus falsifying them - will have no difficulty to understand their meaning. And as they learn to understand the truth, they will cease to indulge in fallacious reasonings, and will become enlightened Christians of the LORD'S New Church. They will then, for instance, be able to see the unreasonableness of such an assertion as that made in the New Christianity, viz., "that the unfermented juice of the grape is the proper kind of wine to be used at the celebration of the Holy Supper."

     In the article in the New Christianity there are given extracts from two papers read by Mr. A. Scott, at the meeting of the Canada Association, held in June last. The first of these papers consisted of a letter addressed by Mr. Scott to Mr. Richard Roschman, of Berlin, as Secretary of the Canada Association. Thus, in Mr. Scott we have a man who presumes to instruct the ministers and members of the Association respecting a vital point of doctrine, but who at the same time is ignorant of who are the officers of that body! For Mr. Roschman is not the Secretary.

     In the letter to Mr. Roschman, Mr. Scott stated that he had written to the Rev. F. W. Tuerk, the General Pastor of the Canada Association, requesting him to provide for him (Mr. Scott) "the only proper element corresponding to Divine Truth, viz., unfermented wine;" that is, for the Holy Supper to be administered at the then ensuing meeting. To this request he had received a reply of which the following is, he says, a condensed form: "That inasmuch as the LORD commanded His disciples to use fermented wine at the Holy Supper, and not to use mustum, or grape juice, it would be a sin for me to administer the Ordinance with grape juice."

143

     Pastor Tuerk had, in his letter, confirmed this legitimate, reasonable, and just position by numerous quotations from the Writings of the Church; which does not at all appear in the paper as given in the New Christianity.

     Among other passages, the following from the True Christian Religion, that "the must of wine unfermented has a pleasant taste, but infests (infestat) the stomach." n. 404.

     From Conjugial Love, that "wisdom purified may be compared with alcohol, which is a spirit most highly rectified." in. 145.

     From the Divine Providence, that if, in temptation, "good overcomes, evil with its falsities is removed to the sides, as the lees fall to the bottom of a vessel, and good becomes like generous Wine AFTER FERMENTATION, or clear liquor; but that if evil overcomes, good with its truth is removed to the sides, and it becomes turbid and foul like UNFERMENTED WINE and unfermented liquor." n. 284.

     While Mr. Scott at the meeting of the Association, was making remarks that were not only unchristian in spirit but outright offensive and abusive, Pastor Tuerk requested him to produce the letter in which this clear evidence from the Writings of the Church had been duly laid before him as good reason why his demand of having the Sacrament administered to him in grape juice could not be granted. But he did not produce the letter, evidently because it did not suit his purpose to do so.

     At the close of the second paper, as published in the New Christianity, there are several statements that are entirely false, as those present at the meeting of the Association can testify. It is there said that "discussion was suppressed, etc," Such is not the fact. It is further said that Mr. Tuerk "absolutely refused to allow him (Mr. Scott) to read extracts from the Writings." Neither is this the truth. It is further said that "these papers were hurriedly referred to the Ecclesiastical Committee;" that "when it was asked that these papers be read over again before they made their report, this was overruled;" that "the meeting was asked to vote yea on the report of the Ecclesiastical Committee, not well knowing what they were voting about." And all these statements are contrary to the facts.

     There is, however, one fact mentioned, and a significant fact it is, viz., that "two voted nay," that is, on the acceptance of the report of the Ecclesiastical Committee, which was unanimously in favor of the use of the fermented product of the grape, as the proper element for the administration of the Holy Supper. And these "two" are, so far as we know, the only persons in our Association who favor the use of grape juice for that purpose. There may possibly be a very few others who were not present at the meeting. But it is certain that the class of "intelligent laymen," described in the article in the New Christianity, are exceedingly rare in Canada. And we have yet to learn of any locality where this class is "large" in the United States.

     The writer of this explanation was requested to send the same for publication to the New Church Messenger and the New Church Life, because the next number of New Jerusalem Tidings, the organ of the Canada Association, will not be issued until so late a date as the first of October. And this explanation is given to the end that the people of the New Church generally may the better understand our position, and know that nothing whatever has been done - as regards the action of our Association - except what is plainly in accordance with the spirit of the Doctrines revealed by the LORD in the Writings of the Church.
                                   J. E. BOWERS
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

     CHER AMIS: - L'arrivee du "Life" est chaque mois, pour nous, comme la
visite d'un ami, visite d'autant plus bienfaisante que nous sommes dans un grand isolement.

     Si, comme je l'espere, vous pouvez me continur 1'envoi gracieux de votre precieuse publication, veuillez, je vous prie, adresser ainsi.

     Le "Life" est utile de tout point pour l'instruction et la sauvegarde des fideles dans l'Eglise du Seigneur, et des plus petits articles out beancoup d'a-propos.

     Dans le dernier No., Juillet 119, la refutation de l'-opuscule du Dr. Holcombe, "Condensed Thoughts about Christian Science," est d'une penseuse precision doctrinale.

     Le Dr, pense beaucoup, ecrit bien, et posside une argumentation fort habile qui serait capable d'en seduire plusieurs s'ils n'etaient mis en garde.

     Heureusement qui'ily a des gens debout sur la muraile, et tout prets a
repousser les attaques insidieuse du Dragon.

     Pour moi, pauvre invalide, je ne peux que me rejouir du travail de mes freres et amis.

     Avec 1'expression de ma profonde gratitude, agreez, je vous prie le
temoiguage de parfaite sympathie.

     De votre tres-humble et tout devone frere en I'Eglise du Seigneur.

     Le. 14 Juillet, 1888.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified SAM'L H. WORCESTER 1888

     TO THE EDITORS OF THE NEW CHURCH LIFE:- The August number of
your Magazine tells of a passage in the Writings which has been sadly mistranslated.

     As you do not seem to remember the passage, let me give you the reference, - T. C. R. n. 137.

     The word that gave trouble was volvulus, which is not found in classical Latin. The translator who first went astray, probably succeeded, after much search, in finding this word in some glossary of medical terms. Look in Dunglison, and you will find that it means ileus; and both volvulus and ileus etymologically means a twist or roll-in disease a twist of the intestines.

     This was enough for the faithful translator; and the learned but wicked and unfortunate spirits of the Memorable Relation were forthwith compelled to wear collars of twisted intestines, all over England and the United States.

     When I was translating the T. C. R. for the Rotch edition, I called the attention of Professor Parsons, one of the trustees, to this strange error. He was both amused and mortified. But it shows faithfulness and humility.

     Swedenborg's use of the word volvulus, in other connections, may be seen in the same work, n. 380, 569, 582.

                    Truly yours,
                         SAM'L H. WORCESTER.
BRIDGEWATER, MASS., July 30th, 1888.
schools of the Academy of the New Church 1888

schools of the Academy of the New Church 1888

THE schools of the Academy of the New Church will re-open on Monday, the first day of October. Address, 1821 Wallace Street, Philadelphia, Pa.

144

NEWS GLEANINGS 1888

NEWS GLEANINGS Various 1888

     NEW CHURCH LIFE.

     A MONTHLY JOURNAL

TERMS:- One Dollar per annum, payable in advance.
     Six months on trial for twenty-five cents.

     All communications must be addressed to Publishers New Church Life, No. 759 Corinthian Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa.

     In Great Britain subscriptions may be sent to

     MR. S. WARREN POTTS, Book Steward, 61 Cathedral Street, Glasgow, Scotland.

     REV. R. J. TILSON, "Oakley," County Grove, Camberwell, London, S. E.

     MR. G. A. MCQUEEN, Crowhurst Road, Colchester.

     MR. JAS. CALDWELL, 59 County Road, N., Liverpool.

     MR. C. E. SCHROEDER, 13 Ashfield Terrace, Newcastle-on-Tyne.

     MISS FLORENCE G. GIBBS, 6 Camden Square, London, N.

     PHILADELPHIA, SEPTEMBER, 1888=119.

     CONTENTS.

     Editorial Notes, p. 129. - The Name "Iehowah," p. 129. - Rationality, p. 133. - Conversations on Education, p. 135.

     Forever, p. 136. - Ismi-Dagon, p. 136.

     Notes and Reviews, p. 140.

     Communicated, p. 142.

     News Gleanings, 144.
     AT HOME.

     Pennsylvania. - SERVICES have been kept in the Society at Allentown during the summer, also the Sunday-school and Doctrinal classes on Sunday and Tuesday evenings. The work is in charge of the Rev. C. T. Odhner, who besides conducts a Doctrinal Class on Saturday evening, at Bethlehem, Pa., and delivers public lectures every Thursday evening on "The Ancient Mythologies in the Light of the New Church," at Allentown.

     New Jersey. - The Society at Vineland, from Messenger correspondence, is in a flourishing condition. A number of Germans are said to have become interested in the Doctrines and the class for studying the "Science of Correspondence" recently organized has already outgrown the capacity of the Rev. Mr. Roeder's parlor, where it met originally, and will meet hereafter in the Church.

     Massachusetts. - The fiftieth anniversary of the ordination of the Rev.
Joseph Pettee into the ministry of the New Church was celebrated at Abington, Mass., on July 25th. On July 25th, 1838, he received his ordination at this town by the hands of the Rev. Thomas Worcester. The only surviving male member of the original Society is Mr. Lucius Faxon. Mr. Pettee was minister of the Abington Society for thirty-six years, and was called thence to assume the larger use of General Pastor of the Massachusetts Association. The minister who preceded Mr. Pettee at Abington was the Rev. Thomas Worcester, and the Rev. J. E. Warren is minister to-day. Among those present was the Rev. Warren Goddard, who was "born with the century," and also Mr. Thomas Cushman now in his ninety-third year but still hale and hearty. The address was delivered by the Rev. James Reed, and speeches made by several others.

     Ohio. - THE closing exercises of the Urbana University were held on June 20th. On June 19th, the New Church Society of Urbana held a delightful picnic in the College grounds, and the day was closed by a lawn party. The trustees of the College have elected Mr. William McGeorge, Jr., of Philadelphia, a member of their body, and then put him on a committee to appeal to the Church for an adequate endowment fund for the schools. The invested funds at present amount to fifty-three thousand dollars yielding an annual income of three thousand six hundred and eighty dollars. Mrs. Emily J. Smith, of Baltimore, has left the College one thousand dollars, and M. C. Bissell, of Joliet, Ill., two thousand five hundred dollars, which will be added to the endowment fund.

     California. - "THE first cremation under New Church auspices which has come to our notice is that of James Edwin Perry, aged forty, the son of one of our lady members in San Diego, whose decease took place on June 27th last. His body was sent to Los Angeles and there cremated. The ashes were brought back to his mother, and when the proper receptacle is obtained will be interred at Mount Hope Cemetery, San Diego. On the following Sunday, a very interesting memorial service was held at the residence of his mother, conducted by our brother, Dr. George W. Barnes. We hereby record our approval of this act. When prejudice, originally founded on the irrational dogma of the resurrection of the material body, shall have fully died away, cremation will become a universal Christian custom." - New Church Pacific.

     This is by no means the first cremation under New Church auspices. The first occurred nearly twenty years ago, and comparatively recently the body of a well- known physician and New Churchman of Pittsburgh was by his own wish cremated after his death.

     Canada. - FROM the report in the Tidings of the meeting of the Canada
Association, June 28th, we cull the following items: The Strathroy Society has rented its church building to an Old Church body, and is virtually defunct; its members circulate books, but believe there is no need of a separate organization of the New Church. The Berlin Society numbers two hundred and twenty-six baptized communicants, and the near-by Wellesley Society sixty-five. The Toronto Society numbers eighty-two, with a Sunday-school of one hundred. The average attendance of the Parkdale Society is twenty-eight, and that of the Hamilton Society twenty-six. The former feels the need of a house of its own. The number of the Montreal Society is not given.

     ABROAD.

     England. - From Morning Light. - LONDON - (New Church Educational Institute). - The fifth annual general meeting of the members of this Association was held at the school-rooms of the Camden Road Church, on Wednesday, June 20th. The report, presented to the members at the business meeting, stated, among other things, that "Messrs. Arthur Faraday and Lewis A. Slight had finished their course of instruction during the past year, and the members were congratulated upon the fact that the two first students of the Institute now occupy important positions with credit both to themselves and the Institute. Dr. Tafel's work on Swedenborg and His Doctrines has assumed very much larger proportions than was at first expected; but its importance and usefulness will be proportionately increased, and the Board of Management expect that it will be issued within a few months. Two applications for admission as students were received during the past year, but both were declined - the first on account of the ill-health of the applicant, and the second through the failure of the candidate to pass the entrance examination. Disappointing as this may be, the Board see no reason for a change of policy, as they do not wish to send out incompetent men, and, until more promising candidates present themselves, they are content to perform the negative use of rejecting the unsuitable. Ten new members have joined the Institute during the past year, and monthly meetings of the members have been arranged for instruction and friendly intercourse." The Rev. Dr. Tafel was re-elected President; the Rev. J. F. Potts, Vice-President; Mr. William Gibbs, Treasurer; and Mr. Whittington, Secretary. The Rev. R. J. Tilson, Mr. Ottley, Colonel Keene, Mr. Hodson, Mr. Henry Adcock, and Mr. H. W. Brown were elected members of the Board of Management, and Messrs. Henry Rowe and A. J. Roberts, auditors. After the business meeting, the members were joined at tea by friends of the New Church, about eighty in all, and at the subsequent meeting, addresses were delivered by the President on "The First and Second States of the New Church;" by the Vice-President, on the "Raison d'etre of the Institute;" by the Rev. J. F. Buss, on "The Church as a Spiritual Mother and Her Children;" and by Mr. Ottley, in answer to the question, "Is the Literal Sense of the Word apart from the Spiritual Sense, Divine?"

     THE Golden Wedding of the Rev. Richard Storry and wife was celebrated at Heywood on July 10th.
EDITORIAL NOTES 1888

EDITORIAL NOTES 1888

MARRIAGES, BIRTHS, AND DEATHS.

145

               NEW CHURCH LIFE

Vol. VIII.      PHILADELPHIA, OCTOBER, 1888=119.          No. 10.
     THE editor desires to express his regret that, owing to his absence, the article on pages 141 and 142 was published in the Life. To introduce the motives of a person is altogether contrary to the principles on which it has been the endeavor to conduct this Journal. It is sufficient to prove a misquotation or a misstatement: the purpose that lies back of it is judged of by the LORD. A book may be injurious in its tendencies, or it may contain mistakes, and its author may be a well-meaning man; on the other hand, it may be useful, and without a flaw, and yet its author be an evil-disposed man. The Life can simply condemn or commend the book, and the author as an author, not as to his private motives. But, beside all this, the hearsay referred to in the article, passing from mouth to mouth, may very easily have become untrustworthy, and ought not to have been used to call in question the authorship of the works published in Dr. Ellis's name.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

ALTHOUGH a denial of the Divine character of the Writings written through the LORD'S servant Emanuel Swedenborg is not advocated so openly as formerly, it still reigns with many and occasionally finds expression in assertions, grown familiar through long usage, that "Swedenborg presented not all the Truth, but some phases only," that there is danger in "too close a limitation to one source of Truth," that "confining one's self to Swedenborg places one on the pedestal of self-conceit and contempt for others," etc., etc. (See our Letter from England.)

"There is but one only fountain of life, which is the LORD, from Whom we are, live, and act" (H. D. 268). "It has pleased the LORD now to reveal many arcana of heaven, especially the internal or spiritual sense of the Word, which has hitherto been altogether unknown; and with it He has taught the genuine truths of Doctrine: this revelation is meant by 'the Coming of the LORD' in Matthew xxiv, 3, 30, 37" (A. E. 641). If the LORD, the Only Fountain of Life, has made His Coming by revealing arcana unknown before, it follows as a consequence that this Revelation is the only Source to which we can go for spiritual being, living, and acting. As self-conceit is confidence and pride in one's own intelligence, it also follows that the way out of this, is to have confidence in the LORD only, and to eschew all other fatuous "sources of truth."
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE disturbing effect of falses received a forcible illustration in England when the falsity that unfermented grape-juice is the proper drink for the Holy Supper caused the Conference to agree almost unanimously that there should be two administrations of the most holy sacrament, one after another, wine to be used at the first administration, and after the first assembly had completely vacated the church, unfermented grape-juice should be administered. "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand." (Matth. xii, 25.)

Of course, as one of the principal uses of the Holy Supper is consociation of the men of the Church by love, this use was nullified in the given instance by the unfermented grape-juice heresy. But while the responsibility for this sad state rests mainly with the supporters of the heresy, it also rests with those, who, while convinced that wine is the proper element, preferred expediency to charity, and voted for the resolution. For charity requires the living of truth and not a compromise with falsity. What if it should lead to non-attendance on the Holy Supper on the part of the advocates of the falsity? Inviting them to a feast of unfermented grape-juice is not calling them to the Holy Supper. And is the Church to countenance the profanation of the most holy sacrament simply because of the insistance of a falsity? That its advocates are well-meaning men has nothing to do with the Church's action. Luther, although a well-meaning man, was not admitted into consociation with the angels for two centuries until he had given up his falses.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

     A CORRESPONDENT asks, "Should consanguineous marriages be considered orderly or heinous at the present day?" and desires to know whether the laws relating to this subject in the Jewish Church were merely representative.

     All blood relationships were not affected by the Jewish laws. Those that were, may be seen enumerated in Leviticus xviii, 6-17. This law concerning the prohibited degrees, as well as some (but not all) other laws concerning marriage are thus referred to:

     "Because marriages on earth by love truly conjugial correspond to the heavenly marriage which is of good and truth, therefore laws passed in the Word concerning betrothals and marriages, altogether correspond to the spiritual laws of the heavenly marriage; as that they should have only one wife (Mark x, 2-8; Luke xvi, 18); for in the celestial marriage good cannot but be conjoined with its truth, and truth with its good, if with another truth than its own, good would never subsist but be distracted and thus perish; the wife in the spiritual Church represents good and the man represents truth, but in the celestial Church the husband represents good and the wife truth; and, what is an arcanum, they not only represent them but also actually correspond to them. Laws also concerning marriage, which were passed in the Old Testament, likewise have a correspondence with the laws of the heavenly marriage, as those in Exodus xxi, 7-11; xxii, 15, 16; xxxiv, 16; Numbers xxxvi, 6; Deuteronomy vii, 3, 4; xxii, 28, 29; and also the laws concerning the prohibited degrees, Leviticus xviii, 6-20." - A. C. 4434.

     The laws here adduced are evidently such as are in force at this day, because they actually correspond with, and do not merely represent, the spiritual laws of the heavenly marriage. Other laws which merely represent, such as that concerning marriage with the brother's widow, when she has had no issue (Deut. xxv, 5-10; Matth. xxii, 24; Mark xii, 9; Luke xx, 26) are not referred to, but were abolished at the LORD'S Coming (A. C. 4835).

     The teaching that adultery within the degrees enumerated in Leviticus xviii, 6-17, are "threefold more grievous" than simple and double adultery (C. L. 484), also shows that there are spiritual as well as natural reasons why marriages in those degrees should not take place.

146

Title Unspecified 1888

THE explanations of the commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," as given in the Writings (T. C. R. 313-316; L. 74-79; A. E. 981-1011, et al.), make it quite evident that he who wishes to obey this commandment ought sedulously to study the Work entitled The Delights of Wisdom concerning Conjugial Love, after which follow the Pleasures of Insanity concerning Scortatory Love. It is not sufficient to master teachings such as are contained in the First Part of this Work, those in the Second Part are just as necessary. The reasons for this are many. The command is not "Thou shalt love marriage," but "Thou shalt not commit adultery," because "in the measure that any one shuns adultery, in the same measure he loves marriage; or, what is the same, in the measure that any one shuns the lasciviousness of adultery, in the same measure he loves the chastity of marriage." (L. 75.) But in order to shun the lasciviousness of adultery, in any of its numerous and varied forms, one must first learn to distinguish them. In the Work referred to, conjugial love is described first, and scortatory love afterward) because "it is not known of what quality scortatory love is, unless it be known of what quality conjugial love is." (C. L. 424.) On the other hand, "conjugial love cannot be known specifically, except indistinctly and thus obscurely, unless its opposite, which is the unchaste, in some manner also appear." (C. L. 138.) Indeed, Swedenborg says that when he was told from heaven to examine the universal loves of heaven and hell: "It was not lawful for me to examine the one love without the other, because the understanding does not perceive one love without the other, for they are opposite; wherefore, that each may be perceived, they must be presented in opposition, one against the other; for a beautiful and well-formed face becomes conspicuous from an unbeautiful and deformed face being opposed to it." (C. L. 262.)

In the Work referred to, the LORD has mercifully given minute directions how man may shun adultery, and acquire chaste conjugial love, "the fundamental love of all celestial, spiritual, and thence natural loves" (C. L. 65), and "the repository of the Christian religion" (C. L. 457). So long as the Church does not acknowledge this Work as Divine, and its teachings as Revelations from the LORD concerning a most holy subject, the promise that "conjugial love as it was with the ancients, will be raised up again by the LORD after His Coming, because this love is from the LORD alone, and is with those who from Himself by the Word become spiritual" (C. L. 81,) can, necessarily, not yet come into its fulfillment.
SIGN OF THE PROPHET JONAH 1888

SIGN OF THE PROPHET JONAH Rev. ENOCH S. PRICE, A. B 1888

     "An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign; and a sign shall not be given to it, if not the sign of the Prophet Jonah; for as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights," - Matthew xii, 39, 40.

     THESE are the words of the LORD in answer to the Scribes and Pharisees who were tempting Him in regard to the resurrection and the other life. These Jews, although learned above all others in the literal sense of the LORD'S Revelations to men, still had no comprehension of their internal character; they were a generation, according to the words of the text, "evil and adulterous." This was literally true, as we may confirm from innumerable passages in the literal sense of the Word, as where the LORD Says, "By your traditions ye have made the Word of God of none effect," that is, they by their false interpretations and explanations had so falsified the things contained within the Word of the LORD, that it was no longer sufficient for the salvation of men. They had even made the letter of none effect in its very external, by applying it in its literal form to their own selfish ends. These were the men who, although they had seen the numerous miracles which the LORD had performed, and had heard His Doctrine, still desired a sign or testification of what He did and taught. To such the LORD says, "There shall no sign be given except the sign of Jonah the Prophet; for as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so must the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." This in the literal sense refers to the LORD'S burial, and resurrection on the third day thereafter, which the Pharisees themselves might see, and be convinced of, if they would; for we are taught "even the natural man may be convinced if he will;" but in the case of the Scribes and Pharisees, as all subsequent literal history shows, they did not wish to be convinced, and therefore were not, although they saw all things happen as the LORD had told them. So like the Pharisees of the time of the LORD'S First Coming, neither do the Pharisees of man's unregenerate states wish to be convinced, but rather they tempt the LORD, desiring sensual proof rather than rational demonstration, and this also with a desire that it shall confirm preconceived ideas.

     In regard to the LORD Himself, these words, in the Internal Sense, refer to the completion of the glorification of the LORD'S Human, or, His resurrection, for by resurrection in the Inmost Sense is signified the glorification of the LORD'S Human.

     In regard to man the passage refers, in the Internal Sense, to his complete regeneration, even as to his external life and actions. His resurrection from the dead natural life is the "sign" or most perfect evidence of the Divine Truth of the LORD'S Word and work. As our text refers in its Inmost Sense to the LORD'S temptation-combats, and victories in them over the hells, even to the last, and the final and complete glorification of His Human, which combats, victories, and final complete glorification, are described in the gospels by the history of the LORD'S life, death, and resurrection, so the Internal Sense of these words refers to the regenerating man's temptation-combats, and victories from the LORD; and His final regeneration and salvation.

     In the other life, by death, burial, and the like, the angels understand the rejection of the old man or proprium, the reception of a new proprium from the LORD, and elevation into eternal life; which also is what is meant by resurrection; for when a man dies he comes into the other or spiritual world, and lives as a citizen of that world. The angels know nothing of his death, so called, but only of his coming, and that he is either received into heaven or rejected into hell; hence they also understand by "death," "burial," a "grave," "sepulchre," etc., etc., elevation into heaven or rejection into hell.

     The natural man, or man before regeneration, derives from heredity the tendency to all manner of evils and falses, and, as he grows into manhood, he either rejects and removes them from himself, or he ultimates them by actual commitment and favor in the mind.

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This state of the natural man is described in our text by "A generation depraved and adulterous," that is to say, a state in which there is neither truth nor good, but falsification of truth and adulteration of good. "Generation" signifies in the Internal Sense, a state or condition, and when words having nearly the same significance are repeated, the one refers to truth and the other to good; or in case the words have an evil signification, the one refers to falsity and the other to evil.

     The natural man desires confirmation of the falses of his self-derived intelligence and justification for the evils of his will and life, and therefore the evil, depraved, and adulterous generation is said to "seek a sign;" for the word "sign" means what indicates, signifies, gives proof of, also what justifies and comforts. This may be illustrated in many ways from actual experience, as by the sign or signature set to a letter or document as a proof of its authenticity; or by the standard borne in an army, to hold together and encourage the soldiers, and to enable them to distinguish friend from foe. The natural man who is in the conceit of self-derived intelligence looks about for facts to confirm his falses, and for precepts that will appear to favor his evil practices: "A generation depraved and adulterous seeks a sign."

     "But no sign shall be given it;" for the truth does not confirm falsity, nor favor evil; but, on the contrary, the clear light of the truth dissipates the darkness of falsity and makes manifest the unclean animals that creep about under its cover. As above, a "sign" is the evidence or proof of the truth, and its convincing power is not given to those who are in falsities and evils because not seen by them. To "give" signifies, in respect to the LORD, to inflow and enlighten man; but in respect to man, to receive and to be regenerated by the influx from the LORD. The LORD inflows with every one, that is, is ever present and ready to inflow, enlighten, and regenerate; but He is not received by the evil; for they have no conception of the Truth, nor do they wish to have: "There shall be no sign given to this generation."

     In order that there may be a "sign" with man there must be with him the goods and truths of faith received from affection for the Divine Revelations of the Lord; for regeneration, as the effect of these truths and goods, is the sign of their presence in man and their power over his life. "If not the sign of Jonah the Prophet," signifies the convincing evidence of the power of the goods and truths of faith derived from Divine Revelation. "Jonah," the name of the Prophet, like all names in the Word, describes a quality or state, and, like most Hebrew names, has a greater literal significance than we usually think of in connection with what is called a proper name or the name of a person. The Hebrew word "Jonah" (HEB.) signifies a dove, and doves in the Internal Sense of the Word, signify the goods and truth of faith. They correspond to goods from the fact that they are gentle and harmless, and to truths, that they move swiftly from place to place on wings. That these goods and truths are to be obtained from Divine Revelation is seen from the Word "Jonah." For the prophets were those by whom Divine Revelation was given to men, and they therefore correspond to and represent that Divine Revelation. But the goods and truths of faith from the Word are nothing with man so long as he only knows about them, that is, has them in his memory. They must enter into and form his thought. "Jonah" must be "three days and three nights in the belly of the whale." The goods and truths of faith with man must enter into, form, and rule his scientific knowledge. All a man knows and learns from the senses must be subordinated to things inflowing from the LORD. This, with the man who would be regenerate, must be complete. A man cannot be a New-churchman and accept without reserve the scientifics of the present day, which have rejected the LORD and His Word, and have set up as God human self-derived intelligence.

     "Whales" which inhabit the sea, or natural truth in general, are the heads of scientifics, or are the general scientifics of the natural mind, under which other things are arranged and classified. In another sense Jonah's being in the whale's belly three days and three nights signifies man's being driven to the verge of despair by temptations from the natural in regard to the goods and truths of faith; for to be in the whale's belly is also to be in the hells, or in the entrance way to the hells, which are in man's natural. It is necessary for a man to be tempted in order that he may be cleansed of his hereditary evils; for as in man's belly "all meats are purged," that is, the nutritious parts of all food are separated and taken up into the system, and the useless are cast away, so in man's temptations in the natural mind he is cleansed of false ideas, and becomes rational from the LORD. That this process must be begun and finished is signified by the "three days and three nights;" for "three" signifies what is begun and what is completed, and "days" and "nights" signify alternate states of truth and falsity. These temptations on man's mental plane will be direful; for the appearances of nature are strong, and man's conceit is flattering, and it is hard for him to give up what appears to him so clear and true, and what he himself has attained. But he must look to the LORD, even as Jonah prayed to Him out of the belly of the whale: "The waters compassed me about even to the soul, the depths closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped around my head, I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me forever; yet hast thou brought up my soul from corruption. O LORD my God! when my soul fainted within me I remembered IEHOWAH, and my prayer came in unto Thee, into the temple of Thy Holiness." Then will the LORD speak unto the fish and it will vomit out Jonah upon the dry.

     But man is not to stop at the reformation of his understanding. There must also be regeneration of the life, otherwise the sign is not complete; for "as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so must the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights." For there is no regeneration with the man who only knows and does not do. In fact, he cannot really know unless he do. Doing is what is meant by "earth;" for a thing is fixed or ultimated when it is done. That the Son of Man must be in the heart of the earth, means that the Divine Truth must enter into man's will and overcome his temptations to evils of the will, as his knowledges of the goods and truths of faith have dispersed the falsities of his understanding. When the Divine Truth is ultimated in man's outward life, then does he arise from the tomb leaving behind him the dead body of the old proprium. This is why the angels understand resurrection by the words "death," "burial," a "grave" and the like. This may be illustrated by the life of some insects, which in the first state of their existence creep about, eat green things, burrow in the earth, and are really ignoble and filthy things as to appearance; but after a season they as it were die and undergo a complete transformation. Leaving the shell of the old body, they come forth again into another life, no longer creeping about upon the ground but flying through the air, which is their heaven, on light wings, no longer eating gross things' but sipping the honey of flowers.

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So man in his first states is, in the sight of the angels, a groveling worm, which creeps and eats all manner of gross food; but this very food supplies him with the planes of further development, into higher and higher states of life, until finally he is received by the LORD among the angels and is there raised up indeed. "Yet hast Thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God!" And this is the "sign" or evidence of the presence and operation of all Divine Truth, that it regenerates man, that it causes the old man of his proprium to die and be buried, and the new man of the proprium given him by the LORD, to arise, be raised up from the tomb of self, which is hell; "for out of the heart of man cometh all uncleanness, murders, and adulteries. But unto him that overcometh will be given a crown of life."

The Pharisees and Scribes of man's unregenerate states seek a sign or test of the truth derived by themselves. This is not given to them; for self-derived intelligence is darkness and not light, and the sign can therefore not be seen. The Truth, being Divine, presents its evidence or test in doing what it teaches, and in fulfilling the LORD'S promise of life to him who cometh unto Him. The natural mind demands miracles because it wishes ocular proof so as to be able to say, "I have seen therefore I believe;" for the natural sees only natural things, and can in no wise see spiritual things. But the miracles of the LORD are orderly operations of His Providence, which is nothing but Love and Wisdom acting and effecting eternal ends. The miracles in themselves do not convince the natural man of spiritual truth; for they in themselves are natural manifestations, of an unusual character perhaps, and only the regenerating man can see the spiritual principles underlying them. Miracles are no longer given because the Spiritual Sense of the Word is now opened, and to those who come to the opened Word, study its precepts and apply them to life, to such will the sign be given that the LORD does save and regenerate man, and this from Infinite Divine Love. For these will the LORD arise on the third day, that is, He will begin and complete man's regeneration, so far as man co-operates with Him by shunning evils as sins, and looking to Him for help and guidance. To these "He will be the resurrection from the dead, the God of the living, not the God of the dead." - Amen.
"CONCUBINAGE AND NEW CHURCH DOCTRINE." 1888

"CONCUBINAGE AND NEW CHURCH DOCTRINE." 1888

     AFTER the fifth Editorial Note published in this issue had been written, an attack on the Life for its utterance in June on a related subject was brought to the notice of the editor, who, during the months of July and August had left this Journal in the hands of another. The attack, under the title "'Concubinage' and New Church Doctrine," was published in Morning Light on July 7th, and as its claim to represent "the overwhelming bulk of Newchurchmen in this country [England] and in America," may, possibly, not be too presumptuous, a reply seems called for.

     The attack denounces the Life's utterance "first, as an abomination, and, secondly, as a distinct contravention of the Heavenly Doctrines on the subject affected."

     After entering first into specifications why the Life's position is to be denounced as "abominable," our opponent proceeds to prove that it is in "contravention of the Doctrines." This plan of assault follows the general course: the feeling that the Life is wrong comes first, after which follow arguments to fortify this feeling.

     Since reason, enlightened by the Divine Truth, ought to precede, and the feelings be held subject to that, let us first examine in the light of Doctrine the arguments, and then will be time enough to consider the condemnation.

     The attack calls attention to the fact that the subject of concubinage is specifically treated of in the Second Part of the Work on Conjugial Love and not in the First Part, and that its being treated there classes and characterizes it as belonging to "The Pleasures of Insanity concerning Scortatory Love," and not to "The Delights of Wisdom concerning Conjugial Love": "the Writings expressly place the love proper to concubinage under the head of 'Scortatory (or adulterous) love,' and the pleasures arising from its indulgence they class as 'Pleasures of Insanity.' And loves and pleasures which are rightly so classified, are things which the servant of the LORD, whether minister or layman, is under a religious obligation to shun as sin against God."

     A specious but erroneous reasoning, based upon the assumption that
everything treated of in the First Part relates only to conjugial love and its delights, and is to be classified accordingly, and that everything treated of in the Second Part relates only to scortatory love and its delights. This is by no means the case, as will appear clearly if the line of reasoning here laid down be followed in application to the First Part of the Work. In this Part polygamy is treated of. Apply our opponent's logic and this will result: "The Writings expressly place the love proper to polygamy under the head of 'Conjugial Love,' and the pleasures arising from its indulgence they class as 'Delights of Wisdom'" - a manifest absurdity. Equally absurd is the conclusion actually made in Morning Light.

     By indiscriminately referring all the loves treated of in the Second Part to scortatory love, our opponent falls into the very error against which Newchurchmen are warned in the beginning of that Part of the treatise, entitled "The Pleasures of Insanity concerning Scortatory Love." There, under the heading "Concerning the Opposition of Scortatory Love and Conjugial Love," it is written:

     At this threshold, it ought first to be disclosed, what is meant in this chapter by scortatory love. The fornicatory love which precedes marriage is not meant; nor that which follows it after the death of the consort; nor concubinage which is engaged in from legitimate, just, and sufficient causes; neither are the mild kinds of adultery meant, nor the grievous kinds of it, of which man actually repents [resipiscit], for the latter do not become opposite, and the former are not opposite, to conjugial love; that they are not opposite will be seen in the following pages where each will be treated of. But by scortatory love opposite to conjugial love, is here meant the love of adultery, when it is such, that it is not reputed as sin, nor as evil and dishonorable against reason, but as what is allowable with reason; this scortatory love not only makes conjugial love the same with itself, but also ruins, destroys, and at length nauseates it." - C. L. 423.

     The necessity for observing accurate distinctions between these various loves is dwelled upon so frequently that this of itself would ordinarily attract the attention of the reader. Thus, in the chapter on "Fornication," after defining this lust and distinguishing it from stupration and adultery, the Writings say:

     "In what respect these two differ from fornication cannot be seen by any rational [person] unless he sees clearly through the love of the sex in its degrees and diversities, and on the one part its chaste things, and on the other its unchaste and divides each part into genera and into species, and thus distinguishes; otherwise the distinction between more and less chaste, and between more and less unchaste, cannot be prominent in the idea of any one, and without these distinctions all relation perishes, and, with it, perspicacity in matters of judgment, and the understanding is involved in such shade that it knows not how to discriminate fornication from adultery: and still less the mild things of fornication from its grievous ones, and those of adultery in like manner; thus it mixes evils, and from diverse ones make one pottage, and from diverse goods one paste." - C. L. 444*.

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     This necessary discrimination is "conspicuous for its absence" throughout the attack. Thus, after quoting from n. 475 that "the love of concubinage is natural and the love of marriage is spiritual" our opponent says, "and it is well known, the man who aims at spiritual things and loves and life, must put away all merely natural loves. To court and defend them is to go contrary to the spiritual life and its laws."

     The Writings speak of the love of concubinage as "natural." Yet in the presence of this Doctrine the attack condemns concubinage as being "merely natural." The distinction between what is "natural", and what is "merely natural" is clearly drawn in the Doctrine concerning pellicacy, where the love of pellicacy is said to be "unchaste, natural, and external," but among the directions for its carefully guided exercise, it is written:

      "That pellicacy is not to be carried on with more than one is because with more there is something polygamic in it which induces in man a state merely natural, and thrusts this down into a sensual state so far that he cannot be elevated into a spiritual state in which conjugial love should be." - C. L. 460.

     The distinction between what is "merely natural" and what is "natural" is here carefully drawn, and is similar to the distinction observed in n. 423, quoted above, between scortatory love and those loves which are not opposite to conjugial love, and this distinction must be observed, for without distinction "all relation perishes, and with it, perspicacity in matters of judgment, and the understanding is involved in such shade that it knows not how to discriminate fornication from adultery, and still less the mild things of fornication from its grievous ones, and those of adultery in like manner; thus it mixes evils, and from diverse ones makes one pottage, and from diverse goods one paste" - a condition which obviously exists in the attack.

     By calling attention to these Doctrines then, the Life does not, as is charged against it, "court and defend merely natural loves." Indeed, had the entire number 475, from which our opponent quotes, been carefully read and received, the conclusion and charge in the attack could not have been made.

     "That those, who, from legitimate, just, and real sufficient causes, are in this concubinage [apart from the wife] may be at the same time in conjugial love.

     "It is said that they may at the same time be in conjugial love, and it is meant that they may keep this love stored up with themselves, for this love, in the subject in which it is, does not perish, but is quiescent. The causes, that conjugial love is preserved with those who prefer marriage to concubinage, and enter into concubinage from the above-mentioned causes are these: that this concubinage is not repugnant to conjugial love; that it is not a separation from it; that it is only a covering-around of it, and that this covering is taken away from them after death.

     "I. That this concubinage is not repugnant to conjugial love, follows from what was demonstrated above, that this concubinage, when it is engaged in from legitimate, just, and real sufficient causes, is not unlawful (n. 467-473.)

     "II. That this concubinage is not a separation from conjugial love, for when legitimate or just or real sufficient causes intercede, persuade, and compel, conjugial love is not separated with the marriage, but is only interrupted, and love interrupted and not separated remains in the subject. This case is like that of a person who is in a function which he loves, and is withheld from it by company, or by spectacles, or by traveling; still he does not lose the love of the function: and it is like that of one who loves generous wine; still, while he drinks that which is not noble, he does not lose the longing taste for the generous.

     "III. That this concubinage is only a covering-around of conjugial love, is because the love of concubinage is natural, and the love of marriage spiritual, and natural love covers over the spiritual, while the latter is intercepted; that it is so, the lover does not know, because spiritual love is not sensibly perceived of itself, but by means of natural, and it is felt as delight, in which is the happy from heaven; but natural love, by itself, is felt only as delight.

     "IV. That this covering is taken away after death, is because then man from natural becomes spiritual, and instead of a material body enjoys a substantial one, in which natural delight from spiritual is felt in its eminence; that it is so, I have heard from communication with some in the spiritual world, even from kings there, who in the natural world had been in concubinage from real sufficient causes." - C. L. 475.

     Our opponent gives the quotation from n. 460 that the love of pellicacy "is an unchaste, natural, and external love, but the love of marriage is chaste, spiritual and internal," and exclaims, "and is it possible that a practice which the LORD in the Writings describes as 'unchaste, natural, and external' is to be winked at and defended within the bounds of the 'LORD'S kingdom on earth,' which the Church is, and the man guilty of such 'unchaste' practices actually glorified for the 'strength of character,' forsooth - rather, the unblushing effrontery - which enables him to do it? No; it is not possible; and the assertion that it is, is an enormous doctrinal falsehood, which it is difficult to refer to any source but intentional falsification. We will blindly hope, however, that its source is not that."

     Passions are of different degrees and kinds: some are of the body, some are of the mind. While our adversary regards the corporeal inexcusable, although so exercised as not to harm the neighbor, he seems to take a different view of the mental ones, although directed against the neighbor. For the nonce we may agree with him. We will excuse this passionate outburst, doing so in consideration of his ignorance: ignorance of the Doctrine, ignorance of the requirements of charity, and ignorance of the object of his attack - the more so, perhaps, as his heat has blinded him so as to prevent his seeing the object at which he was dealing his blow. Since he maintains that "the assertion that [the practice, etc.] is [to be winked at] is an enormous doctrinal falsehood," etc., this charge cannot be intended for the Life, inasmuch as far from "asserting" that the practice should be "winked at," it boldly upholds the doctrine concerning it.

     It is a fact, equally well known to those of opposite opinions in regard to this matter, that there have been cases where the evil practices unmistakably prohibited in the Doctrines, such as promiscuous whoredom, have been "winked at" in the New Church, even as is largely the case in the world. In order that men may become convinced of the iniquity of this practice, and that they may learn of the means which the Divine Providence uses to restrain men from indulging in habits which are opposite to conjugial love and destroy it, and on the other hand to help them to preserve the repository of the Christian religion, that the Life publishes the Doctrine on the subject so that there shall no longer be a "winking at" evil, but that men may follow the Divine guidance, even in their "unchaste, natural, and external states."

     It may be stated, in passing, that a more careful study of the respective chapters on pellicacy and concubinage will demonstrate a greater difference between the two than is indicated in the article under review.

     The Life is further charged with "striving to make it appear that the unchaste practice of concubinage makes no difference to the state of conjugial love."

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On the contrary, it makes a great difference. For instance, "concubinage conjointly with the wife is scortation, by which the conjugial, which is the jewel of Christian life, is destroyed" (n. 466), while "those who from legitimate, just, and real sufficient causes are in concubinage apart from the wife, may be at the same time in conjugial love" (n. 475).

     Proceeding, our opponent admits that conjugial love "is not irredeemably destroyed by concubinage, when that is resorted to from legitimate causes." What else was claimed for it by the Life in June? But, argues he, "its activity, and therewith, the progress of regeneration is suspended, and is a practice which necessarily, at the best, suspends the advancement of regeneration', to be defended as admissible within the life of the Church, whose very raison d'etre is the regeneration of the race? The question merely needs to be asked. The only answer is, No!"

     The Doctrines teach that "no one is reformed in a state of a diseased body." Is our opponent ready to exclaim of the sick: "And is a condition which necessarily at the best, suspends the advancement of regeneration, to be defended as admissible within the life of the Church, whose very raison d'etre is the regeneration of the race? The question merely needs to be asked. The only answer is, No!"?

     The latter part of the article under review maintains that as pellicacy and concubinage are for those who cannot restrain the heat of lust, and as a priest's duty is to lead to the good of life, one who cannot restrain himself ought to withdraw from the ministerial office.

     Several fallacies enter into this argument. One is that "leading to the good of life" means "leading a good life." There is a vast difference. A priest who leads to the good of life is called a "shepherd," because his leading is correspondentially expressed by what is done by a shepherd for his sheep; the sheep which are led representing the men whom the priest leads. The shepherd, as an intelligent man, seeks out a pasture which his intelligence adjudges both good and safe. He then leads them by a way which his intelligence adjudges to be both good and safe. His ability to lead consists in his knowledge of the way and his judgment concerning it, of which the sheep are deficient, but not in the fact of his being a sheep himself, although, of course, it would be much better did he possess qualities represented by the sheep. That priests, even if evil, can lead men to the good of life is plainly affirmed in the Doctrines, as was shown in the Life for July (page 97), to which the reader is referred.

     Another fallacy contained in the argument, and one which forms the snare of our opponent's web, is that one who engages in pellicacy or concubinage is not leading a good life; indeed, the statement is indirectly made that such a man is leading an evil life. This is a condemnation from which the LORD by His Divinely revealed wisdom endeavors to rescue man. Our opponent admits that conjugial love may be prevented from perishing by concubinage, but lays great stress on the fact that this is the case with those men who "cannot coerce the heat of lust" (C. L. 459).

     We would have this condition go forth with all the emphasis of a Divine requirement.

     But this does not involve the condemnation of such a man as leading an evil life, a condemnation conveyed in the assertion that he does not "keep the Seventh Commandment strictly." What does our opponent mean by not keeping a commandment strictly? A commandment can either be kept or it can be broken. It cannot be half kept or half broken. But it can be kept in as great a variety of ways as there are human beings to keep it, and it can be broken in as many different ways. Every man has the inclination to "commit adultery" in one form or another. Let this be well noted. But with one the external bonds which restrain him (see A. C. 987) may be of such a nature as to permit the denial of the holiness of the Word and its profanation, which is committing adultery in the celestial sense, but to withhold him from committing natural adultery. With another these bonds may be of such a nature as to permit his adulterating the goods of the Word and to falsify its truths, which is committing adultery in the spiritual sense. With a third these bonds may be of such a nature as to permit his thinking obscene things, but not speaking them. With a fourth, again, these bonds may permit his speaking them, but not enacting them. While with a fifth these bonds may be relaxed in a measure to leave the man in a greater freedom, because the inscrutable Divine Providence sees that this is best for him. Etc. If, then, a man who is endeavoring to lead a truly Christian life, but who, either hereditarily or otherwise, has strong natural feelings, which, try as he will, he cannot "coerce," turns to the LORD and receives from Him the directions, which he has caused to be written by his servant, Emanuel Swedenborg, and follows them implicitly, shunning the lusts of adultery, or of polygamy, or of defloration, or of varieties, or of violation, or of seducing innocences, as an infernal evil, and keeping his "unchaste, natural, and external love" separate from the "chaste, spiritual, and internal love of marriage" in the manner shown in the Writings - is such a man not keeping the commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery" strictly? Is he not leading a good life? We affirm that he does both, because he is shunning the evils which are opposite to conjugial love.

     Having thus considered the doctrinal features of the attack, we may be excused for attending briefly to some that may be deemed personal.

     Our opponent wants to know whether the case referred to in the question to which our June editorial was an answer is "an actual case?" We do not know. When our correspondent, whom we know merely as a subscriber, sent us the question, he did not say, neither did we feel called upon to ask a question about a matter that does not concern us. The Life enters into the discussion of principles, not of personalities, unless there be a very good cause arising from public use. We received our correspondent's question in good faith, and answered it in the same faith.

     In answer to the charge that the Life "endeavors to make it appear that Part I of Conjugial Love sanctions concubinage at all, which endeavor is made in the giving of the first reference to n. 252, 253, which occur in Part I" it will be sufficient to say that the question asked of the Life was whether, "when a minister of the New Church separates from his wife from any of the causes given in Conjugial Love, n. 252, 253, it is permissible for him to keep a concubine." The numbers referred to teach "that the first cause of legitimate separation is a vitiated state of the mind," and "that the second cause of legitimate separation is a vitiated state of the body," and as n. 467-477 teach among other things, "that the just causes of this concubinage are the just causes of separation from bed," and while teaching this refer to n. 252, 253, our answer was, inevitably, "that 'concubinage apart from the wife is not unlawful,' when engaged in from the causes enumerated in n. 252-3 (see C. L. 467-477)."

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If this be an "endeavor to make it appear that Part I of Conjugial Love sanctions concubinage," then that endeavor was evidently made by the LORD'S servant when he wrote n. 470, but then our opponents imputation of the "guilt of going contrary to the Doctrines of the New Church" must be referred to the same servant.

     So far as has seemed necessary, we have examined into the specifications under the second general denunciation, that the Life's June utterance is "a distinct contravention of the Heavenly Doctrines." We may now turn to the first general denunciation, that it is an "abomination."

     "It is an abomination for three reasons. In the first place, it represents the practice of concubinage as not displeasing to the LORD; for if it were that it could not surely be defensible in a minister of the LORD'S Church."

     We neither did nor would we ever represent the practice of concubinage as pleasing to the LORD. We simply place it where the LORD has placed it, as "not unlawful," while at the same time if the intention of the person be to preserve conjugial love, this intention, and the will into which it enters are well-pleasing to the LORD. They are the pleasing jewel encased in an unpleasing matrix.

     "And, in the second place, it actually makes a virtue of the practice, by affirming that it may be a sign that the person who resorts to it is possessed of peculiar and commendable 'strength of character.'"

     Here, again, failure to discriminate leads to a false conclusion. We ask the reader, especially if he still have some compunctions as to the propriety or usefulness of considering the subject, carefully to read the following:

     "That there are two kinds of concubinage, which differ very much from each other, one conjointly with a wife, and the other apart from a wife.

     "That there are two kinds of concubinage, which differ very much from each other, and that one kind is to adjoin a substituted partner [succuba] to the bed, and to live conjointly, and, at the same time, with her and with the wife; and that the other kind is, after a legitimate and just separation from the wife, to take a woman in her place as a partner of the bed. That these two kinds of concubinage are removed from each other, as a dirty linen cloth is from one which is washed, may be seen by those who look into things elaborately and distinctly; but by those who look confusedly and indistinctly it cannot; yea, it may be seen by those who are in conjugial love, but not by those who are in the love of adultery; the latter are in night concerning all the derivations of the love of the sex, but the former are in day concerning them. But still those who are in adultery, may see those derivations and their distinctions, not, indeed, in themselves from themselves, but from others while they hear them; for there is with an adulterer a like faculty of elevating the understanding as with a chaste consort; but an adulterer, after he has acknowledged the distinctions heard from others, still obliterates them, while he immerses his understanding in his filthy pleasure; for what is chaste and what is unchaste, and what is sane and what is insane, cannot be together, but they may be distinguished by the understanding separated.

     "Once, in the spiritual world, those who did not consider adulteries sins were asked by me whether they knew one distinction between fornication, pellicacy, the two kinds of concubinage, and between the degrees of adultery; they said that one was as the other; and they were asked whether marriage was so too; and they looked around to see whether any of the clergy were present, and while they were not, they said, that in itself it was a like thing. It was otherwise with those who, in the ideas of their thought, considered adulteries sins; these said, that, in their interior ideas, which are those of perception, they saw distinctions, but had not yet studied to discern and know them apart: this I can positively affirm, that those distinctions, as to their minutiae, are perceived by the angels of heaven. In order, therefore, that it may be manifest, that two kinds of concubinage opposite to each other are given, one from which conjugial love is abolished, the other from which it is not abolished, on this account the damnable kind will be first described, and afterward the other which is not hurtful [indemne]." - C. L. 463.

     The practice of concubinage apart from the wife is qualified negatively in the Writings, as "not hurtful" or "undamnable," and as "not unlawful." It is not a virtue, neither is it a vice. It is compared to "washed linen." But a man's intention to direct his burning lust into a channel where it will not do injury to the neighbor, and which will preserve conjugial love, - this intention, when entering into a will strong enough to carry it out, although concubinage in itself may be distasteful to him, and although he knows that those on whom, as Newchurchmen, he ought to be able to look as helpful brethren, will decry and shun him - this constitutes a character strong in that essential of Christian faith: confidence in the Mercy, Power, and Protection of the LORD.

      "And last, worst, and falsest of all," exclaims our adversary, "it [the Life] represents a man so acting as 'carrying out convictions formed (of course, legitimately) from the Doctrines of the Church.'"'

     With the Doctrines before him, the impartial reader may judge for himself of the justice of the attack in Morning Light in general and in particular; but, and what is of much greater importance, he may now see the necessity for a calm, dispassionate, and thorough study of the Work on Conjugial Love from beginning to end.
LITERAL SIGNIFICATION OF THE NAME "IEHOWAH." 1888

LITERAL SIGNIFICATION OF THE NAME "IEHOWAH." 1888

     AFTER the doctrinal instruction as to the spiritual signification and character of IEHOWAH (see page 130), its literal signification and other scientifics connected with it will be more easily determined and understood. A contrary course would not only have been disorderly but also utterly ineffective, as may be seen from the vain results of the labors of the learned in the Old Church. Starting from merely external knowledges they have endeavored by grammatical rules to measure the depth and width of this mysterious name, only to find it bottomless. The fact is that the exact meaning Of IEHOWAH cannot be found analytically, for the form of the name agrees with no known laws of Hebrew or any other human tongue. It is the name by which the LORD Himself made Himself known to men in earliest times, and its form and signification are, therefore, matters of Revelation, not of analysis.

     The LORD Alone has revealed this name; the LORD Alone can explain its meaning. And - inmostly considered - never will man or even angel completely grasp the full signification of the form of this name, for it contains in one complex Infinity and Eternity Itself. Some generals, however, can be known and have, therefore, been made known to man concerning it, and from these we learn:

     I. That the Root-meaning of the name is that of Esse or "to Be" (A. C. 2616, 3910; T. C. R. 19).

     The form of the name is, therefore, primarily, an Infinitive, yea, the only Infinitive of which Infinity can be truly predicated, inasmuch as it is the inmost expression of Infinity Itself.

     As to form, however, we know that it is not a Hebrew infinitive of the verb "to Be," (Haiah), or Heb. (Hawah), for these forms are HEB. (Haioh and Hawoh), nor is it the infinitive of any other human tongue now known to man.

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     II. Since IEHOWAH, thus, primarily signifies the Divine Esse or the "to Be" Itself, it signifies also all that can be predicated of that Esse. Thus we learn (A. C. 7194) that IEHOWAH signifies the Divine Human of the LORD, and more particularly that Human Divine and personal form, taken from an angel, by which the LORD in ancient times made Himself known to man as "I am." "It is known that JEHOVAH signifies I am and "to Be" (T. C. R. 19). "'Thus shalt thou say to the sons of Israel I AM hath sent me,' signifies the Divine Itself and the Divine Human" (A. C. 6881, 6882).

     IEHOWAH, in the Ancient Church, was not an "Ens Universi," or an Esse and Being without form, but a Divine Personal Being in a Human Form, who directly addresses Himself to men, calling Himself I AM.

     Still, if we search in Hebrew, we shall find no form IEHOWAH as signifying, grammatically, "I am," but we find for it only HEB. (Eheieh), and still the name most certainly signifies I am," since the LORD Himself hath said it.

     III. When, thus, the LORD reveals Himself to man as "I am," the man will ask: who is "I am?" and the answer comes: "And God said to Moses: I AM WHO I AM."

     More cannot be revealed to man of the Esse Itself of the LORD, for to all eternity man cannot comprehend any more concerning it. Woe to the mortal that dares to explore further, for beyond there awaits him the dread of dark insanity. "No one shall see the Faces of IEHOWAH alive!"

     IV. Returning from the Divinely subjective idea of IEHOWAH as "I am," we may see that man receives this idea as "He is." This, too, is the only conception man can have of Him, who calls Himself "I am," and concerning Whom nothing else can be predicated. (A. C. 926, 1735; A. R. 13.)

     The name IEHOWAH signifies, therefore, also literally "He is," though we shall vainly look to Hebrew grammar for such a form. We find, there, for "He
is" only the forms Iiheieh (HEB.) and Iehi (HEB.) but not Iehowah.

     V. These significations appear, in our human conception, as having reference to the present tense alone. The reason of this is, clearly, that the LORD is eternally present and always will be so. For what is the Present but the conjunction of the Past and the Future? If we abstract the idea from our own finite existence, we may see, that Present was and will be Present always. What is Good and True were, are, and will be good and true unchangeably. The LORD is Good and Truth Itself, and in Him, therefore, Past, Present, and Future are from Eternity and to Eternity a One before which the appearances of time vanish into a nothing.

     Hence, also, we learn that IEHOWAH signifies and is the same as "He who is and who was and who is to come." "This is also meant by JEHOVAH, for the name JEHOVAH signifies Is; and He who Is, or He who is Esse Itself, is also He who was and He who is to come; for things past and things future are present in Him; hence, He is Eternal without time and Infinite without space." (A. R. 13.)

     Where, in any human tongue, is there any one word that can express all these ideas: "to Be," "I am," "I am who I am," "He is," "He who is, who was, and who is to come"? Certainly not in the Hebrew of the lexicographers and grammarians, for it would have to circumscribe them like all other languages, modern or ancient. But these ideas are all one in the Divine Idea, and they can, consequently, be expressed as one only by a Divine word - IEHOWAH.

     An attempt was made long ago to prove that this name is a composition of three different grammatical forms of the Hebrew verb "Haiah" or the more ancient "- "Hawah," "to Be." According to this theory it is composed of Ieh-how- wah, in the following manner: Ieh (HEB.) is supposed to have been derived from the form Iehi (HEB.), a shortened form for Iiheieh (HEB., he shall be), or from the corresponding form Iehow (HEB.) of Hawah. The syllable How (HEB.), further, is found in the Participle Howeh (HEB., Being), and the syllable Wah (HEB.), lastly, is recognized in the Preterit form Hawah (HEB., He was). The whole name, therefore, would mean, literally, "He will be, He is, He was," and for this explanation further argument is found in the Apocalyptic "He who is, who was, and who is to come." (See Michaeli "Suppl. ad Lex. Heb.", and Hohlemann "Bibelstudien. Abth. 1. 1859.")

     While acknowledging that all these meanings and forms of the verb "to Be" are, indeed, contained in the name IEHOWAH, we are altogether unwilling to believe that this name of the LORD was such an artificial and "cabalistic" composition, which, moreover, is quite unprecedented in the formation of Hebrew proper names. For to hold such a position is to say that the name IEHOWAH arose after the time that the Hebrew dialect of the original Semitic stock had developed into fixed, grammatical forms, and thus that the name is not of earlier origin than the Hebrew Church.

     But now we know from the Doctrines of the New Church that the LORD was worshiped under the name IEHOWAH in the Most Ancient Church (A. C. 1343), and that the language of that Church was different from the Hebrew language. (H. H. 237.) This name, therefore, is more ancient than the Hebrew language, and cannot, consequently, have been thus mechanically "made up" of grammatical forms, which are of later origin than the name itself

     On the contrary, we hold, on the authority of Divine Revelation, that the name IEHOWAH is the very original and most ancient form of the LORD'S name, revealed by Him out of Heaven, and that the forms in Hebrew of "He is, He was, He will be," thus all the forms of Haiah, to Be, have developed from the name IEHOWAH, but not vice versa.
SOCIAL INTERCOURSE BETWEEN THE NEW CHURCH AND THE OLD CHURCH 1888

SOCIAL INTERCOURSE BETWEEN THE NEW CHURCH AND THE OLD CHURCH 1888

THE question has been raised whether social intercourse between the New Church and the Old Church is good, and in agreement with the teachings of the Heavenly Doctrines. Some have maintained that it is not injurious, provided such friendship be merely external. This opinion they base upon The True Christian Religion, n. 446, where it is said that "external friendship, which is only of the person, and which is given for the sake of various enjoyments of the body and the senses, also for the sake of various dealings, may be associated with any one."

The key to the solution of the question is given in The Apocalypse Explained, n. 641, where it is clearly stated and shown that a separation must be made between the Old Church and the New Church in order that the evil may be separated from the good, both in the natural and in the spiritual world, and that this separation is caused by the New Revelation, and further, that otherwise the New Church could not be established either in heaven or on earth.

153

How far shall this separation extend? Some say that the Old Church is fast becoming the New Church. If so where is the separation to be? Others maintain that this separation applies only in regard to the doctrines of the Churches and not to the men who receive them, as if the doctrines were one thing and the man another, when yet it is the doctrine which forms the very character of the man's mind and is always in agreement with his ruling love. Others, again, hold that the separation only applies to the Old Church as an ecclesiastical body and not to the men who compose it, as if the whole were not made up and its quality determined by the quality of its members. All this implies a denial of the doctrine on the necessity of separating ourselves from the Old Church, and in the case of those who refuse to be so separated, that they have not yet really received the Doctrines of the New Church. Since the Doctrines of the New Church cannot be together with those of the Old Church (B. E. 102), neither can the recipients of those Doctrines, for Revelation produces judgment and consequently separation, for the one always follows the other.

     In the Primitive Christian Church there were social gatherings of those who called themselves "brothers in CHRIST," which were "gatherings [consortium] of charity" because they were a "spiritual brotherhood" (T. C. R. 434). Amongst the various uses for which they were established was the recreation of the soul from studies and labors, also for conversations about various things. "And because they flowed forth from spiritual love as from a fountain, they were rational and moral from a spiritual origin." There are social gatherings of friendship at the present day intended for recreation, amusement, and the enjoyment of companionship. But outside of the New Church they are not and cannot be gatherings of charity, because the LORD is not acknowledged, nor charity known, and where these are not, friendship is a sham. For the passage to which we referred concludes by saying that "Gatherings, where a friendship emulating charity does not conjoin external minds [animus], are nothing else than simulations of friendship, deceptive testifications of mutual love, seductive insinuations into favors, and sacrifices of enjoyments [jucunditas], especially the sensual of the body, by which they are carried along like a ship by sails and a favorable current, whilst sycophants and hypocrites stand in the stern holding the rudder in their hands." (T. C. R. 434.)

     The New Church is an Internal Church, and at the same time an External Church, existing from that Internal, which is love to the LORD and charity toward the neighbor, and since the Church in the concrete is composed of men in whom the Church is, this internal must also rule in the externals of all its members, and, therefore, all its social gatherings must be gatherings of charity, and must regard use as their end - the use of recreating the soul (C. xi), and especially of bringing the young people into the enjoyments and delights of mutual love that thereby they may be initiated into the sphere of conjugial love.

     With regard to enjoyments it is to be observed that they are good or evil according to a man's quality. What a man loves he calls good, and the "activity of this love constitutes the sense of enjoyment which is the all of his life." (T. C. R. 570; C. L. 461.) And further enjoyment, whether it be the activity of good or the activity of evil, "allures the thoughts and carries away reflection." (D. P. 113.) Therefore, when such enjoyment is felt, especially sensual and external enjoyment, it affords no evidence of its origin and quality, and at such times we are unable to judge.

     Herein lies the danger of engaging in social intercourse with the Old Church. For it is a Church without any real principle of genuine charity, often beautiful to the eyes, but a "whited sepulchre, full of dead men's bones." All its gatherings, social and otherwise, regard merely sensual, external, selfish, and worldly ends; though whilst we are in the sphere of its enjoyments we cannot always perceive their true nature, and are liable to be carried away by them, especially as the Old Church is so largely developed, even with the regenerating man. It is denied that danger exists. Read, however, the following:

     "From every man there emanates a spiritual sphere, which is of the affections of his love, and thence his thoughts, and it interiorly affects his companions, especially in convivial gatherings. It emanates both through the face and through respiration." - T. C. R. 433.

     Must it not follow from what has been stated, that a Newchurchman who can participate in the enjoyments of the Old Church and enter into their sphere must be interiorly affected by the source from which they spring? And the danger is the greater since these enjoyments are external, and "external enjoyments allure the internal to consent and love." (D. P. 136.)

     The general quality of the social life of the world at the present day, and the class of spirits by which the Newchurchman is infested when he seeks enjoyment in the social life of the Old Church, has been revealed to us in the following passages:

     "There are given Societies, which have no end of use but only that they may be among friends, male and female, and then in pleasure; thus, who only indulge and care for themselves alone, and regard both domestic and public affairs for the same end. There are many more societies of such spirits at the present day than can ever be credited. As soon as they approach, their sphere operates, and extinguishes in others the affections of good and truth, and when these affections are extinguished the spirits are in the pleasure of their friendship. They are obstructions of the brain, and induce upon it stupidities. Many such societies have been with me, and I perceived that they were present, from a heaviness, languor, and privation of affection, and I have also spoken with them several times. They are pests and destructions although in civil life, when they had been in the world they had appeared as if good, enjoyable, facetious, and also clever [ingeniosum], for they know what is becoming [decorum] and how to insinuate thereby, especially into friendships. What a friend to good is or the friendship of good, they neither know nor wish to know. A sad lot awaits them; they live at length, in squalor, and in such stupidity that, as regards their comprehension, scarcely anything human remains with them." - A. C. 4054.

     "There are very many societies in the other life which are called societies of friendship, composed of those who, in the life of the body, had preferred the enjoyments of intercourse [conversatio] above every other enjoyment, and had loved those with whom they had intercourse, caring nothing whether they were good or evil provided they were agreeable, thus they were friends neither to good nor truth. Those who had been such in the life of the body are also such in the other life. They join themselves together from the sole delight [delectatio] of intercourse. It was given me to observe that they were present by the torpor and heaviness, and by depriving me of the enjoyment in which I am, for the presence of such societies induced these effects, for wherever they come they take away the enjoyment of others, and what is wonderful, appropriate it to themselves. . . . Hence, it was given to know how great injury friendship brings upon man as to his spiritual life if the person be regarded and not good. Any one, indeed, can be a friend to another, but he must be most friendly to the good." - A. C. 4804.

     Such, then, being the interior character in general of the social life at the present day, what Newchurchman can desire to enter it? If he does enter he endangers what affection he may have for good and truth, and will ultimately not only cease to take any interest in them but nauseate them as hateful.

154

To such a state as is here described, will all societies attain, whether in the New Church or outside, where mere enjoyment is regarded as the sole end, and where use is not observed.

     We must, however, distinguish between merely external friendships, or acquaintanceships and the friendship of love. By the latter is understood interior friendship, which is such that not only the external man is loved but also the internal without regard to his quality whether good or bad. This is most detrimental after death, and those who have contracted such a friendship of love can be separated only by much suffering.

     Since none can examine the interiors of the minds of those with whom he is in company, it is forbidden to form a friendship of love with any one (see T. C. R. 446-9, 454-5), and this applies to all whether in the Church or not. In every case it is the good which must be regarded and loved.

     But an external friendship, or acquaintanceship "is only of the person, and may be formed with any one, for the sake of various delights of the body and the senses, also for the sake of dealings of various kinds." (T. C.R. 446.) Thus we may like one man for his pleasant wit, another for his skill, each on account of some personal excellence. But such friendship will always be conjoined with what is observed to be good and upright. Even in the formation of external friendships or mere acquaintanceships, mere enjoyment must not be regarded as the primary end but the good as far as we can perceive it in another, thus "the justice, judgment, sincerity, benevolence from charity, especially the faith and love to the LORD" with him.

     While we are in the world the LORD does not wish that we be removed from the world and its enjoyments, but that we be kept from its evils. And we can be kept from evil only by looking to the LORD and shunning evils of all kinds as sins against Him. Business requirements, and the duties of civil life often necessitate the formation of external friendships which would otherwise be undesirable. In all such cases the end or use must determine what is to be done. "External friendship for the sake of use does not injure." But when no use is intended, friendship with those in the Old Church is likely to be injurious, especially when it is sought or encouraged for the sake of mere pleasure and gossip, like the so-called visiting acquaintanceships of modern society.

     In this early stage of the growth of the New Church its members cannot too carefully hold aloof from the Old Church and its fascinating allurements. When once the sphere of mere enjoyment is entered with delight the man is no longer free, for under this influence he is unable to examine and judge of its true origin, which is self and the world. Unless the true state of the world be recognized, external friendships and acquaintanceships are always in danger of drifting into the interior and deadly "friendship of love," in which charity has no place. As the seductive influence of the Old Church increases more and more as it becomes vastated, the man of the New Church must be continually on his guard against attacks of the Old Church in every form, especially those which assail his affections and external enjoyments, and he must be constantly in the general perception and acknowledgment, that however beautiful and refined the Old Church may appear in externals, hell is within, and this will protect him, when, from consideration of uses, he has to enter into relations with Oldchurchmen. Friendships formed in this way will be kept in their proper place, and never allowed to carry away the man by appealing to his mere senses. With this acknowledgment he will not then judge from his affections but from the LORD'S, nor will the conceit of his self-intelligence be suffered to persuade him that he can withstand such an enormous flood of evil as that which is in the Old Church.

     But some may say, How in the case of isolated receivers? Are they to have no intercourse and friends in their Old Church neighbors? Here again the general principle of use must be regarded. And how far it may be supposed necessary, will depend upon the individual. But in all cases where there are children it is most undesirable. Children ought never to be permitted to enter the sphere of the Old Church in any form. They will come into it of their own accord quite early enough, as their hereditary evils develop. If children were properly instructed by their parents there would be little difficulty in keeping them at home, where the social sphere ought always centre. If individuals are so isolated, in most cases it would be better to do without any social life than that their affection for the Doctrines be endangered. And, in most cases, where the Doctrines are genuinely loved above all else, this of itself will be sufficient to take away all delight from social intercourse, of which the centre springs from Hell, and of a Church which has rejected her LORD. Such, then, is the general principle; the application must be made by each individual. But in all cases friendship must be for some use as an end - not mere pleasure. Those who look to their own power as a protection lean upon a very broken reed. They do not really comprehend the real state. of the Old Church, and hence of them it is most true that

      "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
Notes and Reviews 1888

Notes and Reviews 1888

Our Heavenward Journey is the title of the latest production by the Rev. R. L. Tafel.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

The New Jerusalem Magazine contains a full report of the exercises in commemoration of the fifty years ministration of the Rev. Joseph Pettee.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

Among the Flowers, a Summer at Sunberry, by Mr. James Spilling, which was published as a serial story in the Messenger, has been issued in book form.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

The Holy Word in its own Defense, a book by the late Rev. Abiel Silver, which was published a number of years ago, has been reprinted by the Massachusetts New Church Union.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE Connecticut New Church Association has sent three hundred copies of Madeley's Science of Correspondences Elucidated to ministers of different denominations since the middle of June.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

A PORTRAIT of the Rev. Richard Storry, president of the General Conference, whose golden wedding and jubilee of ordination were celebrated this year, adorns the September number of The New Church Magazine.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE Western New Church Union is about to publish a new work by the Rev. L. P. Mercer, on The Science of Correspondences, a Key to the Intercourse between the Soul and the Body, in which the author presents the Doctrines in their bearing on "Christian Science," and "Mental Healing."

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Title Unspecified 1888

A DUTCH Newchurchman, residing at Utrecht, has begun a translation of Heaven and Hell into the language of his country. In default of the Latin, the translator uses the English, French, and German versions, and by faithfully comparing the three, hopes to obtain a correct translation.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE work on the Latin Reprints of the Writings goes steadily on under the editorship of the Rev. Samuel H. Worcester. About one hundred and fifty pages of De Amore Conjugiali have been stereotyped; and the Quatuor Doctrinae, De Ultimo Judicio, and the Continuatio are ready for the press.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

TWO hundred and forty-six Old Church ministers in America and abroad have sent for the German translation of Dr. Ellis's Scepticism and Divine Revelation, and the remainder of the edition of five thousand copies will probably be sent to others whose names and addresses have been secured by the author's agent.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE History of the Bolton New Church Society, from 1781 to 1888, is told in a very entertaining manner by Mr. James Dakyne, who must have gone to not a little trouble in gathering the facts for his chronicle, which is enlivened with anecdotes concerning the earlier personages, and occasionally reflects in its style the quaint customs of by-gone days. Many names of prominence in the New Church occur in the recital, and make the little book of more than local importance. We heartily commend it to all lovers of New Church history.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE Journal of the Twenty-first Annual Meeting of the American New Church Sabbath-School Association contains, among the reports, a classified list of books recommended by the Committee on Libraries, with a brief comment on each book; also a directory of New Church Sabbath Schools. From the statistical report of sixty-five of the seventy-nine New Church Sabbath Schools in the United States and Canada, it appears that in these schools there are five hundred and sixty-eight officers and teachers, one thousand one hundred and fifty-eight scholars in adult classes, and three thousand and forty-five other scholars.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE English Index to the Apocalypse Explained, which has been prepared by the Rev. Samuel N. Worcester, will comprise one thousand and fifty-two pages. To it is added a Latin-Hebrew-Greek-English table, a Hebrew-Latin table, and a Greek-Latin table. These contain about two thousand four hundred and twenty Hebrew and Chaldee words, represented by about three thousand four hundred and thirty Latin words; and about one thousand one hundred Greek words, represented by about one thousand two hundred and eighty Latin words. There are probably twenty thousand passages of the Sacred Scripture thus referred to.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE Rev. Philip B. Cabell, Pastor of the Cleveland, Ohio, Society, contributed an essay on "The Communion Wine," to the June Magazine. He addresses himself more particularly to those well-meaning people who have entered the ranks of the Prohibitionists from a horror of the effects of intoxication. By presenting the Doctrine concerning the profanation of Truth, and its terrible effects, which (according to A. E. 1047-1050) are strikingly like delirium tremens, and by pointing out that the way to prevent profanation is not for man to decry the Divine Truth and prohibit its reception, he forcibly shows the error of those who would prevent drunkenness, by decrying wine and prohibiting its use. The very fact that the Divine Truth when abused leads to spiritual delirium is, as he shows, a convincing argument that the wine, which corresponds to the Divine Truth is of such a quality that when abused it leads to the corresponding natural delirium.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

FROM reports and lists in this year's Journal of the General Convention, it appears that this body is composed of ten Associations, aggregating ninety-eight Societies with five thousand one hundred and seventy-seven members; and eight isolated Societies, the membership of only two of which is given. The Clergy of the Convention number one hundred and eight, and the Authorized Candidates, nine. All the larger New Church Societies in North America are connected with the Convention, excepting the "First Society" of Philadelphia, and two German ones in St. Louis.

There are seventy Societies in connection with the Conference in Great Britain, having five thousand eight hundred and twenty-two registered members; and five Societies not connected with Conference having one hundred and eight members. The net increase has been two hundred and three. The number of ministers recognized by Conference is thirty-eight; five laymen, in addition, devote their entire attention to pastoral work.
LEGEND OF OANNES 1888

LEGEND OF OANNES 1888

     OANNES, ACCORDING TO BEROSUS. A study in the Church of the Ancients, by JAMES JOHN GARTH WILKINSON. James Speirs. London, 1888.

     BEROSUS, according to Eusebius and Tatian, was a Chaldean priest, a contemporary of Alexander the Great. Of his life very little is known, except that he was in great repute in Asia and Greece for his learning in history and astrology. He wrote, among other things, a history of Chaldea, which work, unfortunately, is lost, and all that is known of it is from some fragments quoted by various Greek authors, such as Alexander Polyhistor, Eusebius, Josephus, and Syncellus. Berosus is said to have copied his accounts of early Babylonian history from ancient tablets in Babylon, and as his accounts, so far as they are known, have to a great extent been corroborated by original documents, lately discovered in the ruins of Nineveh, they are worthy of confidence and attention. This history of Chaldea begins with a description of early Babylonia and its inhabitants, and continues with the legend, of which the following is a summary:

     "In the first year there appeared from the Erythroean Sea (the Red Sea) a living creature, strong and terrible, named Oannes. It had the entire body of a fish, but another human head beneath the fish-head, and feet as of a man stood forth out of the fish's tail. It had also the voice of a man." This creature, it is said, spent the days with men, fasting and instructing the savage inhabitants of Babylonia in all branches of human knowledge, in writing, mathematics, architecture, laws, and agriculture, and "from that time nothing else better has been found." But with the setting of the sun this Oannes dived again into the sea, and in the nights had his home in the great ocean. And afterward other similar creatures appeared. Oannes also is said to have written "genealogies and politics," and to have handed down to men the following story of the Creation of the world and of the Flood:

     In the beginning all was darkness and water, in which hideous monsters were brought forth in swarms, ruled by a monstrous divinity, the woman Omorka. This woman is said to have been cut in twain by the god Belus, who from the one half made the heavens, from the other the earth, exterminating also the fabulous animals, and sundering the darkness. After this follows a description of the creation of the luminaries in the heavens of plants and animals on the earth. Belus afterward is said to have taken off his own head, while the other gods kneaded men of understanding minds from the dust made plastic by the blood. Oannes then goes on to enumerate ten great kings who reigned a fabulously long time after this creation of the world.

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During the reign of the last of these kings, Sisuthros, the great deluge took place. To him Belus appeared in a dream, prophesying the coming destruction, commanding him to bury the Ancient Writings in Sipparis, the city of the sun, and to build a ship, in which he, his wife and family, should embark with necessary provisions and animals of every kind. Sisuthros did as commanded; the deluge came and drowned all men, excepting those on board of the ship.

     When the deluge began to abate Sisuthros is said to have sent forth out of his ship certain birds, who returned to him, not finding any resting-place. After some days other birds were sent out, who again returned, their feet covered with ooze. But the third time of sending they did not return. Sisuthros then opened his ship, which had come aground on a mountain; he went out with his family, built an altar and sacrificed to the gods. He and those who went out with him then vanished from sight, having been taken up to the gods for their piety. But to those who had tarried behind in the ship, a voice came from heaven exhorting them to be pious to dig up the buried Writings in Sipparis and to rebuild Babylon. And the land where this happened was the land of Armenia.

     This noble legend, which shows such unmistakable signs of having originated from the Ancient Word, forms the subject of Dr. Wilkinson's treatise. Rejecting the shallow and fruitless methods of mythological interpretation in the learned world, the author tried "a theological key into the lock of Berosus." He at once perceived a chink in this mysterious casket visible in the darkness, and "in a few moments it had opened its lid, and I had perception of the series in the casket, of a connected string of unflawed pearls. From this example I knew then that heathendom past and present in its good, parts would certainly be opened on a large scale, and that JEHOVAH and CHRIST were within it."

     The leading idea of the author is that the whole of this legend tells in correspondential language the history of the establishment of the Ancient Church. The abyss-woman, Omorka, is the state of the antediluvians. The monsters swarming in her are the dreadful persuasions and cupidities of the antediluvians. Belus cutting the darkness and the woman in twain is the "beginning manumission" of the human race from the lusts and persuasions of the ancient hells. Belus cutting off his own head is the separation of the most ancient heavens. The formation of new men from his blood signifies a new influx of love and wisdom as the source of a second creation of mankind. The ten kings of Babylonia are the successive periods of the consummation of the antediluvian state and the rising of the flood. Sisuthros is Noah. As the subsequent story of the deluge is almost identical with the account in the Word it will not be necessary to repeat the signification of its particulars. Oannes himself at last is supposed to be another representation of Noah, as a new Revelation to the Ancient Church. His fish form represents the scientific form in which this Revelation was first given for the instruction of the Gentile nations of which the Ancient Church was composed.

     The rest of the book, chapters VI-XV, contains an interpretation of the corresponding legend of the Flood as found in the recently discovered kuneiform tablets of Assurbanipal, compared with the accounts of the Deluge of Noah and of Deukalion. Also some interesting accounts of the inhabitants of pre-Babylonia, the history of Berosus, a chapter on Assyriology, another on the Ancient Word, finishing with a chapter containing "Elucidations from Swedenborg" on the history of the successive Churches.

     Such are the most general ideas of this interesting work, the first of its kind published in the New Church; a book which every Newchurchman should read. It shows us how the science of correspondences may be applied to any one of the mythological legends of the ancients, and gives us an idea of the unexpected and wonderful results which may thus be accomplished. It widens this plane of New Church science in the natural mind of man and strengthens thereby the connection with the heavens of the Ancient Churches.

     While acknowledging, with pleasure, all these merits of the work, we are, however, compelled to note some of its less good qualities. A fundamental mistake in the author's conclusions is, we think, the often-repeated assertion that the story of Creation, described by Berosus, does not have reference to the original Creation described in Genesis i, containing the history of the establishment of the Most Ancient Church, but that it only has reference to a second creation: the establishment of the Noatic or Ancient Church. This has caused a great deal of confusion in the work and many far-fetched interpretations on the part of the author. According to this idea, the Most Ancient Church would have been destroyed twice, viz.: when Belus cut the woman Omorka in twain, destroying the animals, and then, after a long time, when the Deluge came, drowning all mankind. The Ancient Church, further, would thus have been established twice, viz.: when new men were made from the blood of Belus, and again when Sisuthros-Noah was saved. This is not warranted by a parallelism with the first chapters of Genesis, which we know constituted that part of the Ancient Word, from which the legends of Berosus were drawn. A second creation of men or repeated establishment of the Ancient Church is nowhere described in the Word, while all circumstances point to the correspondence between the history of creation in Genesis i and in Berosus. A more careful comparison with the original documents discovered in Assyria would have proved these histories almost identical.

     While space forbids us to enter upon a particular examination of the spiritual meaning of this legend, we cannot refrain from giving some of the general correspondences, as these appear to us.

     The woman Omorka and the monstrous animals in her correspond to the original state of the Pre-Adamites when "the earth was vacuity and inanity and thick darkness upon the faces of the abyss."

     The "faces of the abyss" are the lusts and falsities of the unregenerate man (A. C. 18). In the original Assyrian there is the great Lady Mummu-Tiamat - "the watery abyss" instead of Omorka, and Tiamat is a word identical with Tehom, the Hebrew word for abyss, used in Genesis i, 2.

     Belus cutting this woman and the darkness in twain corresponds to "God divided the light from the darkness" and to "let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." The creation of men from the blood of Belus is but a Babylonian conception of "there went up a mist from the earth and watered all the faces of the ground. And JEHOVAH GOD formed man dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives; and man became a living soul." (Genesis ii, 6, 7.) The ten kings before the flood correspond closely to the ten "Patriarchs," from Adam to Noah. This correspondence seems so self-evident that we are at a loss to understand why the author should not have followed it. His task would thereby have become much easier and the results more correct.

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As it is, he sometimes becomes very obscure, as when he labors to prove that the story of Belus taking off his own head corresponds to the statement "JEHOvAH repented that He had made man." (Genesis vi, 6).

     A New Church reader would, further, have desired more doctrinal and scientific definiteness in the teachings of the work. There are too many "mays" and suppositions, which detract from the value of the book as a Study, while the reader is left in an uncertain state of vague speculations. The book would, also, have become far more useful if it had been written with the express purpose of instructing Newchurchmen, instead of being a well-meant attempt to attract the attention of outsiders to the Doctrines. As such it had to be adapted to the external state of this class, by which it loses in internal value without accomplishing the object of the author. To the average Old Church reader the work must seem extraordinarily "mystical" and "visionary." But then, the author has not yet fully realized the state of the Christian world, or he would not indulge in hopes for the reformation of the Old Church, "and especially for our revered mother-in-law, the Church of England."

     The philological speculations of the author, are also rather wild, but all such things may be easily forgiven on account of Dr. Wilkinson's modest estimation of himself and his brave acknowledgment of the Divinity of the Doctrines, in stating the raison d'etre of his work: "And this is why I, neither a scholar nor a scientific mind, have been constrained to intrude into this field of learning and research a name alien above all other names to the learned and the scientific: the name of Emanuel Swedenborg. For besides being the priest of the Internal Sense of the Word, he is the greatest commentator on the literal Bible that has yet existed, and the illuminator of the history and lore of the ancient nations. The neglect of him we are apt to call amazing; but it is not amazing. He teaches with authority, and not as the scribes. That is the secret and the offense." The same affirmation of the Divine Authority of the Writings is further found in a passage, where he styles the Apocalypse Revealed "a Divine opening word for word of a Divine Book."

     In general we may well say, that this work of Dr. Wilkinson is one of the most interesting and readable books that has ever been published in the Church. It is a veritable mine of historical, mythological and philological suggestions, opening on every side new and beautiful avenues of thought to the mind. And, though treating in a profound manner of a profound matter, the intrinsic interest of the subject, the easy, pure, imaginative style and the truly classical English of the author lead the reader on with uninterrupted delight from beginning to end, leaving him with the pleasant impression, that he has truly been on a visit to the Church of the Ancients.
LETTER FROM ENGLAND 1888

LETTER FROM ENGLAND WILLIAM HENRY ACTON 1888

     Communicated

     [Inasmuch as in this Department Correspondents have an opportunity to express their individual opinions, be they in favor of the principles on which New Church Life is conducted or adverse to them, the Editor does not hold himself responsible for any of the views whatever that are published therein.]

     TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIFE:- As some of your readers may perhaps be aware, there exists in the southwest of Lancashire a Society of New Church Sunday-school teachers, known as the Wigan District Sunday-school Association. Periodical meetings are held for the purpose of reading papers and discussing points of interest and importance connected with Sunday-school work. Such meetings, if properly organized, would be, no doubt, productive of much good, but if the one at which I had the opportunity of being present is to be taken as an average specimen it is not at all surprising to find, as one of the speakers remarked, that so few teachers attend, and that the practical results are so few and poor.

     The paper on this occasion was prepared by the Secretary of the Liverpool Sunday-school, and as is the custom here, a layman occupied the chair. The subject for discussion was "Sunday-Schools and Teachers," and the object of the writer was to show that Sunday-schools are a failure. The cause of this was in the writer's opinion, due to the "want of spirituality," to the "too exclusiveness of Newchurchmen" through limiting themselves to one source of truth, and to the lack of extension of ideas into "other fields of thought." As a body, we made the mistake of confining ourselves to the Writings of Swedenborg, "thereby developing a false ecclesiasticism" and "egotistic sectarianism." Not, indeed, that the writer did not believe in Swedenborg(!); but that truth was of "many sides;" Swedenborg he believed did not present all the truth, but only some phases. Other sides, and not inferior in degree or quality, are to be found in the writings of Jacob Bohme, and others whose works ought to be studied by all Newchurchmen, teachers especially. Special importance should be given to the study of occultism, the Hermetic philosophy, etc. As a result of confining ourselves to the works of Swedenborg [which is far from being the case, judging from prevalent ideas - from priests downward, W. H. A.], we apply his teachings to those outside our body, and stand on a lofty pedestal of self-conceit and look down with contempt upon all "other sects."

     Such in brief is the sum and substance of the paper. Yet, notwithstanding the fact that four priests were present - one an ordaining minister - not one dared open his mouth in defense of the Writings given by the LORD, or do more than say that "there were many things in the paper to which exception might be taken," "We cannot quite agree with all the essayist has said." On the contrary, there was a general expression of satisfaction and approval of the "spirit of the paper." One layman alone (Dr. Livsey), had the courage to say that he could not regard Swedenborg as being on a level with Jacob Bohme, Madam Guyon, etc. What wonder then at the lack of "practical results" and improvement in Sunday- school work, when such teachings are allowed to pass almost unnoticed and uncondemned? The one theme upon which the speakers dwelt was "spirituality," and only one attempted to explain what it is, viz.: "Taking the Word of God and applying it to the condemnation of evils in ourselves."

     It was positively painful to hear how the Divine Writings were spoken of as the "Writings of Swedenborg," in which "is to be found the great means of introducing men into the Spiritual Sense of the Word," but "certainly inferior to the Word." As the speaker uttered these words I wondered whether he had forgotten the LORD'S words, "Whoso shall swear by the temple sweareth by it, and by Him that dwelleth therein." (Matt. xxiii, 16-22.) The Writings of the Church are not an "introduction to the spiritual sense," nor is it right to speak of them as did another priest as "illustrating the Word." If they are anything they are the SPIRITUAL SENSE itself, and the Word as understood by the angels of Heaven; and the letter is holy only because it contains in perfect fullness those Divine Writings.

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     Yet, this was emphatically denied both by the writer of the paper and by most of the speakers, priests and laymen alike. To my mind it seemed not a little curious to notice, that, notwithstanding the open advocacy of the study of mysticism, occultism, and the like - teachings tending directly to spiritism and magic - it was not condemned nor even noticed by one of the priests; one of whom indeed undertook from his "personal knowledge of the writer" to "interpret him" as a "loyal Newchurchman" stating at the same time that "he himself would yield to none in his belief in Swedenborg."(!)

     The only point likely to prove of directly useful results was the recommendation to teach the creed and catechism to the children as the best way of laying a sure foundation in their minds.

     AMONGST other items worthy of notice is the sensation caused by the opening editorial of the June issue of the Life. One reader of the paper wishes me to state that he will burn our worthy Journal, and from the emphatic way in which he spoke one would almost suppose that he would like to treat the editor in the same way. Notwithstanding the prevalent talk about "Charity," it is hinted that the Life and all who agree with it are desirous of perverting the Doctrines to justify and excuse the gratification of evil lusts; indeed, it was stated almost in these words to me by one man. Of course, the subject of permissions is never talked about except in covert allusions and with bated breath. Indeed, by most people Conjugial Love is regarded as an indecent book, and the second part is rarely read even by those who believe in its Divine origin. The little paragraph is likely to do much good if it only tends to remove the false and prudish notions concerning conjugial love and its opposite. It has already received wider circulation by being copied in full in a criticism published in Morning Light, which states the doctrine of permission in a timid sort of way, as if it could apply only to laymen and those not regenerating. But like most others the writer entirely overlooks the warning given in one of the early chapters in the second part of Conjugial Love, that without making distinction we shall fail to understand the subject of both conjugial love and adultery, and fall into errors in consequence.

     The same writer also falls into error concerning the duties of priests. Quoting from The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine, he says it is the duty of priests to teach the truth, and thereby lead to the good of life, from which he draws the conclusion, that a priest must teach the truth, and also must lead by his example to the good of life, for the whole force of the article is built upon this supposition. He seems to forget that it is the truth, thus the LORD, which leads and saves, and hence an evil man, equally as a good man, can teach truth which he himself does not obey nor believe. Several people have asked me whether I could sit under a priest whom I believed to be living an evil life? As if any one can judge the quality of another, and as though it was the man we went to hear, not the LORD'S representative and the truth. In fact, throughout the Church there seems to be total ignorance as to the true nature of the priestly office, even in the minds of the priests themselves. Hence, whilst we hear a great deal said of the threatening "Priestcraft," we hear nothing of the prevailing "laycraft." At one time the minister is regarded as the servant, nay, the drudge of his Society, and no better than the laymen, whilst at another (as for instance in the article referred to above) it is required that he must be the paragon of perfection, whose example must be followed, thus holding the anomalous position of the servant, who must be better than his master. When will the Church learn that the priest is not the servant of the Society, but of its good? However, the searching questions on this subject asked by the President of Conference (see The Dawn) will bring the matter before the Church. These questions are put with a view of ascertaining whether the government of the ecclesiastical affairs of a Society is in the hands of the minister or the committee, and how far the minister acknowledges the Doctrines as set forth at the end of The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine in this respect. Unfortunately, the effect of these questions will, I fear, be weakened owing to the President's neglect of a technicality. The Rules of Conference require that the President, together with the Vice-President, shall issue the annual address. But Dr. Tafel through an ignorance, excusable when one remembers that the numerous Rules of Conference are being continually altered, revised, suspended, or added to, and to be found only in the "Minutes" in complete form, neglected to comply with this rule, and Mr. Wilkens, in The Dawn, endeavors to make the most of the omission. Nevertheless, the address, together with the recent action of Dr. Tafel and Mr. Potts in ordaining two students of the "Institute" into the ministry will cause the subject of the Priesthood and its order to be discussed at the Coming Conference in a manner likely to lead to good results. The Truth is strong and must prevail.

     AFTER THE CONFERENCE MEETING.

     ON the whole, the Conference was one of the most satisfactory and useful that have been held for many years. There was a more evident tendency to appeal to the Writings as the Law of the Church. The general expectation of a stormy Conference led the members to restrain themselves from making personal allusions and to listen with a more kindly disposition to opposite opinions.

     As soon as Dr. Tafel learned the informality of his "circular" it was with-drawn by him and another, and unobjectionable one, issued in conjunction with the Vice-President. But in his report the disorderly state of the Church in regard to ecclesiastical government and order in the Priesthood was treated in a very strong manner. Conference, however, objected to this as being out of place. The President had no business to put forth his opinions in a report to the Church! Has no right to call attention of the Church to anything at variance with the true order of the Doctrines. As some rightly asked, "Then of what use is the report of the President?" The report was ordered to be cut down to the mere statement of what had occurred during the past year, and the most important and valuable part of the document was rejected.

     Though it is the usual custom if not the rule for the retiring President to be elected Vice-President, Dr. Tafel was opposed by some members on the ground of there being certain charges against him. But it was pointed out that it was most unjust to treat a man as if guilty, and then proceed to try him for an offense of which he had been already condemned. So the Doctor was elected Vice-President, though only after a somewhat warm and lengthy discussion. When the charges against Dr. Tafel and Mr. Potts came up an endeavor was made to place the matter in the hands of a committee, consisting almost entirely of men who had pre-determined if possible to have Mr. Potts degraded from his office as Ordaining Minister. A more impartial Committee was, however, chosen by Mr. Storry. Until the report of this Committee was received we were in a state of expectancy as to the result, for Mr. Potts had told Conference that he would not appear before any secret tribunal nor answer any questions until arraigned before Conference itself.

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But a compromise was effected. Dr. Tafel and Mr. Potts were invited by the Committee to participate in its deliberations though not to vote. This Committee reported that Dr. Tafel and Mr. Potts had certainly violated the rules of Conference in ordaining two men into the ministry without the consent of Conference, though it was an ordination into the first degree, which, not being in any way recognized by Conference, had not been regarded as an infringement of Conference rules. The Committee, however, held that it was, but as the subject of the Priesthood was in the hands of a Committee and would be brought before Conference next year, and as it was promised that the offense would not be repeated, the Committee recommended that no further action be taken, and so the matter dropped. In reality, Dr. Tafel and Mr. Potts were found guilty of breaking a law which does not exist and pardoned for doing what they have not done, for whilst they are condemned for ordaining Messrs. Faraday and Sleight, these gentlemen are not regarded as having been ordained.
Yours, very truly,
WILLIAM HENRY ACTON.
CANADA 1888

CANADA 1888

THE New Church School in Berlin, Ont., was opened on the 3d of September. The Rt. Rev. F. W. Tuerk, Pastor of the Society, formally opened the school by the opening of the WORD, reminding those present of the significance of this act: that in this school we must ever look to the LORD in His WORD as the source of all Wisdom, and as our only Guide. The 18th Hymn, "Saviour and Regenerator," was then sung, after which Mr. Tuerk read from the WORD, Matt. xviii. All then united in repeating the LORD'S PRAYER. The Pastor addressed the parents and children in German. He reminded them that the first object of a New Church school is to educate for heaven. He also spoke of the great necessity of obedience on the part of the pupils; without this the school cannot exist. The Rev. F. E. Waelchly, Head Master of the school, followed with an address in English, in which he spoke of the great necessity of always looking to the WORD of the LORD in all the work of the school - to the Word, not in the darkness of the mere letter, but in the light of its spiritual sense. Mr. Wm. Hendry also addressed the school in English. He emphasized the necessity of obedience. The children should obey because it is right, it is their duty to obey. But they should learn to obey, not only because it is their duty, but because they love to do so. Addressing the parents, he spoke to them of the important part which they must take in aiding the progress of the school. It is their duty to co-operate with the teacher in their homes. The authority of the teacher does not cease when the children leave the school-room. New Church education has as its object more than mere instruction. We place the whole development of the child into the hands of the teacher, and if his guidance cannot extend to the home, much of the work in the school will be injured or undone. Mr. Theodore Bellinger spoke in German of the great privilege which parents and children enjoy in having a New Church school. Let us ever remember to be thankful to the LORD for His blessings. It is pleasant to note the significance of the numbers associated with the opening of the school. The school began with twenty-seven (3x3x3) scholars in the ninth (3x3) month, and on the third day of the month.
SACERDOTALISM 1888

SACERDOTALISM WM. DENOVAN 1888

TO THE EDITOR OF NEW CHURCH LIFE:- I would like to know what reason can be given by "Frater" why the line of freedom and toleration should be drawn at sacerdotalism if there are those who believe that there is a mode of it in correspondence with an inferred sacerdotalism in heaven. If erroneous, it will play itself out; whilst if the LORD has a use for it in His universal Invitation to the New Church it will remain. Men will not, nor should they, stop publishing what they believe good and true at the call of any "Frater." If those who favor correspondential sacerdotalism were to hide their doing so, would it not be set down to their being ashamed of it? The feelings of others, even if largely in the majority, have only a right to respect in so far as they are not blamed for taking a different track to heaven. Not by building a Babylon of our own as a base of operations in a war against another's supposed Babylon will the New Jerusalem come down any faster from above. Assert freedom for ourselves, and in love and without blame concede the same to others, and the walls of every Babel will crumble of themselves.
WM. DENOVAN.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

     THE Rev. Frank Sewall conducted services in the German language on July 22d, at Zurich. On the following Sunday he conducted the services while the Rev. J. R. Hibbard delivered a sermon, all in the English language. On July 23d, the American and Swiss friends celebrated Dr. Hibbard's seventy-third birthday.

     THE Monatblatter evinces great pleasure at the nomination of the Rev. Frank Sewall as the messenger of the General Convention to the Swiss Union, and expresses the conviction that, in connection with the message sent from America, this will establish a relation between the two bodies which will "further the orderly development of the Union." The annual meeting of the Union was announced to be held on September 9th.

     SEVERAL errors occur in the report concerning the Rev. Joseph Pettee's jubilee in the September number. The Rev. Thomas Worcester preceded Mr. Pettee as Ordaining Minister, not as minister of the Abington Society. Mr. Pettee's predecessor at Abington was the Rev. Warren Goddard. The present pastor of the Society is the Rev. J. E. Werren, nor Warren.

     AFTER nearly ninety-five years of usefulness as a centre for the worship and other activities of the New Church, the Peter Street, Manchester, building has been sold for other uses. Two new churches are to be built, one in the southern suburb of Moss Side, and the other northward near Northumberland Street, Higher Broughton.

     THE ministers of the Canada Association now number six, and have deter-mined to establish a Conference and to meet once in three months.

     THE New Church summer resort near La Porte is reported as being a great success as regards both the spiritual and the physical.

     THE "German Synod will meet in Cincinnati on October 25th.

     THE Waltham School was re-opened on September 26th.

     THE Michigan Association will meet in Detroit on October 6th and 7th.

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NEWS GLEANINGS 1888

NEWS GLEANINGS Various 1888

NEW CHURCH LIFE.

A MONTHLY JOURNAL.

TERMS:- One Dollar per annum, payable in advance.
     Six months on trial for twenty-five cents.

     All communications must be addressed to Publishers New Church Life, No. 759 Corinthian Avenue, Philadelphia. Pa.

     In Great Britain subscriptions may be sent to

     MR. S. WARREN POTTS, Book Steward, 61 Cathedral Street, Glasgow, Scotland.

     REV. R. J. TILSON, "Oakley," County Grove, Camberwell London, S. E.

     MR. G. A. MCQUEEN, Crowhurst Road, Colchester.

     MR. JAS. CALDWELL, 59 County Road, N., Liverpool.

     MR. C. E. SCHROEDER, 13 Ashfield Terrace, Newcastle-on-Tyne.

     MISS FLORENCE G. GIBBS, 6 Camden Square, London, N.

     PHILADELPHIA, OCTOBER, 1888=119.

     CONTENTS.

     Editorial Notes, p. 145. - The Sign of the Prophet Jonah (a Sermon), p. 146. - "Concubinage and New Church Doctrine," p. 148. - The literal signification of the Name "Iehowah," p. 151. - Social Intercourse between the New Church and the Old Church, p. 152.

     Notes and Reviews, p. 154. - The Legend of Cannes, p. 155.

     Letter from England, p. 157. - Canada, p. 159. - Sacerdotalism. p 159. - News Items, p. 159.

     News Gleanings, p. 160. - Births, Marriages, and Deaths, p. 160.
     AT HOME.

     Pennsylvania.- THE corner-stone of the chapel, or Sunday-School building, of the Society of the Advent, Philadelphia, was laid at ten A. M. Thursday, September 13th, by the Rev. L. H. Tafel. It was put in the southeast corner, and was the first stone placed in the foundation. In it were put a copy of the Word and The True Christian Religion, and also the names of the members of the Society since its organization, its Manual and Declaration of Principles. In digging the foundation a stratum of rock was struck and a spring of water, the latter causing considerable delay. It is hoped to have the building ready for occupancy about the first of January.

     Maine.- THE Maine Association met in Portland on August 25th.

     Ohio.- THE Urbana University opened on September 19th. The Primary and Grammar Schools opened on the 12th.

     Indiana.- THE ministry of the Rev. H. H. Grant at La Porte came to an end on September 1st.

     California.- Fifteen hundred dollars and the use of a lot have been assured the San Diego friends for a house of worship.

     SERVICES in San Jose are now held in a public hall instead of a private house, as heretofore.

     Oregon.- THE Rev. W. Butt is reported in The New Church Pacific to have preached in Ballston. Three were baptized and four joined the Society. Of what sect Mr. Butt is a minister is not stated.

     Nova Scotia.- THE Rev. J. S. David has been on an evangelistic tour in this province. He preached at Beaver River, West New Annan, and other places. His experiences indicate that the best success attends the presentation of the contrast between the Doctrines of the Old Church and those of the New.

     ABROAD.

     Great Britain.- THE eighty first meeting of the General Conference was held on August 13th to 18th, at Accrington. The meeting was of peculiar historical interest, as the Rev. Richard Storry, of Heywood, whose golden wedding and jubilee of ordination were both celebrated this year, presided over the meeting. In his address he briefly reviewed the past and stated that the Conference of 1834, the first he attended, consisted of six ministers and nine laymen, in all fifteen members. This year one hundred and twenty-six ministers and delegates were in attendance.

     The report of the retiring President, the Rev. R. L. Tafel, contained a number of suggestions, among them one in regard to the proper order and regulation of the ministry. A long discussion ensued and resulted in the refusal to print a great part of the report, but the whole question of ecclesiastical organization was referred to a committee of ministers.

     The messengers from the Convention were Messrs. Dewson and Scammon, both of whom addressed the Conference.

     The Rev. J. F. Potts proposed the election of a permanent president, contending that "rotation of office as a principle is from hell." The Conference seemed to be of a different opinion, as it continues to elect a new president every year.

     The Treasurer reported investments of the value of nearly sixty-three thousand pounds. Of this amount about thirty thousand pounds is held for various Societies and Institutions.

     There is a movement on foot to pay a minimum annual stipend to each recognized minister out of a common fund.

     A memorial prepared by the "New Church Temperance Society" and signed by fifteen ministers and leaders and seven hundred and seventy-one other members of the Church led to a debate of seven or eight hours' duration. The Rev. Joseph Deans moved that at the Conference celebration of the Holy Supper both fermented and unfermented wine should be provided. The Rev. John Presland proposed an amendment in which the employment of unfermented grape juice was pronounced as contrary to Divine Order and therefore inadmissible into the worship of the New Church. The amendment received twenty-two votes and was rejected by at least four to one. The Rev. W. A. Presland moved a further amendment, which was accepted in place of the original motion, "That without expressing any opinion with regard to what is called the wine controversy the Conference advises that for the present there shall be two Communion services, at one of which fermented and at the other unfermented wine shall be used on the Tuesday evening in Conference week." This proposition received a nearly unanimous vote. Twenty-nine speakers took part in the debate, of whom thirteen supported the resolution and eleven supported the amendment, the remainder being all adverse to the amendment, though not favorable to the resolution.

     Three additional Societies were received into Conference, and the ordinations of Messrs. Mark Rowse and Arthur Potter, the leaders respectively at Blackburn and Walworth Road, was sanctioned. Mr. Rowse was in former years a minister, on probation, of the Methodist Free Church. Mr. Potter was formerly also a member of that Church. In the debate on the ordination of one of these gentlemen strong arguments for incompetency were advanced but the fear lest he be hardly treated if his ordination were not decided upon seemed to lead the majority to vote in his favor.

     Austria.- IN a communication from Austria to Neukirchenblatt (published in Berlin, Ont.) a correspondent remarks that "now after thirty-two years since the time when the Doctrines of the New Church were first made known in Vienna, we may say that the right step has been taken to establish a New Church Society in Vienna, with the recognition of the priestly office." The Rev. F. Gorwitz of Zurich, visited Vienna, and conducted services on May 27th and June 3d, and administered the sacraments on June 3d in the morning and in the afternoon. Three persons were baptized, the greater part of those present having in former years been baptized by the Rev. Messrs. R. L. Tafel, Benade, and Peisker. Twenty-eight persons partook of the Holy Supper. Thirty persons, including the Pastor, signed the instrument of organization. It will be remembered that another Society exists in Vienna, visited occasionally by Mr. Artope.

     Australia.- THE Adelaide Society celebrated its forty-fourth anniversary on July 9th. A brief review of its history is given in The New Age, the Australian New Church periodical, for August.
EDITORIAL NOTES 1888

EDITORIAL NOTES Editor 1888

BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS.

161

NEW CHURCH LIFE     [November, 1888

Vol. VIII     PHILADELPHIA, NOVEMBER, 1888 = 119 No. 11
     The information concerning the life of the Ancient Sophi in the other world (T. C. R. 692-694; C. L. 151, 182, 207), intensifies the peculiar charm which invests the accounts concerning these men, that have come down to our times, and enables us to read these accounts more intelligently. Of Pythagoras, Socrates, Aristippus, Xenophon, and their followers it is said that they reside in Athenaeum and its vicinity, while Plato, Aristotle, Demosthenes, and their followers dwell in another region, because they taught rationals, which are of the understanding, but the former, morals, which are of life.

     It would follow from this, that the spirit of Socrates is reflected better in Xenophon's accounts than in those by Plato. Examination certainly confirms the above description of the respective genius of these two authors.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE religion of the Greeks was molded mainly on what emanated to them from the Ancient Church, principally as this existed in Egypt and Phenicia. Socrates was a gentile, and indeed of that nation with which the Church succeeding the one which existed in his time was to be primarily established, and in whose language the Word of the New Testament was to be revealed by the Divine lips of the Incarnate LORD. Although, as a gentile, he had not the truths of wisdom in the form in which they had been revealed in the Ancient Word, and were again to be revealed in the New Christian Church, yet he possessed them, but in another form, and his teaching must have had an important influence in preparing the Greeks for the establishment among them of the Christian Church, five centuries later.

For example, among the fundamental truths of the wisdom of every-day life, is this, that man should act as of himself, yet with the acknowledgment that he knows and is able to do nothing from himself, but from the LORD, and that therefore he must look to Him for light and strength. This truth was taught by Socrates, as is shown in the early part of Xenophon's Memorabilia (Book i, 6-9), where Socrates is said to have encouraged the practice of divination, sending his friends to consult oracles concerning matters the outcome of which was uncertain, while at the same time he recommended them to do their duty according to their best ability. "Those who thought that human affairs did not depend upon the gods, but that all depended on human judgment, he declared to be insane. On the other hand he also declared those to be insane who practiced divination respecting matters which the gods had granted men to judge of for themselves . . . and he said that men ought to learn what the gods had given them to learn and do, and to try to ascertain from the gods by augury whatever is obscure to men, since the gods always give signs to those to whom they are propitious."
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

     THE Infinite when inflowing into forms adapted to angelic or human conditions is imaged forth in the form of the indefinite. The Hebrew language is much more indefinite than either Greek or Latin, and it has this very characteristic because it is the most ultimate accommodation of the Infinite Divine Truth. The Latin is more definite, and this is one important reason why in the Writings the same Hebrew expression is sometimes translated variously. To ascribe such variations to a supposed "progressive inspiration" or to "mistakes" in Swedenborg is directly opposed to the teaching that Swedenborg was Divinely inspired from the first day of his call. The very ideas expressed by the varying translations in the Latin Writings are all contained in the words of the Hebrew Scriptures, of which they are the translation.

     Were it possible to reproduce in the Latin, or any other language, the Hebrew expressions with the indefinite extension of their meaning, the necessity for the preservation and reading of the Word in the original tongue would cease.

     An illustration of the indefiniteness of the Hebrew as compared with the Latin, is afforded by the relative pronoun. In Hebrew who and which with all their cases are expressed by the uninflected HEB.???, while in the Latin they are expressed by three genders, and six cases of each gender. So that, for instance, the verse in Isaiah xxi, 6, HEB. is translated "Constitue speculatorem, quod visurus indicabit" (A. C. 3048), and also "qui spectet et nuntiet" (A. C. 5321; A. R. 437; A. E. 278). Both ideas are contained in the Hebrew: "Set a watchman, what he shall see he will indicate," and "Set a watchman who will behold and announce." Either one of these expressions would probably not contain the full Internal Sense which the one Hebrew expression does contain.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

"DOES the acknowledged right in the New Church to the full exercise of freedom according to reason admit blamelessly of changes of established customs, with those who think it well to make them, in all matters where the Word and the Writings are not so explicit as to bring about a general consension of opinion with those who acknowledge their authority?" So asks a correspondent.

There can be no question that every one is and should be left in freedom to make for himself such changes in established customs as he, according to his reason, thinks right. But he should be careful that, in adopting the changes, he respect the freedom of others, and do not endeavor to compel them to accommodate themselves to his opinion. His "reason," or what he considers to be his reason, may be formed not of truths but of misconceptions of truths, and thus be a poor one. He must act according to it, such as it is, but if it lead to disturbance, it may be a sign that his reason is in the wrong. Even should others be in the wrong, and be in the right, he ought to exercise the same care. He ought to use every legitimate means to convince others by rational arguments of the justice of his position, but he should not obtrude it upon them, or deride or condemn them.

162

If, after repeated efforts on his part, they persist in their course, and he finds that he cannot conscientiously act with them, let him cease his association with them: he can then adopt his own customs with less likelihood of interfering with them.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

A NEW CHURCH minister writes: "In Arcana Coelestia, n. 8192, I note this sentence, 'In the Word also angels are named by name, as Michael, Raphael, and others.' Inasmuch as the angel Raphael is not named in any book of the Word, but only in the Apocryphal Book of Tobit, how would you account for Swedenborg's reference to the name as contained in the Word?"

Since the Divinely inspired Swedenborg wrote that the angel-name, "Raphael," occurs in the Word, this must be the case. If the name does not occur in our Word, it must occur in the Ancient Word, in which the LORD revealed Himself to the Ancient Church, and which is still preserved in Great Tartary. (See T. C. R. 266, 269; A. R. 11, and numerous other places.) This conclusion is confirmed by the explanation of the names "Raphael" and "Michael" in Apocalypse Explained, n. 735, where again both are said to occur in the Word. In the explanation of the name "Michael" the interesting verse from the Epistle of Jude is quoted, "Michael the arch-angel, when disputing with the devil he refuted concerning the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a sentence of blasphemy, but said, the LORD rebuke thee," and it is stated that "Judas the Apostle adduced this from ancient books which were written by correspondences," and according to the correspondences Swedenborg explains this passage. There can, therefore, be little doubt that the name "Michael" occurs in the Ancient Word, and there can be as little doubt that Tobit or Tobi, who lived several centuries before the Apostle Jude, may, like him, have had access to "ancient books" which were written according to correspondences, and were the intermediate link between the Ancient Word and his time. Tobit's own book, if not entirely written according to correspondences, certainly contains many, and his account of the angel Raphael as well as the meaning of the name itself (HEB.=God heals) grant us considerable insight into the quality of the function of the angelic society named "Raphael," and also into the esse of the Divine of the LORD which constitutes that function.
LORD IS DOCTRINE 1888

LORD IS DOCTRINE Rev. F. E. WAELCHLY, A. B 1888

     "JESUS said to him, I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one cometh to the Father, if not by Me." - John xiv, 6.

     IN the Word of our text the LORD teaches the way of salvation. It is said, "JESUS said unto him," because by "JESUS" is meant the LORD as Saviour; the name "JESUS" also means a Saviour. Salvation is effected by conjunction with the Divine, which is signified by "coming to the Father;" but this conjunction can only be effected by approaching the LORD in His Divine Human, who is the LORD JESUS CHRIST; wherefore it is said: "No one cometh to the Father, if not by Me." Conjunction with the LORD cannot be effected unless man realizes that of himself he is nothing but evil, and can think nothing but falsity; that in reality he is nothing. The more a man realizes this and shuns the evils which he sees in himself, the more receptive will he become of that by which he can be conjoined with the LORD, for the LORD conjoins Himself with His Own in man. He is the Way, and the Truth, and the Life, And when the Way, and the Truth, and the Life are in man, the LORD dwells in him, and he in the LORD.

     "Way" signifies doctrine; "Truth," that which doctrine teaches, and "Life" the good to which Truth leads. To be regenerated, man must first learn doctrine from the WORD, store it up in his memory, make it of his reason by reflection, apply the truth which it teaches to his life, by shunning manifest evils as sins against God, and then, with prayer for more light, follow on to know the Way, to see the Truth, and to live the Life. Doctrine thus becomes the lamp which bears the light of Truth, to shine in the path that leads to eternal Life.

     The LORD in the Divine Human calls Himself "The Way." "Way," as we have seen, is Doctrine; the LORD, in the Divine Human, therefore is Doctrine. Doctrine is teaching - the teaching which leads to Life. The Divine Love disposes us to be led to live a spiritual life, and the Divine Wisdom teaches and leads. The LORD in His very Divinity is above the comprehension even of the angels; but by the Divine Human He comes to man and manifests Himself as the WORD - teaching of a God, of a Heaven and a Hell, of a life according to Commandments, and giving Commandments. Into these teachings the Divine then inflows, and by them He gives light or understanding to know truth and to discriminate it from falsity, to see good and to separate it from evil. This is the LORD'S gift to man in the WORD as Divine Doctrine, in which He Himself appears. In the literal sense of the Word are truths accommodated to the understanding of those who are in external worship; who in simplicity of heart and mind regard as holy the precepts of the literal sense of the WORD, and who can by means of them be led to the life of heaven, but who are as yet unable to receive the light of the Internal Sense, and behold the LORD coming with power and glory in the clouds of the heavens. In the Internal Sense of the Word are truths accommodated to those who are internal men, and who by means of these truths can become angelic, both as to doctrine and as to life. Their understandings are illustrated to such a degree that their illustration is compared in the WORD to the splendor of the stars and of the sun; as in Daniel: "And they that be intelligent shall shine in the brightness of the expanse, and they that turn many to justice as the stars to eternity," (ch. xii, 3); and in Matthew: "Then shall the just shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father" (ch. xiii, 43).

     We see, then, how important it is for us to know and receive the truths of doctrine which the LORD in His mercy has given us in His Revelation. The better we know them, and the more fully we receive them, the greater will be our means for regeneration, and the more interior will be the way of life, into which we shall be led to conjunction with the LORD. If it is the endeavor of our lives to attain this end, it behooves us with all diligence to apply ourselves to the earnest study of the Heavenly Doctrines, and to the cultivation of an earnest love for this study in ourselves, in the family, and in the Church. But we need to remember that merely to know the doctrines, and not to receive them, will in no wise be of use to us in regeneration. They who do not desire to be conjoined with the LORD can indeed know the doctrines; but only those receive them who through doctrine look to the LORD, and are led by Him to His Heavenly Kingdom and the Church: "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to be sons of God, believing in His Name, who were born not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John i, 11-13.)

163

     That 'Way' denotes truth is from the appearance in the spiritual world, where also ways and paths, and, in the cities, streets and rows of houses, appear; and spirits go in no other direction than to those with whom they are consociated by love; hence it is that the quality of the spirits there, in regard to truth, is known from the way which they go, for every truth leads to its love, for that is called truth which confirms what is loved. Hence it is that 'way' also, in common human discourse, denotes truth, for the speech of man has derived this, like many other things, from the spiritual world. From this, then, it is that in the WORD by 'way,' 'path,' 'by-path,' 'course,' 'street,' and 'rows of houses' are signified truths, and in the opposite sense falses, as is evident from the following passages: "Stand ye near the ways and see, inquire concerning the ways of an age, which way is best." (Jer. vi, 16.) Again, 'Make good your ways and your works; confide not in yourselves on the words of a lie.' (Jer. vii, 3, 45.) Again, 'Learn not the ways of the nations.' (Jer. x, 2.) In these passages and in many others, by 'way' is signified truth, and in the opposite sense the false." (A. C. 10,422.)

     We have said that the man of the Church must look through doctrine to the LORD, because the LORD by Doctrine from Himself leads man to Himself as Life. Man looks to himself if he does not regard doctrine as of the LORD, and thus as Divine Authority, but merely as deductions made from the letter of the WORD by human intelligence, the ability to do which he also imagines himself to possess. Those who delude themselves by this fancy and confirm themselves in it, cannot find the way which leads to heaven, and even if perchance they should find it, when they reach the gates at the termination of the way and knock for admission, they will not be opened unto them. The LORD is the Way and He also is the Door: "1 am the Door of the sheep - by Me, if any one enter in, he shall be saved." (John x, 7, 9.)

     In a certain Memorable Relation it is said that a question once arose among some spirits, whether a man can see any doctrinal theological truth in the WORD, except from the LORD. After some dispute it was shown them that, by the lumen of his own intelligence, man can derive nothing but falsity from the Word. They were taught in this wise: "There came up from the abyss certain spirits, who appeared at first sight like locusts, but afterward like men; they were some who in the world had directed their prayers to God the Father, and confirmed themselves in the doctrine of justification by faith alone, affirming that they could see in clear light, and this from the WORD, that man is justified by faith alone without the works of the law. Being asked, 'By what faith?' they replied, 'By faith in God the Father.' But after they were examined, it was signified to them from heaven, that they were not acquainted with a single doctrinal truth from the WORD; to which they replied, that this truth, however, they saw in the clearest light; upon which they were told that they saw it in the light of infatuation; they asked, 'What is the light of infatuation?' and were informed, 'That the light of infatuation is the light arising from the confirmation of what is false, and that that light corresponds to the light in which owls and bats are, darkness being light to them, and light darkness.' This they confirmed by what they themselves experienced, in that, when they looked up to heaven, which is light itself, they saw only darkness, and that when they looked down into the abyss from whence they came, they saw light. At this appeal to their own case they were much offended, and said: 'At this rate light and darkness are nothing but states of the eye, in consequence of which light is said to be light and darkness darkness.' But it was shown them, that the light by which they saw was the light of infatuation, arising from the confirmation of what is false, and that it was merely an activity of their minds excited by the fire of concupiscences, not unlike the light of cats, whose eyes appear like flame in the night-time, in consequence of their burning appetite for prey. On hearing these words, they replied with anger, that they were not cats, nor like cats, because they could see if they chose; but fearing to be asked why they did not choose, they retired, and sunk down into their own abyss and its light. They who dwell there, and such as resemble them are called owls and bats." (A. R. 566.)

     If man look to the LORD as the Way, and if he do this earnestly and sincerely, then will his understanding be formed anew, and be gifted with the ability to see the LORD as the Truth and the Life. This is illustrated by the ordinary process of regeneration, and its beginning in the acceptance of a doctrinal statement, concerning which a man thinks and reasons. Looking to the LORD, he will see that it teaches him concerning the LORD and His Kingdom; and as he seeks to go the way in which the truth directs him, it will become to him more and more living, and in time it will be to him, not merely a teaching concerning the LORD, but he will be enabled to see it as a very Divine Truth, in which the LORD Himself in His Divine Human is seen present with man.

     But the LORD does not come as Truth separate from Good. The LORD comes as the Way, and the Truth, and also as the Life. The LORD is Life Itself, and all life is from Him. He is Divine Good and Divine Truth, and true life with man is a life of good and truth. He who is not in such life, or in the endeavor to attain it, does not have life, but merely an existence. "The Divine is essential Life in Itself, and thus has life in Itself, whereas the mere human is an organ of life, and thus has not life in itself; the LORD'S Human, when made Divine, was no longer an organ of life, or a recipient of life, but was essential Life in Itself, such as appertains to JEHOVAH Himself." (A. C. 2658.)

     Spiritual life, which man receives from the LORD, is true life, for it is the life of love to the LORD and to the neighbor, which life the man of the Church can attain by looking to the LORD and shunning evils as sins.

     "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one cometh to the Father if not by Me." No one can approach the Divine except through the Divine Human; for in the Divine Human the Divine is present with man. The Divine in Itself is above human comprehension; we can ascribe to It no qualities, we can only say that IT IS. But that man might be conjoined with the Divine and thus be saved, the LORD assumed a human and made it Divine, and to the LORD in His Divine Human man can approach. In His Divine Providence the LORD thus enables man to know and receive Him, and in a finite way to comprehend that He is the Way, and the Truth, and the Life - the all of salvation. The Divine Providence of the LORD is in all and single the things of the life of man, and if man will but turn to Him in His Word, He will open his eyes to the Way, which, if he will follow, will bring him into the bright and shining heavenly light of Truth, and into eternal Life.- AMEN.
Mr. J. B. Spiers 1888

Mr. J. B. Spiers 1888

DURING the month of September Mr. J. B. Spiers was engaged in evangelistic labors in the State of Maine.

164

CONVERSATIONS ON EDUCATION 1888

     CONJUNCTION.

     THE right formation of the human understanding and the right formation of human character are inter-dependent processes. Each process has its true point of departure in the Divine Commandments, which are the first of our Word, and with man, in obedience to those commandments, which effects the first opening of the mind and the life, and which as a first state enters into all succeeding states. Obedience is of the will and its affections' and in it there is a primary manifestation of the inflowing of the Divine Life by an internal way of disposition to hear and heed that which comes from the same source by an external way through the senses. As the highest form of human character is in the angelic love and life of doing only the LORD'S Will of Love, so is the highest form of human intelligence and wisdom in the rational acknowledgment of Truth to be Truth because the LORD has declared it.

     There is no higher and better reason for our belief than that which rests on the Divine Enunciation: "Thus saith the LORD." The Rationality formed by such a belief is inmostly conjoined with that Liberty of doing the LORD'S Will; and a character formed of such a Rationality and Liberty can be built up on no other foundation than that of obedience. The gravity and importance of this truth to parent, teacher, and child cannot be measured by any standard other than that set up by the LORD Himself, in the giving of the Law for the salvation of human souls. The acceptance and application of this truth are essential to the devisement and carrying out of whatever system that lays claim to perform the work of instructing and educating human beings. The system that omits, the practice that fails to enforce, obedience as a fundamental and all-pervading rule, opens a broad way for the influx of evil spirits, and gives over the life of child and man to the dominion of hell. In our day, alas! we need but point for illustration of the truth of this statement to the present condition of the civilized world. Exemplum stat.

     The Divine Purpose in all instruction is manifestly that of leading the child step by step away from its own natural and merely selfish affections, desires, and delights, from its own sensual fallacies, notions, and thoughts, to affections and thoughts of the very opposite nature. For is it not of Divine Doctrine that, inasmuch as the will of man cannot be regenerated, but only subdued and rendered quiescent, in order that regeneration may be effected, and that man may be conjoined with the LORD, it is necessary that he receive from the LORD a new will, or a new proprium which is not man's but the LORD'S with man? Such a new will or proprium with man is, in fact, a new, angelic character formed in every one who is regenerated, which character is such in kind and degree as is the man's denial and abnegation of his self-love and self-conceit, and his consequent reception of life from the LORD in the doing of the LORD'S Will, and not his own will. Were these truths received and conscientiously applied even by the few to whom the teachings of the New Church are known, we should be less frequently pained by childish exhibitions of self-will and self-consciousness, which are but expressions of the love of self and the world, and we might entertain better hopes of the coming days of those who are growing up around and among us. For it is the simple truth that self-will and self-consciousness are obstacles to the right instruction of children of precisely the same quality and power as are the love of self and the world in the adult to the acknowledgment of the LORD and a life according to His Commandments. The latter state has its beginning in the former as a seed, of which it is the ripe and deadly fruit.

     The innocence of infancy appears in the entire willingness to be led by the hand of the parent or nurse, and in an entire unconsciousness of self, its belongings, wishes, and ideas. From this ignorant innocence as a heavenly remnant, it is the true business of life to form the innocence of a wisdom which rejoices in being led by the LORD. And to the end that the remnant of innocence may come forth in such a vivified form of angelic life, it is of eternal importance that it be most carefully and faithfully conserved. Self-will and self-consciousness, if not restrained and corrected, by degrees cover up and obliterate the forms of infant innocence, and this to such an extent as to remove any foundation on which there can be built up a truly human character in the image and after the likeness of the Divine. And on character, as has been observed repeatedly, depends genuine intellectual growth and development. All life with man is received in his internal, and from the internal it forms for itself receptacles in the external. In the light of the world, in which is man's natural existence, "there is no intelligence, and not even life." The natural man does not think, even as the natural eye does not see and the natural ear does not hear. It appears to man as if the natural eye sees and his ear hears and his natural man thinks; but it is not so. The natural man and his belongings are no more than organs of the Rational or Internal Man. Thought that appears in the natural is of the Rational, even as the conduct or action of the natural corporeal man is of the internal or rational which manifests itself and comes into fullness in the subservient forms of the external.

     It is known that such as is the quality of the will and its affections, such is the thought and such the act of man. This quality is seen and known in the spiritual world, not alone from itself, but also from the character of the spirits who are associated with the man; for their association is according to the quality of his life. The character forming in the child, and formed in the adult, what is it, then, but a life lived with its like and appearing clearly in the spiritual world? A life void of good, of love to the LORD and the neighbor, thus, of what is truly human, if self be loved, and if self lead and govern, and empty of truth, of the Divine Laws, if self and the world be thought of and reflected in every idea and image of the mind. In such a life there may be seeming intelligence and culture; but this seeming will be only to its own spiritual and natural associates. In the light of heaven, which is the very form of the love of good, it will appear as mere gross ignorance and stupidity. (A. C. 3679.) The light of Heaven is Divine Truth. This is received only when the external things of man's mind, his sensual affections and thoughts, are in subordination, and especially when they are in correspondence with what is given from Heaven to the Rational Mind. It is not possible for man to think truly, except from the influx of light, i. e., of Truth from Heaven, and this influx is received by him according to the actual state of the life which he forms for himself in the world or in his natural man. This state constitutes his receptivity, and according to his receptivity he becomes either intelligent and wise, or ignorant and stupid; the former if the receptivity be formed from love to the LORD and the neighbor, and the latter if it be formed from the love of self and the world. (A. C. 3679.)

     THE Rev. L. P. Mercer resumed the services of the Van Buren Street Society on Sunday, September 2d.

165

ELEMENTS OF HUMAN SPEECH AS APPLIED TO THE NAME "IEHOWAH." 1888

     THE name IEHOWAH has the significations enumerated in our article on the subject (see page 151), not only as a whole, but in every least particular of its form and pronunciation, in every least iota, letter, curve, apex, and vowel.

     To explain this in particular it is necessary first briefly to examine into the subject of the signification of the elements of human speech.

     On this subject, which is the key-Note to all Philology in the New Church, we learn the following principles from the Doctrines:

     1. There are two universals of human speech: sound and articulation of sound.

     2. Sound expresses the affections and is distinguished into vowels. Articulation of sound expresses the ideas of thought, and is distinguished into words, syllables, and consonants.

     3. Vowels, therefore, correspond to goods or to the celestial, and consonants correspond to truths, or to the spiritual. Hence is the difference between the speech of the celestial and the spiritual angels, inasmuch as celestial speech is soft and flowing, sounding much from vowels, and rarely failing from consonant to consonant without an intervening vowel. The speech of the spiritual, on the other hand, is more discrete, vibratory, harsh, and distinctly articulate.

     4. There are also two classes of vowels and two classes of consonants:

     (a.) Vowels, used by the celestial angels and corresponding to the affections of good, are especially U, O, and, somewhat, of A. The celestial cannot pronounce E and I, but instead of E and AE they say EU; instead of I they say Y, and instead of A they often say AO, intermediate.

     (b.) Vowels used by the spiritual and corresponding to the affections of truth are especially E and I.

     (c.) Vowels intermediate between the celestial and the spiritual, are, therefore, A, EU, Y, and AE.

     All the vowels may hence be arranged in the following series:

     Celestial.- U, O, and AO.

     Intermediate.- A and EU, Y and AE.

     Spiritual,- E and I.

     Considering these vowels separately, we learn from the Doctrines the following particulars:

     U stands at the head of all the vowels. It is the deepest and fullest sound that man can produce, and it arises from an inmost breathing. As such it corresponds to the highest affection of celestial love, inflowing immediately from the LORD. The language of the celestial angels sounds, consequently, much from this vowel and the related O. In the Word in the Hebrew it is prevalent particularly in words of the celestial class, and in human speech it is generally employed when high and great things are treated of, or when deep and intense great emotions are to be expressed. It seems to be particularly adapted to the expression of the affections of Conjugial Love, as may be perceived from the soft cooings of turtle-doves.

     O partakes in general of the same characteristics as U, though it is not of the same depth and intensity. In the language of the spiritual world all vowels "signify such things as conjoin, such as 'by,' with', 'in' etc.," thus what generally are known as prepositions. Of these, O is said to signify "by" and "with." (S. D. 6063.)

     AO is the last in the descending series of the celestial vowels. This vowel is said to be used in the celestial heavens instead of A, with which it is closely related.

     A is plainly an intermediate between the spiritual and the celestial vowels, for while it is said that "A is used by the celestial because it gives a full sound" (S. S. 90), and that "it involves somewhat of good" (H. H. 241), still this is balanced by the statements that "it is by the celestial sounded as AO, intermediate" (S. D. 5622), and that it, together with E and I, are "dominant in words of the spiritual class." (A. C. 793.)

     The sound of this vowel is particularly full, broad, and open. While on the one hand it contains somewhat of the depth and interior sound of U and O, on the other hand it possesses the strength and "ring" of E and I. We may, therefore, safely conclude that A is the conjunction of all spiritual and celestial sounds, verging toward the spiritual into the diphthong AE, and toward the celestial into AO.

     EU is a diphthong formed by a spiritual and a celestial vowel, and is, consequently, an intermediate, employed in the celestial heaven instead of AE, which cannot be pronounced there.

     Y is similarly intermediate, and used by the celestial instead of I.

     AE is a connecting link between A and E.

     E is a distinctly spiritual vowel, which, like I, cannot be uttered in the celestial heaven. It involves the affection of truth and in the Word in the Hebrew, these two vowels characterize words of the spiritual class.

     I is the most ultimate of all the vowels and presents, in an intensified degree, the qualities of E. It expresses the affection of truth inflowing into ultimates, as is suggested by the signification of this vowel as being "that which is from the interior." (S. D. 6063.) Its sharp, piercing sound, also, presents the idea of the affection of truth, inflowing from the LORD during temptations, by the sharp sword of truth combating against the hells.

     For the sake of reference and further study the passages are here adduced from which the above principles have been drawn. (H. H. 236, 241; S. S. 90; S. D. 5620, 5622, 6063; A. C. 793.)

     5. The consonants, also, may be divided into two classes - soft and hard. Of these the first class are used by the celestial angels, while the second class are used by the spiritual. It is to be observed that originally or in most ancient times all consonants were pronounce soft. (See S. D. 5620; S. S. 90.)

     As none of the consonants, properly so-called, enter into the name of
IEHOWAH, we will not now consider their particular significations.

     6. Beside the vowels and the consonants, strictly so called, there is a third class, consisting in the Hebrew of (a) the Breathing, HEB. (He), (b) the Gutturals, HEB. (Cheth), HEB. (Ayin); and HEB. (Aleph), and (c) the Vowel- Consonants, HEB. (Wau) and HEB. (Jodh).

     Of these, HEB. (H) is to our subject of the greatest importance and we learn concerning it, "From the name of JEHOVAH is taken the letter H in Abraham, for the sake of the representation of JEHOVAH or the LORD." (A. C. 1416.)

     "The H (in Abraham and Sarah) involves Infinity, because it is only breathing [aspiratio]." (A. R. 38.)

     "The H, which was added to the names of Abram and Sarai, signifies the Infinite and the Eternal." (S. S. 90.)

     "The letter H is taken from the name of JEHOVAH, which letter in the name of JEHOVAH is the only one that involves the Divine, and signifies 'I am' or 'to Be.'" (A. C. 2010, 3251.)

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     H signifies these purely Divine things, because, it is said, it is only an aspirate, an a-spiritu, a motion from the inmost being, spirit, or breath, the very first expression from within of the life of man. From this breathing descend all sounds and all articulations of sound, all vowels and consonants, equally as all good and truth descend from the Divine Itself, who is IEHOWAH the LORD.

     From HEB. as a primary origin descend, also, all other sounds of breathing by various modifications, as, by contraction of the throat, the Gutturals HEB. and HEB.; by pressing the breath against the palate, HEB. (ah); by contraction of the lips, the sound of HEB. (wau), and by sharpening the breathing against the teeth, the sound of HEB. (ye or ie).

     The HEB. and the HEB. hold the same relation to vowels and consonants that the celestial-spiritual societies in heaven hold to the celestial and spiritual kingdoms. They thus, in a manner, relate both to the vowels and the consonants.

     The character and use of HEB.?? is best described in Heaven and Hell, n. 241, in these words: "The speech of the celestial angels is also without hard consonants, and rarely lapses from consonant to consonant except by the interposition of a word, which begins with a vowel. Thence it is, that in the Word, in so many places, the word 'and' [HEB. oo-ah-oo] is interposed, as may be manifest to those who read the Word in the Hebrew tongue, in which that little word is soft and sounds from both sides from a vowel."

     The primary use of HEB. is that of connecting and conjoining; its very form and name in Hebrew is that of a "hook," which, also, spiritually signifies "conjunction." (A. C. 9676.)

     The HEB. (Iodh) is similarly a semi-vowel, arising from the vowel I flowing into the consonant J (which is here to be pronounced soft like ee or y and not as dj). In the Word its name is employed in denoting what is the least and most minute, and has as such reference to the least and most ultimate particulars of the Divine Truth.

     Bearing in mind these principles, we may now be able to recognize the Divine and Infinite signification of the name IEHOWAH in the least particulars of its form and pronunciation.

     Before we proceed to the application, it is, however, necessary to correct some common mistakes in the pronunciation of IEHOWAH, arising from the peculiar use of vowels and consonants in the English tongue.

     1. The J in JEHOVAH is not to be pronounced DJ, nor with any consonant sound, but soft and almost like Ie or Ye.

     2. The v, further, is not to be pronounced as a sharp v, but like oo, which, when occurring between the other vowels, readily glides into a sound approaching the English w.

     3. The accent finally falls on the last syllable, not on the middle, as is customary in English.

     Hence we have written the name IEHOWAH instead of JEHOVAH, and it is to be pronounced in English as if written Ee-e-h-o-oo-ah.

     We may now observe that the name in the Hebrew is written HEB., consisting thus first of the vowel-consonant HEB.??, then the breathing HEB., followed by the vowel-consonant HEB.?? and the final breathing HEB.. There is, consequently, not a single pure consonant entering into the Name, but it is composed exclusively of vowels or sounds of affection, contained in vowel-consonants closely related to them, and the whole vivified by breathings or the purest expressions of life.

     Spiritually considered, the name IEHOWAH is thus composed only of affections from the Divine, inflowing into Divine and celestial forms, and it carries, therefore, on its very surface, the sign of what is Divine and celestial.

     Considering the component parts in a series, we find that the name begins with a Jodh, which, as was shown, represents the Divine Truth in least and ultimate things. To this sign are adjoined the vowels I and E, which represent the spiritual affections of truth, inflowing into the ultimate form of Truth.

     Then follows the breathing H, the sign of the Divine Itself in its Essence, Life, Infinity, and Eternity, and to it are adjoined the vowels O and U, representing the celestial affections of the good of love, which immediately proceed from the Divine Itself.

     Thus in the two syllables Ieh and Hou we see represented all things of Truth and Faith, and all things of Good and Love, and, with reference to the LORD, the two first Essentials of the Divine Trinity, the Divine Form and the Divine Life, the Divine Truth and the Divine Good, the Divine Wisdom and the Divine Love, the Divine Existere and the Divine Esse.

     The vowel-consonant, which then follows, signifies in itself "conjunction," and to it is adjoined the vowel A, which, as was seen, also signifies the conjunction of the affections of good and the affections of truth, of the celestial and the spiritual loves, of love to the LORD and love to the neighbor. Thus, in the name of IEHOWAH, the syllable Wa signifies the full conjunction or union in form and in life of the Divine Wisdom and the Divine Love; and it corresponds, therefore, to the third Essential of the Divine Trinity, the Holy Spirit, the Divine Proceeding from the union of the Divine Esse and the Divine Existere.

     This Proceeding Divine or Holy Spirit is further represented by the Divine Spirit or breathing H, which ends the whole name and still leaves it indefinite, bringing with it the perception that the whole is Divine and Infinite in last things as in firsts.

     In the name IEHOWAH we have, therefore, in one and most brief complex, expressed and represented the whole Doctrine of the Divine Trinity, the first and most universal of all Doctrines in the true Christian religion.

     One with this Doctrine is the Doctrine of the Glorification of the LORD'S Human, and we find the process of this Divine work also represented in this wonderful Name. For the LORD, when He came into the world and put upon Himself an ultimate human form, first made this Human the Divine Truth Itself, by fulfilling the Word in all things from His own Divine affection of Truth. This ultimate Human and this affection we find represented in the syllable Ieh of the name IEHOWAH. He then, from His own Divine Esse (H), made this Divine Truth the Divine Good Itself, from which are all celestial affections of good. This we find represented in the syllable Hou. The full union, which thus resulted, of the Divine Truth and the Divine Good, in the Divine Human, and the Divine Power to save, proceeding therefrom is, lastly, represented in the final syllable Wah of IEHOWAH. The name IEHOWAH similarly involves the entire Doctrine of the Regeneration of man by the LORD, which ever proceeds from Truth and the affections of truth (Ieh) to good and the affections of good (hou), whence results the conjunction of both in the regenerate life (wah).

     Thus in the least singulars of this amazing Name there is a correspondence and representation of what is Divine. Thus in it is represented the whole Doctrine of the LORD and of Regeneration, which is the all of Religion. Thus in it are contained in one Divine Complex or Focus all things of Good and Charity, and all things of Truth and Faith, by which the LORD is worshiped in His Church, and by which man is saved by the LORD.

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Hence also we may have a perception of the Holiness and Divinity, which the angels perceive in the least things of the Word.
IS THE EXTERNAL OF THE WORD SEPARATE FROM THE INTERNAL DIVINE? 1888

IS THE EXTERNAL OF THE WORD SEPARATE FROM THE INTERNAL DIVINE? 1888

     IN the first days of a new dispensation there is, unfortunately, a tendency on the part of even sincere minds to look at some cardinal truths in the light of what they may have been taught, to a great extent, in the dead Church from which they have emerged. Constituted as the human mind is at present, this is, perhaps, unavoidable. But experience teaches us that once an erroneous idea has been imbibed - particularly when it is backed or sustained by a certain religious fervor or enthusiasm - it is only after considerable mental conflict that the false idea is eventually ejected. Experience, indeed, teaches us more than this - it shows conclusively that no real progress in the domain of religious truth and spiritual philosophy can be made until the painful process of vastation - of complete repudiation of every false conception or idea - has been satisfactorily gone through. Living, as we do, in the midst of "people who call themselves Christians," and who say that they base the whole of their religious teaching on what they term the Bible, we are apt to approach the inspired Writings of the New Dispensation with a preconceived idea as to what the Word of God is, and where its divinity resides, and, to the same extent, we find it hard to correct afterward these rudimentary and in some cases absolutely erroneous ideas in the light of what the Doctrines themselves teach in the clearest and most emphatic manner.

     It is with a view of contributing in a small way toward the removal of these stumbling blocks, of such misconceptions as are, ever and anon, creeping into the literature of the New Church, that we now propose to consider the following important subject: "Is the external sense of the Word separate from the internal, Divine?"

     The best reply that can, at the outset, be given to such a question is the one we find in The True Christian Religion. We read: "It is in the mouth of all that the Word is from God, is divinely inspired, and hence holy; but still it has not, so far, been known where in the Word the Divine is. For in the letter the Word appears like an ordinary writing, in a foreign style, neither sublime nor lucid, as the writings of the age are to all appearance. In consequence of this, one who worships nature instead of God, or more than God, and who, therefore, thinks from himself and his proprium, and not from heaven from the LORD, may easily fall into error respecting the Word, and into contempt for it, saying within himself, when he is reading it - What is this? What is that? Is this Divine? Can God, who has infinite wisdom, speak so? Where and whence is its holiness, unless from a religious [system] and persuasion thence." (T. C. R. 189.)

     Not only in this passage of the Writings are we confronted with such exceptionally clear language on the point under consideration, but also elsewhere in the Arcana Coelestia we are, if possible, given more emphatic instruction as to what the Word - if viewed merely from the standpoint of the letter or the literal sense - would be. The passage which appears to us to bear strongly on this point is the following:

     "As to what concerns the Historicals [of the Word] in particular, unless they, in like manner, contain things Divine and celestial abstractedly from the letter, they could never be acknowledged, by any one who thought deeply, as the inspired Word, and this as to every jot. For what would any one say [concerning] what is related in the Divine Word respecting the abominable affair of the daughters of Lot? . . . Or concerning Jacob, in that he peeled the rods and made them white and placed them in the water troughs in order that the flock might bring forth of divers colors - streaked and spotted? Besides several other facts in the rest of the Books of Moses, in the Books of Joshua, of Judges, of Samuel, and of the Kings, which would be of no importance [nullius rei] whether they were known or unknown, unless they involved deeply a Divine Arcanum. Unless this were so they would differ in nothing from other historicals which sometimes are so written that they appear to be able to affect more [the mind]. Since the learned of the world are ignorant that things Divine and celestial lie inwardly concealed, even in the historicals of the Word, unless it were for a holy veneration which is impressed upon them from childhood for the Books of the Word, they would also easily say in their minds that the Word is not holy, unless it be solely from the [above-mentioned cause]." (A. C. 2310.)

     Now, if there is anything that this passage, as well as the one from The True Christian Religion makes quite clear it is this: First, that the Scriptures apart from a Divine element "inwardly concealed" in the letter would not, in reality, be the Word of God at all, since the letter alone, as intimated in the number of The True Christian Religion referred to, is, in many respects, inferior - so far as "style" goes - to the writings of the Ancients as well as the productions of more modern writers - in fact, in itself "neither sublime nor lucid." Secondly, that whatever veneration there may still be among men for the Word - although that veneration is manifestly decreasing more and more with the march of what is called "modern, critical thought" - this minimum amount of veneration is largely, if not altogether, due to the religious instruction imparted in infancy and in youth, and which may in some instances hold its own as long as the rationalistic spirit so palpably characteristic of our age, and which no less an authority than Mr. Lecky tells us "is the great centre to which the intellect of Europe is manifestly tending" (History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe, by W. Lecky, p. 181), does not sap the very foundation on which such a veneration rests. We are, therefore, anxious to place, first, this important aspect of the subject before the reader in the very words of the Writings themselves, before pushing on to other points that will naturally arise for consideration.

     Since, then, according to the Doctrines of the New Church, the letter of the Word does not per se testify to its divinity, what specific instruction do they give us as to where, in reality, its essential life and holiness reside? To this important question we are given the following reply: "It is thus with the internals of the Word; in its internals is the soul, that is, the life of the Word; these - viz.: the internals - look solely toward the LORD, His Kingdom, and the Church . . . . . When these are respected it is the Word of the LORD, for then there is life itself in those things. . . . This also may be sufficiently evident from very many [passages] in the Word which are in no way intelligible in the sense of the letter, and which could not be acknowledged as the Word of the LORD unless there were in them such a soul or life." (A. C. 1984.)

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And by the way of illustrating this in connection with a particular ceremonial rigidly enforced in the letter of the Old Testament, we meet with the following words: "This ceremonial [observance of the Passover] would never have been enjoined in so severe a manner apart from the Arcanum [involved therein]. . . . But the Arcana can never become manifest unless laid open by the Internal Sense; thence it is that all things are Divine. It is the same with the ceremonial rite of the Nazarite. . . .Apart from the Internal Sense, the particulars are of no moment." (A. C. 2342.) While this is stated with respect to the two ceremonials just referred to, the Writings use similar language in connection with other parts of the Word in its mere letter; thus in the treatise on the Sacred Scripture, n. 9, we meet with the following words respecting the xix chapter of the Book of Revelation - "All these expressions (occurring in this chapter) would be empty words and without life and spirit unless the spiritual were in them."

     In the light of the Divine principles just unfolded there is, therefore, no room now for doubt as to where, essentially, the life of the Word resides. According to the Divine Doctrines of the New Church, this life resides essentially in the Spiritual or Internal Sense, and nowhere else - a fact that they finally set beyond doubt by informing us that "the Word of the LORD can never have any life unless there be an Internal Sense" (A. C. 1502), since "there can be nothing holy, except from a certain holiness which is within." (A. C. 2588.)

     But while this is the general unmistakable teaching of the Writings in numerous passages with the respect to the "holy internals" of the Word - its celestial and spiritual senses - the New Church student is fully aware that equally definite teaching is dispensed respecting the letter in its relation to the spirit or internal sense. Let us see what has been Divinely revealed on this point. In Arcana Coelestia, n. 8943, we read as follows: "The Word is as a Divine Man; the literal sense is, as it were, its body, and the Internal Sense, as it were, its soul." Again: "The Internal Sense in respect to the literal sense is as the internal or celestial and spiritual things with man are in respect to his external or natural and corporeal things." (A. C. 3438.) And finally the Writings declare with the utmost emphasis that while "the Internal Sense is the Word itself. . . the things of the literal sense . . . for the most part are worldly, corporeal, and earthly things which can never constitute the Word of God" (A. C. 1540.)

     And why? Because "the internal Sense in respect to the externals is as the light of heaven in respect to the light of the world, that is, as the light of day in respect to the light of night." (A. C. 3438.)

     Since this is so, the Writings proceed to sum up, as it were, the clear teaching contained in the passages just quoted, by declaring "the life of the Word is not in the letter, this apart from the internal sense is dead" (A. C. 755), a statement that Swedenborg confirms experimentally, so to speak, by describing the effect produced upon certain spirits who had no knowledge of the "holy internals" of the Word. He says "When the Word was presented to them . . .only as to its external or literal sense, it appeared to them as a [dead] letter without life." (A. C. 1771.)

     If, however, this is the emphatic teaching of the Writings on the subject of the letter, or literal sense, in its relation to the "Holy internals" of the Word, the thoughtful student of the Revelations made for the New Church will naturally ask himself, "How, since the letter or literal sense, apart from the spirit, is such - a mere body without a living soul - in other words, something essentially 'dead' - how can it elsewhere in the Writings be said that the Word 'in its sense of the letter is in its fullness, in its holiness, and in its power' (S. S. 37), and furthermore, that 'by the sense of the letter there is consociation with the angels of heaven' (S. S. 63), a fact proved in a most striking and interesting manner by what we find recorded in The True Christian Religion, n. 235, concerning some spirits who are below the heavens and abuse this communication, for they recite some passages from the sense of the letter of the Word and immediately observe and note the society with which communication is effected?"

     This is, indeed, an important point for us to consider, and it is our belief that there would be less confusion of thought in the Church on this important question if the Writings had been allowed to explain themselves. But in which way can we intelligently reconcile the apparently contradictory teaching dispensed in the passages quoted? We reply, in the following way:

     "In heaven and in the world there is successive and simultaneous order. In successive order one thing succeeds and follows another from things that are highest even to the lowest; but in simultaneous order, one thing is next to another from the inmost even to the outmost.

     . . . The highest things in successive order become the inmost of simultaneous order, and the lowest things in successive order become the outermost of simultaneous order, comparatively as a graduated column subsiding becomes a body coherent in a plane. Thus, from the successive is formed the simultaneous, and this in all and in each thing in the natural world, and in all and in each thing in the spiritual world, for there is everywhere a first, a mediate, and an ultimate; and the first tends and passes through the mediate to its ultimate. Now [in connection with] the Word. The celestial, the spiritual, and the natural proceed from the LORD in successive order, and in the ultimate they are in simultaneous order. Now, in this manner, the celestial and spiritual senses of the Word are together in its natural sense. When this is comprehended it may be seen how the natural sense of the Word, which is the sense of its letter, is the basis, the container, and the support of its spiritual and celestial senses; and also how the Divine Good and the Divine Truth in the sense of the letter are in their fullness, in their holiness, and in their power." (S. S. 38.)

     In these words the Writings practically give us the means of solving the difficulty we have before us; for, as we have just been taught, "there is in everything" - the Word of the LORD included - "a first, a mediate, and an ultimate; the first tends and passes through the mediate to its ultimate." In other words, the celestial sense "tends and passes through" the spiritual sense (the mediate), to the natural sense (the ultimate); and it is because there is this gradual descent of the Divine from above downward in successive order, and also from inmost to outermost in simultaneous order, that "the Divine Good and the Divine Truth in the sense of the letter are in their fullness and in their power."

     But could not the letter, when separated or divorced from the Internal Senses - the celestial and the spiritual - "be in its fullness and in its power"? The Writings reply - No; for "the Word in the sense of the letter is in its fullness and in its power because the two prior or interior degrees which are called the spiritual and celestial are together in the natural sense, which is the sense of the letter" (S. S. 37), and this, furthermore, because "externals derive their essence from internals." (S. S. 46.)

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     We see accordingly, in the light of what we are clearly taught in the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem, that while it is beyond question true that "by the sense of the letter there is consociation with the angels of heaven" - yea, with the LORD Himself - that it is equally true that when the literal sense, or the letter, is separated, or viewed apart from its indwelling celestial and spiritual senses, it is not in its fullness, or in its power, "because through these senses and their light the LORD flows into the natural sense" (S. S. 58) and not independently of them. The LORD indeed at His Second Coming has taken special care to make this point quite free from ambiguity; for in the following passage of the Arcana Coelestia. we are taught: "He who is intelligent may know that the Word is most Holy and its literal sense is holy from the Internal Sense; but separated from that sense it is not holy. For that sense (the letter) separated from the internal is like the external of man separated from his internal, which is an image of no life; and it is like the rind of a tree, of a flower, of a fruit or a seed without their interiors, and like a foundation without a house. Wherefore they who lay stress on the letter of the Word alone . . . may be drawn into any heresies whatsoever; thence it is that the Word is called by such a Book of heresies." (A. C. 10,276.)

     Strong as this passage is on the point we are endeavoring to bring before the reader, it is only equalled in directness and clearness by another in the treatise on The Sacred Scripture, where, while explaining how, by the letter of the Word, man has communication wit the angels of heaven, Swedenborg adds: "The things in the sense of the letter of the Word [that is, the celestial and spiritual senses] communicate with heaven and open it . . . . Wherefore when its external, which is the sense of the letter, whose internal is made false, is brought into communication with heaven, then heaven is closed; for the angels, who are in the internal of the Word, reject that. From which it is manifest that internal falsity or truth falsified . . . takes away communication with heaven and closes it." (S. S. 96.)

     If, however, this be so, does it not follow that it is only in the degree in which the members of the New Church make themselves acquainted with the Holy internals of the Word - its spiritual sense - that they can expect to derive full benefit from a study, or even a perusal, of the letter? Yes, indeed, it does follow, or there would be no meaning in the words we have just quoted. But where has the LORD revealed that Spiritual Sense by means of which alone the letter can have its fullness or its power? The reply is given in The True Christian Religion, n. 780: "For the sake of the end that the LORD might be continually present, He has disclosed to me [Emanuel Swedenborg] the Spiritual Sense of His Word in which Divine Truth is in its light, and in this [light] He is continually present; for His presence in the Word is from no other source than through the Spiritual Sense; through its light he passes into the shade in which the sense of the letter is."

     It is, therefore, in the Inspired Writings of the New Dispensation that the LORD speaks to us at His Second Coming and nowhere else, since in those Writings He has revealed "the Spiritual Sense of His Word in which Divine Truth is in its light," and in which He is "continually present" in all His Divinity. It is to them, accordingly, that He wishes us to resort constantly, in order that our understanding of the Word in its letter may become more and more complete and full. But is there in the New Church any clearly marked desire to become intimately acquainted with that Internal Sense which is "for the angels as well as for those men to whom, by the Divine Mercy of the LORD, it is given to be as angels, while they live in the world?" (A. C. 2242.) Are we not, from time to time, told in our journals that it is quite possible for us to attach too much importance to the Doctrines of the internal sense and not sufficient to those of the mere letter of the Bible?"*
     * The following, from an article on Searching the Scriptures, will establish this point indubitably. The writer exclaims, "There is a danger, not altogether imaginary, that acquaintance with the spirit may induce carelessness of regard or the letter;" and "that knowledge of the Word ought to be regarded as of more value than even a deep acquaintance with the Writings of the Church." (See Morning Light, November 13th, 1886, p. 457.)

     If there be this notion abroad, need we wonder at the slow rate at which the Church is developing from within, when, in point of fact, there is a desire on the part of some, even its ministers, to fall back into the "shade" of the "letter which killeth," instead of pushing on to the "spirit," or spiritual sense, which alone "giveth life"? We take it, however, that it is the end and aim of every true and loyal Newchurchman to remedy, as far as possible, this unfortunate state of things. But how can it be done? We reply, only by a more faithful preaching on the part of our Priests and Ministers of those Doctrines revealed as an organic whole at the Second Coming - only by their proving to the spiritual understanding of their flocks that, as a matter of fact, a study of the Doctrines can never lead to an imaginary neglect of the letter of the Word, but to the reverse, since, as the Writings themselves tell us, "the literal sense lives through the Internal Sense." (A. C. 8943.) When this is done systematically and fearlessly, the retrogressive attitude we have been alluding to will gradually disappear.

     But if there is any passage more than any other which seems to us to embody most perfectly the attitude that should be adopted with respect to the important subject which we have been considering, it is the following from the Arcana Coelestia: "They who are in Divine Ideas . . . . never regard the Word of the LORD from the letter, but [consider] the letter and literal sense as representative and significative of the celestial and spiritual things of the Church, and of the Kingdom of the LORD. With them, the literal sense is only as an instrumental medium for leading the thoughts to such subjects." (A. C. 1807.)
LAW AND ORDER IN THE NEW CHURCH 1888

LAW AND ORDER IN THE NEW CHURCH 1888

     FROM the almost total ignorance concerning law and order which prevails in the world at large has arisen the present disorderly condition of affairs, existing not only in the political world, but also in the social and religious worlds. True we have the cry of "Law and Order," but it is debased into a party cry of tyrannical oppression, misgovernment, and brutal cowardice. It would be nearer the mark were the shout changed to "Lawlessness and disorder." However, the object of this paper is not political; for the Newchurchman cannot be a partyman, when the tendency of one side is to the tyranny of the one, and the other side to the tyranny of the many.

     Let us look at the subject from and in the light of Heaven, and we shall see there are two general causes for the present state of things, which yet make one reason.

     The first cause is that of the sinful condition of mankind, "For to sin, is to act contrary to Divine Order. Divine Order is Divine Truth from Divine Good.

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In that order are all who are in truth from good, i. e., who are in faith from charity. But those are contrary to that order, who are not in truth from good, consequently who are in truth from evil, or in the false from evil; this is what is signified by sin." (A. C. 5076. See n. 4839.) Justice, we are taught, is order, and, therefore, injustice is disorder. The nature of this sin appears in the following: "It was owing to the loves of self and the world that societies were formed into empires and kingdoms, within which there are few who are not desirous to have dominion and to possess all the goods of others; for there are few who do what is just and equitable, still fewer who do good from charity, and truth from faith, but from the fear of the law, of damage, of life, of the loss of gain, honor, and reputation on account of them" (A. C. 7364).

     The second cause, which indeed makes one with the first, is the conceit of man's intelligence, which is now worshiped in place of the LORD. In consequence of this it has become impossible to see a single truth; hence, the materialism and skepticism which constitute the basis of modern so-called rationalism. That this is the cause of disorder is evident from this, that those who are in conceit of their own intelligence, reject all truths and thus revelation, which constitute the form of all Divine Order, and with the form, they also reject the essential, which is Divine Good. And the reason for this is not far to seek. As long as men discuss whether a thing be true or not, when it has been revealed to them, they raise such a dense cloud in their minds that scarcely a single ray of spiritual light can penetrate. For it is said:

     "Truth intellectual does not appear, i. e., is not acknowledged, before fallacies and appearances are dispersed, which cannot be done so long as man reasons concerning truths themselves from sensuals and scientifics. But it then first [appears] when man believes with a simple heart, that it is the truth because the LORD has spoken it, then the shades of fallacies are dispersed, and it does not matter to him that he does not comprehend it" (A. C. 1911).

     From this it is evident, that it is impossible to see any genuine truth from things of sense and self-derived intelligence. Truth can only be seen in the light of truth. This is all contained in that wonderfully concise statement, "Thought from the eye blinds the understanding; thought from the understanding opens the eye" (D. L. W. 46).

     Thought from the eye, that is, from mere experience and observation, has so blinded the understanding of the learned world that nothing spiritual is known or acknowledged. It is this thought from the eye which is troubling the New Church with human conceits in the place of genuine truths, which has formed "Bands of Hope," Salvation Armies, set on foot the Prohibition movement, and pronounced marriage a failure! and since the understanding must be formed by truths in order that man may become truly rational, we can easily see how all who reject Divine revelation as the origin of truth, and who believe only in facts derived from the senses, and sensual reasonings, can never come into that order which is "Heaven's First Law." For it is most emphatically stated, that, "from the lumen of nature man cannot know the laws of Divine Order" (H. D. 274). For those who think and reason from the lumen or light of nature, think only from the eye and hence reason blindly.

     We will endeavor to open our eye by thinking from the understanding formed and enlightened by revealed Truth, and in this way we may hope to learn the nature of true order and its laws, and how they may be restored in the Church and to the world. This is the ground and reason for the numerous quotations from those Writings in which the LORD has been pleased to reveal Himself, and by which He will restore order into His New Church. (See Cor. 15; T. C. R. 55.)

     "Order is the quality of the disposition, determination, and activity of the parts, substance or entities which make the form, whence is its state, the perfection of which wisdom produces from its love, or the imperfection of which the insanity of reason from cupidity hatches out" (T. C. R. 52).

     From this definition we see that the perfection or imperfection of the form and condition of any association or organization, whether of the human body, of a society or of a nation, in other words its state of order or disorder, depends upon the disposition and arrangement of its parts according to the laws of Divine Order, which, as we shall see presently, are truths from Good, or their opposite, falsities.

     God is Order, because He is Substance itself, Form itself, and therefore Divine Order was introduced into the universe and into all its parts from Creation. (T. C. R. 74.)

      "The omnipotent God created the world from the Order which is in Himself, consequently, into the Order in which He Himself is, and according to which He rules; and He placed in the universe and all and single of it, its order - as in man, and beasts, birds and fishes, in worms and in every tree and herb" (T. C. R. 73).

     "In man, God established the laws of His own order, from which man became the image and likeness of God. The sum of these laws is, that man should believe in God, and love his neighbor" (T. C. R. 74). "For on these two precepts hang all the Law and the Prophets," which signify all truth in the complex, thus the Word.

     "God from. His omnipotence established the Church and revealed the laws of its order in His Word." (T. C. R. 74.) In this way He introduces order into the New Church. "The laws of order are truths which are from good. The complex of all the laws of order is the Divine Truth proceeding from the Divine Good of the LORD. Hence it is evident that the Divine of the LORD in heaven is Order: the Divine Good being the essential of order and Divine Truth its formal." (A. C. 7995. See also n. 9987, 7206, 4839.) For this reason, therefore, the Word is the law of Order in the heavens, for all truths relate to the glorification of the LORD'S Human, and hence to man's regeneration, whence this is principally called the law of order; for every one who is regenerated is reduced into the order of Heaven, wherefore those who are in that order are in the LORD.

     It is therefore Divinely true that "Order is Heaven's first law." And since the Church, which is the LORD'S kingdom on earth, makes one with Heaven, order must also be the law of the New Church, and hence the organization, form, and government, and thus order of the Church must represent in corresponding external form, the organization, form, government, and order of the Heavens, otherwise they do not and cannot make a one; and so far as they do not thus correspond, the Church is disorderly and imperfect. The Church can only become the LORD'S Bride and Wife by submitting herself to the government of Divine Law, which is the Word. Not, indeed, the Word in the Letter; this in itself is no law for the Church, but the Word as it is in Heaven, which makes one with the spiritual sense as given in the Writings. This is the only Law and the only Order which we must accept:- Experience, expediency, human prudence, and self- intelligence must be put away.

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We must follow the teachings of the LORD, implicitly, faithfully, blindly, if necessary. There must be but one Law, the Law of the LORD. How, then, can there be either priest-craft or lay-craft in the New Church, when the Divine Law of Heaven and the Word as revealed in the Doctrines of the New Jerusalem is known and acknowledged as being above all, priest and layman, king and people alike?

     There can be no order, no government, no real existence without laws. Laws constitute order; and every law derives this from order that it also is order. (D. P. 331.)

     Concerning order and its laws we read, "Who does not see that there is not an empire, kingdom, dukedom, commonwealth, state, or house that is not established by laws, which constitute the order, and thereby the form of its government? The laws of Justice in everyone of them, have the first place, political laws the second and economical laws the third. If they be compared with man, the laws of Justice make his head, political laws his body, and economical laws his dress: therefore the latter may, like garments, be changed at pleasure. As to what concerns the order into which the Church has been established by God, it is this, that God be in all and singular, and the neighbor toward whom order should be exercised. The laws of this order are as many as the truths contained in the Word: the laws which regard God form its head; those regarding the neighbor form its body, and ceremonies form the dress, for unless these contained the former in their order it would be as if the body were stripped naked, and exposed to the summer's heat and the winter's cold; or as if a temple were bared of its walls and roof, so as to expose the adytum, altar, and pulpit to various violences." (T. C. R. 55.)

     Thus, order is necessary to preservation, and without it all society must drop asunder and creation become a chaos. "What, let me ask, would be the case with a man unless all and every part in his body were arranged in a most distinct and orderly manner, having a general dependence upon one heart and lungs? What would it be other than a confused something?" (T. C. R. 679.) How important, therefore, is it that the laws of order be known, acknowledged, and obeyed, and when this is the case then the internal things of Heaven and the Church make one by correspondence, and enter into the affairs of society and civil life as the nerves and blood-vessels enter into and make one with every member, organ, and viscus of the human body. Then there will be true growth and development, both natural and spiritual, for everything is possible that is done according to Divine Order, because it is according to Divine Truth from Divine Good, which is Divine power. In the other life nothing is possible which is contrary to Divine Truth, because contrary to Order, and thus to Divine Love and Wisdom. (A. C. 8701.) So. too, on earth: there can be no government without order, and any government can be peaceful and progressive only so far as it rests upon Divine Truth embodied in the law of justice and equity.

     The question of government has been always a troublesome one, for the love of dominion is so strong that no one wishes to be governed, and all desire to rule. This, as we have already, seen, was the origin of empires and dominions, and, indeed, the same cause led to the division of the Christian Church into sects. Throughout the whole civilized world the tendency is toward Democracy - by which, however, I do not mean a Republican form of government - but that idea now rampant that government of the people is to be for the people and by the people. It is the old proverb, "The voice of the people is the voice of God!" Such is the nature of infernal governments, where self and the world are worshiped as God and reign supreme. Such is the drift of modern thought; it is called the democratic principle in kingdoms, the congregational system in ecclesiastical bodies, and the government by committees in individual societies, and the rotation of Presidents so much admired in the late English Conference. No wonder at this, since we are told that "there are few who are not desirous to have dominion and to possess all that belongs to others; for there are few who do what is just and equitable, from the just and equitable, still fewer who do good from charity and truth from faith." Surely such a state as this cannot be in the New Church. Democracy is the government of externals over internals, of the things of sense and experience over things of intelligence and wisdom. It is nothing else than thought from the eye, not from the understanding, and for this reason there is constant change and confusion.

     This will be denied by all who look at the subject and judge from external considerations. Having grown up and been educated in a certain line of thought it is always difficult and sometimes impossible to see anything else to be right but that to which one has been accustomed; for the human mind is essentially conservative, apart from all politics. But when we come to see how the case is in the Heavens, where the LORD'S Will is always done, we may learn the nature of true Government, true Law, and true Order, and endeavor to act according thereto. For only in this way can the LORD'S will be done, literally on earth as in heaven. That this is the right and only way in which to regard the subject is evident from the teaching that it is according to Divine order that interiors should proceed into exteriors.

     "Since heaven is divided into societies, and the larger societies consist of some hundreds of thousands of angels (n. 50); and since all of one society are indeed in a similar good, but not in similar wisdom (n. 43), it necessarily follows that in heaven there are also governments. For order is to be observed, and all things of order are to be preserved. But governments in the heavens are various. They are different in the societies which constitute the LORD'S celestial kingdom, from what they are in the societies which constitute the LORD'S spiritual kingdom. They differ also according to the ministries which belong to each society. In the heavens, however, no other government is given than the government of mutual love; and the government of mutual love is heavenly government." (H. H. 213.) As to the characters of the governors we learn that "they are those who are in love and wisdom more than the others, thus who from love desire the good of all, and from wisdom know how to provide so that it may be done. They who are such do not domineer and command imperiously, but minister and serve; for to do good to others from love of good is to serve; and to provide so that it may be done, is to minister. Neither do they account themselves greater than the others, but less; for they hold the good of the society and of the neighbor in the first place, and their own in the last place, what is in the first place is greatest, what is in the last is least. Nevertheless they have honor and glory; they dwell in the centre of their society, more elevated than others, and also in magnificent palaces. They also accept this glory and that honor, but not on account of themselves, but for the sake of obedience; for all there know that they have honor and glory from the LORD, and that therefore they are to be obeyed. These are the things which are meant by the LORD'S words to His disciples, 'Whosoever desires to become chief among you, let him be your minister, and whosoever desires to be first among you, let him be your servant, even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but that He should minister.' (Matt. xx, 27, 28.)" (H. H. 218. See also T. C. R. 736.)

172

     Such are those who are in the love of dominating from the love of uses, and not from themselves but from the LORD.

     So much for governors; now let us see what is said about subordination. "With the evil as with the good, or in Hell as in Heaven, there is a form of government, namely, there are dominions, and there are subordinations, without which society would not cohere. But the subordinations in heaven are entirely different from subordinations in hell. In heaven all are as if equal; for one loves another as brother loves brother, and even one prefers another to himself as he excels in intelligence and wisdom. The love of good and truth causes that each as if of himself subordinates himself to those who excel him in the wisdom of good and the intelligence of truth. But subordinations in hell are subordinations of command, and hence of fury, for he who commands is furious against those who do not favor all his wishes; for every one regards another as an enemy, although outwardly as a friend, for the sake of combining against the violence of others. This combination is like that of robbers. Those who are subordinate continually aspire at dominion and also often break forth. Then the state there is lamentable, for then there are furies and cruelties." (A. C. 7773.)

     Such, therefore, is the nature of governments in the other life. In the heavens it is the government of the wisest, and those who discharge their various functions and offices under them are all arranged according to the degree of their wisdom. Such is the case in heaven and such ought to be the case on earth. (H. H. 389).

     We have already seen that order is necessary to preservation. It is on this account that there must be governments and hence governors in all societies and bodies of men whether large or small. For we are taught "Order cannot be maintained in the world without governors, who are to observe all things which are done according to order, and also all things which are done contrary to order; and who are to reward those who live according to order and punish those who live contrary to order. If this be not done the human race must perish; for it is connate with every one from hereditary, to wish to rule over others, and to possess the goods of others. Whence enmities, envyings, hatreds, revenges, deceits, cruelties, and many other evils; wherefore, unless they were held in bonds by means of laws, and by means of rewards suitable to these loves, which are honors and gain for those who do good, and by means of punishments contrary to those loves, which are the loss of honors, possessions, and life, for those who do evil, the human race would perish. Therefore there must be governors who shall hold assemblages of men in order, skilled in the law, wise, and fearing God." (H. D. 312-13; A. C. 10,790-2.)

     True government, therefore, is that of the wisest, as is the case in Heaven. But at the present day a difficulty arises. No one is willing to allow another to be wiser than himself, especially in regard to matters concerning government and law, whether in civil or ecclesiastical affairs. It must be the government of the people and by the people. Hence the only principle of government recognized, both in the political world and in the Church, is the government of the majority. "The greatest good for the greatest number!" as if the good of one is not the good of all. How think you, would the plan work in the human body? and every society big or little is in the human form. Fancy nourishing one organ because it was the largest! Can we wonder then at the prevalence of lawlessness and disorder? It is simply the old, old story of the supremacy of might over right, though now in another form. The majority rules - not the right. Instead of the might being with the Few who had the power, as in olden times, it is now with the Number: and the Number is just as unable to see its tyranny and as unwilling to give up its power as was the Few in the past. But the fact remains. Even in other things the principle is maintained, as we saw in the case of the recent revision of the Bible: the majority of MSS. decided whether the reading of a passage was the true one. So, too, in the Church matters, majorities have always carried the day whether in formulating the Nicene Creed, in 318, which introduced into the Church the doctrine of three Gods: in confirming the Infallibility of the Pope in 1875: or - to direct the view to the New Church - in assigning masculine functions to women in 1887, and in destroying the consociative power of the Holy Supper in 1888. Look at that so-called pillar of English liberty - trial by jury. Twelve men, ignorant of the law and often of almost all else, are taken from their work to decide whether a law, which is generally so involved that it is difficult to say what it means, has, or has not been broken. And in Scotland a bare majority of one decides the case. Can we call this the government of the wisest? True, it is better, perhaps, than when judges did as the sovereign commanded and ignored law and justice. But it is not according to order. Does it not often happen that "the minority is right and the majority wrong"? Is it not true that wisdom is with the few? This is because it is always the case that but few are principled in the particulars of any subject as compared with the number of those who are in generals. The former are in light and the latter in obscurity. (See A. C. 6587; A. R. 378.) Is this not the case with the body? The brain and one little organ within the brain are relatively very much smaller than the body, yet the latter is governed and actuated by the former.

     But I hear some ask, "If we are not to govern by majorities how can we get on? In heaven the wisest is known, and each at once takes his proper place. The principle of the government of the wisest is all very well in theory but impracticable." Let us not doubt. The LORD never shows us what is to be done without giving us the ability to obey if we will. Divine Truths which are the laws of order are perpetual commands. (A. C. 2634.) Undoubtedly there are difficulties as regards the carrying out the principle just laid down into civil affairs owing to the reason already stated that no one is willing to admit that another is wiser and better fitted for an office than himself. But as Newchurchmen, desirous of being in true order, cannot we do it? Yes, but only when the Divine Truth is made the law of the Church and obeyed from love. This is all that is required from us. We have no need to make laws - one of the greatest fallacies of the day. All that is required is to know, acknowledge, and to understand how to apply the truth, which is the essential form of law.

     To this, as to all other matters pertaining to the Church, the doctrine of Degrees is the key, without which nothing can be known of the order into which man was created. (D. L. W. 187.)

     We have already seen that laws are threefold, one entering into the other, laws of justice, political laws, and economical laws in a kingdom, and in the Church laws relating to God, to the neighbor, and ceremonial laws. (T. C. R. 35.) It follows from this that order must also be trinal.

173

We are taught in A. C. 9866 "that a one exists from three, and hence there are three heavens. This, we are further taught, is from the Divine Itself, in which there is also a Trine, viz.: The Divine Itself, the Divine Human, and the Divine Proceeding, and these three are one, who is the LORD. This trine exists everywhere and in everything, for the LORD is everywhere. Hence in the body we have the simple fibre containing the animal spirit, the nerve fibre containing the nervous fluid or white blood, and the blood-vessels containing the red blood. Of these the material body is composed and from these it lives. It is a universal law proceeding from the LORD, "that for anything to be perfect there must be a trine in just order one under another, and communication interceeding, and that this trine shall make a one, not unlike a column upon which is the capital, under this the shaft, and below this the pedestals. Such a trine is man. His supreme is his head, and his middle is his body, and his lowest are his feet, and the soles of the feet. Every kingdom in this emulates man; there must be the king as head, tribunes and officers as the body, and country folks [rustici] with servants as the feet and soles of the feet. Likewise in the Church there must be a mitred primate [primus infulatus], parish superintendents [antistes parochi], and curates [flamines] under them. Nor could the world itself subsist unless there were three things following in order. [So also the heavens.] Hence it is that by three in the Word is signified what is complete." (Cor. 17.)

Until this principle is recognized and carried out in the Church, no true order can exist. Instead of the government of the wisest the law of majority will prevail. That it can be carried out is evident from the fact that it is in actual operation in America, and the result is that there is far more general order and progress in the American Church than in the English Church. Let us hope, however, that the time is not far off when true order shall be introduced in the Church abroad.

Then as the Church, the centre of love and wisdom, grows more and more according to the Divine Order which the LORD has introduced by revealing the laws of His order, the spiritual principles of faith and charity will lead to the establishment of order in the nations, and the law of Justice and Equity will reign supreme in all kingdoms, as love to God and charity toward the neighbor prevails in the Church. Then, indeed, the New Church on earth will be one with the Church in Heaven, and the prophecy concerning the New Church and the New Heaven and the states of innocence and the peace of those there (A. C. 10,132 P. P.) will be fulfilled: "They shall not hurt or destroy in all the mountain of my holiness: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea." Is. xi, 9.
Notes and Reviews 1888

Notes and Reviews 1888

Two new volumes of the Rev. John Worcester's series of "Correspondences" are in preparation.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

FOURTEEN lectures on the "Unseen World," by the Rev. Thomas Child, will shortly be issued in book form by Mr. James Spiers, London.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE REV. A. T. BOYESEN has newly translated The True Christian Religion into the Swedish language, and is now seeing the work through the press. It will be stereotyped.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

MR. HENRY TOTTIE, Professor of Church History at the University of Upsala, has just published a large volume on the Life of Bishop Jesper Swedberg, the father of Emanuel Swedenborg.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE minutes of the eighty-first session of the General Conference of the New Church (British), has made its appearance promptly. This Journal has one feature which deserves being imitated in the Journals of our other Church bodies - an index to the minutes.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

The Church and the World, by the Rev. Joseph Deans, has also been published by Mr. Spiers. The book contains eight discourses on the Church in its relation with the world, marriage, children, business, labor, and immortality, and finally of it as militant and triumphant.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE Rev. S. H. Worcester has revised the translation of The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine, and has nearly completed the revision of The Apocalypse Explained; Mr. E. H. Sears has revised the translation of The Earths in the Universe, and nearly all of The Divine Love and Wisdom; Mr. Benjamin Worcester has nearly completed a revision of Heaven and Hell. All these works are being prepared for the Rotch Trustees.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IT is stated that work on the Rotch edition of the Arcana Coelestia is progressing rapidly. When completed there will be twenty volumes. The first two volumes (chapters i to xvi), are in the hands of the Rev. S. M. Warren, the next three have been revised by the Rev. S. H. Worcester, most of whose time is at present given to the work of translating for the Rotch Trustees. The Rev. S. C. Eby has completed a large portion of the next three volumes; and Mr A. L. Kip has also done much work on the later chapters of Genesis. A translation of chapters i to xx, and xxx to xxxvii, written out by the late Rev. T. B. Hayward, is made use of in the work. The work of these translators is subject to revision at the hands of the editor in chief, the Rev. John Worcester.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

The Invitation to the New Church, which has been published twice in Latin, and once in English in Prof. Bush's Repository, has now for the first time been made accessible in book form to the English reader by the Swedenborg Society, British and Foreign. The translator, the Rev. R. L. Tafel, prefers the title "The Consummation of the Age, the LORD'S Second Coming, and the New Church," as being the one which Swedenborg has given to it. To this work are added the summaries concerning "The Abomination of Desolation," "The Consummation of the Age," and "The Fullness of Time," also translated for the first time; and finally the "Summaries of the Coronis," which are familiar to readers of the New York edition of The True Christian Religion.

The whole makes a neat little volume of forty-eight pages, uniform in style and size with Dr. Wilkinson's translation of The Divine Love and Wisdom, and the little work on The Intercourse between Soul and Body.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

     THE Journal of the sixty-second annual meeting of the General Church of Pennsylvania comprises one hundred and eleven pages, thirty more than that of the previous year, although the Instrument of Organization has been omitted.

     While there is very much that pertains to the particular interests of this body, there is also a great deal that treats of matters interesting to all Newchurchmen. For instance, about twenty pages are devoted to a discussion of the use of daily reading in the Writings and the Sacred Scripture, and related subjects. About fifteen pages are devoted to the consideration of the changes of state which man passes through, and of suitable rites in connection therewith. About as much space is given up to a paper and resultant discussion on the necessity of a New Church translation of the Word; and a paper on Evangelization occupies seven pages.

     A new feature of the Journal is the introduction of a running head-line to give the contents of the pages, thus making the record more convenient.

174

OPENING OF THE ACADEMY SCHOOLS 1888

     Communicated
     AT the opening exercises of the Academy schools on October 1st. Chancellor Benade addressed the schools as follows:

     "We have every reason, spiritual as well as natural, every reason of affection and of thought, to be thankful to the LORD that He has enabled those of us to come together again, who have been here before, and also to see in our midst those who have not been with us before. I bid you all welcome. When I look upon you as you are growing in life, and being prepared for future usefulness, I cannot but wish and hope that you may come to realize ever more fully what it is for one to be of the LORD'S New Church, and also what it is to be in a school of the New Church. There is nothing living in all the world but the LORD'S New Church. All other things are dead. This Truth the LORD teaches us.

     "He has made it known, and if we would believe in and follow Him we must believe it and think this Truth. The LORD'S New Church and schools of the LORD'S New Church are established for the purpose of teaching this Divine truth. The Church is the LORD'S Body in which men are brought into conjunction with Himself, and thus with the One Life. And it is the province of our school to teach and lead to this, for we are to do those things which the LORD Himself has come to do; to lead those who can and will be led, to a living acknowledgment of what He has given us to know and to do. In order that this may be done we need to be in a state of willingness to hear what He says, and to obey Him. This is the duty of all; of every individual, of every body of the Church, whether it be a Church in the specific form of a society, or whether it be in the form of a school. It is the duty of every man; and a true school is in the human form, is a man. Every charity, which is of love to the neighbor, and every use, takes on this human form, and only so far as it does this, does it live from the LORD, and grow into heavenly order. As you go along you will learn more fully what the human form is and what order is: that the LORD is the Divine Man and order itself, who has created the whole human race, to be a man before Him and all individual men to become angels of Heaven. Heaven is a life of use, and heavenly use is to act from love to the LORD and from charity toward the neighbor, and love to the LORD and the neighbor consists in performing uses to others.

     "A school is divided into two parts, into teachers and taught, or scholars. The duty of the teachers is to instruct the scholars, to impart to them first the highest forms of knowledge, which are truths from the LORD, and then the lower forms, which are sciences; as the teachers do this duty, they grow more and more into the human form. The duty of the scholars is to act out their daily prayer by enabling the teachers to perform theirs by receiving their instructions, by attentively following their words, by obeying them and doing what is required of them. Thus will they receive at their hands the daily bread which the LORD gives for the food of the mind in answer to prayer. The LORD provides this human form of a good use for you all, and if you can see this, you will realize what it is to be a member of a school in the New Church and what is the duty of scholars. So far as you do not think of yourselves, and of your own selfish wishes, you will think of these uses; and you will not only think of them, but you will also let your thoughts be something which you love and do.

     Loving and doing what you learn to be true and good, will cause you to be true men and women; and as such to be conjoined with the LORD. You may not quite understand these things now, but in time you will come to see them and to know, that there is nothing in all the world that can be compared to the New Church.

     "We are created to live in this world that we may be prepared to become angels in Heaven. It is by means of the Church that we are so prepared. This is why the Church exists, and why it is such a living thing - the only living thing in this world. As you come to know and realize this, all the means which the LORD has provided, whether in the letter of the Word, or in the teachings of the Doctrines, or in the sciences, will be a help to you and you will love them and desire to have and keep them. A man does not really keep anything of which he does not make a constant use. Thus, the knowledges which you may acquire in school cannot be kept unless you employ them and apply them. By doing what you learn in school you will learn that to do the Commandments of the LORD is to love whatever is good and true and useful, and also to love those who perform diligently and faithfully the duties which the LORD has given them to do. Thus, you will be in the way of receiving more love for your parents, for your teachers, and for your companions, in whom the same work is going on which is to go on with you, who are associated with you in your life, and in the way of learning to know what is true and right. So also will you come into more love for the good companions with you in the other life. You know that you are never alone, that spirits are always with you, and that angels are set over you by the LORD to take care of you. As you learn to love each other, by being kind and always ready to forget when you have received injuries or imagined injuries, by being always ready to do to others as you would have them do to you, your spiritual companions will be good and you will be in the society of the angels. When you are in the society of angels, you are in the life which the Church has from the Divine, and you will help to make your school a little heaven on earth, in which there will come to you from the LORD all possible good and happiness.

     "It may appear to you that there were many reasons which led to your being sent here; but of this you can be certain that the chief reason was the LORD'S reason, namely, this, that you might be prepared to become true New Church men and women here in this world, and hereafter angels in the Heavens. This, indeed, the LORD has provided for from the beginning; because from the beginning of the existence of man on earth He has made provision for His New Church, and no less for this that every one who will be of His New Church shall be instructed in the way of heavenly life. Perhaps you can see this now. If not, you will learn to see it by degrees, and fully hereafter. But this you can see and know, that you can help on the working of the school in which your preparation for Heaven is being made, by earnestly responding to the efforts of your teachers, by cherishing a love for them, for your duty and your school. This will make your school a living school, out of which shall be removed all dead things. And thus will the LORD provide through you, that at the end of this school year we shall all be more glad and more thankful for having come together again than we are now; more glad and more thankful for having been brought by the LORD'S providence to see each other face to face, and to know from this that it is the LORD'S doing and not man's. He doeth all things well."

175

NEWS GLEANINGS 1888

NEWS GLEANINGS Various 1888

     AT HOME.

     Pennsylvania.- THE schools of the Academy of the New Church in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Chicago were re-opened simultaneously on October 1st. The faculty of the schools consists of the Rev. Messrs. Benade, Pendleton, Schreck, Whitehead, Bostock, Price, and Odhner; Messrs. Schreck, Whitehead, and Bostock being respectively the head masters of the schools in the three cities. They, as well as Messrs. Price and Odhner, are all graduates of the Academy. In Philadelphia the opening exercises were conducted by Chancellor Benade, who has returned greatly benefited by his European trip. Forty students and pupils attend in the various departments in Philadelphia.

     THE Academy's School in Pittsburgh opened October 1st, with twenty-three scholars. The school building was greatly improved during the vacation by the insertion of a sky-light in the middle room and the addition of another window in the back room, which were needed for both light and ventilation. There is an increased interest manifested in the school work, and the coming year promises to be a useful and happy one.

     THE 63d annual meeting of the General Church of Pennsylvania, will be held in Allegheny City, in the house of worship of the Pittsburgh Society, on the 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th days of November. Visitors from a distance will please communicate with the Pastor of the Pittsburgh Society, the Rev. John Whitehead, 6419 Aurelia Street, Pittsburgh, E. E. Pa.

     THE Rev. Edward S. Hyatt has been laboring in the city of Erie and vicinity since the month of June.

     DURING the summer months Candidate N. D. Pendleton labored in the Clearfield region.

     AT the regular Wednesday evening reading meetings of the Pittsburgh Society, Mr. Whitehead is reading the work on Degrees by the Rev. N. C. Burnham, in connection with confirming passages from the Writings and with enlarged diagrams. The class is largely attended and is very interesting.

     Massachusetts.- THE Association met at Brockton, on October 10th, over four hundred persons attending. Addresses were delivered by the General Pastor, the Rev. Joseph Pettee, and by the Rev. John Worcester. Mr. F. A. Dewson gave an account of his visit to the English Conference as the messenger of the Convention, and presented the report of the Massachusetts New Church Union, showing a comparatively quiet though effective six months' work.

     Maine.- THE fifty-third annual session of the Maine Association was held at Portland on August 25th. Beside the ministers of the Association the Rev. Messrs. S. F. Dike, W. B. Hayden, H. C. Dunham, and B. F. Stone, the Rev. C. H. Mann, of Orange, N. J., and the Rev. H. C. Hay, of Cincinnati, O., were present.

     The Corresponding Secretary reported that only sixty-eight dollars had been collected in Maine for the fund for photo-lithographing the Manuscripts.- The members of the Portland Society number one hundred and sixty-five, about one hundred and twenty-eight of whom are active members.- The members of the Fryeburgh Society number sixty-seven, of whom about forty are active. The pastor of the Fryeburgh Society, Mr. Stone, also frequently preaches in outlying school-houses. A reading circle of from six to eight persons is maintained in Fryeburgh.- The presiding minister, Mr. Dike, has made missionary visits in different sections of the State.- The Societies at Bath, Bridgeton, and Gardiner, continue active.- A peculiar feature of the Association seems to be the swearing-in of the Recording Secretary by the President, to make a true and impartial record of the doings of the Association.- The ministers present addressed a well-attended meeting on Saturday evening on the subject, "Why does not the New Church grow faster?"

     Minnesota.- THE Minnesota Association met at Minneapolis, on October
19th.

     Ohio.- THE thirty-fifth annual meeting of the Ohio Association took place at Urbana, October 11th. The League is deploring the fact, that hitherto not one woman has been sent by the Cincinnati Society as delegate to the Association.

     On the day preceding the meeting of the Association, the Ministers' Conference was held. All the active ministers of the Association were present: the Rt. Rev. John Goddard, of Cincinnati, and the Rev. Messrs. E. A. Beaman, of Cincinnati; Wm. H. Mayhew, of Urbana; P. B. Cabell, of Columbus; E. D. Daniels, of Indianapolis, and H. C. Hay, of Cincinnati.- At the Conference the Rev. E. A. Beaman read a paper on "The Authorship of the Writings," in which he reiterated his familiar heresy, taking the ground according to the Messenger's correspondent, "that Swedenborg is the author of the Writings. The LORD gives Himself not as it magistrate, but as the Spirit of truth. By 'Master' the light of truth is meant, and by 'Servant of the LORD,' one illumined by truth. Swedenborg differed from other men only as others differ from one another. He was filled with the glory of the Word, just as all are filled according to recipient conditions. He was not a blind servant, like the prophets, but a man of the New Jerusalem; not a medium of light, but of principles and doctrines brought forth from the light. He calls the Writings 'explanations' of the Internal Sense of the Word. The LORD was the sole author of the revelation made to Swedenborg, but not of that made by Swedenborg."- The other ministers differed greatly from him: "Mr. Mayhew maintained that Swedenborg was chosen by the LORD for a particular use, and received an influx for that use; the use was that of the Second Coming of the LORD. That use having been performed there can never be another Swedenborg.- Mr. Daniels said the question is: 'What made Swedenborg different from anybody else? It was the influx for his special mission, namely, to be an authority to the man of the New Church. In the Writings we have an authority infallible. Mr. Cabell asked if the effect of this paper is not to unsettle our faith in the Writings and in the Church. He added: 'I think they are the LORD'S Writings.'- Mr. Goddard said that Pythagoras and Plato struggled with the problem of the infinite, but the New Church places before us a faith that enters into every particular of truth, and the central thing is that God is a Man Divine. When a new creation is needed, the LORD flows in and creates. Here was a new creation, and Swedenborg was the instrument used. Therefore his work was different from that of every other man. He speaks with authority when he says: 'This is the faith of the New Heavens and the New Church.'"- Beside Mr. Beaman's paper three others were presented by Messrs. Hay, Cabell, and Mayhew, all bearing on the Episcopacy or the General Pastorate. The substance of these papers and of the resultant discussion, was embodied in a series of resolutions adopted at the subsequent meeting of the Association.

     Forty delegates and visitors attended the Association meeting. It is stated that one or two female delegates from Urbana were admitted, and that one of them addressed the meeting.- Resolutions were adopted "with but little dissent," declaring that the office of General Pastor seems to the Association of practical necessity to each Association, that the uses and functions of the General Pastor will in time be greatly enlarged, that no office of spiritual use adds holiness to the man or morally differentiates him from his fellow-members of the Church, but that classification of ministers according to degrees is orderly and useful, that the continuance of a man in that function which is manifestly his life-use, is of Divine Order, the violation of which is hurtful to the individual and to those of his fellow-men whom he serves, that, therefore, it is orderly and right that a minister who has once been elevated to the grade of General Pastor, should be retained in the uses of that office so long as seems desirable to all concerned, and should not lose official recognition of his degrees through life.- Resolutions were also passed commending the photolithographing of the Manuscripts to the attention of the public, and also commending the Swedenborg Concordance, and recommending the formation of Concordance clubs for the systematic study of the work.

     Illinois.- THE New Church Society of Olney has issued a circular, appealing for assistance in raising a sum necessary for the repairing of their church building, which they have recently purchased from the Moravian Church at a cost of one thousand five hundred and twenty-five dollars, all of which has been paid.

     THE Rev. H. H. Grant, formerly pastor of the Laporte, Ind., Society, has become the private secretary for the manager of the Chicago Opera House.

     California.- THIRTY-FIVE persons have joined the Confirmation Class of the O'Farrel Street New Church Society of San Francisco.

     NEW CHURCH services have been instituted at El Cajon Valley, with the average attendance of twelve persons, under the leadership of Dr. Samuel Worcester.

     REGULAR meetings for the study of the Writings are held at Kaweah Colony, Tulare Co., attended by about twenty persons.

     Kansas.-THE Rev. Gustav Reiche of Wellesville, Mo., has removed to Topeka, Kansas, as he has been engaged for one year by the Board of Missions of the General Convention, for the Kansas and Missouri mission.

     OWING to the hard times, nearly all the members of the Concordia Circle have moved away. The building in which they held their meetings has been sold, and the Rev. Ellis I. Kirk has returned to his old home in Pennsylvania.

     ABROAD.

     England.- At a meeting of the deacons of the Argyle Square Society, a memorial signed by thirty-four members and fifteen juniors, asking for the administration of grape-juice at the Holy Supper, was recently considered. The deacons being equally divided on the question, the Pastor, the Rev. John Presland, gave his casting vote against the memorial.

176

NEWS GLEANINGS.- Continued 1888

NEWS GLEANINGS.- Continued Various 1888

NEW CHURCH LIFE.

A MONTHLY JOURNAL

TERMS:- One Dollar per annum, payable in advance.

Six months on trial for twenty-five cents.

     All communications must be addressed to Publishers New Church Life, No. 759 Corinthian Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa.

     In Great Britain subscriptions may be sent to

     MR. S. WARREN POTTS, Book Steward, 61 Cathedral Street, Glasgow, Scotland.

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     MR. C. E. SCHROEDER, 13 Ashfield Terrace, Newcastle-on-Tyne.

     MISS FLORENCE G. GIBBS, 6 Camden Square, London, N.

     PHILADELPHIA. NOVEMBER, 1888-119.

     CONTENTS.

     Editorial Notes, p. 161. - The LORD is Doctrine (a Sermon), p. 162.- Conversations on Education, p. 164. - The Elements of Human Speech as applied to the Name "Iehowah," p. 165. - Is the External of the Word, separate from the Internal, Divine? p. 167. - Law and Order in the New Church, p. 169.

     Notes and Reviews, p. 173.

     Opening of the Academy Schools, p. 174.

     News Gleanings, p. 175.

     Births, Marriages, and Deaths, p. 176.
     MR. Arthur Potter, Minister of the Walworth Society, was ordained into the Priesthood on September 17th, by the Rev. Dr. R. L. Tafel.

     THE Rev. I. K. Payton has left the pastoral charge of the Society in Clayton le- Moors, and the Rev. J. T. Treeth, recently of Hull, has accepted a call to the Bolton Society.

     Denmark.- THE little church building in which the Copenhagen Society worshiped has been closed to them since June, but they have hired a pleasant hall and look forward to the future with hope, although, through removal and sickness, the membership (formerly fifty), has grown considerably less.

     Sweden.- ATTENDANCE at the services conducted in Stockholm by the Rev. A. T. Boyesen reaches from two hundred to four hundred persons in the morning.

     THE New Church services in Gottenburg were resumed September 16th, the Pastor, the Rev. C. Y. N. Manby, having been occupied with missionary journeys during the whole summer. Twenty different places were visited, and lectures held in all parts of the Kingdom.

     Switzerland.- THE thirteenth annual meeting of the Swiss Union of the New Church was held in Zurich on September 9th. Thirty five members were present. Among the visitors were the Rev. Messrs. Sewall and Hibbard, and Mr. John Hitz, from America. Mr. Sewall, having been appointed the official representative of the General Convention, communicated the resolutions adopted by the Convention and expressed Convention's pleasure at the maintenance of true order which has characterized the Swiss Union. Among the resolutions of the Convention are these, that "It would seem to be best that the Union should eventually act as a sister body, having the same rank and charge in the Swiss confederation that our Convention has in America," . . . ."That the Convention desires to give to the Swiss Union of the New Church every possible assistance of sympathy and pastoral counsel and support that will promote the orderly growth and development of the Union."

     Mr. Sewall, commenting on the resolutions, stated that the Convention      expressed its agreement with the Swiss New Church, and also promised to assist by every means possible, that this Church may become an independent, firmly- established National Church. But this necessitates not only that the Church in Switzerland should have an ordained priesthood, but, in order that it may be independent and have the same rank as other National Churches, it ought to possess the ordaining power, so that with the extension of the Church, others may be ordained into the priestly office in an orderly manner. In accordance with the words of the resolutions, they could, so it seemed to him, certainly affirm that the American General Convention is ready to invest the present Pastor of the Swiss Union with the ordaining function, if this Union should ever apply to the General Convention for the same.

     The President thanked the Convention and its messenger for the interest shown in behalf of the Swiss Union.

     At one o'clock the meeting took recess for dinner, and on reassembling, the President, in introducing the Convention's resolution for the deliberation of the meeting, invited the Rev. Dr. Hibbard to address them.

     Dr. Hibbard addressed the meeting in English and his remarks were interpreted by Mr. Blau. He dwelled upon the necessity of order and of the general pastorate and of the recognition that power resides in ultimates.

     The Union gratefully acknowledged the message from the Convention and referred to the Council the explanations made by Mr. Sewall, with full power to act after consulting with the Rev. F. Gorwitz, the President of the Union, who was ordained into the priesthood under authority of the General Convention. A letter was read from the new organization in Vienna, expressing its joy in being established upon sound principles and in having the benefit of the pastoral care of the Rev. F. Gorwitz. Mr. Gorwitz was re-elected Pastor of the Union for a term of six years.

     Australia.- THE Rev. George Bates, a licentiate of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria, resigned his connection from that body in June last and at present assists in the work of the Melbourne Society, with which he will probably become permanently connected.

     THE leader of the Sydney Society, Mr. W. J. Spencer, who is on the staff of an important metropolitan journal, has made an arrangement with many newspapers by which, at a small expense, they insert a ten-inch advertisement embodying the general doctrines of the New Church for the most part in the words of the Writings, and giving the addresses of the Sydney Society and of a bookseller who keeps New Church books.

     Africa.- THE New Church Society in Durban, Natal, South Africa, which has now existed seven years, has a membership of twenty persons. Three new members were lately added. Eighty pounds have been collected toward a church building fund.
EDITORIAL NOTES 1888

EDITORIAL NOTES Editor 1888

BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS.

177

NEW CHURCH LIFE.

Vol. VIII. PHILADELPHIA, DECEMBER, 1888=119. No. 12.
IT sometimes appears difficult to apply to diversions the doctrine that evils must be shunned as sins against God. Novels, poetry, the drama, music captivate the senses to such a degree that man is loth to subject them to that analysis which the justice that makes for man's salvation demands. For this very reason - because diversions insinuate themselves through the senses into the affections - it become necessary that they should undergo the same searching judgment under which the Newchurchman makes all the acts of his life to pass. It may be objected that such a state of mind spoils the pleasure to be derived from diversions, and that these, in consequence, are shorn of their effect as diversions. This may be true if the state be one of pure criticism. But a habitual state, resultant from the desire to refuse the evil and accept the good, will admit of the utmost enjoyment, for the enjoyment will have a soul, the inmost of which is love to God and charity to the neighbor.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

As a consequence of the utter desolation of the Old Christian Church, few diversions proffered by the world are free from objectionable features, and it is not always possible to prevent these from marring the enjoyment. But they can, generally, be ignored. The evil against which one has to be on his guard is allowing one's self to be carried along by the general sphere of pleasure, and imbibing the objectionable matters with the rest. A poem, for instance, may possess such beauty of form that the very sound of the words, and the more external images they present, will charm the reader or the hearer, and cause him to admit, unchallenged, sentiments which, when examined in the light of heaven, are monstrous.

There is a glamour which invests whatever addresses itself to the senses only, and this glamour it is incumbent upon the true Christian to dispel, or else it will lead him insensibly into the irresistible current of the merely sensual life.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IN The True Christian Religion, n. 155, it is written that the special virtues meant by the proceeding of the Holy Spirit, with the clergy, are Illustration, Perception, Disposition, and Instruction. The higher the office, the graver the responsibilities, the more extended the uses - the more powerfully do these virtues affect the priest. The Bishop, or General Pastor, as the highest officer in a certain district of the Church, when presiding over an assembly of the Church is, therefore, not a mere chairman who watches over the orderly procedure of the assembly's business:- he is de facto a high-priest, to whom the assembled priests and laymen look for the "Instruction" which flows from his "Illustration, Perception, and Disposition." Of course, in his case, as in that of any other priest, those who are instructed and led by him dare not receive his instruction and leading blindly, but are in conscience bound to examine whether these agree with the Divine Teachings of the Word as revealed in this the LORD'S Second Coming, and, if they agree, they accept them; if they disagree, they cannot accept them. His being a Bishop or a General Pastor, does not, therefore, make his instruction either authoritative or final, but its expressing the Divine Truth makes it to be both.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IN a well-regulated society the exercise of the various uses of which it consists, interiorly, is gradually provided for. The perfection of man, as compared with the animal, is largely owing to his slow growth from infancy to maturity, during which ample time he may become duly prepared for the high use which, as a human being, he is to perform. The wise parent considers this, and gradually increases the responsibilities of the adolescent, so that when he reaches manhood he may, in entire freedom, exercise his own will and understanding and his absolute power within his own sphere.

Among the many responsibilities with which the adolescent should be gradually intrusted, so that he may assume them entirely when he arrives at adult age, not the least important one is the care and proper disposition of money matters. There are many methods by which the gradual assumption of this responsibility may be effected; in all of them the principle should guide, that the youth learn to act freely as of himself, but with judgment. It is here that the habit of devoting the "first fruits" to the LORD can best be formed. It is recognized in a general way that it is good for young children even, to drop their mite in the box on Sundays. It is, indeed, a genuine pleasure for them to engage in this act, and this childish delight should carefully be made use of to cultivate a habit that shall accompany them through life and become with them a most ultimate act in which their love to the LORD shall rest. That this may be, it is necessary for the child's mite to be something of its very own, which had been given to it to use freely for any purpose whatever. The attendant angels of the child insinuate loving affections into its mind, which readily absorb the parents' teaching that the first should always be given to the LORD; and a habit thus begun will be accompanied with delight filled to overflowing from the Source of all good delights. To give the child money on a Sunday for the special purpose of having it deposit the same during worship, subserves little use, so far as the effect on the child is concerned. But where the child regularly deposits in the Church-treasury money which it has itself taken from the little store which has been given to it to use as it pleases, there is early formed the habit of sacrificing selfish pleasures, and of cultivating love to the LORD above all things.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

WHATEVER comes from the LORD is real, for it comes from the very Esse of things, and from Him Who is Life in Itself. But whatever comes from the proprium is not real, because it does not come from the Esse of things. They who are in the affection of good and truth, are in the life of the LORD, and thus in real life, for the LORD is present in good and truth by means of affection, but they who are in the evil and the false by means of affection, are in the life of the proprium, and thus in a life not real, for the LORD is not present in the evil and the false.

178

     Whoever labors for the advancement of the human race on lines that lead toward heaven, endeavors to attain the life of realities. Since only what is from the LORD is real, and what is from the proprium is unreal, he will strive to present the real in all its fullness, but the unreal only in so far as it may be necessary to turn men from it. The priest leads the way to heaven, teaching men its truths, and pointing out evils and falses only that they may be shunned. The same principle actuates the artist in painting or sculpture, the author in drama, tale, or poem. The observance of this principle opens fresh fields to the scientist, and new-models the study of law.

     In the world, where the world is considered the only reality, much is said of the "Real," by which is meant the actual existence of things in the world, and - opposed to it - of the "Ideal," in which are brought together all the beauties of an object, while its defects are eliminated. The terms are misleading. Worldly things are not real in so far as they are not molded by good and truth, but are the ultimate material expressions of evils and falses. Nor are heavenly things ideal strictly speaking - they are not mere ideas; they are truly real.

     Owing largely to this confusion of thought - largely also to the inherent disposition of the proprium to seek its like - it is, that at the present day our houses are sought to be adorned with works of art (?) which keep the mind within the sphere of the world with its crudities and imperfections, and offer few suggestions of the ennobling realities of the Divine, and that, in the field of literature, man's conceit and self-trust is idolized more and more, while the Divine attributes grow fainter and fainter, and disappear entirely.
DISCRIMINATION 1888

DISCRIMINATION Rev. ENOCH S. PRICE, A. B 1888

     "And God saw the light that it was Good; and God distinguished between the light and between the darkness." - Gen. i, 4.

     THE LORD, in the beginning of man's regeneration, which is at first reformation, creates "the heaven and the earth" - that is, reforms man's will and understanding; or in another aspect, reforms his internal and external man. In this stage man begins to acknowledge in his internal, from knowledges implanted in his external by means of instruction from the Word, by sciences, and by all means of gaining impressions from without, that there is a God, a life after death, and consequently that there is a heaven and a hell, and that he who lives well will be saved, and that he who lives ill will be condemned. But his knowledges are crude and few, and there is as yet nothing of genuine good and truth with him - "the earth is vacuity and inanity." His knowledges are mere appearances and his charity is merely natural. It may appear to man himself that he is wondrously wise, and that he is a paragon of goodness; but his wisdom is at this point the lumen of nature and not true spiritual light, and when looked at by the angels it is as thick darkness-yea, as the very darkness of the great pit "and thick darkness is upon the faces of the abyss." But the LORD does not leave man in this state; for the Divine Love ever yearns for the welfare of His creatures. The LORD is ever present with every man, raising him up into greater light of truth and warmth of love, or withholding him from deeper evils. He inflows and implants into the crude mass of knowledges, the remains of good and truth, which, if man do his part, will be by application to his life eternally expanded into greater wisdom and love. "The Spirit of God moves itself upon the faces of the waters." While the Spirit of God so moves itself upon the faces of the waters, He communicates to man something of real spiritual understanding. Man's thought becomes clearer, and his vision brighter and more distinct with every application of the truth to his life, if that application be from a principle of religion. By the influx from the LORD into his natural lumen, there begin to be some rays of spiritual light with him - "and God said, let there be light, and there was light."

     When man has been instructed concerning the internal and external man, when the heaven and the earth have been formed in the beginning of his reformation, when he learns to know that, so far as the knowledge so acquired is merely in his memory, and thus of himself as appearance, so far his earth "is vacuity and inanity," and there is no real good and truth with him, when he acknowledges that he is profoundly stupid in regard to spiritual things, and that what appears to him as of the highest wisdom, is, when looked at from heaven, the most intense darkness of ignorance, then the tender brooding of the LORD begins to warm into life the remains of good and truth with him, and he begins to perceive that there is something spiritual and internal in his natural knowledges - "There is made light" with him.

     While there is at this point in man's regeneration some perception of truth and some beginning of life of good, still it does not stop here. For the LORD infinitely foresees and provides for all states and conditions of those who are to be regenerated, that they shall not remain stationary, but shall progress into greater light of truth and heat of love to eternity. "And God saw the light that it was good." This signifies in the Internal Sense in respect to the LORD, that all Wisdom and Love are in Him and constantly present before Him. It is not necessary for the LORD to see in order to know; for He is infinitely conscious of all things; for God sees and knows all things from all eternity. He has no need to see the state of anything. "God sees," is an expression adapted to human comprehension. To see any one, when predicated of the LORD, is to know his quality. The LORD "sees the light that it is good" when from His own Divine Love or good He gives light to man; for this passage, as is the case with the whole Word, is written to contain the Internal Sense accommodated to human understanding in all ages, times, and conditions. When the LORD "sees the light that it is good," He perceives, or more properly knows, minutely, yea, most minutely, what is necessary for each individual in order that, if he will, he may be reformed, regenerated, and saved. This light He has provided for every one in the whole universe; for there is no one but that is in the light of some religion, which if he will live according to it, from conscience, will save him; for no one is condemned who lives a good life according to some form of religion. But all this light which the LORD so graciously vouchsafes to His creatures is from His Divine Good, and the conjunction of the Divine Good and Truth, by the application by man of the Divine Truth to his life, is what the LORD sees and knows. "And God saw the light that it was good."

     But another state begins with the regenerating man which is introduced by the word translated "and," for this signifies a new state, or something new.

179

When man applies to his life the truth, given by the LORD, but which he has apparently acquired from the reading of the Word and the Writings, and from preaching and teaching thence, so it may be said that "God sees the light it is good" - that is, when it has actually become good in his life - then the LORD inflows into the remains thus stored up with man, and gives him more light, enables him to distinguish more clearly between the light of truth and the darkness of falsity. This additional light or extended clearness which comes from having lived according to such light as man has had in a former state, is the truth of good, as the former was the good of truth. In this truth from good, "God distinguished between the light and between the darkness." As with the first part of our text "God saw the light that it was good," so with this. It does not mean, as it appears from the form of statement, an action performed by the LORD in time and space, but "God distinguishing between the light and the darkness," signifies that the LORD is eternally and infinitely cognizant of all things of man's knowledge, thought, and action. On the part of man, it refers to the duty of discrimination between truth and falsity, and also discrimination between the various degrees of truth, and between the various degrees of falsity.

     When man begins to discriminate between the light and between the darkness, he then begins to know the difference between natural appearances, which, in the light of heaven, are thick darkness, and the spiritual realities which those natural appearances represent. For instance, things internal are brought forth when any one contemplates the starry heaven, and thence thinks concerning the kingdom of God. As often as man sees things with his eyes, and while he sees them, as it were, does not see them, but from them sees or thinks those things which are of the Church or of heaven, then his interior sight, or that of his spirit or soul, is led out-of-doors; the very sight of his eyes is properly nothing else than the sight of his spirit led forth out-of-doors, and indeed, especially for the sake of the end, that from externals he may see internals - that is, that from objects in the world he may continually reflect upon those which are in the other life; for this is the life for the sake of which he lives in the world. This is one view of what, on the part of man, is meant by "God distinguishes between the light and between the darkness." Now, since man is thus to divide or distinguish between natural and spiritual things, and since the letter of the Word is natural, therefore the man of the New Church is to distinguish between the letter of the Word and the Writings of the New Church - its Internal Sense. Not that the literal sense is to be ignored and cast aside, far from it; for as the spiritual world could not exist without a basis and firmament of the natural world, neither could the Doctrines of the New Church exist without the basis and firmament of the letter of the Word. On this subject the Doctrines in brief teach that, inasmuch as the literal sense of the Word is natural, it is called a cloud and also darkness, in respect to the Internal Sense, which is in the light of heaven and is called "glory." As the LORD in His Infinite Mercy has given us both the literal Word and the Writings of the Internal Sense, and has called the former a cloud and darkness and the latter glory, this also is meant by "God distinguishes between the light and between the darkness."

     But the regenerating man must not only distinguish between spiritual truth and natural appearances, but he must also distinguish between truths themselves and between falses themselves, as to the various degrees of each; and this is what is meant by the particle "between" being repeated - "BETWEEN the light and BETWEEN the darkness." The word in the original translated into English "between" is derived from a verbal root which means to discern and also to distinguish. The form translated "between" might be translated "among," and the passage would read, "And God distinguished AMONG the light and AMONG the darkness."

     To divide, discern, or distinguish between the light is to perceive, understand, and arrange in order in the mind Celestial, Spiritual, and Rational truths, each in its own plane. This, every one who reads the Doctrines of the Church can see, if he but opens his mind to the Divine, is done for him throughout those Doctrines, and all for the end of life. But that the degrees of the false are, also treated of throughout the Doctrines is not so clear to all, or at least not all see the necessity that it should be so; hence the fierce outcry of pseudo modesty or, more properly, prudery, at every mention of the teachings concerning extra-conjugial loves, which the LORD has vouchsafed to His children, for the sake of the preservation of His most precious gift to them - Conjugial love. Why are men afraid of these teachings? The LORD Himself has answered the question, has passed the judgment: "This is the judgment, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness more than light, for their deeds were evil; for every one who doeth evil hateth the light and cometh not to the light, in order that his deeds may not be reproved." This may sound like a harsh judgment; but this is the only reason given to us why men will not accept the truth when presented to them.

     But the question may be asked "Why should man know anything about the evil and the false, if only he be taught the good and the true?" The answer is, because man at the present day is born into the tendency to all evils, and if he grow to adult age he inevitably comes into the commitment of some evils, and into the temptation to all just so far as he confirms himself in the false, or, what is the same, the justification of evil. Since the LORD foresees this tendency and provides means whereby man may be saved from coming into a state of actual evil, therefore all the commands of the LORD to the man of the Church in his first state of regeneration are in the form of "Thou shalt not." Therefore, since man must first be saved from evil before he can do good, he must be taught what the evils are which he must shun; he must be taught what things are permissions of the Divine Providence for the preservation of good; he must be taught what things are permissions of the Divine Providence to prevent evils, and what evil is to be chosen in preference to another, where one of two evils is inevitable. These things the LORD has graciously taught throughout the Writings of the Church; but especially has He done this in the division of the Work on Conjugial Love called Scortatory Love. It was necessary that this be treated as a distinct subject because the truths concerning Conjugial Love are the most precious of all given by the LORD to men, and because men are more prone to violate these than any others. Let those who doubt this read the daily papers, and note the proportion of news concerning irregular marriage, violations of the marriage contract, obscene incidents and divorce, to news of another character; let them read the humorous papers of the day and see what their wit and humor principally turn upon; let them attend the theatre or the comic opera, and take note of the sallies that produce the greatest applause; let them listen to their own thoughts and inclinations.

180

Let them, we say, do all this - better had we said, let them go to the LORD and study the Doctrines, which He in His Infinite Mercy has given them; let them come to the light; let them let their own evil states be discovered to themselves; and let them pray the ever-loving LORD JESUS CHRIST to deliver them from their own evils; let them learn that the Divine Truth is the only road to good; let them learn to discriminate between truth and truth, in application to their own lives; between the false of evil and the falsity of appearances; between Divine permissions for good and actual evils; then "God will see the light that it is good, and God will distinguish between the light and between the darkness." Do this, and cease to inquire within thyself, "What good can I do or what work can I perform that I may inherit eternal life?" but shun evils as sins and look to the LORD and He will lead and teach thee.- AMEN.
Notes and Reviews 1888

Notes and Reviews 1888

THE New-Church Club of Boston consists of thirty-two ministers and laymen, who meet at the New-Church Rooms on Tremont Street once a month, when an essay is read by a member.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE Brighton Lectures have been translated into the Welsh language under the title, "Gwirioneddau Mawrion ar Bynciau Mawrion: Chwech o Ddarlithian a droddodwyd yn Brighton."
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE Dutch translation of Heaven and Hell, on which Mr. G. Barger is at work, will be printed at the expense of L. P. Ford, Esq., an attorney-at-law in Pretoria, the capital of the Transvaal Republic in South Africa, who intends spreading this Work among the Dutch-speaking people of the South African Colonies.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

IN addition to the usual matters going to make up the Journal of the Michigan Association, the one for the twelfth annual meeting, held in October of this year, contains, after the missionary's report, the discussion that ensued thereon, and in which beside the Rev. Messrs. Frost and Smith, of Michigan, the Rev. L. P. Mercer, of Illinois, and the Rev. P. B. Cabell, of Ohio, and others, took part.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

The Fraternity is the name of an eight-page journalette published monthly in the interests of the New Church in Roxbury (Boston), Mass. Mr. William H. Edmond, of Dorchester, is the Chairman of the Editorial Committee having it in charge. The Fraternity is also the organ of an organization of the same name, formed within the Roxbury or Boston Highlands Society, the members of which wear suitable badges.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE November issue of New Jerusalem Tidings contains the address delivered by the Rev. F. E. Waelchli, the Head Master of the Berlin School, on the occasion of a special meeting of the Berlin Society, held on August 24th. The address is a capital one and has more than a local interest. It will well repay any one to read it who has at heart the welfare of his children, and the growth and development of the New Church.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE Rev. E. S. Hyatt, has published a leaflet tract entitled: A Brief Answer to the Question, What is the New Church? in which he gives the fundamental doctrines in a concise form. The Divine Trinity, the LORD'S Second Advent, and the Word are mainly treated of.

The tract is one of the best that we have seen. A special feature is its treatment of the proposition that "the New Church is not a sect," in a manner that will clear away much of the confusion that this phrase has induced upon people's minds. We understand that this tract is sold at a very low rate - about two dollars and fifty cents a thousand copies.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE Calendar for the year 1889, published by the General Church of Pennsylvania, and embracing a plan for reading the Word in the Sacred Scripture and in the Writings of the New Church, will be sent to any address on receipt of postage. Address 1821 Wallace Street, Philadelphia, Pa. Those using the Calendar are especially requested to read the "Suggestions."

The lessons in the Writings will be continued through the second volume of the Arcana, and those in the Sacred Scripture will conclude the historical books of the Old Testament and continue through the Psalms and the Prophet. Readers are advised to use the Summary Exposition of the Internal Sense of the Prophets and Psalms in connection with these lessons.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

MR. GLENDOWER C. OTTLEY has contributed a series of articles to The New Church Magazine of England, which cannot fail making a lasting impression on those who are willing to be convinced of the necessity of cultivating conjugial love, and of entering into marriage within the sphere of the New Church. The series is entitled: "Is marriage Lawful, and Conjugial Love Possible between People of Different Faiths?" The first paper was published in April and treated of conjugial love, its origin and conditions. The second paper appeared in July and was devoted to an investigation of the subject: "Who are the Christians." In the concluding essay, published in November, Mr. Ottley considers the objection as to the difficulty of entering into marriage within the Church, the attitude of one who has contracted an affection for one outside the Church, the necessity of betrothals, and the question of the slow growth of the Church.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

"OF the Story of Robert Elsmere, there is nothing left to be said in the way of literary criticism. From the Rt. Hon. Wm. E. Gladstone to the newspaper paragrapher, the critics have had their say about it." With these words the Rev. L. P. Mercer, opens his elegant little brochure on "Robert Elsmere." A New Light on His Problems. Applying himself to the very purpose of Mrs. Ward's book, Mr. Mercer bespeaks the attention of his readers, while he enters into a consideration of, "first, some reasons for the popularity of the book; secondly, the influences which prevailed in the formation of Elsmere's character, and the state of his faith upon entering the ministry; thirdly, the arguments by which he was led to abandon it; and, finally the teachings he needed in order to avert the conclusions he reached."

As Mr. Mercer bases his lecture on the LORD'S words, "No man hath ascended up to Heaven, but He that came down from Heaven, even the Son of Man who is in Heaven," the general trend of his lecture may easily be imagined. The price of the brochure is fifteen cents, ten copies for one dollar.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

FROM the busy press of the Massachusetts New-Church Union has issued a pamphlet of fifty-three pages, containing the reports of fifteen 'Young People's Societies of the New Church in America, the minutes of the first annual Convention of such Societies, held in Boston, May 19th last, and the proposed Constitution for the American League of New-Church Young People's Societies. These documents give a good insight into the new movement inaugurated by the young people. There can be no doubt whatever of the usefulness of intercommunication among the young people of the Church. But, if the principle be correct, that young people ought to be under the fostering and watchful care of the Church, a movement like the one here begun, would not appear to be orderly. The young people of any one Church Society would then live their life, even their corporate life, more strictly within the sphere of that Society, and not organize independently of it. They would meet under the guidance of older members of the Church, either for the performance of some acts of charity, or to engage in its diversions. Under such circumstances a league of independent young people's societies could, of course, not come into existence.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE Rev. Frank Sewall, who, immediately before the late meeting of the General Convention, published an able essay on the General Pastorate, has written a letter on the debate on this subject.

181

Commenting on the expression of one of the speakers, "that there was not a word in all the Writings that pointed to a graded ministry as the true order of the New Church," Mr. Sewall refers to the Memorable Relation in The True Christian Religion, n. 188, and which is also given in The Apocalypse Revealed, n. 962, and in the Brief Exposition, n. 120, and in which a Council of the Clergy is described which was convened by the LORD. They met in a magnificent palace with a temple in its inmost part, and in the midst of the temple was a table of gold on which lay the Word, and two angels were beside it. "About the table were three rows of seats. The seats of the first row were covered with silk drapery of a purple color, the seats of the second row with silk drapery of a blue color, and the seats of the third row with white drapery. . . . Suddenly there appeared a number of clergy sitting on their seats, all clothed in the garments of their priestly office. On the one side was a wardrobe, where an angel, who had the care of it, attended, and within lay rich vestments in most beautiful order. . .. When these conclusions [concerning the subject of their deliberations] were determined in that magnificent council, they rose to depart; and the angel, the keeper of the wardrobe, presented to each of those on the seats shining garments, interwoven here and there with threads of gold, and said, 'Accept these wedding garments.' They were then conducted in a glorious manner to the New Christian Heaven, with which the Church of the LORD on earth, which is the New Jerusalem, is to be in conjunction."
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

THE Rev. Philip B. Cabell, of Cleveland, Ohio, has published a card-manual, in which he presents the LORD'S Prayer as a human form. The picture of a "praying Christian" in an erect attitude with hands crossed over the breast, and head slightly raised, forms the centre of the card; on the left side is the LORD'S Prayer, the several petitions referring to various parts of the body, while on the other side is an explanation of the petitions, and of their applicability to the human form. The general idea suggested by the card is excellent, but the Doctrine concerning it does not appear to have been quite clear in the mind of the author of the device. The LORD is the Word, and if, as the author here explains, the LORD'S Prayer "contains an epitome of the whole Word," the LORD is also His Prayer. The Human Form, therefore, which the Prayer is, is that of the LORD, not of man. Consequently, the form delineated ought to represent the LORD instead of "the praying Christian." Of course, in this view of the case, the explanations would have to be altered. The compiler explains that the cross used in the title was the printer's idea and not his own, but, that, remembering the text "He that taketh not his cross, is not worthy of Me," he concluded to let it remain. The explanation is insufficient. The symbol of the cross may doubtless be used to good advantage in the right place, but this is not the place. When the words: "The LORD'S Prayer a Human Form," are seen on a cross, it is difficult to keep from the thought that the cross typifies the Human Form, which is by no means the case. The cross which the Christian is to "take up" is not the LORD'S, although, in adaptation to those who accept appearances for realities the literal sense of the Word makes it appear so. The cross signifies temptation, and in the Prayer itself the LORD is besought not to lead us into temptation. But "it is according to the letter that He leads us into temptation, but the internal sense is that He leads no one [into it]," for the ascription to Him of temptation is the same as the ascription of evil, and is therefore indignantly rejected by the angels (A. C. 3425, 3605).

The card is sold for five cents. Quantities at considerable reductions.
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

ATTENTION is called to the "Announcement" published on page 191. Part of the list was crowded out, including engravings of Swedenborg, and phototypes of Messrs. Benade, Pendleton, Hibbard, Tafel, and others; the volume of Conversations on Education, Words for the New Church, and Hebrew Anthems.
SIXTY-THIRD MEETING OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF PENNSYLVANIA 1888

SIXTY-THIRD MEETING OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF PENNSYLVANIA 1888

     Communicated

     [Inasmuch as in this Department Correspondents have an opportunity to express their individual opinions, be they in favor of the principles on which New Church Life is conducted or ad verse to them, the Editors do not hold themselves responsible for any of the views whatever that are published therein.]

     HELD IN ALLEGHENY CITY, PA., NOVEMBER 15TH TO 18TH.

     November 15th, 1888.

     THE Bishop conducted the opening exercises.

     In his Address, Bishop Benade gave a review of the year's work in the General Church, mentioning the new school-houses in Pittsburgh and Chicago, and speaking of the disturbances in the body, as follows:

     "About the beginning of the year, disturbances began to manifest themselves in the Advent Society, which have not been quieted, but have become so serious in character and effect as to threaten the disruption of the body. Inasmuch as the Pastor and Council of the Society have not been able to reduce the matter to an orderly settlement, five members of the Council have referred it to the authorities of the General Church for adjudication, the remaining three members having withdrawn their objections to this reference, which they had previously entertained. In view of this action, in accordance with the order of the organization of the General Church, it will not be in order to discuss the subject here, nor indeed among the members of this body, until the judgment of the Consistory, consisting of the Pastors of the Church, before which it will be laid, shall have been heard and received. However deeply we may regret the occurrence of such disturbances, we well know that similar disorders have arisen in the Church in the past, and we may expect that they will continue to arise in the movement of the Church, whilst passing through that process of regeneration by means of which it is to become a true man of the Church, in living form before the LORD. Conflicts within the Church are like wars in civil communities, and among such communities, concerning which we are instructed in the work on the Divine Providence, that, although they are not from the Divine Providence, they can nevertheless not but be permitted, because the life's love of man, since the time of the most ancient people, who are meant by Adam and his wife (n. 241), is become of such a nature, that he desires to have dominion over others, and at length over all, and wishes to possess worldly wealth, and at length all the wealth of the world. These two loves, we are further taught, 'cannot be held in bonds, since it is according to the Divine Providence, that every one should be allowed to act from liberty according to reason. . . . and without permissions a man cannot be led by the LORD from evils, consequently cannot be reformed and saved; for if evils were not permitted to break out, a man would not see them, therefore would not acknowledge them, and could not be induced to resist them.' (D. P. 251.) From the further teaching of this Divine Doctrine, which is too long to cite in full at this time, it is evident that as civil wars, which are correspondences, and represent the states of the Church in heaven, are permitted for the good and for the ultimate salvation of the human race, so conflicts in the external Church, which is to be the LORD'S kingdom in the earth, are permitted for a like good and salvation, and operate even more interiorly to this end. There are evils within us which we need to seek to acknowledge, so that they may be amended and subdued, to give place for the truth, that is to govern and lead us into conjunction of life with the LORD. If we will regard the disturbances that have arisen in our midst in the light of the Divine teaching, and if we are in a state of willingness to submit our wills to the truth and justice of the LORD as it is made manifest to our understandings, we need have no fear of conflicts, nor of the results of conflicts, and still less of the judgment of those whose duty it is to weigh and consider all things that may be laid before them, in the light of the truth, and to act sincerely according to the Divine admonition: 'He hath showed thee, O man! what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do the judgment and love of mercy, and to humble thyself in walking with thy God.' (Micah vii, 8.)

     "In our collective capacity, as a Church, we may also regard the conflict to which reference has been made, to have been permitted to come into adjudication by the constituted authorities of this body, as a test of the order of our organization, of its availability for the purposes designed, and of the strength of our rational convictions of its being a true expression and adaptation of the Divine Laws revealed for the government of the Church.

182

The members of this General Church, whether as individuals, or as collected into Societies, stand together under a common law, for the attainment of a common end. The common end in its widest expression is the establishment of the Kingdom of the LORD within and without us; and the common Law is the immediate Revelation of Divine Truth now made to the world, which is the Second Coming of the LORD. If our organization be according to 'the Law and the Testimony' now given, it is true and will stand; if not, it is false and will fall and what is more, it ought to fall.

     "Every conflict is a judgment. Because the LORD alone 'is our Judge, the LORD is our Lawgiver, the LORD is our King.' (Isaiah xxxiii, 22.) If we will let His truth lead us into true charity, our common end of good will be attained, for 'the judgments of the LORD are true, they are just altogether.' (Psalms xix, 9.)"

     Before concluding his address, he referred to his visit to Sweden, and to the New Church as existing in that country.

     In the reports of the clergy, societies, and circles, the schools in Chicago and Pittsburgh were again referred to, but as the dedication of these houses and the work there carried on have been described in the Life, it is not necessary to say more about them.

     The Pastor of the Immanuel Church (Chicago) reported that one of the young men having reached the age of twenty-one years, and both his father and himself desiring it, he was formally introduced into the age of manhood by the Pastor, at the father's house. The rite used had been prepared by the Pastor, suggestions made by members of the Council of the Clergy having been incorporated in it. The ceremony was very useful, and therefore much enjoyed by all present.

     Another clergyman who had taken part in the last services conducted in the Cherry Street building in Philadelphia, gave a sketch of its history. The building was reared over thirty years ago by the Philadelphia Society of the New Jerusalem, which, under the pastoral guidance of the Rev. W. H. Benade, elected the use of education as its specific use of charity. The building was designed as a school-house, the upper room of which was used for Sunday worship. The corner-stone was laid on the 11th day of September, 1856, and the building brought under roof and the first story completed by December of the same year. A school was opened on the 12th day of January, 1857, and continued for a number of years, when it was closed, "but the spirit in which it had been established, and which had, in the meanwhile, been impressed upon other minds, has continued, and has borne fruit which ripened into maturity a generation after the planting, and will, in turn, give rise to new fruits, as we may hope, to eternity." In course of time another body - the Academy of the New Church - with higher and more extended uses, sprung into existence, under the leadership of Mr. Benade, and the building was devoted to its uses until its vacation by the New Church, on April 1st, 1888.

           After the reading of reports, an interesting discussion ensued on the subject of daily and concerted reading in the Writings and the Word. The general tone of the remarks gave evidence of the great spiritual benefit which members have derived during the past year from the use of the Calendar of Daily Lessons prepared by this General Church. In reply to several questions raised by the speakers, the Bishop said:

     "There was something said of the difficulty of having the reading of the Calendar in the morning, on account of the hurry of gentlemen who have to go to business. A great deal is said about 'catching up,' and about haste in reading. We should 'catch up' very slowly. We have an old proverb: 'The more haste the less speed.' This is well worth bearing in mind in considering the matter before us. From doctrine we learn that haste is of evil, and speed is of good; and this will make our proverb run thus: the more of evil the less of good. The angels are never in a hurry. In preparation for life in an angelic society, we need to cultivate speed, but not haste; activity, but not hurry. In respect to our morning reading, it is my experience, and I believe it is the experience of others, that the haste in the morning is apt to continue all through the day. The first state enters into all succeeding states, and if in the morning we are in so great haste that we cannot even offer a prayer to the LORD, we are not likely during the day to reflect upon His Word or Doctrines, but rather to let the haste of evil, and of evil spirits, drive us forward, until, when the evening comes, we are so weary that we cannot read the lesson for that time with profit. Reading the Word in a state of physical weariness is not true reading. The LORD wants all of our affection and thought. We should not give Him only so much of our mental energy as the world has left.

     "A question has been asked as to the time of reading. We have not attempted to determine the stated hours, thinking that the daily reading might take place in any one of the twenty-four hours of the day. This all can do if they will and intend to follow the Calendar. The intention determines the quality of the act; and this will bring us together in time, as representing state. We live in time and our states are in time. We cannot require of others that they come into our states, but we can ask them to do a common Work at about the same time. In this sense time is important, especially for children. They are in things sensual, and by the sense of time they are to be brought into order. We also need this; we need every help we can get to bring us into spiritual order, because on this basis our spiritual life is to be formed.

     "In regard to choirs, we learn from the doctrine of the Church, that in the heavens all the angels are in choirs. No one who leaves the earth can come into his angelic society until he has been trained in a choir. This is needed so that all in any society may be prepared to love and think and act together. We are told that some are kept in this training for years, because they are so peculiar in disposition that they cannot easily be brought to act together. They receive training until they come into harmony with others. We gain something of this by reading the LORD'S Word together. And to attain this was a part of our purpose in preparing the Calendar. We are led, as a body, more or less closely connected, to look to the LORD in prayer and in reading His Word as first and last acts of the day. And so, also, are we prepared to think together and act together in harmony from the LORD, as the First and the Last. If we can gain this much by the use of a Calendar, we need inquire no further as to the need of that help to our daily life. To the LORD we are to look, by Him are we to be guided, and He alone can tell us what we shall do, and what we shall not do. By this means we shall come together in spirit to do the LORD'S Will, and be led into true unanimity by taking all things of life from the one Source of life. If, now, these things are present in the minds of the members of the Church, they will come into a state of patience with the Council and with each other, and realize the fact that it is impossible for us to bring into one such opposite ideas as have been presented. Some think the lessons too long, and others think they are too short. To me the shorter lessons appear the better, because it is always possible for individuals to increase the amount of their reading; whilst a decrease sets them back. Such differences will always exist on earth, and they are not harmful, but the reverse. We should not forget that there are persons who wish to be told how much to read. They do not desire to exercise their own judgment, but prefer to have the lessons prescribed to them. If this be not done they are likely to read irregularly, or not at all. Again, I ask your patience; the Council will endeavor to improve on the last Calendar.

     "In answer to the question whether both lessons could not be read in the evening, I should say, that in the morning the spiritual faculties are apt to be most alert and active. In the evening man comes into natural states of thought and affection. You remember that it is said of the angels, that they do their work in the morning; in the afternoon they seek recreation, and in the evening they rest. This is the orderly progression of states. And from this we may conclude that the reading of the interior things of Doctrine is proper to the morning, and the reading of the exterior things of Doctrine, as presented in the letter of the Word, is proper to the evening. This is the reason for the present arrangement of our Calendar.

183

     "In regard to the question as to what we are to do if we fall behind in our reading, I should answer, that in my opinion it will be best to go forward day by day with the lessons for the day, and to read up afterward what has been omitted, lest we fall under the influence of a spirit of haste, and read without reflection. The object is not to read much, but to read well. All time and eternity are before us. Why should we hurry? Falling behind at times does not produce a real interruption of the series. It is only an apparent interruption; for the Word is whole and complete in each part. There are infinite things in each verse, and these cohere in a series internally, even though there be an apparent interruption in the external. This external may be supplied subsequently. There is more likelihood of a real breaking of the series by reading in haste, because this is of the state, and opens the mind to worldly and selfish influences, whilst slow reading, from intention to understand, opens it to heavenly influences, and keeps the heavenly present in the interior thought, by which means coherence is effected."

     Dr. Cowley asked: "If one has gone through the day in the manner you spoke of, and comes home in the evening weary and tired out, should he read the lessons?"

     The Bishop replied: "If you are in a state of great bodily fatigue, you had better say the LORD'S Prayer and go to sleep. You will do better in the morning. For remember, 'The LORD giveth to His beloved in sleep,' as well as awake. Self-love does not come into conflict with the LORD'S operation as much in sleep as when we are awake. He may do more for us then, just as He does more for the body by its unconscious operations, than by those that are conscious. We may depend on the good we receive in sleep. We are then in the especial care and under the especial protection of the LORD, because at that time the rational faculties are not active, and without the Divine protection the evil spirits would destroy us. The LORD never sleeps."
November 16th 1888

November 16th 1888

     THE Rev. F. W. Pendleton, of Philadelphia, conducted the opening services.

     During the morning session books and tracts for evangelistic purposes were discussed. A tract, prepared by the Rev. Edward S. Hyatt, of Erie, entitled "A Brief Answer to the Question: What is the New Church," seemed to meet with general favor.

     In the afternoon a recommendation contained in the report of the Council of Laity led to the consideration of "the financial support of the ministry." During the discussion the Bishop addressed the meeting as follows:
     "All contributions to the Church, whether made by subscription or by weekly or daily offerings, are voluntary, or at least they ought to be voluntary. There seems to be a misunderstanding of facts. The offerings referred to and made at the time of worship, were considered acts of worship, and these, to be true, must be of the free will. In considering this question, we need to separate the support of the pastor from the maintenance of the externals of the Church.

     "To maintain the Church, to keep it in order, and to provide for its externals, is one thing, and to support the pastor is another. Let us remember that the pastoral office is the LORD'S office, and not man's. In my judgment men have no more right to fix a pastor's salary than they have to fix the income of a lawyer or a physician. The pastoral office is the LORD'S office. The support of this office is a good of charity from the good of love to the LORD, and not an act of mere business, but of business in the sense of spiritual charity and worship of the LORD. To worship the LORD, man must live the life of the LORD, as that life is revealed to him in the LORD'S Truth. He who recognizes that the priest's office is not man's office, will see that the office is to be supported, and not the man. There is a great difference between the support of the LORD'S office among men, and the support of a man's natural existence. Let the maintenance of the former be derived from the LORD'S treasury, in which every member of the Church places his offering when he comes to worship. Let this offering be made as an act of worship, the first act of worship on entering the House of the LORD. And let every man give according to the ability which the LORD has given to him. In this return to the LORD there is the acknowledgment that all that a man has is a gift of the LORD'S. The giving of a tenth or tithe in the Jewish Church represented this acknowledgment, and was prescribed by the LORD; it was a tax on each man of one-tenth of his income for the uses of the Church."

     The Bishop continued, saying that one-tenth was to be given in the Representative of a Church because ten represented all remains, and when a man gives to the Church according to his ability, he gives the tenth. It is an acknowledgment that all he has is from the LORD, and that of himself man cannot acquire anything. When he contributes to certain uses he must remember that he gives of the LORD'S goods and not of his own.

     The Bishop returned to the point he first made, that the two things - the support of the pastor and the payment of the expenses of the Church - should be kept distinct. Supporting the pastoral office as the LORD'S office, by free-will offerings given as the first act of worship when one enters into the state of piety (for the Sunday worship is of piety and not of charity), will be an act entering into all succeeding states, carrying with it the benefit of this acknowledgment of the LORD. It will be an acknowledgment in ultimate form - the very lowest form - that whatever the LORD gives is given to enable us to live a life of true charity. This, thought the Bishop, was the real point in the case. Making a distinction between this and the support of the external Church uses, the latter can be given into the hands of the lay-council, while the former is retained as the privilege of every man.

     As to the pastor's attitude in this case, when his income may appear rather uncertain, it is a matter of trust. The pastor does not know from one year to another what he will have for his own support. He is in precisely the same position as other men. He may sometimes not have enough for his own expenses; but he will have enough in the sense of enough being as much as is good for him. For there is nothing that man has that is not from the LORD'S mercy. If each will hold himself responsible to the LORD and not to his fellow-men, for the performance of his duty, if each will go forward to do that duty day by day, he will find that his trust in the LORD will grow stronger than it ever could grow were he to entertain ideas of worldly prudence. In this case - by consulting worldly prudence - man assumes too much responsibility. He must rely upon the trust in the LORD which is enjoined by Him. All that is not of an implicit trust in the Divine Providence ought to be eliminated from our thoughts in this matter.

           Whatever is given for the support of the LORD'S office of the priesthood is not given to the man, but to the LORD, and is an acknowledgment of what He has done and is continually doing for us - that is, giving us everything good that is conducive to our spiritual life and also at the same time to our natural life. Were we to try to cultivate that idea and go forward in that spirit, the pastor would not be limited by any salary which would be fixed for him, but it would be left to the LORD'S Providence. We have no right to fix the salary of a pastor, and say: "So much he ought to have and no more." Let his income be like that of the laymen. Let them do unto others as they would that others should do unto them. If a society grows in ability and a number of the members become wealthy in this world's substance, and give in proportion to their wealth (and it is their duty - a sacred duty - to give according to their increase), then the pastor's salary would also increase, and rightly so. If this course of action were pursued, we should not see the things which we so often see and so frequently hear about: A pastor who has worn out his life in the service to the people requiring support in his old age. Why and how is it that the pastors cannot have means as well as the laymen? Why laymen can store up riches for themselves, and their pastors cannot do the same? Why cannot the pastors have something to save and spare for the time when they can labor no more? The Bishop hoped that the members of the Church would take that matter into consideration. That, it seemed to him, was the true business- like view of the case, because it is of true charity and true justice. The minister's great use is a form of charity just as the layman's is - with this difference, that his is the spiritual and the laymen's are the natural uses of charity. The speaker could not see why the natural uses of charity should be elevated so far above the spiritual uses - which are really higher - which are the LORD'S uses of spiritual charity provided by Him, and why an official of the Church should be limited in the performance of his duty. They should think, rather, that it is the LORD'S office, and that no one ought to limit it, but that the contribution to the support of the priest is a very holy offering given to the LORD in order to maintain His office in the Church. We cannot do better than to look to the angels in heaven, for the LORD is with them. Whose residence in the heavens is the most beautiful - the most magnificent - the most grand in the society? It is the residence of the priest who resides in the centre of the society in a most beautiful, exalted, and magnificent residence. And why? Because the office of the priest is the most responsible office - the most exalted.

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No king, no monarch, no emperor holds an office equal in exaltation to that of the priest, whose function is the LORD'S office among men - the office of saving human souls - the LORD'S mediation among men on earth for the salvation of human souls. The angels rejoice over a single soul that is saved, and not only one society rejoices, but tens of thousands rejoice over the salvation of one human soul. With what a joy, therefore, do they rejoice in the establishment of the LORD'S office by which such salvation may be effected. "I do not say these things because I am in the office of the priesthood. My time here is not long, but the priesthood is for eternity and in eternity, and, believe me, whatever you do, you can do nothing that will advance the interests of the Church so much as the exaltation of that office for the salvation of human souls, which is the end that the priesthood has in view - the end for which the Church exists, the end for which the LORD came upon earth and assumed the human form and glorified it; it is the end for which the LORD has come again and revealed to man that most excellent revelation of the Doctrines of the New Church. It is the end for which the LORD has given us the laws of Divine Government for the establishment of the priesthood: the end for which He has prevailed from the beginning, and still prevails."
Evening 1888

Evening 1888

THE usual reception was held on Friday evening, and proved a decided success. The school-rooms are admirably adapted to social purposes, as the partitions are broken by large doors in such a manner as to throw the whole into one large room, and yet contribute that air of coziness which surrounds nooks and corners. The art of conversation seems to be particularly cultivated in Pittsburgh, it certainly was on this evening, until the punch and cakes were introduced and all were ready for the toasts. The first toast, "The General Church of Pennsylvania," was responded to by Mr. Schreck, who made the two subjects prominently before the general meeting - the Calendar and the Voluntary Offerings - the theme of his remarks. Mr. Whitehead responded to the toast, "The Bishop of the General Church of Pennsylvania." He spoke first of the office, then of the man who filled it. He emphasized the great use of the Bishop's office, and stated that he had never realized this use so fully as at this meeting. He concluded by saying, "The LORD will preserve His Church, the LORD will preserve the Bishop's office." Bishop Benade thanked the assembly for their confidence and for their support, and took the opportunity to give an account of his visit to Sweden, and of his pleasant intercourse with the officials of the Royal Academy of Sciences where the manuscripts are preserved, who did everything in their power to enable him and his companion, the Rev. Enoch S. Price, of the Academy of the New Church, to successfully do the work which they had come to Stockholm to do in the interest of the Committee on Manuscripts of the General Convention.

The pleasant evening concluded with singing and dancing, under the inspiring leadership of Mr. Walter C. Childs, of California.
November 17th 1888

November 17th 1888

     THE Rev. Edward C. Bostock, of Chicago, conducted the opening services.

     The discussion on "the financial support of the ministry" was resumed and continued throughout the greater part of the day's session, the Bishop addressing the meeting as follows:

     In reply to questions as to what method to pursue, the Bishop stated that the ministers instruct in principles, as far as they are able and as far as the LORD has given them light, in the laws which should govern in action; but they do not instruct as to how things should be done. When a man asks of the LORD as to how he should act, He says in effect, thus and so is the truth, this is my Word; now go and do you as you please. So, when the angels are asked, "What shall I do in this, in that, or the other case?" "Do as you please," is their answer, "but know this: if you take this course you do well, and if you take the other you will do badly." Now, in almost all cases there is involved more or less of what may be called the practical view.

     "How shall we carry it out?" is the question. That is the business of the individual person; the ministers ought not to be asked how the layman is to do his work. They give him the principles and say, "go and do as you please, use your own judgment, and do not ask us to think for you." Man ought to think for himself. Some ministers even, have that practical form of mind which is always asking, "How shall we carry it out?" But practical men are very apt to be a hindrance. They come with practical questions when we are in the midst of principles. To do this is to disturb the series of rational thought. If a man has decided that the real end which he has in view is right and true, he can then ask, "How shall I do this which I think to be right?" But he ought not do this while going through a process of thinking - that is, of conversing with those in the other world who have the same end in view. For, if the thoughts are rational thoughts, the act of thinking is talking with good spirits, and if it is not rational it is talking with bad spirits or devils. The conversation with good spirits ought not to be disturbed by other conversations which may be good but which are apt to be infilled with worldly thoughts and human prudence. The Divine Providence is one thing and human prudence is another. If a man wants to know what trust in the Divine Providence is, he should lay aside all ideas of human prudence, and he will then be able to see what the Divine Providence is. Unless he do this his thoughts will not be just, true, or honest.

     The support of the ministry ought to come from those who receive its uses. It is a use of charity, and ought to become entirely self-supporting, for being a use of a charity, it is in the human form, and this is a self-supporting form. It is a form of charity, and ought to receive from the performance of its uses a return which will enable it to continue as a use. Just as in business a return is expected that will enable the business to be continued and carried on. That is the human form which is a perfect form. The Church and all its uses are in the human form, and from that form we ought to regard them.

     In reply to the question, "What shall a minister do if he has not sufficient support?" the Bishop replied: What shall any man do under similar circumstances? Go forward and do the best he can. Continue to trust in the LORD to lead him. If he does his duty, the support will become more and more and more sufficient in time; for a man has to begin that way and go forward. It may happen that the smallest sum maybe sufficient for some ministers which would not be sufficient for others. That depends on the individual character of the man, and must be left to the Divine Providence, for all human prudence is really of no avail. There is not the least thing that a man has from his own intelligence, although from the love of self he imagines that all he has is from himself. All is from the LORD. Still we have the appearance that all we do is from ourselves, for if we had it not our life would not be a human life. It is one of those appearances which are made into falsities when man confirms them as truths. If we confirm in our minds that it is our own things which bring welfare to us, we are in the densest of falsities. The LORD alone gives. There is no special act on our part. The LORD knows that our state needs what He gives to us; and that the state of those with whom we are in connection needs that we should have it, in order to act in the community around us. For the LORD provides the minutest details of every human thought and action, and He has done so from the beginning. We are doing that which the LORD has already provided for. If we trust in the LORD we shall see that our human prudence is a most unreasonable affair.

     In answer to the question, "What shall a Society do if the support of the minister is insufficient?" the Bishop replied that they ought first see whether as members they have done all that they can do. If the minister finds himself unsupported or insufficiently supported, he may tell the council of his Society or not, just as he pleases. Let him form his own judgment as to what is best to do in the situation in which he finds himself placed.

     No one can tell any individual man what he ought to do under certain circumstances. He can be told what is right and true, but he has to be allowed to do as he pleases. His liberty must be respected. So, also, a Society must do as it pleases. If it knows from the minister that his salary is not sufficient, then it has knowledge on which it will itself judge. If a Society, after knowing that it has not given sufficient, immediately after acquiring such knowledge gives sufficient, it is a judgment on the Society. It had not done its duty; it ought to have given more, and in justice should make up for the past neglect. It is so in private business.

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If business has been neglected that neglect must be made up. If a man finds that he had not paid the full value for an article he should go and propose to pay more; though this is not the custom of the world, nevertheless that would be the just thing to do.

     What is given to the priest's use is of that quality which belongs to the things of the spiritual uses of charity; but inasmuch as the use cannot be performed without an external building and other necessary externals connected with it, the support of the external Church is seen to be an external of the internal, which internal is the support of the LORD'S office. The internal use that the priest performs is of charity, but the externals are uses of piety, which is the external of charity. These two uses of supporting the pastor and the external Church, therefore, have the relation of internal and external to each other. Thus provision for the latter use belongs to the laity, and gifts to that use should be given into the hands of those who are to provide for it. It is a high use, for it is a necessary one, without which the internal use cannot be provided for. There are thus gradations in all gifts or offerings to the LORD.

     The principle underlying all these gifts is, that no use should be accepted without a corresponding return. The amount of the return will have to be determined by the condition of the one who is to be benefited by the use.

     If a use of a special character is performed for any one, he ought to give in return something according to his ability and his judgment of what he has received.

     The LORD gives all things, the Infinite proceeding from the Infinite to what is universal, then to what is general, and then to the particular until it comes to what is the lowest and most natural which receives it. In the lowest first begins the reaction from man - the return of the gifts inflowing from the LORD. The return to the LORD of what He has given, is the reverse of the LORD'S giving. The lowest, where the return begins, is in the body. Therefore, the first use of charity which man has to perform is to take care of his physical life and physical support, that there may be a sound body to contain a sound mind - that all the various uses which will accrue to the man from the gifts of the LORD may be on a right and true basis. Therefore, the first duty is to support the natural life of himself and his family. The natural body is not supported for the sake of the natural body, but for the spirit and thus for the soul. If the gradation of gifts will be viewed in this light, the answer to the question will be plain. When these uses are performed from the lowest upward, and when man takes care of his natural life, not wasting his substance, he will have more to give to the Church. If he does this as a matter of principle, because it is a duty to the LORD to take care of the natural body, he will see that the LORD has established the human form of that body as a natural abode for the indwelling of the Divine Itself. The man who will from a sense of highest duty take care of what is natural, will be provided for in respect to what is spiritual. And part of the reason why the means of wealth are not more equally distributed is also to be found in the fact that the principle of duty to the LORD, in respect to using the means placed at his disposal, does not exist as an active principle in man.

     Going back to the priest's use of charity, the Bishop stated that the use will be performed if the true principle of giving is adopted. It is not that every man shall give a fixed amount, but that he shall give what he can, according to his increase or decrease. It is for him to decide what part should be given to this, that, or the other use. It is for him to fix what is due to the LORD as an acknowledgment of the gifts received from Him. Supposing a man's income increases, his business grows, and he becomes more wealthy, then he would be able to give more to the support of the priest; or it may decrease, when he would not be able to give so much; and this is perfectly orderly, for it is not right for a man to give more than he can afford. Therefore a minister's salary would increase or decrease with the ability of the people to sustain the office. It is on the basis of a more interior contract which springs from the relation of the priest to the people. This relation and the people's relation to the priest is not a business relation, it is one which stands on a spiritual and moral ground. The business relation between them is so external that it need not be considered. If in this matter there is this mutuality, if the increase of the one corresponds to the increase of the other, and the decrease of the one to the decrease of the other, there will be between the priest and the people the relation of mutual trust and confidence. This is the true relation of the priest to the people and the people to the priest, and, so long a s it exists a form of mutual trust, the relation will be unbroken and uninterrupted - a relation of mutual love. But it will be broken if there is a claim for more on the part of the one, or a refusal on the part of the other. Trust is the element which needs to be maintained, and it is a matter of the conscience of every individual man; for each man must himself be trustworthy if he expects to trust another. It is a matter of conscience before the LORD where the man endeavors to do his duty, to fulfill his trust as the LORD has given him to see it, and where he examines himself, whether he allows the world to come in by withholding what he ought to give, or whether he does too much, and allows the world to come in in that way, and thus injure not only his uses in the world but also his spiritual condition. For, if this principle be practically carried out, it will affect our judgment in respect to the question as to whether we are giving too much. To give too much is just as possible as the opposite. It may not be so common. But even a natural man of a generous disposition is always disposed to give more than he receives, and that is what would enter the mind of the spiritual man and tempt him to do the same. If we make this matter a spiritual matter, if we let the Divine teaching govern our life, we need have no fear that the confidence of the priest in the people and of the people in the priest may be abused. In this state, the one willing to perform uses to the other, who is the instrument of the LORD, will find a reception on the part of the other, which will give him an openness and freedom of action which he cannot have in any other way; and the other will be returning to the LORD through the office of the priesthood his gifts, and will learn a submission to the Divine Will in loving the neighbor as himself, and in particular the one who is engaged in doing that which is of the LORD'S Divine Will.

     The discussion resulted in the adoption of the following resolution:

     "Resolved, That this meeting desires to call the attention of the Church in general to the subject of providing for the support of the priestly office by free- will offerings made as acts of Divine worship."

     Messrs. A. H. Childs and G. A. Macbeth, of Pittsburgh, and Robert M. Glenn, of Philadelphia, were reappointed to the Council of the Laity. Mr. George G. Starkey, of Pittsburgh, was appointed Secretary, and Mr. Felix A. Boericke, of Chicago, was appointed to the same Council.

     The report of the Rev. L. H. Tafel was called up and the following paragraphs read:

     "My experience in the last year has convinced me that the concentration of power as taught and practiced in our body is not conducive to good effects, and that we ought more fully to follow the Divine Government as shown in the operations of the Divine Providence, the fundamental law of which is, 'That man should act from freedom according to reason' (D. P. 71, etc.). This, I take it, calls for the greatest freedom in the operations of church societies, families, and individuals which may be compatible with the other factor in government, which is the preservation of order, effected through regularly constituted authorities. The latter end, as I understand it, has been carefully attended to in our Instrument of Organization, but the former has not, as far as I can see, been mentioned or considered."

     The Bishop being requested to explain the Instrument of Organization touching this matter, said:

     "I do not think it will be necessary to go beyond the document before us. This document very readily admits that the one 'factor in government which is the preservation of order effected through regularly constituted authorities' has been strictly attended to, but charges that the fundamental law, that man should act in freedom according to reason, has not received due attention. Rationality cannot exist without order. The LORD is Order itself, and in making known His Divine Truth He makes known His laws of Order, for every truth of the Church is a Divine law of order. The freedom of the Church, which consists in the exercise of its rationality, can only be preserved where Divine Truth is - that is, where order exists. The General Church of Pennsylvania, therefore, in attending to the laws of order has attended to the rationality of the individual members, as well as of the whole body.

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The admission in the document carries the confirmation of this statement. But, to the end that this thing may be rendered more plain, I will read the reference that is here' given (to D. P. 71), and when you hear it I think that you will be satisfied that Mr. Tafel has made a mistake in not giving the whole passage." The passage was read.

     "You see the distinction. Every man is at liberty to think and to will, but not to speak out or say what he thinks, nor to do what he wills. Liberty is not in the speaking and acting, but in willing and thinking. The doctrine is plain and simple. There are certain things which we may think and will, but which the common good requires that we shall not say nor do, according to our will and pleasure. There are limits to our freedom; and the very fundamental law of freedom prescribes them. We cannot speak and act as we think and will. This limitation is for the sake of others and for the good of society. Spiritual liberty remains, but natural liberty is curtailed by the natural laws of society, from the spiritual laws which are of the LORD'S heavenly kingdom. True liberty is the liberty of acting in all reason according to Divine Law. The point sought to be made in this letter against the General Church of Pennsylvania is not sustained by the teaching of the passage in the Writings to which Mr. Tafel refers. And just as little support does it derive from the reference to the fact that so much attention is paid to order. Liberty and rationality can only exist where the Divine Law and Order prevail."

     In his report, Mr. Tafel continues:

     "Failing to fully agree with our Instrument of Organization, I would beg to resign the position of Assistant Bishop for which you did me the honor of nominating me at the last meeting of the General Church of Pennsylvania."

     The following was offered by the Rev. John Whitehead, and adopted unanimously:

     "WHEREAS, This General Church has offered the office of Assistant Bishop to the Rev. Louis H. Tafel, and has decided to ask the General Convention to authorize his investiture with that office, and,

     "WHEREAS, The Rev. Louis H. Tafel now withdraws from the candidacy for this office,

     "Be it Resolved, That this General Church accepts this withdrawal."

     Mr. Tafel continues in his report:

     "I would also beg to be relieved from my position on the Commission for the translation of the Word, as there is wide divergence of view between the other members of the Commission residing in Philadelphia and myself. The other translators seem to consider the Latin version of Swedenborg, where we possess it, as having superseded the original Hebrew and Greek, while in my estimation the Hebrew and Greek texts are forever to remain the foundation, to be translated and explained, however, in agreement with the internal sense as revealed in the Heavenly Doctrines. This divergence of views does not make it practicable to work together to advantage."

     On behalf of the other translators residing in Philadelphia, the Rev. Mr. Schreck stated that Mr. Tafel did not correctly represent their views. They do not consider that Swedenborg's version has "superseded" the Hebrew and Greek of the letter of the Word. The letter of the Word will stand forever in the original form in which it was given by the LORD. But, when translating it, the Latin version of the Writings needs to be followed implicitly, as it is the translation made for the New Church under the LORD'S inspiration. Outside of the New Church the meaning of the Hebrew and Greek words rests upon tradition, which has in comparatively recent years been gathered together in the form of lexicons. This tradition does not give the correct meaning in all instances, and the only way to ascertain the meaning of a word of the Sacred Scripture is to learn of the LORD as He who is the Word has revealed Himself in these latter days. The translations in the Writings ought, therefore, to be implicitly followed and not doubted.

     A discussion ensued, in which the question was asked, how the variants in the Latin translation of the same Hebrew word are to be explained. The answer was returned, that any given Hebrew word contains all the meanings given to it in the Latin, for in the Hebrew many words "contain the complex of many ideas in one, from opposite to opposite." (S. D. 2833.) The doctrine on this question shines forth clearly from n. 1185 of the Arcana, which those who have been following the Calendar read not long ago. There the words HEB. are translated "Out of that land went forth Ashur." In the explanation it is written:

     "A two-fold sense appears here, namely, that 'Ashur went forth from that land,' and then that Nimrod 'went forth from that land into Ashur,' or Assyria. It is so said, because both are signified, namely, that ratiocination concerning spiritual and celestial things exists from such worship - that is, that 'Ashur went forth from the land of Schinear;' and also that such worship ratiocinates concerning spiritual and celestial things - that is, that 'Nimrod went forth out of the land into Ashur or Assyria.'"

     A resolution of thanks to the Pittsburgh Society and especially the ladies was carried by a rising vote.

     The Bishop's account on the previous evening led to the unanimous adoption of the following:

     "WHEREAS, Our Bishop, the Right Reverend William H. Benade, during his sojourn in Stockholm, Sweden, in the month of September, of this year, did meet with a most courteous reception at the hands of the Royal Academy of Sciences through its officials, Secretary Dr. Lindhagen and Librarian Ahlstrand, whose zealous care of the manuscripts of Emanuel Swedenborg has been made known to us;

     "Be it resolved, That we, the members of the General Church of Pennsylvania, in annual meeting assembled, do hereby express our gratitude to the Royal Academy of Sciences for the painstaking and care with which they watch over and preserve those priceless Manuscripts, in which we behold the LORD'S own Divine Revelation, made through His servant, Emanuel Swedenborg.

     "Resolved, That we hereby express our appreciation of the great courtesy and helpful kindness which have been extended to our revered and beloved Bishop by Secretary Dr. Lindhagen and Librarian Ahlstrand, of the Royal Academy of Sciences."
November 18th 1888

November 18th 1888

DIVINE worship (including the administration of the Holy Supper) was conducted by Bishop Benade, assisted by the Rev. W. F. Pendleton and the Rev. John Whitehead.
HEAVENLY ORDER ON EARTH 1888

HEAVENLY ORDER ON EARTH HOMER SYNNESTVEDT 1888

     THE Divine Truth is Order itself, which, inflowing, makes heaven in its own form, and disposes all things into order on earth.

     It is a mistake to suppose that the laws which obtain in heaven do not apply on earth. It is not unfrequently said that laws of heavenly order which are revealed to us, are "all very well for the angels, but will not do here."

     Divine Order is Infinite, and it is this which rules, both in heaven, and on earth; for men are ruled by spirits, from the LORD. The natural world is of itself dead, a plane for the influx of the spiritual, which actuates, or as it were, animates it, by correspondence.

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     Hence it is evident that men are ruled by the laws of the spiritual world, and it is only a question whether it be from heaven or hell.

     The falsity quoted above also involves an idea that heaven is remote from man, and disjoined from him. But this only takes place, in so far as man from the freedom given him, closes himself up to heaven and conjoins himself with hell. To such, the laws of heavenly order apply, as it were, inversely, for they pervert all order.

     If we examine more closely we may see several reasons why the laws of heavenly order seem unsuitable to our lives.

     Man is internal and external; he has, in fact, two lives, a spiritual and a natural life. At the present day, man's natural life, or the life of his proprium, is evil, and inclines to all worldly and selfish delights. But the spiritual life, which is from the LORD, draws away from these delights and would give a higher delight instead. By being elevated into this latter life, man is able to subordinate the delights of his natural life and make them conform to true order.

     It is too true, that in our natural life, in the present state of the world, full as it is of disorderly thoughts and desires, the laws of true order come, at first, like unwelcome visitors, or like dread officers of the law among a lot of criminals. We feel them as a deprivation of our freedom, or as disagreeable inflictions, which many modify, pervert, or disregard so as to destroy their force. The reason for this is plain to any one who is willing to see it. For none but evil loves and thoughts would be constrained by an application of heavenly order. The spiritual man, however, receives them with delight, and at once conforms to them as fully as possible in his life. If, then, we find that any law of order, which we see to be of Divine Truth as revealed to us in the Word, seems inapplicable, or distasteful, what is the conclusion? Manifestly, we are out of order.

     Man's spiritual life, which is the only real life, exists in the sphere of heaven. His thoughts are really conversations with spirits in the world of spirits. Heaven consists of the Divine of the LORD, which is good, or love, in the form of truth. The angels are of heaven, insofar as they receive this good and truth from the LORD. And we shall only come into life, and fulfill the purpose of our Creator, as far as we receive of the same. He has given us the fullest means for doing this in his Revelations. He has told us all about heaven, and the angels, and their life of love and charity, for no other reason, than that we may follow the same paths. The same Word, the same Doctrines, which He has given to guide our wavering footsteps, exist in the heavens, are the light which guides the angels on their eternal upward way.

     When we thus look to the LORD with our whole mind and spirit, even the unruly natural body will have to fall into the new order. For it is said (D. L..W. 36), "The mind rules the body at will [ad nutum]. Thence the body is a form corresponding to the will and understanding" (which compose the mind). So that even the ultimate fibres of the body will finally take on this new form and turn to the LORD. All the little spirals of man's inmost fibres will reverse their motion and turn upward. The extension of the sphere of his thought and affections will be into all the heavens. Then the LORD'S laws will no more be harsh and undelightful but sweet as the words of a bridegroom to his bride. Then shall we truly pray: "Thy will be done, as in heaven so upon the earth."
                              HOMER SYNNESTVEDT.
DISEASE 1888

DISEASE JESSE BURT 1888

     THE people of the Most Ancient Church were not in an evil state, but in an innocent and good state, and as everything in the world has reference to some affection of man it follows that their surroundings were not evil.

     There were no foul atmospheres as a result of exhalation from evil animals, plants, and minerals.

     Not having these evil surroundings they were removed from the danger of sickness from external causes, and as their life was pure they had no sickness from internal causes, or at least very few indeed. Their death was like going to sleep.

     A change came, however, and destroyed this state, for man began to look to himself instead of the LORD, and imagine that he knew something. The worship of man instead of the LORD is the origin of disease.

     Disease is the effect of man's shutting off the influx from above and opening himself to the influx from the hells beneath.

     One of the ends or uses of disease is to punish man for his evil doings and to show him that in himself he is utterly helpless, being unable to do one single thing of himself, as all comes from the LORD.

     During sickness man is not actively engaged in regeneration, but passively, for at the time of sickness, remains are implanted which, by their stimulation, when the sickness is removed, become goods of life.

     The effect is the pain suffered, which is no more than is absolutely necessary. The moment the LORD can remove the evil, the disease ceases.

     There is no disease that ever existed that man did not bring on himself by his own evil affections, not even excluding accidents, for they would have been avoided if man had not been under the influence of passions, revenges, envyings, lasciviousness, intemperance, extravagance or cupidities of some kind.

     Evil influx contracts the brain, and this binds the whole body tight, and thus stops the circulation, secretion, excretion, osmosis, and motions. The fibres are unable to soften the tissue by means of the expansion and contraction and vibration, in order that the equilibrium may be maintained, for when the balance is lost disease follows.

     There are in general three degrees of evil, and thence three degrees of sickness. The first and least harmful are the evils committed against one's self, which being on the corporeal plane would affect the corresponding degree of the body, namely, the lowest and grossest organs or parts of organs and tissues. These diseases would not be as grievous or painful as those arising from the viler evils.

     Evils of the second degree are those arising from the hatred of the neighbor, and these would attack the tissues and organs corresponding to that plane - the attending pain would be more intense, for graver evils are punished by lower hell.

     Evils of the third degree are committed against the LORD. Their punishments are of the most intense character, and would be inflicted by the lowest hells on the highest organs and tissues in the body.

     We must not conclude that because the ruling love of a man is directed against the neighbor there would be an influx from below into the trunk of his body producing disease, for there are three degrees not only in the body but in all its members, organs, and viscera.

     In general, the human form may be divided into head, body and extremities; the head into the cortical glands of the cerebrum and cerebellum and their proceedings; the trunk into thorax, abdomen, and pelvis; the arms into the humeral region, forearm, and hand; the leg into femoral region, tibio- febular region and foot, etc., likewise the three bloods, the three fibres, and the trinal division of organs, etc.

188

So the influx would not be simply into the trunk but into an intermediate plane of some organ, tissue, membrane, vessel, gland, etc., according to the nature.

     When the science of correspondence is more developed the nature of the evil infesting will be better known, and with this knowledge we can more readily find some lower animal form, vegetable or mineral, corresponding to the same affection, which, when introduced into the system, forms a plane for the influx of the evil spirits into the lower forms, which would then be cast off from the body, for everything tends to flow into the lowest form.

     Or a remedy may be administered, whose correspondence is directly opposite, and thus form a plane for spirits of an opposite nature to flow in and restore the equilibrium. The moment evil spirits leave the body man is well.

     The science of correspondence will some day be the leading science for the physician, giving to those who are spiritually minded a knowledge of causes, which hardly any one of to-day possesses.

     Armed with this knowledge he can give a prognosis and make a diagnosis a very great deal better, but we cannot say that there will be less suffering because our science advances. For every one has just as much pain as is necessary for his regeneration. It will, however, greatly lessen it. The LORD acts, and man is acted upon or reacts: so it should be with the physician. He should look to the LORD through the Writings and the WORD, and act on the disease with this wisdom acquired. The disease would respond immediately.
                                   JESSE BURT.
NON-CORRESPONDENTIAL REPRESENTATIVES IN THE JEWISH MARRIAGE RELATIONS 1888

NON-CORRESPONDENTIAL REPRESENTATIVES IN THE JEWISH MARRIAGE RELATIONS JAS. F. Buss 1888

     THE "PROHIBITED DEGREES."

     TO THE EDITOR OF NEW CHURCH LIFE. - Sir, - I adopt the above heading [The "Prohibited Degrees"] not because I am here concerned with the subject it indicates, but because it was in answering, in your issue for October last, a question relating to that subject, that you made the editorial statement I wish to call attention to.

     In the answer I have referred to, a citation is made from Arcana Coelestia, n. 4434, which has, as its last sentence, the following: "Laws also concerning marriage, which were passed in the Old Testament, likewise have a correspondence with the laws of the heavenly marriage, as those in Exodus xxi , 7-11; xxii, 15, 16; xxxiv, 16; Numbers xxxvi, 6; Deuteronomy vii, 3, 4; xxii, 28, 29; and also the laws concerning the prohibited degrees, Leviticus xviii, 6-20."

      On this doctrine, you comment thus: "The laws here adduced are evidently such as are in force at this day, because they actually correspond with, and do not merely represent, the spiritual laws of the heavenly marriage."

     You will forgive me for saying that you here begin with an assumption - the assumption, namely, that there are "laws concerning marriage in the Old Testament" which do not "correspond" with the heavenly marriage, and you, accordingly, translate the passage cited without the definite article to the word "laws," so that it may bear the construction, "Some of the laws concerning marriage," etc. I am not aware of any of the Old Testament laws concerning marriage which do not "correspond," as well as represent; and I consider that the suggestion that there are such should not have been assumed as the basis of an argument, but first proved. For my part, also, I know of no authority for your direct claim that the laws regarding the "duty of the husband's brother," "merely represent;" and the unsupported statement, even if New Church Life does not, of itself, settle the matter. So far as the Writings of the Church are concerned, I believe the statement to be wholly without foundation.

     I thus take exception to the premise you have assumed as the ultimate ground of your answer, quoted, in part, above. I am compelled, next, to not dispute, but to point out that the Writings disprove and explode your further "theory," that "laws which not merely represent but also correspond, are therefore in force at this day." The Writings state, as you quote, that, amongst the laws which "have a correspondence with the heavenly marriage," is the one written in "Exodus xxi, 7-11" (A. C. 4434); and n. 9349 explicitly declares that those laws, judgments, and statutes, "which are abrogated as to use at this day where the Church is [are those which are contained in] chapter ... xxi, verses 2-11. . ." A law, therefore, which you have affirmed, as the inevitable outcome of your theory regarding "laws which correspond," to be "evidently" "in force at this day," the Writings declare in so many words, to be "abrogated as to use at this day." "Evidently," your theory does not fit in with the Doctrines of the Church, a fact which must needs lead to your prompt abandonment and disavowal of it.

     I am your Brother in the Church,
                              JAS. F. Buss.

NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, Eng., Oct. 22d, 1888.

     ANSWER.

     THE Editorial Note in the October Life, far from being based on a groundless assumption, was based on the doctrine concerning Representatives, quoted on pages 40, 41, 69, 70, 85, 86, 115, 116, of New Church Life for the year 1886, where it is said that, "a Representative Church is when there is internal worship in the external; but the Representative of a Church is when there is no internal worship, but still an external one. In both there are almost similar external rituals, - namely, similar statutes, similar laws, and similar precepts. But in a Representative Church the externals correspond with the internals, so that they make one, while in the Representative of a Church there is not a correspondence, because the externals are either without internals, or disagree." (A. C. 4288.) "The Church raised up with Jacob's posterity, called the Jewish Church, was no other Church than a Church Representative of charity and faith. In that Church, or with the posterity of Jacob, there was no charity and faith, wherefore neither was there any Church, but only the Representative of a Church, because there could not be given immediate communication of the Kingdom of the LORD in the heavens with any true Church on the earth, wherefore a mediate communication by representatives was effected." (A. C. 1850.)

     There are, then, things in the Word, the internal sense of which consists of eternal verities, but the external of which consists not of eternal verities, but of things that signify and involve them. These have been abrogated by the LORD, still they are the holy things of the Word, since there is a holy internal in them.

189

If this general doctrine be applied to the statutes concerning the marriage relations, it follows that those statutes which can be kept by a Christian, and in which the externals will correspond with the internals, are correspondential and therefore still in force, but that those statutes in which there is not a correspondence, because the externals are either without internals, or disagree, were representative but not correspondential, and have, therefore, been abrogated by the LORD.

     In the Arcana, n. 4434, it is said, "Because marriages on earth by love truly conjugial correspond with the heavenly marriage which is of good and truth, therefore laws enacted in the Word concerning betrothals and marriages altogether correspond to the spiritual laws of the heavenly marriage, as, that they should only marry one wife (Mark x, 2-8; Luke xvi, 18). . . Laws also which were enacted concerning marriages in the Old Testament, likewise have a correspondence with the laws of heavenly marriage, as those in Exodus xxi, 7- 11; xxii, 15, 16; xxxiv, 16; Numbers xxxvi, 6; Deuteronomy vii, 3, 4; xxii, 28, 29, and also the laws concerning the prohibited degrees, Leviticus xviii, 6-20."

     If we examine these laws here cited to see what in them corresponds "by love truly conjugial" to the heavenly marriage of good and truth, we shall find that:

     (1.) The laws in Exodus xxi, 7-11; xxxiv, 16; Numbers xxxvi, 6; Deuteronomy vii, 3, 4, are directed against marriages with those outside of the Church, and

     (2.) Those in Exodus xxii, 15, 16; Deuteronomy xxii, 28, 29, enjoin that one who has enticed a maiden shall legalize the act.

     That these laws are in force at the present day is taught as follows:

     (1.) "They who are born within the Church and from infancy have been imbued with the principles of the truth of the Church, ought not to be joined in marriage with those who are without the Church, and who have thus been imbued with such things as are not of the Church." (A. C. 8998. See also H. H. 378; C. L. 242.)

     (2.) "Pellicacy is not to be carried on with a virgin or undeflowered woman, because conjugial love with women acts as one with virginity, thence is the chastity, purity, and holiness of that love; wherefore to engage and deliver up that virginity to any man, is to give a token that she will love him to eternity; therefore a virgin can from no rational consent bargain it away, unless with the promise of the conjugial covenant. . . . Therefore he that adjoins to himself a virgin as a mistress, may, indeed, cohabit with her, and thus initiate her into the friendship of love, but always with the constant intention, if she does not commit whoredom, that she shall become his wife." (C. L. 460.)

     The teaching in the Writings that the law in Exodus xxi, 7-11, is abrogated, refers, therefore, not to its application to the marriage of one within the Church with one without it, but to its application to concubinage. In the explanation of this law in loco in the Arcana it is said, "To betroth handmaidens, or to have them for concubines, in the representative Church, especially in the Jewish and Israelitish, was permitted," etc. (A. C. 8995.) So, elsewhere, "That the ancients had concubines beside the wife . . . was from permission for the sake of representation, namely, of the celestial Church by the wife, and of the spiritual Church by the concubine; from permission, because they were such that they had no conjugial love, thus neither was marriage marriage to them, but only a carnal copulation for the sake of procreating offspring, and such could have permissions without injury of love and hence of the conjugial covenant, but never those who are in good and truth and who are or can become internal men; for as soon as man is in good and truth, and in internals, such things cease; hence it is that Christians are not allowed, as are Jews, to adjoin any concubine to themselves as a wife, and that this is adultery." (A. C. 3246.)

     Now, since "marriages on earth by love truly conjugial correspond to the heavenly marriage," the law in Exodus xxi, so far as it relates to the Jewish concubinage is not correspondential, and has therefore been abrogated, but so far as it relates to marriage with one out of the Church, it is correspondential and in force at the present day.- EDITOR.]
CHRISTIANS AND CONCUBINAGE 1888

CHRISTIANS AND CONCUBINAGE CROSSLEY W. CROSBY BARLOW 1888

     TO THE EDITOR OF NEW CHURCH LIFE.- Dear Sir,- It must be by some terrible misunderstanding of Swedenborg that New Church Life makes it appear allowable for a New Church minister to depart so far from wedded purity as to keep a concubine under any circumstances. Since we all alike seek the truth, I hope you will accept this as an attempt toward finding it.

     We all agree that there is no permission of impurity to any man who can coerce the heat of lust. "We would have this condition go forth with all the emphasis of a Divine requirement."

     What men cannot control their lust? Some say they cannot, for abstinence would bring worse evils upon them. Yet the vicious criminal regains his shattered health under the strict abstinence required by prison discipline; and the athlete under training aids the highest development of his bodily powers by strict personal purity. But he who practices lust moderately or with lawful cause may ruin his body in a single hour. Even were purity painful and vice pleasant and wholesome in moderation for man (which is not true), it would yet be noble and right to suffer anything rather than do wrong to a woman, harlot though she be. The sufferings she endures are so intense and loathsome that no true follower of Christ could bear to connive at them.

     But there are men who cannot always control their passions; whom lust sometimes dominates as the drink craze dominates drunkards. The Writings give stern laws for their preservation. Let them do as little harm as possible, not injuring the spiritual realities of maidenhood and wifehood; let him steer for the harbor of wedded love, hating his fornication or concubinage as the prodigal hated his husks. God looks not at acts but at ends. If a man's ideal is conjugial love, though the loathly current against which he battles seem too strong for him, he shall be saved through grievous temptations.

     But with God all things are possible. He who trusts to his own arm may find the current too strong; but let him cry to God and his feet shall be set upon a rock. Faith, as a grain of mustard seed, is efficient to root up the mountain of lust and cast it back into the sea of memory. He that hath the Spirit shall cast out devils.

     A true minister has the Spirit of God. Otherwise the rite of Ordination would be meaningless. But ordination cannot force the Spirit on him who inwardly rejects it. An ordained minister may therefore not have it. Nor can he have it if he be in bondage to sin, unable to do the least of those signs which follow them that believe.

     Granting, then, that some unchastities do not destroy a man's power of attaining conjugial love, I would point out that there is no permission of evil to those who can govern the flesh, and therefore none to the LORD'S true followers.

190

The priesthood has an especial obligation to purify; stricter laws governed it even in the representative Jewish Church. (Lev. xxi, 7-15.)

     And, truly, we should be all under the same discipline. For we "shall be named the Priests of JEHOVAH." (Isaiah lxi, 6.)

          CROSSLEY W. CROSBY BARLOW.
HOLMLANDS, COUNTY GROVE,
     CAMBERWELL, ENGLAND.

     ANSWER.

     AN attempt to seek the Truth, which proceeds from the conviction that there is a terrible misunderstanding of Doctrine, ought surely to point out wherein the Doctrine is misunderstood. This is not done in the above communication, which rests on the assumption that every true follower of the LORD can control his lust, and that one who keeps a mistress or a concubine, cannot be a Christian, but is necessarily evil and loathsome.

     The Heavenly Doctrine says not so, but teaches, "that those, who from legitimate, just, and real sufficient causes, are in concubinage apart from the wife, may be at the same time in conjugial love," and that "the conjugial of one man with one wife is the jewel of human life, and the repository of the Christian Religion." (C. L. 475, 457.) In other words, it may be necessary for a true Christian to keep a concubine, and herein do we see the maxim exemplified, that "God looks not at acts but at ends."

     That such concubinage can be carried on without "doing wrong to a woman" is evident from the fact that the Divine Writings make it allowable, and they make it so for the very purpose of preventing "injury to the spiritual realities of maidenhood and wifehood."

     The advice is given that man "cry to God." Man cries to God when he searches in His Divine Revelation for the Truth that covers his case, and the Work on Conjugial Love and Scortatory Love contains the Divine Truth that covers all cases bearing on the establishment and preservation of conjugial love.

     The reference to ordination as bringing the minister more fully within the operation of the Holy Spirit, confounds the official with the man. The clergyman has special graces by virtue of his ordination - not so the person of the clergyman. And therefore it is another contradiction to say that "an ordained minister cannot have the Spirit if he be in bondage to sin," for the Doctrine teaches that "the Priestly itself is holy, whatever the character of him who ministers." (A. C. 3670.)

     Purity is reached by following the teachings which the LORD has given to us at His Second Coming in the Writings of the New Church, and not by condemning means of His allowance because they appear loathsome.- EDITOR.]
Title Unspecified 1888

Title Unspecified 1888

     THE WOMAN'S SIDE OF THE QUESTION.

     TO THE EDITOR OF NEW CHURCH LIFE.- Dear Sir,- I have read the article on "Concubinage" appearing in the October issue of the Life, and am unable to find a satisfactory conclusion to some difficulties arising in my mind with regard to the carrying out of the teaching therein contained. I therefore beg your kind reply to the two following questions:

     Supposing a case to exist in which the prescribed doctrine has been acted upon by a Newchurchman (married or otherwise), should the lady with whom he enters into such relation be received by New Church wives and mothers into the bosom of their families to be their friend and the companion of their daughters?

     On the other hand, if a wife find she have lawful cause of separation (as specified in the quoted Nos. of Conjugial Love) from her husband, shall the same liberty of choosing another man in his place be extended to her?

     If you will favor me by considering these questions in an early issue, you will greatly oblige me and many ladies beside.

     I am, dear sir, yours truly,
          A NEWCHURCHWOMAN.
November 1st, 1888.

     ANSWER.

     As concerns the first question, in this, as in all matters which affect the home, man must use his judgment in the individual case that may come before him. The sole fact that the lady is a mistress or a concubine ought not to exclude her from New Church society, for such a person is not necessarily more evil than a married woman. If she enters into the relationship with a good purpose, and shuns whatever is opposite to conjugial love, and is moral, and otherwise acceptable to the society into which the man wishes to introduce her, no reason appears why she should not be received to be their companion and friend.

     The answer to the second question is based upon the distinction between the masculine and the feminine, which is given in a summary form in Conjugial Love, n. 296, and from which the election, in marriage, falls to the man and not to the woman. The same characteristics remain with both the man and the woman in the relations which are not conjugial and at the same time not anti-conjugial. A woman who has separated from her husband for lawful causes, is not in the liberty of choosing another man in his place, although, if the separation be a total one, and if it become necessary for her, it would seem that she would be at liberty to enter into such a relationship if she be addressed on the subject.- EDITOR.]
DREAM 1888

DREAM 1888

     LAST night I had a dream that did not seem to me altogether fantastic.

     I seemed to be in a house with a beautiful female, a young girl just entered upon womanhood, whose happy, buoyant spirits made all about her merry. She was a stranger to me, and I was much pleased to have her come and sit down on a sofa in front of me, which afforded me a good opportunity of looking at her.

     After my eyes had feasted some time on her beauty, I noticed that another female occupied the other end of the sofa more directly in front of me. I, however, took little notice of her, as I was so occupied with admiring the first. But I soon discovered on her beautiful face workings of evil passions within, and it was in some way made known to me that she was entertaining feelings of jealousy and dislike toward the female sitting by her, to whom I again turned and seemed to see for the first time.

     She was not very beautiful, I discovered, but as I continued looking at her and she fixedly at me, her countenance became more and more beautiful, until I exclaimed, "Oh! you are an angel!" She seemed to hush me, but at the same time gave me to understand that I was right. "And you once lived on the earth as I do now, and had to struggle against evil?" "Yes," she replied.

191

     I now sat on the floor at her feet looking into her soul, loving and admiring her, while her heavenly face was bent upon me. What passed between us I can feel, but cannot express, as few words were spoken.

     Her face underwent a great variety of changes, and all - I understood - came from good thoughts and feelings within. She was perfectly humble, and reminded me that by nature she was like the female by her side, and that the change was all the LORD'S work.

      The other female was trying to injure her, and when I felt astonished that she should remain so calm, not even being made the least unhappy by it, I was reminded that she had passed into the society of heaven, where no temptation can take place.

     Most vividly was the difference between natural and regenerate beauty presented to me. I had once turned to notice that an old and ugly woman entered the room while I was in communion with the heavenly female, but thought nothing more of her until I found her pulling at my clothes, and in different ways annoying me so that I could not attend.

     The angel then raised her finger and pointed it at the old woman, and with a motion of her head and a firm look indicated that she must let me alone. Then her countenance, full of love and beauty was again turned to me, but the old woman continued to annoy me, and we all arose excepting the young lady.

     What followed is indistinct in my memory, but for a long time the angel, the evil spirit (as I now recognized her), and I moved in various directions about the room, the angel protecting me from the old woman, who continually tried to get behind me and hurt me.

     During this time I noticed the angel's dress, which was white, embroidered with gold. I noticed the delicate and elaborate patterns of embroidery, and thought how different the gold looked from the tinsel worn by our young ladies. Her arms and neck were bare. Ringlets of light-colored hair fell upon her neck. Her eyes were blue.

     Her grace, as she moved about, protecting the poor mortal from the dark spirit, may be imagined though not described.

     Finally the old woman was brought into a state of harmlessness and quiet; and then the angel retired into another room, but soon returned, having changed her dress for one of white and buff. She resumed her seat on the sofa, but after a few moments went to the door, and soon, without any wings, rose into the air and disappeared from our sight.

     I turned to the old woman and asked, "Do you know who that is?" "No," she replied; "whenever I come to this house she is here, assuming to be mistress."

     The young lady continued all this time sitting on the sofa with her face turned toward the wall. Here I awoke.

     If I were a painter what a picture I could copy from my memory of my dream, with its four different females!
ADDRESS AT THE LAYING OF A CORNER-STONE 1888

ADDRESS AT THE LAYING OF A CORNER-STONE 1888

     THE address delivered by the Rev. L. H. Tafel, at the laying of the Corner-stone of the projected chapel of the New Jerusalem Society of the Advent, was in substance as follows:

     "The Word is what the New Church is founded upon, and the LORD is the Corner-stone, rejected by the world but now become the head of the Corner. The LORD is represented by the Word, as appears in John i. Therefore the Word is now deposited in this stone to signify that He is the Corner-stone, and is to be worshipped, as the One God.

     "But since in the New Church He is present, not only in the Letter, but in the Spirit, in His Holy Writings now given to the Church, therefore we place The True Christian Religion, as representing the Writings, in the corner-stone; showing that the LORD, as He has manifested Himself in His Second Coming, is the authority in His New Church.

     "And since He is not only present in the sacred Books He has given, but also, through their reception with men, He is present in the hearts and minds of men, we also place a list of the present members of the Society of the Advent, and a copy of its Constitution, in the corner-stone.

     "The LORD has come on earth in order to establish upon it the reign of Love of the LORD and of the neighbor, and Conjugial Love, and it is hoped that these loves will continually be developed and cherished in the Church now founding this temple, and that the Truth whereby the LORD establishes these loves may ever shine brightly within it and diffuse its light around."

     The copy of the Word from which the Psalm was read was placed in the stone after being used, as was the copy of The True Christian Religion from which the declaration of faith was read at the close of the address.
ANNOUNCEMENT 1888

ANNOUNCEMENT HOMER SYNNESTVEDT 1888

     THE Academy Book Room, 1821 Wallace St., Philadelphia, is ready to fill orders for New Church books and publications of all kinds. Beside all the common editions of the Writings in Latin, English, and German, the following invite attention:

The WORD of the LORD, HEB., Hebrew, Full Turkey
     Morocco, Gilt, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5 00
THE WORD, English, large type, 6 x 9, Turkey Morocco, Gilt
     (best obtainable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 00
     The same, with plain sheep binding (a few), . . . . . . . .     3 50
     The WORD of the LORD, Boston edition, black cloth (a few) . . . 2 00

     The above contain only the books of the inspired WORD. Postage, twenty cents.

     One set (41 vols.) of the Writings, in Latin, neatly bound in half morocco, black, for $35.00. This is a bargain. "Sapientia Angelica de Divina Sapientia et de Divino Amore, de Divina Providentia," bound together in very handsome red morocco, full gilt, $3.00. Also "De Amore Conjugiali," unbound $3.00, postage, fourteen cents. Liturgies, brown cloth: $1.25. Flexible or stiff morocco, gilt, $2.00, postage, ten cents.

     Swedenborg's Rules of Life, illuminated, twenty-five cents. Swedenborg's Rules of Life, smaller and neater, ten cents. Pott's Concordance, Vol. I, 19 parts, half morocco, $5.00, postage, thirty cents. By mail, $2.00 per 12 parts.

     Those who read the Writings and the Word according to the plan published by the General Church of Pennsylvania, are apprised that the price of Vol. II of the Arcana Coelestia is 60 cents, postage, 16 cents. Of the Summary Exposition of the Internal sense of the Prophets and Psalm, we have two editions, one in octavo, uniform with the British edition of the Arcana, price, in paper, 25 cents, postage, 3 cents; another, smaller, in very neat style and binding, which we expect from England soon, price about 30 cents. The same work in Latin, paper, 40 cents. On these books, liberal discounts to societies and others purchasing in lots.                    HOMER SYNNESTVEDT, Agent.

192

NEWS GLEANINGS 1888

NEWS GLEANINGS Various 1888

NEW CHURCH LIFE.

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Six months on trial for twenty-five cents.

     All Communications must be addressed to Publishers New Church Life, No. 759 Corinthian Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa.

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PHILADELPHIA, DECEMBER, 1888-119.

CONTENTS.

     Editorial Notes, p. 177. - Discrimination (a Sermon), p. 178.

     Notes and Reviews, p. 180.

     Sixty-third Meeting of the General Church of Pennsylvania, p. 181. - Heavenly Order on Earth, 186. - Disease, 187. - Non-Correspondential Representatives in the Jewish Marriage Relation, 188. - Christians and Concubinage, p. 189. - The Woman's Side of the Question, p. 190. - A Dream p. 190. - Address at the Laying of a Corner-Stone: p. 191. - Announcement, p. 191.

     News Gleanings, p. 192. - Births, Marriages, and Deaths, p. 192.
     AT HOME.

     New Jersey.- A CLASS of about twelve has been formed in Elizabeth which meets once a week for the purpose of reading Heaven and Hell.

     Massachusetts.- THE chapel of the Springfield Society has been considerably remodeled and greatly improved.

     COL. R. M. PULSIFER, of the Boston Herald, whose death was announced in the November Life, was a member of the Newtonville Society. For several years he had been President of the New Church Board of Publication, he was also a member of the Board of Directors of Convention's Theological School, and of the Standing Committee of the Massachusetts New Church Union.

     AN addition made to the Church in Bridgewater gives three new rooms for Sunday school and social purposes.

     THE Theological School of the Convention opened with seven students, three of whom are new-comers. The same teachers have been re-engaged. In addition to these, the Rev. C. H. Mann will give some instruction on "Methods of Illustrating the Doctrines," and the Rev. S. S. Seward will address them informally on topics relating to "The Kindling of the Spiritual Life."

     Ohio.- THE Second Annual Meeting of the German Synod, was held at the house of worship of the Cincinnati Society, October 25th to 28th. There were present the Rev. Messrs. A. J. Bartels, of Chicago, Ill.; A. Roeder, of Vineland, N. J.; G. Busmann, of St. Louis, Mo.; J. J. Lehnen, of Norway, Ia., and Messrs. H. Sudbrack, of Burlington, Ia.; J. C. Menschner, of Newark, N. J.; Carl Miller, of Washington; Nik. Schmitt, of Boonville, Mo., and C. A. Grassel, of Pittsburgh, Pa.- In his address the President (Mr. Bartels) explained the uses of the Synod substantially as in his address of last year, one of the special features being "Rejection of the three-graded priesthood as introduced by the General Church of Pennsylvania, and acknowledgment of the one-graded ministry." - The total receipts during the year were nine hundred and fifty-three dollars and fifty- six cents, the total expenditure, eighty-six dollars and four cents. - The Synod proposes to issue the Doctrine concerning the LORD as translated anew under the auspices of the Synod. - In his report the Corresponding Secretary (Mr. Roeder) stated that he had considerable correspondence with the "American friends," from which there seemed to be a growing favor to the German Synod on the part of the General Convention. The Corresponding Secretary also gravely publishes the news that "on both sides in the Convention an early split is looked forward to." - The President reported that he had ordained Messrs. Menschner and Sudbrack into the ministry. The Rev. J. J. Buchsenstein applied for ordination. It was decided to license him provided he be baptized first.

     Illinois.- AT the recent meeting of the Illinois Association, held at St. Louis, Mo. the territory within the bounds of the Association was divided info four districts, in each of which a pastor, appointed by the Superintendent, has charge of the work of missions. The Rev. L. P. Mercer has charge of the Chicago District, the Rev. E. C. Eby, of the Middle Illinois District, the Rev. T. F. Houts, of the Southern Illinois District, and the Rev. Stephen Wood, of the Western District.

     Michigan.- THE Rev. G. N. Smith, who was employed as evangelist of the Michigan Association during eight months of the past year, has been re-appointed to this position.

     Minnesota.- THE Rev. J. S. David, of Parkdale, Ont., preached to the Minneapolis Society on October 28th, the audience numbering about fifty. The Society is at present without a pastor.

     Texas.- UNDER direction of Convention's Board of Missions, the Rev. Stephen Wood will visit Texas and spend some time in Galveston.

     ABROAD.

     Great Britain.- ON Thursday, the 4th day of October, the annual business meeting of the Scottish Association, and the annual meeting of the Church in Scotland, were held in the Church of the Cathedral Street Society, in Glasgow. At the latter meeting a paper by the Rev. J. F. Potts "on the Practical Work of the Church," was read, one by Mr. R. S. Fisher, on "Church Attendance," and also one by the Rev. L. A. Slight, on "Aid to the Weak Society."

     HARVEST Thanksgiving Services were held in a number of Societies in Great Britain on October 7th. On this occasion the house of worship is adorned with flowers, grain, fruits, vegetables, and the like, which are afterward sent to the poor and sick.

     THE seventh annual meeting of the New Church Orphanage was held in London, on October 31st. Four new orphans were adopted during the past year, making the total number since the establishment of the Institution thirty-six, of which twenty-six are at present under its care.

     Italy.- THE Rev. Frank Sewell has arrived in Florence, where he and his family intend to spend the winter. His address is Via Gino Capponi, No. 15.