1. True Christianity

Containing a Comprehensive Theology of the New Heaven and the New Church

The Faith of the New Heaven and the New Church

THE faith of the new heaven and the new church is stated here in both universal and specific forms to serve as the face of the work that follows, the doorway that allows entry into the temple, and the summary that in one way or another contains all the details to follow. I say "the faith of the new heaven and the new church" because heaven, where there are angels, and the church, in which there are people, act together like the inner and the outer levels in a human being. People in the church who love what is good because they believe what is true and who believe what is true because they love what is good are angels of heaven with regard to the inner levels of their minds. After death they come into heaven, and enjoy happiness there according to the relationship between their love and their faith. It is important to know that the new heaven that the Lord is establishing today has this faith as its face, doorway, and summary.

172. 4. At a conceptual level, the idea of a trinity of divine persons from eternity (meaning before the world was created) is a trinity of gods. This idea is impossible to wipe out just by orally confessing one God. The following words in the Athanasian Creed make it very obvious that a trinity of divine persons from eternity is a trinity of gods: "The Father is one person, the Son another, and the Holy Spirit another. The Father is God and Lord, the Son is God and Lord, and the Holy Spirit is God and Lord. Nevertheless there are not three gods and lords; there is one God and Lord. Just as Christian truth compels us to confess each person individually as God and Lord, so the catholic religion forbids us to say three gods or three lords. "

This creed has been accepted by the entire Christian church as ecumenical or universal. Today everything known and acknowledged about God comes from it. Those who took part in the Council of Nicaea that gave birth to this posthumous child called the Athanasian Creed had no other concept of the Trinity except a trinity of gods, as any can see who merely keep their eyes open as they read it. Since then they have not been the only people thinking in terms of a trinity of gods; the Christian world thinks in terms of no other Trinity because its whole concept of God comes from that creed and everyone now lives in a faith based on those words.

[2] I submit it as a challenge to everyone - both laity and clergy, laureled professors and doctors as well as consecrated bishops and archbishops, even cardinals robed in scarlet and in fact the Roman pope himself - that the Christian world nowadays thinks of no other Trinity except a trinity of gods. You should all examine yourselves and then speak on the basis of the images in your mind.

The words of this creed - the universally accepted teaching about God - make it as clear and obvious as water in a crystal bowl. For example, the creed says that there are three persons, each of whom is God and Lord. It also says that because of Christian truth, people ought to confess or acknowledge that each person is individually God and Lord, but that the catholic or Christian religion or faith forbids us to say three gods or lords. This would mean that truth and religion, or truth and faith, are not the same thing; they are at odds with each other.

The writers of the creed added the point that there is one God and Lord, not three gods and lords, so that they would not be exposed to ridicule before the whole world. Who would not laugh at three gods? On the other hand, though, anyone can see the contradiction in the phrase they added.

[3] If instead they had said that the Father has a divine essence, the Son has a divine essence, and the Holy Spirit has a divine essence, but nevertheless there are not three divine essences, there is one indivisible essence, then that mystery would be explainable. That is, "the Father" means the divine nature as an origin, "the Son" means the divine-human nature that came from that origin, and "the Holy Spirit" means the divine influence that radiates out. These are three aspects of one God. Another way of putting it is that the Father's divinity means something like the soul in us, the divine-human manifestation means something like our body, which comes from our soul, and the Holy Spirit means something like our actions, which come from both our body and our soul. Then we see three essences that belong to one and the same person. Together they form one indivisible essence.

728. When We Come Forward Worthily to Take It, the Holy Supper Functions as [God's] Signature and Seal Confirming That We Have Been Adopted as His Children

Provided we take it worthily, the Holy Supper is able to function as [God's] signature and seal confirming that we have been adopted as his children, because the Lord is present at that time, as was indicated above [719-721], and brings into heaven those who are born of him, that is, who have been regenerated by him. The Holy Supper has this effect because the Lord is present at it in his human manifestation; as was mentioned above, the Lord himself and his redemption are fully present in the Holy Supper [716-718]. He says of the bread, "This is my body," and of the wine, "This is my blood. " Therefore he then makes us part of his body, and both heaven and the church constitute that body.

Earlier, while we are still undergoing the process of being regenerated, the Lord is of course present as well; through the work that he is doing in us, he is preparing us for heaven. In order for us to become an actual part of heaven, though, we need to present ourselves to the Lord in an active way. Because the Lord is also actively presenting himself to us [in the Holy Supper], we actively receive him - not as he was when he was hanging on the cross but as he is in his human manifestation after it was glorified, which is present in the Holy Supper. The "body" of his human manifestation is divine goodness, and the "blood" is divine truth. These qualities are given to us; through them we are regenerated and then we are in the Lord and the Lord is in us. As mentioned above [716], the meal that is put on in the Holy Supper is spiritual in nature.

A proper understanding of all this shows that the Holy Supper is like a signature and seal that testify that the people who come forward worthily to take it are children of God.