JOY OF THE LORD'S ADVENT        N. D. PENDLETON       1921


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLI          JANUARY, 1921          No. 1
     "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek;... to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord;... to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified." (Isaiah 61:1-3.)

     These things are predicated of " the acceptable year of the Lord," that is, of His coming into the world in the fulness of time to effect a plenary redemption. The "acceptable year " is the chosen time of the advent,-the period in the life-history of the race on earth when it was necessary that the Lord should be born into the world a man among men.

     The necessity arose from the fact that the race had fallen, successively, into ways more and more evil, until at length no one could be saved by the power for good resident within him. The Divine in the heavens, and in men on earth, which beforetime was sufficient unto salvation, was now no longer adequate. By virtue of successive lapses, men had removed themselves so far from the Lord, and had suffered such a loss of the Divine power, that they could no longer raise themselves, as of themselves, out of the evils into which they had fallen.

     A personal coming was the only means by which this condition could be remedied. By being born a man, the Lord could dwell with men as one among them; and, by personal contact, by precept and example, He could lead them. By being born a man, He could take upon Himself man's fallen nature, and, by Virtue of the Divine resident within Him, could re-create and even glorify that which was fallen. Thus, in His person as a man on earth, He could, by overcoming all evil, ascend through the heavens to the Father above, thereby opening anew the way of life for men. This He did, and thus was man redeemed.

     This is the meaning of the coming of the Lord in the "acceptable year," or the appointed time,-the day of judgment so often referred to in the Word. That year was of moment to all creation,-to the whole race of man, to the past, present, and future. It was prophesied from the beginning, and the prophecy was repeated in every age, until the end. In the hope raised by that prophecy, mankind lived for countless generations. Its fulfillment was anticipated with a longing unspeakable. Men knew that their race was fallen, and was evermore to fall, until the end,-until the fulfillment of the Divine prophecy. Individuals could be and were saved, in all times; but men, especially the wise, perceived the racial decline that was under way, and that it was inevitable. Temporary reactions,-the formation of successive Churches,-delayed, but did not stop the downward trend. Church followed Church, but always on a lower grade of spiritual life. At length the ultimate plane was reached; no lower spiritual formation could be given. The final step was taken. A structure-not a Church-was built,-a mere outward representation. This was the last possible; and when this structure was broken, the end was at hand. Thus men, from being celestial, became spiritual, then natural, and at length sensual and merely formal. They could fall no lower, and continue men with the possibility of becoming angels.

     From the beginning, the wise perceived the nature and meaning of the fall, and their hearts were inexpressibly saddened. But their sadness was relieved by, a glorious hope; and in this hope there was given them "a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." This was the hope of the coming of the Messiah, when the race should be redeemed to God, when the seed of woman should bruise the head of the serpent,-that old serpent which had tempted men to their fall.

     This hope was the living thing in all the ancient religions,-the heart and the soul of them. The time of its fulfillment was not known.

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Could men have known the long delay, they must have despaired. Mercifully this was hidden. It might occur at any time; each generation thought it possible to them. Their ears were ever open, listening for the glad tidings; their eyes scanned the heavens for the new star. This hope was most alive and most potent for good in the earlier days after the fall. Gradually it weakened, at length was almost lost; but while it lasted,-so long as it throbbed in the hearts of men,-it was powerful to save; and so long, also, its fulfillment was delayed. But when this hope was all but gone, then the coming in fact became imperative.

     It was like this with the hope of the Second Coming. Never was the Lord so ardently and so confidently expected as in the first generations after His departure from the world. But with the passing of time, the world grew weary, then doubtful, and at length more than doubtful. The minds of men turned aside, and ceased to think of such things.

     When the Child was laid in the manger, Herod knew not where the Christ should be born. When the Lord came a second time, He came quietly, silently, " as a thief in the night."

     "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek;... to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord ... to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified." As the days of the ancient people were saddened by the sense of increasing evil, so was there a kindling of joy at the thought of the Advent, when evil would be overcome. Their prophets pictured the coming day, when the sorrows of evil would give place to the rejoicings of great joy, in words of marvelous beauty. This contrast is the phase of the subject our text presents. Then would be given "a crown of beauty for ashes," "the oil of joy for mourning," "the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness."

     Two things touch the life of man at all points. Two states enter and qualify his every mood. As he is conceived in pleasure and born in pain, so do joy and sadness, the two extremes of human affections, run throughout and temper all his life's experiences.

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Each joyous state is tinged with something bitter, and every sorrow is relieved by a secret hope. Between these two are an indefinite variety of intermediate states, so that life moves, for the most part, between the extremes, among states seemingly neutral. Only on exceptional occasions are the extremes distinctly manifest. Only now and then is man gifted with a defined sensation of joy; only occasionally is he oppressed by sorrow; yet both are present in all that is seemingly neutral. There are continual joys unperceived and many sorrows not realized. For both are but the two extreme phases of love; and love is life.

     Joy arises from the expansion of man's life's love, and sadness from its constriction. This pulsing of the life's love, while intermittent, is continual. It is a kind of animation of the soul, comparable with the heart-beat in the body. But its rhythmic stroke cannot be distinctly perceived, even by angelic minds. Yet herein is the high origin of every perceivable joy, and also of the sense of sadness. These two are, in fact, predicates of the mind; only their origin may be traced to the soul, while their effects are derived into the body.

     The animation of the soul is a result of the influx of life from the Lord and its reception in man. This causes rhythmic vibrations, which are transformed into affections in the mind and into titillations in the body. The affections are perceived, and the titillations are felt; the one as joys and sorrows, the other as physical pleasures and pains.

     Swedenborg testifies in the work on The Soul that joyous affections "expand the brain and diffuse the lower mind;" "they exhilarate and refresh;" "they restore the brain with new heat and the lower mind with new life." "They are so many heatings of the brain and consequently of the body, and so many resuscitations of the life of the lower mind, and consequently of the sensations and actions of the body; while unpleasant affections compress the brain and confine the lower mind." "They wound and sadden;" "they destroy the brain and extinguish the lower mind;" "they are so many torpors and frigidities of the brain and body."

     Again, it is said that joy of mind extends the cortical substances, so that the animal spirits and the bloods flow freely; and in excessive joy, even the pores of the bones are opened.

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Thus by joy all ways of communication are opened from highest to lowest. It is felt as a pleasing tremor, a vital heat, a lively trembling, which so clears, restores, and vivifies the brain that that organ in a moment falls back into the state of its first innocence and youth. On the other hand, sadness of mind compresses the brain, constrains the cortical substances, so that the animal spirits and bloods do not flow freely; this, if continued, ends in melancholy and many diseases. Deep sadness affects even the little vessels entering the bones, so that by it all ways of communication from highest to lowest are constricted, and if closed, the mind and body fall into a premature old age.

     Joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain,-these are the two extreme phases of life. The one is every man's heaven, and the other his hell. The one is universally sought, the other avoided. The promise of the text opens to view a heaven of delight, an abundance of every blessing-"To give unto them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." Words could not better picture the delights of man-his heaven; and therefore the state of spiritual men on the occasion of the coming of the Lord-His coming in the flesh-after so many world-weary ages of waiting-of expectations disappointed, until the certainty of faith became but a hope, and the hope a doubt, and the doubt more than doubtful.

     Yet, even so, He finally came amid the rejoicing of the angels. He came, and in His coming He changed the course of all things in the world of human affairs-the destiny of the ages. He accomplished the wonderful work, of which Revelation tells. He redeemed the race from death and the world from destruction, and planted in the hearts of men a new love, and in their minds a new faith, and in both heart and mind He put a new spirit,-the Christmas Spirit of rejoicing because of the birth of the Lord. By this new spirit of rejoicing, the " ashes " of a dead hope were exchanged for a " crown of beauty,"-the "spirit of heaviness " was transformed into a " garment of praise."

     Christmas stands as the symbol for this new spirit of rejoicing. It is, therefore, the incomparable day, especially for the innocent and the believing,-for the children, and for the child in each one. To appreciate its wonderful and abiding charm, we must go back and enter sympathetically into childish states of innocence and joy.

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The affections cluster around the thought of the Lord's birth,-the babe in the manger. This is central; but accompanying it, in the child's mind, is the wonderful shower of blessings received, the good gifts given from a happy heart and a glad mind. To the little child, not yet wise to the ways of the world, these gifts are blessings, and they seem to be endless-as if eternal. This is significant of the true Christmas perception; it is felt only by the little ones, who have not yet eaten of the tree of knowledge. All too soon, knowledge begins to constrain, the child begins to measure and forecast. A little thought of self, a little disappointment, creeps in, and there is a touch of sadness. The charm,-alas!-begins to fade. The early, the celestial Christmas spirit, passes. No longer is there a wonderful, a mysterious happiness. The endless day is now ever, the numberless gifts are all counted-often discounted beforehand-for the child is becoming worldly-wise.

     The state changes, indeed, but the meaning and the memory of this day, its early celestial mysteries and wonders,-are never lost. Its spiritual meaning, its Divine significance, is indeed eternal; and the early seeming to the child, of a veritable shower of blessings,-the countless multitude of gifts, the mysteries and the wonders,-all these are a rare and rich forecast, a recurrent annual prophecy of the end, which is heaven,-heaven for all the children of God, after they have passed through the world-weary training here on earth, and made the great exchange, and have received "a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." Amen.

     Lessons: Isaiah 61. Luke 4:14-32. A. C. 2523.

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MRS. A. S. COCKERELL. 1921

MRS. A. S. COCKERELL.       J. H. RIDGWAY       1921

     A notable pillar of the New Church in Africa has been promoted to higher uses in the passing hence of Mrs. Alfred Sidney Cockerell on the 19th of September. As her father was a pioneer in a civil and spiritual capacity, so was she. Her father, James Ridgway, was of those whose pluck and patience overcame the difficulties of early settlers in Durban,-and, indeed, in the founding of that town,-whose example did much for succeeding generations,-an example of the life to lead when odds are contrary. He was the first New Churchman in Africa, as far as is known, and the first to bring the Writings to the Dark Continent. He arrived in 1850 by the sailing ship "Henrietta," with his wife and children, Rowland, Emma, afterwards Mrs. A. S. Cockerell, Harry, James, Clara, afterwards Mrs. W. B. Shurmer, and Henrietta (born on and named after the ship), afterwards Mrs. R. C. Visick.

     James Ridgway and his family settled at the Umgeni, near Durban, and it was there that two of those remarkable circumstances occurred which bear an important significance to New Churchmen: On one occasion, when the Umgeni River was in flood, the water rose gradually, sweeping away in its rush several cottages. It rose to within three feet of the house containing the Writings, and advanced no further. On another occasion, shortly after his arrival, and before he had unpacked his books, the white ants got amongst the books, eating their way through the contents of the boxes. When James Ridgway noticed the outward visible signs of the depredations of these pests, he had a great fear for the fate of the Writings. He speedily opened the boxes, and his pleasure can be imagined when it was found that, notwithstanding most of the secular books were completely destroyed, not one volume of the Writings, in the same boxes, had been so much as touched. This set of the Writings is the one which, as will be shown later, was afterwards so extensively studied by his daughter Emma.

     To the lot of these early pioneers fell the task of molding the character of the oft-time large family at the tender age of plasticity, coping with many and varied difficulties of supply, transport and other handicaps.

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The civil drawbacks were many, and the spiritual disabilities were in the same proportion. Nevertheless, James Ridgway's love of the Church was deep and sincere enough to warrant his doing what lay in his power to promote, in the distant land to which he had migrated, the development of the Crowning Church. It was not too small a beginning to make, and he made it first amongst his own immediate family, and later among others, holding services in his home. This work was carried on after his death in the home of Mr. and Mrs. A. S. Cockerell in Durban, and Mr. Cockrell will no doubt admit with pride that his dear wife was his mainstay in the work which followed. He achieved much in the intervening years. He was leader and lay reader, both in his own home and afterwards in the little Berea Road Church, for upwards of thirty years, doing the work with such zeal that those of the younger generation have a soft and delightful recollection of that period of the development of the Church. Gifted with a fine speaking voice when he was younger, Alfred Sidney Cockerell read the lessons and sermons, and the prayers, in a forceful and efficient manner. He officiated at marriages by special appointment as a Marriage Officer, baptized, and administered the sacrament of the Holy Supper.

     Throughout this period, his wife and helpmeet was the inspiration of his work, and, indeed, of the little Church circle. Regularly and with great ability, born of the love of use, and especially of the Church and its growth, she conducted Sunday School for all the children. The memory of those classes is a dear one to those who were of a sufficient age to attend, and not a few of them can reflect upon the remains implanted by their means,-a memory almost as dear to those who were not her children as the home life and family worship in their own homes. At the same time, Mrs. Cockerell was a reader of the Writings, and of all New Church literature within her reach. She commenced to study the Writings at the early age of 18. At the time of her death, she had read the Arcana Coelestia seven times, and was in the fourth volume for the eighth time. She had read all the other works, but the A. C. was her favorite study, and whatever else she was interested in, the reading of the Arcana was, as it were, her life-stream.

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     Owing to that innate modesty which so characterizes Mr. Cockerell, and endears him to his friends and relations, he was willing to conduct services and perform the various other uses connected with his office of Leader; but he would never admit his ability to equal his "ninety-nine parts," as he affectionately, and with self-effacing modesty, termed his wife; an expression intended to imply that, of the whole formed by his marriage, his intrinsic proportional value was one hundredth. In consequence of this attitude, to which Mr. Cockerell rigidly adhered throughout his married life, it fell to the lot of Mrs. Cockerell on occasions to write special sermons, when none suitable to the occasion was on hand, and also to write letters to the Press whenever the Church was unduly attacked. Her sermon on the "Divine Providence" at the time of the "Titanic" disaster, and other sermons, of which she wrote several whenever the need was urgent, are works of ability. But, as a general rule, she did not favor sermons by laymen, any more than she did feminine encroachment on men's uses. At one time, after a Press encounter with certain atheists and agnostics, her circle had the satisfaction of reading in the Press a footnote closing the correspondence and adding that "Materfamilias (her nom de plume) had the better of the argument."

     Without an enemy in the world, and loved by all for her simplicity of life, and by those of the Church for her brilliant love of the Church, her example is one for which humble thanks are due to the Lord. Through her, the Lord has imprinted on the Circle in Durban a picture which is indelible, an example which cannot but bear fruit. She glowed with zeal for the Church, and that glow, which has been so often seen, will now be transformed from a comparative flicker to a veritable flame. There were occasions when it was more marked, such as the following: After services always, but especially at the time of events showing the growth of the Church, for here was her life's love; when the Circle was built at last, her long waited for hope; when, at long last, the Rev. J. F. Buss, the first ordained minister, arrived; when the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, after a period of apparent stagnation had intervened, arrived, and throughout his stay; when, later, our Bishop, the Rev. N. D. Pendleton came, accompanied by the Rev. Theodore Pitcairn, a veritable gala time for the Church, full of promise for the future and staple growth of the Church in South Africa; and then, when she saw that the General Church, requiring the services elsewhere of Mr. Gyllenhaal, was not intending to leave the Circle to another period of stagnation, but had care of the needs of such a Society, and was replacing Mr. Gyllenhaal with another learned and efficient pastor in the person of the Rev. Hugo Odhner; and when she thought she perceived in the individuals of the Circle signs of a lasting affection for the Church and a guarantee of staunch workers for the future.

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On all these, and other such occasions, Mrs. A. S. Cockerell,-Emma, as she was affectionately called by the elder generation, the dear Mater, the dear Mother, Aunt, Gorandmother,-would visibly glow with the joy and gladness which were radiating her pure heart as a blessing from the Lord. It was characteristic of her that, whenever any one did a service for the Church, it was invariably followed by Mrs. Cockerell's personal thanks. And unconsciously it was felt that somehow, and in some manner undefinable, such a service was also for her. Socially, and as a mainspring, she was the cherished center of the Society in Durban; and it is worthy of comment that she left this central Position for a higher sphere on the 15th, the middle of the month, midweek, at mid-day.
     J. H. RIDGWAY.
TRIBUTE 1921

TRIBUTE       THEODORE PITCAIRN       1921

     With the passing away of Mrs. A. S. Cockerell, the Durban Society has lost one of its most attractive features,-its "grandmother," a woman of rare personality, unique in the annals of the Church. Far from the centers of New Church study, she acquired a grasp of the Doctrines seldom equaled, and this largely by her own efforts. In spite of the hardships of raising a large family in what were little more than pioneer surroundings, she found or made the time to read the Writings more carefully than anyone I know. Twice she read every page that emanated from the pen of Swedenborg after he had been granted the opening of his spiritual sight. But the Arcana Coelestia was her great love. Seven times, and more, she read every page of this work, With care, with love, and with a clear perception of the meaning.

     Of Mrs. Cockerell it may well be said that she lived more for the heavenly kingdom than for the world; yet she took a keen interest in all the intellectual movements of the day.

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While she loved, above all else, to dwell in the realm of the spirit, as found in the Writings of the New Church, she was also interested in all the necessary means of forwarding the Lord's Church upon earth. And though she possessed an intellect of rare quality, it never overshadowed her womanly emotions. She was a devoted wife, a loving mother, and a dear friend to all who knew her.

     At the ripe age of eighty-two, she has passed through the great gate, leaving behind a husband with whom she lived for nine and fifty years; also sons and daughters, many grandchildren, and one great grandchild. The story of her life will be recounted from generation to generation of those in Durban who love the Church, and it may well be that her life will be an inspiration to many, far and near.

     Mrs. Cockerell left a notable contribution to New Church literature in the form of a short article, entitled " A Conversation between the Spiritual and the Natural," written six months before her death and printed in the September number of the SOUTH AFRICAN OPEN LETTER.     
     THEODORE PITCAIRN.
CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE SPIRITUAL AND THE NATURAL 1921

CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE SPIRITUAL AND THE NATURAL       EMMA COCKERELL       1921

     Spiritual: Why don't you do what I want you to do?

     Natural: Because I am tired.

     S.: Well, I am sorry for you, for I myself am more alert than ever. We don't know what it is to be tired in the world to which I belong; for as ages roll on, we become more and more alive and active. In fact, I feel I could do almost anything, if I were not hampered by your sluggishness.

     N.: Well, how can I help it?

     S.: No, you can't very well help it, I suppose, as you belong to a world where everything perishes, but I think you might rouse yourself a little sometimes in response to my most urgent needs.

     N.: Well, I don't seem to get any reward for my extra efforts, and, indeed, I sometimes collapse after them.

     S.: Don't talk of reward, my friend. Why, the very word is offensive in this kingdom.

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We don't look for reward here, for the reward of every good use is within the use itself; indeed, the pleasure of doing is all that we require, and is our chief delight.

     N.: Well, but what is the delight of the Natural?

     S.: The true delight of the Natural should be to minister to the wants of the Spiritual.

     N.: Yes! and wear myself out in the process?

     S.: Well, there could not be a nobler death than to lay one's life down for one's friend!

     N.: And what about you?

     S.: What about me? My object is complete preparation for eternity, and in the constant practice of good works; and if, owing to the infirmities of age on your part, you should be unable to respond, why then we should have to dissolve partnership, and I should go to complete my preparation in the other world, where, indeed, I now am. Ah! what joy will then be mine, untrammeled by your too solid flesh, which will then be left to pursue its remaining uses in the world.

     N.: And what may those uses be?

     S.: Well, it is not nice to think that the beautiful organism of the human body is to be dissolved; but, when I leave you, nothing in the world can hold you together, and so there is no help for it. The future use of the body can only be to enrich the earth with its substance.

     N.: Oh! horrible! I don't like to think of that.

     S.: No, it is not a nice reflection, I admit. But, now I come to think of it, there are other uses; and one, the most important, is to supply or give up the purest substances of nature for the uses of the angels, for we are told that "no one can become an angel that has not been born on some earth, as these purest substances of nature are indispensable to the spiritual body." I think I had better stop now, though, as I am getting into a "fog." You see, though I am on this side, and you on that, I am obliged to think in your province; while I am tied to you my thoughts are heavy and material; for the cares and pleasures of your world seem to cause a vagueness and sleepiness in the mind, which is most detrimental to all spiritual thought. Don't wonder, then, that I am longing to be free, especially since you are becoming, in your old age, less and less responsive.

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Why, very soon you will cease to respond altogether, and then my time will come.

     N.: And what then?

     S.: What then? I will then say farewell, good friend and help-mate; we have dissolved partnership; I shall require your services no more.
     EMMA COCKERELL.
GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY 1921

GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY       J. E. BOWERS       1921

     A REMINISCENCE OF THE INCEPTION OF THE NEW CHURCH IN TORONTO, CANADA.

     Recently, when walking through the Queen's Park, Toronto,-in the middle of which the Ontario Provincial Parliament Buildings are situated,-the writer passed by an object which, in the course of many years, he had often seen and looked at with interest. This is because the object referred to is a reminder of things that happened in connection with the beginnings of the New Church in Toronto, about the year 1860. On a slight elevation of ground in this Park, there lies an oblong block of stone, of a size convenient for a man to stand upon; and this was once used as a rostrum by zealous speakers on subjects of religion who, on Sunday afternoons and evenings, would attract the people and address them concerning the salvation of their souls.

     At that time, Mr. John Parker, an Englishman, was the leader of the little circle of believers in the new Doctrines in Toronto. He gave lectures, preached, and distributed New Church literature, though he was not an ordained minister. He was an earnest man, and had a strong desire and determination to do what he could to spread the everlasting gospel. And this he did, not only in Toronto, but also in other places.

     On hearing of the gatherings and speaking in the Queen's Park, Mr. Parker went there to seek opportunities to do New Church missionary work, and spoke to crowds frequently and effectively. He was argumentative, having had some experience in street preaching in old London before he came to America. Thus he had acquired the faculty of using logic in his talks. And though he taught in a somewhat crude manner, as we might expect from his lack of theological training, he nevertheless used all the weapons at hand vigorously in fighting the dragon and all the evils of life, falsities of faith, perversions of religion and other opposites of heaven which constitute that monster.

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     It was chiefly through the energy and perseverance of John Parker that the first New Church House of Worship was built in Toronto, on Elm Street, near Yonge. And it was through him that our venerable friend, Mr. Robert Carswell, received his first knowledge of the Heavenly Doctrines, about half a century ago.

     The stone which suggested the writing of these few reminiscences is an interesting object, for the reasons just given. In fact, every stone which has been formed by the wonderful process of creation is a representative of the Rock of Ages, the Divine Truth of the Word of God, upon which the Church is founded. The Lord said to Peter: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
     J. E. BOWERS.
SLEEP 1921

SLEEP       FRANK HODSON ROSE       1921

     Sleep is a physical necessity, varying in degree from a state in which the voluntary of man ceases to function to that in which the body rests but the mind does not.

     True sleep is when a man is so abstracted or withdrawn from sensuous things that he is unconscious of movements around him, or even that he lives; but such complete somnolence is more regularly experienced by children and those who are awaiting their release from this world. During the period of active enterprise, sleep is more elusive, anxieties of mind tending to restrict its depth, until insomnia goes hand in hand with undue immersion in worldly cares.

     Restful sleep comes most readily to those who trust in the Lord, and therefore the pious in all religions, and at all times, have found consolation in the letter of Divine Revelation. "I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me" (Psalm 3:5).

     The confidence that man is protected by the Lord while he sleeps comes from the general sphere of heaven.

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This flows into all whose hearts are turned to the Lord, and who permit their thoughts to rest upon the truths of Divine Revelation.

     Such confidence in the protection of the Lord during sleep comes to all who are truly religious. Yet only to those who accept the Divine Truth as revealed in the Second Advent can it come with a full appreciation of what is involved. To such it is known that man receives his life through the spiritual world, and that if it were possible for the connection to be broken, even for an instant of time, he would immediately perish. It is also known that the association is maintained by the adjunction of spirits to the man, some good and some evil, who are themselves subjects through whom more numerous bodies, or societies, operate. These subject spirits are so similar, and so intimately linked with the man, that they are not conscious of his separate identity; his desires being as their desires, and his thoughts as their thoughts. Nor is the man any more conscious of this presence with him. He lives his own life, acts from his own volition, uses his own judgment, and fully retains the sense of absolute freedom.

     These are normal waking conditions; but when man sleeps, they are changed. He is then no longer the arbiter of his own destiny; he ceases to control his desires, his thoughts, or even the actions of his body. He still lives; for his involuntary life continues. His heart beats, his lungs respire, and all the organs fulfill their functions; but he has lost even the semblance of control over their operation.

     With this relaxation of conscious guidance over the activities of the body comes the danger of obsession. Strictly speaking, every evil man is obsessed as to his interiors; but so long as he is awake, he can prevent the obsession extending to his externals; whereas in sleep, and especially in profound sleep, his powers of resistance become dormant; and if he were then left to himself, he could not prevent the evil spirits that infest his internals from flowing into his body, and thus reproducing the bodily possession which characterized the last days of the Jewish Church.

     Concerning this we read in A. C. 5990: "There are very many spirits at the present day who wish to flow in, not only into man's thoughts and affections, but also into his speech and actions, thus also into his corporeals; when yet the corporeals are exempt from the particular influx of spirits and angels, and are ruled by means of general influx; in other words, when thoughts are determined into speech, and the things of the voluntary into action, the determination and transition into the body are according to order, and are not ruled by any spirits in particular; for to inflow into man's corporeals is to obsess him." (See H. 296.)

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     To prevent the influx of particular spirits into the corporeals of man, it has been provided that the spirits most immediately associated with the voluntary of man should sleep when he sleeps; otherwise they would know that they are present with him. Swedenborg himself was instructed concerning this; for he relates that, in September, 1748, he was overcome with sleep in the afternoon, and on waking found that the spirits surrounding him were also heavy with sleep. These were they who wished to do him evil, and he continues: "Hence it was granted me to know that evil spirits are compelled to sleep when man does, and thus to make it possible for man to sleep, even soundly, although surrounded by evil spirits." (S. D. 3232.) And he proceeds to give as a reason that so long as both they and the man are awake, they do not know but that they are the man, and therefore, if they should injure him, they would injure themselves. But if they were awake while he slept, they would know that he is distinct from them.

     The same danger exists from wandering spirits. For every evil spirit has within him the desire to destroy the human race; and the sight of a sleeping man,-that is, of the spirit of a man, dormant as to its voluntary,-arouses this desire to such an intensity that special precautions are taken that it may not be ultimated. We read in A. C. 1983: "Evil spirits have the greatest and most burning desire to infest and assault man while he sleeps; but he is then particularly guarded by the Lord; for Love does not sleep."

     We are elsewhere instructed that spirits who would disturb man in his sleep are instantly and miserably punished: "I wondered that they were so severely punished, but Perceived that it was from necessity-so enormous was their crime-because man requires to sleep in safety; for otherwise the human race would perish" (A. C. 959).

     It was by such personal experience that Swedenborg was instructed concerning the means by which man is protected in sleep. In general, these means are: (1) The compulsory sleep of the spirits associated with the voluntary of man, and (2) the greater wakefulness of the spirits associated with the involuntary.

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"To the angelic spirits who dwell on the confines of the paradisiacal abodes, is allotted the office of watching over some man during sleep, to prevent the infestation of evil spirits. This office they discharge with the utmost delight. . . . They belong to the province of the cerebellum, because the cerebellum, as I have been instructed, is in a wakeful state during sleep, when the cerebrum is asleep." (A. C. 1977.) "I was further instructed that they who are allotted to the involuntary respiration are distinct from those who are allotted to the voluntary respiration; and it was told me that they who are allotted to the involuntary respiration are present with man during sleep; for as soon as he sleeps, the voluntary of his respiration ceases, and he receives an involuntary respiration." (A. C. 3893.)

     This transfer of control from the voluntary to the involuntary during sleep also provides a means by which some men are kept salvable. While awake, they are submerged in the cares and anxieties of the world, being without the knowledges necessary to resist this outside presence but in sleep the delight of the world is dulled, and its domination In some measure removed, so that the general influx of heaven into the involuntary can keep the interiors plastic. (See S. D. 4199.) Closely allied to this use of sleep is the vastation that others undergo in a state of drowsiness. (See A. C. 1108, and S. D. 427.)

     Nor is this the only use of sleep. We are elsewhere instructed that benefits can be imparted during sleep which would be impossible in a more wakeful state: " Certain souls recently arrived from the world, who desire to see the glory of the Lord, and before they are in a state capable of beholding it, are cast, as to their exterior senses and inferior faculties, into a kind of sweet sleep, and then their interior senses and faculties are raised into a high degree of wakefulness, and thus they are let into the glory of heaven " (A. C. 1982). In the class of such benefits would also come the sleep described in A. R. 1531 given to those devils who have been obedient to the laws which control hell.

     But sleep can be abused; and those who, in the life of the body, have been addicted to overmuch sleeping carry with them into the spiritual world the same laziness of spirit.

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Such are described as being of almost no use; for they are not only torpid in themselves, but they induce a numbness and inertness upon others, to the destruction of the latter's power to think (D. M. 4726). Such sluggards are therefore rejected from heaven.

     Every man enters the spiritual world in a state of sleep, from which he is gradually awakened by the angels attendant upon him. (See H. H. 445 et seq.) But he may afterwards revert to a state of spiritual sleep, in which, however, his external memory is active. Whenever an inhabitant of the spiritual world becomes conscious of the incidents of his previous life, and in the degree that he does so, he sleeps as to his spirit, or ceases to be awake to the realities of the world by which he is surrounded (See S. D. 319, 320, 321.) Such relapses are transitory with those who are progressing towards heaven, but they can exist in an augmented and prolonged form with those who are in evil. Their continuance involves such a paucity of spiritual thought that it amounts almost to a complete cessation of intellectual activity. By such sleep the internal malignity of the spirits is rendered dormant; but they can be aroused by man when, by invocation and the abandonment of his own personality, he solicits the direct control of spirits. (See S. D. 3015.)

     Sleep is a part of the orderly life of heaven; for there is a great variety of bed-chambers in the heavens (H. H. 184) and in the narrative which opens the work on Conjugial Love, it is related of the ten visitors from the world of spirits who had been invited to attend the marriage in heaven, that each had a separate room with a bed-chamber, to which they returned and "slept till morning" (C. L. 19). Every man in the spiritual world has his own bed, "magnificent with the wise, mean with the foolish, and filthy with the deceitful" (A. R. 137). And as nothing exists in the spiritual world except for its use, it follows that with everyone-deceitful, mean, or wise-a state recurs analogous to our sleep.

     Sleep is indeed as necessary to the spirit as to the body. In the one case, its succession is governed by the passage of time, in the other it is controlled by changes of state; but, whether it is spiritual sleep or natural sleep, the man of the Church can say in the inspired words of the Psalmist, " I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for Thou, Lord, only makest me to dwell in safety" (4:8).

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CORPORAL PUNISHMENT 1921

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT       Rev. W. B. CALDWELL       1921

     (Reprinted from New Church Life, April, 1909, p. 215.)

     It is the purpose of this paper to bring forward from the Word and the Writings some teachings that have a bearing upon the use of corporal punishment in the education of children, and to draw some deductions from those teachings.

     In the Letter of the Word, the Lord Himself is sometimes represented as chastising men with the rod, as in the following passages:

     "The Word of the Lord to Nathan concerning David: I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men." (II. Samuel 7: 14.)

     "I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins." (Leviticus 26: 28.)

     "Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee." (Deuteronomy 8: 5.)

     "If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes." (Psalm 89:31, 32.)

     "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore and repent." (Revelation 3:19.)

     In the letter of these passages, it states that the Lord chastises, but in the spiritual sense it means that in the presence of the Divine Truth from the Lord, the evil are punished and the good come into temptation. (See A. E. 246.)

     That it was of the wisdom of the ancients to amend the young by the chastisement of the rod is evident from the following:

     "My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of His correction: For whom the Lord loveth, He correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth." (Proverbs 3:11, 12.)

     "Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For He maketh sore, and bindeth up: He woundeth, and His hands make whole." (Job 5: 17, 18.)

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     "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes." (Proverbs 13:24.)

     "Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying." (Proverbs 19:18.)

     "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him." (Proverbs 22:15.)

     "A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back." (Proverbs 26:3.)

     "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? " (Hebrews 12:7. See verses 2 to 13.)

     There is much in the Writings upon the subject of punishment in general, from which we adduce the following passages, bearing upon corporal punishment in particular:-

     THAT IT IS TRUE CHARITY TO CHASTISE CHILDREN.

     "To love the neighbor is not only to will and do good to a neighbor, a friend, and a good man, but also to a stranger, an enemy, and an evil man. True charity is exercised toward the latter and the former in different ways; toward a neighbor and a friend by direct benefits, but toward an enemy and an evil man by indirect benefits, which are done by exhortations, disciplines, and punishments, thus by emendations. This may be illustrated thus: A judge, who from the law and justice punishes an evil-doer, loves the neighbor; for thus he amends him, and consults for the citizens, that he may not do evil to them. Everyone knows that a father who chastises his children when they do evil, loves them; and, on the other hand, that he who does not for that cause chastise them loves their evils, and that charity cannot be predicated of him." (T. C. R. 407.)

     "The spiritual of charity is that man, in the exercise of charity, sees clearly whether he acts from justice, and this he sees from judgment; for a man by benefits may do evil, and also by such things as appear evil he may benefit. . . . For who does not know that it yields good to servants if they are chastised by their masters, and to children when they are chastised by their parents on account of their evil deeds? " (T. C. R. 459:15. See also A. C. 4730; Doct. Charity 163.)

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     THAT IT IS OF MERCY TO PUNISH.

     "I spoke with some spirits who thought that punishment was contrary to mercy. But it was said to them that it is of mercy, and that it is unmerciful not to punish. They were convinced by an example. If a father does not chastise a son or daughter who is unmannerly or doing evil, but indulges him, he then is unmerciful, for he then leads his son to all those evils; thus he is unmerciful against his children, and against others. From this also it is evident that to punish is not contrary to love." (S. D. 4421.)

     THAT IT IS ACCORDING TO THE LAW OF RETALIATION.

     "It often happens in the other life that the evil, when they will to bring evil upon the good, are grievously punished, and that the evil which they intend to others relapses upon themselves; this appears then as if it were vengeance from the good; but it is not vengeance, neither is it from the good, but from the evil, to whom then, from the law of order, opportunity is given. Yea, neither do the good will evil to them; but they cannot take away the evil of punishment, for they are then held in a good intention, just as a judge who sees an evil-doer punished, or as a father when his son is punished by a magistrate. The evil who punish do it from the cupidity of doing evil, but the good from the affection of doing good." (A. C. 8223.)

     THE STATE OF THE PARENT WHEN PUNISHING.

     "As regards the duties of parents towards children, they are intrinsically different with those who are in charity from what they are with those who are not in charity, although they outwardly appear alike. With those who are in charity, that love (storge) is conjoined with love towards the neighbor and love to God; by these, children are loved according to their manners, virtues, studies, and gifts for serving the public. But with those who are not in charity, there is not a conjunction of charity with the love called storge; wherefore, many of these love even children who are evil, unmannerly and cunning, more than good, well-mannered and prudent children; thus they love those who are useless to the public more than the useful." (T. C. R. 431.)

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     "Spiritual fathers and mothers love their children from, their spiritual intelligence and moral life, thus from their fear of God and actual piety, or piety of life, and at the same time from their affection and application to uses serviceable to society, thus from the virtues and good manners with them; wherefore, if they do not see such things in them, they alienate their minds from them, and only from duty do anything for them. But natural fathers and mothers ... close their eyes to the vices of their children, excusing them, and favoring them." (C. L. 405. See 407.)

     It is evident from the passages above quoted that a parent who is in true charity, and thus in a genuine love for his child's welfare, is inmostly ruled by charity when, from justice according to judgment, he administers punishment; and that punishment is a mercy toward his children, and towards others. Such a parent is zealous for the good of the child, and for the good of the neighbor. His zeal at the time of punishing will have the same appearance externally as anger, though internally it is different, which appearance is for the most part inseparable from punishment, especially corporal punishment.

     That a parent may act from zeal, and not from anger, he must shun the delight or cupidity of punishing for its own sake. He must shun punishing from anger, hatred, revenge, cruelty, and other evils. And this he does when he is guided by justice and judgment, thus by true spiritual charity, and a love for the child's highest good.

     What the delight of punishment from cupidity is, may appear from evil spirits, who would not desist to eternity unless stopped by moderating angels. (A. C. 5185.) It may also appear from punishing spirits who are not evil, whose use is to examine and castigate those who are being prepared in the world of spirits for heaven. Some of them, we are told, "had been judges in the world, and had rejoiced at heart when they found out what they believed to be just cause for running, chastising, and punishing." (A. C. 5182, 3.)

     The delight of cruelty is very common at this day, and in reacting from this, many, especially in schools, have gone to the other extreme, discarding all corporal punishment. What this delight of cruelty is in the Christian world at this day, is described in the Writings; see A. C. 2125, 2126, 2309. From such descriptions it is evident that this delight is to be shunned by parents who would cultivate the spirit of true charity, mercy, and love, with its justice and judgment, in the treatment of their children.

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     In considering the state of the parent, it is also important to note that his treatment of the child after punishment may promote or injure the end and use he has in view. From an end of charity he desires only the amendment of his child, and he will be quick to recognize a better state, while he will be careful at the same time not to minimize the good effects of punishment by undue comfort.

     A time of punishment with a child is like a period of temptation with the adult. After a man has undergone the trials of temptation, he is comforted and instructed by the Lord. But if he comes out of temptation with a sense of merit on account of the victory, the trial has not benefited him spiritually, and he must be tempted anew. From this we may derive a principle of conduct in dealing with children after punishment. Comfort will not be amiss if it is accompanied by instruction and admonition.

     VARIETIES OF CORPORAL PUNISHMENT.

     The commonest form is whipping with a rod or with the hand. As a punishment for telling untruths, or using filthy and obscene language, parents have been known to wash the mouth out with soap and water. Hunger and imprisonment may be classed as corporal punishment. Nature punishes the human body swiftly and surely for any abuse of her laws, and children learn early that sickness is a result of the abuse of the laws of health, as taught them by their parents; also that fire burns, and that the law of gravity is universal. By sundry and divers punishments, nature teaches the young, and also the old, to observe her laws.

     We will not attempt a detailed treatment of the various forms that physical punishment may take. Those are most effective which accomplish the end with the least of physical injury. There are dangers in some forms. Boxing the ears may injure the hearing, and severe whipping may have grave results, as is known to physicians. We shall speak later of the ill effects of too frequent and severe punishment.

     In this connection it will be useful to note some of the forms of physical punishment for adults in the other life, many of which are described in the Writings. In general, it is evident that many spirits cannot be reduced to order, and prepared for heaven or hell, without terrible punishments, which they perceive as physical pain and torture.

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They are twisted and wrenched, with every sensation of being torn to pieces; they fall from horses, striking violently upon the ground; not to mention many other forms. In every case the form fits and corresponds to the evil they are in, and is administered for the most part by evil spirits, whose delight is to punish. Thus evil actually punishes itself there. (See A. C. 957, 959, etc., etc.)

     Corporeal loves and appetites with adult spirits, as with men in the world, cannot be overcome and reduced to quiescence without physical affliction. In the spiritual world, vastation requires the sensation of physical distress and torment; in the natural world, physical afflictions are forms of natural temptation, which may or may not involve spiritual temptation. By such afflictions, the corporeal-sensual, and thence the natural mind, with its lusts and cupidities, is subdued. Who, in this age, is spared these punishments?

     Furthermore, we are told that "spiritual temptations are most grievous when they are conjoined with sufferings inflicted on the body." (N. J. H. D. 196.) Thus there are evils that cannot be overcome by the regenerating man without spiritual temptations ultimated in the physical body. The glorification of our Lord was not complete until He underwent the last and most grievous temptation, the passion of the cross. (See A. C. 8164.)

     GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

     The time and occasion for corporal punishment, and the offences of children that call for such punishment, must be a matter for individual parental judgment. It is possible to begin too early in infancy, and it is possible to begin too late. It is possible to punish the wrong offence, it is possible to neglect to use corporal punishment when it is just and necessary. There are children that require it often, others that need it little. No doubt there are cases when a child can be brought up without resort to it. To some children the shame and humiliation of such penalty is great, and therefore most effective; it is also possible to ruin the spirit of a sensitive child by excessive punishment. The variety is without end, and the treatment of each case must be left to the rational judgment of parents. As in all other things, extremes are to be avoided.

     In general, however, some principles and rules may be laid down.

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One is, that punishment should fit the offence. According to the law of retaliation, as it operates in the spiritual world, an evil spirit suffers the harm and injury he would bring upon another, and thus is punished according to his intended offence. Applying the same law to education in the world, it may be said that a child who would strike his parents or companions in anger justly deserves bodily punishment. If he be punished by incarceration only, he is apt to reflect that the one he has injured "got the worst of it." And so no fear of repeating the offence is instilled by the punishment. But if he were given to feel the unpleasantness of bodily pain himself, he would be more apt to control himself the next time his anger is aroused. It is well known, also, that children are apt to know when they have been too lightly or too severely punished.

     Another truth of importance is that corporal punishment is an extreme penalty, and if employed too often loses its effect. As this form of punishment usually involves physical contact, and thus the sense of touch, it is the most ultimate form of punishment, and hence may be regarded as an extreme penalty or last resort. When not actually called for by the offence, a reserve on the part of the parent often makes a milder penalty effective.

     Punishment inflicted upon the body, being the most ultimate, affects the feelings more directly, and thus appeals to the will of the child. Other forms, as when time for reflection is given by imprisonment, appeal to the understanding, thus to a kind of conscience with the child. There are certain offences of willfulness, both in speech and act, which hardly can be corrected without an appeal through bodily punishment. There are cases in which no other means will bring a child to a realization of the enormity of its offence, and to a fear of repeating it. And there are certain spirits infesting the child that cannot otherwise be driven off. Moreover, there are some characters that can only be subdued by a demonstration of the parent's superior physical power. Unfortunate it is when a boy has grown physically stronger than his father before he has learned filial respect and obedience.

     Lastly, we would observe that the education of children in the other life presents the ideal. It is only necessary there to bring the child to a knowledge of the hereditary evils that are with it. From its previous education by the angels, it will then have an aversion to these evils, and shun them.

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On this point we have the following teachings:

     "No one in the other life suffers punishment on account of hereditary evil, because it is not his own, but on account of actual evil, which is his own, thus so far as he has appropriated hereditary evil to himself by actual life." (H. 342.)

     "Infants who have been educated in heaven, and have become adult, are remitted into the state of their hereditary evil, but not that they may suffer punishment, but that they may know that from themselves they are nothing but evil, and that it is of the mercy of the Lord that they are taken out of the hell that is with them into heaven." (H. 342.)

     "It has been made certain to me in the spiritual world from infants who have died that they only incline to evils, thus that they will them, but still do not do them. For they are educated under the auspices of the Lord, and are saved." (T. C. R. 521.)

     From all that is taught concerning the education of infants in heaven, it is clear that corporal punishment is not necessary for them. (See H. 345) Whether the same may be said of children and youths who have died, and are educated there, would seem to depend upon the extent to which they have made hereditary evil actual during their life in the world, thus the extent to which their worldly and terrestrial loves had been developed before their passing into the other world.

     In the ideal education it is possible to lead a child to a kind of repentance as of itself, to an aversion for the evils called to its attention. It is thus that it can be prepared for actual repentance in adult age. And this can be accomplished more by appeal and exhortation than by punishments. But when this fails it is of charity and mercy on the parent's part to shun evils for the child, and even to manifest to it the penalty that is attached to its evils. We venture the opinion that the time will come when, from good inheritance and remains early implanted, it will be possible to lead children to an affectionate obedience, and to a kind of conscience, which will make them sensitive to wrong doing, and easily corrected by word of mouth or mild punishment. It is doubtful in this age, when hereditary evils are so great, Whether many children can be brought up without resort to corporal punishment.

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Editorial Department 1921

Editorial Department       Editor       1921


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor                         Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager                Rev. W. H. Alden, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address and business communications should be sent to the Business Manager.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
One Year                         $3.00 payable in advance
Single Copy               30 cents
     THE PRIESTHOOD THE FIRST OF THE CHURCH.

     In recent numbers of the LIFE, frequent mention has been made of the teaching that " the priesthood is the first of the church," and several of our readers have been unable to find the statement in the Writings. It occurs in the Apocalypse Explained, no. 2294, which sets forth the internal sense of the phrase, "The beginning of the working of God " (Rev. 3:14), as signifying " faith from Him, which, in appearance, is the first of the church." It is then shown that charity is in reality the " first of the church," and toward the close of the number we read: "Peter, by whom the faith of the church was represented, was called the first of the apostles, when yet John was the first, since John represented the good of charity. . . . For the same reason, faith was represented by Reuben, because he was the first-born of the sons of Jacob, and it was believed that the tribe named from him was first; yet that tribe was not the first, but the tribe of Levi; wherefore, also, this tribe was made the priesthood, and the priesthood is the first of the church." (A. E. 229.)

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     The meaning of the phrase, as here used, is manifest. The good of charity from the Lord is the first of the church, and it is represented by the office of the priesthood, because that good loves the spiritual welfare of the neighbor and desires his salvation. Thus the good of spiritual charity in the church is a measure of the Lord's love of saving souls with men, is the Divine presence in the church, operating in and by men. Hence we are told that " the priesthood of heaven is the celestial kingdom, because the priesthood signifies the good of love to the Lord, in which are all who are in that kingdom." (H. H. 226.) Moreover, the good of charity is the genuine source of the affection of truth which teaches and leads in the church, and this is the use and function of the priesthood, the essence of that form which consists of priestly ministrations performed by men who have been prepared, ordained, and set apart to lead and teach in the church. And when the essence and form are together, as internal and external, then the priesthood not only represents the Lord as Savior, but is actually the Lord's instrumentality in saving men. And this use is the "first of the church."

     But to say that "the priesthood is the first of the church" suggests to some minds the idea of priestly dominion and the dangers of Babylon, where, indeed, the priesthood is not only the first but almost the all of the church. The fear of this is strong with many from their Protestant inheritance, and accounts in large measure for the difficulty they experience in accepting the teachings of the Writings on the subject.

     It is true that the priesthood becomes an instrument of dominion when the form is separated from the essence, the external from the internal, the office from the use, or when the priest does not lead men to the Lord by the Word. Where we are taught that "the church is the neighbor who is to be loved in a superior degree to society, our country, and the individual," we are cautioned that "this does not mean that the priesthood is to be loved in a superior degree, and from this the church, but that the good and truth of the church are to be loved, and for their sake the priesthood, which merely serves, and is to be honored in the measure that it serves." (T. C. R. 415.) Thus the priesthood is to be honored as the first of the church in the degree that it serves the Lord in the work of salvation.

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This is the essential, for the sake of which all the formalities of priestly administration exist, just as all forms of government regard use as their end and purpose. And when the priesthood is actually performing this highest of uses-the saving of men for heaven-then it is indeed the "first of the church," because the Lord is then First.

     In other words, when the Lord and the Word are acknowledged as the first of the church, by priests and laymen alike, then the priesthood, as the Lord's office among men, will be accorded its proper place, as representative of the Lord, and His means of establishing the church. It is not without significance that the fear of granting the priesthood its appointed station in the New Church is greatest among those who accept the Writings only as the works of a man. And the converse is equally true, that those who hear the voice of the Lord speaking to them in the Writings, "as one having authority, and not as the scribes," are the most ready to accept the teaching there given to the effect that "the priesthood is the first of the church."
BOOKS RECEIVED FOR REVIEW 1921

BOOKS RECEIVED FOR REVIEW              1921

     The following new books have been sent us by the publishers, and will be reviewed in early issues of the LIFE:

     PSYCHOLOGICAL TRANSACTIONS. By Emanuel Swedenborg. Translated by the Rev. Alfred Acton. Swedenborg Scientific Association, Philadelphia, Pa. Pp. 280. Price, $4.00.

     THE LIFE OF CHAUNCEY GILES. 1813-1893. By his daughter, Carrie Giles Carter. Massachusetts New-Church Union. 134 Bowdoin St., Boston. Pp. 500. Price, $4.00.

     SKETCHES OF THE NEW CHURCH IN AMERICA. By Ednah C. Silver. Massachusetts New-Church Union, Boston. Pp. 314 Price, $1.00, plus postage.

     THE GIST OF SWEDENBORG. Compiled by Julian K. Smyth and William F. Wunsch. Published for the Iungerich Publication Fund by J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia. Pp. 110. Price, 50 cents.

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NOTES AND REVIEWS 1921

NOTES AND REVIEWS              1921

     The limited space at our disposal prevents a month to month review of the New Church periodicals that come to us in exchange, but we strive to keep our readers informed of any matters of special interest that may not otherwise come to their attention. Of this character are the recent changes in the editorship of the weekly papers published in America and England. Upon the basis of the numbers so far received we offer the following comments:

     Beginning with the issue for October 6, 1920, the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER, official organ of the General Convention, has been published under new editorial management. With the retirement of the Rev. John S. Saul, who had served as editor for fifteen years, the place of publication was transferred from Chicago to Boston, the Rev. E. M. L. Gould being appointed Editor and Publisher, with the Rev. Paul Sperry and Mr. Clifford Smyth as Associate Editors and Mr. B. A. Whittemore as Business Manager. A new typographical dress has been adopted, but the departments are maintained as hitherto, including a sermon, short articles, reviews, and church news. Each issue opens with well-written editorials on a variety of subjects, though we find ourselves out of harmony with the central view expressed by the new Editor in his opening remarks, from which we quote the following:

     "There is only one real remedy for the ills from which the world now suffers, and that is religion. No civilization has ever long survived the death of its religion, and the present civilization, unless it finds religion again, will follow Egypt, Babylon and Rome. But there is only one religion which the free, civilized man of the present day can permanently accept, and that is the New Christianity. The old religions of blind faith and superstitious fear are pure anachronisms. It is not even worth while to oppose them, for they are already dying or dead.

     "The New Christianity is spreading fast. Its spirit quickens men and women of all nominal churches and of no church. Yet even a spirit, an idea, needs the support of some sort of organization, or it is a soul without a body. And we know of no organization that is consciously dedicated to the spreading of the New Christianity except the Church of the New Jerusalem. . . .

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     "Perhaps we are inclined at times to wonder just how great a part in the spread of the New Christianity-which is the Second Coming of the Lord-is to be played by the truth revealed through the Lord's servant, Emanuel Swedenborg. Certainly, as a matter of historic fact, it was through the seer's illumined and translucent mind that there shone on the world the first light of the new dawn. And we surely cannot deny that God may lighten the world in other ways; or that there are many men and women to whom the spirit of the new times has come by means of which we do not know, and has found a response as ready as, if not readier than, ours. . . .

     So far as this is the platform of the new management, it definitely commits the MESSENGER to the permeation idea. This view tinctures the subsequent editorial utterances in the numbers before us, and will be the dominating note unless opportunity is given for the expression of other views. The attitude of a New Churchman toward the Writings is of cardinal and vital importance, and qualifies all else. And a view which entertains the slightest doubt as to "just how great a part" the truths of the Writings are to play in the "spread of the New Christianity,"-which seems to mean a re-vitalizing of the Old Church,-holds no promise for the genuine establishment of the New Church upon its only foundation,-the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem. What is needed today is a "back to the Writings" movement, as the only cure for the permeation fallacy and that flattering attitude toward the spurious appearances of modern Christianity which refuses to view the Christian world in the light of the Divine Revelation which has been given by the Lord for the raising up of a New Christian Church entirely separate and distinct from all forms of the Old Christianity.

     In the news department of the MESSENGER, We find many interesting accounts of Convention mission activities in foreign lands,-the Philippines, Japan, etc. These would he inspiring and comforting if we could feel assured that the missionaries were offering the gentile the "pearl of great price,"-the Heavenly Doctrine in all its wondrous beauty of angelic wisdom, and not a man-devised brand of "New Christianity" which offers a choice between "our doctrine" and those of the "other Christian denominations."

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Title Unspecified 1921

Title Unspecified              1921

     The NEW-CHURCH WEEKLY, official organ of the English General Conference, and edited by the Rev. Isaiah Tansley, ceased publication on July 31, 1920, being succeeded by the NEW-CHURCH HERALD, which made its appearance in September, with the Rev. Charles A. Hall, Woodburn, Clynder, Dunbartonshire, as Editor and Manager. It will be recalled that the WEEKLY was first issued in 1914, succeeding the MORNING LIGHT, which was founded by the late James Speirs in 1878.

     We have received most of the issues of the NEW-CHURCH HERALD to date, and this has afforded an opportunity to note the character of its varied contents, including sermons, articles for old and young on both sacred and secular subjects, correspondence, and news accounts, with interesting reports from the Rev. J. F. Buss in the Transvaal mission field. The editorials are vigorous and well-written, and enable us to gauge the doctrinal standpoint and outlook, which necessarily imparts tone and quality to the magazine as a whole. As to the vital questions of the status of the Writings and the New Church in the modern world, we have indication of the new Editor's views in an editorial entitled "What is the New Church!" (October 2, 1920, p. 66.) From this we quote the following:

     "THE NEW-CHURCH HERALD is the official weekly organ of the General Conference of the New Church, and I, its editor, freely and joyfully spend time and substance in the service of the organization because, like all its members, I honestly believe that the New Church has come, that it has a spiritual existence among men and women, and that it is destined to become the crown of all the Churches, or dispensations of truth, that have ever existed. This does not necessarily mean that the ultimate expression of the New Church, as spiritually discerned, will be ecclesiastical in form, or a Church as most folk apply the term; but it does mean that I am convinced that the New Church is the dominant religious influence in our times, and for all time. And I further believe that the New Church organization is destined to be the most potent and influential institution ever formed by man, always with the proviso that its members rise to a proper appreciation of their duties and obligations. Personally, I am heart and soul with the organization, and will work for it, and support it, so long as it does not exist for itself alone, but for the fuller realization on earth of the spiritual principles of the New Church itself.

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I believe the organization is necessary, so long as it keeps its ideals, and that by its activities it has done much, and will yet do more, to open the hearts and minds of men so that they may receive the spirit, the truth, and the power of the real New Church into their lives."

     He is here drawing a sharp distinction between the New Church as a spiritual entity and the New Church in its organized forms, and continues:

     "Unfortunately the history of great ecclesiasticisms makes melancholy reading. It is a history of degeneration rather than of progress; of the hopeful and expectant rising, through blood and tears, to a spiritual maximum; of the trail of the serpent, the intrusion of the love of dominion, and a final disruption and decay in superstition and materialism. . . . In the Bible we have the history of several religious dispensations that have all run the same melancholy course. One might have thought that when the first Christian Church was established on such magnificent principles, it would be a permanent institution; but even in its earliest days it was exploited by unprincipled men, and, later, when it reached its zenith of material power, it became an unnamable tyranny. It failed, as it deserved to fail, not because Jesus was wrong, but in that His followers, so-called, were not loyal to the Truth Be revealed. That Church is still supposed to be alive in various forms, and one thanks heaven that it shows vitality. But the old order has changed and yielded place to new. The first Christian dispensation has passed, its tyranny is now ridiculed, and its would-be tyrants are manacled. If any of its forms or institutions survive, it is because a new spirit gives them vitality, the spirit of the New Age; the influence and power of the New Church! Our knowledge and experience renders us somewhat timid about organizations; no matter how nobly they are conceived, they may follow the course of their predecessors. And that is why I lay so much stress on the distinction between the New Church and the New Church organization. Yet some organization we must have, and we can support ours so long as it is faithful to the Kingdom of God."

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     A distinction between the Church spiritual and the Church natural or formal is quite legitimate, but we feel that the writer, from fear of abuses, is unduly pessimistic about church organization, the need and use of which is clearly indicated in the Writings, and especially in the doctrine concerning the priesthood. In emphasizing the "melancholy" side of former dispensations, he says not a word about the magnificent trine of heavens organized and formed by the Lord from the Ancient and Christian Churches. Nor does he seem quite certain that the Old Christian Church is dead beyond hope of resuscitation, in spite of the plain declaration of the Writings to this effect. But the "influence and power of the New Church" is giving the old denominations a new spirit and vitality, presumably by a mode of " permeation," since they are not receiving the truths of the New Church as revealed in the Writings.

     The article seems to be addressed to those who are strangers to the Doctrines, but we think that such admirable writing would have been more to the purpose if it were less of a hiding of our light under a bushel. Thus, in speaking of Swedenborg, he says: "In devout study of the Scriptures, his eyes were opened to perceive facts and truths that had either been obscured and forgotten, or never before perceived. It really does not matter who the man was; so long as God revealed truth through him; but, in point of history, it was Emanuel Swedenborg. Under the Divine Providence he was the 'Spiritual Columbus', the discoverer of the spiritual realm as it had never been discovered before. It was he who was permitted to detect the coming of the New Age, and the birth and growth of that far-reaching spiritual movement, which, sometimes I think not too happily, he called the New Church. It is in this spiritual movement that the Lord is making His Second Advent-not in Person, but in spirit and power. He now addresses Himself, not to the bodily sense of man, but spiritually, to the heart and mind and conscience."

     "Then the New Church is a vast, influential spiritual movement, in the invisible world as well as in the world in which we are living, of the Divine Goodness and Truth in human souls. All who love the Lord of the Transfiguration and live in good will and kindness towards their fellow men are the conscious or unconscious servants of a new order constantly extending its influence, and enlarging the place of its tent."

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     Judged by the editorial expression above, the NEW-CHURCH HERALD voices the prevailing permeation view, which departs radically from our interpretation of the Heavenly Doctrines. Surely it is not a fair representation of the Writings to say that Swedenborg "not too happily" called it the New Church, in view of all that is said in the Doctrines concerning "the Lord's New Church." "This arcanum is from the Lord Himself for those who will be of His New Church." (T. C. R. 154e.)

     But while we are unable to agree with the fundamental view of the new Editor, we are pleased to note that he opens the pages of the HERALD to the expression of other views. To quote: "I feel that the Church has much to gain from free and candid discussion of subjects bearing upon its welfare. It is far better that opinions and criticisms, so long as they are expressed with charity and dignity, should see the light of print, and be noted and scrutinized, than that they should be whispered in the ear in dark places. I want the HERALD to be a forum in which all who have views of value may express them."

     With these sentiments we heartily agree; for suppression has always been one of the tools of ecclesiastical tyranny, while the policy here outlined is in the interests of truth. In keeping with it, the Editor has, for example, invited readers of the HERALD to contribute to a Symposium dealing with the question, "What is Wrong with the Church?" A wide variety of replies is published, showing a worthy concern for the welfare of the Church, though we should have liked to see a more definite "back to the Writings" cry represented, as we believe that to be the chief cure for "what is wrong with the Church " at any given time.

     Indeed, we fear that two of the contributors to the Symposium would resent our suggestion. Mr. Francis Black, noting that Dr. R. L. Tafel's work on Authority in the New Church "has a following at this day," holds that, "if they adhere strictly to his teaching, they certainly exemplify one of the things that is wrong in the Church." Devoting considerable space to a refutation of the idea that the Writings are the Word, as set forth by Dr. Tafel, Mr. Black says, in closing: " It appears to me that the presence in our midst of a body of men persistently propagating (more or less) the teachings of Dr. Tafel is one of the things that is wrong in the Church.

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I know that many of our young men, (most of whom have, I imagine, no easy access to Swedenborg's complete Writings, or leisure to study them, and who therefore bow to their authority on different points), are being led astray, and over-centralize on Swedenborg's Writings, to the neglect of a true understanding of the Word in the Letter as enjoined by Swedenborg. Such a false start in life necessarily engenders other fallacies; hence to this source may be traced the indifferentism to our propaganda in Christian England. . . . There is one consolation in knowing that, although we may be retarded in our success at home from the fact that the English Clergy know that these false doctrines are taught by us, but cannot distinguish between the section and the main body (I have already had to explain this distinction to Protestant Clergymen); yet this fact remains, that the latter so love the Lord's Word, and count it Holy above every other book, that any propaganda from the section is, more or less, doomed to failure. Still, a man's foes are those of his own household, and we should, in my opinion, seek with all our might to remove this beam from our own eyes, that we may, with united front, remove the mote from our neighbor's eye." (NEW-CHURCH HERALD, I920, pages 134, 151.)

     The other contributor to the Symposium who fears an undue exaltation of the Writings has this to say:
REHABILITATION OF DISCREDITED VIEWS 1921

REHABILITATION OF DISCREDITED VIEWS        HAROLD ROBINSON       1921

     PLAIN WORDS FROM MR. HAROLD ROBINSON.

     When you, Mr. Editor, asked for my views as to what is wrong with our organization, I hesitated to comply, for it is easy and useless to find fault in a general manner; but after consideration, I think I can indicate a few points on which a frank statement is urgently needed, if the Church is to progress.

     First, however, let me say that the Church as a whole is suffering from the lack of faith in her members. The First Christian Church was founded on the blood of the Martyrs, who cheerfully suffered hideous tortures and death on her behalf. Where is the spirit of sacrifice and devotion today? Who is there who does not feel that the lack of success of the Church is partly due to his own lack of zeal?

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     I believe that the organization is not spreading on this account, and also because she has long been cursed with her own internal differences, which make one almost afraid of putting her great claims before the world.

     The Academy, holding some views to which we cannot accede, still exists outside our borders, and after nearly forty years' cessation from active propaganda, we see today the recrudescence in our midst of certain doctrines approximating closely those of the Academy.

     At the recent Conference, frequent references were made to Orthodox Christianity as the "Dead Church!" Such language is revolting to all broad-minded persons, who know so many members of this Church who were humble followers of the Lord. The Church dies when all charity and faith are dead. Who will dare to say that no charity or faith exist among Christians outside our little organization? If any do, they need our prayers.

     Also, there have been repeated attempts by pen and speech to re-open old controversies which were threshed out and regarded as settled a generation ago.

     There is a movement to establish an ecclesiastical hierarchy, at least in regard to doctrine. Some ministers object to be the servants of one Society, and want to be the sole authority in their Society, and claim that they know best what the laity should be taught. They also want three grades in the ministry, with, I suppose, different vestments for each, and an increase of ceremonialism all round. Really, if these childish fancies are persisted in, they will soon have no congregations left. But perhaps the most serious of all the aims of these reactionaries is to rehabilitate the views put forward in Dr. Tafel's discredited book-Authority in the New Church. All details of Swedenborg's writings published by him or not, and often contradictory in their statements, are to be regarded as being as fully inspired as the Word, indeed it is claimed that they are the Word, and therefore of authority equal to the Old and New Testaments. This is a view to which no quarter can be given. Conference must be asked to Place on record its belief in Holy Scripture as the only Divine Authority and in Swedenborg's works as of a comparatively inferior status.

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Until the Church clears herself from these doctrines, she cannot progress, for they must savor of blasphemy to all Christians outside her borders.

     I am sorry to have to write in this strain about views held by friends, whom I believe to be earnest and sincere, but it seems a duty to warn them, that if these movements are persisted in, they may bring about the disruption of the organization, which can only be established on the glorious affirmation that the Lord in His Divine Humanity is the only God, and that the Old and New Testaments are the only plenarily inspired Divine Authority.
     HAROLD ROBINSON.

     On the other hand, we find in the HERALD'S department of "Correspondence" such letters as the following:

Editor of NEW-CHURCH HERALD:
     While so many are asking "What is wrong with the Church?" and deploring it's slow growth, will you allow a woman to suggest that the first cause is want of faith in the Truths of the Second Advent. It was the same at the First Advent; there were disputations and hairsplitting, probably conscientious enough, but certainly not conducive to progress. A Divine remedy was then given which I submit would be quite as effective today. It is the Lord's declaration in John vii:17, "If any man doeth His will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God." Now Mr. Editor, don't you think it would be a fine thing if, instead of wasting our brain power and energies over minute and confusing discussions as to whether the Heavenly Doctrines, which the Lord has revealed for His New Church, shall be called His Word or not, we all tried to order our lives,-business, social, home and ecclesiastic,-according to their teaching, there would soon be a very manifest deepening and strengthening of the Church's hold upon her members, and we should become so imbued with those doctrines that there would he no question in our minds as to their Divine Authority?
     Yours in the Church,
          N. JUBB.

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Title Unspecified 1921

Title Unspecified       Editor       1921

     From the October, 1920, number of THE REMINDER, we cite the following editorial expression of the Rev. W. T. Lardge:

     The old religious falsities and traditions take a lot of killing. Well may we, for our true spiritual growth and peace of mind, obey the Divine mandate in reference to the same, " Come out of them my people, and be ye separate." This attitude may appear uncharitable and "crool," as the Rev. gentleman exclaimed in the course of his sermon. Yet after all it is by no means cruel, since it is only right and just, and since it would always save us some heart-burning. We are, therefore, more than ever convinced that in our exclusiveness lies our truest charity to all, our true strength and freedom, our surest growth, and our truest and best influence and power.

     We know it is the fashion in some quarters to sneer at the insular; but there is nothing narrow in a New Churchman's intense New-Churchism. Such a man has a magnificent conception of the world-mission of the Church of the Lord and a profound and devout belief and conviction in its Divine ordinance. And if the New Church is in the true sense to prevail in Christendom, it must in its specific form, which is its heart and lungs, devote itself entirely to its own supreme use; and to do this, its main organs must be fit; and these it is which must be looked to.

     It is human to stand with the crowd, it is Divine to stand alone. It is human to follow the Populace and to drift with the tide; it is God-like to follow a principle and to stem the tide. It is natural to compromise conscience and follow the social and religious fashion, for the sake of mere popularity, or for gain or pleasure; it is Divine-like to sacrifice all these on the altar of truth and duty.

     Wanted in the Church, men and women, young and old, who will obey their spiritual convictions at the cost of self, of friends, yea, of life itself!


     The same number of the REMINDER contains a short review of Mr. Iungerich's Palace of Wisdom which the Editor considers "well worth the while of any one interested in the deeper causes of things," though he does not entirely approve the methods of the author. "In so far as the appeal is to the Writings as the sole authority, it is a delight to be in his company. . . .

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But there is much evidence of an endeavor to find 'universals,' and to correlate one part of the teachings of the Writings with another. This, to our mind, does not make for wisdom." We cannot understand this objection to a method of correlation. How else are we to formulate doctrinals or establish universals? But perhaps the reviewer feels that the method has been abused by a forced correlation, or by placing undue emphasis upon this or that statement of the Writings in the effort to establish a "universal." Such a method, of course, is as much to be deprecated as the building of a universal on one passage alone.


     Another review of The Palace of Wisdom appeared in THE NEW-CHURCH REVIEW for April, 1920, in which Prof. Frank W. Very is rather critical, though he thinks that Mr. Iungerich "has treated with marked ability some of the more intricate problems of spiritual doctrine," and that the "concluding section is a valuable addition to New-Church thought." His main objection is that "the author appears to consider that the most important doctrine of the church is that of the eternity of the hells," to which the reviewer is decidedly opposed, noting that "where Swedenborg enumerates the essential doctrines of the New Church, that of the eternity of the hells is not mentioned." After a further bolstering up of this heretical notion, Prof. Very closes facetiously: "We have not space to consider the teaching that Swedenborg's writings are 'Divine Doctrine altogether true,' and that they are 'the Word with the crown of all the churches,' together with other doctrines peculiar to the 'Academy.' Presumably the eternity of a life in hell is stressed for the benefit of those of us who cannot receive the Academy teaching. In view of such dogmatic assertion, some of us have reason to be grateful that Swedenborg was left in freedom, and that he was 'divinely' permitted to make a few obvious mistakes, at least in respect to some of the scientific details."


     In THE NEW-CHURCH REVIEW for October, 1920, the Rev. H. Clinton Hay, Pastor of the Boston Society, records his impressions of the "Victory of Woman Suffrage," and makes what we consider a very fair and well-considered statement of the questions that have arisen in the minds of New Church men and women with respect to this matter. We herewith reprint the article in full:

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     VICTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE.

     After sixty years of struggle, the women of the United States who desire to vote with the men,-at first a small number, but of late rapidly increasing,-have secured the right by Constitutional Amendment. Shall the New-Churchman regard the victory so hardly won as one of the steps of progress resulting from the Second Coming of the Lord, or as a part of the unrest and great upheaval of disorders of the Last Judgment occasioned by it? The friends of the cause within the Church take the former view; while some take the latter. Perhaps the truth lies, as so often is the case, in the golden mean; perhaps the placing of woman beside man in a position of equality in citizenship, as thus indicated by the right to vote, is in the direction of justice and freedom to do right; but perhaps it has come about through the struggles of the unrest that characterizes the present world condition, and perhaps it opens the doors to disorders in the relations of women to men which may level down the former rather than lift up the latter. Certainly it will be so if women seek to do the work of men because they think they can do it better, instead of seeking to do a work which is peculiarly their own. Too often there is an intimation, if not the direct assertion, that women are going to vote and assume the reins of government because men have failed to do well. The anti-suffrage organ, THE WOMAN PATRIOT, unwittingly perhaps, exemplifies this in the following warning in its defeat:

     "Decaying civilization of Canaanites and Jews, and Polish partition, came in an era of feminism. The suffragists are bringing us to the culmination of a decadence which has been steadily indicated by race suicide, break-up of the home, and federalism, all of which conditions are found chiefly in primitive society. Anti-suffragists have opposed rulership and force by women as contrary to human nature. . . . It is the duty of anti-suffragists to see that efforts to make double suffrage a complete success by transforming both sexes into weak neuters will be thwarted in educational channels so that this feminist disease, which has already been contracted twelve times in the world's history, will again subside. Because of women's greater love of deep instincts than of commercial careers, and of public competition with sons and husbands, our fight has really begun."

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     It is not easy to believe that the disease of feminism has struck the men of our country. And we hope that the disease of masculinism will not strike the women; if it does, the possible competition of mothers with sons, and of wives with husbands, at the polls may lead to calamity.

     There is no lack of instruction in the New Church as to the absolute distinctiveness of the sexes and their respective functions in the Divine order and economy. Before the Second Coming of the Lord this was not so. Great confusion existed in human thought on the subject. Indeed, the church increased this by teaching that sex is not immortal; that physical differences between men and women are for the purpose of earthly procreation only, and that in the resurrection those differences are left behind,-men cease to be masculine and women cease to be feminine,-and in that sense there is no marriage in the resurrection. But to the church of the Second Coming the instruction is clear and rational; that sex distinctions are of the soul as well as of the body, and that they continue to increase forever; that marriage is spiritual to be of real worth, and so it becomes eternal. Husband and wife are created for each other and so they are opposites but complementary, each needed by the other for completion and for the performance of every function, as thought and affection need each other, as understanding and will must be united in every mental action of the soul as of the body.

     Thus upon the success of marriage depends the salvation of the human race, individually and collectively. By success in marriage the characters of husbands and wives are built up into good citizenship, not only in this world but also in the life to come. Not only does the safety and prosperity of nations on earth depend upon their honoring and cherishing this institution, but also the kingdom of heaven depends upon the results in two ways: for of earthly marriage children are born who are to become the population of heaven; and of it souls are regenerated, qualified to fill their places in heavenly society. The New-Churchman knows the meaning of the Lord's words, replying to the Sadducaic quibble over immortality based upon failures in marriage, and saying, "In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God," for he understands how the angels of God have all been men and women on earth, and have been husbands and wives by development of character, fitted to live in that perfect union of souls that alone can make the center and source of all heavenly usefulness and happiness; he knows that the angels of God are a husband and wife perfectly one in life and service.

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     This, then, will be the test of this victory of woman suffrage: Will it contribute to the success of marriage? Will it make women better wives and mothers in time and in eternity? Will it help men to be better husbands now and forever? Husbands and wives certainly are equals in marriage, and in all things of life, but they are not alike in their functions of mind and body. The Creator in His wisdom has made them thus " equal but unlike" in order to join them together in marriage, and thence in all the activities of their united lives. If this new kind of " equal rights" of woman develops her unlikeness to man, and perfects it by making her more and more unlike him, more and more a woman, we shall know that it is, indeed, a victory for womanhood.
     H. CLINTON HAY.
BEWARE OF HATRED 1921

BEWARE OF HATRED              1921

     "That relations, friends, companions, find each other in the other life. It has been given me to learn from considerable experience that in the other life they find their relations, friends, companions, and acquaintances, also those who were known to them in life only by reputation, and converse with them. For in the other life distance effects nothing whatever; for they who are 1000 or even 1,000,000 miles away are near them, yea, everyone according to his life, so that they can be present next to them. Wherefore, since it is the case that relations, parents, children, friends, companions, and those in any way known find each other, it is exceedingly unhappy for those who have held any in hatred during the life of the body. These also meet, and exercise their hatreds, to the greatest trouble and unhappiness of those who have hated the others. . . . Therefore let men guard themselves against hatreds." (Spiritual Diary 2771.)

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QUESTION OF PRIESTLY ORDER 1921

QUESTION OF PRIESTLY ORDER       E. E. IUNGERICH       1921

     Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE: On page 665 of your November issue, the following statement is made: "To his own family, we think, the layman should perform priestly functions; that is to say, he should invoke the Divine blessing at meals, and lead in worship, irrespective of whether a priest be present or no."

     I in no way question the right or freedom of the owner of a home to treat his guests in whatever way he chooses. The question is whether such behavior as that recommended by Mr. Pryke is of the best propriety and makes for the best interests of both priest and layman.

     On the score of the doctrine of priestly order and subordination, I believe I can convince him that it does not. I freely grant that a layman in his own home-castle has priestly functions to perform. As to this priestly function, he is then placed under the laws of the priesthood, and therefore under those given, in Coronis 17, concerning the need of order and degrees of subordination in the priesthood. Now it is plain that the use of the lay-priest in the home is subordinate to that of those who are set apart as ministers, pastors, and bishops. Moreover, as the priesthood is a representative office, in which attention is called to the use and not to the individual, there is need to show by acts of conduct that one recognizes the order and subordination in that arm of the Lord for the preservation of the Divine among men. What might cause no comment in other cases would, in the case of a priest, produce an ultimate feeling that might lessen the veneration for the office he performs.

     A layman who feels keenly his sacred responsibility as a priest in his own home will be equally sensitive about the ethics of preserving the principles of priestly order and subordination which is bound up with the existence of the priesthood as an honored order. His relation to his superior in the priestly scale whom he has invited to his own home should not depart from the way a priest should act to the bishop visiting his society.

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It is quite obvious that the priest would not be acting with propriety if he claimed it as his prerogative to preside over his society, irrespective of whether the bishop were present or not.

     There is a law of courtesy involved, too. Napoleon was obviously discourteous in snatching the crown from the hands of the pope and crowning himself. Of course, he meant to show disrespect to an order of priests who deserved condemnation. But the case in the New Church is the reverse. Both laymen and priests wish that the Lord's arm for priestly uses be treated with the greatest honor and respect. A minister, as host, nearly always calls on a visiting minister to officiate in his domestic circle; and this is not just a matter of courtesy, but a wish that his people may have the benefits of ministrations other than his own. And both this courteous behavior, and the wish to grant his own people additional benefits, should not be restricted to ministerial homes, but have a wider scope.

     Of course, ministers in their relation to laymen may run to extremes, and one extreme sometimes begets another. As a type of ministerial extreme, pride and sensitiveness about his own peculiar calling have sometimes led a minister not to stimulate his parishioners to the return and co-operation they should give beyond attendance at services.

     Philosophizing on this subject, I might say there are three degrees of attitude in a man's use. First, he is in a listless stage, in which he is content with the mere enactment of the barest formalities of it. In such a state, he avoids responsibilities and courts any opportunity to pass them to others. Such a man might never perform priestly offices in his home, except when a priest was there, whose presence acted as a reminder. In that case, he'd ask the priest to perform them for him; otherwise, embarrassing questions might be asked of him later by his home circle. In the next stage of development, he becomes keenly responsible about his own use, to the extent of thinking it is more important than other uses, and even to the point of believing no one can do it so well as himself. But the third and final stage is when he comes into a certain perception of the relative values of many uses, and is solicitous to keep himself and his use in the background whenever he senses that an accentuation of either might act detrimentally to the chain and bond of the many uses he values.
     E. E. IUNGERICH.

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SEVENTEENTH CHICAGO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1921

SEVENTEENTH CHICAGO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY              1921

     GLENVIEW, OCTOBER 22ND TO 24TH, 1920.

     Our District Assemblies are becoming more and more a means of promoting the spiritual growth of the church. While they also provide an occasion for bringing the laity into closer intercourse, it is the spiritual things provided in such abundance by the priesthood that make these gatherings of lasting value, and cause a state of inward peace and assurance of the future glorious progress of the Lord's New Church.

     In the addresses and sermons of Bishop N. D. Pendleton, dealing with such sublime subjects as "The Holiness of the Lord," "The Body of the Lord," and "Spiritual Substance," the fact was emphasized that if the New Church is to be a true Church in this world, it must be established in the spiritual rational of the minds of its members.

     The series of the Assembly meetings commenced with a banquet on October 22nd, and concluded on Sunday, the 24th, with the administration of the Holy Supper, when the Bishop was assisted by the Rev. Gilbert H. Smith and the Rev. W. L. Gladish. The Rev. John Headsten attended most of the meetings and took part, in spite of the condition of his health.

     A number of meetings were held prior to the Assembly, mostly in Chicago. The Men's Meeting, held at the rooms of the Sharon Church on October 18th, was a most enjoyable and useful event. The Rev. W. L. Gladish presided, and at the conclusion of the supper, expressed words of welcome to the Bishop and the visitors from other societies. He said: "It is two years since the last Assembly, and many things have happened in the interval, Our boys have been to the war as soldiers for their country, and now they will become soldiers in the cause of the New Church, which is a militant Church; and I believe our Bishop will lead us on the road to victory.

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The warfare of the Church is a peculiar thing, in which the purest zeal may come down into our lower emotions and there become an impure zeal, unless charity prevails."

     Bishop N. D. Pendleton: " I wish to express my pleasure at being with you once more. It is a great pleasure to me to look upon your faces tonight, and to run back in my mind over the years that have passed since the beginning of the Academy in Chicago. Several who are here tonight were present at that beginning, and happily are still with us. They have witnessed a remarkable development. Our movement has passed through various stages; it is still going forward, and there is encouragement for the future. Since our meeting two years ago, I have been over quite a part of the world, and nothing touched my heart more deeply than when, on my arrival in Durban, I received at the hotel a communication from a body of Newchurchmen, of whom I had heard, but none of whom I had seen, applying for admission into the General Church,-a request that was gladly granted. I was never before so convinced as to the unity which exists all over the world in the hearts of those who have come intelligently into the Academy movement. Those men at Durban firmly hold the Academy doctrines. They sing our songs as we do here tonight, and I am sure that your hearts also have gone out to them. I was impressed with the universality of the movement, and with the fact that the General Church must of necessity be a world-wide Church, composed of all souls who are capable of entering interiorly into the light of the Revelation now given us, to perceive its essential quality, and to realize that the Lord in His Second Coming is in the Books He has given us.

     "The principles laid down in the beginning of the Academy were true, and necessary for the redemption of the New Church. And it is my firm belief that those principles are as true now as they were then,-that they are needed now as much as then, and will be so in the great future to come. The greatest thing we as a Church can take to heart is to renew our determination to persevere in doing everything we can to forward those principles, in order that the New Church may be formed on its own firm basis with man.

     "When in England, I perceived clearly that it would be of greatest advantage to the Church to hold firmly to the principles of the Academy in the way I have mentioned.

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We should nourish all those characteristic forms and states which have been given to us from the beginning-and this, in order that our body may ever more be individualized, and stand out ever more clearly on its present basis, and so carry forward into the future. A man in business presents the distinctive merits of his stock. The same principle holds true with regard to a Church. The more distinct and individual the Church is seen to be, and the more it is differentiated from other Churches, the more the reason for its existence may be made manifest to all inquirers.

     "The Church of the New Jerusalem, in its heart, is not like any other. Externals we may, to some extent, derive from the Churches around us; but these must be made over and inspired by our own principles, so that we may gradually put on a more characteristic external. As we do this, the life of the Church will become more and more unique. Safety depends upon the idea of distinctiveness, In the world are many skeletons of New Church societies. Lack of distinctiveness is at the bottom of their condition. It is with us as it was with the Jews of old, who were continually borne away by their gentile neighbors. Let us resist this tendency, and obey the law as it is given to us. We are not to covenant with the nations, or try to persuade them that our Church is not different from theirs. It is not a question as to whether a particular Newchurchman is a good man; but our concern is that the standard of the New Church be held firm and true, and that this policy of distinctiveness be carried forward in all respects-in our education, our social life, and especially in our marriages.

     "The Church depends more than anything else upon New Church marriage. It has already been remarkably successful in holding its own with us. Above all things, we must educate our children to marry amongst our own people, in order that what is spiritual may be joined to what is spiritual, and this to provide for that which will become more and more spiritual as time goes on. Young men, look to the Church for your wives; and then, whatever trial, or struggle, or temptation you may have in time to come, you will have one by your side who will always lend a helping hand, and keep you firm and true to the Church.

     "Now it is not our policy to lay down an external rule, or to say you must not do this or that thing. You are free to do whatever you please.

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But our duty is to tell the truth that the Church is not likely to be built up by mixed marriages. The too frequent result of such unions is that the children of the second generation become cold, and the children of the third generation vanish from the Church.

     "A wonderful program is laid down for us. The future is in our hands, if only we will do this thing, and be true to the principles of the Academy formulated by those great men in the early days of our movement. The membership of the General Church grows at the rate of about one hundred a year. It seems a little, but what is the difference, if only it continues to grow? Our temptation is to yield, and to compromise with the world around us. There is now an increasing pressure upon us, which, if yielded to, will destroy our cause. Those who have been with us from the beginning will live and die in the faith; and I am convinced that they, by their labors and the stand they have taken, will raise up seed for which we need have no fear. I have seen congregations dispersed, but I cannot believe that the Academy will fail until something better is provided of the Lord. You have the future in your hands, if you will only stand true to the distinctive principles of your Church."

     This inspiring address by our Bishop cheered and strengthened the hearts of all the men present, and resulted in the discussion which we summarize as follows:

     The Rev. John Headsten pointed out that the necessity for distinctiveness was taught in many parts of the Letter of the Word, especially in the laws given to that peculiarly distinctive people, the Israelites.

     Mr. Harold P. McQueen said he had never before heard the subject of distinctiveness so clearly described in words, the meaning of which could not possibly be misunderstood. The Bishop had shown that we had nothing in common with other religious bodies.

     Mr. Hobart Smith (of Bryn Athyn) spoke of the many difficulties in carrying out the teaching concerning marriages in the Church.

     Mr. A. G. Gyllenhaal said that a great deal depended upon the orientation of one's mind in religious matters. We meet many in the world who have their good external points, but when we discover that their orientation is wrong, we have to keep distinct. The distinctiveness is not of our choosing; in fact, we regret in many cases that they are not with us.

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     Mr. Felix Junge doubted whether a man could be called a New-churchman who acted contrary to the doctrine clearly laid down in the Writings.

     Mr. A. D. Henderson said he believed it was possible for us to hide our light under a bushel. He himself had come into the Church through marrying a fine New Church woman.

     Mr. G. A. McQueen was glad the Bishop had pointed out that the question of distinctiveness did not refer to the individual characters of the men of the Church, but to the distinctive organized body representing the Doctrines of the New Church. We know that there are bad as well as good men in all religions.

     The Bishop: "My remarks were addressed to the point of the distinctiveness of the Church. Not that we should create hostility toward the people with whom we come in contact; but that we retain in our own body that distinctive quality which is created by the Writings of the Church, that we may have it among ourselves, and thus be able to give it to those who may come to us. In other words, we must create a spiritual home. It must have characteristic qualities of life and doctrine. We must not lose these essentials of the thing in the kind of broadness that brings about a mingling which causes us to lose our standards. By their fruits ye shall know them. There have prevailed in the Church for a good many years two policies,-one looking primarily to the interior life of the Church while we are in the wilderness, the other looking to drawing in members from without. The method adopted by the Academy I believe to be the true one, because it holds its own; while the other is a mistaken one, because it is losing its own. Viewed interiorly, we are the most catholic body. We believe the Lord saves men all over the world, while other Christians believe there is no salvation unless they believe in the name of the Lord. We have no such idea, because we know that men of all religions are saved. But that is the word's work with them. Our great work is that, small as we are, we must hold together. Our first thought is to go outside; but that would be foolish today, because the world is not prepared for spiritual truths. We have a certain mission. We could not be saved by the things which save others, but only by the truths given us. To realize the fundamental fact that the New Church is to be the Crown of all the Churches, we must sacrifice everything in order to hold those whom the Lord has given us.

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I want to congratulate Mr. Henderson, inasmuch as he has obeyed the precept and married in the Church."

     Mr. Ben. McQueen told of the kindness of a Catholic priest in France who provided water for the thirsty soldiers, and concluded that all we have to do is to be true to our own religious principles. Then there will be no fear of our distinctiveness antagonizing anybody.

     Dr. King said that while we were to be distinctive, we are not to be offensively so.

     The Rev. Gilbert H. Smith said that many of our missionary efforts may go astray because we have not found the right method of meeting people. There should not be the slightest doubt in our minds about the vital things of the Church. The fact is that the absolute distinctiveness of the Church is the only means of saving the human race.

     Dr. Farrington: "We all agree that distinctiveness is good doctrine, as well as good policy. It is good when applied to anything, whether to the Church as a body, to civil bodies, or to the simple matter of business. In fact, it is a law of the universe, in this world and the next. We know that in heaven the law of order which brings distinctions is so pronounced that an angel of one society finds himself quite out of place in another society. He may bring disturbance there; but it is more likely it will disturb him, and would be still more in evidence with a devil who might enter heaven. In this world, however, we are where spheres mix, though even here we feel out of place at times. Distinctiveness pervades nature on all its planes, as is well known. When we understand this fundamental truth, we shall see that by being distinctive we are broader and more charitable towards others than anyone else."

     Mr. A. E. Nelson remarked that what we have to learn in our generation is to avoid the mistakes of the past and profit by them. We are not in a position to do general evangelization as many of the early men were. We find that the people of the present day are not interested in the things of religion. But the work laid before us is something we can do,-that is, hold our own. That is the great thing for us to do now, and perhaps increase a little. The danger is in trying to increase much, only to lose what we have.

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We have a good deal to do, both collectively and individually, for our small body. If we fail in that, we are unfaithful to our trust.

     Mr. Harvey Brewer asked why it is that children of some prominent New Church people marry out of the Church, and know practically nothing of what the Church stands for? He believed it was because they had been taught to believe "in Mr. Swedenborg and his wonderful books, instead of the Writings as a Divine Revelation."

     Mr. W. H. Junge believed in maintaining a state of good humor. At present we must learn to hold together.

     The Rev. W. L. Gladish closed the discussion by referring to the important truth that there could only be a spiritual marriage between two Persons who looked to the one God, the Lord Jesus Christ. G. A. MCQUEEN.
PROGRAM OF MID-YEAR MEETINGS 1921

PROGRAM OF MID-YEAR MEETINGS              1921

To BE HELD AT BRYN ATHYN, PA., FEBRUARY 2ND TO 6TH, 1921.

Wednesday 2nd-Consistory. 10:30 a. m. and 3 p. m.
Thursday 3rd-Council of the Clergy. 10:00 a. m. and 3 p. m.
-Philadelphia District Assembly. 8:00 p. m.
Friday 4th-Council of the Clergy. 10:00 a. m. and 3 p. m.
-Philadelphia District Assembly. 8:00 p. m.
Saturday 5th-Joint Council. 10:00 a. m. and 3 p. m.
-Philadelphia District Assembly. 8:00 p. m.
Sunday 6th-General Church Anniversary, 1897-1921
-Special Service and The Holy Supper. 11:00 a. m.
-Banquet. 6:45 p.m.

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Church News 1921

Church News       Various       1921

     REPORT OF REV. J. E. BOWERS.-My fall trip in the missionary field began on September 15th. The first visit was with Mr. R. G. Brown and family, at Streetsville, Ontario. Mr. Brown's father Samuel Brown, was one of the earliest receivers of the new doctrines in Canada, and he was very firm in the faith.

     After two days with Mr. S. Bauman and family, near Milverton, services were held at the farm home of Mr. F. Doering and family, including the Holy Supper.

     A visit of two days was made in the city of London, Ont., with friends who have for many years been interested in the Doctrines, and have always given me a welcome. They belong to the little circle of the Convention.

     The next place was Mull, Kent Co., Ont., 63 miles east of Detroit, Mich. Since my visit there a year and a month before,-when two infants were baptized,-three more infants were born in three families. These latter were also baptized, on Sunday, Sept. 26th, 1920. This makes the number of baptisms, in the Woofenden family to the fourth generation, forty-eight. Mr. and Mrs. F. E. Woofenden are members of the General Church of the New Jerusalem.

     At Kalamazoo, Mich., Mr. B. C. Henyan has been a reader of the Writings for many years. But it was with regret that I failed to meet and have a visit with him this time. In that city, also, Judge W. W. Peck lived for fifty-four years. He passed into the other life in March, 1910. He could not believe the old falsities of religion, and was a sceptic. But the T. C. R. was presented to him. It convinced him. Then he ordered a set of the Writings, the reading of which was a delight to him for 30 years.

     At Bourbon, Ind., are three families I have visited once or twice each year for more than a quarter of a century,-the Tyrrells and Mr. and Mrs. John D. Fogle. The latter are members of the General Church. Some of their ancestors were promoters of the New Church nearly a hundred years ago, in the days of that zealous preacher-missionary, the Rev. George Field. On Sept. 30th, 1920, the infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence F. Tyrrell was baptized.

     Mr. and Mrs. R. M. Cole, the family of the General Church now residing at Sandusky, O., had given me an invitation to be with them over Sunday, Oct. 3d. But it was the one disappointment of my trip that circumstances prevented my having that pleasure. They were duly informed of the cause, which was not being able to get there on time, and my appointments after the time. I hope to be able to visit them some time in the future.

     During my stay with Mr. D. H. Burger and family at Gallon, O., a neighbor, an elderly gentleman not satisfied with the prevailing notions as to religion, was present. In his remarks he manifested a real interest in my talk of an hour on the essentials of the New Church, confirmed from the Word in the sense of the letter, which was, he said, new to him.

     In Columbus, O., at the home of Mr. W. H. Whey and family, a similar thing happened to that mentioned above. A friend of theirs, who is a member of the Presbyterian Church, spent the evening with us. The subject of religion being introduced, we had an interesting and enjoyable conversation on the general doctrines of the New Church. In our talk it became evident that this friend had read some things the Wileys had given him.

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     Brief visits were made with Judge L. G. Dill at Waverly, and with Mr. S. A. Powell at Givens, Pike Co., O., and their families. The forefathers of both these members of our body were among the earliest New Church people in Ohio. And it is to me, as it may be to others, an interesting fact that the Rev. J. P. Stuart, one of the organizers of the Academy, visited them as a missionary about eighty years ago.

     At Athens, O., I called on Mrs. A. M. Lewis at her home in the "Hotel Athens." She has been a believer in the Doctrines since the early years of her womanhood; and appreciates the spiritual help they are to all who can receive and live according to them.

     At Bellaire, O., we held services on Sunday, Oct. 17th, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Yost and Mrs. O. C. Pollock. As usual, at our meetings there, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered. On the Saturday previous to this meeting, I called at four of the homes of members and friends of our circle who live in the city of Wheeling, W. Va. Here lived, for many years, Mortimer Pollock and his brother, Julius Pollock, whose remembrance I cherish as zealous New Churchmen.

     At Leetonia, O., Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Harold made me welcome. And they kindly went with me in their car to call on Miss Lydia Rhodes, at Greenford, on the day after my arrival.

     Near Columbiana, Mr. L. Wunderlin and family; Mr. and Mrs. D. Detrow; and Mrs. J. Renkenberger and family, were all glad to see and entertain me, as they have been in the course of many years. (My first missionary visit to the New Church people in this part of Ohio, was in June, 1877).

     At Youngstown, O., we had services in the home of Mr. S. Renkenberger, on Sunday, Oct. 24th. The meeting was a family gathering of twenty-one persons, three of whom were miners. After the sermon the Holy Supper was administered, all the adults present taking part in this most solemn act of worship.

     At Erie, Pa., on Sunday, Oct. 31st, our meeting, as nearly always for many years, was at the home of Mrs. Edward Cranch and family. The attendance was twenty-two persons. As Doctor Cranch had been with us so regularly at worship for nearly half a century, his absence on this occasion was deeply impressive to me. But from a life of signal usefulness, in the Church and in his profession, he was prepared to enter into more interior and heavenly uses in the spiritual world.

     At Hamilton, Canada, the visits with Mr. James Lennie, our member of the General Church in that city, and with the Rev. J. J. Morton, were enjoyable as ever. On the evening of Nov. 3d, an infant was baptized, notice of which will appear in NEW CHURCH LIFE.

     At Kitchener, which as Berlin was my home town, several days were passed visiting relations and friends. And on Sunday, Nov. 7th, I had the pleasure to hear the Rev. L. W. T. David, the new Pastor of Carmel Church, lead in Divine worship and preach an instructive sermon.

     BATH, ENGLAND.-For several months, a small circle of members of the General Church has met for worship at the house of the Rev. A. Bjorck. The circle consists of Mr. and Mrs. Bjorck and the family of Mr. and Mrs. S. R. Lewin. The former came to reside in Bath about eighteen months ago and the latter were, and are still, members of the Burton Road Society in London; having migrated to the "Queen City of the West" on their marriage in 1903.

     Although attending the Henry Street Church of the General Conference, Mr. and Mrs. Lewin have always felt very much in the wilderness, as far as their doctrinal position was concerned, and while trying to perform some uses, particularly among the young members of the Society, realized that they were not working in the sphere of freedom which their attitude towards the Divinely given Revelation to the New Church demanded.

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     The arrival of the Rev. A. Bjorck, and his subsequent reception into the Priesthood of the General Church, was indeed an event which inspired hope and gave promise of the possibility of starting worship under more orderly conditions and a full recognition of the Writings as the Word
of the Lord to the New Church. These hopes have been realized by Mr. Bjorck's setting apart a room in his house for Divine Worship and acting as Pastor.

     On Sunday, October 17th, a special Dedication Service was held, at which the Rev. R. J. Tilson officiated, assisted by the Rev. Mr. Bjorck. The Bath circle was joined by friends from Bristol and London. Mr. Tilson was very impressive in his dedicatory address and prayers, and the sphere was one that made all feel that, though the circle was small numerically it was nevertheless a wheel in the machine that is working on distinctive and doctrinally sound lines for the extension of the Church as an organization amongst men. The Holy Supper was administered during the Service and it may be stated that this must have been the first occasion for many years on which this Holy Sacrament has been celebrated in an orderly form in the New Church in Bath.

     A Doctrinal Class is held at Mr. Bjorck's house every Wednesday evening at which Heaven and Hell is studied, and an evening is also set apart each week for the practice of music for use in the Services on Sunday.

     The Circle has been hoping to receive a visit from the Rev. Alfred Acton before he returns to America, but at the present moment it is rather uncertain as to whether that hope will be fulfilled.
     S. R. L.

     COLCHESTER, ENGLAND.-Our Society has entered upon a new state of increased activity under the pastoral charge of the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, and one in which we can more fully co-operate in the spiritual uses which the recognition of the General Church as an international Church demands. This new state serves to recall our history of nearly forty years past, which has been a progression from the external enthusiasm of the early days, resulting in our formation into a Society of the General Conference, to the internal enthusiasm based upon the Divine Authority of the Writings which prepared for the separation.

     A great advance was made during the ministry of the late Rev. E. C. Bostock, from 1890 to 1893; and further progress was made during the next four years under the Rev. T. F. Robinson. In 1897, the Society invited the Rev. W. H. Acton to become its Pastor, and it was organized by him as an independent Society. During this period we were self-supporting, and a New Church day school for our children performed a most important use. Troubles, arising, this period was succeeded, in 1901, by the ministry of our late beloved Pastor, the Rev. Andrew Czerny, which provided a much-needed state of rest after a conflict. It has been said that during his ministry of nearly twenty years little progress was made. Viewed from the external, this is probably true; but from the internal standpoint, our experience testifies to the sterling quality of the work during this period, both for ourselves and for our children, of the great use of our assembles, and generally as a foundation and preparation fro the new state now opening to us.

     For upwards of a year, the Society has been under the pastoral guidance of the Bishop of the General Church, and the uses have been carried on temporarily with the consent and unity of all. But with the appointment of the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal as Pastor of the London and Colchester Societies, there has opened to us an entirely new field, with great possibilities.

     Our Pastor's first visit was on September 5th, when we officiated in worship to a congregation of 41, and administered the Holy Supper to 28 communicants. In the evening, a meeting was held at which he placed before us proposals for carrying on the work in Colchester, the result being that services are now held every Sunday evening, a doctrinal class and singing practice on Monday evenings, and a special meeting for children on Monday afternoon.

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The advantage of these weekly meetings is greatly appreciated by us. Certain variations in the ritual of worship have also been made. A notice board for the order of worship has been used for the first time. It was also decided that we would advertise the service and subject of the sermon in the two local papers for the next twelve months.

     Our annual meeting was held on September 27th, on which occasion it was unanimously decided that every member contribute monthly to one general fund, instead of several, as in the past. From this general fund the Pastor will receive a regular stipend, and the balance will be apportioned to the various uses of the Society and the General Church. Our Pastor pointed out that, under this plan, the offertory would be reduced, but would be more truly a free-will offering. He also pointed out several disadvantages where the Pastor's entire support is through the offertory. An earnest appeal for increased financial support has been made by our Treasurer, Mr. Everett, and has been responded to in a very satisfactory manner. The officers are acting temporarily, pending full reorganization in January next.

     Our Pastor pointed out the essential uses, as follows:-1. The Worship of the Lord Jesus Christ; 2. The Uses of Charity. To accomplish these uses, there must be instruction of adults and children, and provision for social life. He said that we should be firm in internals, but yielding in externals. Annual meetings should be prefaced by a doctrinal subject. There must be enthusiasm, which would lighten the work of the Church. Our affection must develop and grow, and be manifest to all. The Church should be first, and not our ideas of what we should do for the Church. The work itself is essential, and not our ideas of the work We are not initiating anything new, but entering upon the labors of those who have gone before. The sacred flame is to be kept burning, and also burn more brightly for our glorious Church, the "bride, the wife of the Lamb."

     He also mentioned the fact that the four ministers of the General Church in England,-the Rev.'s Tilson, Ottley, Bjorck, and himself,-are meeting regularly for the sake of the building up and unity of the societies under their charge.

     On Sunday, October 31st, after an interval of more than twenty years, the Rev. R. J. Tilson visited the Colchester Society, and received a hearty welcome. He assisted in the worship on that date, and preached an eloquent sermon to a congregation of 53, which included 8 strangers as a result of the following advertisement inserted in the newspapers:-

     THE NEW CHURCH,

     PRIORY STREET, COLCHESTER

     (Opposite St. Botolph's Priory).

     Services 6.30 p.m. Sunday.

Text.-Mark xiii., 1, 2.
Subject: The Fall of Man, a Spiritual Fact.
Preacher: The Rev. R. J. TILSON, of London.

     THE REV. R. J. TILSON, of London, preaches tomorrow night in the New Church Hall of Worship in Priory Street. His subject is, "The Fall of Man, a Spiritual Fact," based on the Text, Mark xiii., 1, 2, and is a reply to Canon Barnes' pronouncement on the subject. Mr. Tilson is an eloquent preacher and one well qualified to answer Canon Barnes. The New Church believes in the infallibility of the Old and New Testaments, not as books of science, but as the Word of God. It does not believe in the generally accepted doctrine of evolution. Nor does it believe in the so-called Christian doctrines of the fall of man and of the vicarious atonement. Mr. Tilson will make clear its belief on these and related subjects.

     On the following evening, the first social of the season was held, our Pastor presiding.

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After toasts to "The Church," "The Priesthood," and "The Church in England," had been responded to, the final toast, "The Church in America," was responded to by Mr. Tilson. As we had anticipated, this proved to be the most attractive item on the list, and gave us a great treat. Although his account was considerably condensed in his talk of well over an hour, the numerous incidents of his journey to America were depicted from start to finish in his genial and descriptive style. It was good to hear, too, of old friends, first hand, so to speak,-friends at Bryn Athyn, Philadelphia, Glenview, and Toronto. His description of Bryn Athyn, and especially of the Cathedral and its ritual, was certainly very fine, and made us realize more fully the power of ultimates in the worship of the Lord. We shall look forward to Mr. Tilson's next visit with much pleasure. F. R. COOPER.

     TORONTO, CANADA.-The most important event of the month has been the visit of Miss Alice Grant to our Society. To many of our members she was a stranger when she arrived, but this can no longer be said, and all have greatly appreciated here energetic and interesting work during her stay with us. Miss Alice is the embodiment of the spirit of the Academy, and is a most able exponent of the principles laid down by Bishop Benade so many years ago, which have borne such splendid fruit in the past forty years. She seemed to bear that spirit of consecration to the uses of the New Church education. It seemed to be her continual effort to bring home to those she met the meaning of the words, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."

     Miss Grant conducted a weekly class for our Sunday School teachers, treating of Bishop Benade's "Principles of Education." A number of visitors attended these classes, which were very useful to all concerned. She also read a number of papers to the local Theta Alpha chapter, and we hear from authoritative sources that lively discussions were aroused. As guest of honor at a Ladies' Meeting, held at the home of Mrs. Henry Pecker, Miss Alice presented a paper on the subject of "Home Influences, as opposed to Institutional Training," which proved a pleasant surprise, as the ladies had expected to hear institutional life emphasized, but heard instead of the many uses of the home.

     On Friday evening, November 5th, a general reception was tendered by the Society to Miss Grant, Dr. and Mrs. Pecker acting as host and hostess, and the whole occasion proving very enjoyable. And on the following Friday evening, a general meeting of the Society listened to her paper on " The Need of New Church Education," which was followed by a lively discussion, Miss Alice having volunteered to answer all questions to the best of her ability. On the following Tuesday, she left us for Kitchener, where she expects to stay for nearly a month.

     A Men's Club has recently been formed, having for its purpose the upholding of the uses of the Society and the creating and fostering of a spirit of comradeship among the men. The officers are: Mr. Rudolph Potts, President; Mr. Frank Longstaff, Vice-President; Mr. Fred. Bellinger, Secretary; and Mr. Cyril Bellinger, Treasurer. Meetings are to be held once a month.

     On Sunday, November 28th, the Pastor exchanged pulpits with the Rev. L. W. T. David, of Kitchener. Mr. David's sermon on "The Letter of the Word" was much appreciated by our congregation. In the evening, a gathering of about thirty met Mr. David at the home of Mr. Lorene Schierholtz, and a very enjoyable time was spent.

     Of late, the men and women of the Society have been very active about our church building, making alterations. On one occasion, about ten of the men worked at moving the partition between Mr. Carswell's book room and the adjoining ladies' room, thus enlarging the book room by about 45 square feet, and making it available for the Pastor as a study.

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The ladies have hung some pictures, and provided a carpet, which makes the room very attractive. And besides this, the ladies have housecleaned the whole building, while the men have done a lot of straightening up. The love for the Church manifested in these labors is a most encouraging thing.
      K. R. A.

     JOURNEY OF THE REV. ALFRED ACTON.-In answer to many inquiries as to the date of Mr. Acton's return to America, we are able to state that he is now expected home by January 1st. At the present writing (December 1st) he is in Sweden, having gone there in the interests of the Swedenborg manuscripts and phototyping, which was the original purpose of his trip to Europe. It seems that his travels have been so strenuous that he has taken little time to write letters; but from the fragments of information that have reached us we learn that, at the close of the British Assembly in August, he departed for the Continent, where he spent much time in quest of rare old books for the Academy Library. He visited the cities of Paris, Lausanne, Zurich, Prague, Vienna, Trieste, Pome and other Italian cities, calling upon members of the General Church and other New Church people, being invited on several occasions to hold services and address meetings. Before proceeding to Sweden, he spent some days in Germany, finding many valuable books in Leipzig and Dresden, and also visiting Stuttgart, Frankfort, and Berlin. We fear that, owing to his characteristic activity, Mr. Acton has had little rest on this journey. We trust, however, that he will return much refreshed by the change, and then we shall hope to have a fuller account of his travels, which will be of great interest.-W. B. C.

     LONDON, PECKHAM RYE.-Since our last communication to these columns, several interesting items are worthy of record.

     In the first place, we now have the privilege of regular weekly services, our Pastor, the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, officiating each Sunday morning. A bright and happy sphere characterizes these meetings of public worship, and we are again confirmed in recognizing the beauty of the various offices in the Liturgy which so richly provide for the necessary uses of Humiliation, Instruction, and Thanks giving.

     The Doctrinal Class meets each Wednesday evening. As a preliminary to the study of the treatise on The Intercourse between the Soul and the Body, our Pastor has been taking the bibliography of that work, the consideration of the subjects of influx and degrees, and the manifestations of the Divine prior to the First Coming of the Lord. There is a good attendance, and the subjects dwelt upon often give rise to an interesting exchange of ideas. Towards the end of October, the Society held a social to welcome Mr. Gyllenhaal. On this occasion we had the pleasure of having with us friends connected with the Colchester, Kensington, and Burton Road Societies. After a short musical program, a number of toasts were honored. The one to " The New Church " was proposed by Mr. Howard and comprehensively responded to by Mr. Gyllenhaal. "The Health and Prosperity of our Pastor, and Mrs. Gyllenhaal and Family" was given with musical honors, while Mr. Waters, on behalf of the Society, affirmed the satisfaction of the members in having a leader once again. Mr. Elphick proposed toast to "The Visitors," which was heartily responded to by Mr. A. E. Friend, who expressed the pleasure felt by the visitors in joining in the Society's welcome to its new Pastor.

     In addition to the main theme of these subjects, many useful reflections were voiced upon the current topic of the Church at large, namely, Church Government, and the Reciprocal Uses of the Clergy and Laity.

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Following this, Mr. Ed. Waters proposed a toast which conveyed the appreciation of the "Sons" to the "Fathers" of the Society who, by their devotion and support in the past had made possible the existence of a society of the General Church in London during so many years. There had been many difficulties and vicissitudes, but for over twenty years the Society had endeavored to be loyal to the principles of the Academy and the General Church. It was therefore felt to be fitting at this time, when entrance is made upon a new chapter, to give expression to such gratitude. To this Mr. Ball responded, appreciating the remarks given, and our Pastor continued the theme, pointing out how each generation enters into the labors of the one preceding. However, we should not dwell too much upon the past, but look to the present, and prepare for the future. In dwelling upon this train of thought, he proposed the "Health and Success of Mr. Gilbert Waters," who was leaving for Bryn Athyn to continue his education at the Academy Schools. This toast to our latest student was thereupon honored, and the evening was brought to a close with music and dancing.

     During the last few months, as the result of the initiative of our Pastor, the Society is being reconstituted. New rules for the performance of its uses are being considered, as also the advisability of altering the name of the Society. History affirms that, on November 18, 1003, under the Pastorship of the late Rev. Andrew Czerny, the wish of the General Church members at that time resulted in the formation of a recognized society of that body. No special name was given, but as we were the only circle of the General Church in London, common usage somehow incorporated the name of metropolis. But, to keep pace with changes, the retention of the phrase, "The London Society," is hardly necessary. Although the present district is Peckham Rye, Camberwell Grove and Holland Road (Brixton) have also been localities of our church center. Hence it has been suggested that it would be well to adopt a name which need not be altered when circumstances necessitate a change of neighborhood. This and many other problems are consequently being considered.

     Our review would not be complete without reference to the notable meeting held at the Burton Road Church on October 29th. The Revs. Albert Bjorck, R. J. Tilson, and G. C. Ottley, ministers of this country who have recently joined the General Church, held a reception on that date to welcome the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal. Members of the Colchester, Kensington, and Peckham Rye Societies were also present on this occasion. It proved a very enjoyable evening. Addresses were made by the ministers, and there was a decided looking to a brighter future, when the various New Church groups would be on visiting terms, each Society carrying on its own uses, but all for the common good of the New Church. More could be written about this event, but these columns will no doubt be furnished with a full account from another source.
     F. W. E.

     GLENVIEW, ILL.-Since the District Assembly Meetings in October, the work of the Immanuel Church has proceeded without interruption. Our Pastor has concluded another series of sermons, the subject this time being "The Blessings of Moses upon the Sons of Israel." A special service was held on the morning of Thanksgiving Day, November 29th.

     Dr. King has continued his weekly lectures on the Rational Psychology, and the "Life" Coffee Meetings have met with sustained interest, the readings for several weeks having been from the book on The Golden Age, by the late Rev. C. Th. Odhner.

     A congregational singing meeting has been held on several Monday evenings, at which our people have had a fine opportunity to become better acquainted with the beautiful music of the Psalmody. The practice is conducted by one of our neighbors, Professor Rydstrom, who, although not a member of our Church, is able to interpret the music of the Psalms in a manner which, we feel sure, would delight the heart of Mr. C. J. Whittington, the composer of the music.

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     Our School is in full swing, and good work is being done. In the list of teachers given in our last report, the name of Miss Freda Junge, of Glenview, should have been included.
     G. A. MCQUEEN.

     BRYN ATHYN.-A special service was held in the Cathedral on Thanksgiving Day, with an inspiring sermon by the Bishop and appropriate music for choir and congregation. Preparations are under way for the Christmas celebration which will include services on three days and an old-fashioned festival gathering. It promises to be a very complete celebration this year.

     The fall "Fayre" came on December 3rd, "1820," When the auditorium, in the hands of the Civic and Social Club, took on the trappings and atmosphere of the 18th century. Many wore costumes of the period, both lay and clerical, the latter represented by a friar and a vicar. The two got along peaceably enough, but were "arrested" by the constable and heavily fined, no one seemed to know why. There was a gay and lively time during the selling at the counters and the auction sale of "white elephants" which enabled the good people of Bryn Athyn to get rid of no end of household superfluities. One of our most staid citizens was so carried away by the sphere of the occasion that he paid ten dollars for an ancient volume on the subject of "Flirting." Then some dramatics and dancing. The proceeds were in the neighborhood of $400.00, half of which went to the local Nurse Association, the other half to the Elementary School.

     The Rev. and Mrs. Hugo L. Odhner are spending a few days in Bryn Athyn prior to sailing for England on December 14th, en route for their future home in Durban.

     NEW-CHURCH MISSIONS IN THE ORIENT.-From the New Church Messenger we learn many interesting facts concerning the beginning and progress of the New Church in Japan and the Philippines, where the General Convention has ministerial representatives. From the various accounts we glean the following items of special interest:

     "The New-Church Sunday School in Korea now has 29 children, all Japanese. The Japanese grammar school in the locality has go children, about one-third of them, therefore, being of the New-Church Sunday School. The teacher is a member of the New Church in Tokio, and secures her lesson materials from her home church."

     "The Japanese New-Church magazine, The New Life, issued under the direction of the Rev. I. L. Watanabe in Tokio, is now to be printed by prison inmates, they being equipped with excellent printing facilities. The cost of issue will be greatly reduced thereby." (Messenger, Nov. 3rd.)

     "The first copies have been received of The Herald of the New Church, a periodical published in Manila, Philippine Islands. It is called on the first page the 'Organ of the Church of the New Jerusalem in the Philippines,' and carries the name of the Rev. G. G. Pulsford as Editor. Its page size is about that of the Messenger, and it has three columns to the page, printed with the same subject matter in three languages, respectively, English, Spanish and Tagalog. There are four pages in the first issue, and monthly publication is anticipated. The first article is an address to the Filipinos concerning the identity of the New Jerusalem. Then follow treatments of 'The idea of God, the central point of all life,' and 'What the New Church stands for, the last being a concise statement of fundamental New-Church doctrines. The heading of the paper has a cut of the open Bible, with the words just below, 'The Lord God, Jesus Christ, Reigneth.'" (Messenger, Nov. 17th.)

     "Recently the New-Church Society in Georgetown, British Guiana, took up a special offering for the work of the New Church in the Philippines, the sum of $10.

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Consider the contrasts in race and nationality combined in this oneness of interest in the New Jerusalem, the Holy City!" (Messenger, Nov. 17.)

     The Rev. George Gordon Pulsford writes a number of extended accounts to the Messenger from Manila. From these we gather the following:

     "The Rev. Ildefonso Agulo, Pastor of the Manila Society, is preparing a complete history of the Society for transmission to the Church in the United States. He will have it ready by Christmas at the latest. It will include an account of how the Society was formed and by whom, with all that has happened to it from the beginning. . . . " (Messenger, Dec. 1.)

     On one occasion, Mr. Pulsford asked Mr. Agulo upon what conditions he permitted membership in the New Church, and his answer is verbally as follows:

     "Upon a confession of the faith in the Lord Jesus as the only God, in Person, the Incarnate Jehovah, Father, Creator, Redeemer and Savior, united in Jesus Christ, who only must be adored; upon confession that the Bible is absolutely inspired in every word, is the actual Word of God, and as such must have a spiritual meaning where dark and difficult to understand, and indeed everywhere; upon the confession that salvation can only be attained by patient persistence in well-doing, in the power of the Lord, and upon baptism into this belief, either by immersion or aspersion. I have insisted upon this last point because former baptism, if any, either into the Roman or Protestant Churches, was baptism into the confession of a plurality of Gods in the mind, and my effort is to destroy that idea.

     "After admission, then begins instruction in the specific doctrines of the Church, correspondences, the future world, degrees, etc., which I am afraid might puzzle and confuse some of my people and possibly might cause a weakening of interest in the grand doctrines unless they have been thoroughly grounded in them, and this in some cases may take years. After entering the Church, my care as a pastor has been to insist especially upon morning reading of the Word with prayer. I have found it hard to strengthen this habit. So I am frequently, at least three days in the week, out at 4 A.M. visiting my people and aiding them in this important work.

     "I have trained three of my men in the doctrines as carefully as I could, and am now training three more. According to the by-laws of our Society, we have to send them out regularly to preach the unipersonality of God, a spiritual plenarily inspired Bible, and the necessity of a good life to salvation. . . .

     "We have had many disappointments. I have to be continually watchful. Preachers from all other denominations continually visit my people in their homes, repeating the old watchwords of tripersonalism, salvation by faith, the absurdity of a spiritual sense in the Bible, and especially the wickedness of following a man like Swedenborg. This keeps me on guard all the time, especially among my new converts. I suppose, to these other preachers, I appear as a great deceiver of the people. I am sorry for it, but it does not bother me much. Our converts to the New Church, though at first they may be in considerable doubt, and are worried by these Protestant visits, have stuck to us very satisfactorily and are daily coming into clearer light."     

     "It is hard work, slow work, frequently disappointing work, but also it is a joy and a delight. And I know the Lord's New Church will grow." (Messenger, October 20.)

     Describing a Sunday School session, Mr. Pulsford writes:

     "Mr. Damian de la Cruz, a candidate for the New Church ministry, conducted the class of about eighteen men and women, aged from sixteen years upward. He began with the chief point of faith, 'We worship the One God, the Lord, and Savior, Jesus Christ.' He asked the class, 'How do you know there is but one God? What proof have you in the Bible of the fact! Give chapter, verse and exact language of your proof.' Every member of the class had the Bible in his hands, and had prepared whatever texts he could find.

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Mr. de la Cruz had a manuscript book with a most complete list of such texts, and when the questions had been put there was very little hesitation. Text followed text in rapid succession for nearly half an hour, first from one, then from another, men, women, boys and girls, all eager. At times there was a little laugh as two members tried to give the same text at the same time. Accompanying it all was the rapid comment of De la Cruz on each text given, with an occasional suggestion of some text not thought of by the members.

     "This finished, though not by any means were all available texts used up, the leader shot this question at the class (that is the only way I can express his manner),'Why do you say that the Lord Jesus is One God) What proof have you of the fact? How can you convince others of the truth?' And immediately the answers came back, Old and New Testaments, Gospels, Apocalypse and Epistles were all ransacked and the results given. The leader's comments were continuous, suggestions, explanations, and criticisms. None was permitted to remain silent. Any such was noticed, and at once De la Cruz' long forefinger was pointed straight at the culprit, accompanied by the words, 'At Kayo, Kapatid!' (And you, brother-or sister, as the case might be, for the word 'Kapatid' may be either masculine or feminine according to the necessities of the case.) Some answer had to come. These two sets of questions concluded the exercises for the day. Next Sunday, the subject will be, 'What proof is there that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all contained in the Lord Jesus, and that His Humanity is Divine?'

     "These are all Philipinos of the working class, know very little English, understand Spanish fairly well, but conduct all their proceedings in Tagalog. They are members of the Manila Society of the New Church, now numbering about 150, and growing." (Messenger, Nov. 24.)

     EUROPE.-In addition to the Messenger de La Nouvelle Eglise, a monthly publication, the new Federation of French-speaking Societies is to start, on January 1st, a quarterly review called Nunc Licet, with Mr. Henry de Geymuller as Editor. The review will have one hundred pages, and will treat more especially advanced subjects for people who already belong to the New Church, whereas the Messenger will be more of an organ for propaganda. (Messenger, Dec. 1.)

     The Rev. Erich L. G. Reissner, Pastor of the Buffalo Society, sails for Europe on December 11th as missionary pastor under the direction of the Convention Board of Missions, to be located at Vienna, Austria, and to make regular journeys to Berlin, where he was born, and where a strong society exists. Messenger, Dec. 1.)
PERTINACITY 1921

PERTINACITY              1921

     "I have spoken with spirits about pertinacity, that it is of the imagination, of the cupidity, and of the persuasion. Pertinacity may be compared to a leader; and it has been shown me that there ought not to be the least pertinacity in man if he is to be led by the Lord; but in proportion to the pertinacity, such is man's proprium, which is taken away in those who are led by the Lord, not by breaking it, but by bending it, with endless variety." (Spiritual Diary 2994)

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     SOME MORE EASILY LED BY THE LORD THAN OTHERS.

     "Although all can be led by the Lord withersoever He pleases, some can be led more easily than others. The reason is that the Lord leaves to everyone the liberty of thinking according to his inclination, which liberty the Lord does not break. They who are in faith, therefore, who believe that the Lord rules all things, and who do not suffer themselves to be impelled by cupidities and falsities, are more easily led; as also was said in the presence of spirits. "There was a dispute among the spirits concerning this proposition, and I heard and perceived some of their reasons and responses, which in my judgment were so subtle that men would wonder how a controversy could be carried on by such exquisitely framed arguments. But I observed that the minds of some were so obscured after the disagreement that they knew not what was true, as often happens in regard to truths which are long disputed about-they become obscure, so that the disputants are blind in the light of the very truth itself.

     "It is as easy for the Lord to lead one as another by omnipotence and miracles; but since it has pleased the Lord to lead according to order, it is easier to lead one who is in order than one who is not in order, seeing that the latter must first be brought back into the way of order, which takes time, that he may not be broken; not to mention other confirmations, which, if they were adduced, would come into discussion, and thus into obscurity and ambiguity. This the Lord has deigned to teach me by an abundant personal experience."(Spiritual Diary 1936, 1931; see 2223.)

     THE LORD HAS LED THE HUMAN RACE FROM THE CREATION OF THE FIRST MAN.

     "Since the angels and spirits in the Gorand Man correspond to the several members and parts of a man, a scruple arose as to how the first man, and those who were born first, could exist before this Gorand Man was formed. I received a reply in a spiritual idea, which persuades, and it was confirmed that the first man, and the first-born, were not led by any other than the Lord alone. For the Lord is all in all, nor is there any conatus from the single things in heaven and the spiritual world except from the Lord, both before and after man is born. Without Him nothing could be created, nor exist created. Wherefore, He alone sustains the human race as of old, but now by means of angels and spirits, as also immediately without angels and spirits. For the human race was His from the beginning, and therefore He has all care." (Spiritual Diary 2591.)

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SON OF MAN IN THE MIDST OF THE SEVEN LAMP STANDS 1921

SON OF MAN IN THE MIDST OF THE SEVEN LAMP STANDS       Rev. G. C. OTTLEY       1921




     Announcements.




NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLI          FEBRUARY, 1921          No. 2
     (Delivered at the Cathedral, Bryn Athyn, June 13, 1920.)

     "And I turned to see the voice which was speaking with me: and having turned, I saw seven golden lamp stands; and in the midst of the seven lamp stands One like unto the Son of Man clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girded at the paps with a golden girdle. And his head and hairs were white as white wool, like snow; and his eyes as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if glowing in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many waters." (Revelation 1:12-15.)

     The clue to what we are about to consider in this portion of the Word,-the last of its many divisions,-is given as follows in the Apocalypse Revealed.

     "That this Revelation is from the Lord alone, and that it is received by those who will be in the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, and who acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven and earth:"

     If we are members of this Church by virtue of our acknowledgment of the Lord in His Glorified Human, then it is clear the spiritual teaching is specially applicable to us.

     You will note the initial fact that it is John, the Apostle who leaned on the Lord's bosom at the Holy Supper, who is the instrument for giving the Revelation or final portion of the Word in its external form-the Letter.

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     What now is the reason of this? For while the Church in man is represented by Peter whose name is from Petros, a "stone," yet John is here spoken of, and not Peter. The reason is, that while Peter stands for the Church as the Divine Truth in its external, ultimate or literal form-the "rock" on which its superstructure is raised-John stands for that inner state of the mind which predisposes one to receive the truth represented by Peter.

     Truth always comes from without; its access to us is chiefly through hearing and sight. But while such is its approach, it will leave us unaffected, unimpressed, unless there is the state for which John stands-Good, specifically the "Good of Charity," or good in act. It is this interior activity of the mind which makes it possible for truth-revealed, or Divine Truth, to find an abode or lodgment in the mind.

     We may place such truth as we see and cherish before any number of people, outwardly attractive and highly educated, and as the world thinks, highly refined; and yet it may find no response in their minds. It is because they have, in the inner recesses of their minds, which heaven alone sees, no ground for such a reception. While this last Book of the Word treats of the whole Christian World as it stands at this day, it treats chiefly of those in that world who will be able to come into the New Church. These are represented by the "Seven Churches in Asia." By "seven" are meant all the varieties of minds who can enter into the City through its "gates," which are twelve in number,-three in the North, three in the East, three in the South, three in the West.

     You will note the significant fact that the "seven Churches are in Asia." Why so? Because the Church originally was in Asia. In that Continent the three dispensations, known as Adamic, Noahtic and Israelitish, existed. No Church has ever existed which has not been succeeded by another, which has continued to act as the link between heaven and earth. But while the seven Churches were "in Asia," you will notice that John is here said to have his back turned towards Asia, and his face towards Europe. He occupied, also, at the time he received this prophecy concerning the Christian Church, a peculiar position, geographically speaking. He was in the island called Patmos.

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     This island was practically midway between Asia and Europe, and was in the Mediterranean Sea; it was, also, a Greek island, or an island where the Greek language was spoken. The language of every kind of Word given to man is ever in keeping with his spiritual needs. Its form is adapted to his mental requirements. Hebrew had been the human vehicle for the first Revelation, and Greek was to be the vehicle for the further Revelation of the Word of the New Testament. There was an interior reason for this, and also for the further fact that the Greek about to be used was not the Greek of Plato or of Xenophon and other eminent men of the Pagan World,-a kind of Greek which was saturated with the findings of a merely earth-bound, perverted rational, as shown by the philosophical deductions of Pagan writers,-but a simpler form of the same language, and which was current among the common and uneducated people. Any scholar will tell you that the difference between the two forms, New Testament Greek and classical Greek, is the difference between noble, generous wine and a diluted or poor vinous beverage. Why so? Because of the Divine Truth which was thus to be brought within the scope and understanding of the simple-hearted among the Greeks and Gentiles generally. "And Gentiles shall come to Thy light." All others were incased in their own "fat"-steeped in self-love and the love of their own philosophical speculations, which had closed their minds to a reception of the interior truth about to be revealed in the New Testament, the Word of the First Advent.

     John was in the Island of Patmos for that circumstance, among other reasons. While he was there, and representing those who are in the "Good of Charity," he "turned to see the voice which was speaking to him." We cannot "see" a voice; we can only hear it, naturally speaking. The Letter here ignores the natural fact, because there is an interior truth at stake which cannot be expressed otherwise.

     "Voice" in the internal sense means understanding. It stands for the truth which is proclaimed by the voice. It is truth which we "see," but this truth will never be seen unless there is an inversion of the state and an influx from heaven into the will prompting the affections which are to lead the understanding to "see" what is outwardly presented. This comes from "'behind" because into the region of the affections where they have their seat. "And I turned to see the voice which spake with me."

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     And what did John see? And what do we, like him, "see" also? "Seven golden candlesticks, or lamp stands," and further, "in the midst of the seven lamps stands One like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle."

     This is what we first see. What now are these "seven golden lamp stands"? They are the "Seven Churches" or all out of the Christian World, who are? or ever can be, of the Church of the Lord. In other words, all those who can "see" spiritual truth, from whatever quarter of the mental hemisphere they may come, North, East, South and West. The human mind is a unit characterized by infinite variety. You and I have much in common by creation; but when looked at closely, there is, underlying certain common characteristics, a variety of disposition, of character, which constitutes every one of us what we term a distinct individuality. By no possible means could one of us be taken to be the same as another.

     The "seven lamp stands" which John saw signify all who are of the Church of the Lord and, in a particular sense, the "spiritual heaven, which is the second heaven," (A. E. 62), because the subject here is the Lord as the Son of Man,-the Divine Human, from which is the Divine Truth given in the Writings of the New Church. This Divine Truth of the internal or spiritual sense is the special mark or characteristic of the New Church and the New Heaven. For we read that '[in the spiritual heaven lamps stands appear in much magnificence, by which that heaven is represented."

     But there is another significant fact in this description. The Son of Man stood, it is stated, in the "midst" of these seven lamp stands which were placed in circular form. What is the "inmost" Doctrine of the Church, and without an acknowledgment of which, in heart and mind, there is, in reality, no Church at all, but a chimera, an imaginary institution-a spiritual castle in the air?

     The inmost of the Church is, that God is an Infinite Man,-the embodiment of all good and truth, in all their degrees from primes to ultimates. This unqualified acknowledgment is summed up, as it were, in the expression-new, as is the Revelation which conveys the Doctrine-Divinum Humanum-Divine Human. Abstract as it may sound at first, it is the most comprehensive, far-reaching expression; for it is identical with Divine Truth.

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All truth is, properly speaking, human, and there is no truth apart from the human; and Divine Truth is the Divine Human of the Glorified Deity.

     But this Divine Human or Divine Truth is "clothed with a garment," and "clothed down to the foot." We can receive nothing, it matters not on what plane it may be, until it is "clothed with a garment." All the degrees of the Word-apart from the purely Infinite, which is inaccessible to the finite mind-are "clothings" of the Divine. Therein consists their infinite power. For man can thus be brought into personal contact with the Divine, which is above his finite consciousness on the purely Divine plane.

     The Lord, however, had two kinds of "garments" while on earth, and these, by His glorification, He made receptacles of the Divine within, which alone restored to them the power which, by perversion, they had completely lost. One was an outer "garment," and the other a "tunic" or inner "garment." The former, the outer "garment," represents the external or natural sense of the Word. This external sense, at His First Advent, the Church then among the Jews "parted" among them, as Christians have done a second time, but on a far more serious plane. By the "soldiers" who parted his "garments" were represented the modern "critics,"-the fighters in the Old Church, who have torn in different ways the outer "garment," affirming that one part is mere myth, another part pure invention; a third part traceable to fraud and superstition, and a fourth part to historical patch-work. Happily, the risk of profanation could not go further than the "outer garment," or was not permitted to do so. Hence "the tunic which was without seam," and which stands for the glories of the internal sense,-one continuous flow of Divine Truths,-the soldiers did not "rend," but merely "cast lots" for it, an act involving contempt. As the Scripture says: "They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots."

     But in the New Church, which makes one with the New Heaven, it is not so. There, in that abode of "interior Divine Truth" which is inseparable from the Divine Human, the Letter is given its power anew, because that Letter is the outer expression or receptacle of the inner sense which is the Divine Tunic "woven from the top throughout."

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This fact is accompanied by something more which John saw. The Son of Man was seen by him as "girt about the paps with a golden girdle." "Paps" and "girdle" are mentioned because "paps stand out from the breast" and a "girdle encompasses." In other words, we are here taught, in the language of correspondence,-a Divine language-that Divine Good also proceeds from the Lord, in general and in particular; in general, as represented by "breast" and in particular, by "paps." Or, to put the subject in another light, "paps" signify spiritual love, and "breast" the good itself of that love. The "golden girdle" about that region of the chest stands for that which holds these two kinds of love firmly together; for a "girdle" encompasses, and is an outer sustaining bond.

     And now we come to greater particulars of the Deity seen as the "Son of Man." We are approaching now the inner springs or sources of the Divine Life,-the "firsts" and also the "lasts."

     What makes God, or the Lord, the "firsts" of all things, of heaven, of the Church, and of creation too, when rationally viewed? His Love and Wisdom, of which all creation, from man down to herb and metal, is a representation. But love and wisdom reside in two faculties-will and understanding. In the case of the Lord as God, these two faculties are infinite, and in themselves beyond all finite comprehension. They are like the sun of this world, which is an ocean of pure fire, pure motion among its parts, and impossible of reception by Nature except by various finitings or adaptations.

     These "firsts" of God, as well as our own, are represented by "head" and His "lasts" by "hair." "And His head and hairs white." Mark the expression, "white." Yes; for in God alone is there "pure," infinite, Divine Truth. Man receives that "pure" truth surrounded by "appearances," rendered inevitable on all planes of being, celestial, spiritual and natural; and yet, essentially, they are "pure truths" with him. As the Writings put it in the Latin: "Mera Vera," that is, "Mere or pure truths." Of these "Mera" or pure truths the internal sense of the Word as now revealed in the Writings consists.

     The text proceeds now to complete the picture presented to the "opened" eyes of John: "And his head and hairs were white as wool, like snow."

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We are here 'being taught, more and more, respecting the quality of the Divine Human, the Divine Truth. "Wool" signifies good in ultimates, because "wool" is from lambs and sheep, and lambs signify "celestial good" and sheep "spiritual good." (A. E. 67.)

     "And his eyes as a flame of fire." The "eyes" stand always for the understanding, which alone sees anything presented to the mind. In the case of the Lord, therefore, the "eyes" signify the Divine understanding, or Divine Wisdom, which not only creates all things, but provides, also, for their continuance and perpetuation. But this Divine Wisdom is only the outward form or expression of the Divine Good, which is the inmost of the Eternal God. And this Divine Good or Love is represented by the "flame of fire." As in the case of the sun of this world, its light is white, but its inmost is red. The reason of this is that light has reference to truth, and heat or fire to good. "And His eyes as a flame of fire,"-Divine Providence from His Divine Love.

     "And his feet like unto burnished brass, as if glowing in a furnace." What a representation of the Divine, in the "ultimate of Divine Order!" For by "feet" are meant the Natural of the Lord, that "Natural" which made the full receptacle of the Divine by Glorification. "As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself."

     But this "Natural" which is represented by "brass" is not like ordinary brass, more or less dead in appearance. It is "burnished"; it looks almost like gold. The reason is that the Divine Love in the Natural is in the "greatest degree," and its "fulness,"-"burnished brass."

     Finally,-" His voice as the voice of many waters." And what are these "many waters"? Truths are always in a series. No truth of one degree overlaps truth on another or lower plane. Each has its own domain within which it acts and operates. At this day, in the region of philosophy and science, all is confusion; for men know nothing of degrees, except on a continuous plane. Hence the Agnosticism, the Naturalism and Atheism, of the age. But at His Second Coming the "degrees" in the Divine Truth have been laid open. Knowledge of these "degrees" in the Divine Truth has been laid open. Knowledge of these "degrees" is necessary to our regeneration.

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Man cannot rise to a higher state until the ground is first prepared on a lower degree. This accounts for the fact that the instrument of the Second Coming went through the "entire circle of the sciences" before he was called to his unique mission. In his mind, as never before, a true natural plane had to be laid, in order that the spiritual and celestial truths about to be revealed might have their appropriate ultimates. Neither the science of his day nor the science of our day-as regards its principles and theories which, in fact, constitute its science-could supply any such true ultimate.

     But now, having received that Revelation which exceeds all those that ever preceded it, we, as members of the Church, can have the "fruit" of all this in our regeneration, for the sake of which all truth, on any plane, is ever given. May these "many" spiritual "waters" be our continual delight, and our minds be built up for eternal purposes in their effigy. Amen.
SPIRITS IN SWEDENBORG'S ROOM 1921

SPIRITS IN SWEDENBORG'S ROOM              1921

     "When I betook myself into the adjoining room, from whence I was to return to the former, it immediately seemed to me as if a solitude had been created, and as if the spirits had withdrawn from me, when yet they were present in the adjacent room, where were my books and other things, which they had seen. Hence it may be concluded that such things are in the ideas of spirits; in the ideas of some, the things pertaining to books, in those of others, the things pertaining to utensils, in those of others, the things of light, fire, etc. Wherefore, when those were left, and were not seen in the other room, the spirits seemed to have disappeared; for they are present according to their ideas, and if there are not such objects, they seem to depart. It was similar when I put on a garment different from the one I had worn for several months; I then seemed to them so much like another person that they would scarcely acknowledge me." (Spiritual Diary 3608, 3609.)

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SHAKESPEARIAN ADAPTATION 1921

SHAKESPEARIAN ADAPTATION       HUGH L. BURNHAM       1921

     [As an addendum to his report of the Chicago District Assembly, published in our last number, Mr. George A. McQueen has sent us the account of "an informal gathering of a social nature, held on Sunday evening, October 24th, which enabled the men of the Immanuel Church to spend a very pleasant hour with the Bishop, who was leaving for home the following morning. There were speeches on various subjects and a short paper by Mr. Harold P. McQueen on the subject of' Spheres'; but the item of special interest was that presented by Mr. Hugh L. Burnham," as printed below.-EDITOR.]

     Mr. Toastmaster: While reflecting upon some passages in the Writings which our Pastor recommended us to read in connection with a series of sermons he was then delivering, dealing with the Bringing of Benjamin to Egypt, I was minded to put into a brief narrative form the life of a New Churchman, having in mind Shakespeare's lines on the Seven Ages of Man in the play "As You Like It," and which I thought to use as a model. When I turned to that author's works, and was skimming over some other of his plays, I came upon the lines between Brutus and his wife Portia, in the scene of "Julius Caesar" that is laid in the garden of Brutus' house in the early morning of the day on which Caesar was assassinated. And, with the indulgence of the gentlemen present, I will call to mind those two passages. First, that from "As You Like It":

     Jacques.          All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,

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Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in hi sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

     Thus, with a few bold strokes, did that keen student of mankind limn each of seven pictures, which, from that of the little animal to that of the dying beast, portray the merely natural man,-the only man known to many, and the man from which God will's to save all. Some day a New Churchman will write a classic on these ages of the spiritual man-the natural man conjoined to the rational man. But as that happy day has not arrived, I have dared to outline seven pictures which, in abler hands, would prove a work of strength and beauty. With this introduction, I will plunge in, and give Shakespeare a run for his money.

     THE DRAMA OF A NEW CHURCHMAN'S LIFE.

     IN SEVEN ACTS.

First the babe, with empty mind
And body soft and tender;
Vested with the right, God-given,
To a life of peace and innocence eternal,
Which the babe alone, to manhood grown,
May divest and destroy.
And to forfend such dire event,
With each early impression,
Inmost remains, God doth implant.
Within the circle of a loving arm,
Nursing, he prods the breasts that give him suck,

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Kicks the soft curves of her,
Beneath whose heart, he so long hath lain.
Turning to meet the love light of her gaze,
He smiles and gurgles
As he reaches for mother's teeth and eyes.

Next the boy, who wants to know
The how and why of everything;
Chafing under all restraint,
Rules of order, soap and water.
In joy ecstatic,
Profoundly grieving o'er every sorrow,
Living in the golden now,
Without a care for the to-morrow.

And then the youth, the grown-up boy,
But who is not yet a man,
Delights in all that intelligence brings,
And lays up stores for the lean years to come.
He gives much thought to raiment, beard and sport;
Dreams the while of his future worldly fate,
And earnestly seeks
His proper use and his eternal mate.

Then the young man,
Strong in love for wife, child, Church and State,
Light heartedly enters
Ambition's treacherous paths,
Where new evils bring him conceits and cares.
Then his spirit sleeps,
And his fields of grain become sown with tares.
Then the act wherein
Man wins or loses the battle of life.
With the first stirring of his renaissance,
He finds with dismay
That he is far within the enemy's lines.
With desire to escape,
He makes an effort, highly futile;
For he knows, but does not understand,

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That God alone can save.
Not yet has Benjamin to Egypt come.
So, with ups and downs, he keeps struggling on,
And treads his path alone.
Even from his wife,
He his trouble hides,
Who in secret grieves
Or she, like Brutus' Portia, gently chides.

And then the old man,
Much reduced in strength and stature,
His grosser appetites falling away,
Beholds with wonder
That God is breaking the chains that bind him.
The weeds are cut down,
But the roots remain.
So oft he lapses into former states;
He learns man can invite or hell reject,
God only introduce to heaven.
He learns to forgive and be forgiven.

Last act of all, the venerable man,
Warm with love for God and his fellow men;
His greatest concern lest he transgress.
Oft he sighs deeply when dwelling upon
His little worth and the mercies of God.
He may be sorely racked upon bed of pain,
Or direly tried with fears for Church or State;
Or may dwell in peace.
But whate'er his fate,
In wise innocence he
Awaits the day
When mortal clay
Shall fall away
And set an angel free.

     This effort of mine was for the purpose of contrast. The lines from "Julius Caesar," through a poet's inspiration, make a beautiful narration confirmatory of certain truths to the New Church revealed.

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In the last number of the Spiritual Diary, striking statements are made concerning conjugial love and its opposite. One is that "unless what is eternal, or an eternal conjunction, is thought of, a woman is not a wife, but a concubine. From the idea of what is not eternal, conjugial love perishes." (No. 6110:16.) If we reflect upon this, we see that it means that so far as a man is not in the conjugial-that is, so far as love and wisdom are not married in him-so far he is in the opposite; and that just so far as there is a lack of the perfect conjugial relation between the married partners, so far the opposite prevails, and so far the woman is not a wife. We are taught that the conjugial comes through the wife, that she perceives the state of the husband, and is continually in the effort to bring him into the truly conjugial.

     One of the greatest barriers to conjugial love is the inability of men to make a complete confidant of the wife; yet the wife is constantly seeking to win her husband's confidence-not that she does not already know, but that she wants him, in freedom, to confide in her, to the end that they may become one. The effort of the wife to bring that about is beautifully set forth in the lines between Brutus and Portia, in which she calls that state "a gentle Brutus." The lines are spoken when she joins him as he walks restlessly in the garden in the middle of the night, after his co-conspirators have left him. We quote in part:

     Portia.               No, my Brutus;
You have some sick offence within your mind,
Which, by the right and virtue of my place,
I ought to know of; and, upon my knees,
I charm you, by my once-commended beauty,
By all your vows of love, and that great vow
Which did incorporate and make us one,
That you unfold to me, yourself, your half,
Why are you heavy, and what men to-night
Have had resort to you: for here have been
Some six or seven, who did hide their faces
Even from darkness.

     Brutus.          Kneel not, gentle Portia.

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Portia. I should not need, if you were gentle Brutus.
Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus,
Is it excepted I should know no secrets
That appertain to you? Am I yourself
But, as it were, in sort of limitation,
To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed,
And talk to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the suburbs
Of your good pleasure? If it be no more,
Portia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife.

Brutus. You are my true and honorable wife,
As dear to me as are the ruddy drops
That visit my sad heart.

Portia. If this were true, then should I know this secret.
I grant I am a woman; but withal
A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife:
I grant I am a woman; but withal
A woman well-reputed, Cato's daughter.
Think you I am no stronger than my sex,
Being so father'd and so husbanded?
Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose 'em.
I have made strong proof of my constancy,
Giving myself a voluntary wound
Here, in the thigh: can I bear that with patience,
And not my husband's secrets?

     Brutus.                    O ye gods,
Render me worthy of this noble wife! [Knocking within.]
Hark, hark! one knocks: Portia, go in awhile;
And by and by thy bosom shall partake
The secrets of my heart.
All my engagements I will construe to thee,
All the charactery of my sad brews.
Leave me with haste. [Exit Portia.] ("Julius Caesar," Act II, Scene I.)

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Editorial Department 1921

Editorial Department       Editor       1921


     NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor                    Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager      Rev. W. H. Alden, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address and business communications should be sent to the Business Manager.

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
One Year          $3.00 payable in advance
Single Copy           30 cents
     PROTECTING THE TRUTH.

     An attitude of reserve toward those unacquainted with the truths of the New Church-a reserve sometimes carried to the point of hesitation and apparent indifference in the face of direct inquiry-may seem inconsistent with the evangelical spirit that ought to animate all who have been blest with the light of the Second Coming. And it is a fact that strangers not infrequently complain of an exclusiveness amounting to coldness, though if they could see beneath the surface they would often perceive a warm desire to communicate the precious truths we are privileged to possess. Certainly New Churchmen should not lay themselves open to the charge of deliberately hiding their light under a bushel, or of committing the fault of Jonah when he refused to evangelize the Ninevites, a duty which he reluctantly performed only after a rather unpleasant experience, thus representing the Jewish unwillingness to impart the Word of Jehovah to the gentiles.

     We are loath to believe that many New Churchmen are victims to this pride of possession.

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The trend is rather the other way, evidenced in an ill-disguised anxiety to evangelize the world while slighting a field within the Church that would quickly repay an intensive cultivation. Reacting against this tendency and devoting our chief efforts to internal evangelization, we of the General Church have sometimes been charged with indifference toward missionary work. Recently, however, the discussions of the subject in our public gatherings indicate a revival of the missionary spirit, not without a countering wave of the former conservatism. There are those who would leave the increase to Providence, others who think we are remiss in our evangelical duty, though even these would not favor a proselytizing effort at the expense of internal uses. The two views are not really inimical, but may and should have place in the same mind, producing a zeal tempered by caution and a proper balancing of spontaneity and reserve. Everyone who genuinely loves the truth of Revelation desires to share its blessings with others; but he would also shield it from harm, and is fearful lest the efforts of the proprium supplant the workings of Providence. Where these two are together, missionary zeal is not inconsistent with a trust in the Lord.



     There are many teachings in Revelation itself to justify a caution and reserve on the part of those who burn with zeal to impart the truths with which they themselves have been blest. It is of Providence that some receive the truth while others are permitted to reject or never to know. The Lord, from His Divine Love, cannot but will to impart the saving truth to all. He foresees those who cannot be spiritually benefited by it, and it is according to the laws of His Wisdom that they are allowed to remain in ignorance or to reject the truth from heart and life. Hence the law of Providence that "man is not let interiorly into the truths of faith, and into the goods of charity, except so far as he can be kept in them to the end of life;" for if he were to receive, and "afterwards depart from them, and go away into the contrary, he would profane holy things." (D. P. 221.) Thus the Lord operates with a Divine solicitation, having regard to the evil as well as the good, making it possible for the good to receive, permitting the evil to reject, that their last state be not worse than their first.

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And a faith in this protecting Providence engenders caution with the man of the Church, lest he interrupt its operation with respect to other men.



     The Scriptures furnish many evidences of this providential guarding of Divine Revelation, a few of which we may here call to mind.

     When the Most Ancient Church fell, "the Cherubims and the flaming sword kept the way to the tree of life," preventing a return to the former celestial perception. The first written Word was withheld and reserved for the use of a later age, as signified by the words, "And Enoch walked with God; and he was not; for God took him." (A. C. 521.) All the phenomena attending the giving of the Ten Commandments upon Mount Sinai, and the preservation of the two tables in the ark, which none should touch on pain of death, represented the protection of Divine Revelation from profanation. While the disciples were commanded to go forth and teach the Gospel, they were also warned by the Lord to "be prudent as serpents." And he also enjoined them to "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." The Lord Himself spake unto the multitude in parables, lest the unworthy should be converted. For the same cause, He so often "charged His disciples that they should tell no man that He was Jesus the Christ."

     In the Book of Revelation, it is said that the man-child was "caught up unto God, and to His throne" (12:5), signifying "the protection of the doctrine of the New Church by the Lord and the guarding of it by the angels of heaven," even so long as the "woman" is in the "wilderness," or the New Church still among a few. (A. R. 545; A. E. 728.) A similar thing was meant by the command to John, "Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not." (Rev. 10:4. A. R. 473).

     That Swedenborg himself realized the need of guarding the Heavenly Doctrine, especially in his own country, is evident from what he wrote to Dr. Beyer in 1769: "Of the work last published, entitled, Brief Exposition of the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, I sent you only one copy, which you will please to keep for yourself alone, and not communicate to any one else; for it will cause a change in the whole of that theology which has up to the present time prevailed in Christendom, and partly sets forth also that theology which will be for the New Church." (Documents, No. 241.)

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     Bearing upon our present subject, we may recall what Swedenborg wrote when he was informed that only four copies of the Arcana had been sold in two months: "This was made known to the angels, who indeed marveled, but said that it must be left to the Providence of the Lord, which is such that it compels no one, which could be done, but it is not well that any should read it first but those who are in faith; and that this may also be known from the advent of the Lord into the world, who was able to compel them to receive His words and Himself, but compelled no one, neither afterwards through the apostles. . . ." (Diary 4422.) For He said to the disciples: "Whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them." (Luke 9:5.)



     In the light of this, we cannot doubt that the protecting law of Providence is operating at this day to guard against the profanation of the holy truths of the New Church. One shudders to think how they might be treated if they were better known in the world at large. "Light has come into the world, but men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil," and this is a protection. The Christian world is largely immersed in materialism and earthly pleasures, in science and naturalism; students of the Scriptures in textual criticism, burying their heads in the sand of technicalities, a process that shuts off the light of a spiritual understanding of the Word. All former Churches were permitted to fall into such ignorance that they might not profane. May we not discern this Providence in the fact that many who have received a knowledge of the Writings have so soon lapsed into-their former state, seeing little difference between the New and the Old? If they have ever really seen the light of the New Jerusalem, it was quickly overcast and extinguished by the persuasions of the permeation idea or an overweening delight in the "wonders of modern progress."

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     Various grades of reception were foretold in the Writings: "First, those who wholly reject, who are in another persuasion, and who are enemies of the faith; . . . the truth cannot be received by them, because it cannot penetrate their minds. The second kind receive them as scientifics, and are delighted with them as scientifics, also as curiosities. The third kind receive intellectually, and with some alacrity, yet, in respect to life, remain as before. A fourth kind receive them persuasively, so that they penetrate to the amendment of their lives; they have recourse to them in certain states, and make use of them. A fifth kind receive with joy, and are confirmed." (Dairy 2955.)

     The Writings are now widely advertized and distributed, and no doubt are widely read. Yet how seldom we hear of enthusiastic reception with "joy and full confirmation!" New Churchmen must reconcile themselves to witness a great variety of reception in the ages to come, realizing that a Divine Providence has all care in this matter, with solicitude for the evil and the good, for protection as well as enlightenment. Our chief duty lies in recognizing this Providence as over-ruling any effort of our own. We also have a responsibility in the degree of our own knowledge of the truth; and the very fact of a guardian Providence places the man of the Church in freedom to follow the indications of his own judgment in any given circumstances, while still he leaves the results to the Lord. The presence of missionary zeal among the men of the Church will be one indication of the Lord's will, who does not operate without means, but who grants men a part of co-operation in the establishment of the Church. And if this zeal be tempered with caution and a dignified reserve, grounded in the weighty reasons we have advanced, it will be the more effective instrument in the Lord's hands to attract and instruct the inquiring mind already prepared by the Lord to receive His Truth.
SOME SWEDISH PUBLICATIONS 1921

SOME SWEDISH PUBLICATIONS       CYRIEL LJ. ODHNER       1921

     DODENS GATA ENLIGHT SWEDENBORG, av Gustaf Baeckstrom, Bokforlaget Nova Ecclesia, Stockholm, 1920. Pp. 108.

     An attractive and popular pamphlet by the Rev. Gustav Baeckstrom, the title of which in English is "The Riddle of Death, according to Swedenborg," has recently been published in Stockholm.

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It is mainly the incorporation of a series of lectures delivered during the preceding winter. A glance at the chapter headings shows that the booklet will appeal to a wide public: "God's Word;" "Swedenborg's Revelation;" "Man after Death;" "Reality of the Spiritual World;" "The Riddle of Death;" "After Resurrection;" "Heaven, Hell;" "The Dangers of Spiritism." The confidential, eloquent, logical style in which these subjects are treated by Mr. Baeckstrom will surely bring his pamphlet up to the full expectation of the many hundreds who attended and admired his lectures. So excellent is the missionary quality of the book that it would be a matter for congratulation if an English edition were published. The last chapter especially is of timely interest.


     Enthusiasm has again overcome obstacles and produced another New Church paper, "NYKYRKLIGT BLAD," which comes to us from the lively little Circle in Sweden. S. Centervall and O. C. Nordenskiold are the publishers. The intention of this self-styled "unpretentious sheet" of seven pages, reproduced by mimeograph, is to fill the strongly felt need of communication between the Circle and its outlying friends. "We also wish to keep up the connection with, and interest in, other New Church societies whose members speak other languages and live in foreign lands. . . . For this reason, we want to give part of our space to quotations from various New Church publications and keep ourselves posted on what is happening outside of our body and what is uttered by the foremost men and women of the Church. We recognize the importance of knowing that we do not stand as a little isolated group in the fight for the Holy Truths, but make up a part, independent, indeed, but none the less a part, of a widespread organization, without whose support we would not be able to exist."

     The first number, published in November, contains an article on "The Unity of the Church," by Mr. Baeckstrom, and Bishop Pendleton's "Speech at the Assembly in Bryn Athyn." The literature department notices several English books and three new Swedish publications.

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One of these is a Swedish translation of Swedenborg's Spiritual Diary, by Erik Hermelin, published by Nordstedt and Sons. Although very incomplete, the six large original volumes having been reduced to a small book of 185 pages, this is the first time the Spiritual Diary has been brought before the Swedish public. A pamphlet by Mr. Baeckstrom on the "Riddle of Death," is mentioned above. "Bakom Dodsrikets Portar," ("Back of the Portals of Death's Kingdom,") by E. W. B., is the third book,-a large number for Stockholm!

     The news accounts include mention of Mr. Acton's visit to Stockholm to investigate the phototyping of Swedenborg's manuscripts, which has been discontinued for some time.



     NYA KYRKANS TIDNING, for September, 1920, contains the announcement of the death of Miss Jenny Lundberg, who for many years has been in charge of the New Church Book Room in Stockholm.

     As a reminder that the last word has been said on the question of New Church baptism, the Editor of NYA KYRKANS TIDNING, Mr. F. G. Lindh, utters a few words of warning to the effect that the New Church is a Church of love, that the Church to which the Conference and Convention, and the "Swedish Society" belong, together with go per cent. of all New Church people in the world, is what is signified by Abel in the Word, and must separate itself from the fratricidal Cain,-the faith-church, buried in self-made dogmas, evidently represented by the 10 per cent. that are left.

     The October number contains an account of the General Convention in Stockholm and the installation of Pastor David Rundstrom as minister. Among other things discussed at the meeting was the relation of their official organ to other New Church bodies in Sweden. Three members, Messers. Sundstrom, Holm and Magnusson held that its pages, while barring discussion and dissensions, should be open to an undivided New Church. Two other members, Messrs. Mark and Lindh, presented the view that it should be kept entirely for the expounding of such views as are held by the Swedish society, or the "point of view taken by the Convention in America and the Conference in England," and offered a resolution of adherence to the former policies of the paper, especially as expressed in the article, "Last Word on the Baptism Question," etc.

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The latter resolution was adopted.
     CYRIEL LJ. ODHNER.
MRS. GILMORE AND THE CIRCLE IN SCRANTON, PA 1921

MRS. GILMORE AND THE CIRCLE IN SCRANTON, PA       HOMER SYNNESTVEDT       1921

     As, one by one, the stanch and zealous men and women of the Church's yesterday drop from our sight, and go among the waiting dear ones upon the other side, we are forced to confront the question: are we ready to take up the torch as it falls from their hands? and what lesson can we learn from their life and their labors?

     The passing of Mrs. A. G. Gilmore, on May 27th, at the age of 83, following so soon after her husband, whose death was noted at the time in these columns, is especially fruitful of such reflections. For she was indeed most zealous and active, throughout a long life, in the cause of the New Church; and she was, moreover, a woman of such marked character that no one who came within her circle could fail to feel her influence. It has been truly said that she was one of those personalities whom no one could ever forget.

     Of her five children, two preceded her,-Miss Leila and Mr. Ernest, whose friends in all branches of the Church are legion. Ernest's wife and their son attend the Church at Newtonville, Mass. Especially well remembered is the long service of Miss Evelyn (now Mrs. Robert Coe, of Washington, D. C.), as teacher of the Pittsburgh New Church School. Mr. Clarence Gilmore, with his wife, resides at Brookline, Mass., while Mrs. Eloise Orchard is a member of our Pittsburgh Society.

     It was here that Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore spent their last days, cheered by the company of a darling grandson. But Scranton, Pennsylvania, was their home, and the scene of their loyal efforts in the cause of the New Church. At first they received occasional visits from New York,-the Rev. Frank Sewall, the Rev. S. H. Seward, the Rev. Abiel Silver, and others. Later, through their old friends, Mr. and Mrs. S. H. Hicks, they became interested in the educational work of the Academy, and thereafter each of their children to the Academy Schools at Philadelphia.

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     Their hospitable home, in the best part of the rapidly growing city of Scranton, is well remembered by those of us ministers who were privileged to make periodical visits there for the instruction of the family and a few New Church friends. At one time Mr. Odhner gave a couple of missionary lectures in a hall, but without manifest results. How much of this lack of popular reception and growth of the New Church is due to our own ineptitude, and how much to the consummated state of the Christian world, from evils of life and confirmed falsities of faith, let each one weigh for himself; but this, at least, remains to comfort those who are content to do their duty for its own sake, without thought of merit or reward,-" Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

     The reward of zealous effort in the cause of the Lord's Second Coming is primarily in the blessing it brings to those who do it, both in character and sustainment in this world, and in the promised reward of a happiness in the life to come, which is beyond everything that is possible here. Those who look only at this world are often discouraged by the slowness of growth and the difficulty of taking root in new soil amid the ruins of a devastated faith. But the real wonder is that anything truly spiritual and Christian survives just now with such as we. Let us be correspondingly thankful for the growth which does persist, and humbly grateful for the privilege and benefit to ourselves of whatever contribution we can make. The House for whose foundations we are excavating and clearing ground is the greatest of all the ages, and the Lord Himself is the Builder.
     HOMER SYNNESTVEDT.
MRS. MARY W. RITCHIE 1921

MRS. MARY W. RITCHIE       HOMER SYNNESTVEDT       1921

     Mrs. Ritchie, who died at Blairsville, Pa., on November 5th, 1920, at the age of ninety-two years, was born in Johnston, Scotland, in 1828, and was brought to this country by her parents when she was eight months old, the voyage in a sailing vessel taking six weeks. She was a sister of the late Messrs. Alexander and Artemas Pitcairn, of Mrs. Janet Campbell and Mrs. Vetterling, and they were all active in the Pittsburgh New Church society of the early days. Mrs. Ritchie was a keen thinker, and remarkable for her live interest in people and affairs in general.

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It was a great pleasure to talk with her, and the leading people of Blairsville regarded it as a privilege to be numbered among her friends. They showed exceptional interest in our funeral address. She kept herself well informed in regard to every new religious movement, such as Theosophy, etc., but to the end her comfort and mainstay was the reading of the Writings.

     Mrs. Ritchie was a frequent visitor at our church in Pittsburgh, and never missed an important meeting. She was always accompanied by her daughter, Miss Janet, a well known member of the General Church. Her husband preceded her to the spiritual world in the year 1900.
     HOMER SYNNESTVEDT.
NOTES AND REVIEWS 1921

NOTES AND REVIEWS              1921

     We have received the following books for review:

     WHY DO THINGS HAPPEN? By Everett King Bray. Minneapolis: The Nunc Licet Press, 1920. Cloth; pp. 104. Price, 50 cents.

     THE SUPREME DOCTRINE. A Reply to the Christology of The Palace of Wisdom, and Some Notes on the Subject of the Glorification. By the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner. Bryn Athyn: The Academy Book Room, 1920. Paper, 84 pages. Price 50 cents.

     EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. By L. B. de Beaumont, D. Sc. London and Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1919. Cloth, 134 pages.

     THE GIST OF SWEDENBORG. Compiled by Julian K. Smyth and William F. Wzazsch. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1920. Cloth, 110 pages. Price, 50 cents.

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SKETCHES OF THE NEW CHURCH IN AMERICA 1921

SKETCHES OF THE NEW CHURCH IN AMERICA       W. F. PENDLETON       1921

     SKETCHES OF THE NEW CHURCH IN AMERICA. By Ednah C. Silver. Boston: Massachusetts New-Church Union, 1920. Pp. 314. Price $1.00, plus postage.

     A general impression derived from reading Miss Silver's book is that an impartial and unbiased history of the New Church in America is yet to be written, and which perhaps cannot be written in the generation in which the events occur. There are several reasons for this, one of which is a probable bias and a consequent inability to grasp the Church as a whole and give a fair consideration to all the characters in the historical drama. Another is that there is but little access to private letters, which for the most part do not come to light until later times, and without which a true and accurate history can hardly be expected. For the latter, neither Miss Silver nor any other can be called to account; and as for the former, all who are contemporary with the events related are more or less subject to the danger of bias. It is a broad-minded historian who can successfully stem the tide of prejudice that ebbs and flows during the period in which he lives and writes. Among the characteristics of a true historian are tolerance, a broad charity, and a willingness to give each one his proper place among the leaders of thought and servants of the uses in state or Church. And so, while the book before us must be classed as a valuable contribution of material for the use of the future historian of the New Church, still he must have access to other sources of information in order to present a faithful picture and a true chronicle of the doings of the organized bodies of the New Church, since their inception in this country early in the last century.

     It is not easy to determine how far and how willingly Miss Silver has lent herself to the policy of a deliberate suppression of important historical data, and of the ignoring of names prominent and distinguished in the history of the New Church in America; but the fact remains that such names as Jonathan W. Condy, Condy Raguet, Richard de Charms, William H. Benade, David Powell, N. C. Burnham, J. R. Hibbard, B. F. Barrett, J. P. Stuart, Thomas Wilkes, John Pitcairn, and others equally distinguished for their services to the Church, either do not appear, or receive but a scant and passing mention; and this while a number are given a prominent place who were lightly touched by the faith of the New Church.

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     Writers of history, even if it be but sketches, are charged with responsibilities, and should realize that a fact is a fact, and that nothing is gained by any attempt to suppress it, and much may be lost that cannot well be recovered. Even if such an attempt at suppression be made, and should succeed for a time, we of the New Church know that in the other world the thought of every heart speaks out aloud, and nothing is covered that shall not be made known. Is it not time that members of the New Church in this world should cease such a futile and negative warfare?

     Miss Silver declares in the Foreword that her book, "as a record of facts, . . . is devoted to those who have gone before," and not to those who are still living, "except to illustrate a movement, or to round out a situation." Opinions will probably differ as to how far the rule so laid down has been followed in the course of her narrative. Some who are still living figure prominently, and some who have "gone before" do not appear at all, as we have shown. And so it is evident that the writer did not intend to bind herself to a strict observance of the rule; nor should the reviewer be unduly exacting in regard to it.

     Miss Silver devotes may pages to the life and work of her honored father; and Judge Silver deserves a distinguished place in any list of the founders and pioneers of the New Church in this country. He was known and acknowledged by his contemporaries as a true New Churchman, a loyal gentleman, as well as a faithful minister of the Church; and his photograph, as shown in the work, depicts the face of a sincere and honest man, a picture well worthy to be preserved among the permanent records of the Church. And speaking of photographs, it is good to see the countenance of old Daniel Lammot, President of the Central Convention; of Thomas Worcester, the founder and builder of the Boston Society, and President of the General Convention for many years; and of other great workers, as interspersed through the pages of the book; and we can but regret the absence of other faces that would seem to belong to a work of this kind.

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     In her narrative, Miss Silver evidently places in leading positions those whom she knew well, or for whom she had respect and affection. These form centers around which she weaves the story of her book. They are deserving of what she says of them, but there are others equally deserving who seem to have been outside the range of her vision, or in its circumference, whose life story, as leaders and teachers of the Church, will doubtless receive appropriate mention, and be assigned their proper places as builders of the visible Church, by broad-minded historians yet to come.

     The style of the work is attractive and interesting, at times incisive and graphic, and the attention of the reader is held from start to finish; and Miss Silver has, we are sure, saved some things from oblivion that ought to be held in the memory of New Churchmen. The book well merits a place in New Church libraries, and will repay perusal by those interested in the history of the Church.

     In conclusion, the reviewer feels bound to say of Miss Silver that he has closed the reading of her work with a feeling of respect for her gifts as a writer and for her industry in historical research; and he would express the confident belief that, with some voluntary broadening of vision, she could put in writing a history that would be of permanent and enduring value to the New Church.
     W. F. PENDLETON.
LIFE OF CHAUNCEY GILES 1921

LIFE OF CHAUNCEY GILES       WILLIAM HYDE ALDEN       1921

     THE LIFE OF CHAUNCEY GILES. Compiled and Edited by Carrie Giles Carter. Boston: Massachusetts New-Church Union, 1920. Pp. 478. Price $4.00.

     Twenty years after his death appears this affectionate memorial of one who was, beyond all others, the writer of missionary literature for the New Church. The work is peculiarly a personal biography, not a history; the story not so much of events in the life of its subject as the life-course of his mind, the sources and the development of his character. It treats not so much of the things he did, as of his attitude, his affection in doing. It might almost be called a study in regeneration. By far the larger portion is quotation from Mr. Giles' diary, which he began early and wrote voluminously.

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"Every one," he remarks, "has two histories; the history of his outward life, of his acts,-the tangible, the visible,-and the far more important history of his inner life, of his heart, his hopes, his fears, his daily acquisition in knowledge, his progress in virtue."

     Mr. Giles came of old New England stock. His early life was accustomed to the hard outdoor labors of the farm. Amid adverse circumstances, he struggled hard for an education, and with but a part of his course at Williams College completed, was obliged to give up because of trouble with his eyes which made it impossible for him to continue. From pains in his head thus caused, he never entirely recovered. With more or less rigor, he constantly heard a buzzing at the base of the brain. He refers in his diary to his lack of confidence, his diffidence, his lack of will; but his life-work indicates plainly enough that this was but morbid introspection, not the fact.

     His early life was a wandering one; teaching here and there; for a time practicing as a dentist; an attempt to gain a livelihood by lecturing on chemistry, of which he had little knowledge, practical or theoretical. The use of teaching finally prevailed, and, after divers experiences, he attained marked success in the charge of a young ladies' school in Pomeroy, Ohio.

     It was as late as this, at forty years of age, that his call to the ministry came. He had early felt doubts of the old theology in which he had been reared; and when the New Church came to his attention, he was not long in earnestly accepting it. The first book he read was Conjugial Love, and after reading its opening Relation, he remarked: "Well, if the crazy man has written nothing worse than that, he is not so crazy after all." Of Heaven and Hell, he wrote, a little later: "What a wonderful book! The wildest romance could not be so interesting." The treatise on The infinite he found "about as interesting as any novel I ever read." "When I read Swedenborg's scientific works, I am lost in wonder at the greatness of the man. . . . I want to eulogize and almost worship him. But when I come to his theological writings, I do not see the man at all. . . . Ah! how happy we are to be permitted to see these glories!"

     To his practical mind, it was a matter of course that an increasing interest in the Doctrines should lead to the desire to be of use in the Church.

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While teaching in Pomeroy, he began by reading the sermons of others. But on one occasion, being unable to find a discourse, he wrote a sermon himself. The text was, "And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." The sermon was printed, and is, I believe, still in print. He continued to write, and in due course was ordained, and received a call to preach for the New Church Society in Cincinnati. Thus, at the age of forty, began his ministry in the Church.

     It was with some fear and trepidation that he took up the work. He had found a secure place as a teacher, and his wife rejoiced with him that his work in Pomeroy had been crowned with a comfortable success. To leave this for the chances of the New Church ministry seemed like throwing away a certainty for a grave uncertainty. But there was no real uncertainty. Before his call to Cincinnati, he wrote in his diary: "If I live ten years longer, I shall be known more widely than I am now, I think, though I cannot say that I am ambitious." In but little more than that time, he was called from Cincinnati to New York, and in addition to his work as pastor of that society, became the editor of the NEW CHURCH MESSENGER, which enjoyed some of its greatest popularity while under his control.

     But it was in Philadelphia, to which he was called in 1877, that he reached his largest success. It would seem that his peculiar gifts were there appreciated as they had never been before, and hearty support was given him by men of ample means. It was from here that his missionary tracts found their widest distribution. Notable tracts had been published before. In New York, the series on "The Nature of Spirit, and Man as a Spiritual Being," had been delivered in Cooper Union before crowded houses, and the series as a booklet has probably had a larger circulation than any other New Church publication. But in Philadelphia he found a congenial field. His was the living spirit that inspired the American New Church Tract and Publication Society. He wrote more tracts for its use than any other man, and his tracts found greater acceptance than those of any other writer. And the supporters in Philadelphia took the lead in providing abundant means for their publication and distribution.

     It was in Philadelphia that THE HELPER, the sermon periodical, began under the direct initiative of Mr. Giles.

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He said, "Let us send out our tracts to any who will ask for them; to any addresses that may be given us. Let us do this freely." The work was advertised, lists were made out, the distribution began, and the list increased until two thousand tracts were being sent out weekly, postage paid. Then the thought came, "Cannot this work be done more effectively and more economically by making the sermon a regular periodical to go out as second class matter?" As soon said as done. Various names were suggested, and the name, "THE HELPER," was adopted at Mr.Giles' suggestion. The plan met with instant favor, and the circulation increased till at one time it reached six thousand weekly.

     Mr. Giles was a great preacher, as well as writer of missionary tracts. A correspondent in Texas once wrote: "I have read one of Mr. Giles' sermons. If he can preach as well as he can write, he is indeed a great man." Those who heard him thought his great use was that of preacher. His Church in Philadelphia became too small for the number who flocked to hear him. Application was made for the use of the Young Men's Christian Association Hall. This was refused; but a liberal-minded Baptist clergyman, Dr. Magoon, surprised Mr. Giles by appearing in his study with the greeting of "Fellow-sinner" and the remark that in that, at least, they were brethren, and offered his church for Mr. Giles' use. The offer was accepted, but the result was the building of the church at 22nd and Chestnut Streets, with accommodation for an audience of a thousand people. In this church were delivered the lectures on "Evolution," at which the church was filled. Twelve hundred copies of the lecture of the preceding week were distributed each evening.

     During Mr. Giles' fifteen years' pastorate, the Society in Philadelphia increased from one hundred to four hundred and fifty members, a record hardly equaled and perhaps not surpassed in the history of the New Church.

     In 1875, Mr. Giles was elected President of the General Convention, and held that office till his death. Rev. William L. Worcester says of him as President of Convention: "His very earnestness that the Church should be at work, actively furthering the great uses entrusted to it, made Mr. Giles impatient of obstruction and even of parliamentary forms, when they seemed to retard the uses which he had so much at heart.

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He recognized this quality in himself as a defect in a presiding officer, and it was his custom in later years to entrust the conduct of business to the Vice President. He thought, however, and probably with truth, that his disregard of rules had been useful to the Church in leading to less insistence upon mere technicalities."

     It is notable that each of three large societies, after long separation, joined the Convention while he was their pastor, viz., Cincinnati, New York and Philadelphia.

     Mr. Giles' success must be ascribed to a certain practical character in the man. He was early impatient with the kind of sermons that he heard in the New Church. They were dry and hard, and without the life which the teaching of the greatest of spiritual truths should inspire. He was constantly in the endeavor to make his sermons have more than the bones of doctrine, that they might be clothed with the flesh and made vital with the blood of practical use and affection. Withal, he was humble in his use. He says in his diary: "I am not a favorite with the ministers. Some of them pretend to regard me with contempt as a shallow man with very little knowledge of the doctrines. Well, I have not a great amount of knowledge of them, and have never claimed to have, but I try to make some use of what I have." He was often criticized, but, I believe, never moved to answer his critics,-a wise restraint which probably few could imitate.

     He makes no personal reference, but we can easily imagine whom he had in mind when he thus wrote of the ministry:

     "There are some ministers who are constantly striving for a low kind of power,-the power of votes and office. They desire to rule as politicians rule. Surely there must be a new kind, a higher order of power in the Church. We must seek the power which comes from love by truth.

     "It is an entire mistake that ministers are to rule in an arbitrary way, or are invested with authority over their societies. They ought to be able to lead, but instead of going before the flock and leading them in freedom by means of truth, some go behind them and drive them. It seems to me that the people are willing to accord all due respect and obedience to ministers, often more than they deserve; but the minister and people are brethren, and there should be mutual counsel and aid, and real sympathy with one another.

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It seems a little strange, but many of the brightest minds in the New Church have greatly weakened or wholly destroyed their influence by the love of power."

     One is inclined to ask if Mr. Giles, in this reflection, had in mind the supposed attitude of the Academy priesthood. We cannot but feel a bit disappointed that there is no open reference to the Academy in the whole book. This may be due to the care of the editor, who has omitted all reference to the great questions that have agitated the New Church. One wishes that we might be apprized of Mr. Giles' inner reflections upon the Academy movement. That it affected him is certain. It is a notable fact that for years he and the leader of the Academy movement lived in the same city of Philadelphia. It is also notable, as may be remarked in passing, that in the same city of brotherly love lived also the Rev. B. F. Barrett, who differed widely, both from Mr. Giles and Mr. Benade. The silence in this book may be the silence of Mr. Giles himself, and for that reason all mention of the Academy may have been left out of what is essentially a personal, not a historical biography. Mr. Giles had little patience with the questions that rent the Church in two long before the actual separation of 1891 took place.

     In the early stages of the discussion that followed the formation of the Academy, the publication of Words for the New Church called forth from the editorial chair of the MESSENGER the following, under the caption, "Unwise Discussions":

     "The doctrines of the New Church are contained in the Writings of Swedenborg. . . . What is his personal relation to them and to us? How must we look upon him, either as a thinker, a philosopher, a theologian, a seer, a prophet, or a revelator? These are questions about which there is wide difference of opinion in the New Church. Some hold to the highest inspiration of the author, while others maintain that he was simply intellectually enlightened. The subject is one for earnest study, and yet, can its decision make the doctrine of the Lord more precious or more rational? Can it more clearly demonstrate the spiritual sense of the Bible? Can it make the heavenly life more unselfish? Can it make the eternal life more real, or more glorious...?

     "We are unable to see that upon its decision depend such momentous effects.

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The relation of Swedenborg to the doctrines is a disputed question, and a question which, while very important, we must maintain is not essential to the acceptance of New Church doctrines and the living of a New Church life."

     The MESSENGER editorship had passed into other hands when this editorial was written, but the words might well have been written by Mr. Giles himself. To him it made little difference whether Swedenborg wrote the Doctrines of himself, having had exceptional opportunities for learning them, or whether they were the Lord's own Word. He was impatient at the discussion of such questions. In an editorial review of Words for the New Church, commenting upon the raising of the issue touching the character of the Writings, he says: "We deprecate any attempt to magnify differences of opinion, and to make 'issues' where there are no grounds for them."

     But Mr. Giles' attitude was negative as to the Writings being the Word of the Lord. He says in the MESSENGER: "They are not the Word, not the Living Divine Truth thus clothed and adapted. No, infinitely far from it. This would make them God's Writings, which they are not. . . . No further revelation seems necessary."

     The writer of the present review once said to Mr. Giles, before he had himself joined with the Academy, or accepted the position that the Writings are the Word: "I do not see what harm it does to call the Writings the Word." It seemed then to him that so to regard them could only exalt their place in the mind and consequently increase their power. Mr. Giles' reply, delivered in a tone which did not invite discussion, was, "It does a great deal of harm."

     This attitude of Mr. Giles seems far away from the one previously noted, in which he speaks of the scientific writings of Swedenborg as being so wonderful as to invite worship of the man Swedenborg, while in the reading of the Theological Writings the man disappears.

     The year 1891 was that in which the members of the General Church separated from the Convention. The biography makes no mention of this fact, but doubtless he had it in his mind in these comments on the meeting of the Convention held that year:

     "It has been the most useful Convention I ever attended. There were no dissensions. If we can go on in this way, we shall arrive at a unity which will express the will of the whole body and not the will of one person who has supreme authority.

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This is an ideal state, and it can be attained, and it will be when the members of the Church become sufficiently wise and loving. I have been working for this state, and I am sure some progress towards it has been made."

     Mr. Giles had his limitations, but he performed a very great use in the simple presentation of the Doctrines of the Church for missionary use. It may be said that he did not go far, or delve deep, but he did reach the minds of many and has left no successor in his own peculiar field of use.

     The biography will be read with affectionate interest by all who knew Mr. Giles, and by others, as the intimate personal history of a human soul.
     WILLIAM HYDE ALDEN.
PSYCHOLOGICAL TRANSACTIONS 1921

PSYCHOLOGICAL TRANSACTIONS       H. L. ODHNER       1921

     PSYCHOLOGICAL TRANSACTIONS, by Emanuel Swedenborg. Translated from the Latin and edited by Alfred Acton, M. A., Th. B., Professor of Theology in the School of the Academy of the New Church. Swedenborg Scientific Association, Philadelphia, 1920. (Cloth, pp. xxxi and 282, $4.00.)

     In small groups, the priceless manuscripts which Swedenborg left behind at his death have found their way into print. We feel a great pleasure in announcing to the readers of the LIFE the publication of two more of these posthumous writings of Swedenborg, included within the volume under review.

     This book, the Psychological Transactions, contains the following eleven treatises, dated between 1734 and 1744: Faith in Christ; The Way to a Knowledge of the Soul; Faith and Good Works; The Soul and the Harmony between Soul and Body; The Origin and Propagation of the Soul; The Animal Spirit; The Red Blood; Action; Sensation; A Hieroglyphic Key to Natural and Spiritual Arcana; and Correspondences and Representations. The first and the last of these have never before been published, either in Latin or in English, but are now translated from the phototyped MSS; and the Hieroglyphic Key is here for the first time edited directly from the (phototyped) original, and is thus presented in a reliable form.

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     Since most of our readers are not so much interested in the technical features of bibliography or translation, we shall first inquire into the subject-matter of the new volume. In perspective, its contents impress us as a most eloquent testimony to the Divine leading of Providence which moulded the thoughts of Swedenborg and inspired him to seek bravely to see the things of the spirit in rational light, even though he lived in a twilight age wherein dogmatic religion and dogmatic philosophy strove for the supremacy among the prejudices of the intellect.

     The reader will no doubt feel familiar with the first half of the book, which, for the most part, is made up of a new translation and edition of the Opuscula Quaedam Argumenti Philosophici, well known under the English title, Posthumous Tracts. The new version ran serially in THE NEW PHILOSOPHY, 1916-1919, before the present appearance in book form. The subject treated of in this portion is principally the soul; the method of studying its nature is discussed; its essence is described not as a "simple substance" or a "monad," but as an organic substance, formative and causative of all the posterior structures of its body, and present in the simple cortex of the brain, and in its radiating fibres, as in its first dwelling place. It is further shown how the soul is propagated by the seed; how it is present in the animal spirit and in the red blood; and how, by its fibres, it governs the actions of the body, and, in turn, is perfected by the enrichment of its immortal kingdom, the mind, through sensation. The editor points out that most of these treatises, some of which are not completed, were intended by Swedenborg to be published under the name of "Psychological Transactions," and Professor Acton has therefore chosen this as the title of the whole compilation.

     But in the latter part of the volume we find two works that are not so familiar to most readers. The first is called "A Hieroglyphic Key to Natural and Spiritual Arcana by way of Representations and Correspondences.*

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The second, a collection of notes, probably written by its author shortly after the former (about 1744), is named by the editor "Correspondences and Representations." The editor has also adjoined to the Hieroglyphic Key many remarkable references to the subject of correspondences from the Economy, The Fibre, The Soul, The Senses, The Animal Kingdom and The Worship and Love of God.
     * The word "hieroglyphic" means "sacred carving," and is here used in the sense of emblematic. Only one scant reference to the Egyptian hieroglyphics is, made in the work:
     "The Egyptians ... seem to have cultivated this doctrine, and to have signified these correspondences by hieroglyphic characters of the utmost diversity, whereby are expressed not only natural things, but also, and at the same time, spiritual things. Respecting this science of the Egyptians, see a complete book by Aristotle." (n. 53.)
     It is notable how similar this statement is to the later teachings in S. S. 20-25, A. R. 503a, etc.

     In these two works a marvelous fount of philosophy stands uncovered before the reader, a philosophy of analogy or correspondence which aims to translate natural laws into spiritual laws by simple transposition of spiritual correspondences for natural things (cp. A. C. 23333) The following parallel propositions, evolved one from the other, may illustrate the general scheme:

     "There is no motion without conatus, but there is conatus without motion. For if all conatus were to break out into open motion, the world would perish, since there would be no equilibrium.

     "There is no action without will, but there is will without action. If all will were to break out into open action, man would perish, since there would be no rational balance or moderating reason.

     "There is no divine operation without providence, but there is indeed a providence not operative or effective. If all providence were operative and effective, human society would not be able to subsist as it now is, since there would be no true exercise of human liberty." (Hier. Key, n. 10.)

     "It is a natural necessity that every individual substance regard every other substance as its own self, and the aggregate of like substances as many selves; but that it regard superior substances, from which it draws its essence and nature, as above itself; to which it is held obsequious, by reason of the pure connection and harmony.

     "The first and last law of society, both earthly and heavenly, is that every individual shall love his neighbor as himself, society as many selves, and God above himself; to whom he pays obedience, by reason of pure love." (Hier. Key, n. 39.)

     "Light reveals the quality of an object; but the quality of an object appears according to the state of the light; for an object is not always such as it appears.

     "Intelligence discovers the truth of a thing; but the truth of a thing appears according to the state of the intelligence; for that is not always true which is thought to be true.

     "Wisdom manifests the goodness of a thing; but the goodness of a thing appears according to the state of the wisdom; for that is not always good which is believed to be good." (Hier. Key, n. 48)

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     These brief excerpts confirm what our author says in The Fibre:

     "Respecting correspondences and their application the reader will see marvels in the Transactions on this subject" (Ibid. 378) But the marvel increases when we consider that Swedenborg, at the time of writing, had not yet been introduced into the spiritual world, nor was he an inspired revelator. He broached the subject of correspondences as a philosopher who feels that only in such a way can the interior things of truth be approached. He was convinced that in the sciences, and in the powers of observation and research, there was to be found a sufficient basis for progress, but that a universal science was now urgently needed to unlock the relations between all the sciences, (lest thought be lost in unrelated fields of knowledge),-a "universal mathesis" that was to consist, as we suppose, of the rules for interpreting and applying the sciences, rules of thinking and concluding such as the soul eminently employs as the arm of her omniscience in sensing all things that take place in the realm of her government, the body.

     Apparently Swedenborg nowhere constructs for us this new science of universals. "Many rules," he says in the Rational Psychology (n. 567), "must be premised, data set forth, and truths linked together, before I can attack this task. For this reason I dismiss the attempt, and, in place of it, wish first to set forth a Key to Natural and Spiritual Arcana by way of Correspondences and Representations which shall lead us more largely and certainly into hidden truths,-a doctrine, on which, seeing that it has hitherto been unknown to the world, I ought to dwell at some length." And the Hieroglyphic Key, it would seem, is the intended treatise.

     It is a striking fact that the world has always been seeking for such a universal, correlating science, a "philosopher's stone," a theory of interpretation. Yesterday, it was Astrology and Alchemy and the perverse dialectics of the Schoolmen. Today, it is the idea of Evolution. But as Evolution, and the doctrine of negation upon which it rests, are mothered by a materialistic age, so the law of correspondences is the science of sciences of the New Age, as it was the universal of science in the Ancient Church. Swedenborg's intended construction of the universal mathesis seems to have been sidetracked by the study of correspondences.

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But the reader of the Psychological Transactions comes to feel as if this very law of correspondence, in certain of its phases, could be identified with the science of universals.

     It seems to have been imperative that Swedenborg should have been guided to find the law of correspondence during this transition period of his life; thus finding the general relation between the natural and the spiritual, before the spiritual world and the spiritual sense of the Divine Word could be opened to his vision. We are apt to regard "inspiration" as an arbitrary act of God, unqualified by human knowledge and experience. But the truth is that Swedenborg's inspiration would have been a most confused and disorderly thing, if he had not first been in the next lower state of perceiving and receiving the truth, viz., in a full-blown state of ordinary human illustration, as it was at that time possible from the Word of the Old and the New Testaments. His mind, before it could be the receptacle and the vehicle of the truth of the New Christian Church, had to be formed, even as that of the men of the primitive Christian Church, for the perception of the general doctrines of Christian truth.

     This accounts for the remarkable and, to some minds, astounding correctness of Swedenborg's theological conceptions before he was called and inspired to see and reveal the celestial arcana of the Holy City. He was able to deduce these opinions from the letter of 'the Word because his mind, from childhood, had, in the providence of the Lord, been kept in general truths and in illustration; and also because God uncovered the philosophy of correspondences to his rational view. (Compare the laws in the White Horse, nos. 7 and 8). Thus Swedenborg, (even as had happened in a more partial degree to Origen and Servitus), came early to see such truths of genuine Christianity as were unknown among his contemporaries.

     This is amply illustrated in the volume under review, wherein we find perceptive foreshadowings, at least, of every doctrine of the Writings. And one of the most remarkable of these occurs when, at the abrupt ending of the Hieroglyphic Key, the rule is given that "Typical correspondence is formed by so many; likenesses, as in the Jewish Church, wherein is represented Christ and the Christian Church, and wherein, in the latter Church, is represented the kingdom of God and the heavenly society."

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Harmonic and Allegorical correspondence had been treated of in the same context; and the passage continues:

     "The fourth species is the Fabulous correspondence in use among the ancients, who clothed the deeds of their heroes with fabulous fictions. Of this nature also are the representations of the poets, and those of dreams. 3. We are justified in believing that the universal world is wholly filled with types, but that we know very few of them; for the present time always involves the future, and there exists a connection and chain of contingencies, inasmuch as there is a constant trend and flow of Divine Providence. 4. That it is allowable thus to interpret Sacred Scriptures; for the Spirit speaks naturally, and also spiritually."

     The compilation of notes on "Correspondences and Representations" furnishes a fresh field of vision to the reader. It consists, for the most part, of collections of passages from the Bible, with the use of various kinds of correspondences suggested. Swedenborg there discloses to us the wealth of teaching, given to the early Christians in the Epistles, concerning correspondences and representatives.

     The Epistles clearly teach concerning Old Testament symbolism. Swedenborg also finds that "the books of the Old Testament are full of such correspondences, especially the Psalms of David and the Proverbs of Solomon, which contain veriest wisdom in simple form.* "But at this day these things are not called wisdom." "If anyone at this day should write like David, he would be thought to be a man of no learning, but merely pious and simple. If anyone should write like Solomon, he would be thought to be a novitiate moralist, not arrived even at the threshold of modern wisdom. If anyone should write like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc., he would be mocked at, as one in phantasies, and as a man newly waked from dreams, who recited his dreams together with parables. If one should write like Paul, it would be as though he were speaking many imaginary and typical things, together with some that in themselves were worthy of credit. Yea, if one should speak like Christ Himself, [in modern estimation] he would be saying things simple and rudimentary, under which, by reason of the parables, we imagine arcana to lie.

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But they are the contrary." (Corr. and Repr. vi.)
     * No distinction is here made between the representative style and the style having within it a continuous internal sense.

     Further extracts from the cited work were published in NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1919, pp. 433-437, and included a remarkable treatise on "Natural Religion." It shows that religion becomes natural whenever representatives, which in themselves are dead, are enthroned to the detriment of essentials. To quote:

     "This is the cause of the so numerous schisms, even though in essentials there is union. It is only rites, and the rites of rites, that create the especial variety, respecting which we have so disputed and so persecuted each other, especially if persuaded by the affections of the animus, ambition and avarice.

     "Representations, therefore, seem to have been instituted in order that man, prone to such things, may comprehend that, underneath, there are mysteries which are the more agreeable to God in the degree that in them the human mind venerates and adores things Divine and spiritual. They are all types, as it were, in which the Divine Spirit comprehends the essence itself, especially when the human mind is present in them with faith." (p. 435)

     That the study of correspondences was introducing Swedenborg to the spiritual sense, is clear from the fact that in the work before us he gives a glimpse of the internal sense of the Lord's Prayer, which he shows to be connected throughout in a continuous series, the end in view that pervades the whole being that "the heavenly kingdom or the universal society of souls" may come. "Nor can the end of creation be anything else than a universal society of souls." (Hier. Key, n. 8.)

     To counter the idea that Swedenborg necessarily retained the same opinion on all matters throughout his studies, it might be noted that the chronology of the Old Testament times is very differently regarded in the Adversaria and in the Psychological Transactions. The Adversaria suggests that "about 4400 years intervene from Noah to this day" (2 Adv. 1493), and also computes 4300 years from the creation of the world to the resurrection of God Messiah (2 Adv, 2323.) And this set of approximate figures, based on the literal interpretation of Genesis, is often referred to in the Writings, without disapproval,-6000 years being assumed as the period elapsed since the creation of man. But in the manuscript notes which are now given the title "Correspondences and Representations," an attempt is apparently made to compute the pre-Advent period from representative figures:

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     "The Sabbath is a type of perfect creation; it came, therefore, every seventh day. The Flood came in the 601st year; Christ, without doubt, in the 6oolst year. For the flood was a conflict with the human race; Christ a conflict with the Jewish nation; then was the true Sabbath." (p. 221.)

     Here and there, also, a suggestion of the "literal" thought of the destruction of the world, the personal devil, fallen angels, etc., is detected. But these are so extrinsic to the subjects discussed that they only fall as vague and negligible shadows on pages iridescent with light.

     We wish that space permitted fuller quotations from this remarkable publication, to whet the appetites of our readers for further study. The greatest credit is due to the Swedenborg Scientific Association, and to the able editor-translator, for placing this important and fascinating volume in our hands; for although some of its treatises are fragmentary, they complete one of the final links in the record of Swedenborg's preparation, and help us to understand more fully the greatest of all miracles,-the opening of the eyes of the Seer of the Second Advent.

     *     *     *     *     *

     A few words on the technical side of the volume under review are perhaps pertinent. For several years it has been known to the readers of THE NEW PHILOSOPHY and NEW CHURCH LIFE that the Rev. Alfred Acton has been turning his marked scholarship to the study, translation, critical editing and bibliography of the earlier works of Swedenborg. As a translator he has proved his entire success in producing a good English style, direct and devoid of circumlocution, clear, and faithful to the texts. His new translation of the material known as Posthumous Tracts and the Hieroglyphic Key is well characterized by himself when he says that his effort has been "on the one hand, to pay greater attention to English diction, while not sacrificing the admirable literalness that characterizes Mr. Hindmarsh's works; and on the other, to avoid the interpretative style of translation frequently favored by Dr. Wilkinson," to whose brilliant imagination and richness of diction he none the less feels under obligation.

     The editor's long preface is mainly occupied in ascertaining the dates of the writing of the various manuscripts.

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It is a very complicated study, and the ordinary reader feels confused by the many data, and unable to judge of the editor's conclusions. And it appears that a good deal of reliance must be placed on his judgment, for the material in the manuscript (Codex 36), from which "Correspondences and Representations" has been taken, and which is also the basis of the translations that are now being published in THE NEW PHILOSOPHY under the title, "A Philosopher's Notebook," is entirely rearranged and selected by the editor of the Psychological Transactions, much intervening matter, such as quotations from the philosophers, being either omitted or transferred to another part of the work.

     Professor Acton is at present the most capable person we know of to reconstruct this material in desirable accordance with the scheme in which Swedenborg might have intended to present it; but we confess that we would have preferred to see the first edition of this Codex printed without omissions, and in the order of the original MSS. There is great difficulty in finding the connecting thread among these selected notes and collections of Scripture passages. The original order might, indeed, have proved a still more bewildering jungle for the reader to lose himself in,-amongst irrelevant jottings and blank pages and solitary headlines. None the less, it would have made of the work a translation instead of a reconstructed composition. But perhaps our criticism only proves our ignorance of the learned editor's problems. Certainly we appreciate the painstaking labor connected with the compilation of this volume. The transposition of the various treatises included in Posthumous Tracts into a series compatible with the intrinsic evidence is a convincing and welcome improvement; and altogether, Professor Acton's work in bibliography kindles a hope of much promise for the eventual delineation of the many steps whereby Swedenborg progressed from philosopher to revelator.
     H. L. ODHNER.

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LETTER FROM LAUSANNE 1921

LETTER FROM LAUSANNE       M. GALLAND       1921

     FEDERATION DES SOCIETES DE LANGUE FRANCAISE DE LA NOUVELLE EGLISE.

     Lausanne, 24th November, 1920.

The Editor NEW CHURCH LIFE:

Sir:
     As past president of the LAUSANNE CONGRESS, I have to challenge some of the statements made in the comments appearing in your issue of November, 1920, on the report on the Lausanne Congress, hoping thereby to remove the grievous misapprehensions which must have been caused regarding our organization.

     First, our attitude towards the Writings. We fully recognize the fundamental doctrine of the Divine Authority of the Writings, and yield it to none in our belief in the Writings as a means of the New Revelation of the Second Coming of our Lord. To make it appear that we only consider the Writings "at best as a key or commentary to the Old and New Testaments" gives rise to the invidious implication that we place the works of Swedenborg on the same level as any work of the Higher Criticism or of a sectarian nature of the Old Church.

     Secondly, our attitude towards the priesthood. We have every desire to have the priesthood eventually occupying its rightful position in the orderly government of the Church. A little exercise of common sense will perhaps show that we have not yet a sufficient number of priests to fill the membership of most of the committees instituted by us for the development of our work. Our committee of studies as at present constituted is no more to take part in the theological teaching of students than, for instance, a hospital committee composed mostly of laymen is to direct the teaching of medical science at a hospital. When we will have been in a position to institute a Theological School, we do not despair of being able to aim at a standard of theological efficiency as high as that obtaining in any other organization of the New Church.

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     Thirdly, it had been our heartfelt desire to maintain our absolute independence, and not to take sides in that most deplorable estrangement existing between certain New Church organizations. With that object in view, we had categorically refused a condition in a most important donation offered to us by which we should have bound ourselves to teach Doctrine as interpreted by a specified school of Theology. We had entertained the hope, alas so soon deceived, that we would have provided neutral ground on which differences between the older organizations could be bridged, or, at any rate, not so acrimoniously maintained as not to permit them all to work together, through us, for the establishment of the Lord's Church in French-speaking countries, by each one acting as a sponsor at the birth of our Federation, and, in friendly rivalry, by each one fostering its growth.

     I need not lay stress on our most bitter disappointment in finding that French-speaking pastors, holding from the General Church of Bryn Athyn, at the last moment abandoned us, and for some reason or other did not take part in our Congress, the idea of which they had so enthusiastically taken up at its inception. Nor could our invitation to the General Church to end an official representative be acceded to. We did not even have the chance of receiving such enlightened advice or criticism as that now offered to us.

     Rev. Acton, the official representative of the Bishop of the General Church, who visited us shortly after the Congress had taken place, made plain to us the earnest reasons for which the General Church could offer us no help, it being a question of being either in the General Church or out of it. Our aim is not to dominate all New Church action taken in French-speaking countries; it is principally to intensify and coordinate the spread of the news of the Lord's Second Coming. We suggested to the Rev. Acton that the Federation and the General Church might at least co-operate in missionary efforts, though Federation or General Church pastors might hold from different Church Governments. But even that seems impossible of realization, if we are to judge from the recent disgraceful instance of picketing exhibited in Paris the other day by one of the General Church Ministers, when a rival lecture was held by him in a room purposely chosen in the same building as the one selected by the Federation Minister, and comers were enjoined to attend his lecture as the one truly dealing with the New Church.

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Further, I have received a very friendly personal letter from another General Church Minister, in which he suggested that, as we must die out, it would be better not to help us, as that would only serve "to prolong the agony."

     And now, to fill the cup we have,-can we expect to have only fairy godmothers?-as our christening greetings, prognostications of early dissolution and of reversion to the Old Church!

     I can only wish that the Federation will never rest on a Lutheran profession of faith to establish and confirm a separation from other organizations of the New Church, or reach such a stage of spiritual intoxication as to get confused on the real teachings of the Writings; but will be able to live in a spirit of charity towards other organizations, as so admirably exposed by the Rev. Acton in the last passages of his address to the British Assembly. This surely cannot be attributed to any namby-pamby sentimentalism. The address was reproduced in the beginning of that very number of the NEW CHURCH LIFE of which the concluding report gives us such spiritual encouragement for bravely meeting our end.

     I trust that in all fairness to the Federation you will find space in your magazine for this communication.
     I am Sir,
          Yours faithfully,
               M. GALLAND.
EDITORIAL REPLY. 1921

EDITORIAL REPLY.              1921

     While we very much regret that Mr. Iungerich's news account of the Lausanne Congress should have met with such strong objection on the part of Mr. Galland and other members of the Federation, we seize the opportunity to say that we would not have published the report if we had believed that any disrespect or ill-will was intended in its frank criticisms of the doctrine and practice of the new Federation. We know that Mr. Iungerich shares the feeling of the whole General Church, which is one of sympathetic favor and good-will toward any movement which promises to contribute in any measure to the upbuilding of the New Church; and we would ask Mr. Galland to accept our assurance of every good wish for the success of the Federation in its avowed purpose of promoting the New Church among the French-speaking people of Europe.

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But we would also ask him to consider that it is this very attitude that leads our writers to an outspoken questioning of doctrines and practices which they believe detrimental to the genuine growth of the New Church. As is well known, we believe very strongly that the true order of development in the Church, and in everything else, is from little to larger things, and that an attempt at large things produces little. The Academy movement had its inception in a reaction against the prevailing policy of the New Church, which was an attempt to evangelize the Christian world at large, while the opportunities near at hand, the children and the young,-were neglected. That policy has proven a failure; and we believe it was the realization of this fact that led Mr. Iungerich and others to take a pessimistic view of the future of the Federation, We also believe that there was no delight of condemnation in the expression of their view. May it not be that their counsels of warning were, after all, the truest friendship? And so we trust that Mr. Galland will hold us excused of any deliberate intent to injure the work of the Federation.

     We have brought Mr. Galland's letter to the attention of Mr. Iungerich, who has sent us the following:
REPLY FROM MR. IUNGERICH 1921

REPLY FROM MR. IUNGERICH       E. E. IUNGERICH       1921

     Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:

     Mr. Galland's letter raises the question as to whether the news account in the November LIFE was not extreme in some of its characterizations of the doctrinal position held at Lausanne. I wish to state, however, that every statement made was based upon facts, the source of which can be furnished if desired. I would cite the following:

     1. It was a small missionary folder emanating from Lausanne that spoke of the Writings as "the best commentary." It would seem that Mr. Galland wishes to correct this, but I do not perceive that by the "Divine Authority" he means the Divine Authority of the Word of the Lord's Second Coming. The latter, indeed, may be his own viewpoint, but does not explain the "best commentary" statement of the folder referred to.

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     2. As to the priesthood, my observations (on page 724 of my account) were all based upon Articles 32-35 of the new Federation, which were published on the covers of the MESSAGER. I heartily applaud the improvements he suggests as likely to occur in the line of having ministerial control of the theological studies. But he says nothing about improvement in the line of not making ordination depend upon the request of some group of laymen who desire a given theological student to minister to them.

     3. As to the desire of the Federation to maintain absolute independence, I have no question. Yet it was thrust upon my attention quite accidentally that they are under "financial obligation to foreign contributory bodies or individuals who have already placed certain hampering restrictions on their doctrinal beliefs and affiliations," as I expressed it. Last June, a General Pastor of the Convention met the Rev. M. Hussenet and myself, and set before us the Lausanne situation. He convinced us both that three-fourths of the funds supplied to uses in Lausanne came from the General Convention, and that the Convention would not look favorably upon any General Church members attending the Lausanne Congress or taking part officially in the Church organization there. As a result of this interview, M. Hussenet decided not to attend the Congress, and a letter announcing this decision was sent to the Rev. Gustav Regamey by the General Pastor who met with us, and who furnished me a copy of his letter. In view of these facts, I cannot understand how Mr. Galland can write deploring the lack of attendance of representatives of the General Church at the Congress.

     4. As to Mr. Galland's reference to "rival lectures" in Paris, and to "picketing," I can agree with him in deprecating such methods. But the only information I have received is to the effect that the lectures instituted there by the Rev. Regamey have been accompanied with efforts to draw away the Rev. Hussenet's adherents. The so-called "picketing" may have been a measure of self-defense, and a means of informing M. Hussenet's members as to their place of meeting. I take this occasion to reiterate what has often been publicly stated by our Bishop and others, that the General Church does not engage in propaganda merely to gain members. At the same time, it maintains the right to minister to all who accept its principles and desires its ministrations.
     E. E. IUNGERICH.

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USES OF OLD CHURCH CEREMONIALS 1921

USES OF OLD CHURCH CEREMONIALS       E. E. IUNGERICH       1921

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:

     The Rev. G. C. Ottley, in the LIFE for December, advances two propositions: (1) That Old Church baptism is of hell, and "an empty ceremony, devoid of all spiritual and saving efficacy," and (2) that all ritual since the Lord abrogated the Jewish is no longer merely representative, and no longer without reflection upon the person administering it, seeing that "internals are now to enter into and qualify the external representatives."

     It would follow, from proposition 2, that a salvable Old Church priest would put into the ritual he administers his own salvable internal quality. In that case, a baptism performed by him would be of "spiritual and saving efficacy," and so contrary to Mr. Ottley's first proposition. I trust he will explain his position more fully, for his statement of the case is not only inconsistent with his first proposition, but both propositions are contrary to well-known teachings, such as the following: "It matters not what may be the quality of the man who represents, whether evil or good, and an evil one can and has represented the Lord's Divine equally well; 665, 1097, 1361. The same may be evident from the representatives which [exist] at this day also; for all kings, whoever they be and whatever their quality, represent the Lord by means of the royalty itself with them. In like manner all priests, whoever they be and whatever their quality, by the priestly itself. The royalty itself and the priestly itself is holy whatever is the quality of him who ministers. Hence it is that the Word which an evil one teaches is equally holy, also the sacrament of Baptism and the Holy Supper, and similar things." (A. C. 3670; italics my own.)

     If there be no sanctity in the ultimate ritual of a Church after it has fallen, then why should it have come to pass, "of Divine Providence, that the Papists separated the bread from the wine?" (A. C. 10040; A. E. 1054; S. D. 6059.) When internal holiness had ceased with them, on account of the separation of truth from good, it became imperative that the force of external sanctity apart from internal should be diminished. If Old Church baptism be an empty ceremony, that is, of no spiritual effect, then what can be meant by the following passage, which describes the spiritual results of the cessation of the sacraments among the Quakers?

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We read: "Because they have neglected both sacraments, Baptism and the Holy Supper, and yet read the Word and preach the Lord, and speak under obsession from enthusiastic spirits, and thus commingle the holy things of the Word with profaned truths, therefore no society is formed out of them in the spiritual world; but after they have wandered dissociated here and there they are separated, and are collected in the aforesaid desert." (C. L. J. 85.)

     In fact, "everyone is by baptism inserted into the societies and congregations there, according to the quality of the Christianity in him or outside of him." (T. C. R. 680.) In the world of spirits, there are Roman Catholic societies, societies of such Protestant sects as practice infant baptism, as well as New Church societies. Whatever may be our condemnation of the evil character of such Old Church groupings as occur there, we are in no sense justified in saying that baptism in an Old Church sect has lost its efficacy to put the one baptized into spiritual association with his coreligionists there. Even if thoroughly convinced that this is the case, it should not be our effort or wish to discourage Old Church people from keeping up their observance of the sacraments, in the hope that we would thereby get them to weaken their attachments to the spiritual world as a negative means of advancing the compensatory enhancement of the New Church. There are many uses to be performed in the spiritual world which are not going to fail, even though for many decades it may be necessary to have them done by spirits from decadent Christianity. Read on this point A. C. 6858, 6914, 8054, and also the explanation given in A. C. 9336 as to why the former inhabitants of Canaan could only be driven out "little by little" before the Israelites.

     In his zeal to fulminate against tendencies to make forbidden alliances with the corrupt inhabitants of the heavenly Canaan, Mr. Ottley has temporarily placed in the shade the principle that they are performing definite uses by still being there, that it would be detrimental to have them expelled thence any faster than the "little by little" of Exodus 23:30, and that there are salvable persons among them who are benefited by ministrations which seem help.

     His suggestion, however, that there is a difference between the sanctity of ritual subsequent to the Lord's advent and what was the case before is valuable; and though I am unable to agree with the explanation he has given in proposition 2, I trust that he or some one else will endeavor to elucidate the subject further.

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     The point I would emphasize in conclusion is this, that while all Old Church ministrations should be tabooed by a sound New Churchman, he still must admit that the same ministrations are of value in various ways. No person who has perceived the true state of the Old Church can sanction for himself and those dear to him any of its ministrations without courting spiritual danger or showing himself to be callous to spiritual values. But to the simple remnant in that Church, who idolatrously believe it to be of God, it can still perform some spiritual service, though diminishingly so, day by day. Consummated religions may still perform certain uses to mankind. They are like trees which are rotten within, but having the bark sufficiently intact to continue producing leaves and fruit. As to the uses of a positive character, we cite as examples that the Jews keep alive a reverence for the Hebrew language; the Moravians preserve an idea of primitive Christianity S. D. 3492); and the Catholics foster a willingness to confess sins, and a veneration for the Divine Majesty of the Lord's Human. (T. C. R. 562; B. E. 109.) They all perform the negative use of holding up civil standards and preventing a social anarchy.

     If all members of the Old Church should suddenly awake to the spiritual corruption there, and yet did not accept the heavenly doctrine, there would be an alarming increase of infidels who would not be amenable to any restraints of spiritual or natural law. It is in Providence, therefore, that a loathing for the Old Church should not spread much more rapidly than the heavenly doctrine can penetrate. The two go with equal pace.
     E. E. IUNGERICH.
ANOTHER REPLY TO MR. OTTLEY 1921

ANOTHER REPLY TO MR. OTTLEY       FREDERICK M. BILLINGS       1921

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:

     Rather more than thirty years ago, four men were studying the Doctrines under Dr. Rudolph L. Tafel. Two of them, Arthur Farady and Lewis P. Slight, have passed on.

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Mr. Ottley and the writer are still here. We took up the subject of Baptism and the Holy Supper, and acknowledged the need for an external church, but did not reach the fierce conclusions of Mr. de Charms, and of Mr. Ottley today, that the Catholic and Protestant Churches, in their administrations of these sacraments, represent the devil.

     In the recurring discussion of the state of the religious world, I find little or no reference to Swedenborg's thought and practice. He was too busy to attempt to evangelize or teach personally, but he sent his books to the Seminaries-where the future preachers and theologians worked. He thus acknowledged that the judgment period in this world had not closed. Since then, the Swedenborg and other New Church Missionary Societies have continued that work, and many, many thousand copies of the Writings have been circulated in that way. When I landed in Boston, shortly after studying under Dr. Tafel, my books were examined by a Customs Inspector, and he surprised me by saying that their influence had been widespread in the Western World. Recently I have read with considerable interest the accounts of the Mission work of Revs. Karl Alden and Theodore Pitcairn. They tend to show that work supplementary to that of advertising books, namely, personal work by conversation and public teaching, are now possible.

     If we consider all the priests and pastors in the churches around us as representatives of the devil, we are not likely to work very strenuously for the spread of the knowledge of the Lord. For, bad as these church-members may be, they are no worse than those who are not of the churches.

     I do not say that the average church doctrine today is correct; but I do affirm that it will bear comparison with what was taught when Swedenborg wrote. Possibly, later on, if those who have the light do not let it shine more brightly than it now does (largely it is under a bushel, and not on a candlestick), the influence of the churches will be less and less of service. But there is at present no immediate probability of this. What has happened is, I think, this. The simple-good, the "earth," have "helped the woman" and have temporarily lessened the power of the oldness, or falsity, of the still nominally accepted creeds of the "Old Church." Those of you who are nearly correct in your beliefs have found it a long-winded battle to bring the other folk somewhere near your standards.

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When our realizes that not a few hundred, but as many millions, are involved in the changing tenor of church-thought around us, there may be less impatience as to the results achieved and more recognition of their value.

     As an example: The Methodist Church began about the time of the Last Judgment, and I will venture to say that any fairly capable New-Church speaker could address the average Methodist gathering and win acceptance to a well-considered address on the Lord as God Incarnate, Redeemer and Savior. I do not think or say that all the warnings in the Brief Exposition have been heard or known-but neither Rome nor the New Jerusalem could be built in a day. Some of its walls and gates were fixed first, others later on, and I regret the attempt to play on one or two strings of a fiddle, as only Paganini could, when the full powers of the instrument should be used. The other side of the ship should not be forgotten.
     FREDERICK M. BILLINGS.
17 Battery Place, New York City.
PROGRAM OF MID-YEAR MEETINGS 1921

PROGRAM OF MID-YEAR MEETINGS              1921

     To BE HELD AT BRYN ATHYN, PA., FEBRUARY 2ND TO 6TH, 1921.

     Wednesday 2nd-Consistory. 10:30 a. m. and 3 p. m.
Thursday 3rd-Council of the Clergy. 10:00 a. m. and 3 p. m.
-Philadelphia District Assembly. 8:00 p. m.
Friday 4th-Council of the Clergy. 10:00 a. m. and 3 p. m.
-Philadelphia District Assembly. 8:00 p. m.
Saturday 5th-Joint Council. 10:00 a. m. and 3 p. m.
-Philadelphia District Assembly. 8:00 p. m.
Sunday 6th-General Church Anniversary, 1897-1921.
-Special Service and The Holy Supper. 11:00 a. m.
-Banquet. 6:45 p. m.

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Church News 1921

Church News       Various       1921

     ERIE, PA.-It is time we let the rest of the church know that the Erie Circle is still alive, in fact, is pulsing with life. For six months we have not missed a single Sunday service. We meet around at the different houses, sometimes in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon, just as it suits the convenience of the householder, for we believe that each man should be priest in his own home.

     Thanksgiving week was a busy and profitable one for our society. The Rev. F. E. Waelchli, our Pastor, was with us for that week. We started off Thanksgiving night by having a most enjoyable social at the residence of Mr. Benjamin Evans. Credit for the success of this affair should go to the forethought and ability of Miss Ruby, the mistress of ceremonies. There were games for the oldest and games for the youngest. We even induced our dignified Pastor to join us in an exhilarating potato race.

     Friday night, November the 26th, the society assembled for a business meeting, the first of the kind that has been held under the pastorate of Mr. Waelchli. There was much interest shown in this meeting, and all took active part in the discussions. While there were four points on our docket for discussion, only one of these was covered,-the question of finances. The remaining questions were laid over until our Pastor makes his next visit. It was determined at this meeting, however, that the Erie Society would, whenever possible, avail itself of the opportunity to secure the services of the Pittsburgh Pastor, the Rev. Homer Synnestvedt, in between visits of our regular Pastor, the society to defray all Mr. Synnestvedt's expenses if he would consent to come.

     Saturday, the 27th, a children's Sunday School was held, at which there were four children present. In the evening we had a men's meeting, which proved to be of such absorbing interest that it did not break up until the Pastor insisted that it was time for us to go home, as he did not want us all falling asleep the next morning at services.

     Sunday morning, communion service was held. Eighteen were present, two of whom were visitors. There were thirteen communicants. In the evening the regular doctrinal class was held. In addition to the class, Mr. Waelchli discussed briefly the duties of the lay reader in conducting services. On Monday, to our regret, he left us for home; but we all felt that a new impetus had been given to the work of our small circle.
     E. T. C.

     SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA. -Since my last report, all the usual activities of the Society have been well maintained. More children are attending Sunday School, making it necessary to have another class; so the older boys and girls have been divided. Mr. Morgan taking the boys' class.

     On July 10th, the founding of the Society, July 11th, 1909, was celebrated for the first time, by a social gathering held after the annual business meeting. And on July 31st the second anniversary of the Sunday School was remembered by an afternoon picnic of the Sunday School scholars and adults.

     I am glad to be able to say that progress has been made towards the acquiring of a building for worship and Sunday School at Hurstville, a matter which was referred to in my last report. At an informal meeting, November 15th, all were agreeable that the Society purchase a block of land which has been made available to us, and to erect a small building upon it. It will of necessity be humble; but how thankful pre will feel to have, at last, a House dedicated to the worship of the Lord in His Divine Human.

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     At the business meeting mentioned above, it was decided that the Society become incorporated under the Companies Act of the State. This is to enable us safely to hold property. A meeting is being arranged to consider the Articles of Association, after which it is hoped we will soon be a corporate body.

     On November 6th, the wedding of Mr. Alfred Kirschstein and Miss Beatrice Taylor was celebrated. As our Pastor has not a license from the State, the legal ceremony was performed by a State Registrar, after which our Paster consecrated the marriage according to the ritual of the General Church Liturgy, and administered the Sacrament of the Holy Supper to the newly married pair at the end of the ceremony. It was impressive and interesting. All the adult members were present, but on account of the restricted space, the children could not be accommodated. At the wedding breakfast, several good speeches were made. The Pastor, in proposing the toast to the newly married pair, spoke concerning the special providence of the Lord which is over marriages. Mr. Morgan, in supporting the toast, spoke of marriage and its relation to regeneration The bridegroom, in reply, gave the best speech he has ever made, and in it expressed their thankfulness to the Lord for having so blessed them in granting their union and having given them true friends in His New Church. He concluded by proposing toast to "New Church Friendship."
     M. M. W.

     DURBAN, NATAL, S. AFRICA.

     Editor, New Church Life:

     At a meeting of the Durban Society, held recently, it was decided that we, like other societies of the General Church, should correspond with New Church Life from time to time, giving news of our work in Durban. We felt that this would act as a greater bond of union between Bryn Athyn, other General Church Societies, and ourselves; also that it might help to create a greater interest in the Fundamental Doctrines of the Church. We hope, therefore, that you will accept the following notes:

     We are anxiously looking forward to the time when we shall again have a pastor of our own, which happy event we expect before the year is out, when the Rev. Hugo L. Odhner and his wife will be with us. It was with feelings of great regret that we bade farewell to the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal in July. He has been our Pastor, teacher and friend for six years, and not one with whom he came in contact could fail to recognize his sterling qualities, his absolute thoroughness, and his ever-readiness to assist.

     During the interlude between his departure and the arrival of the Rev. H. L. Odhner, we have enjoyed the services of the Rev. Theodore Pitcairn. Work has gone on as before. Perhaps a brief resume of the services and classes would be of interest. Children's services are held at 9:30 a.m., on Sundays, with the exception of the last Sunday in each month, when the children are invited to the adult service held at 11 a.m. This arrangement was made because it was felt that a combined service would be beneficial to the adults, as it would strengthen the sphere of worship, and to the children, as they would better realize the importance of worship in the company of their parents and elders.

     On Thursday evenings, at 8 p.m., a Doctrinal Class is held for adults, and followed by Choir Practice. On Friday afternoons, from 3 to 5, classes are held for the children. They are graded into three classes; and in addition to teaching from the Word, they are taught recitations in English and Hebrew, and also have a singing practice. It has been customary to keep the last Friday in each month as a party day or social, which we hold either in Bayley Hall or at some place of interest in Durban. On the last outing, the children were taken to the Zoo, and during the course of the afternoon the Rev. Theodore Pitcairn gave the children some correspondences of the animals seen there.

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     On Saturday evenings, at 8 p.m., a class is held for the young boys and girls of the Church who are past the stage of the Friday Class. These classes are held at the homes of the parents of the students, and are conducted by the Pastor. They are followed by games, music, and refreshment. These evenings are much enjoyed by all, and well attended, the usual number present being ten.

     We have recently had a happy event in the marriage of Mr. Garth Pemberton to Miss [Violet Wood-Bush, (both New Church), which took place on October 19th, the Rev. Theodore Pitcairn officiating. The Church was prettily decorated, a special feature being the charming arch of evergreen and St. Joseph lilies (Easter lilies). After the ceremony, the guests were invited to the home of the bride's parents, Mr. and Mrs. S. Wood-Bush, where, after the usual toasts, a happy afternoon ensued.

     We are shortly to lose Mr. Pitcairn, who is taking Mr. Brown's place in Basutoland, and vice versa. We shall be very sorry to say good-bye to Mr. Pitcairn, as we have appreciated his stay with us very much. His sermons, in particular, have been very much enjoyed.

     This ends our small budget for this month, and as you will receive this shortly before Christmas, we send our greetings, and hope that the New Year will bring increasing prosperity to the work of the Lord's New Church on earth.
     Yours sincerely,
          ENID E. COCKERELL.

     Correspondent for Durban Society of the New Church. November 7, 1920.

     PARIS, FRANCE.-The Rev. F. Hussenet writes that he is now delivering missionary lectures in Paris-two every month, alternating with the services. The lecture on November 21 was attended by 150 persons. The subjects to be dealt with on these occasions are as follows: 1. Necessity of a New Religion. 2. The New Jerusalem revealed by the Lord through Swedenborg to the World. 3. The Life of Swedenborg, our Great Revelator. 4. Resume of the Former Churches from the Most Ancient to the Present. 5. The Divine Word. 6. Apparent Contradictions in the Scriptures. 7. The Second Coming of our Lord. 8. The Origin and Cause of Evil, and the Influence of Evil and Falsity on our Earth. 9. The Spiritual Sense of the Word. 10. Correspondences.

     REPORT OF THE VISITING PASTOR.-After quite a long interval, I had the pleasure of again being with the friends at WINDSOR, ONT., and DETROIT, November 20th to 24th. On Sunday morning, the 21st, services were held at Windsor. Twelve persons were present, of whom ten partook of the Holy Supper. In the evening there took place, at the house of Mr. and Mrs. H. G. Field, Birmingham, Mich., the betrothal of their daughter, Harriet, and Mr. Cyrus Doering. After the service, the evening was given to conversation on the doctrine concerning betrothal. On Monday evening a doctrinal class was held at Windsor, and on Tuesday evening at Detroit.

     The next point visited was ERIE, PA. A report of the meetings held there appears elsewhere in this issue.

     The evening of November 29th was spent at BARBERTON, OHIO, with three Sons of the Academy,-the Messrs. E. T. Asplundh, Bertrand Smith, and Arthur Wiedinger. A class was held at the house where Mr. Wiedinger resides, and a delightful hour was spent in the discussion of certain aspects of the doctrine concerning the Holy Supper. This was followed by a social time over refreshments provided by our host. Does not a gathering such as this speak eloquently of the Academy's educational work, and also suggest the importance of the "follow up" work which the General Church must do? Three young men, trained in the Academy, and called away from their Church centers by their uses, in their isolation long for the ministrations of the Church, which they have learned to regard as essential to life.

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And so the General Church responds to their desire. The same must be done elsewhere, wherever there are sons and daughters of the Academy living in isolation. If there be any such within reach of my circuit, I will be pleased to hear from them. Our first duty in Church Extension is conservation.

     The next two days, I was with Mr. and Mrs. Wiley and Mrs. Allen, at COLUMBUS, OHIO. On both afternoons instruction was given the children. The second evening a class was held, at which two strangers were present. Our subject was the Lord's transfiguration.

     The CINCINNATI Circle enjoyed a visit from the Rev. and Mrs. H. L. Odhner during three weeks of November. Mr. Odhner preached three times, two of these occasions being when the Pastor was on the above mentioned trip. During the Christmas season three of our young people, Mr. Allen Smith, Miss Cora Merrell and Miss Caroline Waelchli were home for their holidays. Our Children's Christmas Service was held on Sunday, December 26th. Our place of worship was appropriately decorated for the occasion. Offerings were brought forward by young and old, the same to be devoted to the Orphanage. After the service, gifts were presented to the pupils of the Sunday School.
     F. E. WAELCHLI.

     KITCHENER, ONT.-Since the last report we have been carrying on our various uses under the direction of our new Pastor, the Rev. L. W. T. David. Several events of special interest have taken place.

     The Young Folks' annual Hallowe'en party took the form of a masquerade, and was very successful. Everyone was in costume, including the men, and a jolly time was spent.

     On Sunday, November 28th, the Rev. Karl Alden preached for us, while Mr. David took his place in Toronto. We enjoyed Mr. Alden's visit here, and feel that an occasional exchange of pulpits in this way would be a useful thing.

     We had the great pleasure and privilege of having Miss Alice Grant visit us for three weeks during the latter part of November and the beginning of December. She was invited here, as to other centres of the Church, to talk to us on New Church Education, and we feel that her mission was useful and very successful. Her great experience as a New Church educator, and her sphere of intense love and interest in the work, did much to revive and stimulate in us a keener desire for distinctive New Church Education. Besides the numerous papers and talks she gave to smaller groups in the homes, she conducted a weekly class for Sunday School teachers, to which all were invited; also taught one of the classes at Sunday School each week, and took some of the classes in the elementary school daily. A paper was also read at the monthly Ladies' Meeting, and one was read to the Theta Alpha girls assembled at a banquet. On the last evening of her visit, Miss Alice read a paper to the Society, which was much appreciated, and was a fitting climax to her visit.

     During Miss Grant's visit a musicale was given. The outstanding features of the program were: "Ye Banks and Braes," sung by a Ladies' chorus; Schubert's Symphony in B minor, and "Marche Heroique," by Saint-Satans. The latter two numbers were rendered on two pianos.

     The men of the Society have reorganized their monthly men's meetings, and have formed the "Men's Club," with an executive committee to take charge of the programs to be prepared. As usual, the meetings begin with a doctrinal class. This is followed by a talk, or papers, presented by one or more members appointed by the executive committee.

     On the evening of December 22d, the children of the school presented a play, entitled-"The Princess and the Crystal Pipe," under the direction of their teacher, Miss Eva Campbell. It was a pretty fairy tale, charmingly acted and charmingly costumed, and everyone was delighted with the spirit of the children in acting their various parts. The costumes were made by the children themselves.

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     At the annual children's festival on Christmas Eve, we had a series of tableaux representing events in connection with the birth of John the Baptist, and of the Lord. There was also a table representation of the scene of the Lord's birth.

     The Christmas festival service was held on Sunday morning, December 26th. The sermon was on the subject of "The Son of God and the Son of Man." As an interlude, the choir rendered the Forty-eighth Psalm.
     F. V. S.

     SHARON CHURCH, CHICAGO.-We celebrated Christmas with services, a tree, and a supper. The children's service was held in the afternoon at five o'clock, and included songs, recitations from the Word, and a talk by the Pastor. Both children and adults then made offerings to various Church uses, after which the children received gifts from the Church, the older ones receiving beautiful copies of the Word, or of Heaven and Hell, or framed copies of Swedenborg's Rules of Life,-presents that will be a life-long pleasure and benefit to them. With the exception of a few prevented from attending by illness, our whole congregation was present, including fifteen children. The service was followed by a supper, after which everyone gave himself up to the delights of the occasions, expressed in singing, marching, and dancing. It was a veritable feast of joy.

     On the following Wednesday, the congregation gave a surprise party for the Pastor and his wife on the twenty-seventh anniversary of their wedding. It was a complete surprise to them, and proved to be a very happy event. With the efficient aid of Mrs. Van Epps, the young people had prepared a program which included vocal and instrumental music and some solo dancing by Miss Bertha Farrington. After refreshments, we danced and talked until midnight, when we bid our "host and hostess" good-night.

     On Thursday, a children's party was given by Mrs. Gladish to the children of the Sunday School. Some were absent owing to sickness, but the ten who attended greatly enjoyed the games, charades, and refreshments.

     New Year's Eve was celebrated by a gathering at our church rooms. The young people introduced candy-pull which proved a decidedly sticky kind of fun. Dr. Marelius read an amusing account of a college professor's attempt to make light wines and beer. Other social features came to a close before midnight, when the Pastor conducted a short service which ushered in the New Year.
     E. V. W.

     GLENVIEW.-Continuing her good work in the promotion of New Church Education, Miss Alice Grant, of Bryn Athyn, has arrived in Glenview, and has already held a number of meetings with the ladies of the Immanuel Church.

     Still another wedding has taken place in our little community. On December 15th, 1920, Mr. E. Crebert Burnham and Miss Vera McQueen were married at our church. Our Pastor officiated, and the musical part of the service was led by the organ and two violins. The bridal party entered the church to the strains of the Wedding March by Mendelssohn, and the bride and bridegroom proceeded directly to the altar, where they remained kneeling while the congregation sang "The Heavens are Telling." The young couple then made their marriage vows before the representative of the Lord, in the presence of their fellow members of the church and friends from other centers. After the blessing had been pronounced, the favorite anthem, "Thou wilt show me the path of life," was sung with much feeling, and the bridal party left the church, while the musicians again played the Wedding March. It is needless to add that this marriage of two young people who had been reared under the wing of the Immanuel Church gave satisfaction and delight to their respective parents and friends.

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The bridesmaids were Miss Phyllis Burnham, Maid of Honor, Miss Katherine Burnham and Miss Maud Reuter. Mr. Ralph Synnestvedt was Best Man. Following the marriage service, a reception was held in the Parish Hall, where the newly married pair received the hearty congratulations of their numerous friends. After the toasts and distribution of the wedding cake, there was a social time with dancing.

     This year, in connection with our Christmas celebration, a new thing was introduced by our Pastor, who, with the assistance of a number of our members, presented a series of beautiful tableaux on our stage on Christmas Eve. Scenes from the Old and New Testaments relating to the birth of our Lord into the world were portrayed with marked artistic effect, and the sphere of inward delight experienced by the audience, consisting largely of children, was indicated by the absolute silence which prevailed during the representations. It is difficult to conceive of a more fitting introduction to Christmas Day. On Christmas morning, the parts of the service usually allotted to the lessons from the Letter of the Word were filled in with recitations by the school children; and the Christmas gifts taken forward by the worshipers were for the various uses of the Church. At the close of the service, the congregation walked in procession to the Parish Hall, where our Pastor presented gifts to the children.

     Since Christmas, the school children have had their party; and on New Year's Eve, a social and supper was provided for the adults. After supper, worship was conducted in the church, when our Pastor gave a very impressive address, in which he suggested the following text to be used by his hearers as a motto for the coming year: Watch ye, therefore; for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning; lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch." (Mark 13:35-31.)
     G. A. MCQUEEN.

     TORONTO, CAN.-Our Christmas service was marked this year by the use of the chancel of our chapel for dramatic representations depicting scenes connected with the Nativity. The service opened with a procession by the children, and when they had marched into place, the chancel curtains were slowly raised and the Minister entered and kneeled before opening the Word. Then followed the sentence, the prayers, and the singing of a hymn, during which the Minister descended from the chancel, while the curtain fell behind him. The service then continued, with lessons, recitations, and singing. The offering to the Orphanage was followed by an address by the Pastor, who closed by announcing the five tableaux. Soft violin music was then heard, and presently the curtains were raised, revealing the scene of The Annunciation, the words being repeated by the angel and Mary. This concluded, the violin was again heard, preparing for the next scene. In this way were presented The Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth, The Return of Speech to Zacharias, and the Nativity, shown consecutively, with brief intervals of music. But the last scene of all was perhaps the most effective and beautiful. A light from an invisible source shed a wonderful beam upon the open Word in the Repository, all the other lights being extinguished, while the violin and piano played the music of the hymn, "Lord, Thy Word Abideth." The curtains being lowered, the children sang another Christmas hymn, during which the curtains again were raised, the Minister entering the chancel and standing by the Word. The closing prayer and the benediction brought to an end a service that was welded into a perfect unity and expressive throughout of deep sentiments of worship.

     Mrs. Ella Brown was responsible for the management of the tableaux. She and her loyal helpers entered with marked reverence into the undertaking, and the whole sphere was one of joyful service.

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     On the next day, Sunday, a Christmas Service for both children and adults was held, and much enjoyed by all, though losing somewhat in effectiveness by the seating of the children in the annex, where they were invisible to most of the congregation.

     On New Pear's Eve a Watch Meeting was held. During the earlier part of the evening, a program of games, arranged by Mr. Wilson and Mrs. Schierholtz, kept every one in a lively frame of mind, and there was much merrymaking as the last moments of the old year sped to their conclusion. At a quarter to twelve, however, all took their places in the chapel to make the first act of the new year one of worship, thus signifying their intention to make the things of the Church the primary things of life.

     On December 15th, we held a party in place of the regular doctrinal class, the affair being in the hands of six of the young people, who arranged for progressive euchre. Everyone seemed to enjoy this evening of cards, which was followed by a musical selection by the Pastor and Mrs. Alden, a recitation by Mrs. Ray Brown, and then-refreshments. The senior class of the Sunday School, consisting of five girls and six boys from 16 to 19 years of age, had a military euchre party at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Alden last month. Some hot battles were fought between the teams of the various nations represented, but at the final blow of the bugle, Belgium was seen to have won the contest.
     K. R. A.

     BRYN ATHYN.-We are blest with the opportunity of being able to build up about the beautiful Cathedral traditional celebration of Christmas in which, by repetition, certain outstanding features may exercise a power that will be cumulative with the passing years. The leading characteristics of the Children's Service this year were carried over from last year with increasing effect. The star above the tower; the brilliant candle decorations of the chancel and sanctuary; the stirring music of the wind instruments; the procession of the children, accompanied by members of the choir bearing lighted candles; the Representation of the Nativity in the side aisle; all these are basic features which will gain in power by repetition, and will in time take hold upon the affections of young and old alike. And yet, about these as central features, there may be indefinite variation and unlimited opportunity for growth and improvement.

     Such an improvement this year was the separation of the Festival from the Children's Service, and the holding of the Festival on the following day, not at the church, but in the auditorium. Here something new in the way of tableaux was attempted with marked success. Under the able direction of Miss Creda Glenn, a special chorus sang selected parts of Hawley's cantata, "The Christ Child," the music coming from behind the scenes while the story was being illustrated on the stage by artistic tableaux of powerful appeal, giving evidence of Mr. Finkeldey's well-known ability. These were four scenes: The Annunciation of the Angel to the Shepherds; The Journey to Bethlehem by the Shepherds; and the Nativity. The grouping and color blending were fine, the climax being reached in the final scene, where the mingling of a purple and golden light upon the figures of Mary bending over the manger, in contrast with the pale blue of the night sky seen through the doorway, against which the figures of the worshiping shepherds were silhouetted, produced a very powerful effect. Before the tableaux, between them, and afterward, the schools sang appropriate Christmas songs, and there were the customary gifts of fruit and candy to the children, the secondary schools also participating.

     On Christmas Day, there was a special service for all at the Cathedral, Bishop W. F. Pendleton delivering the sermon; and on Sunday morning the service was devoted to the quarterly administration of the Holy Supper.

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     A series of four days seems rather long, but the sphere is cumulative; and since there is only one public event on each day, time is reserved for full and adequate celebration in the home, a most important element with which nothing should interfere. While there is much room for growth and perfection in our present forms, we look forward to the future confidently, believing that a very beautiful custom may naturally develop out of the beginnings that have been made.
     G. DE C.

     Early settlers in Bryn Athyn who recall the visit of Dr. James A. Ingram and the lecture given by him at that time will find special interest in the contents of a clipping from the Washington Times recently sent us by Mr. John A. Wells. It reads:

     "Miss Isabel Ingram, Wellesley College student, and a girl friend are the only two white women who ever traveled through the valley of the Lost Tribe, in China. It is the Che Cho San Po, the hidden vale, where members of the lost tribe do penance for the sins of their ancestors, exiled as traitors 500 years ago. They were sent to a supposedly barren land to starve, but instead raised crops, and now number thirty villages. The history of the tribe was unearthed by Miss Ingram's father, Dr. James A. Ingram, who has practiced in China thirty-three years."

     PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.-The inception of the organized New Church in the Philippines is described in the New-Church Messenger for December 29, 1920, in an account bearing the title, "Philippine Beginnings," by the Rev. Ildefonso Agulo Alla, Pastor of the Manila Society. After studying law for three years, he "dedicated himself to the study and teaching of the Gospel of the Lord," and it was while acting in this capacity for the Christian Endeavor that he learned of the New Church. "The hand of Divine Providence seemed to extend itself to me from the Dawn of Creation, and with majestic and omnipotent voice blessed the sacred words, Fiat Lux, bringing light which has cleared up the true way for the health of souls. I saw the advertisement of the New-Church Theological School of Cambridge, Mass., which said that it gave instruction in Systematic Theology, the Interpretation of the Sacred Scripture, and the Sacred Languages." Writing at once, he began a course of study by correspondence. "In a few months I could comprehend that the New Church, or the Church of the New Jerusalem, is another and entirely different religion from the Roman, the Protestant Churches, Brahmanism, Buddhism, Islam, etc." Continuing, he says:

     "Some evangelical acquaintances were inviting me to join an assembly which had for its object the organization of a new religious body, and I would not accept because I was the Presbyter and Superintendent and also Secretary of Conference of the Independent Evangelical Christian Church of the Philippines. I did not wish to annoy the Bishop, as I was considered the Third Bishop. But my acquaintances begged me to assist them in the formation of the new religious body, and on this account I felt obliged to accept, under the condition that the new body must style itself the Church of the New Jerusalem. I told them this Church is mentioned in Revelation 21.

     "They then told me they would study the matter, and would ask the others what they thought about it. Three days later, we met again, and they said my proposition could not be accepted by the others, but that they begged me to attend the assembly. I told them I would be there, but that they could not count me as being a participant in the new religious body. They agreed to this.

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     "On April 12th, 1914, the assembly met, and I was there. They unanimously elected me Secretary of the Church of Jesus Christ the Savior. (This was the name of the newly constituted religious body.) I remained silent, not opposing this because I did not wish to cause its followers to lose their enthusiasm. Even when the Church of Christ the Savior had been organized and incorporated, and I was the recognized Presbyter and Secretary, my connection with the Independent Christian Evangelical Church was not severed. When I preached, I used the teachings of the New Church, until at last, by means of perseverance, effort, and prayer, the day arrived when I was able to write the constitution of the New Church or the New Jerusalem. I wrote this constitution in the light of the teachings of the book, The True Christian Religion, by Emanuel Swedenborg.

     "After invoking the Omnipotent, I read the constitution before meeting composed of those who were anxious to hear the constitution of the new religious body. Having heard it, it was accepted unanimously by those present. . . . The new organization of the New Jerusalem was announced in the Vanguardia, the newspaper having the greatest circulation in the Islands, during the last days of December, 1915. After a few days, we began the propaganda with public worship and the banner of the Church called the New Jerusalem, and we met much opposition.

     "On January 23rd, 1916, it was decided to place the words, "Church of Jesus Christ" before the words "New Jerusalem," in order to signify that the New Jerusalem is founded upon our Lord Jesus Christ, according to 2 Corinth. 2:11, `Lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices.'

     "On June 2nd, 1916, The Church of Jesus Christ, New Jerusalem, was duly incorporated in the Philippine Library and Museum of the Department of Public Instruction of the Government of the Philippines."

     LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND.-The December issue of Le Messager de la Nouvelle Eglise, which completes the fourth year of this monthly, announces that it will be devoted more particularly to missionary propaganda in the future, and will appear as a pamphlet of to pages, four of which will serve as a form or the Young People's League. It seems that the forthcoming quarterly, Nunc Licet, will be the repository for articles of a theological and philosophical character such as have hitherto been published in the Messenger.

     The current number of the Messenger contains three interesting contributions. The one from C. B. [Charles Byse?] is a two-page reasoning as to why an old Churchman should find Swedenborg worthy of deep consideration. Among other reasons advanced is that of momentous results of the study of his works in the world,-the many translations of his Writings, the Pott's Concordance, the phototyping of the originals, and " finally, a New Church founded after his death on the basis of his doctrines. This Church, which has an enormous literary output, is invading the world. Already it has two centers, one in England and the other in America. A third has just been established at Lausanne during the international Congress at the end of July, 1920." To be more accurate, the writer should have stated that there are two centers in America. He should also have noted that the Lausanne movement is under the auspices of the English and American centers he mentions.

     The article by A. de Chazal, a medical student, very ably advocates the reading of the work on Conjugial Love by the younger people of the Church. He considers it the one that will attract them most. "The doctrines of the New Church on conjugial love," he says, "are without doubt the most attractive to our young men and girls. They are undoubtedly the most useful to further the regeneration of the young." (p. 144)

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     Interest attaches to the article by H. G. de Geymuller, expounding the spiritual sense of the Marriage at Cana. In the main, it is a good piece of work. But unfortunately it is marred by the following sentence, advocating the permeation doctrine: "Since the Lord performed the Last Judgment in the spiritual world, the world is insensibly tending to become more interior, and to detach itself from things that are purely external." If the writer, who is to be Editor of the new quarterly, Nunc Licet, is also an advocate of the permeation theory, which has now been espoused by the leading writers in Convention and Conference, the hope that the French-speaking people will have a periodical based upon clearly and soundly enunciated doctrines, and not on purely sentimental surmises, will be disappointed. It is true that since the Last Judgment the "man of the church is in a freer state to think of the things of faith, thus of the spiritual things of heaven, because spiritual freedom has been restored;" also that now, "from restored freedom, he can better perceive interior truths, if he is willing to perceive them, and thus become interior, if he is willing to; but that still the angels have slender hope for the men of the Christian Church." (Last Judgment, 73, 74.) This hardly justifies the belief that "the world is insensibly tending to become more interior," since it can only do so with those "who are willing to become interior," who are those who enter the Lord's New Church, because they are "willing to perceive interior truths"-sensibly.
     E. E. I.

     BELGIUM.-The first issue of La Nouvelle Jerusalem, a quarterly journal for French-speaking people published by the General Church under the editorship of the Rev. Ernst Deltenre, has just been received, and sample copies are available at the Academy Book Room. It is an 8 x 5 booklet of 120 pages, and has the outward appearance of a fascinating novel. The artistic skill of Mr. J. J. Gailliard, already known to readers of the Life for his mural decorations of the chapel in Brussels, is quite in evidence in this new publication. First, the cover design, vermilion on sky blue, is a fantasie of the seven-branched candlestick on which is descending a scroll suspended from a crown. The scroll bears the Latin equivalent of "That which the Divine has revealed is with the Word"; "Truth Divine is called the Word, and the Word is the Lord." In the arabesques of the candlesticks are the Latin words far "Behold, I make all things new." Within the booklet, as a frontispiece, we find a reproduction of M. Gailliard's painting, "The Magus of the East," permission for its reproduction having been granted by the English magazine, Colour. It appropriately illustrates the sermon by the Editor on "The Magi of the East." On page 90 we find a full page drawing in red, which represents Swedenborg holding as a chart the title-page of the Brief Exposition with the inscription, "Hic Liber est Adventus Domini," thereon.

     The contents of this number include a French translation of Bishop N. D. Pendleton's "Address to the Council of the Clergy," which was printed in the Life for August, 1920; an address by the Rev. E. E. Iungerich delivered in Bryn Athyn last 19th of June; a short paper by the Rev. G. C. Ottley on "The Christian World and the New Church;" and a paper by the Editor on "The Disciples at Emmaus." Then follow news notes, an editorial on the Divine Truth being the Word, a translation of Bishop W. F. Pendleton's "Order of the General Church" (Life, July, 1914), and of the Rev. C. Th. Odhner's Testimony of the Writings.

     The dominant note of this attractive issue of the new quarterly is that the Writings of Swedenborg are the Word of the Lord to His New Church, and that the organized New Church should not be localized within the confines of any race or nation, but should be international. A photograph of the Joint Council of the General Church of the New Jerusalem is reproduced in this number.

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     We congratulate M. Deltenre upon the attractive appearance and upon the name he has chosen for this periodical, which continues under sound New Church tradition the journal of the same name that was published at St. Armand by M. Le Boys des Guays.
     E. E. I.
ACADEMY LIBRARY 1921

ACADEMY LIBRARY              1921

     EDITIONS OF THE EARTHS IN THE UNIVERSE DESIRED.

     The Academy Library desires to procure the following ten editions of The Earths in the Universe. The full imprint of each edition is given in order to facilitate the search for them in any private library or second-hand book store. The Library would very much appreciate the co-operation of the members of the Church in this important work. Since last October, the Library has received, as gifts from members of the Church, ten copies of the Writings for the Star Collection. These have added to the value of the collection, and are much appreciated.

     Concerning the Earths in our Solar System. . . . London: sold by W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, Stationers' Hall Court, Ludgate Street; J. S. Hodson, Cross Street, Hatton Garden; T. Goyder, Dartmouth Street, Westminster; and by W. and W. Clarke, Manchester, 1828. The Same. . . . Boston: published by Otis Clapp, 121, Washington Street, 1837 The Same. . . . Boston published by Otis Clapp. New York: John Allen. Cincinnati: J. F. Desilver. 1848.-The Same, 1851.

     The Earths in the Universe. . . . London: published by the Swedenborg Society (instituted 1810) 36, Bloomsbury Street, Oxford Street, 1855. The Same. . . . New York: American Swedenborg Printing and Publishing Society, Bible House, Astor Place, 1857.

     IN FRENCH: Des Terues dans natre Monde Solaire. . . . A Paris: chez Treuttel et Wiirtz, libraires, rue de Bourbon, no. 17. A Strasbourg et a Londres, meme Maison de Commerce, 1824.

     IN GERMAN: Emanuel Swedenborg von den Erdkorpern der Planten.... Zweyte Auflage. Frankfurt und Leipzig, 1771. (The Library has the same with imprint "Schwedenborg" instead of "Swedenborg" on title-page.)

     Extracts from The Earths in the Universe, in Danish: Adskillige curieuse Ammaerkninger og Efterretninger om den bekiendte laerde Emanuel Swedenborg. . . . Kiobenhavn, 1774. Trykt hos L. Simmelkiaer, boende paa Adresse-contoiret. The Same, 1780.

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MID-YEAR MEETINGS 1921

MID-YEAR MEETINGS              1921




     Announcements.



     All who expect to attend the Meetings of the Councils and the Philadelphia District Assembly, to be held February 2nd to 6th, 1921, are requested to notify Miss Freda Pendleton, Bryn Athyn, Pa., who will provide for their entertainment.

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REVERENCE FOR THE LORD'S REPRESENTATIVES 1921

REVERENCE FOR THE LORD'S REPRESENTATIVES       Rev. HOMER SYNNESTVEDT       1921


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLI          MARCH, 1921          No. 3
     Dwelling, as we do in America, at the crossroads of so many of the world's highways, we have opportunities for observing which kind of the old world's people make the best citizens, and especially the best New Churchmen.

     As to law-abiding and use-loving citizenship, the palm must go without question to those who have the most deeply-rooted respect for law and order; and among these, the peoples who have a limited monarchy, combining a spirit of free and outspoken democracy with deep remains of affection and respect for the person of their ruler, stand among the highest; while the more radical element, who blatantly ridicule or revile the ruler, the courts, and all the established representatives of law and order, are more difficult to assimilate. Yet this is supposed to be a land of radical departures, a refuge for all the innovators of the world!

     That America is really conservative and law-abiding, in common with the best traditions of the leading countries of Europe, is eloquently testified by the bitterness with which the Bolshevists and other radicals assail it. But we have gotten rid of some of the perverted forms and traditions of Europe.

     As to the institution of the monarchy, we had the problem of getting rid of the abuse of this high office, arising from the fact that princes had come to claim for themselves the Divine powers of the royalty by right of birth, and as inherent in their persons and their blood.

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An English monarch, of German extraction, carried this tyrannous doctrine so far that we rebelled, and sought freedom in a system of checks and balances which would prevent the exercise of autocratic tyranny. We give the supreme judicial power to a Supreme Court, the legislative powers to a Congress, one branch of which, being frequently re-elected, controls taxation, while the other, the more conservative branch, counterbalances it, on the one hand, and the ruler on the other. But a strong unity is found in our President, who has executive powers beyond those of the present-day titular rulers of Europe; and therefore custom approves the policy of limiting his tenure to eight years at the most. Moreover, not having a Premier between the representatives of the people and himself, the President becomes the active leader of one of our major parties, and this makes it impossible for us to enshrine him in the hearts of the people, from childhood up, as the representative of the Lord. We cannot, of course, anoint a party leader with the holy oil of the sphere of reverence which belongs to the President's office on its Divine side. This is a loss to us in the matter of the deeper remains of childhood, and among the simple. We partly make it up by using the pictured image of "Uncle Sam," who is almost as real to us as an actual person. Is not the King of England largely an embodiment of all the best traditions of an office? When the people see him, especially on state occasions, are they not ascribing to him all that was inspiring in their Kings from Arthur down? As he is a representative functionary, detached from party strife, it is possible for all parties to unite and dwell upon his virtues.

     Why, then, if this "figurehead" arrangement, as we like to call it, humorously, is so useful and influential in a sentimental way, why not advocate some form of it for our own country, Perhaps such as they have in France?

     The reason is that until men receive the New Church, and are able to distinguish clearly between the person and the office, and thus truly and humbly to ascribe all the Divinity and sanctity of that office to the Lord, they cannot enjoy freedom and safety in regard to it. The power of such a representative, when built up, as it ought to be, from the cradle, is too great to be entrusted to an Old Churchman; and the people themselves, without the new truths which alone can make them free, would be too easily seduced by a skillful and designing monarch.

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Even where they still keep the kingly office as a representative use, they feel obliged to make it a mere representative, shorn of nearly all of its actual control and political leadership. As they say, the "King reigns, but does not rule." Parliament-or a majority there-really rules, through a Cabinet directly responsible to them at all times. This seems to be the best arrangement possible there until the Lord returns to His Church, and until truths and laws, or the guiding principles of law and order, can again be drawn forth from His Word. Through the crowning Revelation now given to the rational plane, with a people well-grounded in such a faith, our President could perhaps be clothed with the dignity of a sacred kind that rightly pertains to the office of Chief Magistrate.

     But how is it in the New Church? Is it not possible here, even now, to make a beginning of the restoration of holy reverence for the Lord's representatives in the priestly office? We have already made a beginning, indeed, in the Academy, chiefly as to doctrinal acknowledgment. Nor could it be otherwise in a body so unequivocally dedicated to the Divine Authority of the Heavenly Doctrine. But in the way of developing those feelings of reverence for the "Meenister" which some of the people born and raised in Scotland have, and for the "Herr Pastor" which those religious and freedom-loving Germans of the last century brought over with them, we have perhaps not done enough. This much I suggest-that we make a beginning with our Bishop. In a center where the Bishop is not wholly detached from external responsibilities of a lesser sort relating to our educational work, we can only proceed in a general way. But in the other centers, where the Bishop appears only once a year, we should take pains to speak to our children, and to impress upon them that he is not only like the other men whom we know and like, but that he is also the highest official of our Church. He is the man chosen by the Providence of the Lord, and with the concurrence of all ministers and people of the Church, to lead us and to go in for us into the presence of the Lord, to get such light as he can to enable him to have charge of the work of building and protecting our New Church. In the midst of the rapid breaking up of the old religions, this is a grave task. It is almost like leading a forlorn hope-so great are the peculiar difficulties and many spiritual dangers of our present environment.

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     In the New Church, where the teachings of the Heavenly Doctrines upon this subject are so clear that both the Bishop and we ourselves ought to have no difficulty in keeping the man and the office distinct, it ought to be possible to restore to the children those most thrilling remains of loyalty to the Lord's anointed, that they may come to feel all the power that resides in ultimates when the Divine uses of the Son of God are embodied in a person who carries the actual sphere of them and of their holiness.

     We realize, of course, how this has been abused, and is being abused on every side, by those who know its power, and who have been able to usurp for themselves and their human head the age-long traditions of the dignity of the priesthood. But the fact that they have arrogated Divine functions to themselves, and thus have actually ceased to attribute all this to the Lord Himself and His Holy Word, and do not clearly distinguish between the man, and the office, which is only adjoined to the man, does not seem to be a reason why we should not do something to restore that most powerful agency, and make the most of it.

     Let us take the opportunity, then, when the Bishop is about to make a visit, to speak to the children about it, and about the holiness of his office, and why he should be shown every mark of respect. The best way, however, is to say very little, and show it more by our sphere, and our own actual interest in the preparations. If they see us actually turning our houses upside down, in order to accommodate as many guests as possible, and putting everything else aside so as to get the maximum benefit from his visit, that will impress them more than much talk. However, they should receive direct instruction out of the Word and the Writings, and this should be done in the homes. This is a matter that belongs more to the return due to the Pastor's instruction, which is best inspired by the people among themselves, rather than by the direct instruction of the Pastor and professional teachers.

     The tradition of respect for the priestly office is already one of our most auspicious inheritances from the fathers of our Church. And although we have had to suffer for it (for every new truth or good brings new temptations), we have survived sundry castigations, overturnings and corrections in regard to it. No doubt there will be more temptation-as its power increases.

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Yet there is no doubt, also, that the doctrine that the priesthood is to be left free really to lead in our Church as to all matters of instruction and worship is a great element of strength and cohesion, which, in the future, will carry us through critical times, such as have broken up so many promising circles and societies of the past.

     But its chief benefit will come as a result of the influence of the minister when he brings the Heavenly Doctrines to bear upon the lives of the individual members and their children or young people. The benefit of such an influence in times of stress and doubt and crisis may be very great. But it requires that we maintain able and wise priests (among whom there is subordination), so that the people can be protected from betrayal of their confidence. When faithful ministers become the real spiritual "guides, philosophers and friends" to the people, it is well with the Church. But this is a high ideal, and we necessarily come far short of it in practice at times. Only let both priest and people be loyal to the Heavenly Doctrines, and all will come out right in the end.
POLHEM AND WOLF. THE MATERIAL IDEA WITH SPIRITS AND ANGELS 1921

POLHEM AND WOLF. THE MATERIAL IDEA WITH SPIRITS AND ANGELS              1921

     "All those who have not believed in the Lord by acknowledging His Divine, and have not lived according to the precepts of religion, in the other life think materially. Thus they cannot think spiritually, that is, abstractly from space, time, and persons, from which are the ideas of natural thought; consequently, not like the angels of the higher heavens; for to think spiritually is to think apart from these things. Those who think spiritually ascend above, and as it were leave those things beneath them, so that they do not appear. Certain ones who thought much in the world, such as Polhem and Wolf, inasmuch as they had not lived a life of religion, were not able to think otherwise than materially. The attempt was made, in their case, to separate material things, but in vain. Hence it is that, in the other life, those same persons speak the spiritual language, but still so mixed with their vernacular tongue that the nation from which they are can readily be distinguished. But all those who speak spiritually are in the same language; nor can they be distinguished." (Spiritual Diary 6049.)

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GOING UP TO THE FEAST IN SECRET 1921

GOING UP TO THE FEAST IN SECRET       Rev. GEORGE DE CHARMS       1921

     "But when His brethren were gone up, then went He also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret." (John 7:10.)

     It was the custom of the Lord, while in the world, to go up to Jerusalem at the Feast of the Passover, according to the requirement of the Mosaic law. Twice He had done this during the years of His ministry, the first time at the beginning of His public labors, when He cast the money changers out of the Temple, and a second time, a year later, when He healed the infirm man at the pool of Bethesda. As He continued to teach, however, the enmity of the Jews, and their hatred of Him, grew more and more bitter, until they sought by every means in their power to apprehend Him, and put Him to death.

     At the time of the third passover, when two years of His public ministry had been accomplished, the Lord did not go up to Jerusalem for the Feast, as had been His custom. Instead, He remained in Galilee, where He fed the multitude with the five leaves and two fishes, on the coast of the Lake of Gennesaret. For just before the performance of this miracle, we read that "the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh" (John 6:4); and shortly afterwards we are told, "After these things, Jesus walked in Galilee; for He would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill Him." (John 7:1.) For six months He remained in Galilee, teaching, healing, doing wonders.

     At the end of that time, the Feast of Tabernacles drew nigh. Then it was that the sons of Joseph and Mary, the Lord's brethren according to the flesh, knowing that He had not bone up to the Passover, urged Him to attend this other feast, saying: "Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that Thy disciples also may see the works that Thou doest. For there is no man that doeth anything in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If Thou do these things, shew Thyself to the world." (John 7:3, 4.)

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This they said knowing full well how the scribes and Pharisees plotted against Him, and laid in wait, seeking to take Him if He should come to Jerusalem. They said it hoping that He might either be compelled to perform some great miracle, to protect Himself against His enemies, and thus assume external power which in their minds was characteristic of the Christ which the Prophets had foretold; or else that His claims might be definitely disproved, and all might know that He was an impostor. "For," we are told, "neither did His brethren believe on Him." (John 7:5.)

     To this demand of His brethren, that He should go up to the Feast of Tabernacles, the Lord replied, "My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. Go ye up unto this feast; I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come. And when He had said these words, He abode still in Galilee." (John 7: 6-9.)

     It was not fear of the Jews that withheld the Lord from acceding to the wishes of His brethren. But it was of Divine Order that, before His crucifixion and ascension, the work of subjugating the hells and of glorifying His Human should be completed,-a work which should, because of its correspondence, consume three full years. Two and a half of these allotted years had already been accomplished, but His work was not yet done. Only the Galilean ministry was finished, and there remained six months in Judaea of final preparation for the crucifixion. It was necessary at this time that He should depart out of Galilee, never to return there until after His resurrection. Thus it was necessary that He should "Go up to Judaea," even as His brethren desired of Him, but it was also necessary that there should be careful preparation, lest the final conflict with the Jews be brought on before the time. Wherefore the Lord said, "Go ye up unto this feast; I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come. . . . But when His brethren were gone up, then went He also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret."

     That the Lord, in sending His brethren first, and later going up Himself, "as it were in secret," was merely preparing all things, that He might be duly protected, and that He might have full time for the completion of His Divine work before the passion of the cross, is further illustrated in the Gospel according to Luke.

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Here, in treating of this same final departure out of Galilee, it is said, "And it came to pass, when the time was come that He should be received up, He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for Him." (9:51, 52.) And as He drew nearer to the Holy City, He appointed seventy other disciples, and "sent them two and two before His face into every city and place, whither He Himself would come," to perfect the work of preparation. Thus advancing in a leisurely manner, after the multitudes going up to the feast had already departed, the Lord was able fully to prepare the way, and yet to go "as it were in secret," the result being that He arrived at Jerusalem, and appeared suddenly and unexpectedly in the Temple, not at the beginning, but about the midst of the feast, when it had been celebrated already for about four days.

     An investigation of this incident of the Lord's life, as to its internal or spiritual signification, reveals a teaching of vital importance to our own regeneration, and imparts to us invaluable counsel from the Lord as to the building up of His New Church, both within us, and around us. By the Land of Galilee is represented the external or natural mind of man, in which are the memory and the things related to life in the world. The Lord's public ministry in Galilee, at the time of His First Coming, was but a representative picture of that which He is to Perform at His Second Coming in the minds of men. It represented how He comes today, in the teaching of the Heavenly Doctrine, proclaiming the everlasting Gospel, setting forth the true meaning of His Word, imparting knowledge of heaven and the life after death, revealing principles of life and conduct, by means of which we may be led to salvation and eternal life. So many are the spiritual wonders opened in the teachings of the New Church before the eyes of all who are willing to see, that, like the simple fishermen of old, we are brought to acknowledge this Divine Teacher as the Christ, the Son of the Living God; and we are led to forsake all and follow Him. But, as we progress in the understanding and perception of this newly revealed Truth, our state of first enthusiasm cannot be maintained. For it leads us toward a heavenly and spiritual goal, rather than towards one that is natural and worldly.

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And as this fact becomes more clear, the love of self and the world, innate within our hearts, rises in rebellion, turns in hatred against the Truth, and seeks to turn us away from its full and complete acceptance.

     This spiritual conflict and temptation was powerfully represented by the growing opposition of the scribes and Pharisees, and their increasing hatred against the Lord, as they saw with greater clearness that He had come, not to satisfy their lust of power and dominion, but to establish a spiritual kingdom of heavenly charity and mutual love. But the power of the Jews against the Lord was centered, not in Galilee, but in Judaea and Jerusalem. The power of the bells is exerted against the Divine Truth, not so much in the external mind, where that truth is impressed only upon the understanding, that it may be received as a rational belief; but the opposition comes in all its fury when, by the actual life of obedience to the Truth, it begins to be implanted in the heart. For while our faith resides in the memory and the understanding alone, we may still pursue, without let or hindrance, the ends to which our selfish loves would prompt us, and the hold of the hells upon us cannot be broken. But so soon as the love of the Truth, the love of the Lord, begins to be insinuated into the interiors of our minds, represented by Judaea and Jerusalem, then begins a deadly conflict between the love of the things of heaven, toward which the Lord would lead us, and the longing for the temporal and earthly blessings to which our selfish ambitions point the way. For these two affections cannot be uppermost in the same heart at the same time. We cannot serve God and mammon.

     In order, therefore, that the love of self may not ultimately prevail, the progress of the teachings of the Church toward the internals of our minds and hearts is checked and restrained by the Lord; even as is stated in the chapter before us, "And Jesus walked in Galilee; for He would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill Him." When we have received the knowledge of the Truth, when the teaching of the Heavenly Doctrine has brought us into the Church, and set our steps in the path of regeneration, the Lord does not lead us at once into the Land of Promise. The way before us seems difficult. Stumbling blocks are cast before us. We find the fulfilment of the ideals which the Writings set forth no easy task.

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We feel the need of greater knowledge, of fuller preparation. The Lord must remain with us in Galilee, perfecting our external knowledge and understanding, while the end and goal toward which He has shown the way seems far indeed.

     Because of this delay, we are apt to come into doubts, and to begin, from our own reason, to question whether, after all, the teachings of the Writings are as wonderful as they at first appeared. Are they not vain dreams, figments of the imagination, beautiful to look upon, but impossible of attainment? If they are the Lord Himself, come to redeem and save, why are not their effects more apparent? Why is not the world becoming better? Why are the disciples of this heavenly teaching, and the followers of this Divine ideal, not more nearly regenerated? Why cannot we ourselves realize these spiritual things, more definitely and more obviously, in our own lives? Such is the state that is represented by the demand of the Lord's brethren that He should go up to the feast. "Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that Thy disciples also may see the works that Thou doest. For there is no man that doeth anything in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If Thou do these things, shew Thyself to the world."

     Such a demand is not from heaven, but from hell. It comes from the love of self, and from a total misconception of the Lord's mission. His brethren wanted Him to prove His claims by becoming a natural king, under whose reign their selfish ambitions would be satisfied They were impatient because He remained quietly teaching and preaching about a heavenly kingdom, and did not at once assume that power which, if He were indeed Christ, was rightly His. It was in order to compel Him, either to assume this power, or to admit that He had it not, that they urged upon Him the necessity of going up to the feast. So we, also, believing that, as a result of the coming of the Lord's kingdom, heavenly conditions must be brought about in this natural world, which will greatly enrich the lives of men here, blessing every individual with a larger share of external happiness and peace, become impatient for the fulfilment of this natural end. At first, what we conceive to be the kingdom of heaven is but a glorified kingdom of earthly happiness, with the achievement of our external ambitions and desires at its center. It is this for which we are seeking above all else,-this which first appeals to us as the true end and goal of the Church, and of all its teaching.

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And so we urge upon the Lord a speedy and immediate manifestation of His Power, a sudden and widespread growth of the Church in numbers, that it may exert a political and economic power in the world, and bring into actuality those ideal conditions toward which the Writings point the way. But we do this because we do not yet see the real meaning of the Lord's Coming, nor realize the true character of that kingdom which He is to establish. For, like the Lord's brethren, neither do we really, and at heart, believe on Him, looking rather to ourselves and to the fulfilment of our own desires.

     But the Lord replies to us, even as He replied to His brethren, "My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. Go ye up to this feast; I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come."

     The fact that the Lord has come to establish a heavenly kingdom, to place upon the throne of that kingdom the love of God and of the things of heaven, and to place in the hand of that love the scepter that is to rule the world, involves of necessity that, so long as selfish and worldly loves bear rule, His time has not yet come. If, in our inmost hearts, we are seeking worldly blessings as a result of the teachings of the Church, then the kingdom of God cannot yet be established with us. But though the time may not have come for the Lord fully to accomplish the ends of His Providence, and to impart to men the ultimate blessings which He longs to give them, it does not mean that we are to do nothing. "Your time is always ready," saith the Lord, "Go ye up to this feast." The time is always here for us to strive, by every means within our power, to elevate our minds above the desires and ambitions of the world, and of the body, to "seek first the kingdom of heaven, and its righteousness," to root out of our hearts the love of self, and to turn, by conscious effort, to the Lord in love and worship. Although the Lord must still abide in Galilee, His brethren must go up to the feast, so that He also may go up to the feast, "not openly but as it were in secret."

     The Lord gives every man a part in the task of his own regeneration, and this part is all that openly appears to man.

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But salvation is a Divine, an infinite work. While the Lord gives into our hands a single little task, He is performing within us innumerable things that we know not of. While He permits us to perform all that we are able to do, unless, from Divine love and mercy, He operated secretly within us, doing millions of necessary things which are utterly beyond our finite human power, no man could possibly be saved.

     It is the same with our spirit as with our body. While we are given the control of the surface muscles, and are able to move our hands, our feet, our body, at will, for the accomplishment of conscious aims, yet all the vital organs of life, the internal viscera, the blood vessels, and the nerves, must constantly be directed by the Divine hand, secretly and unconsciously to us. We see only the outward movements of the world, the effects of those actions which the Lord has given men consciously to perform. And of that other operation of His mercy, we see nothing. Of that work which, unknown to us, and while we are laboring on the small and inconsequential tasks which have been given our hands to do, the Lord is secretly carrying forward within us, and by which He is, in wondrous ways, preparing us for the fuller reception of His blessings, it is not permitted us to know, lest we bring about our own destruction. Now could we live, if the operation of the involuntary functions of the body were given into our keeping, and it were required of us to direct the complex actions of all our organs? The angels of heaven enter into these things, more and more fully as they advance in wisdom, but for us to break down the barrier before the time would be to destroy ourselves.

     So also it is with the things of spiritual life. We can come into the possession of them, the enjoyment of them, only after careful preparation by the Lord,-only as we draw away from the things of self and the world, and approach Him from a pure and heavenly love; only as the brethren go up first unto the feast.

     We must avoid that impatience which betokens a desire to impress our own will upon the Lord. We must look to Him, praying for illustration and enlightenment in the things of His Word, striving to mold our lives according to the ideals of our religion. But we must patiently rest in the Lord, willing to be led by Him, however slow and painful the way may be.

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We must not give way to doubts or despair because we seem to accomplish extremely little, either for the upbuilding of the Church in the world, or for its establishment in our own hearts, remembering that Divine and infinite work which the Lord must accomplish, "as it were in secret." If we do our full share, by sending the brethren up first to the feast, by elevating our minds to heaven and performing faithfully the few things which have been allotted to us, in the Lord's Providence, then we may rest assured that He will perform all else that is needful for the accomplishment of His Divine will. Though He may not go up to the feast at our demand, still He will come, "not openly, but as it were in secret," appearing in His Temple about the midst of the feast, to reveal Himself more interiorly and more perfectly to the world.

     The Lord is today preparing the world for the reception of His Church. He gives something of that preparation into the hands of men, but this is little indeed when compared to the Divine work which He Himself is performing "as it were in secret." He is preparing us, in whom He has "steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem," sending messengers and apostles to prepare the way, in "every city and place whither He Himself would come." He only asks of us that we go up first unto the feast,-that we prove faithful in those few things which lie before us, that we seek to come into His kingdom only by the door of genuine love to Him, striving not, like thieves and robbers, to climb up some other way. If we fulfill this trust, we will have all that it is possible for us to do. But in the doing the Lord will feed us with the hidden manna; He will prepare us in unknown ways to receive untold blessings at His hand; He will open the way for the full and complete establishment of His kingdom on the earth, by removing and conquering within us those loves which oppose and seek to destroy it. We may trust confidently that, if His brethren will but go up first, according to His Divine command, He also will go up to the feast, "not openly, but as it were in secret." Amen.

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WORSHIP 1921

WORSHIP       J. S. PRYKE       1921

     Worship is one of the prime necessities of the human soul. In all ages, at all points of human development, man has striven to realize the existence of some being distinct from, prior to, more powerful than, himself. This craving has called into play the whole gamut of human expression, from the wailings of the savage to the most polished and stately ceremonial of the Catholic Church, with its vestments and lights, its music and incense.

     "Great organs surged through arches dim,
     Their jubilant floods in praise of Him."

     There was worship in the Most Ancient Church, celebrated in groves and upon mountains, when man stood forth fresh from the hands of his Maker, whose law was written upon his heart. There was worship in the Ancient Church, by means of correspondences, when every external object around him but served to carry the mind back to the spiritual principle for which it stood. And there was worship in the Jewish Church, with all its wearisome washings, sacrifices, rites and ceremonies. There is worship in heaven; its perverted counterpart is to be found in hell.

     Two reasons are suggested for this universal desire for worship. The first is, that it is the reflex of that universal influx into the souls of men with an intuition that there is a God, and that He is one. It is thus impressed upon man's very being from creation. The second reason is, that it is an outcome of the truth which says that while Redemption is a work purely Divine, salvation calls for reaction on the part of man. Worship is one of the Divinely appointed paths along which the regenerating man muse travel back to his God. If these two reasons be true, they illuminate as in a flash the supreme importance of worship in the scheme of human life.

     It has been said that worship is essential to the human soul; and, as supporting this, we know that the Lord has not only provided that there should be worship at all points of human history, but that it should be adapted to the peculiar needs of every race and each dispensation.

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So solicitous is the Lord in this respect that in the other world the heathen are not suddenly deprived of their idols, lest they should be distressed at finding themselves without an object of worship. Indeed, while man may invent and elaborate ritual, he cannot construct a system of true worship, that being God-given.

     Now the New Churchman will readily agree that in this, as in all matters connected with life and regeneration, he must of two courses choose one. His worship must either be the expression of Divine Revelation, or the mere product of human conceit and thus fundamentally idolatrous, notwithstanding how many phrases concerning God and the Church may be employed in its performance. Fortunately for us, the Writings give abundant teaching on this subject, and if we attempt a conspectus of what is revealed, we see the following amidst a host of starry truths:

     (a) "Worship, before God came into the world, consisted in types and figures which were but representative of true worship."

     (b) "These were but correspondences, which in time became corrupt, magical and idolatrous."

     (c) "God made Himself visible in human form by means of an angel, who was also representative of the Lord about to come into the world."

     (d) "When the abomination of desolation was reached, in the fulness of time, the Lord assumed the human, and abolished forever all types and representatives, and made true worship possible."

     We here reach the point-it is worth while to observe it-that true and saving worship must henceforth be based upon an acknowledgment of the Divine Human of the Lord glorified. In the New Church, true worship is to come into its own. Now we may enter that temple over the portals of which the words Nunc licet are inscribed. We are permitted intellectually to enter the mysteries of faith and engage in heavenly worship. Once again we can "return to Zion with songs and everlasting gladness upon our heads," and once again in the worship proceeding from contrite and humble hearts shall Jehovah "smell an odor of rest." We anticipate the time when New Church temples shall be dotted over our land, when richly-colored ritual shall be performed in them, temples which shall be open every day of the week, so that he who wills may find in them a refuge from the world, a place for prayer, meditation, contemplation and quiet.

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Let us remember, too, that when we take part in worship, we are accepting a Divine and gracious invitation, "Come unto me:" and above all must our worship be spiritually conceived.

     In the work on Conjugial Love, we have a wonderful little cameo-like relation on Worship in Heaven. There we are told that the worship of God returns at stated times and is proclaimed by the priests. It is performed in the heavenly temples and lasts about two hours. The temple is described as to its semi-circular form, and every worshiper knows his own place and sits there; if he sits elsewhere, he hears and perceives nothing, but disturbs the order, and when order is disturbed the priest is not inspired. The sermon on this occasion was concerning the holiness of the Sacred Scripture and the conjunction of the Lord with both worlds by means of it. After the sermon was ended, the priest added a devout prayer and descended from the pulpit.

     But there is, of course, a still more interior consideration of worship. We are told that whatever can be predicated of the angels of heaven can also be predicated of the men of the Church, since their interiors are in unison; consequently our worship should ever approach in quality to the angelic.

     "To-day our thoughts ascend
     Where angel choirs give voice;
     Our praise with theirs shall blend;
     Wherefore will we rejoice."

     As leading in the direction of heavenly worship; let us reflect upon this teaching: "All worship of the Lord which is truly such is derived from celestial good by means of spiritual truths." As witness of this, there were with the Israelites two altars, one for the burnt offerings, the other for incense.

     (f) "External worship without internal is not worship, such being from self-derived intelligence," expressed in the Word by Ephraim being "joined to his idols."

     (g) "No one can rightly worship God from himself, but from God, that is from goods and truths which are of God in him." In this number, the warning is given that it is generally believed that the Church exists wherever the Word is and the Lord is known, whereas the Church consists only of those who from the heart acknowledge the Divine of the Lord, who learn truths from Him by the Word and do them.

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No others form any part of the Church whatever.

     (h) "The essential principle or primary constituent of worship is a life of charity, and the instrumental thereof, or its secondary constituent, is praying; yet no prayer is heard unless the man is in the life of charity." A life of mere piety does not avail.

     (i) "The inmost of worship is the good of charity, and the truth of faith proceeds from it."

     (j) "There are two things which constitute worship-doctrine and life."

     (k) "A life according to doctrine is worship. All worship of the Lord is from the good of life by truths."

     (l) One of the blessings resulting to the man who is in this state is that "every true worshiper of the Lord, as soon as he hears any truth of faith which he was before unacquainted with, instantly acknowledges and receives it, because the Lord is in him and he is in the Lord; consequently the light of truth is in him, and he is in the light of truth."

     (m) "All worship must be without compulsion; only worship from freedom is true worship." There is invitation by the Lord; there must not be even persuasion from another; there should be
self-compulsion on the part of man.

     (n) Finally, "To glorify God is not only to offer worship at stated times, but also to bring forth the fruits of the life which is of charity and do the duties of our callings with faithfulness, sincerity, and diligence." Here a more individual, personal note is struck. If we accept the doctrine that all uses are from the Lord, then everything done in furtherance of our daily use will assume the quality of an act of worship.

     "Who sweeps a room for love of God
     Makes that and the action fine."

     Our work in the school; in the office; in the workshop; in the home, will proceed from the sphere of worship. To fabricate a piece of work; to cast up an account; to give a lesson; to deliver a sermon; to carry out the domestic duties of a household-all these will then become acts of real worship. The composition and offering of a sonnet such as that which appeared in NEW CHURCH LIFE some years ago (1918) from the pen of Dr. Olds is to my mind an act of worship:

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"Roll on, O Time! Roll on! The setting sun
     Shall find me well prepared; ready am I
     For all emergency; nor does a sigh
Escape my lips. The goal is well nigh won.
O Time! thou reveler, I do not shun,
     But rather court thy presence; for a friend
     Thou art. Gray hairs a blessing ever lend
To hearts prepared. Joy comes when task is done.
The child, the youth, the man,-all, all must cease
     To live as such; they change, and with each breath
     Assume another state in which they move.
Then why should we fear age? The days of peace
     But then begin, and ripen into death,
          Which is the gate of Life; and Life is Love.

     In the state of worship there is tranquillity, a confidence in Divine Providence; evils are rendered quiescent and the soul is refreshed and renewed. We come to Divine worship expecting to meet with a blessing, and rightly so; but at the same time let us not forget that, just as the whole is made up of its individual parts, just as the quality of a nation is determined by the character of ifs citizens, so the richness or poverty of our public worship depends to a great extent upon the sphere which each worshiper brings with him. We should, therefore, prepare for public worship by reading, by meditation, by prayer, yes, by donning our Sunday clothes even; for while it is an indisputable truth that the Lord ever waits to bless our worship, the blessing itself can only flow into those vessels which are made ready for its reception.

     That brings me to my final point, namely, the necessity for Family Worship. It will have been noticed that several of the passages quoted stressed personal responsibility and life. It is perfectly true that the regenerating man is assisted by taking part in the public services of the Church, which indeed cannot be neglected. States of worship are thus stored up for use in the other life; yet regeneration cannot be built upon these alone. They must be supplemented, extended, strengthened by private reflection and family worship. It has been well said that a man's house is his castle; the saying is a deep one founded upon the principle that the home must be kept inviolable. But the New Churchman's home should be the very vestibule of heaven, the citadel of his soul. In its sphere alone can he attain the perfect freedom; only in its soil can his spiritual life come to full flower. On no other plane can he so intimately approach his Maker.

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Family worship is essential to the growth of the individual and of the Church alike. Those who are parents realize that they stand to their children in place of the Lord; to the child the father is the fount of all knowledge, the giver of every good gift. How necessary, then, not only that the parent should be able to give true instruction, but that the family life should be lived in a perceptible sphere of the acknowledgment of the Divine Father. To this end, there should be daily family worship, and, wherever possible, private study of the Writings and the Letter of the Word. Indeed, our daily worship might consciously be directed towards the public worship of Sunday, which would then constitute its rounding-off and completion.

     An instance is known of two New Church people who were unable to attend the public ministrations of the Church. For years they had been accustomed to daily reading, but they also instituted something analogous to public worship in their home. A liturgical year was arranged, and each Sunday the office was gone through with, antiphons, lessons, psalms, and prayers complete. Even when these two were called upon to be separated, they agreed still to read the
same services at the same times, in order that the community of thought and the idea of both family and public worship might be kept alive. I have been told that often on such occasions the sphere of the presence of the Lord and teaching from Him was almost over powering. Worship brings comfort and confidence in times of distress when the waters go almost over our heads.

     If we thus cultivate the habit of approaching the Lord in the sphere of our homes, we shall be better prepared for the blessings of public worship, infinitely better equipped for the battle of life, going forth, as we shall then do daily, with a new and living impress from the presence of our God.

     As the milestones of life go by, we at times ask ourselves the question, Are we really progressing in the work of regeneration? Are we in very truth getting rid of our evils and being fitted for heaven? This knowledge is with the Lord alone, and all we can do is to strive for the best. But this we can learn in the mirror of Divine Revelation, that although man, when left to himself, inclines to all evil, the Lord can continually lead him free from it by means of truths and a living worship.

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BEGINNINGS OF THE NEW CHURCH IN CANADA 1921

BEGINNINGS OF THE NEW CHURCH IN CANADA       J. E. BOWERS       1921

     According to the remembrances of the writer, John Harbin, M.D., was the first man who preached the doctrines of the New Church in British North America, in what is now the Dominion of Canada. He was a surgeon in the British Army. As nearly as can be stated here, he came to America a little less or a little longer than one hundred years ago, and was stationed at. Montreal, then Canada East. After that he went to the village of Toronto, Canada West. And later he moved into a settlement of Pioneer farmers, thirty miles northwest of Toronto, in Peel Co. There he entered into the practice of his profession.

     Dr. Harbin, in the gears of his early manhood, had become a believer in the doctrines of the New Church in England. His mind was evidently filled to overflowing with zeal to convey to others a knowledge of the wonderful and sublime teachings concerning all things of religion, the rational interpretation of the Word of the Lord, contained in the Writings of the Church. He was a fluent speaker, and would engage people in conversation on serious subjects on all suitable occasions.

     In course of a few years, several people in the district became interested in the new views. Meetings were held in some of the homes or in the school house. But objections being raised to this, those who desired to learn more and to understand more clearly got together and decided to build a log-cabin meeting-house for their use. They carried out this plan; and the house was built on the lot of Mr. John B. Bagwell.

     After I became a general missionary of the New Church, in 1879, it was m privilege occasionally to visit some of the people who had become converts to the faith of the New Church through the conversation and public discourses of Dr. Harbin. Among these were Adam and William Spiers, brothers; John and William Giffen, also brothers; the older members of a family named Hunter; and John B. Bagwell, mentioned above. At the time of my visits with them, these people were from 75 to 80 years of age.

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     Now there remains to be told the reasons why Dr. Harbin and his wife and his sister-in-law, Miss Wheeler, (who lived with them), moved to the village of Berlin, now the city of Kitchener, in the year 1842.

     In the new settlement in Peel Co., the majority were people of very strong religious prejudices. This class felt decidedly opposed to the new doctrines which had been spread in the community. They were, of course, densely ignorant of the principle that in matters of religion people have a right to be in perfect freedom. Their opposition to the New Church was effective in ceasing to employ Dr. Harbin as a physician in their families. The few who had become believers in the Heavenly Doctrines through the ministrations of Dr. Harbin were not able to support him and his family. And therefore it became necessary for him to make a change.

     At Berlin, Mr. Christian Enslin had received the Doctrines about the year 1835. Mr. Adam Ruby, Sen'r, was the second New Churchman in that village in 1841. Dr. John Harbin had not been ordained, and therefore was not authorized to administer the Sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Supper, nor to solemnize marriages. But it is on record that he "was acknowledged as a preacher in the New Church in England, particularly in Lancashire," previous to his coming to America.

     It has always been a most interesting remembrance to me that, when eight or nine years of age, my father took me with him to hear Dr. Harbin preach in the Town Hall of the village of Berlin, now the city of Kitchener. And to this day, whenever thinking of it, he appears as a medium size man, with grey hair, standing there and speaking earnestly to perhaps eighteen or twenty people.

     (The senior member of Carmel Church at Kitchener, Mr. Jacob G. Stroh, seems to be the most familiar with the beginning of the New Church in the village of Berlin, Ontario. And he will no doubt be able to give us an interesting account on the subject in due time.)
     J. E. BOWERS.

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BONES OF REVELATION 1921

BONES OF REVELATION       FRANK HODSON ROSE       1921

     We are instructed that bones represent "the truths from the Divine which are the last in order, upon which interior goods and truths rest, and by which they are supported. The truths last in order are those of the literal sense of the Word, in which are the truths of the internal sense, and upon which the latter rest as pillars on their bases." (A. C. 9163)

     The letter of the Word indeed supports its spiritual and celestial senses as the bones do the flesh and vital organs of man. It is true that the bones appear to have little vitality; yet without them the living tissues would collapse into a shapeless, flaccid mass. So it is with the spiritual and celestial senses of the Word. If their bones, the letter of the Word, were removed, they would have no basis, containant, or support. (See S. S. 30.) This being so, an examination of the use which the letter of the Word, even in its capacity as bones, serves to the Revelation of the Second Advent, cannot but be of service.

     It is probable that few in the Church, outside of the active ministry, realize the extent to which Swedenborg drew upon the letter of the Word when presenting the spiritual sense, and so they will be surprised to learn that there are in the Writings something approaching forty thousand (40,000) references to the letter of the Word.

     This number is a round one, calculated from Searle's Index; an attempt to make it more exact would require some closer definition of what constitutes a reference, and also a painstaking count which is not essential to the purpose of this paper. There are, for instance, references in which the whole or part of specific verses are quoted, and there are some where reference is only made to their general subject, while there are others which are only enumerated as confirmations of those previously adduced. The 40,000 may be accepted as a working number approximating the real one, and can be divided into two parts, 30,000 representing the references to the Old Testament, and 10,000 to the New, or to those parts of the Bible which, having an internal sense, are truly the Word of God.

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The references to the non-canonical works are relatively so few as not to affect the general statement-only about 400, almost equally divided between the Old and New Testaments.

     Let us consider these first. Of the two hundred in the Old Testament, nearly all are to Job. This is as might be expected, for we are taught in A. C. 3540 that Job is a book of the Ancient church, written in a representative and significative style. Half of the remainder is claimed by the first verse of I Chronicles 5, in which Reuben's loss of his birthright is treated of, this leaving 12 references which we need not specify.

     The Acts and the Epistles of the New Testament also receive attention about 200 times, and here again the distribution is unequal, Colossians 2:9, "For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the God-head bodily," and I John 5:20, "And we know that the Son of God is come. . . . This is the true God, and eternal life," each receiving about 25. It is of interest to note that 140 of the 200 references are in True Christian Religion, where, in most instances, they are used to show that the early Apostolic Church had not then receded to any great extent from the true worship of the Lord.

     The True Christian Religion is also notable for the fact that it contains at least one reference to every inspired book of the Bible, even the solitary chapter of Obadiah being quoted. (T. C. R. 318.)

     The 30,000 references to the Old Testament are spread very generally over all the books, chapters, and verses, although some of the verses necessarily stand out from the others for frequency of reference. The most quoted one is probably the sixth verse of the 9th Chapter of Isaiah: "For unto us a Child is born," to which about 60 references are made.

     The proportion between quotation and reference also varies much. Jeremiah 23:5, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch," is quoted 41 times and referred to without quotation only seven; while to Jeremiah 33:15, "In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David," the references are 31 and the quotations only six.

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     There is also another class of reference which is to whole chapters; as for example, to the 40th to 48th chapters of Ezekiel, in which the vision of the temple is treated of; there being twenty references to this series of chapters, apart from those which are directed to particular verses.

     There are some breaks, however, in this general use of the inspired books of the Old Testament. As has been already shown, in the case of the True Christian Iieligiort, there are references to every book; but there are a few chapters in those books to which no reference is made. Joshua 16 is only cited as one of a series of chapters in which a specific order or arrangement of the tribes of Israel is given. Of the others, there are seven to which no reference whatever is made, but their omission only serves to emphasize the universality of the use that is made of the letter of the Word in the Writings. In the inspired portion of the Old Testament there are 734 chapters, of which 727 are made use of.

     The seven chapters unused are: Numbers 30, which treats of the laws concerning the vows of women; I Samuel 21, which records the eating of the shewbread by David, (the Writings also being silent concerning the parallel passages in the New Testament); II Samuel 4; II Samuel 18, in which the death of Absalom is recorded; and the 20th chapter of the same book. I Kings 5 is peculiar, in that all the apparent references to it really relate to the fourth chapter and not to the fifth; while, finally, II Kings 7, in which the dramatic incident of the finding of the abandoned camp of the Syrians by four lepers occurs, is also without a reference.

     Every one of the 111 chapters in the New Testament receives mention, Luke 15 having the lowest number of references (9), although in that chapter are recorded the three parables of the lost sheep, the lost piece of money, and the prodigal son.

     Mark, the shortest of the Gospels, is the least quoted, both actually and proportionately, while John, as might be expected, is the most frequently employed, and contains some of the most freely quoted chapters and verses. Its 14th chapter has nearly 450 references, while its 6th verse, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life," is quoted about 100 times. It is John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word" that attains the highest individual number, being the subject of nearly 150 references.

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The only passage that is comparable to these two is Matthew 28:18, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth," which is used some 80 times.

     This analytical examination of the framework,-the bones of the Revelation of the Second Advent,-could be extended in many directions, but sufficient has been adduced to show the close inter-relation that exists between the Word in its Letter and in its Spirit, and how impossible it is to separate the one from the other without affecting the use of both.
SWEDENBORG'S ENGINEERING FEAT 1921

SWEDENBORG'S ENGINEERING FEAT       PER GUST. BERGGREN       1921

     MOVING SHIPS OVER LAND IN 1718.

     (Translated in brief from Nya Kyrkans Tidning, June, 1920, by Cyriel Lj. Odhner.)

     In Assessor Samuel Sandels' Eulogium on Swedenborg, delivered at the House of Nobles in Stockholm, October 8, 1772, there occurs the following statement in connection with the mention of his relations with Charles XII. and Polhem:

     "Swedberg, however, executed, on his part, a work of considerable importance when, during the siege of Frederickshall, in 1718, he transported by a system of rollers, over mountains and valleys, two galleys, five large boats, and one sloop, from Stramstadt to the Iddefjord, which separates Sweden from Norway on the south; a distance of 2 1/2 Swedish [about 14 English] miles. By this feat the King was enabled to carry out his plans, and, under cover of the galleys and large boats, to convey on pontoons a heavier artillery under the walls of Frederickshall than he could have done by land." (Tafel's Documents, Vol. 1, p. 19. See also p. 554.)

     Although there has been no reason to doubt the truth of the above statement by Sandels, it has always seemed remarkable to me that neither Swedenborg himself nor his contemporary authors mention his name in connection with the galley transportation. The authors I have in mind are J. Nordberg in his History of Charles XII, (Vol. II, p. 667), and J. Oedeman in Chorograplzia Bahusiensis, published in Stockholm, 1746, (pp. 318-320). Both of these authors deal fully with the galley-transport, especially Oedeman, who got his facts from an eye witness, Petrus Lomberg, Pastor of Nisinge, Hagdal and Lommelanda.

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He had been one of King Charles' field preachers, and stood high in the favor of the King, whom he often served as guide in his pastorate.

     Swedenborg, indeed, mentions in several letters to his brother-in-law, Eric Benzelius, Jr., that he had been in Stromstad several times at the time of the transportation of the galleys, but he does not mention his errand. The following quotations may here be given:

     On September 14, 1718, Swedenborg writes from Vanersborg: "At Stramstad I found your welcome letter, after its having been sent after me, first to Vinersborg, then to Stromstad; therefore I could not answer earlier. I have been in Strijmstad twice, and I think I shall soon go there again. I have found His Majesty very gracious towards me, more than I could have expected, which is a good omen."

     The same year from Brunsbo: "His Majesty is probably going to Vanersborg at the end of this month, where the army is to be inspected. We shall see whether I shall not have to go along to Norway."

     December 8, 1718, from Brunsbo: "Here in Brunsbo I had the pleasure of receiving your letter. I am staying here now until Christmas; afterwards I am thinking of traveling for a few days to the Mining districts and Stockholm. I have, God be thanked, escaped the campaign in Norway, which had nearly caught me, if I had not used intrigue to escape."

     From these letters it appears that Swedenborg was in Stromstad twice in the middle of the year 1718, and expected to be called thither another time, and that he was on the point of being ordered to accompany the army in its invasion of Norway, but through intrigue succeeded in evading it.

     To ascertain further whether contemporary letters had anything to tell of Swedenborg's activities in Stromstad, the undersigned made a visit to Stockholm last April to investigate the State Archives. The State Register (Riksregistraturet) for 1718, does, indeed, in several places, bear on the galley-transport, but in that connection it does not happen to mention Swedenborg, who was engaged at the canal construction at Trollhlttan, and, according to a royal letter of June 22, 1718, drawing a salary of 3 dalers a day "as long as he is at the canal works assisting the Councillor of Commerce, Polhem."

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     At last I found, in the collection of "Letters from the King, Series II. Letters of C. G. Ducker," statements regarding Swedenborg's work in Stromstad in connection with the galley-transport. By the end of June and the beginning of July, 1718, there had already been transferred, by the king's orders, 2 brigantines (small galleys), I double sloop, and two single sloops, over land and water 2 1/2 miles (about 14 English miles) from Stromstad to Iddefjord at the Hallesmark estate in Nasinge parish. The boats immediately got into a fight with a Danish fleet, and needed reinforcement, for which reason a brigate of a larger type, the "Luren," was ordered to be sent there. But it was too broad and heavy for the means of transportation so far in use, for which reason new methods had to be resorted to.

     Ducker writes from Stromstad, July 13, 1718: "I have also sent off General Englehardt to Gothenburg to hurry up the transport which is not yet returned, and on the way, according to letters received, to consult with Councillor of Commerce Polhem as to a method for the more easy and quick transport. . . .

     July 18: "The galley 'Luren' yesterday went into Stromstad water, and is being dispatched further as fast as possible."

     July 20: "Your Majesty must have learned from my last humble report how far the galley 'Luren' had come. Since then all diligence has been observed, and she has been brought 400 paces (steg) from Stromstad water, Assessor Swedberg having been sent by Councillor Polhem to give instructions as to what was needed for its further transportation, for which reason the said Assessor, together with General Dahlheim, is very busily engaged in this work, and I await with longing to see its completion. At least the Assessor thinks it will go well."

     July 23: ". . . Your Majesty has probably learned, from Councillor Polhem's answer to me and from my own humble report, all about the Councillor's Proposal for transporting the galley 'Luren,' and of Assessor Swedberg's being sent hither to carry it into effect; but since the said Proposal was not practical, the weight of the galleys not corresponding with the short rollers in use, we have had to resort again to the old method, which has been improved by our laying down oak planks in place of rollers."

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     July 25: "Since my last letter we have been working on the galley 'Luren' to such good purpose that tomorrow she will probably be launched in Blomshollms Sea. The four ships that are destined to Iddefjord have, I believe, arrived there, and I am not having them drawn up on land until I have had-the honor of knowing Your Majesty's further gracious pleasure in the matter."
     [An examination of these facts confirms their agreement with the incident as related by Sandels.]

     Let us betake ourselves more than zoo years back in time! Through the wild mountain passes of northern Bohuslan, with its steep heights crowned with fir trees, advances a curious procession. The hulks of great ships are being pulled by hundreds of sailors and soldiers over the land, up steep rises, through narrow gorges, or over beds of brush and water-drenched bogs. Here rises the slender, straight figure of King Charles, there is General Ducker, there Admiral Stromstierna, General Dahlheim and many other famous, scarred, weather-beaten Carolinians, in the well-known blue uniform with gold lapels, three-cornered hats and high boots.

     Among them moves a young, black-dressed man in curly wig, without any warlike emblems, but with the fire of genius in his eyes. He is the driving power behind the whole-Emanuel Swedberg. On moves the procession, days and night. There are rests beside a camp fire, or at Nasinge pastorate, and at last the galleys slide down into the clear blue water of Iddefjord, greeted with cries of "Hurrah!" from the Swedes and fire from the Danish cannon, to which an honest Swedish answer comes back from the Hallesmark batteries.

     What remains of all this? Just a few papers in the archives, and a dim tradition on the lips of the people. King Charles rests in his golden lion-garnished sarcophagus in Ridderholms Church at Stockholm, and the young scientist in Upsala Cathedral. Both are dust, but genius and mighty deeds will be honored forever by Swedish men, whether worked in bloody strife for the fatherland or in peaceful enterprise.
     PER GUST. BERGGREN.
Stromstad in May, 1920.

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Editorial Department 1921

Editorial Department       Editor       1921


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office of Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                    Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Rev. W. H. Alden, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address and business communications should be sent to the Business Manager.

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     THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE.

     Supplementing Mr. Rose's interesting observations on the subject of the references to the Scriptures contained in the Writings, in his article on "The Bones of Revelation," appearing elsewhere in this issue, we would call attention to a fact which is a striking confirmation of the canon of the Old Testament as revealed in the Writings, (A. C. 10325), where we are told that certain Books are the Word because they have an internal sense.

     The Old Testament is frequently quoted in the New Testament, but only those Books of the Old Testament which are the Word according to New Church canon. In other words, none of the non-canonical books are quoted in the Gospels. This applies also to the Acts and Epistles, with the exception that Job and Proverbs are quoted in several of the Epistles.

     This, of course, will not prove the truth of the New Church canon to an Old Church student, however confirmatory we may regard it. The real proof comes by seeing the internal sense of the Books of the Old Testament, as so fully expounded in the Writings.

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Yet Christians should note the fact that the Lord really established the Old Testament canon when He was in the world. For He came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. "Beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded unto His disciples in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself." (Luke 24: 27, 44.) And we find in the copious Gospel quotations from the Hebrew Scriptures only passages which belong to the Word of the Old Testament, for these alone contain an internal sense, treating of the Lord and His heavenly kingdom.

     And now again, at His Second Advent, the Lord has come to fulfill the former Revelations, and incidentally to make known the canon of the Scriptures of both Testaments. That the Writings also quote occasionally from the non-canonical books in the Bible is for various reasons, among which we may recall Swedenborg's statement that the "writings of the apostles are good books of the Church, insisting upon the doctrine of charity and its faith as strongly as the Lord Himself has done in the Gospels and the Book of Revelation." (Documents No. 224.) And it is also said, in A. E. 815, that the writings of the apostles are "useful books for the Church, although they have not the internal sense."
DELIVERING OUR MESSAGE 1921

DELIVERING OUR MESSAGE       Editor       1921

     In evangelizing the gentile world, the former Christian Church offers a bewildering array of sects and creeds, while the New Church has this advantage that it offers but two distinct views of the Writings,-the one emphasizing their Divine authority, the other their more or less human origin. And this is to be deplored; for the New Church would have a great advantage if it would evangelize the Lord in His Second Coming in the Writings as a Divine Revelation, and declare its unqualified faith in what those Writings disclose concerning the devastated Christian world.

     Many of the gentiles have been protected from Christian emissaries hitherto. (Diary 4777, 5946.) The Chinese in the other world retain a feeling of repugnance toward the name "Christ," having known that Christians live worse lives than themselves, and in no charity. (A. C. 2596.)

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But when the Heavenly Doctrines are permitted to reveal to such gentiles the direful internal state of Christendom, and the need of a New Church to effect a restoration, will they not be inspired with confidence in the teachings of this New Church? Not if they are told that the Christian world has reformed during the last 150 years and overcome the evils depicted in the Writings. They know better.

     It is a curious psychology that would hide from the world that revelation of its state which it most needs,-a state of which there is abundant evidence, admitted by many Christian writers and preachers, but not by the permeationist New Churchman. Even granting a conflict in the evidence, are we not safer in giving the benefit of the doubt to Revelation? But we are told that we must conceal unpleasant truths from men, or we may not get them in. Into what! A Church no different from the others in the Christian world? That is a pleasant palliative, but it only confirms men in their natural good; and the New Churchman who is willing to hide his heredity from himself under a cloak of his own natural good will be quite willing to let the world do likewise. For the Lord said to His disciples, "If ye were of the world, the world would love its own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of, the world, therefore the world hateth you." Why is it any different at the Second Coming, when the Christian Church is as utterly devastated as the Jewish at the First Coming. Must not the New Churchman be willing to be "hated of all men for His name's sake"? If loyalty to the truth as the Lord has revealed it means to be unpopular with men, to be hated of men, the true disciples of the Second Coming will not hesitate in their choice. For again the Lord said, "Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake." (Luke 6:22.)

     What will it profit the New Church to "gain the whole world" and "lose its own soul?"-to give its heart and substance to the evangelizing of the unheeding multitude, while it is unable to make converts of its own children. In such an effort to gain the world, it loses even its own identity, and is swallowed up by the very world it would conquer. The New Churchman who fails a prey to the missionary spirit before he has set his own house in order ends up by trying to convince the world how much good there is in all denominations and how little difference there is between the New Church and the Old.

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And so, perforce, the world never learns from him that the New Church really has a message of deliverance for fallen man. "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." (Isaiah 58:1.)
TWO VIEWS OF THE WRITINGS 1921

TWO VIEWS OF THE WRITINGS       E. W. N       1921

     In our issue for November, 1920, (p. 678), we commented upon an article by the Rev. H. C. Small, dealing with the use of the Writings in the services of the New Church, which had appeared in the NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER for September 1, 1920. Subsequent communications to the MESSENGER present contrasting views of the subject, and, believing they will be of interest to our readers, we reprint them herewith:

     THE DOCTRINES IN OUR SERVICES.

     To the Editor of the MESSENGER:

     I was much interested in the article of the Rev. H. C. Small upon "The Writings in the Ritual of the New Church," in a recent number of the MESSENGER. We surely all agree with him that the Church should make known in every possible way its special truth, and that there is great ignorance with regard to Swedenborg's teachings, within the Church as well as without, which needs to be instructed. The important point is how to accomplish these ends.

     We recognize that much of the power of Christian Science comes from the constant study and consideration given to its teachings by its followers. Nevertheless, some of us would hesitate to substitute its bare, dull service for our richer one, and we are so shocked by the apparent equality accorded Science of Health and the Bible, by placing quotations from each on the walls of Christian Science churches, that we shrink from anything that has any appearance of putting our Writings on an equality with the Divine Word.

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     Laying aside feeling in the matter, and viewing it in the light of calm judgment, is there any reason to believe that the average person-and it is the average person that makes up the majority of church congregations-would gain a better knowledge of the teachings of Swedenborg by the reading of passages from the Writings in the service than from the well-presented sermons of the ministers whose business it is to study, digest and present them in their bearing upon everyday life?

     The Writings need to be studied, pondered upon, and, if possible, discussed in a class for the purpose. The ministers and some laymen are doing this. To those that are, the reading from them would doubtless prove interesting and instructive. On the other hand, those whose minds are not traveling along these lines would derive little or no benefit from the simple reading of words which should be studied to be comprehended. It is probably difficult for those who are enthusiastic students of Swedenborg, and whose minds are of the kind to whom his books are meat and drink, to realize how little others who do not possess the right mental bias and who have not had the necessary preparation get from the reading of a passage that to them is full of meaning. The same idea developed and illustrated in a well-prepared sermon will be readily grasped and prove very helpful. Since these people are the majority of those whom we would reach, it would seem that the service should be ordered with reference to them, and the study of the Writings be carried on in classes especially for that purpose.
     E. W. N.
IS SWEDENBORG INTELLIGIBLE? 1921

IS SWEDENBORG INTELLIGIBLE?       HERBERT C. SMALL       1921

     I may be allowed, perhaps, a little of your valuable space to comment on the sentiments of E. W. N. in the MESSENGER of November 10th, and especially on the impression given that the Writings are so difficult of comprehension that they can only be deciphered by experts, like knotty problems in mathematics. This is not, of course, the first time such a sentiment has been expressed, but it is so untrue, so deadening to the mind and aspirations of young and old, stranger and friend, that I wish I could get enough mental gun-powder under it to blow it clear out of the Church. Are we going to let the notion become current among us that the New-Church teachings are only for a class of initiates-that the Writings have always got to have "interpreters'-that a layman cannot get their meaning until a "sermon" has expounded them-that the Lord's providence had no regard for the simple, but only for the learned-that, after all, the power and glory of the Son of Man have not appeared for the average man in the clouds of heaven?

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Then indeed are the days of the monastic orders returned in the New Church, and we must seek retirement and leisure for puzzling out the Divine message.

     But, as a matter of fact, this is just what the Writings are not. There are no religious writings extant whose message is so clear, so definite, so simple in fundamentals, so easy to retain in memory, as the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. That not all which Swedenborg has written can be discerned without much learning, wide experience, long-continued reflection, goes without saying. These deeps prove the great ocean which is there. But the major part is so clear, so explicit, and comprehends so much in a few words, that I can conceive of nothing so admirably suited to the needs of a busy age. The Writings are crammed with intellectual morsels which stick in the mind and can be munched all the day long. Page for page, paragraph for paragraph, there are no explanations of Swedenborg that leave as concise and intelligible impressions on a reader's mind as does the great original. I believe that this statement will bear the test of a psychological laboratory and is confirmed by pastoral experience.
     HERBERT C. SMALL.
SWEDENBORG AND THE AVERAGE MIND 1921

SWEDENBORG AND THE AVERAGE MIND       FLORENCE WARRINER       1921

To the Editor of the MESSENGER:

     I read with great interest the Rev. H. C. Small's reply to a letter signed E. W. N., which characterized Swedenborg's Writings as "unintelligible," and only suitable for ministers. Mr. Small has expressed exactly the attitude toward the Writings which meets with my warmest approval, and I could add nothing to the ideas which he has so beautifully put into words. There is, however, another viewpoint of the subject to which I should like to call attention. That is, that there is an enormous amount of literature being given to the world by our New Thought and Christian Science friends, which is, to my mind, much more abstruse and unintelligible than Swedenborg's works, but which is received and quoted as if adapted to the popular intelligence.

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These writings are read daily by the devoted followers of their teachings, and one can rarely get through the most ordinary conversation with one of them without some reference being made to their "truths." They tell you calmly that they have "all the light of the New Church and more;" yet my experience is that they are people of only ordinary intelligence. One little girl of three years, who attends my sister's kindergarten, heard some one remark that she had a cold. She said sweetly, "I have the truth."

     It seems to me they are setting us New Church people an example we might follow to advantage. Their church is the center of their lives, and everything revolves around it. Surely the admonition given so many generations ago applies to the Writings of the Second Coming of the Lord: "These words which I command thee this day shall be in thy heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. Thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. Thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house and on thy gates."

     Do we New Church men and women heed this command? and if we do not, may it not be the reason for the slow growth of the New Church, rather than anything unintelligible in the Illuminated Writings?
     FLORENCE WARRINER.
Jacksonville, Fla.

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EMANUEL SWEDENBORG 1921

EMANUEL SWEDENBORG       KARL R. ALDEN       1921

     EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. By L. B. De Beaumont, D. Sc. London and Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack, Ltd. T. Nelson & Sons, Ltd., 1919. Cloth, 120 pages.

     We are indebted to Mr. Arthur Carter, of Toronto, for placing this little volume in our hands, and thus calling attention to a work which seems to have received little notice on the part of New Church reviewers. Issuing from the skillful pen of a learned member of the Church in England, it represents a new attempt to interest the outside world in the teachings of Swedenborg, and is characterized by certain improvements over former efforts of the kind, though marred by a few features to which we shall be obliged to refer.

     The work before us forms one of a series called "The People's Books," issued by the same publishers. The subjects of the four chapters are as follows: I. Swedenborg's Life. II. Swedenborg's Philosophy of Life. III. New Church Theology. IV. Conclusion. To these are added a Bibliography of New Church collateral works and a short Index. In the second chapter is contained a list and brief description of the Theological Works of Swedenborg, a highly desirable feature in a book which seeks to lead the outsider to read the Writings for himself.

     Unlike many of Swedenborg's biographers, Mr. De Beaumont does not devote any space to the usual stories of Swedenborg's supernatural experiences, such as the lost receipt, the Gothenburg fire, etc., but quotes from the Writings in condemnation of spiritism. He undertakes, rather, to trace Swedenborg's intellectual growth from childhood to manhood, pointing out at each step the marvelous vigor, energy and creative ability of the man. He describes how the search for the soul became his dominating end, and with much skill deals with the great change which came in 1745. To quote: "He has solemnly declared and repeatedly affirmed that, while he was engaged in the studies which absorbed his whole attention and were the delight of his laborious life, he was Divinely led to relinquish such studies and to give himself, under special illumination, to the study of the Ward of God alone." (p. 21.)

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He then quotes the record of that Divine call from the True Christian Religion, 776-779. Following this, we read:

     "The object of this little book being simply to introduce to the reader a most remarkable and interesting personality, and to describe briefly his contribution to the philosophical and religious thought of our time, we shall leave the reader to form his own judgment on those claims of Swedenborg; if he is inclined to reject all belief in a future life, and all idea of a divine revelation in whatever form, he will, of course, refuse to accept doctrines which imply, in the strongest sense, a belief in a personal God who has revealed Himself to mankind, and in the immortal destinies of the human soul. If, on the other hand, the reader already admits, in some definite way, the inspiration of the Seers and Prophets of the Bible; if he accepts St. Luke's statement about the disciples (Luke 24:31), that 'their eyes were opened and they knew Him,' then his difficulty will not be about a principle, but it will simply resolve itself into a question of evidence. On one point only must we be permitted to record our own conviction, without which, of course, this little work could not have been undertaken. We believe in the absolute honesty and sincerity of Swedenborg, in the accounts he gives of his spiritual experiences in his numerous works written after the year 1745. And our belief only reflects the belief of well-known men who knew him and had ample opportunities to form an opinion on this point" (pp. 22, 23).

     In this first chapter, we find a brief treatment of Swedenborg's preparatory works, not without reference to "imperfections," though these are ascribed rather to those scientists whose results he accepted, and we are urged to bear in mind that "a knowledge of the soul was the supreme object of his inquiry" (p. 18). The analysis of the contents of the Theological Works is somewhat after the manner of White's smaller biography, only, to our way of thinking, clearer and more succinct.

     In chapter II, on "Swedenborg's Philosophy of Life," we find a very interesting and clear presentation of the philosophy contained in the Theological Writings. Commencing at the center or source of life as God, we descend through series and degrees to the finite receptacles of that life.

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"God, then, the eternal Love, Wisdom and Power, in whom are all things, from whom are all things, is for Swedenborg the sole source and cause of all finite existence, spiritual and material. For him, the whole universe is the expression of the spiritual, and the reason why infinite love and infinite intelligence are discernable in it, even to our natural sight, is because God is in the created universe by immanence, although discreted from it by transcendence; the natural world exists from the Divine, and from that source has whatever intelligibility it possesses for rational beings" (p. 42). The writer gives evidence of a thorough grasp of Swedenborg's doctrine of influx and degrees. Speaking of the modus operandi of sight, he says: "In this life, at any rate, the external world represented, say, in the case of sight, by the luminiferous ether, comes into contact with the organ of sense, the eye; this contact forms what we may call a basis for the reception of the influx from the soul; a change of state takes place in the organ of sight, and into that change of state the influx from the soul descends, and the specific sensation is experienced by the subject who sees" (p. 52). This is substantiated by passages from the Writings, which method forms a valuable feature of the book. To a large extent, the Writings are allowed to tell their own story.

     In this chapter we are also lucidly shown how Swedenborg's philosophy escapes Pantheism, on the one hand, and materialism on the other. To quote: "The reader will easily see the immense importance and the philosophical consequences of such a conception, [viz., discrete degrees]. It means that between God and nature a distinction subsists which implies immanence but affirms transcendence; that between spirit and matter a distinction subsists which forbids the notion that what we call spirit is but the product of material evolution. It means that Pantheism is a false conception of the Divine activity, and materialism a false interpretation of scientific facts" (p. 57).

     In the same chapter, the writer shows that the doctrine concerning an internal sense of the Word is philosophical, defends the canon of Scripture as set forth in the Writings, but goes somewhat far afield to show that the spiritual method of Scripture interpretation dates back even to the Rabbis before Christ, and was followed in some measure by Philo of Alexandria, Origen, and others of the early Fathers.

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And when Mr. De Beaumont comes to define the nature of Swedenborg's inspiration, we must take direct issue with him. He indeed cites the chief declarations of the Writings that bear upon this subject, such as: "It has been given me to perceive distinctly what comes from the Lord and what from the angels; what has come from the Lord has been written, and what from the angels has not been written." Yet of the Spiritual Diary he remarks that "it was not written for publication, but embodied his private thoughts, remarks, and experiences from day to day," and that thus "Swedenborg allows us to follow the workings of his mind while he endeavored to distinguish what he should preserve for use and what he should reject out of the multitude of sights and impressions represented before him." (p. 72.) And then, strange to say, Diary No. 1647 is quoted as an example of what Swedenborg was "saying to himself," although he there declares that he had been "instructed by the Lord alone." Mr. De Beaumont's conclusion as to the seer's inspiration is thus stated:

     "From the passages we have quoted out of Swedenborg's later works, it will appear that he does not claim for his doctrinal writings anything at all corresponding to the inspiration which he asserts to belong to the books of the 'Word.' In that sense, he was not 'inspired.' Yet what he does claim is in itself very great, for It amounts to a distinct and special direction, implying a power of selection and of intuitive perception of truth which, if not 'inspiration' in a specific sense, at any rate led to the discovery of the higher meaning of the inspired text, through an acquired knowledge of those correspondences between spiritual things and things natural, which no unaided natural mind can surely discern. For 'enlightenment is from the Lord alone'" (p. 73). And then he adds: "Such is the difficulty in this supreme question plainly stated." One is forced to believe that the writer of this is still more or less "on the fence" himself as to the nature of the Revelation given through Swedenborg, in which case he can hardly expect to lead others to a deeper acknowledgment than he himself possesses. In conceding so much to possible prejudice, our New Church apologists do but betray the weakness in their own armor.

     At the close of this chapter, a quaint answer is given to Dr. Maudsley, as a critic who went so far as to "attribute the whole matter to Swedenborg's mental derangement and hallucination, basing his opinion largely upon the fact that Swedenborg in his scientific days had invented a kind of aeroplane.

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He thought it positive evidence of madness in a man to have imagined that aviation could ever become a practical proposition! Today Dr. Maudsley would have had to revise his opinions, at any rate, concerning aeroplanes" (p. 74).

     Chapter III is devoted to a discussion of New Church doctrine, and the little book goes about the task in a very orderly and concise manner, endeavoring always to give the very heart of the substance. Commencing with the idea of God as Love and Wisdom, he shows the essential reflective counterpart of these in the will and understanding of man; and, as God is Very Man, and the heavens receive and reflect Him, therefore there will be a Gorand Man as the composite whole of the heavens. The grand unity of the New Church conception of God in the Divine Humanity is thus set forth: "Swedenborg's doctrine of the Divine unity is not intended to exclude the 'Word made flesh,' but, on the contrary, distinctly to include it. Moreover, his unity implies, according to his theology, a Trinity, not of 'persons' but of 'essentials.' The Father, the Divine Love, is the Esse of the primal substance; the Wisdom or Word by whom are all things, its Existere; the Holy Spirit is the proceeding and perpetual operation of the Divine Love and Wisdom in the created world" (p. 82). He then points out the important theological consequences that follow a true idea of God.

     We should like to quote more of the fine passages of the book, for they include every important doctrine of the Church. He discusses the spiritual world,-heaven and hell, and the world of spirits,-with special reference to the philosophy of the subject. He treats of the Church universal and specific, describing the series of five Churches, the Second Coming and the New Church. On the latter subject he is quite clear, showing that the New Church is to be a distinct Church, first among a few and gradually spreading to many.

     Chapter IV, entitled the "Conclusion," is perhaps the weakest part of the book, space being consumed in giving the reasons why Swedenborg has made such slow progress among the educated, and laying the responsibility chiefly upon Swedenborg's "indifference to mere literary form, his frequent repetitions of the same ideas, his often tiresome Latin periods, which even the best translators find much difficulty in rendering less tiresome in English, and less obscure in their meaning."

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The New Church reader will find this "apology" for the form of a Divine Revelation more than "tiresome," and hardly atoned for by the later assertion that "Swedenborg is not so difficult to read after all." (See p. 117.)

     Over and above these unworthy concessions, however; we are impressed with Mr. De Beaumont's own faith in the teachings of the New Church, and this may perhaps enlist the interest of a reader, in spite of the almost apologetic attitude to which we have been obliged to take exception. He is avowedly addressing the learned and the educated, and assumes they must be reasoned with, and not confronted with too much dogmatic assertion. He might also have given them credit for an intelligence that would discern the sincerity of a noble acknowledgment that through Swedenborg the Lord Himself has given to the world a Revelation that surpasses in excellence any before given. KARL R. ALDEN.
WHY DO THINGS HAPPEN? 1921

WHY DO THINGS HAPPEN?       E. E. IUNGERICH       1921

     WHY DO THINGS HAPPEN? By Everett King Bray. Minneapolis: The Nunc Licet Press, 1920. Cloth, 104 pages. Price, 50 cents.

     This tastily gotten up booklet presents, in six brief chapters, some of the main principles of the Divine Providence in an attractively written and readable manner. God, who created all things from Himself, operates in universals and singulars with a constant Providence to bless others from Himself and bring them into a heaven from the human race. But this goal can only be attained through man's having a freedom to choose either to concur with God's plan or to resist it: "For it is better for a man to be free in hell, than to be bound in heaven. What any man loves supremely is his 'heaven'; and the only happiness he can know is freedom to enjoy this, his love" (p. 51). "Hell is . . . misshapen and distorted and disordered throughout; a form inverted and hideous in the light of heaven, but pleasing and seeming beautiful to those within it-because it is their choice, their idea realized" (p. 52).

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     Yet God is present with man day by day, urging him to make the right choice, and protecting him from, and minimizing, the dire effects of having chosen wrongly. All men, from time immemorial, are regarded as to their uses as cohesive units in a co-operative total which is to be called the Universal Man, of which the Gorand Man of the heavens is the sublimated and more perfect archetype. "Some definite part of the Universal Man is calling us; and we, though it may be blindly to ourselves, are on the way. But whether, when we reach the part, we shall bring it health and added joy, or disease and sorrow, must depend in whole upon our attitude towards the 'call.' If we go reluctantly, the effect will be to retard the organ's use; if we go in rebellion, we introduce ferment and disease; but if we go obediently, we shall increase the use; and if we go gladly, with the end in view of serving where most we are needed, the effect will be to contribute health and strength and joy to the use (or the organ) that calls us" (p. 35). The trials that beset a man's progress to the goal in store are like the vicissitudes which the individual food particles undergo before becoming cells in the body; for the man's potential affiliation with a given use needs to be enveloped by an actual spiritual efficiency in it, and this can only be developed by the succession of daily events he goes through. "Then we ought to rejoice over every trial and every hardship that, unsought and from no known fault of our own, comes our way; we ought to meet it as a heavenly gift of opportunity, for it surely is a promise of what we are to be, foretelling in unerring prophecy the quality of the final use we are to serve, and revealing as well the corresponding joy we shall receive and give" (p. 44).

     The progress of the Universal or Race Man has been slow, because of the necessity of choice on the part of every individual; but with its increasing maturity, there is, he avers, a sane hope that men on earth will outgrow and put behind them the period of yielding to evil, and so further a collective advance to the state of the innocence of wisdom. The incarnation was the pivotal point of the Race Man's journey. Previously, as he puts it, the actual development with men did not keep pace with their potential growth towards the possibilities of manhood. In other words, I take it, he means there was a developing mind within a Stunted body. But thence forward, "the Race Man was to make progress upward as to life, to grow toward the making of his potential actual by infilling his full-grown capacity with corresponding moral and spiritual living."(p. 79).

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     The fall of successive religious dispensations do not mean any setback to the continual progress of the Universal Man, and are, in the author's judgment, but apparent retrogressions, and to be compared to the backward movement of the drive-shaft on a locomotive wheel (p. 82). Man, as an individual, continually cycles like a locomotive wheel, but when he is at the bottom of one revolution, he has made definite progress over the previous occasions when he was in that position.

     The conclusion the author comes to is that God is intimately present in His cosmos in its very leasts, urging the forward progress of every part to a final end; that every man at any moment is just where he is to get the best advantages he needs right then for his further progress to his part in the scheme of things; and that we should therefore be content with our lot, and not disappointed if our effect on our fellows is disproportionate to our hopes. "The results are not his business where duty calls; for it is his to obey and do, as light and strength are given, and to leave results to God" (p. 95). "He will try to teach and convince and lead others to believe in the things he believes in, and to live by the things he desires to live by. And yet, if they still fail to be convinced, after he has done his best, he will be content to know that by his effort he has contributed that needed part to the sum-total of their needed experience up to that time, and that in God's perfect Providence it shall 'have, now or later, such effect as their own specific present spiritual status, plus their destined future place, shall need, God, through the laws of the Gorand Man will take care of that" (p. 96). "He will see that while it is the duty, under Providence, of one religion or faith to try to convert to itself (i.e., to the Truth it believes itself to hold) other religions or faiths, yet so long as they remain unconverted, it is because those who are in them are in such spiritual conditions that their advancement toward their final place can be furthered better there than they could be anywhere else" (p. 97). For "harm is prevented from coming to men through hearing truths that, as yet, they are not ready to appropriate, because they will not seem to them as truths" (p. 99). "He will keep in mind that souls are born for different parts of the Gorand Man, for uses as varied and different as are the functions of the body's manifold parts and particles.

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And he will realize, also, that he does not know to what part God is calling even himself; and how much less he knows of the appointed place of others! And certainly the experiences, and the fiber of life, and the manner of living, for one being called to some part of the supporting bony framework, will be vastly different from those of one called to the vital fluids of the nervous system; and one whose place is in the hands, so to speak, will live quite differently from one whose place is in the brain; and it is right and necessary that it should be so" (p. 99). "The vast majority, during their stay in this world, are able to rise out of the dim light, the heavily clouded light, of 'appearances' only very slowly; while the untempered light of absolute truth is far ahead of the farthest on the road. And since it is infinitely better to go toward heaven slowly, by a very dim light, than it is to be dazzled and blinded by a light brighter than can be borne, and so not to go at all, therefore very false religions may still have all the light in them, and in the best adapted form, that can be accommodated to the state of those who are in them" (p. 97).

     I have quoted the author at some length to give the reader a taste of his attractive and easy literary style, and also to set forth what I regard as a typical state of thought among the ranks of the permeationists who are becoming more numerous and influential in the older organizations of the New Church. The Supra-permeationist believes that the Lord is, by an imperceptible interior way, gradually molding the hearts of the men in the Old Church into an acceptance of New Church views, and that there is consequently a steady improvement in the Old Church. The Sub-permeationist, of which the late B. F. Barrett was the pioneer, and the Nunc Licet Press ever the organ, believes that, by disseminating general New Church principles, divorced from any typical pungency that might arouse dissent in the mind of an Old Churchman,-a sort of "salt that has lost its savor,"-the minds of men at large will be gradually weaned from Old Church bigotry, and prepared to welcome in the course of ages the living truths of the New Church.

     Those two types of thinkers are respectively portrayed in Matthew xi:7, 8, as "a reed shaken with the wind" and "a man clothed in soft raiment." As men do not go out to see those, (as is set forth there in the Lord's infinite knowledge of human nature); and as their efforts in no sense resemble the prophet or messenger before the Lord's face, who alone can startle and arrest the attention of the erring, it is predoomed that their effect on men in the world will be practically nil.

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Mr. Bray virtually admits this, and yet urges in a somewhat fatalistic vein that such efforts be kept up as a sacred duty while yet we are resigned to see them apparently accomplish nothing. He holds out the supposedly comforting hope that Old Churchmen may, after all, at present, be better off spiritually in the Old Church than if they joined the New Church. Only the Lord can really see what is best for them, he avers.

     But though such permeation efforts will do practically nothing to the world, they are not without baleful effects in the organization from which they emanate, in the line of creating a distaste for teachings that might ruffle strangers, and a dislike for the Church as a militant form whose purpose is to set forth vital distinctions as a basis for purificatory judgments.

     Imagine the Lord, on sending out his twelve apostles, saying to them: "If men remain unconverted, it is because they are in such spiritual conditions that their advancement toward their final place can be furthered better there than they could be anywhere else." What He did say to them was: "And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city." (Matt. x:14, 15.)

     Though Mr. Bray quotes Swedenborg, and on one occasion speaks of him as "the great seer of the New Age" (p. 11), the net effect of his book, I deem, would be to make men think that other religions have pearls as well as the New Church, and that though from pardonable pride in his own religious affiliation he might naturally think his pearl was of greater Price than theirs, yet it was not God's plan to ask man to sell all the other pearls in order to get this one. He states that the world needs Christianity, but he leaves it to his Old Church readers to imagine it is the kind they have. That it is a kind which might develop out of militancy for the Writings of the Lord's Second Coming, he forbears mentioning.

     "On every hand," he says, "men are coming to see the Divine intentions for the Larger Humanity; there is almost no magazine or book of the day that does not somewhere deal with some phase of it.

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Some see clearly and some see only indistinctly; but everywhere there is the feeling, if not the vision, that the better way, the human way, is just beginning, and that we are actually on the way to a better world. That the human body is the supreme pattern, according to which this better world is to be builded, has not as yet been discovered; but the approach today is very near in the great humane, upbuilding, world-uniting purpose and plan of the League of Nations. In this, a body is provided which is capable of being expanded to include all humanity; and in the measure that the Christianity of the world takes its place as the 'lungs' and the 'heart' of it,-breathing into it the spirit of Christian truth, pumping through it the life of Christian love, in that measure Christ shall come to be its 'Head,' and true oneness on earth be advanced "
(p. 89).

     As a matter of fact, the Christianity of the world is utterly unsuitable for any central cohesive "urge" in such a direction. The Lord Jesus Christ showed His complete disapproval of it by calling together His twelve apostles on the 19th day of June, 1770, with the mission to evangelize without compromise the kind of Christianity needed for the weal of mankind. It is the kind contained in the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, and the only way to get it definitely into the world is by the conscious reception of the Writings in mind and life.
     E. E. IUNGERICH.
GIST OF SWEDENBORG 1921

GIST OF SWEDENBORG       W. B. CALDWELL       1921

     THE GIST OF SWEDENBORG. Compiled by Julian K. Smyth and William F. Wunsch. Philadelphia: Published for the Trustees of the Iungerich Publication Fund by the J. B. Lippincott Company, 1920. Cloth, 110 pages. Price, 50 cents.

     As stated by Mr. Smyth in the Foreword, this volume represents an "endeavor to press within small compass passages (from the Writings) which give the gist of Swedenborg's teachings On such subjects as The Christ-God, Man a spiritual being, the warfare of Regeneration, Marriage, the Sacred Scriptures, the Life of Charity and Faith, the Divine Providence, Death and the Future Life, the Church," these being "vital, fundamental truths," on which an "immense sweep of doctrine," contained within "some thirty or more volumes," rests. The object thus stated is valid, and is, we believe, successfully attained in the choice and arrangement of the material from the Writings, which is grouped under various headings in an attractive way.

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     Mr. Wunsch furnishes a Biographical Note, with much information concentrated in three pages. Both here, and in the passages quoted on "The Church," the fact of the Second Coming is plainly brought forward. But the fact of the Last Judgment, made necessary by the state of the Christian Church, should also have been recorded, as giving the reason for the Second Coming, and appealing to those who are ready to enter the New Church by their own individual judgment of repentance. "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand!" was the call to the Christian Church of the First Advent. With this exception, we think the selection of passages from the Writings excellent. There is need for more books of the kind, with other collections of statements, affording the uninitiated a foretaste of the Heavenly Doctrines.

     The very voluminousness of the Writings justifies the plan followed in the compilation under review. But it has another great merit. It allows the Writings to speak for themselves. That "a good article is its own best advertisement," is a maxim of the commercial world, the truth of which was forcibly impressed upon our convictions by an experience some years ago. As the youthful representative of a manufacturing concern, we were calling upon a prospective customer and extolling the virtues of our wares with all the eloquence we could muster. Pausing at last, we awaited the verdict, which was as abrupt as unexpected: "We let our goods do their own talking!" The lesson has its obvious application in the field of evangelization. The truth is its own best evangel, and the best missionary books in the New Church are those that afford the Heavenly Doctrines full opportunity to speak for themselves. Of writing many collateral works there is no end. They have their place, and have led people to the Writings, but that is their chief virtue. "I receive not testimony from man," our Lord said. "Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. . . . Ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. But I have greater witness than that of John. . . ." (John 5:33-36.)

     The principle here taught has been recognized and exemplified in the Gist of Swedenborg, and we wish to record our approval of the plan, which we trust will have many imitators.
     W. B. CALDWELL.

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RECLAIMING OF CATHOLICS 1921

RECLAIMING OF CATHOLICS       DONALD MERRELL       1921

     Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:

     Although the man to whom the ability has been given to "settle disagreements among the things which are of faith within the Church" must be of a "more advanced age," according to the Rev. E. E. Iungerich, in his communication on the "Two Seeming Contradictions" (December LIFE, p. 755), Still I would humbly offer the results of some meditation upon one of the apparent contradictions he presents.

     The laity of the Roman Catholic Church are, for the most part, kept in ignorance of the doctrines of the Church, and there is instilled with them a love for the externals of worship separate from the internals. The people are taught to love the forms of worship rather than the things for which the ritual stands. The masses are said in Latin, thus in a language unintelligible to the people, to the end that they may not know what is being read. For this reason, they know and understand little about their doctrines; and consequently the falsities of their Church cannot enter their lives. Being ignorant of their doctrines, they believe they must be true. They remain in a profound love for their worship, which appears to them as a beautiful ritual expressing some hidden truth which is not for them to question. In this world, therefore, the laity of the Catholic Church can be "led away from their worship with greater difficulty than other peoples." (L. J. 56.) But the priesthood of that Church cannot be led away from their worship, because "their truths are not from the Word, except a few which they have falsified by application to dominion." (Ibid.)

     In the other world, however, if the Roman Catholics who have little knowledge and understanding of the falsities of their Church "recede as to a part from the externals of their worship, and immediately approach God the Savior, Jesus Christ, and also take both kinds in the Holy Eucharist, they can be introduced ahead of the Reformed into the Lord's New Church," that is, ahead of the Reformed who have become confirmed in the false doctrine of faith alone.

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Thus the passage from L. J. 56 refers to the withdrawal of Catholics in this world from the external forms of their worship, which is said to be difficult, while B. E. 105- refers to Catholics in the other world, and their introduction into the New Church in heaven because they had not confirmed themselves in the false doctrines of their Church, which is the case with many of the laity.
     DONALD MERRELL.

     In order that our readers may have before then the complete statement on this subject, we herewith quote in full No. 108 of the Brief Exposition:

     "The FIRST REASON why the Roman Catholics can be introduced into the New Jerusalem, that is, the New Church, ahead of the Reformed, is because the faith in justification by the imputation of the merit of Christ, which is an erroneous faith, and cannot be together with the faith of the New Church, (nos. 102-104), is obliterated with them; yea, is to be altogether obliterated; but with the Reformed it remains as though engraved, because it is the principal [tenet] of their Church. The SECOND REASON is that with the Roman Catholics there is the idea of the Divine Majesty in the Human of the Lord, more than with the Reformed, as is manifestly evident from their most holy veneration of the Host. The THIRD REASON is that With them charity, good works, repentance, application to a new life, are essentials of salvation, and these are also the essentials of the New Church; but it is otherwise with the Reformed who are confirmed in faith alone, with whom those same things do not enter their faith, either as essential or formal, and hence contribute nothing to salvation. These are the reasons why the Roman Catholics, if they approach God the Savior Himself, not mediately, but immediately; and also if they distribute the Holy Eucharist in both kinds, may receive a living in place of a dead faith more easily than the Reformed, and be borne by the Lord by means of angels to the gates of the New Jerusalem, or the New Church, and be introduced with joy and jubilation." (B. E. 108.)
     EDITOR.

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"TWO SEEMING CONTRADICTIONS." 1921

"TWO SEEMING CONTRADICTIONS."       WILLIAM EVENS       1921

     A REPLY.

     Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:

     In the article by the Rev. E. E. Iungerich, entitled "Two Seeming Contradictions," he invites your readers to express their opinions on the matter.

     With regard to the "Reclamation of Catholics," I see no difficulty whatever. It can scarcely be called even a seeming contradiction; for, although it is stated in L. J. 56 that they can be led away from their worship "with greater difficulty than other nations," and in B. E. 105-9 that "they can be introduced ahead of the Reformed into the New Jerusalem," the reasons are given in the latter passage. The reasons are these, "If they recede as to a part from the externals of their worship, and immediately approach God the Savior Jesus Christ, and also take both kinds in the holy Eucharist." If these reasons are kept in view there is no contradiction.

     The apparent conflict between A. E. 1168 and D. L. W. 270, regarding the "Gyres of the Mind," is of a far more serious character. In A. E. 1168, it is said to be contrary to order to look "from truth to good, as from the left to the right"; and according to order to look "from right to left, thus from good to truth." But in D. L. W. 270, the natural mind is said to be in gyres from right to left, and the spiritual mind in gyres from left to right; and it is also said that "the circumgyration from right to left is turned downwards, thus towards hell, but the circumgyration from left to right goes upwards, thus towards heaven." These two passages certainly appear to contradict each other.

     It appears to me that the key to the difficulty is found in A. C. 10061, where it is said, "Since most expressions in the Word have also an opposite sense, so also have the right hand and the left; and in that sense, the right hand signifies evil productive of the false, and the left hand the false productive of evil."

     Considerable light is thrown on this subject in S. D. 3863, where we read, "Formerly, when men were, as it were, in a state of integrity, then the natural operation, consequently of the cerebellum, was immediately shown in the whole face, as much the changes of their affections or celestial things, which pertain to the right side of the face, as of their spiritual things, which belong to the left side of the face.

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When the affections of good ceased, and were succeeded by vile cupidities only, then the natural operation into the right part of the face receded, and betook itself to the left, into which it acted from the spiritual things, thus in the inverted order, that is, not from celestial to spiritual, or from the right to the left, but from spiritual to celestial, thus from the left; but it is not lawful to proceed from left to right, or from spirituals to celestials; wherefore, the right side of the face is guarded by the Lord that (the influx) may not extend itself thither from the left, which appears from faith, that faith is without the affection of good, to which faith it is not granted to enter into the affections of good, thus into celestial things, on which account it is separated, and at this day faith is scientific, or of the memory, by which men wish to enter heaven, although destitute of any affection of good, or love; for they suppose that if only they have faith they will be saved, when (at the same time) their life may be contrary, and (made up) of mere cupidities."

     The solution of the difficulty appears to be that where from right to left is said to be according to order it means from good to truth, but where it is said to be contrary to order it means from evil to falsity. So also where from left to right is said to be according to order it means from truth to good, but where it is said to be contrary to order it means from falsity to evil.

     It is said to be "not lawful to proceed from left to right, or from spirituals to celestials," and in S. D. 3863 it is also stated that the left, or spiritual, signifies a state of faith alone. When the Most Ancient Church ceased to be celestial, it was succeeded by the Ancient Church, which was, comparatively speaking, contrary to order, which is meant by the Lord's exclamation, "Let your communication be Yea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."
     WILLIAM EVENS.
Penetanguishene, Ont., Canada.
Jan. 10, 1921.

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"TWO SEEMING CONTRADICTIONS." 1921

"TWO SEEMING CONTRADICTIONS."       F. C. FRAZEE       1921

     ANOTHER REPLY.

     Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:

     The communication by the Rev. Mr. Iungerich on "Two Seeming Contradictions" interested me, and partly for the reason that I think they can easily be reconciled, even by a slight student of the Writings. At least, this is how it appears to my mind:

     In the case of "The Mind's Organic Spiral," one passage may explain what the other does not. For instance, in A. E. 1168, it states that "man's mind, before it was conjoined to heaven, was turned backwards, because not yet led out from hell; but when it is in the state of reformation, it looks from truth to good, as from the left to the right, etc." This implies that before reformation its gyres are from right to left. This, then, evidently means the natural mind referred to in D. L. W. 270, which reads: "The natural mind, with all things of it, is circumflexed into gyres from right to left, etc." We know, also, that the natural mind, when contrary to the spiritual mind, is not conjoined to heaven, and therefore is "turned backward, because not yet led out from hell." Still, its gyre is from right to left, which is similar to the mind's gyre when conjoined to heaven, or when it looks from good to truth.

     But we are taught that the same terms that apply to good and truth also apply in the opposite sense to evil and falsity, according to the context. And since, before regeneration, the "good" of the natural man is evil, and it's "truth" falsity, therefore when it "looks to it's good and truth," or to hell, which is to look backwards, the gyre is the same; for it looks from evil to falsity, and so from its right to its left.

     "But when it is in the state of reformation, it looks from truth to good, as from the left to the right, which is contrary to order." (A. E. 1168). This shows that the spiritual mind, both before and during reformation, is not yet turned in the orderly way. But because the natural mind is now in a similar gyre to that of the spiritual, both are in the state of reformation, which precedes regeneration or conjunction with heaven.

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The natural and the spiritual are now as one mind, and, as such, their circumgyration is from left to right, or from truth to good; and this, we are taught elsewhere, is the beginning of regeneration-"thus towards heaven," as mentioned in the passage from Divine Love and Wisdom.

     And in A. E. 1168, it goes on to say that "after the mind is conjoined to heaven, it is turned forward, and is elevated to the Lord, and looks from right to left, thus from good to truth, which is according to order. Thus a [complete] turning is made." This again proves that the spiritual mind, referred to in D. L. W. 270, which is said to be in gyres from left to right, was not according to order. And the reason for this is set forth in many passages of the Arcana Coelestia because, in the beginning of regeneration, or during reformation, man does good from truth, but when he is regenerated, he does what is true from good. From this it can be seen that the spiritual mind is in disorderly gyres in respect to the regenerate mind, or the mind conjoined to heaven. Yet the progression may be called an orderly one, as a "circumgyration from left to right goes upwards, thus towards heaven." (D. L. W. 270.)

     It seems to me there is no difficulty in the matter of "The Reclamation of Catholics." Accepting as true that "the nation now treated of can be led away from its worship with greater difficulty than other nations, because they are not in good from truths, still less in truths from good, etc." (L. J. 56); also accepting as true that "if they recede as to a Part from the externals of their worship, and immediately approach God the Savior Jesus Christ, and also take both kinds in the Holy Eucharist, they can be introduced ahead of the Reformed into the New Jerusalem," etc. (B. E. 105-109); where is the contradiction in these two statements?

     Might it not have been as truly said that if the Reformed would recede from their "faith alone" doctrine, they could be introduced ahead of the Roman Catholics? In the case of the Catholics, it is more difficult to lead them from their worship. Yet if they were led away, they could be introduced ahead of the Reformed, evidently because their rational state has not become so perverted as with the others, who have had access to the Word, and who have perverted their rational because free to exercise it. An application from the Letter of the Word might be thus: In respect to the Catholics, "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin."

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With respect to the Reformed, "Now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth." In respect to both, "As thy days, so shall thy strength be."
     F. C. FRAZEE.
Courtenay, B. C., Canada,
January 5, 1921.
DE VERBO-IN SWEDISH 1921

DE VERBO-IN SWEDISH       ERNST PFEIFFER       1921

     A CORRECTION.

     Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:

     In the February issue of the Life, (p. 85), you print the following note in regard to a recent Swedish publication: ". . .A Swedish translation of Swedenborg's Spiritual Diary, by Erik Hermelin, published by Nordstedt and Sons. Although very incomplete, the six large original volumes having been reduced to a small book of 185 pages, this is the first time the Spiritual Diary has been brought before the Swedish public." (Quoted from NYKYRKLIGT BLAD.)

     In justice to the translator and publisher of the pamphlet in question, I should like to ask you to accept the following correction of this very inaccurate statement. The above-mentioned publication is nothing but a translation of the small posthumous work, De Verbo, and has nothing whatever to do with the Spiritual Diary, except that Immanuel Tafel, in his first edition of the Diary, appended this little work, together with quite a number of other small posthumous tracts. Obviously it was due to this fact that Mr. Hermelin added the general title-page of the Diary to his translation of De Verbo.
     ERNST PFEIFFER.

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Church News 1921

Church News       Various       1921

     THE HAGUE, HOLLAND.-It is not often we send you an account of ourselves, but after such an eventful fortnight as the last has been, we feel the wish to tell you of our doings. The long-expected visit from Mr. Acton came off at last; we had the pleasure of welcoming him first in the private circle of the Barger family, and then, on Saturday evening, December 11th, a circle of friends met, on which occasion there was some interested conversation, and some welcome instruction from Mr. Acton on the relation between the spiritual and the natural world. On Sunday afternoon, he gave us all an instructive talk about his recent journeys and the meetings he had had with various friends and members of the Church. At a third meeting we were initiated into some of the Academy songs, and under Mr. Acton's guidance all joined in "Our own Academy."

     On Friday night, Mr. Deltenre, who had come over from Brussels for the purpose, delivered a public lecture at which 84 persons were present, well-nigh filling the small hall rented for the purpose. At the close of the lecture, some thirty books were sold, and we bid adieu to Mr. Acton. We feel grateful for his visit, and here wish publicly to express our thanks for the benefits derived on that occasion,-thanks to Mr. Acton for coming, and to the General Church and the Bishop for letting him come.

     Saturday afternoon, Mr. Deltenre baptized three of the friends into the Church, at their own home, on account of the little daughter whose health did not allow her parents to take her out of doors. On Sunday morning, Mr. Deltenre led in service; two more friends were baptized, and the Holy Supper was administered to seventeen persons.

     We hope to see Mr. Deltenre here again towards the end of January for another lecture, of which we shall not fail to send you word.
     M. B.

     LONDON, PECKHAM RYE.-The Sunday Services and Doctrinal Classes have continued, bearing the same characteristics as noted in our last review. Worship on Christmas morning was exceptionally full and inspiring, the service being conducted by the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal and the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, the latter giving a most comprehensive discourse on the nature of the First Coming. Equally uplifting was the Service held on the first Sunday in the New Year. The same ministers conducted, the Communion being administered. The Rev. Hugo Odhner preached a most profound, poetic sermon on "Hope "-the text being "Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope." (Zechariah IX:12.) The Rev. R. T. Tilson invited the Rev. Mr. Odhner to preach at the Burton Road Society on Sunday, December 26th, which proved another useful and instructive occasion, while on New Year's Eve, the Rev. R. J. Tilson and the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal officiated at the Watch Night Service held in the Burton Road Hall of Worship.

     During the last two months our social activities have been exceptionally interesting. The evening of December 28th was devoted to social gathering at our rooms, at which over eighty people were present, including a large number of friends from Burton Road. The first part of the programme consisted of a concert, given in aid of St. Dunstan's Hospital for Blind Soldiers, and under the supervision of Miss Iris Elphick.

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Songs were given by Miss Holman and Miss Niblett, a Piano Solo by Miss Margaret Elphick, Violin Solos by Mr. Edwinn Penn, Recitations by Mr. Anderson, and a Recitation and representative dance by Miss Iris Elphick. The various items were thoroughly appreciated by the audience. The latter part of the evening took the form of a Reception in honor of the Rev. and Mrs. H. Lj. Odhner.

     Our Pastor extended a cordial welcome to Mr. and Mrs. Odhner and invited the Rev. G. C. Ottley and the Rev. R. J. Tilson to address the meeting. After paying many compliments to the guests of the evening, Mr. Ottley characteristically emphasized the needs of a distinctive ministry and gave a severe and searching analysis of the signs of the times-both in the World and in the New Church at large. The Rev. R. J. Tilson, who welcomed Mr. Odhner on behalf of the Burton Road Society, noted the hard spade-work, the fighting times of the past-necessary work which the older priests had had to face-but the priests of the present and younger generation were to enter into that labor and go forward with the work of construction. Mr. J. Pryke, on the invitation of our Pastor, spoke on behalf of the laity, and affirmed the pleasure all had experienced in meeting and hearing Mr. Odhner, and noted that his future work in the Church would be followed with the greatest interest. The Rev. Hugo Odhner, in thanking the speakers for their remarks, spoke of the pleasure he and his wife had had in visiting England and learning more of the English character. Though, in appearance, strangers to many of the folks they had met in the Church in London, yet they felt the sphere of interest in the work, and for that reason they could not be strangers in reality. The evening was suitably closed by the singing of the refrain, "Our Glorious Church."

     Reverting to the early part of December, the evening of the 9th was spent with the Burton Rd. Society. Mr. and Mrs. Denny were host and hostess and provided recreation in the form of a Whist Drive. The "cloud" of fortune favored members of both the Burton Rd. and Peckham Rye Societies.

     On December 3rd, a "New Church Club" was inaugurated in the historic rooms of the "Cheshire Cheese," Fleet Street, London. On his own initiative, and in conjunction with the other ministers of the General Church in this country, the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal invited a number of men connected with the various New Church Societies in the Metropolis to meet together for the purpose of discoursing on the Doctrines of the Church. Mr. Gyllenhaal acted as Chairman of the proceedings and invited the Rev. R. J. Tilson to open the meeting by reading a paper. The subject selected was concerning the "Gymnnsia" mentioned in the Writings, its treatment being both concise and apt to the occasion. After a short discussion thereon, in which the Revs. A. Bjorck and G. C. Ottley took part, the practical problem of forming a club was discussed. As a result, Mr. Gyllenhaal was unanimously elected Secretary, and it was decided to hold the meetings of the club in a neutral place, rather than at the rooms of any particular Society. The modern sphere and associations of the "inn" made famous by Dr. Johnson were humorously noted, but at any rate, for the time being, it was felt that the "new" sphere of the "new" club would outweigh any objections.

     At the second meeting of the Club-January 5th,-the Rev. H. Lj. Odhner gave a most profound discourse on the "Philosophy of the Divine Human." Thirty-six gentlemen were present. The Rev. R. J. Tilson occupied the Chair, and the responding debate was divided between the six ministers present,-the Rev. Alfred Acton adding a much appreciated contribution to the subject of the paper. If it had not been for the legal closing time, 10:30, (a time limit imposed by English law, not by the Club) no doubt more speakers would have taken part, but nevertheless it was an interesting and instructive evening.

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     It has been a great pleasure to meet the Rev. Alfred Acton after his long sojourn on the Continent. At the Burton Road Church, on January 11th, he gave "a talk" on his travels, keeping the audience busy listening for three hours and a half without in any way thing them. It was a lecture which gave a good general impression of the growth of the New Church in Europe, vividly bringing us into contact with the New Church circles in Paris, Brussels, Rome, Vienna, Trieste, Lausanne, Copenhagen, Stockholm and The Hague. In addition, an idea was given of the terrible post-war conditions existing in Central Europe.

     January 14th witnessed the Annual Meeting of the Society hitherto known as the London Society of the General Church. After a serious but fitting address by our Pastor, the new Constitution and By-Laws were amended and adopted, and the name, "The London (Peckham Rye) Society of the General Church of the New Jerusalem," agreed upon.
     F. W. E.

     Appreciating the principle that encouragement should be given to all institutions which in any way promote the development of New Church thought, we feel constrained to mention the interesting program which has been provided by the Theological and Philosophical Society, meeting once a month at the Rooms of the Swedenborg Society at Bloomsbury. During the first half of the session, the following lectures have been given: "The Debt of Christian Civilization to Stoic Philosophy," by the Rev. W. T. Stonestreet; "The Doctrine of Permission," by the Rev. S. J. C. Goldsack; and "Is Socialism of Infernal Origin?" by the Rev. G. C. Ottley. All these lectures have been well attended, the audience representing both the Conference and the General Church. Although there is a time limit of five minutes to each speaker, the responding discussions have been lively and interesting, evincing many varied views and standpoints. There can be little doubt, however, that the evenings were profitable in stimulating the study and application of the New Church Doctrines. In this connection we may also mention that the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal was invited to give an address to the Conference Sunday School Teachers at Deptford on December 18th. The subject chosen was "Appearances in the Word," which, according to report, brought forth a very useful and affirmative discussion.
     F. W. E.

     TORONTO, CAN.-The Ladies' Aid Society has been very active during the year, under the able Presidency of Mrs. Henry Pecker. From time to time they have undertaken general house cleaning of the Church, made the Pastor a special gown for conducting the Sunday School service, constructed robe covers, and carried on the weekly suppers. And now we hear that they are planning to give a play to raise money for a new set of altar cloths. At the first meeting of the new year, all the old officers were re-elected to serve for the coming season. At this meeting, also, the Pastor gave an address on the "Use of Ladies' Organizations to the Society."

     On Thursday, January 20th, the Forward Club (Men's club) held a very interesting meeting. The first part of the evening was given over to business and the initial rounds of a Swedish whist tournament, which is to continue throughout the year. Following this, the subject of the evening was introduced by Mr. Frank Longstaff, who gave an able presentation of the "Causes of Present Day Industrial Unrest." He showed the relationship of the doctrine of use to the present conditions, and pointed out that it was only by an application of these principles that a solution would be reached. The speech was followed by an animated discussion, in which Messrs. R. Potts, Fred Bellinger, F. Wilson, and P. Izzard each contributed some new thought to the subject which his personal experience had given him.

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Refreshments concluded the night's good time, and it was not until early the next day that we arrived at home.

     On Friday, January 28th, there was a party for the Sunday School children, in honor of Swedenborg's Birthday. Swedenborg's picture was thrown on the screen and the Pastor told the children some anecdotes from the great man's life. Afterwards, a "Swedenborg's Birthday Cake," blazing with tiny candles was brought in, and we all sang "Happy Birthday." One little boy, upon being asked afterwards if he enjoyed Swedenborg's Birthday Party, replied, "Yes, but where was Swedenborg?" They sang "Prophet and Seer," and after refreshments departed home, having spent a delightful afternoon with their Teachers.

     On the evening of the 29th, a Swedenborg's Birthday Banquet for the adults took place. The room was decorated in yellow and blue, and a large picture of Swedenborg was hung in a conspicuous place. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, assisted by Mr. and Mrs. Smith, had provided a most delightful banquet with all the trimmings. After the repast, by way of arousing the spirit of Birthdays, a number of old-time photos of the Society were thrown upon the screen, much to the amusement of all present. Then followed four speeches on the four Rules of Life. The speakers handled their subjects well, and brought out many points of practical helpfulness. The Rules of Life were treated of in their order by the following speakers: Messrs. Edward Craigie, Rudolph Potts, Alec. Sargent, and Frank Longstaff. After the formal speeches, the Rev. John E. Bowers, and Messrs. R. Carswell and F. Wilson made short addresses. Mr. Wilson congratulated the speakers who had given us their thoughts on the fine way in which they had handled their subjects.
     K. R. A.

     REPORT OF THE VISITING PASTOR.-Services were held at DETROIT on Sunday morning, January 9th. That evening, and again on Tuesday evening, doctrinal classes were held. On each of these occasions about twelve persons were present. The members and friends of the General Church, living at Detroit and at Windsor (on the Canadian side), expressed a desire to be organized as a class to meet regularly for the reading of the Writings. This was accordingly done, and meetings will be held every other Sunday evening.

     January 13th to 17th were spent at ERIE, PA., the interesting events of which visit will be reported by the Erie correspondent.
     F. E. WAELCHLI.

     ERIE, PA.-Our Circle continues its round of weekly meetings, maintaining an average attendance of fifteen. On the 12th of January, we were again favored by a visit our Pastor, the Rev. F. E. Waelchli. The fist meeting was a Young Folks' Class at Rev. E. R. Johnson's. For the benefit of a visitor among us, Mr. Waelchli opened his remarks with a splendid missionary lecture which was appreciated by all.

     On Friday night we held a men's meeting at the residence of Mr. M. F. Near. Mr. Waelchli brought along a book, with the thought that perhaps our questions would lag, but he had no occasion even to open it, as there were questions enough to keep him occupied until long after our usual dosing time. Thanks to the kind attention of Mr. Near's mother, we left the meeting feeling improved in body as well as spirit, for she provided a most delightful spread.

     Saturday evening, Miss Ruby Evans again took things in hand, and entertained us, twenty strong, at supper. The surprise of the evening came when two large cakes were brought in with twenty candles each, in celebration of Mr. and Mrs. Evans' fortieth wedding anniversary. Mr. Waelchli then rose to the occasion and presented the happy couple with a small token to show the love and esteem with which they were held by the members of our society.

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Following the supper a most delightful social evening was spent.

     Sunday morning communion services were held at the residence of Mrs. Edward Cranch, with 19 present and 18 communicants. In the evening our sessions were closed by a doctrinal class at the residence of Mr. Miltiades Glenn.
     E. T. C.
January 30, 1921.

     COLCHESTER, ENGLAND.-The social on November 25th opened with an interesting lecture by Mr. Potter on "The Tides," which was followed by a whist drive and dancing. On this occasion, also, a presentation was made by Mr. Appleton to our organist, Miss Gill, in the form of a small traveling case, as a slight token of our appreciation of her services for several years.

     On Sunday, December 5th, Miss Maude Wheeler was baptized, our Pastor officiating.

     On December 9th, the usual social was opened by a reading from Dicken's "Christmas Carol" by Mr. F. R. Cooper, this being followed by progressive bunco and dancing.

     On December 16th, the marriage of Mr. Alan Waters, of London, and Miss Hilda Mary Potter was celebrated at the Hall of Worship, Priory St., at 1:45 p. m., our Pastor officiating. The chancel was decorated with flowers and ferns. Upon the entrance of the bride and bridegroom, the 19th Psalm was sung. The ritual of our marriage service was delightful in its simplicity, and the sphere of its beauty and power was felt by all. The bride was attired in crepe chenette with trimming of pearls, with veil, and wreath of orange blossoms, and carried a bouquet of white lilies. Her sister, Doris, attended as bridesmaid, and Mr. Fred Waters, of London, was best man. The Hall was filled to capacity, a large proportion being relatives and friends of the bride and bridegroom.

     At 3 o'clock a reception was held at the Liberal Club, about 60 being present. Mr. Fred Waters was toastmaster, and our Pastor responded to the toast to "The Church" in an excellent speech, explaining the doctrine in relation to marriage. The bridegroom suitably responded to the toast to "The Bride and Bridegroom," and the concluding one to "The Parents" was responded to by Mr. Waters, Senior, of London, and Mr. Potter, their humorous remarks causing much merriment. All thoroughly enjoyed the festive sphere prevailing, and soon after the happy couple left for their honeymoon the gathering dispersed.

     On Thursday, December 30th, a New Year's social and fancy dress party was held at the Studio, Head St., kindly lent for the occasion by Mrs. Gill, and ranks as one of the most successful we have had. Forty were present, including Mrs. H. L. Odhner, Mr. Fred Waters, Mr. Hemingway, of Huddersfield, and our Pastor. Twenty-five were in fancy dress, and the great variety of costumes made a most pleasing combination. It was well organized, entailing much work on the part of our new social committee, amply justified by the result. Mr. Jack Cooper was toastmaster, and very happily kept things going. The toasts and responses were as follows: "The Church," Mr. Appleton, Senior "The Priesthood," Mr. Gyllenhaal; "The Visitors," Mr. Fred Waters; "The Old Year" and "The New Year," Mr. Alwyn Appleton; "Our Hostess," Mr. Potter. After supper Miss Gill showed on the screen a series of photographs of Colchester and of many past and present leaders of the Church, which were much appreciated. Then came songs, glees, funny stories, dances, etc., which, under the spell of fancy dress, brought pleasure and delight to all.
     F. R. C.

     GLENVIEW.-The unusually mild weather since the beginning of the year has made it possible for the work of the Immanuel Church to proceed without interruption. Many meetings have been held by Miss Alice Grant-especially with the ladies of the society. Matters of serious import relating to the education of the young have been considered and treated by our visitor with unmistakable language, and there is every reason to believe that beneficial results will follow.

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     Our Pastor is now preaching a series of sermons from the Gospels.

     On January 28th, at the Friday supper, we celebrated the Birthday of Swedenborg. Mr. Sydney E. Lee was toastmaster. "The Life and Work of Swedenborg" was the general subject of the speeches, the speakers being Dr. J. B. S. King, Rev. G. G. Starkey, Rev. G. H. Smith, G. A. McQueen, Harvey Brewer, Harold McQueen and Mr. W. F. Junge.
     G. A. MCQUEEN.
MID-YEAR MEETINGS 1921

MID-YEAR MEETINGS       GEORGE DE CHARMS       1921

     According to the announcement in previous numbers of the Life, the Councils of the General Church and the Philadelphia District Assembly met at Bryn Athyn from February 2d to 6th inclusive. The sessions of the Council of the Clergy afforded occasion for a series of discussions involving doctrinal and practical questions. They were attended by the resident ministers and theological students and five from other centers: the Rev. Messrs. T. S. Harris, Theodore Pitcairn, Gilbert H. Smith, Homer Synnestvedt and F. E. Waelchli. All felt the absence of the Rev. C. E. Doering, who was unable to be present on account of illness. A Resolution expressing the sympathy of the Council and the hope of a speedy recovery was sent to him.

     The morning session of the Joint Council was chiefly occupied with a discussion of the Weekly Sermons, all present taking part. Mr. Waelchli spoke very highly of their reception and the general testimony seemed to be that they were performing a decided use in the Church. A suggestion looking toward the provision of something suitable for children was favorably commented on, cal students and five from other centers: the Rev. Messrs. T. S. Harris, Theourer showed that the Weekly Sermons still depend in large measure upon support from the general fund, and that contributions have defrayed only about half the expense of publication. In the afternoon, the Council discussed the missionary activities of the General Church in foreign lands, Mr. Iungerich presenting an especially interesting account of the situation in Europe, and Mr. Theodore Pitcairn describing in general the developments among the Basutos and other natives of South Africa.

     The meetings of the District Assembly, to which the evenings were devoted, were well attended, and proved intensely interesting. Prof. C. R. Pendleton delivered the first address on "Swedenborg's Solution of the Psycho physical Problem," which, when translated into the vernacular, was a very terse and simple statement as to the relation between mind and matter. The speaker traced the history of the problem, from Descartes-who postulated two fundamental realities, the one called mind, the other matter, but made no attempt to show how the one could act upon the other-to Berkeley and his disciples, who altogether deny the existence of matter, and consider ideas to be the only existing realities. He showed that no satisfactory solution had been reached, except in the philosophy of Swedenborg, who postulates only one fundamental reality, namely Divine Substance, out of which the whole universe has been created, but at the same time preserves the reality of the material world as produced by motion or activity in the Infinite Substance.

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He pointed out the confirmation of this in modern science. In the discussion that followed, some difference of opinion was expressed as to the interpretation Mr. Pendleton had placed upon Swedenborg's philosophy, but there was a live interest and keen appreciation of the paper manifested.

     The following evening, the Rev. T. S. Harris delivered a beautifully written and very valuable address on the subject of "Marriage in the Church." He spoke to a crowded hall, and held his hearers in wrapped attention while he unfolded in a powerful yet sympathetic way the spiritual importance, both to the growth of the Church and the happiness of individuals, d acting from conscience and according to revealed truth in the matter of selecting a partner within the sphere of one's own religion. The paper will be published in New Church Life, and so we need make no further comment, except to state that it aroused a most interesting discussion, and led to an impromptu speech by the Bishop which placed the whale subject, so far as the official attitude of the General Church is concerned, in a clearer and more satisfactory light than ever before, showing in what way the doctrine on the subject must be upheld, while at the same time the freedom of all is to be protected from infringement by any external enforcement of ecclesiastical law or custom.

     The intellectual climax was reached on Saturday evening with the presentation of the Bishop's scholarly address on "Preserving the Purity of Doctrine." It was so all-inclusive in its nature, and the product of so intensive a study, that it gave rise to no extended debate at the time. Everyone felt its power, and was profoundly impressed with its vital bearing upon the future policy of the Church. But it requires careful reading, analysis and study before the extent of its application can be fully appreciated. There was a demand for its publication, and we all look forward to a closer examination of it, and an entrance into a realization of its deeper significance. No attempt was made in the discussion to do more than consider one or two points raised by the paper, in their relation to the traditional beliefs that have growed up in the Church.

     The Banquet on Sunday evening gave evidence of the need for relaxation from the intellectual heights of the preceding meetings, and took a lighter turn. Mr. Whitehead, acting as toastmaster, introduced with a few inspiring remarks the toast to "The General Church of the New Jerusalem," in remembrance of its twenty-fourth anniversary. The Rev. Homer Synnestvedt, in responding, gave a historical sketch of the series of events leading up to the formation of our present Church organization, depicting the states of charity and mutual love which prevailed in those early beginnings of the Academy movement. He recalled scenes and incidents dear to the hearts of those older members among the active workers of that day who are still with us. The Rev. Theodore Pitcairn, responding to a toast to "The Clergy," spoke of the responsibility of self-examination, looking toward personal regeneration, which rests upon the ministry, and showed the bearing of this upon the development of the Church. A toast to "The Laity" followed, to which Mr. A. E. Nelson responded, recalling with deep affection the part which laymen had played in the formation and support of the General Church.

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The Rev. E. E. Iungerich was then called upon to speak for "The Younger Generation," and turned the thoughts of the Assembly from the past to the future. With his usual ability, he introduced an element of humor which pervaded the rest of the speeches, all of which were impromptu. Representatives from Cincinnati, New York, Baltimore, Glenview, and Philadelphia being present we were favored with a brief account from each, depicting the condition and progress of the Church in those centers. We had the pleasure of entertaining 32 guests from other societies at the banquet, a total of 290 being present. The Assembly leaves with us a delightful memory, and we look forward to future occasions of the kind with ever-increasing numbers and an ever-stronger sphere of affection for the things of the Church.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS.
JOURNEY OF THE REV. HUGO L. ODHNER 1921

JOURNEY OF THE REV. HUGO L. ODHNER       W. B. C       1921

     From private letters we learn that Mr. and Mrs. Odhner, with their child, had a very pleasant voyage across the Atlantic, the weather being almost summer-like. In London, they were able to do some sight-seeing, though this was limited by the social activities among the Church people, as noted in the news report from London. Mr. Odhner preached at Peckham Rye, Burton Road, and in Colchester, and also enjoyed a few days on the Continent, when he paid brief visits to Paris and Brussels, during which period Mrs. Odhner was the guest of Mrs. Gill in Colchester. They sailed for South Africa on January 6th, and no doubt have reached Durban at the time this is written.

     The Rev. Theodore Pitcairn, who has just arrived in Bryn Athyn, (February 1st), reports that he received a wireless message from Mr. Odhner when their ships passed.
     W. B. C.
SWEDENBORG'S BIRTHDAY 1921

SWEDENBORG'S BIRTHDAY       H. F. P       1921

     Bryn Athyn.

     On the 29th of January, the Theological Students gave an illustrated lecture on the Life of Emanuel Swedenborg in honor of his birthday. Each of the students spoke for about ten minutes on a different phase of his life.

     Mr. Donald Merrell opened the evening by showing a map of Sweden, pointing out the places of interest, and showing lantern slides of them. He also had slides of Swedenborg's ancestors and charts of his genealogy.

     Mr. Henry Heinrichs told us of Swedenborg the child. He was lively, and played normally with other children in the gardens of the city. But in certain ways he was very unusual. He used to practice internal respiration, especially when saying the Lord's Prayer, which, he tells us later, opened the internal degrees of his mind.

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At times he would also say things to his parents which made them believe that he talked with angels.

     Mr. Addison Lyman began by telling us of Swedenborg's adventures on his first foreign journey. His ship was chased, and barely escaped capture by pirates, but this escape only led into what at first seemed to be worse trouble; for upon landing in England, the officials were going to have him executed for disobeying the quarantine law. However, he had done this unintentionally, and therefore was set free. Mr. Lyman said that wherever Swedenborg went at this time he studied mathematics and mechanical devices, and made many inventions himself. He was also a great lover of his country, and wrote Lath poetry to his king, Charles XII, honoring and praising him. But he changed his opinion of the king after meeting him in hell.

     Mr. George Mokoena spoke of Swedenborg's home life. Most of his time was spent in his summer house, where he often read and meditated on the Word of God. Here, also, most of the Writings were written. His company was sought by all the great men of Sweden, and he was welcomed by the royal family itself. In company, he was usually quiet and at ease, but when he spoke all others ceased speaking to listen to him. In spite of this, he was greatly delighted with the company of children, and used to play games with them, and bring them cakes and candies.

     Mr. Raymond Cranch told us about Swedenborg's Scientific and Philosophical Works. His book on the Infinite was first considered, in which Swedenborg proves in a rational way that a Supreme and Rational God must exist. The last part of this work is a critical search for the human soul, which Swedenborg continued throughout his works on the Economy of the Animal Kingdom. An explanation was then made of the Hieroglyphic Key, in which Swedenborg, for the first time, rationally expounds the doctrine of Correspondence.

     Mr. Harold Pitcairn showed how all of Swedenborg's life up to this time, although of inestimable value in itself, was in reality but a preparation for the writing of the Theological Works. The signs Swedenborg received from the other world about his Scientific and Philosophical works showed that his preparation was most unusual. This led to the time when the Lord appeared to him in Person, opening his spiritual eyes. Mr. Pitcairn then showed how the Theological Works could be nothing less than the Word of God and the Second Coming of the Lord.

     Mr. Frank Rose concluded the lecture by telling some interesting anecdotes about the Revelator,-about the moving of Swedenborg's remains from England to Sweden, and the honor with which the Swedish Government received them; how Swedenborg saw the fire at Gothenburg when he was three hundred miles away; how he brought the message to the Queen of Sweden from her brother who was in the other world, which so amazed her that she said, "No one but my brother or God could have told you that." Mr. Rose said that these were facts well authenticated by the Swedish Government, but that, like miracles, they would not convince any one of the truths of the New Church.

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The fact that they were authentic might make people believe in Swedenborg, and, like those who believe in his science and philosophy, they might become Swedenborgians, but they would not be New Churchmen until they saw in the Theological Works, not Swedenborg, but the Lord.
     H. F. P.
WEEKLY SERMONS 1921

WEEKLY SERMONS       Rev. W. H. ALDEN       1921




     Announcements.



     FINANCIAL STATEMENT TO FEBRUARY 1, 1921.
Cost of Publication to date      $952.17
Contributions received      490.50

     Deficit

     Pamphlets containing two sermons are mailed fortnightly, and the present distribution is 550 copies. Contributions to this use should be sent to
     REV. W. H. ALDEN, Treasurer,
          Bryn Athyn, Pa.

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MARRIAGE IN THE CHURCH 1921

MARRIAGE IN THE CHURCH       Rev. T. S. HARRIS       1921


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLI          APRIL, 1921           No. 4
     (A paper read at the Philadelphia District Assembly, Bryn Athyn, Pa., February 4, 1921.)

     The treatment of this subject involves an answer to three questions: What is Marriage? What is the Church? What is Religion?

     Marriage is not merely for the sake of prosperity in social and national life, or even for the sake of public morality; it is for the sake of the eternal welfare of immortal souls. It is a state of heavenly order among the inhabitants of this world, in which the will of the Lord can be done on earth as in heaven. Marriage is the process by which a heaven of angels is formed from the human race. Confirmed celibacy consigns the good to the border-land of the heavenly kingdom.

     There are sometimes external and internal reasons why certain persons ought not to contract marriage on earth. This is a matter for each individual to decide. The marriage contract is for this life only, and is for the sake of order in society; the more binding the contract, the better it is for society.

     Two persons, who know that conditions exist which prevent conjunction between them on the plane of the spiritual, ought not to contract marriage with each other; but they may do so, and then the marriage contract is as binding as if the spiritual conjunction existed between them. For them to break this contract would be a wicked thing, and accounted in heaven as most heinous. "Love, honor, comfort, and cleave unto" are the terms of the contract, and they who are not conjoined as to internals have a more difficult contract to fulfill than those who are one in mind and soul.

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The reason why such a contract is accounted in heaven as odious or offensive is because heaven, cannot draw near to help in time of need. All married partners need the presence of the angels to help them in carrying out the terms of the contract. When the angels perceive internal disunion of souls between married partners, they know that the aid which they are in the constant effort to impart is ineffectual under such conditions.

     What is the difference between the Church and Religion? There is a distinction. The Church has relation to doctrine, and Religion has relation to life. With the man who does not acknowledge God, the Church is not in him, and he is not in the Church. He who does not live according to the precepts which he acknowledges to be from God has not religion. Those who are outside of the Church cannot have religion, because they do not acknowledge God or live His precepts. But those who are born within the Church, and from infancy have been imbued with the principles of the truth of the Church, are also destitute of religion if they neglect to live according to the light which has been imparted to them.

     By the "seven churches" are described all in the Christian Church who have religion. (A. R. 69.) By the thousand wives of Solomon are represented all in the Universal Church who have religion. (See D. P. 245.) I cite these passages to show that there is a distinction between the terms "Church" and "Religion."

     The universal truths which make the church shine but dimly with some, and religion with them is of a low order, while those who are in the center of light have religion of a higher quality. This is the general law of light and life.

     The church is with those who have religion, but the quality of their religion is according to the state of the church with them. The Mohammedan has one religion, and the Christian another religion; the Jew is of one religion, and the New Churchman is of another, providing they live according to the principles which they believe to be true; otherwise they have no religion, and Cast themselves outside of the Church Universal. As religion has relation to life, even those who are in the same Church may not be of the same religion; may not be in the same state of faithfulness to the principles which are acknowledged to be the truth.

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Religion is the application of principles to life; the faithful and the faithless are not in the same state of life; they are not in the same society of spirits.

     The mating instinct of animals is excited by the operation of the natural sun acting through the atmosphere of the earth; the human element of marriage is the warmth produced by the operation of the spiritual sun through the atmosphere of religion. Without religion, the human race would live like wild animals; the love of the sex would not exist, and propagation of the species would be by promiscuous mating. Such a state would soon result in the total extinction of mankind. Wherever race suicide exists, it is among a people that has rejected religion. Marriages on earth, where the sphere of religion is not present, do not become the seminaries of the human race.

     Marriage is an effect produced in two minds, uniting them as one, the cause of which process is in heaven from the Lord. This process of unition "advances regularly from its first warmth, and grows up in just order from its spiritual origin." The condition under which it begins and progresses is religion. Without religion, there can be no warmth of a uniting quality; it is the atmosphere through which the sun of heaven operates upon the hearts of the two who are being made one. The rejection of religion by both prevents any warmth of love between them. If any is apparent from the body, yet in spirit there is none; if they cleave to each other, it is only for some external reasons. Such an irreligious pair are like a planet destitute of an atmosphere, which can derive no warmth from the source of heat. It is not said that they ought not to marry, for what would be the value of such a precept? But their state is vividly described in C. L. 79, which let them read, if they please.

     But the rejection of religion by both parties is not the only condition that prevents the warmth of the sun of heaven from uniting two minds as one. When one has religion and the other has none, the same impossibility exists. Here is a case where the soul of one is open for the reception of warmth from the sun of heaven, while the other is closed to it because of the absence of an atmosphere through which it can operate. It is closed to the one who has no religion, but open with the one who has religion. This cold state cannot be dissipated except by reception of a religion congruous with that of the other, if this be a true religion.

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But this lack of warmth exists with the consort who has no religion, and if the other retains his or her religion, that soul remains open for the reception of warmth; but Warmth of soul on the part of one does not impart warmth to the other; this can come from the Lord alone by means of religion only.

     In order to be joined together by the Lord, it is absolutely necessary that two souls be encompassed by the sphere of religion. But in the case where the spheres differ, a serious difficulty exists, because the same degree of warmth does not exist with both. The bird that flies in the air and the fish that swims in the water receive warmth from the sun, but not in like degree, because of the different atmosphere which each inhabits. Compared with the bird, the fish is a cold-blooded creature. And so, if one person and the other of another, the souls of both are open to the reception of warmth from the spiritual sun, but it does not unite them as one, because they do not receive it in the same degree. One atmosphere is not the native element of both; and so, on the internal plane, they are under the necessity of living each in his or her own atmosphere. It is true that there are amphibious creatures, but they are the exceptions which prove rather than contradict the truth which I have stated. They are what might be called intermediates, and are neither fish nor fowl. But sad is the fate of an inhabitant of the air that seeks to make its abode in the water; evolution does not work that way. Imagine the union of a swallow and a trout!

     Once there was a fox being pursued by hounds and hunters. To escape, it plunged into the sea, and changed itself into a fish. This is all right in a fairy story; but let not one who has married outside of the Church try to escape the difficulty by such an experiment; better take a chance on the land, where one belongs, than perish in the water. One who makes an effort to change his or her religion for the sake of contracting a marriage will fail in the attempt. A man or woman must act from a higher motive than that when he or she changes from one religion to another. If a religion be rejected for such a reason, the rejector has no longer any religion, and is outside of the Church Universal.

     What I mean to say is this. One cannot change one's religion for the sake of contracting marriage with one of a different religion; nor to please the married partner after the contract has been made.

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Religion is the application of truth to life for the Lord's sake alone. Religion changes its quality when the application is intensified or diminished; but the change from one religion to another is through the application of new principles of truth.

     Those who are in falsity may have religion if they have not perverted genuine truth. There are many who believe that the false ideas which they have been taught are genuine truths, and so live according to them. With these, there is some warmth; and if it be congruous, the souls of such married partners may be united; but it is through the good of their religion that they are joined together, and not by means of the falsities on which they agree, and which they believe to be true. Falsities, however, do not agree, but are like various discordant tones, from which no harmony can be produced, except by skillful arrangements and combinations on the part of the good of religion. With such sincere, simple souls, there may be goods with which their falsities are conjoined, through application, by the Lord; with them may exist even a delightfulness of the harmony thus produced. But this cannot be the case with those who, by a wicked life, falsify the truth they have known; the reason is, that falsity of such a quality takes away religion, leaving them without the only means by which two souls are united.

     Hence, from two souls there cannot come to be one soul when religion is rejected by both; when one has religion and the other has not; when one a of one religion and the other of another; when religion is lost by wickedness on the part of one or both. But from two souls there can come to be one soul when one is of some religion and the other of the same. There seems to be no other condition under which two souls can be united as one.

     * * * * * * * * * * * *

     "Once I was walking through the streets of a great city seeking a place of abode; and I entered a house where dwelt a married pair who were of different religions. As I was ignorant of the fact, the angels spoke to me, and said, We cannot stay with you in this house, because the married partners are of discordant religions. They perceived this from their internal disunion of souls." (C. L. 292.)

     "Those who are born within the church, and from infancy have been imbued with the principles of the truth of the church, ought not to contract marriages with those who are outside of the church, and who have thus been imbued with such things as are not of the church.

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The reason is, that there is no conjunction between them in the spiritual world; for every one in that world is in consociation according to his good and the truth therefrom; and since there is no conjunction between such in the spiritual world, neither ought there to be any conjunction upon earth. . . . Moreover, marriages on earth between those who are of different religions are accounted in heaven as heinous, and still more marriages of those who are of the church with those who are outside of the church." (A. C. 8998.)

     * * * * * * * *

     It is of the Divine Providence that with every religion there exists an effort to prevent its devotees from contracting marriages with those who do not receive its doctrines. We of the New Church are not the only people who object to mixed marriages. The sphere which opposes such unions extends throughout the Universal Church, from center to circumference, and is felt more intensely when religions differ most widely, but less intensely when there is not so much difference between the religions of the contracting parties. The opposing sphere has its origin in the fact that there is no conjunction between such in the spiritual world, on which account there ought not to be any marriage conjunction upon earth. The law by which two on earth are united as one because of consociation in the spiritual world is universal in its application, and operates for the sake of order. They who violate this law, whatever may be the quality of their different religions, bring about a state of disorder. And therefore the Divine Providence is in the constant effort to prevent it everywhere, and in every religion.

     This prevention is effected by different religions according to the quality of each. Those religions which are of an external quality use external means to enforce marriage within their own communion. But there seems to be something in human nature that resents external restraints, and in the matter of marriage there is no exception to the rule. There are those who break the restrictions and many whom they please. Avowed disapproval, attempt at segregation, threatened excommunication, in many cases prove utterly powerless to prevent the marriage of those of different religions.

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The "love at first sight" fallacy is a will-o'-the-wisp that leads many to break through the religious barriers which stand in the way of marriage.

     If we, of this age, possessed the faculty of perception which the most ancient people enjoyed, then the first impulse felt in this direction would be an infallible guide in selecting a partner for time and eternity. Two souls thus drawn together would be sweet-hearts for ever and ever. But alas! we have lost this power of perception, and must fall back upon another faculty which has taken its place. A true conscience, formed by means of revealed truth, is the only safe guide in the selection of a partner in marriage. It is this that is given in place of the perception which has been lost. When one feels inclined to do that which is contrary to the principles by which it is formed, conscience manifests its disapproval by a painful sensation.

     In one who is of the New Church, conscience is formed by the reception of the Heavenly Doctrines and a life according to them. There is a New Church conscience, which if fully developed and sufficiently pure, will prevent the possessor from marrying out of the Church. In such a case, conscience will not permit it. But if this conscience be not sufficiently formed, nor kept pure by the constant application to life of the truths by which it has been formed, then there is danger that such an individual may be captivated by the physical, social, intellectual and moral attractions in one of the opposite sex who is of another religion, and contract marriage. In such a case, the pangs of conscience are not sufficient to modify and subdue the mere natural affections awakened by external attractions.

     Perhaps there never was one of the New Church faith who contemplated marriage with one of another religion without making an effort to pacify the accusing conscience by holding hard to the hope that the other party concerned would eventually come into the true faith. Some New Church people have gone so far as to justify marriage outside of the Church as a means of bringing the other partner into the Church. Those who advocate such a method of winning converts to the Church have not a New Church conscience.

     Others have swung to the other extreme, suggesting the use of external means to discourage and prevent marriage outside of the Church, on the ground that the Doctrines teach that such marriages ought not to be contracted.

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Intense disapproval on the part of parents, the disapprobation of near and dear friends in the Church, the refusal of its priests to perform the marriage ceremony, might act as a restraint upon some; but in such cases the restraining influence would in no way be associated with conscience.

     The solution of this problem is a matter of conscience, and each individual contemplating marriage must and will settle it accordingly. But in order to have a true conscience, the mind must be well supplied with true principles, affectionately received and gladly lived. If priests and parents faithfully teach the Heavenly Doctrines, and lovingly lead to good of life, few of our young people will marry out of the Church. We shall not have to do one single thing to prevent it. But if one's conscience permits one to marry out of the Church, let such labor lovingly to win the married partner to the true faith, and let every man and woman of the Church lend a helping-hand.
READING THE WORD 1921

READING THE WORD              1921

     "The Word is the perfect marriage of good and truth; and because it is from the Lord, and what is from Him is also Himself, it follows that when a man reads the Word, and takes truths therefrom, the Lord adjoins good. For man does not see the goods which affect him, because he reads the Word from the understanding, and the understanding takes from it nothing but its own things, which are truths. That good is adjoined to these by the Lord is felt by the understanding from the delight which inflows when it is enlightened But this does not take place interiorly with others than those who read with the end of becoming wise; and those have the end of becoming wise who wish to learn genuine truths there, and by means of these to form the Church with themselves. But those who read it only for the sake of the glory of erudition, and those who read it from an opinion that the mere reading or hearing of it inspires faith and conduces to salvation, do not receive any good from the Lord; because, with the latter, the end is to save themselves by the mere words there, wherein is nothing of truth, and with the former, the end is to become eminent for learning, with which end no spiritual good is conjoined, but only a natural delight which is of worldly glory." (C. L. 128.)

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HOLY SPIRIT AND SPHERES OF USE 1921

HOLY SPIRIT AND SPHERES OF USE       Rev. W. B. CALDWELL       1921

     "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." (John 14:12.)

     These words are a promise to the disciples that, if they would have faith in the Lord, they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, with power to preach and perform miracles in His name, to do the works that He had done before them, for the salvation of men and the up building of the Church. Because He was to leave them and go to the Father, appearing no longer among them in the flesh, but in the Human united to the Divine, which union is signified by His going to the Father; because He would then be present spiritually with them, inspiring them with His Spirit in the work of evangelization, whereby many would be converted to the Gospel; therefore He said, "and greater works than these shall ye do, because I go unto my Father."

     As the departed souls of men are in reality nearer to those on earth than when they were in the body, so in a Divine sense our Lord became more intimately present with His disciples after His resurrection,-present spiritually by His Divine Sphere, which is Himself present and operating in the mind and spirit of men,-the "Holy Spirit which was not until Jesus was glorified," and which He then "breathed upon them" when He appeared to them after the resurrection,-appeared before their spiritual eyes. Of this spiritual and more intimate presence in the Holy Spirit, He had spoken when He said to them, "It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you." (John 16:7.)

     The Divine, indeed, had always been present with the human race, both immediately, and as the Divine proceeding through the atmospheres of heaven,-the Divine Love and Wisdom as the heat and light of the spiritual sun, the Divine Celestial and Spiritual in the heaven of angels, and inflowing thence into the minds of the men of the Church.

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In the Old Testament this Divine presence and influx is called the "Spirit of God" and the "Spirit of holiness," but not the "Holy Spirit." (Psalm 51:11. Isaiah 63: 10, 11.) But after the Divine had put on the human in the world, and had glorified it; after the Divine Natural had been superinduced; then the Divine proceeded from that glorified Human, inflowing and entering with men, not only by influx through heaven into their natural, but also immediately from the glorified Lord. This presence, influx, and operation, therefore, is the Holy Spirit which "was not until Jesus was glorified," and which the Lord said He "would send from the Father," by which He signified that thereafter the Divine Human would operate all things-not the Divine through the Human, but the Human as of Itself from the Divine. This is meant also by the words, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work."

     Because by glorification the Lord had put on a Divine Body, in which He is omnipresent in ultimates; because the Divine as to Love and the Divine as to Wisdom had put on a Third Essence, which is called the Divine as to Use; even as the soul and mind of a man puts on a body in the world as an instrument of use; so it is a truth that after the glorification there was a new Thing in the world,-in the universe,-a new Divine presence with angels and men, which is called the Holy Spirit,-a new, infinitely living, Divine substantial sphere, surrounding and infilling all created forms. And of this new Spirit, with its infinite potentialities, it was then said, "the world cannot receive it, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him." Because of this unpreparedness,-lest men might receive and profane this Holy Thing, lest they "blaspheme the Holy Spirit, which could not be forgiven,"-the Christian Church was permitted to fall into ignorance, and to remain in it for many ages. To the disciples, however, as true Christians, it was said, "Ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." (John 14:17.) And by the Second Coming of the Lord a new preparation is made among men for the reception of the Holy Spirit, which will now "lead into all truth," and perform its wonderful works in the men of a spiritual church. And all things whatsoever that transpire in the life of the race, whether they be vastations or spiritual quickenings, must be regarded as preparations for the descent of the Spirit among men, the gift of Him who came that men "might have life, and have it more abundantly."

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     But the holy reception of the Lord can only take place with spiritual men,-the men of the Church. While the Holy Spirit is present with all, it can enter and perform its sanctifying works only with the believing, who suffer themselves to be regenerated. These become images of the Lord by faith and repentance; faith which opens the spiritual man, repentance which reforms and purifies the natural; whereby there is a conjoining of the spiritual and natural in an image of the Divine and the Human of the Lord, the product of which conjunction in man,-the conjunction of heaven and the world in him,-will be a new sphere of use proceeding from him, a sphere of use proceeding from spiritual good in him,-a spiritual sphere that enters interiorly into every natural sphere of use with him, into his every act and work, making them spiritual uses from the Lord. And the life of that new sphere of the regenerate, the living element in it, is the Holy Spirit Itself, the Divine Sphere, which is then in him, and he in it. This, then, is how the works of the true disciple are sanctified and magnified by the Lord, according to the words of the text, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father."

     The promise contained in these words is not confined to the twelve disciples, to whom they were addressed, but in its spiritual import it applies universally to the men of the spiritual church. The promise is, that their spiritual faith will empower them to perform spiritual uses, in an image of the Divine works. The disciples had a special inspiration to preach and perform miracles, for the special purpose of evangelization; but those works of teaching and healing represented the work of regeneration, the works of every man of the church who speaks the truth and does the goods of use, which indeed are Divine works in him for his salvation.

     The man of the New Church, who believes in the Lord, who acknowledges Him in His Divine Human as revealed at his Second Coming, who sees the Lord in the Divine Truths now manifested, which he receives in the light of spiritual understanding and spiritual: faith;-such a one receives the Holy Spirit in the life of regeneration, and so does the spiritual goods of use continually within the natural works of use. There is an internal from the Lord in all that he does, an internal of the mind and spirit, of the will and understanding, that makes the very spirit of his deeds, that exalts them in spiritual quality, causing that they are greater than works which lack that spiritual quality; all of which is from his holy faith in the Lord,-the piety that pervades all his works of charity."

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"He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father."

     But this holy faith which interiorly exalts a man's works is not a mere faith of knowledge, or of the understanding alone, still less a mere lip confession of the Lord; but it is a faith of heart, and a faith of the life, a faith that begets humility and repentance, a faith that "removes mountains,"-removes the mountains of evil in the natural man; a faith that awakens spiritual life and affection in the internal man, and from that conquers and empowers the natural man; a faith that makes a new will and a new understanding, a new mind, and thence a new body. By this faith and its repentance a man becomes an image of the Lord, who by temptation combats glorified the Human and united it to the Divine. So man is to conquer the natural in himself from spiritual faith in the Lord, to gain the victory in bitter and long-continued temptation, whereby the natural is renewed, exalted, and gifted with a new virtue. This essentially is the work that man is enabled to do, even as the Lord did.

     For the glorification of the Human, effected by the labors of temptation, was the work of all works performed by the Lord when in the world, and involved universal redemption. It was not the work that was seen by the disciples, although the outer deeds of the Lord,-His teaching and miracles, the acts of His life and death,-fully involved and represented that universal, infinite work, concerned with the whole human race, then and to eternity. And whereas this hidden Divine work of glorification and redemption was the work of all works performed by the Lord, so with man, regeneration in the image of this is the work of all works for him to accomplish during his earthly life, which he is to suffer the Lord to accomplish in him, even by the vital, searching action of His Divine Spirit in the interiors of one who believes and repents,-the "wind that bloweth where it willeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit."

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     Now this important operation in the mind or spirit of man for his salvation takes place within and above his outer works of the body, and is greater than any ultimate act of his, greater in value and power, and in consequences to eternity. And it was this greater work of regeneration by the power of the Holy Spirit that the Lord was to perform for the man of the church, or which man was to accomplish as of himself by faith in the Lord and repentance-it was this that the Lord promised to do after "He had gone to the Father," after the Human was glorified or united to the Divine, a promise that is fulfilled in man when, by victory in temptation, the natural is reduced to order and elevated to conjunction with the spiritual, when man believes and repents. "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father."

     Another thing. These works of repentance prepare man to produce spiritual uses. It is said in the text that the man who believes in the Lord will do the works that the Lord did, and even greater; and we have before indicated that these "greater works" are the works of the spirit; with the Lord, the works of the Holy Spirit, and with man, the spiritual sphere of uses that proceeds from his mind or spirit when he has been regenerated. As, with our Lord, the Holy Spirit went forth from Him after He was glorified, went forth from the Divine Human, abiding forever with angels and men, operating infinitely greater works than the few done before the eyes of men in Palestine; so with man, after the natural has been purified and elevated, there goes forth a sphere, laden with uses far greater in compass and extension than his mere acts or deeds can ever be.

     Concerning this sphere we read as follows in the Doctrines: "From every man there emanates a spiritual sphere, which is the sphere of his affection of love and his thought thence, and this sphere interiorly affects his associates, especially at feasts of charity; it emanates through his face, and also his breathing." (T. C. R. 433)

     "From every man there goes out, yea waves forth from the affections of his love, a spiritual sphere, which encompasses him; and this sphere applies itself to the natural sphere which continually flows forth from his body, and the two conjoin themselves.

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That a natural sphere continually flows forth from the body, not only from man, but also from beasts, yea from trees, fruits, flowers, and also from metals, is generally known; in the spiritual world a similar thing takes place; but the spheres flowing forth from subjects there are spiritual; and those that emanate from spirits and angels are more deeply spiritual, because they have interior affections of love, and interior perceptions and thoughts thence; all sympathy and antipathy derives its origin thence, and also all conjunction and disjunction; presence and absence in the spiritual world are according to those spheres. For what is homogeneous and concordant makes conjunction and presence, but what is heterogeneous and discordant makes disjunction and absence; wherefore those spheres make distances in that world. It is also known to some what those spiritual spheres operate in the natural world. I have heard from the angels, who are in a clear perception of those spiritual spheres, that there is not any part within in a man, or any outward part, that does not renew itself, which takes place by solutions and reparations, and that hence is the sphere which constantly waves forth from him." (C. L. 171.)

     Such teachings make plain what we mean by the spiritual sphere of use that emanates from the love of a regenerating mind,-a spiritual sphere and a corresponding natural sphere,-from the spiritual and the natural which are conjoined in him, from his reformed will and understanding,-flowing forth as the heats and lights, the goods and truths, of his new affections and thoughts, a spiritual sphere of uses, because it extends itself in the spiritual world, affecting not only spirits and angels, but also the spirits of men who are still on earth, especially the men with whom one is consociated. For spiritual uses are communications of affection and thought by spheres, blessing all who feel and perceive them. Such are the essential uses of heaven, which indeed are attended with their corresponding acts and works,-the representations of the uses themselves, which are states transferred through spheres. It is also true in a measure upon earth, that the active states of love and thought with those who are engaged in works,-those states and their spheres are the real uses that are being performed, which are merely ultimated and represented in outward form in the speech and acts of the body. When the body is laid aside those states remain, and constitute the fountains of use in the heavenly sphere.

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     In considering these things, we cannot but be impressed with the immense value of consociation in sympathetic spheres; for wherever there is mutual affection and thought in a common sphere of love and delight, there a spiritual use is performed for all who are together in that sphere, far greater use than any ultimate act or word can communicate; although it should also be remembered that those spheres accompany the words and acts of such a consociation. Indeed, these spiritual spheres of use proceeding from regenerating minds are the greater works that attend their bodily activities; for the life within those spiritual spheres is the Divine sphere of use from the Lord,-the stream of Providence, the operation of the Holy Spirit in and through regenerating minds, and producing their individual spheres of use. And this is how our works become greater from the Lord, from the Divine sphere of use which is the origin of all use, and which is all use,-the Divine sphere that associates itself with our individual spheres, making their very life, and causing that our works are done in Him.

     What we have been describing is according to an important law relating to spheres, one that operates in both worlds. The law simply stated is this, that every great general sphere has a lesser circle of operation round about the forms that are in it, and receptive of it. In our world, the magnetic sphere is the atmosphere of the sun, of the solar system, embracing all the encircling planets; but this great general sphere of the sun has a lesser circle or vortex round about every planet, and also a special circle or vortex round about every magnetized metal; indeed, about every animal form, and hence the term "animal magnetism." The great sphere of the sun's heat has a lesser circle of operation round about every planet, and around every organic form upon the planet,-animal, vegetable, and mineral. The body of man has its own magnetic sphere, its own circle of heat, the active element of which is the sphere of the sun enfolding him.

     Man has this bodily, material sphere, and he also has a mental sphere on the spiritual plane. In the spiritual world,-the realm of man's mind or spirit,-the magnetic and heat spheres are from the sun of Divine Love and Wisdom, attracting all to heaven, and filling all angelic minds with the warmth of love. Moreover, every angelic mind, and every society of such, is surrounded with a special circle or vortex of this Divine sphere of the Lord, with spheres of affection and thought, of spiritual uses.

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Man in the world, therefore, comes under this law as it operates in both worlds; his mind, if it be heavenly, radiating the uses of heaven, the sphere of which applies itself and enters into the bodily and natural sphere attending his every act and work. For man lives under both suns, in the atmospheres of both worlds, receiving of their bounty, and giving forth in his own measure of activity,-receiving and giving forth a measure of the Divine sphere of use that surrounds him. "He that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also."

     We ought to know well the facts now revealed about the existence and reality of spheres,-the spheres of the universe proceeding from the Lord, and the spheres emanating from every finite form, especially from man and angel. By this we will be given to realize that the largest part of our lives is that which is enacted in our own interiors, and in the spheres that are invisible and intangible, and therefore unconscious to our bodily senses, but which, for that very reason, are much more living and real than acts of the body, which are but motions of fleshly matter, dead in itself,-acts which constitute the least of our lives.

     We would not minimize the importance of ultimate acts, the need of exhibiting our minds, the thought of our hearts, in acts of worship and deeds of use; for acts generate spheres, and determine them. But the truth remains that the quality and essential value of any act lies in the spirit that is within it, and the sphere which attends it. A deed great in appearance may be of very limited consequences or benefit to humanity, because of the sphere of ostentation, vainglory, and self-love that accompanies it; while a very simple act of genuine love and charity may be fraught with blessings to mankind in both worlds, in the present and forever, because of the spiritual good of use and the sphere of humility that goes with it. Every act carries a sphere with it, a sphere of good or evil, a sphere greater than the act, and more potential for good; that is, with one who has conquered his evil, who has subdued the natural, and brought it under the power of spiritual faith in the Lord, who has thus become the Lord's servant. It is of such a one that the Lord spake, when He said, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater than these shall he do; because I go to my Father." Amen.

Lessons: Isaiah 63:7-19. John 16:1-20. A. C. 1388-1392.

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FUTURE OF THE NEW CHURCH 1921

FUTURE OF THE NEW CHURCH       G. BARGER       1921

     I would like to express here a few thoughts, briefly, which contain enough substance for other people to work out more in detail, if they feel so disposed.

     In the beginning the Lord God created the whole universe with the glorious purpose of making the human race happy, of creating a heaven for that race,-a glorious heavenly kingdom. But this purpose was not going to be executed in one continuous process. Man, created by God capable of the highest happiness, with freedom of determination, abused his free will, and thus interrupted the process several times, and indeed almost entirely frustrated it. What this process might have been, the Most Ancient Church, the Golden Age, clearly demonstrates.

     But God's infinite Love and Wisdom and Providence were equal to the emergency, and He made preparation for His Divine Human, which would be the source and center from which all truly human life would flow, and place His creation upon a sure and indestructible basis for ultimate success. Yet, in the Lord's wise Providence, the preparation for this Divine Human of Jehovah God-was to be a long process, that the freedom of man might not be destroyed, and that history might develop itself along seemingly natural lines.

     It was necessary that the Lord Jesus Christ should be promised, should be born into the world, and glorify His Human, rising from the grave in a glorified Human Nature, and in this Divine Human fill His whole creation with His life and power.

     Still, the human race could not benefit by it, because it had perverted all knowledge and truth, and could not understand the Divine process. All sound ideas concerning the Divine had been perverted. It was necessary that the Lord should come a second time, and bring new truth concerning God. But even then the Divine Human was not understood and grasped at first, though it seems to me that we are getting nearer to this.

     Let us bear in mind the glorious vision vouchsafed John Clowes about the meaning of this Divine Human. And let us bear in mind the glorious destiny of the New Jerusalem, when the whole earth will be filled with the glory of God, when the mysteries of the Heavenly Doctrine, by a life of study and obedience to the truth, will be more fully understood.

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Then shall we have quite a different idea of the world's history. We shall not see it in part only, or in fragments; but we shall view it as one whole, from the creation through the incarnation and redemption to the second advent, these being the steps by which Jehovah God in His Divine Human is fulfilling His object of forming a heavenly kingdom of eternal, ever-increasing bliss among the human race in heaven and on earth.
     G. BARGER.
THE HAGUE, HOLLAND,
     November, 1920.
THAT SPIRITS TERMINATE THEIR IDEAS IN MATERIAL THINGS 1921

THAT SPIRITS TERMINATE THEIR IDEAS IN MATERIAL THINGS              1921

     "As shown before, (No. 3608), when I went to another place, or into another room, the spirits were immediately as if estranged, not knowing where they were, and that a change of garments produced the same effect, so that they received, as it were, a different idea,-a striking example of the fact that they terminate their ideas in material things, without which they are absent. There were two small snow-white vessels [cups?] used for tea; and I several times perceived that certain spirits wished me to use the one, while others wanted me to use the other. Thus a certain kind of strife on the part of those who were above was perceived, and that those were of an infantile quality who preferred the vessel that was handsomer and neater. And when I was impelled to reject this one by the spirits above, and was held in that idea, the infantile spirits were indignant, and wished to withdraw; but to the end that they might remain, it was suggested by other spirits that I break the other vessel. . . . Hence it may be evident how the ideas of spirits are terminated in material things, and it was perceived, by a certain representation, that such a vessel is a kind of foot to them, which they think they lose whenever the vessel is taken away; and so in other things. There are also spirits who have my books for an ultimate of order, which are four, and in which I am writing this; some this book, some another." (Spiritual Diary 3753)

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BURIAL 1921

BURIAL        W. F. PENDLETON       1921

     (A paper read at the Bryn Athyn Forum, February 18, 1921.)

     When a friend or loved one has departed this life, it is from an implanted instinct that we desire with reverence and affection to perform the last offices and suitably dispose of the body of the one who has been with us, but is now with us no more. This implanted instinct is from the spiritual world; for angels, who love and welcome every newcomer, are present, performing the first offices for the one who is entering the new world of life and light; and we who are left feel their sphere.

     To those who have departed, and are now alive in the spiritual world, it is not a matter of concern where they have died, or what disposal has been made of their bodies; for they would agree with Anaxagoras, who, "on hearing a man deplore that he must die in a strange country, said to him, 'What matters it? There is no place whence a road may not be found to the other world.'" (Fenelon, Lives of the Ancient Philosophers, 136.)

     We learn from the Writings, too, that the place where a man dies and is buried "contributes nothing to his resurrection." (A. C. 2916.) For a man lives after death, no matter where he died, or in what manner his body has been disposed of. This is a matter that concerns more those who have been left behind. And so the mind responds in sympathy with the longing of the stranger to die at home in his native land. For there is a spiritual as well as a natural association involved in this desire. When Jacob, dying in Egypt, expressed a wish to be buried with his fathers in the land of Canaan, it represented a desire to go among those in the spiritual world who were associated with the home, and who rested upon that ultimate basis.

     The custom and mode of funerals have varied under different religions, but all have agreed in performing with solemnity some kind of funeral rites, closing with a final disposal of the bodies of the departed. For this, the most ancient custom was burial in the earth.

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     The Jews always buried their dead, and there is no record in Scripture of any other mode than burial. We are told that the same custom was followed by the early Christians, who regarded the burning of the bodies of the departed as a pagan custom to be rejected. They were influenced, too, by the fact that the body of their Lord was laid away in a tomb.

     We read in the Writings that "inasmuch as burial signified resurrection in general and every resurrection in particular, therefore the ancients were especially solicitous about their burials and the places where they were to be buried." (A. C. 2916) This refers to the burial customs of the Ancient Church; but as all the customs or rituals of that Church were continued with the Israelites, we can learn from the burial customs of that nation, as depicted in the Old Testament, many particulars concerning the same in the Ancient Church itself.

     With the ancients, the laying away of the body in the grave represented resurrection, and also that higher resurrection into spiritual life by regeneration. Hence the act of burial was made a ritual of the church, a ritual which has been handed down to the present time.

     That the burial of the body was the custom in the Ancient Church, and even in the Most Ancient Church itself, is evident from Genesis 3:19, where the Lord said to the man, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." It will be remembered that this is from the Ancient Word, and treats of an early period in the decline of the Most Ancient Church.

     As the customs of the Ancient Church were continued in the Jewish, so it was with that of burial, and the solicitude about burial. In Genesis 15, we read of the solemn promise given to Abraham that he should be "buried in a good old age." And in Genesis 23, we are told of the solicitude of Abraham to procure a burial place for Sarah his wife. When Abraham died," his sons, Isaac and Ishmael, buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the held of Ephron. (Gen. 25:9.) When "Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, she was buried beneath Beth-el under an oak." (Gen. 35:8.) "And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem." (Gen. 35:19) When Isaac died," his sons, Esau and Jacob, buried him." (Gen. 35:29.)

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     We read also of their solicitude about the place of burial. When Jacob was about to die in the land of Egypt, he said unto Joseph, "I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt." (Gen. 47:30.) And further, that "Jacob charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, in the land of Canaan. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah." (Gen. 49:29-32.) When Jacob was dead, Joseph said to Pharaoh, "Let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father. And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear. And Joseph went up to bury his father. And they carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah." (Gen. 50:5-7, 13, 14.) And later we read that "Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence." (Gen. 50:25.) The solemn injunction of Joseph was carried out, for "Moses took the bones of Joseph with him; for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away from hence with you." (Exod. 13:19.) This last request of Joseph was fulfilled by Joshua and the sons of Israel after they had entered the land of Canaan. (Josh. 24:32.)

     David's solicitude about the burial of his enemy Saul, and his pleasure that it was properly performed is recorded in 2 Samuel 2:4, 5.

     The custom of burial is indicated in all parts of the Word, and also in the non-canonical books; for instance, in the Psalm: "Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust." (Psalm 104:29.) And in Ecclesiastes: "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." (12:7.) Thus is established the fact that the burial of the dead was the custom of all the churches previous to the coming of the Lord; and that it was also the custom after His coming in the Christian world down to the present time, is well known.

     In the Ancient Church, there was another custom connected with burial which later had tragic results, when there was no longer any charity, but hatred instead of charity, the external without an internal remaining.

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In the Arcana Coelestia (n. 2916), we read that "burial signified resurrection to life, which is manifest also from other representatives, as that the wicked should not be bemoaned, neither buried, but should be cast out, and that the wicked who were buried should be cast out from their sepulchre." The dead were thus deprived of the representation of burial, or of rising into life, and instead the representation was of damnation. We shall now see that afterwards the deprival of burial ceased to be an act of justice, as it had been in the Ancient Church, and became the embodiment of hatred and revenge. By this act of non-burial, they wished them not only to be dead but damned. That the state of the Jews was merely external, without any internal, is shown by the teaching that the "representative of a church was not instituted with the people descended from Jacob, until the Ancient Church had altogether perished." (A. C. 4516) From this we can see how terribly the refusal of burial would be carried out when there was no longer any internal church on earth. That hatred and cruelty took the place of charity and mercy is evident, not only from the Writings, but from Scripture and history. The disposition of the Jews, and the treatment of the bodies of their enemies slain in battle, is indicated in many passages of the Word, as for instance in Jeremiah: "They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth; and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine, and their carcasses shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth." (16: 4-6.) Again, "And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground." (25:33) There are other passages in Jeremiah to the same effect, all indicating the disposition of the Jews. "They were so cruel that they perceived delight in this, that when they had slain their enemies in battle, they would not bury them, but exposed them to be devoured by birds and wild beasts; hence it may appear what a wild beast man is." (A. C. 908.) But we shall see that such cruelty was not confined to the Jews, who were permitted to act in this manner because it could not be prevented, on account of their state, and for the sake of representation in the Word of the state of a consummated church.

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     This custom of the nations at that time appears also in the book of Revelation, where we read of the treatment of the two witnesses, "Their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves." (Rev. 11:8, 9.) It will be remembered that Swedenborg himself was so treated by draconic spirits in the spiritual world (A. R. 531), indicating their hatred of the two essentials of the doctrine of the New Church, or their hatred of the Lord and of those who love and worship Him.

     Adam Clarke speaks of this refusal of burial as follows: "In order to pour the utmost contempt upon the land, the victorious enemies dragged out of their graves, caves, and sepulchres, the bones of kings, princes, prophets, priests, and the principal inhabitants, and exposed them in the open air. . . . This custom of raising the bodies of the dead, and scattering their bones about, seems to have been general." (Commentaries, Vol. IV, p. 278.) And speaking of what it is said of the two witnesses in Revelation 11:9, he says, "'Shall not stiffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.' They shall be treated with the greatest barbarity. Refusal of burial to the dead was allowed to be the sum of brutality and cruelty. In popish lands they will not suffer a Protestant to have Christian burial, or to have a grave in a churchyard. Contemptible wretches!" (Clark VI, p. 1006.)

     This form of savagery, as we have said, existed with nations other than the Jews. For we are told that, with the Greeks in the heroic age, "if (in battle) the body remained in the power of the enemy, it was deprived of burial, and exposed to the vultures and ravenous beasts, and was not unfrequently mutilated." (History of Greece, Schmitz, 64.) Readers of the Iliad will remember the treatment of the body of Hector by Achilles, dragging it behind his chariot.

     The punishment of enemies by the refusal of burial continued even after death, for they believed that "the soul could enjoy no rest in the nether world until the funeral rites had been duly performed." (Ibid. 66.)

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Only when burial took place could the soul pass to the Elysian fields.

     In a later age, especially with the enlightened Athenians, there is a more pleasing story. "The Athenians were so strict that they would not admit any to be magistrates who had not taken care of their parents' sepulture; and they beheaded one of their generals after he had gotten a victory, for throwing the dead bodies of the slain, in a tempest, into the sea. And Plutarch relates that, before they engaged with the Persians, they took solemn oath that if they were conquerors, they would bury their foes; this being a privilege which even an enemy hath a right to, as being a debt which is owing to humanity." (Wheatley, 464.)

     It may be remarked that one of the horrors of the late war was the absence of the flag of truce for the burial of the dead, or the request was not granted if asked. This was a departure from the custom in the most modern wars. No general on either side in our Civil War ever refused such a request.

     It is a remarkable fact that a similar act may be performed from altogether opposite motives. Let us note what is said of the inhabitants of Saturn: "All in that earth, otherwise than in ours, know that they shall live after death; wherefore they take no account of their bodies, only so far as may be necessary for the life which they say is to remain and serve the Lord; therefore they do not bury the bodies of the dead, but cast them forth and cover them with branches of trees from the forest." (A. C. 8955.) The difference is that, in the one case, the non-burial of the bodies is from hatred and revenge, and in the other, from love and charity. The reverent laying away of the body amid the trees of the forest, and covering it with branches, has in it a representation similar to that of burial;

     Let us here introduce a word on the evil signification of places of burial. "If you will believe it, such evil genii and spirits have their abode in the graves, privies, and swamps that are in our world, although they do not know it; this is so because they correspond, and the things that correspond are joined together." (A. E. 6595.) "That sepulchers, because of the dead bodies and bones in them signify things unclean, thus things infernal, may be seen from many passages in the Word." (A. E. 659.)

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     But a grave and a place of burial, when considered apart from the body which has been rejected, has not an evil signification. Hence as we read: "It indeed appears strange that a grave should denote resuscitation, but this is in consequence of the idea which man has concerning a grave, for he does not separate a grave from death, nor even from the dead body which is in the grave; but the angels in heaven cannot have such an idea concerning a grave, but an idea altogether different from what man has, namely, an idea of resurrection or of resuscitation; for man, when his dead body is committed to the grave, is resuscitated into the other life; wherefore the angels, concerning the grave, have not an idea of death, but of life, consequently of resuscitation." (A. C. 5551. See also 4621, 4676; A. E. 659.) Let us, then, think of a grave as the angels do, not only at the time of the burial, but afterward. For the idea of the resurrection, and the sphere of the spiritual world, which are present at the burial, continue at the grave; and when it is visited, the rational mind is inspired to think, not of death, but of life; for the world of life is present there in a peculiar manner.*
     * The common belief among simple people the world over that ghosts are to be seen in graveyards at night, is not to be dismissed as mere superstition. But let us believe that there are among them benevolent as well as malignant demons. (See T. C. R. 511.)

     Now what should be our bearing at the grave, when the body of a loved one is being consigned to the earth? From the Arcana we learn that "weeping (at the grave of the departed) signifies the last farewell, and hence it was customary to weep for the dead when they were buried, although they knew that the body only was rejected by burial, and that they who had been in that body were living as to their interiors." (A. C. 4565.)

     When a loved one dies, or when the body is buried, should there be a free letting forth or a suppression of the natural feelings? There is room for variety in expression, because states and habits of mind are various. But let not anyone think there is anything wrong in weeping, provided it be not inordinate and long continued, involving a complaint at the ways of Providence.

     From all that has been said and shown above, it is evident that a becoming disposal of the body, as well as a proper treatment of the grave and burial place, is a matter of interest and concern to us, even as it was with the ancients.

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It seems plain, at any rate, that the place of burial, the place of last farewell, is a place sacred to the memory of those who have departed, a place for the stirring of recollection, and with recollection, affection and consociation, and, at the same time, for inspiration to live a life worthy of the one who has gone before, with the hope of meeting again and dwelling together in some heavenly society of the world which has no end.

     A word may be added concerning the treatment or the body before the burial takes place. There is a custom of sitting up with the dead, one that comes down from ancient times, and still continues, especially in country places. With the early Christians, two usually sat with the body through the night, associating this with the fact that Mary Magdalene, weeping at the sepulcher, looked in "and saw two angels in white, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain." (John 20:11, 12.) The primitive Christians may have been unaware that this sitting up was a very ancient custom, coming down from a time when correspondences and representatives were known and in full use, not only in worship, but in all conditions of life. And we are told that Swedenborg, passing through the experience of death and resuscitation in a state of full wakefulness, saw two angels sitting at his head, with other angels at a distance, the spirits being removed. (H. H. 449.)

     In this connection, let us note a remarkable statement in Heaven and Hell, n. 433, as follows: "I have heard from heaven that some who die, when they lie upon the bier, before they are resuscitated, think even in their cold body, nor do they know otherwise than that they still live, but with the difference that they cannot move any material particle which is proper to the body." While we may not as yet fully know all that is involved in this teaching, it seems plain that the body should be held as sacred until resuscitation takes place, and should not be allowed to suffer violence of any kind until this period is passed, a period usually of about two days.

     Associated with the above is the following: "As soon as the interiors of the body grow cold, the vital substances are separated." (A. C. 179.) The "interiors of the body" are the most minute cells, fibers, and their fluids.

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It seems probable that, although the body itself is cold, these interiors are not thoroughly cold until the spirit is wholly separated from the body, or until resuscitation takes place. (See also D. Wis. vii, 24.)

     Burning the bodies of the dead was in use among the Greeks and Romans, but they also had the custom of burial. The Christian denominations have never adopted cremation, preferring to follow the precedent of the Jewish and early Christian churches, and the fact that no mention is made of it in Scripture; and we have seen that the precedent takes us back to the Most Ancient Church itself. In respect to the relative merits of cremation and burial, the opinion expressed by Bishop Benade has seemed to the present writer as satisfactory, namely, that the representation of burial should be preserved as a ritual of the church.

     It was customary in ancient times for relatives and near friends to perform the office of burial. This custom is indicated in Scripture, and still exists in many parts of the world. If it be considered as not feasible actually to perform this last office of affection, it might at least be represented by letting fall a few handfuls of earth after the coffin has been lowered. It would represent co-operation in the resuscitation of the departed, and an active joining in sympathetic touch with them in their activities now newly awakened in the spiritual world.

     As has been shown, a burial place, when considered as to the body now rejected and corrupt, represents what is unclean and condemned. But are we to act as if this were the only representation? It is a law that opposites are together, though not conjoined. A burial place may be made beautiful, and in this it would represent heaven, and thus become a place of spiritual communing. It was no doubt from some perception of this that cemeteries have been treated as consecrated ground, and in many cases, both in our country and in other countries, much beautified.

     But the purpose in what we have written on this subject has not been so much to make detailed suggestions about the conduct of funeral rites, as to excite general interest in a matter that is really near to all of us, with the hope that, thought being stimulated, more attention may be paid to the last offices of those who precede us to the spiritual world than has been the custom with members of the New Church in the past.

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For it is the belief of the writer that the following teaching, while it has reference to all the basic activities of man while in the world, yet has in it an application of some importance to the subject of the present paper; "When a man passes from the natural into the spiritual world, which takes place when he dies, then, because he is a spirit, he no longer subsists on his own basis, but upon the common basis, which is mankind." (L. J. 9.)
GLORIFICATION AND REDEMPTION 1921

GLORIFICATION AND REDEMPTION              1921

     A Representation before Infants in Heaven.

     "Infants in heaven are instructed chiefly by representatives adapted to their genius. How beautiful these are, and at the same time how full of wisdom from the interior, is beyond belief. In this manner an intelligence which derives its soul from good is insinuated into them by degrees. It is permitted me to relate here only one representative, which it was given me to see, and from which a conclusion may be made as to the rest. They represented the Lord rising from the sepulcher, and at the same the unition of His Human with the Divine, which was done in a manner so wise as to exceed all human wisdom, and at the same time in a manner innocently infantile. They presented also the idea of a sepulcher, but not simultaneously an idea of the Lord, except so remotely that it was scarcely perceived to be the Lord, only as it were afar off; because in the idea of a sepulcher there is something funereal, which was thus removed. Afterwards, with utmost caution, they admitted to the sepulcher something atmospherical which appeared like a thin watery substance, whereby they signified the spiritual life in baptism, this also with becoming remoteness. After that, I saw represented by them the Lord's descent to those that were bound, and His ascent with them into heaven, which was done with incomparable prudence and piety; and there was this infantile feature, that when they represented the Lord with the bound in the lower earth, they let down little threads, scarcely discernible, and very soft and delicate, by which they aided Him in His ascent; always in a holy fear lest any part of the representation should border upon anything wherein there was not the spiritual celestial." (A. C. 2299.)

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RITUAL OF THE NEW CHURCH 1921

RITUAL OF THE NEW CHURCH       GEORGE FREDERICK POOLE       1921

     [EDITORIAL NOTE: The writer has sent us this paper in the form in which it was read at the Burton Road Church, London, on November 20, 1920. Originally written in the year 1900, and revised in 1919 and 1920, it outlines briefly his views on the ritual and architecture of the New Church, and embodies them in concrete form in the description of a dedication service supposed to take place in the year 1930, but which Mr. Poole recognizes as having a striking fulfilment in the dedication of the Bryn Athyn Cathedral in 1919. Among the points of difference, it may be noted that the windows of the Bryn Athyn edifice contain no figure of Swedenborg, and no memorial windows to New Church worthies. While the latter feature has been introduced in a number of New Church temples in America, it is not favored at Bryn Athyn.]

     DEDICATION OF THE CHURCH OF SAINT JOHN OF THE NEW JERUSALEM ON THE 19TH OF JUNE, 1930-160.

     On the 19th of June, 1930, a very important event occurred in New Church history, namely, the dedication of a handsome stone edifice, of good, sound and honest materials. There was an absence of anything artificial, of pretending to be otherwise than it really was, whether externally or internally; and hence it could not be said of it, as, alas, can truthfully be said of many places of worship:

     "The Front he makes as fine as any Abbey,
     And then, to cheat his Lord, he makes the back part shabby.

     The buildings, consisting of place of worship, school, parsonage, church hall, and caretaker's house, were situated in beautiful grounds in a suburb of the great English city, built after the terrible war, only remembered as a horrible nightmare. The place of worship was of Norman architecture (round arched style), in its later developments, when its severity and somewhat rude style was toned down and rendered more elegant.

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The "Abbays aux Dames" in Caen, Normandy, is a notable specimen of this style.

     In the oriented chancel was a magnificent stained-glass window, containing a figure of our blessed Lord with outstretched arms, saying: "Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

     Another window contained a figure of Swedenborg, His servant, the inspired scribe of the New Church. Swedenborg was kneeling before the Lord, who was handing him a gold pen, and saying: "O beloved, I have called and ordained thee to the holy office of proclaiming my everlasting Gospel to mankind-WRITE-"

     Other windows contained the twelve apostles of the First Advent; others, the following Fathers of the New Church: 1. Hindmarsh. 2. Hartley. 3. Clowes. 4. Noble. 5. Proud. 6. Giles. 7. Clissold. 8. De Charms. 9. Bayley. 10. Benade. 11. Tafel. 12. Presland.

     Punctually at 11 o'clock on the day of the dedication, the congregation having assembled, a stately procession, which had formed up in the church grounds, entered from the west door of the building, slowly and reverently, and chanting: "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem."

     Preceded by a cross, surmounted by a crown,* came the grand procession of choir and clergy. The choir wore purple cassocks and white robes; the clergy, in addition, cardinal red stoles, relieved with gold embroidery, and also golden girdles. The chief Pastor or Bishop was habited further with a cardinal red silk vestment, on his head a mitre, and carried his pastoral staff.
     * Since advocated by Bishop W. F. Pendleton.

     Having arrived in the chancel, the Bishop took from the Repository the Books of the Word, as contained in the Bible and the Writings, opened them, and placed them on the Altar, on which were also the following appointments:

     1. The seven golden candlesticks, in circular form, signifying the holy and complete nature of the light of the New Church.

     2. The Cross, surmounted by a Crown, signifying sacrifices of self absolutely imperative in order to obtain the "crown of life."

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     3. Vases, with beautiful flowers therein, signifying precious thoughts concerning the Church.

     The Bishop then prostrated himself before the Altar, and offered up the dedicatory prayer; then rose, faced the congregation, and proclaimed, in a loud and clear voice, thus:

     "The Lord is in His Holy Temple;
     Let the whole earth keep silence before Him."

Choir and congregation responding:

     "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty,
     Who is, Who was, and Who is to come."

     Here was solemnly sung the "Te Deum."

     Lessons from the Word (Old and New Testaments and the Writings), appropriate to the occasion, having been read, there followed the hymn:

     "Jerusalem the Golden,
     With milk and honey blest."

     The Ten Commandments were next read, preceded by the sound of a trumpet, denoting Revelation from the Lord.

     The Service then proceeded, being mainly responsive, Psalms chanted and hymns sung in their order. It was indeed a solemn and inspiring Service. The devout attitude of all, clergy, choir and congregation; the beautiful sunlight of a June morning, mellowed by the colored windows; prayers, praises, hymns, etc., all ascending to the Lord, through clouds of sweet-smelling incense. It made one exclaim: "This is none other than the House of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

     Now the following hymn was sung:

     "To Jesus be praise without end
     For glories revealed in His Word;
     We see the new city descend
     As a bride prepared for her Lord."

     Then the Bishop ascended the pulpit, and, turning to the East, said:

     "In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen,"

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preaching a powerful sermon, from the text:

     "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it; except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh in vain." (Ps. 127.)

     The Holy Communion was now administered to a numerous assembly, all remaining, whether partaking or not.*
     * Rev. H. M. Grimley, Rector of Norton, remarked on this: "I like this."

     The offertory followed, being received from the wardens and sidesmen by the Bishop, who offered it up, raising it high before the Altar, and saying:

     "O, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good;
     And His mercy endureth for ever.

     Then came the Benediction, followed by the Recession of choir and clergy, chanting:

     "Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary.
     Praise Him in the firmament of His power.
     Praise Him for His mighty acts;
     Praise Him for His excellent greatness.
     Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;
     Praise Him with the psaltery and harp.
     Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;
     Praise Him with stringed instruments and organs.
     Praise Him upon the loud cymbals;
     Praise Him upon the high-sounding cymbals.
     Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.
     Praise ye the Lord." (Ps. 150)

     In the evening, the Bishop, Father John White, presided over a Banquet. The toasts were: "The Church" and "The King."

     In proposing the Church, the Bishop, raising his glass, said: "To the Church of the New Jerusalem, the Crown of all the Churches, the Holy City which comes down from God out of Heaven, the Heavenly Bride, the woman clothed with the sun, our glorious Church!" This was accompanied by the song," Our Glorious Church," sung with great enthusiasm. Next followed "The King, the chief of the State," when "Land of Hope and Glory" was sung.

     So a time of rejoicing and of good fellowship passed, and a great day for the New Church.

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     II

     PUBLIC WORSHIP AND RITUAL OF THE CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM.

     New Church public worship has, since her establishment, occupied her attention from time to time, resulting in the compilation of sundry Liturgies, or Prayer Books and Hymnals. The Prayer Book now in use in the Conference branch of this Church contains many beautiful prayers, sometimes, however, expressed in rather verbose language, probably the outcome of the spirit of the age at the time of such compilation. Further, so resolved were the compilers to get away from "Rome" and "priestcraft," that they went out of their way to avoid using the term "priest" to denominate such as have been called and ordained into the sacred ministries of the priesthood; also rejecting the word "altar," where the most holy act of worship is celebrated. Need it be mentioned that the above terms are invariably used in those Writings which the New Church professes to regard as a Divine Revelation, and thus as a standard of guidance and instruction? This spirit is also seen in the Hymnal, where the cross, that previous symbol of self-sacrifice, so often mentioned by our Lord, is deliberately erased from the hymns, thus mangling many beautiful compositions of Old Churchmen. Who says, then, that ultra Protestantism is not in the very blood of the New Church body?

     In justice, however, it must be stated that in recent years some of the New Church brethren, both in the United States and in this country, have made efforts, and with much success, to get away from inherited prejudices, and to follow the Lord's teachings in the Revelation of His second advent.* Richard de Charms had a vision of a glorious Church, with a becoming and grand external worship. So had Benade and Frank Sewall. Did such, however, receive much encouragement from the New Church, as generally understood by that term? Therefore it would appear that, in order to consider the whole question of ritual and external worship, in a broad and comprehensive spirit, it will be necessary for us New Churchmen to scrap our preconceived opinions and prejudices-in fact, to start de novo.
     * Still retaining, however, much prejudice against the cross, though admitting its use on the baptismal font.

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     That there is not much explicit instruction in the Writings on the subject may be granted, though we are there reminded of the great importance of external worship. Swedenborg was an inspired scribe, and left grand general principles, to be applied and used by his successors; by those who formed an external organization. In doing this, it may be asked how far, and to what extent, it is permissible to borrow, as it were, ideas and suggestions from the Old Church. In the past, this was thought by many New Churchmen to be a terrible heresy. While accepting without hesitation the teaching that the Old Church is dead as to Doctrine, and consequently that her life must also be qualified thereby, she having adulterated and falsified the goods and truths of the Word, I submit that much may be gathered from Old Church externals. The Book of Common Prayer used by Anglicans is, when the false doctrines are eliminated, an extremely good body of devotion, as was acknowledged recently by the New Church body which revised it, though somewhat severely. They cut out the prayer of absolution entirely; but even this prayer might be so revised as not to clash with true doctrine. Of course, there will always be those who prefer plain and unadorned services, and they are entitled to their opinion. Unity, not uniformity, is the thing that counts. Unity in the faith, latitude in external worship, and, above all, charity. Omission, however, is not prohibition.

     In the foregoing sketch of the dedication of a New Church place of worship, the writer has somewhat struck out on a line of his own. He has not been influenced by the recent doings in America, for this effort is really a revision of a paper written twenty years ago.* It was with delight, however, that he read of the dedication of their handsome church last year-indeed, it seemed to be the fulfilment of his dream.
     * The writer's association with the South London Society, from October, 1893, to October, 1898, undoubtedly influenced and inspired him.

     On the subject of this paper, an Anglican clergyman (since dead), of New Church sympathies, writes: "I am fond of ritual. It must, however, be grand and impressive. It must also be harmoniously representative of great spiritual truths. The teaching behind the ritual must be alike rational and spiritual. I cannot imagine any teaching more exalted than that. The ritual must be in such harmonious correspondence with the teaching as to be itself suggestive to all teachable souls of the truths of which it is a kind of vesture.

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I often wish that the New Church, with a glorious symbolism ready to burst forth into full bloom from its doctrine of correspondences, would develop outwardly, and let the light of the truths so precious, to which it has to bear witness, shine forth for clearer discernment." Again, our correspondent wrote, seeing a hesitation about the use of incense in the New Church,-" Do not, I pray you, banish incense from your manuscript."

     Another clerical friend (New Church) writes: "I trust you will forgive me for not returning your excellent contribution to the ritual of our beloved Church earlier. The simple truth is, I have been very busy, and rather than skip over your MS, I thought I would wait until I could read it in quiet. This I have at last accomplished, and I cannot express to you the inspiration I feel after having read it in this way. I need hardly say that I agree with every point. It breathes a spirit of order, peace and solemnity such as I should hail with genuine pleasure in any one of our churches."

     Yet another New Church clergyman says: "I am very fond of rightly-ordered and truly correspondential ritual. I hope to see a great advance yet in our worship. I wish, indeed, that your dream might crystallize, and become a reality. I should very much like to introduce incense into the worship, but the time is not ripe yet. The Writings have some important teaching on this matter. See especially A. C. 925, 4748, 9475, 19295; A. R. 277; A. E. 324."

     The late Frank Sewall, in an article published some time ago in the NEW CHURCH MAGAZINE, wrote: "The law of the power in ultimates, theoretically so familiar to New Churchmen, has been treated with singular indifference by the organized New Church, when applied to so prominent and influential an ultimate as the form of her external worship. In the new glow of the heavenly revelation, our fathers could afford to be indifferent about externals. It was natural to see emphasis laid by the new converts on the internals rather than the externals of worship. In England, with the separation from the Established Church, there came a kind of reaction from even the holiest observances of the ancient worship. The New Church ritual is neither for the undevout nor the uncultured. It should appeal to the most refined and learned as well as to the humblest and most childlike.

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It must do this if it is to give the New Church its appeal as a new universal Church and not a new sect of dissenters."

     It will be noted that, in our vision of a dedicatory service, we have restored the Cross to the New Church altar, but with this important addition thereto, viz., the Crown; for as the Cross is a symbol of combat with evil, so the Crown is that of victory. "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life."

     We have chosen to place on record our views in the form of a descriptive account of a dedicatory service, rather than on the ordinary lines of a paper, thinking it may illustrate the subject better, affording an object lesson, an ultimation of the great and grand truths of the New Church. Some day she will worship in temples worthy of her heavenly doctrines. Some day these will be filled with earnest, devout and reverent congregations. Some day her members' lives will correspond with her doctrines. Some day she will put on her strength and her beautiful garments. Let us do our part, in our day and generation, to hasten this. Then shall Jerusalem be a praise in the earth. Then will the Lord's will be done, as in heaven so upon the earth.
EATING FLESH 1921

EATING FLESH              1921

     "Regarded in itself, eating the flesh of animals is a profane kind of thing; for in the most ancient time they never ate the flesh of any beast or bird, but only seeds, especially bread made from wheat; also the fruits of trees, vegetables, and milk and its products, such as butter. To slay animals and eat their flesh was to them wicked, and like wild animals; but they only sought from them services and uses, as appears also from Genesis 1:29, 30. But in process of time, when man began to be fierce like a wild beast, yea, fiercer, then first they began to kill animals and eat their flesh. And because man was of such a character, it was even permitted, and is permitted at this day also; and so far as he does it from conscience, so far it is allowable; for conscience is formed of those things which he thinks to be true, thus which he thinks to be allowable. Wherefore also at this day no one is condemned for the fact that he eats flesh." (A. C. 1002.)

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GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY 1921

GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY       ROBERT HINDMARSH       1921

     FIFTEEN REASONS FOR BEING RE-BAPTIZED IN THE NEW CHURCH.

     Founded on Emanuel Swedenborg's True Christian Religion, particularly n. 668 to 691.

     1. Because baptism is a sign of admission into the Christian Church; and the true Christian Church is only now for the first time commencing; the former Christian Church being such only in name, and not in essence and reality.

     2. Because baptism and the holy supper are like two temples, in the former or lowest of which the Gospel of the Lord's New Advent is preached, together with regeneration and salvation by Him. From this first temple, at the altar, is the ascent into the second or superior temple, wherein the holy supper is celebrated, and immediate introduction from thence into heaven is granted by the Lord, who is there waiting to receive every member of His New Church.

     Now the Gospel of the Lord's second advent is neither preached nor implied in the baptism of the Old Church; but it is in that of the New Church.

     3. Because baptism is a sign of purification from evils and falses; and this purification can take place in the New Church, but not in the Old.

     4. Because baptism is a sign that the person baptized belongs to that Church in which he is baptized. As, therefore, the New Church is quite another and distinct Church from the Old, it seems agreeable to order that there should be a sign pointing out that a person belongs to it. This sign is baptism in the faith of the New Church.

     5. Because in the spiritual world all men are distinguished according to their religions; and this distinction is effected at the time of baptism. Consequently, baptism in the New Church distinguishes a person as belonging to the New Church; whereas baptism in the Old Church is a sign that a person belongs to that Church.

     6. Because order requires that there should be some external mark of distinction between the Old and New Church; for external marks denote internal qualities.

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     7. Because it is one of the essential uses of baptism to acknowledge Jesus Christ as the only God of heaven and earth; this is implied and expressed in the baptism of the New Church, but not in that of the Old.

     8. As it was necessary, at the first coming of the Lord, that His way should be prepared by the baptism of John; so it appears agreeable to the same Divine order that the Lord's second coming should also be prepared by a similar sign; for the case is precisely the same now as it was then. (No. 3.)

     9. John's baptism was of such efficacy, as to introduce the persons baptized into the then future church of the Lord, and at the same time to insert them amongst those in the spiritual world who in heart expected and desired the Messiah; and hereby they were guarded by angels from the assaults of evil spirits from hell, who would otherwise have destroyed them. By parity of reason, therefore, re-baptism introduces into the New Church now about to be established, and at the same time inserts the baptized person among those in the spiritual world who in heart acknowledge the Divinity of the Lord's Humanity, and that He is Father, Son and Holy Spirit in One Glorified Person. Hereby, also, there remains no doubt, man will be placed under the more immediate Protection of angels from the Lord, and preserved from the assaults and infestations of evil spirits, who might otherwise much injure, if not spiritually destroy him.

     10. They who had been baptized with John's baptism were external men; but when they received faith in Christ, and thus were become internal men, then they were re-baptized in the name of Jesus. (Acts Apost. chap. xix. 3 to 6.)

     Just so, they who have been baptized in the Old Church were comparatively external men; but when they receive the faith of the New Church, and thus become internal men, acknowledging the Divinity of the Lord's Humanity, and that He is the only God of heaven and earth, then what hinders them from following the example of the primitive Christians, in being re-baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is at once Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

     11. The former heaven and the former earth were to pass away; that is, both the internals and the externals of the Old Church were to be obliterated.

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Baptism is one of the externals of the Old Church. Ergo-And if the internals of the Old Church do not and cannot introduce man to heaven, how can its externals, which derive all their virtue from what is internal?

     12. The Lord has departed from the Old Church, and his more immediate presence is only to be found in the New Church, agreeable to His own words in the Gospel. Baptism in the New Church, therefore, is an actual following of the Lord, for His own sake, and not for the sake of any human or worldly considerations.

     13. Baptism in the New Church implies humility, and a willingness to be considered as an infant in the work of regeneration, which the person baptized promises to begin afresh, as he now for the first time sees who it is that can alone regenerate him.

     14. Baptism in the New Church is a proof before the whole world, even in the ultimates, that the New Jerusalem has commenced, and that the Lord is actually come a second time to establish His kingdom in the natural world.

     15. Our Lord Himself, by circumcision, conformed to the ceremonies of the Church He then found established among the Jews. But when the Christian Church began to be founded, He was then pleased to be baptized Himself, which was a repetition, in another mode, of the same thing signified by circumcision; for both ceremonies denoted regeneration, but in Him alone glorification.

     From the above considerations it seems highly proper and useful, (I do not say, absolutely necessary to salvation), that every adult person who embraces the heavenly doctrines of the New Jerusalem, together with his children, should be baptized in the new faith; and in case they have already been baptized in the faith of the Old Church, I would recommend them to be re-baptized, without loss of time, in the faith of the New Church.

     (MAGAZINE OF KNOWLEDGE, 1791, Vol. II: p. 302.)

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Editorial Department 1921

Editorial Department       Editor       1921


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                    Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Rev. W. H. Alden, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address and business communications should be sent to the Business Manager.

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
One Year                $3.00 payable in advance
Single Copy          30 cents
     LINKS WITH THE EARLY DAYS.

     "A man now living in England was baptized by the Rev. Joseph Proud; and Mr. Proud was living in the world while Swedenborg was." (NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER, January 26, 1921, p. 65.) The dates are these: Swedenborg, 1688-1772; Proud, 1745-1826.

     Commenting upon the above statement, Bishop W. F. Pendleton informs us that, on his first visit to New York, in 1870, he met an elderly New Churchman, 70 years of age, who said to him: "I was baptized into the New Church by Robert Hindmarsh; this took place in the city of London seventy years ago." Hindmarsh also was living during Swedenborg's time, namely, from 1759 to 1835.

     In this connection, we may recall that the American press last year featured the well-authenticated case of a man then living in one of the Southern States who was born in 1789, thus being 131 years old. He clearly remembered the death of George Washington in 1799. Such remarkable longevity covers the average period of four generations, usually reckoned at 33 years. By the span of a single life, the days of the American and French Revolutions, and of the subsequent Napoleonic wars, are linked with the present times of world-upheaval.

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It lacks but 19 years of covering the whole 150-year period of the Mew Church, which numbers among its children not a few who may claim to be of the fifth and sixth generation in the Church. According to the permeation theory, our friend of 131 years has lived to see the Christian Church "revived" in a single generation! We emerge from our own reflection upon the matter with the impression that the New Church is still very young, and not so far removed, after all, from its earliest days.
WOMEN PREACHERS 1921

WOMEN PREACHERS              1921

     Statistics, showing that an increasing number of women are entering the ministry of those Protestant sects which grant them ordination, are cited by the LITERARY DIGEST for February 5, 1921, in an article entitled "Woman Defying Paul's Decree," which reviews the subject as set forth in THE WOMAN CITIZEN (New York). A questionnaire sent to the hundred largest Protestant sects in the United States brought replies from about 75 per cent. of them, and it was found that in 43 of these, women are ordained to the ministry. "In almost all of these churches, women have been eligible for ordination from the beginning, or in some cases from 150 to 250 years. Yet the actual number of women preachers is small." And we are told further that "over thirty sects, great and small, deny women the right to officiate, and some of these deny them laity rights also. Among these are the Protestant Episcopal, Lutheran, Congregational, and some small Baptist organizations, and all Presbyterian bodies except that known as the Cumberland. A minority, though a small one, adopts a stiff-necked attitude. Among these are the Mennonites and the Swedenborgians, who do not ordain women, and "do not think it orderly so to do." The closing phrase is from a letter of the Rev. W. H. Alden, who answered the questionnaire, quoting Spiritual Diary, 5936, to the effect that "women who think like men about religious matters, and speak much about them, and still more if they preach in congregations, destroy the feminine nature," etc. This, no doubt, is what is referred to in THE WOMAN CITIZEN as a "stiff-necked attitude."

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BURIAL OF JOSEPH 1921

BURIAL OF JOSEPH              1921

     What we need in the Church, every now and then, is the death and burial of an old state, with a reverent laying aside of outgrown forms and external methods, whereby the birth of a new state may take place. For this is what is signified in the Word by a funeral or burial, such as that of Joseph. (Genesis 50:26. Exodus 13:19. Joshua 24:32.)

     Especially is such a transition promotive of progress, if we get our physicians to embalm all that was most precious and holy in the previous state, so that we may carry it with us through the temptation struggles that beset every progressive body, and finally place it in its proper receptacle in the midst of our promised land-the new state of heavenly life which we can then occupy, cultivate and defend. As Joseph was finally interred in Canaan, in the blessed ground which his father, Jacob, had purchased for the possession of a burying-place-in other words, the ancestral headquarters of his tribe-so do we find, whenever we make any distinct step of progress toward a new and better state of faith and charity, that, after all, we are only returning to resume possession of a land previously our own-as early remains, stored away in memory and affection. As the poet sang,

     "And with the morn those angel faces smile,
     Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile." H. S.
HEAT FROM THE MOON 1921

HEAT FROM THE MOON       E. E. I       1921

     "To the celestial the Lord appears as a sun because they are in the celestial love, that is, in love to the Lord; but to the spiritual as a moon, because they are in spiritual love, that is, in charity towards the neighbor. The difference is like that between the light of the sun by day and the light of the moon by night, or like that between the heat of both, from which are germinations." (A. C. 3235.)

     The common presumption that only light is reflected from the moon is an error. Light rays, even those reflected from the moon, have the heat activity within them.

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"That truths are the recipient vessels of good, may be illustrated by various things in nature, as by light, which is the recipient of heat from the sun." (A. C. 8530) In winter, the heat contained in light is restrained from coming forth, but in summer it is liberated in abundance.

     It would seem from the above that there is a demonstrable scientific principle underlying the farmer's practice of planting vegetables which bear fruit above soil during the bright lunar fortnight, whereas he plants those that bear fruits as roots, such as radishes, carrots, and potatoes, during the dark lunar fortnight.
     E. E. I.
WHAT AND WHERE IS THE NEW CHURCH? 1921

WHAT AND WHERE IS THE NEW CHURCH?              1921

     (From The New-Church Herald, January 29, 1921.)

     The New Church is a new dispensation intended to supersede the first and effete Christian Church. It is not man's Church, but the Lord's New Church. Its God-given Doctrines are true, rational and clear, all drawn from the genuine truths of the letter of the Divine Word. It exists wherever the Lord Jesus Christ is from the heart acknowledged to be the One God of heaven and earth, in One Person, Almighty, All-wise, All-good, Love, Wisdom and Life, from whom all beings in all worlds exist: He alone lives.

     His is the Word, which is Divine Wisdom in its fulness and power in the very letter. The letter contains, by means of correspondences and representatives, spiritual, celestial and divine senses. It is God's Mind, unintelligible to finite beings in its highest meaning, but accommodated to the simplest minds in the letter.

     The Christian life is a life of charity, faith and good works. Without charity, faith is dead, and without good works, both are dead. "Shunning evils as sins is the Christian life." Therefore good works are shunning evils as sins.

     Where but in the organized New Church will you find the above doctrines either in the prayers or the preaching! Nowhere. Let any minister or well-informed layman of the New Church sit through a few services in the Church of England, or any other denomination, and he, to say the least, will not feel at home. Any falsity can be proved by ingenuity to the unintelligent. Even that there are three distinct individuals in the so-called Godhead, and that the Word is Divine in parts.

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In one creed the Father is Creator, in another the Son. The New Church teaches that the Divine Love by the Divine Wisdom created and sustains all things.

     Where but in our works is it taught as a doctrine that all angels were and are men or women; also all devils? That there is no one personal devil, but millions collectively called the devil?

     What other church teaches that resurrection takes place within a few hours of death?

     Where do you learn of Influx and Discrete Degrees and how much can we know without such knowledge? What about regeneration? What about liberty and rationality, as we understand them? The two states which Divine Providence is ever guarding.

     The New Dispensation cannot exist without heart and lungs, and where are they to be found but in the organized New Church?

     Then there is the all-important internal memory, "The Book of Life," wherein are indelibly inscribed all things willed, thought out, and deliberately done.

     Many things are hinted at, or guessed, but there is no doctrine worthy of the name, as taught in New-Church sermons and prayers, in any other section of the Christian Church. Besides, if you mix dirty water with clean, the whole is polluted.

     What other religious body knows anything of conjugial love! Individuals, when not thinking from doctrine, hope to meet their wedded partners in the higher life, no doubt, but there is no definite doctrine of the conjunction as we know it. What church teaches that in heaven man is a complete man, and that a woman is a complete woman, as to their minds and bodies, save the organized New Church?

     The same applies to Perception, Remains, Proprium, Providence, Vastation, etc.

     Who knows and teaches that the Last Judgment has already been effected in the world of spirits, that it took place in the year 1757, that a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ witnessed it, and published a work describing it? The same author says that the Church Specific is where "The Lord is acknowledged and the Word (His Word) is read."

     Doubtless all devout readers of Holy Writ feel some enlightenment therefrom, because it is at that same time perceived by angels as to its spiritual sense; which sense, by the way, is "the Lord's Second Coming" in this lower world. He is come again in the clouds of the letter.

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     The Rev. R. H. Teed says members of the Church do not read. I began to read fifty-five years ago, and still read-every day. The doctrines are my breath of life. . . . E. C. CLARKE.
"HEAVEN AND HELL" IN PORTUGUESE. 1921

"HEAVEN AND HELL" IN PORTUGUESE.       E. E. IUNGERICH       1921

     A copy of the first edition of O Ceo e o Inferno has just been received unbound,-a magnificent work in 455 pages, including, besides the work proper, a preface, an index to the chapters, an index of Scripture passages, and a subject index of 88 pages. The latter compilation, as well as the preface, are the work of the translator, the Rev. L. C. de La Fayette.

     The preface is a straightforward presentation of the fact that the Old Church has come to its end, according to the prediction in Matthew XXIV, and that Swedenborg, a brief sketch of whose life is given, was the agent or prophet of the Lord, being "His voice in a world of human miseries, and an instrument to Preserve society from the certain dissolution which evils have threatened and do threaten to accomplish." The present times are likened to the Exodus and the beginning of the Christian era, and the Lord's message through Swedenborg to those through Moses and the Evangelists. The Lord's Second Coming has been effected by "the revelation of the internal spiritual sense of Scripture, at the same time that He reveals the conditions of man's spiritual life after death."

     After a page of extracts from the Arcana as to the resurrection and the life after death, the preface concludes as follows: "The publication of O Ceo e o Inferno in Portuguese is the result of the gift of Mr. John Pitcairn, and the property of the General Association of the New Jerusalem in Brazil."

     The translation is an accurate and fluent rendering of the Latin, the order of which is closely followed. I have read several of the chapters, and can compliment the translator upon his fidelity to the original, both in text and reference notes to the Arcana, and the skillful precision of his language.

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     The subject index which Senor de La Fayette has added is a concise doctrinal study, and should be translated and incorporated in English editions. It is enriched by occasional comments, chiefly of an etymological character. Thus, under Diabo, he explains the difference between "devil" and "satan," noting that "devil" was mentioned in connection with Judas, but "satan" in connection with Peter. Unfortunately, this subject index has not been proof read with the same care as the body of the work; In a hurried survey, I have noted thirty-one errors, of which the following two are somewhat serious:

     P. 582, at the bottom, reads: "Communication with others in the spiritual world is according to the conservation of the face," 552. It ought to be "conversion (turning) of the face."

     P. 410, near the bottom, reads: "The cerebellum corresponds to intelligence," 251. It should be "the cerebrum."

     However, absolute accuracy in an index of this sort is almost impossible of attainment. The translator has done remarkably well not to make more. This index is most informative. It presents in a systematic way a number of doctrinal subjects which, I venture to say, many students of Heaven and Hell are unaware have been so thoroughly considered in that work and its reference notes.
     E. E. IUNGERICH.
CHRISTIANITY OF THE MIDDLE AGES 1921

CHRISTIANITY OF THE MIDDLE AGES              1921

     The study of Gothic architecture, and the adaptation of its forms in the building of New Church temples, involves also the study of the sources of its inspiration in the Christian thought, doctrine and usages of the Middle Ages. Our readers will recall a treatment of this subject in the LIFE for last October, in an article by Mr. Raymond Pitcairn on "Christian Art and Architecture for the New Church," followed by remarks on "Christian Doctrine" by Bishop N. D. Pendleton. Mr. Pitcairn quotes a number of passages from the book by Emile Male on Religious Art in France of the XIII Century, a work which is the result of an exhaustive study of the architecture of the period and the sources of its spirit in the Christian faith of the Middle Ages, which seems to have been singularly free from the falsities of the Councils and thus akin to the primitive simplicity of apostolic times, at least with many of those who undertook the building of the Gothic Cathedrals, who were but recent converts to Christianity.

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     In connection with this subject, we have thought it would be of general interest, and of special value to the student, to reproduce in our pages the following excerpt from the Preface of Emile Male's book:

     "The study of the theological literature of the Middle Ages has been perhaps the most serious of all the difficulties which have confronted us. One is literally overwhelmed by the enormous volume of the work produced by the doctors of the Church in the course of ten centuries.

     "But closer examination of the works of the commentators on Scripture, the liturgiologists, and the encyclopsedists has shown in a surprising way that they repeat each other indefinitely. Isidore of Seville summarizes the Fathers, the Venerable Bede is inspired by Isidore, Rabanus Maurus by Bede, Walafrid Strabo by Rabanus Maurus, and so on. In days when communication was difficult, books rare, and ideas slow to spread, it was judged a worthy deed to abridge some celebrated book, to extract the substance of some famous treatise, or even to reproduce almost unaltered the work of some ancient doctor. Literary amour-propre-the pride of authorship-was unknown to the early Middle Ages. It was plain that a doctrine belonged, not to him who expounded it, but to the Church as a whole. To write a book, and so to make known the truth to one's neighbor, was in a sense to practice one of the works of mercy.

     "It follows that the apparently immense library of the Middle Ages consists after all of a very few works. Ten well-chosen books might almost literally be said to take the place of all others. The commentators on the Old and New Testaments are summarized in the Glossa ordinairia of Walafrid Strabo, completed in the fourteenth century by Nicolas de Lyra. The whole of the symbolic liturgy is in the Rationale divinarum officiarum of Gulielmus Durandus. The spirit and method of the old preachers live again in the Speculum Ecclesiae of Honorius of Autun. Sacred history, as then understood, is found in the Nistoria Scolastica of Peter Comestor, and in the Legenda aurea of Jacobus de Voragine, profane history in the Speculum historiale of Vincent of Beauvais.

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All that was known of the physical world is summarized in the Speculum Naturale, and all that was known of the moral world in the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas, epitomized in the Speculum morale.

     "A reader familiar with these works will have penetrated the depths of the medieval mind. The age which adopted them saw in them its own reflection, and the esteem in which they were held caused us to choose them as our guide.

     "The study of these books, whose classical character at once arrested our attention, has provided a point of departure in the midst of this vast mass of literature. In course of time others gathered round them, but it is to these books that we refer by preference, for they are truly representative. The doctrines they expound, the legends they adopt, were generally accepted by the Church, and thanks to them we have been able to reduce materially the number of our quotations." (Preface, p. xiv.)
NOTES AND REVIEWS 1921

NOTES AND REVIEWS              1921

     The following letter to the Editor of THE NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER, published in the issue for March 2, 1921, refers to a communication appearing in our last number, p. 161:

     "In looking over an old copy of your periodical for December 15th, 1920, I see a communication from the Rev. Herbert C. Small to which I wish to add a good, old-fashioned, Amen! The article is entitled 'Is Swedenborg Intelligible?' Every word is true. Anyone reading Swedenborg who wishes to understand may do so. And further, anyone who continues to read the Writings will soon find the red line of celestial truth running through the whole system of thought, and the glory of grasping a little hold of this great whole will enthrall him, and will help him in everything in life to do better work, with greater and gradually clearing visions of use for God in His world.-IRENE DOUGLAS YOUNG."

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LETTER OF RESIGNATION 1921

LETTER OF RESIGNATION              1921

     [Believing that the New Church public should know the causes which led the Rev. Albert Bjorck to resign from the General Convention and join the General Church, we print herewith a copy of his letter of resignation from the Convention, wherein he sets forth his reasons for the step.-EDITOR.]

     107 SHAKESPEARE AVENUE, BATH, ENGLAND, February 16th, 1920.

     To THE PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION OF THE NEW JERUSALEM IN THE UNITED STATES.

Dear. Mr. Smyth:
     Being in some doubt if a resignation from the ministry of the General Convention should be addressed to the Convention through its Secretary, or to the Council of Ministers, I have thought best to write to you as the official head of these bodies, with the request that my name be withdrawn from the list of ministers within the Convention.

     I regard it as a duty to the Convention to state my reasons for this request. They are chiefly, and briefly, as follows:

     1. Personal experience has for some years back led me to study the Writings of the New Church with special reference to the teaching there found concerning the nature of these Writings and the degree of authority they should have within the Lord's New Church.

     These studies have gradually led me to see, and, I think rationally understand, that the Writings published by the Lord's servant, Emanuel Swedenborg, after the time when his spiritual senses were fully opened, and which, by their letter or contents, show that they treat of the teaching of religion, are the teaching of the spiritual sense within the letter of the Word; that they are the Revelation of the Lord to those who will be of His New Church; that they constitute and are the Lord's Second Coming to men in the world, revealing His truths for the salvation of men in an ultimate form of their own which, being given through the instrumentality of a man's mind, is adapted to the spiritual-rational degree with men; and that they therefore are the Lord's Word to His Church and should be reverenced as such and acknowledged as having Divine authority.

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     2. I know that there have been and are ministers within the Convention who look at the Writings in very much the same light as I do, and it would therefore seem possible that the first paragraph in the Constitution of the General Convention can be interpreted to leave room for such a conception of the nature and quality of the Writings, but to me it does not seem so. I have been confirmed in this opinion because the methods and policy pursued by the Convention are, to my mind, entirely incompatible with a full acknowledgment of the Divine authority of the Writings. The Convention has, for instance, applied for membership in the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, thereby practically refuting the teaching of the Writings that the New Church is not a sect of the church known by men in the world as the Christian, but a New Church, established by the Lord on a new dispensation of truth, reviving and perfecting the Church of the Lord's first coming while yet in its integrity, that is, before it had embraced and officially declared as its teaching the false doctrines of a tripersonal God and vicarious atonement, whereby all truths from the Word were contaminated and perverted until the spiritual life of the Church was lost and it ceased to be a church.

     At the same time the Convention has taken a hostile attitude to those of the New Church who have formed the organization known as the General Church of the New Jerusalem and to its educational institution, the Academy. This organization stands, if I understand it rightly, for just that acknowledgment of the nature and quality of the Writings and their Divine Authority which I, though independent study and experience, have come to.

     As I am loath to believe that the hostility to the General Church, so common within the Convention, is based on vile slanders, repeatedly refuted and shown to be unfounded, I am constrained to believe that the difference between the Convention and the General Church-a difference which I have heard leading men of the Convention refer to as "fundamental"-is a difference of doctrine which effectually separates the two bodies.

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As this difference separates the Convention from the General Church, it must also, in fact, separate the Convention from anyone who shares the acknowledgment of the General Church with regard to the Writings; and as I have felt that separation for some time, I think it right to make it real in form as well, and I hereby beg to tender my resignation as a minister and member of the General Convention.

     In view of the fact that names of ministers have been dropped from the Convention's list without any cause being given in the Journal, though well-known and commented on between individual members, I think it only right-in order to guard against sinister interpretations-that my resignation, with reasons given, be printed in the Journal of the General Convention. Yours sincerely, ALBERT BJORCK.
FAIRIES 1921

FAIRIES       WILLIAM EVENS       1921

Editor NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     More than sixty years have passed away since my paternal grandmother told me in all seriousness that she was once "piskie led." She said that she was in a field, and could not find the gate, but by turning her pockets inside out was enabled to break the spell, after which she easily found the way out. I was often told by others that sometimes when a barn floor was filled with grain in the evening, ready for threshing with the flail, the fairies or pixies (called "piskies" in Devonshire, England), would have it all threshed before the morning. They must have been of the taller variety, "over sixteen inches in height," in order to be able to wield the large flails used at that time. Like most children, I believed those stories, but, resulting from an unfortunate tendency to skepticism, "when I became a man, I put away childish things."

     The interesting article on "Fairies" in the August number of the LIFE was a surprise to me, and it contains one or two statements which I cannot accept. It is stated that "there is teaching to the effect that animated beings who never had lived as human beings on any earth may yet appear to those in the spiritual world." And the following passages are referred to in proof thereof: S. D. 3923, 3952, 3869.

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S. D. Minor 4772 is also referred to, but it contains nothing on the subject. It is then stated that "these are instances of animated beings who never had a prior existence on any earth," although it is plainly stated in D. 3952 that it was merely the representation of a female, and in D. 3923 and 3869 that infants, etc., were produced by phantasies.

     Representations and phantasies are not real "animated beings"; they are not spiritual beings "who never had a prior existence on any earth," created such by the Lord; and I am not aware of any teaching in the Writings which will justify us in inferring that the Lord created any beings whatever, whether angels, spirits, or fairies, who had not to begin their existence on some material earth. When we read about fairies of different kinds, whether they are about sixteen inches in height, or of the taller variety, or as having wings, we should remember that they are only fairy stories.

     We shall do well to bear in mind the following excerpt from the Writings:

     "There are visions experienced by certain persons on the earth who say and boast that they have seen many things; and they are also called visionaries. This kind of visions is such that when any object is presented, be it what it may, certain spirits induce upon it such an appearance by phantasies; as when a cloud, or a certain lunar light, is seen by night, then spirits hold his mind, and thus his imagination, in the representation of some particular thing, whether of an animal, or an infant, or any monstrosity; and as long as his imagination is held in things of this kind, he is persuaded that he actually sees such things. In this way very many visions are bruited, which are nothing else than illusions; but such things often happen to those who indulge much in phantasies, and who thus labor under an infirmity of mind, which renders them credulous." (S. D. 1752.)
     WILLIAM EVENS.
PENETANGUISHENE,
     ONTARIO, CANADA.
          February 12th, 1921.

     [S. D. Minor 4772 treats of a deceitful spirit who "feigned innocence," and it is said that this "appeared by an infant whom he held in his hands and rolled about and folded in various ways; for the thought of anyone so appears when he has feigned innocence."-EDITOR. ]

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ON SMOKING 1921

ON SMOKING       GEORGE E. T. STEBBING       1921

     It will be admitted that smoking is not a necessity, either of the life of the mind or the life of the body. The habit is taken up voluntarily, and the arguments subsequently used in its favor are quite foreign to the motives of the beginner. Smoking is mostly begun in youth, in imitation of others, and, after some preliminary libations to the "Goddess Nicotine," the physical organism of the novitiate gets accustomed to the infraction of the laws of its order, and he is able to continue the habit with external elegance and but slight, though unacknowledged, discomfort.

     In the case of a New Churchman, the time comes, or should come, when he asks himself, "Why do I smoke? what use does it serve?" Most of us have in our circles of friends several "slaves of the pipe," who are such through not asking themselves that question, or not realizing what it is that seems to bind them to the habit. In other words, they smoke "of" themselves, instead of "as of" themselves.

     We know that no act is done voluntarily, unless one is moved by some sort of delight in it (T. C. R. 570); and, as one who has occasionally smoked in moderation, I am prepared to admit a certain, or perhaps I should say uncertain, delight; for it is very difficult to analyze the sensation produced and find wherein the delight is.

     The word "delight," in this connection, seems too ecstatic for a practice which appears to be on the same intellectual plane as blowing bubbles, substituting smoke for soapsuds, with the added idea, in the novitiate stage, that one is looking manly.

     I do not propose to inquire whether smoking originated with the Chinese or the Red Indians, because it is sufficient to know that it originates as a correspondent to a cause in the spiritual world. I only wish to know whether it originates from heaven or hell. If from heaven, it is an "ordination," but if from hell, it is only a "permission."

     Each of the five senses has delights, with variations according to its specific uses. (C. L. 68.) But what are the delights of the senses of the body without the delights of the soul? It is the soul that enjoys them. (C. L. 16.)

     There is a common influx into those things which are in order (i.e. animals), and a particular influx into those which are not in order (i.e. man), and the particular influx is through a man's attendant angels and spirits (A. C. 5850).

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Man cannot think or will anything from himself, but everything flows in; if good and true, from the Lord through angels and good spirits, and, if evil and false, from the hells through his attendant spirits (A. C. 5846). The attendant spirits enter into all man's memory, their own being quiescent, that the man may not be confused (A. C. 5858) They think and will what he thinks and wills, and, on account of the reciprocal union, the man thinks and wills as they do. (A. C. 5853.) They flow into man's affections, but not into his thoughts (A. R. 943). Will is nothing but the affection of some particular delight, the disposition to will being excited by some kind of pleasure and its attendant satisfaction, and, as it is the will that impels the understanding to think, so there cannot be the least external of thought except as a consequence of the influent delight of the will. (T. C. R. 570.) The attendant spirits are changed according to the changes of state of a man's affections. (A. C. 5861.)

     If a spirit, from a cause prior to himself, desires to ultimate a particular affection by a spiritual act which corresponds to the natural one of smoking, he is permitted to flow into the affections of a man who is prepared to give that affection a corresponding ultimate in the natural world; and in that man's affections is excited the desire to smoke. There are many men who do not wish to take up smoking, and these are not approached by such spirits, since the man's affections are not changed by spirits; for if his state is not harmonious, they retire and are succeeded by spirits who find the man's affections harmonious. (A. C. 5851.)

     It might be argued of a permission, that it was permitted because it had become a necessity for men in the world; but perhaps smoking is not a necessity for men in this world, but is merely the ultimate of a necessary permission in the spiritual world, and is taken up in this world by those who are willing to provide such ultimate, quite irrespective of its, to them, unknown and unsuspected correspondence, but for the sake of the more or less childish pleasure it affords them.

     One can, perhaps, determine whether smoking is an ordination or a permission by ascertaining the class of spirits who use men for such an ultimate. Has any man ever taken to smoking as a use to anyone but himself? Does anyone know of a genuine use served?

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The "nerve soothing" excuse is mostly used by men who smoke to excess and so injure their nerves. Was ever a good habit taken up so universally? Has any man ever been enslaved by a good habit as so many undoubtedly are by the habit of smoking?

     The craving for smoking which most smokers have can only originate from evil spirits, as it is a taking away of man's freedom; and if the man realized that they are the source, he could obtain the removal of the spirits and break the habit.

     Of course, if smoking is a permission of Providence for the sake of men in this world, it is because it is a necessity in certain cases, and therefore should also be permitted amongst ourselves; but it may be regulated. For instance, it should not be permitted in halls or rooms which are used for Divine Worship, nor at Church meetings; for, if the meetings are of both sexes, smoking is objectionable to most ladies, and if they are of men only, it is inconceivable that all the men need to avail themselves of the permission. A smoke-laden atmosphere is not good for the smokers, and is objectionable to the eyes and throats of the non-smokers.

     The smoker who thinks he cannot give due attention to an intellectual or social entertainment for two or three hours once in a while should be helped by the restriction to find that he can, if he will, gain control of even this habit.
     GEORGE E. T. STEBBING.
LONDON, ENGLAND.
     January 22nd, 1921.
QUESTION OF PRIESTLY ORDER 1921

QUESTION OF PRIESTLY ORDER       J. S. PRYKE       1921

Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:
     I feel much indebted to the Rev. Iungerich for his reference to this subject which appears in the January number of the LIFE, for he has certainly induced me to think over a larger field than I had hitherto done.

     There should be no suggestion of studied discourtesy, and therefore I do not pursue the relevancy of Napoleon's action in snatching the crown from the hands of the Pope. Neither had I previously considered the existence of a parallel between one priest visiting the parish of another and the priest-visitor to the domestic circle of a layman.

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Furthermore, I am not much concerned by extremes and their progeny.

     As the subject now presents itself to my mind, the crux is this: Does a layman, by virtue of the priestly uses which he is called upon to perform to his own family, thereby come into the order and subordination of the regular priesthood, i.e., these who have been officially inducted into that office and its public ministrations? I must confess that I had not seen the matter from that point of view. If the layman does so come into the priestly order, it might be of courtesy for him to invite the priest to officiate, but there would be no obligation for him to do so, other that what was inherent in the laws of courtesy, since in that case it would be but the invitation of one colleague to another. Granted that in that case also a bishop would officiate of right, by virtue of his superior rank. But would not this position lead to confusion and some far-reaching consequences?

     I must say that it seems to me that the layman-priest acts in a purely personal capacity in the privacy of his family, and that the visitor, whether layman or priest, becomes for the time being one of that family. There is, however, this further point: The host would very naturally wish to offer his guest the best which he had to bestow, and for that reason would invite him to the privilege of conducting worship.

     Although, to my regret, I cannot at Present reach Mr. Iungerich's conclusion, I am teachable, and accordingly ask the question: Is it, or is it not, of order for a layman to lead in worship within his own family circle when a priest-guest is present!
     Yours faithfully,
          J. S. PRYKE.
IVYDENE, NEW DUSTON, NORTHAMPTON,
February 20, 1921.

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Church News 1921

Church News       Various       1921

     SHARON CHURCH, CHICAGO.-On Friday, January 7th, we had the first supper and doctrinal class of the new year, with a full attendance. After the singing practice, the Pastor set forth the internal sense of the story of Ishmael, involving the subject of the natural rational. A social time concluded the evening, with dancing and singing by the young people. On the following Sunday the sermon was on the subject of Education, and during the ensuing week Miss Alice Grant began her visit in Chicago, which included number of instructive meetings. On January 28th, when we celebrated Swedenborg's Birthday, the friends of Mr. Headsten's congregation joining us, we had sixty-two people at table. On this occasion, Miss Grant read a paper on "The Education of Infants," which was much enjoyed and discussed. At the conclusion of the formal program, the young people gave an amusing playette, after which there was dancing.

     After service on another Sunday, we all had luncheon in the church rooms, and remained in the afternoon to hear a paper by Miss Alice on "Social Life within the Church." Both the paper and the speaker's other remarks proved of absorbing interest, young and old expressing themselves freely in the discussion, and all feeling that we had received an inspiration which would bring results in the future. Among other things, Miss Grant pointed out that, while our little circle is few in numbers, it is a nucleus, and a strong one, since most of our younger members are graduates of the Academy Schools at Bryn Athyn. She also reminded us that our church rooms are ideal in their homey way for social activities, making it possible for us to entertain New Church people from other centers.

     On the following Tuesday a reception was given Miss Grant at the home of Mrs. Gladish, which proved a delightful event. Besides our own ladies and those of Mr. Headsten's society, there were friends from the Convention parishes, and all found great interest in the paper on "Adolescence" read by Miss Alice. There was time for discussion and general conversation while refreshments were being served.

     The last of the series of meetings held during Miss Grant's stay-and a very full and enjoyable one-was at the hospitable home of Mrs. Headsten. There was a large attendance, and the young mothers especially were deeply interested in the earnest talk by Miss Grant on "Education in the Home, School and Church for our Eternal Home in Heaven." Some day, we all-mothers and teachers and fathers-will be so imbued with the wondrous truths of the Church in regard to education that we will whole-heartedly bend all our energies toward learning and thinking and living these great truths. Then shall we have a New Church indeed!
     E. V. W.

     LONDON, BURTON ROAD.-On the evening of Tuesday, January 18th, the Rev. Alfred Acton gave us a long and interesting account of his recent tour on the Continent. It is impossible here to give even an outline of his "talk," for it lasted for three and a half hours (without notes, without a break, and without anything solid in the way of refreshments except for the audience!), and there was a rumor that the reverend gentleman had declared himself quite capable of "talking" for six hours at a stretch upon occasion!

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Mr. Acton visited many towns, and had some strange experiences. He met "New Church" people of every kind, and apparently of every degree-from those who make full acknowledgment of the Doctrines to those who make none-but who were nevertheless very kind and helpful.

     On Thursday, January 27th, the Meeting of the Young People's Guild was made especially interesting by the presence of the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, Pastor of Peckham Rye, who gave an excellent lecture on "Emanuel Swedenborg," in accordance with our usual custom of "keeping" Swedenborg's birthday, this being the Guild Meeting nearest to the 29th. It is obvious that a full and detailed life of Swedenborg would be impossible within the (reasonable!) limits of a single lecture, and Mr. Gyllenhaal was as happy in his selection of the phases of the great man's life to be presented to us as he was in the method of their presentation. Having noted the general conditions in England and on the Continent at the time of Swedenborg's birth, the lecturer passed lightly but interestingly over the period of his childhood, reading a remarkable poem written by Swedenborg at the age of twelve. (Our school-children were present, and Mr. Gyllenhaal showed a kindly consideration for them throughout his lecture.) He then showed us Swedenborg, the young man, studious, ambitious, industrious, poetical, musical, possessing a sense of humor, and withal "much like other young men" in his capacity for falling in love more than once, and yet exhibiting throughout a dominant tendency to look to and be led by the Lord in all things.

     Mr. Gyllenhaal did not attempt to deal with the period of Swedenborg's scientific preparation for his great mission (beyond noting its necessity), as time did not permit of this, but passed on to the period of his illumination, tracing its progressive steps, and concluded his very able lecture by reading a paper he had previously published on the character of this illumination, two leading thoughts of which were, that Swedenborg's inspiration was by general rather than by particular influx, and that when he entered upon his Divine Mission as a Revelator, Swedenborg was a fully regenerate celestial man.

     Our Pastor, the Rev. R. J. Tilson, having expressed to the lecturer his acknowledgments, and those on behalf of the members of the Guild, and Mr. Gyllenhaal having briefly replied, thanking Mr. Orme for his assistance with the lantern slides, a very pleasant and profitable evening was brought to a close. I should have said that the evening began with the singing of the "Ode to Swedenborg" by the assembled audience, but I am bound to add that this performance did not attain the same standard of excellence as the lecture!
     K. M. D.

     PITTSBURGH.-Our new social club has been busy ever since we started the season in the fall. After the District Assembly, a record of which appeared in the Life, there was a dance for Hallowe'en. Yes, musicians come high these days, but since there are so many "youthful" contributors who love the waltz and two-step, etc., we manage to have a very good dance about once a month. The school children had two charming parties about the same time.

     The subscription card party near Thanksgiving time was such a thorough success that everybody is wondering why we do not repeat the experience. The refreshments contributed by the ladies were all served upon the cafeteria plan, which netted a substantial sum for the Building Fund. The New Year's dance and the Washington's Birthday dance, the latter a fancy dress affair, were such thoroughly charming and happy affairs, that we oldsters feel that the "good old times" must be here again for sure.

     The snappy speeches at our Swedenborg's Birthday Supper were both a surprise and a treat-especially as there were some who thought every phase of Swedenborg's life had been used before. But this was, if anything, more original and enjoyed than ever.

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The supper was a masterpiece, too. We have no weekly suppers here, but only monthly. However, there are always two in January, on account of the Annual Meeting and Swedenborg's Birthday. The children had their Theta Alpha lunch at the hospitable home of Mr. and Mrs. Ebert. We have been unusually fortunate this year in the absence of illness to interrupt the work of the school.

     The best news, perhaps, is the doubling of the average attendance at our Wednesday classes, and the increased attendance at worship.

     The High School class on Sunday evening is smaller this year, but no less important. It looks as if all the members of the present class would be at Bryn Athyn next year. Those who graduate and return to us will have to bring a liberal store of activity and ideas to repay us properly for the long absences of our beloved young people. They have the real willing spirit, too, bless them!

     Our Philosophy Club has by no means dried up. The Fountain of Youth bubbles up with perennial freshness, and the Pierian Spring is reopened at each meeting. We are re-reading the Animal Kingdom.

     During the recent visit of the Pastor to the Consistory and other meetings at Bryn Athyn, the Rev. Walter E. Brickman officiated in our services. Again, a little later, he was called upon, owing to an indisposition of the Pastor. His sermon upon this occasion was truly inspiring.
     H. S.

     REPORT OF THE VISITING PASTOR.-Two Sundays, February 13th and 20th, and the week intervening, were spent at MIDDLEPORT, OHIO. As the members who live out in the country could not come in, because of the bad roads, the attendance at our gatherings was small; nevertheless, as ever, we had delightful times. Besides the Sunday services, seven evening meetings were held. Three of these were for doctrinal class, at which we considered the teaching concerning the three universal loves,-the love of heaven, the love of the world, and the love of self,-and their subordination. (T. C. R. 394 to 405) Two other evenings were devoted to the study of the principles of education, with especial reference to the principle that the end in education must be so to teach and lead the young that, when they reach adult age, they may in freedom, in accordance with reason, choose for themselves the path of good and truth. On another evening a social was held, and on still another, a men's meeting. Also, one afternoon, there was a children's service.
     F. E. WAELCHLI.

     TORONTO, ONT.-The thing that is uppermost in our minds at the present time is the possibility of getting a new church or chapel that will better meet the needs of worship. For we are compelled to use our worship hall for dances, theatricals, and socials of all kinds, which is not a good thing. It may be tolerated for a time, but it should not become a permanent institution. With the idea of starting something along these lines, a musicale was given at the home of Mrs. Henry Becker, and $22 was realized as the initial sum. The musicale was enjoyed by forty members of the Society, the performers being: Mrs. Reginald Anderson, Miss Edina Carswell, Mr. Frank Wilson, and the Rev. and Mrs. Alden.

     On Valentine's Day we had social at the church under the direction of Mr. and Mrs. P. Izzard and Mr. and Mrs. R. Anderson. A novel feature of the occasion was this: Each member was asked to bring as many coppers as he was years old. When we came in the door, we were given little bags into which we were to drop the coppers. Later on in the evening, we went downstairs for refreshments, and there, beside the door, was a little model of the new church, and into this model, through the chimney, the bags were dropped. A sum of $23 was realized for the building fund, and it was found that there were members as old as one hundred years dwelling in our midst, and that the average age of the Society seems to be forty-five!

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The ladies must surely be commended for their honesty in this delicate matter!

     On Thursday evening of the same week the Forward Club held its monthly meeting. It surely was a live occasion. The meeting is divided into three Periods: The first for business, the second for a whist tournament, and the third for the presentation of some subject. The subject was: "Can business be conducted according to New Church principles)" The speakers were: Messrs. T. Rothermel, F. Longstaff, R. Potts, F. Wilson, P. Izzard, R. Brown, A. Sargent, and the Rev. K. R. Alden. Mr. Sargent had the opening address, and in a masterful manner presented the subject, showing that confidence is the basis for business, that the application of New Church principles must lead to the establishment of confidence, and therefore, that New Church principles must lead to better business. The others followed, and each brought out some new phase of the subject in which he was particularly interested. The whole testimony of the evening was to the effect that New Church principles are practical, and can be applied to business. The meeting adjourned at 12 a.m.

     The ladies have been actively planning a sort of fair on a small scale, to raise funds for the building, and if we can rely upon the rumors we hear, we will be given something very good in the near future.

     On the 27th of February, Toronto and Kitchener again effected an exchange of pulpits, and we had the pleasure of hearing a sermon by the Rev. L. W. T. David on the subject of "Love of the Lord."
     K. R. A.

     THE HAGUE, HOLLAND.-The Rev. Ernst Deltenre's second lecture, announced in our last communication, duly came off on January 28th. He spoke on the subject of "Swedenborg's Philosophy and Theology," and held the attention of an audience of 70 persons. Pointing out, first of all, the mistake very generally made in our country of considering Swedenborg as an eminent "spiritist," he ably stated some of the chief teachings of the New Church philosophy,-God, the One Being who IS, the nature of influx, the doctrine of degrees and correspondence, and the Divinity of the Lord. In conclusion, he touched briefly upon the doctrine of life, and gave a summary of other important doctrines, for the full consideration of which there was not time on this occasion.

     After the lecture, a number of books were sold, some of which, we trust, will be the means of further propagating the truths of the New Church in Holland. Much to our regret, Mr. Deltenre was unable to remain with us after this meeting, as on his former visit, and therefore no service could be held.
     M. B.

     COLCHESTER, ENG.-February 20, 1921. On Sunday, January 2nd, we had the pleasure of a visit from the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, with Mrs. Odhner and their daughter. At the evening service Mr. Odhner preached an excellent sermon.

     The following day, a social was held at the Hall of Worship, and in addition to Mr. and Mrs. Odhner, we had the stimulating presence of the Rev. Alfred Acton, fresh from his visit to the Continent. In response to a toast, Mr. Odhner spoke of England as the birthplace of the Church, and of the great institutions of learning which had flourished here from the earliest times. He also spoke very kindly of the ancient borough of Colchester, and of his pleasure in meeting us all. Mr. Odhner was then asked to be the bearer of hearty greetings to our friends in Durban. We certainly wished to hear from him at greater length, but all, including himself, were anxious to hear from Mr. Acton, who proceeded to give us a great treat in a speech of nearly three hours.

     To hear of the state of the Church in the various centers of Europe assuredly made clear the fact that our societies are not so many isolated units of the Church, (only so far as the limits of time and space compel); but in reality we are a homogeneous and spiritual unit, with the same ideals, based squarely upon the distinctive doctrines of the Church, and looking to the priesthood as the Lord's office with men.

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     Mr. Acton's address also made clear that the General Church is international, differing, indeed, in many details as to the ultimates of ritual and external order, which may be varied considerably in the external and yet be consistent as to essentials; but from the spiritual conjunction of affection and use, there is an additional sphere of strength and illustration from all the societies to each, and from each to all. And this is made possible by the priesthood in the exercise of their uses in accordance with orders as given in the Doctrines. His account of visits to the cities of Europe, and his impressions of states and conditions resulting from the war, were most interesting and suggestive. His journey cannot fail to be a great source of strength to the Church as a whole.

     On Sunday, January 30th, we had the pleasure of another visit from the Rev. G. C. Ottley, which was announced in the following notice in the local newspapers:

     The Rev. G. C. Ottley, of London, preaches on Sunday in the New Church Hall of Worship in Priory Street. His subject is, "The Danger of Profanation." Mr. Ottley is on the threshold of a man's allotted span of life-three score and ten years-yet he is youthful in spirit and is a vigorous, forceful and eloquent preacher."

     As a result of this notice, 4 strangers attended, the congregation numbering 46 persons. The excellent sermon was on the text, Genesis 34:25-29.

     We were glad that Mr. Ottley could stay over for the celebration of Swedenborg's Birthday on the following day, which was one of the best we have had. Forty-six were present, including Mr. and Mrs. Denny, of London. Mr. Motum provided the supper, as has been his custom for a quarter of a century. Our Pastor was toastmaster, and the Program was long and varied, including the following subjects:-"Outlines of Swedenborg's Life," Mr. Jack Cooper; "Swedenborg's Rules of Life," Mr. W. E. Everett; "Swedenborg a Student," Mr. F. R. Cooper; "Swedenborg a Useful Man," Mr. J. Potter; "Swedenborg a Preacher," Mr. A. H. Appleton. There were toasts to "Emanuel Swedenborg," "The Academy," "The Priesthood," "The New Church," "Our Host, Mr. Motum," and songs were contributed by Miss Gill and Miss B. Motum, a Recitation by Miss Locke, a Piano Solo by Miss M. Wheeler, and Glees by the Choir.

     But the item of special interest was an address by Mr. Ottley on "The State of the World, prior to and at the time of the Lord's Second Advent," in which he pointed out some of the great events which marked new epochs in the natural world, notably the French Revolution, and, in our time, the Great War, which marked the beginning of new states in the world. For nothing would again be the same, and their effects would be profound and far-reaching. The causes were from the spiritual world, and their effects here would be great and irresistible. He also spoke of the difference of style in the Latin of the Philosophical and Theological Works, the latter being more simple, being unique, and not found in the works of any other writer. F. R. COOPER.

     A SOCIETY AT LIBAU.-The beginning of a Society of the New Church in Letvia is briefly described in the following letter addressed to Pastor Rundstrom, of Stockholm, and published in the February issue of Nya Kirkens Tidning:

     November 22, 1920.
Most honored Sir,
Brother in the Lord:
It may perhaps interest you to know that, on the 11th of May, I founded a Swedenborgian Society in Libau.

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     Ever since I found in Swedenborg's works an answer to my doubts, I have been active in spreading the Doctrines.

     During the year 1918, I began to hold public lectures, and finally induced the regular attendants at my lectures to come together for the formation of an association. We were then 12 persons. We are now 50.

     I myself studied theology in the Lutheran Church with the intention of becoming a priest, but as I could not bind myself to teach doctrines which I did not consider true, I left the theological school. I am now holding lectures every Sunday at 9:30 a.m. in the Lettish language, and at 3:30 p.m. in German. Every Wednesday at 6 o'clock we have a reading class. We have a library of Swedenborg's Writings, and this is much used by the members. Twice we have very blessedly taken the Holy Supper. One member of our Society, a Lett, has translated Heaven and Hell into Lettish, which is the first translation into that language.

     There are Swedes here also, one of whom, an architect, has presented to our Society a painting bearing the inscription, "Jesus Christ the Only God." If you have any pamphlets in Swedish, I am in great need of them. However, I cannot give you any payment for them, as the value makes it impossible; the Lettish mint has no value in foreign countries.

     I want to hear something about the congregation in Stockholm. Is it an old one? Is there in Stockholm a society called "Pro Fide et Charitatel" Are you the only New Church minister in Sweden? Can you send me a catalogue of New Church literature in Swedish)

     The Lord bless you and your work, and please to extend a hearty greeting from me to your society.
     Yours sincerely,
          KARL GROSCH.
Libau, Lettland,
     Alexanderstrasze 21.
(Translated from the Swedish by Cyriel Lj. Odhner.)

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ACADEMY LIBRARY 1921

ACADEMY LIBRARY              1921

     EDITIONS OF "HEAVEN AND HELL" DESIRED.

     Concerning Heaven and its wonders, and concerning Hell,. . . Boston, New York, 1844. Same, 1849. Same, 1854. Same, New York, 1863. Same, 1865. Same, 1866. Same, 1868. Same, 1872. Same, New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, 1813. Same, Cleveland, O., 1899.

     Heaven and Hell; also the intermediate state, or world of spirits, . . . London, 1863. Same, 1866. Same, 1863. Same, 1885. Same, 1893.

     The Future Life. . . . Belfast, London, Liverpool, Dublin, 1853. Same, London, F. Pitman, 20 Paternoster Row; C. P. Alvey, 36 Bloomsbury St., W. C. (issued in 1861, without date). Same, London, 1874 Same, 1875. Same, 1877. Same, 1878. Same, 1879. Same, 1880. Same, 1882. Same, 1883. Same, 1884. Same, 1886. Same, 1888. Same, 1890. Same, 1892. Same, 1895. Same, 1899. Same, 1901.

     Heaven and its wonders, the World of Spirits, and Hell:. . .New York, 1854. Same, 1860. Same, 1854. Same, 1893.

     Heaven and its wonders. . . . Centenary edition, in Shorthand, London, 1872. Same (printed in phonetic spelling and characters).

     Heaven and its wonders, and Hell,. . . Philadelphia, 1869. Same, 1876. Same, 1880. Same, 1881. Same, 1897 (12mo). Same, 1900. Same, London, 1901. Same, 1905. Same, New York, 1909 (16mo, Pocket edition).

     Heaven and Hell, also the world of spirits and the state of man after death. . . London, 1898.

     IN DUTCH: De Hemelen zinje wonderen en de Hel. London, 1900.

     IN GERMAN: Von Himmel und von den wunderbaren Dingen desselben,. . . 1775.
Von dem Himmel und seineu Wunderdingen. . . . Basel, 1869.
Himmel und Hiille, Stuttgart, 1894.

     IN SWEDISH: Om Himmelen och dess underbarcl ting; samt om helvetet. . . . Stockholm, 1828.

     EDITIONS OF "THE LAST JUDGMENT" DESIRED.

     LATIN: De Ultimo Judicio, et de Babylonia Destructa,. . .New York-London, 1889.

     ENGLISH: A treatise concerning the Last Judgment,. . . London, 1830. Same, Boston, 1828.

     The Last Judgment. London, 1859.

     An account of the Last Judgment. London, 1841. Same, 1846. Same, Boston-New York-Cincinnati, 1849. Same, 1851. Same, New York, 1866. Same, 1868.

     The Last Judgment, and the destruction of Babylon, London, Edition of 1846.

     FRENCH: Du dernier Jugement, et de la Babylne detruite;. . .Paris Strasbourg-Londres, 1824.

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ONTARIO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1921

ONTARIO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY       KARL R. ALDEN       1921

     


     ANNOUNCEMENTS.



     Members and friends of the General Church are cordially invited to attend the meetings of the Ontario District Assembly, to be held at Kitchener, Ontario, from May 21st to 14th inclusive.
     KARL R. ALDEN,
          Secretary.

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WILL RELIGION AND SOCIAL LIFE MIX? 1921

WILL RELIGION AND SOCIAL LIFE MIX?       HOMER SYNNESTVEDT       1921


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLI          MAY, 1921           No. 5
     We know in general that the two planes-the sensual and the interior rational-are so related in fallen man that the full activity of the one automatically dims or shuts off the other. Religion and politics are so seldom free from the taint of bigotry and censorious uncharity, it is no wonder they are taboo in polite society. To the young, moreover, and the unreflecting, the appearance is that merely natural good spirits and wit make up the real pleasure of social life, regardless of the life of use or the quality of faith with the "good fellows" and "jolly girls" who are admittedly the life of every party. But a little reflection from the Heavenly Doctrines will show that the religion or conscious ideal of those entering into a social group does make the most far-reaching difference. And this is borne out by experience as to the effects of constant association with the one class of playmates or the other. For the law, taught in the Writings, is that every person gives off a sphere from himself or herself, which is an exhalation or breathing forth from his own loves and thoughts conjoined. Thus the sphere of one's natural good contains within it the whole quality of his ruling love and conscious purposes. It is this that gives quality to his sphere, and determines whether the said sphere connects him with good spirits from heaven or evil spirits from hell. As his sphere is, in its predominating quality, such is he, and such is his influence on others in both worlds.

     To those who love the Church and its Heavenly Doctrines, and who are therefore in the sincere effort to apply them to their lives, there will be no tidbits more welcome than those which concern the New Church, even as it is now in matters concerning love and marriage.

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But they will have no relish for what is profane and unchaste, nor for contempt of children. Thus the differences will invariably show themselves, even in externals, and this from no conscious effort to be self-righteous. For the most part, however, the differences of purpose and aim which qualify the sphere will not be manifest at the time, but only come out later; as in the case, for instance, with men who fight together in battle. All fight like demons while the battle is on; but the one who has Christian charity in his heart shows it as soon as the fight is won. If he dies, he dies in the Lord and goes to heaven. Not so the Godless man.

     So in regard to worship. Of the throngs that enter a temple side by side, the benefit to those who have prepared themselves by a life of uses and daily repentance is beyond comparison with that of the others, who have not. Moreover, the sphere of worship itself will depend in the long run on the ones who have some religion, both in life and in thought. We are commanded to "have the Lord continually before our eyes." The Writings explain, indeed, that this is accomplished by having Him as our end and ruling love, rather than by consciously reflecting upon Him when engaged in the activities of the natural life. This would take away our freedom and efficiency; it would be forced, and destroy spontaneity. Nevertheless, the religion of the sincere man is always present inwardly, and anything that touches upon it, when it does occur, is most welcome. But it must not be dragged in from a desire which has not charity and humility within it. There must be something spontaneous about it.

     Moreover, we elders need to cultivate a smiling toleration for the very youthful when, from sheer thoughtlessness, they show themselves a little less eager for the serious tidbits than we. Don't ask the tapping slippers to wait too long for the music and the dance!

     Our contention is, then, that until religion and social life do mix, and blend into a harmonious interaction, neither is really alive or what our Lord intended it to be.
     HOMER SYNNESTVEDT.

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TWO WITNESSES 1921

TWO WITNESSES       Rev. R. J. TILSON       1921

     It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two melt is true. I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me. (John 8:17, 18.)

     The Lord had declared Himself to be "the light of the world;" and further said, "He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." To this, the Pharisees, in the blindness of their non-acknowledgment of the Lord's Divinity, had replied, "Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true." But the Lord, as part of His reply, used the words of the text: "It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me."

     The law to which the Lord here referred is given in Deuteronomy 17:6, in the following words: "At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death." And also in Deuteronomy 19:15, in the following terms: "One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established."

     This external law of the Jews, which has to a large extent been embodied in the laws of all civilized nations, was based upon and arose out of the Divine law that "One truth does not confirm good," but that several truths are required to confirm good, because from one truth another may be seen, and from the aggregate of truths good may be confirmed. (A. C. 4197.) Indeed, the law concerning the need for more than one witness against a man is based upon the mutual dependence of good upon truth, and of truth upon good, and thus upon their mutual relation. And this great fact, expressed in the law to which the Lord referred when He used the words of the text, lies at the base of the establishment of the Church; yea, at the very root of the regeneration of man.

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     But, before this thought is extended and developed, let the mind first briefly address itself to the fact of the Lord's bearing witness to Himself. The Pharisees said, "Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true." The Lord bore witness to Himself because He was the Divine Truth Itself. In this respect He stood apart from and above every man, as He alone receives no knowledge from a higher power or source; for He is the Fount of all truth, the Source of all wisdom. And yet in Him there was the origin and expression of that duality which is ever requisite to make a true unity-a real one; for within Him, as the Divine Truth, the Word, there was the Father, the Divine Good-the Divine within the Human and these two testified to the Truth and reality of the Lord's works and words. Therefore the Lord said, "I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me."

     And thus the mind returns to the proposition already announced, that the regeneration of man and the establishment of the church depend upon the mutual relation of good and truth,-the witness which good bears to truth, and that which truth bears to good. "It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true." Nor is this the simple matter which, at first sight, it may appear to be.

     Bearing in mind the generals of truth thus far mentioned in connection with the words of the text, let the opening paragraph of the Prologue to the Canons of the New Church be attentively heard. It is as follows: "That at this day nothing else than the self-evidencing reason of love will re-establish (the Church), because it has fallen away (from the truth)." This is a most momentous assertion; for that which re-establishes the Church can alone be the means of man's regeneration and salvation. But what is the "self-evidencing reason of love?" The reason of love is the principle from which one loves. The reason of true love-the only love worth calling love-is the truth which teaches it, which directs it, and protects it; and, conversely, the reason of truth is the good which infills it, which gives it soul and essence. And thus the one testifies to the other,-good to truth, and truth to good; and herein is the law spiritually fulfilled: "The testimony of two men is true."

     Thus the reason of love is truth; for reasons, real living reasons, are truths. But the Lord does not re-establish His Church merely by love, nor by the reason of love, but by the self-evidencing reason of love.

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And what is that? Since the reason of love is truth, the self-evidencing reason of love is that truth which is freely and intellectually received, so that it bears its own evidence to the mind which receives it, and manifests its own force by the ready conviction which it produces. The truth is only truth to him who sees it to be true. In itself, truth is truth, not because man sees it, but because the Lord has spoken it. Truth is ever true, independently of angels and of men; but to man, truth is only true when he sees and acknowledges it to be such. In themselves, the Writings of the Church are eternal truths; for they are an "immediate revelation" (H. H. 1) from heaven; they are "the Word Itself" (L. J. 28); but only to the man who accepts them are they objectively so. The Letter of the Word is Divine Truth, Infinite and Eternal, in Itself; but it is only to the man who accepts it as the Word of God that even the Letter of the Word is true and truth. Thus the truth must be self-evidencing, in order to be truth to the man who receives it. It must bear witness to Itself, and it must have the additional witness of the good, the use, within it, as that to which it leads.

     And what a practical lesson arises from the necessity for the self-evidencing nature of truth! For this necessitates that man should prepare himself for the reception of truth as true, and that he should receive it as of himself, and not upon the faith of another. Faith received from another, and because the other believes it, is a persuasive faith which is worse than no faith, because it has no freedom in it, and leads to no independent life. But the Divine Truth, as the self-evidencing reason of Divine Love, commends itself to human reason, and waits to be received by human reason, that it may be believed, acknowledged, and lived as the very power for the establishment of the church, and thus of heaven in man.

     The purer, the deeper, and the higher the reason, the firmer, the truer, and the more certain will be the foundation and establishment of the church in man. For the truly human-the human which comes from God-is based solely upon reason in freedom. It is written in the work on the Divine Providence: "The human itself is to act from freedom according to reason" (179), and, therefore, reason is the basis of truly human action. For this cause there was written on the pearly gate of the magnificent temple seen in the other world the words "Nunc Licet," which signifies that "now it is allowable to enter intellectually into the mysteries of faith." (T. C. R. 508)

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     Thus, then, the Church will be established by the "self-evidencing reason of love;" and this self-evidencing reason of love is the Divine Truth, within which is the Divine Good, accommodated to man's rational mind in such a manner that good may testify to truth, and truth bear witness to good, that they may proceed together and in freedom into use. "It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true."

     Still further to emphasize the all-important teaching that truth must be to man the "self-evidencing reason of love," before the church can be established within him, and thus that man must prepare and dispose himself to receive the truth as true, a peculiarity in the Revelation contained in the Prologue to the Canons of the New Church, as to its opening paragraph, should be carefully noted. That paragraph has already been quoted as being: "That at this day nothing else than the self-evidencing reason of love will reestablish (the Church), because it has fallen away (from the truth)." Now, such a rendering of the original Latin is undoubtedly warranted to express the meaning in fluent, orderly English. But it is important to note that in the Latin, as revealed by the Lord there is no equivalent for the words "the Church" or "from the truth." Literally rendered the paragraph should read: "That at this day nothing else than the self-evidencing reason of love will re-establish, because they have fallen away." Truly this is bald and ungrammatical, considered from its external alone. But it is the Word of God to His New Church, and, therefore, its very apparent baldness must have a Divine purpose. There is surely no reason why it should not be recognized in the Writings, as well as in the Letter of the Word, that the Divine Providence extends even to the very order in which the words occur, and also to the apparent omissions in the expression of the truth therein contained. What lesson, then, may be learnt from the very apparent omission of the words, "the Church," in the paragraph now under consideration?

     May not this be the lesson, that while the truth is true only to him who receives it as such, and thus and then only becomes the self-evidencing reason of love, yet the Divine Truth, in Itself, which is the Church itself, is ever and eternally true, no matter whether received or rejected by man?

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For this is a great truth, and needs ever to be remembered. Truth is true, not because man sees or recognizes it to be such, but simply because the Lord has revealed it. That truth makes the Church as the Kingdom of the Lord. But for the Church to be in the individual man, he-the man himself-must see the Truth to be truth, must acknowledge it to be such, that, to him, it may be the self-evidencing reason of love, and may be "the testimony of (the) two men," of good and truth, which alone "is true."

     Thus, because the subject dealt with is the re-establishment of the Church, with man, and in him, and because the Church is established in him only in proportion as he receives it, the statement of the Canon is, "That at this day nothing else than the self-evidencing reason of truth will re-establish, because they (those in whom the Church should have been) have fallen away." But when the great truth is remembered that the Church, in itself, is the Divine Truth, above and beyond the organization of men, then, with this truth in mind, it is permitted to call the instrumental by the name of the principal, and thus to insert the word "Church," which the context shows plainly is to be understood, and thus to render the paragraph as usually given, viz.: "That at this day nothing else than the self-evidencing reason of love will re-establish (the Church) because it has fallen away (from the truth)."

     Considered in this light, how truly the Spirit and Letter of the Word unite to teach the same lesson of eternal truth! For the statement of the Prologue to the Canons, and the law referred to in the text, are the two spiritual men whose testimony make forever true the great teaching that truth is the witness of good, and that good bears testimony to truth, as they seek to become one in the soul and life of him who, from freedom according to reason, seeks to shun all evils as sins against God.

     And, my brethren, good and truth, as the two men whose testimony is true, and whose united testimony in life is ever necessary for salvation-good and truth are the two witnesses which stand before the God of the earth, which prophesy concerning the New Church of the Lord, and which are clothed with sackcloth because of the non-reception of the Lord's truth. "And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks, which are standing before the God of the earth." (Rev. 11:3, 4.)

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     In the Apocalypse Revealed, the following summary of the spiritual sense of these words is given:

     "'And I will give unto my two witnesses,' signifies those who confess and acknowledge from the heart that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and that His Human is Divine, and who are conjoined to Him by a life according to the precepts of the Decalogue. 'And they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days,' signifies that these two things, the acknowledgment of the Lord and a life according to the precepts of the Decalogue, which are the two essentials of the New Church, are to be taught until the end and the beginning. 'Clothed in sackcloth,' signifies mourning meantime on account of the non-reception of truth. 'These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks which are standing before the God of the earth,' signifies love and intelligence, or charity and faith, from the Lord with them." (A. R. 490-493)

     Thus, the Lord's two witnesses for the establishment of the New Church are, first, the confession and acknowledgment from the heart that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth and secondly, the life according to the precepts of the Decalogue. These are the two men whose testimony is true, the two living men, upon whose united testimony the truths of the regenerate life entirely depend, and the establishment of the Church completely rests. These are the "two essentials of the New Church." (A. R. 490.)

     We read further in the Apocalypse Revealed that "these three are also the things which make the Church, the truth of doctrine, the good of love, and worship from them." (486.) And these three are equal to the two witnesses just referred to; for they are the same, inasmuch as worship is but the ultimation of the acknowledgment of the Lord and the life which is called charity. Far above the technicalities of detailed points of order in the organization of the Church, (which may easily be made unduly to anticipate states in the embryonic condition of the Church); far above these is the necessity to have the living testimony of the two witnesses,-the acknowledgment of the sole Divinity of the Lord, and the life according to the Commandments.

     May the Lord help us individually and collectively to strive increasingly to obtain the living testimony of good to truth, and truth to good; so shall we realize the spirit of the teaching given in the words:

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"It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true." We shall find the force of the Divinely revealed statement, "That at this day nothing else than the self-evidencing reason of love will re-establish the Church;" and, in purity of will, in clearness of understanding, and in fidelity of life, we shall be daily drawn nearer to Him Who is "The faithful and true Witness." Amen.
SUSTAINED THOUGHT OF THE LORD 1921

SUSTAINED THOUGHT OF THE LORD              1921

     "It was first perceived how the case is with continual reflection, that it is not innate with man, but that it is imbued by habit from infancy, so that at length it becomes as if natural. So it is with reflection upon the things that one meets with in walking, upon the motions of his body and its members, upon his steps, into all of which he is led by habit; for unless he learned it, he could never walk upon his feet. There are many such things with a man which are acquired and yet become natural. Such is the case with his speech, both his vernacular and other languages; the sense falls into words without his thinking, from custom, although he had to learn it; the same is the case with those who play musical instruments. All things of the external body are thus imbued, the muscles being wonderfully taught, and also the sight and hearing. When one speaks, then the sight is present, as also the hearing, in various ways. When one speaks with a person of dignified rank, he shows respect in every detail of his behavior, this being in like manner acquired. I perceived that this is also true of the regenerating man; in matters of conscience, his conscience is present in everything that he thinks and does, though he is not aware of it; with the pious man, piety is present in everything; with the obedient, obedience is present in everything; with those who have charity, charity is present in everything; with those who are in conjugial love, that love is in everything; although the man is ignorant that these are present, still they are present. It is similar with the presence of the Lord with the celestial angels; though they know it not, yet it is the Lord's presence. This, therefore, is what is meant when it is said that men ought to think continually of the Lord; not that a man is continually to hold his thoughts sensibly in that reflection, which may indeed be done in the beginning, (and practiced) until he is gifted with such a continuity as we have described. Hence, then, are the spheres of faith." (Spiritual Diary 4226.)

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LORD AND HIS KINGDOM 1921

LORD AND HIS KINGDOM        N. D. PENDLETON       1921

     A SERIES OF ADDRESSES DELIVERED AT DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES OF THE GENERAL CHURCH.

     Part I. THE SPIRITUAL WORLD: 1. Spiritual Substance. 2. Substance and Matter. 3. The Living Etherial.

     Part II. THE DIVINE HUMAN: 1. The State of the Lard at Birth. 2. The Lord's Resurrection Body.

     THE SPIRITUAL WORLD.

     1. SPIRITUAL SUBSTANCE.

     We can visualize spiritual substance only as refined matter; yet its interior constitution is of life as distinguished from matter. Because of this, the world of the spirit, while it resembles this world in outer aspect, is, in fact, totally unlike it. The spiritual realm is timeless, and without space. Its objects, which are of inconceivable multitude and variety, are in reality not objects, but spiritual projects, derived directly from the sun of heaven, which is not solar fire, but Divine Love. Natural objects are also spiritual projects derived from the spiritual sun; but they are distinguished by this, that they are encased in matters from the natural sun.

     This natural-sun matter is of a secondary origin, and is the ground of that which we call space and time. Its qualities are fixation, periodicity, and dimension. Fixation is defined as permanence without regard to mental states. A natural object is entirely independent of the beholder. It is fixed-and the same for all comers. Periodicity is the stated recurrence resulting from the movement of matter, as of the component parts of a solar system or an electron. Dimension,-that is, the length, breadth, and thickness of an object,-is that which allows of determinable measure. Each object fills so much space, and each strictly defines its spacial relation to other companion objects. Hence results the exact measurement of the distances between objects, which intervals constitute space defined as a relation.

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     Fixation of form, periodicity of movement and dimension, as above defined, while characterizing nature, are not predicates of the spiritual world or its substance.

     But what shall we say of a substance that has no fixation, enjoys no periodicity, and is without dimension? It is inconceivable. Just so-even as the Infinite is inconceivable. Moreover, the endeavor to conceive it is vain. And yet the spiritual is conceivable as it falls into natural forms, as it appears as qualities of those forms in this world, and as it appears as of those forms in the spiritual world; and because it so appears there, it is called in the Writings an "appearance." This word, however, does not imply a thing which is a mere seeming, having no real existence. Quite the contrary. Spiritual appearances are real; they are projects directly from the sun of heaven which is love, and they are substantial forms of that love; but they come to view under the guise of nature, like a superior kind of materia formed and organized to all uses. Hence these spiritual projects, these phenomena, bear a superficial aspect like unto nature; they appear as if fixed, as if periodic, as if having dimension. In their totality they present a world much like this in outward aspect, with the notable difference that the phenomena in question alter with the changing state of the beholder, showing that the state of the beholder is the determining factor. Knowing the law that the spiritual substance can only come to view under a natural aspect, we might anticipate the testimony of the eye witness, that in the world beyond, spirits see about them lands, mountains, waters, forests, gardens, houses, garments, food, animals, and, moreover, that they see themselves and others as men, following all human occupations.

     Behold, then, the teeming life of the spiritual world as thus pictured, and note the fact that there is no dimension there. Think, if you can, of a thing with no dimension, with neither length, breadth, nor thickness. That thing shrinks to nothing. And so the spiritual world, like a vagrant imagination, vanishes, and in its place is emptiness. Than this, it is better that we should think of that world as a superior kind of nature, a substance highly mobile and changeable. The word "substantial" has a solid sound. It gives ground to rest upon. We like to feel that the world to come is substantial. The feeling answers to the call of something deep within us.

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Literally, the word "substantial" means to "stand under." We think of that world as standing under God, and as something upon which we may stand when we go to Him.

     However, the mind is not a little puzzled when it first learns that the substance of the spiritual world is not a purer kind of nature; for we have so thought of it. We content ourselves by saying it is not a pure kind of nature, but instead a higher order of substance; and we can conceive two kinds of substance, one spiritual and the other natural, and that is very well. But we have not as yet squarely faced the mental predicament of conceiving a non-spacial substance. We have lingered with the thought that non-spacial does not quite mean what it says; we have interpreted it as signifying that which very quickly changes, thereby eliminating from our minds the crude idea of space. A spirit perceives a defined space between two spiritual objects. Another spirit, observing, notes a difference in both the objects and the interval; this, because spiritual substance is so utterly plastic, we say. It is indeed well to think of spiritual substance as plastic, for it is utterly so. Because of its non-spacial quality, its power of variation is unlimited. Yet it is a fact that, to our natural mode of thinking, a thing of no dimension equals nothing.

     The Principia notes the same with regard to the Infinite. The Infinite equals nothing, inasmuch as a thing must have bounds, limits, to make a thing to our minds; that is to say, without bounds or limits, it cannot fall even into the imaginative thought, cannot be compassed in idea. Indeed, an idea, any idea, exists by virtue of certain limits. This being so, it is impossible to conceive of the Infinite in se; and so, in like manner, it is impossible to conceive of spiritual or a non-spacial substance in se, but only of these as they become manifest under spacial forms, or under the likeness of spacial forms. And this is the condition prescribed. In the natural world, the Infinite, the non-spacial substance of the Divine, comes to view under spacial forms as such. In the spiritual world, they come to view under the likeness of spacial forms. What, then, is the difference between these two,-the spacial and the likeness thereof,-both having origin in the non-spacial substance of God?

     Grant the existence of the Absolute non-spacial substance of God as the primal cause, and spacial nature as its ultimate effect, and allow for the interaction between the two.

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Then that which is called the spiritual phenomenal arises-even the spiritual world-a world whose substance is in se non-spacial, and whose properties and powers are of immediate derivation from the Divine, yet having a superficial likeness to nature, by virtue of a certain reaction therewith.

     This interesting spiritual world may in some measure be comprehended by a comparison with man. Let the soul of man stand for the Divine, his mind for the spiritual world, and his body for the natural world. The body, as to every filament, is spacial. But what of the mind? It is beyond dispute that not the least of the mind is composed of matter. On the other hand, it is indubitable that every least of the mind is within limits set by the brain. This brings us to the conclusion that, as we understand the phenomena of the mind, so shall we comprehend the laws governing the spiritual world and the nature of its phenomena.

     An idea is a substantial thing, but its substance is of the non-spacial spirit. And yet it is an absolute requirement that every idea should be defined, that is, limited. It is with such definition that the spiritual world is limited; wherefore, in that world, thought from affection brings personal presence; this, without regard to spacial distance, and this, because there is no such distance there, though there is an "appearance" of it. The idea carries the appearance, while being, in fact, independent of it.

     Is the spiritual world, then, with its apparent ultimates, such as lands, waters, trees, etc., of such substance as that which composes man's loves and his perceptions, his ideas and imaginations? It must be so. In the Writings, both are characterized by the one word, "spiritual"-though it is insisted that this spiritual is of several degrees, the lowest of which is the ultimate spiritual, the ground of all outward spiritual phenomena there, composing the external environment about a spirit. The difference between a spiritual tree and the affection which is its origin is one of degree, but not of kind or substance. Both are composed of the non-spacial spiritual substance, though the latter reflexes that which is apparently spacial, because of the interaction spoken of above.

     But where does this leave us! Must we revise our opinion of the future world, and think of it as an empty phantasy instead of a substantial reality?

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At all stages of intellectual development, revisions are necessary; but in this case the revision must come from another direction. We must accustom our thought to the conception (in accordance with Revelation) that love and affection, thoughts and perceptions, are substantial things,-most substantial and very real. Nothing is more solid (if I may use such a word) than the substance of which they are made. The spiritual environment of an angel, while marvelously changeable, is eternally durable. It gives response with utmost precision to every touch. We cannot agree that we shall never see or feel the true spiritual world, for that is just what we shall see and feel,-the true spiritual world. There is, indeed, a border-land of underlying fixed forms, of spacial entities, with which there is correspondence, and which is ever hidden from view; but this is not the spiritual world in the true sense of the word, but should be more truly called interior nature. Here lies the limbus, that instrument of physical contact between men and spirits; but it is hidden from human eyes on either side, hidden in the veil that lies between.

     We must learn to realize that a spirit may stand upon a thought with security, having in it a more substantial base than the earth upon which our feet are accustomed to rest. Consider-daily we rest in our thought and affections. These are our real world even here. What would the earth beneath us be without them?-even as nothing, and less than nothing. For without them we would be totally unconscious. So we see they are the real things. But we have not thought of them as substantial, I fear, and there lies the difficulty. We have been deceived into thinking that only spacial nature is substantial, or that the spiritual substantial is a subtly refined nature, and this in spite of our daily reading of the Revelation to the contrary.

     If we cannot have a realizing sense of the substantiality of thought and affection, we shall never understand the true nature of the spiritual world; in which case, it is better to follow the seeming, to abide in the appearance of an inner-natural spirit-world, composed of a materia of a higher order, indeed, but essentially one, in property and powers, with spacial nature. This is of necessity the first conception. It will answer until the truth becomes manifest.

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     The testimony is that spirits see in a clearer light and feel with a keener touch than men; but they rarely reflect upon their sensations, and seldom realize that they are in a world differing in any respect from that of nature. When told, they protest that they are not dead. They do not see wherein they, as men, have lost anything. So like are all their sensations, and so like are the spiritual projects around them to objects in the natural world, that they instinctively take them for granted as material, as things formed of spacial matter; whereas, being derived solely from the spiritual sun, they are of the substance of love, and, as such, they are substantial, real, living-the only difference being that they have not that material encasement, derived from the natural sun, which imparts to natural things fixity, periodicity, and determinable dimensions. But the asseveration of Revelation is that this encasement does not produce reality, but rather diminishes it, and this because the covering is a dead thing, while that spiritual which it covers is living.

     Swedenborg once closely examined the substance of a spiritual structure. If I recall, it was an ornamental entrance to a garden or a palace, and he observed a living movement in its smallest parts. It was, in fact, not a material structure, but a form of life,-a form of the living loves of those who were dwelling there. The substance of it, and it was altogether substantial,-was a gift of and from the spiritual sun, derived and produced through the intermediation of angel minds.

     When it is said that heavenly objects are immediately from the spiritual sun, it does not mean that there is no mediation; for it is repeatedly stated that the states of the angels qualify all these things. The meaning is, that there is no mediation by that great secondary cause, the natural sun, whereby spiritual projects would be and are converted into fixed natural objects, whereby their nature is changed from spiritual to natural.

     There is no such mediation as this in the case of heavenly projects. They are indeed qualified by the mediation of angelic minds; but they remain purely spiritual-substantia1, one and the same in substance with the sun of heaven; that is, they one and all are forms of love and wisdom, as that love and wisdom are received by the angels; and, as such, they are most substantial, very real, and altogether living.

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     2. SUBSTANCE AND MATTER.

     In the common thought of the day, there is little or no distinction between substance and matter; but to readers of the Writings it is obvious that the two are not synonymous. When a distinction is drawn between the two worlds, as to their essential quality, the term "substantial" is used to describe the spiritual and "material" the natural world. This is in sympathy with that ancient philosophic discrimination which insisted upon the substantiality of the phenomena connected with consciousness, or, as we might say, the substantiality of the states of the mind, as distinguished from the gross materiality of outer nature, which is always subject to the three dimensions of space.

     Theology increases this difference by raising the term "substantial" to the level of the Divine. It speaks of the substance of God, and proclaims the Son as of one substance with the Father, but does not allow of the Divinity of matter. Matter is just that which is not Divine. We must realize, then, that Swedenborg did not invent a distinction when he ascribed substance to the spiritual world and matter to the natural, as he was sometimes forced to do in order to express unknown differences. His substance of the spirit and matter of the body was quite in accord with the terminology of a more spiritual-minded age.

     However, he had very new things to reveal concerning the substance of the spirit and its distinction from matter-things, he tells us, which could not be revealed until it was given one to be consciously a citizen of both worlds at the same time, in order that comparisons might be made. And this is the great fact that he reveals, viz., that the spiritual-substantial world, while being non-spacial, yet presents to the beholder every appearance of space. Why is this? and what the cause?

     Granting the non-spacial quality of spiritual substance, whence, then, is the appearance of space? In a broad way, the answer was given in the opening sentence of this discourse. It was stated that "we can visualize spiritual substance only as a refined matter." By "we" is meant the human mind, whether in this or the other life. Even the angels see spiritual substance under natural forms-as lands, mountains, waters, forests, etc., and not as it is in se; for the non-spacial in itself, even as the Infinite, must ever remain invisible.

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But still we are faced by that most interesting problem, viz., Why does the non-spacial substance appear to spirits and angels under a spacial aspect? Is the scenarium about a spirit merely a survival of earth-memories? Such an answer is by no means adequate, and, by itself, may be misleading. Yet it has this advantage, it is a knocking at the outer door. When Swedenborg met the emissary angels from the third heaven, and held discourse with them, the encounter was a distinct spiritual experience, both on his part and on the part of those angels. And this experience cannot be accounted for as a survival of an earth-memory. Let this be taken as illustrative of all spiritual encounters in the other life.

     Yet there is truth in this, that hereafter we shall feel no motion, enjoy no perception, nor suffer any encounter, for which we have not been prepared by our life-experiences in this world. For here the "beams of the chamber are laid." It is here that the human mind is built-formed as a sensing organ; and every spiritual current which it is not competent to sense passes it by, and is to it as if it were not. In this respect, the human mind is as an instrument tuned to certain vibrations only, and responsive to them alone; and that mind is developed-formed in man-by life-experiences in this world, and fundamentally by the pressures of the outer world upon the man's brain organism by way of the senses.

     The fact which stands out in this connection is that in the economy of the Divine Providence every spirit or angel is first a man on earth, and that it is in man's earth-life, covering a period of from one to some seventy years, that his mind-spirit is organized trained and developed as to all its powers and characteristics-trained and developed in constant living touch with ultimate nature. This mind-spirit, so formed, is by death carried over into another existence, apart from the ultimate nature. And with what result? As organized, as trained and developed by contact with ultimate nature, it finds itself, by death, environed by a medium purely spiritual. It stands to reason that this medium, in so far as it comes to the apperception of the newly arrived mind-spirit, must present to the apperception accustomed forms-forms of like aspect with the original, the native home on earth. This is very much so. Ponder the fact revealed, that a spirit awakening to life in the after world finds himself in an environment the exact counterpart of that of his demise.

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Now if the future life presented an independently objective world, this would not be so. In such case, a man on dying would awaken in another and quite different appearing environment.

     But it may be said: "The fact as revealed makes it appear that a man awakens to the future life surrounded by an environment of memory survivals, products of his past life." Apparently so. But this is that which is an appearance. He is really in a medium purely spiritual and substantial. At first this medium is as if dominated by memory survivals, and these for the period of a year are very insistent, producing like-appearing environments to those which prevailed in the former life. But they gradually cease, as the external memory becomes inoperative; and as they cease, the appearing environment changes.

     We have often contemplated in thought this wonderful process, and noted the fact that more and more the inner states of life come out, until at last the spirit finds himself in his everlasting home-the house of his own building-formed, in truth, during the years of his earth travels-formed, but not visible until the end of the journey. Perhaps it is a house of noble aspect, seated in fertile land. But what shall we say of such a house as this, and such a land? Is it an unsubstantial abstraction, an empty figment-a will-o'-the-wisp? Or may we fairly characterize it as substantial-not material-but spiritual substantial? The latter, by all means; remembering, however, that in both worlds it is proper to distinguish between a thing as it is in itself and our sense impression of it, yet knowing that in neither world can we discard the appearance and behold the actuality.

     Every effort is made by the Writings to hold us to a conception of the substantiality Of the other world, while at the same time revealing the fact, which must be known, that spiritual substance is in se non-spacial. The difficulty is that our natural thought-our material ideas balk at the conception of the non-spacial as anything real. Under the influence of such ideas, we say that if a thing has in reality no spacial dimension, it is not any thing-that if such a nonentity produces the appearance of dimensions, it is in such a case merely an appearance having no reality back of it.

     This is the difficulty, and it will remain until we obey the repeated injunction of the Writings to raise the thought above time and space and think spiritually.

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We are thinking and as if speaking spiritually when we say a man stands upon his conception of truth. Could we look with understanding eyes into the spiritual world, we would see every spirit so standing, and with a certain literalness. Perhaps his feet would rest upon the rocky barrens of faith alone, and very real would he find those barrens, and so extensive, perhaps, that he could not escape from them. Interiorly speaking, such would be the appearance of his state of mind; but we hold that this appearance is, in truth, a manifestation of the spiritual substantial in ultimates-in the form of rock and stone, having seemingly spacial attributes, one rock against another, one stone of this size and another of that, with intervals between, just as if the whole were one of nature's own barrens.

     Again, it will be said we cannot escape the conclusion that this is all a mirage-a vision of no substantiality. And why? Because it may all vanish in a moment, and be replaced by another and very different scene. This is true. But of a spiritual vision and the make of it, the Writings, in accordance with ancient usage, apply the word substantial-distinguishing it from material; and this is the point we must grasp. A spiritual vision is a very real and, on the spiritual side of the cosmos, forthstanding thing-a thing of substance made. It impresses us in this world with a sense of non-reality because of the insistent beat of material nature against our bodily senses, and because of the fact that we realize our conscious life as it responds to nature's stroke, which is of such force as to overwhelm more interior sensations. It is as when bodily pain absorbs all other feelings. When one is conscious only of the pain, then other things seem unreal. So is it with life in the world-waking life-our concentration on it excludes all else, and then the spiritual is like a dream, vivid in sleeping moments; but it vanishes and may with difficulty be recalled, when the daily life and its turmoil is resumed.

     Even Swedenborg (in the Adversaria) laments his inability to recall and express some of the wonderful spiritual experiences which came to him in his first states of intromission. By intensive effort and continued endeavor, he more and more cultivated the power of recalling and defining in human language these transcendent experiences.

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But he solemnly asseverates, over and over again, that these things really happened to him, not when dreaming or in any state of sleeping, but in "full wakefulness." Yet the materialist will insist that, however honest, he was deceived by his abnormal subjective states. But the materialist would say the same of the visions of John, and of all the prophets. Believers are not materialists, but rather substantialists, in that, from ancient days, they have confided in the truth that the real underlying and overruling factor of the universe, which determines all things, is the substantial of life and not the materia of nature, and that, while the materia of nature is the base of all bodily and worldly forms, the substantial of life is the ground of mental phenomena and of spiritual existence.

     A quotation from a memorable relation will be of interest (C. L. 207): "The three newcomers (on entering a great library) were amazed at seeing so many books, and said 'Are there also books in this world? Whence the parchments and the paper? Whence the pens and ink?' To this, reply was made, 'We perceive that in the former world you believed that this world was empty, because spiritual. You believed this because you entertained an idea of the spiritual as abstract from the material, and what is abstract from the material appeared to you as nothing, and thus as empty, when in truth, here is the fullness of all things. All things here are substantial, not material; and material things derive their origin from the substantial. We who are here are spiritual men because substantial and not material. Hence it is that all things in the natural world are here in their perfection, even books and writings and many things more.' When the three newcomers heard the things called substantial, they believed that they were so, both because they saw the written books, and because they heard the statement that material things originate from things substantial."

     The point of my thesis is, that the appearing-the forth-standing spiritual world-though not spacial, yet having every appearance of space, is substantial according to the usage of that term in the Writings, and that that spiritual world is of like quality and substance with mental phenomena. As we have seen, many of the ancient philosophers conceived of these phenomena as substantial.

     Consider. They are made of something, they are compositions-organizations produced by some mode, and in appearance finited.

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Suppose we say, with the Writings, that spiritual phenomena are nothing but modifications of the heavenly light, which light is truth; even so, the pronouncement of the Revelation is that the Divine Truth is the verimost substantial of all things.

     Again, observe the teaching in A. C. 2576. The subject treated is that of rational truths as a covering of spiritual truths, and in illustration of this, reference is made to "the things that appear in the other life," as of angels "when presented to view." . . ."Their interiors shine forth from their faces, their exteriors being represented in both their bodies and their dress, and this so fully that every one there may know their quality from their garments alone; for these are real substances, and thus essences in form."

     The garments of the angels, then, are real substances, essences in form. Now the substance in question is, in fact, the substantial of rational truth, but it is visualized as if it were a refined matter. Strive as we may, we cannot visualize it otherwise; but in spite of our inability in this respect, we are given to know that it is not refined matter; for this matter, however refined, is fixed in form and spacial in quality. Could we conceive of a heavenly garment blown upon and infixed with spacial matter, such garment would at once fall from heaven to earth.

     Miraculous-impossible-as this sounds, yet just this has happened, and will happen again, but by normal modes, by orderly processes, i.e., by the intervention of human minds and human hands. Read what is said of the Tabernacle, and you will learn that it came down from heaven. Read what is said of it in the Word, in the Arcana, and in the Adversaria. According to Exodus, the Lord showed Moses the pattern or the form of it. The Arcana explains this showing by referring to the representatives which appear in heaven, and the Adversaria says that it was shown in effigy in the midst of a choir of angels.

     Permit me to refer to S. D. 4293: "Everything in the other life is not, as is thought, empty and void, but is the substantial itself, which is the origin of all that is substantial in nature. There the substantial is a living or most pure ethereal. This is formed by the Lord into things so wonderful that they can scarcely be described. It is enough that I have seen them, and this often; I have been there, I have spoken with those who are there, and they have said that these things are real, while those on earth are not so, being comparatively dead."

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     This, then, is the conclusion: The things appearing in heaven, while in se non-spacial, but having every appearance of space, are not empty semblances-not vacant figments-but very real substances,-true essences in form, wonderfully fashioned by the Lord, operating through angel minds-fashioned out of a substance most purely ethereal. This substance we may be allowed to identify with the Divine of the Lord which proceeds from Him as a Sun; and by this is meant that Divine which proceeds unmediated by the focus of secondary origin-the natural sun. This natural sun is never seen in heaven; and when spirits in thought look to it, they perceive something dark, which is significant of the fact that they are above the sun of nature and beyond the dominion of its rays. And so indeed they are, for "there shall be no night there, neither the light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light." (Rev. 22:5.)

     3. THE LIVING ETHEREAL.

     What, then, shall we say of this living ethereal, which carries the Divine Life so intimately that the wonderful things fashioned of it in the heavens are so living that by comparison nature is as death? The things fashioned of it, forthstanding about the angels, are projects of, and in correspondence with, their inner loves received-forthstanding in the guise of nature, and all of nature's forces and forms of life, as clouds in silent movement across the horizon, summer winds gently blowing, undulating waters, green hills, human habitations, and spirits in upstanding form of men, pursuing their heart's desire, free from hindrance, achieving yet pursuing; for human love ever renews its desires.

     What shall we say of that enchanted land of the living, made of the pure ethereal, where all is miracle and eternally durable? This ethereal sphere has been identified above with the Divine of the Lord proceeding, the proximate sphere encompassing Him as the Sun of heaven, of which the later Writings speak. It has also been identified with that most universal aura of creation which the Principia sets forth. But if we are embarrassed by the mechanics of that first aura, its seeming spacial qualifications, and its place as the first in and of nature, we must at least give universality to this ether sphere of Revelation, which is defined as being not only universal in creation, but as inmostly present in both worlds.

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But by whatever name called, if it is inmostly present in both worlds, it must be essentially non-spacial in quality, and yet be everywhere in the plenum of space. This may readily be allowed, since it is said of the Divine that it is within all space without space.

     But what is space? Regarded as a relation, it is one thing; viewed as a medium in which things are presented, it is as another. Besides, there are two views of space, and of things seen as in space, even as there are two modes of seeing, i.e., natural and spiritual. Thus we may view either naturally or spiritually the first emergence from the Infinite. This emergence viewed naturally presents itself as a fire active; seen spiritually it presents itself as the creative Truth. When the first sparks of Divine activity emerged from the continuous Infinite as points of creative intent, there arose among these points the high analogue of that which afterwards, along the line of natural creations, was characterized as space. But that high analogue was not only above the world of nature, but in point of height was also supra-celestial, above the angelic heavens.

     But as finition thence derived, passing through the natural sun, became more finited in descending scale, so the first analogue of space, as to its superficial aspect, became more and more spacial, as the forms of creation became fixed and their relations determined. But from the spiritual view, the life side of creation, the first emergence from the Infinite,-the Word, the Truth,-descended as the essential of all finition's forms, and constituted the angelic heavens. (E. 594.) Now if there are things in the heavens, things distinct one from another, related one to another, by any composition or organization, then there must be the distinguishment of relation there; and just as truly as the things there are real things, just so real are the distinctions between them. The interval of relation between material things may be called material; that which exists between spiritual and celestial things may be called by the names of those things.

     What of the relation of two loves, two ideas, two thought-images and the nature of the distinctions between them? Certainly these distinctions are not spacial in the material sense. Yet these loves, these ideas and thought-images, are entirely distinct, one from the other.

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After repeated assertion that there is no space in the other world, we find the Writings stating that there are spaces there, and giving as the reason that the things there are distinguished one from another; but it is added that there are "no material spaces" there. Obviously so, because there are no material things there.

     Space as the distinguishment of relation, is of necessity in both worlds, but the quality of the space will depend upon the nature of the things related. But space, regarded as a medium in which things forthstand, is also a predicate of both worlds; only in the one case the medium is natural, and in the other spiritual. So, then, all that has heretofore been said concerning the non-spacial nature of the other world must be understood as meaning non-spacial in the material sense, with the fixed intervals between material things, that is, those having periodicity and dimension. This space arose with dead matter, arose from the natural suns, and is not a predicate of the realm of the primal sphere Divine, of which all spiritual things are fashioned, as from a first cause and origin; for this sphere is the Divine proceeding, it is a form of life, a product of the Divine Love. It is love in form of use, not yet condensed to matter by the focal action of the sun of nature. This natural sun is itself the first great product of the Divine substantial sphere in the line of material creation, and it is followed by the Spirit in all its products down to the last; the Spirit, in following, forms itself to these products in their degrees. It surrounds them, and is also enclosed within their confines.

     This proceeding Spirit of God, this living sphere immediately encompassing the spiritual sun, possesses three qualities in supreme perfection and highest potency. These qualities are those of love, of wisdom, and of use, and are called celestial, spiritual, and natural. The ultimate of the three, called use or the natural, is the Divine Natural; it is as nature in potency, and it is this which the focal action of the sun of nature, by its concentration, converted into the material of the world, which material then stands forth ever against the living spirit as a passive recipient and reagent.

     The dictum of the Writings is that there is but one substance out of which all things have been made, from highest to lowest, even to the rocks and stones of the earth. This one substance is the Divine substantial, sometimes called the spiritual sun.

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There is nothing in heaven above or earth beneath which is not, either nearly or remotely, made of it. Swedenborg is a strict Monist.

     Yet in the process of creation, with the secondary stage thereof, the natural sun creation,-a well-defined and strikingly obvious dualism arose. That is to say, with the creation of the natural sun, a secondary origin was given, which was instrumental in producing a second and very different substance, called matter, which is utterly dead and altogether passive. Indeed, it may be said that, with the production of the natural sun, death entered creation. The statement of the Revelation is that the natural-sun substance is characterized by this, that it is "deprived" of all life; and while it may be added that this deprivation is seemingly increased by the lessened motion of that substance as it removes from the sun center, yet there is no life in the primary substance of the sun, although that substance is in a high state of activity or motion. That is, there is no life in it in the sense of life as love and wisdom. After the sun substance is deprived of the life of love and wisdom, motion remains as the only evidence of life; but motion without love and wisdom is in reality death, not life. It is as a dead, impenetrable mass of matter.

     There is no love or wisdom in the natural-sun substance, nothing human, nothing Divine; whereas the spiritual sun and its substance is full of love and wisdom, is intensely Human, and altogether Divine. This, then, is the difference between the two suns and the two substances derived from them, and this is the ground of that dualism which is found everywhere existent in creation-that is, the living spirit over against dead matter. The latter, however, by the mode of its formation into separate spacial units of matter, is a fit and composed recipient of the former, whence results the interaction between the two, giving rise to all the phenomena of the mind, and all the marvels of heaven. And hence the nature of the relation of mind and matter. Love and wisdom are the characteristics of mind, while motion is the only evidence of life in matter.

     The simple and direct statement of the Writings, that creation cannot be understood unless it be known that there are two suns, is profoundly significant. But it must be understood that these two suns are not given for the purpose of producing two kinds or grades of matter, but that one is for the purpose of producing spiritual substances, and the other the materia of nature.

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One is for the purpose of producing a living ethereal, which is a form of love and wisdom in use, and the other, dead matter in motion. One is for the purpose of producing that spiritual substance of which heaven and all things of it are made, and the other for the purpose of producing the passive matter of the earths. One is for the purpose of producing the substance of which human minds are made, and all the phenomena thereof, and the other to supply the matters of which human bodies are composed.

     Truly we cannot understand creation until we know that there are two suns, the one a manifestation of the Divine Life which is Love, and the other a revolving globe of solar fire; and that from this globe of solar fire is derived a material deprived of the life of love and wisdom, but which is yet so constituted that it may under certain conditions again receive life by influx.

     From this globe of solar fire are derived all inorganic materials; but these, when recombined with Divine creative purpose, become receptive anew, and in a new way, of the Divine substantial, directly from the spiritual sun inflowing. And then organic forms arise on the earth, living organisms,-having the characteristics of both suns; their body-matter being from the sun of nature, and their spirit-souls from the sun of heaven. The sign of the presence of the spirit-soul in the body is that these living organisms are all capable of affection and of knowledge, of loving and being wise. These two characteristics are of and from the spiritual sun alone; these two, and all their faculty derivatives. To the highest grade of creatures of this kind, immortality is granted,-a life beyond the grave of the body, in a world directly under the spiritual sun, a substantial world called spiritual. It is truly a world of the mind, as over against the world of the body. To call it a mental world is truth, because it is entirely made of the same substance with that of the mind; but it is an enfeeblement to describe it by, and see if from, our own mental states alone. This view is too limited and obscure, for we are not given to see mental states, or the qualities of the mind, save only obscurely-so obscurely that, when looked at, they vanish. But it is not so when we pass to the other side. There mental states of love and wisdom, of hatred and insanity, stand forth to utmost reality, to substantial actuality; and when many spirits are joined as one, making one mind, one society, then the marvels of their society environment pass beyond anything we can imagine, giving utmost satisfaction to all the needs of human life.

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     On the other hand, if we abide in and confirm the appearance that the spiritual substantial is in fact as it appears, only a purer and more refined grade of matter, then we shall never resolve the mental predicament involved in the statement of Revelation that there is no space there; for we cannot dissociate space from matter, be it ever so refined. Therefore, while we can only visualize spiritual substance as a refined matter, we are not to think of it as such. Substance is living, it is life, it is love and wisdom in use; and love and wisdom in use is affection and thought in a spiritual medium; and this medium, and all that it contains, is the Divine of the Lord that makes heaven. It is the substantial.

     Our problem, therefore, is to raise the word "substance" to its true significance, to see that while it is everywhere in correspondence with matter, it is not to be identified with it. The "substances and matters of the earth," so often mentioned, and in our thought identified, are very different things, having different origins, the one being a product of the sun of love and wisdom, and the other the product of solar fire. The one brings the presence of the spiritual sun, and causes every manifestation of life in nature. The other supplies the body materia. To my thought, the natural sun materia was eliminated from the Body of our Lord by glorification. That which remained was the Divine Substantial. It is otherwise with man. He retains after death a material border, a fixed spacial ultimate, drawn from the purest things of nature. But in what way the Divine Human of the Lord is more ultimate than the human of spirits will be considered in what follows.

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     Part II. THE DIVINE HUMAN. 1. The State of the Lord at Birth. 2. The Lord's Resurrection Body.

     THE DIVINE HUMAN.

     1. THE STATE OF THE LORD AT BIRTH.

     The state of the Lord at birth was most arcane. It was like, and yet unlike, that of another man, and therefore can with difficulty be explained. While born of woman, He was conceived of God. He drew infirmities from His mother, and Divinity from His Father. The infirmities were of the body, the Divinity of the soul; that is, as to the soul He was God, and as to the body infirm man. But these infirmities of the body did not remain. He removed Himself from them by degrees, and at length completely, so that in the end there was established between His soul and body an infinitely perfect correspondence. When this was effected, He became perfect Man, as He was sole God. This was after His glorification. It was not so at the time of His birth. Then He was as yet imperfect man, having a Divine soul. He was imperfect man, not only because He derived from the mother corporeal infirmities, but also because of the undeveloped states of His body, and of His mind as well.

     Development cannot be predicated of the soul; even with mortal man, the soul is as wise in infancy as in old age. Yet, despite the imperfection of His body, and the undeveloped state of His mind, the Babe was holy, with a holiness indescribable. "The angel said, . . . That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." That holy thing! The Divine Soul penetrated, and infilled by impletion, the whole and every part of the Infant body. It emanated from that body, profoundly affecting all who could be touched by it. It was even as an infantile Holy Spirit, which increased in power and scope as He increased in wisdom and stature, and which at length filled heaven and earth: But this holiness was present even in the Infant. Wise men, on approaching, fell down and worshiped the Babe. Holiness was there present, despite the infirm body and undeveloped mind. It was there as palpable evidence of His Divinity, and yet not in a way to convince overpoweringly the unbelieving, or compel rejectors to faith.

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At no time during His life in the world, not even on the cross, was His Divinity manifested to this extent. For then, as always, it was necessary that man should be free to believe or disbelieve. Therefore, at no time did He live in the "splendor of God." On the contrary, the record is that He "lived in so humble a way as scarcely to be distinguished from an ordinary man." He refused to give a sign from heaven, lest He convert those who were better not converted. Therefore He, "the Possessor of all things," was "pleased to seem poor." Having all power, He yet restrained its manifestations; and so, when condemned, He went upon the cross to the suffering of death.

     That men might be somewhat constrained to faith, and yet not utterly compelled, He performed miracles. For the most part, they were like the miracles of the men of God, as the miracles of Moses and Elias. And yet with a difference. In their miracles, the prophets of old wielded the power from God by virtue of their office and commission. But He wielded that power as in Himself and as His own. As the Possessor and Giver of all things, He fed the five thousand and the four with miraculous bread. He offered the water as wine at Cana. He paid tribute by a miracle from the mouth of a fish. Doing these things, He, the Possessor of all, "was pleased to seem poor." Such was the apparent contradiction in His life, that men might believe and yet not believe. They might believe if capable of perceiving His Divinity, and this for internal reasons, as the Writings say; but He gave occasion for the unbelievers and rejectors, as when they said, "If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross." (Matt. 27:40.)

     The arcane state of the Lord at birth arose from the two contrasting factors,-His birth from a woman and His Divine conception; the one imparting infirmity, and the other Divinity. The infirmity of the body, however, was only partial, that is, only as to those things which carried the maternal inheritance, the malforms of the ancestral heredity. These fixed in Him a plane of influx of all past human evils, and afforded an opportunity for His overcoming the hells, and thus of redeeming mankind. On the other hand, the Body as organized by His Soul was an ultimate form of the Divine Truth. It was the "Word made flesh." And as such, it was "that holy thing," in appearance born of Mary, but in truth born of God.

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     The body apart from the constructing soul is one thing, and the body enlivened by the presence of this soul is quite another. It is as the difference between a dead and a living body, and it is a difference so great as to appall one unaccustomed, who looks in the face of the dead.

     The body of the Infant Lord was living as no other. It was alive from the immanent presence of the Divine,-the Divine interpenetrating it organically as to every part and particle, sustaining even the malforms of His maternal heredity, sustaining them even until the time when they were dispersed by eradication. This happened to them all, from the first to the last, from the highest to the lowest, from the inmost vescicles to the outmost cuticles. And this finally and fully when the body taken from the cross was "dissipated "in the tomb.

     But death did not come to that living form organized by the Soul, that ultimated form of the Divine Truth, the "Word made flesh." This, by the process of glorification, entered into an absolute union with the soul from which it was derived. This was the Divine Human, of which the Writings so often speak as purely Divine, as a derivation from the Soul, and not in the least a product of the parts and particles of the material body. With this He ascended, even as to the flesh and bones thereof. That this living Body, this ultimated form of the Divine Truth, was by glorification made one with the Divine Soul, implies a distinction between the two, a distinction that was especially marked prior to completed glorification. And such a distinction was a reality. It is involved in the statement of doctrine that He descended as the Divine Truth, and that while in the world He was the Divine Truth, becoming at length Divine Good, by the union of His Soul and Body. A like distinction is indicated by what is said of His Nativity, in Luke 1:35: "And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee." The Holy Spirit is the Divine Truth, and the power of the Highest is the Divine Good. The signification is, that He was conceived from the power of the Highest through the Holy Spirit, that is, from the Divine Good by or through the Divine Truth. This is the ground for the saying that there were two degrees in the seed of His conception, and that He descended as the Divine Truth, but did not separate the Divine Good.

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Furthermore, that though He did not separate the Divine Good, yet the whole process of glorification consisted in uniting the Divine Truth with the Divine Good, as if in the process of descent it had become separate.

     The true explanation of this apparent contradiction is, that while there was no interior separation, yet there was a different kind of union after glorification; that is, the union was then outward as well as inward, external as well as internal. The Divine Truth which He was in the world, the Divine Truth forming His Human Body, always had inmostly within it the Divine Good from which it was; but by glorification, or in the degree that glorification was effected, the Divine Good also descended and became ultimate in the Body, even until that Body became the Divine Good itself.

     Thus, of the two degrees of the seed of His conception, the Truth descended and formed the Body, so that the Body became a form of this Truth. Subsequently the Good also descended by degrees. Thus while in the world He was the Divine Truth, and in so far as He was glorified, He was also the Divine Good; but He was never fully glorified until the final dissipation in the tomb.
     
     In general, this is the key to the arcane state of the Human, a state which persisted with infinite variations from the day of His birth until the third day of His taking down from the cross. It was a state of temporary combination in His Person of finite limitations and infirm mortal derivatives with the Divine Truth of the seed of His conception, forming and organizing them. A temporary combination could be struck between these limitations and infirmities and the Truth, but not with the Good. As the Good descended, and ultimately infilled the Truth, all limitations were cast off, and all infirmities were eradicated. This is what is meant by glorification, and this is why it is said that on the third day He rose with His whole Human thoroughly and clearly glorified. This also is why it is said that He "took to Himself the Human successively while in the world," (Ath. Cr., p. 12); for the Human is the Divine Truth united with the Divine Good in Him, and not that which was cast off or eradicated.

     The life-forms then of the body of the Infant were forms of the Divine Truth. In this the Babe lying in the manger at Bethlehem was unlike any other ever born into the world, and doubtless there was at times a radiance from this source perceived, and a potency felt, which in after times gave birth to stories of miracles and wonder lights shining about the Child.

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Even ancient fables foretell the conspiracy of the forces of evil against the Babe while in the cradle, and of the Divine power latent within Him as the Son of God.

     "The angel said,. . . That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Holiness throughout the Word signifies truth, and the term was therefore used by the angel to signify more than is ordinarily carried in the thought concerning sanctity. The Babe was holy, not only because its soul was Divine, but specifically because the body formed by the soul was Divine Truth in physical form. It was the Divine Truth forthstanding in and by means of a temporary adjunction with particles drawn from the world's materia. In this, therefore, it was Divine from the first. If we may so say, it was Divine though not yet glorified, even as Truth is Divine before it has been infilled with Good. But this may be misunderstood, since the term Divine in this connection is used to describe the state after glorification. That is, the Human made Divine is the glorified Human, is the Divine Truth united with the Divine Good. Yet the Divine Truth prior to such unition is also Divine, and its state, interiorly considered, is a state of Divinity, and this because the Truth descending did not separate (interiorly) from the Good, though there was an apparent or seeming separation. Besides, the state of the Truth's Divinity was as it were compromised by the adjunction of the finite limitations insisted on by the Mary vestment,-the parts and particles drawn from the world's materia. This caused Him to appear in all respects as another man, even as every man born of woman; and indeed, even as every man, He was, from without, subject to the laws and forces of nature, which He could overrule only as the Divine power within gathered and manifested itself in miracle. This came to pass increasingly until the end.

     His Body in the world must therefore be regarded under a dual aspect, namely, as to that of it which was from the mother and that of it which was from the Father. The latter alone was holy, with a holiness indescribable. That the Body in the world must be doubly seen is clear from many teachings, as from this, that the body from the mother could not have become invisible. (Ath. Cr., p. 46.)

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Yet He not only became invisible, but He also reappeared, and this as to the Body which He had in the world; in this, unlike the angels who appeared to men with the bodies belonging to their spirits. (Ath. Cr., p. 50.) In other words, while in the world the Lord derived from the Father a living Body of Divine Truth which became ever more united with the Divine Good. This Body was in the world and on the ultimate plane of nature, and capable of appearing and disappearing before the eyes of men.

     Is it possible that we may have some ground for understanding this great mystery? It is known that He made His Human Divine below the plane of the spirit of man, that is, as to the bodily parts. But how can the body be made Divine, since transmutation is not allowed, and, as a process, is doctrinally forbidden? There is but one way open for the thought to follow. He had a natural Body Divine, which, while non-material, was neither the spirit nor yet the soul as such, but was derivative therefrom on the plane of nature.

     It is of interest to note that man has something in a finite, mortal way analogous to this; that is, it is now known that man has a body-life as it were independent of his spirit or soul. But as to this, man's is never regenerated, never resurrected. This body-life with man remains long after the separation of his spirit. It departs very slowly, and as it departs, the body disperses. This departure of the body-life, which takes so long a time with man, came to pass with the Lord within three days after His death; for with Him alone of all men it was resurrected, and therefore, in His case, dispersion took place within three days.

     It was this, His Body-life, the Divine Truth in Human form and shape, which stood forth from the grave, a Man before the eyes of the disciples, and a Man when He became invisible. It was Man in the ultimates, and the ultimates came into living and perfect correspondence with the Infinite Soul,-Man in ultimates as to every part and particle of flesh and bone, that is, the very life thereof, cupped to the likeness of the material parts and particles. Conceive a living Divine Body, flesh and bone, formed, not of matter, but of life thereof, not spirit, not soul, but the life of matter as such, and in the plane thereof, below the plane of the soul, below the plane of the spirit or the body of the spirit, on and in the plane of nature itself.

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This Divine Natural Body-life of our Lord was, with Him alone of all men, resurrected. It is at once above the heavens and also present, competent, everywhere in nature, and is that which is present in the Holy Supper.

     When first born, the body of the Christ Child was instinct with life from the Soul by which it was formed and organized. The material was taken from the mother, along with the obscure life of the material; but this all gave place more and more, gave place in the Body, to another, a Divine presence and power, which was destined to rule the world and the heavens from Itself. "That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." "And His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace."

     2. THE LORD'S RESURRECTION BODY.

     When Mary Magdalene spoke to the angels, the one standing at the head and the other at the feet "where the body of Jesus had lain," saying, "They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him," she was looking for the body taken down from the cross. She supposed that it had been removed-from the sepulcher. After giving utterance to her complaint, she "turned herself back and saw Jesus standing," but she knew Him not. He spoke to her, but she "supposed Him to be the gardener;" and again she said, "Tell me where thou hast laid Him." "Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto Him, Rabboni." (John 20:11-16.) After this, He stood in the midst of His disciples, and showed them His hands and His feet. And later, at Bethany, He "lifted up His hands, and blessed them," and in so doing "He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven." (Luke 24:50, 51.)

     The echo of Mary Magdalene's complaint remained in the hearts of the Lord's followers. They saw Him no more. Where was He? Where was His Body, which appeared to them living after His crucifixion? For it was His Body which they saw, and not a spirit. Two things they knew from their own experience, and later they were known from the Scripture:-When He vanished from their sight, He was "carried up into heaven," and also He (His Body) was still present with them in the world in the Holy Supper.

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For had He not pronounced the bread of that Supper to be His Body, and the wine His Blood? His Body, then, was in heaven, and yet it was also in the world.

     These two ideas presented a certain difficulty, and led to many divergent views. Some held that His presence in the world in the bread of the Supper was an actual bodily presence there; others, that it was a symbol of His spiritual presence, representative of Him as He was in heaven. In the Revelation given to the New Church, the two ideas remain fundamental to all thought on the subject, and the series of doctrinal statements based on them reflect a certain apparent divergence. The reconciliation lies deep in the revealed arcana.

     On the one hand, the Writings insist on His personal, His bodily presence in the midst of the spiritual sun above the angelic heavens, and on the other, on the full and real presence of His Human in the Holy Supper. Again, while insisting on His personal presence in the sun of heaven, they reiterate the fact that He rose with the whole Body which He had in the world, in this unlike any other man; and that by the whole body is meant that body, not only as to its ultimate senses, but also as to their recipient organs; and, as if to provide for no escape, it is added that He rose with that of the Body which decays in the grave. This would seem to be determinative. It would appear that that which decays in the tomb is none other than the material with which He was invested by birth. Therefore He must be present in the midst of the spiritual sun above the angelic heaven in that very material body. But this leads to an impossible conclusion; for that which is material cannot penetrate into the heavens, much less above them. Besides, the doctrine is delivered with iterated emphasis that His Body, after glorification, was no longer a form receptive of life, but became Life itself; that is, it was no longer material. For matter is not life, but death; it is a recipient of life, and should it become life, it would cease to be matter, under any definition of the term which will stand.

     That this teaching leads in the right direction, is clear from the two sweeping statements in the Doctrine of the Lord, n. 35; the one positive, and the other negative; the one stating what the Body of the Lord was after glorification, and the other stating what it is not.

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And when two statements of universal import are given together,-the one positive and the other negative, having reference to the same thing, the subject becomes sharply defined, and doubt is eliminated. The positive statement in the number referred to is, that the Body of the Lord after glorification was substantial; the negative statement is that His Body after glorification was not material. This must indeed be conclusive, and we must therefore insist that the phrase "whole body which He had in the world," and with which He rose, must be interpreted in terms of the Divine Substantial, and hold that it will not allow of the material as being included in His Body-certainly not the material as such-not as matter, that lifeless product of the natural sun. If He rose as to this, we can only conceive of it as so changed, so resolved, that nothing of it remained as matter. But it will be well to recall that the true primitive of matter is not matter. In other words, that out of which matter was originally made-by the natural sun process-was the spiritual, or what is the same, the substantial. Resolve matter into its true primitive, then, and we have the substantial,-a word applied as descriptive of the Lord's Body after glorification. And we may therefore conclude that decay in the tomb is the Process of separating the substantial from the material.

     It was important that the disciples should think of the risen Body which appeared to them, not as a spirit, but even as the very body which they had before known. For they were "affrighted" at a spirit; nor could they understand that spirit which, in truth, He was. They could not perceive the spirit as substantial, because of their ignorance and their superstition. To them it was the same Body; and indeed it was so, with the exception of its material clothing. It was the identical Body which appeared to them at the transfiguration. It was "that whole Body" which He had in the world, parted from its material or Mary vestment. Thus they saw Him after the resurrection, when they identified Him by sight and touch, even as matter touches matter. And yet they noted a marvel indicative of a difference. They saw, as with amazement, His Body come to them passing through closed doors. With a material body such as He formerly possessed, this would have been impossible; and so the Writings observe that "as His Body was no longer material, but Divine substantial, He came unto His disciples when the doors were shut." (Doct. of Lord 35.)

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     It is important at this point to remember that the substantial is not a refined material-not a material so fine as to penetrate and thus pass through a closed door. The solution does not lie in that direction. We may be disposed to follow this mistaken line of thought, because of the statement that the substantial is the primitive of the material, and being such a primitive, stands as the smallest units of spacial matter, and as such may penetrate all gross matter. But it is not so. The substantial stands, as it were, over against the material-in a realm as if apart-yet everywhere related to the material by the intimacy of correspondence. This substantial is not a spacial quality, but is a form of life-a form of love and wisdom in use. Its conversion into material by the solar process deprives it of life, of love and wisdom, leaving as the result of the process a dead mass, capable only of external or local motion, and having three fixed dimensions.

     While, then, the substantial is indeed the true primitive of matter, it is not a primitive to be conceived of as a small spacial unit, or even the smallest of spacial units. These smallests of matter are the natural sun entities, from which the life of love and wisdom has been expressed. These, in all their degrees of formation and composition, were eliminated from the Body of the Lord by glorification. Besides, that there was no penetration of the door as by a subtly constructed body of material properties, comes clearly to view when it is known that, on this occasion of His appearing to His disciples and seeming to pass through the door, what really happened was that their spiritual eyes were opened, with which eyes alone could they see the Divine substantial Body of the Lord.

     It is thus related in the T. C. R. 793: "The Lord Himself showed, by touch and by eating, that He was a man, and yet became invisible to the eyes of His disciples. Who is so insane as not to acknowledge that, although invisible, He was just as much a man? He was seen because the eyes of the spirit were opened with them who saw Him; and when these are opened, the things that are in the spiritual world appear as clearly as those which are in the natural world."

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     When, therefore, the disciples saw Him come through the closed door, when He showed them His hands and his feet, when Thomas thrust his hand into His side, their spiritual eyes were open, and the Body seen was not the material but the Divine substantial Body. Clearly this must have been that "whole Body" which was His when in the world. And yet, what of the statement, "a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have?" Evidently the "flesh and bones" were not material but substantial-and as certainly a spirit, such as the disciples thought of, had not flesh and bones. But the subject is not to be so readily disposed of: The Writings say that the Lord intended by these words to announce to the disciples, and to all the world, that He was no longer in a Divine Angelic form only, but was now a Divine Man, having a proprium of His own; that while other men are resurrected only as to the spirit, He arose with the Body. And by this we understand the lower degrees of life-even with that degree of bodily life which with man is dispersed in the grave, and which is not a part of the spirit-man proper. In other words, while all spirits have a substantial body in the other life, the Divine substantial Body of the Lord is of lower extension and deeper reach than that of the substantial bodies of spirits, extending indeed to, and including in itself, the life of the body materia which with men is dispersed.

     A difficulty has arisen, perhaps, from not distinguishing between the substantial bodies of spirits and that material formation called the limbus, which continues to live after death; and as well from the conclusion that, as the limbus is the spirit's material ultimate, therefore the Lord must have had a limbus of material formation of even deeper reach into nature than that pertaining to spirits. Here, it may be, there is a wrong turning of thought. If we grant to the Lord a more ultimate material limbus than that pertaining to spirits, we shall inevitably be under the necessity of conceiving a Divine material Body for Him, and this is forbidden. His body is spoken of as Divine Natural, but never as material, and the difference is fundamental.

     The limbus of spirits, taken, as it is, from the purests of sub-solar material in the bloods of the human organism for the purpose of fixing-rendering stable-the finite spirit, is; by virtue of its need and function material.

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We perceive this necessity in the case of the individual spirits of finite man, for they need such a border of matter to give their finite forms fixation and permanence. It is true that a certain sort of parallel may here be drawn between the limbus of spirits and the totality of creation in its relation to the Lord, whereby the Infinite receives as it were a certain fixation within the fields of creation. But the totality of creation, while in a sense it embodies Him, is rather to Him as a garment. Certainly creation is neither in the whole or part that Divine substantial Body of His resurrection. This, as said, was not material, and in ascending it passed out of the world and up through the heavens to the plane of the spiritual sun, and that sun is now but a derivative from His resurrection Body.

     That sun, the first of creation's initiament, where and whence is the first of finition, is now a sphere of life and light, of love and wisdom, emanating from His resurrection Body. That sun, the topmost pinnacle of all that which may be regarded as creation, emanates as a sphere from His Body; and yet His Body, and with it the spiritual sun sphere, parallels the whole of creation from its heights to its depths. His Body is the final buttress of all things in heaven above and in earth below. It is the First and the Last, and as such the inmost and most ultimate-not ultimate in the way of the lifeless forms of nature, but ultimate in the sense that those forms are sustained by it, not only inmostly from within, but also supported by it externally, or from without. By comparison, even as the units of the physical body of man are supported by the pressure of the ether round about them, or as the mass of man's body is supported by the pressure of the air about it. In this respect, the air is more ultimate than man's body, and even so are all things sustained from within and supported from without by the Divine substantial, the resurrection Body of the Lord. As it stands in the midst of the spiritual sun, giving forth from itself the substance of that sun, we may see it as having extension down and along the line with all the descending forms of creation to the last, and as the very life of them all. Seen from the bottom of the scale, and seen as a form of life coacting with the ultimates of nature, the Divine substantial is far more ultimated than the primes of the spiritual sun, for instance; but even in the lowest nature, that substantial is life, and nothing but life; and as life, it is one with-purely continuous with-the life in the heights of creation's scale.

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     In a most universal sense, we must perceive three degrees of things: 1. The Infinite Divine-Substance in Itself-The Lord-His resurrection Body. 2. The spiritual sun, the first of finition, and its direct derivatives, of which the heavens are made, called spiritual substance, having in it from the Lord a derivation of His life, of His love, and of His wisdom. But this spiritual substance is not the Lord, for it has not life in itself. 3. Matter-spacial-dead, possessing only local motion; of this the earths are made. The Lord's resurrection Body is neither of the matter of the earths nor yet of that derivative substance called spiritual. In no sense is it create.

     A thousand times we are told that the spiritual sun is the Lord, and then we are solemnly warned not to regard it as the Lord. The spiritual sun is the Lord, in that it is a manifestation of Him, and of Him alone. But the composition substance of that sun is not His own very substance. It is a derivative-the first, but none the less a derivative-and as such, a reception vessel of finite formation. It is full of love and wisdom, but of love and wisdom- derived, in finite forms-a proximate vestment of His Body-a sphere of love and wisdom in use issuing from His Body-separated therefrom. Such is the spiritual sun in its substance. Considered as such, it stands apart from the flesh and bone of His Divine Body. How much more removed is that third-that dead matter-from which all life of love and wisdom has departed!

     So then, His resurrection Body is not material, nor is it even of the spiritual sun substance. It is the Divine Substantial, Life, Love and Wisdom in Itself. As such, it is inmostly present everywhere; as such, it is received by man in the Holy Supper.

     Can that which is above, within the spiritual sun, be seen? Is this, His resurrection Body, visible? Aye, when the angels look, they behold that sun, and on occasions the brightness of its rays are turned aside, and the Man in the midst of it is seen. Many who knew Him on earth, seeing Him, confessed that it was the Lord Himself. It was so the disciples saw Him at the transfiguration.

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This Divine Vision has been defined as an appearance seen according to the state of the beholders; and so it was. But everything seen in heaven or on earth is an appearance according to state. That is, every such thing is seen by a sense reaction, and this reaction is at all times and everywhere according to the state of the sensing organ. But none the less the things are seen. Even so the Lord was seen by the most interior and true sight possible to man or angel; and when so seen, He was there present a Man, and He was the same Man when not seen. Unless He himself had been there, they could not have seen Him. With His blessing and calling by name, as He called Mary Magdalene on that Easter morn, all may see Him. But it is not with the eyes of the body, for they are dead, but with the eyes of the spirit. Eyes made of the substance of the spiritual sun alone can see that which is in the midst of that sun-the eyes of love and wisdom.
TENTS OF SHEM 1921

TENTS OF SHEM              1921

     "When a man feels or perceives in himself that he thinks well concerning the Lord, and that he thinks well of his neighbor, and wants to perform good offices to him, not for the sake of any gain or honor to himself; and when he feels that he pities one who is in calamity, and still more one who is in error as to the doctrine of faith; then he may know that he dwells in the tents of Shem, that is, that he has with him internal things through which the Lord is operating." (A. C. 1102.)

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Editorial Department 1921

Editorial Department       Editor       1921


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                    Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Rev. W. H. Alden, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

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     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
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     THE CHRISTIAN CONJUGIAL.

     As the term "Christian conjugial" occurs in the Writings, it implies that a genuine state of marriage was made possible by the advent of the Lord into the world. The extent of the actual existence of such a state in the Christian Church is an interesting point of inquiry, to which we shall here briefly address ourselves, bringing forward some statements of the Heavenly Doctrine, in the light of which these facts are established: 1. That the restoration of love truly conjugial began at the Lord's First Advent; 2. That a genuine state of marriage had existence among the early Christians, though it is now rare in the Christian world, surviving only with a remnant; 3. That beginning from this remnant, the restoration of that love to the excellence of its state in the Ancient and Most Ancient Churches is to take place in the New Church, by means of the truths of the Heavenly Doctrine.



     "By the Christian conjugial is meant the marriage of one man with one wife." (C. L. 142.) So much for a brief definition, from which we learn that the essential idea is that of monogamical marriage as distinguished from polygamical marriage, which prevailed with Jew and gentile at the time of the Lord's advent.

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And so we are told that "it was permitted the Israelitish nation to marry more wives than one, because the Christian Church was not with that nation, and hence love truly conjugial could not be given, . . . but that the Lord taught concerning an internal spiritual man, as is evident from His precepts, and from the abrogation of the rituals which served only for the use of the natural man. . . . For the Lord alone opens the internals of human minds, and makes them spiritual and puts these spiritual things in the natural, so that these also may derive a spiritual essence. . . . This could not have been done unless the Lord had assumed the Natural Human, and made this also Divine." (C. L. 340.) "Consequently, love truly conjugial cannot be given except with those who are of the Christian Church, because that love is from the Lord alone, and the Lord is not elsewhere known in such a manner that He can be approached as God; also because that love is according to the state of the church with everyone (no. 130), and a genuine state of the church is from no other origin than the Lord, thus is not with others than those who receive it from Him." (C. L. 337.)



     These, and like teachings of the Heavenly Doctrine, indicate clearly that the advent and glorification of the Lord provided the means in the Christian Church for the re-establishment of a genuine state of marriage, possible only on the union of one man with one wife in the Christian faith and life, which is the "Christian conjugial" in the full meaning of the term, as being not only a monogamical marriage, but such a marriage spiritualized by the reception of the Christian religion from the Lord. We need hardly doubt that such a state of marriage had actual existence in the primitive Christian Church. How otherwise could the form, at least, of that marriage have survived until this day in Christendom! And it is established in the New Heaven formed of Christians at the Second Coming, from whence came the little boy in the Relation, with this message which Swedenborg was to read before the virgins of the fountain: "Tell the inhabitants of the earth with whom you are, that there is given love truly conjugial, the delights whereof are myriads, scarcely any of which the world as yet knows; but it will know, when the church betroths herself to her Lord, and is married." (C. L. 293, 294)

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     It is well-known that modern fiction frequently breathes the spirit of eternity in marriage, in spite of the "till death us do part" of the Christian ceremony. Among those who have treated the matter historically, some date the era of "modern romantic love" from Dante; the novelists carry it back to Primitive Christian days and beyond-Sienkiewiu, for example, in his, Quo Vadis, and Bulwer Lytton in The Last Days of Pompeii. And it is interesting to observe that many of the characteristics of this so-called "modern romantic love" are the natural requisites of a spiritual union, such as full freedom of choice, the idea of eternity, and a perfect equality which alone makes possible a mutual love between two who are drawn together in an intimate personal attachment. (See A. C. 2731, 3158) Over and over again in Christian literature this beautiful picture of monogamical love is presented, often with nothing whatever said about the agreement of the pair in the matter of religion. And yet we view in the natural, personal tie an image of love truly conjugial, which is inseparable from religion. For we read: "That there is conjugial love, such as is here described, can be acknowledged from the first state of that love:, when it insinuates itself and enters the heart of a youth and virgin,. . . from which it is evident that the primitive love of marriage emulates love truly conjugial, and presents it to be seen in a kind of image, because one of the sex is then loved." (C. L. 58.)



     This "primitive love," however, may be natural only, a union on the plane of personal similitude, when yet the minds are at variance in the particulars of religious faith,-the thought and love of God, from which the mind has its essential quality, and its capacity for receiving the conjugial. To the attributes of "modern romantic love"-freedom, equality, mutuality, eternity-we must add likeness of religion from faith in the Lord, if we are to have the essentials of the "Christian conjugial," of love truly conjugial, as now revealed in light to the New Church.



     Whence, then, have the Christian writers of fiction their ideal? History records little evidence of the finer beauties of monogamic ideals in ancient times; and it has not been uncommon for New Churchmen to assume that the state of marriage promised the New Church has had no existence in the world since the early period of the Ancient Church, signified in the Word by Noah and Shem,-prehistoric names representative of the best state of that Church.

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But since the traditions of the Ancient Church persisted among the gentiles until the Lord's advent, we may be confident that the idea and practice of a religious monogamic union has never been wholly extinct in the world, and consequently that Christian writers have been correct in their stories of pre-advent days, even though their inspiration has been derived less from history than from that common perception which is due to an influx from heaven. We think they have also been justified in representing the lovely ideals of Christian marriage in their tales of the primitive Church, which had received them from the Lord's own instruction, especially that saying of His to the Jews, that "from the beginning it was not so."



     Now since the state of marriage is according to the state of the church with men, it is evident that the spirituality of marriage, and thus the "Christian conjugial," has departed from all but a few in the dead Christian Church, while yet the outward form of the Christian institution of marriage is maintained in the world. And so we are told that though "love truly conjugial can only be given with those who are of the Christian Church, nevertheless that love is rare in the Christian world (no. 58, 59): because few there approach the Lord, and among these are some who indeed believe in the church, but do not live it." (C. L. 337.) The term "rare" indicates that love truly conjugial is not wholly extinct among Christians, though the statement is tragic enough evidence of the fall of that Church, and of the wreckage of a true state of marriage. But rarity also implies the survival of a remnant,-a few whose genuine Christianity makes possible a union of two minds and souls in the Lord.



     Not only has the Lord "left unto us an exceeding small remnant," as the soil in which the seeds of the Heavenly Doctrine may take root, but we are also informed that He preserves among Christians an inheritance of faculty and inclination to the conjugial life.

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We read: "That an inclination to love one of the sex, and also a faculty of receiving conjugial love, has been implanted in Christians from nativity, is because that love is from the Lord alone, and has become of religion; and in Christendom the Divine of the Lord is acknowledged and worshiped, and religion is from His Word; thence is its ingrafting and transplanting from generation to generation. It has been said that this Christian conjugial may be closed up and intercepted by Christian polygamy, but still it can be resuscitated in the posterity." (C. L. 466; see also 112, 142.)



     How is this inheritance to serve in the restoration of the genuine state of marriage? Will this be restored within the former Church by a quickening and cultivation of that inheritance! The question of a distinctive New Church is here reduced to its last term, and we need not restate our views on that subject. The fact is that the ranks of the New Church now being formed in Christendom have been recruited from among those of the Christian inheritance who have preserved a measure of faith in the Lord and the Word, and of a life in accordance with it-the spiritual marriage of truth and good,-the Christian conjugial. The restoration of marriage to its lost estate must have its roots in this soil, its growth in the sphere of the new Revelation of truth, its fruit in the higher conjugial state thus made known to the New Church, and its perpetuation in a newly inherited faculty and inclination among the children of oncoming generations, who are educated in and for this Church.



     And it is now revealed that there are degrees of conjugial love,-natural, spiritual and celestial,-described in the Relation, and livingly represented there by the pairs of swans, birds of paradise and turtle doves. (C. L. 270.) Something more than a knowledge of these degrees is necessary to their attainment, namely, striving and effort in the life of regeneration by way of repentance. For there is also the evil Christian inheritance to be overcome, even by the combat of spiritual temptation, in the light and power of the Heavenly Doctrine; and this the essential separation from the former state, whereby the Christian conjugial is adopted and confirmed, whereby there is entrance ever more deeply into that promised heritage of the New Church,-the spiritual and celestial states of marriage, enjoyed in all their blessedness by the Ancient Churches,-love truly conjugial, "the delights whereof are myriads, scarcely any of which the world as yet knows; but which it will know when the Church betroths herself to the Lord, and is married."

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PAYING TAXES 1921

PAYING TAXES       Editor       1921

     "The man who pays his taxes cheerfully is rare," according to a prominent financial writer in the daily press. It would seem that in the white heat of the war fervor he was not so rare, but that in the afterglow of the conflict nobody wants to "pay the piper." The heavy imposts upon citizens of all lands have put the individual attitude to the test. The good Christian, of course, is fortified against this, not only by his sense of civic and national duty, but also by the Lord's precept to "render unto Caesar," which affords him a religious ground for cheerful and unreluctant compliance with the laws of his country. If, according to the writer, cheerfulness in the matter is rare, it does not argue for an abundance of a truly Christian attitude. But the New Churchman has the comforting knowledge that, with the cultivation and growth of spiritual charity, a man is furnished with deeper roots of action on the civil plane, which banish reluctance and produce a spontaneous willingness in the fulfillment of all duties. And he knows that this state is to become general when the laws of charity now revealed to the New Church operate among many, or when that Church is widely established in the world.

     In view of the prominence of the subject at the present time, it will not be amiss to recall the teaching of the Writings bearing definitely upon it, as follows:

     THE PUBLIC DEBTS OF CHARITY.

     "These are especially tributes and taxes, which are not to be confused with the duties of one's function. Those who are spiritual pay them with one disposition of heart, and those who are merely natural with another. The spiritual pay them from good will, because they are collected for the preservation of their country, and for its protection and that of the church, and for the administration of affairs by officials and rulers, to whom salaries and stipends are to be paid from the public treasury.

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Wherefore, they to whom their country and also the church are the neighbor, pay them with a spontaneous will, and regard it as iniquitous to deceive and to prevent their collection. But they to whom their country and the church are not the neighbor, pay them with a reluctant and repugnant will, and at every opportunity they defraud and pilfer; for with them their own house and their own flesh are the neighbor." (T. C. R 430.)
PIETISM 1921

PIETISM       Editor       1921

     What is the difference between pietism and piety? The former is self-conscious and meritorious, and designed to bring power or glory to self, either here or hereafter. Moreover, it is intolerant, and yearns to regulate and compel others. It despises others in comparison with self, and delights to condemn them. It grows angry with children when they thoughtlessly disturb or omit some form of worship. But real piety is, above all, humble, and thus patient of others, though it is also zealous and alert to protect from irreverence. Its inward attitude in worship is expressed in the words, "God be merciful to me a sinner," (Luke 18:13), and more fully in the Arcana, where we read: "Mutual love, which alone is heavenly, consists in a man's not only saying, but also acknowledging and believing, of himself that he is utterly unworthy, and that he is something vile and filthy which the Lord, from His infinite mercy, continually withdraws and holds back from the hell into which he continually strives, yea longs, to precipitate himself. His acknowledging and believing this is because it is true; not that the Lord, or any angel, wishes him to acknowledge and believe it for the sake of his submission, but that he may not exalt himself, seeing that he is even such. . . ." (1594)     H. S.
LITTLE SINS AND BIG SINS 1921

LITTLE SINS AND BIG SINS       H. S       1921

     We are warned in the Word not to "strain at a gnat" and "swallow a camel,"-not to make much of the niceties of pious good form, while neglecting the deadly sins of graft and cruelty, as did the Pharisees, to whom that warning was addressed.

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But the fact is, nevertheless, that every sin against duty is, in its way, a sin against God. For example, when the alarm goes off in the morning, and we know that if we do not get up we will be late to work, we are guilty of sin if we lie abed. We ought to say to ourselves, This is a sin!-and get up. The same is true on Sunday morning. Everyone should set the alarm according to his conscience, that he may be in time to fulfill his obligations on that holiest day of the week, and not think his duty to his business is imperative, but his duty to worship his God is entirely optional.

     It is true, as the Heavenly Doctrine teaches, that the duties of charity, a man's daily uses, are fundamental, and that the duties of piety are of no avail without them. But that does not mean, cannot mean, that the keeping of the Third Commandment-"Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy "is a secondary matter. There are no secondary matters on the Tables of the Covenant, written by the finger of God.
     H. S.
FROM LAUSANNE 1921

FROM LAUSANNE       E. E. IUNGERICH       1921

     The new quarterly journal to be published at Lausanne will be called L'ERE NOUVELLE, ("The New Era"), instead of NUNC LICET as previously announced. The editor, Mr. H. G. de Geymuller, hopes to make it a journal for constructive New Church studies in religion, philosophy, and science, and would be pleased to enlist both contributors and readers in all branches of the New Church. He hopes to have it serve the desirable use of instructing New Churchmen in the largely untilled field of deeper intellectual research, as well as that of catering to an Old Church public which he needs to count upon in part for financial support. There is no intention to surrender any of the truths revealed to the New Church, but the thought is entertained that serious and deep studies of a non-polemic character may win recruits by virtue of their intrinsic value, provided these be not ruffled prematurely by any teaching, such as that concerning the state of the Christian world, which might predispose them against a favorable assent to the dispassionate truths which would appeal to them.

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     A plea for constructive work in doctrinal study will always be alluring to those who would win an abode in an Academy on Parnassus. It is also Scriptural to be as prudent as serpents. The Rational Psychology, in fact, recommends certain kinds of dissimulations, and the Spiritual Diary the occasional usage of polite subterfuges as not contrary to the law of love to the neighbor. Wars are won, not only by direct methods, but also by undermining the morale of an opponent. But a difficulty arises here from the fact that a tactful dissimulation, or hiding of some bitter truth, can only be a temporary expedient, if it is to be successful. Sooner or later the hidden truth must come forth. This means that another instrumentality must be provided, generally that of private conversation, to afford the proper means for that disillusionment which must follow. Unfortunately, as private conversations and thoughts are usually molded by the journal, the likelihood is that the tactfully suppressed truths will gradually fall into oblivion, or else be devitalized by glosses and other heretical ways of making them of none effect.

     To sharpen this view by illustrations, I can do no better than refer to the current issue of the Lausanne MESSAGER (February, 1921), for citations that point cumulatively to an ignorance of the actual state of the world in which we are living. The Lord says of the Old Church: "Come out of her, my people, lest ye be partakers of her sins." Our Lausanne brethren omit any reference to this latter clause as the chief reason for leaving the Old Church, and are at great pains to adduce a host of reasons other than this only genuine one. (See Invitation 25.)

     Note the appeal on the inside of the front cover of the MESSAGER: "Men and brethren! In a century in which so many people sail without a compass; where many of the learned are atheists; where the Christian doctors themselves lack intellectual convictions on fundamental points of revelation, and throw themselves into social activities in the degree they are overwhelmed with agnosticism; it is sweet and precious to us to be able to make known a religion which is offered to Catholics and Protestants as a synthesis superior to these two rival confessions, a rational and philosophic religion which has nothing to fear from the progress of science and leaves all freedom to human thought." One feels like musing here as to whether any of the twelve apostles who followed the Lord ever at any time on earth uttered to a group of his countrymen something of this nature: "Men and brethren!

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Overlooking the unfortunate incident of the crucifixion, as tending to warp my judgment of the noble love in your hearts, it is sweet and precious to make known to you a religion which is offered to Sadducees and Pharisees as a synthesis superior to these two rival confessions."

     On page 44, Richer's comment on a citation from Mme. de Stael is quoted with commendation from the old magazine, NOUVELLIS JERUSALEM. She had prognosticated, in happily chosen words, that we were on the eve of a development of Christianity in which the scattered benefits from religion, philosophy, science, and other lines of endeavor would be united, and gain much for us from this bond. On this Richer observed: "It is impossible to announce more worthily and more exactly the doctrine which the disciples of the New Jerusalem give as the fruit of a last dispensation of the Divine Spirit." I would only remark that, in my opinion, Richer has exaggerated the difficulty of doing this.

     On page 39, we learn from C. B., that the ground of the difference between the New Church and the various religiosities about us is merely a matter of doctrine, and not a question of love: "On one point,-and it is an essential point,-we are all in accord. Above all, we recommend charity and good works, or what Swedenborg terms 'use.' Whatever we may say, such is the common base, such is the aim. The instrumentalities remain; there it is that diversity shows itself. Diverse are the methods of Catholics, Protestants, negroes, unbelievers, and other varieties; for every individual has his own proper rule of conduct. Provided we all have love in our hearts, we shall be followed sooner or later."

     More to the same effect is found (p. 17-22) in an open letter by the Rev. Gustave Regamey to the Rev. Cosandey, of the Salvation Army, who had classified the New Church with spiritists, theosophists, and Christian Scientists, as unorthodox intellectualists, on whom, sooner or later, the wrath of God would be poured. "I suffered much," he says, "in hearing you say in one of your lectures that we should beware of religious systems which speak to the intelligence. Dear Sir and brother, for many long centuries preachers of the Gospel have failed to recognize that . . . it is not enough to speak to the heart, but that one must also speak to the reason. . . .

308


Dear Sir and brother, this is not the moment to preach the wrath of God. Rather aim to reconcile the teachings of the Bible with intelligence and reason, and your preaching will find an echo in the souls who will then return to the gospel. . . . The members of the New Church do not wish to be confounded with Christian Scientists, spiritists, and theosophists. But this does not mean any lack of respect, or even of admiration, for a great number among them. In these various groups there are noble souls, and we are proud to share the same ideal with them. Like them, and like you, too, dear Sir and brother, we have set before us nothing else than the happiness of the human race resulting from deliverance from sin and love to God and the neighbor. We are merely separated by the means to be used in realizing our ideal. We are following a different path, the advantages of which we need to show them. Let us reason with them. Let us show them especially lots of love. Let us make them feel how happy we'd be to share with them our spiritual privileges; but let us avoid accusing them, and saying they are lost. And what do we really know about it? We haven't the right. God alone 'searches the heart and reins.' I believe that the twelve doors of the holy city that is coming down from God are an image, a symbol, of the Father's love, who, knowing how diverse is the mentality of His children, receives them with open arms, whatever the way they come to Him."

     In short, one of those gates is for those who approach the Lord through the door of the sheepfold; and the other eleven are for those good-hearted and lovingly-disposed ones who would "climb up some other way." Our friends have taken the teachings to the effect that the Church would be one if love and charity prevailed over matters of differing doctrinals as applying not only to those who are followers of the Lord, but as inclusive also of those who are in the consummated Church. Applying this to the past, we would have to say that Noah and his family did not differ as to the heart and love from those Nephilim who perished in the flood; and that the Apostles only differed from organized Judaism by a superior doctrinal synthesis, and not in aim, ideal, or noble purpose of life. Into such a curious notion they have argued themselves by supposing that, since "God alone searches the heart and reins," man can know nothing as to the spiritual conditions of the world, and should therefore suppose they are of the best.

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This eliminates the teaching of Revelation,-Old Testament, New Testament, and the Writings, numerous passages in which give clear testimony from the Lord about the evil spiritual states of various groups of men. If we cannot believe this testimony from the mouth of God Himself, then why base any religion on belief in revealed truth?
     E. E. IUNGERICH.
NOTES AND REVIEWS 1921

NOTES AND REVIEWS              1921

     A PAMPHLET IN THE SECHUANA LANGUAGE.

     The Rev. R. W. Brown writes from Basutoland as follows: "In the LIFE for December, 1920, p. 754, you called attention to the publication of a 20-page pamphlet in the Zulu language, entitled Izisekelo Zamah Qiniso, Ze Nkolo Yobu Krestu, and added that so far as is known, this is the first Printed publication of the Heavenly Doctrines in any of the native languages of South Africa. You will be interested to learn that the Rev. J. F. Buss has placed in my hands a copy of a 24-page pamphlet published in the Sechuana language, bearing the title, Gotla ga Bobedi ga Morena. This pamphlet, which happens to be a translation of the same work as was rendered into Zulu, was published by the New Church Native Mission, and bears the imprint, 'Krugersdorp, South Africa, 1919,' while the Zulu pamphlet did not come from the press until the following year. The Sechuana translation was made by the Rev. D. W. Mooki, and was set up in type and printed by him and other natives of his Mission at Krugersdorp."
E. E. IUNGERICH 1921

E. E. IUNGERICH              1921

     As we go to press, April 9th, a cablegram has been received from The Hague, Holland, informing us of the death of Mr. Garret Barger.

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CAUSES OF THE WEATHER 1921

CAUSES OF THE WEATHER              1921

     ARE CHANGES IN THE WEATHER THE DIRECT EFFECTS OF SPIRITUAL CAUSES?
Mr. Frochasky, of Vienna, writes in part as follows in the BOTE of March 1st, 1921: "Just before the declaration of war, there was generally an unusually heavy mist. To a large extent, street-lamps had to burn during the day, which never occurs in normal times. Just before general offensives, the temperature fell to such an extent that great damage was done in the country. If a heavy rain or snowfall took place during an advance, this attack was a failure to the assailants. In important victories, there was generally fine but very dry weather; but on account of the dryness, there was always much damage [to the country]." He concludes that the weather agrees with the spiritual state of men, and asks the editor if anything is mentioned in the Writings on the subject, and where.

     Mrs. Twiggs, in her poem, "The Supreme Adventure," has an angelic cicerone tell a novitiate that great spiritual changes are recorded as "seismic shocks in cosmic registry." It is undoubtedly true that certain judgments in the spiritual world do produce perceptible effects in nature, even today. In the Schmidius Marginalia at Ezekiel x, we read: "The ultimate heaven at this day is so full of quasi furies that some may marvel much as to how the throng can ever be reduced to saneness. Whatever is thought with regard to faith, or from faith in God Messiah, the furies draw forth, tear apart, and pervert. But when in the end of days this ultimate heaven is purged of such furies or spirits, then the kingdom of God Messiah exists. At this day something similar occurs in the nature of the world, as well as in man's, in that all things of both are troubled and confounded, as it were, before they are rendered serene, which may be evident from many tokens, namely, that a chaos as of the world exists before heaven is separated, etc." (See A. C. 842) The spiritual fall of the Most Ancient Church produced immediate changes in the fauna and flora of this earth.

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In the Jewish Church, infractions of the correspondential ritual produced wars, pestilences, droughts and famines. But the Last Judgment at the time of the Lord's First Advent, though itself accompanied by such cosmic effects as the rending of the veil of the temple and the darkening of the day from the noon for three hours, yet led to a condition of things in which the natural world would be less responsive to spiritual convulsions. Several statements bear this out:

     "Man is not affected by these [evil spiritual spheres] in the body, because the Lord removes them, for the sake of consociation. External things also change these into perfumes, and by them internal things are enclosed and shut in. . . . [For] it is different with men in their externals, because there is a barrier between their externals and internals." (Documents 302, p. 769.) "Diseases are indeed with men from natural causes, which do not at the same time come forth with the spirit in the other life; but as often as they come forth, spirits gather which correspond to that disease." (S. D. Minor, 4648). "Yet this does not prevent man's being healed naturally; for the Lord's Providence concurs with such means." (A. C. 5713.) "But because we do not believe spirits are around us, all those things are attributed to natural causes. Medicaments help. . . but what is remarkable, men pray to God to be restored, and say they have been restored by God; yet each of them, when he is outside that state, attributes it to nature." (S. D. Minor 4650.)

     The changes in the weather are all from spiritual causes, some directly and others indirectly though natural causes. Certain natural cataclysms are undoubtedly due to the fact that spiritually degenerate and sluggish men wilfully neglect laws of health, sanitation, preservation of forests, etc., and through such natural causes lead to the ensuing damage. I very much doubt whether a given change of weather could be directly assigned to a spiritual cause apart from a natural cause that was also adjoined; at least not by any man who was not at the same time a spiritual seer like Swedenborg. In like manner, hardly a disease could be found that did not seem to have also an adjoined natural cause.

     A word on the related subject of fairies, which I spoke of on previous occasions as being a spiritual phenomenon appearing in a natural environment to those who had a certain obscure transparency of spiritual sight.

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Mr. Evens, in the March LIFE, objects to my calling them "animated beings who never had lived as human beings on any earth," although I gave four references to explain my meaning. I liken them in my thought to such animated beings as spiritual animals, who never had a previous existence on earth. They are certainly as substantially real as these; and the distinction between real and fantastic appearances may apply equally well to fairies and elves as it does to spiritual animals. More than this I did not mean.
     E. E. IUNGERICH.
PROVIDENCE AND THE HISTORICALS OF THE WORD 1921

PROVIDENCE AND THE HISTORICALS OF THE WORD              1921

     "This is worthy of observation, that no son was born to the sons of Jacob in Egypt, whither they came, although they were still young; but their sons were all born in the land of Canaan, while they themselves were born in Padan-aram, except Benjamin. This was of a special Divine providence of the Lord, in order that the things of the Church might be represented by them from their very birth. That the sons of Jacob were born in Padan-aram, represented that the man of the Church must be born anew or regenerated by means of the knowledges of good and truth, signified by Padan-aram; but that their sons were all born in the land of Canaan, represented that from thence are such things as are of the Church, for the land of Canaan denotes the Church. But that to Joseph were born sons in Egypt, was in order that the dominion of the internal man in the external might be represented, especially the dominion of the celestial spiritual in the natural, Manasseh being the voluntary, and Ephraim the intellectual, of the Church, in the natural." (A. C. 6025.)

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Church News 1921

Church News       Various       1921

     ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA.-A new "Academy Circle," of which little has been reported, has sprung up in this far-off southern city. It is of mushroom growth, having reached its height this second Sunday in March with a total of twelve members, all of whom will have returned to their respective societies within another month. But small as it is, the Circle can boast a record attendance of 100 per cent. at every Sunday service, as well as a faithful and diligent reading of New Church Life.

     Meeting at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Seymour G. Nelson at 11 a.m., we have had the pleasure of hearing every week the sermon preached by the Rev. Gilbert H. Smith in the Immanuel Church, Glenview, on the previous Sunday. And with no urgent duties calling us away, we have always spent an enjoyable half hour after the service discussing the sermon and points of doctrine. It was more than chance that led the three New Church families to select their winter homes within easy reach of one another. For we naturally gravitate toward a center; and fortunate it is for those who are broken in health, and who need the restorative of warmth and sunshine which this ideal spot affords, to find others of their Faith with whom to associate. During the early part of the winter, the group consisted of the following members of the General Church:-Mr. and Mrs. Seymour G. Nelson and the Misses Emelia and Adah Nelson, of Glenview; Miss Sophie Falk, their guest, of Bryn Athyn; Mrs. Theodore Bellinger and Miss Celia Bellinger, of Toronto; and Mrs. Harvey Farrington, of Chicago. Late in February, the Rev. and Mrs. Charles E. Doering, of Bryn Athyn, joined us, and today the little room in the cottage was filed to capacity when we had with us Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Schoenberger and Miss Helena Schoenberger, of Pittsburgh.

     Pleasant memories of the happy meetings in the "Sunshine City" will always remain with us.
     C. B.
March 13, 1921.

     SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA.-The celebration of the Lord's First Advent was held at Hurstville, and took a little different form this year. The hall was decorated with the evergreen eucalyptus, which was also used to form a background for the table on Which the Word was placed. Though a simple arrangement, the summer sun shining through the leaves produced quite a cathedral effect. After the Pastor had entered, and opened the Word, the children marched with offerings of flowers and laid them before the opened Word, singing, as they marched, the gist hymn of the Hymnal, "From the Easter Mountains." Lessons appropriate to the occasion were read, the children sang Christmas hymns, and a quartet was rendered by Sunday School scholars. The Pastor's address was on the subject of "Innocence," and told how the Lord, who is Innocence Itself, was willing to be born on this earth, to conquer the hells, and so make our salvation possible. It was also shown that true innocence is only obtained through obedience, first to parents and teachers, and later to the Lord's precepts. At the close of the address, all present joined in singing "O Come all ye Faithful," the benediction was pronounced, and thus an enjoyable service was concluded.

     Several visitors were present on this occasion, including a number of New Church people lately arrived from England. All stayed to tea, which was served in the hall, and which was followed by the Christmas tree, so delightful to the children.

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     The annual Sunday School picnic was held on January 26th. Your correspondent was unable to be present, but heard that the children had an enjoyable time, the chief attraction being swimming and sports.
     M. M. W.

     CHICAGO.-It is a long time since the readers of the Life have heard from the Swedenborg New Church Society. Yes, we are still here; but last year, owing to the illness of our Pastor, the Rev. John Headsten, we were obliged to dispense with our services and doctrinal classes for a period of three months. In September, Mr. Headsten felt somewhat better, and we resumed our services, alternating between the South and North Sides; but we postponed the doctrinal classes until his health should be regained. In October, however, we again gave up services, as our Pastor had a relapse, in which we nearly lost him; and we have our Heavenly Father to thank for restoring him to health and active life again. We have since been holding regular services and doctrinal classes, with better attendance than last year. The meetings have been held at different homes, but we have now rented a Hall at 14 North Sacramento Boulevard, this being a location that is convenient for both the North and South Side members, on which account we are hoping for a good attendance every Sunday.

     Our Sunday School is quite small, the attendance being about five; but as we have quite a few prospective pupils, we are looking confidently to the future. At our doctrinal classes, we are taking up the second volume of the True Christian Religion, which we find very interesting and a great help to us; and so we always look forward to class night.

     Our ladies have formed a Ladies' Auxiliary, which meets once a month, when we have very interesting discussions on such subjects as the raising of money for a fund to erect a house of worship for the society and for the education of the children, and we think we are progressing toward this end. At our meetings the Pastor reads to us from the Heavenly Doctrines, which we all greatly enjoy. Our ladies also attend to the regular monthly suppers, which always prove to be very sociable.
     MRS. BIRGER HOLMES.

     TORONTO, ONT., CANADA.-On the first Wednesday in March an important meeting of the Olivet Society took place. Two problems confronted the Society, and a choice seemed imperative. The questions to be solved were: (1) Whether to open the School next fall, or (2) to improve our present place of worship. The subject was fully presented in all its aspects by the Pastor and members of the Pastor's council, and it was found that there were only a very few children of school age for next year, while in two years there would be quite a class ready to start. The time therefore seemed opportune to strike for an improved building. Plans for the remodeling of our present structure, so as to give it the appearance of a colonial building, were submitted and aroused a great deal of enthusiasm. The interior of the building will be so altered as to give us a chapel that we can use for worship alone. It will also provide us upstairs with a separate ladies' room, two class rooms, Pastor's study, and book-room, and downstairs, a dining room, men's club room, and large social hall, besides a new furnace-pit. In this way, most of the past difficulties of the Society will be overcome; and the way is paved for the re-opening of the School in the near future under more favorable conditions than have existed in the past, where the school-room had to be rearranged each week to permit of the Sunday service.

     One problem remained. Could we raise the necessary money for such a change? The committee commenced its work of ascertaining this fact the following Sunday evening, and the generous and universal response to their appeal left no doubt that the project fulfilled the unanimous desires of the Society.

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Before the first evening was over, more than four thousand dollars had been subscribed, and the total has now climbed to nearly six thousand. As the estimated expense is about eight thousand, the Society will not be heavily burdened with a debt, which might militate against the opening of the School in the near future. The plans for the new building, generously drawn up by Mr. Theodore Bellinger, have now been practically completed, and we are busy getting a permit at the City Hall. Operations are expected to commence at an early date. We are fortunate in having a committee in charge which is composed of practical men who are capable of attending to finances, plans, tenders, and actual construction. The men of the Society are expecting to take off their coats and roll up their sleeves and do a good deal of the work themselves.

     The Forward Club met on the third Thursday of the month, and had the pleasure of listening to a series of speeches on the subject of "Sports and Recreation," presented by Messrs. Fred, Herbert, Gerald and Cyril Bellinger and Mr. Craigie. The old saying, "Mens sana in corpore sane," was brought forward and dwelt upon. The uses which recreation performs to man, in making him more fit to carry on the work of his vocation, were elaborated. The development of a spirit of charity through social recreation was also brought out, together with the idea that sacrifice of the individual for the sake of the team was a fine result of cooperative sport.

     On Palm Sunday we held a special combined service of the Sunday School and the adult congregation. The adults were seated in the chapel, and the children marched in procession, led by two boys carrying palms, each of the children having cut daffodils in their hands, which they carried to the altar and placed in vases set for the purpose. All the music for the occasion was selected from the Hymnal. The whole service was very enjoyable, the presence of the children lending an air of spontaneous innocence and joy which was very delightful to the adults. One feature of the service was a Responsive Reading between the Minister and the children, composed of correspondences, in which the Minister indicated the natural thing and the Sunday School responded with the corresponding spiritual thing.

     On Thursday, March 24th, Miss Marjorie Pecker was married to Mr. Irving Smith; and before leaving for her wedding journey, she expressly stated that she wanted the flowers from her wedding to be sent to the Church for Easter. The result was that our chancel was most beautifully adorned with Easter lilies, daffodils, palms and other flowers. The Holy Supper was celebrated on this occasion, and the luster of a new silver communion service lent further beauty to the chancel.
     K. R. A.

     KITCHENER, ONT.-An impressive function of Carmel Church life took place on February 4th, when a beautiful memorial tablet in honor of those of our Society who enlisted in the Great War, was unveiled. Preceding the unveiling ceremony, a suitable and enlightening address was given by the Pastor, who clearly showed the true service a soldier renders to his country when he fights for it. The tablet is about two feet wide and thirty inches high. In the upper part of its fumed-oak frame is a Canadian Beaver, with the words "Pro Patria" carved above it. The tablet itself is beautifully illuminated in white, red, and gold, on a black background; while at the bottom, immediately under a quotation from the Writings, is painted a group of the flags of the Allies. The names of all the New Church soldiers of this locality were recorded, with the date of enlistment of each one. The following quotation is lettered in black on a gold background: "It is to be observed that those who love their country, and render it good service from a principle of good will, after death love the Lord's Kingdom, which then is their country; and those who love His Kingdom love the Lord Himself, because the Lord is the all in all of His Kingdom." (T. C. R. 414.)

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     The Society was treated to an excellent dramatic entertainment on the evenings of February 24th and 25th. A comedy of camp-life was very well rendered by the Young People's dramatic committee. A sufficiently deep plot lent mystery and held the audience in suspense; and the trials of "Anita," the little Italian dancer, were very affecting. The performance of the second evening was superior to that of the first, but the young ladies are to be congratulated on what they accomplished with a rather difficult script.

     Carmel Church members are at present much interested in plans for the alteration of the Church building. The Society has grown to such a size that it has been deemed advisable, for convenience and comfort's sake, to change certain parts of the building, especially the basement, which, it is proposed, will be converted into a large auditorium for lectures and social purposes.

     The approaching District Assembly, which will be held in the latter part of May, is also actively in the minds of our members, and is looked forward to with eager anticipation.
     N. S.

     REPORT OF THE VISITING PASTOR.-March 12th to 15th were spent at WINDSOR, ONT., and DETROIT. On Sunday morning, the 13th, services were held at Windsor. We had the pleasure of having with us Mrs. Charles Brown, of Toronto. In the evening there was a meeting of the Detroit Reading Circle at the house of Mr. and Mrs. George Field, at Birmingham, Mich. Sixteen persons were present. Since my last visit, when the Circle was organized, the chapter on the Trinity, in the True Christian Religion, had been read. It was our purpose at this meeting to review the ground covered; but, following our custom of opening a class by inviting any doctrinal question, three came so many of these that our time was fully occupied for an hour and a half with answering them; and so our special subject was not reached. Most of the questions were concerning the Lord's assumption and glorification of the Human. On Monday evening a doctrinal class was d held at Windsor, on the subject of the three universal loves. (T. C. R. 394 to 405.) Tuesday evening there was another meeting of the Detroit Circle, at the house of Dr. and Mrs. Abele. Again the answering of questions, this time for two hours, prevented our reaching the subject for the evening. It is evident that there is a very active state of thought on spiritual subjects in the Circle.

     Concerning the visit to ERIE, PA., March 16th to 20th, a communication will appear from the correspondent there.

     On March 21st I was at AKRON, OHIO, and, in the afternoon, at the house of Mr. and Mrs. L. K. Behlert, baptized their infant daughter. Later Mr. E. T. Asplundh and Mr. Arthur Wiedinger came to supper, over which we had a delightful social time. Then we had class, discussing, on the basis of the doctrine given in D. L. W. 200, 218, 219, the subject of spiritual substance, which is so actively occupying the thought of many in the Church.

     It was the privilege of the CINCINNATI Circle to receive a visit from Miss Alice Grant, March 1st to 8th, in her tour of the various General Church centers. Four meetings were held, at which Miss Grant read papers on New Church Education, which were most highly appreciated by all. The first meeting was at Mr. and Mrs. Charles Merrell's, where the subject was "The Need of New Church Education;" the next at Mr. and Mrs. William Smith's, the subject being "Adolescence;" then at Mr. and Mrs. Colon Schott's, where the paper was on "The Family;" and lastly at the parsonage, where the subject was "The True Development of the Mind." After the reading of each paper an interesting and useful discussion followed; and then came refreshments and a social hour. On the Sunday morning of the visit, Miss Alice gave a talk to our little Sunday School.

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We hope that Miss Grant's tour may be the beginning of regular annual visits to the General Church centers by some one connected with the Academy's work, bringing into the outlying field, by actual presence and the living voice, the benefits Of a life-work along some special line. The General Church will thus have its "University Extension," the value of which will be beyond estimate.
     F. E. WAELCHLI.

     ERIE, PA.-Since the last report, our regular meetings on Sunday mornings or afternoons have continued, the attendance being good and the sermons very much enjoyed. We are well pleased with the selection of subjects in the Weekly Sermons. On March 9th, the Circle held a Social at the home of Mrs. Edwin R. Johnson, in honor of our departing Secretary, Mr. Eugene T. Cranch, who left this city on March 12th to assume the duties of Sanitary Engineer for Petersburg, Va. We are all sorry to lose him, but wish him every success in his new field.

     On March 17th, our Pastor, the Rev. F. E. Waelchli, visited us, and in the evening the Circle was invited to a Social and Card Party by Miss Edith R. Cranch. On the 18th, we had a Young Folks' Class and Business Meeting at the residence of Mr. E. R. Johnson, on which occasion the undersigned was elected Secretary to succeed Mr. E. T. Cranch. On Saturday evening, the 19th, we had a men's meeting, preceded by a supper for the men, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Cranch, and the Pastor was kept busy until quite late with questions on the subject of "Correspondences, Representatives, and Significatives," which was discussed at some length. The service next day included the Communion, and was held at the residence of Mrs. Edward Cranch; in the evening, a doctrinal class was held at the home of Mr. B. F. Evans.

     From March 31st to April 3rd, we had the pleasure of a visit from Miss Alice Grant, of Bryn Athyn. She read several very interesting papers on different phases of New Church Education, one of which was prepared especially for us. We feel that her stay among us was as useful as it was enjoyable.
     CHARLES EDRO CRANCH.

     BRYN ATHYN.-Three services comprised the celebration of Easter this year. The first was a musical service, held on Friday evening, March 25th. After the opening worship according to the Eighth Office, Gounod's Mass was sung by a hidden choir, under the direction of Miss Creda Glenn. The music was very well rendered, bearing testimony to its careful preparation. In power and artistic effect, the work of the choir has been steadily advancing, and the members who have regularly devoted their time and interest to the support of Miss Glenn's leadership have earned the sincere appreciation of the Bryn Athyn Society.

     On Saturday, March 26th, at 4 p. m., the Children's Service was held in the Cathedral. Through the kindness of Mrs. Raymond Pitcairn, plants were provided which, under the skillful hands of Mr. Coley, had been brought to bloom at just the right time. The procession of the Elementary School children, each carrying a plant as an offering for the decoration of the chancel, made a beautiful sight. Members of the choir, wearing the new white vestments provided by Mr. Pitcairn, and each carrying a single lily, accompanied the children. The flowers were arranged by members of the Chancel Guild in two pyramids of rich color, one on either side of the chancel. The service was conducted by the Bishop, assisted by the Rev. George de Charms. Appropriate recitations in Hebrew and Greek had been prepared by the children, together with songs in the same languages. The subject of the address was "The Lord's Deliverance of the Bound in the Lower Earth at the Time of His Resurrection." During the interlude, a solo was delightfully sung by Miss Flora Heath.

     The service on Eastern Morning centered about the Administration of the Holy Supper.

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The musical features included the congregational singing of the 48th Psalm, which had been specially prepared by the Secondary Schools and by the choir, and a violin solo by Mr. Raymond Pitcairn, most artistically rendered. The sacrament was administered by the Bishop, assisted by the Rev. George de Charms, and the service closed appropriately with the powerful and inspiring notes of the Te Dominum.

     The number of visitors who come to view the Cathedral had been steadily increasing, and a record was reached on Sunday afternoon, April 3rd, when 1,040 people went through the building. The prospect of a continuance of this steady stream of art students, and idly curious, together with a few, perhaps, who are genuinely interested on the score of religion, has necessitated a reorganization of the workers at the Cathedral, with a view to providing greater freedom for the visitors, as also a more efficient protection of the sphere of worship and reverence in the building. At the same time, steps have been taken by the Borough Council to handle the traffic and the proper parking of automobiles, which have become a serious menace to pedestrians, and especially to the children.

     It is with the greatest pleasure that we have welcomed home the Rev. Alfred Acton and the Rev. C. E. Doering, the former having returned on April 2nd from his eight-months' sojourn in Europe, and the latter, on April 8th, from several weeks' stay in Florida, where he was successful in obtaining renewed health and strength.

     On Friday evening, April 8th, after the usual society supper, Mr. Acton gave an intensely interesting account of his travels abroad. Aware that the fame of his "three-hour talks" in England had preceded him, he agreed in advance to shorten his remarks, "in adaptation to the capacity of a Bryn Athyn audience!" At the end of two hours, during which a well-filled auditorium listened with closest attention, he was only half through, and it was decided that the balance of the account would be given at another meeting, to be held at an early date.

     Mr. Acton began by stating that the main objects of his going to Europe were to investigate the status of the phototyping in Sweden and to obtain books for the Academy Library, but he had also acted as representative of the Bishop in presiding at the British Assembly, and in visiting members of the General Church. Recalling the theme of his Address to the British Assembly, he said that he had carried everywhere the message that the General Church is international, recognizing none but spiritual boundaries; for no spiritual church can be limited by national, geographic, or linguistic ties, these being purely natural and special. Such a church must minister to all throughout the world who are in spiritual accord with its faith, and with the internal principles upon which it is established. He had further explained the true position of the General Church, showing that it is based upon no creed, no set of merely human principles, set up as a criterion of membership, but requiring only the recognition and worship of the Lord in His Second Advent. Its doctrines are nothing but the Writings themselves. The so-called "Academy Principles" are but a statement of that interpretation of the Heavenly Doctrine which is generally accepted and acknowledged in the General Church, and are in no sense a decree of a human council, to be set on a par with Revelation. He felt that his explanation of this view had been very useful, especially to a number of New Church friends he had met who had known little or nothing of the General Church.

     We wish that everyone in the Church could hear the graphic description of Mr. Acton's experiences. It is an account rich in humor, in genuine human interest, and in the traditional spirit and zeal of the Academy. He gave us such a distinct idea and such a living picture of the New Church societies and individuals he visited that it made a deep and lasting impression upon all who heard it.

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After the British Assembly, he went to Paris, meeting M. Hussenet and the Society there; then to Lausanne, carrying a message of good-will to M. Regamey and the French Federation, and spending several days among the New Church people there, several of whom are members of the General Church. Then on to other cities in Switzerland and Italy, invading the book stores during the day, and looking up New Church friends in the evening, with whom he spent many delightful hours in conversation on the things of the Church, being everywhere most cordially received and entertained. In Zurich, he remained several days with the members of Mr. Goerwitz's society, though the Pastor himself was away at the time; and in Pome he met our members, the Misses Eden and Loreta Gnocchi, to whom he administered the Holy Supper, which they had not received for thirteen years. And we were especially touched by Mr. Acton's enthusiastic description of the little group of earnest receivers in Trieste-20 or 25 in number-who, under the very discouraging circumstances of the war, maintained regular meetings, services, and Sunday School. Here he felt particularly at home, being most warmly welcomed, and enjoying the rare boon of spiritual friendship with those whose central and vital interest is the New Church.

     Such a sense of internal unity and the kinship of the spirit, as existing between members of the Church so widely scattered and of so many different nationalities, with an intimacy of touch that brought them very near to us, was perhaps the most valuable gift Mr. Acton brought back with him.

     Of his subsequent visits to Prague and Vienna, to German cities, Sweden, Brussels, The Hague, and an extended stay in England, we shall hear when the account is resumed. Incidentally, Mr. Acton's marvelous memory for detail came into evidence in his vivid description of passing experiences on the journey through Switzerland and Italy,-the great statues of the Reformers at Geneva, which seemed the embodiment and expression of "faith alone;" the magnificent little church in the slums of Milan; the "delightful" city of Bologna, very hot in the sun, very cool in the shade; the leaning tower of Pisa, upon the inclining roof of which our traveler stood; Naples, Pompeii, Padua, Florence, Venice.

     In his quest for books, Mr. Acton was highly successful, the results of his present search adding many desired volumes to the shelves of "Room 17," which he now considers the best collection in the world of those works which are of particular value to the theological and philosophical student of Swedenborg. He purchased about 500 books. Of these, about 100 were for the "Star Collection" of the Theological Works now being formed in the Academy Library. About 40 were copies of books which Swedenborg himself possessed or referred to in his writings. The remainder were the works of contemporary scholars, useful as throwing light upon Swedenborg's science and philosophy. Most of them were discovered in Paris, Leipsic, and Pome.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS.

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ONTARIO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1921

ONTARIO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY       K. R. ALDEN       1921




     Announcements.





     Members and friends of the General Church are cordially invited to attend the Ontario District Assembly, to be held at Carmel Church, Kitchener, Ont., from May 21st to 24th inclusive. Those expecting to come are requested to communicate with Miss Carita Roschman, 809 King St. West, Kitchener, Ont., who will provide for their entertainment.
     K. R. ALDEN,
          Secretary.

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PSYCHOLOGICAL DATA 1921

PSYCHOLOGICAL DATA       J. B. S. KING       1921


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLI          JUNE, 1921           No. 6
     GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS.

     The new-born infant has a body and a mind. We are familiar with the body at birth; it is complete as to organs and tissues, but undeveloped and incapable; all its motions are mere reflexes, without purpose or aim; tissues which are not visibly present are yet existent in immature form or in germ; such are the teeth, imbedded in the gums. Similarly the mind at birth is existent and complete as to organic parts, but undeveloped and incapable of purposeful activities. The commencement of life in this world is but the beginning of a life-long, continuous training and development.

     Psychology is the study of the mind, both as to its growth and its operations. It has been a difficult study in all ages. Because of the invisibility and intangibility of its factors, it has made very little real progress from its dim beginnings in the time of Hippocrates (B. C. 460-359), down to the time of Ferrier, in the early decades of the 19th century. The long interval between these two men was very unproductive; for Ferrier's position was practically the same as that of Hippocrates, with some particulars added. Since Ferrier's time, however, a new method of investigation has been adopted which has been very fruitful in practical methods of treating diseased minds, though it has thrown only side-lights upon the science as a whole. It is to the doctrines of the New Church that we must look for true light upon this difficult science.

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These alone make possible a clear understanding of the subject, bringing order out of the confusion that exists.

     THE CONSCIOUS MIND.

     It is well to remember at the outset that there are two minds, or, if you prefer, two distinct parts of the one mind,-the Conscious or Voluntary Mind, and the Unconscious or Involuntary Mind.

     The Conscious Mind has the Cerebrum and its nervous system as its immediate ultimate. It is the thinking, loving, judging, conscious, voluntary mind,-a blank at birth, and incapable of purposeful action; an organized system of faculties-in-potency. Its development and operation is the proper study of Psychology.

     The other mind, or the other part of the one mind, is unconscious, automatic, involuntary. It is as fully developed at birth as it ever will be; it is as wise and knowing in the new-born as in the wisest and oldest man. Its immediate ultimate in the body is the Cerebellum and its system of nerves. It operates and controls all the involuntary functions; it breathes, digests, assimilates, purifies, circulates, repairs, regulates growth, and animates all reflexes. It performs its functions perfectly at birth, and is not susceptible of education; nor is it subject to the will.

     These two distinct systems are an integral part of the one man. They exist in the very soul or inmost of man's being, on every plane of his mind beneath, and are visibly ultimated in the material body as the Cerebrum and Cerebellum. In the mysterious, intricate, orderly and harmonious weaving together and mutual interchange of the fibers of these two parts to make one brain, we have a concrete picture of the way in which these two minds are woven together in higher spheres.

     ANTE-NATAL FUNCTION.

     The Infinite God, the All-loving Father, operating through the inmost or soul of each individual, builds a physical habitation-the earthly tenement, the "house of clay"-using the Unconscious Mind as an instrumental means. During pre-natal life, in the months elapsing between conception and birth, this mind presides over, directs and controls the building of the body.

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The soul must enter into the world of time and space as a human being, and become cognizant of that world. Yea, the soul must see the glorious forms and colors of this world of nature; and so this mind constructs a marvelous mirror, composed of ten layers of tissue more delicate than cobwebs, to make the seeing eye. The soul desires to touch the solid earth upon which it is to live; and so this mind weaves the elastic, flexible, sensitive, nerve-infused skin, by which it may feel the myriad terrestrial substances. The soul yearns to hear the harmonies of nature-the music of the spheres-and especially the tones of the human voice; and so this mind elaborates that super-marvelous organ,-the inner and outer ear. So with the other senses.

     THE EXTERNAL MEMORY AND ITS SUBSTANCE.

     There are five doors of communication between the visible, outer world and the invisible, inner world-namely, the five senses. Through these five ways of approach, the whole world-the material universe and all that is therein, and all that can be known about it-must enter. These are as the "everlasting doors of the world" which are to be lifted up, that the King of Glory may come in; for only by a proper opening of the senses in this world can the Lord come to man.

     The world, and all that appertains to it, enters the senses of man, and is registered in or upon the substances of his memory, thereby making an inner mental world,-the man's own world, the result of contact with his environment, his reflection upon it, and the way he loves it. This is his own world, and not another's; it has his own peculiar, personal twist or bias, with which he thinks, and loves, and judges, and feels. It is full of incommunicable majesties and degradations which are his very own. Right here lies the half-truth of Berkeley, without the false that makes it only a half-truth, that "we cannot perceive anything in its entity, but only as it appears to us."

     This memory is man's "book of life," the indestructible record of his thoughts, affections and deeds, from the cradle to the grave. How this is done, we do not know, and it palsies the imagination to picture such a minute record. Probably it is effected by impressions made upon the plastic substance of the external memory, or by the variations of its forms, on an infinitesimal scale.

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     The external memory is not spiritual, but it is composed of the finest and purest of natural substances, so sublimated and refined, so strained from taints of earth, as to be the most spirit-like things in nature which yet are not spirit. The mother's organism takes them, gathering them in from the soil and the atmosphere by means of the purest foods, and strains, filters, sedimentizes, and sublimates them until they become an elaborated quintessence. The Unconscious Mind, working with this pure, tenuous, flexile, living substance which the mother's blood presents, constructs that delicate, organized plane for transcribing the world, and weaves amazing organs, outer and inner, whereby the soul may see, hear, smell, taste and touch the things of the terraqueous globe, and, out of its multitudinous substances and activities, build up its own inner world whereby to live and perfect itself for heaven.

     Thus is that supereminent organic form made which lies halfway between earth and heaven, which is intermediate between the two worlds-the very acme and pinnacle of earthly tissues, the outermost covering of the spiritual world. Janus-like, it looks on one side to the spiritual world, on the other to the earth. Nothing that we are accustomed to think of as subtile, fine or quintessential-gossamer, elder down, atomized essential oils-approaches this invisible, impalpable tissue of the external memory. Finer than spun silk, more subtle than the viewless winds, it is yet more enduring and eternal than the adamantine rocks. Goranite can be transmuted by elemental forces, but the tenuous substance of the memory can be destroyed by no force whatsoever.

     Impressions crowd in thick and fast during the early months of babyhood, and at first, no doubt, all is confusion. To the infantile sense, it is probable that everything seems to touch the eye. A confused panorama of colors and forms, of lights and darks without distinction, perspective or locality, is about all that the baby can make out of its environment. No idea of distance or relation is present or possible. Very gradually, day by day, with infinite repetition, with numerous errors, and with corrections by the other senses, the little mind begins to distinguish thing from thing, what is far from what is near, what is large from what is small, how distance diminishes and nearness enlarges.

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Relationship, quality, distance, perspective, forms, ownership, gradually become knowledges from which ideas may be formed.

     It is a fact of the utmost importance, and yet little known, that every spiritual activity, appreciation and delight belonging to the soul, in adult life and to eternity, rests upon this primal, fundamental affecting of the senses in infancy. The skin is touched-a considerable area is touched-by hands, by textile fabrics, by the mother's breast, affording an obscure sensation and idea of solidity, of substance and of form; and this primal impression, modified in a thousand ways by subsequent contacts, gifts the baby soul with the capacity and ability in after years to acknowledge and adore God as the Only Substance and the Only Form-as Substance and Form Itself. The smooth, soft, globose surface of the mother's breast, the delicate food it serves to the gustatory nerves, the well-beloved features of her face, and the tones of her voice, animated with tenderness and love,-all these excite delight and awaken love, thus serving as an elemental basis for that affection and confidence with which the baby soul in after years will turn to its great spiritual mother,-the Church.

     Slowly the infantile mind becomes aware of the great world of time and space into which it has been born, and learns to distinguish the harsh, the repellant, the discordant, the inharmonious, as belonging to certain objects, from the sweet, agreeable, harmonious and delightful, as registered by and associated with other objects. Little comparisons are continually instituted, and little judgments formed, whereby the mind grows as the body by foods. Yet the external memory, as the receptacle of these innumerable impressions, is of itself incapable of either thought or affection, though it is the lowest seat of both during life in the world. It is the meeting-place of the two worlds. Spiritual influx from the Lord flows into it through the soul and through the spiritual substance of the mind, and this with a powerful conatus or effort towards use-use in general-which meets the forms in the memory and determines them to particular uses according to the form of each. The excitation of the senses, and the forms impressed thereby, serve as receptacles and containants of the spiritual influx.

     It is here-at this meeting-place-that consciousness lies.

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Here man meets the Lord; and here only, by introspection, can man examine his naked character, see his evil inclinations, and find truths stored and good impulses present wherewith to resist evil and do right.

     (To be continued)
HEAVENS ARE TELLING THE GLORY OF GOD 1921

HEAVENS ARE TELLING THE GLORY OF GOD       Rev. J. E. BOWERS       1921

     "The heavens are telling the glory of God, and the expanse showeth the work of His hands." (Psalm 19:1.)

     All the principles of genuine intelligence and wisdom are of Divine Revelation, and can be derived from no other source. Divine Revelation is given by the Lord in the Word, as the means for the enlightenment of the human mind, and thereby for the acquisition of intelligence and wisdom. Without the light of the truths of the Word in the understanding, man is in a state of hopeless ignorance concerning the most precious things of human knowledge, that is, concerning the things revealed in our Heavenly Doctrines, which treat of matters spiritual and eternal, and give definite teaching as to the design of man's existence, immortality, and life hereafter, to all who desire it.

     While in a state of mental darkness as to these important subjects, a man may be learned in the natural sciences, but he will have an exceedingly limited idea concerning the interior principles of nature; and as to the primary object of the existence of the stupendous material universe, he will be able to form no rational or comprehensive idea. Indeed, some of the learned have asserted that there never was such a process as creation. Thus, instead of the universe being the work of the all-wise and almighty Creator, the idea is that all things which are have come into existence by evolution. A learned author of some years ago says that the operations within nature itself are "the only creative powers," and that all things which we know to be the works of God, the Infinite and the Divine, "happened, not through the capricious interference of a personal Creator, but through the original power of matter fashioning itself." (Haeckel.)

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     By "the heavens," in the sense of the letter of the text, are meant the starry heavens of the natural universe. The stars are as innumerable as the grains of sand on the seashore. There are myriads of stars invisible to the naked eye, and again myriads beyond those that can be seen through the largest instruments that have been made, or ever can be made. All the stars are suns, centers of systems of earths, and all those earths are inhabited by men. That this should be the case, was the end of their creation.

     In the spiritual sense, by "stars" are signified the knowledges of good and truth. On a clear night, the stars give some light, so that there is not total darkness. Thus, when a man has acquired from the Word some knowledges of good and truth, he has in his mind a dim light by means of them. And if he has an affection for the knowledges, for the sake of good and truth, he will be led onward in the path of life; he will be enabled to walk in the light of life in full confidence.

     By the "heavens," in the spiritual sense, are meant the angelic heavens. Because there is a Trinity in the Lord,-the one Infinite and Divine Being,-it is a law of the Divine order that in all things of the created universe there is a trine. Hence there are three heavens, each and all consisting of innumerable angelic societies. But the societies in each of the heavens are in perfect harmony, and are so conjoined by the Lord as to form the one universal heaven. The minds of the angels are also of three degrees, and the angels have their eternal homes in the first or ultimate heaven, in the second or middle heaven, in the third or highest heaven, according to the degree in which their interiors were opened by regeneration during their life in the natural world. And where their homes are (and the Lord provides for them all the blessings which a home implies), they are in the supreme enjoyment of their heavenly life in the doing of heavenly uses.

     The heavens are telling the glory of God, in the sense of the letter of the Word, and also, in a far more comprehensive manner, in the spiritual sense. The expression, "the glory of God," involves all things which are revealed concerning the Divine and the Infinite; thus all things that are taught by Revelation concerning the Lord, the Creator and Preserver of the universe,-all things which could possibly be revealed, and which can ever be known by man during his life in this world, concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, who, in His Divine Human, is the only God; moreover, that He is Love Itself and Wisdom Itself, and therefore Life Itself, the one infinite Source of life.

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For the existence of all finite beings, and of all material things, momentarily depends upon the sphere of influx from the Lord, the Creator and Sustainer of His marvelous works. And of this great truth of the "everlasting gospel," nothing is or can be known, except it be derived from the Writings of the New Church, either directly by a study of them, or by means of others who have received instruction in the doctrines on the subject.

     In what has just been said with reference to all things being ascribed to the Lord, the Infinite, there is given a mere intimation of the universals of the Divine Revelation to the church, concerning the manner in which the words can be understood, and the idea clearly defined, when it is said in the text that "The heavens are telling the glory of God, and the expanse showeth the work of His hands." In the universals are involved particulars, even to infinity; for every genuine truth is infinite and inexhaustible. To learn and apply the particulars, from and according to the spirit of the Heavenly Doctrines, will ever be an intellectual pleasure and a spiritual delight to all who can be led into the full acknowledgment of the Lord, and thus enter into the sphere of humility which is the state of the sincere worshiper of the Lord. And a state of humility on the part of man is one of the chief essentials in the course of the regenerate life, and of his preparation for his final home in the kingdom of the heavens.

     At this day, it is allowable to "enter intellectually into the mysteries of faith." Human reason, in itself, is of no avail in the consideration of spiritual matters. Self-intelligence in subjects of religion brings forth mere fanciful and fallacious notions at best. But the man of the Church now has the privilege of making legitimate use of the intellectual faculty of his mind, and of endeavoring to understand rationally the mysteries of the kingdom of God; and also of getting a comprehensive idea of the wonders presented in the realm of nature.

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As he goes forward in the path of life, which is illumined by the truth; as, from time to time in states of spiritual progress, he contemplates the sublime things of the heavens and the earth, his mind is more interiorly opened to appreciate the unspeakable blessings which the Lord, the Father of mercies, in His New Advent, has made possible for the children of men, and especially for the people of His Church, the New Jerusalem.

     The words of the text here suggest the important doctrine concerning the relation existing between the Word of God, the Divine Teacher, and the Works of God, the Divine Creator. The heavens are telling the glory of God, in a very real sense, in a most wonderful manner, in the immensity of the teaching which the Lord has revealed in the Writings of the New Church concerning the spiritual universe, and especially concerning the angelic heavens. And, as was intimated above, they are telling the marvelous story in plain human language, written by means of the Lord's faithful servant, Emanuel Swedenborg, by Divine inspiration. And it was done for the sake of the salvation of the human race, for the sake of the enlightenment of the minds of the men of the Church, to the end that their regeneration may be effected; and that thus it may be their blessed experience to enter more interiorly into the delights of intelligence and wisdom to eternity. And surely we have reason to hope that the Lord, who is establishing His Kingdom with men on the earth, will restrain the destructive forces of wickedness now flowing from the hells into the minds of the evil in this world; will so overrule the affairs of the nations as to make it possible, at least in the ages of the distant future, that there may be a Civilization founded upon the eternal principles of the genuine Christian Religion; that is, upon the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem.

     The Lord is the Word, and the Glory of the Lord, predicated of the Word, is the internal sense of the Word. Thus the internal or spiritual sense is the glory of the Lord, which, according to prophecy, was in due time to be revealed. And it has been revealed in the Writings of the New Church. To read devoutly, to study and to understand rationally, what the Lord teaches in the Writings, is to behold and to see the glory of the Lord. And it is those who apply the teaching directly to themselves, those who, from an affection of the truth, reject the prevailing falsities of religion, and are thereby purified of evils, concerning whom it is said: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." (Matt. 5:8.)

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     The great dome above all points of the horizon which forms the expanse of countless stars, visible on a clear night, is the most profoundly impressive appearance in nature. It is especially so to anyone who has some general knowledge of what the stars really are,-that they are suns, and therefore bodies of pure fire, of magnitudes so stupendous as to transcend the power of thought or the imagination. But the people of the former church, who have been in ignorance concerning the stars, and have known nothing about the spiritual sense of the Word, have, in their simplicity and blind faith, believed that some time, in an imaginary personal coming of Christ, the stars shall literally fall from heaven. The vague and absurd notions which people have held, and still cherish, concerning the life after they leave this world, and concerning heaven and where it is, are indicated by expressions which occur in some of the hymns sung in their worship, as for instance, the visionary idea of those who are saved having their mansions in the skies, and their homes beyond the stars.

     In a passage in the letter of the Word, in relation to the subject of our text, it is written: "The intelligent shall shine as the Brightness of the expanse, and they that justify many as the stars to an age of ages." (Daniel 12:3.) The explanation of the internal sense is: The "intelligent" are those who are in the truth and good of faith. They that "justify" are those who, by the truth and good of faith, lead to the good of charity. To "shine as the stars" is to be in the intelligence of truth and in the wisdom of good, and thence to be in eternal happiness. (A. C. 9263.) And it is revealed to us in the Doctrines that in the spiritual world there also appears a heavenly expanse full of stars, similar to that which we see in the natural world. This appearance is from the angelic societies in heaven. Each society there shines like a star to those who are below, that is, to those in the world of spirits, which is intermediate between the heavens above and the hells beneath. (A. R. 65.)

     It is a most comprehensive idea of New Church teaching that in the whole spiritual universe there are not only all things that exist in the illimitable natural universe, but innumerable more things, most of which are of such a nature that they cannot be described in any language of the people of this world. For what is spiritual and heavenly far surpasses in perfection and magnificence what is physical and material.

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In the spiritual world there are causes, derived immediately from the First Cause of all finite existences, from the Divine and the Infinite; whereas in the natural world there are ultimates consisting of effects. And these effects, which adorn and beautify the earth,-especially the things of the vegetable kingdom,-are formed by the gradual process of growth, which also, in fact, is miraculous. A wonderful thing to think of is what we are told concerning the degrees of light in the heavens,-that in the higher heavens the light from the Lord, who is the Sun of the spiritual world,-the Lord our God who, because He is the Eternal, the Omnipotent, is exalted in glory and majesty above all the heavens,-that the light from Him in the higher heavens exceeds a thousand times the noon-day light in the natural world!

     But to the mind of the devout student of the Divine Truth of the Word, the little and apparently insignificant things of nature are as admirable and worthy of consideration as the more imposing things. For the Divine in the least things and in the greatest is the same. Thus the Divine Providence is in the very least things, as well as in those that appear the most important. The production of the little flower in the garden could not be effected in the ultimates of nature, in the soil of the earth, except by virtue of the operation of the power of God, in the perpetual recreation of the earth itself. Neither could the earth exist, nor the other bodies of our universe, except by virtue of the solar center, the sun, which is the most perfect representation in nature of the Infinite, the Lord, the Divine Man, whose glorious habitation is in the Sun of the spiritual world, which is the proximate sphere of the Divine proceeding.

     When our thoughts are elevated in some measure above our ordinary natural states of life, by reflection from affection upon things spiritual and eternal; thus when we realize in some degree the imperfections of human nature, the limitations of our understanding of the knowledges, the doctrines and principles which have been revealed to man, and yet have an idea of the wonderful manifestations of the goodness of the Lord in the creation and preservation of the universe; then we cannot but be most deeply impressed by the import, both in the natural sense and in the spiritual sense, of the words: "When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars which Thou hast ordained, what is man that Thou rememberest, and the son of man that Thou visitest him." (Psalm 8:3 4.)

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     As there is now one God in the Church, in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone, in His Divine Human, is worthy to be worshiped by angels and men, the New Church is the crown of all the dispensations of the Church which have preceded it. And man is the crowning work, the completion, of the whole work of creation; that is, the man who is in the affection of truth and good, who thereby attains intelligence and wisdom in faith and life, is of the Church, and thus there is the formation of a heaven from the human race. We are taught in Revelation that when all things of the earth on the planes below man had been finished, then man was created, and into him were collated all things of Divine order from first to last. Thus man, by creation, was a form of Divine order, both as to his mental and his physical organization. But on account of the fall, and the utter perversion of that order by man's departure from it, and the origin of evils and falsities in consequence, he must now return to a state of order through the course of regeneration. The loves of his life, from being natural and sensual, must be entirely changed, must become Spiritual and heavenly. He then becomes truly a man, a heaven in the least form, and in the future life an angel of heaven. It seems appropriate to say a few words here concerning the New Christian Heaven, which was formed by the Lord after the Last Judgment had taken place in the year 1757. This Heaven is included in the heavens that are at this day "telling the glory of God." For it is this New Heaven with which the New Church on earth is in conjunction, and through which the holy city, the New Jerusalem, comes down from God out of heaven. The many interesting things which are revealed to us concerning this Heaven are "telling the glory of God," in the Story of the new redemption which the Lord mercifully performed at the Last Judgment. And it is on account of that great event, whereby beneficent changes for the better were effected, both in the spiritual world and in the natural, that there are so many glorifications of the Lord in the Word in the sense of the letter.

     The nations of the nominal Christian world are at this time, in many respects, in a very serious situation. But in the light of the Doctrines, the reasons are seen clearly. Evils and disorderly conditions have their origin in falsities of faith. The dogma of salvation by faith alone is primarily the cause of the appalling spiritual desolation which prevails in the Christian world in this age.

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As a consequence of this infernal falsity, together with that of the vicarious atonement, the precious principles of the Christian religion of love to the Lord and of charity towards the neighbor, have been rejected. The opposite loves of self and the world have almost universally prevailed for many centuries. The sad effect is that the people of the nations are not Christians, except in name only, at least to a very great extent. From worshiping a tripersonal God, and the persistent denial of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Divine Human as God, who has all power in the heavens and in the earths, and is therefore the Almighty, the people have "become as pagans, who have no religion." (A. R. 750.)

     But, in the light of the truth of the New Church, the remedy for the state of naturalism and agnosticism which has so generally supplanted Christianity at this day,-the reliable counteraction to this state,-is clearly seen to be in the practical affirmation of a few simple propositions. Thus, in so far as the people of the world will reject falsities of religion, and will receive the genuine truths of the Word, and will live accordingly, they will become Christians. For, by so doing from an affection of things spiritual and heavenly, the people will, in sincerity of heart, acknowledge the Lord as the only Divine. They will rejoice that it has become possible for them to acquire, in the degree of their capacity of reception, intelligence and wisdom concerning the things of heaven and the Church, in the blessed privilege of having a rational faith in the genuine doctrines of the Christian Religion. And this because, in the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem, the Lord has given, for the sake of the salvation of the human race, a Divine Revelation, in which the heavens are, and for evermore shall be, telling the glory of God; and by which, through all the ages, the expanse will show, in ever greater fullness, perfection and beauty, the marvelous works of His hands. Amen.

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SOME REPRESENTATIVE EVENTS AT THE LORD'S BIRTH 1921

SOME REPRESENTATIVE EVENTS AT THE LORD'S BIRTH       Rev. ALBERT BJORCK       1921

     (An Address delivered at the celebration of Swedenborg's Birthday, Peckham Rye, London, 1921.)

     The law of life is unalterable. It is the law of the Lord, who is the only Life. It is the Word from the beginning. The Word is with God, and God is the Word.

     In making the law of life known to men, the Lord gives the Word to them. The Word in its externals is accommodated to the states of men living in the world. It teaches the law of life in ways that they can understand and obey; it is the doctrine of life. Within the Word in externals-the doctrine accommodated to man's state, and given through the instrumentality of men-is the Word as it is in the heavens.

     "By the Divine Law, which Moses represents, is meant the Word such as it is in the internal sense, thus such as it is in the heavens; but by doctrine is meant the Word such as it is in its literal sense, thus such as it is on earth." (A. C. 7089.)

     "The law from the Divine, which is the internal of the church, is also the Word in the internal sense; and the doctrine thence is the Word in the external sense." (A. C. 7231.)

     The doctrine taught to men in the letter corresponds to and agrees with the Divine Law within. When men misinterpret the doctrine, so that the teaching of the church no longer agrees with the Divine Law, the church external does not agree with the church internal. The church on earth is not then in agreement with the church in the heavens; it is spiritually dead.

     Then the truths of heaven must be given to men in a new form,- new Revelation of the internal Word, accommodated to a new state of receptivity, judging the falsities, restoring the true meaning of the letter of the former Revelation, and giving additional truths in the letter of the new Revelation, which in the former could not be stated because human instruments failed, truths guiding men's minds toward a more perfect conjunction with heaven.

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The inner teaching is the same in all Revelations of Divine Truth; the external differs with the receptive capacity of men.

     The Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem is the last Revelation of the Word to men. It teaches the same truths that the former Revelations of the Word contain, but adapted to a deeper, more comprehensive, a rational and spiritual faculty of understanding. Its external form, or its literal sense, is in the most intimate conjunction with the Divine Law which is in heaven-the Word by which the heavens are created. Whereas in the former Revelations the inner teaching of the Divine Law was accommodated and conveyed to men through correspondential signs, symbols, and accounts of occurrences and events, thus indirectly, it is given in the New Revelation directly in and through the very words of the Writings.

     The Divine Law, the Word of God which creates the heavens, and which is the Lord in the heavens, can never be revealed in a form accommodated to the senses of men living in nature, so that it can be heard as spoken words, or read in written or printed words and sentences, except through the instrumentality of men living in the world. In this view, Revelation is always mediate. But in the New Revelation to those who will be of the Lord's New Church, the Heavenly Doctrine-the Divine Truth as it is in the heavens-is set forth in words and sentences which, on the plane of natural life, immediately represent that truth. We have no need to look for an internal meaning behind and separate from the literal sense. "That at this day such immediate revelation exists, is because that is what is meant by the coming of the Lord." (H. H. 1, end.)

     Such immediate revelation of Divine Truth could not have been given unless the human instrument had been prepared in a very special way, and unless, by means of this preparation, or in connection with it, he had gone through spiritual experiences which made him singularly open to the influx of truth from the Lord, to receive it directly in his own rational understanding, and to clothe it in words by which it could be conveyed to the rational understandings of other men, or, in other words, become the instrument by which the Lord as Divine Truth could again be born in the world of men.

     This fact has given rise to some thoughts in my mind on the events connected with the Lord's birth in a human nature like ours, as they are recorded in the letter of the Word, and their correspondence with the spiritual preparation and activity of Swedenborg, as the human means for the Lord's Second Coming.

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     We are taught in a general way that the events described in the Gospel accounts in connection with the Lord's birth represent the spiritual realities operating at the Lord's Second Coming. The genealogies given in Matthew and Luke, the annunciation of Gabriel to Zacharias and Mary, and the birth of John the Baptist, all represent spiritual things connected with the Lord's First and Second Advents. And therefore we may think of all these personalities and events as representative of spiritual factors and experiences in Swedenborg's life, preparing him for his office as the servant of the Lord, the one through whom the Divine Truth has been given to men. For thus the Lord, as He is in the heavens, has been made manifest, and is present with men, speaking to them by means of human words that can be received by the spiritual-rational understandings of human beings, and guide them into all truth.

     We know that Joseph was supposed to be the father of Jesus, and that most men in these last days of the Christian Church, so regard him. We know, also, that a corresponding error is widespread in these days of the New Church, among those who claim to be of the Church. Those who deny that the Writings in which the Lord has made His Second Coming are the Word of the Lord, who do not see that the Lord in His Divine Human is in those Writings, and speaks to men through them, such regard Swedenborg as the father of the truth revealed in them. And we hear them speak about the "works of that great man Swedenborg," as if his human intellect and rationality had produced them. The impotence of the rational mind to do this, even when it possesses a true understanding of the teaching given in the letter of the Word to the Christian Church, and also divines that there is a deeper meaning within that letter; the impotence of the rational mind even so to beget and bring forth spiritual truth-truth about the spiritual world and life there, and truth about the Lord in the heavens-is quite evident in Swedenborg's own case.

     Among his unpublished manuscripts a fragment was found, entitled "Faith and Good Works." Evidently it had been written some time between 1740 and 1743, that is, shortly before his introduction into the spiritual world, and when his rational and divinatory mind had reached its perfection.

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At the end of that document, which I shall return to later in another connection, he says: "Faith without works is a phrase involving a contradiction, in which the predicate ignores the subject; it is the supposing of something from nothing, or of the possible from the impossible; it is a distinction inadmissible in this life. In the future life, love to God may be said to exist without the performance of the duties of love to the neighbor. True; but in this case, love and faith are not considered as saving, since the soul is already saved or condemned; and all the means, which are the exercises of love towards the neighbor, are taken away, because the body, which is the subject of action, is extinct." (Psychological Transactions, p. 18; Posthumous Tracts, p. 15.)

     Here we see that all his knowledge of nature, all his wonderful faculty of analytical reasoning, and all his true understanding of the teaching of the letter of the Word, was absolutely impotent to beget a true idea of life in the heavens, or to give birth to the knowledge that spirits have a body, a perfect instrument for their love of use in the performance of the duties of love to the neighbor. This and all other truths on the purely spiritual plane of life, could come to his knowledge only through revelation from the Lord; and for that purpose he was introduced into the spiritual world.

     I think of that experience in Swedenborg's life as corresponding to the spiritual reality represented in the Gospel's account of Gabriel's annunciation to Mary. And that in his spiritual experience which corresponds to the conception of the Divine Life to be born on earth, I see in his reception of` the truth that Jesus Christ is the Lord of heaven and earth and one with the Father, which was revealed to him in heaven, and by the Lord while he read the Word, The actual birth into the world would then correspond to the publication of the first volume of the Arcana Coelestia. For he begins the revelation of the spiritual sense of the first chapter of Genesis with these words:-"In the following pages, by the Lord is meant the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ; and He is called Lord without other names. He is acknowledged and adored as Lord in the whole heaven, because all power is His in the heavens and on the earth." (A. C. 14.)

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     The genealogies have always been a stumbling block to students of the Scriptures within the Christian Church. Both give the ancestry of Joseph, though the Christian faith prohibits men from thinking of Joseph as the father of Jesus. The one in Matthew commences with Abraham, and traces the descent to Joseph; while the one in Luke starts with Joseph, and traces his ancestors upwards, not stopping with Abraham, but going on through Seth and Adam to God. Besides, the two genealogies do not agree, except in the names between Abraham and David. And some commentators have inferred that the genealogy in Luke; despite its own declaration, gives the ancestors of Mary, while that in Matthew is what it claims to be.

     In the light given to the New Church, the mystery can be solved. Mary represents the affection of truth in the will of man, and this is not born of man. It is born in us by the Lord Himself; it is the remains of His Life in us; it is His own in man's spirit,-that to which He can come as Divine Truth, can unite with, and through which His Divine Life can become manifest on the natural plane of life. "The virgin from which He was born signifies the Church as to the affection of truth." (De Just. 65.) Joseph represents the remains of a true understanding of the Word in the consummated Church,-that understanding which should be united with the love of truth from the Lord in men, and which can become so united when the New Revelation has been made, and which protects and fosters the new-born truth conjointly with the mother. Thus the genealogy in Matthew, beginning with Abraham and ending in Joseph, represents the true understanding of the external or letter of the Word remaining within the specific Church from the time of its beginning; while the genealogy in Luke, beginning with Joseph and ending with God, represents the remains of understanding in the will implanted in the days of innocent childhood, and preserved with some in the Church for the time of the Lord's coming.

     The true understanding of the Word, internal and external, which remained in the Christian Church, was, so to speak, personified in Swedenborg. By home influences in childhood and subsequent experiences, which, in the Lord's Providence, all served as a preparation, those remains were added to and perfected, His understanding of the letter of the Word became as true as was possible before the inner meaning was revealed to him, before his rational and analytical faculties were developed in preparation for his work as the Lord's servant, and his human understanding became espoused to the affection of truth in his will.

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And this love of truth-Mary in him-was brought into such a state of potency that heaven could be opened to him, so that he could receive the Holy Spirit of Truth from the Lord, and after that, when he read the Word, receive the Revelation from the Lord directly. His knowledges, his intellect and rationality, could then become the servant of the Lord in giving to the New Revelation a receptacle of natural words and sentences, through which the Lord in His Divine Human could be manifest, and come to others ready to receive Him.

     The works published by Swedenborg during different periods of his life, as well as the unpublished diaries and documents which have been preserved, all aid us to follow the development of his mind, to see how his knowledges increased and widened to embrace new fields, and how his analytical faculty and power of judgment grew. We can see how the subjects he deals with were becoming more and more interior, until all his intellectual and rational powers were espoused to the search for the soul of man and spiritual truth. In a measure, also, we can trace the Lord's work, leading him through the remains and preparing him for his crowning work.

     Let me here introduce a quotation from the Doctrine of Faith, which I think will help us in our thoughts on this subject:

     "Good is nothing else than use; charity, therefore, in its first origin is the affection of use; and since use loves the means, the affection of use produces an affection for the means, and from this comes cognition of them; and through these in their series the affection of use has existence, and becomes charity." (no. 14.) "Their progression is just like the progression of all things of the will through the understanding into acts in the body. The will produces nothing from itself without the understanding; nor does the understanding produce anything by itself without the will: they must act in conjunction, in order that anything may exist. Or, what is the same, affection, which is of the will, produces nothing from itself except by means of thought, which is of the understanding; nor the reverse; they must act in conjunction, in order that anything may exist." (no. 15.)

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     When the remains of truth in the understanding work in conjunction with the remains of affection in the will, both are developed and strengthened, and prepared to receive higher truths. We have already seen that the virgin from whom the Lord was born into the world represents the love of truth, which is born in man's will by the Lord alone in man's pre-natal state. There are also affections for good and truth of a more external kind, implanted during childhood by the influence of the Church, and in the memory through education. And such remains, we may infer, are represented by Zacharias and Elizabeth.

     The name Zacharias means Remembrance of Jehovah, and Elizabeth means God is Swearer, that is, God has made a covenant. Both were of the priestly tribe of Levi; and the function of the Levites was mainly to keep alive the remembrance of Jehovah among the people through worship, and to instruct them regarding the conduct of life enjoined by the Covenant with Jehovah. The Gospel tells us that they were both "righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

     Zacharias, the man, has reference to something of the understanding; and "remembrance of Jehovah" in the act of teaching is connected with and rests upon the memory in the understanding. Elizabeth, the woman, has reference to some affection, and, akin to Mary, she represents the affection for truth, and thus for good conduct in life; or rather, for the good in an orderly conduct, the result of instruction in the laws and ordinances of the Covenant with God; and therefore she was of the daughters of Aaron. Truly united with "Remembrance of Jehovah," both are "righteous before God." They represent a worship and conduct which, though they may appear barren of spiritual results, (yea, as a matter of tradition and habit only), yet are of God, and in the Lord's appointed time can conceive and bring forth to life genuine repentance from evil as sin against God, the repentance represented by John the Baptist.

     In Swedenborg's life, the remains of a true understanding of the Word did work in conjunction with remains of affection for truth and good. We can see how the remains of a love of good or use from the Lord was the impelling force seeking the means for being of use; and by this search, the remains of truth in his understanding were preserved and developed.

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     In the earlier period of his manhood-that spent chiefly in mathematical and engineering work-the love of use which produced in him such an insatiable thirst for knowledge was evidently accompanied with a good portion of the natural man's desire for recognition and approval of men. But that the love of use was the first origin of his search for knowledge, and his application of it in activity, is quite evident from this fact alone, that failure in getting the approval and honor from men never deterred him from going on with the work he felt called upon to do by his love of use. And that love became steadily of a more spiritual kind, calling on his understanding to unite with it, and directing it always more inwardly toward the Lord and heaven.

     The annunciation of Gabriel to Zacharias, previous to the annunciation to Mary, must have had its corresponding counterpart in the preparation of Swedenborg. If the annunciation to Mary be considered as representative of his introduction to the spiritual world, this spiritual experience must come before that time. And the birth of John must have its counterpart in Swedenborg before the actual publication of the New Revelation.

     From what we know of Bishop Swedberg, Swedenborg's father, through his own diary and the testimony of contemporary men, we understand that he was an opponent to the doctrine of faith alone, which had triumphed in all Protestant countries. He seems to have been open to influence from the spiritual world in a very peculiar way, which also prevented the false doctrines built upon the idea of three Divine persons from entering deeply into his own mind, and from instilling them into the minds of his children. His veneration for the Holy Scriptures, and his belief in them as the very Word of God, was strong; and we see that belief expressed by Swedenborg during all the different periods of his life.

     That Swedenborg was instructed in his father's home from childhood about the conduct of life demanded by the Word of God, and taught "the remembrance of Jehovah," and thus to worship Him, is evident. With the light we have on the condition of the Church at the time, we may well conclude that the priestly home of Swedenborg's childhood was peculiarly fitted to give him instruction which produced in him a real affection for good conduct of life united with a living remembrance of God, following him all through his life, although for a long period it seemed barren of spiritual fruit.

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     At a ripe old age, Swedenborg had occasion to write some account of his early youth in a letter to Dr. Beyer in Gothenburg,-one of the very first receivers of the Heavenly Doctrine in Sweden. What he there says is of great interest as a testimony of the religious instruction and influence he received in his father's home. "From my fourth to my tenth year," he says, "I was constantly engaged in thought about God, salvation and the spiritual affections of men; and several times I revealed things at which my father and mother wondered, saying that angels must be speaking through me. From my sixth to my twelfth year, I used to delight in conversing with clergymen about faith, saying that the life of faith is love, and that the love that imparts life is love to the neighbor; also that God gives faith to every one, but that only those receive it who practice that love. I knew of no other faith at that time than that God is the Creator and Preserver of nature, that He imparts understanding and a good disposition to men, and several other things that follow thence. I knew nothing at that time of the learned faith which teaches that God the Father imputes the righteousness of the Son to whomsoever, and at such times, as He chooses, even to those who have not repented, and have not reformed their lives. And had I heard of such a faith, it would have been, as it is now, above my comprehension." (Documents, Vol. II, p. 279.)

     After leaving the University in early manhood, Swedenborg, to all appearance, ceased from religious speculations and inquiries, devoting his entire time for years to the pursuit of knowledge that could make him useful as a practical engineer and metallurgist. But we may be sure that the affection for good and orderly conduct in life in agreement with the Word of God, and the remembrance of the Lord, never left him during those extremely busy years, taken up with procuring the means through which his love of use could come out and show itself on the natural plane of life, imbibing knowledge of mathematics, metals, magnetism and kindred subjects, and in giving the results to the world in published books and pamphlets, and in the performance of practical work. His rules of life, found among his documents, and familiar to all New Churchmen, as well as his own diaries, prove this.

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And so does his father, who, when Swedenborg was over forty years of age, wrote of him in his diary as follows:

     "Emanuel, my son's name, signifies 'God with us,' a name which should constantly remind him of the nearness of God, and of that interior, holy and mysterious connection in which, through faith, we stand with our good and gracious God: and blessed be the Lord's name: God has to this hour been with him, and may God further be with him, until he is eternally united with Him in His Kingdom."

     This entry also aids us to see how Swedenborg, in the home of his childhood, had implanted in him not only the more external remains represented by the genealogy in Matthew, by Zacharias and Elizabeth, but also the more interior remains of understanding in the will, represented by the genealogy in Luke, which establish "that interior, holy and mysterious connection in which, through faith, we stand with our good and gracious God."

     Later, when Swedenborg turned to philosophical and psychological explorations, we see how the thoughts on which he dwelt so much in his childhood come back and demand more and more of his attention, until he gives up everything else. With a matured highly developed rational mind, he now reads the Word of God, and his understanding of the genuine truths of the letter grows.

     The fragment, "Faith and Good Works," from which I have already quoted, gives ample evidence of the fact that at that time he read, cogitated upon and studied the Holy Scriptures, and in the light therefrom subjected the tenets of the Church in which he had been brought up to scrutiny and criticism. He clearly sees the falsity of the most commonly preached tenet of the Protestant churches, the doctrine of faith alone, the denunciation of which takes such a prominent place in the New Revelation, later given through him.

     "There can be no doubt," he says, "that it is faith which saves, and not works separate from faith; but where there is a possibility of doing good works, the question is, whether faith will save without them, according to the dogma of the Lutherans. We reply that the affirmative seems compatible neither with the Divine Word of Revelation, nor with human reason; both of which lead rather to the conclusion, that faith without works is a nullity; and were it anything, would condemn, not save."

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     And again, "Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, says that it is faith that saves, and not actions, meaning thereby, not actions without faith; but Luther, in his translation of the Bible, has added to the words of the apostle, "faith without works," though the latter phrase is not found in the sacred text; and I believe that Luther never committed a greater sin than when he made that interpolation: but God be the Judge." (Posthumous Tracts, p. 9, 10.)

     His great work, The Animal Kingdom, shows in still clearer light how his mind, in and through his labors in acquiring the means by which his love of use could come into existence in act, had grown in inductive and divinatory power, until it had grasped the fact that there is a correspondence between the natural world and the spiritual, between the body and the soul, and had worked out a doctrine of series, degrees and correspondences. Thus his mind, under the leading of the Lord, had, on the natural and spiritual-natural plane, reached a state of perfection that was necessary before he could become the servant of the Lord in giving to men a New Revelation of Divine Truth, in which is the Lord Himself in His Divine Human, and through which He can come to men, and be seen, acknowledged and received by them.

     The opening of Swedenborg's spiritual senses was a gradual process, and commenced with dreams. A diary, in which many of these dreams have been recorded, has been preserved. In it, we can follow his attempts to understand the meaning of the dreams, and through many things there said we get glimpses of remarkable states which his spirit had to pass through, before he could be introduced into the spiritual world, able to observe and study the laws of life there, and become the means for the New Revelation of the Lord to be given to men. He learned constantly through these experiences, and learned willingly, to disabuse himself of things that stood in the way of the Lord's coming more fully to him.

     At this time, he was diligently working on the great work, Regnum Animale; but he became gradually conscious of the fact that the Lord wanted him for another and higher work. In an entry, dated 6=7 April, 1744, we read: "I have now learned in spiritual things, that the sum of all is to humble oneself, and to desire nothing else, save the mercy of Christ." In the entry for the following two days he says: "Whilst I was in the spirit I strove to know how I might avoid all that was impure; yet I marked how the impure on all occasions thrust itself forward. . . .

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For instance, if any person did not regard me according to my own estimate, I discovered that I always thought in myself, 'Ah, if you only knew what grace I have, you would act otherwise.' This was at once impure, and had self-love for its root. When I found this out, I prayed to God for forgiveness."

     In these and many other similar entries, we may see the evidence of a spiritual experience coming into his life, which we well can think of as corresponding to the annunciation of Gabriel to Zacharias, and the conception from genuine truth of real and living repentance, that repentance, or "turning," which John the Baptist represents, and which is the forerunner of the Lord, making the way straight for Him. The actual birth of John into the world would then represent the truth of the literal sense of the Word regarding repentance, published in some work earlier than the first volume of the Arcana, which heralds the birth into the world of the Lord in His Divine Human. But this work on repentance I am not at present prepared to place.

     Through the entries in his dream book, we can perceive how Swedenborg's love of use was directed more and more definitely to purely spiritual ends in the Lord's service. We can, indeed, see this evidenced, though more obscurely, in his lifelong readiness to leave the pursuit of one kind of work as soon as a higher presented itself as the more important. In the dream book we can also see how that which clung to him from his proprium was gradually removed, until, with entire sincerity, he could say with Mary, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word."

     The fact that Mary was betrothed to Joseph has its corresponding reality in Swedenborg's spiritual growth. We can see this in his philosophical writings, from the Principia and the Infinite to the Economy of the Animal Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom, in his striving, there becoming more and more evident, to unite his human reason with, and in a service of, a use which ever takes on a more interior quality. In and through all his preparatory work, and most fully through the dreams that heralded his introduction to the spiritual world, his love of use-Mary-became more and more purified.

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And as he came to feel more and more strongly that the Lord called him to a work higher than any he had before attempted, he also felt that his knowledges and understanding were totally inadequate for it. Mary's words, "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" are almost re-echoed in the entry of Swedenborg in his dream book, under the date of 12 = 13 Oct., 1744: "I saw in a vision fine bread presented to me. It is a sign that the Lord Himself will instruct me, since I have now for the first time come into the condition, that I know nothing, and all preconceived judgments are taken away from me. This is the beginning of instruction, namely, first to be a child, and so be nursed up in knowledge. Such is now my case."

     When he had been permitted to enter into the spiritual world, with all the senses of his spirit awake and active, he acquired knowledge of "what the angels think;" and by the direct instruction from the Lord, when he read the Word, he was shown that "what an angel thinks is the truth, because the light that illuminates his understanding is the Divine Wisdom." (D. L. W. 71.)

     Then the Divine Truth of the Divine Love could be received by the pure love of use in him for the work devolving on him as the Servant of the Lord, and the manifestation of the truth that is the Lord with men could be conceived. And when the living truth of the Lord had been conceived in the womb of his pure affection of truth and love of use, it was shown him that his own rational understanding must be united with that love of use from the Lord, and the former hesitation to employ the human reason in connection with "the holy things of Theology" departed. "Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife."

     Only so could the manifestation of the Divine Truth, in which the Lord Himself as Infinite Love dwells, and who is the life thereof, be clothed, protected from foes, and grow in stature and grace to perform its work for the salvation of men. "It behooved Him to be born from the virgin in legitimate marriage with Joseph." (De Just. 65.)

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Editorial Department 1921

Editorial Department       Editor       1921


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                    Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Rev. W. H. Alden, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address and business communications should be sent to the Business Manager.

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
One Year                $3.00 payable in advance
Single Copy          30 cents
     A QUESTION OF FORM AND SUBSTANCE.

     THE NEW AGE (Australia) for January, 1921, replies to our editorial remarks in the LIFE for November, 1920. Referring to our "astonishment that THE NEW AGE, or anyone else in the church, should be misled by the preposterous claim that any deep significance attaches to the capitalized common nouns in Latin editions of the Writings," the Editor says:

     "That THE NEW AGE has succeeded in evoking interest in our friends of the Academy is matter of congratulation. It shows a healthy interest on both sides in spiritual verities. Though we do not accept altogether the criticism of the Bryn Athyn Magazine, we are grateful for it as a means of clarifying our own thought on the subjects dealt with. The subject this time is Mr. McGeorge's book. With all due respect to our critic, we prefer to assume, with Mr. McGeorge, that Swedenborg looked after the typography of his published works as scrupulously as he selected his words and phrases: This, however, is a question of fact."

     We may here be permitted to call our friend's attention to the evidence in the case, as set forth in Tafel's Documents:

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     "Whatever Swedenborg wrote was printed from his own manuscript, and he never needed the help of an amanuensis. His handwriting was difficult to read when he became older; but he said to me: 'the Dutch printers read my handwriting as easily as the English.' There is one thing to be observed with regard to most of his spiritual writings, that the proof-sheets were corrected very badly, so that errata occur very often; the cause of this, he said, was that the printer had undertaken the proof-reading, as well as the printing." (Robsahm's Memoirs, Documents, Vol. I, p. 43.)

     This accounts for the numerous typographical errors in the first Latin edition of the Arcana Coelestia. The Editor of the Documents compared this edition with the first draught of the Arcana (still preserved in Stockholm), and declares that "none of these errors occur in the copy written by Swedenborg's own hand; wherefore they must be regarded as having been introduced by the printer, and not by the author." (Documents, Vol. III, p. 977.) Nor do the capitals in question occur in the original manuscript.

     But THE NEW AGE continues:

     "If LIFE'S thesis that the capitals were placed there by the printer could be proved correct, by the production of the 'copy' from which the printer set the works, LIFE would be confronted with a dilemma. It maintains that the Writings are 'the Word of the Lord.' If they were that Word when handed to the printer, would they be in no way affected by the liberty taken with them by the man of types! Is it credible that Swedenborg-a most careful and methodical man-would display any such carelessness? But even if the incredible could be established, Mr. McGeorge's main contention would not in our opinion be greatly affected. . . ."

     In the face of this conclusion, we can hardly expect to clarify our friend's thought further on the subject of the capitals. We are unable to Perform the "incredible" and produce the "copy" sent to the printer. It is for those who hold the notion to Prove that Swedenborg inserted in the second draught the capitals which are lacking in the first draught, still preserved. Also, to show why the Apocalypse Explained is used to substantiate the theory, when yet the capitals do not occur in the manuscript, nor in the Latin edition, which Swedenborg did not publish. That the whole idea is a pure invention, unworthy of consideration by any serious student of the Writings, was clearly shown a few years ago, when the Rev. J. F. Buss undertook to examine and refute the scheme in THE NEW-CHURCH QUARTERLY (October, 1918), to which we would refer any of our readers who are interested in the matter.

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     We would indeed be in a "dilemma" if we were to base our belief in the Writings as the Lord's Word upon the verbal accuracy of the original editions, as set up by the printers without Swedenborg's having seen the proofs. Those who cannot recognize their Divine contents will be disturbed by the numerous errors made by the printer. Only the higher critics, buried in the dust of textual forms, would apply such a test to the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, with their innumerable editions, versions, and variant readings. Yet, through ages of vicissitude, a marvelous Providence has preserved the Scriptures for the use of the New Church, that the Lord might reveal to this Church wherein their Divinity lies-namely, in their internal sense, "not one iota of which can be opened but by the Lord alone." (Inv. 44.)

     No, the Scriptures are not the Word because of their verbal perfection, but because of their Divine contents,-their substance rather than their form. Nor are the Writings the Word because of any literal perfection, but because of their Divine contents-because of the Divine Truth therein, received by Swedenborg "from the mouth of the Lord alone." (De Verbo 13; Coronis 18; Invitation 38.) A "word" is something spoken. And the Lord speaks to the man who reads the Writings,-to the man who "has ears to hear," who is willing to set aside his own intelligence, as Swedenborg did, and acknowledge that it is Divine Truth from the Lord, spoken through Swedenborg as truly as He spake the Gospel, as truly as He spake the Law and the Prophets. Is the Divine Truth of the Writings any less the Lord's speaking, any less the Lord's Word, because it is addressed to the rational, and not, like the Testaments, to the natural and sensual planes of the mind?



     In another article of the same number, the Editor of THE NEW AGE argues against our contention that the Writings are the Word, and in conclusion adheres to his belief "that the Word of Lord is unique, and does not divide its glory with the works of any expositor, not even with those of the Divinely-enlightened Seer, who, we are convinced, would be shocked and indignant, could be hear of such a claim."

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Against this belief and conviction, and against the reasonings of the article as a whole, we feel it is of little avail to argue. The subject has been frequently considered in our pages; and we find, for the most part, that those who do not see the Writings as we see them are not moved by argument. For example, commenting upon our statement, "That these Writings are the Lord Himself in His Second Advent, revealed in His Divine Human to the men of the New Church," the article states: "Assuredly if the Writings are the Lord, made manifest to the rational faculty of man, they are also the Word." But it then proceeds to invalidate this plain concept by reasoning that "the whole" of the spiritual sense was not revealed in the Writings." Swedenborg carefully guards against the impression that his works are a complete revelation of the internal sense of the Word. Indeed, he tells us plainly that any such revelation is impossible. The Word is infinite, our minds are finite. By virtue of correspondence, godly men and women, once acquainted with its laws, may educe ever fresh meanings, as it were, of their own. Every such interpretation, even those given us by Swedenborg, is but a facet, so to speak, of the inexhaustible light ever proceeding from the Sun of Heaven, by and through the Word,"-namely, the Word of the Old and New Testaments.

     Departing thus from the high conception that the Lord revealed Himself in the Writings, we are reasoned into the narrow idea that the Writings are but an "interpretation," such as any godly man and woman may educe-"once acquainted with the laws," which, however, are revealed by the Lord Himself in the Writings!

     Again, if the "Word is infinite," how can it be contained in the Scriptures, which alone our friend would hold to be "the Word"? We agree that the Word Itself is Infinite and Eternal, and cannot be wholly contained in books. Yet, is it not proper to say that the whole of the Word is in the Old Testament, that the whole of the Word is in the New Testament, that the whole of the Word is in the Writings, because the Lord Himself is inmostly there? Even as it is said that "the whole of the Lord, and the-whole of His redemption, is in the Holy Supper." (T. C. R. 716.) Would our friend hold that the Gospel is not the Word because every detail of the Lord's life on earth is not recorded there?-according to the words of John: "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written." (21:25.)

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     In connection with the foregoing concerning Swedenborg's London printer, John Lewis, who brought out the first edition of the Arcana Coelestia, our readers will find interest in the testimony preserved in Tafel's Documents, Vol. 11, pp. 492-499. In the Spiritual Diary, also, there is a reference to "Levi, the typographer" (evidently "Lewis, the printer"), and it is said that, in the other life, he "believed himself to be sincere and true, when, nevertheless, he was insincere and false; wherefore, he was driven away." (5987.) Whether this has reference to his poor proof-reading, or his fondness for capitals, we are not prepared to say.
WOMEN AS PREACHERS 1921

WOMEN AS PREACHERS       Editor       1921

     We quote from an editorial on the subject of "Women as Preachers," which appeared in THE NEW-CHURCH HERALD (London) for April 9, 1921:

     "I observe that our correspondents who write emphatically against the idea of women preaching rely principally for their argument upon a much-quoted passage in Swedenborg's Spiritual Diary. They fail to point out that this work was not Published by Swedenborg. It was a private document, a record of experiences and conclusions never intended for the public gaze, and, except by a very few, it is not accepted by the mass of New Church students as authoritative. We value the work as an indication of the development of Swedenborg's thought and illumination, but we do not consider it as being beyond criticism. The doctrine and philosophy of the New Church are not drawn from the Spiritual Diary, but from the works which Swedenborg himself gave to the world. As a matter of fact, it is a grave injustice to an author to publish, as authoritative declarations, so many jottings and personal conclusions set down for his own guidance. And to attribute such to the Lord, and declare that they are His Word, as a few are disposed to do, is nothing short of an indignity.

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     "It does seem from paragraph 5936 in The Spiritual Diary that Swedenborg held the opinion that women given to Preaching lose the feminine nature. I do not know if Swedenborg had actual facts before him upon which to found his opinion. But opinion it was, no more. And we have every reason to respect his opinion, even if we do not agree with it. But if we conclude with him that he held the right view of the matter, so far as preaching is concerned, we must, again to be logical, go farther and entirely discourage our women-folk from thinking on religious matters at all; for, says he, in the paragraph mentioned, "Women who think about religious things like men. . .lose their feminine nature." How women can think about religious matters except as men do, I am at a loss to understand. If they are to think about them differently from men, they must be rigidly excluded from our various meetings; and if we go that length, which would be absurd, our church as at present organized would go to bits. We are doing all we can to enlist women as thinkers; we are urgent to indoctrinate them; and if they cannot give us a reason for the faith that is in them, we are sorry for them. Our appeal to the ladies is to their intelligence, and it will be a bad job for us when it is otherwise. I think Swedenborg was napping when he wrote that note, or else that he, too, was prejudiced by the current attitude towards women. Anyway, in searching for such a doctrine in his published works, which come under a higher category, I can find no mention of it."

     We content ourselves with the comment that the status of the Spiritual Diary is another "question of substance and form." Irrespective of its form, those who have read and studied the Diary for years have found it of the same "substance" as the published works, which, therefore, they would not place in a "higher category." Indeed, the form of the Diary has a character and quality peculiarly its own, being the record of spiritual experiences and doctrinal truths, set down day by day as they were, still fresh in mind. A large part of the Diary was transcribed for use in the published works. That it was all "from the Lord alone" is solemnly declared in No. 1647.

     A rational view of the subject of the woman preacher does not rest upon one passage alone, though we believe the teaching in Diary 5936 is the Divinely revealed truth of the matter, which, therefore, is confirmed by the whole range of doctrine bearing upon the respective functions and offices of men and women.

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As against "Swedenborg's opinion," one man's opinion is as good as another's. But if we are to seek for the truth of Divine Revelation, we must institute a comparison of passages covering the whole subject, and set them in order under universals of doctrine. We fear that the Editor of the HERALD, in his "searching for such a doctrine in the published works," has overlooked many important teachings, such as those listed in Pott's Concordance under Female and Woman.
GERRIT BARGER 1921

GERRIT BARGER       Editor       1921

     BORN AT AMSTERDAM, JANUARY 17, 1846-DIED AT THE HAGUE, APRIL 9, 1921.

     For nearly forty years the zealous champion of the New Church in Holland, laboring incessantly to win men to an acceptance of the Heavenly Doctrines, lecturing, translating, holding services, Mr. Gerrit Barger lived to see his efforts crowned with the definite prospect of a resident pastor for the circle of receivers at The Hague.

     Long friendly to the views of the General Church, we find in the LIFE for 1907 his "Plea for the Authority of the Writings," and later in the same year "A Solemn Protest" against the attacks upon the Academy. As early as 1884, Bishop Benade and Mr. John Pitcairn had visited him at The Hague, but it was not until 1913 that his first report was made to the General Assembly. In August, 1917, the Bishop authorized him to lecture and to lead in Divine worship.

     We are indebted to the Misses Bertha and Mary Barger for the following details of their father's life:

     He always spoke in high terms of praise of his mother as a devout God-fearing woman. Of his two sisters and three brothers, only one brother became a member of the New Church.

     He studied civil engineering in Holland, and also did practical work in bridge building. Continuing his studies in Germany, he traveled along the Rhine, working in various factories for the sake of the experience.

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On the outbreak of the war of 1870, he went to Manchester, England, where he was employed with a firm of locomotive makers.

     Reared in the Dutch Reformed Church, his one idea on leaving home was to uphold the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, whatever form his religion might take. On reaching Manchester, and when trying to settle upon a regular place of worship, he was advised by an acquaintance, not himself a New Churchman, to visit the Church of the New Jerusalem, where some lectures were being delivered by the Rev. John Hyde. This he did, and soon perceived that he had found the truth he had been seeking. After the first difficulties in accepting the new doctrines, he became a regular attendant at the services in Manchester, and the Rev. Mr. Meek took a Personal interest in him, inviting him to his home, where he met Miss Higginbotham, a niece of Mr. Meek's, to whom, he was married on June 19th, 1877

     Moving to Vienna about two years later, because he longed to exchange the fog of Manchester for sunshine and blue skies, Mr. Barger here joined the New Church Circle which was under the ministrations of Pastor Goerwitz, of Zurich. Under the Austrian law, their meetings could only be held under the supervision of a policeman, but in course of time this official himself became interested and joined the Church. From 1881 to 1884, Mr. and Mrs. Barger and their small family lived in Germany, and then settled in Holland. Here began Mr. Barger's missionary efforts in his native land: for wherever he went he took a lively interest in such efforts, being what Mr. Acton would call a "button-hole New-Churchman." He at once made arrangements for Mr. Goerwitz to deliver lectures in German at The Hague, and assisted the London Swedenborg Society in distributing copies of The True Christian Religion among theological students. At this time he made a diligent search for the missing copy of the Brief Exposition, upon which Swedenborg had inscribed "Hic Liber est Adventus Domini."

     Now, also, Mr. Barger began to translate the Writings into Dutch, using the English, French and German editions, as he was unfamiliar with Latin. This work he performed in his spare time, and was occupied for ten years in the translation of Heaven and Hell.

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But when he finally gave up business, owing to ill health, he was able to make the translating his chief occupation, the expense of publication being borne by Mr. John Pitcairn. Previous to Mr. Barger's undertaking this work, the only translation into Dutch was The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, of which only a few copies are now available. And as a result of his labors, we now have the following works in the Dutch language:-Heaven and Hell, Intercourse between the Soul and the Body, Four Leading Doctrines, Last Judgment, and Continuation, The White Horse, and Extracts from the Apocalypse Explained. He had begun the Apocalypse Revealed, but had not progressed far at the time of his death.

     It was not until recent years that a small circle of receivers was formed at The Hague. But whenever New Church friends visited Holland, they were warmly welcomed, and services were held on such occasions. Mr. Barger was in touch with all bodies and organizations of the Church, and at long intervals he would find compatriots interested in the Writings. It was about twelve years ago that he made the acquaintance of Mr. Ernst Deltenre, then of Antwerp, and in 1908 the "Swedenborg-Society of Holland and Belgium" was formed. The Rev. G. C. Ottley officiated at one of the early meetings, in April, 1909.

     Mr. Deltenre showed Mr. Barger the advantages of baptism into the New Church, and, being then connected with the Flodden Road Society, the Rev. W. E. Hurt officiated at this ceremony at the home of Mr. Deltenre in Antwerp, on Easter Sunday, 1910, when Mr. and Mrs. Barger and the infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Deltenre were baptized. That same year, Mr. Barger attended the Swedenborg Congress in London as Vice President.

     Until the spring of last year (1920), most of Mr. Barger's time was occupied with the translating of the Writings, and with his work for the little society at The Hague, the greater Part of its members having joined the General Church. Then, however, his health failed markedly, and he was soon aware that the great change was at hand. He was most patient under his suffering, and longed to be called away.

     Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Barger:-George, Eleanor, Everdina Elisabeth, Marie, Bertha, and Gerrit Henry. All were baptized into the New Church in infancy, and the last three are members of the General Church.

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NEW QUARTERLY 1921

NEW QUARTERLY       E. E. IUNGERICH       1921

     The first number of the Lausanne quarterly referred to In the May LIFE (p. 305) has come to hand, being the issue for January-March 1921. It bears the title, REVUE DE L'ERE NOUVELLE (New Era), is edited by Mr. H. G. de Geymuller, and published under the auspices of the "Federation of Societies and Members of the New Church," of which it is the official organ. Within the light-brown covers are 104 well-printed pages, made up of articles, editorials, and reviews. On the last page of the cover is printed a list of 40 subjects that are to be treated in subsequent issues of the Review, giving evidence of laudable editorial foresight and planning, and whetting the appetite of the reader.

     We gather that the aim of the new periodical is to promote philosophical, scientific and religious studies in keeping with the new-world era that has dawned since the war. Humanity, says the Editor, is advancing towards "an era of peace, happiness, and progress as yet unsuspected," our epoch "benefitting from a new revelation of the Divine; and it is in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg-we believe, yea, we know-that we need to search for it." This being the case, he affirms we can help towards the uplift of humanity, and the establishment of a better society, in no more positive way than by calling the attention of the cultured public to the principles contained in Swedenborg's admirable writings.

     An editorial note informs us that the original plan was to name the quarterly "Nunc Licet," these being the first two Latin words of a phrase in the True Christian Religion by which Swedenborg "admirably characterizes the spiritual orientation of modern thought." Further we are told that it had been the intention to devote the journal "exclusively to the instruction and upbuilding of persons who had already acquired the new ideas"; but, as a result of the fruitful interchange of ideas among the collaborators, "a larger conception of the work to be done caused them to burst forth from the too narrow limiting of the field of activity implied by a Nunc Licet." Yet the Editor adds, after explaining the bearing of these two words to humanity at large, that this title and that of "New Era" have practically the same signification.

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"If the second of these titles has been preferred to the first, it is solely because the first would have been obscure, nay, unintelligible to the readers who are not of the New Church. Moreover, as we remarked at the outset, the present publication is called upon to fulfill a more general use than had been determined previously. It is certain, therefore, that the change of the journal's name represents a modification of its purpose, an extension of its sphere of influence" (p. 93).

     The Editor is at some pains to show that, although an ecclesiastical organization of New Churchmen is not ample enough to benefit humanity, yet it is not sectarian in spirit-a faint praise that is not calculated to encourage those who are impressed by the rational collation offered by the NEW ERA to affiliate with the organized Church. On this subject he says: "There are already a number who know the works of Swedenborg, and have felt the need of being organized into a Church,-a New Church. This New Church has a militant character, not because its spirit is sectarian, but precisely because it is not. Happy in possessing the lights which they believe indispensable to the salvation of the world, its members have but one desire, one thought, namely, to spread the truth round about them, well knowing that Truth belongs to God, and to no man, and that no sect has the right to claim it as its own" (p. 3). He notes that many members of the organized Church have little grasp of the true scope of the new revelation, and that if they would attain this grasp, their enthusiasm for the spread of its vital principles would be increased. "But the founding of a sect, even if it be a hundredfold more in the truth, could never determine the coming of a new era. Does not the prophecy say that all things shall be made new? To effect this, the vital principles of good, truth, and use, revealed by God for the benefit of all men, must penetrate into all domains, into all activities, and into all degrees of life, in order that they may thus bring human existence back to a harmonious unity" (p. 5).

     The expressed hope of the new journal so to extend the sphere of its influence as to uplift humanity at large is not unusual, but has become typical of the present-day New Church. The prominent Swedish daily, AFTONBLADET, Started as a New Church publication with a similar grandiloquent purpose, but to look at it now, no one would recognize Pegasus.

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Benefiting humanity at large is a little bit vague, and it is not clear that the sponsors of the NEW ERA have a concrete vision of the consecutive steps to be taken in achieving this ample contract. Its program seems to be limited to calling the attention of cultivated people to the writings of Swedenborg. But what then? What do they intend to do for those who have heard the clarion sound of this proclamation above the crash of other noises that habitually fill their ears? Will they be encouraged to remain in their old environment, content with the reverberations of further clarion sounds and nothing more? Or will they be urged to break ties, forsake all, and follow the Lord in what may seem but a small way at first? It was doubtless a considerable disappointment to the Judaizing Christians at the Lord's First Coming to forego the prospects of a world empire under an imperial Messiah, and to join what was called in the Acts of the Apostles "a new Jewish sect not well spoken of" (28:22). Many in the New Church have longed to see themselves part of a great world movement, and are unwilling to acknowledge that the supineness of the world towards the new revelation has deep spiritual grounds. Like the miner who is hoping for a lucky strike that will elevate him to the crest of prosperity, they expect, by some newly-promoted enterprise, to find the combination that will unlock the world's heart to receive the new doctrines with avidity.

     It is our hope that, in the first flush of enthusiasm with which our brethren are embarking upon this new enterprise, they will not be deaf to these practical considerations, and that their energies will not be swamped in what may turn out to be like a typical Old Church undertaking, such as clothing the children of the heathen while neglecting the immediate needs at home, which, according to the fable, is like dropping the morsel from one's mouth to grasp at a reflection in the water. The first issue of the NEW ERA contains many pearls that deserve to be strung upon a firm chain, and not scattered broadcast, where it is certain they will not be appreciated, or at best strung as trophies upon chains that are inimical to New Church doctrine.

     The article on "The Credibility of Swedenborg's Revelations," by C. G., brings forward six logical reasons in support, and concludes with an aphorism to the effect that Swedenborg "appeals to our reason, and not to our credulity,. . . for reason is a nobler faculty than simple faith, and is now to examine into the foundations of faith, so that when it has found these coherent and reasonable, our faith will become comprehension and our belief knowledge" (p. 10).

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If any exception is to be taken here, it is that the article begins with Swedenborg's strong asseveration of his Divine commission, rind then the writer seems to feel the need of sanctioning such a statement by an appeal to the higher tribunal of human reason!

     Dr. L. B. de Beaumont contributes an article on "The Origins of the Human Race," which opens with a reference to a recent discourse by Canon Barnes of Westminster Abbey setting forth the incompatibility of the ordinary literal views of Genesis with the investigations of modern science. It reminds one of the apt remark that religion nowadays is like a poor relative hoping to be allowed to bask unnoticed at the fireside of science. Dr. de Beaumont quite ably argues that the New Church religion is the only one that is worthy of being accorded this privilege. Our only criticism is that he seems to make a Procrustean bed of modern science, not realizing its fallacies, as when he repeatedly remarks, "Thus we see there is nothing there (in Revelation) which contradicts the conclusions of modern science."

     In a studious article on "The Correspondence of the Five Senses," Dr. V. Bon, using the material one can find in a dictionary of correspondences, writes in a chatty and entertaining style, sparkling with much dry humor. Dr. Clifford Mayer treats of the subject of the Lord's life upon earth in its relation to the unity of God, His remarks are sound and conservative, and present in a small compass a good picture of the doctrine involved. As a minor criticism, we would note that he has not given sufficient prominence to the trinity of essentials in the Lord. He states, for instance, that the Lord "was called Son of God only so far as it treats of His Human derived from the natural mother," and again, "it is only as to the human not yet made Divine and upon earth that, in natural language, Jesus was the son of God." This is contrary to express teachings of the Writings, as for example, Chapter VI of the Doctrine of the Lord, the heading of which is, "That the Lord as to the Divine Human is called the 'Son of God,' and as to the Word is called the 'Son Of Man.'"

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     "An Essay on Spiritism," by the Editor, may be considered the chief article in the first issue of the new quarterly. Its 47 pages embody a remarkably minute study and a mine of information, showing a surprising acquaintance, not only with the New Church doctrine on the subject, but also with the philosophy of abnormal psychology and the babblings of soothsayers in past and present ages. We cite a number of able epigrams.

     "Even if spiritism were the irrefutable proof of the immortality of the soul, it would be worthy of condemnation; for a rational perception of the existence of the spiritual world, and a living faith in the future life, are granted to man only in the degree in which he becomes spiritual by faith and love; and they are taken from him in the degree that he becomes sensual and evil. . . . When the immortality of the soul becomes a scientific certitude, resting upon positive experience, faith in eternal life will lose all its moral virtue, all its spiritual quality." "It is not necessary to light a lamp that one may see the sun." "Life or energy is not creatable, but transmissible. . . . If the imponderable ether, set in a gyratory motion by the influx of energy, produces matter, why should not the psychic medium, set in motion by the Divine influx, produces spiritual substance?" "The truth-the real truth-is, that spiritists are busying themselves with the ghost of their own [forgotten] memory impressions, animated for a few instants by a fictitious life resulting from an illicit contact with the spiritual world."

     Mr. de Geymuller leaves but one loophole to those who would like to see the New Church affiliating with spiritistic practices. He says: "If the Divine Word forbids the evoking of spirits by spiritistic practices, it is because the communication thereby established with the other world is contrary to order. But the case is different with regard to vision; their mechanism is entirely different; they are quite in agreement with order." Unless the writer means the visions of the prophets who thus received the Word, he is in error; but he cannot mean this alone, for the prophets also heard the voice of spirits; and in both vision and speech, the Lord protected the integrity of the message so conveyed. Of the Jewish prophets, the Writings say: "They heard a voice, saw a vision, dreamed a dream" (A. C. 5121); and the passage goes on to speak of the low spiritual state of the human race that required such a mode of communication.

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The only difference between speech with spirits and supernatural vision lies in the organ affected, in the one case the ear, in the other the eye. The excitation of either at this day is contrary to Divine order, and the practice is fraught with great danger to the one indulging it.
     E. E. IUNGERICH.
INNOCENCE IN PLEASURES 1921

INNOCENCE IN PLEASURES              1921

     In the Arcana Coelestia, No. 994, we are taught that there are pleasures of possessing lands and wealth; of honors and of offices in the commonwealth; pleasures of conjugial love and of love toward infants and children; pleasures of having friends and entering into social intercourse, of reading and of writing; and many others. And we are taught that these pleasures, being felt in the body, are called "of the body," but that no pleasure ever comes forth in the body unless it comes forth and subsists from some interior affection. All pleasures are such as are the affections, of which they are the ultimate expression. This affection, of which our pleasures are merely the ultimate expression, is the thing we are to look into when we would know whether they are innocent or otherwise.

     It is a truth well known in the New Church that the same outward form may be used by the good and by the evil. Genuine affection for another may take the form of a kiss; but we know that all kisses do not spring from genuine affection. A tear, for instance, is regarded as a sign of pity, but all tears do not spring from pity-the crocodile's for example. If, then, we would judge wisely of the quality of innocence in our pleasures, we must seek to discover the affection from which they have their birth.

     The enumeration of pleasures given in No. 994 of the Arcana includes many things that we do not ordinarily regard as pleasures. We are disposed to limit the meaning of the word "pleasures" to the delights felt in attending entertainments in theatres, social meetings, dancing, eating ice cream, drinking soda water, listening to so-called funny stories, and such like; but the Writings give the word "pleasures" a broader sense. We there read of the pleasures of offices in the State, of getting wealth, etc., and it might be well to consider wherein the innocence of getting wealth lies.

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     By glancing at what is going on around us all the time, we can see the truth of the doctrine that universal nature is a gigantic theater representative of the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, that the universe may be called a theater of uses, and the world a stage upon which every man must play his part. Now there is a little world lying snugly within that universal world which is representative of the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, and this we call "the commercial world." And it is in this specific world that every business man is compelled to play his part, and in which he should endeavor to find his pleasure in playing it innocently.

     We should therefore ask ourselves the question:-How much of innocence is there in the part I am playing in the world of commerce, and in the pleasures I derive therefrom? In the service I render my employer and the public, is it my chief thought and desire to give them my very best work; and if it is, am I doing this from the sole end of being useful? Or am I actuated solely by the hope that my good work will be recognized by my employer, and a larger earthly reward be the result! If I am actuated in my efforts by the love of gain for the sake of gain, then innocence must be absent. We can only claim innocence in that effort which is made from a love of being useful for the sake of use.

     The same law of the New Church applies to the man whose business it is to sell goods. To know what is the quality of innocence in his pleasure therein, he must ask himself whether he has the desire to be useful as his end. If his end is the ordinary one of the world-the end of making money for the sake of gain-then he may rest assured that innocence has no part in his transactions.

     In this vast universe of perpetual uses, where all are mutually dependent upon and reciprocally interested in each other, it should be our aim to have innocence in our pleasures. To have innocence in the pleasures of getting wealth involves the desire to do something for our neighbor, and not the desire to have our neighbor do something for us. For in a world where all are mutually dependent upon and reciprocally interested in one another, what havoc must be wrought by the universal spirit of requiring and demanding services from our neighbor, and what-peace and happiness must follow a universal desire to perform services to the neighbor for the sake of being useful to him.

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IS THE OLD CHURCH DEAD? 1921

IS THE OLD CHURCH DEAD?       Various       1921

     Debating whether the Christian Church is dead or alive, correspondents of THE NEW CHURCH HERALD (London) set forth their views in recent issues of the weekly, and we herewith reprint three letters as showing the trend of opinion expressed (italics theirs):

     Editor of THE NEW CHURCH HERALD:

     The article on "The Church Insular and the Church Universal," printed in your last issue, will be much appreciated by many of your readers, though some may regard it with passing indifference, not being aware of the immense prejudice created amongst those we are pleased to call "outsiders "by the oft repeated phrase, from the platform and pulpit and elsewhere, that "the Old Church is dead!" It is not only untrue, but it also produces a kind of nausea by its constant reiteration.

     That it is untrue, anyone who possesses sufficient broad-mindedness, permeated by the spirit of Christian Charity, may prove for themselves by a little closer association with the different sections of the orthodox Churches. In fact, it is difficult sometimes to escape the conclusion that there is something wrong with the New Churchman himself who erroneously arrives at the conclusion that there is no spiritual life left amongst the orthodox Churches.

     It has been my privilege on many occasions to visit these Churches, at their special request, and to speak at their well-attended Adult Bible Classes, etc., and the impression one gets from such inter: course is that they are very much alive. The spiritual fervor is at high watermark, whilst their friendliness and the spirit of charity displayed are by no means suggestive of a dead or even a decaying Church. Their Philanthropy, their love of the Word, as they understand it, are both reverent and sincere, and their appreciation of any message you may give them is tinged with gratitude and sincerity.

     These "dead churches," be it remembered, are in touch with every "live" movement for the betterment of the world and the upliftment of the masses, and they seize these opportunities in a manner which often makes one yearn for the day when the New Church shall really rise to a sense of its responsibilities and opportunities in these directions.

     We are told that the Church exists in its least form in the individual.

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Here, again, these "dead Churches" compare very favorably with the New Church when we call to mind the work and place which many of their preachers occupy in the hearts of British people,-such men as Silvester Home of Whitfield's, Dr. Boyd Carpenter, Dr. Hunter, Dr. Orchard, and the many eminent laymen, all of whom are household names, whose work and words are valued throughout the land as the embodiment of all that is noble and uplifting in the best sense of the word.

     Mr. West has performed a great service to the Church by his article, even if its only use is to chaw Passing attention to the necessity of exercising the spirit of a broad-minded charity toward other sections of the Christian Church, who are as anxious as we are, according to their light, to extend the Kingdom of God upon earth in these days of unparalleled difficulty and indifference, and are seeking to hasten the time when the knowledge of God shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

     Let us cast aside forever the spirit of exclusiveness, and, extending the right hand of Christian fellowship, say to these our co-workers- by our works and by our deeds-" We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."
     JOHN R. HOLLAND.

     Editor of THE NEW CHURCH HERALD: Where are we? Is there a New Church, or is the New Church for which the HERALD stands a mere "contemptible" little section of the Christian Church?

     I am amazed at what Mr. Holland writes in your issue of February 26th. He needs to do a little clear and definite thinking, and to ask himself some plain and pointed questions. He no doubt thinks he is giving the pure milk of human kindness, but it is terribly watered, and he needs to realize that broad-mindedness cannot come but in the truth. Whatever the stuff he offers may be, it is not the Lord's doctrine, nor is it the doctrine of the New Church. It is a fact that now is the time of the Lord's Second Coming, and of the establishment of the New Church. Did not the Lord foretell that there would not be one stone on another at his Second Coming? And did He not ask: "Shall I find faith on the earth?" In D. P. No. 263, we read: "It is foretold in the Apocalypse, Chaps. xxi, xxii, that at the end of the former Church a New Church will be established."

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And in A. C. 1850, there is the following: "The destruction of this (the first Christian Church) is foretold by the Lord-which destruction is what is called the last judgment. . . . But a new Church will be raised up in some part of the earth, this church still remaining in its external worship." I was taught, and I believe, that the last judgment took place in the world of spirits in the year 1757. In that case, are we not justified in holding that the Old Church spiritually is as "dead as a door nail"?

     As I read Mr. Holland's letter, I asked myself, "Is he a New Church born subject, or is he naturalized from the Old Church?" He seems to find so much life and fervor in the Old Church that I should have thought he would have found a home in one or other of its sections. I wish I could write of the New Church, as organized, as he does of the Old, for, to my mind, much of the organized New Church looks weak and almost "ready to die." But perhaps it is Coalition that he looks for. Why not? Coalition in politics has so obscured principles that it might do the same for doctrines, and thus bring about "unity." What matters it that we know that the faith of the New cannot be with the faith of the Old without a deadly conflict? But Coalition is in the air, and the infection may spread. Only good sound New-Church can stave it off.

     I smiled as I read the list of "orthodox" names whose work and words are uplifting. Are these men "orthodox "? Is it not a fact that their power and influence are in the degree that they are unorthodox? If the Old Church were "orthodox," where would its power be? Let these men try "orthodox" preaching; but no, they are dressing their teaching in the clothes of the New Church-unconsciously in many cases-and it is the power and spirit of the New Church that affects their hearers for good. I rejoice that it is so, but let us think clearly, and give the credit where it is due.

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     There is but one true Church, and that is the Lord's New Church. It is not a section of the first Christian Church. It is not a sect. It is not a denomination. It is a New Church now being established by the Lord. It is the heart and lungs of the Gorand Man, and there in only one heart and one pair of lungs. Think of that, Mr. Holland, and then see that all the signs of a New Age that you think you see in the Old Church are not of it, but are the first fruits of the Lord's New Church.

     There can be no Coalition. He that is not against us is for us; and I would not speak lightly of any man who will preach Jesus Christ in His glorified Humanity and the good of life, even if he remains nominally in the Old Church. Such men are New Churchmen, even if they do not acknowledge it, and are unaware of it. But for us professed disciples of the Lord in His Second Advent there is a clear duty. There can be no amalgam of doctrines. We can co-operate in social, political, and economic good works, but in the faith we are poles asunder from the orthodox Churches, and we must not shut our eyes to that fact.
     E. I. P.

     Editor of THE NEW CHURCH HERALD: I have read Mr. John R. Holland's letter, "The Old Church is Dead," and to some extent I agree with it. But it seems to me that the crux lies in this point. All Old Church men have the idea that Goodness can be so incorporated in them as to become their own, both as individuals and as Churches; but the New Church teaches that Goodness never is incorporated in anyone so as to be his own, but always is only the Lord's power and influence, acting upon the man. There is no inherent life or good in any church, only what it receives, moment by moment, from the Lord.

     The "Old Church" was Dead before 1757. In that year the "Last Judgment" took place, and spiritual freedom was restored. Since then,-the New Church has arisen. This is in two sections: 1. The Ideal New Church, which accepts the Revelation given through Swedenborg; and 2. The other Churches, which retain the dogmas of the dead Church, but which are interiorly more at liberty, and amongst which are many disposed to receive the genuine New Church teachings. They have rejected such dogmas as the Athanasian Trinity, Vicarious Atonement, the Perdition of Non-Christians, and Bodily Resurrection. Nevertheless, till they receive New Church Doctrine, their belief will be vague, incoherent, and illogical. Yet Swedenborg teaches us not to abandon even an illogical belief without full consideration of the matter. (Arcana Celestia, 9034-9039.)
     CARL MENNICH.

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NUMBERING OF THE LESSER DIARY 1921

NUMBERING OF THE LESSER DIARY              1921

     Mr. William Evens, of Penetanguishene, Ont., has called our attention to the fact that No. 4772 of the Lesser Diary, cited in our April issue (p. 244), is No. 4751m of the English edition of the Spiritual Diary (London, James Speirs, 1889). The explanation is that we follow the numbering adopted by the Rev. J. F. Potts in the Concordance, and have so marked our Latin copy of the work. A Key to the two numberings will be found at the end of Vol. V of the English Spiritual Diary, which will enable those who possess that edition to mark their copies with the Concordance numbers.

     The Lesser Diary begins at No. 4545, and Swedenborg provided numbers as far as 4715, but placed none on the remaining paragraphs. Mr. Potts numbered these 4716 to 4832, according to the paragraphs in the Latin edition of Dr. Immanuel Tafel. But the Rev. J. F. Buss, in the English Edition, Vol. IV, numbered them 4716m to 4792m, working on the basis of Professor Bush's MS., the Pott's numbering not being available at the time.

     To avoid confusion hereafter, we shall indicate both numberings when quoting from the Lesser Diary.
FROM SWEDEN 1921

FROM SWEDEN       C. L. O       1921

     "Love and Death" ("Karleken och Doden") is the title of another group of essays from the pen of the Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom recently published in pamphlet form. There are five chapters: Introduction; Death and Resurrection; Love and Death; Resurrection and Marriage; The Way to Life. The style and contents of these essays are as interesting, and as satisfying to the judgment, as Mr. Baeckstrom's former series.

     NYA KIRKANS TIDNING for March (No. 5) contains a biographical account of the late Miss Hilmrt Synnerholm, for many years a member of the New Church in Sweden, and a remarkable personality. She received a New Church inheritance, "for her grandmother's father was Arvid Ferelius, the minister who was personally acquainted with Swedenborg." From the year 1868, Miss Synnerholm had mediumistic communication with the spiritual world, and wrote down over a thousand messages.

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The biographer commends her piety, but quotes from the Writings the warnings against spiritism.

     In the following number of the TIDNING (March, No. 6), there is Printed a letter to Mr. Rundstrom's society from representative women, asking for the right to vote, on the plea that "women are by far in the majority, and a silent congregation can have no responsibility, nor be fired by that spirit of responsibility which every thoughtful human being, man or woman, desires to feel." A negative answer seems to be implied in the article entitled "The Duties of Man and Woman," in which Mr. Rundstrom cites Conjugial Love 175 and Deuteronomy 22:5, and urges that Divine Revelation "ought to have greater weight than the modern movements now being agitated."
     C. L. O.
NOTES AND REVIEWS 1921

NOTES AND REVIEWS              1921

     We are pleased to chronicle the advent of a new periodical in the General Church,-THE CARMEL CHURCH OBSERVER, the April issue of which has been sent us. Edited by the Rev. L. W. T. David, Pastor, and Messrs. J. Edward Hill and Nathaniel Stroh, its five mimeographed pages bear evidence of careful preparation and give promise of a career of usefulness to the members and friends of the Kitchener Society. The contents include reports of services and social occasions, announcements, a financial statement, and statistics of births, baptisms, etc. There is an undoubted need for some such vehicle of information in every society of considerable size, especially when the members live at a distance from the church and are unable to attend all meetings. And where the time and talent of the members make it feasible to establish and maintain such a local paper, it will perform a great use in promoting a common knowledge and understanding of the society uses. Verbal notices of coming events can then be supplemented in print. In course of time, such a weekly or monthly journal can be expanded to include pastoral talks and doctrinal instruction.

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SPACE AND TIME 1921

SPACE AND TIME       A. W. MANNING       1921

     Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:

     In reading the May issue of the LIFE, I was more than interested in that very instructive article by Bishop N. D. Pendleton on a subject that few would undertake to write upon, owing to the difficulty of presenting clear and distinct ideas on such a difficult subject as how to understand what space and time is in itself. With the Bishop, and with the late John Howard Spaulding, I feel that even Swedenborg found it very difficult to explain. So, if you will excuse a little Personality in the writer, I will here write my own experience with John Howard Spaulding for the benefit of the readers of NEW CHURCH LIFE.

     I had read his fine (missionary) book on The Kingdom of Heaven as seen by Swedenborg, and thought well of it, and wrote him so. But I deplored his not having a clearer idea of what was space in reality from Swedenborg's Writings, where this question was not left unanswered. But I had read somewhere, without recording the place, that Swedenborg wrote that a better word for the word "space" was the word "things,"-that the Lord filled all things with His Presence. In his reply, Mr. Spaulding said that he was sorry I had failed to make a note of it. So was I, and I have tried to find it, and the nearest to it is No. 82 of Divine Love and Wisdom. Swedenborg also writes that created things are substances and also correspondents. Some reader of the LIFE may have read the statement referred to above, and knows where to find it. Yet it does got require any confirmation, as it can be clearly perceived from what one can extract from D. L. W. 82, and several other places. The following may give a further idea of it.

     In all states of mind, sleeping or waking, or any other state, three things are present, and these are the foundations of every phenomenon; namely, there is always present a solid, a liquid, and an aerial or gaseous, form, and this in every least state or condition. This is well known, but has been overlooked.

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So, while I cannot recall where I saw this in the Writings, yet it is clearly stated in another way in D. L. W. 82, Where Newton said "that the Divine which is fills all things, and that he himself abhorred the idea of nothing concerning a vacuum," and more to the same effect in nos. 80 and 81 preceding.

     Thus it cannot be said in justice that any condition of attenuated substances, whether spiritual or natural, are spaces, any more than a log of wood. And therefore, instead of the delusive ideas of spaces, we still have substances, with their many changing conditions and states; and so it seems to rest on that foundation.

     As I said before, I liked Bishop Pendleton's article very much and thought it well presented and very instructive. There is no better word than that the Lord fills all things with His Divine Presence, and that things are substances that carry with them, in their varying condition, what is generally conceived of as space and also time.
     A. W. MANNING. RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA,
May 28, 1921.
QUALITY OF EXTERNAL WORSHIP 1921

QUALITY OF EXTERNAL WORSHIP              1921

     "The quality of external worship is altogether according to the interiors. The more innocent the interiors are, the more innocent is the external worship; but the more foul the interiors are, the more foul is the external worship; and the more profane the interiors are, the more profane is the external worship. In a word, the more of the love of the world and of self there is in a man who is in this external worship, the less there is that is living and holy in his worship; the more of hatred toward the neighbor there is in his love of himself and of the world, the more profanity there is in his worship; the more malice in his hatred, the more still of profanity there is in his worship; and the more deceit in his malice, the more profanity yet is there in his worship." (A. C. 1182.)

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Church News 1921

Church News       Various       1921

     BRYN ATHYN.-Continuing the account of his European travels, the Rev. Alfred Acton, on Friday evening, April 15th, took up the thread of the narrative begun the previous week by reverting to his experiences with the little group of New Church people in Trieste, whose enthusiasm in the things of the Church and soundness of doctrinal belief had proven so delightful to him. From Trieste he went to Vienna, where he had been invited to meet and address the Society. Finding they were interested to know who he was and whence he came, he proceeded to tell them about Bryn Athyn, describing the Cathedral and its worship, the Academy School buildings and dormitories, and the work of New Church education being carried on there, illustrating his remarks with blackboard sketches. He pointed out, however, that all these externals were but the outer clothing of an idea,-the idea that the Lord had made His Second Coming to establish a New Church, on which account there must be a new priesthood, with distinctive education for both clergy and laity. The address was warmly received, and thereafter Mr. Acton spent several days in intimate association with the leading members of the Society, discussing frankly with them both matters of the Church and of civil conditions following the war. He pictured for us the great poverty of the masses, the scarcity of food and fuel, while yet there seemed to be no feeling of bitterness toward the Allies, but rather a kind of hopelessness. Many of the Austrian children had only been saved from suffering and death by being temporarily adopted by families of other countries not so seriously affected by the war. He later met one of these children in Stockholm.

     Before his departure from Vienna, the visiting Pastor of the Society, the Rev. Adolph Goerwitz, arrived, and invited Mr. Acton to attend another meeting and address the members, which he did, going over the same ground as in his first lecture. This meeting was followed by very delightful social gathering, with a supper and singing of Church songs.

     From Vienna Mr. Acton went to Prague, coming at once into a land of plenty. Here he met Mr. Janecek, and was most hospitably entertained by him. Many earnest conversations served to disclose a hearty agreement in vital matters of doctrine. The work of the Church is carried on with great affection and enthusiasm. Mr. Janecek is deeply interested in translating the Writings into his native tongue, and has unusual capabilities for this undertaking, though in need of financial assistance to this end. During his stay in Prague, Mr. Acton had the pleasant experience of dining at a certain Inn where Swedenborg stayed on one of his travels.

     Passing now into Germany, Dresden was reached in the evening, but in total darkness, owing to a strike of the employees of the electric light company, even the best hotels being reduced to the use of candles. However, Mr. Acton found refuge in a theater, which happily was equipped with its own electric generator, and greatly enjoyed a performance of German Opera, of which he became very fond during his stay in Germany. There was a familiarity between the singers and their audience, and a pride in their local stars which is largely lacking in American theaters. On this account, many of the fine actors in Germany are unwilling to seek fame and fortune abroad.

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     In Dresden Mr. Acton encountered the first indication of bitterness against the English and Americans when a bookseller refused to sell to him on the ground of his nationality. But the manner in which he overcame this prejudice, convincing the loyal patriots of the Fatherland that the tales of cruelty and injustice they had heard were untrue, was one of the most delightful bits of humor that enlivened his lecture. Prices in stores and hotels were "double to Americans," yet Mr. Acton's reasonable explanations were nearly always successful in obtaining reductions.

     Leipsic, the next stopping place, was described as "the book-seller's paradise," and here many volumes were purchased. Passing through Stuttgart and Heidelberg, a stay in Frankfurt am Main was fruitful in the discovery of a valuable lot of books, and 3000 marks' worth of antique volumes were paid for with a check in the sum of thirty-six dollars! Here also were found some ancient Hebrew psalms set to music, and these are now at the disposal of the Bryn Athyn Choir. In none of the German cities, however, was Mr. Acton successful in finding New Church people.

     In Berlin no books were found, but the Opera was especially enjoyed, and there was ample opportunity to observe post-war conditions at the capital. There was no scarcity of food, but one serious lack was forcibly brought to Mr. Acton's attention. The strap around his traveling bag having been stolen in transit, he made complaint to the railroad authorities, and he was told to replace the lost article by purchasing another at their expense. But when he tried to do so, he scoured the city without success, and thus discovered that one commodity almost impossible to obtain in Germany is leather.

     And when the time came to arrange for his departure for Sweden, he found the officials exceedingly loath to facilitate matters. The American Consul had received instructions not to issue letters of recommendation to travelers, and the Swedish Consul would not vise any passport to Stockholm without such a letter. Several fruitless days were spent traversing the great distances between the several consulates, with interminable waits for an audience, the difficulty not being surmounted until the American Commissioner himself was appealed to, his Secretary furnishing the required means of untying the hard knot of red tape which kept an unoffending traveler from quitting German soil.

     Thus extricated from the meshes of officialdom, Mr. Acton safely reached Stockholm. Here he soon called upon Mr. Stroh, whose illness has prevented his doing anything further in connection with the phototyping of the Swedenborg MSS. Mr. Acton also visited Mrs. Stroh, who has been placed in a pitiable plight by reason of her husband's illness. He did all in his power to assist her, and advised with others as to the best way to proffer permanent help. Remaining in Stockholm for several weeks, he was engaged daily in copying a manuscript needed in Bryn Athyn for purposes of translation, but which the Library of the Royal Academy of Sciences was unwilling to lend. They extended every courtesy, however, assisting him to make the copy, and showing a much appreciated hospitality. Meanwhile, he was in touch with Mr. Baeckstrom, of whose work he speaks enthusiastically. A book room has been established for the sale of Swedenborg's works. Public lectures are held, one of which Mr. Acton attended, being much impressed with the manner in which Mr. Baeckstrom held the attention of his large audience. It was a great pleasure also to meet the members of the society, to preach and conduct several classes. While in Sweden, he also visited Gothenburg, where he met Mr. and Mrs. Liden. Then on to Copenhagen for a very pleasant visit with Mr. Branniche, who ministers to a small circle of receivers. On invitation he addressed the members and found them most affirmative to sound principles of doctrine.

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     From Copenhagen he went to Brussels, where he attended Mr. Deltenre's Christmas Service, 52 persons being present. It had been advertized in the papers and this had brought a larger attendance than ever before, which was encouraging to the Mission. A visit to Amsterdam and The Hague concluded his journey on the Continent, after which Mr. Acton returned to England. His interesting narrative dosed at this point owing to the lateness of the hour. To quote his own remark, he thought it was "better to stop when they want you to go on than to go on when they want you to stop!"

     We had the pleasure of welcoming another traveler when, on Thursday evening, April 21st, a reception for Miss Alice Grant was held in the Auditorium under the auspices of the Woman's Guild. After a few words of introduction by the President, Mrs. R. H. Smith, Miss Alice gave a very interesting and delightfully informal account of her visit to the various societies of the General Church in the United States and Canada. The news reports from the various centers have already furnished the readers of the Life with a description of her work, but a brief survey as gathered from her account will be useful.

     After spending few weeks in Pittsburgh, where she visited the homes and the school, delivered one public address and spoke before the Ladies' Society, she went to Toronto in response to the urgent request of the Rev. Karl R. Alden. Here, after a most cordial reception, she came into touch with the immediate education problems, and spoke both in public and in private of the great need for distinctive school training for New Church children. In Kitchener, Miss Alice visited the school, and continued her talks to individuals and to the society on topics related to education. She found the people enthusiastic about their school, in spite of the small size, and determined to keep it going until it might again assume larger proportions. The situation is promising, in view of the fact that there are a number of young families, the parents looking forward eagerly to providing a New Church education for their children. The chief problem of the moment is that of securing a teacher in place of Miss Eva Campbell, who will shortly resign on account of her approaching marriage.

     Glenview and Chicago were the next places visited, and Miss Alice drew a picture of happiness, contentment, and genuine progress in speaking of the situation in Glenview. Under the able leadership of the Rev. Gilbert H. Smith, and the hearty co-operation of the staff of teachers, the Immanuel Church has been steadily perfecting its school, and looks forward to the provision of more advanced work to cover the period between graduation from the elementary school and entrance into the secondary schools at Bryn Athyn.

     In Chicago there is affirmative thought and continued effort to maintain something of New Church education and social life under trying circumstances, the members being separated by long distances, which make it difficult to meet often. But the problem is being actively dealt with, and the young people, many of whom have attended the Academy Schools at Bryn Athyn, are finding ways to promote their own social life and the uses of the Society.

     After a side-trip to Kansas City, Miss Alice went to Denver, Colorado, to spend what she described as most delightful time, deriving a restoration of health and strength from the change of altitude and the bracing climate. Here a number of young people are looking forward to attending the Academy Schools at Bryn Athyn. The Society maintains a very active Sunday School for the children of elementary school age.

     On the return journey, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Erie, and Washington were visited for short periods. Everywhere Miss Alice found a keen interest in the things of education, and an eager desire to provide all possible advantages of distinctive training for the coming generation.

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Her account was very encouraging to all who look forward to the growth and strengthening of the Academy movement. And it was apparent that her intimate touch, especially with the parents in their homes, had been of the utmost use and value in bringing a clearer understanding of just what the Academy stands for, and of ways by which its ideals may be extended to every center and every home in the Church.
     GEORGE DE CHARMS.

     COLCHESTER, ENG.-A well attended social on February 17th opened with a very interesting talk on "Geology" by Mr. Wainscott, which was followed by a whist drive.

     On March 2nd, the Rev. Alfred Acton conducted the doctrinal class, giving a most clear and lucid exposition of the subject of "Remains," showing their nature and quality, and the important use they serve with the man of the church, from his initiament in the womb to the end of life in this world.

     A service was held on Good Friday for the first time in the history of the society, our Pastor officiating, and the sermon being especially full and appropriate to the occasion. The congregation numbered 42, including it visitors.

     Although we have reached the low watermark in the number of children, there being only three in the society, we held the time-honored children's social on Easter Monday, believing it well to keep the chain of tradition unbroken. The 35 persons who took tea together were increased later to 45. After old-time games, competitions, etc., the attraction was a farce entitled "A Silent Woman," in which Mrs. S. Appleton, the Misses M. Gill, E. Motum, and B. Everett, and Mr. Wainscott took part. It proved a welcome revival, and so, like Oliver, we "ask for more." The sale of programs was for the benefit of the fund for the Bishop's visit. Present on this occasion were Mr. Frederick W. Elphick and Miss Bertha Barger, of London, and we learned with pleasure of their approaching wedding on April 30th.
     F. R. COOPER.

     GLENVIEW.-It is pleasant to report that, through the mildness of the weather of the past winter, the work of the Immanuel Church has continued without interruption. Our Easter services were of the usual character-the children taking part by reciting the lessons from the Word. The Annual Business Meeting was held on Friday, April 8th, when the present Board of Finance was elected. The new president is Mr. Alvin E. Nelson, in place of Mr. Sydney E. Lee, who resigned after several years' useful work on the Board. The other members are Mr. Harold McQueen, Treasurer, Mr. Henry Maynard, Secretary, Mr. Harvey Brewer and Mr. Felix Junge. Mr. John Synnestvedt was re-elected Recording Secretary of the Society.

     In addition to other social events, there have been several dances, the most recent being on April 30th, which proved very successful.

     A very enjoyable entertainment was given by the pupils of the eighth grade when they presented the dramatic version of "The Lady of the Lake."

     An important event was the launching of the "drive" by our local Sons of the Academy on behalf of the Immanuel Church School Endowment Fund. The scheme was introduced at a Friday evening Supper which was arranged in the form of a cabaret. One interesting item in the program was the appearance on the stage of the members of the Endowment Committee. This provided a novel method of placing before the meeting the aims and objects of the new fund. Cards were distributed inviting subscriptions and quite a number filled in. Details of the financial results will no doubt be published in the Bulletin.

     The "Life" class held its last meeting for this season at the McQueen residence, where weekly meetings have been held regularly during the past six months. So loath to give up these meetings are its members that they have arranged to meet during May at the homes of other members.

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The subjects covered in the readings and talks have been many and varied. The following may be mentioned: "Notes on Ecclesiastical History"; "Right Understanding of Words"; "The Faith of Nathan Salloway"; "Who are the Christians?" "The Great Leviathan"; "Rewards and Punishments"; "Rationality, Its Use and Abuse"; "Editorials on The Woman Question"; "The Whereabouts of the New Church"; "The External Life of Heaven"; "Spiritual Extension"; "Egypt"; "Epidemic Man"; etc.

     Still following his plan of preaching sermons in series, our Pastor has given some very plain and important teachings concerning "The Last Judgment," and has now reached the subject of the Descent of the New Jerusalem.
     G. A. MCQUEEN.

     THE HAGUE, HOLLAND.-On the occasion of the Rev. Deltenre's recent visit to The Hague, Mr. W. Beyerinck availed himself of the opportunity to be baptized into the New Church. The ceremony took place on April 13th at 8.30 p.m., in the home of Mr. H. G. Engeltjes. There were 14 persons present, including Mr. Deltenre, members of the Church and of the Swedenborg Society. In the course of the service, the priest introduced a clear explanation of the things involved in the sacrament of baptism. The baptism was followed by the administration of the Holy Supper, which was partaken of by eleven persons. Mrs. Engeltjes, with piano and singing, added much to the beauty of the service.

     After this Mr. and Mrs. Engeltjes acted as host and hostess to a social gathering, at which refreshment was provided, both on the material and spiritual plane. Mr. Deltenre was kept busy replying to various questions in connection with the Writings, which he very ably did. A toast was offered and we all drank to the "Lord's New Church."

     An important feature was the decision to resume regular religious services, which, on account of Mr. Barger's long illness, had for some time been interrupted. In expectation of the Bishop's definite authorization, Mr. E. Francis was provisionally appointed by the Rev. Deltenre to act as our circle's leader.

     The entire evening was characterized by a spirit of joyful concord, and after some words and thoughts had been dedicated to our absent friends, we all went home with the grateful assurance that the Lord had blessed our day with His Holy Presence.

     IN MEMORIAM.

     As you have already learnt, our esteemed and beloved leader in the New Church and Swedenborg Society in The Hague, Holland, Mr. Gerrit Barger, left the world on April 9th for the brighter life in the spiritual world. His departure was by no means sudden; for months our friend had been laid up in bed. Slowly his strength decreased until at last the spirit was freed from its material body. But though declining in physical strength, his love and loyalty to the True Church remained; his faith in the Lord was undaunted.

     On April 13th a funeral service, as given in the Liturgy and translated into Dutch, was held in the family home by the Rev. E. Deltenre, who came over from Brussels for the purpose. At this service a large number of people were present; besides the family circle (as far as this was possible) there were the members of our Church and Swedenborg Society, many relations and friends, representatives of the British Legation at The Hague, and the British Consular Officers. The service was very impressive.

     At its close, we went to the cemetery, where the Rev. Deltenre performed the concluding rites at the opened grave, after which Mr. E. Francis, for the Swedenborg Society, spoke a few words is commemoration of the Society's founder and first member, and the Church's first member and leader in Holland, alluding to our friend's love and faith for the Church, his great zeal in promoting her principles in word, in writing, and in deed.

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Dr. van Dorp, Mr. Barger's son-in-law, expressed thanks in the name of the family for the kind attention paid by all present.

     Mr. Barger was indeed the pioneer and soul of our Church circle and our Swedenborg Society, and it was fit that on this occasion the great use of this true and good man should be publicly acknowledged,-a great use performed under difficult circumstances and with limited means. We, members of the New Church, and of the Swedenborg Society, are deeply under the impression of the loss we have seemingly sustained; the loss of his zealous and excellent guidance and his material presence. We shall retain a grateful and affectionate recollection of the great gifts of his heart, and mind, and works; and we pray that, with the Lord's blessing, we on earth may continue our friend's labors in conjunction with his new and spiritual activity.

     On the occasion of our friend's departure from our visible world, we feel a wish to send weird to our American friends,-you who, through so many years, have been witnesses of Mr. Barger's undiminished ardor and useful labors in the service of our Church. We feel sure that any of you, more especially those who have been in personal contact with Mr. Barger, will unite in grateful thanks to our Lord for the uses performed by him.
     W. BEYERINCK.

     TORONTO, CANADA.-On April 1st, the Forward Club of the Olivet Society gave a social for the members of the Society. In keeping with the state of our finances, owing to the building project, it was called "Poverty Party," and rags were considered the most fashionable garb. One young lady wore a very beautiful evening gown made of burlap bags. How she made it is a mystery. Another was constructed of Turkish towels, while the one that won the prize seemed to have come down from distant antiquity. The evening was spent in dancing and playing various games, and all seemed to have had a very pleasant time.

     On April 13th, the Pastor gave an illustrated lecture on Bryn Athyn and the Academy Schools. Through the kindness of the Librarian, Miss Amena Pendleton, he had at his disposal 80 lantern slides of the Schools and their environment. As many persons here have not visited our Church center, they found the lecture and pictures very interesting and useful. At the request of the teachers, it was repeated for the Sunday School on the following Sunday, and we trust that some valuable remains were implanted which will bear fruit in the future in the sending of pupils to Bryn Athyn.

     During the month the ladies have been busy preparing for the Fair that is to be held in the near future for the purpose of raising funds to decorate our new chancel with altar cloths, carpets, drapery, etc. Some of the pieces of cloth left over from war work have been made up into beautiful little quilts.

     The Theta Alpha chapter has held regular meetings throughout the year, and although it has not had the school to work for, it has not been idle, having furnished an interesting series of intellectual entertainments. The chapter had charge of the Swedenborg Birthday celebration for the children, which proved a great success. There was a birthday cake for Swedenborg, and one little boy couldn't understand why Mr. Swedenborg was not present at his own birthday party.

     But the thought and activity of the society has centered chiefly upon the new building. Every week, the men have been spending two evenings and Saturday afternoon at the church, and the amount of work they have accomplished is amazing. The walls of the new portion have been completed, the north door has been changed into a window, and a door has been placed on Elm Grove Avenue. The basement has been lowered 8 inches, and the flooring replaced. In the new structure, the worship hall will be on the north, instead of the south, and there will be two school rooms, a ladies' room, as well as the Pastor's study and book room, on the south.

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     The work is progressing rapidly. Mr. Rudolph Potts is chairman of the Building Committee, Mr. Izzard is superintendent of the construction, and Mr. Wilson heads the financial department. They are all working hard, and we hope to have the alterations completed by the middle of July. Owing to a certain resourcefulness on the part of those in charge, we have been able to carry on our regular uses in spite of the changes.

     We are looking forward with pleasant anticipations to the Ontario Assembly and the Bishop's visit. This gear it is our turn to go to Kitchener, and we know that they will extend a royal hospitality, and that the meetings will provide inspiration to go forward in the work of the Church.
     K. R. A.

     REPORT OF THE VISITING PASTOR.-Two trips were recently made to MIDDLEPORT, OHIO. The first was in April, over Sunday, the 17th, when there were services in the morning and a doctrinal class in the evening. The second was May 7th to 16th. The services on the two Sundays were well attended, 23 persons being present on each occasion. Two doctrinal classes were held, at which we treated of the five things that are "not creatable." (T. C. R. 472.) There were also two classes for the study of the principles of New Church education. A delightful social gathering was held at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Ferry Thomas. On another evening there was a men's meeting, at which the teaching of the doctrines on the subject of divorce was considered. On two afternoons the children were given instruction. Two friends from other centers, Mr. Arthur Lechner, of Pittsburgh, and Mrs. F. E. Waelchli, of Cincinnati, were with us during this visit.
     F. E. WAELCHLI.

     GENERAL CONVENTION.

     The Rev. John Sargon Saul, Editor Emeritus of The New-Church Messenger, and former General Pastor of the Illinois Association, passed into the spiritual world on March 30th, 1921, at the age of seventy-six years. He became Editor and Publisher of the Messenger in 1995, and served in that capacity for fifteen years, or until October, 1929.

     The Messenger for June 1st, 1921, is a memorial number to the Rev. Julian Kennedy Smyth, who died at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, on April 4, 1921, in his sixty-fifth year. Born in New York City on August 8th, 1856, Mr. Smyth's ancestry on both sides dated from an early colonial period. With marked talent for journalism and the drama, he yet chose the New Church ministry, and, after a period of theological study at Urbana and Waltham, was successively Pastor at Portland, Maine (1877-1882), Roxbury, Mass. (1882-1898), and New York (1898-1921). He became President of the New York Association in 1907, and of the General Convention in 1911, holding these offices until his death. In this issue of the Messenger, a number of writers pay eloquent tribute to his talents as "Leader, Preacher, Pastor, Author, Poet, Musician, and Friend," and give ample testimony to the affection and esteem in which he was held.

     The Rev. James Reed, Pastor of the Boston Society for sixty years, and Pastor Emeritus since 1919, passed into the spiritual world on May 21st, 1921. He was born on Beacon Hill, Boston, on December 8th, 1834, and had lived on the Hill throughout his life. He was the son of Sampson Reed, prominent in the early days of the New Church in this country. Mr. James Reed was ordained in 1860, and at once became assistant to the Rev. Thomas Worcester, first Pastor of the Church of the New Jerusalem in Boston, whom he succeeded at the close of a pastorate of forty-nine years.

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Thus the pastorates of the two clergymen covered a period of log years. (New-Church Messenger.)

     NEW YORK CITY.-Despite the fact that we have not been heard from in these columns for some time, the New York Society has been anything but inactive. During Mr. Acton's absence in Europe, the Rev. W. B. Caldwell was Acting Pastor, and endeared himself to all of us by his untiring efforts on behalf of the Society. Services were held weekly.

     On Sunday, April 10th, the Society gave a "shower" for Mrs. Phyllis Price Boulton at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Curtis Hicks, the shower being followed by a buffet supper. On April 16th a "Welcome Home" for Mr. Acton was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Geoffrey Childs, on which occasion our Pastor gave an intensely interesting account of his foreign trip, and this was followed by a buffet supper and a social get together.

     On May 12th, there was a gathering at the home of Mi. and Mrs. A. G. Campbell to welcome Miss Alice Grant and to hear her papers on "The Education of Children" and "Adolescence." The reading of these instructive and enjoyable papers was preceded by a supper, and the meeting was attended by nearly all the members of the Society.

     The Local Assembly of the New York Society was held on Sunday, May 15th. Bishop N. D. Pendleton preached on the text: "The words that I speak unto you are spirit and are life." The service was followed by a banquet, attended by over forty members of the Society and guests, at which Bishop Pendleton read an illuminating paper on the subject of the spiritual versus the scientific viewpoint. Mr. Geoffrey Childs, as toastmaster, described the progress made by the New York Society under Mr. Acton's devoted leadership, and sounded as the keynote of the meeting the need for optimism of the right kind in facing the future. Mr. A. G. Campbell responded to the toast to the Bishop with an address of welcome. Mr. Anton Sellner, Sr., replied to the toast to "Those Who save Gone Before" by showing what a debt the Society owed to their work. In responding to the toast to "The New York Society," Mr. Curtis Hicks touched upon the inspirational value of meetings of this kind, especially to the smaller societies, and suggested that a speaker be invited from Bryn Athyn every now and then to address us. Mr. Richard de Charms gave an interesting talk on "The Future of the Society," which left no room for doubt as to the good things the future holds in store for us. The speeches were interspersed with songs, to the accompaniment of Mr. Walter Childs' guitar, and the meeting closed with a resounding "Our Own Academy."
     G. S. C.

     KITCHENER, ONT.-The event for which we have been working and planning the past month has at last taken place-an old-time District Assembly, held May 21st to 24th. Our last one was in 1919, when the anxiety of the war hung over us, and it was difficult to put our whole hearts into the undertaking. It was different at our recent Assembly. Enthusiasm and good-will ran high making the affair most enjoyable, both from a spiritual and a natural standpoint. As a full report of the meetings will be sent you, I will merely say a few words about the social features.

     Before the opening session, an impromptu reception was held on the front lawn of the church grounds. Gay was the chatter, and smiling the faces of all, as they met and welcomed old friends. About thirty of these were members of the Toronto Society, and other guests numbered about fifteen. The first social events were the ladies' and men's meetings. Of the latter, little is known to the writer, but it appears that they enjoyed themselves very much. The ladies' program, doubtless, was less serious.

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To judge by the laughter and comment and subsequent conversations, I should say that it was a decided success.

     The last day of the Assembly fell on the 24th of May, our National Holiday, and, according to our custom, a picnic was held on the church grounds. The afternoon program included games, contests and races of all kinds, which were entered into with much zest. There was friendly competition for the possession of a silver cup presented by Dr. Schnarr to the champion horseshoe players of the Toronto and Kitchener societies. The Kitchenerites were victorious, and will hold the cup until the next District Assembly. A bounteous picnic supper was served indoors, after which we were able to resume our time-honored program of peanut and candy scrambles. After dark, there was a display of fireworks. The occasion was capped by a dance lasting until two o'clock next morning, when, with much regret, we closed the Assembly by singing the old song, "What Name Resounds."
     R. R.

     DURBAN, NATAL, S. A. - We learn from the South African New Church Open Letter that the Rev. and Mrs. Hugo Lj. Odhner arrived in Durban on January 29th. A social was held the following week, enabling the members to meet them, on which occasion the Secretary, Mr. R. M. Ridgway, conveyed the Society's welcome in an address. In reply Mr. Odhner stated that he already felt at home in Durban. After a description of his journey to South Africa, he delivered messages from the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal and others, and announced that he was the bearer of a special message of greeting and good-will from Kitchener, Ontario-"from one Society of the General Church to another in the British Empire."

     Among other interesting items in the News Notes of the Open Letter, we find an account of the Christmas Celebrations conducted by the Rev. R. W. Brown. After the children's service on Christmas Day, all gathered in the Hall, where "a surprise had been prepared for the children in the shape of a Christmas tree, bearing a gift for each child. This was hidden behind the curtain on the stage until the darkness should set off the colored candles on the tree. Quite a little excitement prevailed during the distribution, which was done by Mrs. Brown."

     Mrs. F. E. Gyllenhaal, with her little daughter Zoe, left Durban for London on March 4th.

     HIGH KILBURN, YORK.-The Rev. R. J. Tilson paid his half-yearly pastoral visit to the household of five members of the General Church here, May 12th to 25th, preaching and conducting services twice on each Sunday, and administering the Sacrament of the Holy Supper to eight communicants in the evening of Sunday, the 19th. As is usual, these services were greatly appreciated by those privileged to be present. The Burton Road Liturgy was used, in accordance with our weekly custom, the priest wearing his full robes of office, and Mrs. Tilson ably presiding at the organ. The altar was beautifully adorned with flowers from the gardens of "Overdale." Eloquent and highly instructive sermons were given,-on the 15th (morning) the text was from Joel III: 1, 2 (A. V. II: 28, 29); (evening) "Pentecost" the 22nd (morning) on "The Fall-a Spiritual Fact" (Genesis III:1); (evening) "A Grain of Mustard Seed."

     The Pastor also conducted our usual family worship each evening, with brief but delightful instruction on selected subjects, including "The Iron that did swim" (2 Kings VI:1-7) "Women who Preach"; "Merit"; "Conscience, true and spurious "Heredity"; and "The bed too short and covering too narrow" (Isaiah XXVIII:20); each giving rise to free and edifying discussion, the final evening being devoted to questions on various subjects uppermost in the minds of each. These activities, interspersed with delightful social intercourse, drives and ramblings among the beauties of the Hambleton Hills, Ryedale, and neighborhood, rendered the Pastor's and Mrs. Tilson's visit mutually beneficial and all too short.
     W. COPLEY JUBB.

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     GLENVIEW, ILL.-Another successful year of the educational work of the Immanuel Church came to a close on June 7th. The closing exercises were held in the Parish Hall, while some of the work done by the pupils was arranged in the class rooms for the inspection of parents and visitors.

     After the opening of the Word and prayer, the Head Master, the Rev. Gilbert H. Smith, addressed the children on the subject of the change of state which takes place at the end of each school year. He pointed out that in the spiritual world a change of state meant also a change of place and entrance into another society; and something similar happens here when the graduates finished their course in the local school, having been prepared to enter into higher studies, and looking forward especially to becoming members of the church society. The whole object of the work of the school was to prepare the way for entrance into the societies in heaven. He hoped this great truth would be brought to the minds of the graduates whenever they looked at their school certificates, which he then presented to them on behalf of the teachers and the members of the Immanuel Church who were making it possible for them to receive the blessings of a New Church education.

     In place of reading a paper, Thyra Starkey exhibited a very handsome illuminated copy of Swedenborg's "Rules of Life," which she had designed and executed for presentation to the School; and Hubert Nelson and Kenneth Cole recited in dialogue form the accounts given in the Writings concerning the Golden and Silver Ages. Papers were read as follows: "The Use of the Study of Hebrew," Edith Goerwitz; "The Rock in Nebuchadnezzar's Dream," Mary Scalbom; "The Ancient Church," Hera Starkey; "History Of the New Church in America," Marjory Burnham; "The Copper Age," Thos. Melzer; and "Early Roman Legends," Warren Reuter. Each of the papers received well deserved applause. Mr. Hugh L. Burnham, who had been invited to address the children, spoke on the subject of "The Law and the Child." In a manner which secured the closest attention of his hearers, he defined the status of the child in the eyes of the law of the land, and from this led up to the moral and spiritual laws which the church provided in order to lead to heaven. He referred to the tender care which the law of the land exercises over the external affairs of the child. He said it extends from the period of infancy to the age of twenty-one, during which the child could not hold property in its own right. Nor could a boy marry under the age of seventeen, or a girl under fourteen, and then only with the consent of parents. This shows that the law desires to protect those who have not reached the state where they can care for themselves. In the church, we care for children in a more interior sense. In the Writings, many definitions are given of the use of the word "infancy," but as to the state generally understood by childhood, the period from five to twenty is referred to. It is a very desirable thing to be a child, and to have to learn things as we grow up. If we were born with all knowledges, none could be saved. But the Lord provides that we are all born infants, and then the tender things of charity are stored within. Then follow the states of intelligence and old age, with its wisdom. When we become old, we know we are ignorant because everything we do know comes from the Lord. This is the innocence of wisdom, and is the highest form of infancy. So we must not look to the world for the true idea of infancy, and should not be in haste to depart from our childhood states, but from those things which our parents can see are not for our good. We are to desire to keep in the company of the angels who are with us in childhood.

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Such societies of angels are with us now, and take delight in what is taking place at this school closing, because they are delighted with the work of education and preparation for heaven. Everything comes from delight, and it is disorderly to try to advance toward future states too rapidly-especially to the things of conjugial love. This should be kept more in mind by our boys and girls, and they should be willing to be guided by their parents, and be ready to put up with disappointments when they are not permitted to do things which the world tempts them to do, but which, if indulged in, will lead them away from the church and heaven.

     At the conclusion of Mr. Burnham's address, the children sang "Under the Greenwood Tree." All present then joined in "Our Alma Mater." Then, to the tap of the drum, the children followed by their parents, marched to the outside of the building, to witness the lowering of the new flag which was presented to the school by Kenneth Cole, on behalf of the graduating class of 1921. The Head Master, in accepting the flag, expressed, on behalf of the teachers and the members of the Immanuel Church, their appreciation of the spirit which had moved the graduating class to make this gift.

     All then sang "The Star Spangled Banner," and the proceedings terminated.
     G. A. MCQUEEN.

     SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION.-Afternoon and evening sessions of the 24th Annual Meeting of the Association were held at Bryn Athyn, Pa., on May 27th, 1921, with an attendance of 30 in the afternoon and 106 in the evening. Professor Doering's Report showed an increase in membership of 27, making a total of 206, to which 8 were added at the present meeting. Unpaid subscriptions to The New Philosophy amount to $160.00.

     Professor Acton's Report as Editor of The New Philosophy discussed matters of policy with regard to printing the "'Philosopher's Note Book" and the work on The Brain, etc. It also gave an account of the scientific and philosophical books of Swedenborg's time which Prof. Acton had collected during his visit to Europe last summer. The Association had published the Psychological Transactions during the year. In conclusion, the Report urged an increased realization of the responsibilities of membership. To quote: "Our membership of 206 is altogether inadequate to sustain, by the ordinary dues, the important uses which the Association has undertaken, and which, by the aid of generous gifts, it has thus far successfully carried out. We need a larger membership, a wider support. Each of our members can contribute to this need, if he will endeavor to interest others in the work of the Association. Membership in this organization means more-a great deal more-than the desire to read and study the philosophical works of Emanuel Swedenborg. It means a desire to see these works published, and thus made available to students, in order that there may be a fuller understanding of the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Church. The Swedenborg Scientific Association stands as the only body in the world devoted to this use, and it should receive the support of all who are interested in promoting the knowledge of the philosophy of the New Church."

     A paper on "Series and Degrees" by the Rev. John Whitehead was then read, and a short discussion followed.

     In the evening, the President, the Rev. Lewis F. Hite, delivered his Annual Address, on "Swedenborg's Physics; which was listened to with close attention and will appear shortly in the New Philosophy. The Address was followed by a discussion of the Reports, and Professors Doering and Acton made a strong appeal to the New Church public to support the uses of the Association, illustrating their remarks by an exhibit of books, showing the great need of reprinting many of the philosophical works now almost unobtainable.

     Professor Acton then delivered an extemporaneous address on "The Origin of Man," treating of the four theories, as follows:

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1. The fiat theory.
2 . The protoplasmic theory.
3. Creation through the medium of the animal kingdom.
4. The Worship and Love of God theory; namely, the birth of man by means of the impregnation of ova through the vegetable kingdom.

     The address was much enjoyed, but owing to the lateness of the hour there was not time for the discussion of this or the other papers presented.
     WILFRED HOWARD,
          Secretary.

     ARTHUR MOTUM-AN OBITUARY.-Our old and much-loved friend and coworker, Mr. Arthur Motum, has passed to the spiritual world. He was in his usual health when seized with a sudden illness that left him unconscious; at the end of a week he was welcomed by those on the other side. The sterling qualities of his life and character were firmly based upon a strenuous life of uses faithfully performed. His business activities of nearly forty years brought him into touch with large numbers of people in and around Colchester; and in the large majority of instances, his customers were also personal friends. Mr. Motum was born at Grundisburgh, Suffolk, on June 9th, 1861, and was the youngest in a family of eleven children. While serving his apprenticeship, his mother, to whom he was fondly attached, died. He was educated in the sphere of the Church of England. In 1881, at the age of 19, he came to Colchester, and lived with Mr. and Mrs. Bedwell; and it was at their suggestion that he attended some lectures given by the Rev. Joseph Deans (probably in 1883). From that time he was a loyal and whole-hearted supporter of the New Church. Our friend was one of a number of young men who, of Providence, gathered to Colchester at that period; and the present Society owes not a little to the self-denying and generous support of Mr. Motum.

     In 1886, along with others, he accepted the principles of the Academy, and while these were first in his affections, he numbered among his intimate friends many members of the English Conference. He was always alert in matters of Church history, and recently discovered some descendants of Robert Hindmarsh. He was a member of the Swedenborg Society. It was his custom for upwards of twenty-five years, and considered by him an especial privilege and delight, to provide the supper at our celebration of Swedenborg's Birthday.

     Mr. Motum will chiefly be remembered for the love of use which pervaded his whole life, and for the affection he ever manifested toward all that was beautiful in the kingdoms of nature. Nothing gave him greater delight than the contemplation of a flower, bird or animal. They were his friends; he knew their haunts, and could ever find them. One of the chief pleasures of a visit to Colchester was a drive with Mr. Motum, to share with him the beauty of the countryside; for to him, nature was ever a living expression of the Divine. We will all miss the bodily presence of our friend. But the sphere of his use is now strengthened, and will remain with us a constant and living inspiration.
     F. R. COOPER.

     SUNDRY NEWS ITEMS.

     Continuing her mission in the cause of New Church education, Miss Alice Grant, early in May, visited the members of the New York Society, and addressed a gathering at the home of Mr. and Mrs. A. G. Campbell, Brooklyn, on May 12th, on which occasion there was a good attendance and enthusiastic appreciation of the subjects presented. On May 14th, Miss Alice sailed for England, to carry her message to the members of the General Church there.

     The Rev. and Mrs. Ernst Pfeiffer departed on June 4th for Holland, where Mr. Pfeiffer is to minister to the Circle of our members at The Hague.

     On June 9th, the Rev. and Mrs. E. E. Iungerich, with their son, Alexander, sailed for Rio de Janeiro. Mr. Iungerich goes as the representative of the Bishop to visit the members of the General Church in Brazil.

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BRITISH ASSEMBLY 1921

BRITISH ASSEMBLY       N. D. PENDLETON       1921




     Announcements.



     Members and friends of the General Church of the New Jerusalem are cordially invited to attend the British Assembly, to be held in London from July 30th to August 1st inclusive. Those expecting to come are requested to communicate with Miss May Waters, 164 Loughborough Road, Blixton, S. W., 9, London.
     N. D. PENDLETON,
          Bishop.
TEACHER WANTED 1921

TEACHER WANTED       CARL R. ROSCHMAN       1921

     For Carmel Church School, Kitchener, Ont. To begin September next. Estimate of twelve pupils in seven grades. Apply to
     CARL R. ROSCHMAN,
Waterloo, Ont., Canada.
DELAY IN PUBLICATION 1921

DELAY IN PUBLICATION              1921

     Owing to a printers' strike, the present number of New Church Life is more than a month late in coming from the press. The next number will be issued as early as conditions warrant. In the meantime we must ask the indulgence of our readers.
ORDINATIONS 1921

ORDINATIONS              1921

     Pfeiffer.-At Bryn Athyn, Pa., May 1, 1921, the Rev. Ernst Pfeiffer, into the second degree of the priesthood, Bishop N. D. Pendleton officiating.
CORRECTION 1921

CORRECTION              1921

     In our issue for April, 1921, p. 222, line 3, the phrase "In the anointed chancel" should read "In the oriented chancel." [Corrected in the electronic text.]

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ADVERSARIA 1921

ADVERSARIA       EMANUEL SWEDENBORG       1921


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLI JULY-AUGUST, 1921 Nos. 7, 8
     EXTRACTS FROM VOLUME 1, TRANSLATED BY THE REV. ALFRED ACTON.

     475. What will be the nature of the kingdom of God, may be evident from the writings of the Divine Word; for in the inmost sense is contained nothing except what regards the Kingdom of the Messiah. Here we shall mention on the fact, that the Kingdom of God comes to sight in every man, and also is perceived as to its quality, when the superior way of his mind is opened. In every man there are two ways to his intellectual mind. One is from the world through the external senses, the other is immediately from heaven through his supreme mind, which, in particular, is called the soul. The one must be called the superior or interior way, and the other the inferior or exterior. The superior way, which is through the soul, is utterly unknown to the human race; for, from the time of Adam after his fall, it has been closed in all those who, while living on earth, were not admitted into the Kingdom of God; being opened only to those who were introduced, as were many in primitive times who spoke with the Messiah Himself, such as Abraham, Isaac, and others, who are frequently spoken of in the Divine Word.

     If, therefore, the nature of God's Kingdom should now be described, it would exceed all human belief, especially with those who know nothing except the kingdom of the world, that is, the world, and who, being blinded by the loves of the world and self, acquire wisdom by the external senses alone.

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Such men, should they merely hear that there is in man another way opening to heaven, besides the way through their senses, which are called external, would reject it as among fables. In such men, therefore, the superior way, which opens directly into heaven, cannot be opened until those loves, which are the loves of the world and self, have been dispersed, and there succeeds in their place the sole love of the Messiah and His Kingdom. Nor can this way ever be opened by anyone who is in the heavens, except the Messiah alone, and to him whom He deems worthy to admit to Himself, that is, to His Kingdom. Then for the first time can the nature of His Kingdom be seen.

     To tell it in a few words, it is such that it is granted to hear and speak with those who are in heaven, yea, with heavenly spirits, with the saints who died of old, and even with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and mediately by them, and also, if such infinite grace be granted, immediately, with the Messiah Himself; yea, and also to see Him. The speech is exactly like speech with one's associates on earth; but it comes from heaven, from above, from every side, from far away, from nearby, and also internally; and it is so plain that it is heard in a similar way to the speech of the lips, but in such manner that none of the bystanders hears or perceives anything of it, and this even in a company consisting of many persons or few. Thus each one hears in his own tongue. The sight also is like ordinary sight, but yet is such that unless one be admitted into the interior heaven he sees only representations, especially when the eyes are closed, though also in a certain state midway between wakefulness and sleep; and this, just as clearly as we see at mid-day with our open eyes. This happens as often as the Messiah deigns to grant this sight. Besides hearing, sight and speech, their presence comes also to the touch, and this not obscurely but manifestly. Therefore the nature of God's Kingdom is then plainly perceived by the above-mentioned senses; and this to such an extent that no one can believe that such immense felicities are ever possible.

     But lest men reject these statements as among fables, I can bear witness, and this in sacred earnestness, that I have been admitted into that Kingdom by the Messiah Himself, the Savior of the world, Jesus the Nazarene, and have there spoken with heavenly genii, with spirits, with the dead who have risen again, yea, with those who called themselves Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Esau, Rebekah, Moses, Aaron, and the Apostles, especially Paul and James, and this now for a period of eight months almost continuously, except on the journey from London to Sweden; and also continuously while I was writing these things which now come out in public; yea, they themselves, or their angels, and many others, proximately brought in the very words.

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Hence you can now know that there is a Kingdom of God, and also, from what is to be said below, here and elsewhere, what is its nature. Here it is granted only to add, that in a certain manner I have been admitted into heaven itself, not only with my mind, but also as it were with my whole body, or with the sense in the body, and indeed when I was wholly awake. This may seem so remarkable that one cannot but call it into doubt; but since I have seen, heard, and experienced it with the very senses of the body, I must needs now, and by leave, affirm it, and bear my testimony.



     Experientia.*
     * NOTE. The spiritual experiences related in the Adversaria are invariably enclosed in quotation marks by the author.-[A. A.]

     541. "As regards the Kingdom of God-described here and above from the Divine Word, and also to be described below,-in order that everyone may have faith that there will be sued a Kingdom, I wish to make known to all, what was first shown to me in the quiet of sleep, and several times afterwards in mid-day, or in time of wakefulness, so that I perceived it by. the very sensation, and with the utmost clearness; namely, how the angels from Jehovah, the only-begotten Son of God, descended and ascended as by a ladder, and transmitted their voice from on high by means of so many repeated words, even to my ear; also how innumerable heavenly spirits, and among them also the saints who have died, were so consociated as to form one body, and thus as it were one man, and flowed in so unanimously that not the least discord could be felt; and this to the very sensation, as plainly as is the case with objects before the external sense, with a clear voice and dictation as if from a single person, [saying] that this is the very effigy of the Kingdom of God. The resulting sweetness and happiness was so great that it cannot be expressed in words; for it deeply entered into the fibers and inmost marrows, and affected them in an ineffable way.

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From His infinite mercy and grace, the Messiah has granted to me, His servant, the most unworthy of all, manifestly to sensate this effigy; for I have experienced it several times, and have felt the heavenly sweetnesses and felicities so frequently within the last two years that I pass by any mention of the number of times. Therefore I must needs bear witness to it."

     941. In heaven, moreover, that is, in the celestial sphere, there are also other spirits and genii besides he celestial and truly spiritual. From these also, as from little founts, proceeds a light which excites human minds into actual life, and produces a kind of understanding that is admitted into heaven, in order that human minds may enjoy their life. These spirits are malignant, and are not led by any celestial love, but are smitten with the love of self and the world; thus they are spirits who derive their life, not from the Messiah, but from their leader, who is the devil. From this light come, not truths, but falsities and lies; nor, in itself, is it light, but spiritual shade, or like light in the time of winter whereby nothing germinates; for without spiritual heat, that is, without celestial love, which is solely in the Messiah, there can be no germination in the mind.

     942. But all spirits whatsoever, in heaven and below heaven, of whatever character and nature, are disposed by the Messiah alone, to whom is given authority in heaven and on earth. Thus by them, He rules human minds, and thus men, entirely according to His decree.

     943. But who will believe the statement, that human minds, and thus men in the universal world, are ruled by spirits entirely according to the decree of the Messiah; and that human minds, and consequently the men themselves, are mere potencies! But that all may believe this, I can asseverate by God that I have experienced it so sensibly, that I suppose nothing more sensible is possible in these matters; and this now for a space of almost eight months, during which, by the Divine grace of the Messiah, my mind has been governed by the spirits of His heaven, with whom, throughout that period, I have spoken in the daytime almost continuously.

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These spirits then so flowed into my mind with spiritual light, and in a lively way, also with ideas, with the several moments of thought, and even with living words which no bystander could hear, that I could have no thought at all, not even the least, that did not thus sensibly flow in; and could not produce even a single idea by my own effort, except as it was left to me that this should appear to be the case. And all this time I was nevertheless with friends in my own country for five months, and with others in society; thus I talked as before, no one observing the fact that there was such a heavenly intercourse.

     In like manner as into the understanding, so they flowed also into the will, and into the very actions, so that I was absolutely led as a mere passive potency whithersoever it pleased them,-through roads and streets, to an inn and round about. Thus, while they were speaking, they sensibly ruled the motions of my feet, arms, head, eyes, and all the joints of my body, according to the nod of the Messiah Himself; so that the spirits of His Heaven, who, according to their own confession, are likewise ruled by the Messiah as passive potencies, marveled that I erred hardly a step. This was effected in no other way than as when one is forced by a manifest and sensible effort. By these experiences, I learned in the clearest way, by the Divine grace of the Messiah, that all human thought, will and action are directed by the Messiah alone, according to His decree; thus that the thought, will and action of some of His servants is directed from pure mercy and grace by means of His heavenly spirits; and that of others is directed permissively from other spirits who are not heavenly,-according to the life of each one.

     (See whether it is well to insert the above when the time comes for printing.)

     1351. How these things appeared to Jacob, and perhaps to none other but Jacob, is clear from many circumstances, to wit, [I] that Jacob saw angels with open eyes.

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This is the case with those who are in the more interior church, so that they see them almost like men; as we also read was the case with many men in the Divine Word. [II] They appear also in another way, namely, when the man is in wakefulness, and the internal senses are, as it were, removed from the external. Here, also, the representations are quite evident, but not as was the case with Jacob, Abraham, and others. [III] It is different, however, in the state proximate to wakefulness, when the man himself believes no other than that he is awake, when yet the state is not a true state of wakefulness. In this state, they appear as clearly as in daytime, unless they are representations of things which are then offered to the sight, in their place; as was many times seen by the prophets, as by Ezekiel, etc. [IV] Fourthly, come apparitions when the eyes are closed in wakefulness; they are as clear as in mid-day. [V] Lastly come dreams.

     1352. But apparitions and the like, for the purpose of representing celestial angels and celestial things, shall be treated of elsewhere, by the mercy of God Messiah; for they occur everywhere.

     1353. That the above-mentioned apparitions of the second, third, fourth, and fifth classes have happened to me; and, in fact, those of the second class frequently; those of the third class several times; those of the fourth, most frequently of all, and, indeed, in as lively a way as in daytime; and those of the fifth, for several years; this I can sacredly asseverate. Passing over the other apparitions, and mentioning merely the apparitions before the sight, there has thus been given me, by the pure mercy of the Messiah, a knowledge of apparitions, and thus of inspirations by means of the angels of the Messiah.

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HUMAN PRUDENCE AND DIVINE REVELATION 1921

HUMAN PRUDENCE AND DIVINE REVELATION       Rev. THEODORE PITCAIRN       1921

     "This is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord; which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits." (Isaiah 30:9, 10.)

     The Old Testament, from the first chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of Malachi, in the celestial sense, treats in a continuous series of the life of the Lord, particularly of the states through which He passed during the process of glorification. The New Testament once again recounts this life of the Lord, but differently accommodated-the same story with a different clothing. The Writings of the New Church, regarded as to their inmost meaning, once more reiterate the story of the Lord's life, again fashioned differently, but still the same story.

     In order that the Lord might be fully present with the men of the Church, it was necessary that He should make this trinal revelation of Himself; for every perfect thing is in a trine. The mind of man, which is the receptacle of the truth of Revelation, is in a trine. The natural mind is a trine, and the spiritual mind is a trine. In the natural mind, there are three planes, the sensual, the imaginative, and the rational. The trine in the spiritual mind answers to the three heavens, and the three planes of the natural mind correspond to those of the spiritual mind. In the ultimates of Divine Revelation, the Lord has accommodated Himself to the three planes of the natural mind, and this threefold accommodation is represented by the Hebrew, Greek and Latin writing upon the cross. For in the Hebrew of the Old Testament, the Lord appears clothed in sensual appearance; in the Greek of the New Testament, He reveals Himself to the plane of the imagination; and in the Latin of the Writings He presents Himself before the rational.

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Thus the Lord was not fully present in the forms of Revelation with the man of the Church until He had made His Second Coming.

     Furthermore, as the Old Testament, from beginning to end, is a prophecy of the First Advent, so the Gospel record of this Advent is throughout a prophecy of the Second Coming. Everything the Lord said or did naturally while upon earth, He has said and done spiritually at His Second Coming. And everything the Church did to Him naturally while He was in the world, the Christian Church has done or will do to Him spiritually. He appeared before the bodily eyes of men at His First Advent; He now appears before the eyes of the spiritual understanding; and men will attempt to do to His Spirit, to His Divine Human, what they tried to do to His Body.

     Many are indignant at this teaching, but still it is true. And we must not be as those of old who are described in our text,-" children that will not hear the law of the Lord; which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits." We must not be as Peter, who wished that the Lord would speak "smooth things" and "prophesy deceits." For we read that "from that time forth began Jesus to shew unto His disciples, how that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him, saying, Be it far from Thee, Lord; this shall not be unto Thee. But He turned, and said unto Peter, "Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an offence unto me; for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." (Matthew 16:21-23.)

     As it was difficult for Peter to believe that men would do such things to the Lord, so it may be difficult for us to believe that they will do likewise at His Second Coming. Yet we are assured that such will be the case, as is evident from the following in the True Christian Religion, treating of the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill:"

     "In the celestial sense, to commit murder means to be rashly angry with the Lord, to hate Him, and to want to blot out His name. Of these it is said that they crucify Him; which also they would do, as did the Jews, if He were to come into the world as He did before. This is meant in the Apocalypse by the Lamb standing as it has been slain, (5: 6), and by the crucified (11: 8)."

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And further it is said: "The quality of man's internal, when not reformed by the Lord, was made manifest to me from the devils and satans in hell; for they have it constantly in mind to kill the Lord; and as they cannot do this, they are in the endeavor to kill those who are devoted to the Lord. . . .They came to my sight like dragons standing near women who had infants with them, whom they tried to devour, according to the things said in the 12th chapter of the Apocalypse, which are nothing but representations of hatred against the Lord and His New Church. That men in the world who wish to destroy the Lord's Church are like these, is not apparent to their companions, because their bodies, by which they exercise moralities, absorb and conceal it. But to the angels they appear in forms like those of the devils above described. Who could have known such things, had not the Lord opened the sight of some one, and enabled him to look inwardly into the spiritual world? Would they not have lain concealed from men forever?"

     Again, we are told that "he who loves evil, also loves to do evil to the Lord, yea, to crucify Him; this is latent inmostly in all evil, even with those who in the world have confessed Him with the mouth; a fact which is unknown to men, but very well known to the angels." (A. R. 527.) The multitude of Christians at this day who deny that Christ is God are represented in the Apocalypse by "Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified" (11:8); for these words signify "the non-acknowledgment of the Lord's Divine Human, and thus a slate of rejection. It is commonly said in the Church that they 'crucify the Lord' who blaspheme Him; also they who, like the Jews, deny that He is the Son of God; but they who deny that His Human is Divine are also like the Jews." (A. R. 504.)

     When we are tempted to question the truth of such statements in the Writings, let us remember that without Divine Revelation no man can know the true state of human society. For man's character and opinions are formed largely by contact with his environment, and especially by his associations, both natural and spiritual-his spiritual association being determined to a great extent by his natural associations. A man has no connate ideas; that is, he has no ideas until they are implanted from without. If he were separated from books, and from human society, he would eventually come to such a state that he would scarcely think at all.

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And so it is a fact that his thoughts are powerfully governed, and forced into a path of logic and reason, in accordance with the company he keeps, whether it be the actual companionship of men, or that which is engendered by the books he reads. Some men, it is true, have greater discernment than others; but even the greatest men are powerfully influenced and largely controlled by the spirit of their times.

     Recognizing these truths, then, if we believe what the Writings say of the state of the world, how are we to rise above the sphere and thought of the world? There is only one way, and that is by diligent reading of the Writings, learning to think from them, and cultivating an association with those who are doing likewise. A large section of the people of every country and land do not think or form their ideas for themselves, but from certain leaders of thought whom they follow. And it will be the same in the Church. There will be many who are called "the simple," who cannot read much, and who will not form their ideas from reading the Writings, but from other men. It is important that these should not form their opinions from the thought of the world, but from those who are readers and lovers of the Heavenly Doctrine. The reading of the Writings associates a man with an intelligent class of spirits, and elevates him into a superior light, in which he can judge of the currents of thought in the world. In the light of truth, one can see the varieties and shades of falsity; but those who dwell under the influence of the world can have no clear vision of the universal truths which are above the thought of the day.

     If the Church is to progress, it must learn to think from the Writings concerning the things of the world, and not, as is our natural tendency, from the light and thought of the world about the Writings. A man may accept the Writings of the New Church as Divine Truth, and yet think about them from the light of the world. In fact, it is almost impossible not to do this, if one's intimate friends are not those who love the Church.

     Many exclaim: "Why this condemnation of our civilization! Why this narrow and intolerant spirit? Is it not uncharitable to look upon our neighbors in this light?" Certain it is that the revelation of the interior quality of the men of the present day was not given that we might look down upon and despise our fellow citizens.

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But it was primarily given that we might know ourselves, and repent. Let us not forget that we are part and parcel of the present civilization, and that the evils of our age, and also its falsities, are deep-seated in our nature by heredity, and by our life in society. If we cannot see the corruption in the world about us, we cannot see the evils in ourselves. But if we acknowledge the state of the world in the light of the Writings, then, if we are in earnest, we shall have little difficulty in finding the same unholy passions in ourselves.

     A man who truly knows himself has naught but pity for those who are in evil. When he perceives evil in others, it fills him with sadness. This is not self-righteousness on his part, because he has seen in himself the impulses to evil which ha observes in others. He knows that his own evils may some day overcome him, and carry him off. He knows that of himself he has little strength, and that if he is not overcome by evil, it is due to the mercy of the Lord in protecting him. And so he is not harsh and severe in his judgment of others, knowing that their temptations may have been greater than his own, that even those who are openly in evil may be internally better than he. While we are among those who are permitted to know the fallen state of the Christian world, as taught in Revelation, and it is, in fact, our duty to recognize and acknowledge it, still we cannot judge of the internal state of a single individual; for the inmost states of all are known to the Lord alone.

     It is well-known to the New Churchman that every former Church upon this earth has fallen away into darkness and night, and that the reason in every case has been the failure to recognize the spiritual decline, and repent. And if the New Church is to live and flourish with any particular people, they must recognize the depravity of human nature, and be ever vigilant in the watch for evil and falsity, and ever brave and fearless in the battle with hell. Failing to acknowledge what the Lord has now revealed concerning the state of mankind, and preferring the views of worldly prudence, they will be as the Jews who are described in our text, who "said to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits."

     These words apply not only to the Church as a whole, but to each one of us. There are times, in the Lord's Providence, when we catch glimpses of truth which are contrary to our loves and ideas, but which are necessary to our spiritual welfare.

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Our natural inclination is to turn away from this voice of truth within us, and to bring arguments in favor of what we would wish to be so. This is a universal failing. There is not a man who does not bring forth reasonings to establish the principles he loves and the ideas he has made his own, however false they may be-and this, in spite of the fact that, in moments of illustration, he has perceived that what he wants to believe is not true. Yet, if a man will not cling to the light that is given him in states of illustration, but confirms what he wishes to be true as the truth itself, he will in time lose the power of seeing truth, and, in the things of the spirit, will see black as white and white as black. Such a one "says to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits." Amen.
GROWTH FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS 1921

GROWTH FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS       Rev. F. E. WAELCHLI       1921

     The New Church is at first among a few, and afterward will spread to many, in accordance with the universal law, evidenced in all things spiritual and natural, that growth is from small beginnings. Such was the development of all preceding Churches. The Adamic Church began with a few of the pre-adamites, who attained unto the seventh or celestial state, and increased to many. The Noahtic Church, beginning with a remnant of the Adamic, spread until it included: many nations of Asia and Africa. The Israelitish Church has its growth recorded in the words: "Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude." (Deut. 10:22.) The Christian Church, at first with the few who followed the Lord when on earth, in time numbered its adherents by millions. The New Church, today received by few, will grow to numbers beyond compare with those of any of its predecessors; for it is the crowning Church of the ages, the Church Eternal.

     The growth of the church is as that from a seed. "The Kingdom of heaven is as a grain of mustard, which a man took, and sowed in his field: which indeed is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is as the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the bands of heaven come and lodged in the branches." (Matt. 13:31, 32.)

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These words describe the beginning, development, and full state of the church, both in an individual and in a number of individuals collectively; that is, they describe the internal growth which must take place in them, from which external or numerical growth results.

     "The grain of mustard is man's good before he is spiritual, which is the least of all seeds, because he thinks to do good of himself, and what is of himself is nothing but evil. But because in this state of regeneration there is something of good, it is the least of all. At length, as his faith becomes conjoined with love, it becomes greater, and is an herb; and lastly, when it is conjoined, it becomes a tree, and then the birds of the heavens, which are truths or intellectual things, lodge in his branches, which are scientifics" (A. C. 55.) "Seed" signifies the truth of the Word. But in the parable of the grain of mustard, the seed is spoken of as to the prolific principle which is latent within it, and by virtue of which a plant develops when the seed is sown; and therefore it here signifies good, the good which is latent within the truth of the Word, and which causes the truth, when sown in good ground, to develop into a heavenly form of intelligence and wisdom.

     It is said in the parable that the kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard sown in a field. A "field" signifies the church, and the man of the church; and more particularly, the doctrine of the church, and the man in whom is that doctrine; not, however, mere doctrine, but doctrine applied to life, thus the good of life according to the doctrine. In order that man may be regenerated, and thus become a church, there must be such a field or ground; there must be an active endeavor to live according to the doctrine of the church, and thus something of the good of life. Unless there be such good, there can be no beginning of the church. There must be good in man before he can begin to be regenerated; not, indeed, interior good, for this cannot exist at that time, but external good, such as is possible without first undergoing the severe trials of spiritual temptation-combats, and which consists in an upright life according to the doctrine of the church, thus a life of honesty, truthfulness, justice, sincerity, and regard for the welfare of others; also of Diety, reverence for holy things, and interest in the church and its doctrine.

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     The preparation of this field should be the prime end of all education. The Lord is operating throughout childhood and youth for the preparation of it by the implantation of remains, and we should co-operate with Him by doing the work of true education. Where this work is done, such a field should exist when adult life begins, so that there may forthwith be an entrance upon regeneration. With many, however, such is not the case. The ground is somewhat prepared, but not sufficiently to receive the seed. This condition may be due to imperfections in the work of education, or it may be due to weaknesses in the character of the person. In such cases, the person himself, having reached adult age, must continue the work of the preparation of the field. When it is prepared and ready, the seed can be sown, so that the establishment of the church may begin.

     It is therefore evident that good is the prime essential to the establishment of the church. Where there is good, the seed, because of its prolific principle, will take root. This is in accordance with the oft-repeated teaching that "the church will be established with those who are in truth from good."

     The growth of the church from seed as a small beginning is also described by these words of the Lord: "So is the Kingdom of God as if a man should cart seed upon the earth, and should then sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, he knoweth not how. For the earth beareth fruit of herself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit hath come forth, straightway he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is ready." (Mark 4:26-29.) Here, as in the parable of the grain of mustard, the seed is spoken of as to its prolific principle, which is the good of truth; and by the earth into which it is cast is signified the same as the field. We find presented, more forcibly than in the growth of the mustard seed, what is man's part and what the Lord's in the establishment of the church. Man's part is that he cast the seed upon the earth, and then sleep and rise night and day. The rest is the Lord's work, even unto the harvest, which He gives. It is to be noted, that although the Lord works all things and man nothing from self, yet His will is that man should work as if from self in all that comes to his perception in the upbuilding of the church in Himself and others. The Lord establishes the church; but only when man co-operates. (A. E. 911.)

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     As is the establishment of the church in an individual, so must it be in a number of individuals; for the church in general consists of men in whom the church is. (A. C. 3884.) The church grows in strength from its small beginnings in the degree in which those who constitute it progress according to that order which is described in the parable of the grain of mustard. The essential growth of the church is that which is internal,-the progress of its members in love and faith; for "as love and faith constitute heaven, so they also constitute the church." (H. D. 241.)

     In so far as there is such growth from what is least to what is great, in so far will there also be the external or numerical growth from the few to the many. The Lord says: "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and its justice; and all these things shall be added unto you." They who seek first the kingdom of God will, from love to Him, be wise in the fulfillment of their part of the work in the cause of His kingdom,-wise in church uses, wise in the education of the children given them, wise in all their work for the church. And the Lord will give the bountiful harvest, internal and external.

     That the external growth of the church depends on the internal, is evident from all the passages in the Writings which treat of the increase of the church from few to many. From among these passages, let us, at this time, select and consider only those of the Apocalypse Explained which present the internal sense of the words: "And the woman fled into the wilderness, where size hath a place prepared of God, that there they may nourish her a thousand two hundred and sixty days. . . . And there were given to the woman two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, where she is nourished a time and times and half a time from the face of the serpent." (Apoc. 12:6, 14.) By the woman being in the wilderness is signified the church among a few; by her having a place prepared of God, is signified that in the meantime provision may be made for it among many; by her being nourished, is signified until it grows to fulness; by the wings given her, are signified the spiritual intelligence and circumspection which the Lord gives to that church, so that the growth may take place.

     We are told first (A. E. 730) why the church is in the wilderness, namely, because it is in the midst of those who are not in good, and consequently not in truth; in other words, in the midst of the Christian world.

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Here there are only a few who receive, because only a few who are in good and thence in truth. Where good is not, truth cannot be received, so as to be genuinely acknowledged, because there is no enlightenment. Thus the very beginning of the church among the few depends, like its growth afterwards, on what is internal, even on that same internal which is meant by the prolific of the seed and the good ground.

     Next are presented the three internal states, or conditions and circumstances, on which both the beginning and the growth depend:

     "There are several reasons why the New Church that is called the Holy Jerusalem is to have its beginning with a few, afterwards to be with many, and finally to reach fulness. First, its doctrine, which is the doctrine of love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbor, can be acknowledged and thus received only by those who are internally affected by truths, and those only can be internally affected by truths who have the ability to see them, and those only see truths who have cultivated their intellectual faculty, and have not destroyed it in themselves by the loves of self and of the world. A second reason is that the doctrine of that church can be acknowledged, and thus received, only by those who have not confirmed themselves by doctrine and at the same time by life in faith alone; confirmation by doctrine alone does not prevent reception, but confirmation by life also does prevent; for such do not know what love to the Lord is, nor what charity towards the neighbor is, nor do they wish to know. A third reason is that the New Church on earth grows according to its increase in the world of spirits; for spirits from that world are with men, and they are from such as were in the faith of their church while they lived on earth; and of these, such only receive the doctrine who have been in the spiritual affection of truth; these only are conjoined to heaven where that doctrine is, and conjoin heaven to man. The number of these in the spiritual world now increases daily; therefore, according to their increase, does the Church that is called the New Jerusalem increase on earth. These are the reasons also why the Christian Church, after the Lord left the world, increased so slowly in Europe, and did not attain to its fulness until an age had elapsed." (A. E. 732.)

     Many pages of comment on this teaching might be written. But we will pause only long enough to inquire whether there is to be found therein an answer to the question why the New Church has not had growth which might be rightfully expected from successive generations born within the church.

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The answer is given. It is involved in the first reason presented. Many of those born in the church have, "by the loves of self and the world, destroyed in themselves the intellectual faculty," or that higher faculty of the mind which delights in spiritual things. But something more is required than that this faculty be not destroyed. It must be "cultivated," and with a New Churchman such cultivation can take place only in one way, namely, by the reading of the Heavenly Doctrines, and by meditation upon them. If it be not cultivated, there is not "the ability to see the truth of the New Church;" and if this be not seen, it "cannot be acknowledged and received." The remedy for this condition lies, in great measure, in a true education of the young in the home and, if possible, in school also. There needs to be given the instruction and training which may lead to the renouncing of the loves of self and the world, and also that which will awaken affection for spiritual truth. There will then be good hope that in adult age the intellectual faculty will be cultivated, and the truths of the New Church seen, acknowledged and received.

     That the New Church can be established only with those who shun their evils as sins against God, and who cultivate their intellectual faculty, is taught throughout in, what follows in this series in the Apocalypse Explained, and especially in no. 759, where we are taught that the means by which the New Church will increase from few to many are intelligence and circumspection given by the Lord to those of that Church; that is, to those who come into enlightenment by so living that their spiritual association is with good spirits and angels.

     That the New Church will increase from few to many is the promise of Divine Revelation. To this Church, as to all that preceded, is given the blessing: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth." Preeminently this blessing is to be fulfilled spiritually in the fructification of good and the multiplication of truth in those who are of the church. But this cannot be, unless there be a basis in a fructification and multiplication of offspring in the church. The spiritual fructification and multiplication centers in conjugial love, cultivated by those of the church; and the natural, in the love of offspring, cherished in the church.

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The two loves are interdependent, not only with consorts, but with the church as a whole. This suggests how important to the growth of the church, spiritually and naturally, is marriage within the church.

     The numerical increase of the New Church in Christian lands will be principally from children born and educated in the Church. At the same time there will also be some accessions from without, which, taken all together, will not be inconsiderable. But the great increase will take place when the church spreads to the Gentiles. So the Doctrines assure us.

     Wonderful things of Divine Providence are involved in the Lord's provision that the church shall be first among a few, and become strong with these few, ere it spread to the many. Some of these things of Providence may come to our perception when we reflect upon the words: "I will not drive the nations out from before thee in one year, lest peradventure the land be desolate, and the wild beast of the field be multiplied upon thee. Little by little will I drive them out from before thee, until thou be fruitful and inherit the land." (Exodus 23:29, 30.) Should the New Church, by methods that are not in accordance with order, succeed in acquiring a great numerical increase, the "land," or the church, would become "desolate," and the "wild beasts," or falsities, would be multiplied upon it. This has actually come to pass in the history of the church, where societies have pursued methods that have brought them a large membership, acknowledging practically nothing of the doctrines of the church. There is but one true course to follow, namely, that the few, who are the church, cultivate that life and faith which will make it possible for the Lord to drive out the nations, or evils and falsities, from before them; which He will effect in the degree in which the church becomes spiritually fruitful and capable of inheriting the land.

     All beginnings of the church are small, weak and feeble; yet, if they who have part in them are true to the Heavenly Doctrines, the Lord will provide that these beginnings may grow, and also that they may be the means for the establishment of other small beginnings, these likewise to grow, and carry the seed elsewhere. So has it been since the time of the first small beginnings of nearly a century and a half ago. The total growth has been very small.

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Today the number of New Churchmen in the world, according to a most liberal estimate, is not more than ten thousand. This falls far short of what the number might be, had the children born in the church remained in it. And yet, in view of the wilderness state of the world, present both without and within the church, we may marvel that the growth has been so great.

     Of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, much the same can be said, except that in it, far more than in other general bodies, the children have remained in the Church. Its growth has been great, and yet small. At the time of the organization of the Academy, forty-five years ago, there were, all told, not more than two hundred persons who held its principles. Today the membership of the General Church is about fifteen hundred. This increase has been largely from children born in the Church, and by accessions from the Old Church. But by no means entirely so; for many have joined this body who previously were members of the New Church.

     Throughout the New Church there have been many societies that had their small beginning, grew to considerable size, and afterwards died out; while some others, though still existing, seem to be approaching the same end. In the General Church, as well as in other general bodies, there are such cases; but as such decline has, to a considerable extent, been due to removals, especially from small communities to large cities, the growth of the Church must be estimated according to the membership of the body as a whole. These small societies, or small beginnings, have therefore contributed their part to the growth of the Church, even though not in their own locality.

     But we fail to realize what they have done for the church, if we confine our thought to the growth that is numerical. When the New Church is established in a certain place, it takes on quality from its environment, and especially from the genius of the people of that community. No New Church society is of the same quality as another of the same general body. It has characteristics that are peculiarly its own. By this variety, the general body is perfected, for each society contributes what is its own to the general state; and when members of a society go to make their home in some other society, and especially, as has often been the case, when they scatter into a number of societies, they carry the state and quality of their former consociation with them, and contribute it to that which they enter, thereby perfecting the church there, and also perfecting the general body.

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A small beginning of the church in a certain locality, therefore, may, in Providence, have as its end, not a permanent growth there, but rather the development of a state which is to have its influence throughout the church. Whence it is evident that we must regard small beginnings primarily as beginnings of states in the church, which affect the state of the entire church, and this not only during the time that such a small beginning, or society, exists, but in all time following.

     Let us illustrate this by an example: Eighty or more years ago, in a community in the Middle West, a few persons organized as a New Church society, which grew and prospered, built a commodious church edifice, and was served by resident pastors for many years. Then began the removal of members and their families, until, a few years ago, so few remained that the services of a resident pastor had to be discontinued. But can we say that there has been no permanent growth from the small beginning there made? By no means. Even numerically the growth can be seen; for former members and their descendants are to be found associated with New Church societies, especially of the General Church, throughout the country. In Bryn Athyn alone, they are so many that by themselves they would constitute a considerable society. But more important than this numerical growth is that resulting from those members carrying with them the quality peculiar to the society,-the state of earnest love for the church and its doctrines, as this had taken form there. This, as a good seed, they carried elsewhere to perfect, by added variety, the societies they entered, and thereby the entire church. And let us add something more. From that society there went forth, carrying the spirit of it, a New Church minister, who later became a General Pastor or Bishop, by whose pioneer work, more than by any other instrumentality, the New Church further west was built up. Also, from this society there came young women, six in number, who, for longer or shorter periods, served as teachers in New Church schools, implanting seed which will go on fructifying and multiplying for all time. One of these teachers has performed uses in New Church educational work so eminent as to be beyond power to estimate.

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Does not all this show how, despite numerical decrease in the locality of the small beginning, there has been a growth so great that the more we reflect upon it, the more we are filled with astonishment at the wonderful provision of Providence for it. Nor is this society an isolated case; for there are others of which similar, and most interesting, stories could be written.

     The Providence of the Lord is operative in all that pertains to the distribution of the church throughout the world,-large societies here and there, small circles and isolated members in very many places. In the Divine economy, this is what is best for perfecting the present and the future state of the church. Wherever the church may be, even with a single individual, it is a small beginning, there established by the Lord, from which endless growth is to come. And wherever those who constitute such a beginning desire the ministrations of the church, the general body should do all in its power to provide the same. Who can tell how great is the growth which is to come? We cannot know. All that is open to our eyes to see is that there is a work to be done in the cause of the Lord's church, in the present and for all the future.

     Let us not, however, think of small beginnings as being only our weaker societies and circles; for such beginnings are also our larger societies, and even the general body; so too are all our church uses, even the greatest; and likewise all the states of the church as to life and faith. All are as the grain of mustard which is to become a tree, thriving in the degree in which those of the church do their part that the prolific of the seed may find its development. For those of the church must do their part, striving to progress into the good of life, and cultivating their intellectual faculty, so that the Lord may bestow upon them that spiritual intelligence and circumspection whereby growth and increase will be attained.

     The Latin word most frequently used in the Writings for "beginning" is principium, which also means a "principle" and the "first." All beginnings in the church are "principles" of good and truth, which are to grow; they are also "firsts," entering into all that follows. But this line of thought we must leave to the reader to develop for himself. Likewise we must leave to him the consideration of what is involved, as bearing on our subject, in the five other Latin words used in the Writings for "beginning," namely: auspicare, to begin from good omens; ordiri, to begin a web, to lay the warp; incipere, to take in hand, thus to begin; inchoare, to lay the foundation; initium, a going in, entrance.

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All these are suggestive.

     From a beginning there is growth, and then follow new beginnings, with their growth, in a never-ending series, Thus the church is ever beginning, now and to eternity. When it ceases to begin, it ceases to be new, and thus ceases to live. This has its application not only to states of love and wisdom, but also to the performance of uses. There must be again and again, without end, the beginnings of new uses, in the general body, in its constituent societies, and in new societies or circles established. Into all such undertakings may there enter the same spirit as was that of the Ancients when they began a, work, of which we read: "When a work was commenced (inchoabatur), it was customary for the Ancients to say 'May God bless,' and by it was signified that the work might be prosperous and happy. Hence it is that, in a sense more remote, by 'May God bless' is signified a beginning (principium)." (A. C. 3260.)

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Editorial Department 1921

Editorial Department       Editor       1921


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                    Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Rev. W. H. Alden, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address and business communications should be sent to the Business Manager.

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
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     SELECTIONS FROM THE ADVERSARIA.

     We have before called attention to the fact that there are three styles or forms of treatment in the Adversaria, namely, exegetical, doctrinal, and memorabilia; these being similar to the three forms afterwards found in the Arcana Coelestia, Apocalypse Explained, etc., where doctrinal passages, and also accounts of things heard and seen in the spiritual world, are introduced at intervals in the expositions of the Scripture text. An example of the expository style was published in our issue for December, 1918, being an explanation of Isaac's blessing of Esau and Jacob; and later, in February, 1919, we printed a doctrinal portion treating of the subject of "Order." Speaking editorially in the same issues, we promised our readers some examples of the memorabilia, or Swedenborg's spiritual experiences, as recorded in the same work. A few of these have been selected from the first volume, and appear in our present issue, thus affording our readers some idea of the nature of this part of the Adversaria. It should be remembered, however, that they are but fragments chosen at random from one of four volumes, serving only to indicate the character of many similar passages.

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For a full acquaintance with the record of Swedenborg's earliest spiritual experiences, as preserved in this work, New Churchmen who have not read the original must await the publication of the English translation upon which Mr. Acton is now engaged. Meanwhile, the translator has kindly consented to furnish selected passages for occasional publication in the LIFE.

     It will be recalled that Swedenborg, in making his Index to the Spiritual Diary, included many passages from the Adversaria. The student of the Diary is thus carried back to the earlier work, and into a field of study that will not be available to the English reader until a translation of the Adversaria is provided.
SCRIPTURE QUESTION 1921

SCRIPTURE QUESTION       E. E. IUNGERICH       1921

     DID ZIPPORAH ACCOMPANY MOSES TO EGYPT?

     In a doctrinal class last winter, the writer was asked whether Zipporah and her son had not remained in Arabia while Moses went alone into Egypt, not seeing him again until he appeared at Mt. Sinai with the children of Israel. As basis for this view, it was argued, first, that the language of Zipporah in Exod. 4: 25, "Thou art a bridegroom of bloods to me," implies a quarrel and a separation; and secondly, that her father Jethro (Exod. 18:3, 5) is said to have brought her back to Moses after she had been sent away, for which no other cause has been suggested than that of the supposed quarrel in Exodus 4: 25.

     This view is favored by Adam Clarke, who remarks: "Why Zipporah and her two sons returned to Midian, is not certainly known. From the transaction recorded in chapter 4: 20, 24, it seems as if she had been alarmed at the danger to which the life of one of her sons had been exposed, and fearing worse evils, left her husband and returned to her father. It is possible, however, that Moses, foreseeing the troubles to which his wife and children were likely to be exposed if he had taken them down to Egypt, sent them back to his father-in-law till it should please God to deliver his people. Jethro, now finding that God had delivered them, and totally discomfited the Egyptians, their enemies, thought it proper to bring Zipporah and her sons to Moses, while he was in the vicinity of Horeb." (Commentary, Exodus 18:2.)

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     But the following salient reasons leave little doubt that she did accompany him to Egypt:

     1. Exod. 4:20 says: "And Moses took his wife, and his sons, and made them ride on an ass, and returned to the land of Egypt." There is no direct evidence to indicate that any of the party failed to get there.

     2. Prior to this time, only one son is definitely mentioned as having been born to Moses by Zipporah while in Arabia, according to Exod. 2: 22, "And she bare a son, and called his name Gershom, for he said, I am a sojourner in a strange land." These words are repeated in Exod. 18:3.

     Though mention is made of "sons" riding upon the ass down to Egypt (Ex. 4:20), I believe that this expression is to be taken in the general sense of attendants. Later in that chapter (v. 25), mention is made of the circumcision in an inn, as a means of averting destruction from an evil spirit, and only one son is said to have been circumcised. That the second son, Eliezer, was not born until the Lord had rescued the children of Israel from Pharaoh, is evident from the name, which means "Help of my God," as set forth in Exod. 18:4: "And the name of one, Eliezer, because the God of my father is my aid, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh." Children were named from circumstances closely attending their birth. (A. C. 2643.) Obviously the deliverance here referred to is not Moses' earlier escape from Egypt after he had slain an Egyptian. (Exod. 2:15.) After naming the first born "Gershom," from the fact of being a sojourner in a strange land, it would have been unusual to name the second for some event that had taken place prior to the birth of the first. Besides, the God of his father had not then been made known to him, nor had any manifestation of His saving aid against Pharaoh been clearly exhibited before Moses returned to Egypt. The explanation of the words, "And delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh," as signifying "deliverance from the falses of those who infested" (A. C. 8653), has additional weight, because it refers to the struggles to get Pharaoh to consent to the Exodus, all of which signify the deliverance from infestations.

     3. Eliezer, therefore, was born during the Exodus from Egypt.

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That Zipporah, Gershom and Eliezer then left Moses and went to Jethro, who brought them back to him, was because of a law in vogue at that time which regarded daughters and their children as the property of the father, who had the right to decree whether they should follow the husband or not. Laban, it will be remembered, made an unjust appeal to that law (Gen. 31:26), forgetting that he could have no recourse to it, since he had sold both daughters to Jacob for his fourteen years of labor.

     Pursuant to this law, Moses had asked Jethro's permission to go to Egypt with his family. (Exod. 4:18.) But when he had returned, it was necessary that this permission should be renewed for the further journey to Canaan. Concerning this we read in the Adversavia: "Above, at Chap. 4, we read that Moses took his wife and sons, and returned to the land of Egypt, v. 20; but that he had been at home not far from Mt. Horeb, where he pastured Jethro's flock, Chap. 3:1; thus it is evident that the wife and sons of Moses went away home, in order that they might be dismissed by the father; because daughters, even though wives, and also their children, were under the authority of the fathers and the grandfathers at that time, as may appear from the sayings of Jacob to Laban (Gen. 30:26), and of Laban to Jacob (31:43) Thus, although they were under the jurisdiction of the husband, they were yet under the authority of the father, and so were to be dismissed legally. Hence now it is stated [Exodus 18:2] 'after [her] dismissals.' Therefore Jethro came to deliver or give them to Moses." (3 Adv. 304.)

     4. Again, in view of the amity and friendship that prevailed between Jethro and Moses (Exod. 4:18), and the gratitude the daughters felt toward Moses (Exod. 2), it seems unlikely that any violent break or rupture had taken place between Moses and Zipporah on the occasion of the descent to Egypt.

     5. It was necessary, besides, that all who underwent the desert pilgrimage should have come out of Egypt.
     E. E. IUNGERICH.

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NOTES AND REVIEWS 1921

NOTES AND REVIEWS              1921

     The second issue of LA NOUVELLE JERUSALEM (April, 1921) has come to hand bearing its message of sound doctrine. Its varied contents include a sermon by Bishop W. F. Pendleton on "God Man" and an article by the late Rev. C. Th. Odhner on "The Five Dispensations," these being translated and reprinted from NEW CHURCH LIFE. "Conjugial Love, its Origin and Conditions" is the title of a paper by the Rev. G. C. Ottley, in which we note that the term "conjugal" is used throughout, leading us to inquire why the distinctively New Church "conjugial" has not been introduced in the French as in English. Professor Camille Vinet contributes a short article on "The Spirit of the Academy," and the Editor, the Rev. Ernst Deltenre, in a simple, clear and forcible style, deals with the subjects of "The Sacraments" and "The Unity of the New Church." From the latter we cite a paragraph which goes to the root of conditions in the New Church today:

     "To attempt to realize the desire for external unity in the New Church upon earth,-a surface unity brought about by the compromise of the specific doctrines of the different organizations of the Church,-is to labor in vain, because it means attempting something that is contrary to the law of heaven and the will of the Lord. It is reward a spiritual unity that the Church should tend and this real unity-this unity in variety which leads to perfection, and which is according to order-will be realized in the degree that the members and the different organizations of our Church become established in that charity which is the unique factor of unity in diversity. And the charity here meant is not that worldly charity which is nothing but egotistical and hypocritical sentimentality, but the true evangelical charity."

     In this number, also, the Editor begins the publication of a translation of De Verbo, printed with the Latin and French on opposite pages. Sample copies of the new quarterly can be obtained from the Academy Book Room. The subscription price is $2.90 per annum.

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DIVINE PROVIDENCE 1921

DIVINE PROVIDENCE       H. P. BALY       1921

     The doctrine of the Divine Providence deals with the relations existing between the Divine Creator and the human race. Upon our conception of the real nature of those relations depends our attitude toward, and our answer to, all the questions which arise during our earthly life. It is, therefore, the fundamental of practical religion. Without a definite conception of what it involves, we have no true starting point for any process of thought in relation to the facts of life, and our attitude toward them will be characterized by uncertainty and indecision. Considering the transcendent importance of this doctrine, it is somewhat surprising that so little can be found upon it in the collateral literature of the Church; and it is the object of the present paper to bring about such a discussion of the subject as many remove some of the difficulties which the events of the last few years have brought to light.

     The ideas now prevalent on the subject of the Divine government of the universe appear to be vague in the extreme, and lamentably inadequate to afford a sure foundation for faith and life. Who that has discussed with others the horrors of the late war has not found that those who can really reconcile such things with providential action are but few in number? The generality of people either give the question up as insoluble, or take refuge in such generalities as that the Lord does the best He can for us under the circumstances, turning the evil actions of men to good effect, so far as that may be possible.

     The general conception among New Church people seems to be that permissions of evil are necessary to the preservation of human freedom, and to bring into consciousness the real state of the affections, thus that the suffering thereby inflicted upon others is the Lord's way of calling upon us to bear one another's burdens.

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I desire to put before your readers a very different conception of providential action. I want to show Divine Providence as the perfection of mechanism, absolutely without waste, absolutely unfailing in effecting the Divine purpose; and to show that this doctrine is indeed a bed upon which men may rest in the assured consciousness that in every phase of life, in every moment of existence, in the moment of death, however and whenever that may come, the Lord is not doing just the best He can under the circumstances, but is the Author and Director of the circumstances themselves, which constitute the perfection of means for the effectuation of the Divine end of ensuring the greatest possible happiness for every created being.

     Any limitations upon the complete realization of this end are due to the freedom of the will of the man affected, and not in any way to the action of other human beings. It is not permitted any man or any spirit to interfere in any way with the complete realization of the Divine end in regard to any other than himself. No man is prejudiced by the action of any other human being living in this or the spiritual world. Whatever is done by evil men or evil spirits under permission, promotes the Divine purpose with regard to those affected by such action. Statements such as these may meet with general acceptance, until it becomes apparent what they really involve.

     Take a simple instance:-One man, in a fit of hatred, slays another. Let us suppose that the one slain is cut off in his prime, that he is a husband and father, and that he fills an apparently important use in the public service, so that his place seems difficult to fill. I wonder how many will agree that the murderer has done no harm to anyone but himself. If there are some in the New Church who cannot accept this view, how many shall we find outside who will accept it? One may almost say, "None." This is why I say that current ideas of the Divine Providence are hopelessly inadequate. Anyone who cannot accept such a view as we have indicated must fail back upon ideas of the Divine Providence which leave unexplained two-thirds of the facts of life. Is not this where ninety-nine per cent. of so-called Christians are? They may read their Bibles diligently, and some of them read the Writings, but as to how the war, with all its horrors and all its consequences, can be reconciled with any theory of the Divine government of the universe, they have not the least idea.

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     Is not this a terrible state of affairs? Belief in the Divine government is the very foundation of religion; but such a belief is, for the great bulk of the people, impossible, because it does not square with what they think they know. The new generation, for the most part, does not feel the need of religion, and we wonder why. Perhaps the leading characteristic of this generation is a hatred of shams; and a very good characteristic it is. But the belief in a Providence, the action of which has no relation to all the facts of life, is nothing but a sham; and so the new generation has no use for it, or for anything that can be built upon it.

     To get rid of the sham is the first step towards the acquisition of the real. Is it not the work of the Church to assist this process? How shall it be done, if we have not gotten rid of our own shams? And what reality is there in the notions of Divine Providence current among the bulk of New Church people? Have they, as a rule, such a grip of the doctrine that the facts of life do not put a severe strain upon their faith? And is their apparent irreconcilability a matter of small moment? That, I fear, is the attitude of some of our teachers.

     Now let us consider some of the apparent irreconcilabilities. Take, for example, the case of the murdered man, already mentioned. The Writings tell us that "they who put their trust in the Lord, continually receive good from Him; for whatever befalls them, whether it appear prosperous or not prosperous, still is good; for, as a means, it is conducive to their eternal felicity. But they who put their trust in themselves, continually bring evil upon themselves; for whatever befalls them, even though it appear as prosperous and happy, is nevertheless evil, and hence, as a means, conduces to their eternal unhappiness." (A. C. 8480.) Again, we read: "It is indubitable that the Lord rules the universe. This government is called Providence. But because evils are not provided, but foreseen, so likewise are permissions. . . . There is a previdence of evils, and providence is a disposing of evils to good ends. Yet there is no such thing as chance, and no evil happens by chance; but all evils are so governed that no evil whatever, but what conduces to some good, is permitted to befall either the man or his soul; consequently, nothing is permitted but what must have been so foreseen, because it cannot be otherwise." (Diary 1088.) In the light of such teachings, it is clear that the action of Providence is adjusted to the varying states of men, and that nothing of an apparently evil character is permitted to happen to any man that is not of a nature to produce some good effect.

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     Owing to the existence of evil, the Lord's work of regeneration and salvation is associated with pain and distress. All the agonies of the Lord in His earthly life were necessary to the humiliation of the assumed human. It is also very certain that no man ever suffers any pain, even up to the moment of death, which Divine Wisdom does not see to be needful. The Lord does not Permit anyone to be needlessly afflicted. This is clear from the Letter of the Word.

     The New Churchman holds, and of course correctly, that a man never realizes his own state until his evils have appeared in action, and that such action is the necessary preliminary to reform. Therefore the action itself may be seen to be consistent with the theory of Divine government. But what about the object,-the victim, as, humanly speaking, we should call him? We cannot have any adequate idea of Divine Providence until we grasp the fact that the Lord's procedure covers both the apparent doer of the action and the apparent victim, one just as much as the other. We have a theory, which I have just mentioned, as to why a man's evil passions must be allowed to come forth in action. As a theory of Divine Providence, however, it is defective and almost useless, because it deals only with the subject, and not with the object. So far, the theory attributes waste to the Divine government. This is really the core of the views I want to put before the reader. There is no waste in the Divine mechanism, and our theory must be so amended that waste is ruled out.

     Let us first take a wider view of the difficulty. Consider the whole war. The lives of millions of men were cut short. Think of all the bereaved parents, the widows and orphans, the horrible fate said to have been inflicted upon respectable young women! Think of the miseries endured by countless old people, women and children! Go back into history, and think of the massacres of Peruvians and other peoples by the Spaniards in the name of Christ, the burning of Christian martyrs, and so on. Then turn to the Writings, which tell us that whatsoever happens to a man, whatever be the appearance, is conducive to good. What will you say about it? Will you say, as some New Churchmen do, "We cannot accept all that Swedenborg has written; we must exercise our own judgment"? But he himself tells us: "What I write is the living truth of God."

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If there is any place for our own judgment as to the truth of anything Swedenborg has written, then this solemn statement is a falsity. There are numberless statements which confirm the one quoted. It is needless to go through them all. Moreover, there are some that give us an inkling of how things which at first sight seem impossible to regard as providential are so in reality.

     In A. C. 4493, we read of the slaughter of Hamor and the Shecemites, and we are told that if they had not been slain, they would have perished eternally. The passage leaves no room for doubt that this outbreak in the minds of the sons of Jacob effected the merciful purpose of the Lord; and the point I want to emphasize is that outbreaks of evil always have this effect. It is not merely that when evil is done, the Lord overrules it, and brings good out of it. It is, that all the circumstances attending the permission constitute the environment requisite for the furtherance of the Divine purpose, as regards both the apparent doer and the apparent victim of the action, and that in this way Providential action is shown to be perfect, and without anything in the nature of waste.

     It may be thought that this view attributes evil actions to the Lord. In many portions of the Word the Lord is said to bring evil upon men. "Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?" (Amos 3:6.) This, of course, is evil from the human point of view. The bringing of such evil is certainly the work of Divine Providence, and it is no less certainly the result of permission granted as a means for good.

     We are taught in the Writings that man, of himself, is passive, and that the Lord is the sole active. Again, in A. C. 1954, there is a very interesting statement as to sight. Swedenborg details the various appearances as to this faculty. Man first thinks he sees with his eyes; later, he finds that he does it with his brain, and so on; the final verdict being that man does not see at all. It is God only who sees. From this it would seem to follow that all the faculties are exercised by the Lord only; but if this be so, it surely follows that the Lord does everything that is done. The Lord, of course, never does actual evil, and therefore no action is evil interiorly. What, then, is evil, and where does it exist? The conclusion seems to me inevitable that evil is in the human will and nowhere else, except in the human mind as falsity. Consider again the story of Hamor. We are explicitly told in the Writings that the necessity of the slaughter does not excuse the sons of Jacob.

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Is it not quite clear, then, that the evil was in their own hearts, and not in their actions viewed apart from their will?

     To many, I know, the massacre of a large number of people presents great difficulty. If it is true that whatsoever happens to any man is good, it follows, of course, that death, at whatever time of life it occurs, is good. And, as we are bound to believe this, then the difficulty is to formulate a reason why such holocausts occur to men still in their youth.

     When a thousand people of all ages are killed by an earthquake, it is held that such things are due to evil in the race, acting in ultimates. This really means that antecedent human evil states have brought about states of disorder in ultimates. That, no doubt, is true; but it is also true that all actions arising out of disorderly states are permitted because they have a curative effect. Whatever the theater of action, whether it be the natural elements or the human mind, the action always effects the Lord's purpose. A thunderstorm corrects a disorderly condition of the natural elements. It may do, and often does, other things, all of which must necessarily be goad, whatever the appearance. And so, whatever the primary cause of disorder may be, we are fully justified in saying, as we do of an earthquake, that it is of the Lord's Providence. But the point here is that we say so just because there is no evidence of human agency, whereas when a thousand men are killed in a battle, the human agency is evident; and then most people regard it as having been done contrary to the will of the Lord. The effect in both cases is very similar. Is it possible to imagine that a man killed by an earthquake suffers detriment in regard to his future state! If there is no detriment, it must be that it was best for him to die at that particular moment and in that particular manner. Then why may we not say the same of the man killed in battle? We cannot do otherwise if we accept Swedenborg's statements.

     It is held by some that it is Possible for one man to do to another something that is detrimental to him in regard to his future life. But the Lord says, and the Writings tell us, that such injury is impossible. We read in the Word that "it must needs be-that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh." (Matthew 18:7.) That which "must needs come" is something that comes in the Providence of the Lord, and cannot therefore be evil in itself.

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It is something necessitated by the states of those concerned; and the essential fact is that what is done is done by the Lord, although it is given the evil man to imagine that it is his own desire carried into action by himself; and thus his sense of responsibility is complete, while in reality the evil is in his own heart, and nowhere else. The truth of this proposition becomes evident when we reflect upon its reverse. We know that no man can do good. It is the Lord only who has that power. Man cannot desire good, except as the result of influx from the Lord. And, as a matter of fact, if my conclusions are well founded, he can no more do evil than he can do good. He can be in the desire of doing good by admitting influx from the Lord, or in the desire of doing evil by admitting influx from hell; but all actions themselves are the Lord's.

     Theosophists and their predecessors, falling into the errors which are inevitable when men, ignoring Divine Revelation, give rein to their imaginations in their endeavor to explain the difficulties which the facts of life present, have invented the colossal phantasy of reincarnation. It is their effort to explain the apparent inequalities and injustices of life. The theory is, roughly, that in the course of many successive lives, all desires are satisfied, and so got rid of. It is supposed that the inequalities of social condition, which give rise to desires, in one incarnation, are reversed in the next, and so injustice is rectified, and the desires being satisfied, finally die. The things that people invent to get away from imaginary difficulties are truly astonishing. It is a stupendous scheme of compensations; and I am afraid that this craving for compensations is by no means confined to reincarnationists. Indeed, I fear it is not unknown to some who call themselves New Churchmen.

     Well, if everything that happens to us is the best possible thing that can happen-in fact, just the thing we need, as the Writings assure us,-then what need of compensation is there? and what injustice is there? The foundation of the phantastic edifice is gone, and the building falls, like all structures built on the shifting sand of human credulity.

     The uses of the future life are practically infinite in number and variety, and in their exercise is the whole of human happiness. The work of Divine Providence is to fit men for the exercise of these uses. Should we not, then, expect diversity in the training and development of every individual?

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And when we see men under every conceivable variety of circumstances and environment, is it so difficult to attribute all to the Divine Love, and thus clear our minds of the cant of injustice and compensations?

     Finally, consider the question of death in early life, and its frequent occurrence to large numbers of people. This again is simply a question of capacity. In that respect, men arrive at the limit of their possible progress in this world at different ages, and we should naturally expect that, having reached that limit, they should be taken from the risk of any falling away. And just as the particular mode of the death of the Lord's infirm human was required for the completion of His glorification, so the particular manner of every man's death is necessary for the completion of the process of his training in this world. Nothing in the nature of a man's death is left to chance. The minutest detail is settled by Infinite Wisdom.

     With reference to the difficulty so many feel in reconciling with providential action the fact of the sudden removal from this life of such vast numbers of men, I would call attention to the teaching in A. C. 6807, where we are told that the Gorand Man is constituted of spirits from many earths, and that "it is provided by the Lord that, as soon as there is anywhere a deficiency in the quantity or quality of the correspondence, those who may supply it are immediately summoned from some earth." I believe it is held by many students of the Writings that this does not mean the taking of men from the earthly life to supply the deficiency, but that angelic spirits are summoned from the heaven attached to some other earth. But are there angelic spirits in heaven who are not in the Gorand Man? The above statement from A. C. 6807 is a particularly clear and definite one, and does not seem to me to be susceptible of this reading; but, in any case, it seems to indicate that there are occasions when vast readjustments take place in the states of spirits, and that these may well ultimate themselves in the earthly life.

     It must not be supposed that, in emphasizing the fact that everything which happens to man is for his spiritual advancement, and that the Lord's purposes never fail, that such views furnish any support for the idea of ultimate universal salvation. No justification for such a belief can be found in the Writings. Divine Providence is not directed to anything that cannot be achieved without violating human freedom.
     H. P. BALY.
WALDEN, WINDMILL ROAD,
SUNBURY, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND.

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FAIRIES, DREAMS AND VISIONS 1921

FAIRIES, DREAMS AND VISIONS       GILBERT H. SMITH       1921

     The Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE has suggested, in the August issue, 1920, that the subject of "Fairies" might profitably be considered in connection with that of "Visions."

     Because I have never had an objective spiritual vision, outside of slumber, and have never for a moment caught sight of fairy, troll, spirit, sprite, elf, goblin, pixie, or demon, is no reason for me to deny that the vision of them might happen, or that the afore named beings exist. Time was when I would have stoutly denied the possibility of the purple cow. Now it is a certainty to me. So will I not deny the woods may be full of various anthropoid creatures. In fact, I know it is so, else I think I should not enjoy the woods so much; but the question is, is it possible for me, or anyone else, to see them-to turn so suddenly that my sight overtakes them before they enchant themselves away.

     There is one other point that renders the subject of "Fairies" less satisfactory. If I should one day develop the "fayrie sense," and actually see an elf, as I affirm I have seen the purple cow, how am I to know the sight was not a delusion-that it was not the unwonted spriteliness of my imagination, or perhaps, like Scrooge's ghost, a bit of underdone potato? Our dear friend, Mr. Manning, as quoted by Mr. Iungerich, no less clear, in the aforementioned number of the LIFE, is convinced that he has seen some "dear little creatures of frolic," crowding his bed rail when he was not asleep. Yet what they really were, or whence they came, he cannot be quite sure; nor can he feel quite certain that others will believe them real. Such incredulity, I suppose, was ever the reward of the seer, at least in our faithless day. It is with great reserve, therefore, that I mention to my most intimate friends that once in childhood I saw little frogs fall from the sky like rain, and once saw the St. Johns River full of large fish as far as the eye could reach, their tails all simultaneously disappearing below the surface. This leads me to the query: May it not be that the common "fish stories" which have delighted the minds of men from remotest antiquity, may be found in the end to embody some spiritual fact, or illustrate some strange phenomena peculiar to water and its spirits?

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Perhaps too much prominence should not be accorded the extremely unusual occurrence of individual visions. But certainly they arouse much speculative interest. Dreams are no less interesting. And perhaps there is a closer similarity between dreams and visions than might at first appear. If one may day-dream while awake would it not be about the same thing as to see a vision? Swedenborg declares that the sight and sense of souls in the other life was shown to him by means of a dream. We read:

     "In dreams, corporeal things are laid asleep, and are as it were dead. This is more the case with me than with others, because with me the spirit acts more separately from the body than with others. In that state, I saw a city with its buildings, and a fair, where there were utensils of every kind for infant children, all which I observed for a long time, wandering hither and thither in the city in the midst of a large crowd, as the place abounded with people. I saw these things so evidently that they could not possibly have been seen more manifestly to the eyes of the body. I supposed myself to be altogether awake, and conjectured how I came into the city, whether by a miracle or not; all the while (knowing) that these things were presented to me to be seen by the sight of the spirit, not of the body; but that still it could never be denied that they all appeared to the life. . . . When I awoke, I marveled that it was a dream, and could have wished, if other reasons had not drawn me away, to remain in that state." (S. D. 4437.)

     It is quite possible that Mr. Manning's experience was similar to this kind of vivid dream. It is quite possible also that he was in reality awake, as he thought, and that his spiritual sight was opened to some extent. In either case, would there have been any essential difference in the nature of the thing? Is it not possible for one to have a dream when his body is awake? And is not that what a vision is? It can hardly be doubted, I think, that whether they have objective reality or not, visions of various kinds have been seen by various people. And we would offer this thesis, that to the persons who have seen them, it is a matter of indifference, or should be considered so, whether they are objective or subjective; they are none the less real. Are not all sights or visions in the other life appearances, whether real or fanciful, that is, phantastic? We are instructed that every idea of thought may be presented to sight in the other world, however incredible this may seem. (A. C. 3310e.)

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     Thought is real. If the thought is true, the appearance of it before the sight of the spirit is a real appearance; if it is not true, the appearance is a phantasy,-but none the less real to the beholder. The only things that can appear before the sight in the spiritual world are the ideas of thought, and the activity of the affections clothed in ideas of thought, within the spirits or angels who dwell there, projected into the atmospheres in which they live, and presented to their view by the molding into form of their spheres. Now, if real things are seen in vision, whether by a partial or a full opening of the spiritual sight, they, are both subjective and objective, both within the mind and outside it. But if phantastic things are seen in vision, by men still on earth, they may not have objective existence. Thus the appearance of "the veil" by which some spirits are vastated, which seems to extend for miles in all directions, is a subjective appearance, real to the spirit, but not having objective reality; while the appearance of the large city full of people, which Swedenborg visited, was undoubtedly a real appearance, not only seen by him subjectively, but actually existing as so many spiritual objects.

     DREAMS.

     "The men of the Most Ancient Church had immediate revelation by means of visions and dreams from the Lord, whereby it was given them to know in general what was good and true" (A. C. 597). From these dreams and visions they preached and taught. Dreams teach us that it is the spirit that sees always, for in dreams one sometimes sees as clearly as in day, or when awake (see A. C. 1954). "The dreams of the prophets were just as significative and representative as their visions,. . . from which it is evident that dreams of a prophetic kind, like those of Joseph, flow in from heaven no otherwise than visions do. Dreams are of three kinds, depending upon the source from whence they come; that is, those that are not classed as common dreams. They may flow down from the Lord directly, or they may come from angelic spirits who dwell amid paradisal things-and from this source were most of the dreams of the most ancients, which were instructive; or they may come from spirits who are near man when he sleeps." (A. C. 1975, 1976)

     When angelic spirits discourse together, the ideas of their thought are turned into things that represent them in the world of spirits.

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And the man to whom such discourse descends as a dream may, as a result, see objects which accord with things in his own memory and affection. Thus the same angelic discourse may appear in a great variety of correspondential images, according to the state in which the man is at the time the dream descends to him. It is because "the things which are in the memory and affection of a man are recipient vessels, in which ideas are varied according to the variations of their form and their changes of state." (A. C. 1980.) Now it is a revealed fact that, in one kind of dreams, spirits act the part of the persons who are seen in the dream. Those persons themselves are not present. In a second kind, persons may be seen in a form which is not themselves, but a representation of them. Thus the persons seen in a dream may be other spirits acting the part of those persons, or they may be only representations of the persons seen (S. D. 3877). We assume that it is the same with visions, namely, that persons may appear in vision who are not actually there, but who are seen in a form representative of them, or else are other spirits acting their part.

     This would very easily account for occasional visions of elves, fairies and goblins, or even ghosts. Any anthropoid creature may appear in a dream, or in a vision, of whatever size or description. It is not necessary to suppose them inhabitants of other planets, nor yet that they are actual permanent beings which have never been born on any planet. According to a man's memory and affections, they may be seen, either in dreams or in the partial opening of the spiritual sight,-seen either as a representation, or as spirits putting on the appearance of the creatures that are seen. The traditions of fairies, sprites, and goblins in folk-lore may easily be accounted for in this way. And the appearance of ghosts, which the Bishop Emeritus, in his paper on "Burial," informs us ought not to be dismissed as a mere superstition, may possibly be explained in this way, that spirits act the part of the wraith that is seen, or else build a form representative of him out of the memory and affections of the person blessed (or otherwise) with the apparition, those memory images and affections perchance being aroused by some memento, as, for instance, the place of burial.

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     VISIONS.

     The general difference between dreams and visions is this, that dreams are spiritual sights seen when the body is asleep, while visions occur when the natural sight is also active. This applies to the visions and dreams of the prophets. The difference was shown to Swedenborg by angelic spirits who dwelt "at the entrance to paradisal scenes." First they introduced the dream-vision of a ship laden with savory food of every kind, with its captain and two armed guards. Then he was put into a state "of sleep and at the same time of wakefulness," and the spirits infused the vision of many delightful things, among which was a small unknown animal, which was dissipated "in a semblance of blackish and shining rays, which darted with a marvelous quickness into his left eye." Among these spirits there is rivalry as to which shall attend upon certain men to protect them from infesting evil spirits, and "they love to affect the man with the delightful things which they see in his affection and genius." They do not know whence this power comes to them, but said that it was from heaven. They belong to the province of the cerebellum, which is awake while the cerebrum sleeps. From these things may be seen the similarity between visions and dreams. (A. C. 1977.)

     Visions, and even speech with spirits, are not denied some who from the heart have earnestly desired them. It is not necessarily so with all who have desired them. For we are instructed that the reason spiritual speech and vision is not more common today is because men think from the lowest natural almost abstractedly from the spiritual. Speech is not given with angels, and not with spirits unless the man can be in spiritual association with them. Speech with spirits is apparently more rare than the opening of the spiritual sight. And spiritual vision is allowed to some who are in the good of faith and of love to the Lord, when the Lord permits. Nothing would be easier, we are told, than to give this vision, if the Lord permitted it.

     The state which is called "being withdrawn from the body" was one of the two frequent kinds of vision with the prophets. It was demonstrated to Swedenborg, when he was "midway between sleep and wakefulness," but when he could not but think himself fully awake. In this state angels were seen, heard, and touched (A. C. 1883).

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This number refers us to Paul's statement in II. Corinthians: "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I know not, or whether out of the body, I know not; God knoweth;) such a one caught up to the third heaven." (Ch. 12:2.)

     The other state of vision is known as "being led by the spirit into another place." And four instances are recorded in the Word, one of which is in Acts 8:39, thus: "And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, and the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing." This state was also illustrated to Swedenborg on two or three occasions, of which he relates one: "Walking through the streets of the city, and through the country, and being at the same time in conversation with spirits, I knew not but that I was as wide awake as at other times; and so I walked on without mistake, and all the while was in vision, seeing groves, rivers, palaces, houses, men and many other things. But after I had thus walked for hours, suddenly I was in the sight of the body, and became aware that I was in another place. Greatly amazed at this, I perceived that I had been in such as state as they were in, of whom it is said that they were led away of the spirit into another place; for while it lasts, there is no reflection as to the way, even if it be many miles; nor is there any reflection as to the time consumed, even if it be many hours or days; nor is there any perception of fatigue. Then, too, one is led through ways unknown to him, even to the appointed place. This took place to the end that I might know that a man can be led by the Lord without his knowing whence and whither" (A. C. 1884).

     This is a most remarkable thing! It shows that the senses of the body may be made active in the state of vision, and in complete subservience to the spirit. The Lord can transport not only the spirit of the seer, but even his very body, from one place to another. The difference between this state and one of sleep is that the body is awake-how wonderfully awake!-but without the power of the natural mind to reflect what it is doing. We are told, however, that the things ordinarily seen by Swedenborg were not visions of this kind, but that his body was then in the highest wakefulness, that is, was not deprived of conscious sense, as in sleep, nor yet was his ordinary wakeful thought suspended. In this he was different from any other prophet or seer.

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Herein we may see why it is that Swedenborg's may not properly be called "visions," for visions only take place when either the natural mind is deprived of reflection, or when the physical body is deprived of its sensation. His was an illumination of the whole mind, not dream nor trance.

     "Visions cannot appear to any man in wakefulness of the body" (D. P. 134). According to this statement, elves, fays, and "spirits of frolic" cannot be seen save in sleep, or in vision, that is, when the sensories of the body are lulled. Yet there is a state midway between sleep and wakefulness when almost any strange thing may appear to the imagination with unusual vividness, be they gnomes or giants; and such appearances are commonly infused by spirits according to what they find in the memory and affections of the man with whom they are, when he dozes.

     But then, is not the imagination real? And if men, from ages back, have seen fairies in imagination, is this not sufficient to account for fairies in song and fable? Baring-Gould accounts for all belief in the supernatural by the phenomenon of dreams, though of course he could not know "what stuff dreams are made of." For the things of which dreams are made are the real things of the spiritual world; and fairies and goblins are real things there, either spirits so appearing, or the activity of their thought falling into such things of man's memory and affection as correspond to their thought, being thus presented to him as a real sensation of his spirit.

     All fairy-folk are the creatures of the imagination. But this does not preclude us from the delight of telling our children, and even assuring ourselves, that they are real. For there is an interior imagination, which, when the senses are lulled to sleep, or thrown away at death, comes into its full life. And what it sees are the real things of the spiritual world, subjective things made objective there, filled with life from the affections of those who dwell there, and clothed with their real substantial spheres. The tradition of fairies with men doubtless has its real origin in former spiritual visions, in which they have been seen with the eyes of the spirit.

     Even the amazing account of Balaam's ass is explained by the opening of the spiritual sight, in which it is sometimes possible for beasts and birds and butterflies to appear to speak. For we are given a remarkable spiritual phenomenon in connection with that extraordinary miracle, namely, that when a spirit fixes his attention upon any natural object, seen through the eyes of a man in vision, if he then speaks, his speech appears to come from that object.

427


Thus we are told that, if the communicating spirit fix his attention upon a block that is being struck with a hammer, it may appear as if his voice came from that object! Wonderful indeed! Hence children who are delighted with their stories of sticks, dogs, and horses that talk, will find that this in which their imagination delights is founded upon a real appearance in the state of vision.

     "Real visions," we read, "are visions of such things as really exist in the spiritual world, which correspond exactly with the thoughts and affections of angels. . . . Such were the visions of the prophets who prophesied truths. . . . The visions which are not real appear in the external form like real visions, but not in the internal form; they are produced by spirits by means of phantasies; such were the visions of the prophets who prophesied vanities or lies" (A. E. 575). And the things which really exist in the spiritual world may appear as objects of untold variety. They may appear as living fairies, as well as animals, flowers, rivers, groves, and houses, though none of them may ever have existed as such on this or any other earth.
     GILBERT H. SMITH.

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COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY 1921

COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY       Various       1921

     Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 23d to 27th, 1921.

     Following a meeting of the Bishop's Consistory on Wednesday, June 22d, the Council of the Clergy held morning and afternoon sessions on Thursday and Friday, and a morning session on Monday, June 27th. 19 ministers and 4 theological students were in attendance. At a public session on Saturday evening, the Rev. George de Charms delivered the Annual Address, his subject being the "Structural Harmony of the Old and New Testaments." A vote of thanks was tendered him, and a request was made for the publication of the paper, which will appear soon in NEW CHURCH LIFE.

     Among the matters claiming the attention of the Council, we may mention the paper by the Bishop Emeritus on "The Reality of the Spiritual World," which was heard and discussed with great interest, and which will shortly be published in the LIFE. The ministers were pleased to hear that the Rev. D. H. Klein has prepared for the Academy Library a Card Index of NEW CHURCH LIFE covering the years 1909-1920, and it is hoped that means will be found to print it in book form. A discussion of the subject of "Sunday Schools and Home Instruction" led to the appointment of a Committee of five ministers to study the needs of the Church in this important department of our uses. An important action was taken providing that hereafter the annual meetings of the Council of the Clergy shall be held in February, the June meetings being discontinued, except so far as it may be necessary to meet in connection with a General Assembly. A pleasant feature of the meetings this year was the daily adjournment to the Academy Dining Hall at 4 o'clock, where tea and coffee were served, and the deliberations continued for an hour under less formal surroundings.
     W. B. CALDWELL,
          Secretary.

429




     JOINT COUNCIL.

     TWENTY-EIGHTH MEETING.

     Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 25, 1921.

     First Session-10 a. m.

1. The meeting was opened with worship conducted by the Bishop.

     2. There were present:
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY:
Bishop N. D. Pendleton, Presiding      Rev. Richard de Charms
Bishop Emeritus W. F. Pendleton      Rev. C. E. Doering
Rev. Alfred Acton                    Rev. T. S. Harris
Rev. K. R. Alden                    Rev. John Headsten
Rev. J. E. Bowers                    Rev. D. H. Klein
Rev, W. B. Caldwell                    Rev. Theodore Pitcairn
Rev, E. R. Cronlund                    Rev. Homer Synnestvedt
Rev. L. W. T. David                    Rev. F. E. Waelchli
Rev. George de Charms

     Theological Students: Messrs. Raymond Cranch, Henry Heinrichs, and Donald Merrell.

     OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:
Mr. Raymond Pitcairn, Vice      Mr. Randolph W. Childs
     President                         Mr. Charles G. Merrell
Mr. Edwin T. Asplundh                Mr. Richard Roschman
Mr. Edward C. Bostock                Mr. Anton Sellner

     OF BOTH BODIES:
Rev. W. H. Alden.

     3. The Secretary read the minutes of the 27th Meeting, which, on motion, were approved as amended.

     4. The Rev. W. H. Alden read the following:

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     REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH.

     A year ago, 1435 members of the General Church were reported. The present membership is 1549, a net gain of 114, the largest addition in any year of the existence of the General Church. 131 persons have been added to our membership; It have died; 5 have resigned. Of the 131 new members, at least 55 were of New Church parentage; 12 belong to the Burton Road, London, Society; 8 others were of previous New Church affiliation; 26 are in Rio de Janeiro; 30 came from outside the New Church. These figures are approximate only, as the elements of classification merge into one another. The preponderance of those born within the Church is marked, and strongly confirms the wisdom of the policy of the Academy in so educating its children that they will remain in the Church. There may be many in the world who would receive the New Church, if it were presented to them; but the search for them is like that for the traditional needle in the haystack. The children are with us in their impressionable years, and both parents and the Church are culpable if they fail to use all means in their power to hold them in the one true faith, which, if impressed upon the life, will yield them the only real happiness in this life and in the world to come.

     The records show 39 children born within the year and baptized into the faith of the New Church under the auspices of the General Church. The number of those baptized since the beginning of the year 1889, and who have not yet joined the General Church, is 1145. Of these, 75 young men and 100 young women are of an age to make them eligible for membership in the Church. Of the total of 1145, 603 are male, and 542 female.

     NEW MEMBERS.

     A. IN THE UNITED STATES.

     Colorado Springs, Colo.
Mr. Arthur Jacob Ebert
Mrs. Arthur Jacob Ebert

     Washington, D. C.
Mr. Harold Doering

     Atlanta, Ga.
Mrs. John A. Fraser

     Chicago, Ills.
Mr. Donald G. Gladish
Miss Louise Gladish
Miss Lucy Wagner Wright

     Custer Park, Ill.
Mrs. C. Herbert Cracroft

     Glenview, Ills.
Miss Phyllis Evangeline Burnham
Mr. George Kendall Fiske
Miss Phoebe Junge
Miss Vera McQueen (Mrs. E. Crebert Burnham)
Miss Maud Virginia Reuter

     Abington, Mass.
Mrs. Gordon A. Tupper

     Detroit, Mich.
Mr. Horace Goodwin Day
Mr. Cyrus Edward Doering

     New York, N. Y.
Mr. Martin M. Manoedi

     Allentown, Pa.
Mr. Leroy Smith

431




     Bethayres, Pa.
Mr. Edgar Henry Doering

     Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Miss Helen Ruth Arrington
Miss Dorothy P. Cooper
Miss Catherine Doering
Miss Doris Elise Glenn
Miss Hazel Carter Heath
Mr. Henry Heinrichs
Miss Cara Muriel Hyatt (Mrs. Hubert Synnestvedt)
Miss Marion Childs Pendleton (Mrs. Alan Pendleton)
Miss Elizabeth Mary Goheen Richardson
Mr. Thomas Bradley Shriver
Mr. Evan Lechner Synnestvedt
Miss Eve Jennie Westlund (Mrs. Peter Klippenstein)

     Huntingdon Valley, Pa.
Mrs. Peter Ahlberg
Mrs. Charles L. Olds
Mr. Freidel Rosenqvist
Miss Ruth Rosenqvist

     Philadelphia, Pa.
Miss Caroline Hope Waelchli

     Pittsburgh, Pa.
Mr. David P. Lindsay

     B. IN CANADA.

     Hague, Sask.
Mr. Peter Claassen
Miss Barbara Heinrichs
Miss Annie Unruh
Miss Alma Frances Unruh
Miss Bertha Unruh
Mr. Cornelius Peter Unruh
Mrs. Cornelius Peter Unruh

     Kitchener, Ont.
Mrs. William Gordon Brooks Sole
Mrs. William Gordon Brooks Sole
Miss Gladys Theora Kuhl
Miss Mary Eva O'Meara
Mr. Arthur D. Schnarr

     Laird, Sask.
Miss Gertrude Klippenstein

     Toronto, Ont.
Mrs. Cyril Bellinger

     C. IN SOUTH AMERICA.

     Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Mr. Trajano de Castilho Barbosa
Mr. Francisco Jose Teixeira Bastes
Mr. Alvaro Caltilho
Mr. Sosthenes Cesar de Mello
Mrs. Sosthenes Cesar de Mello
Miss Alice Henrietta Leonardos
Mr. Henry Leonardos
Mrs. Henry Leonardos
Miss Leila Julia Leonardos
Mr. Othon Henry Leonardos
Mr. Antonio Caetano da Silva Lima
Mr. Joao de Mendonca Lima
Mrs. Joao de Mendonca Lima
Mr. Francisco Nunes, Jr.
Mr. Fortunate Augusto de Oliveira
Mr. Joaquim Sarmanho
Miss Georgina Sarmanho
Mr. Ranato Sarmanho
Mrs. Beatriz Sarmanho
Miss Laura Sarmanho
Mr. Moacyr Gomes Velloso
Mrs. Oscar Gomes Velloso
Mr. Oswaldo Gomes Vellosa
Miss Lygia Gomes Velloso
Mr. Francisco Correa Trindade
Mr. Francisco Xafredo

     D. IN ENGLAND

     Amersham, Eng.
Mr. Philip James Lungley Stone
Mrs. Philip James Lungley Stone

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     Bath, Eng.
Miss Beatrice Brdlik

     Beckenham, Eng.
Mr. Frank Arthur Harrison
Mrs. Frank Arthur Harrison

     Chelmsford, Eng.
Mr. Frederick George Colley Pryke
Mrs. Frederick George Colley Pryke

     Colchester, Eng.
Miss Doris Edith Potter
Mr. Albert Stanley Wainscot

     Enfield, Eng.
Miss Irene Gyneth Briscoe
Miss Iris Osyth Briscoe

     High Kilburn, York, Eng.
Miss Lucy Birchal
Miss Nesta Elizabeth Dean
Mr. William Copley Jubb
Mrs. William Copley Jubb
Miss Elizabeth Cull Shaw

     Ilford, Eng.
Miss Maude Rosabel Wheeler

     London, Eng.
Mr. Alfred Cooper
Mrs. Alfred Cooper
Mr. David Denney
Mrs. David Denney
Miss Alice Mary Dimmick
Miss Edith Louise Elphick
Miss Iris Elphick
Miss Janet Waters Elphick
Miss Margaret Elphick
Miss Louise Maria Giobel
Miss Ada Mary Lewin
Miss Alice Louisa Priest
Mr. Robert Gardiner Priest
Mr. William Priest
Miss Ethel Howard Spalding
Mr. Victor Rudolph Tilson
Mr. James Elphick Waters
Mrs. James Elphick Waters

     Street, Eng.
Mr. John L. Summerhayes

     Weybridge, Eng.
Mrs. Lauriston Shaw

     Wivenhoe, Eng.
Mr. Charles John Ashley
Mr. Watson Gartry Nicolle

     E. BELGIUM.

     Brussels.
Miss Claire Deltenre
Miss Marie Louise Deltenre

     P. IN FRANCE.

     Paris.
Mr. Adonijah Wilhelm Boyesen
Mrs. Adonijah Wilhelm Boyesen

     St. Cloud.
Mr. Elie Hussenet
Mrs. Oliva Hussenet

     G. IN HOLLAND.

     The Hague.
Mr. Willem Beyerinck
Mr. Emanuel Francis
Mrs. Emanuel Francis
Mr. Pieter Geluk
Mr. Johannes Marheiles Weyland

     H. IN SWEDEN.

     Stockholm.
Miss Elsa Ericson
Miss Edit Matilda Nyberg
Miss Hildegard Maria Nyberg

     Saltsjo-Jarta.
Mr. Gustav Welander

433




     DEATHS.

Mr. L. D. Good, Philadelphia, Pa., July 3, 1920
Mrs. Mary Bellinger, Wellesley, Ont., August 6, 1920
Mrs. Roland S. Smith, Bryn Athyn, Pa., August 12, 1920
Mrs. Wilson Iler, Kitchener, Ont., August 17, 1920
Mrs. A. S. Cockerell, Durban, Natal, September 19, 1920
Mrs. Elizabeth Stroh, Ontario, Cal., October 10, 1920
Mr. Herbert B. Walker, Philadelphia, Pa., February 23, 1921
Mr. Christian N. Bromberg, Gothenburg, Sweden, March 19, 1921
Mr. Charles Tarelli, Sutton, England, March 21, 1921
Mr. Gerrit Barger, The Hague, Holland, April 9, 1921
Mr. Arthur Motum, Colchester, Eng., April 29, 1921
Mrs. E. S. McCandless, Pittsburgh, Pa., May 9, 1921.

     RESIGNATIONS.

Mrs. H. G. Ward, Erie, Pa., September 16, 1920
Mrs. Jessie H. Watson, Orange, N. J., October 13, 1920
Mr. and Mrs. Dudley A. Catford, Oakland, Cal., May, 1921
Mrs. Adah B. Reilly, Denver, Colorado

     5. The Rev. W. B. Caldwell read the following:

     REPORT OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY.

     The 29th annual meeting of the Council of the Clergy opened on June 23rd, with an attendance of 19 ministers and 4 theological students. Reports were received from 33 of the 37 ministers of the General Church, and show that during the year ending June 1st, 1911, they have officiated at 110 baptisms, 29 confessions of faith, 7 betrothals, 32 marriages, 32 funerals, and 137 administrations of the Holy Supper. The uses of the various societies have been regularly maintained; the smaller societies, circles, and isolated members of the General Church have received the ministrations of the visiting pastors. Two outstanding features of the reports may be mentioned, namely, (1) the inauguration of a quarterly magazine in the French language, edited by the Rev. Ernst Deltenre, and published under the auspices of the General Church, and (2) the change of pastors affecting seven societies. The following review of the reports will serve to record the ministerial activities of special interest:

     Bishop N. D. Pendleton, as Bishop of the General Church and Pastor ex-officio of the Bryn Athyn Church, reported that he had preached 24 times during the year-18 in Bryn Athyn, and once each in Pittsburgh, Chicago, Glenview, Philadelphia, Kitchener, Toronto, and New York. He ordained Mr. Baeckstrom into the second degree of the priesthood, and Mr. Pfeiffer into the first and second degrees. The Rev. George G. Starkey, after an absence of some years, was again received as a member of the Council of the Clergy.

434


District Assemblies were held in Glenview and Kitchener, Local Assemblies in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York. In addition, he visited Cincinnati and Toronto. He continued to administer the affairs of the Academy of the New Church as President, and taught in the Theological School and the Girl's Seminary.

     Bishop Emeritus W. F. Pendleton preached seven times in Bryn Athyn, four of these being evening services. He had found it necessary to discontinue all special or private ceremonies on account of failing health. During the school year, he continued his class in the Theological School of the Academy of the New Church.

     The Rev. Alfred Acton, as Dean of the Theological School and Visiting Pastor of the New York Society and Washington Circle, was on a visit to Europe from the beginning of July, 1920, to the beginning of April, 1921. By arrangement with the Bishop, the Rev. W. B. Caldwell filled his place as Pastor of the New York Society during this period. In Europe, Mr. Acton, as the Bishop's representative, presided at the British Assembly in Colchester; and later on, he presided at the ministers' meetings held in London. In the interval, he visited the members of the General Church in France, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, Holland and Belgium. He administered the Holy Supper to two of our members in Pome, and at the Christmas Service in Brussels. He delivered two lectures in English at Brussels, preached twice in Stockholm, and several times in Colchester, at Burton Road and Peckham Rye, London, and at Bath; not to mention addresses and classes given in London and Colchester. While on the Continent, he took occasion to visit members of the New Church in Lausanne, Trieste, Vienna, Prague, Stuttgart and Copenhagen, being very warmly received at all of these places. At the request of the New Church friends in Trieste, he administered the Holy Supper and baptized one of the members.

     The Rev. Karl R. Alden reported that, in July, 1920, he accepted a call to become Pastor of the Olivet Church, Toronto, and commenced his duties there on September 1st. His sermons have included five missionary discourses; in the doctrinal class, he has treated the subject of the Glorification according to the internal sense of Genesis I-XIX. There was an average attendance of 14 at Sunday School, the exercises including worship, an address, class work, singing practice and stereopticon pictures, the School having purchased 100 slides during the year. Weekly classes are held for the training of Sunday School teachers. The Olivet Church is remodeling its building. Twice he exchanged pulpits with the Rev. L. W. T. David, of Kitchener.

     The Rev. W. H. Alden conducted Divine Worship 9 times-once each in New York, N. Y., Rockport, Mass., and Abington, Mass.; 3 times at Skyland, Va., and 3 times for the Advent Society, Philadelphia.

     The Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom, in addition to his pastoral duties in Stockholm, lectured 4 times in Gothenburg and twice in Upsala, the average attendance being 76. He also lectured I3 times in Stockholm, four of these being in a large hall, with an average attendance of 244, and nine in the Society's place of worship. He has published two of his lectures in pamphlet form. These have been advertized extensively in newspapers and magazines, with the result that about 2000 copies have been sold in seven months, going to all parts of Sweden, mostly to small places.

435


A catalogue of the Writings is sent with each pamphlet. The Society has undertaken a small typewritten periodical as a means of keeping in touch with interested persons.

     The Rev. Albert Bjorck, as Pastor of the Circle in Bath, England, held the first service there on July 18, 1920. The place of worship in his home was dedicated by the Rev. R. J. Tilson on October 11th.

     The Rev. J. E. Bowers made two trips in the missionary held during the year, visiting members and friends of the General Church in 31 places, 16 once and 15 twice. He baptized g children and one adult, and administered the Holy Supper 8 times. He reports that the Weekly Sermons "have been of great use to our isolated people. For, by means of these sermons, important instruction has been given concerning the doctrines of the New Church, on a great variety of subjects. And thus the sphere of the center of the General Church proceeds to other centers, and to the circumference of the Lord's New Church in all parts of the world."

     The Rev. Walter E. Brickman preached 8 times for the Pittsburgh Society, acted as Superintendent of the Sunday School, and taught a class in it. He wrote six articles on religious subjects for the newspapers.

     The Rev. R. W. Brown, owing to a recent illness, was unable to prepare a full report of his work in Basutoland, but has written briefly as follows: "The general prospects for New Church missionary work in Basutoland and South Africa seem very good to me. But the real work is going to take time, with systematic hard work through a number of years. Many of the natives are hungry for really satisfying knowledge, and are especially interested in the exposition of the spiritual sense of the Word as set forth in the Writings. The Arcana Coelestia is in greatest demand, and I could have sold many copies of the early volumes if I had had them on hand; in fact, I have had dozens of requests for them. I am anxious to see a native or two here who have had a thorough training in our Theological School."

     The Rev. W. B. Caldwell, in the absence of the Rev. Alfred Acton, was acting Pastor of the New York Society from September 12th to April 1st, conducting services 17 times, while other ministers officiated on 11 Sundays. In addition, he preached once in Bryn Athyn and once in Philadelphia.

     The Rev. L. W. T. David became Pastor of the Carmel Church, Kitchener, on October 1st, 1920. In the Day School he gave instruction in Hebrew and Biblical History to all but the youngest children. A class of young People is studying the Brief View of the Heavenly Doctrine. He twice exchanged pulpits with the Pastor of the Olivet Church, Toronto.

     The Rev. George de Charms preached 17 times in Bryn Athyn, twice in New York, once each in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia He conducted the Friday doctrinal class and a young people's class every week. The children's service is held every Monday morning, with a special service in the Academy chapel on the last Sunday of each month, and celebrations of Christmas, Easter and the 19th of June in the cathedral.

436


In addition to the above, and many other duties in the Bryn Athyn Society, he taught Religion to the 7th and 8th grades of the Elementary School.

     The Rev. Ernst Deltenre reported that regular services had been held in the Brussels Chapel, except during his visit to America in the summer of 1920, when he attended the Council Meetings and also preached once in Bryn Athyn, once in Philadelphia, and once in New York. He visited The Hague four times, and lectured there twice. As Editor of the new quarterly periodical, LA NOUVELLE JERUSALEM, published under the auspices of the General Church, he has brought out two issues. Its use is to enunciate the genuine doctrine of the Lord's New Church to all throughout the world to whom the French is the vernacular or international language. He would like to enlarge the magazine, so that it might be published every two months, or even monthly. The Library of the Brussels' Mission has loaned 101 books during the last ten months.

     The Rev. C. E. Doering, in addition to his duties in the Academy of the New Church, preached once at Oak Hill, Florida.

     The Rev. W. L. Gladish, Acting Pastor of Sharon Church, Chicago, reported a slight increase in attendance at Sunday services, also a good attendance at the monthly supper and doctrinal class. He meets with the ladies of the Society once a month, and they are reading Bishop Benade's Conversations on Education. There has been some social life among the young people. Improvements have been made at the place of meeting, better adapting it to the uses of the church.

     The Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal, Pastor of the Durban Society until July 31, 1920, and thereafter Pastor of the London (Peckham Rye) and Colchester Societies in England, preached weekly to these two societies until recently, when, owing to the coal strike, he has officiated in London and Colchester on alternate Sundays, the service being conducted by a lay member in his absence. Weekly doctrinal classes have been held at both places; also a children's class for religious instruction at Colchester, while a similar one has been conducted by Miss Waters at Peckham Rye. The two societies have been somewhat reorganized during the past year. The Colchester Society has considered the ways and means of obtaining a church building of their own, but the matter has been dropped for the present, owing to industrial disturbances, and also because of the death of Mr. Motum. The question of maintaining a New Church School at Peckham Rye, as formerly, has been considered, but a solution has not yet been found. In addition, Mr. Gyllenhaal mentions that he has taken active part in arranging for a monthly meeting of the four priests of the General Church in England. Eleven such meetings have been held, and have proven most useful. Further he states that, "in order to promote the consideration of particular and interior doctrines of the Church, the development of the rational with the men of the Church, and better relations among all New Churchmen who acknowledge the Writings to be of Divine Authority and the Word of the Lord, he invited certain gentlemen to meet with him last December for the purpose of organizing a Club which would accomplish the ends desired. This was the origin of 'The New Church Club,' the management of which is in the hands of the priests of the General Church."

437


Mr. Gyllenhaal is Secretary and Director, and there are now 42 members, 35 belonging to Burton Road and Peckham Rye Societies, and g to the General Conference. Five meetings have been held, and addresses have been delivered by the Rev. Messrs. Alfred Acton, Hugo Lj. Odhner, R. J. Tilson and Albert Bjorck. Mr. Gyllenhaal has attended regularly the meetings of the Theological and Philosophical Society; and on September 18, 1920, he read a paper on "Appearances in the Word" before the General Conference Sunday School Association.

     The Rev. John Headsten, owing to an illness, was unable to perform any services during a period of four months, but is now restored to health.

     The Rev. E. E. Iungerich preached twice in Bryn Athyn, 4 times in New York, and 3 times in Philadelphia.

     The Rev. D. H. Klein is engaged upon a card index of twenty-one volumes of New Church Life, 1900-1920, which is now nearing completion. He preached once in New York.

     The Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, Pastor of Carmel Church, Kitchener, until September 30th, 1920, entered upon his duties as Pastor of the Durban Society on February 1st, 1921. In the interval he preached 11 times while visiting the following places:-New York, Toronto, Cincinnati, Bryn Athyn, London (Peckham Rye), London (Burton Road), and Colchester.

     The Rev. Theodore Pitcairn was engaged in missionary work in South Africa for the first part of the year, later as Acting Pastor of the Durban Society, and from February 1st, 1921, as instructor in the Academy Schools, Bryn Athyn. He preached 20 times in Durban, 3 times in Bryn Athyn, twice in Philadelphia, and once in New York.

     The Rev. Enoch S. Price, Pastor of the Allentown Circle, and Professor in the Academy of the New Church, also preached twice in New York.

     The Rev. Gilbert H. Smith, Pastor of the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Ill., preached twice in Bryn Athyn.

     The Rev. Homer Synnestvedt, Pastor of the Pittsburgh Society, reports all the activities of that Society well maintained, with some increase in the average attendance at Sunday services and doctrinal classes. Although all the eligible children attend the Society's day school, there has been an enthusiastic development of the Sunday School, the Rev. Walter E. Brickman and others cooperating. The effort is to make this supplement and strengthen the day school. He preached and held class at Erie, Pa., once, and at Youngstown, Ohio, twice. He also visited Toronto and Kitchener, and took part in meetings.

     The Rev. R. J. Tilson, Pastor of the Burton Road, London, Society, also preached at Bryn Athyn, Philadelphia, Glenview, on the S. S. Corsican twice, at Amersham, Kilburn, Bath, Bristol, Colchester, and Peckham Rye, London.

     The Rev. F. E. Waelchli as Pastor of the Cincinnati Circle, conducted services 22 times. On 3 Sundays, they were conducted by the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, and on to others by members of the Circle.

438


When at home, he also conducted Sunday School, doctrinal class, and a week-day children's class. As Visiting Pastor, he ministered to members of the General Church and others in the following localities:-Western Canada, at Chaplin, Rostern, Hague, Laird, Roblin, and Girvin; in Ontario, at Windsor; in the United States, at Middleport, Columbus, Barberton and Akron, Ohio; Detroit, Mich., and Erie, Pa. Reports of this work have appeared regularly in New Church Life.

     Mr. William Evens, of Penetanguishene, Ont., reports as follows: "Since my last report, in October, 1919, I have sold the following books of the Writings:

44 copies of Heaven and Hell
10 copies of Divine Love and Wisdom
9 copies of Divine Providence
9 copies of The Four Doctrines
Total 72

     Of these, 33 were sold in Kitchener, 3 in Waterloo, 16 in Penetanguishene, 4 in Preston, 5 in Gait, 3 in Blah, 6 in Doon, and 2 in Strasburg. I have met very few who take any real interest in spiritual things, but a number of people who, like the followers of Pastor Russell, disbelieve in any future hell, and are oblivious of the fact that every action has consequences reaching to eternity. "We do not know the future, but it does not seem probable that there will be any large accession to the New Church for many years to come." And further, Mr. Evens states: "As I am now 13 years of age, I am unable to bear the fatigue of so much walking and standing around as is necessary in going from house to house selling the Writings. I therefore request that my name be dropped from the list of Authorized Lecturers in the General Church. I shall continue to do what I can to introduce New Church truths to others, and am only sorry that I find so few who seem to have any intelligence in spiritual things."
     W. B. CALDWELL, Secretary.

     6. The Rev. W. H. Alden read the following:

     REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

     For the year ending May 31, 1921.

     Eleven meetings of the Executive Committee have been held during the year, on the following dates:-June 6, September rg, October 4, 17, 1920 January 9, 16, February 4, 25, April 19, May 12, 20, 1921. In addition, joint meetings with the Bishop and his Consistory were held on March 8 and April 19, 1921.

     At the June, 1920, meeting, the status of the Committee on Church Extension was thoroughly discussed, and, by vote, the Committee was abolished. The work formerly carried on by that Committee has since been performed by the Executive Committee itself, in consultation with the Bishop and his Consistory.

439


As the field of extension work has definite and distinct features, a separate report of this will be made.

     The Executive Committee voted an increase in the salaries of the Bishop and the Treasurer. $240.00 was appropriated for clerical assistance to the Editor of New Church Life, continuing what has heretofore been privately furnished from year to year. It should be stated that, during the past year, only a small part of this appropriation has been employed for strictly clerical assistance; a large share has been used in paying for articles, reviews and translations specially asked for by the Editor; and no part of the fund has been paid for copy-reading and proof-reading, which has been done by the Editor himself, with voluntary assistance.

     The publication of the Weekly Sermons has been continued through the year. An edition of 650 copies has been printed, of which about 550 are sent to the isolated and to those who have made special request for them. There have been many expressions of appreciation of these sermons, and their use among those who are isolated, and who are thus deprived of the advantages of worship with a congregation of the Church, can hardly be too strongly emphasized. But it must be admitted that the expression of this appreciation in contributions sufficient for the support of the use has not materialized, and it may be a question as to whether it is wise to continue the use at the expense of the general treasury. Some consideration has been given to the suggestion that this use might be performed in conjunction with New Church Life. One ambitious proposal is to make the Life a weekly; another is to publish the sermons only for the weeks not covered by the sermon that appears monthly in the Life. No definite action has been taken in the direction of a change from the present method.

     Owing to increased costs of publication, the Life shows a much larger proportion of its expense provided by the general treasury than in previous years, and this despite the increased subscription price. Indeed, if the whole cost were to be covered by the subscriptions, the price would have to be $6 per annum, assuming that all present subscribers were retained. The prospect of mitigating the cost in any important degree has not yet appeared, except that paper has materially decreased in price. The printers' strike, which, since May 1st, has very generally affected the trade, has greatly delayed the issue of the June number. It is expected, however, that it will be out before the end of the month; and it is proposed to issue a double number following, with the hope of bringing us back to schedule time.

     The adverse rates of exchange with Canada and Great Britain have raised some difficult problems. In the early part of 1920, instructions were given our agents to hold for a time the subscriptions received for the Life, together with contributions for the General Church, in the hope that the conditions in respect to exchange might improve. Collections were made in many cases at the even figure in Canada, and at the former rate in sterling, with the result that our agents would have been seriously embarrassed if they had been required to remit in American money.

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To relieve this situation, subscriptions to the Life received during 1920 were accepted by us as collected, the General Church suffering the loss due to the exchange rates. But it was felt to be unjust to continue this practice, and agents were advised that renewals must be paid in the equivalent of American money. This ruling has met with some criticism, but on the whole it has been accepted as reasonable and just. In the case of contributions, for obvious reasons, the loss on account of exchange conditions must be borne by the General Church treasury, its effect being to reduce below their nominal figures the amounts sent from abroad.

     Some years ago, the General Church agreed to purchase from the Academy Book Room the plates used in printing the Liturgy, the price to be $1200.00, which was to be paid in four equal annual instalments. The need arose for a third edition of the work. But the Book Room was not in a position to meet the cost, and so the General Church has paid the balance due according to the above-mentioned arrangement, namely, $400.00. An appeal was made to the Church to make up this amount by special contributions, and the sum of $299.09 was received in response. The Executive Committee also voted to grant the Book Room the free use of the plates in bringing out the new edition. It may be reported here as a matter of interest that the new edition has been published. The cost has been considerably above that of previous editions, so that, in spite of the free use of the plates, it will be necessary to increase the price of the Liturgy to $2.50, which is really a low price for a book of this size, considering the present price of books generally.

     In connection with the International Council Meetings last June, a call came for the publication of a General Church periodical in the French language. As two publications are issued on the Continent by the Convention and Conference interests, it was evidently desirable to have our own means of expression. Contributions to this use of nearly one thousand dollars have been made, and two numbers have been issued of the quarterly, La Nouvelle Jerusalem, under the able editorship of the Rev. Ernst Deltenre. One most important result of this publication has been to advise the friends of the New Church in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as to the actual character of the principles and organization of the General Church.

     Early in the year, the Bishop expressed the desire to visit the various centers of the General Church in England and on the Continent. The usefulness of such a journey was evident. An appeal to the Church for the necessary funds was made, and a sufficient amount,-upwards of $1500.00-has been received. The Bishop will sail on June 30th, and will visit England, Paris, Brussels, and Stockholm.
     W. H. ALDEN,
     Acting Secretary.

     7. The Rev. W. H. Alden placed before the meeting mimeographed copies of the following:

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     REPORT OF THE TREASURER.

For the year ending May 31, 1921.
Balance on hand, June 1, 1920                    $1,028.41

     RECEIPTS.
Interest on Investments                          $518.82
Interest on Bank Account                          23.23
Gain on Exchange                              .91
Orphanage Interest and Contributions                143.03

                    Contributions.
Yearly Offering                     $59.58
California                          61.00
Colorado                          49.25
District of Columbia                     53.04
Florida                          22.75
Georgia                         315.45
Illinois                          55.00
Chicago                          126.20
Glenview                          264.61
Indiana                          7.00
Kansas                          1.00
Maine                          25.00
Maryland                          46.53
Massachusetts                     16.00
Michigan                          14.00               
New Jersey                          26.00
New York                         118.00
Ohio                               568.50
Pennsylvania                          200.20
Bryn Athyn                          3891.65
Philadelphia                          40.25
Pittsburgh                          413.40
Washington                          62.00
West Virginia                     87.25
Wisconsin                          9.00
Canada                          268.85
Kitchener and Waterloo                326.86
Toronto                          474.75
Great Britain                          95.98
France                          1.71
Holland                          47.00
Sweden                          16.06
Switzerland                          1.83
Australia                          21.87
                                        $7787.57
Contributions for Liturgy Plates                    299.09

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     NEW CHURCH LIFE.
Subscriptions                         $1364.58
Contributions                     25.00
Paper sold S. S. Association           31.88
                                                        $1421.46

     WEEKLY SERMONS.
Contributions                     $485.25      $11,707.77
Deficit                                         $37083
Total Receipts                               $12,078.60

     EXPENDITURES.
Bishop's Office Salaries                $3,000.00
Traveling Expenses                     154.00
Sundries                          4.38           $3,158.38

     Treasurer's Office, Salaries                              978.49
Missionary's Salary                     $600.00
Traveling Expenses                    114.30      714.30

     February Meetings Consistory:-
Traveling Expenses of Ministers                     56.20
Vestments                                    7.29
International Council, Sundries                     31.00
Contributions transferred:-
Extension Fund                     $1,100.00
Orphanage                          159.14      1,259.74

     Interest transferred to A. W. Manning               19.05
Interest on Loans                                   80.27
Loss on Exchange                                   119.70
Paid Academy Book Room, Liturgy Plates                    500.00
Expenses:-Circulars                     $17.22
Quarterly Reports                     73.83
Stamped Envelopes                     48.04
Addressograph                     15.78
Safety Deposit Box                     1.50
Postage and Stationery               374.93
Sundries                          59.53           590.83

     Subscriptions paid for N. C. Life by General Church           21.50

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     NEW CHURCH LIFE.
Salary of Editor                     $750.00
Editorial Assistance                     240.00
Printing                          1,871.06
Paper                          257.25
Stationery                         173.12
Postage                          18.02
Sundries                          6.95          3,316.40

     WEEKLY SERMONS.
Printing                          $1,074.81
Paper and envelopes                     83.29
Postage                          61.85
Sundries                         5.50          1,225.45
                                                        $12,078.60

     SPECIAL EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE FUND.
Balance on hand June 1, 1920          $ .60
Appropriation from General Fund           240.00      $246.60

     Expenditures.
Editorial Assistance                    $227.50
Balance on hand May 31, 1921           13.1o           $240.60

     EXTENSION FUND.
For the year, June 1, 1920 to May 31, 1921
Balance on hand, June 1, 1920                          $425.57

     RECEIPTS.
From Contributions:
Anonymous                          $1.25
California                          100.00
District of Columbia                     6.00
Michigan                          7.00
New York                          2.00
Ohio                               221.00
Pennsylvania                         397.13
West Virginia                     21.00
Canada                          452.65
Sweden                          1.25
                                                        $1216.18

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     Loan Repaid                                    250.00               
Interest on Investments                          6596.48
Total Receipts                              $8488.23

     EXPENDITURES.
Extension Work                     $5395.18
Aid to Societies and Circles                2808.60
Interest on Loan                     10.33
Interest transferred to A. W. Manning      19.05
Interest transferred to Orphanage           9.52
Loss on Exchange                     25.08
Sundries                          57.52
Balance on hand May 31, 1921           162.95
                                                        $8488.23

     PENSION FUND.
for the year, June 1, 1920 to May 31, 1921.

     RECEIPTS.
Balance on hand June 1, 1920          $1415.37
Interest on Investments                3318.59     
Interest on Bank Balance                16.15
                                        $4810.11
EXPENDITURES.
Pensions                          $2969.99     
Interest transferred to A. W. Manning      41.49
Sundry Expenses                     10.20
Balance on hand May 31, 1921           1788.43
                                        4810.11
     W. H. ALDEN, Treasurer.

     8. The Rev. W. H. Alden read the following:

     REPORT OF THE EXTENSION FUND.

     For the year ending May 31, 1921.
     By the action of the Executive Committee at its meeting in June, 1920, the Committee on Church Extension was formally abolished, and its duties directly assumed by the Executive Committee. It seems desirable, however, that its distinctive work should have its own report.

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     As in previous years, the Fund has given support to the Rev. F. E. Waelchli, Visiting Pastor; to the Rev. John Headsten, Chicago; to the Rev. Hussenet, Paris; to the Rev. E. Deltenre, Brussels; and to the Rev. Gustaf Baeckstrom, Stockholm. In addition, the sum of ?50 was appropriated to enable the Rev. Bjorck to conduct services in Bath, England, and $50.00 to pay a part of the traveling expenses of the Rev. T. S. Harris in making quarterly visits to New England.

     The work of Mr. Waelchli has gone prosperously on, the contributions received having been very considerably more than in any previous year, and nearly two hundred dollars more than the expenses. He proposes this summer to extend his usual visit to the Canadian Northwest, and to call upon our members on the Pacific coast, from Portland and Seattle on the north to San Francisco and Los Angeles on the south. This should strengthen the work of the General Church in those parts of the country not recently visited by a ministerial representative.

     Mr. Deltenre has continued holding services in Brussels, but is threatened with a serious problem in possible dispossession of the quarters occupied by the Mission, with a housing condition which makes it virtually or quite impossible to find another place. A very important work has been undertaken by Mr. Deltenre in the initiament of a new quarterly magazine, as already mentioned in the Report of the Executive Committee.

     It was found desirable to increase Mr. Baeckstrom's salary, to enable him to meet existing conditions, and to confine his efforts mainly to the upbuilding of the Society in Stockholm, as the lectures he had delivered in so many other places had sapped his strength.

     The work in South Africa has received a substantial additional endowment from the Rev. Theodore Pitcairn. In addition, he has made it possible for Mr. George Mokoena, a native Basuto, to attend the Theological School during the past year, and has supported the Rev. R. W. Brown in his work in Basutoland.

     Means have also been guaranteed for the expenses and support of the Rev. Ernst Pfeiffer, to enable him to undertake the work of the General Church in Holland, this having been left without a leader by the death of Mr. Gerrit Barger, who labored faithfully under trying handicaps for many years. There is already a substantial circle of General Church members at The Hague and elsewhere in Holland.

     The removal of the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal from Durban to London was referred to in the Report last year. This change has now been carried into effect, and Mr. Gyllenhaal is receiving cordial response to his work in the London and Colchester Societies. The pastorate in Durban has been taken by the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, who is working happily and acceptably in this new field.

     Through the generosity of Mr. C. W. Barren, a gift of 500 copies of the Lecture Bureau edition of Heaven and Hell has been made for the work in Basutoland. The small amount necessary for their transportation has been provided by the Extension Fund.

     At a joint meeting of the Consistory and Executive Committee in April last, the following Resolution was adopted:

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Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting that, with respect to the building up of societies across the seas, it should be our policy to direct our aid to the support of the minister, rather than to the societies as such.
     W. H. ALDEN,
          Acting Secretary.

     9. The Rev. W. H. Alden read the following:

     REPORT OF THE ORPHANAGE FUND.

     Statement from June 7, 1920, to June 1st, 1921.

     RECEIPTS.
Cash Balance, June 7, 1920                               $221.39
General Church, Loan on account Norris Bequest                150.00
Henderson Bequest, Interest                               110.18
Manning Donation, Interest                               9.52
Norris Bequest, $50.00 Interest, less Interest on Loan           40.75
Mr. John Goldhorn, for children's board                    240.00
                                             $881.84

     CONTRIBUTIONS.
Olivet Church, Toronto                         $9.25
Olivet Church, Toronto, Christmas Offering           34.00
Academy Book Room, Contributions and Collections      142.92
Immanuel Church, Glenview, Christmas Offering           1.00
Cincinnati Circle, Children's Christmas Offering           21.55
New York Society, Christmas Offering                26.77
Pittsburgh Society, Children's Christmas Offering           61.45
Bryn Athyn Church, Christmas Offering                10.35
Bryn Athyn Church, Cathedral Collections                66.79
Colchester Society, England                          14.61
Miss Eleanor Hager                               5.00
Mr. Harold F. Pitcairn                          500.00
Mrs. Regina Iungerich                          10.00
Miss Sarah E. Dibb, Denver, Colorado                10,00
Dr. Felix A. Boericke                          25.00
Mr. A. E. Lindrooth                              3.35
Mr. William Evens                               1.00
Mr. Jacob Schoenberger                         10.00
Mrs. Raymond Pitcairn                          25.00
Rev. Enoch S. Price, Family Christmas Offering           2.50
Mrs. L. Werckle                               10.00
Mrs. F. O. Breitstein                          4.00
Miss Josephine Sellner                         1.00
Miss Winifred Boericke                          7.00
Anonymous                                    5.00           $1,007.54
Total Receipts                                         $1,889.38

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     DISBURSEMENTS.
Assistance to sundry persons                     $1,598.00
Exchange charge, January 21st, 1921               .10          $1598.10
Balance in Bank, June 1st, 1921                              $291.28

     WALTER C. CHILDS,
          Treasurer.

     10. The Secretary stated that the Council of the Clergy had referred the following question to the Joint Council: "Shall we continue the custom of holding both February and June. Council Meetings?"

     11. The Secretary read the following:

     COMMUNICATION FROM THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

     June 25, 1921.

     The following subjects were considered by the Executive Committee at its meeting yesterday, with the results stated:

     1. It was Voted that whereas the Executive Committee has received a letter from the Council of the Clergy, recommending the publication of the twenty-one year Index of New Church Life prepared by the Rev. D. H Klein, therefore Be it Resolved, That a plan of publication, with estimate of cost, be brought before the Executive Committee at a later day for consideration.

     2. With regard to the proposed discontinuance of the June Meetings, It was Resolved, That inasmuch as some of the Executive Committee resident outside of Bryn Athyn are likely to be in Bryn Athyn in June, the Executive Committee feels that it will be well for the Executive Committee to have a meeting at that time.

     3. It was Voted, That the Weekly Sermons be discontinued for the summer, this action being subject to the approval of the Joint Council.
     W. H. ALDEN,
          Acting Secretary.

     12. The Bishop stated that he had received a communication from the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Ill., inviting the next General Assembly to meet at Glenview, and expressing the wish that it might be held in 1923, instead of 1922. The subject was discussed, and, on motion, It was Voted, That the next General Assembly be held in 1923, and That the invitation of the Immanuel Church be accepted.

448




     13. The question of the "Time of our annual Council Meetings" was taken up for consideration, and, after discussion, It was Voted, That the Joint Council hold its annual meetings in February.

     14. The Meeting adjourned at noon.

     Second Session-3 p. m.

     15. The subject of the Weekly Sermons, as referred by the Executive Committee in its communication, was taken up for consideration. After an extended discussion, It was Voted, That the Joint Council approves discontinuing the publication of the Weekly Sermons from July 15th to September 15th, 1921.

     16. Portions of a letter to the Bishop were read, which served to introduce the subject of the Academy Schools, and of the large number of applications for scholarships, which are considerably in excess of those available. This led to an earnest and animated discussion of the problems involved, which was brought to a conclusion by the singing of "Our Own Academy" and "Our Alma Mater."

     17. On motion, the Joint Council adjourned at 5:15 p. m.
          W. B. CALDWELL,
               Secretary.

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Church News 1921

Church News       Various       1921

     BRYN ATHYN, PA.-When June opened her doors at Bryn Athyn, there was a long line of events pressing for admission into her none too ample calendar, each elbowing its way to the front, and loudly proclaiming its demand for precedence. After much jostling, each was finally accorded a place, and then the curtain rose on the inspiring scenes which annually mark the culmination of the work of church and school.

     The Spring Meeting of the Bryn Athyn Church held on Friday, May 13th, was devoted as usual to reports of the Elementary School. It was preceded by the last Friday Supper of the year, and the time between the supper and the meeting was given over to the inspection of the class rooms, where the work of the pupils was displayed, and where the various teachers received all who were interested, answering questions, and explaining the work. At 8 o'clock, all gathered in the Auditorium, where the formal meeting was opened by Bishop Pendleton with reading from the Word and prayer. Mr. Heilman, the Principal of the Elementary school, then presented a general survey of the year's activities, dwelling upon the central problem with which the School is confronted, namely, further cooperation of teachers and parents in the moral training of the children. He told of how, to meet this need, report cards in symbolic colors had been adopted, by which the status of the children was from time to time brought forcibly to the attention of the parents. These cards, carried home by the pupils, are signed by parents and returned to the teachers, who keep them on file, and thereby preserve an accurate account of the child's standing throughout the year. They have already been found a powerful agent with the children, and would seem to require only fuller understanding and cooperation to become a marked factor in the disciplinary control.

     The remarks of the Principal were supplemented by the Assistant Pastor, who emphasized the religious side of the question, and who spoke of other ways in which it was hoped to further the same end. Conspicuous among these was the proposal to organize the entire Elementary School next year in the work of building a miniature tabernacle, as historically accurate as possible, to become a permanent asset to the equipment of the school, and to be used year by year for religious instruction. It is to be of such proportions that it can be taken apart and put together by the children, with all the furniture and hangings fully represented.

     The Elementary School Closing Exercises were held in the Chapel on June 14th, the service being conducted by the Bishop, with the Rev. George de Charms assisting. Mr. Alvin Nelson, of Glenview, delivered the annual address, treating of the value of the spiritual principles inculcated in New Church Schools for the promotion of genuine business success in later life. The Principal then offered for graduation a class of 9 pupils, 7 boys and 2 girls, and they were duly presented with certificates by the Bishop as President of the Academy. Mr. Heilman, in his farewell remarks, spoke very highly of the class, and expressed the hope and belief that they would prove well prepared for the work of the higher departments. There were in the School, during the past year, 109 regularly registered pupils, and it is probable that this number will be slightly increased in September. For the Education of these pupils there were five regular and a number of special teachers.

450


In the better organization of the work, and as a result of serious individual and collective effort on the part of the Faculty, under the spur of Mr. Heilman's unbounded enthusiasm, it was felt that decided progress had been made.

     The climax of our educational activities was reached at the closing exercises of the Academy Schools, held in the Auditorium on Wednesday morning, June 15th. In impressive procession the largest school in the history of the institution entered by classes, to take their appointed places at the front of the hall, which was crowded to capacity. Following the student body came the members of the General Faculty, to whom seats were assigned on the stage. Last of all entered the Bishop Emeritus and the President of the Academy, in scholastic robes and episcopal stoles. Bishop W. F. Pendleton opened the service with prayer, and lessons were read from the Word and the Writings by the Rev. C. E. Doerng, Dean of Faculties. The students sang exceptionally well the songs they had specially prepared, including the 15th Psalm in Hebrew. The annual address was delivered by Mr. Charles G. Merrell, of Cincinnati, who spoke in a most interesting way of the application of the principles of the New Church to political, economic, and other practical problems in the pursuance of ultimate uses in the world. He emphasized the need for genuinely philosophical thought on these questions, in the light of the teaching given in the Writings. Sixteen graduates from the Boys Academy received diplomas, and fourteen girls of the Seminary were awarded medals of graduation. Miss Dorothy Burnham received from the College Department the degree of Bachelor of Arts. There were no graduates from the Theological School this year. The following were given special honors:-Philip Stebbing, the Phi Alpha Medal; Bernadine Burnham, the Deka Medal; Raymond Synnestvedt the Sigma Delta Pi Honorable Mention; Dorothy Cole, the Theta Alpha Scholarship, and Eldric Klein, the Academy Honor Scholarship. The Alpha Kappa Mu presented to the School a Monel Metal plate to be placed on the memorial tree, given by the Academy War Service Committee to perpetuate the names of those who gave their lives in the Great War.

     So was the most notable year in the history of the Academy brought to a close. It was particularly notable because of the marked increase in the number of students. The Girl's Seminary numbered 44; the Boy's Academy, 61, with an additional 4 who did not remain the full time; the College, 13 regular and 13 special students, and the Theological School, 6 regular and I special; making a total, inclusive of the 109 in Elementary School, of 251 receiving the benefits of our New Church Education in Bryn Athyn during the past year. This is an encouraging record, and the indications are for a steadily increasing growth.

     Close upon the heels of this educational event came the great Church Festival of the 19th of June, which happened to fall on a Sunday. There was a special service in the Cathedral at 11 o'clock, combining the celebration of the sending out of the Twelve with a memorial of the laying of the corner stone of the Cathedral, and with the quarterly administration of the Holy Supper. Six ministers took part in the ceremony, and 4 assisted the Bishop in the administration of the Sacrament. In the evening, there was a musical service, which, in artistic rendition of vocal selections, surpassed anything yet achieved in the Cathedral. The male quartet was especially fine.

     On the following day, at 4:15, there was a Children's Service, characterized by two new features,-the procession of the children outside of the Church, entering the west door and singing without organ accompaniment, and the harmonizing of their usually heterogeneous dress by the wearing of the red and white. The children had recitations in Hebrew and Greek appropriate to the occasion.

451


Bishop W. F. Pendleton took part in the service, and the address was delivered by the Rev. George de Charms on the text, Revelation 21:3. It is hoped, from this beginning, to introduce more of the pageant element into the children's celebration of the 19th.

     At 6:30, the members of the Society gathered in family groups on the Campus for a picnic, which was followed at 8:30 by what was reported to be a very spirited and enjoyable dance.
     G. DE C.

     CELEBRATION OF NEW CHURCH DAY, IMMANUEL CHURCH, GLENVIEW, JUNE 19th, 1921.

     "Flowers bloom in lovely June,
     Birds their songs are singing,
Earth and air are all attune,
     Blessings to us bringing."

     These words fittingly describe the park in Glenview as it appeared on New Church Day, Sunday, June the 19th, 1921. Commemoration of this greatest of New Church Festivals commenced with Divine Worship, a large congregation including many Chicago friends and several visitors from Bryn Athyn. Our Pastor, the Rev. Gilbert H. Smith, conducted the service, assisted by the Rev. W. L. Gladish, who preached the sermon, a very powerful discourse which pressed home the lesson that the greatest need for the New Church is for its members to evangelize themselves by increased study of the Writings and a determination to live according to them and so build up the New Church in this world. "If the Lord's disciples, who were with Him in the world, needed even, teen centuries of preparation to learn that He was One with the Father, how great must be our need of study and preparation to enable us to enter into a spiritual understanding of the Word!" We hope the whole of the New Church will have an opportunity, one day, to read this important treatment of the subject of missionary work. During the service the choir rendered the anthem by Sullivan, "Who is like Thee?" In the afternoon, there was an administration of the Holy Supper.

     THE BANQUET.

     The New Church Day Banquet was held in the Parish Hall at seven in the evening, when about one hundred and fifty members and friends were present. Our Pastor was toastmaster. The program consisted of speeches, toasts and songs, some of the latter having been composed for the occasion by Mr. Winfred Junge. An unexpected but amusing incident occurred at the opening of the meeting. The toastmaster announced that two strangers by the name of Friend had expressed
a wish to attend our banquet, and he had invited them to do so. They would be there shortly. Just after some of our ladies had sung "The Maiden's Song," the strangers (Mr. and Mr. W. H. Junge, slightly disguised) arrived. They were invited to sit next to the toastmaster, and e were introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Friend, of Optomisticoville, who wanted to learn what a New Church banquet was like. The toastmaster expressed the hope that they would benefit by their visit, and feel free to take part in the proceedings.

     When the time came for drinking the toasts, sufficient wine for one glass per person was served, and our Pastor explained why he had decided to continue this use of wine at our Church festivals. He said the time had arrived when a stand should be taken on the question of using wine at our banquets. He had had special assurance that the law was not being violated by us on such an occasion. Jews were allowed wine even for use in their private worship at home. He had spoken a blessing over the wine used here, and we use it for religious purposes. If we mean anything when we drink toasts to "Our Church," then instead of abstaining from wine at our banquets for fear of breaking the law, we should rather claim that our use of it was eminently proper and fitting and correspondential, and not a mere excuse for drinking a beverage. He then invited the Rev. G. G. Starkey to make the first speech, in which he would introduce the speakers that would follow him. Dr. Starkey said: "Owing to the presence of visitors, I will endeavor to address my remarks to their state, as far as I can conceive it.

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We take pleasure in responding to their interest and desires. I have no doubt the question is in their minds as to why a New Church has arisen among the many sects of Christendom. It is because a New Church is imperatively needed to restore a knowledge of the Word of God, and because a new understanding of the Word is vital to the new order of things, and to renew the covenant between God and man. What can be the knowledge of God where it is taught that God is in three persons) And yet the tripersonal idea, and its corollary, the vicarious sacrifice, is at the bottom of all theology at the present day. Is it not plain that love and worship, and implicit trust, can only be given to God in one person) So long as faith alone is taught, man's thought of God will be transformed into falsity."

     Mr. Crebert Burnham then spoke on the subject of "Worship." He said: "Mr. Toastmaster, Mr. and Mrs. Friend, and friends. Those whom man loves and respects, he adores and venerates, but God he worships. All through the Sacred Scriptures, man is exhorted to worship God. In some places he is called upon to love the Lord, and this is the same as to worship Him. The Lord does not demand adoration for the sake of being honored and exalted, but for man's sake, that he may receive life from the only source of life. True worship is living a useful life according to the Ten Commandments. This is the internal worship, in which the angels are when they acknowledge that all power is from the Lord alone. External worship has this life of heaven as an end, and is represented in the forms of worship, in which there must be humiliation, adoration, and instruction, with the desire to live the life of heaven. Humiliation is effected by prostrating oneself before the Lord, acknowledging our unworthiness, and seeking for mercy and help, and also in exalting the Lord in music and singing."

     Mr. Benjamin B. McQueen had for his subject, "The Schools of the Church." "If anyone came into one of our schools, he would probably think they looked just like any other good school, and nothing specially different from the ordinary run of schools. A stranger might ask why New Church people want their own schools separate from those outside, which in some cases are larger and better equipped. I will try to answer this question. There are two ways of teaching, or there is teaching from two points of view, and we must be careful to get the right point of view. One is to teach children something that will help them to get on in the world, to make money, and to acquire an abundance of the good things of the earth. This is not a true idea of education. Education is to start children on the journey which we are all traveling to the life hereafter. That is what counts. There is that familiar quotation in the opening words of The Doctrine of Life: "All religion is of the life, and the life of religion is to do that which is good." When we teach our children to do "that which is good," we need not teach them anything else, because all things are included in "that which is good." If they learn that, the battle of life is nearly won. Another reason for this distinctive education is that future New Church parents may be better able to implant remains in the minds of the children before they reach school age, and that teachers may be better prepared to carry on this good work according to the Lord's method as revealed to the New Church. It is very important that all our education be given within the sphere of religion, and there must be one idea underlying all our education,-the teaching of the children to "do that which is good."

     Mr. Harvey Brewer, dealing with the subject of "Distinctive New Church Life," spoke as follows: "A distinctive Newchurchman is one who realizes that the most important thing in this world is the regeneration of himself, his family, and his friends. He has arrived at this great truth from the study of the Word as opened up in the Writings.

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He has the truths of doctrine, not as abstract propositions, but as part of his daily life. He has reduced them to the goods of life, not as something to be carried to church on Sunday, and then to be laid away until the next week; but he endeavors to use them every day, and to carry them before him continually, as the Israelites did the Ark. But he has arrived at this stage only by hard uphill work, and has many times fallen by the wayside. He therefore tries to safeguard his young as much as possible. Hence distinctive New Church Schools, where the young are taught New Church doctrine, New Church living, and to become spiritually rational. Social life is another important part of his life. A social life that is not hopelessly superficial and sensual must have something more to it than fancy dancing, pretty clothes, sparkling wit, and the latest scandal. You will observe a simple, sweet sincerity about our social life which is to be found nowhere else. We have an affection for each other that can only come from a greater love-a purpose which binds us together. Like the Israelites of old, we are warned not to go after other gods. There is always this danger to contend with. In hundreds of places in the Writings we are told that the Church at this day is utterly vastated, and that evangelization is useless with members of that Church, and that the New Church will be spread among the gentiles. In spite of this warning many who profess a belief in the Writings spend practically all their time and energy trying to force the growth of the Church; and they are so busy doing this that they utterly neglect the field within their own doors, and their young people are only half-instructed, and so slip away from the Church. In what more direct way could the Divine Providence warn us of the need of standing to our principles? Therefore, distinctive New Church life means to stand firmly on the Doctrines of the Church in school, social life and business life. Treat with courtesy any inquiring strangers, and receive them with open arms if they accept the truths of our faith. The great use of the present generation is the instruction of the young in New, Church ideals, not only our children, but all children. This is our true use, and the purest form of missionary work."

     Mr. Harold P. McQueen was then invited to speak on "Missionary Work." He said: "I have only one regret, and that is the absence from our midst of our very dear friends, Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Junge." (Hear, hear! and much laughter.) But I will address myself principally to Mr. and Mrs. Friend. (More laughter, in which Mr. and Mrs. Friend joined.) I will tell them how fortunate it is that they do not know us any better than they do. I can assure the lady and gentleman that I, for one, seldom open my mouth without putting my foot in it. I can even feel it coming now. I asked our toastmaster this evening whether Mr. and Mrs. Friend were New Church people, and he said not exactly, but affirmatively disposed. I want to tell Mr. and Mrs. Friend that this affirmative attitude idea is all right, but can't last; because if they are whit we call 'people of the Old Church;' unless they are dissatisfied with their present religion, they cannot be interested in the New Church, for the simple reason that we believe that the Writings of the New Church constitute the Second Coming of the Lord. The affirmative attitude! I wonder whether they mean they are interested in this beautiful park, the attractive services of the church, and the nice people they find us. I can assure the lady and gentleman that if that is all, they won't last long out here. The only thing, Mr. and Mrs. Friend, that is holding these people together is their love of the Doctrines of the New Church. I had prepared a very fine paper on 'Missionary Work,' but that beautiful sermon by Mr. Gladish this morning ruined it. I am sure you will agree that no words from me can add anything of value to that sermon. Those twelve men who for seventeen hundred years were under the impression that they were to sit on thrones and govern, illustrate the state in which we are more or less at the present time, and will be for many years.

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We have the doctrines of the New Church in print. We believe they are infinite, and that we, as finite men, will never grasp all the truths revealed. What does this mean? As I see it, Mr. and Mrs. Friend, it means that missionary work in the New Church must start from within; that each must be a missionary unto himself. Study the Writing of the Church so that we can answer the questions that were put to us in the sermon this morning. There are various ways in which we can cultivate in ourselves the missionary spirit. We think we know something, and we try to get somebody interested, and they are indifferent. We ourselves have only a mere inkling of the truths. The education of the children is the beginning of missionary work, and we must have the closest cooperation between parents and teachers and members and friends of the Church, because it is only by working together that we will finally be in a position to send broadcast the truth about the New Church. We must keep our minds in such a receptive state that those truths which are handed to us week by week will sink in, so that we can live according to them, and permit the Lord to send forth His twelve disciples in our minds to spread therein the doctrines of the New Church."

     Mr. Felix Junge spoke as follows on "Conjugial Love": "In order that our guests may know the teaching concerning conjugial love, and for our own advantage, I shall endeavor to show how we may obtain this wonderful blessing from the Lord. Conjugial love originates in, and is derived from, the Divine Marriage of Good and Truth in the Lord Himself. The celestial angels live in this state, and they excel all others in wisdom. Yet, when viewed by others, they appear like little children. They are always in the flower of youth, and whatever happens to them, they are in a state of joy and happiness. Their heaven is called the heaven of innocence, and from this heaven the Lord inflows into conjugial love with men on earth. This love can exist only between one man and one wife, because it is mutual and reciprocal, and they become one. These truths are revealed by the Lord at His Second Coming for all who desire to receive this greatest of all blessings."

     At this juncture, the toastmaster invited Mr. Friend to make a few remarks, who accordingly arose to do so, but felt constrained to take off his wig, thereby revealing to his audience the real W. H. Junge, whose absence had been deplored by previous speakers. This unveiling ceremony created much amusement, and Mr. Junge received great applause for the manner in which he had sustained his character of an outsider.

     Mr. Pierre Vinet, of Bryn Athyn, was then invited to address the meeting, and in the course of his remarks, said he was glad Mr. and Mrs. Friend had turned out to be real friends, as otherwise he would have been calling them gentiles. He wanted to thank Glenview for the warmest June 19th welcome he had ever received. Mr. Alvin Nelson, in a recent speech at Bryn Athyn, had told a good deal about the work being done in Glenview, and he wished all who had heard Mr. Nelson in Bryn Athyn could have been present at this meeting, so that they could have seen and heard for themselves that Glenview more than lived up to Mr. Nelson's description. He then gave an interesting account of the missionary work being done among the numerous visitors to the Bryn Athyn Cathedral.

     Mr. John Forrest spoke a few words urging the virtues of patience and courage in the future. He said that in two years time it would be fifty years since the establishment of the Academy of the New Church, when a few men had a conviction of the need for a distinctive New Church. While the General Church is different in form, it still has the Academy spirit, accepts the authority of the Writings, and holds a better regard for the Priesthood.

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Our Church fathers were something like mariners in a storm at sea, but they had able pilots, and finally reached land. They had many trying experiences before the present condition was reached.

     Mr. G. A. McQueen here referred to the work done by our local priests,-the Rev. G. H. Smith, Rev. W. L. Gladish, Rev. John Headsten and Rev. G. G. Starkey,-and proposed a toast to the "Priesthood," which was duly honored. In response, Mr. Gladish said: "It has been a wonderful day-a day which we will remember for the rest of our lives. The commemorative service, the Holy Communion, and the present meeting. Our church is a spiritual church, and had its beginning in the spiritual world, and our thought must be lifted up to the spiritual world. As we started with that thought, I would like this meeting to end with this same thought in mind. When the Jews objected to the acclamation of the people, our Lord said that 'if these held their peace, the very stones would cry out.' All the heavens are rejoicing on account of the Coming of the Lord. We cannot doubt that, after days like this, there is little better understanding on earth as to the leading of the Lord. We have had merely a glimpse or two of who the true God is, and we can give voice to joy on account of this. We should feel a longing that this work may take hold upon earth, and that the Lord's will may be done on earth as in heaven." This was the concluding speech of a very enjoyable banquet.

     OTHER MEETINGS.

     On Saturday evening, June 18th, our Social Committee arranged a "Welcome Home" Dance to our people from Bryn Athyn. On the 20th, a noon-day banquet was given to the children, presided over by our Pastor. Several of the older pupils read short papers, answering the following questions: "What happened on New Church Day," Kenneth Cole; "Why the sending out of the disciples was important," Hubert Nelson; "Who were in the New Heavens?," Warren Reuter; "How the New Church was formed on Earth," Mary Scalbom; "Why the New Church was necessary," Edith Goerwitz; "How the New Church is to Grow," Thyra Starkey. Mr. McQueen then showed how the conditions regarding the Last Judgment and the Establishment of the New Church, as described in the Writings, were being ultimated on earth at the present time. In the evening, a very successful play was given for the children by the Theta Alpha.
     G. A. MCQUEEN.

     REPORT OF THE REV. J. E. BOWERS.-My spring itinerary in the missionary field began on March 29th, and ended on June 14th, when I arrived at Bryn Athyn. It was my privilege to attend the Commencement Exercises of the Academy on June 15th. It was an interesting and a memorable occasion,-an evidence of the progress in the doing of the excellent uses of our distinctively New Church educational institution. The number of graduates,-thirty-two young men and young ladies,-was the largest in the history of the School.

     To mention particulars of what was done on my trip on the circuit would require too much space; it will suffice to give information in this report in a general form. Our members and friends of the General Church were visited in twenty-five places. At Kitchener, Ont., on invitation of the Rev. L. W. T. David, the Pastor of Carmel Church I delivered the sermon, he having conducted the services of Divine Worship.

     Three children and one adult were baptized, notices of which appeared in New Church Life. At Milverton, Ont., Youngstown and Bellaire, Ohio, Altoona and Renovo, Pa., the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered to the usual numbers of communicants,-the largest number being at our services in Youngstown.

     Through the kindness of the members of our family of the General Church in Columbus, O., at whose home on Sunday, May 8th, was my abiding-place, I met Mrs. Laura M. Plantz, the widow of Judge T. A. Plantz, who for some years in the days long gone by was the Vice President of the General Convention.

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She is a person tall and erect, and on the day of our call was ninety-two years of age. In our conversation she manifested an intelligent interest in the doctrines of the New Church. Quite naturally, there were mentioned some remembrances concerning the Convention, of which nearly all the early Academicians were members.

     To the above report may here be added some observations respecting New Church evangelization. There are in the Writings definite and powerful teachings on the subject. According to these teachings, the idea or theory of the permeation of the old or former Church is a pernicious fallacy. The people of the so called orthodox churches will never generally receive the heavenly doctrines of the New Jerusalem. But they will continue to confirm themselves in the falsities of their religiosities. And some of those who, from mere natural intelligence, reject these falsities become atheists. We are taught that many, especially of those of the Christian world, are utterly perverse from having a spurious conscience. Hence the light of truth is darkness to them; and being in the love of evil, they love the darkness. What the Lord said to and concerning the Jews, as written in Matthew 23, He is now saying to those of the former Church who believe in God as in three divine persons, and in salvation by faith alone.

     But saying these things does not mean, on our part, forming a judgment as to the interiors of the mind, and as to the final state, of anyone. For this is known to the Lord alone. And from infinite Love, which the Lord is, He desires the salvation and eternal felicity of every human being that is ever created. The very end of the creation of the universe is the formation of angelic heavens to all eternity. But man is a free agent, and the Lord so protects every man that he may be in perfect freedom concerning matters of religion during his life in the world. Thus he may choose whether he will serve God or Mammon. He may pursue a course of life either good or evil, a life which leads finally either to heaven or to hell. The Lord is infinitely just and merciful in all things. And therefore it is of the loving-kindness of the Lord, our heavenly Father, that man has the privilege to decide his eternal destiny for himself. The angels of heaven, as we read in the Word, rejoice over one sinner that repenteth. (Luke 15:7.)
     J. E. B.

     REPORT OF THE VISITING PASTOR.-The Circle at WINDSOR, ONT., and DETROIT, MICH., was visited June 11th to 14th. Services were held on Sunday morning, the 12th, at Windsor, and in the evening at Birmingham, near Detroit. On Monday evening, a doctrinal class was held at Windsor, our subject being the "Difference between Spiritual and Natural Freedom." Mrs. Rudolph Roschman, of Kitchener, Ont., was with us at this class, and at the services on Sunday. On Tuesday evening, there was a meeting of the Detroit Reading Circle at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Walker, seventeen persons attending. The ground that had been covered in reading True Christian Religion since our last visit was reviewed, especial attention being given to the distinction between the Divine Esse and the Divine Essence, as made in the early part of that work. Quite a large accumulated list of questions was answered. A social time closed the delightful evening.
     F. E. WAELCHLI.

     BATH, ENGLAND.-The members of the General Church in Bath, together with four visitors, two of whom came from Bristol and one from San Francisco, commemorated the Nineteenth of June in a way which, to them, proved instructive and encouraging. At the morning service, the Pastor's discourse was on "Revealed Doctrine," and explained how the Lord, through His servant Swedenborg, had revealed truths which would have lain concealed from men forever if He had not opened the spiritual senses of a man, and thus enabled him to look inwardly into the spiritual world. (T. C. R. 312.)

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     In the evening a social gathering was held at the Pastor's home, at which two interesting and instructive papers were read, one by Mr. Sam Lewin on "Use, the Church's Message to a Workaday World," and the other by his son, Rupert, on "Divine Worship." Rupert Lewin presides at the organ in our services in a very satisfactory manner, and although his school work demands most of his time-he is sixteen years of age-he is of great use to us. Comments on the papers were made by the Pastor, and by Miss Ida Hauser, a member of the General Church now residing in Bristol. A toast to absent friends, and some general conversation, brought a pleasant evening to an end.
     A. B.

     CHICAGO, SHARON CHURCH.-As we had been invited to take part in the celebration of June Nineteenth at Glenview, we observed the day on Friday evening, the 17th. Thirty-five were present at the supper, nearly our whole membership. The Rev. and Mrs. Gilbert H. Smith were guests of honor, and our Pastor presided as toastmaster. Although the weather was very hot, we very much enjoyed the speeches, which were made by the Rev. Mr. Smith and Messrs. Sternfelt, John Pollock, Neville Wright, and John Forrest.

     On Sunday, June 12th, Miss Louise Gladish made her Confession of Faith during the regular service. Two Ladies' Meetings have been held recently, one at the home of Mrs. Jasmer, and the other at Mrs. Marelius'. After June 26th, services will be discontinued for the summer.
     E. V. W.

     TORONTO, CANADA.-Returning from the Ontario Assembly at Kitchener, the Bishop spent two days in Toronto. On Wednesday evening, May 26th, he delivered an address to the Society on the subject of "Belief and Skepticism," which was greatly enjoyed by all. The Rev. Homer Synnestvedt was present, and joined in the discussion. The following day, a special Sunday School service was held, when the Bishop spoke to the children. After the service, they all shook hands with him and said good-bye.

     Early in May, the Ladies' Circle had a sale of work for the benefit of the new chancel furnishings, the affair being engineered by Mrs. Henry Pecker and achieving a singular success, due to the loyal cooperation of the entire organization. Aside from raising $167.00 clear of all expenses, the evening furnished a very enjoyable social event for the members of the Society.

     On June 12th, the Sunday School had its closing exercises. An address was made by the Pastor, and the children received red, white and gold ribbons. Two pupils, Emily Raymond and Robert Brown,-were awarded gold ribbons for a perfect attendance during the year; Mary Smith, Nancy Wilson, and Guy Alden were given red and white ribbons with a gold center, having missed only one Sunday. The teachers feel that a good year was thus brought to a conclusion. We are planning to supplement the Sunday School next year by spending an afternoon with the children at the church, believing that we will thereby come into closer touch with them, and accomplish more work.

     A special service was held on the Nineteenth of June, with a sermon appropriate to the occasion and the administration of the Holy Supper to fifty-two communicants. The congregation had learned the Thirtieth Psalm and other appropriate music, and there was a vocal solo by Mr. Wilson and a violin selection by Miss Edina Carswell. The service was much enjoyed, and fittingly marked the great New Church high day.

     On July 6th, the Pastor gave an account of the Pittsburgh meeting of the Sons of the Academy and of the Council Meetings at Bryn Athyn which he had attended.

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In passing, we may remark that the summer weather seems to have a good effect upon church attendance, as we had 70 persons present at the service on July 17th.

     The Society planned a surprise party for Mr. Robert Carswell on July 19th, this being his 83rd birthday. The word was passed around, and at 7:45 p.m., the Pastor called and engaged Mr. Carswell in a game of cards. While they were playing, others strolled in until finally thirty guests had arrived. It so happened that Mr. and Mrs. Carswell had planned a celebration of their fortieth wedding anniversary on the 21st, and the cooking for this event had just been completed. The result was that, with the "wedding cakes," and the tub of ice cream brought for the surprise party, we were well supplied for a fine party. A toast was drunk to our involuntary host and hostess, as patriarchs of the Society, and Mr. Carswell responded with a speech on "The Church as the Center of our Lives, and the Hope of Heaven." The Pastor then spoke on "Crabbed Age and Youth," dwelling upon the real benefits to be derived from the advice and guidance of the older heads. After a toast to "The Church," all gathered around the piano and sang to their heart's (if not their neighbor's) content. The evening came to a close with the singing of "Comin' through the Rye," with hands joined in a circle, Mr. Carswell included, as he remarked that it was the first time he had sung that beloved old song that way since he left Edinburgh many years ago.

     Our building alterations are progressing steadily, and the plasterer is now decorating the walls and ceiling. We are planning to dedicate the new chapel on the first Sunday in October.
     K. R. A.

     SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA.-The 19th of June falling on a Sunday this year, the morning service was not held in Sydney, but several of our members journeyed by an early train to Hurstville, to prepare the Hall for the celebrations to be held in the afternoon and evening. Everyone worked in earnest, and soon, with the aid of flowers, bushes, and ribbons, there was a pleasing transformation. The color scheme was red and white with green leaves for a background. Immediately above the altar, a banner was hung bearing the inscription, "19th of June, 1770," and across the corners of the wall on either side, "The Second Advent" and "The New Church," respectively; and, on the opposite wall, another with "Evangelization." The lettering was in red on a white ground.

     At 3:15 p.m., our Pastor conducted a service of worship, the children singing Hymn 100 as a processional, and placing offerings of flowers upon the altar. Chants and hymns suitable to the occasion were used, the sacrament of the Holy Supper was administered, and then all joined in singing the Te Dominum.

     More people than ever before on such an occasion joined in the banquet supper that followed. The winter weather, no doubt, helped to give the children splendid appetites, for they seemed to have an especially good time. Here in Australia we have opposite seasons to those of "our friends across the sea." Even so, we are able to sing "Flowers bloom in lovely June," for our climate is so temperate that we have some beautiful flowers growing in the open during the winter months.

     The song to "our friends across the sea," song with much vigor prepared the way for the toasts, of which there were several proposed by our usual toastmaster, Mr. Morgan, the first being to "The Church." He said that many people were disappointed at the slow growth of the New Church, but we had been given to know that it would be among a few at its beginning, and so there was no need for anxiety on that account. True growth can only come by obedience to the Doctrines revealed to the New Church. Our Pastor, in responding, said that the growth of the New Church must be measured by centuries, since it is the last and crowning Church.

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If we could look into the future, and see the people who would then be of the Church, we would probably find them to be of genius quite different from our own, loaded, as we are, with the weight of Christian heredity.

     Several other gentlemen spoke, and then all sang "Our Glorious Church." There were other songs, speeches, and conversations, and everyone seemed happy, and tried to make others happy, which perhaps, was the secret of the success of the gathering.

     It is proposed to lay the foundation stone of our church building on July 10th. The structure is to be of wood and fibro-cement on a stone foundation. We are looking forward to all sorts of lovely things when we have our own little building. After worshiping in a private house so long, it will be to us what the Cathedral is to our friends in Bryn Athyn. May it stand for internal as well as external progress in our Society!
     M. M. W.

     KITCHENER, ONT.-The event of greatest importance in the month of June was, of course, the celebration of New Church Day. A special service on the Nineteenth included the administration of the Holy Supper. On the following evening, a banquet was held, at which there were four fine speeches. The toastmaster opened the program by reading a letter of the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner, our former Pastor, which he had written to us during an absence two years ago. It came too late for that Nineteenth, but was as suitable now as then, expressing his thoughts on the significance of the Day in a beautiful and instructive form. The applause which followed the reading of this letter gave evidence of our appreciation of it, even though somewhat tardy. Four speeches were then delivered, the subjects being: "The Church and the World," by Mr. N. Stroh; "The Church and Heaven," by Mr. Rudolph Roschman; "The Church and Conjugial Love," by Mr. George Schnarr; "The Lord and the Church," by the Rev. L. W. T. David.

     Our day school closed on the morning of the 17th of June with a service and an address by our Pastor, who spoke of the school year just ended, mentioning the happy sphere there had been in the school, and the harmony that had existed between the teacher and the pupils. He especially pointed out that perseverance, and work done cheerfully, is the only way to happiness, and that the angels of heaven find happiness through use. He further showed the children how their education is intended to start them on the way to become such angels. He then reminded the pupils of the fact that Miss Eva Campbell, who had been their teacher for the past two years, would not be with them next year. The thought of her leaving would bring sadness, but they would be given another teacher, wham they would learn to love and obey as they had loved and obeyed Miss Campbell. On the same day, we also welcomed home our boys and girls returning from Bryn Athyn. They seemed glad to be back again, and we were delighted to see them looking so well and happy. In spite of the heat, we celebrated their home-coming with a dance on the 23rd. There was special music for the occasion, and all felt that it was a very successful affair.

     On Dominion Day, July 1st, a picnic was held on the school grounds, with a baseball game in the afternoon, at which we were unable to administer the customary defeat to the friends from Toronto, because so few of them were here. A bowling contest for the ladies, and horseshoes for the men, completed the list of sports. An inopportune shower drove us indoors for supper, during which Mr. Jacob Stroh favored us with an interesting talk on early Canadian history, with special reference to the Province of Ontario since Confederation in 1867. He exhibited some specimens of iron tomahawks which had been introduced by the French, and also a couple of old-fashioned cannon balls which had been found upon farms in this vicinity. We ended the celebration of the Day with spirited renderings of "O Canada" and "God Save the King."-R. R.

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     COLCHESTER, ENG.-(July 5, 1921.) On Sunday evening, May 15th, a memorial service for Mr. Arthur Motum was held, with a sermon by our Pastor on the subject of "Dying in the Lord" (Rev. 14:13), in which he spoke of death as the portal through which the soul enters eternal life. Everyone lives from and in the Lord's life, but reception is not equal, because man is created a free agent, and only those who receive the Lord in freedom can be truly said to live from Him. To "die in the Lord" is the death of the proprium in man. "Their works do follow them,"-A man must perform uses to eternity, because use is the only containant of life.

     On Saturday evening, May 4th, a reception at the Studio was held for Mrs. F. E. Gyllenhaal and Miss Alice Grant. The entertainment included a repetition of a play given on a former occasion entitled "A Silent Woman." Mr. N. Motum was toastmaster, and the speeches and songs, included due recognition of "Our Guests."

     When our young people heard that Miss Grant would visit England, they sent her an invitation to come to Colchester, if possible. This she has done, making a stay of four weeks with us, and the Colchester Society, and particularly our younger generation, wish to express their deep indebtedness to Miss Grant, and to those who made the visit possible. It was something altogether new in the General Church, for it brought to us the sphere of the great work of education by and through the presence of one whose life has been devoted with great affection to this use; and we could realize in a very intimate way, by an inside view, so to speak, more clearly than ever before, the form and mechanism of the natural side, and also the true and basic quality of the spiritual side, of this great work. The meetings Miss Grant arranged for were numerous, almost daily, and the various subjects presented contained outlines and suggestions which should be of the greatest service, especially to those who will have the charge and care of the children of the church in the future. It was also a great pleasure to have Miss Grant with us in our homes, and to learn from her wide knowledge and experience the states of the various centers of the church, which seemed to us like the reality of paying them a personal visit. By her strenuous and self-sacrificing work for New Church education, our affection for this use has been revived and strengthened, which we trust will bear fruit in the future.

     June the 19th with us was indeed a "day of days." The whole service was marked in an especial degree by a powerful sphere, and brought to mind the Divine words: "Man doth not live by bread alone." It was truly a spiritual feast. The attendance was 40, with 32 communicants at the Holy Supper. The celebration in the evening was held at the Studio, through the kindness of Mrs. Gill. Forty-three were present, including Miss Alice Grant and six visitors from London. Our Pastor presided, and ad an introduction gave us brief but excellent historical view of the formation and growth of the Academy and the General Church of the New Jerusalem, saying that, while these bodies had been destined to take their rise and grow in America, as a center of present activity, yet the same principles held by them had been held by many in the early days of the New Church, notably by Robert Hindmarsh. And from his time on, there were always some to keep alive the truth that the Doctrines given through Emanuel Swedenborg are of Divine Authority and the Word of the Lord to the New Church. The subject of "Heredity" was then considered by various speakers, as follows:

     1. "Hereditary evil, the chief cause of the decline of the Churches," Mr. J. Potter. 2. "Education, the chief means of breaking the power of heredity," Mr. A. Appleton. 3. "Conjugial Love, the chief hope of the New Church" an address by Bishop W. F. Pendleton read by Mr. A. J. Appleton.

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4. An address by our Pastor on "The two hereditary natures of our Lord," explaining the essentials of the doctrine of the Lord, and the necessity of man's knowing them.

     After the formal program, a toast was proposed to the health of Miss Alice Grant and Mrs. Appleton, Sr., whose birthdays are the 19th of June. In reply, Miss Grant spoke of the object of her visit to the various centers of the Church as a means of strengthening the use of education. Mr. Conrad Howard spoke of the Use in this direction performed by our late Pastor, the Rev. Andrew Czerny, and was supported by other speakers. Then there were toasts to the latest Appleton baby, and to Miss Wheeler, our latest member.

     On Thursday, July 7th, Colchester had the pleasure of a visit by the Misses Freda Pendleton, Jean Horigan, Dorothy Davis, and Sylvia Pemberton, who had just come to England from Bryn Athyn. Though they were able to spend but a few hours in our ancient borough, a visit was made to the castle and other places of interest; and in the afternoon, Mrs. Rey Gill invited us to her home to meet the visitors, now augmented by Captain and Mrs. Alan Pendleton. Tea and refreshments were served on the lawn, and Mr. Jack Cooper took occasion to speak of a letter he had received from the Academy War Service Committee while he was in Egypt,-the first of many interesting letters, sermons, and other items for mind and body. As some members of this Committee were present, he wished to express his thanks for their strenuous and useful work during the war. Messrs. Norman Motum and Alwyne Appleton heartily seconded this. On behalf of the A. W. S. C., Miss Freda 'Pendleton expressed her thanks and pleasure that their efforts had been useful and so much appreciated. They had "carried on" until the last soldier was demobilized, and then had gone out of existence.
     F. R. COOPER.

     MR. IUNGERICH'S VISIT TO BRAZIL.-Writing from Rio de Janeiro on June 25th, the Rev. E. E. Iungerich gives the following account of the incidents of the voyage:

     After 16 days, almost to the minute, we landed yesterday, being met by Senhor Henry Leonardos, members of his family, and other friends. They very materially facilitated the passing of our baggage through the customs, and then whisked us out to their very beautiful garden home in automobiles.

     Of the incidents of the ocean trip, I may mention that we had a delightful voyage accompanied with fresh breezes, clear starlit and moonlit nights, and days that were never oppressive with heat. At present, Rio is at its coldest of the year, which is not more severe than the 25th of May with us, and will allow me to have daily swims in the pool at Senhor Leonardos's home. Probably the greatest surprise I had on the steamer was being asked casually by a Mr. Carney at breakfast on Sunday, June 12th, Whether I would like to preach that morning at 11 a.m., and on finding my name posted at 10 a.m. as about to conduct services in the music room. My ministerial robes and all available sermons were in my trunk in the hold, and I had no copy of the Word save a Portuguese Bible. At 10:55, I found myself alone in the music room with considerable apprehension, but at 11 the room began to fill, Mr. Carney appeared, and began to place the ship's hymn books about the room. By 11:10, about 70 people had gathered, and on my asking for a volunteer to play the music, a young lady responded. The service consisted of an opening hymn, the Lord's Prayer, two Lessons (translated from the Portuguese Bible), "Jerusalem the Golden," the Sermon and Benediction, and "Nearer my God to Thee "as a closing hymn.

     The first two hymns, chosen hurriedly in this way, and with their unrevised words, were dreadful effusions of Old Church doctrine, each having the line, "God in Three Persons, forever blest," which came out with terrific resonance.

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However, they served profitably in bringing home to the audience the reality of the Old Church's teaching, to which I called attention in the sermon on John III:16:-"For God so loved the world, that He gave His Only-begotten Son." Not that I made the sermon a direct denunciation of the Old Church views, but a forceful presentation of the true view of the Trinity compatible with God's "so loving the world," and of the fact that belief in the beloved Son meant, not a mental affirmation of historical events, but a living faith of the will and life. So far as I could judge, the discourse was well received and performed a use, as my wife and I afterwards had a number of profitable talks on New Church views with Mr. and Mrs. Carney and others among the passengers. Pleasant comments on the sermon were made by two Mennonite ministers who were present.

     The following Sunday, June 19th, one of the Mennonite ministers was to conduct services, but a few minutes before the time appointed he was notified that there would be no service; owing to the fact that the ship would then be crossing the equator, the day would be devoted to Father Neptune. One lady, not versed in mythology supposed this meant service conducted by a Catholic priest! The day as thus observed, seemed to many of us a pure reversion to paganism. The two ministers and I refused to submit to the horseplay rites, but I allowed Alexander to undergo them, to his intense delight. Under other circumstances, we would all have entered into the formalities with good spirit.

     Mrs. Iungerich has greatly improved in health during the voyage. She made friends with many of the people on board, and on the last evening was one of a committee of four to prepare an entertainment for the second-class passengers. I was called upon for a speech on behalf of those who were to leave the ship at Rio, and a response was made by a young Montevidean returning after a year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Alexander got a box of candy for boxing a three-round match in a 12-foot ring with another boy of his age. The other boy had had boxing lessons, but Alexander made up for this in vehemence.

     Our arrival at the Leonardos' residence, photographs of which you have seen, seemed to us like a scene from the Arabian Nights. We have two rooms in a bungalow adjacent to the main house. On my writing table I find a set of the Arcana Coelestia in French and several copies of Portuguese periodicals of recent date, including one entitled A Nova Igreja (The New Church), the first numbers of which have recently been published by Senhor Leonardos and the other members of the General Church here. Needless to say, we are charmed with our reception.
     E. E. IUNGERICH.

     THE CHURCH AT LARGE.

     The New-Church Messenger, July 6th to 27th, reports the 100th General Convention, held at Boston from June 21st to 28th. As a general theme running through the addresses, "Christian Freedom" naturally led to a discussion of Prohibition in the Council of Ministers, with marked difference of view. The Rev. Paul Sperry was elected Chairman of the Council, the Rev. Louis G. Hoeck retiring.

     The Convention proper included a Memorial Service to the late President, the Rev. Julian K. Smyth. The Rev. William L. Worcester was elected President, and Mr. Ezra Hyde Alden, Vice President, the latter succeeding the Hon. Job Barnard, who retires after filling this office for twenty years. It was announced that the recent drive to increase the endowment of Urbana University had been successful. General T. Coleman DuPont, an ex-student of the University, had offered to contribute $100,000, on condition that a like sum be raised by subscription. Later, he agreed to match any amount subscribed by others. As the total subscription reached $151,000, the endowment funds of the institution are increased by $314,000.

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     An outline of the proceedings of the 114th Session of the General Conference is contained in The New-Church Herald for July 9th. The meetings were held at Accrington, with an attendance of 7 trustees, 37 ministers, 10 ladies and 68 laymen, this being larger than for several years. Among the actions taken, it was decided that hereafter individual cups shall be used at the Conference Sacramental Service, though this was opposed by the Rev. E. J. E. Schreck, who advocated the single cup as more symbolical. The Rev. J. F. Buss delivered an address, illustrated with lantern slides, describing the work of the South African Mission in the Transvaal. This was attended by a large audience, and was followed with keen interest. The Rev. Arthur Wilde succeeded the Rev. E. J. Pulsford as President of Conference for the ensuing year, and the Rev. John Howarth was elected President-nominate.

     REPORT OF THE VISITING PASTOR.-The summer's work in Western Canada began on the 5th of July at MORDEN, MAN., where live the families Hamm and Heinrichs, formerly of Rosthern, Sask. During the week spent here, services were held on Sunday morning and evening, instruction was given the children on three afternoons, and there were five evening doctrinal classes. The two families made quite a large congregation, numbering twenty-two persons at the Sunday morning services, of whom ten partook of the Holy Supper. There were also two strangers present. At the doctrinal classes there was a regular attendance of fourteen adults and young people. On the last day of the visit, July 11th, there was a most delightful joint family event, the wedding of Mr. Erdman Heinrichs and Miss Helena Hamm, who will make their home at Etonia, Sask., where Erdman teaches school.

     The next point visited was near JUSTICE, MAN., the farm of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Peppler, with whom live Mr. Peppler's father and sister Clara, old Kitchener, Ont., friends. In the afternoon of July 13th, the two youngest children were baptized, and in the evening a service was held.

     There followed a day in the city of WINNIPEG, where I spent several enjoyable hours in the company of Mr. Fred Roschman, also formerly of Kitchener. Then a night's railroad journey to ROBLIN, MAN., and a twenty mile drive, brought a decided change of scene. I was now in a wooded, hilly country, with many small lakes, in the northern part of the province, on the edge of a great forest reserve. Here quite a number of New Church people, formerly of Chaplin, Sask., have settled during the past two years, and, by force of circumstances, live a primitive life, for the most part in log houses. During the five days here, July 15th to 19th, three afternoon meetings were held at the houses of members, the friends coming long distances over rough roads in their big farm wagons. At two of these meetings we had class, and at the third a service. On each occasion, all remained to supper, this affording opportunity for conversation on the church and the doctrines. The attendance was large. At the service, there were thirty-seven adults and young people, and twenty children; and at one of the classes there were forty-one adults and young people, while seventeen children played around outside. At that, all were not able to be present. What an opportunity there is here for some vigorous young minister, ready to share the life of the people, to build up a strong society of the church! On my last day I went to the house of one of the members living near Roblin so as to be on hand for the early train next morning. Here, in the evening, a fourth meeting was held, at which ten persons were present.

     The next day, July 20th, in the evening, I arrived at Rosthern, Sask., for a two weeks' visit, an account of which will be sent after its conclusion.
     F. E. WAELCHLI.

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SWEDENBORG, THE PREACHER 1921

SWEDENBORG, THE PREACHER       J. S. PRYKE       1921




     Announcements.



     
NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLI SEPTEMBER, 1921 Nos. 9
     It is a noteworthy fact that, by whatever avenue we approach the man whose birthday anniversary we are commemorating tonight, we are fairly certain to discover in him some quality or attribute which had previously remained unknown to us. The range of his knowledge was so comprehensive, his intellect so vast, his experience so varied and in many respects unique, that even the highly cultivated intelligence may hope to draw fresh stores and new concepts from a study of his life and works. Swedenborg touched life at many points, and upon most phases of human development he has something of value to impart. It is not surprising, then, that it should be found possible to contemplate him in the character of a preacher, though, so far as our information goes, it was upon one occasion only that he was specifically referred to as such and then the experience was not exactly a pleasant one for him. Perhaps, indeed, it would not be strictly accurate to claim for Swedenborg that he was a preacher at all, in the popular sense of that word; that is to say, there appears to be no evidence to show that he ever acted in that capacity, either on earth or in the spiritual world. We do not read of his expounding the Word or doctrine from a pulpit to a congregation which had expressly gathered for the purpose of hearing him do so. Yet, in another sense, he certainly was, upon numerous occasions, engaged in what was, to all intents and purposes, preaching.

     Let us consider for a moment what is popularly understood by a preacher.

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The dictionary states that a preacher is "one who discourses on religious subjects; one who admonishes with earnestness." If we enquire a little farther afield, and take in the word "teach," we see that it connotes "to instruct; to inform; to deliver any doctrine; to exhibit: so as to impress upon the mind; to suggest; to admonish." So that, if there is but slender evidence that Swedenborg acted as a preacher, according to a rigid definition of that term, the evidence is ample that he continually exercised the functions of a teacher; and we have just seen that at least one of those functions is identical with the functions of a preacher.

     With this consideration before us, and keeping in mind Swedenborg's life and work, it seems to us that we may think of him as now performing the uses of a preacher and teacher, to which a third class, namely, those of a priest, may be added with equal propriety. While it is true that men are in general forbidden to judge as to the lot of those who have left this world, on the other hand, Swedenborg's mission was unique, his life was lived so much in public, he so frequently disclosed his love for the exalted use to which he was called, that in his case we may venture to say his work in this world was such as would fit him preeminently to continue the trine of uses just enumerated.

     What was his work on earth? Surely it was one, the importance of which has never been equalled, and one which, in its very nature, can never be repeated. It was to herald the Second Advent of the Lord, to unfold the spiritual sense of His Word, to disclose the existence of a life after death.

     We are told in the Writings that universal nature is a theater representative of the spiritual world. May we not say that the mind of Swedenborg is the mirror within which a man must visualize the phenomena of that world, until such time as he has so risen in the scale of regeneration that he can once more be allowed, without risk of injury, to see into the realms of the spirit, while yet his natural course is unfinished? Swedenborg was a denizen of both worlds, and if he had not been intromitted to the spiritual world, his mission would not have been accomplished.

     Happy in his ancestry, trained and guided from infancy, constantly seeking a fuller knowledge of the secrets of nature, living in a humble belief in God and His Providence, striving to serve his day and generation; when the time came, his state was ripe for his entrance upon the infinitely more exalted use which filled the latter portion of his life.

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That use he carried out as the Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it extended not only to men on earth, but to spirits and angels, and even to those associated with other earths in the universe. For the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the knowledge that He had become Man, had to be proclaimed to the utmost limits of creation; otherwise the Second Coming would have been partial only-which, of course, involves a contradiction in terms, since in all things the Lord acts from primes to ultimates.

     We know that Swedenborg's life was devoted to use. Before his spiritual sight was opened, he faithfully served his country in particular, and, by means of the sciences, mankind generally. After that event, he labored by study, by writing, by teaching, worthily to carry out the work which had been entrusted to him. Man, while in this life, prepares himself for his eternal use. With the question of Swedenborg's eternal use in mind, therefore, let us note some of the experiences he had in the spiritual world before he finally quitted this.

     He tells us that, upon one occasion, he was seized with a disease which seemed to threaten his life; his head was oppressed with pain, and a pestilential smoke was let in upon him from the Jerusalem which is called Sodom and Egypt. He was half-dead with intolerable agonies, and expected every moment to be his last. Thus he lay three days and a half in bed, his spirit being reduced to such a state, and in consequence, his body also. He heard around him voices, saying: "Lo! he that preached repentance for the remission of sins, and exhorted us to look to the man, Christ Jesus, lies dead in our streets! "The clergy, on being asked whether he was worthy of burial, answered, "No, let him lie to be looked at," and they passed to and fro, and mocked. This befell Swedenborg while he was writing the explication of the 11th chapter of Revelation. He then heard many shocking speeches of the scoffers, such as: "How can repentance be performed without faith?" "How can the man Christ be adored," and so on. He heard all this without the power of replying, being half-dead. But after the three days and a half, his spirit recovered; and, being in the spirit, he left the street and went into the city, and said again: "Do the work of repentance, and believe in Christ, and your sins will he remitted, and you will be saved; otherwise you will perish.

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Did not the Lord Himself preach repentance for the remission of sins; and that man should believe in Him? Did not He enjoin His disciples to preach the same?" To this they replied: "What idle talk! Has not the Son made satisfaction? And does not the Father impute it to us, and justify us, who believe in it, so that we are led by the spirit of grace? Do you comprehend this gospel, you 'preacher' of sin and repentance?" (A. R. 531.) This was the occasion we referred to above.

     Upon another occasion, Swedenborg had some conversation with a bishop respecting three Divine persons from eternity, whom he asked to unfold the mystery according to the ideas which he had conceived in the world. The bishop assented, and, at the end of his explanation, invited the approbation of Swedenborg, who, of course, was unable to give it, but instead pointed out that the bishop really cherished the idea of three gods, and proceeded to explain the doctrine of One God. (T. C. R. 16.) In this instance, if Swedenborg did not preach, he certainly taught.

     Once Swedenborg was present at a council in the world of spirits, at which there were also some of the apostolic fathers and a large assembly of the clergy. A certain critic charged him with being a layman, without cap or gown, who had had the assurance to pull down their faith from heaven and cast it into the stygian lake, their faith being the righteousness of Christ, justification, and a belief in three Divine persons. He ended by declaring that that faith is the immediate gift of God, and that it contains all things relating to salvation. When he had finished speaking, his companions clapped their hands and cried: "Most wisely spoken! Let that prophet inform us of any other origin of faith!" An angel from heaven who was present replied to this, and told them that such a faith was but the sepulchre of our Lord after His resurrection, shut up a second time by the soldiers of Pilate. He then asked Swedenborg to read some passages from the Formula Concordiae (the book of orthodoxy for evangelical Protestants, some of whom were present). When Swedenborg had done this, he turned to the president of the council, and reminded him that all present were associated with their like in the natural world, and questioned him as to whether he knew with whom he was connected. He then proceeded to explain both the Formula Concordiae and the Athanasian Creed, teaching that the Lord Jesus Christ is God and Man. (T. C. R. 137.)

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     Another incident is recorded, in which Swedenborg attended a discussion on the meaning of charity. Nine different explanations, all erroneous or incomplete, were advanced, and then Swedenborg asked permission to offer his opinion. He then said that charity consists in acting upon all occasions, and in the discharge of every duty, under the influence of the love of justice with judgment, and under the influence of love originating solely in the Lord God the Savior. And he delivered a lengthy discourse in support of that teaching. (T. C. R. 459.)

     At another time, Swedenborg attended an assembly at which there was a discussion upon the subject of free-will. The conclusion was reached that, in spiritual matters, man has no more freedom than a stock or stone. Again Swedenborg spoke, and exposed the falsity of such a belief. Upon a further occasion, Swedenborg discoursed with angels concerning the three universal loves, of which every man is composed by creation:-the love of the neighbor, or the love of use, which in itself is spiritual; the love of the world, or the love of possessing wealth, which in itself is material; and the love of self, or the love of dominion over others, which in itself is corporeal.

     Once Swedenborg was introduced into an assembly of the old philosophers, who were in heaven because they believed in the Lord. He was questioned by them whence he came, and at once explained that in his body he was in the natural world, but with his spirit in the spiritual world. He was then asked what the people of the natural world knew about influx, and "recollecting all that he had heard or read on the subject," he answered in considerable detail.

     Then there is the relation which states how Swedenborg "instructed" the angels on various subjects of the revelation which the Lord was making through him, whereupon some spirits asked him why the Lord revealed the long list of arcana to him, who was a layman, and not to one of the clergy. These also he instructed, to the effect that it was according to the Lord's good pleasure, who prepared him for this office from his earliest years. He then, in turn, asked them why the Lord, when He was on earth, chose fishermen for His disciples, and not some of the lawyers, scribes, priests or rabbis; adding: "Ponder well this circumstance in your minds, and if you form a right judgment upon it, you will discover the reason." An example of what would be called in these days the heuristic method of teaching! (T. C. R. 846-850.)

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     Swedenborg also visited the planets of our system, and earths in the starry heavens, always with the intent of carrying the revelation to the men and spirits dwelling there, and of bringing information concerning them to us. And finally, there is his solemn asseveration that it pleased the Lord to manifest Himself to him, and to send him "to teach" these things which will belong to His New Church. (T. C. R. 779.)

     We have here selected for quotation but a few of the incidents recorded throughout the Writings. They are sufficient, however, to demonstrate that even while on earth, Swedenborg was filling the office of a "preacher" and "teacher." As priests signify those who are in the good of love from the Lord, and who lead to a life according to Divine Truth, we may fitly conclude that he is in that office also.

     We know that the functions of the priest, the teacher and the preacher are carried on amongst the angels; that in heaven there are temples, Divine worship and preaching; that all the preachers there are appointed by the Lord, and derive their gift of preaching from their Divine appointment; that all the doctrines which angelic doctrine embodies regard life as their end; that the doctrines are more or less full of wisdom, according as they are taught in the inmost, middle or ultimate heaven; and that the essential of all heavenly doctrine is the acknowledgment of the Divine Human of the Lord. Further, we know that ecclesiastical affairs in heaven are under the charge of those who, while in the world, loved the Word and ardently enquired into its truths for the sake of the uses of life; that these are in illustration, and in the light of heaven, and that they perform the office of preachers. (H. H. 393.) Surely we may say without hyperbole, that if ever mortal loved the Word for the sake of use, that mortal was Swedenborg. He tells us that once, while he was reading the Word from the first chapter of Isaiah to the last of Malachi, together with the Psalms of David, and keeping his thoughts fixed upon the spiritual sense, it was granted him to perceive clearly that every phrase connected with some particular society in heaven, and thus that the whole Word connected with the universal heaven, from whence it appeared that, as the Lord is the Word, so also heaven is the Word, since heaven is heaven from the Lord, and the Lord by the Word is the all in all of heaven.

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     To summarize, man, while progressing through this life, prepares for the use which will be his to eternity. Swedenborg, during the whole of his career, was devoted to labors connected with the dissemination of knowledge and relating to salvation; he was called upon to carry these to both men and angels; there is also the inferential evidence of the Lord's calling together his twelve disciples who had followed Him in the world, and sending them forth throughout the whole spiritual world "to preach" the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. From all of these considerations and teachings we deduce that Swedenborg, now in his final state, is continuing the uses which he loved as a man,-the uses of a priest, a teacher, a preacher; and that, under the Divine Providence, he plays a prominent part in establishing the Church upon earth, and in developing its principles to a more and more enlightened rationality amongst its members.

     How are we to regard him as doing this? Is he quietly ministering as a pastor to some interior society of angels, or is he the head of some heavenly hierarchy charged with more universal duties? Is he chiefly concerned with the instruction of new comers into the world of spirits, or is he still employed as missionary to those nearer the confines of the universe? Is he occupied specifically with the training of those who die in infancy, or is he directing those who, in turn, are to be teachers and preachers? Has he come into association with the leaders of the New Church who have departed hence, and with them is taking measures for the advancement of its cause upon earth? Is he more particularly devoted to the elucidation of the internal sense of the Word, and was the work upon the Science of Exposition suggested and helped forward as a result of his activities?

     In asking these questions, we reach the realms of conjecture and imagination, for which reason we suggest no answer to them. But this we may affirm with confidence, that wherever Swedenborg may be, in whatever use he may be engaged, he is surely acting under the Divine auspices, an instrument for good, the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

     Swedenborg was an extraordinary man, that and nothing more. He furnishes the outstanding example of what heights the human intellect can attain.

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But what he achieved, his fellow mortals can, theoretically at least, in like manner accomplish. It would seem, therefore, that all New Churchmen should aim to grow in wisdom and the love of use, refusing to be discouraged by limitations and failures, ever remembering that God and His angels are upon their side, and that if they but commence aright now, there is all eternity in which to perfect the work.
GIVING CHILDREN TO THE LORD 1921

GIVING CHILDREN TO THE LORD       Rev. ALFRED ACTON       1921

     (An address at the Funeral Service of Louis Heath, Bryn Athyn, August 3, 1921.)

     "And they brought little children unto Him, that He might touch them; and His disciples rebuked those that brought them. But Jesus said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." (Mark 10:13, 14.)

     The natural picture here presented is of the simple people wishing to bring their children near to the Lord that He might touch them. For they sincerely believed that in His touch lay a blessing. But the disciples rebuked them, because they thought children were too insignificant to receive the attention of the Lord; they thought that His work lay with adults only, and that only from adults could the church, or the movement which they expected, be built up. It was this spirit that the Lord rebuked when He taught them, "Of such is the kingdom of heaven." That is to say, His kingdom was to consist, not of adults in a state like that of the disciples when they forbade the bringing of the children, but of those who, like the children and those who brought them, were in simple faith in the power of the Lord to give blessing. It is of these, indeed, that heaven consists.

     For by children in the spiritual sense are not meant those who are of childish years, but the state of trust in the Lord, which is the state of innocence. All children have this state, in a measure. They are in innocence. They have no cares and anxieties. They trust their parents. Their affections are stirred by the Word, and they are delighted in singing praise to the Lord.

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This state is given to them by the Lord, and it is given to all of us, as a gift that can never be separated from us. It is given to us that we may remember it,-may remember that this state of childhood is the state that enables man to enter heaven. It is given us that, when we become adults, and our hearts become cold, and religion seems lightly to touch us, except externally,-this state is given that we may remember it. It remains with us as the Lord's gift, that we may take it and make it our own, and offer it to the Lord as the parents offered their children. For it is of such that the kingdom of heaven consists.

     It is this state of childhood, when spiritually understood, that makes heaven; and this state in the child is indeed heaven with him, and performs the uses of heaven. For the Lord performs through children uses for the salvation of the human race which, in His Divine order, cannot be done by any other means. This may be apparent to us if we reflect on the benefits that are conferred on the home, on a community, or on the State, by the presence of children. They bring with them a sphere of heaven which tempers or softens the sphere of the world, which, indeed, keeps heaven actually present with men in externals; and this use that they perform is a spiritual use, and is required in heaven as well as on earth. There are uses for the salvation of man, uses of heaven, which can be performed only by children in the other world,-uses in connection with children, on earth, uses in connection with the simple; in a word, uses for the preservation of the state of simple faith and innocence among men.

     This is the reason why, from the very dawn of history, children have died as children, have been called by the Lord to another sphere of life, to perform the uses for which they have been created. And we may well see that, when the world is in a state of such utter materialism as it is today, this use of children in the other world will be emphasized. The Lord calls them to this use in the other world from the same Divine end for which He created them. That end is the love of giving heaven to men. And the Lord, in His Divine mercy, acts from this love through men,-through children and through adults; and when it is necessary for the ends of salvation that the uses of children are to be performed in the other world, then, in the Divine Providence, they are taken there, that these uses may be served.

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     And since we are to make our own, and offer to the Lord, the states of innocence that were given to us in childhood, so we are not to hold these children back, but to offer them freely; so are we not to grudge our little ones when, in the Divine Providence, they are called to another place in the kingdom of uses. It is the use that calls them, and this use is the salvation of the human race.

     There is this thought that may well be remarked, that it is only as men bring their children, spiritually considered, to the Lord-that is, make their own and offer to the Lord the states of innocence, sincerity, and trust, that were given to them in childhood-it is only those who do this that are willing also to give their children to the Lord in the other world, when, in His Providence, they are called; to give them, and not to grudge; to say from the heart, "Thy will be done, as in heaven so upon the earth." That is to say, as they spiritually offer their children to the Lord to be touched by Him and blessed, so naturally they will submit to the dispensations of His Providence when their children in the flesh are called away, and will say, "Thy will be done, as in heaven so upon the earth;" and will know and believe that the will of the Lord is, that heavenly uses shall be performed, whether in the sphere of the spiritual world or of the natural.

     It is that we may offer our children to the Lord, that we bring them up in the church, that we early train them to love the Lord, and awaken their affections for His Word. He who internally loves and desires this training for his children, who loves and desires it from the heart, is content to offer his children to the Lord in every sense. He is unwilling to withhold them, but is willing that they should perform some part in the office of the salvation of man, whether it be on this earth or, in the dispensations of Providence, in the other world. This is the spirit that upholds them in distress, and breaths into them the peace of heaven, when they utter the words, "Thy will be done, as in heaven so upon the earth." Amen.

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REALITY OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD 1921

REALITY OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD        W. F. PENDLETON       1921

     (A paper read at the Council of the Clergy, June 24, 1921.)

     Any investigation of the phenomena of the spiritual world must begin with a knowledge of the spiritual sun; for that sun is the first of the spiritual world, and the origin of all things of it; and to know the first or origin of a thing is to know all things that follow in it. (D. L. W. 195, 197, A. C. 8864.)

     Concerning the spiritual sun, we read that "God first made His Infinity finite by substances emitted from Himself, from which exists His proximate encompassing sphere, which makes the sun of the spiritual world." (T. C. R. 33, Comp. D. L. W. 291.) The spiritual sun is therefore a real existence, since it is composed of substances emitted from the Divine; and hence all things that appear in the spiritual world are composed of substances from the spiritual sun, and through that sun from the Lord. So the Lord did not create the universe out of nothing, but out of Himself, out of His own Divine Substance, which is Love Itself. (That Love is the one and only substance, which is Substance in itself, see D. L. W. 44-46, 198, 300.) The spiritual sun is thus a substantial and at the same time a finite containant of that Divine Substantial called the Divine Love.

     The second thing of creation, following that of the spiritual sum, are the atmospheres of the spiritual world. "By means of that sun, spiritual atmospheres were created" (T. C. R. 76, A. E. 726), and "each thing of the atmospheres is such as the spiritual sun is in its essence" (D. L. W. 300); that is, each thing of the atmospheres is in the image and of the substance of the spiritual sun, their origin, which is Love clothed with created or finite forms. If the spiritual sun is composed of actually existing substances, so are the atmospheres derived from that sun; and so are all the objective phenomena, the multitudinous forms of the spiritual world, called appearances. These appearances are substantial, or composed of substances from the spiritual sun through the atmospheres. Hence they are like that sun in their essence and in their form. They are love clothed with substances.

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     All things that appear in the spiritual world are substantial and living, because derived from a substantial and living sun; and all things in the natural world are material and dead, because derived from a sun which is dead (Influx 16, D. L. W. 300, etc.). Since the two worlds are so distinct or discrete from each other, those who are in the substantial world cannot see those who are in the material world; nor can those who are in the material world see those who are in the substantial world (C. L. 31); and yet they are most intimately associated, which is possible and arises from the fact of the distinction or discreteness in the structure of their minds and of their bodies, the one being constructed of substance and the other of matter.

     The term "substance," or "substantial," as used in the Writings, needs to be fully understood, in order to comprehend what is said of the phenomena of the spiritual world. It is used as the equivalent of the term "spiritual." The substantial world and the spiritual world are one and the same thing, altogether distinct from the natural or material world. A thing that is substantial is a thing that has real existence. And in reading the Writings concerning the other world, we should hold our thought to this true meaning of the word "substantial," and thus we shall be able to distinguish between what is meant by substance and what is meant by matter. Otherwise, there would be danger of thinking that matter is the only outward or objective form that really exists.

     Prior to those created forms in the spiritual world that are called substantial is the Divine Substantial, which is uncreate. We are told that the Lord's Body, by glorification, became Divine Substantial (L. 35, Comp. D. L. W. 18). If the Divine Substantial, or the Divine Body of the Lord, is a really existing Substance, so is the spiritual substantial, and also the material; except that inwardly in the particles of the material world there is no life, though they are surrounded on all sides by the substantial forces of life. But inwardly in the particles of the substantial world is the life which is the Divine Love.

     Each angel is the center, the active force in his circumambient world, and his state stands intimately related to the forms or appearances in that outer world around him, and actively contributes to the formation of those appearances.

477


They are, in fact, substantial forms, or actually existing appearances of his love and wisdom. That his state of love and wisdom is so represented outside and around him is taught everywhere in the Writings, and made manifest to every reader of the same. But is there any particular explanation of the mode of that formation? This subject is set forth in the Divine Love and Wisdom (291-294), Where we are told that there is a sphere around every angel, composed of substances pouring forth from all things of his body. These substances, actuated by the heart and lungs of the angel "excite the atmospheres to their activities." There is such a sphere around every angel, because there is a sphere around the Lord, which is in like manner from Him, and makes the sun of the spiritual world, which, as has been shown, is composed of "substances emitted from Himself." Each angel is thus, as it were, a little sun, in the image of the great sun, and he is sometimes seen from a distance as a globe of fire.

     From the same passages (D. L. W. 291-294), We learn further that a sphere of substances "set free and separated from their bodies surrounds everyone in heaven and everyone in hell." We find in this teaching a statement of the reactive cause of all phenomena of the spiritual world. Action is from the sun, or from what is within the sun, which is Love. Reaction is with the angel, or from the love that is in him from the Lord. By this action and reaction, the substances of the atmospheres are spontaneously moulded into the wonderful forms, concerning which we find so much teaching in the Writings.*
     * In Divine Love and Wisdom 305, 310, 311, Spiritual Diary 4293, and elsewhere in the Writings, the indication is dearly given that the appearances around the angels are formed from the atmospheres, that is, from substances furnished by the atmospheres. A corresponding formation from the atmospheres takes place on earth, but through mediations that operate more slowly.

     Since the forms around the angels are composed of substances from the spiritual sun, and have within them a living soul from the Love that is within that sun, we are prepared to understand the further teaching that the appearances in the spiritual world are so real that there is not anything more real (A. C. 1116). For what is more real than love and the substantial garment which clothes it? The things which are and which appear in that world are so real that a newly arrived spirit is astonished at what he sees; in fact, at first he knows no other than that he is still in the natural world (C. L. 31); for he sees, hears, tastes, and touches the objects which are around him (H. H. 170, 171, 175, A. C. 4622).

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This activity of the senses in the other world involves objective phenomena really existing. If angels and spirits touch, there is something to touch. If they see and hear, it is because there are substantial objects to see and hear. Otherwise, how could reality be predicated of them? Can reality mean anything else than real existence?

     However, we read of unreal appearances. Objects which have no living internal from the Lord are unreal, because, although they are presented to view, they do not correspond to the interiors (H. H. 175, A. E. 575). These are phantasies, which appear to the evil as real, though they are not real (S. D. 5183, 5806). Hence the real is such as it appears to be, but the unreal is not such as it appears to be (A. C. 4623, A. E. 553); that is, the real is the appearing of a living internal to the senses of angels and spirits, and in a substantial form accurately corresponding to the internal and representing it; but the unreal is an appearance produced by magic, having no living internal.

     There is another kind of unreal appearances, which are used for the instruction of children, of the Gentiles, and of all who are as yet ignorant of spiritual things (A. C. 2299, H. H. 335, also A. C. 3214, etc.). These are called unreal because they are not as yet in correspondence with the interiors of those who behold them. They are still real, because there is in them an internal from the higher heavens, exhibiting in representative forms the thoughts and affections of the angels who are above before those who are below (A. C. 1980, 3213, 4528, 5198, 9577, 10276, A. E. 369). Moses and some of the prophets saw such representatives, which they were commanded to describe in writing for the instruction of men in the world. To the prophets these things were unreal. They knew nothing and perceived nothing of what they signified, and they are unreal, or not as yet real, to those on earth who read the Word in its literal sense.

     Swedenborg once saw the representation of a way crowded with spirits, then a corner stone, from which there was a broad way leading to hell and a narrow way to heaven (H. H. 534).

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The same representation appears in several other passages in the Writings (A. C. 3477, T. C. R. 160, S. D. 4214-4216, 5798, D. Wis. 1:5).

     It was given for the instruction of Swedenborg himself, and for that of the spirits who were with him. It is classed among the unreal appearances in Spiritual Diary 4214-4216. We are informed that instruction by representatives, or by such unreal appearances, is very common in the other life, and Swedenborg himself was often instructed in this manner (T. C. R. 78, et passim).

     Let us repeat. A real appearance is one in which there is an appearing of the internal in its own corresponding external (A. C. 5423). An unreal appearance is one in which the external is not an appearing of the internal in its corresponding external. Such an appearance is either a phantasy of evil spirits, or a representation projected from the higher heavens for the instruction of those not yet prepared for heaven.

     Reality, then, is not predicated of the objective form itself, but of that which is within it; and that which is within causes also the external form to be real. This brings to mind the teaching that the internal is the real spiritual world,-that world which is interiorly within the angels,-and the external is that world appearing in a substantial representative form (H. H. 33, 53, 54, 55, 90, A. C. 4464, et passim). The form is either the real appearance of a real world, or the form may be unreal, as we have seen. In either case, the appearances themselves are concrete, substantial, organic, or organized of substances actually existing. For when it is said that certain appearances are unreal, it is not meant that they are not composed of substances, but that they have not, or not yet, an internal from the Lord, to which the external corresponds. For, as was shown above, there is a sphere of substances, "set free and separated from their bodies ", surrounding everyone in heaven and everyone in hell, which, pouring forth, excites the atmospheres to the production of substantial forms, or forms composed of actual substances.

     The spiritual body is central to all other appearances in the spiritual or angelic world, just as the spiritual sun, the created embodiment of the Lord, is central in the universe. The spiritual body, with its environment, is a little world in the image of the great world; and it is composed of substances, as the sun is composed of substances, and as the atmospheres, and all the objective formations in the spiritual world, are substantial.

480




     The spiritual body, organized of spiritual substances, is as real and actual as the soul and the mind are, as the will and understanding are, except that the latter are organized from the more interior auras of the spiritual world. It is so real that not anything can be more so, having all the senses and powers of motion, together with all the organs that the natural body has (A. C. 5078, 6400), the only difference being that the one body is composed of substance and the other of matter; and hence the one is far more perfect and permanent than the other (A. C. 3726, 4659). These are the two universal existences of creation,-substance and matter, or the substantial and the material. The agreement in appearance of these two, and their distinction, is a subject for profound theological study and investigation; for the nature of the spiritual body and of all spiritual forms cannot otherwise be understood; just as particulars are obscure and in the shadows, unless the universal be clearly seen.

     This paper assumes, from what appears as the constantly reiterated teaching of the Writings, that the spiritual body is a real thing, the most perfect and complete form on the plane of the actual and substantial existences of the spiritual world. While resembling in every particular the material body, and appearing like it, it is far more perfect, because nearer to the source of all perfection,-the spiritual sun and the Lord in that sun,-under the immediate presence of that sun, with no meditation of a natural dead sun in a material and dead world; however necessary that sun and that world may be to us in the beginnings of life; and as a foundation for our feet to rest upon throughout the ages of eternity.

     Let us ask the question: Why may not a body be formed from the atmospheres of the spiritual world, and from those atmospheres, as condensed and ultimated on the plane of angelic sensitive existence, just as well as a body is formed on the plane of nature, from materials furnished by the natural atmospheres, and from those atmospheres as concreted in its ultimate kingdoms? Is the Lord's hand shortened that He cannot do this according to the laws of Divine Order? The Writings do certainly seem to testify throughout that He can and does; and in order that He may do this, He has created both the substance and the matter of the universe.

481




     Angels and spirits are in a substantial body, but we are told that it has a cutaneous covering or envelope, from the purest substances of nature (D. L. W. 257). These purest substances, even though they are so pure, are not in any sense spiritual or substantial, because they are from the natural sun, and therefore dead, as that sun is dead. All particles in nature, derived from the natural sun, are said to be dead, because they have no living internal from the spiritual sun, as all particles in the spiritual world have. This is the great distinction between the spiritual or substantial particle and the material or natural particle,-the one living and the other dead.

     And further, man takes the cutaneous covering of his spiritual body, formed of the purest substance of nature, with him when he enters the spiritual world (D. L. W. 388); that is, he keeps it, does not cast it off as he does the purely material body. He takes it with him. He himself is within it. But he does not take it into the spiritual world. This he cannot do. It would mean the transformation of what is natural or material into what is spiritual, which would he as impossible as for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. It remains natural; it remains in the interior sphere of nature, and there continues as a kind of natural body for his spirit forever. By it a man is, as it were, still in the world of nature, though not in the ultimates thereof. In order to be in the ultimates of the natural world, he must be associated with those who are still living here. Without such association by means of this covering, border, or limbus, and unless this covering or limbus rested for support and sustainment upon the body of some one or more still in this world, the whole spiritual world would perish, and with it all men in the natural world: Hence it can truly be said that every spirit still dwells in what is as it were a natural body, partly his own and partly that of another (see L. J. 9.) The cutaneous covering or limbus, remaining in the interiors of nature, and "subsisting upon the common basis of mankind", exhibits the intimate relation of the two worlds, which can never be broken; and it makes manifest the necessity of the spirit's possessing a kind of natural body, by which a man stands forever with his feet upon the earth, that is, so long as there are men still living in the world, which we are told will be always, and this for the sake of the permanent existence of the angelic heaven.

     Now let us say a word about the appearances and objects of the spiritual world considered as organic forms.

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If it can be shown that there are organic forms in the spiritual world, it would follow that there are substances there to be organized. The Writings, in fact, teach that there are organic forms in that substantial world, as well as in the world of matter. The spiritual world is organic outwardly and inwardly, and this truth is fundamental to the idea of reality. Take away the thought of what is organic, and the spiritual world remains as an unreal, a shadowy existence. If the spiritual world is not organic, it does not consist of created forms which are substances; indeed, it does not exist. What is the testimony of the Writings!

     We are told that "the universe, from the innermost to outermost, is organic" (S. D. 3576, 3577). The term "universe", here and elsewhere in the Writings, includes the two worlds, spiritual and natural (D. L. W. 163, 321); and we read of "the organic forms which constitute the bodies of spirits" (A. C. 1378); also that "the spirit is organized, or is an organic substance" (A. C. 444); that "spirits are organic substances, and not merely thought, as some conceive" (S. D. 2392); that "unless spirits and angels were organized, or organic substances, they could neither speak, see, nor think" (A. C. 1533); that the exterior and interior memories are organic (A. C. 2487); that "the will and the understanding are organic forms, or forms organized out of the purest substances" (D. L. W. 373, Div. Love XXI:2); that the human mind is organic (D. P. 279, T. C. R. 38, 351, D. L. W. 316) In short, all created things in both worlds are organic, or organized instruments of use. The very term "create" carries with it the idea of what is organic. All recipient forms are organic, whether in nature or in the spiritual world. We cannot predicate organism unless there are substances to be organized; and the substances which are to be organized have their origin in that first grand organ of the Divine creative work, the spiritual sun.

     An organ, all organisms, exist that love may be ultimated, that love may descend into use; for use is the one end of love; and that love may become use, organic forms are necessary in both worlds. Love created the universe that use may exist. Love created in the beginning, and continues to create, organic forms of use; and the perpetual endeavor of love is to preserve the forms it has created, that use may have a beginning but no end.

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It follows that wherever use is, there are organic forms.

     Love, as the one existing substance, first in the spiritual sun, and then in all that proceeds from that sun in the spiritual world, in the spiritual atmospheres, in all the forms that appear before angelic sight, in the angels themselves, in all things of their minds and all things of their bodies, in every particle that is and that appears in that world of substantial realities-in all these, Love is present, creating and perpetually creating organisms of use and for use. Love creates, must create, wherever it is, whether in the sun or in the remotest forms of the spiritual world, even down into the natural world itself. Love continues to create, that is, continues to emit, to throw off, substances from itself, that forms of use for men may come into existence; and this, we repeat, it does wherever it may be, and we are able to see herein an explanation of the tendency in all the spiritual world, and in all nature, to take on a covering or envelope, to form a border or boundary, that Love may still further descend, may still further ultimate itself for the sake of accommodation for use to angels and men.

     The tendency of all things to an ultimate appears as a universal law in nature itself, and is expressed by such terms as secretion, concretion, condensation, precipitation, solidification, and so on. It is the effort to terminate in a boundary, a circumference, a bottom, a lowest or last, where reaction may take place, in a hard and dense external, as we see in the crust of a loaf, in the shell of a nut, in the pod of a pea or bean, in the lees of wine, in the bark of wood, in the skin and bones of the body, in the hard covering of the lower animal creation, in the rain condensed in the clouds descending to water and make fertile the earth, in the compression of the atmospheres
to form the water of the seas, and finally, at the bottom of the sea, the formation of the mineral kingdom itself,--the lowest and last of the Lord God's creative work, and in which is implanted the endeavor to react and return to the Creator, to return to that Love from which it came forth; and there turn is by use, or by the organic forms of use, in both worlds.

     In Swedenborg's Principia, we find a wonderful illustration of the operation of this law in the formation and functionating of the elementary particle, or in the drive from the center to the circumference of that particle, emitting or throwing off substances from the center, which, by the process of compression and combination, form a circumference of a cruder and more condensed structure.

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This process, Swedenborg terms finiting, which is nothing else than an organic ultimation for use in the ultimates of creation.

     The same law is given expression in various ways in the Writings, as, for instance, in these words: "All prior things tend to ultimates, as to their boundaries" (A. C. 5373). Again, "The spiritual atmospheres that are nearest to the Lord as a sun are the most pure; but according to the degrees in which they are removed from Him, they are less and less pure" (A. E. 726). We see in this statement of the law the principle of descent by compression, precipitation, condensation, which takes place not only in the natural but also in the spiritual world. And the same appears more plainly in these words; "The spiritual atmospheres increase in density by discrete degrees down to the angels of the lowest heaven" (D. Wis. XII:5, Comp. T. C. R. 33). It will be observed that here, as elsewhere in the Writings, the spiritual atmospheres are treated of as composed of real substances. Again, we are told that the atmospheres of the spiritual world, beginning with the spiritual sun, "continually decrease in activity and expansion even to ultimates" (D. L. W. 303). Also this, "The endeavor to clothe itself with a body is inherent in everything spiritual" (D. L. W. 343),-to "clothe itself with a body," that is, to cause it to descend and thus accommodate itself to uses on a lower plane. (Compare what is meant by "proceeding," A. C. 5337). And still further, we read that, "In their progression downwards, the atmospheres decrease, and continually become more compressed and inert, and at last, in ultimates, so compressed and inert that they are atmospheres no longer, but substances at rest, and in the natural world fixed substances, such as are those in the earths, which are called matters" (D. L. W. 302). The text and context of this passage show that the spiritual and the natural atmospheres are meant. The spiritual atmospheres become substances at rest, and the natural atmospheres become matters at rest.

     The same law, and its operation in the descent, is strongly expressed in the next number: "The atmospheres are the prior things through which the spiritual sun presents itself in ultimates, and these prior things continually decrease in activity and expansion even to ultimates, and become substances and matters such as are in the earths, which retain in themselves, from the atmospheres from which they have arisen, the effort and endeavor to bring forth uses" (D. L. W. 303).

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And a little later we are told that "the substances and matters of which the earths consist are the ends and terminations of the atmospheres, whose heat has ended in cold, their light in darkness, and their activity in inertia" (D. L. W. 305). The operation of this law in both worlds is meant, as is evident from the context, and from the use of the terms "substances and matters"; for, as has been shown, the term "substance" is applied to the things which exist in the spiritual world, and the term "matter" to the things which exist in the natural world,-" the substances and matters of which the earths consist." The earths in the spiritual world are composed of substances, and the earths in the natural world of matters, appearing outwardly alike, but altogether distinct and discrete in their internal form and constitution. (See also D. L. W. 173-178.)

     A statement in the Arcana Coelestia presents to us the rationale of this law in a manner that is at once vivid and striking. "All things which are in the spiritual world, and hence all things which are in the natural world, seek something more ultimate in which to be, and to act as a cause in the effect, to the end that they may continually be producing something. This more ultimate thing is as it were a body, and that which seeks to be in it is as it were a soul. This effort ceases only in the ultimates of nature, where things inert have place" (A. C. 6077).

     Let us now, in a brief review, recall to your attention the salient points in respect to the spiritual atmospheres and their ultimation in the spiritual world from the numbers we have just quoted. First, the spiritual atmospheres, according to the degree they are removed from the Lord in the spiritual sun, are less and less pure (A. E. 724). Second, the spiritual atmospheres increase in density as they descend to the angels of the lowest heaven (D. Wis. XII:5). Third, the spiritual atmospheres continually decrease in activity and expansion, even to ultimates (D. L. W. 303). Fourth, the spiritual atmospheres, in their progression downward, decrease and continually become more compressed and inert, and at last in ultimates so compressed and inert that they are atmospheres no longer, but substances at rest (D. L. W. 302).

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Fifth, those atmospheres are the prior things by which the spiritual sun presents itself in ultimates, and they continually decrease in activity and expansion even to the ultimates, but these ultimates retain in themselves from the atmospheres the endeavor to produce uses (D. L. W. 303). Sixth, the atmospheres and all things in the spiritual world, and also all things in the natural world, seek something more ultimate in which to be, and to act as a cause in the effect, to the end that they may be continually producing something, that is, that they may perform uses (A. C. 6077). You will observe that these numbers speak of the spiritual atmospheres as really existing substances, so much so that is impossible to think of them otherwise,-all acting in obedience to the law given, or from the necessity, as implanted from the spiritual sun, of continually seeking something more ultimate in which to be, and to act as a cause in the effect. And so we are able to see that, in this manner, the spiritual atmospheres, in their descent, becoming ultimated and condensed more and more, finally become manifest to the sensation of angels and spirits, visible to their consciousness, even as is the case with the objects of the natural world,-this in both worlds, that uses may exist, to fulfil the end of creation that all things may return to the Creator from whom they came forth.

     And so the appearances which are in the spiritual world, or objects which appear to the senses of angels and spirits, are the first ultimate or concrete result of the law or tendency of "all things . . . to seek something more ultimate in which to be, and in which to act as the cause in the effect." The second and final result is in the kingdoms of nature, especially in the lowest and last thereof, which is called the mineral kingdom.

     This endeavor to seek something more ultimate makes its first appearance in the substances of the spiritual sun,-substances emitted from the Divine Love itself,-and from that sun extends itself into the universe of spirit and matter by the combination of particles and their compression orcondensation, first in the substances of the spiritual world, and finally in the world of matter. This endeavor is a law of the spiritual world and of the world of nature, in order that the Divine Love, by substances emitted from Itself, may descend and appear to men in both worlds, in order that Love from the Divine may take on the form of ultimate uses, by the organic forms of use.

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     We are here again brought face to face with that great fact and law, announced in the opening of this paper, that "God first made His Infinity finite by substances emitted from Himself, from which existed His proximate encompassing sphere, which makes the sun of the spiritual world" (T. C. R. 33), and thus that the spiritual sun, composed of substances emitted from the Divine, imposes its character upon all things that follow in the spiritual universe, and in the natural universe; and hence there is not a thing which appears in either that is not a real or actual existence, composed of substances or matters, in which something more ultimate has been sought to bring down use to angels and men; or, in the language of the Doctrine, "since substances and matters are from this origin, they have (in ultimates) a perpetual endeavor to produce forms of uses" (D. L. W. 310); thus producing in the spiritual world those things which are called appearances, which are nothing else than organic forms of use, and in the natural world fixed substances or matters in the ultimates of nature, which are also organic forms of use.

     The belief in the substantial, the actual, the absolute reality of those things which appear in the spiritual world is vital to any understanding of the phenomena of that world, is essential to the faith and conscience of the church, and for the satisfaction and comfort of its members. Or else we shall become a prey to doubts, and dismal shadows shall intervene to darken and obscure our faith in the actual existence of the life after death.

     That we may see clearly, and not "through a glass darkly"; that we may see clearly that there is a real spiritual world, see it even more clearly than we see the natural world; that we may see clearly that there is a real spiritual world within the angels, and a real spiritual world in actual representative forms around them, a revelation of that world has been given surpassing all the revelations that have hitherto been given to men, even in the Golden Age. Unless this be true, we of the New Church cannot claim any greater privileges of spiritual vision than is the common lot of mankind.

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MEMORIAL WINDOWS 1921

MEMORIAL WINDOWS       Rev. GEORGE DE CHARMS       1921

     We have greatly enjoyed reading the suggestive article by George Frederick Poole, appearing in NEW CHURCH LIFE for April, 1921, under the title of "The Ritual of the New Church." The picture he draws of a Dedication Service is one of power and beauty, leaving upon the mind a pleasing sense of something distinctive and characteristic of the New Church. It presents, indeed, several striking differences from the ritual that has thus far been developed in America. But this is merely further testimony to its genuineness. For ritual and symbolism, like all true art, should express the spirit, and reveal the soul, of a people. And there can be no set standard for an international church. Each race, each nation, and in lesser degree each congregation, must draw inspiration for the development of its external forms of worship directly from the Writings. Not otherwise can these forms embody, as a living soul, the active spiritual ideals of the worshipers. Any effort to fix a particular set of forms for universal use tends to impose from without customs that are unnatural. Such ritual, being foreign to the genius of the people, cannot be living with them; and while the form may be retained, the essence evaporates, leaving but a dead and empty shell. There must be great variety in the forms of worship in the New Church, with mutual appreciation of differences, and a scrupulous regard for freedom.

     It is in no spirit of captious criticism, therefore, that we would call attention to one of the suggestions made by Mr. Poole which appears to us to disregard one of the universal principles which has actuated the minds of the workers at Bryn Athyn. But we feel that the principle itself is of such importance that it should receive wider publicity. The suggestion referred to is, that memorial windows to the great leaders of ecclesiastical history, and to Emanuel Swedenborg, the man, should be placed in a church.

     Worship is a communion with God. It is a consociation with the angels. On entering the place of worship, the mind should be lifted up from earth to heaven.

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It should be stripped of all that is natural, closing the windows that look out to the world, while opening those through which the gaze is directed to the Lord, and to the things of His Kingdom. Every conception of time, place and person, by which the thought is held bound in terrestrial and mundane things, should be set aside. And to this end the Lord has given the Divine Word.

     It is through the Word that there is communication between the two worlds and conjunction with the Lord. When the Word is read; when its poetry is expressed in song; when its historic incidents, or its prophetic visions, are pictured by symbolic representations before the eye; then is there built in the mind a holy temple, a place worthy to receive the Lord, into which He can descend to be present with men. In a mind filled with the correspondential imagery of the Word, there is set up a ladder upon the earth, on which the angels of God can ascend and descend, to impart, under Divine guidance, the blessings of spiritual enlightenment and inspiration unto men. The purpose of ritual is to enact in a living manner the correspondences of the Word. That of symbolism is to set forth in color and design, in stone and wood, glass and embroidery, these same Divine ultimates of the Lord's presence. The church in which these are present in fullness supplies every sense with something drawn from the Word, suggesting nothing except what is of heaven and eternal life to the mind of the worshiper. Ideally, there should be no discordant note to break the silence of the whole earth before the Lord.

     It has seemed to us that memorial windows, recalling, as they inevitably do, the natural personalities of the men they are intended to commemorate, would constitute just such a discord in the harmony of spiritual thought that should prevail in worship. We cannot sufficiently separate the idea of these men from the natural times and circumstances in which they lived. By the association of ideas, historical and biographical incidents drag the mind down to thoughts of time, place and person, which are characteristic of the natural man, but in which angels can take no part. In worship, we should lose sight of men in the contemplation of the Divine. The fallible and imperfect human means should fade into the distance, and the eye be focused upon the Lord, the great Builder of the Church, and upon the eternal principles of His Divine operation.

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     We would not wish to be understood as detracting from the unquestioned power of inspiration to be derived from the commemoration of great ecclesiastical leaders and pioneers. They speak to us, out of the past, words that command our respect and admiration, pointing the way to further progress. Above all should we think with reverence of the prophet and seer chosen by the Lord to become the instrument of His Second Coming. Nor do we conceive that memorial windows are at all inappropriate as a means of perpetuating the memory, either of the founder of the faith, or of the men after him who have been great in the service of the Lord. But we believe that these objects of historical inspiration belong in same other building than the House of God. They belong, rather, to a place associated with the conduct of ecclesiastical affairs, where present leaders and organizers are laboring, where men are gathered in council and assembly to consider the direction of the things of the church. Here, let every generation be surrounded by the symbols of those who have gone before to the New Heaven, whence the New Jerusalem is to descend. But for the temple itself, symbolism should be confined to the means of approach to God which have been Divinely provided in the Word. Here, the characters and the incidents are open even to the Lord, and lift the mind into the presence of eternal verities. They speak to us, not of time, place, and person, but of those truths and goods which are the objects of heaven. They are the basis on which we may see re-enacted in our own hearts the eternal drama of regeneration. They cast the mind into a mold which opens communication with angels, bringing influx from all the heavens. In the Letter of the Word, and in the representations of the spiritual world to be found in the Writings, there is an inexhaustible store of material, Divinely accommodated to the uses of symbolism, and capable of indefinite variation, to meet the needs of widely separated types of mind. We need not look elsewhere for the forms that will appropriately ennoble and adorn our worship.

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GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY 1921

GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY       Rev. JOHN E. BOWERS       1921

     REMINISCENCES OF MY PRECEPTOR, THE REV. J. P. STUART.

     The Rev. James Park Stuart was born in southern Ohio, but the time and the locality of his birth are not known to the writer. His parents were Scotch people, and they were Presbyterians. On coming of age, he entered a theological seminary to study for the ministry. He afterwards preached for about two years, but was not yet ordained. He was a man of natural intelligence, and therefore was in some degree a logical thinker. It was impossible for him to pursue the sacred uses of the ministry without thinking seriously of the nature and quality of the doctrines of the church. In the course of his work, questions were continually presented which, according to the principles stated in the Confession of Faith, could not, to his mind, be satisfactorily explained. This was the cause of many perplexities, at times assuming the form of spiritual afflictions hard to bear. In these states, doubts would also frequently arise and darken the mind.

     Mr. Stuart's experiences were such that he was led to decide to give up the ministry, at least for a time, and to seek some other employment. And the way was opened for him to make a change in due time. He was afterwards engaged in teaching school, at St. Clairsville, Belmont Co., Ohio. On a Saturday he went to Wheeling, W. Va., a distance of ten miles. There he called at a bookstore, kept by a Mr. Mellor. He inquired for a certain work on church history, but it was not in stock. Mr. Mellor then said to Mr. Stuart: "If you have a desire to read anything on theology, I have at the house a set of the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. Come with me and look at them. If you see a couple of books you think you would like to read, I shall be pleased to lend them to you." Two books were selected by Mr. Stuart; but I do not remember the titles of them. In this way, a man "hungering and thirsting after righteousness" was, in the Divine Providence of the Lord, supplied with what he needed above all things, and just at the right time.

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     As he eagerly proceeded in the reading, he soon became profoundly interested in the Writings, which had so unexpectedly been put into his hands. Indeed, they were to him a new and wonderful revelation of the Divine Truth of the Word of God: He soon sought the acquaintance and associations of New Church people. It is on record that, on May 21-25, 1845, he attended the meetings of what was then the Western Convention, that he addressed the meeting, and described his reasons for uniting with the New Church. (Annals, Vol. I, p. 512.) From the same source we learn that he was ordained into the first grade of the ministry by the Rev. S. H. Wills, on July 14, 1847. And further, that in Nov., 1849, the Rev. T. P. Stuart and Col. J. James were the leaders in a movement to establish a New Church institution of learning at or near Urbana, Ohio. And this institution has ever since been known in the Church as "Urbana University."

     When the writer became interested in the Doctrines, in 1860, and attended the services of the society at Berlin, Ont., Mr. Stuart had been for some time the Pastor of the New York society and Editor of the NEW CHURCH MESSENGER. After that, he became the Pastor of the society in St. Louis, Mo. And we first met in that city, and became acquainted, in April, 1868, at a meeting of the (then) Missouri Association, of which he was President. Soon afterwards he became my Preceptor. Our visits in person were always delightful. At a meeting of the said Association, held at Jefferson City, Mo., I was ordained into the Ministry of the New Church by the Rev. James Park Stuart on May 11, 1873.

     In common with several other leading men in the Church, Mr. Stuart had an ardent desire that a thoroughly New Church school might be instituted; that is, an Academy which should, from a small beginning, make steady progress in its important uses, even until, in the course of a hundred years or more, it should become, not in name only, but in fact, a New Church University!

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Editorial Department 1921

Editorial Department       Editor       1921


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                    Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Rev. W. H. Alden, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address and business communications should be sent to the Business Manager.

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
One Year                $3.00 payable in advance
Single Copy          30 cents
     CONNATE GOOD.

     Over against the fallacy that the infant has no evil inclinations from birth, but acquires them under the influence of environment a notion commonly held, not only by the unthinking and unobserving, but also by educators,-it is refreshing to note that in some quarters a view more in harmony with the truth is held, though lacking the fullness and definiteness of what is revealed to us concerning heredity and remains. A contributor to THE AMERICAN REVIEW OF REVIEWS writes:

     "Whether from motives of religion, or morals, or duty, or pride, or the desire to be like the crowd, or like an ideal formed in our minds, we all have something in us that strives for team-work with our fellows, something that is interested in the problems of race uplift, that has a fellow feeling for others in distress-the unselfish, or altruistic, impulse. But we also have, all of us, much more deeply implanted in our being, certain impulses or instincts that are essentially egoistic or selfish in their nature. We used to be told that the babe was sinless-perfect-until it arrived at the age of discretion.

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Fact is, babe is fundamentally and absolutely selfish until altruistic sentiments are developed later."

     While, in the strict sense of the word "sin", the babe is indeed sinless, or guiltless, until the age of discretion, with its capacity for deliberate evil, which is sin, we may yet recognize in the writer's opinion a more healthy attitude toward the state of infancy than the one which sees only the superficial innocence and ignores the manifestations of the proprium in early years. The truth is, of course, that we are all born with a mixed heredity, according to the familiar teaching that "natural good, or the good that is connate with man, is of four kinds, namely, natural good of the love of good, natural good of the love of truth, natural good of the love of evil, and natural good of the love of falsity. . . . These are called goods because they so appear in external form, although they are anything but good; very many with whom natural good appears have such good. . . . At this day, most of those in the Christian world who are in natural good have been born into the so-called goods of the love of evil and falsity, because their parents, by their actual life, have contracted the delight of evil and the delight of falsity, and thus have implanted it in their children, and so in their posterity." (A. C. 3469.)

     THE PROBLEM OF AUTHORITY.

     That the question of the status of the Writings is a live issue among the members of the General Conference in England is shown by an article entitled "The Problem of Authority" in THE NEW-CHURCH HERALD for May 7, 1921, wherein the Editor, the Rev. Charles A. Hall, definitely aligns himself, unofficially, with those who are not ready to accept the Writings as the Word. Our readers will be interested in that portion of his argument which bears directly on this point. To quote:

     "During the last few months I have been 'snowed up' with letters insisting that the writings of Swedenborg are the Word. Those letters have been written for publication, but I have come to the conscientious conclusion that to publish them in' the form in which they are written would do much harm. They consist of quotations of Swedenborg wrested from their context, of bare assertions without attempt at explanation.

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The reader is left to form his own conclusions as to what the writer means by such terms as 'The Word, 'The Writings,' 'Revelation,' and so forth, and the lack of clarity in expression on the part of the writers leads to no solid conviction, but to confusion of thought. Out of regard to the great majority of the members of our church, who are not temperamental theologians and philosophical experts, it is essential that we should be very explicit and simple in our published expressions; ambiguity may be an offence to the soul.

     "For long years I have made serious efforts to understand the position of what has come to be known as the 'Authority School. I have tried to appreciate the psychology of its advocates, and so to put myself into their place as to see through their eyes. I have sought for common ground, and tried to find a middle way in which any seeming differences between them and me would disappear. I fear I have not advanced far in the direction of agreement; but the quest has had a personal value in clearing my own vision on the authority question. As far as a man with a restless intellect can be satisfied, I am satisfied. But I am open to more light."

     The writer then raises the question as to whether there is such a thing as "Infallible Authority," and seems to confuse the "Word as the Wisdom or Mind of God," the Word as the Bible, and the Word as understood by man; for he concludes that "the Word proceeds from inmosts to ultimates, passing through the heavens, both beyond and in the mind of man; it exists in the Letter through the instrumentality of man, and to him has no existence apart from his percipient mind. In a few words, the Word, to us, exists in our spiritual experience." He continues:

     "The friends who claim that Swedenborg's writings are the Word quote as their authority his repeated declaration that he received nothing relating to the doctrines of the Church from any angel or spirit, but from the Lord alone, while he was reading the Word. We sympathize with that statement, but beg leave to interpret it; and on interpretation in the light of other utterances of Swedenborg, we can find no justification for the conclusion that what he wrote constitutes the Word. What happened when Swedenborg read the Word? And how did he receive the truth from the Lord? Did the Lord dictate the truth as I dictate to an amanuensis?

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When Swedenborg read the Word devoutly, his mind was illumined, and it was through his illumination that the invisible Lord revealed truth, or the Word, to his perceptions. Swedenborg leaves us in no doubt as to the nature of revelation, for he tells us that 'Revelation means enlightenment when the Word is being read, and the perception thence' (A. C. 8694). And if this statement means anything at all, it certainly implies that any devout reader of the Word may become the subject of revelation. Swedenborg received enlightenment in incomparable intensity because his mind was Prepared far it. And as our minds become better prepared, we also shall be better able to visualize the truth. I maintain that there are numerous times when I perceive the truth in reading the Scriptures, but I have not the temerity to declare that what I say or write about what I have perceived is the Word of God! Nor had Swedenborg such temerity; the idea has been fathered on to him by some of his earnest, but we think misguided, followers. To quote our author once more: 'That which the Divine reveals is, with us, the Word' (A. C. 10320). With us, mark you, not with Swedenborg only, and according to our present finding, revelation is enlightenment and the perception of truth in us.

     "Now Swedenborg says he received the truth from the Lord alone. It was not dictated to him, but perceived; the revelation was to his perception and nothing more or less. But what of the books he published? Are they the Word because Swedenborg perceived the Word, or the Divine Wisdom? The books themselves are so much paper inscribed with characters of human invention, which, as a series of connected symbols, merely represent ideas. We can interpret the symbols because we possess the code. And what of the ideas represented by the printed characters? Are they the Word? By no manner of mental gymnastics can I persuade myself that they are. Swedenborg certainly perceived the Word, but I doubt if his writings even do justice to his perceptions. Language failed him again and again, as he frequently asserted. His writings are no more than his manner of describing his perceptions, and there is a vast distinction between the Word he perceived and the words he employed to give the reader some idea of 'things seen and heard.' We might just as well say that his description of heaven is heaven, as that his exposition of the Word is the Word.

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     "That Swedenborg did not receive his teaching from angels or spirits shows how wise a man he was and how completely he surrendered his mind to the Inner Light. He was not blown about by every wind of doctrine. The same instinct which preserved him from placing confidence in human interpretations also operates with us. When we form our conclusions, what is it that determines them? Is it the authority of man? Assuredly not, for we trust our own perceptions, and accept nothing that disagrees with them. If our perceptions are wrong, it is because they are prejudiced by our lack of culture. The life of those perceptions is from the Word within, but the form of them is molded by that life according to our education. When, then, Swedenborg declares that he received revelation, not from spirits or angels, but from the Lord alone, he simply meant that he did not get anything from hearsay, but all by perception, which, as we have seen, is revelation.

     "It is because I perceive the distinction between the Word as it is in itself and Swedenborg's perception and exposition of it, that I cannot bring myself to employ, or countenance the employment of a term which is becoming current in our phraseology. I refer to 'The Writings.' The term is employed to give Swedenborg's works an equivalence with the Word. I cannot believe that equivalence exists, and so, to my mind, the term is out of court.

     "I conclude, then, that the Word of Truth, as it appeals to the mind of man, is the only Authority. It enlightens us according to our experience, and its light shines ever more and more clearly as our lives are purified by doing the will of the Lord. In practice, this is the only authority to which we submit, and this is the Word which is revealed to us as we devoutly read the Written Word, and which we apprehend according to our states. The Written Word is quite different in structure and content from the writings of Swedenborg; it is the outward appearance, in the form of correspondences, of the Inner Reality, and it is because of this, its nature, that we find such wonderful enlightenment and comfort when we read it in a devout and unprejudiced spirit. In the writings of Swedenborg we have an incomparable treasure, and no one of us can do them sufficient justice; but, after all, what is their object? Surely to lead us to the Lord in His Word, and to encourage us to great adventures in a nobler way of life.

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     "I have not written officially; I accept purely personal responsibility for what I have set down; but I am led to think that I have expressed views that are accepted by the great majority of thoughtful New Church folk. This article should clear the air, for my readers now know my convictions on an important issue, and will see how they are bound to influence the contents of THE HERALD, so long as I edit it."



     We have reprinted the major part of this editorial utterance at the risk of wearying and distressing our readers. But we wish to keep them informed as to the main currents of opinion in the New Church at large, and this article embodies a view which, unfortunately, is held by many who, like Mr. Hall, would say that they never can do the Writings "sufficient justice," but who nevertheless do them the gravest injustice, employing their talents at tearing down, when they might be devoted to better purpose in building up, a faith in the Heavenly Doctrines in which the Lord has made His Second Coming. That no inconsiderable opposition to Mr. Hall's view exists in the Conference itself is evident from the numerous letters with which he was "snowed up," and which he suppressed, partly because they "consisted of quotations of Swedenborg wrested from their context," although he has not hesitated to do that himself, notably in basing so much of his theory on the statement in A. C. 8694, whereby he seeks to establish that "revelation" is an individual matter, and thus that personal experience is the test of authority, which is little removed from the doctrine of the pragmatists. "The great majority of thoughtful New Church folk," whether they be "temperamental theologians and philosophical experts" or not, will quickly sense his failure to make a clear distinction between the Word Itself, the Written Word, and the Word as received in the mind of man. The latter is what is referred to in A. C. 8694,-the influx of the Light of Truth into the perception of the understanding, which is rightly called "revelation" to the individual man who is in good, but which he cannot have except by means of the forms of written Divine Revelation, given by the Lord as His Word and the permanent Standard of Authority in the Church.

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     But it seems that many avowed receivers of the Heavenly Doctrines, clinging to their traditional faith in the authority of the Scriptures, are not ready to acknowledge that the Lord has given a new and additional Revelation of Divine Truth, addressed to the rational of man, and preserved in printed form as the authoritative standard for the New Church. They are willing to regard the Heavenly Doctrine as a means of interpreting the Scriptures, but not as authoritative when it runs counter to their own opinions, apparently fearing that they will forfeit their intellectual freedom and independence by such an acknowledgment. It is also true that every man is held in freedom to receive or reject the Divine Light, and that no one can be driven to see and acknowledge the Divine Light embodied in the Writings. He must see that for himself, and to that extent his own mind is the test of authority. It happens that a number of New Church people believe they have seen the "Inner Reality" in the Writings throughout, and have thereafter accorded them the authority of the Lord's Word.



     It is not the aim of the "Authority School," however, to establish a reception of the Heavenly Doctrines on mere authority. They know full well that the Divine Truth as revealed in the Writings does not fulfill its special purpose if received only in external faith, that is, in blind faith, historical faith, or the faith of authority. It is right and proper that children and the simple should so receive, for the Lord spake to the multitudes "as one having authority, and not as the scribes." But the Heavenly Doctrine is essentially Rational Truth, and is for the enlightenment of the rational mind of man, to be seen, understood, and perceived in the interiors of his mind, and to be confirmed by Scripture, science and experience. "Nothing enters the internal man except by means of intellectual ideas which are reasons, for the ground which receives there is the enlightened rational; hence it is that no miracles are performed at this day, for they compel belief, and fix the idea that a thing is so in the external man" (A. C. 7290). The New Church, therefore, cannot be established by external means, but only by means that preserve rational freedom, which is not the case when the truths of the Writings are received in a "faith of authority."

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     We know, however, that true freedom is to be led by the Lord, and that it is not contrary to freedom to compel oneself. And so it is not inconsistent for the rational man of the New Church to see and acknowledge that the Writings are a Revelation of Divine Rational Truth from the Lord, and henceforth to be regarded as of Divine Authority, and the Lord's own Word to His New Church, before which the mind is to humble itself, as the only mental posture and attitude which is receptive of genuine spiritual light, and the only way to a genuine understanding and perception of the Word of former Revelations,-the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.



     Reacting to the kind of teaching contained in the editorial reviewed above, the Rev. W. T. Lardge, in THE REMINDER (Bradford, England) for July, writes:

     "We can conceive how saddened, even humiliated, Swedenborg would be, could he but know the pitiful, or rather daring assumption of some in the Church, that the Teachings or Writings are 'Swedenborg's writings,' and are merely 'expository,' when they are of necessity, and as the Church and as Swedenborg himself avers, again and again, a revelation of the Letter of the Word, the latter form alone of which is, ipso facto, recognized by every spiritually enlightened New Churchman to be inert and lifeless. The Word as to its Letter, or ultimate form, is alive only as its Spiritual and Organic Sense is perceived to be the Soul; of which the Letter, or Literal Sense, is the Body; and the Soul, or Spiritual Sense, can be found only in the Writings themselves,-and nowhere else. The Lord is not found in the sepulchre of the Letter; but of that He has risen, as He said. . . .

     "No, no, indeed, no! not Swedenborg, but the Lord. To the Lord, therefore, belongs the glory, as Swedenborg himself, of all men, would desire it should. . . . Swedenborg was uniquely different from every other 'writer of books.' The Lord granted him privileges which he was able to embrace. And lo! men have the audacity to inspect him as through a microscope, as if he were a species of a peculiar insect, dangerous in a way, who must always be approached with suspicion. Shame!"

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SUNDAY SCHOOLS AND HOME INSTRUCTION 1921

SUNDAY SCHOOLS AND HOME INSTRUCTION       KARL R. ALDEN       1921

     Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE:

     At the last session of the Council of the Clergy, the Bishop appointed the following ministers as a Committee to study the subject of Sunday Schools and Home Instruction in Religion:-The Rev. Messrs. Walter E. Brickman, W. L. Gladish, L. W. T. David, George de Charms, and Karl R. Alden, the last named to act as Chairman.

     This field has been somewhat neglected in the General Church in the past, for the reason that so much of its energy has been devoted to the establishment of day schools, wherein religion is systematically taught. The new Committee will have no thought of detracting from the energy which is necessary to maintain and increase the number of day schools; but our purpose will rather be to cooperate with them, and to fill up the gaps at present existing. From a study made by The Sons of the Academy, it has been found that, within the sphere of the General Church, there are more than one hundred children of New Church parentage who have not the advantage of either day school or Sunday School. Here is a fertile field that we are not cultivating.

     Another thing. There is no systematic cooperation between the Sunday Schools and the Academy Schools at Bryn Athyn. The result is that pupils who go to the Academy very often lack the background of religious instruction enjoyed by those who have attended our Elementary Schools, and much time and energy must be expended in bringing classes of the Secondary Schools up to a common standard in the subject of Religion. But if some study be given to the courses taught in our Sunday Schools, it is conceivable that students going to Bryn Athyn from all over the Church will have the same religious background.

     The Committee believes that this work can be accomplished, and invites the cooperation of the Church to that end. All who desire information along these lines are requested to write to the undersigned, who will also be glad to receive suggestions and ideas from any who are interested in the work.

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The undertaking is a new one, and the course to be pursued is as yet vague; but it is hoped that, with the assistance of our members at large, the fruit of more ripened study will be an important use to the whole Church.
     KARL R. ALDEN,
          Chairman.
TYNDALL AVENUE,
TORONTO, CANADA.
SUNDAY SCHOOLS AND DAY SCHOOLS 1921

SUNDAY SCHOOLS AND DAY SCHOOLS       Rev. HOMER SYNNESTVEDT       1921

     According to the latest statistical reports of the General Church, we have very few Sunday Schools, but we have about 140 children who are not being provided with any systematic religious instruction, except in those families which hold regular family worship. Ever and anon, too, we hear a plaintive appeal from some isolated parents who want a guide or schedule, or text books, or other helps, to enable them to do what they can to make up for the lack of religious instruction for their children.

     There are two reasons for this lack. The chief and foremost is our preoccupation with something that comes first, namely, the development of New Church education itself, as a daily or professional use. The second is the feeling, which prevailed largely at one time, that the Sunday School, as then in use, was not only a failure as a substitute for a New Church day school taught by professionals, but that there was even something wrong in the idea of detaching the children on Sunday from the sphere of the public worship of their elders, thus leaving a gap between Sunday School attendance and church attendance, as is well known. In some cases the young people are carried in the Sunday School, with its amateurish instruction and not overly strong sphere of worship, until the best years for initiating them into the habit of church attendance are past.

     Bishop Benade, moreover, raised a doubt as to whether children are capable of worship apart from the sphere of their elders. And he was not in favor of accustoming the laity to lead in public worship. He used to say that there is a sort of itch in the breast of every layman to take these holy functions upon himself, a fact that not infrequently led to a lack of zeal to employ a priest. He held that the private citizen should confine himself to his own legitimate priesthood, in his own household.

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And it is true that the priesthood is only strong where all others depend upon it for public ministry and instruction, and especially for the administration of the sacraments, which are still further protected by the degrees in the priesthood itself. But the New Church in its embryonic stages was terribly infested by the lack of order in these matters, and still is, in some quarters.

     Now the Sunday School, which usually is led by laymen, and staffed with untrained teachers, seemed to fall under the criticism just referred to, and doubtless explains why Bishop Benade decided that the only way to make a new start was to turn aside from the Sunday School altogether, teaching our people not to lean upon such a broken reed, but to intensify the effort to have a day school, wherein religion would be restored to its rightful place at the center of things.

     Thus the General Church has made the right education of the young, in both the doctrine and the life of the Second Coming, a matter of daily work. We know that religious education must be the core of all schooling, or the sphere of the world will inevitably drown out the Church. But we have come to realize, after the most devoted efforts and some failures, that some circles cannot maintain even one professional New Church teacher. Some cannot even have a resident priest. So we have recognized that alternatives must be provided in such cases. The Academy is now able to give any of our people a training for the use of teaching religion. No circle, therefore, ought to be long without some one who has had this training, and who is thus able to give good and systematic instruction.

     It is clear that the Sunday School, with not more than half an hour available, at most, for such an important work, is quite inadequate. In circles where no day schools exist, the best way to supplement this time is to hold a regular session, say on Friday afternoon, having the children go directly from their schools to the place where the Pastor or other persons can instruct them in the Word and the Heavenly Doctrines, and train them to sing our music and to recite the passages from the Word used in worship.

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In this way, we hope to provide a passable substitute as to the religious instruction proper. But it affords no opportunity of holding them daily in the New Church sphere, nor of imparting the wonderful things we are learning to present from a different viewpoint in almost every subject.

     Another phase of the matter has become prominent in recent years, namely, the development of children's services, not in the adult sphere of the church worship, but rather in preparation for it, and with suitable songs, recitations and even preaching, or an address adapted to the less mature states of children. There has been such a development in Bryn Athyn and other centers, growing out of obvious needs; but the whole sphere of it, and all the emphasis, are different from the traditional Sunday School. In the case of the children's service, the time is not devoted to an effort to cover school work, which should properly be the chief course in the day schools, but the aim is to bring the atmosphere of the Sabbath to bear, and to make use of the time and attendance, which immemorial tradition make so easily available then, to forward their daily education by training them for worship. The objection that children cannot hold a real sphere of worship by themselves is met by having a number of their elders present with them.

     Now this arrangement has worked, and is working out splendidly. In Pittsburgh, there is an attempt to make the Sunday School even more fully complemental to the day school. We feel that this can be done, and with considerable mutual profit, provided we can avoid the tendency of the natural man to fall back upon a cheaper expedient, and to substitute that for the far more important and fundamental work of the day school.

     Without the education now furnished by the Academy, and without the powerful sphere of loyalty to the Lord in His Second Coming which this education has promoted, it would be impossible for us to take up our children's services, and make of them what we are now doing. There remains the urgent need of making available to others the materials and outlines so far developed and already in use,-a work that is now being taken up actively by the Committee recently appointed by the Bishop. It was at their request that this paper has been written.

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THIRTEENTH ONTARIO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1921

THIRTEENTH ONTARIO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY       K. R. ALDEN       1921

     HELD AT KITCHENER, MAY 21-24, 1921.

     First Session-Saturday Evening, May 21st.

     The Assembly was opened with worship conducted by the Bishop, assisted by the Rev. L. W. T. David.

     On behalf of the Carmel Church, Mr. David extended a cordial welcome to the Bishop and the Assembly.

     The Bishop then delivered an address on the subject of "The Purity of Doctrine," prefacing the paper by stating that, owing to the necessity of preserving the purity of doctrine in the Church, he had, in developing the subject, become somewhat technical, but would endeavor to lighten it in its presentation. Further he said: "I know that the Writings of the Church present subjects in such a way that the world believes that they are too abstract, and that we need a more concrete form of truth, in order that it may be brought to what is called the perceptive thought of the world, that is, the common sense of the world. And some have said that the New Church has failed in the past largely because of this great difficulty. However that may be, the Lord gave His Revelation through the Writings, and the people of the New Church have endeavored to enter in through the understanding of these Writings to a full knowledge of them. It follows that a subject suited to the New Church is not so well suited to a public gathering with strangers present. We have this problem to meet in the Bryn Athyn Cathedral. But I take it for granted that at our District Assemblies I am speaking to trained members of the Church who understand the deeper doctrines."

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     DISCUSSION OF THE BISHOP'S ADDRESS.

     Mr. Jacob Stroh: This is a very profound paper. As the Bishop remarked, the Doctrines are so deep that a beginner can realize very little. To preserve purity of doctrine, we must go to the Writings themselves, and read and reread them. We may see from this paper that there is something in the Writings which you can bend, which you can apply. I think the Church has been doing this. When shall it reach the end, and see the Lord's perfection? But no angel has the pure truth, because that is the Lord Himself. The profound study we have listened to places us where we realize we do not know it all. When a New Churchman says to himself, "I think I know it all; there is no doctrinal point you can teach me", then he had better beware. He does not want to learn more. The door is closed.

     Mr. Robert Carswell: When I was a young man, I used to ask people about their doctrines, and wondered that they did not know anything. I suppose the same thing exists today. If you ask a Methodist what his doctrine is, he does not know whether they have any doctrines. The contrary is pointed out to us in the paper we have heard tonight. We are to be instructed in doctrine. Doctrine is the Lord. The Lord is with us through His Doctrine. To gain doctrine, it is necessary for us to pay attention to preaching and reading,-especially, I think, to reading. We are told that it is a law of Divine Providence that men should be taught by the Lord through the Word, by doctrine and preaching from it, and thus altogether as though the man learned by himself. We want to be able to give a reason why we believe in the New Church.

     Rev. K. R. Alden: The Bishop's paper is profound, and that is just what we need. We look to our Bishop for that depth. When he comes to visit us, we ministers who are laboring in this District look for some work of the "illuminati," of one who receives the illustration peculiar to the third degree of the priesthood. There was a king of Israel who, when he came to the throne, was offered counsel by the old men; but he rejected it, and chose that of the young men instead. The story illustrates our natural desire to have the truth so accommodated that it will require little effort on our part to grasp it. We want it so plain that we can absorb it in spite of ourselves, without summoning the aid of our mental muscles to overcome our lethargy. I, for one, have been deeply inspired by the profound note characterizing the Bishop's address. It is a call to the priesthood in this District never to stray from doctrine in its purity, nor to hearken to any beguiling voice that would lead us to accommodate our teaching in such a way as to lose the vital profundity of the General Church.

     Two points in the address gave me a new flood of light along lines I have been thinking. First, it was said that, as soon as the Church ceases to draw new doctrine from the Revelation given to it, it dies. As soon as a Church accepts blindly the doctrines established by council, instead of drawing new doctrine from Revelation, that moment it dies. Under the guiding hand of the General Church, the New Church will never bow to the decisions of a council in matters of doctrine.

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In our Church, no man high in authority will declare an interpretation of doctrine; for as soon as that is done, men no longer seek new doctrine, and so the Church dies with them. We will not do this. We will continue to be a living Church. Our ministers are in freedom. The Bishop has said: "I would rather nurse a heretic than take away the freedom which the General Church has fought for."

     And this leads me to my second point. Why do we study so intently the doctrine of the Glorification of the Lord's Human? The Bishop gave the reason when he said that it is because "thought in the spiritual world brings presence." He also gave the philosophical reason when he stated that two things proceeded from the Lord,-substances emitted from Himself, and the continuous Divine which everywhere follows those substances. The substances are not continuous, but are cut off, that is, finited. When such of these finite substances as constitute the minds of men become active with thoughts concerning the Lord, then the Love and Wisdom proceeding as the Holy Spirit enters into them, and the sphere of the Lord Himself is present. To study the purity of doctrine is not futile. In fact, it is the call of the hour to the Church. Let us not be wearied with doctrine, for those very profound doctrines of the Church shall prove the salvation of the world.

     Mr. Rudolph Roschman: I thank the Bishop for the address he has given us. It is difficult for a layman to point out the salient points that were new to us. Sometimes we think we know quite a lot about the doctrines of the Church, but when we hear such an address, we realize how little we really know of the internal and profound things of Divine Revelation. I have often wondered why I could apparently retain so little of the many splendid addresses which I have heard in the past from our present Bishop, Bishop W. F. Pendleton, and Bishop Benade. I admired the addresses, and enjoyed them at the time, but I must confess as a layman that I found it hard to recall the things I enjoyed the most. I hope the Church will have the opportunity of reading in print the address we have heard tonight, because in so doing, and in recalling the discussion, we will get the conjunction of thought and that deeper understanding which strengthens the New Churchman in his belief and his principles. In concluding, I wish to thank the Bishop for the treat he has given us.

     The Rev. Homer Synnestvedt: What Mr. Roschman has just said, in regard to things being presented in such a way that you do not see them at once, does not mean that you cannot see them clearly later on. In that way one makes progress. It is so with the study of the Divine Human of the Lord. Such things come to us more or less obscurely at first. If anything is presented that is above the ordinary daily thought of our life, which is gross, it comes as a glimpse of a higher life, as something which seems too deep for us. But the next time we hear it, it is dearer, and by and by perfectly clear. People say, "Don't give us these deep things." What they mean is, "Give us something more external; come down to our plane." But the fact is they should come up to the plane of interior truth. Deep things are "malua" at first (confusion and thick darkness, B. 56), but if we are in the affection of use, we will gradually get glimpses of them.

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     I would like to revert to the leading points in Mr. Alden's remarks. Perfection of doctrine is now studied in the Old Church, and has been for hundreds of years, because men have relied upon the dictates of former ages. This is what they mean by Divine Authority. The New Church idea of authority is nothing like this. It does not stop our thinking. The New Church will continue to grow because we must progress. But we must progress, not from ourselves, but from the Lord as He reveals Himself in the Writings. We must progress through a study of the Writings as a basis for illustration. The Bishop pointed out three things that interfere with the drawing forth of pure doctrine from the Writings,-three flaws in our own state which vitiate the things drawn forth. The first, confirmed fallacies, which impede growth; the second, conceit, which perverts the understanding; and the third, the most deadly of all, the love of dominion. These three prevent men from deriving pure doctrine from the Word. Against their influence, we must ever be on our guard.

     Rev. L. W. T. David: The Bishop has presented new things to us, or new conceptions of truths we had in the Church, and I wish to express appreciation for their great value. The principles laid down will be of value to the Church always. To all who are students, and wish to understand what the Lord is teaching, the paper needs no apology for its profundity. We do at times become impatient with things deep and profound, and sometimes rightly so, when they spring from human conceit, and not from the genuine truth of the Writings. But the truly profound and deep thing, which is a matter of illustration from the Lord, we appreciate, we love. Every New Churchman loves it, whether he understands it fully or not; for he is affected by it, and it becomes part of his life.

     I feel like enlarging upon one suggestion made by the Bishop,-the old romantic conception which was the height of chivalry-the conception of the Holy Grail, that there is something immediately from the Lord, of which we occasionally get a glimpse, something deeply hid, sometimes more openly shown, a thing we should bend our energies to grasp. This was involved in the idea of the Holy Grail, namely, that there was something from the Lord which, sooner or later, one must pursue. To the New Church there is a certain similar ideal of knighthood, but with us it is a quest of the spiritual man, who seeks to find the true knowledge of the Lord, to perceive and receive the knowledge of the Glorified Human. So I feel that the address is an inspiration to us in that way, that it spurs us to seek these things, as the very jewel of the life of the Church.

     Sunday, May 22nd.

     Divine Worship was held in the morning, attended by 146 persons. The Bishop preached the sermon, and was assisted in the service by the Revs. L. W. T. David and K. R. Alden. In the afternoon, the Holy Supper was administered to 96 communicants.

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     At 8 P. M., the Second Session of the Assembly was held. After the reading of the Minutes, the Reports of the Pastors of the District were read and received. On motion, the Rev. K. R. Alden was chosen Secretary of the Ontario Assembly, to succeed the Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner. Mr. Alden suggested that there might be a permanent Executive Committee to attend to the business of the Ontario Assembly between meetings, and recommended that a committee of three be appointed to consider the matter and report at a subsequent session of the Assembly. The Bishop appointed as this committee the Rev. K. R. Alden, Mr. Edward Hill, of Kitchener, and Mr. Frank Wilson, of Toronto.

     An address on "The Science of Correspondences" was then delivered by the Rev. K. R. Alden.

     DISCUSSION OF MR. ALDEN'S ADDRESS.

     The Bishop: A very enjoyable spiritual treat. The profound aspects of this subject have been brought before you for your pleasure, and I am sure the writer of the paper will be glad to hear your response to it.

     Rev. L. W. T. David: I have enjoyed very much indeed listening to this paper, which presents an outline of the whole doctrine of correspondences. It is not often that a doctrine of such comprehensiveness is presented in such a form, treating, for the most part, of correspondences themselves, or of the law of correspondence, rather than the science of correspondence, which is man's understanding of the laws and facts concerned. But the laws of correspondence are simply the laws of creation, joining the world with the Lord who created it. While listening to the paper, I was thinking of the function of the science of correspondence, or of the knowledge of these facts and laws with men. It is a fact that, in all ages of which we have any historical knowledge, men have been pursuing the knowledge of the universe. That is the origin of many philosophical and theosophical explanations of it. It is also the source of modern science. But the end was never found in any complete way. Only certain aspects of it were apprehended by the wiser students. Swedenborg himself was such a seeker, and he described in his earlier works how he was seeking to find a universal explanation of creation. He also speaks of it as a pursuit of the soul. In the course of that quest, his mind was prepared for the reception of the science of correspondence itself. This preparation having been made, and Swedenborg having sought to find the universal explanation of all things, and having arrived at a certain kind of knowledge of correspondences, series and degrees, the Lord then showed him out of heaven that which he had been pursuing. The science of correspondences is that very thing. It is the universal explanation of all things. It is a knowledge of the forces whereby God created and maintains all things discrete from Himself, so organized that they may again be conjoined to Himself and to a heavenly life of mutual uses, to the glory of the Lord, who created the whole.

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     Mr. Robert Carswell: While listening to this remarkable paper, I was looking at yonder flowers. Those flowers are from the Lord out of heaven. We are told that the Lord operates into the whole man at once. So in the case of the flowers. There are the colors, the stems, the shapes, the leaves. The Lord operates to form all of these at the same time. They must come from heaven, which again is from the Lord. Heaven must be a most charming place, because the flowers and all else flow in from the Divine of the Lord.

     Rev. E. R. Cronlund: Mr. Alden's paper was certainly very enjoyable and instructive. It has been said by some one that Swedenborg was a "spiritual Columbus," and that, through his meditations and studies, he discovered the science of correspondence. That is not so. The science is from heaven. It is not a thing which a study of natural things could discover. It was revealed by the Lord. That is why the ancients called it "the science of sciences." They loved it because through this science the spiritual world can be seen in the natural. Not only this, but the Divine Love and Wisdom of the Lord can also be seen in nature through this science. It has been revealed in order that we may see the Lord's Love and Wisdom everywhere. For the external acts as one with the internal to which it corresponds, on which account the external is spoken of in the Word as though it were the internal, as where the Lord says, "This is my body" and "This is my blood." As correspondence is conjunction, so when man's internal and external correspond, there is conjunction of the two, which exists when man is sincere and wills to be as he appears to be. No wonder the Writings say, "Blessed is the man who is in correspondence." For the absence or lack of it causes delay in the spiritual world. If man were in correspondence when he departs from this world, he would pass immediately into heaven.

     Mr. Frank Wilson: I would like to thank Mr. Alden for the paper, which is so full of meat that we are unable to digest it all. He has dealt fully with this subject at our classes in Toronto, wonderfully and beautifully illustrating the science of correspondences, revealing to us what a rich storehouse the Word is, and what jewels can be found if we search.

     Third Session-Monday Afternoon, May 23d.

     After worship, conducted by the Bishop, the Rev. L. W. T. David read a paper on "New Church Education."

     DISCUSSION OF MR. DAVID'S PAPER.

     Rev. Albert Diephuis, Pastor of the Convention Society in Kitchener, being invited by the Bishop to take part in the deliberations of the Assembly, spoke as follows:

     You all know that in the General Convention the matter of separate education is up. You have heard of Professor Hite, who has labored for twenty-five years to stir up the people to establish a separate school.

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I have wondered to what extent a New Church school could compete with the public schools of the day. The sciences would be taught in the same manner. Would we need different text books? I believe that there is a certain part of education which can safely be left to an outsider. For example, anyone, even an atheist, can teach that two and two make four. But when we come to the higher education, it is an entirely different matter. Our children have been going to the public school here, and I have no trouble at all making them sure that the Lord reigns. On the other hand, I know that when they are ready to go to high school, I will have a different problem in making them see the point. It looks to me as if you were doing the thing at the wrong end. We ought to take our children when the danger begins, using our funds and energies to oppose the secular opinion which runs counter to our New Church revealed truth.

     The Bishop: We have been very pleased to hear from Mr. Diephuis. I know we have with us one of our ministers who has been especially interested in New Church education, and who is a believer in the early education in the fundamentals of the New Church. We would be glad, to hear from him as to the need of this, for we are devoted to that phase of the subject. The Catholics hold that if you give them the children for a few years, you can have them after that. The doctrine of remains is a great matter. The things insinuated in early childhood are hard to remove. It would be fine to k'now that if you insinuate the New Church in childhood it could not be removed. In the past it has been easy to remove. Families disperse and lose touch with the Church. We are trying to hold the children by early and late education.

     Rev. Homer Synnestvedt: I welcome this opportunity. The subject brought forward by Mr. Diephuis is very near to our hearts. Our branch of the Church was from the first committed to the acknowledgment that the New Church was losing its battle with the world. Missionary effort, which at one time brought in large numbers, no longer has results. From the beginning, the Academy realized that education alone can win the fight with the world. Children who are not taught to see the Lord, and to know the other world, come into these knowledges only with greatest difficulty in later life. Mr. Diephuis speaks of learning the exact sciences in childhood, and believes they can be taught as well outside the Church. I think he would be surprised to see how differently they can be taught in a New Church school. And we know that the power of spheres is more potent during the educative period than anything else. The children, as they run and play, drink in the things that are going to determine the attitude of their souls later on. When the time comes for presenting spiritual truths that are contrary to natural appearances, then much will depend upon the effect of this sphere-training.

     Now, as to the necessity of having a Church school. I think the outcome of the two methods is rather significant. The New Church as a whole, not caring for the distinctive education of its children, has declined. So has the Protestant Church, which seeks to survive without such education. Without early education, how are you going to hold children in a belief in miracles, the Divinity of the Lord, the spiritual world, in the midst of a denying world?

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As a matter of fact, we in the General Church are holding our own as the result of our education. Our body is small, but I have been assured that 95 per cent. of all those who have gone through our schools have remained active in the Church. The whole effort of secular education today is to destroy faith in spiritual things. When I was in High school, the teacher did his best to destroy what I had learned at my mother's knee. One of our girls in a Pittsburgh High School was asked by her teacher, "Do you believe in heaven?" "Yes", came the answer. "How do you know)" And before he got through with her, she did not know. I have attended Chicago, Columbia and Harvard Universities, and I found that if there is one thing they stand for it is the development of skepticism. The Catholics get hold of the children, scare the wits out of them, and they are afraid to think anything else. But that is better than to fall under the dominion of skepticism and the denial of the Lord and His Word.

     Mr. Edward Craigie: It has been said that the child can be taught that twice two is four as well outside the Church as in. But the matter is not so simple. If it were so, you might safely trust your children to the atheist. Mr. David, in his paper, spoke of the rational and moral sight. The atheist, if he is really one, does not understand the rational and moral, because he has neither, and a man who does not understand a subject cannot teach it. First states enter into all that follow. If you are going to trust your son to a man who has neither rational nor moral principles, the first state entering into all succeeding ones is going to tell for the worse. When I went to school, the man we were under did not care what our religion was, if any. While he was not supposed to teach religion, his character had its effect. I can look back now and see the character of the various teachers under whom I studied, and the impress each left upon my life. The very beginning is the most fruitful time to impress remains. I think it was Bishop Benade who said that the best teachers for children were old men and old women-who had grown wise. This seems to me the very point of the whole thing. We must have the very best impressions at the beginning. If a boy is put into a shop to learn a trade, he is not apprenticed to a greenhorn, but to the best man in the shop, and then he learns correctly. In educating children, we should bring them under the influence of the men who have the highest moral and rational conception of things.

     Rev. K. R. Alden: I wish to thank Mr. David for the philosophical background he has given to the subject of New Church education, for that is what puts the Church on a permanent basis. Looking back in the history of the New Church, we find that where men of great personality have arisen, the Church has grown, but with their death it died out. New Church education makes for a slow, sure, permanent growth, independent of the personality of the moment. The strong societies of the General Church are those which maintain day schools, to which go the children who, from the very beginning, have been impressed with the great ideals of the New Church.

     In regard to twice two making four, and the idea that this can be taught in only one way, I would differ with our visitor.

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When Miss Grant was in Toronto recently, she gave a talk on the teaching of numbers to children. Starting with the number one, the child is given the idea of one God; two stands for duality, love and wisdom, charity and faith, etc.; three for the trinity of love, wisdom and use. Two by two equals four, or the dimensions of the Holy City, the perfection of balance between love and faith. These are a few of the great truths which a New Church teacher alone can impress while teaching the facts of mathematics. But the worst of public school teaching is that it leaves God out of His universe. What God hath joined together, man has separated. For five hours a day, five days a week, the child in the public schools is taught all about the things that God made, but the Creator is not mentioned. The result is an unconscious belief that nature is responsible for herself, and this is a deadly enemy to the New Church.

     The Bishop: I suppose Mr. Diephuis will realize that we are all biased in favor of New Church education and understand why we are stirred by the subject. My mind flows back to a matter that is deeper than education itself. It has seemed to us that if the Writings are a Divine Revelation, and if a new age is to come from it-if it is all that we believe it to be-then it is worth while inserting it into everything. If it is to be the crown of all the ages, why is it hard to insert it among the people? The New Church is being established with difficulty because the minds of men are hard, because the minds of men are trained along lines of thought which go contrary to all lines of education which the Church stands for. But if the New Church is to fulfill its possibilities, then we must begin with the child in arms. Years ago I met a young New Churchman, the son of a member of a large society. I spoke to his mother, and said in a joking way, "Don't you want to send your son down to the Academy?" "No," she said, "never in the world would I think of biasing my son in favor of the New Church religion. I propose that, when he comes to adult age, he will take this or some other religion, whichever he thinks best." I spoke to the boy, and he said, "No, I am not reading Swedenborg; I am going to Harvard; and after I learn to think rationally, I will pass Swedenborg through my mind, and take from him what seems to be true." I said to him, "What you need is to pass Swedenborg through your mind, and see what he will do for you. In this way, I believe, you will derive a rational." I was talking of the spiritual rational, and he was talking of the natural rational; and I was firmly in the belief that if he trained his mind in the natural, he would never accept the Writings, but that if he learned the fundamental principles of the Writings, he could fight the things he would meet in the universities.

     I believe that our policy of educating children in the Church will produce results. "By their fruits, ye shall know them." I fear that the other policy is a losing one, that the New Church will be devitalized by it. We have been trying education very earnestly, and we realize our shortcomings, and the many things we will do in the future which we are not able to do at present; but this is our firm conviction, that the Lord has made His Second Coming; and since this is so, it is necessary that men, from childhood on, should be trained in the appreciation and realization of the fact. If you don't believe a thing, there is no use pretending that you do.

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And if you can't believe, you might as well give up. That is the difficulty before the New Church at the present day. It is not because the Writings are abstract, and are not in an understandable style. It is because the structure of men's minds is such that they cannot believe them. But if the New Church is to grow, a race of men capable of believing the things in the Writings, capable of living them and teaching them, must be raised up. We must have "a peculiar people,"-a people who have, from the foundation, a mind built along lines of New Church science and philosophy. The marvelous things given us in Swedenborg's earlier writings are receptive of his later theological works. In the light of the Principia, the Animal Kingdom, and the Economy, the principles of the Writings are illumined as by a reflector. The real truth is in the Doctrines, but these things of the earlier works are the forms and vessels, and when the light strikes them we get a blaze of glory.

     The mind of a child, formed and organized from the beginning in the utmost simplicity of faith and belief, will continue in this world in a state of simple innocence. The celestial age was like that. They looked out on the world like little children, and so through nature right up to God. That, as I see it, is the aim of the New Church; hence, for that purpose, I am willing that my children shall be utterly biased in favor of the New Church religion.

     Mr. Diephuis: I have a practical mind, and when I think of a school, I not only think of teachers, but I think of text books. If my little girls should go to a New Church school, would they come home with New Church text books? Beautiful thoughts about two times two as the dimensions of the Holy City! But if they have to learn the scientifics of the world, and compete with the world, they must know the natural laws of mathematics, the same as the child of the Old Church. You have to begin with the external things; and, with the little money we have, you cannot expect to compete with the wealthy institutions of the world. To my mind, it is a matter of practicability.

     Just one more thought. Are you aware that one of the first bodies of New Churchmen was established at Harvard? These men's minds had been trained in the natural rational. I also went through atheistic schools, and after I had grown up to the age of 36 or 37, and had looked over all the world, I came to (may I call it?) Swedenborgianism just on account of my natural rationality, because I saw that only the New Church theology; and none other, held water. And therefore I think the New Church is particularly fitted to overcome the atheist, and I believe that a great number of New Church converts are from among atheists. We make few converts from the Old Church; the majority come from the disgruntled, non-believing, so-called Christians of our day.

     Mr. Robert Carswell: I would rather employ in my business a young man who has had training only in an Academy school than any other. When such a one commences on new ground, or in a new business, he has the rational that enables him to adapt himself to new work. There is a freedom which cannot be gained from any other instruction. A little education in the New Church gives a great advantage to the boy who has the benefit of it. If a child grows up with a living faith in God, and feels free, he is under God's protection. New Church education is what we want.

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     Dr. Robert Schnarr: I believe in New Church education because it controls, or makes possible the development, of morals in the child. The acquirement of external knowledge, or facts, is a simple matter, and is of small importance. The man who can neither read nor write can do a wonderful business at times. But to control children with an unnatural, unhealthy influence may destroy the mind of man which the Lord made. That is the primary thing in education to preserve the mind. So long as the children are at home, the parents are careful that no injury comes to them. But when the time comes for them to go to school, you must decide what kind of control they are to be under. Where can you put them out of danger, not only as to natural things, but as to the mind? That is the reason why our people, as a unit, believe in New Church education. The idea is to preserve the child from harm, and I believe the only way we can do that is by control, and we have greater control in New Church schools. We know the laws by which they are governed; we know the people who make those laws; and we have a more intimate knowledge of the care they are to receive. That is why we, as laymen of the General Church, believe in New Church education.

     In the evening, there was a Ladies' Meeting at the home of Mrs. Scott, at which Mrs. C. R. Brown gave a talk on the subject of Sunday School work, after which there was a program of songs and other forms of entertainment furnished by the local chapter of the Theta Alpha. Simultaneously, there was a Men's Meeting at the school house, with an extended discussion of matters pertaining to the order of the General Church organization.

     Fourth Session-Tuesday, May 24, 10 A. M.

     The meeting opened with Worship conducted by the Bishop, Mr. Wilson reported the recommendations of the Committee of three, as follows: (1) That a permanent Committee be appointed, to consist of the Pastors of the Kitchener and Toronto Societies and one laymen from each Society, to consider the subject, and to take what steps seem proper to bring about the desired end. (2) That a voluntary offering be taken at the close of this sermon, to cover the stenographic expenses of this Assembly and other expenses incidental to the functions of this Committee, and that such an offering be provided for a like purpose at subsequent meetings of the Ontario Assembly.

     The recommendations of the Committee being adopted unanimously by the Assembly, Mr. Wilson, of Toronto, and Mr. Harold Kuhl, of Kitchener, were elected as the lay members of the new Committee.

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     The Rev. Homer Synnestvedt then read a paper on "Church Reforms."

     DISCUSSION OF MR. SYNNESTVEDT'S PAPER.

     The Bishop: Mr. Synnestvedt characterized his paper as "rambling", but he has succeeded in rambling around many practical points of the Church. Our thoughts all go around these practical points. They are things that go well so long as there is the spirit of enthusiasm in the heart; but they begin to fail when the spirit weakens. All external remedies may be considered as stimulants, but nothing takes the place of enthusiasm for the spiritual things of the Church. And I know of no other way Of getting it than constant reading of the Writings. Whoever stops reading gets out of contact. I firmly believe that everything fails if reading of the Writings be lacking. Three or four men who are readers can form the center of a large group who are not readers, but who are devout. But there must be a strong nucleus of those who read and meditate on the Writings. Nevertheless, external stimulants are necessary. Calls must be made, and if we do not feel like responding, we have something in ourselves to overcome. This is beneficial discipline.

     Mr. Jacob Stroh: The paper has shown us our imperfections, and shown us where we stand. One of Swedenborg's Rules of Life was, "Often to read and meditate on the Word of God." To my mind, this includes the Writings also. A youth once came to Swedenborg, and asked, "Shall I be among the blessed?" Swedenborg replied, "I do not know; that belongs to the Lord alone." He then told him to examine his thoughts toward the neighbor; if they were charitable, then he might hope. Swedenborg would go no further. That is what we must do,-examine our thoughts and inclinations. It is necessary to avail ourselves of every opportunity the Church offers.

     Mr. Robert Carswell: Mr. Synnestvedt has kept us listening intently for an hour. It is not everyone who could do that. And all the time he was giving us something to put us straight. He told us to read the Writings. If we read fifteen minutes a day, we will finish a volume of the Arcana every year.

     Mr. Theo. Kuhl: I second Mr. Carswell's remarks. The Church needs reform in these very matters. We need, from time to time, the revival spirit which Assemblies bring to us. What we have heard about reading the Writings fits in with what we heard about education yesterday. All life is education; when we leave school, we came into the larger school of acquiring ideas for ourselves. If these ideas are drawn from the Writings, it will spell progress.

     Rev. E. R. Cronlund: The Pharisees started as a reformatory movement in the Jewish Church; but they became worse and worse, until they were styled a "generation of vipers." In a dead Church there can be no reform. We must come out of the dead into the living. There are some who wonder why the New Church grows so slowly, but I have often wondered that it grows at all, when we consider our own state and the state of the world about us. It is said in the Writings that "if a man has no desire to take part in external worship, he is under the dominion of evil states."

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Whenever we fall into wrong habits, it is because we have permitted ourselves to come into the sphere of evil. Then self-examination and repentance are in order.

     Rev. K. R. Alden: Mr. Synnestvedt has a certain human way of dealing with things that makes them intensely interesting. In connection with church attendance, I recall what Mr. Walter Childs once said: "Man should be left in freedom to go to church or not. But the devil is pulling so hard to keep him away, that the Church needs to put on quite a bit of pressure in the opposite direction, in order to restore his freedom."

     The Bishop: This assembly has been a great joy and pleasure. It has been an inspiration. I began coming here during the war. There was not the spirit for holding Assemblies then. Your attention was devoted to the business of carrying on the fight. I marveled at the strength of the Church under the circumstances, for during the war there was a lack of ease; everything was strained. But I am beginning to feel that we are rising out of that state, and are progressing to a stronger state of the Church, I look forward to a marked development of the Church in coming years, externally, at any rate; and I am earnestly hoping for a corresponding internal development. It cannot come until we have had a period of rest from the strain we have been under. There now seems to be coming into the Church a more restful, peaceful sphere, and only from that will come the fruition of spiritual uses. When a young man returns from war, it is difficult for him to settle down. He has lived intensely, the life of a man in a few years,-and he must lie fallow for a few years before he can take interest in ordinary things. His experience is like the experience of the whole world, and of the Church. But, if I am not mistaken, we are beginning to feel a little rested after the strain, and we can, from now on, draw from the deeper sources what will be for the great spiritual uplift and benefit of the Church.

     The Assembly then adjourned.

     In the afternoon, there was a picnic with sports, and in the evening a dance, bringing to a close a very successful Assembly. The attendance at the meetings was 171, including children and young people. Of these, 122 were from Kitchener and Waterloo, 37 from Toronto, and It from other localities. In concluding this report, I wish to thank Mrs. Theodore Rothermel for taking the stenographic notes of all the speeches.
     K. R. ALDEN,
          Secretary.

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Church News 1921

Church News       Various       1921

     BRITISH ASSEMBLY.

     As preliminary to the Secretary's detailed report of the proceedings, I give the following brief account of the British Assembly, which met July 30th to August 1st in the Surrey Masonic Hall, Brixton, London. The occasion marked a new era in the history of the General Church in this country, and was fraught with great possibilities for the future increase and strength of those who stand for the Divine Authority of the Doctrines now revealed by the Lord for the New Church.

     After members and friends to the number of nearly zoo had taken tea together at the Hall, the meeting adjourned to the Burton Road Church, where the first session of the Assembly was opened by the Bishop. The following ministers were present: Revs. F. E. Gyllenhaal, Secretary, R. J. Tilson, G. C. Ottley, Albert Bjorck, and Theodore Pitcairn. As a great surprise to the majority of those present, our Bishop, as a first act, received and welcomed the Burton Road Society as a society of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. The Assembly heard this with the liveliest satisfaction, realizing, as it did, not only the increase in numbers, but that the blessings it had enjoyed would now be shared by others.

     The Bishop then delivered his Address, dealing with the subject of the Lord's dual influx into all created things. It was of a very interior nature, and we hope to become more fully acquainted with it when published in New Church Life.

     The sphere of Divine Worship on Sunday morning, and of the Holy Supper in the afternoon, was sacredly uplifting, and of profound joy and thankfulness to the Lord for His mercies, coming to us through the priesthood as the instrumental, and as the medium of conjunction with Himself in the Church in both worlds. It was indeed a spiritual feast. The Bishop officiated, and was assisted by the five priests mentioned above. The musical part was in the hands of Mr. Victor Tilson, and the very appropriate incidental music added much to the beauty of the services.

     At the Sunday evening session of the Assembly, the subject of the Bishop's address was further discussed. On Monday, the session at 11 a.m. opened with the reading of the Reports of the Colchester and Peckham Rye Societies. This was followed by a Memorial Resolution as a tribute of remembrance to our old friend and co-worker in the Church, Mr. Arthur Motum. This was adopted by a rising vote. Mr. Victor Tilson then read an excellent paper on "Music," which produced a very interesting and animated discussion, with special attention to the subject of intoning in worship. The Bishop's remarks were particularly useful and instructive.

     The concluding session was held at 3 p.m., when, owing to the limitations of time, the following papers were read without discussion:-"Ritual in the New Church," by Mr. W. Misson; "Salvation," by Mr. J. Pryke; "One Phase of Education in the Church," by the Rev. Albert Bjorck. The Bishop then announced the arrival of the Rev. and Mrs. R. W. Brown from South Africa, and invited Mr. Brown to address the meeting on the subject of his work among the Basutos. He was very warmly received, and gave us a brief and interesting account of his mission.

     The Assembly Social was held at 7 p.m., and proved a fitting climax to the more solid and substantial uses of the meetings. Under the able guidance of the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal as toastmaster, and Mr. Archie Stebbing as master of ceremonies, we had five hours of unalloyed delight, with toasts, responses, glees, songs, and instrumental solos, and bountiful supply to satisfy the needs of the inner man.

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The banquet was followed by dancing, and the gathering dispersed after singing "Auld Lang Syne" and "The King." The members of the Colchester Society deeply appreciate the work of the London friends on their behalf.

     A week before the Assembly, on Saturday, July 23rd, our Bishop visited Colchester, accompanied by the Misses Creda and Doris Glenn, who were the guests of Mrs. Rev. Gill. On Sunday morning, the Bishop conducted the service, and preached to a congregation of 53 on the subject of "The Coming of Christ", (Isaiah 1:3). This had been advertised in the daily papers, with the result that seven strangers attended. In the evening the members of the Society were invited to the house of Mrs. Rey Gill to meet her guests, and a good number were present. An informal supper was served, and a most enjoyable and useful time was spent with our visitors, who returned to London the following day.
     F. R. COOPER.

     Durban, S. Africa.-New Church Day was celebrated on Saturday, June 18th, in the form of a feast of charity, and on Sunday, June 19th, by the usual service, to which was added the sacrament of the Holy Supper, Mr. Odhner taking for his text at the morning service: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men (Apcc. 21:3). Under the supervision of Mr. P. D. Ridgway, the House of Worship was tastefully decorated with evergreens and floral effects. The participants at the Holy Supper numbered thirty, possibly a record for Durban, and the sphere of New Church Day was perceptible, having been carried over from the feast of charity of the previous evening.

     Arrangements for the banquet were in the hands of a ladies' committee elected for that purpose, and under the supervision of Mrs. J. H. Ridgway, one and all being indefatigable in working for the success of the feast on both spiritual and natural planes. There were four long tables in use, and a total of 40 men, women and junior members attended. Full justice was done to the wants of the natural man, and we might add that the decorative effect of the tables was titillating and appetizing; our ladies are not lacking in artistic taste. At the conclusion of the banquet, a program of addresses, interspersed with music and toasts, was thoroughly enjoyed by all present, the musical contributors being: Miss Ruth Cockerell (pianoforte solo) Mrs. L. G. Pemberton (song), and Miss J. Attersoll (song).

     Mr. Odhner opened with an address on "The Establishment of the New Church in the Spiritual World." In his remarks, he characterized the Assembly as the celebration of a spiritual event, saying that during the 151 years of the New Church's existence, the world has been transformed in many ways, and the church has passed through the state of the "woman in the wilderness." One phase of its history is that of a continual struggle for existence against oppositions, persecutions, temptations and heresies; another phase showing a gradual crystallization of New Church ideals and modes of thought. He referred to the Holy City as one which descends from God out of heaven, and cannot be created by man, emphasizing that it is a heavenly city of truth to be received in men's minds,-a city wherein those dwell who meditate upon the truth and live according to its teachings. This city came down from the new heaven which John saw in a vision, being first established in the spiritual world. It was then shown how the Lord, in His Providence, had prepared the world for the Second Advent, overruling the evil tendencies of man, and preparing Emanuel Swedenborg as a prophet who by rational vision was able to see heaven and receive inspiration of truth from the Lord Himself. By this reception, an ultimate was laid which helped to precipitate the Last Judgment in the spiritual world. Continuing, Mr. Odhner explained how, in 1757, the imaginary heavens were overthrown, and the false, manmade churches lost their power in the spiritual world.

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The plane of the natural heavens was cleared from the oppressor, and these regions given into the hands of the "redeemed ". Then followed the reorganization of the heavenly societies, and daily thousands of spirits were instructed and prepared for a greater light and a tempered heat. The twelve apostles who followed the Lord in the world were among those so instructed and prepared; and finally they were called together and sent throughout the spiritual world as the ordained servants of the Lord in His Divine Human-now fully revealed-to preach the spiritual truth which they now saw in the Gospel. This actually took place on June 19th, 1770. These men were the first New Church ordained priests, as they had been the first priests of Christianity. Their work was the pioneer work of the Church, and into their labors do we enter. Mr. Odhner lastly drew attention to the parallel between the organizing of the societies of the new heavens and that of the work of the New Church on earth, emphasizing that we as Church are now striving to prepare for a universal missionary work, building societies of stamina, character and strength, and that if the work of preparation and instruction is loyally supported and obeyed intellectually, we may be assured that the New Church will be eternal. In all ages the Nineteenth Day of June will be blessed as the beginning which has no end.

     Mr. W. M. Buss then addressed us concerning the rise of the New Church in the natural world, its external influence and development, remarking that a feeling of depression is apt to accompany the slow growth of the Church; but this is a matter of order, because anything that is to be permanent naturally grows gradually. He showed that, since 1770, history has recorded immense intellectual and moral advancement, as also growth in political and individual freedom, the latter in particular indicating the spiritual trend of ideas; it must be recognized that it is a transitory period which is by no means complete-nor is it likely to be consummated for centuries. Consequently, this slow growth really indicates soundness. He suggested that the present material, intellectual and spiritual unrest indicates a groping on the part of man for new doctrines, and silently the sphere of the New Church must affect those in immediate contact with its members. Mr. Buss expressed the opinion that, though the number of genuine New Churchmen remains small, it is not desirable that it should gain members from the Old Church until they were thoroughly convinced of the truth of the New Church Doctrines, and therefore we must first look to sound internal growth, calmly and confidently awaiting its numerical growth. In conclusion, he made reference to the statement in the Writings about the scant hope for the New Church among the nations of the Christian world, and said that it may well be that the New Church as a world religion will find readiest acceptance among the Gentile nations.

     The subject, "Has the New Church grown in spiritual strength? Its internal development", was next taken up by Mr. J. H. Ridgway, who showed that doctrine and a life therefrom constitute the church, and that the quality of a church depends upon the strength and purity of its doctrine. The strength of a church is from truth-with the celestial, in the good of love by truth, and with the spiritual, in the good of charity by the truths of faith. He outlined the history of the General Church under various names-that body which has stood for the strength and purity of the doctrines of the Church; and he showed how that fountain doctrine of the Divine Authority had begotten the distinctive understanding of many other important truths, namely, as to the priesthood, the state of the Christian world, marriage within the church, distinctive education, and others, all developed from the attitude of going to the Writings as of Divine Authority-as the Word to the New Church.

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He showed that an adherence to the standard of the strength and purity of the Doctrines is the basic necessity for the spiritual growth and internal development of the Church, Our Pastor then spoke on the history and organization of the Academy, and on the law that externals grow from internals.

     Finally, Mr. R. M. Ridgway delivered an address on "The New Church, and the future means of its promotion; the lessons of the past and the hopes of the future." Having shown how the New Church on earth is based upon the Revelation of the Lord through His Servant, Emanuel Swedenborg, and that all Divine Revelation is the Word, he proceeded to make dear that, notwithstanding the consummation of all the former Churches, the New Church is not to pass away, as its doctrines are based upon the internal sense of the Word, supporting his utterances by referring to Matthew and the Apocalypse. He then showed how the Lord made His Second Advent, in the Writing, whereby he is to establish a new heaven. After quoting from No. 44 of the Invitation to the New Church, in support of the fact that the Lord Himself "is as to His Divinity in the internal sense of the Word, and as to His Humanity in the natural sense," he emphasized that the Church's future welfare depends upon the realization that the Lord Jesus Christ is the One Only God of heaven and earth; that He has made His Second Advent through the New Revelation; that He has thus created a New Heaven and a New Church, and that His Church is to endure for ever. the latter being substantiated by striking extracts from Daniel. Mr. Ridgway then showed the impossibility of the existence of a church in heaven without a church on earth, and proceeded to explain how the Lord is perpetually present with both good and evil, while yet His Advent is only with those who receive Him by believing in Him and doing His Commandments. He then submitted suggestions as to means of generally promoting the Church, such as: The necessity of a loyal adherence to the fact of the Divine Authority of the Writings; that the Doctrines being God-made, should be jealously guarded from inroads of falsity; that the life of a New Churchman should exemplify the value of his knowledge of the Heavenly Doctrine; that there should be daily family worship and doctrinal instruction; that marriages should be confined as far as possible to those in the Church; that New Church Schools and Orphanages would be a valuable aid to growth; that social intercourse between members and friends cements the common love, and might be a means of getting others to accept New Church truths; that New Church Societies should not hide their light under a bushel, but should make known their existence when and wherever possible. Be finally outlined some errors of the Church in the past, showing: (1) the danger of permitting laymen to usurp the functions of the priesthood and expound, false doctrine; (2) the acceptance and rejection of portions of the Writings, as may be thought fit, thus proclaiming the doctrines as manmade, instead of from the mouth of the Lord alone; (3) neglect of the duty towards children, by not fostering in them the love of the Church, through lack of necessary instruction.

     In response to a toast in affectionate remembrance of Mrs. A. S. Cockerell, which was reverently proposed by the Pastor, a quartette sang "The Master Calls". The musical items were artistically arranged and much appreciated. The usual toasts, including "To Friends Afar" were duly honored by appropriate items from the Social Song Book. It is perceptible that the sphere of brotherly affection at these gatherings is growing stronger year by year, and that the use of these 19th of June celebrations to the Church at large is recognized by all. A very acceptable toast was one to Mr. and Mrs. B. P. Cowley's baby boy, born n the morning of the 19th, and we still await his response.
     C. R. RIGDWAY.

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     The Hague, Holland.-On June 19th we had the great pleasure of welcoming back to Holland the Rev. Ernst and Mrs. Pfeiffer, with their family. The succeeding days were busy with preparations for a Nineteenth of June celebration. For the last time, this was held at the home of the Barger family. There was a service at 11 a.m., followed by the administration of the Holy Supper. Twenty-seven persons were present at the service, and sixteen partook of the Communion. The Offices in the General Church Liturgy had been adapted for use by the Dutch friends, though very much shortened; it will be a pleasure to work out the Dutch translations in greater detail as time goes on; this cannot be done all at once. After the service, all sat down to a luncheon. Absent friends had sent greetings and tokens of their presence with us in thought and spirit. As a token of gratitude for Mr. Gerrit Barger's former ministrations, and for Mrs. Barger's housewifely hospitality, the friends presented Mrs. Barger with two splendid photographs of her husband.

     After the luncheon, a constitutory Church Meeting was held, which was attended by several friends in addition to the actual members. Mr. Pfeiffer read the Chapter on "Ecclesiastical and Civil Government" from The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine, and our Church Society was then constituted by twelve members signing the Roll. A Priest's Council and an Executive Committee were named. It was further decided that, for the present, the Sunday services will be held alternately in the homes of the members; doctrinal classes likewise, one evening a week.

     At five o'clock we all departed for home, grateful to feel that our Society, under the guidance of an ordained priest, is entering into a new state; we pray this may be a state of internal, and, if possible, of external growth. Certainly, since then, we have experienced a period of continual activity in various directions. Our Sunday services are well attended. In doctrinal class, Mr. Pfeiffer's explanations of the spiritual sense of the Apocalypse are clearly stated, and give us valuable instruction. In this connection, we may remind our foreign friends that no Dutch translations have as yet been made of the Apocalypse Explained and Apocalypse Revealed, which, therefore, are closed books to most of the Dutch friends here.

     On Sunday, July 10th, we welcomed Miss Alice Grant to our midst. She was present at the service, and in the evening gave us an interesting talk on the subject of the education of children.

     We are now looking forward to the visit of the Bishop, which is expected within the next fortnight.
     M. B.

     Maseru, Basutoland.-Although news from this center of the General Church has not made an appearance in these columns for some time, such silence does not in any way signify that the Church work by and among the Basuto people has been at a standstill.

     Readers of the Life will recall that, following the periodic visits to Basutoland made by the Rev. F. E. Gyllenhaal during the years 1915-1918, and after the visit of Bishop N. D. Pendleton in 1919, the Rev. Theodore Pitcairn instituted a standing Mission here, in order to provide the means whereby regular and systematic work could be more effectively sustained. In the nature of things, this use has entailed a good deal of pioneer work. With the valuable assistance of the Rev. Reginald W. Brown, whose stay in Basutoland has extended over nearly eighteen months, the organization of the many practical details is already proving its worth, and will be a good foundation for the growth of future developments.

     Sunday services and doctrinal classes are being held in the various native centers, reports of which are compiled by the leaders and sent every month to the headquarters at Maseru. These activities are not confined to Basutoland, but extend also to the centers in the Orange Free State, the Transvaal, and Cape Colony.

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     The pamphlet entitled "The Second Coming of the Lord", one of the monthly publications of the Swedenborg Society, London, which was compiled in the year 1900 to commemorate the Twentieth Century, has been translated into Sesuto, and published. One Office of the Liturgy of the General Church has been published in Sesuto, and was used for the first time on the 19th of June this year. The remaining Offices, as well as the Sacraments and Rites, have been translated and written out for the use of the officiating ministers.

     The 19th of June celebration was held at Qhuqhu, and from all accounts was much enjoyed by all who participated. It was an open-air meeting with an assemblage of over 450 persons. The Rev. R. W. Brown officiated, being assisted by several of the native ministers and leaders, including the Revs. Mofokeng, E. L. Nyaredi, and A. Mopo. The last mentioned has recently become interested in the New Church, and was baptized on this occasion.

     On July 3d-the day before the Rev. and Mrs. Brown departed for Bryn Athyn, via England-a service was held at Boqate. Two were baptized, and the Communion was administered. Though they were ceremonies in their simplest form, and held in a native home, the sphere was very impressive. Mr. Brown gave a discourse in Sesuto, and after the service addressed a few words suitable to the occasion of his departure for America.

     On July 16, Mr. George Mokoena arrived here from Bryn Athyn via London. Arrangements are being made for him to give some lectures in Maseru and district describing his visit to America and Europe and especially the work of the Church at Bryn Athyn. Services are being held each Sunday at Mr. Mokoena's house, one room of which has been set apart and suitably arranged for worship. At present the congregation is a very small one, averaging only six, but it is hoped that this latest center will increase in number before long. The societies located in the districts up country have a much longer standing than the one at the capital of Basutoland.

     Though the work as a whole may be said to be progressing satisfactorily, there are, of course, many difficulties to contend with. These are essentially characteristic; yet, in mentioning their existence, it is well to be mindful of the fact that the reception, application and growth of the principles of the New Church among us "White" people is also not without difficulty!

     It would be beyond the appropriate sphere of the "news" columns to enter into historical details, but in reference to the good work of the Conference "New Church Native Mission," it is both interesting and satisfactory to note that, while on his recent tour to South Africa, the Rev. J. F. Buss visited the Rev. R. W. frown at Maseru. They went thoroughly into the matters over which there had been some misunderstanding, and traced them to statements and claims which could only he solved by an intimate knowledge of the language. Both the "New Church Native Mission" and that of the General Church are assisting in a good work, and each has its hands full in providing for the promulgation of the New Church Doctrines.

     The Rev. Theodore Pitcairn expects to arrive in Maseru during September, after having attended the British Assembly in London. In the meantime, Mr. and Mrs. F. W. Elphick are endeavoring to "hold the line" and keep things going until Mr. Pitcairn returns. The coming summer portends to be a busy one.
     F. W. E.
July 27, 1921.

     Report of the Visiting Pastor.-The last report recorded the events of this western trip up to my arrival at ROSTHERN, SASK., CANADA. Of the once promising General Church circle in this vicinity, only two families and two individuals remain. All others have moved elsewhere.

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Nevertheless, the two weeks spent here were most enjoyable. On Sundays, services were held morning and afternoon. On one of these occasions we had an attendance of twenty,-all, old and young, being present,-this indicating that, after all, the circle still has quite a membership. At the services on the second Sunday the Holy Supper was administered. Evening doctrinal classes were held seven times, and the ten children of school age were given instruction on six afternoons. A young man from this circle will attend the Academy Schools the coming year.

     DAVIDSON, SASK., was visited August 5th to 8th. Here are five members of the General Church and six children. On Sunday morning, the 7th, services were held, including the baptism of an infant and the Holy Supper. There were two doctrinal classes, and the children were instructed three times.

     Our next point was CALGARY, ALBERTA, where, so far as we know, there is but one New Church member, Mr. Hugh Bourne, and with him and his wife I spent two pleasant days. Mr. Bourne's story of coming to the New Church is so interesting that we wish to give it to the readers of the Life. About thirty-five years ago he came from England and settled at Toronto, Ont. He was a Methodist, but was not satisfied with the teachings of that Church, and so looked elsewhere, visiting many churches, but nowhere finding contentment. Finally, one Sunday morning, he thought he would try the Jews. They, at least, would teach the Ten Commandments, of which he had heard but little in all the places he had visited. It did not occur to him that the Jews have no services on Sunday. So he went to the part of the city where he thought a Jewish church might be, and found over a door the name "New Jerusalem" This must be the place. He entered, heard a sermon by the Rev. J. E. Bowers, and found what he had long been seeking. Thirty years ago he came to Calgary, and during all this time be had seen no New Church minister until my arrival. We had many delightful talks on the Doctrines, and one evening we had class, at which five of his grown children were present.

     It was now my privilege to spend a week in the wonderful Canadian Rockies, a holiday, the first in twenty years, made possible by the kindness of friends at home.

     Then, August 18th, I arrived at SPOKANE, WASH. At this place there was, until a few years ago, a considerable New Church society. But many members moved away; and at the time of my visit some were away from the city. So there were four families, numbering sixteen persons, who attended our meetings. As a rule, all were present. On two Sundays there were morning and evening services. Thirteen partook of the Holy Supper. Every week-day evening, excepting Saturday, that is, six times, there was doctrinal class. The subject, taken up by request, was the Lord's Prayer. But after considering the regular subject, there would be questions of all kinds, and the conversation was sometimes long continued. Also, after services on Sunday evening, some time was spent in this manner. We also had two delightful social times, following class. There is an earnest interest in the Church and the Doctrines here. Mr. Emil Hansen, the leader of the circle, has an excellent New Church library, and the notes throughout the books indicate how largely they are used. It is to be hoped that the General Church will be able to provide regular visits of a minister, at least annual, to sustain and build up what is here so well begun.
     F. E. WAELCHLI.

     LONDON, ENGLAND.-The Michael Society of the General Church, Burton Road, Brixton.-On Sunday July 24th, a veritable spiritual feast was provided for those privileged to be present at the morning service. The central feature on this occasion was the consecration of a pair of handsome brass candlesticks, together with a beautiful solid brass cross and crown, all presented by Mr. E. W. Misson, and of a beautifully made brass stand for the Word, executed by Mr. V. R. Tilson; which offerings add very greatly to the impressive beauty of the Chancel, and especially of the Altar.

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     Our Pastor, the Rev. R. J. Tilson, recognizing, of course, that the rite of consecration is peculiar to the third degree of the priesthood, had hoped that the Bishop would include it in the Assembly Service on the following Sunday. This, however, was found to be impracticable, and it was by the Bishop's authority and special request that our Pastor himself undertook the duty. By this accommodation to circumstances, indeed, the whole service was centered in the consecration, and added one more to those "complete units" which are so characteristic of Burton Road.

     The early part of the service followed the usual course, and then the Pastor, having announced the desire of the Bishop, and saying, "As Governing Priest of this Society, I accept these gifts from those who have been moved and privileged to give them," proceeded to the dedication by quoting A. C. 10093, as follows: "Gifts given to the Lord . . . are the Lord's, not from any gift, but from possession, since everything holy or Divine with man is not of man, but of the Lord with him." Enumerating the gifts, and touching each, the Pastor then said: "In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I consecrate these things unto the use of the worship of Him in this Temple," concluding with the well-known words from 2 Samuel 24:23, "The Lord thy God accept thee"; which, in the impressive sphere prevailing, sounded a veritable benediction, not alone upon the gifts, but also upon all present.

     As the ultimate act of the consecration, the officiating Priest now lighted the candles, the taper in its brass casing being reverently handed to him by his vestry deacon, Mr. Misson. And here we would add a word of grateful appreciation of the adequate and most appropriate manner in which the duties of the latter are invariably performed, distinctly strengthening the sphere of worship. "In thy light, we shall see light," proclaimed the Pastor's sonorous voice. "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy Name give glory, because of Thy mercy and because of Thy truth." With their eyes fixed upon the rays of light, now softly gleaming from the altar upon the opened Word, the people resumed their seats, feeling that a distinct step onward had been taken in the form of their worship, and with hearts full of gratitude towards those who had been permitted to be the instruments in its provision.

     The Lessons were from Isaiah LX, Matthew XVI:24-28, and A. E. 391; and the Pastor had chosen as his text Isaiah LX:7, "They shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory," than which surely none could have been more appropriate, nor proved more interesting in its development. First of all, we were reminded that all externals separate from their internals are idolatrous; in order that they may really conduce to spiritual life, their representation must be known and intelligently understood. The altar itself represents the Lord in His Divine Human. It is the principal representative of all worship (A. C. 1448). Upon it is placed the altar cloth, because the exterior things of the Word are a covering or clothing (A. C. 2576). Upon this again is the stand of brass, upon which rests the Word in its literal and its spiritual sense, and which signifies the same as that which is upon it, for it is "that which contains" (A. C. 10,177). The candlesticks signify enlightenment from truths. John saw "seven golden candlesticks, in the midst of which was One like unto the Son of Man" (Rev. 1:12, 13). By these candlesticks was signified "the New Church, which will be in illustration from the Lord out of the Word" (A. R. 43)

     What more beautiful or significant symbol could stand upon the altar of the Church! What more significant act than the lighting of the candles could form the ultimate of the dedication of these beautiful symbols!

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"For Thou wilt light my candle; the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness" (Psalm 18: 28).

     Next the cross. "By the cross is meant temptation" (Doctrine of Life 99). "Whosoever would come after me, let him renounce himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." "The cross is man's proprium, against which he has to fight (A. E. 893). "He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me" (Matt. 10:38). The cross has been too much neglected in the ritual of the New Church. The Old Church has misunderstood and abused this symbol, but abuse does not take away use, save with those who abuse.

     Lastly the crown, the representative of Divine Good. In Invitation 53, we read: "As we now have in the Church one God, who is God-Man, and Man-God, this Church is called the Crown of all the Churches." "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life." (Rev. 2:10). The symbols reach, in their significance, down to the lowest states of good; for they are made of brass, and brass signifies natural good (A. E. 70)

     Such, then, were the leading thoughts of a discourse in which sound doctrine, combined with an eloquent and impressive delivery, rendered it in the highest degree useful and beneficial to those who heard, and most certainly left no excuse to any to remain in a state of "idolatry ", so far as these latest additions to our worship are concerned. It was altogether a memorable service and sermon.
     K. M. D.

     TORONTO, CANADA.-The Olivet Church has been extremely fortunate this summer in having the visits of two Bryn Athyn ministers. The Rev. C. E. Doering preached for us on a Sunday in August, and his sermon was greatly enjoyed by all. Later the Rev. Alfred Acton preached twice, and also gave three talks to the society describing his European trip, in all eight hours of solid meat. Few speakers could have held an audience for that length of time as Mr. Acton did. At the final meeting, the society presented him a gift in token of their appreciation. While here, Mr. Acton also officiated at the baptism of the Pastor's infant son, and on this occasion made an eloquent address on the subject of the deeper aspects of New Churchmanship.

     Our building alterations are nearing completion, and we hope before long to announce the date of dedication.

     On September 13th, a large number of our members gathered at Sunnyside Station to bid farewell to the seventeen Canadians going to Bryn Athyn this year.
     K. R. A.

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STATISTICAL NOTICES 1921

STATISTICAL NOTICES              1921




     Announcements.


     To ensure prompt publication, ministers are requested to obtain the information as to names and dates, etc., immediately after officiating at baptism, wedding or funeral, and to forward the report card directly to the Editor of New Church Life, who will afterwards transmit the same to the Secretary of the General Church.

     Beginning with the year 1915, the Life discontinued the custom of publishing birth notices, except in special cases. But the date of birth is included in the baptismal notice of all children.

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DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES 1921

DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES              1921

     In the absence of the Bishop, whose return from Europe is not expected before November 1st, the Rev. C. E. Doering will represent him in visiting societies of the General Church in the West, and in presiding at the following Assemblies:

     THE PITTSBURGH DISTRICT ASSEMBLY will be held at the Church, 4928 Wallingford Street, from October 14th to 17th inclusive. Intending visitors are requested to notify the Rev. Homer Synnestvedt, Pastor, at the above address.

     THE CHICAGO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY will meet at the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Ill., from October 21st to 23rd. Those expecting to be present will please notify the Rev. Gilbert H. Smith, Glenview, Ill.

     A LOCAL ASSEMBLY OF THE CINCINNATI CIRCLE will be held at 252 Ehrman Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio, on Sunday, October 30th, 1921.
DELAY IN PUBLICATION 1921

DELAY IN PUBLICATION              1921

     Owing to the strike conditions which have prevailed in the printing trades since May 1st last, our Publishers have been unable to bring out the issues of NEW CHURCH LIFE at the regular time, and the present number will be more than a month late in reaching subscribers. As the delay is due to causes beyond our control, we would bespeak the continued patience of our readers, and assure them that a return to the normal date of publication will be made at the earliest possible moment.

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TOPICS FROM THE WRITINGS 1921

TOPICS FROM THE WRITINGS        W. F. PENDLETON       1921


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLI          OCTOBER, 1921          No. 10
     The Need and Use of the Memorabilia.

     In the Spiritual Diary (4123), we are told that the Memorabilia, or revelations concerning the spiritual world, are in the place of miracles, and that unless men read, and believe, and are affected by them, they will be unwilling to hear anything of the interiors of the Word. And in the Apocalypse Explained (410), we read of the importance of knowing what is in the spiritual world in order to understand the internal sense. The Memorabilia stand related to the historicals of the literal sense, which are the first introduction to the spiritual truth of the Word. It may be said that the Memorabilia are the historicals of the spiritual world. They we the first thing for new receivers of the Doctrine to learn, and the first to be imparted to children and the young.

     Swedenborg advised to leave out the Memorabilia.

     Swedenborg was urged by Count Hopken not to include the Memorabilia in his Writings, but he answered that he was commanded by the Lord to publish them (Documents, I: p. 66, II: 409, 416). Cuno wrote Swedenborg to the same effect (Dec. II:469). The Writings, or the internal sense of the Word, without the revelations concerning the spiritual world, would be like a house without doors, into which there can be no entrance; or like the spiritual sense without the letter as introductory to it.

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The historicals of the two worlds, as contained in the two revelations, are the things which introduce to the mysteries of the Word, without which the Word and heaven itself would be sealed forever.

     The Language of the Angels in the Memorabilia.

     Does Swedenborg reproduce the language of the angels in relating the arcana of the spiritual world? This is the appearance, but in reality he translates their thought, using his own language. Angelic thought is expressed in angelic speech, which is not in any language of the world; but descending into the natural of a man, it takes on the form of his language. Thus angels and spirits make use of the language of the man to whom they speak. (A. C. 1637, 10752; H. H. 255; C. L. 3264; S. D. 3157, and elsewhere.) Concerning himself in this connection, Swedenborg says, "I collected into a summary these things from their discourse" (C. L. 183). His habit in this respect has been used to cast doubt on the revelation, notably in the case of Emerson.

     What are Temptations?

     The ordinary idea of temptation is that it is "a state of being tempted or enticed to evil," and while this is true as far as it goes, it does not present a full idea of temptation as given in the Writings. The word means trial, and this is the meaning that is followed everywhere in the Heavenly Doctrine. It is the trial a man suffers when he resists evil or the delight of evil to which he is inclined. Evil spirits are in this, his delight. The exciting of his evil delight is their mode of assault upon man's spiritual life. But the angels inspire him to resistance. He is then as if torn between two forces; and the trial or suffering, that is, the temptation, is at times exceeding great. Temptation, then, is the suffering the regenerating man endures when he resists the delight of evil as of himself from the Lord. Natural trial, though it appears so great, is as nothing when compared with spiritual temptation.

     The Grievous Temptations of the Lord in His Human not yet Glorified.

     That the temptations of the Lord were far greater than any man can endure, is taught throughout the Writings, and treated of at large in the spiritual sense of the Psalms and Prophets; for instance this, "I am ...like the slain that lie in the grave, whom Thou rememberest no more. . . .

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"Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps" (Psalm 88: 5, 6). These words signify that "He seemed to Himself to be in hell among the damned, so atrocious and enormous were the temptations which the Lord sustained" (A. E. 659). So great was His love for the salvation of mankind! It is thus that He made Himself in His Human our Father in heaven, the same Father whom we address in the Lord's Prayer, and in all the prayers of the church. Eternity cannot suffice to fulfill the measure of human gratitude! For if He had not come to save, all would have perished in eternal death. The human race would have ceased to exist.

     What it is to Love the Lord.

     In the Gospel of John it is plainly taught that to love the Lord is to love to do His commandments. "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (14:15). ((He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me" (14: 21). "If a man love me, he will keep my words" (14:23). "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love" (15:10). "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you" (15:14). In the Writings we are also taught, as involved in the above, that to love the Lord is to love His Word and doctrine from it, to love good and have aversion to evil, to love use, to love His kingdom, to love His Providence,-all based on loving to do His commandments. To love the Writings is also to love the Lord, for they are the Lord in His Second Coming.

     What it is to Love the Neighbor.

     It is interesting to note that love towards the neighbor rests upon the same basis as love to the Lord; for "love towards the neighbor is the love of obeying the Lord's commandments" (A.R. 356). But the differentiation follows in the teaching that love towards the neighbor is especially the love of obeying the commandments that are contained in the second table of the Decalogue; as, "Thou shalt not kill," "Thou shall not commit adultery," etc. The first table is the Lord's table, but the second is also His; for it is the Lord in the neighbor that is to be loved.

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The two tables are the same as the two great commandments, on which "hang all the law and the prophets." And we read that "all things of the doctrine of the New Jerusalem relate to love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor" (A. R. 993). Readers of the Doctrine should note also the distinction between the terms "love" and "charity." By "love" is meant love to the Lord, and by "charity," love to the neighbor (Faith 22); and it is added, "There is with man no love to the Lord but in charity." For "in charity the Lord conjoins Himself with man" (Ibid. See the same in A. R. 903). The one love cannot exist without the other (T. C. R. 456).

     Loving the Neighbor more than Self.

     It is thought that to love the neighbor as oneself is the highest exercise of human love; but we are told that if men would be as the angels they would love the neighbor more than self, and that in celestial love there is nothing of the love of self (A. C. 548, 2196; H. H. 406; S. D. 3906). Such a love does indeed appear among men, or an imitation of it; as where husbands or wives are willing to die for each other, where a mother will suffer hunger that her children may have food, where a man is willing to die that his country may be free, where one is willing to serve others for their sake and not his own, where a host and hostess will give preference to guests over themselves. This love, or the appearance of it, is what constitutes a gentleman and a lady. It is the most complete image of the Lord's love in coming into the world and suffering death that men might live in heaven forever. It is the love that is meant by the "new commandment" which He gave to His disciples, "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" (John 13: 34; 15: 12, 13).

     Three Kinds of Love towards the Neighbor.

     "There are three kinds of love which constitute the celestial things of the Lord's kingdom, namely, conjugial love, love towards infants, and the love of society, or mutual love. Of all these, conjugial love is the principal, for it has in it the end of the greatest use, namely, the propagation of the human race, and thereby of the Lord's kingdom, of which the human race is the seminary.

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Love towards infants follows next, being derived from conjugial love. Afterwards succeeds the love of society, or mutual love" (A. C. 2039). These three are based on keeping the second table of the Decalogue, or shunning the evils mentioned therein, especially the evil of adultery. But they are naught, unless the first table is also kept, or unless the Lord Jesus Christ is acknowledged and worshiped as the one God, from whom alone is all power to shun evil and do good; and to whom, unless a man looks, he has no power against the evils inspired by infernal spirits. The one hope, and the great hope, is to pray for help, and then struggle to resist as of oneself from the Lord. To those who do this, all things of human and angelic good are possible.

     Does the Spiritual Sun appear in all the Heavens?

     We are told in the Arcana Celesta (6832) that "the Lord appears as a sun to the angels of the inmost heaven, as a moon to the angels of the middle heaven, and as light to the angels of the ultimate heaven". Are we to understand from this that the Lord is never seen as a sun in the lower heavens? The answer is given in the Divine Love and Wisdom (85): "The angels of the third heaven see that sun continually, the angels of the second heaven very often, and the angels of the ultimate heaven sometimes." Herein is illustrated the importance of a comparison of passages in the study of any subject in the Writings.

     The Essential of Happiness in Married Life.

     "He who is in love truly conjugial, loves what the other thinks and what the other wills" (A. C. 10169). It is added that they thus become as one man, and that this is what is meant by the words of the Lord, that "they are no longer two, but one flesh," that is, one will. We read further that "there is freedom to each when one loves what the other thinks and what the other wills. Hence the will to rule in marriages destroys genuine love, for it takes away its freedom and its delights" (10173). What is here said calls for effort, and yields to cultivation as a garden of flowers; and the basis of it all is in looking to the Lord and shunning evils as sins against Him.

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     Where are we to look for the Increase of the Church?

     In the Arcana Coelestia (1610) the teaching is, that the multiplication of the Lord's kingdom will be, "not only from those who are within the church, and their children, but also from those who are without the church, and their children." And their children! This stands as a distinct teaching as to the source of increase. It will be mostly from the children. But to be genuine, a spiritual increase must precede. There must be a spiritual faith and a spiritual intelligence with the parents. It is from parents, and later from teachers and ministers, that children draw the inspiration to spiritual life. The increase will then be like that of the seed of Abram, which was to multiply "as the dust of the earth," "as the sand of the sea," and "as the stars of heaven" (see 1610).
LORD'S INFINITY 1921

LORD'S INFINITY       Rev. E. R. CRONLUND       1921

     "The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him." (Psalm 103:17.)

     The Divine is without beginning and without end. The Lord is, was, and ever shall be. The Lord is the I AM. He is life in Himself; for He is infinite love and infinite wisdom; and infinite love and infinite wisdom can have no beginning and no end. "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God." (Psalm 90:2.)

     The expression "from everlasting to everlasting" contains more than the human mind can possibly grasp. When we repeat and revolve in the mind these words, "from everlasting to everlasting", how obscure and inadequate is our understanding of their real meaning! Even when we say that they denote and express the infinity of God, still the matter is not made clear, for what idea is man able to have of the infinite as it is in itself?" The human mind, however highly analytical and elevated, is itself finite, and the finiteness in it cannot be removed; wherefore it is by no means capable of seeing God's infinity as it is in itself."

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"It is related of a certain philosopher amongst the ancients that he cast himself into the sea because he could not comprehend the eternity of the world; what would he have done if he had tried to comprehend the infinity of God?" (T. C. R. 28.)

     The human mind can grasp to a certain extent what is meant by "to eternity." Man can understand that life in heaven must be eternal life; he can think of that life as enduring unto ages of ages, thus as having no end. He can see that the Lord is "alive for evermore," and thus that His mercy is "to eternity." But of "from eternity" man can not have any perception. The Writings declare that when man wishes to perceive the meaning of "from eternity," or when he wishes to perceive anything concerning the Lord's eternity before times, it is as if his mind were falling into a swoon.

     We are told in the Word that Moses asked to see the glory of the Lord. But it was said to him by the Lord "Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me, and live." (Ex. 33:20.) Moses, however, was put in the hole of a rock, and while the Lord passed by, He covered Moses' face with His hand; and when He had passed by, Moses was allowed to see His back parts. And this teaches that no one can see the infinity of the Lord as it is in itself, but that we may see it from behind; we are able to see the back parts of the Lord. By the "back parts" of the Lord are meant the things visible in the world, but especially the things perceptible in the Word. (T. C. R. 28.) The infinity of the Lord can be seen in the things visible in the world; for the infinite is in finite things as in receptacles, and consequently finite things are images, pictures, representations of the infinite. Thus the infinity of the Lord can be seen from these things:-That in the created universe there are not two things which are the same or exactly alike; that the mind of one is never exactly like another's; that there is a kind of eternity inherent in every seed, as well of animals as of plants, in that multiplication has continued hitherto, without interruption, from the creation of the world, and continues perpetually. The infinity of God may appear to the eye of enlightened reason from the infinity to which every science may grow, and thence the intelligence and wisdom of every man; both of which may grow as a tree from seeds, and as forests and gardens from trees; for there is no end to them.

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The infinity of the Lord may also be seen from the infinite number of stars, which are so many suns, and thence so many systems, each system having earths inhabited by men, the procreations whereof will never cease.

     From these things man can see the infinity of the Lord as from afar, or from the back. It can be seen only as it is imaged or shines forth in what is finite, for "nothing is possible in man's thought, even as to the deepest arcanum of faith, that is not attended with a natural and sensuous idea." (A. C. 3310.) What is natural and sensual adheres to every thought of man. What is infinite appears to him as not anything, for the reason that he is finite, and thinks from what is finite; wherefore, if the finite which adheres to his thought were taken away, it would seem to him as if the residue were not anything; yet the truth is that the infinite things of the Lord are all, are everything, and that the finite respectively is not anything. But as man by nature is finite, he cannot but view what is above himself from his own standpoint. He cannot see the infinite as it is in itself; and indeed, it is enough to acknowledge the infinity of the Lord from what is finite, from created things in which the Lord is infinitely. We must be content to acknowledge the infinity of the Lord from without, from manifest tokens.

     But the infinity of the Lord can be seen especially in the Word; for the Word is the Divine Truth Itself. The Word is the "river of the water of life." As a river constantly gives forth new supplies of water, so in the Word an overflowing supply of new truths can always be found. The Word is also like a mine which contains in its depths gold and silver in all abundance; and like a mine which, more and more interiorly, conceals stones more and more precious (T. C. R. 245). The Word is an inexhaustible storehouse, from whence angels and men may receive spiritual food in abundant measure, and this to eternity.

     Thus the infinity of the Lord may be seen from the things perceptible in the Word. The Word has been given that we may know the Lord, and that we may see Him. But because man is finite, and because he can view the infinite only by means of what is finite, therefore in His Word the Lord has accommodated Himself to the state of man. The infinite Divine Truth is clothed in finite forms and expressions that it may be seen and received.

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And this is true, not only with regard to the Word on earth, but also with regard to the Word in heaven. For even an angel is finite and cannot possibly have an idea of the infinite, except by means of what is like the finite (A. C. 6876).

     The Lord always comes in a cloud, not only to men, but also to angels. Therefore the Word in heaven has a letter and a spirit, even as is the case with the Word on earth. But the cloud in which the Lord appears to the angel is much thinner than that in which He appears to men on earth; for the angels are in a spiritual state, and hence their wisdom is much greater than that of men. Nevertheless, even an angel cannot see the infinite as it is in itself. It is said in the Writings: "A man cannot, by sublimation and approximation, come into the perception of the infinite things in God; but an angel, being in a spiritual idea, can, by sublimation and approximation, rise above the degree of a man; but still he cannot arrive there", that is, he cannot see the infinite itself (D. L. W. 17).

     There is but One who is infinite. Man can never to eternity be anything but finite; and yet, from his finite state, he can have a certain view of the infinite. It can be seen that what is true in itself never began to be true and never will cease to be true. Truth is eternal. It is without beginning and without end. It is "from everlasting to everlasting." Merely human opinions and conclusions have their day and their night. They arise and they pass away. "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the Word of our God shall stand forever" (Isa. 40:8). "For ever O Lord, Thy Word is settled in the heavens" (Psalm 119:89).

     And since all things in the Lord are infinite, therefore His mercy is infinite. It is "from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him." The mercy of the Lord is infinite, because it is without limit. He has mercy on all, on each one according to his state. And yet it seems as if the mercy of the Lord were limited to "those that fear Him." Such, however, is not the case. The fact is that the mercy of the Lord is extended even to the evil, but that they refuse to receive it. They will not make use of the means of salvation, and so they cannot but reject the mercy of the Lord, and cast themselves into punishments and miseries. But the mercy of the Lord is said to be peculiar toward the regenerate, because these receive His mercy. The mercy of the Lord is thus infinite, because toward all.

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And it is infinite also for the reason that it is held out to man to eternity. This is evident especially from the case of the angels, in that they are forever held by the Lord in a heavenly state. The mercy of the Lord abides with them and rests upon them forever. Thus His mercy is infinite.

     That the Lord, from infinite love, has mercy on man, may be evident from a few examples. Revelation teaches that the Providence of the Lord extends to the smallest particulars and singulars. This many doubt when they see so many evils in the world. They believe in a universal government by the Lord, and that particulars and singulars are not ordered and ruled by Him. They who are ignorant of the laws of the Divine Providence are excused for believing thus. Such is the mercy of the Lord. The Writings say: "Unless ignorance excused, it would be all over with man" (S. D. 2320). They who are in the falsity of ignorance will be saved, provided they have something of innocence. If ignorance were to exclude from heaven, no one would be saved, for all men are in ignorance, some more, some less.

     There are those who believe in the Lord, but still ascribe certain visible things to nature; for they believe that life was stored up in nature by the Creator, which renders it as it were independent of Him. But they who are ignorant of the law of influx are excused for holding such a belief (D. L. W. 350). There are those who believe that the last judgment will take place in this world, and that the Lord will then come in the cloud to establish an earthly kingdom. But they who know nothing of the spiritual sense of the Word are excused for thinking so (L. J. I). Thus ignorance excuses, and this is what the Lord taught when He said on the cross: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Some who are in evil are even kept in ignorance by the Lord, that there may be excuse for them; for if they knew the truth, they would wilfully live contrary to it, and so would make their lot worse in the life to come.

     Some, when they are in temptation, and reach a state of despair, cry out against heaven and against the Lord; but because they are then in the sphere of evil spirits, by whom they are infested and tormented, they are excused; and it is said that the Lord does not attend to their hard sayings and complaints against Him (A. C. 7250).

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     In the other world, the evil are always punished when they do evil; but if good spirits speak or do evil, they are not punished, but are pardoned and excused, because their end is not to speak or do evil. This is also evident from their grief when they have done wrong (A. C. 6559).

     It may thus be evident how great is the mercy of the Lord. Indeed, it is infinite. The Lord has made a covenant with us. Our part of the covenant is to shun evil, in intention, in thought and indeed. This is what we owe to the Lord. It is a debt that is to be paid. But if we fail partly; if, through ignorance or weakness, we cannot pay all, what we cannot pay is forgiven. For "the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him." Amen.

     Lessons:     Jeremiah 3:12-25.
               Matthew 18.
               A. C. 1735 PRIMARY THING OF HEAVEN AND THE CHURCH 1921

PRIMARY THING OF HEAVEN AND THE CHURCH              1921

     "All infants in heaven are led to the acknowledgment of the Divine Human of the Lord; and all adults who have lived a life of charity are instructed concerning this; and they who receive come into heaven. All the angels in heaven, also, perceive that the Lord's Human is Divine; and the higher they are in the heavens, the more clearly do they perceive this; for no one can think otherwise there. The reason is, that the whole heaven is the Divine Human, and all thought goes according to the form of heaven. Since this is so, and since it is the primary thing of the church, and also because no one can be received and saved unless he acknowledge the Divine of the Lord in His Human, therefore He so often said, 'Believe ye that I am able? Be it done according to thy faith;' that is, the Lord is omnipotent, thus God." (Athenasian Creed, 103, 204.)

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WORD OF THE LORD AND THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH 1921

WORD OF THE LORD AND THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH       Rev. ALBERT BJORCK       1921

     The Word of the Lord is the Revelation of the Lord, and therefore of Life Itself. In its inmost, the Word, is the Lord, because the Lord, who is Life Itself, is Himself the Truth of that Life.

     In proceeding from the Lord, the Word comes first to the angels of the highest heaven, and is received fly them according to their power to give it entrance into their will and their understanding. Thus accommodated to their state, the Word of the Lord in the third heaven is the Infinite finited or appearing in accordance with their power of feeling and seeing it. It is the Divine Truth of the Lord as He is in that heaven, or the Divine Truth of angelic life in the image and likeness of the Lord.

     Thus finited or accommodated, the Word of the Lord proceeds to the second heaven, and is there again received, and is the Lord's Life in the angels of that heaven, finited or accommodated to their less perfect power of feeling and seeing it. From thence it proceeds to the angels of the first heaven, where it is further accommodated in appearances corresponding to their state. Still, it is the Lord's Life in that heaven, and also angelic life, so far as it is there perfected into the image and likeness of the Lord's Life. The Lord is present immediately on each plane, and also mediately through the higher planes.

     Passing thence through the world of spirits, the Word comes to the natural mind of men living in the physical world, in order that they, receiving it in their will and understanding, may be created for the heavens; in other words, that the Lord's Life may be felt in their will and appear in their understanding, creating them in the human form, which is the image and likeness of the Lord. Men living in the physical world think and feel naturally, because from the impressions made upon the mind through the physical senses. Ever since the fall, their natural mind is in inverted order, and it is only through obedience to the order of true life revealed in the Word of God that men can learn to think and feel from the Lord, and thus be restored to His image and likeness.

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The naturally thinking and feeling man is also open to influences from hell. The influx of evil life-life altogether contrary to the Lord's Life-proceeds from the hells, and, passing through the world of spirits, enters the will and understanding of man on earth, persuading him that his evil inclinations are life itself, and that the understanding they give rise to is the truth of life.

     Hence it is, that when the Divine Truth of the Lord comes down to men in that state, it necessarily assumes a sensuous-natural form or appearance, revealing to them on that plane of life what the evil of hell is, which the Lord's truth forbids them to do. And in those who obey that revelation, the mind is prepared to receive revelation of a more interior and moral character, showing what is right and good to do in the eyes of the Lord. If this revelation also be obeyed, the mind is prepared to receive still more interior revelation, or accommodations of the Divine Truth more closely corresponding to the truth of the Lord's Life.

     In the life of a man, therefore, there is a period-a long period-during which the Divine Word must be revealed gradually, truth upon truth, precept upon precept; just as we, on the natural plane of life, learn the facts of nature little by little, through lesson after lesson, during the period of childhood and youth. And during the corresponding period in the history of the race, or of mankind as a whole, an individual here and there develops a power of receiving Divine Truth surpassing the powers of men generally. In the Providence of the Lord, such men have been used from time to time for the giving to the world of such truth from the Lord as they could receive and communicate. Such were the Lawgivers and Prophets through whom the Old Testament Scriptures were given;-Scriptures which, in their very words and statements, gave all the Truth of God and Life that the men of that period could receive. But spiritual and heavenly truths of the highest kind are living within and resting upon the natural and sensuous appearances of the Hebrew Scriptures, because these came to men through the heavens from the Lord, who is Divine Truth Itself. Yet these inner truths cannot be seen by men through the natural appearances of the letter of the Word until they arrive at a development of mind that is rational and spiritual.

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     The Divine Truth, as given by the instrumentality of men in the letter of the Word, takes the form of the appearances of truth, or the truth of life as it appears to men in the world. And such statements of truth, given through the instrumentality of men who lived in different ages, and who enjoyed different capacities for seeing the truth as it came from the Lord, must, in the letter, seem conflicting. And because of this, men may appeal to a lower form or appearance of truth as an excuse for not obeying a higher. But if men do not give heed to the servants of the Lord, whom He sends from time to time to reveal the most essential truths of life, then the Divine Revelation fails of its first purpose, which is to create in men a reason that can comprehend what is the Lord's truth on the moral plane of life.

     If the men of the Israelitish Church had been faithful in obedience to the teaching of the Prophets of God, exercising justice and mercy in their relations with their fellow men, they would have become able to see the genuine teaching of the letter of their Word. But ambitious men secured the leadership in the Church, and their evil will substituted prayer and fasting for morality, and washings and ritual for the worship of God. The teachings of the leaders prevented the light of the Word of the Lord from reaching other men; consequently the Church degenerated, even until such genuine truth as had been revealed in the very letter of the Word was no longer seen, and no man could be found upon earth who was capable of receiving and making known higher truths from the Lord. Then, when the Word of God had been made of no avail for the guidance of men to heaven, the Lord Himself took man's nature upon Him, and He Himself, as a man, became the instrument whereby His Divine Love revealed anew the genuine truths of the Law and the Prophets, as well as new truths concerning Himself, and concerning the spiritual life that should be in human words and actions. The New Testament Scriptures are a record of these truths in human writing, and through them the Divine Word has existed with men in the world since the Lord lived upon earth.

     Part of the Revelation given by the Lord through His First Coming consisted in fulfilling the true teachings of the letter of the Scriptures which the Jewish Church acknowledged as the Word of God. He did this by His life as a man in the world, and by explaining the doctrine given in the Word of the Old Covenant.

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But He also gave a new, Revelation of God,-a new Revelation of the nature of God and the quality of life from Him, which men could never have drawn from the literal sense of the existing Word unaided by this new Revelation, even if they had been faithful to the former Word, and this faithfulness had given them a spiritual-natural mind. Yet, if they had thus been faithful in obedience to the former Scripture, the explanation of the letter of the Law and the Prophets, as given by the Lord Himself, restoring the genuine truth or doctrine of the former Revelation, would have prepared their minds to see the genuine truth of the letter of the new Revelation of God, given in the record of the Lord's life upon earth; for in that natural human life the Infinite Lord Himself dwelt, and through it He worked and spoke.

     But even the literal sense of the New Testament, since it reveals the truth of the Lord through words and acts spoken and done at different times, under different circumstances, and addressed to men in different states, may seem to contain conflicting statements, which can easily be misinterpreted and falsified if read in the light of the natural intelligence of man not yet illuminated by the Word of the Lord through obedience to His plain teaching of the duties of man to man. And it is certain to be so misinterpreted and falsified if the man's intelligence is joined to an evil will. This, in fact, is precisely what took Place in the Christian Church. Ambitious men with an evil will managed to become the leaders and teachers of the Church, deciding what its members should believe to be the teaching of the Lord. Setting up their own false interpretations of the Word as the faith of the men of the Christian Church, and thus acquiring for themselves the power over men that belongs to the Lord alone, they ruled supreme, and led men to look altogether away from the Lord's plain teaching of love to the neighbor, and to neglect it.

     The teaching of the Lord in the letter of the New Testament Word is the Lord in the first heaven. And when the growing natural-spiritual rationality of the early days of the Christian Church, which dimly perceived the truth that the Lord is the only God of heaven and earth, gave way to the dogma of three different persons, each of them Divine, and thus blinded men to the genuine doctrine of the Lord and the true life of repentance and salvation, then the very foundation and existence of that heaven became threatened. But the Lord knows men.

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He knows the states of all, whether in present, past or future generations. And He knew that men would not be faithful to His teaching. He knew that the Christian Church, built upon the Revelation Which He, as the "Word made flesh," gave to man, would come to an end, because His life would be rejected from it, being shut out by men's own natural intelligence. And knowing that, He promised to come again as the Spirit of truth that would guide men to all truth.

     He has fulfilled that promise. He has given to men a New Revelation of the Divine Word,-a Revelation addressed and accommodated to the spiritual rationality which, through faithfulness to the doctrine of genuine truth in the letter of the former Revelation, had been developed in His servant, Emanuel Swedenborg, who became the human instrument for giving to men, from the Lord, that New Revelation in a letter of its own.

     In the letter of the Word of the Lord to His New Church,-that is, in the words and sentences through which it can be read or heard, and so come to the knowledge of men, entering into their understandings and being received in the will,-the doctrine of the Lord, and of life from Him in men and angels, is given as nakedly as men on earth will ever be able to receive it. The Divine Truth in all three heavens, thus the Lord as He is in the heavens, is thus revealed immediately to men in the very words of human language which form its letter. Faithfulness to the Heavenly Doctrine revealed by the Lord in His Word to the New Church can prepare men living on this earth to enter even the highest heaven after the death of the body. For such faithfulness not only develops in men a spiritual understanding of the Lord's Truth such as exists in the spiritual heavens, but also brings the Divine Good into their will, and gives them angelic wisdom from the Lord.

     And yet there are statements which appear conflicting to the minds of men in the words and sentences through which the Divine Truth is thus revealed to us as fully as it can ever be in human language. Many things combine to produce this effect. Not to make this article too long, I will draw attention to one only, which is, that the spiritual rational is formed gradually in any man.

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We are told in Conjugial Love no. 134, that "man is born into no knowledge, in order that he may come into all knowledge, and progress into intelligence, and by intelligence into wisdom; and he is born into no love, in order that he may come into all love, by the applications of knowledges from intelligence, and into love to the Lord through love to the neighbor, and so may be conjoined to the Lord, and by this become a man, and live to eternity." Born into no knowledges, having to learn from others, our intelligence developing according to our use of the knowledges imbibed, with wisdom developing according to our applications of knowledges from intelligence in performing the duties of love to the neighbor, we readily see that our spiritual rationality is of slow growth.

     The Divine Truth of the Lord accommodated to man's spiritual rationality comes to our knowledge at first through words and statements in natural language. Presented to us, as it must be, in statements that we can grasp with the natural mind, the truths that are above the time and space of nature must take on many different forms of statement, and these the mind must coordinate, if it is to see rationally their mutual relation and the spiritual teaching they contain.

     To the rationality developed in one man, two different statements may seem conflicting, while to the rationality of another they are seen as complementing each other, both statements being necessary to the revelation of genuine truth. To illustrate: We are told that the angels sometimes see the Lord outside the spiritual sun; we are also told that He appeared in Person to Swedenborg; again, it is said that the Lord is never seen in His Divine Human except in an appearance corresponding to the seeing angel's receptivity of His Truth and Love. To one mind, these statements may seem at variance; to another, they are capable of reconciliation. And the fact is, that all the statements in the Writings concerning the Lord as He is seen in the heavens, and as He is in Himself, must be well considered "from the connection of causes, and from truths in their order." (H. H. 455.) The ability to do this constitutes rationality in the ordinary sense, and that rationality is necessarily found in varying degrees with men in the world. We must, therefore, reckon with the fact that, from this cause alone, heresies can arise within the New Church, as it has in former Churches.

     There are other causes from which the same result may come. For instance, we have no good reason for thinking that ambitious men, with but partially developed rationality and spiritual perception, may not become the leaders and teachers in New Church organizations.

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Their interior will may be all right, but traditions and prejudices remaining in them from their former connection with the Old Church may be held in such affection as to prevent their seeing the teaching of the Heavenly Doctrine in true light. As a matter of fact, there is now a marked doctrinal difference in existing New Church organizations.

     We are assured, however, that the New Church is not to share the fate of the former Churches, all of which, from being interior, at first grew external, and finally died from lack of charity and spiritual understanding. That may become the fate of organizations now existing or coming into existence in the future; but the New Church itself will remain, and grow into perfection of charity and wisdom,-the crown of all the Churches. And from this Church, angelic heavens will be recruited, surpassing the heavens of the Most Ancient Church in wisdom from the Lord, even as the wisdom of an experienced but innocent old man surpasses the wisdom of an innocent child. The wisdom of both consists in an absolute reliance upon the Lord, and a complete sense and acknowledgment that everything good and true in them is from the Lord alone, and is the Lord's life in them; but that sense and acknowledgment is fuller and more perfect in a man who, in obedience to the Lord's Divine Truth, has passed through the different ages of life, with the accompanying experience and temptations.

     But it is also evident that, if this is to come to pass, there must always be upon earth an organization of men through which the existence of the Lord's New Church is maintained; for nothing spiritual can exist and grow in this world without a natural organization of its own. There must always be in the world a body of men who receive the truths of the Lord's Second Coming, and who, by applying them to life, grow in the spiritual understanding of those truths. For without such a body of men, there cannot be teaching from the Word of the Lord, from which alone heavenly life in men can grow.

     Naturally, every earnest New Churchman hopes and desires that the organization of the Church to which he externally belongs, and where his affection holds him, may become that instrumentality whereby the New Church is to exist and grow into perfection among men upon earth.

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It must be remembered, however, that any organization of men that is to become a natural body through which spiritual truth and heavenly charity can work successfully must fulfill certain requirements and conditions. Some of these can easily be seen in the light of Revelation and of reason. It would take too much space to recount many of them, and I will confine myself to one which, to my mind, is the most important, although the majority of New Church people do not see it, or acknowledge that it is taught in the Writings.

     The requirement I have in mind is this, that the organization fully and unreservedly acknowledge that the Revelation given by the Lord through His servant, Emanuel Swedenborg, is the Word of the Lord to His New Church. I know that the majority of the clergy and leaders in the organizations which are numerically strongest do not admit this, and, moreover, that they deny we are taught in the Writings that we should regard them as the Word of the Lord, basing their opinions upon some statements, but seeming to disregard others which support the doctrinal position of one existing and growing organization.

     In the earlier part of this paper, I endeavored to present a summary of the teaching given in the Writings concerning the proceeding of the Divine Word through the heavens to men on earth. The logical conclusion from that teaching would seem inevitably to be that "The Writings", in the very words and sentences, are the literal sense through which the Word of the Lord to His New Church is directly or "immediately" given; that is, the statements of the words and sentences of the Writings convey to us the Divine Truth of the Lord and heaven as fully and clearly as it can be revealed to men on earth in natural language, thereby approaching their-rational and spiritual faculties through the senses of sight and hearing. We have not to look for a separate internal meaning, correspondentially or representatively revealing the truth of the Lord through this literal sense; but that sense is the immediate container of Divine Truth, and brings that Truth to our knowledge as natural men.

     Those who oppose this view deny that there are any direct statements in the Writings which show that the Writings are the Word of the Lord.

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It is difficult to see how they can get any other meaning out of a statement that occurs in True Christian Religion, no. 3, which sets forth the "Faith of the New Heaven and the New Church in Particular Form", and where it is shown that, without the coming of the Lord into the world in Divine Truth, no one could have been saved, and where it further states that "it is similar at this day; wherefore, unless the Lord come again into the world, in Divine Truth, which is the Word, no one can be saved."

     I assume that anyone who wishes to be known as a New Churchman, and who professes to read the Writings, and to believe in the illumination of the Lord's servant, Swedenborg, believes that the conditions which prevailed at Swedenborg's time were the same as those which reigned when the Lord came into the world as Divine Truth, and thus that no one could have been saved unless the Lord had come again as Divine Truth. I also assume that such a New Churchman believes it was the Truth revealed through Swedenborg which removed the damnation that threatened, which reduced to order all things that were in heaven, all things that were in hell, and all things in the Church, and therefore that it was the Divine Truth in which the Lord came again, in order to save men. And yet, even believing this, many deny that the Divine Truth in which the Lord has made His Second Coming is the Word, although this is directly declared in the passage just quoted from the True Christian Religion, which, indeed, is complemented and given added force by another statement, in Heaven and Hell, which reads: "That at this day such immediate revelation exists, is because this is what is meant by the advent of the Lord." (No. 1.)

     Again, those who oppose this view claim to be content with Swedenborg's declaration that "doctrine is to be drawn from the literal sense of the Word, and confirmed by it" (S. S. 50), meaning the Word as accommodated to men in the Old and New, Testaments, besides which there is no Word that doctrine can be drawn from. We can agree with the declaration of the Divine Revelation, which is the Lord Himself in His Second Coming, that the doctrines promulgated by the Church must be drawn from the letter of the Word, and confirmed by it. But to us that Revelation of the Divine Truth is the Word of the Lord to His New Church; and the words, sentences, and literal statements, which immediately contain the Word of the Lord, are its letter; and to that letter of the Word the Church must necessarily go for its doctrines, and by that letter they must be confirmed. Where else should we go when in doubt about the Divine Truth concerning the Lord's glorification?

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Where else for definite teaching about the angelic life in the heavens, or of the heavens as one Gorand Man, or for the order of all things in the Church, which the Lord, "as Divine Truth, which is the Word," came again to restore?

If the declaration that "doctrine is to be drawn from the literal sense" did not apply with equal force to the Writings, we would be reduced to teaching the genuine doctrine of the letter of the Gospels alone, and thus return to the standpoint and teaching of the early Christian Church, being without a Word from the Lord whereby we could be led onward and upward to the spiritual truths of the Lord in His Divine Human, of life and uses in the heavens, of the spirit of man and his conjunction with heaven or hell, of the states he passes through during life in the body and after separation from it. In short, we would have no Divine sanction for all the truths which make the Church new, and the Revelation of John would still be a closed book.

     But, just as the letter of the Word of the Old Covenant is the doctrine of the Church established on that Word, and the letter of the Word of the New Covenant is the doctrine of the Church established on that Word, so the letter of the Word of the Lord's last and final Covenant with men is the doctrine of the New Church established on that Word. The mysteries of the Word,-the spiritual and heavenly senses behind the letter, and to which the letter corresponds,-these are the doctrine of the two higher heavens and these mysteries have been revealed to those who will be of the Lord's New Church in the letter of the Word given by Him to that Church, and upon which it must be established.

     The Christian Church declined and died because it misinterpreted and falsified the doctrine revealed in the letter of their Word. If this had not been done, that Church might have come to see the interior sense of the letter, and acknowledged the Lord Jesus Christ as the only God of heaven and earth. But the doctrine of the higher heavens, which is the spiritual and celestial sense within the letter, cannot be given men to know and understand unless it be revealed by the Lord. It has been so revealed. The letter of the Lord's Word to His New Church is the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem.

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From that letter, the Church must draw its doctrinals, its teaching and principles of policy. The several truths there revealed are so many mirrors of the Lord. We behold Him there as He is in the heavens, and faintly as He is above the heavens, mirrored in the very letters that serve to reveal Him to men in the natural world. The message to us from the Lord through the angel of the highest heaven is: "Enter hereafter into the mysteries of the Word heretofore closed; for its several truths are so many mirrors of the Lord." (T. C. R. 508.)

     That letter can be misunderstood and falsified. Doctrinals can be drawn from it which, to some minds, seem confirmed by it. All our present understanding of it is imperfect and rudimentary, and the interiors of many truths there plainly revealed are still hidden from us, because our spiritual rationality is not yet developed to see them. But if the organization of the Church preserves the order which is plainly revealed; if it establish that order in the Church, not from human prudence, thinking that, after all, it may be the best means of drawing members to it, but in obedience to the Lord's Word; and if the clergy of the organization does its duty in obedience to the Word of the Church, seeking "connections of causes and truths in their order" when they read the letter of the Word in which the Lord comes to His Church; then will they be illumined by the Lord, their reason will be enlightened, their spiritual rationality will grow more perfect, and their teaching will more and more closely approach the Divine Truth which the letter contains. The young people of the Church will then be properly instructed. The precious jewel of the Christian life-conjugial love-will then be restored, and the Church will grow in perfection, because the state of the Church is according to the state of conjugial love within it.

     If the leaders and teachers of the Church will always bear in mind the teaching of the Lord that the whole of the Word is nothing else than the doctrine of charity, and that all Divine Truth is given us to the end that we may learn to love the neighbor and the Lord, that, more than anything else, will guard them against going astray, because it will most effectually aid them to see truths in their order, the true relation of one statement to another in the letter of the Word, and connection between the statements, and their spiritual causes.

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USE 1921

USE       SAMUEL R. LEWIN       1921

     THE CHURCH'S MESSAGE TO THE WORKADAY WORLD.

     We are taught in the Writings of the Church (1) that "human life is nothing but a progression from the world to heaven," (2) that man can only reach that end ordained for him by the Lord by being regenerated or "born again," (3) that man is only regenerated in the faithful performance of his daily work; thus that no amount of superficial piety, sickly sentimentality, mistaken ideas of charity or attending worship and other functions of the church will ever, of themselves, land him within the gates of heaven; and (4) that he can faithfully perform the offices of his daily work in the world only when he does them from a desire for, and an end of, use. When we consider and meditate upon these four important teachings, we are immediately brought up against the great and essential question, What is Use?

     Use, in its essence, is the highest virtue or quality, of which man, according to his finite capacity, can have any conception, because it is the manifestation of, in fact is, the Divine Proceeding of the Lord's Love and Wisdom. The three attributes of the Lord are Divine Love, Divine Wisdom and Divine Use, and it is through the last mentioned that the two former are brought to our understanding and perception, and by means of which our Heavenly Father is able to pass on His blessings to us. We can see, therefore, by a little careful thought and reasoning, that use is the desire to give of one's very best for the good and welfare of the neighbor, without asking for any reward, or benefiting oneself in any way by so doing. The only thing one asks and prays for is the health, strength and ability to continue this good work.

     Now we know that the Lord, in His mercy, always provides the means that will enable a man to carry out any use or work which He, the Lord, in His wisdom, sees to be necessary, and which the man desires to do from genuine charity or the spirit of use. A recognition of this great truth assures us at once that, if all men were inspired with this heavenly desire, then no man would lack even the material means to enable him to perform his allotted task in this world, in the carrying out of which he would be advancing his regeneration, and thereby drawing nearer each day to that goal for which he was created.

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But we are still living in the sphere of a vastated and dead church, and consequently we can only expect to see around us the evidence of states that are opposite to those which will be the outcome of the descent of the New Jerusalem. Instead of a love of the neighbor, we see love of self, and in place of the desire to possess the means and wealth that will enable us to perform uses for the good of others, we find on every hand, and among all classes, the determination to get the largest possible material return for the very smallest amount of work done-and even this often not done conscientiously, efficiently, or with any pride in doing the work well. Hence the unrest, disturbances, and so-called "labor troubles" in the world at the present time, not to mention the mistrust, suspicion, jealousy, envy and class hatred, which these evils breed and develop as a consequence. The man of the New Church knows that the circumstances at the present time cannot but produce these states, and he derives comfort and consolation from the teaching that the Lord permits such evils to the end that they may be seen, acknowledged and shunned.

     But the question arises in the mind of the Church,-How is the great change to be effected in the world whereby the Lord's will-which is the true Spirit of Use-is to be "done on earth as it is done in heaven," and so a happier and more orderly state of things come into existence? One thing is certain; it is not coming through the medium of a dead and vastate Church,-an institution which can only produce falsities of doctrine, which lead only to evils of life. There is but one source to which we can look for salvation, and that is the Lord, who is to be found only in His dwelling-place, the New Church, The Church. We can expect, therefore, to find teachings that will lead us to a more orderly and happy state only in the Revelation He has given to that Church given for the sole purpose of leading His wandering children back to Him and His kingdom.

     We are forced to the conclusion that any influence powerful enough to effect a change in the world on all planes-spiritual, moral, and civil-can come only by means of and through the New Church,-the Lord's dwelling-place with man.

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The important teaching of the Writings, that "first states enter into all succeeding ones," shows that an orderly social and civil state is the outcome of a truly spiritual and moral one, and that it is quite impossible to improve the former otherwise than through the regeneration of the interior planes of a man's life. The very starting of this demands an acknowledgment of God; and an acknowledgment of God cannot exist apart from the desire to know and carry out in every possible way, and at all times and on all planes, His teachings as revealed to us.

     The recognition of these truths, and the knowledge that the Lord always uses man as an instrument in carrying out His work in the world, places a tremendous responsibility upon the man of the Church,-a responsibility that he should not shirk, since his regeneration depends upon his carrying out, to the best of his abilities, the teachings he has already received; and his earnest prayer should ever be for more light and more strength. His conscience-that true conscience which is gradually being formed by his living the truths that he has been able to understand-forces him to study the Lord's Revelation continually, to seek for instruction and guidance in meeting states and difficulties which are permitted to arise for the very purpose that he may, in the Lord's strength, overcome them, and, by so doing, become a useful member of the Church and of society on all its planes in the world around him.

     In this study and seeking after truth, the man of the Church will immediately come up against the most important doctrine of Use; and a careful investigation of this most profound and interesting subject will throw unlimited light upon all the present unsatisfactory states of life in the world, and will suggest-nay, not suggest, but teach-how happier states may be brought about. He will learn that Use, which is another name for charity, (and "charity is doing what the truth teaches"), is to be the one guiding principle in all his dealings with his fellow man. Self-interest, in all its forms and manifestations, is to be shunned as coming from hell; and every time the temptations that continually arise are overcome by him-in the Lord's strength, but "as of himself"-he will find, inflowing from the heavens in increasing measure, the genuine love of use. The nobility of work-the sanctity of the daily task-become more and more a matter of conviction and life with him, and he recognizes in his daily use one of the Lord's greatest blessings to him a blessing which will eventually lead him into the kingdom of uses above.

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It may be that his efforts seem insignificant, and almost lost amid the turmoil and unrest of an unregenerate world, but he has the whole strength of heaven-aye, even of the Lord Himself-behind him, and this great "Army of Use" must prevail in the end.

     Thus the great responsibility of the man of the Church becomes his opportunity, and he will welcome it as an indication of the Lord's desire to take him, not out of the world, but from the evil thereof. He will be careful, on all occasions and under all circumstances, whenever possible, to apply the teachings of the Writings to his actions and life, and so, in his small way, to hasten the good time when "the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord ", and when it will be fully recognized that "human life is nothing but a progression from the world to heaven, and the last, which is death, the passage itself."
     BATH, ENGLAND, June 19th, 1921.
DIVINE WORSHIP 1921

DIVINE WORSHIP       RUPERT LEWIN       1921

     Divine worship is the most necessary part of man's life. Indeed, strictly speaking, it is man's life, for worship consists in living the life of love toward God and charity toward the neighbor. It is utterly useless for a man to perform carefully all the requirements of outward worship without caring for a good life, although it is only too plain that this is often done. Nevertheless, it is important for every one to attend to external worship, as well as internal, for the latter is sustained and helped by the former. If going to church did not spur a man on to do better, there would be no object in cultivating the practice.

     Divine Worship, we are told, is carried on in the heavens in somewhat the same way as on earth; that is, the living of a good life is aided by worship in temples, by which instruction is given. In these temples, the sermons are preached by angels specially appointed by the Lord, and these are from the spiritual kingdom, because all in the spiritual kingdom are in truth from good, and can impart it to others, even to celestial angels, who, because they perceive truth as soon as it is presented, can receive enlightenment on what they already know.

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The congregation sit in a semicircle facing the preacher, and take places according to the degree of their wisdom, the most wise directly in front of the preacher.

     The model for Divine Worship on earth should, of course, be taken from the order in heaven. The sermon is the chief part, and the rest of the service should be so arranged as gradually to lead up to it. A service consists of three parts;-humiliation, instruction and praise. Humiliation comes first, because thereby the things of self and the world are removed, and the mind prepared to receive instruction and give glorification. Instruction consists in hearing extracts from the Word and afterwards a discourse bearing on what has been read. Praise consists in devout and earnest singing and thanksgiving.

     The Lord's Prayer is one of the most important parts of worship. This prayer covers the whole range of thought, and is so arranged as to be a continuous series increasing from lowest to highest. This is shown in the Writings by the numerous times Swedenborg says that a certain thing was presented to him when reading or praying the Lord's Prayer.

     Music is essential to worship as a medium expressing praise. The highest form of worship would provide for the congregational singing of extracts from the Word, accompanied by musical instruments of every description. It is not, of course, the effect which is of importance, but the feeling on the part of the worshipers; still, a high standard of musical art is much more likely to inspire proper feeling among the hearers than a low one; for music, almost more than anything else, moves men, and above all, music in worship. It is, therefore, very important to maintain a high standard in this part of worship, and to endeavor to see that every member of the congregation enters into it.

     Prayer, also, is a part of Divine Worship that all can and should enter into. Prayer is really speaking to the Lord; by its means, influx is opened from the Lord, and a state receptive of truth induced. But prayer is of no use if not from a right motive; the mere mechanical repetition of set sentences does not help a man. Prayer is the expression of man's charity, and so it varies as does a man's character.

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We pray on our knees because that position is the natural expression of humiliation. Prayer should be performed, not only in church, but regularly at home.

     It is the Lord's will to be worshiped, but not because of any benefit to Himself from it. The Lord requires men to worship Him because they are benefited thereby and helped towards the attainment of heavenly life. The Lord desires that every one should come to heaven, and so He provides worship as a means toward the attainment of that end. The joy that the Lord derives from being worshiped is that of being able to do good to men.

     It is important to remember that worship is entirely a matter of freedom. The Lord compels no one to worship Him, and therefore it is not the business of men to force others to go to church. Mistaken ideas in this respect are indicated in the history of the Puritans, who, when they were in power, actually passed laws compelling everyone to attend worship regularly. Similarly at the present day, far too much attention is paid to numbers at church services. It is quite right for a man to point out to another the desirability of worship; but it is wrong to urge him continually to go to church, for thereby his freedom is interfered with. Besides, it is one of the peculiarities of human nature that a man who does attend church can easily be driven away by hearing always of the necessity of worship. Perhaps if less time were spent nowadays in lamenting men's apathy about the churches, and in continually appealing to them to cultivate the habit of worship, more might be done to increase the spiritual standard of the community as a whole. At any rate, only those will join the New Church who wish to do so, and those who are not in a fit state to do so will never be made New Churchmen by an attempt to drag them in forcibly.

     The custom of worship has been in practice as long as the human race has existed, and its forms have varied according to the capacities of the times. In the Most Ancient Church, worship was performed in the open air, in beautiful spots which provided a splendid external basis for it. In the Ancient Church, correspondences were made use of, and carefully studied. In the Jewish Church, worship consisted in a very large number of minute observances, carried out with a passionate care for detail, all of these minute ceremonies being provided by the Lord to prevent the Jewish race from falling into idolatry.

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In the Christian Church, worship has varied from the magnificent pomp of the Catholics to the severely plain service of the Puritans. In the New Church, the efforts made by two of its general bodies have not resulted in much that is remarkable; the Conference service is plain and undistinctive, and, except when the sermon is distinctive, it is not much more than an imitation of the Old Church. In the General Church, however, real efforts have been made to set up a ritual that shall be as perfect as possible in the light of the Revelation to the Church. Its order of service is, of course, not perfect, but it is a vast improvement on those of the other New Church bodies. Besides, the General Church pointedly teaches the necessity of family worship, and of worship in one's daily life. As the Mew Church grows, no doubt the order of worship will be continually perfected, so that in time the Crown of all the Churches will have a service worthy of its own greatness, and fitted to glorify the Lord, whose pleasure it has been to institute this Church for the salvation of men.
     BATH, ENGLAND, June 19th, 1921.
PSYCHOLOGICAL DATA 1921

PSYCHOLOGICAL DATA       J. B. S. KING       1921

     SECOND PAPER.

     The first three days of life in this world are very much like the last few days of life in the womb; there is no harsh or abrupt transition. After the first crying that expands the lungs, the infant lies quietly, simply breathing and sleeping. No food should be needed at this time. The lungs have taken in their first inhalations of the air of this troubled planet, and are becoming accustomed to their new function; the blood is traversing a novel route; the interauricular foramen is being permanently cemented by a flap of tissue.

     The interior avenue of nutrition from the mother's blood having been shut off, hunger, in a normal child, begins about the third day. The first meal is taken, the sense of taste is awakened, and accompanied by the harmonious team-work of many muscles in sucking and swallowing.

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By the same act comes the satisfying touch of the mother's breast and probably the dim beginnings of an appreciation of the mother's sphere of love and protection.

     Thus, in ignorance and helpessness, does the infant start upon the long and difficult journey of life: a journey-however beset with troubles, however smoothed with joys-that leads inescapably and inevitably to the spiritual world-happily to heaven, possibly to hell. All travelers along that road are conducted at an even pace, without haste, without rest, to the gate of death,-a gate so narrow that but one can pass at a time. In the Records of Manu, one of the oldest pieces of literature in the world, it is said: "Alone man comes into this world, and alone he passes out of it".

     THE FORCES WITHIN.

     The little atom of humanity lying in helplessness and ignorance in its mother's arms, or on her breast, is the central point of mighty forces, the field of immeasurable activities. The conception of a soul starts intense and far-reaching activities in the spiritual world, working with consummate perfection toward the all important end of salvation. There is very much that we do not see, concealed within that soft, pink, tender body. There are organic structures and activities that rise, by discrete degrees, through the limbus (the purest natural substance) into the spiritual world and up through the world of spirits, and then, unassailed and unassailable of evil, through the spiritual heavens, through the celestial heavens, and beyond the highest reaches of angelic consciousness to the primordial form of the soul, the human internal, to rest there forever, bathed in the abyss of Divine Love and Wisdom.

     How little we realize! How meager our appreciation! How insensate our attitude before the august immensities involved in the helpless babe!

     REMAINS.

     The little traveller is heavily handicapped with hereditary tendencies to evil from both parents, those from the father being in the lowest parts of the spiritual mind, while those from the mother, still lower, inhere in that purest natural tissue, spoken of in the previous article as being made from the mother's bloods.

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Per contra, we may number among the baby's felicities that God the Creator, operating through angelic societies by an influx of innocence and peace, has already fortified the baby mind and soul for its hazardous journey. This occurs through the entire period of gestation, and after gestation to the first years of life in the world. These ministrations are performed by angelic societies composed of the sweetest and wisest of angels, who "love infants much more than their fathers and mothers do. They are present with infants in the womb, and by means of them the Lord there takes care that infants shall be nourished and protected. They have charge over those who are with child." (A. C. 5052.)

     To our purblind eyes, babies often arrive in this world in poverty, neglect and loneliness; unwelcomed by the parents, abused by clumsy attentions, or by scientific fallacies of the age. It is comforting to think that the angels have had the first chance, that, during the whole nine months of gestation, they have held the gravid mother and the nascent child in the tenderest and wisest care. This is the period when celestial angels are chiefly active, operating through the lower degrees of the mind, and depositing remains of good in the sensual impressions, before there is anything that could properly be called knowledge. Love, charity, and the essential innocence that is within them, "are insinuated into man primarily in infancy till childhood, and this without cognitions; they inflow from the Lord, and affect, before man knows what love is or what affection is. These in men are remains, and are stored up for use in after life." (A. C. 1450; see also 3183 and 5342.)

     The incessant movements of the baby, the handling and feeling of every accessible object, the roving eyes that stare at the far and the near, the desire to taste everything,-these are but the process whereby there is a transference of the outer world to the virginal tablets of the mind. Every impress there is a knowledge which immediately becomes a form recipient and containant of spiritual influx. As knowledge grows, innocence wanes, and hereditary evil tendencies become more active. Celestial angels become less active, while those of the spiritual heavens become more so. The mind is full of an eager curiosity to know the how and why of things. The interior seat of thought descends; truths become more interesting than good; the great eternal verities of the spiritual world are learned and believed in simplicity, because teachers and parents so say.

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     Gradually, as the years go by, the youth begins to think, not as before, from others, but from himself. He considers the things he has been taught in childhood, and as it were ruminates upon them. He considers, he doubts, he denies, or he affirms. His rational faculty-the first rational-is based largely upon appearances, with an admixture of intellectual truths. It lies low at the threshold of the natural mind, and is crude, harsh, cocksure, uncharitable. Read in the Arcana Coelestia about Abram, Sarai, Hagar the Egyptian handmaid, and Ishmael, and see how this first rational is born. Abram corresponds to the spiritual influx, Hagar to the affection for knowledge in the natural mind, Ishmael is the first rational that is thereby brought forth.

     The digestive organs of ruminating animals are particularly correspondential to this process of mental growth. Turn the hungry animal (cow, deer, goat or camel) into pasture, and note how eagerly and hastily it crops the grass, swallowing immense quantities without chewing. The incisor teeth are used entirely in this browsing, the molars not at all. The food goes mostly to the paunch, but a proportion to the reticulum or second stomach, as they have nearly the same function. By these two departments of the apparatus, the food is macerated, massed, and arranged into morsels or boluses. The animal now lies down in a quiet state, and the process of rumination or "chewing the cud" begins. Boluses are regurgitated to the mouth, where they are slowly, deliberately and thoroughly chewed over by the molars and reswallowed, going now directly to the third and fourth stomachs,-the manyplies and the abomasum. Here they are digested, entering the blood, and thence all parts of the body.

     The appetite of the animal corresponds to the eager desire of the child to know things-the how and why. The paunch is the memory, which is crowded with a mass of unrelated facts, but arranged and related somewhat to each other. The period of rumination corresponds to the age when the youth thinks from himself, bringing up the many things learned in childhood and ruminating them over, considering, reflecting upon them, and confirming, doubting, or rejecting them, as the case may be.

     (To be concluded.)

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REFLECTIONS ON MAKING AN INDEX 1921

REFLECTIONS ON MAKING AN INDEX       Rev. DAVID H. KLEIN       1921

     To many a reader, the term "index" connotes but a vague image of utility. It visualizes itself, rather, as a sort of mechanical, but orthodox, addition to a volume, created in deference to his casual, if hardly probable, desire of recalling some chance point of interest. So, at least, it would appear to him who reads for the mere pleasure of absorption, under no stress of study, with no direct responsibility for further definite use of his knowledge.

     With the student, however, the case is different. To him, an index is the key that unlocks the stores of buried treasure. Its curt and abrupt typographical items are instinct with life, and its black figures luminous. Some vital point in his work may hang upon the readiness with which it gives response to his inquiries. He knows that it may save him hours of wearisome research, which, indeed, would but too often prove fruitless. And when, in his study of a subject, he covers the range of those authors who have written or taught about it, he feels himself happy if he find in each volume a good index, beneficently prepared to make the subject matter available.

     It is only within the last generation that the art of indexing has been made to cover the field of periodical magazine literature. The scope of this work has broadened so as to call forth various publications in its special demesne and to enlist the services of an army of experts. Only recently, one of our greatest newspapers his undertaken to prepare indexes of its contents. The enormous scope of this work is indicated by the last quarterly index, embracing items that fill over five hundred pages. Of course, few individuals would keep files of this publication on hand, but various depositories are established in cities and universities throughout the country, where they may be consulted.

     Considerations of these facts leads to the thought of what has been done in the past towards the systematic indexing of New Church periodical literature, and, beyond this, to the nature and value of that literature itself. The latter has hardly been realized by the commonalty of the Church's membership.

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Yet the periodical literature of the Church truly reflects "the very age and body of the time", and forms the most substantial groundwork of the future historian's labors. Here are imaged the uses of the Church, as expressed in its varied activities. Its central figures move before us, not merely as actors in a drama of events, but as exponents of things still near and dear to us, so that ofttimes we lift our eyes from the browned and perhaps dusty pages in a glow of sympathy that bridges the lapse of years and makes us kin to them. But, more than this, we find expressed the thought of the Church on its vital doctrines, and their application to the ever varying conditions of human life. In this field of study lies profit and guidance, as well from the appreciation of truth as from the recognition of error.

     All these things, however are but ill at hand to the student, if he be without a subject-index that arranges their records and classifies their themes. Some little of this has been done. Perhaps the most pretentious effort is the Index to THE NEW JERUSALEM MAGAZINE, of Boston, covering forty-four volumes, 182 7-1872. This Index was not published until 1882, ten years after the close of that period. Its dignified fullness of statement is in quaint and-to the writer-pleasing contrast with the commercialized brevity of many present-day efforts. It is an extremely interesting, not to say fascinating work, and the mere perusal of it is something of an education.

     The Rev. Arthur Faraday, of England, worked for years in preparing an index to the INTELLECTUAL REPOSITORY, 1812-1881, and to other New Church periodicals published in England prior to 1882. This monumental work thus covered the whole field of New Church periodical literature in the British Isles during that period. But it has never been published. The returns from the sale of it would naturally be small, and Conference itself has not seen fit to assume the expense of publication. In 1909, a hopeless attempt was made to secure individual subscriptions at five dollars each, and this was followed by annual appeals for three successive years, when the whole matter fell into silence and oblivion.

     Coming, now, to the field of Academy and General Church work, we find an Index to the three volumes of WORDS FOR THE NEW CHURCH. This was prepared by Professor William Whitehead, inspired by the needs of the student body of the Academy, and it embodies a permanent use to that large class of readers which shall ever need to appeal to this standard authority on Academy teachings.

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     The Rev. C. T. Odhner's Annals of the New Church, while not called an index, nevertheless provides references to every event of historical importance in the growth of the Church from the very beginning. It crystallizes the results of years of reading and research on the part of the indefatigable author, and is indispensable to the student of New Church history.

     In 1900, Mr. Odhner, with the help of others, prepared an Index to NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1881-1899, covering nineteen volumes. This is a very valuable work, much used by students of the Academy, and to some extent by others. But it is doubtful whether its value is generally appreciated, or, indeed, if its very existence is known of in the Church at large. Recently, to supplement and complete this work, the writer has prepared for the Academy Library a twenty-one year card-index of the NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1900-1920. This, with Mr. Odhner's index, covers the forty-year period of the LIFE'S existence.

     A perusal of this latest card-index calls up old impressions, and gives rise to reflections grave, grateful, sometimes whimsical, and at all times interesting; for it outlines, in a sort of mental panorama, the history of the General Church almost from its beginning, in 1897, to the present time. To many who have lived through that period, forgotten events will be vividly brought to life again, old themes called forth, and perhaps old moods revived. Throughout the Index, for example, one may trace the order and form of government of the General Church as it developed until, in 1914, we come to a sort of culmination in the "Statement of Order and Organization", which presents a clear-cut outline of principles, methods and uses; and the various steps of discussion which led to their adoption are found in the Journals of the General Assemblies, as printed in the LIFE.

     Most interesting in this retrospect are those items which indicate the doctrinal trend and general thought of the Church, for these are also matters of its life. The range is wide, and covers a host of subjects. And we are struck by the way in which now one, now another, subject comes up for study, discussion, or controversy, to hold the stage, as it were, for a time, in the full glare of the footlights, then to recede and disappear.

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There is still much written about the "Priesthood," but the ground of treatment has shifted from the question of order and subordination to that of enlightenment and general use. The "State of the Christian World" comes in for full consideration, especially in the earlier volumes, and sporadically throughout. "Evangelization" appears as a perennial subject, despite the fact that the General Church has done so little of it. And then there comes the period of unprecedented interest in Swedenborg's Scientific and Philosophic Works. This is truly an epoch of distinction in the Church's history. From general articles and numerous treatises dealing with "The Relation of the Scientific Works to the Writings," the study advances to the intricate and particular consideration of specific cosmological questions; and if one recalls a certain ruefulness, current at the time, over the manner in which the subject was engaging the almost exclusive literary output of the Church, one may now question whether the time has not come for a new start.

     A straightforward and vigorous statement comes from a woman correspondent, setting forth difficulties on the subject, "Are the Sexes Equal?" This draws forth an unexpected and spirited response from many quarters. Indeed, the "Woman Question" receives fairly adequate treatment throughout, save, singularly enough, at the time when one would expect to hear it most fully discussed, viz., at the recent passing of the Suffrage Amendment to the American Constitution.

     At another time, a sharp controversy arises when profane hands are laid upon the hitherto "sacred" subject of "Homeopathy." If, on reading the indexed articles, one gains the impression that the faith of the Church as a whole has not been much moved or even jarred, there remains, nevertheless, the feeling that the tilt has been of use in establishing the principle that the conscience of the individual member is not to be bound in matters of medicine, politics, economics, art, and so forth.

     Perhaps the most serious controversy is that over the "Form of the Spiritual Body" and the "Nature of Spiritual Substance." Here the Index bristles with daggers of cross-references, replies, critiques, strictures, and counter-retorts. One leaves this with rather a sense of relief at the controversy's ceasing where it did, postponing the evaluation of the whole matter to a future period of calm retrospection.

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     But controversies, though frequent, are but incidental in the field of the LIFE'S work. Standing out as landmarks are certain distinctive articles that may well be called New Church classics. Note various addresses of Bishop W. F. Pendleton to the District Assemblies, and his studies on the subject of New Church Ritual, or to chose but one example at random, his article on "The Imagination",-a theme that has been pretty well threshed over for centuries by world-psychologists and school-pedants. Yet what a new and clarifying light is thrown upon it, opening a loftier vista for our concepts, which may now reach within the borders of the spirit-world! Consider, also, Bishop N. D. Pendleton's "Messianic Prophecies," a familiar topic to commentators and expositors, but here infused with the spirit of the New Revelation, possessing intellectual vigor and charm, and holding its own peculiar affectional appeal. The Rev. Alfred Acton's study of the subject of "Dreams" must for a long time remain "the last word" on that theme. And then there are the numerous studies in hitherto uncharted areas, wherein the Rev. C. T. Odhner employed his original and versatile genius; not to mention the many sermons and articles of distinction by gifted, if less prolific, writers.

     It would seem that these treasures of the LIFE should not lie buried. The value of an index to students, ministers and scholars is perhaps evident. But it may perform a wider use, if, in the perusal of it, the active thought and interest of the laymen be aroused and stimulated to consult these valuable sources of intellectual growth. To that end, every New Church society should be a depository of a full set of the bound volumes of the LIFE, where these things may be available to all who wish for them. In one of our General Church Societies, during the past year, a group of members held regular meetings for this very purpose, reading all classes of articles, and enjoying thereby a more than exceptional intellectual and social companionship. In this way, the labors of our early Church leaders are happily and profitably extended beyond their own time.

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GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY 1921

GLEANINGS FROM NEW CHURCH HISTORY       PETER CLAASEN       1921

     DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW CHURCH AT ROSTHERN, SASKATCHEWAN.

     Reflecting upon the rise and progress of the New Church in Western Canada, I recall what I was told by my brother, Abram Claasen, concerning the beginnings in the Province of Manitoba, where he resided in the eighties and nineties, later moving to Hague, Saskatchewan, where he remained for many years.

     In the eighties, a Mennonite minister, Zeiler by name, came from the United States to visit my brother in Manitoba, and brought with him some of the Writings of the New Church, which he had read with great interest and recognized as the sole truth in religious matters. He was of the opinion that they would also interest my brother. At that time, both were members of the Holdeman's Society, a sect of the Mennonite Church in the United States which also had members in Manitoba. Apparently both men were seeking for the truth in reference to spiritual questions, for they both became believers in the Doctrines of the New Church. And soon afterwards some others, residing in the vicinity of Gretna, Manitoba, also became receivers. I recall the names of the following men who accepted the Doctrines: Abram Claasen, Rev. Henry Wiebe, William Vogt, Jacob Wiens, Abram Guenther, David Loewen and Jacob Wiebuhr.

     In this manner was the seed sown by the Divine Sower, by means of His instrument, Zeiler. It was a very small seed, but-wonderful!-it grew into an herb, and finally into a tree, in the branches of which the birds of heaven come and lodge.

     At that time, I was still living in Russia; but I learned through letters from my mother, Mrs. Bergen, who lived near Gretna, Manitoba, that my brother Abram had changed his creed twice; that is, he had first become a "Holdeman" and then a "Schwedenborger," as the people called it.

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Although I nominally belonged to the Mennonite Church, I had already become what was known as a "spoiled" Mennonite. An incident in my experience as school teacher will illustrate this: On examination day, at the close of the school year one of the questions put to the pupils was, "Whence had Cain his wife?" The pupil promptly answered, as instructed, "He married his sister." After the exercises, a former teacher, congratulating me on the progress the children had made, expressed his surprise in regard to Cain's fantastical marriage, saying that, until then, he had never reflected upon it, and adding that the answer given must be the truth, since it could not be otherwise. Within myself, however, there was the thought: Is it really the truth! The Scriptures do not so teach. And it was such scruples that arose more and more in my mind.

     With regard to my brother's having "changed his mind twice," I simply thought he had gone wrong. Today I must confess that I, too, have changed my mind twice since that time, but without going wrong. On the contrary, I am receiving more and more light.

     In the year 1890, I, with my family, migrated from Russia to Manitoba, where we at first resided with my brother, Abram. One day I took a book from his shelf and read it. It was a German translation of the New Church collateral work, entitled Skepticism and Divine Revelation. Reading it with great interest and astonishment, I said to myself what others had said before, and what many others will say hereafter: "This is just what I need!"

     In 1892, I removed with others from Manitoba to Saskatchewan, where we made our home in the Rosthern district. About two years later, other believers in the doctrines of the New Church came to Rosthern. And when, some years afterwards, the Rev. Mr. Bartels, of the German Synod in the United States, extended his missionary trip to Rosthern, about half a dozen families were organized as the first New Church society. Later, six families, coming from Manitoba, joined the society. Some of these took up their abode at Hague, not far from Rosthern, and the society there was increased later by three families.

     Now these small new societies in the Rosthern district began to develop, both internally and externally; and concerning them a large book might be written.

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There were many difficult problems for us to solve, ignorant, as we were, of the truths of the Heavenly Doctrine, which alone could be our guide in the struggle; and so it must be admitted that we made many mistakes. Yet those mistakes, resulting from ignorance, were not so bad and harmful; for by means of them we came to realize, more and more, our spiritual weakness and imperfection. The principal obstruction to our development was the proprium of man. It is quite the case, as our Visiting Pastor recently wrote me, that "the dragon hates the New Church, and seeks to destroy it. For the Lord says that those who are truly of His Church will be 'persecuted for His name's sake.' And although this persecution is for the most part an internal one, coming from the spirits of the dragon in the other world, yet it manifests itself at times in this world also, by means of persons whom the dragon uses as its instruments. There are occasions when we must repel these attacks; but mostly we can but follow the Lord's admonition, 'In your patience possess ye your souls.'"

     II

     The Mennonite Church is distinguished from other Churches in that it grants more freedom of thought and action. It is more liberal as to some points of belief. This fact we may regard as the reason why, in the Canadian West, more people of that Church than of others have accepted the doctrines of the New Church. It is a Divine law that man must be regenerated in freedom, by the exercise of his own will and determination; and it is a logical consequence that the more freedom a man is given, the more ability he has to perceive the Divine Truth, and thus-to become a regenerated individual. But this circumstance in the Mennonite Church may also be the reason why the proprium, rooted in the love of self and the love of the world, is more in evidence with those who have grown up in that Church. They love the conceit that they are better than those of other Churches. I have always had the impression that every orthodox and dogmatic Mennonite potentially carries the ministerial license in his pocket, and that when he succeeds in being elected a preacher, he believes himself to have attained perfection.

     It frequently happens that a Mennonite, because he is inclined to think for himself, is dissatisfied with his original Church. Many, therefore, go over to other Churches.

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The zealous traveling preachers of other Churches find among them a favorable field for their propaganda. But the Mennonite characteristics remain, and so we find that a former dogmatic Mennonite can scarcely become a thorough New Churchman. Some of the old Mennonite leaven continues with him. Still, by good will, and by frequent reading of the Doctrines and reflection upon them, he can more and more lay off the old, queer Mennonite, and make steady, though slow, progress in developing into a New Churchman.

     Picture the new believer, in whom these three things exist,-the old Mennonite, the New Churchman, and the proprium, with the last named sitting on the throne and striving to rule over others,-and you will see the state into which the new society at Rosthern fell. Friction and quarrels arose. Some New Church ministers visited us from time to time, and sought to be of use, but were unable to effect the healing of our unfortunate condition.

     It is undoubtedly in accordance with our doctrines that a young society must go through many trials and combats, necessary to those who strive for a better spiritual state. If we had recognized this truth, and if, above all things, we had studied the Writings frequently and intelligently, instead of turning our thoughts to the faulty actions of men, we would have grown, and have become a light unto others. But this course was not followed, and so the state became worse and worse, until finally all church activity, such as Sunday school, joint reading, and religious gatherings, came to an end-a sad condition that lasted for about two years.

     Thus the New Church society-or rather, the truth of the Writings among its former members, for a society no longer existed-had become like a garden in winter, lying under ice and snow, waiting for the approaching spring, with its warm breath, to awaken the slumbering germs in the earth to a new growth. Or, it had become like the princess, called "Little Rose," in the enchanted castle, surrounded by a high, thick thorn-hedge, through which no one could penetrate, until the right man came, a fine and brave prince, who heaved through the hedge and released the princess after her sleep of many centuries.

     And the spiritual spring-breath came to the waiting New Church believers in the Rosthern district; that is, to those who were worthy of it. And the right man came, and cut down all hindrances.

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A new society sprang into being-God be thanked! The writer, however, was not present at the time, and did not as yet participate in the event.

     III

     Let me now tell my own experience in connection with the new movement. In my early years as a New Churchman, I was in communication by letter with ministers of the German Synod, which later joined the General Convention. The reason on my part for such a correspondence was that I wished to become acquainted with men of deep knowledge in the Heavenly Doctrine, and to profit thereby. All of their letters were good, and of value to me. Then some of these ministers visited Rosthern, and I became acquainted with them personally-except one who came during my absence. Of the others, I remember five. One, who seemed to possess considerable wealth, was what we call an "inflated" man; the second was not true in his speech, and thought very much of his own ability; the third delivered good sermons, but remained strange to us; the fourth tried to discredit the General Church, this being his favorite topic. It was clear that their personalities were not in harmony with their letters to me. One of the ministers, the fifth, was a fine man whom we held in high honor. Nor must I forget to mention still another,-the Rev. Mr. Bartels, before referred to,-who was a faithful man and helped us most of all. But it seemed to me that some of these men administered their charge in a rather job like way. They gave good, but cold, instruction, lacking the quality that brings elevation of the soul to higher spheres, and the feeling that one is in the presence of the Lord.

     It was in the year 1913 that the Rev. F. E. Waelchli, of the General Church, made his first visit to Rosthern, coming on the personal invitation of one of our number who had visited the New Church people in the East. Mr. Waelchli taught and officiated at services for about six weeks, and the effect 6f his work was most favorable. Since then he has visited us every summer, the result being a small but flourishing society of the General Church. There is also a society of the General Convention here, the existence of which is probably due to the revival of the church brought about by Mr. Waelchli's work.

     Let me now describe how I came to be a member of the General Church.

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Church history relates how Augustine-later a great Father of the Christian Church-became a Christian, namely, by the prayers of his mother, Monica, which pursued him constantly and gave him no rest, until later he broke down under a fig tree, and there, in humble prayer to God, confessed his sins and became a Christian. I am convinced that, perhaps not prayers, but surely good spirits and the hearty wishes of good friends followed me, until I could perceive the truth of life and its glory.

     Most people commit the fault of condemning a thing before they have examined it properly, and of regarding hearsay as the real truth. I myself committed this fault when I held the opinion that, outside of the General Convention and its instruction and preaching, there could be no truth anywhere. My attitude was like that of the simple and ignorant Catholic toward his priest, pf which the martyr Huss exclaimed: "What pious simplicity is this!" Accordingly, I regarded the General Church as being completely in error, and this without examining what it believed and taught. More than this, I even attacked it in communications to New Church periodicals, under the conviction that the General Church could not be otherwise than wrong, and we alone right.

     One summer Sunday morning in Rosthern, I went to visit an acquaintance in a nearby street, and had to pass by the church of the New Church people. As the services had not yet begun, many of those in attendance, including Mr. Waelchli, sat out-of-doors. I was about to go by, but Mr. Waelchli arose, came toward me in a most kindly manner, and delivered a greeting from my son at Chaplin; this led to further conversation. After a while, the people went into the church, and I walked in too. During the service it was as if a higher and better sphere had come upon me. I felt the prevailing state intensely; and as long as I live, I shall never forget that Sunday morning and the sermon I then heard. It is impossible for me to determine why I was so moved and impressed,-whether it was due to the sermon, or to something in my own state. Probably it was both. Undoubtedly, in Providence, I had been prepared to receive the Divine Truth which came to me through the Lord's representative. I felt that I had reached a turning point in my life. The Lord be praised!

     Reflecting today, I remember clearly that, in my former life, I had had other decisive turning points.

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And how good it is to have them! We see this from the story of Jacob at Bethel and at Mahanaim. We must have them in our life of regeneration, or we cannot be saved. We cannot otherwise come to perceive truths more and more, and in ever clearer light.

     When Mr. Waelchli's visit that memorable summer came to an end, an evening gathering to say farewell was held at the home of Mr. John Hamm. It was for me an interesting event, never to be forgotten. I was called on to speak, and though unprepared, I said just what I thought and felt. I expressed my surprise at finding things so very different from what I had been told of General Church social gatherings. I told the friends of my experience, and how my eyes had been opened to see things in true light; and that I would now say to all who were opposed to the General Church, as I had been: "Come and see!"

     We deeply regret that three of our New Church families have recently moved away from Rosthern, and that our circle has thus been diminished. But we are of cheerful heart, and look confidently to the future, knowing that the work is from the Lord, yea, is the Lord's, and therefore can never go down. The Lord says: "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
     ROSTHERN, March, 1921.
LORD IS BATED BY THE HELLS 1921

LORD IS BATED BY THE HELLS              1921

     "That the Lord is God, who alone is to be worshiped, is manifestly evident from this, that the hells are filled with the most bitter hatred against the Lord; not so against the Father, whom also some hells call the Creator of the universe, from the habit of speaking that was formed in the world, and this without hatred. But all the hells are against the Lord; they are not willing, neither are they able, to name Him. It is most delightful to all of them to torment those who adore the Lord, and this delight of theirs is extreme. A sphere against the Lord is exhaled from all the hells, and a sphere for the Lord from all the heavens; hence is an equilibrium." (Athanasian Creed 201.)

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Editorial Department 1921

Editorial Department       Editor       1921


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.
Editor                    Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Rev. W. H. Alden, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address and business communications should be sent to the Business Manager.

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
One Year                $3.00 payable in advance
Single Copy          30 cents
     THINKING SPIRITUALLY OF THE LORD.

     Several times in the work on The Athanasian Creed, mention is made of the fact that it is difficult for Christians to think of the Human of the Lord as Divine, and the reasons for this are given. We read that "the idea can with difficulty be held by Christians that the Divine which is called the Father is in the Lord, for the reason that they think that the Divine of the Father, because it created the universe, cannot be in the Human. . . . They think from the idea of extense and of space; when yet the Divine Itself is not to be thought of from the idea of extense or space." (Ath. Cr. 68, 120. See D. L. W. 285.) Again, it is said that "Christians can hardly think and have perception of the Divine Human, because they think of an ordinary man, and not of the human essence, which is love." (Ath. Cr. 209, 173.) Thus the two hindrances to a true thought of the Lord may be assigned to one cause, namely, the proneness to merely natural thought inherited by Christians at this day, and confirmed by so many who lead the merely natural life. For the difficulty in comprehending that the Human of the Lord is Divine is one with the difficulty of thinking spiritually,-a faculty which is acquired only by elevation of the rational above the natural, above the objects of the senses and the properties of nature-time, place and person-to what is of state and quality, and a viewing of the lower from the higher.

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They who have not thus acquired a spiritual point of view are prone to think of the neighbor from his form, not from his quality, and to think of the Lord from His Person, not from His Divine Essence; whereas, if they thought of the Lord's Person from His Essence, they would think spiritually even of His Person. (A. R. 611.) But in the measure that men think naturally and materially, they cannot but regard the Lord as a mere man; and this may even be done by those who profess to acknowledge the Divinity of Christ.



     Among those who have tried to comprehend the Divinity of the Lord's Human, there are those who find it difficult because they are of uncultivated mind, and have not learned to think spiritually by a practiced elevation of the rational above the natural. The transition from childhood to adult age is attended with this difficulty; but those who are then moved inwardly by affections of piety, charity, and simple faith will think of the Lord as a Divine Man, ascribing the attributes of God to Him, as the early Christians did; and this, even though they cannot as yet grasp with clearness of understanding how the glorified Human is Divine, and thus not like the human of any man or angel. Such, because they worship the Lord in simple faith and reverence, are potentially spiritual; in fact, they do think spiritually, though obscurely, and with little elevation of understanding.

     There are others, chiefly among the learned, who claim that they have endeavored in vain to comprehend the Divinity of Christ. They are such as are well acquainted with the Scriptures, and have cultivated their minds by the sciences, and by some exercise of their reasoning faculties; but they have not acquired the faculty of thinking spiritually. Though their understandings have been somewhat elevated into the light of the spiritual truth of the Word, they have not established their point of view on that higher level.

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In certain states of mental elevation, they have abstracted their thought from the objects of sense and the properties of nature; but since they were unwilling to make the truth of Divine Revelation the beginning of thought and action, thus to love and obey the Lord, they do not think spiritually, however much they may talk from the memory with apparent intelligence in the things of religion and theology. In heart they do not will that the Lord be God. Though they are better able than others, they are less willing to acknowledge the Divinity of the Lord's Human. And so the real reason they cannot comprehend the Divine Human is that they do not wish to. Men of this stamp may be "intellectual," but they are not "spiritual." And you will find, upon close inquiry, that they think of the Lord as a mere man. We cannot doubt that there are many such today among the learned and cultivated in Christendom-Unitarians at heart, though they be the first to anathematize the professed Unitarian and banish him from the Church.



     If outward evidence of the widespread existence of this state were lacking, we still would have the assurances of Divine Revelation to that effect, as witness the following: (italics ours).

     "Spurious and adulterous faith is with those who regard the Lord, not as God, but only as man. That this is so, is manifestly evident from the two abominable heresies, Arian and Socinian, which were anathematized in the Christian Church, and excommunicated from it; and this, because they deny the Divinity of the Lord, and climb up some other way. But I fear that those abominations lie concealed in the general spirit of the men of the Church at this day. It is a remarkable thing, that the more anyone thinks himself superior to others in learning and judgment, the more prone he is to seize upon end appropriate to himself the idea that the Lord is a man and not God, and that because He is man, He cannot be God." (T. C. R. 380.)

     "Almost all who pass from the world into the other life regard the Lord as a mere man, and exceedingly few have an idea of His Divine. The reason is, that they say three Persons and one God, and that they make the Lord's Human to be distinct from His Divine. . . ." (Ath. Cr. 83.)

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     From these statements it is clear that both the tripersonal idea of Athanasius and the Arian denial of the Lord's Divinity have reduced the latter-day Christian Church to the same level of regarding the Lord as a mere man, and that this abomination "lies concealed in the general spirit of the men of the Church at this day."



     The New Churchman, who, by means of the Heavenly Doctrine, has acquired some spirituality of thought, who is blest with a growing perception of the Divinity of the Lord's Human, cannot be insensible to this survival of Arianism in the modern Christian world. The Writings have led him to expect, and he finds painful evidence of the fact, that there is little acknowledgment of the Divinity of the Lord, consequently little genuine worship of the Lord as God; the reason being that the prevailing naturalism of thought and life has closed the minds of men to all spiritual perception, with the result that they cannot but think of the Lord "as an ordinary man."

     And what are the symptoms of this state? When the visible God is banished from the thoughts of men as the daily object of worship and adoration, He is inevitably supplanted by human worship of the human; for man must worship something,-himself and his kind if not God. And do we not find, pervading the oratory and literature of the day, the flavor and atmosphere of human achievement, of the personal adulation of men, with a horrible self-consciousness over it all? From the pulpit we hear much of the "Master", of the "Man of Galilee," of the "Carpenter of Nazareth." They speak of the "divinity of man and the humanity of God"! For they must debase Divinity if they are to exalt humanity. But where do you find any avowed worship of the Lord Jesus Christ as God?

     It is quite true that the old forms of Christian doctrine and ritual are maintained; and you will hear many claiming that they acknowledge the Divinity of Christ, But if you will engage in searching conversation a minister or laymen of the Old Church, you will pretty certainly find that his mind is beclouded with doubts in regard to a fact which should be of dearest conviction,-that Jesus Christ is the God of Christians.

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If you should be so fortunate as to encounter one in whom the fire of Christian love and pious faith has not gone out, still you will find little comprehension of the sacred mystery of the Godhead. Yet you will feel that he is better off than the one who has allowed his learning to destroy his faith.



     One day recently, as we walked a city street, a stranger handed us a little card, upon which we found nothing but the inscription: "Jesus Christ is God." A few days later, we heard the same expression from the lips of a street preacher, who, however, soon drifted into the familiar cant of the vicarious atonement plea: "Make Jesus your personal Savior! I have accepted Him, and He has taken away my sins. I have no further need to try to be good; I trust in Him." The two incidents led us to the reflections recorded above concerning the two classes of belief prevalent among Christians today. On listening to the curbstone evangelist, we could not feel that he had little realization and grasp of the momentous significance of his declaration that "Christ is God." It seemed as though he had used it merely as a sensational catch-phrase, as an introduction calculated to arrest attention and prepare his hearers for the conventional "faith alone" exhortation. We felt the same about the little card.

     Now we will not pass judgment upon the inner character of these missionaries. For all we know, they may be sincere Christians. Nor shall we deny the possibility that the old-fashioned "salvation by faith" appeal may rescue some poor, ignorant, backsliding soul from perdition, and start him on his way to better things. But we feel certain that faith alone, with its tripersonality idea, and its unhealthy sentimentalism, no longer reaches and satisfies the man of ordinary intelligence. Being rescued from any further effort to do good, and thus from the need of repentance, is a getting of something for nothing, which is repugnant to his sense of justice, out of keeping with the order of things generally and with his experience in other matters. Yet, if he rejects the old dogmatic formula, what has he to take its place!

     We know that these things are signs following the Last Judgment, when, as foretold in our Doctrines, "the man of the Church is to be in a freer state to think concerning the things of faith, thus concerning the spiritual things which are of heaven, because spiritual freedom has been restored; . . . from which restored freedom he can better perceive interior truths, if he is willing to perceive them, and thus become interior, if he wills to become so." (L. J. 73, 74)

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But how many will be willing to receive the new light of interior truth in place of the rejected fallacies of former Christian belief? However few they be, we must regard the present "breaking up of the creeds" as a sign of that "freer state" to think spiritually,-a state brought about "to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."



     Proclamations to the effect that "Christ is God" are not new in the Christian world. A notable and dramatic instance is recorded by Robert Hindmarsh in his Rise and Progress of the New Jerusalem Church (p. 13), where he describes how an unknown hand wrote the phrase in prominent places all over the city of London and vicinity, and restored it in secret as often as it was erased. Whether or no, in this and more recent instances, the idea was obtained from the Writings of Swedenborg, we cannot tell. Without attempting an explanation, we must at least admit that there are still a few among Christians who, in a more or less obscure perception, acknowledge the Divinity of the Lord, somewhat after the manner of Nicodemus, who came to Jesus "by night," and who confessed, "We know that Thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can do these miracles that Thou doest, except God be with him." (John 3:2.) This is one degree of acknowledgment,-that God was "with Him," that the Divine was in Him and doing the miracles. But the further acknowledgment that, in His glorified Human, the Lord Jesus Christ is wholly Divine,-to this Christians can come with difficulty, and only in fullness through the Heavenly Doctrine, which has been given to remove the obscurities of former Christian beliefs, to implant a faith of light, to open the rational to a contemplation and spiritual grasp of the Divine attributes, from which it is possible to see ever more clearly, and thus to acknowledge in heart, that the Human of the Lord is Divine, and that He is God of heaven and the church.

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     To cultivate this rational faith, inspired by spirituality of thought and affection, is the chief function of the New Church. For all things of a man's life are determined and qualified by the idea of God inmostly reigning with him, and his salvation by regeneration depends upon his having a true idea of the Lord,-a true thought of the understanding elevated into spiritual light, affecting and moving his will to obedience and his heart to adoration, to a new patterning of his life after the truths which reveal the Divine Human of the Lord. The Lord saves because He is God Omnipotent; and there is no salvation for those who are confirmed in the thought of Him as a mere man. Such thought is purely natural, material, personal, and moves man to no heavenly aspiration. "God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth."
CATHEDRAL VISITOR 1921

CATHEDRAL VISITOR              1921

     There is doubtless a great variety of reactions to the influence and message of the Bryn Athyn Cathedral among the strangers who continue to flock thither in large numbers, many of them carrying away New Church literature to peruse at their leisure. In the majority of cases we shall never know what impression is made, but occasionally we hear by word or letter, as witness the following anonymous communication received by the Rev. W. H. Alden, Manager of the Academy Book Room:

     September 16, 1921.
Dear Sir:
     About a month ago I was in the beautiful church being built at Bryn Athyn, Penna. The structure is beautiful. While there, I noticed some leaflets free to the public. I took one of these home with me, and upon reading same I found the belief of the church is not like the Bible teaches us. I can scarcely believe that anyone would teach doctrines so contrary to the Bible. Do not be deceived. Christ is the Son of God who died to save us. He shed His blood on Calvary that we might be saved. We are saved by grace, and not by works, as this leaflet would lead us to believe. Our works show our faith and love for Him, but will never save us.

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     Christ is also coming again to receive His own, and has not made His second coming by revealing the internal sense of the Word in the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. Whoever he is I do not know, but I do know the Bible says that false prophets shall appear, and there seems to be a great many of them.

     I believe in the Bible, and in Jesus Christ as my Savior, and no man can persuade me to accept a new faith or religion, or whatever it is; for the Bible tells us to beware of these things. There are those who have a form of Godliness, but deny the power thereof.

     I have plenty of earthly friends, but when it comes to my soul's salvation I want a Friend like Jesus, who was tempted like as we are, but overcame all temptations. I want a Conqueror or a Victor as my Guide to place my soul in His care, and net a man of like passions as we are (as Paul says in the Bible).

     I do not know if you believe their teaching or not, but I am inclined to believe so, for the leaflet says you are Manager of their publishing house. If you disagree with their doctrine, do not print it. You only send others to Hell by teaching them a false belief.
     Respectfully,
          ONE CONCERNED.
WORD TO CONTRIBUTORS 1921

WORD TO CONTRIBUTORS              1921

     As we are occasionally asked by writers to state what is the best form in which to prepare and submit manuscript for publication, we would here set down a few simple recommendations for the guidance of those who so generously contribute articles, sermons, news reports and other matter to the pages of NEW CHURCH LIFE:

     1. Use letter-size sheets, 8-1/2 by 11 inches.

     2. Write plainly on one side of the paper, allowing a margin on the left and liberal space between the lines. Two inches should be left blank at the top of the title-page.

     3. The ideal manuscript is typewritten, but there should be ample space between the lines.

     4. Manuscript should not be rolled for mailing.

     5. For further particulars, consult such works as A Manual for Writers (University of Chicago Press), which covers the needs of authors for information on rules of writing and practices in printing.

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     So far as it is possible for our contributors to follow the suggestions made above, it will lighten the labors of both editor and typesetter. We wish it understood, however, that we are not adopting the rules usually enforced by periodicals, as we realize that many of our writers will not be able to conform to them. And we trust that no contribution will be withheld because of the form in which it has been committed to paper.
NOTES AND REVIEWS 1921

NOTES AND REVIEWS              1921

     "A New Church Fellowship.-Our readers will remember that some time ago the formation of a Fellowship, consisting of those in the Church who acknowledge the Divine Authority of the WRITINGS, was foreshadowed in this paper. We are glad to be able to report that the Fellowship is now in being. A preliminary meeting was held in Manchester on June 4th, and by the time this issue of THE REMINDER is in our readers' hands, the inaugural meeting proper will be a matter of history. The number of those living in the body who attended the preliminary meeting was few; but who can say how many were present from the heavenly societies, delighted to perceive in the world a homogeneous sphere in which they could rest? The circumstances were not favorable for a formal meeting, but the conversation had the right 'ring,' and, being based affirmatively on the WRITINGS as the Lord's own Revelation, those present experienced a rare joy of heart.

     "The name by which the group will be known has not yet been determined, but the object is to provide opportunities for closer fellowship with the Lord, such as, in the view of the members, can only be achieved by regarding the teachings of the WRITINGS as His teaching without question. Those who are already of that mind belong by right to the group, and their presence at the meetings will be most welcome. Information concerning the group will be furnished to all bona fide inquiries who send a stamped addressed envelope to the editor of this paper."-Rev. W. T. Lardge, Editorial in THE REMINDER, Bradford, England, October, 1921.

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Church News 1921

Church News       Various       1921

     Mr. Iungerich's visit to Brazil.-During our stay of seven and a half weeks in Rio de Janeiro, I preached on eight consecutive Sundays. Before leaving Bryn Athyn, I had translated into Portuguese seven of my own sermons and one by the Rev. T. S. Harris. The subjects of these sermons in the order of their delivery were: "The Writings as the Word," "Love of the Neighbor," "The Nativity," "Marriage in the Church," "The State of the Christian World," "The Doctrine of Spheres," "The Discovery of One's Use," and "Breaking with One's Environment, in order to Follow the Lord." For the purpose of correcting possible errors of translation in the sermons, Senhor Francisco Xafredo kindly met with me once or twice a week at the Hall, 5 rua Sachet, where the services are held at present. He has a remarkable feeling for literary style, and is so averse to anything that is not in good taste, that my manuscript had a decidedly mangled appearance after it had been submitted to his critical fire. He-my guide, philosopher and friend-is himself the author of an anonymous New Church collateral work, Cartas Perdidas ("Lost Letters"), which is very tasteful and readable, and, in a limited way, has already been acting as a Samson among the Philistines. Typical of his own vein of humor, I may cite the following:- In one of my sermons, I incidentally referred to Francis Xavier, quondam Jesuit Father and reputed saint, noting succinctly the nature of the hell to which he gravitated after death, as described in the Writings. Senhor Xafredo believed it would be better to suppress all mention of him in the sermon, and upon my asking whether he felt that some members of the congregation, on account of their former Catholic affiliations, might be shocked, he replied gravely: "No, it is because your pronunciation of Portuguese is not entirely reliable, and you might make a slip and say 'Xafredo' instead of 'Xavier,' which would be very embarrassing, unless I happened to be sitting in the back row!"

     Senhor Xafredo met Senhor Leonardos some twenty years ago, when both where students of occultism in their search for spiritual truth. They then met Senhors de La Fayette and Braga, who had started a movement to spread a knowledge of the Writings of Swedenborg, both by private and public talks, and by loaning copies of the Writings in French, and also Kicher's La Religion du Bon Sens. In fact, quite a number of the men who attend New Church services in Rio have passed through the stages of Catholicism, Agnosticism, Spiritism, Occultism, and occasionally Theosophy, prior to their renouncing all of these for the pure gold of the Lord's Revelation at His Second Coming.

     The attendance at two of the eight services was 40 and 51, respectively, but at the other six it varied from 73 to 77. On July 10th, I baptized 10 adults and 4 children, and on August 9th, 10 adults. On July 17th, assisted by Senhor Leonardos and Senhor Mendonca Lima, I administered the Holy Supper to 32 communicants. These two gentlemen had been authorized by the Bishop of the General Church to perform the functions of ministers in the second degree of the priesthood, pending ordination. Subsequently, the Bishop also authorized Senhor Carlos Braga to perform like functions. On August 21st, the Sunday following my departure, the Holy Supper was to be celebrated by Senhor Leonardos, assisted by the other two. On the occasion of my administering the sacrament, the pastors partook first, and then gave the elements to the congregation, who came to the chancel to receive them.

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The wine-a ruby-colored port-was poured from the pitcher into the individual glasses for each group as they came forward. The bread had been prepared by Senhora Leonardos according to a recipe I gave her. This was the first time the Holy Supper had been celebrated by the New Churchmen in Rio de Janeiro. They felt that the sacrament was so holy, and themselves so unworthy, that it would be harmful for them to partake of it.

     Within a few weeks of my arrival, Senhor Castilho had translated the major part of the First Office in the General Church Liturgy, as well as the Offices of Baptism and the Holy Supper; and Senhor Leonardos had published these in pamphlet form, including four of the Chants. The Offices of Betrothal, Marriage, Confession of Faith, and Ordination are now being translated, and will be added to the preliminary pamphlets, and the whole properly bound.

     The formal organization of the members as a Society of the General Church was consummated immediately after the service on July 24th. As incorporated, the Society recognizes the Sole Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has made His Second Coming in the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, which, therefore, are His Word to His New Church. The name of this local church is A Sociedaae A Nova Jerusalem, and it is affiliated with the General Church of the New Jerusalem, whose episcopal seat is at Bryn Athyn, Pa. To become a member, one must have been baptized into the New Church, have signed an application to the Bishop for membership in the General Church, and inscribed his name upon the roll book of the local church. Adults who have not complied with these requirements, and also children, will be considered as guests of the Society, with all privileges saving that of holding office and of voting at meetings. The head of the Society shall be a priest of the second degree who has been nominated by the Bishop and accepted by the Society. His committee of advisors will be six in number, including the Secretary-Treasurer; elected annually by the Society. The Society is entitled to receive bequests and other gifts, and to administer the same for various specified uses; in the event of its becoming defunct, said funds shall be turned over to the Treasury of the Government of Brazil.

     In drawing up the instrument of organization, we were assisted by Senhor Barrosa, a Methodist with strong New Church leanings, who very kindly offered his services in giving the proper legal form to our principles. Senhor Alvaro Castilho, acting as temporary Secretary, read the finished statutes to the assembled members. Senhor Henry Leonardos, presiding, then put them to a vote. He did so in the following words: "All those in favor will please signify assent by remaining seated. Carried unanimously." The statutes having been accepted, Senhor Leonardos was recognized as president, and the following gentlemen chosen as the committee of six: Senhors Castilho, Xafredo, Sarmanho, Velloso, Barbosa, and Jeudy. Meeting apart, this committee then chose Senhor Teudy as their Secretary-Treasurer. I had prepared a letter of congratulation, in which I called attention to three essentials ever to be kept in mind by a society of the church, namely, devout reading of the Writings in church and family worship, the importance of working together in a choir, and the sustentation of the church by offerings at service and donations to specified funds. Limitations of time prevented my reading this letter at the meeting, but it was given as a farewell address after the sermon at the last service.

     As a conclusion to the formal part of my church work, I gave two lectures on Swedenborg's Cosmology, tracing the story of creation from the Natural Point, and even to the psychological fall of the most ancient people. To cover the ground more rapidly, these lectures were given in French. About 40 persons attended, and the interest aroused was so great that I have promised to send copies of the scientific Works to a dozen individuals, each of whom has agreed to begin translating into Portuguese the copy assigned to him.

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And so it is likely that, in the course of a few years, the Society will be enriched by a number of valuable manuscripts. I may mention that the members of the Society are talented in a literary and musical way. Like Senhor Xafredo, Senhor Henry Leonardos has published one work, The Resurrection of Lazauus. A fairy story by his daughter, Senhorita Leila, published while in her teens, was enthusiastically reviewed by all the prominent Brazilian papers, and sold out a first edition within a year. These and other members possess in manuscript the translations of various works that are of use to the Church. In the musical field, Senhor Raimundo da Silva has composed a hymn for which Senhor Jeudy has supplied the words. I have a copy of this, and hope we shall hear it in the cathedral this year. There are other musicians in the congregation, but I do not recall their names.

     The Society contemplates publishing a monthly journal whose name is the Portuguese for "New Church Life," viz., A Vida da Nova Igreja. The first issue is to appear in September, and will contain a Portuguese translation of "The Principles of the Academy," and also a valuable editorial giving the history of the development that brought the members more and more closely into sympathy with the General Church until they finally joined it.

     As to the social side of our visit, we naturally saw more of the Leonardos family than of the others, as we were entertained daily in their home. Senhor Henry Leonardos, the son of a former Grecian consul in Brazil, is the Vice President and active director of a growing banking business, O Credito Popular, located in the center of the business section of Rio at 25 rua Sachet. At least ten of the staff of the bank are members of the General Church, while two others continue as members of the Geral Associacao, which holds services under the direction of Senhor de La Fayette at rua Visconde de Itaborahy. There are six children in the Leonardos family, three of whom are adults and members of the General Church. We are deeply indebted to all of the members of the family for the thousand and one kindnesses which their unfailing hospitality showered upon us, ranging from numerous pleasure trips by auto to the cordial intimacy in which we discussed all sorts of questions relative to the Church and the way to develop a social life among its members.

     We had the pleasure of dining with the Velloso family, the younger members of which are remarkable musicians, and treated us to ensemble and solo numbers on the piano, violin, guitar, and bandolin; each of them performing, now on one, now on another of the instruments. I also dined with the Jeudys, who received the Doctrines from Senhor de La Fayette when they resided in Chile. One Sunday after service, we went with Senhor Joao de Mendonca Lima to his home at Realengo, twenty miles by rail from Rio, where we were entertained at dinner by Senhor and Senhora Lima and their three children. He is an officer in the Brazilian army, but hopes in course of time to devote himself more fully to the work of the priesthood, his chief ministerial activity at present being the translation of English articles and sermons for the benefit of the members of the society at Rio. Another family we visited was that of Dr. Celestine Vicente, whose wife and son Victor were baptized by me on August 7th. As Senhor Sarmanho and his daughters Georgina and Laura reside near the Leonardos home, we saw them a number of times, and had the pleasure of dining with them. Mrs. Iungerich exchanged several visits with the young ladies, discussing New Church education and assisting them in the use of the English language.

     I had the pleasure of visiting Senhor de La Fayette twice at his church rooms. Mrs. Iungerich and I also took tea with him and his wife at their home, where he showed me a number of his as yet unpublished translations of the Writings.

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We discussed the order of their publication, and also exchanged views on a number of doctrinal questions, with a difference of opinion as to using dreams and visions as guides. On my leaving, he presented me with an excellent article in French, excoriating with full doctrinal artillery the Roman Catholic Church. Mrs. Iungerich attended his services on Sunday, and was impressed with the sphere of reverence that prevailed. The hall of worship and adjoining church rooms have been very tastefully and attractively decorated for the uses performed there.

     Before closing this brief account of our stay at Rio, I wish to say a word about that grand old worker of the early days of the New Church in Brazil, Senhor Carlos Frederico de Oliveira Braga, who has now been authorized by the Bishop to perform ministerial functions. As Senhor Xafredo was my literary mentor, so Senhor Braga was my cicerone and guide on many street car rides and pastoral visits. His love has been to call on people, and talk to them heart to heart about the doctrines of the New Church. He also dearly enjoys a tilt with Protestant ministers over the doctrine of faith alone, and to corner Catholic priests when they will let him. It is hard to say what language he and I conversed most in, as we followed each other around from Portuguese to French, then to English and to German, with the added spice of an occasional quotation from the Latin.

     When the time of our departure arrived, eighteen of the friends assembled on the wharf to bid us farewell, and as we left the pier and drew off into the distance, the last familiar form we could distinguish was the tall athletic figure of Senhor de Deos, whose waving hat and handkerchief we could discern long after the other friends had become indistinct outlines.

     The voyage homeward was uneventful, save for my having to preach on both Sundays of the record-breaking thirteen-day trip to New York. On one Sunday, I repeated the sermon on the sole Divinity of the Lord, which I had delivered on the way down, the congregation numbering 30 persons. For the second Sunday, I announced the subject of the sermon in advance,-"'Married Life in Heaven,"-with the result that about 80 persons attended the service, half of whom were colored people from Barbadoes. As a result of the interest aroused, I gave away all my Portuguese New Church literature, and also found that a young musician on board became interested in the Doctrines, and will shortly visit Bryn Athyn.

     Rio has a fatal lure for Americans, and it is said that no American who has visited there can be happy without the prospect of returning. I think I can say that of myself, and that even now I greatly desire to return to that city, where we were so warmly received and entertained by the New Church friends, and where I shall again see the twenty-four, upon each of whom I had the privilege of pronouncing the blessing: "O Senhor te abencoe e te guarde, o Senhor fat luzir sua face sobre te e tenha misericordia de te, o Senhor sobre te levante sua face e te de a paz."
     E. E. IUNGERICH.

     THE HAGUE, HOLLAND.-On August 23rd we had the pleasure of visit from the Revs. Theodore Pitcairn and F. E. Gyllenhaal, who gave us interesting information concerning their work and experiences in Basutoland, and told some amusing anecdotes.

     On the following day, August 24th, the Bishop arrived at the Hague, accompanied by the Misses Creda and Doris Glenn. The first general meeting of the friends of the Society was held on Friday, the 26th, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Francis, where a pleasant evening was spent in useful conversation. The Bishop spoke on various subjects, emphasizing the Divine Authority of the Writings, and making clear that the church in various countries must be based upon as broad lines as possible, adapted to the genius of the different peoples, but always adhering to the Divine instruction given us through Swedenborg.

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The subject of New Church education was also dwelt upon, and there was a brief discussion of the relation of the Dutch "Swedenborg Society" to the General Church in this country. The final subject touched upon was that of the Bishop's address on "The Lord and His Kingdom," recently published in New Church Life.

     On the following Sunday, August 28th, the Bishop conducted services at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Engeltjes, preaching, in English, a sermon on the subject of the "Altar in the Jewish Tabernacle." Holy Communion was then administered, the Bishop being assisted by the Rev. Ernst Pfeiffer. After the service, the Bishop read to us a telegram of friendly greeting from Mrs. Gerrit Barger, who was unable to attend. In the afternoon, we had the pleasure of conducting the Bishop and the two young ladies on a sight-seeing tour of the outlaying parts of The Hague. In the evening we all came together at the house of the Rev. and Mrs. Pfeiffer, where the Bishop baptized their baby son, just a fortnight old. After the ceremony the conversation drifted to many doctrinal subjects, but all too soon it was time to break up and bid farewell to our American friends.

     We now look back upon the Bishop's visit with grateful recollections, and feel that visits of this kind are of great use to the life of our Church circle, and also tend to unite our small Dutch society in thought and sphere with our friends abroad.
     M. B.

     COVERT, MICH.-Writing of the church activities among the New Church people who gather every summer on the eastern shores of Lake Michigan, the Rev. W. L. Gladish, of Sharon Church, Chicago, states: "We had a very delightful summer at Covert. Two services were held on Sundays, a Friday supper, often attended by 60 or 70 people, and children's classes on Wednesday mornings, with 3 teachers and from 12 to 18 pupils. Ten-minute doctrinal talks were given both Friday and Sunday evenings. There was more inquiry and reading by outsiders than ever before. The ladies had a bazaar, and made $130.00. The meeting house has been moved and improved at the cost of $500.00."

     TORONTO, CANADA.-The visit of the Rev. Alfred Acton to the Parkdale Society was most inspiring. Some features of this visit were noted in the news columns of last month, but his final address to the Society had not then been given. This was an address on "Swedenborg's Psychology, or the Formation of the Human Mind Mr. Acton was in excellent form that night, and gave one of the most splendid addresses which it has been the privilege of the writer to hear. It left with the Society an eager desire to go further in this field of scientific thought, and I have no doubt that the inspiration of his presence here will bear fruit in the organization of a little Philosophy Club to study Swedenborg's philosophical works.

     On Sunday, September 11th, there were three baptisms and the administration of the Holy Supper. The two sacraments made a very intense sphere, and that, coupled with the fact that almost all of the vacationists had returned, made the day memorable.

     On September 18th, the Sunday School reopened. We were pleased to note that we had not lost any children over the vacation, our only loss being the graduating class of 11 members, who will now attend evening classes at the home of the Pastor. Mr. Alec Sargent is back with us as Superintendent, with Mr. Craigie as Assistant Superintendent. The old staff of teachers is back again, with the exception of Mrs. Theodore Rothermel, who has been compelled to resign on account of other duties.

     On September 21st, the Society held its Quarterly Meeting. Reports were received from the Treasurer, and from the Chairman of the Building Committee. A unanimous vote of thanks was given to Mr. Potts, Chairman of the Committee, and to Mr. Izzard, Superintendent of Construction, for the "loving care" they have bestowed upon the Church work.

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     The Pastor then outlined the program for the coming year. In the Doctrinal Class, the "History of Education" will be taught. The Young Folks' Class will take up the study of the doctrine of the Word. The ladies will have a monthly class, and the Philosophy Club will commence by reading Mr. Acton's essay on the "Origin of Man" appearing in the New Philosophy.

     The burden of the report of the Pastor was to call the attention of the Society to the fact that the completion of the building only marked the conclusion of a very external part of our growth, that the real thing was the idea behind the building, which was the worship of the Lord and the establishment of a Day School. He made a plea that the sole object for which we work during the coming year be the reopening of our School in the fall of 1922; for without New Church education, no Society can long maintain itself.

     On September 28th, one of our most successful socials was held, with an attendance of 70 persons, old and young. The committee in charge consisted of last year's graduating Sunday School class, with Mr. and Mrs. Cyril Bellinger at the head. The feature of the occasion was that the social was held in our new social room, which we all realize will fill a long felt need.

     The date for the dedication of our new chapel has not been decided, but it will be on or about November 27th. The chancel furniture and the pews have been completed, and it is a source of satisfaction to us that they were all built in the shop of a New Churchman and finished by our own members. Last week we had a record attendance of sixteen men at the work night. It is surely a splendid thing to see men actually working to prosper the things of the Church. Of course, they are doing it all the time, but it is only when it comes down and ultimates itself in the natural that we are able to catch the spirit and inspiration of it.

     The Pastor's new study at the church has been finished, and is now occupied by him in partnership with the Book Room. It is indeed a beautiful room, and should form a very happy place of work for its incumbent.
     K. R. A.

     SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA.-The annual meeting of our society was held on July 13th, when the reports and balance sheets were read by the Treasurer. The chief topic of discussion was the church building, the corner stone of which had been laid on the previous Sunday. Many details were discussed, and much had to be left for another meeting, owing to the lateness of the hour. It is our custom to celebrate the founding of the society by a social after the business meeting; this time it was crowded out, except for refreshments.

     The laying of the corner stone at Dudley Street, Hurstville, took place on the 16th anniversary of the founding of the society. As it was a Sunday afternoon, the Sunday School exercises were somewhat shortened, and then all walked to the site of the new building. The Pastor opened the ceremony by reading from the Word. This was followed by the singing of Hymn too from the Liturgy, after which all joined in the Lord's Prayer. The Pastor then delivered an instructive address, giving the spiritual significance of the ceremony, and showing that the corner stone represented the Divine Human of the Lord, this being the foundation of all true theology. The stone itself is inscribed with the words, "Holiness to the Lord," in Hebrew, and the date, "10-7-21," and was laid by the Pastor, assisted by Messrs. Morgan, Ferran, and Kirschstein. This interesting ceremony was brought to a conclusion by the singing of Hymn 73 from the Hymnal and the Benediction.

     Without a beginning, nothing is ever accomplished; but once begun, great may the possibilities of growth become. And it is our hope that, with the possession of a place of worship in Hurstville, the wants of the children will be better attended to, and that the spiritual usefulness of the society will be increased in many other ways.
     M. M. W.

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     PITTSBURGH, PA.-Services were resumed on September 4th, and the Sunday School on the following Sunday. The Day School was opened on the 12th with a service and an earnest address by the Pastor. The afternoon hour made it possible for a gratifying number of the parents to attend. We are fortunate this year in having both Miss Celia Bellinger and Miss Elise Junge back again as our teachers; and the spirit of energy and application that pervades the school gives promise of the most satisfactory results. This year will be notable for the fact that, for the first time, we shall carry some pupils through to High School. That will connect our school with the Bryn Athyn secondary schools, in cases where the pupils are not too young. But our ambition for the future is to carry one or two grades more, or until the pupils are old enough to go away from home. Several of the younger pupils of last year are not with us, owing to the removal of parents to a distance; but we most devoutly hope that conditions will change, and that we may have them all back next year. One pupil has been enrolled from Middleport, Ohio.

     Meanwhile, the Sunday School continues to co-operate with the Day School in important phases of the big work, Mr. Brickman being still in charge. We feel the loss of Miss Edith Potts, who has returned to Bryn Athyn, but we are happy to welcome Miss Sarah Schoenberger as a teacher.

     Mr. August Trautman recently entertained the gentlemen of the Philosophy Club at a cornfest held at his beautiful country home. The rain drove us indoors, but there we threshed out the local political situation, which proved very useful, as no one, unless he be "on the inside," knows what all the campaign literature means.

     As all but one member of our last year's Sunday evening High School class have now gone to attend the Academy Schools at Bryn Athyn, we have substituted for it a "College" class, composed of twelve young persons of both sexes, who will take up the study of Divine Love and Wisdom. At the opening class we read from No. 188 as follows: "The object of this work is to disclose causes, in order that from them effects may be visible, and thus the darkness dispelled in which the man of the Church is as to God, the Lord, and the Divine things which are called spiritual. This I may say, that the angels sorrow for the darkness of the world, saying that hardly anywhere is light visible; that men seize upon fallacies and confirm them, and thus heap falsehood upon falsehood. . . . The angels especially lament the confirmed belief in faith separate from charity; they also grieve over the prevalent ideas of God, of angels and spirits, and the existing ignorance of the nature of love and wisdom." We shall try to make this course something of a College course, with certain returns, etc. Those who have recently come back to us from Bryn Athyn seem to need something like this to tide them over the great change from school life, with its multiplied stimuli from without as well as within, to the comparatively unexciting life of more responsible uses. It is like an auto engine, which is first started, and then runs free for a while; but when thrown into gear, it runs much slower at first; yet it is only then that it produces any useful effects! A class which feeds our best thought will bring us together in the sphere of angels and good spirits, and nothing else is so necessary to promote the growth of the Church. Without something of this sphere at the center of things, New Church social life cannot flourish. For those who are settled in life, the Sunday worship, the weekly doctrinal class, family worship, and conversation, seem to be sufficient; but the early ape at which most of our young people leave Bryn Athyn seems to leave a gap.

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And this is one more reason why we should work for the growth of our College.

     Living, as we do, in the midst of a city, and subject at all times to the full influence of the modern wave of looseness in spiritual and moral thought and action, we feel the need of redoubling our efforts to hold our own firm faith, and thus to preserve our charity from injury. This we are hoping to do this year by turning to the words of our Lord as revealed for this very time and need, and so dearly foreseen and described in the Apocalypse. The sermon series is from the 12th Chapter, concerning the New Church as represented by the "woman clothed with the sun," and concerning the enemy who persecuted her, represented by the "dragon." We intend, also, to take up the reading of the Apocalypse Revealed in our midweek doctrinal class.

     We feel that the "white cloud" of a willing spirit is with us, and expect a growing measure of success. The annual meeting of the Sons of the Academy last June was, as on former occasions, an inspiration and a blessing to us all. May our forthcoming District Assembly be similarly blessed!
     H. S.

     KITCHENER, ONT.-It is with pleasure that we report the reopening of our Day School on September 7th. We had feared that we would be unable to maintain the school this year for lack of a teacher; but Miss Eva Campbell has consented to resume her duties and continue until Christmas, when it is hoped some new arrangement can be made. There is an attendance of ten pupils-seven girls and three boys.

     On September 5th, the marriage of Mr. Horace Day and Miss Beatrice Kuhl was solemnized, the ceremony being performed in the church at 3:30 o'clock, after which a reception was held in the school room. A further celebration of the happy event occurred in the evening, when the society was entertained at a dance given by the bride's parents.

     We all derived much pleasure from the visit of the Rev. and Mrs. Alfred Acton early in September. Mr. Acton delivered two addresses on the subject of his European trip, and these were listened to with a great deal of interest and appreciation. We were only sorry that he could not remain for a longer time, to give the lectures in full. On Sunday September 11th, Mr. Acton conducted the service and preached a very fine sermon which all enjoyed.

     Prominent among our visitors during the past summer was the Rev. C. E. Doering, who also conducted services and preached for us on one Sunday.

     Among the social events of interest lately were "showers" given for Miss Beata Roschman and Miss Beatrice Kuhl, when all enjoyed watching the young couples opening the many curious parcels containing pretty and useful articles for their new homes. The young people recently had a jolly corn roast and picnic supper on a nearby farm, with some of our summer visitors present as guests of honor. This was followed by a dance in the school which was well attended.

     Our society activities for the winter season began with a supper on Friday, September 30th, followed by doctrinal class, at which our Pastor introduced and outlined his plan for the year to take up the study of the subject of the Divine Human of the Lord.

     On Sunday, October 2d, the Sunday School opened with an enrollment of 18 pupils. The lessons for the year will cover the Books of Genesis and Exodus. During the past month, the teachers have had classes with the Pastor to study the course. These classes will continue all year.
     R. R.

     BRYN ATHYN, PA.-Those who spent a quiet summer at Bryn Athyn, and were in a position to note the contrast, found little in the return of the students to the Academy Schools to recall Whittler's well-known lines:

     "The feet that creeping slow to school
     Went storming out to play."

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     The air of excitement and eager expectation which had taken possession of the young people swept through the community, leaving few untouched by its electric influence. The meeting of trains at the station, with ecstatic greetings for old chums and openhearted welcome for prospective friends; the swift-flying rumor of "the biggest school ever," the "strongest football team yet," "the largest class," the "most promising College";-all stirred too many memories not to have a visible effect upon the entire society. Its appeal was strong enough to bring the widely scattered members of the Faculty from mountain and seashore, and even from foreign lands.

     Miss Alice Grant, who has carried the spirit of the Academy to nearly all the centers of the General Church, and sown the seeds of a revived interest in distinctive education, has brought home a rich harvest of interesting experiences, by which we at Bryn Athyn will be brought into closer touch with the education problems of other places. The Rev. R. W. Brown, after two years' leave of absence, is fortunately with us again, bringing with him another set of valuable experiences. The Rev. E. E. Iungerich, with his mission to the recently formed group of General Church members in Brazil completed, has returned to shoulder the rapidly increasing responsibilities of the College Department. The Rev. Alfred Acton is again prepared to take up his varied and important scholastic labors, after a short but delightful visit to Toronto and Kitchener. Even the group of daring explorers who invaded Europe last June have, with a few exceptions, come bad; to American soil. Our Bishop has been detained by his important labors abroad, and will not be able to return before the latter part of October.

     So the spiritually magnetic sphere of faith in the Academy and its work brought together for the opening exercises of its forty-fifth year the largest student body in the history of the institution, and a teaching staff encouraged to renewed and enthusiastic efforts by the obvious growth of the movement.

     The exercises of the Elementary School were held in the Academy chapel at 9:30 a.m. on September 15th, the service being conducted by the Rev. George de Charms, who delivered a short address of welcome to the children, reminding them of the hidden treasures which the studies of the year would bring forth for their spiritual development.

     At 10:10, the procession of the Secondary Schools filed into the chapel, from which it had been necessary to exclude visitors; and it was most impressive to the "oldtimers," crowded on the stair-landings at the sides, to watch row after row of the seats being filled to capacity, until nearly all had been occupied. The service was conducted by the Rev. C. E. Doering, assisted by the Rev. E. E. Iungerich. Mr. Doering's address was directed to students and teachers alike. In the simplicity and force of its diction, it was admirably accommodated to the apprehension of the young people, while in the subject matter it struck the keynote of the whole Academy movement,-the vital necessity for a true conception of God, as the only means of salvation; the fact that all genuine knowledge of Him has been lost to the world, and that it can be restored only through the Writings of the New Church; and the declaration that at the very heart of the Academy work lies the Divine mission of promulgating the truth that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only God;-these formed the central theme about which the address was woven.

     The afternoon of the day was devoted to the task of registration, with the result that 251 students were entered in all departments. In the Elementary School there are 108, in the Boys' Academy 55, in the Girls' Seminary 49, and in the College 39, of whom 5 are registered for special courses only.

     At the reception given in the evening, the auditorium was filled to capacity. Members of the Faculty, visiting parents and friends, and the crowd of happy students, had a first of dosing, opportunity to become acquainted with those for whom Bryn Athyn life was a new experience.

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When the "home waltz" announced the hour students and teachers alike felt that the day had witnessed most auspicious beginning of a very promising year of work.
     G. de C.
RELIGIOUS PAGEANT 1921

RELIGIOUS PAGEANT              1921

     Following the annual custom of giving at least one dramatic performance of major proportions, the higher Schools of the Academy will this year undertake the preparation of a religious pageant of notable significance, to be produced al fresco next June. The text, entirely in the words of Divine Revelation, has been prepared by the Committee in charge,-Mr. Fred A. Finkeldey, Director, the Rev. Alfred Acton, and Mr. William Whitehead. The general plan, as thus far outlined, was recently explained to the assembled Schools by Mr. Acton, who, in an impressive address, brought home to all present the inspirational and educational value of such a pageant, as a sacred representation of a spiritual idea, the Promise of the Revelation of the Divine Human,
and its Realization in the Second Coming of the Lord. This general theme is embodied in the title chosen, "The Fulfillment of Promise," and the succession of scenes will portray, in living action, word and song, The Promise to Abraham, The Giving of the Law, The Captivity and Hope of Release, The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness, Nunc Licet, and The Sending Forth of the Apostles at the Second Advent. The words of all the songs will be in the original Hebrew, Greek and Latin of Revelation, except for the closing Psalm of Glorification, which will be sung in English. The many songs in Hebrew will entail class instruction on the part of Mr. Acton and a musical training under Mrs. R. H. Smith extending throughout the year, while the details of costuming, scenery, and lighting effects will call for the cooperation of many workers,-all entering into it as a labor of love, as into the preparation for a service of worship rather than a dramatic performance.
     W. B. C.

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THANKSGIVING 1921

THANKSGIVING        N. D. PENDLETON       1921




     Announcements.


     
NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLI          NOVEMBER, 1921          No. 11
     Love opens and leads in all the ways of life, in heaven above, and in earth below.

     In the other world there are roads-as many as there are loves-leading, some to the societies of heaven, others to the congregations in hell. Each spirit finds his own, inevitably. He may for a time seek to go in a way not his own, but he finds it impossible. He seeks, perhaps, the way to heaven, but finds it not, because his desire is to escape from hell, to flee from punishment; or he lusts for heaven as of merit, thinking of himself as most worthy. He may be curious to know what heaven is, and desires to investigate, but finds that his way winds about to the other side.

     The angels explore all applicants, to discover if they have anything to qualify them as dwellers in the happy abodes,-the blessed mansions of the twice-born. Something they must find, or the applicant fails; and to fail in this is to fall forever. They must find "something angelic," brought over from life in the world. What is this? It is well to know. The passage in the Writings (D. P. 60) speaks only of "something angelic" as being necessary. There are many kinds of angelic things, any one of which will answer, if only it be genuine, and centrally placed in the man's life.

     1. The first of these,-the one that is necessary to all the others,-is resistance to evil. This is the ground of all spiritual development, the sine qua non of spiritual life; without it, no spiritual virtue can come into existence.

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According to the strict quantity and quality of resistance is man's good established. Resistance to evil is negative; yet it produces all angelic virtues,-those fine human passions, those noble affections, which qualify, and of which innocence, humility, compassion, and gratitude, are the normal, natural expressions. When told what these qualities are in the light of Revelation, you will perceive that they are angelic, and that they comprise that thing which must be carried over into the other life.

     2. Innocence is present in all good as its vivifying soul. It is that in man which receives the Divine of the Lord, and is said to be the "first thing" in His heavenly kingdom. It is that very human which is introduced at birth, and which must ever continue with man, if he is to be saved. It is introduced even before birth, for it is the inmost of the conjugial; and being such, it is the prime means of bringing about, later in life, the heavenly marriage; therefore it is given as the only medium of the union of good and truth. As the Lord's conception was Divine, He, as to His Human, was Innocence Itself, and was called the "Lamb." With man, it dwells in wisdom, and imparts all peace.

     3. Humility is the essence of adoration, and the heart of all worship. It arises from an acknowledgment of the profane state of the proprium. As the heart is humbled, the love of self and all evils cease, and there comes a disposition to condone the evils of others. Man is capable of having faith-of believing-only in so far as he is humble, and in the love of serving. The Divine inflows in a state of humiliation, and in so far the man becomes averse to evils and falsity in himself. Humiliation is produced by a holy fear, but he who loves himself does not so fear, and cannot humble himself.

     In a state of genuine humiliation, man puts away all self-power, and in so doing leaves himself to the Lord. Divine worship is provided, because in such worship the lord is exalted and the man humbled. Certain spirits (Mars) were in such humiliation that they did not dare turn their face to the Lord; they emerged from this state full of love and joy.

     4. Compassion is the inmost and tenderest of loves. It is pity for those who suffer, and is spoken of the Lord,-that He has compassion for the race, because it is evil, and man of himself rushes to hell.

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Love turns itself into compassion when it meets a need, and becomes mercy. Mercy works with those who can do nothing for themselves. It works equally with the evil as the good. It leads in hell and snatches them out. It acts upon the unclean and makes it clean, and the insane it renders sane. This Compassion, which is Mercy, took upon Itself the form of man, and came into the world, underwent temptations, and finally death, and thereafter rose triumphant and glorified,-drawing all men into Itself.

     5. Gratitude is thanksgiving to the Lord for all His mercies. It characterizes the last stage of regeneration, and is represented by the "feast of the ingathering, at the going out of the year." In that stage, good is implanted, and there is complete liberation from damnation. The man worships God from a grateful mind. When good is implanted in the life of man, his warfare is over, and he, as to his spirit, is in heaven with the Lord. This regenerate good is alone saving, and yet it is not a pure creation of the regenerate state, but is based on former good of earlier formation, even the earliest. When man is a little child, he is imbued with the good of innocence from the Lord, and this good is the first initiament of that which afterwards became the new will. In the ages succeeding infancy it grows in accordance with the child's life of innocence and obedience; and it is still further developed with those who become regenerate. Its growth in all stages is nourished by the continual operation of Providence. At every moment, the Lord "foresees evil and provides good, and this from the first filament of life to eternity." It is at all times the dwelling place of the Lord with man. By influx into it, 'He excites the man to' will and do good. This influx, however, is received and becomes effective in accordance with the measure of man's resistance to evil, or in the degree that he desists from evils. When the point is reached that the regenerate will to good is established and confirmed, the man for the first time perceives in himself spiritual gratitude, and he worships God from a grateful mind, and with thanksgivings of joy, because of his salvation.

     This is his "feast of ingathering in the going out of the year,"-the last in the series of three feasts signifying so many stages in the process of regeneration, during which he has enjoyed the continual presence and appearance of the Lord;-His presence in good and His appearance in truth; His presence from childhood in the good of innocence, and His appearance in every truth learned from the Word.

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Of these two, His presence is that which really counts; His appearance is only of value in so far as it supports His presence. For in the life to come, every man is reduced to his good (or evil); all his truth that has not become good is taken away. This residual good is that "angelic something" which man must carry over into the other life, if he is to qualify for heaven and find his way thereto. For this, the spiritual man contends with evil, and cultivates all that is good. For this, he prays day and night. For this, he gives thanks from a grateful mind, because it is his salvation. All other things for which his thanks are due are but symbols of this,-this one thing "angelic," which must be in him and with him when he passes over, if he is to find his place, his home, among the blessed hereafter.
IMPORTANCE OF WORSHIP 1921

IMPORTANCE OF WORSHIP       Rev. GILBERT H. SMITH       1921

     "God enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant." (Genesis 9:27.)

     About this passage, which is spoken with reference to the sons of Noah, we are told in the Doctrine of the Church that Japheth signifies external worship and Shem internal worship, and that Canaan, who is to be the "servant of Japheth," represents the ritual and external formality of worship. Canaan was to be the servant of both Shem and Japheth. And the whole idea in the passage is that the formal of worship is to serve the external things of worship, and that within external worship there is to be a genuine internal. For the internal of worship is what is meant by the "tents of Shem;" and Japheth's dwelling in them means that the external of worship is not to be separated from its true internal.

     When it is said, "God enlarge Japheth," it signifies the enlightenment of the Church,-the Church which has an external worship with a true internal of worship within it. To "enlarge" means to extend the boundaries, but this, in the spiritual sense of the word, means to enlighten.

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For enlightenment is, as it were, an extension of the boundaries of wisdom and intelligence. The man of the external Church is enlarged when he is instructed in truths and good. The more he is instructed-assuming that he already has charity, which is the true internal of worship-the more is the cloud of the intellect lifted and dispersed,-the cloud with which every man is encompassed as to spiritual things, until he is enlightened. Rituals and formalities and festivities of worship are called "Canaan," and these are as servants to both internal and external worship, that is, to both Shem and Japheth.

     Worship, understood truly, is the means to enlightenment. Without enlightenment in spiritual things from that which the Lord has revealed, no man can be saved. Hence the very first of the Commandments involves the matter of Divine worship. And in the Genesis account of the creation of man, it is said that he was placed in the Garden of Eden "to cultivate and to keep it," which means to preserve the good of heavenly love by enlightenment through worship. So also, in the first pages of the New Testament, the gold, incense, and myrrh, which were laid at the infant Lord's feet, represented celestial, spiritual, and natural good, from which three is all genuine worship of the Lord. In the Apocalypse, the nations which are called Gog and Magog, who were gathered by Satan from the four corners of the earth to battle, represent all those who are in the externals of worship without a genuine internal. It may truly be said that worship is the sole object for which the Word has been given.

     Evidently, it is a matter of great importance that we should understand the teaching of Divine Revelation about worship, for it is through worship alone that a man is prepared for heaven and saved. Since most ancient times it has existed, and all men have an inborn tendency and desire toward it. The internal of it has always been the same; but the externals, and the rites and ceremonies of it, have been varied and changed indefinitely. In our day, external worship is loved and practiced less than ever, because the true spirit of worship has reached its lowest ebb. But the New Church is to develop a life of true worship such as has never been on earth before, and which, as to its externals, will gather from the rich heritage of the past ages whatever forms and customs may be found in agreement with her internal enlightenment.

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These will be like Canaan, who was to be a servant to Shem and Japheth, when Japheth "dwells in the tents of Shem," or when external worship springs again, as of old, from real love to the Lord.


     The most comprehensive teaching of the New Church about worship is that worship is love manifesting itself,-the love of God, and hence that worship is life, because love is the life of man. Worship, in itself, is nothing but a certain activity coming forth from something celestial or heavenly in man. This certain heavenly thing, however, can in no wise be, unless it come forth into its corresponding activity. And worship is its first activity, in which there is a perception of joy. Love and charity may be said to be activity itself.

     Worship is from the Lord, and not from man, although one who does not know the arcana of heaven may suppose that he worships from himself, because he voluntarily thinks and voluntarily adores. But love and faith are of the Lord in man; and as these are what produce the state and activity of worship, it is evident that worship is not from oneself but from the Lord. Moreover, worship is for the sake of men, and not for the sake of the Lord, that evil and falsity may be removed, and good and truth implanted in the man. And worship is acceptable and pleasing to the Lord only to the extent that this end has been accomplished-to the extent that evil has been removed, and truth accepted in place of falsity. By the same token, the worship of one who does not repent of evils, and give attention to truth and life, is profane and idolatrous.

     As we are well aware, there is internal worship and external. External worship without internal is idolatrous and profane; it even leads away from the Lord, and derides Him. Man is ever tearing apart the internal and the external of worship; but the Lord is ever striving to join them together, so that there may not exist among men any internal worship without its corresponding external, nor any external worship without a genuine internal. It is not according to Divine order that there should be any external thing which has not an internal from which it derives life and power and happiness. And so with worship. When it is merely external, it is dead, sad, and weak; but when it is also internal-springing from the heart-it is alive, and glad, and strong.

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     The internal of worship is genuine love of the Lord, of the neighbor, and of use. The external of worship we know. It includes such things as church-going, prayer, and singing; worship at home; the reading of doctrine and books of piety; also thinking and speaking about God and salvation; reflecting upon one's thoughts and intentions, and turning the mind away from speech about things that are unholy and unclean. These are the externals of worship for both the mind and the body; but these things, which make a life of piety, are of no avail, are not pleasing to the Lord, and even turn one away from Him, unless the internal of worship be within them, which is the love of knowing and the love of living the Divine Truth that has been revealed from the Lord.

     Our Divine teaching is, that men should never make the formalities of worship and piety of life the essentials of worship, but should hold them as always secondary; that they should ever hold charity as the essential of worship,-charity and use. And because charity and use cannot be known and practiced without a knowledge of revealed truth, men should ever regard doctrine from the Lord as another essential of internal worship. For if it were possible for men to worship God in a holy manner without truth revealed from the Word, there would be no need of any doctrinal teaching or of any preaching.

     It is another fundamental teaching that, while the formal things of worship, the reading, the prayer, the church-going, and the performance of ritual, are ever to be held as the secondary things of worship, nevertheless they are of the utmost importance, and are necessary to the very life of the Church, and to the preservation of that true internal worship which is the essential. "Unless there were externals of worship, man would know nothing of what is holy." Moreover, it is a Divine truth from heaven that if a man has in his heart that genuine love of the Lord and charity which is worship itself, he will also take delight in the external things of worship, and that with him these will be alive, and will contribute powerfully to the further removal of evil and falsity, which is regeneration. It may be very clearly seen that the Lord spake of the relation between internal and external worship, when He said to the Pharisees, "These things ought ye to have done, and not to have left the other undone." Internal worship we should have, and not omit to perform external worship also.

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The first of all the Ten Commandments is the one that commands worship, and it is summed up in the Lord's words in the Gospel, "It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve."



     Let us reflect a moment upon these things. The end for which worship was instituted from the beginning is that men, who are natural, and inclined to every selfishness, absorbing false ideas like a sponge, may be purified of this perverse nature, and may have truth and good from the Lord implanted in them, and so be born again or regenerated. Yet there is nothing of value in going to church and listening to instruction, in praying, singing, and reading books of doctrine, unless one is sincere in his desire to have evils and falsities removed from himself, and devotes himself to uses, in which he works for the good of others rather than his own, and unless he believes that the Lord is the Giver of all good and all truth which appear to be in him. Then his whole life is worship; or, in other words, he has internal worship to put into his external. When one is in this state and attitude of mind, then the worship which he performs at church and at home is actually a means to his purification of affection, and to his enlightenment,-the enlargement of the borders of his intellect.

     Because every man is, or should be, left in perfect freedom in religious matters, it may seem that the outward acts of worship are not of much importance. They are indeed secondary to the things one does every day in his business or work, but still they are so very important that, without them, men would soon cease to know what those things are which are holy. The essence of worship is the performance of use and service to others. Yet our Doctrine assures us that, so long as one lives in this world, "he ought not to be otherwise than in external worship also." And this is the reason: because internal worship is excited by external acts of devotion, and by prayer. But this is only a part of the reason. It is also because then is the time when the truths of doctrine are given, the daily cares being laid aside; and it is by these truths, and by them alone, that the charity of every one is given its quality. Hence a man's state of worship is said to be altogether according to his understanding of the Lord's Word.

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Besides this, when a man who has charity in his life and work enters into the acts of worship, he is gifted with states of holiness, of which he is totally unaware; and these states are preserved in him by the Lord for use in the life hereafter. Anyone may know what he learns from preaching or from his reading of doctrine, but he does not know what good is done for him by the Lord by the holy states into which he ought to be brought during the act of worship. Thus man does not give anything to the Lord by Worship, but the Lord gives the state of worship to him. "Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire; mine ears hast Thou opened."

     Worship is the first activity of God in man, flowing forth spontaneously from the love of good and of truth which God implants in him. And though not all who go to church, and listen, and sing and pray, and read, and talk of Divine things, have genuine internal worship in all this piety, still, with those who have real internal worship, there also follows the external; for this is inevitable, unless the external hindrances are altogether insurmountable. And yet the externals of worship are never the essentials, and are never to be so considered. The Lord wants nothing of worship from man but what is voluntary and spontaneous. And the Lord has so provided that it may be so with anyone. We are told, also, that the disagreement between the internal and the external man is especially to be known and felt in worship, and in every single thing of worship.

     And this also is true, that those to whom the exercises of worship are living, to whom there is gladness in the hearing and reading of things from the Lord's Word, and who are delighted with its spiritual interpretation, are in the internal of worship; whereas those who do not wish to have their evils removed by the Lord are never eager to learn what the Word teaches in its spiritual sense.



     Then let us worship the Lord "in the beauty of holiness." "From the womb of the dawn thou hast the dew of thy birth." This is an angelic saying. The Lord is truly worshiped in the affection for Divine Truth, which is called the "beauty of holiness." And when there is this affection for what the Lord has revealed, and is still revealing to those who read, then is there a beginning of the influx of peace in the spirit and a contentment in the life, which are called the "dew of thy birth from the womb of the dawn."

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The "Dawn" is the Lord Himself, and the "womb" is His Divine mercy. Worship cannot be from love alone, but it must also be from truth. As the enlarging of our intellectual borders goes on, let us seek for the external things of worship, which will express the beauty of holy states of humility and exaltation, which, alas, we too feebly feel. Let us make every act of worship voluntary and spontaneous,-all our praise, all our supplication, all our doing and giving for the church, all our struggles to overcome our proprium and to be regenerate men and women. From worship will Divine aid and comfort come, when we bring to it a true internal, which is a longing to know what revealed truth teaches.

     "Let God enlarge Japheth." Let Him give us ever growing enlightenment and wisdom in worship and from worship that is external and formal. And let it be with us that still our formal worship may "dwell in the tents of Shem," that is, that there may be true heavenly things within us, from which our worship shall be blessed.

     Worship of the heart is what is meant by the "fear of Jehovah," the "fear of God," and "holy fear." And the "fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom." Let us exalt the importance of everything connected with the worship of the Lord. It is true that rituals and ceremonies, when there is no love of truth and good within them, are cursed. Noah said, "Cursed be Canaan". Yet Canaan was to be "servant" to both Shem and Japheth. For with those who have charity within, and who love to learn the Divine Truths which have been revealed by the Lord, there are no more powerful means of cultivating states of holiness, in which the Lord works for our regeneration in ways we know not, than the rituals of song and prayer and confession of the Lord.

     What is wrong with the world is that men generally do not truly worship the Lord. But we, for the sake of ourselves, for the sake of our children, for the sake of the world, and for the sake of the Lord's kingdom, should cultivate the love of worship, that the truths of heaven may be received in holy states. "Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at His footstool; for He is Holy." Amen.

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STRUCTURAL HARMONY OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS 1921

STRUCTURAL HARMONY OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS       Rev. GEORGE DE CHARMS       1921

     ANNUAL ADDRESS TO THE COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY.

     "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. . . . And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we Beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth." (John 1: 1, 2, 14.)

     In these opening verses of the Gospel according to John, the Divine quality of the Word, and its essential unity, are openly portrayed. The Word is the Infinite love of God going forth into creation. It is the Lord manifesting Himself in heaven and on earth. It is God-Man, eternally the same, standing forth before the eyes of angels and of men.

     The progression of the Infinite to the finite is not effected by an actual movement through space. God is omnipresent. He is in all space without space. He is without and around us in every hand, and He is within us as the life or soul from which we have our being. For Him to reveal Himself to men, He has no need to come from afar off. He needs only to build a temple of human thought and human love, whereby we may become conscious of His presence, that He may openly and perceptibly abide with us.

     When a little child is born into the world, we say that a new soul has come to us. Whence has it come? Not from some distant world by a long journey, but from the very heart of nature all about us. The secret of its coming is to be sought in the marvelous organization of the substances and matters which, in their primitive state, are the very dust of the ground, but which, under the touch of the Divine hand, are formed into a human body, fearfully and wonderfully made, capable of coming into conscious touch with the myriad forms of the universe through the living activity of the five corporeal senses.

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When, by this wondrous ordering and arrangement, the dead matters of the earth become sentient vessels, receptive of life from God, we say that a child has come into the world. It might as truly be said that the world has come to a child.

     Even thus it is that the Lord comes to man. His coming is the result of a spiritual creation. It is effected by the bringing together of spiritual substances, the formation of organs of internal sensation, through the activity of which we may perceive and know what is Divine. "Except a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." It is this birth into a world of spiritual life that constitutes the Revelation of God.

     Just as the production of a natural body must progress in a specific order and series, unalterable from age to age, so that spiritual organization, which alone is able to see and know the Lord, to sense and enjoy the living delights of heaven, must likewise be produced in an unchanging series, sequence, and order. This sequence is none other than that constant law whereby, out of the darkness of utter ignorance, the chaos of the human mind may be molded into a truly human form, impressed with the finite image of the Infinite Creator. It is the unfolding of this order that opens the spiritual eyes of man that he may behold his God. It is as this order is impressed upon the mind that the Lord can make His advent into the world of conscious human life. In this impression and unfolding lies the secret of Divine Revelation, the Everlasting Word.

     INMOST UNITY OF THE WORD.

     Because there is one only God, whose Divine Form is thus set forth to human comprehension, there is and can be only one such order. It is this eternal order which is called by John "the Word which was in the beginning with God, and which was God." And because all the universe of creation was brought into being for the purpose of producing this order in the human mind, therefore all progression from the Infinite to the finite is according to this order. "All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made." "By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth."

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By this eternal order, according to which alone there can be Revelation to the human mind, was the world created, both spiritual and natural, whence all things in it refer themselves to the human form. By this same order is man created,-as to his body, that he may consciously perceive the material forms of nature; as to his mind, that he may likewise perceive the living forms of spiritual creation, and receive upon his forehead the Seal of God, that he may in truth be called man, the image of his Maker. By this order are the nations of the earth brought forth as units of human organization, to appear before the Lord as greater men. By this same order did the Lord Himself take on a body and a mind, that in personal presence He might walk with men, to glorify His Human. "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us; and we beheld His glory, (the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth."

     The eternal purpose of the Lord's creative Word is to provide forms representative of what is Divine, to provide a living mind, into which these forms may be consciously received, and so to arrange the things thus entering by instruction that all the love of man, and all his thought, may be centered in the idea of God, the true idea of Him as a Divine Man; and that round about this single idea of God, as the living soul, all the concepts of the mind may be organized into a responsive body. It is because they produce this revealing order in the mind, creating thus in him a body receptive of life, love, and wisdom from the Lord, that the Scriptures are rightly called the Word of God. And because this order of Divine Revelation is eternally the same, there is a spiritual harmony of all the sacred writings in every age and with every people. The Ancient Word, now lost, the Law and the Prophets, the New Testament Scriptures, and the Revelation of the Second Advent, utterly different as they are in outward aspect, are inmostly one,-the same immutable Word which was in the beginning with God, by which all things were made, and which became flesh to dwell with men. Viewed all together, they present the internal history of the world, revealing before the angels the eternal presence of God in His Creation. In one unbroken series, they relate the story of the human race, out of which there has been slowly building in the womb of time that greatest form receptive of the Infinite life of God, the Gorand Man of Heaven.

     In this most wondrous of all creations, each written Word has played its part, nor will it ever cease its operation.

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"Heaven and earth may pass away, but my words shall not pass away." Each set forth, in language and in imagery accommodated to the people of some specific age, the same story of man's spiritual creation, the series and order by which alone there could be formed in him the image of the Lord, that through that image he might truly see and worship God. So must it inevitably be, that, looked upon in heaven's light, they all are one, inseparable, perfectly harmonious Word, whether written in the flowing language of most ancient times, or inscribed in alphabetic Hebrew characters by the Jewish Prophets of a later day; whether laboriously produced by scribes at the dictation of the inspired Evangelists, or scattered broadcast through the world in the printed pages of the Latin Writings. In all of these we see the hand of the inscrutable Divine, deftly molding out of human clay, eyes to see the face of God, ears to hear and understand His holy Word, spiritual organs to perceive the delight and joy of heavenly life eternal. And if there is thus one purpose, one unchanging end, as the soul by which each Revelation was brought into being, then also must there exist a structural relation between them. For the soul, in forming the body in which it is to dwell, does but create an image of itself.

     The fact of this spiritual and structural unity of the entire Word admits not the slightest possibility of doubt. To the mind enlightened from the Heavenly Doctrine, it is axiomatic. Yet its consequents are so stupendous, the image that it conjures in the thought so all-embracing, the ocean of heavenly wisdom to which it opens out so vast, that the eye of him who stands upon this shore is lost in the awed contemplation of a vague horizon, where mists obscure the view. Helpless indeed he feels in the presence of this Infinite Power, as the voice of the deep calls his longing soul to the exploration of distant lands, where heavenly wealth and fortune wait. It is one thing to hold in reason's grasp the sure perception that there is such universal harmony between the several Revelations; it is quite another to demonstrate that harmony by practical investigation and comparison. This latter is far beyond the possibilities of the present generation. It must come slowly, as a matter of gradual accretion, the result of wide, intensive study, to which each passing age gives but a little portion. And yet the Lord, in this, His Second Advent, has turned the eyes of men toward that sea of spiritual knowledge.

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Out of the eastern waters, the Sun of Divine Wisdom is rising in its glory. Slowly, with the growing heat of love Divine, the mists are lifting, revealing to the view the outlines of a distant shore. And he who enters the vessel of the New Church Doctrine, accepting as his Pilot none but the Lord alone, may venture forth with courage, under the Divine protection, to seek safe harbor there.

     THE TWO TESTAMENTS.

     It is to the partial demonstration of such structural unity, as it exists between the Old and New Testaments, that we would specifically direct attention. Deeply is it hidden behind a veil of apparent discrepancies, of seeming breaks, of unfilled gaps, which, to human eyes, separate not only the two Testaments, but also the various parts of each.

     We are all familiar with the prime importance of noting the immediate series in the exposition of any given text. It forms, indeed, the very center of exegetical analysis. It forms the urim and the thummim, out of which, through correspondences and the doctrine of genuine truth, there comes the answering light of illustration from the Lord to illuminate the mind of the inquiring student. So closely knit are all the adjacent parts of the Sacred Scripture, that the internal sense flows through them in an unbroken chain. Only as we take careful cognizance of what goes before, and of what comes after, any particular passage, perceiving thus its appointed place in a more extended series, can we understand its full significance. So universally is this the case that no expository sermon can be written on any text of Scripture, except this law of sequence be faithfully observed. But when applied, according to the teaching of the Writings, most notable results ensue. Out of the dark sayings of the Prophets,-chaotic in external order, inscrutable to the unenlightened mind,-there arises a sequence of spiritual ideas, in closely connected series, whereby the Divine Love and Wisdom of God are presented in all the beauty of holiness.

     In those parts of the Writings which give a serial exposition of the Sacred Scriptures, it is shown that seemingly disconnected chapters maintain the steady flow of meaning, without a break in the internal sense. Separate books do but form parts of a larger whole, their spiritual story being closely knit together as a unit, as so distinctly demonstrated in the case of Genesis and Exodus.

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And even the Psalms of David,-so various in the form and subject of the letter,-are said to present before the angels a most perfect series, to which the various societies of heaven joyously respond, each answering in turn that ultimate which peculiarly expresses the quality of its individual love and worship of the Lord. Herein lies the wisdom of the angels, that they are given to perceive the parts in their true relation to the whole. Any single truth,-emphasized beyond its due proportion, taken from its place and viewed alone as a thing apart, unmodified by other truths, to which it stands in close connection,-becomes a fallacy, and, if confirmed, a falsity. The wider our vision, the more extended our spiritual horizon, the more perfectly we grasp the universal principles of truth, the more distinctly may we understand particulars. Of nothing is this more true than of the Word of God.

     Nor can we conceive that this structural relation is confined to a single Testament. The entire Word is in the human form, the Form of God-Man, Divinely One. Quoting from the Heavenly Doctrine, we learn that, while "in the literal sense scarcely anything appears but a something without order; nevertheless, when the Word is read by man, and particularly by a little boy or girl, it becomes more beautiful and delightful by degrees as it ascends, and at length is presented before the Lord as the image of a man, in which and by which heaven is represented in its complex, not such as it is, but such as the Lord wills it to be, namely, a likeness of Himself." (A. C. 1871.) This is not said of any single Testament, but of the universal Word, which could not present this harmonious whole if any part were unconnected. Nor is this harmony confined to the internal sense, but involves a structural relation in the Letter, even as that existing between the various parts of the human body. This is explicitly taught in the following from the Arcana: "Inwardly in the things of the Word there is a spiritual sense which treats of the Lord's kingdom, and within that sense is the Divine, for the Word in its inmost sense treats of the Lord alone; hence is the holiness and life of the Word, and not from any other source. The Word is as a Divine Man; the literal sense is, as it were, His body; but the internal sense is as it were His soul; hence it is evident that the literal sense lives by the internal sense." (A. C. 8943.)

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     That which unifies the Word, wonderfully harmonizing all its parts, is the universal subject of its inmost sense, which is the Lord alone. What do we find that inmost sense to be, as it is specifically expounded in the Revelation of the Second Advent? It is the story of how the Infinite Soul of God, bowing the heavens to come down, formed within the womb of Mary a perfect, finite body from the things of earth. It is the story of how, within that body, there was formed a mind, made of the spiritual substances of the other world, perfectly responsive to the Soul, consciously receptive of the Wisdom and the Love of God. It is the story of how, in the human thus assumed, He overcame the hells and ordered all the heavens, reducing the Gorand Man into fullest correspondence with Himself. It is the story of how, this Infinite work having been achieved, He fully glorified His Human, and made it absolutely one with His Divine, that the Lord God Jesus Christ might receive all power in heaven and on earth, to reign supreme forever. The series and order by which this was Divinely accomplished in the Lord Himself must, in finite measure, be repeated in every individual man, that he may become a temple of the Lord's indwelling, a truly human vessel, responsive to the life inflowing from his Divine Creator. It is this order, as presented in the Word, and thence impressed upon the mind of man, which alone can build the body of his spiritual life, and lift him up to heaven, there to dwell in the eternal presence of his God.

     THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES.

     In the Old Testament, this single theme of the Lord's life and glorification is the universal subject, unfolded in a continuous, unbroken series from first to last. Especially is this true of the untranslated Hebrew, which, for this reason, has been so wonderfully preserved. "In the original tongue, one series is not distinguished from another by interstitial signs, as in other tongues, but there appears, as it were, what is continuous from beginning to end. The things which are in the internal sense are in like manner continuous, flowing from one state to another." (A. C. 4987.) Again, it is said that "the Word has this peculiarity beyond the writings of the ancients, that the single things, in a continuous series, represent the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom, and, in the supreme sense, the Lord Himself." (A. C. 4442.)

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Such continuity was essential, because of the consecutive character of the actual process of glorification as effected by the Lord. "The union of the Lord's Human with His Divine was not effected at once, but through the whole course of His life, from infancy to the last of His life in the world; thus He ascended continually to glorification, that is, to union." (A. C. 2033.) "The Lord suffered temptations from His boyhood, even to the last age of His life, and thus successively subjugated the hells, and successively glorified His Human." (Cartons Red. vii:6.)

     This inmost signification of the Hebrew Scriptures rests upon a unity which can be traced in the literal sense itself. There is but one subject treated of in the letter of the Word from Genesis to Malachi. The thread that runs from first to last, and unifies the whole, is the story of the Jewish Nation. In a remnant from the Ancient Word, comprising the first eleven chapters of the Book of Genesis, preserved in the pure correspondences of most ancient times, we find the fabled story of Abram's descent from the first man. With Abram begins the actual history of the Jewish people, running in unbroken series through the patriarchal age to the increase of the sons of Israel in the land of Egypt. Exodus takes up the story at this point, and throughout the rest of the Pentateuch we find described the giving of the Law of Moses and the welding of the tribes into a national unit. Then comes the day of conquest. Under Joshua, the inhabitants of Canaan are driven out, and the tribes receive their promised inheritance. By the Judges, their hold upon the land is strengthened. Then three kings,-Saul, David, and Solomon,-extend the conquests to their farthest bounds, and lift the nation to the height of its wealth and glory. There follows the division of the kingdom; and as we trace its history through the long line of succeeding kings, we see it slowly crumbling to its fall, until its people are carried captive into Babylon, its government is destroyed, its capitol in ruins. Here the thread of history ends. The Psalms of David and the four major and twelve minor Prophets retell the incidents of the closing years of national life, though in an altered form, affording a glimpse of the conditions of the captivity. They foretell the Restoration, and with increasing clearness prophesy the Coming of the Messiah, ending with the direct and unmistakable promise of the last chapter of Malachi.

     Here we find the life story of a nation as the story of a single man, and that Man none other than the Lord Himself.

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It is specifically taught that Abram, the father of the Jewish people, represents the Lord in earliest infancy and childhood. The preceding chapters of Genesis, then, containing the account of the descent of Abram from the first creation, must represent the process of the Incarnation, the successive clothing of the Infinite Life of God, as the Creator of the world descended through the heavens, to cover Himself at last with the material flesh and blood of finite man. Then begins the story of how, within that body, the marvelous structure of the mind was formed, as, step by step, through education and experience, the "child grew in stature, and in favor with God and man." From the simple beginnings of the patriarchal period, there arose the twelve tribes, and these, welded by the Law of Moses, became a mighty nation. Even so, from the Infant born in Bethlehem, came the child of Nazareth, and at last the Man, full grown in strength and wisdom, armed with the sword of Truth Divine, ready for the mighty conflict against the hosts of hell. This spiritual warfare is described by the conquest of the Land by Joshua, the Judges and the Kings to Solomon, when the work assigned the Lord on earth neared completion, and the time approached when the material body might be laid aside, and the Human rise in glory, So, its representative work accomplished, the national body of the Jewish people slowly lost its power, until destroyed by the Babylonian conquerors, that in its tragic fall it might portray the Passion of the Cross. But if there was death, there was also resurrection. Through all the books of Prophecy, we find the promise of a restoration through the coming of the Christ, and inmostly described, in wondrous series; the secret operation of the Human Glorified through all the ages of the Christian Church, leading the scattered remnant of the race to the final day of Judgment and the Second Advent of the Lord.

     Such must be the inmost structure of the Hebrew Scriptures, if the Jewish Nation represented the Human assumed by the Lord in the world. Then must the steps and stages of that Nation's life, as the inspired Authors set them forth, depict the ordered progress of the Human toward the Divine, and thus minutely prophesy the whole course of life through which it was the eternal purpose of the Lord to pass. And this, indeed, the Lord Himself declared. "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

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Verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." (Matthew 5:17.) And again, speaking to the disciples after His resurrection, He said, "These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me." (Luke 24:44.) That this fulfilment was to be in continuous series, from the beginning to the end, He indicated on the walk to Emmaus, when, "beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." (Luke 24:27.)

     THE GOSPELS.

     If it is true that the complete story of the Lord's life in the world, not as to the external events by which that life was known to men on earth, but as to the spiritual states through which He passed, from infancy to the crucifixion, is told in chronological sequence in the books of the Old Testament, when unfolded as to their inmost or highest sense, what relation does this sacred history bear to the Gospel narrative?

     It might seem strange, at first, that the fulfilment of this ancient prophecy was not described in a single, perfectly connected biography, setting forth, in the same order and sequence as is characteristic of the Old Testament, all the acts and sayings of the Lord, within which could be seen a spiritual story that would coincide in all particulars with the inmost sense of the previous Revelation. Such, indeed, the Lord's life must have been, if its truly and spiritually chronological series could be known. But the New Testament Scriptures do not unfold this series. We find them divided into four distinctly separate Gospels, each describing in an individual way the story of the Savior's life, with the prophecy of the Book of Revelation added. Between these four accounts, we find a general harmony; yet so great is their divergence in the order of particular events that all attempts to reconcile them have been unavailing.

     Through all the ages of the Christian Church, beginning even in the second century, the minds of learned scholars have been turned to the discovery of a completely ordered history of the Lord.

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Minutely have the Gospels been compared, and each individual record diligently studied. All the evidence available from ancient manuscripts, the works of contemporaneous authors, and the earliest traditions, have been brought to bear upon the problem. But in nearly every case, acting on some theory of historic proof, the Scriptures have been torn asunder, broken into little pieces, and rearranged into a new order, utterly alien to that of the original. In this rearrangement there is no universal basis of agreement. It is arbitrary, dependent upon the particular knowledge, the personal theory of the individual scholar who undertakes the work. Each maintains his own order as the correct one, and attempts to disprove the arrangement advocated by all others. Endless controversies result in hairsplitting arguments, whereby the learned doctors are divided into irreconcilable schools of thought. The mind of the impartial observer is impressed with the fact, as evidenced by this mutual contradiction, that the material necessary to the reconstruction of a thoroughly convincing account, historically accurate, is not available.

     As an exception, however, we may mention that, among all the harmonies of the Gospels that have been produced, one stands out Basel in 1537. It is based upon the belief that the Divine order of Andreas Ossiander, a native of Nuremberg, and was published at Basel in 1537. It is based upon the belief that the Divine order of the Gospels may not with impunity be disturbed; that the stories related by the several Evangelists were equally correct; that incidents related in a different order, however similar, were actual historical repetitions. This view was ridiculed by the scholars, who considered it so absurd as to be unworthy of refutation. So palpable were the errors, so ineffective was the result in producing a connected biographical account of the Lord's life, that it excited comment merely because of its brazen disregard of the commonly accepted tradition. But we believe that this work, owing to the principles upon which it was based, came much nearer to the truth than all those which held it up to ridicule.

     With the knowledge we possess, it is possible to do no more than advance some tentative theory, offering a plausible solution of the many difficulties on the basis of an admittedly ill-grounded hypothesis.

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The works of the harmonists do not inspire us with confidence in the reliability of their conclusions, while their efforts to refute the arguments of their opponents tend to cast grave doubts upon the authenticity of the inspired Evangelists. What they have done has undoubtedly served some external use to the Church, and certainly, in the gathering together of historical data, their labors have been invaluable. But having destroyed the Divinely given order in which the Word was written, having broken the beauty and series of its internal sense, they have deprived it of its soul and saving power. In the language of the Heavenly Doctrine, "the Word is so written, that the expressions therein involve series of spiritual things, which do not appear to man unless he is acquainted with correspondences; herein lies concealed the Divine in the Word." (A. C. 10633.) That is to say, the Divinity of the Word depends upon the order and series in which it is written. Remove this order, destroy this series, and the Divine is taken from it. It becomes a merely human work, unable to reveal the Glorified Human of the Lord, or to bring about thereby the spiritual conjunction between God and man. And so the type of scholarship which is represented by the harmonists, as a means to the fuller exposition of the Scriptures, has been totally rejected in the Church, lest the perfect work of God be injured by the sacrilegious hand of man.

     Yet we cannot wholly separate the Gospels. In seeking to obtain a full and perfect knowledge of the Lord, the portrayal of whose life is the common purpose of them all, the mind experiences a natural longing to place them side by side, and to see them in their true relation. The effort to do this cannot wholly be avoided. When reading one Gospel, the student who is familiar with them all cannot fail to note the likeness or the difference that exists between them. When one event is conjured up in thought, the same account as variously related in the other Evangelists comes to mind. Indeed, such harmonizing of the Gospels, by the comparison of similar events, receives undoubted sanction from the Writings, where we repeatedly find them placed together, expounded as to their spiritual content, in terms which are identical, although there is revealed no key whereby this may be systematically done throughout. And so we find our thought impaled upon the horns of a dilemma. On the one hand, the harmonizing of the Gospels appears as a necessity, from which the mind finds no escape, as witness the exhaustive efforts of the Christian scholars and the inherent tendencies apparent in our own psychological experience.

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On the other hand, such harmonizing appears to be impossible, in view of the universal failure to obtain results that are convincing.

     THE KEY TO A HARMONY.

     But it cannot be conceived that the Lord, in His infinite wisdom and love, should make a thing necessary, to the achievement of which He has not prepared a way. He must have revealed the guiding principles, by which the questioning mind of man may be safely led through all the labyrinthine paths of fallible, imperfect human thought, even to the inmost vision of Himself. And where may these be found, if not in the pages of that final Revelation, the crowning glory of His written Word, in which must be contained the seed of genuine progress toward an ever fuller and more perfect perception of the Divine character and quality of His Human Glorified, through all the endless ages of the future?

     Approaching our subject, then, from the spiritual thought to which the Writings lead us, it becomes apparent that we cannot hope to find the answer to our question by a mere mechanical arrangement, humanly conceived. Had this afforded a true solution, then had the answer been discovered long ago. We must think of the Word as a living human form; the relation of its parts as the relation existing between vital things, of which that form consists. It is by the study of the human form, in the light of the Revelation rationally given in the Second Advent, that the only key to the internal harmony of the Old and New Testaments may be found.

     The mind of man is the most complex of all the organisms of creation. It is formed, as has been shown above, by a continuous process of spiritual building, effected by the constant working of the Divine Providence, from first conception, even unto death. Yet it is composed of four discrete degrees, each wholly separate from the others. Each passes through its own series of development, possesses its own individual characteristics, pet-forms its own distinctive function to the whole. Yet they are mutually interdependent. Their development proceeds in both successive and simultaneous order. In general, one succeeds the other.

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The earliest life of infancy forms the sensual plane. In childhood the imagination grows. In youth and manhood the rational is developed. And at last, from the wisdom of experience, there comes the ripened fruit of celestial perception. Yet even the first sound that strikes the ear, the first light that enters through the eye, effect the storing of remains, in which the highest angels are, and into which the man returns if he achieve his truest destiny, and find his everlasting home in the celestial heaven. In the child's imagination lies the germ of truest rationality; and unless the faculty then formed be used in later life, the spiritual teachings of the Word cannot be understood. Indeed, we find that through the entire life of man these separate threads are intimately interwoven. Now his thought is centered on the lowest plane; again, his spiritual mind is active; at other times he enjoys brief flashes of perception, only to descend once more to external thought and love. It is by such alternations, indeed, from the life of the external to that of the internal man and back again, that he progresses in his regeneration. It is thus that the story of his life, when spiritually viewed, is circumstanced. Such is the universal testimony of the Writings. And it is further clearly taught, that, in order to understand fully the intrinsic character of man, these four degrees must be clearly distinguished. The peculiar quality of each must be defined. Its function in the process of regeneration must be known. And for this reason, we find much instruction given in the Heavenly Doctrine concerning the quality of each degree.

     That these four degrees existed in the mind of the Lord on earth, and that they developed with Him, even as they do with every regenerating man, is the specific teaching of the Writings. And the Old Testament, containing, as we have shown, a chronological record of the spiritual states through which the Lord was to pass on earth, must be made up of these four threads, each in itself distinct, yet all so closely interwoven as to form a single strand.

     Now it is a universal law of Divine operation that the Lord does not repeat Himself. What He does is done forever, and remains in full potency to all eternity. Having set forth, under the hand of Moses and the Prophets, this spiritual story of His Glorification, in a single, complex, chronological sequence, it was not necessary that it should be done again. There was another end in view in the giving of the Gospels, namely, that the four threads, before combined, should be unraveled, and presented separately, each in its own peculiar order and series.

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Nor could the complete life of the Lord, in all the sequence of His outward acts, be presented in a single narrative, lest men, directing all their thought to the literal sense, and finding this complete, should fail to look for the spiritual meaning concealed within it. One of the strongest proofs that the New Testament was not written to portray the external life of the Lord, as such, but rather to describe the spiritual story of His Glorification, is the fact that the record of actual history has been completely lost. Men know not even the month or the year in which the Christ was born. They know not how many years He ministered on earth. The whole of His childhood is a blank, save for a passing reference in the Gospels. Nor has the profoundest scholarship succeeded in supplying these deficiencies with any degree of certainty. If the Divine end in the inspiration of the Evangelists was to impart to the world a perfect knowledge of the Lord's external life, then must we admit that this end has failed of fulfilment. But he who believes that Divine Wisdom was the source of inspiration will seek to find another purpose there.

     Such a purpose is disclosed, if the hypothesis advanced above be true. We see a reason why the New Testament should have been written as it is. We perceive the cause of all the apparent discrepancies within it. We are able thence to understand the relation between the New Covenant and the Old, how each is complementary to the other, how one enriches the understanding of the other, how both are necessary for the full revelation of the Lord.

     If, by a profound and careful study of the inmost sense of each Testament, as revealed in the Writings of the Second Advent, the Gospels are thus brought into structural relation with the Hebrew Scriptures, there will result a harmony between them, which, while it weaves them into a single story, will not disturb in any least particular the order impressed upon each narrative by its inspired Author. Such a harmony between the Gospels will not produce a new Gospel, the result of human manufacture; nor will it provide the missing data which the Christian scholars so long have sought. But it will be the means of entering more deeply into the inmost sense of the Old Testament throwing new light upon the spiritual story of the Lord's life, as therein foretold, by fitting it into the framework of external representative acts, as related in the New Testament. In the Hebrew Scriptures, as thus interpreted, we will find the Lord's infancy and childhood most minutely described, with every step and stage of spiritual progress duly noted.

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There will we find the key, directly given in the Writings, to many passages in the Evangelists, left without specific exposition. And a similar service will be performed by parts of the Gospels whose signification is clear, for parts of the Hebrew Writings, now obscure, of which they mark the ultimate fulfilment. Such a comparison between the Testaments is but a sequent, and a systematic doing, of what is done in many places by the Lord Himself, both at His First and Second Advents.

     Such is the rational deduction we have drawn from the teaching of the Writings and the testimony of the Sacred Scripture. We acknowledge it to be no more than a hypothesis, liable to all the errors of human reasoning. Whether it will stand the test of scholarly analysis, time alone can demonstrate. We have accorded it a tentative acceptance as a working basis for further study and investigation, in an effort to find the answer of Revelation to what has seemed to us an unsolved problem. It appears at first remote, idealistic. Profound indeed must be the study of the Word, before this inmost sense can be disclosed to view. Wise must be that distant generation of the Church, before whose wondering eyes such a surpassing vision of the Lord in His Glorified Human may stand forth in living image from the pages of His Word. Between us and this Divine fulfilment of His glorious promise to the race there lies a long and dangerous journey. Round about this inmost temple of angelic wisdom, there lies an undiscovered wilderness, where the foot of man hath never trod. New trails must here be blazed, through a dense, dark forest of external appearances, of human fallacies, of traditional errors. Wild beasts of selfish loves, of personal ambitions, lurk in caves to intercept the traveler. False trails lead aside to marshy bogs, where stagnant pools exude effluvia of death. Thus is the Divine Human of the Lord effectively protected against all who would do it violence.

     But through this land of spiritual danger the New Church must pass. For it has been called to the most perfect perception of the Lord yet known to man. The journey will continue, by slow and gradual stages, through many generations.

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The Lord will send the angel of His Presence, in the teachings of the Heavenly Doctrine, to guide and guard the faithful on their way. He will open their eyes to see the circling rows of olive trees, to which there cling fruit-laden vines, that mark the safe road of internal perception toward the inmost sanctuary of the Word. What alone will bring His Divine Protection, with the encompassing sphere of Heaven, is that deep and heartfelt love of truth, which gives the impulse and the inspiration to seek, above all else, the knowledge and the vision of the Lord, that we may worship Him in spirit and in truth. However slight the advance we make, it is only by this searching for the Lord that the Church can spiritually grow. It is only in our love to Him that He can come to dwell with us. As, walking through the wilderness of our natural life, we see the miracle of God Incarnate, His Infinite Life apparently enclosed within the finite compass of the Written Word,-even as Moses saw Him in the burning bush, and we turn aside, as Moses did, with earnest longing to "see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt," may we not hope that He will likewise call to us? And if, at His command, we take our shoes from off our feet, because the ground on which we stand is holy, will He not reveal to us His name, make known His will, and lead us in the way of heavenly love and wisdom? It is with this humble faith and trust that we set out upon the holy quest, that we may see, so far as He may give us vision, the wondrous structure of His Holy Word, and seek therein the revelation of His Human Glorified.

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TOPICS FROM THE WRITINGS 1921

TOPICS FROM THE WRITINGS        W. F. PENDLETON       1921

     II.

     The Lord does not need the help of man.

     It is a common fallacy that the Lord is in need of human help. But we read that "the Lord has need of no one" (A. C. 587). Also, that "the Lord acts mediately through heaven, not because He needs their help, but that the angels may have functions and offices, and consequently life and happiness according to their offices and uses" (A. C. 8719. See also 6482). He did not need any one when He came into the world (Isa. 63). That He does not need the help of man, may be seen when we reflect that He has all power, all knowledge, and is everywhere present. He does not need man, but man needs work that he may live. He needs the Lord in work; for the Lord is not present except in work or use; which means that the Lord is present only where there is love to the neighbor.

     The creation of the first man.

     That the Lord does not need the help of man, is illustrated in what is revealed concerning the creation of the first man. "The first man, and those born at first, were not led by any other than the Lord alone. For the Lord is all in all. . . . He alone sustains the human race; like as formerly, but now by mediate angels and spirits, as also immediately, without angels and spirits" (S. D. 2591). Thus the Lord Himself cared and provided for the first man created, both internally and externally, without the help of any man, spirit, or angel; for none such existed. "The Lord is the all in all." "He hath need of no one." But men are in need of use on earth and in heaven.

     Removal of Evil and Falsity.

     An interesting fact is revealed, and important to be known, that evils and falsities are removed while man is reading the Word.

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"With those who believe these things, and love it to be so, all evil and falsity are removed while reading the Word, because the Lord then enlightens and leads them. . . .These are they who understand the Word, and are affected by the truths from it, and also love to live according to them" (A. C. 10638). It is made clear that this is done with those who acknowledge the Lord and keep His commandments in their daily life. These are they that "read the Word holily" (A. C. 9280), that is, in a sphere of holy worship. This applies both to individual and collective reading, or to both private and public worship. Evil spirits dare not approach where there is the delight of the affection of truth. This is the delight that is active when the Word is read "holily." Falsities are then removed, and the evils that are in them. In view of this, both mind and body at such a time should be in a state of rest.

     No Regeneration in Sickness.

     In the Divine Providence (142), the following statement is made: "No one is reformed in a state of bodily disease, because the reason is then not in a free state; for the state of the mind depends on the state of the body. When the body is sick, the mind is also sick, by removal from the world. . . . For the mind removed from the world thinks indeed concerning God, but not from God, for it is not in freedom of reason. . . . But he may be confirmed, if he was reformed before he fell sick." From what is here said, and in the context, it is made plain that regeneration cannot go on when, from any cause such as sickness, a man is removed from the active life of the world, and thus rendered unable to perform uses; for an active devotion to a life of use is the basis and foundation of all regeneration. An unhealthy condition of the body that does not remove one from his daily work is not meant (Compare D. L. W. 330).

     Christian Paganism.

     "If at the end of the church, they do not approach the Lord Himself, and live according to His commandments, they are left by the Lord; and when they are left by the Lord, they become as pagans who have no religion; and then the Lord is with those only who are of His New Church" (A. R. 750).

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This teaching exhibits the fact that Christian paganism is with those who have rejected the dogmas of the former Christian Church, and with it all revelation and all religion, living for the world alone and cherishing its delights. The number of these is steadily increasing. It is of them the Lord speaks when He says, "It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matt. 18: 6). It is better to be wholly immersed in the life of the world than to remain in the church and profane holy things. Some may be drawn even out of this state and be finally saved (C. L. 351, 536); and it is shown (T. C. R. 525) how a man may be rescued from Christian paganism and become truly Christian.

     Athens and Sparta.

     New Churchmen are delighted when they read of the visit to the heaven of ancient Greeks, and learn that many of their great minds are there, especially those of Athens (T. C. R. 692-694). Sparta was distinguished for military efficiency, but Athens for intellectual culture. The great philosophers were there. Sparta left little to the generations following, but the heritage of Athens has enriched the thought of the world from that time to the present. Sparta conquered Athens after a war of twenty-seven years, but both went down under the Roman power. The intellectual life of Athens remained, and conquered Rome itself. It has been said that there were more great minds in Athens, in the period from the victory of Marathon to the close of the Peloponnesian war, than has ever existed at one time, and at any one place, in the history of the world. What is of interest to New Churchmen is, that while the Jewish nation was the means used in the Providence of the Lord for His first coming, the Greeks were instrumental in preparation for His second coming. The intellectual thought and life of Greece, handed down through the ages, prepared the mind of Europe for the time when it should become lawful for the understanding to enter into the mysteries of faith (T. C. R. 508).

     Idleness the Devil's Pillow.

     The idea of idleness as an evil has taken form in proverbs in various nations. There are several in English.

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The above is the form used in Sweden, and is quoted in the Writings (S. D. 6072; A. E. 831; D. Wis. XI:4; Char. 168). Evil spirits enter and take possession when the mind is not determined to use. For "idleness is a life of the love of self and of the world" (A. E. 1226). "It is the root of all evil" (S. D. 6088). "A man is not of a healthy mind, unless use is his affection and occupation" (D. Love XV). Like all things natural, idleness has a spiritual origin, which in this case is a false idea of eternal rest in heaven (A. C. 454; H. H.403; D. Min. 4805; A. E. 1194). But temporary idleness, or leisure, for the refreshing of the body and mind in some form of recreation, is necessary and a positive good (C. L. 5; T. C. R. 434; A. E. 1194, 1226; Char. 189). It ministers to a sound mind in a sound body (A. C. 6936).

     Preservation of Order in the World.

     In the Spiritual Diary (2323), Under the heading that "The Lord rules the Universe," we are told that disturbances in the world of spirits are not allowed to extend beyond certain limits, and that equilibrium is quickly restored. Then it is added that "this may be evident from the human race, and the fact that the greatest disturbance does not extend itself widely. "The Lord does not permit that any destructive evil, such as war, famine, or pestilence, should become universal, and bring an end to the human race. This is especially true since the Last Judgment has been performed, and the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, is about to be established. This truth stands as a guiding star in the midst of any great disturbance like that of the late war.

     Why Ex Post Facto Laws are contrary to Order.

     Ex post facto,-that is, "after the deed is done,"-is a legal phrase used in reference to a law that is passed to punish a crime after it has been committed. By a constitutional provision, no legislative body is now permitted to pass such a law. This prohibitive principle has its origin in a law of the spiritual world. No one is punished in that world for evils he has done here, but for those he does there. The evil state acquired returns after death, and leads him to do similar deeds. For these he is punished, but not for those done in the former life (see A. E. 989; S. D. 3489).

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If he then refrains from committing them, there will be no punishment. In this we find the origin of the prohibition of ex post facto laws. A perception of the laws of the spiritual world is given when the mind thinks of use.

     "Vengeance is Mine."

     Paul advised the Roman Christians not to return evil for evil, saying among other things, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Rom. 12; 19). Similar words occur in Deuteronomy 32:35, and elsewhere. The operative effect of the laws of Divine order upon the evil appears like vengeance, but it is evil reacting upon itself, or evil punishing itself. The Lord never exercises vengeance upon any one, though it so appears in the letter of the Word. Nor has man any need to return evil for evil, or injury for injury. The wicked will suffer in the end the consequences of their own evil,-a punishment far greater than any we can inflict. If we do evil to him in return, we make ourselves like unto him. To cherish resentment is to cherish the desire for revenge. It is a saying that "revenge is sweet." It is as a sweet morsel under the tongue. But see the infernal nature of the delight of revenge, as described in the Spiritual Diary 1488-1497, 5096-5098, and elsewhere in the Writings.

     Can there be Error in a Divine Revelation?

     The question answers itself at once in the negative. Yet there are those who have found errors in the Writings. Let a single example illustrate. Swedenborg says (A. C. 10300), that salt will cause oil and water to mix. "It will not do so;" says one, "for I have placed oil and water in a vessel, and stirred in a portion of salt. Since the oil and water did not mix, I conclude that Swedenborg is mistaken." But wait a little. The Divine canon of criticism is to look to what is meant more than to what is said (John 7:24), even in judging human utterance. Swedenborg is speaking of the physiological effect of salt. It was a fact early known to him, that "salts copulate all parts of the blood" (E. A. K. 1:91, 92). Salt is not only conjunctive, but also preservative, and preservative because it is conjunctive. The correspondence of salt, its spiritual sense, rests upon the basis of its conjunctive power.

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     Inquisition into the Life of Others.

     "It is not angelic to inquire into the evils appertaining to a man, unless the goods are inquired into at the same time" (A. C. 10981). The angels rejoice to see good in another, but those who are in no charity, but in the love of self, consequently in hatred of others, rejoice to find evil. These "see nothing in their neighbor but his evils, and if they observe any good, they either regard it as nothing, or interpret it as evil; it is altogether otherwise with those who are in charity. . . . These scarcely see another's evils, but observe all that is good and true in him, and interpret favorably what is evil and false. Such are all the angels, and this disposition they derive from the Lord, who bends all evils to good" (A. C. 1079). This teaching is so plain that it requires no further comment; nor does that which now follows: "They who are dragons, although they make no account of the life, yet accuse the faithful in the spiritual world, if they observe in them any evil of ignorance; for they inquire into their life, in order that they may reproach and condemn, and hence they are called the accusers (of our brethren)" (A. E. 746. See also A. C. 751, 761, 5031, 6097, 8159, 8960). Those who are ruled by this spirit of accusation are they who crucify the Lord. They see naught but evil in the works of His Providence, and nothing but error or falsity in Divine Revelation. They are the false witnesses that rose up to condemn the Lord (Matt. 26: 60).

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SALVATION 1921

SALVATION       J. S. PRYKE       1921

     (A paper read at the British Assembly, 1921.)

     As he travels along that path which stretches from the cradle to the gateway of immortality, or, in other words, while he is living out his probationary period in this world, it is advisable for the New Churchman to step aside from the rush of material interests and to Pause at frequent intervals to examine and explore, to ponder and weigh, some one of those great foundation doctrines which have been given for his eternal use. Quite apart from, and in addition to, the public instruction received through the priesthood, it is well for him to study the doctrines of the Church for himself, and to try to understand in a more individual manner what it is they really teach, and so to glimpse, be it ever so obscurely, something of their application to his own personal experience.

     If this be done, not only will the effectiveness of the public ministrations of the Church be immensely enhanced, but the man himself will be enabled to grasp their philosophical and practical import in a superior degree, and will also be led into a more intimate relationship with their Divine Fount and Giver.

"And as I find it well to come
For deeper rest to this small room,
For here the habit of the soul
Feels less the outer world's control,
And from the silence multiplied
By these still forms on every side,
The world that time and sense have known
Falls off, and leaves me God alone."

     It is well to cultivate the habit of quiet study, contemplation and reflection, in order to countervail the insistent demands of the outside world; well to pace the cool cloisters of undisturbed thought wherein spiritual instruction and renewal are to be found.

     It has been suggested to me that the Doctrine of Salvation, affecting, as it does, every man, woman, and child who has ever been born, or who will be born, is one which might fitly occupy some portion of our time at this Assembly.

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What follows is but a layman's conception of the doctrine, and is offered, not so much in the expectation of setting forth anything new or hitherto unnoticed, as in the hope that it may prove of use in some way to some Person at some time or another.

     Salvation is the destiny of universal mankind. To name it, immediately gives rise to four leading questions. What is salvation? How can it be attained? Who are salvable? From what are they to be saved? To these questions the Writings answer, that salvation is of the Lord, is the Lord Himself; that it is the reward of those who obey His Commandments; that since all have been redeemed, all may be saved; and that it is the withdrawal of man from association with hell, and the turning of him to the life of heavenly use. To state these truths in another form, redemption is a pre-requisite of salvation, and the latter comes by the way of repentance, reformation and regeneration. Let us for a moment look at these doctrines separately.

     First, as to redemption. There is a vital distinction between this and salvation. Man is called upon to take a share in the work of salvation. He has nothing to do with redemption, which belongs solely to the Lord. When man was first created, he was gifted with the faculties of free will and rationality, was formed in the image and likeness of God. He was able to comprehend the designs of his Maker and co-operate in them. Nevertheless, from the very first it was known by the Lord that these faculties would be perverted, that His image would be distorted. The Lord foresaw that man, by long accumulations of disobedience, would so separate himself from the source of his life that death would result. By the abuse of freedom, the existence of freedom itself would be threatened. This state actually came about. The power of evil was overtopping the power of good, and the human race was hurtling to its destruction. It was then that the Lord came as He had predicted, and, having covered His Divine with a human vestment, reduced the hells to subjection, brought the heavens into order, and redeemed both angels and men, restoring that spiritual equilibrium, without which there is no real life. By this redemption, the Lord took to Himself the power of saving those who do His Commandments, and without it no flesh could have been saved. It is evident that, since man by that time was in full and open rebellion against God, he could have no lot in the work of redemption. The Lord, however, did not take away sins; He only bore them.

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Indeed, everyone may see by enlightened reason alone that sins cannot be taken away except by actual repentance. And here we reach the first requirement from man. The Lord, having by redemption made salvation possible, asks for a human response. If it were otherwise, spiritual counterpoise would be lost, and the human destroyed. It is quite definitely stated that the Lord intends the salvation of all, and that if one is not saved, that one is at fault, and the fault is that he failed to co-operate. The highroad to salvation runs straight from redemption through repentance, reformation and regeneration. It may oft seem a toilsome, thorny road, beset with difficulties and dangers; yet these may be surmounted, and failure be turned into triumph, if only there be perseverance and an interior reliance upon Divine aid. In this sense, the poet rightly sang:

"I hold it truth with him who sings
To one clear harp in divers tones
That men may rise on stepping-stones
Of their dead selves to higher things."

     Of repentance, we read that it is the first constituent of the Church in man. With its very first act, there comes a break in the clouds and a promise of dawn. The need of repentance is testified to in the Word. For John, as he baptized, also taught repentance; and the Lord Himself, while on earth, laid it upon the twelve apostles, also the seventy, that they should preach the need of repentance. What, then, is repentance? It is not the contrition which at the present day is said to precede faith; still less is it the mere general lip-confession of unworthiness. We know that everyone is born with an inclination to evil of all kinds. So the work of repentance is the work of self-examination, and the discovery of some familiar sin in one's self. Nor does mere examination of act end the work. We must proceed to the intentions of the will, and then there may be something of true repentance. Afterwards there should be confession to the Lord and supplication for His help. The importance of repentance is evidenced by two pregnant statements; first, that those who never engage in it, who never look into themselves, at length lose the ability to distinguish between damnatory evil and saving good; second, that after death, repentance is not possible. Without repentance there is no remission of sins, no liberation from them.

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     After repentance, and consequent upon it, there comes reformation. This is primarily of the understanding. Just as the will in its natural state is evil, so is the understanding in its natural state false. Reformation is the work of reconstructing, reforming the understanding. Slowly the man acquires true knowledges; slowly he learns how to look away from the natural towards the spiritual. In this matter, the Lord is very patient; for so long as man discriminates between good and evil, and acknowledges to himself that the former ought to be chosen, so long is he kept in a state of potential reformation, even though the actual state is not reached before there is an affection of truth for its own sake. Further, reformation can only be effected in liberty and rationality; therefore miracles, signs, conversations with the dead, in fact nothing which weakens or occludes the mind, conduces to it. It can only proceed by orderly steps. First, the man learns that there is a heaven and a hell; then, that evil is from hell and good from heaven; then he recognizes that evils should be shunned because they are from hell, and goods done because they are from heaven; finally, he wills to desist from evils. Then there is reformation from first principles to ultimates. Reformation, then, may be described as a re-arrangement and restocking of the mind. It is a weeding-out of our mental gardens, an uprooting of the noxious growths there, and a re-planting with fruit-bearing trees and sweet-smelling shrubs and flowers.

     Regeneration, on the other hand, is more directly concerned with the will. It probes deep down to the intentions, lays bare the very love, implies an actual new birth. Up to a point, it is possible for the human mind to be stored with the truths of heaven, and yet not really affect the life. It is only as the understanding is mated with the will, only as the man elects to do what he knows to be right, that the first movements leading to the re-birth take place. Spiritual growth is slow, and corresponds, in its several stages, to the processes of nature.

     In the work on Heaven and Hell, there is a passage telling how an angel, from his wisdom, once described regeneration, presenting a hundred arcana concerning it in their order, and filling each arcanum with ideas which contained arcana still more interior. His description embraced the whole subject from beginning to end; for he explained in what manner the spiritual man is conceived anew and as it were carried in the womb, is born, grows up, and is successively perfected.

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Yet he said he could increase the number of arcana to several thousands, since what he had said related only to the external man, and that there are innumerable other things relating to the regeneration of the internal man. Let us not be downcast, however, at the distance which separates our knowledge from wisdom so exalted. The angel was but a man who delighted in wisdom, and it was given to him accordingly. The same experience may be ours, if we rightly so desire, are willing to expand mentally, to discard pre-conceived notions when they are shown to be erroneous, and follow the indications of Providence.

     Regeneration, the Writings tell us, commences when a man desists from evils, progresses as he shuns them, is perfected as he fights against and conquers them. As he naturally regenerates himself, so he is spiritually regenerated by the Lord, who is in the continual endeavor to regenerate mankind, opposing and subduing the diabolical fury of the hells, which rise up against every person who is regenerating. Simply stated, the regenerative process is that man confesses his need, learns the laws of spiritual health, and eventually wishes for nothing which is not in agreement with them. From a state of opposition to the Lord, he passes into a state of reacting with Him. The active of the Lord is the passive of man, and, with those who are regenerating, this passive becomes a concordant reactive.

     As we have seen, redemption is universal. Regeneration is individual, and takes place according to state; proceeding in one way with the learned, in another with the unlearned; in different ways with those who are engaged in different studies and employments; in one manner with those who have received a good natural disposition from their parents, in another with those who have plunged into the vanities of the world. The variety is infinite, but the method is according to the individual capacity with all.

     Upon the regenerating man is bestowed a new will and a new understanding; the old man is cast forth and is replaced by a new creature who is in communion with the angels, and with whom the Lord is ever present. This new creature claims no merit for his own, but ascribes all the charity and faith with him to the Lord. In order that the necessity of regeneration may be kept constantly before the mind, all creation mirrors it.

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It is reflected in the blossoming of spring, in the ripening of harvest, in the magnificence of the sunrise, in the gentle falling of the dew, in the splendor of the rainbow. All these proclaim the fact of regeneration, of human deliverance from the powers of darkness, of continual growth in the atmospheres of eternity.

     So we reach the last phase of our subject,-salvation itself. A person regenerated is a person saved, is conjoined with the Lord, is to eternity kept safe by Him. So altered is the will of such a one, that he knows no will save the Lord's. So changed is his understanding, that it receives and reflects nothing but truth. The former proprium is quiescent; the evils of intention, thought, and act are remitted, put away, pressed out to the circumference, rendered powerless. Whereas his good previously resided in the loves of self and the world, and his truth was all such phantasy as favored them, now he is only happy while serving the Lord and his neighbor. His whole being is responsive to cosmic harmony.

     The plan of salvation involves the laying bare of evil, its repudiation, the resolute turning towards good, and the substitution of its delights for the fallacious lure of sin. In one word, it is the death of the natural, the birth of the spiritual. In the Writings, these are called reformation, regeneration, renovation, vivification, sanctification, justification, purification and salvation. Each name is, in itself, sufficient to interpret the character of the work done, and the work is accomplished by means of the Word. Really it is the work of the Lord, who never ceases to adapt means to ends, in order that it may be completed. For the sake of salvation, both heaven and earth were created; thus salvation is nothing less than a continuance of creation. Although man is not saved by his own merit, yet must he never cease to act as though all depends upon him, never to fail to strive throughout his natural life,-in the church, in the home, in the world. He must ever hold this great object of human existence before his eyes. Ever must he remember that redemption with the Lord is salvation with man, that the steps of glorification are the pattern of regeneration, and that final deliverance is awarded when regeneration is finished.

     Not everyone will be saved, simply because not everyone wills to be saved; still less can a single one be saved instantaneously. Were it possible to save man by the exercise of arbitrary power, his two essential faculties would be destroyed, and the life blotted completely out.

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But such an experiment can never be tried, being in direct conflict with Divine order. No. Salvation can only be gained progressively; we begin to walk the road with the first stirrings of repentance, and it ends only with eternity.

     The dual nature of salvation is also made manifest. The Lord provides it, but man must accept the provision; for we are told that it is an immutable law that, only in proportion as man draws nigh to the Lord, can the Lord draw nigh to him; and without this reciprocal drawing together, salvation is not.

     The state of salvation is one of innocence, confidence, freedom from all anxiety, inmost peace, heavenly joy and happiness. What these latter are, is revealed. Heaven, says Swedenborg, is so full of delights that, viewed in itself, it is nothing but delight and blessedness. It is delightful to all in heaven to communicate their delights and blessings to each other. I perceived, he adds, that when I wished to transfer my delights to another, a new delight, more interior and fuller than the former, flowed in, and its volume was proportionate to the intensity of my desire.

     In heaven, all goodness and charity model the form into their own image; and because the delight and beauty of charity shine forth from every part of the face, and because the angels ever increase in goodness and charity, therefore to grow old in heaven is to grow young; for heaven is a state of perpetual renewal.

     If we suffer ourselves to be led towards the state of salvation, we shall, even while on earth, come to show greater tolerance to our neighbors, greater patience with our own failures, greater confidence that the work of upbuilding the Church, universal and particular, is, in reality, going unceasingly forward.

     Thrice blessed he who, placing his hand in that of his Savior, treads the way of salvation, and so passes from death unto life. Protected from the malignity of the hells, uplifted beyond his own innate inclinations, exulting in a life of uses for their own sake, cooperating in the work of extending the Lord's kingdom, once again restored to the pristine image of his Maker, he is held eternally safe!

     "How great is Thy salvation, O Lord. We will sing of Thy salvation, and in Thy name will we lift up standards!"

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Editorial Department 1921

Editorial Department       Editor       1921


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                    Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Rev. W. H. Alden, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address and business communications should be sent to the Business Manager.

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
One Year                $3.00 payable in advance
Single Copy          30 cents
     THE FRUITS OF AN AGE.

     The annual recurrence of the time of "ingathering at the year's end" leads the thought of the pious man to reflect upon the Lord's Providence, especially as it is manifested in the harvest, viewed both naturally and spiritually. The sickle is frequently employed in Scripture to symbolize the time of a great judgment, when the Divine Sower and Reaper gathers up the souls of an age to form a new angelic heaven; when, also, He institutes a church upon earth among a few whose remains of piety and charity afford ground for a new insemination of revealed spiritual ideas, these to bear fruit in still another harvest of souls for the heavenly kingdom.

     Three times in our earth's history has there been such a garnering of souls,-at the Flood, at the Incarnation, and at the Second Advent; in each case at the death of a Church, that its spirit might rise into life eternal; in each case at the end of an age, with an ingathering of its fruitage. "The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.

     Viewing the great cycles of Providence thus, we are now given to see that the true ages or epochs in the world's history have been contemporaneous with the Churches, and that the real fruits of the progress of the race have been the angelic heavens formed of the regenerate.

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Whatever the natural and material product of an age or generation, it was but instrumental in the bearing of a spiritual and eternal fruit,-the heaven formed of those who were saved by the Church. Yet every age also has left an earthly heritage of good and ill-within and without men,-a residue preserved by the Lord for the use of posterity.



     Meditating on this course of Providence, New Churchmen cannot but rejoice in heart over the discovery of any residue of good and truth in the world which can be of service to the New Church of our day and age. And if, in the first ardor of our desire to have "all things new" and distinctive, we slight many things of value, a second or a third thought may broaden our vision, and bring us to see that, according to the Divine law of preparation, there is nothing in the wide world which does not, in one way or another, directly, indirectly, or even negatively, contribute to the promotion of the New Church. For this Church, as the chief instrumentality in the salvation of the souls of this and other earths, is now the special object of the Divine favor. Indeed, the stretch of the mind that brings one to this comprehensive view will also lead to the realization that all things in the history of the race have been prepared for the use of the present and future ages; thus that the New Church, by a rational selective process, is to reap and thresh the harvest of all former Churches, primarily by receiving an influx of blessedness from their heavens, but also, secondarily, by "gathering up the fragments that remain" in the world, that "nothing be lost." "Come, ye blessed of my Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."



     It is evident that we must enlarge our understanding of the term "remnant" to include both persons and things,-persons who have the mental ground receptive of the seeds of the New Revelation, as well as the moral and civil virtues that are in harmony with the truths of spiritual order, and the traditions of Christian piety and custom; things on the impersonal, material plain, such as the printed records of science and truth, the works of art and of mechanical invention; in short, all the goods of civilization and of former ecclesiastical regimes.

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These are to be regarded as a heritage,-the fruits of bygone ages, now to be gathered into the service of the New Church.



     Though we rightly look askance at anything that is tainted with the spirit and false conceptions of the former Church-whether within or without ourselves-we must admit that the traditional forms of Christian life and worship, so far as they are severed from the corrupt internals of men, are not in themselves deserving of the condemnation that has justly been visited upon that Church itself. For we are told that "when a church has been vastated, that is, when it is no longer in any good of faith, it perishes principally as to the states of its interiors, thus as to states in the other life; heaven then removes itself from them, and transfers itself to others who are adopted in their place." (A. C. 4423) The externals of the Old Church remain, even though a genuine spirit has departed from them; they are of use to the simple good and children among Christians; and the New Church, acting with discrimination in the light of the Heavenly Doctrine, may adapt what is suitable to its own external life and worship.

     A sifting process, of course, will retain the wheat and discard the chaff. There is much in Christian forms that we cannot use. But abuse does not take away use. The Catholics, for example, have perverted and invalidated the eucharist by separating the bread and the wine; but this fact does not abolish the Supper from the "true Christian Church," which is to come into the very use and fruit of the sacraments, even by a new understanding of their significance and by the infusion of a new spirit into the form inherited from the previous Church. So with the Christian institution of marriage. In the New Church this will partake of a new holiness from the restored conjugial. The fault is not so much with the forms of Christian custom and worship as with the interior life and thought of Christians. And the same is to be said of the manifold civil and material blessings of Christian civilization.

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These are not a hindrance to a New Churchman, but a benefit, if only he is not carried away by the love of the world, becoming enamored of these external things for their own sake, or even mistaking them for signs of a spiritual renewal of the race.



     By way of a further illustration of the law of conservation from age to age, consider how the sciences and arts have progressively flourished upon our earth, how ship-building and printing especially have been perfected for the sake of the Word and its dissemination among all peoples and over the entire surface of the globe, to the end that its precious stones might reflect their glittering lights to the remotest bounds of the universe, instructing the spirits of the most distant planets concerning the God Man and His heavenly kingdom. Consider how the languages of Revelation are now to come into the chief use for which they were intended and prepared, as the sacred and immutable vessels of Divine Truth, the Scripture foundation of the universal heaven and the universal church, the fount of instruction for all earths and all heavens. Those languages served for a time as a vehicle of communication for the ancient peoples of whose genius they were typical, but who are long since gathered to their own in spiritual habitations. The prophets of Israel understood not the holy significance of the things they were given to utter and to write, which our Lord came, "not to destroy, but to fulfill," and whose spiritual depths are only now laid open by Him for the sake of the everlasting Church.

     And so we learn from the spiritual aspects of the harvest that the fruits of an age are gathered at its end, and in later ages; that the product of one generation of men serves their posterity more than themselves. The law holds good for race and individual. One period of life performs its greatest service in preparing for that which follows, and all states involve a series of consequences extending to eternity. Nothing is unconnected with the past or the future. Divine Providence never regards one limited end, but always universal and eternal uses. "And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor; other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors."

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NOTES AND REVIEWS 1921

NOTES AND REVIEWS       E. E. IUNGERICH       1921

     SECOND ISSUE OF THE LAUSANNE QUARTERLY.

     The four editorials in the second number of the REVUE DE L'ERE NOUVELLE (Lausanne) are critiques of articles in the NEW CHURCH REVIEW, the NEW CHURCH HERALD, and the NEW CHURCH LIFE, and a review of an article by Dr. Fugairon in the VEIL OF ISIS (Voile d'lsis), in the course of which the Rev. E. E. Iungerich is credited with holding Spinozian views, being charged with believing that "spirit is merely matter viewed from within" (p. 203).

     In the NEW CHURCH REVIEW, "the most important New Church periodical in the world",-as the Editor of L'ERE NOUVELLE, With modest self-effacement, styles it,-the article on "Order" by W. Chauvenet furnishes him an occasion for exhorting his readers to keep up with the advance of modern Science, as "without this they would not be equipped to communicate their beliefs to cultured contemporaries" (p. 202). "Scientific thought in our days has made a stride onward to what is `interior'. It has left the plane of matter for the more interior one of energy. But that is not enough," he warningly adds. "We have not yet reached the domain of the real causes. . . .when a spiritual origin. . . .will be admitted" (p. 201).

     In the NEW CHURCH HERALD, the Rev. Sexton, of the General Conference, upholds the recent revelations of the Rev. Vale Owen, of the Anglican Church, as being in agreement with the Writings, and as a confirmation of the New Church doctrines. Vale Owen, however, had read the True Christian Religion in his youth. Mr. de Geymuller thinks this may have made a plane in his mind that became receptive of influx and produced revelations similar to the Memorabilia. He concludes that the books of the Rev. Owen "may be read with pleasure, perhaps even with profit, by all those who like to anticipate in thought the substantial realities which death will inevitably bring us to see Some day." He suggests, as a deterrent reason, however, that "accounts similar to those of Mr. Vale Owen's might have emanated from spirits." (p. 198).

     Though he lauds the second part of Bishop N. D. Pendleton's article on "The Lord and His Kingdom," as "a study rich in suggestions and in intimations that are frequently original" (p. 201), he is not so favorably impressed with the Bishop's treatment of the spiritual world in the first part.

638


"One feels here," he says, "that one has read something that is very interesting, but without feeling oneself more advanced than before" (p. 201). He deplores that one who professes to believe that the spiritual is substantial should yet declare it to have no dimensions. He does not consider this to follow from the teaching that the spiritual world is only in the appearance of space and time.

     It must be dreary for an editor, especially if he have a thirst for intellectual advancement, to have to wade through the many reiterations of commonplaces that so often characterize New Church literature, particularly if he has to publish the same from lack of more stimulating material. The prevailing policy everywhere seems to be that it is good for the individual to have a vehicle in which to express himself, even though his output may not benefit anybody else. Possibly too much encouragement is given to keeping track of modern developments in the world, appraising these by a measuring-stick of conventional New Church phrases, which, through repeated mussitation, coagulate into an obstruction to any effort to discern the vital truth within them. A mind thus clogged is over quick to challenge what is not in accord with its present comprehension. In such a state, the labors of students engaged in bringing out deeper treasures from the Writings cannot proffer him their riches. Much of our controversial literature, also, is little more than a confession of misapprehension on the part of the objector. For example, some one declares that there is a creative relationship between the spiritual and the natural. Within a week's time some one else will probably retort: "No, their relationship is merely one of correspondence."

     This matter of the spiritual's having no dimensions is quite like this. To qualify for the discussion of this subject, one should first have a clear cut discrimination between the spiritual as to essence and the spiritual as to existence. The spiritual as to existence, commonly called the spiritual world, is adjoined to and connected with the finite, ultimate, dimensional bases on which it rests. These are the bodies and matters of this world, or the limbuses and atmospheric vibrations of the existence hereafter, all dimensional.

639


But the Bishop was describing the spiritual as to essence, which is certainly non-spatial, and so without dimension.

     The case is similar with the amusing characterization which the editor placed upon my effort to explain that the spiritual and natural worlds, in whole and in part, are a single two-ply world, in which the inner ply is to the outer ply as a soul is to a body. He himself, in fact, gives utterance to the same idea in this number of the quarterly, in the third of the following three sentences: "Spirit does not exist by the side of matter, on the same plane with matter. Consequently, it is not contained in the same space as matter. It co-exists with matter as the soul co-exists with the body in man, and could exist before matter, whereas matter could not exist without it" (p. 167).

     As basis for our thoughts on this psycho physical problem, note the following passages:

     "The expanse around the sun of the angelic heaven is not an extense, but still it is within the extense of the natural sun, [please note Mr. de Geymuller's underlined statement just above], and with the living subjects there according to their receptions, and the receptions according to their forms and states" (T. C. R. 35; C. L. 380.)

     "The spiritual [of man] is adjoined to his natural, or the substantial of the spirit to the material of the body, with such adaptation of unition that there is no fibrilla, staminate, or least web from them, where the human of the spirit is not together with the human body" (D. Wis. VII. 4.)

     "The spirit of man is not a substance separate from the viscera, organs and members of man, but adheres to them tightly [conjuncte]; for the spiritual accompanies their every stamen from outmosts to inmosts, and hence, also, every stamen and every fibre of the heart and the lungs" (D. Wis. VII: 2.)

     "Human blood in inmosts is spiritual, and corporeal in outmosts" (D. Wis. X:6).

     Space permits only a cursory mention of the contributed articles in the REVUE. Pastors Nussbaum of Mauritius, Regamey of Lausanne, and De La Fayette of Rio de Janeiro, have useful theological articles That by the last-named is a forceful proclamation that God is a Divine Man. It is readable, not diffuse, and a unit,-virtues not shared by all the other articles.

640


The Rev. G. Regamey unfortunately makes the following regrettable statement: "Emanuel Swedenborg . . . presents himself as the organ of a new revelation of the Lord, a revelation which is not to replace, but to complete and enrich Christianity, of which it will be the crown." It is more than likely that all his Old Church readers and many of his New Church ones will construe this to mean the Christianity of the modern Christian sects. No less misleading is the following dictum by Mr. de Geymuller: "Our doctrines are not dogmas one has to believe, but a declaration of facts and laws that can be understood and confirmed a posteriori" (p. 163). Dr. de Beaumont discusses the historical connections of the theories of Kant, Laplace, and others with those of Swedenborg, but without ever getting to the subject of his title "Swedenborg's Cosmology." Possibly his paper, like that of the Rev. Regamey, is only intended as a preface to a subsequent series of articles. Dr. V. Bon contributes a profound and beautifully written study of the subject of "Life," and the Editor presents the second of what promise to be three voluminous instalments on the subject of "Spiritism." His treatment is one of colossal elaboration, and evinces a sincere and painstaking desire to unlock the physical mysteries of spiritistic phenomena. It shows a praiseworthy conviction that only from the Writings and their doctrine of discrete degrees can one hope to solve their riddle. In his explanation of spirit materialization and photography, he seems to be unacquainted with the teachings about a spirit's retaining a subtle material envelope as organism (D. P. 220, T. C. R. 103, D. L. W. 257, S. D. 2366-70), but reasons from a postulate that a spirit is a purely spiritual substance with no effect on other matter save by contiguity.
     E. E. IUNGERICH.
JAPANESE PERIODICAL 1921

JAPANESE PERIODICAL              1921

     THE NEW LIFE is the name of a monthly New Church magazine that comes to us from Japan, being edited by the Rev. I. L. Watanabe, Pastor of the Mission at Tokyo. The above title, however, is the only part of the periodical that is printed in Roman letters, the rest being in most attractive looking Japanese characters, wholly unintelligible to us.

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A review of its contents must therefore await the day when we shall have the assistance of some one who is acquainted with the language of Nippon. In the meantime, we can but rejoice in the fact that the truths of the Heavenly Doctrine are being proclaimed in the native tongue of that enterprising and progressive nation.

     We learn from THE NEW-CHURCH MESSENGER of October 26th last that Mr. Watanabe has recently paid a missionary visit to Korea, where, under the auspices of a Mr. Moriguchi, whose daughter and two sons are New Church people, he lectured in chapels of the Methodist and Congregational Churches, having an audience, on one occasion, of 80 Japanese, and on another, of 60 Koreans and Japanese. Of what followed one meeting, he writes: "Before we reached home, one young man came to us, saying that he wished to be baptized and join the New Church. He already had a fine understanding of the Doctrines, as he had been a subscriber to our magazine. So we had a baptismal service at 12:00 o'clock at night, with all the New Church people present. It was a very solemn, spiritual service. . . . Just before it began, a Korean gentleman, Dr. Ritokusho (a physician), came in. He is a prominent man in the village, very well educated, and of good family. He was not a Christian, though he had for a long time attended Christian churches regularly. After the service, he suggested that he also be baptized, and unite with the New Church. So I promised to have the service at 7 o'clock the next morning (or rather that morning), and at that time, the five of us met at the old Korean castle which stands in spreading fields on the mountain side, and by the bank of the river, and there we had another solemn service. The Doctor was very much pleased with our rational doctrine and principles. He is the first native Korean New Churchman. . . . There is great possibility of leading both Koreans and Japanese to the New Church, as they are looking for something new."

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NEW DEPARTMENT 1921

NEW DEPARTMENT       Editor       1921

     It cannot with truth be said that the treatment of subjects connected with the field of education in the General Church has been lacking in the pages of NEW CHURCH LIFE; numerous articles and reports will testify to the contrary. But we have long felt that it would be useful to have a department devoted to this special purpose, providing a place for matter dealing with the many phases of New Church education, as a work closely allied with our ecclesiastical uses proper. It would seem that the time has arrived to make a beginning. The recently formed Committee on Sunday Schools and Home Instruction will thus be afforded a rostrum; and we trust that our writers generally will feel encouraged to come forward and address the Church here, giving our readers the fruits of their study and experience in this field.

     As our heading implies, this department will be open to the discussion of pedagogical questions, and any subject that will be of interest to those who are engaged in the teaching and training of the children and youth of the Church, whether in the school or in the home. Bring hither your problems, and we shall endeavor to help you in their solution. While it is to be expected that such topics will be treated mainly from the standpoint of the minister, teacher and parent, it is our hope that, as time goes on, we shall be in a position to feature reading matter of a distinctive New Church type for the children themselves. The need for this has been scantily met, though patent to all.

     The Committee on Sunday School and Home Instruction was heard from in our issue of September last. We now welcome a contribution from another member of that Committee, who offers a valuable suggestion as to a year's course of religious instruction in the Sunday School.
     EDITOR.

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SUNDAY SCHOOL COURSE 1921

SUNDAY SCHOOL COURSE       Rev. L. W. T. DAVID       1921

     Genesis and Exodus are the text for the whole year. These two books, taken together, constitute a complete cycle of revelation, describing, in their internal sense, the entire circuit of the church in history, from its Divine origin in the Lord, the Maker and Former, through the period of its departure from Him, to the time of its return to Him and restoration in perfect order.

     Genesis tells of the origin of the church from the Lord, and of its perfection in simplicity; then of its departure from His will, and of its successive re-formations, each more external than the previous one, until the lowest point is reached in Egypt with the death of Joseph there.

     Exodus takes up the story at this lowest point, and tells of the gradual restoration of the church through Divine instruction. Egypt represents the most external and natural state, but Sinai represents heaven, out of which the Lord reveals Divine Doctrine, which is to be the Law of the church, and grants a vision of the Tabernacle, as the pattern of the perfected church which He is even now beginning to build up upon the earth. In this series, the Tabernacle holds a place similar to the vision of the Holy City, New Jerusalem, in the series of the entire ancient Scriptures.

     The cycle of the two books may be set down thus:-

     Genesis: Descending Series                Exodus: Ascending Series

     THE LORD.
CREATOR AND REDEEMER.

1. Eden: Adam                         7. Sinai: The Tabernacle
2. Ararat: Noah                              6. Sinai: The Law
3. Canaan: Abraham                     5. Red Sea: Deliverance
                          Joseph-Moses
                              4. Egypt

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     AN OUTLINE.

     An analysis of the contents of the books of the Bible is always useful.

     The stories and histories of Genesis may be divided into five groups, epochs, or eras, as follows:

     1. Creation:                              Chapters 1:to 2:3
2. Eden: Most Ancient Church               2:4 to 6:7
3. Ararat, or Noah: Ancient Church           6:8 to 11:26
4. The Patriavchs: Abraham; Isaac; Jacob      11:27 to 36:43
5. The Joseph Cycle:                         37:1 to 50:26

     The histories and ordinances of Exodus may also be divided into five groups or stages:

     1. In Egypt: Bondage                     Chapter 1
2. Moses: The Plagues                         2: to 11
3. The Exodus: Passover; Red Sea           12: to 19
4. The Law:                              20: to 24; 32 to 35:3
5. The Tabernacle:                         25: to 31; 35:4 to 40

     These generalizations cover the whole text, and are intended for the use of the teacher, irrespective of the assigned Sunday lessons.

     A general view is necessary to the teacher, who should also have knowledge of the portions omitted from the chosen lessons, since they serve to connect the various parts of the series, and often furnish a setting or background for the particular incidents used in the lesson. A lesson is more than an assignment of verses; it is a growth out of preceding conditions and amidst attendant circumstances.

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LOVE TOWARDS THE NEIGHBOR IN HEAVEN 1921

LOVE TOWARDS THE NEIGHBOR IN HEAVEN       E. E. IUNGERICH       1921

     "That love towards God involves love toward the neighbor is now beyond doubt. For love towards the neighbor is the same as the exercise of good works, or the showing that I really love the neighbor. . . . Therefore, the conclusion is, that there is no love towards God if there is no love to the neighbor. . . . In the future life, it can be said that love towards God is possible without the exercise of love towards any neighbor. This is true, but in that life love and faith are not considered as saving, since the soul is already saved or condemned; and all the means which are the exercises of love towards the neighbor are taken away, since the subject of action, that is, the body, is extinct. Therefore sumptuous Dives wished for a return to life that he might serve poor Lazarus." (Faith and Good Works 12, 13.)

     Commenting on this passage, written by Swedenborg prior to his call by the Lord to be a revelator, the Rev. Albert Bjorck observes: "Here we see that all his [Swedenborg's] knowledge of nature . . . was absolutely impotent to beget a true idea of life in the heavens, or to give birth to the knowledge that spirits have a body, a perfect instrument for their love of use in the performance of the duties of love to the neighbor. This, and all other truths on the purely spiritual plane of life, could come to his knowledge only through revelation from the Lord; and for that purpose he was introduced into the spiritual world." (NEW CHURCH LIFE, June, 1921, p. 337.)

     This expression of a long-standing misconception, which assigns a palpable unworthiness to teachings in Swedenborg's philosophical writings, is a goad opportunity for renewing interest in the matter of correlating the earlier studies of the seer with his subsequent revelations. In this particular instance, the teachings challenged as giving an untrue idea of life in heaven are, 1. That there could be hereafter "love towards God without the exercise of love towards the neighbor," and 2. That the extinction of the body by death removed the subject of action in the exercise of love towards the neighbor.

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Mr. Bjorck, taking for granted that both statements are palpably untrue, at once concludes, in order to defend Swedenborg, that it was impossible for him to think otherwise at that time, and that only the subsequent revelation given to him by the Lord could drive away such notions and implant the genuine truths, that angels love the neighbor and possess bodies.

     It is laudable and becoming to exalt spiritual teaching and truth above the conclusions of the philosophical and scientific planes; but our zeal to magnify the super-excellence of the former should not lead us into disparaging the latter, nor make us prone to ascribe untruth to them. The discrete diversity of these subordinate planes from the higher spiritual one should prepare us to find many startling differences, not only in verbal expressions, but also in actual mental picture, even when these lower planes are giving exact correspondential mirrorings of entities that exist transcendently in the spiritual plane.

     If it was impossible for Swedenborg, prior to 1744, to become acquainted with such fundamental postulates to philosophical thought as that angels love the neighbor and have bodies, then his philosophy is a serious menace to sane thought, and he himself must have been, not only the most stupid, but the most ignorant of Christian philosophers; not even fit to be ranked with Paul, who says that we die as to the natural body, but rise as to the spiritual body; nor with Augustine, who wrote with some light on the same subject. Neither Paul nor Augustine had spiritual revelations to give them the knowledge that spirits have bodies, and yet they both illuminatingly affirm belief in a doctrine as to which, if Mr. Bjorck's contention be granted, Swedenborg must have been kept in profound ignorance until his spiritual eyes were opened.

     The difficulty here is that Mr. Bjorck has singled out one passage as representing in epitome Swedenborg's full thought on the bodies of angels. This is not fair to an author who deserves to have his other contemporaneous pronouncements on the same subject considered before any verdict is reached. In regard to Swedenborg's not being acquainted with this or that spiritual teaching prior to the reception by him of his revelation, we must not forget that from childhood he had read the Word of the Old and New Testaments with fervent piety, and that he had not only been providentially protected from the current falsities of Old Church belief (see Doc. 234), but had discerned in the letter of the Scriptures the fundamental verities of primitive Christian doctrine, as well as many arcana of a subsidiary philosophical nature.

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     It certainly was not unknown to him that angels and spirits appear as human beings quite similar in appearance to men on earth; for he knew that the three angels whom Abraham saw appeared as men, and that Moses and Elias would not have been recognized at the Lord's Transfiguration if they had not appeared in the human form. His philosophical thought on the subject is expressed thus:

     "When emancipated from the bonds and trammels of earthly things, it [the human spirituous fluid] will still assume every [omnem] form of the human body, and live a life pure beyond imagination." (E. A. K. II, 351-7.) "The soul then flies away or migrates as from her palace. But she does not, therefore, live in motions and effects, still remains in her, being most purely impressed on her highly simple and modifiable substances as in causes." (Psychological Tracts, p. 61.)

     In the light of such contemporaneous teachings, perfectly in keeping with the subsequent doctrine about the finest things of nature that are the border to man's spiritual things hereafter (D. P. 220, D. L. W. 257, T. C. R. 109), the statement objected to by Mr. Bjorck deserves to be freed of the construction he placed upon it. Swedenborg certainly does not mean there that, by the extinction of the natural body, angels are deprived of every possible organism for the future existence. If he did, he would be in gross and absurd contradiction to the two passages I have just cited, and to several others which it would not be difficult to adduce. No. He means simply (though he has not said it in so many words), that the after death organism will not be, as is the earthly body, "a subject of action" for "the exercises of love towards the neighbor."

     Now what does this mean? Certainly it does not mean that the angels have no love towards the neighbor, and thus disparage the second of the Lord's two great commandments. No, not this. He is talking about the exercises,-the external, physical, good deeds towards individuals.

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It is, in fact, not unlikely that he was thinking of the Lord's reproof to Martha, who was "cumbered with much serving," and of His commendation of the contemplative Mary, "as having chosen the better part." On earth, where we come into physical contact with all sorts of persons, each such contact demands of us some exercise of love towards the neighbor. But hereafter it is not so. We appear only to those who are in a similar state, for the sake of inter-communicating the gifts made by the Lord to them and to us; and there is no need of compelling ourselves, as an exercise of charity to them, to put on states that will be agreeable and helpful to them, while we hide all others. On earth, we must do this as an exercise of charity. In the other life, the gifts of the Lord are what are attended to in others.

     This, in a nutshell, seems to be Swedenborg's idea. I would like to add the suggestion, that he was probably thinking primarily of the celestial heaven, where love of the Lord predominates, and not of the inferior heavens where love towards the neighbor and the good of faith are accentuated. It will be remembered that, in parts of the Arcana, Swedenborg speaks of the celestial heaven as if it were the only heaven. Its dwellers are then the only ones called "angels ", and those in the two heavenly spheres outside of it are only called "angelic spirits" and "good spirits" respectively. I feel inclined, therefore, to suggest that Swedenborg (whether consciously or not, I do not know) was here speaking of this highest heaven, which alone is truly heaven; and when he says that "in the future life,. . .love towards God is possible without the exercise of love towards any neighbor," he means precisely what he has thus expressed in Heaven and Hell: "There are also angels who do not live consociated, but separate, house and house. These dwell in the midst of heaven, because they are the best of the angels" (N. H. 189).

     On earth, even though we might be in the central uses of such archangels, we could not validly absent ourselves from our fellows (and especially not from reunions to worship the Lord); for on earth we do need the exercises of love of the neighbor towards individuals. But hereafter the case is greatly altered. Even though these archangels need the ministrations of preachers, who come to them from the spiritual kingdom, they rarely appear to others on account of their being engrossed in their uses, which are far wider and more interior than to permit of direct social contact with individuals.

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     I have called attention on several occasions to the reiterated teaching of the Adversaria, that the Most Ancient Church period in life is that beginning with conception in the womb and ending with the age of one month after birth (See "Physiology of Primitive Man," NEW PHILOSOPHY, July, 1920.) It will be remembered that the Most Ancient people also lived separate, house and house, and without any governmental or developed social relations with their fellows; each unit group being absorbed in their special perceptive gifts. It is mainly of these people that the highest heaven is constituted. I cannot forbear mentioning here a physiological factor of the infant's brain, which is significant in this connection. Prior to the age of one month, the unstimulated infant is normally unaware of external surroundings. Back of this is the fact that his cerebral neural units are not yet coordinated, so as to act as groups, but are being individually perfected by the implantation of perceptions, as remains, until the time is ripe for their coordination so as to perform more ultimate purposes. His brain is thus a picture of the transition between the Most Ancient Church state of anchorites and the Ancient Church state of governments and empires.
     E. E. IUNGERICH.

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Church News 1921

Church News       Various       1921

     REPORT OF THE VISITING PASTOR.

     Two installments of the report of my summer's western trip have appeared, telling of the work in western Canada and at Spokane, Wash. From the latter place I went to LA GORANDE, ORE., arriving there August 30th, for a three days' visit. The Academy had a pupil from this place at the same time that I was a student in the Theological School,-Miss Minna Crandall. She is now Mrs. George Blake, living at Baker City, about fifty miles from La Gorande. Through her influence, the Academy had another pupil a few years ago,-Miss Anna Niederer, now Mrs. Lee Fine, residing at La Gorande. There is a small circle of New Church people at La Gorande and Baker City, some of them members of the General Church, others of the General Convention. They meet regularly at La Gorande, and at times are visited by the Rev. W. C. Reece, of Portland. I found them strong in the missionary spirit, and, accordingly, gave three evening public missionary discourses. Besides, we had two delightful afternoon meetings. At the first, the baptism of the four children of Mr. and Mrs. Lee Fine took place. Then, at the request of one of the Convention members, I presented the principles of the Academy. At our second meeting, the desire was expressed that a general view of the internal sense of the first eleven chapters of Genesis be given, as the Circle had covered this ground at its meetings during the past year; so this was done. Mr. and Mrs. Blake were with us throughout the visit. It was a great pleasure to be with this circle, so eager to learn the truths of the Heavenly Doctrines.

     The next call was at PORTLAND, ORE. Here we have one member of the General Church, Mrs. Bessie M. Sweet, whom I saw frequently during my stay. It was my privilege to be the guest of the Rev. and Mrs. Reece for the entire four days here, and I shall always remember the pleasant time I spent with them in their home, beautifully situated among the hills in the midst of the woods, a short distance from the city. On Sunday morning, September 4th, I attended the services of the Portland Society, and heard an able, inspiring sermon by the Pastor. Sunday School and doctrinal class followed. In the evening there was a gathering at the house of one of the members, called by the Pastor "in order to hear at first hand what the Academy stands for." Twelve persons were present. The meeting lasted more than two hours; many questions were asked, and there was considerable discussion; and throughout there prevailed a spirit of charity, and the recognition that all must be free as to the views they hold. The next day, the last of my visit, Mr. Reece and I had a long talk on various points of doctrine. In a number of things we were far from being in agreement. Yet the interchange of views was, I am sure, of mutual benefit.

     On September 7th, I arrived at SAN FRANCISCO. Here live Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Bundsen and family formerly of Denver, later of Seattle; the Rev. and Mrs. L. G. Jordan and family; and several others of the General Church. Two doctrinal classes were held. Much of my time, during the five days' stay, was spent with the Bundsens. On an afternoon I called on the Jordans. Mr. Jordan was beginning to recover from a serious illness, and I was permitted to have only a half hour with him. We made good use of the short time. I found him, though indeed older, much the same as when he was intimately associated with our church uses in Philadelphia, twenty-five to thirty years ago; alert, full of interesting information, zealous for sound doctrine, deeply interested in the life and progress of the church.

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It was a very great pleasure to both of us to meet again. One day, I spent several hours with Mr. E. H. Nutter, a member of the Lyon Street Society; and another, with Dr. William Boericke, also a member of that society. The pastorate of this society having recently become vacant, I was invited by the Church Committee to conduct services on Sunday, September 11th. This I was greatly pleased to do, and thus to reciprocate the good will manifested towards another body of the church by the invitation.

     After four days in the beautiful Yosemite Valley, I went to Los ANGELES, arriving September 16th. The same evening the first meeting of the General Church in this city and vicinity was held. The four families of our body in Los Angeles were represented: the C. P. Unruhs, the Abram Klippensteins, the Peter Klippensteins, jail formerly o the Rosthern District, Saskatchewan, and the Fred Davises, formerly of Middleport, Ohio. Mr. Emil Stroh, of Ontario, Calif., was also with us. Including myself, the number of members present was twelve, which fact was commented on as indicating a significant and auspicious beginning. The evening was spent in general conversation on matters of the church, and in determining a program of meetings. On Sunday morning, the 18th, services were held, with an attendance of twenty; and in the afternoon, Sunday School, with nine pupils. Three doctrinal classes were held during the week following. I also called on the Rev. John Hunter, Pastor of the Los Angeles Society (Convention). On Sunday, the 25th, there were again services and Sunday School.

     The next day I went to ONTARIO, CALIF., Where live the General Church families, Stroh, Prankish, and Rott. In the afternoon instruction was given to four children, and in the evening there was doctrinal class.

     The 27th, I was in RIVERSIDE, spending the day with the Rev. L. H. Edmison and Mr. A. W. Manning. In Mr. Edmison's car, we drove for miles and miles through the surrounding country, and then to his house, a short distance out of the city, for evening dinner. Both gentlemen are splendid company. Mr. Edmison is devoted to the Doctrines, and reads a lesson from them at services; he has an interesting and apt manner of presenting his ideas, spicing them with keen humor. Mr. Manning needs no introduction to readers of the LIFE. Though eighty-one years of age, he is youthful, mentally and physically. He is now reading the Arcana for the seventh time. The walls of his study are lined with photographs of New Church people, Convention and Academy, both American and European. Many of these he has met, and with others he has corresponded. In the evening a gathering was held at the house of one of the members of the Riverside Society, about twenty persons being present. I was invited to address the meeting, and took as the subject, "The Natural and the Spiritual Idea of God,"-the natural idea being that of the Lord as the Divine Man in human shape and figure, the spiritual idea that of Him as the Divine Man who is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, under which latter idea He reveals Himself in His Second Coming, the Writings being nothing other than such Revelation. An enjoyable social time followed. For the rest of my visit, the night and next morning, I was the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Edmison. I wish I had been able to remain at Riverside longer. Mr. Edmison had invited me to preach for him, but my limited time did not permit me to avail myself of this kind invitation.

     On the 28th, I returned to ONTARIO, CAL. During the afternoon the children were again given instruction. In the evening, services were held, opening with the baptism of two children of Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Frankish. Twenty-two persons were present, among them Mr. Peter Klippenstein and Mr. Fred Davis, who made the one hundred mile auto trip from Los Angeles and return, in order to be on hand.

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Instead of two days, my stay at Ontario should have been two weeks, or more. There is a hopeful field for the Church here. It was a great pleasure to see my old friends, Mr. and Mrs. Emil Stroh, again.

     Now I went back to LOS ANGELES. During the remainder of the week two more doctrinal classes were held. On Sunday, October 30th, we again had services, including the celebration of the Holy Supper. All remained at the Unruhs where the services were held, for a picnic lunch, and then went to Long Beach, where the Abram Klippensteins live. Here we had Sunday School, after which the remainder of the afternoon was spent in seeing the sights of the resort. Then back to the Klippensteins for supper and a social evening. Including the children, we were twenty-five persons. On Monday evening, our series of meetings dosed with a social, at which plans were made for regular meetings from time to time. The prospects for the future of the General Church in Los Angeles and vicinity are bright indeed.

     On my return journey, I spent October 7th to 12th with the DENVER Society. The first evening there was a reception. On Sunday, the 9th, I addressed the Sunday School and preached morning and evening; Tuesday afternoon, addressed the Ladies' Meeting. On Wednesday evening a most enjoyable social was held. I would like to dwell on all these delightful events, but no doubt a full account will appear from the correspondent at that place. The members of the Denver Society love the Doctrines; several of their young people are at Bryn Athyn; and they have a Sunday School of fifteen children. What more need be said to show that there is a most hopeful state of the church there?

     This closes the account of the summer's tour. But there are one or two things I would like to add. One of the delightful experiences was to meet Academy boys and girls all along the way:-at Morden and Winnipeg, in Manitoba; at Davidson, Saskatchewan; at La Gorande, Ore.; at San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Ontario, Calif.; and at Denver. How widely they are distributed! And everywhere they are earnest, zealous, in the Great Cause. Another thing I would like to note is the friendly, fraternal spirit which was evidenced at so many points along the Coast by Convention societies and members. I by no means interpreted this as an agreement with or an approach to our distinctive Academy principles. They held their views, I held mine, and we discussed the differences. The ministers and leading layman did not seem to feel that the people of their societies cannot take care of themselves, nor think for themselves, and that they must guard them from hearing what might harm them. On the contrary, they desired that the variety of view in the church should be known by all, and this "at first hand." How fortunate would be the state of the church as a whole, should a spirit such as this prevail everywhere!
     F. E. WAELCHLI.

     LOS ANGELES, CAL.-It may be of interest to your readers to know that the General Church members in Southern California have come to life, and have become an active circle-I cannot say "society," as we have not reached that stage yet. The cause of it is the Rev. F. E. Waelchli, who paid us a very delightful, beneficial and profitable visit, and brought us together to strengthen and further the uses of the New Church. A few months ago, the different families did not know each other. Today, every one is working in cooperation to the one end of firmly establishing the Church among us, and we believe that, if we do our part, this will some day become one of the large societies outside of Bryn Athyn. The city and surrounding country have all the natural advantages that can be desired. I do not wish to boost the "Sunkist" State too much; yet the fact remains that it is a wonderful place.

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     During Mr. Waelchli's visit, he conducted series of doctrinal classes at the homes of the various members. On Sunday morning, he conducted worship, and children's service in the afternoon at the home of Mr. and Mrs. C. P. Unruh. The subject of the classes was "That man is not life, but a receptacle of life." It took us into "deep water," but prodded ample food for thought.

     The time was not wholly spent on serious matters, but also had its social side. Mr. Waelchli managed to pay brief personal visits to the homes of the various families. And on the last Sunday after Divine Worship and the Holy Communion, young and old partook of fine luncheon provided by the ladies, and then all motored to Long Beach, a pleasure resort about twenty miles from Los Angeles. Upon arriving there, children's service was held at the home of my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Abram Klippenstein. The remainder of the afternoon was spent in amusements. An informal social was on the program for the last evening, on which occasion the real Academy spirit was manifest. Toasts were proposed to "The Church" and "Our Own Academy," after which the usual appropriate songs were sung. The finale of the evening came with Mr. Waelchli's suggestion that we continue to meet for worship at least once month, which was I heartily agreed to by those present, and it was decided that, to begin with, we shall meet on the first Sunday of every month.          

     Now that the good work has started, we intend to further it, and you will hear from time to time of the activities of this little circle of General Church men and women who are pioneering for the cause; here.
     P. KLIPPENSTEIN.

     DENVER.-The society of the General Church in this city has just bid good bye to the Visiting Pastor, the Rev F. E. Waelchli, who was with us five whole days. We wish to express our appreciation of his visit, and our hope that it may be a yearly event as long as he is in this work. The news he brought us from other points where there are groups of our brethren gave us very great pleasure and encouragement. His pointing out to us that the Church of the New Jerusalem is the greatest Brotherhood that has ever existed, or ever will exist among men, caused us to realize afresh the great responsibility that rests upon us, and the great joy that lies in being faithful. The New Church being the one body in the world that sees the Lord Jesus Christ as the only God of heaven and earth, and the only body which acknowledges Him in His Second Coming in the spiritual sense of the Word, constitutes it the greatest Brotherhood. In so far as each individual in the Church makes this acknowledgment in his heart, so far is he a part of this great Brotherhood. For the revealment which the Lord has made of Himself in His Second Coming is spiritual, and only so far as we receive this in our heart and understanding do we become truly spiritual,-a Spiritual Brotherhood on earth, with the whole Brotherhood of the heavens associated with us by means of these Truths.

     In his talks with us, in which he emphasized the vital necessity of educating our children in the church, and of establishing day schools wherever possible, we were reminded of Miss Alice Grant's talks last winter when she visited us. We acknowledge with deep gratitude the Lord's goodness in providing such wise and zealous teachers to go about among us, stimulating our love for the ideals for which the church stands, and helping to strengthen our determination to give our children better opportunities for imbibing the truths of the church.

     Mr. Waelchli gave us a delightful picture when he spoke at the Ladies' Meeting of the possible increase which would flow from our efforts to educate within the church each succeeding generation-increase in knowledge, understanding, and love, and also of application to life-continuing to eternity.
     L. M. T. DAVID.

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     GLENVIEW.-Our Church and School work is now in working order. School opened in September, and Friday Suppers and Doctrinal Classes have been resumed. We have just concluded the meetings of the Chicago District Assembly, when we had the pleasure of seeing and hearing the Rev. C. E. Doering, who came as the representative of the Bishop.

     On Oct. 15th, the marriage of Mr. Harold Pitcairn McQueen and Miss Maud Reuter took place. The service was of a simple character, but very impressive. Our pastor officiated and some beautiful music was provided by our organist Mr. Seymore Nelson and Mrs. Harvey Brewer, violinist. The church was tastefully decorated for the occasion with chrysanthemums and other flowers. After the service, at the reception in the Barish Hall, the bridegroom responded to the good wishes expressed by the many friends who were present.
     G. A. MCQUEEN.

     PITTSBURGH, PA.-Our District Assembly, held October 14th to 17th, was an inspiration and a spiritual feast such as we shall not soon forget. For one thing, it taught us that a duly qualified representative of the Bishop can bring to us the sphere of that great office, and that the uses can go on, and the presence of the blessed ones from the New Heaven be summoned, even without the personal presence of one ordained to that office. It is the Truth itself that is holy, and that is to "rule all nations with a rod of iron." And while the success of our priesthood, and thus of our church work as a whole, will always depend very largely upon the ability and consecration of the chosen leader, yet we need occasional reminders of the fact that the work, after all, is the Lord's own work, and that it can go on while persons come and persons go. Who would ever have thought that our organized Church would have survived the tremendous personality of its founders? Yet it seems to be growing, and, what is more, is showing a spirit of youthful adaptability that is very promising for still wider growth. This spirit was greatly strengthened by our second leader. And now we have a leader who combines both elements,-the unflinching loyalty to the great central doctrines upon which our whole work is founded, and a notable tolerance of varieties, allowing breadth of opportunity for new elements. However, we just thought we would show him that we can get along without him, when necessary-and we did!

     Mr. Doering's opening address on Friday evening was on the subject of "Obedience," and he certainly did start something. He is a man who knows whereof he speaks, and is very earnest about it. The discussion was very general, and ranged from the more scientific doctrine of the function of the ear as the art is of the heavens, to the question of beginning the training of little infants by establishing orderly habits even before the age of understood discipline begins. Some difference of opinion arose over the question of whether one who was undisciplined himself could successfully discipline his children. The present writer was much impressed with the clear presentation of three degrees or kinds of obedience, namely, forced obedience, as it always is at first to the unregenerate natural man; second, a habit of obedience, after having learned the futility of resistance and the reward of acquiescence, which we are apt to think is the goal to be satisfied with, though the fact is that conformity to the laws of order which springs merely from habit is not saving, for the goats, as well as the sheep, do that, except only the openly criminal "tenth"; third, what is needed is to lead on by reflection, self-examination, and interior repentance as to ends and concupiscences, until we form love of obedience in our spirits. This last is what is to distinguish the New Church from the merely externally moral Old Church.

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     After the address and discussion, we adjourned to the assembly room downstairs, where an informal reception was held.

     The next day, Saturday, the ladies were invited to an informal luncheon at Mrs. Blair's residence, to meet Mrs. Acton. (Unfortunately, Mrs. Doering was not with us, which hardly seemed right.) At the same time, some twenty-five gentlemen met Mr. Doering at a luncheon downtown, in order to have a heart-to-heart talk about the matters that we are particularly interested in, such as the scholarship work, the pupils who are attending the Academy Schools this year, how they are getting along, how the work is being carried by the faculty, and the financial situation in general. Mr. Acton was also present, and cheered us by his report of the impression of excellent order and interest which he had found in our own little school on the occasion of his visit the day before. And, by the way, the children, both in day school and Sunday School, were delighted with his talks to them, and will long remember him, as, indeed, will the whole society.

     In fact, it was a happy conjunction of lucky stars that brought these two men together to our Assembly. It seems as if Mr. Acton's year off, and his European junket, has brought him renewed accession of power and ability to concentrate his wide learning in New Church theology, philosophy and science, into the dearest and simplest of practical teachings, such as to feed the thought and clear the minds of the least learned of his hearers. It is indeed a good omen for the church when its learned men, after a lifetime of study, "arrive" like this, instead of becoming more and mote diffuse and losing themselves in the multiplied entanglements of the field of knowledge. And so we all feel very grateful to Mr. Acton for his bringing to the table of our Assembly that choicest of all gifts,-a taste of the delight of seeing the Lord's own presence in the midst of our souls and minds, and even of our very senses. Never before had we heard the most interior truths of Psychology presented with such telling simplicity and fervor. It was one of those rare occasions when we all felt transported, and its effect upon the deeper current of our church life and uses here will no doubt be tar-reaching.

     The Pittsburgh Society is possibly not unlike other societies-at least those in the cities-in its need of something new from time to time. For we are all twofold vessels, and need two kinds of food. The one was represented by the priestly sphere of Mr. Doering's teaching, both in his address and in his sermon on Sunday; the other need is the rather prophetic one of new light and new vision, lifting our minds until, as Mr. Doering said at the conclusion of the evening when Mr. Acton spoke, "The state of worship is here; we have reached the state of thought concerning the Lord which opens heaven." Into the Holy Supper on Sunday afternoon, it seemed as if both these states were brought, with minds and hearts that had been richly fed by gifts from the Lord, as we drew near and received the sign and seal of the Divine Presence itself. Surely we shall grow after all this.

     Several of our visitors were obliged to leave us before the Banquet on Monday evening, but Mr. Doering and Mr. Acton helped us to enter more fully and delightedly into the good things presented by Mr. Brickman, whose well-studied paper on the subject of "The First Rational"-especially as developed in our lord Himself, probably at the age of ten- Was the only set speech of the evening. But the excellence of the supper, the tasteful decorations, and the quality of the medium wherewith the toasts were honored, were all in keeping with the happy and satisfied state that reigned. I am only sorry that no stenographer was present, so that more of this feast might be passed on to others. It seems such a pity that anyone should miss such a treat, whether belonging to our body of the Church or any other that is interested in the New Revelation.
     HOMER SYNNESTVEDT.

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TO RENT 1921

TO RENT              1921




     Announcements.



     A Furnished Room, with Board, for one or two persons. Apply to MRS. R. H SMITH, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
VISITING BRYN ATHYN 1921

VISITING BRYN ATHYN              1921

     Transient visitors to Bryn Athyn who cannot be accommodated at The Inn may find rooms through the Hospitality Committee of the Woman's Guild. Address letters to Mrs. A. W. Burnham, The Inn, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
DEDICATION AT TORONTO 1921

DEDICATION AT TORONTO              1921

     The Pastor and Members of the Olivet Church, Toronto, extend a cordial invitation to all the members of the General Church to be present at the Dedication of their new Chapel, which will be performed by Bishop Pendleton on Sunday, November 27th, 1921. The program includes events on three days,-November 25th to 27th.

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THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD 1921

THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD         N. D. PENDLETON       1921


NEW CHURCH LIFE
VOL. XLI          DECEMBER, 1921          No. 12
     A CHRISTMAS ADDRESS TO CHILDREN.

     When the wise men came from the East, where wisdom dwells and the knowledge of things to come, they found the Child wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. He was in body weak and helpless, and in mind unknowing.

     They bowed down and worshiped Him who was like and yet unlike another. In mind and body the Child was like another, but His soul was all Divine, His life was the life of God, even of God His Father.

     His feeble body grew in strength and became at length all powerful. His unknowing mind increased in wisdom, and in time became all wise. At first it was not so. He was helpless, yet His soul Divine cast a radiant glory, seen by those whose eyes were open, as were the eyes of the wise men. We know their eyes were open; for did they not see the Star, and follow it to the place where the young Child lay?

     That was a wonderful star. Not all could see it-only a few-those who were wise, and those who were pure in heart. These could see the star, and they could also see the glory about the Babe. Because of this, they bowed down and worshiped Him.

     To see the star, and to see the glory about the Babe, is the same as to see God. You know it is said that "the pure in heart shall see God." This is a fact, really and truly a fact. The pure in heart in all ages have seen God. Only the pure in heart are wise, and wisdom sees all things and God. Therefore the wise men saw the star, and therefore they saw and knew the Divine Infant, the Christ Child, and they never doubted, but fell down before Him. They never doubted; for one doubt would have put the star out; one doubt would have hid His glory.

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And then they would not have known Him; then they would not have been wise men, for wise men do not doubt.

     No! On the way, during the long journey from the East, they always saw the star before them. When awake, and even when asleep, they saw it, and believing, they followed where it led them. And, as you know, it led them to the land of Judea, and to the town of Bethlehem,-to the place where the young Child lay. And there it rested at the journey's end, and they found themselves in the presence of the Infant Lord; they beheld the Christ Child. They perceived the radiance of His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of God, and they fell down before Him, offering gifts,-gold, frankincense, and myrrh,-in token of their love for Him who was come to save them, and all men, from sin and everlasting death.

     For the world of men was then in a bad way, the worst possible. Men could hardly help themselves, that is, to be good. And even God in heaven was too far away to help them. He was too far away, and the only thing He could do was to come to them and help; and He could only come to them, really come so as to help, by being born into the world a babe, and grow up a boy and then a man among men, so that He could be right with them. This He did, and this is the story of how He did it, the story read today. And this is the reason for Christmas, that we may remember His birth into the world. And, in remembering, see in our mind the glorious Child, and seeing, like the wise men, never doubt, lest His light go out, and we forever wander in the dark way.

     For remember, He was and is the "light of the world "; His glory is the only light which shines in heaven; by that light all the angels walk, and as well all good men; and so may you all, let us hope.

     He is the light of the world. Men think that the sun is the light of the world, because they see it with their eyes. He makes that sun to shine which we see, but that is not what is meant when it is said that He is the light of the world.

     You must know that there are two lights, even in the world,-the light that shines from the sun outside our eyes, and another light that shines inside our minds. The light which shines inside our minds enables us to see the light of the sun coming through the eyes. When, therefore, it is said that He was the light of the world, the meaning is that He is the light which shines inside the minds of men in the world.

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You may call it a mental light, but a better word is spiritual light, or better still, Divine Light; for it comes from the Lord alone. This Divine Light, with the angels, shines inside of them and also outside of them, round about. With men in the world, it shines only inside of them, in their minds, showing them all the things they ought to know and all the things they ought to do, If it were not for this Divine Light inside us, we could not see the light of the sun which is outside of us.

     So you see what is meant by the Lord's being the true "light of the world." Even as He is the only light of heaven. And so also you may see why a glorious light at times shone about the Divine: Child, and also why a star led the wise men to the place where the Lord was born.

     Is it not a wonderful story? Are not our minds enlightened when we read it? Aye, enlightened with that very light which the wise men saw, and which the angels ever see. And do not our hearts burn within us with love for Him? Our hearts burn with love, because love is a fire; it is Divine fire. Natural fire burns a thing up. Divine fire does not do this. Being love, it creates, it makes things over, makes things new. So when the Divine fire which is love burns in our hearts, it makes our hearts over, makes them new, and also enlarges them. So it is that, every time our hearts burn with love for the Lord, we are given a new and larger heart, until at length we may have even such hearts as the angels have.

     And this is the deep meaning of Christmas to men,-that they may see again and again the light, the Divine Light of the Christ Child, and that their hearts may burn with love, the fire of Divine Love, which the Christ Child was and ever more became, as He grew up and ascended to the Father.

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GLORY OF THE LORD'S HOUSE 1921

GLORY OF THE LORD'S HOUSE        W. F. PENDLETON       1921

     (Delivered at Bryn Athyn, Pa., October 2, 1921, the second anniversary of the Dedication of the Cathedral.)

     "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former, saith the Lord of Hosts; for in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts." (Haggai 2:9.)

     In the Sacred Scripture, the Church is called a "house," the "house of Jehovah," the "house of the Lord," the "house of God." In the literal sense, a building made of wood or stone is meant, called also a temple, in which the Lord manifested His Presence more than elsewhere; but in the spiritual sense, which is within the letter, a spiritual house is meant, of which the apostle had a glimpse when he spake of "a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Cor. 5:1), a house which can be built only in the minds and hearts of men while they live in the world, but which continues after death to be perfected to eternity, even as our Lord
said of the kingdom of God, it is "within you,"-within those who acknowledge and worship the Lord Jesus Christ and live according to His commandments.

     Before the Lord's coming, His house, or His church, His kingdom among men, had become a spiritual waste and desolation; not as the waste and destruction of towns and villages, of gardens and fields, such as takes place in war, but a destruction of spiritual good and truth, of spiritual life with men, a destruction that is the end of the church.

     Where a spiritual wasting exists, there is also spiritual darkness. So great was this darkness, that the Jews were not able to recognize the Messiah when He came; for He proclaimed that He had come to build, not a natural, but a spiritual house, not a natural, but a spiritual kingdom. He had not come to exalt them to glory, and to bring all nations under their feet. They did not want a spiritual, but a natural empire. It was not the Lord's house, or His church, that they wanted to build, but a house or kingdom for themselves. They sought not the glory of the Lord, but their own glory.

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They indeed wanted peace, but it was the peace that would come by bringing other nations under their yoke. So they rejected Him, and looked for another yet to come, who would establish for them universal dominion, and place the wealth of the world at their disposal. Their state is expressed in the words of the Lord to the prophet Haggai (1:2), "This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built." They were not ready, nor did they wish, to co-operate in building a spiritual house for the Lord. They cared only to build houses for themselves, but none in which the Lord God the Savior could dwell; and hence the reproof administered by the prophet (1:4): "Is it time for you to dwell in your cieled houses, and this, my house, lie waste?" And so, when the Messiah came, there was no place for Him to dwell, even as He Himself said to the scribe, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head." (Matt. 8:21.)

     There had been a spiritual church in the world before the Lord came, but it had long perished, so long that no one among the Jews had any knowledge or recollection of it; as the prophet Haggai said to them, "Who is left among you that saw this house in her former glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes as nothing?" (2:3.) The Ancient Church had perished from the memory of man, and the Jews least of all had any knowledge of it. It was to them as nothing.

     But, veiled in the language of the prophet, was conveyed a promise that, when the Messiah came, who is here called "The Desire of all nations" (2:7), when He came, a church would be established that would surpass in glory even the Ancient Church itself. "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former, saith the Lord of; Hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts." Spiritual peace had been taken away from the world, and there was hardly any natural peace remaining. But the Lord would establish a spiritual church, build a spiritual kingdom for Himself, that would no more lie a waste, but endure forever.

     The text is, in fact, a prophecy of a new Christian Church, called in the Apocalypse the New Jerusalem, the glory of which was to be greater than the glory of all preceding churches. This Church, John saw in prophetic vision as "a great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God." (Rev. 21:10, 11.)

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But John says he saw in the great city no temple,-"I saw no temple therein." And he states at once the reason why no temple was seen in it. "For the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it." (Rev. 21:22.) And so there is a temple in it after all. Not a temple made with hands, built by the intelligence of man, but a temple built by the Lord Himself, which He called, when He was in the world, the "temple of His body." (John 2: 21.) It is the temple of His glorified Body, of His glorified Human. The Lord God Almighty, the Lamb, Jesus Christ, God over all, blessed forever, He is the temple of it. And in order that the inspired words of the apostle John may not be misunderstood, we are now told in the Apocalypse Revealed their real meaning; as we read, "It is not meant that there will be no temples in the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem; but that there will not be in it any external (worship) separate from internal, because the Lord Himself in His Divine Human, from whom is the all of the church, will be alone approached, worshiped, and adored." (A. R. 918.)

     There will be no worship of a divided Trinity, no worship of a tripersonal God, but the worship of the One only God, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, to whom alone is all power in heaven and earth. This one only God, the Divine Human, the Divine Man, and none else, will be worshiped in the temples of the New Jerusalem; and the worship will have its basis in a life according to the commandments. It is because of this worship of the Divine Man, Jesus Christ, "in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9); it is because of this worship in the new and final Christian Church, the New Jerusalem, that it is said in the text, "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the glory of the former, saith the Lord of Hosts."

     It clearly follows that by the term "house" in the text, in the supreme and universal sense, is meant the Lord Himself in His Divine Human,-" the temple of His Body." But there is also expressed the great truth that the Human of the Lord was not the same before His coming as after it." The glory of the latter house shall be greater then the glory of the former, saith the Lord of
Hosts." The same is predicted by Isaiah, where he says, "And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of His people, and healeth the stroke of their wound." (Isaiah 30:26.)

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The Divine Human of the Lord before His advent was as the light and glory of the moon, but after His advent it is as the glory of the sun multiplied sevenfold.

     On this subject we have much instruction in the Heavenly Doctrine. We read in the True Christian Religion that "all the churches which were before the coming of the Lord were representative churches, which could see Divine Truths only as in the shade; but after the coming of the Lord into the world, a church was instituted by Him which saw, or was able to see, Divine Truths in the light. The difference is like that between evening and morning; the state of the church before the coming of the Lord is also called evening in the Word, and the state after His coming is called morning. The Lord before His coming into the world was indeed present with the men of the church, but mediately through angels who represented Him; but since His coming, He is present with the men of the church immediately; for in the world He put on also the Divine Natural, in which He is now present with men. The glorification of the Lord is the glorification of the Human which He assumed in the world, and the glorified Human of the Lord is the Divine Natural." (T. C. R. 109.)

     In consequence of the assumption of the Divine Natural by birth in the world, and the glorification of the Human so assumed, the Lord is now able to enlighten the natural man as never before since the beginning of creation; and it is necessary that the natural mind be enlightened, which is effected by education in childhood and youth, especially religious education, in order to prepare the way for the opening of the spiritual mind by regeneration in adult life. The state of mankind before the coming of the Lord is like the state of man in his early years, when the mind is formed by appearances or representatives, and thus looks only to the outer world. It was the childhood of the race, and hence all worship was representative. But the state of mankind after the coming of the Lord, especially after His second coming, is like that of the adult who is or may become rational in spiritual things, and, by intelligence and wisdom, have the interiors of his mind opened into heaven.

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And the state of mankind before and after the coming of the Lord, or the state of the church, as well as the state of the individual man before and after adult life is reached, when he may become regenerate,-all this is forecast in the words of the text, "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the glory of the former;" all because the Lord has come into the world and revealed Himself objectively as a Divine Man, and has now in His second coming established the worship of Himself in His glorified Human as the one only God and Lord of angels and men.

     It is said that "the glory of the latter house will be greater than the glory of the former." The "glory" is the light of Divine Truth, the light of the spiritual sun, the light of that sun as it shines in heaven, the light of revelation from God out of heaven, the light and glory of the spiritual sense of the Word, the light and glory now revealed in the Writings of the New Church. In those Writings, the glory of the Divine Human of the Lord after His advent stands revealed, and this is the "glory of the latter house" which is "greater than the glory of the former." It is the glory of the spiritual sense of the Word that shines in the Writings, which is greater than the glory of the literal sense; for in the literal sense of the Word shines the glory of the Lord before His advent, but in the spiritual sense now revealed is the glory of the Divine Human of the Lord after His advent, in particular after His second advent. And the words of the apostle John in the Apocalypse are now fulfilled: "And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." (21:23.)

     Peace is promised in the text. "In this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts." It is the peace, the spiritual peace that comes as the result of the tribulations, the trials, of spiritual conflict. This we know because the Lord, twice in the text, and many times in the two chapters of the prophet Haggai, calls Himself the Lord of Hosts,-the Lord of Armies. It is the Son of Man who goes forth to war, leading the armies of heaven. He who joins that mighty army, in the war for spiritual liberty, will realize the words of the Lord in the Gospel: "These things I have 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." (John 16:33.) And those other words, where He said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you.

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Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27.)

     For He has overcome the world. This is said for our comfort, that we may be inspired with hope and courage in the trial and conflict of this world; with faith in the promise of the text, "In this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts."

     And may we not add a final word, a final prayer, that all who worship the Lord in this house, in this earthly tabernacle where we are now assembled, which has been built and dedicated to the worship of the God Man, Jesus Christ our Savior, may receive in heart and mind a full measure of that peace which passeth all understanding. "In this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts." Amen.
OBEDIENCE 1921

OBEDIENCE       Rev. C. E. DOERING       1921

     (Delivered at District Assemblies in Pittsburgh and Glenview, October, 1921.)

     In the work on Divine Providence, no. 16, we read: "The Divine Providence of the Lord, especially has for its end, and operates, that man may be in good and at the same time in truth, since thereby he is his own good and his own love, and also his own truth and his own wisdom; for by this, man is man, for he is then an image of the Lord."

     This law agrees with what is stated elsewhere, viz., that it is of the Divine Providence to conjoin what has been separated by man; and to do this, the Lord operates to implant in man from earliest infancy states of love which shall be of service in his regeneration, that is, in making the internal and external in him a one, by bringing the external into its proper relation with the internal. The possibility of this lies in the constitution of man, in that he is given a soul and a body-a soul, the inmost, the human internal, receiving life immediately from the Lord, through which He is constantly inflowing to build up and to restore; a body, through which man receives all his sensations, by way of his senses, which are given him as so many doors whereby ingress is had to his mind, and which are for its perfection, particularly the senses of sight and hearing, which are said, in Heaven and Hell 432, to be "serviceable to the formation of his intelligence and wisdom."

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The possibility of man's arriving at this, his destined end, also lies in the fact that from earliest infancy the Lord implants remains of innocence and charity and the truths of faith; and in this work, parents and teachers in their relation with children have a responsibility, to the end that those remains may be full and complete, in order that the child, when he reaches the adult state, may be prepared for the life of regeneration.

     If we would cooperate wisely, we must recognize that the natural affections of children, as they are in themselves, cannot serve for the spiritual development of the mind, save in so far as they are placed under control, restrained from selfishness and worldliness, and directed to what is unselfish and unworldly. So that, in the training and education of children, the negative must accompany the affirmative, in order that what is internal and spiritual may bring the external into the relation of reacting with it, not against it. As to how we are to cooperate in doing this, it is shown us by the Lord Himself in the way He has given His Word, particularly in the first of it, the Ten Commandments, which are introduced as His words by declaring, "And God spake all these words, saying." This is explained in the Writings as meaning that Divine Truths were spoken for all in the heavens and all in the earths to hear. And what the Lord says is a Divine Command. They are truths for the angels as well as for men. In the natural world, they were given to the Children of Israel by the Lord from Mount Sinai in the form in which they were, because of their sensual and natural state; and in this form they are also given to every natural man of the church, and especially to children, who are in natural states. In the external, they are in the form of command, and are accompanied by promises of reward for obedience, and of punishment for disobedience. But they are also addressed to all universally to be laws of religion, as we see in T. C. R. 282: "The laws of the Decalogue were promulgated in so miraculous a manner that they might know that those laws were not only civil and moral laws but also Divine laws, and that to act contrary to them would be, not only to do evil to the neighbor, that is, the fellow citizen and society, but that it would also be to sin against God; wherefore, those laws, by promulgation by Jehovah from Mount Sinai, were also made laws of religion.

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It is evident that whatever Jehovah commands, He commands that it may be of religion, and thus that it is to be done for the sake of salvation."

     They become laws of religion when they are obeyed because the Lord commands.

     Now what is a command? To command, when predicated of what is internal relatively to what is external, is defined in the Writings to be influx. The internal commands no otherwise than by influx, and by disposition to use. (A. C. 5486.) Again, in A. C. 5732: "The reason to command signifies influx is that in heaven no one is commanded or ordered, but thought is communicated. Communication of thought, with the desire that it should be done, is influx, and on the part of the recipient, is perception; wherefore to command also signifies perception."

     A command, then, is the expression of a thought, in which is contained a desire that a thing be done by him to whom the thought is communicated. The form of the expression is simply the accommodation of the thought, and by the thought the desire, to certain states and conditions in him to whom the thought is conveyed, that he may be disposed to obey; for "disposition to use" is a disposition to do, thus to obey. A desire thus communicated is addressed to the affections of him who hears, and this is done through the medium of that thought introduced into his mind by hearing, as well as by the tone and sound of the voice. What is heard is received according to a more or less complete accommodation of the expression to the mind addressed. Also, the reception is according to the state of the affection of the person who hears, and in hearing there is a comprehension of the meaning conveyed, and consequently "to command" has the signification of perception.

     The purpose of a command is that it be hearkened to and done, that is, obeyed. And here enters another emotion, namely, fear; for without fear, commands cannot be enforced. Bishop Benade, in his Conversations on Education, says: "Hearing and fearing imply obedience, and obedience on the part of a child is application of that which is contained in the command; and this again, when regarded from a more interior point of view, is application of the truth, or appearance of the truth, in which the Lord, by accommodation, affects the states that are to be liberated from the power of evil and falsity, and to be raised up into the heaven of good and truth."

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     This is also the teaching of the Arcana Coelestia 10645, where we read, "To believe in the Lord, and to love Him, Is to do His commandments. This the Lord teaches in John, 'If ye love me, keep my commandments; he who hath my commandments, and doeth them, he it is that loveth me. If anyone love me, he will keep my Word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him' (14: 15, 21, 231 24); and elsewhere in the same, 'Abide in my love; if ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you' (15:91 10, 14). The doctrine of charity and faith teaches the commandments and precepts that are to be kept, and according to which man is to live."

     By command, and by the enforcement of obedience to command, the self-will from which proceeds unwillingness to hear is overcome. The ear is opened when the will of the child is brought to submit to a superior will. This state of submission prepares the mind internally and externally to receive instruction. The internal is prepared by the removal of those evil spirits who excite the opposition in the child. The external is prepared, because it is then in its true relation to the internal, and is ready to serve. The teaching in the Arcana Coelestia 5368 is: "Good is adjoined to truth in the natural, provided the natural applies itself and obeys." There is then the beginning of the conjunction of the internal and the external, or what is of love with what is of the understanding, and thus the seed of the human rational is formed, which grows and becomes permanent by continual acts, or the habit of obedience."

     Command is the first step, and the enforcement of the command is the second step. Both are necessary; for disobedience must be overcome, as destructive of order, and of life according to order, thus as preventing the proper opening and growth of the mind. A command is not complete until it is obeyed. Disobedience must be counteracted. For children are to be trained and educated to do that which, as adults, they will be required to do by rational obedience to the Divine Law.

     The Doctrines are very plain and explicit in regard to the matter of self-compulsion, namely, that man ought to force and compel himself to obey the commands of the Lord, to do good, to humble himself, and submit his will to the Divine will.

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Children are not adults, and are not yet rational, nor in freedom, and so parents are to see that they do that which they are later to do of themselves. For this reason, it is important that, in infancy and childhood, they be kept under command and the enforcement of command, since without it no orderly opening of the mind can take place. The negative and prohibitory element in the child's training and education is indispensable, if his hereditary tendencies are to be removed, and he is to fulfill the end for which he was created.

     Yet even obedience to command is not sufficient. Another kind of obedience must follow, as we see in A. C. 8690: "Obedience is of the will, for obedience is from the will; but it is the will of doing the truth from mandate, and not from affection, which will is obedience. In Exodus 18:15, the first state is treated of,-the state in which man is before regeneration, when he does good from obedience, but not yet from affection; but this good is the truth which he does because it is only from command, thus still from enforcement, and not freedom. He does it from freedom, when from affection, because all that flows from the affection which is of love is free. When a man is in this prior state, the Lord inflows and induces (inducit) him immediately; but the immediate influx of the Lord does not come to the perception, because it is into the inmost man; but the immediate together with the mediate influx of the Lord does come to the perception, and gives affection; for it is not only into the inmosts of man, but also into his mediates and extremes."

     We note in this number two states of obedience,-one in which it proceeds from the enforcement of command, and precedes the state when there is the affection of obedience, which latter state can only be received after the first has been established. The teaching ostensibly refers to the adult man, but its application is also to children; for parents and others are the media, by which the Lord operates mediately, and when these use wisely the means the Lord has given them, then the immediate influx conjoins itself with the mediate, and the child is led from obedience that is first induced by means of fear, through the habit of obedience, to the affection of obedience; for then there is effected a meeting of the two influxes, and the gift of affection is the result. This affection is that which opens the mind for the reception of further spiritual gifts.

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     This, however, is a gradual process. As taught in C. L. 102:

     "The opening of the mind is effected successively from infancy even to extreme old age; for man is born corporeal, and in proportion as the mind is opened proximately above the body, he becomes rational, and in proportion as his rational is purified, and as it were drained of the fallacies that flow in from the bodily senses, and of the concupiscence that flows in from the allurements of the flesh, in the same proportion the mind is opened, and this is effected solely by wisdom. And when the interiors of the rational mind are open, the man becomes a form of wisdom, and this form is the receptacle of love truly conjugial."

     The importance of obedience as a first means of opening the mind, as a means of joining the internal and external, as a means for beginning the life which leads to heaven, is wonderfully illustrated by the structure of the ear, and by the function of the ear.

     The whole structure of the organ of hearing is adapted for the collecting, concentrating and communicating of the sound. The external ear itself, with its lobes and winding forms, is so formed as to be able to catch and collect the sound waves, and to carry them to the auditory passage. This passage, with its winding progress, is perfectly adapted to induce the approaching and concentrated sound into the membrane of the tympanum, which intensifies the vibrations, and conveys them along further labyrinthine passages and wonderful little turbinated bones, membranes, muscles, chords, until they strike the auditory nerves and are communicated to the brain. Every least form and organism corresponds exactly to the form and flux of the air particle and its waves of sound.

     The sound itself is nothing more than undulatory motion in the outer air, produced in the case of speech by the vibrations of the vocal chords. These chords again vibrate in exact correspondence with the affections which set them in motion, and each different affection produces its own distinct and corresponding undulations in the air. These undulations caught by the ear cause a corresponding vibrating and trembling in the membranes and bones of the head, a trembling which sets in motion all the bones of the cranium, and all the substances and fluids of the brain itself.

     Every wave of sound, therefore, induces a marked change of state in the form and disposition of the substances of the brain, and thence of the whole bodily system; for it has the effect of shaking up the whole head and the whole body, and thus breaks up existing conditions, which, without this breaking up, would become settled and permanently fixed, would harden and finally collapse.

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     But, besides this external, vivifying influence of the sense of hearing, by means of the tremulations and vibrations of the bones and membranes, there is an internal communication with the two brains by means of the auditory nerves, which are double-a motory and sensory. The motory, arising from the medulla of the cerebellum, has the function of receiving the vibrations, of shaking up and vivifying the organisms; but the sensory, communicating immediately with the cerebrum, the seat of our voluntary and intellectual faculties, is for the purpose of catching the meaning of the sound; it enters the common sensory, and conjoins itself with the sense of sight, so that, by visual images, we can represent to ourselves the things that are heard through a kind of internal sight. Hence it is that, in the Word, "hearing" has the double signification of perception and obedience. (Rational Psychology 49-67.)

     In the Apocalypse Explained, no. 14, we read: "There are two senses given to man which serve him as a means of receiving things by which the rational is formed, and also the things by which he is reformed, namely, the sense of seeing and the sense of hearing; the other senses are for other uses. The things which enter by the sense of sight enter the man's understanding, and enlighten him. Wherefore, hi sight is signified the understanding enlightened; for the understanding corresponds to the sight of the eye, as the light of heaven does to the light of the world. But the things which enter the sense of hearing enter the understanding and at the same time the will; wherefore, by hearing is signified perception and obedience."

     Now, as hearing is caused by a concentration of the sound in the ear, so obedience is first produced by a concentration of will power on the part of him who commands with the desire that what he says be done. With the child itself, there must be a corresponding concentration of will power, that it may force itself into the act of obedience. The habitual "I forgot," or "I did not remember," is not due so much to a faulty memory as to the lack of concentration, and to get this concentration, there must be insistence corresponding to vibrations of the sound which causes a trembling; and a trembling is an expression of fear without which there can be no obedience.


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"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." For the whole proprium of man is an organism of self-will, having its ultimate in the interior structure of the brain; and this structure is shaken and commoved by the tremulation caused by the sound and tone of the voice of command, and this admits of a new arrangement of the particles of the organism by the influx of the Lord from within through the soul, thereby forming the beginning of a receptacle for the new will that is later to be born.

     That this change in the form may be made permanent, the obedience must become habitual, to give time for the bloods and fluids, which are also affected by the trembling, to bring the necessary nourishment for the stabilizing of the new arrangement. As this is done, the spirits that excite the self-will of the child are removed. Then there is a change in the mind of the child, corresponding to the change in the ultimate organism. In fact, the latter is from the former, because the interior operation of hearing is spiritual; for the thought is projected in the spiritual world before it is uttered in speech. In that world, we are taught, "thought is speech, and when the thought of spirits inflows, or when they think into the man, they speak into the internal of his ear, and this meets and is drawn together (concentrated) with what he hears from without. Hence it may be evident how those things which flow into the interior and those which enter from the exterior concentrate themselves in the ear." (S. D. 3130, 3131.)

     Again we see the analogy between obedience and the ear. Like the ear, it concentrates what is heard from within and from without, and, by means of concentration, the things heard, together with their affections, present themselves to the understanding, in order that there may be preparation for the conjunction of those two faculties, which takes place when what is heard comes forth into act. It then serves as an axis, around which all future developments cluster, revolve, and are concentrated.

     The importance of this use of obedience is further seen from the function of the ear of the Gorand Man (Maximus Homo). We read in A. E. 14: "Those in the spiritual world who are in the province of the ear are forms of obedience from perception, and the province of the ear is in the axis of heaven.

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Into it, therefore, or into those who are there, flows the whole spiritual world, with the perception that the thing commanded is to be done; for this is the reigning perception in heaven, and hence it is that those who are in that province are forms of obedience from perception. That those things which enter by the hearing enter immediately by the understanding into the will, may be further illustrated by the instruction of the angels of the celestial heaven, who are the wisest. They receive all their wisdom by hearing, and not by sight; for whatever they hear of Divine things, they receive in the will from veneration and love, and make it of their life; and because they receive it immediately in the life, and not first in the memory, therefore they do not discourse concerning matters of faith, but only respond when told of them by others, Yea, yea, or Nay, nay, according to the words of the Lord in Matthew 5:37. From these things it is evident that hearing is given to man chiefly for the reception of wisdom, but sight for the reception of intelligence. Wisdom is to perceive, to will, and to do. Intelligence is to know and perceive."

     Here again we find the function of the ear to be that of concentration. "The whole of the spiritual world flows thither, and is concentrated into it as an axis, with the perception that what is commanded is to be done." And because this is so, we may say further that all the forces of heaven, and all of the Lord's love and mercy, flow into the ear to effect obedience, and to set in motion the doing of His will, that man may become a form of wisdom. "Hearing is given to man chiefly for the reception of wisdom, and wisdom is to perceive, to will, and to do." In short, to obey. Now, because obedience is an axis of heaven, it is also the axis of all heavenly life among men on earth; of all orderly, civilized, and truly human life.

     This influx is constant and perpetual, but it is not received unless a receptacle is formed in the natural to receive it, and this is formed only by the parent and teacher acting upon and with the child. For the child is not accountable, since it has not yet rationality. Moreover, there is no connate delight of obedience with children. To suppose that there is, is an error that has arisen from the ordinary idea of evolution; and the baneful results of acting on the supposition that the highest type of man is only a development and growth, is manifest on every hand. The delight of obedience is not only not innate, but it only enters into the life after combats, and after the victory of the command over the will of the child.

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With the act of submission, the evil spirits, with the accusing and afflicting spheres which incited the disobedience, are removed, and in their place good spirits bring joy and peace; from which then follows the delight of obedience. "Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now do I keep thy Word."

     Obedience, then, is the first means of opening the mind, because it conjoins the hearing and the seeing, the will and the understanding, and causes the internal and external of the natural man to act as one. It is thus the first step leading to the conjunction of what man has separated, and thus serves as a preparation for the life of regeneration making it possible for good from the Lord to be conjoined with truth in man, and thus to fulfill the ends of the Divine Providence.
OLD YEAR AND THE NEW 1921

OLD YEAR AND THE NEW       R. A. STEBBING       1921

We'll sing a song to the year that's gone,
     With its days of joy and sorrow,
With its chances missed and its work undone;
     They're a lesson for to-morrow.
But if we've failed, we're not afraid,
     We're stronger for the effort made.
To-night we'll let the old states fade;
     With a sigh and a cheer, but never with a tear,
Well say good-bye to the Old Year.

Here's a toast unto the glad New Year!
     This wish we'll sing in chorus,-
That we may grow in truth and love
     In all the days before us.
We'll fix our aspirations high,
     To reach them have a good old try;
For a Helping Hand is ever nigh,
     To bless our days and guide our ways,
And give us hope in the New Year.     R. A. STEBBING.

     (Tune: "Here's a health unto His Majesty.")

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ARMISTICE DAY-1921 1921

ARMISTICE DAY-1921       WILLIAM WHITEHEAD       1921

     The morning of November 11th witnessed a brief and impressive ceremony in the connecting porch way between Benade and De Charms Halls of the Academy School Buildings, upon the inner wall of which a permanent place is now provided for the metal tablet presented last June by The Alpha Kappa Mu Sorority, and which bears the following legend:



IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE WORLD WAR:

LEON ROSE-July 29, 1916
GUY CHRISTOPHER PEMBERTON-April 21, 1917
LIEUT. W. REY GILL-August 21, 1917
REGINALD WATERS-November, 1917
ROY S. WELLS-April 2, 1918
SEC. LIEUT. FRED. SYNNESTVEDT-December 16, 1918

     Who does not remember and love him who fights even unto death that his country may be free. (T. C. R. 710.)

     Presented by

     The Alpha Kappa Mu,

     June 15, 1921.



     An address delivered on this occasion by Mr. William Whitehead follows:

     ARMISTICE DAY, 1921-A TRIBUTE.

     On this day, at this hour, by proclamation of the President of the United States, many great men who represent the nations of the earth have met to pay homage to the body of an unknown soldier. And as they bow before that symbol of the spirit of freemen everywhere, we also, in this little village of Pennsylvania, have met to respect the memory of soldiers whom we knew as members of our families and brothers of our faith.

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     To those persons who are related to these, our boys, by ties of natural blood, the memory of their lives is doubtless filled with a multitude of familiar and sacred things. For, in common with millions of men and women everywhere, the thought of those who would still be living among us but for this war cannot but rouse our human attributes of emotion, sympathy and pride. In natural kinship with mankind, we are thrilled to remember that, when the country of their birth called them to a war of defense against aggression, these young soldiers obeyed with alacrity,-nay, with the instinctive and unquestioning obedience of loyal men.

     It was in the doing of this duty that these six men came upon the incident of death.

     Yet it is only too fitting that these soldiers of our faith should die in the company of the best of the human race, and at one of the great moments in the history of man. For the spirit of freedom is the breath of life; and without it there is no Church and no Country for any man. To this spirit the New Church has ever consecrated its highest energies and genius, despite all its waverings and trials.

     There is, then, one thing that our children-yea, our children's children,-may remember with a special pride. It is that these young men went out,- as the sons of our Church will always go,-to fight for freedom because it is a duty, not only to the neighbor, but to God.

     Forasmuch as they went for this purpose, and in this manner, even unto death, they can never be the same to us. They are still our brothers and our sons, known to us by a hundred things of human memory in the natural world. But we now see that they were destined, in the Providence of God, to pass through this baptism of blood and flame in order to bear testimony, for all time, to those Greater Issues that stand behind all wars.

     These six men are indeed our brothers,-brothers in Truth and in spirit. And our relation to them is now that of the deeper blood of the soul.

     Hence it is that the memory of these comrades of our Church may be fastened forever to our very hearts.

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And to that memory, this tablet, given and unveiled by these young girls, shall be a sign and reminder as long as these buildings shall stand.

     May we not proudly say, in humble verse, concerning these lads?-

Not as the creatures of a blinding dream,
     Did our lads march to war;
Not trapped nor dazzled by the rifle's gleam;
     Nor waited for the law.

When those who quailed struck bargains with their fears,
     Old Death's dread scimitar
Ne'er once did whistle in the ears
     Of these who went to war.

But they have marched from life through death to Life,
     With hope's bright avatar;
And youth shall tell, some day, with song and fife
     How our lads went to war!
                    WILLIAM WHITEHEAD.

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Editorial Department 1921

Editorial Department       Editor       1921


NEW CHURCH LIFE
Office a Publication, Lancaster, Pa.
Published Monthly By
THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
BRYN ATHYN, PA.

Editor                    Rev. W. B. Caldwell, Bryn Athyn, Pa.
Business Manager          Rev. W. H. Alden, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

All literary contributions should be sent to the Editor. Subscriptions, change of address and business communications should be sent to the Business Manager.

     TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
One Year                $3.00 payable in advance
Single Copy          30 cents
     COSMIC QUESTIONS.

     Very few of the inhabitants of other earths know, that the Lord assumed the human upon this earth, and made it Divine. When certain were told this by the spirits of our earth, they mused awhile, and presently said that it was done for the salvation of the human race. (A. C. 6700.)

     Among the billion and a half of human beings who are "doomed to walk the earth," being compelled by the accident of birth and the law of gravitation to spend the brief season of their natural existence upon this, our unfortunate though highly favored planet, not a few are unwilling to remain thus earthbound as to their mental outlook, but must range the skies, intent upon knowing how it fares with distant orbs,-a predilection peculiar to the sons of Adam, and to which we owe those marvelous mechanical devices which have yielded such a wealth of information to the astronomer-such a wealth, yet such a poverty with respect to the knowledge most desired of all, concerning the existence and nature of the race of men upon other planets.

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Astronomy has failed to solve this mystery, to answer the questioning of the curious mind, insomuch that scientists are widely at variance on the subject, ranging all the way from doubt and negation to affirmation and hope,-a hope that supports the confident expectation that we shall one day find terrestrial means of communicating with the people of Mars, and learn from them the secret of their supposed canals. Strangely enough, our nearest neighbor, the moon, has been neglected in this quest, and it has been generally held that its atmosphere will sustain no human life,-a view which seems to have been shared by Swedenborg himself, in common with the men of his time, until he was disillusioned by revelation and living experience.



     The facts now revealed concerning the inhabitants of the planets and moons are familiar to readers of the Writings; but it is always of surpassing interest to recall and reflect upon these knowledges, and to compare them with the findings of modern science, to contrast our assured beliefs with the tentative conclusions of astronomy, or with the blind obstinacy of those who are enslaved to sensual and scientific evidence, doubting or denying what the rational and spiritual mind is able to affirm first and prove afterwards. The prominence recently given by the newspapers to the reported discovery of vegetation upon the Moon has revived interest in the subject, and will remind New Churchmen of what is revealed to them from heaven, which science must more and more confirm. To quote the NEW YORK TIMES of October 9th, 1921:

     "The unwarranted assumption that the moon is dead, and that nothing can live on its surface, has caused astronomers to fail to study it, according to Professor William H. Pickering, of Harvard, one of the greatest living astronomers, who, in a report on two years' observation of the moon with a telescope on the island of Jamaica, asserts that the existence of life is more easily traceable on the moon than on Mars. Crops grow on some parts of the moon at the rate of two a day, the day on the moon being as long as two of our weeks. They are believed to grow only in the craters, with which the face of the moon is extensively pitted, and which are believed to contain water and possibly a supply of heat. Professor Pickering has discovered steam issuing from some of the supposedly dead craters.

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The assumption has been that, because the moon has no atmosphere, and because its temperature is presumably hundreds of degrees below zero, no life could exist there. . . . Professor Pickering criticizes astronomers in severe terms for neglecting the study of the moon, because of an unproved hypothesis that it was lifeless. He emphasized the fact that Mars is 200 times farther away from the earth than the moon is, so that, other things being equal, zoo times as much detail can be seen on the moon. Professor Pickering is one of the chief living authorities on the subject of Mars, where, also, he believes that life exists."



     We cannot but acknowledge the great achievements of astronomical science. They beget an intense admiration of the generations of noble men who have applied themselves with such unstinted devotion to the solution of cosmological problems, even, in darker ages than ours, at the price of life itself, paid because they had the temerity to challenge the stupid bigotry of the Church,-a fact which led Draper to exclaim, in his comment upon the burning of Giordano Bruno, that "perhaps the day approaches when posterity will offer an expiation for this great ecclesiastical crime, and unveil a statue of Bruno under the dome of St. Peter's at Rome." But we are now able to contemplate the Providence that has overruled for good the disposition of our lowly race to unlock the secrets of nature by the way of the senses. If men had not shut off the inner way to this knowledge, as possessed by the most ancient people, they never would have gone to such pains to discover it by sensual and mechanical means. But the totality of their efforts is now brought to the service of the Church, that it may enlarge, enlighten, and confirm a faith that is founded upon a rational understanding of the created world, as now revealed by the Creator. We behold, then, the use intended of Providence in the vast records of well-established facts accumulated by the industry of science and art upon our globe, and we realize that they perform their highest service when they are the basis of a genuine philosophy, and this a handmaid of religion and a confirmation to faith, as made manifest to us so clearly in the case of Swedenborg, whose entire cosmological period is summed up in his Worship and Love of God.

681






     Thus all astronomical knowledge, when viewed in its proper focus, must enlighten and confirm the man of the Church in his worship and love of God, in His belief that the infinite Love and Wisdom of the Creator can have no other end than an illimitable race of men, peopling the numberless earths that have been and are to be formed as so many seminaries of an angelic heaven,-a universal Man. Imbued with such a faith, the man of the Church escapes from the dark shadows of that merely scientific viewpoint which will not credit the possibility of human life upon other planets than our own, even going the lengths of an assumption that this earth alone is peopled, than which Tellurian conceit could scarce go farther. Happily, the ranks of science have never lacked numbers of men possessing a larger view and love of the human race, men of learning not entirely bereft of reason and common sense, who do not consider it irrational to assume the existence of inhabitants upon all terrestrial bodies, and who are content to wait patiently for the day of their discovery by the scientist. And if to this commendable attitude they add the Christian virtue of faith in Divine Revelation, they will regard their labors in the field of astronomical investigation as a means of confirming, and not of invalidating that faith. The Christian philosopher will apply to far-off planets, as well as to our own, the words of the prophet: "For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain; He formed it to be inhabited." (Isaiah 45:18.)



     It is to the man of this type that the wonders now made known in the Writings are addressed,-to the man of science who has not lost his faith in Revelation. That we so seldom hear of the learned accepting what is told of the earths in the universe must be because so few have this faith. But that information is also revealed to those who have little or no spiritual faith, provided they have not destroyed their rational faculties by a slavery to the senses. For, in treating of the subject, the Writings say: "The things which have been shown concerning heaven and hell and the life after death are for the few who are in faith; but to the end that the rest may be brought to something of an acknowledgment, it has been conceded me to record such things as delight and allure the man who is desirous of knowing, which will now be concerning the earths in the universe." (A. C. 9438.)

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And wherever the Writings deal with the question of the habitability of the planets and moons, they make an appeal to the rational, as well as to faith. It may not be amiss to cite several of the many passages on this subject.

     THE PLANETS AND SATELLITES INHABITED.

     "I have occasionally spoken with spirits on this subject, and it was said that a man of intellectual ability may know from many things that there are many earths, and inhabitants upon them; for it may be concluded from what is rational that masses of such a size as the planets are, some of which exceed this earth in magnitude, are not empty masses, created only to course about the sun and give light to one earth, but that they must needs have more distinguished uses. He who believes, as every one ought to believe, that the Divine created the universe for no other end than the existence of the human race, and a heaven thence, cannot but believe that there are men wheresoever there is an earth. That the planets which are visible before our eyes, as being within the boundaries of the world of our sun, are earths, may be clearly known from this, that they are bodies of earthly matter, inasmuch as they reflect the sun's light; also, that they, in like manner as our earth, revolve around the sun, and hence make years and seasons; and likewise that they rotate upon their own axis, in like manner as our earth, and hence make days; moreover, that some of them have moons, which are called satellites, and which revolve about their respective orbs at stated times, as the moon about our orb. . . . How is it possible for any one who knows these things, and thinks from reason, to say that these are bodies without inhabitants (inania corpora)?" (A. C. 6697.)

     With regard to the satellites in particular, we may quote two notable statements:

     "That there are inhabitants even in the moon, is known to spirits and angels, for they often discourse with them; in like manner that there are inhabitants in the moons or satellites which revolve about Jupiter and Saturn. They who have not seen and discoursed with them, still entertain no doubt but that those bodies are inhabited by men, because they are earths alike with the planets, and wheresoever an earth is, there is man; for man is the end for which every earth was created, and nothing was made by the Most High Creator without an end.

683


That the end of creation is the human race, and from this a heaven, may be evident to every one who thinks from reason. The angels also say that an earth without the human race cannot subsist, because the Divine provides all things in an earth for the sake of man." (A. C. 9237.)

     Speaking of the spirits of our Moon, Swedenborg states in the Spiritual Diary: "It was thought that they were not like others, because there is not such an atmosphere [there], and I do not know what atmosphere they have around them; but still the human race would be there, because there is nothing without an end, thus nothing without the human race, that it may be a bond between things terrestrial and natural and things celestial; for otherwise an earth can never be, whether planet or moon or satellite." (3244.)

     A SATELLITE OF JUPITER.

     While we are familiar with the description of the spirits and inhabitants of our Moon, it is perhaps not generally known that the Writings also treat of what appears to be one of the moons of Jupiter. For, according to modern astronomy, there are, besides our own, at least 25 moons in the solar system, revolving about the planets as follows: Mars 2, Jupiter 8, Saturn 10, Uranus 4, and Neptune 1.

     We may here call to mind that the Spiritual Diary contains the first record of Swedenborg's experience in meeting the spirits and angels of other earths. This was afterwards transcribed and interspersed between the chapters of Exodus in the Arcana Coelestia, beginning at No. 6695, and extending to the end of that work. The description includes Mercury, Venus, our Moon, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, as the major planets then known in our solar system, and also six "Earths in the Starry Heaven," or planets beyond our solar system. After the publication of the Arcana Coelestia, these accounts were again transcribed to make the little work entitled The Earths in the Universe, omitting, however, the "Fourth Earth in the Starry Heavens." We may note in passing that one of the volumes of the Arcana Coelestia used by Swedenborg in preparing The Earths in the Universe, and annotated by him in doing so, was discovered in the Library of Harvard University by Mr. Alfred H. Stroh some years ago, and described by him in NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1904, pp. 599, 656.

684




     Now it is the "Third Earth in the Starry Heavens" which would appear, from the record in the Spiritual Diary, to be one of the satellites of Jupiter, and not a planet beyond our solar system. Where this earth is treated of in the Arcana Coelestia (10311, 10513) and in The Earths in the Universe (148-156), Swedenborg states that "Spirits appeared at a distance who were not willing to approach, because they could not be together with the spirits of our earth who were then round about me; hence I perceived that they were from another earth; and it was afterwards said to me that they were from a certain earth in the universe; but where that earth is, was not indicated to me." (10311.) If, however, we refer to the original record of that earth in the Diary, we find that he was then given to believe that it was one of the satellites of Jupiter. Moreover, he lists it under "Jupiter" in his Index to the Diary. In the account itself, he notes the strong resemblance of the spirits of that earth to the spirits of Jupiter. This will appear from the following brief quotations:

     "Concerning spirits who were altogether unwilling [to admit] that they had been in a body. From another earth. Spirits of some satellite.

     "There is a kind of spirits who, in the life of the body, had despised the body, and held it in hatred, and could not bear to have it said that they had been clothed with a body. . . . (D. 1668.)

     "Those spirits said that they had never been clothed with a body, neither did they appear to themselves in the form of a body, but only in a cloud. . . . When I asked them whence they were, they said they did not know, for they were unwilling [to say] that they had ever been corporeal; from the fact that they spoke well of the spirits of the earth Jupiter, I was persuaded that they were from that earth, because they also despise their bodies, and wish to live like spirits on earth, not as clothed in a body; wherefore they called those bodies worms, or the food of worms. . . . " (D. 1669.)

     "But whether they were from a certain satellite of Jupiter, which, like the moon, is not surrounded with a similar atmosphere, and thus that in such a little world they are differently created, or endowed with a different body, I do not yet know, although they said so to me.

685


For, because I could have no idea of men, except of such as live on earths surrounded by an atmosphere, therefore, although it was unknown to me, because I can have no idea of such men, I am not willing wholly to reject it; for the corporeal forms are circumstanced altogether according to the state of the atmospheres and of other things in the earths in which they are." (D. 1670.)

     Later in the account, we read: "It seems likely they were born in the earth Jupiter," and "they acknowledge our Lord, as the spirits of Jupiter do, and adore Him alone." But in the Index to the Diary (p. 419), they are referred to as "Spirits of a satellite of Jupiter," and on p. 483 we find the statement: "Because I did not know that similar atmospheres surround the satellites, I was not induced to feel that they were from one of the satellites of Jupiter, which yet is likely, because it was so perceived."

     URANUS AND NEPTUNE.

     Since Swedenborg met the spirits of all the major planets then known to belong to our solar system, and also visited planets beyond, even describing, on one occasion, how he was transferred in spirit through the boundaries of our system (E. U. 128), why was he not given to know of Uranus and Neptune, which were discovered by astronomers after his time, namely, in the years 1781 and 1846, respectively?

     In attempting an answer to such questions, we enter a wide field of speculation, legitimate enough, though in the end we are obliged to return to the acknowledgment that it was not of Providence that such facts should be revealed in the Writings. And we can conceive how tremendously persuasive it would be, if such a revealing of facts, afterwards discovered by astronomers, had been made in the Writings. Many marvelous things are indeed made known to us-the existence of men upon the planets and moons, for instance-but these are chiefly incidental to a revelation of spiritual things, and only secondarily for the purpose of "delighting and alluring those desirous of knowing," as before noted. We must regard such knowledges as given chiefly for the man of the Church, and for any who can be brought to "some degree of an acknowledgment" of spiritual things.

686


Accordingly, we can recognize the guardian Providence in the non-acceptance or total rejection of what is now revealed concerning the earths in the universe by men of learning in the Christian world.

     Albeit, the minds of the Church need not be stayed in their seeking for solutions of the problems-the "cosmic questions"-presented in the Writings. And, as throwing light upon the question asked above, we suggest the possibility that the planets Uranus and Neptune were not yet inhabited, and perhaps are not now inhabited, not having reached that stage of their development when the human race could be created and supported. If so, there would be no spirits from those earths for Swedenborg to meet, or to see in the vicinity of their planets. For the material earths themselves are not seen in the other life, but only the spirits and angels gathered around them, as is clearly explained in the following number:

     "It is to be known that the sun of this world does not appear to any spirit, nor anything of light thence derived; for the light of that sun is as dense darkness to spirits. That sun only remains in their perception from their having seen it while in the world, and is presented to them in idea as something exceedingly dark, and this to the back at a considerable distance, in an altitude a little above the plane of the head. The planets which are within the world of that sun appear according to a determinate situation in respect to the sun; Mercury at the back a little towards the right; the planet Venus to the left a little behind; the planet Mars to the left in front; the planet Jupiter in like manner to the left in front, but at a greater distance; the planet Saturn directly in front at a considerable distance; the Moon to the left at a considerable height; the satellites also to the left in respect to their own planet. Such is the situation of those planets in the ideas of spirits and angels; and the spirits also appear beside their own planet, but outside of it." (A. C. 7171.)

     A careful study of this statement brings to light one interesting fact, among others, that, in the idea of spirits and angels, the planets of our system appear in their locations relative to the natural sun, though it is the spirits beside their own earths that are seen, not the planets themselves. And since, to a spirit of our earth, the sun is behind, we can understand why Mercury and Venus appear at his back, but Mars, Jupiter and Saturn in front; for this is their situation in order of distance from the sun, and in relation to our earth.

687


These considerations may throw light upon the question as to why Swedenborg was not given to know of Uranus and Neptune. It must be admitted, of course, that they might be inhabited, and thus surrounded by their spirits and angels, without Swedenborg's being given to know of them. But this, at least, can be said with certainty, that those planets could not be in his mind, or in the mind of others from this earth, from their having known of them during their life in the world. Nor was Swedenborg told about them by the spirits of Mercury, who enumerated planets to the number of about 600,000. (S. D. 3264.)

     IS THE SUN INHABITED?

     A correspondent propounds this question, and states that he finds no answer to it in the Writings. Among the many statements, however, that give an emphatically negative answer, is the following from True Christian Religion:

     "The reason why man cannot see God and live, is because God is Love Itself, and Love Itself, or Divine Love, in the spiritual world appears before the angels as a sun, distant from them as the sun of our world is distant from men. Wherefore, if God, who is in the midst of that sun, were to draw near to the angels, they would perish, as men would if the sun of the world were to draw near to them; for the spiritual sun is equally ardent. Therefore, there are perpetual temperings, which modify and moderate the ardor of that Love, so that it may not inflow into heaven as it is in itself; for the angels would be consumed thereby." (T. 691. See also A. C. 6849, 8694, 8760, 8816.)

     It seems unnecessary to go more fully into the subject here; but we may again cite the fact noted above, that the spirits of all men remain to eternity in the vicinity of the planets upon which they were born. The degree of heaven in which they are is not determined by a spacial relation to the spiritual sun, but by the degree to which their minds were opened to reception of love and wisdom from that sun during their life in the world. (See D. L. W. 108-112; A. C. 7270.)

688


NEW BRAZILIAN MONTHLY 1921

NEW BRAZILIAN MONTHLY       E. E. IUNGERICH       1921

     A NOVA IGREJA, the new monthly journal of the General Church society in Rio de Janeiro, has already appeared in three issues, for April, May, and June to September, of this year, in covers that are respectively blue, green, and light yellow. The first two numbers contain translations of articles by the Rev. Clarence Lathbury, the Rev. E. C. Mitchell, Richer, and le Boys des Guays, a significant one being that by the latter writer on the peril of communications with spirits. A lengthy extract from the Writings on the same subject precedes it. Of original articles in these numbers, there are sermons by the late Rev. M. C. de Sousa Bandeira on "Trust in the Lord," and by the Rev. H. Leonardos on "Seeing the Face of the Lord;" a symbolical sonnet by Sr. Sarmanho; and a notable polemical article by Sr. Xafredo on "Reincarnation," which is directed against the Theosophists, who at the present moment are conducting in Rio an active propagandism of their views, with the expenditure of large sums in advertising.

     This article by Sr. Xafredo was noted in one of their journals, which spoke in a highly laudatory tone of the two issues of A NOVA IGREJA as evincing the possession of much light, but deprecated as unfortunate the non-acceptance by the New Church of the doctrine of reincarnation. The article in question shows that it is contrary to every known law for a chick to descend again into the same sort of material egg shell in order to be born again, and points out that if an assassin had to be born again, in order to be himself retributively assassinated by some other, that this would continually necessitate new evils, without any possibility of an eventual amelioration of conditions. The article then asks how God, in His infinite wisdom, can be the Author of such haphazard compensations that would do violence to any possible system of order.

     The third number begins with a declaration in both French and English. The latter runs as follows: "A NOVA IGREJA shall be edited henceforth as the formal organ and review of the only Brazilian community, Sociedade da Nova Jerusalem, at Rio, affiliated with the General Church of the New Jerusalem at Bryn Athyn, Pa., U. S. A."

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     The number contains a translation of the "Principles of the Academy" by Sr. Alvaro de Castilho, another parable by the Rev. E. C. Mitchell translated by the Rev. J. M. Lima, an article by Sr. Xafredo on "Gathering the Flock," in which the uses of a good shepherd are warmly advocated, and two articles of immediate historical interest to which I shall therefore devote some attention.

     That entitled "O Mensageiro da Igreja Geral" is an account by Sr. Xafredo of the eight weeks' visit last summer of the Rev. E. E. Iungerich and family. Besides chronicling the various acts of his stay, already recorded in the LIFE, its writer adds the following eulogy, some of whose terms will undoubtedly be questioned from the very fact that I publish it:" At the moment of disembarking the Rev. Iungerich gave us a most agreeable surprise by introducing his most excellent wife and their son in our native tongue. Through a refinement of amiability, he had perfected himself in Portuguese prior to leaving for Brazil, and it was in this medium that we had the pleasure of hearing him deliver his Sunday sermons, full of enlightening erudition and sound doctrine. During his entire stay, he aided us to consolidate the bases of our religious society, . . . confirming his noble mission by solemn acts of Baptism and the Holy Supper, the latter administered here for the first time. . . . He also gave two lectures on cosmology according to Swedenborg's Writings, making a deep impression among the faithful, but also causing among some strangers who had come from a sense of curiosity a tremendous volte-face to their preconceived opinions; for he attacked scientific dogmas judged to be invulnerable, affirming, for instance, that the interpretation Newton gives to the phenomena of gravitation starts out from a Premise that is erroneous and opposed to truth. The Rev. Iungerich, besides his vast knowledge, and his profound acquaintance with the doctrines of the New Church, possesses the rare gift of sympathy, and, by his demeanor, full of goodness and modesty, won as a friend and admirer every person who met him."

     The article by the Rev. H. Leonardos, which immediately follows the declaration of the first page, is entitled: "Why we have Affiliated with the General Church of the New Jerusalem." As it is of important historical value, I shall quote from it in extense, summarizing such parts as are less essential:

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     "To those who have not followed closely the evolution of the New Church in Brazil, we owe an explanation of the reasons that led us to take this step in the new phase of life our church here has entered upon.

     "Two motives led us to draw near and join with the General Church of the New Jerusalem: (1) the acceptance of the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg as the New Word revealed by the Lord, and given as authoritative to His New Church, and (2) our recognition of the General Church as that body in the world which has always recognized that truth, besides being the one that is constituted according to the most perfect order. The desire for this has been fulfilled,... and our religious society is now under its direction."

     Their state in the seven years prior to this act is then compared with that of the children of Israel prior to crossing the Jordan. There follows then an apt quotation from no. 57 of the Rev. de La Fayette's organ, A NOVA JERUSALEM, of 1915, in which he had described their state then as a transitory one, and prophesied that they were on the eve of a new one comparable to that of entering the holy Canaan. "We have accepted this counsel. We have taken the General Church of the New Jerusalem as our model, and already now we have crossed the Jordan, happy not to remain on the other side with the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh."

     The article next goes on to describe how the path was opened that led to the fusion with the General Church. There follow letters from the Rev. C. T. Odhner and Mr. John Pitcairn which had been published in full in nos. 56 and 58 of A NOVA JERUSALEM. Mention is then made of Mr. Pitcairn's visit in 1915, and of his growing interest in Brazil, culminating in a gift to Publish the Writings in Portuguese. The fact that, in no. 57, the photographs of Bandeira and Odhner are published side by side was a sign of further growth towards union. Then mention is made of the generous offer by Mr. Pitcairn that culminated in the six months' visit of Sr. and Sra. de La Fayette to Bryn Athyn as a further link in the chain that bound them to the General Church.

     Lastly, there follow quotations from nos. 60, 61, 63 of NOVA JERUSALEM, which show from the pen of the Rev. de La Fayette an acknowledgment of the Writings as the Word of the Lord, and an appreciation of spiritual affinity with the General Church of the New Jerusalem. It will suffice to quote a few of these:

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     "The Writings of the New Church constitute the Lord's Second Coming. They are the revelation of the Lord in His Divine Human, which He assumed on earth and made Divine on every plane. (Nova Jerus. no. 60.)

     "The integrity of the organizations of the New Church depends really on the acknowledgment of the Writings as a revelation come from the Lord, and, therefore, on their being acknowledged to be the Word of the Lord, because there has never been a revelation from Him which was not His Word. Moreover, the eternal salvation of every individual who enters hereafter into the spiritual world depends definitively on this acknowledgment." (Ibid. n. 61.)

     These two extracts were translated by Sr. de La Fayette (possibly from NEW CHURCH LIFE) and published by him in his journal as an obvious sign of his approval of these sentiments as of extreme importance for his New Church fellow countrymen. The next extract is from a message to the General Church composed by him and signed by the officials of his body.

     "The New Church in Brazil has always considered the General Church of the New Jerusalem as the sacrosanct palladium of the Heavenly Doctrine, revealed in the Writings of Swedenborg by our Lord.

     "It was thanks to the unshaken fidelity to the Writings of the Second Coming that the General Church could save from destruction, so to say, these great spiritual treasures, cutting the new Gordian Knot [referring to episodes like the Kramph Will Case] devised by the devil and his crew against the Divine inspiration of the Writings. And so the General Church, under the protection of our Lord, was able to ward off the thrust of that ancient serpent, ever deceitful, and a liar, but powerless against the ramparts of the New Jerusalem. (Ibid. no. 63)

     "Thus," concludes Sr. Leonardos, "the way was opened. Convinced and confident, we trod upon it, and crossed the Jordan. Accepted by the General Church, our spirit has redoubled through feeling ourselves strengthened, without forgetting, however, that what has already transpired was not because of any strength of ours, but because the Lord has fought for us. And for this reason we humbly, but boldly, recite the following prayer: Non nobis, Jehova, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da honorem, propter benignitatem taum propter fidem tuam."
     E. E. IUNGERICH.

692


LA NOUVELLE JERUSALEM 1921

LA NOUVELLE JERUSALEM       E. E. IUNGERICH       1921

     The third issue of this French Quarterly of the General Church is fully up to the sound and deep theological standard set by its two predecessors. Its cover is a duplicate of the tasteful one of the second issue.

     Of the two editorials, the first, entitled "The Triune Word," treats of the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin Words, showing their essential Divine Unity, despite the differences between the ultimate letter in the three cases. The other editorial, "A Protestant Eye-Mask," justly takes issue with the one French historical work of the New Church, dating from 1879, "Histoire Sommaire de La Nouvelle Eglise," because, while condemning the Catholic Church as consummated, it yet says with regard to the Protestant sects: "The New Church will infuse a new spiritual life into these Old Churches, of which it will be the crown; and, having imparted to them a new vitality, it will unite them all together in a blend of concordant varieties." It would be interesting to know the name of the anonymous author, who condemns the scarlet woman, but speaks kindly of the dragon. It is interesting to note that he condemns the doctrine of the priesthood held by the nascent Academy movement in America, as savoring of a reversion to Catholicism, though evidently from a garbled hearsay report. This gives Monsieur Deltenre a chance to explain that doctrine and the principle of education in the New Church.

     The contributed articles are a translation of a sermon by the Bishop Emeritus on "How to Pray"; a sermon from the Rev. Alfred Acton on the "Language of the Word," which is translated from NEW CHURCH LIFE of 1902, p. 613; and two articles by the Rev. E. E. Iungerich that were written expressly for LA NOUVELLE JERUSALEM. The longer of these is on "The Plagues of Egypt." Starting out with the idea that the vision of the burning bush by Moses signifies the individual's perception of the use for which God had predestined him, it treats of the series of natural temptations or infestations by which he is to be led out from his natural environment into one in which the love of his use may be freely developed. Of special interest is the explanation of how Pharaoh's magicians could duplicate the first three prodigies of Moses, but not the rest; and also a correlation of Aaron's turning the dust of the earth into lice (Exod. 8: 11), by smiting it with his rod, with the phenomenon of spontaneous generation noted by Swedenborg, when stirring the dust in his garden with his cane. (D. L. W. 341.)

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The second article by the same writer is a plea for the development of a suitable external ritual of worship, correspondent with the internal beauties of the heavenly doctrines. The corruption of the Old Church is in its doctrine, and not, save remotely, in its formal ritual, be this elaborate or bare. New Churchmen should endeavor to divorce these formal matters from unfavorable associations with Old Church corruption, and be free to adapt any ritual forms that are in accord with heavenly correspondence, artistic form, and good taste.

     An editorial note informs the public that the article by Bishop N. D. Pendleton, published in the LIFE for May, 1921, on "The Lord and His Kingdom," and that by the Rev. Alfred Acton on "The Origin of Man," appearing in the NEW PHILOSOPHY for this year, will shortly appear in translations for the benefit of French readers. Undoubtedly, for a good many years, it will be necessary to publish translations of Academy classics, in order to acquaint the French New Churchmen with the treasures of the past, barred from them in the unfamiliar English. It will only be little by little, as there develops a school of French theologians, the peers of the editor of LA NOUVELLE JERUSALEM, that we can hope to have many fruits from the doctrinal thoughts of members of the "noble French nation."

     An affectionate token to the memory of Mr. Gerrit Barger, brief news notes, and a new installment of De Verbo, with Latin and French on opposite pages, complete the concentrated message of this dainty booklet from across the sea.
     E. E. IUNGERICH.

694


GOD'S PRESENCE AND POWER IN MAN 1921

GOD'S PRESENCE AND POWER IN MAN       WM. R. REECE       1921

     GOD'S PRESENCE AND POWER IN MAN. By the Rev. William R. Reece. Portland, Oregon: Mimeograph Press of the New Christian Minister, 1921. Paper, 48 pages.

     AN OPEN LETTER TO THE AUTHOR.

My dear Mr. Reece:
     I have read your booklet with great interest and attention. The tasteful external appearance of the work prepossesses the reader in its favor. Publication with the mimeograph is no light task, and so well has the labor been accomplished that one looks almost in vain for even verbal error.

     The subject of the treatise immediately attracts attention; for God is not often thought of as "in man." He is thought of as a great power in the universe, as a power acting in the creation of man and of the universe, as in some way having a providence over the life of man; but that God is actually, with His presence and His power, in man, is not commonly reflected upon, nor is the logical deduction from such a thesis made.

     Your table of contents skillfully develops your idea. Beginning with the broad affirmation, "Every Man a Temple of Divinity", you have dealt with the attributes of God, His Unity, the Trinity in Him, His Personality, Omnipotence, Infinity and Eternity; His creative power, and His glorification, with emphasis laid upon these attributes and these powers, as being attributes of God in man, and these powers being powers of God exercised only through man.

     Your method of handling each of these great subjects is admirably calculated to hold the mind to the one idea which you seek to impress. Text upon text is quoted with the addition of the words, "in you," or "in man." Thus, "All power is given unto me (in you) in heaven and in earth." "The angel said unto Mary, 'the HOLY SPIRIT (in you) shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest (in you) shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called THE SON OF GOD' (in you)."

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"Jesus came and spake unto them saying, All power is given unto me (in you) in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the FATHER (in man) and of the SON (in man) and of the HOLY GHOST" (in man).

     The purpose of this iteration is insistently to emphasize the proposition which you lay down in definite form thus:

     "The words, 'I am in you'... mean that God, manifested to the senses as Jesus the Christ, is nowhere else than in man, and that man's privilege is to believe this."

     Some of the conclusions drawn from this premise are startling, as:

     "Jesus Christ is verily the inmost and vital selfhood of every finite man" (p. 22). "In the man who is feelingly convinced that God is the One Infinite Ever-Living Man, abiding only in the secret place of the human soul, there is released a stream of power sufficient to subdue every enemy of the spiritual life, and to crown him who so believes and feels with the very omnipotence,-the almighty power,-of Infinite God Himself" (p. 25).

     Creation is postulated as in and through the mind of man.

     "The spiritualist (by 'spiritualist' we mean one who thinks spiritually) . . . regards man . . . as the efficient and only medium by which God within causes the mighty framework of the universe itself to appear" (p. 39). And this creation you pronounce to exist, not without, but within man. "He sees that in these senses-the representative faculty of consciousness-is produced the sensation of those forms and colors and relations known as the world of nature. Every apparently external object is really nothing else than a combination of sensations; it has no existence independent of a perceiving mind; it exists in the very act of being perceived by any one, or all, of the senses" (p. 40). This is idealism, pure and simple, familiar enough to the student of Berkeley.

     There naturally follows the claim of Divine power, even of Divine Being:

     "Simply because man originates and has his being in infinite God, no limitation can be placed upon his possibilities, and his powers are at bottom infinite. . . . Every human being should know that he is a son of God, which in very deed he is, and he should then make the whole tenor of his life conform to the gracious impulse and purity of this exhaustless, energizing, divine Fountain.

696


Thus he would come at last into the exercise of such power for good that no limitation could well be placed thereon, for his power would have its roots in the very Omnipotence of Indwelling Infinity Itself; it would easily extend over every form of sin and disease, and over the very forces of nature" (pp. 43, 45).

     One is reminded of Christian Science in these claims.

     The method by which you assert that man shall realize this inner presence and power of the Lord reminds one of the pleas of the orthodox evangelist: "Man's realization of the inner presence and power of the Lord God is dependent for growth upon one thing: that he exert himself to awaken others to the same realization."

     You have indeed seized upon a great truth; but, heedless of other truths, you have distorted and misapplied it, as numberless others have done before you.

     It is true that the Lord is the sole life of the universe; it is true that the Lord is in man; but it is not true that the Lord's powers are man's powers, or that the Lord is in man alone. The Lord is in all space without space; in man, indeed, but also within and without all creation. It is true that the Lord is the sole life of man; but His life so enters as to be for the time only as it were man's life. (See T. C. R. 718, 727.) Attributes of the Divine Life are God's as Creator, in man and in the creation as in receptacles, and the flow and activity of the Divine Life are limited in these receptacles by the nature of the receptacles. There is no assignable limit to the development of man's wisdom, it is true, but to whatever extent it may develop with man or with angel, it remains infinitely below the Infinite. God is indeed at the inmost of every man, but God is not man at the inmost. By a discrete degree is man separated from God; and he knows God, not by a feeling of the presence of God within, but by rational thought developed by means of knowledges derived from without. Man cannot by introspection lift himself up, to find the God within, as the New Thought declares. Man can not, by belief that he is a temple of God, become a temple of God. Nor can man make himself a temple of God at all. The making of a man a temple of God is to regenerate him, and this the Lord alone can do. And the Lord does this, not when man simply meditates or expresses belief in God, but when man takes the Word of God, which comes to him from without, and applies it in his external life.

697


As the Writings have it, "When man shuns evils in the external man, the Lord takes from him the love of that evil in the internal man."

     The creation is not merely a sensual impression in the mind of man, but as you yourself quote from Divine Love and Wisdom, "The universe is not created out of nothing. . . . All things are created out of a Substance which is a Substance in itself." The creation is not merely an extension of the Divine mind, whether directly, or through the mind of man, but by discrete degrees is created by the Lord out of substances emitted from Himself, and therefore distinct from Him; although it is entirely true that the substances are, from the inmost of them to the outmost, from the least to the greatest, sustained by the ever inflowing life of their Creator.

     All these are platitudes to the instructed New Churchman, nor are you apparently unaware of them. You recognize man as a "FINITE RECEPTACLE" (p. 46); you rightly say that "no finite being can ever wholly reveal the indwelling divinity" (ibid.), that "the Christ alone is adequate to this"; but, by a strange inconsistency, you assert on the same page that "to the awakening human soul. . . limitation of every form at once gives way." (Ibid.)

     In the enforcing of your thesis, you have made use of a method which is powerful; admirable, if used in the service of the truth; seductive, if employed in the service of the false. I refer to the persistent insertion of the words "in you," "in man," in connection with the texts from the Word. This perpetual turning of the thought and the affection in one direction by persistent iteration was employed by the ancients for the inculcation of the truth, and was then called "mussitation." The same method is employed in the New Thought, in Hindoo faiths, and in their modern cousin, Christian Science. Of this the Writings say, as you may find in the Concordance under "Enchantment":

     "In ancient times there were in use a number of infernal arts called magical. . . . Among these were enchantments, whereby they induced affections and pleasures which another could not resist, which was done by means of tones and silent voices which they either brought out or muttered, and which by analogous correspondences had communication with the will of the other, and excited his affection, and fascinated him to will, think, and act in a certain way.

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The prophets also were skilled in and made use of such enchantments, and thereby excited good affections, hearkening and obedience. . . . But as by such speeches and mutterings, evil affections were excited by the evil, and thus enchantments became magical, they are enumerated among magical arts, and are strictly forbidden." (A. E. 590.)

     I am far from charging you with desire to excite or persuade to evil affections. But I must confess that there appears in your philosophy the substitution of enthusiasm for thought, and a turning of the mind to a sort of self-exaltation, to the ignoring of the stern outward duty of self-examination and the humble shunning of evils as sins against God.

     With sincere good will, I am ours for the Church, Wm. H. ALDEN.

     A REPLY FROM MR. REECE.

My dear Mr. Alden:
     After some of the scorching letters I have received from Convention ministers with regard to the book, God's Presence and Power in Man, yours seems like a breath of refreshing air in the cool of the day. You do at least credit me with the desire to keep within bounds of truth. Some of the others seem to think I am hopelessly lost.

     I am quite willing that you should publish your open letter. I believe that every man is bound to do but one thing: Say what he feels is the truth. So I would counsel you to go ahead, even though I disagree with every word of your comment.

     I must tell you, as I told Mr. Waelchli when he was here, that the chief fault of the book is its brevity. I need 480 pages, instead of 48. So some day I must write another. But perhaps if I do that, it will not be read at all.

     I wish, indeed, that we might talk out some of the comments you make. To write out in detail, for example, what I believe to be the teaching in the Writings as to the world of nature being created in and through the natural mind, precisely as the spiritual world is through the spiritual mind, would take not less than a dozen pages.

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So much am I convinced of the truth of the position merely hinted at in Chapter 7 of the book, that I begin to feel that the Writings have never yet been read on this subject. We are more beholden than any of us suspect to the materialistic theory of evolution. If we could really see the matter through Swedenborg's eyes, we would, I fear, and most of those who read him, be entirely lost. I am, of course, referring to his real teaching, indicated only here and there; his statements of the apparent method of creation are, of course, obvious to anyone who can read the vernacular.

     Of course, your reference to Christian Science is not to be taken seriously. No New Churchman with even an iota of intellect could ever confuse the Lord and His creature, man, for an instant. You know, and you know that I know, that LIFE-which is the Lord,-the only LIVING MAN,-can never become the property of the dead receptacle in which it dwells. It is certainly most true that "God is not man at the inmost ". This would make them identical, and swallow up the identity of both the Lord God and man. As to man's feeling the inflow of the Lord's life, I might cite you a number of passages from the Writings teaching this. It is affirmed to be the experience of celestial angels, and of Swedenborg himself. Of course, I am not saying that man or angel is conscious of what might (speaking apparently) be called the "first entrance" of the Divine Life into the human or angelic organism; this would be treading on ground too holy for the foot of man, or even of angel.

     You know, too, that I know that man cannot open himself to the Lord's Presence and Power except as he (by the Lord's inspiration and constant aid) subdues and drives into the background his own hateful lusts and falsities. This must be done, and done by the Word. But this, of course, is another subject in itself, and hardly called for treatment in the present book. It will, however, be fully emphasized in the second, The Religion of God in Man, when this is printed.

     I could write you more, but this will suffice. Publish both your letter and this, if you like, and believe me,
     Yours in His service,
          WM. R. REECE.
PORTLAND, OREGON,
     October 7, 1921.

700


OBEDIENCE IN THE NEW CHURCH 1921

OBEDIENCE IN THE NEW CHURCH       Rev. HOMER SYNNESTVEDT       1921

     When listening to the paper on "Obedience," by the Rev. C. E. Doering, the writer was much impressed with the presentation of three degrees or kinds of obedience:-First, that forced obedience which is necessary at first to the unregenerate natural man. Second, the mere habit of obedience, which comes after we have learned the futility of resistance and the reward of acquiescence, and which we are apt to think is the goal to be satisfied with, when yet the fact is that a conformity to the laws of order which springs merely from habit is not saving. Third, what is needed is to be led on by reflection, self-examination, and interior repentance as to ends and lusts, until a love and delight of obedience are formed in our spirits. This last is what is to distinguish the New Church from the merely externally moral Old Church.

     I wonder whether we are doing all that we should to stress this necessary objective in our educational training. Do we not sometimes rest satisfied with the requirement of a merely external performance of duty and maintenance of honor? It requires great skill and patience, and a particularly strong influence, to impress upon the ebullient youth the need of taking himself in hand, with a view to shunning, let us say, irreverence, cheating, bullying, or unchastity. Yet the opposite virtues can be consciously striven for in the New Church, because now for the first time is it possible to develop a good without merit, and this because of the clear teaching to the effect that all good, as well as evil, inflows, and is never our own. (D. P. 320.)

     In the Old Church, they teach them to "be good," and the gorge of every normal youth rises at the manifest hypocrisy of such a saintly assumption. In the New Church, the whole end and aim, and the one goal of our education, is the shunning of our evils as sins against God.

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And, therefore, while we must avoid conscious effort to "be good," with any idea of personal sanctification, we must not, on the other hand, be ashamed deliberately to search out the evils of our spirit, and begin to shun them as we would shun the lakes of hell. For it is only by beginning this work in early youth that we can hope for much of an active interest in the truths of the Church, or for the secure happiness of a real conjugial union, in adult life.

     For what purpose do we send our young people to the Schools at Bryn Athyn? Is it not that they may find for themselves the Lord in His Word, and get some foretaste-some blessed remains-of the sphere of the heavenly conjugial? And these greatest of all blessings come only to those who search out their chief evils, and begin to shun them as sins. Let us not, then, be ashamed to make the effort, consciously and professedly, knowing that, in any case, whatever states of good result, they are not our own, but that they inflow from above. For we can make no progress, so long as we are ashamed to be caught trying to shun our evils, fearing that we shall be accused of trying to "be good." The two things are as different as the Old Church is from the New.

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DIRECTORY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM 1921

DIRECTORY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM              1921

     OFFICIALS AND COUNCILS.

     Bishop.
The Right Rev. N. D. Pendleton

     Secretary and Treasurer.
Rev. Wm. H. Alden

     Consistory.
Bishop N. D. Pendleton
Rev. Alfred Acton                    Rev. F. E. Waelchli
Rev. C. E. Doering, Secretary      Rev. W. B. Caldwell
Rev. Homer Synnestvedt           Rev. E. E. Iungerich

     Executive Committee.
Dr. Felix A. Boericke, President
Mr. Raymond Pitcairn, Vice-President
Mr. Paul Carpenter, Secretary
Rev. Wm. H. Alden, Treasurer
     
Mr. Edwin T. Asplundh           Mr. Charles G. Merrell
Mr. Edward C. Bostock           Mr. Richard Roschman
Mr. Robert Carswell                Mr. Rudolph Roschman
Mr. Randolph W. Childs           Mr. Jacob Schoenberger
Mr. Walter C. Childs                Mr. Anton Sellner
Mr. Harvey L. Lechner           Mr. Paul Synnestvedt
Mr. S. S. Lindsay                    Mr. Seymour G. Nelson

703




     THE CLERGY.

     Bishop.

     PENDLETON, NATHANIEL DANDRIDGE. Ordained June 16, 1889; 2d Degree, March 2, 1891; 3d Degree, November 17, 1912. Bishop of the General Church. Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. President of the Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     Bishop Emeritus.

     PENDLETON, WILLIAM FREDERIC. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, September 3d, 1873; 3d Degree, May 9th, 1888. Professor of Theology, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     Pastors.

     ACTON, ALFRED. Ordained, June 4, 1893; 2d Degree, January 10, 1897. Pastor of the Societies in New York and Washington. Dean of the Theological School, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     ALDEN, KARL RICHARDSON. Ordained, June 19, 1917; 2d Degree, October 12, 1919. Pastor of the Olivet Church, Toronto, Canada. Address: 14 Tyndall Avenue.

     ALDEN, WILLIAM HYDE. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, May 30, 1886. Secretary and Treasurer of the General Church. Manager of the Academy Book Room, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     BAECKSTROM, GUSTAF. Ordained, June 6, 1915; 2d Degree, June 27, 1920. Pastor of the Society in Stockholm, Sweden. Address: Grefgatan, 57.

     BJORCK, ALBERT. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, August 17, 1890. Address: 107 Shakespeare Ave., Bath, England.

     BOWERS, JOHN EBY. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, May 11, 1873 General Missionary, 37 Lowther Ave., Toronto, Canada.

     BRICKMAN, WALTER EDWARD. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, January 7, 1900. Address: 419 Evaline St., Pittsburgh, Pa.

     BROWN, REGINALD WILLIAM. Ordained, October 21, 1900; 2d Degree, October 12, 1919. Professor and Librarian, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     CALDWELL, WILLIAM BEEBE. Ordained, October 19, 1902; 2d Degree, October 23, 1904. Professor of Theology, Academy of the New Church. Editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

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     CRONLUND, EMIL ROBERT. Ordained, December 31, 1899; 2d Degree, May 18, 1902. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     DAVID, JOSEPH STEVENS. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, April 6, 1882. Acting Pastor of the Society in Denver, Colorado. Address: 543 Delaware Street.

     DAVID, LLEWELLYN W. THOMPSON. Ordained, June 28, 1914; 2d Degree, June 19, 1916. Pastor of the Carmel Church, 820 King Street West, Kitchener, Ont., Canada.

     DE CHARMS, GEORGE. Ordained, June 28, 1914; 2d Degree, June 19, 1916. Assistant Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     DELTENRE, ERNST. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, May 26, 1912. Missionary in Belgium. Editor of LA NOUVELLE JERUSALEM. Address: Villa "At Home," Route de Rosieres, 27, La Hulpe-les Brussels, Belgium.

     DOERING, CHARLES EMIL. Ordained, June 7, 1896; 2d Degree, January 29, 1899. Dean of Faculties, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     GLADISH, WILLIS LENDSAY. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, June 3, 1894. Acting Pastor of Sharon Church, Chicago, Ill. Address: 336 N. Waller Ave.

     GYLLENHAAL, FREDERICK EDMUND. Ordained, June 23, 1907; 2d Degree, June 19, 1910. Pastor of the Societies in London (Peckham Rye) and Colchester, England. Address: 75, Turney Road, Dulwich, S. E. 21, London, England.

     HARRIS, THOMAS STARK. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, April 8, 1897. Pastor of the Society in Arbutus, Maryland; Visiting Pastor of the Abington, Mass., and Meriden, Conn., Circles. Address: Halethorpe P. O., Maryland.

     HEADSTEN, JOHN. Ordained, June 19, 1913; 2d Degree, June 28, 1914. Pastor of the Swedenborg New Church Society, Chicago, Ill. Address: 3749 Janssen Avenue.

     HUSSENET, FERNAND. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, October 10, 1909. Pastor of the Society in Paris, 84 Avenue de Breteuil. Address: 31 Rue Henri Regnault, St. Cloud, Seine et Oise, France.

     IUNGERICH, ELDRED EDWARD. Ordained, June 13, 1909; 2d degree, May 26, 1922. Dean of the College and Professor of Theology, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pa.

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     KLEIN, DAVID HAROLD. Ordained, June 26, 1898; 2d Degree, October 27, 1992. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     MORSE, RICHARD. Ordained, 1st and 2d Degrees, October 12, 1919. Pastor of the Society in Sydney. Address: 134 Regent St., Redfern, Sydney, N. S. W., Australia.

     ODHNER, HUGO LJUNGBERG. Ordained, June 23, 1914; 2d Degree, June 24, 1917. Pastor of the Society in Durban, Natal, South Africa. Address: Syringa Ave.

     OTTLEY, GLENDOWER COGHILL. Ordained, July 23, 1893; 2d Degree, October 21, 1894. Address: 22 Oakley Ave., Ealing, W 5, London, England.

     PFEIFFER, ERNST. Ordained, June to, 1929; 2d Degree, May 1, 1921. Pastor of the Society at The Hague, Holland. Address: Leuvensche Straat 31, Scheveningen, Holland.

     PITCAIRN,THEODORE. Ordained, June 19, 1917; 2d Degree, October 12, 1919. Address: Maseru, Basutoland, South Africa.

     PRICE, ENOCH SPRADLING. Ordained, June 10, 1888; 2d Degree, June 19, 1891, Professor, Academy of the New Church. Pastor of the Society in Allentown, Pa. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     ROSENQVIST, JOSEPH ELIAS. Ordained, June 19, 1891; 2d Degree, June 23, 1895. Address: Huntingdon Valley, Pa.

     SMITH, GILBERT HAVEN. Ordained, June 25, 1911; 2d Degree, June 19, 1913. Pastor of the Immanuel Church, Glenview, Ill.

     STARKEY, GEORGE GODDARD. Ordained, June 3, 1894; 2d Degree, October 19, 1902. Address: Glenview, Ill.

     SYNNESTVEDT, HOMER. Ordained, June 19, 1891; 2d Degree, January 13, 1895. Pastor of the Pittsburgh Society. Address: 4924 Centre Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa.

     TILSON, ROBERT JAMES. Ordained, 2d Degree, June 19, 1892. Pastor of the Michael Society, Burton Road, Brixton. Address: 71 Templar Street, Camberwell, London, S. E.

     WAELCHLI, FRED. EDWIN. Ordained, June 10, 1888; 2d Degree, June 19, 1891. Visiting Pastor, General Church. Address: 252 Ehrman Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio.

     Pastors, Pending Ordination.

     BRAGA, CARLOS FREDERICO DE OLIVEIRA. Authorized, July 27, 1921. Address: 25 rua Sachet, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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     LEONARDOS, HENRY. Authorized, May 2, 1921. Address: 25 rua Sachet, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

     LIMA, JOAO DE MENDONCA. Authorized, May 2, 1921. Address: 25 rua Sachet, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

     Authorized Candidates.

     CRANCH, RAYMOND G. Acting Leader of the Advent Society, Philadelphia, Pa. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     Authorized Lecturers.

     ROSE, FRANK HODSON. Authorized, June 1, 1921-1922. Address: Bryn Athyn, Pa.

     Ministers in Basutoland.

     MOPOKENG, SAMUEL MABINA. Ordained, April 14, 1919.

     NYAPEDI, EPAINETUS LEKHABU. Ordained, April 14, 1919.
EIGHTEENTH CHICAGO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1921

EIGHTEENTH CHICAGO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY       G. A. MCQUEEN       1921

     GLENVIEW, ILL., OCTOBER 21-23, 1921.

     Once again our District Assembly has come and gone, leaving behind a feeling of gratitude that our Church provides for these annual spiritual revivals. Although the meetings only extend over a short period, they perform the great use of increasing our love for the things of the Lord's New Church.

     Owing to our Bishop's absence in Europe, the Rev. C. E. Doering came as his representative to preside over the Assembly. The presence of one so conversant with the educational work of the church was greatly appreciated, and his clear-cut statements on points of doctrine which came up during the discussions were very useful.

     The opening banquet on Friday evening, Oct. 21st, took on a somewhat different form than usual. Several toasts were honored after our Pastor had pronounced a blessing over the wine; and then followed speeches of welcome to Mr. Doering from the Rev. G. H. Smith, the Rev. John Headsten, the Rev. W. L. Gladish and Mr. John Forrest, the last named dealing chiefly with the value of assemblies.

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Mr. Doering replied by saying: "I feel somewhat overcome by the heartiness of the welcome given me, but I felt quite at home as soon as I arrived in Glenview, and the reason is that there is the same sphere here that me have in Bryn Athyn." Referring to Mr. Forrest's address, he spoke of the use of our thinking together on spiritual things, and said that if we can keep our thoughts elevated to that plane, heaven will be present, and the Lord will bless the Assembly.

     After a short recess, the Assembly proper opened with worship in the church, at the conclusion of which the congregation proceeded to the parish hall to listen to Mr. Doering's address, which was on "Obedience," and presented the subject in a clear and simple manner. The idea was emphasized that the Commandments were given to be obeyed, and that children must be taught to obey parents and teachers, if they are to be able to keep the Lord's Commandments in later life. The following is a summary of the remarks made upon the paper:

     DISCUSSION.

     Rev. W. L. Gladish: Obedience is important, both for the heavenly life and for a successful life in this world. Without it, there is no orderly life. We see what contempt there is for it in the world around us, and from our own states. We know there can be no New Church, nor even any civilization without it. There are different kinds of fear, and we all have to start obeying from fear of punishment. Our attitude as instructors of children, in getting them to obey, must be to impress them that we are fair in our punishments.

     Rev. G. H. Smith: "One of the characteristics of present-day education is the effort to teach in the spirit of play. This was not so in the early days. Then they went to school to learn definite things, and afterwards to enjoy their play. One of the greatest lacks at the present day is the lack of obedience. This tendency will increase in each generation. It is one of the things that become more conspicuous at the end of every Church. This is shown in the internal teaching in the story of Joseph, giving the meaning of the dreams of the Butler and Baker. We have at the present day much development on the intellectual side, but with those things which appeal to the will there is a growth in the wrong direction. Our work in the New Church schools should be to cultivate the delight of obedience, and I think that can not be done if we overemphasize the spirit of play. We have to insist that the child put forth some effort of its own. Nothing belongs to the spiritual man which he has not compelled himself to do, and if we do not begin with the children, and teach them that going to school is their business in life, they will never come to that state where they can compel themselves."

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     Mr. H. L. Burnham: "We presume that all want to obey, and if we know how to obey ourselves, it will be the solution of the matter. We all have to compel ourselves almost mechanically to bring about a dissolution of old states. This effects a change even in the physical body, which enables us to obey.

     Mr. S. G. Nelson: "One interesting phase of the paper was the treatment of the delight of obedience, and the conclusion that without delight in it there is no real obedience.

     Mr. A. E. Nelson: "Can a child come into the delight of obedience?"

     Mr. W. H. Junge: "We should have a certain amount of tolerance, and a willingness to acknowledge that we may be at fault."

     Mr. Felix Junge: "Children start with a kind of blind obedience, and afterwards come to see the truth."

     Dr. Harvey Farrington: "The term 'Young America' has become synonymous with disobedience. Men of the world know that obedience is essential. By means of the truths revealed, we can trace things from the spiritual into the physical, and know the reason why things happen. Obedience is from fear, but, as has been pointed out, there are two kinds of fear,-one from self compulsion, the other from fear of doing harm to those we love."

     Saturday Evening.

     Reports from the Pastors were read.

     The Rev. John Headsten told of the work being done in the Swedenborg New Church Society. Although small in numbers, they were enjoying the worship of the church and the regular doctrinal classes, besides conducting a small Sunday School. The Rev. W. L. Gladish then gave a very encouraging report of the work of the Sharon Church during the past year.

     The Rev. G. H. Smith, after giving some statistics of the progress of the Immanuel Church during the past ten years, expressed the hope that they would continue to grow, not only externally, but also spiritually. He hoped the school would improve, and looked forward to more thorough instruction in the Letter of the Word. He thought the Church should put more into the hands of the young people, so that they will be ready to carry on what is done by the older members who are passing on to the spiritual world. He would like to see the young present something at the assemblies and other meetings, something that everybody would be interested in. Since they are old enough to be working to shape their own fortunes, they should be able to become active in the church. He believed there were many books of the New Church not familiar to its members, which should be taken up, as, for instance, the Conversations on Education.

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When we read such a book, we are struck with the precision and clearness of the teaching given. Swedenborg's philosophical works should also be more familiar to our members. He believed it possible to teach the Principia to the children.

     Rev. C. E. Doering: "I would like to add the thought that the motto of the New Church is 'Nunc Licet ' 'Now it is permitted to enter intellectually into the arcana of faith.' A new revival is before us in the study of the philosophical works. We must remember that the mind which wrote the theological works was the same mind that produced the scientific and philosophical works. If we would enter intellectually into the mysteries of faith, our minds must be filled with philosophical truth, in order that we may have a plane into which we can receive these things."

     The Rev. W. L. Gladish then read a paper on "Teaching the Letter of the Word," which was followed by a paper from Dr. J. B. S. King on "Psychology."

     Mr. Gladish brought out very strongly the reasons why the Letter of the Word should be the basis of all education. The Rev. John Headsten, speaking to the subject, told of extraordinary instances he had known of the ignorance which exists at the Present day with regard to the Word.

     Dr. G. G. Starkey said: "The whole secret of life is found in the directing of men's minds away from self to use. If we can succeed in our work with the children, in making those impressions which favor the inversion of the natural tendency to absorb all faculties to itself, we shall be entitled to be called 'good and faithful servants.'"

     At this stage of the meeting, Mr. Doering was asked to tell about the work of the General Church in other countries. He responded by giving a very interesting account of the movements in Africa and Brazil.

     Sunday, October 23rd.

     Divine Worship was held in the Immanuel Church, the sermon being preached by Rev. C. E. Doering, who was assisted in the service by the Revs. G. H. Smith, J. Headsten, W. L. Gladish and G. G. Starkey. In the afternoon, the Holy Supper was administered to nearly one hundred communicants.

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     Tuesday, October 25th.

     At the invitation of our Sharon Church friends, a Men's Meeting was held at the church rooms in Center St., Chicago. After a very enjoyable supper, the Rev. W. L. Gladish spoke some hearty words of welcome to Mr. Doering, and proposed the toast to "The Church." This was responded to by the singing of "Our Glorious Church" and "Our Own Academy." Mr. Gladish, having announced the subject for consideration to be "The Three Universal Loves" referred to in Conjugial Love 261, gave a very full summary of the contents of that number. A very interesting discussion followed, Mr. Doering being the first speaker.

     He said: "I am much interested in the summary just given from Conjugial Love. The teaching falls in line with a similar set of passages in the True Christian Religion, where it speaks of three universal loves as being the love of the Lord, love of the world, and the love of self, which loves, if rightly subordinated, constitute the perfect man, but if not rightly subordinated, invert and pervert man. In the Lord there is the union of Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, and they proceed from Him in the endeavor to represent themselves in everything in creation. He desires to give of Himself to others, and at the same time the appearance that man lives from himself. Another interesting thing is that these loves are given to man at birth, and have been from eternity. If they are given to man, they must be good, because God created good. They have become evil from man. The love of self is a good thing with an individual, if it is guided by love to the Lord. It is a corporeal love with which we are born, but it is neither good nor evil with the infant. It is perfectly right for a man to love himself, that he may perform uses and look to the Lord. But when he looks to himself, it is an evil love, because everything is then centered in him. We are born to an image of the Lord, who gives all the time. When this love is directed to the individual himself, it becomes evil, but when to society it becomes good. It was the abuse of the love of self which caused the fall.

     Rev. G. H. Smith: "In the three memorable relations under consideration, there is another set of universal loves referred to, and Mr. Doering has referred to still another set. I believe these variations throw light, one upon the other. Conjugial love is described by the palace seen by Swedenborg, from which we learn that, according as the spiritual mind is opened, we have those loves in that degree."

     Mr. G. A. McQueen: "This meeting provides me with an opportunity to introduce an idea on the subject of conjugial love which I have had in mind for some time. A New Churchman asked me whether there was not a tendency to treat this subject of conjugial love too lightly. He questioned whether the true idea was always in mind when the subject was discussed, and suggested that the thought was too frequently directed to the external loves of married pairs, thereby obscuring the very internal and holy thing which the Writings describe conjugial love to be.

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With this question in mind, I read the numbers which we are considering to-night, to find, if possible, a definition of conjugial love. What I found certainly supports the suggestions I have referred to. We read that Swedenborg was filled with a desire to know in what region of the human mind love truly conjugial resides, and thence in what region conjugial cold resides. He sees the magnificent palace of three stories, which he is informed represents the habitations of conjugial love such as it is in the heavens. 'The highest part, the highest degree of the mind, where conjugial love dwells in the love of good, with its wisdom. . . . The middle part, the middle region of the mind, where conjugial love dwells in the love of truth, with its intelligence; and the lowest part, where conjugial love dwells in the love of what is just and right, with its knowledge.' Now, from all of this quotation, we see that it is the mind, and not the body, which is the seat of conjugial love; that the real idea is that of a union on every plane of life, beginning with the only conjugial which is the perfect oneness of Love and Wisdom in the Lord. So when we drink to conjugial love, we of the church should raise our thoughts to the spiritual idea of conjugial love, knowing that if we do this, the question of the ultimate acts of marriage will take care of itself. We may in the future add to our list of toasts: "Conjugial love in the love of what is just and right."

     Mr. Theodore Farrington asked what was to be understood by the insanities mentioned in the memorable relations.

     Rev. J. Headsten: "While we are able in this world to subjugate our external actions and speech, even while entertaining the horrible evils referred to in the numbers read, if we continue in that state, and so pass into the other world, we shall certainly be spiritually insane. It appears that only in the New Church is it taught that the love of self is useful. However, when we look out for number one, we must look from the east, that is, from the Lord."

     Mr. A. E. Nelson: "I was interested in the question as to the descriptions given of the insane in the other world. The question often comes up as to the use of the horrible descriptions given in the Writings."

     Rev. C. C. Starkey: "It will clarify the subject somewhat if we exclude all those insanities which are due to physical injuries. We are talking about insanity which begins in the spirit, resulting from the separation of those two things which God has joined together, viz., good and truth. The Infinite Truth descending from God into the interiors of men's minds makes the essential human, the essential mind; and when the male and female receive that Divine gift of light, which contains infinite heat, we have conjugial love and true marriage. Then we have a picture of the marriage of the Lord and His Church. But if a man turns away to the gratification of impure and earthly loves, then there is the ad alter-to another. There adultery begins, and there insanity begins."

     Dr. Harvey Farrington: "One who has visited asylums for the insane cannot but feel that the things to be seen there are a counterpart of spiritual insanity, and that it comes from the influx of the devils in the other life.

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'The memorable relations are given to us as a warning, so that we may protect ourselves. It is shown that impure sexual loves are intermingled with all other loves. This is seen in the outward appearances of the evil in the world of spirits. Fortunately, we are given means whereby we may come out of the evil love, and regenerate that love into a good love. If we have the church at heart, and do everything we can to keep within the bonds of the church, we will be saved from the evil spheres which surround us."

     Mr. H. L. Burnham: "The real object of these meetings is to strengthen each other in the regenerate life. One of the loves mentioned was love of the Lord. Love is not complete unless it is returned. The Lord is Infinite Love. He has guarded mankind, in order that they may love Him. He has guarded men with the appearance that they love from themselves. It is due that He should be loved for all that He has done; but if we realized this truth constantly, we would be in an abject state of adoration, and this would not be good. He gives us loves of self and the world, in order that we may turn away from this abject love. The great need it that we should shun evils as sins against God. If we had not fallen, we should see that evils are contrary to the Lord, and that they hurt Him. Every Assembly has brought new light on truths given us. The truth of obedience has brought the new idea that, where we make resistance against evil, and keep on, we do not accomplish much as first, but, if we persevere, certain obstacles can be removed, and this will enable the angels to come nearer, not only to our spirits, but even to affect us on the physical plane."

     Dr. Marelius: "I think the Writings refer chiefly to spiritual insanity, which may ultimate itself in physical insanity in the course of time. If we want to define insanity, it might be expressed in a few words as 'any departure from Divine Order.' The laws of order are very definite. If we conform to wise rules of order, we are sane. If we depart from them, we are insane. Insanity is a departure from the Divine Law. We see in the memorable relations what is possible to us if we do not follow Divine laws laid down for our guidance and happiness both here and hereafter."

     Dr. Bergman: "I wish to express my pleasure in being here to-night as visitor, and the enjoyment I have experienced in listening to the discussion of the subject before us. Mr. Smith has brought something to my mind I had never seen before, namely, that by real cooperation, in the highest sense, we can come to a state in which we can receive these three universal loves from the Lord. We know the Lord is always willing to give us everything, but we must acknowledge our own imperfections and open our hearts to receive."

     Rev. C. E. Doering: "I agree with Mr. Burnham that the horrible descriptions in the Relations are descriptions of what we are, or will be, unless we let the universal love of love to the Lord rule in us. The Lord has given us a picture of what we actually are, and we need to see it, in order to get out of it. I also very much appreciated the remarks of Mr. McQueen.

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I think he is quite right in his thought that we do not always get the proper idea in our minds when we speak of conjugial love. I am reminded of the Lord's reply to the Sadducees, 'In heaven they neither marry, nor are given in marriage'. In our language, it would be expressed: 'There is no such marriage as you have in mind; there is not a carnal marriage, in the sense you have here, in heaven; but they are as the angels'. All through the Gospels and the Book of Revelation, you will find heaven compared to a marriage, but always spiritually, and to a spiritual union. I feel that we have need to elevate our minds to the spiritual side. Then we are as the angels."

     Mr. Benj. McQueen: "I just take this opportunity to thank Mr. Doering for his last few words. I have heard that text explained before, but never so clearly and powerfully. I mean the words, 'There are not marriages such as you are thinking about.'"

     Mr. John Forrest: "There are beautiful pictures given of the other life, as well as those of an opposite character delineated in the memorable relations, but they are impersonal. The husband and wife are presented to convey the teaching concerning a union of the truly masculine and feminine. It was the work on Conjugial Love which convinced my father of the authenticity of the Writings. We have had a very successful Assembly, and the paper on 'Obedience,' by our distinguished guest from Bryn Athyn, has been very helpful. I thought it especially interesting in bringing out the point that hearing is of higher importance than seeing, because it is of a celestial quality."

     After a few other points had been discussed, this very successful meeting came to an end. It may be added that the evening was enlivened by the introduction of several songs of a more or less personal quality, which must be heard to be appreciated. We could not do them justice in print.
     G. A. MCQUEEN.

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Church News 1921

Church News       Various       1921

     BRYN ATHYN.-On October 23d, after a brief illness, the Rev. Richard de Charms passed into the spiritual world. He had enjoyed good health for many years, and his labors of love in teaching the Word to the children of the elementary grades continued until within a few days of his death. The funeral service in the Academy Chapel was conducted by the Rev. Alfred Acton, who delivered a most fitting address on the text, "They shall rest from their labors, and their works do follow with them." At the interment, children sang the Hebrew anthem, "Shaaloo Shelom," after which all present placed flowers upon the grave, and the benediction was then pronounced. A biographical account of the life and works of Mr. de Charms will appear shortly in our pages.

     At a recent meeting of the Woman's Guild, the need of accommodations for transient visitors was discussed. One room is reserved for this purpose at The Inn, but there is often a demand for several rooms for a few days, as in the case of parents who wish to come to Bryn Athyn with a view to placing their children in the schools, or to visit during the school year, while their sons or daughters are residing at the dormitories. It was arranged, therefore, that the Hospitality Committee of the Guild should take up the matter, and list the rooms that are made temporarily available by courtesy of the householders, and which can, on application, be placed at the disposal of visitors at the same rates as rooms at The Inn.

     The program of this year's Charter Day Celebration included events on that day, November 3d, and on the two days following. It was, accordingly, a more elaborate observance of this important date in our annals than any of the previous commemorations since the custom was inaugurated in 1917. The opening service on Thursday at 11 a.m. was held in the Cathedral, to which the Academy officials, students, and graduates marched in procession from the school buildings on the campus. Led by the little ones of the first grade, the stately line filled the intervening distance. The student body and the ex-students of many past years carried their class banners and sang appropriate songs as they went. Lastly came the Members of the Faculty, the Board of Directors, the Consistory, the Bishop, and the Bishop Emeritus, all suitably robed, and the clergy wearing birettas made especially for this occasion, those for the Bishops being red, the others dark blue. The service was conducted by the Bishop, assisted by the Rev. C. E. Doering, who read the lessons; and the address was delivered by the Bishop Emeritus, his subject being "The Founding of the Academy," in which he spoke of the vision of the Lord in the Writings that was vouchsafed the founders of the Academy, as the real beginning of the movement. The recitation of the Ten Commandments in Hebrew, and the singing of a chant and anthem in the same language, were features of the worship. The congregation, consisting almost entirely of the students and graduates of the Academy, filled most of the pews, while the members of the Faculty and Board of Directors occupied choir seats in the first chancel.

     On Thursday evening, the Alumni Association tendered a banquet to the members of the Faculty, their wives, and other guests. The tables were gay with chrysanthemums, the menu delicious, and the eloquence brilliant, weighty and long continued. The dominating note, sounded by Mr. Geoffrey Childs, as toastmaster, was: "What Can I Do For the Academy Schools?"

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Various phases of this theme were dealt with by the speakers,-Bishop W. F. Pendleton, the Revs. George de Charms and Enoch S. Price, Messrs. R. W. Childs and Hubert Hyatt, in the order named, with a general discussion prolonging the proceedings until midnight.

     Friday afternoon contributed its full share of enthusiasm when the Academy football team registered a victory over its favorite annual opponents at Radnor, Pa., a triumph especially gratifying after five years' fruitless efforts. The same evening witnessed another gathering in the auditorium, this time the regular Friday Supper, but given under the auspices of Theta Alpha and The Sons of the Academy, with many a song and sparkling speech. For a description of this occasion, we must refer our readers to The Bulletin.

     As the closing event of the Charter Day program, Saturday evening found a crowded assemblage at the President's Reception in the auditorium, with an animated social time and dancing until midnight.

     Armistice Day, with its mingled emotions of solemnity and joy, was observed by a general holiday. In the morning, a tablet bearing the names of the six soldiers and sailors of the General Church who gave their lives in the Great War was unveiled, as described on another page; in the evening, a military ball, given under the auspices of the Civic and Social Club brought together throng of dancers that included many of our ex-service men and women.

     After the Friday Supper on November 18th, the Rev. R. W. Brown gave us a most interesting account of his sojourn in Basutoland, with a description of the activities there which showed, among other things, that he had accomplished much of permanent value during his stay, not only by his priestly ministrations and instruction, but in organizing and systematizing the work. The Basutos are especially fond of religious ceremonies, and are now in possession of Sesuto versions of several of the Offices of our Liturgy, thanks to Mr. Brown's translations.
     W. B. C.

     COLCHESTER, ENG.-On September 25th, we had the pleasure of a visit from the Bishop, who conducted Divine Worship on Sunday, assisted by our Pastor, and preached on the text, Matthew 5: 23, 24, concerning "The Gift on the Altar, a Symbol of Forgiveness." It was a wonderful presentation of the subject of giving, the central idea being that, without sacrifice on the part of man, nothing of real value is received. The congregation numbered 42.

     On the following evening a reception was tendered the Bishop, Miss Ora Pendleton, and Miss Doris Glenn, at the Studio, which was kindly placed at our disposal by Mrs. Gill. Other visitors were: Mr. Ernest Stebbing, of Washington, D. C., Mrs. Stebbing, Senior, and Mr. and Mrs. Archie Stebbing, of London, who were with us over the week end. The Rev. R. J. Tilson and Mr. and Mrs. Denny also arrived unexpectedly, making the gathering quite a representative one. Our social committee provided an excellent program, with Mr. N. Motum as master of ceremonies. Songs and instrumental items were contributed by the Misses Gill, W. Everett, B. Motum, and Mrs. N. Motum, and by Messrs. Archie Stebbing, Potter and Wainscott. Several dances were enjoyed by the young people. At an interval for refreshments, our Pastor, as toastmaster, proposed "The Church," responded to by Mr. Potter, and "The Visitors," in response to which Mr. Ernest Stebbing said that it was a great pleasure to visit Colchester after so long an absence, to find so many of the old faces, as well as an even greater number who had taken their places in the ranks of the society, and to recognize the sphere of what he called the "Colchester spirit," which he believed would remain and increase. The Bishop, in responding to "The Academy," said that every society has its distinctive quality or spirit. The Academy spirit is the love of the salvation of the Church primarily, and of education secondarily. Not only Father Benade, but also the Revs. N. C. Burnham and J. P. Stuart, as well as others before them, such as the Rev. Richard de Charms, had a perception that the Church was failing, and that its downfall was threatened.

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They saw that an affirmative attitude toward the Writings could alone save the Church; and so they emphasized the truth that there was life in the positive attitude, but the seed of death in the negative. The attitude towards the Writings as of Divine Authority was essential to the life of the Church.

     The sphere of the whole meeting was most enjoyable, bringing happiness and delight to all. In conclusion, hands were joined as all sang "Auld Lang Syne" and "Our Alma Mater" to the original tune.

     Our society has long felt the need of a more suitable building for church uses, and it may be of interest to readers of the Life to hear of the starting and progress of a building fund for this purpose. On January 4, 1920, a hearty vote of thanks was tendered Miss Gill as collector of the piano fund, with the suggestion, unanimously agreed upon, that the balance of 5 shillings be divided between the two collectors as a first contribution to a building fund. On February 28, 1921, at a special meeting, our Pastor stated that we were financially in a position to purchase the land for a church building, and it was agreed, after discussion, that we proceed with the undertaking. The latest meeting was held on September 25, 1921, with the Bishop presiding. Our treasurer, Mr. Everett, stated that we now had from on hand, with an additional ?90 promised by 9 members, making a total of ?140 available for the purchase of a site. During the meeting, our Pastor announced that a member had generously made an additional donation of ?50, bringing the total to nearly L300.
     F. R. COOPER.

     KITCHENER, ONT.-The Rev. K. R. Alden conducted our worship and preached on October 9th, in the absence of our Pastor, who was rendering a like service to the Toronto Society. This exchange of pulpits will take place four times a year, and the custom affords us a fine opportunity to become acquainted with Mr. Alden. In the afternoon of the above-mentioned date, he and Mrs. Alden assisted some of our local artists at a musicale held in the chapel. Mr. Wilson, of Toronto, also sang a number of solos; and these, with the numbers by Mr. and Mrs. Alden, were much appreciated, and added greatly to the enjoyment of the varied program.

     This month we again have the pleasure of reporting the celebration of a marriage in our society, that of Mr. Alfred Hasen to Miss Beata Roschman, which was solemnized in the chapel in the presence of the whole society. A number of friends and visitors from outside the Church also attended, and expressed themselves as being greatly impressed with the sphere of reverence which prevailed in the church, and with the beauty of the ceremony, to which the ten little children in the wedding procession added not a little. A reception followed in the school room, with a brief program of toasts and speeches, after which the evening was given over to dancing.

     On Hallowe'en, the teachers of the Sunday School and day school gave a supper party for the children, many of whom wore fancy dress. The school room was decorated with autumn leaves and cornstalks, and many gay-colored balloons hung suspended from the ceiling. In all, about forty sat down to the table, which was decorated with very attractive Hallowe'en novelties, and partook of the goodies that had been prepared. After supper, a program of games was much enjoyed by the children.

     The Canadian Thanksgiving Day falling on Monday, November 7th, two special services were held the day previous,-a children's service, and one for the adults. The main feature of the former was the offering of fruits and vegetables, which the Pastor received at the altar on a large silver tray. In his address, the Pastor pointed out to the children that the pleasure they feel in doing little services for their parents and playmates is a blessing from the Lord,-the joy of performing uses.

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     On Thanksgiving Day, a supper and social was held in the school room. Mr. Jacob Stroh delivered a short address after supper, and a program of games, songs, and dances concluded the entertainment.
     R. R.

     PENETANGUISHENE, ONT.-We have recently had the pleasure of a visit from the Rev. Karl R. Alden, of Toronto, who arrived on Wednesday, October 26th, and in the evening gave us an excellent sermon and administered the Holy Supper. There were five adults present, all of whom received the sacrament; and, in addition, there were eight children, including two babies.

     The next evening we had another good sermon, and two children were baptized. On Friday, we had a doctrinal class, when "The Trinity" was the principal theme. At the last two meetings, there were six adults and eight children present. There were also meetings especially for the children, very instructive, with music and singing, which they greatly enjoyed.

     Mr. Alden preaches entirely without notes, and he has a very winning way with children, so that I was surprised at the close attention that was paid to his discourses by children from nine to twelve years of age. I must not omit to mention that he brought his violin with him, and that he paid three visits to the Protestant Separate School. He was heartily welcomed by the teachers, and I am sure he will be long remembered by the numerous children in attendance.
     WILLIAM EVENS.

     TORONTO, ONT.-It may be of interest to note that the senior class of last year's Sunday School is now having weekly classes for the study of the "Doctrine of the Word," these being held every Sunday evening from 1:00 to 7:45 o'clock. At the present writing, we are considering the Rev. C. T. Odhner's Testimony of the Writings. The classes have been well attended, the average being twelve, but we miss the two who have gone to Bryn Athyn to school.

     Numerous parties were held on Hallowe'en. The young people had a dance; the primary grade of the Sunday School was given a party at the home of Mrs. Ray Brown; the next older class was entertained by Miss Vera Craigie, while the two classes still older were given a party by the Superintendent and the Pastor. The feature of the last mentioned was the "after-dinner" speech making by the four lads of twelve who were there assembled, each responding to his toast in manly fashion, while the ring of "Our Own Academy" had all the enthusiasm of an adult banquet.

     The Ladies' Meetings are to follow a slightly different plan this year. Instead of meeting biweekly, they will be placed on a monthly basis, and the Pastor will conduct a class for three quarters of an hour at each meeting, treating of the "History of the New Church," beginning with an account of Swedenborg's life and a study of the nature of his illumination.

     Another innovation this year is the "Children's Hour" every week at the church, conducted by the Pastor, assisted by Mrs. Ray Brown and Miss Gretchen Pecker. The children come to the church on their way home from school. The first period is devoted to singing practice and memory passages from the letter of the Word; then a recess, with light refreshments, followed by lantern slides, by means of which we are now taking a trip across Canada. The children are allowed to bring their playmates to this function, and we are finding that the musical practice helps materially with the singing on Sundays.

     On Monday, November 7th, the Canadian Thanksgiving Day, we had a unique celebration, the whole day being set apart as a work-day to complete the building improvements. At 8:00 a.m., twenty men were at the church to start work, and before long the number had swelled to 17. They were divided into three gangs, one looking after the grounds and the external of the building, another the chapel, and a third the school room.

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At noon, the ladies and many children arrived in force, bearing sandwiches, pies, cakes, soup, bread and butter, coffee and cookies. The long tables were made ready and the men sat down in their working clothes. At mention of the names of Mr. Potts and Mr. Izzard, a long cheer went up, and they were called upon for speeches. After that, "Our Own Academy" was sung in real earnest, and there were three resounding cheers for the ladies. Then, when the men had eaten, the tables were cleared and reset, and the ladies partook of their first meal in the new building. The men continued the work all afternoon, and when the day was done, an almost unbelievable transformation had been wrought about the place. It has been estimated that they completed work that would have taken one hired man 240 hours to accomplish. And all went home feeling that they had spent one of the most delightful Thanksgiving Days of their lives.
     K. R. A.

     CINCINNATI, OHIO.-Our new season opened Sunday, October 23d, somewhat later than usual, owing to the Pastor's extended trip to the Canadian West and the Pacific Coast. On Thursday, the 27th, the Rev. C. E. Doering arrived, and, as the Bishop's Representative, conducted a Local Assembly. On Friday evening, he delivered a most interesting address on "Obedience," which called forth a general discussion of the important principles presented. On Saturday evening, a men's meeting was held at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Colon Schott. On Sunday morning, Mr. Doering addressed our Sunday School, telling of the Bryn Athyn Schools, and of the pageant now in course of preparation. Afterwards, he conducted services, and administered the Holy Supper. On this occasion, there was an attendance of 19. In the evening, there was a meeting at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Merrell, at which Mr. Doering gave a very enjoyable talk on the work of the Academy Schools, causing us to realize, more fully than ever before, how great are the uses they are performing. This was followed by a delightful social time. On three of the days of the visit, the men met for luncheon downtown, and on these occasions various topics relating to the life of the church were the subjects of conversation. The Assembly was in every way a success, and of great benefit to all.
     F. E. W.

      REPORT OF THE VISITING PASTOR.-The fall trip to MIDDLEPORT, OHIO, was made November 12th to 16th. On Sunday, the 13th, services were held in the morning, with an attendance of fourteen, and doctrinal class in the evening. At each visit, one or more evenings are devoted to the consideration of the principles of education; and this time, on Monday evening, our subject was the need of educating both the will and the understanding, or both the affections and the thoughts, So that there may thus be a preparation for the marriage of freedom and reason, wherein consists the completeness of human life. On Wednesday afternoon, the children were given instruction. In the evening, there was men's meeting, at which we discussed the doctrine concerning simulations, and the distinction between those that are good, because useful, and those that are evil, and hypocritical. (C. L. 277.) Another doctrinal class was held on Wednesday evening.
     F. E. WAELCHLI.

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SPECIAL NOTICE 1921

SPECIAL NOTICE       Rev. GEORGE DE CHARMS       1921




     Announcements.



     The Philadelphia District Assembly will meet at Bryn Athyn, Pa., February 4th to 6th, 1922, during the Annual Council Meetings of the General Church. Members and friends are cordially invited to attend the Assembly, and those who expect to do so are requested to notify Miss Freda Pendleton, Bryn Athyn, Pa., in order that provision may be made for their entertainment.
     REV. GEORGE DE CHARMS,
          Secretary.
ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1921

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS              1921

     BRYN ATHYN, PA., JANUARY 31ST TO FEBRUARY 6TH, 1922.

Tuesday, January 31st.-Consistory, 10:30 a.m. 3:00 p.m.
Wednesday, February 1st.-Council of the Clergy. 10:00 a.m. 3 p.m.
Thursday, 2d.-Council of the Clergy. 10:00 a.m. 3 p.m.
Friday, 3d.-Council of the Clergy. 10:00 a.m. and 3 p.m.
     Executive Committee. 3 p.m.
     Public Session of the Council of the Clergy. 8 p.m. Annual Address by the Rev. Alfred Acton. Subject "The Nature of Man and Woman."
Saturday, 4th.-Joint Council. 10:00 a.m.
     Philadelphia District Assembly. 8 p.m. Address by the Bishop.
Sunday, 5th.-Special Service. Holy Supper. 11 a.m.
     Musical Service. 8 p.m.
Monday, February 6th.-General Church Anniversary, 1897-1922.
     Council of the Clergy. 10:00 a.m. 3 p.m.
     Philadelphia District Assembly. Banquet in Celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. 6:30 p.m.