DOUBT 1955

DOUBT GEORGE DE CHARMS 1955

[Photo of First Western District Assembly]
     NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXV          JANUARY, 1955           No. 1
     "Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." (John 20:29)

     Thomas had refused to accept the testimony of hid fellow-disciples concerning the resurrection of the Lord, saying: "Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe." Because of this he has been called "doubting Thomas," and has been regarded as the type or symbol of that determined skepticism which demands sensual proof as the only criterion of faith. Yet Thomas was not the only one who doubted. The need to see the Lord after He had risen, not once, but several times, in order to dispel their doubts and firmly establish their faith was shared by all the apostles. When Mary Magdalene returned from the empty sepulchre to tell the other disciples that the Lord was indeed alive, and had been seen by her, they "believed not" (Mark 16:11). And when the women who were with her declared that they, too, had seen the risen Lord, "their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not" (Matthew 28:9; Luke 24:10, 11). Even long afterward, when the Lord appeared to the eleven on a mountain in Galilee, it is said that "they worshipped Him: but some doubted" (Matthew 28:17). Thomas expressed his doubt more openly and more vehemently than the others; but once he had been convinced he seemed to have a faith even greater than theirs; for when the Lord appeared to him and said: "Reach hither thy finger, and behold My hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side: and be not faithless, but believing," Thomas said at once; "My Lord, and my God." This was the most complete confession of the Lord's Divinity that had yet been made by any man. Yet the Lord rebuked him, saying: "Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."
     Everyone comes into doubt. To do so is unavoidable because doubt necessarily precedes faith. The Lord rebuked Thomas, not because he doubted, but because within his doubt there was a spirit of determination not to believe. That this unwillingness was a temporary state, induced by the emotional strain under which he suffered at the time, is clear from the fact that he so unhesitatingly responded to the Lord's plea, "Be not faithless, but believing," and that he remained ever afterward a steadfast disciple of the Lord. Yet the Lord used his momentary lapse to teach the truth that the real enemy of faith is not the doubt that springs from ignorance, but man's unwillingness to believe. One who does not know cannot help being in doubt; but if he is willing and eager to learn, his doubts may be dispelled. On the other hand, no amount of knowledge can convince a man against his will. By overwhelming evidence he may I be induced, for a time, to confess belief, but deep in his heart he will still deny.
     The appearance is that proof produces faith, but the truth is otherwise. The purpose of external evidence is not to create belief, but merely to confirm it. Faith must come first that confirmation may follow. No one would ever discover the cure for any disease unless he were convinced that such a cure existed. No one would find the answer to any problem unless he first believed that there was an answer to be found. Every invention, and every discovery in the world, has been made by men who firmly believed in them long before they had been proved-men of vision, who by their faith accomplished what others regarded as impossible.
     Faith is indeed a belief in things invisible and intangible to the bodily senses. One, therefore, who insists upon sensual demonstration before he is willing to believe can never be convinced. He will always regard faith as an unfounded confidence in what is visionary and unreal. But, happily, things that cannot be perceived by the senses can be seen by the mind. Faith, rightly understood, is nothing but mental and spiritual vision. And the sight of the mind is far more real than the sight of the body. All mental sight is indeed based upon physical sensation. We can neither imagine anything, nor think anything, that is not made up of sensations we have actually experienced. Sense impressions are the source material of all factual knowledge. But these impressions constantly pour in upon the mind in haphazard confusion. Regarded in themselves, they have no meaning. That which gives them significance is the way they are related to one another and the laws that govern these relationships, especially the laws that govern their relation to the needs and the satisfactions of human life.

Note, however, that relationships are invisible to the eye and laws are intangible to the senses. They are things that can be seen only by the mind. Yet they are what men call truths, and they are very real; for on the vision of these invisible things everything depends that is of real worth and value to man and to his life.
     There is, of course, such a thing as blind faith. It is a belief that is imposed from without, a belief in things we have been told by others in whom we have confidence; a belief in things we have taken for granted without reflection, or a belief that has been induced upon the mind by signs and wonders. Everyone begins with this kind of faith. It is the faith of infancy and childhood, naive, credulous, and unreliable because founded on superficial appearances or on insufficient knowledge. It is a faith that lacks insight and perceptive understanding. One who clings with stubborn insistence to this kind of faith can never attain to intelligence or wisdom. The only means of escape from such a binding and stultifying faith is the doubt that stimulates the mind to question, to investigate, to examine, and to compare one's accepted ideas with new and modifying evidence. This is the doubt within which there is a love of truth and a willingness to believe. It is a doubt that arises, not from a denial of the truth, but from an acknowledgment of one's own ignorance and the limitations of one's own understanding, together with an eager desire to discover the real truth.
     That alone which produces insight is the love of truth. It is this love that gives light to the mind, stirs the imagination, inspires thought, orders chaotic sensations into meaningful patterns, and enables one to recognize their interrelations, the laws that govern them, the functions and uses that lie concealed within them.
     Knowledge must precede faith, because we can have no idea, no mental image whatever, that is not made up of some ordered arrangement of sensations that have come to us from without. But there are two kinds of knowledge, and therefore we are taught that there are two foundations of truth. One is the world of nature, and the other is the Word of God. Nature is the source of all natural knowledge, that kind of knowledge from which, by insight, men can discover the truth that leads to the advance of civilization, to the improvement of the external conditions under which men live. But without a knowledge of spiritual things derived from Divine revelation, man can learn nothing about God, or about heaven and the life after death, or about the life of religion, that is, the life of man's spirit. To impart this kind of knowledge is the sole purpose of the Word and the Divine reason why it has been given. But the understanding of the Word, like the understanding of nature, depends upon a faith that precedes proof.

Just as men must believe that there is an understandable solution to their natural problems, if they are ever to seek and to find the answers, so also they must believe that there is a God who can speak to men, revealing His Divine attributes, making known His will, setting forth the laws of spiritual and eternal life. This faith is possible to all, because the human mind is created not only to perceive the truth of nature but also to perceive the truth of revelation. Every man is born with a dictate that there is a God, and that He is one. And every child responds spontaneously to the teaching that is given in the Word concerning the Lord. The religious faith of childhood is indeed unreliable. It is undiscriminating. It is based, not on insight, but on confidence in parents and teachers. A child's ideas concerning God and heaven, and his conscience of what is right and wrong, just and honorable, true and good, are formed, of necessity, in accord with his personal knowledge and experience. In this respect they are no different from his ideas concerning the material world about him. But just as he is capable of perceiving that there is a truth, a law, a purpose, and a use to be discovered in nature, so also he is capable of perceiving that there is a deeper truth, a law, a Divine will and purpose, concealed within the teaching of the Word and to be discovered there. This perception is spontaneous, because the mind of man is created to see spiritual truth, just as it is created to see natural truth. And this perception is the faith that must precede proof-the faith that inspires investigation, thought, reflection and a search for confirmation, that it may be firmly established. It gives rise to doubt, in which, however, there is a willingness to believe.
This first-born faith, which, in the Lord's providence, is instilled with every child for the sake of his salvation, can be destroyed. The loves of self and the world, which are innate with every one from heredity, instill doubts that spring from the fear of losing natural advantages, wealth or reputation, or the opportunity to achieve some temporal ambition. These are the doubts that make a man unwilling to believe in the reality, the supreme value and importance of spiritual truth. They induce him to demand sensual or scientific proof before he will believe. Of such the Lord said: "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead" (Luke 16:31). And this is the kind of doubt that the Lord rebuked in Thomas, when He said: "Because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."
By no means did the Lord intend to infer that they are "blessed" who stubbornly cling to a blind faith. One who believes in the Lord before he has seen Him is one who is inspired by that love of spiritual truth which is insinuated in early childhood; the love that gives delight in the teaching of the Word, and that opens the mind to perceive the deeper implications of that teaching.

This love leads one to investigate, to read, to reflect, to search for greater knowledge, that his faith may be strengthened and confirmed. It indeed gives rise to doubts, to critical analysis and keen questioning, within which, however, there is a willingness, nay, an eagerness, to believe. It enables him to see reasons, relationships, and uses; that is, spiritual riches to be gained, and wonderful objectives to be achieved, which others pass by unseeing. It points the way to all spiritual progress, to the development of true character, and to the recognition and conquest of hidden evils. It enlightens his mind to see unnumbered confirmations of his fundamental belief, while at the same time it discloses the errors and imperfections in his first-formed ideas.
     We are told in the Writings that "those who believe and do not see" are those who do not desire signs or external proofs that would compel belief, but truths from the Word, and thus an understanding faith (AE 1156:2). A blind faith, we are taught, is a faith imposed from without by miracles and wonders; or one that rests on the authority of men, or on the persuasion of traditional acceptance. "But spiritual faith is that which is insinuated by an internal, and at the same time by an external, way; the insinuation by an internal way causes it to be believed; and then that which is insinuated by an external way causes it to be confirmed." To be insinuated by an "internal way" is to perceive a truth in the light of love-the love of spiritual truth that is the God-given faculty imparted to every man in infancy and childhood. And to be insinuated by an "external way" is to enlarge, correct, and perfect this faith by careful examination, questioning, and thought, in the light of that same love. Only these two together can lead to genuine intelligence and wisdom, to a true life of religion, and at last, to the eternal use and happiness of heaven. Wherefore the Lord said: "Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." Amen.

     LESSONS: Luke 16:19-31. John 20:19-29. AC 4760.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 448, 482, 510. Psalmody, page 316.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 13, 113.

TEN BLESSINGS AND EDUCATION 1955

TEN BLESSINGS AND EDUCATION Rev. DAVID R. SIMONS 1955

     1. Acknowledging Our Spiritual Needs

     "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:3) The Lord is the only educator. He formed the human heart and mind, and knows their every capability. He created man with an internal sight of understanding receptive of the inmost light of heaven, and a power of will able to respond to the outpourings of mutual love that are His infinite love. The means by which He communicates this light and this love to man are contained in the Divine Word. Revelation has the power to enlighten our understanding and renew our will. It is the Lord Himself reaching to our state, bending to fulfill our eternal needs, extending His bounteous riches where there is nothing but the most miserable poverty.
     Mental poverty, a consciousness of personal need, is an essential to all learning and progress well known to educators. To attempt to instruct a mind that sees no reason for learning is next to impossible. One who is self-satisfied, one who thinks he already knows, one who is content with the illusion of present perfection, is uneducable. It is only in the degree that a person has a sense of his own inadequacy, of some vital lack in himself, that he will listen and benefit from instruction.
     By ourselves we could never come to know our spiritual needs. Apart from the mirror of Divine revelation, which shows us the heavens and the hells that are the products of daily living, we could never be conscious of our spiritual poverty. The natural mind can indeed realize what is necessary for external existence. It can educate for successful living in the world, and it can equip the growing mind to care for its body, its civil freedom, and its social wellbeing. Education for merely natural ends can produce a pleasing and forceful personality that is able to adjust to society and at the same time to get what it wants from the world. But such education neglects the deeper responsibility toward the internal man, the spirit that is to live forever. It fails to provide the human spirit with the qualities of genuine humility, self-abnegation and meekness, that are prerequisite to all spiritual blessing. Self-confidence, self-reliance, self-expression and human rights are emphasized at the expense of self-criticism, self-control, sell-subordination and human obligations. Men are taught how to get rather than how to give.

     Merely natural education has a strong appeal, for it constantly holds the goal of personal success and social acceptability before the eyes of its students. Its objectives are tangible and practical. In its crusade for human betterment, the natural mind has fastened on poverty and all its external forms as the outstanding obstacles to human progress. Material and intellectual poverty are singled out as the roots of all discontent and hatred, all jealousy between men and nations, all maladjusted living, immorality, and crime. Utopian schemes for spreading material and cultural wealth, plans for new economic orders and universal education, are held to be the only sure cures for the ills of our race. All evil, we are persuaded, is but the product of poverty.
     How different is the direct teaching of the Lord: "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." How different should be the emphasis of an education that is truly Christian, an education that is founded on an internal understanding of the Lord's Word!
     Even common experience demonstrates that wealth and education do not change the human heart. The rich can be as depraved as the poor, and the educated man can be an even greater menace to society than the ignorant. Wealth and learning that are not made subservient to principles of religion merely cover over and disguise inborn selfishness and love of the world.
     True Christian teaching should emphasize spiritual poverty by instilling habits of humility in its students-a sense of need that looks to the Lord for all that is good and true. Genuine humility does not defer to men, except in so far as their uses warrant. It does not stand by and weakly allow false ideas and corrupt practices to destroy what is true and right, nor does it assume an irresponsible attitude toward one's own evil thoughts and ambitions. True humility sees wealth as an opportunity for extending uses to the neighbor, and it accepts misfortune and destitution as ways in which providence molds the human spirit.
     Christian poverty is the ability to bow to truth, to subordinate personal gain and pleasure to the temporal and eternal needs of society. It is, fundamentally, the spirit and skill of giving one's self for the sake of others. We gain this ability by learning to see ourselves in the light of truth and by following the way of truth. The natural mind is elevated and perfected as it learns to renounce self and the world and to rely on the Lord alone. In this way it is strengthened in an internal humility of spirit which is defined in the Heavenly Doctrine as one's "acknowledging that in himself there is nothing living and nothing good . . . and that everything good is from the Lord" (AC 1153).
     New Church education should lay its first emphasis on the spiritual needs of its children, and it does this when it encourages a genuine poverty of spirit-a humility that enables the mind to recognize its own needs and to subordinate itself to the leading of the Lord.

SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NATURAL AND THE SPIRITUAL 1955

SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NATURAL AND THE SPIRITUAL Rev. FRANK F. COULSON 1955

     (Delivered to the New Church Club, London, England, September 10, 1954, and since revised by the author.)

     INTRODUCTION

     "What makes heaven with a man also makes the church; for as love and faith make heaven, so also love and faith make the church: consequently from the things which first have been said about heaven, it is evident what the church is" (HD 241). Following this doctrine, we conclude that just as there are three heavens, celestial, spiritual, and natural, distinct in degree and receiving respectively the Divine celestial, the Divine spiritual, and the Divine natural, so also there are three degrees in the church. These degrees are degrees of reception of love and faith from the Lord in man, for heaven and the church exist only in angels and in men who are potential angels, and not in any way apart from them. The Divine of the Lord makes heaven, and nothing of the angels' own; yet the angels constitute it (HH 7). The same applies to the church.
     To the church as well as to heaven we may also apply the doctrine of the two kingdoms, as taught in Heaven and Hell; and in this view the first or natural heaven is seen as the external of each of the two kingdoms, and we are told that "the spiritual-natural angels and the celestial- natural are distinct from each other, but still they constitute one heaven, because they are in one degree" (HH 31).
     The same application of doctrine about the heavens to the church can also be made in the case of such general statements as occur in the little work The Intercourse of the Soul and the Body, where we read, in no. 16: "There are. . . three atmospheres discretely distinct according to the degrees of altitude, both in the spiritual and in the natural world. Hence it is that there are three angelic heavens, a supreme, which is also called the third heaven, inhabited by angels of the supreme degree; a middle, which is also called the second heaven, inhabited by angels of the middle degree; and a lowest, which is also called the first heaven, inhabited by angels of the lowest degree.

Those heavens are also distinguished according to the degrees of wisdom and love: those who are in the lowest heaven are in the love of knowing truths and goods; those in the middle heaven are in the love of understanding them; and those in the supreme heaven are in the love of being wise, that is, of living according to those truths and goods which they know and understand.
     "As the angelic heavens are distinguished into three degrees, so also is the human mind. . . . Hence . . . a man can become an angel of one of those three heavens; and he becomes such according to his reception of love and wisdom from the Lord: an angel of the lowest heaven if he only receives the love of knowing truths and goods; an angel of the middle heaven if he receives the love of understanding them; and an angel of the supreme heaven if he receives the love of being wise, that is, of living according to them."
     In the next paragraph we are told that, as all things in both the spiritual and natural worlds proceed according to those degrees, "it is evident that intelligence properly consists in recognizing and distinguishing them, and seeing them in their order" (Infl. 17).
     This paper is a very simple and elementary attempt at such intelligence, that is, at recognizing some of the leading characteristics of those men of the church and angels of heaven who are in the first and the second, or the lowest and the middle, of those degrees. It has seemed expedient to omit a consideration of the celestial degree, in which men and angels are supremely and truly finite likenesses of their infinite Creator, the Lord Himself who is the only Man, because for practical purposes it is beyond the experience and in some measure beyond the comprehension of most if not all of us. Yet, if not treating of the celestial state in any detail, we shall have occasion, as the Writings do, to refer to it when dealing with the other degrees. After all, we should never lose sight of the fact that all influx from the Lord received mediately in the lower heavens comes through the supreme heaven, where love and wisdom are received together in the greatest purity and perfection, almost directly from the Lord Himself. It is on account of this that the spiritual degree has its characteristic of being "in the middle," and the natural degree of being the lowest; where higher things are heard and seen, not as they are in themselves, but in their effects, thus in a comparatively; external and superficial aspect.

     THE NATURAL

     In Heaven and Hell no. 33 we are told that "they who live morally and believe in a Divine Being, but do not care so very much to be instructed, are in the lowest or first heaven." At first sight this statement would appear to contradict the teaching already quoted from Intercourse, viz., that "those in the lowest heaven are in the love of knowing truths and goods."

But the point is that their delight is to know and to obey, without any attempt at a deeper understanding. Mere knowledge rather than enlightened spiritual comprehension of truth is meant; and this knowledge is comparatively superficial, being tinged and obscured by numerous fallacies of the senses. Such angels and men are called "natural" because they are unable to rise above a thought and behavior that are characterized by a close and cloying relationship with the things of nature which are "in the ultimates of Divine order" (AE 175:2). Moreover, their relationship with the things of nature is apt to be self-regarding.
The saving quality with all such is that they do good from obedience; and in the work Charity (no. 210) this obedience is carefully distinguished from the good of love to the neighbor which is characteristic of the "spiritual." "The difference," we read, "is like that between the heat and light by night of the moon and stars, and the heat and light by day from the sun." Nothing of the genuine heat and light belonging to the state of doing good from affection, i.e., from the love of the neighbor and the love of good for its own sake, penetrates to them-except in an indirect and obscure nocturnal fashion. So we read further: "the light of their understanding is in the shade: they do not see any spiritual truths in light" (ibid.). Again: "they who have done good from obedience are in the lowest regions of heaven" (ibid.). "The distinction between them . . . is that those who do good from obedience are doing it from fear of punishment, and for the same reason also they abstain from doing evil; whereas those who do good from affection are not doing it from fear of punishment; and, further, those who do good from obedience are natural, while those who do it from affection are spiritual. Again, those who do good from obedience are those who are being reformed-this, moreover, comes first; whereas those who do good from affection are being regenerated-this comes next in order" (ibid.).
This distinction is, we believe, a very important one; and we shall have occasion to refer to it again. Before leaving this paragraph in the work Charity, however, which seems to be a key passage, let us just summarize the further characteristics there mentioned. Those in the good of obedience, so long as they do not progress to anything truly spiritual, are in a kind of faith alone state, for as yet they do not act from charity. They do good deeds, and confess themselves sinners, but without having examined themselves; and so their knowledge of faith, love, God, and all things dependent thereon is largely second-hand, Dr, as stated, "what they hear from a preacher." Such persons take the lead in benefactions, such as giving to the poor and endowing places of worship and hospitals; but their benefactions, because they cannot as yet appreciate that good is its own reward, are merit-seeking.

     This outline is sufficient to leave no doubt in our minds that, although such persons are indeed brought into the natural degree of heaven after death, and are in the externals of the church on earth, serving there subordinate and introductory uses, yet they are in great obscurity, and are far from receiving such a measure of His love and wisdom as the Lord wills and desires for their greater happiness. Their great hope is that they may know the truth, and that the truth will in due course, if they allow themselves to be born again of it-"of water and the spirit"-make them free. But they are not yet free. So long as they remain in a state merely of reformation, without undergoing any spiritual temptation and winning through to a state of spiritual regeneration, they are still acting from an external compulsion. So we read in AC 8690: "The first slate, in which a man is before regeneration . . . is that he does good from obedience, and not yet from affection; but this good is the truth that he does, because it is done only from command, thus as yet from compulsion, but not from freedom."
     To this servile state the Ten Commandments in their natural sense are addressed; and they come as a moral code, a series of external commands in which "Thou shalt not" is the recurrent theme. The pattern of behavior laid down therein is seen from without as a difficult, and in many respects unattractive, series of obligations imposed on a natural and unregenerate mind that would fain turn aside in a foolish and seemingly free pursuit of the much more attractive fleshpots of Egypt. Yet through this state, whether they remain in it or advance beyond it, all men must pass if they are to receive anything of heaven and the church from the Lord within them. We may therefore regard it as an introductory state, one that is on the boundaries of heaven and the church, yet still within its borders.

     Typical of this aspect of the "natural" state, when good is done mainly from obedience rather than affection, was the tribe of Dan among the tribes of Israel, and also the tribe of Gad. Without going into too much detail, we would remind you briefly of the birth of the two sons of Jacob who gave their names to these tribes. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah were born first in that order to Leah, and they represent a general series outlining regeneration as a whole and culminating in the celestial state of good represented by Judah. At this point Leah stood still from bearing, while Rachel remained barren. But before further children were born to either of Jacob's two wives, four more sons were born to Jacob; Dan and Naphtali of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid, as a mother, and Gad and Asher of Zilpah, who was Leah's handmaid. Of these two pairs Dan and Gad were each the first, and they have a more external representation than their full brothers in each case, who represent a more interior states.

     When Bilhah bare her first son to Jacob, Rachel said: "God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore she called his name Dan" (Genesis 30:6). Thus Dan was named from a Hebrew word meaning "to judge," and you may remember that he represented the good of life and the holy of faith, and in the supreme sense the Lord's justice and mercy. In AC 3923 we read: "This general thing is the first thing that has to be affirmed or acknowledged before a man can he regenerated or made a church." Again, it is stated there: "Affirmation and acknowledgment is the first general thing with the man who is being regenerated, but the last with the man who is regenerated." It goes on to explain that Dan is the first in the new birth series of which Joseph is the last, "for Joseph is the spiritual man himself."
     The significance of the introductory affirmative attitude or state represented by Dan becomes clearer when we turn to Jacob's death-bed prophecy about what would befall his sons in the end of the days. Here Dan and Gad are dealt with together, and it is said of Dan that he "shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent upon the way, an arrow-snake upon the path, biting the horse's heels, and his rider shall fall backward. I wait for Thy salvation, O Jehovah" (Genesis 49:16-18). In the paragraphs dealing with this prophecy in Arcana Coelestia we read: "the man who is being regenerated by the Lord is first in truth and not in any good of life from truth; next he is in the good of life from truth, but not yet from good, afterwards, when he has been regenerated, he is in the good of life from good, and he then perceives truth from good, and multiplies it in himself. By 'Dan' good; the good with them as yet lies deeply hidden in truth, and gives are meant those who are in the good of life from truth, but not yet from them the affection of truth, and impels them to live according to truth" (no. 6396).
     You can see that this is much the same as what we have already been considering, and may be regarded as a further elucidation of what is involved in the "good of obedience"; that quality of affirmation towards truth as yet only externally apprehended which impels or, as it were, commands a man to recognize its Divine origin with the Judge of all the earth, and to judge it-necessary, fitting, and proper to conform his life to its precepts. It is an affirmative attitude experienced in an external and natural state, yet capable of containing within it the saving quality which is called "the holy of faith." We are therefore told that "as they do not do good from good, but from truth, that is, not from a new will, but from the intellectual, and thus not from love, but from obedience because it is so commanded, they are therefore among those in the Lord's kingdom who are in the first or ultimate heaven" (AC 6396).

This fact "was represented by the lot of Dan falling last when the land of Canaan was distributed for an inheritance among the tribes (Joshua 19:40-48); and by their inheritance lying in the extremity of that land (Judges 18)" (ibid.).
     You may remember that the geographical location of Dan was in two portions: first, a small region including the port of Joppa on the shores of the western sea; and later, when colonized by a group of Danites, a small portion of territory including the city of Laish-afterwards called Dan-in the extreme north of Canaan. Both of these positions were ways of entry into the land; 1) from the obscurity of good denoted by the west, and 2) from the obscurity of truth signified by the north.
     It is characteristic of those who are represented by the Danites to "reason about truth because good does not as yet lead" (AC 6398). And this reasoning is from and about sensuous things, or truths sensually apprehended, meant by "a serpent upon the way"; and it is also a reasoning from truth about good, darting out upon the path like an arrow-snake and pronouncing judgments as to what is or is not good. This is a reasoning from below upwards, we are told, "for with those who are represented by Dan truth is beneath and good is above" (AC 6399). This kind of reasoning, being typical of the natural rational-about which we shall have more to say presently-is apt to be dangerous if it is not qualified and governed by anything higher or spiritual. So it is described in the prophecy as "biting the horse's heels, and his rider shall fall backward." The backward fall of the rider can be averted only if the Lord brings aid, and so it is said, "I wait for Thy salvation, O Jehovah."
     There are some illuminating statements in Arcana Coelestia dealing with these points, from which we can select only a part. We read there: "Those who are in truth and not yet in good are in fallacies from lowest nature . . . truth is not in any light unless good is with it, or in it; for good is like a flame that emits light from itself; and when good meets with any truth, it not only illuminates it, but also brings it to itself to its own light. They, therefore, who are in truth and not yet in good, are in shade and darkness; because truth has no light from itself, and the light which they have from good is faint, like a light that is going out. . . . All the heresies in the church have arisen from those who have been is some truth from the Word, but not in good; to them heresy has appeared exactly like truth" (no. 6400), and in no. 6402: "As those who are in truth and not yet in good look downwards or outwards, therefore also they are among those who belong to the province of the outer skin in the Gorand Man; for the outer skin is turned outwards from the interiors of the body, and gets its sense of touch from that which is without, but not sensibly from what is within.

Consequently it is plain that these persons are in the Lord's kingdom, because in the Gorand Man, but in its ultimates." [Italics added]
     There is much food for thought and reflection in such teaching. When you grasp its application in the history of the church, it is perhaps easier to understand how great is the mercy of the Lord who is able to include even such external types within the boundaries of his kingdom in heaven and on earth. We can picture those of that quality being quite ardent champions of the Divine authority of the Writings, affirmatively disposed to the truth that they see there, yet perhaps quite unaware that because they are not yet in the good of charity, being more concerned with obedience from command than any free understanding from the enlightenment that comes only from good within, they are only on the outskirts of the Lord's kingdom. Their judgments may be superficial, their reasoning dogmatic and harsh, their general attitude intolerant of brethren weaker or wiser than themselves; yet such men are necessary to the church, and serve an important use in it. This use, like that of the outer skin, is introductory to the body, and also a defense against adverse external influences.
     If we have spoken at some length of this introductory state, it is because we all pass through it if we come into the church. We wish to suggest, however, that we are not intended to remain in it, but to progress into the state represented by Dan's brother Naphtali, who represents the temptation in which a man conquers, and also the resistance of the natural man which is the occasion of such temptation. Naphtali is from a Hebrew word meaning "to wrestle." Through such temptations, which are for the sake of the conjunction of good and truth, men are regenerated, and from being natural become spiritual.

     Having dealt with Dan in some detail, we can only speak now briefly of Gad, who was the first barn to Zilpah, the handmaid of Leah. He was named from a word meaning "a troop," and represents the good of faith, or in a more external sense, works. In this connection we are taught that "works of charity are those that flow from charity as their soul, but the works of faith are those that flow from faith. The former . . . exist with the regenerated man, but the works of faith with a man who is not yet regenerated, but is being regenerated" (AC 3934). Gad, like Dan, has an external and comparatively natural and superficial representation compared with his full brother. In his case this brother was Asher, who represents the happiness of eternal life and delight of the affections.

Gad represents good works done from faith and obedience, but Asher represents the delight of charity, which is quite unknown to those who do not experience it from the light of truth and the flame of good that come with intelligence and wisdom from the Lord within in a spiritual state.
     In the key passage, as we termed it, Charity no. 210, we noted that such persons, though natural, and in deep shade compared with the light of the spiritual, yet are prominent in good works. The danger which is ever present in this natural state is that a zest for such works, and for the reward which is supposed to attend them here or hereafter, may lead such people away from the truth. They are apt to try to do good indiscriminately; and so Jacob in his death-bed prophecy warns: "Gad, a troop shall ravage him, and he shall ravage the heel"-which is a description of works done without spiritual judgment, works that tend to drive a man away from the truth and bring about disorder in the natural degree. Such persons, we are told, "like those signified by 'Dan,' judge from what is sensuous" (AC 6405). If they get involved in so-called charitable acts where good is done indiscriminately to both the good and the evil without a proper judgment, they defend their behavior by saying everyone is the neighbor equally. In this way works can thrust a man away from truth; and many such make salvation consist in works alone, like the Pharisee who thanked God he was not as other men. We read: "Those . . . are also in the Lord's kingdom, but on the threshold, and therefore the Lord says, 'I say unto you, the publican went down to his house justified more than the Pharisee' (Luke 18:14); thus that the Pharisee also went down justified, because he had done works from obedience to command. . . . That which saves these men is the intention to do what is good, and something of innocence in their ignorance" (AC 6405).
     Before going on to the next point, it might be useful to suggest here a similar line of thought and reflection to the one about Dan. It would be interesting, and perhaps instructive; to consider how many societies and individuals in the history of the New Church have been led or even thrust away from the truth by a cad-like devotion to works alone, or as we might term it today, social service or an interest in social welfare. It is an ever present danger; yet this should not blind us to the fact that "works are most necessary." The important thing is what motives, and what enlightenment of understanding, enter into works and find their ultimate there.

     We come now to another characteristic of the natural as distinct from the spiritual, viz., the quality of their rational.

As is well-known, this is typified in a general way by Ishmael, the son of Hagar the bondwoman; while the spiritual-rational, which is in an altogether freer and more enlightened state, and succeeds the former natural-rational as a man becomes regenerate, is represented by Isaac. The story of Ishmael and Isaac, and the general outlines of its inner meaning in relation to the Lord Himself in the glorification of His Human, and to the man who is being regenerated by the Lord, is probably familiar to us all. We propose, therefore, simply to draw attention to a few statements in Arcana Coelestia which fit aptly into the theme of this paper, and throw some further light on what has already been said.
Let us note first that the existence of any rational at all in man, even the most external and natural rational, arises from a free submission of the external man to some control and sovereignty over it by what is internal and higher. This freedom exists even in the self-compulsion that inevitably accompanies a man's first essays in obedience to truth. The rational arises out of a man's humility and affliction, for properly it is "the medium that unites the internal man with the external" (AC 1944). The first or natural-rational was therefore represented by Ishmael, who was so named because Jehovah had hearkened to Hagar's affliction, and because Hagar was to submit herself to Sarai her mistress. Out of such submission, something beyond the capacity of any animal, but peculiar to man who has an internal and an external mind, comes "Ishmael," a word in Hebrew which means roughly "man whom God hears." Of him it is said: "And he shall be a wild-ass man; his hand against all, and the hand of all against him; and he shall dwell against the faces of all his brethren" (Genesis 16:12).
This is a description of rational truth, not the rational of man in its whole complex, but only rational truth, the rational state that belongs to such as are in the state of reformation rather than regeneration, and of a Gan-like affirmation of truth and a Gad-like disposition to good works of faith. In short, this is the state that is characteristic of those who have not yet got beyond the good of obedience and the close self-regarding relationship with the things of nature and the fallacies of the senses that accompany this "obedience from command." Swedenborg, recognizing perhaps man's natural reluctance to accept such a harsh description as applying to himself, is constrained to make a personal statement: "It seems incredible that rational truth when separated from good should be of such a character, neither should I have known this to be the case unless I had been instructed by living experience. Whether you say rational truth, or the man whose rational is of this kind, amounts to the same" (AC 1949).

     If Swedenborg had difficulty in recognizing the character of the natural rational, we may also need some living experience to convince us about it. It is so easy, so very natural, to be persuaded that the truth as we each see it on a given subject is pretty nearly the last word on the matter; and then to go all out to convince others that our view is the right one. So we read further: "The man whose rational is of such a character is a morose man, will bear nothing, is against all, regards everybody as being in falsity, is ready to rebuke, to chastise, to punish; has no pity, and does not apply or adapt himself to others and study to bend their minds; for he looks at everything from truth, and at nothing from good. In a word he is a hard man: the only thing that softens his hardness is the good that is of charity, for the soul of truth is good. When this approaches and makes its way into truth it so changes it as to make it hardly recognizable" (AC 1949). The latter part of this quotation was omitted inadvertently from the original edition of Arcana Coelestia. It has now been restored in the Third Latin Edition from the draft MS. The rational so changed by the inward approach of good becomes spiritual, and was represented by Isaac.
     The hardness and obstinacy of the natural rational is portrayed by the "onager" or mule of the wilderness, the wild ass that cannot be with others, and is continually fighting. "It thinks of and breathes scarcely anything but combats; its general delight, or reigning affection, is to conquer, and when it conquers it glories in the victory" (AC 1950). Again: "this kind of truth is represented in the other life in various ways, and always as what is strong, powerful, and hard; insomuch that it cannot be resisted at all. When spirits merely think of such truth, something of terror comes over them, because it is its nature not to yield, and thus not to recede" (AC 1951). Unpleasant as this description of the dogmatic, hard, unyielding quality of the natural rational may be, we should not lose sight of the fact that, although the Lord set up his covenant with Isaac, He first blessed Ishmael and promised to make of him a great nation. The natural rational has a use to perform in heaven and the church, even though that use is external.

     THE SPIRITUAL

     We come now to a consideration of some characteristics of the spiritual. The key word is "understanding"; not mere knowledge, but an enlightened understanding of truth. This enlightenment is a light that shines from the flame of love when a man is gifted with charity or love towards the neighbor from the Lord. He enters into this state with difficulty, laboring in temptation combats, and achieving gradually with each victory a new multiplication of truths in his mind, a vision of new and hitherto unsuspected facets of the truths with which he was familiar in an earlier natural state, and an awareness of the indefinite variety of truths and of their interrelationship This state begets humility and a new gentleness; but it also involves new doubts and difficulties, and he becomes ever more aware of the alternating seasons through which every regenerating man is led mysteriously and wonderfully by the Lord Himself.

Not ever wholly emancipated from the characteristics of the natural state unless his regeneration proceeds to the celestial degree, he is in more senses than one "in the middle," in an intermediate state. It is a state in which truth is being conjoined with good, but is not yet so conjoined that the good of love is supreme as it is with the celestial. Yet he becomes well aware of the character of his natural man, and is in the continual endeavor with the Lord's help to rise above it and become truly spiritual. The more he becomes aware of his own imperfections, the better is he able to appreciate and understand the states of others and to see all men as "the neighbor" in one degree or another; regarding them no longer merely as opponents of his point of view, or obstacles to his progress, but as children of his Heavenly Father. His heartfelt prayer is that the Lord's kingdom may come, that His truth may reign to all eternity, not only in his own mind and life, but in the minds and lives of others who may be quite different from himself. This makes him tolerant, and even seemingly vague and indefinite where the natural man tends to be hard and dogmatic. The good that he does is done from love, in a freedom that is not inclined to coerce or compel others and interfere with their freedom, except when absolutely necessary in defense of some higher principle: it is no longer done merely from obedience to command. His tolerance, humility, and the indefiniteness that is evident especially in the states of temptation and doubt he goes through, are apt to be criticized and condemned by the natural; yet with the truly spiritual, the softening influence of charity produces a discriminating tolerance born of mercy, which is very different from the indiscriminate tolerance of those who are in the works of faith meant by "Gad."
While the "thou shalt nets" of the Decalogue come to the natural as imperative commands, the spiritual give heed to a voice that comes from the same source but appeals to their conscience in freedom. Without denying or in any way belittling the external commands of the former state, this voice whispers gently of the blessings of eternal life, typified by "Asher," of humility and meekness, of mourning and comfort, of the satisfaction of a hunger and thirst for justice, of mercy and peace, of purity of heart, and of the patient endurance of persecution and misunderstanding.

In the Beatitudes with which the Lord opened His sermon on the mount we find a spiritual charter and the promise of all the blessings of charity which characterize the spiritual heaven and the spiritual church. The Lord came to fulfill the Law, and by his fulfillment He put Himself in the power of saving the spiritual; and the seemingly harsh outlines of the Law now become replete with new and living meanings that could be multiplied without end.

We could go on in this vein for quite some time, because as soon as one enters upon a consideration of the characteristics of the spiritual, a vista embracing the whole doctrine of temptation and regeneration, of charity and enlightenment, is opened up. You will therefore bear with us if we merely concentrate on a very few features of this vast field of thought. As soon as we try to enter with understanding into a contemplation of this region of heaven and the church, we find we do not know where to begin or where to stop. Like the spiritual themselves, we are "in the middle," in a sort of betwixt and between state. Those who are spiritual are aware of this, but they learn in the process of regeneration, and thus from living experience, to concentrate in a given state upon the understanding and application to life of the truth they are able to see then from a love of understanding it. They are content to leave it to the Lord, and to the celestial who see by perception from Him, to see clearly just where that particular truth fits in, so to speak, in the scheme of things, and to harmonize it with other truths in other minds by means of good which is the only conjoining medium.
One characteristic of the spiritual, connected with the necessity of temptations, is that there are fluctuations of state of which they become ever more aware. These are described in the last verse of Genesis 8: "During all the days of the earth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." This is a description of the man who is to be regenerated. So we read: "When man is being regenerated he receives life from the Lord; for before this he cannot be said to have lived, the life of the world and of the body not being life, but only that which is heavenly and spiritual. Through regeneration man receives real life from the Lord; and because he had no life before, there is an alternation of no life and of real life, that is of no faith and charity and of some faith and charity; no charity and faith being here signified by 'cold,' and some faith and charity by 'heat' " (AC 933). These alternations affect both the will and the understanding, the terms "summer and winter" applying to the will, i.e., the new will, and "day and night" to the understanding. Out of such alternations of state come an indefinite variety of men and angels with widely various states of reception of love and wisdom, or of charity and faith, from the Lord.

The possible permutations and combinations are known to the Lord alone and are beyond mathematical computation.
     This brings us to another very important characteristic of the spiritual, viz., variety, a variety which is the means of all spiritual discernment and discrimination, thus of all separation and distinction of truth into categories. For the spiritual are in truth and look from truth to good, and truth separates, while good conjoins. The charity which distinguishes the spiritual from the natural, and enables them to see truths in spiritual light, is only the good of truth. It is discretely a degree below the good of love to the Lord from the Lord which is characteristic of the celestial, yet it harmonizes all the varieties of truths with the spiritual into something like a rainbow, which is the special sign of the Lord's covenant with them. To Noah the Lord said: "I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth" (Genesis 9:13).
     You may recall what is said in Arcana Coelestia about this: "I have set My bow in the cloud. This signifies the state of the regenerated spiritual man, which is like a rainbow. . . . Spiritual angels, who have all been regenerated men of the spiritual church, when presented to sight as such in the other life, appear with as it were a rainbow about the head. But the rainbows are seen in accordance with their state, and thus from them their quality is known. The reason that the appearance of a rainbow is seen is that their natural things corresponding to their spiritual present such an appearance. It is a modification of spiritual light from the Lord in their natural things. These angels are those who are said to be regenerated 'of water and the spirit,' but the celestial angels are said to be regenerated 'with fire' " (AC 1042).
     How these spiritual rainbows come into existence in regeneration, and are spiritual modifications of natural truths resulting from the influx of charity, is very beautifully described in AC 1043. We cannot read and study all that is said there without appreciating in some measure how great is the variety of truth with the spiritual, from an obscurity in dense clouds of natural fallacies and appearances of truth on the one hand, to the transparent and fairy-like beauty of thin clouds with those who are most innocent on the other, where it is nearly all light and very little cloud, and where the colors are brightest and most perfectly harmonious.
     This variety, even in heaven and the church, is so great with the spiritual that we even read of views being held that are so opposite that those in them describe the other views as not true. So we read in AC 6427: The spiritual kingdom "consists of those who are in the truth of faith, but who make this the truth of life, and thus good; for when the truth of faith is lived it becomes good, and is called the 'good of truth,' but in its essence it is truth in act.

In the Lord's spiritual church the truth of faith is various, for that is said to be truth in one church which in another is said not to be truth, and this according to the doctrine of each; thus it is doctrinal things that are called truths. These truths are what are conjoined with good, and make the good of the spiritual church; and thus its good becomes such as is its truth, for good has its quality from truths. Hence it is evident that the good of the spiritual church is impure; and because it is impure, the spiritual cannot be admitted into heaven except by Divine means. The veriest Divine means was that the Lord came into the world and made the Human in Himself Divine; by this the spiritual were saved. But because the good with them is impure, they must needs be infested by evils and falsities, and thus be in combats; but the Lord provides that by means of these combats the impurity in them may be gradually purified, for the Lord fights for them."
     Again, in no. 3267, this contrasting variety is said to exist also in heaven: "The Lord's spiritual kingdom itself in the heavens is also such, that is, it is various as to those things that are of faith, insomuch that there is not one society, nor even one in a society, who, in those things that are of the truth of faith, is entirely in accord with others as to his ideas. But nevertheless the Lord's spiritual kingdom in the heavens is one; the reason is because all account charity as the principal thing, for charity makes the spiritual church, not faith, unless you say that faith is charity. He who is in charity loves the neighbor, and with regard to his dissenting from him in matters of belief, this he excuses, provided only that he lives in good and truth."
     Reverting in thought to the first part of this paper and comparing it with this, we can see that the natural see truths in a comparatively external and matter of fact way, and therefore without so great variety and without much enlightenment. They are least apt to differ in opinion, but much more apt to be dogmatic when they do differ. The spiritual on the other hand, being aware of their obscurity in relation to the truth itself and the celestial state, and also of a greater enlightenment than that of the natural, are apt to hold widely different points of view and opinions on doctrinal matters, but without being at all upset thereby.

     The enlightenment of the spiritual is the last of the few characteristics we have selected for consideration. They receive this so far as they are in charity; and it comes within them as light from the flame of its love. In Charity no. 210 this light is compared to daylight, in contrast with the moon and star light of the natural. In the promise to Noah about the seasons it was said that "day and night" would not cease.

With each victory in temptation the spiritual man comes further into the light of such a day. His understanding is freshly illuminated. But with each succeeding temptation, there is a reversion as it were to the natural state, and for the time being he is left comparatively in the dark. He has to rely on faith, and hold firm to what then seems mere obedience to command. Yet he may remember that the night also is the Lord's, who provides its moonlight and the stars, and that it will surely be succeeded by day, if he holds firm.
It is in the daylight states of enlightenment that the spiritual make doctrine for themselves from the Word and enter into an understanding of its interior things (AC 9382). Of them it is said: "To those who are being enlightened it is granted by the Lord to understand the truth, and to see how to reconcile those things in the Word that seem to contradict each other" (HD 256). Their affection of understanding truth rather than merely knowing it encourages and impels them to be seeking new truths which can be applied in the life of charity. In this they differ from the natural, who depend largely on first impressions, the merely literal sense of the Word, and "what they hear from a preacher." But the spiritual are always aware that their enlightenment compared with a celestial state is really very obscure, for the fluctuations and temptations they go through have a chastening effect and protect them, by the Lord's merciful provision, from too much of the pride of self-intelligence.

In conclusion we would direct your attention to a paragraph in the True Christian Religion at the beginning of the chapter on Reformation and Regeneration, which brings the natural and spiritual states together, and describes how the one by a process of inversion is turned into the other as regeneration advances. We read there: "There are two states into which a man must enter, and through which he must pass, in order from natural to become spiritual. The first state is called Reformation, and the other Regeneration. In the first, man looks from his natural state towards the spiritual, and desires to attain it; in the second he becomes a spiritual-natural man. The first state is formed try the truths which belong to faith, by which he looks towards charity; the second is formed by the goods of charity, from which he enters into the truths of faith; or what is the same thing, the first is a state of thought from the understanding, the other is a state of love from the will. As the latter state commences, and is advancing, a change takes place in the mind; for then the love of the will flows into the understanding, acts upon it, and leads it to think in accord and agreement with its love; so far as the good of love then acts the first part, and the truths of faith the second, the man is spiritual, and a new creature.

He then acts from charity, and speaks from faith; he sensibly feels the good of charity, and perceives the truth of faith; he is then in the Lord, is in peace, and thus regenerated. A man who, in the world, has entered upon the first state, can after death be introduced into the second; but he who, in the world, has not entered into the first state, cannot be introduced into the second after death, and thus cannot be regenerated" (no. 571).
If any of us should be tempted to despise the natural and introductory states when we are contemplating the beauty and variety of interior and spiritual states, these last words should act as a corrective to our thought. Reformation on the natural level is by all means necessary, and regeneration cannot proceed at any stage without it. Yet the whole purpose of natural discipline is to prepare in the desert a highway for that which is interior and spiritual. So John the Baptist was inspired to declare: "A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. . . . He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:27, 30).
DISTINCTIVE NEW CHURCH SOCIAL LIFE 1955

DISTINCTIVE NEW CHURCH SOCIAL LIFE E. BRUCE GLENN 1955

     (Given at the Assembly Banquet, Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 19, 1954.)

     We are assembled here because we hold one thing in common-one thing that is more important to us, in hours of enlightenment, than all the differences and antagonisms that tend to separate us as individual human beings. That thing is faith-faith that in the Writings the Lord has given to men a new vision of life and its ends. These ends, enunciated as the laws of His providence, are spiritual and eternal. They are in sharp contrast and in vital conflict with the perverse ends of the human will. If this were not so there would be no need for a new revelation. And if, additionally, these false human ends were not dominant in the Christian Church, there would be no need for a New Church distinct from the former. But men have willed otherwise. The need for a New Church, founded on a new revelation and dedicated to a new vision of the Lord's ends among men, is abundantly evident, both in the Writings and from experience.
     Whether the General Church fulfills this need we cannot know. For the Lord's New Church is a spiritual kingdom of uses; and the General Church is a temporal organization of men and women. The only connection between the two is the body of Divine doctrine we call the Writings. And the only way in which the temporal organization can become a foundation for the spiritual kingdom is by life according to the doctrine.

Such a way of life we in the General Church have come to call "distinctive."
     This distinctive way of life is not merely a human device, adopted by the church as a means to protect us in our numerical weakness. It is true that such protection is necessary in the furtherance of our uses; and we have gathered ourselves as a church into little islands separated from the world around us. Sometimes these islands must be single homes. Where possible we have enlarged them into communities that we call societies, and here we have established a life centered about the uses and friendships of the church. This social life is the ultimate manifestation of our common faith; and we rejoice together that this year, for the first time in decades, a new society of the church has flowered.
     Such ultimates, however, do not in themselves bring about a new way of life. Social life shared exclusively among men and women of the church does not by that fact alone become distinctive New Church social life, any more than membership in the church guarantees eventual regeneration, or marriage within the church insures the reception of conjugial love. For it is not knowledge of doctrine that makes the church; it is life according to that knowledge.
     Nor is life according to our doctrine very different in outward appearance from the life of orderly homes and communities in the world around us. If distinctiveness does not reside in the fact of exclusiveness, neither is it to be found in external forms and customs that set us apart as a sectarian group of religious devotees. The church does not prescribe what we shall eat and drink, what clothes we shall wear, in what social pastimes we may indulge. Our faith does not demand that we deprive ourselves of those pleasures that the culture about us finds useful and delightful. The monastic hair shirt is not for the New Church man. Swedenborg wrote in Heaven and Hell: "I have spoken with some after their death who, while they lived in the world, renounced the world and gave themselves up to an almost solitary life, that by the abstraction of their thoughts from worldly things they might be at leisure for pious meditation, believing that they would thus enter the way of heaven. But these in the other life are of a sorrowful temper, and despise others who are not like themselves. . . . Man cannot be formed for heaven but by means of the world; the ultimate effects are there in which the affection of everyone must be terminated; and unless this affection exerts itself, or pours itself forth into acts-which is done in the society of many-it is suffocated at length to such a degree that man no longer regards his neighbor, but himself alone" (HH 360).
     "Man cannot be formed for heaven but by means of the world."

The Writings teach us that just as the love of self is essential to man's preservation, so the love of the world, placed under the guidance of use, is not an evil but a good affection. The qualities of this love are described in the following passage from True Christian Religion: "The love of the world desires not only riches and property but also everything that delights the bodily senses; as beauty to please the eye, harmony the ear, fragrance the smell, softness the skin, delicacies the tongue; also becoming dress, convenient dwellings, and pleasant society" (TCR 394).
     Which of these delights do we condemn! None, unless abused. Indeed, we are sharing in every one of them this evening.
     And so we often find ourselves at a loss to explain our distinctiveness, to picture our new way of life to those who come briefly into our midst as visitors. To them our situation must at times appear paradoxical, in that we seem both religiously exclusive and worldly. A number of years ago this church was characterized in a U. S. national magazine as "wealthy, clannish, and sophisticated." The phrase sounds distressingly irreligious. It reminds me of the creed proposed by a seventeenth-century English lord: "to be a gentleman, and to believe that God is a gentleman who would hardly send one to hell for a few gentlemanly sins."
     Yet we cannot dismiss this impression of our social life as a laughable error. For it may be true-at any moment, among any group of New Church men and women. In our marriages and homes, in our conversations and festivities, in our social groups and organizations, we may too easily be participating exclusively among ourselves in the delights of the world for their own sake, and not for the sake of the church and its uses. For although by its nature social life takes place in the sphere of delights from the senses and the world, nonetheless, in our efforts to establish a distinctly new way of life the world is our great enemy.
     There is real danger in the fact that we may not recognize this enemy when it is in our midst. We ourselves may fall too easily into the false notions of our distinctiveness entertained by those around us, and accept the external appearance for the inward reality. The essence of distinctiveness is not external but internal. And if we allow our distinctiveness to be dissipated or destroyed, it will not be by attack from without but by inward neglect of the essential.
     It is not the world around us that is our enemy; it is the world in our hearts. Herein lies the abiding danger of companionship entirely within the church, that by such an external arrangement of our life we are lulled into the false belief that we have shut the world out. We have done no such thing; just as the kingdom of heaven is within us, so is that of the prince of this world.
     And it is in our social life-our hours of recreation-that the prince of this world may most easily make us his subjects.

In our occupational uses we are governed by necessity or, preferably, the love of the work. And in the other two realms of distinctiveness to be considered this evening, education and religion, there is a definite formulation of modes and practices drawn from the doctrine, by which those realms are ordered. Education is systematized, and religion is organized in the form of church government, both by the priesthood, from the authority of the Writings. But social life is free, and to a broad extent individual. When it is organized, it is usually by lay initiament. Our social activities, from after-dinner conversations to formal dances and banquets, are conducted more freely and spontaneously than anything else we do together as men and women of the church. Our social forms are for the most part derived from the culture about us. They have not the distinctiveness as forms that our curricula and our ritual have, both of which mark us as different not only from the secular world but from other religious bodies as well.
     There was a time when outward form more readily distinguished our social life from that of the world. I heard in my childhood of the practice of gathering in homes for the informal singing of the Psalms; but it was a dying custom then. More recently, the New Year celebration in Bryn Athyn, for instance, was marked by a pause at the height of the festivities for a short commemorative talk by the pastor. That too has been discontinued; and our recognition of the New Year as a church has been relegated to a religious service late the morning after. The moment of the new beginning we spend in making noises which, while unearthly, are also worldly.
     These are two instances among many that might be cited as indications of a decline from distinctive social life in the church. I do not call it a decline; first, because that would be a judgment which my own state and experience forbid me to make; and second, because these are, after all, external forms, and the essence of distinctiveness is internal.
     External freedom from legislation is the very heart of social recreation. But if in our activities we allow conformity to the world's customs to lull us into complacency, then we are the world's. External freedom demands internal responsibility, the vigilant awareness of state and motive that only the truth can bring. For here, as everywhere in life, it is the truth alone that can make us free-free, in this instance, from domination by the world.
     Thus external freedom brings danger from without. The great enemy which is the world within us has a potent ally in the world about us. If we would keep free inwardly in our social life, if we would keep the world within us subdued to the ends for which we live distinctively, we must keep out the formidable forces that strive to weaken us-those manifestations of natural loves which rise in the surrounding darkness and beat each moment against our islands.

Promiscuous love of the sex, evidenced everywhere in the world of entertainment and the press, vanity and emulation as set forth by the sellers of the world's wares, scorn and envy, idleness-these are a few among many too numerous to mention and too familiar to dwell upon. The causeway over which they may enter our midst is conformity, the desire to fit into the sphere of the society in which we are placed. If by conformity we mean acceptance of the forms of culture, it is not in itself harmful; but if together with the form we accept the purpose and motive, we are accepting the world on its terms, not on ours, and our battle to attain to a distinctive way of life will be lost.
     For this reason there is real meaning and strength in the externals of our distinctiveness, that by a common sphere of companionship with those of our own faith we may more surely keep the citadel. But companionship of numbers will not do it; the only thing that can is the living truth. Acceptance of the truth brings necessary acknowledgment of the uses for which the truth was given. Acceptance of the Writings requires religious amendment of life; it requires educational formation of the mind for the sake of that amendment. And no less does it require of our social life a like dedication to the Divine purposes of the church. It is this dedication, individual and interior, that is the inward essence of social distinctiveness.
     In social terms this dedication to Divine ends means that our social life must be for the sake of uses, not for its own sake. If it is for its own sake, it is for the sake of the world. If it is for the sake of the world, its end and purpose is pleasure-delight for delight's sake, and not for use. This is the sweetly powerful persuasion of the world within us. It denies the eternal for the sake of the moment; it rejects the spirit in favor of the flesh.
     In so far as we allow this to happen in our social life, to that extent, and in this important phase of our life, we are merely members of the General Church, standing outside that kingdom of spiritual uses which is the living church. It is the presence of the Lord Himself, in His ends, that can make us New Church men and women.
     And how is the Lord present with us? The answer is given simply and finally in the Arcana: "The Lord's presence with man is in good." The same passage concludes: "The quality of the good is according to the state of innocence, of love, and of charity, in which the truths of faith have been implanted or can be implanted" (AC 2915).
     What, then, is the good by which the Lord's presence can make our social life distinctive?

It is a state of innocence, of love, and of charity-that is, a willingness to be led by Him in all the things we do together, and from this a growing love for His church expressed in charity to each other. Charity is the heart of friendship-"thou shalt love they neighbor as thyself"-and true friendship with the neighbor looks to mutual uses for its delight.
Our social relations must of necessity endure the strain of selfishness at times, as well as worldliness. Yet so far as love of self prevails in our hearts, our social life will be an external polish of politeness, no different from the tawdry shows of an irreligious world. Modern man is peculiarly fond of speaking of his culture as a thin veneer for the sake of expediency, beneath which restlessly crouches the beast from which he has evolved. Such a culture tries to socialize man by human argument and cajolery. Civilization today regards itself as a clearing in the jungle, where those seeking a better way of life have banded together and lit the fire of mutual self-preservation, fed by fear, to keep the lurking terror away. The New Church is not such a civilization. For we have not really gathered ourselves together at all. It is the Lord who, if we will, brings us into a society, not for the sake of preservation from destruction, but for the benefits of His omnipotent love. Our distinctiveness is not really distinctiveness from-it- is distinctiveness for-not from the world and its false ways, but for the eternal uses of heaven. The Lord's love is the fire at our social hearth, and its light reveals His presence among us. For it is surely true in the social sphere of our homes and societies, as well as in our worship and study, that where two or three are gathered together in His name, there also will He be in the midst of them.
LORD'S PRESENCE WITH MAN 1955

LORD'S PRESENCE WITH MAN 1955

"The Lord's presence with man is in good, and therefore in what is just and equitable, and further in what is honorable and becoming-what is honorable being the complex of all the moral virtues, and what is becoming being simply its form; for these are goods which succeed in order, and are the planes in man on which conscience is founded by the Lord, and consequently intelligence and wisdom. But with those who are not in these goods, that is to say, from the heart or affection, nothing of heaven can be inseminated; for there is no plane or ground, thus there is no recipient; and as nothing of heaven can be inseminated, neither can the Lord be present there. The Lord's presence is predicated according to the good; the quality of the good is according to the state of innocence, of love, and of charity in which the truths of faith have been implanted or can be implanted" (AC 2915).

ORIGIN OF VARIETY 1955

ORIGIN OF VARIETY Rev. ALFRED ACTON 1955

     All New Church men are familiar with the doctrine that influx is according to reception. The influx of life is from God; variety commences with the reception of that influx. There is no variety in the influx, for variety involves differentiation, and this involves finition and space. This is involved in the teaching that in God infinite things are distinctly one (DLW 17). In the created universe, these infinite things which in God are one become finitely manifested in the indefinite and never ceasing variety of finite nature.
     The illustration most frequently used in the Writings in teaching that influx is according to reception is the light and heat of the sun. These are one, and as one they flow into the things on earth; but in these things their presence is manifested as indefinite variety according to the nature
of that which receives them-the rose and the thistle, the meadow and the swamp. So with the influx into man of the love and wisdom of God: that influx is ever the same, but it is manifested as the indefinite things of heaven or of hell, according to the form of the minds that receive or pervert it. In addition, the Arcana Coelestia no. 7343:2 gives a further illustration: "It can also be illustrated by the engrafting of branches on trees. The branch engrafted on the common stem bears its own fruit. Therefore, as soon as the tree's sap flows into the engrafted branch, it is varied and becomes the sap of the branch, fit for the production of that branch's leaves and fruits."
     But the question arises: "What, then, produces variety in the forms receiving the influx of life?" It cannot be nature, for in itself nature is dead. Nor can it be a variety of influxes, this being opposed to the doctrine that influx is according to reception; for if varying influxes of life produce various forms of reception, it cannot be said that influx is according to reception, but rather that reception is according to influx. It is true that God produces variety, for the universe was created that variety might exist, especially that variety of angelic minds which images in the Gorand Man the infinite things which are one in God; but it is also true that there can be no variety in the influx of life.
     The explanation of this apparent contradiction is involved in a universal doctrine which is called "an arcanum of angelic wisdom"-the doctrine, namely, that "the Lord acts from inmosts and from ultimates simultaneously" (DP 124).

With man, He acts from inmosts by influx into the soul, and from ultimates by the influx of air into the lungs whereby the senses are opened and man becomes a living soul (Genesis 2:7); for air is "the last sphere of the Divine Proceeding" (Ath. 191).
     Influx into the soul alone will produce not a man but an automaton, as seen in the fetus in the womb; while influx into the lungs alone would impart no life. The Lord's influx into the soul gives man the ability to perceive, understand, and choose, but it does not give him the actual use of this ability; this is given only in influx from ultimates, the influx of air into the lungs whereby proprial sensation is effected. This is necessary for the existence of a living human body. For the existence of a human mind, the influx from ultimates is effected by means of revelation clothed in words that are comprehensible to the senses.
     In man, the result of sensation, whether it be the sensation of material objects or of the words of revelation, is variety in reaction; for men sensate things differently. Without sensation there can be no variety even though life still flows into the soul-as seen in coma. In man, therefore, variety is the direct result of influx from ultimates. This is plainly seen in the case of Divine revelation; for revelation makes possible a variety of the states of those organic vessels that receive it, and life from the soul is received according to the nature of these states. Without revelation, spiritual variety would be an impossibility. Yet without variety of reception there could be no angelic heaven reflecting in indefinite facets the infinite things which in God-Man are one. Divine revelation in its operation on man-whether he receive it or sin against it-is called the Holy Spirit.
     Now the law of Divine operation is the same in greatests and in leasts. In nature, as in man, no forms of use, that is, no varieties in the reception of life-by which alone the Divine of use (DLW 296) can be manifested in the indefinite forms of uses in nature-can exist save by the influx of life from inmosts and from ultimates simultaneously. Inmostly in primitive matter was the Divine Proceeding wherein all things are infinitely one. "The atmospheres which are three in both worlds came to an end in substances and matters such as are on earth" (DLW 302), and these substances and matters "from the atmospheres from which they arose, retain in themselves the effort and conatus to the production of uses" (DLW 303). But this effort and conatus could effect nothing unless there were also an influx of the Divine from ultimates. Therefore, "in order that the work of creation may be completed and finished, the sun of the natural world was created" (DLW 290). "Without two suns, the one living and the other dead, there is no creation" (DLW 163).

     The spiritual conatus, which from the Divine Proceeding was inmostly contained in primitive matter, lay deeply imprisoned therein and could effect nothing unless there were a force from without which would open the prison gates. This force came from the natural sun. By its heat and light, this sun operated on primitive matter from without. And not only by direct action, but also by releasing the chemical forces inherent in creation, they induced on matter varied states wherein intrinsic life or conatus could manifest itself as the lowest organic forms of use. By their uses, these in turn could furnish new and more subtle forms of matter whereby higher forms of uses could be created, even up to man (see DLW 65); for the life within has but one end, the creation of man, and from man heaven, and this end it pursues step by step according as the vessels for its reception are perfected.*
     * Swedenborg seems to have had this in mind when, in the Worship and Love of God no. 15, he wrote: "This virgin and new-born earth now represented a new egg, but an egg laden, with many little eggs or seeds of its future triple kingdom, the mineral, vegetable, and animal. These seeds or beginnings, being as yet unseparated, lay in their rudiments, one enfolded in the other-the vegetable kingdom in the mineral kingdom, which was to be its womb, and the animal kingdom in the vegetable kingdom, which was to serve it as nurse or nourisher; for, from their coverings, the several kingdoms were afterwards to come forth distinctly."
     Thus, as Divine revelation comes to man and brings him new and varied states in accordance with which the love and wisdom of the soul are finitely manifested as charity and faith, so the sun of the world causes new states in the matters and substances of the earth, and in accordance with these states, the conatus concealed within can manifest itself as varying forms of use. And as the operation of Divine revelation on the human mind is the operation of the Holy Spirit, so the operation of the sun on the world is the ultimate operation of that same Spirit.
     The truth that inner conatus can do nothing save as receptive vessels are prepared by an outer force, can be illustrated in many ways. The conatus within vegetable seed can do nothing unless it is planted in the ground and receives the light and heat of the sun whereby states, being changed, are fitted to receive and manifest the Divine conatus within. In the absence of the sun, the countless seed of the world could produce nothing. "What is dead, that is, the natural, can be perverted or changed in many ways by external accidents, yet it cannot act upon life; but life acts upon it according to the change of form that has been induced" (DLW 166). It is the same in regard to the human mind. The inner genius of a musician or poet could never manifest itself in the absence of education from without. The desire to fly has been in man's mind for centuries, yet it could not come to fruition until very special knowledges were acquired from without.
     But while the sun of the world effects variations of form, it does not do this from itself but from the spiritual sun.

Of itself, the sun of the natural world is dead. So also is the letter of revelation. But, as the latter is the means by which the Lord forms man's mind, so the former is the means by which the Lord forms matter. "The activity* of the natural sun is not from itself but from the living force preceding from the spiritual sun" (DLW 157). "The heat and light and atmospheres of the natural world contribute nothing whatever to the image of creation, but only the heat, light and atmospheres of the sun of the spiritual world. The heat, light and atmospheres of the natural world merely open seeds, hold the productions thereof in their expansion, and induce on them matters which fix them; and this, not by means of forces from its own sun, which, regarded in themselves are no forces, but by means of forces from the spiritual sun by which they are perpetually activated to the doing of these things" (DLW 315).
* The Latin text is actualitas, but it seems clear that this is a misprint for activities.
It may be thought that the operations of the natural sun are purely mechanical; that like the car of Juggernaut, that sun operates without regard to the results of that operation. But none of the activities imposed on the created universe by the Creator, none of the chemical laws, the operations of which are released by the heat and light of the sun, are purely mechanical. The sun of the natural world is, as it were, the hand of the Lord operating in ultimate nature to effect the end designed by Divine love and wisdom-the creation of a human race and an angelic heaven. All the operations in nature are contributions to this end. In the work of creation, they are the means in the Lord's hands for the formation of vessels for the reception of this end in ever greater perfection, until the work is crowned by the creation of man. And when the work is thus crowned, they are the means by which that work may subsist. Hence the operations of the Lord from without not only formed created matter into vessels receptive of the Divine life, present and urgent within; but at every stage of the progress, these vessels were created with seeds in themselves whereby they may be propagated; that is, vessels, male and female, were formed; for without such vessels there could be no propagation and thus no representation of the infinite things that in God-Man are one. Moreover, the means by which receptive vessels are formed and varied, must also be the means whereby male and female receptacles are formed. There cannot be one law operating in the former case and another in the latter.

We may not understand in detail the process by which the Lord created the world from its first beginnings even to man, but we can clearly understand that the work of creation could not have been accomplished save by influx from within and from ultimates simultaneously. Such is the process by which spiritual creation or re-creation, that is, regeneration, is effected. In that work, the Lord is present from within in man's soul, and by revelation from without He fashions the organic vessels of his mind that they may receive the gifts of the Lord, and make them manifest. Even as the potter fashions the clay that it may fitly portray the purpose in his mind, so the Lord fashions created matter that it may fitly set forth His glory. "We are the clay and Thou our potter" (Isaiah 64:8).
To sum up: Changes and variations of state are produced by the Lord acting from without-in nature by means of the sun of the world, and in men by means of revelation. This is involved in the True Christian Religion no. 392, where comparison is made between earthly growth and spiritual. "Since the truth of faith is spiritual light, and the good of charity is spiritual heat, it follows that it is the same with these two as it is with the two of the same name in the natural world, to wit, as from the conjunction of the latter flourish all things upon the earth, so likewise from the conjunction of the former flourish all things in the human mind."
FIRST WESTERN DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1955

FIRST WESTERN DISTRICT ASSEMBLY WALTER A. CRANCH 1955

     GLENDALE, JULY 30-AUGUST 1, 1954

     After months of increased activity preparing for and anticipating the arrival of our First or Pioneer Western District Assembly, it finally became an inspiring reality during the period from July 30 through August 1, 1954, with Bishop De Charms presiding.
     This was a truly important step in the progress of the General Church, and a most momentous occasion, particularly for those members of the Church living in the Western States. As their numbers increased they looked forward to closer integration with the general body, and to fuller cooperation in the accomplishment and development of its many uses throughout the world. The primary purpose of this Assembly was the physical as well as the spiritual organization of the Western District into such a unit as to make this possible.
     As a natural consequence of organization, the theme of the banquet speeches was the challenges and opportunities for building the church in the West with the isolated families, groups and circles. As a preliminary to organization, Bishop De Charms very appropriately chose as the subject of his Episcopal address at the opening of the Assembly "The Growth of the Church"; calling attention to the fact that all growth is from the Lord, and showing the relationship and correspondence existing between growth in the world of nature from seed in the soil and the growth of the church in the minds of men from the seed of Divine truth, which is the revealed Word as it exists in the Old and New Testaments and in the Theological Writings given through Swedenborg as the servant of the Lord.

     The meetings on Saturday were devoted first to the adoption of a constitution and by-laws for the Western District Society, to become effective as of April first to enable all in the District who desire to sign the roll prior to that date to become charter members. This was followed by appointment and confirmation of officers to serve until the first general meeting of the society under the new constitution and by-laws.
     After lunch the third session was opened with a comprehensive address by the Pastor on the principles and uses of church support. Mr. Charles Robbins, the Treasurer, then gave us some down to earth statements along with very graphic figures illustrating the many problems and needs of the District from the financial angle, with some definite suggestions as to how those problems could be overcome and the needs met; at the same time giving a brief financial report of the conditions now existing.
     Mr. Edward Davis, as Editor of our magazine NEW CHURCH PROGRESS IN THE WESTERN STATES, more familiarly known as the "Progress," gave us a brief but illuminating report on its origin and development, its circulation, cost and usefulness not only to our members in the West, but to the church in pretty much all parts of the world. The subscription price is one dollar a year, but the actual cost has been nearly three times the amount received in subscriptions.
     The Pastor, Rev. Harold C. Cranch, then addressed the Assembly with regard to the problems of balancing time, mileage and expense in equitably scheduling pastoral visits throughout the District, suggesting ways by which, with close cooperation through the District, it may be served with more efficient ministrations than have been possible thus far.
     We then heard a tape recording by Mr. Norman Synnestvedt concerning the work of the Sons of the Academy and the uses of the Sons BULLETIN. Incidentally, just prior to that, during the noon recess, the men present at the Assembly gathered for a brief meeting for the purpose of taking the necessary steps towards applying for and obtaining a charter from the International Sons of the Academy for a chapter of the Western District.
     All things considered, including the lengthy mileage that had to be traveled by many of the participants, the attendance of approximately 135 was impressive and most heartening evidence of the desire and determination to make a success of the establishment of the church in the west. Those who were fortunate enough to be able to attend the meetings and to join in the social life, came to understand and realize the value of such assemblies to the growth of the church both in the individual, and as a means of increasing its over-all membership and well-being.

     The reading at the banquet of the several messages of encouragement and good will, received from our many friends throughout the church, served to emphasize the fact that we are not alone in our efforts. These greetings were enthusiastically received from the British Assembly, the Detroit Society, the Carmel Church in Kitchener, the Sharon Church in Chicago, the Immanuel Church in Glenview, the Fort Worth Circle, the Glenn Tonche Circle, Dr. John Doering of Fort Meade, South Dakota, the Mullers and W. T. Caldwell of San Francisco, the Mellmans from Portland; also from Rev. Frederick E. Gyllenhaal, Rev. and Mrs. Karl Alden, Mrs. Helen Boggess, Mr. and Mrs. Guy Alden, Mr. Hubert Junge, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. H. Alden, Rev. and Mrs. Gilbert Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Siegfried Synnestvedt, Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Smith, and many other greetings given by our Pastor, Rev. Harold Cranch, from other interested friends.
     The presence of Bishop and Mrs. De Charms added greatly to the success of this first Assembly, which has inspired us all. We hope it is but the first of many more to follow.
     WALTER A. CRANCH, Secretary.
EPISCOPAL VISIT 1955

EPISCOPAL VISIT 1955

The Assistant Bishop of the General Church, the Right Reverend Willard D. Pendleton, will make an Episcopal Visit to the Hurstville Society in Australia this spring, and by invitation will also visit the New Church Society in Auckland, New Zealand. The journey will be made by air, and Bishop Pendleton expects to leave Bryn Athyn in the middle of March and to be away for about six weeks. It is hoped to make brief visits en route to the Los Angeles Circle and the San Francisco Group.

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1955

     A change of subject-matter occurs early in our Old Testament readings (Ezekiel 32:1-47:12). A lamentation over the fall of Egypt is followed by the inspired teaching that the son shall not die for the sin of the father, but each shall live by his own repentance or die by his own guilt-a denial of both original sin and the vicarious atonement. Jerusalem was laid waste in 588 B.C. Thereafter the prophet pictures Israel, even as was shown to him in vision, as a valley of dry bones, which the Spirit of God clothed with flesh and vivified.
     Then, in a final vision, Ezekiel is translated in spirit to a high mountain, where an angel measures the walls and courts of the new temple. Ezekiel's last vision parallels in general that of John, to which it was prerequisite. For example, a wonderful river of curative water, flanked by trees for food and for medicine, flows out from the sanctuary. But in the elaborate description, detailed levitical laws, minute sacrificial provisions, and precise tribal boundaries there are notable differences; and the greatest of these is that whereas Ezekiel describes a temple, John pictures a city in which there is no temple since the Divine Human is the temple thereof. In general, each vision describes the spiritual church, but that of John the internal spiritual church which could be established only after the Second Coming.
     Ezekiel may well have regarded this vision as prophesying the restoration of the priestly hierarchy; and now that the destruction of Jerusalem was complete, it no doubt aroused hopes of attainment through repentance to glory in a renovated land with a restored temple and city. But Ezekiel's temple could not be built on earth. The vision was not to console in this way, but to describe the future spiritual church.

     In the Arcana readings (nos. 10267-10370:1) the exposition of Exodus is brought down to chapter 31, which treats of the setting up of a representative church and of the Lord's conjunction with it, and there are doctrinal inserts on the third earth and on the Word. Of particular importance in the latter is the clear teaching that the Word is the only source of knowledge of Divine and spiritual things-a warning against the concepts of natural theology, the inner light, and immediate revelation-and the statement, in no. 10325, of the New Church canon of the Word. The criterion of canonicity should be well noted.

THINGS NEW AND OLD 1955

THINGS NEW AND OLD Editor 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
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THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

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     Swedenborg's status as a man of two worlds conferred upon him exceptional privileges. Not the least rare of these is to be seen in the fact that, as well as what the Lord revealed through him, the wisdom of the angels was continually open to him as though he were one of them; while at the same time, as a man learned in science and philosophy, he could look back into the fields of knowledge he had cultivated and apply to them the universal laws of angelic wisdom. From the light of that wisdom he could see the essential truths in those fields, and draw from them illustrations of Divine laws. Not only this, but he was also in the unique position of being able to do that which was beyond the capacity of any angel, to compare the spiritual and the natural worlds with one another. Thus we find him instructing the angels in the order of creation, the differences between the two worlds, and their relations.
     We may see Swedenborg, then, as a striking example of the scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven who "bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old." The treasure is, of course, the Word, and things new and old are, respectively, the truths of the internal and the literal senses. But there is reference also to the Word and nature as the two foundations of truth; to the ability to see spiritual truth in the Word, and from that to see truth in nature. Swedenborg evidently possessed that ability to an unusual degree; and it is at once the genius and the destiny of the church founded upon the Writings to develop such scribes, especially through distinctive education-men and women whose rational minds are stores of spiritual and natural truths.

SPEECH WITH GOD 1955

SPEECH WITH GOD Editor 1955

     Recently we have been reflecting on the statement of the Writings that "prayer, regarded in itself, is speech with God, and some internal view at the time of the matters of the prayer" (AC 2535). The teaching continues that to this there answers something like an influx into the thought, according to the state and to the essence of the prayer, so that the interiors of the mind are opened toward God; and that if man prays only from love and faith, and only for spiritual things, there comes forth something like a revelation which is manifested in the affection as to hope, consolation, or a certain internal joy.
     Prayer is speech with God. How often do we not find it of inestimable value to talk over with an intelligent and sympathetic listener the problems and projects with which we are engaged. For in the very act of talking our thought is clarified; obscurities are resolved, fresh insights are gained, new ideas are generated, the plan and the approach become clearer. The will also benefits. For as the discussion advances, the affection of completing the project or solving the problem is quickened, our previous failures are brought into proper perspective, courage to face obstacles is increased, the hope of success is renewed and is supported by a feeling of confidence, and there is even a feeling of joy as though the task had been completed arising from the fact that it is seen as finished. Thus we take from the discussion a volition to action for which we are better equipped; a determination and resolve that will be of the greatest assistance if we act at once, and if we have brought to the discussion both thought and effort in the past.
     This, we believe, illustrates very simply the true function of prayer. Prayer is not for the purpose of altering the will of God or making an immediate change in man's circumstances. Neither is it a means of tapping some vast reservoir of power. But if man prays from faith and love, and for spiritual things, then, even as he prays, his thought is enlightened and perceptive insight is given, his affection for spiritual life is quickened, consolation for past failures is felt, hope of final victory is kindled, courage and confidence to face future temptation are strengthened, and there is even an inward joy and peace arising from a foretaste of the heavenly life he seeks. And when man has thus received in prayer, he can go back to the struggle of regeneration with fresh determination and assurance-determination to persevere in fighting as if of himself, assurance that as he does so the Lord will give him the victory. This is the true function of prayer, and this is speech with God; a communion in which the mind is opened to the Lord and man is given a clearer insight, a renewed affection, and a stronger will toward heaven.

CHURCH EXTENSION 1955

CHURCH EXTENSION Editor 1955

     It is a matter of record that the general bodies of the New Church differ in the historical positions they have taken with regard to church extension. Whatever views may be held about the state of the Christian Church and the relation of the New Church to it, and these vary considerably, the General Convention and the General Conference have directed their efforts principally toward the recognized forms of missionary work. The program of the General Church, on the other hand, has been determined by its conviction that the most fruitful field of evangelization is with the children of the church. All three bodies have in common, of course, the use of publishing and disseminating the Writings, and from time to time they cooperate in its performance. There have been Convention and Conference schools in the past, and systematic missionary work has been undertaken by the General Church; but the main difference in emphasis, in the idea of what is most important, and in effort, is so clear as to be beyond dispute.
     However, this can easily lead to overemphases that result in distortions of the truth. New Church education has been criticized on the ground of exclusiveness and the evils attendant thereon; and it is possible that some members of the General Church have difficulty in taking an unprejudiced view of missionary work-that there is even the tacit thought that to advocate such work would be an act of disloyalty to the concept of New Church education. But this would be a mistaken view. The General Church neither should nor would wish to engage in missionary work at the expense of its educational program, and at no time can a church spread its manpower too thin without all its uses suffering. Yet it is not, and never has been, our conviction that our children are the only field of evangelization, but that they are the most fruitful field. That there are other fields is taught in the Writings and has been shown by experience in the number of adults who have entered the New Church.
     The fact is that missionary work and education do not constitute an either-or proposition. Both are forms of external evangelization, of the work of bringing into the church those who are at the threshold or who can be attracted to it; and the only question can be as to the place of each in relation to the other and to the rest of the uses of the church. The conviction is growing upon us, however, that missionary work is no more to be undertaken lightly and haphazardly than is the work of education; that the same patient, thorough and systematic study, must be made in preparation for it. The principles of missionary work are undoubtedly given in the Writings; and as they are gathered and organized, and their application seen, we may enter effectively into those other fields.

LORD'S PRAYER 1955

LORD'S PRAYER G. A. DE C. DE MOUBRAY 1955

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     I have been very interested to read the elucidation of the passage in the Lord's Prayer, "deliver us from evil," in your September issue.
     There seems to me, however, a yet deeper meaning than that given by the Rev. F. E. Waelchli, which can only be approached through the original Greek. The Greek for "deliver us" is rhusai hemas. In the Authorized Version it is quite properly translated "deliver us." But the verb rhuomai only comes to mean "deliver" through its basic meaning: "draw to one's self"; hence "draw out of harm's way, rescue, deliver."
     As, in this prayer as a whole, we are praying to the Lord, it follows that in this petition we pray to Him to draw us to Himself-into conjunction with Himself-into a conjunction which can only be effected by love. And we pray that He will draw us to Himself out of the evil of self-love in our hearts, personified as ho poneros, "the evil one" out of evil love into the supreme love of which we are capable.
     And so, whereas in its more superficial sense the Lord's Prayer is a prayer for the spiritual church, in this deeper sense it is the prayer of the celestial church-of the crown of the churches. The prayer is determined as to its general meaning by the opening address to the Lord as our Father, and therefore to Him in His infinite love for humanity, and by the closing petition in which we pray to be lifted out of our self-love and drawn into response to His infinite love.
     It seems to me that the New Church is now reaching a stage where it can with profit begin to dwell on this deeper layer of meaning in its approach to the Lord through prayer.
      G. A. DE C. DE MOUBRAY
Maison du Douet,
St. Lawrence,
Jersey, Channel Islands
USE AND PLEASURE 1955

USE AND PLEASURE 1955

"With regard to use: those who are in charity, that is, in love to the neighbor, from which is the delight in pleasures that is alive, pay no regard to the enjoyments of pleasures except on account of the use. For there is no charity apart from works of charity; it is in its practice or use that charity consists. He who loves the neighbor as himself perceives no delight in charity except in its exercise or in use; and therefore a life of charity is a life of uses" (AC 997).

Church News 1955

Church News Various 1955

     STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

     One of the Rev. Erik Sandstrom's long cherished plans was carried out last summer when a young people's camp was organized for the first time. The camp site was on a farm owned by the parents of Mr. Lennart Alfelt and situated in the province of Sodermanland, about two hours journey from the capital. Sleeping, cooking, and dining tents were pitched. Mr. Sandstrom, as leader, was assisted by his host, and by Mrs. Bergren who acted as housemother, and Miss Telsa Hansen of Copenhagen who took care of the girls' tent.
     Fourteen young people from Denmark, Norway, and various parts of Sweden came to the camp at the end of June for a stay of two weeks duration. Every day there was a gathering for an hour of religious instruction, followed by discussion of the matters that had been taught. The rest of the time was used mostly for sports, swimming, excursions, and entertainments. Open-air services were held on both Sundays, and on those occasions visitors from Jonkoping and
Stockholm were present. As the camp proved a great success we hope that it will be repeated next year. The young people enjoyed getting together and forming ties of friendship; and it is hoped that this camp may work for the future strengthening of the New Church in Scandinavia.
     Arrangements were made in the fall for three children's services. On three other Sundays, children under ten years of age were invited to attend the first part of the adult service, after which they were to gather in a special room and color Bible pictures under the supervision of parents who had promised to take turns. Older children are meeting with Pastor Sandstrom in different homes for religious instruction.
     Doctrinal classes are given every two weeks in Gustavsvikshemmet, a hall specially rented for that purpose. In addition, older members of the Society meet twice a month in one another's homes to study the work Divine Providence. It should be mentioned also that a choir has been started. Those who can sing are supposed to practice once a month with our organist, Mr. Rydvall, who is very much interested in improving our singing in church.
     On the last Sunday of October, Founders Day was celebrated at the restaurant in which we usually meet for socials. After refreshments, a small group of children sang two songs and Mr. Rydvall played some music. Two speeches were given. The undersigned told of the delightful experiences she had had during her visit to England for the British Assembly at Colchester in the company of Mr. Sandstrom, his daughter Mary, and another member of the Society. After the Assembly we stayed on in London for some time and attended a service at which Mr. Sandstrom preached. It was then Captain Loven's turn to describe his stay in Bryn Athyn during the General Assembly. Both he and his wife were enthusiastic about the wonderful time they had spent there, and we were interested in hearing the impressions that large meetings had made upon them. Captain Loven particularly enjoyed seeing many friends made when he attended school in Bryn Athyn about thirty years ago. He still seems a rather young man, but, then, time flies quickly!
     SENTA CENTERVALL

     CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

     Since our last report we have lost a very valuable member by the passing into the spiritual world of Mrs. Mary Barbour Blair. Although she was over eighty she traveled extensively, but she never removed her interest from the activities of Sharon Church and she attended regularly when she was at home.
     Several of us were fortunate enough to attend the General Assembly and we regretted very much that illness prevented our pastor from being there. On Sunday, June 20th, our service was held in the evening. This correspondent had attended church in Philadelphia that morning, but got back in time to attend the service here.

It was a Holy Supper service, and although the night was hot and sultry, all who came must have felt that their attendance was more than worth the effort.
     The following Sunday we all got into cars after church and went out to the home of Mrs. John Anderson and Irving Anderson near Lake Zurich. It is beautiful spot and was an ideal place for the children to have their annual picnic. The Andersons are noted for their hospitality and good cooking, and this, together with perfect weather made a combination that blended into a memory we can enjoy for a long time.
     From the many changes that have been made in living quarters in the last few months one might think that Chicago inspired restlessness. Mrs. John Anderson and Irving moved to Forest Lake; the Harold Andersons went to Palatine; Mrs. Bergman came back to Chicago; the John Caldwells, after couple of moves, settled into home they had bought in South Chicago; the Cronwalls went to Skokie and then returned to Chicago; the William Hugo family moved nearer to the church; and Mrs. Grenman and the writer also moved nearer to the church, but were unable to be together. Saddest of all for us, however, was the removal of the Victor Gladish family to Glenview. For our little group this was quite a large percentage of changes.
     In June also we had a shower for Mrs. Louis King, and she was really surprised. On August 17th the reason for the shower arrived-a lovely baby girl. We have so few young couples that the arrival of a new baby is always an especially happy event.
     This year for the first time we had services all summer and the attendance was good. During August, Mr. King was assisted by Candidate Jan H. Weiss. We had two meetings to hear recordings of the Assembly, one at the church, the other at the home of Mrs. William Schroder.
     We have become stoical about losing members, but we will never lose a feeling of joy in welcoming new members. Last spring we had the pleasure of welcoming Mr. and Mrs. Robert Caldwell, and we started the fall season with a new young couple, Mr. and Mrs. Alan Childs, whose interest in our activities and projects delights us. These new members also brought welcome visitors. On October 3rd, Mrs. Childs' parents, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Lindsay, and her grandfather, Dr Charles E. Doering, were in church. Dr. Doering conducted the service and baptized the infant daughter of the Rev. and Mrs. Louis B. King. The following week Mr. Childs' parents came to the church, they being Mr. and Mrs. Geoffrey S. Childs of Saginaw. Visitors are always an inspiration, and we felt that we had started the year well.
     Our first supper and doctrinal class for the North Side were held on October 6th and were well attended. As was done last year we have them every other week, and the South Side has a class the Tuesday evening before ours. Mr. King is giving us a series of classes on the Arcana for which he has worked out mimeographed summaries of the text of the Word and the Arcana exposition that can be studied at home.
     VOLITA WELLS

     LONDON, ENGLAND

     Following the British Assembly in Colchester it was a great pleasure to receive overseas visitors at Michael Church on August 8th. The Rev. Erik Sandstrom conducted the service, his text being: "Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9). We were taught that the Lord's providence constitutes the Divine call, first by influx through the new angelic heaven into man's affections; secondly, by instruction from the Word opened as to its interiors; thirdly, by a life according to the order of heaven. These three call with one voice, for the entire working of the Lord is from firsts and lasts simultaneously. This enables man to respond as of himself, the new will clothing itself with truths whereby it may enter effectively into ultimate life. Thence is conjunction with the Lord. We were reminded also that unless a church rises up which acknowledges the essentials of doctrine, and lives them, no one can be saved.
     After lunch, Mr. Sandstrom spoke of the church in Sweden, and there was solace, wit and wisdom, in his reflections. Miss Senta Centervall gave some assuring impressions of her visit, and Mr. Lee Weiss outlined the activities and problems of our members in Holland. There was also a song from our Swedish visitors.
     In this period Mr. Rich completed a series of sermons which, from the three great temptations in the wilderness, illustrated the general pattern of the Lord's combats with the hells, together with the alternations of humiliation and glorification.

The initial sermon showed that Divine truth from Divine good, in all power yet in infinite mercy, was present throughout the defensive combats in which the Lord engaged. From the wilderness temptations themselves these were shown to be attacks on the Lord's love of the human race, through the power and glory of dominion, and upon truth. The final sermon brought out the reality and intensity of the Lord's temptations, as well as the nature of the peace, consolation, and power which were the fruits of victory. Truth was made free, and shall make man free, for it is now eternally one with the Divine good.
     Apart from the Chadwell Heath group, doctrinal classes are now held at Michael Church following a luncheon on the first and third Sundays of each month. The pastor is taking us, in the main, through True Christian Religion, with particular emphasis upon how the fundamental doctrines may best be expressed to others. The sermons given on these Sundays are on the subject for the day. At first one wondered to what extent such a full day would tax the powers of concentration, but in our next report we hope to show that the right kind of sustained attention results in intellectual stimulation. Doctrinal discussion, so closely associated with worship, can lead to fuller impressions, and the introduction to each class is already established by way of continuity. In addition to these benefits, time, money, and effort spent in traveling are saved-a considerable item in London.
     The charm of our visitors far outshone the weather and created the illusion that summer was really much longer than its usual Assembly duration. Visitors not already mentioned include Miss Mary Sandstrom and Mr. Hultgren from Sweden, Miss Joyce Bellinger of Bryn Athyn, Miss Vivian Kuhl of Kitchener, and Mr. Randy Stroh of Bryn Athyn. Mr. and Mrs. Sydney Lee of Glenview looked up the old country. Before they left England at the end of September, meetings were arranged at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Rich, enabling Michael Church members to become still better acquainted with this enterprising couple. Mr. Lee read papers on New Church education; and there was the story of the Glenview pioneers which referred us to conviction, courage and devotion, as means toward real achievement, and left us wishing Glenview every success in its efforts to establish a secondary school. Mr. Lee went on to discuss how the use and extension of evangelization is essentially related to the education of children within the church, whereby the church itself is prepared as a receptive organization. The ensuing discussion was evidence of the lively interest felt; ranging, as it did, from the order of support for the various uses of education to the appropriate stages and methods, with particular reference to the analytical and synthetic approaches to education. There was also a question as to whether, in an advanced state of the church, education would remain formal as it is now.
     In this period one or two members and "guest members" of the Society have been on the move. Mr. Arthur Atherton now lives in Bridport, Dorset, Miss Joan Adams is in Bryn Athyn, Miss Muriel Wells has returned to the United States, and Miss Vida Elphick has moved on to Kitchener, Canada. These people had become too much a part of the Society for us to be content with an indefinite farewell. A welcome newcomer is Miss Mary Best who, after two years in Bryn Athyn, has taken up nursing in London.
     COLIN M. GREENHALGH

     PITTSBURGH, PA.

     The fall season found the activities of the Pittsburgh Society in full swing. We are fortunate in having worship every Sunday, but there is always promise in the new beginning of Friday suppers, classes, meetings, and organized social life. Our Women's Guild class this year, given by the pastor, is on the New Testament and follows The Life of the Lord, and the Sons are studying the Old Testament. These subjects were requested so that we could pursue the study of the letter of the Word itself. The Young people's class meets every other Wednesday evening. It is well attended by an active, interested group that asks many questions. The high school group meets in the pastor's apartment and has its class an hour before the Friday supper. The members then attend the supper, sitting together as a group. This season we are going to have Friday suppers every week, for it seems that we are more ready for spiritual food after we have gathered together for natural food-which results in an increased attendance at class.

     Anyone who wants to find out how much goes on in the Pittsburgh Society should attend our annual meeting. The 72 members present at the meeting last fall noted with pleasure the report of our statistician that the average attendance at services had increased by 9, and at children's services by 5. From the report of the treasurer we note the comment that other churches in Pittsburgh spend up to 200/0 of their budget on music, an item for which we have no expense; and the information that over $300.00 was given to the Chancel Fund in memory of Alexander P. Lindsay, Esq., a beautiful way, we believe, of expressing affection. In connection with the first of these matters it should be mentioned that we do have a capable committee of three women who freely give their time to playing the organ; and that Mr. Carl Gunther, who has now taken over the singing practice, is doing very well. In spite of many reports, and elections, the meeting adjourned at 10:00 p.m.
     Our school opened on September 13th, with three teachers in addition to the pastor in charge, and an enrollment of 29 happy children. This year we sent 12 students to the Academy in Bryn Athyn, and 3 to various other colleges. The local chapter of Theta Alpha sponsored a shower for the three girls who were going to Bryn Athyn for the first time-Gale and Lee Coffin and Phyllis Stroemple; and the two new students for the Boys' Academy, Robert Frazier and Kurt Nemitz, were presented with gifts at a picnic held by the Pittsburgh Sons at the Lindsay farm.
     Once a year we would like to include news of the young folk who are serving our country, and whom we miss. Lt. Walter Williamson is out in Arizona, still flying jets, but did manage to fly home for one day last July for his sister's wedding. Cpl. James Price Coffin is still in the electronics section, U.S.M.C., and is stationed at Quantico, but gets home to church now and then. Lt. Frank Edmondson, who was recently baptized into the Church, is stationed at Gordon, Ga. A.T.A.N. Nadine Brown of the Waves, who joined the Pittsburgh Society while home on a short leave, is now in San Diego, Calif. She hopes to see some of the New Church people out there. Mary Anne Doering, who has been specially commended by the ambassador for good work, is finishing up her service in the United States Embassy at Saigon, Indo-China.
     The first social affair, held early in September, to which the whole Society is invited is the picnic sponsored by the Pittsburgh Sons but given partly by the Lindsays. The Lindsays have a fine, large farm, and it makes an ideal spot for a picnic. Later that same month a reception was held in the pastor's apartment to welcome our attractive new teacher, Miss Gwladys Hicks. It was a large affair and a happy one.
     At Hallowe'en we had a Mother Goose dress-up party. The auditorium was decorated in the best Mother Goose fashion, and as we were dressed likewise, and acted the same way as we played games and danced, no one can say that this society is not still young at heart. The Library Committee organized the party and the Library Fund benefitted from the proceeds. The children had their Hallowe'en parties in the homes.
     In August the Society had the privilege of attending the third wedding held in our church last summer. Miss Ruth Brown and Mr. Yorvar Synnestvedt were married by our pastor in a beautiful ceremony marked by its simplicity and sincerity. The church was artistically decorated with lovely yellow flower arrangements and candles, and there were about 60 guests from out of town. At the reception that followed in the auditorium we had the opportunity to greet the happy couple with toasts and songs. Ruth and Yorvar are now at State College, Pennsylvania, where they are part of the student group that holds tape recorded services on Sundays.
     Many of our people went to Bryn Athyn for Charter Day and came back with renewed spirit and enthusiasm. Our Sunday service that weekend was held at 8:30 p.m., and we had the privilege of hearing the Rev. Martin Pryke preach. Mr. Pryke stayed for two days to visit our school.
     LUCILE S. BLAIR

     DURBAN, NATAL

     We commence this report with a very brief account of the Society's Christmas activities. These started off with a delightful Christmas tree party for the children, held at the home of Mr. And Mrs. Horace Braby.

The "tree" was a young fir growing in the grounds, and the children's gifts were presented to them by the Rev. David Holm, representing the church. Santa Claus later arrived on the roof of a very smart Packard, and distributed sweets among the children. After tea, and a few games, most of the children adjourned to the swimming pond, where they spent the rest of the afternoon.
     There was the usual combined service on Sunday, December 20th, the subject of the sermon being "The Prophecies." On Monday evening we all met at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Billy Schuurman for carol singing. By "all" is meant, of course, all who were able, as there was, unfortunately, a last minute alteration in the date. Altogether there must have been about 50 people present, including all of the older school children and just-out-of-school group.
     On Christmas Eve there was the customary children's service, followed by tableaux in the hall; and on Christmas Day a combined service at 9:30 a.m. Festivities were finally brought to a close with a combined service at 9:30 a.m., on Sunday the 27th, which was followed by the administration of the Holy Supper.

     During January all meetings, etc., are in abeyance as so many families go away for the summer holidays, and only the regular church services are continued.
     The New Year's Day picnic was washed out by rain, but on January 12th Mr. and Mrs. Helm organized a children's picnic at the Country Club beach. After lunch Mr. Helm held a "question time," when the children were encouraged to make any queries they wished on religious topics. The response was most heartening, and a very lively and interesting session followed-while the sea and the sands were completely neglected! Immediately after this Mr. Helm went on a Mission trip, in the course of which 30 of the isolated Europeans were visited. By March all our normal activities had been resumed.
     April, of course, is noted for Easter celebrations, which for us commenced with a special Palm Sunday service at 9:30 a.m., for both adults and children. On Easter Sunday two church services were held, at the first of which the children brought flowers as an offering. During the second service the Holy Supper was administered. The sermon was on "The Meaning of Easter."

     Nothing further occurred until the month of June, but there was a great feeling of anticipation in the air as the Rev. and Mrs. A. Wynne Acton were expected, at long last, to arrive during the latter half of the month. A special New Church Day service was held on the Nineteenth of June, but it was decided to postpone the banquet until our new pastor and his wife could be with us. We were not to be held in suspense much longer. Their ship arrived at 9:20 the following Sunday morning-just as all good members were assembling outside the church for worship. As Mr. Holm was unable to be at the dock, the honors were done by Messrs. Gordon Cockerell and Frank Bamford, the treasurer and secretary, respectively.
     On Thursday evening a reception was given for Mr. and Mrs. Acton at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Cockerell. This was a highly successful and enjoyable party; thanks chiefly to the vocal efforts of host and hostess, ably assisted by such top ranking stars as Beatrice Schuurman, Elsa Masson, Audrey and Frank Bamford, and others.
     On Friday evening came the eagerly awaited banquet. Food for thought was provided by Messrs. Alf Cook, Wally Lowe, and John Elphick, who each read a most interesting paper, while the Women's Guild was responsible for ministering to the outer man. The children's banquet was held the next day at 6 p.m.
     The following day being the first Sunday of the month two services were held. The adult service included the administration of the Holy Supper, and this concluded our New Church Day celebrations.

     The remainder of July and August passed uneventfully, and by the 1st of September Mr. and Mrs. Acton had moved into their new flat. On the 7th of September a shower was held for them at the home of Mr. and Mrs. W. Storrie, and as usual on such occasions there was much fun and chaffing. This was followed, on the 17th, by a buffet supper at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Billy Schuurman. After a most delightful repast, Mr. Acton addressed us on the subject of New Church education. His paper was most enthusiastically received, and was most ably commented on by Mr. Holm and others.

     At the social on the following Saturday evening, Mr. and Mrs. Billy Schuurman projected cine pictures which they had taken at different church functions over the last few years. Mr. and Mrs. Acton also showed slides of various New Church people and places in America and Canada, and altogether it was a most interesting evening.
     This brings us to the month of October and the time of going to press. Before closing, however, we would like to welcome home four of our members who have been abroad: Mr. and Mrs. Alf Cook, who were absent for nearly a year, and Mr. and Mrs. Wally Lowe. These two couples have been most conscientious in attending all services and functions at every New Church center they have visited, and we regard them, more enviously, as ambassadors of the Durban Society. Finally, there have been one adult and six infant baptisms since our last report, and at the time of writing two infants still await baptism.
     DIANA BROWNE

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Convention. Reporting on the New Church Center at St. Petersburg, Fla., now under the pastoral care of the Rev. Leslie Marshall, the MESSENGER states that, in addition to the regular Sunday service and Wednesday study meeting, the Center houses the Mission Board's stamp department, the book room, and the library. A guest house for visitors has been constructed and the erection of a chapel is in view.
     General Conference. The NEW-CHURCH HERALD reports at some length the visit to England last summer of the Rev. Obed Mooki, Assistant Superintendent of the Conference Mission in South Africa. Mr. Mooki visited and preached in several societies as well as being entertained at Swedenborg House.
     Mauritius. The Rev. C. V. A. Hasler has contributed to the same periodical an interesting account of the Church Fellowship, begun by the Rev. Edwin Fieldhouse, which meets every month at Curepipe and Port Louis. The lectures have been revived and are attended by a number of visitors, but Mr. Hasler believes that there is a rigid society system on the island which makes it very difficult for an individual to leave his own group and become attached to another one.
     New Zealand. A news note in the NEW AGE mentions the fact that over a period of weeks the Leader of the Auckland Society, Mr. M. C. M. Fleming, had held the interest of the congregation during the reading of the Rev. Harold C. Cranch's sermons on the Ten Commandments.
SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1955

SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1955

     GENERAL CHURCH RELIGION LESSONS. Graded lessons and other material from Pre-school through Grade 11. Address inquiries to: Pastor-in-Charge, Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     GENERAL CHURCH SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE. Tape-recordings of services, sermons, doctrinal classes, children's services, etc. Address: General Church Sound Recording Committee, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     GENERAL CHURCH VISUAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE. Biblical and other slides. Address: Mr. William R. Cooper, Director, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     NEW CHURCH EDUCATION. Published by Religion Lessons Committee, monthly, September to June, inclusive. Subscription, $1.50. Editor: Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal.

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1955

     Announcements.

     JANUARY 24-30, 1955

Monday, January 24
     3:00 p.m. Meeting of Headmasters
     4:30 p.m. Meeting of Pastors
     8:00 p.m. Consistory

Tuesday, January 25
     10:00 a.m., and 3:30 p.m. Council of the Clergy

Wednesday, January 26
     10:00 a.m., and 3:30 p.m. Council of the Clergy

Thursday, January 27
     10:00 a.m. Council of the Clergy

Friday, January 28
     10:00 am. Council of the Clergy
     3:30 p.m. Boards of Directors of the Corporation of the General Church
     7:00 p.m. Society Supper
     7:45 p.m. Open Session of the Council of the Clergy. Address by Bishop George de Charms

Saturday, January 29
     10:00 a.m. Joint Council of the General Church
     3:30 p.m. Corporation of the Academy of the New Church

Sunday, January 30
     11:00 a.m. Divine Worship

TEACH US TO PRAY 1955

TEACH US TO PRAY Rev. ERIK SANDSTROM 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXV FEBRUARY, 1955           No. 2
     "And it came to pass, that, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." (Luke 11:1.)

     Many things are taught in the Writings respecting prayer that are entirely new or unheeded in the world. The chief of these is the teaching that prayer must be not only to the Lord but also from the Lord; and as a consequence of this fundamental viewpoint it is said further that "prayer, in the internal sense, signifies revelation" (AC 10,299, 2535). Because these things are generally unknown, and their implications are but little understood, perhaps, by those among whom they are known, it is therefore for the New Church to go to the Writings, and to say again: "Lord, teach us to pray."
     Yet it is easy to think that prayer is not something to be learned. We are inclined to think that here at least, in the secret chambers of our hearts and hidden away from worldly sight, we are allowed to be spontaneous. Also, we are accustomed to thinking that we can go to our heavenly Father, even as the child turns with confidence and with an unreflecting outpouring of his heart's desire to his earthly lather. But although the thought of prayer was by no means alien to the disciples-for it was practiced with zeal and great external reverence by the religious leaders of the day-yet, when they saw the Lord Himself praying, they perceived the need for instruction: wherefore "it came to pass, that, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said Unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."
     What the man of the church must learn is that prayer is to be spontaneous and free only from the spiritual man, not from the natural man. In the true worship of the Lord prayer is not first but second.

For genuine Divine service, that is to say, the genuine mode of serving the Lord, is to serve the neighbor from the power of the Lord and in His name; even as He Himself teaches, saying: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me" (Matthew 25:40). These things, couched in the language of the Writings, read as follows: "True worship is to be in the spiritual affection that is called charity toward the neighbor; prayer is its going forth. It is plain, then, that the essential of worship is a life of charity, and that its instrumental is gesture and prayer; or that the primary part of worship is a life of charity and. its secondary is praying. From this it is clear that they who place all Divine worship in oral piety and not in actual piety err exceedingly. Actual piety is to work in every work and in every function from sincerity and rectitude, and according to what is just and equitable, and this because it is commanded by the Lord in the Word; for thus in every work man looks to heaven and to the Lord, with whom he is thus conjoined" (AE 325:3, 4). Again, the Writings say that "prayers are therefore such as is the character of the man in respect to his life" (ibid.).
From this it is now plain that true prayer is a matter of regeneration. The words in prayer themselves avail but little. It matters not if a man is eloquent in his supplications; if he speaks devoutly, even from doctrine and behaves humbly; if, as indeed he should, he gives much time to prayer, frequents temples, partakes of the Sacrament of the Supper several times a year, and fulfills the other ordinances of the church: it matters not if he does these things, if he is not at the same time receiving a new will from the Lord and learning to exercise it according to wisdom. On the other hand, just as prayer and other expressions of piety avail nothing without spiritual charity, so genuine prayer is indispensable to true charity. "These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone" (Luke 11:42). What is second in importance is therefore not unimportant.
It is with these things as with internal friendship, especially the friendship that may exist between a pupil and a wise teacher. The pupil has need not only of showing his love and respect by rendering services, and by making good use of the things learned from his teacher, but also of asking questions, and of turning to him for help and guidance; and he has need, too, of expressing his gratitude by word of mouth. These oral expressions of his dependence, and of his loving response to values received, are confirmatory; and nothing essential can ever exist without proper manifestation and confirmation. The internal things come to rest only in their own corresponding external forms, and they cannot be sustained and renewed without such forms.

     That is why spiritual life without a proper practice of such piety as comes from the Word is impossible. Our minds must be curbed and fashioned by the exercise of such habits as reflect the life of heaven. Only so can the Lord inflow through heaven and mold the corresponding things in our internals.
     What, then, are the things that should characterize a true and living prayer? prayer now seen as the representative of piety in general. For what should we pray? how often? on what occasions! And how may the desired Divine response be achieved!
     In answer to these and similar questions summed up in the request: "Teach us to pray," the Lord gives us His own prayer: "Our Father, who art in the heavens." This is the "model prayer"-complete in its Divine perfection, containing all things that we should ever pray for, omitting none and repeating none. We should use it, and use it daily, for it brings to the mind the same spiritual benefits that are bestowed through all humble reading of the Word. It is a part of the Word and is, indeed, a summary of the Word. By saying it, not as a vain repetition, but in the spirit of genuine worship each time it is said, the vessels of the mind are opened to the influx of truth itself, that is, of the Word itself as it is in its spirit and life; for the Divine influx is then received in its own forms.
     Yet we are not commanded never to use other words than those of the Lord's Prayer when we kneel before our God. What is commanded, however, though not in so many words, is that our prayers should at no time contain anything that is alien to the spirit of the Model Prayer, or anything that is outside its framework. For this reason, a consideration of the contents of this prayer yields the answer to the important question: For what should we pray?
     We note at once that the Lord's Prayer treats only of spiritual things, and that the petition in which we ask for our daily bread is by no means an exception, since by "bread" in it is clearly meant the bread of life. That this is so is manifest from the Lord's reply when the disciples came
to Him, saying: "Master, eat." For He then said unto them: "I have meat to eat that ye know not of. My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work" (John 4:31, 32, 34). And when some of the five thousand sought Him because "they did eat of the leaves, and were filled," the Lord rebuked them, saying: "Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you" (John 6: 26, 27). Moreover, He answered the devil who tempted Him by saying that "man shall not live by bread alone! but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). The "word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" is the Word made flesh.

     When it is viewed more closely, it becomes apparent that the Lord's Prayer is very like the Ten Commandments. For the opening words, "Our Father, who art in the heavens, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come," are like the first table of stone whereon we are commanded to worship the one God, to keep His name holy, and to remember His sabbath day; and the rest of the prayer, beginning "Thy will be done, as in heaven, so upon the earth," is but the second table in the form of petition, since in each instance the mind is directed to love toward the neighbor by the shunning of evil and deliverance therefrom. Indeed, both the Divine prayer and the Decalogue are but an opening up of what is contained in the Two Great Commandments, on which "hang all the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:40); that is, the commandments concerning love to the Lord as the one and only God, and that charity toward the neighbor which is the result of the cleansing of that which is "within the cup and platter" (Matthew 23:26).
     Furthermore, just as we can see that the Lord's Prayer consists of two halves which make a one, and just as the Ten Words were written on two tables of stone lying face to face, so we observe that the beginning and the end of the prayer and of the Law treat of the same two fundamentals of religion that have just been mentioned. For the first petition in the prayer is, "Our Father ... hallowed be Thy name," and the last supplication is, "Deliver us from evil"; and the First Commandment is, "Thou shalt have no other gods," and it leads to the last two, which say, "Thou shalt not covet."
     In the Writings these two things, which are not only the fundamentals of all religion but are also the fundamentals of eternal life, are brought together in the shortest possible form: "Look to the Lord, and shun evils because they are sins" (Char. 1). They are also the two things the Lord sets before us when we, taking thought for the morrow, turn our hearts unto such vanity as concerns the merely worldly life. Then He says: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33).
     Therefore there are two paramount things for which we should pray: that the Lord may be glorified in our lives, and that we may have power to do His will by resisting evil. Whatever we say in prayer, and whether we use many words or but few, our hearts should keep within the confines of these two things.
     The same is true concerning the prayer that is recommended in the Writings. For in the Apocalypse Explained we read: "Let them pray 'That the Lord may be with them continually, that He may lift up and turn His face to them, that He may teach, enlighten, and lead them, since of themselves they can do nothing that is good, and that He may grant to them to live; that the devil may not lead them astray and instil evils into their hearts, knowing that if they are not led by the Lord the devil will lead them and breathe into them evils of every kind, as hatred, revenge, cunning and deceit, as a serpent instils poison; for the devil is present stirring up and continually accusing, and wheresoever he meets with a heart turned away from God, he enters in, dwells there, and draws the soul down to hell.

O Lord, deliver us'" (AE 1148:4).
     This also is a Divine prayer, a model prayer. It is a little longer than the form given by the Lord when He was on earth, for it opens up the interiors of that form. Yet the teaching is the same here as everywhere else, and we cannot escape it-that prayer should be concerned with spiritual things only. And how could it be otherwise. Could we conceive of angels praying for external food and raiment? And in the New Jerusalem men should pray as angels do; for the true fulfillment of the words, "Thy will be done, as in heaven, so upon the earth," is to be in the church of the Lord's second advent-the church which "cometh down from God out of heaven" (Revelation 21:2).
     And if we do indeed make mention in prayer of bodily health, earthly success, and other delights and benefits pertaining to the world, then let our hearts beware of seeking these things for their own sake or for the sake of the body. It is not against the law of heaven to think of what pertains to the world, if only we do so with a heart set upon a worthy purpose. Even loving ourselves is permissible, but certainly not for the sake of ourselves. Yet it seems likely that the more a man becomes spiritual, the less will he busy his thoughts with the worldly means of attaining to those values which belong to the kingdom that is not of this world. "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek: for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things" (Matthew 6:31, 32).
     It is, then, the spiritual prayer, and not the prayer originating from ourselves, that is heard by the Lord and that brings forth His merciful response. Concerning this the Writings give the following beautiful teaching: "If it be from love and faith, and only for celestial and spiritual things that man prays, then there exists a something resembling revelation in the prayer, which is manifested in the affection of him who prays as to hope, consolation, or some internal joy" (AC 2535).
     But if our minds find only obscurity when they dwell on the question of the proper frequency of prayer and worship, the Writings are again explicit, for in describing the life of true piety they state that it also consists in "devoting one's self much to prayers, and behaving humbly at that time" (AC 8253).

The word "much" obviously leaves room for judgment; and yet it is clear that the warning not to be like the heathen, who think "they shall be heard for their much speaking" (Matthew 6:7), is not to be understood as forbidding many words, if we need many words to open our hearts to the Lord. The heathen prayer is a supplication from words, but a genuine prayer is prayer of the heart into words. Clearly, "devoting one's self much to prayer" involves the giving of ample time to that internal discourse with the Lord which is expressive of man's state and need. The important thing, however, is not how many minutes are allowed, but that the door of the world be shut and we pray from the secrets of our minds without hiding anything from the Lord, and that because this is our desire the necessary time be spent without our reflecting upon it. Moreover, it is well for us to establish daily habits in order to make the necessary provision for such freedom of the spirit as has been described.
     Thus understood and practised, prayer will gradually become both spontaneous and a free outpouring of the heart's desire; for thus the internal man, stored up within in what is called our conscience, will be liberated, and what is spoken in prayer will be spoken by that man. Then will there be that humiliation which is "essential to worship" (AC 2327); for the spiritual man knows and believes from the heart that there is no life, no judgment, no wisdom, from self. Then he will understand that in prayer he cannot enlighten the Lord as to his needs, nor stir Him to greater efforts in helping the supplicant or others. Indeed he will understand that it is a mere appearance that he offers gifts-gold, frankincense, and myrrh-when he bows down in worship before the Lord most high; and that his prayer is, in very fact, a gift of the Lord to him-a gift of hope, of consolation, or of internal joy.
     Hence it is that to pray is to approach the Lord in the sanctuary of the mind, His temple, commanding the earth to "be silent before Him." It is, in solitude from the world, to seek Him who "seeth in secret," soliciting only the "peace of Jerusalem" which cometh down to man "from God out of heaven." Such prayer is prayer in the spirit of the Writings, and for this reason the promise of its fulfillment is sure. For the Lord has said: "If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." Amen.

     LESSONS: Psalm 66. Luke 11:1-13. Arcana Coelestia 10,299:2-4.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 444, 466, 459.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 85, 121.

ENGAGEMENT AND BETROTHAL 1955

ENGAGEMENT AND BETROTHAL Rev. MORLEY D. RICH 1955

     The concise article on this subject by the Rev. Gilbert H. Smith [NEW CHURCH LIFE, November, 1954, pp. 552-553] deserves comment and further extension; for it expresses a good and rightful endeavor in the General Church to bring out clearly the plain teachings of the Writings in regard to the spiritual necessity of the rite of betrothal. It may be further underlined by the teaching that betrothal inaugurates or initiates the spiritual marriage, or the drawing together of the minds of the future partners in preparation for conjugial love (CL 305e). Indeed, it may legitimately be suggested that, in that connection, betrothal is the spiritual marriage.
     Betrothal is therefore a comparatively advanced state in the orderly progression toward marriage. And while it should sufficiently precede marriage to insure that there is not a too hasty drawing together of the two spirits, at the same time it would seem clear that it must not be entered into either lightly or too quickly after the first state of meeting and courtship. For if it is viewed in this way, as the beginning of the spiritual marriage, we see just how grave and serious may be any dissolution of the betrothal.
     As taught by the Writings, the way to marriage has a definite progression of state, if it is followed in an orderly fashion. The steps in this progression may be outlined as follows:

     1. Meeting, and preliminary attraction and friendship.
     2. Courtship.
     3. Preliminary and perhaps even provisional consent.
     4. Further exploration and learning of each other's disposition, religion, and various external traits.
     5. Final confirmation of consent by betrothal-the beginning of the spiritual marriage.
     6. Exploration and drawing together of the minds and spirits, but now from only the affirmative attitude and without anything of negative doubt or indecision.
     7. Marriage, to be consecrated by a priest.
     8. Celebration of the nuptials.

     This is undoubtedly a dry and somewhat stiff serialization of the progressive states of delight and grace to be experienced! But it will serve to demonstrate that there must be a considerable period of a tentative kind before actual betrothal. Otherwise, it may very well be that the couple will find themselves unhappily in a state of betrothal which they feel bound to observe because of its gravity.
     This may, and probably will, be contrasted with the progression toward marriage as it is on other earths, as it was in the Most Ancient Church, and as it is in heaven. Let us note, however, that the very fact that the Writings describe this orderly progression in relation to the customs and modes of this earth; this very fact would indicate that, as the human race on this earth is now constituted, it needs all the definite safeguarding steps outlined: that, in short, differently from other earths, the Most Ancient Church, and the angels, where recognition of partners is spontaneous and immediate, human society on this earth, including New Church society, is in need of such safeguards whereby the bringing together of true partners may be further insured.
     The question arises as to the use or desirability of "engagements" in the worldly and popular sense. One of the difficulties in the New Church which has been expressed in regard to this is that such engagements, or public professions of a desire for or pledge of marriage, tend to lessen, if not remove entirely, the necessity or importance of betrothal. The point is, however, that whether we formally use the social device of an engagement or not, there is and must be a period of preliminary courtship and conditional consent before the betrothal or spiritual marriage. And if this can be recognized or publicized in some fashion, though perhaps not so definitely and spectacularly as is the case in worldly engagements, it can give to the couple two things of which they are in real need at that time, namely, freedom and protection.
     It does not mean that they are irrevocably committed to each other, regardless of what of internal differences they might discover during that preliminary period. But it means that they are then left free and alone by society to pursue uninterruptedly those preliminary steps of courtship which are so necessary if the betrothal or spiritual marriage is to mean what it should and is to have a firm basis. The preliminary consent is a necessary state, and it is only preliminary to betrothal; being "strengthened and [finally] confirmed by a solemn betrothal" (CL 301).
     Other views in relation to this exist in the General Church. What we have here contributed is only an expression, as we see it, of the ideal state of order-an order that is not always possible within the limitations of time, space, and circumstances.

BODY OF THE LORD AND HIS DIVINE SPHERE 1955

BODY OF THE LORD AND HIS DIVINE SPHERE Rev. GILBERT H. SMITH 1955

     A general view of the thought of the New Church as to the disposal of the physical part of the Lord's Divine Human, and of what happened to it in the process of glorification, is presented by the late Dr. E. E. Iungerich in a simple chart.
     There have been two classes of prevailing views: 1) the idea that the material of the Lord's body was removed; and, 2) the idea that it was retained. The first view was held by Robert Hindmarsh and Samuel Noble, and was based on the teaching that the Lord put off all that He had from the mother; with the explanation that the resurrection body was a Divine one developed inside the body of matter, that body of matter having been removed as of no further use.
     The second view was held by John Clowes. He believed the material body was retained in tote, having been divested of all passivity and having become what he called "actives." This same view was held also, with some variation, by Samuel Smith and by William Mason, who thought the Lord retained the same body of flesh, but now invisible to human sight.
     Holding this second view also, but with a vital difference, were William Cowherd and Eldred E. Iungerich; the latter teaching that the Lord's "flesh and bones," which He retained, were a sphere of active particles or actives which impregnated the natural atmospheres, having been given off from the materials of His body before death as effluvia, and released en masse after death from His physical remains in the sepulcher.
     The recent paper by the Rev. Ormond Odhner at the clergy meetings (1954) belongs, it would appear, with the view held by Hindmarsh and Noble; Mr. Odhner's idea being that with some kind of dissolution of the actual matter of the body from Mary, the Lord's Divine ultimate was a certain "life of the body" which the infinite Divine substance before the incarnation had only in potency. We recall the late Bishop N. D. Pendleton saying a very similar thing; that what the Lord glorified was "the life of the body."
     In the view held by the Rev. William Cowherd (Manchester) and by Dr. Iungerich, which to us presents the true general concept, it was a perverted state only that the Lord put off; and this perverted state or recalcitrant gyre was the thing meant when it is said that "all He had from the mother was dissipated or put off."

It was state I believe, and not matter, that was put off and dissipated in the tomb.
     Dr. Iungerich was "inclined to think that the portals which this conclusion will open have been virtually closed for nearly a century, because of the two prepossessions that have seized upon the mind of the Church. These are: 1) the belief that the matter of the structural body was all from the mother, even after 33 years of life on earth, and was a perverted thing . . . and, 2) the thought that the glorification means, not a reorganization of finites to be the instrumentality for divine operations, but their complete annihilation, because unworthy to be associated to the Infinite as temperinps" (The Palace of Wisdom, pp. 128, 129).
     Now this opinion, if true, is of the greatest importance to our future thinking. We want no false "prepossessions" to occlude the real truth from our minds.
     The finite primitives of the sun of heaven are compared to the finite effluvia emanating from angels and men (DLW 291-294). Hence it was a necessity of Providence, when the heavens failed to reach men, that the Divine "assume the ultimate effects of the world, or man and his figure," from which effluvia filled with Divine life might go forth from Him and surround Him as a sphere.
     "Therefore He Himself assumed a Human from which a Divine Proceeding might issue, which can also be In ultimates, and thus preserve the heavens and save the human race. Thence is the omnipresence of His Human in the Holy Supper" (Ath. 177). [Italics added]
     Compare AC 6864, which speaks of the "Holy Proceeding from the Lord's Human by which infesting falsities would be dispersed [Moses being sent to Pharaoh], for the Holy Proceeding from the Lord not only disperses falsities infesting, but also reduces all things into Divine order, both with those which are in heaven, and with those which are in hell."
     It must be confessed from our doctrine that the receptacles of life in the Lord became life in themselves. On the other hand it must be acknowledged that there was some associated finiteness retained by the Lord, which may properly be called "additament" or "accessory"-a new instrumentality for Divine operations.
     The solution would seem to be that "all activity, viewed in itself, is not a created or creatable thing"; and that as to the body which the Lord glorified, and with which He arose, it is an infinite activity in and with the finite.
     From childhood, a Divine Proceeding was issuing from the Lord's human assumed from birth, or an effluvial sphere actuated by His heart and lungs.

And these glorified sphere particles proceeding from life itself are to be called Divine in spite of having a basic finite fulcrum (cf. AC 3364)-just in the same way that pure Divine truths, in order to be received by man, must be clothed or tempered in appearances of truth in which is the pure truth. Yet even these appearances are to be called Divine.
     The Lord, as we know, never made actual any evil inherent in His heredity from Mary. But those impressions brought before His natural mind for contemplation and judgment resulted in new spheres issuing from Him, cleared of all human perversion; and these new spheres were not of Mary, because they were now under the control of His Divine life. It was not the matter itself composing His earthy body that was susceptible of evil. In the matter itself was not the maternal taint. The human from the mother was not any corporeal matter at all, we think, but was a state or a complex within the organic substances of the mind (see AC 2288). It was "a voluntary from the mother from birth" (AC 5157). See also AC 3296 as to the Lord's changing His human state into a Divine one, just as in regeneration one produces a "new man" from the "old man."
     But the Lord worked then as always by means of spheres. He met evil spheres with good ones emanating from His Human. And in order to have such spheres capable of subjugating the hells, it was necessary that He be born as a man, with perverted gyres in the substances of His natural mind; so that these gyres might be reversed, and that then there might go forth from His mind a powerful flow of entities stamped into the image of Divine Life, thus to master evil spheres wherever they might afterward arise. And since we know that the hells ride upon noxious exhalations in nature, they had to be opposed by a counteracting weapon (see TCR 124).
     The great secret sphere from the Lord which elevates all to heaven may now be understood more clearly as to how it works. "The universal heaven and the earth are ruled by a sphere emanating from the Lord . . . and thus iniquities and malignities may be driven away and their force enfeebled, so as to be able to effect nothing. . . . There were certain evil spirits who coming into such a sphere were wholly unwilling to remain there, since it was irksome to them and put them into a kind of anguish from which it may be known how evil spirits are driven away, lest they should universally enter into man" (SD 1844).
     "The Lord not only performed redemption by the Divine Proceeding issuing from the Human on earth" but "redeems the faithful perennially" thereby (TCR 579); "for thus and not otherwise can the Lord hold the hells subjugated to eternity, inasmuch as He thus acts from primes through ultimates, and in fulness to eternity" (AE 806). [Italics added]

     Divine truth, the other arm of redemption, also issues from Him perennially, operating in the thought of the understanding. But His Divine sphere affects the will.
     The Lord "retained the infirm [from the mother] while in the world, because He could not otherwise be tempted [or tried]; still less on the cross. There all the maternal was expelled" (Ath. 192). This "infirm" must have been state, not matter; it could not have been material substances that were expelled on the cross.
     "By His death the Lord rejected all the human that was from the mother" (Ath. 106). "The former-state, which was the human from the mother, the Lord utterly put off . . .when He passed out of the world" (AC 2288). Here it is definitely said that the human from the mother was "a former state." And this state it was that was rejected on the cross.
     And since the infirm human from the mother was a state, a perverted gyre in the mind, the entire material body that hung on the cross and was laid in the tomb, was that "whole body" with which He arose, differently from any man (see DLW 22).
     Nor does it seem possible that this whole body should have been consumed or annihilated in the sepulcher because unfit to have anything Divine connected with it; for this would mean that the Lord reverted to mere Divine Esse, and the Human Essence would then have been just what it was before the incarnation. For if it is said that no finite sphere can exist about the infinite life, then there could not be any finite containing sphere even around the spiritual sun, the fire of which is infinite.
     The only solution seems to be, as Dr. Iungerich believed, that the particles of the body that was laid in the tomb were disengaged en masse, and re-organized to act in the realm of nature as a finite or natural guard against infernal spheres and influences (see TCR 678).
     The Lord's Divine substantial body (Lord 35) must be operative in both worlds. There is with Him not only an organism or effluvial sphere akin to the cutaneous envelope of angels, and by which He can appear among the angels, but also a more ultimate range of finites by which He can appear among men in the world-this latter by "aspect presence" in the plane of natural sight and imagination. Perhaps this is how He could appear to Swedenborg, in natural wakefulness, when Swedenborg received from the Him the great commission.
     Angels are said to have substantial bodies. But these are said not to be their own but the Lord's, being the Divine which makes heaven. Their substantial bodies, however, are invested in a passive cutaneous envelope composed of the finest things of nature.

And angels also have a surrounding sphere from this. The Divine substantial body of our Lord, however, is surrounded by its own sphere, including not only the finest things of nature but also the whole range of created things or finites that make nature.
     It would seem, then, that what came from the Lord's body as an effluvial sphere of glorified particles or "actives," or "finites"-this constituted the finite implementation which He added to His former Divine Human. This also is that great universal sphere which is said to elevate all to heaven in both worlds. It may be called a blood-stream in the universe; for it was created from the Lord's blood, propelled by the same Divine love and wisdom by which He glorified Himself. It is a universal redemptive sphere (see DLW 291).
     We may conceive also that the sacrament of Baptism introduces one actually into this redemptive sphere, the sphere of the Lord's glorified body. So also may it be with the sacrament of the Holy Supper. There must be a closer conjunction between the Lord's Divine sphere and the sphere around the man's spirit when partaking worthily of the holy sacrament. For our teaching is that "fullest conjunction is in the ultimate spheres" (see TCR 433, 410). So the Lord opens heaven to us through the Holy Supper. He surrounds us with His Divine sphere, which actually affects the natural as well as the spiritual substances of our minds. So He elevates all to heaven who are willing to be elevated, as by a secret current. He draws all men to Himself because He has been lifted up. "And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me."

     This thesis does not turn our thought in opposition to Dr. Alfred Acton's paper on the Glorification presented to the assembled clergy in 1952, except only in the matter of the removal or retention of the Lord's physical body. Dr. Acton seems to make the Divine Human to be only in the minds of men-in their view of Him as a Divine Man and their reception of Divine truth and good from Him, made possible by reason of His having lived in a material body on earth.
     His view in regard to the physical body is that it was removed. His idea is that there was nothing to hold together the Lord's physical remains for a time after death, as is the case with men, but that they went quickly back to nature, thus disappearing from sight. Dr. Iungerich's idea of the retention of the physical body in a re-organized form, would also account for its disappearance from natural sight. Could both things be true?
     It is notable that Dr. Acton scarcely mentions spheres. Are they unimportant to his concept of the Divine operation? Yet what interesting and wonderful things are said of spheres, as in CL 171: they go forth from every part of a man; they are "continued widely about him"; they conjoin or disjoin, not only outwardly but inwardly; they are due to bodily "renewals by dissolutions and reparations."

     All parts of man continually renew themselves. The spiritual sphere around one arises from the affections of his love, and "imparts itself to the natural sphere from his body; and the two conjoin themselves." In the spiritual world all presence and absence is according to them, whether homogeneous or heterogeneous.
     Certainly wonderful spheres must have gone forth-a two-fold sphere in each case from His body during His life among men; and by means of such spheres many miracles were performed, no doubt. Do you think that when the Lord made the storm a calm, He did it merely by His spoken word, or by an act of will merely when He said: "Peace, be still"? It does not seem so to us. It must have been, we think, an act of will indeed, but through the more ultimate instrumentality of the Divine sphere going out from Himself, the power of His infinite love acting in and with the finite entities which He infilled with His life.
     There is a most remarkable statement in AC 2811 that "the Lord's Divine Human is worship itself, and doctrine itself." And these exist, as we know, only in human minds. And these are also given or "donated" in the Holy Supper. Such teachings agree with Dr. Acton's thesis. The Divine Human is in human minds.
     But his view may be called idealistic in that it seems not to take into account the reality of matter, or the philosophical explanation of how things were done. For example, as we have said, there is no mention of spheres and their operation. And while he states that "the Lord subjugated the hells on the cross; and restored order in the heaven when He rose; and provided for the institution of the Church during the 40 days after the resurrection," he offers no explanation of how these things were done.
     Was it done merely by the Lord's communicating new truth concerning Himself to those in the spiritual world first, and then to His disciples! For according to Dr. Acton, it is chiefly if not solely the understanding of Divine truth among men and angels received in the heart that is the Divine Human.
     One concludes that Dr. Acton believes, that it is man's reception of truth about the Lord that constitutes the Lord's Divine Human, just as he says that it is civil and moral truths or "character" that make the spiritual body of a man.
     And it is certainly true that the Lord had to appear on earth and live as a man in the world, in order that the church might know forever that He is Divine Man. But this can hardly be the whole story of what is meant by an "addition" to His former Human which the Lord assumed by birth from the mother.

     The Divine Human under this view is ideal, or constituted of human ideas of the Divine. The organics of the glorified Human and its operation are left out of consideration. Yet so far as this concept goes it is certainly true, and also beautiful.
     One wonders, and very naturally so, how it could be possible for the Lord's physical body, if transformed into a finite sphere, or spheres, diffused into the natural atmospheres, to have any considerable power. It would be so small, quantitatively, in relation to the whole earth.
     Spiritually we can see how the Lord and His life on earth can have dynamic effect upon all in the universe and in the heavens, by instantaneous communication of thought through spiritual atmospheres. And this although His infinity was centered in a human body and brain so small as to be nothing compared to the extense of the universe. But how could there ever be a sphere of ultimate finite composition permeating the atmospheres of the natural world that would have any considerable power to affect mankind?
     Well, look at the indefinitely great power that is now released from a few invisible atoms of matter, through the ingenuity of man. A handful of matter can be so activated as to destroy whole islands in the sea and shake vast segments of the earth's surface!
     Nor can there be any doubt that this overwhelming power is the power of the Lord's Divine Human operating in and upon the finite ultimates of nature-desecrated, though it may be, and misappropriated by the will of evil men.
     This power one can see and comprehend. But the full power of the Lord's Divine Human, and its accessions in the realm of physical nature as well as in the spiritual world, is quite beyond all human imagination because it is infinite! So also is the sphere of the Lord glorified, which is as a secret current in an ocean elevating all to heaven.

     One thing seems certain, whether we can find an adequate explanation of it or not: there can be no doubt that the Lord meant to say, through Swedenborg that the physical body was in some manner retained and made use of, and not left in the sepulcher.
     For we cannot bring ourselves to think that the Divine wisdom could ever make such a play on words as to say one thing plainly and leave us to infer quite a different meaning. In other words, if the Lord wanted us to believe that the physical part of His human form was dissipated, and that it was taken on merely for temporary use, that would have been plainly stated by Him.

But the Writings plainly indicate, unless we rise clear above the letter, that the whole natural body was glorified, and that nothing of it was left in the sepulcher as with mortals.
     To illustrate, it is said in TCR 109: "The Lord rose from the sepulcher with His whole body which He had in the world, nor did He leave anything behind in the sepulchre; consequently He took therefrom [from the sepulcher] with Him the Natural Human itself from primes to ultimates . . . from this it is clear that His natural body, by glorification, was made Divine."
     Can you see any Divine reason why this statement should have been purposely ambiguous! Would it have to have a double meaning? Could it mean a "natural body" in some spiritual sense?
     Now, the spiritual sun may certainly be identified with what Swedenborg called the actives of the point. And in the Rational Psychology it is intimated that 2nd. finites were part of the Lord's seed of conception. The initiament of the rational, human, or natural, according to Dr. Iungerich, the Lord assumed zerith the taking on of the 3rd. finite.
     But the whole range of finites, from the simplest to the most highly compounded, were created to be recipient forms for the life emanating from the Divine life as so many actives. The Divine Essence, which was Divine love and wisdom, must have had actually its bases of operation, before the incarnation, in first actives and second actives. And these also are the human internal with men also, enclosed in whatever else constitutes the rational degree of the mind.
     New and lower bases were needed for those angels in the lower heavens and in the lower atmospheres. And these, it seems reasonable to think, emanated from the Lord's Human Essence.
     It also seems reasonable to think from our doctrine that the finite bases for the Lord's Divine Essence are the spiritual sun and the two radiant belts around it. Hence in TCR 29: "God finited all things by means of His sun in the midst of which He is; and which consists of the Divine Essence which goes forth as a sphere from Him. There and thence is the first of finition; but the progressive of it sees down to the ultimates in the nature of the world."
     Now it would seem that the "actives of the point" are the first envelope that makes the sun of the spiritual world; and the succeeding "first and second actives" are the central core within the natural sun. They are also within the cortical glands of the human brain, constituting the two degrees of the human "internal" which is above the rational mind. They are the two radiant belts around the spiritual sun, and thus are the two highest spiritual atmospheres. But from the Lord's Human glorified, who can doubt that there went forth other radiant belts or circles affecting the rational mind of men and all those other planes below it?

     Our doctrine declares that by His glorified Human the Lord holds in subjugation forever the hells He subdued by combats against them. But now the question arises: Does He do this solely by means of truths He has established in the minds of men, by reason of having lived among men on earth; or does He do it also by means of new circles of active entities arising from His glorified body? Here is where two lines of thought seem to diverge in the church.
     To some, the glorified Human of the Lord seems to mean a glorified idea of the Lord as now to be seen by men in His expanded Word, this having full efficacy in their regeneration. To others, the glorified Human means not only this glorified idea of the Lord, but also that He arose from the sepulcher with everything that a finite man would leave there, but now transformed into "actives." In their view He retained new temperings of His Divine life, touching all planes of a man's spirit and body.
     Without this, it is thought, the Lord could not hold the hells in subjugation to eternity; for the true idea of the Lord can be obliterated with some, so as to protect them no longer.
     It is plain that since mortals carry into eternal life a limbus, although quiescent, of the "highest things of nature"-that is, some sort of finite organism-therefore the Lord took with Him out of the sepulcher some part of the highest things of nature. But since it is said that with Him all things became life, and were no longer mere vessels of life as with mortals, it is evident that they were no longer passive but active. And since He retained more of the life of the body than the angels do, His Divine sphere must have included the lower things of nature also.
     This can mean, it would seem, only that those things of nature were no longer passive vessels, but living vessels of life. They were finite things in themselves but now made active from Divine life. They are to be called Divine and infinite only on account of the Divine and infinite within them and proceeding from or through them. They are altogether comparable to the Ist and 2nd actives, also finite, which surround our Lord in heaven as two radiant belts about the spiritual sun. They have been filled with Divine life in the same or in a similar way.
     If our Lord retained anything in any degree finite, then He could just as easily have retained the finite materials of His earthly body in tote. Where would the limit have to be drawn? It seems there must be a point at which one would then have to decide what finite substances could be retained and what could not. Who shall say that the Lord has glorified the finites forming the radiant belts around the spiritual sun but could not glorify the finites forming His physical body?
     The thought comes that it may have been the glorified body of our Lord-that part of it existing as a sphere in the natural world, if indeed there was such-that affected Swedenborg so as to open the interiors of his spirit and thus make the new revelation possible.

Could this have been the special use for which the Lord retained His natural body glorified? But it might also be the means of preparing the natural minds of all men to see spiritually. Could He have retained these ultimate things of nature to become the external means for accomplishing His second advent?
     It is a most significant thing, and very astonishing when we think of it, that the twelve disciples, all of them, deserted or denied the Lord at the time of the crucifixion. None of them had what may properly be called the "intestinal fortitude" to stand with Him at the last. The truth may now be seen that they could not possibly have done otherwise, and this was for the very reason that the Lord's Human had not yet been glorified, and therefore there was no source of strength from the spiritual world to prevent them from falling away.
     One may think that the sphere of the Lord elevating all to heaven has nothing to do with His glorified physical body, but that it is exclusively a sphere of Divine good and truth without any kinds of containing vessels that are finite in themselves. Divine good and truth, as we know, however, are substance and form. But do you think they have no sub-stratum of more ultimate substance and form?
     But let us not limit our idea of the actives set free in nature by the glorification, if there are any such in fact. These actives would be most wonderful, although limited in number. They would not be limited by being enclosed in any kind of passive envelopes, and could operate anywhere in the earth's sphere without regard to time or space.
     Consider the influence on the crude Geiger Counter of small particles buried deep in the earth-their activity being transmitted through atmospheres of the earth. And besides, remember that it is the infinite life within these finite glorified particles that is the real thing-uncreatable and Divine.
     If there is such power as we know in the atoms of the elements of nature when their nuclei are released and made active, how much greater the power of the Lord could be, even on the physical plane, from His own glorified body! We believe the Lord's Divine Human is the only source of power in heaven or on earth. There is no other power, either spiritual or physical, than the Lord's Human made Divine.
     And therefore until we are permitted to see some deeper truth annulling it, we place our thought definitely with those New Church men who think that the Lord's physical body was retained by Him and raised up into life.

TEN BLESSINGS AND EDUCATION 1955

TEN BLESSINGS AND EDUCATION Rev. DAVID R. SIMONS 1955

     2. Sorrow for Evil

     "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted" (Matthew 5:4). All blessings are from the Lord. It is the continual effort of His Divine love to provide for the eternal happiness of men. The purpose of the conscious existence we sense as life is that truly human joys and delights may be expanded without end-that a spiritual kingdom of blessings may be established in our hearts. But before this can be accomplished, before the kingdom of heaven can flow in, before spiritual life can be given to us as our own, there must be poverty and mourning, meekness and hunger, mercy, purity and peace. The prince of this world must be cast out.
     There are those who feel that childhood should be a time of uninhibited joy, and that we should therefore minimize or avoid any negative approach or repressive punishments that might cause sorrow. Guilt and shame are considered by them detrimental to normal mental health. Evil and disorder, they hold, are for the most part due to forces beyond the child's control. Yet the cultivation of a genuine sorrow for disorder as a preparation for the life of regeneration is of primary importance in the upbringing of our children. If we wait until the intellect matures to the point at which it recognizes that it pays to abide by law and order, or until the child learns to act from enlightened self-interest, before we blame him, hold him responsible, or expect him to mourn over his failings, then we do him untold harm. We are neglecting our responsibilities as parents. If we delay training the growing will, not only by instructing it in the values of right and wrong but by inculcating habits of conscientious grief as well, we fail to fulfill our spiritual duty.
     In their concern for the growing understanding, educators have all but forgotten the human will. Natural education is focused for the most part on the upbuilding of the intellectual powers of the mind. Although it realizes that the will must be stirred to interest if lasting results are to be achieved, still, the nature and quality of this will are unknown. In their zeal to protect the will against psychological complexes, educators have lost sight of its true quality. What most are unwilling to acknowledge is that the will is dominated by evil, that it tends to act from loves that are inspired by hell, and that the only force capable of having any effect on these loves, the only force that can curb and supplant them, resides in the Word of God.

Self-interest can, indeed, act as a palliative. It can provide an outer shell of civil and moral order that holds these evil loves in check. Yet, given the opportunity, they break out in all their fury-as is evident in the second state of man after death, when these merely external bonds are released and his inner loves take on their own hideous forms.
     While serious complexes can occur where a child is brought to sorrow for things that are totally beyond his understanding and control, or where parents are not consistent in their treatment of children and thus confuse them, still, unless we cultivate in them sorrow for disorder we are omitting a basic quality of spiritual life. It is impossible to instill a true sense of values in life apart from a sense of remorse for evil.
     True education must not rest content to build a mind that is proficient in the processes of thought and reason. It cannot be satisfied with introducing the growing mind to intellectual and cultural riches, but must strive to mold the budding will-to establish habits of order, self-control and obedience, and a consciousness of and conscience about right and wrong, that are founded upon the rock of Divine revelation. Unless we cultivate this sensitivity in our children, even to the point where they can grieve at their own mistakes and wrongdoing, we will leave them under the negative form of this blessing: Cursed are they that do not mourn: for they shall be comfortless.
     Sorrow and mourning are inseparable from human life. Far from existing to satisfy some unthinkable quality in God, they attest His boundless mercy and love. For sorrow, like bodily pain, can make us aware of disorder, and in so doing provide for its removal. Remorse and grief
can open our minds to new states of life, to new delights, and to new determinations to the right. If our capacity to mourn were taken away, we would never improve, for we could never be stirred to protect and cherish what we love, and we could never have our sense of the value and quality of things perfected. Sorrow is inseparable from life because love is the life of man and mental pain is love's way of protecting itself. Those who learn to mourn over their own evils are given a love of the truth which reveals those evils, and the delight of that love which is the joy and comfort of heaven.

"GUARDIAN OF CONJUGIAL LOVE" 1955

"GUARDIAN OF CONJUGIAL LOVE" Rev. ORMOND ODHNER 1955

     In the first draft of Conjugial Love, Swedenborg treated the subject of Jealousy in the second part of that work, the part relating to states of disorder in connection with marriage. In the final, published draft, however, Jealousy is taken up in the first part of the work, the part relating to the "Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love."
     From this we conclude that apparently Swedenborg at first thought of jealousy as a thing of disorder. He mentions "the stigma commonly attached to its name" (CL 376, paraphrased). With more thought, however, he was led to see that just as zeal is not in itself evil, but is simply love afire and aflame to defend itself against attack-and thus good or bad according to the quality of the love; so jealousy, "the zeal of conjugial love," is conjugial love afire and aflame and acting with force to defend itself against attack. Jealousy is, therefore, quite proper to love in marriage; although good jealousy is always characterized by a zeal for the eternal welfare of the partner as well as for oneself-for the partner, too, since to a tremendous extent her spiritual welfare is dependent upon her continued devotion to the conjugial ideal.
     The particular teaching concerning jealousy that we would here emphasize is that true jealousy, contrary to popular opinion, has its seat and origin, not in the female, but in the male, and in him originates in the understanding (CL 372). It is in the understanding that the male rationally pictures the awful tragedy that would result from loss of the conjugial. It is there that rational reasons are called up as to why the conjugial shall not be lost. It is there that the conjugial love inspired into him through his wife bursts into a consuming flame against its violator, and thence that it acts with force in its own defense. And it is from the peculiarly masculine understanding of truth that jealousy is inspired into the female.

     With this in mind, we would turn our attention to a statement common in our church, to the effect that "woman is the guardian of conjugial love." We have looked long for this statement in the Writings but cannot find it, not even by implication. For some years, furthermore, we have felt that this saying has actually tended to perpetuate disorder, rather than to cure it-as any teaching of revelation always would: for it carries with it a whole host of insinuations to the effect that the male is quite thoroughly lupine by nature, to say the least; that it is vain ever to expect anything better of him; that woman must constantly defend the conjugial against the male; and that it is not the duty of the male to defend it.

As far as we know, only the first of these has backing in revelation, in the teaching that the male by nature has nothing in him of conjugial love or its ideal. The mere insinuation of any of the others is vitally dangerous.
     Webster defines "guardian" as "one who guards, keeps safe, secures; a custodian"; and defines "guard" as "protect from danger, defend, shield ...watch over, restrain, control." Other dictionaries add little to the meaning. To us, "guardian" implies a defender and protector of something valued, and implies also that the defender is not only able and willing to ward off attack, but is active in doing so when necessary. We know, however, that to some people "guardian" means something more passive, such as a repository, a place of safe-keeping.
     If this latter be the true meaning of "guardian," then we have no objection to the saying that woman is the guardian of conjugial love, for by Divine appointment she is, of course, its sole repository among the human race. If, however, "guardian" means an active defender and protector, then we question the wisdom of the saying; for surely that role is for the man of the church, and the church will die from among us if her men do not assume it.
     Yet this by no means belittles the importance of woman in connection with conjugial love. As the Writings say, she is and ever will be the immediate recipient of that love as it first flows forth from the Lord. No male will ever receive it, save through woman. By creation she is a veritable form itself of that love. It is so much a part of her being that in her it is said to be innate.
     Woman, it is said, is born a form of love; man, a form of wisdom (CL 216b, 223). Her very life itself is love and affection, whereas the inmost of masculine life is understanding. Spiritually speaking, affection is the female, understanding is the male.
     Man, therefore, has no love whatever innate in him; woman has nothing but love innate in her. Thus in connection with conjugial love, which is simply one particular kind of love, we read: "Conjugial love is inherent in every woman" (CL 393). Again: "The conjugial sphere is received by the female sex, and through this is transferred into the male sex" (ibid. 223). Again, and probably no male ever accepts this, except on faith: "The reason why the inspiration or insinuation of love is from wives into men is that with men there is nothing of conjugial love, nor even of the love of the sex, but solely with wives and women" (ibid. 161).

And in marriages of love truly conjugial, the sphere of love, of course, is received by the husband "solely through the wife" (ibid. 223).
     Further along these lines we read: "Man is not love, but only a recipient of love" (CL 160); and, in connection with marriage, a recipient of the love inspired into him by woman. In spite of all appearances, and in spite of all that women succeed in doing to perpetuate the appearances, it is still the teaching that man does not love woman, she loving him in return, but that she loves him, and he is stirred to love by her.
     She is born love, and "love cannot do otherwise than love and unite itself, in order that it may be loved in return; its essence and life are nothing else" (CL 160). Woman actuates man to love, even as the will actuates the understanding, and not the reverse (De Conj. 34). "The masculine is an intellectual form, the female a volitional form, and an intellectual form cannot by itself grow warm with conjugial heat, but only from the conjunctive heat of one in whom it is implanted from creation. Therefore it cannot receive that love, except through the volitional form of a female adjoined to itself" (CL 223).
     As the Writings say, however, women, in their wisdom, nearly always succeed in hiding this fact from men. Human life, therefore, does not confirm these teachings, but something that happens in the individual mind does confirm them. Truth does not produce good, but good produces truth. The mere knowledge of how to be good absolutely never makes us want to be good; but the desire to be good invariably leads to a knowledge of how to be good. And the female, even as to her soul, is good or love; the male is truth or understanding.
     What all this means, apparently, is that it is a part of the very female soul and life itself to desire, not simply conjunction with a male, but that perfect conjunction with one male on all planes of life which is the conjugial union. Instinctive in the male, however, in spite of appearances, there is no desire for any conjunction at all with any female whatsoever. Even the mere thought of it has to be inspired into him after his birth by the almost inevitably successful female sex.
     But the male's first reaction to the whole idea, according to what the Writings say, is no devotion to the conjugial ideal, but simply an unlimited love of the sex leading him to favor polygamy over monogamy. "The love of the sex is with men, and with women the love of one of the sex. . . . To confirm this, if you like, ask of the men you meet concerning monogamic and polygamic marriages, and you will rarely come upon one who will not respond in favor of polygamic, and this is also the love of the sex. But ask women respecting these marriages, and nearly all . . . will reject polygamic marriages, from which it is clear that with women there is the love of one of the sex, thus conjugial love" (CL 296).

This, surely, is a remarkable statement. How many men today would admit favoring polygamy? Perhaps Swedenborg was speaking here from his experiences in the spiritual world, where the inner character is laid bare.

The point is, however, that with women a devotion to the conjugial ideal is instinctive; with men, even after the idea of love and marriage has been insinuated, it comes out first as a favoring of polygamy, not conjugial love. Men, alas, are most obtuse in all matters of love; they have, it is said, only an exterior perception of love, while women have an interior perception of it.
     Here we would note, nevertheless, that nothing so far drawn from the Writings designates woman as the guardian of conjugial love. Its immediate receptacle from the Lord, yes; its only repository among humanity, and the only source of its inspiration into men, as well as being instinctively devoted to its ideal, for it is a part of her very soul itself. But so far, that is all. However, there is more.
     "Wives," we read, "love the bonds of marriage, if only the men love them" (CL 217). "Every chaste wife loves her husband, even though he be unchaste" (ibid. 294). "It is innate with wives to will to be one with their husbands; and from this thought of their will they continually nurture their love. To recede from the endeavor to unite themselves with their husbands would be to recede from their very selves" (ibid. 216b). "The wife is constantly thinking about the inclination of the man to herself, with the purpose of conjoining him to herself" (ibid. 169).
     As we have seen, however, there is nothing inborn in any male to which the female can even appeal in order to effect such a conjunction in love truly conjugial. The proposition, therefore, would be hopeless, but for the fact-never to be forgotten, either concerning oneself or concerning others-that in the mercy of the Lord, every human being is capable of absolutely fundamental changes of his character from what it is at his birth. Things can be adjoined to man which are not in him when he is born, things that can respond affirmatively to a woman's appeal for a conjugial union. And these things are the things of spiritual wisdom.
     "Only wisdom is the recipient of conjugial love," we read (CL 294). Hence the frequent teaching that conjugial love and the church go hand in hand, for wisdom is not truth in the understanding alone but is truth applied to life, and that is what makes the church in man. Man, then, the male, can undergo a fundamental change in character. Born with no spiritual wisdom, and therefore with nothing in him responsive to the conjugial ideal, he can acquire all wisdom; and as he does so, there grows up in him, as part of his heavenly proprium, that which will respond affirmatively to woman's appeal for a conjugial union; and will respond to this, not blindly and instinctively, but with rationality and understanding.

     Woman, kind and perceptive soul, realizes this; and so we read: "Because only wisdom is recipient of that love, the wife therefore uses every effort to turn his [the husband's] insanity into wisdom, that is, that he may not lust after others beside herself, which she does in a thousand ways, taking the greatest care that none of them shall be discovered by the man; for she knows well that love cannot be constrained, but is insinuated in freedom" (CL 294).
     This, indeed, is the true wisdom of womankind: an instinctive perception of how to lead men to look upon them with favor; an instinctive perception of how to lead men to consider monogamy with serious intent; and, in marriage, an instinctive perception of how to keep her husband's interests centered upon herself alone, that her desire for a truly conjugial marriage may have the possibility of fulfillment.
     But still we say that we are not thus taught that woman is the guardian of conjugial love. Conjugial love is a good, and good never defends and protects itself against evil. Good merely recoils itself from the attacks of evil-and nothing of evil would care about that. It is truth, and truth alone, that guards, protects and defends good against the attacks of evil, and there is no more of truth inherent in woman than there is in man. In both it is a thing built up after birth through regeneration. But genuine spiritual truth-the source of genuine spiritual wisdom, and that which makes the church with man-has its first place in the male, and from and through him it is transferred to the female.
     Now let us return to the teachings concerning jealousy. Love, it is said, resides in the will, but in the will knows nothing about itself, feels and does nothing of itself. Only when it proceeds into the understanding does it gain a rational picture of its own state. Only in the understanding, then, can it picture to itself all it will lose if attacks upon it succeed. It is in the understanding that love reasons as to why it should not perish, and summons up reasonings to guard, protect and defend itself (see CL 360).
     Now, just as the female is born to be a form of the will, the male is born to be a form of the understanding. Hence the teaching that jealousy-the zeal of conjugial love, or conjugial love afire and aflame and acting with force to defend itself-has its seat in the understanding of the male, rather than in the female; and the further teaching, that from the husband it is transferred to the wife (CL 372).
     "The seat of jealousy," we read, "is in the understanding of the man who receives the love of his married partner, and loves in return, and its quality in the understanding is according to his wisdom . . . conjugial love protects itself by the understanding as good does by truth.

Thus the wife protects the things that are in common with the man through her husband; and for that reason zeal is implanted in the men, and by the men and for the sake of men in the women" (ibid.). Again: "The origin of virile jealousies is in the understanding, but of womanly jealousies in the will applied to the understanding of the husband ...with the spiritual, the jealousy of the man is transferred to the wife, just as the wife's love is transferred to the man; and therefore they appear each to the other alike opposed to the endeavor of a violator" (CL 379).
     Zeal, we are told, is the defender and protector of love (CL 358). Jealousy, the zeal of conjugial love, is the defender and protector of that love. True, just and spiritual jealousy-originating in the understanding of the male-surely must be considered as something more than a husband's determination, and from him, the wife's determination, to protect and defend their own individual marriage from attacks made upon it by another human being. First, it must be extended to include a man's determination to fight as deadly sins those evils within himself which tend to prevent his reception of the love proffered by his wife; those evils, that is, which tend to destroy what wisdom has been built up within him. And secondly, it must be extended to include man's determination to defend the ideal of the conjugial itself from all attacks made upon it, with himself or with others, wherever and whenever they arise.
     Truth is the defender and protector of good. True spiritual wisdom is not only the sole thing in the male receptive of conjugial love, but is also the only appropriate and effective protector and defender of that love. And such wisdom has its first home in the male. From him it is built up in the female.
     A woman's own defense of that conjugial love which is with her innate will ever be characterized by recoiling and withdrawing, even as good recoils at the presence of evil. That is a kind of protection and defense, it is true; but successful only with men who seek to devote themselves to spiritual wisdom, but in whom, at the moment, states of evil have arisen. A thoroughly evil man would only laugh such defense to scorn. The other means of defending conjugial love that women employ, the rational means, are things derived from the understanding of the male.
     Genuine spiritual wisdom alone receives conjugial love in man. Genuine spiritual wisdom alone is its effective and appropriate defender, protector and guard. And such wisdom, we repeat, is received first by the male, and from and through him by the female.
     This is why we say it is up to the men of the New Church, not the women, to undertake the role of guardians, protectors and defenders of conjugial love, and why we also say that until the men of the church do this there will be but little of spiritual growth and progress, nor even much of spiritual stability.

Admittedly, in the budding youth there will be nothing really his own to lead him to undertake such guardianship; but fortunately even a youth can be led to act from high ideals, though it may be conceit which causes him to do so. In the young man there will be but little really his own to make him such a guardian of love truly conjugial; but even he can know his better moments, and in them can determine to act in externals as though all his moments were the better ones. But it will be the older men of the church-really of the church because the church is in them who will be the guardians, protectors and defenders of that most precious pearl of human life, and from them the women of the church will gain strength and guidance to help them effect their instinctive desires. In this work the men will be guided solely by the wisdom they can gain from the Lord. And for such wisdom they will gladly seek, in thankfulness for the women the Lord has given them, through whom alone is inspired into them the conjugial.
REWARD 1955

REWARD 1955

"'Reward' is frequently mentioned in the Word, but few know what it there signifies. It is known in the churches that by the goods which man does he can merit nothing, for they are not his, but the Lord's; and that meriting or merit looks to man, and thus conjoins itself with the love of self, and with the thought of pre-eminence over others, and consequently with contempt for others. For this reason works done for the sake of reward are not good in themselves, because they do not spring from the genuine fountain; that is, from charity toward the neighbor. Charity toward the neighbor has within it the desire that it should be as well with him as with ourselves; and with the angels, that it should be better with him than with themselves. Such also is the affection of charity; and therefore it is averse to all self-merit, and consequently to all the doing of good that looks to reward. To those who are in charity, the reward consists in being able to show kindness, and in being allowed to do so, and in the kindness being accepted. This is the delight, nay, bliss itself that is enjoyed by those who are in the affection of charity. From this it is evident what that 'reward' is that is mentioned in the Word, namely, the delight and bliss of the affection of charity" (Arcana Coelestia, 3956).

TWO INFORMATIVE REPORTS 1955

     At an Executive Session in 1948, the Council of Ministers of the General Convention appointed a committee to prepare a statement "defining the message, work, and field of labor of the General Convention, particularly its position on the relationship between the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg and Sacred Scripture." This committee's report, as adopted by the Council of Ministers, was published in the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER shortly afterwards, and in 1953 was reprinted in that official organ of Convention (pp. 299, 300); at which time we drew attention to certain of its phases (NEW CHURCH LIFE, November, 1953, pp. 517, 518). Recently the report came under our notice again in pamphlet form; and we refer to it once more to bring to our readers that which has not always been readily obtainable-a clear statement of the definable positions taken by Convention on the nature of the Writings, their relation to the Sacred
Scripture, and where the authority for religious thinking and reasoning resides. In so doing, however, we would stress, as did our contemporary, that although the report was adopted by the Council of Ministers and published in Convention's official organ, "it is not a statement of doctrine, but of the positions which the General Convention has taken historically on its message, work, and field of labor."
     "The General Convention is convinced," we are told, "that a revelation, presenting the Christian Gospel afresh, has been made to the world by the Lord in the Theological Works of Swedenborg." "There is," the report continues, "revelation of the teaching of the Scriptures-of the unity and comprehensiveness of it when it is gathered from the Scriptures as a whole and in the light of their deeper meaning. Secondly, there is revelation of this inner meaning of the Word of God, a meaning of which Scripture is basis and support, and to which it is means of access. Thirdly, there is disclosure of the reality, nature and life, of the immortal world."
     So much for the nature of the Writings, which are held to be, not Swedenborg's "personal construction of Christian teaching, but a revelation given by the Lord in His second coming-a revelation of further light on the Christian Gospel, of a profounder meaning in the Word of God than has been attributed to it, and of the reality and nature of the other world." As to the relation of the Writings to the Sacred Scripture the report has this to say: "The Bible or the Word which we have in the Old and New Testaments is 'the crown of revelations' (True Christian Religion n. 11).

The Theological Works thus exalt the Word. The Scriptures are the source of the doctrine which they formulate so fully; the Scriptures contain inexhaustibly the spiritual sense of the Word which those works set forth in part, however amply; and in the Gospel is the basis of the immortal hope and of the faith in a spiritual world of which the Theological Works give an organized and illuminating picture."
     With regard to "where the authority for our religious thinking and reasoning resides," the report reads thus: "The Convention, congregational in mode of organization, and prizing freedom of inquiry in religious thought, takes a position characteristic of it. It thinks that ultimate religious authority resides not in an ecclesiastical body or a ministry, not in ways of stating things or in texts, but in truth, and in Him who is the Truth. The Lord's mind, and His Spirit guiding into all truth, are to govern our thought and life. Whether in the Bible or in the Theological Works, the mind of Convention finds authority in the truth descried."
     Our purpose here is to report rather than to comment, yet a few questions may be in order. The General Church would agree unreservedly that ultimate religious authority resides neither in the church, the priesthood, nor in creeds, and that the Lord's mind and spirit are to govern our minds and lives. But where else is the Divine mind expressed, where else does the Lord's spirit guide, than in and through the plain, open statements of truth made in the sacred texts? How else can the Lord govern than by means of what He speaks directly to the church? And should the church find authority in "thus saith the Lord," or in a grand, sweeping, but undefinable truth which it "descries"? This term seems to be open to a variety of interpretations.
     As a church we agree with all who hold that the Writings are a Divine revelation, though we go further than some in taking this to what we believe is its logical conclusion. But the distinction made here between the Sacred Scripture and the Writings puzzles us. The key to this distinction is the statement that "the Scriptures contain inexhaustibly the spiritual sense of the Word which those works set forth in part, however amply." This evidently means that the Writings express only a portion of what is contained fully in the Scriptures, which are said to be their source, and therefore cannot be called the Word. But is it really so? Does the spiritual sense of the Word cease to be the Word when it is expressed in a Divine revelation? Are the Scriptures the source of the doctrine which the Writings formulate, or is that source the Lord, within whose recorded words in the Old and New Testaments that doctrine is present as the spiritual sense! Can there be any Divine revelation which does not contain within it interior degrees of truth?

And how can that which is not the Word, and must therefore be inferior to it, "exalt" the Word?
     We wonder also why the Writings should be described as "presenting the Christian Gospel afresh," as though all that were needed was new insights. There is a truth in this, but if the Writings are emphatic about anything it is that now, for the first time, true Christianity is beginning to dawn. These are some of the questions that occurred to us on reading again this informative report.

     The General Conference Year Book for 1954-1955 contains a most interesting report of the Committee of Ministers and Leaders on Section A of the Report of the Committee on the Growth of the Church. This latter report was presented to Conference in 1952, and Section A laid down a conception of the priesthood, supported by many quotations from the Writings, which involved that the priest should be the head of his church. Despite some opposition, the report was ordered printed in the Year Book, and this section was handed to the Committee of Ministers and Leaders for study, again in the face of minority opposition. The report to which we now refer is the result of the Committee's studies.
     Admirable in approach and tone, the report affirms that "doctrine, and neither tradition nor custom, must determine the order of the Church"; and states that "the Lord in His Divine Human is the Head of the Church and of every Society, and His Divine Truth is the only Law of the Church and of the Societies." In seeking to interpret the teaching that the priest- hood is the first of the church (AE 229), it concludes: "Since the Priesthood (not the priest) is the primum ecclesiae [first of the church] we would suggest that it is the Priesthood (not the priest) that is the first in the Church and in every Society thereof. That is to say that the Use and function of the Priesthood, which is the teaching of Divine Truth, leading thereby to the good of life, the administration of the Sacraments, and all the things of heaven with men, is the first of the Church and of every Society." The maintenance of the primum ecclesiae is regarded as the duty of the ministry as a whole, and the immediate oversight of such uses in any society as the duty of the individual minister; but the final responsibility for the good order of that society is held not to rest upon him alone. It is therefore suggested that there should be no idea of the minister being "head" of the society; and that under the idea here advanced he can take his proper place as one set over the uses of the priesthood.

DISTINCTIVENESS IN RELIGION 1955

DISTINCTIVENESS IN RELIGION Rev. HAROLD C. CRANCH 1955

     (Delivered at the 20th General Assembly Banquet, Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 19, 1954.)

     The Academy and the General Church from their beginnings have held that the New Church is distinct from all others in doctrine and life. The Lord gave a new church because materialism and man-made doctrines had destroyed the soul of the organized Christian Church. The teachings of the Word had been falsified. Men were saved despite the doctrines of the church, not because of them. So the Lord gave a new revelation to make a new church distinct from the old. Its doctrine exposes falsity and teaches truth. It cannot be together with the old for they are completely antagonistic. So the Lord says to those who will receive the New Church: "Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins" (Revelation 18:4).
     Many New Church men have been tempted to think that the former church is not as bad as presented in the Word. They think it has changed and reformed. But the Lord has given us a basis for judgment. "By their fruits shall ye know them." Let us briefly look at the fruits of the fallen church today, in the Christian world. Evils exist on every hand. There are wars. There is a tremendous increase of graft and corruption, the lust for power and position, a pandering to selfish interests in advertising and politics. There is a tremendous rise of juvenile delinquency with children from Christian homes. Scientific materialism has almost unseated the Divine authority of the Bible. And Communism-Godless and materialistic-has grown mightily; a fertile field for growth being among Christian peoples and nations. If the former religion were spiritually strong and alive could such fruits be? Examples might be multiplied indefinitely. It is sufficient for our purpose to see that these things do exist, and are increasing, to see the necessity for a new revelation and a new church. That church would have to be distinct from the former ones in every way. Its doctrine opposes the weakened and falsified doctrine that formerly existed. So tonight let us look at our religion to see its true distinctiveness as to doctrine and life. To do this effectively we will compare the present teachings of the churches with the basic doctrine of the New Church that we may see them side by side, and thus see the purpose of the new revelation and the abuses it was given to correct.

     First of all, the Writings teach that: "All religion has relation to life, and the life of religion is to do good." The doctrines of the church make up a religion, because they teach the duties and aspects of an orderly life. But man must use the doctrines to accomplish their purpose in his own life and in the life of the church. So "the life of religion is to do good." One who accepts the doctrines of religion is obligated to put them into practice to the best of his ability, to do the goods of use which they teach.
     The Heavenly Doctrine revealed by the Lord is described as the holy city, New Jerusalem, descending from heaven to be received by men. Within its walls there is spiritual security and blessedness far above anything man call achieve by any other means. Within it is the future of all mankind. All are invited by the Lord to enter into this city. But they must accept the invitation by seeing the truth. Then, within the city, they can find the tree of life whose leaves are for the healing of the nations, which will cure every evil and abuse. And the water of life flows freely to cleanse them. But now let us look at the distinctive doctrines which make up the New Jerusalem. Every doctrine of the New Church is new and distinctive, for when it was given the Lord said:
"Behold, I make all things new." But we must limit our view tonight to a few doctrines, to see them in contradistinction to the falsified doctrines which now reign in the other churches.
     The most important teaching of any church concerns God. When the Lord was asked which was the greatest commandment, He said: "Hear O Israel, the Lord thy God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength." Yet this doctrine of the Lord has been completely perverted. The Christian churches teach that God is divided into three separate Divine persons, each with his own work and use; each separately called God and Lord, yet united in some mystical sense which makes these three one. The basis for salvation, as they teach it, requires this division. So they teach that God the Father, from Divine justice, condemned ill mankind for the sin of Adam. God the Son came into the world to save men from the wrath of the Father by his sacrifice upon the cross. And now, when touched by the Holy Spirit, men can accept the redemptive sacrifice of the Son to be saved despite an evil life. This faith is non-biblical and abhorrent to reason. So the former Christian Church protects it by saying that the unity and trinity of God form a mystery far above man's comprehension. If the inmost of church doctrine is veiled in darkness and perversion, how can a true religion develop from it? To correct this perversion a rational doctrine was revealed. The New Church has an understandable and beautiful doctrine of the Lord. It shows that the Lord God created the world and man that there might be a heaven from the human race.

This Divine purpose must be constantly protected; and when men turned away from revelation, He came into the world to put an a Divine Human to reveal Himself so men could know, love and worship their God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the one God of heaven and earth, and in Him is the complete trinity. This is a new and completely distinctive idea of the Divine.
     The New Church shows further that the Lord, being Divine love and wisdom, acts from perfect justice. His Providence governs the affairs of men, and gently leads them to receive in their hearts as much of heaven and its happiness as they can attain.
     The Lord, and His Divine purpose, can be known only from the Word. But the power and authority of the Word itself has almost perished in the world around us. Most churches look at the Bible as a literal history of the Jewish race, and the story of the best and most moral man arising from that race, having some aspect of Divinity. Materialistic science has destroyed much of that literal acceptance, and what is left the higher critics are fast undermining. The immorality, abuses and actual evils done in the name of religion as recorded in the literal sense, also tend to destroy the authority of the Bible. But the Lord made His second advent by means of a new revelation-a distinct part of the Word. And in it He shows the spiritual sense within the letter of the Word, and how He is inmostly present within it. Difficulties and contradictions are removed, and by correspondence the Word becomes Divine, spiritual and living. This doctrine of the Word is completely new and distinctive.
     Now we come to the purpose of life, to man's use of the Divine law-the doctrines of life and faith. These also have been perverted in the former churches. Salvation by faith alone rules in half the Christian sects, and the doctrine of salvation by merit rules in the other half. Now it has been said that faith alone perished years ago in the Protestant churches, that it is no longer active in their thought. But this is erroneous. The Episcopal and Methodist Churches, and others arising from this group, include this doctrine as one of their basic tenets. So we read in their Articles: "That we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine, and most full of comfort. We are accounted righteous before God ... by faith, and not by our own works or deservings." The Baptists still pose the question in their services: "Who will come forward, accept Christ, and be saved?" We have all received little pamphlets on street corners titled "Are You Saved?" These teach that all man must do is believe and he will he saved, just as he is, without any change. This has been stated by a Doctor of Divinity, J. E. Conant, who wrote in a book under the title How to be Saved and Know It; "'The way to receive the unspeakable gift of God's love, is simply to believe what He tells about it, and tell Him so.

Simple isn't it? But even though so simple, the moment you do that, the transaction between you and God is eternally complete and you are saved forever. God's answer to the question (How can I be saved?) is, 'Believe'; this and this alone is God's answer."
     The New Church doctrine is sensible and easy to grasp. Faith on man's part is that which he believes with sufficient strength and understanding to act from it. The Lord has given revelation to teach man how to live an orderly and spiritual life. This is what man is to see and believe. It is the presentation of the Lord to him, and having seen its truth he, of his own free will, accepts it into his life, and tries to live it.
     Charity in the common Christian doctrine is merely almsgiving. It is often sentimental, without the control of reason. The New Church teaches that charity is a life of usefulness motivated by genuine spiritual principles. Man's worship is essentially a worship of life. His formal organized worship is for the sake of inspiration and guidance that he may apply the principles there presented to his daily work. This is confirmed by the direct teaching in the work Charity, that every man becomes a form of charity by doing the work immediately before him to the very best of his ability, honestly, sincerely and justly. In this way the Lord leads him day by day; and by the effort in his will, and by the practice in life, heaven is established in his heart.
     The New Church ideal of marriage is also completely new. Formerly marriage was taught to be for this world alone, and the man was to rule over the wife, so even the attempt to spiritualize marriage leads to abuses. The New Church ideal is beautiful and sound. It teaches the essential difference between man and woman, and how their natures are complementary and together make a spiritual unity. Only as the two are united in spiritual love and natural uses can there be a true union. Then this union of soul, mind and body, is an eternal unity and can never be put aside. So the Lord said: "What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." The doctrine of conjugial love is the pearl of religion-the source of greatest happiness on earth and in heaven. But it can be achieved only by those who look to the Lord and try to understand His wisdom and purpose, to bring that purpose into being in the life they share.
     Men did not understand death and the life beyond. The churches taught that death was an evil-the punishment of mankind for the sin of Adam. They also taught that man rested in his grave waiting for the day of the last judgment, when he would rise again into a more perfect natural world where the substances of his body would be gathered together by a great miracle, and his soul would flow into it again, and he would live in a natural paradise forever.

Meanwhile the departed soul lingered in a nebulous form, knowing something of the affairs of men, but more or less powerless to act. The beautiful doctrine of the New Church teaches clearly that man was born into this world to prepare for eternal life. The new revelation has removed the fear of death. It shows that the Divine Providence leads man day by day, developing his eternal nature, and only by the death of the body can he enter the spiritual world to find his eternal place. His last judgment takes place by his own free choice of his use and companions. According to his inner character he gravitates either to heaven or hell. And, we are taught, even those who choose hell are protected by the Divine love, so far as they will permit, and they are brought into a life of some usefulness to all.
     It is also distinctive to the New Church to teach that man is created spiritually free. Other churches still teach that man has no freedom in spiritual things. So we read: "The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such that he cannot turn and prepare himself to faith and calling upon God. Wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God."
     The New Church demonstrates clearly that without freedom heaven is impossible. The ideas of compulsion and heaven are incompatible. The Lord predestines every man to heaven, and leads and guides him every day of his life to choose the best that he will receive. But He protects man's freedom in such a way that man can refuse His Divine leading, can refuse to accept heaven. This freedom is protected by the Lord because only those things which man accepts in full freedom, remain with him. Everything else is rejected. This idea of freedom is carried into the very life and faith of the church. The famous words "Nunc Licet" express that spiritual freedom, for they signify, "Now it is permitted to enter with the understanding into the mysteries of faith." There is no field of knowledge which man cannot freely examine and try to understand, to accept it or reject it.
     Now these are the most basic of our distinctive doctrines of religion. They completely oppose the false doctrines that reign in the former church today. These doctrines, revealed by the Lord, are a new dispensation, and they establish a completely new and distinctive church.
     Our religion, as taught in the Word, is beautiful and perfect. And we are applying its distinctive teachings to the life of the church and the individual. Only as we apply them can they really become ours. Then the new culture or civilization which the Lord intends for mankind begins to come into being. It is in this way that the life of religion is to do good. Through our obedience as a church and as individuals the Lord establishes the good of truth.

Let us look at some distinctive applications of these doctrines in the General Church. To mention a few will bring many others to mind. The rational teachings concerning the Lord's nature and justice, and concerning the Word and its spiritual meaning, have led many materialists, atheists, and agnostics to change their entire beliefs, to become part of the New Church. The teaching of the Writings has produced a wealth of literature, and has influenced every field of use within and outside the church. It has developed a distinctive social life marked, not by exclusiveness but by its distinctive nature, which guards spiritual ideals of marriage as the foundation of a pure Christian religion. It has shown the necessity for a completely new form of education-an education for the performance of natural uses as an expression of religion, which prepares especially for eternal life. This distinctive religion has led men and women to sacrifice external advantages to come together in communities to support the new education, and give its benefits to their children. It has provided the spiritual mortar which holds these families together despite the external difficulties bound to arise in small communities. These are all applications by the church of the doctrine. They are a living acceptance of the new idea of the Lord and His Word, of the new faith and the life of charity and use, which establishes the new ideal of marriage, and strengthens our homes and communities. All of this is done in freedom according to reason, acknowledging the Lord's providence and guidance, looking to His purposes in our everyday life.
But we must not think that we have that real and distinctive religion because we were born into the church, nor because we have seen some of its teachings and like them. We must accept these distinctive doctrines for ourselves, not only in mind, but in life. This is an individual responsibility. We cannot rest content that the New Church itself is applying them. We must do our part in making these things new, real and distinctive in our own lives. We must understand these new doctrines intelligently, and use them in our homes and in our work, and support their development in others. Then the church will be vitally alive. Then it will be the source of real happiness and satisfaction, for then each one of us will have the love of truth for its own sake-a love of truth given by the Lord, by which alone the New Church can prosper and grow. For if we love the truth, then we become the merchant the Lord told about in His parable-a merchant seeking goodly pearls, who, finding the one pearl of great price, sold everything else that he had to gain it. Our distinctive religion is that pearl. Let us seek it always, in everything of life. In that way we shall have a true love for the Lord, and a living love for the neighbor, and we shall dwell together in the holy city, New Jerusalem, in happiness forever.

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1955

     The February readings in the Old Testament include the closing portion of Ezekiel, the entire prophecy through Daniel, and the opening section of Hosea. Daniel is mentioned by his contemporary Ezekiel, and the teaching that the book bearing his name is historically true (AC 1709) has been supported by archeological research, which has confirmed its historicity, date and authorship. The book is both historical and prophetical, falling into two parts of six chapters each; the first relating events in Daniel's life, the second recording his inspired visions.
     Daniel's name means "God is my Judge," and the statement that "by Daniel is signified everything prophetical concerning the Lord's advent and the state of the church, here concerning its last state" (AC 3652), sounds the keynote of the book. Under such symbols as a fourfold image representing four kingdoms that were to come, and an everlasting kingdom that was finally to triumph, the internal sense depicts the successive stages of spiritual development and judgment. The dominant subject is the successive vastation of the church; but its rejection and the establishment of a new church are only a little less stressed, the Lord's advent and the Last Judgment are introduced, and the rejection of the Lord by the church and His glorification are touched upon briefly.
     Of particular interest is the Messianic prophecy-the vision of the Son of Man in the clouds (Daniel 7:13, 14)-which at once marks the climax of such predictions and links the two advents of the Lord. The faithful Daniel himself, refusing as a youth to eat of the king's meat, and undaunted by trials endangering his life, represents, we are told, those who are being reformed by means of truths from the Word and by means of temptations" (AE 724:28).

     In the Arcana readings (nos. 10370:2-10479) the doctrinal inserts, on the third earth and on baptism, are interesting; the former stressing that those only who acknowledge God under a human form are accepted and led by the Lord. The incident of the molten calf, Exodus 32, signifies that because the Israelites were wholly in externals no church could be instituted among them; nevertheless, representatives, which are ultimates of the church, were among them to the end that the Word might be written. This incident is also a warning that when internals seem to vanish in the church, the remedy does not lie in new externals.

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1955

Under the editorship of the Rev. George T. Hill, the British quarterly, the NEW-CHURCH MAGAZINE, continues to offer articles of solid worth and lively interest. In the most recent issue to be received, October-December, 1954, Mr. Alfred E. Friend writes on "The Value of External Worship," pointing out that New Church men are very prone to discount it to the advantage of internal worship, and showing convincingly the fallacy in this attitude generally and the importance of external worship as an ultimate. There is a scholarly approach to "The Problem of Evil" by the late Rev. Eric A. Sutton, who shows that evil is a delight and discusses fully the implications of this in relation both to the continuance and the removal of evil. And in an article entitled "Revelation and Speculation," the Rev. E. C. Howe suggests that with new discoveries, in modern physics for example, there is a field for study and for careful imaginative thinking, firmly based on revelation and embracing up-to-date ideas and discoveries; not with the object of modifying revelation, but with the endeavor to see its consequences in life and thought.

Recent issues of the NEW AGE, Australian bimonthly journal, have also contained several articles of Particular interest. In one of these, "A Reading Church," Mr. W. R. Horner makes the point that nothing distinguishes the New Church more from the old Christian churches than the teaching that a man must acquire truths and desire to do them, and thus have a new understanding formed in him, before the Lord can form a new will in the understanding This leads him to the conclusion that the Church should be a reading church, and that reading and reflecting upon the Writings is the duty of every member of the church. The Rev. Arthur Clapham contributes the first installment of an article on "Marriage and Divorce." He faces the current situation, asserts that it cannot be improved either by reforming the divorce laws to make them more "humane" or by tightening them while people are not willing to pay any attention to them, and states that the remedy can come only through a more profound understanding of what marriage means, and of what this particular bond between a man and a woman actually is The creation of that understanding he sees as the work of the church; and the main part of this installment is a well documented study from the Writings of the state of marriage and of the spiritual laws which govern it.

The NEW-CHURCH HERALD published recently an interesting article on "Ordination" by the Rev. Dennis Duckworth. Mr. Duckworth begins by noting that there are in the General Conference three degrees of the ministry-ordained leaders, ministers, and ordaining ministers; and that it is the right and particular duty of the third degree to ordain others into the ministry and to preserve and strengthen the order within the church and its ministry. The writer then points out that it is the Lord alone who ordains, the ordaining minister representing Him; but that the rite of ordination can be performed only by an ordaining minister, never by a layman. Raising the question of how the New Church priesthood began, he tells the familiar story of the ordination of James Hindmarsh, and concludes that Robert Hindmarsh and his associates acted according to order, and that James was ordained by the Lord. While not questioning this, we have believed that Robert was ordained under the Divine auspices to perform the ordination of his father. A later issue carries an article on "Intercessory Prayers" by the Rev. R. A. Preston who concludes that when they are in agreement with the Divine will, as they should be, they provide an ultimate, as an expression of that will, for greater perception and enlightenment for the angels who are with man.

In the current issue of the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER there is an interesting survey by the Rev. David Garrett entitled "Spontaneity and Daring in the Years Ahead." The writer samples the recent progress of the General Convention, and then speaks at some length of developments within the General Church with special reference to the progress of New Church education. The General Conference is noted as having produced several new translations of the Writings and as showing increasing concern to meet the secular influences that divert young people from the church, and the missions in Africa are touched upon. Mr. Garrett sees progress throughout the New Church, but looking into the new year sees also the need to act spontaneously on our convictions and be daring with new ideas.
MASTERY OVER SELF 1955

MASTERY OVER SELF 1955

"It is an utter contradiction for evil to be able to rule over evil, and not only over evil, but also over hell; for every man is in communication through evil spirits with hell, and thereby the evil in him is excited. From all this everyone may know, and he who has a sound mind may conclude, that the Lord alone rules over evil in man and over hell with him" (Arcana Coelestia, 987: 3).

BUT ARE AS THE ANGELS 1955

BUT ARE AS THE ANGELS Editor 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly by

THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                              Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa,
Circulation Secretary               Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Treasurer                          Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address, and business communications, should be sent to the Circulation Secretary. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

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     All the words of the Lord are true. When He said that "in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage," He therefore spoke the truth. Yet it is also a truth, spoken by the Lord in the Writings, that the angels are all of the married state. This was the truth He could not then openly reveal, but that is deeply hidden in His saying that they "are as the angels of God in heaven." However, the reconciliation of these two truths is not difficult. All the angels are married, but marriage is not contracted or entered into in heaven. Those couples who have been in a conjugial union on earth are already married pairs when they enter heaven, and their spiritual union simply continues. Those who have not are united with their conjugial partners when their preparation for heaven has been completed; and their marriages, in the threshold of heaven, introduce them into heaven as married pairs. And as all the angels have thus entered heaven already married, and their marriages are eternal, no angel ever takes a wife in heaven or is given in marriage to a husband.
     Thus the Lord's words are true. In the false conclusion it drew from them, the Christian Church confused the contracting of marriages with the existence of the married state; and its doctrine of angels precluded speculation concerning the rest of the Lord's words. However, the deeper reference is to that marriage of the Lord and the church which is His conjunction with men and women. And the meaning is that since that conjunction is effected upon earth, it does not need to take place again after death, but continues in heaven to eternity.

HUMILITY 1955

HUMILITY Editor 1955

     There are many who regard the insistence of the Scriptures upon humility as the most deadly hindrance to human development. For them, meekness, modesty, and mildness evince feebleness of spirit and are signs of decay; while pride, arrogance, and assurance are the marks of virility. Such men would say the same of the teaching that humility is the basis for regeneration, and have only scorn for the God who demands it.
     The Lord's reason for so doing, and the nature of humility, are completely misunderstood by such men, however-as they always will be by those who from self-love advocate the philosophy of power. The Lord does not require humility that He may see men prostrate before Him, but that He may lift them to Himself in heaven. He invites men to humble themselves because the humble or repentant heart is the only one into which He can inflow. Spiritual humility consists in the heartfelt acknowledgment that with self there is nothing living and good, and that everything such is from the Lord. In proportion as man is in this acknowledgment, he is averse to evil and falsity; self-love and all evils thence become quiescent; and good and truth flow into the vessels of the mind, which have been softened and opened to reception. That is why the Lord requires humility; not to satisfy any love of glory in Himself, but that He may give of His love to others.
     And the truly humble man is neither cringingly servile before his God nor fawningly subservient to other men. It is part of his humility to compel himself to do good, to obey the Lord's commands, and to speak the truth; and he who does this can act no otherwise than with quiet confidence, decision, and vigor which are not grounded in self. Indeed it is the truly humble man who alone walks the earth with dignity; for his head is uplifted to the Lord and his is the full stature of a man.
FOR THE HEALING OF THE NATIONS 1955

FOR THE HEALING OF THE NATIONS Editor 1955

At one time there was a strong tendency among some New Church people to hail the scientific developments in the 19th century as a result of the Last Judgment and sign of the Second Coming. If this claim is no longer heard, there are those who assert that the greater interest of the western world in preserving freedom and promoting social justice and humanitarian movements is the Lord working secretly to establish His kingdom. In this there is a certain truth, but there is also a fallacy which can result only in utter confusion as to the mode of the Lord's second advent and the nature of the kingdom He came to establish.

It is true that spiritual freedom was restored by the Last Judgment, that men are now in a freer state to think about the things of heaven and the church, if they wish to do so; and it is therefore also true that they are better able to perceive natural truth if they so desire. The advancement in human thinking and concern during the last two hundred years is thus a result of the Last Judgment; but it is not all therefore necessarily a sign of the Lord's presence in His second coming. Men may use the freedom restored to them to build their rational minds in one of two ways. Those who are interiorly in the affection of evil and falsity can still be led to think soundly about other than spiritual things and to behave decorously. They may discover scientific, civil, moral, and even philosophical truths, and so apply them as to achieve striking results in improving the conditions of human living. And as long as the inner quality of their rational is not seen or known, the appearance of truth with them can be used by Divine Providence to promote the Lord's end in creation, and evil men be led to perform uses.
Yet the appearance should never be mistaken for the reality. Whatever external results are achieved-and they may be considerable-the fact is that such men are not truly rational in their thinking, but are spiritually insane; for, interiorly, the rational can be no different than the affection that produces it. The kingdom the Lord has come to establish is a kingdom of spiritual truth; and although it should be accepted with gratitude, the operation of His providence to achieve uses through evil men should not be mistaken for an influx from the New Heaven that is secretly establishing His kingdom. Such men may be of use to society, but they are not yet, at least, partakers of the fruits of the tree of life, but of those leaves which are for the healing of the nations-rational truths which heal externally.
QUESTIONING THE WRITINGS 1955

QUESTIONING THE WRITINGS Editor 1955

We have sometimes been asked whether it is ever permissible to question the Writings, and if so, in what manner and to what extent. The Writings are a Divine revelation, and the New Church man who affirms this will believe that every statement of doctrine he finds in them is true because it is the Lord speaking to him, and this whether he understands it or not. But the Writings are addressed to the rational mind, to which it is hurtful simply to believe the things of faith without intellectual sight. So while the man who is affirmative will believe concerning what he finds in them that it is true, he may legitimately ask how it is true; and where the Writings seem to be obscure he may question deeply what they really mean.

     All questioning arises from doubt. Knowledge of the Writings is acquired cumulatively over a long period, and to the extent that knowledge is lacking, doubts must surely arise. But such doubts are not necessarily disorderly, for there is a doubt within which is the will to believe and that is followed by affirmation. Indeed the Writings make the remarkable statement that truth should not be so confirmed in a moment as to leave no doubt whatsoever, because truth so confirmed becomes persuasive and is also devoid of any extension (AC 7298: 2). If we affirm a new truth as something to be accepted without thought or question we will never advance beyond our first idea of it, and it will remain only in the memory as that which has not been seen in rational light.
     In the course of life, therefore, doubts should, and will, arise. But if man is in the affirmative, he will eventually be confirmed in the truth by his doubts. Unless we are willing to believe that a thing is true we are not likely to spend any time investigating how it is true. But where the love of spiritual truth is inmostly present it leads, in states of doubt, to just that. It leads man to search the Writings for greater knowledge, to think and reflect about what he reads, that he may understand how that is true which he is willing to believe is true. And when a teaching is obscure it leads him to keen analysis, careful comparison, and critical questioning that he may arrive at the real meaning. The result is a rational grasp of truth that would never have been achieved if the doubt had been stifled, the obscurity overlooked, out of a mistaken sense of loyalty to the authority of the Writings.
     Indeed the Writings indicate that a man can be in the affirmation of truth and even think, search out, and discuss whether a thing be true. Such a man cannot be admitted into wisdom until he is free from this kind of doubt, but the doubt itself is not such as to preclude the possibility of faith. Unless there were a willingness to believe that a thing might be true it is not likely that much effort would be made to search out whether it is true; and where this willingness is interiorly present, even negative doubts can be resolved by the efforts made.
     So there is a questioning of the Writings that is entirely proper. It is of the genius of the spiritual to desire to know, not merely that a thing is, but also what it is and what is its nature, and we may always inquire how a thing is true or what it really means. Faith in the New Church is not meant to be blind. Never, either to ourselves or to others, should we say: This is Divine revelation, and you must accept it instantly and without question or doubt.

Church News 1955

Church News Various 1955

     DETROIT, MICHIGAN

     The events that take place with such alarming activity around here all tend to leave this reporter in a breathless whirl. Even before a report is in the mail an accumulation of new and unreported activities has hit the area. Not even the unveiling of the new, 1955 model automobiles could divert our attention from the activities at hand.
     During the first part of September, Candidate Jan H. Weiss traveled up from Glenview to acquaint us with his ideas on missionary work. Although his visit was all too brief, he left us with some excellent ideas which we hope to be able to put to use in the future.
     Always a ripe topic for discussion in Detroit is the building program. Numerous committees are busily engaged in examining and establishing the needs of the Society as far as the structure itself is concerned. These committees are working directly with the architect in planning the finer details, and by their so doing it is hoped to include in our first building everything that is necessary to ensure the smooth operation of our worship, school, and social uses. Preliminary drawings had been received at the time these notes were written, and were to be offered to the Society for final approval after careful examination by the Board of Directors. It is hoped that we will be in a position to break ground sometime in the early spring.
     Hallowe'en week offered a variety of Society activities. On Friday evening the entire Society was invited to attend a special supper meeting of the Detroit Sons. The Rev. David R. Simons had been invited out from Bryn Athyn to demonstrate his application of the teachings of the Writings to elementary school education. Armed with an intriguing box of props, and being in good voice, Mr. Simons provided his audience with an hour of delightful instruction and amusement. We all appreciated his coming to deliver this address to us.
     Mr. Simons had been driven out to Detroit by Mr. and Mrs. Gus Genzlinger and Mrs. Clifford Stewart, who were visiting their son and daughter, Vance and Jean Genzlinger, for the weekend. The Society enjoyed seeing them all at the Hallowe'en party which followed. on Saturday night at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Sanfrid Odhner. The party was a riotous success, and a hilarious variety of costumes and masks led to much wild guessing which was most appropriate to the occasion.
     On Sunday, Mr. Simons preached on the subject of "Eternal Marriage." We were happy to welcome also to our weekend activities the Rev. and Mrs. Henry Heinrichs of Kitchener.
     Scarcely a month passes without our adding one or two new members to our growing list. Vance and Jean Genzlinger have been with us for several months now, and have become loyal supporters of all causes. Last fall, two baby girls, daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Snyder and Mr. and Mrs. Philip Bellinger, were added to our numbers, and Mr. and Mrs. Larry Soneson welcomed their first son. On rare occasions, however, we are forced to mention a departure from our midst. Margaret Howard returned to Bryn Athyn last October, after having been with us for a year. She will be missed by all her friends, especially by the dishwashing committee-of which she was a member extraordinary.
     All year long the men and women of the Society had been working to make our Fair the biggest and best to date, and under the capable direction of the Women's Guild it proved to be even better than advance publicity had promised. Quantities of expert needlework flew over the gaily decorated stalls into the hands of willing buyers. Baked goods disappeared in all directions, and the children had a fine time fishing for 106 gifts from a highly imaginative pier. When all had been sold, buyers and sellers gathered together downstairs for a meal of hamburgers, hot dogs, pie, and ice-cream. The Guild is again to be congratulated on its excellent achievement in providing us with another so rewarding fair.
     Our Thanksgiving service was devoted entirely to the children. It opened with a procession of children carrying fruit to the altar as an offering of thanks to the Lord.

At a given part of the service, the children recited a passage from the Word which they had learned specially for the occasion. Next year we hope to use our own building in the celebration of Thanksgiving on its appointed day.
     In addition to special functions the regular uses of the Society continue smoothly. The monthly calendar is filled with services, classes, and meetings. Various events planned for Christmas will be described in our next report.
     BARBARA FORFAR

     KITCHENER, ONTARIO

     Last summer will be remembered for the much enjoyed visit of Candidate Robert S. Junge who spent a month in Kitchener, preaching every Sunday, taking part in society activities, and visiting in the homes. Our only regret was that his wife and son could not accompany him.
     One of the summer activities was the program of Friday evening picnics at the church, followed by a series of seven tape-recorded addresses from the General Assembly. An average of thirty people took advantage of this opportunity, some hearing the addresses for the second time.
     During the summer, also, a program was initiated by the women to take care of the younger children during the latter part of church services. This Sunday school session has proved very popular with the children and has considerably increased the number of children and parents coming to church.
     With the coming of fall, regular activities were resumed. At doctrinal classes on Friday evenings Mr. Reuter is presenting a series of lectures on Divine Providence. To the Women's Guild he is presenting Dr. Hugo Lj. Odhner's book, The Divine Allegory. The Sons and Theta Alpha have been taking advantage of our recently acquired use of the tape-recorder to hear addresses from Bryn Athyn. The Young People's Class, the High School Religion Class, the Philosophy Club, and the Men's Assembly also meet regularly, the last mentioned meeting quarterly.
     In September and October we had the pleasure of hearing sermons from Candidate Fred Schnarr, the Rev. Martin Pryke, and the Rev. Henry Heinrichs in that order. Mr. Reuter visited the Montreal Circle at the end of September and was scheduled to preach in Toronto on October 17th, but on account of the floods that weekend he could not get there.
     The Carmel Church School opened on September 13th, with Miss Rita Kuhl as teacher. There are thirteen pupils this year, eleven boys and two girls in five grades. Assisting Mr. Reuter and Miss Rita are Mrs. Fred Hasen, Mrs. Norman Reuter, and Miss Alberta Stroh. A number of women volunteered to supervise the noon hour recess at school during the winter months. The local chapter of Theta Alpha held a Hallowe'en costume party for the children on October 30th. This was in place of the annual fall picnic, abandoned because a warm sunny day eluded the committee. A Society School meeting was held on November 17th at which Miss Rita presented a paper on the teaching of social studies, outlining the courses in elementary school with their aims and objectives.
     The Society had the pleasure of attending a wedding on October 23rd, when Miss Patricia Gannon of Kitchener and Corporal Charles Schnarr, son of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Schnarr, were united in marriage by the Rev. Norman H. Reuter at an evening service. Mrs. Jorgen Hansen of Toronto played the violin, accompanied by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Stroh, at the organ and piano. Attending the bride were Miss Petty Schnarr as maid of honor, Mrs. Leigh Bellinger of Toronto as matron of honor, and the Misses Eileen and Sandra Schnarr as bridesmaids. Mr. Roger Schnarr was best man for his brother, and Messrs. Leigh Bellinger, Peter Gill, and Gilbert Niall were ushers. Mr. Keith Niall was master of ceremonies at the reception, while the Rev. Norman H. Reuter, the Rev. Henry Heinrichs, and the father of the bride responded to the toasts. An open house at the Clarence Schnarr home followed the reception. Charles and Pat are now living in Barrie, Ontario.
     On the social program was a Hallowe'en masquerade on October 29th. Mr. and Mrs. Paul Bellinger and Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Hill planned the successful program of games and dancing. There were many clever costumes and well disguised characters present.
     The Fall Fair on November 13th was a big night for the children as well as the adults. Much time and effort went into preparations for the bazaar by the Women's Guild, and a worthwhile sum was raised for kitchen equipment. There were booths of handwork, gifts, baked goods, plants, and exciting "ex-items," as well as a fishpond for the children and darts and a shooting gallery for the men, to say nothing of hot dogs and coffee for the hungry.

A program of entertainment, under the direction of Mrs. Nelson Glebe, followed the final "fire sale," and commenced with a presentation of "What's My Line?" An amusing skit entitled "A Most Significant Poem" was well acted by three of the girls, and the program ended with the showing of colored slides taken in Europe.
Another November highlight came on the evening of November 27th, when the Sons held a banquet at which we were privileged to hear five guest speakers from Bryn Athyn on the subject of the Academy of the New Church College. Since it was the American Thanksgiving weekend and there were no fewer than twelve American visitors present, swelling the attendance to 95, nothing could have been more fitting for the meal than the delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings prepared by Miss Korene Schnarr. The speakers were Mr. Charles S. Cole and his well known panel consisting of Messrs. Kent Hyatt, James Pendleton, and Kenneth Rose, and Miss Julie de Maine. Mrs. Kent Hyatt was a very welcome silent member. This group performed the amazing feat of speaking in Toronto, Kitchener, and Detroit all in one weekend, and our only complaint was that there was very little time to speak to them. However, they provided a most entertaining evening packed with information on the advantages of the College of the Academy, and on how they benefitted from attending it, successfully transferred to other colleges, and entered their chosen fields.
VIVIAN KUHL
INFORMATION REQUESTED 1955

INFORMATION REQUESTED RICHARD R. GLADISH 1955

The undersigned is working on a history of New Church education. He would appreciate information about letters, documents, and photographs having to do with New Church schools, past or present, not now available in the Academy of the New Church Library or Archives. Information desired includes school support, organization, and curricula; teachers and administrators; student life; buildings and grounds.
RICHARD R. GLADISH, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1955

SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1955

     GENERAL CHURCH RELIGION LESSONS. Graded lessons and other material from Pre-school through Grade 11. Address enquiries to: Pastor-in-Charge, Rev. F. E. Gyllenhad, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     GENERAL CHURCH SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE Tape-recordings of services, sermons, doctrinal classes, children's services, etc. Address: General Church Sound Recording Committee, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     GENERAL CHURCH VISUAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE. Biblical and other slides. Address: Mr. William R. Cooper, Director, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     NEW CHURCH EDUCATION. Published by Religion Lessons Committee, monthly, September to June, inclusive. Subscription, $1.50. Editor: Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal.

REFORMED MAN 1955

     Announcements.

     "He was hale, hearty, and robust, a strong vigorous man. He continually violated the laws of health, until the reformers came and showed him conclusively that many of his habits were such that, if persisted in, would lead to premature decay and death.
     "One day feeling thirsty he called for a glass of ale. As he was about to drink it, Reformer A touched him on the shoulder and said, 'In that glass is concealed disease, insanity, and death.' He sat it down with a shudder, untouched. He took a cigar from his pocket, bit the end off, and was about to light it, when Reformer B said, 'That cigar contains the most virulent poison, and its use entails suffering and slow death.' He hastily threw away the cigar.
     "Then he thought to eat something, and called for beefsteak. Reformer C said, 'The use of meat brutalizes man; he would be much healthier to abstain.' He didn't eat it. He then took a piece of white bread, and Reformer D said, 'That bread is very unwholesome; a dog fed on it for forty days would die.' He put the bread away. He then took a piece of brown bread, and Reformer E said, 'The bran in brown bread is nothing but woody fiber and is really unfit to be eaten.' He didn't eat it. He next took some oatmeal, and Reformer F said, 'If you have any impurities in your system oatmeal will develop them; it is dangerous.' He avoided the danger. He then took a lot of vegetables and was about to eat when Reformer G said, 'The use of green vegetables is always attended with more or less danger, especially at this time of year.' He put them away from him.
     "Having eaten and drunk of the reform diet to the full he lay down and died. His reform friends were about to give him a splendid funeral when Reformer H put a stop to it in the name of funeral reform. So he was taken to the Crematory, but Reformer I protested that he would have objected to this unchristian proceeding. He was not cremated, and his ultimate fate remains enshrouded in mystery." (Anshutz, Fables)

DOCTRINE OF PRAYER 1955

DOCTRINE OF PRAYER GEORGE DE CHARMS 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXV MARCH, 1955           No. 3
     (The first in a series of four addresses.)

     1. The Problem and Human Attempts to Solve It

     We recently have been impressed with the great importance to the life of the New Church of the teaching given in the Writings concerning prayer. Prayer is an essential element in any religion. Wherever men sincerely acknowledge the existence of God and their dependence upon Him, they turn to Him spontaneously in praise and thanksgiving, and in supplication for protection, for guidance and for blessing. This has been true from time immemorial, in all iahds, and among all nations. Yet if we would pray aright we must understand what prayer really is, and what it is intended to accomplish. And this understanding requires the solution of a profound philosophical problem concerning the nature of God, and His relation to mankind; a solution that cannot be discovered by human reason, but only by means of Divine revelation.
     The Lord, indeed, has revealed Himself by means of His Word in all ages; but He could do so only as far as men were prepared to understand. Not until the time of His second coming was it possible for the Lord to explain in rational language the relation of the Infinite to the finite; how God operates in the universe of His creation; and by what means He leads and governs in the affairs of men.
     This is the reason why, although the problem of prayer has been debated by religious philosophers for centuries, no satisfactory solution has ever been found. The only answer that fully meets the requirements of both experience and reason is that which has been given by the Lord in the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem.
     The ideas concerning prayer which are current in the world around us are all derived from one of four main sources.

They arise either from the unreflective ideas of children; from Eastern philosophy; from traditional Christian doctrine; or from the thought that, for the most part, dominates modern Christianity. Often two or more of these may unwittingly be confused and intermingled.
     These ideas are being pressed upon our minds continually, both openly and by subtle implication, through the literature of the day, through the radio, television, and moving pictures. It is important, therefore, that we should see clearly what the teaching of the Writings is, what it implies in regard to the use of prayer, and just how it is distinguished from the thought of the day.
     Very simply stated, the problem is this: Since God is all-wise He foreknows our every need; since He is all-powerful He can provide for every need; and since He is all-loving, surely He will do so, even without our asking. Furthermore, we cannot possibly know the eternal destiny the Lord has in store for us, nor can we know what may be necessary to the attainment of that unseen goal. How, then, can we even imagine what to ask of the Lord in prayer?
     If, in our ignorance, we pray for things that are not conducive to our lasting happiness and use, how can the Lord, in mercy, grant our unwise petitions? Yet the Lord promised His disciples, saying: "All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive" (Matthew 21:22). And again He said: "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye ask anything in My name, I will do it" (John 14:13, 14). What, then, are the answers men have given, and are now giving, to these perplexing questions? Children, primitive people, and those everywhere who retain a simple childlike faith, are quite unaware of the problem. They can think of God only as a finite being-as one who, although He is unimaginably wise and powerful and loving, yet acts like an earthly father, according to an arbitrary will that may be influenced in our favor by our actions or our prayers. They rest content in a confident belief that God will surely answer every prayer, granting every protection and blessing to all who ask of Him sincerely.
     When offered in all innocence, such prayers are indeed heard in heaven. Prompted by love and unquestioning faith, they open the way for the Lord to impart unforeseen benefits, to protect and enrich the spiritual life of the suppliant, even though, as is often the case, the expressed wish may not be granted. Why this is so, and how it is accomplished, is made clear in the Writings, as will be demonstrated in a subsequent installment.
     But the weakness of such an unreasoning faith is that it provides no adequate defense against doubt and denial in the presence of grievous disappointment.

When one's fondest hopes are dashed, and one is confronted by tragic loss or desperate failure, the appearance is that God is unmindful of our welfare, or that he is deliberately cruel and unjust. The heart cries out instinctively: "Why should God allow this to happen to me?" And because there is no answer, doubts arise, and at least for a time faith often yields to bitter resentment and the heart's rebellion.
     We all begin with this kind of faith, and with this mistaken idea of prayer. It is the only one that is possible in childhood. And however thoroughly, in adult age, we may rationalize our faith, we unavoidably return to this idea under the overpowering stress of emotion. For this we are not held accountable, unless we cherish resentment and rebellion when opportunity is given for calm reflection and rational appraisal. But the teaching of the Writings gives to men, as never before, a weapon of defense against this temptation, and as the church learns to understand that teaching, and to use it in every time of trial and distress, it will give increasing ability to resist and overcome.
     It is when men try to conceive of God as an infinite being-as one whose ends are eternal, whose laws are fixed and predetermined, and whose will, for that reason, cannot be changed-that the question as to the efficacy and the purpose of prayer becomes acute. If this is the true nature of God, and the Writings teach us that it is, we may well ask what possible use can be served by human prayers? How can any one who has this concept of the Divine nature really believe that his petitions will be granted?
     Eastern philosophy, especially that which is typified by Buddhism, answers this intellectual dilemma by asserting that prayer is not for the purpose of asking for personal favors from the Deity, but is purely for contemplation. In this, of course, there is an element of truth; but the further assumption is made that all man's desires place obstacles in the way of the Divine will; as also does every imagination and thought of the human mind.
     The heart therefore must be divested of every natural wish; and the mind must be emptied completely of every idea by a persistent effort to focus attention wholly upon the Infinite. When this is done, it is believed that man becomes an obedient and unresisting tool in the hand of God for the achievement of His eternal ends. Man's mind is then illuminated by Divine wisdom, becomes aware of absolute truth, and is actuated by pure Divine love.
     It will be noted, however, that in order to receive this immediate Divine guidance and inspiration the man must be deprived of both liberty and rationality. He may exercise no will, no judgment, and no responsibility except that of contemplation.

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He must relinquish everything that makes him to be a man, in order to become a mere automaton, moved by some Divine force outside of him.
     If this is the ideal of human existence, if this is the real Divine intent in man's creation, we may well ask why has he been endowed by the Creator with the ability to think, and even with the unavoidable necessity to choose among possible alternatives, to form judgments and to assume responsibility? Indeed, experience demonstrates that these are the inescapable requirements of human life. Why should he be called upon to bury these talents, to refuse these Divine gifts, and act as if he had them not! To such questions as these there is no reasonable answer.
     In traditional Christian doctrine the efficacy of prayer is affirmed and established beyond question on the testimony of the Sacred Scripture. But the philosophical problem it poses is regarded as an insoluble mystery. It is recognized that God cannot be expected to give us everything we ask, lest His gift prove a curse rather than a blessing. The teaching of the Gospels is taken to mean that we must pray to the Father for the sake of the Son, or "in the name" of Jesus Christ, because Jesus is the only Mediator. Prayer so offered in sincerity of heart will be granted, we are told, not according to the expressed wish of the worshiper, but in accord with the will of God. The petition of the worshiper, in its transmission to the Father by means of the Holy Spirit, is translated into terms that are accordant with the Divine will.
     This idea is based on a passage in Paul's epistle to the Romans, where we read: "We know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (8: 26-27). Whether or not, then, the petition is actually granted depends upon whether it happens to be in harmony with the Divine will. And the only prayer that is sure of an affirmative answer is one of complete resignation, as expressed in the words: "Not my will, but Thine, be done."
     That this explanation does not really solve the problem, and bring man's free choice into harmony with the Providence of God, is admitted. But, it is declared, "Beyond this we cannot go" (McClintock and Strong, "Prayer," p. 477). Under these circumstances, it is not at all clear why prayer should be required of man. For if God knows what is best for him, and would have provided it without man's asking, it would seem that the prayer really has made no difference. Indeed, it has been suggested that to pray is altogether questionable, because to ask for something implies not faith, but a lack of faith, a fear that the Lord may not otherwise grant it. For this reason some have held that the only prayer which is clearly justified is the prayer that God's will may be done (Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics: "Prayer").

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     And finally, we are puzzled to understand why God, knowing all things, searching the hearts of men and foreseeing all their needs, should require a mediator to interpret the petitions of men. To this question, also, we find no answer; and the problem as to how the Lord fulfills His promise to give us whatever we ask in His name remains unsolved.
     In their endeavor to unravel this mystery, modern Christian thinkers have turned in another direction. They start with the assumption that God is not at a distance, removed from man, but is immanently present within him. Because of this Divine presence every man is endowed with unlimited possibilities-with unfathomed depths of wisdom and of power. This power lies dormant so long as it is hidden and unrealized; but by turning his mind to God in prayer, man becomes aware of these Divine forces within him. Such awareness releases the floodgates of latent energy, and places it at man's disposal. When this happens, and so far as it happens, man is empowered to accomplish undreamed miracles; and it becomes literally true that every prayer of his heart is brought within his reach.
     This awareness of Divinity, it is held, was most fully achieved by Jesus Christ, and accounts for the surpassing wisdom, and the miraculous power manifested in His life. And the same source of power is present and available to every man, if only he will establish contact with it by means of prayer.
     In this respect, the modern Christian has borrowed liberally from Eastern philosophy. But instead of holding that in prayer man must relinquish all human desires, the modern view is that by this means every human desire may be fulfilled.
     It should be noted that while the child evades the whole question of how man's free choice may be reconciled with Divine Providence by ignoring it, this new form of religious philosophy cuts the Gordian knot by identifying the two. It makes man's will to be the expression and the manifestation of the Divine will.
     Although it appears in a great variety of forms, we find this central idea to be characteristic of nearly all the Christian movements that have sprung up within the past seventy-five or hundred years. It is a central element in the New Thought movement founded by Dr. Quimby; in Psychiana, established by Dr. Frank B. Robinson; the Unity School of Christianity, centered in Kansas City; in the I AM movement in California; and in many others including the Peace Mission Movement of Father Divine, who went so far as to claim that every man is, or may become, an incarnation of God.

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     Among contemporary leaders of this philosophy is Glen Clark, who, in his book, The Soul's Sincere Desire, explains how, in practical ways, the latent reservoir of Divine energy may be tapped and utilized. Also, Wallace Beard and his daughter, Rebecca, turn the Divine forces particularly into the channel of physical and mental healing by "Spiritual Therapy" as practiced in a "laboratory for prayer research" at Merrybrook Wells, Vermont. Similar techniques have been adopted by the pastors of leading metropolitan churches; notably, by Norman Vincent Peale and his associates in the Marble Collegiate Church of New York. And Agnes Sanford, in a book entitled The Healing Light, sets forth the "art and method of spiritual healing."
     In all these movements, the purpose of prayer is thought to be a release of unsuspected Divine power to attain our heart's desire, whatever that may be. The energies released are held to be creative and restorative on every plane of man's life-physical, political, economic, social, moral, and spiritual. Under its influence, we are assured that the whole world can be transformed into a perfect paradise; universal peace can be attained, bringing prosperity and lasting happiness to all people; and the promise of the ages can be fulfilled.
     When baldly stated, these claims sound fantastic; but they have an ever-widening appeal, and their influence upon modern thought extends far beyond the confines of organized sectarian movements. Yet, in the last analysis, they recognize no eternal or on changable law, no infinite God, except abstract energy. And placing this energy at man's disposal makes him the arbiter of his own fate and the architect of all human destiny. Divine revelation, instruction, and guidance come not from without by way of the written Word, but from within, through the individual perception of each one who turns to God in prayer.
     Against this brief and wholly incomplete background, wherein we have attempted merely to analyze the basic philosophic concepts which lie back of present day thought on the subject of prayer, we would propose to place in sharp contrast the teaching of the Writings; setting forth the markedly different solution there given to the seemingly inevitable conflict between the infinite wisdom, the unalterable law, and the foreordained Providence of God, and the blind groping for protection and happiness which characterizes all human prayers.

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TEN BLESSINGS AND EDUCATION 1955

TEN BLESSINGS AND EDUCATION Rev. DAVID R. SIMONS 1955

     3. Meekness

     "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5). Stubborn are the native loves of the human heart. Sure and boastful is the outer shell of a mind that relies on self alone. The aggressiveness of self-will knows no bounds. It strives ceaselessly for dominion and is never satisfied. The natural mind sees but one way, the cruel and hard way, to gain the world; and in the struggle for supremacy it curses the poor, scorns the sorrowful, and is contemptuous of the meek-thus revealing by its condemnation its own twisted nature.
     In education, obedience is no longer considered vitally necessary to the development of character. The whole concept of authority, and of submission to authority, has undergone radical changes. Humility and subordination to parents and teachers are even considered by some to be detrimental to a child's free growth and sense of personal worth. Everything is done to lead the child in his own natural loves, his limited and fickle interests and temporary desires, rather than away from them. The broad path of least resistance-of over stimulation, doing too much for him, catering to his selfish demands-has been substituted for the narrow way of required obedience. Genuine meekness, which demands self-control and a willingness to follow the authority of law and order, is no longer stressed. Yet without this Christian virtue, civil and moral and spiritual order with their freedom are impossible.
     Conscientious parents, parents who are concerned for the spiritual well-being of their children, need to understand that no other single habit is more important than that of obedience; for it is obedience and the love of obedience that is the basis on which the life of heaven is founded. Order is heaven's first law, obedience its first act. So important is this ability to respond to authority that the province of the ear in the Gorand Man, where those dwell who are in obedience, is said to be the axis of heaven; "and into it, or into those who are there, the whole spiritual world flows in with the perception that 'thus must it be done'; for this is the reigning perception in heaven" (AE 14). This reaction, this willingness to act according to order, is spiritual meekness.
     The truth of command is truth accommodated to the states of childhood.

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Even as the children of Israel were led by command and punishment to inherit the land of Canaan, so all children must be taught to subordinate their will to those who are responsible for them, if they are to receive their rightful heritage. To fail to require this, to neglect to strengthen the habit and encourage the love of genuine meekness, is to open the way for spiritual rebellion and the complete dominion of their own selfish loves.
     Adult reasoning and bargaining have no place with young children. These are functions of the mature mind, and if we exercise them too early we do more to promote the ability to argue, to excuse and justify, than to inculcate a sense of justice. Commands that are not enforced are equally detrimental to the growth of true meekness. Without command, and an enforcement of command that is constant, and that looks to the habit and love of obedience, there can be no orderly opening of the human mind. For this is the way of all life. "As a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee. Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, and to fear Him" (Deuteronomy 8:5, 6).
     It is to be well noted that although the meekness of required obedience is the gateway to the life of heavenly usefulness, still, obedience for its own sake is not an end in itself. The end is spiritual meekness, the free love of doing what is right. It is essential, therefore, that an adult command should come from a rational mind, since it is this rational that children lack. It is vital that our basic requirements should stem from principles of truth, and that the truth itself should be the authority from which children are led. Only in this way can they come to respect and love what is eternal. This is the reason parents cannot hope truly to raise their children in the church if they themselves are ignorant of or indifferent to, its teachings.
     If we fail to guide our children from our religious convictions, if we command from our own natural loves-from impatience, natural irritation, or blind self-will-we do no more than impose a stronger natural will on a weaker, and we cannot possibly provide for their spiritual growth. But when, to the best of our ability, we require obedience from a rational conviction of truth, and for the sake of definite spiritual ends, then we not only prepare for a sound relation between parent and child but prepare also for an orderly relation between the child and his God. Of this we can be certain: a child w ho has not learned the value and necessity of obedience to his father and mother, and to those who act for them, can scarcely be expected to have a basis for obeying the law, or to come into a state of meekness before the Lord, his heavenly Father, or the church, his spiritual mother. This is the reason obedience is so often stressed in the Divine Word.

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"[Thou] shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey His voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear and do it! Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it" (Deuteronomy 30:2, 11-14).
FRIENDS AND SERVANTS 1955

FRIENDS AND SERVANTS Rev. NORMAN H. REUTER 1955

     "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)

     The entire fifteenth chapter of John, from which our text is taken, is full of teaching that can be applied directly to life. It is a chapter in which the spiritual sense shines forth so clearly through the literal sense that anyone reflecting upon it for the purpose of discovering truth by which to live cannot fail to see the truth. It is one of those parts of the Word which are likened to the face and hands of a man, those exposed portions which reveal something of the spiritual sense even to the naturally minded. Through such doctrine of genuine truth, thus plainly revealed, the willing can be led to a spiritual perception of truth. But only those who go to the Word to be instructed and guided in the way of life, and who are conscious of evils and falsities in themselves and of the need for their removal, will find genuine truth. Others will see in the Word merely confirmation of their unregenerate way of life, and support for their false opinions. The humble desire to learn, and what is even more important, the firm intention to govern one's thoughts and actions by what is Divinely revealed, are what open the mind to see the genuine truth of the Word.
     If one goes to the Word in this spirit, and with such a purpose, he is certain to find truth which reveals things in his way of living, as well as his thinking and loving, which obstruct his spiritual progress. He will discover things in his life that he has come to love, but which the truth plainly reveals are from his insistent selfhood and not from heaven. These hinder him from performing rightly his spiritual use here on earth, and thus prevent him from becoming a genuine form of use, which is an angel of heaven.

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     This desire for self-leading, these loves of things we ought not to love, we must all battle against and put aside if we would regenerate. No man can reach the heavenly state without the temptation and combat that this involves. We all have a tendency to love these things; they delight us, and make so large a part of what we call the happiness and enjoyment of life that we cannot see how they can be given up. Yet this is the life we are to lay down. We are to lay aside these seemingly great loves for a greater love. We are to act from a spiritual love instead of a merely natural satisfaction-from a genuine urge to be of use rather than from an urge for mere enjoyment, or for wealth for its own sake; or from the desire to be well thought of, or to gain that kind of success which preeminently regards self and flaunts itself before others.
     At first we do not feel that the spiritual love of use will be greater than the selfish loves which we are so clearly taught should be subjugated, or that it will fill our lives with more enjoyments and blessings. To embark on such a course of subjugating known natural loves for unfamiliar spiritual loves seems strait and narrow, arduous and unfriendly, not even entirely reasonable or realistic, and certainly not enjoyable! Yet we can know from the Word that the case is not really as it seems to us in these moods, but that this appearance is the result of the perverseness of our hereditary disposition and the false outlook on life which it gives us. The way to heaven is anything but narrow, arduous, and unfriendly. The Lord tells us that it is broad, not so difficult as we imagine, and full of the joy of spiritual friendship. It produces a peace of mind which the natural man never knows, and gives the regenerating man the realization that the sense of security comes from being at peace with God. This is that success in life which is of an enduring nature, which no man or circumstance can take away. For the life that prepares for heaven frees us from the narrow sphere of self-life. It is made easy by the ever present aid of the Lord, and it leads us to delights that call never be imagined before the goal has been reached.
     The friend for which we are to lay aside our self-leading, our proprial life, is the truth-the truth as revealed in the Lord's Word; for that is the surest friend we can have in this world. Men and women are our real friends only in the degree that they have this truth in themselves, and thus the Lord's truth in them is what makes them friends indeed. And the greater love that shall cause us to subordinate the inferior loves of self and the world is the love of truth for its own sake, or for the sake of the good of life and use to which it will lead us. Greater love than this is not given to the man of the spiritual church. Therefore the Lord said: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life [his unregenerate loves] for his friends" [the heavenly truths that will encourage and promote his eternal welfare].

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And then the Lord adds: "Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."
It is said that the friend of man is the truth, because the truth is what frees him from the bonds of hell and leads to his eternal welfare. This is always the office of a friend, even though it may seem at times that the friendly hand leads us into temptation and not into happiness. Because of this the spiritual man, whose life is governed by truth both as to thought and action, is also meant by a friend. He will speak and act from principle and justice, tempered with mercy; for his objective is the good of others, as that good is defined by the Lord, rather than personal popularity or the approval of men. Such a one is also called a free man and not a servant, for he cooperates with the Lord freely from affection, and not from duty or mere obedience as does a servant, by whom is meant a natural man. For this reason the Lord calls the celestial "beloved," because they conjoin themselves with Him spontaneously in love; and the spiritual He calls "friends," since they are in the affection of truth, that is, are affected by truth which moves their will, so that they come into the friendship of love to the neighbor; but the natural are called "servants," because they act only from a sense of duty and from obedience to command.
In regard to the natural man of the church, who is meant by a servant, we are taught as follows: "The men of the external church, represented by servants, are they who learn truth from no delight, but solely for the reason that it is the truth of the church, by means of which they think they can be saved. It is this necessity which enjoins them to learn and know it. With these truth is merely confirmed" (AC 8977:1). "For they who are in the externals of the church cannot be affected by the truths of faith in any other way than chiefly for the sake of themselves, and secondarily for the sake of the church; and they who are of such a character can indeed act according to truths, and thus can do good, not from affection, but from obedience" (AC 8977:3). "Be it known, moreover, that he who makes everything of the church, thus everything of salvation, to consist in the truths of faith and not in the good of charity, and who also does good from obedience only, cannot be regenerated, as can those who are in the good of charity, that is, who do good from the affection of love. They can, indeed, be reformed, but not regenerated" (AC 8974:3). "In the other life such persons are in the entrance to heaven, and not in heaven itself; they are called the 'cuticulars' because in the Gorand Man they correspond to the skin" (AC 8977:1).

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Hence by a servant is meant a "man of the external church, who indeed has truth of doctrine, but not the corresponding good, because he does not do truth for the sake of truth, nor good for the sake of good, but that he may be recompensed; therefore in the truth and good which he does there is the idea of self, and this idea does not belong to good, but to a delight which counterfeits the good; for in the spiritual sense nothing is called good except that which belongs to love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor. That it may be further known how the case is in regard to this, it is to be borne in mind that the man of the internal church [who is called a friend and a free man] acts from charity, thus from the affection which is of love toward the neighbor; whereas the man of the external church does not act from the good of charity but from the truth of faith; thus not from the affection which is of love toward the neighbor, but from obedience, because it has been so commanded It follows from this that the man of the internal church is free, but the man of the external church is relatively a servant; for he who acts from the affection which is of love acts from freedom, for to obey is not freedom. This is the reason why he who acts from the good of charity is a true man of the spiritual church, whereas he who does not act from the good of charity, but from the truth of faith, is not a true man of the spiritual church, but is relatively his servant" (AC 8979).
We read further concerning those meant by servants: "They who from infancy have thought little about eternal life, thus about the salvation of their souls, but only of worldly life and its prosperity, and yet have lived a good moral life and have also believed in the doctrines of their church, when they come to more adult age cannot be reformed otherwise than by the adjoining of spiritual good when they are in combat; but still they do not retain this good, but only confirm the truths of their doctrine by means of it. The reason they are of this character is that in their past life they have indulged worldly loves, and when these loves have been rooted in, they do not suffer spiritual good to be conjoined with truth because these loves are altogether repugnant to that good. Nevertheless, spiritual good can take possession of the thought when these loves become inactive, as is the case when they are in anxiety, in misfortune and in sickness, and the like. Then the affection of well-doing from charity flows in, but this affection serves only for confirming and rooting in more firmly the truths of doctrine but it cannot be conjoined with truth. The reason is that this influent affection of charity fills only the intellectual part of the mind, but does not enter into its will part, and that which does not enter into the will is not appropriated, thus is not conjoined, because the conjunction of truth and good with man is effected when the truth enters the will; consequently, when man wills truth, and from willing does it. Then for the first time truth becomes good, or what is the same, faith becomes charity.

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This cannot be effected with those who from infancy have indulged the loves of the world, and yet are in the truths of the doctrine of their church; for their will is possessed by these loves, which are wholly in opposition to the reject spiritual good. They merely admit this into the intellectual part of the mind, that is, into the thought, when these loves are dormant; which is the case, as said, in a state of sickness or misfortune, or in anxiety, consequently in labor and in some combat" (AC 8981:3, 4).
     In the teaching just given is provided a contrast that is clear and sharp. It can leave no doubt about the world of difference between the internal and the external man of the church-the spiritual and the natural man, those who act from the affection of love toward the neighbor and those who are stirred into action merely by obedience to Divine command. The contrast supplies food for reflection and meditation. It stimulates serious self-examination, and at the same time holds out a wondrous hope and opportunity for us all, if we are but willing to struggle with our proprial loves in order that they may be replaced by heavenly ones-if we lose our life that we may gain it. For the Lord's words are words of encouragement and hope. He tells us that there is nothing to fear, nothing really to lose, if we only believe in Him and do His will. This is the way to freedom and eternal life, with all the attendant blessings and enduring delights, even though it may not seem to be so at times.
     Jesus said: "If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love. These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is My commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." Amen.

     LESSONS: Deuteronomy 15:1-18. John 15:1-16. AE 409: 7, 9, 101.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 444, 458, 583.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 41, 98.
WHAT MAKES THE CHURCH 1955

WHAT MAKES THE CHURCH 1955

"Religious knowledge and its attendant rational convictions by no means constitute the church or the man of the church, but charity which is of the will. All that is essential comes from the will; and consequently neither does what is doctrinal make the church, unless both in general and in particular it looks to charity, for then charity becomes the end" (Arcana Coelestia, 809).

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NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1955

     The last twelve books in the Old Testament Word are known as the Minor Prophets; not, of course, that they are of lesser importance, but solely on account of their size-the whole taken together not equaling the book of Isaiah in bulk. By the Jews they were classed together as one book, and written on one roll called simply the "Twelve", and it is the order of the Hebrew canon that is followed in our English versions.
     These twelve books were written through the men whose names they bear, inspired Prophets drawn from both kingdoms; and they span the period from the decline of Israel through the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities to the aftermath of the return from the Exile. In the spiritual sense they all deal with the successive and final vastation of the church, the coming of the Lord and judgment, and the establishment of a new church. But each deals with specific phases of these subjects. We are told, for example, that Hosea treats of the falsification of the Word and of the destruction of the church thereby (SS 79); and the distinctive topic of each of the others could be arrived at by analysis The March readings take us from Hosea 2:14 through Jonah, and it is recommended that the summaries of the internal sense in Prophets and Psalms be read along with the text in order that what is peculiar to each prophecy may be clearly seen.

     In the exposition of Exodus 33, an important distinction is drawn that was neither seen nor perceived by the Jews themselves, namely, that there could be what was Divine in their worship, regarded in itself and separated from them, but with the Jews there was not anything Divine. The possibility of establishing a representative of a church with the Jews lay in the fact that this separation could be made.
     The first doctrinal insert (nos. 10,513-10,518), a continuation concerning the third earth in the universe, describes the temples of living trees there. A people characterized by both spiritual and natural simplicity is suggested by the dwellings and social organization mentioned. No. 10,517 would raise problems did it not evidently refer to the spirits from that earth, not to its inhabitants. The second insert makes it clear that the Holy Supper is neither a sacrifice nor a feast of remembrance but a means of conjunction with the Lord, not in the bread and wine, but in the love and faith of the worshiper (nos. 10,519-10,522)

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ARCANA OF JUDGMENT 1955

ARCANA OF JUDGMENT Rev. MORLEY D. RICH 1955

     As in all Divine revelation, there are in the Writings two most universal elements. These are judgment and redemption. Judgment is related to Divine truth, redemption to Divine good. And the first of these to appear manifestly to the human race, to the church, and to the individual, is the element of judgment-the judgment of Divine truth. This is, in fact, part of the significance of the statement of the Writings that in His first advent the Lord came as the Divine truth, though this was not separated from the Divine good. For it was the truth that first appeared to men, and it was only afterwards that they could see the good of it-the Divine mercy and love behind its shining face.
     The ax must indeed first cut a highway through the rough wilderness of the human spirit. It must first be laid to the deep roots of the trees of evil and falsity before the mansions of heaven can be built. And this is but another expression of the truth that until a man has received truth, and from that truth has shunned the evils of his heart, he can neither receive, feel, nor do good that is genuine good in itself -because it is from the Lord.
     If we follow this general principle of the primacy of the appearance of the Divine truth in time, we would expect to find the element of judgment more strongly and definitely emphasized in the early books of the Writings than in the later ones. This, in fact, is the case, as we shall see later by many confirming evidences.
     It is true of the Spiritual Diary, which, although not published, and not a definite external instrument of the Last Judgment, yet existed as a base of information for Swedenborg's own mind. So we find that the Diary notes are like pieces of broken glass with sharp, jagged edges. When they are picked up and turned around, all the colors of the prism flash back from them into our eyes almost painfully; but unless we handle them carefully we shall cut our fingers badly!
     The element of judgment is eminently manifested in the Arcana Coelestia. And we should expect this to be so, since it is no more than reasonable to assume, as so many New Church students have, that the Arcana was the basis on earth for the Last Judgment that followed its completion. By comparison with the Diary, however, the Arcana is more like the smooth sword of truth, or the continuous east wind by which the Lord broke the ships of Tarshish.

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     Finally, the same characteristic appears in the unpublished Apocalypse Explained, and to a lesser degree in the Apocalypse Revealed-works which were both written after the Last Judgment. By comparison with these, the other works which came later than the Last Judgment have less of this element of judgment and more of the element of redemption.
     Thus we have the truths of the New Church given in the form of definite doctrine; this as compared with the type of verse by verse exposition found in the Arcana and the two works on the Apocalypse In this form came The White Horse, The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, Heaven and Hell, The Four Doctrines, Divine Love and Wisdom, Divine Providence, Conjugial Love, and True Christian Religion. There are also several works that were published posthumously. And while, strangely enough, these are much more specific in naming persons, places, nations, races, and Christian sects than is the Arcana, the dominant element in them is good, or redemption. Yet this is not so strange when we consider that, following the Last Judgment, the Lord established the New Heaven, and only then could reveal in doctrinal form those truths which are to build the New Jerusalem, and which therefore redeem the human race by once more restoring the opportunity of salvation to men.
     In putting forth these ideas, however, we would not be misunderstood as meaning that the Divine good and truth are not perfectly balanced and meshed in the Lord's revelations. It is only that, as in a tapestry, one color gleams forth more strikingly in some parts, and the other color predominates in other parts. Or, to change the figure, sometimes the ax flashes, preparing clearings; at others, the completed mansion of good glows through prophetically.
     Curiously enough, something of Swedenborg's own progression of state appears in all this; and indeed it is a progression of state which is universal in human character-this quite apart from regeneration itself. Thus there is always a strongly predominating element of truth and judgment in younger states. A strong atmosphere of militancy, of battle, is present, creating the appearance of little swords darting across the sky, as in the account of those youths in the spiritual world who were striving to excel in doctrine in their gymnasium This is indeed necessary if the first work of defeating evil and hell is to be accomplished. And we may see this in Swedenborg through the pages of the Diary and the Arcana, and between the ages of sixty and sixty-nine in the years 1748-1757. While this may, or may not, have had any relation to his personal state of regeneration, it is possible to see an image of it in the experiences through which he passed in the spiritual world; experiences necessary for the revelation, and experiences in which he went through obsession and painful infestation from evil spirits flowing into every part and crevice of his mind and body at different times-spirits with whom he did the representative battles of repentance and regeneration.

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     Following this long cycle of judgment, of truth and warfare in the life of man, comes an age of good and peace; even if only apparently so, as in the case of the resignation and lethargy of the unregenerate man. Strife, judgment, choice, and the more violent aspects of freedom, are now wearying to the spirit. If there has been genuine spiritual progression, then gradually there now emerge more distinctly the redemptive elements of good. The mansion already constructed is being furnished and decorated with the golden ornaments of charity and faith.
     In relation to Swedenborg this age is manifested in the pages of the Writings which follow the Last Judgment. For now a vast construction is under way, and it has its counterpart and reflection in the microcosm of Swedenborg's spirit-one which reaches its height and climax, we believe, in the True Christian Religion and the posthumously published works which followed it. In this connection it may be suggested, indeed, that there is some significance in the fact that the Spiritual Diary was discontinued shortly after the Last Judgment; possibly because the raw, jagged, painful edges of truth and falsity were no longer necessary or present in the same universal and spectacular fashion.
     However, let us now leave these introductory considerations and proceed to the principal part of our subject. For in the brief compass of this effort we can, at best, point to and discuss only a few of the more striking characteristics of the Arcana Coelestia which demonstrate the predominance in it of the element of judgment.

     JUDGMENT CHARACTERISTICS IN THE ARCANA

     Any judgment which is to be a true and complete one must be based upon information that is both full and free. It can be accomplished only by means of a first, preliminary exposure and laying bare of the head, the heart, and the root of that which is to be judged; and this is so whether judgment is on the entire human race, on a consummated church, a community, or a single person. This is why the judgments that finite men make of such segments of society are limited and faulty; for they always tend to begin with the various outer and minor characteristics of that which they are attempting to evaluate, instead of going to the very heart or head or root of it. Thus they are led to see some good characteristics and some bad elements; and how to make an over-all judgment is something that they cannot understand because they are confused by that which is relative and which appears to have no discrete degrees of distinction.

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Thus they continually merge office with person, see no difference between physical aggression and economic competition, apply the term spiritual to natural good, confuse outward kindliness and piety with regeneration, and because of the abuse of natural things cannot see their constructive uses. In themselves, likewise, they may condemn all the characteristics of self-love indiscriminately, whether they are the goods of normal self-preservation or the evils of mere aggrandizement and gratification
     In addition, the bases for such a judgment must include the complete revelation in a continuous series from highest to lowest of the over-all pattern of that which is to be judged; and this line by line, color by color, form by form, beginning with the head or core and continuing to the very outermost parts in an orderly progression of series and degrees.
     This is what the Arcana does, in general with the whole human race, in particular with each man. And it does it, in general, by revealing the continuous spiritual sense of that external pattern of Divine and human life which is the literal sense of the books of Genesis and Exodus. This suggests the use to every man of the New Church, and to the novitiate, of reading the Arcana from beginning to end; for we dare say that if it is read with the spirit of affirmation, the Arcana will perform to the individual certain distinctive operations of judgment such as cannot be performed by any other works of the Writings.
     This is not too difficult to substantiate from the Introduction to the Arcana itself; for in it, at the very beginning of the work. there is presented that which confronts man with the necessity for an absolute decision one way or the other, for a judgment, a choice, on the basis of which he will be judged later. To choose the most clear and salient statements in these first five paragraphs, it is written: "From the mere letter of the Word of the Old Testament no one would ever discern the fact that this part of the Word contains deep secrets of heaven, and that everything within it both in general and in particular bears reference to the Lord, to His heaven, to the church, to religious faith, and to all things connected therewith. . . . That this is really the case no one can know except from the Lord. It may therefore be stated in advance that of the Lord's Divine mercy it has been granted me now for some years to be constantly and uninterruptedly in company with spirits and angels, hearing them speak and in turn speaking with them. In this way it has been given me to hear and see wonderful things in the other life which have never before come to the knowledge of any man, nor into his idea. I have been instructed in regard to the different kind of spirits; the state of souls after death; hell, or the lamentable state of the unfaithful; heaven, or the blessed state of the faithful; and especially in regard to the doctrine of faith which is acknowledged in the universal heaven; on which subjects, of the Lord's Divine mercy, more will be said in the following pages"(AC 1, 5).

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     Surely it is not difficult to see that such a statement must bring with it to the individual something of judgment-not a final but a preliminary one. A man must immediately have some kind of reaction to it; either a dawning and necessarily fragmentary belief, or the beginning of disbelief. He cannot remain neutral. Even if he appears to himself to suspend judgment until he has acquired more information there will be, deep down inside, an awakening subconscious attitude either affirmative or negative. And thus begins that revelatory exploring process which will lead to a judgment, to a separation of good and evil, of truth and falsity, in the individual. For what is being referred to and described is not a mere allegorical or symbolic sense such as has been attributed to the Word by some Christian commentators, and which may be elicited by the clever manipulations of self-intelligence. It is nothing so vague and relative as that. What is being said is that there is a genuine, spiritual, internal sense contained therein; a sense which is absolute, perfect, and Divine in its truth, before which, therefore, merely human intelligence must bow and yield. And further, it is being said that this is to be revealed by a man who has heard and seen wonderful things in the spiritual world which have never before come to the knowledge of any man, nor into his idea. Sooner or later, any man who reads them will have to make up his mind, one way or the other, about such statements as these.

     The Name "Lord." Then, just before the detailed explanation of the first chapter of Genesis begins, there comes that familiar keynote about the use of the name "Lord." "In the following work by the name Lord is meant the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, and Him only; and He is called 'the Lord' without the addition of any other names. Throughout the universal heaven He it is who is acknowledged and adored as Lord, because He has sovereign power in the heavens and on earth. In the whole of heaven they know no other Father than the Lord, because He and the Father are one, as He Himself has said" (AC 14, 15).
     Here indeed is the very first statement in the published Writings of the doctrine of the unity of God and of the Divine Human. None of the other names are chosen: not Jehovah, not God, nor even Jesus Christ by itself, but only "the Lord"-and this as expressing the entirety of the Divine love and wisdom, the Divine and the Human, the one omnipotent and omniscient and omnipresent God of heaven and earth, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And this statement is not weakened by the fact that the Writings do sometimes make use of the other names; for they do so only when referring to specific aspects of the Lord, and such usage is far less frequent than that of the primary name.

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Finally, though the whale name, the Lord Jesus Christ, is sometimes used, neither Jesus nor Christ are used separately or together except when passages from the New Testament are being quoted.
     By this passage the entire field of decision and judgment is chosen and opened up; for it is a general truth and contains a Divine quality that is foreign to the spirit, the doctrine, and the pattern of life of the old Christian Church and world. It is the second thing which lays bare, wrenches and shakes up, the mind of him who reads it, and which impels him a little further on the road to final decision and judgment. If he can accept it, even if only tentatively and timidly, it will work like a directing compass, gradually reorienting his spirit and giving it integration, power, scope, and direction. It will build his mind anew upon that stone which is become the head of the corner, upon that rock against which hell cannot prevail.

     The Seven Days of Creation. There then follows the revealing of the spiritual sense of the seven days of creation, and the subject which is exclusively treated is that of human regeneration. In other words, some of the secrets of the constitution and progressions of the human mind now begin to be manifested. And here again, without pursuing the revelation in detail, we may gain some sense of the decisive impact of this concept upon the mind of him who reads it. Likewise, we can have some idea of how the revelation of these truths prepared the way for the massive judgment in the world of spirits which followed this work.
     For here man is shown to be, not a higher animal, or even merely a Divinely created creature destined to return to the dust from whence he sprang, but an immortal soul and spirit with the possibility and opportunity of seven distinct stages of progression; in the course of which he will acquire remains of good and truth, spiritual charity and faith, love to the Lord and the neighbor, and a spiritual body in which he will live to eternity as a man after the casting off of the physical body. And so the decisions and judgments, the reactions and attitudes of the reader of these truths, become a little closer and clearer and ever more imperative. For no one who is not indifferent and lukewarm can indefinitely evade or postpone the need for direct decision, choice, and action which these plain statements of truth bring before him.

     The Doctrine of the Divine Human and the Glorification. The Arcana then goes on to treat of the internal sense of that remnant of the Ancient Word which composes the first eleven chapters of Genesis. All of this treats principally of regeneration; the Most Ancient Church and its decline and fall, ending with the flood; the tower of Babel; and the genealogies of Noah down to Abram.

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None of this is actual history in the literal sense.
     But beginning immediately with the true history, which commences with the story of Abram in the twelfth chapter, the principal subject of the internal sense which is now treated is the Lord-His assumption of the Human, and its glorification at His first advent. Thus it is written: "The things related in this chapter [Genesis 12] concerning Abram represent the Lord's state from earliest infancy up to youth" (AC 1401). And for many chapters following, the doctrine of the Lord continues to be the principal subject of the internal sense which is treated.
     Two new and most universal ideas are presented to the human mind by this material. The first is the idea of the infinite God taking on that which was human and finite while at the same time remaining as to His true self the one indivisible God and Lord of heaven and earth, the Creator and Ruler of the universe. Here are involved the deep arcana of the ratio between the infinite and the finite; and here, likewise, is no humanly devised intellectual escape into such a falsity as that He was the Son of God, a second person begotten from eternity. The second is the truth that the human and finite thus assumed was then, by a process called glorification, transformed into an infinite and Divine Human, one with the Father, and became the Lord and Savior in an ultimate manner such as never before.
     In this way the basic concept first opened by the statement at the beginning concerning the name "the Lord" is underlined, made firm, and infilled. This doctrine was indeed the very essential, the primary truth, the inmost core and nucleus of all that information on the basis of which the Last Judgment took place. Its giving initiated that long process the culmination of which is announced by the statement in True Christian Religion: "Henceforth no Christian can enter heaven who does not acknowledge the Lord God the Savior and approach Him alone" (no. 107).
     If we project our imaginations just a little we shall see how these two truths, if received at all, cannot but stimulate decision and bring judgment: shaking the very earth of the human mind to its utmost depths and heights, overturning mountains, raising the valleys, sweeping out as with an east wind the cities of rubbish and decay and death in that world of spirits, and causing a gradual readjustment and realignment of the mental processes in one direction or another. So was it likewise with the historic Last Judgment.

     The Tabernacle, the Human Mind, and the Earths in the Universe. We cannot possibly even mention here the innumerable additional details which characterize the Arcana Coelestia as a work of decision and judgment.

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Consequently we shall pass on to what is found at the end of the work. Here there occurs one of those intriguing and numerous connections between the subjects treated doctrinally between the chapters and the literal story or sense of the chapters themselves. Genesis 7 may be taken as an illustration. The literal story is that of the flood; the principal subjects of the internal sense are the preparatory temptations and protections of the new church of Noah, and the perishing of the last posterity of the Most Ancient Church; and the doctrinal inserts preceding and following are on the subject of hell.
     Here we mention only one of these connections, and that in relation to our subject. The literal sense of Exodus describes the deliverance from Egypt, the journey to Sinai, and the specifications, furnishings, and materials of the ark and the Tabernacle which the children of Israel were to carry to Canaan. What is being described in the internal sense is the preparation and inauguration of a new church-any new church, but specifically the Jewish Church, though more representatively the final New Church. And we find that the doctrinal subject treated before each of the chapters of Exodus is the doctrine of charity and faith, while the subject treated at the end of each chapter throughout is the earths in the universe.
     In the material given on the earths in the universe the Writings take our minds outward to the uttermost bounds of the natural universe, if there are any such bounds as can be defined by finite human mentality. The mind is brought face to face with details, even very ultimate ones, which insinuate a much greater idea of the indefinite variety of human forms which exist in the universe, of the even greater variety of human souls and uses which live and move and have their immortal being in God-Man, and thence of that infinite variety in union which is the Lord.
     It seems almost too obvious to mention that the mind which is exposed to this type of information can never again be the same, just as the world of spirits could not remain the same after receiving it. Such a tremendous widening of the horizon cannot but lead to some diminishing of many of the petty, stupid, ignorant prides and prejudices, hatreds and fears, which had formerly appeared to man as so right and so all-important. Who that has lifted up his eyes unto the mountains can any longer regard the little mounds in the valleys as high things? And is not this change somewhat of a judgment, involving a degree of decision?
     Yet the chapters of the literal story describe at the same time the deliverance and the establishment, in a tiny point of the universe, of a quite crude and primitive and comparatively insignificant tribe of former slaves. And there are described also the building, appurtenances, and forms of their prescribed worship; things which, viewed externally, and in comparison with other and older worships then existing in the civilizations of this earth alone, seem truly puny and pitiable.

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     Yet what is being described internally is the construction of the individual human mind: a thing which, in its magnificent complexity, is utterly beyond and above every imaginable immensity and variety of the natural universe-a structure of which we see but the outermost fringes and edges, a structure in which our conscious cooperation through human education has but barely begun. And just think of the many so ingenious and yet so completely dark and stupid theories of education such material overturns! Think of the revolution that may occur in the mind which is receptive when it is presented with the truth that every human mind is created to live to eternity in a world beyond space and time, and to live usefully and happily in the most full and complete humanity that is conceivable.
     There is additionally in these two contrasting subjects, the universe and the Tabernacle, that which may further enlighten the mind as to the proper relationships between what is universal and infinite and that which is purely local, representative, and personal. And is not this, in another aspect, that which is the Divine Human of the Lord Himself? For it is that which forms the connection, the nexus, between the infinite and the finite, between the Lord and each individual and every created human use. So even through what is sometimes called a rational and abstract revelation the Lord says to us again: "Fear not, ye are of more value than many sparrows"; and assures that He will not leave us comfortless, but will send another comforter, even the Spirit of Truth which shall lead unto all truth. Truly the voice of the Lord, while it first breaks the cedars and smashes the ships of Tarshish, afterwards calms the seas, and builds mansions in the minds of all willing men.
     However, we must pass on to some other remarkable general things concerning the Arcana which may be suggestive in relation to its use as the basis of judgment. In mentioning these we do not propose to be dogmatic, but simply to furnish some clues which may yield results.

     MISCELLANEOUS AND SUGGESTIVE CLUES

     Subjects not Treated in the Arcana. An interesting feature of the Arcana, and one which not only shows the differences between it and the later works but also confirms it as the basis for judgment, emerges when a list is made of the subjects which are not treated. Four of these are the following:
     1. The Last Judgment itself, except vaguely and prophetically (AC 2117-2134, 4057, 4535ff), and expositionally in the explanation of Matthew 24 and 25.

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Swedenborg knew that a judgment was impending, but was not yet informed as to its details or interior nature.
     2. The second coming of the Lord, also mentioned only vaguely and prophetically (AC 3900, 4231, 4230). Swedenborg did not yet comprehend his Writings as the historic Second Coming. The many references to the Lord's second advent have to do with the coming of Divine truth to the individual in the course of his regeneration.
     3. The New Church, in so many specific words.
     4. Conjugial love, at least not in full doctrinal form, except nos. 10,167-10,175; and only in short passages where the literal sense of the Old Testament story requires it.
     The Last Judgment could not, of course, be described in advance; and the Lord's second coming could not be declared and associated with the Writings until the world of spirits had been cleared, the heavens reordered, and the hells subdued by judgment. The New Church could not be revealed and established until the formation of the New Heaven after the Last Judgment. And it is possible that the doctrine of conjugial love could not be given in its purity until there had been removed from the spiritual world everything that might have sullied it in some manner in the course of its passage from the Lord through the heavens into Swedenborg's rational mind, and into his pen.

     Modern Races, Nations end Persons, and Christian Sects. Another peculiar feature of the Arcana is that in it races, nations, Christian sects, and individuals are not named or treated generally. There are two brief mentions of the people of India, one short reference to the Africans, and one to the Chinese. Of thirteen modern nations and subdivisions of nations not mentioned in the Word of the Old and New Testament, there is only one bare mention of Italy and a reference to Sicily. Of the Christian sects and other religions only the Roman Catholics are mentioned, and then only once. And of some thirty persons of all descriptions and types, not characters of the Word but referred to in the later Writings, not one is referred to in the Arcana.
     What significance may be attached to these facts, or discovered in the future, is beyond our present scope; yet it may be suggested that the revelation of persons, names, nations and races, was not essential to the Last Judgment. Indeed it might have interfered with that judgment, since it is so easy for the human mind to glorify the good that is revealed, and to gloss over the evil that is disclosed concerning any segment of society which is loved from the proprium. What was essential to the Last Judgment was the revelation of those universal and singular truths-apart from place, name, and person-from which the minds of men might be judged by themselves, and this without the entering in of any extraneous and interfering local and proprial loyalties.

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     The Relation Between the Arcana and the Works on the Apocalypse. We have spoken of the idea that the Arcana, by unfolding the internal sense of the Word verse by verse, touched in its course the nerve centers of every society and individual in the spiritual world. By this likewise the Last Judgment was made possible; not only in regard to the separation of the good from the evil in the world of spirits, but also in regard to the reordering of the societies and individuals of both heaven and hell into a new form-one expressed as to the former in the name "the New Heaven." This Last Judgment was the result of a Divine decision, not only in relation to the consummated Christian Church but also in regard to the former order and mode of salvation which had existed in the natural world up to that time. And, as we have said, the Arcana was by its expositional character the basis for that operation.
     What, then, may we say about the two works on the Apocalypse?-the Apocalypse Explained and the Apocalypse Revealed, which also unfold the internal sense of the Word Verse by verse. Briefly, we suggest that as the Arcana is the basis for judgment whereby the individual comes out of the state of the old church, so these two works are the basis of judgment for the societies and members of the New Heaven and the New Church.

     THE BASES OF JUDGMENT

     We have considered that the published volumes of the Arcana were the physical basis for the Last Judgment performed in the spiritual world. In this we do not imply any connection with the minds of men on earth save that of Swedenborg. The fact was that no man on earth had as yet read the Arcana as a whole before the Last Judgment. Yet it was the Divine truth as it had been received by, and as it existed in, the mind of Swedenborg that was the ultimate basis for the Last Judgment. That truth had been given to him by an innumerable variety of spiritual experiences; but it was fixed, systematized, and made organically permanent by his writing of it; thus through the nerves and muscles of his body on to the paper in ink, into letters and words which returned by the sense of sight into his brain and thence into his mind. A little study of the passages which speak of the uses to the mind which are served by writing will result in further enlightenment as to the uses performed to Swedenborg's mind, and thence to the Last Judgment and the spiritual world, by the writing out of the Arcana Coelestia.
     The whole truth being thus fixed and organized in Swedenborg's mind, we can better understand the way in which he acted as the instrument of judgment when he conversed with spirits, and presented to them that same truth. Thence also was made possible the uses of judging and instructing performed by many other agents in the spiritual world; the instructing angels by whom also the Lord prepared and effected His final judgment.

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     CONCLUSION

     Finally, let us return to the setting as it existed on the eve of the Last Judgment in 1757. The last volume of the Arcana had been published in Latin. All the essentials and universals of the new dispensation now existed in the natural world and in the mind of the revelator. And now the yeast began to work its ferments in the world of spirits. The whole truth which would make men free, which would give them maturity and responsibility as reagents if they so chose, had been born into the world. Judgment could no longer be deferred, final decision no further postponed.
     Men could no longer live from or hide behind the various spurious and false philosophies of past ages, for in the light of positive truth these were now exposed for what they were. Nor could they continue to worship in the various former religiosities of the earth, for these were consummated and condemned. Neither could they even be governed and held in external order by past modes and outward systems and symbols of earthly government, for these had served only as mere representatives of a church and an age.
     Judgment day had come, so to speak, for all. The alphabet of the true Christian religion had been revealed and spelled out in the Arcana Coelestia-the secrets of the heavens and of the heaven of heavens. The deep-lying roots of all the trees of human falsity and evil had been exposed, and the ax was now to be laid to them. Vast actions of individual and communal exposure and redemption impended.
     The day was quietly dawning which would witness the most awesome and spectacular clearance of the world of spirits. This was a clearance, a final decision, which would have its inevitable influences and effects upon the minds of men on earth in the ages to follow, in their world of spirits; bringing to them, in each generation, the opportunity of thinking more freely concerning spiritual things. And thence would follow a plethora of new concepts and new affections from whence would inevitably emerge new ultimates, a variety of externals even in their natural lives such as had never before been known or been possible.
     These are now made possible by that which was given immediately after the Last Judgment, and which itself was made possible by that judgment-the various books of the Heavenly Doctrine. For the books which followed the judgment are those which raise the new mansions of heaven; which bring the holy city to earth, into the minds of those on earth who have made somewhat of judgment, some type and degree of affirmative decision, in regard to the Lord and His Word.

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GLEANINGS FROM EMERSON'S STUDY 1955

GLEANINGS FROM EMERSON'S STUDY E. BRUCE GLENN 1955

     The intellectual culture of our day takes little notice of Swedenborg and his teachings. It prefers the more "realistic" ideas of other philosophers and scientists, the more orthodox doctrine of other theologians. The influence of the revelator on the leading thought of the day is relatively minor.
     Such was not the case a century ago. The first half of the nineteenth century witnessed a considerable interest in Swedenborg; and on the part of some thinkers and writers, a strong influencing of their thought. In England such diverse minds as Blake, Coleridge, and Carlyle were drawn into the orbit of his teachings. On the other side of the Atlantic many first learned his name and, they supposed, his ideas from the pages of America's foremost spokesman to the cultural world, Ralph Waldo Emerson of Concord, Massachusetts. In 1850, with the publication of Emerson's Representative Men, the name of Swedenborg was mingled with those that were household words-Plate, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Goethe.
     Concord, lying a few miles north of Boston, was in 1850 a village of some two thousand. Yet to it rather than its great learned neighbor must be accorded recognition as the cultural center of nineteenth-century America. This was largely the result of Emerson's residence there; but something must be said about the general cultural climate in order to explain Emerson's place and also the influence of Swedenborg.*
     * Concord was the scene of the Revolution's opening battle; the residence in Emerson's time of the great novelist, Nathaniel Hawthorne; of Henry Thoreau, writer of the classic Walden; of Louisa May Alcott and her Little Women. Yet Concord today, not much larger than a century ago, lives quietly and graciously with its illustrious past and-a final word to the traveling reader-is wonderfully uncommercialized.
     The New England mind, with its insistence on Puritan morality, had dominated America since her first colonization. Coupled with this view, however, was the growing American dream of a society free from evil because free from want. Such a utopian vision of social democracy tempered the Puritan faith in two ways; it denied an elect of God, and rejected the necessity of individual redemption by declaring human nature essentially good. Dogmatic theology became no longer a necessity, and Christ was seen to be not Redeemer but merely the best representative of mankind.

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     Meanwhile the growth of scientific thought had emphasized sensory observation and reason as methods of arriving at truth. The day of the materialist with his evolutionary thesis was close at hand. But certain minds-in Germany, Kant, in England, Berkeley, and later in America, Emerson-were searching for new spiritual basis of human culture to replace the weakening dogmas of Christendom Nature, these minds insisted, was more than natural, and the mind more than matter, more even than reason about matter.
     And so, in the early decades of the century, like Coleridge and Carlyle in England, Emerson turned to new sources for spiritual enlightenment on man and his universe. Partially he found his faith in the Hindu scriptures; partially in the idealistic writings of the German philosophers; and partially in the works of Swedenborg He took from each what he thought he needed, proclaiming his American independence from any of them; and in this lay his unhappy confusion regarding Swedenborg
     That his approach to Swedenborg's teachings vas a confused one can be readily seen from reference in his journals and letters, and from the evidence, sometimes mute, of his annotations in the copies of Swedenborg's works that are preserved in his study at Concord. The full story can perhaps never be Pieced together; but what emerges from these sources is of interest to the New Church man.* For it shows how a mind great in the potentialities of spiritual insight can be rendered partly blind by the faith in its independent vision of truth.
     * Excellent studies of the published references have been made by Dr. Clarence P. Hotson (Emerson and Swedenborg, Doctoral Dissertation, Harvard Univ., 1929) and Kenneth W. Cameron (Emerson the Essayist, 2 vol., Raleigh, N. C.: The Thistle Press, 1945).
     Emerson's reading of Swedenborg began Years before the essay of 1850, in fact when he was in college at Harvard The magnitude of the reading task is seen in a journal note of 1838: "Perhaps we have not got yet to such a distance from Swedenborg as rightly to appreciate him, or have not read him enough. And he may be a third or fourth great genius of the world who is to set his mark on ages and on following millions." That he set himself to the task with some seriousness is indicated by an excerpt from an 1847 letter: "I have read little [in the past months] but Swedenborg . . . ." And yet after the publication of his essay on Swedenborg he confessed to a Swedenborgian friend: "You are right in taxing me with ignorance of his mind. I would read him if I could, but it is one of his demerits, it is part of his fate, that I cannot. But from year to year I watch his great form striding thro' the shades, and when a favorable moment arrives, I dare to accost him."
     That there were many "favourable moments" for the arrogantly independent Emerson is readily seen from a perusal of the works of Swedenborg remaining in his home and study.

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A week's scanning of these volumes-some thirty-odd of the philosophical and the theological writings-provides the student with a notebook full of marginal markings and personal indexes inside the back covers. These are too many to trace in detail here; but perhaps from the mass can be drawn a few general points regarding Swedenborg's influence and Emerson's selective tendencies.
     What Emerson liked and noted above all else as he read was the concept of love as the creative and vivifying force of the universe. Page after page, in Divine Love and Wisdom, Conjugial Love, The Apocalypse Revealed, and others, he underscored statements concerning love as the essence of the Divine and the source of all harmony and conjunction. This is to be expected, since Emerson's own philosophy of life is the belief in the Divine beauty and harmony of all natural things. Thus he hailed, with marginal note and back-cover reference, the teaching that "love truly conjugial is chastity itself, and delights make its life" (CL 144).
     Another teaching that Emerson found and noted in Swedenborg, and that pervades all his writings, is the concept of correspondence, the creative relationship between the world of the spirit and that of nature. He was especially interested as a poet in the teachings respecting the environment of heaven and the nature of angelic language. Of significance is the fact that hardly a note is made beside the many references in these volumes to the nature of hell and Swedenborg's experiences with spirits thence. Emerson's idealistic world had no room for a hell.
     Nor did he care for the formal doctrine which orders and disciplines the truths of the Writings. His dislike of formalism was what kept Emerson himself from achieving the status of a philosopher. As an integral part of his subjective view of life, it was perhaps the chief stumbling-block to his more affirmative acceptance of Swedenborg. He seems to have ignored the fall of man, and to have believed simply and sincerely that every man could receive from nature, viewed intuitively, his own revelation. The picture which Swedenborg drew in the first chapter of the Principia, of man as he was in a primitive state of integrity, Emerson noted carefully in his copy of that work; the succeeding picture of man in his perverted state, in the same chapter, he marked not at all. And inside the back cover he wrote "Adam 38" (the page of the first reference). One may suppose without judging harshly that Emerson viewed his own state as similar.
     Such a man felt no need of authority outside himself. He remarked to his journal: "As nothing will keep, but the soul demands that all shall be new today, therefore we reject a past man, or a past man's teaching. Who is Swedenborg! A man who saw God and Nature for a fluid moment.

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His disciples vainly try to make a fixture of him, his seeing, and his teaching, and coax me to accept it for God and Nature. Dependence is the only poverty" (October 17, 1840).
     Again: "Swedenborg perceived the central life of each object and saw the change of appearance as it passed before different eyes. He does not seem to have seen with equal clearness the necessity of onwardness or progression in each creature. Metamorphosis is the law of the Universe. All forms are fluent, and as the bird alights on the bough and pauses for rest, then plunges into the air again on its way, so the thoughts of God pause but for a moment in any form, but pass into a new form, as if by touching the earth again in burial, to acquire new energy. A wise man is not deceived by the pause: he knows that it is momentary: he already foresees the new departure, and departure after departure, in long series. Dull people think they have traced the matter far enough if they have reached the history of one of these temporary forms, which they describe as fixed and final" (Journal, September 1845).
     Here is eloquence challenging authority, appealing against tradition. Emerson's own words concerning Swedenborg might well be applied to himself, "A master of such extraordinary extent of nature, and not to be acted upon by any other, that he needs must be a god to the young and enthusiastic . . . . Very dangerous study" (Journal, undated).
     Of the Swedenborgian doctrine that in the new revelation lay the internal sense of the Word, Emerson took no notice; not because of any supposed inconsistency in the exposition, but rather because he did not accept the Word itself as revelation. "Swedenborg's theology does well as long as it is repeated to and by those who are wont to accept something positive. . . . But when I hear it, I say, This is nothing to me. . . . This is the excess of form. The fallacy seems to be in the equivocal use of the term, The Word. In the high and sacred sense of that term used by a strong Oriental rhetoric for the energy of the Supreme Cause (in act) all that is predicated of it is true. But this being granted, theologians shift the word from this grand sense to signify a written sentence of St. Matthew or St. John, and instantly assume for this wretched written sentence all that was granted to be true of the Divine Reason" (Journal, September 1845).
     To quote such an utterance here seems blasphemous. It is preserved from such a charge only because the author never really accepted Scripture, and speaks as one standing confidently outside the temple. Confident he was, but bewildered and confused without knowing it. The marks of his confusion are seen everywhere in his mingled praise for the insight of Swedenborg and his flat rejection of the Divine mode by which that insight was effected. In a single day's entry of his journal (May 25,1849) he made these two statements: "Swedenborg's church an imprisonment in the letter; never a hero stirs out of it," and "Swedenborg was the last Christian."

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The last statement Emerson might well have believed, since according to his philosophy, the mind of man-and of Ralph Waldo Emerson-could do without allegiance to the revealed Word of God. The true vision of the mind renewed in Christian faith by the rational sight of God in the pages he was turning, this he never saw.
CORRESPONDENCES, REPRESENTATIVES AND SIGNIFICATIVES 1955

CORRESPONDENCES, REPRESENTATIVES AND SIGNIFICATIVES ROY H. GRIFFITH 1955

     (Delivered to the New Church Club, London, England.)

     If it were necessary to justify to the New Church the choice of this subject for consideration, we would quote from that passage in Heaven and Hell which reads: "Without a knowledge of what correspondence is? nothing can be clearly known about the spiritual world; nor about its influence upon the natural world; nor indeed can the relationship of the spiritual to the natural be understood at all; nor can anything be clearly known about the spirit of man which is called the soul and its operation on the body; nor about the state of man after death" (HH 88).
     In the Writings of the New Church there are words which bear a special connotation such as animus, conjugial, cognition, external and internal (of man), proprium, rational, scientifics and others which will readily come to mind. The dictionary definitions of these words are quite inadequate for a full comprehension of their meanings.
     Words in frequent use, by their very familiarity, tend to lose the full force of their meaning in the mind of the listener and reader. In the case of words of special importance it is necessary to consider periodically their full meaning and implication. In this way the mind is refreshed with a fuller understanding of what the words are intended to convey. It was this thought that led to this short study.
     It was one of the lesser philosophers, Leibnitz, who said truly:" . . . an exact analysis of the signifcation of words would make us better acquainted than anything else with the operation of the understanding."
     Correspondences, representatives, and significatives at first sight seem to be synonymous. The purpose of this brief study is:
     1. To examine what meaning the Writings themselves ascribe to these words.

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     2. To note any differences in meaning.
     3. To summarize the history of the knowledge of correspondences and their importance to men today.

     First, it might be useful to consider some dictionary definitions of these words:
     Correspond-to be in harmony with, to answer to in character and function: and there is a definition going back to 1680 which reads, "concordant response."
     Representative-serving to represent or symbolize.
     Significative-having a signification.
     These definitions are all right as far as they go, but they do not take us very far in New Church philology.
     One thing is made quite clear in the Writings: ". . . in the Word, there are no metaphors or mere comparisons, but real correspondences; even the comparisons there are made by such things as correspond" (AC 8989).

     In a reference to the statutes to be observed by the Jews, there is a passage in the Arcana which seems to imply that correspondences, representatives, and significatives have each a distinct and different meaning: "All these laws (Exodus 21:7-12) derive their origin from the laws of truth and good in heaven and have relation thereto in an internal sense, but partly by correspondences, partly by representatives, and partly by significatives" (AC 2567). And again, the historical facts which begin in Genesis 12 "are representative and every particular word is significative" (AC 1401).
     There are other passages which lead to a better understanding of the relationship of each of these words to the others. The minutest things of nature "in consequence of corresponding . . . are representative" (AC 5116). Whatever corresponds to the minds of angels "also represents them; such things are called representations" (HH 175). Communication of heaven and earth is through all things in the literal sense of the Word being representative and significative of the things contained in the internal sense (AC 3349); however, the persons or things which bear the representations are not at all reflected on, but only that which is represented (AC 1361).
     The relationship of the three words becomes clearer from the passage in the Arcana which reads: "All things which are in the world correspond, and according to correspondences represent and signify spiritual and celestial things, and in the supreme sense the Divine things which are of the Lord" (AC 9280).
     A spiritual correspondent or significative is conjoined to the natural object to which it corresponds.

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Analogies on the natural plane are: sight and the eye are not the same yet they are conjoined; it is similar with hearing and the ear; and on a higher plane, the will, which is spiritual, is conjoined with the muscles of the body by which action is produced (AC 7850). From this it is apparent that conjunction is one of the characteristics of a correspondent and corresponding significative.
     Spiritual things are represented in natural things; similarly the things which belong to the internal man are portrayed in the external. And when this is the case, the external things are representative of the internal; and when they agree together they are correspondences. While man is in this life he is able to feel and perceive very little of this relationship; . . . "for the celestial and spiritual things appertaining to him fall into the natural things which are in his external man, and there he loses the a sensation and perception of them" (AC 2994). It is only when the external things are put off that he is able to perceive fully the spiritual things to which they-the external things-corresponded.
     We read in the Arcana Coelestia: "Correspondences are called that because they correspond, and representatives because they represent" (AC 2987); but it will be agreed that that definition does not take us very far. Natural things correspond to and therefore represent spiritual things because the former are derived from the latter. Examples can be taken from common experience: the thought and the will are reflected in the expressions of the face; affections of an interior nature in the eyes. In these examples the facial expressions represent and correspond to the thought and affections with which they are conjoined. So another characteristic is that a representative is derived from its corresponding cause which is spiritual.
     There is another form of correspondence which has a different origin from those already mentioned. "The things which are above [man's] perception, internal dictate and conscience, belong to the Lord: the things beneath are with man." And again: "Thus by their mutual respect to each other, their relation is called parallelism, and by reason of their mutual correspondence, as active and passive, it is called correspondence" (AC 1831).
     Another interesting passage in the Arcana illustrates the general use of the three words under consideration: "The reason why an odor signifies what is grateful and acceptable-and so in the Jewish Church was also representative of what is grateful-and is attributed to the Lord, is because the good of charity and the truth of faith from charity correspond to sweet and delightful odors" (AC 925).
     One of the definitions given to us in the Writings is: "Correspondences are natural truths, in which, as in speculums, spiritual truths are represented" (AC 9300).

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They are also "the appearing of the internal in the external and its representation there" (AC 5423). We also learn that correspondences and representatives are one thing and that all things which correspond likewise represent and hence signify (HD 261). It is internal things which are represented and external things which are the representatives. Similarly with man internal and spiritual qualities are represented in the external or natural man (AC 3225).
     Representations are but the natural images of spiritual things (AC 4044). Even evil men by virtue of their office, can represent spiritual things, as for example, even the evil kings of Israel represented the dominion of the Lord (AC 665).
     "Besides representatives there are also correspondences which in sound and signification differ in the natural world from what they are in the spiritual world: thus the heart denotes the affection of good; eyes, understanding; ears, obedience; hands, power" (AC 2763). It is from the principle illustrated that each expression and every letter in the Word involve what is spiritual and celestial. Hence it is that when man reads the Word "spirits and angels instantly perceive it spiritually according to representations and correspondences" (AC 2763). This science is little better understood today than in Swedenborg's time, because the worldly man and the materialist dismiss it as mystical make-believe and scorn to give it a moment's thought.
     Significatives in the Word are adapted to the spiritual things represented (AC 8732). For example, land signifies the church; but those in the heavens do not think of land when it occurs in the Word, but of the spiritual state of the nation in the land, and so of the religious principle prevailing there.
     We have not discovered in the Writings a clear definition of the word "significative," but there is an indication of its meaning at the end of paragraph 1409 in the Arcana. There it says: "All the expressions which occur in the Word are significative; that is, they have a different signification in the internal sense from that which they have in the literal." If we have understood the meaning correctly, we can cite as an example the patriarch Abraham. In the literal sense, the word "Abraham" brings to mind an historical personage who was the progenitor of the Jewish people.
     As such we can regard him. But as he has a place in the Word of God, the expression "Abraham" is used to denote something which in no way relates to him as a man. The name, of course, signifies in the highest sense the Lord, and in a lower sense the celestial man.
     Significatives, then, pertain to words and expressions which have an internal or spiritual sense quite different from their purely literal and natural sense. There is another passage in the Arcana which seems to support this view.

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Referring to the historical facts which represent the Lord, the sentence closes with the words " . . . the words describing them are significative of the things which are represented" (AC 1540). There are words to the same effect in AC 1783, which treats of the historical facts about Abraham; and again in AC 2143: "the historical things are merely representative and the expressions significative of those things contained in the internal sense." The Arcana explains that "every significative in the Word derives its origin from representatives in the other life and these from correspondences" (AC 6048).
     The science of correspondences was known to the men of the Most Ancient Church who were of a celestial genius and were together with spirits and angels while they lived in the world. The doctrinals relating to love to God and charity to the neighbor, and the scientifics relating to the natural world derived from their knowledge, eventually composed the Word of the Ancient Church which came after the flood. In those days, the "science of correspondences was the science of sciences, and was so universal that all their books were written by correspondences" (SS 20). From their knowledge of internal things, the men of the Most Ancient Church were able to elevate their minds from natural things to the spiritual and celestial things which the former represent.
     With the coronation of Elizabeth II of England in 1953 still fresh in the minds of Englishmen, it is specially interesting to be reminded that it is from the ancients who understood things spiritually that today "it is still the custom for kings at their coronation . . . to wear a purple robe, to be anointed with oil (though we understand that this rite applies only to the kings and queens of England), to bear on their heads a crown, and in their hands a scepter, a sword, keys," and so on (AC 4581). A king represented the Divine truth which is from the Divine good, and they knew the significance of the rites which today are regarded as nothing more than symbols.
     Eventually this celestial and spiritual knowledge perished and was turned into magic and idolatry (TCR 204). In this base form the Egyptians had a spurious acquaintance with the science of correspondences. The representative rites of the church, which were correspondences, were turned into idolatry by the Israelites. Their worship consisted of pure correspondences and consequently was representative of heavenly things; but the Jews themselves were entirely ignorant of their spiritual significance. Being natural men they did not wish, nor had they the power, to know anything of the celestial and spiritual things represented by the natural.
     In Heaven and Hell no. 115 there is a summary of the decline of the knowledge of correspondences in ancient times.

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First there was the golden age when men thought intuitively from correspondences; then followed the silver age when men thought from a knowledge of correspondences, "but not of so intimate a nature"; later came the copper age when there was a certain but limited knowledge of correspondences.
     It is essential at all times that there shall be some communication between the Lord's kingdom in the heavens and the Lord's kingdom on earth. This is the reason why the Word for the Jewish Church, which followed the Ancient Word, was written by representatives and significatives so that it might contain an internal sense understood in the heavens (AC 2899). The contents of the Word of the Jewish Church were representative and significative "of Divine things appertaining to the Lord." It is because of this that the angels perceive Divine things when the Word is read by children. Again, we read in the Arcana: "They who are in Divine ideas never regard the Word of the Lord from the letter, but consider the letter and the literal sense as representative and significative of the celestial and spiritual things appertaining to the church and the Lord's kingdom" (AC 1807).
     The question of correspondences might now be considered in a wider aspect. From what has been reviewed so far, it will have been apparent that the subject is intimately connected with the doctrine of discrete degrees. "The whole natural world corresponds to the spiritual world, not only in general but also in particular" (HH 89). The things of the natural world derive their existence from the spiritual and so correspond. "The natural world exists and subsists from the spiritual world, just as an effect exists from its efficient cause" (HH 89). Similarly, spiritual things represent and derive from celestial things.
     Again in Heaven and Hell we are told that correspondences in the natural world are of three degrees: the animal kingdom of the first degree, because it relates to living things; the vegetable kingdom of the second degree because it relates to things that only grow; the mineral kingdom of the third degree because it relates to things that neither live nor grow (HH 104).
     All things in nature have a correspondence in the spiritual world. The interior heaven, the spiritual world and the world of nature, are as end, cause, and effect. "All things in the universe are nothing else but a kind of theater representative of the Lord's glory which is in the heavens" (AC 3000).
     In considering this question it is important to bear in mind that between things natural and things spiritual, and between the higher heavens and the lower heavens, there is no direct communication except by means of correspondences (AC 10181 and HH 207). This of course brings us to the absorbing doctrine of influx. In this short essay, however, we must not digress and then return to the main theme under consideration.

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It is interesting to note that when angels in the spiritual state are consociated with man in the natural state, the consociation is by correspondences and relates only to the affections. In neither case can the thoughts of the one be known to the other. The thoughts of men are known to the Lord alone (AR 943).
     So far the subject has been considered in the abstract. It would be a barren occupation to examine the meaning of correspondences, representatives, and significatives if they had no relation to the life of man. We might now consider this aspect of the subject.
     The science of correspondences, which provides the key to the spiritual sense of the Word, has been revealed so that man might know and understand the Divine truths of the church (TCR 207). It has already been made clear that man with an understanding of correspondences will not regard "the Word of the Lord from the letter, but will consider the letter and the literal sense as representative and significative of the celestial and spiritual things which appertain to the church and the Lord's kingdom" (AC 1807). Through this medium, the Lord is able to elevate the thoughts of man from the natural and material world to Himself, so that man may be affected with the Divine and so conjoined to him (AC 4525). Man is, of course, not capable of comprehending the Divine and the Infinite, for his finite ideas are based on things of time and space.
     It is through a knowledge of correspondences that it is possible to have some idea of the spiritual delights into which the natural delights are changed after death (HH 487). There is an important passage in the Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture which affirms that "no one is able to see the spiritual sense except from the Lord alone and unless he is in genuine truths from Him" (SS 26). The same passage gives a fearful warning that man can violate the spiritual sense of the Word by seeking for it from his own self-intelligence. In this way the meaning is perverted and falsity confirmed. To do this is to violate Divine truth itself and heaven.
     There can be a form of correspondence in man himself: "There is with every man a celestial and spiritual principle which corresponds to the angelic heaven; and there is a rational principle which corresponds to the heaven of angelic spirits; and an interior sensual principle which corresponds to the heaven of spirits" (AC 978). The paragraph from which this quotation is taken goes on to explain that the internal man is formed of things celestial and spiritual, the interior or intermediate man of things rational, and the external of sensual things; not, indeed, of the body but derived from bodily things. The three heavens are distinct from each other; and after death "the man who has conscience is first in the heaven of spirits and, is afterwards elevated by the Lord into the heaven of angelic spirits, and lastly into the angelic heaven."

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This could not be effected unless there were in man "as many heavens, to which, and to the state of which, he is capable of corresponding."
     While man is in the body he thinks from "the rational principle in the natural": and when these correspond, "the light of heaven from the Lord can flow in through the rational into the natural principle and enlighten it with intelligence and wisdom" (AC 3679); and so the man becomes rational and can think spiritually. When the natural principle and the rational do not correspond there is no communication. This is an abstruse section of doctrine which we cannot pursue; we have mentioned it because of its immense importance in the regeneration and ultimate salvation of man.
     With a knowledge of correspondences it is possible for a man to be in communion with the angels of heaven (HH 114). This communion is accomplished through his thought, and it is as to his spiritual or internal man that he is united with the angels. "Correspondences, representatives, and significatives conjoin the natural world to the spiritual" (AC 7290).
     When a man is principled in love to the Lord and charity to the neighbor he is said to be "in correspondence" (AC 3634), and as to his spirit is in heaven while his body is still in the world. The angels attendant on him are in interior truths while he is in exterior (AC 3464). This state cannot he achieved except the man be principled in doctrinals derived from the literal sense of the Word and lives a life according to them. We can thus appreciate the brief sentence in the Arcana which reads: "Blessed at that time is he who is in correspondence, that is, whose external man corresponds to the internal" (AC 2994). We know from common experience that the human form does not correspond to the spirit which animates and lives with it. This is doubtless fortunate for most of us. In the heavens the position is quite different, for there the bodies of the angels correspond to their minds and also to the places where they live. Indeed "everything which appears in the heavens corresponds with the inner minds of the angels and is a representation of their wisdom" (HH 266).
     It is possible for a man having a knowledge of correspondences to determine what will be his own state after death (HH 487). But he must first diagnose his own ruling love and understand "its relation to the universal ruling love"; but this cannot be known by those in the love of self.
     Plodding towards the end of the short study which most inadequately covers this immense subject, it was with a wistful thought that we read the following passage from Heaven and Hell:

     "Writings in the heavens flow naturally from the thoughts themselves, and this is so easily that it is as if thought expressed itself spontaneously; the hand never pauses for the choice of word, because the words, whether spoken or written, correspond to their ideas, and all correspondence is natural and spontaneous" (HH 262).

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     As we see it, the main points can be summarized as follows:

     Correspondence is the relationship between the spiritual and the natural, whereby conjunction is effected, the latter being derived from the former.
     A Representative is the external object or activity which on a lower plane corresponds to something spiritual and internal.
     Significative has reference to the words or expressions used in the Word to describe some object or event which is representative of some spiritual truth.
     The Science of Correspondences was familiar to the men of The Most Ancient Church and perished with the growth of idolatry.
     Everything in Nature is derived from and corresponds to causes in the spiritual world.
     The Lord Has Revealed Anew the science of correspondences that man may be enlightened in spiritual truths through the Word, and thereby become truly rational; and that while living in the world he may be in association with angels, the end being that he may become regenerated and "thus do good to all."
FREDERICK EMANUEL DOERING TRUST 1955

FREDERICK EMANUEL DOERING TRUST 1955

The above Trust holds monies available "for the purposes of educating such male children who are citizens of the Dominion of Canada as are selected by any minister of the General Church of the New Jerusalem in Canada, in consultation with the Trustees (Royal Trust Company, Toronto) provided, however, that such applicants shall embrace the faith of the New Church and shall be acceptable to my trustees."
The obvious intention of the will is that such male students shall receive their education at a New Church school. Therefore the parents of male children who are citizens of the Dominion of Canada, and who embrace the faith of the New Church, desiring to benefit from this Trust by sending their children to the Academy of the New Church during the school year 1955-1956, are asked to communicate with the Rev. Norman H Reuter, 14 Linwood Avenue, Kitchener, Ontario; the Rev. Martin Pryke, 35 Elm Grove Avenue, Toronto, Ontario; or the Rev. Roy Franson, General Delivery, Gorande Prairie, Alberta. Application should be made before April 15th.

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REVIEW 1955

REVIEW Editor 1955

WONDERFUL SWEDENBORG. By Gilbert H. Smith. Published by the Author, Dorset, Vermont, 1954. Pp. 8.

     Designed as a first gift to non-New Church people, this pamphlet is an attempt to present briefly, clearly, and interestingly the main doctrines of the Writings. After defining Swedenborg's relation to the New Church, the author sketches in lightly his career, commission, and claims. He then explains the basic teachings of the Writings concerning the Lord, the Divine Trinity, the Sacred Scripture, the Second Coming, the Holy Spirit, and the New Church. In all this there is no attempt at compromise. The New Church, based exclusively upon the Writings, is declared to be neither "a sect of the Catholic or Protestant Churches," but "an altogether new Christian church": the Writings are introduced, not as Swedenborg's works, but as the works of the Lord written through him; and it is stated flatly that "the world today does not know the least thing of genuine spiritual truth."
     The straightforward presentation, entirely unspoiled by truculence, is admirable; but the pamphlet leaves us with one dissatisfaction and a few doubts. Even though the text seeks to turn the reader's attention from Swedenborg to the Lord, we do not like the title; and we wonder if the writer has not tried to cover too much ground, and in so doing has not compressed too much material into eight pages, even though there is a considerable amount of repetition. It is almost impossible for a New Church reviewer to put himself in the position of the reader for whom the pamphlet is intended; but we wonder if it would not leave in the mind an uncomfortable feeling of fullness rather than serving as an appetizer. It has seemed to us for some time that what is possibly needed for a first approach to potential receivers is a brief statement of the faith of the
New Church, followed by a list of some twenty pamphlets on single subjects, interestingly titled, any of which may be ordered by number from an address given.
     However, there is great need for missionary literature, and it may be necessary to experiment before the most suitable forms are found. Proof of usefulness is to be found only by putting such literature to work. Copies of this pamphlet may be had free by writing to the Rev. Gilbert H. Smith at Dorset, Vermont; and we urge our readers to obtain copies and place them in the hands of those for whom they are intended.
     THE EDITOR

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SONS OF MARTHA 1955

SONS OF MARTHA Editor 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly by

THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                              Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa,
Circulation Secretary               Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Treasurer                          Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address, and business communications should be sent to the Circulation Secretary. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 30 cents.
     Captious critics of scripture have been known to wax indignant over a fancied injustice in the story of Martha and Mary. "All very well," they say, "for Mary to sit there idle, but if it were not for the Marthas of this world how would things get done!" However, their sympathy is as misplaced as their appreciation of the familiar incident at Bethany is faulty. Mary was not idle, but was doing the most important thing a human being can do when opportunity is given-sitting at the Lord's feet and hearing His words. We may be certain that He would not have loved her had she been a woman neglectful of her duties. But Mary had the perception to realize that when the privilege was offered of sitting at the Lord's feet, everything else should be put aside as less useful at that time; and she had the will to follow her perception.
     Wherever the services and classes of the church are held, opportunity is afforded to sit at the Lord's feet and hear His words. But the sons, and daughters, of Martha are a persisting if small line. Like their spiritual mother they are diligent and conscientious in all the duties of life, but to a point where these qualities become defects instead of virtues. Their values have become so inverted that they fail, either entirely or too frequently, to see and do the one thing that is needful, and so choose the better part. Others, alas, cannot even plead that they are "cumbered with much serving"; for it is the fancied claims of rest or recreation that stand between them and the good part. But these the bustling Martha would have swept out of her way as not of her brood.

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WHEN OFFENSES COME 1955

WHEN OFFENSES COME Editor 1955

     All things which have a use can be abused; and the abuse of a thing does not forbid its use, yet is neither an argument for its continuance or for its abolition. In earthly society abuses will arise, excesses of one kind or another will occur, and they may be occasional or become habits of long standing. In any case, the remedy does not lie in total prohibition of that which has been abused, for one extreme never corrects another. Virtue always resides in that which moderates extremes; and this can be seen only by the rational mind, especially through reflection upon what is consistent with use.
     When offenses come, however, their existence should not be denied, covered up, or condoned. They should neither be minimized nor explained away, but frankly faced and honestly recognized; and those who cause them should not be justified or exonerated. Yet if the offense should come from a brother in the church, we may not say of him in doing these things that he is not a New Church man or even that he is a bad one. We may say, and should recognize, that in this particular matter he does not act as a New Church man should, as we have a right to except that with his knowledge of the Writings and training in the church he would act. But if we should not defend his actions out of a false loyalty to the church, neither may we impugn his inner motives; for that is to make the spiritual judgment which the Writings forbid.
     Confusion of thought here may result in one of two serious mistakes being made. A person may be in manifest, even gross evils, and yet be fighting heroically and in secret against them or against more interior evils; and because we cannot know this we may not judge his spiritual state. We must understand ourselves, and make as clear to him and to others as we possibly can, that our judgment of his actions does not extend to his state, or call into question his inner relation to the New Church. But with this proviso, external offenses should not be brushed aside as of little or no importance because internal things are the essentials of the church. Offenses can be judged justly without reference to the spiritual state of the offender, and when offenses come they are to be so judged-not from self, but from justice.
GOOD NATURAL NOT SPIRITUAL 1955

GOOD NATURAL NOT SPIRITUAL Editor 1955

To the chance hearer or new listener, some of the pronouncements the church makes from the Writings seem harsh, unrealistic, and not in accord with the manifest facts. This is apt to be especially true of what the church teaches about the state of the Christian world and the almost total lack of charity and good in it.

139

Never before have there been so many efficiently organized and widespread agencies for the relief of material want and distress, or for the care and cure of the sick. Many incidents showing gentleness, generosity, and well-wishing are reported daily. Any disaster evokes a flood of kindness and helpfulness, often at considerable cost or great risk, that but awaited an emergency to bring it forth. How, then, can it be said that there is little charity or good in the world? The external evidence has led some New Church men to suppose that Swedenborg was describing a state which has gradually ceased to exist since the Second Coming, and from time to time it causes some of our young people to wonder if the church is not unrealistic.
     That there is in the world much good of the type that has just been mentioned can not be disputed. But as the Writings point out: "It is one thing to do good from nature, and quite another to do it from religion" (AC 5032). Those who by heredity are kindly, gentle, and well disposed can do much external good to other men. But this is "good natural not spiritual." It is spontaneous and without reason; and because those who do it have no concern for the good and truth of the church, they have not imbued their internal mind with precepts of doctrine, so that heaven can flow into it. Lacking a clear-cut, authoritative standard, they are at the mercy of every persuasive plea; and through their very qualities, unguided by truth, they can as readily be enticed into evil and convinced that falsity is truth, as they can be inspired to do what is of benefit to others.
     The objections raised by those who have no background in the Writings are quite understandable; for the Writings themselves teach that good done from nature and good done from religion cannot be distinguished by men in the world because they are not acquainted with interiors. But the distinction is clearly drawn in the Writings; and for the sake of our faith in them, of the clarity of our thinking, and of our proper appraisal of the church's teaching, it is necessary that we see and understand it. We will never be able to tell in this world who is doing good from nature and who from religion, for in the externals that we see the two goods are indistinguishable. We will readily admit that there are undoubtedly many doing good from a false religion within whose simple good there is a certain innocence that will be the basis for their eventual salvation.
     But even this is not spiritual good, which can exist only where spiritual truth is known, acknowledged, and loved. Spiritual good can not be done apart from spiritual truth, and is, in fact, spiritual truth in act. To live according to spiritual truth, this is what it is to do good from religion. It is of spiritual good, of good done from religion, that the Writings are speaking when they say that there is little good in the world.

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And when we consider how little spiritual truth is known in the world, and how little acknowledged, we may see that they indeed speak truly, and that the appearance to the contrary arises from our inability to penetrate to interiors. For it is one thing to do good from nature, and quite another to do it from religion.
ENGAGEMENT AND BETROTHAL 1955

ENGAGEMENT AND BETROTHAL ORMOND ODHNER 1955

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     In an article on "Engagement and Betrothal," by the Rev. Morley D. Rich, in the February issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE [pp. 55, 56], certain steps are outlined as the orderly progression toward marriage. The impression is given that these are stated in the Writings.
     Between the stage of courtship and that of actual marriage the following are noted: "3. Preliminary and perhaps even provisional consent. 4. Further exploration and learning of each other's disposition, religion, and various external traits. 5. Final confirmation of consent by betrothal-the beginning of the spiritual marriage. 6. Exploration and drawing together of the minds and spirits, but now from only the affirmative attitude and without anything of negative doubt or indecision."
     As a very strong advocate of "early betrothals" let me note the "steps" actually outlined by the Writings. 1. Courtship. 2. The woman's consultation with her parents. 3. Consent. 4. The giving of pledges. 5. Betrothal. 6. Marriage. (See Conjugial Love, 295)
     ORMOND ODHNER
SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1955

SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1955

     GENERAL CHURCH RELIGION LESSONS Graded lessons and other material from Pre-school through Grade 12. Address inquiries to: Pastor-in-Charge, Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     GENERAL CHURCH SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE. Tape-recordings of services, sermons, doctrinal classes, children's services, etc. Address: General Church Sound Recording Committee, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     GENERAL CHURCH VISUAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE Biblical and other slides. Address: Mr. William R. Cooper, Director, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     NEW CHURCH EDUCATION Published by Religion Lessons Committee, monthly, September to June, inclusive. Subscription, $1.50. Editor: Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal.

141

Church News 1955

     WASHINGTON, D. C.

     As Washington has not been heard from for some time, we will go back to the events of last summer that have not been reported. On August 4th, we had a miscellaneous shower for Ann Boatman, and three days later Ann was married to Ronald Daum at our church hall in Friendship House. The church women helped Mrs. Boatman to decorate the room with greens and white flowers and to decorate a table placed out in the garden where the reception was held. Mrs. Robert Hilldale played the wedding music. About 70 people gathered to witness this happy event, the first wedding for our pastor, the Rev. Dandridge Pendleton. It was the first time that Miss Viola Bobo, aunt of the bride and a member of the church for many years, had ever witnessed a New Church marriage service.
     The Washington Society enjoyed its usual summer picnic at the Philip Stebbing farm on the Potomac, where we gave David Harvey Stebbing his "going to Bryn Athyn to school" gift, a fine suitcase. He is the only student from Washington in Bryn Athyn this year. In September we held our annual meeting and reelected the same officers-David Stebbing, our most able treasurer, and Cecelia K. Walker, our very capable secretary. Our statistics show about 60 men, women, and children listed, but not all of these are active. However, our numbers have shown a decided increase and our activities have been increased. Our Women's Guild is quite active. The men's group was discontinued in favor of Sons meetings, and its work can, of course, be carried on through the Pastor's Council and the executive meetings. The Sons had a dinner at a point half way between Washington and Baltimore at which Mr. Norman Synnestvedt spoke on support of New Church schools.
     We are continuing our Friday suppers at Friendship House, where we are served a good dinner for $1.00, and all we have to do about it is sit down and be served. Our pastor has given us classes which he illustrates on the blackboard, thus helping us to understand how the influxes from the heavens and the hells affect the mind of man, how man is free to choose, and with what remains he is endowed. There have also been classes and sermons on the love of the conjugial partner and the love of man for his friends.
     While Mr. Pendleton was on his southern tour, the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson and the Rev. David R. Simons paid us weekend visits. Mr. Henderson's class surveyed generally the elements in the Gospels and the significance of their story; and Mr. Simons gave a class on New Church education, science in relation to religion, which included a demonstration of some experiments. Newcomers last fall were Lt. and Mrs. Frank Mitchell. Bob Martz and Norwin Synnestvedt have come to church on occasions.
     Our Christmas Party for the children was held at the new home of the Lewis Nelsons in Vienna, Va. At that time Mr. Pendleton dedicated their house. There was a large attendance and we all enjoyed both events very much. A service on Christmas Eve gave us all the spirit of Christmas.
     ELIZABETH H. Grant

     TORONTO, CANADA

     The children's Hallowe'en party was held on October 29th under the auspices of Theta Alpha. It opened with the children, each in fancy dress, taking part in the Gorand March. Before supper was served many and varied games were played.
     The adults' party, which was held on the same evening, took the form of a square dance, with Mrs. Tucker calling the squares. After a strenuous evening of swinging through many squares both new and familiar, and ducking for apples, the 65 guests present sat down to delicious refreshments. All enjoyed themselves immensely and many thanks were extended to the committee, which consisted of our social committee plus a few extra helpers.

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     On Friday, November 26th, the Ladies' Circle provided a delicious supper for the large group of members of the Olivet Church who came to hear our guests from Bryn Athyn-Mr. Charles S. Cole and his speaking panel consisting of Miss Julie de Maine and Messrs. Rent Hyatt, James Pendleton, and Kenneth Rose. Each speaker pointed out the benefits to be derived from an education in the Academy College, and showed how, after having been educated at the Academy, a person is better fitted for a life of uses in this world than if he had received his education at a secular college. Mr. Cole's introductory and concluding remarks were ample proof of the love which he has for New Church education. He stressed the fact that as the New Church grows it will be subjected to an increasing number of attacks, and that an Academy College education is the best way for the young people of the church to prepare defenses against such attacks.
     The Christmas season was indeed a happy and a busy one: happy in that we were gathered together to celebrate once more the birth of the Lord into the world, busy in attending the many parties that were given during this festive time. It was a pleasure to have so many of our students home from Bryn Athyn to celebrate with us, together with many other visitors.
     On Sunday, December 19th, the Christmas story was retold to us in living tableaux form. The presentation was in the chapel, and it began with the opening of the Word. The Rev. Martin Pryke as narrator, delivered the story in poetic form, telling of the Lord sending Isaiah to King Ahaz with the promise that a sign would be given-"Behold, a virgin shall conceive." We then saw Gabriel appearing to Mary. The next scene showed a Roman soldier proclaiming that every man must go to his own city to be taxed, which led to the representation of Joseph and Mary journeying and finding that there was "no room in the inn." The story then turned to the fields where shepherds watched their hocks by night, and the angel of the Lord announced to them the glad tidings of the Savior's birth. Then we saw Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger, where He was found by the shepherds. A capacity audience enjoyed the result of many hours of many people's labor under the guidance of our pastor and Miss Helen Anderson. In the assembly hall afterwards the children were given books, candy and fruit, a gift from the Ladies' Circle.
     A large group of young people drove around to many of the homes on Christmas Eve and sang carols. As their list of homes to be visited was a long one, they were able to spend only a short time at each one. However, their visits, though short, were much enjoyed and appreciated.
     On Christmas morning the chancel, shadowed in a blue tone, was beautifully but simply decorated with white mums and white candles. Our pastor spoke on the words: "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." On the day after Christmas the sacrament of the Holy Supper was administered.
     The Ladies' Circle held two parties for the children on December 29th. The first was a luncheon, held at the church hall, to which were invited all the children from preschool age to those in the fifth grade. The second was a supper party at the home of Mrs. Clara Swalm. The children from sixth to eighth grade attended this one. Games were played at both parties and all had a good time.
     A goodly number met at the church on the evening of December 31st to welcome in the year 1955. The hall was decorated with multitude of pointed stars in silver, blue and white, hanging from the ceiling and placed on the walls; and with candles in the windows and balloons in the corners it provided a lovely setting for the New Year's Eve dance. Our pastor and Mrs. Lenore Bellinger formally started the evening by leading us in the Gorand March. Shortly before midnight we gathered in a large circle to hear a few words from Mr. Pryke, who pointed out that it is wise not to dwell on the mistakes of the past year but to look to the coming year with new enthusiasm for the uses to be performed. Auld Lang Syne was sung, and we proceeded to wish one and all a Happy New Year. More dancing followed, and the evening was brought to a close after we had sat down to refreshments. The social committee is to be congratulated on another successful evening.
     The January meeting of the Forward-Sons took a different form in that there was no supper for the men and the ladies were invited. There were two special speakers, Mr. Norman Synnestvedt of Detroit, President of the Sons of the Academy, and Mr. George Woodard of Bryn Athyn. They were here to present a new idea in connection with Tuition Savings Certificates.

143

At the close of the evening refreshments were served.
     KATHERINE BARBER

     BALTIMORE, MD.

     We are happy to be now a society of the General Church-if perhaps the smallest one on record. At our annual meeting on September 11, we formally changed our official name from "The Baltimore Congregation of the General Church of the New Jerusalem" to "The Baltimore Society of the General Church of the New Jerusalem."
     We entered into our new status in an external way, by putting white asbestos shingles on the exterior of the chapel and laying a new carpet on the chancel. The latter work was done by the Ed Seemer family during our summer recess as a pleasant surprise for the rest of us on our return.
     Mr. Pendleton has been giving us a series of classes, begun last fall, on the Divine Providence. We have not been able to hold our classes every week, as was proposed last spring, since our pastor carries two societies and found that his less obvious duties would suffer under such a schedule. But the classes are always lively, interesting, and full of that discussion which is one of the joys of a small group.
     Again we were privileged to hear from other members of the clergy during Mr. Pendleton's semi-annual trip to the South, On October 30th, the Rev. Karl R. Alden gave us a most useful class on the Lord's Prayer, and on Sunday morning he delivered a powerful sermon on the laws of the Divine Providence. On November 13th, the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal gave a thought provoking class on the uses of angels and spirits to men. His sermon the next day was on those who will be of the Lord's New Church. When Mr. Pendleton returned on November 27th, he brought with him Mr. Robert S. Junge, who presented an intensive study on the protection and preservation of innocence, stressing that our first duty to our children is to hold their thought in the idea of the Lord as the center and foundation of their lives. Next morning he also preached the sermon, fittingly on Thanksgiving.
     In a simple and inspiring sermon on Christmas Day, Mr. Pendleton deftly combined his talk to the children with a most interesting and profound aspect of the Lord's life on earth. He showed that the Lord's ministry on earth could not begin until the latter part of His life here. It was necessary first to subdue the hells, and then clear the world of spirits of its false and imaginary heavens, so that a path of communication could be opened from the heavens through the world of spirits, thus restoring men's freedom to see the truths revealed at His first advent.
     Socially we have not been idle. Towards the end of last June we celebrated New Church Day with a banquet held on the chapel lawn. Then on August 5th we had a luncheon there after church in honor of the two boys who would be leaving for school in Bryn Athyn-David Doering and Donald Seemer. The society presented each of them with a Schaeffer pen, and Mr. Pendleton spoke to the boys about the distinctive new type of education they would receive. September 18th saw us again at that annual outing which we have all come to look to-a buffet supper, and lots of fun for young and old, at Carl Knapp's farm in Davidsonville, Md.
     In November the Gerald Nelsons moved to their new home in Linthicum, Md., not far from the Doerings, and on the 28th of that month we were all cheered and inspired by the dedication of that home to the uses of the New Church. Mr. and Mrs. Randolph Childs and Miss Bea Childs, Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Synnestvedt and their daughter Fay, Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Halterman and daughters Lynn and Rachel, and Mr. Robert Junge, were all here from Bryn Athyn, making the occasion most joyous and memorable. Fittingly, we again gathered in this new home on December 18th for a delightful children's Christmas party.
     As a society of the General Church we look forward to expanding our uses to the Church whenever the opportunities arise. As a first step in this direction, the men of Baltimore have joined with the men of the Washington Society in forming a new chapter of the Sons of the Academy. 1954 was a memorable year for us, and not forgotten among memorable events is the birth of a baby girl to Mr. and Mrs. Dandridge Cole. We are growing!
     JANET H. DOERING

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MINISTERIAL CHANGES 1955

Announcements.
The Rev. Morley D. Rich has resigned from the pastorate of Michael Church, London, England, on grounds of ill health and has returned to the United States. He may be addressed temporarily at Bryn Athyn, Pa.
CORRECTION 1955

CORRECTION Editor 1955

Under Confirmations in the January issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE, p. 48, read Mr. Bruce Edward Elder instead of Mr. Robert Edward Elder.
WANTED 1955

WANTED 1955

Will anyone having for sale a set of the Spiritual Diary (5 vols.) in English please communicate with Mr. Jan H. Weiss, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

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USE OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS 1955

USE OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS GEORGE DE CHARMS 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXV          APRIL, 1955               No. 4
     (Delivered to the Council of the Clergy (Open Session), Bryn Athyn, Pa., January 18, 1955.)

     The Lord always speaks in accommodation to man's ability to understand. Every revelation, therefore, is adapted to the special need and state that exists at the time when it is given. As the state changes with the development of the race the Lord is said to come again; that is, He speaks in a different way, and imparts a new Word. Yet in every revelation the Lord speaks from infinite love, and His words contain infinite wisdom. In every revelation, truths sufficient for the spiritual needs of the church are given, either openly, or, if hidden, still within the reach of all who search for them from a sincere desire to be taught and led by the Lord. But in addition, the Sacred Scriptures always contain limitless treasures, so deeply buried that they cannot possibly be discovered, either by men on earth to whom the Word is directly addressed, or even by the angels, prior to the time of the Lord's new advent. It is these hidden treasures that are uncovered progressively and opened to view in each succeeding revelation, disclosed for the use of both men and angels so far as the race is prepared to receive them. Because, in giving His Word, the Lord speaks not to the immediate need alone, not to one church alone, but for all time, and with a view to what He foresees will be essential to the spiritual life of every future dispensation, therefore He says: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away" (Matthew 24:35).
     The Old Testament, given through Moses and the prophets, was indeed addressed specifically to the Sons of Israel. It was the special message of Jehovah to the Jewish Church. It was written in the language of the Hebrews; and in its literal sense it recounted the national history of the Jews.

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But when the Lord came into the world He opened unto His disciples in all the ancient Scriptures things concerning Himself that had never before been known. So completely had the Jews misconstrued the prophecies of the Lord's advent that the mode of His coming was altogether unexpected. Yet, when the Lord explained the cryptic statements of the prophets, all who were willing and ready to receive His teaching could see that His advent had been accurately foretold, and that in Him the Divine promise of a Messiah had indeed been fulfilled. The revelation of this deeper truth which had lain concealed in the Old Testament was the foundation on which alone Christian faith could be established. Although it was thenceforth understood in quite a different sense, the Old Testament remained for Christians a vital part of the Word of God.
In like manner, the New Testament was addressed to the Christian Church. It appealed not only to the Jews, but to all nations, and was therefore written in Greek which was the international language of the day. It dealt not at all with the history of the Jews, but, instead, recounted in four separate Gospels the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. In addition, the book of Revelation foretold the second coming of the Lord, the Last Judgment, and the final establishment of the Lord's kingdom among men. But again, much of its teaching was grossly misunderstood. Because no one could perceive in the Gospel story the process of the Lord's glorification, the perfect union of the Human and the Divine in the risen Lord remained a mystery. The Last Judgment was mistakenly supposed to involve the destruction of the material world; and it was thought that the Lord would then return in person, to dwell with men on a newly created earth. Yet what the Writings now reveal concerning the Divine Human of the Lord, the Last Judgment in the spiritual world, and the descent of the New Jerusalem is so clearly in accord with the former Scriptures, that men whose minds are open can hardly fail to recognize in the Heavenly Doctrine the second coming of the Lord, and to see that it is by means of the New Church that His promised kingdom is to be established on the earth: this, in spite of the fact that the language, style, and content of the Writings are so different from those traditionally associated with Divine revelation that men find it difficult to believe that they also are the Word of God. Yet in these Writings the Lord Himself speaks to men just as truly, and from the same infinite love and wisdom, as He spoke to the prophets and the evangelists. He unveils hidden meanings in the former Scriptures, and throws upon them a new light whereby they are completely transformed. Every one on whom this light breaks exclaims in his heart: surely "this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation" (Isaiah 25:9).

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     In the first enthusiasm for the Writings that characterized the early Academy the opinion was expressed that as the church entered more deeply into the understanding and life of the Heavenly Doctrine, the former scriptures would gradually be relegated to a subordinate role. It was, of course, recognized that we would always be dependent upon them for the historic foundations of our faith. But it was thought, at least by some, that they would be used primarily for worship, for devotional reading, and for the instruction of children and the simple, while adult minds would turn for spiritual sustenance solely to the rational teaching of the Writings.
     It is true that the poetic and symbolic expressions of the letter of the Word lend themselves to the uses of worship and devotion in a way that the didactic statements of the Writings do not. Also, the Writings state that the literal sense of the Word is for children and the simple. But the fact remains that the marvels of the internal sense of the Word, although fully revealed by the Lord in His second coming, can be seen at present only in very small degree. We recognize them only in scattered passages of the Old and New Testaments; and even there we perceive them only in vague outline. The true spiritual meaning and application of the Word remain, in large measure, concealed from our view; nor can these heavenly riches ever be discovered apart from an accurate and comprehensive knowledge of the Scriptures that contain them. It is significant that Emanuel Swedenborg, in the final period of his preparation to become a revelator, was inspired to undertake a profound and minute study of both the Old and New Testaments. Indeed, without this he could not possibly have written the Arcana Coelestia nor the Apocalypse Explained in which we find such a wealth of references to the Law, the Prophets, and the Gospels. The Old and New Testaments are so inseparably interwoven into the very fabric of the Writings as to make, together with them, one indissoluble Word. If, therefore, the church is to progress in the understanding of the Writings, it must at the same time advance in a knowledge and understanding of the letter of the Word. For this reason we are profoundly convinced that instead of becoming less important to the adult rational mind, as the New Church grows, the revelations given to the Jewish and to the Christian churches will assume in the future a place of importance far greater than has yet been realized.
     What, then, we may ask ourselves, is really meant by the teaching that the sense of the letter of the Word is for children and the simple! To quote from AC 6333: "The historical parts [of the Word] have been given in order that infants and children may thereby be initiated into the reading of the Word; for the historical parts are delightful, and rest in their minds, whereby communication is given them with the heavens; and this communication is grateful because they are in a state of innocence and mutual charity.

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This is the reason why there is an historical Word." The obvious implication is that children are to be initiated into the reading of the Word in order that they may continue to read it in adult age, because then such reading can perform for them an even higher and more important function than was possible during childhood. Again we read that "both the simple and little children are in the most external things, with which they begin, and in which afterwards their interiors terminate. Wherefore the Word in the letter is to be understood differently by those who have become wiser" (AC 10441). Note here that "afterwards," or when they have become adult, "their interiors terminate" in the literal stories of the Word, which then are by no means to be discarded, but rather are to be "understood differently" as they become wiser. Elsewhere it is said that "the sense of the letter is of service to the simple for initiation into the internal sense" (AC 4783). How can any one be initiated into the internal sense unless he is familiar with the literal sense; and this, not from a vague memory, but from careful reading, study and reflection, at a time when the mind is matured and able to receive the internal sense!
Furthermore, we are taught that in the literal sense of the Word are "general vessels which receive truths" and which must "first be learned by man in order that he may receive the particulars and singulars in a fit and proper manner" (AC 6222). The innumerable particulars, of which the internal sense consists, can be understood only if the generals of the literal sense are known, and only so far as they are known. Wherefore it is said that "man is first affected with external truths, and afterwards with internal ones; for external truths are the planes of internal ones, being generals into which the singulars are insinuated; for without a general idea of a thing, man comprehends nothing of what is singular. This is the reason why, in the literal sense of the Word, there are general, but in the internal sense singular truths" (AC 3819). And again: "The truths of the literal sense of the Word, stored up in the natural memory of man, form there as it were a field for the view of the internal man, into which light from heaven flows. From this field . . . the internal man selects such things as agree with the good in him, comparatively as the eye selects from the field of a garden such things as conduce to the uses of life" (AC 9035). The imperative need for this external plane upon which the light of heaven may shine is emphasized in no. 26 of the Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture, where it is said that "the Lord teaches every one by means of the Word, and He teaches from those truths which the man already has, and not without a medium does He pour in new truths; so that unless man is in Divine truths, or if he is only in a few truths and at the same time in falsities, he may from these falsify the truths, as it is well known is done by every heretic in regard to the Word's sense of the letter."

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This would plainly indicate that progress into spiritual intelligence and wisdom depends not only upon a study of the Heavenly Doctrine, but also upon the acquisition of a broad field of knowledge derived from the letter of the Word.
"All love," we are told, "becomes spiritual by means of truths from the Word in the measure in which man acknowledges them and sees them in his understanding, and afterwards loves them, that is, does them from the will" (AE 832). Children may learn the stories of the Word and take delight in them; but no child can see the truths of the Word in the understanding, for this requires the opening of the rational mind, which is possible only in adult age. "From youth to early manhood," we read, "communication is opened between the natural and the rational by learning the truths and goods of civil and moral life; and especially the truths and goods of spiritual life through the hearing and reading of the Word" (AC 5126). Surely this communication is not established solely by hearing and reading the Word while we are children, but rather by reading and reflecting upon it in youth when the mind is maturing, and later in adult age when the mind is at last prepared to receive spiritual light, and when, in that light, the deeper meaning of the letter may become apparent.
It is often observed that the young people and the adults of the New Church, generally speaking, are less thoroughly equipped with a knowledge of the letter of the Word than are many who have received religious instruction in the denominations of the first Christian Church. That this should be the case is cause for sincere regret. We are concerned to discover a remedy for this unfortunate lack. It is true that the kind of instruction given in other churches does not lead to the end we have in view. It consists largely in memorizing isolated passages that tend to confirm traditional dogmas, to illustrate moral principles, or to find Divine sanction for economic, political, or social theories. Too often the endeavor is to explain the Word in the light of learned historical conjectures that serve rather to darken and becloud the mind than to enlighten it with regard to spiritual truth. Our objective is very different; and our entire approach to the study of the Word from the Writings is to discover within it the treasures of heavenly truth enfolded and covered over by the literal stories. The Writings assure us that "in every expression of the Word, which appears so simple and rude to man, there are things illimitable, nay, more than the universal heaven; and that the arcana which are therein may be presented before the angels by the Lord with perpetual variety to eternity. This is so incredible to the [natural] rational that it is unwilling to give it any credence at all; but still it is true" (AC 1936).

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Well may we ask, are these inexhaustible arcana only for the angels! Are they not to be for men also, in ever-increasing measure, as human minds are prepared to receive them? And how can this preparation be made without a careful study and a mature understanding of the letter of the Word! How else can the New Church grow in spiritual intelligence and wisdom! How else can this wisdom be imparted to the men of every race and nation, through countless ages of the future, that mankind may be perfected progressively in the life of true religion, the life of love to the Lord and mutual charity, which is the goal of regeneration?
The General Church has not neglected the religious instruction of the children within its borders. The letter of the Word is taught systematically in all our schools throughout the period of elementary education; and for those who cannot attend a New Church school, a system of home and Sunday school training is established, and is being revised and perfected continually in the light of experience. While each succeeding generation will progress in the understanding and mastery of the educational process, I firmly believe that even now our teaching of the Word to children is far more effective for our purposes than is the instruction provided in modern Christian Sunday schools. Although our pupils achieve less in terms of rote learning and the ability to quote passages, they are taught in a way that preserves the purity of the Word, that instills in them a profound sense of its holiness, and that leaves them with the idea of illimitable treasures yet to be discovered within it; inspiring them with a knowledge that spiritual truth exists therein, and with a love which may lead them to search for it when they are older. But the kind of teaching that is possible at this age is limited by the ability of the child's mind to grasp and understand. Although the children study the stories of the Old Testament, from Genesis to II Kings, and follow in outline the fourfold story of the Lord's life in the New Testament, the impression that is left with them is in many respects inadequate. It is too vague, disconnected, confused, and unorganized to serve the purpose in later life of a rich field of knowledge upon which the light of the Writings may shine to bring the internal sense clearly into view.
The teaching is that in the sense of the letter there are only the generals of truth, while the internal sense contains particulars and singulars. But we are increasingly impressed by the fact that only in the letter of the Word, and by means of it, can these particulars and singulars be discovered. In the Writings we find the Divine laws governing the Lord's Glorification and man's regeneration rationally explained and illustrated. The laws of Divine creation, of influx and reception, and of the Lord's unceasing providence are all amply described to our intellectual understanding. How these laws are demonstrated, and how their application to the complex conditions of human life is illustrated in the letter of the Word, is taught in the Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture, and is richly confirmed in the Arcana Coelestia where we find a connected exposition of the books of Genesis and Exodus. But what is true of these two books is equally true of all the Law and the Prophets. Every book, every chapter, and every verse contains infinite things-truths, the understanding of which is important, nay, vital to man's spiritual life.

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How little of this truth we can see at the present time! Yet it is there to be discovered; and the means for its discovery are now fully provided in the Heavenly Doctrine. Only as this discovery is made, and so far as it is made, will the particulars of doctrine and its singulars come to light.
Indeed, it is only by means of these particulars and singulars that men may learn progressively the application of doctrine to the complex circumstances and conditions of human life whereby alone they may become spiritually wise. Religion is of life, and doctrine, rightly understood, is eminently practical. It has power to illuminate every phase of man's life. It contains guiding principles that apply not only to theology, to worship and to education, but also to ecclesiastical organization and government, to law and civil government, to business and professional life, to social life, marriage and the home. It is destined to "make all things new" from within. Indeed, the perception of this truth was the very cornerstone of the Academy movement. But this can come to pass only gradually, as men become imbued with the understanding of the particulars and singulars of doctrine that now lie hidden in the Word, although the key to their discovery has been revealed by the Lord at His second coming.
The exploration of the Word and the unfolding of the internal sense by means of the Heavenly Doctrine are, of course, the special function of the priesthood. It is a work that requires professional training and scholarship, together with the illustration from the Lord that belongs to the priestly use. But the purpose is that the entire membership of the church may grow steadily in enlightenment, and advance in the true wisdom of life and in the wise application of doctrine. This application each one must make for himself; and he must make it on the basis of truth that he himself sees and rationally understands, not from the priesthood but from the Lord, that is, directly from the teaching of the Word. Nor is this possible except so far as his mind is adequately equipped with knowledge, both from the Writings and from the literal Scriptures, that both may be seen together, and that the light of the Writings may fall upon a field well ordered and prepared for its reception.

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If a thorough ground of knowledge concerning the letter of the Word is to be provided, we are firmly convinced that something more than we now have is needed. The systematic teaching of the Old and New Testaments needs to be extended beyond the period of the elementary school. Without detracting in the least from the paramount duty of introducing our youth into the reading and study of the Heavenly Doctrine, we believe that a more mature study of the Scriptures, adapted to the state of the gradually forming rational, should also be given. It should be such as to reorganize the scattered impressions of childhood, that the entire picture may be seen as a whole, with its salient features clearly outlined and placed in proper sequence and relation. This is something that cannot be done until the mind is sufficiently mature; but it is essential, if the knowledge of the Word is to reflect accurately the light of the Writings, and the letter is to yield up its hidden treasures of spiritual truth.
The marvel of the Word, that which makes it to be holy and Divine, is the way its contents have been ordered by the Lord Himself. This is what makes it different from all other writing. Solely because it is ordered by the Lord alone, "the Word has this peculiar feature not possessed by the writings of the ancients, that each of the subjects in a continuous series represents the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom, and in the supreme sense the Lord Himself" (AC 4442). "So it is with the Word of the Lord, especially with the prophetic Word of the Old Testament. In the literal sense there is scarcely anything that does not appear destitute of order; but when it is being read by man, and especially by a little boy or girl, it becomes more beautiful and delightful by degrees as it ascends; and at last it is presented before the Lord as the image of a human being, in which and by which heaven is represented in its whole complex, not as it is, but as the Lord wills it to be, namely, a likeness of Himself" (AC 1871). Aside from this wonderful order, the language and the mental pictures and ideas of which the Word consists are no different from those of any human composition. It is the ordered sequence, the continuous series that contains and reflects heavenly secrets. The more perfectly this order is grasped by the mind, the greater will be the preparation to receive spiritual enlightenment and understanding by means of the Writings. Note the teaching: "The Word in its literal sense is of such a nature that the more a man is enlightened by the influx of the light of heaven, so much the more does he see truths in their connection, and thence in their form; and the more he so sees them, so much the more interiorly is his rational mind opened, for the rational mind is the very receptacle of the light of heaven" (AR 911). It is indeed chiefly by means of the letter of the Word that abstract doctrines are brought down to the plane of practical application so that they may be seen in the natural light of ultimate uses in the world.

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This is stated categorically in no. 41 of the Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture, as follows: "Such being the Word in the sense of the letter, it follows that they who are in Divine truths, and in the faith that the Word within, in its bosom, is Divine holiness-and much more they who are in the faith that it is from its spiritual and celestial senses that the Word is Divine holiness-see Divine truths in natural light while reading the Word in enlightenment from the Lord. For the light of heaven, in which is the spiritual sense of the Word, flows into the natural light in which is the sense of the letter, and illuminates man's intellectual called the rational, and causes him to see and recognize Divine truths, both where they stand in plain view, where they lie concealed." To see spiritual truth in natural light is to perceive scientific facts, human experiences, the circumstances or conditions with which we are confronted, in proper relationship to the things of the spirit, and thus to perceive the uses for which they are Divinely intended, and how they can be made to serve man's spiritual life. In this perception of use lies genuine wisdom, wisdom that can be acquired from no other source than a true understanding of the Word. As men advance into this kind of wisdom, heaven will draw nearer to the earth, love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor in actual practice will increase, and the New Church will grow and be perfected in the hearts and lives of men.
Surely this makes it a matter of grave concern for the future of our church that the minds of each rising generation should be adequately stored with knowledge from the letter of the Word; and that as the rational mind develops, this knowledge should keep pace with that of the Writings, that both may mature and ripen together. How such an objective may be accomplished is primarily a problem for the Academy, and one which, as we know, is fraught with many difficulties. We present it here because we believe that it is also, and possibly in the first instance, a problem for the priesthood. If the vital importance of more advanced training in the letter of the Word is to be seen and recognized by the church at large, instruction must be given, and the reasons must be presented for rational acceptance. The schools will need the support of the parents, who must be prepared for the sacrifice of other things that will inevitably be involved if the necessary courses are to be fitted into an already crowded curriculum. Our purpose, first of all, is to call the matter to the attention of this Council as something which we have come to regard as essential to the future growth of the church in the understanding and life of the Heavenly Doctrine. It is something which we believe should not be done precipitately, but after careful thought, study, and preparation.

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But it is a forward step in the development of New Church education that will lead, in the long run, to a rich harvest of minds more fully prepared to receive, appreciate, and apply that Divine truth which alone can bring lasting happiness and the "peace that passeth understanding" to mankind, in fulfillment of the Divine purpose for which the Lord has made His second coming.
AND THEY KNEW HIM 1955

AND THEY KNEW HIM Rev. NORBERT H. ROGERS 1955

     "And it came to pass, as He sat at meat with them, He took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him; and He vanished out of their sight." (Luke 24:30, 31)

     Life in the natural world is a means to an end. For man, the end is that he may enter into the light and life of heaven; that he may receive a full measure of the Divine influx of love and wisdom, and by making it his own be conjoined with the Lord. By that conjunction a man is born again; he is made a new man, a spiritual being, an angel, whose freedom of life, whose capacity for use, whose states of peace and joy, whose clarity of vision, whose breadth of wisdom, and whose keenness of intelligence are restricted by no extraneous limitations whatsoever.
     The case was similar with the Lord. His life on earth was also a means to an end, a Divine end. That end was that as to the Human He might enter into a new state, as it were; that His Divine might descend and be manifest in ultimates, uniting the Human with itself. By that union the Lord was glorified, His Human was made Divine, He became the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. And by virtue of His glorified Human, the Lord took upon Himself, in a manner not before possible, all power in heaven and on earth to maintain order in all things, to redeem and save, to uplift man and to bless him.
     With man the attainment of his exalted end, the reception as his own of what flows forth to him from the Lord, is not possible so long as he remains in his natural state; that is, so long as the vessels of his heart and mind are corrupted by the presence of material and proprial inclinations, concepts, ideals and desires. For these are by nature false and evil. They have an affinity with the hells, and are opposed to all that is heavenly and Divine. They keep wide open the infernal approaches to the mind, tightly shutting the entrances of heaven. For this reason they must be removed from man. Their hold on him must be loosened completely. Their power over him must be reduced to nothing.

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This can be effected only by means of temptations, by spiritual assaults sustained during life on earth. Hence we are taught that temptations are a necessary means of regeneration; and that by steadfastly resisting them to their end, in spite of the severe conflicts, doubts, anxieties and humiliation involved, man is given consolation and is admitted by the Lord into new states of heavenly life and vision.
     With the Lord, who came on earth as a man, temptations were also a necessary means by which the Divine end was attained. By them, by admitting infernal assaults upon the infirm natural He had assumed from Mary and overcoming them through His own Divine power, the Lord subjugated the hells and reduced them into order, and at the same time put off from Himself what was merely natural and put on a natural from His Divine. The process of glorification began at His birth into the world, and was carried forward throughout His earthly life by successive temptations and victories over them, even to the last, which was the passion of the cross. Being the last, it was also the most grievous; for by means of it the last desperate assault of the hells was overcome, and their power completely brought under the dominion of the Lord; and, at the same time, the last vestige of what had been derived from Mary, the final residue of the material human the Lord had adjoined to Himself, was destroyed on the cross and dissipated in the sepulcher. As a result, He was able to rise again on the third day fully glorified, and to reveal Himself in His Divine Human. Thus they who saw Him after His resurrection saw neither a material body nor a spirit without a body, but the Divine itself in human form. They who saw Him saw God in a Divine body.
     The Lord's last supreme temptation was, however, not only the final bitter means by which He completed His glorification. It was also, and still is, a supreme temptation to all who have knowledge of the Lord, constituting an acid test, as it were, of their love and faith. For by it men are compelled to make a decision as to how they regard the Lord: as God incarnate, who rose again on the third day as He had said, or as a man who died on the cross. Just as the Lord's victory over it enabled Him to reveal Himself to men in His Divine Human, so also does man's successful resistance to the doubts raised by that temptation enable him to see the Lord's Divine Human as it is revealed to him.
     Though it is a temptation to all, which is intended to contribute to their spiritual progress and to perfect their vision of the Lord, the Lord's passion does not achieve its purpose with all. It scarcely appears as a temptation to those who deny the Lord at heart; it but confirms their denial. Nor does it achieve its intended purpose with those who are unwilling to raise their minds above proprial and material things, and so can see only the infirm natural the Lord had assumed.

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Such look to the expected Messiah to free them from natural grief and oppression, and to satisfy their heart's natural desires. To such the crucifixion is but a painful dashing of hopes, a disappointment, making it necessary to look elsewhere and to continue to wait for the promised Savior. It is a genuine temptation to those only who attend to the Divine teachings, seeking to understand them, whose acknowledgment and love transcend self, as it were, making them willing to abandon their own natural activities and desires in order to follow the Lord. For such the crucifixion seems to threaten and to destroy all that they cherish most; it seems to extinguish the very light of their life; it reduces them to states of bleak despair. Such was the case with the disciples!
     How great was their trial may in some measure be realized when it is remembered that though they had endeavored to understand the Lord's teachings, they had not fully grasped their import. Their minds had not been sufficiently freed from the traditional and materialistic concepts of their civilization. Thus, though they sensed that more was involved, nevertheless the essence of their thought was that the Lord had come to assert His natural power over men and to establish a natural kingdom. Nor could they conceive of life continuing after death.
     When the Lord made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem they felt their faith was being vindicated, and that their natural expectations were about to be fully realized. They must have been surprised, then, and not a little disappointed, when the Lord did not take advantage of His evident popularity. They must have been bewildered when He allowed Himself to be taken prisoner. They must have been extremely distressed and anxious when they saw Him rejected, ignobly treated, and led to Calvary. They must have experienced the extremes of sorrow and despair when they saw Him give up the spirit on the cross, dissipating their hopes of a miracle. And then, when they had laid His body in the sepulcher, they must have suffered intense mental torments as, rendered inactive by the Sabbath day restrictions, they waited through the long hours until the dawn of the third day.
     Because their love for the Lord was genuine, the disciples were able to retain their faith when there appeared to be no reason for faith. Because of their love and faith, they were willing to revise the ideas they had previously held; and they sought to understand the significance and implications of the tragic events they had witnessed. Because of this, the Lord's passion, the severe temptation states it had induced upon them, served to introduce them into a new state. Their hearts were purified thereby that they might be blessed with a vision of God!

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     The women who had gone to the sepulchre on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, had reported to the disciples what they had seen and heard-that they had seen the risen Lord. The disciples could scarcely believe their report that such a miracle had taken place. Yet it raised their hopes, and re-activated their thoughts concerning the Lord.
     And so when, later on the same day, the two set out for Emmaus, a village about seven and a half miles from Jerusalem, they discussed the events that had taken place and the report of the women. Their thoughts were actively concentrated on the Lord. Because of this, according to the spiritual law that thought brings presence, the Lord was present with them as they walked. And because they had not yielded to the temptation they had sustained, their spiritual eyes could be opened to see the Lord. But they did not recognize Him. Like those in the first state of life in the world of spirits, their minds were still bound by natural concepts, preventing them from understanding what they saw. Yet they were drawn to Him, opening their hearts to Him, confessing their hopes and their fears.
     "Then He said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory! And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself" (Luke 24:25-27).
     The two gladly listened to the Lord's instruction. It gave new meaning to the Word; it renewed and strengthened their faith; it warmed their hearts; it shed light on their perplexities. And so, when they reached their destination, they were loath to part with Him, but constrained Him to turn with them and to tarry with them. "And it came to pass, as He sat at meat with them, He took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him; and He vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?"
     It is significant that their recognition came as they ate together, in the Lord's blessing and breaking and sharing the bread. This was what had identified Him to them, freeing their minds from preconceptions. For they had seen Him bless and break bread when He had fed the multitudes, and, more recently, at the Last Supper. But the significance of the act was not merely that it reminded the disciples of something that identified Him to them. The Lord's act had a deeper significance.
     We are taught that "in the Ancient Church bread was broken when it was given to another, and by this was signified to communicate good from one's own, and to appropriate it from one's own, thus to make love mutual. . . .

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When bread is broken among several, then the one piece of bread becomes a mutual possession, and consequently there is conjunction; from charity. From this it is plain that the breaking of bread was significative of mutual love" (AC 5405). We are also taught that to eat bread given by the Lord signifies appropriation of good from Him and conjunction with Him, from which comes enlightenment (AE 617: 21); and that to eat and drink in the Lord's presence denotes to be instructed: from the Word about the goods and truths of faith, by means of which the Lord appears (AC 9412:16).
     Thus what had actually enabled the two disciples to recognize the Lord was that they received with affection the instruction He had given them. They had eagerly listened as He opened the Scripture unto them. They had opened their hearts and minds to receive the things of love and faith He provided for them, and appropriated them to themselves. Because of this they had come into a state of conjunction with the Lord, and were enlightened. Their eyes were opened, and they knew Him to be their risen Lord, their Redeemer and Savior, to whom all power and glory belong.
     It is to be noted that the simple statement "and they knew Him," implies more than simple recognition. It was a sign that they had attained to a new state of life, a state of conjunction with the Lord. Thus it implies that they had fulfilled the end of natural life; for only the regenerate can truly be said to know God.
     When they had recognized the Lord, the disciples' spiritual sight was: closed, so that "He vanished out of their sight." For no man is able to remain indefinitely in an exalted spiritual state. Man's whole life is characterized by alternations of state. Activity alternates with rest, light with obscurity, ascent with descent. A state of rest prepares the way for a new state of greater activity; obscurity prepares the way for the perception of brighter light; descent makes higher ascents possible. Such alternations are not only necessary for life, but also make it possible to advance into ever more perfect states. The Lord's disappearance from the disciples' sight did not lessen the clarity, significance and use, of their vision, but prepared them for a vision even more exalted. It did not indicate a relapse into a state of disjunction with the Lord, but the beginning of a state of even closer conjunction.

     The experience of the disciples must in some manner be shared by all who seek to be truly Christian. Though it may not so appear, and though it may assume different forms, the faith and love of every Christian must be tested as greatly as were those of the disciples, and must like theirs survive the test.
     Because of the New Testament, and especially because of the Writings, it may seem that we cannot be called on to face the same temptation test.

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For we learn from childhood that the Lord is risen, that He glorified Himself by means of temptations, and that He has revealed Himself to us in His Divine Human. And it is true that we have the advantage of possessing priceless knowledges the disciples lacked.
     But for all the knowledges we have, the first concepts we form from them, and upon which our faith and love of the Lord are based, are not unlike the disciples'. For our unregenerate natural minds are likewise bound by purely natural and material limitations, so that our first concepts are very imperfect, and very fallible. They do not give us a true and clear idea of the Lord. And so, though we may have considerable knowledge of the Lord, we nevertheless do not know Him at first. We can come to know Him only when our faith and love have survived the test of temptation.
     The Lord presents Himself to our view in the Divine truths of the Word. These constitute His Divine Human. We come into temptation states, then, only when we seek to know and to understand the truths of the Word; when we examine the real meaning and implications of what the Word teaches, to the end that our thoughts and lives may be governed by the Word, that is, by the Lord. In so far as we do so sincerely, genuinely seeking the truth itself, and not merely to confirm our own ideas, we will inevitably discover limitations, weaknesses and errors, in our concepts. This discovery will initiate us into temptation states, in so far as we have any faith and love. For in appearance, our concepts themselves will not seem at fault, but their object; that is, it will seem that the teachings of the Word are fallacious and impotent, that they have utterly failed to fulfill their claims, and that they are therefore to be cast aside. In appearance the very basis of our faith and love will be destroyed, leaving us helpless. It will be as if the Lord were being crucified in our minds. And as a result we will experience severe temptations, intolerable doubts, and unendurable anxiety.
     Our faith will be able to survive only if, as with the disciples, our love had made us willing to abandon all for the sake of the Lord; that is, to give up our own ideas and desires for the sake of the truth. Only such a love and willingness will cause us to be sufficiently humble to doubt the validity of our own concepts, to admit that the fault might be in them and not in the Word as it appears. And only in so far as we are willing to admit this can we continue to trust in the Word, to have faith, when in the midst of temptation. The temptation will then serve the use of removing from our minds the fallacies and evils which prevent us from understanding the truth and from seeing the Lord.
     As it was with the two on the way to Emmaus, when we are first granted to see the Divine truth of the Word after temptation, we may not recognize it for what it is, a vision of the Lord.

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Nevertheless, it will inspire us with greater love, and it will communicate to us a greater desire to receive faith and love from the Lord. And in so far as we receive them, making them our own, so far will we be conjoined with the Lord, so far will we be enlightened to perceive the truth, so far will we come to know the Lord in the breaking of bread. Amen.

     LESSONS: Luke 24:13-35. Arcana Coelestia, 9412:1, 2, 6.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 548, 557, 456.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 83, 109.
LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED 1955

LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED Rev. KARL R. ALDEN 1955

     An Easter Talk to Children

     "Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions." Our Lord spoke these words to His disciples as they reclined about the supper table on the last occasion of His eating with them. On the morrow He was to be crucified. He had said to Peter: "Whither I go thou canst not follow Me now, but thou shalt follow Me afterward." Because He had thus spoken to them of His departure their hearts were full of sorrow. This sorrow was reflected in their troubled faces, their anxious eyes, their trembling hands.
     At this moment the Lord had been on earth only thirty-three and a half years. Could it be that in that short time His earthly work was finished? Was it possible that the full meaning of His work could be brought forth only by the pain and sorrow of His departure? "Because I have told you these things," He declared, "sorrow hath filled your heart." Then followed the Divine consolation: "Ye believe in God, believe also in Me." The disciples were men of loyalty and conviction. Their belief in God was simple, sincere, and complete; and it was because of that unswerving faith in God which they had that the Lord knew that they would one day unite that faith in God with their faith in Him, realizing to the full that He was that one God.
     But this could not take place without the pangs of suffering. They had to lose all in order that through an all-consuming faith they might gain all. "He that loses his life for My sake," the Lord said, "shall find it."
     They had seen Him with the eyes of the body, but real faith demanded that they should see Him with the eyes of the spirit.

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Not until that: sight had come to them could they be the flaming messengers, the true evangelists of the Christian Church. So in that dark night of betrayal they all forsook Him and fled. Not until their spiritual eyes were opened to behold their risen Lord did they regain their spiritual courage and their manhood.
     As the first Easter faded into night, and ten of the disciples were locked in a room in Jerusalem, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said, "Peace be unto you." And when He had so said He showed them His hands and His side. But Thomas was not there and so when the others told him about it, he doubted. One week later, however, the disciples were again within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, "Peace be Unto you." Then saith He to Thomas: "Reach hither thy finger and behold My hands, and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into My side, and be not faithless, but believing." And Thomas answered and said unto Him, "My Lord and my God."
     From that moment trouble left the hearts of those men. They saw their beloved Lord with their spiritual eyes, and they saw also that kingdom which was not of this world, and they remembered His words, "Let not your heart be troubled." From that hour on we find those disciples changed! No longer were they cowards, but now courageous soldiers, willing to bear their cross, and eager to seek their crown. Wherever the Gospel was to be preached they would not falter!
     Our Lord knew that the courage and steadfastness of those disciples, who with their spiritual eyes had seen Him after He had risen from the dead, would be imparted to thousands and thousands of men and women yet unborn.
     Today the disciples of the Lord in His second coming occupy a unique position in the history of the world. They are not called upon to bear witness of the risen Lord. Men of old have done that! Rather are they called upon to bear witness to the resurrection of all men from the dead. For it is the knowledge of the life after death that characterizes the revelation which constitutes the second coming of the Lord. The veil of the temple has been rent in twain and through Swedenborg's twenty-seven years of uninterrupted life in the spiritual world, through the thousands of pages of the Writings, which have been given to us by the Lord through His servant, we are enabled to picture the spiritual world with all its beauty and all its wonders-a kingdom of heavenly uses so intertwined that the arrival of one new angel brings an increased joy to all who are already there.
     Easter is a time of rejoicing.

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First, because on that day the Lord conquered death, and rose in Divine majesty and glory, and second, because it is a time of renewal of our own faith in the life after death. "Because I live," He declared, "ye shall live also." "Whosoever believeth on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." "Blessed are they that die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them."
To the true New Church man death is the gate of life. He knows that "man lives as a man after death, and that those who are conjoined with God by a life according to His commandments, are more blessed and happy than before in the world, exceeding it a thousand times."
Thus it comes about that the words with which the Lord comforted His disciples on the eve of the crucifixion are now fulfilled, and in the deepest and highest sense we can understand what He meant when He said: "Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions." Amen.
DOCTRINE OF PRAYER 1955

DOCTRINE OF PRAYER GEORGE DE CHARMS 1955

     2. The True Nature and Purpose of Prayer

     We have pointed out that a correct understanding as to the nature and purpose of prayer is inseparably bound up with a true concept of God and of His relation to mankind. No one can acquire such a concept by any process of human reasoning. We can know nothing whatever about God except that which He reveals concerning Himself in His Word. The Lord has made Himself known to men in all ages just so far as the race was prepared to understand; but not until the time of His second advent could the truth concerning God be set forth in terms that man could grasp with his rational mind. This is why the only reasonable answer to the problem of prayer is the one which is now given for the first time in the teaching of the Writings.
     There we are told that God is indeed an infinite being, and one who acts only in accord with a Divine law which is foreordained and unalterable. His will, therefore, is not arbitrary, but is eternally fixed and constant. It cannot be influenced in the slightest degree by the prayers of men. This much concerning the nature of God has been known from most ancient times, because it is clearly stated in the Sacred Scripture: "My covenant will I not break, saith the Lord, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips" (Psalm 89:34).

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"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever" (Isaiah 40:8). "So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth. It shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11). And in Malachi, the Lord says of Himself: "I am the Lord, I change not" (3:6).
     As we have noted, the truth that God is unchangeable is recognized both by Eastern philosophers and by traditional Christian teaching. In the East it led to the conclusion that prayer is of no use except for contemplation, whereby man banishes every human thought and desire in order that he may offer up his mind empty and unresisting to be moved by the Deity. And in Christian doctrine it produced the idea that no prayer is really justified except one of complete resignation to the unseen will of God. The idea that God's will cannot be changed is also the origin of the belief that all events are predetermined, and this gives rise to the philosophy of fatalism and to the doctrine of predestination.
     That which has not been known before, and which is now for the first time revealed in the Writings, is that, although the law of God is unalterable, it is at the same time the law of human freedom. We are taught that the supreme will of God is to give of His life to man so completely that man may feel it altogether as if it were his own; and may use it as he chooses. Only thus could man be created into the image and likeness of God; and only thus could he be given the joy of possession, and of accomplishment.
     Unless man felt his life to be his very own, he could never know the blessing, the eternally increasing happiness of heaven, which it is the Lord's will to impart. For heaven is not a place to which man may be brought by any form of necessity or compulsion. It is a state of love to the Lord, a state of glad and willing response to the Lord's love. Love that is not spontaneous, that is forced in any way, yields no delight. Wherefore, that man may enjoy the delight of love, he must be free. For this reason, while it is the Lord's purpose to create a heaven from the human race, unless man were free to love the Lord, as it were by his own power and by his own choice, there could be no heaven. The Divine law must therefore provide for man's freedom in the first place, as the necessary prerequisite to his reception of the blessings of heaven. This is why the Lord, in His providence, protects the secret of His gift of life to man, and preserves inviolate his power of free choice. To do so is the primary end and purpose of the Divine law.
     Yet the fact that man has life in himself as a perpetual gift from God, and the fact that he is given the power to use this life according to his own choice-this alone will not suffice to make him free.

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It can lead only to a perpetual clash of human wills. The personal desires of one interfere with the personal desires of others. The success of one involves the failure of others. There ensues an inevitable struggle for supremacy, for the skill, the knowledge, the wealth, and the power to insure the achievement of one's own ambition, even though it be at the expense of others. The result is that one is not free, but finds himself hemmed in on all sides by opposing forces.
     If man is to be free, it is essential not only that he should feel life altogether as if it were his own, but also that he should be able to know that in reality it is not his own, but has been given him, in trust, by a Divine Creator. Man's life is a gift of love. It is a gift of the Lord's own love, which embraces all mankind and longs to impart blessing and happiness to every one in the fullest measure. It is a gift, the use of which is intended to promote the welfare of others, to increase their happiness, and to derive from them an unsuspected treasure of happiness in return.
     That this is the inner truth the Lord teaches in His Word; and man is so created that he can see that truth, recognize it, and acknowledge it, if he will. Every one is given the opportunity to see that truth, if not in this world, then in the other. Therein lies the essence of human freedom; for when that opportunity is given, every one is free either to confirm the appearance that life is his own, to be used for his personal satisfaction, or to accept the teaching of the Word, that it is given to be exercised in service to the Lord and the neighbor. Something of this truth appears in every religion; and it is, indeed, the saving element in every religion. Every religion, however perverted it may have become, had its origin in the Word, in a revelation of God. And wherever God is acknowledged, there also men recognize some law according to which they should live.
     The idea of this law may be altogether mistaken; but he who sincerely endeavors to obey it because he believes it to be the law of God recognizes thereby the truth that his life is not his own, but is a gift, in trust, to be used in accord with the Divine will and law. Such a one can be taught the real truth concerning the law of God, if not on earth, then in the other life. And because he has freely chosen to be led by what he believes to be the law of God, as soon as he sees the truth concerning that law he will accept it gladly.
     However, no man can be compelled to acknowledge that his life is not his own. He must accept this truth willingly, by his own choice. And for this reason he must be allowed to reject it, and to confirm the appearance that his life is his own. The Divine law provides for this choice, and operates in accord with it. It operates in such a way that he who chooses to deny the inner truth closes his mind against the joys of heaven, and cultivates the ambitions of self and the world, which are the origin of all evil.

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In these he feels the delight of his life. The law is that man, if he will, may make his bed in hell, but may not deprive others of their freedom to choose the way of heaven; nor can he interfere with the Divine end of a heaven from the human race. To protect others, and to insure the achievement of the Lord's own will, the law provides that in the spiritual world every evil automatically brings its own punishment-a punishment sufficient to keep evil perpetually under the government and control of the Divine Providence.
     What, then, is the effect of this teaching on our concept of prayer? What, we may ask, is the real purpose of prayer? But first, let us state what it is not.
     Prayer is not for the purpose of asking personal favors of the Deity. It is not intended as a way to persuade God to change His mind, or to alter the course of His providence, at our request.
     Prayer is not intended to be a mere contemplation of infinity with the mind emptied of all human thought and desire, in the vain belief that then we shall be moved by pure Divine love. To pray in this way is to refuse the Divine gift of life and return it to the Deity unused, as did the servant in the scriptural story who buried his master's talent in the earth. It is to evade our responsibility for free choice, to relinquish all ability to form rational judgments, and thereby to give up those very faculties that make man a human being.
     Prayer is not merely the passive acceptance of an inevitable fate, as is often mistakenly implied in the idea: "Thy will, O Lord, not mine, be done." For this, also, is to evade our own responsibility. It assumes that all things are predetermined regardless of anything man can do. It ignores the truth that the law of God is also the law of human freedom, and operates with minute adjustment to man's choice. Therefore, what God can do for us is not predetermined, but depends upon the use we make of the life He has given us.
     And finally, prayer is not a means of making contact with some powerhouse of Divine energy, in order that we may turn that energy to the accomplishment of our natural desires and to the fulfillment of our human ambitions. This would be to take Providence into our own hands, and become ourselves the arbiters of fate and the architects of the future. It would be to claim for ourselves the power and the wisdom that belong to God alone.
     What, then, is prayer; and what is it intended to accomplish? In its essence, prayer is not a form of thought or of speech, but it is a love, a wish of the heart. We wish for many things, but for some more than for others; and we willingly relinquish lesser desires for the sake of attaining those we love more deeply.

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In fact, whenever we realize that a lesser wish involves the loss or the impairment of a greater one, we cease to desire it.
     Deep in the heart of every man there is a supreme goal, an inmost love that transcends all others, and for the sake of which he will sacrifice all others. This inmost love may be changed as life advances, as knowledge broadens and experience deepens. But whatever a man loves most, at any time, is his real prayer. This is true regardless of any formula of words he may use in worship. He may, indeed, ask for other things, and " may try to attain other objectives; but interiorly these will be regarded only as means to the achievement of his ultimate goal.
     And here is the crucial point. The dominant wish of any human heart can produce only one of two possible things: either an insistence that his life is his own, to be used for his own ends; or the willing acknowledgment that it is a gift of God, in trust, to be used "as a servant dispenses the goods of his master," used in the service of the Lord and the neighbor. Man's inmost love can be only one of these two things because they are the only alternatives possible to man. The delights of self-love are implanted in everyone by heredity. They are what men have come to regard as human nature. But in the innocence of infancy and childhood everyone is endowed by the Lord with heavenly delights of love to God and to the neighbor. Neither of these opposite delights really belongs to man, because they are both imposed upon him without his consent. But it is provided that they shall exercise an equal pressure; and he is faced with the opportunity, nay, with the unavoidable necessity, of choosing between them. This is the only choice he has; and according to that choice he determines the all-dominant love, the real prayer of his life. Every man is required to make this choice, deep within himself. No one else, not even the Lord Himself, can make it for him; and no one, not even the Lord Himself, can prevent him from making it as he will. Such is the eternal, the constant, and unalterable law of human freedom, which also, therefore, is the law of human prayer.
     Furthermore, love is not an unsubstantial dream, an ethereal hope, or a mere emotion. Love spontaneously seeks to achieve its purpose. It pictures a goal in the imagination; it formulates in thought a way to attain that goal; and it ultimates the thought in words and deeds. All this demands initiative, and the exercise of rational judgment. At every stage it involves responsibility. Unless love goes forth in this way it withers and dies; but by means of this activity it grows ever stronger and deeper.
     To say, therefore, that a man's prayer is the love of his heart is the same as saying that it is his very life, the force that molds his character, directs his interests, inspires his thoughts, and controls all his speech and action.

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The Lord, who searches the hearts of men, judges according to this inmost prayer, the real prayer of man's life; and words spoken in worship, if they are not in harmony with this, are not heard in heaven, but are mere sounds having no effect. But if the real, living prayer springs from a willing acknowledgment that all his life and all his power are a perpetual gift from God; and if, for this reason, the deepest wish of his life is that he may be led by the Lord, even while he acts from freedom "according to reason, then his prayer is heard in heaven, and it is always granted. Such is the operation of the Divine Providence according to the eternal law of human freedom. And this is what the Lord meant when He said: "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, I will do it."
We would propose on another occasion to inquire further as to how, then, we should pray; and what kind of answer to prayer we may rightfully expect.
TEN BLESSINGS AND EDUCATION 1955

TEN BLESSINGS AND EDUCATION Rev. DAVID R. SIMONS 1955

     4. An Appetite for Spiritual Things

     "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6). The fourth blessing given by the Lord in the Sermon on the Mount teaches that spiritual happiness is given to all who love good for the sake of good and desire truth for the sake of truth. Those who, as of themselves, acquire an appetite for spiritual things can enjoy the blessings of eternal life. Those only who come into an inner longing for the food and drink of heaven can have their lives truly filled-the interior vessels of their minds quickened to respond in inmost freedom to the delights of spiritual blessing. When we sense the value and feel the need of spiritual nourishment, we are then ready to absorb it into our lives and have it incorporated in our spiritual character.
     Appetite is the product of orderly living. Exercise sharpens our sense of need and leads us to seek and to delight in refreshing food and drink. By using life we increase our possession of it. For it is a spiritual law that what we use is given to us as our own, and this ever more fully. Our every endowment becomes stronger and more delightful through use. The cycle of perfection inscribed on our very being is that by exercising our God-given faculties we heighten our sense of need and our sense of delight in that which nourishes them, and that in feeding them we provide for their growth and development and for an increase in their uses.

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     As hunger and thirst are signs of a healthy body, so interest and ambition are the marks of an alert mind. Mental hunger is the desire to do, which is fed by the delight of accomplishment; mental thirst is curiosity and interest, which are satisfied by knowledge and understanding.
     In its orderly growth, the love of knowing for the sake of self should develop into a love of understanding, of seeing reason and meaning in what is known. And understanding, in turn, should lead to wisdom, the ability to see the use, the value, and the true relations of things. If we desire only to know, we see but the outer forms of things-unrelated facts and information. But if we seek understanding we begin to put those facts together so as to view them rationally. And we become wise in so far as we see the inner qualities of use which give things their human value.
     Our hunger, our affection for doing, must also progress. It must develop from a mere desire for activity for its own sake into an ability to work step by step toward definite goals. And finally, it should become a sustained endeavor to perform a use by working justly, faithfully and honestly, for the good of our neighbor and our God. In this way the progress of the understanding is matched by that of the will. It is not enough to know, understand, and evaluate. Wisdom is born of action. For "it is according to angelic wisdom that will and understanding . . . unless clothed and wrapped in words or deeds, whenever possible, are only like something airy which passes away, or like phantoms in air which perish; and that they first become permanent in man and a part of his life when he exercises and does them" (DLW 216). Hunger and thirst are the results of uses performed, and are the means of genuine growth.
     Modern educators have seen something of this truth, that knowledge and ambition must be exercised if they are to remain in the child's mind. Activity programs in which knowledge is made meaningful and living through experience have become an accepted mode of pedagogy. To do and to think are seen as twin factors in a balanced education. Yet all too often these activities are centered in the child's own external and superficial hunger and thirst rather than in what is best for his development. Experience for its own sake leaves the child restless and unsatisfied. Adult activities are superimposed on childhood states, and an early sophistication is produced which destroys innocence and impresses a false sense of values on the mind. Because these activities are centered in self, rather than in use as service to others, they fail to awaken any but the most external hungers in the human mind. To its children, who hunger inwardly for the "bread" of instruction from the Word of God, natural education serves the hard "stones" of natural fact. Youth that demands the security of religious ideals from which to interpret experience-the "fish" that is suitable meat for the spirit-is given a purely materialistic philosophy-a "serpent" which would make man god, and which poisons all trust in the authority of Divine revelation (see Luke 11:11).

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True education cannot neglect the inner appetites of the human mind, which was created to receive good and truth from heaven. It must lead its children to "seek first the kingdom of God and His justice," and then all the things of external knowledge and experience can be added (Matthew 6:33). Such an education, if it is to promote spiritual ends, must not be content merely to provide food for the growing mind; it must also prepare the way for its reception. For "when [foods] are hungered for they yield better nourishment" (AC 5579). Too rich a diet which allows for little or no reaction on the part of the pupils can lead only to a stuffy self-satisfaction and to indifference to the things taught. Knowledge and ambition need to be expressed in action. Our religious ideals need to find expression in higher standards of external behavior-in the thoughtfulness of good manners, in the benefactions of charity toward the helpless and needy, and in providing for what is clean and orderly in the home and in the community.
REASON FOR THE INCARNATION 1955

REASON FOR THE INCARNATION 1955

"The Lord could not be tempted at all when He was in the Divine itself, for the Divine is infinitely above all temptation; but He could be tempted as to His human. . . . That neither the Divine itself or the Divine Human could be tempted must be evident to everyone simply from the fact that not even the angels can approach the Divine, much less the spirits who induce temptations, and still less the hells. Hence it is manifest why the Lord came into the world, and put on the human state itself with its infirmity; for thus He could be tempted as to the human, and by means of the temptations subjugate the hells, and reduce each and all things to obedience and into order, and save the human race which had removed itself so far away from the supreme Divine" (Arcana Coelestia, 2795).

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NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1955

     The six prophets whose inspired writings we read this month lived in very different times, and each had a specific immediate task. Micah proclaims the advent of Jehovah for judgment of the sins of Israel and Judah, denounces especially the false prophets, and promises a restoration under the sovereignty of the Messiah. Nahum, prophesying after the captivity of Israel, appears before Judah as a consoler from Jehovah, foretelling the death of Sennacherib and the overthrow of Assyria. Habakkuk, writing after the great reformation in the days of king Josiah that had not removed the scourge of invasion, had to sustain hope and teach patience. In his prophecy occur the words quoted by Paul, "the just shall live by his faith" (Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17), to which Luther added "alone." Zephaniah, speaking while Josiah's reforms were still being carried out, denounces the idolatries that made them necessary and still hindered their progress, at the same time condemning the surrounding nations. Haggai and Zechariah both prophesied after the return from Babylon; the former rebuking the apathy of the people in not devoting themselves to the work of restoration and promising a greater glory than that of Solomon's temple, the latter also seeking to arouse the people from their lethargy, but through a series of night visions.
     All the needs and states here shown, and the measures taken by the Lord through these prophets to meet them, portray various states of the church and of the regenerating man. Thus Micah treats especially of the church in relation to the doctrine of truth and good; Nahum of those who have falsified and adulterated the Word; Habakkuk of violence and injustice; and Zechariah of a new church (PP). Here again it is recommended that the summaries in Prophets and Psalms be read along with the text.

     In concluding the exposition of Exodus 33, the Arcana readings refer to the representative Human of the Lord before the advent. The doctrinal inserts are on the fourth earth and on the resurrection of man. The greater part of the assignment is an exposition of Exodus 34:1-27, which reveals that the Israelitish nation was received in order that a representative of a church might be established with it, and then treats of the things that were to be wholly observed in order that a church might be represented. Among other things, the new tables mean that the letter would have been different had the Jews been different.

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REVIEW 1955

GENERAL INDEX TO SWEDENBORG'S SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS. By A. H. Searle. Second Edition. The Swedenborg Society Incorporated, London, 1954. Cloth, pp. 321.
     Only three books of the Word-Genesis, Exodus, and Revelation-are expounded serially in the Writings. Many explanations of verses, groups of verses, and chapters are, however, scattered through their pages, and a single verse may be referred to in several passages, all contained in different works. For more than seventy years, New Church ministers and laymen seeking passages which give the internal sense of a scripture under consideration have turned gratefully to Searle"s Index; and this second edition of a reference work long difficult to obtain will be welcomed by students.
     Searle's Index was issued in 1883. It was based, though With certain omissions and some added references, on the Index General by Le Boys des Guays, which had been published at Saint-Amand in 1859. We are assured in the Preface that "this new and corrected edition remains substantially Searle's Index." The user will undoubtedly welcome one new feature, the inclusion of the paragraph subdivision numbers introduced by the Rev. J. F. Potts into the Swedenborg Concordance and incorporated into subsequent editions of the Writings; for it takes time to find a reference within a paragraph which, in the Apocalypse Explained, may run to thirty or forty pages of type. Another change is the removal of the double references to the verse numbers of the Word which occur where Swedenborg's enumeration differed from that of the Authorized Version. That version is now followed throughout, and references to the title of a psalm are entered as such.
     We regret that one other change was not made. Mr. Searle gave in boldface type those numbers which contain a quotation of the words of the text, and in lightface type "those which contain mere references to chapter and verse" (Preface, First Edition). This distinction has been continued and we regard it as unfortunate. Boldface is used in the text for emphasis, or to indicate something of greater importance; and the unwary user might suppose that the lightface entries are relatively unimportant, whereas numbers which contain "mere references to chapter and verse" sometimes give more of the internal sense than those which quote the words of the text.     THE EDITOR

172

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1955

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS W. CAIRNS HENDERSON 1955

     COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY

     The Annual Meetings of the Council of the Clergy of the General Church of the New Jerusalem were held in the Council Chamber of the Bryn Athyn Cathedral-Church, January 25-28, 1955, with Bishop De Charms presiding.
     In addition to the Bishop of the General Church there were present one member of the episcopal degree, seventeen members of the pastoral degree, two members of the ministerial degree, and by invitation, three authorized candidates for the priesthood, namely: the Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton; the Rev. Messrs. Elmo C. Acton, Karl R. Alden, Bjorn A. H. Boyesen, Geoffrey S. Childs, Jr., Harold C. Cranch, Charles E. Doering, Frederick E. Gyllenhaal, W. Cairns Henderson (secretary), Louis B. King, Hugo Lj. Odhner, Ormond Odhner, Dandridge Pendleton, Martin Pryke, Norman H. Reuter, Norbert H. Rogers, David R. Simons, Kenneth O. Stroh; Raymond G. Cranch, and Roy Franson; Messrs. Robert S. Junge, Frederick L. Schnarr, and Jan H. Weiss.
     A meeting of the Bishop's Consistory was held on Monday evening, January 24th. There were six regular sessions of the Council, four in the morning and two in the afternoon, one open session, and one joint session with the Board of Directors of the General Church. On Monday afternoon, January 24th, meetings were held in the Bishop's office with the headmasters of local schools to discuss the teacher needs for the next school year, and with the pastors involved to discuss arrangements for the District Assemblies to be held in the fall.

     Bishop De Charms, in opening the first session, welcomed all who were present. He referred to the forthcoming visit of the Assistant Bishop to Australia and New Zealand, and spoke briefly of the General Assembly to be held in London in 1956. Among messages of greeting read at this session was one from the Annual Ministers' Meetings in South Africa, which had been held recently at Hambrook, Natal.

     Reports made during the week included those of the committees on the Liturgy, administration of the Holy Supper, ecclesiastical garments, and reporting procedures.

173

The Secretary of the General Church, the Secretary of the Council, the Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE, and the Director of the Religion Lessons Committee, whose reports are made to the Joint Council, commented on matters which they wished to bring to the attention of the ministers. It was reported that the temporary Hymnal for children should be ready by September, and that work on the permanent Hymnal will be increased during the summer.
Five addresses and one short paper were read at the regular sessions. The first session heard a paper by the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner on "The Opening of the Interior Degrees of the Mind"; and at the second session a paper by the Rev. Gilbert H. Smith communicating certain thoughts on education was read by the Secretary, as was a short paper from the Rev. Frank S. Rose which raised some questions bearing upon the translation of the Word. At the third and fourth sessions the members of the program committee presented three papers as a report on "The Origin, Nature, and Place of Representatives in New Church Worship." The Rev. W. Cairns Henderson (chairman) dealt with "The Function of Representatives Before and After the Advent"; the Rev. Martin Pryke considered "The Place of Representatives in New Church Ritual"; and the Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen treated "The Representation of the Priesthood." The discussion of this report showed it to be the consensus that our representatives in worship should be taken from the Word, but that questions of how this is to be interpreted are involved; discussion centering in how to preserve the use of correspondences in a changing world. The time of betrothal and the matter of pre-marital counseling also came up for consideration, and members of the Council were invited to make contributions to a short course on professional ethics to be added to the curriculum of the Theological School.

Several motions were acted upon during the regular sessions. It was resolved to hold the Annual Council Meetings in 1956 from Tuesday, January 24th, through Saturday, January 28th, and the Bishop was again asked to appoint a program committee to provide for two of the sessions. The Bishop was also asked to appoint a committee to which members might report wrong or doubtful translations found in the standard versions of the Word, a committee to report next year on the modes of administering the Holy Supper, a committee on New Church literature, and a committee to study the question of missionary work and the possibility of forming a Missionary Council within the Council of the Clergy. The Secretary was instructed to send a message of thanks and appreciation to the ladies who provided refreshments during the morning recesses; and to send messages of affectionate greeting to the Rt. Rev. Alfred Acton, the Rev. Dr. William Whitehead, and the Rev. Morley D. Rich.

174

      The following Memorial Resolutions were adopted by rising vote:

     "FORASMUCH as the Lord in His Providence has called M. Louis Jules Lucas into the spiritual world, now therefore BE IT RESOLVED that this Council record its affectionate appreciation of the faithful services to the New Church performed by him. For many years he assisted the Rev. Fernand Hussenet in the work of the Paris Society of the General Church, playing the organ for services each Sunday, and taking a very active part in all the uses of the Church. In 1946 he was appointed as the representative of the Bishop when the Circle was reorganized after the Second World War, and he served as Leader of the Circle from that date until his death.
     "He was loved and revered by all the members and friends of the Church for his unswerving devotion to the Heavenly Doctrine, for his gentle and kindly nature, and for his constant concern for the welfare of the Circle over which he was asked to preside. In all his service to the Church, Mme. Lucas was ever wholeheartedly with him, and we would express to her, and to their children, our sincere sympathy in their natural loss."

     "WHEREAS in the Lord's Divine Providence, George Goddard Starkey was called into the spiritual world on July 5th, 1954:
     "And WHEREAS he was a member of the Council of the Clergy of the General Church of the New Jerusalem from soon after its establishment:
     "BE IT RESOLVED that we hereby record our affectionate remembrance of our friend and colleague.
     "George Starkey was ordained into the first degree of the priesthood on June 3, 1894. He was connected with the production and publication of NEW CHURCH LIFE from its inception, serving as its editor from 1896 to 1901. After this he served as Secretary of the Council of the Clergy, and as Secretary to the Bishop for two years. After ordination into the second degree of the priesthood on October 19, 1902, he became Pastor of the Denver Society.
     "Poor health compelled him to resign from any active pastoral work. He removed to Glenview, where he willingly offered his services to help the Pastor so long as he was able. He was ever affectionately loyal to the General Church.
     "Be it therefore further RESOLVED that this memorial be spread upon the Minutes and that a copy be sent to his children."

     The Open Session of the Council was held on January 28th, following the usual Friday Supper of the Bryn Athyn Church. The Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton presided, and an address on "The Use of the Old and New Testaments" was given by Bishop De Charms. The address is published in this issue, pp. 145-154.

     As always, there were the social functions which it is a pleasure to record here, although they are not part of the Annual Council Meetings. On Wednesday evening there was a social supper and gathering of the clergy at the home of the Rev. and Mrs. Hugo Lj. Odhner, in which serious discussion took place in the relaxed atmosphere created by the lighthearted preliminaries.

175

Mr. Raymond Pitcairn was again host at two luncheon parties which brought the Joint Council and the male members of the Academy Faculty together in fellowship and topical discussion; and there were other social functions to which various ministers were invited with the unstinting hospitality that marks the week of our meetings, and that is so much appreciated and enjoyed by those who attend them.
W. CAIRNS HENDERSON,
Secretary of the Council of the Clergy.
JOINT COUNCIL 1955

JOINT COUNCIL HUGO LJ. ODHNER 1955

     JANUARY 29, 1955

     1. The sixty-first regular joint meeting of the Council of the Clergy and the Directors of the Corporations of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, held in the Council Chamber of the Bryn Athyn Church, was opened by Bishop De Charms on January 29, 1955, at 10 a.m., after prayer and reading from the Word. The following members were present:

     OF THE CLERGY: Rt. Rev. George de Charms (presiding), Rt. Rev. W. D. Pendleton, Rev. Messrs. E. C. Acton, K. R. Alden, B. A. H. Boyesen, G. S. Childs, H. C. Cranch, C. E. Doering, F. E. Gyllenhaal, W. C. Henderson, L. B. King, H. L. Odhner (secretary), O. deC. Odhner, Dandridge Pendleton, Martin Pryke, N. H. Reuter, N. H. Rogers, R. G. Cranch, and Roy Franson, (19); and by invitation, Candidates R. S. Junge, F. L. Schnarr, and J. H. Weiss.
     OF THE BOARD: Messrs. D. E. Acton, K. C. Acton, E. T. Asplundh, Lester Asplundh, G. E. Blackman, E. C. Bostock, R. W. Childs, E. H. Davis, G. C. Doering, T. N. Glenn, Hubert Hyatt, P. C. Pendleton, Raymond Pitcairn, G. M. Smith, and Arthur Synnestvedt (16); and by invitation, L. E. Gyllenhaal, Treasurer.

     2: The Minutes of the 60th meeting were approved as printed in NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1954, pages 171 to 175, together with the following resolution left out of that publication: "It was unanimously resolved; That this Council, in a suitable way, give official and grateful recognition to the remarkable work, so generously and devotedly carried on by MISS CREDA GLENN, both during and after the war, of collecting and sending clothing and food packages to our friends in war-ravaged countries and in maintaining personal contact and correspondence with New Church families in Europe; as well as acknowledging her zealous endeavors in the past to further church music in various forms."
     3. The Rev. W. C. Henderson summarized his report as SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY (see, pages 185-190).
     4. The Rev. H. L. Odhner summarized his report as SECRETARY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH (see pages 181-185).

176

He also cited the enrollment of our various local schools as follows: Bryn Athyn Elementary, 208 pupils, 9 regular and 3 part time teachers; Glenview, 76 pupils, 5 regular and 4 part time teachers; Pittsburgh, 29 pupils, 3 regular teachers; Toronto, 14 pupils, 1 regular and 2 part time teachers; Kitchener, 13 pupils, 1 regular, 3 part time teachers; Durban, 7 New Church children, all in primary grades, 1 regular and 2 part time teachers. No report was available from England.
     5. Mr. Hubert Hyatt submitted his report as SECRETARY OF THE CORPORATIONS OF THE GENERAL CHURCH (see pages 190-192).
     6. Mr. Philip C. Pendleton read the report of the GENERAL CHURCH SALARY COMMITTEE (see page 196). He also expressed thanks due to our contributors, large and small, who made it possible this year to raise I the "floor" of minimum salaries for ministers.
     7. Rev. W. Cairns Henderson read his report as EDITOR of New Church Life (see pages 194-195).
     8. Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal read his report as TREASURER OF THE GENERAL CHURCH (see pages 193-194). He added that recently he had met with the theological candidates for a discussion of the financial history and structure of the General Church, and of the mode of eliciting contributions, handling traveling expenses, etc. He also noted that according to a recent ruling, ministers in certain categories would have status as "self-employed," in respect to U. S. social security and internal revenue taxation. The social security benefits are not integrated with the General Church Pension Plan. Letters of instruction will be sent out concerning the social security status of clergymen.
     Mr. Philip C. Pendleton urged that every minister, especially the older ones, should take advantage of the social security plan, which would give additional income. Mr. K. C. Acton noted that this did not affect our pensions, and involved tax-free income. It meant however a three-per-cent payment out of income.
     Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal explained that a church as such cannot participate in a social security plan, because in the U. S. A. there is a separation of church and state.
     9. The Bishop reported verbally for the COMMITTEE ON THE SOUTH AFRICAN MISSION. No significant development had as yet occurred, but investigation is now in process as to the government's attitude regarding the Kent Manor property where natives are settled on what is declared "white" land. We will follow the government's instructions. It is hoped that Mr. E. C. Bostock and Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal may be able to go to South Africa this summer to gain fuller knowledge of the situation. It is indicated that the confusion between farm and mission interests should be avoided.

177

     In the meantime a temporary place for a theological school is being found in a native section near Durban. The problem of Kent Manor does not affect the Mission as a whole.
     Various details of the situation were discussed by a number of speakers.
     10. Rev. Fred E. Gyllenhaal reported as director of the RELIGION LESSONS COMMITTEE (see page 196). Exhibits were made of a set of pictures by Mr. Winfred Hyatt, and of other material sent out to various age-groups of isolated children. Among this material was the lessons on the "Life of the Lord," produced and sent out by Miss Virginia Junge of Glenview; printed by an offset process with ample illustrations. Those lessons, a revision approved by Rev. Elmo C. Acton, are sent to those of the 8th and 9th grades. Since the last Assembly lessons have been sent out also to those of high school age, and this material has been drawn from many sources-from Dr. Odhner's First Elements of the True Christian Religion; lessons on the "Ten Commandments" by Rev. H. C. Cranch, and the "Lord's Prayer" by Rev. K. R. Alden; the General Church Handbook by H. L. Odhner; lessons on the Doctrine of Life and on the Doctrine of Charity; and The Moral Life, by H. L. Odhner.
     The lessons, on request, have also been sent to New Church families and societies not of the General Church.
     11. Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal gave a report on the REVISION OF THE HYMNAL (see page 195).
     12. After a fifteen minute recess for refreshments in the Undercroft, the meeting reassembled. The Bishop pointed out how the undertaking of sending out Religion Lessons to the isolated had been started by the Theta Alpha and grown in extent and importance until it is now recognized as a very valuable part of the work of the General Church and one which should bear a rich harvest in years to come.
     In reply to questions, the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal explained that in Bryn Athyn some sixty ladies, young and old, were helping in the work, and five or six young men, some of whom had themselves benefitted by the Religion Lessons in younger years. He showed how there were counselors for each group and one "teacher" for every ten pupils. The Theta Alpha directly pays for stationery and mailing costs and the costs of the "representations," etc., amounting to some $1000 a year. And the General Church contributes about $1300 yearly in addition to the salary of the Director.
     13. On motion, the Secretary was instructed to convey the deep appreciation of the Council to all those partaking in the work connected with the Religion Lessons, to the Theta Alpha, to Mr. Gyllenhaal, and to the great many ladies who so freely have dedicated time, skill, and energy, as well as love and interest, to stimulate the appetites of our isolated children for the truths of the Word.

178

The motion was passed unanimously.
     It was brought out in the discussion that less than fifty percent of the children returned the assigned work to the teachers. One speaker regarded this response as a high percentage, and the Director noted that many do the work under parental auspices but do not send in their answers. Rev. E. C. Acton stated that the quality of the responses from these under Miss Junge's charge showed that the work was well worth while.
     14. Rev. W. C. Henderson reported as chairman of the SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE (see page 197).
     15. On motion of Mr. Lester Asplundh, who spoke of the tremendous labor and marvelous success of this undertaking, the Council unanimously accepted the report with an expression of sincere recognition of the work done and the effort expended by this group.
     16. The Secretary read the report of Mrs. Doris Pendleton, chairman of the MILITARY SERVICE COMMITTEE (see page 195). It was noted in the discussion that the expenses of the Committee this year are not very great. The COMMUNIQUE is no longer needed, the news items being carried by the Sons' BULLETIN. A surplus of sermons from World War II days provides for present needs. The NEW-CHURCH LIFE, NEW PHILOSOPHY, the BULLETIN, NEW CHURCH EDUCATION, and mimeographed sermons and classes from the service carried on by Mrs. Raymond Pitcairn, are, available gratis to all GIs on request. Some fifty or more copies of the Religion Lessons are also used by the Committee.
     17. Mr. Raymond Pitcairn related that some 186 persons were receiving sermons from Mrs. Pitcairn's mimeographing service, and that their response was very encouraging. In England and South Africa these sermons were also passed from family to family. It was added that many doctrinal classes also had wide circulation.
     18. The Secretary read the report of Mr. W. R. Cooper, Director of the GENERAL CHURCH VISUAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE (see page 198).
     19. The Secretary read the report of Mr. Ralph Klein, chairman of the TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE for the 1956 General Assembly (see page 197). The report was received with thanks.
     The Bishop explained that the Committee was formed to give all possible information as to the facilities available for those who could go to the London Assembly, and that this would be publicized in the LIFE and by other means.

179

Mr. Pitcairn noted that nothing had been said about air travel, one way or both ways. As to the date of the 1956 Assembly, the Bishop had been informed that it could not be held in the week end of the English Bank Holiday (Aug. 6), because no accommodations could then be assured, but in the week preceding that holiday. The exact dates were yet in abeyance.
     20. The Bishop spoke of the serious illness of the Rev. Morley D. Rich, which necessitated his resigning his pastorate in London and going to Florida for recuperation. The process of nominating a successor had begun, and when the choice had been made a new vacancy would probably result and with this other changes.
     21. On motion, the Council unanimously instructed the Secretary to convey our best hopes and wishes for Mr. Rich's speedy recovery.
     22. The Bishop expressed gratitude to those who, at our last General Assembly, had so ably presented a survey of the uses of the General Church. How useful and happy this presentation had been was even reflected in our Treasurer's report of greater contributions.
     Rev. Harold Cranch gave an account of the building activity at Glendale, California, and showed a model of one of the three units proposed. The society was fortunate in having architectural assistance and skilled help and labor from its members, and even the pastor has become more familiar with tools! The cost of the building was estimated at about $3000, its value at $10,000. The chapel would hold about 140 persons. The buildings were placed on a 50 ft. by 250 ft. lot and could be converted either for school uses or for apartments.
     The Detroit Society, the Rev. N. H. Rogers reported, had purchased a five acre property, and the plans of the architect included a church, a social hall, and a school. The first unit was soon to be started. The year's goal for the building fund had been exceeded. Outside of other church uses, $9500 had been raised, which indicated that the Society could soon be almost completely self-supporting, its uses including a school and the support of a teacher-if one was available in 1956. An architect had to be called in and the program had to be somewhat ambitious, because of the requirements of the Michigan school-boards. The cost of the first unit-the hall-was calculated at about $3500, the class-rooms and the church would cost some $70,000 additional.
     Bishop W. D. Pendleton was called on to speak of his intended journey to Australia and New Zealand.
     Rev. K. R. Alden complimented the Arbutus Society on the renovation of their building. Rev. Dandridge Pendleton added that the Washington Society had formed a building committee and started a building fund.

180

     The Toronto Society, Rev. Martin Pryke explained, had found their present location (Parkdale) less and less desirable as a residential area, and had purchased an acre and a quarter for about $15,500 in an area where their younger parents could settle, in order to assure the future of their school. The building plans had to be gone ahead with slowly, as the project might cost between one hundred and one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
     Rev. H. C. Cranch reported that the Tucson Circle had in prospect the purchase of a former Catholic church and school-room in the outskirts of the city. The building needed renovation and a new water supply, but was in a desirable residential district. The lot was about three and a half acres and the church would accommodate 120 people. The group in Tucson is now visited about every two months, but conducts "children's church" weekly with an attendance of 26, and about 12 meet for church services.
     23. By rising vote, the Joint Council associated itself with the Memorial Resolutions for the late MR. LOUIS LUCAS, and for the late REV. GEORGE GODDARD STARKEY, adopted by the Council of the Clergy at its recent session (see page 174).
     24. On motion of Randolph W. Childs, Esq. and by rising vote, the Joint Council adopted the following Minute and Resolution in memory of the late ALEXANDER PITCAIRN LINDSAY:

     "With Alexander Pitcairn Lindsay the boy was father to the man.
     "Some of his fellow players recall that at a critical stage of an Academy football season, some 50 years ago, he made a ringing plea for 'spirit and courage.' These qualities young Alex himself possessed, as well as serious purpose, acceptance of hard work as the appointed way of life, a willingness to shoulder responsibility, an indomitable determination, and an alert and practical mind. Above all, at a very early age his eyes were opened to the vision of the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.
     "It was to be expected that a youth of this stamp, after a law school training, would go far in his profession and win recognition as a leader of the bar of his county.
     "He gave generously of his time to civic movements, where his tremendous energy, talent for leadership and organization, and high ideals and independence won him the admiration and support of his fellow citizens.
     "His long record of service to the Pittsburgh Society of the General Church is appreciatively set forth in a biographical sketch by Mr. J. Edmund Blair, appearing in the October 1954 issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE.
     "He brought to the meetings of the Executive Committee of The General Church of the New Jerusalem and to the sessions of the Joint Council his early qualities of mind and character, matured by experience and reflection. His affection for the New Church, his devotion to its uses, and his hearty personality endeared him to ministers and laymen alike.

181

     "We may well believe that in the spiritual life into which he has entered his delight is in the law of the Lord and that he is taking a part in the administration of justice in a higher and eternal jurisdiction.
     "RESOLVED, That the Joint Council of the Board of Directors of the General Church of the New Jerusalem and of the Council of the Clergy of the General Church of the New Jerusalem hereby adopts the foregoing minute on this twenty-ninth day of January, 1955; and be it
     "FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of the foregoing minute and of this resolution be sent to the members of the family of Alexander Pitcairn Lindsay, with our sympathy and affection."
     25. The meeting adjourned, at 12:30 o'clock.
          HUGO LJ. ODHNER,
               Secretary.
ANNUAL REPORTS 1955

ANNUAL REPORTS Various 1955

     SECRETARY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH

     Eighty-three new members were enrolled in the General Church during the calendar year 1954. There were 43 deaths and 3 resignations. In accordance with our policy of keeping the roll as far as possible representative of active members only, 20 names were dropped. This leaves a net increase of 17, making the membership, on January 1, 1955, stand as 2793. (The separate figures for the U.S.A. are required by statistical agencies.)

Membership, Jan. 1, 1954                     2776
(U.S.A.-1611, Others-1099)
New members (Cert. 4316-4398)                83
(U.S.A.-70, Others-13)
Deaths (U.S.A.-31, Others-12)           43
Resignations (U.S.A.-3)           3
Dropped from the Roll           20
(U.S.A.-6, Others-14)
Losses                     66
Net gain in membership                     17
Membership, Jan. 1, 1955                     2793
(U.S.A.-1107, Others-1086)

182

     NEW MEMBERS

     January 1, 1954, to December 31, 1954

     A. THE UNITED STATES

     California: Palo Alto
Mrs. Edward L. (Mabel Celeste Almony) Ashley
Miss Mabel Celeste Ashley

     Florida: Jacksonville
Mr. Donald Kenneth Rogers
Mrs. Donald K. (Mary Ann Whitson) Rogers

     Illinois: Chicago
Mrs. Eugene Joseph (Gladys Helen Brown) Betz
Mrs. John Peter (Margaret Martha Klimas) Ewald
Mr. William Carter Hugo
Mrs. William C. (Mary Loretta Collins) Hugo

     Illinois: Glenview
Mrs. Donald Edward (Thomasine Rowntree) Alan
Mr. John Edward Barry
Mrs. Horace Harvey (Beverley Blackman) Brewer
Mrs. Kenneth Ferry (Sharon Acton) Holmes

     Louisiana: Baton Rouge
Mr. Henry Bernard Bruser, Jr.

     Maryland: Baltimore
Mrs. John Henry (Sara Jean Alder) Needer

     Maryland: Hyattsville
Mr. James Stuart Boatman
Miss Viola Ann Boatman
Miss Carol Louise Smith

     Maryland: Laurel
Miss Marcia Trimble
Miss Beatrice Trimble

     Massachusetts: Ipswich
Mr. Frank William Edmondson

     Massachusetts: Sharon
Miss Barbara Jane Simons

     Michigan: Ann Arbor
Mr. Owen Rayner Birchman
Mrs. Owen R. (Madeline Ruth Mitchell) Birchman

     Michigan: Ferndale
Mr. Bruce Edward Elder
Mrs. Bruce E. (Suzanne Marie Norton) Elder

     New York: Round Lake
Mr. Homer Stanley Needle

     Ohio: Akron
Miss Julie Anne de Maine

     Pennsylvania: Bryn Athyn district
Mr. Leon Joseph Arriumourt
Mr. Edward Kessel Asplundh Mr. Kurt Horigan Asplundh
Mr. Paul Scott Asplundh
Mrs. Paul S. (Mary Lee Martin) Asplundh
Mrs. Philip Samuel (Angela Mary Fraser) Carpenter
Mr. Randolph Damon Childs
Mr. Robert Hudson Pendleton Cole
Mr. Douglas James Cooper
Miss Beatrice Beryl Cranch
Mr. Raymond Albert Elmont
Miss Anne Helen Funk
Mr. Bryce Sherman Genzlinger
Mrs. Bryce S. (Doris Jean Parris) Genzlinger
Mrs. Eleanore Widenmayer Henry
Miss Miriam Yvonne Lyman
Mr. Robert Donald Merrell
Mr. Hugo Valdemar Odhner
Mr. Julien Hughes Odhner
Miss Johanna Paul
Mr. Aldwin Carter Smith
Mr. Elmer Giles Stoler
Mrs. Elmer Giles (Daisy Grace Koons) Stoler
Mr. Gerald Dirk van Zyverden
Miss Jane Robinson van Zyverden
Mr. William Ivan Wilson
Mrs. William I. (Marion Katherine Stuhlman) Wilson

183

Mr. Henry Frederick Zimmer, Jr.
Mrs. Henry F. (Mary Constance Herwick) Zimmer, Jr.

     Pennsylvania: Doylestown
Miss Martha Stewart Lindsay

     Pennsylvania: Philadelphia
Mrs. Frederick Dawes (Rae Dooley Vaughan) Cranch
Mr. Charles Alan Echols
Mrs. Charles Alan (Emily Louise Soderberg) Echols
Mr. George Warren Mastin

     Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh
Miss Anne Gilbert Pendleton
Mr. Barry Blair Smith
Mr. Robert Sterling Stein

     Pennsylvania: Sarver
Miss Nadine Brown

     Texas: Dallas
Miss Nancy Lee Schoenberger

     Texas: Port Forth
Miss Edith Marcella Williamson

     Washington: Seattle
Mr. Ewing Clark Pershall

     Washington: Sequim
Mrs. Fred Breen (Dorothy Fine) Spracklin

     Washington, D. C.
Mrs. Marvin J. (Louise Billings) Walker

     B. CANADA

     Alberta: Edmonton
Mrs. John Everett (Hazel Georgina Lyons) Raymond

     British Columbia: Dawson Creek
Mrs. Ralph Earl G. (Marie Jeannine Richard) Brown

     Ontario: Ayr
Miss Nancy Kuhl

     Ontario: Kitchener
Miss Margarite Ann Kuhl

     Ontario: Riverside
Mrs. Philip Emest (Elizabeth Phipps) Bellinger

     C. GREAT BRITAIN

     Colchester
Miss Ruth Kathleen Motum

     London
Miss Joan Hope Adams
Mr. Frank Fairlie Coulson

     North Wales: Rhyl
Mr. Norman Wild
Mrs. Norman (Eva Thorpe) Wild

     D. SWEDEN

     Roslags Nasby
Miss Mary Sandstrom

     E. AFRICA

     Natal: Greytown
Mrs. Clive Stanley (Celia Aimee Jean Casalis) Parker

     F. AUSTRALIA

     New South Wales: Hurstville
Mrs. Elwyn John (Beryl Dawn Stephenson) Laidley

     DEATHS

     Reported during 1954

Ball, Mr. Samuel, London, England, Feb. 8, 1954
Barbour-Blair, Mrs. Mary (Dana), Glenview, Ill., Apr. 25, 1954
Bellinger, Miss Celia Centennia, Norristown, Pa., Sept. 5, 1954
Berninger, Mrs. Clara (Eigenbrodt), Tucson, Ariz., Dec. 17, 1954
Birchal, Miss Lucy, London, England, Nov. 22, 1953
Blanchard, Mrs. Elaine (Rolf), North Mankato, Minn., July 26, 1954
Boericke, Mrs. Edward E. (Grace Robertson Burt), Fox Chase, Pa., Sept. 13, 1954
Bundsen, Mr. Adolf Erick, Pale Alto, Cal., May 3, 1954

184

Burnett, Mr. Dewey Ervin, Erie, Pa., Apr. 2, 1954
Campbell, Mrs. Elizabeth (Harris), Toronto, Ont., Apr. 2, 1954
Cole, Mr. Charles Kenneth, Glenview, Iii., Feb. 23, 1954
Cozby, Mr. Leighton Wilson, Columbia, S. C., May 11, 1954
Cronlund, Rev. Emil Robert, Abington, Pa., Jan. 21, 1954
Dean, Mr. Harry, Banger, Wales, Mar. 4, 1954
De Maine, Mrs. Robert Edw. Lee (Gwendolyn Cooper), Abington, Pa., Jan. 10, 1954
Dicks, Mr. Henry George, of Hindhead, Surrey, England, Jan. 10, 1954
Gladish, Mr. Theodore, Rockford, Ill., Sept. 6, 1954
Gowanlock, Mr. Andrew John, of Watertown, N. Y., report incomplete
Hansen, Mr. Emil, Spokane, Wash., Jan. 2, 1954
Heath, Mrs. Maud (Carter), Bryn Athyn, Pa., July 26, 1954
Holland, Miss Eunice, Pwyllheli, North Wales, Apr. 21, 1954
Homiller, Mrs. Stella May (Zeppenfeldt), Tafton, Pa., July 28, 1954
Hosford, Mrs. Leona Serena (Wagar), Cleveland, O., Mar. 22, 1954
Iungerich, Miss Helene de Lesseps, Philadelphia, Pa., Mar. 12, 1954
Kobberoe, Mr. Hans Peter, Spokane, Wash., Dec. 3, 1953
Lewin, Mrs. Samuel Robert (Edith Lucy Waller), Bath, England, Mar. 13, 1952
Lindrooth, Mr. Harold Alvin, Aurora, Ill., Dec. 24, 1954
Lindsay, Mr. Alexander Pitcairn, Pittsburgh, Pa., July 22, 1954
Lucas, Mr. Louis Jules, Seine, France, Mar. 11, 1954
Moorhead, Mrs. Donald T. (Pearl Cooper), Abington, Pa., Mar. 9, 1954
Norris, Mr. Randolph Carlysle, Youngstown, O., Sept. 13, 1954
Norris, Mrs. W. C. (Olive Cecilia Renkenberger), Youngstown, O., >Mar. 6, 1954
Posey, Mrs. Euphrosyne (Cain), Abington, Pa., Sept. 27, 1954
Pryke, Mrs. F. G. Colley (Elizabeth Nora Gill), Colchester, England, May 25, 1954
Schnarr, Mr. Rudolf Robert, Kitchener, Ont., June 11, 1954
Smith, Mr. Leroy, Allentown, Pa., May 17, 1954
Somerville, Mr. Robert Bruce, Warrington, Pa., May 24, 1954
Starkey, Dr. George Goddard, Glenview, Ill., July 5, 1954
Sullivan, Miss Rebecca Elizabeth, Lancaster, Pa., May 6, 1954
Thompson, Mr. George Knight, New Orleans, La., Nov. 1, 1952
Von Moschzisker, Mrs. Anna Vogdes (Macbeth), Philadelphia, Pa., Nov, 21, 1954
Waters, Mrs. Edward J. (Mary Ann Petronella Posthuma), Shenfield, England, May 13, 1954
Waters, Mr. James Elphick, Colchester, England, Mar. 16, 1954

RESIGNATIONS

Crouse, Mr. John Albert, Philadelphia, Pa.
Crouse, Mrs. J. A. (Jean L. Webster), Philadelphia, Pa.
Shea, Mrs. Katherine (Fitz), Philadelphia, Pa.

DROPPED FROM THE ROLL

Asten, Mrs. Margaret Ellen (Ball), Schomberg, Ont.
Bellinger, Mrs. Cyril E. (Rita Hicks), Toronto, Ont.
Carlisle, Mr. John W., Fort Worth, Texas
Carter, Mrs. Earl W. (Beryl Louise Andrews), Toronto, Ont.
Dickin, Mr. William John, Kitchener, Ont.
Ehly, Mr. William J., Willernie, Minn.
Fountain, Thomas Henry, Toronto, Ont.

185

Kirkwood, Mrs. Jean (Campbell), Durban, Natal
McColl, Miss Beatrice Vida, Toronto, Ont.
McGlennon, Mr. Frank Roy, Toronto, Ont.
McGlennon, Mrs. F. C. (Alice Schweitzer), Toronto, Ont.
Penhale, Miss Violet Lillian, England
Pompe, Mrs. Francis T. (Alice Mary Harris), Toronto, Ont.
Pratt, Mr. Donald E., North Fulton, N. Y.
Pratt, Mrs. D. E., North Fulton, N. Y.
Schierholtz, Dr. Bertha T. (Pfaff), Toronto, Ont.
Schierholtz, Dr. Lorne, Toronto, Ont.
Schryer, Mr. Walter Herbert, Philadelphia, Pa.
Smith, Mrs. E. J. (Mary Schweitzer), Toronto, Ont.
Wedel, Mrs. Frank A., Glenview, Ill.

     MISSION IN SOUTH AFRICA

     The figures for the South African Mission of the General Church are not included in the above report. Owing to changes in personnel, no statistical digest of the progress of the Mission has been received since that of September 30, 1951, which was published in NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1952, page 184. Now the Rev. B. David Holm, Assistant Superintendent of the Mission, reports an active membership which includes 311 adults, 94 young people above 14 years of age, and 344 children.
     Respectfully submitted,
          HUGO LJ. ODHNER,
               Secretary.

     COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY

     January 1, 1954 to January 1, 1955

     MEMBERSHIP

     Two members of the Council, the Rev. Emil Robert Cronlund and Dr. George Goddard Starkey, passed into the spiritual world during 1954. As there were no inaugurations into the priesthood, the total membership of the Council decreased from thirty-eight to thirty-six.
     With two ordinations into the pastoral degree, this total includes three priests of the episcopal degree, thirty of the pastoral degree, and three of the ministerial degree. Although some of them assist with the uses of the Church in varying degree, nine members of the Council are retired or engaged in secular work; and the active membership is, as last year, twenty-seven.
     There are also four Authorized Candidates, three in the Academy of the New Church Theological School and one in Brazil; one priest of the pastoral degree in the British Guiana Mission; and nine priests of the pastoral degree and two of the ministerial degree in the South African Mission-the figures for South Africa remaining unchanged. Authorized Leaders are still appointed to the Hurstville Society in Australia and The Hague Circle in the Netherlands. A list of the clergy of the General Church and its Missions appears in NEW CHURCH LIFE for December, 1954, pp. 604-607.

     STATISTICS

     Statistics concerning the SACRAMENTS AND RITES of the Church administered during 1954, compiled from 30 reports received up to February 22nd, 1955, together with the final though still incomplete figures for 1953, are as follows:

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                                   1954      1953
Baptisms (Children, 156; Adults, 31)      187      177 (+10)
Holy Supper: Administrations                164      185 (-21)
Communicants                          4345      4847 (-502)
Confessions of Faith                     30      37 (-1)
Betrothals                          19      26 (-1)
Marriages                               30      33 (-3)
Funeral or Memorial Services           41      39 (+ 2)
Ordinations                          2      3 (-1)
Dedications: Churches                     0      0
Homes                               9      11(-2)

     The above figures do not include administration of Sacraments and Rites in the South African Mission. It is probable that the decreases shown are apparent rather than real, and that they are due to the incomplete nature of the returns made. Although the proportion of adult Baptisms is not as great this year, it is worthy of mention that it accounts for 16% of the total reported.

     REPORTS OF THE MEMBERS OF THE CLERGY

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

     BISHOP OF THE GENERAL CHURCH

     ORDINATIONS: On June 19, 1954, the Rev. Geoffrey Stafford Childs, Jr., and the Rev. Dandridge Pendleton were ordained into the second degree of the Priesthood.

     PASTORAL CHANGES: On March 15, 1954, the Rev: Norman H. Reuter accepted appointment as Visiting Pastor to the Montreal Circle, succeeding in that capacity the Rev. A. Wynne Acton, who had been called to the society in Durban, South Africa.
     On September 11, 1954, the Rev. Dandridge Pendleton accepted a unanimous call to become Pastor of both the Baltimore and the Washington Societies.
     The Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs, Jr., who had ministered to the Advent Church of Philadelphia for the past two years by episcopal appointment, became the Pastor of that society on September 23, 1954, in response to the unanimous invitation of its members.

     NEW SOCIETIES AND CIRCLES: On April 25, 1954, the Detroit Circle was recognized as a society of the General Church; and on September 11, 1954, a similar recognition was accorded to the circles in Baltimore, Md., and Washington, D. C.
     On October 8, 1954, the South Ohio Group was recognized as a circle of the General Church, under the ministrations of the Rev. Louis B. King as Visiting Pastor.

     EPISCOPAL VISITS: I visited the Advent Church in Philadelphia, Pa., on March 7, and again on September 23. In Laurel, Md., I conducted a service and presided at a joint meeting of the Baltimore and Washington Circles, April 3-4; and I visited the Detroit Circle, April 23-25. Between July 6th and August 7th I visited the following places, spending from several days to a week in each place: Titusville, Pa., Glenview, Ill., St. Louis, Mo., Fort Worth, Texas, Douglas and Tucson, Ariz., Glendale and Ontario, Calif., and Milwaukie, Ore.

187

     ASSEMBLIES: I presided at the Twentieth General Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, which was held in Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 16-20.
     I also presided at the First Western District Assembly, held in Glendale, Calif., July 30-August 1.

     OTHER ACTIVITIES: During the year I presided at the meetings of the Pennsylvania and Illinois Corporations of the General Church and of the Board of Directors.

     PASTOR OF THE BRYN ATHYN CHURCH

     As Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church I have conducted services, preached four times in the cathedral, conducted eleven doctrinal classes, administered the sacraments and performed other rites.
     I also presided over the meetings of the Society, of the Board of Trustees, and of the Pastor's Council.
     I wish to make grateful acknowledgment of the assistance of those pastors who have kindly accepted the invitation to preach in the cathedral, with especial appreciation for the services of the Rev. Karl R. Alden, who has continued his series of classes designed to introduce newcomers into a knowledge of the Heavenly Doctrine.
     The Rev. Kenneth O. Stroh has continued to serve the Society as an assistant in the pastoral office by episcopal appointment; and during the year he has undertaken additional responsibilities in connection with the children's services, the young people's classes, the supervision of the Chancel Guild and the Ushers Organization, besides some teaching in the elementary school and conducting a series of doctrinal classes.

     PRESIDENT OF THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH

     As President of the Academy I presided at the meetings of the Corporation, the Board of Directors, the General Faculty, the President's Council, and the Faculty of the Theological School. In addition, throughout the year I taught a course in education in the Senior College, and during the first semester of 1954-1955 T taught two courses in the Theological School.
     The Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton, Assistant Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem (June to December 31) and Executive Vice President of the Academy of the New Church, reports that in addition to his regular duties he visited and conducted services in Baltimore, Md., and in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pa.
     Rev. A. Wynne Acton served as Pastor of the Durban Society and Superintendent of the South African Mission during the second half of the year. While awaiting in Bryn Athyn permission to enter South Africa he preached and/or held classes at the following places: Bryn Athyn, Detroit, Glenview, Northern New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D. C.
     Rev. Elmo C. Acton continued to serve as Pastor of the Immanuel Church of the New Jerusalem, Glenview, Illinois, and as Headmaster of the Immanuel Church School.
     Rev. Karl R. Alden, a teacher in the Academy Schools, preached once in Bryn Athyn, Cleveland, and Washington, and twice in Baltimore, in addition to preaching ten times at Wallenpaupack during the summer.

188

He again held classes for beginners twice a month.
     Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom, Visiting Pastor of Den Nye Kirkes Menighet in Oslo, Norway, visited Oslo three times, holding services and doctrinal classes in private homes. In Stockholm he had charge of the Book Room and of the magazine NOVA ECCLESIA, and preached once.
     Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen reports that he has been engaged as Pastor of the Pittsburgh Society and Headmaster of the Pittsburgh New Church School. He mentions Valuable assistance given by Candidate Frederick L. Schnarr last summer, and gratefully acknowledges the services of those priests who preached during the year.
     Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs, Jr., was engaged as Pastor of the Advent Society in Philadelphia and Visiting Pastor of the New York and New Jersey Circles. He mentions that the New Jersey Circle now receives 16 visits a year instead of 9 as before, the increase being due to a mid-month Friday evening doctrinal class.
     Rev. Harold C. Cranch served as Pastor of the Glendale Circle in California and Visiting Pastor to the Western States. He reports that the work in the Western District is progressing, and that organization into a large district society becomes effective on April 1st.
     Rev. Charles E. Doering is retired, but preached once in Bryn Athyn, Chicago, Fort Worth, and Philadelphia, and gave a doctrinal class in Fort Worth. During the first half of the year he taught two courses in the Academy of the New Church College.
     Rev. Victor J. Gladish, in secular work, preached twice in Glenview and twice at the Sharon Church in Chicago. Arrangements have been made for him to conduct some informal classes in Glenview for new members of the congregation.
     Rev. Frederick E. Gyllenhaal, in addition to his duties as Director of the General Church Religion Lessons Committee, preached three times in Bryn Athyn, twice in Philadelphia, and once each in Baltimore and Washington, D. C.
     Rev. Henry Heinrichs, engaged in secular work, preached three times in Kitchener and once in Toronto.
     Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Secretary of the Council of the Clergy, Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE, Chairman and Editor of the General Church Sound Recording Committee, and a Professor of Theology in the Academy of the New Church, preached three times in Bryn Athyn, twice in Baltimore and in Philadelphia, once in New York and once in Washington, D. C., giving doctrinal classes also in some of these places and in Pittsburgh. In the Academy, he taught two courses in the Theological School and two in the College.
     Rev. Louis B. King reports that he has been engaged as Pastor of the Sharon Church, Chicago, and Visiting Pastor to the South Ohio Circle.
     Rev. Joao de Mendonca Lima has been engaged as Pastor of the Sociedade da Nova Jerusalem no Brasil, in Rio de Janeiro.
     Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, Secretary of the General Church, Assistant Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church, Professor of Theology in the Academy of the New Church and Dean of its Theological School, preached 14 times in Bryn Athyn and gave 8 general doctrinal classes.

189

Elsewhere he preached three times and gave one doctrinal class. In the Academy, he taught two courses in the Theological School, and in the College one course in Religion and one in Philosophy.
     Rev. Ormond de Charms Odhner reports that he has been engaged as Assistant Pastor of the Immanuel Church in Glenview; and as Visiting Pastor of the Circles in Fort Worth, Texas, Madison, Wis., Rockford, Ill., St. Paul, Minn., and of Groups in the Chicago district and the South-Central United States. In addition to his work in the Immanuel Church and its school he spent 111 days on the road, traveled approximately 31,089 miles, and brought the services of the church to 151 people-96 adults and 55 children.
     Rev. Dandridge Pendleton, in addition to his regular duties as Pastor of the Washington and Baltimore Societies and Visiting Pastor to the Southeastern United States, preached twice in Bryn Athyn and once in Pittsburgh.
     Rev. Martin Pryke served as Pastor of the Olivet Church in Toronto, and as Headmaster of its school.
     Rev. Norman H. Reuter was engaged as Pastor of the Carmel Church, Kitchener, and Headmaster of the Carmel Church School, and served also as Visiting Pastor of the Montreal Circle.
     Rev. Morley D. Rich, in addition to his duties as Pastor of Michael Church, London, served as Acting Chairman of the British Academy, as Chairman of the 1956 General Assembly Committee, as President of the New Church Club, and as a member of the Advisory and Revision Board of the Swedenborg Society. In addition, he preached in Bryn Athyn and in Colchester, addressed the Swedenborg Society, and acted as Secretary of the 1954 British Assembly.
     Rev. Norbert H. Rogers was engaged as Pastor of the Detroit Society and Visiting Pastor to the North Ohio Circle. He notes that for the first time in Detroit, public worship was held on every Sunday in the year, and refers to various projects in which the Society is engaged.
     Rev. Frank S. Rose, Visiting Pastor to the isolated in Great Britain, Holland, and Belgium, and Visiting Pastor to the Circles at Paris and The Hague, reports that in Great Britain, 108 classes were given in 22 places to a total of 443 persons; the same group having 40 services with a total attendance of 299. Two visits to continental Europe involved 4 services, 5 classes, and 4 missionary classes in Holland; 2 services and classes in Paris; 2 informal classes in Brussels; one visit to Vienna; and one to Frankfurt, where a service and a class were held. In addition, he preached 4 times in Colchester, 9 times in London, and once in Philadelphia.
     Rev. David R. Simons served as Principal of the Bryn Athyn Church Elementary School and as an Assistant Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church and taught one course in the Academy of the New Church College. In Bryn Athyn he preached 8 times; and he also preached once in Baltimore, Detroit, Kitchener, Sharon, Mass., and Washington, and twice in Toronto.
     Rev. Kenneth O. Stroh reports that he was employed by the Bryn Athyn Church.
     Rev. William Whitehead was engaged as Head of the History Department, and as Professor of History and Political Science, in the Academy of the New Church. He preached once in Bryn Athyn.

190

     Rev. Raymond G. Cranch, in secular work, continued to serve as Visiting Minister to the Erie Circle, preaching there three times and giving three doctrinal classes and a children's Christmas talk. He also preached once in Pittsburgh.
     Rev. Roy Franson was engaged throughout the year as Minister to the Peace River Block District Group, in the Canadian Northwest.
     Rev. B. David Holm served as Acting Superintendent of the General Church Mission in South Africa and took charge of the work in the Durban Society until the end of June, when, on the arrival of the Rev. A. Wynne Acton, he resumed the duties of assistant in both fields.
     Respectfully submitted,
          W. CAIRNS HENDERSON,
               Secretary.

     GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM

     (A Pennsylvania Corporation)

     and THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM

     (An Illinois Corporation)

     REPORT OF THE SECRETARY FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1954

     MEMBERSHIP

     During the year 1954, the number of persons comprising the membership of both Corporations increased by 10 from 248 to 258 in accordance with the following tabulation:
                              Date of      Net           Date of
Members of                    12/31/53      Change      12/31/51
Illinois Corporation only           21      Deduct 10      11
Both Corporations                227      Add 20      247
Total persons                    215      Add 10      258
Total Members of
Pennsylvania Corporation      227      Add 20      247
Illinois Corporation                248      Add 10      258

     The several Net Changes consisted of:

     8 New Members of Pennsylvania Corporation, previously members of Illinois Corporation only:
Brown, Charles S.                    Hicks, Curtis K.
Fuller, D. Marshall                Motum, Norman H.
Gill, Alan                     Schoenberger, Homer
Heinrichs, Henry                    Smith, W. Allen

191

     16 New Members of both Corporations:

Caldwell, Neil V.                    Kuhn, Raymond T.
Farrington, H. Winfred               Latta, Leigh C., Jr.
Fountain, Thomas J.                Lehne, Stanford G.
Frazier, John W.                    Leeper, Robert G.
Hamm, William                         McQueen, Daniel B.
Holmes, Harvey J.                Smith, Arnold M.
Holmes, Kenneth P.                Stevens, Marvin V.
Johns, Hyland R., Jr.                Synnestvedt, Sigfried T.

     1 Death of member of Illinois Corporation only:
Somerville, Robert B.

     4 Deaths of members of both Corporations:
Cronlund, Emil R.                Lindsay, Alexander P.
Lindrooth, Harold A.                Starkey, George G.

     1 Resignation of member of Illinois Corporation only:
Stroh, Emil F.

     DIRECTORS

     Each of the two Corporations has the same thirty Directors, ten of whom are elected each year for terms of three years. Therefore, at the 1954 annual Corporation meetings, ten Directors were elected for terms expiring in 1957 and, as a result, the present Directors, and the year in which the term of each expires, are as follows:
1955 Acton, Daric E.      1957 Childs, Geoffrey S.      1955 Loven, Tore E.
1956 Afton, Kesniel C.      1955 Childs, Randolph W.      1955 Pendleton, Philip C.
1957 Anderson, Reginald S.      1956 Cockerell, Gordon D.      1956 Pendleton, Willard D.
1951 Asplundh, Carl Hj.      1956 Davis, Edward H.      1956 Pitcairn, Harold F.
1955 Asplundh, Edwin T.      1956 De Charms, George      1956 Pitcairn Raymond
1955 Asplundh, Lester      1957 Doering, George C.      1956 Pryke, F. G. Colley
1957 Barnitz, Robert G.      1955 Glenn, Theodore N.      1957 Reuter, Warren A.
1955 Blackman, Geoffrey E.      1956 Hyatt, Hubert      1957 Smith, Gilbert M.
1956 Bostock, Edward C.      1955 Kuhl, John E.      1957 Synnestvedt, Arthur
1957 Brown, Robert M.      1957 Lee, Sydney E.      1955 Synnestvedt, Norman P.

     The Honorary Directors are Marlin W. Heilman and Charles G. Merrell. Alexander P. Lindsay, who died July 22, 1954, also had been an Honorary Director.

     OFFICERS

     Each of the two Corporations has the same four officers, each of whom is elected yearly for a term of one year. Those elected, at the Board Meetings of June 17, 1954, were:

President De Charms, George
Vice-President Pendleton, Willard D.
Secretary Hyatt, Hubert
Treasurer Gyllenhaal, Leonard E.

     CORPORATION MEETINGS

     The 1954 Annual Meetings of both Corporations were held at Bryn Athyn on June 17, these being the only meetings of the Corporations held during the year.

192

The President, Bishop De Charms, presided and the meetings were attended by 101 persons, each a member of both Corporations.
Reports were received from the Secretary and from the Committees on: Audit of Securities; Nomination of Directors; and Salaries.

     BOARD MEETINGS

     Five meetings of the Boards of Directors of both Corporations were held 1954. The maximum attendance of Directors was 21, the minimum 10 and the average 17.4. The President, Bishop De Charms, presided at, and Treasurer Gyllenhaal attended, all meetings.
     During 1954, the Board has considered and taken action with regard to a wide variety of matters in connection with the affairs of the Church. The results, for the most part, are reflected in other reports. For the rest, there, is the foregoing and the four following items.

     ASSISTANT BISHOP

     At the Board meeting held February 5, Bishop De Charms recommended that Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton be presented to the 1954 General Assembly for election as Assistant Bishop. This recommendation, having previously been accepted by the Council of the Clergy, was also accepted by the Board.

     GENERAL CHURCH USES AND THEIR SUPPORT

     At the same Board meeting, concurrence also was given to Bishop De Charms' recommendation that one of the 1954 General Assembly sessions be devoted to the consideration of General Church uses and their support.

     U.S.A. SOCIAL SECURITY COVERAGE

     At the Board meeting held May 21, action was taken with the intent that the taxation and resulting benefits provided by the U.S.A. Social Security Act be sought for all those employees of the General Church, including its Societies and other organized groups, who may become eligible therefor.

     1955 ANNUAL CORPORATION MEETINGS

     The 1955 Annual Meetings of both Corporations will be held at Bryn Athyn on Wednesday, June 15 at 8:00 p.m.
     As an addition hereto, it is also reported that, at the Board meeting held January 28, 1955, the Ministers Minimum Salary Plait was amended, effective September 1, 1955, to read as follows:
     1. The Plan shall apply only to Ministers of the General Church who are employed full time thereby and/or by one or more Societies or other Groups thereof.
     2. For an unmarried Minister aged 64 or less, who is employed in USA, the minimum salary shall be as follows:
     a. The minimum salary shall be $2,750 yearly during the first year of employment.
     b. To the said minimum yearly salary, there shall be an increment of $125 for each additional year of employment for a period of twenty years.
     3. For a married Minister aged 64 or less, who is employed in USA, the minimum salary shall be as follows:
     a. The minimum salary shall be $3,500 yearly during the first year of employment.
     b. To the said minimum yearly salary, there shall be an increment of $137.50 for each additional year of employment for a period of twenty years.

193

     4. For a Minister aged 65 or more, who is employed in USA, the minimum salary shall be as follows:
     a. The minimum salary shall be $2,250 yearly during the first year or employment.
     b. To the said minimum yearly salary, there shall be an addition of $750 if the Minister be married.
     c. To the said minimum yearly salary, there will be an increment of $100 for each additional year of employment for a period of twenty years.
     5. The minimum salary for employment in Canada shall be 80% of that for employment in USA.

     6. The minimum salary for employment elsewhere than in USA or Canada shall depend on the economic circumstances of the locality as compared with those in USA.
     7. Provided funds for the purpose are available to the General Church, the Plan shall be implemented by the General Church for each Minister whose Parishioners are financially unable themselves fully to implement the same.
     8. The Plan shall be subject to amendment and/or abrogation at any time.      Respectfully submitted,
          HUBERT HYATT,
               Secretary

     TREASURER OF THE GENERAL CHURCH

     REPORT FOR 1954

     The year just ended has been one of continued financial growth and progress for the General Church.
     Economic conditions and a gratifyingly auspicious response to the published needs of the Church increased operating income by nearly 9% to an all-time high of $99,000. While half of this increment came from improved investment income, an equal part of greater significance came from contributions.
     During 1954 regular contributions increased by $4,400 or 20% to exceed the record year of 1952. Interestingly enough, one large contribution was offset by a necessary shifting of support of several substantial donors which resulted in the overall increase being almost entirely the efforts of the so-called small contributors. Certainly this augurs well for the future.
     Last year there was much talk of the need for expansion of uses throughout the Church. While considerable ground work was done in this connection the resulting expenditures have not yet materialized.
     As a matter of fact, last year's budget was substantially the same as the previous year's and still $6,000 under that for 1952. Salary and Pension expense increased by $4,500 but was offset by an equal decline in disbursements for the Western and South African Mission and special traveling expenses. The result was a substantial 18% excess of income over expense for 1954.
     This, of course, is most encouraging, but it must be viewed in the light of what is ahead.
     Already the General Church is committed to greatly increased expenditures which could not have been wisely undertaken without the expectation of this year's improvement.
     An episcopal visit half way around the world to Australia, a business trip to South Africa, and a series of heavy moving expenses will swell next year's traveling expenses to around $18,000, more than double the amount for last year.

194

This, together with a substantial amendment to the Salary Plan and the support of additional ministerial services, will largely absorb the income gains realized in recent years.
     Several other things of interest occurred during the year. The General Fund received Bequests and Gifts to capital totaling over $11,000, and approximately $17,000 was contributed toward the need for a General Church Building.
     In the Restricted Funds category one new fund was acquired by a Bequest of $4,200 from Mrs. Ellen Ahlberg, the income of which goes to a life tenant and the Stockholm Society. Also, substantial additions were contributed to the Special Endowment Funds, which will increase future yields to operating income.
     In the Pension Fund, payments to pensioners last year reached a record $14,000, but investment income and additions to the plan exceeded this amount and the Principal of the fund was increased by $10,000. In connection with the Pension Plan and effective on January 1, 1955, the General Church and three of its societies entered the Social Security Program for employees other than ministers. It is intended that this will be integrated with the Pension Plan by a 2%, reduction of payments into the fund, and a corresponding adjustment in pension benefits.
     Very briefly that is the story for 1954. It represents a healthy step forward toward solving the basic financial problems involved in the further expansion of General Church uses.
     Respectfully submitted,
          LEONARD E. GYLLENHAAL,
               Treasurer.

     EDITOR OF "NEW CHURCH LIFE"

     In view of the report presented at the General Assembly last June, there is need now for only a factual statement. The April issue was again enlarged by 16 pages and coverage of the 20th General Assembly required a further 20 additional pages, making a total of 612 pages. This total, in order of space used, was made up as follows:

                    Pages
Articles               298
Reports               73
Sermons               64
News                     51
Editorials                42
Announcements          20
Reviews               17
Miscellaneous          16
Communications           14
Talks to Children          10
Directories           7
Total                612

     We believe these figures show that the thought, life, and activities of the General Church, and of the Church at large, have been presented in fair proportion. The number of communications increased slightly, and the larger number of pages required for reports is due to the fact that those presented to the General Assembly were published as well as the usual Annual Reports. Excluding editorials, news notes, and reports, the contents of NEW CHURCH LIFE in 1954 came from 35 contributors-25 ministerial and 10 lay, the latter including one lady.

195

It might be mentioned also that NEW CHURCH LIFE has entered its 75th year of publication, and that there were no changes in the editorial policy last year.

     CIRCULATION

     Figures as of December 31, 1954, supplied by the Circulation Secretary, show a net gain of 12 paid subscribers in 1954, increasing the total in that category from 862 to 814. Paid subscriptions have increased approximately 15% in the last five years. Total circulation is shown in the following tabulation:
                                                       1953      1954
Paid subscriptions                                    862      874
Free to our Ministers, to Public Libraries, New Church Book
Rooms, Exchanges, etc.                                    126      128
Free to Men and Women in the Services                     67      60
Total                                                  1055     1062

     Of the 874 paid subscriptions, 99 are received from Canada; 81 from England; 28 from South Africa; 7 from Sweden; and 7 from Australia. The others, 652, are paid direct to Bryn Athyn; but it should be understood that they are not all received from, or in respect to, addresses in the United States.
     Respectfully submitted,
          W. CAIRNS HENDERSON,
               Editor.

     HYMNAL REVISION COMMITTEE

     This is a one man committee, and being the man I regret to report that due to pressure of other work, lack of skilled help in my office, and lack of time to attend personally to preparing the pages for offset printing, the publishing of the authorized volume of hymns selected from the General Church Hymnal, now out of print, has not yet been done. However, I have good reason for believing that this work will be done, and the volume published, by September, 1955. My reasons for confidence that this will be so are that all the revision work of the Religion Lessons should be completed by June of this year, and that it is not contemplated that I should teach in 1955-1956 the college course on teaching the letter of the Word to the primary grades, a course that I am giving this year.
     Respectfully submitted,
          FREDERICK E. GYLLENHAAL.

     MILITARY SERVICE COMMITTEE

     A detailed report from the Military Service Committee seems unnecessary at this time. The procedure outlined and reported in New CHURCH LIFE for April, 1954, p. 196, is still being followed.
     A copy of the abovementioned report is included, and comments relative to the work of the committee will be received gratefully.
     Respectfully submitted,
          DORIS PENDLETON,
               Chairman.

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     RELIGION LESSONS COMMITTEE

     All the lessons, question papers, outline pictures, festival lessons and special lessons are produced and distributed from Bryn Athyn, except the Life of the Lord lessons, 46 in number and covering two years work, which are produced in and distributed from Glenview. The G lessons, or those for grade 6, and the H lessons, or those for grade 7, although produced in Bryn Athyn, are distributed from Detroit and Pittsburgh respectively. To these have now been added lessons for high school boys and girls. Grade 9, or first-year high school, receives the second year Life of the Lord lessons. Second, third and fourth year high school pupils receive lessons produced in Bryn Athyn and distributed from Bryn Athyn. This year there are being sent to them 31, 40, and 29 lessons respectively; but it is planned that all three years will have 40 lessons each, together with question papers. All of these lessons either have been revised, or are in process of revision. The revision is completed of the C, D, E, H and I (first year Life of the Lord) lessons, and the F and G lessons will be completed by June; also most of the A and B lessons, and probably the J (second year Life of the Loud) lessons, will be completed by June.
     The Life of the Lord lessons are produced and distributed by Miss Virginia Junge of Glenview. The revision is read and approved by the Rev. Elmo C. Acton. The lessons follow, for the most part, the Gospel of Matthew. They are divided into a two year course, 26 lessons in the first year, and 20 lessons in the second year. Handsomely printed by the offset process on only one side of a page, and profusely illustrated by selected pictures by Old Church artists, having maps and question papers, they will make a handsome book, perhaps two volumes. 500 copies of each page are run off and the plates are saved for future runs. The cost for 26 lessons has been $110.50, and the total cost will probably be $1300 or $1500. As there are 37 pupils in the junior year (grade 8), and 25 pupils in the senior year (grade 9), the present supply should last about ten years. The Glenview chapter of Theta Alpha, especially Miss Junge and Miss Maynard, and the Rev. Mr. Acton, are to be congratulated on the excellence of their work. Pools Press Inc., a New Church publishing firm in Glenview, does the printing, and Miss Dorothy Cole of that firm has donated her painstaking work in preparing the pictures for printing.
     Though there is much else to report of this work we shall limit it to stating merely that about forty volumes of the work in accopress bindings have been sold to the General Convention Societies of St. Louis and Pawnee Rock (Kansas), and many copies have been sent to New Zealand and to Nigeria, West Africa.
     Respectfully submitted,
          FREDERICK E. GYLLENHAAL,
               Director.

     SALARY COMMITTEE

     I have the honor to report that the Board of Directors of the General Church has approved a revision of the Ministerial Salary Plan effective September 1, 1955. From and after that date the minimum starting salary of a single minister in the USA will be increased from $2250 to $2750 and the minimum starting salary of a married minister in the USA will be increased from $3000 to $3500. In addition, the twenty year annual increment applicable to the case of a married minister is increased from $125 to $137.50. In all other respects the Plan is unchanged.
     Bishop De Charms has reported to the Board of Directors that many ministers have expressed their appreciation of the Boards action in initiating and expanding the Plan.

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Let me say at this time that appreciation is due not to us, but to those contributors, large and small, who have made it possible for the Board to take this action. And if I may speak on behalf of these contributors, I would say that our ministers should regard these increases as a small token of our respect and affection. We realize that without their help and guidance it would be difficult indeed for us to follow the path that leads to regeneration.
     Respectfully submitted,
          PHILIP C. PENDLETON,
               Chairman.

     SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE

     Last year the committee was able to report an increase in circulation of about 5%. We can again report a similar increase in 1954 over the figure for 1953. During 1954, 852 tapes were charged to users, an average of 71 per month, and the average contribution per tape was $1.88. This last is not a true average because contributions received to date include one made in advance for recordings to be sent to a group at Penn State through the 1954-1955 academic year. However, the true average, more nearly $1.48, represents an increase of 32% over that for 1953.
     Pending completion of a survey, the total worth of the committee in equipment and tape is placed at approximately $12,000.00. This, however, includes tape to the value of some $4,000.00, and little is known at present about the depreciation rate of tape except that it is fairly high.
     Operations for 1954 began with a cash balance of $4,339.60. Total receipts amounted to $2,831.16; this including contributions totaling $2,594.06-$1,089.06 from users, $1,505.00 in the form of special contributions. Total disbursements were $3,872.62, leaving an effective balance as of December 31, 1954, of $3,298.14. As in the past, approximately one-third of the total cost of the year's operations was met by user-contributions.
     From the technical as well as other viewpoints, the major achievement in 1954 was the recording of the Twentieth General Assembly, especially the building of the multiple copy setup which made it possible to put recordings of Assembly addresses in the mail shortly after they had been given, so that they could be heard in other centers of the church the following day. Real progress has been made, also, in establishing effective recording centers in societies other than Bryn Athyn. Users are now being asked to report the number of persons listening to each tape charged to them so that we may know how many people, as distinct from centers, are being served.
     A new catalog to replace the existing catalog and supplements is in course of preparation and will be issued early in the year.
     Respectfully submitted,
          W. CAIRNS HENDERSON,
               Chairman.

     TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE (1956 ASSEMBLY)

     The main undertaking so far has been the mailing of two questionnaires, one to all members of the General Church in the United States and one to all members in Canada, asking for one of four answers regarding plans for attending the 1956 General Assembly in London.

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The replies received show that about 102 people from the United Slates and Canada consider they will definitely go, or are likely to do so, and an additional 193 think it is "just barely possible" that they will go.
     The main need now is to keep our membership thinking about going to the Assembly in Great Britain, about how useful it is for them and for the General Church that they should go, and about how much is being done to care for their transportation and other needs. Meanwhile, the committee is investigating services and accommodations and will cooperate in supplying information and news about these arrangements to the available church publications, and it will publicize this work in whatever other ways may seem appropriate.
     Respectfully submitted,
          RALPH KLEIN,
               Chairman

     VISUAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE

     This has been a quieter year than usual for the committee. We have purchased but few new slides, and there have been fewer rentals of slides than in former years.
     We started the year with a balance in hand of $222.98, and on December 31, 1954, we had a balance of $225.64.
     We have several times in the past rented slides to Convention folks. This year, for the first time, we rented our set on the Tabernacle of Israel to a Baptist minister in New Britain, Pa., who expressed great interest in them and stated that they had been of considerable help to him in visualizing the Tabernacle.
     Our library now consists of 1780 slides.
     Respectfully submitted,
          WILLIAM R. COOPER,
               Director.
ANGELIC THOUGHT 1955

ANGELIC THOUGHT 1955

"The reason why the perception which the Lord had when in the Human, and His thought concerning what is rational in the doctrine of faith, are so much treated of in the internal sense is that it is angelic to think with distinctiveness of various things concerning the Lord's life in the
world, and how He put off the human rational and made the rational Divine from His own power. . . . To the man whose mind and heart are set upon worldly and corporeal things these things appear as unimportant, and perchance as of no advantage to him; yet to the angels, whose minds and hearts are set upon celestial and spiritual things, these same things are precious. This shows that very many things which seem unimportant to man, because they transcend his comprehension, are held in the highest estimation by the angels" (Arcana Coelestia, 2540: 2).

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TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN 1955

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN Editor 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly by

THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                         Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa,
Circulation Secretary          Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Treasurer                     Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address, and business communications should be sent to the Circulation Secretary. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.
     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 30 cents.
     Throughout the years we have been assured by certain writers in the church that Christendom, influenced secretly by the light of the new age, has long since quietly abandoned its false doctrines. Commenting on the fact that no church can be admitted to the World Council of Churches that does not acknowledge Jesus Christ as "God and Savior," a well known clergyman recently had this to say. "When Jesus is called God outright, the church is saying something the Bible rarely says. Furthermore, it can be confusing to say this. The church universal has never meant to say that Jesus is all the God there is, or that Jesus is identical with God. For God exists in three persons, as the church expresses it, and Christ is only one person. Christ is both God and man, but God is not man at all."
     The writer goes on to say that nevertheless the churches cling to the statement that "Jesus is God"-"partly because they would rather make the mistake of saying too much rather than too little about Christ, and partly because it does express their real faith." Just what that faith is he does not make clear. In Providence, there are in Christendom those of the universal church-as the Writings use the phrase-who make that "mistake"; whose faith is a simple one in the Lord as God that is not touched by theological dogma. But the fact remains that their faith is at variance with what is still the official teaching of their churches. For according to this cleric, the Lord is not identical with God, since God exists in three persons and the Lord is one person. The conflict between dogma and faith noted in the Writings still exists.

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TO KEEP IT HOLY 1955

TO KEEP IT HOLY Editor 1955

     The General Church has consistently presented the teaching that Sunday is a day of instruction in Divine things, and thus of rest from labors, a day for meditation on such matters as pertain to salvation and eternal-life, and a day for the exercise of love towards the neighbor. In accordance with that teaching it offers its weekly services of worship and instruction. But beyond that it does not go. It has drawn up neither a schedule of appropriate pursuits nor an index of prohibited activities; preferring to leave to individual conscience and understanding of the doctrine the decision as to what may properly be done on the sabbath day-though a society may decline to sponsor as part of its social program what its members are free to do as individuals if they so desire.
     More important, however, than the things we choose to do is the interior attitude with which we approach the sabbath day itself. Do we look upon it as the Lord's day! Or do we welcome it, secretly, as our day?-the day on which, freed from the cares and responsibilities and obligations of business, we may do exactly as we please and consider only our own enjoyment. If we really do the latter then, whether we know it or not, we pervert the truth that the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; and what is intended to be the Lord's day may become a day for luxuriating in mental torpor and physical idleness, and a day for the exercise of selfishness without regard to the welfare of the neighbor.
     Rest and relaxation are part of the life of charity when the purpose is that mind and body may be restored to vigor for the uses of the coming week, and when the form they take contributes to that end. Both, however, may be found in diversions. It is true for most people that while they are constrained to do certain things on the other days of the week, on Sunday they need do only what they please. And when we are moved, after the religious duties of the day have been discharged, to rise above the fatigue our modern living undoubtedly induces, and give some thought and some part of the day to what may contribute to the happiness and welfare of others, simple though it may be in form, we are on the way to that keeping of the sabbath which the Lord wills. This, indeed, is quite well understood, and we may believe that many of the forms which have risen spontaneously among us are evidences of that spirit. But the old enemy dies hard, and the real danger lies not in forms of sabbath observance, or even of non-observance, but in the inward attitudes from which those forms spring.

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UNIVERSAL CHURCH 1955

UNIVERSAL CHURCH Editor 1955

     As a body we have always opposed the idea that the organized New Church is a reform sect within a reviving Christianity which has become imbued with the Heavenly Doctrine either through permeation or by direct influence of the Writings. However, in our concern to uphold what the Writings teach about the state of the Christian world, and about the distinctive nature of the New Church, we must not lose sight of the truth that the Lord's church is universal. The Lord's kingdom on earth, the church in the widest sense, is a spiritual communion scattered throughout and gathered from the entire world whose members are known only to the Lord. It embraces all men and women of every religion who acknowledge one God, live together in charity, and look toward heaven as they understand it. This is the plain teaching of the Writings.
     But we are taught also that this worldwide communion consists of two great parts-the church specific and the church universal: the former being made up of those who have the Word and by means of it know and acknowledge the Lord; the latter of those who neither possess the Word nor know the Lord, but who worship one Divine, regard His revealed will as the law of life, and live together in simple charity as they understand the will of God to be. Both are equally the church, but between them there is an important distinction.
     Having access to the spiritual truth of the Word, and being able to know and acknowledge the Lord, the members of the church specific can enter into spiritual temptations and be regenerated while they live on earth. For those who belong to the church universal this is not possible. They will, indeed, be saved. But their minds are not infilled secretly with the spiritual truth of the Word by a process of permeation, nor are they saved by means of the religions in which they are. The basis for the Lord's presence and operation with them is a certain innocence. By this they can be withheld from interior confirmation of the falsities within their religions, and can be held to those principles of simple charity which, in the Divine Providence, are to be found in the practice of every religion-whatever its dogmas may be. Yet not even through these are they saved. Their salvation, in the spiritual world, is due to the fact that they have been kept in a state in which they can recognize, and accept joyfully, the spiritual truth of the Word when that truth is revealed to them in the life after death.
     While it is essential that we recognize the existence of the church universal, it is necessary that we should not confuse it with the church specific, for the latter has vital uses to perform to the universal church, uses which are said to be as those of the heart and lungs to the rest of the body.

202

And if we ignore the distinctions which the Writings so clearly make, ignore the distinctive uses which they imply, we jeopardize not only our own existence as bodies of the church specific but the church universal through which the Lord is present with countless men and women, to bring them eventually into His heavenly kingdom.
HARMONY 1955

HARMONY 1955

     "One afternoon the Horse noticed all the feathered inhabitants of the farmyard gathered near the barn. They remained there a good while and made considerable noise. As the Gray Goose went marching past after the meeting had broken up, the Horse asked what it all meant.
     "'We were endeavoring to establish harmony. You see, we all agree that harmony is a good thing; so to establish it we held a grand mass meeting. The most of us, when called upon to speak, were a little diffident at first, being unused to addressing such imposing audiences. We would begin by stating that we were unaccustomed to public speaking, and hoping that the honorable assembly would overlook any of our errors and shortcomings. Then we would go on and state that we did not know that we had anything to add to the views so ably presented by the preceding speaker, but that while listening to his interesting remarks a thought had struck us; and then we would plunge in. This was said so often that at last the Bantam made a motion that, to save time, each speaker's unfitness be taken for granted, and that he go on without apology. This made some of us huffy. After we were warmed up, I noticed that all who had once spoken were eager to speak again. I suppose, though, they all felt as I did.'
     "'How did you feel,' inquired the Horse.
     "'I felt that if the assembly would listen to me and do as I told them, there would be no trouble.' After saying this, the Gray Goose stood absorbed in thought until the Horse asked him how the matter ended. Then he resumed: 'What with hearing compliments and vows of cordial feeling and expressions of hearty fraternity, I got to feeling so good that I moved that the assembly adjourn to the pond and have a grand fraternal and harmonious swim. A hot debate followed my motion, and an unknown Chicken moved to amend by having us all roost together that night. Of course, we geese would not consent to roost with a set of scrawny-clawed chickens, and so we wrangled about harmony until the meeting broke up'" (Anshutz, Fables).

203

Church News 1955

Church News Various 1955

     OBITUARY

     Mr. Harold Alvin Lindrooth

     Harold Alvin Lindrooth-"Hops" to most of us-was called to the spiritual world on December 24th, 1954. He was in his 52nd year, having been born on June 20th, 1903, at Denver, Colorado.
     Harold entered the Academy schools in 1921 as a senior, and was in college "there for the two following years. In 1927 he graduated from the University of Colorado with a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering.
     Later in that year he entered the employ of the Public Service Company of Illinois, and recently he was promoted to the important executive position of Superintendent of Transportation for the Northern Illinois Gas and Electric Company.
     In 1928 he married Norma Staddon, who had been a fellow student in school. They have one son, Dan, who in turn attended the Academy schools and is now, after his service in the army, a student at the University of Illinois. Throughout his life "Hops" was faithful to the doctrines of the New Church, a valuable member of the Immanuel Church in Glenview, and a loyal son of the Academy. He will be missed, but we are assured that his work for the church will continue; for all that he did was in preparation for the greater use into which he is even now entering.
     The realization that his family shares in this knowledge in no way lessens our sympathetic affection for them in this time of temporary parting, and our hearts go out to them.
     SYDNEY E. LEE

     BRYN ATHYN, PA.

     Dedication of the New Primary Unit of the Bryn Athyn Elementary School On the morning of February 21st, the pupils of the kindergarten, first, second and third grades, their teachers, and the members of the building committee and their wives, gathered in the new school building to witness its dedication by Bishop De Charms. About 125 persons were able to be seated in one of the classrooms for the service.
     After the recitation of Psalm 121:1-"Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it"-the Principal, the Rev. David R. Simons, read the account of the dedication of Solomon's temple from I Kings 8. This was followed by the reading of a portion of TCR 336, in which it is shown that the first in end is the use, while the first in time is the building or preparation for the use.
     Mr. Simons then gave a fine talk to the children in which he showed that it was really the Lord who had formed this new building, by providing all the materials in nature and the love and ability and skills in the hearts and minds of the workmen. Taking the church and the gymnasium as illustrations he showed how a building is known by its use. He then spoke of the manner in which the Lord builds those houses which are the minds of men by means of the Word and through parents and teachers, and pointed out that each of us has a part in that work and that the result will be according to our cooperation in it.
     Bishop De Charms, placing the copy of the Word in the repository, said: "This building is now dedicated to the use of New Church primary education." He then prayed that the Lord's blessing might be upon all who labored here, and that this might be another means of building His church.
     To those of us who were privileged to witness this event, the use of a separate unit for the primary grades was clearly evident in the sphere and the faces of the children. The dedication itself inspired us to go on with the building of the other units of this New Church school; and it was also another milestone on that road of distinctive New Church education, the earthly goal of which is a university wherein men may inquire into every branch of learning, in the light of revealed truth and for the sake of use.
     ARIEL C. GUNTEIER

204

     DENVER, COLORADO

     It is a long time since there has been any news from the Denver Circle. However, there has been increasing activity in our small group. The Rev. Harold C. Cranch's visits have drawn the widely scattered Coloradians together whenever they were made. The Ted Fiedlers manage a trip of 200 miles each way to be in Denver when the pastor is here. For the rest of us the distances to be traveled are comparatively short. The Bill Griffins come in from Boulder, the Alan Longstaffs from Littleton, a suburb of Denver; and then there are the Denverites-Mr. and Mrs. Albert Anderson, Mr. and Mrs. O. A. Bergstrom, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Dice, Mr. and Mrs. Ben Drinkwater, and Mr. and Mrs. Bob Norton.
     Since Mr. Cranch's visit last September we have been holding a class in one of the homes on the second Friday in each month. Our chairman, Mr. Longstaff, reads a sermon or class, and we all enjoy a sociable evening together. Officers were chosen at our first meeting; and in addition to Mr. Longstaff, Mr. Anderson was elected secretary and Mr. Bergstrom treasurer.
     The weekend of February 11th was a great occasion for all of us. Mr. Cranch made one of his visits here, and in our meeting on Friday evening we learned that Denver is to become headquarters for his assistant, who is to take over some of Mr. Cranch's many duties, namely, those in the Northwest Territory. This has quite an historic ring about it, and we believe the beginning of the new system will be an historic occasion! The Northwest Territory includes Nevada, Oregon, Washington, South Dakota, and Colorado, and we estimate that it contains 185 potential members.
     On Saturday night slides of the Tabernacle were shown, and on Sunday morning Mr. Cranch preached from Matthew 8, on how the Lord helps us through temptations. We shall miss having Mr. Cranch with us four times a year, but we are looking forward with great pleasure to the arrival of his new assistant.
     MARY W. GRIFFIN

     PITTSBURGH, PA.

     Our church was filled at Thanksgiving time when we all joined together to give thanks to the Lord for His many blessings. The children marched in procession, singing and each bearing a gift of fruit to the Lord. Our pastor gave a talk to the children and adults which we all greatly enjoyed; his point was that to be truly thankful we should give something in return-not just words of thanks, but deeds
     During the Thanksgiving weekend our social committee put on a wonderful Harvest Dance, complete with square dancing, regular dancing, and entertainment. This was held in the gaily decorated auditorium, the music being sup plied by records. There was a good attendance, and we were particularly happy to have our students home from Bryn Athyn and other colleges to join in the fun. The social committee this year includes Mr. and Mrs. Ed Lee and Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Lindsay.
     The tone for Christmas was set at a Friday class in which the pastor spoke of the spirit of giving as the spirit of Christmas. He told us that the Lord came on earth to give us the most precious of all gifts, the opportunity to go to heaven, that it is His spirit we feel, and that this is what makes our Christmas. On December 19th, Mrs. A.P. Lindsay was hostess to the Society at a Christmas sing. She has a large and beautiful house in which we feel very much at home, for it was in the home of Mr. and Mrs. A. P. Lindsay that services were held for a year while our present church building was being constructed.
     Our tableaux service was held on the afternoon before Christmas, and children and adults, more than 160 strong, took part. Three tableaux were shown while a quartet sang in the background. These were: "No Room at the Inn," the angel appearing to the shepherds, and the beautiful nativity scene. The pastor introduces each tableau by telling the children what it will portray and touching on the spiritual sense that lies within. After the service the Word is closed and the children, down to the smallest infant, receive their gifts. Mr. and Mrs. Bert Nemitz and Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Horigan were responsible for the tableaux, while Mrs. Gareth Acton and Miss Miriam Smith made the 76 gifts for the children.
     During the Christmas vacation this Society is always ready for a party, for our students are here and the spirit is here. It was decided to have a New Year's Dance-the first for a number of years. The auditorium was transformed into a Christmas scene, and all went very well.

205

Our thanks go to the committee of six who did a fine job, for we were still singing long after midnight.
     We did not have our Swedenborg's birthday banquet until February 5th, with the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner as our guest speaker it was certainly a fine one. Mr. Gilbert Smith acted as toastmaster and got the evening off to a fine start with songs and toasts and a humorous skit-a sort of "This is Your Life" about Dr. Odhner. At times he had to call on our pastor, the Rev. Bjorn Boyesen, for help in pronouncing Swedish names. In a masterly address, Dr. Odhner told us how Swedenborg was gradually introduced into the spiritual world, and in the light of heaven was instructed by the Lord by means of experiences and through angels; after which he wrote and published successively the books of the Heavenly Doctrine. This was the miracle of the ages. We thank Dr. Odhner for this address, and also for preaching a fine sermon next day.
     The children's banquet, given by Theta Alpha, was held on Monday, February 9th. Invitations were sent to all our children, including the 20 who live at such distances that they are not able to attend our school. Nine of these children were able to come, and next year we hope to have more of them. This was a real banquet with speeches, entertainment, decorations, and a fine meal. The youngest children, dressed in Swedish costumes, gave a Swedish dance. The middle group recited original poems about Swedenborg, and the pupils in the 8th grade each gave a paper. Poems and papers showed original thought as well as real knowledge about Swedenborg and the great mission he had to perform.
     At a recent Friday Supper the pastor announced that only two teachers have been engaged for next year. For six years we have worked hard to maintain three teachers, but for financial reasons one must be dropped. This news came as a blow to the Society; but it has awakened us to the realization that we need more children in our day school and that we also need more money, and Pittsburgh has always worked hardest when challenged. At a subsequent meeting of the Sons on education, and at other gatherings, keen interest was shown in these problems, and a determination was expressed to try to solve them.
     We have had two baptisms, and one engagement has been announced, since our last report.
     LUCILE H. BLAIR

     SWEDENBORG SOCIETY (INC.)

     The Council of the Swedenborg Society recently heard from Dr. Freda Griffith, the Honorary Secretary, that after the summer of 1955 she would not be able to undertake the full secretarial duties of the Society as she and her husband would be leaving the London area for the Midlands.
     The Council understood that Dr. Griffith was willing to continue some part of the work, and it has therefore appointed Dr. Griffith and Mr. A. A. Drummond, M.Sc., as Joint Honorary Secretaries, the appointment to take effect from April 1st, 1955.
     The Council feels that the Society call count itself exceedingly fortunate in being able to retain Dr. Griffith's services in some measure, and in Mr. Drummond's willingness to give further services to the Society of which he is at present President for the second time. The Council feels that the joint appointment is a happy solution to the problem of filling a post which could probably absorb the activities of a full-time officer.
     [We are happy to insert the above announcement at the request of Mr. Dan Chapman, Chairman of the Council of the Swedenborg Society. EDITOR.]

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Convention. Urbana Junior College cooperated recently with the churches of Champaign County, Ohio, in offering a School of Religion extending through six evening sessions. The first period each evening, Understanding our Children, was under the charge of local clergyman; the second period, An Overview of the Bible, consisted of lectures by the Rev. Dr. Elmer E. Flack, Dean of Hamma Divinity School.
     In a recent issue of the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER a contributor states: "Such a comparison [between estimated regular readers of the Writings and the total membership of Convention] inevitably leads to speculations as to whether or not Swedenborg's original idea, namely, that the New Doctrines, would permeate and modify all the old-established denominations, as they have undoubtedly done, was not correct; and whether the function of a separate New Church sect has not been fulfilled and now the New Church, as a sect, should not give up the struggle for a separate existence."
     General Conference. With a view to advancing the educational standards of the ministry, the Council of the New Church College has announced that it will ask the next General Conference to alter the rules governing admission to the College.

206

Students are now entered at various colleges of the University of London, and those who wish to read for a degree are granted a fifth year in residence. It is now proposed that young men wishing to enter the ministry should first obtain their degree and then enter the New Church College, either to receive their theological training in three years or to read for a higher degree while obtaining that training. In the latter instance, the total period of studentship would be four years.

     MINISTERIAL CHANGES

     The Rev. Erik Sandstrom, pastor of the Stockholm Society in Sweden, has accepted a call to the pastorate or Michael Church, London, England, which was recently vacated by the Rev. Morley D. Rich. The call was extended at a meeting held on March 13th, and Mr. Sandstrom expects to go to England some time in June.

     PITTSBURGH, PA.

     We are advised that the decision of the Pittsburgh Society, reported on page 205, to employ only two teachers next year has been reversed; the Society will continue to engage three teachers. [EDITOR]
ACADEMY PERSONNEL CHANGES 1955

ACADEMY PERSONNEL CHANGES 1955

     Three new instructors will join the teaching staff of the Academy of the New Church in September.
     Miss Margit K. Boyesen has been engaged as an Instructor in Science and French.
     Mr. Lawson A. Pendleton has been engaged as an Instructor in History.
     Mr. Kenneth Rose has been engaged as an Instructor in Languages, Mathematics, and Mechanical Drawing.
     E. BRUCE GLENN,
          Editor, The JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.
SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1955

SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1955

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GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS 1955

GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS HUBERT HYATT 1955

     Announcements.
     The 1955 Annual Corporation Meetings the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in the Benade Hall Auditorium, Bryn Athyn, Pa., on Wednesday, June 15th, 1955, at 8:00 p.m.,
D.S.T. Notices will be mailed.
     HUBERT HYATT,
          Secretary.
TWENTY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1955

TWENTY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1955

     Arrangements for the Twenty-first General Assembly, appointed by the Bishop to be held in England next year, are gradually taking shape. The period proposed is from the evening of Tuesday, July 24th, through Sunday, July 29th, 1956, and the selected venue is the Victoria Halls in London, where the last General Assembly held in London took place in 1928."
     Some hundred friends from the U. S. A. and Canada have already signified their intention to be present, and 175 others have said that they consider it likely they will make the trip. We in England are hoping that the Assembly will prove to be the largest international gathering of the General Church ever to be held outside the North American continent. We look forward with pleasure to welcoming a great influx of visitors from adjacent countries in Europe, and also as many as possible from South Africa and Australia as well as from America and Canada.
     For those who have not been to England before, we are sure that a visit to the city which saw the first printing of the Arcana Coelestia, which was the scene of the first meeting called to consider the promulgation of the Writings, and which is the present home of the Swedenborg Society with its worldwide tradition of service in publishing the Writings, will be a thrilling experience. Here also are to be found many other historic associations with the New Church, in addition to which there is an ever growing recognition that England can provide ample opportunity for the spending of a most satisfying vacation.
     It is estimated that the cost for meals, the opening dance and the banquet, will be about L6-0-0 or $18.00. Hotel expenses and traveling are not included in this amount. The organizing committee hopes to communicate shortly with all who have indicated their definite decision to attend, but would be glad to hear from all who have been able to reach this decision so that it can be sure it is in touch with everyone. Please write to Mr. Owen Pryke, 55a Lexden Road, Colchester, England.
     As Secretary of the Assembly Committee, the undersigned will be happy to answer any inquiries. Arrangements are now being made for hotel reservations, and early intimation of requirements will help the organizers considerably. If you are unable to write in English, we will try to answer letters in Swedish, Dutch, French, or Danish.
     PERCY DAWSON,
          Secretary of the Assembly Committee.

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RECOGNITION OF EVIL 1955

RECOGNITION OF EVIL Jr. Rev. GEOFFREY S. CHILDS 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXV          MAY, 1955 No. 5
     "And Jacob saw the face of Laban, and, behold, he was not at all with him as yesterday and the day before." (Genesis 31:2)

     When the rich young man approached Jesus to ask Him a question about eternal life, he hailed Him as "Good Master." Jesus replied: "Why callest thou Me good? there is none good but one, that is, God" (Matthew 19:17). With these words the Lord dispels an illusion that blinds many men, the illusion that man is innately good. Simply and directly, the Lord here teaches that man is, of himself, nothing but evil.
     However, this teaching awakens a disturbing thought. Is it not actually an injustice that man is so cursed? Why must man, through no fault of his own, derive evil by heredity? This is a question which becomes a torment when our evils bring us into deep unhappiness. Why were we so cursed by God? How did it happen that others, the Most Ancients, were privileged to receive a good heredity by birth?
     The answer is that, despite his evil heredity, man may experience an inner happiness throughout his life on earth. For with infinite justice and mercy the Lord has provided that man may be happy throughout every stage of life, and throughout every stage of regeneration, if he but follows the path laid out for him by the Lord. The Lord has ordained that regeneration itself should be an easy process, and that man's hereditary evil should inflict upon him no great unhappiness during that process. The fact that this is seldom the case is not the Lord's fault but man's. For man, in his freedom, has not followed the path pointed out by the Lord; and in consequence has made regeneration not an easy but a most agonizing process.
     The story of Laban and Jacob illustrates concretely how the Lord wishes regeneration to be accomplished.

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It reveals how first states of happiness need never be lost, how spiritual contentment may accompany every state of earthly life.
     Jacob represents the good that man has built up through living by religious truth, in short, the adult conscience. Laban, on the other hand, represents the evil in man of which man is unaware. And in his representation lies the key to an understanding of regeneration as the Lord intended it.
     The Lord has provided that a vast part of man's hereditary evil shall be completely hidden from him, that he shall have no conscious knowledge of the nature of the worst evils within himself. These hidden evils are represented by Laban. Now it is to be noted that Laban and Jacob were friends for many years, and that Jacob's two wives, Leah and Rachel, were the daughters of Laban. There is a similar relationship between man's conscience and his hidden evils. Many of the things man does stem from those evils; yet in his own eyes he is not then acting from evil but from worthwhile qualities in himself. Thus man's conscience makes a close friend of his hidden evils, just as Jacob made a close friend of Laban. Man has no realization that he is acting from evil motives; although it sounds like a contradiction, he is doing evil in innocence. This is why hidden evil, cloaked with real innocence, is called "mediate good" in the Writings (AC 4063:2-4).
     We cannot see this in ourselves, and we are not supposed to see it. But we can see it in others. We can see others doing things that are obviously selfish, and yet to them these things are right. Our judgment, of course, is based only upon appearances; nevertheless, from these appearances we see evils in others of which they are, perhaps, entirely unaware. If our judgment is correct-and that is something we can never know-then we are seeing the Laban qualities in others. We are seeing in them evils to which they themselves are blind. In fact, in their own conscience they see only good in those selfish qualities in themselves. Jacob and Laban are close friends.
     Why is this! Why are our worst evils hidden from us? Why is there this Jacob-Laban relationship within every man's heart? It is simply because this is the means whereby the Lord makes it possible for regeneration to be an easy process. The Lord provides that man shall be unaware of his worst evils so that those evils can bring him no unhappiness. Since man was imbued with them hereditarily, and is not to blame for them, the Lord does not allow them to destroy his happiness.
     It is true that man must in time face these evils and conquer them, if he is to regenerate. Yet it is the Lord's will that this facing of evil should be done gradually, in order that happiness may be maintained throughout regeneration. If man obeys the commandments of the Lord, then there are heavenly delights that feed him in every state.

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Either through the stirring of childhood remains, or through an influx of new affections from heaven, the faithful man is kept in an unfailing inner happiness. As the regeneration of such a man progresses, he is gradually allowed to face his inner evils-to see his Laban qualities for what they are. Yet this is done slowly, for only one evil is faced at a time. And that one evil is faced only when man's character is strong enough to meet it, when his heavenly affections are strong enough to maintain his happiness even when he is fighting this evil.
     This ideal progress in regeneration is pictured correspondentially in the relationship of Laban and Jacob, from their first meeting to their final separation. Moreover, this story in the Word shows the use Laban can perform, spiritually, for Jacob.
     It was through Rachel that Jacob and Laban first met. Rachel represents the affection of spiritual truth; and upon reflection it may be seen how Laban is, spiritually, the father of Rachel. Man's proprium, or Laban, knows the advantage of a knowledge of spiritual truth. For if a man is to be successful in the eyes of the world he must be respected, and in order to be respected a man must know spiritual truth and appear to live according to it. Thus our proprium may spur us on to study and know religious truths; and we may have a selfish motive for learning interior truth, without even being aware that our motive is evil. Before regeneration, all men are prompted to study religious truth for this reason. But the Lord also provides that from man's remains there is
born at the same time a genuine affection for this truth. Thus there is born also a love of this truth for its own sake, and not for the sake of self glory.
     This sincere love of truth is Rachel, and in one sense Laban is her spiritual father. For it was the proprium, Laban, that stirred man up to learn truths. And there had to be a knowledge of these truths before an affection for them could be born-before Rachel could be born. Leah, Laban's elder daughter, represents man's first affection of truth, which is of a general and external nature. Rachel, who became Jacob's wife after seven additional years of service, is the deeper and more interior affection of spiritual truth.
     Through clever but honest management, Jacob managed to build up a large herd of his own, using Laban's herd to do it. Evil loves spur man on to learn valuable things. And in time man's conscience can use these things for the performance of true uses. We can see what is meant by the building up of Jacob's herd if we reflect upon the motives that drive man in his worldly occupation.
     In man's worldly occupation, Laban represents the desire for success, for position.

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This ambition for self glory is a most powerful force in every man's life; it is his love of dominion expressing itself. Yet man has no idea in the beginning that this drive within himself is evil. If he reflects upon it, he sees it only as a desire to serve others in uses. He sees no selfishness in it.
     This evil ambition, Laban, drives man on to a highly efficient performance of his use. For the sake of self advancement man learns his occupational tasks thoroughly and performs them expertly. It is then that Leah and Rachel may be born. In learning many knowledges about his job a man may come to have a real love of those knowledges, a genuine love of them. This love is first exterior and then inter for-represented in the Word by Leah and Rachel. He comes to love these knowledges for their own sake, and because through them he can perform genuine uses. And these genuine affections join themselves with man's conscience, just as Leah and Rachel became the wives of Jacob.
     In this applied sense, Laban's flock represents various occupational techniques and skills man has learned to further his own glory, to attain a higher position. In time, man's conscience begins to take these techniques and skills to itself; not for the sake of self advancement, but purely for the sake of uses. And within him there is then gradually built up an internal conflict. One part of him, Laban, is performing uses entirely for the sake of self advancement, whereas another part of him, Jacob, is performing uses for the sake of uses themselves without any goal of personal success or position. At first man is not consciously aware of this struggle within himself; he does not as yet believe that there is anything wrong with his selfish ambitions. Laban and Jacob are still friends.
     But Jacob's possessions gradually become greater and greater; man's unselfish love of uses gradually becomes stronger and stronger.
     One day, however, "Jacob saw the face of Laban, and behold he was not at all with him as yesterday and the day before." In the other world a spirit's face portrays exactly his interior loves. At last Jacob saw the true face, or interior qualities, of Laban. When man has enough strength, then the Lord reveals to him the quality of his evil ambitions. This is a startling revelation to man, a spiritual shock; yet it does not reduce him to lasting despair because by this time his conscience is strong enough to stand the shock. Rather does man quickly realize that he must separate himself from his evil ambitions, that he must purge this hell within himself. In the letter of the Word this is represented by the complete separation of Jacob and Laban which then followed; Jacob taking with him his wives and all his possessions.
     Thus it is that the Lord protects man in regeneration; provides that man be withheld from knowing his evils until he can overcome them with relative ease.

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He has provided that man may maintain an inner happiness even during the process of separation from his former evils. This is what the Lord meant when He said: "My yoke is easy, and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:30).
     But what the Lord has so ordained is rejected by most men. For when they see their evil for what it is, when they see the true face of Laban, instead of rejecting it they make it their own. They freely choose to abide with Laban, to continue in his friendship. And it is this decision that makes regeneration such a struggle, that brings so much pain and torture with it. The Lord never brings such spiritual unhappiness upon man; man always brings it upon himself.
     There is a most powerful lesson about our relationship with others to be drawn from the story of Laban and Jacob. The lesson is that it is against Divine order to criticize others for their evils. Unless these evils are doing lasting harm to society we are not to speak out. For just as surely as others have hidden evils of which they are unaware, so do we. When we have the strength to face an evil in ourselves, the Lord will expose its nature to us, and so it is with others. But if we criticize others before they have the strength to face their evils we may do them real spiritual harm. The Lord alone knows when they are ready. That is why charity requires us to leave others in freedom to discover and fight their own evils. Respect for this freedom in others is the highest manifestation of charity; and it is the most difficult form of charity, for it requires us to maintain silence when we see faults that we would like to correct.
     But we must realize that what drives us to wish to correct others is nearly always proprial. When the time is right the Lord Himself will open man's eyes, and he will see "the face of Laban, that he is not at all with him as yesterday and the day before." Then man may choose in freedom to separate himself from Laban. If so, he has taken upon himself the yoke of the Lord, the yoke that is "easy." And he will find eternal happiness, on earth and in heaven. Amen.

     LESSONS: Genesis 30:25-34. Matthew 19:16-30. AC 4063:3, 4.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 482, 467, 574.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 74, 87.
Title Unspecified 1955

Title Unspecified 1955

"No one is ever instructed by means of truths, but by means of the affections of truth; for truths apart from affection do indeed come to the ear as sound, but do not enter into the memory; that which causes them to enter into the memory and abide in it is affection" (AC 3066).

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TEN BLESSINGS AND EDUCATION 1955

TEN BLESSINGS AND EDUCATION Rev. DAVID R. SIMONS 1955

     5. Mercy

     "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy" (Matthew 5:7). Divine education, the leading of the Lord, has as its end and goal that man shall receive what is good and true with increase to eternity. The infinite mercy of the Lord provides not only that we shall have life but also that our sense of possessing it shall grow forever. To make this possible, to insure that our feeling as if life were our very own shall in crease to eternity, the Lord has inscribed the universal law of reaction on all created things. As ye give, so shall ye receive. This is the law, that influx is according to efflux, that what we do with our lives the Lord does for our lives. "For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath" (Matthew 25:29).
     The Heavenly Doctrine makes it clear that there is nothing unmerciful in just punishment. It teaches that "to be punished is of mercy, because it bends all evil to good" (AC 587:2). This can be seen readily on the civil plane, it is noted; for "if evils were not punished, the whole kingdom would be infected with evils, and so would perish, for which reason kings and judges show more mercy in punishing evils, and in expelling from society those guilty of them, than by exercising in their behalf an unseasonable clemency" (AC 2258:3). Christian mercy, then, does not involve a sentimental thwarting of justice, or a useless reprieve for the wicked, but demands punishment suited to the evil that the law of reaction may be observed. Thus, when the Lord told us to love our enemies and do good to them, He meant the good of rebuke and punishment to those who violate the laws of order. This He makes clear in His second coming by instructing us that "there is charity in punishing the evil, for to this we are impelled by our zeal to amend them, and at the same time to protect the good lest these suffer injury at the hands of the evil. In this way does a man consult the welfare of the one who is in evil, or his enemy, and express his good feeling toward him, as well as to others and to the common good itself, and this from charity toward the neighbor" (AC 2417).
     The education of our children is essentially a work of mercy.

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To bring them up in the sphere of the church, and this not merely that they may gain intellectual or social advantages or that we may swell our numbers, but inmostly that our children may be saved from their evils-this is one of our highest responsibilities as New Church men and women. Children, whose hearts and minds are tender and readily molded into the patterns of thought and action by which they are surrounded, are helpless and in need of genuine mercy. They are not able to discriminate for themselves between the good and the harmful in either their natural or their spiritual environment. They cannot tell food from poison, the useful from the harmful, truth from falsity, right from wrong. They are dependent on the rational judgment, conviction, and strength of character of adults. And even when they are old enough to distinguish intellectually between right and wrong, their capacity for self-control and self-compulsion needs to be strengthened and supported by sympathetic but firm leadership.
     We often think of mercy as the act of remitting punishment, but this is not the mercy defined in the Writings. Nothing is more cruel than to allow children to grow up in a false world in which they are unaware of reaction-that as we give so shall we receive. A mind that is undisciplined and unrestrained, that knows no responsibility to its neighbor and its God, that is filled with its own importance and is thoughtless and careless about others; such a mind must ultimately be brought face to face with the harsh reality of true justice, and be shown from without by bitter experience what it might have been led to acknowledge from within. True education should lead to the formation of habits of self-control and self-discipline, and to the love of what is right because it is right.
     As it is our reaction to life which makes our inner character, so it is what children do-the habits of thought and life into which they are led-that makes the greatest impression on them. This does not mean that we are to impose a rigid discipline which requires a conformity not in keeping with their tender states. Such discipline is destructive of the "as-of-self" which is the life of man, and it cannot but bring about open rebellion and rejection of our leading. Yet neither are we to condone a freedom that is really license. Our control over our children must be measured by their reaction to our leading. If we strive to lead from the standards of justice and mercy which the Lord has laid down in His Word, so that where there is disorder there will be punishment with opportunities for repentance and amendment, and where there is order there will be rewards, then we will lead from the Lord and He will bless our endeavors. Only by constancy of rewards and punishments can we cooperate with the Lord in preparing the minds under our care for the free reception of genuine mercy.
     Because it is what we do that has the greatest impact on others, living with our children is the most effective mode of education.

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It is not so much our words as the way we live, our attitude and reaction to the circumstances of life, that leaves its mark on future generations. Conscientious parents need to provide extended opportunities for contact with their children. Families need to worship together, work together, and play together if parents are to guide their children in the paths of mercy and truth.
DOCTRINE OF PRAYER 1955

DOCTRINE OF PRAYER GEORGE DE CHARMS 1955

     3. Why and How We Should Pray

     So far we have merely considered the fundamental philosophy which underlies the teaching of the Writings concerning prayer, in contrast with the basic thought on the subject that is current in the modern world. But now we would inquire as to the practical implications of that philosophy. Why should we pray? How should we pray; and for what should we pray? What may we confidently expect as an answer to our prayers! These are questions of importance to us in the conduct of our everyday lives as members of the New Church.
     First of all, we would point out that although God acts only in accord with an eternal and unalterable Divine law, there is an intensely personal relationship between the Lord and every individual human being.
     Because the law of God is also the law of human freedom, it is minutely sensitive to every wish of man's heart and responsive to every impulse of man's will. By means of this law, and according to its unchanging operation, the Lord is immediately present with each one, and by His providence governs all things, even the most minute, in the personal life of each one, and this, moment by moment, without ceasing.
     The law is the same for all. There is no such thing as a "special providence" if by this is meant a Divine intervention in response to prayer for the special benefit of one as distinguished from others. The Lord is equally present with all men, and gives of His love and of His life in full measure to each one. What He gives to one He gives to all, withholding nothing of good from any one; wherefore we read that "there is no peculiar mercy for one in preference to another" (HH 364).
     Yet every individual is, as it were, the center of all the forces of the Divine Providence, insomuch that each one receives the Lord's care and protection just as if he were the only one in the world.

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To quote: "Every one is, as it were, a center according to a stupendous form originating from the Lord, which, however, no one can ever understand; that is, how there can be such a form that every one is a center" (SD 4090; see also AC 2057). It could not be otherwise if the free choice of each one is to be protected. Because each one is an individual, distinctly different from every other one, he must be protected and led differently. That each one shall be led differently, according to his personal needs and desires, is the supreme end and purpose of the Divine law.
     Therefore, in spite of the teaching that there is no "special providence," we may know when we pray that the Lord is immediately present with us, and that He gives minutely special consideration to our every petition. There is, indeed, no crucial moment in our life when we are not, as it were, alone with the Lord. With each of us there is an inmost self that no one but the Lord can know. There is a depth of mind and heart into which other human beings cannot penetrate. This must be true even of conjugial partners; for the very essence of love is free consent, and the love of one partner must have primary regard for the freedom of the other.
     And as was pointed out in our last article, our inmost love has to do solely with the question as to whether we will claim our life as our own, or will acknowledge it to be a gift, in trust, from the Lord. Every critical decision, therefore, has to do with our personal relation to the Lord. It is a decision no one can possibly make for us. In making it we are alone, acting freely on our own responsibility.
     Vocal prayer, in public and private worship, is a conscious turning of the mind to the Lord. It is intended to be a spontaneous outpouring of the heart, in word and deed. If it is to live and grow, if it is to achieve its purpose, love must go forth into act. This is why we instinctively long to express our love to the Lord in prayer; that is, in thought and speech. We want to tell the Lord how we feel. We want to proclaim our love and our faith. We want to communicate openly to Him our deepest needs and desires.
     It is according to Divine order that this should be so; for while the Lord knows these things already, He cannot preserve our sense of freedom unless we deliberately ask His help. We read therefore: "It is common in all Divine worship that man should first will, desire, and pray; and that the Lord should then answer, inform, and do; otherwise man does not receive anything Divine . . ." (AR 376). The fact is that we are receiving countless things from the Lord every moment, without realizing it. The things we receive without asking, the things we take for granted without thought, give us no sense of free choice. We can receive freely only that for which we ask, that for which we consciously strive. This is the reason why it is right, and indeed necessary, to pray.

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     We have said that vocal prayer should be expressive of our inmost love; yet we cannot know, with any assurance, what our inmost love is. How, then, can we express it? We cannot know what it is; but we can know from the Word what it ought to be. Prayer must be not only addressed to the Lord, it must also be from the Lord. To quote again: "It is believed by those who are not acquainted with the arcana of heaven that worship is from man, because it proceeds from the thought and the affection which are in him; but the worship which is from man is not worship; consequently, the confessions, adorations, and prayers which are from man are not confessions, adorations, and prayers which are heard by the Lord; but they must be from the Lord Himself with man" (AC 10,299).
     We must learn from the Lord how to pray and what to pray for, and this we learn solely from the Word. Thus it is from the Word that we learn what our inmost love ought to be. From this we can know what we would like it to be, and what we are striving to make it. This desire, and this endeavor, we can express in prayer.
     We can know from the Word that from our proprial will we cannot possibly escape the love of self, into which we are born by heredity. If love to the Lord is to become our inmost love, we must receive constant help, instruction, guidance, and inspiration from the Lord. Yet the decision to make it so must be made freely, deliberately, by our own choice. We must therefore ask for the Lord's aid in making and sustaining this decision, and in all our striving against the dominance of the love of self. For the ability to do this we must pray, not for external things, not for the satisfaction of any worldly desire, but for the power to resist the love of self.
     The essence of such a prayer is, indeed, that the Lord's will should be done, and not our own. But in this case our prayer is not a passive acquiescence in a preordained fate. This is because, as we learn from the Word, it is the Lord's will that we should love Him with all our heart, and all our mind, and all our strength. It is His will that we do this freely, and by our own choice. To make that choice, and to labor unceasingly for its permanent establishment with us, is our primary and unavoidable responsibility, even while we acknowledge that the power to do so is not our own, but is a perpetual gift from the Lord.
     Such a prayer is always answered. The Lord is ever present with infinite power to help, to protect and to bless, just so far as to do so does not trespass upon man's free choice. Our asking, therefore, opens the way for the Lord to operate by a thousand secret means that He may lessen, and gradually remove, the evil delights of the proprial love of self. This removal enables us freely, and as if by our own power, to relinquish by degrees the thought of self, that we may willingly and gladly co-operate with the Lord in use to Him and to the neighbor.

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     This is what the Lord meant when He said to His disciples: "Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done" (Matthew 21:21). By the "mountain" here is meant the love of self, which we are empowered to overcome if only from the heart we ask the Lord's help.
     This is the truth that lies behind the modern Christian teaching, that by prayer we make contact with an unlimited source of Divine power. But that truth is distorted, and becomes a falsity, when it is held that by means of prayer we are given the power to satisfy our natural desires, to achieve our personal ambitions, or to promote our selfish ends. Prayer that is not from man but from the Lord, prayer that looks to the Divine and eternal ends as we may be given to see them from the Word, is indeed always answered. But the answer differs with each individual, and differs with the same individual at different times according to his state and need, which are known to the Lord alone. Concerning this we read: "Prayer, regarded in itself, is speech with God, and some internal view at the time of the matters of the prayer, to which there answers something like an influx into the perception or thought of the mind, so that there is a certain opening of the man's interiors toward God; but this with a difference according to the man's state, and according to the essence of the subject of the prayer. If the man prays from love and faith, and for only heavenly and spiritual things, there then comes forth in the prayer something like a revelation (which is manifested in the affection of him that prays) as to hope, consolation, or a certain inward joy. It is from this that to 'pray' signifies in the internal sense, to be revealed" (AC 2535).
     From this we conclude that the answer to prayer is not an obvious dictate as to what we should do. Rather it is a strengthening of our love, whence comes a renewal of our faith, trust, and confidence in the Lord's providence, which brings with it "hope, consolation, and a certain inward joy." And with intensified love comes renewed effort, application, thought, and study, whence we derive illustration and, as it were, the discovery of truth looking to the attainment, not necessarily of our previously envisioned goal, but of an end which we recognize as better, more perfect, than any we had imagined. In this way the Lord leads us by means of our affection or love, without injury to our sense of free choice, without depriving us of the joy of conquest and of accomplishment. And yet He leads us toward an eternal end foreordained in His infinite wisdom; not to the fulfillment of our own vain imaginations.

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     It should be noted, however, that the efficacy of prayer depends upon the persistence of the supplicant in the struggle to overcome the love of self after the state of worship has passed. In worship we are elevated, for the moment, out of ourselves. Our proprial affections are laid asleep, and the insistent drive of natural delights is withdrawn. It is when we descend from the mountaintops into the valleys; it is when we depart from the Lord's house and return to the streets where earthly necessities and worldly obligations press upon us-then it is that the issue is joined.
     Here it is that the battle must be fought and the victory determined. And here we seem to be left alone; the presence of the Lord is not obvious; the promise of His help seems remote.
     Prayer gives no more than added strength and courage to meet the challenge of these opposing forces, while we cling to the memory of the vision granted on the mountaintop, and to the faith that was born in the Lord's house. This is the real test as to how far our love to the Lord has really been made the dominant force in our life. And here it is that we so often meet with disappointment, because what we were so sure we wanted above all else, in the borrowed state of spiritual elevation, does not seem so vital when we are confronted with the seeming necessities, the immediate and pressing demands, of natural life. The way that had appeared so clear in the light of heaven becomes suddenly obscure, uncertain; and in the face of unexpected difficulties the mind is plunged into doubt and hesitation. This is why we need to return again and again to states of worship. It is the reason why prayer, the conscious opening of the mind and heart to the Lord, is a daily need of the spirit that is striving toward the life of religion.
     We have been asked what is the correct posture in prayer? Is there any real reason why we should kneel? To this also the Writings give us an unmistakable answer. It is perfectly true that the mind can turn to the Lord without regard to the posture of the body. It is not the turning of the body, but the turning of the mind or spirit, that constitutes prayer. Yet the same insistent need of love to go forth into speech prompts it also to find expression in action.
     The essence of prayer is a state of humility before the Lord, and the action of the body which corresponds to this state, and spontaneously expresses it, is the bending of the knees, or prostration to the earth. This is why the Lord says: "I have sworn . . . that unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear" (Isaiah 45:23). Also, we read in the Writings: "All inward endeavors that are of the will, thus of love or affection, consequently of the life, have outward acts or gestures corresponding to them, which acts or gestures flow from the very correspondence of outward things with inward ones.

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Holy fear, with its consequent humiliation (and therefore adoration) has acts or gestures corresponding to itself; namely, bending the knees, falling down upon the knees, and also prostrating the body down to the earth. Hence it is that the bending of the knees is a sign and representative of adoration" (AC 5323).
The custom of kneeling in prayer arose in very ancient times and was based on a perception of its meaning. It was a spontaneous expression of humiliation or submission whenever there was a conscious approach to the Lord, or an entrance into His presence. It was spontaneous because, as is now revealed in the Writings, it corresponds to a state of humiliation and represents it. This is the reason why there seems ample justification far continuing that custom in the worship of the New Church, even though it is recognized that the real state of humiliation is of the mind, and not of the body, and prayers can be offered in any position. It is because the external gesture has been made an essential of worship, and emphasized out of all proportion by some, that there has developed a strong prejudice against it on the part of others in the Christian world.
We have here spoken about prayer in general; but there are different kinds of prayers, each calling for some more particular consideration. There are, for instance, formal prayers, or those repeated habitually in public and private worship; there are special prayers offered in the midst of trial or temptation; and there are prayers of intercession on behalf of friends or loved ones. We will speak of these in our next installment, with a view to showing the particular use and function of each kind, and how each kind is answered by the Lord.
SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION 1955

SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION 1955

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

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SUPPORT OF THE CHURCH 1955

SUPPORT OF THE CHURCH Rev. HAROLD C. CRANCH 1955

     In our church services we often sing an anthem, taken from the 116th Psalm, which asks a question in the inspired words of David: "What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me?" That question is an important part of our religion and worship. The answer must be decided individually, and the answer we give is of vital importance to our spiritual development.
     Our living on earth has only one purpose. By life here we are to be prepared for eternal life in heaven. This has been known from most ancient times. It was taught in the Old Testament by the lawgivers and the prophets. The Lord's life on earth pictured it. And in the Writings it is emphasized over and over again. This world is a training school. Here we learn our abilities and train them for useful service. Here we are rewarded with the happiness that comes from a good and useful life. And here we must suffer for our evils and falsities; suffer so that we may learn not to do evil, and that we may learn the laws of order and make them our own. Every experience, every affection and desire, every bit of learning, has its part to play in preparing us for our eternal home. And when men have abused their freedom to falsify and destroy truth, then the Lord has always revealed the new truths necessary to reestablish the genuine way of life. He has revealed Himself to men so that they can see and understand Him, and can show their love for Him by obeying His commandments. And all of this is done to further the one Divine purpose, to give to men the blessing of complete happiness forever.
     The Lord never interferes with man's freedom; He only leads him to see the truth, and to desire the good. He has also blessed man with rationality so that he can use his experiences, and the experiences of others, to guide him in his own choice of good or evil. Man can see the good results of a life of order and the sad results of a life of disorder, and in this way he can be led.
     An important means for the fulfillment of the Lord's purpose of creating a heaven from the human race is the establishment of the church and the priesthood. Men must learn, and the more complex their civilization becomes, the more specialized teachers are needed to instruct them in the knowledges of this world. As the problems of civilization are complex, so are the spiritual and moral answers to the complicated way of life that man has built for himself.

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So it has been necessary from early times, from the beginning of evil, that the Lord should establish the church, and in it a consecrated body of workers-specialists in things spiritual-to help man. And we are told that the work of the priesthood is the Lord's work with man. A true priest is called to his office by the Lord. His abilities and affections are Divine gifts, and the Lord molds them throughout his developing years. After the call has become evident to his mind he receives specialized training in Divine revelation and in human values, so that he may become a means for the Lord's guidance of men. Later, as a pastor, he is given enlightenment, guidance from the Lord, to see the spiritual needs of those in his charge that he may feed them with the proper spiritual food. So, speaking of the true church, and of men in the genuine love of their use, the Lord taught through Jeremiah: "I will give you pastors according to Mine heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding" (Jeremiah 3:15). Thus the church and the priesthood are Divinely ordained means of helping men to prepare for heaven.
But no man can do another's work for him. It is the duty of each one of us to develop our own character. If we are wise, we will use the means which the Lord has provided to accomplish the purpose of our life on earth. We will learn to evaluate all things according to the part they play in this fundamental and universal purpose. We learn what the kingdom of the Lord is, and how it can be promoted. We evaluate our work in the light of its usefulness to mankind and its promotion of the Lord's kingdom. We evaluate recreation; does it help our use, or hinder it? We gauge all our activities, our friendships and our knowledges, by the criterion of the Divine purpose in our life on earth. And then we cultivate all things that will help, and discard the things that would harm that purpose. Such taking stock of our lives is an important form of self-examination. It comes from the determination to put first things first in our affairs. For it is only when we have determined the relative importance of things that we are in a position to use the means which the Lord has provided to cultivate what is good and useful and to shun all that is evil. Only by such examination are we able to answer the question: "What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me?"
In the Psalm, the perfect answer immediately follows the question: "I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord; I will pay my vows unto the Lord in the presence of all His people." Taking the cup of salvation means to endure something of trial or sacrifice for the sake of the Lord. It is to apply His teachings to overcome the evil desires in our hearts. Only in this way can we attain salvation. To call upon His name means to put confidence in the teachings of His Word, to look to Him as our Redeemer and Savior.

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And to pay our vows unto the Lord is to apply His teachings to every Diane of life, to support His work, and to further Divine uses.
In the Jewish Church the temple and the priesthood were supported in two ways-by certain required offerings and sacrifices, and by freewill offerings. Tithes were paid from the increase of the land and of the flocks and herds. These were owed to the Lord by law; the offerings were given in addition to the tithes and the temple tax. But all were acts of worship and were for the support of the Lord's work among men. Their use was primarily to the giver. For the tithes represented the acknowledgment that all things were from the Lord, and were a return of thanksgiving to the Lord for His many blessings. So the prosperity of the Jews was made to depend upon their making a faithful return of their goods to the Lord. Thus we read: "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi 3:10).
This represented a very deep and important spiritual truth. We are to acknowledge that all that we have is a gift from the Lord. This is true of all material and spiritual increase, of the increase of good and truth, of happiness and usefulness. All these are gifts from the Lord for our eternal wellbeing, and we demonstrate an acknowledgment of this by our worship and our support of the Lord's work with men. We are to look to spiritual things first, for they are first in purpose; and then, from the light of the truth thus received, we are to look to the things of our daily life. This the Lord taught in person, in much the same spirit as He had through the prophet Malachi; for in the Sermon on the Mount He said: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His justice; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33). He made it very clear that we must give up greed, selfishness, and the love of power; and He pointed out that if we followed such desires at the expense of performing our duty to the church, we would fail in the whole purpose of our life here on earth. This was shown when He told the parable of the man who built greater barns in which to store his vast wealth, to whom the Lord said: "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided" (Luke 12:20). To this the Lord added: "So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God" (Luke 12:21). And on another occasion He taught: "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36).

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     All who are truly led to the New Church come into it because of a deep conviction that spiritual truths are revealed in the Heavenly Doctrine. We come into the church to worship the Lord Jesus Christ as the one God of heaven and earth, our Divine King and Savior; to receive help from Him to develop our spiritual uses. But we bring with us many of our old failings. Conversion is only the beginning of the life of regeneration. It is the recognition of the Lord and of our duties toward Him; the acceptance of the Lord as our God and Savior, and a looking to Him for help in our daily life. But we are surrounded by the material needs of life in the world; and we are more conscious of the needs, pleasures, and satisfactions of this world than we are of spiritual values. We mean to worship and intend to give support, but we often take the path of least resistance.
     Our religion must be a matter of daily life. We are taught that all religion has relation to life, and the life of religion is to do good (Life, 1). But in the world religion is all too often put on for Sundays, and after attendance at church is shed until the next church meeting. Something of that spirit enters into our life. We are to consider the Word first, to think from the Word of our daily task, that we may apply its teachings daily. So the Writings teach that we should read the Word, a chapter or two every day (AE 803:2); for only in this way can the Lord speak to us and guide us. The principle involved is explained clearly in the Doctrine of Charity, where, speaking of charity in a soldier, it says that he is to raise his mind to the Lord in prayer every morning, and then let it come down to the affairs of the day. If he lives, he then lives in the Lord; if he dies, he dies in the Lord (no. 166). The thought of thus turning to the Lord as the first act of every day, and the inspiration thereby received, are inmostly present for the rest of the day, although he is not consciously aware of this.
     Similarly, we are to read the Word, to turn to the Lord in worship each morning and every evening, that we may submit our lives to His guidance. Yet how often this simple act of daily worship is neglected. In many New Church homes the Word in the Heavenly Doctrine is not available in its entirety. There may be one or two books, and yet a complete set of the Writings can be obtained at a very low cost. If we were truly devoted to the Lord's teachings, every effort would be made to obtain the entire Word. We would have available the Old Testament, the New Testament, and especially the books of the Writings, which give us a rational understanding of spiritual truth applied to our needs. And we would turn to the Word each day to receive spiritual sustenance. Only in this way can we receive from the Lord the spiritual gifts He so freely offers; and only in this way can we cooperate with Him in fulfilling the purpose of our life here on earth.

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     But there are many other ways in which we fail to some extent. Our acknowledgment of the Lord is genuine, as far as it goes. From it we know that we are to serve Him. And we know also that serving Him is the means to the greatest freedom. Thus our service should be joyful, happy, and full. Yet do we really serve the Lord as we would a natural master or governor?-one who would be present in person to react by word and deed to the quality of our service. Our serving the Lord takes many forms. One of these is the reading of the Word so that we may know the Lord's will. Another is the supporting of Divine uses with men. It has been said that "wherever there are uses there are duties to be performed" (Bishop W. F. Pendleton, NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1904, p. 113).
     Those duties are represented by the tithes, taxes, and vows of the Jewish Church. These had both an internal and an external, although the Jews understood only the external; the internal was for the use of the angels with them. But the New Church is of a rational genius. Its members are to understand both the internal and the external aspects of the support of the church. The payment of tithes represented the acknowledgment that all good and truth are the Lord's with man; and that acknowledgment is genuine only when we seek for the truth and aspire to the good taught in the Word by going to it for instruction. Otherwise it is merely of the mouth and is not a living thing.
     But the external support which the Jewish Church received through compulsory tithing is now to be given freely and rationally. We are not required to give one-tenth of all that we possess, and to make certain vows and sacrifices beyond that. But we are to give, and to give fully, to the support of the church. For it performs many uses that are essential, but that can be maintained only if every man who believes in them undertakes the duty of their support. We really do not have freedom in this matter, if by freedom is meant the right to give or deny our support. What we are free to do is to determine what we are able to give, how we are to give, and what uses should receive our major support; and that is genuine, rational freedom. When we accept the Lord's teachings, and affiliate ourselves with His church, then by that acknowledgment and act we assume the responsibility of doing our part for the internal and external support of the work of His church.
     Until we see this clearly, and act from it, we are not doing our part properly. We are like the Jews who were reprimanded by the Lord through the prophet Malachi. Through him the Lord said that He was a great King, the Father and Master of the Jews. But, He said: "If then I be a Father, where is Mine honor? and if I be a Master, where is My fear?" (Malachi 1:6). Then He added that they had offered polluted bread upon His altar, and had held the table of the Lord as contemptible.

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And He continued: "If ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil!" (Malachi 1:8). The sacrifices offered to the Lord were to be perfect and clean. They were to be offered from a pure heart as an act of worship. But to give the blind, the lame and the sick, was to offer that which was not of much value to the giver. It was something that had been cast off, and was not a fit offering of worship. And so the Lord said through His prophet: "Offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person?" (Malachi 1:8). And He concluded: "Ye have brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the Lord. But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts" (Malachi 1:13, 14).
We are taught in the Writings that there are benefactions of charity and duties of charity. The former are done from free will or free choice, and are given in aid or assistance to the church, to people in need, and so forth. But the duties of charity are not done from free choice; they are performed from a spiritual obligation. And included in these duties is the payment of taxes to the country and for the support of the church (see TCR 429, 430). While this is accommodated to the customs of the European nations-for the Word is written according to the forms known and used by the revelator-nevertheless the principle is clearly defined. Our basic support of the church should be considered as a duty, just as is the basic support of our country, and it should be proportionate to that support. And it is said further that those who are in genuine charity, because they look to the church and to their country as the neighbor, pay these taxes from good will, for the preservation and protection of their country and the church, and for the administration of their offices.
Now we acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as our God and Lord. We serve Him in our daily lives. But what we must ask ourselves in the privacy of our own meditation is: Do we serve Him properly? Do we turn to Him for guidance? Do we read the Word daily? Do we attend church services and functions as frequently as we can? Do we support its uses as a spiritual and natural duty, so that all the uses vital to the church can be carried on and not be thwarted by lack of the necessary money? Do we serve the Lord, who is greater than all governors and rulers, with the sincerity and completeness with which we serve those who are in positions of authority and power in the natural world? These are searching questions, and it is only when we can say, "Yes, we are doing these things to the very best of our ability," that we can allow our conscience to rest and can feel that our work is being done.

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This is most important, not only for the external support of the church but especially for its effect upon us. We can develop spiritually only as we perform our duties properly. Thus when the offertory is elevated before the Lord in our service, it is with the silent prayer of the priest that this offering, made in free will by His people, may be acceptable to the Lord as a means for building His kingdom in the hearts and minds of those who have given it. Support of the church is a duty, but it is also a great privilege. If it is undertaken in the right spirit it is an external key which opens the door to internal treasures.
We are privileged by the Lord to be members of His New Church, and we must value that privilege. We must love the new truths He has revealed for our spiritual welfare. A church composed of men and women dedicated to the truth will influence the whole world, no matter how small it may be in numbers. Let us pray for the inspiration and guidance to make us true disciples of the Lord in His second coming. Let us perform our duties, glad of the privilege of helping to build the Lord's kingdom in the hearts and minds of men. If we will thus dedicate our efforts to the real work of the church we will be able to answer that vital question: "What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me! I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord in the presence of all His people.
IT'S EASIER GOING DOWNHILL 1955

IT'S EASIER GOING DOWNHILL Rev. ORMOND ODHNER 1955

All men on earth are in spiritual equilibrium-a state of perfect balance between a force for good inflowing from heaven and a force for evil exhaling upon them from hell. There is exactly as much of an "upward pull" being exerted upon them as there is of a "downward pull." Because of this equilibrium man has free choice. And if a man has free choice, then surely it is as easy to choose and be good as it is to choose and be evil.
Probably every New Church man would agree with these teachings and with the conclusion drawn from them. Why, then, do we say, "It's easier doing downhill"? meaning that it is easier to choose and do the evil than to choose and do the good. And does not life itself seem to confirm this? It is easier to go to hell than it is to go to heaven. Even the Writings seem to support this; for the "way" to hell mentioned in Heaven and Hell (no. 534) was seen as "broad and ample, leading obliquely downward," the "way" to heaven as "narrow or straitened."

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And on the physical plane of life it is obviously true that you expend less effort going downhill than you do going up.
     What, then, of our much vaunted spiritual equilibrium? That we have it is taught universally in the Writings. If we have it, then surely it must be just as easy to choose and do the good as it is to choose and do the evil. On the plane of the body it is as easy to decide to go downhill as up. After the decision, though, it is undoubtedly easier doing down than up. On the plane of the mind or spirit also it is just as easy to decide to go up toward heaven as it is to decide to go down toward hell. All of us know that from personal experience; probably we each decide to choose the good a hundred times a day! But after the decision is it really easier to go down, spiritually, than to go up? If so, our equilibrium would not amount to very much at all. Heaven would be as strong as hell only in moments of decision; after that hell would have the upper hand.
     Then why does it seem to be "easier going downhill"? The answer, we believe, is that for a man not regenerating it is more delightful. Going downhill is what he is used to; most of the pleasures he has ever known have come to him on the downward path. Now, in perfect equilibrium, he decides to reverse his course. He starts up, but he is not accustomed to it. His old familiar pleasures are no longer present. It is all strange, and it is a journey at first without delight. The memory of the downhill pleasures calls out: "Turn back, turn back!"
     But that, we think, is the only reason it seems to be easier going downhill. Going up is a journey without any delight, at first. Yet man, going up, is still in perfect equilibrium. It is only the memory of the former pleasures that calls him back; and counterbalancing this, and exactly as strong, is the memory derived from revelation of the promise of even greater delights when the summit is reached.
     It is not really easier going downhill; it just seems to be. It is just that going uphill is a strange experience to which we are not yet accustomed, and in which we have not yet personally experienced much delight.
PERFECTED TO ETERNITY 1955

PERFECTED TO ETERNITY 1955

"Those who have been regenerated in the life of the body, and have lived in faith in the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor, are continually being perfected in the other life" (Arcana Coelestia, 894e).

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MARRIAGE OF A MAN AND A WOMAN 1955

MARRIAGE OF A MAN AND A WOMAN Rev. F. E. GYLLENHAAL 1955

     A man's life on earth is a continual association with other beings. He has conscious association with other men, with women, and with children. This association is reciprocal in varying degrees. Man has also conscious association with animals, but reciprocity in this association is of a different kind from the other and is incapable of having any spiritual and eternal qualities. There is a seeming association of man with the vegetable kingdom, and with other material things of the universe, but there is no reciprocity in such associations because of the complete absence of any voluntary life in those things. Man has unconscious association with spirits and angels. He cannot live without this association, even though he is unaware of it by any sensation. The spirits and angels powerfully influence all his desires, thoughts and actions, but he can know this only from Divine revelation.
     The association, then, which man has complete consciousness of, and equality in, is with other human beings on earth. This association is reciprocal in varying degrees. It is composed of what man gives and receives. He begins life by receiving much and giving little, and the little he gives is beyond his consciousness. There is a seeming total absence of voluntary reciprocity on the part of an infant in its association with other human beings. Only gradually, as much is received, as the human faculties are developed and trained to act as of themselves, does it become possible for the child to give freely and consciously to others, and by so doing to reciprocate consciously in human associations. This progressive development is man's perfection, and distinguishes him as immeasurably superior to animals and to every other created thing. It is a development from the complete unconsciousness, helplessness, and ignorance of infancy to unpredictable and immeasurable heights of consciousness, power, and wisdom.
     The purpose for which man has been created can be achieved only by a gradual development of his reciprocal associations with other men. The Writings state this purpose to be that "woman is for man and man for woman, thus the one belongs to the other" (H.H. 366). The purpose of man's creation, then, is the eternal marriage of one man with one woman, their belonging to each other for ever, their reciprocal association in a conjunction forever becoming closer and more perfect.

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     By creation every man and woman is potentially capable of a completely reciprocal marriage. By achievement of this purpose, the two, but as one, enjoy the highest attainable consciousness, power, and wisdom, with all their delights and other gifts. Though there are discrete degrees, and within these relative degrees, of such marriages, still, in every such eternal marriage the state is full even to overflowing and gives complete satisfaction to the two who are as one. This may be seldom so on earth, due to the adjunction of the natural mind to both man and woman, and to the fact of consciousness on earth being in the natural mind, but it is in every case so in heaven, the true goal of marriage.
     In all man's association with others, education, training, instruction and discipline, are needed. All this work should have as its supreme purpose adequate preparation for marriage. The gradual growth and development of the body and mind are Divine provisions for the sake of adequate preparation for the best possible achievement of the highest purpose of creation, which is marriage. We are not concerned now with the failure of men to recognize the importance of such preparation, nor with the inequalities of opportunity due to the imperfections of human associations. Our present concern is to emphasize the need of such preparation, and to stress the fact that human associations, even such as they are, do prepare in some measure for marriage.
     Human associations at all times prepare for marriage, because there is something of reciprocity in them. Whatever the quality of such associations, they initiate a man and a woman into some measure of reciprocal adjustments, and show the need of reciprocal adjustments for the sake of living together and of enjoying together the productions of creation. The nature of man is such that he wants above all things to receive, and has little desire to give, because he is selfish; but the human need for reciprocity in all human associations is provided for in some measure by external means with whomsoever internal promptings are entirely lacking.
     Only by Divine revelation, and from it, can we know the spiritual need for reciprocity in giving and receiving, and the doctrine by which we can live together in human associations and especially in true marriages. The Writings supply the doctrine applicable to all such associations. In respect to marriage, they teach that from birth it is in man and woman to love to belong each to the other (H.H. 366). Not only is the love of self in a man and a woman from birth, but from birth they have also this other love, this love of belonging, a man to a woman, and a woman to a man. They have this love from birth, because "from creation woman is for man and man is for woman, thus the one belongs to the other," that is, because the Divine purpose of creation is the marriage of man and woman.

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     But these two loves, the love of self and the love of belonging to another, cannot both rule in a man and a woman, if their marriage is to be complete and eternal. The love of self is by Divine purpose of such quality that it can be subordinated and made subject to other loves for the sake of the perfection of man. To this end it is aroused and developed first, and the opportunity is given man of controlling it, of himself subordinating it, at least in some measure, before that other inborn love, the love of belonging altogether to another, is aroused, is capable of development, and rules a man's life.
     Also, in order that there may be the subordination of self-love and the free growth of a love of marriage, it is Divinely provided that the formative years of man shall be passed in the home sphere, where there should be the constant example of such subordination and growth in process of development and perfection with the parents, and where the teaching and discipline of the parents should be inspired and guided by the cherished ideal envisioned in the Divine doctrine freely received as the law and gospel of human life, and so of the home. Parents should be the Lord's chief agents in initating their children into the pleasures, purposes, and duties of human associations, and so in preparing them for marriage as the goal and perfection of human associations; and the home is the natural and most fitting environment for such preparation.
     There is an appearance in the Word (see Matthew 19:4-6) that marriage supplants other human associations. It is said that a man must leave his parents, and the same separation would seem to be required of his wife. At the end of the chapter in which this is said, there is an exhortation to leave all members of the family, also one's land and house, for the Lord's sake. But opposed to this is the gospel teaching love of the neighbor, honoring parents, bringing children to the Lord, even loving enemies. There really is no contradiction. The explanation is that in some places the natural meaning is so clear that the spiritual meaning shines brightly and distinctly through and makes the natural meaning one with itself, but in other places the natural meaning hides the spiritual meaning. The separations required for the Lord's sake are from the inherited inclinations to evil and falsity. These inclinations, in their variety and connection, are compared to the several relationships in a family. The father and mother whom man is to leave for the sake of cleaving to his wife are the loves of himself and of his own wisdom. These loves are deadly evils to the man, if they remain with him; nor can they receive the wife's love, because they are neither receptive nor conjunctive in quality.
     Why is this said of the man and not also of the woman? The Pharisees' question, to which the Lord was replying, was as to a man's right to put away his wife at his desire, so the Lord's answer taught the man's responsibility and duty.

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But the scripture quoted by the Lord also teaches that man is the active agent in marriage, by whom there is to be formed the common foundation on which the eternal marriage with one woman can be effected. This work depends on his shunning the loves of himself and of his own wisdom as deadly evils, and on his loving his wife and being receptive of her love.
     The doctrine of regeneration taught in the Word-in the sacred scriptures and the Writings-applies equally to man and woman, yet with differences due to their being different and complementary by creation. The doctrine about marriage is applied separately to man and woman, or to husband and wife, because each must work for the marriage and its perfection, and their differences by creation require different doctrine for each, as well as common doctrine. The doctrine for the man is more abundant and particular, because he is to take the active part in marriage, and he can come into the love of wisdom, though he must shun the love of his own wisdom. The wife is to love the wisdom from the Lord that she perceives her husband to have; and she is given, according to her regeneration, perceptions of her work and duties in marriage. Some of her perceptions are hidden from her husband in order to protect their conjugial life and their marriage.
     Marriage, therefore, does not supplant any human association, but, on the contrary, crowns, purifies, and perpetuates all other associations. For these reasons, marriages are to be celebrated with festivity, in the company of friends, and with the prayer by the friends that there may be a Divine blessing on the husband and wife, and on their marriage. Nor are the husband and wife later to separate themselves from others, because they cannot rightly live their married life alone. Their uses should extend ever more widely to others, and the uses of others should increasingly embrace them and strengthen them in their marriage. This becomes evidently a necessity when children come, and as the children grow up. Meanwhile, husband and wife should belong to each other ever more fully and perfectly, their minds should be united ever more closely in will, thought, and uses. The husband should take the active part in this work for a closer marriage, but he will do so spiritually only as he separates from himself the love of himself and of his own wisdom, or only as he applies the doctrine revealed by the Lord to teach and lead him in his marriage.
     The statement that "from creation woman is for man and man is for woman, thus the one belongs to the other," agrees with what the Writings elsewhere teach about a universal conjugial sphere proceeding from the Lord and pervading the universe from firsts to lasts; also about the heavenly marriage of good and truth as the origin of the love of the sex, which is the universal of all natural loves, and of conjugial love, which is the universal of all spiritual loves.

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Marriage is the goal, the crown, the perfection of these universal loves; but it becomes the eternal crown and perfection only with those husbands and wives who receive love truly conjugial; and love truly conjugial is given only together with regeneration.
Therefore the highest principles of education should have respect constantly to preparation for marriage, even though the active thought about marriage and the immediate preparation for it does not come until the age and state are attained when the inborn love of a man for a woman and of a woman for a man, that one may belong to the other, comes to their consciousness and seeks its fulfillment and fruition. If the love has been cherished, cultivated, and protected, it will surely find its reciprocal, that is, a man will find his woman, and a woman will find her man. If this does not happen on earth, it will come to pass without fail in heaven, because heaven is constituted of angels who are in a complete state of marriage, a state of marriage of the will and understanding, and of one man angel with one woman angel, for heaven is a kingdom of conjugial pairs. And we have the assurance of Divine revelation that to those who, from early youth have loved, wished for, and asked of the Lord a marriage and lovely companionship with one consort, and have spurned and rejected wandering lust as an offense to their nostrils, there will be granted such marriage (CL 49).
NEW CHURCH EDUCATION AND AFFECTION FOR THE CHURCH 1955

NEW CHURCH EDUCATION AND AFFECTION FOR THE CHURCH C. JOHN PARKER 1955

Divine truth has been revealed in the Writings of the Lord's second advent for the use of all mankind. Our endeavor, through distinctive educational and philosophic concepts, is to ultimate that truth by showing to everyone that religion relates to every facet of our daily living. This is our way of life.
In the broadest sense, New Church education enters into our lives from earliest childhood, and affects them through this life to our earthly graves and afterwards, as angels in heaven, to eternity. This education is not limited in scope to the knowledge of material things. Its primary purpose is not preparation only for a worldly occupation; love of self and of material gain has no place in the educational concept.

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New Church education is aimed at a higher plane of development. It is a preparation, through love of use to the Lord and the neighbor, for our eternal use and consequent happiness in the spiritual world. This educational concept flourishes in the deeper recesses of the mind, in the conscience and morals by which it is guided. And it is the development of affection for the ways of the New Church in the minds of men to which we would briefly draw attention.
     When a child is brought before the Lord by its parents in the sacrament of Baptism, the parents take upon themselves the sacred charge of teaching the child the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments, and of renouncing the evils of the world for the child until he reaches the age of rationality, when he may freely choose whether or not he will follow the ways of the Lord's New Church. The earliest affections for the things of religion are implanted in the sphere of daily family worship. Usually there is a special place reserved where the Word rests at all times, and in this way the child learns the reverence and care with which the Word is handled. The child learns also to be silent in the face of the open Word, except when singing or praying as directed by the leader, usually the father. In this sphere powerful remains are implanted that stay for life with the individual. If these are carefully cultivated they will come to the surface and be a dominant factor in life. And even if they only remain stored up, they will nevertheless be brought to light in the other world.
     In elementary school the child commences his formal learning. One guiding principle in New Church education is to show that religion has relation to every facet of life. To this day the writer can remember a class in the fall of 1938, in the Olivet Church School, when he was presented with several slips of paper, each with a different word on it. He was shown how to spell the words, and then taught the rule of order by logically forming the words into a coherent sentence; and the sentence itself, "The Lord is Love," remained in the memory to give much food for thought in later years. The child is taught the stories of the Word, and their internal significance is sometimes explained simply in order that the power and wisdom and mercy of the Lord may be seen. Thus is love to the Lord taught, which love is the prime requisite for a spirit's entry into heaven. Basic science and nature studies are undertaken with the emphasis on the truth that the Lord is the Creator of all things and that creation is His-not the fortuitous result of certain circumstances, as some scientists would have us believe.
     When the youth enters secondary school his formal education has been well begun. Now his spiritual education must likewise make further progress. Up until now the youth has accepted the religion that has been brought into his life without much doubt-in the innocence of childhood.

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Now, however, questions begin to arise in his mind. He may even ask his parents and teachers what makes them think that the New Church is the only true religion on earth. This questioning is a healthy sign but it must be carefully channeled, for this is the dawn of the age of rationality. At this point the student is directed to the appropriate passages in the Writings that he may see for himself what is taught there. The Writings are a rational revelation and are often difficult for a young mind to comprehend. Their message can be communicated to the reader only by his approaching them with an open mind, saying to himself as he reads: "This is the truth, it cannot be otherwise."
     The youth's reading must be followed up by his teachers so that they can give him whatever explanations and assistance may be necessary. This is the age in which the youth is subjected to so many of the evils of the world through his associations with old church friends. This is when the armor that has been given to him by his parents and teachers is put to the test. Possibly his most serious contacts with worldly evils will come through his social connections. Knowing that the youth's physical development often surpasses temporarily his mental and spiritual development, parents and teachers introduce the idea of distinctive New Church social life, together with the reasons for its existence. The shining ideal of conjugial love and the eternal happiness it brings are introduced at this point. This ideal must be explained fully and carefully so that the youth may understand this most precious gift of the Lord and guide himself accordingly. And it is in these formative years that parents and teachers must call upon their full resources of tact and understanding in the education of the youth, for as far as his future in the
New Church is concerned he may easily be won or lost.
     When the student enters college his intentions are to pursue further some part of his formal education in preparation for his use in life. Now he is to think in terms of his use from the principles of the Writings. He must live his life less by what his parents and teachers would tell him and more by what he should learn from the Writings. By further study of the Writings, and understanding and experience of New Church education, he will be able to look in retrospect upon the growth and care of his young mind from earliest childhood through adolescence and youth to the beginning of rational manhood.
     He is now well equipped to search out his use in the world of men. He has been given the chart on which to plot his course toward the goal of eternal happiness. He belongs now to the greatest fraternity this world has seen, the fraternity of New Church men and women, eager to further the Lord's New Church on earth and to support the educational system under which he was raised.

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REVIEWS 1955

REVIEWS Various 1955

     JUNIOR PLAYS FOR ALL OCCASIONS. A Collection of Royalty-free One-act Plays for Children. By Mildred Hark and Noel McQueen. Plays, Inc., 8 Arlington Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 1955. Cloth, pp. 576 + v-vii. Price, $4.00.

     The general New Church public will be interested in learning that the McQueens have published what looks like another successful book of plays, and especially in learning that it includes "Visit of Johnny Appleseed." This is a New Church play sandwiched in with forty-two others which the casual non-New Church reader would perhaps not consider remarkable except that they are all wholesome, cheerful, and more practical to stage than those in many another similar collection. The more thoughtful reader would, we think, be delighted with the simple but effective teaching of true patriotism, unselfishness, use, and respect for the works of the Lord's creation.
     A majority of the plays are in modern dress or include figures of fantasy such as likeable witches, a crying princess, nursery rhyme characters, talking animals, Uncle Sam, or Miss Poetry. These plays are often humorous in treatment although they make a serious point.
     "Johnny Appleseed," on the other hand is a serious play. It presents in charmingly natural blank verse the imaginary meeting of a pioneer family in Ohio with Johnny Appleseed, who is loved not only for the natural fruits he distributes but for the doctrines that he spreads. The doctrines are not emphasized or presented in any detail, but they are set forth with commendable dignity and forthrightness. Unfortunately quotation of excerpts would, we feel, result in something of misrepresentation.
     A small but important segment of the New Church public, those engaged in teaching in elementary schools (perhaps second through ninth grades), will want to remember this collection when looking for a short (ten to thirty minute) play. There are plays for most of the American holidays and special occasions except for those that come during the summer vacation, as well as plays on perennial subjects like health, courtesy, and grammar (but not on running local or world government). Space does not permit mention of many of the book's features. There are brief but complete suggestions for staging, and a number of roles can be adapted for boys or girls. The format and typography are admirable, and the volume weighs less than a bound volume of NEW CHURCH LIFE.

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     This is not intended as a critical review, but we did wince slightly on reading Miss Poetry's line: "I like only pretty words. Posy dawns and blue skies and perfumed flowers." Other teachers may find other minor flaws, but they will want the book in their school libraries, not only as a likely source of plays for production but also as entertaining and instructive reading for their pupils.
     LYRIS HYATT

     RECEIVED FOR REVIEW

DE ATHANASII SYMBOLO (The Athanasian Creed). By Emanuel Swedenborg. Latin-English edition. Translated by Doris H. Harley. The Swedenborg Society (Inc.), London, 1954. Cloth, pp. 93, plus Index of Scripture Passages.
NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1955

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1955

The May readings include the final chapters of Zechariah, the prophecy through Malachi, and a portion of Matthew's Gospel. As the last book in the Old Testament Word the prophecy through Malachi looks backward and forward, closing with a prediction of the Lord's advent and of the preparation therefor by the work of John the Baptist. Its final words summarize the whole story of the Old Testament and the use of the Jewish Church, and look to the restoring of communication with heaven through the advent and the establishment of the Christian Church.
Four Gospels record the story of the Lord's life on earth. Although the Evangelists were all filled with the same spirit, we are taught that each took a portion according to the character of his peculiar perception and exercised it according to his ability; each one promulgating the Gospel of himself from the Lord (TCR 154). Each writer, apparently of himself, saw a specific need which he desired to meet. The internal evidence suggests that Matthew, a Jew, wrote for his countrymen, concentrating on showing that all Messianic prophecy was fulfilled in the Lord, who came not to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them. Although there is no direct teaching to this effect, it has been conjectured that there are four Gospels to describe the entire process of regeneration; that in the internal sense Matthew and Mark describe regeneration to the celestial and spiritual natural degrees, while Luke and John have to do with the regeneration of the mind to the spiritual and celestial degrees. More recently it has been suggested that the first three Gospels deal, respectively, with learning, willing, and being affected with truth, and that John describes reception of love-a theory which relates the Gospels with the first four sons of Jacob.

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The reading of the Arcana is also concluded this month, and we take up also the White Horse. This little work, a tract of twenty pages in English, is closely connected with the Apocalypse Explained, and begins by expounding spiritually the signification of the white horse in Revelation 19 from which it takes its name. It then presents, under twelve headings, a digest of passages extracted from the Arcana Coelestia on the doctrine of the Sacred Scripture. The summary is of great interest and value, and it bears testimony to the laborious work of Swedenborg as a revelator.
GOOSOCRACY 1955

GOOSOCRACY 1955

     "It was a warm afternoon, and the Gray Goose stood reflectively on one leg, and the old Horse dozingly switched the flies away. At last he impatiently stamped his forelegs to rid himself of these pests, and this movement awakening him, he asked his friend, 'What are you meditating on?'
"'The state of the flock.
     "'What's wrong?'
     "'Nothing.' The questioner looked mildly reproachful, and the Gray Goose, after a deliberate pause, went on: 'When I was a gosling the flock was led by one, the strongest, and we followed him. But ere long the grand idea that all geese are equals dawned upon us, and the old order of government fell shattered.
     "'All being equal, of course, none had the right to rule?'
     "'It is necessary for the sake of order to have rulers, but our head geese are now the creatures of the sovereign flock-our body is above our head.' After saying this the Gray Goose stood silent a moment, and then stole a side glance at the Horse, perhaps to detect signs of a laugh; but he saw none, for the Horse was old and had heard many strange things in his life, and now he gravely asked,'Suppose your body is not agreed in its choice of a head?'
     "'It is not a question of agreement, but of majority.
     "'Suppose the majority should be wrong?'
     "'It cannot be, for with us the supreme authority in questions of right and wrong is the majority.'" (Anshutz, Fables)

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TO KNOW ALL TRUTH 1955

TO KNOW ALL TRUTH Editor 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly by

THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor                         Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa,
Circulation Secretary          Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Treasurer                     Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address, and business communications should be sent to the Circulation Secretary. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.
     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 30 cents.
     New Church men and women are sometimes concerned that the pressures of modern living increase the difficulty of finding opportunity to read and study the Writings. This cannot simply be dismissed with the facile retort that we usually find time for what we really want to do, though neither should this be entirely ignored! For opportunity is a matter of mental and physical state as well as of time, and heavy demands are made upon us. The professions, business and industry, are not only keenly competitive but demand increasingly higher standards of general and specialized education. As their literature grows, it takes more and more time and effort to keep abreast of one's field. And if this were not enough, many businesses are so organized that men must spend much of their time traveling. While our design for living has eliminated the worst drudgery from the domestic scene, it has not lightened the demands made upon mothers by the care of a growing family.
     The problem is therefore real and it is not overlooked by the Writings, for they note that owing to his worldly occupations a man can acquire for himself only a few truths of faith. But they assure us that if he approaches the Lord, and worships Him alone, he receives the power to know all truths (TCR 354:3); not that any finite being will ever know all truth, of course, but that every true worshiper of the Lord, on hearing a truth of faith he has not known before, instantly sees, acknowledges, and accepts it. In this teaching those whose situation leads them to feel concern over this problem may find comfort; and if they reflect, they may find in it also direction.

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IMPERFECT SYMPATHIES 1955

IMPERFECT SYMPATHIES Editor 1955

Natural men are seldom consistent in their reactions to evil. Some hereditary factor or environmental influence, some result of early training or of experience, makes them utterly intolerant of certain evils and of those who commit them; while other evils, which may even be more deadly, affect them far less, and perhaps not at all. Nor are the latter necessarily evils in which they themselves are. For while some men are leniently disposed toward those in like case with themselves, if only because dog does not eat dog, others reserve for them their harshest condemnation, perhaps unconsciously transferring the secret feelings they have about themselves! There is a scale of evil. But the aversion which springs from natural good cannot read or abide by that scale. And it is not only emotional; too frequently it is devoid of pity and of sympathy.
Only a spiritual love can react consistently and positively to evil; recognizing, rejecting, and punishing it without false mercy, yet feeling pity for those in the grip of an evil and sympathy for the failures of those who are struggling. Yet such a love comes only as we put away what opposes it and strive for understanding. It is not necessary to approve an evil, or even condone it, to understand those who are in it. Still less is it necessary to commit the evil! All that is needed is that we cultivate a sympathetic imagination. There are worlds of evil undreamed of by the normal mind until exposed in all their shocking ugliness, forms of evil that baffle each man because they are not his. But no man who knows his own heart is a stranger to human weakness and folly. From the known we may gain sympathetic insight into the unknown; and by so doing offer a helping hand instead of turning our backs to those who stand in need of patient, charitable aid.
LIVING HOPE 1955

LIVING HOPE Editor 1955

As distinct from desire or wishful thinking, hope has become a rare thing in the world; so rare that men are asking seriously if it is possible to live without it, and whether they must not try to do so. There is, indeed, an influential and popular philosophy which takes the literally helpless condition of man as its starting point; and although the Christian Church has adapted this to its own theologies, in the larger issue it seems to have no specific message of hope. Indeed the churches have so often identified themselves with the hopes of the world, preaching those which are now recognized as illusions, that their gospel has become suspect in the eyes of a weary and cynical generation.
The New Church man whose faith is firmly grounded in the Writings views the world scene from a privileged vantage point.

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In the Heavenly Doctrine he finds a living hope; one which is not based on human choice or preference, but is founded on the promises made by the Lord at His second coming and on the revelation then of the laws of His Divine Providence. And this hope has nothing to do with what he would like to be true; it is a perception of what has been revealed by the Lord; an assurance which counts without question on the reality of the Lord's end and of the means He is using to achieve it.
This hope is not a vague idealism, a naive looking on the bright side of things, or an attempt to keep up courage; nor is it the hope which, despairing of earth, looks only beyond the grave. It is rooted in reality. In one sense it is centered squarely in this earth, and it requires the men and women of the church to take a long and careful look at the dark side of things. They know and face the fact that their world is living in the age of a consummated church, the vastation of which must be ultimated increasingly. But it is their conviction that behind all the evil which apparently threatens the world with destruction is the Divine Providence operating to establish the Lord's kingdom, not in some far off realm beyond the skies but in the hearts and minds of men and women on earth. They know that only those evils are permitted which can be bent secretly to that end. And they know that eventually the Lord's kingdom will prevail on the earth. However, this conviction has not been made possible because we are more worthy than are others to escape uncertainty, but because we have from the Lord the ability to serve as instruments for the slow upbuilding of His kingdom, and that we may do our part with deep assurance as to the outcome.
SEEING THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE 1955

SEEING THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE Editor 1955

It is well known in the church that the Divine Providence cannot be seen in, or before, the events in which it operates but only after they have occurred; and that even then it may be seen only in a spiritual state and not in a natural one. The reasons for this are also well known and understood; namely, lest man resist the operations of Providence or attempt to mix with them his own prudence, and that he may be in a state of freedom and rationality. When we reflect, however, that the Divine Providence in all that it does looks to what is infinite and eternal in itself, that it regards what is infinite and considers the temporal only in so far as it makes one with it, we may well wonder just how far we may hope to see the Divine Providence in the events of our lives when we review them from time to time.

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     The teaching is that when those who have become spiritual see events in some wonderful series they as it were see the Divine Providence by an interior acknowledgment and confess it. This seems to indicate very clearly the limit of our sight. Although we frequently show great facility for describing single events as providential, we really know very little about them; and it is certain that even when the Divine Providence is seen as it were in a wonderful series of events, we may never hope to foresee the eternal consequences of the Lord's leading up to that paint. For that would involve seeing the Divine Providence in the face, since we live in time; seeing it before instead of after the event in which it occurs.
     In general, we may see the Divine Providence in the Word as nowhere else. We may see it in the letter in such inspired stories as those of Joseph and Moses, and of the Lord's leading of the sons of Israel. In the letter of the Word as now opened in the Writings we may see it in the story of the Lord's passion and resurrection. And in the Writings we may see it in what has been revealed about the Lord's preparation of Swedenborg for his use. In all these things we may see how the Divine Providence operated in the past; and we may know and believe that although it cannot be seen it is operating in the same way now, and will so operate in our lives if we follow its leading.
     But we may see the Divine Providence most effectively, as distinct from seeing its results, by trying to understand how it is that the Lord seeks to lead and teach us through His Word. In that leading and teaching all the laws, all the efforts, of the Divine Providence are centered, and in them it indeed looks to what is infinite and eternal. The more we are able to understand these two things, the more will we see the Divine Providence as a government over the lives and destinies of men. It is true that we may be privileged occasionally to catch a fleeting and obscure glimpse of the operation of Providence in our lives, though one that will evoke a deep acknowledgment. But the more we seek to understand the Divine Providence, the less will we be concerned to see the results of its operations, the more desirous to see from the Word how the Lord would have us will and think and act. It is understandable that men should desire the confirmation of seeing the Divine Providence from time to time, and signs of its presence are not lacking; but the real signs of its unfailing presence and operation are the teachings of the Word through which it leads all who will follow.

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PLEA FOR NEW CHURCH TEACHERS 1955

PLEA FOR NEW CHURCH TEACHERS MARGARET BOSTOCK 1955

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     Today we live on top of a great heap of civilizations which have developed on our insignificant earth. In the midst of these occurred the birth of the Lord, a most marvelous experience for our world.
     Ten hundred to fourteen hundred years later the Christian world realized through art the wonder and importance of this event. Then marvelous works of Christian art were produced. Note this: it took hundreds of years to work toward this height of art production which affected building, sculpture, painting, mosaic, glass, and handcrafts.
     In Providence, the story of our Lord's birth has been preserved in purity. In Providence, many works of art, both Christian and pre-Christian, have been preserved. The fine museums of our day are doing their part to preserve them for future generations and to teach us more and more about these treasures. What New Church man could know about authentic works from Ur of the Chaldees without the assistance of these scientific workers?
     When we are young we learn to do big things of ourselves, and it takes a lifetime to learn that most of what we have, or know, is really the result of the lives of those who came before us. This refers directly to our parents, grandparents and teachers, as well as to friends and associates.
     This is indeed a long introduction to my subject, which is this: any New Church girl today who has time and inclination would do well to prepare herself as a New Church teacher.
     Why? you may ask. All right, here are some answers. The work of the New Jerusalem is just starting. The Last Judgment took place a little less than two hundred years ago. What are two hundred years in the building of a new church? From the point of view of time they are as nothing. However, from the point of view of world civilization they may be very much. Civilizations have, in the history of man, always been built up from religious beliefs. This will be no exception.
     The past two hundred years have brought our school into being. It is here to increase right thinking on important subjects. The more families that are started in life with sensible, right thinking, the more rapidly will our church grow.
     This is the key point in my argument. Every New Church woman who prepares to become a teacher prepares at the same time to become a better New Church mother. Whether she applies her knowledge in the classroom or in the home makes no difference to her school. In the Academy we know that this is the way to get New Church principles built into the lives of the people.

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     However, since it has become the custom for our New Church teachers to get married almost as soon as we have them prepared, we may soon be in a fix to find enough teachers. The need for young men and women to enter the teaching profession is very real! The need is upon us!
     What can the Academy give to the student teacher that cannot be got elsewhere? An independent approach to the subject as a whole is most important, an approach which values each step according to principles drawn from revelation and not from schemes for achieving ends which are derived from man-made philosophies. This approach to learning is most easily grasped and made to work when the student is at the beginning of rationality, at the beginning of adult life. It takes hold hard at the time when young people are deciding to be confirmed and to join the church of their own free will. Thereafter they are apt to question points of view that differ from the norm, which is to rely first on revelation and second on man-made plans.
     The church is growing. While our numbers are still very small in the world as a whole, they are now too large for us to count on chance for passing along important differences in thinking. We need to make an organized effort to help our young people. Fifty years ago, when the Academy was first building real school buildings and the church building was naught but a vague dream, the enthusiasm of our elders was perhaps a safer guard than it can be today. Today we need trained teachers-trained to understand the reasons for the basic customs and traditions of the New Church.
     These ideas have been given practical force by Bishop Benade, Miss Alice Grant, and the ministers and teachers whom they taught. In turn, Father Pendleton, Bishop N. D. Pendleton, and many other ministers and teachers added to the store. Today we are directly influenced by Dr. Acton and our present Bishops, the Rt. Rev. George de Charms and the pt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton, and by all those who share in the work.
     New Church education will be built up like the civilizations of the past. Our accomplishments must rest on the progress that has gone before us. We, in our turn, must pass along the best that we have gained in order to build a safe future for the new civilization now in its infancy. The New Jerusalem is to descend from God out of heaven. Are we to be instruments helping in this great work? We must try!
     Young people, if you feel an urge to teach, the New Church needs you now!
          MARGARET BOSTOCK

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GUARDIAN OF CONJUGIAL LOVE 1955

GUARDIAN OF CONJUGIAL LOVE C. E. DOERING 1955

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     In your February issue [pp. 69-75] there is an article entitled "The 'Guardian of Conjugial Love'" by the Rev. Ormond Odhner, in which he says that "he has long looked for the statement that 'woman is the guardian of conjugial love,' but cannot find it, even by implication." As I understand the Writings, there are several passages which teach or imply that woman is the guardian of conjugial love.
     Conjugial Love 372 reads in part: "Conjugial love protects itself [semet tutatur] by the understanding as good does by truth; thus the wife protects those things which she has in common with the man by her husband." The preposition translated "by" is per in the Latin, which indicates the instrument through or by means of which something is done. In Conjugial Love 155a we have: "Our wives know all the states of our minds, and nothing at all is hidden from them; they see, perceive, and feel whatever goes forth from our will. . . . Wives have this gift because they are most tender loves, and as it were ardent zeals for the preservation [conservatione] of conjugial friendship and confidence, and so for the happiness of the life of both, which they look out for both for their husbands and for themselves from wisdom implanted in their love."
     In the "Index to the Missing Work on Marriage" we read, under Sex: "As woman is beautiful so is she tender, as she is tender so she has the ability to perceive the delights of conjugial love; and as she is able to perceive these delights, so is she the faithful custodian [custos] of the common good; and as she is the custodian of the common good, and the man is wise, so she looks after the prosperity and happiness of the home." In these passages three different Latin words are used: tute, meaning to guard, protect; conserve, to preserve, to keep from injury; and custodio, to watch, protect, defend, guard; as if to indicate the scope of woman's guardianship.
     From these passages I think our forefathers were justified in stating that "woman is the guardian of conjugial love"; but the saying does not excuse man from the responsibility he has also for guarding conjugial love. There is one more passage, concerning the wisdom of angel wives (CL 208), in which the wise women, replying to Swedenborg's question about the arcana of conjugial love, are said to have answered: "They are arcana, and some so far surpass your wisdom that the understanding of your thought cannot comprehend them. You glory over us on account of your wisdom, but we do not glory over you on account of ours, and yet ours exceeds yours because it enters into your inclinations and affections, and sees, perceives, and feels them. You know nothing at all about the inclinations and affections of your love, and yet these are the things from which and according to which your understanding thinks, consequently from which and according to which you are wise; and yet wives know them in their husbands so well that they see them in their faces, hear them in the tones of the speech out of their mouths, and feel them upon their breasts, arms, and cheeks.

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But from the zeal of love for your happiness, and at the same time for our own, we feign not to know them, and yet we moderate them so prudently that whatever is to the liking, pleasure, and will of our husbands we follow, by permitting and suffering it, only bending its direction when possible, but never forcing it."
C. E. DOERING
ENGAGEMENT AND BETROTHAL 1955

ENGAGEMENT AND BETROTHAL RAYMOND PITCAIRN 1955

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     The article by the Rev. Morley Rich in NEW CHURCH LIFE for February [pp. 55, 56] entitled "Engagement and Betrothal," and the communication bearing the same title by the Rev. Ormond Odhner in the March issue [p. 140], have brought to mind the following thoughts and questions.
     Is not the state of engagement-from time immemorial, and poetically even today, called betrothal-included broadly in the Writings under the teaching and title of betrothal?
     Certainly before the rite of betrothal is arranged, and the spiritual marriage of betrothal solemnized, there must be a plighting of troth by the engagement or original consent to marriage, which in the New Church is established, strengthened, and confirmed by the solemn rite of betrothal. When consent is pledged the formal engagement exists; and, according to custom, is announced and is given public recognition.
     The article in February LIFE treats of the way to marriage through a definite series of progression of orderly states which, according to the author, are set forth in the article "as taught by the Writings."
     Following the period of courtship the author lists that of consent-which consent effects the engagement.

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This stage he lists as the step of "Preliminary and perhaps even provisional consent." "Provisional consent" would seem to imply a trial or provisional engagement; otherwise, what is meant by "provisional consent"? It is the belief of your correspondent that most well disposed Christian couples, as well as New Church couples and their families, would regard a provisional engagement as repugnant to a sincere plighting of troth, made in mutual confidence and pledged in complete loyalty.
     Following the period of consent or engagement the article lists the state of "Further exploration and learning of each other's disposition, religion, and various external traits." Should a young man or young woman educated in the Academy or the General Church wait until after consent, either preliminary or even provisional, before making thorough "exploration and learning of each other's disposition, religion, and various external traits"? Might not pursuing such a precipitate course likely lead to engagements entered into without the knowledge upon which engagements in the New Church should properly rest?
     Following betrothal comes, in the words of the author, the state of "Exploration and drawing together of the minds and spirits, but now from only the affirmative attitude without anything of negative doubt or indecision." Are not the state of engagement, the period after betrothal is solemnized, and the first state following the wedding, all states in which remains of conjugial love are implanted by the Lord-states which, in the Lord's mercy, are not normally saddened by negative doubt, indecision, or uncertain loyalty?
     Is it not true that before their engagement and its announcement many, if not most, couples have reached and maintained an "affirmative attitude . . . without anything of negative doubt or indecision"? Do not most happily espoused couples regard their engagement as the sacred covenant of their constant and undying love?
     But according to the article it seems that the engagement state and the state of spiritual marriage entered into through betrothal are beset in some degree by "negative doubt or indecision."
     For most well disposed and happy couples have not negative doubt and indecision, the thought of "preliminary and perhaps even provisional consent," and "exploration of each other's disposition, religion, and various external traits" been left far behind in those periods of "preliminary attraction and friendship" and "courting," and been succeeded by blessed states of security; of mutual confidence, loyalty and faith, that their love will remain true and steadfast forever?
     What do the Writings teach concerning the period of engagement, betrothal and nuptials? "That there is such conjugial love as is described in the following pages may indeed be acknowledged from the first state of the love, when it is insinuating itself and entering into the heart of a young man and a maiden; that is, with those who are beginning to love one only of the sex and to desire her for a bride; and still more during the time of betrothal, while it is lingering and progressing to the nuptials; and finally at the nuptials, and during the first days that follow them. Who does not then acknowledge and assent to the propositions which follow: that this love is the fundamental of all loves, and that into this love are gathered all joys and delights from first to last" (CL 58).

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     The reason given is that in these states "the love of the sex, which is unchaste, is then cast out, and implanted in its place resides the love of one of the sex, which is love truly conjugial and is. chaste." But unhappily, in this age of iron mixed with clay, conjugial cold extinguishes love truly conjugial. As said in the number quoted: "These states of gladness decline and pass away." Lovers forget, nor do they care to recall, states of their primitive love, the "earliest love of marriage"; which states "emulate love truly conjugial and present it to view in a certain image. This is so because their love of the sex, which is unchaste, is cast aside, and love of one of the sex, which is love truly conjugial and chaste, is implanted and resides in its place. Who does not then look upon other women without love, and upon his only one with love?" (CL 58).
     In the March issue of LIFE your correspondent read with appreciation and a sense of full accord the summary of the "steps" actually outlined in the Writings given by the Rev. Ormond Odhner in answer to those set forth in the article in the February LIFE herein commented upon.
     As regards the subject of "early betrothals" advocated by Mr. Odhner, many of us of an older generation were brought up and believe in the traditional view favoring, where possible, a period of several months, or at least some weeks, between the consummation of the rite which sanctifies the spiritual marriage and the wedding of husband and wife. The reasons given for our practice and tradition always seemed convincing to the writer. A restatement and discussion of our tradition by one of our ministers would surely prove of value and interest to the readers of the LIFE. Certainly a reconsideration of traditional practices and beliefs when proposed in the spirit of Mr. Odhner's thesis is always in order, and useful for the younger generation and the older, too, even if we older people, or some of us, may prove unpliable as regards a new concept or change!
     RAYMOND PITCAIRN

     [EDITORIAL NOTE: Until Mr. Pitcairn's suggestion is taken up our readers may be interested in the following chronological list of articles on the subject of Betrothal published in NEW CHURCH LIFE.

General article on, Bishop W. F. Pendleton, 1919, p. 633
Relation of to marriage, 1919, p. 639; 1920, p. 65
Reflections on the Use of Betrothal, Rev. G. H. Smith, 1924, pp. 630, 740; 1925, p. 117
Interval Between Betrothal and Marriage, 1919, p. 639
Betrothal, article by Rev. Elmo C. Acton, 1943, p. 201
Betrothal, article by Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, 1947, p. 19]

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Church News 1955

Church News Various 1955

     SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE

     Because of other responsibilities in the General Church and in the Sons of the Academy which he has recently acquired, Mr. George H. Woodard has resigned as Treasurer of the Committee, and Mr. William B. Alden has been appointed Treasurer in his stead. With the publication of the 1955 Catalog, Mrs. George H. Woodard has resigned as Librarian, and Miss Margaret Wilde has accepted appointment to that office.
     Mr. and Mrs. Woodard had been members of the Sound Recording Committee from its inception, holding continuously the offices they have just vacated, and they were active in the experimental work that preceded the formation of the Committee. They have thus been associated with tape-recording in the General Church for seven years, and their part in planning and maintaining the organization of the Committee's work contributed in large measure to the increasing success of this use. It was the unanimous desire of the officers that this tribute should accompany the announcement of these changes in the Committee's personnel.

     LONDON, ENGLAND

     Our sincere regrets at the hastened return to the United States of the Rev. Morley D. Rich and family can perhaps best be tempered by the hope that Mr. Rich recovers completely from his illness and by the certainty that the delightful experiences which we shared have led to a new appraisal of uses. Before Mr. Rich came to London the Society had entered upon a post war revival. Under his leadership the position was consolidated remarkably, not only in terms of membership and activity but also in a keener response by the members generally.
     When a society includes many comparatively new members it is not easy to proceed smoothly to a state of real unanimity arising from a truly representative sense of responsibility. The old and the new must be led to act upon rather than through each other. Also, too passive new element gives rise to the appearance that sway is being exercised by the old. Thanks, however, to Mr. Rich's solid and sympathetic leadership which pushed or pampered no one but prompted everyone, the Society appears to have approached a new phase of expressiveness and versatility characterized by a lively but balanced outlook.
     In Mr. Rich's presentation of doctrine we came to expect that originality of thought which is impossible apart from-a searching preparation of the subject, whereby the infinite arrangements and applications of truths may be adequately and authoritatively sounded. Mr. Rich's executive ability and energy are well known, and from them came that efficient care for the perfection of lay uses by which the life of a society is advanced. We shall remember him, too, as the first chairman of the British Academy. New Church education in England has a long way to go; if it fails to make progress it will be because we fail to work for it with the same courage and vision as our first chairman. With these things in mind we again wish Mr. Rich all strength in the future. Our best wishes go also to Mrs. Rich and the children, and we need not describe how much we miss their part in the work and pleasures of this grateful society.

     A society meeting to consider methods of choosing a pastor proved to be more productive than one might have expected, and it tended to confirm the impression that members were not going to seek harmony and stability in haste or indiscriminately. There was not a lame fixity of stiffed ideas and unchallenged persuasions, but a healthy variety of reactions was voiced. Every speaker had his vital point pertaining to freedom, responsibility, and protection of the use of the priesthood. The main question was the interpretation of the teaching concerning action and reaction between the clergy and the laity in reference to an orderly method of choosing a pastor.

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The Society finally voted to make a choice in open meeting, since there was no reason to believe that the use of the priesthood would not be carefully guarded by every member.
     The meeting was presided over by the Rev. Alan Gill, who later conducted a doctrinal class on a subject with which the radio had been stirring the nation-"Morals Without Religion." Mr. Gill exposed, step by step, the fallacy in the position taken in the broadcasts, starting with the necessity of an acknowledgment of God and concluding with the significance of shunning evils as sins.

     Owing to Mr. Rich's illness the service on December 19th was conducted by a layman, who read a sermon by the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson on "The First Messianic Prophecy." In the afternoon a program prepared by Mr. Frank Coulson was introduced by the children with a carol. Readings from the Old and New Testaments and the Writings followed, with Mr. Coulson enlarging upon the readings and stressing the central theme. It was so enjoyable that someone claimed to be a little sad when it was time to say goodby and a happy Christmas!

     There is little space left to report on engagements and activities in detail, but these are proceeding according to plan. The very young and the very old helped to make the Sale of Work a success to the jingle, or rustle, of L47-0-0. In the Swedenborg's birthday program Mr. Coulson read a paper by Mr. Rich on "The Messiah About to Come." Other papers by various speakers have received the attention of the Women's Guild; and altogether there is so much going on in various ways that your reporter often wonders if he is abreast of the times.
     COLIN M. GREENHALGH

     KITCHENER, ONTARIO

     Our celebration of the Advent began with tableaux on the Sunday evening before Christmas. The story was told in five scenes: first, the prophecy of the Virgin Birth by Isaiah to King Ahaz; second, the annunciation to Mary; third, the adoration of the shepherds; fourth, the wise men and the star; fifth, the presentation in the Temple and Simeon's blessing. The church hall was filled to capacity for this much enjoyed annual event. The congregation took part by singing Christmas hymns and the children recited their Christmas recitation. The pastor introduced the scenes and read from the Word.
     The festival service on Christmas Eve had a record attendance of 171, which included all the children and babies and many visitors who were home for the holiday. Trees and greens and red candies decorated the chancel, and two representations were set up at the right of the chancel. At the close of the service the children received bright red packages of fruit and candy, a thing which they always anticipate and receive with great delight. An adult service was held on Christmas morning, and the following day, Sunday, the Holy Supper was administered in the evening.
     The school children had a party, sponsored by Theta Alpha, after Christmas, and the high school young people enjoyed a bowling party. On New Year's Eve a dance was held at the church for which the assembly hall was colorfully decorated with balloons and orange and blue streamers. Midnight happy New Year greetings and gaiety were followed by a lunch, a sing-song, and more dancing.
     A banquet was held on January 21st, and instead of the Swedenborg's birthday program customary at that time we were introduced to the Sons' new Tuition Certificate Dividend Plan. Toastmaster Roger Kuhl introduced Mr. Robert E. Synnestvedt of Bryn Athyn who was guest speaker for the evening. He outlined the new plan, which will be a great help to parents saving money for their children's education in the Academy, as each certificate will bear 3% interest and a possible 10% dividend as well each year. He spoke also of the expected growth of the Academy in the next fifteen years, and pointed out that increased facilities will mean increased educational costs to parents. Following the banquet an open house was held at the Harold Kuhl home.
     The children celebrated Swedenborg's birthday on Saturday, February 5th, commencing with a luncheon at noon. Nearly all the children took part in the speaking program, beginning with the members of the second grade, who recited Swedenborg's Rules of Life. The others spoke on the many different phases of his life. All the children wore Swedish costumes, and following the luncheon program the Carmel School children performed several Swedish dances, after which games were played.

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     Early in February the Society enjoyed a weekend visit from the Rev. and Mrs. Roy Franson and several of their parishioners, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Lempke of Gorand Prairie, Alberta, and Mrs. Erdman Heinrichs of Dawson Creek, B. C. An open house was held at the George Schnarr home on Saturday evening, and more than 60 people gathered to greet the visitors and hear about the Northwest. The occasion will be remembered by the Society as the last party held at the George Schnarr home as the house, one of the oldest and largest in the Society, has since been sold. The following morning we had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Franson preach.
     Other events in February included the Theta Alpha banquet for the ladies, featuring a delightful meal, the reading of papers on conjugial love and women's uses, and entertainment in the form of games. A Scrabble and card party-organized by Betty Steen, Peter Gill, and Denis Kuhl-was held at the end of the month. After we had concentrated on the various games much fun was had during refreshments, when the prize winners, including the first ten to arrive, discovered that they had to work for their prizes.
     Following Friday Supper on March 4th, a special meeting of the Society was held to hear a report from the Community Feasibility Committee, which was first elected in September, 1953, to investigate the possibility of starting a community outside the city; this because some time in the future we may find it advantageous or necessary to give up our four-acre property in the center of town. One of the reasons for considering a community is that the Frederick Emmanuel Doering Will eventually makes money available to the Academy for educational purposes within a twenty-mile radius of Kitchener. The meeting heard reports on various aspects of the subject including an example of a community project, using the Henry Heinrichs farm and adjacent land as a possibility. After much discussion the committee asked the Society to vote on accepting the idea of forming a community without reference to time or place. A substantial majority voted affirmatively.
     VIVIAN KUHL

     TORONTO, CANADA

     Three busy months have elapsed since our last report. During that time the various organizations of the Society have been in full swing. The only breakdown occurred when the principal and the teacher of the day school were both sick; school was closed for one day.
     The members of Theta Alpha and of the Ladies Circle hold their meetings monthly in various homes. Theta Alpha has finished the book entitled The Sermon on the Mount by the Rev. Richard H. Teed, and at the February meeting the Rev. Martin Pryke addressed the women on "Nunc Licet-the Writings a Rational Revelation." To the Ladies Circle our pastor has been reading Bishop de Charms' paper on the Divine Providence. The business portion of the February meeting of the Circle took the form of a shower for Miss Stephanie Starkey on the occasion of her marriage to Mr. Ivan Crampton. The meeting was held at the home of Mrs. Edith Knight, and there were 46 ladies present. Stephanie, sitting under a large and decorative umbrella, received many lovely and useful gifts. The Forward-Sons continue to hold their monthly meetings at the church hall. Their evening begins with a supper, and this is followed by a paper prepared by one of their members.
     During doctrinal class, still held on Wednesday after a society supper, we have enjoyed a series of classes on regeneration as considered in various chapters of True Christian Religion. On March 16th, the semi-annual meeting of the Society took the place of the class. At that time reports were heard from the various organizations of our Society. The young people continue to meet weekly and are studying the work The Doctrine of Charity. The out-of-school young people, who meet monthly, are talcing up the work The Intercourse of the Soul and the Body.
     At our regular weekly supper on January 19th we celebrated Swedenborg's birthday. As the Ministers' Meetings were to be held at the end of January the date had been pushed ahead so that our pastor could be with us, but he took sick and we were obliged to carry on without him. The supper tables were gay with daffodils, blue candles, and Swedish flags in honor of the occasion. At 8:00 o'clock about 60 people gathered in the assembly hall, where Mr. Reginald S. Anderson introduced the formal part of the evening.

253

He then read a paper written by the Rev. Karl R. Alden and published in the NEW PHILOSOPHY. This paper showed how all the circumstances and influences in Swedenborg's life, including his heredity, gradually prepared him up to the time when his spiritual eyes were opened for the writing of the Arcana Coelestia, which was begun in 1748.
     On February 4th, Theta Alpha gave a supper party for the school children in honor of Swedenborg's birthday. The party opened with the playing of games, which were followed by supper and the reading by the children of papers concerning the life of Swedenborg.

     On the first Sunday of the month the Rev. Martin Pryke has been giving a series of sermons on the moral virtues. These sermons provide much food for thought for both young and old. Our pastor has also been giving a talk to the children during the service every Sunday, and these talks are most instructive and enjoyable. On January 23rd, as our pastor was ill, we had a lay service conducted by Mr. R. S. Anderson. On Sunday, March 13th, two ministers took part in the service; the Rev. Martin Pryke officiating at the baptism of the young son of Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Scott, and the Rev. Norman H. Reuter preaching a sermon on faith.

     The Ladies Circle sponsored a lecture and film on the making of Spode china on Friday, January 21st, the proceeds going to our church building fund. It was a most interesting and entertaining evening. Refreshments were served after the lecture, and everyone had an opportunity to look at the china which was on display.
     On February 19th a group of "children," each trying to look younger than the next, met at the church hall, which had been gaily decorated with red hearts and lace trimmings. We drew pictures, taxed our brains for the right answers, and played various games. After refreshments had been served another successful social came to an end.
     The March social, held on the 18th, was a square dance, with Mrs. Tucker calling the squares. We are becoming quite adept at this form of dancing and can go through the sets now without too much rehearsing beforehand.

     A fresh pine decorated church was the setting for the wedding of Miss Stephanie Starkey and Mr. Ivan Crampton on February 12th, the Rev. Martin Pryke officiating. Miss Alethe Starkey was maid-of-honor for her sister, and Mr. David Starkey came from Bryn Athyn to act as best man.
     We were delighted to hear the music of violin, organ, and French horn, played by Mrs. Eleanor Hansen, Miss Korene Schnarr, and Mr. John Starkey, respectively. A reception was held in the hall after the wedding. Toasts were proposed and refreshments were served. It was nice to meet Mr. Crampton, the father of the groom, who flew from England for the wedding, and the many other visitors who were here. A wedding dance concluded the festive occasion.

     It is with deep regret that we record here the sudden passing into the spiritual world of Mrs. Percy H. Izzard (Vera Louise Kuhl), on January 22nd, 1955. She died suddenly on the way home from a pleasant afternoon's visit at the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. Knight. Her passing was a great shock to everyone, and the loss of her presence is felt very keenly by the Society, of which she had been a zealous supporter for many years.
     KATHERINE BARBER

     SWEDENBORG SOCIETY (INC.)

     The Swedenborg Society's celebration of Swedenborg's birthday took place on the 267th anniversary of his birth, January 29, 1955. The meeting was held as usual at Swedenborg Hall, where upwards of 120 people gathered for this annual occasion. For the first time for many years there was no fog, frost, snow, or transport strike to hamper or prevent attendance.
     The meeting began with tea, served in the hall. It has been remarked on previous occasions that at gatherings of New Church people all that is wanted in the way of entertainment is an opportunity to talk to each other, and that was amply borne out at this birthday party. Plenty of time for conversation was allowed in the somewhat elastic and unofficial program of events and full advantage was taken of it.
     An exhibition of books, manuscripts, portraits, and so on in connection with the address which was to be given later in the evening had been arranged in the Wynter Room and in the Book Room. An opportunity to examine these at leisure was given when tea was over and a number of people showed great interest in them.
     The more formal part of the program began about six o'clock, with the President, Mr. Alan A. Drummond, in the chair.

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After welcoming everyone present, reading messages, and making introductory remarks about the importance of the occasion, Mr. Drummond introduced Miss Violet Pusey who, with her accompanist, Miss Phyllis Norbrook, delighted the audience with violin solos. The President then called on Dr. Freda Griffith to give her address on "The Society: 1860-1910"; reminding the audience that this was a continuation of the address given at the birthday meeting last year, which dealt in an authentic and inspiring way with the history of the first fifty years of the Society's life. That address had been placed in the archives of the Society, and was considered by the Council to be of such importance that it had been printed and distributed to all members so that all should have the opportunity of reading it and becoming better acquainted with the self-sacrificing service on which the Society has been built and maintained through the years. The story of the second fifty years would, he felt sure, be equally interesting and stimulating; and the Society was fortunate to have someone able to give the time to research, and to put together these accounts which will be valuable not only to the present membership but also to generations to come.
     Dr. Griffith began by quoting some words of Dr. Rudolph Tafel on the value of looking back on the history of the Society "lest it proceed in a series of interminable ruts." The period began with the "White case"-White, the manager who turned spiritualist, and with the support of the Secretary and Treasurer defied the Committee for many months-and ended with the International Congress of 1910. It was a period of intense activity for the Society, which is apparent when it is recalled that it included Tafel's work on the photolithographic reproduction of the MSS., and his Documents Concerning Swedenborg; Potts' Swedenborg Concordance; Searle's Index; Hyde's Bibliography; Stroh's work on the phototype reproductions; and the first sixpenny editions of the Writings as well as all the publications associated with the 1910 Congress itself. Some of the men prominent in this history were Thomas Watson, Treasurer in all for nearly thirty years; Henry Butter, of spelling-book fame and Secretary of the Society; and Garth Wilkinson, Samuel Teed, Col. Bevington, Charles Higham, F. A. Gardiner, David Wynter, and Howard Spalding; as well as those mentioned above-Tafel, Hyde, Potts, Searle, and Stroh.
     The audience heard with pleasure a description in Potts' own words of how he did his stupendous work of preparing the Concordance; and of how, in spite of his being afflicted with severe cramp, the timely invention of the typewriter enabled him, under Providence, to complete his great work. The Rev. Arthur Beilby's description of his feeling on seeing Heaven and Hell in the cheap edition on railway bookstalls was one of the lighter and more humorous interludes in the selection of facts and figures which, as the speaker emphasized, were only a few of the highlights in the Society's history.
     Miss Pusey played another group of solos, which were enthusiastically encored; and the audience was then shown lantern slides which included portraits of some of the men referred to in the talk, a page of the Concordance, a page of the Bibliography, the removal of Swedenborg's remains to Sweden, and the Congress of 1910.
     The exhibits mentioned in the paper included all the gifts presented to the Society at the Congress-bound volumes, illuminated Latin addresses, and so on-as well as various portraits and photographs, a silver inkstand which had been the property of John Flaxman, and a bust of Swedenborg modeled on the measurements of his skull.
     The President invited comments on the paper, which came from several present, and then moved votes of thanks to Dr. Griffith and to all the others who had contributed to the success of the evening. Mr. Dan Chapman, Chairman of the Council, then expressed the appreciation of the meeting for Mr. Drummond's genial chairmanship.
     So ended an evening which all agreed had been a singularly happy, even joyous one, filled with the spirit of good will proper to a birthday party and demonstrating an interest in, and love for, the uses of the Swedenborg Society which will go far in encouraging the Council in its work during the next twelve months.
     FREDA G. GRIFFITH

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Convention.-The 132nd Annual Session of the General Convention will be held in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, June 17-19, with preliminary meetings of auxiliary bodies from June 14. The Council of Ministers will convene on June 14.

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GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS 1955

GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS HUBERT HYATT 1955

     Announcements.
     The 1955 Annual Corporation Meetings of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in the Benade Hall Auditorium, Bryn Athyn, Pa., on Wednesday, June 15th, 1955, at 8:00 p.m., D.S.T. Notices are being mailed.
     HUBERT HYATT,
          Secretary.
ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH 1955

ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH E. BRUCE GLENN 1955

     The Annual Joint Meeting of the Corporation and Faculty of the Academy of the New Church will be held in the Benade Hall Auditorium on Saturday, June 4, 1955, at 8:00 p.m.
     After reports by officers of the Academy Schools, and discussion thereof, an address will be delivered by Professor Edward F. Allen.
     The public is cordially invited to attend.
          E. BRUCE GLENN,
               Secretary.
SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION 1955

SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION WILFRED HOWARD 1955

     The Fifty-eighth Annual Meeting of the Swedenborg Scientific Association will be held at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, May 25, 1955, in the auditorium of Benade Hall, at 8:00 p.m.
     The usual reports will be given, after which Mr. Kenneth Rose will deliver the Annual Address.
     WILFRED HOWARD.
          Secretary.
MINISTERIAL CHANGES 1955

MINISTERIAL CHANGES 1955

The Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen, pastor of the Pittsburgh Society, has accepted a call to the pastorate of the Stockholm Society, Sweden, which became vacant; with the Rev. Erik Sandstrom's acceptance of a call to London, England, The call was extended at a meeting held on April 10th, and Mr. Boyesen expects to go to Sweden some time in August.
SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1955

SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1955

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DIVINE TEMPLE 1955

DIVINE TEMPLE Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXV          JUNE, 1955               No. 6
     "And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God the Almighty is the temple of it, and the Lamb." (Revelation 21:22)

     The last book of the New Testament-the Apocalypse, or the Revelation of Jesus Christ-is written in the style of the prophetic writings, its message being deeply shrouded in symbolic language. It describes the visions of John, the beloved disciple, concerning things which then were and things which would be thereafter at the consummation of the Christian age.
     Opening with a vision of the Son of Man, the Divine Human, the book describes the tribulations of the Christian faithful in the spiritual world, where hordes of evil spirits seek to lord it over the simple good while, for their protection, the Word of God is opened in heaven, and the angelic heavens are prepared to draw nearer as the Last Judgment approaches by degrees. Then John sees the heavens opened and the Redeemer comes, His name the Word of God; and out of His mouth goes forth a sword with which He should smite the nations. Then the judgment breaks out in full force; the powers of evil and falsity are finally defeated, and all the dead are seen standing before the white throne of judgment to be judged according to the deeds of their hearts.
     And then John saw a new heaven and a new earth, for with the Last Judgment the former corrupted heaven of Christians and the former earth in the world of spirits had been abolished. And the holy city, New Jerusalem, descended from God out of the new heaven-a city of gold and crystal with walls and foundations of jasper and precious stones, an eternal city of truth into which no deceit or defilement could enter, but where the river of the water of life flowed forth from the throne of God.
     It is now given to man to know that "all the things which are predicted in the Apocalypse are at this day fulfilled" (LJ 40).

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For this holy book does not predict the earthly history of men or nations, but describes what would take place in the spiritual world at the end of the first Christian Church. And there the Last Judgment-at the thought of which so many have trembled-has indeed already been completed. There the New Jerusalem, in its calm and tender glory, is already firmly established; and thence it is constantly descending into human hearts, as far as these are purified of selfish loves and prepared by charity and by faith.
     The descent of the New Jerusalem from God out of heaven may be seen from various aspects. In the spiritual sense, the foursquare city represents a structure of Divine truths, a doctrine present among the angels as the Heavenly Doctrine and seen by them in their Word, and now revealed out of heaven by Divine inspiration and formulated in the theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, the servant of the Lord. In the Writings their New Jerusalem now exists on earth as an objective reality. Yet it is equally true that the holy city has not come to us unless its truth is acknowledged and received in our minds and lives. It is a spiritual coming, a matter not of doctrine alone but of life; and hence John saw it also as a virgin bride adorned for a celestial marriage, and he heard a great voice saying: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them. . . . And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes" (Revelation 21:3, 4).
     God dwells with men in His tabernacle when this Divinely revealed doctrine is in their minds to receive Him, and men are conjoined to Him by living according to the truths of the Word. There is no conjunction on earth or in heaven except by a life according to common truths. It is mutual conceptions of natural facts and uses that hold men together in civic societies in this world. It is common perceptions of spiritual needs and of the truths of heavenly faith and charity that are the means which hold the church on earth in social unity and strength. So it is also with angelic societies-with the church in heaven. Love is indeed what brings about a conjunction, but love alone is powerless to maintain it without the truths which love recognizes as its form and image, its tabernacle and dwelling place, the medium by which it can perform its uses and express its inner intents.
     And the tabernacle of God which descends as a city of truth, a revelation of the Heavenly Doctrine, is none other than the abiding place of God with men, the receptive plane which invites the influx of the Lord's life into our minds and lives; the influx of that love and charity which, without truth to receive it, would be dissipated and lost to our minds, and would be turned into merely sensual and corporeal life as the life of the beasts of the field.

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     The tabernacle of God now with men therefore signifies in the supreme sense the Lord's Divine Human which is the inmost of the doctrine of the Word, and indeed the revelation of the Divine Human as to the good of the Divine love. Yet in the vision of John this tabernacle is identified with the city, New Jerusalem, which signifies the church as to its heavenly doctrine. For to receive that doctrine in heart and life is to receive the Lord in a tabernacle where alone He can dwell in His own with men.
     Unless we reflect, it may appear strange thus to think of God in His Divine Human as visible in the form of revealed doctrine. Yet God can not be seen by mortal eyes, but by the eyes of the mind or spirit. "God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in "truth" (John 4:24). And truth, when seen from within, is one with life itself. To answer Pilate's question, truth is not a collection of knowledges, or facts, but an order and a pattern of life-an infinite body which sets forth the flow of creative life in the form of celestial, spiritual, and natural truths or laws which are all organically connected and cooperant, like the fibers, viscera, organs, and members of the living human body which is created in its distant image (see AR 916). Truth is human in form, and nothing can be recognized as truth unless it is seen in its relation to the Divine Human of the Lord the Creator who is present with men in His tabernacle of revealed doctrine.
     In the Writings, when these are viewed spiritually, we recognize the Lord coming in His Divinely Human truth-inviting men to commune with Him in His tabernacle of doctrine, and to dwell in the city whose walls keep out all evil, yet whose gates are never shut because there shall be no night there. This Divine doctrine is not the invention or even the discovery of men; it is the Lord's alone. Yet He grants men to use it as their own, to think and speak and act from it as if from themselves. He uses angels and men as His instruments in extending the text of His doctrine ever more widely over the nations that can be saved and that may walk in the light of it.
     Thus we learn that when the "Universal Theology" had been drafted by Swedenborg's inspired pen, the Lord called together His twelve disciples, now angels, and sent them forth, each to his own province, over the whole spiritual world, to announce the new gospel of His second advent and invite all spirits into the tabernacle of His Heavenly Doctrine (TCR 791; cf. 4, 108).
     And as in heaven, so also on earth. The Lord has left it in the hands of men, as a charge to His New Church, to spread and to teach the doctrine of His new advent, and to establish places of worship in which the Lord is to be made known as He now reveals His essence and His person, so that He may thus be approached and worshiped immediately in His Divine Human.

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     What, then, is the meaning of John's testimony as to the New Jerusalem: "I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God the Almighty is the temple of it, and the Lamb"?
     The Writings record that even in heaven there are temples and churches, priests and preachers, a written Word and external worship. They show that in the New Church on earth there must be an ordained and ordered ministry or priesthood to govern and administer the things that relate to heaven and the church, and to teach revealed truths and thereby lead to the good of life (HD 311-318). They show that where the church is in order the Lord operates by the Holy Spirit, which is His proceeding as the Word, through the clergy into the laity, and that the clergyman is to be inaugurated by the promise of the Holy Spirit and by the representation of its transfer; although with both clergy and laity the reception of enlightenment is according to the faith of man's life, and thus according to states of repentance, affection, and perception (Canons, HS, iv; TCR 155).
     But John saw no temple in the New Jerusalem: no temple such as he had known in old Jerusalem, with animal sacrifices and ceremonial purifications and rites of atonement used as covers for self-interest, hypocrisy, and cunning greed. John saw no temple, in the Jewish sense, in the holy city-no external worship which lacked a genuine internal, no superstitious adoration of outward objects, no magical use of externals as a substitute for spiritual regeneration. Therefore he added: "For the Lord God the Almighty is the temple of it, and the Lamb."
     Everything of the New Church is from the Lord in His Divine Human. What is not from the Lord does not belong to the New Church. Any external of worship or of life that is separated from the genuine internal that is of the Lord is not of the New Jerusalem. In the New Church no externals must be the objects of worship or be regarded as holy in themselves, but must be used and regarded as the means to an internal worship of the Lord, which is performed not for the sake of self, but finds expression in charity and faith.
     John therefore reports that "the street of the city was pure gold, as it were pellucid glass," to signify that every truth of that church and its doctrine is in form the good of love flowing in together with light out of heaven from the Lord (AR 917). And he testifies that the city had no need of the sun or moon, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb was the light thereof; which means that the men of that church will not be in self-love, and thence in knowledges concerning God from the natural light of self-intelligence, and from glory arising from pride, but in spiritual light from the Divine truth of the Word from the Lord alone (AR 940, cf. 919).

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     This is to be the quality of the New Church-that there shall be in it no empty externals, no insincere forms without internal purpose, no external without a spiritual internal which comes from the Lord. Its outward life must be made correspondent to its Divine doctrine, that the Lord's kingdom may come, as in heaven so upon the earth.
     And it was to make that Divine doctrine known that the twelve disciples-on the 19th day of June, 1770-were sent forth each to his own region of the spiritual world, as messengers to gather the Lord's elect to the great marriage supper of the Lamb (TCR 791). And that the same use might be accomplished among men, the Lord ordains a priesthood in His church on earth for the instruction and ingathering of the "elect"-those who are in charity toward the neighbor, and therefore able to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth in the tabernacle of God.
     All souls are indeed elected for heaven, even those who are heedless of the call. But some are in Providence called-by birth or by circumstances-to be associated with the visible New Church, called to special functions and to unique privileges and responsibilities by being introduced into the knowledge of the Heavenly Doctrine even on earth. In a sense this is a Divine election. But in spiritual reality no one is of the "elect" except he measures the quality of the New Jerusalem with the golden reed of the good of love, the true measure of man and angel. No one is of the "elect" if he thinks of the doctrine from the glory and pride of his own intelligence, or from the light of the senses or the echoes of the world's anxieties and the fevered pulsing of his mortal flesh. None can dwell in the New Jerusalem but those whose spirits can abide in the serene light of the new revelation. Only those who are in the good of love and faith can effectively help to cultivate the soil of the new earth-the interior uses of the societies of the New Church on earth and in heaven.
     Only they can realize that in the holy city there is no place for an external separated from a spiritual internal, or for outward representatives without meaning; no place for pretense or insincerity in worship or in life.
     The judgment has been made. The Lamb has opened the seals of the book of life. The New Jerusalem has descended as a refuge for men's souls. But we must see, with John, that we can return in worship nothing that is from man, nothing but that which the Lord has given. The Divine of the Lord is what makes both heaven and the church. In entering His holy city our spirits must become encompassed by the sphere of truth which rules in heaven and which is embodied in the Writings of His second advent, where the form and features of the Divine Human are revealed in essence.

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     It is so that the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them-He in them, and they in Him. And God Almighty and the Lamb is the temple in which they worship. Amen.

     LESSONS: Revelation 21:1-12, 21-27, 22:1-5. TCR 784:1, 787:1, 791.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 479, 438, 478.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 93, 128.
JUNE NINETEENTH 1955

JUNE NINETEENTH Rev. BJORN A. H. BOYESEN 1955

     A New Church Day Talk to Children

     Very few men in the world realize that we are actually celebrating today one of the happiest moments in the history of the human race. For it is today exactly one hundred and eighty-five years since the Lord called together His twelve disciples, who had been with Him in the world, and a sent them throughout the entire spiritual world to preach the gospel that the Lord God Jesus Christ doth reign. That took place on the nineteenth day of June in the year 1770, the same day that Emanuel Swedenborg, the servant of the Lord, finished the work the True Christian Religion.
     It is very natural that a day of such great significance, of so great meaning, should have been prepared for long before it actually occurred. It was even in a very similar manner as it was at the time of the Lord's first advent, and yet we should realize that there was a very great difference between the Lord's first coming into the world and His second coming. The difference was that when the Lord came on the earth the first time He came actually into the world. When He made His second coming He came into the spiritual world, into the minds of angels and men.
     Now it may he somewhat difficult for you children to understand something about the Lord's second coming. And yet if we compare the Lord's second coming with His first, you can undoubtedly understand something of the wonderful meaning of this day that we celebrate now, the day of the Lord's second coming.
     You may remember that when the Lord came into the world the first time, when He was born in Bethlehem, scarcely anyone in the entire world knew about Him. The Gentiles knew nothing about Him, and even among the Jews, who had the Word, there was very little knowledge about the Lord. Nor was anything known about the spiritual world or the life after death.

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The leaders of the Jewish Church had taken the teachings of the Old Testament and had twisted and destroyed them so that no one could truly understand the Word of the Lord any longer. The people who wanted to know about the Lord, about the spiritual world, and about the life that leads to heaven, were confused. They were ill-used and downtrodden, and were living in this world as though in a hell on earth, while interiorly they longed to know the truth about the Lord and about heaven. Therefore they were living outwardly as it were in hell, but inwardly as it were in heaven.
     The leaders of the people were just the opposite. They had destroyed the meaning of the Word. They were teaching for doctrine the commandments of men. They lived in luxury and glory, and looked as if they lived in heaven; but internally they were full of every wickedness, so that while they seemed to live in heaven outwardly, inwardly they lived in hell. So they were just the opposite to the good people.
     It was that condition in the world that the Lord came to right when He came the first time. He came to teach the truth, and by means of the truth to enable the simple good people in the world to know something about the Lord, about heaven, and about the spiritual world. He wanted to set them free from their ignorance and confusion, and at the same time reveal the wickedness of the false heavens on this earth in which the leaders of the church lived. That is why the Lord came.
     And He came to that little remnant which longed for His coming. You remember how He was born in Bethlehem; how He came to Mary and Joseph, and to simple people such as the shepherds and a few others, who longed for His coming. You will remember, too, how the wicked people who heard about the Lord's birth in Bethlehem from the wise men tried to destroy Him even before He had grown up. And it was only because an angel warned Joseph to flee into Egypt that the Lord was protected from the powers of hell.
     All throughout His life on earth the Lord was fighting against the powers of evil. There was a war between Him and the leaders of the church. He taught the truth, and they taught evil. And finally they thought that they had conquered the Lord when His body died on the cross. But when they were most sure of their victory the Lord rose again, and appeared in greater power and glory to His disciples than they had ever known before. And He gave to them the New Testament, which the disciples then went throughout the known world to teach.
     In this new truth people were free for a long time to know about the Lord, to know about heaven, and to know about the way that leads to heaven. Those who had been in hell as it were could now be in heaven, and those who had been as it were in heaven were sent into hell.

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     Something very similar took place at the time of the Lord's second coming, one hundred and eighty-five years ago. The only difference was that this time the Lord came, not in the flesh, but into the spiritual world, into the minds of angels and men, with a clear understanding of heaven and of the way that leads to it.
     It is said that He came in the spiritual sense of the Word. Now when the Lord so came into the spiritual world, it appeared very similar in many ways to His coming into the world. John, the Lord's beloved disciple, described it all in the book of Revelation, long before it came to pass. He says that he saw a great wonder in heaven-a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. This woman gave birth to a man-child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. That is a picture of the Lord's second coming. At His first advent the Lord came to the simple on earth; at His second to the simple good in the spiritual world, who appeared as this wonderful woman. And just as Mary gave birth to the Lord, so this woman also gave birth to a man-child.
     But this was also a picture of what took place when Emanuel Swedenborg finished the work of producing the Writings. At that time, too, just as at His first advent, those who were wicked tried to destroy the Lord in His second coming. But instead of appearing as a wicked king and His soldiers they were seen in the other world as a great red dragon, waiting to destroy the man-child as soon as he was born. Now Swedenborg tells us that when he was writing True Christian Religion, when he was ready to finish this new revelation that was to be given to the entire spiritual world, the revelation that would teach the truth about the Lord and heaven and the way that leads to heaven, the wicked spirits meant by the dragon stood around him and tried their best to confuse his thoughts so that he should not be able to write this book. They were around him, trying to destroy the Word for the New Church-the Lord coming in a new understanding of the Word-even as it was given; just exactly as the great red dragon stood before the woman, ready to devour her child just as soon as it was born.
     But it is said that the child was caught up unto God. It was even the same as when Joseph and Mary fled into the land of Egypt, and did not go back until it was safe for the Lord to return. So, too, the Lord's new Word was protected in the beginning, protected by the angels who stood around Swedenborg while he was writing this work and saw to it that the evil spirits should not destroy it. And when this Word was finished the Lord called together His twelve disciples, who had been with Him in the world and had taught the New Testament, to receive now the Writings of the New Church; and to take these Writings with them on the day after the nineteenth of June, and go throughout the spiritual world teaching the truth about the Lord, the truth about heaven, in a way that it had never been taught before.

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     It is said that when that happened, heaven shone with a resplendent glory that had never before been seen. It is said that the false heavens were destroyed; those in them who were in simple good being sent into heaven, while those who were wicked were sent into hell. All of this was done by the power of the Writings, by the power of the Lord in His second advent-coming in a new light to all angels and to all men. Marvelous indeed was that nineteenth day of June in the year 1770. It was the day of the Lord's second coming, the day of the birth of the New Church in the spiritual world-in the minds of angels and men. And that day carries for you a most important message.
     Just as the disciples were sent to teach the Writings in all the heavens, so you are called by the Lord as His disciples in the New Church to learn the meaning of this new Word in your school and in your church, and to proclaim the wonder of this new Word to all who will listen. You may be children now, but you are to grow up in the light of heaven. You are to grow up as the Lord's disciples, preaching the gospel that the Lord God Jesus Christ doth reign.

     LESSONS: Revelation 12. True Christian Religion, 791.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 479, 438, 416.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. C12, C16.
SECOND COMING NECESSARY 1955

SECOND COMING NECESSARY 1955

"That the churches after the times of the apostles fell away into so many heresies, and that at the present day there are none other than false churches, is because they have not approached the Lord, when yet the Lord is the Word and the very light which enlighteneth the whole world. And yet for them it is impossible to see one single genuine truth from the Word, except what is encompassed with and steeped in falsities, and coheres with falsities, as it is to sail to the Pleiades, or to dig out the gold which is in the center of the earth. Wherefore, in order that the true Christian religion might be manifested, it was absolutely necessary that someone should be introduced into the spiritual world, and derive from the mouth of the Lord genuine truths out of the Word. The Lord cannot enlighten anyone with His light unless He is approached immediately, and acknowledged as the God of heaven" (Inv. 38).

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DOCTRINE OF PRAYER 1955

DOCTRINE OF PRAYER GEORGE DE CHARMS 1955

     4. Concerning Different Kinds of Prayer

     As we have already pointed out, there are different kinds of prayer, each having its own use and each requiring a different kind of answer from the Lord. First of all, there is the habitual prayer.
     From earliest childhood we are taught to pray, and to do so becomes a habit or custom to which we adhere from something of conscience, that is, from a sense of duty. It is easy for such prayer to become a mere formality. Indeed, it is almost inevitable that at least from time to time we should go through the motions without thought, as we suppose all have experienced. At such times we may be said to repeat our prayers without really praying; this because the affections or interests that are speak. These affections or desires are then our real prayer, even though dominant with us at the time have little or no relation to the words we may not be consciously thinking of them at the moment.
     Admitting that this is true, yet the habit of prayer should not, for that reason, be broken. The Writings teach that prayers, even if they are offered from a sense of duty, may be good and useful. They are good if the motive that prompts them is one of obedience to Divine command. But they are injurious if they impart a sense of merit, and thus spring from the love of self (SD 3126). The very fact that we approach the Lord in worship from conscience, in which there is self-compulsion and a spirit of obedience-this in itself opens the way of influx from heaven, and enables the Lord to touch our will gently and to lead us from within.
     The prayer, above all others, which becomes habitual with us is the Lord's Prayer. This prayer embraces, in a wonderfully ordered series, all the heavenly and eternal blessings which it is the Lord's will to impart to men. In an eminent sense, therefore, this prayer is from the Lord, as well as to the Lord. As its meaning is explained in the Writings, it opens to our minds what it is the Lord would have us ask in prayer. All who repeat these words in a spirit of love to the Lord and charity are thus given "from the Lord what they are to ask; therefore they ask nothing but what is good, and that is done for them" (AE 325). To learn and accept from the Lord what He would have us ask is what is really meant by asking "in the Lord's name."

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And this is why it can be said in the Word that whatever we ask in the Lord's name He will grant.
     When we repeat the Lord's Prayer, the words themselves, in their order and series, invite and powerfully attract angelic influx. The angels perceive their spiritual meaning and enter into it with great delight. This heavenly delight is insinuated into the mind of the one who prays; and, quite unconsciously to him, is stored up as remains. The teaching is clear that we are being influenced constantly by many impulses from the spiritual world, of which at the time we are not in the least aware because our attention is focused elsewhere. This is especially true of affections insinuated during states of worship. When the angels inflow, as into the words of the Lord's Prayer, evil spirits withdraw, and for the moment the pressure of their delights is removed. The effect is a strengthening of our power to resist those delights.
     We should learn from the Writings what the Lord's Prayer really means, and we should try to understand it ever more deeply and more truly. This knowledge brings us into association with the angels, and helps us to do the things which the prayer involves. It helps us to ask, not only in prayer, but also in our life, day by day, for those eternal things which the Lord would impart to us. If we have stored up such knowledge in our memory, and especially if we have done so from a sincere affection, then the meaning of the prayer will be present with us, in the back of our mind, while we repeat the words.
     But while we are praying, we should not be concerned consciously to analyze the meaning of the prayer. To do this, we are told, tends rather to interfere with the influx, to obstruct the full reception by the angels, and to detract from their delight. Even at best, we are able to understand so little when compared with the infinite content of the prayer; and our human concept even of that little is so inadequate, so distorted by errors, appearances and fallacies, that the angels understand the words themselves far better without our attempted explanations. Their influx is not into our faulty understanding, but into our affection, our innocence, our willingness to be led by the Lord.
     This is the reason why, as we are told, "the prayers of little children have much fuller hearing in heaven than the prayers of adults, and still fuller than the prayers of those who have closed the way toward the interiors by thoughts of natural things and things of the memory. . . . My experience," Swedenborg writes, " . . . is that when sometimes I attended less to what is in the Lord's Prayer, then the angels, as was told me, perceived it more fully, as was also the case when I read the Word of the Lord, because the way was then open. This seemed wonderful to me, yet from experience it was given to learn that it is true" (SD 2435).

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     This does not imply that we should be satisfied to pray carelessly and unthinkingly, or that we should regard worship as a mere formality. Every approach to the Lord should be made with sincerity and with profound reverence. It should be an opening of the heart to the Lord. But we should not be concerned to trace, in conscious thought, the meaning of every word. That meaning should be present, as it were, spontaneously. In this respect habitual prayer is similar to other things that have become second nature. We do them far better because we do not need to think at the time of how they are being accomplished, this being under the immediate direction of the cerebellum.
     We may indeed use other modes of expression than those of the Lord's Prayer, remembering, however, that the things for which the Lord would have us ask are all spiritual, and look to the blessings' of eternal life. Concerning this we read: "He who is in faith from the Lord, asks for nothing but what contributes to the Lord's kingdom, and to himself for salvation; other things he does not wish, saying in his heart, Why should I ask for what does not contribute to this use? . . . It is impossible for angels of heaven to wish, and so to ask for anything else, and if they were to do so they could have no faith that they would receive it" (AE 815). In this respect, however, there is a recognized difference between the angels and men in the natural world. The angels live in a spiritual world, and have no possible need for material things. They needed these things in the life of the body, but they no longer need them after death. Men on earth still need material things, which things perform a use not merely to the body but also to the mind or spirit.
     It is not wrong, therefore, for men to ask in prayer for material and worldly things, if in doing so they have a spiritual end in view. Every wish is really a prayer; and it is not wrong to wish for food and clothing and shelter; for physical health and strength; for the wealth, the skill, the knowledge, and the power to achieve success in any form of use or service to others. It is necessary that we acquire these things; and to do so we are called upon to work, strive, and apply both mind and body to the task every day. This, in affection, thought, and deed, is to pray for them. Knowing that we have no power of our own, it is right that in formal prayer we should ask the Lord's help and guidance in fulfilling these obvious duties.
     But always we must seek these natural things, not for their own sake, but as means to the attainment of a spiritual and eternal goal. We must seek them honestly, fairly, and honorably, in accord with Divine law, in order that they may contribute not only to our physical well-being but also to our spiritual character. When we pray for them it must be always with the qualification that they be granted only as far as, in the Lord's wisdom, they will serve to promote the ends He has in view.

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We must ask for them only because it appears to us that they are important and necessary to the achievement of what we understand to be the Lord's purpose. In this matter we are well aware that we may be mistaken; and if we are mistaken, then we do not want them.
     With this understanding, either expressed or implied, there is nothing for which we may not legitimately ask in prayer. The spirit in this asking is very different from that of those who believe that by means of prayer we make contact with a Divine power whereby we may heal diseases, acquire wealth, or be assured of worldly success, according to our own human desire.
     Such prayers, like that of Peter, when he asked that the Lord should not, under any circumstances, suffer the cross, merit the Lord's rebuke, when He said: "Get thee behind Me, Satan: thou art an offense unto Me: for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men" (Matthew 16:23). Of all who pray in this way, the Writings tell us "they could not be heard because they had as their end such things as are contrary to the welfare of the human race; and because they pray for themselves against others; and that when they pray in this manner heaven is closed; for they who are in heaven attend solely to the ends of those praying" (AC 4227).
     There are, however, prayers that are not habitual, but are inspired by some special need, some crisis in our life, some form of mental of physical distress, some natural or spiritual temptation. At such times it is right that we should pray for Divine mercy and deliverance. Yet such prayers may be offered by the evil as well as by the good, and by both from the deepest feeling of sincerity at the time. They may be inspired by the love of self, and induced by the fear of personal loss or failure to achieve one's own ambition. In this case the prayer will be for deliverance from mental anguish or physical suffering, but not from the selfish loves that it is the Lord's will to remove.
     In the last extremity of suffering or despair, this may be the case even with those who are striving for the life of religion. With these, however, it is an involuntary reaction compelled by the instinct of self-preservation which the Lord has providentially implanted in every man. And because it is not deliberate, and not the prompting of the man's own will, no one is held accountable for it. Yet even then the inner content of such a prayer, in the sight of the Lord, is quite different from that of one who, in his normal life, has rejected the Lord and confirmed himself in self-will and self-intelligence. The Lord searches the heart, and judges according to the real internal state of every one who prays.

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     Except in extreme cases, when man is no longer responsible for his reactions, prayers offered in temptation should not look primarily to release from personal suffering, but to the achievement of the Lord's end and purpose in permitting the trial or the temptation. The Lord Himself gave us the universal pattern of prayers for deliverance in temptation when He said in Gethsemane: "O MY Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt" (Matthew 26:39).
     Temptation is permitted by the Lord for the sake of man's regeneration. It must be endured until this Divine purpose is accomplished. This is why deliverance is often delayed, even to the point at which it appears as if the Lord had forsaken us. If the Lord should answer our prayer for deliverance before the evil has been vanquished, His answer would not be a blessing.
     This is why, when the Egyptians were about to overtake the fleeing Israelites at the Red Sea, and they cried unto the Lord in fear, and when Moses, speaking for the people, prayed that they be delivered, the Lord answered: "Wherefore criest thou unto Me? Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward" (Exodus 14:15). Concerning this we read: "They who are in temptations are wont to slack their hands and betake themselves solely to prayers, which they then ardently pour forth, not knowing that prayers will not avail, but that they must fight against the falsities and evils which are being injected from the hells. This fight is performed by the truths of faith, which help because they confirm goods and truths against falsities and evils. Moreover, in the combats of temptations man ought to fight as of himself, but yet acknowledge and believe that it is of the Lord. If man does not fight as of himself, the good and truth which flow in through heaven from the Lord are not appropriated to him; but when he fights as of himself, and still believes that it is of the Lord, then they are appropriated to him. From this he has a proprium that is new, which is called the heavenly proprium, and which is a new will" (AC 8179).
     Deliverance from evil is really possible only to the Lord. Man has no power whatever to accomplish this. But the Lord wishes him to have a sense of accomplishment, and of possession, for in these is the very delight of heaven. To this end He operates subtly and secretly, doing a thousand unseen things that make deliverance possible, even while He empowers man to resist consciously, and appear to bear the whole burden of the battle. Such is the marvel of the Lord's merciful providence.
     Prayers offered in the midst of temptation, therefore, should not be for deliverance without effort on our part; but for the knowledge, the wisdom and skill, and the strength to fight and overcome, acknowledging that these are Divine gifts, but that they must be used as if by our own power, according to our own judgment, and on our own responsibility.

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Such prayers are always answered; not obviously, not suddenly, not spectacularly, but by an inner strengthening of our will, a renewal of hope, a sense of trust and confidence, and an insight that comes as if by our own discovery.
     Often the Lord delays His answer, and appears to ignore our pleas in order that our will may be strengthened, and we may be inspired to greater efforts. This is illustrated in the story of the two angels who came to Lot in Sodom; and who; when he invited them to lodge in his house, said: "Nay, but we will abide in the street all night. And he pressed them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house" (Genesis 19:2, 3).
     We have time for only a brief word about prayers of intercession for others. That it is right to pray for others is undeniable, for the life of charity is nothing else than such a prayer. Charity consists in wishing well for others, and in being of real service to them at every opportunity just as far as we are able. And here again, we must acknowledge that of ourselves we have neither the wisdom nor the power to do what is truly good to the neighbor; and therefore we must ask the Lord, in prayer, for instruction, guidance, and help. And even when there is nothing we can actually do; when those we love are in danger or in trouble, in pain and mental anguish, love itself prompts us to pray for them.
     But what, we may ask, do such prayers accomplish! They of course have an effect on the one who prays, because the spirit of charity opens the gate of influx from heaven, drives out the thought of self, and strengthens the love and the life of religion; this, not only when we pray for one we love, but even more when we pray for those who have injured us or have treated us unjustly. In praying for those we love there can be much of self-interest, but in praying for those who are against us there may be more of selfless devotion to the neighbor. This is why the Lord commanded His disciples, saying: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). "Here, charity towards the neighbor, which is to wish good, and do good even to enemies, is described by 'loving them, blessing them, and praying for them,' for genuine charity regards only the good of another. Here, to 'love' signifies charity; 'to bless,' instruction, and 'to pray' intercession; and for the reason that inwardly in charity there is the end to do good" (AE 644).
     The effect on the one who prays is internal because, of his own will and choice, he has invited influx from heaven and with it the spirit of charity. But no one can produce a similar effect upon another.

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It is, of course, a comfort and encouragement to any one in distress to know that others are thinking of him, and that he has their sympathy and their good will. This knowledge may have a profound effect upon his own determination to resist, and may give him new hope, courage, and strength. We all need the sustaining help of others in our struggle to overcome evil in ourselves. The Lord operates, not only immediately, but also mediately, through the ministrations of angels and men, in the Divine work of regeneration.
     Prayers of intercession for others may reach them, to touch their hearts, in two ways: invisibly through the spiritual world by the extension of the sphere of love and charity; and consciously, through words or deeds, through messages that convey the knowledge of our affection. Both modes are very interestingly described and illustrated from the Writings, in an article by the Rev. G. H. Smith, NEW CHURCH LIFE for 1918, pp. 667-8. We cannot pursue it here.
     The one point we would make is that prayers of intercession for others, like those for our own deliverance in distress or temptation, must have primary regard to the Lord's end and purpose, and thus to those things which are of spiritual and eternal welfare and blessing. They must not be, as is often the case, characterized by an insistence upon our own will. They must be inmostly inspired by trust in the Divine Providence and a willingness to abide by the Lord's will, which operates in ways beyond all possibility of human understanding.
     Such prayers again are very different from those which are based on the belief that contact with a source of unlimited Divine power will enable us to insure the recovery of others from physical disease, or will attain for them some end of worldly blessing or success which we, in our human blindness, desire for them. This implies an exaltation of our own will, and our own intelligence, above the unseen and eternal purposes of our Heavenly Father.
NEW CIRCLE AND A NEW GROUP 1955

NEW CIRCLE AND A NEW GROUP 1955

On April 24th, 1955, the San Francisco (California) Group was recognized by the Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton, Assistant Bishop, as the San Francisco Circle of the General Church of the New Jerusalem under the pastoral care of the Rev. Harold C. Cranch. The Rev. Norbert H. Rogers announces the formation of a new Group in Toledo, Ohio, which will be under his care as Visiting Pastor in Northern Ohio. In publishing these announcements we extend, as always, good wishes from the Church.

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TEN BLESSINGS AND EDUCATION 1955

TEN BLESSINGS AND EDUCATION Rev. DAVID R. SIMONS 1955

     6. Sincerity

     "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Matthew 5 8). The sight of God is the goal of all religion. The human mind has been formed inmostly for this vision, and when in order strives to attain it. Yet God alone can reveal Himself. Apart from the Word man can see only imaginary gods-the cold, invisible god of nature; the god of inexorable fate; the god patterned in the image of man: ideals of perfection which satisfy man's ego, but which have no intrinsic reality outside the mind which contrives them. For the truth is that "every one's god is that which he loves above all things" (AE 935). It is the heart which rules the mind. It is what we love that qualifies our sight; enabling us to look downward to self and the world as our gods, or upward to the Lord as He reveals Himself in His Word. Only a true love, only a love that is purified of evil, can do the latter; only the pure in heart can truly see God.
     The emphasis of the day is on preparation for life merely in this world. Social adjustment, the goal of modern education, is little more than the cleansing of the "outside of the cup" of the mind so that the individual may get the most out of life. Such leading leaves the "inside," the inner layer of the natural mind, unchanged, and for this reason it is to a great extent morally ineffective. It leaves the maturing mind a prey to atheism and materialism.
     Preparation for Christian life must strike deeper. It must touch the human heart. It cannot be content to make clean the "outside," but leave the inward part "full of ravening and wickedness." "Did not He that made that which is without make that which is within also?" (Luke 11:39-40). The inner source of hypocrisy and insincerity is the love of self and the world into which all men are born, and only by the Word of God, only by interior truth, can the interiors of the mind be controlled and reformed. The blessedness of Christian living can be given only where there is genuine honesty and pureness of heart.
     Honesty is defined in the Writings as "willing well to anyone from the heart in those things which are of civil life" (AC 4574).

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Such good will to men is shown to be the complex of all the moral virtues, and for this reason it deserves special emphasis in Christian education.
     Lessons in truthful sincerity begin in the cradle. Wise parents take care to distinguish between the genuine needs of their children and those which spring from improper, self-centered demands. If we give in to our children, if we pamper their proprial loves by not discriminating between what is sincere, that is, what is needed and is suited to their spiritual and natural development, if we are taken in by their subtleties, then we do harm to their sense of sincerity and truth.
     The age of innocence, before the child has learned to hide his inner intentions from the eyes of his parents, is the most important time for him to be taught the lessons of honesty. Only for a few years can we, like the Lard, see into the hearts of our children. In these years we must establish a basis for their future life.
     To promote sincerity of heart in our children lye must gain their confidence, respect, and love. This we can do by placing ourselves on their side in the conflict against evil. Sympathetic and understanding guidance which makes allowances for the tender states of infancy and childhood without compromising the truth is vitally necessary. Unsympathetic discipline, the harsh dictates of proprial impatience, can do nothing more than pull down prematurely the veil between the internal and the external of the natural mind, and between us and our children, and render our control less effective. Unjustified anger and unwarranted disapproval of children cannot but lead to lying, insincerity, and deceit. Only a discipline founded on rational truth can lead children through times of conflict and punishment to a sincere respect and love. And when parents lead from the Lord, when His presence and power to see into the hearts of all the children of men are firmly established in the home, then there will be no fundamental break with the home when maturity is reached, but a transition from reliance upon parents to trust in the church as a spiritual mother and in the Lord Himself as the Heavenly Father.
     How very important sincerity is can be seen from its opposite--deceit. For it is revealed that "deceit enters into the interiors of man, even into the rational, and there completely closes the spiritual mind" (SD 6053). It "enters most intimately into the thoughts and intentions and infects them with a poison which destroys the whole spiritual life of man" (HH 578). These are the reasons why Christian parents should foster and cultivate honest sincerity in their children, so that they may be prepared to see God.

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DOCTRINE OF LIFE 1955

DOCTRINE OF LIFE Rev. MORLEY D. RICH 1955

     (Delivered to the Swedenborg Society, London, England, March 7, 1954.)

     There is an exact science which may be applied to the mastery of the various books of the Writings. It is a science which is related to the fundamental laws of the mind, and which is Divinely revealed in the principles of expounding the Word as given in the Writings, and in all that they say about how the doctrine of the church is to be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word and confirmed thereby.
     If this science is applied to the books of the Writings, then a much more thorough mastery of their contents will be possible to the reader. He will be saved from erroneous side paths of thought if he sees through analysis the rational sequences and connections of the contents. For example, if, before beginning the book, he examines the Table of Contents first with the effort to see the principal connections and logic of the main headings or theses of the chapters as they follow one another-this will give him a broad and comprehensive framework for understanding the particular things said in each section in their proper context.
     There is more benefit than this, however, in the application to the Writings of the Divine principles of exposition in regard to the Sacred Scripture. For it will enable the reader to see many things of revelation clearly which had formerly been in obscurity and confusion.
     As an example of what we mean, let us apply to this work the principle of "the first thing said." This is briefly stated in AE 62, where we read: "In the Word it is also usual to make mention of those things in the first place which are done in the last, because intermediate things are included in them; for the first, in the spiritual sense, is the end for which all the other things exist, inasmuch as the end is the first and the last, and all other things have respect to it" (cf. AC 9416, 9568:3). Let us see how perfectly this statement works out in connection with the Doctrine of Life. What is the first thing said in this work! It is this.

     All Religion is of Life, and the Life of Religion is to Do Good. As we shall see, this is the theme, the key, and the entire burden of the work which follows. We shall likewise perceive that every single statement and major heading which follows both enlarges and more strictly defines this first statement; thus that "all other things have respect to it."

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Furthermore, we shall see how the truths which follow lead the human mind in a perfect order according to its inherent constitution-in a perfect order, because a Divine order; how they thus lead the mind from one spontaneous question to another. And, finally, we shall perceive how "those things in the first place . . . are done in the last"; that is, how this first thing said is actually effected in the very last paragraph of the work.
     At this juncture, let us pursue our principle of the first thing said a bit more extensively by quoting the first paragraph which follows the statement of the theme; for the whole paragraph likewise is but a more extended statement of the theme, and gives indication in each sentence of the major themes following.
     "Every man who is religious knows and acknowledges that he who lives well will be saved, and that he who lives wickedly will be damned. For he knows and acknowledges that he who lives well thinks well, not only about God, but also about the neighbor; but it is not so with him who lives wickedly. The life of man is his love; and what a man loves, he not only does with pleasure, but also thinks about with pleasure. It is said that life is to do good, because the doing of good acts unitedly with the thinking of good; wherefore, if they do not act as one with man, they are not of his life. But these things will be demonstrated in what follows" (no. 1). [Italics added.]
     Part of our reason for quoting this first paragraph in full is that many New Church men are very fond of quoting only the heading-"All religion is of the life, and the life of religion is to do good"; and it is not always certain that they really understand fully just what that means. But the paragraph following, if carefully read, gives corrections for any errors in human understanding.
     Let us notice, now, the very first sentence of this paragraph: "He who lives well will be saved, and he who lives wickedly will be damned." Notice what a very general, all-inclusive statement of truth this is. Notice, also, how the very first idea or image which flashed across your mind at the words, "he who lives well," was some picture of a man obeying the law and performing deeds of kindness, mercy, etc. So it is that, humanly speaking, the first understanding of this truth is an external one; it begins on the literal plane of outward deeds and speech. And yet it cannot remain there, or it will become a falsity. There must be something more to life, and to the good life, than the externals of actions and words. And so, indeed, the very next sentence opens the mind to something more interior of life; for it says; "He who lives well thinks well, not only about God, but also about the neighbor; but it is not so with him who lives wickedly."

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Hence, to live a good life means, more interiorly, to think well about God and the neighbor.
     But how, and from what origin, can a man think well in this fashion? The next statement answers this natural question, for it says: "The life of man is his love; and what a man loves, he not only does with pleasure, but also thinks about with pleasure." And so it can be seen that all of a man's religion, its sum total, is of and from his love: and this love, which is his religion, is toward the doing of good. Wherefore, he who loves good and truth will be saved, and he who lives, i.e., loves evil, will be damned.
     Then, after another phrase or two, the Divine method of revelation, in connection with the Writings, is further corroborated by the last sentence of the paragraph: "These things will be demonstrated in what follows." For this plainly shows that all of these statements made in the first paragraph are universal formulae, or propositions or hypotheses, which are to be demonstrated in detail as the work proceeds.
     After developing these general themes in the seven paragraphs following, and also substantiating them from the letter of the Old and New Testaments, the work proceeds to the next principal heading. For the next logical question, based on the first thing said, is, How can a man do good?
     No One is Able to Do Good that is Good from Himself. So, while the life of religion is to do good, yet no one is able to do good that is really good from himself. And, in the first paragraph of this second section, the good which is referred to is enumerated as giving to the poor, relieving the needy, endowing places of worship and hospitals, having regard for the church, the country and the fellow-citizen, being diligent in attending a place of worship and there listening and praying devoutly, reading the Word and books of piety, and thinking about salvation. A man may do all of these things either from God or from self: if from the former, they are good; but if he does them from self, they are not good, because his purpose in them, in that case, is deception and fraud, which is later defined as spiritual theft; and rather than being like genuine gold, the external goods are only a gilding which covers over the rottenness of self-love within. Further, because genuine gold can be known from science but genuine good can not, therefore it is said that what genuine good is "must be revealed."
     Civil and moral good are only external to the man's spirit itself; and they are not good unless they have spiritual good within them as their essence. The spiritual essence of good is in these, we are told, when a man does all of these natural goods from the faith and life of the Lord Jesus Christ alone, and not from any other motivation as a primary thing; thus solely because these things have been exemplified and commanded by the Lord in His Divine Human.

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     In this section, also, a most vital teaching is given which bears upon the relation of good and truth with man, regeneration, and also on Divine revelation itself. This is the truth that every man's understanding-by itself, and without regeneration-can be uplifted into the very light of heaven, which is truth, and can see from it. It is in this sense that truth, or knowledge and understanding, comes first in time in the beginning of regeneration. Indeed, if this were not so, man would have no chance whatever of being re-born. It is, indeed, taught that a man has only as much truth as he has good; but this refers only to his actual possession of it, to the later state of regeneration, when the truth has become a part of the very fiber of his being, conjoined with good. But before this, a man is able, and must be able, to understand truth quite apart from and above his native will, which is nothing but love of self and the world. If this were not possible, he could never begin to repent of his evils from a preliminary knowledge and understanding of what is evil.
     It is similar with all Divine revelation of truth. This could never have depended upon the prophet's or the seer's personal state of regeneration or state of good. The fact that some of the human authors of Divine revelation were regenerating men has nothing to do with the use itself. Had such been the case, the giving of the Lord's own Divine and infinite truth would either have been jeopardized by the possibility of the revelator's choosing evil in his freedom, or else his individual freedom of choice would have had to be removed. Again, even had the revelator chosen good, the Divine truth itself would have been changed and circumscribed by his finite and imperfect reception of good. Hence it could no longer be called either Divine revelation or the Word.
     It is written, indeed, that "it is by means of this capacity of the understanding to be uplifted into heaven, when as yet the will is not so uplifted, that it is possible for a man to be reformed and to become spiritual, though he does not begin to be reformed and become spiritual until his will also is uplifted." And we think it is not too much of a liberty to paraphrase this in this fashion: "It is by means of this capacity of the understanding to be uplifted into heaven, when yet the will is not so uplifted, that revelators were able to receive and give the Word, and hence that it is possible for every man to be reformed and to become spiritual. . . " (no. 15).
     But if the life of religion is to do good, and yet man is not able to do good that is good from himself but only from the Lord, how in particular is man to do that good? So we are led naturally to the third major heading, which answers this question.

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     So far as Man Shuns Evils as Sins, so far He Does Goods, not from Himself, but from the Lord. This heading sounds the theme and sets the tenor of the whole of the remainder of this work, which is devoted to the general truth that as far as a man does not do evil to the neighbor, so far he does good to him. For in the sections following it is shown: 1) that so far as anyone shuns evils as sins, so far he loves truths, has faith and is spiritual; 2) that the Decalogue teaches what evils are sins, namely, murders, adulteries, theft and false witness, together with the desires for them; 3) what these evils are internally and externally, and how the shunning of each of them as a sin opens man to the reception of their opposite goods and loves; 4) that no one can shun evils as sins except by means of combats against them as of himself; and 5) that if a man shuns evils for any other reason than because they are sins, he does not really shun them, but only prevents them from appearing before other men. The principal message of this entire work may therefore be recapitulated in this fashion: The life of religion is to do good. But from himself man cannot do any good that is good; he can do this only from the Lord. And his good is from the Lord only in proportion as he shuns evils as of himself, and by means of temptation combats, as sins against the Lord and the neighbor.
     With this summary, we might consider that we had completed our principal task, and conclude with a treatment of the last paragraph of the work, showing its connections with the first proposition. But there are a number of particulars which are rewarding to consider, and it will also be of value to treat in detail of one of the four evils which are specifically named as sins.
     So, in this third section, it is brought out, among other things, that in order for a man to be in the Lord, and to do goods from the Lord, he must fulfill two requirements: first, he must shun the evils named because they are infernal and diabolical, and therefore contrary to the Divine laws, and he must not shun them primarily from any other reason; for, as is taught in the last section of the book, "if anyone shuns evils for any other reason than because they are sins"-as because they are injurious to the public weal or merely because they are evils against the neighbor, out of fear of civil penalties or of the loss of reputation and friendship, or of diseases-"he does not shun them, but merely prevents them from appearing before the world." Now the human fact is that, even with the regenerating man, some or all of these reasons for the shunning of evils are to some extent present; but if he is regenerating he will not have any of these as the prime reasons and motives, but only as secondary, the prime motivation being that such evils are sins against the Lord's Divine law. The second requirement is that he must shun evils as sins entirely as of himself, even though knowing and believing from Divine revelation, or the Word, that it is from the Lord.

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This is repeated later as the heading of the last section.
     Three subsidiary propositions under this third heading are then given in extending the idea that it is only as far as a man shuns evils as sins that he does genuine goods from the Lord.
     1) If a man wills and does goods before he shuns evils as sins, the goods are not goods. And again, various external goods and evils are enumerated.
     2) If a man speaks and thinks pious things while not shunning evils as sins, the pieties are not pious. The pieties are then named as frequenting places of worship, listening devoutly to the preaching, reading the Word and books of piety, going to the sacrament of the Supper, pouring forth prayers daily, and thinking much about God and salvation. And those who do these things without shunning evils as sins are said to be represented by the virgins at the wedding who had lamps, but no oil for them.
     3) If a man knows and is wise in many things, and does not shun evils as sins, he is nevertheless not wise. This may be contrasted with the definition and idea of wisdom which prevail in the present civilized world.
     The last paragraph of this third section is particularly striking, for it brings out a truth which is not always recognized. "That no man can from himself do what is really good, is the truth. But so to use this truth as to do away with all the good of charity that is done by a man who shuns evils as sins is a great wickedness, for it is diametrically contrary to the Word, which commands that a man shall do. It is contrary to the commandments of love to God and toward the neighbor on which the Law and the Prophets hang, and it is to flout and undermine everything of religion" (no. 31). [Italics added.]
     We quote this because it has become fashionable among the pseudo-intellectuals of the Christian world to belittle each and every external deed or practice which is good, to believe that every external good deed or word springs solely and entirely from self-interest, that no man and no community-other than themselves and their own community, of course-is capable of any other motivation, even if mixed, than that of either short or long-term self-interest. The fact that there is often good reason for this skepticism, reason based on past experience, has nothing to do with the evil of it. For it is not difficult to see that if the hells could establish this attitude universally among men, they could destroy not only each and every natural good but also all spiritual good as well.
     This is a danger to which those likewise are exposed who know the teaching of the Writings. For Divine revelation exposes and leaves no doubt as to the depths of the evil in the human heart, in every human hereditary will.

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Hence we are rightly left with a profound skepticism as to the genuineness of the external goods done by men. The danger, however, is that from this we may drift, even unconsciously, into the idea that positive action, the doing of good, can never be genuine; hence we would eventually have no stimulus, no incentive, no heart and no strength, for positive, affirmative action of any kind or degree. "Hence so to use this truth as to do away with all the good of charity . . . is a great wickedness. . .and is to flout and undermine everything of religion."
     In the fourth section, we find the statement that "so far as anyone shuns evils as sins, for far he loves truths." And it is shown that there is, and can be, no real love of truth apart from good, or the will to know and understand truth for the sake of actual amendment of life. The relationship between good and truth in this connection is epitomized in these words: "Food or bread alone [good] effects nothing in the body in the way of nourishment, it does so only together with water or wine; [so the Lord said; "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."] and therefore the one has an appetite and a longing for the other" (no. 40).
     The section ends with these profoundly searching and soul-shaking words: "It is now manifest that he who shuns evils as sins loves truths and longs for them; and that the more he shuns them, so much the more love and longing does he feel, because so much the more is he in good" (no. 41). And this may be taken further by the statement preceding: "From the love of truth proceeds the perception of truth; from the perception of truth comes thought about truth" (no. 36). In other words, if a man finds that he habitually thinks that he cannot understand and perceive every truth of revelation, every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, in some measure; if he finds this to be his habitual attitude, then it is well for him if he endeavors to see whether or not he really loves and longs for the truth to any extent; and if this is not with him, or if it is but little with him, then he may be sure that he is not shunning his evils as sins, and that if he is shunning them at all, it is only from secondary and external motives of self and the world.
     The fifth section continues this motif by declaring that "so far as anyone shuns evils as sins, so far he has faith and is spiritual." For, contrary to Christian dogma, and differently from the preliminary and merely natural faith, spiritual faith follows and does not precede the life. This, indeed, is why the Doctrine of Faith should, and rightly does, follow this work on the doctrine of life; for the faith that is treated of there is spiritual faith. The order of the process, from the point of time, of man's regeneration here is this: 1) the implantation of remains or affections for good and truth, which affections are not man's own in this stage;

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2) from these affections, the preliminary learning and understanding of the truths of the Word, and a belief in them which is, however, not really genuine and his own within man; 3) his as-of-self effort to apply these truths to his life by shunning evils as sins; 4) and finally, the giving of genuine, spiritual faith as it were his own from the Lord.
     In this part, also, we find the teaching before mentioned, that "no man has in him a grain of truth more than he has of good; thus that he has not a grain of [spiritual] faith more than he has life" (no. 52). And let us again notice that this is not referring to the understanding of truth, which man has even before regeneration, but to the actual possession of truth, to its being a real part of his spirit, and not merely knowledge and understanding.
     Finally, the genuine and spiritual use of those doctrines which we may sometimes consider abstract and unrelated to life is pointed to when it is written: "There are many things that appear to be mere matters of faith, such as that there is a God, that the Lord is the Redeemer and Savior, that there is a heaven and a hell, and a life after death, and so on, of which it is not said that they are to be done, but to be believed. He who is in good, however, will love to learn and believe them . . . " (nos. 47, 48). [Italics added.] And so there are innumerable arcana of heaven and hell, of God and the glorification of His Divine Human, of the human race in other ages and on other earths in the universe-arcana revealed in the Writings which appear not to pertain or directly apply to the deeds and motives of everyday life in the natural world. Yet "he who is in good, will love to learn and believe them." For he will perceive, at least vaguely, how these arcana, by increasing his spiritual faith-its conviction and clarity and vessels of knowledge-will indirectly influence, stimulate, and improve even his life, his spiritual and natural goods. Thus, he needs to know as much as possible about the nature of God, for not otherwise, and only to that extent, can he come to regard evils with horror as damnable offenses and sins against Him who is love and wisdom and mercy itself, the Divinely and perfectly Human. And he needs to know the arcana of heaven and hell, the Lord's kingdom, for not otherwise can he hurl evils from himself as the foul things coming from hell which they are, and as terrible crimes against the neighbor. And a knowledge of the human race in other ages and on other earths gives him powerful searchlights into the nature and constitution and operation of his own soul and hereditary nature, as well as a truly marvellous perspective upon the nature and works of man in general.
     To return to the current once more, we may ask the question: "If a man is to live the life of religion by doing good from the Lord, and if he can do this only as far as he shuns evils as sins, where may he find or learn what these evils are?" And this brings us to the sixth proposition.

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     The Decalogue Teaches What Evils Are Sins. And, it is revealed, the Decalogue was promulgated from Mount Sinai with Divine external signs of thunders and lightnings, not because these laws had not been previously known, but "in order that men might know that these laws are not merely civil and moral laws, but are also spiritual [and Divine] laws; and that to act contrary to them is not only to do evil to a fellow-citizen and to the community but is also to sin against God" (no. 53).
     Now, a certain present-day clergyman once complained of the "negative" nature of the Ten Commandments; he felt that their negative statements might well be revised to some affirmative and constructive propositions; no "thou-shalt-nets," but rather all "thou-shalt-do" this or that positive action of good. This may be taken as an indication of the present state of the human race, which, wishing to emphasize the affirmative, does good while at the same time glossing over or ignoring the negative evils which exist. And it may also be contrasted with the teaching in this chapter: "It is not said that man must do this or that good, but that he must not do this or that evil. . . . The reason is that man cannot do any good whatever from himself, but when he no longer does evils, then he does good, not from himself but from the Lord" (no. 58).
     The following section then names the evils which are sins as being murders, adulteries, thefts and false witness, together with all man's concupiscences or inward desires for these things. And following this come four sections, each of which treats in detail of one of these evils, revealing its internal degrees, and showing how, through the shunning of them, man is gifted with its opposite good.
     As an example of the treatment given, we may here take just one of these four. And we have selected the evil of theft, because it includes the internal evil of deceit which is said in the Spiritual Diary to be one of the three evils which the man of the New Church will especially shun, and which is one of the most widespread of all the evil afflictions from which the Christian world suffers. The section is headed by this general statement:

     So far as Anyone Shuns Thefts of every Kind as Sins, so far He Loves Sincerity. The treatment begins with a paragraph describing the three levels of theft, in these words: "To steal, in the natural sense, means not only to commit theft and robbery, but also to defraud, and under some pretext take from another his goods." [Italics added.] How many pretexts there exist, even pretexts of law and order and the protection of the common good and the community, for taking from others their goods! "But in the spiritual sense, to steal means to deprive another of his truths of faith and his goods of charity."

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This does not refer to taking away from another his falsities of religion; and it is possible to rob another of his goods of charity by imputing to him nothing but self-interest in his goods. "And in the highest sense, to steal means to take away from the Lord that which is His, and attribute it to ones' self, and thus to claim righteousness and merit for ones' self. These are the thefts of every kind. And they also make a one, as do adulteries of every kind, and murders of every kind. . . . The reason why they make a one is that they are one within another" (no. 80). This last sentence seems to mean that wherever there is deliberate theft of any kind, defrauding and taking from another his goods under any pretext, lawful or otherwise, there may also be found the rest of the pattern; whether it is conscious or not, and whether in an individual or in a community, namely, the robbing of men as to their truths of faith and their goods of charity, by ecclesiastical or secular mysticism and by contempt and evil imputations of self-love and self-interest in others' goods of charity, and, above that, the claiming of merit and righteousness in the pharisaical manner and spirit, thus taking from the Lord that which is His alone.
     It is also taught concerning the evil of theft that it "enters more deeply into a man than any other evil, because it is conjoined with cunning and deceit; and cunning and deceit insinuate themselves even into the spiritual mind of man in which is his thought with understanding." And this is why, towards the very end of the Spiritual Diary, deceit is one of the three things-the other two being the love of rule and adultery-"especially [which] those shun who will be of the New Jerusalem" (nos. 6051-4), because they are the special evils of the old Christian Church and world. It is also significant, perhaps, that this statement is made in a whole section which is especially treating of the types of adulteration, especially that of good and truth.
     Now the cunning, deceit and fraud, by which men rob each other include many externals such as flattery, sycophancy, hypocrisy, and all forms of cheating and lying for the sake of ones' self; and also included is self-deception, such as convincing one's self that any of these may be used for a good end, in order to promote uses and the common good, or to protect one's family or community-all those superb and subtle and tortuous justifications by which conscience and the Word are stilled, and we can as it were go on living with ourselves.
     Theft, we may reflect, also includes such things as robbing society by infidelity, insincerity, inefficiency and sloth, in one's occupation and other activities. It also includes the robbing of one community by another by the arts of diplomacy and economic policy, if not by direct frontal attack and assault. And this may be seen all around us in the international scene. Yes, indeed, we can all think of cases illustrating this-and they are all cases or instances involving somebody else, never ourselves!

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Is not this what we have been thinking of here and now? It is because we are now in a public sphere; it is only when we are alone in our own privacy that we can see ourselves as examples in this connection. For sincerity and integrity, like charity, are always qualities which the other man does not have.
     Theft is fraud, we are told, and fraud is the opposite of sincerity (no. 82). Wherefore, until a man roots out fraud and deceit by shunning thefts of every kind as sins, he cannot truly love sincerity, though he may put on the appearance of sincerity for the sake of ulterior purposes. Until then, however, he does not love sincerity; and so likewise, he does not really love those qualities which compose sincerity, i.e., integrity, justice, fidelity and rectitude.
     Now, by what method can a man shun these evils as sins? The answer is given in heading no. 12:

     No One can Shun Evils as Sins so as to be Averse to Them Except by Means of Combat Against Them. This general statement may be summarily treated in a selection of the passages, in this fashion: Everyone does this battling who believes in the existence of hell and of heaven, but not others (no. 94). This combat is said not to be severe except when a man has allowed the desires for these evils to have free rein and has indulged in them externally, or when the holy things of the Word and of the church have been stubbornly cast off. With others, it is written consolingly, i.e., with those who have not actually done the evils in some form, it is not severe; let them even once in a week, or twice in a month, resist the evils they are inclined to, and they will perceive a change (no. 97).
     Then, in the next to the last passage, it is declared that "a man ought to shun evils as sins and fight against them as of himself." [Italics added.] For freedom of choice and rationality are not only the gifts and laws of the Divine Providence to man, but they are also the Divine Providence itself in man, and even in his exercise of them. A man may indeed see, in retrospect, how it has been really the Lord alone who has fought and given the victory in his temptation combats, and how He has done so through many outward happenings and circumstances and inner influences. Yet, at the time of the combat itself, a man must fight as of himself, and, at last, as if he were all alone; as, indeed, is his anguished feeling in the last extremities of the battle. He must do this because, while "he is by no means the agent in regard to these things, yet he is a reagent as of himself" (no. 107).

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     We have referred to and discussed the points in the last chapter of this work, which bears the heading; "If anyone shuns evils for any other reason than because they are sins, he does not shun them, but merely prevents them from appearing before the world." And so, let us proceed directly to the very last thing said in the Doctrine of Life, and see how it is a demonstration of the teaching that "in the Word it is also usual to make mention of those things in the first place which are done in the last, because intermediate things are included in them; for the first, in the spiritual sense, is the end for which all the other things exist, inasmuch as the end is the first and the last, and all other things have respect to it" (AE 62). [Italics added.]
     Were we not to regard the last paragraph of this work in the light of this principle, we could almost regard it is as a mere afterthought-something just thrown in, as it were, only to give a final thought to stimulate us; for that is the first impression from the manner in which it is introduced. Thus we read: "To what has already been said shall be added the following: 1) Christian charity, with everyone, consists in faithfully performing what belongs to his calling, for by this, if he shuns evils as sins, he every day is doing goods, and is himself his own use in the general body. In this way also the common good is cared for, and the good of each person in particular. 2) All other things that he does are not the proper works of charity, but are either its signs, its benefactions, or its obligations" (no. 114).
     The first thing mentioned in this work was that "All religion is of life; and the life of religion is to do good." And here, in the last thing said, there is named that good which is the only genuine work of charity, and which is the supreme religious good of life which is to be done: "Christian charity, with everyone, consists in faithfully performing what belongs to his calling." [Italics added.] Furthermore, in the qualifying phrase, "if he shuns evils as sins," there are mentioned all of the intermediates contained in the work itself, namely, the shunning as sins of the evils of murder, adultery, theft and false witness, as the means which must be observed in order that the last thing, the supreme deed of charity, may be performed by man-the sincere, faithful and just performance of his use and function in society. And finally, while, as is taught, the other goods previously mentioned are also to be done, it is here pointed out that they are nevertheless not the proper works of charity, but are only its signs, its benefactions and its debts.
     In other parts of the Writings also it is taught that while the shunning of evils as sins is the first of charity in time and as means, yet the very essence and soul of charity itself, its highest expression and ultimation, is the performance of use and function with fidelity, sincerity and justice, or efficiency and excellence.

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And so it is seen that in this work, as in the Word, the first thing said is done in the last thing said, and that both include, as in parenthesis, the intermediate things necessary thereto.

     Conclusion. In the light of this last thing said, and the other teachings allied with it, we would dare to predict that as the human race progresses in its practice, so will the true Christian religion of the New Jerusalem arise and be established in the earth, and not until then. Also, men will estimate each other, not by their performance of the external signs, benefactions and debts of charity, but primarily by the quality and degree of their performance of their principal calling, occupation, or function.
     And more externally, we can easily see how, as this principle is practiced, so many of the seemingly incurable ills of earthly human society will be healed. There will be no need for impersonal, mass meritorious welfare, since by the universal faithful performance of use "the common good is cared for, and the good of each person in particular." For, likewise by this ultimate fidelity, there will be given a love for the common and for the individual good, and from this love will come enlightenment and illustration as to how the genius and temperament of individuals and of nations may be given full scope for development along their own lines, and not be stifled in mere mass imitation.
     Thence there will be what the Writings call "a sufficiency of wealth and of employment." And from this broad ultimate base there will arise the magnificent walls and jeweled gates of the heavenly city, New Jerusalem. The doctrine of life will glow for all men with the warmth and light of the Divine love and wisdom. And then, indeed, all religion will be of life in the doing of that good which is use.
NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1955

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1955

The June readings in the New Testament (Matthew 8:18-21:46) cover the main part of the Lord's public ministry as recorded by the first evangelist; carrying us from events immediately following the Sermon on the Mount through the calling of the twelve disciples and the Transfiguration to the Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. There is much for comment here; but as 14 of the 40 parables preserved in the Gospels occur in our readings, these notes are confined to the Lord's parables.
The Greek word parabole means basically "comparison," a placing side by side; hence a comparison or similitude from a natural thing to illustrate a spiritual.

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Biblical scholarship usually holds that parables are distinguished from allegories in that they have one main point, the details being unimportant except in building up the picture, whereas in allegory every detail can be used in the application. However, the Writings teach that the Lord's parables are not ordinary comparisons, but have an internal sense in every particular (AC 4637). The Lord when in the world spoke by correspondences, thus spiritually when naturally, and there is a spiritual sense within the single expressions of His parables (SS 17); and all the things He spoke in parables are representative and significative of the spiritual and celestial things of His kingdom (AC 4637).
It is interesting to note that in every instance the point of comparison, and thus of correspondence, is an action-a seed growing secretly, a merchant seeking pearls, a Pharisee and a publican praying in the temple. And it is noteworthy also that in every parable there is a point at which the hearer is challenged or invited; in the Parable of the Sower he is tacitly invited to become like the good ground. Although the Lord's parables are accommodated to those who heard them, in each one spiritual things are described correspondentially.
In the readings from the Heavenly Doctrine, White Horse is concluded and we are introduced to two other works. Appendix to the Treatise on the White Horse, a fragment, expounds the signification of a horse in the positive and the opposite senses, and contains Swedenborg's offer to unfold the meaning of the Egyptian hieroglyphics, which are nothing else but correspondences. Last Judgment, a historico-doctrinal work, disposes rationally of the Christian idea on the subject, shows that the judgment must take place in the spiritual world, announces that it has already been accomplished, and describes in detail how it was effected on the Roman Church and how the false heavens were destroyed. The three treatises mentioned will all be found in Miscellaneous Theological Works.
ALL THINGS NEW 1955

ALL THINGS NEW 1955

"In the church now to be established by the Lord there will be new doctrine, which was not in the former church. The reason this doctrine was not is that, if it had been, it would not have been received; for the Last Judgment was not yet accomplished, and prior to the Last Judgment the power of hell prevailed over the power of heaven; wherefore, if the doctrine had been given before from the mouth of the Lord, it would not have remained with man; nor does it remain at this day except with those who approach the Lord alone, and acknowledge Him as the God of heaven and earth" (Lord, 65).

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NOTABLE PASSAGE 1955

NOTABLE PASSAGE Rev. GILBERT H. SMITH 1955

     Why should such a surprising thing ever have been written as the following: "Unless the present little work is added to the former work [the True Christian Religion] the church cannot be healed. For it would be a mere palliative cure; a wound in which the corrupting matter remains, and which continues vitiating the neighboring parts. Orthodoxy is the vitiating matter; and the doctrine of the New Church indeed furnishes a cure, but only exteriorly" (Inv. 25).
     The matter is evidently so important that what New Church commentators have written about this passage ought to be collected and reviewed. With no present means of comparing the views of other writers on this subject, however, we offer our own reflections and some explanation.
     Why did Swedenborg consider it so vital to the health of the New Church that the little treatise called Invitation to the New Church be added to the teaching in the True Christian Religion The passage quoted is from a slim publication issued sixty-seven years ago by the Swedenborg Society under the title The Consummation of the Age, The Lord's Second Coming, and the New Church. It is in three sections, and the first, consisting of 59 numbered paragraphs, is entitled Invitation to the New Church. What we have is only a portion of the original manuscript, prepared posthumously from two copies. The original draft was lost, and Swedenborg expressed great grief at its loss.
     The matter of Swedenborg's proposed Coronis or Appendix to the True Christian Religion, completed but never published by him, and what happened to the original manuscript, deeply concerns the inquiring mind. Why did his plan fail of accomplishment? Why should Dr. Messiter, a personal friend and Swedenborg's physician, have allowed the original draft to be mislaid or lost in his house? All that is known is briefly told. "Dr. Messiter took away during Swedenborg's illness 72 large pages of Swedenborg's last work in manuscript. Swedenborg inquired after it before he died and seemed sorry it was gone. This was the whole of the manuscript of the Coronis" (Docu. II, p. 1022). "What was printed in London after Swedenborg's death is but an incomplete part of the same. Dr. Messiter informed us that nearly one half of the copy had been mislaid and lost at his house" (New Jerusalem Magazine, 1790, p. 224).

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From Benedict Chastanier we learn that Augustus Nordenskjold went to London to visit Dr. Messiter for the special purpose of printing the manuscript left in his hands, or taken by him. What he got, however, was only a portion of it and the printed work is incomplete.
     We know that the portion which was unaccountably lost dealt specifically with the Christian Church and the New Jerusalem and the relation of the one to the other, and hence with the right attitude of the New Church to the Old. It is hoped that what was left of Swedenborg's last work, and has since been published, contains sufficient material for us to reconstruct that vital teaching which is the only remedy that will prevent the New Church from falling a victim to spiritual disease. That teaching, we may conclude, is not to be found so clearly formulated in True Christian Religion itself, otherwise Swedenborg would not have made the statement quoted from Invitation no. 25. Some special teaching or doctrinal was to be added to insure the health of the Lord's New Church. What was this teaching?
     Apart from the title, the five general headings of the "little work" must furnish the first clue. These headings are:

     1) The Consummation of the Age, the Lord's Second Coming, the New Church.
     2) The Abomination of Desolation, the Consummation of the Age, and the Fulness of Time.
     3) A Summary of the Consummation of the Age, and the Abomination of Desolation.
     4) Summary of the Coronis to the True Christian Religion.
     5) Lastly, Something about Miracles.

     It would take but a short time to learn the contents of this "little work" thoroughly; and to do so is, in our opinion, of the utmost use, seeing that the book is so important. There are three sections, of which the first is the longest. The second and third sections contained in the manuscript have been left out of the English version made by the Rev. John Whitehead and published in the Posthumous Theological Works, but they are included in Dr. R. L. Tafel's translation in the Documents Concerning Swedenborg. However, these two short sections would seem to hold the most important clue as to why Swedenborg said that this little work must be added to the former work.
     It is strange, too, that someone has, for some reason, torn the third section entirely out of the manuscript in the Library of the Swedish Academy of Sciences. Why was this done, and by whom? Was it thought to be too strong a statement for public approval? In this third section, and also in the second, may be found the nearest approach to the reason why this little work must be added to the former work.

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     Section three consists of a summary of the whole of Swedenborg's material for his Coronis to the True Christian Religion. Here we have an outline of the entire work, even though we do not have the full text. We shall return to this third section later. At the moment we wish to describe the contents of section two. In this we are told that in the consummation of the age and the abomination of desolation there is no knowledge of God, of the Lord, of the Holy Spirit, of the holiness of the Word, of redemption, of charity, of freedom of choice, of the remission of sins and conversion, of regeneration, of imputation, of heaven and hell, of man's state after death and hence of salvation, of Baptism, or of the Holy Supper. Hence "it follows that there is no religion and therefore no church."
     Here in this brief second section is a doctrinal not stated so positively and succinctly anywhere in the True Christian Religion, although it is contained in that work. Therefore we may assume that this is one of the vital doctrinal points Swedenborg declared to be for the internal healing of the New Church. It must be known, and not only known but also perceived and believed, that there is no religion and no church in the Christian world except the New Church, into which all the world is invited. Unless this is really believed there is no internal healing, even for those who have the knowledge of the Heavenly Doctrine! For without a life patterned on this belief people can scarcely avoid absorbing many of the falsities and fallacies by which the first Christian Church has been devastated.
     As already mentioned, section three is a summary of the entire Coronis as Swedenborg outlined it. It explains the succession of four churches since the first creation; the decline and consummation of each; and how the Lord, at the end of each church, separates the good from the wicked, forms a new heaven and a new hell, and then inaugurates a new church on earth from the new heaven so formed. Then it is said that after these four churches a new and truly Christian Church will arise, as foretold in both Testaments; "when there remain no longer any truths of faith or good of charity, but only falsities and evils of life from those falsities." For then influx from heaven is occluded and cut off from mankind, and there arise naturalism and atheism, which characterize the "vastation," "desolation," "abomination," and "consummation."
     Redemption is explained, and it is shown that the Lord, impelled by the necessity of saving men, promised that He would come again. Next it is declared that the New Church is meant by the New Jerusalem, and then the devastating falsities that have ruined the church in times past are enumerated: namely, that Christians receded from the worship of the Lard as preached by the apostles, and from faith in Him; that they fabricated the dogma of a trinity of three Divine persons or Gods, dividing saving faith among these three; that from this they separated charity and good works from faith; that they then derived from this their false dogmas of justification, remission of sins, regeneration and salvation apart from man's cooperation; that they denied man's freedom of choice in spiritual things, saying that the Lord alone operates in man and that man on his part does nothing, from which came predestination, by which religion was abolished; and that they also made the Lord's death on the cross the whole of redemption.

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From these sources, it is added, falsities came in in such great abundance that not a single truth remained that was not falsified, nor any good that was not adulterated.
Section three proclaims also that the Christian Church knows absolutely nothing of its own spiritual desolation and destruction, and that it cannot know it until the Divine truths in the True Christian Religion are seen and acknowledged! It declares, further, that the New Church, unlike former ones, will not be established by miracles, but that in place of them there is the revelation of the internal sense of the Word and of the spiritual world-of heaven and hell, and of their quality. These things, together with the disclosing of man's life after death, are declared to be superior to all miracles. In place of miracles is the manifestation of the Lord Himself through a man intromitted into the spiritual world and enlightened immediately from the Lord in the interior things of the church. It is made known that man is already in the spiritual world as to his spirit; that through the spiritual sense of the Word the Lord is present with man if man approaches Him "in faith in the light of the spiritual sense"; and that "through the spiritual sense the Lord is in man's natural light."
The foregoing are the things that must be interiorly acknowledged before the church can be healed in any but an exterior way. They are, as it were, drawn out of the True Christian Religion, and are presented with forceful clearness as the only means of healing those who will be of the Lord's New Jerusalem in the "little work" which Swedenborg said must be added to the former work. And may we not conclude from these teachings that it is necessary not only to know and acknowledge sincerely the truths contained in the True Christian Religion but also to perceive the true relation of the New Church to the Old as it is brought out in the little work that was added. What we have called distinctiveness is here given Divine sanction and approval. Naturalism and atheism prevail generally in our times. The philosophies of religion and education that find widest acceptance are full of falsities leading to evils of life. And we must hold to the Divine authority of our doctrine on all planes, regardless of what the learned may do or think.

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REVIEWS 1955

REVIEWS Various 1955

DE ATHANASII SYMBOLO (The Athanasian Creed). An Unpublished Manuscript of Emanuel Swedenborg. Latin-English edition. Latin text edited and English translation by Doris H. Harley. The Swedenborg Society (Inc.), London, 1954. Cloth, pp. 93, plus Index of Scripture Passages.

     This new edition of the Latin text is the third publication based on the only manuscript known to be in existence, a copy made under the direction of Augustus Nordenskjold. Numerous footnotes in the present text indicate variant readings from the first Latin edition of 1840 and the Worcester edition of 1885. The present version gives ample evidence of meticulous care, and the translator tells us in her preface that "in cases of doubt, or where the Latin is untranslatable, the aim has been wherever possible to confirm changes in the text by reference to parallel passages in other parts of the writings of the New Church."
     The original manuscript was in note-book form, "consisting of jottings, propositions for further elucidation and frequent repetitions." A clear and coherent translation under such conditions is a very difficult undertaking, and the translator is to be congratulated on the results of her efforts.
     Some general problems which confront anyone who attempts to translate any of the Writings have not been solved in the present work, however. For instance, there is the problem of translating Swedenborg's quotations or citations from the Old and New Testaments. These are often so elliptic that they would not make sense to the general reader if translated literally. One recourse is to use the words of the Authorized Version in quotation marks, as Mrs. Harley has done in number 30, paragraph 1. But in paragraph 8 of the same number, referring to Isaiah 9:5, quotation marks are not used; Pater Aeternitatis is rendered "the Everlasting Father": and the words "God with us" are inserted in the English although they are not present in the Latin. Another inconsistency is the rendering of "doctrinae Ecclesiae," which in number 16 is translated as "the teachings of the Church," and in a parallel sentence in number 58 as "the doctrine of the Church."
     Despite such minor criticisms or differences of view, the current version of the Athanasian Creed is a definite contribution to the re-editing and re-translation of the Writings.

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Editions of this type, in which the Latin text and the English translation appear side by side on opposite pages, are of great value to the student. Yet it is many years now since one has been given to the New Church public. In congratulating the Swedenborg Society and the editor-translator on this production, therefore, we would express the hope that the Society will feel encouraged to publish further Latin-English editions in the future.
     ELDRIC S. KLEIN

UMCAZI, WESAMBULO SESONTO ELISHA (The Expositor of the Revelation of the New Church). A bi-annual magazine for the South African Mission of the General Church. Editor: Rev. B. David Helm; Assistant Editor: Rev. Aaron B. Zungu.

     This periodical was discontinued in 1949, due to the death of its former editor, the Rev. F. W. Elphick. UMCAZI performed a vital use under his editorship, and the lack of it was keenly felt by the entire Mission. At the 1953 South African Ministers' Meetings it was decided that UMCAZI should be revived, and at those meetings the present editor and assistant editor were elected.
     The layout of the magazine is patterned somewhat after that of NEW CHURCH LIFE and its purpose is similar. As this publication is for the African ministers and laymen, much of the material is written by them. In the issue received for review there is a sermon by the Rev. Paul Sibeko and a doctrinal article on "Why the Lord Came on Earth" by the Rev. Aaron B. Zungu, both of which show fine scholarship and a moving affection of the priestly office. The stimulating article on "The Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg as the Third Testament" written by Miss Goodness T. Butelezi which appears in this issue of UMCAZI may be read in the April issue of NEW CHURCH EDUCATION, Where it was republished. There are twelve pages of news notes from the various societies of the Mission, and these reports we found particularly delightful to read, for in a number of cases they were written by the secretaries of the societies and translated by Mr. Zungu. With this authorship we catch a direct feeling for the church as it is among the Africans; their eagerness for the things of the church leaps right out of their reports! There is an almost blunt willingness to call a spade a spade, and a strong affectional quality in the writing, which mark, perhaps, their different genius.
     Although this first issue is entirely in English, future issues will be partly in Zulu. The zeal and capability of the editors are self-evident, and they have our warmest good wishes. Although UMCAZI is written for members of the Mission, we recommend it to other New Church men as spiritually stimulating and as a way to discover the affecting love the African people have for the New Church.

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Subscriptions from the United States and Canada may be sent to Mr. Leonard E. Gyllenhaal, Treasurer, Bryn Athyn, Pa., the price of $1.00 per year being payable in advance, with the understanding that such subscriptions will be forwarded to the publisher in Durban, who will mail the periodical to subscribers.
     GEOFFREY S. CHILDS, JR.

THE GENERAL CHURCH SOUND RECORDING LIBRARY CATALOGUE. The General Church Sound Recording Committee, Bryn Athyn, Pa., 1955.

     This Catalogue, which replaces all others previously issued, appears in a new form the purpose of which is to keep users up-to-date on discards and accessions to a constantly growing library, and this without requiring them to annotate and refer to several separate supplements. Mimeographed, and contained in a semi-stiff binder, it has been organized on the looseleaf system. Each class of recordings has been kept separate, so that the supplementary sheets to be issued from time to time can be inserted in the appropriate places, and all information about available recordings can be kept under one cover. A consolidated listing of special seasonal material has been added.
     The Catalogue contains 765 titles, and examination shows a wide variety of offerings by a very representative group of the General Church clergy. Thus the total includes 193 complete church services, with sermons by 24 different ministers; 59 lessons and sermons, by 17 ministers; 8 sermons only; 4 joint services; 79 children's services, with talks by 15 ministers; 220 doctrinal classes by 12 different ministers; 39 General Church functions, including the 19th and 20th General Assemblies; 27 society functions; 17 Academy and school functions; 115 Growth of the Mind recordings; 2 Swedenborg Scientific Association annual addresses; and 2 recordings of Christmas music. Although most of the material was recorded in Bryn Athyn, nine other Societies and four Circles of the General Church are represented.
     THE EDITOR
PRAYER AND THE CHURCH 1955

PRAYER AND THE CHURCH 1955

"At this day the Lord is establishing a New Church, which is meant by the New Jerusalem in the Apocalypse, in which the Lord alone is worshiped, as He is in heaven; and thus will be fulfilled all that is contained in the Lord's Prayer from beginning to end" (AR 839:7).

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TRUE REWARD 1955

TRUE REWARD Editor 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly by

THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                              Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa,
Circulation Secretary                    Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Treasurer                          Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address, and business communications should be sent to the Circulation Secretary. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.
     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 30 cents.
     When the Lord in the parable called his servants to account, he who had traded so well with his talent that it gained ten was given authority over ten cities. He had been diligent and faithful in the task entrusted to him, and his reward was a higher trust-the responsibility for a more important use. This is the law and experience of life. The real reward for responsibility well met is the opportunity to assume higher responsibilities, and the true reward in work done sincerely and faithfully is the preparation it has afforded to enter into more interior uses. This is true wherever order prevails. It is most eminently true of our passing into the other world, where the reward of a life of regeneration is entrance into a heavenly use. And what is expected of us is directly proportioned to what we have received: "for unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be required much; and to whom men have committed much, of him they shall require the more.
     Those who graduate from our schools this month may well give some thought to these things when the novelty of sheepskin or diploma has worn off and the excitement of Commencement has died away. They have met their academic responsibilities, and their hour in the public eye is a pleasant and well deserved recognition of work well done. But it is not the true reward. The reward is that they have been prepared to go forward to new responsibilities, to more difficult work, to higher uses. And as they have received, so will much be expected of them-by their families and friends, by society and the church, and by the Lord-as they go into higher education or into their chosen occupation.

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TO ANGELS AND MEN 1955

TO ANGELS AND MEN Editor 1955

On the part of some in the church, there seems to be the thought that because the angels are in the internal sense of the Word, the Writings are a new revelation only for men-an unfolding on earth of what had always been known and understood in heaven. Yet there are two lines of teaching in the Writings themselves which clearly indicate that this was not so. One of these is that the angelic heavens are being perfected continually, and this in the understanding of truth as well as in the life of good. The other is that since the angelic heavens constitute the internal mind of the Gorand Man, the basis of their increasing perfection is the further development of the human race on earth; that all spiritual advancement involves, not the heavens alone, but the Lord's human creation as a whole.
It is known that the Writings could not be given until the minds of men had been prepared for reception. They are a revelation accommodated to the rational mind; and before they could be given, a rational mind capable of grasping their teachings had to be developed from the natural, through centuries of external discoveries made gradually. What is not always realized, perhaps, is the connection between that development and the perfecting of the heavens a connection which arises from that which exists between the internal and the rational minds. The ancient heavens were indeed in the internal sense of the Word, but until the minds of men had been prepared to receive the Writings they could not understand what was revealed at the Second Coming. For the perception and understanding of the internal sense in heaven are made more profound by every advent of the Lord. This is implied in the teaching that, since His coming into the world, the Lord appears as a sun in the angelic heavens in stronger radiance and greater splendor than He did before (DLW 221e). So the giving of the Heavenly Doctrine brought new light to angels as well as to men; and as men advance in that light, the heavens will be perfected even more.
PENTECOST 1955

PENTECOST Editor 1955

Like the Christian dispensation before it, the New Church recognizes three religious festivals. Although they are infilled with a new spirit, we share with Christians the observance of Christmas and Easter. But the Nineteenth of June, which marks the birth of the New Church, has displaced Pentecost, which they celebrate as the third great festival of the Christian year and the birthday of the church. Yet the events commemorated by Pentecost, which was observed last Sunday, should be familiar to us.

298

Before the Lord parted from the apostles on the Mount of Ascension He charged them to tarry in Jerusalem until they should be endued with power from on high. The promise implicit in these words was fulfilled when, on the first day of the eighth week after His resurrection, they met for the feast of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit descended upon them and they were inspired to speak to a mixed multitude. Although they knew it not, the spiritual ears of their hearers were opened, and they were addressed from within by a spirit whose speech fell into the words of each man's language. The appearance, recorded in good faith, was that each one heard the apostles in his own tongue. And when Peter had preached the first Christian sermon, "about three thousand souls" received baptism (Acts 2:1-41). The mission of the apostles had begun.
Pentecost therefore has for Christians the same significance as has for us that second calling together of the apostles, when they were sent forth to preach the new gospel throughout the universal spiritual world. But the Spirit no longer descends upon that church. And if the Nineteenth of June should remind us that we have a responsibility to carry the Heavenly Doctrine whithersoever the Lord may have prepared a receptive state, Pentecost may remind us that we have a duty to teach only from the doctrine, that with its own Divine power of accommodation it may speak intelligibly to men in a multitude of states. And it may remind us also that as the work begun on Pentecost was to change the pagan world, so will the promulgation of the Writings change it again.
UNLESS THIS LITTLE WORK IS ADDED 1955

UNLESS THIS LITTLE WORK IS ADDED Editor 1955

After the True Christian Religion had come off the press in June, 1771, Swedenborg wrote three little works which remained in manuscript until after his death-the Coronis, the Consummation of the Age, and the Invitation to the New Church. There is evidence that he did not regard the first of these alone as the promised Appendix to the last published work, but intended to include all three in it. When these three works are thus taken together we can grasp the significance of the statement made in one of them: "Unless this little work is added to the preceding work, the church cannot be healed. For it would be a mere palliative cure; a wound in which the corrupt matter remains, and which vitiates the neighboring parts. Orthodoxy is this corrupt matter itself, and the doctrine of the New Church indeed brings a healing, but only exteriorly" (Inv. 25).
The meaning clearly is that no distinctive New Church can be established on earth unless what is taught in the Appendix as a whole about the consummation of the Christian Church is acknowledged without reservation.

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It is that a true New Church can be founded only on acceptance of the truth that, internally, the Christian Church has died the death from which there is no resurrection. For unless this truth is realized, unless it is seen that the false dogmas and ideas of that church must be removed completely, the doctrine revealed in and as the "Universal Theology of the New Church" can cure only on the surface. What will be established otherwise will be a reform sect, not a new church.
It was the clear perception of this truth that led to the founding of the Academy, and the earnest desire to sustain it to the organization later of the General Church. And these bodies will remain distinct and distinctive only as long as that perception is renewed in every generation; as in the thinking of each generation, and its approach to the world, the state of that world and the distinctive nature and function of the New Church are crystal clear. There is no lack of hopeful opinion that the world is "becoming more New Church," usually without its knowledge! And it is true that some falsities are rejected by certain of the conflicting schools of thought within the Christian denominations. But the most cursory examination of modern theology shows that while there is a feeling that the church is sick, nowhere is there a realization of the truth that the Old Church is spiritually dead. Nowhere is there a perception that healing lies, not in re-thinking the Christian position, but in separation from it and acceptance of a new revelation. And the holy city can come down only when the teaching of the Appendix is added to the mind prepared as the ground on which it may descend.
REVELATOR OR PROPHET? 1955

REVELATOR OR PROPHET? FRANK ROSE 1955

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
Someone recently reminded me that whatever Swedenborg was, he was certainly not a "revelator." It is obvious what was meant. The Lord alone reveals truth. Once I saw this I was left with two problems: why is that term used? what can be used in its place! Swedenborg does refer to his "revealing" something (WE 5386; AR 134, 363), but in every case the term is used in the sense of "disclose." And so he writes, "I have not ventured to reveal this before" (AR 134), when treating of spiritual adultery. In this sense the term can be applied to gossips, as in one of the non-canonical books of the Bible: "A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter" (Proverbs 11:13). But he never describes his work of writing and publication as a "revealing" of truths, because he was not merely disclosing a secret that had been given to him, but was proclaiming the truth because the Lord had instructed him to do so (BE 1; AR 962; TCR 779).

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What was written is indeed a revelation (Inv. 44; Ecc. Hist. 4), but it is a revelation of the Lord. The only one who can reveal truths is He who has concealed them in the first place.
     It might be argued that Swedenborg's mission was unique, and that we must use some term that will describe it fully. But it was not unique to have a revelation. All of the prophets and evangelists had this, and yet no one has dared to describe them as "revelators."
     There seems to be confusion between the instrument and the cause. New Church men might argue that they do not think that Swedenborg actually revealed truths, but they call him a revelator because truths were revealed through him (Inv. 44). If this is so, we can still ask what is gained by speaking in false appearances. Those who know what we mean must go through the mental process of saying, "He means something else"; and those who do not know what we mean must take what we say at face value, which is even worse. And so, in this case, our using the language of appearances is of no use to us and is of great harm to others.
     It would be unfair to bring the matter up without offering a solution. The answer is not hard to find. We have but to look for the term that has been used to describe people to whom a revelation was given and we find the sentence: "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7). If a man was given a revelation and told to write it down he was called a "prophet." Even if he had to convey it by word of mouth he had the same title, and so Aaron was called the prophet of Moses (Exodus 7:1). The work of teaching was the essential function of a prophet. The Greek word from which our English word is taken means "one who speaks for another," especially "one who speaks for God."
     So far as I know, the term "revelator" is used only once in the Writings, and there it is merely quoted from the Old Testament, where Joseph is called a "revealer of hidden things" by Pharaoh. And there it says: "To reveal hidden things, and to open things to come, is of God alone" (AC 5331).
     The term "prophet" is used a great deal, and it seems to describe Swedenborg's mission very well. "In the sense of the letter 'prophet' signifies those to whom revelation is made, also, abstractedly, revelation itself; but in the internal sense a prophet' signifies one who teaches, and also, abstractedly, doctrine itself" (AC 2534). And again: "Wence also it is that Aaron is here called his 'prophet,' and in a former passage his 'mouth,' that is, one who utters in a form adapted to the understanding the Divine truth which proceeds immediately from the Lord, and which transcends all understanding" (AC 7268: 2; cf. AR 8).

301

     This term is not the entire answer. In the first place, the prophetic office ceased with John the Baptist, but this was only because representatives ceased (AC 9372:6). So it is that even though Swedenborg acted as a prophet in some respects, we must not imagine that his actions represented the state of the church and that he himself represented the Lord. In the second place, the term "prophet," in its broadest sense, can be applied to anyone who is wise from the Lord and who teaches doctrine from the Word (AE 624:15). And yet, admitting these disadvantages, we feel that the church would do well to adopt this term in preference to "revelator"; and this because it is the most accurate word used for such an office, and because it avoids the great heresy implied by the term currently used.
     I sought in vain to find Swedenborg using any kind of technical name himself. He merely refers to his function as an "office" (TCR 779). He does call himself a "spiritual fisherman" (Infl. 20; cf. TCR 850); and spirits called him "something strange, wonderful, unaccountable [underlig]" (SD 102). In one case he is actually called a "prophet," but this, alas, was by evil spirits! (TCR 137:3).
     FRANK ROSE
SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1955

SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1955

MINISTERIAL CHANGES 1955

The Rev. Louis B. King, pastor of Sharon Church, Chicago, has accepted a call to the pastorate of the Pittsburgh Society. He expects to go to Pittsburgh in August, when the Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen leaves for Stockholm, Sweden.

302

Church News 1955

Church News Various 1955

     HURSTVILLE, AUSTRALIA

     Our annual meeting was duly held on September 21st, and all the officers of the Society were reelected for another term. The fiftieth anniversary of the Hurstville Society in 1955 was discussed at length since it was intended to make the occasion an outstanding one.
     At a film night we were privileged, through the generosity of Mr. Knox, to view many interesting places in England, Canada, and the United States. Mr. Knox also showed particularly interesting shots of animals, birds, and the beauties of nature, of which he makes a special study.
     A fancy dress party was highly enjoyed by the children. They certainly showed great exuberance and there was not a dull moment throughout the evening.
     An outing of the Boys' Club to Kurnell, the historic spot where Captain Cook made his first landing, turned out to be a fiasco. First there was a struggle to get through the wind-blown sand which almost blocked the road-though the boys certainly thought it great fun helping to push quite a number of cars through it; and when we eventually arrived there the wind was too strong for us to stay. We decided to make our way to National Park in the hope of finding shelter there; but in this also we were disappointed, and when rain set in we decided to call it a day and made for home.
     The Sons' banquet, held on November 21st, proved to be another success, not only on account of the excellent meal provided but also by reason of the thoughtful papers on "The History of New Church Education" and "Principles of New Church Education" given by Mr. Norman Heldon and Mr. Ossian Heldon, respectively. Both papers provided material for extended discussion. Mr. Theo Kirsten ably directed proceedings as the toastmaster; and toasts to "The Church," "The Academy," and "Theta Alpha" were honored with enthusiasm.
     On December 22nd, Father Christmas again made one of his annual visits while the children were frolicking round the Christmas tree. Again their pleasure was heightened by the gift off the tree which he presented to each one.
     On Christmas Day we had as usual a service at which a representation of the stable and the manger was shown and was greatly admired. The representation was made and modeled by Mr. and Mrs. T. R. Taylor, and the figures were artistically painted by Mr. Fred Fletcher. Another service was held on the following morning, and at night we had a showing of tableaux suitable for the occasion and arranged by Mrs. Morse.
     Many of the adults joined the Boys' Club on January 29th on a trip to inspect the Warragamba Dam, the Sons having obtained a permit some time previously. It was a beautiful drive there through attractive country and lush scenery. The dam, presently under construction, is one of the major engineering feats in this country, and when completed will insure a complete and abundant water supply for the rapidly spreading city of Sydney and its suburbs.
     Swedenborg's birthday was celebrated on the following day, January 30th. After we had enjoyed a sumptuous banquet our Leader, Mr. Lindthman Heldon, gave an address. Toasts to "The Church" and "The Academy" were proposed by Mr. Alfred and Mr. Theodore Kirsten, respectively, and a well composed greeting was received from Mr. Norman Heldon who was away holidaying with his family. Mr. Ossian Heldon then gave a lengthy reading from The Swedenborg Epic which included "The Last Journey," and a spirited discussion followed. After a last toast to "Absent Friends" our Leader closed the celebration.
     Several working bees have been held on Saturdays to prepare the church grounds for the anniversary celebrations and also for the visit of Bishop Pendleton. To that visit we are, at the time of writing, looking forward with eager expectation.
     ALFRED KIRSTEN

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     Jersey. The Rev. C. Douglas Brock, for many years pastor of the Adelaide Society, South Australia, has entered into the pastorate of the Society in the Isle of Jersey.

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GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS 1955

GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS HUBERT HYATT 1955

     Announcements.
     The 1955 Annual Corporation Meetings of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in the Benade Hall Auditorium, Bryn Athyn, Pa., an Wednesday, June 15th, 1955, at 8:00 p.m. D.S.T. Notices have been mailed.
     HUBERT HYATT,
          Secretary.
ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH 1955

ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH E. BRUCE GLENN 1955

SONS OF THE ACADEMY WALTER C. CHILDS 1955

     The Annual Meetings of the Sons of the Academy will be held on Friday, June 24th and Saturday, June 25th, 1955, at Toronto, Ontario, Canada. All men interested in New Church education are cordially invited to attend. For reservations write to Mr. Leigh Bellinger or Mr. John Parker, 13 Collinson Blvd., Wilson Heights, Ontario, Canada.
     Program: Friday, 8:00 p.m. Address by the Academy Representative (Mr. Sigfried T. Synnestvedt).
     Saturday, 9:30 a.m. Reports and business. Election of officers.
     Saturday, 7:00 p.m. Banquet. (Toastmaster, Mr. Mr. L. Soneson.)
          WALTER C. CHILDS,
               Secretary.
WHAT IS TRUTH? 1955

WHAT IS TRUTH? Rev. ROY FRANSON 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXV          JULY, 1955               No. 7
     "If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31, 32).
     Both history and religion testify that nothing is more important to man than to know what truth is. Throughout history there has been an endless search for truth and a constant hope of attaining certainty, that is, a complete absence of doubt. But it is realized more and more that, as far as scientific theories and human reasonings are concerned, there cannot be any certainty. Both scientists and philosophers say that it is impossible to reach any absolute truth; for they see that scientific conclusions and metaphysical beliefs are ever fluctuating, representing, as they do, merely the shifting limits of current verifications and discoveries. Moreover, at the present time fear has crept into the minds of men; not only into the minds of the great masses of the people but also into the minds of the scientists themselves. There is fear of the results of recent human discoveries. If the powers theoretically known were let loose, there is uncertainty even in scientific circles as to the outcome-a fear of total destruction.
     The glorious era of science is being shaken. For the human mind is seeking a truth, or a belief, which is not introduced by "if" or any other conditional word or phrase. And in spite of the admirable human qualities which the scientists possess or claim-such as accuracy of observation, reasoning power, intellectual curiosity, tolerance, absolute honesty, and even humility-they have now reached the stage at which they must admit that they do not know. The hope that science, which has done so many other things and been right so many times, would eventually usher us into a new golden age is now seen to be vain.

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Whether built by modern scientists or by ancient peoples, the tower of Babel must inevitably be abandoned incomplete.
     And so there is again a tendency to turn toward religion. But is it not true that religion is just as uncertain as science? Have not religionists put forth even more false predictions than has science! Is it not obvious that many religious dogmas are more unreasonable than scientific conclusions? And is it not a matter of historical record that Christianity, although founded upon the same revelation, is miserably divided-that the Word of God has served to support the claims of contradictory beliefs? For the concepts of Christianity cover a multitude of creeds and the difference among them is sharp. Each particular sect and denomination in the Christian world preaches entirely different dogmas concerning Divine Providence and human salvation. And so the question must arise in the individual mind: If all religious systems but one are to be condemned as erroneous, which of them has an unmistakable title to truth!
     If this question is to be answered satisfactorily for each person, there must first be a realization that truth cannot be found with man. Man can not produce truth, he can only receive it. Human doctrines bear upon them the stamp of a peculiar age and locality and are limited thereby. But truth, as it is in itself, is infinite and uncreate, and therefore can not be limited either by time or by space. No human doctrine has so far given evidence of being immutable or true for all times and places, even though it has often been put forward as universal by its advocates.
     But the Word is revealed to man by an infinite God, and it thus contains the infinite truth itself. For although the Lord is infinite, and thus not limited by time and space, He can still appear in time and space. The form in which He appears to the children of men differs according to their states, but the truth which the form contains is the same. Truth, being uncreate, cannot change. Thus it is the same Lord, or the same truth, that can be seen in the allegory of the Hebrew Word, in the parables of the New Testament, and in the rational doctrines of the Writings. While human doctrines undergo continual changes, and when compared contradict one another, the Word of the Lord in its threefold form makes one harmonious whole. A truth stated in the New Testament can be confirmed in the Old; for, as He Himself said, the Lord did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it. Similarly, the doctrines of the Writings can all be confirmed by the literal sense of the Old and New Testaments. Whenever the Lord reveals Himself anew to man, it is therefore done according to the predictions made in the revelation already existing on earth. Thus reference to the Word itself is the only test by which it can be proved that a new revelation is really from the Lord.

307

     If a human organization which claims to be the Lord's church on earth attempts to keep its members from reading, studying, and meditating on the Word of God, and places the final authority for truth with its leaders, it can be shown clearly from all revelation to be contrary to the Divine truth-contrary to the teaching of the Word. Not only does reason tell us that this is to lead men away from the Lord and put them under the yoke of the fallible rule of human dogmas, but the opposite is plainly taught in all Divine revelation. "It is better to trust in the Lord," we read, "than to put confidence in man" (Psalm 118:8). And we are exhorted: "Seek ye the Lord, and ye shall live" (Amos 5:6); "I am the Lord, I change not. Return unto Me, and I will return unto you" (Malachi 3:6, 7). In the New Testament the Lord says: "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28); "I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12).
     Nowhere in the Sacred Scripture are we advised to trust in the word of men. On the contrary, we find such teachings as these. "How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us . . . lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord, and what wisdom is in them?" (Jeremiah 8:8, 9); "Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight" (Isaiah 5:21). "I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word. Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing; their molten images are wind and confusion. . . . I am the Lord; that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images" (Isaiah 41:28, 42:8). And when the Lord was on earth He rebuked the Pharisees for their non-understanding of the Word of God, saying: "Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men" and adding that thus they made the Word of God of none effect through their tradition, which they had delivered (see Matthew 15, Mark 7).
     In spite of all this teaching there are many today who pray to man-made saints, bow before graven images, and believe in the tradition of their church without even attempting to seek confirmation of it in Divine revelation. Indeed, by the tradition of the church, they are not even allowed to question the dogmas put forth by its leaders.
     And the Christian world is diseased also by the dogma that the Word of God cannot be understood but must be blindly believed. Yet this, too, can be repudiated both by Scripture and by reason. For why should an all-wise God make His will known, why should He reveal Himself at all, if His Word is to remain a mystery?

308

     But the Lord has revealed: "Many shall be purified, and made white; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand" (Daniel 12:10). In another place we are told that all those who fear the "God of Israel shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine" (Isaiah 29:23, 24). When the Lord appeared to two of His disciples after His resurrection He said: "These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things might be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures" (Luke 24:44, 45). And often He rebuked His disciples, saying: "How is it that ye do not understand?" (Matthew 16:11).
     Thus it is evident that the disciples of the Lord must go to the Word itself for the confirmation of truth. To know truth, and to understand truth, is to know and understand the Lord. Everything that exists in a state of order is a manifestation of the Lord both in heaven and on earth; for there is nothing in heaven or in man, or indeed in the whole universe, that does not have reference to truth or to the Lord, provided it is in order. For the Lord is the Word, and thus truth itself, even as we read in John: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God. All things were made by Him. . . . And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us."
     "If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed" (John 8:31). That which distinguishes a disciple of the Lord is that he has an affection for His Word; that he regards nothing as true unless it is in accord with the harmonious teaching of revelation. For the church consists of those who are in the affection of truth from good, and they who are in this affection do not remain in doctrinals but search the Word to find out whether they be true. Man may have an affection of truths from a purely natural delight, that is, a delight which flows from the loves of self and the world. Such a man may even endeavor to learn the doctrines of the church, but his purpose in so doing is gain and honor, not life. "Bear in mind," the Writings say, "that the genuine affection of truth is willing and longs to know the veriest truths of faith for the sake of good use as the end, and for the sake of life" (AC 8993:3).
     The Word of God is given as a light unto our feet on the path to heaven. If we are deprived of that light we will stumble and fall. In His mercy, God has revealed His will, through the instrumentality of men, to the children of men, so that they may know and understand it, and learn to love the truth which alone can lead to the heavenly Canaan. If we are told that we cannot understand, that is not a teaching from the Lord but a falsity from man.

309

For the Lord said: "If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
     Human slavery, therefore, is not removed merely by the institution of laws liberating the slaves and giving liberty to the press and freedom of speech. These are merely stepping stones to external freedom, or they are natural manifestations of spiritual freedom. True and genuine spiritual freedom will exist on earth when all men are led by the Lord in His Word-when the Word of God is acknowledged as the final authority in all matters of truth. And it can be enjoyed individually only when there is an endeavor to live by the truth of the Word according to one's conscience. For no matter how the external appearance of society may change on account of ever shifting scientific conclusions and metaphysical beliefs, the teaching of the Lord, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," will remain eternally true. And all those who wish to become His disciples, all those who seek the Lord in His revealed Word, will know the truth, and the truth will make them free. Amen.

     LESSONS: Psalm 119:97-112. John 8:12-32. AC 2954.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 466, 462, 463.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 63, 96.
TEN BLESSINGS AND EDUCATION 1955

TEN BLESSINGS AND EDUCATION Rev. DAVID R. SIMONS 1955

     7. Peacemakers

     "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" (Matthew 5:9). Life is a conflict. It is a struggle for survival against physical and social forces and those other forces which attack the human spirit. It is a proving ground on which the Lord provides for poverty of spirit, sorrow for evil, genuine meekness, purity of heart-for the eternity of human character. We near our goals on one level of conflict only to be plunged into another. The reward of victory, more often than not, would seem to be new battlegrounds, new issues, more costly consequences. Yet through it all, step by step, conflict by conflict, the sure hand of an omniscient providence leads to eternal peace-to the blessings of evil overcome, temptation ended.
     Christianity is a warfare. It is a defense against the attacks of evil within and outside of us. Therefore it is the responsibility of the church to equip its children with weapons of defense, and also to train them in the use of those weapons.

310

Christian parents must prepare their children to face the enemies of their spiritual lives.
     We are taught that "with those who are in a state of childhood and youth, thus who are under twenty years of age, truths and goods are not so ordered as to enable them to go forth into the army [of the church] and into warfare [against evil], because they do not as yet discriminate, and form any conclusions; consequently they cannot as yet by means of [their own] rational dispel anything false or evil; and they who are not able to do this are not let into combats. For this reason a man is not admitted into temptations, which are spiritual combats against falsities and evils, until he is in a state of intelligence, that is, is capable of exercising his own judgment" (AC 10,225:9). This is why parents, when they have their children baptized, take upon themselves the responsibility of waging these battles, of renouncing for their children the ways of the world and of keeping for them the commandments of God until they can assume these tasks for themselves. But this teaching does not mean that children are not to be prepared and introduced gradually into Christian combat according to their needs and their state of development. And we do prepare them when we teach them the lessons of self-criticism and self-control.
     The ability to criticize one's self, to see one's own faults objectively in the light of truth and reason, is a skill that is to be cultivated in Christian education. Self-examination, we learn from the Writings, is easy for those who have practiced it, but difficult for those who have not (TCR 561). As children grow up, their dependence on parents and teachers to discriminate for them between right and wrong, between order and disorder, must give place to reliance upon principles of truth. As they mature they should be required to reflect more and more upon their own actions and thoughts and to discover disorder and evil intent for themselves, and they should be given freedom to remove these as of them selves before compulsion is brought to bear. Youth needs sympathetic help in learning to view itself objectively. It can readily be shown how self-criticism leads to the perfecting of external skills: what else does coaching in sports, or the friendly advice of an older sister about social problems, seek to encourage? How else are uses perfected? And recognition of this can prepare for acknowledgment of the need for self-examination, of internal self-criticism as an essential of the life of religion.
     Self-control, the strength of character which enables us to compel ourselves to do what is distasteful and to act against our spontaneous desires, is even more important to cultivate. Criticism has to do with the understanding and is first in time, but control has to do with the will and is first in end. Both are essential in regeneration; for of what use is it to know our faults if we do nothing about them?

311

     External order, as reflected in good manners, polite and thoughtful behavior, wholesome language, and care for the persons and property of others, requires self-control. Here is the training ground on which the vital lessons of life are to be learned. Morality-honorableness and decorum-is the clothing of genuine charity.
     Our attempts to establish and strengthen self-criticism and self-control are bound to cause conflicts between us and our children. Self-will, with its profusion of arguments, will attack our principles and try our patience. As harmony between the inner and outer minds in the individual is achieved only through conflict, so true family harmony can come only through strife. As our individual rational conviction, formed from the Word, is matched against our native loves in our own regeneration, so our adult principles are to be exercised to restrain the proprial affections of our children; and conflict will inevitably follow.
     The temptation is to avoid such conflict, to compromise our principles, to appease, to give in, to sacrifice all for a superficial harmony. But to do this is to neglect our spiritual responsibility to provide for the genuine peace of true order. Contrasting two kinds of parents, the Writings note that those who are in charity love their children "according to their morals, virtues, good will, and qualifications for serving the public. But those who are not in charity love even wicked, immoral, and crafty children more than the good, moral, and discreet; thus they love those who are useless to the public more than those who are useful" (TCR 431e).

     LOVE OF COUNTRY

     "A man's country is the neighbor because it resembles a parent; for in it he was born, it has nourished and still nourishes him, and it continues to protect him, as it has always done. Men are hound from love to do good to their country according to its needs, some of which are natural and some spiritual. Natural needs regard civil life and order, and spiritual needs regard spiritual life and order. That every man is bound to love his country, not as he loves himself, but with a greater love, is a maxim inscribed on the human heart. Those who love their country, and render it good service from good will, after death love the Lord's kingdom, for this is now their country; and those who love His kingdom love the Lord, because the Lord is the all in all of His kingdom" (TCR 414).

312

ESSENTIAL FEMININE 1955

ESSENTIAL FEMININE Rev. DANDRIDGE PENDLETON 1955

     (Delivered at the Theta Alpha Banquet, Bryn Athyn, Pa., March 21, 1955.)

     It is written in the work Conjugial Love: "The universe was created by the Lord a most perfect work; and in that universe nothing was created more perfect than woman, beautiful in aspect and gracious in manner; and this to the end that man may render thanks to the Lord for this bounteous gift, and may repay it by the reception of wisdom from Him" (no. 56:5).
     Never has a greater tribute been paid to you as women. Never has a greater challenge been laid before you as women of the New Church. For the era in which we live marks the crucial, beginning stages of either complete spiritual return or failure with the race on this earth. With us, the present generation of the New Church, and those who follow us, lies the decision.
     This decision depends upon our response to a fundamental doctrine of the Writings, the doctrine of conjugial love; that love which can exist and continue with those only who "approach the Lord, love the truths of the church, and do its goods" (CL 70). For within this love, or the sincere desire therefor, can be born to an eminent degree an acknowledgement of the Lord's Divine Human, trust in His providence, and a determination toward the performance of use apart from self; in a word, the entire regenerative process. Indeed we note that conjugial love itself is defined as a state of regeneration (see CL 130, 141-143, 70-72, 81, 150). Between married partners this love is established through mutual and reciprocal assistance in the regenerative endeavor. It is to be observed, however, that the essential of conjugial love can be gained and secured quite apart from a state of actual marriage on earth, by virtue of regeneration undertaken and achieved on a strictly individual basis.
     This we would emphasize, both in general and as pertinent to our specific subject: that whether or not a woman is married on this earth does not necessarily influence, one way or the other, the interior development with her of what we may term the essential feminine.
     The number quoted at the outset of our discussion designates woman as the most perfect work in creation; this because with her there resides an inborn capacity to perceive the interiors of use.

313

This capacity, as a perceptive instinct, exists only with woman. Man, or the masculine, possesses none of it; nor could he ever come to possess it were it not for the sphere of this interior feminine love in creation. For we read: "The Lord has taken the beauty and grace of life from man and transcribed them into woman. Hence, without reunion with his beauty and grace in woman, a man is stern, austere, dry and unlovely; nor is he wise, save for himself alone, and in that case he is stupid" (CL 56:4).
     The teaching is that the male is a form of the understanding of truth, wherewith to acquire genuine wisdom; whereas the female is a form of the perception of love, wherewith to turn the understanding of the male to its proper function. Each possesses from birth a vital element of interior life that the other lacks. It is masculine to understand the means, it is feminine to perceive the end.
     Now this is a deeply interior truth; so much so that we tend to react against it. For it would seem to imply, on the one hand, that a man cannot by himself take action with a genuinely interior end in view; and, on the other hand, that a woman cannot discern or choose genuine truth as a means to fulfill her perceptions of good. Yet men assuredly can think toward interior uses as objectives, while women just as certainly can employ thought, understanding, for the production of their hearts' desires. Nevertheless, there is a very real and vital sense in which the above implication is true, without qualification or variance. The masculine mind is always, at every instant and to eternity, confined and constricted within the rational thought pattern that produces its concept of use. A man's discernment of the use itself is ever limited within the relatively rigid framework of logic. He observes a state of disorder. From, and by means of, rational judgment he seeks to resolve the disorder and to reestablish a state of order in its place. What he does not instinctively realize is that the interior effectiveness of his endeavor may be lost by reason of ill timed action, an aggravated method of procedure, or a disregard for human relations. It is the formal of use-its external establishment in terms of rational law-that is instinctively paramount to the masculine mind in every aspect and emphasis of man's life, even with regard to the conjugial; an instinct commendable in its sincere endeavor, yet woefully inadequate-indeed inevitably subject to perversion-apart from the softening influence and gentle perspective that is the essential feminine.
     For inbound deeply with every woman born lies the most priceless jewel of human life, a potential perception of and desire toward the conjugial institution. The entire nature of woman, stemming from this innate potency with her, is to turn the male toward herself, to conjoin her life with his-soul, mind, and body-in order that he may be inspired to direct his intelligence toward the interiors of use that she intuitively perceives.

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This refers, of course, to a potential capacity with women. The actual descent and establishment of this inmost potential-as also in the case of the masculine and its essential development-will be subject to abuse in its ultimate application by reason of the proprium of evil inherent in every individual from birth. Yet even at the outset, the essential masculine and feminine qualities from inmosts present themselves in such a way as to implement their own genuine institution in externals, through the leading of Providence and the exercise of human freedom.
     We may say, then, that the masculine mind possesses from birth an instinctive capacity to understand and acknowledge laws of truth entirely apart from its affections. This capacity exists, and continues to exist, with all men whether they regenerate or not. The feminine mind contains, also from birth, an instinct to love the interior effect for good to which a genuine understanding of truth should properly lead. A man's thought process produces his perception of use, whereas a woman's perception of use produces her thought process. Yet her perception in this regard is susceptible to perversion from her proprium. Therefore her instinctively realized need and desire is to depend upon the masculine capacity to see genuine truth as it is in itself, in order that she may not as it were evolve truth from and for herself.
     The deeply practical outcome is this: a man can understand truth objectively, whereas a woman can understand truth only subjectively, because her understanding evolves intimately and minutely out of her perceptive affections in all things of life. On the other hand, a man can love the interior use of truths only subjectively, from the basis of and within the framework of his own rational intellect, whereas a woman can love the interior use of truth objectively; not only can, but must, if she is to achieve her intended destiny in creation. Herein lies the essential necessity and potentiality of woman. For with her there resides a unique capacity to preserve and sustain the interior use of truth, the interior use of marriage, over and above her own personal gratification.
     With her, as with no man, there exists a faculty to sustain genuine order from the objective perception that is hers from birth, and is therefore something apart from the subjective perversions of her proprium. To a spiritually minded wife, the regeneration of her husband and herself together is all important. This end in view can become dominant also with the husband. The difference, however, consists in the fact that while the woman perceives the need and desires its fulfillment instinctively, the man, lacking this perception, must needs come to a conviction of it through his understanding. And right here lies the task of educating the masculine minds in the New Church.

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For men can be induced to acknowledge and serve only such uses as they themselves understand to be of rational necessity.
     Now we have referred to the essential feminine as an inborn faculty to perceive the interiors of use objectively, that is, apart from her own proprial tendencies. Only with woman can this particular objectivity exist. As to all else but this innate perceptive faculty she is nothing but proprium. Here, then, lies the central issue of spiritual achievement with woman. For her capacity to perceive the interiors of use objectively may well be turned by the subjective loves of her proprium to the most insidious perversions of self-love and domination. Illustrations in this regard are so obvious that we need not dwell on them here. However, there can exist more subtle extensions of this perversion, even with those women who consciously desire and cherish the conjugial, that it may be well to discuss.
     The quality in man that is to be loved, according to the Writings' own statement, is not merely the fact that he is in the masculine form, but the activity within that form that makes him to be truly a man (see CL 91). This activity consists, not in the measure of his intellectual brilliance-for this is but an external, often hereditary, quality-but in the depth of his love of truth and his regard for the Lord in that truth. It is this that is to be inspired and fostered in him by woman, an inspiration that involves the subtly difficult task of drawing him away from his natural conceit by means of her own love.
     The Writings designate as one of the chief means whereby this is achieved by woman that she turns the man to herself (CL 169-171), in the hope that his reciprocal affection for her may then be imbued with her perception and love of the use itself. It is noteworthy in this regard that a woman cannot hope so to turn and inspire the male by instructing him. She can, with prudent disposition, render advice and counsel relating to his forensic use. But the effectiveness of this counsel is secondary to, and dependent upon, the degree to which she has previously succeeded in gaining his affectional response on a personal basis. And in this primary endeavor, the moment she seeks to instruct him in his duties toward her, his mind becomes frigid and repels her every suggestion. For it is the essential order of love to inspire, not instruct, the understanding as to its reciprocal obligations. This law of interior life extends manifestly into externals. For it is a universally observable fact that for a woman to pursue a man obviously-whether spiritually, mentally, or physically-is inevitably to turn him cold toward her, even though previously he may have been vying ardently for her favor.
     This, we believe, is for the sake of protecting essential uses. For a woman to take the lead intellectually, especially in the masculine-feminine relationship, is a perversion of interior functions.

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Therefore the Lord provides that such a perversion, when indulged, will not produce the desired state.
     This calls to mind a disservice that women can do. From its perceptive faculty the feminine mind often discerns a more interior need or use to be served than does the masculine; whereupon the woman may force the issue intellectually before the man has had the opportunity to arrive at an understanding and decision in his own right. Her premature action in this regard will certainly cause a deep rift in their relationship. For a woman to deprive a man of his intellectual prerogative of both thought and action, before his understanding has been given sufficient opportunity to acknowledge the necessity involved, is to usurp his essential manhood. It can destroy his self-respect, and self-respect forms the very bedrock of all genuine masculine development.
     This is mentioned because there is real danger of a woman, married or single, entering into both a sense of superiority and frustration because the masculine mind does not perceive use as she does. Such a sense of superiority, and the inevitable frustration, may Well exist needlessly, though none the less harmfully, from a mistaken concept as to what is genuinely masculine, and therefore that with which she can, and is to, conjoin herself.
     The wisdom innate with women is said to consist in an instinctive perception of masculine affections and virtues, and also consummate prudence in moderating them (CL 166-169). It is from this perceptive feminine wisdom that a woman can know and understand a man far better than he knows and understands himself. For this very reason there is need for the utmost caution on her part. For in her discernment of a use that the man does not as yet recognize, and in attempting to influence his recognition and action in this regard, a woman may unwittingly force his state in such a way as to constrain his mind to a form of action that he does not sense as his own. Such a forcing of his states, above and beyond the "experience" of his understanding, is utterly contrary to the proper order of rational development; and the man knows only one or the other course of protection in this case: either to belittle the woman's expressed desire, or to withdraw entirely.
     Now this does not mean that women are to indulge the faults of the men. The masculine-feminine relationship should definitely not degenerate into a slavish conciliation on the woman's part, wherein she bows reverently before the man's every word and act. Rather does it call for her continual encouragement of his genuine affections of truth, and at the same time an active de-emphasis of his conceits, which she discerns to be detrimental to his interior development.

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It is in this essential aspect of her use that the woman's mind and life will inevitably undergo the severest test. For in her ever required, yet necessarily unobvious, manipulations of the masculine mind she must guard against attributing to herself his states of interior achievement.
     The masculine proprium instinctively wants a woman to reflect its intelligence, and nothing more. A man instinctively seeks, and too often finds, that feminine mind, or those feminine minds, in which he can simply preen his own ego as in a mirror. This the feminine mind must not allow to occur; for it is not an honorable thing, nor does it contribute to the man's essential development.
     This points to the subtly destructive condition mentioned just above, a condition wherein the woman's proprium deviously assumes the appearance of her genuine perception of use and causes her to desire the man's development in wisdom for her own gratification. The moment that this becomes the case she supposes that his essential development is, and can only be, a product of her making, rather than of the Lord's making through her. She enters upon the conceit of the man's intelligence! Here is utter perversion. For if a woman in any way assigns to herself the wisdom of the man-if she commences to turn him to herself for the sake of herself-she becomes, in effect, his proprium, in a form and to a degree that he has neither the realization nor the strength to oppose.
     Let us explain this last statement more fully. The Divine purpose in separating the essential male and female qualities at creation was, and is, that by their cooperative reunion in a genuinely spiritual marriage they may combine these qualities in such a way as to constitute a greater human form or being. Inherent in the male is that potential quality of mind which can become the genuine understanding of truth in this greater form, while with the female there is the potential quality that can constitute the perception of love therein.
     When we say, then, that a woman enters upon the conceit of man's intelligence when she regards him for the sake of herself alone, and therefore becomes in effect his proprium, we refer to the spiritual individual that is the two of them together. In this greater spiritual form or individual the woman's application of her perception for the sake of herself becomes, not the ordered perception of love, but the twisted proprium of self that can lead or drive the understanding of that greater form, the masculine contribution, to its ruin.
     Here we would like to mention an aspect of this subject that we conceive as essential to the successful institution and development of the conjugial in the New Church. What we have in mind bears relation to the sense of touch. This sense, the Writings inform us, ultimates and is proper to the conjugial.

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Within its ordered boundaries the sense of touch is eminently desirable and necessary to the complete achievement of conjugial love. But these boundaries can be maintained in their right order only in so far as the sense of touch wherein there is any excitation is exclusively reserved for, and indulged with, the partner. Any violation of this law, any indulgence of physical contact with one other than the partner, wherein there is any excitation whatsoever, is out of order, and at least temporarily closes the mind to any influx from the heavens.
     Here every woman, single as w-ell as married, faces a difficult responsibility. For while it is conceivable that such a physical contact might arouse little or no emotional response in her, there is no assurance that there will be no emotional response on the part of the man. Few men, particularly younger men, have so disciplined themselves as not to be susceptible in this regard. There is grave danger in "flirting" with masculine affections along this line. It is difficult enough for men to learn to respond rightly to the conjugial necessity without their being subjected to, or even permitted, the additional stress of extra-curricular emotions.
     It has been our endeavor to show that all women have a vitally important duty-to inspire men, who are unable to inspire themselves, toward the path of genuine wisdom. No woman, regardless of her external circumstances, need forfeit her essential feminine responsibility in this respect. No woman, single or married, young or old, need relinquish her warmth, her gentle influence, or her inspirational faculty and contribution, with relation to the male sex.
     There is one other point that we have in mind. It may not appear to belong here. Nevertheless there is, we believe, a vital connection. The subject of sex has been thoroughly and frankly discussed in recent years through every conceivable mode of communication Here, on the physical plane of marriage, exists a, potential source of friction and dissension which, while pathetically over emphasized by the world at large, yet can certainly cause a great deal of unhappiness also in New Church marriages.
     Do the Writings ignore this external or physical aspect of the marital relation? In our opinion they do not. They refer, for example, to a. definite use of spiritual conjunction to be served, other than the propagation of offspring, through the physical ultimation of the marriage relationship; for it is written: "The wife is conjoined to her husband through the appropriation of the powers of his manhood" (CL 172). The context defines this "appropriation" as a thing of physical giving and receiving wherein a corresponding mental and spiritual gift can be mutually shared.

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The Writings speak also of the problems of so-called "physical incompatibility," in the statement that women have an interior, but men only an exterior perception of love (CL 46: b). It is revealed doctrinally, and known medically, that the feminine physique is, so to speak, "tied in" with woman's mental states and deeper emotions in a way that the male physique is not. Man's perception of love being only an exterior one, he instinctively emphasizes the physical manifestation of that love in ultimates as an end and achievement in itself; furthermore, he is capable of perceiving delight and satisfaction there-in despite the existence of more interior states of unrest within himself. But woman's perception of love being interior, she instinctively realizes the physical relationship in its true light and use-as a means to, or a consequence of, a more interior conjunction. Furthermore, her physique, being intimately consociated with and controlled by her interior perceptive faculty, does not permit her to achieve physical satisfaction apart from at least some- thing of mental and spiritual fulfillment as well, unless her internal state is one of complete perversion.
But here we must stop. For there is danger to be perceived in attempting to enter with the understanding into the specific nature and response of the feminine mind. It is not meant that any man should endeavor to do so. We would conclude with this observation and conviction: that a state of reception with woman on all planes-spiritual, mental, and physical-can be achieved by man through the production of genuine wisdom on his part. For what will render the orderly feminine mind and life so receptive of the masculine as the strength and stature that man attains in having thought and acted wisely? In order that the men of the New Church may respond adequately to the conjugial ideal, it is necessary only that they acknowledge the nature of genuine wisdom, and realize that the development of this wisdom in themselves is their essential gift of fulfillment to the true womanhood of the church.
NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1955

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1955

The July readings in the New Testament carry us through the remaining portion of Matthew into the Gospel of Mark. It is interesting to note that of the twenty-eight chapters in Matthew, one-fourth (chapters 21-27) is devoted to the final week in the Lord's earthly life. Mark was not an apostle; but he has long been regarded as the unnamed young man, mentioned only in his Gospel, who avoided arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane by leaving his single garment in the hands of his captors, and an ancient tradition asserts that it was in his home that the Holy Supper was instituted.

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Later, he was for a time the companion of Paul.
     Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Mark committed to writing the oral gospel of Peter, and the internal evidence suggests that he addressed his evangel to the Roman Christians. Unlike Matthew, who wrote for the Jews, he gives no genealogy of the Lord; he omits all reference to the Jewish law, translates words and explains customs that would be foreign to his Gentile readers, and uses Latin words not found in the other evangelists. His style is swift and incisive, and his favorite word is "straightway" or "immediately." Like John, Mark begins with the ministry of John the Baptist; and in the chapters assigned for this month he describes the Lord's baptism and temptations in the wilderness, and the call of the apostles, as well as relating parables and miracles.
     Last Judgment is concluded in the readings from the Heavenly Doctrine, and we are introduced to two other historico-doctrinal and descriptive works, Continuation Concerning the Last Judgment and Earths in the Universe. The first of these, after demonstrating again that the Last Judgment has been effected, treats of the state of the world and the church before and after the judgment and describes again the judgment on the Reformed. In a continuation concerning the spiritual world which is appended there are descriptive articles on that world and on various nations and prominent persons there.
     While scientists are still questioning or denying the inhabitability of the planets, Earths in the Universe reveals that the planets are inhabited, and that the stars are suns round which turn inhabited earths, because nothing else than countless universes could satisfy the Divine love. The people of the then known planets, and of five earths in the starry heaven, are described as seen by Swedenborg through the eyes of spirits from those earths; the spiritual quality and place in the Gorand Man of each race are noted; the worship and life of each earth are depicted; and it is revealed why the Lord willed to be born on our earth. All on other earths who are not evil worship one God in the human form.
MINISTERIAL CHANGES 1955

MINISTERIAL CHANGES 1955

The Rev. Morley D. Rich has accepted appointment, effective September 1st, as Visiting Pastor to the Southeastern United States.
The Rev. Jan H. Weiss has accepted appointment, effective September 1st, to assist the Rev. Martin Pryke in Toronto and the Rev. Norman H. Reuter in Kitchener, according to a plan to be determined by them.

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AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND 1955

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND M. BALDERSTON 1955

     Bishop Pendleton's Visit

     The Auckland Society of the New Church has been greatly uplifted and blessed by the presence of Bishop W. D. Pendleton with it in its worship during two Sundays recently. He was here at our invitation and the Auckland Society has never before had such a distinguished ecclesiastical visitor.
     As well as an Easter message to over fifty people, Bishop Pendleton gave also an interesting sermon on the state of the Christian world. There were also instructive doctrinal discourses, children's services, and lantern slides of the cathedral and of Bryn Athyn in general. We were all deeply impressed. The Holy Supper was administered to twenty-seven communicants, eight baptisms into the Lord's New Church were performed, and some of us are now on the way to becoming members of the General Church.
     It is not easy to express on paper a full picture of this great event, and Bishop Pendleton seemed disinclined to dwell much on personalities. Instead he directed our minds to the Lord and to the uses of the church which are the functions of the priesthood. His approach to all church functions and matters of importance, from the care and education of the children up to the priesthood, impressed us with the great need for a pastor and an ecclesiastical head for our Society. If Bishop Pendleton had been able to stay a few months in our country, so that many more people could have heard him speak and explain the Writings from the standpoint of the General Church and the Academy, there would have been an even greater strengthening of the New Church in New Zealand.
     The doctrinal classes and general instruction in the evenings were greatly appreciated; especially the slides of the Bryn Athyn cathedral with its surrounding buildings and grounds, and the pictures of the Israelites during their sojourn in the wilderness showing how, when they shifted camp, the ark of the covenant went before them and they then camped around it, the twelve tribes in their order. We also had interesting instruction on Baptism and the Holy Supper, betrothal and marriage, and on the opening of the Scriptures and the Divine revelation of the Lord in His second advent given to us in the Writings for the New Church through His servant, Emanuel Swedenborg.

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     Bishop Pendleton visited New Church families in our southern towns. The round trip by plane took five days; and we are sure that they were greatly cheered by the visit and that, as with ourselves, the memory of it will linger on in their hearts. It was keenly regretted by all the members that the visit was so short; but during the time he was here Bishop Pendleton instilled into the Society fresh hope and vigor, and we can now face the coming year with a new confidence.
     In the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, we of the Auckland Society of the New Church wish to express our appreciation and thanks to Bishop De Charms, the Council of the Clergy, and all our brothers and sisters of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, for arranging the visit of Bishop Pendleton to this country. He has laid the beginning of a new foundation for our Church.
     In conclusion we would like to add our farewell message to Bishop Pendleton, which was read to him on the last evening he had with us. "It is with full hearts that we, on behalf of the Auckland Society of the New Church, give you thanks for the stimulating work you have done for us during your visit to New Zealand. It is hard for us to realize that this visit, to which we all for so long and so eagerly looked forward, is about to end; but we know well that the privilege of sharing your great knowledge and personality during this brief period will remain as a jewel in our memories-the greatest source of spiritual uplift this Society has ever experienced. May your work in Australia during your forthcoming visit further prosper the growth of the New Church. God bless you, Bishop Pendleton, and give you health and strength to continue long in this vital work which you are doing."
     M. BALDERSTON,
          Secretary.
CITIZEN OF TWO WORLDS 1955

CITIZEN OF TWO WORLDS 1955

"By the life through which the Lord is chiefly worshiped is meant a life according to His injunctions in the Word, for by these man is acquainted with what faith is and what charity is: this life is the Christian life, and is called spiritual life. But a life according to the laws of what is just and honorable, without that life, is a civil and a moral life: this life makes a man to be a citizen of the world; but the other to be a citizen of heaven" (AC 8257).

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HURSTVILLE, AUSTRALIA 1955

HURSTVILLE, AUSTRALIA NORMAN HELDON 1955

      [Photo of Bishop and Mrs. Pendleton with the Hurstville congregation.]

     Episcopal Visit

     Here is a tired but happy man sitting down to write of twelve hectic, happy days, unforgetable days for the members of the Hurstville Society and their children Bishop Pendleton has been with us and is now on his way back to America; the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Society is over; and we have gained more, perhaps, than we as yet appreciate.
     There are but one or two members of the Hurstville Society who have had the privilege of attending an Assembly. Perhaps it could be said that the rest of us have now a better idea of the wonderful sphere of unity and inspiration that surely prevails at such gatherings. This was our "Assembly in miniature."

     Services and Classes. I recall the particular pleasure I felt-as others did too, no doubt-at seeing a minister conducting worship in our church. It is no reflection on our Leader to say that each of the three services Bishop Pendleton conducted was a delight. Administration of the Holy Supper on Good Friday was preceded by a short address by the Assistant Bishop of the meaning of that sacrament. There was a service for children and adults on Easter Sunday, at which service also Miss Laurel Stephenson and her sister, Mrs. Beryl Laidley, were confirmed. This ceremony was a beautiful and moving one. During this service offerings of flowers were brought up by the children. The church seemed veritably filled with flowers. During the service on the following Sunday two children, Gai Simmons and Robert Heldon, were baptized. It was fitting that the church should be filled with people on each occasion. Bishop Pendleton's sermons, Profound yet simple, opened up many an avenue of thought along which our minds could very profitably roam.
     Of the doctrinal classes and the talks to the children it can be said that here Bishop Pendleton's gifts as a teacher became fully apparent. The children hung on his every word; he taught them truth from the Word by example and simple illustration that could not fail to make it clear to them. The doctrinal classes were so interesting that an hour seemed like five minutes, and always it seemed a pity that they had to finish. Is the doctrine of the Lord's glorification a difficult one?

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Not in its essentials, as we were led to realize. In his final class, the subject of which was "What is Truth?" Bishop Pendleton showed us how New Church educational philosophy is founded on truth from the Word and pointed out the faulty premises and half-truths that are the foundation of modern educational thought.

     The Garden Party at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Heldon was a great success, in spite of being under threat of a washout. How the rain held off for those three hours we really cannot say. But it did and so the social side of the celebrations got away to a fine start. Deck quoits, shuttlecock, miniature golf, darts and wall quoits, provided plenty of amusement, while Miss Laurel Stephenson and her Boys' Club fencing pupils provided an interesting diversion. The garden was gay with streamers, balloons, and colorful beach umbrellas. A delectable afternoon tea was served and, to paraphrase Sir Winston Churchill's famous statement: "Never have so many delicious things been consumed in such a short time."

     The picnic at National Park on Monday, April 11th, was as enjoyable as a picnic could be. The highlight was Bishop Pendleton's participation in the athletic program.

     Ladies Day. On Wednesday, April 13th, the women of the Hurstville Society met at the church to enjoy a luncheon and to hear Bishop Pendleton address them. He spoke on "The Uses of Women in the Church." Theta Alpha went to a lot of trouble to see that the meal matched the occasion, and one of the ladies told me that this function was one of the highlights of the program. I know that lady well and respect her opinion, so we can take it that it was a most interesting and enjoyable afternoon.

     Sons Meeting. The presence of Bishop Pendleton at the Sons meeting at the home of Mr. and Mrs. T. D. Taylor added greatly to the usefulness and enjoyment of the evening. The Sons discussed the work and hopes of the Hurstville Chapter, and our guest gave us encouragement and some suggestions for improvement. He also dealt with some aspects of New Church education, particularly the application of its principles in the classroom.

     Picture Night. At the church on Friday, April 15th, Bishop Pendleton showed colored slides of the model of the Tabernacle, giving an explanatory talk at the same time. He also showed slides of Bryn Athyn, and some which he acquired on the way to Australia.

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We were pleased to have had with us on that occasion the Rev. H. W. Hickman and Mrs. Walters of Perth, Western Australia.

     Fiftieth Anniversary Banquet. The banquet on Saturday, April 16th, was memorable, firstly for the meal provided by some ladies with original ideas. It could hardly be described as an austerity dinner; it was-well, unusual, interesting, and temptingly presented on attractively decorated tables. The very appropriate place cards were the work of Mrs. Irma Salisbury, and Mrs. Nell Simmons made us a fiftieth birthday cake which seemed too lovely to cut.
     The toastmaster, Mr. Lindthman Heldon, briefly reviewed the history of the Hurstville Society. Three speakers dealt with aspects of the life that is for the man of the New Church, and there were toasts and songs.
     Bishop Pendleton also addressed the meeting. He touched on his visit to New Zealand, passed on a few reflections concerning his stay with us, and gave us some interesting facts about the work of the Academy. He also admired the table decorations; commented on the very lovely place cards, saying that they must have meant a lot of work; and had his attention attracted by the beautiful cake, which he later cut in a most unorthodox fashion, enjoying himself immensely.

     Other Things We Will Not Forget. Those suppers at the home of Mr. and Mrs. T. R. Taylor after all the meetings held at the church. We enjoyed those half-hours of pleasant conversation over a cup of tea. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor!
     The candid movie camera in the hands of Mrs. Ruth Heldon, who captured many of the interesting scenes and happenings, which will recall a lot of the pleasure of those unforgettable days.
     Bishop Pendleton's sense of humor and easy-to-get-on-with-ness that contributed in no small way to our enjoyment of his visit. On serious occasions, a smile or a humorous remark at the right time kept us in the right mood for further instruction. And to say that, at other times, there was not a dull moment is a tribute to his good humor, his ability to be at ease, and to put others at their ease. I am tempted to recount all the nice things that were said about Bishop Pendleton at the risk of embarrassing him, but there is a limit to our supply of paper!

     The Farewell. Was it "farewell" or only "so long"! It did not seem like goodby, because it was such an enjoyable evening. It is a long while since we have sung so many songs from the Social Song Book. Our guest, with his fund of humorous stories and tricks, saw to it that we were too busy enjoying ourselves to think of shedding stray tears of sorrowful parting. The Leader made a short speech and presented Bishop Pendleton with the gift of a book of Sydney scenes and colored slides.

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     Interstate Visitors. It was a pleasure to have with us the Rev. and Mrs. W. R. Horner of Lancefield, Victoria; Mrs. Norton, Mrs. Playfair, and Mr. White of Adelaide, South Australia; as well as the Rev. H. W. Hickman and several of his congregation from Perth, Western Australia. They will always be welcome in Hurstville.

     Conclusion. The teaching is that we can see the hand of Providence in things past. This is a time when we do not have to look back very far. This episcopal visit, for which we are most grateful, has been of very great benefit to the Hurstville Society. We have been given encouragement, and have gained fresh enthusiasm in our work for the New Church in Australasia.
     There again is something that we owe to Bishop Pendleton. His concept of the New Church in Australasia takes us out of our little island of Hurstville. It shows us that we have the privilege and responsibility to be of use to the isolated members of the General Church and other people who are interested in the whole of Australia and New Zealand. If the New Church is to grow up in this great wide land, then wherever a seed falls and springs up it must be tended and encouraged.
     We have been given hope that a pastor will again be provided to lead the church in this country. We acknowledge our debt to the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson. But for his work in Hurstville the Society would have been very weak indeed. His sound doctrinal instruction gave us the strength to carry on during the eight years since his departure. What does Bishop Pendleton think of us? We know he will treat us kindly; remembering that we are staunch New Church men and women, that instead of polish we have perseverance, that instead of profundity we have sincerity, and that the comparative weakness of our numbers is balanced by the strength of our faith and of our determination to carry on.
     NORMAN HELDON
SOCIETY ESSENTIAL 1955

SOCIETY ESSENTIAL 1955

"No angel or spirit can have any life unless he is in some society, and thereby in a harmony of many. A society is nothing but a harmony of many, for no one has any life separate from the life of others. Indeed, no angel or spirit, or society, can have any life-that is, be affected by good, exercise will, be affected by truth, or think-unless there is a conjunction thereof through many of his society with heaven. It is the same with the human race" (AC 687).

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AND LOSE HIS OWN SOUL 1955

AND LOSE HIS OWN SOUL Editor 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly by

THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                              Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa,
Circulation Secretary               Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Treasurer                          Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address, and business communications should be sent to the Circulation Secretary. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.
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     It has been pointed out that whenever a movement comes under attack it tends to narrow itself. It takes position behind the walls of what it hopes to be an impregnable fortress, and not only defends itself against the aggressor without but also uncovers and roots out the subversives within the gates. Today we see this process at work as the free nations face the threat of totalitarian Communism. In varying degree, these nations have contracted themselves. Subversives are being hunted down, and those whose ideas differ from the norm tend to come under suspicion and even threat.
     In the course of such a development there is need for New Church men and women to reflect, calmly and rationally, on what is involved in a spiritual love of country. We are instructed that wars in defense of one's country and the church are not inconsistent with charity (TCR 407e), and this surely extends also to preventive measures. But if that is so, the same would be true of the balance of the teaching, which is that the end for which such wars are undertaken shows whether or not they are in accord with charity. As a motive, zeal for promoting the uses and preserving the freedom of our country is one thing, hatred and fear of the potential enemy is another; and when men are animated by the latter they too often use the weapons of the enemy and become victims of his evils. As New Church men we do not make policy, but our reactions to the conflicting views expressed about policy, and what we would do were we to be placed in authority, helps to make our character as New Church men.

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KINGDOM OF GOD 1955

KINGDOM OF GOD Editor 1955

     One of the many things about which conservative and liberal Christianity differ is the kingdom of God. Conservative theologians hold that the kingdom awaits the Second Advent, when the Lord will come in the clouds and history will end in catastrophe. Liberals, believing in the immanence of God, view the kingdom as an earthly society inspired by love, and contend that even now God is building it through His devoted followers, and there will be a renewing of life, both individual and social, to bring it into conformity with His will. And the Social Gospel insists that the kingdom is not an afterlife but a perfect society on earth in which men are brothers, living together in cooperation and love and justice, which men themselves can build with the help of God.
     In each of these positions there is an element of truth. But the truth is so isolated, so distorted in application, that it becomes a dangerous falsity. Under the conservative view the kingdom will come only when time ends and eternity rules, and there is nothing that men can do to bring about its coming. Liberalism, and even more so the Social Gospel, pledged to belief in the innate goodness of man-a goodness requiring only direction-centers the hope for the coming of the kingdom on man. The kingdom of God becomes the kingdom of man; God is no more than the director of a human enterprise; and the Second Advent becomes merely the entrance of a new spirit of love and justice into the perfect society that men have created.
     It is true that the establishment of the Lord's everlasting kingdom had to await His second coming. It is true that this kingdom is to be founded, not at the end of time or even only in the life after death, but in the hearts and minds of men and women living here on earth; and that in so far as it is formed it will gradually produce a society in which spiritual peace, love, justice, and internal blessedness of life will reign. And it is true also that the establishment of the kingdom requires man's cooperation.
     But men can never be agents in forming the kingdom of God. The Lord alone can establish it. The inclination and power as well as the knowledge must come from Him, and man's role in the founding of the kingdom is that of a reagent. For the kingdom is not formed from without but from within. It is not a new order of society, constructed by man according to a Divinely given blueprint, into which the Lord will enter as an inner spirit. It is a new love, a new mode of thinking, established in the minds of individual men and women, which bring new motives and standards to Produce with them a new quality if not a new way of life. And because it is founded in individual human minds it is being established now, regardless of the general state of society.

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Yet that establishment will never take place by men seeking from God direction for their innate goodness! It will take place only as they acknowledge that the Lord alone is good, and as they submit their lives to the Divine law revealed in the Heavenly Doctrine wherein the Lord has made His second coming; suffering that law to change radically their every love, ambition, and desire. Only as men come to realize this will there be fulfilled on earth the gospel proclaimed throughout the spiritual world when the True Christian Religion was finished: The Lord God Jesus Christ doth reign, whose kingdom shall be for ages of ages.
IT'S EASIER GOING DOWNHILL
Title Unspecified 1955

Title Unspecified RAYMOND B. DAVID 1955

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     It might be interesting to carry further the analogy expressed in the Rev. Ormond Odhner's article, "It's Easier Going Downhill" [NEW CHURCH LIFE, May, 1955, p. 228].
     We find on earth that it is easier to go downhill than to go uphill. But if one expends sufficient energy in going uphill to get away from the earth a significant distance, the force due to gravity becomes smaller, and going uphill becomes easier. Eventually we could reach a point at which the gravitational attraction of the sun would be equal to that of the earth, and beyond that point it would be easier to continue toward the sun than to turn back toward the earth.
     Spiritually, if we decide to go "uphill" and make the effort to do so, the Lord gradually removes our evil loves and replaces them with good ones. The evil loves are our attraction to hell, while good loves attract us to heaven. As we journey away from hell, its attraction becomes smaller and smaller, and finally we reach a point where the attraction of heaven and the Lord becomes stronger that of hell, and progress becomes easier than retrogression.
     We should note, too, that the sun has a gravitational attraction for all material in the solar system, and, for that matter, in the universe. Even while we are on earth the sun is attracting us: The earth itself is "falling" toward the sun. Only its own motion, its "self-life," keeps it from falling into the sun.
     Similarly, the Lord draws all men to Himself at all times. The hells, because of their selfish loves and their "self-life," resist this attraction. They would be destroyed if they did not. They could not live in close conjunction with the Lord.

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We know that all natural things are conjoined to spiritual things by correspondence. It would seem, then, that for every physical law governing material things there is a corresponding spiritual law governing spiritual things. The above may be an illustration of this.
RAYMOND B. DAVID
ENGAGEMENT AND BETROTHAL 1955

ENGAGEMENT AND BETROTHAL MORLEY D. RICH 1955

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     At this point in the discussion of this subject, and in order to remove any misapprehensions as to my own position in it, allow me to state a few main principles upon which we are probably all agreed:
     1) That betrothal is the initiament of the spiritual marriage (CL 303).
     2) Therefore, after it has taken place there should be, ideally speaking, nothing of negative doubt or uncertainty in the minds of the couple. From my first letter I quote as to the ideal state following betrothal: "Exploration and drawing together of the minds and spirits, but now only from the affirmative attitude without anything of negative doubt or indecision."
     3) That there should be neither an "over hastening" nor an "over prolonging" of the time of betrothal (CL 305e).
     4) That the social custom now called "engagement" is not to take the place of, nor to detract from, the solemn rite of betrothal.
     Within the scope of these agreements, however, there is a legitimately wide range of view as to details of application, of accommodation, and of timing. Room must be, and is, allowed for the differences in genius, in temperament, in experience, and in conditions and circumstances existing with various couples.
     On account of CL 305e, I think it an unfortunate phraseology to say that we "believe in early betrothals." Would it not be better to say that, because we believe in what the Writings teach concerning betrothal, we believe that it should be entered into at an earlier time before the marriage than has sometimes been the case in the Church?
     Though the phrases I used could, I see, be so construed, it was far from my intention to convey the impression that all of the steps toward marriage which I outlined were directly taught by the Writings. In this connection, it is interesting to notice one step mentioned by the Writings which has not been brought forward. This is that after "the woman's consultation with her parents" there should be "deliberation with herself, lest she be carried unwillingly into a tie with a man unloved, for then, on her part, consent is lacking. . . .

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Unwilling or extorted consent does not initiate the spirit, though it may the body; thus it converts chastity which resides in the spirit into lust, whereby conjugial love is corrupted in its first heat" (CL 299). This is one of the teachings which cause New Church men generally to look with disfavor upon "arranged marriages."
     Finally, I would like to refer to the third of the steps which I previously mentioned, "preliminary, and perhaps even provisional consent," since this seems to have become a major bone of contention. I do not like the wording myself. But I could find no other way to express, not that such an equivocal state of mind should be with the couple in their engagement, but that if it so happened that they discovered major dissimilarities between them before betrothal, and during the engagement period, they should not be cruelly restrained from dissolving it by the fear of public censure. For if we take the view that there can be, and must be, nothing of doubt or indecision in engagement, we are saying that it cannot be dissolved-thus placing it on the same level as that of betrothal. Rather than that, I would prefer to eliminate engagement altogether, assuming it could be eliminated!
     Valuable though tradition may be-even such a short tradition of fifty years, as in the case of betrothal-it seems to me that we cannot be primarily concerned either with tradition or with traditional faith, or with what has been said about a subject by men, however learned and wise we may consider them to be. In my book, it is the teaching of the Writings which must be our primary concern in each and every rising generation.
     MORLEY D. RICH
SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1955

SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1955

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Church News 1955

Church News Various 1955

     DETROIT, MICHIGAN

     During the last stop on their whirlwind tour of the north, "Chollie's Follies" landed in Detroit just too late to be included in our last report. The members of the panel, needing at that point no introduction, conveyed the importance of a New Church college education with a clarity that almost precipitated a mass exodus of our Society to Bryn Athyn. It is to be hoped that programs of this nature will continue to offer their experienced advice to the members of our Societies, and that future itineraries will allow a little more time to be spent with each.
     In December, Mr. Rogers addressed a joint gathering of Theta Alpha and the Women's Guild at the home of Mrs. Walter Childs. Most appropriately he spoke of Mary and Martha, and the essential qualities they represent. Delicious refreshments were served toward the close of the evening, and all present drew small gift from our near traditional grab bag.
     The celebration of Christmas started on December 18th with the tableaux. Under the experienced supervision of Mr. Gordon Smith and his expert helpers, the tableaux were a delight to behold. Our pastor read briefly from the Word and explained their meaning to the large group of children who were enthralled by the production. The next morning, Sunday, came the children's service and party. During the service the children were seated in a group to hear a delightful sermon on "The True Meaning of Christmas. Later, after an excellent dinner, all reassembled upstairs for an hour or so of entertainment This was provided by our many talented children who, individually and in groups, demonstrated their singing and acting ability. We heard also from our young group of urbane musicians, who had arranged a special series of jazz selections for our appreciation. It is difficult to decide who enjoys this part of the program most-parents, children, or others. To add a final touch of happiness to the occasion, Mr. Rogers presented a little gift to each child. And so passed one of the most enjoyable days of the year. The adults gathered together on Christmas Day, and again on Sunday, for two very lovely services. To these we were happy to welcome several visitors from out of town as well as three of our favorite young people from Bryn Athyn-Nancy Cook, Myrna Howard, and James Forfar.
     As the year 1955 promised to be momentous one for this Society it was shown in with great gusto. In traditional fashion, Mr. and Mrs. Willard McCardell started it off with a party at their home. The merriment then continued at the Oakridge Women's Club, with dancing, eating, and general fun. While Mr. Duane Cook arranged and presided over the party, the entire social committee is to be congratulated on providing the type of evening everyone enjoys.
     Without some mention of our building program no report would be complete. At our annual meeting in January we heard a variety of comprehensive reports covering every conceivable question, and possibly a few points inconceivable at this time. As soon as the completed plans receive the approval of the Society it is expected that the architect will arrange to receive bids from contractors.
     At last we are able to report the arrival of Mrs. George Field and four children from Pennsylvania. We are even happier to report that early in January Mr. and Mrs. Field welcomed their fifth child, a daughter, into the world; thus starting the parade of potential new members we expect this year. In February, Mr. and Mrs. Owen Birchman received our congratulations on their first baby boy, after two girls; while March brought with it Terry, newest daughter of Lee and Flora Horigan. April passed to without incident, but this was compensated for in May by the birth of Bruce and Sue Elder's first child, a boy, and Walt and Bea Childs' fourth, a girl.

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     To celebrate Swedenborg's birthday we were fortunate to have Dr. Hugo Lj. Odhner address, first the children in the afternoon, and then the adults in the evening. We were sorry only that Dr. Odhner could not stay longer than the one day he was here, but as Mrs. Odhner stopped over for few days with the members of her family here we did not feel too badly done by.
     During the first part of March we said goodby to the John Howards, who have left to assume new responsibilities in Toledo, Ohio. Fortunately we will not experience a total loss, as they plan to drive up to see us as often as is possible. We were also grieved to hear of the impending departure of the Lee Horigan family for Pittsburgh. The considerable efforts they devoted to all society uses were invaluable to us during our growing years; we are consoled, however, by the knowledge that their talents will be used with equal devotion in one of our neighboring societies. Ohio took the Howards from us, but gave us Barr and Lois Asplundh in return. This delightful young couple have proved themselves to be a great asset, and we look forward to their indefinite residence here.
     The new Cinerama Holiday offered the social committee an excuse to get the Society together for a brisk evening of continental travel. Refreshments and conversation at the home of Vance and Jean Genszlinger followed the show, both of which proved amply rewarding. Not to be ignored during the social season were the children, for whom age-group parties were given at three of our homes.
     Easter week was highlighted by a beautifully moving Holy Supper service on Good Friday evening. The lovely service on Easter Sunday was greatly augmented by the brilliant array of potted flowers which the children brought as an offering of great delight.
     Doctrinal classes have concluded for the summer, vacation plans are in the air, and every spare moment is being directed to clearing and cleaning up our property. There is still a lot to be done, but we have the whole summer in which to do it.
     BARBARA FORFAR

     [NOTE: The first part of these notes was originally mailed on March 4th. For some unknown reason, however, this proved to be one piece of mail that did not go through. EDITOR]

     SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION

     The 58th Annual Meeting of the Swedenborg Scientific Association was held on Wednesday, May 25th, 1955, at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, with an attendance of 96, 55 of whom were members of the Association.
     Officers for the coming year were elected as follows: President: Professor Edward F. Allen; Board of Directors: Miss Beryl G. Briscoe; Messrs. Randolph W. Childs, Charles S. Cole, W. Cairns Henderson, Wilfred Howard, Ralph McClarren, Hugo Lj. Odhner, Joel Pitcairn, and Leonard I. Tafel. Dr. Alfred Acton and Dr. Charles E. Doering, both of whom had previously declined nomination, were elected Honorary Members of the Board.
     At a meeting of the Board of Directors the following officers were elected: Vice-President: Mr. Charles S. Cole; Editorial Board: Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Executive Editor; Messrs. Edward F. Allen, Charles S. Cole, and Hugo Lj. Odhner; Treasurer: Miss Beryl G. Briscoe; Secretary: Mr. Wilfred Howard.
     The Treasurer's report showed a balance of $730.74 in the General Account, and $1,999.60 in the Publication Account. The total number of books sold was 143, an increase of 19 over the previous year. Sixteen new members had joined the Association during the year, and the present membership was 270.
     The report of the Board of Directors stated that the following authorizations had been made and actions taken: 1) The printing of 750 extra copies of the prologue to the Animal Kingdom. 2) The publication, as soon as completed, of Dr. Acton's work The Letters and Memorvials of Emanuel Swedenborg, volume 2. 3) The publication by the photooffset process of three works of Swedenborg, namely, Generation, the Economy of the Animal Kingdom, and Psychological Transactions, the printing of the last mentioned having been promised for September, 1955.
     The following items had also received the serious attention of the Board: the need of stimulating in the young people of the church a greater interest in the work and uses of the Association; the best method of increasing our membership; the need for a definite sales program in connection with our publications; future plans for the development of special meetings in collaboration with the Civic and Social Club.

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     In his report to the Association, the President discussed the above mentioned items considered by the Board, and emphasized the need for a more active policy on the part of the Association, especially in regard to increasing our membership, successfully carrying on our uses, and creating a greater interest in the work of the Association.
     Chapter reports from Glenview, Illinois, and Kitchener, Ontario, were read.
     The Annual Address was given by Mr. Kenneth Rose, his subject being "Machines that Think." Mr. Rose described the nature and makeup of computers and emphasized the distinction between the human mind and the brain; pointing out that while there is some similarity between the brain as an organic vessel and the functioning of electronic computers, the mind, as a spiritual organism, can never be reproduced by man. A very interesting discussion followed the address, which will be published in the July issue of the NEW PHILOSOPHY.
     WILFRED HOWARD,
          Secretary.
TWENTY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1955

TWENTY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1955

The Transportation Committee strongly urges those planning attendance to reserve ocean travel space now; either through their own agent, or by writing to Mr. Donald Blair, Manager, Travel Department, The Philadelphia National Bank, 1416 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia 2, Pa. Mr. Blair holds a block of reservations for General Church members covering the Assembly period, but those not taken must be released soon to the Cunard Line. If uncertain, make a reservation. Most travel agents allow liberal cancellation privileges up to February or March, 1956.
Eager for a truly international gathering in the birthplace of the New Church, the Assembly Committee in England has sent a letter to the pastor or secretary of every Society, Circle and Group, in the General Church. A similar letter will go to some 400 isolated members throughout the world. The Assembly will be held at the Victoria Halls, London, July 24-29, inclusive, and it is not expected that the cost, apart from hotel accommodation, will exceed $18.00 per person. Mr. Blair has furnished itineraries for two side-trips after the Assembly-one through England and Scotland, the other to Paris and Amsterdam. Visitors wishing to prolong their stay in Britain are assured they will find isolated families who will welcome the opportunity to entertain them.

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EDUCATIONAL COUNCIL 1955

EDUCATIONAL COUNCIL WILLARD D. PENDLETON 1955

     Announcements.

     The Annual Meetings of the Educational Council of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in Bryn Athyn, Pa., from Monday, August 22nd, to Friday, August 26th, inclusive.
     WILLARD D. PENDLETON,
          Assistant Bishop.

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TRIBUTE MONEY AND THE FISH 1955

TRIBUTE MONEY AND THE FISH Rev. ORMOND ODHNER 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXV AUGUST, 1955           No. 8
     "Lest we should be a stumbling block to them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a shekel: that take, and give unto them for Me and thee." (Matthew 17:27)

     The tribute here referred to was not that which was exacted of the Jews for the support of hated Rome. Question and answer concerning that would come later, when the Lord would say: "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:21). This was something instituted by the Lord Himself through Moses for the financial support of the church, of the tabernacle; a thing still retained for the upkeep of the temple, and yet to be retained for about another generation, until, the temple finally destroyed, it would be channeled into the treasury of Rome.
     While he was being told the specifications for building the tabernacle, Moses at Sinai was also told to exact from his people for its upkeep a yearly tax of hall a shekel-worth today not quite half a dollar. A half shekel of the shekel of holiness, it was called. Every adult male was to pay it, as a redemption for his own soul and lest plague come among the people. Rich and poor paid it alike, a half shekel a piece, as an offering unto the Lord.
     The spiritual significance of this tax was great. The shekel itself was chosen because it was both a coin in silver and a coin in gold, thus representing both truth and good. But the half shekel was exacted because of its well known equivalence to ten gerahs, a common Hebrew measure, ten signifying all. Payment of the half shekel as an offering to the Lord therefore signified the Divinely commanded acknowledgment on man's part that all the truth of his faith, all the good of his charity, come to him from the Lord and are the Lord's in him.

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Without such an acknowledgment the church and religion will come to an end in man, even as the tabernacle would have fallen into ruin without the financial support acquired through this tax. Everyone must consciously make this acknowledgment from the end of youth onward, even as every male from twenty years old paid this tax. And rich and poor paid it alike, for whether one has much of good and truth or only a little, he must acknowledge that the whole of it comes from the Lord.
     So, too, with the Jewish tithing, the giving of a tenth of one's income to the church, ten again signifying all. It represented the acknowledgment that all wealth, particularly all spiritual wealth, comes from the Lord. But this tax, devoted to the upkeep of the tabernacle, particularly signified that which actually makes or effects man's conjunction with the Lord; for in the Word any building takes on the significance of the use to which it is put.
     This, then, was the tribute spoken of in our text. In the far north of Canaan, those who collected this tax came to Peter, asking, "Doth not your master pay tribute?" Peter answered that He did. He then went into the house where the Lord was; but before he could speak, the Lord asked him whether the kings of the earth exacted tribute of their own children or of strangers. Peter, of course, answered, "Of strangers." And the Lord said to him: "Then are the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should be a stumbling block to them, go to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a shekel [exactly enough tribute for two]: that take, and give unto them for Me and thee" (Matthew 17:24-27).
     Of all the Lord's miracles this was, perhaps, the most astounding, the surest proof of His Divinity. Others have healed the sick through faith. Surgery has given sight to the blind. Clairvoyants have heard unspoken thoughts miles away. But here the Lord said, in effect: "Go to a sea filled with myriads of fish; one of them has a shekel in its mouth, and it will be the one that first bites your hook." The miracle is proof also of the Lord's omniscience and foresight, and it would certainly seem to indicate a foresight of particulars.
     The Writings, however, make no mention of all this. They refer to the incident only in connection with the payment of tribute; explaining that this miracle was wrought so that neither the Lord Himself nor yet one of His disciples should pay tribute, but rather a fish, for a fish signifies the natural man-the natural part of man's life-and it is this that is to serve the spiritual. The spiritual itself is not to be subservient, as the payment of tribute would denote; and so it was not meet for the Lord to do this, nor yet for Peter, who represents that faith of the regenerate man which comes from God.

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In a true man the spiritual is as a lord and master, all that is natural as a servant. Natural cares and anxieties, natural pleasures and delights, are not to rule man's life: a just and spiritual faith, made living by love to the Lord and toward the neighbor, is to order these lowly things for its own eternal uses.
     We have already spoken of the tremendous miracle wrought in this event; but we would here dwell for a moment on the equally great miracle involved in what is meant spiritually by going to the sea, casting in a hook, and finding the money in the mouth of the first fish caught.
     How often are we not faced with some moral or spiritual problem in natural life for which we see no solution? This is represented in the demand for the half shekel tribute. At such times we must go to the sea and cast in a hook, for the sea is, spiritually, the Word in its letter as given in the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Writings. It is these that we must read and study for guidance, and at such junctures especially we must read them with an avid desire for guidance in the uses of our lives. This alone is the hook that catches fish. We may not read casually, for that is simply to go to the sea and look at it.
     As everyone knows, however, fishing requires patience. It is rarely that a fish is caught when the hook first enters the water. So, too, it is probable that we will have to read the Word a while before we catch our first fish, before we find a text or passage of teaching that bears upon the problem confronting us. But catch the fish we will: the Lord has said so. And then, when we have made the catch, one thing more is requisite. We must open the fish's mouth, for there alone is the money. We must think about the teaching we have found, must open it up, that its real and living truth may be seen in its bearing upon our lives.

     But let us return to the question posed by our text as to why the Lord, rightly refusing Himself to pay even this tax for the upkeep of the temple, still told Peter to pay the tax from the fish, "lest we should be a stumbling block to them"-lest we offend them, cause them offense. For spiritually speaking, remember, this tax is required of everyone, rich and poor alike. In everyone there must be the acknowledgment, consciously made, that all the truth of his faith, all the good of his charity, are really the Lord's alone. Without that, spiritual life is all over in man.
     It was right, of course, that the Lord should not make such an acknowledgment, for unlike the faith and charity of mortal man, the Divine good and truth that constituted His Human were His own in all respects, and were not from some other, separate God above Him. Why, then, did He tell Peter to pay the tax anyway, "lest we offend"?

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     Historically, the reason was that the time had not yet come when He could show clearly that He was the one and only God, and that the good and truth He taught were from Himself. To have claimed that then-a full six months before His resurrection-would have been a stumbling block indeed, even for His most faithful disciples. They could acknowledge something of Divinity in Him, to be sure; but among other things they knew Him too well as a Man on earth to believe Him to be the one and only God. Later their concept of His Divinity would increase as their memory of His mortal habits faded.
     And so, lest He be a stumbling block to His disciples, and even more so to those yet to be converted before His death, He continued to ascribe truth and good to the Father; nor did He explain that the Father was simply the Divine which was His inmost soul. "The words that I speak, I speak not of Myself. The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works. The Father who sent Me hath borne witness of Me." It was as though He said: "Lest we be a stumbling block to them, pay the half shekel for the upkeep of the temple. For their sake ascribe to the Father the good of charity and the truth of faith, dwelling in this lowest of natural life-the fish-until the hour is come when the Son of Man, glorified, shall say, All power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth."

     It is, however, in its application to man that the meaning of paying the temple tribute out of the fish's mouth becomes especially clear. This tribute, remember, is the acknowledgment that all good and truth are the Lord's, and it is this which effects and keeps up man's conjunction with the Lord. Without it, man will make the spiritually fatal mistake of continuing to trust in himself, rather than looking wholeheartedly to the Lord for guidance.
     In this regard the fish has two representations. It signifies the natural life of man, and it also signifies the merely general truths man learns from the Word; for these, too, are rather lowly, and adhere to the natural in man. A man's ascription to the Lord of all that he has of good and truth must be made in his natural, his daily conscious life-the fish; and, furthermore-the fish again-if he will but examine interiorly any one of the general truths of religion he has-if he will but open its mouth-he will find therein the tribute money itself. He will see clearly the truth that every good and truth, even the most general, comes from the Lord. Anyone, for example, has in his charity the good of being kind to his children; but let him search that good interiorly, let him open its mouth, and he will see where even that has its origin. Even there he will find money for paying the temple tax.

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     Finally, still further light shines an the words, "lest we be a stumbling block to them " when we consider that they were said to Peter by the Lord. In the Trinity the term "Lord" has special reference to redemption. Peter is that truth or faith which is built up in the regenerate man by the Lord, that faith in the Lord which man has from the Lord. And in this sense, those to whom the Lord and the disciple were not to be a stumbling block are each and every one of us, in heaven and on earth.
     We can do nothing to redeem ourselves, and from ourselves we can have no truly spiritual faith at all. Both are Divinely given gifts to men, and in the man who has them they still remain the Lord's alone-the Lord with man. But if we could actually sense this; if we could see and feel that our deliverance from evil, our faith, our spiritual life itself, are really not our own at all, but the Lord's within us; that would be a stumbling block indeed, an offense we could not stand. We would rebel, or hanging down our hands, would do nothing.
     So it is that even though all the spiritual life we ever have is really the Lord's within us-is the Lord with men and angels-it is yet made to appear as though it were our own; and it, too, joins in payment of the tax for the temple's upkeep. Divinely inspired and commanded, the genuine faith man has from God calls up out of the natural man the acknowledgment that even it is from the Lord. For, strangely enough, it is in the God-given ability to acknowledge all the good and truth we have to be the Lord's, it is in the very ability itself to do just this, that we are strengthened in the appearance that the life of regeneration is really our own. Amen.

     LESSONS: Exodus 30:1-16. Matthew 17:14-27. AC 10,277:1-3.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 446, 470, 450.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 64, 102.
TEN BLESSINGS AND EDUCATION 1955

TEN BLESSINGS AND EDUCATION Rev. DAVID R. SIMONS 1955

8. Preparation for Persecution

"Blessed are they which are persecuted for the sake of justice; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:10). Nothing in the universe is free from persecution. There is no substance or form that is not pursued, harassed and assailed, by the forces of dissolution and decay. Success is stalked by failure, joy by sorrow, freedom by slavery, peace by war, birth by death. The unrelenting hells infect the unprepared mind with the contagion of self-love and love of the world which brings spiritual death.

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Yet, in the providence of the Lord, persecution can be turned to blessing. The persecution of erosion, rot and decay, but provides new and fertile soil. The persecution of slavery and war arouses determination to achieve freedom. The persecution of failure can bring humility and new beginnings. The persecution of sorrow can soften the human spirit to receive inner delights otherwise unknown. And the persecution of temptation can be the means of building spiritual character.
     Preparation for persecution, and thus for spiritual blessing, must begin with the children of the church. Such preparation does begin in so far as the individual child learns from his parents to control his own selfish loves and worldly aims. From adult conviction based on Christian principle children can be given to recognize the influence of evil spirits which drives them to harm others; to allow unbridled freedom of speech and action, to ignore and condone blatant selfishness and greed, to neglect the inner responsibility of teaching children self-control, is to harm the basis of Christian living in them. Only those who discipline their children from the truth suffer them to come to the Lord.
     Christian education prepares for persecution when it establishes the ideal of defending what is just and right, regardless of the consequences to self. The spirit of protecting the neighbor, his property, his good name, his tender affections and ideas, and his freedom, and defending these especially from ourselves, is the essence of a living Christianity. It is not enough to defend the weak from harm from others. This can breed self-righteousness, conceit, and merit. Only when we are willing to defend them from ourselves-from the evil spirits in us who make us want to lead them to do what is wrong, to harm them, to domineer over their lives; only when we shun evil in ourselves can our defense of others be genuine.
     It might seem that parents who are working toward this ideal with their children would alienate their affection. It might appear as if the constant pressure for self-control would cause resentment and hatred. But this is by no means the case. Indeed, it is where there are no ideals in the home, where there is no striving from principle, where there is only selfish sentiment to hold a home together, that there is a basis for a spiteful rejection of parents. When self-will is pitted against self-will, there are the grounds for hatred. However, when truth is brought to bear on self-will it brings the opportunity for change. When parent and child are striving together to live the life of religion, an internal bond of affection and respect can grow between them that will increase with the years. When the parent supports the child, and helps him to face his persecutors, then the child is with the parent, and both together can receive the kingdom of heaven into their lives.

343

COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS, 1955 1955

COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS, 1955 HAROLD P. MCQUEEN 1955

     (Delivered at the Commencement Exercises of the Academy Schools, June 14, 1955.)

     Have you ever noticed that when some men get old they are inclined to reminisce? Imagine this scene. LIVING ROOM: Gorandfather in easy chair at left-rear-smoking pipe. Group of young people enter-all talking at once. Someone asks, "What did you think of the movie last night?" or "How did you like the dress the bride wore?" or "Didn't Jimmy look stunning in his dress uniform?" Right there the conversation comes to an abrupt end. The mention of that uniform reminds Gorandpa of World War I, and for the next twenty minutes you sit around listening to what you consider ancient history. That is, some of you sit around. Of Gorandpa's original audience of eight only three remain. Mary slipped away at the end of four minutes. John remembered his homework, Charlie his date. Finally the twins excused themselves, advancing-of all reasons in the world-that they had to give each other a Toni!
     So I have decided not to reminisce. I am not going to elaborate on the fact that since 1905 I have had either brother or sister, or son, or daughter, attending the schools in Bryn Athyn. Nor am I going to dwell on the lives and habits of my six children and, as of today, nine grandchildren, except to make this passing comment: that certain children of certain Bryn Athyn parents have been considered so desirable that three of my children married them!
     Instead, let's get right up to date. Here we are, at the close of another school year. It has doubtless been a useful year for every one of you. Now you are going to your respective homes-some to work, and some for further relaxation. Many of you will be coming back to school next September. For those of you who will commence earning a living are interesting experience is in store. Now you will see New Church education in action, so to speak. Put to the acid test of application, you will discover that New Church education really works! It will be the beginning of a great adventure. As your responsibilities increase, you wilt find more and more evidence that the things you have learned here in Bryn Athyn will stand you in good stead.
     Yes, Mr. Charles S. Cole, together with his traveling troop of brainy exhibits, has shown us by oral demonstration that New Church education makes a firm foundation for the road to success-both spiritual and worldly success.

344

     Have you ever filled out one of those questionnaires we frequently see in the papers and magazines? Addressed to the girls, they go something like this:

     Are you popular with the young men of your acquaintance?
     Do you treat them nicely?
     Do you criticize the color of their neckties?
     Are you agreeable?

     Sometimes husbands have a chance to give themselves the once-over with questions such as:

     Do you help with the dishes? (I always like to see that one!)
     Do you bring flowers home once in a while?
     How long is it since you took your wife out to dinner?

     The fact is, these questionnaires are rather useful. Of course we like those especially in which our score shows up as being a bit above average. But if we are wise they have the effect of making us reflect on our shortcomings.
     And speaking of questionnaires, I came across something the other day that not only made sense but was also mighty interesting, because you would almost think that the writer was talking about the work being done in our schools here in Bryn Athyn. It started out by saying that wisdom is twofold, rational and moral, and that rational wisdom is of the understanding. It listed at least eight things pertaining to this rational wisdom: knowledge, intelligence, wisdom, rationality, judgment, genius, learning, and sagacity. It then went on to say: "Also all knowledges into which youths are initiated in schools, and by these afterwards into intelligence." I gather from this that if we want to be intelligent it behooves us to soak up some knowledges! The following is a list of the knowledges mentioned: philosophy, physics, geometry; mechanics, chemistry, astronomy, jurisprudence, politics, ethics, history.
     Now, just how important are these knowledges? My friends, it would seem that they are vitally important, for here is what I read: "These [knowledges] are the doors through which we enter into things rational, whereby rational wisdom is formed."
     So much for that. How about moral wisdom! It looks to me as if we had better try very hard to cultivate moral wisdom; because, it went on to say, moral wisdom is not only of the understanding but also of the life! Then it gave a list of the moral virtues which pertain to moral wisdom.

345

Right here is where we can test ourselves by making a questionnaire out of this list of moral virtues-there are nineteen of them. How many of them call we check as applying to ourselves individually! Here they are: Temperance, sobriety, probity, benevolence, friendship, modesty, sincerity, obligingness, civility, assiduity, industry, alertness, alacrity, munificence, liberality, generosity, earnestness, intrepidity, prudence. For good measure let's add a few spiritual virtues-love of religion, charity, truth, faith, conscience, innocence. Now, combine these moral and spiritual virtues and it seems that we have: love and zeal for religion, for the public good, for country, for fellow citizens, for parents, for wife, and for children.
     Well, that's pretty much of an earful; but I did read two more lines which seemed to button up the whole thing. They said: "In all these, justice and judgment dominate. Justice is of moral wisdom and judgment is of rational wisdom."
     Could it be that Mr. Craig, President of American Telephone and Telegraph Company, had an inkling of the above when, in reply to a letter he had received from a young man, he said in part: "You have asked, 'Why should I go to school?' and 'What benefits will I get out of it?' These are two of the most important questions in the world. We go to school so that we shall grow up to be useful and happy people. When we think of school, we think of learning things which will help us to make a living and support a family. That, of course, is important. But to me that is not the most important. School, or to call it by a broader term, 'education,' should teach us how to live, how to be happy, how to be useful. A good education gives us understanding. This understanding comes best from familiarity with the thoughts and acts of the world's greatest and noblest men and women. We study history and literature and science to become familiar with what these great men and women have thought and done. We study these people so that we can understand what makes them great-so that, in turn, we can make the world a better place because we have lived. They are the inspiration for us to do our very best. You ought to remember, too, that school is not just the class room. It is the football and baseball field, the gym, the tennis court-everywhere you go with your friends. In these games, as in your studies, you will learn perseverance, concentration-and also the art of being a good sport, a thoughtful friend. Add all these things together and you will have a good schooling, a well-rounded education, which will make each day all through your life happier, and will bring happiness to all around you. That is why we go to school."
     Now, of course, all that is nothing new to you.

346

Your very presence here today is evidence of your conviction that education, especially New Church education, is a very worthwhile thing. However, it is interesting to note that Mr. Craig points out that education will enable us to become useful, happy citizens. And this reminds me that I recently read historical sketches of 75 successful business men. The parents of the majority of these men were poor people-but they were God-fearing people. The lives they lived in their humble homes were simple, but these people were essentially happy, useful citizens. Their sons, these now successful business men, continued in the footsteps of their parents. However, on their own initiative, they gained knowledges; they looked for and found responsible jobs, so that they could become more and more useful citizens as they grew up. They doubtless absorbed a goodly share of the moral and spiritual virtues mentioned above.
     You will notice that Mr. Craig mentions great and noble men and women and the use they serve to society. We have such men and women on this stage today; men and women who, because they have dedicated their lives to New Church education, are a constant inspiration to us to do our best! By New Church standards I think it can be said that there have been none greater or more noble. Whence comes their greatness and nobleness? It stems, of course, from their unqualified acknowledgment that such good as they may accomplish in their work comes from the Lord alone. Hence they are humble people, and that is why we respect them and love them.
     I urge you young people to cultivate humility; not the hypocritical humility of a Uriah Heep, but rather that genuine humility evidenced by great men and women living and dead who are, and were, content to let their deeds speak for themselves. Listen to them talk!
     A Bishop of the General Church: "I cannot say my sermon is Divine. All I can hope for is, that with such enlightenment as the Lord gives me, what I preach is the truth."
     A Revelator: "I saw a bookshop and immediately thought that my work would accomplish more than the works of others; but at once checked myself by reflecting that one is servant to another, and that our Lord has many thousand ways of preparing one, so that each and every book ought to be left in its own worth as a medium, near or remote, according to the state of the understanding of each and every man. Yet pride will straightway out! May God control it! "
     A President of the United States: "While I am deeply sensible to the highest compliment of a re-election, and duly grateful, as I trust, to Almighty God for having directed my countrymen to a right conclusion, as I think, for their own good, it adds nothing to my satisfaction that any other man may be disappointed or pained by the result."

347

     An Editor, acknowledging a resolution presented on the occasion of his retirement: "I was deeply touched by the warmth of its kindly words. They seem more than is deserved, for it has been a great privilege to serve the church in this function. I believe the sincerity of the sentiments expressed in the resolution is the voice of the affection of the members for NEW CHURCH LIFE as an institution of the Church, and one that has performed its use through the contributions of many writers."
     An Old Church man to his son: "I would always have you remember the purpose for which there is a parliament elected. It is not that some men may shine there, that some may acquire power, or that all may plume themselves on being the elect of the nation. You are there as the guardian of your fellow countrymen, that they may be safe, that they may be prosperous, that they may be well governed and lightly burdened; above all, that they may be free. If you feel this to be your duty, gradually you will find that there will come upon you the ineffable delight of having served your country to the best of your ability."
     And now, allow me to address myself for a moment to the members of the Bryn Athyn Society. We people who live away from Bryn Athyn and only get down here-or should I say, up?-but once every year or so, are always impressed with your friendliness and also with the beauty of your countryside. When we send our children here we know that they will be well taken care of. And this fact alone really brings us very close together. And so, at the risk of sounding a bit sentimental, lo you, as well as to all the scholars of the Bryn Athyn schools, I say, as my mother used to say to me, God bless you!
ORDINATIONS 1955

ORDINATIONS Various 1955

     JUNE 19, 1955

     DECLARATIONS OF FAITH AND PURPOSE

     I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ in His Divine Human is the one and only God-the Creator, Redeemer, and Savior of men.
     I believe that the Lord show-s man the life which leads to heaven through the Divine truth which is revealed for the New Church in the Old and New Testaments and in the Heavenly Doctrine. On these three revelations, which make one, man depends for conjunction with heaven and with his God; for they are the Word of God, the Lord speaking to man.

348

I believe that the Heavenly Doctrine is the final revelation of the Lord to man and constitutes His second advent.
     Through the truths of revelation man learns that he must humbly acknowledge the Lord as God, and seek His aid in shunning evils as sins against Him. In this way only can man attain salvation, the end and purpose of creation.
     It is the purpose of the clergy of the New Church to teach truth and by it to lead to the good of life-in so doing to cooperate with the Lord in the work which is His alone, the salvation of mankind.
     In presenting myself as a candidate for the priesthood, it is my prayer that the Lord will so strengthen my love for the truth that I may become a willing servant in His hands for the establishment of the church on earth.
     ROBERT S. JUNGE

     Since the Lord at His second advent has revealed the spiritual sense of the Word, and through that sense has established a New Church on earth whereby man may be led to the life of regeneration and the kingdom of heaven; and since He has ordained the use of the priestly office in the New Church as a means for assisting in this Divine end; I do therefore present myself before the Lord for ordination into the office of the priesthood of the New Church that I may enter according to order into this work.
     I believe the essential work of the priesthood is to bring the truths of Divine revelation before the understanding of men, and to inspire the will thereby to repentance and to do the goods of life with charity and love. I believe it is especially the responsibility of the priesthood to preserve the
Word of God-the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Writings-as the sole authority in all things that pertain to the church, civil, moral, and spiritual.
     I believe that a priest may best serve the Lord by shunning evils as sins against God. Such is the means whereby the Lord can enlighten his mind to the sight of spiritual uses. And such is the only true acknowledgment that everything performed through him in the salvation of souls is of the Divine Providence.
     To these truths do I dedicate my life in presenting myself for ordination before our Lord Jesus Christ, the one God of heaven and earth.
     FREDERICK L. SCHNARR

     I believe that creation is a Divine work, that it took place for a definite purpose, and that God has spoken to man concerning Himself and that purpose.

349

This Divine speech or truth has been made visible to man in the Word of the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. It is from these revelations that I have drawn, and will more and more draw, true knowledge concerning the Lord and the things of heaven.
     The purpose of creation is a conjunction of love between God and man which is based upon man's freedom to foster or reject it. Wherever there is such a conjunction, there is heaven. It is the Lord who makes heaven, while man constitutes heaven.
     In order that He might teach man the way to heaven and sustain him therein, the Lord descended to every degree of human life in heaven and on earth. To man on earth the Lord revealed Himself in His Word. Thus He made His Divine Human to angels and men, so that all can approach and worship Him.
     The trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is therefore not a trinity of persons. For the Divine itself, or the Father, is the soul of the Divine Human, or the Son, and the Divine proceeding from the Divine Human is the Holy Spirit.
     To those who have the Word the first requirement for salvation is the acknowledgment that the Lord Jesus Christ alone is the God of heaven and earth, and that His Human is Divine; and the second is a life according to the precepts of the Decalogue.
     To bring these Divine truths before men, and keep them in order there, the Lord calls men to the office of the priesthood. Its work is the highest and most holy use that finite man can perform, and therefore demands the strictest self-disciplining of personal desires and ambitions, lest the work of the Lord be harmed in any way.
     In presenting myself for ordination into the priesthood of the New Church, I sincerely pray the Lord that He may guide me with the hand of His truth; that He may withhold me from selfish ambition, intolerance, and impatience; so that when my earthly administrations will have come to an end, His church will have grown and His name been glorified.
     JAN H. WEISS
WANTED 1955

WANTED 1955

Four or five copies of the Principia, Clissold edition, London, 1846, for the Kitchener Philosophy Club. Will anyone having this edition, and willing to sell, please communicate with the Rev. N. H. Reuter, 14 Linwood Ave., Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.

350

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1955

     In the New Testament readings for August (Mark 5:21-16:20), we follow the inspired story of the Lord's ministry in eastern and northern Galilee and in Peroea; of His last journey to Jerusalem; and of His passion, resurrection, and ascension. As we read, it becomes apparent that Mark was led especially to bring out the Divine power of the Lord. For although his Gospel abounds in graphic touches, he entirely omits the longer discourses of the Lord and reports only a few of His controversial and denunciatory words. The emphasis is on events, which follow one another in rapid succession. This is all in keeping with the natural and spiritual purposes of the Gospel written through him.
     Biblical scholars assert that this Gospel ends abruptly at 16:8, that vv. 9-20 were compiled and added in the second century A.D.; and some versions print an alternative ending. It is therefore of interest to know that v. 9 and vv. 15-20 are expounded, at least partially, in 35 passages in the Writings. If we leave out "inspiration through redaction"-a theory to be approached with some caution-this may suggest to the affirmative New Church student that the MSS. on which the assertion is founded, although perhaps the most ancient yet discovered, are not, in fact, the oldest; and that there are omissions from them rather than additions to other MSS.

     Earths in the Universe is completed in the readings from the Writings, and no more can be done here than to comment on a few points. As we read, we may note how radically the inhabitants of Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, and Venus differ in character from the functions and qualities assigned to their planets by mythology and astrology. We note also the harm that may be done, to spirits as well as men, by the missionaries of a consummated church; though we may understand that the Lord's first coming had to be preached before Swedenborg could proclaim the central truth of His second advent. Here we see Swedenborg instructing the spirits of many earths. This teaching must have led to a judgment in all cases; but in one instance, that of the fifth earth in the starry heaven, it appears to have been the means of effecting a general judgment. The implications of the teaching that the fixed stars are suns round which revolve inhabited earths stagger the imagination; but the cogency of the argument in no. 126 can not be denied by a rational mind.

351

UNWILLING PROPHET 1955

UNWILLING PROPHET Rev. HUGO LJ. ODHNER 1955

     The function of the church is to cultivate and promote spiritual good. Natural good exists with all men, or society could not hold together. Indeed, even animal creation is endowed with natural loves-the love of its kind, the love of it's offspring, the herding instinct, which is stronger than the love of self-preservation. By such natural loves the Lord maintains His creation, for the natural good of the whole.
     But mankind stands apart from all other creatures. For in man the final end of creation is to be fulfilled. Man is endowed with spiritual freedom in order to receive the gifts of life intelligently and use them for eternal uses. The end of creation is therefore the continual formation of heavens from the human race. Man is a spirit, a mind which is fashioned in the image of God. His soul is immortal. His life and eternal destiny are in his own hands, not bound by inborn instinct, but dependent on his choice.
     Man is born with natural good-with tendencies to diverse virtues or predilections inherited from his forebears and manifested as abilities, likings, and aversions. Yet because of the human faculties of liberty and rationality, men are able to use these inborn affections as the servants either of good or of evil. And natural goods have thus become perverted, so that they hide within them the tendency to evil and the inclination for falsity.
     Natural goods-the inborn tendencies which we apologetically call "human nature"-can therefore not be relied on by themselves to create happiness even in this world. They must be ordered and governed, balanced and disciplined. This is recognized by all men who seek to train their children-at first to obedience, and later to self-control-to become moral and rational citizens of the world.
     But if man is to fulfil the purpose of his creation, his natural affections must not only be controlled for his best self-interest but also be purified of evil motives. And this can be done only by the acknowledgment that life is not his own, but is a gift of God. It is to proclaim this fundamental truth that the church has been established on earth. Only through this acknowledgment can natural good become cleansed of evil and become the servant of spiritual good.

352

     In every age there has been a church which had as its function to perpetuate the truth concerning God. No nation exists which has not been in some way affected by teachings stemming from one or more of the churches which the Lord has successively established on earth, each church having been given a Divine revelation of truth adapted to its day. All religions, even the most pagan and perverted, retain an echo of the eternal truth that life is not man's own. And it became the responsibility of each church to voice the message of its revelation to all who would receive it.

     The story of Jonah is that of a church which fled this responsibility. For Jonah the prophet was commanded by the Lord to go from the land of Israel to the far off city of Nineveh in Assyria and call its people to repentance, saying, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." But Jonah had no desire to save Nineveh. He took a ship for Tarshish to flee from the presence of the Lord, and went to sleep in the hold. A mighty tempest nearly broke the ship; the mariners cast out the cargo to lighten it, and everyone prayed to his god. But Jonah was fast asleep. Finally it was revealed by lot that it was because of Jonah that the storm had been sent. And, on Jonah's insistence, they cast him into the sea, and were saved; and ever after they feared Jehovah.

     Jonah here represents a church the state of which was perverted. He lived in the days of Israel's worst kings (see II Kings 14:25). The mariners, on the other hand, were gentiles, of various religions. Yet the story shows that contact with Jonah, thus with the Jews, nearly brought disaster upon the gentiles (PP, Jonah 1:7).
     A church which no longer obeys the Lord, yet possesses the place and functions of the church, may have a detrimental effect on the whole of mankind. For the truths which it possesses may then become so perverted that they no longer point the way to heaven, but to hell. This was indicated when the Lord said: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves" (Matthew 23:15). The Writings show, by glaring evidence from the spiritual world, that the falsities and evils of a corrupted church are far more terrible than the falsities and evils among the gentiles who have not profaned or adulterated the interior truths known to those who have the Word.
     Surprising things are related in the Writings about the function of those who are of the Lord's specific church in the spiritual world. By a specific church we mean a church to which is granted a Divine revelation.

353

These churches, in their succession, are called the Most Ancient, or celestial church; the Ancient, or representative spiritual church; the Hebrew Church; the Israelitish Church, which was only a representative of a church; and the Christian Church; which is followed by the New Christian Church prophetically signified by the New Jerusalem.
None of these churches have been universal throughout the world. Some were confined to relatively few. But each church was made the custodian of some form of Divinely revealed truth-the Ancient Word which is now partly lost, the Law and the Prophets of the Israelites, the Gospel of the Christians, and the Writings which are for the New Church. Because of this, each church became in turn the center from which the light of spiritual truth could emanate in both worlds. In this world the spread of truth was always limited by the barriers of language and geographical distance, as well as by the strong natural affections that are born of the flesh. Such barriers are broken down in the other life. There thought itself speaks, in a language common to all spirits. There the spirits belonging to the specific church are situated as in a center from which the truth, the spiritual truth, can spread among all nations. There the memories of earth-life begin to fade, and a man's misplaced loyalties to family, race, social groups, institutions, or sectarian organizations, are gradually dissolved. If he is well disposed to the neighbor and to his God, the external prejudices which held him from a spiritual view of the truth give way before his love of finding what is good and true. He is ready to absorb whatever instruction he is offered, ready to acknowledge truth as he can now see it in the light of the Word. This is especially what is meant by the prophet's saying: "The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. . . ." "The gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. " "Our of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." "All the ends of the earth shall remember, and turn unto the Lord."

But Jonah was asleep in the ship. The Jewish Church "kept the Word for itself"; glorying only in being the chosen people, hoping to lord it over the nations. In the spiritual world, a corrupted church which perverts the truths of the Word to gain dominion or feed its self-esteem becomes a danger, a "Jonah," a cause for a general deterioration throughout the world of spirits, and thus among the gentiles, who there are meant to look to the region of the church for instruction. Such gentiles are then held in darkness and are unable to find the way to any true heaven. They may be delayed for ages in such spiritual obscurity, because the church has abused its functions and has adulterated its doctrine, and by its falsities has spread a dark pall over its Scriptures.

354

This was the case in the later ages of the Christian Church, both with the papal religion and with Protestants. And we learn that because the Christian spirits in the other life were in obvious falsities-such as the belief in three Gods, and in salvation by faith without charity-and in terrible evils such as adultery and hypocrisy, the gentiles who were accumulating in the world of spirits would not listen to Christian missionaries, or even receive them, and thus were also kept from being instructed by any Divine revelation. For if their hungry minds should absorb such false doctrines, or be infected with such insincerities, their own frail vessel of doctrine would founder and their salvation be imperiled.
     Such is the spiritual background of the story of Jonah, whose presence on the ship of Tarshish endangered even the guiltless mariners until, as a last resort, they cast him into the sea. The mighty tempest signifies the temptations among the gentiles caused by the falsities and contagions of a consummated church. Yet Jonah, admitting his fault, seems to have undergone something of contrition, or at least a confession of guilt; and so was willing to be cast into the sea, which then ceased from its raging.
     Jonah, the unwilling prophet, represented a consummated church no longer performing the spiritual use for which it was designed. If we look back on historic times, we find that the periods in which some church-Christian, Jewish, or Ancient-existed in a genuine state are quite rare. If we survey the world at any known period, we find that the gentiles have exceedingly outnumbered the specific church of that time. Yet always the specific church was essential to the preservation of spiritual life on earth. Even though the church had come into a corrupted state, it was maintained by the Lord's mercy and omnipotence.
     The use which such a church could serve is shown in the story of Jonah. For the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah up and, after three days and three nights, to spew him up safely on the dry land. And Jonah then reluctantly went to Nineveh and preached repentance. The people of Nineveh were converted and repented in sackcloth and ashes. And Jonah was angry unto death that this city, which rivaled Israel, should be saved.
     A consummated church which still possesses the Word can to some extent serve the Lord's purposes, even if its uses are performed unwillingly. The Christian Church, when it had nearly reached its judgment, was temporarily revived through the Reformation in the sixteenth century, when the Word was printed and read in the Protestant nations. The church can serve as long as it can spread the knowledge of the Word. The love by which it is led is then only a love of knowing-a pride of preeminence and knowledge, especially the knowledge of the letter of its revelation.

355

And it is this immersion in the affection of external knowledge that is meant by Jonah being swallowed by the great "fish," and remaining in the midst of the sea for three days and nights.
     Even after a church is disowned by the Lord, as was the Jewish Church, and as, in the Second Advent, was the first Christian Church as to its doctrine and life, it can continue to be of service to mankind and, unwittingly, to heaven. This is especially true in the world, where the reverent Jew still reads his Torah and thereby performs a service to certain heavens, which see in every syllable and sound of the Hebrew a celestial meaning that they could learn in no other way. It is true also of Christians who still broadcast the Gospel to every land.
     And what is this Nineveh to which Jonah was sent, and which can be brought to repentance by the spirit which moves it through the literal sense of the Scripture even when the spiritual sense cannot be perceived therein? the Nineveh which must not be condemned-that "great city wherein are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left, and also much cattle." This is the question with which the book of Jonah ends.
     Is not this Nineveh all about us? It is not only in gentile lands but also near by, wherever the children of men are in spiritual ignorance about the Lord, about heaven, and about the way of charity; wherever men are captivated by the fallacies of the senses, caught in some web of specious reasonings, or blinded by the glamor of the world, and cannot be touched by spiritual doctrine and spiritual good!
     But let us note that Jonah would have represented a different function than that of a fallen church if he had but been willing to carry out the Lord's command. Indeed, the name Jonah means "a dove"; and a dove signifies the holy of faith, or spiritual good, which is based on an affection of spiritual truth.
     The true function of a church-and thus the special responsibility of the New Church-is to present the spiritual truth and the pure doctrine from the spiritual sense of the Word; and thus lead men into spiritual good, which is that which man does from spiritual law and for the sake of the church and the salvation of the neighbor (AC 8977:3; LJ 38; Life 12).

     Because of this original representation of the prophet Jonah as the good of spiritual truth, his life could, in the supreme sense, foreshadow as in prophecy some features of the Lord's temptations while on earth. "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea-monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. . . . Behold, a greater than Jonas is here" (Matthew 12:40, 41)

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It might be thought that this refers only to the Lord's resurrection from the grave. But throughout His life the Lord had suffered temptations by being immersed among Jewish spirits in the "lower earth" of the spiritual world-spirits whose religion was a merely cold knowledge of the letter of Scripture-even as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish. Therefore Jonah told of his adventure in these words: "The waters compassed me about, even to the soul. . . . The earth with her bars was about me forever: yet hast Thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God."
For it was to liberate these lost souls that the Lord came on earth to teach His spiritual doctrine, so that, by the presence of His faith inspiring truth, He could fight the temptations of men. To represent this, Jesus also took ship, and was asleep while His disciples were frightened by the tempest which threatened to fill the boat. And when He awakened to their shouts-"Master, carest Thou not that we perish?"-He rebuked the waves and the sea became calm (Mark 4:35-41). For the ship in which they were was not the frail vessel of the gentiles, but the ship of spiritual doctrine, from which the Lord's own voice reaches out to temper the winds and subdue the waves that threaten our spiritual life.
CREATIVE WORD 1955

CREATIVE WORD 1955

"That all things that are real have come into existence and do come into existence through the Divine truth that is from the Lord, and thus through the Word, is a secret that has not yet been disclosed. It is believed that by this is meant that all things have been created by God's saying and commanding as a king in his kingdom. It is not this however that is meant by all things having been made and created through the Word, but it is the Divine truth that proceeds from the Divine good, that is, from the Lord, from which all things have come into existence and do come into existence. The Divine truth proceeding from the Divine good is the veriest reality and the veriest essential in the universe, and it is this that makes and creates. Scarcely anyone has any other idea of the Divine truth than as of a word that issues from the mouth of a speaker and is dispersed in the air. This idea of the Divine truth has produced the opinion that by the 'Word' is meant only a command thus that all things were made merely by a command, and thus not from any real thing that has proceeded from the Divine of the Lord; but as already said it is the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, the veriest reality and essential, that is the source of all things, and from which are the forms of good and truth" (AC 5272:2).

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HURSTVILLE, AUSTRALIA 1955

HURSTVILLE, AUSTRALIA OSSIAN HELDON 1955

     Episcopal Visit

     (Excerpts from a report received after Mr. Norman Heldon's account had gone to press (NEW CHURCH LIFE, JULY, 1955, pp. 323-326). EDITOR.)

     There was great excitement in the Hurstville Society when word came from Bishop De Charms that plans were being made for a visit by Bishop Pendleton. Recollection of the joy and benefits brought to us by the first episcopal visit, made seventeen years ago by Bishop De Charms accompanied by Mrs. De Charms, intensified our pleasurable anticipations during the intervening weeks.
     Now that we have met him in person we have taken Bishop Pendleton to our hearts. Much good has come of his visit, and we will be everlastingly grateful to those who made it possible. By the infusion of his fine strong spirit the life of the Society has been invigorated and affection for the church and its uses deeply stirred. Unity within the Society has been strengthened. Fields of activity not seen or neglected before have been brought to our notice. Guidance and encouragement have been given to our efforts to promote the growth of the General Church in Australia.
     Bishop Pendleton came by air from New Zealand and arrived in Sydney on Wednesday, April 6th, a day ahead of schedule. The program was hastily rearranged to take advantage of this; and for twelve days he officiated at our services of worship, instructed us in doctrinal classes, visited us in our homes, and joined in our social activities and sports.
     The banquet in celebration of the Society's fiftieth anniversary was held on Saturday, April 16th. Beautiful table decorations and many novel and tasty dishes bore pleasing testimony to the artistic sense and culinary proficiency of our young women, and everyone did justice to an excellent repast. Following the toast to the Church, which was proposed by Mr. Fred Fletcher, greetings from the Rev. W. Cairns and Mrs. Henderson and from Mr. Sydney Heldon were read and were received with acclamation.
     Toasts to "The Church Militant," "The Academy," and "The Founders" were honored in speech and song. Three speakers presented papers on essentials in the life of the church, the series being: "The Shunning of Evil," "The Understanding of Truth," and "The Life of Charity."

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Our Leader, Mr. Lindthman Heldon, then took us back into the past with a review of the outstanding events in the history of the Society. At the conclusion of his address came his announcement that Brian Heldon, a grandson of Frederick W. Heldon, the first in this country to accept the Academy position and one of the founders of our Society, would leave shortly for Bryn Athyn, and would be the first youth from Australia to enter the Academy of the New Church.
     The highlight of this stirring event was the concluding address by Bishop Pendleton. After paying a tribute to the work of the Rev. Richard Morse in establishing the General Church in Australia, Bishop Pendleton spoke of the Lord's protection of His church during this its formative period; the period of its struggle for existence in a world which is indifferent to spiritual truth. The central doctrine of the New Church is that the Lord is the one God of heaven and earth. All the other doctrines rest on this. Today the church is with the few who worship the Lord in His Divine Human and acknowledge that the Writings are the Word. The General Church recognizes no geographical limits. It will do everything it can to preserve its foothold in this part of the world, and to assist those who are willing to undertake the pioneering work so necessary here at this time.
     A farewell party was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher on Monday evening, April 18th. A very happy sphere prevailed as we sang our well loved songs. At supper time our Leader beautifully expressed our sentiments toward our distinguished guest and presented him with a book of scenes and colored slides of Sydney. Bishop Pendleton's reply was deeply touching, and we felt that the friendship between us, born as it was of mutual love for the church, would go on increasing as that love with us found more scope for expression through the leading he had given us.
     On Tuesday, April 19th, a small party drove to Mascot airport to see Bishop Pendleton leave in the Pan American Airline's Boeing stratocruiser "Glory of the Skies" for Honolulu, San Francisco, and home.
     Mere words are inadequate to convey what is in our hearts and minds at this time; but in closing we would say that we are deeply thankful to the Lord, who, in the words of the Psalmist, "maketh His ministers a flaming fire," and who provides the means whereby their ministrations may extend to parts remote from the center of the church, even as in our hour of need Bishop rendleton came to us, the farthest outpost of the General Church.
     OSSIAN HELDON

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TWO SACRAMENTS 1955

TWO SACRAMENTS Jr. Rev. GEOFFREY S. CHILDS 1955

     The two sacraments were written upon the very hearts of the first people upon earth. Their hearts were baptized upon birth-baptized with a celestial love. And throughout their lives they lived in holy communion with the Lord and His angels. Every meal was to them a holy supper, for without reflection they knew the representation of the bread and water they ate, and with humility and innocence attributed both food and its living representation to Jehovah their maker. Such was their baptism and communion, for they were children of God. The innocence of their hearts gave them the key to heaven itself.
     Thus it was that the decay of the Most Ancient Church was such a horrible thing. Innocence was exchanged for an evil self-consciousness, and gentleness for brutality. The final posterity of the Most Ancient Church was so perverted that it lost all communion with God and heaven; and when this happens, the race must be destroyed. And so came the flood. Afterwards arose a church of an entirely different nature. The celestial heart had been perverted forever; the will of man had been destroyed. With the Ancient Church came a new sort of being-a man who had to live by his understanding instead of by his will. But even with this curse, the Ancient Church found its way back to an innocence; for its members so dedicated themselves to living by the truth that truth became alive for them. A charity grew up within them. Again men returned to a baptism in the church, and to a communion with God. But this baptism and communion were no longer written upon the heart. It was an external baptism learned through instruction from the Lord; and an external act of communion taught by their Word. These people had to be taught about their sacraments-they did not know instinctively. For they were of the same genius as men today.
     The baptism and holy supper of the Ancient Church were much different from ours today. For the men of this church keenly loved the science of correspondences, so much so that they wished to act out this science continually in their worship. The waters of baptism were not used once by them for each individual, but again and again these waters were used in their symbolic worship. And so it was with the holy supper. Sacrifices of animals to God were ingrained upon their ritual-and every sacrifice was a communion to them.

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In the long history of racial growth, measured not by years but by eons, the Ancient Church was only in the childhood of racial development. Therefore, like children, it loved many symbolic acts in worship, many symbolic acts of baptism and the holy supper.
     Like the Most Ancient Church, the Ancient Church came into a time of decay. It was saved again and again by the Lord through revivals of charity. But finally it came to its last times-which were the times of the Jewish Church. The Jewish Church followed the rituals and religious traditions of its forefathers, but this church lost all understanding of the meaning and representation of these rituals. It kept the many symbols of baptismal washing, and the sacrifice of animals, without knowing the inner representation of these things. For the Jewish Church was spiritually dead; it was preserved only because it kept the true symbols and representations of worship. For through these symbols heaven could remain conjoined to earth, despite the depravity of man. The spirits and angels were fed with interior delights through the symbolic acts of worship of the Jewish priest, even though the priest himself was evil.
     The baptismal washings required of the Jews were manifold. Thus Jehovah commanded that Aaron should wash himself before putting on the robes of his ministry (Leviticus 16:4, 24). And again he was commanded to wash himself before coming near the altar to minister. This same baptismal washing was required of the Levites, as a part of the ritual of worship. The Jewish people who had become unclean through sins were required to wash themselves as part of their repentance, and in order that they might do this as a ritual of worship, the molten sea and many baths were placed near the temple. So strict was the Lord's ritualistic requirement, that the Jewish people were even told to wash vessels and utensils, such as tables, seats, beds, plates, and cups, as part of their religious ritual. All these were washings with baptismal waters, significative of the same thing as our single act of baptism. Equally detailed were the many requirements for animal sacrifices-all of which are replaced in the present day by the Holy Supper service.
     Now in the True Christian Religion there is the following key teaching on the history of the two sacraments: The "washings and many like things were enjoined upon and commanded the children of Israel, because the church instituted among them was a representative church, and this was such as to prefigure the Christian church that was to come. Therefore when the Lord came into the world, He annulled representatives, which were all external, and instituted a church all things of which were to be internal; thus the Lord banished figures, and revealed veritable forms, as one withdraws a veil or opens a door, and causes interiors not only to be seen, but also to be approached.

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Of all these representatives the Lord retained but two, which should include in one complex all things pertaining to the internal church. These two are baptism in the place of washings, and the holy supper in the place of the lamb which was sacrificed each day, and in greater fulness at the feast of the passover" (TCR 670).
     The Christian Church did not need many ritualistic acts of holy washing and of communion. For this new church was to be internal, a spiritual church which would need only the two external sacraments as the ultimate foundation of worship. The two holy sacraments would have served the Christian Church for its worship to all eternity. But that church lost its soul by rejecting charity as the essential of religion. And when it rejected charity, the church lost any real understanding of the sacraments. Indeed, the Writings disclose the secret wonderings of many Christians, who say to themselves: "Is Baptism anything but pouring water upon a child's head, and what has that to do with salvation! And is the Holy Supper anything but a partaking of bread and wine, and does it contribute anything to salvation? Moreover, what is the holiness in them, except from their having been commanded by the ecclesiastical order and accepted as holy and Divine?" (TCR 667)
     And we are taught further: "The uses of these two sacraments may be likened to a temple, which by reason of its antiquity has sunk into the ground, and lies buried in the surrounding rubbish even to the roof, over which old and young walk and ride in carriages or in horses, not knowing that such a temple is hidden beneath their feet, in which are altars of gold, walls inlaid with silver, and decorations of precious stones" (TCR 669). Thus the Christian Church has lost its understanding of the sacraments. The very treasures of religion have been buried in the ground of falsification and ignorance. And these treasures "can be dug up and brought to light only by means of the spiritual sense, which is now disclosed for the New Church, for its use in the worship of the Lord" (ibid). In fact, we are told that "it has pleased the Lord to reveal the spiritual sense of the Word, to enable the New Church to enter into the real use and benefit of these sacraments, Baptism and the Holy Supper; and this is done when man, with the eyes of the spirit, that is, with the understanding, sees the holiness that is concealed within them, and applies it to himself by the means the Lord has taught in His Word" (TCR 700).
     The distinguishing marks of Baptism are three: mater on the forehead, the sign of the cross on the forehead and breast, and a final blessing. The representation of each of these acts makes clear just what Baptism is. Water represents truth; its being applied to the forehead signifies truth applied to the will. Thus the waters of Baptism represent the first step of regeneration-the acknowledgment of truth, and the application of it to the will.

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The sign of the cross on the forehead signifies the temptations that will inevitably arise when heavenly truth and the native will meet. The cross signifies temptation, and victory in temptation. For upon the cross the Lord underwent His final and worst temptation-and there He gained the greatest victory of all ages. The sign of the cross is also made on the breast, for the breast signifies the understanding. In the course of regeneration man will go through many intellectual doubts and trials; but the sign of the cross is the sign of victory, if man will only turn to the Lord. It was of temptation, and victory in temptation, that the Lord was speaking when He said: "if any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it" (Matthew 16:24, 25). The final act of Baptism is the blessing, which signifies heavenly peace. Heavenly peace follows every temptation in which there is victory; and it abides eternally with those who complete regeneration. Thus the final blessing corresponds to the peace of heaven, which the Lord was speaking of when He said: "These things have I spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
Baptism, then, is significative of regeneration as a whole. For the three stages of regeneration are depicted in it: truth acknowledged and applied; temptations of heart and mind; victory and final peace. Thus we are told that man is baptized as a mark that he can be regenerated, that he can become an angel of heaven. It is the mark of Baptism that sets man apart from the animal kingdom, that marks him out as highly favored by the Lord. Thus it is that Baptism is such a holy thing in the eyes of the angels, and when it is administered they are especially present, beyond every other occasion of worship except the Holy Supper. For Baptism is to them a ceremony of tremendous joy-it is the ultimate expression of the hope that that infant, or that adult, will regenerate and become an angel forever.
In speaking of the two sacraments, the Writings say that they "may be likened to a double temple, one below, the other above. In the lower one the gospel of the Lord's new coming and of regeneration and consequent salvation by Him is preached. [This is the temple of Baptism.] From this temple, near the altar, there is a way of ascent into the higher temple, where the Holy Supper is celebrated; and from it is the passage into heaven, where those ascending are received by the Lord" (TCR 669). The holiness of the Communion Service is above that even of Baptism; for whereas Baptism is a sign of introduction into the church and into regeneration, the Holy Supper is a sign of introduction into heaven.

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For the bread and the wine are love and faith from God, the love and faith that are with the angels, and the regenerating man. Because there is strength in ultimates, a regenerating man is closer to the angels and the Lord during the Holy Supper than at any other time. If he loses his self-consciousness, he is then for a while brought into the kingdom of heaven itself.
It was for this reason that John the Baptist said: "I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose; He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." Here the two sacraments are treated of in the spiritual sense. The sacrament of Baptism is directly represented by John's baptizing those who came to him. He baptized with water unto repentance, even as the Lord gives each man the truth to lead him unto repentance. And if man lives the truth, then slowly love and faith will be built up within him; and then each act of communion will bring him closer and closer to the Lord and heaven, until, at the time of the Holy Supper, man will feel the touch of the Lord Himself. As John the Baptist said: "One mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose; He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." This is the Holy Spirit of truth with the angels, and the fire of angelic love. With these man is baptized at the holy communion, when he is worthy.
CARE FOR THE MORROW 1955

CARE FOR THE MORROW 1955

"He who looks at the subject from the internal sense is able to know what is meant by 'care for the morrow.' It does not mean the care of procuring for one's self food and raiment, and even resources for the time to come; for it is not contrary to order for anyone to be provident for himself and his own. But those have care for the morrow who are not content with their lot; who do not trust in the Divine, but in themselves; and who have regard for only worldly and earthly things, and not for heavenly things. With such there universally reigns solicitude about things to come, and a desire to possess all things and to dominate over all, which is kindled and grows according to the additions thus made, and finally does so beyond all measure. They grieve if they do not obtain the objects of their desire, and feel anguish at the loss of them; and they have no consolation, because of the anger they feel against the Divine, which they reject together with everything of faith, and curse themselves. Such are they who have care for the morrow" (AC 8478:2).

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LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD 1955

LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD Rev. NORBERT H. ROGERS 1955

     The well-known and thought-provoking Parable of the laborers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:116) concerns those who constitute the church, and their reward. The significant things of the parable are the vineyard, the Lord of the vineyard going to the marketplace at different hours to hire laborers, and His return at the end of the day to pay the laborers their hire.
     Cultivated tracts of land, when mentioned in the Word, signify the church in general. The specific thing or aspect of the church referred to is determined by What is planted in the land, and also by what it produces. Thus, because oil represents love to the Lord which is celestial, an olive tree signifies the celestial things of the church, and an olive grove the celestial church. A grape-vine represents the spiritual things of the church, for which reason a vineyard signifies the spiritual church.
     In general, everything having to do with a vine-the vineyard in which it is planted, the vine itself, the grapes it bears, and the wine produced from them-represents the spiritual church. But in particular, each of these things represents some specific aspect of the spiritual church. The vine itself represents specifically the truth of faith, which is the primary and dominant thing in all things spiritual, giving them their essential character and quality; just as the good of love is the primary, dominant and essential thing in all things celestial.
     Grapes, being fruit, represent good, and thus something having a celestial character. Being the fruit of the vine, they represent the celestial of or from the spiritual; that is, the good that is produced by the truth of faith and that is derived from it. This is the good that comes into being when the truths of faith enter the will and are applied to life. This good is variously called the good of truth, the good of faith, and especially charity. It is spiritual good, the good that has a spiritual character, and that belongs specifically to the spiritual church and to the man of that church.
     Wine, which is produced by fermenting the juice expressed from grapes, is a refreshing and stimulating drink. As such it represents faith itself, and specifically the genuine spiritual faith of the regenerated man of the church. Before regeneration, we are taught, what is called faith is only an appearance of faith.

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For it then consists only of the knowledges and doctrinals of faith in the understanding. So long as these things are in the understanding only they are relatively inert, lifeless and powerless, nor are they then actually possessed by the man as his own to be his faith and to qualify him. Furthermore, so long as the things of faith are in the understanding only, they are mixed with various fallacies, appearances, and proprial impurities. Faith is appropriated to man as his own and qualifies him only in so far as the things of faith are transferred into the will and into the life, becoming of the will and life as well as of the understanding. When through the temptations that attend this transfer, which are represented by the process of fermentation, the fallacies, appearances and impurities, are separated from the genuine truths of faith and discarded, the faith becomes a genuine, living, and spiritual faith, which refreshes, renews, and stimulates a man's life, causing him to have spiritual life.
     The vineyard where vines are planted, grow, and bear the grapes from which the wine is made, represents the spiritual church itself where the truths of faith are, where they flourish and produce charity and thence genuine faith.
     None of the things which make the spiritual church are produced by man himself, nor do they in any way originate with him. Not the least truth, nor charity, nor faith, can be said to belong to man, except in the sense and in the degree that he receives them and responds to them. All genuine truths, all genuine charity, and all genuine faith, in generals and in particulars, in greatests and in leasts, in inmosts and outmosts, are Divine in origin and quality. They are from the Lord; they are the Lord's; and, indeed, they are the Lord Himself. For this reason the Lord called Himself the true vine. For this reason, too, the wine in the Holy Supper is called the "blood of the Lord." In so far as man receives genuine truth, charity and faith, he receives the Lord; in so far as he appropriates these things as his own, he is conjoined with the Lord. And since genuine truth, charity and faith make the spiritual church with men in so far as they are received, the church is said to be the Lord's, and in the parable He is manifestly called the "Lord of the vineyard."
     To labor signifies to regenerate, and also to undergo temptations; for temptations, we are taught, are a necessary means for regeneration. The temptations themselves do not regenerate a man, however, for their use is to make possible the eradication of evils and falsities, which is the prerequisite of regeneration. Regeneration itself consists in the reception and appropriation of goods and truths from the Lord. Laboring in a vineyard involves the procuring and planting of vines, caring for them so that they will bear fruit, harvesting the grapes, and making wine from them.

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When the wine has been made the labor is complete.
     This signifies that the regeneration of the man of the spiritual church begins with the study and work to procure truths of faith from the Lord in the Word, and to implant them in the mind. It involves both seeking instruction for one's self, and also giving instruction to others in the truths that are to be of faith. The second step in regeneration involves caring for the truths that have been acquired so that they will take root in the mind, grow and mature. Besides freeing the ground of the mind from obstructing falsities and evils, this involves the work and study of using and applying the truths of faith to amend the life; meditating on them, seeking to understand them in clearer light, endeavoring to think and to make judgments from them and according to them, and striving to conform the will and the life to them. The third step in regeneration results from properly caring for the truths of faith, and has to do with their fructification and harvest. This involves beginning to will truth, and from that will to do the goods which are of charity. Apparently this fructification and harvest are produced by the man's effort, whereas actually they are the product of an influx of love from the Lord into the truths of faith with man. Man's effort in regeneration, however great it may seem, is limited to his making himself fit to receive the Divine influx, and to his responding to it.
     Apparently, also, the state of willing and doing truth completes regeneration. But the truth is, it is only the beginning of the regenerate state. At this time neither the will nor the charity is as yet fully genuine or spiritual. A fourth step must follow, which is that of wine-making; that is, of receiving genuine faith from the Lord. The reception of genuine faith is made possible by, and is according to, the influx of love into the truths of faith, and their consequent conjunction. And so faith is said to be the product of the conjunction of love and truth, or of good and truth. However, it is not an automatic product with man; for the reception of genuine faith is attended by grievous spiritual temptations, and is dependent on man's surmounting them. When man has surmounted these temptations, he is gifted with a genuine spiritual and living faith, and at the same time with genuine spiritual charity, for genuine faith and charity are inseparable. The spiritual man's regeneration is then complete, and he is given the reward of his labor.
     Since all the laborers in the parable received their hire or reward, they all represent regenerating men, thus true members of the church. None of them represented those who are members of the church in name only; that is, those who however zealously they may serve the external church on earth have not yet begun to regenerate.

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     It is to be noted that none of the laborers came to the vineyard and entered into his labor of his own initiative, nor was anyone sent there by any man. The Lord of the vineyard Himself sought each one out, and hired him. So, likewise, no one enters the spiritual church and begins his regeneration of himself, by his own intelligence and effort, nor through the influence of others. But each one is sought out and called by the Lord Himself. For the Lord alone knows the heart of man; He alone knows who is capable and ready to labor in His spiritual vineyard, and when the time has come for him to enter into that labor.
     It is to be noted also that the Lord of the vineyard hired His laborers from among those who stood idle in the marketplace. Trading, that is, buying and selling, and the active exchange of goods, together with the marketplace where trading is done, represents the acquisition and exchange of knowledges. To be actively engaged in trading represents using one's various faculties in the acquisition and teaching of knowledges of all kinds. It also represents to be immersed in such things. Consequently, to stand idle in a marketplace represents not using one's faculties in acquiring and teaching knowledges, either because of incapacity, or because of unwillingness and indifference; or it can also represent not to immerse one's self in the mere acquisition of knowledges, but to seek higher forms of activity and use. We are taught that the acquisition of knowledges of good and truth from the Word is necessary for regeneration. Thus to be called by the Lord it is necessary that man make his way to the market-place of the Word and of the church where these knowledges can be obtained. But no one can be called as long as he makes no effort to acquire and to use knowledges; nor as long as he immerses himself solely in them, for knowledges pertain to the natural memory and cannot affect man spiritually. Only those who, without abandoning the acquisition of knowledges, come to see that knowledges alone are not enough, and so search for genuine truths, are ready to be called by the Lord and introduced by Him into regeneration.
     This is confirmed by the various times at which the laborers were called, each of which signified the end of a state and the beginning of a new, more elevated one. Early in the morning represents the beginning of a state in which man is capable of being uplifted into greater light; or, at least, as is the case with a natural mind, it represents a state in which the attention can be drawn to the existence of more interior things. Three, and its multiples, six and nine, represent a fulness of state, that is, the completion of one state and at the same time the beginning of a new state, especially states of truth. Eleven also signifies a state of fulness; but since it immediately precedes twelve, a number which signifies all goods and truths in general, eleven also signifies a state that is on the threshold of regeneration.

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     Three distinct series of things are represented by the times at which the laborers were called. One series has to do with remains, which are affections insinuated into man by the Lord for use in regeneration. Though remains of all kinds may be insinuated throughout life, celestial remains are insinuated particularly in infancy, various spiritual remains particularly in childhood, and natural remains in youth and early manhood. Regeneration goes forward by the successive calling forth of these remains, and their use by man. The first to be used in regeneration are the natural remains which are represented by the laborers who were hired early in the morning. As regeneration proceeds the various spiritual remains are successively called forth and used. These are represented by the laborers hired at the third, sixth, and ninth hours. Finally, when regeneration nears its completion, the celestial remains are called forth. These are meant by those hired at the eleventh hour. Thus the last implanted remains are those that are used first, and their use continues throughout regeneration; while the first implanted remains are used last, and for a comparatively short time. Nevertheless all remains are of vital use, and none can be said to have played a more necessary part in regeneration than any other. For this reason all the laborers were given the same reward.
     A second series has to do with the various times of death. The laborers who worked but one hour represent those who die early in life; those who worked longer represent those who die later in life; and those who worked the full twelve hour day, represent those who die in old age. We are taught that the Lord alone, in His infinite wisdom and mercy, determines for each one the time of death, that is, of entrance into the spiritual world. This He determines, not according to temporal things, but for the sake of man's eternal use and happiness. Whenever a person's eternal use and happiness can best be served by his entering into the spiritual world, the Lord comes to call him. With some this takes place in early infancy, with others later in life, and with others in old age, after working many years on this earth. At whatever age a man dies, the Divine reason is the same, namely, to enable him to have the greatest use and happiness of which he is capable. This, too, is why the laborers received the same hire.
     A third series has to do with the various states that belong to regenerations, and also the various kinds of men who can regenerate. Those hired early in the morning represent relatively natural states which belong at the beginning of regeneration, and also those who though they remain natural can still regenerate and be members of the spiritual church.

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The idea of meriting the rewards of heaven is very active in such states and among such men. This is represented by the laborers hired early in the morning first agreeing as to the specific amount of their hire before they went to work in the vineyard. The idea of merit is closely associated with the love of self. And so those who confirm themselves in this idea come to think only of themselves, and are never content with their lot. Because they do good only for the sake of their own advantage, they close their minds to spiritual influx, and so shut themselves off from heaven, however much they may desire it and work for it. Such cannot regenerate so long as they are in that state, and are therefore not among the laborers. Quite different are those who in simplicity and innocence suppose that they will merit heaven, and live in charity. Such do not confirm themselves in the idea of merit, nor do they regard their own advantage in everything they do. Though they have the idea of merit, it is modified with them by their willingness to do good in obedience to the Lord and for the sake of the neighbor. For this reason they can be led to see the truth that heavenly life is a gift freely given by the Lord to all who can receive it. They can regenerate, even though they may remain natural in state.
     The laborers hired in the third, sixth, and ninth hours represent the various intermediate states of regeneration in which truth plays the dominant part. They also represent those who are in various states of falsity and evil, on whose account they have to undergo severe temptations, but who nevertheless are able to regenerate. They also have some idea that heaven is merited; but unlike natural men, they do not try to stipulate what their reward shall be, but are satisfied that the Lord will give them what is right in His eyes in return for their labor. What they chiefly desire is to understand truth and to do it. Because of this they can be led into the good of life, and be regenerated to a spiritual degree.
     The laborers hired at the eleventh hour represent the last state of regeneration, and also those who are in innocence. They are those who are scarcely concerned with their own advantage; thus they do not desire that the Lord shall give -them anything, but are content with their lot, and are satisfied with whatever they receive. Their supreme desire is to serve the Lord and to be of use. Such regenerate to the highest degree; and they are those who constitute the internal church.
     To all who regenerate the Lord gives the same reward, which is represented by the same hire being given to all the laborers. And this reward is a full measure of mutual love, and the ability to do good without restraint to the limit of one's capacity. In such things do heavenly delights consist. Nor can any greater blessing be given.

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REVIEWS 1955

REVIEWS Various 1955

     AN ASTONISHING BOOK

WHERE IS HEAVEN? By A. C. Ferber. Published by Pageant Press, New York, 1955, at $3.50. 243 pages.

     The author of this book has recently "discovered" Swedenborg, whose works at last gave him a satisfactory answer to the recurrent questions of life, of religion, and of philosophy. Writing in an amiable conversational style, and with single-minded logic, he leads the reader to scan the evidence for the existence of God, the necessity of acknowledging a Creator and an all-pervasive purpose in the universe, the reality of the soul, and the possibility of miracles. He then discourses with acumen and common sense on the origin and nature of time and of space, and shows that heaven and the soul are in a "super-space"-an existence more real than that of matter. The book closes with discussions about the spiritual world, the life of the angels, the nature of evil, the problem of pain and injustice, and the necessity of hell in a universe ruled by a merciful God who preserves human freedom to every man.
     In all this, he accepts Swedenborg as his mentor, indeed his authority. He displays a remarkable acquaintance with Swedenborg's teachings on a wide range of subjects, including that of the "limbus" (page 53). He presents the teachings of the Writings, often in direct quotations, as reasonable and therefore true; sometimes admitting, "But these things cannot be proved." The New Church reader might perhaps wish that he had left these teachings to speak for themselves. But Mr. Ferber-a practicing scientist-is not satisfied with abstractions. He feels the need to confirm Swedenborg's doctrines about the spiritual world and creation, not only by modern science but by a tremendous mass of "evidence" gathered from that realm of popular experience which lies outside of the recognized data of science. Much of his book is filled with all manner of anecdotes and citations about supernatural occurrences-dreams, visions, materializations of spirits, levitations, "apports," and other baffling wonders and miracles-which have been gathered somewhat indiscriminately from such varied sources as Professor J. B. Rhine's parapsychological laboratories, the records of societies for psychical research, FATE magazine, Ripley's "Believe it or Not," spiritualistic literature, oriental mysticism, ancient legends and undocumented bits from the newspapers.

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Some of these stories have about the same authenticity as recent accounts about "flying saucers." Yet the purpose of the citations is always to prove that there is a spiritual world which is the cause of all natural events and physical creations, as the Writings teach. Spirits do appear to men's spiritual sight. And the soul does weave the material body. But spiritual laws operate in established order, and we cannot believe that a man can live and think with his brain destroyed (p. 63f); or that man's spirit is connected with his body by what the spiritists call "an astral cord" (pp. 94, 101ff); or that spirits can materialize and communicate with men by "knockings" (p. 111) and lift natural objects, and even "create" any objects-from rose-petals to rocks and toads and artifacts-and rain them gently to earth! (p. 126ff)
     The book is of course not addressed to the New Church man. But it could have been of greater use if these alleged marvels had been left out, since they put too great a strain on our credulity and do not seem to be supported by the Writings. There is indeed the teaching in the True Christian Religion that "in the beginning" things in the natural world were created "similarly" as those which spring up in a moment in the spiritual world; but this is explained to refer to organic forms which are afterwards continued through reproduction one from another (see TCR 78:4). And as to the appearance of "manna" and the multiplication of the bread and fishes when the Lord fed the multitudes, this is said to be caused by an influx of angelic food into corresponding receptacles in nature (see Post. Theol. Works, I, p. 152, and AE 617:4). We must not minimize the Lord's power to perform miracles, which occur for profound reasons, to signify the states of the church. But the New Church is not to be established through miracles, for these "close the internal man" (Inv. 6).
     There are surely more things in heaven and on earth than can be explained by any earthly philosophy. It is the lot of men to be confronted by confusing facts and fancies long before the explanations are available. New Church men are not called upon to adopt any "know-it-all" attitude or to claim it impossible that the spheres of spirits can exert influences in nature as well as in our minds and bodies which we cannot now catalogue.
     The Writings teach that everything in nature is caused by an influx from the spiritual world which clothes itself with corresponding matter. Thus the soul clothes itself with a natural body in the womb. Elaborating on this idea, Mr. Ferber seeks to show that physical things and organisms and organic species can be created instantaneously, by a separate creation (p. 56).

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Admitting variations within species, he utterly rejects the concept of evolution, which he defines as a theory that leaves no room either for God or for a spiritual soul. Even those who disagree with this adverse definition can still enjoy many of his cogent and fascinating proofs of a purpose and a plan in the universe, which eliminate the possibility of a "chance" creation. We admire the earnestness and skill with which he shows the nature of heaven, illustrating the close relation of spirits with men by normal and known mental states. While he also dwells on the abnormal and gives too much credit to the results of psychical research, he nowhere advocates spiritistic practices, but comes back to Swedenborg's accounts as the authentic expositions. His description of the reality of hell is notably convincing, and in explaining "hell-fire" he takes occasion to elaborate on the spiritual sense of the Bible (p. 237).

It is interesting to note that the New Church at large-as represented by the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER and, more questionably, by the NEW CHRISTIANITY-has been very cautious lest all Mr. Ferber's ideas be, identified with the New Church. The MESSENGER appreciates the book because it so frankly and interestingly promotes a knowledge of Swedenborg. But commenting on Mr. Ferber's faith that matter must have originated from a prior universe of spiritual substance which is not in space or time, Dr. H. D. Spoerl, the editor of the NEW CHRISTIANITY, scathingly protests that Mr. Ferber "manages to perpetrate most of the errors inherent in the dualistic tradition" which stems from Descartes, the "oversimplified, literalistic nonsense" which "doctrinal purists (in the New Church too) " advocate when they speak of a duality of substance or of a spiritual body. And he regrets that Swedenborg himself "tended to retain the superfluous notions of substantial soul and spiritual body even after his direct visionary experience had made them logically unnecessary"! (1955, pp. 66, 65). Mr. Ferber has no such reservations in his acceptance of Swedenborg's teachings.

One of the most interesting parts of Where is Heaven? is the chapters on the beginnings of time and space. Here the author draws on Swedenborg's scientific contributions; although he seems to be acquainted with Swedenborg's philosophy only through Professor Frank W. Very's Epitome of Swedenborg's Science, a work published in 1927 in two thick volumes. This work never attracted the attention which it deserved from our public because it was an attempt to modernize Swedenborg's Principia system. Using Very's interpretations, Mr. Ferber shows that the Principia theory is startlingly up-to-date "and even daring by modern standards." Matter is essentially motion originating from non-spatial points of force of spiritual origin.

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Time is but our word for the motion of matter. Space is not infinite but "is matter," i.e., there is no empty space.
     Even Dr. Spoerl, admitting that Mr. Ferber is "at home in the field of physics," calls the chapter on "The Beginning of Space" excellent. It points out the mistake of modern scientists who commence by abandoning the hypothesis of a universal medium and end by reducing the world to a mere set of abstract equations without any underlying substantial reality (p. 158f). "Wonderful as the abstraction called relativity is to sure complicated problems, every abstract equation must have a basis in reality or it loses its meaning." Space-time cannot have the quality of curvature, as Einstein maintains, unless this is a quality of matter. You cannot say that empty space is curved. The raw-material of the natural universe was infinitely small energy-particles, far smaller than the electron; and Very identifies these roughly with Swedenborg's "universal aura." From these energy-particles electrons, and later atoms and molecules, were composed. Atoms consist only of electrons, positive and negative, revolving in vortex rings in opposite directions. The electron is described as a vortical whirl of energy-particles enclosed by "superficies of condensed and highly resistant aura which limits or finites the entity" (p. 173). Gravity is from the universal aura (LJ post. 312), which resists the centrifugal pressure of the electrons. Thus "the force of gravity comes from above and presses down on us toward the center of the earth."
     Citing Very and other physicists, Mr. Ferber explains in some detail how this operates. He claims that "the blue sky goes with us," and therefore discounts the effect that the Michelson-Morley experiments have had in causing scientists to deny an ether. "The aura particles are not moving through us like the ether wind that Jeans speaks of. We are moving through them. Invisible rays of the sun, such as cosmic rays, etc., are groups of aura particles moving through us at varying speeds, but the aura particles which cause gravity are not moving through us. We are moving through them" (p. 177). For our idea of solidity is an illusion.
     The speed of light is not the highest velocity possible; for gravitational pressure is almost instantaneous. Light is, basically, an atmosphere of the electron. For the electron "carries an atmosphere of energy-particles as it travels around its nucleus." Very called this atmosphere an "etherion." When etherions are cast off as light-quanta, the ether envelope "is immediately restored by the electronic action on the adjacent aura" (p. 182). "Every light-quantum, as it speeds through the aura, alternately grasps and releases a certain quantity of the aura vortically"-thus accounting for the double aspect of light as corpuscular and radiant, and even for the fact brought out by Einstein that it can be slightly affected by gravitation.

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     Far from being a "crumpling of the space-time continuum"-"empty space welded on to-empty time"-all material things are made from "the energy-particles which Swedenborg described as consisting of pure motion of non-spatial points of force of spiritual origin" (p. 185f). The sun, ours or any other, need never burn out.
     But Mr. Ferber's book-though he devotes over fifty pages to physics-is meant to show that "the material universe is not complete in itself or self-contained, but is the ultimate manifestation of the far greater and more perfect spiritual universe. . . ." We hope that our criticisms have not obscured our conviction that almost every New Church man would derive pleasure and delight in reading the book, and might even find in the author a kindred spirit.
     HUGO LJ. ODHNER

THE LIFE OF THE LORD. Volume 9, General Church Religion Lessons. Published by Pools Press Inc., Glenview, Illinois, 1955, for the General Church Religion Lessons Committee.

     This is the first of two volumes offering a course of instruction for pupils in the 8th and 9th grades. Volume 10, currently being revised, will contain 20 lessons for the 9th grade. The present volume, which comprises the 8th grade course, consists of 26 lessons equipped with answer papers for review. The lessons are handsomely reproduced by the photo-offset process, on one side of the page only, and are profusely illustrated by selected pictures by Old Church artists, and the 11 by 81/2 sheets are preserved in an accopress binder.
     These lessons have been revised, produced, and distributed under the auspices of the Glenview Chapter of Theta Alpha, with the Rev. Elmo C. Acton approving the revisions. Based on the work by the same title written by Bishop George de Charms, they follow for the most part the Gospel through Matthew. The preliminary instruction in that work is partly omitted and partly condensed, and the volume takes the students up to the Lord's fifth visit to Jerusalem. A blank map is provided for each part of the Lord's life covered, and with the aid of the master map the student is asked to enter the places visited and trace the journeys made by the Lord between His visits to Jerusalem.
     THE EDITOR

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THOUGHT AND ACT 1955

THOUGHT AND ACT Editor 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly by

THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                         Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa,
Circulation Secretary          Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Treasurer                     Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address, and business communications should be sent to the Circulation Secretary. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.
     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 30 cents.
     From the New Church viewpoint, the cliche that it is not what a man believes that is important, but what he does, is a half-truth. And like all other half-truths it is dangerous. It is half true, because doctrinal thinking is not meant to be an end in itself; the truth of the Word is to become the good of life and is to go forth in uses. As long as it remains merely in thought it is of no value. But the statement is also untrue, because the way in which a man acts does depend upon what he thinks and what he believes to be of supreme importance.
     The cliche was born of rebellion against the idea that what a man did was unimportant, provided he thought correctly. But in that there was the same falsity. Although a man may think externally in one way and act quite differently, the fact is that there is no distinction between what a man believes and what he does. In this world a man may say one thing and do another, but he cannot believe one thing and do another. A recognition of this fact lies behind all propaganda and, we suppose, all advertizing; in each instance, though from different motives, a concerted attempt is made to change the thinking of men with a view to effecting a change in their actions or habits.
     When we consider the process of regeneration, we may see that the purpose of the Writings is nothing more nor less than to change the thinking of men and women that they may act as New Church men and women. Yet so intimately are thought and will connected, thought being the first effect of life, that there must be an affection of truth within the mind to make possible this change in human thinking.

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Church News 1955

Church News Various 1955

     THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH

     Joint Meeting

     The Annual Joint Meeting of the Corporation and Faculty of the Academy of the New Church took place in Benade Hall, Bryn Athyn, on June 4th, with an attendance of 182.
     The meeting was addressed by Professor Edward F. Allen on the subject, "Research in the Academy." Professor Allen described the nature of the research student and noted especially that what is needed in research work is not unanimity, but cooperation and understanding among all within the organization. He pointed out the undesirable features of organized research carried on for practical purposes, which has proved disruptive to many educational institutions, but made a plea for an affirmative climate for the research work of those individual teachers who find the time and opportunity to do it. Their efforts are of great value to the development of the Academy and the Church.
     Professor Allen devoted the latter part of his address to the various means and media through which research in the Academy can be fostered. Many of these, he noted, are already available, and need only to be made proper use of for the stimulation of faculty research work. The address will be published in the JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.
     The meeting also heard annual reports from the President of the Academy, the Treasurer, and the heads of the several Academy Schools. These and others which there was no time to hear will be published in the JOURNAL.

     Commencement

     Commencement Exercises of the Schools of the Academy of the New Church were held in the Assembly Hall, Bryn Athyn, on June 14th. An unusually large number of parents and visitors from other centers of the Church were present.
     Mr. Harold P. McQueen of Glenview delivered the Commencement Address, which is published elsewhere in these pages [pp. 343-347]. Mr. McQueen's youngest daughter, the last of six children to attend the Academy Schools, was graduated from the Girls' Seminary. This class was noteworthy as the largest ever to graduate from one of the Academy Schools-thirty young women receiving their diplomas together.
     Valedictorians were: for the Girls' Seminary, Sonja Synnestvedt; for the Boys' Academy, Glen Klippenstein; for the Junior College, Johan Synnestvedt; for the Senior College, Julie de Maine; and for the Theological School, Jan H. Weiss. Mr. Weiss added an unusual note to the valedictories, all of which mentioned appreciatively the work of the Academy faculties under the guiding light of the Writings, as he referred briefly to each member of the Theological Faculty and what he had contributed to the minds of the students.
     Among the honors of Commencement week, it may be noted that two graduates of the Junior College, Miss Carolyn Kuhl and Mr. David Craigie, received their diplomas with distinction, and that Miss Julie de Maine was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Science cum laude.
     E. BRUCE GLENN

     ACADEMY SCHOOLS

     Awards, 1955

     At the Commencement Exercises on June 14th, the Graduates received their Diplomas and the Honors were announced as follows:

     Theological School

     BACHELOR OF THEOLOGY: Robert Schill Junge, Frederick Laurier Schnarr, Jan Hugo Weiss.

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     Senior College

     BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (cum laude): Julie Anne de Maine.

     BACHELOR OF SCIENCE: Carol Anne Odhner.

     Junior College

     DIPLOMA: With Distinction: David Edward Craigie, Carolyn Dorothy Kuhl.

     DIPLOMA: Men: Alfred Acton II, Thomas Alfred Coffin, Thomas Robert Fountain, Malcolm David Gyllenhaal, Gerald Allen Klein, Carl Frederic Odhner, David Lorne Schellenberg, Johan Christian Synnestvedt, Fred Edwin Earl Waelchli. Women: Joanne Hough Cranch, Cathlin Davis, Barbara Anne Doering, Sylvia Dorothy Parker.

     Boys' Academy

     DIPLOMA: William Fuller Blair, Rudolph Andrew Damm, Sumner Jefferson Gurney, Garry Hyatt, Quentin Daryl Hyatt, Glen Owen Klippenstein, Ralph Gordon McClarren, Mark Frederick Mergen, Brent Pendleton, Kent Alan Queman, Samuel Brian Simons, Willard Owen Smith, Donald O'Neill Synnestvedt, Hansell Edwards Wade, David Williams.

     Girls' Seminary

     DIPLOMA: Emily Austin, Linda Mary Baker, Katherine Ann Harry, Zarah Linea Brown, Annette Burnham, Diane Croll, Joann Doering, Louise Goheen Doering, Rachel Ebert, Debra Ann Glenn, Karen Glody, Vaughnlea Good, Miriam Yvonne Lyman, Judith McQueen, Josephine Odhner, Joan Margery Parker, Gael Pendleton, Margaret Anne Reuter, Inga Elna Rosenquist, Miriam Salinas, Bambi Scalbom, Miriam Gretchen Smith, Fay Synnestvedt, Joan Aileen Synnestvedt, Sonja Synnestvedt, Barbe Lee White, Dorothea Williamson, Marilyn Jeanne Witzke, Anna Woodard, Cora Lee Woodworth. Certificate of Completion: Lee Coffin, Gretchen Mack.

     [NOTE: A Certificate of Completion is granted to seniors in the Boys' Academy and the Girls' Seminary whose academic standing would enable them to graduate but who have not met the two years residence requirement for a Diploma.]

     GENERAL CHURCH CORPORATIONS

     The 1955 Annual Meetings of the General Church Corporations were held in the Auditorium of Benade Hall, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, on June 15, 1955, Bishop De Charms presiding. Forty eight members attended from among a total membership of two hundred and fifty-eight. The Board of Directors consists of thirty members, whose terms expire at the rate of ten per annum. The ten Directors elected for terms expiring in 1958 were: Daric E. Acton of Pittsburgh, Edwin T. Asplundh of Pittsburgh, Lester Asplundh of Bryn Athyn, Geoffrey E. Blackman of Glenview, Randolph W. Childs of Bryn Athyn, Theodore N. Glenn of Bryn Athyn, John E. Kuhl of Kitchener, Tore E. Loven of Sweden, Philip C. Pendleton of Bryn Athyn, and Norman P. Synnestvedt of Detroit. The three resolutions to amend the Articles of Incorporation and Article II of the By-laws of the Pennsylvania Corporation were adopted, and the texts thereof were in accordance with that accompanying the notice of the meeting.
     At a meeting of the Board of Directors which was held immediately after the Corporation meeting, and which was attended by fourteen members, the previous Corporation officers were reelected for the ensuing year, namely: Bishop George de Charms, President; Right Reverend Willard D. Pendleton, Vice-President; Hubert Hyatt, Secretary; Leonard E. Gyllenhaal, Treasurer.
     HUBERT HYATT,
     Secretary.

     THETA ALPHA ANNUAL MEETING

     The fifty-second annual meeting of Theta Alpha was held in the Benade Hall Auditorium, Bryn Athyn, on June 9th, 1955. The meeting was opened with a service conducted by the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson. This service, with the singing of Hebrew anthems and the reciting of the Ten Commandments in Hebrew, is always a favorite part of our meeting.
     The meeting was presided over by our President, Beatrice Ebert (Mrs. Richard) Goerwitz.
     A memorial resolution was offered as we recorded the passing of Celia Bellinger, Maude Carter Heath, Stella Zeppenfeldt Homiller, Vera Kuhl Izzard, and Anne Macbeth von Moschzisker.

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     On the recommendation of our Treasurer, we proudly voted $1,200.00 to the Academy for scholarships.
     An election of some of our officers was held since, with the adoption of our new policy for the different offices of making their terms expire in different years, we no longer expect our harried executives to slay in office until the next Assembly. We often, of course, work on them to serve another term if they can be persuaded to accept nomination again. The Vice-President, Alice Fritz, and the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Religion Lessons Committee, Margaret Bostock and Elizabeth Meisel (Mrs. Philip) Cronlund, were elected for three-year terms; and the Treasurer, Grace Horigan (Mrs. Lester) Asplundh, and the Liaison Officer, Virginia Smith (Mrs. Theodore) Tyler, for one-year terms. Elections for full three-year terms for these two offices will be held next year. The Liaison Officer holds a new post which has replaced that of Chairman of the Scholarship Committee now that the Academy has taken over the awarding and administering of our contribution for scholarships. She acts as a liaison between Theta Alpha and the Academy Schools, particularly in regard to our offering of honor awards, and also in handling other matters that may come up.
     We heard reports on the Religion Lessons from the Director of the General Church Religion Lessons Committee, the Rev. Fred E. Gyllenhaal; the Chairman of the Theta Alpha Committee, Margaret Bostock; and the Chairman of the Creche Figures Committee, Carita Pendleton (Mrs. Richard) de Charms. The work has continued to grow, and we now have a full program of lessons from kindergarten through four years of high school. Each year some of the lessons are rewritten and improved by Mr. Gyllenhaal. An outstanding part of this year's progress was the work of some members of the Glenview Chapter, assisted by the Rev. Elmo C. Acton and the Rev. Ormond Odhner, on the revised lessons of the Life of the Lord series for eighth and ninth grades. Figures illustrating the Easter story will be made this summer by Bryn Athyn Chapter members as an Easter present for the children next spring.
     The Emergency Funds, held by the Housemother of Glenn Hall, and by the Dean of Women for the college girls, were replenished. These funds have been of help to many of our students and are much appreciated by the faculty.
     A motion was passed to raise our dues from $1.50 to $2.50, a somewhat reluctant admission that the value of the dollar has changed during the years since our last increase, in 1916. Now that we have done it, though, everyone seems cheerful about it. One of the main reasons for the increase is the desire of members, expressed in returns from a questionnaire, for a semi-annual JOURNAL. This will give opportunity for publishing news, discussion and articles, which could not be printed in our annual JOURNAL, since that is always filled with reports.
     Next year's annual meeting, we hope, will be held in London at the time of the General Assembly. It seems likely that enough of our members will be there to form a quorum, and it will be a fine thing for our new chapter in Colchester to be responsible for making the arrangements.
     ALICE FRITZ

     STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

     Great changes will take place in our Society this summer. For the Rev. Erik Sandstrom has been called to the pastorate of Michael Church in London, and the Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen has accepted a call to succeed him in the Stockholm pastorate.
     Mr. Sandstrom has been our pastor only about a year and a half, but during that short time we have indeed appreciated his arduous zeal for the welfare of the Society, his fine sermons and instructive classes, and the lovable character that made him easy to approach. We shall truly miss him; but we are quite aware, on the other hand, that no one else could be better equipped to replace him than Mr. Boyesen, whom many of us remember from his childhood and youth here.
     The Nineteenth of June fell on a Sunday this year, and was celebrated with an impressive service at which Mr. Sandstrom officiated for the last time as our pastor. Two young people were confirmed, one of them Mr. Sandstrom's nephew, and finally the congregation partook of the Holy Supper.
     After church we gathered at the reception rooms of the Margareta Restaurant for a farewell luncheon tendered to the pastor and his family.

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About fifty persons sat down. The tables were decorated with flowers in the colors of the Academy, and burning candles competed with the broad daylight.
     Captain Tore Loven acted as toastmaster, and a good many speeches expressing affection and gratitude were made. Verses written for the occasion, and full of fun, were sung and enjoyed. Mr. and Mrs. Sandstrom were presented with a plated coffee service in exquisite Swedish design and a sum of money, a joint gift from a number of their friends; while the Society as a unit offered a gift of money to the departing family. A sphere of genuine affection surrounded Erik and Bernice Sandstrom, and proved what great sympathy and friendship they have inspired during their long stay among us.
     SENTA CENTERVALL

     HURSTVILLE, AUSTRALIA

     He came, he saw, and he conquered: conquered all our hearts-young and old alike! We refer, of course, to our Assistant Bishop, the Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton. His arrival here from New Zealand on Wednesday, April 6th, was an event to which we had been looking forward eagerly. The full program of activities that had been arranged for him has already been reported [NEW CHURCH LIFE, July, pp. 323-326, August, pp. 357-358], so we will mention here only certain impressions and highlights of his visit.
     The Holy Supper service on Good Friday was a most impressive and happy event for us since we had not enjoyed the privilege of receiving Communion for many years; not, in fact, since the departure from our midst of the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson in July, 1946. Hence all eagerly availed themselves of this opportunity.
     The church was filled on every occasion, and profound doctrines propounded in the sermons in simple language were eagerly followed, for they proved most interesting and gave much food for thought. Bishop Pendleton's gift for presenting matters in simple language stood out in his talks to the children when, with illustrations easily understood by them, he taught them truths from the Word. It was manifest also in the doctrinal classes, which were so full of interest that the time just seemed to fly and it was hard to realize that the set time-limit had been overstepped on each occasion, The doctrine of the glorification, as presented by him, gave us a much deeper conception of the subject than we had had before.
     At various meetings Bishop Pendleton was given a comprehensive outline of our position and of our plans and hopes for the future as a Society, and of our aims in education; and his comments and useful suggestions were most encouraging. His explanations of New Church education as practised in the classrooms of the Academy were most enlightening.
     However, all good things must come to an end; and at last we came, with deep regret on our part, to the exchanging of farewells. Words are not adequate to express our feelings in regard to what Bishop Pendleton has done for us and the impressions he has left with us. He has certainly given a fillip to our hopes and activities for the future.
     ALFRED KIRSTEN

     PITTSBURGH, PA.

     The pastor of the Pittsburgh Society has resigned to accept a call to Stockholm, and we have chosen a new pastor, the Rev. Louis B. King. We are grateful to our Bishop, the Rt. Rev. George de Charms, for his leading in this time of change. He has given us freedom, warned us of the shoals of personality, helped us to chart a new course, and guided us gently from one loved minister to another; leaving it to us to make the real decision.
     On April 10th, our pastor, the Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen, received a call to the pastorate of the Stockholm Society, and on the following Friday he called a meeting of the Society at which he tendered his resignation, effective some time in August, in order to accept the call to Sweden. His resignation took the form of a beautiful letter, somewhat like that in which a father might say goodby to his grown children. He said that he felt his roots were very deep, after having served us for eleven years; spoke of receiving loyalty and cooperation from us in the uses of the church; and thanked us for what we had done for him and his family. He said, however, that it was his own free choice to accept the call to Sweden, his native land, where he felt that he could further his work and best serve the church. It was with real sadness that we acceded to his wish and accepted his resignation; for he had long been our pastor, our spiritual leader, and we loved him and his family dearly.

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     The method of selecting a pastor was then discussed, and a letter from the Bishop was read proposing orderly means that would give most freedom to all concerned. It was resolved that the Executive Committee, as our representatives, should ask the Bishop for the names of available ministers, meet with the Bishop and select two or three names, and then mail those names to the membership a week in advance of the meeting to select a pastor. This was done. The Bishop came to Pittsburgh twice, and on his first visit he had a free and open discussion with the Executive Committee which finally decided on two names. These were later circulated and arrangements were made for all members, whether present or not, to have a vote.
     At his second visit the Bishop, presiding over a meeting of the Society, reviewed the procedure followed. The first responsibility, he said, was that of the Bishop to look over the field as a whole, and to select as candidates those who were best suited and whose removal would not cause the church as a whole to suffer. The second responsibility was that of the minister asked to serve to determine whether he should do so, and he should be free to decide where he felt that he could be of the greatest use. The third responsibility was that of the society to choose the candidate it thought best suited to its needs. The Bishop then placed in nomination the names selected, and told us about the experience, qualifications, and abilities of the men concerned; inviting questions so that we could vote with full understanding and freedom. The final result was a unanimous vote to extend a call to the Rev. Louis B. King. In our hearts we were grateful to be led to this new pastor, for we felt that Providence had clearly led us. After the meeting our pastor and his wife joined us. Wine and cookies were served, and toasts and songs were sung. On both occasions we were privileged to hear the Bishop preach.

     This spring our pastor officiated at two infant and two adult baptisms. It should be mentioned that each of the adults baptized is the marriage partner of a member of the church. In April our pastor exchanged pulpits with the Rev. Dandridge Pendleton, preaching in Baltimore and Washington while Mr. Pendleton preached here. The Rev. Raymond Cranch also preached this spring. We believe it is a stimulating thing to have this exchange of ministers. Our pastor and his wife also went to State College in May, where Mr. Boyesen held a service for 20 people and administered the Holy Supper.

     At the beginning of April the social committee put on a grand entertainment for the Society, both grownups and children. A magician of renown gave us a great performance, and refreshments were served. Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Lindsay were in charge.

     Tucked away in the Allegheny Mountains is a beautiful camp site called Laurel Park, fully equipped for a large camp with cabins, mess hall, swimming pool, etc. Mr. Gilbert Smith, our head scout, secured this for us, and together with his wife organized and ran it over the Memorial Day weekend. It was the largest camp yet, and we all had a grand and glorious holiday together. A service was conducted at the camp on Sunday by our pastor at which 125 adults and children worshiped together.

     On June 4th the pastor officiated at a service in which was given the blessing of the church on the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Lawrence Rinaldo (Mary Anne Doering), a civil marriage performed in Washington, D. C. The church was artistically decorated with white roses and candles. After the service a reception was held in the auditorium, where we all joined to give this couple with toasts and songs our very best wishes for their future happiness.
     LUCILE S. BLAIR

     MINISTERIAL CHANGES

     The Rev. Robert S. Junge has accepted appointment as assistant to the Rev. Harold C. Cranch in the Western District, effective September 1st.
     The Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr will serve by episcopal appointment, effective in August, as Minister of the Sharon Church, Chicago.

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     South Africa. The New Church [Conference] Mission Year Book reports a total membership of 5030, 4207 adults and 523 juniors, in 135 societies and groups organized into 17 circuits.

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These are served by 9 presiding ministers, 12 ministers, 6 probationary ministers, 6 evangelists, and 211 lay preachers. There are 17 Sunday schools with 504 children on the rolls. Under the new Bantu Education Act, mission schools were taken over by the Department of Native Affairs on April 1, 1955. This has affected the 4 day schools previously maintained by the Mission, with 893 children and 14 teachers.

     General Convention. With "Pursuing the Christian Freedom" as its theme, the 132nd General Convention was held in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, June 14-19, with 37 ministers and 90 lay delegates in attendance. The following highlights are from the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER.
     During the meetings of constituent and related bodies, the Alumni Association discussed favorably the accreditation of the Theological School. The Council of Ministers heard addresses by the Rev. Edwin G. Capon, Mr. George Pausch, and Dr. Friedemann Horn, and held two panel discussions; one on the relationship between the General Convention and the General Church, the other on Religious Education. Dr. H. D. Spoerl addressed the Association of Ministers' Wives on "The Deeper Psychology."
     The 84th annual meeting of the American New Church Sunday School Association heard the report of the Commission on Religious Education and discussed new lesson material; the 48th annual meeting of the National Alliance of New Church Women, marking the 50th anniversary, held a panel discussion on "The Last Fifty Years and Looking to the Future"; and the 66th annual conference of the American New Church League was addressed by Norman C. Schneider, M.P. The Rev. William Woofenden was elected president of the Association, Mrs. Harold Gustafson was returned as president of the Alliance, and Miss Lise Jungshoved became president of the League.
     Convention proper opened on Friday, June 17th, the presidential address being delivered by the Rev. Franklin H. Blackmer. The Rev. William H. Beales gave an address on "To Keep Them Alive in Famine"; the Council on Social Action was addressed by the Rev. Fred Poulton, an official of the Canadian Council of Churches; Dr. Friedemann Horn spoke on "Swedenborg and the European Mind" at the Board of Missions' program; and the Rev. Norman H. Reuter spoke on "The Training of the Will" at the Saturday morning session. This is believed to be the first time a General Church minister has addressed the General Convention. The banquet was addressed by John Fisher, a well known radio commentator.
     The Rev. David P. Johnson was elected to begin in 1956 a three-year term as president of Convention, and the Rev. Bjorn Johannson was re-elected editor of the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER. At the Sunday service the Rev. William F. Wunsch was invested as General Pastor of the Maryland Association. Mr. Wunsch, the Convention preacher, took as his subject: "Challenge and Response: Strategy of Freedom."

     The President-Elect. The Rev. David P. Johnson, a graduate of the New Church Theological School at Cambridge and pastor of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Kitchener, was named after a great uncle, the Rev. David Powell. Mr. Johnson stated: "Our church's first job is to win people to Jesus Christ. In so far as the teachings of Swedenborg help in this task, and I believe they do, I am happy to share his teachings with others."
PEACE RIVER DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1955

PEACE RIVER DISTRICT ASSEMBLY GEORGE DE CHARMS 1955

     The Fourth Peace River Block District Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held on Sunday, August 7th, 1955, the Rev. Roy Franson presiding by appointment to represent the Bishop.
     All members and friends of the General Church are cordially invited to attend.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS,
          Bishop.

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ORDINATIONS 1955

     Announcements.
     Junge.-At Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, June 19, 1955, Mr. Robert Schill Junge into the First Degree of the Priesthood, the Rt. Rev. George de Charms officiating.

     Schnarr.-At Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, June 19, 1955, Mr. Frederick Laurier Schnarr into the First Degree of the Priesthood, the Rt. Rev. George de Charms officiating.

     Weiss.-At Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, June 19, 1955, Mr. Jan Hugo Weiss into the First Degree of the Priesthood, the Rt. Rev. George de Charms officiating.
CORRECTION 1955

CORRECTION Editor 1955

The baptisms of Mrs. John James Boericke and Patricia Leanne Boericke [NEW CHURCH LIFE, July, 1955, p. 335, were performed by the Rt. Rev. George de Charms, not by the Rev. Karl R. Alden as there stated.

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EDUCATIONAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1955

     BRYN ATHYN, PA., AUGUST 22-26, 1955

Monday, August 22
     8:00 p.m. Worship (Benade Hall Chapel)
     8:15 p.m. Address: The Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton
               Subject: "Our Educational Philosophy"

Tuesday, August 23
     10:00 a.m. Report of the Committee on Foreign Language
               Speaker: Dean Eldric S. Klein
     2:00 p.m. Reserved for Committee Work

Wednesday, August 24
     10:00 a.m. The Biological Sciences
               Speaker: Mr. Charles S. Cole
     2:00 p.m. Reserved for Committee Work
     8:00 p.m. A Textbook of Science
               Speaker: The Rev. David R. Simons

Thursday, August 25
     10:00 a.m. Our Philosophy of Physical Education
               Speaker: Dean Stanley F. Ebert
     2:00 p.m. Reserved for Committee Work

Friday, August 26
     10:00 a.m. Report of the Committee on Social Sciences
               Speaker: Mr. Sigfried T. Synnestvedt
     2:00 p.m. Business Session (if necessary)
     7:00 p.m. Social Evening at Cairnwood
DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES 1955

DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES GEORGE DE CHARMS 1955

     All members and friends of the General Church of the New Jerusalem are cordially invited to attend the District Assemblies, as follows:
     EASTERN CANADA, TORONTO, ONTARIO, Saturday, October 8th, to Monday, October 10th, inclusive, the Bishop presiding.
     CHICAGO DISTRICT, GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS, Friday, October 14th, to Sunday, October 16th, inclusive, the Bishop presiding.
     There will be no WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA, OHIO, AND MICHIGAN ASSEMBLY this year.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS,
          Bishop.

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DIVINE ARCHITECT 1955

DIVINE ARCHITECT Rev. KENNETH O. STROH 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXV      SEPTEMBER, 1955          No. 9
     "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." (Psalm 127:1)

     All things of the church are from the Lord: nothing is from men. The Lord created the universe and all the wonders in it, both spiritual and natural. He is continually creating, continually sustaining and ever re-creating, that all things finite may serve best the purpose of His Divine Providence-the salvation of the human race. Without this unceasing operation of the Holy Spirit no human being would exist. For the Lord alone is life: men are but created vessels, receptacles of the Divine life. Men indeed appear to have life in themselves, which appearance is necessary to freedom, to cooperation with the Lord's purposes and to the preservation of humanity. But all should acknowledge that life is from the Lord alone: nothing of life is from men. Anything that is from the man himself does not partake of life, in fact it is diametrically opposed to the life flowing in from the Lord. The Lord gives life, He creates, He builds. And "except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it."
     So chanted the Psalmist. He wrote this song in order to encourage the Jews in their task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and the temple, and to exhort them to put their trust in the Lord.
     After seventy years of captivity in Babylon, many of the Jews returned to the land of Canaan, and immediately began to restore the walls of Jerusalem and to rebuild the city. However, they were hindered in their efforts by men such as Sanballat, the governor of Samaria, and Tobiah the Ammonite, who formed plots to prevent them from accomplishing their work. When Nehemiah, the Jewish leader, was informed of this he set up regular watches and guards. The enemy, upon discovering this, determined to gather themselves together, fall upon the Jews at once, and so cut them off.

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But Nehemiah, having gained intelligence of this situation also, armed his people thoroughly and placed them behind the wall of the city. When Sanballat and Tobiah found that the Jews were prepared for resistance they abandoned their project, leaving Jerusalem in peace. But to prevent any surprise attacks from any other quarter, Nehemiah continued to keep one half of the people under arms while the other half was employed in the work of building. And he divided them so that half of the people should work and watch during the day, and should rest at night while the other half labored. Under these strained conditions, is it any wonder that the people needed constant encouragement and the comfort of hope?
     Such encouragement was given them by their leader, Nehemiah. He mingled with all the Jews, talking with them, keeping up their spirits, bolstering their courage and faith in the Lord. He gave them strength, and confirmed their resolve to complete the task they had begun. He, and his personal servants with him, worked tirelessly in this way, day and night, catching a little sleep when they could, putting off their clothing only when it was necessary for the sake of washing (cf. Nehemiah 4:23).
     In this period of Jewish history many songs were written by the Psalmists to help Nehemiah in his work of spurring on the Jews to the restoring of the fallen Jerusalem and the building of the second temple. All of these songs adjure the listener to turn to the Lord, who is the true builder, from whom alone all blessings flow. "Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption." "Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord, that walketh in His ways. . . . Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee." "The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad." "Our help is in the name of the Lord., who made the heavens and the earth."
     This theme is particularly evident in the psalm under consideration. Men may build temples of worship, they may marry, have families, establish homes, build in many ways for the future-implies the writer. Yet unless the Lord in His Word is the central, focal point, giving direction and purpose to the labors of men, all human planning and building will lead to' nothing of eternal happiness. "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." It is but right that men should raise up cities, and should set up guards, watchmen, lest enemies attack and destroy the organization that is useful and necessary to human society. It is proper to watch constantly, to guard every place, to keep on the armor, ready to repel every attack. So implies the writer. Yet the real success of all depends upon the presence and the blessing of the Lord.
"Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."
     Men may and should labor hard for their families, their country and their church.

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Yet if their goal in these endeavors is nothing but self-advancement, and their purpose none but a selfish quest for natural riches-without regard for their use to others-then they will never know true happiness or peace. For only the Lord gives internal rest of mind-sleep, as it were-and this to those who love Him and thus are beloved of Him. "It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so He giveth His beloved sleep."
     The song goes on to aver that even the building itself of the family and the home were not possible without the benediction of the Almighty. Children are the Lord's gift to a family: they belong to the Lord and are lent to their parents only for a season. "Lo, sons are an heritage of the
Lord; and the fruit of the womb is His reward." A home with a large family is likened to a quiver full of arrows; children being as a defense and support to the family, as arrows in the quiver of a strong and skilful archer. And the Jews are exhorted to marry early that they may be blessed with large families and thus may have no fear of marauders or false accusers, having the defense and patronage of vigorous and active sons. "As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are sons of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate."
     The Jews were a very external people, and needed many reminders such as this psalm to keep them in the fear of the Lord. Most of the time they had to be led of the Lord by fear of the external consequences following their disobedience.
     We are not ruled to such an extent by these fears. But there is no cause for us to think that we do not need these reminders-these exhortations-as much as, perhaps more than, did the Jews. The attacks on their religious life were very external, open, obvious; likewise external were the motives and means employed in withstanding those attacks. But in our attempts to live our religion we must repel attacks that are more interior, more subtle, not nearly so obvious.
     How easy it is in the home, for instance, to make the Lord and the church take up positions on the border of our lives instead of in the center. How easy it is to make the things of the church matters of convenience in our home life, fitting them in if expedient-and if we happen to remember them-ignoring them if they do not fit in conveniently. How easy it is to make social life, amusement, bodily comfort or sensual pleasure the center of our lives, allowing the things of religion and the church to fall indiscriminately into whatever place and time there may be left for them. How easy it is for us to read the Scriptures and the Writings and have family worship whenever, and if ever, we have nothing else to do rather than making a definite place in our lives for these important matters, relegating the more external things of life to their proper position as servants to their Master.

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     The easiest thing of all is to persuade ourselves that we are doing as much as we are able toward allowing the Lord to enter and govern our lives. We may say that we are weary after a full day's work, too tired to concentrate on matters of religion. Or we may say that spare time must be spent in improving ourselves in our vocation so that advancement of position may come more rapidly, and that then what time is left must be spent on routine family necessities. Or perhaps we may unwittingly allow social diversions to assume an exaggerated importance, so that when there comes a choice between our religious obligations and social amusement, the latter invariably wins-and we think it right! These and other matters may, from time to time, take precedence legitimately. But when they are no longer the exception, but have become the rule, then they are no longer valid reasons but mere excuses, excuses by which we falsely persuade ourselves that we really are doing all that we are able toward our spiritual development.
     Let every man examine himself and see whether, in his home life, the Lord is at the center or the circumference. For everything that takes place in the home is as another brick or plank that adds to its shape or character, that aids in its building. Men can, of themselves, place these bricks and planks. But without the Divine architect no home can have even its spiritual foundations; it cannot be more than merely external, it never can be a spiritual reality. For "except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it."
     It is similar with the church, the Lord's house on earth. It, too, can be built only by the Lord. He builds it through the medium of men, it is true. And it is the work of priests and laymen to labor unceasingly and tirelessly for its health and growth, as Nehemiah, the priests and the people, toiled for the restoration of Jerusalem. The work of priests is to teach the truth, and by means of that truth lead men to the good of life. It is their work also to watch closely for spiritual dangers that threaten the health of the church and to give warning in clear tones when that danger is seen. Yet it is the truth itself that teaches, leads and guards; it is the Lord in His truth. Priests are only His instruments or servants. For "except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."
     The work of laymen is to receive the instruction they find in Divine revelation and hear in classes and from the pulpit; that, too, is work. And they are then to use that instruction to the best spiritual advantage in building, not only their own home life, but the organized church as well. For the church on earth is the Lord's kingdom on earth, and as such it must grow in proportion as the Lord's heavenly kingdom grows in the hearts and minds of men.

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And it will grow as men learn to regard the church as of primary importance; as they learn that, whatever else is done, the church must come first in their lives.
     Yet let it be remembered what it is of the church that must come first. It is not church organizations; it is not buildings, either magnificent or humble; it is not financial or natural resources, or even the numbers of converts. These things are not the primary considerations. They are indeed aids in the building and growth of the church among us. But what must be first in our hearts is the Lord's truth as it is revealed in the Heavenly Doctrine. The church will grow only when men have learned to place the truth above all things, to place spiritual instruction before natural organization and convenience-to place the Lord above, and man and the world beneath. When the Lord in His truth is the center of the church among men, then the church will grow and will be strong and healthy. For all things of the church are from the Lord: nothing is from man other than cooperation with the Divine builder. "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it."
     Actually, spiritually considered, the house that the Lord builds is the mind of man. In ancient times the mind was compared to a house-the interior, more hidden degrees of the mind, to the inner rooms of the house, and the external things of the mind to the outside decorations, porches, courts, doors and windows. In fact, while he is living on earth, every man is having a house prepared for him in the spiritual world-a house that will be his spiritual home because it will represent the inmost thoughts and affections that compose his character.
     The Lord desires to build a beautiful house in heaven for every man. But man can choose either to allow the Lord to build him a spiritual home, or to attempt to build one of his own accord, without the help of the Lord. He can allow his mind to be formed according to the plan laid down by the Lord in His Word, or he can reject the Word and form his mind according to his own self-centered fancy. If the Lord mold the mind it will be as a house that cannot be felled by spiritual rain, flood or wind: for it is founded upon the rock of truth. On the other hand, if man insists on forming his own mind in the light of worldly appearances and of falsity, his spiritual home will be as a house built upon the sand: and the rain will descend, and the floods come, and the winds blow and beat upon that house; and it will fall: and great will be the fall of it.
     When man allows the Lord to build his spiritual house, and goes to the Word as his spiritual watchman that shall guard him from harm, then he will no longer "rise up early, sit up late, and eat the bread of sorrows"; he will no longer regard earthly riches as of the utmost importance, and will not be concerned when he works hard yet does not receive them.

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For in place of frenzied worldly ambition and anxiety, the Lord will grant him mental rest, spiritual peace. "So He giveth His beloved sleep."
     Then also will man receive from the Lord a heritage of spiritual sons-truths seen in Divine revelation, truths which he formerly may have known intellectually but did not really understand or see. And his reward shall be the fruit of the womb; that is, the Lord in time will grant him a genuine love of those truths, and from that love he will find delight in applying truths to life-a delight that is true happiness and heaven itself. The truths that a man thus acquires will be as spiritual arrows in the hand of the Lord, who by means of them will ward off the evils and falsities that will attack the man. And "the arrows of Jehovah are sharp, and all His bows are bent; the hoofs of His horses shall be counted like flints" (Isaiah 5:28).
     Happy indeed is the man who hath his quiver full of these arrows. Happy is the man who, from these truths, understands the true doctrine of his church. For "they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." That is, he will have no fear on account of possible attacks by the evils that are his spiritual enemies; he will have no fear of hell because, by means of the truths and goods of innocence, the Lord will protect him. The Lord will form the man's mind in the order of heaven. And the man will not have labored in vain: for the Lord will build for him a spiritual house that will surpass in beauty anything of which the human mind can conceive. The Lord will enter with His Divine love, and will dwell there as His love is received and returned on the part of man. He will sup with that man, and the man with Him. And from henceforth that spiritual house will be, in truth, a spiritual home.
     The man who possesses such a spiritual home will then be in a heavenly state, though he will still be living on this earth. For while it appears to him that his life is his own, he knows and interiorly acknowledges that all life is from the Lord: nothing is from man. He knows that his eternal safety depends upon the truths that he receives from the Lord. And he takes the greatest delight in receiving and applying to life these truths.
     Such a man may well and sincerely join with the Psalmist in singing: "I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains, from whence cometh my help. My help is from the Lord, who made the heavens and the earth. . . . The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore" (Psalm 121). Amen.

     LESSONS: Psalm 127. Matthew 7:13-29. HH 184-186, 190.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 460, 484, 440.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 39, 114.

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MRS. ALFRED ACTON 1955

MRS. ALFRED ACTON GEORGE DE CHARMS 1955

     From a Memorial Address

     To love the truth of the Word is to love the Lord, to love heaven, to love the path that leads to heaven., to choose that path of our own volition that the Lord may guide us willingly toward that hidden goal which He alone can know. This is what is meant by the words of the Psalmist: "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple" (Psalm 27:4).
     To "dwell in the house of the Lord" is to hold the teachings of His Word constantly before the mind in reverent affection and to observe them with the whole heart. To "behold the beauty of the Lord" is to recognize the wonders of His mercy, the infinite wisdom of the Divine laws that govern all things of His creation, and the marvels of that Providence which watches over us perpetually. And to "inquire in His temple" is to seek the guidance of His truth in every vital decision of our lives.
     As far as human judgment can discern, this was the spirit that animated our beloved friend, Emeline Carswell Acton. Born in Canada in 1862, she was introduced to the doctrines of the New Church at the early age of twelve, and received them with an unswerving devotion that dominated her life through all her succeeding years. In 1893 she married the Rev. Alfred Acton, and shared with him the severe spiritual trials that accompanied the closing days of the Academy. In June 1897 the young couple accepted the leadership of Bishop W. F. Pendleton and were received as members of the newly formed General Church, which they continued to serve with unremitting zeal and deep affection ever after. Mr. Acton's outstanding ability: as a teacher led to his employment as Professor of Theology in the Academy schools, to which use he has devoted his entire life. He and Mrs. Acton were blessed with a large family of children, all of whom were educated in the Academy to become staunch members of the General Church. Their home was a constant center of spiritual instruction that radiated a sphere of love for the Heavenly Doctrine deeply felt throughout the entire Church. Mrs. Acton was endeared to all by her gentle and loving disposition, her complete trust in the Divine Providence, her utter devotion to the welfare of the Church and the Academy, and her unfailing strength in maintaining the principles of the Writings.

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She was truly a mother in Israel, and one who inspired the most profound respect and deep affection in all who knew her.
     Her departure for the spiritual world leaves us with an unavoidable sense of loss. Yet her release from the physical infirmities of age, that she may enter upon the new and surpassingly wonderful life of the spirit toward which the Lord has been leading her, gives us cause to rejoice with the angels who are even now welcoming her to that paradise of heavenly love, faith and unending use with all its joys, which awaits all who, in the life of the body, have sought diligently for the truth of the Word as the "pearl of great price," that they might know the law of the Lord and keep it with the whole heart. These are they of whom it may be said: "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple."

     Biographical Sketch

     Emeline Carswell Acton was born in Belleville, Ontario, Canada, on October 19, 1862. Her father, Robert Carswell, was of Scottish descent; her mother, Millicent Carman, was of French extraction and from a prominent Methodist family. She was educated in Ontario and in Edinburgh, where she spent several years, her father having gone to Scotland to establish a law book publishing company. Returning to Canada in 1883, she kept books for her father until 1890, when she entered the Academy in Philadelphia to prepare for a teaching career. She received a gold medal in 1892, and for one year taught in the Parkdale school established by the Rev. E. S. Hyatt. Her marriage to the Rev. Alfred Acton took place on September 14, 1893 (NEW CHURCH LIFE, November, 1953, p. 481).
     Thereafter Mrs. Acton's life was spent in the sphere of the Academy, briefly in Philadelphia and then in Bryn Athyn. The marriage was blessed with nine children-Roena, Kesneil Carswell, Loera, Daric Edward, Edreth Parry, Elmo Carman, Winyss, Benita, and Alfred Wynne; two of whom, Loera and Winyss, did not survive. The support of her husband's use and the care of her family were her main concerns, and she instilled in her children a deep affection for the Word. But her home was also a gracious center of social life, and her inquiring mind led her to read widely in the Writings and the collateral literature of the church. The Second Coming was central in her life, and she was interested in the spread of the church and the lands and peoples to which it might be extended.
     Bishop and Mrs. Acton celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary in 1953. In her long life she had known such representative men as Bishop Benade, Mr. Tuerk, the Rev. Chauncey Giles and Dr. Bayley, and Mrs. W. F. Pendleton was her close friend. At the time of her passing, Bishop and Mrs. Acton had 37 descendants: children, 14 grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren.

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BRIEF STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG DOCUMENT WORK 1955

BRIEF STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG DOCUMENT WORK CYRIEL ODHNER SIGSTEDT 1955

     (Written for delivery at the celebration of Swedenborg's birthday in Toronto, Canada, 1954. Some of the material has been taken from articles published in the NEW CHRISTIANITY and other periodicals.)

     The question of the documentary evidence on Swedenborg's earthly life has always been a serious one. Imagine that you lived in the year 1770 and were one of those privileged to know Swedenborg! You would realize that here was a man the Lord had chosen and built up to be the instrument of His second coming; a man who lived in both worlds at once, and whose mind received the very truth of the internal meaning of the Word. You would have some faint inkling of the importance of this to the entire world, and of the value of handing down to posterity all possible knowledge of him. Mere curiosity would not describe your feelings-the reverence devoid of worship, the love apart from adoration. You would feel as did Thomas Hartley when he wrote: "I consider myself most highly favored and I rejoice from my inmost heart in having had the honor which you lately granted me, of conversing with you consider myself crowned with more than royal favor. "
     He envisioned, however, the possibility of some malignant slanderer wishing to injure Swedenborg's reputation by a web of falsehood, and suggested that Swedenborg give him some particulars respecting his life and whatever might establish his good character. Soon after this was written the first attack came in the form of a report from Holland that Swedenborg, a few hours before his death, had repudiated all of his teachings. It was Robert Hindmarsh who then secured the testimony that silenced the slander.
     In Sweden, some of Swedenborg's relations attempted to have his remaining papers burned as mere trash. But, in Providence, the manuscripts were safely stored in the Academy of Sciences, and later catalogued and bound by the brothers Nordenskiold, who realized that if these things were a Divine revelation it was necessary to preserve for posterity every line that the seer had left.
     Friends and admirers set about collecting information and interviewing people high and low who had known the remarkable man-his neighbor, Banker Robsahm; his intimate friends, Count von Hopken, General Tuxen, and Pastor Ferelius; his housekeeper and the captains of packet boats that had carried him as a passenger.

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But even during Swedenborg's life-time collections of anecdotes had appeared in print in Hamburg and Copenhagen. The first New Church society in Sweden assembled some information in its periodical called "Collections for Philanthropists."*
     * See The Swedenborg Epic, pp. 383, 438, 418, 482, 441-442 and notes 727, 728, 774.
     Rudolph L. Tafel's "Documents." Nevertheless, derogatory stories persisted. In 1867, William White published in London a bitterly hostile edition of his Life of Swedenborg. This may have been the springboard that gave to Rudolph Leonard Tafel his ardent impulse to collect and publish all available documentary evidence on Swedenborg's life, for only so could malignant charges be refuted. This desire was enthusiastically shared by William Henry Benade of Philadelphia, a scholar of keen insight and judgment who believed that the development of the New Church should proceed through the "internal" way of study and education in the doctrines rather than through the focusing of attention and energy on the external way of evangelization.
     This goal was not reached until ten years later with the formation of the Academy of the New Church, but even at this time Benade conducted a school in Cherry Street where New Church doctrines were studied. One of the instructors in this school was the Rev. Leonhardt Tafel (1800-1880), a learned German who had migrated to America and was teaching the classical courses and afterwards became pastor of the first German society in Philadelphia. He was the brother of Immanuel Tafel of Tobingen (1796-1863), the greatest Swedenborgian scholar of his day. Leonhardt's sixth child was Rudolph L. Tafel, born in Ulm, Worttemberg, in 1831.*
     * See NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1893, P. 28; 1910, P. 86.
     These men were conscious of a vital connection between Swedenborg's scientific work and his religious system-that the one was a preparation for the other. They saw that if they were to know more about this preparation, more evidence was needed. Rudolph Tafel, like his father Leonhardt, shared Mr. Benade's vision of the "internal" upbuilding of the New Church and the hope of accomplishing this by means of an educational institution, and the need for a "complete digest of the Writings" which later developed into the Potts' Concordance. In 1867 R. L. Tafel published the first constructive discussion, entitled Swedenborg, the Philosopher and Man of Science. He was at the time teacher in the Rev. J. P. Stuart's New Church school in Cincinnati, Ohio, and later professor of philosophy in St. Louis, Missouri. (Tafel was also the founder of the Boericke and Tafel Homeopathic Pharmacy in Philadelphia.)

395

     At the General Convention of 1868, Rudolph Tafel gave a report on the need for undertaking systematic work on the Swedenborg documents. He was backed up by Benade, who offered the resolution that his "young friend" be sent to Sweden to get photolithographic copies of certain of the Swedenborg manuscripts. A committee of three was formed to make recommendations. Funds were needed to send Dr. Tafel to Sweden, and John Pitcairn, a delegate from the Pennsylvania Association, contributed the major part-his first appearance in the role later so generously assumed by him of eminent supporter of New Church scholarship. Studious and learned, a linguist as well as a scientist, and withal an indefatigable, even an astounding worker, Rudolph Tafel had just the right qualifications for the job. From his letters and reports we learn that he unearthed an astonishing quantity of interesting material. The Royal Librarian, Klemming, had sent a circular to all booksellers in Sweden requesting documents, and had inserted this request also in all the leading newspapers. In England also great interest was aroused. In a circular letter appealing for funds a committee of the General Conference states that Tafel had discovered the manuscripts of "seven unpublished theological works," Swedenborg's annotated Latin Bible, twenty-five scientific works, and the manuscripts of twelve theological and five scientific works that had already been printed. With painstaking care Tafel had analyzed the "missing manuscripts" and unearthed numerous anecdotes, autograph letters, records. The Conference Committee decided to raise from L500 to L1,000 to finance the work.*
     * INTELLECTUAL REPOSITORY, London, 1868, pp. 516, 562; 1869, pp. 151-164, 450. NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER, 1868, vol. 16, p. 154; 1869, vol. 17, pp. 249, 314.
     The amount of work Tafel produced was phenomenal. In two years he not only collected this unbelievable mass of documents but also digested them and arranged them in three monumental volumes which were published by the Swedenborg Society of London during 1869-1870. These are Tafel's Documents Concerning Swedenborg, a work which has been the background of all subsequent research, later students merely adding gleanings. But the chief charge of Dr. Tafel we have not yet mentioned-the reproducing of selected texts in ten folio volumes of photolithographs: a process he described as "first taking photographic likenesses of manuscripts on glass; second, transferring this to stone; third, printing the stone." The estimated cost was L5,000.
     Other students later made trips to Europe and brought back additional information and material; the Rev. Eugene J. E. Schreck from Holland, and the Rev. C. Th. Odhner from Sweden where, during a trip in 1895, he carried on investigations at the State Archives, of which his relative, another C. T. Odhner, the popular historian, was Royal Archivist.*
     * NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1902-19031 1905-1906.

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     The Work of Alfred H. Stroh. Dr. Alfred Acton has recently told (NEW PHILOSOPHY, 1953-1954) how much the work of Miss Lillian Beekman stimulated the formation of the Swedenborg Scientific Association, and of the upsurge of interest in science at the turn of the century. During the time of Benade, Tafel and C. Th. Odhner, interest centered in the humanities, history, archaeology, and literature. But world emphasis was already shifting to science and mechanics. Balloons were to give way to airplanes, painters were to turn their attention to photography, chemists were to become the handmaidens of industry. The new interest in science registered in Bryn Athyn and received great impetus from Miss Beekman's poetic, imaginative mind, encouraged by Bishop William F. Pendleton. Swedenborg as a scientist took on value.
     Alfred Acton particularly, one of the young teachers, felt the need for a more complete material on Swedenborg's scientific and philosophical output, and the desirability for this material to be made more generally accessible in the form of English translations. He convinced the treasurer of the Swedenborg Scientific Association, Carl Hjalmar Asplundh, of the desirability of securing complete copies of all the scientific texts. In 1901 he laid before the Association a plan for the copying of certain manuscripts, with the important consequence that the following year Alfred Henry Stroh, a student with marked scholarly bent and like Tafel of German extraction, who had just received his master's degree at the University of Pennsylvania, was sent to Sweden. Mr. Stroh was also the agent of the Academy and the General Convention, charged with securing a phototype edition of the Spiritual Diary. However, this part of his work in Sweden is not here our major concern.
     About this time a distinguished anatomist, Dr Max Neuberger of Vienna, had become intensely interested in Swedenborg's remarkable conclusions about the physiology of the brain. Impressed with the need for further study, and wishing to examine Swedenborg's unpublished manuscripts on this subject, which were preserved in Stockholm, Neuberger inquired about them through the Swedish Legation in Vienna. The question was referred to Dr. Gustaf Retzius, one of the outstanding patrons of anatomical knowledge in Sweden. Groping around the musty vault of the old Academy of Science building on Drottningatan where the brown calf-skin bound volumes were kept, Retzius found Swedenborg's often blurred and faded Latin handwriting hard to decipher. Great was his delight, therefore, when he encountered in the same alcove a young American student, blond and broad, friendly and obliging, who read Swedenborg's manuscripts with ease and fairly loved old Latin! Before long Dr. Retzius and Alfred Stroh were cooperating enthusiastically, with the result that the Swedish Academy decided to issue a whole series of Swedenborg's scientific texts and appointed a committee of specialists to see it through.

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Twelve volumes were planned, the tenth one to be the text of The Brain.
     All the while Mr. Stroh continued the work of phototyping, which was extended to include the Index Biblicus, the Arcana Coelestia, and Miscellaneous Works. Besides this he saw a number of facsimile volumes and many festival publications through the press, for in 1910 the Swedenborg Society had decided to celebrate its cenlenary by a World Congress, with all those interested in Swedenborg participating. The Swedish parliament voted funds for a magnificent granite sarcophagus to contain Swedenborg's remains: and the Northern Museum opened a Swedenborg exhibit showing objects he had owned and portraits of the famous man, his parents, relatives and contemporaries; among them a beautiful oil painting of Sara Behm, Swedenborg's mother, one of his sister Hedwig, and one of his nephew and niece, Erik and Margareta Benzelius.
     The new documentary material by and concerning Swedenborg which Alfred Stroh, in the course of his investigations, had added to that collected by Tafel and others since the publication of the Documents greatly enriched the biographical evidence, even if it did not in any essential way alter the story of Swedenborg's life. Other scholars had also contributed their quotas, such as James Hyde in England, and G. F. Lindh in Stockholm.
     Alfred Stroh's contribution included several early poems, small works, and memorials by Swedenborg that were hitherto unknown. For instance, during a visit to the University of Griefswald in 1905 he discovered a poem Swedenborg was known to have composed in honor of King Charles XII, of which no copy had ever before been seen.

     The "Chronological List." Mr. Stroh was much in need of secretarial help, and it was just then that the present writer came upon the scene; arriving from America, after graduation, to rejoin my mother from whom I had parted as a child of seven. My immediate problem was to obtain some means of support, so for me it was a pure blessing when a position opened up as English correspondent for the curator of the Royal Ethnographical Museum, with the proviso that half of my time be given to assisting Mr. Stroh in the document work.*
     * See NEW CHRISTIANITY, 1953, Spring and Winter.
     To me were turned over the scattered bits of new information and I entered each reference on a card, a work that required going over all known biographical sources. The cards were then arranged and filed for the first time in strict time-sequence; and so the Chronological List of Swedenborgiana first saw the light of day-in a shoe box!
     It may be interesting to consider some of these separate items, as instances of the nature of the work.

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The exact locality of Swedenborg's birth and the record of his baptism had been established by G. F. Lindh from an examination of the Stockholm City Archives. Swedenborg's activities during his school years were discovered from a search of the records of Upsala University, under Mr. Stroh's close scrutiny. Information as to Swedenborg's plans for working with Christopher Polhem was found in the library of Linnkoping. A proposal that he accept a professorship in Upsala came from the files of the university. A surprising letter referring to Swedenborg's proposal of marriage to the daughter of a bishop came from Skara library, to mention just a few items. Among the newly found works from Swedenborg's pen was quite a large Arithmetic, another was an important article on the coinage. In all there were 129 new documents of which Swedenborg was the author and about 292 new items of contemporary information about him.
     The need for securing exact texts of all this material had kept me busy during the four years of my work in Sweden, 1909-1913, for Mr. Stroh planned to publish everything in its original form as well as in English translation. But of necessity all this must have been preceded by a complete bibliographical description of every document in the Chronological List of Swedenborgiana.*
     * A brief list of Swedenborg's own works was compiled and published in 1910 by the assistant librarian at the Royal Academy of Sciences, Greta Ekelof, and Alfred Stroh.
     After a year of absence in America, I returned to Sweden in 1914 at the request of Mr. Stroh and the Swedenborg Society of London, to resume work on the documents for one year. But now a tragic illness had overtaken Alfred Stroh. The outbreak of the World War had jeopardized his financial support and put a severe and increasing nervous strain upon him, causing the collapse of all his plans. He was checked at the height of his career by a severe breakdown; and in 1922, his reason completely gone, Alfred Stroh died in Upsala, his work unfinished and leaving a sorrowing wife and three small children.
     After this the document work took a long rest until 1924, when the Rev. Reginald Brown, librarian of the Academy of the New Church at Bryn Athyn, took a step forward by having all the material thus far collected arranged in binders and put on the shelves in six folio volumes, ever after referred to as "the Green Books." It was there found that there were approximately 600 documents of which no copy of the original text had yet been secured, many of them not even being available in translation. It was estimated that approximately 1,907 pages needed to be copied or photographed.

399

     I was then teaching in the elementary school at Bryn Athyn, and was naturally deeply concerned about the work in Sweden which had come to a standstill without being completed. I felt that I would like to spend a year finishing up this work, but where were funds for such an undertaking to be secured? If the problem could be presented rightly, surely funds would somehow be obtained. This led to a series of articles in various New Church journals.*
     * See NEW CHURCH LIFE, July 1924, February 1925, January 1921, April 1927.
     Unfortunately, Mr. Stroh's papers had come to rest in Cambridge, Mass., and the first requisite was a trip there to make a survey of them so as to connect up with the material. It was here that the Bryn Athyn Women's Guild came to the rescue. After I had addressed their meeting one evening about the needs of the document work they generously voted a contribution for me to make the exploratory trip to Boston. Thereafter I was enabled to set my plan before the board of the Academy where, due to Dr. Acton's valuable support, it was decided that I should be sent to Sweden to secure copies of the items that were lacking. Other organizations also made contributions to this use.
     In August 1925 I arrived in Stockholm, fortified by Dr. Acton's unfailing advice and encouragement. As the work proceeded the constantly expanding material proved more extensive than we had contemplated, and thanks to the courtesy shown me by Swedish librarians everywhere, I was eventually able to secure between 3,000 and 4,000 pages of transcripts and photostats of documents instead of the 1,900 of our original estimate.
     For months I worked on a systematic investigation of the records of Swedenborg's connection with the Board of Mines, going over 60 volumes in folio manuscript, page by page, to extract all business in which he was involved. To my surprise I began to realize that Swedenborg's forensic use in this world had been primarily that of a lawyer, administering justice! I felt that since man's natural use is that which prepares him for his spiritual use-as well as being the means for every man's regeneration-the study of these records should afford the future biographer unique and most important data regarding the development of his character.
     Many delightful trips marked my visits to Dalecarlia, and to Axmar and Skinnskatteberg, the ironworks owned by Swedenborg. Full of wonder were the days spent at the castle of Alero, the estate of Sweden's famous statesman and Swedenborg's friend, Carl Gustaf Tessin. It was a thrilling experience to sink to rest in the chamber formerly occupied by Prince Gustaf, whose tutor Tessin had been; to awaken to the striking of the same ancient clock that had ended the future king's slumbers so long ago; to see one's self in gilded mirrors that had reflected powdered wigs; and to sit beneath the birch tree that had supplied the switches for a royal education.

400

     Among the interesting new documents that turned up during this year were the letters written by Augustus Ahlstromer in Gothenburg, throwing valuable sidelights on the heated theological controversy over Swedenborg's teaching which raged during the last years of his life.
     The story might go on here indefinitely, telling of Dr. Acton's valuable collections of essential historical data that illuminate many obscure and intricate problems of identification and correlation.* When, in 1948, Dr. Acton published the first volume of his Letters and Memorials of Emanuel Swedenborg, the material both old and new received a thorough retranslation and more extensive treatment than ever before. This valuable study, though not in the form of a biography, promoted the understanding of Swedenborg's life to an extent never before attained; adding innumerable particulars, hitherto unknown, especially in the detailed footnotes.**
     * See NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1916, P. 139ff.
     ** The second volume of this important work is to be issued this fall.
     Another war and another threat to the Swedenborg collections! 1943 had plunged all people into consternation. The librarians in the Academy at Bryn Athyn, fearful that nearby Hatboro airfield might become a target for enemy bombers, packed their most precious books into boxes for storage in the vaults of the cathedral. What of the Chronological List, unique with its many new entries, which lack of time had left in a badly cluttered condition! The material had proved much vaster in extent than anyone had surmised. Thousands of pages had been added to "the Green Books."
     Again a sponsor was forthcoming. The corporation of the body known as "The Lord's New Church which is Nova Hierosolyma" engaged me to make a typewritten copy of the List in five sets! Four of these sets were distributed to various organizations: the Academy Library, the Swedenborg Society of London, the New Church Theological School of Cambridge, Mass., and-through the efforts of Dr. Marguerite Block-to Columbia University.
     The evil spirits who were permitted to release the flames of their fury on Benade Hall a few years ago also threatened the existence of the entire document collection. "The Green Books" were at that time lodged in a room Just above the origin of the fire. For one dark night it was not known whether the fire had consumed them, but morning revealed that careful hands had removed them to safety in another building.

     The "Epic." And now we come to The Swedenborg Epic. All during my work on the documents there had been, at the back or my mind, the outline of an unseen figure-the future biographer whose interests I was serving. Little did I then surmise that this body of material, so scrupulously arranged, was to be used by me. How did the turn of events bring this to pass?

401

     The first one to make use of the new material for a life of Swedenborg was Signe Toksvig, whose well written and attractive book issued in 1948 from Yale University Press. We were delighted to help her bring Swedenborg before a larger public by putting our collections at her disposal. Speaking to Miss Toksvig, I remarked that her popularization would be a boon to our students.
     "Oh, no," she replied, "your students will not benefit from my work." Indeed, she said, it was quite essential for our church that another book come out very soon that could serve those who wanted to know about Swedenborgianism as a religion, a book in which Swedenborg would explain himself, and that stressed his belief in the teachings he expounded. Hers focused, learnedly indeed, on psychical research and treated Swedenborg chiefly as a kind of medium, but counted off as inconsequential his works on theology.
     Speaking shortly afterwards to a friend over the telephone, I heard the words, "Now you must write a biography of Swedenborg." They came to me almost as a mandate, and quite simply I replied, "Well, I will." As easily as that it was decided, although previously not the slightest intention of writing a biography had entered my mind. I set to work on a new life of Swedenborg that would not be anyone's interpretation of the seer, but a simple relation of the events of his life which leaves the reader every opportunity to agree or differ with him, but raises no doubts about his credibility.
     How little we know about the way in which one day makes preparation for another! In 1895 I had come to America with my uncle Carl, and I remember standing on the dock at Ellis Island, a little girl of seven, seething under the hottest of August suns and fervently wishing I were back in cool Sweden if this was how it was in America. Then someone had handed me a slice of watermelon, and the wish gave way to wonder and contentment.
     In, the New Church school of the Academy near Philadelphia the Swedish ties of that little girl sank into insignificance. Obliterated were her family, her language, her country and its customs; her name, even, changed by rebaptism from Sigrid Ljungberg to Cyriel Odhner. The only link with the past seemed to be Swedenborg; for he, too, had come from Sweden, and in the family of Carl Theophilus Odhner, teacher and editor, he was as much a member as any one of us children.
     The writing of the book came easily. The story was so familiar that it seemed to tell itself. It seemed as if heaven wanted it, and I merely held the pen. It was different from anything else I had attempted. I took a certain section of material-like breaking off a lump of clay from a block-and it made a chapter which I then read and discussed with my friend Amena Pendleton Haines.

402

This study was the pattern of my mornings for two years. The next four were taken up with revisions and negotiations for getting the book into print. There were innumerable changes, and consultations with learned doctors whose suggestions led to many rewritings of the lengthy text.
     Because of Swedenborg's relative obscurity, for one thing, most commercial publishers hesitated to undertake a book as detailed as this on a man that the world regards as relatively unimportant. My defect in their eyes was that I did not present the reader with a quick and easy interpretation of how the seer perceived things beyond his bodily vision, and how he could claim to be the opener of the inner sense of God's Word. In my own eyes this defect is the only virtue which I am certain the book possesses. I am also quite sure that the absence of any attempt at interpretation is what finally recommended it to the General Convention's Swedenborg Publishing Association, to which I am so greatly indebted for generous sponsorship.*
     * From the NEW CHRISTIANITY, Winter, 1953.

     Continuation of the Document Work. And now that this book is finished is there no more to be done in the document work? Am I the last writer who will use this voluminous material? Or is my Epic merely a beginning, a kind of housekeeper's straightening out of a room in which guests of all kinds may find comfort? I believe that the time will come when the greatest minds in the world will want to study the documentary evidence of Swedenborg's development from scientist to seer. I believe that many will turn to our collections, and that we should be able to hand the material over to them with pride and joy. Tafel, Stroh, Odhner, Acton and others have done their work, and many will enter into the fruits of their labors.
     Each era has its own responsibility. These collections must be issued in print. It will take money to publish them, but ours is an age more generously endowed with worldly wealth than any preceding one, and surely, in the future as in the past, the Lord will provide. For in a way this involves the first bastion of defense of the true character of that man who was the ultimate vessel of Divine revelation to our day, the very channel through which it flowed down from God. Whatever may be our differences in understanding and interpreting what Swedenborg wrote, all bodies of the New Church are agreed about the inspired character of the man who wrote it.
     One of Alfred Stroh's virtues was his broadminded and genial belief in free investigation. An ardent defender of religious faith, but often obliged to sit in the councils of the ungodly, he was unquestionably assailed frequently by grievous doubts.

403

He was tortured by the idea of a literal authority without being able to see or explain the ways that lead out of it into true freedom for the human intellect. He found it difficult to clarify his attitude, but I think I can truthfully say that it could be summed up as follows:
"Who doubts that in the future there will be many biographers and commentators on the great man, Swedenborg! Who doubts that each will have his own opinions! And who is there unwilling that each should have his own opinions! Surely no one can ever know so much about Swedenborg, even as to the scientific part, that he can show all others what to believe! And if he could, it would result in the most undesirable of all things-a paralysis of the mind. Truth herself would still be on the horizon, beckoning forward and upward. Let us therefore work to produce the entire evidence, and give everyone access to it, and then let each one draw his conclusions in the light of his own conscience!"* Not until we have the entire material available will we be able to sift and strain out our adherence to personalities, and to soar above time and space and circumstance into the pure realms of truth.
* The last two paragraphs are from the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER, 19391 P. 300.
VISUAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE 1955

VISUAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE 1955

Complete sets of slides illustrating the Old and New Testaments, a few slides of General Church and Academy interest, and some of interest in connection with Swedenborg's life and suitable for a Swedenborg's birthday celebration. The Committee's holdings now include, on slides, a complete set of the paintings of Old and New Testament stories by James J. Tissot. Appropriate map-slides for all New Testament sets.
Slides may be borrowed at a rental of 1 cent per slide per month, plus postage. A complete list of those now available may be obtained on application to the Director: Mr. William R. Cooper, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

404

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1955

     In the New Testament readings for September (Luke 1-10) we enter into the third Gospel. An educated man and a physician, Luke was probably a Gentile. His ultimate purpose was to address the Greeks, and he was led to make the most universal presentation of the Lord as the Redeemer of the entire human race. Thus he traces the Lord's genealogy back to Adam, relates especially the sending of Elijah and Elisha to the Gentiles, gives several parables concerning the lost that were found, and records the mission of the seventy.
     Luke alone records the announcement to Zacharias, the annunciation to Mary, the birth and naming of John, the birth of the Lord, the presentation in the Temple, the Lord's visit to Jerusalem at the age of twelve, and His youth. His preface, in pure Greek, and the evidence of scrupulous care in testing and seeking to understand his material, are remarkable examples of the "as-of-self" that entered into the production of the four Gospels and sets them apart, as to the mode of inspiration, from the Did Testament Word and the Apocalypse.

     The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, which is taken up this month, is one of five small works which came, off the press in London in 1758. Doctrinal in nature, and dealing with both theology and religion, it presents summaries of twenty-three doctrines, with copious references to the Arcana Coelestia; in which most of the material appears, with some variations, as "The Doctrine of Charity and of Faith" prefaced to the chapters in volumes IX-XII.
     This little work is one of those which introduces a second sequence in the Writings. The Last Judgment doctrine had to be drawn out of the ultimate Word which had been falsified by the Christian Church, and for this reason it was necessary that the Arcana should be the pre-judgment work. But when the judgment had been completed in 1757, and the minds of spirits and men had been freed to receive it, the spiritual content of the Word could be presented to them, not as drawn serially from the letter, but as organized into a body of rational doctrine. The New Jerusalem could now descend; and as a preparation for its coming down, Swedenborg was led, in 1758, to outline the Heavenly Doctrine, which is "from the spiritual sense of the Word," and is "the same with the doctrine that is in heaven."

405

UNITY IN THE CHURCH 1955

UNITY IN THE CHURCH Rev. W. CAIRNS HENDERSON 1955

     If unity is needed for mere survival, it is indispensable for achievement in any field of endeavor. Upon it depend all protection and preservation, all progress, and therefore all success in the performance of uses. For this reason, everyone who loves the uses it has been established to serve-and who wishes them to continue and to expand-will desire from the heart that the New Church should be one. And they will agree that no effort to reach unity in the church should be counted too great, no labor too arduous, no sacrifice of non-essentials too costly. But what is the unity for which the church should strive! This is something we must try to see clearly; for we cannot afford to waste time and squander energy in following a path which does not lead to the true goal.
     To some of its members, the fact that the organized New Church consists of several general bodies has caused sincere distress. They see it, already small enough, apparently weakened further by being divided into a number of churches: churches distinguished by various estimates of the nature and quality of the Writings, and by differences in the interpretation of doctrine and in understanding of how it is to be applied to the order and organization, the life and aims, of the body. And it seems to them that in so separating the church has departed from the plain teaching of the Writings and has jeopardized the success of its mission. As they see it, there is only one hope. Since the general bodies of the church are distinguished by differences in the understanding and application of doctrine, they say, let us thrust doctrine into the background, ignore or forget our differences, and find a common basis in the life of charity. And they believe that if only this were done, the way would he opened for these bodies to merge into one, and that true unity in the church would thereby be attained.
     Now there are teachings in the Writings which appear to sustain this view. We are told that what belongs to doctrine does not distinguish churches in the Lord's sight, but what pertains to life according to doctrine; and that although doctrinals do set them apart in the Christian world, it would not be so if love and charity were made the chief things of faith. Doctrinals would then be only varieties of opinion about the arcana of faith which truly Christian men would leave to the conscience of everyone, saying in their hearts that a man is truly a Christian when he lives as the Lord teaches.

406

Thus, it is added, all the differing churches would be made one church; the dissentions and hatreds that come from doctrine alone would vanish; and the Lord's kingdom would come on the earth (AC 1799:3-5).
     We are taught also that there are three essentials of the church-the acknowledgment of the Lord's Divine, the confession of the holiness of the Word, and the life of charity-and that if they had been so regarded, intellectual differences would not have divided the church but would only have varied it (DP 259). In another passage it is said that if charity were in the first place, and faith in the second, the church would have a different face. None would be called Christians but those who lived according to truths of faith; and men would not make churches by distinguishing themselves according to doctrines, but would say that there is one church in which are all who are in the good of life (AC 6269). And it is stated also that the church would be one if men were acknowledged as belonging to it from charity; for then everyone would say of another, in whatever doctrine or worship he was, "This is my brother, I see that he worships the Lord, and is good" (AC 2385).
     It is on the basis of such teachings as these that the view we mentioned has been taken, because it is the view of men sincerely trying to think from the Writings for the good of the church. Yet it is our belief that the view itself entirely ignores another set of teachings, and fails to recognize an important distinction which qualifies those that have been cited. These teachings relate to the Ancient Church, which, it is said, the church would be like if charity were in the first place (AC 6269); and the distinction has to do with what the Writings mean by the term "doctrine."
     When the Ancient Church was in a state of integrity it was most truly one. Because it made charity the essential it had one doctrine both in general and in particular. Yet it did not consist of one general body but of many, and these were not uniform but were different. It was, indeed, a religious dispensation made up of many churches, each of which was a distinct and distinctive body.
     The Ancient Church existed with many nations of widely different genius. And in their lands it was distinguished by variant worship, rituals, customs, and language; by diversity in the interpretation, understanding, and application of doctrine; by the development of characteristic uses; and by a separate ecclesiastical establishment. For the fact that these churches had one doctrine in particular does not imply a uniformity of belief! Men did differ in doctrinal matters, and it was of their charity to instruct one another in these matters, not to push them into the background, and this without indignation if their views were not accepted.

407

But these differences did not cause disagreement because men all looked to charity, which was the common general doctrine; and all were acknowledged as men of the church who lived in the good of charity, however much they might differ as to the truths of faith. And it was in this sense that the Ancient Church had one doctrine (AC 1285; HD 9).
     It is the teaching of the Writings that when life conjoins the men of the church doctrine does not separate, and so it was with the churches constituting the Ancient Church. Their unity was far deeper than any corporate union, far more perfect than any uniformity. It was that internal unity which exists when the hearts of many are led by the Lord as a one-the unity possessed by the angelic heavens, in which countless societies, all different from one another, are so led. And it is this that makes the church truly one, and in so doing promotes the delight and the freedom of all who are in it. For the church is united, and the doctrine is interiorly one, when all who are in it are in charity. They are all led by the Lord. They all have one end-the common good of society, of the church, and of the Lord's kingdom. And as the Lord is in that end, they are all one in Him, and out of many He makes one (AC 1316).
     This, we believe, is the unity for which the organized New Church is to strive; a unity that will be enriched by the existence of several bodies, and by differences among them in the interpretation and application of doctrine, when all are in charity. These varieties will then but contribute to the perfection of the whole; for the Lord, through charity, will inflow and work in different ways, in accordance with the genius of each body, thus meeting the states of all who will be led into the church and disposing all things on earth as in the heavens. Indeed we are taught that it is in this way, through the provision of various instruments of use, that the Lord's will is done, as in heaven, so upon the earth.
     True unity in the church is of the heart. Where this does not exist, no corporate union, no doctrinal formula of concord, will make the church one; and where it does exist, it will always express itself in variety. The desire for uniformity does not come from the Lord but from men; and because it comes from men who think differently and want different things, it can be achieved only by the willing or forced submission of some to others. Every spiritual unit is formed from a harmony of many things, various but still accordant, so disposed by the Lord that they all make one by looking to Him. Established to meet the needs of men differing widely, and drawing its doctrine from an ultimate Divine revelation, the organized New Church has taken form in several bodies rather than in one; and these differ among each other, and even within themselves, as to certain doctrinals.

408

Yet we are told that this does not prevent the church from being one, provided there is unanimity in willing well and in doing well (AC 3241).
     But it should be realized that true unity cannot be achieved without doctrine! The appeal to put doctrine in the background, to sink our differences, and seek unity in the life of charity, ignores the truth that spiritual charity is the internal affection of doing what doctrine teaches. It is here that the distinction we mentioned applies, for the term "doctrine" is used by the Writings in two ways. In one sense it denotes all that the Lord teaches in the Word, the Divine doctrine. In the other, it means the formulae in which men express their finite, human understanding of the Lord's teaching in the Word, the derived doctrines of the church. And a careful study in context of all the passages in which doctrinal things are said to be non-essential will show that it is in this latter sense that the term is used in them-of human interpretation of the Lord's teachings, and ideas as to how they are to be applied in the church. These may vary, but should not cause dissension.
     Yet there can be no spiritual charity, and therefore no true unity, without doctrine in the other sense; for that charity, which unifies the church, is the Lord's teaching in will and in act, and if His teaching is to be done it must be learned and understood. Men can will and do what seems to be good from themselves, but in it there is an end of self; and this means that instead of there being one end there are as many ends as there are men in the church, and disunion instead of unity. As the Writings teach, it is one thing to be in good and another to be in the good of doctrine. The distinction here made is between good as to life and the good of life, between natural and spiritual good; and spiritual good is done only from the Lord's teaching in the Word.
     Without the good of doctrine there is no true unity in the church. It is this alone which looks to the common good in both worlds, which unifies the church by giving it one end, which imparts the charity that enables men to differ intellectually and still recognize one another as brethren, and which causes them to live as the Lord teaches. Divine doctrine is therefore necessary for the life of charity and is that which, in practice, makes a man to be of the church. Even in heaven there are doctrines, which vary in different societies, and the church on earth cannot dispense with doctrine, which is its very foundation.
     Men cannot truly unite the church. Only the Lord can do so, and this as the men of the church suffer themselves to be led by the same Divine doctrine to the same end. Our conception of unity in the church should therefore be an interior one. True unity does not require that we merge into one general body, but that we unite in loyalty to the Writings. What we are called upon to give up is not our several churches but our reluctance to be led by the Lord alone.

409

What we must put in the background is not doctrine but unwillingness to be taught only by the Lord in the Writings. What we must surrender is not our distinctive understandings of doctrine but our irrational prejudices, our preconceptions, our intellectual conceits, our personal preferences, our sentimental allegiances, the dictate of old church heredity, and any dislike we may have for seeking spiritual truth only within Divine revelation.
     If we do all this we shall still differ in our interpretations and applications of doctrine; but these differences will not divide because we shall all be trying to understand the same doctrine, and will have the same end in applying it. We shall not be one body, but we will be truly united because the Lord will lead our hearts as one. The more we love the life of charity and realize that it is the interior truth of the Word in act, the more will we want to study that truth, understand what it really means, and see its application to our own states. In doing this we must inevitably develop varied concepts of truth, different goods and uses. But because these will all relate to love to the Lord and faith in Him, they will not divide. Our several churches will be truly one, and like so many jewels in the crown of a king.
     And what has been said of the church is equally true of a general body and of every society in it. Unity in a general body does not require uniformity of rituals, customs and practices; nor does unity in a society demand a dead level of thought and interests. In each instance it exists in the measure that spiritual charity is established, and the Lord leads the hearts of all as a one; and it is the harmony that results from indefinite variety of accordant things. Since the Writings do not speak through men, but men think of themselves from the Writings, differences in understanding will arise. But they will not cause dissension, because good from within will flow down and unite them, establishing on the earth that concord which exists in the heavens, and in which the Lord's will is done.
     The Lord has not come again to establish a system but a church. The true New Church is not an organization but an organism, a living thing. Together with good spirits and angels it is that body, that Gorand Man, of which the Lord is the life and soul. In that body are many members, all having different functions. But when love orders them into that body, so that their very differences are their uses, then the Lord leads them as one and His prayer is fulfilled: "That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us. . . . I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one."

410

TEN BLESSINGS AND EDUCATION 1955

TEN BLESSINGS AND EDUCATION Rev. DAVID R. SIMONS 1955

     9. Preparation for Temptation

     "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake" (Matthew 5:11). A man who is in evil cannot be tempted. He who does not strive to live the life of religion is led by the hells. Evil intentions lead to evil deeds, until the man becomes the complete servant of hell. But let a man see the truth, let him acknowledge that truth and try to think from it, and, especially, let him strive to live according to it, and the full fury of the hells will be unleashed against him in an effort to turn him aside and bring about his spiritual destruction.
     For when a man is determined to enter the church; when he endeavors to bring the church into his life by the steps outlined in the Ten Blessings-when he acknowledges his spiritual poverty, mourns over evil seen in himself, meekly follows the Lord from a thirst for truth and a hunger to gain eternal life, does genuine mercy from sincerity of heart, and actively makes peace by conquering the enemies of his spiritual life; then the hells array themselves against him and subject him to all manner of evil accusations, persecutions, and venomous revilings. Yet the future man of the church is not to be discouraged or dismayed. For temptation is the way to genuine blessing; it is the way in which the things of the church are given to man as his own forever. This the Lord assures all His disciples, saying: "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake."
     Temptations seem like persecutions to us, for in them we are striving against our own inclinations and spontaneous reactions to life; we are attempting to lay down our very lives before the truth. But the Writings say: "If man only believed, as is really true, that all good is from the Lord and all evil from hell, he would neither make the good in him a matter of merit nor would evil be imputed to him; for he would then look to the Lord in all the good he thinks and does, and all the evil that flows in would be cast down to hell from which it comes. But because man does not believe that anything flows into him either from heaven or from hell, and therefore supposes that all things that he thinks and wills are in himself and from himself, he appropriates the evil to himself, and the good he defiles with merit" (DP 302).

411

The power of these hells can be broken when we detect their presence, and acknowledge that the evils they insinuate are from hell. For once detected they can be resisted and shunned, and forced to flee away. But the mind must be prepared if it is to recognize these bells at work; it must learn the qualities of the various hells, learn how they seek to revile and persecute, if it hopes to conquer; and it must learn to submit to the leading of the Lord if it would be eternally blessed.
     The mind is prepared to meet temptation when it is furnished with the basic truths of the Word. A mind that learns in infancy and childhood the stories of the Old and New Testament Word, and in youth and manhood enters into the interior truths of the Word as revealed in the Writings, is equipped, if it wills, to answer all the basic doubts of religion.
     But knowledge is not enough. It is more vital to the mind that it should be initiated into and held in an affirmative attitude to the truth. Such an affirmative attitude toward Divine revelation is the strongest weapon the church can give to her children. It is essential also to the life and growth of the church. This affirmation is established through family worship, in which parents and children bow together before the open Word; and it is strengthened when children are initiated into and encouraged in the reading of the Word for themselves, so that the habit of approaching the Lord affirmatively begins as soon as they learn to read.
     And, finally, children are prepared for temptation when the evil that they do is shown to come from hell. It is not the child who is evil, but the hells which lead him to do what is wrong. Yet he is responsible because he allows himself to be so led. Nevertheless, it is not the child but the evil that is to be rebuked and punished. It is not the child but the lapse that causes the hand to steal, the mouth to lie, that is to be focused on. It is because the child has allowed the hells to make him do and say evil things that he must suffer pain and privation, and this so that he will know how to resist those evils the next time they tempt him.
     It is equally true that it is not the child but the good that is to be rewarded-the good deed, the truth spoken, the mercy shown. These are from heaven and bring the rewards of heaven with them. By making these distinctions in the care of our children we prepare them for the truth that evil is outside of man, that it is from hell, and that man becomes responsible for it only when he lets it act through him. A knowledge of the truth, an affirmative attitude toward it, and the acknowledgment that all evil is from hell and all good from heaven, form a basis in the human mind for regeneration by preparing it to withstand spiritual temptations-the revilings, persecutions and lies, that the hells stir up within us. And that mind is prepared to receive the Lord, and the eternal blessings of His kingdom.

412

MILO WILLIAMS' SUNDAY SCHOOL 1955

MILO WILLIAMS' SUNDAY SCHOOL RICHARD R. GLADISH 1955

     The following description of a Sunday school planned and organized by himself in 1832 appears in the manuscript recollections of Mile G. Williams at Urbana Junior College, Ohio. Mr. Williams (1804-1880), Cincinnati born, was prominent as an educator in southern Ohio between 1822 when he opened his first school in Cincinnati, and 1850 when he was called to head the faculty of the new Urbana University. When he opened that first school he was only eighteen years old, having begun teaching at sixteen in a log cabin schoolhouse.
     One of the earlier schools he headed was a New Church day school, begun in 1840 under the auspices of the Cincinnati Society, whose pupils had to be children of New Church parents and whose teachers "were required to have made a public profession of their belief in the Doctrines" (Mile Williams, Recollections, Vols. I-III, p. 113). This school, unfortunately, failed in 1844 for lack of financial support.
     The Sunday school was commenced by Mr. Williams despite the opposition of a majority of the congregation, who doubted the possibility of teaching the distinctive beliefs of the New Church to children, and who also feared that their children might develop into little bigots. However, after his Sunday school was fairly launched, Mr. Williams invited a committee of the society to inspect it, and amid general approbation the school was officially adopted by the society. We come now to the description.
     "The school was opened Sunday afternoon, March 18, 1832, with 21 pupils. The only text book to be used was the Bible, and each scholar was to be provided with it.
     "The following was the general program of exercises.
     "At the time for opening, the roll, containing the names of the Teacher and scholars, was called, and the absentees were noted; a short and appropriate passage was then read from the Word which was followed by the Lord's Prayer, all kneeling, and uniting with the Superintendent; this was followed by a hymn. A short time was now occupied in hearing the lessons from the Word which had been committed to memory. Those who were too young to memorise had something read to them, or were interested in conversation by the teacher in a manner and on subjects best suited to their capacities.

413

Then followed an exercise in which the whole school joined; this consisted of questions and answers on a portion of the Word which had been previously assigned as the lesson for the day. This course commenced with Genesis; and, as the object was the study of the historicals of the Word, such portions only were used as were necessary to preserve the connection in the history. In this exercise something was usually found which could be used as a text for pressing upon the attention of the Scholars some of the important practical duties of life. There was nothing set or formal in this exercise, but it was conducted in a free and familiar style, the pupils being at all times at liberty to ask questions, and to express their own thoughts and feelings. This was always regarded as one of the most pleasant and enjoyable exercises in the school.
     "Scripture Geography, and Scripture Natural History, has special attention on the alternate Sundays. Geography was taught orally, with the aid of a map. The map was prepared especially for the school, on a scale sufficiently large (3 ft. by 4 ft.) to admit of names on it being large enough to be read from every part of the room. At first it consisted of a mere outline of the Holy Land; and it was filled out from time to time as the study progressed; the most important natural features being first introduced; For instance, the Dead Sea would be described, its size, form, and other peculiarities; also an account of some of the most important historical events that had occurred in the vicinity; then the sea was drawn in pencil lines in its proper place on the map. The sea of Galilee would be described in a similar manner, stating the leading events connected with it as recorded in the Bible, also stating the other names by which it is known-The Sea of Tiberias, and Lake Gennesaret; then it was drawn in its proper place.
     "The mountains and rivers would come into view in the same way, thus, the map, in time, would become a skeleton, or outline map of the Holy Land.
     "The civil divisions into which the country was divided at the time of the Advent, and the most noted cities and towns, after being described, were located. In this manner the map grew step by step before the eyes of the pupils. As there was no confusing mass of objects and names before the eye at the same time, the attention was more easily fixed, and a stronger impression made. Each lesson was preceded by a review of what had been learned at the previous one.
     "The lesson for the same hour on the alternate Sundays, was on Scripture Natural History, and the mode of instruction adopted was intended to give some idea of the correspondence of the object selected for the lesson; for the correspondence of any particular object is known generally from its use, characteristics, and qualities.

414

The plan was simply this: The scholars had the privilege of selecting the object which they could take from either of the three kingdoms in nature, provided it was found in the Bible. They were expected to search for verses in the Bible where it was referred to, and to come prepared to recite or read them, and to tell all they knew about the object. At the proper time a drawing of the animal or other object was placed before the school. . . These drawings were the work of one of the teachers (Wm. H. Williams): they were well executed and placed in neat mahogany frames.
"With the picture before them the scholars were called on to criticize it in all its parts, and tell how near it came to their idea of a correct representation. During this exercise, I was careful to turn attention to the most striking traits of character, the structure and peculiarities of the parts, their uses; and especially to those features which are involved in the correspondence After this they were asked, in turn, to recite or read the passages they had found, and, if necessary, brief explanations were made. The whole subject was then reviewed when I endeavored to bring out the most important peculiarities, and to show how they were related to the human mind, and that in their own minds there were corresponding principles and traits of character. This was often capable of illustration by familiar examples which could not fail of being understood by the younger classes. They were thus led by an easy, natural and attractive way to comprehend in some degree the nature of the science of correspondences; the relation of cause and effect could be explained, and the foundation laid for an understanding of the doctrine of degrees. There was no attempt to give anything like full instruction on these topics, but merely to lead the youthful mind by a natural way towards them. And I must here say that these lessons generally proved to be of exciting interest to the scholars.
"The lessons for the next Sunday having been announced, the exercises were closed by singing a hymn."
GENERAL CHURCH SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE 1955

GENERAL CHURCH SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE 1955

Tape-recordings of complete church services, sermons, children's services, doctrinal classes, children's talks, General Church, Society, and, Academy functions. For current catalogue, or any information about this service, write to: General Church Sound Recording Committee, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

415

CHOOSE LIFE 1955

CHOOSE LIFE SYDNEY B. CHILDS 1955

     Several thousand years ago, certain words were spoken by the Lord through Moses which are both a warning and a challenge. Moses was about to die, and in the course of his last message to Israel, just prior to the entrance into the promised land, he was inspired to say: "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him: for He is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them" (Deuteronomy 30:19, 20). Fear was to govern here as well as the promise of rewards. Frightful curses were to deter from wrongdoing, while blessings both material and real were to be the rewards of implicit obedience to Divine command.
     While the implications have since changed, including many modifications of observance of the then given scriptural law, the interior truths presented will never change. They are eternal verities. Every man born on earth, both now and to eternity, faces a choice between the "promised land" of old and the terrible consequences of denial of God and a subsequent life of evil. The former is salvation, the latter damnation.
     The Divine message may be briefly stated: This day choose life. This day is every day, every moment when the conscious mind is present; that is, in every moment of our lives except when in sleep or otherwise unconscious, as when under an anaesthetic. We are commanded to do certain things each moment of our lives, and to avoid doing other things. The things we are commanded to do are both positive and negative. There must be the acknowledgment of God, the willingness to be led by Him; involving both the shunning of evil as sin, and the doing of good through uses. A man must live the life of charity from a true religion.
     Nothwithstanding the untold wealth of knowledges that is available to us in the Writings, the problems of life will remain with each of us until death. Frequently we are confronted with instant need to make decisions, some of which may seem trivial, but all of which are fraught with vital consequences. In such decisions we in appearance act on our own best judgment.

416

We have no miraculous answer to what is the best way to meet a given responsibility. This is all for our own welfare, since we are told again and again in our Revelation of the need for man to act as of himself, and yet believe that the ability to do so is given wholly from the Lord.
     If, as is true, the Jews were faced with an apparent series of curses for wrong doing, they at least had the open evidence of Divine intervention in their behalf, as long as they observed the commandments of the law. We now live in a world where we face the risk of total annihilation at any moment of the day or night, with no assurance of warning, in the event that an aggressor nation attacks with the atomic or hydrogen bomb. As if this were not enough in the way of threatened disaster, there are many vicissitudes which can bring on the destruction of our individual lives, such as an automobile smash-up, a train or plane wreck, or what may be even a more sinister and frequent menace, the sudden incidence of a mortal illness. Too, at least in many sections of the country, there are fairly frequent occasions when nature goes on a rampage of destruction, as in a tornado or a hurricane.
     In any event, it hardly seems that from a material viewpoint it is the Divine design to remove all care and concern from our daily life, and this applies to both the well disposed and the atheist. Few are spared from the ever present risk of such misfortunes as the total loss of wealth, or dependency or illness in old age.
     Perhaps this is a good moment to dwell upon some of the truths given in the Writings. All are familiar with the description given in the Arcana of the days of creation. "The second state [day] is when a distinction is made between those things which are of the Lord, and those which are proper to man. The things which are of the Lord are called in the Word 'remains,' and here are especially knowledges of faith, which have been learned from infancy, and which are stored up, and are not manifested until the man comes into this state. At the present day this state seldom exists without temptation, misfortune, or sorrow, by which the body and the world, that is, such things as are proper to man, are brought into quiescence, and as it were die. " (AC 8).
     If it can be assumed that members of the New Church are endeavoring to lead a good life, in spite of the gloom and darkness that so prevail in the world and at times in our lives, we need not be discouraged We have available in the Word and the Writings an everlasting fountain of life, where the Lord is ever present to lead and guide us through precept and revelation. All that we need to do is to realize and acknowledge this. Every page of Scripture and of our Revelation is as the hand of God offering and bestowing His mercy and goodness to all that humbly approach Him.

417

     For one thing, we have only our immediate responsibilities to meet, having to do with the daily tasks of life, our attitude toward the neighbor and our relationship with all with whom we come in contact. The individual is hardly responsible for the leadership and government of his country, since few attain to any such responsibilities of leadership. We have no responsibility for others' actions in which we have initiated nothing, or which may threaten without our consent or knowledge. Certainly we would seem to have no personal responsibility for the threat or actuality of war.
     We may derive some measure of peace of mind from such reflections provided they are true. In one sense of the word they are true, and in another sense not. For the mind of man is ever free to turn toward evil as well as good. While we as individuals seem to have no power whatsoever in regard to the great and dramatic developments in our world, we have a part in them. Who knows the power for evil or for good of an individual man! If a man's ruling love is aimed toward good he will wish to benefit others. But prior to regeneration, he must come into states of vastation and temptation, where evils must be overcome. In the process injuries to the neighbor inevitably will occur. No man is born without evil, and his final lot is known to no one but God.
     We know in the church that we are living in two worlds, the world of nature and the world of spirits. We are conscious of the former and usually unconscious of the latter. But if a man can progress in regeneration, his real life will bring an awareness of spiritual and heavenly states.
     The power of such states, inspired from the angelic heaven, really from the Lord, are beyond all measure of description in human language. We all are familiar with the expression "the pen is mightier than the sword" but it is what inspires the pen that is mightiest of all, and this is the thought, the affections of the mind. There are given states, particularly following victory in temptations, where the presence of the Lord with the individual can be as near, or even nearer than, as when the Lord was actually on earth with His disciples and followers.
     It is of the Lord's will that He acts, as if unknown, through angels and also through men. Man, if regenerating, is being born again into a life preparatory for heaven, and the man on earth need not wait to enter heaven to experience its joys and blessings. A life of charity in the world is heaven. To a devout and just man the veil between heaven and this world constantly becomes more transparent, although until death we can have no assurance that such transparency will become our eternal gift, since no one on earth can assume salvation. This is a good precept to keep in mind.

418

There is hope in life and the acknowledgment of our greatest blessing, the New Church, in the words: ". . . hence it follows that they who are in this love [conjugial love] like nothing more than to become wise. For a man is wise in proportion as the interiors of his mind are opened; because by this opening the thoughts of the understanding are elevated into superior light and the affections of the will into superior heat, and superior light is wisdom, and superior heat is the love of it" (CL 211). To "choose life" is to choose God. To choose God is to believe in Him, and to follow His precepts. This is the whole duty of man. If held to the end of life this choice will open the gates to heaven. This is the destiny the God of heaven and earth, the Lord Jesus Christ, wills for every man born on earth.
RESPONSIBILITY OF YOUNG PEOPLE TO THE CHURCH 1955

RESPONSIBILITY OF YOUNG PEOPLE TO THE CHURCH BARRY SMITH 1955

     (Delivered at the New Church Day Banquet, Pittsburgh, Pa., June 1955.)

     "It is known that every man is born to be of use, and that he may perform uses to others; and he who does not is called a useless member, and is cast off" (Posthumous Theological Works). In a church of such small size as the New Church, but a church of such great importance, we cannot afford to have these so-called cast off useless members, because the fact that the New Church is the crown of all churches puts a great responsibility on us as members to see that it grows and is propagated on this earth.
     To achieve this goal of propagating the New Church we have set up a distinctive New Church education, because before a man can spread the New Church he must have the material to do it. As in the building of a house, the materials must be provided, and a foundation built for the house to stand on, before the house can be constructed and finally lived in. The teaching and remains that we receive in our schools are the foundation materials that will enable us to grow up into responsible New Church men and women, and assume the uses and responsibilities that go along with being a New Church man or woman.
     Not only is a child or youth taught by the schools, which are the backbone of New Church learning, but through the bringing up by New Church parents, the child is taught to love, respect, and obey what is right, and to stand up for what he believes.

419

     Although the learning in school, the teachings of the minister, and the bringing up by the parents are a basis and foundation for becoming a New Church man, they are not enough. The individual youth, as he comes into adulthood, has to take it upon himself to learn more about the teachings of the Writings and come to understand them on his own; because only through these means can a man become fully indoctrinated in the New Church, and thus perform his use to its fullest extent. At this point it might be well to mention that the process of studying and learning on one's own should start as a youth, ii the man is going to regenerate. This is one of the basic and important responsibilities that young people of our church must be imbued with. It is easy to sit back and say, "I go to church and hear sermons, and to doctrinal classes and learn about the doctrines of the church", but until the person starts to dig out the doctrines firsthand, and not as some one else sees them, he cannot fully appreciate their value and meaning.
     Now assuming that through the years the young person has learned about the church and its doctrine, and has come to take the responsibility of further learning upon himself, he should now ask himself, How can I best serve the church This cannot be done by just being a student of the Writings, or by just believing in the doctrines, but serving the church implies performing a use and being charitable to the neighbor. To perform a worldly use a person must be able to carry out some kind of vocation, such as being a business man, a skilled craftsman, a professional man such as a doctor or lawyer, or even a laborer. Any one of these jobs is performing a use to society, and is thus being charitable to the neighbor. To perform a vocation, preparation other than that received through the church is often needed, because a man, to serve best his natural use, and thus the church and his neighbor, should do whatever he is capable of doing to the best of his ability. This is why a person should take other training in college, or some other means, so that he can perform his vocation to the best of his ability.
     Along with performing a use or vocation, and being a help to the neighbor, comes the power of earning money. Through whatever means a man has of earning money, he can materially serve the church and support its uses. The more a man pushes himself to the fullest extent of his ability, the greater his earning power will be, and thus the greater his material contributions can be. This is not to say that a man is a better New Church man in proportion to the amount of money he can contribute, but we cannot overlook the need for the material things that are needed to propagate the church.

420

So if a man does not perform his natural use or vocation to his fullest ability, and thus does not contribute as much as he could, is this man serving the church to the best of his ability? For example, if one man has the ability to earn $100,000 a year, but only earns $50,000, and contributes accordingly; and another man has only the ability to earn $10,000 a year, and earns that much and contributes accordingly; which man is serving the church materially to the best of his ability? This would be like the man who has the finances and ability to start a big business, and employ a lot of people who need jobs, but decides to sit back and take it easy. He is not being charitable to his neighbor, or performing a use.
     If a man is in such a capacity and fails to do anything about it, he is also failing to perform a spiritual use in helping his neighbor. This is why every young man should strive to make the most of his abilities.
     Now to the responsibilities of our young people to our own local church. As a person grows up to the age where he can take responsibility, it is up to him to take the burdens of running a society upon himself, because without our local societies, or outposts, our church cannot spread. It is up to the youth of a society to start doing the work of the church, so that it will prosper and keep growing. This is not to say that the more adult members of the society are no longer capable of handling the work that is needed to keep a society going; but unless the youth of a society start early to learn from the older members, and take over the responsibilities, they will not be as capable of doing the full job when it comes their turn.
     A young person does not have to be married in order to take responsibilities, because there is something for every member of a society to do, whether it be mowing the grass, or fixing some plumbing, as some of you know! All of these jobs are important and mean a lot financially to the church. But when two young people get married, and start to raise a family, it is easier for them to realize the needs of the church, and the need for New Church education, because now they feel that they have a direct interest in how the society and school are run. Also married people are more in the state of looking to the church for guidance in creating a good church family.
     Many of the responsibilities of the young people to our church are very basic, such as attendance at church functions, like Friday Supper, church services, sending their children to the church school, and even attending social affairs. These responsibilities may seem unimportant, but without proper support of these functions the church would lose its external uses which are very important. Even attending social functions is very important, because without support our distinctive New Church social life would not exist. And it is through this distinctive New Church social life that we bring our children up to be morally strong.

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It is easy for a person to sit back and say, "I don't think I'll go to church or Friday Supper today because I have too much to do, and besides, no one will miss me." The fact is that with such small numbers in our societies every one is missed, and if too many people took this attitude our external functions would fall apart, because all spiritual things are built on these externals.
So it can be seen that as a young person graduates from our church schools, and then maybe goes on to further education, he comes into the position of being able to take on the responsibilities of the church in all forms, both spiritually and materially. Then is the time when the young person should begin to take these responsibilities, and not wait until he or she is older, meanwhile letting the older people of the society take all the burden. If we, the young people of the church all over the world, can learn to take these responsibilities, I am sure that the New Church will grow as the crown of all churches on this earth.
PRESERVING THE WRITINGS 1955

PRESERVING THE WRITINGS Editor 1955

     The Swedenborg Society's 145th Report

     The work of preserving the Writings and making them available calls equally for good translations and vigorous publication. In the 145th Report presented by the Council of the Swedenborg Society there is impressive evidence that this work continues. Very little printing could be done during the war years, but in the decade since the end of World War II the Society has published no fewer than twelve new English translations, thirteen reprints of English translations, three volumes of the Latin Arcana Coelestia, five new foreign translations, three new booklets, and one reprinted booklet. In addition, two new translations, one English and one in Esperanto, are now being printed. Together with this notable record of achievements, painstaking efforts have been made to improve the quality of the Society's translations and, after consultation with experts, the external appearance of its publications.
     During the year under review 2,000 copies of the new Latin-English edition of Athanasian Creed were printed, the revised translation of The Four Doctrines was issued in the pocket edition, and Searle's Index to Swedenborg's Scripture Quotations was published. The new translation of White Horse was completed and is now being printed; and although the fourth volume of the third Latin edition of the Arcana has not yet been issued, good progress has been made with it and with volume V, part of which has been sent to the printer.

422

In addition to this new work, 500 copies of Apocalypse Revealed, 1,000 copies of Heaven and Hell, and 2,000 copies of Warren's Compendium of Swedenborg's Theological Writings, reprinted from existing plates, have been issued; and 500 copies of Arcana Coelestia, volume VII, reproduced by photolithography, have been issued.
     In the course of the year also progress has been made in the revision or translation of Heaven and Hell, Summary Exposition of the Prophets and Psalms, Spiritual Diary, volume I, the booklet Divine Providence and Human Freedom, and the new edition of the Documents Concerning Swedenborg. The Esperanto translation of Doctrine of Life is being reprinted, and the address entitled "The Society-the First Fifty Years," given by the Honorary Secretary at the Swedenborg Birthday meeting in 1954, has been printed and distributed to members.
     It is mentioned also that the catalog of the Swedenborg collection has been completed and is ready to be sent to New Church libraries. A series of five lectures on the five parts of Divine Love and Wisdom was held in the winter session. Total distribution of books throughout the year was 4,158, and the membership now stands at 663. Although this latter is a small net increase, it does not yet represent the support which the uses so ably performed by the Society surely deserve.
     THE EDITOR
GENERAL CHURCH RELIGION LESSONS 1955

GENERAL CHURCH RELIGION LESSONS 1955

Graded lessons and other material from Pre-School through Grade 12

The purposes of this work are to teach the letter of the Word and the doctrines of the New Church to isolated children and young people, to acquaint them with distinctive New Church religious education and with the principles and practices of the General Church, and to inspire them with the feeling of being within the General Church. DIRECTOR: Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

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EDUCATION AND REGENERATION 1955

EDUCATION AND REGENERATION Editor 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly by

THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                              Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa,
Circulation Secretary               Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Treasurer                          Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address, and business communications should be sent to the Circulation Secretary. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.
     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 30 cents.
     New Church education has often been described as preparing for regeneration. This implies a distinction between the educational and the regenerative process which should be clearly seen. Although the training of the will has an important place in our system, it is neither the task nor the concern of the New Church educator to regenerate his or her charges-a work that can be done by the Lord alone and only in adult life. And the distinction is most clear, perhaps, in relation to the development of the understanding.
     Regeneration is a matter of free choice. It follows man's exercise of the faculty of choice in a certain way-his free acknowledgment of the Lord in his Divine Human as the one God of heaven and earth, and his free resolve to shun evils as sins against the Lord and live according to His precepts. And knowledge, education, does not determine how a man's choice will be made. But it does determine the plane on which his choice can be made, and therein we may see the true purpose and function of education.
     The purpose of New Church education is to elevate the plane on which the future men and women of the church will make their free and individual choices. It is first to remove that plane from the realm of the falsity of ignorance and then raise it successively from natural through moral to rational choice; a rational into which the spiritual may inflow later, and descend to all the planes below. It is in this way that New Church education truly prepares for regeneration, by making possible a more interior choice than could otherwise be exercised.

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BODY OF THE CHURCH 1955

BODY OF THE CHURCH Editor 1955

Societies outside Bryn Athyn are often referred to as outposts. In some ways the description is correct. As the episcopal seat and the place where the Academy is located, Bryn Athyn is doubly the center of the General Church, and its members everywhere should look to it as such. Also, development from a center implies a surrounding territory, part of which is the frontier; though the designation of Pittsburgh and Glenview as outlying societies might cause a smile in Durban and be greeted with raised eyebrows in Australia! But this is only one aspect of the situation; and if it were overemphasized, or taken for the whole, there could be serious results in the thinking and aspirations of the membership of the Church. For we should never think that Bryn Athyn is the General Church, and that all else is a network of outposts!
In terms of the spiritual warfare, every society of the Church and every individual member therein is on the frontier, and this whether in Bryn Athyn or Baltimore, Chicago or Colchester. But the Church is not only a militant group; it is also a spiritual body in which every society and member has a use vital to the whole-each drawing from, and contributing to, the common good. And in so far as the true church of the Lord has been established among us, its spiritual centers-its heart and lungs-may exist as truly in a home in Jonkoping or Gorande Prairie as in Toronto or London, or even in Bryn Athyn. These are other aspects to be considered also; aspects which in no way invalidate the first, but which may correct a certain type of thinking and at the same time give heart to members of the General Church everywhere.
GENERAL CHURCH USES 1955

GENERAL CHURCH USES Editor 1955

When our societies resume their full programs in the fall that will represent only a part of the General Church's activities. Many of our people are isolated, and their Church will reach out to serve them, not as fully as it would wish, but to the best of its present ability, and in certain instances with increased efficiency. Some pastors will circulate sermons, classes and lessons, among their own non-resident members, young people and children; and a private service in Bryn Athyn will send sermons and classes to a widely scattered mailing list. Visiting pastors will begin to make their rounds, their ranks strengthened. The Southeastern United States will now have the services of a full-time visiting pastor, and the work in the Western District will be extended by the appointment of an assistant to the pastor.

425

Through the joint efforts of the Religion Lessons Committee and Theta Alpha, lessons graded for children from preschool to high school age will go regularly to isolated homes of the General Church in many parts of the world. Tape-recordings of services, children's services, doctrinal classes and other functions, will be sent out, week by week, to families, groups and circles, at home and abroad. NEW CHURCH LIFE will bring the thought and activities of the General Church to its readers every month, and NEW CHURCH EDUCATION will carry its vital message into many of the same homes. The Academy, educational arm of the General Church, will resume its task of providing for the future by training the next generation of members; and the Sons of the Academy and Theta Alpha will give their steady and planned support to its work.
Behind all these activities will be the episcopal office, consulting and taking care for the uses of the General Church as a whole; the Board of Directors, skillfully conserving and increasing the means provided to maintain existing uses and promote new ones; and the treasurer's office efficiently disbursing those means and making future needs clear. This, if only in outline, is the fuller picture of the General Church's uses and activities; one which shows what is recognized among us, that the general body performs uses which unorganized societies would find were partly or entirely beyond their abilities.
RECENTLY DISCOVERED ERROR 1955

RECENTLY DISCOVERED ERROR ALFRED ACTON 1955

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
May I call attention to an error in no. 180 of Conjugial Love which has recently come to my attention. In that number, line 3, the translation reads: "desire of animus and heart."* In no. 871 of the lost work on Marriage (Index s.v. Amor Conjugialis) from which Conjugial Love 180 was copied, the words are: "desiderium animae et cordis" (the desire of soul and heart). This indicates that animi in the original edition of Conjugial Love 180 is a misprint for animae. The translation therefore should read: "desire of soul and heart."
ALFRED ACTON

*[Our correspondent here refers to the 1953 edition of Conjugial Love. For the benefit of readers who wish to enter this correction, but who own other translations, we note that in the Swedenborg Society's edition of 1891 the phrase is: "desire of the disposition and of the heart." The Boston edition (1849) and the Academy edition (1915) both have "desire of mind and heart." EDITOR.]

426

Church News 1955

Church News Various 1955

     OBITUARY

     Miss Sophie Nordenskiold

     Miss Sophie Nordenskiold was one of the founders of the General Church Society in Stockholm and was a very active member of it for thirty-five years, until an apoplectic stroke suffered on December 1st, 1949, paralyzed her left side and confined her to bed for the rest of her life. The end came in the night of July 1st.
     She was born in Evois, Finland, in 1874, and was a daughter of Carl Nordenskiold, who later became Director of the State Meteorological Institute, and his wife, born [nee] Wilhelmina Nordenskiold. The Nordenskiold family is the only one remaining in Sweden which has been interested in the New Church since the time of Swedenborg, and now there is no one in it left with that name as the only living member of the family is married and now has the name of Englesson. Sophie, together with her brother and sisters, received the New Church from her parents, and she was the last one living in this world.
     After studies in Helsingfors she became a teacher, and she continued in that profession until 1934, when she retired on pension. She was a very good teacher and held the position next to that of headmaster of the school when she retired. Very intellectual as well as warmhearted, she was highly appreciated by all, teachers and pupils, for her kind and friendly nature and faithfulness, her good humor, and her sense of duty.
     The older generation in Bryn Athyn may well remember her from her stay there for a year in 1914, for she had many friends there. She was always very faithful to the Academy and the General Church. Of the Society in Stockholm she was a most appreciated member, very active from the beginning during thirty-five happy years of unity, harmony and peace. During most of that time she was a member of the council and treasurer of the Society, and she has been missed more than anyone else. She was a very strong New Church woman who could stand up for the truth courageously and at the same time a loving friend, able to adapt herself to anyone, respected
by all, faithful and loyal.
     GUSTAF BAECKSTROM

     CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

     Since our last report we have lost Mr. Robert B. Caldwell, who entered the spiritual world in June. Another valued member, Mr. Arvid Haftrom, has moved to Jamestown, New York. To offset the losses which mean so much more to a small society, however, we have a record crop of babies-in March a baby son to Mr. and Mrs. William Hugo, in May the Alan Childs' first baby, a daughter, and in the same month a son for Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Barnitz.
     Mr. King gave a series of sermons on the Lord's Prayer, and in doctrinal classes continued the summary of the Arcana. This was interrupted by an account of the Ministers' Meetings and a class on the earths in the universe.
     With the spring came rumors that we were to lose our pastor. Official confirmation was given by Mr. King after the service on Sunday, May 15th. He told us that he had been invited to become the pastor of the Pittsburgh Society. It was, of course, a disappointment to learn that we were losing the Kings so soon, after less than three years; and our only consolation was in thinking of the many advantages they will have in their new society and home.
     On June 11th we had a meeting with Bishop De Charms, and he presented the names of those who had accepted nomination. It did not seem advisable to vote on the question that evening, so a meeting to choose Mr. King's successor was held after service on June 19th. The Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr was chosen.

427

     After the meeting we had our annual picnic in Lincoln Park. The weather was perfect. Mildred McQueen had charge of games for the children and everyone seemed to have a good time.
     We have had the privilege of having several ministers conduct services during the past year. Bishop De Charms preached the Sunday he was here; others were the Rev. Elmo C. Acton, the Rev. Ormond Odhner, the Rev. Frank Rose, and the Rev. Fred Schnarr-the last while he was still a Candidate and before we knew that he was to be our minister. For the first time in many years Sharon Church had a graduate from the secondary schools of the Academy. Karen Glody graduated from the Girls' Seminary in June.
     Now the Kings have left and the Fred Schnarrs are here, and we feel that we are very fortunate in having them. Sharon Church has had wonderful pastors. The Schnarr baby takes the place of the King baby, so that we still have what is for us a record number of babies with which to begin the new season-four under a year old.
     Mr. and Mrs. Schnarr extend a cordial invitation to anyone passing through Chicago to stay with them.
     VOLITA WELLS

     TORONTO, CANADA

     Our most successful building fund project this past winter closed with a card party at the church on April 1st. This project took the form of a bridge tournament in which 68 people participated, and it proved a very pleasant and painless way of collecting $230.00. Our thanks go to Mr. and Mrs. J. Pritchett who organized the tournament.
     The service on Palm Sunday began with the children of the Society marching in, each carrying some flowers or a plant in praise of the Lord. During the service Mr. and Mrs. George Webb brought up their family of, three children to be baptized. The pastor's talk to the children was on the hallelujah sung on the first Palm Sunday so many years ago, and his sermon was on the Palm Sunday theme. On the evening of Good Friday the Rev. Martin Pryke conducted a service of five lessons, and on Easter Sunday the sacrament of the Holy Supper was administered. Delightful special music was provided on Palm Sunday by Miss Korene Schnarr at the organ and Mrs. Eleanor Hansen on the violin, and on Easter Sunday by our organist and Mr. John Starkey on the French horn.
     On Sunday afternoon, April 10th, after the baptism of James Raymond Bevan, the small son of Mr. and Mrs. Pete Bevan, open house was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Raymond, where their friends enjoyed a very happy occasion.
     When the Forward-Sons once more entertained the ladies, on Saturday evening, April 16th, it was a pleasure to have the Rev. and Mrs. Norman H. Reuter from Kitchener as our guests. After dinner Mr. Tom Bradfield, President of the Toronto Chapter of the Sons, introduced the first speaker, Mr. John Raymond, who examined what is happening to the humanities in modern secular education and then spoke of their use in the education of the man of the church. This was followed by a paper on the aims and ideals of Canadian education by Mr. Robert Scott. The formal part of the evening dosed with a speech by the Rev. Norman H. Reuter, who showed that true education, which looks to eternity, is the education of the will-the forming of that new will which invites the leading of the Lord in all ways of life. After the tables were cleared we were treated to two colored films which were most entertaining.
     One of the highlights of our social season is the spring dance, this year held on April 29th. The decorations in the church hall carried out the idea of a Paris cafe and introduced us to supper dancing. Mr. and Mrs. Bob Brown and their committee were responsible for the successful occasion.
     On May 6th, in a setting of candles, white tulips and narcissus, Miss Irene Arnason became the wife of Mr. Ernest Watts, the Rev. Martin Pryke officiating. Miss Doreen Benjamin as maid of honor attended the bride, while Mr. Orvis Kennedy as best man assisted the groom. A reception followed in the flower decorated church hall.
     An enjoyable musical afternoon was spent on Sunday, May 8th, when we listened to our young people singing and playing the piano. Also on the program were two readings, one by Mr. John Raymond the other by Mr. Jack McDonald. Mrs. Eleanor Hansen gave us a violin solo, and Mr. John Starkey played a solo on the French horn.
     A shower was held at the church hall on Wednesday evening, May 16th, for Mrs. Irene Watts, our most recent bride. The hall was decorated with wedding bells, lilacs, and bouquets of apple blossoms.

428

Irene sat under the wedding bells and opened the many gaily wrapped gifts which surrounded her. After the gifts had been opened and admired we enjoyed visiting with each other during refreshments.
     During the months of April and May we were privileged to have two visiting ministers conduct services. The Rev. Norman H. Reuter preached in Toronto on April 17th, and on May 29th we had the pleasure of hearing the Rev. Henry Heinrichs. Our Wednesday classes ended with a series of papers by the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner on some aspects of self-examination. These were most enjoyable and provoked much discussion.
     Theta Alpha held its last meeting of the season at the home of Miss Edina Carswell, with Mrs. Doris Brown as co-hostess, on May 30th. After a delicious cold buffet supper there was business meeting, during which officers were elected for the coming year. The Ladies' Circle also closed the season with a supper, theirs being held at the church hall. While the tables were being cleared the ladies were requested to identify pictures of babies and teenagers of years gone by, which caused a good deal of merriment. The remainder of the evening was spent viewing a travelog of England, Scotland, Paris, and Switzerland. The two young people's organizations had a buffet supper and joint meeting at the apartment of our pastor on June 22nd, and the graduating class of the Olivet Day School was invited to this meeting.
     In recognition of the many uses performed by Miss Korene Schnarr for the Toronto Society, the ladies gathered to surprise her with a shower. A very handsome set of luggage pieces, together with many and varied useful articles for the prospective traveler, were presented to Korene. In addition to expressing appreciation to the honored guest we had a very happy party over refreshments.
     On Friday, June 17th, the ladies of Theta Alpha sponsored a June Nineteenth banquet for the schoolchildren. Various games were played first, and after supper papers were read by the seventh and eighth grades. The adults held their celebration the next evening. The formal program began, after a cold supper, with the toastmaster, Mr. Tom Bond, proposing a toast to "The Church." The members of the graduating class of the Olivet Day School-Suzanne Fountain, Doris Zorn, Gregory Baker, and Robert Foley-were then each presented with a copy of Earths in the Universe. The application of the doctrines in daily use, the subject chosen for the evening, was clearly presented by Messrs. Sidney Parker, Ivan Scott, and Orville Carter. When the floor was opened for discussion various comments were made on several subjects and a number of toasts proposed. The evening ended with a few remarks by the Rev. Martin Pryke and the singing of "The Queen" and "Our Glorious Church." On Sunday, June 19th, the sacrament of the Holy Supper was administered.
     A full account of the annual meeting of the Sons will be given in their BULLETIN, but we would say that the Toronto Society enjoyed playing host this year and was glad to see so many friends. The ladies also had the pleasure of meeting together at several parties and were included in the Sons banquet on Saturday evening, which proved to be most stimulating and a grand chance to chat with the visitors.
     The day school closing, on June 29th, commenced with a service in the church conducted by the Rev. Martin Pryke. Afterwards there was a display in the church hall of the children's work for the year, a display of callisthenics by the boys, and the performance of two plays, "The Shoemaker and the Elves," enacted by the children up to the fifth grade, and "Stand and Deliver," performed by the older pupils. The final part of the program was the formal graduation of the four eighth grade pupils-Suzanne Fountain, Doris Zorn, Gregory Baker, and Robert Foley-to whom diplomas were presented by the Rev. Martin Pryke, and who were then addressed by Professor Richard R. Gladish of Bryn Athyn. Various gifts were presented to the school and to the teachers, and a really varied evening closed with the singing of "The Queen" and "Our Glorious Church."
      KATHERINE BARBER

     KITCHENER, ONTARIO

     Easter and spring arrived together in Kitchener this year. The Society's celebration of Easter began with a Holy Supper service on Good Friday evening. On Sunday morning the special children's service was attended by thirty-two little ones, each carrying a beautiful floral offering. The adults enjoyed a particularly lovely service with special violin and piano music and a baptism.

429

     During the spring Mr. Reuter concluded a series of doctrinal classes for the year on Divine Providence. The young people finished a two-year study of Conjugial Love in June. An interesting supper meeting was held by the Men's Assembly to hear a paper by Mr. Robert G. Schnarr on the history of the church in Canada which dealt with the period between 1784 and 1887. The subject will be concluded at a future meeting. A Society-School meeting in April heard an address by Mr. Reuter on "The Training of the Will." The Sons had a busy weekend when the international executive met in Kitchener on April 23rd. A business meeting and luncheon filled the morning, and in the evening an informal meeting was held at which the subject of establishing New Church high schools in local societies was discussed. Theta Alpha and Women's Guild meetings both enjoyed a tape recording of "The Essential Feminine" by the Rev. Dandridge Pendleton.
     Spring socials included a family night at the church when a program of movie shorts was shown. It is hard to say whether the children enjoyed the films or the refreshment booth most. Both made a big hit. A card party was held in May, following a rained-out picnic on the 24th.
     June was a busy month with many special events. The first occurred on Saturday, June 4th, when the Olivet School children came from Toronto to compete with the Carmel School children in a field day. There were dashes and relays, jumping and baseball, with very close competition, Kitchener coming out ahead. A picnic lunch was served at noon. It was a wonderful way for the children of the two societies to meet one another, and all hope that it will become an annual event.
     School closing was held on Wednesday evening, June 22nd, with a suitable service which was well attended. After the service we descended, to the assembly room, where the stage was set and the children prepared to demonstrate their dramatic abilities. The eight little boys who make up the lower half of the school performed first. They were dressed in bright red and green elves' costumes and entertained with a dance, a song, and a recitation. The older children followed with songs and a square dance, and then concluded the program with a one-act play "Jenny-by-the-Day." It was a real treat to watch the children perform. An added treat came during the intermission when Professor Richard R. Gladish of Bryn Athyn spoke briefly to the audience. At the close of the program Mrs. Norman Reuter was presented with a gift from the school in recognition of her five years of teaching assistance.
     June Nineteenth celebrations are always a highlight of the year and this year was no exception. The children, twenty-one strong, enjoyed a picnic on the morning of June 18th at Ayr Park, south of Kitchener. The day was perfect for swimming and sports. Hot dogs and ice cream appeased young appetites.
     In the evening the Society gathered for a banquet and dance at the church. Flower decked tables and large banners on the walls helped to set the festive mood. After a refreshing meal toastmaster Keith Niall introduced the subject of the evening, "Responsibility," and his five speakers. John Hasen spoke first on the Nineteenth of June and the history of its celebration. "Feminine Responsibilities on the Natural Plane" were dealt with by Vivian Kuhl, and the masculine side of the subject was taken up by Roger Kuhl. Vanny Gill, on "Spiritual Responsibilities," was the fourth speaker, and Gilbert Niall concluded with "Responsibilities to the Future." The papers were well received and seemed to be much appreciated despite the speakers' lack of experience. Songs and toasts and the toastmaster's jokes carried the program along and after the papers there was a heartening response from the floor. Dancing filled the latter part of the evening, with Denis Kuhl as master of ceremonies and a floor full of dancers enjoying the fun.
     The first holiday event of the summer was the Dominion Day picnic on July 1st, held at the church. Very welcome summer visitors, including a good crowd from Toronto, swelled attendance figures to just over 200, with 8 societies being represented. The social committee had the program well organized with lots of races and prizes. Volleyball, baseball, lawn bowling and horse shoes, gave a choice of games. The big event of the evening was the baseball game between the Toronto and Kitchener men, and this year Toronto triumphantly carried home the trophy. The evening air was warm enough without the bonfire, but with everyone standing well back from the flames singing was enjoyed for a considerable length of time, after which the young people still had energy left for an hour of dancing.

430

     Among the summer visitors we were happy to welcome the Rev. Frank Rose, his fiancee, Louise Parry, and her sister Anne, on a three-day visit. Mr. Rose preached to the Society on Sunday evening July 17th. On Monday evening a picnic supper was held at the church, and out on the lawn after dark Mr. Rose talked and showed movies and slides of England and groups of people on the Continent. Tuesday night the young people all met at the home of Erwin Brueckman and enjoyed an informal discussion and party. To Frank and Louise we wish all happiness in their marriage, and in their new home in Colchester, England.
     VIVIAN KUHL.

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Conference. The 148th General Conference, held in Failsworth, Lancashire, began on Monday, June 6, 1955, with 29 ministers and 67 trustees and representatives in attendance. The following notes are based on the partial account so far published in the NEW-CHURCH HERALD.
     At the opening session the Rev. Herbert G. Mongredien was appointed President for the ensuing year; the retiring President, the Rev. Wynford G. Whittaker, was appointed Vice President; and the Rev. Claude H. Presland was reappointed Secretary. Mrs. M. O. Ogundipe, wife of the West African Mission Superintendent, was present for one day and addressed the Conference.
     Searching addresses were delivered by both the outgoing and the incoming Presidents. Speaking on the subject "Something is Lacking," Mr. Whittaker noted loss of interest and lessened activity. He had found a small group of devoted men and women, but felt that the body had become sick because the majority had no ardor, and appealed for rededication to the Lord and the cultivation of zeal. It was suggested that this address be referred to all the Societies of Conference for study and round table discussion. Mr. Mongredien, noting that membership had decreased 30% in 25 years, asked whether the Conference had neglected possible opportunities, for example, in the field of education. He stressed the need for an "informed New-Churchmanship," and said that the situation demanded loyalty, hard work, and alert minds.
     Five ordinations took place at the Conference service. Mr. Edward B. Williams was ordained as a Leader; and four Ordained Leaders, the Rev. Messrs. John O. Booth, John E. Elliott, Kenneth W. Staggs, and John E. Teed, were ordained into the ministry. The Conference preacher was the Rev. C. E. Newall, and his subject was "Breaking the Gates of Brass."
     The United Annual Meeting of Women's Leagues, held during Conference week, heard an address by Mrs. Elfrida Howe on "The League's True Aims" which urged systematic study of the Writings.
NEW CHURCH EDUCATION 1955

NEW CHURCH EDUCATION 1955

(Formerly PARENT TEACHER JOURNAL)

Published by General Church Religion Lessons provides material for the use of parents, teachers, and children in the field of religious education. EDITOR: Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa. Issued monthly, September to June, inclusive. Subscription, $1.50, to be sent to the Editor.

431

CHARTER DAY 1955

1955

     Announcements.
     All ex-students of the Academy of the New Church, and their wives or husbands, are cordially invited to attend the Charter Day Exercises, to be held in Bryn Athyn, Pa., on Friday and Saturday, October 21 and 22, 1955.

     THE PROGRAM:
     Friday, 11 a.m.-Cathedral Service, with an address by the Rev. Louis B. King.
     Friday Aftevnoon.-Football Game.
     Friday Evening.-Dance.
     Saturday, 7 p.m.-A Banquet in the Assembly Hall. Toastmaster, the Rev. Karl R. Alden.
     Arrangements will be made for the entertainment of guests if they will write to Mrs. V. W. Rennels, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES 1955

DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES GEORGE DE CHARMS 1955

     All members and friends of the General Church of the New Jerusalem are cordially invited to attend the District Assemblies, as follows:
     EASTERN CANADA, TORONTO, ONTARIO, Saturday, October 8th, to Monday, October
10th, inclusive, the Bishop presiding.
     CHICAGO DISTRICT, GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS, Friday, October 14th, to Sunday, October
16th, inclusive, the Bishop presiding.
     There will be no WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA, OHIO, AND MICHIGAN ASSEMBLY this year.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS,
          Bishop
WANTED 1955

WANTED 1955

Dictionary of Correspondences, Representatives, and Significatives, 13th edition, Boston, Mass., 1931. Will anyone having a copy for sale please communicate with Miss Kathleen M. Kenyon, 4 Lowther Terrace, Lytham, Lanes., England.

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CONFESSION OF FAITH 1955

CONFESSION OF FAITH Rev. BJORN A. H. BOYESEN 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXV OCTOBER, 1955           No. 10
     "Whosoever, therefore, shall confess Me before men, him will I also confess before My Father, who is in heaven." (Matthew 10:32)

     It may well be said that the genuine confession or acknowledgment of the Lord is the final purpose of human life. Therefore it would seem well to consider often what is meant by such an acknowledgment For the most part we probably think of it as a single act. But in reality it is not a thing which can come into existence all of a sudden. Our true confirmation in the faith of the New Church and in the Lord's providence, as revealed in the Writings of this New Church, is rather a gradual process. For it is, in its essence, a matter of our spiritual relation to our God; and a true relation of this kind develops slowly, step by step, as we are educated in the teachings of the church and learn to live according to them. By these means we may indeed come to a certain point in our development, when we are willing and able to make a sincere confession before the Lord of our trust in Him and His providence, and declare openly before others that we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the one God of heaven and earth, and that His commandments, as revealed in His Word, ought to be obeyed in life. But we should realize, too, that this, our first external confession of the Lord from ourselves, is not our real permanent acknowledgment of Him. It is no more than a conclusion to certain preparatory states; and, what is more important, only a beginning of certain new states which were not possible before.
     We should thus realize that the public act of confession is in reality no more than an external symbol-although a symbol which should stand as an evidence of an inner decision which has taken place in a man's heart and mind. It should be a symbol of a profoundly important choice, which is at the same time the evidence of what the Lord and the New Church require of a man; and also a sign that the man has so far fulfilled at least a first needed measure of that requirement.

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In fact, it stands as a sign of that very rationality and freedom which ought to be the distinguishing mark of every adult New Church man. Therefore, too, in the New Church, the act of confession or confirmation ought not to take place until the commencement of adult age.
As a man's personal freedom and reason are only potential faculties at birth, which develop slowly and become actual powers only gradually, so also is the choice of confirmation in the New Church, by necessity, an equally gradual thing. It cannot by its very nature be made so early that the young person concerned does not as yet have sufficient freedom and reason to make the decision as of himself; nor should it be made under any circumstances of external pressure, or any sense of personal obligation either to parents or friends, or even to any institution. While it is true that it stands as an endorsement of those promises which our parents or guardians made for us when we were baptized as infants, this must not be taken to mean that we ought to be confirmed in their faith essentially out of deference to them. Nor should we take this important step from a desire to stay among those who have been our friends in the church from our childhood; nor even from a sense of gratitude to that ecclesiastical or educational organization which has, perhaps, given us freely a large portion of our formal education. For any merely human or personal consideration inevitably introduces something of the selfish proprium into the matter; and something of our hereditary evil then stands in the way of our genuine acknowledgment of the Lord. It becomes a confession of ourselves and our own people, and of personal expediency, instead of our God. And this is what is not good. As the Lord Himself said: "He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me" (Matthew 10:37). And again: if "a man's foes are" thus "they of his own household"-and they are a man's foes who ask him to give up his conviction for personal reasons-"then the Lord comes to that man to set him at variance even against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law" (Matthew 10:35). For if such be the case, a man must learn to stand up for, and if necessary to fight for, his higher obligations to his God and his own personality; and, if so, the Lord has not come to him to send peace on the earth, but a sword.
These words may seem, indeed, as very harsh, and yet we know that if they are correctly understood they are true. Yet, let us make very sure that we do not misunderstand them! For these words are not meant by the Lord as an encouragement to young people to set themselves up against their parents, nor to teach any lack of deference, or ingratitude. For let us remember that He says also: "Honor thy father and thy mother, that it may be well with thee upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."

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For there is a great deal of difference between that parenthood which comes from the love of self and one's own in the children, and that higher parenthood which comes from the love and acknowledgment of God and His church. The former takes away the freedom of the children, trying to keep them in bondage to self and its hereditary evils, and to cast them in its own image. But the latter constantly tries to perfect and preserve the children's freedom, pointing ever to the love of the Lord as our Heavenly Father, and to the truths of the church as our internal mother. It tries to encourage and help us to feel the Lord's love and to see His truth, and to love and obey them as of ourselves. And we should hope and believe that our parents in this church are so motivated. As children, whether we know the truth or not, we should believe that our parents are such and should honor and obey them. And as adults, we should carefully listen to and consider our parent's advice, lest we forego some of the most loving and wise counsel that we may ever receive. For such parents deserve to be respected and heard, and they are also one of life's greatest blessings. From them we can expect to hear the truth, without any selfish motivation, from a love as nearly pure as human relations afford, and from a background of knowledge and experience usually far greater than we can possibly in the early stages of adulthood have gained for ourselves-and for no other reason than our own good. For such parents wish us to be individuals in our own right. They do not wish to compel, or impose their own ideas, but only to suggest, and give counsel for our own decision, and thus to help us make our own personal covenant between ourselves and our God. And this is entirely in accordance with those questions which are the only ones asked in the ritual of our confirmation, which are:
     1) Whether or not we, ourselves, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the one and only God of heaven and earth;
     2) Whether we believe in the Word of the Lord, which, in the New Church, includes the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem;
     3) Whether we believe in keeping the commandments of the Decalogue, as unfolded in the Word; and finally,
     4) If that be so, whether we are therefore willing to make confession of this our faith!
     Obviously these questions cannot be lightly answered. They who have already answered them in the affirmative for themselves naturally are, and should be, eager that others shall have the freedom to answer them equally according to their own best reason. They should be especially careful, lest, in mistaken zeal, they are too anxious to make others answer them affirmatively, too.

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And they should be particularly careful in their relations to such people as, from the outside of the church, are gradually drawing closer to it. They should realize that it is not an easy thing for those who have been brought up in an entirely different sphere than that of the New Church-with different ideals, different doctrines, and sometimes, too, very different ways of life-to give up, either suddenly or even slowly, such affections, thoughts, and modes of living, as perhaps through many years have become deeply ingrained habits. And it is particularly difficult if family and other personal affections enter into it. If so, the Lord is long-suffering and of infinite patience, and the New Church man should be even the same, whenever he meets anyone in this difficult situation. While he should remain sincerely interested, yet he should also realize that this choice is never a matter only of the understanding, but that very often a person's strongest affections, which have been implanted and remain from his earliest infancy, are involved in this choice, and that they neither can nor should be given up suddenly and without temptations. Any sudden change is not a real change. Nor are these temptations carried either to amore successful or even to a quicker solution by adding to them further personal pressures. For such pressures only becloud the issue, and may therefore either cause a man to fail to see, or to give up the matter entirely, before he has reached a tenable conclusion, or make it necessary for him to go through the whole process all over again, which may then be beyond his endurance.
Nor is this matter very different with those who have been brought up within the church. In some subtle ways their choice is perhaps-at least sometimes-even more difficult. For they, too, must come to their acknowledgment of the Lord, and of the doctrines of the church, in their own freedom and according to their own reason. If we take into consideration that these young people are in every external respect already predisposed to the acknowledgment of the doctrine, we should be able to see that it may be especially difficult for them to find out whether they confess it because they actually believe it, or simply because they know that all their relatives and friends expect them to do so. It is not an easy thing to learn to see into one's own heart, and correctly evaluate what takes place there. True, there is no reason why we should not receive from and give to each other some help in this matter. Every man needs, at times, both to receive and to give such help. The Lord in His love wills that we shall have and render it. Nor would it seem that there are as a rule any persons better fitted to give it than parents, and, of course, sincere ministers and teachers. But there is, at the same time, a lot of difference between true assistance and undue influence. We must be exceedingly careful lest, instead of helping our young people to think and act for themselves, we only add further entanglements to their already very mixed emotions.

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This we must carefully guard against, even while we try to give them some sympathetic understanding and free advice. We must be utterly certain that the advice really is free, and that the young person knows that he is under no personal obligation to confirm what we say. We must strive to preserve for him, at every Step of the way, his freedom to arrive at his own conviction at his own pace, and in his own way, provided only that he, too, learns to respect the freedom of others. For only that which is thus received in freedom remains spiritually and endures forever because it is of a love which knows no other limit than the needs of protection. And this is the inmost end of the Lord's Divine Providence.
The matter of any man's true confirmation in the Lord's New Church is thus an extremely important thing. And it is important both in its beginning, in its progression, and in its end. Yet we should not therefore think that it places any insuperable obstacles before us. While it does indeed place and keep before us certain serious responsibilities, because by our own decision we are ready to make and try to keep certain promises before the Lord, yet it is also true that from the first to the last act of confirmation, each such act has been given to us as a matter of help and assistance. It is there to hold us up in the sphere of the angels and among the men of the New Church, lest we dash our foot against a stone. It is to be known that our first public confession stands only at the beginning of our individual spiritual development, and is as much a sign of our protection as of our responsibility. While it gives notice to all men that hereafter all spiritual decisions are, inmostly, entirely a matter between ourselves and our God, yet, at the same time, it is also a means whereby we enter more deeply than ever before into the affections and community of the church. It is a means whereby we ask for and receive more fully than ever before, not only the Lord's but also our spiritual brethren's sympathetic understanding and love. We need not feel-before we confess our faith-that we should understand, or even nearly understand, all the infinitely many and exalted truths of the church. In fact, to claim any such understanding would be presumptuous. And it would be even more presumptuous to claim that we already love to live according to even a few of these truths. If a man had to wait for such an understanding and love before he made his first confession from himself, he would never be able to make it. But all the Lord expects of any normal human being is that he shall come before Him, acknowledging his own limitations and the Lord's infinity, praying in sincere humility for the power and privilege of approaching the Lord with an affirmative mind which is ready to receive His Divine instruction and help. It is no more than a promise to try, to the best of our ability, to study and obey the Word, and to try to learn to love it.

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It is no more than a promise to try to regenerate, and to try to gain, according to our sincerity, such strength and determination as may come from such a covenant. And there is, too, in this act as it were a promise to us by our fellow New Church men to be compassionate and patient with us in our striving to become New Church men. For here-in this spirit of and prayer for genuine charity-is the one and only way which leads to all intelligence and wisdom, and consequently to the enlightenment and happiness of heaven. And the rest is simply a matter of continuing regeneration. Therefore, the occasion of still another man's accession to the church is simply as it were a rededication for all of us to an ever growing patience and love of each and every one of us for each other. For it is this alone which promises that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It is this that the Lord meant when He said to His disciples: "Whosoever, therefore, shall confess Me before men, him will I also confess before My Father, who is in heaven." Amen.

     LESSONS: Psalm 37. Matthew 10:16-39. Arcana Coelestia 5135.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 479, 442, 462.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 71, 113.
TEN BLESSINGS AND EDUCATION 1955

TEN BLESSINGS AND EDUCATION Rev. DAVID R. SIMONS 1955

10. Rewards

"Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven" (Matthew 5:12). The Ten Blessings involve the universal requirements for spiritual life. They reveal the inner steps of regeneration which lead to heavenly happiness. To receive these blessings we must become conscious of our spiritual poverty; we must learn to sorrow for evil in thought and act; we must submit in genuine meekness to the leading of the Lord, who can give us an ambition for good and a thirst for truth; we must practice mercy and sincerity of heart, and win a lasting peace by withstanding the revilings and persecutions of our own evil loves. As we progress through these states of regeneration; as we shun, as of ourselves, the evils of worldliness, pleasure, dominion, complacency, insincerity and hatred; the Lord, working in secret from within, will replace them with their heavenly opposites-with new states of thought and affection, with the living spirit of true charity which contains within itself inmost delights, so that even here on earth we may rejoice and be exceeding glad in the rewards of spiritual living.

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     Preparation for the inmost blessing of heaven involves preparation for use. New Church men must introduce their children to the delights of use-to the rewards of truth thought and good done-if they would care for their spiritual welfare. We do this when we teach them to do work honestly, faithfully and sincerely, to the best of their ability. For conscientious work brings with it the delight of accomplishment which can lead to the delight of use.
     But this reward for work done is not received without constant effort. The natural man rebels. He wants rewards without sacrifice, praise without effort, satisfaction without toil, pay without sweat, the maximum reward with the minimum labor. He wants delights without performing uses. However, if he is to be prepared to receive genuine delight, he must be helped and sometimes even compelled to overcome his tendencies to laziness, so that real work may be achieved. Genuine accomplishment can be reached only through shunning what stands in the way.
     Parents and teachers who never see things through with their children, who accept the first excuse for insincere effort, the disfigured face or self-pitying complaint in place of genuine striving, permit habits of idleness, carelessness, half-heartedness and insincerity, to be formed in children. And they leave them unprepared to receive the inmost riches of the human spirit, the delights of work well done.
     Rewards and the thought of rewards are right and proper for children, because through them they are introduced to doing things and can experience the joy in accomplishment itself. While we are learning and practicing a thing for the sake of an outside reward something of the inner delight of work is implanted. Concerning rewards the Writings teach us that "to believe that they will be rewarded if they do what is good is not hurtful to those who are in innocence, as is the case with little children and with the simple; but to confirm themselves therein when they are grown up is hurtful; for a man is initiated into good by looking for a reward, and he is deterred from evil by looking for a punishment" (AC 9982). Once the love of doing for its own sake is felt, then the reward should be unimportant.
     If we always seek to make things easy and attractive for our children, if we give rewards out of proportion to the job done, then we detract from their sense of accomplishment. It is not enough to divert them into doing what is right by flattering their ego or extending undue bribes; rather must we help them to shun those things which stand in the way of genuine achievement and its delight. It is this effort to promote uses through self-control and concentrated endeavor that must be fostered with our children as a means toward true happiness. Rewards are necessary, but the ultimate goal is to instil the love of use for its own sake, for this is the dominant love of heaven.

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The Heavenly Doctrine clearly states that "they who do goods with the sole end of reward cannot possibly know that in doing goods without any reward there is happiness so great as to be heavenly happiness itself. The reason of their ignorance is that they perceive happiness in the delight of the love of self, and in so far as a man perceives delight in this love, so far he does not perceive delight in heavenly love, for they are opposites. The delight which flows from the love of self completely extinguishes the delight which is from heavenly love, insomuch that it is absolutely unknown what heavenly delight is; and if its nature is told, it is not believed, nay, it is denied" (AC 6391:2).
Genuine charity is defined as "an internal affection which consists in a heartfelt desire to do the neighbor good, and in this being the delight of life; and this without any reward" (AC 8033). "To do good that is good must be from the love of good; thus for the sake of good. They who are in this love abhor merit, for they love to do, and perceive satisfaction from it; and on the other hand, they are saddened if it is believed that it is done for the sake of something selfish. The delight itself which is in the love of doing what is good without any end of recompense is the reward which remains to eternity; for every affection of love remains inscribed on the life. Into this there is insinuated by the Lord heaven and eternal happiness" (AC 9983-9984).
SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1955

SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1955

     GENERAL CHURCH RELIGION LESSONS. Graded lessons and other material from preschool through Grade 12. Address inquiries to: Pastor-in-Charge, Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     GENERAL CHURCH SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE. Tape-recordings of services, sermons, doctrinal classes, children's services, etc. Address: General Church Sound Recording Committee, Bryn Athyn.
     GENERAL CHURCH VISUAL EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE. Biblical and other slides. Address: Mr. William R. Cooper, Director, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     NEW CHURCH EDUCATION. Published by Religion Lessons Committee, monthly, September to June, inclusive. Subscription, $1.50. Editor: Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal.

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EDUCATIONAL COUNCIL 1955

EDUCATIONAL COUNCIL LYRIS HYATT 1955

     12th Annual Meetings

     BRYN ATHYN, AUGUST 22-26, 1955

     It is unfortunately true that no account of the General Church Educational Council meetings can communicate more than a suggestion of their spirit, the work accomplished, and the unanimous feeling of those attending that they are most useful both inspirationally and practically. Indeed it is a paradox characteristic of meetings of this kind that what is most inspirational is most practical. The day-by-day and year-by-gear work is slow and sometimes discouragingly inadequate, but when we come together in August, past progress and clearer avenues for future development can be seen. To those young men and women who express curiosity about the meetings, we suggest that they consider becoming a part of the Council themselves.
     The meetings opened with a service conducted by Bishop De Charms in the Benade Hall Chapel on Monday evening. Following this, the Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton gave an address entitled "An Introduction to the Study of the Curriculum," a fundamental approach which showed the place of knowledges as doors to things rational. The end is wisdom, and the beginning of wisdom is the acknowledgment of God. The speaker stressed in his paper and in his closing remarks alter the discussion the hope that our distinctive concept of the curriculum will not be static but will develop, as it has in the past, from generation to generation.
     The succeeding papers and reports on the program for the week underscored the fact that all knowledge is our province and that it is our interpretation rather than the content of a field of study that makes for real New Church education. The topics below are listed in the order they were presented, not in the order of their natural development or of their importance.

Language-Dean Eldric S. Klein
The Human Body-Mr. Charles S. Cole
A New Church Textbook of Science-Rev. David R. Simons
Our Philosophy of Physical Education-Dean Stanley F. Ebert
Our Philosophy of History in Teaching Medieval and Modern European History, and
Our Philosophy of History as Illustrated by American History-Mr. Sigfried T. Synnestvedt

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     Thus we were given a fairly comprehensive Picture of man and of the means the Lord uses to bring the individual into the Gorand Man of heaven man's physical environment, his physiology and the training of his body, his most important means of communication, and his civil government It is not an exaggeration to say that the papers were thrilling, as so many of the commentators testified.
     Dean Klein's paper was an exciting, thoroughly scholarly study which will probably appear in print. Mr. Cole's was primarily an enthusiastic account and evaluation of work done by New Church men in the past on anatomy and physiology. He also stated and amplified three main principles or problems which he emphasizes in his course in the fourth year of the Boys' Academy. Mr. Simons presented the mimeographed edition of his seventh grade science textbook with a New Church approach and treatment. He invited criticism, which he received on a few points, but the response was mainly one of commendation for his positive, concrete work. Dean Ebert's report, illustrated chiefly by his experience with the boys in the Academy, was much appreciated although, as usual, a real program for the girls and young women was called for, to which plea Mr. Ebert was of course completely sympathetic. Mr. Synnestvedt presented, as the result of numerous meetings and hard work by the members of his committee, two clear, simple, but very forceful statements.
     As a single and unrepresentative sample of the discussion of all the papers, we cite a question provided by the second history report: Is the United States of the Divine will, or only a monumental permission? Later at luncheon a member of the Council, who shall also remain nameless in this report, questioned the use of the word monumental!
     An informally scheduled meeting on the forthcoming children's hymnal was conducted Wednesday afternoon by Miss Hildegarde Odhner. The response was most affirmative to the tape-recorded samples and to the work being done. There was also an informal meeting of the teachers of religion Thursday afternoon requested by the Reverend Karl R. Alden.
     For those interested in statistics: Some 61 members attended some or all of the meetings. Of these, 28 took part in the discussions of the papers and reports (not counting the very lively reaction to the hymnal). We decline to publish the number of times each of the 28 spoke.
     Interested New Church men and women will be glad to know that the Council, both from prodding and conviction, is pushing forward toward publication in some form of the fruits of its efforts. Statements revised for this purpose will be presented at the next meetings, which will be held in 1957 since there is a General Assembly in 1956.
     This extremely incomplete report should not omit mention of the extracurricular activities.

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The Council is grateful indeed to Miss Dorothy Davis for providing refreshments in the morning recesses; to Professor Otho W. Heilman for arranging the four luncheons at Casa Conti; to all who entertained at the meetings, at luncheon, and in their homes; especially to Bishop and Mrs. Pendleton, who offered us the use of their new swimming pool every afternoon (all who availed themselves of the offer were especially grateful), and who also provided a delightfully informal but sumptuous outdoor supper party at Cairnwood on Friday evening. It turned out to be less a feast of reason than a feast of charity. If the reader detects a country-club note, let him or her join the ranks of the professional educators and join the Council. Let him attend the meetings and enjoy the diversions of charity; he will then fully realize the uses of both.
LYRIS HYATT,
Secretary.
FORGIVENESS OF SINS 1955

FORGIVENESS OF SINS 1955

     "To be able to be kept by the Lord in the good of love and the truths of faith, and to be withheld from evils and falsities, is the forgiveness of sins. And to shun evil and falsity, and to feel aversion for them, is then repentance. But these are possible with those only who, through regeneration, have received new life from the Lord; because these things belong to the new life.
     "The signs that sins have been forgiven are the following. Delight is felt in worshiping God for the sake of God; in being of service to the neighbor for the sake of the neighbor; thus in doing good for the sake of good, and in believing truth for the sake of truth. There is an unwillingness to merit by anything that belongs to charity and faith. Evils, such as enmities, hatreds, revenges, unmercifulness, adulteries, in a word, all things that are against God and against the neighbor, are held in aversion.
     "But the signs that sins have not been forgiven are the following. God is not worshiped for the sake of God; and the neighbor is not served for the sake of the neighbor; thus good is not done and truth is not spoken for the sake of good and truth, but for the sake of self and the world. There is a desire to merit by our deeds; others are despised in comparison with ourselves; delight is felt in evils such as enmities, hatreds, revenges, cruelty, adulteries; and the holy things of the church are held in contempt and are at heart denied" (AC 9445-9450).

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NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1955

     The new religious dispensation in which the church is restored at the end of an age is instituted with a remnant in, but not of, the consummated church. Yet its extension and development is usually with the Gentiles, whose falsities are those of ignorance and not of the evil which has brought judgment upon the corrupted church. This familiar teaching of the Writings seems to be central in the portion of the Gospel through Luke 3 (11:1-22:53) assigned for reading this month. For there emphasis is laid on the hypocrisy of the leaders of the Jewish Church; the disciples, as the first of the remnant, are warned to separate themselves from it; and the transfer of the church to the Gentiles is spoken of so plainly in parables that even the faithless leaders of the false church could recognize the import of the Lord's words
     Of particular interest in the closing portion of the Heavenly Doctrine is the chapter on ecclesiastical and civil government. Some New Church men hold that the Writings speak only of Divine and spiritual things in relation to the individual and have no reference to the order and organization of the church. It is our belief, however, that they do contain a doctrine of ecclesiastical government, and that in its general form it is revealed in this chapter. Here the uses of the priesthood are clearly defined; and the faith of love in the teaching given will resolve the agelong struggle for power, and in uses conjoin the priesthood and the laity as brethren in the church and as servants of the Lord-each understanding and respecting the other's functions.
     Heaven and Hell, which is begun this month (nos. 1-129) describes the spiritual world as it appeared in its permanent order after the Last Judgment, when the heavens and hells had been ordinated and their influx into the world of spirits and the minds of men had been reduced to order. There are accounts of the spiritual world in the Arcana and the Diary, but the appearance and arrangement of that world were evidently different before the judgment. Thus no final picture could be drawn then. But when order had been restored, the heavens and hells were distinctly seen in their three degrees, the successive states of spirits became traceable; and Swedenborg could be given to describe accurately the permanent features of heaven and its wonders, and hell, from things heard and seen.

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REASONS FOR EARLY BETROTHALS 1955

REASONS FOR EARLY BETROTHALS Rev. ORMOND ODHNER 1955

     Our present ritual of betrothal was first used on January 29th, 1877, at the betrothal of the Rev. Edward C. Bostock and Miss Mary Junge, the Rev. J. R. Hibbard officiating. The betrothal service in this case preceded the marriage by two and a half years.
     In that same year, 1877, the late Bishop W. F. Pendleton, at the Pennsylvania Conference of New Church Ministers, formally proposed that the ritual of the New Church include a solemn ceremony of betrothal. The idea was favorably received, and Bishop Benade asked Mr. Pendleton to compose an order of service for betrothal, to be included in the next edition of the Liturgy. He did so, and this "order of betrothal," practically unchanged, is still in use today in the General Church.
     We quote now from an article on betrothals by Bishop W. F. Pendleton, published in NEW CHURCH LIFE, Oct., 1919. Speaking of his 1877 paper, he says, "There was no Betrothal Service, as far as was then known to us, in the ritual of the Christian world, Old Church or New, nor did we know of any betrothal rite performed anywhere as a religious act in the presence of witnesses."
     As was later discovered, the idea of a solemn ceremony of betrothal was not new in the world when it was first proposed in the New Church. Even the Writings say, "rituals of betrothals have come down to us from ancient times" (AC 5137). But in 1877 it was thought that the betrothal rite was something new.
     The question must therefore have arisen, "When, between the private consent and the marriage, should the solemn betrothal take place?" We have not been able to uncover the reasons that entered into the conclusion, so we simply note the two-and-a-half year interval between the Bostock-Junge betrothal and marriage, and the conclusion as stated in Bishop Pendleton's 1919 article: "The interval between the formal betrothal and the marriage should not be long, for a betrothal of the kind herein described should not take place until marriage is in view, as an event of the immediate future."
     In the Academy archives, hand-written notes on betrothal by Bishop Pendleton state that the period of "three" months was designated as a proper interval because of the correspondence of the number "three."

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Lately, others have designated "six" weeks-"six" signifying preparation, before "seven," which is fulfillment.

     The idea of a religious ceremony of betrothal, then, was not new when it was revealed to Swedenborg that it was a thing of Divine order to promote and establish conjugial love. What was new was that it was of Divine, not human, order. Such religious ceremonies existed in the Ancient and Jewish Churches; they were common in the earliest Christian Church; and until very recently they were still of some importance on the European continent. In America and England, however, they are absolutely distinctive to the General Church and the Hague Group, though we note that such a ceremony was solemnized in the Conference society in Budapest in 1893.
     Dictionaries define "betrothal" as follows. "A mutual contract for a future marriage" (Webster). "Engagement to marry" (Funk and Wagnell). "A mutual promise or compact between two parties, by which they bind themselves to marry. The word imports plighting one's faith or troth, that is, true faith or promise" (Encyc. Americana).
     In the world today, "betrothal" simply means the act of becoming or the state of being engaged. Particularly is this true in England and America; on the Continent, something of a solemn ceremony, religious or not, may also be implied. That is also its meaning in the history of Christian doctrine, and that, we believe, was its meaning to Swedenborg: the act of becoming, or state of being, engaged to marry, coupled with a ceremony marking the announcement of this.
     That Swedenborg used the word thus is clear. The last passage of the Arcana treats of betrothals and marriages among the inhabitants of the Sixth Earth. This is a description of how the young women of marriageable age there are led to a "certain wedding house," and then, we quote, "The young men come thither to choose one for a wife; and when a young man sees one who is like himself, and to whom his mind draws him, he takes her by the hand; and if she then follows, he leads her into a house that has been made ready, and she becomes his wife" (AC 1083 7). That is the whole of their "betrothal and marriage." He uses the word again in the sense of "getting engaged," in CL 316 and 299, the description of the meeting and falling in love of a youth and maiden in heaven: After that thought has been "for some time in the minds of both, they deliberately address each other and betroth themselves." Again, in CL 304e, we read: "The state of betrothal with [the unchaste] scarcely does other than help to fill their lusts with things lascivious." Surely this applies to the whole of the engagement, and not just to the period following a religious ceremony.

447

But that Swedenborg also used the word to mean a ceremony attendant upon the betrothal is evident from CL 21, where an angel tells the ten novitiate spirits; "Even with us, a priest ministers at betrothals, and hears, receitres, confirms and consecrates the consent." To me, that "even with us" implies that the angels knew that priests "ministered at betrothals" on earth.
     That solemn ritualistic ceremonies of betrothal existed in the Ancient Church the Writings teach thus: "Betrothals before marriages have been in use from ancient times" (AC 9182). And the passage already quoted: "Rituals of betrothal have come down to us from ancient times" (AC 5137).
     The ancient Jews considered betrothal more solemn than marriage. A priest was present in the small group of friends assembled to hear or witness the consent of the couple to marry, and administered a blessing. The wedding came some time later, and apparently consisted only of a "marriage feast" put on by the bridegroom, following which he took the woman home to be his wife. The betrothed Jewish couple, however, were spoken of as husband and wife, and could be separated only by legal divorce. Early Christians also had betrothal ceremonies distinct from their marriages. "Chosen witnesses were present, the friends of each party, and their number was usually ten" (McClintock and Strong). Apparently a "ministerial benediction" was then also given (id).
     The Greek Orthodox Church still has two different services for betrothal and marriage, for, note, it was thought improper that the promise to marry should be made merely in private as a civil contract only. The two rites were at first administered at widely separated dates, but because some couples broke their engagements after the religious ceremony, one of the Byzantine emperors finally decreed that the religious betrothal and the marriage should be consecrated the same day.
     So, too, because it was thought profane for an engagement to be broken after the religious rite of betrothal, the Roman Church quite early incorporated its earlier separate betrothal service into the first part of its marriage service (Wheatly, On The Common Prayer).
     In the Anglican Church there is still an order of service in which the couple, as they enter the church, stand at the door and declare their consent, before the actual marriage-apparently the last surviving remnant of a separate betrothal service.
     A reading of the articles on betrothal in the various larger encyclopedias would prove worthwhile for anyone, but here we incorporate into one paragraph certain cogent points taken from four of them. Betrothal was anciently a formal ceremony preceding the actual marriage, usually by some weeks only, though the marriage might be delayed for years. It was an important, if not essential, part of the marriage transaction, and numerous but ineffectual attempts were made by church and state to compel its celebration with religious ceremonies.

448

The Council of Trent, 1545-1563, ruled that the declaration of consent to wed must be made before the proper priest, in the presence of witnesses, if the marriage was to be valid. The church never determined the form of the ceremony, but demanded that it be entered into freely and at a legal age. The ceremony sometimes consisted of "the interchange of rings-the kiss-the joining of hands, to which is to be added the testimony of witnesses." In France the presence of a priest was essential, and elsewhere it was customary, on the Continent, for the couple to get their parish priest to witness their promise. Among the peasantry the place of rings was taken by a coin which was broken between the pair, but almost any gift sufficed; sometimes the bride-elect received a bent or crooked sixpence. It was usual for the couple to pledge each other in a cup of wine (Encyclopedias: Britannica, New International, Schaff and Herzog, and Americana).
     Apparently, then, until the days of Swedenborg, something of a religious ceremony still commonly marked the betrothal, or what we call the "engagement." And to him, we believe, the word "betrothal" meant the mutual promise of the couple to enter into marriage; any ceremonies, religious or secular, solemn or not, attendant upon the publication of that promise; and, of course, their state thereafter before their marriage.
     The Writings say that it is the "consent" that is to be "established and confirmed by a solemn betrothal" (CL 301)-that consent which is made strictly in private.
     The first teaching of the chapter in Conjugial Love on Betrothals and Nuptials (CL 295-314), is that selection belongs to the man, and also the declaration of love. Next we are taught concerning the woman's duty to consult with her parents and deliberate with herself, before consenting. Then it is said that after consent pledges ought to be given, and then comes the injunction to betrothal.
     In the teaching concerning pledges (CL 300), there is, we believe, the only intimation that there may be a period of "announced engagement" before betrothal. It is said that such pledges are the more useful if they are easily visible, and it is noted that they can be given before the act of betrothment or after it. Because they should be visible, and because they can be given before the betrothal, it might be concluded that this implies a period of "announced engagement" before the solemn betrothal. Nowhere do the Writings speak against such a thing; but, we would note, neither do they anywhere speak in favor of it.
     It is, then, the private consent that is to be "established and confirmed by a solemn betrothal." The wedding is to be celebrated with festivity; but the betrothal is to be a solemn occasion for raising the minds to the sanctity and eternity of conjugial love and marriage.

449

(Could it be that our peculiarly American, ultra-festive celebrations of the "announcement" are somewhat out of place?)
     All the revealed uses of betrothal, we are convinced, would be far better served than they now are, were the betrothal rite administered as early in the engagement as is feasible, though we would not at present insist that it be the "announcement."
     Before treating of these uses in their order, however, we would refer to SD 6110:48: "Many descriptions are to be given of the state of conjugial love prior to the state in which the effect is. The prior state ought altogether to precede marriage, and love from that, without thought of the state following. Then marriage is happy and lasting; but, so far as it partakes of the posterior state alone, so far it is lacking. Such is the chaste state." It seems that it is the betrothal state which is referred to here as "the prior state [which] ought altogether to precede marriage, and love from that, without thought of the state following"-the state, that is, of the fulness of marriage.
     In Conjugial Love, the first revealed use of the solemn betrothal is "so that after them the two souls may mutually incline to each other." Something of this, of course, must be present, even at the time of consent, or there is nothing present of love truly conjugial. But one of the uses of our "solemn betrothal" rite is so that after it the two souls may mutually incline to each other. We would ask: Is much of that use served by the betrothal rite, if it is not administered until shortly before the wedding? To us, it seems, it then does little more than recognize that such a mutual inclination of souls already exists.
     We will repeat this idea frequently-that the betrothal rite, late in the engagement, does little for the couple concerned in so far as promoting those revealed uses for which it is said that there should be the "solemn betrothal." Admittedly, our institution of the betrothal rite has done the church in general untold good, elevating its thought to the eternity and sanctity of marriage; but, we think, this general elevation of thought has produced the rather strange anomaly that in the couple, individually, it has effected those uses, very early in their engagement, which as we understand it, their own solemn betrothal is supposed to serve.
     The second revealed use of betrothal is that the universal love of the sex may be determined in each to the other. This is said to be the use of the solemn betrothal. Is not six weeks or three months before marriage rather late for this to begin? Something of this too must of course exist, even in the beginning; but the betrothal ceremony is here said to aid this, by turning the thought to the spiritual and eternal union of love truly conjugial. Again we say that the rite of betrothal, as now placed, simply recognizes that the universal love of the sex has been determined in each to the other alone.

450

     The third use of betrothal is that the interior affections may be mutually cognized, and by application in the inward cheerfulness of love may be conjoined. This, of course, begins very early in the engagement, and every sincere couple find joy in it, for they know that it alone can effect an eternal marriage between them. But the Writings teach that it is the betrothal ceremony that is to serve this use and promote it. Should it not do so at the very outset of the engagement?- -for the use itself of the betrothal rite is to raise conjugial love up out of the natural mind into the spiritual, rendering it chaste by turning the thoughts to the eternal and heavenly aspects of that love.
     The fourth use of betrothal is that the spirits of the two may enter into marriage and be consociated more and more. Our present late betrothal, we believe, does not serve this use as effectively as it could. Surely, just as the nuptials initiate the couple into the fulness of marriage, so the solemn betrothal should initiate them into the marriage of their spirits!
     The fifth use of the solemn betrothal is that conjugial love may thus rightly progress from its first heat to its nuptial flame. On this we would lay great stress. Conjugial love is first felt in the natural mind. Before it descends into its ultimate fulness, it is to be raised into the spiritual mind, there to be rendered chaste. And here it is said that the "solemn betrothal" is to effect this.
     Momentarily putting aside this spiritual elevation of the mind, we note that even on the plane of the body there is a growth of conjugial love from its first heat to its first flame; and this, we believe, is also of order. The first attraction a youth feels for a maiden is not to jump immediately even into the desire for ultimate bodily conjunction. Rather, even on the bodily plane, this love should intensify gradually. Therefore, while we strongly insist that there be no amatory touch before engagement, we see no disorder in the customs of society which allow for a gradual intensification of the ardor with which the engaged couple make love to each other. To us, this seems to promote this orderly growth of conjugial love from its first heat to its nuptial flame-if wisely restrained.
     The result, however, is that the thought, especially with the bridegroom, turns more and more to the fulness of marriage. Yet, we quote again: "The prior state ought altogether to precede marriage, and love from that, without thought of the state following." By the time of the solemn betrothal, as now placed, however, the thought, at least at times, has quite decidedly turned toward the ultimate fulness of marriage. Yet, at the time of betrothal, there should be no thought of this at all. Were betrothal administered very early in the engagement, we believe, it would better serve to raise conjugial love out of the natural mind even to the height where alone conjugial chastity resides, before it begins its descent toward the fulness of marriage-a truly orderly and right progression from the first heat even to the nuptial flame.

451

     The sixth use of betrothal is that conjugial love may consequently proceed and grow up in just order from its spiritual origin. This is later treated of at length in connection with the elevation of conjugial love from the natural degree of the mind into the spiritual and celestial-the teaching being that if it is raised to the height, then, in its descent into the body: it is chaste (CL 302). In the natural degree of the mind, it is taught (CL 305): there are lusts of evil and unchastity; in the spiritual degree these do not exist, and in the highest degree there is conjugial chastity in its love. It is clearly implied here that this highest region is the "height" to which love should be raised, and that such an elevation is the use of the solemn betrothal.
     Note the statement that the sixth use of the betrothal is that conjugial love may proceed and grow up in just order from its spiritual origin. The origin of all conjugial love is spiritual, of course; but it is first felt in the lower region of the mind as a burning attraction toward the loved one. And the sincere New Church youth will quickly realize, all by himself, that this love is sent him from heaven. But the sixth use of the betrothal is to see to it that he does so. The eternal, spiritual uses of marriage are thus brought to his attention, that he may dedicate himself to them and come into a love of them; for, it is said, man is raised into the height of the mind only "by the love of uses, and, as the most excellent uses are from marriages, by love truly conjugial" (CL 305).
     Why, then, should the ceremony that promotes these uses be postponed until late in the engagement? Can we take it for granted that those uses will be served without the betrothal rite? From what origin is the couple's conjugial love supposed to be growing up before the betrothal-for grow it will? Should not the solemn betrothal's formal dedication to that spiritual origin be made at the beginning of the engagement, so that conjugial love may consequently proceed and grow up in just order from its spiritual origin! It is the consent that is to be established and confirmed by a solemn betrothal.
     So also do we view the last two uses of betrothal-"that by the betrothal each is prepared for conjugial love," and that "by the betrothal the mind of the one is conjoined with the mind of the other, in order that a marriage of the spirit may be effected before that of the body takes place" (CL 302-303). Each of these uses, we feel, would be better served by a very early betrothal. Again we go back to the statement: "The prior state ought altogether to precede marriage, and love from that, without thought of the state following." Is it not that prior state which the solemn betrothal should initiate?

452

     As betrothal is now placed, we feel, it is little more than a recognition that its revealed uses have already been served. It is the only one of our rites thus placed. Baptism is a sacrament of introduction into the church; so is confirmation. The Holy Supper is a sacrament of introduction into heaven; nuptials are an introduction into marriage; ordination, an introduction into the priesthood; and even the resurrection service marks the introduction into eternal life. It is right that these sacraments and rites should be of this introductory character, for one of their chief uses is to set apart the person partaking of them, in the eyes of heaven, as one avowedly dedicated to the use signified by the sacrament; thereafter he may be inspired from heaven with a genuine love of that use. Why, then, should not betrothal mark the introduction into the marriage of the spirits of the youth and maid, and thus fully serve the reasons for which it is said that the consent ought to be established and confirmed by a solemn betrothal!
     Our church has placed the betrothal rite late in the engagement. We hesitate, therefore, to say this is a mistake, for the Writings do imply that the Lord teaches through His church as well as through His Word. Surely, however, this is subordinate to their statement that today the Lord speaks only from His Word. The Lord teaches through His church, yes; but only insofar as the decisions of the church are from the Word. We know of nothing in our Word that teaches the solemn betrothal should be late in the engagement. Personally, we believe we see much teaching that it should be early, very early-that it should be the step following the private consent. The consent, that is, should quickly be brought to the Lord, that He may bless it, through the teachings of the eternal uses of marriage, with the promise of love truly conjugial.

     Conjugial Love, it is true, warns against "excessive protraction" and likewise against "excessive hastening" of the time of betrothal (CL 305). It is not here specifically said, however, that "betrothal" signifies the solemn religious ceremony. Personally, again, we feel the word is here used as a synonym for our "engagement," and it is well known that there is danger both in excessive protraction and in excessive hastening of the period of engagement.

     The subject of "broken betrothals" must now be considered. It is almost inevitable that broken betrothals would be a bit more frequent in our church than at present, were the ceremony placed early in the engagement. We sincerely believe, however, that they would not be as frequent as our present broken "engagements." Yet fear of them should not make us hesitate to proclaim a Divine law of order, if it is one. And we believe far greater uses would be served by early betrothals than would be injured by the few broken betrothals there might be.

453

     However, while broken betrothals are serious, they are also permissible. Betrothal signifies the marriage of the spirits only-though we know of no place wherein the Writings actually call betrothal "the marriage of the spirits." Betrothal is a purely spiritual contract. If, then, a couple had had their consent "established and confirmed by a solemn betrothal," and afterward discovered serious incompatibility between them, then their berothal should be terminated, for the spiritual contract between them would already have been sundered. The alternative is unthinkable.
     Admittedly this would be serious; but not so serious, we believe, as it is now considered, with betrothal being viewed in its present light. It is not profane nor sacriligious, and even less would it be thought so, were the solemn betrothal regarded as the introduction into the marriage of the spirits. Betrothal would then be partaken of for the sake of its revealed uses; if it were afterward discovered it could not serve those uses, it would be terminated.
     We are convinced, however, that this would be an increasingly rare thing. The change in the time of betrothal would tend to make the whole process of falling in love and "getting engaged" a far more serious affair than it is now sometimes regarded. And it should be. Engagement is not a "trial run." Engagement, we believe, is betrothal. It should be entered into solemnly, with dedication of heart and soul to the fulfillment of its revealed uses.
     We are taught: "If beauty alone, and not good, conjoins, it is adultery; this also is not human, except so far as it is believed that the beauty is from good" (SD 6110:82). Again: "Unless eternity, or eternal conjunction, is thought of, the woman is not a wife, but a concubine; and from the lack of the idea of eternity, conjugial love perishes" (SD 6110:16).
     No matter, then, how strong attraction may be, no matter how beautiful the other's externals, the New Church man must not let himself even fall in love, much less "get engaged," until he, personally and with delight, feels himself to be understanding of his intended's loves and affections; thus does he become the understanding of his wife's affections. Nor may the maiden consent to marry him until she is certain that there are in him spiritual ideals, matters of conscience, which she personally desires to make her own, and with which she would conjoin her will; thus does she become the love of her husband's understanding.
     For the sincere New Church man who entered upon this pathway toward conjugial love there would be extremely little chance that his engagement would be a mistake. He would be following that order which the Lord Himself provides and reveals in His Word. In such cases the earliest possible solemnization of the consent to marriage, by the betrothal rite, would strongly establish and confirm that consent, and lead him onward to the attainment of love truly conjugial.

454

In conclusion, then, may we say that in advocating this change in the time of the solemn betrothal rite, we do so in the conviction that it will greatly tend to advance the church's whole concept of love and marriage further upward toward that celestial height where dwells conjugial chastity in its love.
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CHURCH 1955

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CHURCH 1955

"They who make Divine worship consist in frequenting temples, hearing preachings, attending the Holy Supper, and who do these things with devotion, without thinking further about them than that they ought to be frequented because they are instituted and commanded, these are of the external church; whereas they who at the same time believe that such things are to be attended to, but that still the essential of worship is the life of faith, that is, charity toward the neighbor and love to the Lord, these are of the internal church. Consequently also they are of the external church who do what is good to the neighbor and worship the Lord merely from the obedience of faith; whereas they are of the internal church who do what is good to the neighbor and worship the Lord from love. So in all other cases.
"Nevertheless with everyone who is of the church there must be both, namely, an external and an internal. If there are not both there is no spiritual life with him, for the internal is like a soul and the external is like the body of the soul. But they who are of the external church are clearly in its externals and obscurely in its externals, whereas they who are of the internal church are clearly in internals and obscurely in externals. But those who are in externals and not at the same time in internals are not of the church. All those are in both who are in the good of life according to the teachings of their church; but those are in externals without internals who are in worship and not at the same time in the good of life according to the teachings of the church. There are few who know this, and the reason few know it is that they make all worship, and thereby all salvation, consist in faith and not at all in charity. From this also it is that they who think about eternal salvation make it consist in a life of piety, and not at all in a life of charity" (Arcana Coelestia, 8762).

455

ON TEACHING THE SOCIAL STUDIES 1955

ON TEACHING THE SOCIAL STUDIES SIGFRIED T. SYNNESTVEDT 1955

     (Academy Representative at the Annual Meetings of the Sons of the Academy. Delivered in Toronto, Canada, June 24th, 1955.)

     My career as a salesman was a failure. It was very brief to begin with, lasting only part of one morning. The item I tried to peddle was Fuller brushes. I am not exactly sure just why I failed. I think that my approach, "You don't want any brushes today do you?" may have been faulty. In any event I sold only 99 cents worth of toothbrushes and then I went to the ball game in nearby Shibe Park.
     Were I to use this same approach in my history classes I think the results would be just as sad. We start off each year facing the issue squarely. I tell them that, before we begin the work of the course, we must satisfy ourselves that there is justification for the curriculum time devoted to it. Frankly, I say, if we cannot establish satisfactory justification, then let us drop the course from the curriculum, send you to some more useful work, and drop me from the faculty. My practice of reserving final judgment on the question for myself may have had something to do with the fact that not once in five years has a social studies class of mine decided that I was superfluous!
     The question is not completely trivial, however. Why have social studies in the curriculum at all? It is true that the study of history is one of the oldest parts of organized educational systems. But this is not justification in itself for any course of study. Courses have faded out before. Astrology and alchemy of mediaeval fame are no longer a part of education, though I sometimes wonder just what Edward Allen? Charlie Cole, Bob Johns, and those other scientists are really doing up there on the fourth floor! The question of justification for all courses and fields of study is presently before the Educational Council, and has been there for some time. That is our big project now, and it is a tremendously important one. The social studies must be justifiable along with all the rest or they should be removed from the New Church curriculum. The eventual outcome of these Educational Council meetings will be presented in some sort of published form and the accuracy of these statements and their fidelity to the fundamental teaching of the Writings is essential. Once in published form the statements will tend to stand as the philosophy of New Church education for at least a generation.

456

     This work is not nearly completed. Much remains to be done. Yet I think I may advance several tentative conclusions with reference to the usefulness of the social studies that will serve to justify them as the subject of this paper, at the very least.
     Without extensive discussion of each one I should like to suggest that the fundamental doctrinal justifications for the teaching of the social studies in New Church schools rest on the following principles:

     1) That the laws of Divine Providence are best seen through the study of history and other of the social studies. The workings of Providence cannot be seen in the face but only in the back. We can know little of the present and nothing of the future, but we can learn indefinitely from the past.
     2) That it is of Divine order that the things of this world shall be arranged under some sort of civil state. The social studies are in part the consideration of proper and improper civil order.
     3) That man must be free to develop his rationality. The social studies provide an opportunity to teach against any form of authoritarianism which seeks to destroy man's freedom and limit his usefulness.
     4) That any human progress, individually or collectively, is not the result of automatic change. Man must develop as of himself, though from the Lord, and the social studies provide an opportunity to demonstrate the necessity of each individual assuming his share of promoting the common good.
     5) That this common good involves the doctrine of the Gorand Man-each individual contributing to the good of the whole and the whole contributing to the good of each individual. With this Gorand Man concept as the basis it is possible in viewing the social studies to demonstrate the importance of great men and women in history. A single individual working for good ends can he very powerful and influential.
     6) That man's love of the world and material things must be curbed, and the social studies provide opportunity to see the falseness of the materialistic philosophy and the necessity of man's developing greater understanding of his proper relationship to his fellow man and to his God.

     Now you will note that none of these six things is exclusively applicable to the field of the social studies. All have general applications and applications in other departments. However, the social studies lend themselves particularly to demonstrating these six doctrinal truths and they do so in the most ultimate way. In dealing with the materials of history the students are compelled to step down from the heights of abstract doctrine and deal with the lives and works of actual men and women, who lived or are living, and who did actual things, good and bad.

457

     Perhaps at this point I should make an effort to outline what I include in my term "social studies." Originally there was no such term and the field was limited to the study of history, the record of man's past actions and thoughts. However, a large number of branch departments has grown up. In addition to the many fields of history, usually divided at least into Ancient, Mediaeval and Modern European, Far Eastern, American, Latin American, and diplomatic, we now have economics, economic history, political science, anthropology, sociology, archaeology, human relations, psychology, and geography.
     The breadth and depth of the general field of the social studies is tremendous, dealing with all aspects of all civilizations or cultures, past or present. No one can master the entire field, of course, but the social studies teacher must master large parts of it and not be entirely unfamiliar with substantial additional portions. The questions that arise in the social studies classroom are as many and varied as it is possible to imagine.
     The nature of the subject matter of the social studies is such that the teacher tends to lose the position of expert, above the crowd, and become just another fallible human in search of a little knowledge. This is more true in this field than in teaching any other, I believe. Most of us, including students, consider ourselves amateur experts in some field or other in the social studies and all of us are amateur experts in one-economics. Some read colonial American history and find in it the area of special interest that makes it possible for them to take part in conversations on the subject. Some of us study human nature, in our own ways and with our own methods, and thus automatically become budding amateur psychologists. Some of us come into contact with representatives of different races in our work and form basic attitudes toward them (to avoid the use of the loaded word, prejudices) and thereby become amateur sociologists. But all of us are involved in earning a living. All of us consider ourselves experts in the subject of economics and what is best for the country and for ourselves in this field. In this connection politics is intimately connected and interwoven. In fact, I much prefer the older division called political economy rather than the newer, separate departments of political science and economics. The two cannot really be separated. When the wallet is involved the proprium is immediately present and will not leave until its safety is assured.
     On the other hand, very few of us lay any claims to knowledge in the field of mathematics for example. We are quite willing to stop at getting the family budget straight and leave the rest to the teachers of math. Similarly, in chemistry let us say, the overwhelming majority of us have no knowledge. We limit ourselves to some ideas on proper diet and the use of bicarbonate of soda if these ideas fail.

458

Again we are willing to let the chemistry teacher stand completely free as an expert. Or take even a more subjective, less scientific field, such as literature. We are apt to read and have certain tastes in that reading which may or may not be different from those of teachers of literature. On occasion we may chat with them about these differences and even enter into a fairly animated discussion of them. But in the end, we part on the note, "Well, all right, I see your point, but I still don't like Dreiser's style." Since it is essentially a field of esthetics we do not feel such a personal stake in the matter. Even in the field of religion there is not the same opportunity for wide disagreement as there is in the social studies. There are, to be sure, doctrinal differences that draw our attention. Sometimes these can lead to sharp differences of opinion, but in the last analysis there is a body of absolute truth to which all can repair. The Writings, while subject to some differences of interpretation, are none the less the expression of Divine truth on matters of religion.
But when it comes to the social studies, the story is a different one. You will say, perhaps, "but all religion has relation to life," and you will be absolutely correct. You will add perhaps that we must think from the truths of the Writings in all things and this includes the social studies, and you will again be right. And there are passages where the Writings are very specific on the subject of kings and governments, me" and institutions. And, of course, underlying it all there is the Decalogue. "Thou shalt not steal," is applicable in any situation at any time at any place. Any New Church man, or indeed any thinking man, would agree to this principle; but when it comes to the actual application in a specific human situation the thing loses its definiteness and tends to become blurred.
Consider for a moment some of the twentieth century trends in political economy What is the real nature and import of the Tennessee Valley Authority! Is it a classic example of creeping socialism which has driven private power companies from the area and is undermining other private enterprise, besides being an unjust use of tax money in as much as only one area of the nation benefits at the expense of all the rest? Or is it a project of great vision, involving the conservation of natural resources and injecting a healthy note of a public power yardstick with which to measure and partially control the allegedly selfish and unjust grasping of a private power trust? These exact questions could be raised about the new St. Lawrence Sea Way project now finally begun, and involving many of the same possibilities Or, here in Canada, what is the real nature and import of such a thing as the family bonus law? For ten years now the Canadian national government has been paying a subsidy to the mother of each child born in the country, whether Montreal housewife or Eskimo squaw.

459

The present payment sum is $5 monthly until the child is six; $6 until it is 10; $7 to age 13, and $8 to age 16. And I saw that Senator Neuberger of Oregon has just proposed the beginnings of a similar plan in the United States. Is this another example of creeping or perhaps galloping socialism that undermines private initiative and leads citizens to feel that the world, or the government, owes them a living? Or is this plan an enlightened one which helps young couples to raise children in a healthy atmosphere with better diets, and thus contributes to the general welfare and strength of the nation?
     Questions on subjects of this type are not easily answered simply by turning to the Writings and checking number 55 of the True Christian Religion. They are intimate, personal, economical-political problems on which there can be and is extensive and even violent difference of opinion. Such differences complicate the matter of truly objective teaching of the social studies.
     Another problem in the field of the social studies is that of time perspective. Though we can know only the past, in the social studies classroom we are forced to deal with the present as well. And anyway, where does the past begin? Do we need five, ten, twenty, fifty, or a hundred years historical perspective, or do we need even more? I doubt if anyone here tonight would disagree with the statement that Abraham Lincoln was a great President of the United States, and his programs to free the slaves and save the union were enlightened, humane, and necessary. But would there be the same reaction to the statement that Franklin Roosevelt was a great President of the United States and that his New Deal was far sighted, properly motivated, and desirable? Again, I doubt if anyone here tonight would disagree with the suggestion that William Lyon MacKenzie was one of Canada's greatest leaders and that his efforts to liberalize and democratize the Canadian government were far reachingly good in their effect. Yet again, would the reaction be the same to the comment that his namesake, William Lyon Mackenzie King, was one of Canada's greatest Prime Ministers and that his program, largely accomplished, of setting up the welfare state in Canada was one of great vision, humanitarianism, and desirability. Historical perspective is essential for a full view, but in teaching the social studies one cannot wait around for it to be present. One cannot stop courses in April 1865, when Lincoln was shot, or in August of 1861, when William Lyon MacKenzie passed on.
     There is a third thing that makes the teaching of the social studies today a difficult job. In addition to each individual having strong personal convictions in the field of political economy and others, and the need for historical perspective but the impossibility of always having it, there is the matter of the present world situation. The twentieth century was destined apparently to be one of tremendous upheaval.

460

Since that September day in 1901 when Theodore Roosevelt, that "mad cowboy" as Mark Hanna put it, was literally shot into the White House, the history of the world has been one of extreme commotion. In the United States, for example, the period 1901 to 1955 has included the Theodore Roosevelt Square Deal and New Nationalism, the Progressive Movement, the Woodrow Wilson New Freedom, Warren Harding's return to normalcy, Coolidge prosperity, Hoover and the start of the great depression, Franklin Roosevelt and the multifarious activities of the New Deal, Harry Truman and the Fair Deal, and the Eisenhower legislative program. Abroad the same period has been dominated by the two greatest world wars of all time, but has also included the Chinese revolution under the great liberal democrat Sun-Yat-Sen and the unfortunate subsequent take over by the Reds; the Russian revolutions with a similar pattern, though the two there followed each other in the same year 1917; the rise and partial fall of fascism, Nazism and authoritarianism in general; and the trying problems and frustrations of the cold war. Throw in a few scientific discoveries and inventions, such as atomic power, radio, television, the automobile, electricity, and tremendous increase in material wealth and the materialism that goes with it, and you have years filled with confusion and turmoil, hope and despair, advance and retreat. And is this situation about to change! Are we on the edge of some very smooth and peaceful sailing? Or, as I think far more likely, will the cold war and its pressures continue for most of our lifetimes, not to mention the terrifying possibility of a third world conflict that would dwarf all others in extent and horror?
     This situation has today placed many additional pinches on the teaching of the social studies. There is the whole problem of communism and subversion; the large area of civil rights and civil liberties; the important considerations of academic freedom; the vital and controversial area of racial desegregation and equality of opportunity; the whole mass of questions in the politico-economic field, and many others. These are all vital matters affecting many people. Decisions made correctly or incorrectly now may well establish trends that will have far reaching effects on the development of the world, the nation, and the church.
     This is decidedly not to suggest that there is at the Academy restraint on the individual teacher of the social studies or of any other department. Actually the freedom of the teacher at the Academy is extensive, comparable to that in any other institution, and better than in most teaching situations. Yet it is to suggest that the temper of the times, the over all prevailing climate of opinion, does have to be considered even though it may be done subconsciously.
     All of these controversial matters come up in the daily work of the average social studies classroom in high school and in college.

461

The students are interested in the problems facing the human race. They are in the process of having their rational minds opened and are, at least from time to time, eager to argue and debate the problems and their various proposed solutions. No subject is taboo. The more controversial and hot the question, the more they are interested in discussing it. A few random subjects that I recall students bringing to my history classes in the last five years are: what is socialism? what is communism? what is capitalism? what is fascism? what should United States immigration policy be? what is the Dixon-Yates contract? what is FEPC? what is the difference between the Republican and Democratic parties? why do we not abolish the Electoral College? why did President Truman oppose giving the off-shore oil lands to the states? why does the United States continue to give money to foreign nations? why did General MacArthur get fired? why was the Korean war fought? what was the difference if any between the Nixon private fund and the Stevenson private fund? why does President Eisenhower favor the extension of the Social Security program? who, what, why and where, is Senator McCarthy? and so forth. Every one of these was actually brought up by some student in the last five years. Some of them were brought up several times.
And furthermore, they were rarely brought up in so simple and direct a fashion as the "what's" and why's" that I have listed. The question is much more apt to come out "What on earth is the real idea behind FEPC, and if it's what I think it is, why would anyone want to force people to have niggers work for them," or "Why doesn't someone hang General MacArthur and get Americans out of Korea"; or most often of all: "What do you think of the Electoral College system, the Dixon-Yates contract, or the Eisenhower program!" This last way is the one most used. What do you think!
And this presents one of the very real problems in teaching the social studies. For all their desire to argue and debate and disagree, the students are really strongly inclined to accept what is said or written. The statements in a textbook become sacred and the comments of the social studies teacher the gospel approach. Their powers of critical analysis are not widely developed as yet and their store of general knowledge is not abundant enough to allow them the chance to make mental comparisons easily. With young minds looking to him for information and direction the social studies teacher must carefully consider the various alternatives to dealing with these controversial, everyday social studies problems. There is, first of all the ostrich approach. This consists of simply ignoring the questions or of refusing to have them discussed in class. Then there is the "we'll come to that later" approach which really means we won't.

462

A third one is the colorless approach which consists of pleasantly agreeing in part with everything that is said and generally not committing one's self on any issue. A fourth way is to deal with each controversial question in one's own terms and with bias, pushing one's own private convictions and prejudices. All of these have some application, I suppose. None of them appeals to me, though doubtless any teacher of the social studies falls into the use of all of them at some time or other. The approach that seems to me to be the most desirable from all points of view is this. First, do not dodge nor ignore controversial questions. Face them squarely and discuss them fully. Lead the students to present the various sides to any argument. There is usually enough difference of opinion in a class if it is properly drawn out. If some points of view are being omitted supply them well whether or not you agree with them. Be impartial, objective, unbiased, unemotional, rational-but not neutral. Colorless neutrality is almost impossible anyway. The social studies teacher should remember only to emphasize in presenting his point of view, when called for, that it is merely his point of view and nothing more. Such an approach will not be directed toward turning out little conservatives or little liberals, little Democrats or little Republicans, depending on the point of view of the teacher. Instead it will provide the maximum opportunity for the students to become acquainted with the problems and their proposed solutions, and at the same time maximum opportunity for them to begin making up their own minds as to just where they are going to stand on any given situation.
Even if this is done to the very best of the social studies teacher's ability there will be strange outcomes. Students are never more than part-time students. In high school there are too many other things demanding their time and attention. If the evaluation sheets that I have the students fill out at the end of each year indicate a partial measure of interest in the work of the year I feel satisfied. When one is competing with dances and dates, football and field hockey, movies and note writing and roller skating, one is thankful for some attention and a reasonable grasp of the subject under discussion. At times the extent to which students can get things mixed up is truly amazing. Despite the teacher's most valiant efforts, confusions and weird outcomes of class discussions or assignments oftentimes take place. It is a little like the old game of whisper down the line. What starts at one end rarely comes out exactly the same at the other. Just two examples will illustrate my point. These are both drawn from the last five years. If the authors are present they may not recall writing them. If they do they will doubtless be able to enjoy them now. The first one grew out of a question on a news quiz. The question was "Who is General Marshall and why was he in the news last week?" The answer "General Marshall won the Noble meddle for the most extinguished man of the year."

463

The other question was on a six week's exam. It read "What is the nature of Machiavelli's (1469-1527) book The Prince?" The answer: "He wrote the book The Prince which instructs you how to ran a newly conquered land, how to treat its people and its recent ruler. He was shot coming out of an elevator in 1935. The assassinator was instantly filled with bullets." This gem grew out of a discussion that we had had in class and a reading assignment in the book. I read them a short passage from The Prince and we discussed his main ideas. I then went on to compare the late Governor and Senator Huey Long of Louisiana with the ideas in The Prince and said that he, Long, was a modern Machiavelli. Just to spark up interest I described for them, in the same vivid way that a Louisianian had once described it to me, the lobby of the state capitol in Baton Rouge and the elevator from which he emerged to his death by the gun of the "assassinator."
These are two rather humorous and harmless examples of misunderstandings that arise in all social studies classes. At other times the misunderstandings can become deeper and more harmful. I have in mind a college professor of mine who was a specialist in colonial American history and who opposed, vigorously and with solid source materials, the Beardian or ultra liberal interpretation of early American history. In discussing his lectures one time with one of the left-wing students-a 1948 Wallace supporter-I was surprised to find that he believed this professor to be the biggest, double-dyed, villainous reactionary ever to set foot on a college campus. In fact the professor was not. From personal contact I knew him to be a decided liberal. He simply could not support the prevailing Beardian approach on the Colonial period. On other periods he and the student would have agreed. Such turn arounds in the minds of students are possible, indeed probable in any social studies class. The nature of the subject matter makes this likely. If there is one piece of advice that I would offer to parents of students in a social studies class it is, do not accept the story of the student until properly confirmed. My mother used always to take the side of the teacher in any story that we brought home. I can see now why she did so and can fully appreciate the desirability of parents taking this approach.

There are certainly problems in teaching the social studies. It is a large and confusing field. It is an emotion packed field in which controversies abound. At times I imagine everyone, social studies teachers included, feels discouraged and desirous of avoiding argument and debate. There is a tendency to yearn for the relative calm and non-controversial atmosphere of a chemistry lab or a music room where the only disagreements might come over how to make the best sulfur bomb or who was the greatest musician, Bach or Beethoven.

464

In fact I once talked with a music teacher who had taught the social studies but had given it up. She expressed her feeling of relief that she could now concentrate on teaching her music and keeping her views on such controversial subjects as health insurance, FEPC, and the House Un-American activities committee, at home.
Yet with all its problems the teaching of the social studies is a fascinating and deeply rewarding occupation. With careful planning, wide study and reading and alert classroom methods, the social studies teacher can lead young minds to see the tremendous importance of the materials of the social studies. They can be led to see that problems of government, of economics, of human relations, of individual enlightenment are vital affairs in which they have a part to play. The democratic system, for better or for worse, is with us to stay and it places a large responsibility on the shoulders of each citizen. The diligent social studies teacher can help the students to lay the groundwork for making just judgments throughout life. He can lead them to see that a wise judgment must depend on a wide understanding of and acquaintanceship with the problem. This acquaintanceship can come to them only through experience and wide and regular reading which partakes of both the liberal and the conservative points of view. He can lead the students to see that there are several different interpretations to any given situation and that reasonable men can honestly differ even on matters of vital and far reaching import. Because of this he can lead them to see that while agreement is not essential, participation is. This groundwork for forming just, rational, unemotional judgments in the field of the social studies will be characterized by an increasing awareness of the importance of such things as clarity, objectivity, tolerance, discrimination, authenticity, wariness of excessive generalizations combined with readiness to state conclusions fairly reached. The development of such personal standards on the civil plane can lead to an increasing ability to judge wisely on the more important moral and spiritual levels of life.
WANTED 1955

WANTED 1955

465

LIST OF MEMORABILIA 1955

     SUBJECT                              SS     F     AR     CL     BE     INFL     TCR     CORO
In one work only
A discussion between George II and English
clergy                                                   341
The abyss in the south                                        421
Dwellers in the north of the abyss                          442
Dwellers in the northwest of the abyss                     456
The incantations of the ancients                              462
English bishops and the works published in
1758                                                   716
Discourse with Pope Sixtus V                               752
Discourse with Babylonians on Peter's keys                    802
Conjugial love seen in its form                                   42-43
Novitiates instructed about marriages in
heaven                                                       44
The chaste love of the sex                                        55
Cause of heavenly beauty discussed                               56
Conjugial love among those in the Copper
Age                                                            77
Conjugial love among those in the Iron Age                     78
Conjugial love after those Ages                                    79-80
Precepts of the New Church                                    82
Origin and potency of conjugial love dis-                          103-
cussed                                                        114
Celestial angels tell of conjugial love among
them                                                            137
The golden shower                                              155a
The garden Adramandoni                                        183
The golden shower again                                        208
Conjugial cold                                                  270
Seven wives in a rose garden speak of conjugial love                                                       293
They speak on the prudence of women                          294
The soul and its quality discussed                               315
Providence in relation to marriages discussed                     316
Women's love of her own beauty discussed                          330-331
Perpetual faculty of loving one's wife in                          355-
heaven                                                       356
Opinions on the origin of feminine beauty                          381- 384
The origin of evil                                              444
About an adulterer taken up to heaven                          477
Of three priests accused by adulterers                          500
Concerning adulterers from set purpose                          521- 522
Three Divine persons from eternity discussed                                   16

466

Evil spirits deny God is bound by order                                         71
Imputation and predestination discussed
with Dutch and English spirits                                                       72
Predestination discussed with others                                         73
Divine omnipotence discussed with clergy,
laity                                                                       74
Swedenborg teaches wise ones about creation                                   76
Angels show by examples the mode of creation                                             78
Creation discussed with some famed for learning                                        79
God, heaven, religion discussed with a satan                                    80
A certain spirit cast down from heaven                                         110
Brief Exposilion discussed                                                       112
Redemption discussed in a temple. Angel instructs                                    134
Idea of unity of God changed in descent into
world of spirits                                                             135
"Sitting on the right hand of God" discussed                                    136
Swedenborg attends an Apostolic and post-
Nicene Council                                                                       137
Angels refute worship of an invisible God                                         159
Concerning the probable number of angelic societies                                        160
Spirits convinced that the Lord must be
approached immediately                                                                 162
A temple in the frozen north                                                   185
The human mind, ordered and disordered                                         186
Discussion with spirits about innate ideas                                         335
Seven spirits express views on chastity
Swedenborg defines it                                                       459
Free-will denied by a council. Swedenborg                                         503
Questions views expressed                                                       464
Free-will discussed with a good and an evil
spirit                                                                  504
Nunc Licet Temple seen                                                                 508
Concerning the first state in world of spirits                                    568
Delights perceived as odors in spiritual world                                    569
Who are meant by the "elect"                                                   664
Conscience discussed by an assembly. An                                         665,
angel instructs                                                                 666
Swedenborg discusses knowledge of influx
with ancient philosophers                                                             695
     In two works
Writing in highest heaven seen and described     90                               278

467

Angels lament the spiritual ignorance of men           42                          391
Concerning the state of man after death                     153                     281
Angels instruct spirits about charity, faith, etc.                                                   224                     621
That evil spirits cannot say "Divine Human"
shown                                                  294                    111
Faith or charity essential of church debated                    386                     460
Separation of sheep and goats represented                    417                     506
Things seen in a magnificent harbor                          463                    462
Scholars confirming faith alone                              484                     505
About one collecting passages on faith alone                484                    161
Whether good done in state of justification
is good of religion debated                               484                     390
How man enters heaven when he is prepared                611                     622
Spirits shown that heaven is not gained by favor                     611                     623
Draconic spirits attack a city of the New
Jerusalem                                                  655                     388
A conversation with two bishops on the
state of the church                                             675                     389
Armageddons contend unsuccessfully with
Michael                                                  839                    113
How man can do good from God as of self
discussed                                                  875                     461
Two angels agree that the essence of heaven
is love and wisdom                                        875                     386
The Temple of Wisdom                                   875                     387
Concerning revelation                                        1, 26                846-
                                                  532-                851
                                                                  535
Ideas concerning the joys of heaven                              2-25                731-
                                                                                     752
Conjugial love in the Golden Age                               75                     37
Conjugial love in the Silver Age                                   76                     44
Angelic glorification because of Second Advent                          81                625
"The Marriage of Good and Truth." A paper let down                     115                624
Arcana considered in a theater of wisdom                          132                48
What news from the earth? Swedenborg                          151a-
at Parnassus                                                       154a
Revelation through Swedenborg discussed at Parnassus                     182                693
Two novitiates confess their previous ideas
of eternal rest                                              207                694
Some unjust judges and their fate seen                          231                332

468

Reasoners of whom it was said: "O, how
learned!"                                             232               333
Confirmers of whom it was said: "O, how wise!"                    233               334
Swedenborg talks with heavenly teachers
about universals of heaven and hell                                   261-266          661
Angels discuss those in the lust of                                        267-268          662
Discussion with angels on three universal loves                     269               507
A discussion on the soul and its quality                              315               697
Difference between spiritual and natural
thought and language shown                                   326-328          280
Ambassador and two priests discuss source
of wisdom                                                            353               663
Creation by nature refuted by Swedenborg                              380               35
Satans speak with angels about God, whom
they deny                                             415               77
Novitiate learns nature of heaven by inquiring
what delight is                                        461               570
Followers of Aristotle, Descartes, Leibnitz,
discuss theories of influx                                             19     696
     In three works
A representation of the Word in itself and now      26:2          255                    277
Concerning the Ancient Word                102           11
The Jerusalem called Sodom and Egypt                     531           114           567
Faith and charity illustrated by an angelic spirit               875          115          385
The scarlet woman; the tabernacle, temple, and
Lord as foundation stone                              926          118          187
Angelic discourse about God and His attributes               961          119          25
Council deliberates on the Lord and the Holy Spirit               962          120          188

     NOTES

     The above table, which is believed to be complete, has been constructed to show graphically in which works Memorabilia are inserted; which of the Memorabilia are repeated, and where; and in the case of repeated Relations, the work in which they are first used.

469

The eight works in which Memorabilia are found are listed chronologically from left to right of the page. Because the Memorabilia have been subdivided according to whether they are used once, twice, or three times the entire table is not chronological. But the chronology of each subgroup is shown, and the entire chronology could easily be worked out from the table.
It should be noted that the Memorabilia are seldom contemporaneous with the works in which they appear.
INVITATION 1955

INVITATION JOHN COOPER 1955

To all visitors from abroad who will be coming to London for the Twenty-first General Assembly the Colchester Society extends a cordial invitation to visit the oldest town in Britain and the General Church Society there, either before or after the Assembly. If you wish to come, please notify the undersigned, who will be pleased to arrange for accommodation should you require it.
JOHN COOPER
33 Lexden Road, Colchester, England
UNIVERSAL TRUTH 1955

UNIVERSAL TRUTH 1955

     "The Eagle and his friend the Other Bird met recently and had a chat. The latter had much to say of a wonderful new truth he had recently learned-twice two is four and the like. The new truth was the truth of figures. He explained and illustrated it at great length and then grew enthusiastic.
     "'Aside from the wonderful beauty and accuracy of this system there is another and grander view of it: it is true on this tree-top; it is true in yonder peaceful valley; and on those distant cloud-capped mountains. It is true whether beneath the burning equatorial sun or in the frozen darkness of an Arctic winter. Ay! more: it is true to the utmost confines of space, and beyond. It is Universal Truth!'
     "'Seems to cover the ground pretty thoroughly,' replied the Eagle. 'By the way, will you mention to me a truth that is not universal?'
     "The Other Bird whetted his beak on the limb, and then replied. 'Just at the moment I cannot call any to mind.'" (Anschutz, Fables)

470

REVIEW 1955

REVIEW Editor 1955

     WHERE HEAVEN BEGINS. By Everett K. Bray. Swedenborg Publishing Association, Brooklyn, New York, 1955. Cloth, pp. 159. Price, $1.50.

     In unrehearsed antiphony the author of this little book replies to A. C. Ferber's Where is Heaven with Where Heaven Begins. Mr. Bray is a senior minister of the' General Convention who has spent many years in the pastoral field, and this is evidently a pastoral rather than a missionary book; one written for New Church men and women and offering counsel out of an abundant experience. Its stated purpose is to view certain of the Lord's teachings as found in the Gospels and the Writings in the effort to visualize and make our own that heavenly life which they so vividly proclaim. And the author's thesis is that if heaven does not begin in the human heart and mind on this plane of existence it never will.
     After tracing the rise and fall of the Christian Church and the beginning of the New, the author deals in the third chapter with the Holy City, which he defines as a picture of human living in relation to the Lord and to human society. It is this twofold relation that is developed in the sixteen short chapters that follow, with "our New Church fellowship" as "the first area of life in which the new Christianity expresses itself" (p. 49). Stress is laid on the interdependence of men and their common dependence on the Lord, on the necessity for freedom and reason, and on the practice of charity to all degrees of the neighbor. There is much sound doctrine here, clearly expressed and documented by footnote references to the Writings; yet doctrine is always used as an aid to the heavenly life, and the author is particularly happy in application, in which he shows insight, tolerance, and sympathy.
     From a doctrinal standpoint the book has, in our opinion, only one serious defect. Defining the Christian Church as a way of life, it presents the New Church as no more than a restoration of what the Apostolic Church had possessed; as a new age for the Christian Church rather than a new church. Indeed the New Church is said in one place to be a new state of the Christian Church. Also, we think that the Writings do more than point out teachings in the Bible which had been overlooked. But these defects apart, there is much of value in this book, and it may be read with pleasure and profit by the New Church public.
     THE EDITOR

471

OPEN WORD 1955

OPEN WORD Editor 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly by

THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                              Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa,
Circulation Secretary               Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Treasurer                          Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address, and business communications should be sent to the Circulation Secretary. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.
     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 30 cents.
     The Reformation is credited with restoring the Bible to the people. Yet although it placed the Scriptures in men's hands, and this was of inestimable value to those who could read them in their own light, the limited nature of the restoration should be understood. The Roman Church had contended, and does now, that she was not the child but the mother of the Bible, wherefore she alone knew how to interpret it correctly, which vested authority in the pope and the church. Luther indeed called Protestants back to the authority of the Bible as against that of Rome, but in so doing he superimposed his own authority upon the Bible itself.
     For Luther did not believe that the Bible was literally true or that all parts of it were equal. He claimed that within the Bible there was a criterion by which the whole could be judged-the message of justification and salvation by faith alone which he believed he had rediscovered; and he taught that the Bible is a true revelation only where it speaks to this message, even wishing to throw out those books which were not in agreement with it. Thus neither Catholics nor Protestants read the Word in its own light. The faithful Catholic learned Rome's interpretation of what he might not then read for himself; and to the Protestant who thought from the doctrines of Luther, and later of Calvin, the book placed in his hands was closed. It was not until the Lord made His second coming, and Himself opened the Word by revealing its internal sense, that the Word could be read at last in its own light; and to preserve this possibility is one of the church's highest trusts.

472

MEMORABILIA 1955

MEMORABILIA Editor 1955

     Elsewhere in this issue is published a list of the Memorabilia which appear in several works of the Writings. That these relations would prove to be "hard sayings" was anticipated, for Swedenborg was given to write: "I foresee that many who read the Memorabilia that are appended to the chapters of this work will believe them to be figments of the imagination. But I declare in solemn truth that they are not inventions, but were truly seen and heard; not seen and heard in some state of the mind when asleep, but in a state of complete wakefulness" (TCR 851). That which had been foreseen soon happened. Count von Hapken urged Swedenborg not to publish the Memorabilia, and Cuno wrote to the same effect; but Swedenborg answered that he had been commanded by the Lord to publish them.
     The reason for that command, and at the same time the uses of the Memorabilia, may be seen in the teachings that they are in the place of miracles, and unless men are affected by them they will not hear the interiors of the Word (SD 4123); that it is important to know what is in the spiritual world in order to understand the internal sense of the Word (AE 410); that the literal sense of the Word is derived mostly from the appearances of the spiritual world (AE 503); and that a knowledge of the Memorabilia is necessary for an understanding of the spiritual sense of the Scriptures (AC 6663). There is sometimes an appearance that in these relations Swedenborg is writing allegories, or formulating doctrinal truth in correspondential language; but he is describing things really seen and heard which were representative forms.
     In the Memorabilia the facts of the spiritual world are presented to the imagination, and both the phenomena of that world and the general truths of doctrine are expressed in objective or spiritual-historical form. Thus they perform a use answering to that of the historicals of the letter, and they may be regarded as part of the spiritual-natural or internal-historical portion of the Word.
     Another use of the Memorabilia may be seen in the fact that it was fundamental to Swedenborg's preparation that he be introduced to the spiritual world before he could enter into the spiritual sense and reveal it to men. This revelation could never have been made, it is said, "unless the nature of the things in the other world had been made known" (AC 67), and unless it had been given to Swedenborg to "have consort with the angels of heaven and to speak spiritually with them" (LJ 42). "In order that the true Christian religion might be manifested it was necessary that someone should he introduced into the spiritual world and derive from the mouth of the Lord genuine truths out of the Word" (Inv. 38).

473

Although the analogy should not be pressed too hard, it is surely evident that the more the reader is thoroughly familiar with the Memorabilia, the more can he enter understandingly into the internal sense.
It may be said that the Memorabilia perform the following uses. They make the spiritual world more real by presenting it concretely instead of in terms of abstract doctrine, thus providing a basis for thought about and understanding of that world. They illustrate how it is possible to live in two worlds and show the interdependence of angels and spirits and men. They disclose the origins of affections and thoughts, and at the same time show graphically where our affections and thoughts may lead us. And they offer striking examples of how the Lord protects angels, good spirits and men, from harm. Finally, it may be noted that the Memorabilia are usually not contemporaneous with the works in which they appear, but are inserted because of their subjects.
GENERAL CHURCH AT CONVENTION 1955

GENERAL CHURCH AT CONVENTION ALFRED ACTON 1955

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     In your August issue, page 381, speaking of the Rev. Norman Reuter's address read last June at the General Convention in Kitchener, you say: "This is believed to be the first time a General Church minister has addressed the General Convention." In the interest of historical accuracy I submit the following.
     At the General Assembly of the General Church held in Glenview, June, 1898, the Rev. L. P. Mercer and the Rev. Thomas A. King were present as authorized representatives of the General Convention. For the cultivation of good relations with that body, the Assembly then appointed the Rev. C. Th. Odhner and myself to attend the next meeting of the General Convention as representatives of the General Church. That meeting was held in Brooklyn in 1899, and by invitation both Mr. Odhner and I addressed that body, and we were warmly received.
     To complete the record I may add the following. By invitation of the General Convention I, as representative of the Swedenborg Scientific Association, addressed that body at its meeting in Chicago in 1938. In June, 1949, I was also invited to address the General Conference of the New Church in England, at its meeting in London in June, 1949. On both these occasions I was very warmly received, and a member of the General Conference remarked that the occasion when the General Conference was addressed by a minister of the General Church was indeed an historical occasion.
     ALFRED ACTON

474

LOCAL SCHOOLS DIRECTORY 1955

     1955-1956

     Elementary Schools report the following teaching staffs for 1955-1956:
Bryn Athyn. Rev. David R. Simons                    Principal
Miss Mary Louise Williamson                         Kindergarten
Miss Jennie Gaskill                              Grade 1
Mrs. Karen Synnestvedt Johns                          Grade 2
Miss Zara Bostock                                   Grade 2
Miss Erna Sellner                                   Grade 3
Miss Phillis Cooper                               Grade 4
Mrs. Lucy Boggess Waelchli                         Grade 5
Miss Anna Hamm                                   Grade 6
Mrs. Elizabeth Doering Echols                         Grade 1
Miss Julie de Maine                              Grade 8

Colchester. Rev. Alan Gill                         Principal
Miss Helene Howard                              Grades 1-5

Durban. Rev. A. Wynne Acton                         Principal
Miss Sylvia Pemberton                               Grades 1-3

Glenview. Rev. Elmo C. Acton                         Principal
Miss Marcia Trimble                              Kindergarten, Grade 3
Miss Gloria Stroh                                   Grades 1 & 2
Miss Gwladys Hicks                               Grades 4 & 5
Miss Laura Gladish                              Grades 6 & 7
Miss Gladys Blackman                               Grades 8 & 9

Kitchener. Rev. Norman H. Reuter                    Principal
Rev. Jan H. Weiss                                   Asst. to the Principal
Miss Rita Kuhl                                   Grades 1-4, 6, 8

Pittsburgh. Rev. Louis B. King                    Principal
Miss Venita Roschman                              Grades 1-3
Mrs. Angela Bergstrom Schoenberger                    Grades 4-6
Mr. Carl Gunther                                    Grades 7 & 8

Toronto. Rev. Martin Pryke                         Principal
Miss Joan Kuhl                                    Kindergarten, Grades 2-5, 7, 8

     Part-time and special teachers, voluntary or otherwise, are not included here. The teaching staff of the Academy of the New Church is listed in the CATALOGUE issued by that body.

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Church News 1955

Church News Various 1955

     WASHINGTON, D. C.

     The constitution of the Washington Society was read and adopted at a meeting held last January, our pastor, the Rev. Dandridge Pendleton, presiding. A building fund was enthusiastically supported and a committee was appointed to look for a church building. Several churches and houses were inspected, but so far nothing suitable for us has been found. Our Society is so scattered that it is difficult to find a place which is accessible to all. Most of us feel that it should be in the city of Washington.
     Our classes, held every other Friday, have covered parts of the Divine Providence during the year. The uses of the Jewish Church and the Christian Church through the ages were very effectively explained to us, and we were then brought to the use of our own church-that of preserving the true concept of the Lord. We are now having classes, and some suppers, in the David Stebbings' recreation room.
     Mr. Pendleton had three baptisms last spring. The Women's Guild has been quite active-taking care of the pastor's robes, the chancel cloths and candles, and the communion vessels. Our very able secretary, Cecelia Kintner Walker, has kept us all taking turns arranging the chancel for services. We have had bake sales and plant sales to raise money. Much to our regret, Mrs. Walker is leaving us to take a library position in Abingdon, Virginia, over 300 miles from here. Rill and Xandre Kintner had a farewell party for her and we presented her with a pretty bracelet. We enjoyed the party in the attractive new home the Kintners have bought in Arlington, Virginia.
     In May we were invited to join with the Baltimore Sons in a picnic at the Karl Knapp farm. We were sorry to hear that Karl has since sold this farm as it was a nice home in the hills of southern Maryland. When Mr. Pendleton was on his southern trip last spring our services were conducted by the Rev. Karl R. Alden and the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson. We always enjoy becoming reacquainted with these visiting ministers. We entertained both the Bryn Athyn senior boys and girls at dinner on their spring sightseeing trips to Washington. We like getting to know these young people.
     Messrs. Kesneil Acton, Theodore Glenn, Philip Pendleton, and George Woodard were all entertained by us over weekends when they came to talk to us about our church uses. It was an unexpected pleasure to have Sunday evening services conducted by two visiting ministers, the Rev. Robert S. Junge and the Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen, last spring. We wish them both success in their new societies.
     After Mr. Pendleton's fine Nineteenth of June sermon we all drove the fifty miles down to the Philip Stebbing farm and had a swim and a picnic-an annual event. Our annual summer picnic, held in August at the Stebbing farm, was in honor of Barbara Allen, who entered the Academy this fall. The second son of Mr. and Mrs. Williams also entered the Academy this fall. We are now looking forward to another successful year with our pastor, the Rev. Dandridge Pendleton.
     ELIZABETH H. Grant

     LONDON, ENGLAND

     Once again the London Society has had a period of some months without a resident pastor, and our gratitude and appreciation go out to the Rev. Alan Gill and the Rev. Frank Rose, who conducted services, and also to Mr. Percy Dawson and our secretary, Mr. Stanley Wainscot, for reading the services on all other occasions. The normal activities of the Society were fully maintained. This is not surprising since we have a younger set full of wholehearted zeal and energy, and they have recently returned from a summer holiday by the sea looking fit for anything!
     The hearts of all were glad, however, when representative members of the Society set out for St. Pancras Station on June 25th to meet their chosen pastor and his family. This was more than the welcoming of an old friend; it could be said to be a kind of homecoming, for the Rev. Erik Sandstrom has long been held in the highest esteem and affection in England.

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     On Sunday, June 26th, Mr. Sandstrom conducted the service, which began with the baptism of Stephen Hayden, the infant son of Mr. and Mrs. G. Gimbrett. The sermon, on baptism, made one aware of the necessity of preparation through the Lord for entering into a new state, as this Society is now doing.
     In the afternoon, under the able direction of Mr. Percy Dawson, the celebration of New Church Day was held; and after a most excellent lunch prepared by some of the ladies of the Society, Mr. Dawson read his paper, the theme being that the Lord's second advent was completed by the giving of the doctrine of the New Church and with it the promise that this church will excel all other churches and endure forever. This, he said, is one important message of New Church Day. Referring to the Rev. Morley Rich's paper, "The Arcana of Judgment," Mr. Dawson submitted that the Arcana Coelestia had to be written and published to present the internal sense as an ultimate plane on which the heavenly doctrine revealed in the heavens could rest; that without it the Last Judgment could not have taken place; and that all subsequent works complete the second coming of the Lord in that they draw forth and present the heavenly doctrine from the Arcana Coelestia as a matrix. With the completion of the True Christian Religion this was finally achieved on earth.
     Mr. Dawson then read a letter of greeting from the Rev. Morley Rich expressing his delight that the Rev. Erik Sandstrom had been chosen as pastor of this Society. Greetings were conveyed also from the Rev. Alan Gill and the Colchester Society as well as the "Open Road." The secretary then read an address of welcome to the Rev. and Mrs. Erik Sandstrom on behalf of the London Society. This was a most happy occasion, for not only was there the glad awareness of the great blessings that we are granted as members of the Lord's New Church but also, with the arrival of our new pastor and his wife, there was a sense of something analogous to that contentment and peace which a spiritual society must feel when another spirit finally enters into its use there and is received with joy.
     The annual meeting of the Society, at which our new pastor presided, was held on July 24th. Judging from the reports of our very efficient secretary and the various committees, the affairs of the Society are in good and progressive order and there is every promise of greatly increased activity in preparation for the summer of 1956.
     On Sunday, August 7th, welcome visitors from the United States were Mr. Edward C. Bostock, Miss Zara Bostock, and Mr. Leonard E. Gyllenhaal, and from Montreal the Misses Timmins. We enjoyed Mr. Bostock's account of the trip which he, his daughter and Mr. Gyllenhaal, had made throughout the length of Africa; and in addition to a general idea of the purport of the visit we received also glimpses of the very beautiful countryside through which they had passed. Mr. Gyllenhaal expressed his pleasure in getting to know the Durban Society so well and conveyed greetings to the London Society from the Rev. Wynne Acton and his wife. He emphasized also the importance of New Church people visiting one another's societies and in that way strengthening the church by the better understanding, and thereby reduction, of the problems with which individual societies are faced. The General Assembly in London was surely going to be a very good excuse for starting this ball rolling, and it was very evident here that preparations were being made for the welcoming of a quite unprecedented number of visitors from every part of the world.
     This would not be a complete report on the present state of the London Society without reference to the very high level of all the sermons that have been preached to us by the Rev. Erik Sandstrom since his arrival here. It is very evident that there is in the Society a deep desire to enter more fully into the uses of the church by an ever clearer understanding of doctrine and life according thereto, and under the wise teaching and guidance of our pastor it is felt that there is every promise of its fulfillment.
     IRIS O. BRISCOE

     BALTIMORE, MD.

     Nine months have sped by since our last report. With the Rev. Morley D. Rich now in Miami, Fla., from whence he will minister to those southern states formerly visited by our pastor for two months in each year, we shall have a full schedule of activities each week.

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For this we are grateful. But we look back happily upon the past when we met with various other members of the clergy four times a year. This opportunity to know and appreciate the minds and personalities of different ministers was both a pleasure and a privilege we shall not forget.
     On Mr. Pendleton's last southern trip we had with us on April 23rd and 24th Mr. Jan H. Weiss. Mr. Robert S. Junge was in the pulpit on May 8th. Earlier, on March 18th, Mr. Pendleton and the Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen from Pittsburgh had exchanged pulpits. Too rich a variety of subject matter was presented by these three for us to do justice to it all here, but Mr. Boyesen's address on the illegality of the Lord's trial before the Sanhedrin was of unusual interest. We were fascinated by the history and framework of the Jewish laws, which most interestingly gave the accused the benefit of every doubt, and were amazed to learn how each law was broken in the trial of the Lord.
     Mr. Robert Coulter of St. Paul, Minn., was our guest on March 19th, and we were especially happy that Mrs. Boyesen accompanied her husband that weekend, thus giving us a chance to meet them both before they left for Sweden. Other unrecorded events include first our Swedenborg's birthday banquet. With Mr. Gerald Nelson as master of ceremonies, all the children under twelve were asked to give a speech on some aspect of Swedenborg's life of particular interest to them. We sang again the beloved songs to our seer and to the church, and Mr. Pendleton closed the event with a short speech for both the children and their elders. The combined spheres of seriousness and joyful innocence made the occasion notable.
     We trust that Swedenborg forgave this celebration in a half painted room! The men of the society soon finished the job under the able direction of Ed Seemer. We use the same room for festive gatherings, doctrinal classes, and worship, opening the dubonet curtains of the chancel for services. Other than the redecoration of the chancel itself, this final renovation is the most noticeable improvement that has been carried out in our chapel. The walls and all the woodwork, including the communion rail and the lectern and pulpit, are now a soft gray; the ceiling is white, giving almost an alabaster effect to the molded sheet metal; and the gray shades blend the windows unnoticeably, the over all effect being most restful.
     We were happy to have Mr. and Mrs. George Woodard with us on March 4th, at which time Mr. Woodard explained to the Society the new plan initiated by the Sons of the Academy for financing New Church education. At the Seemer home, on March 9th, Mr. Pendleton addressed the women on "The Essential Feminine," with which readers of the LIFE are now familiar.
     May 7th saw the adults of the Washington and Baltimore Societies gathered together at the Karl Knapp farm, which is between the two cities. The occasion was a Sons meeting to which the women also were invited. It was good to see both old and new friends over a sumptuous buffet supper. Later Mr. Robert Junge addressed us on the subject of New Church education, pointing out that every doctrine in the Writings can be applied to the education of our children-a most stimulating thought indeed. This occasion was also in the nature of a farewell to the Knapp farm, which has been the scene of many wonderful get-togethers for the Baltimore group. Happily, although the farm is now sold, Mr. Knapp will remain with us for a time before he leaves for Florida.
     A banquet on the chapel lawn on New Church Day closed the festivities for the season. But they opened again on August 28th when, after the service, Mr. Pendleton, with some inspiring remarks addressed to our young people leaving for Bryn Athyn, presented Miss Mary Faith Coffin with a gift from the Society on the occasion of her first going to the Academy. After this the Society gathered at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Seemer for fun and refreshments. To this couple who will be leaving us soon, as Mr. Seemer's work takes them to New York, go our sincere and affectionate best wishes. Though they are relatively new in the church, we have received untold benefits from their cheerful and inspiring personalities, their untiring labor in behalf of the chapel, and their leadership in society affairs. Their going will be a deeply felt loss in our young society.
     JANET H. DOERING

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Convention. The Board of Trustees of Urbana University approved last summer plans for continuing the present projects of Urbana Junior College and for program expansion.

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Plans for the present academic year include continuation of the Adult Education Program developed since 1951 and of the holding of several educational conferences during the college year and the summer months. The program for full-time college freshmen which was resumed in the fall of 1954 will also be continued; and the program has been expanded to include courses for full-time sophomores, thus again making it possible for college students to complete two years of work at Urbana Junior College. The continuation of conferences and committee meetings as a part of the college service to local, state, and national educational projects was also approved. Several such conferences were held during the summer.
     General Conference. At the remaining meetings of the 148th General Conference, held at Failsworth, the Rev. A. Gorange, B.A., pastor of the Glasgow Society, was elected president-nominate The Rev. P. V. Vickers, B.Sc., was chosen as Conference preacher for 1956. An invitation to Conference to meet in Glasgow in 1956 was unanimously accepted.
     Australia. The 21st Conference of "The New Church in Australia," held in Sydney last Easter, decided to form an editorial and publishing board for the production and management of the Conference Journal, the NEW AGE, and to reduce the bi-monthly magazine to 16 pages. The board at its inaugural meeting invited the Rev. Richard H. Teed to continue as editor under the policy laid down by the board; Mr. Teed declined, however, and wanted it to be made known that it is owing to the fact that the Conference failed to reappoint him that he cannot see his way to serve any longer as editor." This concluded an editorship of 30 years that has made important contributions in the New Church periodical field. Appreciation was expressed by the board to Mr. Teed, and to Mr. W. R. Horner who had served as publisher for many years. The new editor is the Rev. E. Leslie Bennett.

     THE ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH

     Enrollment for 1955-1956

Theological School           2
College                     85
Boys' Academy                19
Girls' Seminary                56
                              222

     LOCAL SCHOOLS

     Enrollment for 1955-1956

Bryn Athyn                     216
Glenview                     76
Kitchener                    15
Pittsburgh                    24
Toronto                     12
                         343

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CHARTER DAY 1955

1955

     Announcements.
     All ex-students of the Academy of the New Church, and their wives or husbands, are cordially invited to attend the Charter Day Exercises, to be held in Bryn Athyn, Pa., on Friday and Saturday, October 21 and 22, 1955. THE PROGRAM:
     Friday, 11 a.m.-Cathedral Service, with an address by the Rev. Louis B. King.
     Friday Afternoon.-Football Game.
     Friday Evening.-Dance.
     Saturday, 7 p.m.-A Banquet in the Assembly Hall. Toastmaster, the Rev. Karl R. Alden.
     Arrangements will be made for the entertainment of guests if they will write to Mrs. V. W. Rennels, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1955

GENERAL ASSEMBLY GEORGE DE CHARMS 1955

     THE TWENTY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in London, England, from Tuesday, July 24th, to Sunday, July 29th, 1956, inclusive.
     The program and other information will be given in later issues of NEW CHURCH LIFE.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS,
          Bishop.
DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES 1955

DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES GEORGE DE CHARMS 1955

     All members and friends of the General Church of the New Jerusalem are cordially invited to attend the District Assemblies, as follows:
     EASTERN CANADA, TORONTO, ONTARIO, Saturday, October 8th, to Monday, October 10th inclusive, the Bishop presiding.
     CHICAGO DISTRICT GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS, Friday, October 14th, to Sunday, October 16th, inclusive, the Bishop presiding.
     There will he no WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA, OHIO, AND MICHIGAN ASSEMBLY this year.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS,
          Bishop

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THANKFULNESS 1955

THANKFULNESS Rev. ELMO C. ACTON 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXV NOVEMBER, 1955          No. 11
     "Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto Me in the year. Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread and the feast of harvest and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labors out of the field." (Exodus 23:14-16)

     From most ancient times it has been a custom to set aside a period after the harvest to give thanks for the produce of the land. It is innate in man to feel gratitude for the fruit of the earth, the growth and development of which is, and always has been, a great mystery. Although man toils and labors to produce the harvest, he yet knows that some power beyond his reach overrules all his efforts. He sees his work destroyed by drought, flood, hail or pest, and he realizes that he has little control over the most important elements that produce the harvest. When he eventually reaps it, therefore, he feels an innate sense of gratitude. This is common to all peoples, whether Christian or pagan. It is a pouring forth of the thankfulness of the heart for the means whereby they sustain their lives.
     Even in the so-called civilized world-where man, from his knowledge and science, has made himself somewhat independent of the elements-this feeling of thankfulness in the presence of the harvested crop is not absent. For every thinking man must realize that the life-giving quality of the fruit is uncreatable and as great a mystery as ever. The rational man can see that while his knowledge of the care of the seed and its culture has increased immensely, the development of the life itself within the seed is far beyond his control; that it is overruled by a force operating in unseen ways, which can bring to nought all his labor. This experience causes man to stand in awe in the presence of the harvest. This awe in the presence of the mystery of life is the most deep-seated natural origin of the harvest festival.

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     In the savage it is caused by fear, a fear of the unknown and to him often hostile forces of nature. He offers his thanks, chants his incantations, and performs his superstitious rites as means of propitiating these forces and gaining their favor. He feels that if he fails to do these things the force of nature will take revenge by withholding the harvest. To some extent this idea remains with many Christians. For although they give to this force the name of God, and claim to be intimate with its wishes, they yet retain the idea that they can in some way control its operations by their prayers and praises. Some retain the thought that God desires the thanks and the praise, and that He withholds His gifts from those who deny Him His due. In this there is something of the thought of gaining God's favor by a thanksgiving offering; an idea that God desires their thanks and gives His mercies in return for them as a reward. A little thought will show that this idea attributes to God self-love and the love of glory; two qualities which can not be attributed to a God of infinite love.
     God does not desire thanks from man on His account, but on man's account. When we give thanks we are not adding to God's glory; that is unthinkable. By our thanks and acknowledgment of the Lord's infinite power we open our minds to receive Divine blessings. It is we who turn ourselves to God by giving thanks, not God who turns Himself to us. He is present with all, as wholly present with those who do not give thanks as with those who do; but those who acknowledge the Lord by giving thanks to Him open their hearts to receive His mercies. It is as with one who gratefully receives and gives thanks for a present from a friend. His thankfulness forms a plane for reception of the delight which the friend wishes to communicate. But if he is not grateful for the gift, he shuts himself off from the delight which the giver wishes to communicate. Thus in giving thanks to God for His mercies we open our minds to receive from Him those Divine blessings which He continually wills to give us. But if we are not thankful, and refuse to express thanks, it is we who reject and separate ourselves from the Divine mercies. And where love is not returned there is no reciprocation of conjunction.
     It is therefore "good to give thanks unto the Lord, and praise Him for His wonderful works toward the children of men." In so doing we do the Lord's will; and it is we who are blessed, we do not add to the Lord's glory.
     When we observe, we find innumerable things for which to be thankful, and it is useful that we should set aside a time to recall these things to our minds. Also, the Lord has so commanded. It was foreseen that if there were not such stated times, man in his self-absorption would regard all things as the results of his own ingenuity and his entire life would be taken up with his own selfish interests. It is we, then, who need these celebrations; and the Lord desires them, not for Himself, but for us.

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     We should be thankful for the fruit of the ground, for the material food by which our lives are sustained and we are enabled to perform our uses in the world. We should be thankful for our country, which affords the means of enjoying freedom and gaining happiness and worshiping according to each one's conscience. We should be thankful for our families and friends. We should be thankful for our school and society and the church organizations. But if man is thankful only for these external blessings his thanks are meager, for in themselves all of these things are temporal; they will pass in time. These blessings of the natural life of man are given in order that he may receive eternal blessings. Thanks for these things is commanded in the Word so that in them and by means of them man may be reminded of eternal blessings; for within everything finite and temporal there is the infinite and eternal. It is man's duty to search for this infinite and eternal in all the external things of his life. In so far as he succeeds in discovering the eternal within the temporal, in that degree he can give thanks even though natural blessings are for a time withheld. For the spiritual man knows that whatever befalls him in time is best for his eternal well-being. He acknowledges, believes and sees, that the Lord looks to eternal things, and to temporal things only in so far as they agree with eternal things; so that even though natural blessings are removed, he still gives thanks for the spiritual blessings which can come through material suffering.
     It is these eternal blessings that are inmostly intended in the text by the Lord's commanding the celebration of three feasts in the year. And what the spiritual blessings are may be seen from the spiritual significance of these three feasts. They represent the three universal states of man's regeneration. The feast of unleavened bread was in remembrance of deliverance from Egypt and represented man's deliverance from the slavery of his selfish and worldly loves and delights. The feast of insemination represented the implantation of the truths of the Word after the removal of evil. And the feast of ingathering represented the fruits of the good of use produced by a life according to the truth.
     The feast of ingathering is said to represent the worship of the Lord from a grateful mind on account of the implantation of good. The good so implanted in the fruit of the field is the harvest which is eternal; the bread of which a man may eat and never hunger. His delight in the harvest festival is not confined to the natural blessings of the earth. It is centered in the delight of the good and use he enjoys. In natural blessings, and even in their absence, he looks for, and sometimes is given to see, that which is eternal. He knows that whatever the external conditions, the Lord is leading and directing them to produce eternal blessings for all.

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     His first feast of the year is one in which he gives thanks for deliverance from evil. As the first, in time, is the preparation of the ground, so the first in regeneration is the shunning of evils as sins against God, by which the ground of his mind, his loves and affections, may be prepared to receive the truths of the Word in good ground and bring forth fruit. And as in the harvest the next step is the planting of the seed and its cultivation, so the second universal of regeneration is the learning and reception of the truths of the Word and a life according to them. And finally, the seeds produce their fruit and the harvest is reaped. So the seeds of truth bring forth the goods and uses of life in which man is given to feel his life and delight. This is the good of the truth. The delight felt in the doing of good and the performance of uses causes him to give thanks to Him from whom they have come. In such thanks there is no superstition, no unhealthy fear, no endeavor to propitiate a self-seeking deity, no thought of adding to the glory of God, but only a humble and thankful feeling for blessings freely given; a feeling proceeding from an overflowing heart. Into such a state the Lord can inflow and communicate to it deeper and ever more sentient blessings. Because this faculty with man can increase to eternity, and does increase with angels, therefore they are said to be in a perpetual thanksgiving and glorification of the Lord because of His blessings.
     Thus it may be seen that all true thankfulness comes from those who are in the end for which the celebration or feast is established. From this some might think that they, as yet, are not in a true state of thanksgiving, and may therefore feel that they should withhold themselves from these feasts. The fact is that all who are striving to regenerate have within them that from which they may sincerely give thanks. The desire to regenerate is itself the first of the fruit of the eternal harvest. Each one of us can look for what is eternal in all that befalls us, and we can give thanks to the Lord that in every temporal happening He foresees and provides what is best for our eternal happiness. Such thanksgiving is not dependent upon the externals of the celebration. It is not dependent upon the plenty of the natural harvest. For it knows that even in suffering and adversity the Lord can and does provide that which is of eternal value. Happy is the man who so trusts in the Lord; for he continually gives thanks, and this celebration is to him an external remembrance of his perpetual glorification of the Lord-an external in which his internal comes into the fulness of its joy and delight.
     "It is good to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises to the Lord most high." "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you." "The Lord looks to eternal things, and to temporal things only in so far as they accord with eternal things."

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"O Lord, how manifold are Thy works; in wisdom hast Thou made them all, the earth is full of Thy riches." Amen.

     LESSONS: Exodus 23:1-19. Divine Providence, 215.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 570, 569, 566.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 109, 116.
BE THANKFUL UNTO HIM 1955

BE THANKFUL UNTO HIM Rev. KENNETH O. STROH 1955

     A Talk to Children

     Children: How many times in a day do you say to somebody, "Thank you"? How often do people do things for you-help you to put on your coat, hold the door open for you, pass you food at mealtimes, give you presents? And your parents teach you to say "Thank you," when they and others do things for you. But why do you think they have taught you to do this? They love you and will take care of you no matter what you do or say, especially while you are little. Then why do you suppose they want you to say "Thank you" to them and to other people!
     They want you to learn this, not for their sakes, but for your sake. They teach you this, not because they need to hear it, but because they know that you need to say it. For if you want to be happy, you need to learn how to receive love from other people, and give it back in return: you need to open your hearts to them. And one of the most important ways of doing this is by showing your thankfulness for the things they do by saying "Thank you." So, think! How many things happen to you every day for which you can be thankful to other people?
     But how much more do you need to be thankful to the Lord! For it is the Lord who has given you your parents and your friends. He has given you your homes. He has made the wood to grow: He has made the iron, the stone and all things that go into bricks, so that without the Lord you would not have the homes in which you are so comfortable, warm and safe. You have clothes because the Lord has given all the things from which your clothes are made: and you have food because the Lord has caused the food to grow. He has given His warm sunlight, the falling rain to help things grow, and the winds to clear the air.
     More than this, the Lord has given you a wonderful home-country in which to live-your fatherland with its far-reaching plains and rolling hills, its rugged mountains and winding valleys, its green forests, its shining rivers and lakes, its farms and cities.

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The Lord has also given your country a government which can protect your freedom and can work for peace.
     The Lord has given His church-His house-where you can come to worship Him, where you can come to learn about Him and about heaven from the Word. The Lord has made His heaven, a beautiful place with bright skies and brightly colored gardens of flowers and trees: there He builds a heavenly home for every person who wants to live there when he or she leaves this world. And the most marvellous thing of all is the Lord's Word, which He has given so that you may learn from it what is good and right, so that you will know how to find the way to heaven and its happiness. Everything that is good and right and true is given by the Lord, freely. So how much ought you to be thankful to the Lord and praise Him for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men!
     The Lord gives you all these precious gifts because He is your Heavenly Father who loves each one of you very much and who wants to make you happy. And because He loves you so very much, He will do all things that He possibly can for you, no matter whether you thank Him or not. For the Lord does not need thanksgiving. He does not need praise, glory or honor from people, because the Lord never changes. He is always the same. And His love for all people, His love for you, stays the same, no matter what you do or say.
     Yet, in His Word, the Lord asks that you be thankful to Him. And He demands this thanksgiving, not for His own sake, but for your sake. For when you come before Him with praise and thanksgiving, then you can open your hearts and minds to the Lord. And when you do this the Lord can give you His blessings most fully: He can give you all good things, and all the happiness for which you could ever wish. This is why you should be thankful to the Lord every day of your lives. And it is also the reason that a special day is set aside at the time of harvest-Thanksgiving Day-so that all people may remember and may think about the mercies of the Lord.
     And so the Lord has commanded that you should "enter into His gates with thanksgiving, into His courts with praise." The court, or entrance to the Lord's heavenly home, is His church. And the way you truly go through the gates into the church is by learning to know what is goad and true. This knowledge has been given anew by the Lord in the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, the Writings of His Second Coming, so that all men may learn the way to heaven, if they wish. Thus the greatest reason of all to give thanks to the Lord is that He has given His new Word, so that men can come into His New Church and may be led to heaven.

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And the way above all else in which you can give thanks to the Lord is by going to His Word, learning from it what is right and good, trying to do what is right and refusing to do what is wrong, and by using all the gifts He has given. For in this way you will come into the Lord's New Church on earth, and can make ready for a life of everlasting happiness in His heaven.
     So that you might learn to receive this life, the Lord has said that you should "enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise." This is why you should "remember His marvelous works that He hath done; His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth." This is why you should "sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him," and talk about all His wondrous works. Because "He is the Lord our God: His judgments are in all the earth." And so all people ought to "be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good: His mercy is everlasting, and His truth is from generation to generation." Amen.

     LESSONS: Psalms 23, 100. AC 5957.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 568, 564, 561.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. C 10, C 18.
SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1955

SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1955

     GENERAL CHURCH RELIGION LESSONS. Graded lessons and other material from preschool through Grade 12. Address inquiries to: Pastor-in-Charge, Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     GENERAL CHURCH SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE. Tape-recordings of services, sermons, doctrinal classes, children's services, etc. Address: General Church Sound Recording Committee, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     GENERAL CHURCH VISUAL EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE. Biblical and other slides. Address: Mr. William R. Cooper, Director, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     NEW CHURCH EDUCATION. Published by Religion Lessons Committee monthly, September to June, inclusive. Subscription, $1.50. Editor: Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal.

488

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1955

The Gospel through Luke is concluded this month, and we note as peculiar to it the account of the walk to Emmaus. John, the reading of which will continue until the end of the year, has been called by scholars the "spiritual gospel," though it might more accurately be described as celestial. The Synoptic Gospels record mostly the acts and teachings of the Lord, but John was permitted to give glimpses of His inner life. His subject, connecting the Lord with the Logos of philosophy, is the "Word made flesh." When he was inspired to write, the other gospels were already extant, and his preserves a much larger proportion of the Lord's discourses that the other three, but omits all the parables and many of the events related in them. While the Synoptists deal mainly with events in Galilee, John is almost entirely occupied with the Lord's ministry in Judaea; and one-third of his gospel is devoted to the last twenty-four hours in the Lord's earthly life. The key to the fourth gospel is to be found in 20:31: "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name."

In the opening chapters of Heaven and Hell the nature, structure, form, and correspondences of heaven are clearly described. The chapters assigned for reading in November (15-31) deal first with the properties of heaven-light and heat, time and space, and correspondential changes in relation thereto; then with the surroundings and possessions of the angels; with the form, government, and worship of heaven; and with the powers, qualities, and states of the angels. Many of the teachings presented here, for example, those concerning time and space in heaven, will become clear if we reflect that the laws of the spiritual world are those of the human mind. There are spaces and times in the other world, for angels and spirits are separate entities with distinct but shifting relations to each other, and states wax and wane. Yet these spaces and times are not fixed as on earth, but are measured in terms of the extension and duration of states of love and thought, a familiar phenomenon in our mental experience. The reader will do well to remember, however, that this work is more than a description of the spiritual world; it is also a revelation of the natural mind, and of the heavenly and the infernal life, and at every point it can be applied to life.

489

CHARACTER BUILDING 1955

CHARACTER BUILDING GEORGE DE CHARMS 1955

     AN ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT

     (Delivered at the Opening Exercises of the Academy of the New Church, September 10, 1955.)

     It is a pleasure, on behalf of the Academy, to welcome you, both teachers and students, those who are here for the first time and those who have returned after a summer's vacation. No matter how often we have experienced it in the past, we find in the opening of the Academy schools each year a new thrill of joyous excitement and anticipation. The sleeping campus stirs and wakes, empty buildings suddenly spring to life, echoing through their halls the sound of happy voices greeting old friends and making new ones. The atmosphere is one of youthful enthusiasm, of hope mingled with an underlying courage and determination to meet the unseen challenges that lie ahead. We rejoice that it should be so. Hope is the spark, and determination is the fuel it ignites to produce the power on which all progress and eventual success depend.
     But what is success? It appears in innumerable forms that differ with each one according to his native abilities, according to the things he loves best, the things that yield for him the greatest delight and satisfaction, the things that seem most vital to his happiness. Furthermore, our idea of what constitutes success changes constantly as we grow, and varies widely in different moods and states of life. Often what seemed indispensable yesterday has little value in our eyes today. At times everything worthwhile in life seems to hinge upon one particular kind of success-meeting the right date at a dance or a party, victory on the football field or on the wrestling mat, acquiring some special skill, or even passing some intellectual test essential to graduation. As students you will be confronted many times during the coming school year by such moments of crisis, when the things you most desire hang in the balance. Fortune does not always smile. No one wins consistently. Every one is called upon to meet disappointment, Periods of discouragement and apparent failure. In fact, success is highly complex. It is made up of many different things. And strangely enough, disappointment, seeming failure, mental distress and physical suffering are all among its most important ingredients. Their value should by no means be underestimated, even though we do not seek them, but rather try in every way to avoid them.

490

Whether or not they contribute to our eventual success depends on what we do about them, how we react to them, and what we make of them.
     It is not hard to understand that unbroken success can spell eventual failure. A team that is always winning is prone to become over-confident. Too much social popularity can encourage our natural tendency to self-esteem, make us thoughtless or contemptuous of others, and gradually undermine the foundations on which our temporary prosperity and happiness were built. One who passes his courses with least effort may also derive the least benefit from them. No athlete becomes a champion without grueling practice. No outstanding skill in any field is attained without persevering effort. No important problem, either in the classroom or in the stricter, more demanding school of life itself, is solved without patient labor, mental stress and unyielding spirit. And the reason is that these also are necessary ingredients of real success. Nor can we ever understand this apparent contradiction unless we learn that true success lies not in what we accomplish, but solely in what we become. All its complexities may be summed up in the single phrase, the formation of character.
     There is nothing more important to your future, and to your lasting happiness, than to learn this truth, and to learn it now while you are going to school. For right now, in your high school and college years, your character is in process of formation, for good or for ill. Whether it be for good or for ill no one can determine but yourselves. Your teachers can help you but they cannot do it for you.
     I suppose it would be recognized in every school of liberal arts that the formation of character is the prime objective of education. Every one knows that the acquisition of knowledge: by itself, is not enough. Knowledge is a two-edged sword that can be used as skillfully by the evil as by the good. An education that imparts knowledge while ignoring character merely puts lethal weapons in the hands of criminals. This all men acknowledge, but they differ widely in their understanding of what kind of character it is that will insure true success and lasting happiness. Nearly every one perceives from common sense that a desirable character must include a devotion to the primary virtues, a regard for honor, justice and mercy, a respect for law, and for the freedom of others as well as our own. Although this concept of character is challenged and denied in certain countries, it is generally accepted in our Western civilization as the ultimate goal of a liberal education. The purpose is to graduate men and women who are not only competent in whatever career they may have chosen, but who are prepared to be good citizens of their country, upright, honest, and considerate of the common welfare.

491

     Now, this is all very well as far as it goes, but those who rely on this kind of education become like the rich man who assured the Lord that he had kept all the commandments from his youth up, and to whom the Lord replied: "Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast and distribute to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me" (Luke 18:22). This kind of education leaves out the most important elements necessary to the formation of true character. It leaves out the love and worship of the Lord, and that charity toward the neighbor which springs from a loving obedience to the spiritual truth of the Word. These cannot be added afterwards, as frosting on the cake. Unless they interpenetrate the whole it remains heavy, indigestible, unprofitable for the health of man's spirit, incapable of imparting true success or lasting happiness, either to the individual or to society. Love to the Lord and genuine charity together make the heart, the soul, the all-pervading purpose of education itself, without which, in the sight of the Lord and of heaven, it remains a dead and lifeless thing.
     There is not a subject in the curriculum which is not intended to contribute, in some special way, to the formation of true character. There is nothing in the entire universe that is not designed by the Divine Creator to reflect His infinite love and wisdom; and this in ways that men, and even students becoming men, may in some measure understand. There is nothing that cannot help us to perceive the laws of spiritual and heavenly life that we may learn to love those laws, and observe them with the whole heart. This inner content is by no means obvious; it lies deeply hidden. But it can be discovered, and its discovery is the only way to wisdom. To discover it, and to make it available, in varying measure and degree, according to the ability of students to understand-this is the supreme goal of the teaching profession. To the gradual attainment of this goal, the Academy alone, of all the schools in the world, is dedicated.
     This is the reason you are here. Some of you have left far distant homes, and traveled many miles to receive this precious gift, this pearl of great price which at present is not to be found anywhere else. As far as you receive this gift in mind and heart, your education here will have achieved its purpose. As far as you fail to receive it, no matter what wealth of lesser treasure you may have acquired, you will have missed the formation of character that alone can lead to real success, both in this life and to eternity.
     Now, we have said that character is something each one must acquire for himself under the immediate instruction and guidance of the Lord. Your teachers can do no more than provide you with the material out of which it must be built. They can store this material in Your memory, but they cannot plant it and make it grow in your heart. This the Lord alone can do; but even He can do it only as far as you willingly respond, actively trying to learn and understand, seeking the truth and endeavoring to live up to it, not only in the classroom but on the campus, and in all your extra-curricular activities Nothing but this will build true character, that the seeds planted here in the Academy may yield a rich harvest of growing wisdom, use, and happiness in all the years to come.

492

Remember, to form gradually this kind of character is the real purpose for which you are here. Have a good time. Work hard and play hard. Meet each new challenge as it arises with a stout heart. Accept victory with gratitude and a humble spirit, and disappointment with patience and with courage undismayed. Above all, search always for the truth, as the Lord may give you to understand it, and be faithful to it in all things. This is the only way to wisdom, and the only road that leads to true success in life.
IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1955

IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES Editor 1955

     In the summer number of the NEW CHRISTIANITY, Walter Marshall Horton discoverer of Swedenborg as "pioneer of the ecumenical movement," writes on "Swedenborg and Contemporary Bible Interpretation" His position may be Seen from the conclusion that "one important influence conditioning Swedenborg's new revelation of the Bible's inner meaning was his acquaintance with the ancient tradition of symbolic Bible interpretation"; the statement that "Calvin's careful, scholarly exposition of the literal sense of Scripture could be accepted by Swedenborg as the natural basis on which to build a doctrinal and spiritual exposition"; and his doubt whether Swedenborg, if living today, "would cling to his whole original scheme for decoding the Bible's inner meanings We appreciate Dr. Horton's sincerity, but we cannot help wondering how such an article can advance the cause of the New Church.
     "Reflections by the Way" is a regular department of this quarterly, and in commenting on the estimates of the Writings held in the New Church, "H. D. S." contributes a" interesting viewpoint Stating that the Convention position is based on a distinction between something called Divine Truth and the function of the amanuensis who wrote it down," he adds that "while this distinction may be valid in consistency to be applied to all the writers of the canonical Bible. Otherwise Swedenborg's is a kind of 'second-class revelation.'" We do not recall coming across this argument before. It seems to be valid, and it would be of some interest to see the inconsistency defended by a supporter of the Convention position.
     THE EDITOR

493

HONOR OF OFFICE 1955

HONOR OF OFFICE Rev. MORLEY D. RICH 1955

     It is written in the Heavenly Doctrine that "nothing of the honor of any function is in the person, but it is adjoined to him according to the dignity of the thing which he administers; and that which is adjoined is not in the person himself, and it is also separated with the function. Honor in the person is the honor of wisdom and the fear of the Lord" (AC 10,797). Only in the Writings may such teaching be found, for from them alone can we draw the principles which enable us to comprehend, both rationally and sympathetically or affectionally, the governments and offices of earthly, civil societies. We cannot derive such principles from the Old Testament in its letter, for the government there portrayed was that of a sensual and merely representative church. Nor can we find such principles directly revealed even by the parabolic and veiled words of the Lord at His first coming. Not even His words: "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's"; not even these words can give a rational idea without their internal sense. And this becomes apparent when we reflect upon the confusion of thought and the conflicting interpretations in regard to civil government which have been evolved from and justified by the New Testament.
     It is, in fact, the Lord in His second coming who alone now affords to men the true understanding of the essential sanctity and honor in the various forms of human government, together with their offices of various types, names, and degrees. And on this, as on every other plane of life, it is the duty and responsibility of the New Church man to search out and to apply the Divine truth to his civil life, and this without fear or favor, arrogance, or preconceived ideas. For in so doing he will best serve his country's spiritual good and render a genuine and rational honor to her governors and magistrates. Furthermore, he will thereby increase the excellence and righteousness of their forms of office.
     It is on this plane of life as in spiritual things by themselves, namely, that it is now allowed to enter with the understanding into the arcana of faith. And in order to do this-in order to attain a right understanding and a reasonable love of country, of its laws and its governors-it will always be necessary for a man to set aside the symbols of faith alone and of blind obedience if he is to penetrate to the eternal verities and the essential sanctities.

494

Indeed, he who has access to the Writings is thereby offered the inestimable privilege of supporting the law and order of his country, and of honoring its offices, with his eyes open; with a genuine idea of the truths behind civil law and order as well as a knowledge of the human fallacies, weaknesses, foibles and follies, manifested in their administration.
     The only legitimate and truthful way in which the New Church man can understand, support, and honor his country and its governors and magistrates is from the teachings of the Lord concerning the degrees of the neighbor and concerning the spiritual and natural senses of the commandment: "Honor thy father and thy mother." Only in this way can he be endowed with the ability to see from first principles through final effects; to see beyond man-made symbols and human falsity the underlying Divine, spiritual, and essential principles and sanctities of all civil and ecclesiastical government.
     Thus he must begin with the Lord Jesus Christ as the highest and infinite neighbor, as the only Lord and King of all in heaven and on earth. To the Lord Jesus Christ as the one and only God of heaven and earth the man who would be of the New Church owes the highest love and allegiance of which he is capable. And this includes an allegiance to His truth, to His Word, to which all lesser loyalties must yield should they conflict, or appear to him to conflict. Furthermore, he must, if he is to acknowledge the fact of the Last Judgment, acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human as the only Mediator, as the one and only person of the Divine love and wisdom.
     From the Lord descends the next degree of the neighbor, which is His kingdom. This is a kingdom which He Himself forms, and which is constituted of all who freely receive and reciprocate His love. It is the only real, substantial, and eternal kingdom, and it must therefore take precedence in man's mind over all else but the Lord Himself.
     From the Lord's kingdom descends His church as the next degree of the neighbor. For the man who acknowledges His second coming this can mean only the New Church, the crowning church of all the ages. If a man is to honor and love this degree of the neighbor he must be prepared to understand, to see and to reject any falsity of former specific church is that may appear, and this whether it appears in Catholicism or Protestantism, Mohammedanism or Judaism. It would be an error indeed to identify any of these old and dead ecclesiasticalisms with the Church Universal which is also to be honored. For the Church Universal, as distinguished from the Church Specific, is composed of individual men and women who are in the life of religion, whatever that religion may be. It is not, however, composed of the religions or theologies or churches themselves. To honor is to love, and to love is to do; and to do involves living according to the teachings of the New Church.

495

Part of this life consists in allegiance to the truths of the New Church and a consequent rejection of ancient falsities and evils.
     Such are the degrees of the neighbor in the spiritual and celestial senses of the Fourth Commandment, and to the extent that a man regards them as supremely important, not merely with his lips but in will and thought and life, to that extent will his loyalty toward and honor of the lower and natural degrees of the neighbor be genuine and spiritual.
     The highest natural degree of the neighbor who is to be loved and honored is one's own country, it is taught. Therefore it is taught also that this is the widest natural sense of the Fourth Commandment. For it may easily be seen that a country is a community which is far above and beyond its civil laws and its rulers and sovereigns. It is, indeed, a whole entity which is greater than the sum of its individual parts.
     When we come to this natural plane, it would seem clear from the Writings that certain distinctions must be carefully made. The things of civil life are indeed to be clearly distinguished and separated from those of spiritual life. While the true Christian religion is to enter into all levels of human life, natural as well as spiritual, it is ever essential that men shall not confuse the two or identify them with one another. And it is also necessary for the New Church man to discern and reject that which would compound such confusion and confirm such an identification. For this is the clear meaning of the Lord's words: "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." This is essential if the sincere New Church man desires deeply to give true allegiance to his country and honor to her officers, as distinguished from a spurious and basically weak allegiance and honor.
     This may be demonstrated by what is said concerning the love of country. There is an undeniable connection between the natural love of country and the spiritual love of the Lord's kingdom; for it is taught that he who loves his country truly in this life will love the Lord's kingdom. But never is it even suggested that the country is to be identified with the Lord's kingdom. Thus no country's particular form of government can be identified with that of the Lord's kingdom, even though the individual man may be led to a love of the Lord's kingdom through his sight and love of such of his country's laws as reflect the Ten Commandments and the acknowledgment of the Divine Human as the one God, and as provide opportunity for his free ultimation of the laws of charity as contained in the Writings. From this a man is indeed permitted to believe that his own country's government and laws are more typical and representative of the kingdom of heaven, and that they more closely approximate those of the kingdom. But this is quite different from identifying the two.

496

If he identifies his country with the Lord's kingdom, even unconsciously, the danger of profanation will be present; for then, when as inevitably occurs with the discerning man, he is confronted with the evil and false, the wicked and cunning aspects of his country and its government, then, in his revulsion, he will be in danger of rejecting not only the principles of love of country and honor of office but also any belief he has in the eternal and perfect government of the Lord's kingdom.
     This is indeed a most profound and important truth, and it is brought forth even more clearly in relation to the next lower degree of the neighbor, that which is to be honored in a narrower field than the country; namely, the king or ruler; or, to use three additional terms frequently employed in the Writings, the moderator or prefect, the governor, and the magistrates.
     Primarily it is the office itself that is to be honored, because, as we are taught, the principle of royalty, or the leadership of Divine truth, is in the office itself and not in the person. This means that even the office is not to be identified with the Lord Himself. It is to be recognized, indeed, as one of the natural means, good or bad, by which the Divine Providence governs men for the sake of civil order, and this primarily that they may be in a state in which they may think about spiritual things and choose good or evil; thus so that they may have ultimate opportunity for regeneration and salvation. And this accords with the very matter-of-fact statement of the Writings that "it is expedient that there be governors to keep assemblages of men in order, and that these governors shall be skilled in the law, filled with the wisdom and the fear of God. If this be not done, the human race must perish" (AC 10,791-2). It is on this account, and in this spirit, that the man of the New Church must acknowledge the necessity of recognized leadership and render honor to the office.
     Such honor, royalty and sanctity, are in the office itself. They are said to be adjoined to the person, but not to be in him actually. The word "adjoined" here is significant, for it means "joined to" as distinguished from "conjoined" or "joined with." In other words, royalty and sanctity are attached to the person in the office, but they nevertheless exist as separate entities and are never merged with the person; indeed they are said to be "separated with the office," which means that when the person leaves the office those qualities are no longer adjoined to him.
     In addition, though the head of the state-or where such a form of government prevails, the king-represents the Lord, he departs from that representation in so far as he does not live under the law (AC 3670). Therefore honor is to be rendered to the person only in so far as he manifestly bows to and lives within the civil law of the country. It is, perhaps, from a common perception of this since the Last Judgment that orderly legal means have been devised in most human governments for the removal of persons from their offices where, and when, they have departed obviously from the representation of their office.

497

If he is to represent the Divine truth and law-the government of the Divine Providence-it is obvious that a ruler must himself live under the civil law which reflects the Divine law and acts as a means for the Lord's government. Furthermore, it must be known and acknowledged that nothing of royalty or sanctity inheres in the person as his own, and that the ruler-who is good and wise will in no way, either privately or publicly, claim to himself anything of such royalty or sanctity, but will place these in the law itself and, above that, in the Lord.
     It may be seen also that the principle of kingship, or the royalty of law as expressive of Divine law, has descended from the Most Ancient Church, which also had government under the leadership of the patriarchs of the families. In itself, therefore, it is of Divine order and is not merely a permission of evil. This may be said even though the process involved was a descent, that is, a lower representation on account of human evil. This, indeed, is exemplified in the change that occurred in the Jewish nation when, in the place of judges, there was instituted a monarchy with Saul as the first king. For it is written: "Before they had kings they were a nation [representative of Divine good and of those who are in charity]; but after they had received kings they became a people [representative of the Divine truth and of those who are in faith]" (AC 1259). This, it may be seen, was obviously a lower representation. But it was not in itself merely a permission of evil on account of the fallen state of the human race.
     It was in order to preserve this principle of kingship and of the civil order thence resulting that the Lord permitted the office of king in human government; that is, to represent the Divine truth by itself, even though the final truth is that such a representation is an evil one, since the Divine
truth if it were by itself would condemn all to hell (AC 8770, 6148). The evil was not in the principle itself, but in the state of faith alone or of truth by itself which was imported into it and represented by it from the people themselves. It was similar in regard to other things of evil which sere attached to the principle from the love of dominion seated in the love of self with men: such things as the "right of the king" which is said to mean and to describe the dominion of the natural man over the spiritual that will destroy all the true and good things of the church and make them serve the natural man (AE 638). The same is true of the ideas of infallibility and absolute power.
     As has been remarked, even these things were permitted by the Lord for the sake of the end.

498

But the time came when the abuse of these permissions threatened to destroy men's souls, their opportunity for salvation. And when that time came the Lord gave a revelation which, while designed not to destroy the essential, would yet open men's eyes to the evils attached thereto and enable as low separation from those evils to take place. Where such an orderly process was not possible He has permitted also revolt and the overthrow of monarchies-where absolutism could not be removed in any other way, and where complete tyranny threatened by its abuses and wickedness to destroy with men all faith in and adherence to civil order of any kind. Yet even in such instances of permission it may be seen how the Lord preserved the essential element of the royalty of law and of the ruling office, whether by formal constitution, legal precedent, or social tradition.
     An indefinite number of things is said in the Writings about these matters, things which are of vital importance to every New Church man; but they cannot be treated thoroughly here. The discerning man of the New Church cannot help seeing a number of things in his country's government which are decidedly not reflective of the government of the Lord Jesus Christ and His providence. He will inevitably see many inconsistencies, and even evils and falsities of the old Christian Church, clothed and typified in its humanly devised symbols. Whether the head of his state is called king, president, or commissar, he will undoubtedly perceive in that office and in the constitution under which it is established some things which endanger and militate against the principle of sovereignty in law. And he will hope and pray for the removal of those evils for the sake of his country, which is to be loved in the widest natural sense.
     But if he is wise, if he is to love the Lord's kingdom, he will not fall into the trap of cynicism, which would lead, not merely to revolt, but to absolute anarchy. If, indeed, his knowledge and discernment bring him to revulsion and grief in this matter it is a sign that he does not know enough, that he does not really have understanding. For the Lord Himself does not break the evils of men, but slowly bends men toward good. So it is that, even though a man may see some of the laws of his country as bad and even wicked laws, laws endangering the spiritual welfare of his countrymen, he can still rejoice in whatever freedoms and protections are afforded him by its other laws. And he can recognize and continue to uphold the sovereignty of the law by using its other provisions to remove evil laws.
     And when, as may happen, he sees certain evils and falsities attached to the civil offices of his country, he may still rejoice in the principle of law which endows him with the right to remove those evils and falsities if possible.

499

Furthermore, when, as also happens, he sees that the persons in those offices are using them wrongfully for evil, he may be glad in the fact that this does not diminish the office but only the person in it.
     Finally, even though he may see many things of wrong and falsity symbolized in its various forms, he may still recognize the basic rightness of an orderly installation of persons into their offices. And so it is of good, of truth and of use, that he rejoice and celebrate such installations. For just as the man who truly loves his country comes to love the Lord's kingdom, so it is that as he acknowledges the principle and sheer necessity of authority and subordination in the civil affairs of his country, he can also come really and fully to acknowledge the authority of the Lord in Divine and spiritual things.
     And in order that the Lord's kingdom may come on earth, the man of the New Church will pray that the sovereign or governors of his country may be gifted not only with natural illustration, which comes from every office in so far as the person acknowledges and lives under the civil law, but also with that spiritual enlightenment which can come from the Lord to man only in the degree of his regeneration and of his wisdom and love therefrom.
     This regeneration, with its wisdom and love, can only be given to any person, official or otherwise, to the extent that he acknowledges the Lord Jesus Christ as the one and only God and that evils are to be shunned, not as mere offenses against the civil law and the people, but as sins against God. And it is this alone which can and will slowly change and perfect human governments-all of which are now so imperfect and full of flaws; change them into images and likenesses of the Divine Human, the supreme and only Divine Lord and King.
     Here again let us not belittle or diminish the power of the Lord's truth in His second coming. For its influence does extend and add its quality to the world of human affairs, even though the clear sight and acknowledgment of the principles involved may be only an individual and private matter with the few of the New Church. And this contributes to the amelioration of abuses, evils and falsities, in the civil state on the one hand, and to the proper exaltation and strengthening of essentials on the other.
THANKSGIVING 1955

THANKSGIVING 1955

"Where blessing is mentioned also, thanksgiving is predicated of good; for blessing is expressed by the mouth by means of truths, while thanksgiving comes from the heart out of good. Thanksgiving and honor are predicated of goods from the Divine" (Apocalypse Explained, 466).

500

SWEDENBORG FOUNDATION 1955

     106th Annual Report

     "The statistical table contained in this report shows that the Foundation continues to promote vigorously those charter purposes which are concerned with the printing, publishing, circulation and distribution, of the Writings. A large printing of the Standard Edition was reported last year; and in the year under review 9,654 copies of the Missionary Edition of Heaven and Hell and 9,641 copies of the Four Doctrines were printed and bound. During the fiscal year 16,296 books were sold, 5,484 books were donated, and 59,860 pieces of free literature were distributed. Donations included 310 volumes of the Writings, complete sets or parts of sets. to 29 libraries, and a copy of Swedenborg's Life and Teaching in Braille, six volumes, presented to the Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. 16,558 copies of the Missionary Edition were distributed. A large distribution of books to Theological Seminaries in the coming year is planned by the Foundation.
     In addition to these activities the Foundation contributed towards publication of The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine in Italian by the New Church group in Venice headed by Dr. Georgio E. Ferrari. A further contribution was made to bring to completion the Japanese edition of True Christian Religion produced in Tokyo. The report mentions also that the Rev. Philip Odhner called attention to errors in certain volumes of the Standard Edition, that these had been checked by the Right Rev. Alfred Acton, and that the Board had voted that corrections be made in future printings.
     As in previous years, the Foundation has been interested in colportage and follow-up work, advertizing and public relations. Colportage was carried on as before with five paid and three unpaid colporteurs, assisted by several volunteer workers. Follow-up work suffered temporarily from the Rev. Leslie Marshall's removal to Florida but has now been reorganized; 541 follow-up letters were mailed, replies indicating that 38 persons were seriously interested and 10 somewhat interested. The policy of advertizing Helen Keller's My Religion begun last year was continued, general public interest being used as a means to obtain publicity for Swedenborg, and publicity was sought also through news-releases and other contacts.

501

CANADIAN SYMPOSIUM 1955

CANADIAN SYMPOSIUM Various 1955

     (Four papers read at the 7th Young People's Weekend Banquet, Kitchener, Ontario, July 30, 1955.)

     THE USES OF NEW CHURCH YOUNG PEOPLE'S GATHERINGS

     BY DENNIS MCDONALD

     I have been asked to speak to you this evening on the uses of gatherings of New Church young people. I feel that this topic is one of great importance to us, as any organization must have certain ends in view, with which its members should be familiar if it is to succeed. Our group does not differ from any other organization in that the uses of our group, and the uses we perform for it, are our end in view. We must know why, understand, and want to attend these gatherings, if they are to continue successfully.
     On the surface, the group we have here this evening could not be distinguished from any average gathering of young people in the world today, but there is a distinct difference. We have more than a mutual interest in a worldly social life. We have a deep and apparently lasting friendship with each member of the group and also a common interest in the Writings, the church, and New Church education, which purposes we are trying to advance. We are very fortunate in having a bond such as our belief in the Writings to hold us together. In a world such as there is today with so much hostility between peoples of different races, creeds and color, we need a firm belief in God and in the fact that there is a heaven from the human race in order to sustain us at all times. This strength we are able to receive through the Word and the Writings if we study them and strive to live by them. At these meetings our very capable ministers are in a better position to teach us as they can limit their subjects more to the understanding of people of our own specific age group.
     Wherever New Church young people meet discussions easily arise as to the meanings of the Writings and the bearing they have an our everyday life. These discussions are not only enlightening, but they establish an even greater interest in us as we see the scope and order of the Writings.

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     In obtaining knowledges which will help to increase our understanding of the order of the universe, a use is being performed in helping us to prepare for our uses on earth and in our life after death.
     To a great extent young people of the world today would appear to have the attitude of: What can I get out of this; or, Will I enjoy myself if I go? This is definitely the wrong attitude to have if you want to have a successful group. The Lord said, "Freely ye have received, freely give"; and we must follow His teachings, for you cannot have a firmer basis on which to form or carry on a club than this. If we give all the energy, time and interest, that are needed by the group, it will be a success and help the Lord's church on earth to grow, for it is partially through our learning and living by the Writings that it does grow.
     Up to now I have spoken on the teachings we receive at these gatherings, but have neglected to mention a second and also a very important use of these weekends of ours. The use I speak of is the social side, which is very enjoyable and no less important than the educational side. At our picnics, dinners, and while we are at our host or hostess's home, we are making close friends and are learning to live together with our neighbors in peace and happiness. The parents of the young people welcome us into their homes and are happy at the opportunity to do so. They realize that this develops an understanding between the age groups and from this we may see ourselves working closer together in the advancement of the New Church.
     This is my first attempt at presenting a paper at one of these meetings and no doubt each of you will have the same opportunity if you have not already done so. While we are all novices at giving papers, I feel we learn a lot by not only hearing them but in giving them. Even though they are not great literature or works of art, they help to prepare us for the positions we will take in the church as we grow older and the duties of the senior members rest upon us. For myself, I feel that the papers given at these banquets, the teaching we receive at our classes, and the friendships we form at bur social activities, will stand us in good stead as pie enter fully into the uses of the church.
     So as you can see, the main purposes or uses of this group are, the continual preparation of its members for their uses in the world, and secondly to promote friendships among the young people of the Church.
     I would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks for the support and able teachings we have received from Mr. Reuter, Mr. Pryke and Mr. Acton. Had it not been for the whole-hearted support of these our friends and each individual member of the group, it would not have been the true success it is.

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     THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD

     BY JUDITH KUHL

     As we grow older, we find ourselves more and more coming into contact with Old Church people who want to know how our church differs from theirs. This summer, as some of you might already know, I took a job waitressing in Goudie's department store. The first questions the other girls always asked were: "Are you just working for the summer? What grade will you be in when you return to school?" When I say I'm going into second year college they look surprised and ask me which college I go to. This starts the ball rolling and I must start talking about my church.
     In the past few years every time I heard a paper or talk on evangelization I would want to go out the next day and convert half a dozen people. But now, when my big chance has come to convert half of Goudie's staff, I find myself tongue-tied and do not know where to begin.
     When telling people how our church differs from others it is not wise to begin by trying to tell them that we believe in one God and they believe in three, for you will find that although their creed teaches a trinity of three persons, they will not accept someone trying to tell them they believe in three Gods.
     But if we are going to tell anyone about our church we must know well that the Lord is one God who is eternal, who always was and always will be; that this Lord, although He is one, has taken on many different forms that were accommodated to the state of man. At first, when there was no evil on the earth, the people knew the Lord as a Divine being from eternity; they received His teachings directly from heaven and the Lord. But as people on this earth started to degenerate and become evil, the Lord could no longer teach them in the same way He had taught the Most Ancients, but had to accommodate to their state and appear to them in the form of the Word, which is the Divine truth and Divine wisdom proceeding from the Lord, but in a form which it was possible for the people of the succeeding church to comprehend. Although the Word contained the Lord and his Divine love and wisdom, the people became still more evil, and finally so evil that they could no longer see the Lord in His Word. They became so natural that they could no longer think of the Lord as a Divine being from eternity. Thus the Lord had to take on a human form and come down into the world and reveal himself in a natural form which the people of the world could comprehend. Thus by the Son of God we mean the Lord as to His Human which He assumed in this world.

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At the present day many think of the Lord as no other than a common man like themselves, because they think solely of His human, and not at the same time of His Divine, when yet His Divine and Human cannot be separated. For the Lord is God and man, and God and man in the Lord are not two but one person-one, just as soul and body are one man.
     When the Lord came on this earth He took on a human from the mother, and while He was on the earth, by means of temptations He put off the human which He had received from His mother and came into a state of glorification. But men were still too evil and natural to benefit very much by the Lord's first coming. They soon perverted His teachings and thought of Him more and more as a human man rather than a Divine being. Thus the Lord had to come again, still in a new form. This time He came in the form of the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, revealing to man His true nature, telling man about heaven and the life after death, and making it possible for people to know what is right and wrong and really see the Lord in His true form. But we must always remember that merely reading the Writings because we think we should, or because we have been told it is the right thing to do, will not make us any better than someone who does not bother to read the Writings at all. For it is loving what we read and applying it to our lives that brings us into the presence of the Lord? and when we come to understand and love the truths in the Writings, we gradually are able to form a clearer and clearer picture of the Lord.

     THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE

     BY RICHARD PARKER

     The doctrine of life is the most practical and useful doctrine given to us. This is due to the fact that the doctrines of the Lord, the Sacred Scripture, and of faith are doctrines which guide us, but are not used in our daily life, being more abstract in nature.
     Man has to shun evils because they are sins against God. For no man can be doing evil and good at the same time. This is because the one acts against the other and will destroy it. When man is in the world he is in the middle between heaven and hell, for if he turns to hell he averts himself from heaven, or if he turns himself to heaven he averts himself from hell.
     Every man has freedom from the Lord to go either way. He has this freedom, not from himself, but from God. Consideration of these ideas will show that, and I quote: "so far as a man shuns evils, so far he is with the Lord, and in the Lord, and so far as he is in the Lord, so far he does goods not from himself, but from the Lord. Hence results this general law; that so far as anyone shuns evils so far he does goods."

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     A man should shun evils as sins because they are opposing the Divine law and also because they are sins from himself. Yet he knows and believes that he shuns them from the Lord. From what has been said before we find that; 1) "If a man wills and does goods before he shuns evils as sins, the goods that he wills and does are not good"; 2) "If a man thinks devout thoughts and speaks goodly words, and does not shun evils as sins, then the devout things that he thinks and speaks are not really devout"; 3) "If a man knows much and is wise in many things, and does not shun evils as sins, he is nevertheless not wise."
     This may be summed up with a few words from the scripture; "No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon" (Matthew 6:24).
     There are two principal things which proceed from the Lord, Divine good and Divine truth; Divine good is of his Divine love and Divine truth is of his Divine wisdom. These two are one in the Lord but are received differently by angels and men; for the ones that receive more of Divine good are in the celestial kingdom, and the ones that receive more of the Divine truth are in the spiritual kingdom. It is found from this that, and I quote: "Good conjoined with truth makes an angel to be an angel of heaven, and a man to be a man of the church."
     Good and truth love each other and therefore they desire to be one. The conjunction of good and truth is the heavenly marriage, and the conjunction of evil and falsity is the infernal marriage. Again I quote: "Therefore so far as anyone is in good, and from good loves truths, so far he loves the Lord, since the Lord is good itself, and truth itself. The Lord is therefore with man in good and in truth."
     From what has been said above, he that will shun evils as sins, loves truths and desires to have them. He it is that will come into the heavenly marriage, which is the marriage of good and truth.
     We have two powers of which one is called the will and the other the understanding. They are different from each other, but are conjoined as one and are then called the mind. Therefore these constitute the human mind and all the life of man is therein. These two faculties are what receive good and truth; the will receives all things that are good, and the understanding receives all things that are truth. These two make one and are conjoined in a similar marriage as was said above.
     Again to quote: "The evil of life will destroy the truth of faith, because evil of life is of the will, and the truth of faith is of the understanding, and the will leads the understanding, and causes it to act as one with itself."
     There is a correspondential meaning of the will and understanding. The will corresponds to the heart and the understanding to the lungs.

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Neither one can get ahead of the other, for without the lungs taking in air the heart will not function.
     There are many truths which we have to believe which are of faith, namely, that there is a God, that the Lord is the Redeemer and Savior, and that there is a heaven and hell and that there is a life after death. There are also numerous others which we do and say because they are believed. Two quotations sum up what we have so far said: "There is not with man a grain of truth more than there is good; therefore not a grain of faith more than there is life." Also: "It is now evident that so far as anyone shuns evils as sins, so far he has faith, and. is spiritual."
     The Decalogue teaches what evils are sins. These laws were made by God on the two tables of stone handed down to Moses, who read them to the people. The precepts are called the Ten Commandments or Ten Words because ten signifies that which is complete or all. By means of this law there is a conjoining of God with man and it is therefore called the Covenant and the Testimony, the Covenant because it conjoins, and the Testimony because it testifies. Because of this there were two tables. The first was for the Lord, the second for man. The first table contained only three commandments, which pertained to God, namely; "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other Gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments. 2) Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain. 3) Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it."
     Then on the end of the first table and the beginning of the second table of stone, we read: "Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." The father in this case means the Lord, while the mother means the church. This is what is called the intermediate commandment and that is why it was written partly on each table.

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The last six commandments are the prohibitive commandments which pertain to all laws concerned with our relation with the neighbor in heaven. They are; 5) "Thou shalt not kill." 6) "Thou shalt not commit adultery." 7) "Thou shalt not steal." 8) "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." 9) "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house." 10) "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, "Or his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's."
     No one can shun evils as sins so as inwardly to hold them in hatred, except by combats against them. This means that you will always have to fight evils at all times so that you may do good. The Lord is helping you to resist these evils but you think you are resisting them yourself. But this is the way the Lord wants it to be. Therefore I will quote: "The Lord alone fights in man against evils, and it only appears to man as if he fought them from himself; and the Lord wills that it should so appear to man, since without this appearance there could be no combat, and thus no reformation."
     This combat is not hard except for those who have rejected the holy things of the Word and the church. Combats against evils, which are temptations, are treated of in many places in the Word mainly when the Lord spoke to all the churches in the Apocalypse
     The Divine order is that man should be allowed to act from himself. Yet he has two faculties, freedom and reason, both of which are governed by the Lord and himself. The Lord loves man and wants to dwell with him but He cannot unless He is received and loved mutually. By this there is a conjunction of God with man. Because of this the Lord has given to man the freedom to think and will as from himself. To be conjoined with any person who does not love in return is impossible.
     "If man did not receive the Lord he would be as chaff in the wind, and would stand as if inanimate with mouth open and hands hanging down waiting for influx, thinking nothing and doing nothing in those things which concern his salvation."

     THE DOCTRINE OF FAITH

     BY CAROLYN KUHL

     In the Word we find numerous passages in which the Lord commands men to have faith in Him, and to believe We read, for example, in John: "Jesus said, I am the Resurrection and the Life; he that believeth in Me shall never die." Also; "I am the bread of life; he that cometh to Me shall not hunger, and he that believeth in Me shall never thirst."

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And; "These things are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye may have life in His name." It is clear from these and other passages that for salvation, for everlasting life, man must have faith in the Lord, and this is seen by anyone who reads the Word. The difficulty here is, as with so many teachings in the Word, to derive a correct interpretation from our reading. For many varying ideas exist today regarding faith, many false, and inconsistent beliefs which, if we do not examine them, are quite easy to fall into. For this reason we are taught through the Writings of the true doctrine concerning faith. If we study these teachings we will come slowly to a better realization of what the Lord's words in John imply, and when they become an actual part of our life, we will be looking to a fuller and truer life, while on earth, and in heaven.
A few days ago, in Ste. Anne de Beaupre, Que., during ceremonies marking the feast of Ste. Anne, two children discarded braces, a man left his wheelchair, and these people beforehand disabled, walked away. This healing, sometimes only temporary, is quite common throughout the Catholic world. It is a healing by faith, a very strong faith found in the people of that religion. Yet it is not a true faith, but a blind faith, which is defined in the Writings as "a faith in things mystical that are believed, although it is not known whether they are true or false, or whether they are above reason or contrary to it" (TCR 345). It is a faith separated from truth, which we will discover cannot help but be an heretical faith. This came as an inevitable result of the rise of the papal dominion, since their power and their strength lie in ignorance of the truth. They do not forbid the reading of the Word, but discourage man from developing his own rational ideas on religious subjects. They teach that such theological matters are above his understanding, and that he is to believe only what the Church tells him. Thus he is easily persuaded to the falsities of a blind faith.
Instead of thus thinking that a thing is so because it is taught by the church, and all the more so if it is not comprehended, we learn that real faith is an acknowledgment that a thing is so because it is true. There is a vast difference between these. The latter is not a mere natural and external statement of belief; it is a belief from an internal understanding, of natural things and also of spiritual, since man is capable of being elevated, in his understanding, into the light of heaven where spiritual things appear, which are truths of faith. Can we not plainly see that if faith is of truth, and we cannot believe what we do not understand to be true, then faith and truth are one and cannot be separated? This is why the ancients, who from affection thought about truths much more than men today, used the word truth instead of faith; and in the Hebrew language both were expressed by the same word, Amuna or Amen.

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     It is quite natural for us to expect, when we read the Writings, or when we listen to papers and sermons, to find faith mentioned together with charity. But do we know why! Can we explain that faith without charity is not faith, and charity without faith is not charity?
     Charity, first of all, is a willing well, a desire to do good for others. In its first origin, it is the affection of good; in other words we must have an affection of good before there can be any charity. This affection of good produces the affection of truth, since good loves truth, and by the affection of truth the acknowledgment of truth, which is faith. Through this series the affection of truth exists, and becomes charity. Here faith may be called an intermediate charity. But let us put it another way. Good is use, so that charity in its first origin is also an affection of use. Since use loves the means necessary for its existence, the affection of use brings about the affection of means, from whence comes the cognition of them. By this series, again, the affection of use becomes charity.
     It is as a tree produces fruit from its seed by means of roots, a stern, branches and leaves. In the entire process there is the continual endeavor to produce fruit. So with man, the endeavor to produce the means is the will in the understanding; the means, or stalk with its branches and leaves, are called truths of faith; through these the will proceeds into effect, the fruits which are uses.
     From this it is evident that charity produces faith as a means by which it may itself come forth. They therefore must act together in bringing about good works, and in acting thus are transferred from mental and perishable things to actions which they determine, and where they may coexist. Faith without charity, or faith alone, as we saw at the beginning, is no faith, because charity is the life, the soul, and the essence of faith; where there is no faith there is no church. Those who are in faith alone turn the truths of the Word into falsities, since they turn to faith as an answer to any question which should be a matter of deed-such things, for example, as salvation, redemption, regeneration, repentance and remission of sins, love, charity and good works. Men of this type were seen by Swedenborg in the other world, dwelling in deserts where there was no grass; the reason, he was told, because there is nothing of the church in them.
     What is it, then, that we must strive for in order to acquire a true faith? In the Writings we read that the Christian faith in its universal idea is: "That the Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah, came into the world to subjugate the hells, and to glorify His Human; and that without this no mortal could have been saved; and that they are saved who believe in Him" (Faith 34).

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Believing in Him is to have confidence that He will save, and because this confidence can come only from living a good life, this is also meant. So we find the statement that "the sum of faith is that he who lives well and believes rightly is saved by the Lord" (TCR 340).
Every man has an affection of knowing, beginning in childhood. Later the things he has learned are applied to his life, and become a means toward his use. This takes place as regards his life in heaven, as well as his life while in the world; so as well as knowledges of material things, goods and truths from the Word and the doctrine of the church are procured and stored up in the memory. Out of these cognitions of good and truth, the faith of charity is formed, yet only in proportion as evils are shunned as sins, whence is a faith in which is spiritual life. It must be remembered, however, that these cognitions which precede faith, though they may appear themselves as faith, are not. For men to think and say that they believe, is no proof that they do believe, but only a kind of persuasion remote from internal acknowledgment. It is when charity is implanted that those cognitions become of faith. Man then passes through the states of reformation and regeneration. In the latter state wisdom grows in him daily; good multiplies truths, and makes them fruitful. He then becomes truly a man, and after death an angel. He is in angelic wisdom which consists solely in this, that they see and comprehend what they think. In him charity constitutes the life, and faith the form, which is beautiful according to its quality; but his faith is then no longer called faith, but intelligence.
HARVEST OF THE EARTH 1955

HARVEST OF THE EARTH 1955

"'Harvest' in the Word signifies the last state or the end of the church, for 'harvest' signifies the last state or the end, and 'earth' signifies the church. From this it is clear that to send in the sickle and reap, because the hour to reap is come and the harvest of the earth is dried up, signifies that it is the time for gathering up the good and separating them from the evil, because this is the end of the church. To 'send the sickle and reap' means to gather up the good and to separate them from the evil, because the 'harvest of the earth' signifies the last state of the church, when the last judgment takes place and the evil are cast into hell and the good raised up into heaven, and the two are thus separated. That such gathering up, separation, and final judgment do not take place until then can be seen in the work on the last judgment" (Apocalypse Explained, 911).

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FOR A MORE LIVELY JOURNALISM 1955

FOR A MORE LIVELY JOURNALISM Rev. GILBERT H. SMITH 1955

     The New Church, it is to be feared, will never progress as it should until possessed of its own publication facilities. Without its own press it cannot publicize the doctrine and advertize the Writings as should be done.
     Our Lord chose the printed page as the best method of establishing the New Church on earth; and it is likely that the printed page will remain for a long time the best means of providing for its extension to others. With a publication plant of our own the church could have a much more extensive and lively journalism, and could cause the voice of the New Church to be heard.
     To us the command to go forth and preach the Gospel to all nations and people means to bring the Lord's new revelation before the world, to advertize the Writings, to re-translate and illustrate their teaching. The founders of the Academy evidently saw the need for publication when they brought forth Words for the New Church, a scholarly work which also pointed up many common heresies, and did not hesitate to point out things which in themselves are evil. Hardly any organization can get along without its own publication. But the important thing to our organization is, how efficient do we want our efforts at publication to be-how effective our journalism?
     In preaching and printing the only true and saving faith we should be free of any kind of restrictive censorship, and should enjoy a freedom of the press not now possible. In relation to the paramount importance of New Church doctrine our publication facilities are meager and inadequate. How thin is NEW CHURCH LIFE! It reaches perhaps less than two thousand and hardly gets beyond our own fold. Even our several collateral publications, that would be useful in getting our message before the world, are not widely advertized. Our churches are hardly advertized at all. Nor is there any medium through which New Church writers can shed any spiritual light on the problems of our times. Therefore we think that any group of New Church men having the means to do so, if only they saw the great need of it, would confer upon the church a great benefit, by furnishing the General Church with a printing outfit or plant of its own, and providing for the employment of a printer to operate it.

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     We need constantly new literature to promote the church, keeping up with life as it moves and illustrating the doctrine in modern applications. And the present writer believes we need a literature that will not only present the doctrine on its bright and happy side, but also on its dark unhappy side will track down and expose the falsities by which the present world is misled and captivated. For just as to do real good is impossible without the shunning of evil and falsity, so, we think, there is little chance of causing the truth to take root before these same falsities and evils are seen, exposed, refuted and cast out. It is falsities and evils by which people are bound that are the real obstacles to the growth of the New Church.

     MORE LIVELY AND READABLE STYLE NEEDED

     The learned and lumbering style of writing on exalted themes has this against it from the start: not many will read it. But newspapers are widely read because their style is simplified and their subject matter must have clear and evident relation to practical life. They appeal to the common interest in life as it is.
     In speaking for a more lively journalism by New Church writers we hope to make this article an example and illustration of what we mean.

     LET THERE BE BREAKS AND PAUSES IN THE TEST

     What is more forbidding to read than whole pages of solid printed matter in long paragraphs, sometimes only one? The reader needs little reflective pauses. For he has both interior and exterior thought and they both get tired like the two feet of a hill climber unless the man can pause and look around, upward and down. The interior reflective thought is grateful for sub-headings and off-side comments in the text, making it easier to grasp what is being read.

     BUT IT IS THE MATTER THAT MATTERS MOST

     This opens a large subject and one not free of possible controversy What subjects may properly be dealt with in New Church journalism fitted to our times, these times being called in our doctrine "Abomination of Desolation"?
     The whole world, except for the New Church as far as it is genuine, expects salvation without repentance. In other words, it relies on faith alone, without the shunning of evils which is charity. This is the reason for the downfall of Christianity. And this is the reason for one-worldism also, or the forcing of internationalism upon a world that needs first to see and shun many evils.

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     NO GOOD CAN BE DONE WITHOUT FIRST SHUNNING EVILS AS SINS

     By the same token, no lasting peace and cooperation for the world is possible until the nations that disturb peace are willing to change their ways. So it is also, we think, that the real truth of heaven cannot be received in heart as long as the falsities that are from hell are not seen and acknowledged.
     Literature presenting only the good, the true, and the noble in life as it should be, but taking no account of the evil and false in life as it is, cannot be of great effect. Wisdom is to know not only the number of the man and of the angel, but also the number of the beast, as we learn from the Apocalypse. And sleeping people need to be awakened when fire or disaster threatens.

     LITERATURE MEETING COMMON FALSITIES HEAD-ON WOULD BE LIVELY INDEED

     It is hazardous to oppose the majority opinion and the prevailing sphere of the world. Yet the pure doctrine as given us through Swedenborg is in almost all points opposed directly to the sphere of the world today and to the views of the majority and the daily practices. Anyone who knows the doctrine knows this to be so.
     Must the doctrine in some part be throttled and kept out of sight on this account? Must our light be kept under a bushel, with only a slight lifting of one edge to let out a few feeble rays?
     At any rate plentiful material is at hand in the Writings for a more lively and effective journalism. Even to quote them verbatim on many subjects makes reading that is far from dull. They speak the truth about men and events famous in history. And the plain truth is often contrary to what is commonly believed. They disillusion the mind, exploding popular fallacies.
     It is impossible to have a true understanding of history without the Writings. And it is just as impossible without them to interpret history in the making. Therefore we need a journalism that will give people the plain truth as applied to modern life. We need a literature that will combat the colossal deceit and hypocrisy of our times conspicuous even in high places. For the moral decay is so great that few men are found worthy of public trust.

     EXAMPLES OF INFERNAL FALSITY IN THE MODERN CHRISTIAN WORLD

     We venture to name a few of the falsities now prevailing, those which seem most ruinous to the welfare of men.

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One of the worst has been spoken of already-the belief that human good can be done without the shunning of evils as sins. This is akin to the desire for riches without service, the wish to get something for nothing.
     Another is the persuasion that all men are "born free and equal"-which is utterly false-and consequently that all should be loved and benefitted in equal degree and treated alike, no matter what their quality as to good.
     True it is that all should be treated with absolute justice and given equal opportunity to develop each according to his native capacity; but our doctrine indicates, we believe, that men are not free and equal at birth either spiritually or naturally. And it indicates also that "good should be done to those who are in good."

     TOLERANCE NOT ALWAYS A CHRISTIAN VIRTUE

     Because we have freedom of religion, theoretically, and make a point of it in this country, the fallacy has gained ground through propaganda that no discrimination should be made between religions, or what the Writings more exactly call "religiosities."
     For fear of being called bigots men are persuaded not to speak disparagingly of any religion, and to make the toleration of any man's faith a Christian virtue and duty. It is thought there should be peaceful coexistence with men of any religion or of no religion, or even of those which are enemies of our own.
     In business, education, and social life through "group dynamics" Americans are now bound by fair practice laws and anti-segregation laws to the point of having to give up their own freedom of association. But we know that the Lord Himself condemned several religions and warned His followers to beware of participation in their unholy states.
     The greatest and most devastating of all falsities is the belief that man has life in himself. This, our doctrine states, is the underlying thing that has totally destroyed the present Church.
     It leads to the belief that there is no absolute authority for men-none above man himself-and that mankind is ever evolving toward perfection without benefit of any Divine authority whatever. It ends in the belief that the state of the world is good, or as good as it need be, and that all nations should surrender sovereignty to one super-government. But our doctrine declares that the state of the world is as abominable and profane as it can be.

     DOES IT DESERVE SECOND THOUGHT?

     We fear this thesis may be shaken off as something unworthy of enthusiastic support, if that support were possible.

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That may be partly because so many of us are faithfully and exclusively devoted to the distinctive education of our youth; and partly no doubt to the fact that to condemn the evils of life arising from commonly accepted falsities requires an unusual amount of courage.
     But on the other hand we know that hardly from our children alone call the increase of our church come, and we think that a larger publication project, with a printing establishment of our own, would afford in addition a most useful project for our youth in school and college. They could not only learn a useful occupation but could at the same time take part in the propagation of the doctrine.
     It takes a rugged courage to oppose the falsities that captivate public opinion, and to "condemn to hell" the evils that infest human society. But to do this what a powerful means would be a journal that would give the people the truth on all three planes-spiritual, moral, and external-natural, that is, social and political! For New Church men certainly have the promise of the increase of that most desirable faculty by Which from the heavenly truths of our doctrine there shall be light on natural life also.
     To "condemn to hell" is an expression used in the Apocalypse Explained in connection with the judgment upon the modern Babylon which has corrupted the whole of the former Church.
     We believe there are many evils and falsities threatening the very life of the New Church which our clergy should condemn to hell with zeal-we merely personal evils but social and political ones as well-that is, evil trends. For the world today is still to be described as "Sodom and Egypt where also our Lord was crucified." Would that we had a journalism designed to meet the perverted state of the world, as well as to inspire to the blessed state of heaven!
SERVICE 1955

SERVICE 1955

"To be of service is to obey, and the natural obeys when it does not take for itself from the understanding reasons which favor the evils of the loves of self and the world; but when it complies with the dictates of reason and the doctrine of the church, which declare that good and truth ought to be done, not for the sake of self and the world as ends, but for the sake of good and truth itself" (AC 9776).

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REVIEW 1955

JOHNNY APPLESEED: MAN AND MYTH. By Robert Price. Spot Drawings by H. Lawrence Hoffman. Indiana University Press, 1954. Cloth, pp. 320.

Despite the valiant efforts of certain publicists, John Chapman has increasingly become lost to the New Church. Famed in legend, drama, poem and song, Johnny Appleseed has become a major figure in the national mythology: at once a colossus striding the Midwest, kin to Paul Bunyan and Davy Crockett as embodying the spirit of the frontier, and a symbol of the nation's philosophy and of everything good associated with the development of the land--dispenser to the world of the apples of democracy. Those who are interested in distinguishing the man from the myth will be indebted to Dr. Price for this first definitive account of John Chapman. Professor of English at Otterbein College, the author has followed the trail of the elusive folk hero for over a quarter of a century, and has already written two books and a number of articles about him. In this latest book the author carefully separates the man from the legendary figure gradually fashioned by popular sentimentalism. With full documentation he traces Chapman's biography from its beginnings in Leominster, Massachusetts, through his adventures as he went westward into the wilderness, to his career as a nurseryman in Ohio and Indiana. The many familiar stories
about this eccentric colporteur are scrupulously reviewed in the light of evidence obtained from New Church sources, and the evolution of the myth is traced with the aid of topography as well as history and folklore.
The result is a fascinating and highly readable book in which legend is carefully balanced against proved scholarship. The portrait that emerges is both vivid and likable; and the author's sympathy with his hero is manifest, and is, perhaps, the cause of his insights into his motives and character. If Dr. Price goes somewhat astray in regard to the sources of New Church doctrine, he evidently has a high regard for the New Church, and he speaks warmly of the character of the early New Church people in the Midwest and of the cultural heritage they left to that region. In addition to the excellent drawings of Mr. Hoffman the book is well illustrated by photographs. The Appendices, Notes, and Selected Bibliography are indicative of solid primary research and will increase the value of the book for the serious student.

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PROBLEM OF SIN 1955

PROBLEM OF SIN Editor 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly by

THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                              Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa,
Circulation Secretary               Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Treasurer                          Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address, and business communications should be sent to the Circulation Secretary. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.
     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 30 cents.
     When taken seriously, the doctrine of original sin is fraught with dangers. Not the least of these is that men are apt to give scant attention to the contributions made by their more recent forebears and by themselves when confronted with a state of such horrible depravity. Modern man, rebelling against anything so appalling, explains sin away: liberal Christians insisting that there is no sharp cleavage between God and man, who at his best is like God, and that there is nothing radically wrong with human nature as such; the relativist contending that all value judgments are matters of private opinion. Yet there is no escape from the problem. Some realization of sin, even under a different name, is integral to human thinking. Even an ostensibly atheistic system such as Communism has its concept of sin-though those who betray its values are called deviationists, warmongers, and so on.
     The Writings refute both the classical and the modern positions, and at the same time rebuke the extremists who hold that sin is merely a theme for the esoteric poet and the disillusioned theologian reaching into the past to find props for his outworn creed. In itself, they teach, sin is disjunction from good, and to sin is to think and act, knowingly and wilfully, against Divine order, and thus to separate one's self from it. Whatever men regard as order, they will brand as sin-even though under another name-all that is contrary to it and a betrayal of the highest values it creates. But sin itself is to act contrary to Divine order, and to betray good and truth by doing intentionally and from the will what is evil and false.

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INCREASE OF THE EARTH 1955

INCREASE OF THE EARTH Editor 1955

     The sons of Israel lived under a peculiar operation of spiritual law into the natural world. When they turned away from the Lord, pestilence and drought ravaged the land, famine wasted them, and they were enslaved by their enemies. But when they were faithful to the Lord's precepts-when they praised Him by observing the sacrifices, keeping the feasts, and obeying the statutes and the judgments-the earth yielded her increase in the form of bounteous harvests. No foe invaded their land, and every man sat at peace under his vine and his fig tree. And because the Israelites regarded earthly peace and material plenty as Divine blessings, they felt that their God had indeed blessed them.
     Men no longer live under such an operation of spiritual law. The yearly harvest of the earth is not now manifestly determined by the extent to which men have praised the Lord. Yet the material increase of the earth is not the true blessing which the Lord seeks to bestow. We live in the most wonderful age of applied science this world has ever known. Never before have men been able to compel nature to yield her secrets and her resources as they have today. The average man can enjoy more goods and services than were ever available in the past. And yet men are no happier, no more contented, no kinder to one another, no less selfish, no more free from fear and mistrust. The earth has been made to yield her increase, but no blessing has followed.
     To the New Church man the reason is obvious. It is that men have not first praised the Lord. Truly to praise the Lord is to go to His Word from love to Him. It is to seek out there the Lord's purposes in all His creations in nature, to perceive the uses the Lord made them to perform, and then use them as the Lord intended-to promote the true happiness and eternal welfare of others. This is what it is to praise the Lord spiritually, to show forth His praises by showing the works of His hands as His works, performing the tasks He made them to do. And when men learn to praise the Lord in this way the earth will indeed yield its increase. The secrets and resources of nature will be used, not merely to build up a material civilization, but to promote civil, moral, and spiritual wisdom! and to the extent that this is done the Lord will pour out His blessings of mutual love and charity, of intelligence and spiritual peace.
     We mention these things as Thanksgiving draws near because, deep in the thought of Thanksgiving, are two ideas. The first is that all the Lord's gifts, like His productions in nature, are proffered in such form that men must work as if of themselves to enjoy their fruits; the second is that true gratitude goes far beyond formal expressions of thanks, showing itself in support of the use for the sake of which the gift was bestowed.

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We have much for which to give thanks to the Lord; and from the Writings, as from no other source, we can learn how to work as of ourselves to enter into the real benefits of all the Lord's gifts, and how to promote the uses for the sake of which they were given. As we strive to do these things we mill truly praise the Lord. The earth will yield its true increase, and God, our own God, will bless us.
SPACE THEOLOGY 1955

SPACE THEOLOGY Editor 1955

     A national magazine reported recently that space talk has excited speculation among European theologians. One German Catholic scholar concedes that "Christian teaching is indeed compatible with the assumption that there are extra-earthly rational creatures similar to human beings," but concludes that the Christian order of redemption was realized by God for this world. Only we, he says, are born in original sin, and God became man to redeem us. His church and His sacraments are therefore not valid for other planets. A colleague asserts that if there are such beings, Christ is certainly their head, for He is the head of the universe; but feels that the question remains open whether He has also the significance of Redeemer for them. That would depend on whether these rational beings had sinned. If they are to be redeemed, it does not mean that the Lord must appear among them; it could be that redemption might be preached among them. Italian theologians have been more cautious; one favoring a wait-and-see attitude, another flatly denying the possibility of extra-terrestrial life. The Vatican has maintained its calm, designating the question as "slightly premature."
     The discussion recalls the brief essay on Faith in Christ written by Swedenborg probably in 1734. Swedenborg there asserted that no one can be saved except through Christ, but asked whether we are saved solely faith in Christ and answered that a distinction must be made between those who know of Him and those who do not. The former, he said, cannot make any distinction between Christ and the Father, and therefore cannot be saved except by faith in Christ; the latter can still believe in God and hence not deny Christ. Hence also they can be saved, for their faith is faith both in God and in Christ, since they do not deny because they do not know. But this salvation cannot be wrought save through Christ, for He suffered for the whole world-both for those who know Him and for those who do not. Therefore, he concluded, salvation is wrought through Christ alone.
     Except perhaps in name, space theology is no novelty to the New Church man.

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He has long been familiar with it in Earths in the Universe, and in the Writings the questions now engaging these European theologians are answered and their fallacies corrected. The questions themselves are interesting. It is even more interesting that they have arisen, and striking to note how speculation may be trapped by the logic of a false premise. But the doctrine of original sin is unscriptural, arguments dependent upon it are therefore invalid; and when these theologians speak about redemption they are thinking of the Lord's passion.
We know that the redemption effected by the Lord at His second coming extended to other earths, that in some instances it was effected there through Swedenborg, and that those who heard him proclaim the new gospel were able to receive because they had been visited by spirits from our earth who had taught them about the Lord's first coming: a redemption of the heavens from other earths which must have affected those earths themselves. And although there is no direct teaching that may be cited, when we consider the true nature of redemption, and its effect upon the heavens from other earths, and thus on those earths themselves, we may readily see that the redemption wrought by the Lord in the world was indeed universal: that He liberated not our earth only but every other earth as well; even as on earth He redeemed those who did not know Him as well as those who did. The key doctrine is not the false one of original sin but that of the Gorand Man composed of the heavens from all the earths; that Gorand Man in which the state of any part affects the whole. The passion of the cross was not redemption, and the point is not whether the inhabitants of other earths need to receive the benefits of redemption by learning about the Lord's passion but that they have already received them in the universal restoration of order which He effected when in the world.
GOD IN THREE PERSONS, AS OF TODAY 1955

GOD IN THREE PERSONS, AS OF TODAY ORMOND ODHNER 1955

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
This summer I enrolled as a student at Garrett Biblical Institute in Evanston, Ill., to begin studies looking to the attainment of a Master of Arts degree. Garrett, for all purposes, is the Divinity school of Northwestern University. It is a Methodist theological school, but prides itself on the variety of sects represented in its student body. During the summer quarter almost all the students are either ordained ministers or "probationers"-a Methodist term roughly corresponding to the General Church's "candidates."
Most of what I have learned at Garrett has, I think, been quite useful, and this in a very positive way.

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But I have been amazed at many of the things I have heard there about Old Church theology as it is taught today by Old Church ministers for Old Church ministers. Perhaps the readers of LIFE would be interested in an account of this, since few New Church men have such an opportunity of being "on the inside" of the Old Church. (Most of our contacts are with Protestant laymen, and the majority of them, we know, believe without doctrinal understanding in the Lord Jesus Christ as their God.)
     To begin with, I was much impressed with the general teaching, universally accepted, that all questions of theology were completely settled by about the year 500. In other words, the church by that time had once and for all defined the relationships between Christ and God, between the human and the Divine natures of Christ, etc. All such questions having been settled, it is therefore utterly ridiculous to speculate about theology today. You learn the questions and the final answers from a book, and thereafter turn your energies to other and more pressing matters-peace, temperance, or "the fellowship" This, I think, explains contemporary Christianity's total lack of interest in theological matters.
     Readers of the Writings are of course aware of the reiterated teaching that Christianity Proclaims that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, though three distinct Persons, are of one and the same substance. I heard that often this summer, but though I should be ashamed to admit it, being a minister, I learned something new about this, too. To Christian ministers, the word "substance" in this formula does not mean the "matter," as it were, of which God is composed, but rather "a man's status in a community." Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, though three distinct Persons, are of the "same status in society"-of the same social rank and standing. "Person" means just exactly "person!" though it springs from a Latin term meaning a party to a legal action. And in the "Person" of Jesus Christ, even today, there are two distinct "substances," one Divine, the other human, somehow mystically united in a way we cannot comprehend.
     But the most fun I had at Garrett this summer occurred in a required course in "preaching"-public speaking. One of my assignments was to deliver a speech on a controversial subject and then hold my own against all questions and arguments, no matter how rudely or loudly put. I thought that perhaps the idea that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, were one in Jesus Christ might be controversial with these twenty fellow ministers-Methodist, Presbyterian, Dutch Reformed, Church of God, etc.
     My speech was the straight New Church doctrine of the Trinity, based on biblical quotations and rational arguments. It was outstandingly controversial! The majority said the idea was "simply unheard of." Another said that if I believed such a thing I could not call myself a Christian!

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Still another said that this was the oldest heresy(!) in the Christian Church; to which I replied, since this was all in the spirit of good fellowship, that this was the oldest truth in the Christian Church. And all of them were taken aback when I pointed out that their great Apostle Paul never demanded adherence to a belief in a Trinity of Persons, but only a belief in Jesus Christ.
     On another occasion I remarked to a young Methodist minister that I thought I would have to take a course in their theology since I simply could not comprehend it. He replied: "Theology? I don't think the Methodist Church has any theology." I asked him if they believed in the Virgin Birth. He said that if I looked up the question in their Discipline he thought I would find that they were supposed to!
          Yours for the New Church,
          ORMOND ODHNER
STOCK POETRY 1955

STOCK POETRY 1955

     "It was in the month of November that the Poetic Goose thus delivered his soul to the Gray Goose standing on the edge of the Pond:
     "'The year is dying; summer has passed; the roses have faded; the leaves are swept before the melancholy winds, and the trees stand bare and naked, sighing and complaining in the biting blast. Death and decay are everywhere visible beneath the dull and gloomy skies. Death and decay, the end of all things! Soon we, too, shall have passed from the scene of our trials and troubles. Life is hardly worth living; a poor, empty bauble, a fleeting breath-'
     "At this point the evening meal of the denizens of the farmyard was tossed in and the Gray Goose and the Poetic Goose both started at the top of their speed, happing their wings to aid it, toward the supper.
     "When the Poetic Goose held up his head and nervously jerked it about to aid a huge mouthful that was slowly traveling down his neck, the Gray Goose said:
     "'The bauble isn't as empty as it was-is it?'
     "But the Poetic Goose turned his back and again vigorously fell to on the food" (Anshutz, Fables).

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Church News 1955

Church News Various 1955

     PORTLAND, OREGON

     During the weekend of August 27th and 28th we had the pleasure of meeting and receiving ministrations from the new assistant to our pastor, the Rev. Robert S. Junge. This young man is filled with a zeal and enthusiasm for the New Church which we found to be most contagious. Surely the church in the northwest will grow under such leadership!
     The doctrinal class on Saturday evening emphasized once again our duties and responsibilities in teaching our children the fundamental doctrines of the church. These, Mr. Junge pointed out, were not confined to parents only, but applied as well to single people and to married couples who have no children of their own.
     In the Sunday service, a combined one for children and adults, Mr. Junge dealt with the story of Gideon and the application of the sword of truth. At this point we made another wonderful discovery, that he has a talent for presenting truth in a simple form understandable by the smallest children. This was verified later by the pictures the children drew depicting the story they had heard. The weather was perfect and after the service the group, 14 in all, enjoyed a sociable pot-luck barbecue dinner on the Mellmans' patio.
     The Rev. Harold C. Cranch was here in May for a service and doctrinal class. About 12 of our group attended Our next activity will be at Gearhart, Oregon, November 25th-27th. Mr. Cranch will be with us at that time.
     Our New Church summer visitors were Miss Jennie Gaskill and Miss Phillis Cooper of Bryn Athyn. Mrs. Randolph W. Childs phoned from Portland, but did not have time to visit us. Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Synnestvedt are slated to be our next guests.
     SYLVIA S. MELLMAN

     SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.

     The San Francisco-Bay Area Circle was officially recognized on April 25, 1955, and it is with understandable enthusiasm that we send this first report under our new status. The service on April 25th, held at the home of the Philip (Red) Pendletons, was conducted by the Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton on his return home from Australia. He accepted the petition for recognition signed by Mabel C. Ashley, M. Celeste (Dolly) Ashley, Fredrik Bundsen, Ella E. Bundsen, Jerry Bundsen, Norma Bundsen, Sigrid Bundsen, William T. Caldwell, Louis Carswell, Natri H. Carswell, Frederick Merrell, Frank Muller, Charlotte Muller, Philip C. Pendleton, Christine H. Pendleton, Paul Ripley, Elizabeth Ripley, Ruth Wyland, Ray J. Wyland, Anthony Mendoza, Beverly B. Mendoza, and David Bundsen. A buffet luncheon was enjoyed by all after the service. The Ripleys were visiting from Sacramento On the preceding evening Bishop Pendleton gave an informative and stimulating class on correspondences at the Frank Mullers' residence.
     On June 2nd our pastor, the Rev. Harold C. Cranch, conducted a class on missionary work at the home of the Ray Wylands. On June 3rd Mr. Cranch joined us in a strictly social barbecue at the Jerry Bundsens, one of the original New Church families in this area. Late in June the Cranch family drove up to San Francisco to meet two of their children, Ginny and Walter, who were returning from school in Bryn Athyn, and they joined us for an evening of getting acquainted at a pot-luck supper at the Fred Bundsens.
     At present we have monthly meetings which are either conducted by Mr. Cranch or, in his absence, consist in listening to selected tape-recordings. On August 14th, at the Frank Mullers, we were delighted to have Mr. and Mrs. Randolph W. Childs, Miss Phillis Cooper, and Miss Jennie Gaskill join our tape-recording meeting. We always look forward to such meetings, as they leave us richer with direct reports of church activities.
     Last spring the Carswell family moved from our Circle to Gorand Junction, Colorado, following a visit to Bryn Athyn.

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Although we shall miss them here, they remain in our Western District to share in its growth.
     CHRISTINE H. PENDLETON

     TORONTO, CANADA

     Last summer turned out to be a very hot one, and everyone who was able to get away from the city did so in order to find relief from the heat. Those who stayed in town had the pleasure of meeting with the Rev. Frank S. Rose, his fiancee, Miss Louise Barry, and her sister Anne. There were two "open houses" while these visitors were in town; one at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Knight, where Frank showed movies and slides of England and groups of people on the Continent, the other at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Longstaff with Mr. and Mrs. Jorgen Hansen as host and hostess. Mr. Rose conducted the service on Sunday, July 17th. We also had the privilege of hearing the Rev. Henry Heinrichs preach on two occasions. After the service on August 21st, Mr. Heinrichs announced to the Society that the engagement had been announced of Miss Zara Bostock to the Rev. Martin Pryke. We wish them much happiness in their future life together and look forward to having Zara with us.
     The young people were very active last summer. They visited two summer cottages, enjoyed being entertained by the Kitchener young people at the Young People's Weekend, and took a trip to Niagara Falls.
     On Wednesday, August 10th, at the home of Mrs. J. Knight, the ladies of Theta Alpha held a shower for Miss Joyce Zorn. Joyce, who was going to school in Bryn Athyn for the first time, received many beautiful gifts that will be useful during her school year. Mr. Richard Parker also is attending the Academy schools for the first time, and the Sons met at the home of Mr. Bruce Scott where Richard was presented with a traveling bag. This year five of our young people have gone to Bryn Athyn to further their education.
     The day school opened on September 6th with a service in the chapel conducted by the Rev. Martin Pryke. There are 9 regular pupils and 3 enrolled in the kindergarten this year.
     At a private service on Friday evening, September 9th, Miss Corona Carswell was united in marriage to Mr. Robert Wilson, the Rev. Martin Pryke officiating. Miss Eleanor MacDonald was maid-of-honor and Mr. Donald Barber acted as best man. A reception followed at the Old Mill where supper was served, toasts were proposed, and the evening ended with dancing.
     An open house was held by the Society on Saturday afternoon, September 10th, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Brown in order that we might all meet and welcome the Rev. Jan H. Weiss, who has been appointed assistant to the pastors of the Kitchener and Toronto Societies. That evening Mr. Weiss conducted the class for the out-of-school young people. These classes are being held every other Saturday evening. The young people meet every Sunday evening with Mr. Pryke and are taking up the work Heaven and Hell.
     A shower was held at the church hall on Wednesday evening, September 14th, for Miss Betty Charles who was being married in October. Betty received many lovely gifts that will be useful to her in her new home. The evening closed with a pleasant visit with one another over refreshments.
     The Wednesday suppers for the season began on September 21st, after which the annual meeting of the society was held and officers were elected for the coming year.
     KATHERINE BARBER

     PITTSBURGH, PA.

     September is here, our vacations are over, our building, apartment and grounds, have been renovated. School and classes have begun, and we are off to a fine new start with a brand new pastor, the Rev. Louis B. King, who is happily ensconced in his new home with his lovely wife and children. To commemorate their new beginning in Pittsburgh the Kings have even been blessed with a new son, their eighth child, since they arrived. We are fortunate indeed to have this family, and to have the pastoral use carried on so well.
     The summer services which the pastor conducted were exceptionally fine. They were combined services for adults and children. After the first lesson the pastor elaborated on the story, saying it beautifully in his own words, and thus giving the children, and adults, a clear picture of what the Lord was telling us. Most of the children left before the sermon, but they had been given something they could understand and remember, and it was a joy to see the children worship with their parents.

525

     Through the summer months we were quite privileged to have services conducted in turn by no fewer than four ministers. The Rev. Robert S. Junge was the first. He conducted his first service after his ordination. After him followed the Rev. Frank S. Rose, the Rev. Kenneth O. Stroh, and the Rev. William Whitehead. Altogether we had the treat of hearing some very fine sermons.
     In order to complete the record of our activities we must go back to tell about our Nineteenth of June celebrations. On Friday morning, June 17th, the children gave a pageant showing how the Lord had established the different churches and ending with the New Church. While the pastor, the Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen, was reading the story the children went up on the stage to act out the different scenes and then returned to their seats. They also sang appropriate songs and gave recitations, including the Ten Commandments in Hebrew. Mr. Boyesen told the story of all the churches but there were only three scenes: the Most Ancient Church, the Israelitish Church, and the New Church, the last concluding with the sending out of the twelve disciples on June 19th, 1770. It all went so smoothly, and was done with such reverence, that it was very effective and something the children will not forget.
     In the late afternoon of Sunday, June 19th, a surprise reception for the Society was held at the large home of Mr. and Mrs. John Schoenberger, in honor of our pastor and his wife, Bjorn and Lois Boyesen, who were soon to leave us to go Sweden. When the couple arrived they discovered to their utter amazement that the whole Society was gathered there to greet them. We sang to them and gave them our best wishes. Mr. Edwin Asplundh, in the name of the Society, presented them with a check for a sum given by each and all of us, and in addition we gave them a Society family album.
     The spirit of good will and charity carried over into the banquet that followed in the church auditorium. Gareth Acton made an able toastmaster, and Barry Smith gave a fine paper on "The Responsibility of Young People to the Church" [NEW CHURCH LIFE, September, 1955, pp. 418-421]. In his closing remarks the pastor spoke of how love and charity should be the center of our church. It was a banquet at which heaven itself seemed to come through and touch all our hearts. There were 114 people present and even Mother Boyesen was able to come.
     Later in the summer we had two large picnics for young and old at the Lindsays' farm; the first one, in July, being to welcome our new pastor and his family. The second, held in September, was a general get-together to start the season, and very successful it was, too. Two affairs were held to send off our young new students to Bryn Athyn. For the girl, Gretchen Schoenberger, a shower was given by Theta Alpha; and for the two boys, Arthur Conn and Dan Heilman, a supper and gifts were given by the sons. Eight of our young folk have left to attend the secondary schools and the college in Bryn Athyn, and one student has gone to State College.
     Our school opened with dignity and order under the able guidance of our new pastor. Twenty-four pupils were enrolled, and the teaching staff consists of the pastor as principal; Mr. Can Gunther, the head teacher, for the older grades; Miss Venita Roschman for the younger ones; and Mrs. John Schoenberger (Angela Bergstrom) for the middle grades. Mrs. Schoenberger, mother of five children, is a trained and capable teacher who has returned to the ranks because of the dire needs of our school. She will teach four days a week. Mrs. Percy Brown and Mrs. Chester Stroemple will also give some assistance in teaching. Last June Miss Gwladys Hicks said goodby as she was needed in Glenview. The ranks have now been well filled, and it looks as if we will have a fine school year.
     Mention should be made of the closing exercises of the school last June. Four students who had completed the work of the eighth grade-Dandridge Ebert, Darryl Smith, Karen Good, and Judith Nemitz-each gave an excellent paper. The subjects were chosen by the students themselves and the papers, which were practical, showed a good understanding of their subjects and a real love for the I church. We were proud of this class.
     We are happy to report that two new families have joined our Pittsburgh Society: Mr. and Mrs. Lee Horigan and three children, and newly married Mr. and Mrs. Sack Lindsay. We surely welcome the new couples.
     LUCILE S. BLAIR

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     THE CHURCH AT LARGE

     General Convention. The American New-Church Sunday School Association is now offering new curriculum material. Preparation and distribution of the curriculum on an experimental basis for the next three years has been authorized by the Association, and sample notes have been sent to ministers and Sunday School superintendents. The new notes follow a uniform schedule for all classes, beginners through adults, and there is one set of teacher's notes to cover all classes, accompanied by brief suggestions for presenting the lessons at the various age levels. Attractive handwork has been prepared for the younger grades.
     In addition, study material is offered also by the Convention's Commission on Religious Education which is preparing a three-year curriculum on the themes of the Lord, the Word, and the Church. Notes are now available for high school classes on the theme of the Lord. The material includes a teacher's guide with detailed lesson plan and a workbook for pupils.

     General Conference. The Rev. Arthur Clapham has accepted an invitation to the pastorate of the Jersey Society in the Channel Islands and the Council of the New Church College has accepted with regret his resignation as Principal. The Rev. P. V. Vickers has accepted appointment as his successor and is expected to take up his duties before the end of the year.

     Okinawa. The NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER reports that there is a growing body of worshipers in the Okinawa Islands who are studying the Writings. The Rev. Morihito Higa states that he has been a receiver of the doctrines for fifteen years and that he preaches them in his church, a congregation of the Church of Christ in Okinawa which is a united Protestant Church
GOVERNORS IN HEAVEN 1955

GOVERNORS IN HEAVEN 1955

"From all this it can be seen what the governors there are, namely, that they are such as are preeminent in love and wisdom, and therefore desire the good of all, and from wisdom know how to provide for the realization of that good. Such governors do not domineer or dictate, but they minister and serve (to serve meaning to do good to others from a love of the good, and to minister to see to it that the good is done); nor do they make themselves greater than others, but less, for they put the good of society and of the neighbor in the first place, and put their own good last; and whatever is in the first place is greater and what is last is less. Nevertheless, the governors have honor and glory; they dwell in the midst of the society in higher position than the rest, and also in magnificent palaces; and this glory and honor they accept, not for the sake of themselves, but for the sake of obedience; for all there know that they have this honor and glory from the Lord" (HH 218).

527

GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1955

GENERAL ASSEMBLY GEORGE DE CHARMS 1955

     Announcements.

     THE TWENTY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in London, England, from Tuesday, July 24th, to Sunday, July 29th, 1956, inclusive.
     The program and other information will be given in later issues of NEW CHURCH LIFE.
      GEORGE DE CHARMS,
          Bishop.
VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN 1955

VISITORS TO BRYN ATHYN 1955

A new committee has been appointed to secure accommodations for those members of the Church who wish to visit Bryn Athyn. Those wishing accommodations will please communicate with Mrs. Winfred A. Smith, Bryn Athyn, Penna.

529

RELIGIOUS TOLERATION 1955

RELIGIOUS TOLERATION GEORGE DE CHARMS 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. LXXV      DECEMBER, 1955          No. 12
     (Delivered at District Assemblies in Toronto, Canada, and Glenview, Ill., in the Fall of 1955.)

     It is a matter of no small importance to the future of the New Church that we should clearly understand what is meant, in the true sense, by religious toleration, and how it should be exercised. For centuries there has been a tendency in the Christian world to emphasize differences of faith and practice to the point of splitting the church, with the result that rival sects have multiplied beyond all reason, fostering mutual recrimination and such animosity as has often led to cruel persecution and open warfare. The New Church itself, in its short history, has already been torn by theological controversies that have brought in their train the suffering and the bitterness of separation. The appearance is that whenever there arises a difference of doctrinal interpretation that becomes a matter of conscience, separation is inevitable in order that spiritual freedom may be preserved. Yet the Writings plainly teach that there will always be varieties of doctrinal interpretation, and that this is not only right but necessary to the perfection of the Lord's kingdom, both on earth and in heaven. To finite minds, the Infinite can be represented only by harmony in variety, and forms of truth, though indefinitely various, may be reduced into harmony only if mutual charity prevails. As we read in AC 3451: "Since the Lord's church has its doctrinal things from the literal sense of the Word it will everywhere differ, and this, not only as to societies, but also as to individuals in a society. Nevertheless, a difference in doctrinal things of faith does not prevent the church from being one, provided there is unanimity as to willing well and doing well." "In the Christian world," we are told, "it is doctrinal matters that distinguish churches, and from them men call themselves Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinists, or the Reformed and Evangelical, and by other names.

530

It is from what is doctrinal alone that they are so called, which would never be if they would make love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor the principal of faith. Doctrinal matters would then be only varieties of opinion concerning the mysteries of faith, which truly Christian men would leave to every one to hold in accordance with his conscience, and would say in their hearts that man is truly a Christian when he lives as a Christian, that is, as the Lord teaches. Thus from all the differing churches there would be made one church; and all the dissensions that come forth from doctrine alone would vanish; yea, all hatreds of one against another would be dissipated in a moment, and the Lord's kingdom would come upon the earth" (AC 1799).
This is indeed an exalted ideal, but it is one toward which all those who profess the Heavenly Doctrine, and who worship the Lord in His Second Coming as He appears therein, should constantly strive, earnestly cultivating the spirit of religious toleration. It should be noted, however, that the ideal here presented does not imply that there must be organic unity. When the Ancient Church was in its prime, charity reigned supreme, and yet there were many distinct organizations, each with its own interpretations of doctrine, its own forms of worship and religious customs, all markedly different from those of others. Each performed a distinct use and function for the sake of which it was specially and uniquely organized. Each was free and independent in the performance of this use. The only bonds that reduced these separate bodies into perfect harmony and formed from them all one united church were the love to the Lord which they shared in common, the mutual charity that produced respect for one another's freedom, and a profound regard for one another's uses, from which followed willing co-operation. Even in heaven, where harmony exists in the greatest perfection, there is also unimaginable variety, every society being most distinct as to function, completely autonomous, and minutely organized for its particular use. Yet all together they constitute, in the sight of the Lord, one grand human form.
The Writings speak, however, not only of varieties that can be brought into harmony, but also of diversities that cannot. The reason is because they are opposites. To quote from the Heavenly Doctrine: "The angelic heaven, which coheres together as a one, is in an infinite variety, no one there being absolutely like another, either as to souls and minds, or as to affections, perceptions, and consequent thoughts, or as to inclinations and consequent intentions, or as to tone of voice, face, body, gesture and gait, and many other characteristics; and yet, notwithstanding there are myriads of myriads, they have been arranged, and are still being arranged by the Lord, into one form in which there is full unanimity and concord; and this would not be possible unless they were all, with their innumerable varieties, universally and individually under the guidance of one.

531

These are what we mean by varieties; but by diversities we mean the opposites of these varieties, which exist in hell, for each and all there are diametrically opposed to those who are in heaven; and hell, which consists of these, is held together as a one by means of varieties which in their relation to each other are absolutely contrary to the varieties of heaven" (CL 324).
     In heaven there are infinite varieties of truth and good, while in hell there are infinite varieties of falsity and evil. The varieties of heaven are brought into harmonious unity by love to the Lord and mutual charity; and the varieties of hell are brought into apparent harmony and temporary co-operation by the love of self, and its companion, the love of the world. But the varieties of heaven, and those of hell, are opposites that can never be harmonized, and this is why it is said in the Word that between the two "there is a great gulf fixed" (Luke 16:26). The varieties of heaven, as they increase in number, can be ordered into an ever more perfect unity, and for this reason the Gorand Man, and every society of which it is composed, can be perfected to eternity. But the varieties of hell are constantly being disrupted because the loves of self and the world are inherently divisive. The harmony they produce is superficial and temporary, having no regard for use but looking solely to personal power and gain. Those in hell would mutually destroy each other if their evil passions were not constantly moderated and held in check by the Lord.
     In the natural world these two irreconcilable opposites exist side by side. To our finite minds they are often indistinguishable. As long as they are indiscriminately mingled they produce disharmony, internal tension, conflict, and lack of freedom, which the spirit of charity is powerless to overcome. True internal harmony is possible only as far as these opposites are clearly distinguished, separated, kept apart; an impassable gulf being maintained between them.
     In this imperative need to distinguish between truth and falsity, good and evil, lies the real problem of religious toleration. If the distinction is made on the basis of fallible human opinions; if these are endowed with Divine authority; if contrary opinions are condemned as heresies that are intolerable; then, unavoidably, divisions will follow, and they will multiply in number. This is what has happened in the Christian Church. It has produced intolerance, interdenominational antagonism and bitter rivalry. It is what has happened in the New Church, and has brought with it a similar spirit of animosity and lack of charity.
     Recently there has been a growing realization in the Christian world that intersectarian bickering discredits the church and greatly weakens its influence. In an effort to reverse the divisive trend many are now searching for some common ground on which to build unity of purpose and mutual co-operation to promote the attainment of common objectives.

532

There is a strong plea for the exercise of religious toleration that will bring separate churches once more together. The movement is advancing along two distinct lines; that is, toward the merging of church organizations into larger units, and where this is not possible, providing machinery for mutual co-operation without changing the divergent beliefs or restricting the independence of any participating body. As early as 1908 the Presbyterian Church in the United States was formed by combining the parent body with an off-shoot known as the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The experiment was not wholly successful because a number of congregations refused to join; but it set a precedent that encouraged further effort. Later, the Evangelical Synod of North America, and the Reformed Church in the United States were merged to establish what is known as the Evangelical and Reformed Church. In Canada, the Methodist, the Presbyterian, and the Congregational churches united in 1935 to form the United Church of Canada. A number of similar mergers might be cited, but the movement in this direction has been hampered by deep religious convictions and loyalty to established practices which, in many cases, constituted an impassable barrier to unification. On the other hand, the attempt to bring about co-operation among independent denominations has proved much easier of accomplishment, and has met with widespread success. Out of this has come the World Council of Churches, organized just before the outbreak of the second World War, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Later, the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America was formed, including twenty-five different sects, and claiming over twenty-seven million members. In addition, many local councils have been formed to secure the co-operation of churches situated in a city or neighborhood. All these movements represent Protestant undertakings from which the Catholic Church holds aloof, yet they would appear to indicate progress in the right direction-progress away from the doctrine of salvation by faith alone, which is so frequently condemned in the Writings, and toward the recognition of charity as the first essential of the church. Some members of the New Church have welcomed this trend toward mutual co-operation as a sign that the Lord is reviving the Christian Church to new life, breathing into it the spirit of true religion. Believing this to be the case they have advocated that the New Church join in the movement and seek affiliation with the World Council of Churches.
This Protestant appeal for religious toleration seeks to unite all Christian churches in a common enterprise that all agree is of vital importance, namely, the solution of the moral, social and economic problems that confront our modern society. To this, men are driven with a sense of extreme urgency by the imminent threat of a totally destructive war.

533

The entire world is divided into two opposing camps in which mighty forces stand poised, holding in their hands atomic weapons against which there is no known protection, weapons capable of annihilating entire cities and rendering whole countries helpless in a few hours. There is nothing to prevent such a catastrophe except man's deliberate refusal to loose these tremendous bolts against his fellow man. To insure such self-restraint it is imperative to rouse the moral conscience of mankind; nor can this be done merely by preaching or verbal pleading. It calls for positive action to relieve the social and economic conditions that drive men to violence through desperation. Surely, in the pursuit of this common goal, men should not allow differences of doctrinal belief, forms of worship or religious customs, to interfere with wholehearted co-operation. These things, we are told, have no practical bearing upon the issue. If they are acknowledged as matters of personal opinion and preference which every one is left free to hold according to his conscience, they may, without loss, be safely by-passed or ignored in this realm of common endeavor to which they are entirely irrelevant.
This sounds plausible enough, and might appear to be in complete harmony with the teaching cited from the Heavenly Doctrine. The doctrines of the rival sects are, in fact, based on human interpretations and traditional customs; and forms of worship are, after all, not the living body of religion but only its garments, which quite rightly may differ according to need or choice. But the tragedy is that these man-made dogmas, and even traditional forms, have been endowed with Divine sanction and authority. They have been so completely identified with the Word and the law of God that to declare the one irrelevant is to deny the relevance of the other also. The actual result of the kind of tolerance that is being advocated is to repudiate the need for any Divine instruction or guidance in the solution of the grave problems that confront human society. It turns men away from any Divine revelation as a source of truth that is applicable to the practical concerns of life. It throws men back upon their own resources, with full confidence that they have the knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom to direct their own lives, to determine the future of the race and decide its destiny, quite apart from any reference to religion, that is: quite apart from any appeal to the teaching of the Lord as given in His Word.
The harmony that can be produced by this kind of tolerance is necessarily superficial and temporary because it does not look to the Lord as its center, but to man. It does not seek truth from the mouth of the Lord, but from self-intelligence; yet the Lord alone can form the hearts of men together. He alone can teach men what is really good and really true.

534

Only under His instruction can we learn to distinguish between the varieties of heaven and the diversities of hell, that the real cause of disharmony may gradually be removed. The highest, most sacred responsibility of the church is to lead men to the Lord and inspire in them the supreme desire to discover the genuine truth of His Word, not as something that is merely to be confessed and believed, but as the light that is to illumine their path and direct their steps in the way that He would have them go. Human opinions and man-made doctrines may, indeed, be irrelevant to the solution of practical human problems, but the Divine truth of the Word, the Lord's own teaching, is not.
Because of this, the modern movement toward religious tolerance is not the final answer to the critical questions that face our western civilization. Viewed in the light of the Writings we can see in it only a fulfillment of the prophecy given by the Lord through Jeremiah: "My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water" (2:13). Yet in this, as in all things, is the merciful providence of the Lord. By means of it the Lord is undoubtedly restraining the influx of the hells, stimulating the moral conscience of men to moderate their destructive power, providing for the preservation of the foundations of external order on which alone a spiritual religion can be built. He is performing, by means of it, a work for which we can he profoundly grateful, and one on which the whole future of the New Church depends. If we carefully distinguish between what the Lord is doing and what men in their blindness are seeking to accomplish, we can see in it that to which the Lord referred when He said: "As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it: so will I do for My servants' sake, that I may not destroy them all" (Isaiah 65:8).
But what is the nature of that religious toleration which is to be a distinguishing characteristic of the New Church? It must be one that has its origin in love to the Lord, and in a realization of our utter dependence upon Him that brings with it a humble submission of the mind to His teaching, and of the heart to His leading, in all things of life. It must be inspired by a charity toward the neighbor which is based on the acknowledgment that in the highest sense the truth of the Word is the neighbor that is to be loved. To love this truth is to do what the truth teaches. It is to cherish it, not as an abstraction, a mental concept, but as the law of life, for this truth is the way of the Lord. It is the way in which He brings into arrangement, harmony, and concord every variety of human thought and affection, every variety of human interpretation and application to use. And at the same time it is the way in which He provides for the separation of those diversities that are the cause of discord, disorder and conflict.

535

     This implies that there are two kinds of toleration. The Lord tolerates varieties of good and truth, and also varieties of evil and falsity. The first is called providence, and the second is called permission. The one brings all varieties of good and truth, together with their respective uses, into harmonious co-operation, with unlimited freedom of development; while the other maintains a semblance of harmony among the varieties of evil and falsity by external restraints, and by necessities that induce men and spirits to perform uses against their will while preventing them from doing injury to the good. If the Lord did not tolerate evil, no man could be saved. But He tolerates evil solely for the protection of the good, for the protection not only of others who are in good, but also of the remnant of good in the one who is in evil. He tolerates evil solely to the end that man may be led in freedom, with infinite gentleness, out of evil; or if this be not possible, then into a milder and less grievous evil. His toleration of evil and falsity is always to the end that it may be separated from truth and good, because these two opposites can never be brought into harmony.
     It follows that there is a toleration for the sake of unity, and another for the sake of separation and distinction. The latter appears to the evil as intolerance, yet it springs from the same love and charity as the former. It is inspired, not by a spirit of antagonism or animosity, but by a love of what is good and true, a desire to cherish and protect it, a determination to guard the uses to the Lord and to the neighbor for the sake of which good and truth exist.
     How does this apply to the New Church! It means that we must seek to bring into harmonious relationship and concord all throughout the world who join in the acknowledgment and worship of the Lord in His Second Coming, all who look to the Heavenly Doctrine as the supreme law of their life, allowing for unlimited freedom of interpretation and application, for the full development of various uses, for differences of organization in adaptation to those uses, and for differences of racial, national and individual forms of mind. It means that we shall ascribe Divine authority to no human interpretation of doctrine or of application, but solely to the direct teachings of the Lord, and will say in our hearts that every one is a New Church man who lives according to those teachings as his conscience may direct. But it means also that we will protect the church against every influence, either from within or from without, that is contrary to the plain teaching of the Heavenly Doctrine. We will do so, not from pride in what we regard as our own, nor from malice toward those who are against us, but rather from a supreme devotion to the Divine truth as the neighbor that is to be loved in the highest degree. This kind of toleration can be achieved only so far as the proprium is overcome. It is the product of regeneration, which is, of course, the life-long struggle of each one with his own inherited nature. But it is the only kind of religious toleration that will promote the spiritual life of the church and maintain its distinctiveness. It is the only kind that will defend the truth of revelation against those who would deny it and deprive even the simple of any confidence in the Lord's own teaching. It is the only kind that while openly combating falsity and evil, will do so without rancor, with a restraint that arises from a profound regard for the spiritual freedom of others, and yet with an unceasing endeavor to lead all men everywhere to look to the Lord and to His Word as the only source of that spiritual truth which is relevant, nay, indispensable to the right solution of the problems that confront human society.

536

This kind of toleration will embrace innumerable bodies of the New Church into one concordant spiritual brotherhood united by mutual love and the charity that springs from a common love to the Lord. So far as this may become a reality, the Lord Himself will govern. He will bring all things into the kind of harmony that exists in heaven, so that "from all the differing churches there will be made one church; and all the dissensions that come forth from doctrine alone will vanish; yea, all hatreds of one against another will be dissipated in a moment, and the Lord's kingdom will come upon the earth." For then, in the sight of the Lord, there will be one fold and one Shepherd.
TWENTY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1955

TWENTY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1955

The Assembly Committee reports that plans are steadily forming and it hopes to be able to insure for all a comfortable and enjoyable as well as a useful and instructive time. A tentative program provides for the Assembly to open with a reception on Tuesday evening, July 24th, and to close with a morning service and an afternoon administration of the Holy Supper on Sunday, July 29th. The banquet will be on Saturday evening. The difficulties of making arrangements in a metropolis have resulted in some re-timing of sessions and meals. Normally there will be a morning session at 11:00 and an early evening session followed by a communal supper at 8:00 p.m. Luncheon will be at 2:15, and between this and the 6:00 p.m. session there will be time for visitors to rest, talk, or visit places. A "New Churchman's Guide to London" is being prepared and will be mailed to visitors before they sail. The growing list of visitors from overseas, now numbering 150, includes friends from France, Holland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, South Africa, Canada, and the U. S. A.

537

PEACE OF CHRISTMAS 1955

PEACE OF CHRISTMAS Rev. A. WYNNE ACTON 1955

     "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you." (John 14:27)

     On Christmas morning we go to church to acknowledge humbly the wonder of the Lord's birth on earth, and to give thanks joyfully to Him for all His mercies. At that time we like to think of the Lord as the Prince of Peace. "And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). It is also promised that He would speak peace unto His people, and that He will lead our feet into the way of peace. So powerful is the sphere of peace at Christmastime that all men feel the effect of it, however far their ordinary lives may be removed from it. It is felt even in the midst of natural warfare, and is often observed externally.
     The Lord indeed came as the Prince of Peace; but His own life on earth was one of constant warfare, of attacks by the hells and victories over them. He was "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3). And He enjoined the same way of life upon those who willed to follow Him when He told His disciples that He came to bring, not peace, but a sword, and to make foes of those in the same household. Many of those first disciples experienced literally the fulfillment of His words: "They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service" (John 16:2).
     These early followers suffered persecution at the hands of both Jews and Gentiles. Their life was one of constant hardship and danger, and for many it ended in a martyr's cruel death. But because they had received the Lord's teaching they were ready to endure willingly whatever might happen to them in their efforts to spread the new, eternal gospel. The Lord had given them peace in their hearts. "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you."
     At this day we have constant occasion for anxiety in the conduct of our lives and continual need for struggling against our own evils. The world in which we live is far from even a state of external peace; men are restless, and feel little security and sense of eternal purpose in their lives, little peace.

538

It might appear that the Lord's purpose is frustrated, that men have destroyed that peace which He came on earth to bring them. This is not so, however, for the Lord's peace is on a plane discretely removed from worldly events-"not as the world giveth, give I unto you." Individual men may refuse to receive or to be affected by this spiritual peace; but they cannot destroy what the Lord has created, save with themselves. By His advent the Lord did bring peace to all men who would receive it, and "of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end."
     What is this peace which the Lord has established? In its origin it is, we are told, "the union of the Divine itself and the Divine Human in the Lord" (AE 365; cf. HH 286). Hence it is that in His glorified Human the Lord is called the Prince of Peace. On a lower plane, peace is the conjunction of the Lord with the angels of heaven and the men of the church; for peace, together with innocence, is the inmost of heaven and is defined as "the blessedness of every delight that is of good" (CL 394). Man has this peace within him as far as he is in the sphere of heaven by an interior worship of the Lord. In the natural states proper to this world man cannot be fully conscious of the blessedness of these heavenly states, but even here he may be aware on occasion of the delight and contentment which are derived therefrom; perhaps especially so at such a time as Christmas, when man's innate selfishness is less active and the remains of childhood innocence can be aroused.
     "Peace flows in from the Lord into the inmost, and from the inmost it descends and flows down into the lower regions of the mind and produces rest of the interior mind, tranquillity of the exterior mind, and joy therefrom" (HH 290). Such, then, is the gift, beginning from inmosts and descending to the external mind, that the Lord by His advent brought to all who will open their minds and hearts to receive it.
     We have this peace when we trust in the redemption that the Lord wrought and walk in the path of salvation. We have this peace when we trust in the Divine Providence; when we trust that the Lord is ever present, turning all things to our eternal welfare. Such peace does not do away with natural anxieties; it does not take away the deep concern we may feel in regard to our own lives, our country, or our church. But it does give an entirely new perspective to such anxious thoughts, for there is an interior state of peace that cannot be disturbed by worldly events. Indeed we are told that with the man who is in good this peace is present even in what is undelightful (AC 8455). Without, anxiety and warfare with the hells; within, peace from the sure confidence that the Lord has overcome the hells. "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

539

     In announcing the Lord's birth the angelic chorus first said, "Glory to God in the highest." They glorified God for His advent on earth to combat and overcome the hells, whereby peace and good will could again descend to men on earth. Let us not, in our turn, suppose that we can receive this peace and good will without first giving glory to God, without trusting the Lord and following the order of His Divine government. For, it is revealed, "whoever believes that he governs himself is continually restless, being borne along into lusts, into solicitudes concerning things to come, and thereby into manifold anxieties" (AC 2892). But "whosoever lives in good, and believes that the Lord governs the universe can be given heavenly freedom, and therewith peace; for in such case he trusts only in the Lord and counts all other things of no concern, and is certain that all things tend to his good, blessedness and happiness, to eternity" (ibid.).
     The ability to trust in the Lord, to live in the stream of His providence, and so to receive this spiritual peace, is the blessing the Lord brought to men by His birth on earth. May the remembrance each year of that advent strengthen our desire to follow the path He has shown us, that He may guide our feet into the way of peace. Amen.

     LESSONS: Isaiah 9:1-7. Luke 2:1-20. Apocalypse Explained 706:12.
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 530, 533, 524.
     PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 51, 119.
ACADEMY PERSONNEL CHANGES 1955

ACADEMY PERSONNEL CHANGES 1955

"An important change in Academy administrative personnel will take place at the start of the second semester. Dean Eldric S. Klein of the College will step up from that post to become Dean of Faculties; and his College office will be filled by the present Director of Admissions, Charles S. Cole.
"As Dean of Faculties, an office vacant since the retirement of Dr. C. E. Doering, Professor Klein will be responsible for the development and coordination of academic affairs involving the Academy schools as a whole. In this work he will be directly responsible to the offices of the President and the Executive Vice President; and these offices will retain charge of the Academy's corporate affairs." (News from the Academy, vol. 1, no. 1: E. Bruce Glenn, Editor)

540

CHRISTMAS STAR 1955

CHRISTMAS STAR Rev. B. DAVID HOLM 1955

     A Talk to Children

     Of all the stories in the Word, the Christmas story stands out as a favorite of all people. We never grow tired of it. Each year we turn to the Word when Christmas draws near, eager to hear once more about the birth of the Lord, about Mary and Joseph, about the shepherds and the angels, and about the wise men who followed the star. When we read or hear those things we become happy at the thought of the Lord being born into the world as a little baby, and we are filled with quiet joy and peace.
     It is not strange that we feel this happiness, for the Lord's birth was the most important and holy thing that had ever happened in the world. It is because of this that we feel a spirit of peace and joy when we read about His birth at Christmas time. This is what makes Christmas such a joyful time of the year. The holiness of the Lord's birth enters into us.
     The same is true of all the things we learn about the Lord. No matter what time of year it is, we can be filled with happiness and peace when we learn about Him. But this can happen only if we are really interested and want to learn about Him; and we should want to learn about the Lord more than anything else, for nothing else is as important. We are not able to love the Lord truly unless we have learned about Him; and the more we know about Him, the more we are able to love and serve Him.
     That is why no one can be called really wise unless he knows a great deal about the Lord. Every good person wants to become wise, for he wants his love of the Lord to grow stronger and stronger. If we want to become wise, then, we must try to gain as thorough a knowledge of the Lord as we can. This is why the wise men of the Christmas story were called "wise men." For they had a knowledge of the Lord and knew that He would be born into the world; and because they loved the Lord, and wanted to worship Him and bring Him gifts, they were led to the Lord when He was born-were led to Him by a star.
     This part of the Christmas story about the wise men is very important, for it shows us how we, too, can be led to the Lord, if we become wise by learning about Him. You probably remember the story well: how, when the Lord was born, a new and wonderful star appeared to certain wise men who lived in a land to the east of Canaan.

541

These wise men knew that the Lord was to be born because many years before He came into the world He had promised that He would come and save men. The Jews were not the only people who had been given this promise; it had been given also to the people to the east of Canaan, who were sometimes called the "sons of the east," and who had been given it through their prophets.
     We know that this is true because Balaam was one of these sons of the east, and he had prophesied that the Lord would be born. You remember that, long before the Lord came, Balaam was sent for to curse the children of Israel. But the Lord would not allow Balaam to do this. Instead, he was told to bless them. And part of Balaam's blessing was a promise that the Lord would be born, for he said: "I shall see Him, but not now: I shall behold Him, but not nigh: there shall come a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel" (Numbers 24:17). It was from this prophecy, and others like it, that the sons of the east knew that some day the Lord would be born. They did not know exactly when He would come, but they knew that when He did a new star would be seen; for Balaam had said: "There shall come a star out of Jacob."
     They guarded this knowledge of the Lord's coming, and handed it on to their children. No doubt they looked up into the sky at night many times to look for the new star. And finally, one night, hundreds of years after Balaam had told about the star, certain of these wise men of the east looked up and saw it. We can imagine how they rejoiced! For the Lord for whom they had waited so long had been born at last.
     This star was most likely seen by them on the very night that the Lord was born. But their country was hundreds of miles away from Bethlehem, and they had to make a long journey across the desert, probably on camels, before they could come to the Lord. This journey would take several weeks. When they reached the land of Canaan, they went first to the city of Jerusalem and asked, "Where is He that is born King of the Jews?" (Matthew 2:2), for they did not know exactly where the Lord had been born.
     After they had been told that the Lord had said He would be born in Bethlehem, the wise men left Jerusalem. Once again they saw the star, and they followed it as it moved toward Bethlehem, where it stopped and stood over the house where the Lord now was. The wise men went into the house; and when they saw the Lord, who was now several weeks old, they fell down and worshiped Him, and gave Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
     Now this is much more than just a lovely story which we enjoy at Christmas time. As with everything else in the Word, we are given this story that we may live it and so become better; for we, too, call be like the wise men, and can be led to the Lord by a star.

542

But before we can understand how we may do this, we must know why a star should be the sign of the Lord's birth to the wise men.
     First, this was a spiritual star, for no natural star could have led the wise men to Bethlehem and stood over the house in which the Lord was. This means that the spiritual eyes of the wise men were opened so that they could see the star, and that could be done because they knew that the Lord would be born, and wanted Him to come more than anything else because they loved Him. We can see this if we realize that whenever we enjoy learning something, a spiritual light shines in our minds and we can see the thing clearly. This light in our minds is just like a star because it lightens our darkness, and the more we want to learn, the brighter the light becomes. Now if we really want to learn about the Lord and His teachings then the things that we learn shine as a very bright and wonderful star in our minds. For what we learn about Him is the most important of all things.
     If we allow what we have learned about the Lord to lead us, we will be just like the wise men who began to follow the star on that first Christmas night. And we will learn more and more until at last, when we are old enough, what we have learned about the Lord will lead us to where all truth comes from-to the Word. It is in the Word that we will really learn to know the Lord. If we follow its teachings in our lives we will come into a greater and greater love of them. And these teachings will lead us to the Lord Himself, for they will show us how to love Him and to make room for Him that He may dwell with us. If we love and live them, the teachings of the Word lead us to the true worship of the Lord; even as the wise men, when they had left Jerusalem, were led by the star to Bethlehem where they found the Lord and worshiped Him.
     This is the meaning of the story of the wise men and the star they followed. Let us try to remember this when on Christmas morning we gather round the representation. Let us look at the wise men and the star, and remember that if we earnestly follow all the things we have learned about the Lord we will become truly wise. And we will be led to the Lord-led to Him by the star of our knowledge. If we try to remember this, and to learn more about the Lord each day, the story of the wise men and the star will always be in our minds and hearts. Amen.

     LESSONS: Numbers 24:10-19. Matthew 2:1-12
     MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 521, 520, 526
     PRAYER: Liturgy, no. C9

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SPIRITUAL VESSELS 1955

SPIRITUAL VESSELS Rev. LOUIS B. KING 1955

     Charter Day Address

     (Delivered at the Service in the Cathedral, October 21, 1955.)

     Charter Day is a day of remembrance and thanksgiving for those of all ages who possess an affection for New Church education. It is a day of gratitude to the Lord for the will and power to rededicate our lives and our educational efforts to the establishment of His church on earth. In so doing we acknowledge not only our debt to past generations, but our responsibility to the future as well. And particularly do we accept the challenge of our time; for at this day as in the past, the pressure of the world is upon us to compromise, if not forsake, the original purpose for which the Academy's charter was granted.
     That which continues to distinguish the Academy as unique among the religious institutions of the world is the fact that she has remained faithful to her original, spiritual objective-that her sons and daughters have stood unmoved in their conviction that the Academy shall be the Divinely appointed instrument for the establishment and growth of the New Church among men. This they have been able to do while at the same time availing themselves of all truly useful and spiritually progressive methods of education.
     Each generation will introduce changes in organization and mode of application, for each generation's understanding of truth must progress. It is of order that old forms be broken down, that a judgment take place-a separation and casting aside of that which has ceased to be of use, so that there may be a reorganization of that which is useful into new and higher forms more clearly expressive of our original purpose. And as we witness this evolution of educational forms, we must have constant recourse to the Word of God as it is revealed to the New Church; for the Writings alone must direct our spiritual journey, just as the Ark of the Covenant was the only suitable guide for the Israelites' wilderness pilgrimage. Our prayer is that the Lord and not the world will be our guide.
     In the Word of the Lord there is a beautiful story that relates something of the nature and importance of New Church education, which is the primary function of the Academy.

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It is the story of a widow and her two sons who, in order that they might live, were forced to borrow. When the creditor came to collect his due, the widow was unable to pay. So she ran to Elisha the prophet of the Lord and cried unto him saying, "Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord; and now the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? Tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not anything in the house save a pot of oil. Then said he unto her: Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels" (II Kings 4:14).
     So the widow went and did as Elisha commanded her. She borrowed as many vessels as she could from her neighbors and took them into her house. She then shut the door so that no man might distract her or interfere in any way with the work which the Lord was to accomplish for her. Then, taking the pot of oil from the shelf, with her own strength she began to pour it into the vessels which she had borrowed. A wonderful thing happened. The Lord multiplied and increased the oil so that it continued to pour forth until all the vessels which she had borrowed were filled. When the last vessel was full, the oil ceased flowing. The widow ran then to Elisha and explained that she had done all things which he had commanded. "And he said, Go, sell the oil and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest" (II Kings 4:7).
     If we are to understand the reference which this story bears to the subject of New Church education, we must attend to the three things which the woman was commanded by Elisha to do; for if she had not done exactly as he commanded, her sons, and hence her happiness, would have been taken from her. She was commanded to borrow vessels from her neighbors and take them into her house, to shut the door of her house against the distractions of the world outside, and to pour forth the oil from the little pot into the borrowed vessels.
     So, if we today would be prepared by New Church education for the use for which the Lord creates us, and from which our eternal happiness is to be derived, we must do three things to which the actions of the woman correspond. First, we are commanded by the Lord to borrow spiritual vessels and take them into the house of our mind. These vessels are knowledges from nature and revelation. "Borrow not a few," we are instructed-as many as we are able to imbibe. And truly knowledges are vessels, for after we have acquired them and they have enabled us to do certain things, the Lord infills them with love so that we learn to delight in doing the things for which knowledges equip us.

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How could we possibly love the things which knowledges enable us to do if they were not actual vessels into which the Lord imparts His love?
     After knowledges have been acquired as vessels of thought, particularly knowledges of revealed truth from the Word, do not the hells inflow in an attempt to pervert those knowledges-to turn those vessels away from the Lord's uses to the furtherance and confirmation of selfish ambition and conceit? But the Lord commands us to shut the door of our mind against the hells-to exclude the influence of evil spirits, lest they distract us with temporal considerations and interfere with the secret work of reformation and regeneration which the Lord alone accomplishes miraculously in us. So was the woman commanded to shut the door of her house against any and all interference with the Lord's work.
     Finally, there was a third thing which the woman was commanded to do. She was to take the pot of oil from the shelf in her house and with her own strength begin to pour it out into the vessels which she had borrowed. And note, it was not the woman who caused the oil to increase until it filled every vessel to the brim, but the Lord alone. Oil represents love. Olive oil, as it was in this case, is smooth, fragrant, and golden in color. When applied to irritations of the skin it soothes and heals. When applied to the intricate parts of a machine it causes them to function together smoothly. So love is merciful, gentle, and warm. When applied to irritations of the spirit its effect is soothing and of a healing quality. And when love exists among men they are able to work together in harmonious performance of the Lord's uses.
     And the wonderful thing is that all men are gifted by the Lord with some measure of love, just as the woman unable to pay her debt possessed a small pot of oil. For all men during infancy and childhood are surrounded by angels whose states of innocent love are communicated and stored up in the interiors of the natural mind, and preserved there for the sake of man's future regeneration. This is solely the Lord's doing. These states of innocent love, stored up in the mind as a gift from the Lord, remain throughout man's life as a constant testimonial of the Lord's omnipresence and mercy. No matter how evil a life man has led in the past, there remain stored up in his interiors these potential states of good which secure to him the freedom and will-power to live the truths of the Word which the Lord ever presents to him from without.
     But like the woman who was commanded to pour forth the oil with her own strength, man must, as of himself, pour forth this love into the knowledges of truth which he has taken into his mind from nature and revelation. And if he will do this, if from remains he will endeavor to live according to the truth which he knows to be right, the Lord will increase the influx of love and multiply its power in his life, until every knowledge of truth becomes his own-an integral part of his character or spiritual body.

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Thus will he be prepared for his eternal use from whence will come his everlasting happiness.
     Most important is it to observe that everything the woman did by which she secured her happiness, she did under the immediate direction of Elisha. Elisha represents the Word of God; whereas the actions of the woman, when considered spiritually, involve the essential processes of New Church education. How vital it is, then, that knowledges destined to become vessels of thought be organized and presented by men and women specifically trained as New Church educators; men and women whose philosophy of education enlightens them to regard every genuine knowledge, when properly ordered and presented, as a distinctive tool for the opening and development of the truly rational mind-the spiritual mind which alone will enable man to behold the Divine Human of the Lord.
     When truths are acquired in ordered sequence and taken into the understanding, and after the doors of the mind have been closed to temptations which would pervert the truth, then, if man will endeavor to live, as of himself, the life of charity to which the truth directs him, the Lord will multiply His love in man's heart. And with the influx of Divine love the Lord Himself takes up His abode in that which is His own in man, and actually dwells in him.
     Yet the Lord wills not only to be Himself in man, but that man also be in the Lord. This second essential of the Divine will is also an end of New Church education. The reciprocal approach of man's understanding to the Lord involves an interior concept of education; for it regards as the end of New Church education a state of conjunction with the Lord, and as the means, a progressive penetration or laying aside of appearances, so that the understanding (the man himself) may approach the Divine of the Lord.
     Exteriorly, then, New Church education involves the acquisition of genuine knowledges as vessels of thought so that the Lord may inflow as Divine love and dwell in His own truth in man. Interiorly, however, New Church education involves a penetration of these knowledges by the understanding-a piercing and laying aside of all that in knowledge which is grossly finite, human, and fallacious, so that the immanent Divine of the Lord may be seen and approached more immediately.
     The Divine of the Lord in its descent to man veils itself in appearances which are successive, finite concepts, both angelic and human; and this, for the sake of adaptation, so that what is Divine may be received on all planes of angelic and human comprehension. But once received, it is not the Lord's will that His Divine remain obscured by gross appearances, but that these layers or coverings called appearances be penetrated and successively laid open so that the finite understanding of the regenerating man may behold more intimately the Divine Human of the Lord-that man himself may reciprocally conjoin his understanding to the Lord, yea, that he may dwell in the Lord.

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     To understand why the Lord veils over His Divine in layers of limited, human concept which are called appearances we must again go to the Word for enlightenment. In the story of the sojourn of Isaac and Rebekah in Gerar, the doctrine of appearances is illustrated in its fullness and power. Because of a famine in the land of Canaan, Isaac and Rebekah were commanded to go to Gerar in the land of the Philistines. Now Isaac feared for his life, for Rebekah was beautiful to look upon. And when "the men of the place asked him of his wife . . . he said unto them, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife, lest said he the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she is fair to look upon" (Genesis 26:7).
     Concerning the 26th chapter of Genesis, in which this story appears, the Arcana Coelestia summarily states: "In the internal sense of this chapter the subject treated of is appearances of truth . . . and how these are adjoined to truth Divine in order that truths and their doctrinal things might be received" (AC 3357). And in specific reference to Isaac calling Rebekah his sister it is stated: "Appearances of truth are given man to the intent that Divine good may be able to form his understanding, thus the man himself. . . . In order therefore that man may have truths, and thereby have spiritual life, appearances of truth are given to everyone according to his apprehension; which appearances are acknowledged as truths, because they are such that Divine things can be in them" (AC 3387:2).
     It is further explained in the beginning of this number from the Arcana Coelestia, that the Divine good is the only active and formative force in the universe, and that if man's understanding, which is the man himself, is to be formed by the Divine good into a dwelling place of the Lord, there must be vessels present there to receive it. The only vessel capable of receiving Divine good, is the Divine truth. And yet no man or angel is capable of receiving and comprehending the Divine truth itself. Consequently the Lord provides that His Divine truth, in its descent through the heavens to become the Word on earth, be clothed in appearances or limited, human concepts, so that it might be adapted for reception by all angels and men, regardless of their degree of comprehension.
     In the letter of the Word, Isaac represents the Divine good which wills to form the understanding of man into an image and likeness of his Creator. The men of Gerar, with whom Isaac wished to sojourn, represent the man of the church whose understanding is to be so formed.

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Rebekah as a wife represents the Divine truth itself which no man or angel can comprehend. As a sister, however, she represents Divine truth accommodated by various degrees of appearances, so that it may be received by all men-that vessels of truth may exist in the understanding for the reception of the Divine good, which alone regenerates man (see AC 3387).
     If Isaac had approached the men of Gerar calling Rebekah his wife, he would have been put to death because of her beauty. So the Divine good, in its desire to form man's understanding, if it should approach the understanding through the medium of Divine truth, could not be received. Its regenerative effect in man's life would, as it were, be put to death. So it was that Isaac called Rebekah his sister, and that because he did this he was received and enriched at the hands of the men of Gerar. And so the Divine good, in order that it may be received and have its regenerative effect upon man, approaches his understanding through the medium of appearances of truth, which can be comprehended.
     On this day memorializing the granting of the Academy's charter, we reflect upon the importance of New Church education and all that it involves. Not only is it concerned with the ordered acquisition of knowledges, which become vessels of thought into which the Lord flows with His love that He may be in us; but it includes also recognition that these very knowledges which we imbibe from nature and revelation are, in themselves, gross appearances which, although they provide our first approach to the Lord and hence our first reception of His Divine, nevertheless, are also to be considered as limitations which obscure our progressively interior vision of the Lord's Divine Human.
     If the understanding of man is to be perfected in its vision of the Divine Human, concealed as it is within appearances; if man, as of himself, is to approach the Lord reciprocally and conjoin himself to the Divine: appearances must be penetrated so that the immanent presence of the Lord may be seen more intimately and felt more immediately. That this may be accomplished New Church education exists. And the Academy has taken upon itself the responsibility of New Church education in all its branches. Without New Church education in some form the church cannot in the least exist with man. As many as there are ways of establishing the church in the individual, so many are there forms of New Church education, and so many are the uses and responsibilities of the Academy.
     To reestablish and confirm our affection for these uses, we gather each year at this time to go before the Lord in humble procession, to kneel in the presence of His open Word, to resolve with the whole of our being that our schools will ever serve the establishment of His kingdom in the hearts of men. So to kneel before the open Word is to enter into a living representation of the true spirit of the Academy; and if our kneeling is sincere, it will provide a form into which there may be a powerful influx of inspiration and enlightenment.

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May the Lord be with us this day and the days to come. May He renew in us a vision of the scope and importance of New Church education. May He guide us, pupil and teacher alike, in our quest of knowledge. May He enlighten us to behold within the grossest of these knowledges the inmost presence of His Humanity. This we ask that the Lord Jesus Christ may be truly with us, and dwell with us, and be our God.
PEACE RIVER BLOCK DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1955

PEACE RIVER BLOCK DISTRICT ASSEMBLY MARGERY M. ESAK 1955

     AUGUST 7, 1955

     Our calendar shows that another year has come and gone, and also another very successful Peace River Block District Assembly. Our Assembly this year, the fourth, was held on August 7th in the Elks' Hall, Gorande Prairie, where members and friends began to gather shortly after 11:00 a.m. All of the 44 present, who came from near and far, were enthusiastic, and happy to be among friends old and new. We were very sorry that some of our staunch members were unable to attend because of sickness. We wished them a speedy recovery, and we sincerely hope to have them with us when we meet in 1956.
     At 11:30 we assembled for a service of worship before an altar tastefully decorated with flowers. Other flowers, placed at various points in the hall, lent a peaceful air to the service. After the reading of the lessons and the Lord's Prayer the sacrament of Baptism was administered, when the infant son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Heinrichs and Mr. John Carbury were both baptized into the New Church. The rest of the service then followed and the music was ably supplied by Miss Loraine Lemky.
     Following the service we partook of a lovely luncheon. One and all heartily enjoyed the dainties, as well as the talk, laughter and discussion that went with them.
     After a short period of relaxation with music and singing, the business session was called to order with the Rev. Roy Franson as chairman. It was again unanimously decided to petition the Bishop to call an Assembly in 1956, to be held in Dawson Creek. It was also unanimously agreed that we invite Bishop De Charms to preside over our next Assembly, and that Mrs. De Charms and the Rev. and Mrs. Karl R. Alden be invited to attend.

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     At 7:00 p.m. we gathered for another of our bountiful Assembly banquets. Once again the tables were artfully decorated with flowers and bountifully spread with all the good things supplied by the ladies. Mr. Ed Lemky was our most hearty and spontaneous toastmaster. After the toast to the Church the speakers for the evening were introduced. The first was Mr. John Carbury, who gave us a very inspiring talk on "What is Faith?" The next speaker, Mr. Erdman Heinrichs, gave us a very clear answer to the question, "What is Charity?" Mr. Franson was the third speaker. His subject was "What is Worship?" and he gave us a clear and concise definition. Messages of congratulation and good wishes were received from Bishop De Charms, the Rev. and Mrs. Karl R. Alden, Mrs. Harold F. Pitcairn, Mrs. Conrad Howard, Mr. and Mrs. E. M. Miller, Mr. Nelson Evens, and Mr. and Mrs. William Evens. Several impromptu speakers were called upon and were much enjoyed as they rose nobly 20 the occasion. These speeches, interspersed with group singing, made a very enjoyable period for us all. A vote of thanks was given to Mr. and Mrs. Franson for their work with us, and also to those who had helped in any way to make our Assembly so enjoyable.
     Thus, once again, our Assembly was concluded. The final word passing from mouth to mouth was, "We'll see you next year." So once again we are hoping for a bigger and better Assembly.
     MARGERY M. ESAK,
          Secretary.
SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1955

SOME GENERAL CHURCH USES 1955

     GENERAL CHURCH RELIGION LESSONS. Graded lessons and other material from preschool through Grade 12. Address inquiries to: Pastor-in-Charge, Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     GENERAL CHURCH SOUND RECORDING COMMITTEE. Tape-recordings of services, sermons, doctrinal classes, children's services, etc. Address: General Church Sound Recording Committee, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     GENERAL CHURCH VISUAL EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE. Biblical and other slides. Address: Mr. William R. Cooper, Director, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     NEW CHURCH EDUCATION. Published by Religion Lessons Committee monthly, September to June, inclusive. Subscription, $1.50. Editor: Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal.

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CHICAGO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1955

CHICAGO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY ALEXANDER MCQUEEN 1955

     GLENVIEW, OCTOBER 14-16, 1955

     There was a gratifying attendance of members from near and far at the Chicago District Assembly. Visitors were housed with members of the Immanuel Church; the banquet and two other meals were served by a caterer.

     Sessions.-The first session, Friday evening, October 14, was held in the assembly room of the Immanuel Church. Bishop George de Charms opened the meeting with the Lord's Prayer and a reading from the Word. The Rev. Elmo C. Acton then welcomed Bishop and Mrs. De Charms, and as pastor of Immanuel Church welcomed the members and friends of the district.
     The Bishop then delivered the episcopal address, on "Religious Toleration" [pp. 529-536]. The keen interest shown proved that the topic is a very timely one. Discussion was led by the Rev. Elmo Acton, who spoke on the only source of real unity: "The Lord is one, and therefore the only true unity can come from Him." Several questions, which were answered by the Bishop, were asked from the Boor. Regarding distinctive social life, the Bishop said that it is part of our church life and should have its origin ill the teaching of the Writings. We should take every step possible to help our young people in their endeavor to produce among themselves the kind of social life which the Writings indicate. As to whether anyone who loves the Lord is a New Church man, the Bishop explained that those only can truly love the Lord who know who He is. Everyone who loves the Lord as he sees Him, lives according to what he thinks the Lord teaches, and keeps his mind open, can be taught in the other world. Then only can he be brought into the New Heaven from which the New Church descends. Of such a man we may say that he is potentially a New Church man. Asked whether we should officially stand aloof from inter-denominational activities, the Bishop pointed out that we cannot join any movement which requires that we modify our doctrines or principles; but we can recognize that the Lord is using these movements to bring about an external harmony that is essential in aiding our civilization in opposing the powers of evil. A brief social period followed, with refreshments provided by the ladies of Immanuel Church.

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     On Saturday, October 15th, the morning and afternoon sessions were held in a new public school building, the Junior High School. The Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr of Sharon Church, Chicago, delivered the morning address, on "Worship." This was listened to with great interest, and a number of questions were asked and answered, Bishop De Charms, referring to what Mr. Schnarr had said about ritual, spoke of the difficulty involved in forming and changing ritual. He mentioned the things that become dear to us in the customary forms of worship, which we are loath to change; and yet changes must come as the church develops and as we grow in our understanding of the Writings. The Rev. Elmo Acton spoke of the importance of worship in small groups. Calling Mr. Schnarr's paper significant, he took occasion to welcome him, and the uses he is performing in the Chicago District.
     Mr. Alfred F. Mergen of Madison, Wisconsin, said that the tunes of certain hymns in the Liturgy had been useful to him in that they had served as a bridge to carry over the affections of his early years with another church, even when the words, which he now accepts and loves, were different. He spoke also of the delight he had found in the chants and in the Whittington psalm music, and also of the importance of family worship. Bishop De Charms, referring again to the problems of liturgical revision, pointed out that this is a continuing process; also that we may be ready for a new Liturgy about five years from now. It is useful, indeed important, for all members to express themselves as to their likes, dislikes, and suggestions regarding anything in the Liturgy. Such expressions should be sent in writing to the chairman of the revision committee, Bishop Willard D. Pendleton, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     In his closing remarks Mr. Schnarr referred to a mistaken idea that the higher angels do not need external worship. All the angels meet for periods of formal worship, which inspires them to the good of life even as it inspires us, but they would not have to discuss matters of ritual. He concluded by saying that because all our worship looks toward regeneration, all our activities-assemblies, doctrinal classes, and so on-inspire our people to the good of life. Present at all the meetings were the Rev. and Mrs. David Garrett. Mr. Garrett, pastor of the Convention church in St. Louis, was introduced and welcomed by Bishop De Charms at the opening of the morning meeting. His brief response was full of the spirit of charity and cooperation.
     The third session, on Saturday afternoon, heard reports by the Committee on the Development of New Church Education in the Chicago District. Introducing the subject, Bishop De Charms spoke of the increase in the number of children, which, he said, presents a happy problem that promises well for the future. He then called on the Rev. Elmo Acton, chairman of the committee representing the Chicago District Educational Association.

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     Mr. Acton read his report, which dealt with plans for expanding the educational facilities for the children of the Chicago District, He reminded the Assembly of the Resolutions passed at its last meeting supporting the recommendations of a committee on education in the District:
     1) That an endowment fund be established for the development of New Church education in the Chicago District, looking specifically to a future high school in Glenview.
     2) That a second fund be started to provide means for the children now in the District to attend the school in Glenview.
     Resolved: That this Assembly accepts the report and recommendations of the committee, and that this Assembly requests the Bishop of the General Church to appoint an executive committee on education to carry out the principles set forth in this report, this committee to have authority to establish and administer Chicago District educational funds and to solicit and receive contributions thereto.
     Mr. Sydney E. Lee, vice-chairman, spoke of difficulties to be overcome: difficulties of space, time, personnel and finances.
     Mr. Alan B. Fuller, treasurer, reported an endowment fund of $800.10, much of which had been contributed from "outside this area."
     The Rev. Ormond Odhner presented a report on growth, based on present and predicted birth rates in the district. This report, informative and inspiring, gave a new and spiritual significance to the term "vital statistics."
     Bishop De Charms said that the work of providing for the education of our children is the responsibility of the whole church, but that the main responsibility for expanding facilities will rest on the people of the section in which the children receive the benefit. He pointed out that other parts of the church have similar problems in maintaining their elementary schools.
     Two Resolutions were passed by the meeting:
     1) That this Assembly accept and approve the reports on education for the Chicago District and encourage the committee to continue its activities along the lines indicated, including incorporation or some other action to give the movement a definite legal status.
     2) That the committee be authorized to obtain funds for preparing and circulating a prospectus or other printed matter, to encourage others to aid in the movement.
     Mr. Acton explained that the committee had felt that we do not want to go to the church as a whole, and ask for support of this use, until we can show that we are really serious in what we are trying to do-that we are doing something ourselves.

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     Mrs. Donald Gladish, reporting for the Assembly Hospitality Committee, said that 112 programs and cards had been mailed, 58 cards had been returned, and 52 guests had come to Glenview.

     Banquet. The Assembly banquet, on Saturday evening, was a very enjoyable affair. Toastmaster Charles M. Lindrooth, who flew in from the East and arrived just in time to reach the speakers' table, announced the topic as "Distinctiveness." This important subject was well covered in three speeches by Messrs. Edwin Burnham, Robert Gladish, and Bruce Holmes. Toasts to the Church, the Academy, and to individuals were honored, and the work of all committees was acknowledged by expressions of thanks. In his summing up the Bishop said that distinctiveness is perhaps the most important subject that faces the church.

     Sunday Services and Meetings. Sunday, October 16th, was a busy day, starting with a family service for children and parents at 9:45 a.m., conducted by the Rev. Ormond Odhner. This service, during which some of the smaller children were more than usually vocal, was followed at 11:00 a.m. by the regular service for adults, with a sermon by the Bishop. Psalm 48 was sung with power and spirit; and the phrase, "by an east wind Thou wilt break the ships of Tarshish," was made ominously effective by the roar of jet-planes as they passed over the church at a low altitude.
     After about an hour of informal visiting everyone met at the building for luncheon, a very pleasant experience. At four o'clock there was a special service for the administration of the Holy Supper, in which the Bishop was assisted by the Rev. Elmo Acton and the Rev. Ormond Odhner. At the end of this service the congregation sang "The Lord God Jesus Christ doth reign," so bringing the Assembly to a fitting and inspiring close.
     For the menfolk there was still another meeting, however, as the Glenview Sons of the Academy got together for an evening with visiting Sons.
     ALEXANDER MCQUEEN
EASTERN CANADA ASSEMBLY 1955

EASTERN CANADA ASSEMBLY Editor 1955

The report of this Assembly was not received in time for publication in this issue. It will appear in the January, 1956, issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE.

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NOTES ON THE CALENDAR READINGS 1955

     The characteristic features of the Gospel through John are evident in the portion to be read this month (8:21-21:14), and nowhere more so than in its handling of the Holy Supper. The institution of the Supper was already described in three Gospels; and rather than repeat it, John was inspired to record in five chapters (13-17) what the others had not mentioned-the washing of the disciples' feet, the Lord's discourse with them after the Supper, and His prayer of intercession. Other discourses not preserved by the earlier Gospels are to be found in this portion of John, which records also miracles not related elsewhere-the healing of a man born blind and the raising of Lazarus. Love is dominant throughout: in the relation between the Divine and the Human, toward the human race, and among men as charity. We draw attention to an interpolation which has changed the meaning of 19:5. Pilate should be deleted, and the verse read: "Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and saith unto them, Behold the man!"

     Our readings in Heaven and Hell (nos. 278-388) deal first with the two inmost things of heaven, innocence and peace, and treat of the conjunction of heaven with the human race, and with man by means of the Word. It is then revealed that heaven and hell are from the human race; the lot of various peoples in heaven is described; and it is next disclosed that there are marriages in heaven.
     Because he has long been familiar with them, the New Church reader may scarcely realize how many new truths are taught in these chapters. That heaven and hell are from the human race was a startling disclosure; in Christian thought, angels were a separate creation, devils were fallen angels, and the blessed could hope for no more than to become like the angels. That heaven is open to the Gentiles, and all who die in childhood are received into heaven, were new ideas to a church that made baptism essential for salvation. The teaching that there are wise and simple in heaven cut across the orthodox idea that heaven would be the same for all. And the doctrine that wealth and poverty have in themselves nothing to do with salvation resolved issues that were hotly debated under the impetus of sharp social distinctions. But the most startling disclosure was, of course, that there are marriages in heaven; for through a misunderstanding of the Lord's words this had been denied.

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IN OUR CONTEMPORARIES 1955

     November saw publication of the first number of NEWS FROM THE ACADEMY, an attractive four-page pamphlet issued by the Academy of the New Church under the editorship of Mr. E. Bruce Glenn and produced by the offset photography process. The purpose of this report is to inform patrons of current developments within the Academy schools-of matters involving the faculty and administration the student body, the curriculum and the campus. The report, which is to be published two or three times yearly, will supplement the literary number of the JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, and it is hoped that by means of it there will be forged "a still closer bond of understanding between the Academy and the Church which it serves." We wish it success in this undertaking.
     Sharon Church, Chicago, has joined the ranks of societies issuing their own news sheets. The SHARON REPORT, attractively mimeographed, is edited by Mrs. Alan Childs and contains society and personal news as well as the official calendar Congratulations! We hope to print soon a complete list of current publications within the General Church.
     In a recent issue of NEW CHURCH EDUCATION the editor questioned the propriety of calling the Old and New Testaments the Sacred Scripture rather than the Word. The logic of his position would seem to be that when we wish to include the Divine revelation for the New Church we should say "the Word and the Writings," which many in the General Church consider to be divisive. Our thought has been different. The term "the Word" seems to have several meanings which are more and more restrictive (cf. AC 6752); and it may be used to describe all that the Lord has revealed or a specific Divine revelation. And it does not seem to us that a rational church, in order to follow the teaching of the Writings, must necessarily find in them the precise words it uses. When a member of the General Church says "the Word" without qualification we may presume him to mean all that the Lord has revealed in the Old and New Testaments and in the Writings. But when it becomes necessary to distinguish these revelations in such a way as to include the Writings in the Word we can see no objection to "the Word of the Lord in the Sacred Scripture and in the Heavenly Doctrine." The editor's citations show that "Sacred Scripture" is an alternate title for the Old and New Testament Word. Usage in the Liturgy represents no more than current practice based on past decisions made in the light of the best thought of the time, and is under constant scrutiny with a view to revision.

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REVIEWS 1955

REVIEWS Various 1955

CONCERNING THE WHITE HORSE IN THE APOCALYPSE CHAPTER XIX, AND THEN CONCERNING THE WORD AND ITS SPIRITUAL OR INTERNAL SENSE FROM THE ARCANA COELESTIA. From the Latin of Emanuel Swedenborg. Translated by B. S. Willmott. The Swedenborg Society, Incorporated: London. 1955. Cloth, pp. 53.

     This little work is closely connected with the Apocalypse Explained, which expounds the book of Revelation to chapter 19, verse 10, and then ends abruptly with a summary of the internal sense of chapter 20, verses 1-15. That unfinished work was not published by Swedenborg, though the title-page indicates that it was intended for the printer; but in 1758 there came from the press the White Horse, which expounds spiritually the description of the horse given in Revelation 19 from which it takes its name. It then presents, under 12 headings, a digest of passages extracted from the Arcana on the doctrine of the Sacred Scripture. This edition contains also the Appendix to the White Horse, which was found in a manuscript now in the Royal Library in Stockholm and was apparently the first draft of a communication which Swedenborg sent to the Rev. Thomas Hartley in August, 1769.
     The first published English translation, by Robert Hindmarsh, was issued in the year 1788, and there were subsequently a number of reprints, some of them being revisions of earlier editions. In this translation use has been made of an unpublished revision undertaken by the Rev. W. H. Acton, which was based upon the translation by the Rev. T. H. German published in 1871. How far the Acton revision has been followed we are unable to say, but the general feeling left with this reviewer was one of disappointment. Mr. Willmott seems to be one of those translators who believe in that type of accommodation which, when it does not sacrifice distinctive terms, leaves the reader wondering just what has been gained. A few examples from the opening numbers must suffice here.
     Significat, which the Writings use with nice precision, is variously rendered "signifies," "means," and "denotes." Constat (is manifest) becomes "is established." Operiatur (opened) becomes "disclosed." And by rendering apparet (it appears) as "it is manifest" the translator changes "Hence it appears what is the quality of the Word in its spiritual or internal sense" to, "From these things the quality of the Word in its spiritual or internal sense is manifest."

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     That "the internal sense of the Word can be seen in heaven" does not mean the same as "the internal sense of the Word is seen in heaven," which is what the Latin says. "It is not possible for anyone to have a clear idea of what each of these particular things implies, except from the internal sense" is a paraphrase of "no one can know, except from the internal sense, what each of these particulars involves" that is far from clarifying the meaning. "Sees that the Word is of such a quality in the internal sense" does not have the same meaning as "sees of what quality the Word is in its internal sense." And the meaning of the phrase "the internal sense of the Word is especially for the angels" is not made clearer by the insertion of the word "intended." Nor is the translator always consistent. In no. 1 he renders the same phrase as "to which violence has been offered" and "to which violence has been done." The format is pleasing and the Indexes are useful, but we could have wished for a more satisfying treatment of the Latin.

A HYMNAL FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES IN THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM. Academy Book Room: Bryn Athyn, Pa. 1955.

     The revised edition of the Hymnal is being issued in three parts. This first section, which comprises one-third of the entire book, consists of material from the old Hymnal and the present Liturgy, reproduced by the offset photography process. It includes Sentences of Scripture, a Worship Service, Recitations, Doxologies, and 32 Hymns for general use in children's services, school opening, and family worship. This general collection will be enlarged by the addition of new hymns in the second section, which will contain also anthems in both English and Hebrew, the latter with a transliteration of the text, festival hymns, and a few hymns in two parts. The final section will consist of hymns for preschool and primary school children and will contain some old favorites as well as new songs, both original and from other sources: that are very short and simple.
     Publication of this first section was under the supervision of the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal; Miss Hildegarde Odhner will be responsible for the collections to be included in the later parts. The offset photography process results in a very satisfactory product, and the size of the type has been enlarged slightly for easier reading by children. In its present form the new Hymnal will be available only to schools; but the complete volume, to be published next summer, will be offered to the General Church public. It should fill a long felt need.

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THE EDITOR
PRINCE OF PEACE 1955

PRINCE OF PEACE Editor 1955

NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly by

THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                              Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, Bryn Athyn, Pa,
Circulation Secretary               Mr. H. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Treasurer                          Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address, and business communications should be sent to the Circulation Secretary. Notifications of address changes should be received by the 15th of the month.
     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 a year to any address, payable in advance. Single copy, 30 cents.
     Editorial writers will probably not fail to contrast the birth of the Prince of Peace with the state of the world that celebrates it two thousand years later. There will be food for thought in their reflections, but these will serve also to illustrate the teaching of the Writings that men scarcely know what peace is; supposing that they have it when the wars of nations, and enmities and discords among men, cease, and there is security abroad, tranquillity at home, and success for nations and men in their chosen courses. That it should be so is scarcely surprising, however, for it is now revealed that the peace of which the Lord is Prince transcends every natural idea. It is the peace of God, which passeth understanding.
     The peace the Lord came to bestow is that which reigns in human minds when combat against evil and falsity has ceased, and all the unrest of cupidity has been stilled. In its gift are all things of the Lord's kingdom; in it the Divine of the Lord affects everything heavenly that is in man. This peace can be received in the midst of earthly turmoil, but it is received by those only who look to the Lord as its Prince; who believe in Him, submit to His leading in the Word, and attain the wisdom of life that comes when good and truth have been made one. Yet the Lord does not withhold His peace from these until the passion and unrest of evil loves has been stilled. As a quality unrealized, but secretly present in the mind, it is a force without which evil could not be fought. In reflecting on this, we may recall that peace is promised to the New Church, and that of its increase there shall be no end.

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USES AND OCCUPATIONS 1955

USES AND OCCUPATIONS Editor 1955

It has been said that no one in the New Church does any work-they all perform uses! Certainly the term "use" seems to have become the New Church synonym for a job, and the young man or woman taking a position is frequently wished success in a new use. In this, of course, there is no harm at all: indeed it gives form to our belief that there is a moral and spiritual content in work, not merely an economic necessity. But the usage should not make us forgetful of the truth that the word has a deeper meaning. The distinction is made clear in the teaching that use is to discharge sincerely, justly and faithfully, the duties of one's employment. This shows that the use is not the employment but the spiritual quality of its performance, and the effect of that quality upon other human minds, thus upon society.
Use cannot be done except through an occupation. But the occupation is not the use, and we do not enter into a new use when we change our employment-though we may be able to perform our use more effectively or more interiorly. In every lawful employment there is a specific use or function to society, and in that sense of the term we may change uses or enter more interiorly into the same use. But a man's spiritual use is the influence he has upon others, for good or ill, by the form of mind he brings to his work-by the quality of his will and understanding Thus a number of men may be doing exactly the same work, and yet each be performing a different use; some good uses, and some evil uses. One may be insinuating good into his fellows, others may be subtly corrupting all good in others. That is determined by our character, and the impact of our character upon others is our real use: a use that is changed only by entering into regeneration.
MATERIALISTIC FALLACY 1955

MATERIALISTIC FALLACY Editor 1955

Materialists frequently assert their intellectual superiority by claiming that they look at religion objectively and scientifically, whereas the believer is prejudiced and naive. If this charge should be brought against the New Church man he need not suffer a moment's uneasiness, or entertain any doubt as to whether he has not been put on the defensive. The charge can be rejected flatly as having no foundation. The difference between them does not lie in the fact that one accepts without scientific proof while the other does not, but in what is so accepted. For the materialist, in his own peculiar way, is just as much a believer in the very sense in which he decries the term. He may know what he can demonstrate scientifically, but he does not know that what cannot be so demonstrated is non-existent or of little importance. He can only believe it.

561

The New Church man and the materialist both look at religion in exactly the same way-from certain conclusions reached by the mind. Where they differ is in the nature of their conclusions. We have concluded that the Writings speak truly when they proclaim the Lord as God of heaven and earth; and as a church we find verification in the self-evidencing reason of love and of truth. The materialist concludes otherwise; but in so doing he is no more objective than we are prejudiced. He may deny the existence of God, Divine revelation, and the life after death, but he can neither know nor prove that they are non-existent: he can only believe it. Thus he is neither objective nor scientific, and we have no need to apologize for our faith, even on his grounds, or to feel that he has a detachment which we lack.
Indeed the most insolent assumption of materialism is that if there be a God He must demonstrate His existence by meeting the criteria set up by the human mind. The external power of materialism is so great, and its pseudo authority so impressive to the credulous, that an unthinking church could be made to feel on the defensive. But that is not the church's true position! From the beginning of human creation the Lord has revealed Himself, and if materialists contend otherwise the burden of proof lies on them. We have no need to fear the outcome. But placing responsibility where it belongs will restore perspective to a situation which materialism has for too long distorted, and will also emphasize the rational basis of a true faith.
OLD AND THE NEW 1955

OLD AND THE NEW Editor 1955

As the last day of the year draws to a close, men of different nationalities are variously affected. For some it is Old Year's Night: an occasion to look back fondly over the dying year, often through a sentimental haze which blurs its sorrows and failures and brings into focus only its joys and successes. For others it is New Year's Eve and an exciting time to look forward to new experiences and opportunities, challenges and responsibilities; to the prospect of opening a brand new volume of the book of life, unmarred by the mistakes of the past; perchance to the enticing possibility of becoming what they failed to be in the past, or of achieving at last the ambitions which were again denied fulfillment in the closing year. A fresh start with renewed hope, and the effort scarcely seen by a mind that leaps eagerly to the conclusion.
For the New Church man the end of the year should surely be an occasion for looking back on the old and looking forward to the new. It is only out of the wisdom gained in the past from the Word and from experience that we can shape the future intelligently and well when it becomes the present.

562

And it is as we reflect upon the Lord's providential care as we may see it in the past, on the opportunities for usefulness and for developing character that have been presented to us, even though some came in ways that were unpleasant, that we may find incentive to go forward into the new year, resolved to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.
But of one thing we may be quite certain. The new year has no magic to erase the past. The man who steps into it is the same man who in so doing stepped out of the old year. At any given time a man is the product of all his past states. Yet there is nothing of determinism in this teaching. In every year into which we are given to enter there is the possibility of new states-of more interior states of love and faith or of their first beginnings. But it is the part of a rational man to realize beforehand-for rationality is not a noticeable feature of New Year's Eve-the personal and topical implications of the doctrine against instantaneous salvation. Our entrance into a new year is an earnest of the Lord's willingness to reform us, or regenerate us further, in it. But the man with whom He, and we, must work is the man we now know ourselves to be, and the man we can better discover ourselves to be by self-examination.
LET HIM BE ANATHEMA! 1955

LET HIM BE ANATHEMA! Editor 1955

Historians have pointed out, with some justice, that the Medieval Church did not Pronounce ex-cathedra on matters of science. Rather did it regard Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas as the twin pillars on which it rested, to undermine either of which was to threaten the entire structure of Christian faith and life. Evidently the New Church must be careful not to take a similar position in regard to the scientific and philosophical works of Swedenborg on the one hand, and the Heavenly Doctrine on the other. Belief in the revealed truth that Swedenborg was prepared for his office by means of the natural sciences and philosophy is not inconsistent with the position that his scientific and philosophical writings are human and fallible. For although Swedenborg was led by the Lord in his studies, although he was Divinely led to perceive genuine natural and philosophic truths as vessels for the reception of spiritual truths, he was not Divinely inspired in setting forth the fruits of those studies as he was in giving the Writings to the world.
Swedenborg the scientist and philosopher was Divinely led but not Divinely inspired. His conclusions were not revealed to him, as was the Heavenly Doctrine-though he speaks in places of confirmatory signs-but were reached by a brilliant and profound use of experience, observation, and reason.

563

And although it would be unreasonable to suppose that he could be prepared by means of false principles, it would also be unreasonable to assume that any criticism of specific findings must weaken the idea of a Divine preparation and therefore be treated as an insidious attack upon the Writings themselves.
One practical application of this is that the competent New Church scientist who, in the course of an affirmative study of Swedenborg's own works, raises questions on valid grounds about specific findings should not be made to feel that in so doing he brings his faith in the Writings into question. He should be able to pursue his investigations in an atmosphere of freedom, and the church should not display an authoritarian attitude grounded in the supposition that if Swedenborg is questioned, faith in the Writings must suffer. Such a fear can arise only from a misunderstanding of the relation of Swedenborg's works to the Writings, from a mistaken evaluation of those works, or from a superficial grasp of his preparation.
But when it comes to the question of natural truth in the Writings we stand on entirely different ground. It is conceded that the Writings are not intended to be a revelation of scientific facts, and we are not referring to the often debated illustrations which Swedenborg took from the science of his day, but to revealed truth about natural things. When the Writings teach, for example, that there are three spiritual atmospheres and three natural atmospheres, are we to accept the first part of the statement as true and suspend judgment as to the second part until science shall have proved that it is true? Are we to believe the doctrines of correspondence and of a trine in all things, but withhold decision as to this application of them because it has not yet been demonstrated? Can we hold that the theological arguments for other inhabited earths are cogent and true, and necessary to the concept of the infinity of God, but that the revelation that they are inhabited is to be accepted conditionally because it has not yet been proved true! It is our belief that we cannot logically make these distinctions, and that only in Divine revelation can we discover the real truth about natural things. But this opens an interesting field for further discussion.
WANTED 1955

WANTED 1955

A complete set of the Spiritual Diary. Will anyone having for sale a set in reasonable condition please communicate with Mr. Daniel Heinrichs, Stuart Hall, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

564

DIRECTORY 1955

     GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM

     Officials and Councils

     Bishop: Right Rev. George de Charms
Assistant Bishop: Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton
Secretary: Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner

     CONSISTORY

     Bishop George de Charms

Right Revs. Alfred Acton; Willard D. Pendleton; Revs. A. Wynne Acton; Elmo C. Acton; Karl R. Alden; Gustaf Baeckstrom; Bjorn A. H. Boyesen; Charles E. Doering; Alan Gill; Frederick E. Gyllenhaal, Secretary; W. Cairns Henderson; Hugo Lj. Odhner; Norman H. Reuter; Gilbert H. Smith.

     "The General Church of the New Jerusalem"

     (A corporation of Illinois)

     "General Church of the New Jerusalem"

     (A corporation of Pennsylvania)

     OFFICERS OF BOTH CORPORATIONS

Right Rev. George de Charms, President
Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton, Vice President
Mr. Hubert Hyatt, Secretary
Mr. L. E. Gyllenhaal, Treasurer

     BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE ILLINOIS CORPORATION

     AND

     BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA CORPORATION

Right Rev. George de Charms; Right Rev. Willard D. Pendleton; Mr. Daric E. Acton; Kesniel C. Acton, Esg.; Mr. Reginald S. Anderson; Mr. Carl Hj. Asplundh; Mr. Edwin T. Asplundh; Mr. Lester Asplundh; Mr. Robert G. Barnitz; Mr. Geoffrey E. Blackman; Mr. Edward C. Bostock; Mr Robert M. Brown; Mr. Geoffrey S. Childs; Randolph W. Childs, Esq.; Mr. Gordon D. Cockerell; Edward H. Davis, Esq.; George C. Doering, Esq.; Mr. Theodore N. Glenn; Mr. Hubert Hyatt; Mr. John E. Kuhl; Mr. Sydney E. Lee; Mr. Tore E. Loven; Philip C. Pendleton, Esq.; Mr. Harold F. Pitcairn; Raymond Pitcairn, Esg.; Mr. F. G. Colley Pryke; Mr. A. Warren Reuter; Mr. Gilbert M. Smith; Arthur Synnestvedt, Esq.; Mr. Norman P. Synnestvedt.
Honorary Members: Dr. Marlin W. Heilman; Mr. Charles G. Merrell.

565

     The Clergy

     Bishops

     DE CHARMS, GEORGE. Ordained June 28, 1914; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1916; 3rd Degree, March 11, 1928. Bishop of the General Church. Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. President, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     ACTON, ALFRED. Ordained June 4, 1893; 2nd Degree, January 10, 1897; 3rd Degree, April 5, 1936. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     PENDLETON, WILLARD DANDRIDGE Ordained June 18, 1933; 2nd Degree, September 12, 1934; 3rd Degree, June 19, 1946. Assistant Bishop of the General Church. Executive Vice President, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     Pastors

     ACTON, ALFRED WYNNE. Ordained June 19, 1932; 2nd Degree, March 25, 1934. Pastor of the Durban Society, Superintendent of the South African Mission. Address: Kiltrae, Flat 5, 361 Essenwood Avenue, Durban, Natal, South Africa.
     ACTON, ELMO CARMAN. Ordained June 14, 1925; 2nd Degree, August 5, 1928. Pastor of the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Illinois. Address: 12 Park Drive, Glenview, Illinois.
     ALDEN, KARL RICHARDSON Ordained June 19, 1917; 2nd Degree, October 12, 1919. Professor of Religion, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     BAECKSTROM, GUSTAF. Ordained June 6, 1915; 2nd Degree, June 27, 1920. Editor of NOVA ECCLESIA and Manager of the Book Room in Stockholm. Address: Svedjevagen 20, Bromma, Sweden.
     BOYESEN, BJORN ADOLPH HILDEMAR. Ordained June 19, 1939; 2nd Degree, March 30, 1941. Pastor of the Stockholm Society. Visiting Pastor of the Jonkoping Circle. Address: Aladdinsvagen 27, Bromma, Sweden.
     BRICKMAN, WALTER EDWARD. Ordained, 1st and 2nd Degrees, January 7, 1900. Address: 38 Park Drive, Glenview, Illinois.
     CALDWELL, WILLIAM BEEBE. Ordained October 19, 1902; 2nd Degree, October 23, 1904. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     CHILDS, GEOFFREY STAFFORD, JR. Ordained June 19, 1952; 2nd Degree, June l9, 1954. Pastor of the Advent Church, Philadelphia, Pa Visiting Pastor to the New York and North Jersey Circles. Address: 5007 Penn Street, Philadelphia 24, Pa.
     CRANCH, HAROLD COVERT. Ordained June 19, 1941; 2nd Degree, October 25, 1942. Visiting Pastor to the Western States. Address: 346 Riverdale Drive, Glendale 4,
     DOERING, CHARLES EMIL. Ordained June 7,1896; 2nd Degree, January 29, 1899. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     GILL, ALAN. Ordained June 14, 1925; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1926. Pastor of the Colchester Society. Address: 9 Ireton Road, Colchester, England.
     GLADISH, VICTOR JEREMIAH Ordained June 17, 1928; 2nd Degree, August 5, 1928. Address: 3508 Linneman Street, Glenview, Illinois.
     GYLLENHAAL, FREDERICK EDMUND Ordained June 23, 1907; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1910. Pastor-in-Charge, General Church Religion Lessons. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa. Ordained June 24, 1923; 2nd Degree, February 81 1925. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     HEINRICHS, HENRY. Ordained June 24, 1923; 2nd Degree, February 8, 1925. Address: R. R. 3, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.

566

     HENDERSON, WILLIAM CAIRNS. Ordained June 10, 1934; 2nd Degree, April 14, 1935. Secretary of the Council of the Clergy. Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE. Professor of Theology, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     KING, LOUIS BLAIR. Ordained June 19, 1951; 2nd Degree, April 19, 1953. Pastor of the Pittsburgh Society. Address: 299 Le Roi Road, Pittsburgh 8, Pa.
     LIMA JOAO DE MENDONCA. Ordained, 1st and 2nd Degrees, August 5, 1928. Pastor of the Rio de Janeiro Society. Address: R. Senador, Vergueiro, 154, Apt. 1100, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
     ODHNER, HUGO LJUNGBERG Ordained June 28, 1914; 2nd Degree, June 24, 1911. Secretary of the General Church. Assistant Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. Dean of the Theological School, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     ODHNER, ORMOND DE CHARMS. Ordained June 19, 1940; 2nd Degree, October 11, 1942. Assistant Pastor of the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Illinois. Visiting Pastor, Madison, St. Paul-Minneapolis Circles and Chicago District. Address: 2700 Park Lane, Glenview, Illinois.
     PENDLETON, DANDRIDGE. Ordained June 19, 1952; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1954. Pastor of the Washington, D. C., and Baltimore, Maryland, Societies. Address: 800 North Carolina Avenue S.E., Washington, D. C.
     PRYKE, MARTIN. Ordained June 19, 1940; 2nd Degree, March 1, 1942. Pastor of the Olivet Church, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Address: 2 Elm Grove Avenue, Toronto 3, Ontario, Canada.
     REUTER, NORMAN HAROLD. Ordained June 17, 1928; 2nd Degree, June 15, 1930. Pastor of Carmel Church, Kitchener, Ontario. Visiting Pastor to the Montreal Circle. Address: 139 Union Boulevard, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.
     RICH, MORLEY DYCKMAN. Ordained June 19, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 13, 1940. Visiting Pastor to the South-Eastern States. Address: i6035 N.W. 27th Place, Opa. Locka, Fla.
     ROGERS, NORBERT HENRY. Ordained June 19, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 13, 1940. Pastor of the Detroit Society, Visiting Pastor to the North Ohio Circle, Address: 1541 Eaten Road, Berkley, Mich.
     ROSE, FRANK SHIRLEY. Ordained June 19, 1952; 2nd Degree, August 2, 1953. Visiting Pastor to the isolated in Great Britain and to the Circles at Paris and The Hague. Address: 41 Ambrose Avenue, Colchester, England.
     SANDSTROM, ERIK. Ordained June 10, 1934; 2nd Degree, August 4, 1935. Pastor of Michael Church, London, England. Address: 135 Mantilla Road, Tooting, London, S.W. 11, England.
     SIMONS, DAVID RESTYN. Ordained June 19, 1948; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1950. Assistant Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. Principal of the Bryn Athyn Elementary School. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     SMITH, GILBERT HAVEN. Ordained June 25, 1911; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1913. Address: Dorset, Vermont.
     STROH, KENNETH OLIVER. Ordained June 19, 1948; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1950. Assistant to the Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.
     WHITEHEAD, WILLIAM Ordained June 19, 1922; 2nd Degree, June 19, 1926. Professor of History, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     Ministers

     CRANCH, RAYMOND GREENLEAF. Ordained June 19, 1922. Visiting Minister to the Erie Circle. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

567

     FRANSON, ROY. Ordained June 19, 1953. Minister to the groups at Dawson Creek, B. C., and Gorande Prairie, Alta., Canada. Address: Box 3385, Gorande Prairie, Alta., Canada.
     HOLM, BERNHARD DAVID. Ordained June 19, 1952. Assistant to the Pastor of the Durban Society, Assistant to the Superintendent of the South African Mission. Address: Flat 4, Kingsdowne, 191 Cato Road, Durban, Natal, South Africa.
     JUNGE, ROBERT SCHILL. Ordained June 19, 1955. Assistant to the Visiting Pastor to the Western States. Address: 4141 Everett Street, Wheatridge, Colorado.
     SCHNARR, FREDERICK LAURIER. Ordained June 19, 1955. Minister of Sharon Church, Chicago, Illinois. Visiting Minister to the South Ohio Circle. Address: 5220 North Wayne Avenue, Chicago 40, Illinois.
     WEISS, JAN HUGO. Ordained June 19, 1955. Assistant to the Pastors of the Carmel Church, Kitchener, and the Olivet Church, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Address: 145 Moore Avenue, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

     Authorized Candidate

     FIGUEIREUO, JOSE LOPES DE. Authorized, August 15, 1951. Address: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

     Authorized Leaders

     ENGELTJES, HERMAN G. Authorized, November 4, 1950. Address: Laan van Eik en Duinen 206, The Hague, Holland.
     HELDON, LINDTHMAN. Authorized, July 1, 1950. Address: 13 Alexander Street, Penshurst, N.S.W., Australia.

     British Guiana Mission

     Pastor-in-Charge

     ALGERNON, HENRY. Ordained, 1st and 2nd Degrees, September 1, 1940. Pastor of the General Church Mission in Georgetown, British Guiana. Address: 273 Lamaha Street, Georgetown 4, Demerara, British Guiana, South America.
     South African Mission

     Xosa

     KANDISA, JOHNSON. Ordained September 11, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Pastor of the Queenstown and Sterkstroom Societies. Address: No. 132, Location, Queenstown, C. P., South Africa.

     Basuto

     MOTSI, JONAS. Ordained September 29, 1929; 2nd Degree, September 30, 1929. Pastor of Quthing District. Address: Phahameng School, P. O. Quthing, Basutoland, South Africa.

     Zulu

     BUTELEZI, STEPHEN EPHRAIM. Ordained September 11, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Pastor of the Hambrook Society. Address: Hambrook Government School, P. O. Acton Homes, Ladysmith, Natal, South Africa.

568

     LUNGA, JOHANNES. Ordained September 11, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Pastor of the Esididini Society. Address: Esididini School, P. O. Durnacol, Dannhauser, Natal, South Africa.
     LUTULI, MAFA. Ordained October 3, 1948. Acting Pastor of the "Kent Manor" Society. Address: "Kent Manor," P. O. Entumeni, Zululand, South Africa.
     MATSHININI, TIMOTHY. Ordained August 28, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Retired. Address: 165, 11th Avenue, Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa.
     MKIZE, SOLOMON. Ordained August 21, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Pastor of the Greylingstad Society and District. Address: P. O. Box 38, Graylingstad, Transvaal, South Africa.
     NZIMANDE, BENJAMIN ISHMAEL. Ordained August 21, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Pastor of the Deepdale & Bulwer Districts. Address: Polela Health Centre, P/B Bulwer, Natal, South Africa.
     SABELA, PETER HANDRICK. Ordained August 21, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Pastor at Phoenix, Verulam, Tongaat and District. Address: Ohlange Institute, P/B Durban, Natal, South Africa.
     SIBEKO, PAUL PEFENI. Ordained October 3, 1948. Minister of the Alexandra Township Society. Address: 106, 10th Avenue, Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa.
     ZUNGU, AARON. Ordained August 21, 1938; 2nd Degree, October 3, 1948. Pastor of the Durban District and Assistant Teacher in the Theological School. Address: 2751 Mtiyane Road, Lamontville, Durban, Natal, South Africa.

     Societies and Circles

     Societies
ADVENT SOCIETY OF PHILADELPHIA               Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs, Jr.
BALTIMORE SOCIETY, MARYLAND               Rev. Dandridge Pendleton
BRYN ATHYN CHURCH                         Rt. Rev. George de Charms
CARMEL CHURCH OF KITCHENER, ONTARIO      Rev. Norman H. Reuter
COLCHESTER SOCIETY, ENGLAND               Rev. Alan Gill
DETROIT SOCIETY, MICHIGAN               Rev. Norbert H. Rogers
DURBAN SOCIETY, NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA      Rev. A. Wynne Acton
HURSTVILLE SOCIETY, N. S. W. AUSTRALIA      (Mr. Lindthman Heldon)
IMMANUEL CHURCH OF GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS      Rev. Elmo C. Acton
MICHAEL CHURCH, LONDON, ENGLAND           Rev. Erik Sandstrom
OLIVET CHURCH, TORONTO, ONTARIO               Rev. Martin Pryke
PITTSBURGH SOCIETY                    Rev. Louis B. King
RIO DE JANEIRO SOCIETY, BRAZIL               Rev. Joao de M. Lima
SHARON CHURCH, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS           Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr
STOCKHOLM SOCIETY, SWEDEN                Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen
WASHINGTON SOCIETY, D. C.                Rev. Dandridge Pendleton

     Circles

                              Visiting Pastor or Minister
DENVER, COLORADO                         Rev. Robert S. Junge (Res.)
ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA                         Rev. Raymond G. Cranch
FORT WORTH, TEXAS                         Rev. Robert S. Junge

569

THE HAGUE, HOLLAND                    Rev. Frank S. Rose
JONKOPING, SWEDEN                         Rev. Bjorn A. H. Boyesen
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA                Rev. Harold C. Cranch (Res.)
MADISON, WISCONSIN                         Rev. Ormond Odhner
MONTREAL, CANADA                     Rev. Norman H. Reuter
NEW YORK, N. Y.                         Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs, Jr.
NORTH JERSEY                          Rev. Geoffrey S. Childs, Jr.
NORTH OHIO                              Rev. Norbert H. Rogers
OSLO, NORWAY                              Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom
PARIS, FRANCE                              Rev. Frank S. Rose
ST. PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA          Rev. Ormond Odhner
SAN FRANCISCO                              Rev. Harold C. Cranch
SOUTH OHIO                              Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr
TUCSON, ARIZONA                          Rev. Harold C. Cranch

     In order to avoid confusion, it seems well to observe, in the Official Records and the Official Journal of the General Church, the recognized distinctions between a "Society," a "Circle," and a "Group."
     A "Group" consists of all interested receivers of the Heavenly Doctrine in any locality who meet together for worship and mutual instruction under the general supervision of pastors who visit them from time to time.
     A "Circle" consists Of members of the General Church in any locality who are under the leadership of a regular visiting Pastor appointed by the Bishop, and who are organized by their Pastor to take responsibility for their local uses in the interim between his visits. A Group may become a Circle when, on the recommendation of the visiting Pastor, it is formally recognized as such by the Bishop.
     A "Society" or local "Church" consists of the members of the General Church in any locality who have been organized under the leadership of a resident Pastor to maintain the uses of regular worship, instruction, and social life. A Circle may become a Society by application to the Bishop and formal recognition by him.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS,
          Bishop.

     Committees of the General Church
                                        Chairman
British Finance Committee                    Rev. Alan Gill
Committee on Ecclesiastical Garments          Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner
General Church Religion Lessons               Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal
Committee on the Liturgy                         Rt. Rev. Willard D. Pendleton
Military Service Committee                     Mrs. Philip C. Pendleton
Nominating Committee for Board of Directors     Mr. Edwin T. Asplundh
Orphanage Committee                         Mr. Hubert Hyatt
Pension Committee                              Mr. Edward C. Bostock
Salary Committee                              Mr. Philip C. Pendleton
Sound Recording Committee                    Rev. W. Cairns Henderson
South African Mission Committee               Rt. Rev. George de Charms
Visual Education Committee                    Mr. William R. Cooper

     Address all Committees, Bryn Athyn, Pa., except the following:

     Mr. Edwin T. Asplundh: 24 Woodland Road, Edgeworth, Sewickley, Pa.
     Rev. Alan Gill:     9 Ireton Road, Colchester, England

570

Church News 1955

Church News Various 1955

     DENVER, COLORADO

     Since the last time the Denver Circle was heard from much has happened. Last February, Mr. Cranch gave us the glad news that Denver was to become the headquarters of the minister who would take over some of his work here and in the Northwest as his assistant. In September that became a reality with the arrival of the Rev. Robert S. Junge, Mrs. Junge, and their small son, Kent.
     On August 21st, Mr. Junge conducted his first service for the Circle at the Y.M.C.A. Mr. and Mrs. Ted Feidler and family and Miss Natalie Allen came in from Holy Oak and Ft. Collins, respectively. Among our visitors were Mr. Junge's parents from Glenview, Mrs. Victor Waelchli from Bryn Athyn, Mr. Stebbing from Washington, D. C., Mr. and Mrs. Frank Longstaff and Miss Geogre Longstaff from Toronto, Canada. There were 40 present.
     Among the new Coloradans we can now enumerate Mr. and Mrs. Louis Carswell and family, who came from Gorand Junction. Miss Aven Hyatt will soon join this Circle from Bryn Athyn. It is always a pleasure to have visitors, and doubly so when they decide to stay here.
     Mr. Junge made a trip to the Northwest, and when he returned he and his wife settled down in their new home. Regular services at the Y.M.C.A., and classes once a month at the home of Mr. and Mrs. 130b Norton, are being held. The children, 9 of whom attend regularly, are now enjoying a short service of their own before church and the laymen are trying their hand at Sunday school teaching.
     Denver is a beautiful city in a land of opportunity, and now, to add to the scenery and the climate, there is the beginning of a fine Circle. We all want to say to you in the old Western tradition: "Welcome! Come and see us!"
     MARY W. GRIFFIN

     SOUTH OHIO

     As our readers know, we are now the South Ohio Circle and we have another fine minister. The Rev. Louis B. King, our very dear friend, has gone to Pittsburgh, and the Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr is now ministering to us. Mr. Schnarr paid his first visit in September and we all loved him. We were looking forward to meeting his family when he drove down here during the last week in October on his second visit. At that time he planned to begin a series of classes on Heaven and Hell.
     Mr. Leigh Latta, Jr., who was our good treasurer for several years, has purchased a drugstore, which makes it impossible at present for him to carry on actively in our Circle. We have therefore elected a very able and well qualified treasurer, Mr. John Frazier.
     When the weather is good we usually have a picnic meal after our service. Mr. King's last visit with us, in June, ended with a picnic at our home. That was also Mr. Jack Lindsay's last time with us. Jack is now married and has moved back east. We miss these good friends, but better things cause changes and we are all happy for them. The sunny weather was perfect for our picnic, and the chicken and strawberries were delicious. The Circle presented Mr. King with an electric shaver as a going away gift, and he says that he has been clean shaven many times since then!
     The Rev. Norman H. Reuter hoped to be down from Canada and to conduct a Holy Supper service for us at our meeting on October 30th. Mr. Schnarr plans to hold Christmas services in the evening in Glendale and Urbana on December 20th and 21st.
     KENNETH L. LATTA

     THE HAGUE, HOLLAND

     As usual, the Rev. Frank S. Rose visited us twice this year. His first visit was from April 23rd to May 2nd.

571

On that occasion he went first to Nijmegen and held a service on Sunday the 24th at the home of the Windig family in Amhem. A meeting was arranged at Doetinchem for the following day, and on the 26th there was a social meeting at Amhem.
     After his visits to the isolated friends in the country, Mr. Rose came to The Hague on Friday, April 29th. In the evening of that day slides were shown and explained at my home. Next day Mr. Rose and my daughter were invited to a young people's meeting arranged by the Rev. Durban Odhner.
     On Sunday, May 1st, we had a service in my home with an attendance of 18 adults and 1 child. The east and west parts of our circle came together for this service. The sermon, based on Matthew 16:17, was entitled "Man's Perception from the Divine," and the Holy Supper was administered to 11 persons. At lunchtime sandwiches and other refreshments were served, and in the afternoon we had a class on "Love Toward the Neighbor." A very animated discussion followed.

     Mr. Rose's second visit, which took place from the 17th to the 27th of September, had a festive character as he brought his wife with him. They were welcomed heartily at our home on the 17th. On Sunday morning Mr. Rose conducted the service and administered the Holy Supper. The sermon was on "The Law of the Hebrew Servant" (Deuteronomy 15:12). It was a pity that several people were prevented from coming; some by illness, others because they were having their vacations. It was a small group of 9 persons that attended the service, among whom were 7 communicants.
     Mr. and Mrs. Rose were welcomed after the service and were given a wedding present from the Dutch members and friends, a set of silver teaspoons of Dutch design. We then sang the old Dutch song, "Lang zullen ze leven." After an animated luncheon Mr. Rose gave a paper on "The Acknowledgment of the Lord." Our people were most interested and a lively discussion followed. Mr. Rose has a way of making a subject very clear. Slide pictures of the wedding were shown after dinner, and we thought that Louise was a lovely bride. More pictures were shown of groups in America and England.
     As has been mentioned, several members were prevented from attending, so Mr. and Mrs. Rose had some time for sightseeing. On Monday afternoon they went to Poortugaal near Rotterdam, t where Mrs. Scholtes, who is ill, slays I with her daughter. They took the opportunity of making a bicycle trip into the environs of that place.
     On Tuesday the Roses saw a very unique show: Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard sitting in the golden carriage, making their way to the Knightly Hall, where the Queen speaks every year on the occasion of the opening of the Parlement. The town was crowded, but they saw the procession very well and were delighted with it.

     On Wednesday the Roses left The Hague for other visits in the country. They went on the 23rd to Mr. and Mrs. Rijksen at Nijmegen. Mr. Rijksen had arranged a young people's meeting at Doetinchem on Saturday, and on Sunday Mr. Rose conducted a service at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Windig at Arnhem. On the following Tuesday the Roses left Holland for Brussels. We are looking forward to their next visit.

     On Sunday morning, July 24th, the Rev. Jan H. Weiss, who entered the Academy in 1950, conducted at our home his first Dutch service in his own country. We were happy to welcome him in his function as a priest. His sermon was based on Mark 5:34, "The Woman with the Issue of Blood," and everyone attending the service thought that it was a very clear exposition of the internal sense of that part of the Word, applicable to the daily life of New Church men. Only a small group attended the service, some people being prevented from coming by illness, but we had a very good day. On August 30th we said goodby to Mr. Weiss over the telephone, as he was leaving next day for Toronto.

     Obituary.-On Sunday, August 28th, 1955, our friend and brother in the faith, Mr. Wilhelm Albertus Hes, entered the spiritual world after a short illness. The funeral took place on August 31st at the general burial place at Rijswijk (Z. H.). Although the family of Mr. Hes does not accept the doctrines of the New Church his wife asked me to conduct the service. In the Aula I delivered a short memorial address, and at the grave-side the ritual of the Liturgy, page 104, was read without address or singing.
     Many years ago Mr. Hes, under the guidance of Providence, met the late Mr. Emanuel Francis, who opened his eyes to the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg.

572

Since then he has been a true and devoted member of the church, a good friend to the other members, and an able secretary of the circle. We feel sad at parting from him, but in the Divine mercy we hope to see him again in the happy spheres of eternal life.
     HERMAN G. ENGELTJES

     DETROIT, MICHIGAN

     With the coming of fall, all Society committees snapped into action, with all units functioning in high gear. The pastor resumed a full schedule of services, classes, and meetings after an enjoyable two weeks' vacation in Bryn Athyn; the women plunged into a full program of Women's Guild and Theta Alpha activities; and the men launched another full and ambitious season of Sons' meetings. The children abounded with vitality, and the show had begun.
     To revert to the Nineteenth of June at this late date may seem a trifle incongruous; but the program, with Mr. Sandy Odhner as toastmaster, definitely warrants a little publicity here. The fact that the Lord sent out His disciples to preach the gospel that "the Lord God Jesus Christ doth reign" presented Messrs George Field, Vance Genzlinger, and John Howard with the material for their interesting and provocative papers. The following day the children enjoyed their own New Church Day celebration, which produced several delightful little speeches.
     With special regard for our planned picnic, the Fourth of July dawned bright and clear. From far and near people converged on the property, prepared for a hectic but happy day. A speech was delivered, the flag was raised, and races were run. Several dozen small, medium, and large feet circumnavigated the baseball diamond. Mothers tended small infants, and tremendous quantities of food and drink were prepared and consumed. In spite of the heat this happy day produced a wonderful spirit of patriotism and unity.
     A new arrival to this Society from Texas is Mrs. Helen Bradfield, who has established residence in the suburbs. The arrival of four new additions to the junior set further increased our numbers.
     To conserve news space, a new method of reporting such events is here instituted: Vance and Jean Birchman, a son-1 and 1; Walter and Bea Childs, a daughter-2 and 2; Willard and Edith McCardell, son-2 and 2; Sandy and Aubrey Odhner, a son-2 and 2.
     Deeply felt by all of us was the passing of Mrs. Lilian Robinson into the spiritual world on June 15th. Aunt Lil, as she was affectionately known to all of us, lent her quiet and appreciative presence to a great number of our Society activities. In a beautifully moving address Mr. Rogers left her family and her many friends consoled in the realization that her use can be more fully performed in the spiritual world.
     This year Detroit and environs sent five students to the Academy schools: Myrna Howard to the Girls' Seminary; Bruce Rogers to the Boys' Academy; Cherry Synnestvedt, Jeff Gurney, and James Forfar to the College. One of our servicemen, Tom Steen, arrived home from Japan in September. He has now severed his connection with Uncle Sam, and hopes to resume his studies after a short rest.
     Only a short while ago we heard the unhappy news that Mr. Norman Synnestvedt had been promoted to a position which entails his leaving Detroit for Manistee, Mich. While we were happy to note his progress in business, we could not but regret a move that will take him, Mrs. Synnestvedt and her mother, Mrs. Walker, from us. For many years, more than most of us can remember, the Synnestvedts have been a moving force behind the growth of the Society. They have directed their energies to every aspect of our development, and our success is in a sense theirs. Our heartfelt thanks and good wishes go with them. Manistee is about 200 miles from Detroit, which means that they will be able to visit us quite frequently.
     According to our original estimate the building was to have been ready in September. Unfortunately a series of architectural changes forced a temporary delay in the actual building. During the summer we managed to clear a number of trees from the land in preparation for the builders. The men have erected an impressive tool shed at the rear of the five acres. This is to be used for storing the accumulated clearing and mowing equipment. It is now hoped that the building will be ready for use in December or January.
     Mr. Rogers put before us the reasons we are erecting this building when he said:
     "We believe that the church in the Detroit area, together with its spiritual uses and natural activities, has progressed as far as was possible in rented buildings and in private houses, and that the dependence on these is interfering with the proper development of the church.

573

     "We believe that the large number of children which the Lord has entrusted to our care is a clear indication of Providence, obligating us to exert every effort to provide them with distinctive New Church education.
     "We believe a building dedicated to our uses is needed to safeguard adequately the Word with us; to increase and perfect the sphere of worship; and to enable us to enter more fully into the uses
of instruction and social life.
     "We believe a building of our own is a necessary ultimate to give permanence and strength to the church with us."
     BARBARA FORFAR

     TUCSON, ARIZONA

     The past year has been a memorable one for the Tucson Circle. The all-time high was reached when Bishop and Mrs. De Charms visited us the summer before last-for a few days only, but days we will long remember. Mr. and Mrs. Dan Wilson had open house for everyone to meet our distinguished guests. The Bishop conducted a service at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Van Daren, and classes were held at the homes of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Carlson and Dr. and Mrs. Waddell. At the Waddell ranch a barbecue had been in the process of cooking since the night before. After the sun had set over the mountains, Bishop De Charms held a class out of doors. Some 65 persons, adults and children, had gathered at the ranch for the occasion.
     Inspired by this visit, a thought, or wish, that had been stirring for some time began to take definite shape. We needed a church building in order that our uses might be better performed. In time, meetings were held to discuss our potentialities, possible sites were looked over, and finally we acquired a small building which will serve our needs for some time to come.
     Although the building is small, with some not too expensive changes it will be possible to use one half for services, and to keep the rooms in the other half for Sunday school classes. At present the building looks like nothing so much as a small box, dwarfed as it and other buildings down here are by tremendous spaces and the five mountain ranges which encircle Tucson. Under the inspiring leadership of our visiting pastor, the Rev. Harold C. Cranch, it will before long look like a church and have both dignity and charm. Just give us time! A library is planned for a small area which may be only a nook with shelves for the Writings and publications pertaining to our doctrines. We have visitors who come in response to ads run in the newspapers at the times of our pastor's visits. Some of them come regularly and ask eagerly for reading matter. With a permanent building we can have available for such readers the books and pamphlets we now have and may acquire.
     Sunday school classes were held regularly, mostly at the ranch home lent for the purpose by Dr. and Mrs. Waddell, who are affectionately known even to the children as "Pat and Elsie." This year the ranch will not be available, and everyone will miss the charming meeting place where a new baby is expected soon. Church and classes have been held at the Y.M.C.A., but as this is expensive we felt that it was wiser to put our slender resources into a permanent building rather than to pay rent. Last year we had 16 children and 4 teachers in the Sunday school. This year, with the departure for Mexico of Dr. and Mrs. Ned Spicer and their family for a sabbatical year a decrease in attendance was expected. However, three Tucker children have now joined the Sunday school group.
     The Rev. and Mrs. Robert S. Junge stopped over for a few hours on their way to Denver last summer. A tea was given for them at the Robert Carlsons, and all who could be assembled on short notice had the opportunity to meet them.
     The death of Mrs. Dominique Berninger last December took from us a loyal and interested member, and Mrs. Glenn Smith went back to Bryn Athyn for an indefinite stay. These are losses, but on the other side we have had many visitors. The Hubert Rydstroms from Phoenix, the Kline Schweikarts from Douglas, and the Jack Moores from El Paso, Texas, came several times a year to our church gatherings. Their presence is a source of gratification, for they add much to the group.
     The Edward Asplundhs were in Tucson for several months when he was stationed at a nearby airbase. Their baby was baptized by Mr. Cranch at the Y.M.C.A. chapel. Earlier a shower had been given for this young couple at which the children and young people were most interested participants. When the Asplundhs left for Texas we felt a keen sense of loss.

574

     In a year's time we have had many visitors. Mr. and Mrs. Carl Asplundh came to see their son and daughter-in-law; Mrs. Jean Richter of Glenview spent two weeks with us; Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Stevens, also of Glenview, stopped over on their way to and from the coast; Miss Ruby Evans of Erie, Pa., spent the last two winters in Tucson and came regularly to services and meetings; Ray David stopped over on his way to California; Joel Trimble of Laurel, Md., comes often on weekends from Ft. Huachuchua; Mrs. Viola Ridgway and Miss Joan Adams were visitors for a few days; and Mr. and Mrs. Harold McQueen of Glenview, who came to see their new granddaughter, were summer visitors.
     The Odhner-Edgar wedding was celebrated in the Y.M.C.A. chapel, with the Rev. Harold C. Cranch officiating. Relatives and friends of the couple came from many places: Mrs. Vincent Odhner, mother of the groom, from Bryn Athyn; Mr. and Mrs. Valentine from Pecos, Texas; Mr. and Mrs. Edgar, parents of the bride, from Phoenix; Mr. and Mrs. Hubert Rydstrom and their children from Phoenix; and friends of the bride from Phoenix. Mr. and Mrs. Leon Rhodes and their children, who were in Phoenix where Mr. Rhodes had a temporary assignment, were also present. The chapel was decorated with palms and cut flowers, and violin and piano music previously recorded by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Carlson was played on the tape-recorder After the ceremony a reception was held in an adjoining room, where guests assembled to congratulate the happy couple. Having this wedding take place here was much appreciated, but all too soon the visitors had to depart for their respective homes.
     Work on the building to ready it for our uses is going forward, if slowly. Another work party is scheduled for the near future, to try to give the present volunteer workers some additional help.
     VIDA P. GYLLENHAAL

     CHARTER DAY

     "You are the Academy." So spoke Bishop De Charms in his words of welcome to the guests at the Charter Day banquet on October 22, 1955. He addressed nearly seven hundred men and women whose zeal for New Church education had brought them from all over the continent to celebrate the seventy-eighth anniversary of the Academy's charter. The enthusiasm that inspires such a pilgrimage, said the Bishop, is what gives the Academy its life.
     This was the largest gathering of the busy weekend. The Rev. Karl R. Alden, as toastmaster, devoted the evening to a discussion of how the Academy is teaching. The buildings and equipment are the tools for the work, and we rejoice that they have grown and improved to meet the demands of a rapidly increasing student body. But the soul of the Academy-the truth of the Second Coming-is what makes New Church education distinctive and vital. The three speakers were Academy teachers, representing three major fields of learning-the sciences, the humanities, and religion. Their endeavor was to show how the light of the Writings illuminates the teaching of these subjects, and how each subject in turn contributes to the religious education of our children.
     Mr. Kenneth Rose discussed the physical sciences and mathematics as instruments in the teaching of thought processes. Mathematics, he said, is a model of truth, and in its study can be seen the structure of truth and man's approach to it. And the practice of imagination, proof, application and reason, on the simple entities of mathematics lays a foundation for the formation of true rationality.
     Mr. Bruce Glenn spoke next, on the humanities-the branch of learning that concerns not the physical universe itself, nor Divine revelation itself, but what human beings have done with both in the progress of civilization. He told of the plight of the humanities today, subservient to, and almost swallowed up by, science. But, Mr. Glenn pointed out, science could not have taken over the rule of the humanities Until after the dethroning of their original leader, religion. Ignoring or denying religion deprives the humanities of their unity and purpose. In the Academy, where religion remains the center and soul of education, the humanities realize their true use-the study of the Divine Human through its image in the creation of man.
     Bishop Willard Pendleton talked on the teaching of religion in the Academy schools. It must be continuous and progressive, he showed, because the teachings adequate to one stage of life are insufficient for a more advanced state. The whole pattern of religious education looks toward the formation of a true idea of God, and that idea grows as the mind grows.

575

The unifying principle in the pattern, said the Bishop, is to hold the mind of the student in the thought and acknowledgment of the Lord through all the changing states of life. This, indeed, is the purpose of education as a whole.
     To the friends of the Academy gathered at the banquet, this was an intimate glimpse into the thoughts and feelings of the men who are teaching our young people. To Academy teachers it was a renewal of purpose, and of confidence in the support and affection of General Church members for the work of the schools. Academy songs sung by six hundred voices inspire more than sentiment in our hearts. They assure us that the uses of New Church education will continue.
     The banquet on Saturday was both preceded and followed by inspiring services in the Cathedral. Friday was sunny and mild for the traditional procession from the Academy buildings to the church. The procession was more impressive than ever, with some 220 students of the high schools and college joined by the two upper grades of the Bryn Athyn Elementary School.
     The Rev. Louis B. King gave the day's address, unfolding the story told in the first seven verses of II Kings 4. This tale of Elisha's blessing on a widow and her son was shown to describe the work of the Academy. The destitute woman was told to borrow vessels, to close her doors, and to pour into the vessels from her meager supply of oil. Similarly, an institute of New Church education borrows all possible truths to serve as vessels for an internal education. Behind doors that close out the disturbing influences of the world, these vessels are filled with affection, represented by the oil. When all this is done under the direction of Revelation, personified in the story by the man of God, Elisha, the oil is miraculously multiplied. The vessels are not acquired for their own sake, but they are essential in education as they were to the widow. The oil increased only as far as there were vessels to hold it.
     Many of the weekend visitors staved for the regular service of the Bryn Athyn Church on Sunday. The Rev. Martin Pryke, pastor of the Toronto Society, gave a sermon on the subject of the Nephilim-the giants born of illicit marriages at the end of the Most Ancient Church. He told how the description of them treats of the profanations of that church, but showed too that the story is not only of the past. The Nephilim threaten each man today, and he falls victim to them whenever he indulges in self justification by the perversion of revealed truth.
     Such thoughts as these-lessons from the Writings thoughtfully explained by New Church ministers and teachers-are the real highlights of the Charter Day celebration. We enjoy greatly the traditional activities of the weekend. The football game does not lose its thrill from year to year, even when we lose (as we did this year to Germantown Academy, 21-14). The dance is a pleasant interlude, the largest of many social gatherings where old friends meet again. The meetings of such organizations as the Sons and Theta Alpha are as enjoyable as they are useful, with so many different societies represented together. But the real treasures we take home with us are new year after year-refreshed ideas and renewed affections that not only exhilarate our spirits now, but live in the mind and heart to inspire another year of increased devotion to the uses of our Academy.
     KENNETH ROSE

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GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1955

GENERAL ASSEMBLY GEORGE DE CHARMS 1955

     Announcements.

     THE TWENTY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in London, England, from Tuesday, July 24th, to Sunday, July 29th, 1956, inclusive.
     The program and other information will be given in later issues of NEW CHURCH LIFE.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS,
          Bishop.
General Church of the New Jerusalem 1955

General Church of the New Jerusalem HUGO LJ. ODHNER 1955

     ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS

     The Annual Meetings of the Council of the Clergy, and of the Board of Directors of the Corporations of the General Church, have been scheduled to take place in the week of January 23rd to 28th, 1956, at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.
     HUGO LJ. ODHNER,
          Secretary.