m ■ ■ I < ^H The New Church: ITS NATURE AND WHEREABOUT. BEING A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE POPULAR THEORY, WITH SOME ILL USTRA TIONS OF ITS PRACTICAL TENDENCY AND LEGITIMATE FRUITS. BY B. F. BARRETT. 1/61 f-- PHILADELPHIA: CLAXTON, KEMSEN & HAFFELFINGEE, 624, 626 & 628 Makket Street. 1877, Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by CLAXTON, EEMSEN & HAFFELFINGER, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. «*& *■*■ -Xt-r^- J. PAGAN & 80N, * fe^HU 8TERE0TYPERS, PHILAD'A. */$ sy. J* PHILADELPHIA 1 COLLINS, PRINTER TO THE SMALL BUT STEADILY GROWING ARMY OF LIBERAL MINDS, who count love to the Lord and the neighbor of para- mount importance, and regard charity as the ground of fellowship and centre of unity among Christians, ||lp little jjoltmie IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR. in PBEFACE. TT is now nearly forty years since the author of the -*- present volume commenced the study of the writings of Swedenborg. Regarding those who had preceded him by several years in this study as much wiser than himself, it was natural that he should have adopted their view (which still continues to be the popular view) of the nature and whereabout of the New Jerusalem, without much personal thought or examination; and that he should consequently have withdrawn from the religious denomination with which he was then con- nected, and joined the new organization. But while he acted according to the light then vouchsafed him, and therefore feels no regret for the course he adopted, he now frankly confesses that he thinks that course was a mistaken one ; and that, with the higher wisdom and clearer views derived from a varied experience, a more mature understanding, and a more intimate acquaint- ance with the teachings of Swedenborg, he cannot and does not now approve of the step he was then induced to take. Believing, moreover, that if the arguments, quotations and illustrations contained in the present volume had 1* V yi PREFACE. then been placed before him, they would have pre- vented him from taking the step which he now thinks was unwise and unnecessary, he humbly hopes that what he has here written may furnish some useful hints to others similarly situated, who are beginning to read the works of Swedenborg with more or less interest ; and possibly prevent some of them from following his example, by clearly opening up the truth on the sub- ject herein discussed, and pointing out the better way. Then the large majority of people belonging to the " New Church " organization (and it affords me pleas- ure to say, that among them are to be found some rare and beautiful types of Christian character) are inno- cently under the impression that this Church is an organized and visible institution. I say, innocently; for those to whom they have looked for instruction, have so taught them ; and the organs of religious opinion with which they are most familiar, have done everything they could to encourage and confirm them in this belief. Many of this class of persons, I doubt not, will rejoice to find that the New Church is much broader and more inclusive than they have hitherto supposed ; and will thank the author, when they read these pages, for the evidence here presented of the serious but popular misapprehension in which they have shared. And seeing the great mistake under which they have labored, they will henceforward, I doubt not, PREFACE. yii assume an attitude toward other denominations, which will be at once more kind, conciliatory and just, and will better exemplify the swaet and catholic spirit of the New Dispensation in which they believe. And so, by overcoming prejudices without and cor- recting mistakes within the organization commonly known as " the New Church," the author humbly hopes to accomplish something towards the removal of exist- ing barriers to the spread of precious truth, and to com- mend to all thoughtful and inquiring minds a system of theology as convincing to the understanding and as accordant with the teachings of reason and Scripture, as it is exalted, tolerant and inclusive in its spirit, and satisfactory to the purest and best cravings of the heart. In the first two chapters will be found a critical ex- amination of the arguments and illustrations in support of the popular theory of the New Church, presented in essays by two of the leading or representative men in the organization. The substance of these chapters (and with only occasional and slight modifications of the form) has been previously published ; the first in the Chicago New-Church Independent, and the second in the Boston New-Church Magazine. And as the theory of the New Church maintained in both the essays here reviewed, is substantially the same, the reader will see that the exigencies of the case imposed VI ii PREFACE. upon the reviewer the necessity of some repetition of quotations from Swedenborg — a repetition which might have been avoided if both papers had been prepared for the present work. But the line of argument is by no means the same in the two chapters; and the author prefers to allow the repetitions to stand in the volume, rather than mar the completeness or weaken the force of the argument in either review. Chapter IV. (with a few unimportant omissions, additions, and verbal alterations) was written in reply to some adverse criticisms of the author's theory of the New Church, which appeared in the London Intellectual Repository, the monthly organ of the English New Church Conference, some fifteen years ago. It was sent for publication in that magazine ; but its insertion was respectfully declined, and the manuscript returned at the author's request. The fact is only worthy of men- tion here, as one among many that might be given in illustration of the kind or degree of freedom which the recognized organs of the (so-called) New Church have practised and encouraged, and the manner in which the more liberal thinkers and writers among the re- ceivers of the new doctrines, have uniformly been treated. B. F. B. CONTENTS. PAGE I. MR. REED'S IDEA OF THE NEW CHURCH CRITI- CALLY EXAMINED 13 "The Church Hereafter" (from 1757) . . 17 Continued Existence of Sects . , . .22 What Swedenborg Means by the Church . 24 The Nominal and the Keal Church . . 28 Endless Diversity of State * . . .31 The Specific Church . . . . . . 34 Is the New Church " known by Doctrine " ? 37 Doctrine not the Bond of Union . . .43 Belief no Sure Index of Character . . 46 The One Essential Doctrine . . . .47 The Specific New Church 52 Who Acknowledge the Divine Humanity . 55 Variety in the New Church . . . .60 to whom is the lord kevealed ? . . .62 Increase of the New Church . . . .64 Are all but Swedenborgians without the Gates? 66 For what were the Wings Given? . . 68 Conclusion . . 71 II. MR. GILES 1 IDEA OF THE NEW CHURCH CARE- FULLY CONSIDERED 77 Building the City Anew . . . . .78 Mr. Giles' Illustrations in Conflict with his Theory 82 ix X CONTENTS. PAGB Appeals to the Sects in Justification of his View 91 In Palpable Conflict with Swedenborg . 93 In Conflict with well known Facts . . 95 Swedenborg's Method of Building the New Jerusalem 98 His Explicit Teaching on the Subject . . 100 His Explanation of Kev. (chapter xii.) Ke- futes Mr. Giles' Theory .... 106 His Illustrations in Conflict with Mr. Giles' Theory Ill Never Encouraged Separatism . . . 115 III. ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE PRACTICAL TEN- DENCY AND LEGITIMATE FRUITS OF THE POPULAR THEORY 120 First Attempt to Organize the New Church. 122 The "Select Meeting" in London, 1787 . . 124 Sad Kesults that soon Followed . . . 127 The Spirit of that London Movement Exem- plified ON THIS SIDE OF THE ATLANTIC . 129 Unchurching other Christians . . .130 More Unreasonable still . . . . . 138 The Lowest Depth of Sectarianism . . 144 Dishonest Handling of Swedenborg . . 147 Hindrances that ought to be Kemoved . . 156 The Wail of a Burdened Spirit . . . 157 IV. WHERE AND WHAT IS THE NEW CHURCH? 162 Our Spiritual Mother 162 Names "in the Lamb's Book of Life" . . 170 The Kingdom of the Lord . . . .172 Christians who are in Great Falsities . 175 The Seven Churches in Asia .... 177 Distinction between the Old and the New Organizations 182 Non-Secession in Sweden 183 Mr. Clowes' Idea of the New Church . . 186 Mr. Parsons' Idea of the New Church . . 191 CONTENTS. xi PAGE V. THE NEW HEA VEN AND TEE NEW EARTH . 194 In what does the Newness Consist? . . 196 Newness in Beligious Beliefs .... 198 Newness of Spirit 201 Newness in Human Affairs .... 203 VI. A PRACTICAL QUESTION . . . . .205 The works of Swedenborg quoted in the present volume are referred to under the following ABBREVIATIONS. A. C, which stand for Arcana Coelestia. Ap. Ex. or A.E., " Apocalypse Explained. A. R., Apocalypse Revealed. N. J. D., New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine. D.P., Divine Providence. T. C. R., True Christian Religion. Xll The New Ohtjech; IT8 NATURE AND WHEREABOUT. MR. REED'S IDEA OF THE NEW CHURCH CRITI- CALLY EXAMINED. ' * rpHE Future of the New Church " is the title of -i- a neat pamphlet of forty pages from the pen of Mr. Sampson Eeed. The title-page tells us that it is an .Address read by the author " at a social religious meet- ing of the Boston Society of the New Jerusalem/' and " published by request." The name of this'writer will be, to all who have read " The Growth of the Mind," a sufficient guarantee that the subject herein treated has been handled in a manner to interest those who are interested in the writings of Swedenborg. And that much is to be found in the pamphlet which will meet with a cordial acceptance among this class of people, is what every one would expect. But underlying the main thought, and running all through the pamphlet, there is what we regard as an utterly mistaken conception of the nature and where- about of the New Church signified by the New Jeru- salem. Mr. Reed holds that this Church is an organ- ized and visible body of people, as much so as the 2 13 14 THE NEW CHURCH. Roman Catholic Church, or any one of the existing Protestant sects. This conception reveals itself in such expressions as the following : " In England and in the United States, the New Church has slowly but steadily increased ; " " But though the New Church, as yet, has appeared in only small numbers ; " " The reason why the New Church has hitherto made so little progress," etc. — measuring its progress, of course, by the numer- ical increase of those who profess to receive its doctrines ; and with still more clearness in a paragraph toward the close of the pamphlet, which commences with these words : " Strange to say, it is supposed by some that the New Church, differing as it does so essentially from every denomination of the former Church, should not exist as a separate organization, and that hereafter, instead of increasing, it will be merged in other Christian denominations." This idea of the New Jerusalem as an organized and visible body, is not peculiar to Mr. Reed. It has been the prevailing idea among the students of Swedenborg for nearly a hundred years, and is probably held by a large majority of them at the present day. And it may be regarded, therefore, as singular presumption in me to call in question a view which has had the sup- port of so many persons, and some of them so intelli- gent and venerated. I should so regard it myself, and should shrink instinctively from the task, did I not see clearly that this view is utterly contrary to the teachings of the authority we all respect ; and that the view I advocate is as clearly in accord with these teachings. Besides, I believe that the prevalent error on this MB. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 15 subject, will be found, on careful reflection, to be the prolific source of nearly all the strifes, disagreements, alienations and separations among the receivers of the heavenly doctrines. For if the New Church be a visible body, consisting exclusively of those who acknowledge the mission and accept the teachings of Swedenborg, then admission into this body is admission into the New Church ; and exclusion therefrom is ex- clusion from this Church. The body may offer such terms of admission as it (or the majority) may think proper. It may require submission to whatever rites it chooses to adopt ; to a second or a third baptism ; to confirmation administered by a bishop or archbishop. It may require belief in a self-perpetuating priestly caste, with its various grades consecrated according to the manner prescribed by such caste. It may multiply ceremonies ad libitum, and declare them essential to admission into the New Jerusalem which it claims to be. And no one familiar with church history, or with the history of our soi-disant New Church, will pretend that such things are by any means improbable. But there will be, as there ever have been, some earnest protestants. And what will the organization say of these ? Why, that they are the enemies of the New Church ; disturbers of its peace ; hinderers of its progress ; haters of our spiritual Zion. Hence strifes, commotions, alienations and divisions. It is not difficult, I think, to trace nearly all the difficulties which have arisen in the organized or nominal New Church, to the mistaken idea which so many have formed as to what and where the New Church really is. This consideration alone, therefore, ought sufficiently to 16 THE NEW CHURCH. justify a patient and thorough examination of the sub- ject in the light of the heavenly doctrines. But to guard against possible misapprehension, let me say here in the outset that I know of no one who is opposed to, or who disbelieves in, the organization of clubs, societies, associations or larger bodies, for the special purpose of studying, teaching and propagating the heavenly doctrines. I appreciate the importance of such organizations, and would remove as far as pos- sible every obstacle to their multiplication, and to their increase in numbers and in strength. And when the receivers of the new doctrines become sufficiently numer- ous in any community to support the public preaching of them, it may be expedient and advisable for them to unite for that purpose. But this would depend on cir- cumstances — on the measure of freedom vouchsafed them in the old organizations, and the probable effect which the formation of a new one would have in pro- moting or retarding the spread of the new doctrines in that community. And of this, the receivers themselves must be the judges in each particular case. But I would not call these organizations in the aggregate the New Jerusalem ; for this would be a misapplication and falsification of the term, and could hardly fail to deceive and mislead. Suppose we were living under a monarchical form of civil government, and a hundred societies imbued with republican ideas were organized throughout the country for the purpose of propagating these ideas, and if possible securing their ultimate triumph ; who would think of calling these hundred societies, the government, country, or republic ? Yet why not, if it be proper to call a hundred (more or MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 17 less) societies imbued with the new religious ideas, and organized for their promulgation, the New Jerusalem ? But the question is one to be settled by a higher authority than any reasonings of our own ; and to that authority I appeal — and to its decision shall cheer- fully bow. "TEE CHURCH HEREAFTER" (from. 1757). Mr. Eeed's pamphlet opens with a quotation from Swedenborg's work on the Last Judgment, in which he speaks of the state of the then future Church as fol- lows: " But as for the state of the Church, this it is which will be dissimilar hereafter; it will be similar, indeed, in the outward form, but dissimilar in the inward. Churches will exist, to outward appearance divided as heretofore ; their doctrines will be taught as heretofore ; and the same religions as now will exist among the Gentiles. But henceforth the man of the Church will be in a more free state of thinking on matters of faith, that is, on spiritual things which relate to heaven, be- cause spiritual liberty has been restored to him. . . . " I have had various converse with the angels con- cerning the state of the Church hereafter. They said . . . that they do know that the slavery and captivity in which the man of the Church was formerly, is re- moved, and that from restored liberty he can now bet- ter perceive interior truths if he wills to percgive them, and thus can be made more internal if he wills it." This was written immediately after the Last Judg- ment. The first Christian Dispensation had come to its end^ and the New Dispensation had commenced The old or first Christian Church had lived out its ap- 2* B 18 THE NEW CHURCH. pointed time and reached its consummation. Its very- existence had terminated. It was no more — and of course has had no existence since that time. A New Age and therefore a New Church then commenced. The vast multitude who had for centuries been in the intermediate state or world of spirits, and whose influ- ence, by reason of the dire falsities in which they were immersed, had so long operated to darken and enthrall the minds of men on earth, had been explored and judged by the all-revealing light of truth — and had therefore been removed, each one to his own place ; the good, to the new angelic heaven which was then formed from those who had lived on earth in charity and faith since the coming of the Lord, together with all who had died in infancy and childhood ; and the evil, to their congenial society in the hell of devils. As a consequence of such judgment in, and removal from, the world of spirits, a New Age commenced. A new condition of our terrestrial humanity was inau- gurated. The spiritual thraldom in which the human mind had been so long held, was measurably broken. An influx of clearer and ever increasing light from out the new angelic heaven commenced. * The dense clouds of ignorance, superstition and error which had so long enveloped the moral world, began to disperse. It was the dawn of a new and more glorious Day for human- ity. Accordingly in his " Continuation " of the treatise above quoted, Swedenborg says : "All enlightenment comes to man from the Lord through heaven, and enters by an internal way. So long as there were congregations of such spirits [in the world of spirits, or intermediate state] between heaven MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 19 and the world, or between the Lord and the church, mankind could not be enlightened. It was as when a sunbeam is intercepted by a black interposing cloud ; or as when the sun is eclipsed and its light arrested by the interjacent moon." (n. 11.) " After the Last Judgment was accomplished there was joy in heaven, and light also in the world of spirits [a world, remember, in close connection with people here on earth, and composed of a mixed society like our own] ; . . . because the infernal societies which were removed, had [previously] been interposed like clouds which darken the earth. A similar light also then arose [or began to arise] in men in the world, giving them new enlightenment." (Ibid. 30.) " The state of the world and of the Church before the Last Judgment, was as evening and night ; but after it, as morning and day. When the light of truth does not appear, there is a state of the church in the world like evening and night ; but when the light of truth appears and the truth is received, there is a state of the church in the world like morning and day." (Ibid. 13.) And it is important to remember that every one is spiritually enlightened when he reads the Word, ac- cording to the nature of his ends and aims in life, or according to the character of his ruling love. And every one who is in the good of life, or in the effort to think, feel and act right, is far more enlightened now through the medium of the Word, than he could have been before the Last Judgment. And we are told that " all enlightenment comes to man from the Lord, and enters by an internal way ; " and that " such as a man's good is, such is his enlightenment." Speaking of that spiritual enlightenment which all the good receive 20 THE NEW CHURCH. through the operation of the Spirit when they read the Word, Swedenborg calls it " a revelation not made by a sonorous voice, but inwardly in man," and says of it : " This revelation is made by illumination of the in- ternal sight which is the understanding, when a man who is in the affection of truth from good, reads the Word. On such occasion illumination is effected by the light of heaven which is from the Lord as a sun there. The understanding is illumined by this light as the ex- ternal sight of the eye is by the light from the sun of the world. When the understanding is illumined by this Divine light, it then perceives that to be true which is true, inwardly acknowledges and as it were sees it. Such is the revelation which those receive who are in the affection of truth from good, when they read the Word." — A. C. 8780. See also, n. 4214, 7012, 8521, 8694. The above statements by Swedenborg and his pre- dictions respecting the then future state of the Church and the world, viewed in connection with recent his- tory and well known facts, are, indeed, " remarkable." Since the time of the Last Judgment, as Mr. Keed truly says, " there has been a wonderful change in the world, such as never appeared before. As was foretold, there has been far greater freedom, and, with this, far greater rationality, which is manifest in both civil and ecclesi- astical affairs. This influence extends not only to the Christian world, but to Jews, Mahometans and Gen- tiles." As to the newness, then, or the nature and the cause thereof, there seems to be no difference between Mr. Eeed and myself. I think we perfectly agree on this point. And I should infer that we did not differ in MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EX A MIXED. 21* regard to the Church, or the New Church, if I were to judge merely from the words immediately following this paragraph. But other parts of the pamphlet for- bid such a conclusion. The words are : " But this is not the New Church. It is only the preparation for the Church. Humanity is not regen- erated in the mass. It is only where this new influence is met by man, and he fulfills his part of the covenant, that the Church is established." It certainly appears from these words as if Mr. Reed believes that the New Church consists exclusively of regenerate or regenerating men and women ; that it is established nowhere but in the hearts of those who re- ceive, and permit themselves to be inwardly swayed and moulded by, the " new influence " from heaven ; — only where man " fulfills his part of the covenant " by religious obedience to the divine commandments, or to the divine truth as he understands it. And he would not, I am sure, think of maintaining (for he cannot believe anything so palpably false), that this class of people is confined exclusively to Swedenborgians ; that there are no regenerating persons in other denomina- tions — none who worthily meet " this new influence " which is everywhere descending from out the opening heavens. If not, then he must admit that the New Church is broader and more inclusive than the sect which bears this name ; — that its members, indeed, are scattered among all the sects, yes, and outside of them all. Nor would he, I think, be willing to take the responsibility of deciding who are regenerating men and women — who really love the Lord and their neighbor — within the circle of his own acquaintance ; 22 THE NEW CHURCH, nor admit that so grave a question is within the power or prerogative of any one except Him who alone knows the thoughts and intents of the heart. If not, then the New Church as defined in the words just quoted, is not and never can be an organized and visible body. The obvious meaning of these words, therefore, is evidently not what the author intended ; for it is seen to be in direct conflict with other parts of his pamphlet, and with the theory in regard to the New Church which it seems to have been written mainly to uphold and defend. CONTINUED EXISTENCE OF SECTS. Turning now to the paragraphs from the Last Judg- ment, with which the pamphlet before us opens, can there be any doubt as to what Church Swedenborg re- fers to when he speaks of "the Church hereafter," or the man of the then future Church ? and when he says of this Church, "it will be similar indeed in the out- ward form, but dissimilar in the inward " ? That is to say, different sects would continue to exist, holding and teach- ing different doctrines, as they had hitherto done ; but by reason of the greater religious liberty secured by the Last Judgment, they would all be able to think and inquire more freely concerning spiritual things, and " to perceive interior truths if they desired to perceive them," in a manner and to a degree that they had not before been able to do. Can there be any doubt that his reference here is to the New Church and not to the Old f — yes, and to the New Church in its specific sense, or in other words " the Church where the Word is, and where the Lord is thereby known " ? For at the time MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 23 he was writing there was no Old Church. It had come to an end. It had ceased to exist.- And he was speak- ing, we observe, not of the former or consummated Church, nor of the Church as it was then, but of " the Church hereafter" He clearly means by the Church in these passages, the one general and visible Christian Church — for there can be but one general Church on earth at a time. His meaning is identical with that expressed elsewhere by the words " the churches in the Christian world," that is, all Protestant Churches or denominations in the aggregate — " where the Lord is worshiped and the Word is read." (N. J. D. 8.) These, similar to what they had been in their external and visible form but " dissimilar internally," were what he meant by the visible Church that was to be — "the Church hereafter." And, certainly, with the new spiritual freedom vouchsafed it, with its new and greatly augmented spiritual perceptions, with the new and in- creased influx of light and life consequent upon the Last Judgment, no one, unless bent on maintaining some theory of his own, can for a moment suppose that Swedenborg here refers to any other Church than the New Church. And it is equally clear, that he means by " the Church hereafter," no single denomination or separate organi- zation of Christians distinguished by their peculiar doc- trinal beliefs — no such body of people as Mr. Keed and his school would have us believe constitute the New Church. For had this been his meaning, he certainly would not have spoken of it as composed of churches or denominations " to outward appearance divided," as they had previously been ; holding and teaching differ- 24 THE NEW CHURCH. ent doctrines, too, as they had hitherto done ; yet " in their inward form," that is, in their real spiritual char- acter and condition, " dissimilar " to what they had been. Such language would never have been used by Swedenborg when speaking of " the Church hereafter/' had he meant by this Church any particular body of believers distinguished from all others by their manner of understanding and interpreting the written Word. Two things, then, may be considered as settled by a careful examination and fair interpretation of the lan- guage cited from the closing paragraphs of the treatise on the Last Judgment; 1st. That Swedenborg means by " the Church hereafter " of which he there speaks, the New Church and not the Old — not the real and invisible, but the nominal and visible Church. 2d. That this New Church would not be confined exclu- sively to any particular sect or class of believers, but would embrace all the various sects in Christendom, whose internal quality would undergo a decided change, while their outward form would still continue. And how fully this conclusion is justified by what we meet with elsewhere in the writings of this illumined author, and how palpably at variance with Sweden- borg's idea of the New Church is that of Mr. Reed and his school, will be shown as we proceed with our exami- nation. WHAT SWEDENBORG MEANS BY THE CHURCH We come now to the consideration of the meaning of the term Church as employed by Swedenborg. When we have fully settled this, we shall have no difficulty MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 25 in understanding what and where the New Church is, of which he so often speaks. And we find there 'are two senses, and only two, in which he uses this term ; and they are substantially the same as those in which other distinguished writers on theology have long been in the habit of using it. He sometimes means by the Church the entire body of Christian believers, or the aggregate of the churches or societies in Christendom organized for social worship and for instruction in spiritual things. This is the visible church consisting of a mixed multitude, some good and some evil ; and is typified in Scripture by the wheat and the tares which the same infallible authority tells us should be permitted to grow together until the time of harvest. It is in this sense that he uses it when he speaks of certain persons being in the Church, who live wicked lives, and who have, therefore, nothing of the church in themselves. Thus he says, A. C, n. 3267 : " They who know truths which are called articles of belief, and do not live in charity or in good, although they are in the Church as being born there, still are not of the church, inasmuch as they have nothing of the church in them, that is, nothing of good to which truth may be conjoined." (See also A. C. 3963, 7317, 7502, 7554.) But in the sense in which he generally uses the word, he means by the Church all the good people in Chris- tendom — all who live in charity and mutual love, and are therefore internally conjoined to the Lord and asso- ciated with the angels. This is the real but invisible Church — invisible, because its limits_ cannot be defined or clearly seen by man. It depends on the state of the 3 26 THE NEW CHURCH. heart — the governing motive and purpose of one's life. And as these are known only to the Lord, therefore He alone knows where this church is, or of whom it is com- posed. Consequently it cannot be organized, or pre- sented in a visible and embodied form to the eyes of men. Sometimes it is called by Swedenborg the spe- cific Church to distinguish it from the Church universal which includes all the good people outside of Christen- dom as well as in it. Then there are several varieties in this Church, des- ignated in general by such terms as internal and ex- ternal, celestial and spiritual. But one variety, how- ever inferior, is as truly a part of the church as another, just as the hand or foot belongs to the body and makes a part of it as truly as the head or heart. And in each variety there is endless diversity, just as there is in the faces and characters of persons belonging to the same nationality — just as there is in all the works of God. And for any one of these varieties or fractional parts thereof, however superior to the others in character or intelligence, to assume to be the church to the exclusion of all the rest, would be as preposterous and arrogant as for the head or eye to assume to be the human body, unmindful of the importance or existence of the other parts, and of its own vital connection with them. To cite here a few passages in illustration of Sweden- borg's use of the word Church in the sense of which I am now speaking : — " It can in no case be said that heaven is without one, but that it is within him/' (H. H. 54.) " Love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor constitute the life of heaven in man." (N. J. D. 237.) " That which MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 27 constitutes heaven in man, also constitutes the church in him ; for as love and faith constitute heaven, so like- wise do they constitute the church." (Ibid. 241.) " The church is in man and not out of him ; and the church at large consists of the men in whom the church is." — " The same may be said of the church as of heaven, for the church is the Lord's heaven on earth." — "A man who is a church, is a heaven in the least form after the image of the greatest." (H. H. 57 and notes.) " Every man is such [or of such a character] as is the ruling principle of his life." — " The ruling or governing love with every one, is in each and every particular, of his life, thus in all things of his thought and will." (Notes to H. H. 58.) — " The church of the Lord, like the king- dom of the Lord in the heavens, has its grounds solely in love and charity." (A. C. 809.) And throughout his writings Swedenborg makes right feeling and right living, or love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, the essential constituents of the church as they are of heaven ; for what constitutes heaven, constitutes the church likewise. And these constituents in their various degrees of purity, exalta- tion and strength, exist among all peoples and nations. Accordingly, speaking of the church universal, he says : u The Lord's church is spread throughout the whole world ; and yet it is one." (A. C. 8152.) " The societies scattered throughout the whole world, consisting of those who are in love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, are collected by the Lord that they, too, may represent one man as do the societies in heaven. These societies are not only within the Church [i. e., the specific Church — ' where the Word is, and the Lord is thereby known '] but also out of it ; and taken together thev 28 THE NEW CHURCH. are called the Lord's church scattered, and collected from the good in the whole world, which is also called a communion. This communion or church is the Lord's kingdom on earth conjoined to His kingdom in the heavens, and thus to the Lord himself." — Ibid. 7396. Again : — showing where and what the general Church is, or who constitute it, Swedenborg says : " Inasmuch as Israel is the celestial-spiritual man, thus the internal, Israel is also the internal spiritual church. For it is the same thing whether we say the spiritual mtm or the spiritual church, because the spirit- ual man individually is a church [in the smallest form] ; and many such men constitute the church in general. If man individually were not a church, there would be no church in general. A congregation in general [i. e., a visible body of people] is what is commonly called a church ; but to make it a church it is necessary that every individual in the congregation be a church ; for every general [or larger form] implies parts similar to itself." — A. C. 4292. THE NOMINAL AND THE REAL CHURCH. In this passage, and often elsewhere, Swedenborg dis- tinguishes as clearly as language can, between the real or invisible church, and the congregation or visible body which he says is commonly called a church, but is not such unless every individual belonging to it be him- self a church, or have within him the essential con- stituents of the church. And Mr. Keed himself, I pre- sume, would hardly be willing to affirm, as his sincere conviction, that every individual member of our New Church organization, or of every society belonging to it, is himself a church. He could not affirm this with- ME. HEED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 29 out knowing the internal quality or ruling love of every individual. The same thought is often repeated by Swedenborg, though in a form somewhat varied. And as I desire to bring the question under consideration rigidly and severely to the test of his teachings, I trust I shall be pardoned for multiplying quotations. " The sons of Israel represent the church ; for the church is the church by virtue of spiritual good and of the truths thence derived. He who is not in spiritual good, that is, in the good of charity, and in spiritual truths, that is, the truths of faith, is not of the church, notwithstanding his being born within it [that is, in a country where the Word is, and the Lord is thereby known]. For the whole heavenly kingdom of the Lord is in the good of love and faith ; and unless the church be in like good, it cannot be a church, because it is not conjoined with heaven ; for the church is the Lord's kingdom on earth. — Every one who lives in the good of charity and faith, is a church and kingdom of the Lord ; and hence also he is called the temple and like- wise the house of God. The church in general is con- stituted of those who are churches in particular, how- ever remote they are from each other as to their place of abode." — A. C. 6637. " They alone are of the church, in whom the church is ; and the church is in those who are in the affection of truth for the sake of truth, and in the affection of good for the sake of good ; who are, therefore, in love toward the neighbor and in love to God ; for the neighbor is good and truth, and also is God, since good and truth are of God, thus are God with them. — They who are not such are not of the church, notwithstanding they may be in the church " [that is, in the visible body so denominated]. — Ibid. 10. 310. " Spiritual good, represented by Israel, is the good of a* 30 THE NEW CHURCH. truth, that is, truth in will and act. This truth or this good of truth appertaining to man, causes him to be a church. When truth is implanted in the will — which is perceived by this circumstance, that a man is affected with truth for the sake of an end, that he may live ac- cording to it — then there is internal good and truth. When a man is in this good and truth, the kingdom of the Lord is in him ; consequently he is a church and, together with those of a like character, constitutes the church in general." — Ibid, 5826. " The church is never predicated of the intellect, but invariably of the will ; for the scientific or rational prin- ciple of faith by no means constitutes the church or the man of the church, these being formed by charity which belongs to the will, from which is derived all that is essential." — Ibid. 809. And many pages might be cited, of passages similar to the above, all going to show that the true church (or what makes it) is within men ; that it is the Lord's king- dom on earth, consisting exclusively of regenerating persons, or of such as have begun to shun evils as sins against God, and to obey truth as they understand it from a religious principle ; that it is unknown to men who or where all these people are, and therefore this church is said to be invisible ; consequently it can never be organized, or presented as a visible body of people — for the good can never be all separated from the wicked here on earth, since' no one can tell precisely who or where they are. It will be seen from some of the paragraphs here quoted, that Swedenborg clearly recognizes the distinc- tion between the visible or nominal and the invisible or real church, when he speaks of certain persons being in the church as being born there, yet not of it but out of MR. REED'S VIE W OF IT EXAMINED. 31 it, that is, out of the real church. They are in and make a part of the visible body — the " congregation which is commonly called the church " ; but not having in their hearts the spirit of the Lord or the life of charity, they do not belong to the true and invisible church. They make no part of the mystical body of Christ. While in the nominal church, therefore, ob- serving the sacraments, reading the Word, understand- ing and intellectually receiving its teachings, they are nevertheless out of the true church and constitute no portion thereof. ENDLESS DIVERSITY OF STATE. • Then we should remember that there is endless di- versity of state in each of these varieties. Among those, for example, who constitute the internal church, all are not internal in the same degree. Some have more in- telligence, broader views, deeper intuitions, purer and more ardent love than others. Some have clearer per- ceptions of the spiritual meaning of the Word than others, and are more open to the influence of the angelic heavens. And the same is true of those who constitute the external church. But notwithstanding this diver- sity, they are all alike members of the one church. They who compose its external belong to the church and make a part of it, as certainly as they who consti- tute its internal. The degrees of enlightenment and the degrees of goodness are without number even in heaven ; and the same is true of the church which is the Lord's heaven on earth. Our neighbor's good may be very inferior both in kind and in degree to our own ; or the truth he holds may be less exalted and less pure than 32 THE NEW CHURCH. ours. But he may for all that belong to the Lord's church as truly as ourselves. The clear and frequent recognition by Swedenborg of the endless diversity of state both in heaven and in the church, is a marked feature of his teachings, and one which places them far in advance of those of every other writer in point of reasonableness and genuine catholicity. To cite a few passages by way of illus- tration : — " A church, in order to be a church, must be both in- ternal and external ; for there are some who are in the internal of the church, and others who are in its exter- nal. The former are few, but the latter numerous. Nevertheless where the internal church is, the external must be also, for the internal of the church cannot be separated from its external ; and where the external church is, the internal must be also." — A. C. 6587. " They who are in the externals of the church, are said to be in simple good, and believe the Word merely in its literal sense, each according to his apprehension, and who live according to those things which they be- lieve, that is, who are in good according to its quality from truths." —Ibid. 6775. " The men of the internal church are they who have qualified their good by interior truths, such as are those of the internal sense of the Word ; . . [and conse- quently] are in superior intelligence and wisdom to those who are of the external church." — Ibid. 7840. But they who compose the external are as truly a part of the church, and as necessary to its complete- ness, as they who constitute its internal. Both classes are alike essential to the very existence of the church. But the varieties, again, in each of these divisions, are more than can be numbered. MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 33 " In the Lord's kingdom the varieties are innumerable as to goods and truths, notwithstanding they all consti- tute but one heaven ; for the varieties are so numerous, that one society is in no case altogether like another, that is, in the same good and truth. Oneness in heaven is constituted of several various things so arranged by the Lord as to be in concord with each other ; w T hich concord or harmony of several things is impressed by the Lord in consequence of their all having relation to Him. The case herein is like that of the organs, mem- bers and viscera of the body, no one of which is alto- gether like another, but all are various ; and yet they make one in consequence of their all having relation to one soul, and thereby to heaven, and thus to the Lord ;. for whatever is unconnected with Him is nothing." — Ibid. 3241. And as it is with heaven in respect to variety, so also with the church. " The case is similar with respect to the Lord's church, because the kingdom of the Lord in the earths is the church which acts in unity with his kingdom in the heavens. . . . They who are in love to the Lord and in love toward the neighbor constitute the province of the heart in the Grand Man ; and they who are in charity and thence in faith from the Lord, constitute the prov- ince of the lungs." — A. C. 9276. And that it is the church in Christendom here referred to, which Swedenborg elsewhere calls " the church specif- ically," and which is the church to which he generally refers when he uses the term by itself unaccompanied by any qualifying epithet, is plain from the following, which occurs in the same number as the paragraph just quoted : " The heart of the Grand Man, that is, of heaven and the church, is constituted of those who are in love C 34 THE NEW CHURCH. to the Lord and in love toward the neighbor ; . . . but the lungs in the Grand Man, or in heaven and the church, is constituted of those who from the Lord are in charity toward the neighbor, and thence in faith ; . . . but the rest of the viscera and members in that Grand Man are constituted of those who are in external goods and truths, — whereby internal truths and goods may be introduced. Now as the heart first flows-in into the lungs, and thence into the viscera and members of the body, so also does the Lord flow through the good of love into internal truths, and through these into external truths and goods. From these considerations it may be seen that there must needs be a church on the earth, and that without it the human race would perish ; for it would be as it is with an individual when he dies, when the heart and lungs cease to act. For this reason also it is provided of the Lord that there should always be a church in the earths, where the Lord is revealed by means of the Divine Truth which is from Him, which Divine Truth in our earth is the Word." — A. C. 9277. THE SPECIFIC CHURCH. Here Swedenborg refers to the church in Christen- dom, or where the Word is ; in other words, to " the specific church." And this is the church that he usually refers to when he uses the term without qualification. And we see that he makes this specific church to consist of those only who are in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor. They are his friends and follow- ers — the good people throughout Christendom — those who are internally conjoined to Him through religious obedience to his precepts. For He says : " Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you." • And in hundreds of other places where he speaks of the specific church, Swedenborg employs the term in MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 35 precisely this sense, meaning by it all the good people in Christian countries ; just as he means by the universal church all the good people throughout the world, in- cluding those in Christendom as well as those outside. This shows us that the specific church, in the sense in which he uses it, is invisible — "known only to the Lord " — in like manner as the universal church. It differs from this latter only in being more interior and less comprehensive. To cite two or three passages by way of confirmation : "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, learn truths from Him by the Word, and do them. No others form any part of the church whatever" — Ap. Ex. 388. Certainly no one can doubt that the author is here speaking of " the specific church." — Equally explicit is the following : " The church is the Lord's kingdom on earth. That it is called the church is no,t from the circumstance of its having the Word and doctrines thence derived ; nor from the circumstance of the Lord being known and the sacraments administered there. But it is the church from this circumstance : that they live according to the Word, or according to doctrine derived from the AVord, which doctrine is the rule of life. They who are not such, are not of the church, but are out of it." — A. C. 6637. " Those who say they are of the church, who are in the affection of truth and not in the good of truth, that is, who do not live according to' the truth, are much deceived. They are out of the church notwithstanding their admission into the congregation of the church [that is, into the visible body called the church] ; for 36 THE NEW CHURCH. they are in the affectiou of evil with which truth can- not be conjoined." — A. C. 3963. See also n. 4292 ; T. C. R. 372. No one can deny that it is " the specific church " which is referred to in the foregoing paragraphs. And can any one tell exactly who these people are who " ljve according to the Word " ? If not, then how can this church be organized by man ? How can it exist in a visible form ? It is a great mistake, therefore, to suppose that the universal church differs in its nature or constitution from the specific church ; that one is invisible and the other visible; or that the former comprises only the good people throughout the world, while the latter com- prises more than the good people throughout Christen- dom — consists of a mixed multitude of good and evil. Yet this is one of the mistakes (and the parent of several others) into which Mr. Reed has fallen. For he says : " There is a Church Universal which comprises all the good spread over the whole earth, wherever they may be or whatever may be their religion. This church is invisible. It is known only by the life, and conse- quently only to the Lord, who alone seeth the heart. There is also a specific Church which consists of those who have the Word, and by whom it is read and the Lord is thereby known." — (pp. 28, 29.) It is plain from this that Mr. Reed's specific church is very different from Swedenborg's. Instead of being composed of those who have the Word and read it, as is the case with every-Protestant denomination in Chris- tendom, Swedenborg declares (contrary to Mr. Reed) that it consists only of those who learn truths from the Word and live according to them; and adds that "no MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 37 others form any part of the church whatever." And since no man and no body of men can tell who they are that live, both internally and externally, according to the truths of the Word, therefore this church is, and must forever on earth remain, invisible. It differs from the universal church only in this, that it is more interior and vital, and more limited in extent, being confined to countries where the Word is. It follows, too, from what has been said and shown, that this church is not distinguished by its doctrinal teachings or professed beliefs ; for if it were, its limits could be easily defined, and this would give to it the character of visibility — the very thing which it does not possess. IS THE NEW CHURCH "KNOWN BY DOCTRINE"? I have shown that Mr. Eeed is clearly mistaken in regard to the nature or constitution of the specific Church. While he admits that the universal Church is invisible, " comprising all the good spread over the whole earth," he holds that the specific Church is a vis- ible body, " consisting of those who have the Word, and by whom it is read and the Lord is thereby known ; " composed, therefore, of a mixed multitude — some sheep and some goats. For Mr. Keed does not need to be told that not all who have the Word and read it, live according to its precepts, and are there- fore righteous. On the contrary some of them are the very wickedest people on earth. But Swedenborg tells us that it is not from " having the Word and doctrines thence derived, nor from the 4 38 THE NEW CHURCH. circumstance of the Lord being known and the sacra- ments administered there," that any individual or peo- ple is a church ; but that it is by " living according to the Word, or according to doctrine derived from it ; " and that they who fail to do this, or who do not live according to the truth they learn from the Word, are out of the Church and form no part of it. And this he says, too, when speaking of the specific Church — making the constitution of this similar to that of the Church universal. Continuing his remarks on the specific Church as he understands it, Mr. Reed says : " This Church is founded on doctrine, and is known by it. It is this Church which is understood when Swedenborg says, speaking of the establishment of the New Church : ' Where doctrine is not received the Church is not, for the Church is from doctrine.' " From which the reader is left to infer, that the New Church is a visible and clearly defined body of people, distinguished by its doctrinal beliefs, consisting exclu- sively of those who acknowledge Swedenborg's divine mission and accept the doctrines taught by him. An inference, moreover, fully justified by what we find in other parts of his pamphlet, as where he says, " that the New Church is to be established by the reception of its doctrines, which doctrines are signified by the * man-child/ " (p. 26.) We shall see what is meant by the " man-child " when I come to show what Sweden- borg means by "the doctrine of the New Church." We shall see that he means no such elaborate system of doctrines as Mr. Reed is thinking of, and which he holds to be the distinguishing sign of the New Jerusa- MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 39 lem on earth — that which defines its limits and makes it visible. And right here I join issue with our Boston brother ; and in my support and justification, shall array against him the oft-repeated and explicit teachings of our heaven-illumined scribe. And so much depends upon the issue — so important is it, under every aspect of the case, that we know where and what the New Jerusalem really is — that I shall offer no apology for multiply- ing quotations having a direct bearing on the question before us. Is the Church in its specific sense (and this, now, is the New Church, since the former Christian Church came to its end more than a century ago) composed exclusively of those who intellectually receive and ac- knowledge its doctrines ? — for no one will presume to say who receive and acknowledge them interiorly, in heart and life. This, now, is the question ; and let the Lord's chosen and illumined servant settle it. ".Where men know and think according to doctrine, there the Church may be ; but where men do [or live] according to doctrine, there only the church is. Hence the spiritual church, or what is the same, the man of the church, first becomes a church when he acts from charity, which is the very doctrine of faith." — A. C. 916. Swedenborg is here speaking of the specific Church ; for in the same number he says that many among the Gentiles, " in consequence of observing the misconduct of Christians, hold their doctrines in abhorrence ; " and that " many in the Christian world " who expect to be saved, and who, it is to be presumed, " have the Word and read it," and therefore belong to Mr. Reed's spe- 40 THE NEW CHURCH. cific Church, " form to themselves a spurious conscience which allows them to live like devils, hating and perse- cuting their neighbor." But he declares that such per- sons form no part of the real Church, specific or uni- versal. He also assures us that " many who have been distinguished for their skill and knowledge in points of doctrine, are among the infernals ; but all who have lived a life of charity are in heaven." (A. C. 1515.) And hundreds of times does he declare that truth of doctrine, however pure or exalted, does not constitute the church, and is of no account whatever unless the life be formed according to it ; and that the church is predicated of the will and never of the intellect, and that the will is the man himself. Thus he says : " The good of truth, that is, truth in the will and in act, is what causes man to be a church. When truth is implanted in the will, then there is internal good and truth. When a man is in this good and truth, the king- dom of the Lord is in him ; consequently he is a church, and, together with those of like character, constitutes the church in general. . . . " Moreover, that man may be regenerated and become a church [showing that the church consists exclusively of regenerate or regenerating souls], he must be intro- duced by truth to good ; and when truth becomes truth in the will and act, he is then introduced. This truth is good, and is called the good of truth ; and it produces new truths continually, for then first it fructifies it- self. ... The will-principle is the inmost of man. So long, therefore, as good and truth are out of the w r ill and only in the understanding, they are out of the man." — A. C. 5826. " A man enters heaven and becomes a church when he is in good, because the Lord flows-in into good with man, and through this into its truth. The influx is into MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 41 the internal man where his heaven is. . . . Therefore unless a man be in good his internal man is not opened, but remains shut, however he be in truths as to doc- trine. . . . The man throughout is such as he is in re- spect to good, and not such as he is in respect to truth without good." — A. C. 10,367. " Only to think and thence believe that charity saves, and not to will and act accordingly, is the same as to believe that faith alone saves. . . . Hence it is plain that, only to think good and not to will and do it, does not constitute good in any one. The case would be the same if a man knew essential truths and goods, and from thought alone made profession of them, if he did not give them life by willing and doing them." — Ap. Ex. 458. Then it is well known that men may have an intel- lectual appreciation of many interior truths. They may understand them, and think they believe them. Yet if they are not in the effort to conform their lives to them, they are not really in the belief of those truths. There may be an outward profession of belief, while at heart there is denial and rejection of them. " When they who are in evils of life make a lip-pro- fession of truths from the Word and from the doctrines of their church, they suppose that they are in the belief of those truths. It likewise appears to them as if they were ; but still they are not if the life be evil." — A. C. 7577. See also n. 10,153, 2429 ; Ap. Ex. 730, 107. And on the other hand there are many who have been educated in false doctrines, and profess to believe them ; but being in the desire and effort to do the will of the Lord as they understand it, their errors of doc- trine do them but little harm. Internally they do not believe those errors. Their hearts are wedded to the 4* 4 42 THE NEW CHURCH. truth. And when they read the Word they are en- lightened by the Lord, and have a perception of the truth beyond what is taught in the creed they have sub- scribed. Or if not this, their falsities arising from the mere appearances of truth in the letter of the Word, are accepted of the Lord for genuine truths ; and these people belong, therefore, to the Church in its specific sense. " They who are in the spiritual affection of truth, when they read the Word do not see it from the doc- trine of the church in which they are born ; but they see it as if they were separated from that doctrine, since they desire to be enlightened and to see truths inwardly in themselves and not from others. They who are in this state are enlightened by the Lord, and are enabled to form for themselves doctrine from the truths which they themselves see, which doctrine is also implanted in them and remains in their spirit forever.'' — (Ap. Ex. 190.) " Moreover there are truths which are mere appear- ances of truth, such as those of the literal sense of the Word, which are also accepted by the Lord as genuine truths when there is in them the good of love to Him and of love toward the neighbor or charity. In the other life also the good which is inwardly concealed in them dissipates these appearances, and makes bare the spiritual or genuine truths."— (Ap. Ex. 625.) " The inquiry in the spiritual world is concerning the nature and quality of every one's life ; for it is known that such as his life is, such is his faith and such his doctrine ; for life forms its doctrine and faith for itself [the real belief of each one being always in agreement with his ruling love, and not always what he- professes]." (D. P. 101. See also A. C. 3451, 8311, 10,648, 10,153 ; Ap. Ex. 867, 233.) MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 43 DOCTRINE NOT THE BOND OF UNION. But is it possible, I shall be asked, for those whose religious beliefs differ as widely as do the beliefs of the professed receivers of the New Church doctrines and those of other Christians, to work together harmoniously in the same religious organization? I might answer this question by asking a few more ; such, for example, as the following : If mere agreement in doctrinal beliefs is the strong bond of union and the sure guarantee of harmonious action, why is it that there is so great lack of harmony and union among believers of the New Church doctrines? Why is the confession so often made by some of the most intelligent and affectionate receivers, that they feel no drawing toward and no sym- pathy with what is called " the organized New Church " ? Why do so many of this class stand aloof from the organization, and seek association with and find sympa- thy, instruction and fellowship in, other communions? Why, especially, is the separation so wide and the alien- ation so great in many places among the believers of these doctrines, that they will not consent to meet together for worship beneath the same roof? — but form separate and feeble societies, and worship apart in the same community, when all together would not form one respectable society in point of numbers ? Witness, for example, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco at the present time ; and New York, Cincinnati, Balti- more and Washington in times gone by. Do not such facts prove that mere doctrinal beliefs are not the strong bond of union among men that Mr. Reed imagines ? Do they not furnish ample confirmation of 44 THE NEW CHURCH. the truth of what Swedenborg says in the following pas- sage ? — " There are two things which unite the men of the church, viz., life and doctrine ; when life unites, doctrine does not separate them ; but if only doctrine unites them, as at this day is the case within the church, then they mutually separate, ... as is evident from this circumstance, that he who is of one doctrine condemns another person sometimes to hell. But if life unites, doctrine does not separate, as is evident from this : that he who is in the good of life does not condemn another whose opinion differs from his own, but leaves it to his faith and conscience, and extends this rule even to those who are out of the church." (A. C. 4468.) No : not doctrine, but life ; not faith, but charity ; not right thinking and believing, but right willing and doing — this is the strong bond of union among the angels in heaven and men upon earth. Where this bond exists, there you will find harmony and union among those of various doctrinal beliefs — a harmony and union all the more perfect, too, because of such variety. But where this bond is wanting, no agreement in beliefs, however perfect, will secure or permanently maintain union among men. " The church is the image of heaven ; for it is the Lord's kingdom on earth. Heaven is distinguished into many general societies, and into lesser societies subor- dinate thereto ; but still they are one by virtue of good, the truths of faith there being according to the good with which they are congruous, for these have respect to good and are from it. If heaven was distinguished according to the truths of faith, and not according to good, there would be no heaven, for there would be no unanimity, inasmuch as they would not have from the Lord one principle of life or one soul ; this is given only MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 45 in good, that i*, in love to the Lord and the neighbor, for love unites all ; and when- the love of good and truth is in every individual, there is then a common principle which is from the Lord and is the Lord who unites all. The love of good and truth is what is called love toward the neighbor." — (A. Q 4837.) So potent is the influence of love. It melts and fuses together souls of diverse doctrinal beliefs, and out of variety produces unity and harmony. As Swedenborg again says — and substantially the same thing is re- peated hundreds of times in his works — : " Mutual love and charity are productive of unity or oneness even among varieties, uniting these into one. For let numbers be multiplied ever so many times, even to thousands and tens of thousands, if all are principled in charity or mutual love, they all have one end, viz., the common good, the kingdom of the Lord and the Lord himself. In this case the varieties in matters of doctrine and worship are like the varieties of the senses and viscera in man, which contribute to the perfection of the whole."— (A. C. 1285.) To cite another passage of equal pertinence out of the multitude that present themselves : — " Let this truth be received as a principle, that love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor are the essentials on which hangs all the Law and concerning which all the Prophets speak, ... in this case' all heresies would vanish and be done away ; and out of many churches there would be formed one church, not- withstanding the difference among them in doctrinals and rituals. ... In this case, too, every one would say of another, in whatsoever doctrine or in whatsoever ex- ternal worship he was principled, This is my brother : I see that he worships the Lord and is a good man." (A. C. 2385. See also 3241, 3451, 4689, 1834, 6761.) 46 THE NEW CHURCH, BELIEF NO SURE INDEX OF CHARACTER. We are further assured that doctrines alone do not distinguish churches in the sight of the Lord; and that the disposition among men to make them the ground of distinction and separation, evidences the lack of that great principle which binds in one the angelic heavens and the good people of varying creeds on earth ; and proves also the existence of that sectarian spirit which is known to be the universal accompaniment of one of the most mischievous of all dogmas — the dogma of faith alone. " The several churches [that is, visible organizations] in the Christian world are distinguished by their doc- trines ; and the members of these churches have there- fore taken the names of Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, or the Reformed and Evangelical Protest- ants ; with many others. This distinction of names arises solely from doctrines, and would never have ex- isted if the members of the church had made love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor the princi- pal point of faith. Doctrines would then have been only varieties of opinion concerning the mysteries of faith, which they who are true Christians would leave every one to receive according to his conscience ; while the language of their hearts would be, He is a true Christian who lives like a Christian, that is, as the Lord teaches. Thus one church would be formed out of all these diverse ones, and all disagreements arising from mere doctrines would vanish." — (A. C. 1799.) Yet in the face of all this, and a great deal more of similar purport that might be cited, we are told that the New Church signified by the New Jerusalem, is a visible institution! — that it "exists as an organized MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 47 i body," distinguished preeminently by its doctrines ; and with its limits so clearly defined, that, when asked re- specting its whereabout, one can point to it without hesitation, and say, " Lo ! there." But I would not be understood as denying or ques- tioning the importance of organized effort in the dis- semination of the truths of the New Church. I concede the usefulness, propriety and need of organizations (large and small) for this especial purpose ; and would gladly see every obstacle to their harmony, unity and efficiency removed. Nor do I see any objection to the formation of a worshiping congregation, wherever there is a sufficient number of the believers of these truths within the neighborhood of each other to support public worship and instruction according to them. What I object to is, the thinking and speaking of these organizations in the aggregate as the New Jerusalem foretold in the Apocalypse — " the specific New Church " — "The Holy City" come down from heaven — "the Bride, the Lamb's wife." And I object to this because I know that such claim is unfounded ; and because I see that it carries with it by strict logical sequence other errors which are hurtful in various ways — not helps but hindrances to the growth of souls and the spread of precious truth. THE ONE ESSENTIAL DOCTRINE. Speaking of the specific Church, which Mr. Reed believes " to consist of those who have the Word, and by whom it is read, and the Lord is thereby known," he says : " This Church is founded on doctrine, and is 48 THE NEW CHURCH. known by it." And he adds a quotation from Sweden- borg (without reference) in which it is said that " the Church exists from doctrine," and can have no exist- ence "where doctrine is not received/' I cheerfully accept this, but not in the sense in which Mr. Reed in- tends it to be understood. In what sense, then ? I shall be asked. Let Swedenborg answer. He shall say what the doctrine is whereon the specific Church is founded, and without which it could not exist. And we have his answer, too plain to be misunderstood, in the very number from which Mr. Reed has quoted less than two lines ivithout referring to number or volume. I will quote a dozen lines that the reader, seeing the connection, may see just what doctrine it is which Swedenborg de- clares to be essential to the very existence of the Church. " The New Church which is called the holy Jerusa- lem and is signified by the woman, cannot as yet be in- stituted except with a few, because the former Church is become a wilderness ; and the Church is called a wil- derness when there is no longer any good ; and where there is no good there are no truths ; and when the Church is of such a quality, then evils and falsities reign which hinder the reception of its doctrine, which is L^^"] the doctrine of love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, with the truths thereto belonging. And when doctrine is not received the Church is not, for the Church is from doctrine." — Ap. Ex. 730. There is no room for doubt as to what doctrine is here meant. It is the one great doctrine of the specific Church — the essential doctrine of the Sacred Scrip- ture — that which forms the sum and substance of all that the Law and the Prophets teach. For we are told further : MR. HEED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 49 " The essential doctrine derived from the literal sense of the Word [and remember, all doctrine is to be drawn from this sense, and confirmed by it] is only one, viz. : the doctrine of charity and love — of charity toward our neighbor and of love to the Lord ; for this doctrine and a life according to it, is the whole Word, as the Lord teaches in Matthew xxii. 35-38." — (A. C. 3445.) Again : " The whole of the Sacred Scripture is nothing else but the doctrine of love or charity, which the Lord also teaches when He says : " * Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it : Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.' Matt. xxii. 37-39. The Law and the Prophets are the Word in general and in particu- lar." — (N. J. D. n. 9.) Again : " The internal sense of the Word [which is its true meaning] is the very doctrine of love to the Lord and charitv toward the neighbor. This the Lord also teaches."— (A. C. 9409. See also n. 1285.) This, then, is the doctrine on which the specific Church is founded, and without which it would not be the Church. And this, too, is preeminently the doctrine of the New Church. It is what is signified by " the male- child " mentioned in the Apocalypse. And Mr. Reed's language can hardly fail to mislead his readers when he says " the doctrines [plural] of the New Church are signified by the man-child." Swedenborg says that this male-child " means the doctrine of the New Church." (A. E. 543.) And in the "Apocalypse Explained," 5 D 50 THE NEW CHURCH. where his explanation of the same text is more ex- tended, he says the male-child "means the doctrine of truth which is for the New Church called the New Jerusalem ; " and immediately adds : " Howbeit the genuine doctrine of the Church [meaning the New Church] is the doctrine of good, that is, the doctrine of life. And this is the doctrine of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor. But still it is the Aqg- trine of truth, for doctrine teaches life, love and charity, and so far as it teaches these it is truth." — (Ap. Ex. 724.) Here we have the doctrine of the New Church dis- tinctly stated, and by an authority which our Boston brother will hardly presume to question. This is the doctrine whereon this Church is "founded," and with- out which it could not exist — " the essential doctrine derived from the literal sense of the Word" — the doc- trine which comprehends " the whole of the Sacred Scripture ;" for it is the sum and substance of it all. And the same authority tells us what it is to love the Lord and the neighbor. " By loving the Lord is meant the performance of uses from Him as their source ; and by loving the neigh- bor is meant the doing of uses to him as the object of their direction." — (D. L. § xiii.) " He who believes that he loves the Lord, and does not live according to His precepts, is very much deceived ; for to live according to His precepts, is to love Him. Those precepts are the truths which are from the Lord and in which He is ; therefore, so far as they are loved, that is, so far as the life is formed according to them from love, so far the Lord is loved."— (A. C. 10,578.) " All the particulars of the doctrine of the New Jeru- MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 51 salem relate to love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor. Love to the Lord consists in trusting in Him and doing His commandments ; and to do His command- ments constitutes love toward the neighbor, because this is to be useful to our neighbor." — (A. R. 903.) Now the question is : Are all the people in Christen- dom at the present day, who love the Lord and the neighbor after the ^manner here explained, to be found in our Swedenborgian or New Church organization? And no others, remember, are in the doctrine of the New Church, signified by " the male-child." Or are these people to be found exclusively in any religious body ? Will they ever be found in any single Christian denomi- nation ? Are there none in the various denominations of to-day besides our own, who trust in the Lord and do His commandments ? And is it quite certain — is it at all probable — that all within our own communion do this? Or will any one be so presumptuous as to undertake to tell us just who or where all these people are ? The answer to each of these questions is so obvious, that I will not insult the reader's understand- ing by harboring even a suspicion that he may not see it. What, then, becomes of the theory of the pamphlet under review, that the New Church is a defined and visible body, distinguished by its peculiar doctrinal be- liefs ? It certainly finds no adequate support from the teachings of Swedenborg. On the contrary, it is clearly opposed to these teachings. 52 THE NEW CHURCH. THE SPECIFIC NEW CHURCH. I come now to speak more particularly of the New Church, which Mr. Reed tells us " is to be established by the reception of its doctrines, which doctrines are signified by the man-child." We have seen that the " male-child " signifies the one great and all embracing doctrine of the Sacred Scripture — l!he doctrine of love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor. This is preeminently the doctrine of the New Church. And few, I presume, doubt that there are multitudes in the various Christian denominations to-day that never read a page of Swedenborg, who are in the reception and acknowledgment of this doctrine, and a life according to it ; — multitudes who " trust in the Lord " and " live according to his precepts " ; and this is to love Him and the neighbor. If so, then these multitudes are in the New Church both in respect to doctrine and life. "As the specific Christian Church," says Mr. Eeed, " consisted of those who acknowledged the Lord at His first coming, so the specific New Church must consist of those who acknowledge Him in His second." This is plausible. To some, no doubt, it will seem conclu- sive. But the sophistry will be apparent on a careful or even a slight examination. It is neatly wrapped up — so neatly as to be almost hidden from common ob- servation — in the little phrase, " the specific Christian Church." I submit that there is not and never was any such thing. " The specific Christian Church " would imply that there is or has been some other Chris- tian Church — whioh implication is wholly groundless. The Christian Church, or the Church where the Word MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 53 is, is the specific Church. The only distinction between this church and the church universal is, that the former comprises all the regenerating men and women in Chris- tendom, who are in a higher or more interior degree of life than the good people of countries not in possession of the Word ; while the latter embraces all good people of w atever religion throughout the world. We are to bear in mind that the specific Church is the Church in Christendom. And this now is the New Church, for the first Christian Church ceased to exist more than a hundred years ago ; and there can never be but one Church on the earth at one and the same time. It follows, therefore, as a fair and necessary in- ference, that all which has been said and shown concern- ing the nature, constitution and whereabout of the spe- cific Church, is applicable to the specific New Church. But we are not left to mere inference. We have the positive and explicit teaching of Swedenborg, sustaining the conclusion that follows by logical sequence from what has already been said and shown ; — yes, and the teaching of the inspired Word also. See what is said of the New Jerusalem (by w T hich is signified the New Church) in the last two chapters of the Revelation. It is called " the Bride, the Lamb's wife." It is said to be of "pure gold, like unto clear glass." And who " enter in through the gates into the city " ? We have the answer : " they that do His com- mandments." And all the denizens thereof, we are as- sured, have the name of God and the Lamb " in their foreheads." From passages like these, as explained by God's chosen and illumined servant, we learn the char- acter of the New Church. We learn what class of 5* 54 THE NE W CH UR CH. people belong to it ; — not those alone who accept the doctrines taught by Swedenborg, but all who are in love to the Lord and the neighbor; for the doctrine which teaches this as the all-essential thing — is the doctrine of the New Church. And Mr. Reed himself will not insist that these people are all to be found in any one religious denomination, or that we may reason- ably expect they will ever be segregated, and exist to- gether as a visible body on earth. And in strict accord with the foregoing, we read that " there shall in no wise enter into it [the New Jerusa- lem] anything that defileth, or worketh abomination, or maketh a lie" ; that is, no wicked persons- — none who are in evils of life — will make any portion of this Church ; or as Swedenborg explains the text, " that no one will be received into the Lord's New Church, who adulterates the goods and alsifies the truths of the Word." Who, then, are admitted ? or who compose the New Jerusalem ? " They who are written in the Lamb's book of life " — these and no others ; for this, according to the same enlightened expositor, " signifies, that no others will be received into the New Church which is the New Jerusalem, but they who believe in the Lord and live according to his commandments in the Word." (A. R. 925.) And he immediately refers to a previous number wherein he explains the meaning of the phrase " written in the book of life," and says : " no others are found written in the book of life, than such as have lived according to the Lord's commandments in the Word, and have believed in the Lord ; this, therefore, is what is meant."— (A. R. 874 ; also n. 876.) MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 55 This is plain enough. It shows us of whom the New Jerusalem is composed. And are these people all to be found in that visible body known as " the New Church," because so denominated? Are there none but Sweden- borgians who believe in the Lord and live according to his commandments in the Word ? The idea is prepos- terous. Nor is it less hurtful to those who cherish it, than it is preposterous to all thoughtful and observing minds. Nor may we reasonably expect that this class of people — all the righteous in Christian lands — will ever exist as a distinct organization known by its doc- trinal beliefs, or by any visible or intellectual sign. Therefore we say that the New Church (and we speak now of the specific and real New Church) is invisible ; and for this reason it can never be organized on earth. And the organization existing under this name, is only a sect — a mere fraction, and a very small fraction of the visible New Church. For are not all the churches of to-day being made new ? Have they not, since the time of the Last Judgment, been receiving an influx of new light and life and liberty from the Divine Hu- manity ? WHO ACKNOWLEDGE THE DIVINE HUMANITY. " The fundamental doctrine of the New Church/' says Mr. Reed, " is that of the Divine Humanity of the Lord. This doctrine can be rationally understood and received only by means of the spiritual sense of the Word. There is no denomination of the former Church by whom it is received and acknowledged." And the reader is left to infer that, inasmuch as nothing is said about the doctrine of the Divine Hu- 56 THE NEW CHURCH. manity in any other theological writings than those of Swedenborg, therefore none but the receivers of his teachings can be supposed to acknowledge or receive this doctrine, or to know anything about it. Conse- quently none others can belong to the New Church. This again, though plausible, is fallacious — as we shall see presently. For it is not with the lips or the intellect merely that the doctrine of the Divine Hu- manity is truly acknowledged or received, any more than it is with the lips or the intellect that the Lord is truly worshiped. Men may understand the spiritual sense of the Scripture, and be in the intellectual recep- tion and lip-confession of this doctrine, yet not be in the real acknowledgment of the Divine Humanity ; while others who never heard of the doctrine, may in reality and at heart acknowledge it. There is reason to believe that multitudes in all the Christian denominations of to-day, think of and worship no other God than the Lord Jesus Christ, and are in the effort to obey his pre- cepts. Shall we say of all such (no one but the Lord knows who or where they are), that they " do not ac- knowledge the Divine in the Lord's Human," and there- fore " are not of the New Church " ? "The acknowledgment of God," says Swedenborg, " effects conjunction of Him with man and of man with Him/' But not the merely intellectual and verbal ac- knowledgment of Him, but the true Aear£-acknowledg- ment. For he proceeds, shortly after, to explain what he means by the acknowledgment of God, saying : "But none can in heart acknowledge God except those who have lived well. . . . This is because they alone love Him ; for they love the Divine things that ME. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 57 are from Him, observing them in their conduct. The Divine things that are from God, are the precepts of his law : these are God, because He is his own proceed- ing Divine. And this [the keeping of these precepts] is to love God. Therefore the Lord says: 'He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that lovethme.' "— D. P. 326. And repeatedly does Swedenborg say the same thing in substance, when discoursing of the Divine Humanity and the true acknowledgment thereof by men. Thus he says : " They who are in the life of evil, cannot acknowledge the Lord [and it is of the Lord in his Divine Humanity that he is here discoursing], but form to themselves innumerable contradictions against Him, inasmuch as they are receptive of an influx of fantasies from hell ; whereas they who are in the life of good, acknowledge the Lord, inasmuch as they are under the influx of heaven, the principle whereof is love or charity." — A. C. 2354. We learn from this that all who are in the life of good do really — though they may not verbally or intellectually — acknowledge the Divine Humanity ; while such as are in the life of evil do not acknowledge it in reality, however they may do so with their lips. Again : " They who live the life of faith [as many do who profess faith alone], who, with bended knees and humble hearts, adore the Lord as God the Saviour [as thousands do in all the churches], thinking nothing at the time from doctrine about the distinction between the Divine and the Human nature, . . in respect to these the Lord's Divine Humanity is in their hearts" — A. C. 4724. " They within the Church, who are principled in the good of charity, acknowledge the Lord's Divine Hu- 58 THE NEW CHURCH. manity and Holy Proceeding [not necessarily with the understanding and lips] which is understood by the two angels ; but not so they who are not principled in the good of charity." — Ibid. 2326. " They who are in the life of evil are admitted no further than to the mere knowledge of good and of the Lord, but not to the very essential acknowledgment and belief thereof." — Ibid. 2357. " They among the Gentiles who do works of charity from the affection of good, and worship the Supreme Being from the affection of truth, are in the Lord's spiritual church ; and although they are ignorant of the Lord during their abode in the world, still they have in themselves the worship and tacit acknowledgment of Him when they are in good ; for in all good the Lord is present. Therefore these in another life also easily acknowledge Him [openly], more easily, indeed, than such Christians as are not so principled in good, and yet receive [with the intellect] the truth of faith respect- ing the Lord." — A. C. 3263. Swedenborg further tells us that there are some among the highest or celestial angels, " who, while they were men on earth, conceived an idea of the Lord's human principle as of that appertaining to another man." But they had been in the affection or love of good ; and " ideas inspired by the affection of good, are the ground of all conjunction in. another life." — Ibid. 2574. Thus we see that there may be, and no doubt there is with thousands, a real acknowledgment of the great central doctrine of the New Church, when there is no open or formal acknowledgment of it. But w T ho are in this real acknowledgment no one can know but the Lord alone. Therefore He only knows who are in and of the New Jerusalem. MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 59 Take the following passage as still further confirma- tory of the view I am advocating. Swedenborg is speak- ing of the different aspects which the same truth pre- sents to men of the celestial and those of the spiritual Church. And he says : " They disagree about that most essential of all truths, viz., the Lord's Divinity, his Humanity and Holy Pro- ceeding. The celestial perceive that they are not three but one ; whereas the spiritual abide in the idea of three, yet are willing to believe they are one. Since, there- fore, there are disagreements about this most essential point of all, it may be seen that the varieties and differ- ences of doctrines are innumerable. . . . But notwith- standing these varieties and differences, still they to- gether form one Church when all acknowledge charity as the essential of the church, or, what is the same thing, when they have respect to life as the end of doc- trine; that is, when they inquire how a man of the Church lives, and not so much what are his opinions [or beliefs]; for to everyone in the other life the Lord assigns a lot according to the good of his life, and not according to the truth of doctrine separate from this good." — Ibid. 3241. We see from this that an intellectual disagreement in regard to this fundamental and " most essential point of all," need not and does not hinder those who disagree from being of one and the same Church; provided " they have respect to life as the end of doctrine." For* all who regard this as the end, are in the real and practical acknowledgment of charity as the essential thing, and are therefore in the one great and all-embracing doc- trine of the Word signified by the " male-child " ; and this is preeminently the doctrine of the New Church. 60 THE NEW CHURCH. VARIETY IN THE NEW CHURCH. I have already referred to the endless variety existing in the angelic heavens, and which Swedenborg tells us is necessary to their perfection. A similar variety is also necessary to the perfection of the Church, which is the Lord's heaven on earth. But the necessity of any such variety in the New Church, Mr. Reed seems not to recognize. Certainly his theory does not provide for it, nor indeed render it possible. Yet our great au- thority assures us that a similar variety belongs to this Church, and that it is indispensable to its completeness. Speaking of the seven churches in Asia, symbolized by the seven candlesticks which John beheld in vision, he says " they signify the New Church on earth, which is the New Jerusalem." And he adds : " The seven candlesticks do not mean seven churches, but the Church in the aggregate, which in itself is one, but various according to reception. These varieties may be compared to the various jewels in a king's crown ; also to the various members and organs in a perfect body, which nevertheless make one. The per- fection of every form consists in different things being suitably disposed in their order. Hence it is that the entire New Church as to its various particulars, is de- scribed in what follows by the seven churches." — A. R. 66.. See also T. C. R. 763. And in these seven Asiatic churches, which signify the entire New Jerusalem in all its variety, we find, mingled with people in every form and degree of fal- sity and evil, some also in the various states of good and truth, from the highest in which are they who are " in truths grounded in good from the Lord," down to MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 61 the lowest signified by the church in Laodicea, who be- lieve in salvation by faith alone. Yet the greater part of these professed solifidians, Swedenborg tells us, " do not know what faith alone is," but believe that it is " to think concerning God and salvation, and how they ought to live" And because they live in charity, they constitute a portion of the New Church. The same doctrine of endless variety in the New Church (coupled also with that of its invisibility) is dis- closed in Chapter VII. of the Revelation as explained by Swedenborg. This chapter treats of the sealing of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, by which are meant " all of the New Christian Heaven and the New Church, who will be in truths of doctrine derived from the good of love through the Word from the Lord." (A. R. 348.) And at the conclusion of the sealing of each of these tribes, the seer adds : " After this I Beheld, and lo, a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands." And Swedenborg says that this great multitude " Signifies all the rest who are not among the above recited [that is, not among the twelve tribes], and yet are in the Lord's New Heaven mid New Church, being those who compose the ultimate Heaven and the exter- nal Church, whose character no one knows but the Lord alone. They who are meant by the twelve tribes of Israel are such as constitute the Lord's internal church ; but they who are now mentioned are such as constitute the external church, and cohere as one with the above recited, as inferior things with superior, or as the body with the head."— A. R. 363. 6 62 THE NEW CHURCH. From this it appears that the largest portion of those who belong to the Lord's New Church, (for the external church comprises many more than the internal — see A. C. 6587) are not " in truths of doctrine," but consist of a class of persons who, according to Mr. Reed's the- ory, are quite outside of the New Church, and form no part of it whatever. And it is obvious enough that some of these persons must belong to the specific New Church, that is, to the portion of the New Church in Christendom, though they are not in the reception of the internal sense of the Word. For it is said that they " compose the external church " ; and we are told that " the men of the external church are they who have qualified their good by exterior truths such as those of the literal sense of the Word." (A. C. 7840.) And it is expressly declared that " no one but the Lord alone knows the character of these people," or can tell who or where they are — proving conclusively that this Church is invisible. TO WHOM IS THE LORD REVEALED? Then no one, I presume — not even Mr. Reed — will maintain that a person may belong to the New Church who does not receive the Lord internally. And who receive Him thus ? To whom alone does He come in the manner promised where his second advent is fore- told — " with power and great glory " ? To those who receive (intellectually) the doctrines of the New Church as revealed through Swedenborg ? By no means ; but only to those who live the truth they acknowledge, and thus unite that truth with the good of love which is the MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 63 very substance and life of the Lord, in their own souls. This is distinctly taught by Swedenborg. Thus in the chapter in which he treats of the Lord's second coming, and the purpose thereof, he says : " The Lord's presence is perpetual with every man, both the wicked and the good ; for without his presence no man lives. But his coming takes jDlace only with those who receive Him, who are such as believe in Him and do his commandments. The Lord's perpetual pres- ence causes man to become rational, and renders him able to become spiritual. This is effected by the light which proceeds from Him as a Sun in the spiritual world, and which man receives in his understanding. That light is truth, through which man possesses ration- ality. But the Lord's coming takes place with him who unites heat to that light, that is, love to truth ; for the heat proceeding from that same Sun is love to God and love toward the neighbor. The mere presence of the Lord and the consequent enlightenment of the un- derstanding, may be compared to the presence of solar light in the world ; unless this light is united with heat, all things on earth are made desolate. But the Lord's coming may be compared to the advent of heat which takes place in spring ; because the heat then unites with light, the earth is softened, seeds sprout and bring forth fruit. Such is the parallelism between the spiritual sur- roundings of man's spirit and the natural surroundings of his body. " It is the same with the man of the church in the composite form as it is with the individual man. Man in the composite form is the church existent among many, while the individual man is the church existent in each one of those many." — T. C. E. 774, '5. To no soul, therefore, does the Lord really reveal Himself in his second advent, any farther than that soul shuns evils as sins, and thereby freely receives the good 64 THE NEW CHURCH. of His unselfish love. He is present, indeed, with others — even with the wicked ; present in the truths they un- derstand and believe — comparatively as the sun is present in the clear cold light of winter. But He is not in them nor they in Him. The quickening warmth of his love is absent, and therefore they can bear no fruit. And to all such the gates of the New Jerusalem are forever shut. INCREASE OF THE NEW CHURCH. Mr. Keed quotes from the Apocalypse Explained the three reasons assigned by Swedenborg, " why the New Church, called the New Jerusalem, is first to commence with a few, afterward with greater numbers," etc. : "The first is, that its doctrine, which is [Ji^*] the doctrine of love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor ["H^S], cannot be acknowledged and thence received except by those who are interiorly affected with truths." Another reason is, " that the doctrine of this Church cannot be acknowledged, and therefore cannot be received, by those who have confirmed themselves in faith alone, both in doctrine and in life. Confirma- tion in doctrine only, does not hinder reception ; but if it be at the same time in life, it does hinder, for such persons do not know what love to the Lord nor what neighborly love or charity is, neither do they desire to know." And the third reason is, " that the New Church on earth increases according to its increase in the world of spirits " ; and no others in that world could "receive the doctrine [just mentioned] but those who were in the spiritual affection of truth." And he adds : "the number of these in the spiritual world now in- creases daily ; wherefore, according to their increase, the Church which is called the New Jerusalem increases on earth." — Ap. Ex. 732. MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 65 It is not a little surprising that Mr. Reed, after quoting this passage from the Apocalypse Explained, should say : "It is clearly implied here, as it is abun- dantly elsewhere, that the New Church is to be established by the reception of its doctrines." I submit that, in the sense in which our Boston brother uses this term, doc- trines, there is here no such implication as he alleges. So far from it, there is not a syllable in the whole para- graph about doctrines — only about the one great comprehensive New Church doctrine, that "of love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor." And if there are at the present time, in all Christendom, none but Swedenborgians who receive this doctrine, then Mr. Reed is right in believing that no others belong to, or constitute any part of, the specific New Church ; other- wise not. It is worthy of remark, also, that this paragraph (Ap. Ex. 732) was written within four or five years after the Last Judgment, when there was not, probably, (besides Swedenborg himself) a single receiver of the doctrines of the New Church (according to Mr. Reed's view of what entitles one to be so regarded) in all the world ; and therefore not another member of this Church anywhere on earth. Yet the seer speaks of the num- ber of those who were able to accept its one great doc- trine, and thereby establish their title to membership in this Church, as " increasing daily " on earth and in the spiritual world at the time he was writing. Yet there was no multiplication of professed receivers — no enlargement of a visible body — no increase in the num- ber of those who openly avowed their reception of the doctrines of the New Church as commonly understood. 6* E 66 THE NE W CHURCH. If, then, the New Church, within four or five years after the Last Judgment, was increasing daily on earth, "according to its increase in the world of spirits," when there were no acknowledged receivers of its doctrines anywhere in the world, and of course no organization of such persons, we are forced to the conclusion that this Church is not a visible body distinguished by its doctrinal beliefs. " Those who are permitted to enter in through the gates into the city," says Mr. Reed, " pass into the spiritual sense, which is enclosed and protected by the literal as by a wall." But how is such permission obtained ? Not by the profession or possession of any peculiar doctrinal views ; not by any abundance of in- tellectual treasures ; not by the verbal or rational ac- knowledgment of the internal sense of the Word, the Divine Humanity, or any doctrines whatsoever. No : " Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." ARE ALL BUT SWEDENBORGIANS WITHOUT THE GATES? And who are they outside the walls ? Not necessarily those who are unacquainted with the New Church doc- trines ; nor those who are ignorant of" correspondences," or of the spiritual sense of the Word. " ' For without are dogs and sorcerers and whoremongers and murder- ers and idolaters,' &c, signifies," says Swedenborg, " that no one will be received into the New Jerusalem, who makes no account of the commandments of the decalogue, and does not shun any evils therein as sins, MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 67 and therefore lives in them " — proving again that not right thinking or believing, but righteous doing — the keeping of the divine precepts — is what gives admission into the New Jerusalem ; and that no one lacking this, can enter into the city, whatever doctrines he 'may be- lieve, or however great his delight in them, or however ardent his zeal in promulgating them. And does any one believe that all the vast multitude of people in Christian lands to-day (except Swedenbor- gians) are of that class said to be " without " ? Does our Boston brother himself believe this? Are there none among them who " have respect to the command- ments of the decalogue/' or who " shun as sins the evils therein enumerated " ? If there be, they certainly belong to the Lord's Church, yes and to his New Church, for there is now no other. The specific Church, or the Church in Christendom to-day, is the New Church. But there are, among those composing this Church, countless degrees of enlightenment and endless diversity of state. And this very diversity, we should remember, is one of the distinguishing characteristics of this Church. " I have heard," says Swedenborg, " that churches which are in different states of good and truth, provided their goods relate to love to the Lord and their truths to faith in Him, are like so many gems in a king's crown." (T. C. R. 763.) And speaking of the varieties in the New Church, which he says contribute to its perfection, and which were typified by " the seven golden candle- sticks," he adds : " These varieties may be compared to the various jewels in a king's crown ; also to the various members and organs in a perfect body, which neverthe- less make one." — (A. R. 66.) 68 THE NEW CHURCH. FOR WHAT WERE THE WINGS GIVEN t " The two wings of a great eagle," says Mr. Keed, " were not given to the woman to enable her to w T alk on the earth, but to rise above the clouds of the letter into the clear light of heaven." Was this the purpose for which the wings were given to the woman ? Was it not rather " that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the face of the serpent " ? — a very different purpose, we see, from what our Boston brother imagines. And turning to Swedenborg's exposition of this text and the context, we find in it abundant sup- port of just that theory of the New Church advocated in these pages, which is very different from the theory of Mr. Keed and his school. Instead of the wings being given to the woman to enable her " to rise above the clouds of the letter," and fly out of the wilderness, we learn that it was the purpose of Divine Providence that she should remain in the wilderness, " where she hath a place prepared of God," until she should reach a state of maturity ; for there, better than elsewhere, could she be protected, fed and nourished by the ever- watchful, loving and bountiful One who careth for and feedeth His own flock like a shepherd. " That the woman got the wings of a great eagle," says Swedenborg, " and flew to her own place, means that the Church called the New Jerusalem is to tarry among those who are in the doctrine of faith separate from charity, while it is growing to its fullness [or ma- turity]." That is, the humble followers of the Lord whose minds are illumined by the new truths from out MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 69 the new angelic heavens, are to remain mixed up (so far as relates to outward church organization) with those who are in falsities and evils. For " in that Church [the wilderness, where the New Church was to tarry] there are dragons who separate faith from good works, not only in doctrine but also in life. " But they are not all of this character. Some of them, though professing faith alone, nevertheless live righteously. As Swedenborg says : " There are others in the same Church [the wilder- ness] who live the life of faith, which is charity ; these are not dragons, although among them ; for they think it is agreeable to doctrine that faith produces the fruits which are good works, and that the faith which justifies and saves, is to believe those things which are in the Word and do them. But the dragons are of an entirely different way of thinking." — Ap. Ex. 764. Then note the revealed purpose of Providence (sym- bolically expressed) in having the woman take refuge in the wilderness, " where she hath a place prepared of God." It is, that she may there be more effectually strengthened, fed, nourished and increased — and thus be " helped " as she could not if she should flee out of the wilderness, and seek to find for herself a better place than that providentially prepared for her. For her growth and " help " are from those in the wilder- ness where she is to remain during the period of her immaturity, "who are not dragons, although among them." Speaking of the earth which " helped the woman," Swedenborg says : " by the earth here is meant the earth of the wilderness, into which the woman fled, and where she had a place prepared of God." And the symbolic 70 THE NEW CHURCH. language expressive of the Divine intent, "that she might be nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the face of the serpent," is explained by him in this wise : " That hereby is signified, until the church grows and comes to its fullness, appears from the signification of being nourished as denoting to be sustained and in the meantime to grow ; and from the signification of a time and times and half a time, as denoting the state of increase of the church, even to its fullness." — Ap. Ex. 761. Now, bearing in mind that the specific New Church is not a visible body (a proposition which, I think, has been clearly demonstrated), it is plain that its growth is not to be measured like the growth of a sect, that is, by the multiplication of believers who can be seen and counted. If it were a visible body, counting would be the true way of measuring its increase. But whatever view is taken as to the whereabout or visibility of this Church, no one, I presume — not even Mr. Reed him- self — will contend that it has already reached its ma- turity, or " come to its fullness." Nor will it be maintained that the organization which has assumed the name of the New Church — composed largely as it is, of those who have gone out from the " place prepared of God " — is in a very healthy, har- monious or thriving condition. And may not the ex- planation of its known and conceded want of vigor, harmony, vitality and thrift, be found in the fact that the receivers of its doctrines have gone forth out of the wilderness, and sought to make for themselves a better place than that " prepared of God," instead of remain- MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 71 ing in it as Providence designed they should, and exer- cising a child-like trust that He who careth for the fowls of the air will surely not forget to nourish and protect his children in the place prepared for them by Himself? May not their course — so plainly contrary to the inti- mations of prophecy and the teachings of our illumined scribe — have been prompted by self-regard and self- derived intelligence more than by the wisdom that cometh from Above ? And may they not, through this mistake and others connected with and consequent on this, have interrupted the free flow of the heavenly cur- rents into their souls, and so have deprived themselves of the " help " which the earth of the wilderness would have rendered had they remained there? — yes, and of the blessed privilege and larger opportunity they might otherwise have enjoyed of imparting new light and life to others ? These questions, I submit, are of serious moment, and deserve the careful consideration of Mr. Reed, and all that school of thinkers and writers to which he belongs. CONCLUSION. To conclude : — I have pointed out some of the mis- takes and fallacies of Mr. Reed's pamphlet, prominent among which is the idea that the New Jerusalem is a visible body composed exclusively of those who ac- knowledge the claims and accept the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg. And I have endeavored to show : — 1st. That Swedenborg uses the term Church in two, and only two, senses : (1) as denoting the aggregate of 72 THE NEW CHURCH. religious organizations among those who have the Word, and thereby a knowledge of the Lord, without regard to character ; and (2) as denoting only the good people in Christian countries, whose internal and real character is known to the Lord alone. In one sense, therefore, he means by it the visible and nominal church ; in the other, which is the sense in which he most fre- quently uses the term, he means the invisible and real church. 2d. That there is a specific church and a universal church, the former being relatively less numerous though more interior and more enlightened, but essen- tially the same as the latter in its nature and constitu- tion ; the one consisting of all in Christian lands who are in a state of love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor; and the other composed of the good throughout the whole world, but whose character is known only to the Lord. 3d. That, at the time of the Last Judgment and in consequence of that event, men on earth began to have new thoughts, new feelings, new perceptions, new views of spiritual truth and religious life, new inspirations of civil and religious liberty ; and that this new influx of light and life into the minds and hearts of all who are willing to receive them, — pointing to and hastening the fulfillment of the divine prediction, " Behold, I make all things new " — is what Swedenborg referred to when he spoke (L. J. 73.) of " the Church hereafter/' mean- ing the New Church, which was to remain " similar in the outward form " to what the Christian church had been, but to be " inwardly dissimilar." 4th. That the New Church is the only church now on ME. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 73 earth, since there cannot exist more than one church at any given time. And that this New Church, in its gen- uine and specific sense, is not a new ecclesiasticism — not a new visible organization distinguished by its pe- culiar doctrinal beliefs, but is composed of all the good people who profess the Christian religion — all who really love the Lord and the neighbor. And since these can be known and .distinguished only by Him who alone sees the internals of men, therefore the New Church in its specific sense, is invisible, and can never exist on earth in a distinct and organized form. 5th. That it is, therefore, a grave mistake, and one which must inevitably lead to other mistakes and pro- duce much mischief, for any organized body to assume to be the specific New Church simply on the ground of its accepting the new doctrines revealed through Swe- denborg ; for this Church is not one to be known or distinguished by its doctrinal beliefs. Yet it is proper and useful for those who accept these doctrines, to join together in an organized effort for their dissemination by any and all lawful methods. But any attempt to distinguish the Lord's church or people by the doctrines they profess, or any thought of building up a visible New Jerusalem here on earth simply by organizing a new religious body of those who receive its doctrines, is an attempt to separate the wheat from the tares before the time of harvest ; or an attempt of the woman to seek for herself an abode elsewhere than in the wil- derness — "the place prepared of God," where she could be protected and " helped " and " nourished for a time and times and half a time from the face of the serpent." And any such attempt, because contrary to 7 74 THE NEW CHURCH. divine order and the purpose of Divine Providence, must needs interrupt to some extent the free influx of the celestial currents, and thus hinder or hurt the growth of the Church. If I have succeeded in demonstrating these points, it will readily be seen that the demonstration suggests to the readers and receivers of the heavenly doctrines quite a different aim from that cherished by Mr. Reed and his school, and quite a different course of action from that which has hitherto been pursued. Our aim should be, not to rear between ourselves and other Christians the highest possible wall of separation ; not to have new ordinances, a new priesthood, a new ritual, and conse- quently a new church-establishment — thus placing our- selves in a false if not offensive attitude, and exciting enmity and intensifying prejudice by assuming to be the Lord's true church on earth to the exclusion of all others ; not to disturb or weaken other religious organ- izations by advocating the immediate withdrawal there- from of all who read and accept the teachings of Swe- den borg. This aim, while altogether consistent with Mr. Reed's idea that the New Jerusalem is a visible body consisting exclusively of those who accept its doc- trines, is wholly incompatible with the view advocated in these pages and abundantly confirmed by the teach- ings of Swedenborg. And this false assumption on our part, has been and is still one of the chief hindrances to the spread of the new theology. If the view I have presented be the true one, our aim should be to win for the heavenly doctrines the favor- able regard of all who are in states to receive them ; to overcome as far as possible the prejudice naturally felt MR. REED'S VIEW OF IT EXAMINED. 75 toward new truths, and remove out of the way all ob- stacles to their reception ; to encourage the freest and widest circulation of our writings among all classes of Christians, by the assurance (strengthened by our prac- tice) that we do not aim to disturb or rend asunder ex- isting organizations, but to open to them new and wider avenues of spiritual instruction — to impart unto them new light, liberty and love, and so to bless them with increased toleration, unity and strength, and a greater fullness of the Divine Master's spirit. Let this be our great and constant aim — the widest and speediest dissemination of the new theology and philosophy among our fellow-men — and the formation of clubs, societies and associations for that purpose, com- posed of all who are willing to aid in this benevolent and ennobling work, would follow as a matter of course. But none of those pitiful and disturbing ecclesiastical questions whose agitation has hitherto exerted a baleful and withering influence, could then arise. The wisest, best and most economical methods of disseminating the new truths, would be the only questions to be debated. Groups of delighted readers and affectionate receivers of these truths — little bands of free and earnest minds and of strong and loving hearts — would spring up in every city, town and neighborhood ; and the best men and women would be gradually drawn within the circle of their influence. And the blessed work of propagan- dise would go on all the more surely and rapidly be- cause of the fraternal relations which the receivers study to maintain and cultivate with the members of the several churches to which they may respectively belong. Persons whose antagonism would be aroused, and whose 76 THE NEW CHURCH. prejudices would be intensified by the old sectarian methods and sect-building spirit, would be softened and won by this unwonted exhibition of genuine catholicity. Strong men whose souls have been blessed by the new truths, and who would gladly aid in their dissemination, would not be sickened and disgusted by petty ecclesi- astical squabbles, but would have their love quickened and their zeal increased by this manifestation of the broadening, elevating, sweetening influence of the new doctrines on those who receive them. The existing prejudice against these doctrines would speedily give way, and their enlarging and ennobling effect on the character of receivers would soon force conviction on the minds of multitudes that they must indeed be the very doctrines of heaven. These are some of the beneficent results sure to follow the general acceptance by the students of Swedenborg of that theory of the New Church herein set forth, and so abundantly sustained by the authorities cited. There are others equally beneficent, but I need not refer to them now. It is enough to know that the theory, if true, will some day be universally accepted ; and then, and not before, will the good of this truth be seen and realized. II. MR. GILES 1 IDEA OF THE NEW CHUECH CARE- FULLY CONSIDERED. IN the June 17th (1874) issue of the " New Jerusa- lem Messenger " is a discourse by Kev. Chauncey Giles, entitled " The New Jerusalem, a New Church in outward form as well as in inward life." It is not our habit to criticise sermons. But there are reasons for believing that we shall be excused for departing from the usual custom in the present instance, as the one now before us is of the nature of an essay rather than of a sermon. The author does not attempt to confirm his postulates by quotations from the Word, or from the writings of Swedenborg ; thus virtually conceding that no support of his main position is to be drawn from these sources. "The reasons for it," he says, "must come from a different source ; they must be found in the nature of the truths themselves, in the laws of the divine order, in the necessities which grow out of their promulgation, and in the wants of those who accept them." As the subject which our brother has here discussed is one now before the New-Church public, it may be both interesting and profitable to examine briefly his positions and argument. And we will first meet Mr. Giles on his own ground, and draw our reasons from the very sources he has indicated, or consider the ques- tion from his own point of view. 7* 77 78 THE NEW CHURCH. And what is the question ? It is that respecting the nature and whereabout of the New Jerusalem, and the orderly way of building it. Upon this question there are, among the receivers of the heavenly doctrines, both in this country and in England, two distinct and clearly defined schools; one of them holding that the New Jerusalem is not, and never can be in this world, a dis- tinct and visibly organized body, like the various exist- ing sects in Christendom ; the other, believing with Mr. Giles that it is a visible body, or that " the New Church must become distinctly organized." Both schools ac- cept Swedenborg as a divinely commissioned teacher. Both believe in the New Jerusalem and its descent from God out of heaven. Both believe in it as " a new city, with new walls, new streets, new dwellings, new temples for worship, new laws and new methods." We do not know a single individual who believes it is to be " the old city, with the old walls, the old narrow and crooked streets, the old dark dwellings, the old temples," etc. Both agree that one hundred and nineteen years ago the Old City was standing, but in a state of hopeless decay, and that the New City had not then begun to be builded ; but that ever since, the New has been and still continues in process of erection. So far both schools agree. But as soon as they come to the questions, Where and what is the New Jerusa- lem, and how is it or how ought it to be builded, straightway they part company. BUILD TNG THE CITY ANEW. Bight here, then, seems to be the proper place to consider what is the orderly or normal method of re- MR. GILES' VIEW OF IT CONSIDERED. 79 placing an old city by a new one — we mean a natural or material city. If we can once be sure of this, we may see clearly, from the light of correspondence, how the New Church comes and ought to come to take the place of the Old. Remember that the new city is to be builded upon the same site as the old one ; for Christendom is where the New Church of which we are now speaking, is to be built up ; or Christendom and Heathendom to- gether, if we admit that the Old Church included both. As a primary requisite to the rearing of a new in the place of an old material city, one or more persons must be brought to see the dilapidated and forlorn condition of the old, and to feel some desire for, and have some conception of, the beauty and order and grandeur of the new. Thus the new city, or some faint image of it, must first descend into their minds — first dawn upon their imagination. And what next ? Do these few persons straightway withdraw from the old city, go quite outside its limits, and there lay out new streets and dig for new founda- tions, saying, Here we will build new walls, new streets, new buildings, new temples ? By no means — if they are sensible people. But they set about building the new city right within the limits of the old. They do not expect nor intend to do so great a work in a day or a year. They will be satisfied if they complete it in a hundred years. They talk about their plans, exhibit them on paper to their neighbors ; and after a while they succeed in interesting many others. At last their views begin to be appreciated, not fully but partially, and their influence begins to be felt throughout the city. Then the people go to work. They introduce a new 80 THE NEW CHURCH. and more thorough system of drainage. They adopt a new and improved method of lighting and watering the city. They widen a street here, and straighten and beautify another there. They demolish a rickety old block in one quarter, and replace it by a substantial, elegant, airy and well-ventilated structure. They tear down old, dark, worm-eaten, bat-inhabited temples, and on the same sites rear others that vie with the temples in heaven. They build with better and more durable materials. They dig deeper, and lay more substantial and secure foundations to all their buildings. They plant trees and flowers in places that were most unin- viting before, and beautify and adorn the spots that were once unsightly. And as these improvements go on, the spirit of improvement spreads ; until at last it reaches and affects nearly all the citizens. Then the im- provements proceed with still greater rapidity, growing always better and better as they increase ; until finally a new city stands there in the place of the old one, its streets, dwellings, temples, halls, sewerage, waterworks, illuminating apparatus, every thing, in short, belonging to the city being made altogether new. 1 We submit, that this is the normal and the only sen- sible and orderly way of building a new city on the site of an old one. And if so, and there be any truth in the doctrine of correspondence, we confess ourselves at a loss to see how that school of professed New-Church- men to which Mr. Giles belongs, can for a moment main- tain their present position. For nothing can be plainer than that the normal method of building a new material city on the spot where an old one stands, is in direct and violent conflict with the theory of that school in 31 R. GILES' VIEW OF IT CONSIDERED. 81 regard to the New Jerusalem and the best way to build it up. Carry out the correspondence in all its details, and see if you can find in it any thing that harmonizes with this theory ; any thing, that is, which points to a sudden withdrawal from their old religious organiza- tions, and the formation of a new and separate one, by persons who become receivers of the heavenly doctrines ; — bearing in mind, too, what the theory involves, viz., the idea that the organizations from which they with- draw are, viewed in the aggregate, the old city, and that which they enter, the new one — " the holy city New Jerusalem." But apply the correspondence to the theory of the other school, and it harmonizes with and sustains it perfectly throughout. For a new natural city that rises to take the place of an old one, does not spring up out- side the limits of the old, built there by the hands of those who, having caught the spirit of improvement and imbibed some new municipal ideas, have suddenly taken themselves away from their neighbors, and gone outside to rear a city of their own. On the contrary, it springs up within the old which it finally supersedes or dis- places. The renovation is gradual and slow. The new comes as fast as, and just where, the old disappears. And must not the corresponding way be the true and orderly way in which the New Church is to be built up, or to come and take the place of the Old ? Not by the receivers of its doctrines seceding and forming a new and separate organization ; but by remaining there in the old, and doing all in their power to renovate it by imparting thereunto the light and life of the new ? If F 82 THE NEW CHURCH. any thing is plainly taught by the doctrine of corre- spondence, it surely is this.. MR. GILES' ILLUSTRATIONS IN CONFLICT WITH HIS THEORY. And everywhere throughout the universe, " the laws of the divine order " to which Mr. Giles confidently ap- peals, are in palpable conflict with his theory on the question at issue ; while they are seen to be as obviously in harmony with the theory of the opposite school. In all orderly divine operations by which the new comes to take the place of the old, it comes not in organic separation from, but in organic union with, the old. And so coming, it is helped by the old, although this latter is displaced by its advent. Take, for example, the human body. This is being renewed continually. Fresh material is daily added to it, while the effete and worn-out substance is cast off or gives place to the new. So that, as science tells us, a man gets an entirely new body every seven years. But how is this new body built up ? Not, surely, in organic separation from the old, but in most intimate and vital union with it. Each fresh instalment which is added day by day, comes in to take the place of the old. The new substance does not withdraw from the old, and attempt to build up a new body outside or apart from it. But it works in fraternal union with it, not trying even to displace the old substance so long as this latter is capable of render- ing the least service. "And thus the new body is built up little by little, not apart from or outside of the old r but right within it. Now carry out the correspondence here, and see which MR. GILES' VIEW OF IT CONSIDERED. 83 of the two theories in regard to the orderly method of building up the New Church it favors. It certainly does not favor the theory which holds that " the New- Church must become distinctly organized/' must be built up as a distinct and visible body, apart from and outside of all other church organizations. It is in pal- pable conflict with such a theory. " New principles," says Mr. Giles, " must ultimate themselves in new forms. It is a law of the divine order, which, as far as we know, reigns in all the prov- inces and degrees of the creation. " True : but we cannot see that this furnishes any support whatever to his theory. For he is urging a new and distinct church- organization for the New Jerusalem. And this is what he means by the " new form " that these principles are to take on according to the universal law here refer- red to. But what is the fact ? Why, if we look at our New- Church societies, associations and convention, we shall see that all of them are but poor imitations of what we find in the other churches. We meet together in tem- ples very similar to theirs ; but usually inferior to them in neatness, comfort, beauty or attractive ess. We read the Word, kneel, pray, sing, and listen to sermons as the people do in other churches. And the chief differ- ence between these performances in our churches and others, which would strike an ordinary spectator, is the general inferiority of ours to theirs. Is there any such marked difference between the outward form of the present nominal New Church (viewed ecclesiastically) and the other churches, as might be expected, if here is where we are to look for the ultimation of the " new 84 THE NEW CHURCH. principles"? Is not the new ecclesiastical form so like the old, that the keenest eye can scarcely discern any difference? And, save in the general substitution of the Lord's prayer for longer and more wordy ones, the difference is seldom an improvement on the old. We submit that " the new forms " in which the prin- ciples of this New Age might be expected to ultimate themselves — in which they are, indeed, ultima-ting themselves — are not ecclesiastical, as Mr. Giles and his school would have us believe. Swedenborg expressly declares that the church which would arise in conse- quence of the Last Judgment and the New Dispensa- tion, would not be a new ecclesiasticism, or essentially different in form from what it had been, or from what it was at the time he wrote. The church " will be sim- ilar," he says, " in the outward form, but dissimilar in the inward;" dissimilar, that is, in its ideas, thoughts and spirit. Obviously, then, we must look in a different direction for the " new forms " in which the new principles ought to ultimate themselves according to the unchangeable Jaw referred to. We must search for them in a broader field than an ecclesiastical organization. " The field is the world." And when Ave look at all the new sciences, inventions, arts and industries which have sprung into existence since the commencement of the New Dispen- sation ; at the new and multitudinous labor-saving ma- chines ; the new modes of travel and transportation ; the new methods of education and of diffusing knowledge ; the new ways of farming, manufacturing, mining and printing ; the new methods of building, lighting, warm- ing and ventilating our houses and temples ; the new MR. GILES' VIEW OF IT CONSIDERED. 85 and better way, in short, of doing every thing whereby the wants of the world are supplied, and its conveniences and comforts multiplied and increased ; when we look at all these new, useful and rapidly multiplying forms, we find in them some adequate expression of the new principles announced for the New Age. They are pre- cisely such fonns as we might expect the New Dispen- sation of love and good-will to men would ultimate itself in ; all of them beneficent ; all of them breathing good-will to men ; all of them contributing to the pro- gress, comfort and welfare of our race. By the side of these grand and beneficent forms — all of them the normal outbirths or embodiments, ac- cording to that unfailing law of correspondence, of the new principles revealed from heaven — how inadequate and utterly insignificant seems that new ecclesiastical form which some are working so hard to build up, and which so many are in the habit of thinking and speak- ing of as " the New Jerusalem in its ultimate form " ! " The discovery of a new scientific truth," says Mr. Giles, " leads to the formation of a new society for its cultivation and extension.' 5 Sometimes. But do the receivers of the " new scientific truth" withdraw at once from all connection with other scientific bodies to which they have hitherto belonged, and set up a new body of - their own ? — a body with such lofty claims, too, as might (possibly) befit a company of men who held a monopoly of all the scientific knowledge in the world, and could show a good title-deed to the same ? We Jiave never heard of the receivers of new scientific truth behaving so unwisely or presumptuously. No one objects to an organization for the more effec- 8 86 THE NEW CHURCH. tive propagation of any new idea. We know of none who think that we are " working contrary to the laws of the divine order, in forming societies and organizing associations for the dissemination of the new truths which constitute a new age in the spiritual progress of humanity. " On the contrary every one admits the propriety and expediency of this. But organizing so- cieties and associations for such a purpose, is a very dif- ferent thing from organizing the New Jerusalem, how- ever some may seek to confound the two. The theory which we oppose involves the idea that the aggregate of so-called New-Church societies is the veritable New Jerusalem on earth. Hence the new ordinations, the new priesthood, and the claim of new and more valid ordinances set up by the advocates of this theory. If societies or associations were formed merely " for the dissemination of the new truths," no one would question their legitimacy or expediency ; and members of all the sects and of no sect might consistently enough belong to them, just as they may belong to an ethnological or scientific association or a Shakespeare club. But in stating this only as the purpose of our existing New- Church organization, as if no other end were contem- plated and no claim set up beyond this, is to attempt to wink out of sight the main question at issue, and to conceal the most prominent and only objectionable fea- ture of the organization. " A new political idea/' says Mr. Giles, continuing his series of illustrations, "organizes a new form of government. Take the idea of republicanism for ex- ample. Its essential principle in relation to natural life is the same as that of the New Church in relation MR. GILES' VIEW OF IT CONSIDERED. 87 to spiritual life, rational freedom. . . . Could it ever have become this benign and gigantic power [that it is], if the idea had not been organized, and the problem worked out on a scale of sufficient national grandeur to attract the eyes of the world ? " This seems plausible ; to some, no doubt, it will seem conclusive. But when the illustration is closely scan- ned, it will be seen to conduct to a very different con- clusion from that to which it was intended to lead. To make the cases parallel and the subject clear, let us suppose that the theory of our government, including our federal constitution, had never been thought of prior to 1757 ; and that it then came as a new revela- tion from heaven to some illustrious American, and was carefully written out by him, and afterwards printed in a book. Suppose this book to have been circulated, and in the course of forty or fifty years to have con- vinced a thousand American citizens of the truth and value of republicanism as well as of its heavenly origin. Suppose a public meeting had then been called, and these thousand zealous republicans had met in general convention ; and after due deliberation, had passed reso- lutions like the following : "Resolved, 1st. That this book on republicanism is what it claims to be, a veritable revelation from God out of heaven. " Resolved, 2d. That, since the ideas contained in this book are from heaven and entirely true, therefore re- publicanism is the only proper form of government for this or any other country. " Resolved, 3d. That these ideas can be of no practical value, until they be ultimated, or until we proceed to form a government in accordance with this heaven-re- vealed theory. 88 THE NEW CHURCH. " Resolved, 4th. That allegiance to the God of heaven and fidelity to our own convictions, require that we have nothing more to do with monarchical government ; that we withdraw from all connection with it, and pro- ceed at once to establish a republican form of govern- ment according to the revealed pattern." And suppose (the reigning monarch or the powers that be, allowing them to proceed without interference in ultimating their new governmental ideas) they go to work and establish their new government with all its complicated machinery, electing their president, govern- ors, legislators, judges and all other onicers. Remem- ber they embrace only a ten-thousandth part of the adult population of the country ; and these are scat- tered over a territory more than a thousand miles square. To every republican who has withdrawn from all connection with the old and still reigning govern- ment, and joined in the republic, there are 9999 who are yet uninstructed or unbelievers in the principles of republicanism. These, if prejudiced against or opposed to the new ideas before, would not be likely to have their prejudices much softened, still less removed, by the grave attempt of this pitiful minority to set up a rival government in their midst. The governmental onicers, considering how small. the number from among whom they are to be chosen, must be for the most part fourth, fifth or tenth rate men. The taxes, considering how few there are to pay them, must be excessively burdensome to these few. But the government once started, its wheels must be kept well oiled, else it will surely go to ruin ; and the needful oiling involves an enormous expense in proportion to the amount of work MR. GILES' VIEW OF IT CONSIDERED. 89 done ; for every government official must be paid, though the work given him to do may not be a fiftieth part of what he might do and would do had he a larger con- stituency. These suppositions not only make the cases parallel, but they show to what conclusion in regard to his theory, this illustration chosen by Mr. Giles, when carefully examined, inevitably leads. Would this attempt, per- fectly parallel to that which has been making for nearly a century past to establish the New Church in external or " ultimate form," be the best and surest way to prop- agate the new republican ideas? Would it be the wise, prudent, sensible or normal way? Would it be the way most likely to overcome the prejudice against republicanism, or to win the sympathy and support of the people for the new ideas ? On the contrary, would it not be the sure way of hindering the progress of these ideas, and of bringing them ultimately into general contempt? Ultimated in this way, or under the cir- cumstances supposed, w r ould not republicanism exhibit itself in such a weak, sickly and pitiful form, as to ex- cite the scorn and derision rather than the admiration and love of intelligent people? What, then, would be the most sensible and effective way of propagating the new political ideas revealed as above supposed ? The answer is plain. Let each re- ceiver of these ideas do what he can to interest and instruct others concerning them. Let him hold on to the old government, continue a living active part of it, acknowledging his obligations to it and scrupulously performing all his duties under it as a good citizen. But let him, on all proper occasions and in all proper 8* 90 THE NEW CHURCH. and lawful ways, explain and advocate the new ideas. Let him talk them and write them and preach them and print them. (I am presuming that he has perfect liberty to do this.) Let him encourage the formation of clubs or associations in various parts of the country, for their wider and speedier dissemination. And when, through these and other like sensible and efficient methods, a clear majority of the people shall have been rationally won over to the new political ideas, then, and not before, let them attempt to organize these ideas, or to establish a government in accordance with them. This is the course that the republicans in all European countries are pursuing to-day. And it is so obviously the wise and proper way, that no intelligent person thinks of calling it in question, or of advocating any essentially different course. We see, therefore, that this political illustration like the others chosen by Mr. Giles, when carefully exam- ined, instead of supporting his theory in regard to the establishment or organization of the New Church, clearly lends its whole force in support of the theory advocated by the other school. The church should be one as the state is one. And a change in the religious ideas of the one should be sought for and effected in substantially the same way as a change in the political ideas of the other ; not by secession or disintegration, but by each receiver of the new ideas courageously and manfully remaining in the religious association where Providence has cast his lot, and faithfully and patiently working there to help leaven the whole lump with the new and better faith. MB. GILES' VIEW OF IT CONSIDERED. 91 APPEALS TO THE SECTS IN JUSTIFICATION OF HIS VIEW. In further support of his theory and that of his school, "concerning the distinct organization of this New Church/' Mr. Giles refers to the various sects in Christendom, most of which have originated in and been organized upon some single idea which has hencefor- ward remained as the leading and distinguishing idea of that sect. But what excites our special wonder is, that he should allude to such schisms as if they were proper and right, in accordance with the laws of divine order, and to be upheld and justified under the new Christian covenant. For he says : " The multitude of churches and sects into which the Christian world is divided is the result of a law which is universal in its operation, and that is, that a new idea in doctrine or a new accession of spiritual life has given rise [and must always ?] to a new organization. The new doctrine has created a new body, to ultimate its idea and do its work. ... In all cases, the new organ- ization was a necessity. " Protestants have divided up into a great number of sects. A question about the form of baptism has given rise to one of the largest sects of the Protestant Church. Doubts about the common doctrine of the Trinity gave rise to Unitarianism ; and belief in the final salvation of all men, to the Universalists." Does Mr. Giles mean to teach that this is all proper and right ? — all in accordance with the will of heaven and the established laws of divine order ? This certainly seems to be his meaning. But has he fully considered to what this teaching legitimately leads? As we inter- pret his language, it is an open justification of the nar- 92 THE NEW CHURCH. rowest sectarianism and of every sectarian movement. It is virtually saying that the division of the Christian church into innumerable sects is orderly and right, and a thing, therefore, to be sanctioned and defended by the best of Christians. And if it be right to form a new organization or start a new sect as often as " a new idea in doctrine " or a new modification of an old one takes possession of a few people's minds, then there ought to be not less, certainly, than a dozen different sects in the nominal New Church of to-day. Every New Church society in the land ought at once to divide into three or four — some of them into half a dozen. But we doubt if our brother would counsel any thing like this. Wherever the conviction has become deeply rooted that belief or faith is the all-essential thing in religion ; that a man's salvation depends largely if not entirely on his believing exactly right ; there, and there only, is the law that Mr. Giles refers to, universal in its opera- tion. Solifidians are ever inclined to group themselves according to their beliefs. And in this they are quite consistent, since, according to their view, faith and not charity is the centre of unity. And the reason why Protestant Christendom has split up into so many sects, is because the dogma of faith alone has been regarded by them as paramount to every other. Had love or charity, that which is revealed as the true centre of unity in the New Jerusalem as it is in the heaven of angels, been regarded as the primary thing in the church, would the various sects in Christendom ever have arisen ? If not, then these sects are to be regarded as the legitimate offspring of the dogma of salvation by MR. GILES' VIEW OF IT CONSIDERED. 93 faith alone ; and their example, therefore, should hardly be cited as good for those to follow to whom the falsity of this doctrine is clearly revealed. IN PALPABLE CONFLICT WITH SWEDENBORG. We have Swedenborg's explicit and repeated declara- tions in confirmation of what has just been said. Speak- ing of the various religious sects in Christendom, and their producing cause, he says : "The several churches in the Christian world are distinguished by their doctrines ; and the members of these churches have therefore taken the names of Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, or the Reformed and Evangelical Protestants ; with many others. This dis- tinction of names arises solely from doctrines, and would never have existed if the members of the church had made love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor the principal point of faith. Doctrines would then have been only varieties of opinion concerning the mysteries of faith, which true Christians would leave to every one to receive according to his conscience; while the language of their hearts would be, He is a true Christian who lives like a Christian, that is, as the Lord teaches. Then one church would be formed out of all these diverse ones ; and all disagreements arising from mere doctrines would vanish." — (A. C. 1799.) Again, referring to the state of the primitive church and the subsequent departure therefrom of the principle of charity, the same illumined writer says : "The members of the primitive Christian church lived together as brethren, and also called each other brethren, and mutually loved each other. But in pro- cess of time charity diminished, and at length vanished away. And as charity departed, evil succeeded, and 94 THE NEW CHURCH. falsities also insinuated themselves with evils ; whence arose schisms and heresies. These would never have existed if charity had continued to live and rule. For then they would not have called schism by the name of schism, nor heresy by the name of heresy ; but they would have called them doctrines agreeable to each person's own opinion or way of thinking, which they would have left to every one's conscience, not judging or condemning any for their opinions, provided they did not deny fundamental principles, that is, the Lord, eternal life and the Word, and maintained nothing con- trary to divine order, that is, contrary to the command- ments of the decalogue." — (A. C. 1834. See also n. 1844.) And a score of similar passages might be cited from the same enlightened author. They disclose the large and catholic spirit of the New Jerusalem. And they show us, too, that the innumerable sects into which Christendom has been broken, instead of being in ac- cordance with the great principle of love and the laws of divine order, have arisen from the loss or extinction of this principle, and the general acceptance of the dogma of faith alone. But for this, they would have remained united as a band of brothers, like the mem- bers of the primitive Christian church, every one being left free to think for himself, however differently he might think from his brethren. And we have been in the habit of supposing, indeed it is distinctly taught by Swedenborg, that a similar state of things would exist again under the New Jerusalem dispensation ; that is, unity of spirit along with considerable diversity of be- lief. But, according to Mr. Giles and his school, this is neither to be expected nor desired. MR. GILES' VIEW OF IT CONSIDERED. 95 IN CONFLICT WITH WELL KNOWN FACTS. " It is sometimes said," continues Mr. Giles, " that a New-Churchman can now remain in any of the sects of the Christian church without being disturbed. It is doubtless true that he may be tolerated, if he keeps still, or expresses his views in such a covert way that he is not understood. But let him declare his senti- ments freely, and he will awake an opposition which will silence him or drive him away." We marvel at this assertion, in view of facts so well and widely known. Why, there are hundreds of Prot- estant ministers in this country and in England, who are to-day not only interested readers of Swedenborg, but are openly proclaiming all the most essential doc- trines taught by him. Some of them do not hesitate to mention the name of the great Swede, to quote him in their sermons, and commend his works as among the best religious writings extant. And they are not " silenced " nor " driven away " — far from it. The late Rev. E. H. Sears, for example, did this for twenty years or more. And he gave to the public, meanwhile, four of the most luminous, interesting and valuable religious works ever published in America, in each of which he made favorable mention of Swedenborg. And not only so, but we find in these works all the essential doctrines of the New Church concerning the Lord, the Word, regeneration and the life after death — most of them, too, presented with a fullness and beauty and force un- equalled by any other writer. And so far were his people or denomination from attempting " to silence him or drive him away " for this, probably no minister in the Unitarian denomination at the time of his de- 96 THE NEW CHURCH. cease, was more highly esteemed or universally beloved than he. ^ A still more striking case in point, and in contradic- tion of Mr. Giles's assertion as well as of his whole theory on the question at issue, is that of Rev. John Clowes. For more than fifty years after he became a full and acknowledged receiver of the doctrines of the New Church, Mr. Clowes remained Rector of St. John's church in Manchester, preaching thes'e doctrines, mean- while, openly and earnestly to his people, translating into English the works of Sweclenborg, printing and circulating sermons and pamphlets elucidating the new truths, and urging them upon the attention of all candid and inquiring minds. And although (as might have been expected) this course awakened opposition from some of his ministerial brethren, they did not succeed in " silencing " him or in " driving him away." So far from it, he was permitted to continue in this course till the close of his natural life ; and died at an advanced age, honored and beloved by his own people and com- munion as few ministers ever were either before or since his time. Take another still more recent case, that of Rev. H. B. Browning, Rector of St. George with St. Paul, Stam- ford, England. Every student of Swedenborg who has read Mr. Browning's little work, " Words in Season -" knows that all the essential and distinctive doctrines of the New Church are therein set forth with great clear- ness ; and all the more effectively, doubtless, for his not mentioning the name of Swedenborg. And although the author is well known in England as a full receiver of the doctrines of the New Church, we have never MB. GILES' VIEW OF IT CONSIDERED. 97 heard of any attempt being made " to silence him or drive him away." And we could cite many other similar cases and kin- dred facts, all of them in direct conflict with Mr. Giles's assertion, and equally in conflict with his theory. Yet these facts .are seen to be in admirable harmony with the theory of the other school of New Churchmen re- ferred to. They disclose the true, orderly and provi- dential method of extending or building up the New Jerusalem. They show us that this method is as far superior to any thing of our own contriving, as the di- vine method of watering our fields and gardens is supe- rior to that by the tin sprinkler and human hand; or as that of lighting the world by a great central lumi- nary, is superior to man's petty contrivances for dispel- ling the darkness or changing midnight into noon. Thus far we have considered the subject from Mr. Giles's own stand-point. We have simply examined some of the more prominent of his chosen illustrations, and his reasons for a separate and distinct organization of the New Jerusalem on earth. We shall next pro- ceed to show that his theory respecting the orderly method of building the New Jerusalem is as clearly in conflict with the teachings of Swedenborg, as it is with enlightened reason, known facts, the laws of divine or- der operative in making old things new, and the whole spirit and genius of the New Dispensation. We will also show that the theory of the opposite school finds ample support in the writings of the great seer. For, although " it was not his mission to organize societies," it is to be presumed that a mind so capacious and enlight- ened as his, would have a pretty clear perception not 9 G 98 THE NEW CHURCH. only of the nature of the New Jerusalem, but of the manner in which its principles were to be best promul- gated, and soonest wrought into the fabric of human society. And that he had such perception, of which he has given us clear and repeated indications in his works, we will now proceed to show. SWEDENBORG'S METHOD OF BUILDING THE NEW JERUSALEM. Turning, then, to the herald of the New Church, we find that his idea of the nature and whereabout of this Church, and consequently his method of building it, are widely different from those of our New York brother and his school. We find that his teachings are alto- gether opposed to the theory of the separatists, and as clearly in accord with that of the opposite school. We find, too, that Mr. Giles is altogether mistaken when he says : " The writings of Swedenborg contain no di- rect instructions upon this subject." For the subject here referred to, as stated in Mr. G.'s own language, is, " The New Jerusalem a New Church in outward form as well as in inward life." Certainly Swedenborg has given us some very positive instruction on this subject; and to some of it we now invite the reader's special at-, tention. The last chapter of Swedenborg's treatise on the Last Judgment, is on " the state of the world and of the church hereafter," that is, after the Judgment. And after telling us that no essential change in the natural world, or in political affairs, would result from the judg- ment which he had been permitted to witness in the world of spirits, " that the affairs of states, peace, trea- MR. GILES' VIEW OF IT CONSIDERED. 99 ties and wars, with all other things which belong to civil communities in general and in particular, will exist in the future as they have existed in the past," he adds : " But as for the state of the church, this will be dis- similar hereafter." Dissimilar in what respect ? " In outward form as well as in inward life," according to the belief of Mr. Giles and his school ? Quite the con- trary. " It will be similar, indeed, in the outward form," continues Swedenborg, " but dissimilar in the in- ward. To outward appearance, divided churches [i. e. different denominations or ecclesiastical organizations] will exist as heretofore ; their doctrines will be taught [i. e. set forth in their creeds] as heretofore ; and the same religions as now will exist among the Gentiles." But men in all the churches will think differently from what they did formerly. They will have different ideas of God, and their relations to Him, as well as of life, duty, immortality, and the nature and way of salvation. They will think differently on all such subjects, however their printed creeds may remain unchanged, because they will think freely and conclude rationally. As Swedenborg further says : " Henceforth the man of the church will be in a more free state of thinking on mat- ters of faith, that is, on spiritual things which relate to heaven, because spiritual liberty has been restored to him." Here we have an explicit declaration that the New Church is not to be a new organization, or new " in out- ward form," as Mr. Giles believes ; but that outwardly the church would continue, as it had been, divided into different sects with creeds substantially as before ; while its inward life would be very different from what it had 100 THE NEW CHURCH. been — would be altogether new. " Similar, indeed, in the outward form, but dissimilar in the inward." Take, for illustration of this idea, and proof also of its correctness, the Presbyterian Church of to-day. In its organization and printed creed, thus " in its outward form," that church is substantially what it was a hun- dred years ago. But any one who has read " Truths for To-day," by Dr. David Swing, and who considers that the author of these admirable discourses filled to overflowing with the new light and life, was pronounced innocent by three-fourths of the Chicago Presbytery on his trial for heresy, and that every Sunday he is still listened to by an attentive and admiring throng of nominal Presbyterians ; every one, I say, who considers this, after reading the volumes just referred to, will readily see that a church, while remaining unchanged "in the outward form," may come to be very different inwardly from what it once was ; may come to enter- tain totally different ideas on nearly all matters of faith, and cherish a totally different spirit. HIS EXPLICIT TEACHING ON THE SUBJECT. That Swedenborg meant to include the New Church when he spoke, in the passage just quoted, of " the church hereafter," is obvious from many considerations ; especially from what he says of " the church," in his '*' Continuation " of the same treatise, in passages like the following : 1. "So long as there were congregations of such spirits [who were immersed in falsities] between heaven and the world, or between the Lord and the church, MR. GILES 9 VIEW OF IT CONSIDERED. 101 man was unable to be enlightened. It was as when a sunbeam is cut off by a black interposing cloud, or as when the sun is eclipsed, and its light arrested by the interjacent moon. . . . Now, since all these interposing congregations were dissipated by the last judgment, it is plain that the communication, between heaven and the world-, or between the Lord and the church, has been restored." 2. " Since communication has been restored by the last judgment, man is able to be enlightened and re- formed ; that is, to understand the divine truth of the Word, to receive it when understood, and to retain it when received, for the interposing obstacles are removed. And therefore, after the former heaven and the former earth passed away, John said that he ' saw a new heaven and a new earth, and then the holy city Jerusalem de- scending from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband ; and heard One sitting upon the throne say, Behold I make all things new.' ( Apoc. xxi. 1, 2, 5.) That the church is understood by Jerusa- lem may be' seen in the doctrine concerning the Lord, n. 62-64." 3. " The state of the world and of the church before the last judgment was as evening and night, but after it, as morning and day. When the light of truth does not appear there is a state of the church in the world like evening and night ; but when the light of truth appears, and the truth is received, there is a state of the church in the world like morning and day. Hence it is that these two states of the church are called evening and morning, and night and day, in the Word." 4. " After the last judgment was accomplished, there was joy in heaven, and light also in the world of spirits, such as was not before. . . . There was light in the world of spirits, because the infernal societies which were removed had been interposed like clouds which darken the earth. A similar light also then arose [or 9* 102 THE NEW CHURCH. began to arise] among men in the world, giving them new enlightenment." — Contin. L. G., n. 11, 12, 13, 30. The teaching of these passages is too plain to be mis- understood. Swedenborg here represents the coming of the Lord, or the advent of new and higher truth from Him, subsequent to and in consequence of the Last Judgment, as the breaking of a new Morning upon the world; as the coining of new and rejoicing light, not merely to a small and select company of individuals who were to be separated from the great body of Chris- tian believers and organized apart by themselves, but to all Christendom; yes, and Heathendom also. He represents the change in the state of the church subse- quent to that event (a change, observe, in its internal character and condition, not in its outward form) as a 'change from evening to morning, or from darkness to daylight. Now look at the correspondence of this, and see if it furnishes the least support to the theory of the separat- ists, or to the advocates of the New Jerusalem as a dis- tinct and separate organization. • When a new day dawns, it dawns for all the world. When the sun rises, does he shine on some small favored district merely, leaving the rest of the land in shadow and night ? No : he pours his kindling beams on all the continent. So when the Sun of Righteousness rises anew, He rises for all mankind, and not merely for a select few. He comes with a new illuminating power; and the effect of his coming is an increased general enlightenment. And this, moreover, agrees with the divine prediction re- specting his second appearing : " For as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, MR. GILES' VIEW OF IT CONSIDERED. 103 so shall also the coming of the Son of man be ; a predic- tion plainly pointing not to any partial but to a general enlightenment. And it is in complete accord, too, with Swedenborg's declarations about the removal of those obstructing clouds from the world of spirits, and the consequent influx of new light " among men in the world, giving them new enlightenment. ,, When this illumined writer, in the passages just quoted, speaks of "the church " before the last judg- ment, no one understands him as referring to any par- ticular Christian denomination, but to Christendom generally, to the aggregate of Christian believers or churches. Therefore it is plain that, by " the church hereafter " — the church which he tells us " will be similar, indeed, in the outward form, but dissimilar in the inward," to what it was previous to the Judgment — he can refer to nothing less broad or comprehensive. He clearly refers to the very same church, but inwardly renewed, enlightened and quickened as it had not been before, by the new and more powerful influx and the greater spiritual liberty that would be vouchsafed to all ; as the individual man when regenerated is identi- cally the same person as before — the same, that is, as to his body or external form — but made altogether new internally ; new in the spirit and temper of his mind ; new in his dominant thoughts and ruling pur- pose. And this church, that is, the aggregate of all the churches in Christendom, but enlightened and vivified by the new influx consequent upon the Last Judgment, is the only external or visible New Jerusalem that Swedenborg anywhere recognizes. And he does clearly 104 THE NEW CHURCH. recognize and distinctly teach that this general enlighten- ment to which he refers, and which he said would come after and in consequence of the Last Judgment, is what is to be understood by the descent of the New Jerusalem from God out of heaven. For, after referring to this enlightenment in the second of the paragraphs above quoted, he adds : " And, therefore, after the former heaven and earth passed away, John said that he saw a new heaven and a new earth, and then the holy city Jerusalem descending from God out of heaven, 7 ' &c. ; thus plainly teaching that this wide and general en- lightenment of mankind was in accordance with, and in fulfilment of, the true spirit and purport of that magnificent vision. Otherwise there would be no mean- ing and no force in the word " therefore/' in that con- nection, and no pertinence in his quoting the apostle's vision. We learn, then, from the passages above cited, that the New Church, according to Swedenborg, is not a new ecclesiastical organization ; not new " in outward form," as maintained by Mr. Giles and his school, but new only in " the inward form " — new in thought, feeling and purpose — new in its spirit and life. The various religious organizations of Christendom which existed in his time were to continue substantially as they then were, both in name and in outward appearance; but their spirit or inward life was to be very different. How else are we to interpret his language when he says that " the church hereafter will be similar in the out- ward form [to what it had been], but dissimilar in the inward " ? By " the church " here mentioned, he clearly means the aggregate of churches in Christendom ; for MB. GILES' VIEW OF IT CONSIDERED. 105 he immediately adds, by way of explanation, that " churches, divided as to outward appearance, will con- tinue to exist as heretofore ; " an expression which plainly intimates that the division would be more in ap- pearance than in reality. And he further tells us that these churches, in con- sequence of the freer and fuller influx of truth from God out of heaven, would be greatly enlightened ; so much so that their state hereafter, compared with what it had been previously, would be as morning or day compared with evening or night ; and that this increased enlightenment would result from the increased freedom of thought on matters of faith, which was sure to follow as one of the consequences of the Last Judgment ; for, as the angels assured him, " the slavery and captivity in which the man of the church [that is, Christians generally] was formerly, is now removed ; so that, from restored liberty, he can, if he desires, more easily per- ceive interior truths." (L. J. 74.) And this increase of religious liberty, and consequent influx of new light from heaven, is afterwards referred to as the fulfillment of John's prophetic vision of a new heaven and a new earth, and the descent of the holy city New Jerusalem. From all of which it is plain that the New Jerusalem, as Swedenborg saw it, was not to be a new church- organization, but a new and renovated state of the then existing churches, and of the entire moral world. And he saw, too, that this renovation would take place slowly, the freest and best minds everywhere coming gradually to see and reject one old error after another, and in its place receive the new truth ; the process corresponding in all respects with that of building a material city anew on the site of an old one. 106 THE NEW CHURCH. HIS EXPLANATION OF REV. {chapter xii.) REFUTES MR. GILES' THEORY. Then, if we turn to Swedenborg's exposition of the 12th chapter of the Apocalypse, we shall find abundant confirmation of what has already been said, as well as of the theory we are advocating. For he there teaches that it is the purpose of Divine Providence that the New Church remain in, and mixed up with, the Old ; and not only so, but that it can be better nourished and protected, and its prosperity and growth more surely promoted, by remaining there. His exposition of this whole chapter is deeply inter- esting. But it is only necessary for our present purpose that we give his explanation of a few of the symbols there mentioned; such as, the woman that appeared in heaven clothed with the sun ; the male child that she brought forth ; the great red dragon that stood be- fore her ready to devour her child as soon as it was born ; the woman's flight into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God; and the earth that helped her by swallowing up the flood that the dragon cast out of his mouth. And it may be more satisfactory as well as useful to give the explanation of these sym- bols in his own words. " The woman treated of in this chapter, 1 ' he says, " is the same who is called the Bride, the Lamb's wife, which was the holy city Jerusalem descending from God out of heaven." (Ap. Ex. 724.) " This woman signifies the New Church which is to be established by the Lord after the end of the present church in the Christian world." (Ibid. 707.) " The male child that she brought forth signifies the MR. GILES' VIEW OF IT CONSIDERED. 107 doctrine of truth, which is for the New Church called the New Jerusalem. . . . The genuine doctrine of the Church is the doctrine of good, that is, the doctrine of life, which is that of love to the Lord and charity to- wards the neighbor ; but still it is a doctrine of truth, for the doctrine teaches life, love and charity, and so far as it teaches these it is the truth. . . . The doctrine which is here signified by a male child is especially that of love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbor, that is, the doctrine of the good of life." (Ibid. 724.) " The sensual who are meant by the dragon, are those who see nothing from the light of heaven, but only from the light of the world. . . . They who specifically have reference to the head of the dragon are those who are in faith, which is a faith separate from charity, and have confirmed themselves therein in doctrine and in life. . . . These are, for the most part, learned dignitaries, but few among the common people ; the reason is, that the former consider those things as the secrets of theology which cannot be understood by the common people by reason of their secular employments. Another reason why these are dragons as to the head, is that they per- vert and falsify all the things of the Word which teach love, charity and life ; for the Word viewed in itself, is only the doctrine of love to the Lord and charity to- wards the neighbor; and in no case is it the doctrine of faith separate from charity." (Ibid. 714.) The flight of the woman into the wilderness denotes the abiding of the New Church " among those who are not in truths, because not in good." (Ibid. 730.) " ' That she might be nourished there a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent/ signifies until the church grows and comes to its fulness." (Ibid. 761.) " ( And the earth helped the woman ; and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth/ signifies that they who are of the church which is not in truths, afforded assist- 108 THE NEW CHURCH. ance and received not the subtle reasonings of those who were principled in faith separate from charity. . . . By the earth here is meant the earth of the wilderness into which the woman fled, and where she had a place prepared of God. To help the woman means to afford assistance to the New Church which is called the Holy Jerusalem. To open her mouth and swallow up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth, denotes not to receive the subtle reasonings of those who were principled in faith separate from charity ; for the flood of waters which the dragon cast out of his mouth signi- fies subtle reasonings from falsities ; and to open the mouth and swallow, when predicated of the church, which is signified by the earth, means to take away ; and since a thing is taken away when it is not received, it- means not to receive. " These things are to be understood in this manner : It is said above that the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, and afterwards that she got the wings of an eagle and flew to her own place ; by which is signified that the church which is called the New Jerusalem, is to tarry among those who are in the doctrine of faith separate from charity, while it grows to its fulness, until provision is made for its re- ception among greater numbers. But in that church there are dragons who separate faith from good works, not only in doctrine but also in life ; whereas the rest in the same church, who live the life of faith which is charity, are not dragons although among them ; for they think it is agreeable to doctrine that faith pro- duces the fruits which are good works, and that the faith which justifies and saves is to believe those things which are in the Word and do them. But the dragons are of an entirely different way of thinking. But the former do not comprehend the sentiments of these lat- ter ; and since they do not comprehend, neither do they receive them. From which it is manifest that the church consisting of those who are not dragons, is meant MR. GILES' VIEW OF IT CONSIDERED. 109 by the earth which helped the woman, and swallowed up the stream which the dragon cast out of his mouth. " But what is the nature and character of the reason- ings which are meant by the dragon, concerning the separation of faith from good works, and concerning their union, and how subtle and at the same time per- nicious those reasonings are, will, by Divine permission, be revealed elsewhere; likewise that those reasonings have place only with the learned rulers of the church, and are not known to, because not understood by, the people ; and that for this reason the New Church which is called the holy Jerusalem, is helped by these latter, and also increases." (Ap. Ex. 764.) The meaning of all this is sufficiently plain. And its bearing upon the question under consideration, is as direct and positive as its teaching is obvious. The woman that the seer beheld in vision represented the New Church, and her male child the doctrine of this church, " especially that of love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbor/' which is declared to be " the genuine doctrine of this church." The great red dragon was a representative of the old dogma of salvation by faith alone, which is forever opposed, yea, in ceaseless and deadly hostility, to this new and heavenly doctrine, and ever ready therefore to destroy its life. All who accept this new doctrine, and live it, belong to the New Jerusalem. And it was the purpose of Divine Provi- dence, disclosed to John in the vision recorded in this 12th chapter of the Apocalypse, that these people should not separate themselves from their respective commu- nions and form a new and distinct organization, but that they should " tarry among those who are in the doctrine of faith separate from charity, while the New 10 110 THE NEW CHURCH. Church grows to its fulness." And the growth and prosperity of this church are not to be hindered, but " helped " by their tarrying there. For although there are dragons in those communions, particularly among " the learned rulers of the church," whose " subtle and pernicious reasonings " are the flood that the dragon " cast out of his mouth after the woman," yet the mass of the people do not understand nor accept these reason- ings, being providentially kept in the belief that saving faith " is to believe those things which are in the Word, and do them." These are they who are meant by " the rest in the same church," who, because they " live the life of faith which is charity, are not dragons although among them." These, too, are meant by the earth which helped the woman ; " for by the earth here is meant the earth of the wilderness, into which the woman fled, and where she had a place prepared of God." But if, instead of seeking refuge and protection in the wilderness, in "the place prepared of God," the woman departs out of the wilderness, and attempts to build elsewhere a little Goshen for herself, what then ? Should we expect her to find here the strength and nourishment that would be vouchsafed her in " the place prepared of God," in the wilderness, " where," as the inspired prophet assures us, "she might be nour- ished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent " ? words which we find expounded by Swedenborg as follows : " That hereby is signified, until the church grows and comes to its fulness, appears from the signification of being nourished, as denoting to be sustained, and in the mean time to grow; and from the signification of a MR. GILES' VIEW OF IT CONSIDERED. HI time, and times, and half a time, as denoting the state of the increase of the church, even to its fulness." — (Ap. Ex. 761.) Surely no one will pretend that the New Church has already reached its maturity, or " grown and come to its fulness." If not, and if the condition of that organ- ization which has assumed the name, be by no means as healthy and prosperous as its members could desire, may not the explanation be sought and found in the fact that the receivers of the heavenly doctrines, instead of remaining in the wilderness, as Providence designed they should, and exercising a becoming and child-like trust that He who cares for the fowls of the air will not fail to nourish and protect his children in the place which He hath prepared for them, have gone forth out of the wilderness, and sought to spy out or make for themselves a better place than that prepared of God ? May they not, by pursuing a course prompted by self- regard and self-derived intelligence more than by the wisdom, love and humble trust which cometh from above, have deprived themselves of the " help " which the earth of the wilderness would have rendered, and which they, too, might have imparted, had they re- mained there? These are questions which deserve the serious con- sideration of all that school of professed New Church- men whom Mr. Giles represents. HIS ILLUSTRATIONS IN CONFLICT WITH MR. GILES' THEORY. Then, if we turn to Swedenborg's illustrations of the end or consummation of the Old, and the establishment 112 THE NEW CHURCH. or up-building of a New Church, we shall find them all harmonizing with, and confirmatory of, our view of the subject, and furnishing additional support to the con- clusion already reached. Thus, in his chapter on " The Consummation of the Age," he says : " The consummation of the age [and the coming of a New Church, which is synchronical therewith] may be illustrated by various things in the natural world ; for here all things in general and in particular on earth grow old and decay, but by alternations which are called the circles of things. Time in general and in particular passes through these circles. In general the year passes from spring to summer, through this to autumn, then ends in winter, and from this returns to spring; but this is the circle of heat. In particular the day passes from morning to noon, through this to evening, ends in night, and then returns again to morn- ing ; but this is the circle of light. Every man also runs through the circle of nature ; he begins life in infancy, from that advances to youth and manhood, thence to old age, and dies. . . . When any thing has passed from its origin to its end, another like it arises. Thus every thing is born, dies, and is born again, in order that creation may be continued. A similar thing takes place with the church, because man is the church, and constitutes it in general." — (T. C. R. 756.) " Furthermore, the church [as a whole] appears to the Lord like one man ; and this greatest man must pass through his stages of life like an individual, that is to say, from infancy to youth, from this to manhood, and finally to old age ; and then, when he dies, he will rise again." — (Ibid. 762.) Now, consider attentively these illustrations, and carry out the correspondence. What is a new morn- ing, naturally viewed ? It is the advent of new light MR. GILES' VIEW OF IT CONSIDERED. 113 and warmth — a new and highly illumined condition of the self-same earth which, a little while before, was shrouded in darkness. It is not another earth, nor a portion severed from the old one and plunged into a blaze of new and recreating light. And the new spring, what is that, too, but a warmed, quickened and vitalized condition of the very same earth which, a little while before, was bound in icy fetters ? And death, what is that to the individual but the gate of entrance to a higher life ? The self-same individual rises that is said to die; and yet it is not that which dies that rises. What dies is but the " outer vesture of decay," sloughed off in due time to promote the higher development and larger growth of the individual. So, too, it is the same church which, passing through the valley of the shadow of death at the time of the Last Judgment, was to rise again through the reception of new light and life, and appear altogether new, bedecked with robes of beauty and comely ornaments — " prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." The regeneration of the individual, or the formation of the new spiritual man, is another illustration em- ployed by Swedenborg to teach us how the church in its largest form is made nt-w. And how completely this sustains the view we advocate, must be clear to all. " When a man," he says, " receives the Lord, which he does when he acknowledges Him [as revealed in the letter of the Word] as his God, Creator, Redeemer and Saviour, then is His first coming which is called the dawn. From this time the man begins to be intel- lectually enlightened in spiritual things, and to advance into a more and more interior wisdom. As he receives 10* H 114 THE NEW CHURCH. this wisdom from the Lord, he advances through morn- ing into day ; and this day lasts with him into old age, even to death. After death, he goes to heaven to the Lord Himself; and there, although he died an old man, he is restored to the morning of his life, and the rudi- ments of the wisdom implanted in him in the natural world grow to eternity." — (T. C. K. 766.) Now with respect to this church in the smallest form (the individual) the new man is formed by regeneration, not apart and separate from, but right within, the old. It is a slow and gradual process. It takes place as one error after ' another is seen and confessed, and its op- posite truth accepted and obeyed ; and as one evil after another is acknowledged, and in the Lord's strength resisted and overcome. And in a precisely similar way is the church in its largest form to be made new. The New is not to be formed outside of or apart from the Old, but right within it, and through conflict with its various falsities and evils, as these become manifest. One falsity after another will be seen and exposed, now by this individual and now by that ; now in one locality and now in another ; now by the pulpit, now by the platform, and now by that modern Titan, the press. And in place of the exposed and rejected falsities, new truths, or higher forms of old ones, will be gradually received ; and victories more and more complete will be successively achieved over individual and social evils. Thus will the New Church come. Thus must it come, according to the teachings of the illumined Swede. Thus may it be seen already coming ; not as a new visible organization or sect, but as a new and ever- MR. GILES' VIEW OF IT CONSIDERED. 115 increasing general intelligence, a new and larger tolera- tion, a new and deeper and wiser thinking on all sub- jects, especially religious subjects, a new spirit, a new temper, and a new life in all the sects. And while Swedenborg's illustrations of this' subject are seen to be all in perfect accord with the theory we advocate, and confirmatory of its truth, we submit that they furnish no support whatever to the theory of the separatists; nay, that they are utterly irreconcilable with that theory. NEVER ENCOURAGED SEPARATISM. Then in addition to the weight of evidence already furnished against the theory of the separatists, we have the illustrious seer's own example. He was a member of the Lutheran Church, and remained in external fel- lowship therewith till the day of his death ; and even received the communion from the hands of a minister of that church shortly before his decease — thus testify- ing to the validity of this holy ordinance when ad- ministered by one having no interest in and no knowl- edge of his doctrines. And not only this, but in his long and intimate intercourse and correspondence with Eev. Mr. Hartley, Doctors Beyer, Oetinger and others who had become full receivers of his teachings, we find not the slightest hint of the importance or propriety of their withdrawing from their respective communions on this account. How can we account for his example as well as his profound silence on this subject, if he had meant to favor the theory of separatism ? Then there are other passages in his writings which 116 THE NE W CHUR CII. prove conclusively that he never contemplated any such withdrawal from other Christian communions as most of the receivers of his doctrines have practised and still encourage ; no, nor the building up of a new religious organization on the basis of his teachings. Take, for example, that near the close of the True Christian Religion, where he tells us how, and through what instrumentality for the most part, the New Church on earth would descend from the new angelic heaven. " This," he says, " cannot take place in a moment, but takes place as the falsities of the former church are re- moved. For what is new cannot enter where falsities have been previously ingenerated, until these are erad- icated, which will take place with the clergy, and thus with the laity." (784.) From this it appears that Swedenborg expected his writings would be read, and the truths they contain be gradually received, first by the clergy, and through them be communicated to the laity. For if, acting upon the theory of the separatists, the clergy should withdraw from their respective congregations as soon as they come to believe the new doctrines, where are the laity whom they are to instruct in these doctrines ? For, should they be called to preach to professedly New Church societies, the laity there have already been in- structed in, and become believers of, these doctrines ; so that they would have no opportunity of eradicating falsities there. And it is not very probable that they would be invited to preach to congregations who are as yet ignorant of these doctrines, after having proclaimed themselves Swedenborgians, and withdrawn from their own people because of their new beliefs. MR. GILES 9 VIEW OF IT CONSIDERED. 117 But should they adopt the course pursued by Mr. Clowes, and remain, teaching their people the new truths and confirming them from the Word and by rational arguments as fast as they themselves receive them, their course would then answer the demands of the language in the passage just cited. As fast as the old falsities were uprooted from their own minds and the new truths implanted, they would assist their people to do the same. And so the descent of the New Jerusalem would take place in all such congregations, in precisely the manner seen and declared by Swedenborg. The erad- ication of the old errors and the insemination of the new truths would " take place with the clergy, and thus [or through them] with the laity." Yet, strange to say, the very thing which Sweden- borg, when explaining the manner of the descent of the New Jerusalem, says will take place, Mr. Giles declares to be utterly impossible. For he says : " The moment a New Churchman begins to teach the new doctrines, he comes into direct conflict with the old. There is no common ground, no middle way. He must remain silent, and that no honest and earnest New Churchman can do, or he must state views which are the opposite of common belief. Thus he becomes a disturber of the peace and the settled convictions of others. He is a foreign body w T hich cannot assimilate, and he must be expelled. He must seek to associate with those who stand spiritually on the same ground." Not only is this teaching of Mr. Giles contrary to that of Swedenborg, as well as to the prevailing spirit of the New Age, which is a tolerant, progressive, con- ciliatory, all-reconciling spirit, but it is as plainly con- 118 THE NEW CHURCH. tradicted by numerous and well-known facts, to some of which we have already alluded. And it may be added that most of the secular and many of the religious papers of our times, whenever they have occasion to refer to Swedenborg or his teachings, do so with the utmost respect, and often in terms of high commen- dation. Then it is known that some fifteen thousand clergy- men and theological students in our country have, within the last few years, thankfully received (as a gift, it is true, yet themselves cheerfully paying the postage thereon) some of the more important of Swedenborg's theological works (T. C. R., H. H. and A. R.). "We may safely conclude, therefore, that some thousands of our American clergy are now reading these works with more or less interest, and accepting many of the truths therein taught. And is it to be presumed that they scrupulously refrain from communicating any of these truths to their people, because they happen to be in con- flict with the written creeds about which most of the laity of to-day think very little and care less ? The idea is preposterous ; and is, moreover, contrary to what is known to be the truth. For there are hundreds of ministers in our country belonging to different religious denominations, who are, to the edification and great joy of their flocks, and without being considered "disturbers of the peace " of their respective communions, at this time proclaiming with great clearness the essential truths of the New Church ; — some of them with, but most of them without, direct reference to Swedenborg or his teachings. And if a man offers you pure water, is it very essential that you know the particular spring MR. GILES* VIEW OF IT CONSIDERED. 119 from which he dipped it ? And if he offers you fresh and invigorating truth, do you think or care much about the well from which he drew it? Enough to know that, if pure and refreshing — if it helps you to bear more patiently your daily burdens and to do more cheerfully and faithfully your daily work — it cannot be the preacher's own, but comes from the one exhaust- less living Fountain, and is a draught from the " pure river of water of life, which proceedeth out of the throne of God." What more than this is it needful to know ? III. ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE PRACTICAL TENDENCY AND LEGITIMATE FRUITS OF THE POPULAR THEORY. I^HE spirit of modern investigation demands that all - theories be subjected to practical tests. We are never quite satisfied with the truth or falsity of any theory until we have seen it applied, and are thus convinced of its nature and tendency by having before us its nor- mal results. If the results are obviously beneficent, we accept them as the best possible evidence that the the- ory is true ; but if they are clearly mischievous, we at once conclude that there is something wrong in the theory. " For of thorns men do not gather' figs, nor- of a bramble bush gather they grapes." It has been shown in previous chapters that the New Church signified by the New Jerusalem in the Apoca- lypse, is not a sect, or a visible institution of any kind ; but that it consists of all those, and of those only, who acknowledge the Lord and religiously obey his com- mandments. We have seen that, according to Sweden- borg, all who accept and endeavor to live according to the one great doctrine of the Sacred Scripture, that of love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbor, really belong to the New Jerusalem, whatever creed they may have subscribed or whatever be their external church relations. 120 TENDENCY OF THE POPULAR VIEW. 121 But the prevailing theory among the professed re- ceivers of the new theology is different. It holds that the New Church is a visible institution founded on the doctrines revealed through Swedenborg; and that those, and those only, who accept these doctrines, be- long to or constitute this Church. All others are looked upon and spoken of as the Old Church, which is to be regarded as " a shell robbed of its kernel," " a body soulless and dead," without one spark of spiritual life, utterly forsaken of the Lord. Now we should not expect that such an idea as this, however sincerely entertained, could be otherwise than injurious to those who cherish it. We certainly should not expect it would promote the growth in them of true humility, or of a large, generous and catholic spirit. On the contrary we should expect it would foster pride, conceit, arrogance, intolerance, and other kindred traits. Regarding themselves as the Lord's own people or church to the exclusion of others, we should expect that the influx of heavenly life into their souls would be much hindered by this feeling of self-regard ; that they would be extremely impatient of all criticism of their sayings and doings, and extremely hostile toward their critics ; and that they would gradually fall more and more under the influence of spirits who despise others in comparison with themselves. These and other kindred evils we should naturally expect would result from the popular error in regard to the nature and whereabout of the New Jerusalem, which it is the pur- pose of these pages to expose. And we should expect that these evils would manifest themselves conspicuously in the doings of the collective body, or in the utterances 11 122 THE NEW CHURCH. of its high officials when speaking or assuming to speak for the collective body. Let us, therefore, glance at some of these doings and utterances which, however offensive to all generous minds, are but the legitimate offspring of that mistaken theory respecting the New Church which has been so widely accepted by the stu- dents of Swedenborg. FIRST ATTEMPT TO ORGANIZE THE NEW CHURCH, The first attempt, of which there is any record, to organize the Apocalyptic New Jerusalem, and so to present it in a visible form here on earth, was made in England about ninety years ago. The movement was inaugurated under the prompting and leadership of Robert Hindmarsh ; and the purpose of it was, to use Mr. H.'s own language, "to bring forward the New Church in -its ultimate or external form." Mr. Hindmarsh and his associates in that movement were unquestionably sincere. They doubtless believed that what they undertook to do, was not only feasible but expedient and proper, and quite in accord with the Divine will and purpose. We see no reason for doubt- ing this. But their acquainfance with the teachings of Swedenborg was imperfect and superficial — necessarily so. Only a small portion of his works had as yet been translated into English, and most of them, therefore, remained as sealed books to all who could not read them in the original. The shadows of the former Dis- pensation were but just beginning to take their flight; and it would, indeed, have been strange if those zealous London gentlemen had understood the nature of the TENDENCY OF THE POPULAR VIEW. 123 New Jerusalem, or had fully comprehended its large and catholic spirit. It would have been strange if, at that early day and under all the circumstances then ex- isting, they had been able to wholly free themselves from the blinding and belittling influences of sectarian bigotry, or from the Englishman's cherished notions about " the church " as a visible institution. It is not easy for people of the best intentions to do this even now ; and it was far more difficult then. After the lapse of nearly a century, with the increased light and better spirit which the rolling years have brought with them, and with our greater familiarity and consequent better understanding of the teachings of the illustrious Swede than the men of that day could be expected to have, we ought to be able to examine impartially that first attempt to organize the New Je- rusalem; and in the light of subsequent events as well as of Swedenborg's teachings, to form a just judgment of its wisdom and the spirit which prompted and con- trolled the movement. Mr. Hindmarsh, the prime mover and active manager in that enterprise, was a young man less than thirty years of age, and had been only four or five years a reader of Swedenborg. To an intellect of considerable brilliancy and strong argumentative powers, he united an extraordinary self-confidence and self-regard along with a large measure of that flaming zeal and sectarian spirit which characterized so many of the Wesleyan Methodists of that day with whom he had been for some time intimately associated. 124 THE NEW CHURCH. THE "SELECT MEETING" IN LONDON, 178T. In 1787, when there were less than twenty interested readers of Swedenborg in the whole city of London, "a select meeting/' Mr. Hindmarsh tells us, was called in that city, of persons " most anxious to bring forward the New Church in its ultimate and external form." Thir- teen met together and unanimously agreed to certain declarations " on the Sunday preceding the day which was fixed upon for the formal and solemn commence- ment of the New Church in its external form." And the following declarations which were among those "unanimously approved of" at that meeting, are suf- ficient to show the mental obscurity in which those persons were with regard to the New Jerusalem and introduction into it, and the intensely sectarian spirit by which they were animated : " The full reception of the glorious truths of the New Church as revealed by Swedenborg, is essential to con- stitute a member of the New Church on earth, and thereby to admit him into an immediate conjunction with the Lord and consociation with the angels of the New Heavens. " Introduction into the New Church is solely through the spiritual correspondent, Baptism, performed in that Church. "Conjunction with the Lord and consociation with the angels of the New Heavens, are effected by the Holy Supper taken in the New Church according to its heavenly and divine correspondences." Such " declarations " as these could never have been made by men who had even partially comprehended the scope and genius of the New Dispensation, or who TENDENCY OF THE POPULAR VIEW. 125 had formed any just conception of the nature and where- about of the New Jerusalem as unfolded by Swedenborg. Yet they are seen to be the legitimate offspring of that popular misconception which it is the main purpose of the present work to expose and correct. But how blinded by fanaticism or how bewildered and misled by sectarian zeal must those thirteen individuals have been, to have "unanimously approved of" decla- rations like the foregoing ! For see what preposterous assertions and claims are here, and what strange pre- sumption and self-conceit are revealed in them ! First, that no one can become conjoined to the Lord or con- sociated with the angels of the New .Heaven unless he be in "full reception" of the truths revealed through Swedenborg, and receive the Holy Supper at the hands of a professed New Church minister, or in communion with full receivers of the heavenly doctrines ! And no one can be introduced into the New Church (and it should be borne in mind that there was no other church on earth at the time these declarations were approved) except through baptism administered by a professed and full receiver of the heavenly doctrines — " baptism per- formed in that Church ! " Thus were all other churches and people in Christen- dom virtually excommunicated by these thirteen in- dividuals — cut off from conjunction with the Lord and fellowship with the angels ! All but themselves were declared to be outside the Holy City, and to be classed, therefore, with dogs, sorcerers, murderers, idolaters, and the like ! And, as further illustrating his blind zeal and sectarian spirit and erroneous conception of what the New Jerusalem really is, Mr. Hindmarsh, a few 11* 126 THE NEW CHURCH. months thereafter, seriously proposed that this Society, of which he was the ruling spirit and chief organizer, should henceforward be known as the Apocalyptic New Jerusalem ! And on Sunday, May 18, 1788, the Record kept by himself, says : " At a full meeting of the Society the question of altering the name of the Society was put and unani- mously approved of; in consequence of which the name is to be in future, ' The New Church signified by the New Jerusalem in the Revelation ' " / Think of that little company — less than twenty persons in all — gravely and "unanimously" declaring themselves to be " the Bride, the Lamb's wife ! " " the great city" (or what was typified and foreshadowed by it) which the seer of Patmos beheld in vision ! " the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God " ! — the city of " pure gold " (the symbol of unselfish love) ; a city in which there was to be " no night," because " the glory of God did lighten it " ! and of which it is said, " the nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it " ! — a city into which no evil person or thing should ever enter — " nothing that defileth or worketh abomination or maketh a lie, but they who are written in the Lamb's book of life ! " For all this, we see, is involved or implied in the resolution which we^are told passed unanimously, " Sunday, May 18, 1788." Could anything be farther from the catholic spirit or explicit teachings of Swedenborg, than was that first attempt to organize the New Jerusalem, viewed in con- nection with the declarations which were unanimously TENDENCY OF THE POPULAR VIEW. 127 agreed to at that " select meeting " ? Was there ever a movement which betrayed a blinder zeal, a stronger misapprehension of a much revered author's teach- ings, or a more intensely sectarian spirit ? If so, it has never come to our knowledge. There have been many strange and fantastic tricks performed by religious bodies at sundry times, but we find no record of anything that surpasses this in blindness, folly or fanaticism. SAD RESULTS THAT SOON FOLLOWED. And how could an organization, conceived in the spirit that this was, and christened with such extraor- dinary presumption, hope to prosper ? Or, the more pertinent question now is, how did it prosper? Pre- cisely as might have been expected. The very next year after this earth-born or man-invented New Jeru- salem was formed, it was agitated and rent with intes- tine feuds. Some of its members were found guilty of gross immorality ; and its chief architect and master- builder, along with five others, was excommunicated, and remained till the day of his death without the pale of what he had, with such extraordinary presumption, proclaimed to be " the New Church signified by the New Jerusalem in the Revelation." u The Church," says the Remembrancer and Recorder, " which came into nominal existence on the proposition of young Robert Hindmarsh, was not long t in giving evidence of the Babylonish nature of its origin, and of the consequent impurities of its nature. . . . Accord- ing to the ' Minute-Book/ he [Mr. Hindmarsh] was the Secretary of the Society which met in the Inner Temple. He was the individual who first called together the re- 128 THE NEW OHURGH. ceivers in London. He, in concert with a few others, first acted in the setting up of a separate society, con- trary to the decision of the majority, according to his own testimony. Only thirteen individuals, himself in- cluded, signed the ' Minute-Book ' at the first meeting, as members. He was the Secretary for more than two years, During which time the rules were drawn up ; the forms of Baptism and of the Lord's Supper ; the forms for ordination of ministers ; also the propositions for the first Conference ; the letter to the non-separated friends at. Manchester ; the whole of the proceedings of the first Conference — all of which are regularly entered in the ' Minute-Book ' in his hand-writing, except the letter to the Manchester friends. Up to May 4th, 1789, the whole Book, from the first day, seems to be in his hand-writing. And from that date to April 11th, 1790, the account of the proceedings seems to have been torn out. From page 46 to 63, is missing. And we have been informed that it was not deemed advisable to let posterity see the nature of the records contained therein." But of the nature of the transactions here referred to, some idea may be formed from the following allusion to them in an address by Rev. Manoah Sibley : " I am here under the necessity of stating, however reluctantly, that in the next year, 1789, a very sorrow- ful occurrence befel the infant New Church, whereby the flood-gates of immorality were in danger of being thrown open to her inevitable destruction. The Church held many solemn meetings on the occasion, which ended in withdrawing herself from six of her members, viz. : Robert Hindmarsh, Henry Servante, Charles Berns Wadstrom, Augustus Nordenskjold, George Rob- inson, and Alexander Wilderspin. On the Church coming to this conclusion, Mr. Robert Hindmarsh re- marked that he would never put it in the power of any Society again to cut him off, as he never would be a TENDENCY OF THE POPULAR VIEW. 129 member of one. And I believe, notwithstanding his eminent services in the cause of the New Church, that, to his dying day he kept his word. . . . This grievous circumstance I kept locked up in my own bosom for many years ; and I would not now have mentioned it, had not Mr. Noble's statements called it forth." We are not surprised at this. What else could have been expected? We should, indeed, have been greatly surprised if nothing had occurred to disturb the peace or humble the pride of an organization conceived in such a spirit, and under such a strange misapprehen- sion of the teachings which its members professed to receive. THE SPIRIT OF THAT LONDON MOVEMENT EXEM- PLIFIED ON THIS SIDE OF THE ATLANTIC. The spirit which gives birth to an organization or which enters into it at its inception, is apt to remain with it as its moulding force and governing influence a long time after. And so it has been with the New Church organization. The same intensely sectarian spirit which prompted that movement in London, the same singular misconception of the nature and where- about of the New Jerusalem, and the same disposition to arrogate to themselves the exclusive right to the Christian ordinances and the exclusive claim to be considered the connecting link between heaven and earth, have continued in the organization both in Eng- land and the United States. True, individuals — dili- gent students and intelligent receivers of Swedenborg's teachings — in both countries, have not ceased to utter their earnest and indignant protest. But their protest I 130 THE NEW CHURCH. has never received any candid consideration. So far from it, every thing which the organization and its representatives in this country could do, has been done to hide the views and arguments of the dissenters, and make these latter appear as unreasonable schismatics. That the reader may judge to what extent the spirit and views of that " select meeting " in London, (July 29, 1787,) have prevailed in the soi-disant New Church in the United States, we will make a few quotations from published documents — and they shall be all from the pens of ministers of the third or highest degree. UNCHURCHING OTHER CHRISTIANS. In 1839, a Report on the subject of baptism, drawn up by the President of the General Convention of the New Church in the United States, (Rev. Thomas Worces- ter, D. D.) and signed by two other " ordaining ministers," was read before that body ; and in this Report we find, among other things of kindred character, the following : . " It is well to notice that He [the Lord] began by saying, ' All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth/ He then gives the powers there enumerated to the church. And he concludes by saying, ' And lo, I am with you all the days, until the consummation of the age.' It is well to notice this ; for it is because He who hath all power in heaven and in earth, was to be with them, that they were to be a church and were to have authority to act as a church. For this cause He gave them authority to teach or make disciples unto Him. For this cause He gave them authority to bap- tize into his name, and to perform all the other duties of a church. " But in the doctrines of the New Church we learn TENDENCY OF THE POPULAR VIEW. 131 that the time for which He promised to be with the Old Church has expired ; that its age is consummated, and that it has come to an end. . We learn that the Lord was with it in all its states, until it came to an end, and that He then left it. "Now inasmuch as it was a church, and had author- ity to baptize and perform the other duties of a church, because He was with it; therefore, since He has left it, it has no authority or power to baptize or to perform any other church duty." And near the conclusion, after endeavoring to show that all other church organizations in Christendom ex- cept that of Swedenborgians (which this Eeport calls "the New Church,") have been forsaken of the Lord — have lost all true knowledge of Him and all vital union with Him, and therefore all authority or right to administer the Christian ordinances, the Eeport con- tinues : " For this reason they are no longer a church ; for this reason they have no authority or power to make disciples unto Him ; for this reason they have no au- thority or power to baptize into his name, and thus to produce insertion among Christians in the spiritual world ; and for this reason they have no authority or power to perform any of the duties of a church. " From the light of the Word and the doctrines of the Church we therefore conclude, that baptism in the Old Church is not valid baptism ; and consequently that we ought to be baptized in coming into the New Church." — {New Jerusalem Magazine for July, 1839, pp. 379, 381.) And in accordance with the spirit and tenor of the foregoing extracts, this Report concludes : " The Rule of Order which was referred to [and 132 THE NEW CHURCH. which the Ordaining Ministers were requested to con- sider and report upon] is expressed in the following words : ' If any of them have not been baptized into the New Church, they shall then receive that ordi- nance.' " Your Committee would propose that the words ' into the New Church ' should be omitted ; because, when we speak of baptism, we wish to be understood as referring to real baptism ; and because we regard baptism into the New Church as the only real baptism." And the Kecord of the Convention's proceedings for that year, referring to this Report, says : " The Report of the Ordaining Ministers read this morning, was accepted and ordered to be printed with the Journal ; and it was " Resolved, That Sec. 4, Art. I., Chap. II., be amended in conformity with the recommendation at the close of the above report." There does not appear, from the Record, to have been the slightest opposition in the Convention to this recommendation, not even enough to awaken discus- sion. And when we consider that this Report was drawn up by one of the most distinguished and highly honored members of the General Convention, whose full sympathy with the views and polity of that body may be inferred from the fact that he was its President (chosen annually) for more than thirty consecutive years — and that it bears the signatures of two other ministers of the highest degree, it is not strange that its views should have been generally acquiesced in by the New Church organization, and its recommendation almost universally adopted by New Church societies. That the same misconception of Swedenborg's teach- TENDENCY OF THE POPULAR VIEW. 133 ings, the same mistake as to where and what the New Church is, and the same sectarian spirit which prompted the first organization in England, were chiefly instru- mental in shaping this Report, there can be no doubt. Its grand error — that which underlies all its reasoning and necessarily vitiates its conclusions — lies in the assumption that the Old Church means all the people (no matter what their lives or their internal character) who profess faith in the old formulas, and belong to the old organizations ; and that the New Church is also a visible body, embracing only those who profess faith in the new doctrines, and join the new organization based thereon. Starting with this assumption, and aided by the strong sectarian feeling which we should naturally expect would accompany it, there was no great difficulty in reaching the conclusion that Swedenborgians are the only real Christians now in the world ; that they only have any knowledge of the Lord, or are capable of leading others into his kingdom ; that they only have authority to teach and baptize in his name, or to per- form any other duties or offices of a Christian church. And if others claim to be Christians, and attempt to administer the Christian ordinances, their acts (being unauthorized) are not to be recognized as possessing any validity. They are to be considered null and void. And sixteen years later (1855), another Report on the same subject, drawn up by the same distinguished gentleman (the President of the General Convention) and endorsed by its " Committee of Ministers," was read before that body ; and its conclusions were accepted without dissent, if we may judge from its Journal of Proceedings. And in this later Report, although the 12 134 THE NEW CHURCH. Committee say they " have paid much attention to the subject," we find an exhibition of the self- same spirit as in the Report of 1839, and the same extraordinary misapprehension of Swedenborg's teachings both upon the subject of baptism and the nature and whereabout of the New Church. This Report insists that when Swedenborg speaks of a person's being introduced into the church by baptism, he means the church as con- sisting of those, and of those only, who receive the doc- trines taught by himself, and who have therefore taken the name of the New Church. And as he always speaks of baptism as a Christian ordinance, or as a sign of introduction into the Christian church, the inevitable conclusion from the assumptions and the line of argu- ment in this Report, is, that no others than Swedenbor- gians are now to be regarded as Christians. The ani- mus of the Report may be gathered from the following paragraphs : " Having now these views of the uses of baptism, we are ready to answer the question as to what church Swedenborg refers to when he says that the first use of baptism is introduction into the church. We answer that he refers to a church that leads those who come into it into a knowledge and acknowledgment of the Lord Jesus Christ; and inasmuch as the New Church performs this use, and no other church performs it, therefore he refers to the New Church. " Some, however, have entertained the idea that Swe- denborg referred to all churches that call themselves Christian churches. We do not think it possible that this can be his meaning; first, because he teaches in this very chapter as well as in all other parts of his works, that the old church, with all its branches, has come to its end ; and he^is here giving instruction to TENDENCY OF THE POPULAR VIEW. 135 the New Church, which is to take the place of the old ; it does not seem possible, therefore, that, when he is speaking of the uses of introduction into the church, he should refer to the old as well as the new. It seems impossible that he should mean to teach that introduc- tion into the old church is attended by the same benefits as introduction into the new. " Secondly : It is still more manifest that this could not be his meaning, because the old church came to an end, for the reason that it was not in the true knowl- edge and acknowledgment of the Lord Jesus Christ ; and consequently it could not bring others into that knowledge and acknowledgment. It would be absurd, it would be insane, for him to recommend that we should go to a certain place for a thing, when he knew that the thing was not there. So it would be insane for him to send us to a thousand places for a certain thing, when he knew that it was in one of those places, and not in the nine hundred and ninety-nine, and when he could have used the proper words to designate the place, as well as any other words. " Thirdly : This cannot be his meaning, because he knew that the old church had come to an end. He had himself been the principal medium by which its falsities were exposed ; he had seen and shown that they did not know and acknowledge the Lord, and that they did not introduce others into that knowledge and acknowledgment, — or, in other words, that they were not a church, and did not perform the uses of a church. "Fourthly : This, cannot be his meaning, because he knew that a New Church was established ; because he was the principal medium by which its doctrines were revealed ; because he knew that this church was in the knowledge and acknowledgment of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that it would lead others into that knowl- edge and acknowledgment, — or, in other words, he knew that it was a church, and that it would perform the uses of a church." — {Journal for 1855, p. 106.) 136 THE NEW CHURCH. The great underlying error of this Report (as of the previous one above referred to — 1839), and that which vitiates all its conclusions, is the assumption that the Lord's true church is a sect, or an organized and visible body — that is, a body whose members are all known, whose boundaries are determined primarily by the doc- trines it professes, and whose limits therefore are as sharply defined as those of a railroad corporation or a bank directory. The body holding the true doctrines (this is the shape the argument takes) is the true church ; and all who accept the doctrines and come into organic union with the body through the authorized gate of baptism (whose key is supposed to be exclu- sively in its possession) of course belong to this church. All others are outside of it. And as the doctrines taught by Swedenborg are true, being revealed to him from heaven, therefore the receivers of these doctrines, — that body of people popularly known as Swedenbor- gians, — are now the Lord's true church on earth. No others are to be reckoned as members, or as having au- thority from Him to teach or baptize or make disciples in his name, or to perform any of the acts or uses of a church. And this fundamental error is followed by assump- tions equally strange and equally groundless. Thus it is assumed that when Swedenborg speaks of baptism as a sign of introduction into the Christian church, he means by " the Christian church" none but those who receive the doctrines taught by himself. It is assumed that no others are in the knowledge and acknowl- edgment of the Lord Jesus Christ; and that no others, therefore, are able to lead people to this knowledge and TENDENCY OF THE POPULAR VIEW. 137 acknowledgment: That Swedenborgians alone, to the exclusion of all others, are " the New Church " of which the great seer so often speaks: That .the Lord is with them in a peculiar sense and a preeminent degree: That they alone are worthy to bear the Christian name : That they alone are the Lord's true followers, and, as such, are alone capable of " leading others into a knowledge and acknowledgment of the Lord Jesus Christ, and into a life corresponding to His life " : That no others are to be regarded as Christians — that no others, indeed, are Christians in the sense in which Swedenborg uses the term : That all other churches which " call themselves Christian churches/' have no right to the name : That they are not Christians in reality : That, viewed in the aggregate, they are "the old church" which is dead and consummated, being utterly forsaken of Him whose presence and indwelling can alone impart life : And that the ordinance of baptism, therefore, when adminis- tered in other Christian communions, or by other than Swedenborgian hands, is without its proper efficacy or validity — in a word, is not Christian baptism. Who does not recognize in these assumptions the same misunderstanding of the New Dispensation and the same intensely sectarian spirit which characterized the movement and declarations in London under Robert Hindmarsh ? And think of making, or attempting to make, the sensible, large-hearted and truly catholic Swedenborg, stand sponser for all this ! Think of claim- ing for such views and teachings even the authentication and seal of Heaven ! Never have we known a more egregious misconception of a great author's meaning by his professed friends and admirers, or a more melan- 12* 138 THE NEW CHURCH. choly perversion or straying away from the whole spirit of his teachings. MORE UNREASONABLE STILL. But we have further illustrations to offer — some of them breathing a still more offensively sectarian odor, and revealing a more extraordinary misconception of the teachings of Swedenborg and the whole spirit and genius of the New Dispensation. And we shall draw them, not from the crude utterances of laymen, but from the well-considered and published writings of ministers of the highest degree — " Ordaining minis- ters." In the New Church Repository for November, 1848, is an article on " The Question of Re-baptism re-con- sidered," from the pen of an ordaining minister of the General Convention (Rev. David Powell *), from which we extract the following : " It is a great mistake to suppose that ' those who are in some goodness and truth from the Word/ and out of which the Lord is said to constitute a New Church, remain good New Churchmen in the Old Church, in external communion with it, in the partici- pation of its ordinances and sacraments, conforming to its ceremonies and observances, subject to its jurisdic- tion and control, and acquiescing in all its external manifestations, yet being interiorly of the true New * This article was written by Mr. Powell ; but, for reasons not necessary to state here, its authorship was assumed by an- other gentleman whose initials it bears, and who subsequently communicated this fact to the writer, expressing at the same time his regret that he had permitted himself to be used in that way. TENDENCY OF THE POPULAR VIEW. 139 Christian Church, — that therefore the sacraments of which they partake, and particularly that of baptism, receiving it according to New Church doctrine and life, is in their case efficacious New Church baptism. It matters not, according to this view, that the Old Church belief and forms are totally vitiated and vastated, and that there is not a spark of spiritual life remaining in it — that it is a dead carcass — that the idea of three Gods is in all [every] the most minute particle of their belief and sacraments — that it is the spiritual whore- dom of the evil and the false — that it is the spiritual Sodom and Egypt." p. 678. " The New Church does not therefore consist of the few persons remaining in the Old Church, . . . but it is a separate and independent organization of persons as subjects, in New Church doctrines and life apart from Old Church doctrines and life. . . . Hence it is plain that this New Church must have its own ordinances and sacraments, which are indispensable to its being a church ; so that it is with this Church among men that the New Heaven is conjoined, and thus with the Lord." p. 678-9. " If the Old Church, then, is entirely vastated, and all its ordinances and sacraments corrupt ; its offices and administrations having no spiritual life ; how can the sacrament of baptism, performed by its function- aries, be efficacious New Church baptism ? So far as the New Church is concerned, is not the act void and of none effect ? How can it give insertion into the New Heaven to which it is not conjoined t The act has no positive good in it ; and from the disjunction and non- communication of the Old Church with the New Heav- ens, it falls far short of any spiritual efficacy by its 'pretended insertion of the subject into the societies of the New Heaven." p. 679. " If the ' Christian denominations about us are not the Old Church,' who is? If a ' man belonging to an Epis- 140 THE NEW CHURCH. copalian or Presbyterian body of Christians,' does not belong to the Old Church, to what church does he belong? Are Episcopalians and Presbyterians New Churchmen? . . . Does not a New Churchman mean by the ' Old Church ' the ' dead carcass ' in which there is no spiritual life ? " p. 680. And in another part of his article this writer declares the New Church, which he holds to be " a separate and independent organization of persons/' to be "purely good " ; and the Old Church, by which term he desig- nates all the other church organizations in Christendom, as " entirely evil." And to suppose, therefore, that this latter might be the external of a church whereof the former is the internal, " would lead/' he thinks, " to the revolting absurdity that heaven might have been contained in the bosom of hell." p. 675. Which, in view of what he means by the New Church and the Old Church as explained by himself, is the same as saying, that " the independent organization of persons " known as the New Church, consists exclusively of angels, and that all the other Christian organizations are composed entirely of devils ! That intelligent men in this nineteenth century can harbor such an idea as this, seems hardly possible. But the fact that they do, is not less instructive than melancholy. It shows the tremendous power to blind and bewilder, which resides in the sect spirit. Another distinguished minister of " the General Con- vention of the New Jerusalem in the United States," (Rev. W. H. Benade — now an "ordaining minister") — in a sermon preached by him before that body, and subsequently published in one of its organs without a TENDENCY OF THE POPULAR VIEW, 141 syllable of criticism or dissent by the editor — speaks of the organization known as the New Church, as " the new visible body of the Lord's presence with men," and declares this body to be "the only existing church." And looking upon all the other religious organizations in Christendom as constituting the Old Church, he says of this latter : " It exists as a church in mere outward form and name, as a hollow substance of that which once was, as a shell robbed of its kernel, as a body without a soul, utterly incapable of affording — what it does not possess — support or sustenance of life either spir- itual or natural. When the Lord left that church, its existence, as such, ceased forever ; for the Church is the visible body of the Lord's Divine Humanity in the world ; and when He no longer dwells in it, then is that body soulless and dead, and must necessarily sink into decay and corruption." * * Although it is nearly twenty years since this sermon was delivered, the author's views on the subject therein discussed seem to have undergone no change or modification whatever. This was shown in an address made by Mr. Benade at a large public meeting held in the New Church temple in Philadelphia one evening during the last session of the General Convention. The subject of the Address was " the relation of the New Church to the Old." And in the course of his remarks the speaker said : " Their relation is that of opposites. It is as the relation of light to darkness, of truth to falsity, of good to evil, of heaven to hell " ; leaving his hearers to draw the charitable (?) conclusion that all there is now of heaven and the church on earth, is inside the Swedenborgian or professed New Church body; and all there is of hell is outside — or in the bodies which Mr. Benade and his school denominate in the aggregate " the Old Church." We can hardly conceive of utterances that could have pre- sented Swedenborg and his teachings in a more false or offen- 142 THE NEW CHURCH. Is this the spirit of the New Jerusalem? — we are again constrained to ask. This the teaching of the great and catholic Swedenborg who was chosen to usher in the New Dispensation ? — a dispensation of love so exalted and charity so broad that mere difference in belief or doctrinal statement will be regarded as of no account where the life is righteous, or where the ends and aims seem to be pure and holy ; and when each one imbued with the spirit and principles of heaven, " will say of another, in whatsoever doctrine or in whatsoever exter- nal worship he is principled, This is my brother : I see that he worships the Lord, and that he is a good man." — A. C. 2385. Yet the sermon from which the above is quoted, which so confidently declares the great body of Chris- tian believers — all, indeed, except Swedenborgians — to be utterly forsaken of the Lord — "a shell robbed of its kernel " — " a body soulless and dead " and fast sinking into corruption — destitute of one spark of spiritual life — this sermon, listened to with much com- placency by a large audience at the time of its delivery, was shortly after published in the Boston New Jerusalem Magazine, without a word of criticism, or a syllable of dissent. sive light to sensible and well-disposed people, than the address of that gentleman on the occasion referred to. One intelligent receiver of the heavenly doctrines among his hearers, remarked in a tone and with an apparent feeling of deep disgust : " If the views put forth in that address were a true expression of the spirit of the New Church or the teachings of Swedenborg, I would turn and run from both as from the fires of hell." And what sensible person not utterly blinded by the sect spirit, could fail to sympathize with him ? TENDENCY OF THE POPULAR VIEW. 143 Did these brethren, who so firmly believe and boldly declare that the Lord's true church on earth is now confined exclusively to the small handful of people commonly known as " Swedenborgians," never read the following instructive passage in the " Arcana Ccelestia " ? Whether they did or not, its introduction in this con- nection seems appropriate, and may be useful : " There are [in the spiritual world], societies of in- terior friendship . . . who were such in the life of the body, that they cordially loved those who were within their common association, and also embraced them as united in brotherhood. They believed that themselves alone were alive and in the light, and that they who were out of their society were respectively not alive and not in the light. This being their quality or character, they also thought that the Lord's heaven consisted solely of those few. But it was permitted me to tell them that the Lord's heaven is immense, consist- ing of every people and tongue, and that all are in it who have been principled in the good of love and faith. And it was shown that there are in heaven those who have relation to all the provinces of the body, both as to its exteriors and interiors ; but that, if they aspired further than to those things which correspond to their life, they could not have heaven, especially if they con- demned others who were out of their society ; and that, in such case their society is a society of interior friend- ship, the nature of which is such that they deprive others of the blessed principle of spiritual affection when they approach them ; for they regard them as not the elect and not alive, which thought when communi- cated induces what is sad. And yet this sadness, ac- cording to the law of order in the other life, returns to them." — A. C. 4805. 144 THE NEW CHURCH. THE LOWEST DEPTH OF SECTARIANISM. But we have not yet sounded the lowest depths of this New Church (?) sectarianism. There is a lower deep still — a manifestation of the spirit of sect far more revolting to all charitable and cultured Christian people, than any we have yet seen ; — yes, and by ministers of the highest degree. But revolting as it is, we must acknowledge it to be the legitimate fruit of the same corrupt tree, only grown to greater ripeness. In this frankest expression and completest verbal manifes- tation, the real animus and legitimate tendency of the popular theory concerning the New Church can best be seen. In a pamphlet published some twenty years ago, on " The Importance and Necessity of an External Church/' by Rev. Richard De Charms, the writer speaks of " the baptism of the Old Church priest " (by which he means baptism administered by any one outside of the pro- fessedly New Church organization), and says : "It inoculates the person who is the subject of it, with all the corruption of the consummated church, so that the spirit of him who receives it absorbs that cor- ruption, and is wholly sickened by it, comparatively as the physical frame of the anatomist absorbs, and is sometimes sickened unto death, by the virus of the dead body that he is dissecting." p. 71. In another pamphlet, published in 1855, entitled " The validity of the Baptism of the Consummated Church viewed in its Relation to the New Church. By Thomas Wilks," — the author shows that he under- stands by " the New Church " that visible body of people TENDENCY OF THE POPULAR VIEW. 145 organized under this name ; and that by " the consum- mated church " he means all the other church organiza- tions in Christendom, viewed in the aggregate — and which he (accepting the popular theory) designates as " the Old Church." And of this latter he says : " Now, since, according to the laws of the spiritual world, there can exist no communication between this church and heaven, and since all its worship is totally rejected as spiritual abomination in the sight of the Lord, it is evident that its perverted baptism, which, being included in the all of its worship, is necessarily rejected, does not insert its baptized among Christian spirits in that heaven from which it is, as to its internal state, so far separated and removed as to render com- munication with it impossible ; for it is certain, that in- sertion by baptism cannot be effected in heaven without communication with heaven." — p. 15. As if the external rite of baptism ever did, or ever can, under any circumstances, insert the subject thereof into an angelic society ! or as if the enlightened Swe- denborg ever taught any such doctrine ! But what is effected, in the judgment of this writer, by what he calls " Old Church baptism "? Into what society or class of spirits in the other world does it insert, if not into that of Christian spirits ? The question is answered in the same pamphlet : "The societies and congregations, in the spiritual world, into which its baptism inserts, are composed of such spirits only as are necessarily excluded from heaven." " It can insert into no other societies than those of the dragon and the false prophet." And the dragon," we are told, is " that old serpent, which is the devil and satan " ; and " the devil," says Swedenborg, 13 K 146 THE NEW CHURCH. " means those who are in evils as to life ; and satan, those who are in falsities as to doctrine." (A. B,. 841.) And "the false prophet means the clergy and the learned who have confirmed themselves in the religion of faith alone, and seduced the laity and common peo- ple " (Ibid. 834) ; and who, consequently, are evil, and consort with infernal spirits when they enter the other world. According to the plain teaching, therefore, of this pamphlet, there is an efficacy, but most malign and terrible, in the baptism administered in other Christian communions than the Swedenborgian, or by other hands than those of professed New Churchmen. When a lit- tle infant is baptized by an Episcopal, Congregational, Methodist or Presbyterian minister, its spirit is, by that solemn act, inserted among the devils in hell ! — " into societies and congregations composed of such spirits only as are necessarily excluded from heaven ! ! " Here we have the mature and ripened fruit of that mistaken yet prevalent theory of the New Church, and of the spirit whose first blossoming began in the decla- rations " unanimously approved " at that " select meet- ing " in London consisting of thirteen persons "most anxious to bring forward the New Church in its ulti- mate and external form." And rarely have we seen or heard of a more striking illustration of the blinding and almost dementating influence of sectarianism. And the pamphlet containing these strange notions — as shocking to all right Christian feeling and com- mon sense, as they are contrary to the whole spirit and teachings of Swedenborg — coming out in the name of the New Church and apparently under its auspices, in- TENDENCY OF THE POPULAR VIEW. 147 stead of receiving the condemnation which it merited, was for years advertised by the organ of the General Convention among its New Church works ! and its au- thor, not long after its publication, was admitted into the said Convention and elevated to the highest grade in its ministry ! Nor did he ever, to our knowledge, give up the monstrous notions expressed in the passages above quoted, or in any way modify his opinion on the subject there treated. We have here quoted some of the beliefs and teach- ings of seven " ordaining ministers " of the soi-disant New Church in the United States. And the sentiments thus openly proclaimed, coming as they do from men of the highest official standing in the organization, and devoted students of Swedenborg, are naturally accepted by the outside public as fairly representing the spirit and teachings of the illustrious seer. And do not these quotations furnish a striking exemplification of the self-same spirit in which the New Church organization originated? — a spirit intensely sectarian, and as far removed from the large, inclusive and liberal spirit of the New Jerusalem as darkness is from light or hell from heaven. Is it strange, therefore, that liberal minds should be offended and repelled by such a spirit ? or that many should have conceived a prejudice border- ing on disgust toward writings which are innocently be- lieved to justify such teaching ? DISHONEST HANDLING OF SWEDENBORG. As a further illustration of the spirit of the New Church organization, and of the tenacity with which 148 THE NEW CHURCH. that humanly devised dogma, rebaptism — held by its advocates to be the visible boundary line between the Old and the New — is clung to, it should be observed that, while those in favor of the dogma have from the first been granted full liberty to express their views on the subject in the recognized organs of the denomina- tion, those opposed to it have never been allowed any such liberty. These latter have, therefore, been com- pelled either to remain silent, or to speak through unrecognized organs, or to make for themselves such channels of communication as they were able to ex- temporize. t And not only this, but (as often happens with per- sons who have a bad cause to defend) the advocates of the dogma have often betrayed a mournful lack of fair- ness in their manner of handling the subject. In a single article from which we have quoted (see p. 139), there occur not less than eight or ten misquotations or mistranslations of Swedenborg, — whereby the author's meaning is perverted, and he is made to appear to teach concerning the New Church what he does not. And every one of these misquotations was instigated ap- parently by the same spirit which prompted the decla- rations of that London meeting in 1787. Again : in a sermon on the " Uses and Importance of Baptism," by Rev. Chauncey Giles, published in the New Jerusalem Messenger for January 16, 1867, the author openly proclaims his belief in baptism as a sec- tarian ordinance, declaring that it inserts or engrafts the subject thereof into some particular sect or society determined by the professed beliefs of the communion in which it is administered ; and that it establishes " an TENDENCY OF THE POPULAR VIEW. 149 organic union " with such sect n^t unlike that which takes place between the tender cion and the stock into which it is engrafted. Thus he says : " We are inserted by baptism into some society. The expression is a very strong one and denotes a very intimate relation. It is like the grafting of a tree, which consists in inserting a branch bearing one kind of fruit upon a stock bearing another kind. It denotes an organic union/' etc. And in another part of the same sermon, the writer says: " Those who have been baptized are recognized, both before and after they lay aside the material body, as belonging to the sect into which they have been inserted by baptism" And Mr. Giles' view of the subject is doubtless the generally accepted view of the soi-disant~New Church in this country. We have seen the same view repeatedly stated in the Convention's organs, and have never seen it criticised there, or called in question. But it is not Swedenborg's view — very far from it. The great seer uniformly speaks of baptism as " the Christian sign " — that is, a sign that the person receiving it (or his parents if it be received in infancy) acknowledges the Chris- tian religion. He treats it everywhere not as a sectarian , but as a Christian ordinance ; and as merely a sign, having no power whatever to engraft the subject into this society or that, or to establish " an organic union " between him and it. " Baptism,'/ he says, " is intended as a sign that the person baptized belongs to the church." (N. J. D. 202.) " Baptism is a sign that those baptized are of the Christian church . . . and the sign does 13* 150 THE NEW CHURCH. nothing more than mqie them known as such." " That it is merely a sign of introduction into the church, is evident from the baptizing of infants who are wholly destitute of reason " ; also from the baptizing of " all foreign proselytes who are converted to the Christian religion . . . from their mere confession of a desire to embrace Christianity." (T. C. E.) "Baptism itself confers upon its subjects neither faith nor salvation." (K J. D. 207.) " What is external [as the rite of bap- tism] is of no effect? but the internal thing which is signi- fied, which is regeneration by the truths of faith." (A. C. 10, 238.) " Regeneration is not effected by baptism, but by the life which is thereby signified." (Ibid. 2707.) "Baptism saves none but those who are spiritually washed, that is, regenerated ; for it is a sign and me- morial of this." (D. P. 330.) Does this look as if baptism engrafted the subject thereof into some particular society, denomination or seetf Does it look as if it established -" an organic union " with some sect in the other world, like that be- tween the stock and the engrafted cion? Is there the slightest breath of sectarianism about it, as spoken of and handled by the great Swede? Mr. Giles has wholly mistaken the meaning and force of the Latin word insero, as employed by Swedenborg. But we have referred to this sermon chiefly for the sake of illustrating the singular liberties which the ad- vocates of the rebaptism dogma and of the New Church as a visible institution, take with the writings of Swe- denborg, in their efforts to make him appear to justify their sectarian notions. There occurs in it the follow- ing quotation from Swedenborg's T. C. R. u. 678 : TENDENCY OF THE POPULAR VIEW. 151 " In the spiritual world all things are most distinctly- arranged in the whole and in every part, or in general and in every particular. All of the same religion are arranged into societies in heaven, according to the affec- tions of love to God and love toward the neighbor. And on this distinct arrangement there, the preserva- tion of the whole universe depends ; and this distinction cannot be effected unless every one after he is born is known by some sign, indicating to what religious assem- bly he belongs." This is given as a continuous paragraph from Swe- denborg. There is no sign to indicate that a single word has been omitted, or the sentences at all deranged. But the passage as we find it in the Boston edition of the T. C. B., from which the quotation appears to have been made, reads as follows*: "All of the same religion are arranged into societies ; in heaven according to the affections of love to God and love toward the neighbor ; in hell, into congregations ac- cording to the affections opposite to those two loves, thus according to the lusts of evil. In the spiritual world, by which we mean both heaven and hell, all things are most distinctly arranged, in the whole and in every part, or in general and in every particular. On the distinct ar- rangement there, the preservation of the whole universe depends ; and this distinction cannot be effected, unless every one after he is born, be known by some sign in- dicating to what religious assembly he belongs." Now, we cannot for a moment suppose that the sin- gular dislocation and disarrangement of the sentences which we find in the passage as quoted in this sermon, coupled also with the equally singular omission of the clauses we have given in italics, were mere accidents — casual oversights — unintentional mistakes — the result 152 TTTE NEW CHURCH. of sheer carelessness. It would, indeed, be a relief if we could believe this ; but it is impossible. The fraud- ulent handling of Sweclenborg in this instance, was evidently a deliberate act ; and the perversion of his meaning through such handling must have been equally deliberate, and equally obvious to the writer. Mr. Giles had a theory to maintain respecting baptism and the New Church. It was substantially the same as that endorsed by the General Convention in 1839, when it adopted the recommendation in the Report of its " Or- daining Ministers." And as this theory happened to differ decidedly from Swedenborg's, it could derive ap- parent support from his teachings only by misquotation or dishonest handling. It was the sect spirit — so often proving itself stronger than the love of truth and jus- tice — that prompted this bold and unjustifiable muti- lation. Every one knows that sectarianism is not and never was in close alliance with the most delicate con- science or the keenest perceptions of the good and true. Its influence is always malign — always blinding. It tends to obscure the moral perceptions and benumb the moral sensibilities. It has been so always. Then look at the lines we have italicised, and which Mr. Giles omitted to quote in his sermon, and see how fatal they are to the theory in regard to baptism which he had adopted and was endeavoring to impress on other minds ! The theory is, that an individual is in- serted by baptism into some angelic society (that is, if the baptism be administered by a duly authorized New Church minister) ; and that this insertion " is like the ; grafting of a tree, which consists in inserting a branch bearing one kind of fruit upon a stock bearing another TENDENCY OF THE POPULAR VIEW. 153 kind." If this be so — and if it effects such " an organic union " as Mr. Giles speaks of, then what is the conclu- sion which the words he was so careful to omit would force upon us ? Why, that some are inserted by baptism (administered by other than Swedenborgian hands, of course) into societies or congregations in hell ; and that, in the case of such, " an organic union " is thereby es- tablished with infernal societies ! — the very conclusion reached and openly proclaimed by one of the writers above quoted (p. 145). This follows logically from the theory. But the author of this sermon, we presume, could hardly endure the thought of a little infant (for it is of infants as well as of adults that Swedenborg is speaking in the paragraph quoted) being in any case inserted into and organically united with some society in the hells through the solemn rite of baptism. (Or if he believed this, he did not think it expedient at that time to preach it.) For, according to Swedenborg in the passage above quoted, the very same agency that arranges or inserts some into angelic societies, arranges or inserts others into infernal congregations. The theory of the sermon is, that the external rite of baptism is this agency, — an agency for good or for evil, binding the subject thereof to angelic or infernal societies, ac- cording to the hands by which, or the communion in which, it happens to be administered. Hence the felt necessity of either abandoning the theory, or of mu- tilating Swedenborg to make his teaching appear to tally with it. And unfortunately the latter course w T as chosen. The expression u religious assembly " has, doubtless, misled many persons. They take it to mean the same 154 TEE NEW CHURCH. as religious sect or denomination. But it does not. The Latin of Swedenborg reads : ad cujus religionis coetus pertineat — " to which religious assemblage he belongs " ; coetus meaning, not a sect or denomination of Chris- tians, each of which must have its own distinctive bap- tism, but the assemblage or aggregate of all who are of one and the same religion — whether Christians, Jews, Mohammedans, or Pagans. This is the meaning of the original Latin, confirmed both by what precedes and what immediately follows. "The Lord's presence in man," says Swedenborg, " is in justice and equity, and moreover in honesty and decorum." These principles are the planes in him "whereon conscience is founded by the Lord." And he further says that honesty is the complex of all moral virtues." (A. C. 2915.) In view of this heav- enly teaching, how can w T e help regarding Mr. Giles' offense in the instance here referred to, as a very grave one, and as indicating a lamentable deficiency in " the moral virtues." To form a just estimate of its magni- tude, we must bear in mind that Mr. G. accepts Swe- denborg (or professes to) as a divinely commissioned teacher ; that he regards him as a man sent of God, and an unquestionable authority in spiritual things ; that his own congregation before whom that sermon was first preached, and the 3000 or more readers of the Messenger in which it was subsequently printed, doubt- less accepted and were expected to accept the misquoted and falsified paragraph as the veritable teaching of Swedenborg ; and that thus thousands of innocent and confiding people were purposely deceived, and led to accept this falsified statement for the truth. Now if a TENDENCY OF THE POPULAR VIEW. 155 minister in Mr. Giles' high and responsible position, may thus deliberately falsify Swedenborg in one in- stance, why not in fifty ? And if such offenses are to be winked at, or treated as of little or no consequence, how long will it be before every truth taught by the illustrious seer, may be falsified at the dictate of the perverting and blinding spirit of sect. Yet Mr. Giles has never received from the body with which he is connected, the slightest rebuke for this grave offense, although the nature of it has been twice pointed out in a very public manner, and an opportunity offered for explanation, if there was any to be given. The offense is virtually confessed by the continued silence of Mr. G. and his friends ; yet it is treated as of no consequence whatever — which, to those who regard righteousness of life as the essential thing, is like treat- ing theft, perjury, arson or slander as of no conse- quence. So far from receiving the stern rebuke which such an offense deserves, the offender has since been honored by being twice elected to the presidency of the General Convention. We find the satisfactory expla- nation of this (and can we find it elsewhere ?) in the fact that Mr. Giles is a stanch advocate of the Con- vention and its theory of the New Church, and one of the best representatives of its whole spirit and polity ; and in this, as in some other ecclesiastical bodies, the spirit of sect is so much stronger than the spirit of recti- tude, truth and justice, that gross violations of the divine precepts by one who steadfastly adheres to the sect, utters its shibboleths and justifies it in all its doings, are readily overlooked or forgotten. It is the same here as in political organizations. Sins against 156 THE NEW CHURCH. God — against truth, justice and right — are of small consequence ; but sins against the party, or fair criti- cisms of its doings and sayings, are not so easily for- given. Party spirit and the sect spirit are one and the same ; and both of them are identical with the love of self or the lust of dominion. And how this spirit warps and blinds the understanding, how it renders even the simplest truths obscure, and sometimes leads to their utter denial and rejection, is often and most impres- sively declared by Swedenborg. (See A. C. 7490.) HINDRANCES THAT OUGHT TO BE REMOVED. Our illustrations of the tendency and influence of the popular theory concerning the New Church, have thus far been drawn from official records, and the public teachings of ministers of the highest degree. How re- pugnant to every right Christian feeling and how offen- sive to all true and generous souls are the views therein expressed, how prejudicial to the interests of truth and how obstructing to the progress and reception of the new theology, especially among liberal minds, the proc- lamation of such views must be, it needs no argument to prove. Yet these views have been steadily upheld by the recognized New Church organs in England and America for nearly a century. These organs have offered no argument against them, have uttered no manly protest, have expressed no emphatic dissent. Nay, in this country they have not permitted them to be criticised, nor their disagreement with Swedenborg's teachings, as well as with the whole spirit of the Chris- tian religion, to be exhibited in their columns. And TENDENCY OF THE POPULAR VIEW. 157 the few who have seen their falsity, and the withering sectarianism which underlies them, and the hindrance they offer to the spread of heavenly truth, and- the terrible injustice which their promulgation has done and continues to do to a great and revered author, and who have felt constrained, therefore, to unveil their true character from time to time and utter against them their indignant protest, have uniformly been compelled to seek for their utterances some outside channels of communication — or, oftener still, to create channels of their own. The recognized organs of the body have been persistently closed against them. And not only this, but such dissenters have often been treated with great harshness, incivility and injustice. Friendly inter- course with them has been broken off; fellowship has been withdrawn ; reproach has been heaped upon them ; they have been spoken of and treated as mischief- makers, schismatics, disturbers of the peace of Ziou, enemies of the New Jerusalem; and in some instances their names have been "cast out as evil." Whether this has or has not been " for the Son of Man's sake " — that is, for the sake of Him who is the Truth itself, and for the best interests of his church on earth, the reader is left to decide for himself. THE WAIL OF A BURDENED SPIRIT. Other illustrations might be added, revealing the kind of spirit which the popular mistake in regard to the New Church has developed and fostered both in England and the United States. But such illustrations are not pleasant, and we forbear. It is enough to know 14 158 THE NEW CHURCH. that these things have brought sickness and sorrow and mourning to the hearts of intelligent readers and enthu- siastic admirers of Swedenborg, whose eyes have been opened to discern something of the beauty, extent, gran- deur and catholicity of the New Jerusalem : and who have been pained beyond measure by what has seemed to them the sad misrepresentation, by its professed friends, of one of the grandest systems of religious truth ever vouchsafed unto mortals. Some idea of the deep distress caused by the spirit, teachings and doings of the new organization (all of which may be traced to the popular error in regard to the nature and whereabout of the New Church), may be formed from the following extracts copied from arti- cles by Professor George Bush — a man of great intel- ligence and learning as well as of rare excellence, ele- vation and breadth of character, and for many years before his death a devoted student of the works of Swe- denborg, and an affectionate receiver and faithful ex- pounder of his teachings. Here are a few of the mourn- ful strains poured forth from the burdened heart of this good man from time to time, in view of the spirit, policy and pretensions of the body claiming to be the organized " New Jerusalem in the United States of America." " Suppose, for a moment, that the predominant aspect in which this body [the General Convention] should stand before you were, . . . that it was fraught with evils of the most pernicious character to the true spir- itual interests of the Church ; that it was in itself a policy which 'makes war' with all that is ' lovely and of good report/ all that is charitable, kindly, heavenly, in the life of the Church — should you not, in that TENDENCY OF THE POPULAR VIEW. 159 case, speak in tones of uncompromising antagonism towards a system fraught with such manifold mischiefs ? " Now, I have only to ask whether the Convention has not shown itself to be all this in its spirit and acting? Is it not beyond question, the grand let and hindrance to the prosperity of the Church ? Does it not hang as a dead weight on the wheels of its progress ? And can you perceive any symptoms of emendation ? Is it not fixed, seated, settled, and confirmed in its course of evil influence ? Why, then, should it not be warred against ? How can we be at peace with an evil, without being at war with good ? " — {New Church Repository, March, 1857, p. 425.) " We can only appeal to the fact of the sad estrange- ments of the Church, and reiterate our declaration that we see no -other cause for them than the outrage done to our most sacred convictions, by insisting upon our compliance with a Church Polity, which in our eyes is fraught with the most baleful issues to the Lord's king- dom. . . . We have yet to see the evidence that the spirit by which the Convention is governed, is a spirit that cherishes one particle of solicitude whether harmony or discord prevails in the Church, so that its own chosen policy be carried out to the full extent of its aims. The very genius of such a body is intensely sectarian ; and the genius of sect is always the genius of self-compla- cency, self-exaltation, and of malign regard toward dissenters. It will tolerate the grossest errors of doc- trine, the most glaring delinquencies of life, provided only, that a stiff adhesion be manifested to the rules of order — to the various ecclesiastical arrangements — which the soi-disant ' Church ' has seen fit to adopt. Alas ! how dreary, how cold, how wintry, the reign of a heartless ecclesiasticism, having Bigotry and Intoler- ance for its prime ministers." — {Ibid. December, 1856, p. 356.) " It seems to be a part of the inscrutable counsels of the Divine Providence, that the New Church shall 160 THE NEW CHURCH. ' bear the yoke in its youth ' — the yoke of an oppres- sive spiritual despotism, which is none the less to be detested, because, from its voluntary character, its sub- jects are but little aware of its galling effects. ... It i^ only toward those who call its esse and existere in ques- tion, that it shows itself in its true colors. Others feel only its velvet glove, these its iron hand. " But we would have done with the mournful theme. Our souls are sick with the survey of the desolations wrought by the calamitous system. It is scarcely within the compass of language to express our deep conviction of the contrariety existing between the spirit of the so-called General Convention, and the true spirit of the New Jerusalem. The one is, in our view, utterly antagonistic to the other, so that, whichever prevails, the other must die. They cannot possibly live to- gether. . . . We see the Lord's Church bleeding at every pore, and we see the parricidal hands that have in- flicted the blows. The very stones would rebuke our silence were we to hold our peace." — (Ibid. p. 348.) " We hold it to be no breach of charity for any mem- ber of the New Church to sit in judgment on the Gen- eral Convention, and to call its doings in question so far as they may strike him as at variance with the true spirit, ends, and uses of the Lord's kingdom. . . . The principles on which it [the Convention] rests, are, in our view, fraught with mischief ; and of all events which could occur to form a new and happy era in the his- tory of the Church in our country, the most signal would be the immediate dissolution and disbanding of a body, which is exerting so disastrous an influence on the charity which ought to rule in the Lord's kingdom on the earth." — (Ibid. Jane, 1855, p. 282.) " We arraign it, — we rebuke it, — we condemn it in the name of all the impulses of Christians and all the graces of angels. No matter with what holy or high- sounding titles such a body may deck itself, they are all usurpation, and of no account in the Lord's sight TENDENCY OF THE POPULAR VIEW. 161 There is — there can be — no possible offense committed by a body of men against the very life of the Church, more enormous than this mad determination [of the Convention] to persist in a policy which shall alienate those who would fain be most tenderly united with their brethren, and whose very scruples on this head evince the operation of principles that would render them in- valuable associates in all legitimate church relations. Now it is the undervaluing, the ignoring, the non-per- ception of the ineffable evils of such a course, — the apparent utter insensibility to the fearful wrong done thereby to the spirit of charity, — that rends our hearts to the core." — (Ibid.. Dec, 1856, pp. 354-5.) " For ourselves, so far as we recognize the body called the General Convention as . representing the Church of the New Jerusalem, we disown it, we discard it, we turn away with loathing from it ; we can have no more fel- lowship with it than with the Babylon of the Apoca- lypse, so preeminently ultimated in the hierarchy of Rome. They are both built upon the same falsities, both breathe the same spirit, and both are doomed, we believe, to the same perdition." — (Ibid. Dec, 1856, pp. 358-9.) .14* L IV. WHERE AND WHAT IS THE NEW CHURCH? THIS is not a merely speculative or theoretical ques- tion, but one of high practical moment. It is a question lying back of nearly every other, about which there has been any difference of opinion among Sweden- borgians. It is one intimately connected with the whole " New Church " ecclesiasticism, and whose decision, this way or that, must seriously affect our attitude and bear- ing toward other Christians ; and so hinder or promote our own spiritual growth, and the progress of truth through our instru mentality. Let us see, then, how the divinely commissioned herald of this church has himself answered the question we have here pro- pounded. OUR SPIRITUAL MOTHER, When the Lord is spoken of in Scripture with refer- ence to his intimate union with the souls of men — a union produced and maintained by the indwelling and reciprocation of his love in human hearts, and repre- sented, therefore, on the natural plane, by wedded pairs, He is called Husband and Bridegroom ; and the Church (including under this term all in both worlds whose hearts have become wedded to Him by love and obedi- ence) is called his Wife and Bride. But when He is spoken of with reference to his paternal care for the 162 WTIEEE AND WHAT IS IT? 163 children of men, and to the quickening and heaven- begetting power of his love in human hearts, He is called the Father — our Heavenly Father; and the Church, his Wife (using the word in the large and comprehensive sense), by virtue of her sweet, benignant and maternal influence, is called a Mother. Hence the apostle speaks of a " Jerusalem which is above," and "which," he says, "is the mother of us all" ; for the Churqh in its largest sense, is the spiritual mother of all who are born of God — all regenerate and re- generating souls. Now we are commanded by the fourth precept of the Decalogue to honor our father and mother. And Swe- denborg has explained the meaning of this precept in its natural, spiritual and celestial senses. He has told us what is to be understood by mother, and what by honoring her, in each of these senses. In the natural sense, natural parents are meant by father and mother ; and the precept to honor them, requires, among other things, that children should be " grateful for benefits received from them, remembering with all thankfulness that they have been fed and clothed by them," etc. In the spiritual sense, he says : " by honoring father and mother, is meant to revere and love God and the church." He does not tell us what church he here re- fers to, whether the visible or invisible, the nominal or the real. But it is plain that he refers to a different kind of church from the one he speaks of when he comes to unfold for us the celestial sense of this precept. It is plain that he does not refer to " the Lord's church dispersed throughout the whole world," w T hich he calls " the communion of saints," and which he assures us is 164 THE NE W CHURCH. the New Jerusalem. Indeed he tells us (n. 307, T. Q R.) that he means by this latter, not the same church that he does where he gives us the spiritual sense of mother ; for he says, " this church, and not the former, is," etc. Thus mother in the spiritual sense, denotes the church ; and in the celestial sense it denotes the church also. Yet these churches are not identically the same. There is a distinction to be observed between them. What is that distinction ? It is indicated with sufficient clear- ness by Swedenborg. For he has told us what church he means when he gives us the celestial sense of mother. He means the invisible or real church — "the com- munion of saints," or all the Lord's people, by what- ever name they are called, " dispersed throughout the whole world." If, then, there is good ground for distinguishing the church into visible and invisible, or nominal and real, it is clear enough what church Swedenborg must refer to in giving us the spiritual sense of mother. For he says : " The reason why, in a spiritual sense, mother means the church, is, because as a natural mother nourishes her children with natural food, so the church nourishes her children with spiritual food." — (Ibid. 306.) Now, it is only when in an organized form — in some such form as makes it a. practical, working, visible insti- tution — that the church can provide spiritual food for her children. It is only in some such visible form, that she can print and circulate the Bible, publish books, tracts and newspapers, support Sunday-schools, main- tain public worship, or, in short, do any of those things which correspond to what a natural mother does for her WHERE AND WHAT IS IT? 185 children. The very circumstance, therefore, which Swedenborg alleges as the reason why mother means the church, is itself proof that it is the visible or nominal church to which he refers — or the church viewed as an institution. Now, the aggregate Christian organizations upon earth, or the sum total of Christian believers organized for purposes of worship and edification in spiritual things, constitute the entire visible Christian church, or our spiritual mother in the widest sense. And if it be asked what maternal acts or duties this church has per- formed, the answer is at hand — yes, written in endur- ing characters upon our whole Christian civilization. She has translated and preserved the written Word. She has printed and circulated copies thereof by the million, in nearly every language under heaven. She has done much, by her industry and research, to eluci- date the letter of the Word. She has implanted in myriads of human hearts a reverence for its simple pre- cepts. She has taught many of its essential truths in a form accommodated to the earlier stages of regenera- tion. She has kept alive the belief in Christ as the Son of the living God and the all-sufficient Redeemer and Saviour. And she has not only done, but is still doing, these things — things which correspond to those that a kind, faithful and provident mother does for her chil- dren. Are not these deeds good and useful ? Are they not such as fairly entitle the church that has performed and is still performing them, to our reverence, love and honor? Then, who is it to whom the greater proportion of Swedenborgians at this time are indebted for the remains 166 THE NEW CHURCH. that have been implanted in them, and the religious culture they have received? Is it not those various denominations of the Christian Church — of the Old church, as they are often, though erroneously, called — in which they have been born and nurtured ? Yes : nearly every professed New-Churchman of to-day is in- debted to some branch or sect of what he calls the Old Church, for his earliest religious lessons and religious impressions. Some one of the various sects has taught him to read and reverence the AVord of God ; to learn and obey the divine commandments ; to remember and keep holy the Sabbath day ; to respect the forms and ordinances of religion ; to repent of his sins, and invoke God's forgiveness. And has not this instruction been good and useful to him, spite of the errors that may have mingled with it? Where and what would he have been without it ? It is the foundation of what- ever of Christ's kingdom there is, or is to be, within him. And now the question is, how should such Christian sect or church be regarded by one who has been thus blessed through her instrumentality ? Has she not per- formed for him the duties and offices of a mother? And, if so, is she not entitled to his filial gratitude, love and homage ? Can he withhold his gratitude, or fail to remember with thankfulness her deeds of mater- nal kindness, without a manifest violation of the fourth commandment ? Some, I am aware, will say that the Christian organ- izations to which I refer, are not Christian ; that they are destitute of the spirit and life of Christ ; that they are in league with Satan, and can, therefore, have no WHERE AND WHAT IS IT? 167 maternal claims upon any of God's children. But I propose to show, and upon the clear testimony of Swe- den borg, that, so far from this, the various Christian organizations or churches are not forsaken of God, and not destitute of His spirit and life ; but, on the contrary, that they constitute or include a part, and a very large and important part, too, of the New Church on earth. So much for the spiritual sense of the fourth com- mandment and the obligation it imposes. Now for the supreme or celestial sense of the precept — and that will show whether any others than Swedenborgians be- long to the New Jerusalem. "In the celestial sense," says Swedenborg, "by father is meant our Lord Jesus Christ, and by mother the communion of saints, in other words, His church dispersed throughout the whole world." — (T. C. K., 307.) Now, who are meant by "the communion of saints " ? Members of the organized or nominal New Church alone? Swedenborgians only? The idea is preposterous. Evidently Swedenborg meant, by this expression, to include all good people — the children of God everywhere — all who are in conjunction with Him ; and this, too, wholly irrespective of creed, pro- fession, or outward church relations. And if Swedenborgians do not constitute the sum total of God's people, then, clearly, some others are in- cluded in " His church dispersed throughout the whole world." But should a doubt linger in the mind of any one as to what is meant by " the communion of saints," he may find Swedenborg's own explanation of the ex- pression in Arcana Coelestia, n. 7396. He is there speak- ing of the societies that constitute the Lord's true 168 THE NEW CHURCH. church ; and he says they are " scattered through the whole world, and consist of those who are in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor. . . . These societies are not only within the church [i. e., the visible or organized church] but also out of it ; and, taken to- gether, are called the Lord's church scattered and col- lected from the good in the whole world, which is also called a communion. This communion, or this church, is the Lord's kingdom in the earth, conjoined to His kingdom in the heavens and thus conjoined to the Lord himself." This decides, beyond controversy, what the author means by " the communion of saints " in T. C. R., 307. He means the Lord's kingdom on earth, or all the good people in the world — as w r ell those with- out as those within the pale of the visible church — who are conjoined to Him by love. Observe, now — for the fact is one worthy of special attention in this connection — that this communion of saints, this invisible but real church, consisting ex- clusively of the Lord's own sheep " dispersed through- out the whole world," is " the New Jerusalem " referred to in the Apocalypse — is "the Bride, the Lamb's wife." This is declared by Swedenborg himself in language too plain to be misunderstood. For, after giving us the celestial sense of mother, as above, he proceeds with his reasons, citing passages from the Word, according to his usual custom, whereby the thing alleged is made " evident." " That the church of the Lord is meant by mother in this sense is evident from these passages : " — Now note the passages that he immediately proceeds to quote as proof-texts — each of them from the Apocalypse, and WHERE AND WHAT IS IT? 169 each referring to the New Jerusalem, the Lamb's wife : — "I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. " — (Rev. xxi. 2.) " The angel said to John, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife; and he showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem." — (Ibid. xxi. 9, 10) " The marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." — (xix. 7.) Then, after speaking of " a New Church which is at this day establishing by the Lord," and referring to A. R., in 880, 881, he adds — as if to place his meaning beyond dispute — " this church, and not the former, is the wife and mother in this sense." In what sense ? Why, in the sense he had just explained — in the sense that shows the New Jeru- salem to be the Lord's true but invisible church, em- bracing all " throughout the whole world " who are conjoined to Him by love, no matter what their name or creed. The mother, in this broad sense, denotes the New Church which is signified by the New Jerusalem of the Apocalypse. And can any one doubt that there are in this church multitudes who are not of the nominal New Jerusalem — not Swedenborgians ? I think not. Nor do I know of a single passage in the writings of Swe- denborg, which goes to prove that the real New Jeru- salem of the Apocalypse is any other than God's people of every name "scattered throughout the world," or that church which is signified by mother in the highest or celestial sense. Turn, now, to the Apocalypse — to that chapter (xxi.) which describes the New Jerusalem, and where, if any- where, we should expect an explicit answer to our ques- 15 170 THE NEW OHURCH. tion. And, agreeable to our expectation, we are here taught, who shall and who shall not enter into it — or who do and who do not belong to the New Church. NAMES "IN THE LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE." The former are " they who are written in the Lamb's book of life;" which words as explained by Swedenborg, mean, " they who believe in the Lord, and live accord- ing to his commandments in the Word." — (A. R. 925.) These constitute the New Church specifically, that is, the New Church in Christendom. We are also told that "all who are in the good of life, and believe in the Lord " are meant by those who walk in the light of the New Jerusalem ; that they are such as " see divine truths from interior illumination, and live according to them." — (Ibid. 920.) We are further told " that all the particulars of the doctrine of the New Jerusalem relate to love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor ; " and that " love to the Lord consists in trusting in Him and doing his commandments ; and to do his command- ments constitutes love toward the neighbor." — (Ibid. 903.) And in the True Christian Religion, where " the theology of the New Church " is unfolded, and where, therefore, whenever " the church " is mentioned without any qualifying epithet, we have a right to infer that the author means the church of the New Jerusalem, it is said : " The fellowship or communion called the church, consists of all such persons as have the church abiding in them, and it gains admission into every one when he is regenerating ; and every one becomes regenerate in WHERE AND WHAT IS IT? 171 proportion as he abstains from the evils of sin, and shuns them as he would troops of infernal spirits." — (510.) Now, is it to be believed that Swedenborgians are the only people in Christendom who " believe in the Lord and live according to his commandments in the Word " ? That they alone " see divine truths from interior illumi- nation, and live according to them " ? That they alone " trust in the Lord and do His commandments " ? That they alone are in a " regenerating " state ? That they alone " abstain from evils, and shun them as sins"? The idea is too preposterous, for any sane mind seriously to entertain. But if there are any beside Swedenborgians, who " trust in the Lord, and do His commandments," then it is clear that there are those outside of our communion who belong to the New Jerusalem. Then Jhe real New Church is broader and more inclusive than the small sect which bears the name. And if there be any in our communion who do not " shun evils as sins " (see A. R., 952), or do not " trust in the Lord and do His command- ments," it is equally clear that they constitute no part of the genuine New Church. They belong to the pro- fessed or nominal but not to the real New Jerusalem. And so we find that Swedenborg, in explaining that chapter of the Apocalypse — the only chapter in the whole Bible which describes the New Jerusalem and tells us what class of people belong to it — the chapter which, before all others, we should consult to learn the nature and whereabout of the New Church — is entirely consistent with what he teaches in T. C. R., n. 307, as above quoted. In the one instance, he tells us that the 172 THE NEW CHURCH. New Church consists of all those " who believe in the Lord and live according to His commandments/' — no matter what creed they profess, or by what name they are known, or to what sect they belong — and of no others. In the other, he assures us that this church includes all God's children " dispersed throughout the whole world," and constituting what he calls " the com- munion of saints." Nor is there, to the best of our knowledge a solitary passage in all his writings, in which he teaches a different doctrine on this subject, or which justifies the belief that the body of disciples com- monly called the New Church, is really the Apocalyptic New Jerusalem. THE KINGDOM OF THE LORD. In addition to what has been thus far shown, take what Swedenbor^ says of the ascending degrees of the relationship of neighbor. These, according to his enu- meration, are an individual, a society, our country, the church, the kingdom of the Lord, and the Lord him- self. " These are the degrees of the relationship of neighbor ; and according to these, love ascends in all who are influenced by the love of the neighbor." — (N. J. D., 96.) Each of these is neighbor, we are told, but one in a higher degree than the other — and therefore entitled to our love in a corresponding degree. " These degrees are degrees of successive order, in which what is prior or superior is to be preferred to what is posterior or inferior." — (lb.) Therefore " the kingdom of the Lord," according to the order in which it stands in the above enumeration, is more our neighbor than "the * WHERE AND WHAT IS IT? 173 church," and consequently is to be loved in a superior degree. But what is the precise distinction between the church and the kingdom of the Lord ? What is the distinction clearly intended by Swedenborg ? It is amusing to see how /this question has sometimes been answered by those who are unwilling to admit the existence of any invisible and real church distinct from the visible and nominal. And so long as this distinction is ignored, it is impos- sible to give any rational or consistent answer to this question — any answer, I mean, that shall make Swe- denborg consistent with himself. The distinction which he makes, and meant that his readers should make, between the church and the king- dom of the Lord, is clearly the same that he makes be- tween the spiritual and the celestial sense of Mother, and the same that the great majority of Christians and even the illustrious seer himself make between the visi- ble and the invisible, or the nominal and the real church. By " the church," in the connection referred to, he evidently means the nominal church, or the church as a visible institution. This is clear from some of the language he employs ; such as, " He, therefore, who from love provides for the church, loves," etc. — (N. J. D., 94.) Such language would not be applicable to any other than the visible church. He who fur- nishes means for supporting the church as an organized institution — for supporting its ministry, its public worship, its missionary and other enterprises — may be said to provide for the church. A man " provides " for his family, for his country, for an army, — for some- thing that has a visible and tangible existence. So, 15* 174 THE NEW CHURCH. then, it must be the church as a visible institution, that Swedenborg speaks of a man's " providing " for. And who are meant by the kingdom of the Lord which, we are told, " is the neighbor in a still higher degree " than the church ? We have Swedenborg's own answer. " His kingdom consists of all who are influenced by good" no matter what their name or creed. " Thus the king- dom of the Lord is good, with all its quality, in the ag- gregate ; and when this is loved, the individuals who are in good are loved." — (N. J. D., 95.) It is the Lord's invisible but real church — the very same that the author elsewhere (T. C. R., 307) means by " the com- munion of saints " or " the church scattered throughout the whole world." There can be no doubt on this point, since the identity of this true but invisible church with the kingdom of the Lord, is expressly declared in the Arcana, 7396, — where it is said: "This communion, or this church, is the Lord's kingdom in the earthy con- joined to his kingdom in the heavens." And in the True Christian Religion this identity is affirmed in language still more explicit : " The Lord's kingdom [on earth] includes the church dispersed throughout the whole earth, called the communion of saints." — (416.) And this again is in harmony with another passage, which says : " By father and mother, in the supreme sense, are understood the Lord and his Kingdom ; by father is meant the Lord, and by mother, his kingdom" — (Ap. Ex., 375.) All the children of God, then — all the good and charitable in the various churches and out of them — constitute " the kingdom of the Lord." And this king- dom, which is the real Apocalyptic New Jerusalem, we WHERE AND WHAT IS IT? 175 are told, is our neighbor in a higher degree than the church visible (N. J. Z>., 95) ; and therefore it " is to be preferred " — that is, to be loved with a more ardent affection, and served with a deeper devotion and greater singleness of purpose. — ■ (lb. 96.) The testimony of Swedenborg, therefore, is clear and abundant in support of the position, that the New Je- rusalem is the real church, including within its ample pale not merely Swedenborgians or nominal New- Churchmen, but all who live righteous lives and are, therefore, in conjunction with the Lord and in fellow- ship with the angels, be their professions, creeds or ex- ternal church relations what they may. « CHRISTIANS WHO ARE IN GREAT FALSITIES. But I shall be pointed to the great and pernicious falsities still held and taught by the Christian denomi- nations around us — such as the tripersonality of God, the vicarious atonement, justification by faith alone, and other kindred errors, whereby the first Christian church was corrupted, and finally brought to its end. And I shall be asked, Do these falsities belong to the New Jerusalem ? Has it not been declared by the pen of inspiration that nothing " which worketh abomina- tion or maketh a lie " shall by any means enter into it ? How, then, can any who are in these or kindred falsi- ties, be in the New Church ? Or, how can any be in this Church, who are not in the belief and acknowledg- ment of its heavenly doctrines ? Strange that such questions should ever arise in the minds of those who have read Swedenborg and believe 176 THE NEW CHURCH. in Kis divine illumination. Yet they do arise, and are often propounded with a confidence which betrays a conviction that it is difficult if not impossible to answer them. I would, therefore, respectfully refer all who ask such questions, to the answers which this illu- mined author himself has given. For he tells us in many places that Christians may be professedly or nom- inally in many and great errors, and yet live the life of charity ; and where this is the case, that they are not really in the falsities they profess ; or their falsities are accepted of the Lord as truths, for they are not falsities of evil, which are the only real falsities of hell. Thus he says : " All doctrinals whatsoever, if so be they are derived from the Word, are accepted of the Lord, provided that the person who is principled therein be in the life of charity." — (A. C, 3452.) " When the end is to do good, they [i. e. their falsities] are regarded by the Lord and in heaven, not as falsities, but as bearing a resem- blance to the truth ; and according to the quality of innocence, they are accepted as truths." — (lb. 7887.) " Falsities which are derived from evil, are the real fal- sities which are from hell." — (A. K, 867.) " The false not from evil, but from ignorance of the truth, is not the false " (A. G, 6784), and is not so regarded by the Lord or the angels. " The falsities which are not from evil, in the external form indeed are falsities, but not in the internal ; for there are falsities with those who are in the good of life, but interiorly in those falsities there is good, which causes the evil of the false to be removed ; hence that false before the angels does not appear as the false, but as a species of truth." — (lb. 10,648.) Now, can there be any doubt that there is, at this day, a large multitude belonging to the churches in WHERE AND WHAT IS IT? 177 which great falsities are professed and taught, whose hearts are nevertheless so imbued with the spirit of Christ, that the falsities which they profess are not re- garded by the Lord or the angels as falsities? All such, then, are really and at heart in the truth. They, therefore, belong to the New Jerusalem, whatever be their creed or outward church fellowship. Is it said that this is mere inference? True; but is it not a legitimate and necessary inference? Is it not a conclu- sion that accords with the general tenor and scope of this author's teachings ? But there is no need of resting upon mere inference. We have Swedenborg's explicit declaration that there are people in Christendom, who, although professing various false doctrines, yet belong to the church of the New Jerusalem because of the good of life in which they are principled. THE SEVEN CHURCHES IN ASIA. Take his explanation of " the seven churches which are in Asia." These churches, he tells us, signify " the New Church upon earth, which is the New Jerusalem descending from the Lord out of the New Heaven. . . . which in itself is one, but various according to recep- tion." And after comparing the varieties in this church " to the various jewels in the crown of a king," and " to the various members and organs in a perfect body," he adds, as if for the express purpose of teaching the com- prehensive and universal character of the New Jerusa- lem, and that its variety adds to its perfection : " The perfection of every form consists in various things being 178 THE NEW CHURCH. suitably disposed in their order : hence it is, that the universal New Church is described, as to its various particulars, by the seven churches, in what follows." — {A. R., 66.) Now, note the different classes of persons that con- stitute this " universal New Church." Note, especially, their various doctrines, and the false doctrines of various kinds, which are professed by a large proportion of them. Among them, are " those who primarily respect truths of doctrine and not good of life " ; " those who are in good as to life, but in falsities as to doctrine ;" " those who place the all of the church in good works, and not anything in truths of doctrine " ; " those who are in faith separate from charity," yet " know a few things concerning charity " — persons who " have not them- selves falsified truths, but have given credit to those who have done so, because their falsities appeared like truths " ; " those who are in dead worship, or in worship which is without the good of charity and without the truths of faith," yet among whom " are some who have life in their worship, " (see A. K, 112, 163, % '5, % 227, '33.) In one of the paragraphs here referred to (227), we are told that " the greater part " of those who profess the doctrine of faith alone, " believe no otherwise than that faith alone is to think concerning God and salva- tion, and how they ought to live; and that justification is to live before God." And it is further added, that " there are very few " among those who profess faith alone, who live from or in accordance with that doc- trine. And so we find in these " seven churches " in Asia WHERE AND WHAT IS IT? 179 (according to Swedenborg's unfolding of the internal sense) persons professing various errors of doctrine, and some professing errors of the most pernicious character — errors which have contributed more than all others to darken and destroy the first Christian church. Yet, spite of their errors of doctrine, many of these people have within them some portion of the Lord's own spirit and life, and therefore belong to his New Church. Their states are various as are the doctrines they pro- fess, giving rise, therefore, to a corresponding variety in the New Church ; for " the universal New Church is de- scribed, as to its various particulars, by these seven churches." Nor is this the only passage in which Swedenborg has declared that those who are in ignorance of the truth, or who profess great errors, and yet live the life of charity, constitute a portion of the New Jerusalem. In the seventh chapter of the Apocalypse, mention is made of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, and the number sealed out of each tribe. And we are told that these twelve tribes signify all those who " constitute the Lord's internal Church " ; also that they mean those " of the New Christian Heaven and the New Church, who will be in truths of doctrine derived from the good of love through the Word from the Lord." These, then, constitute the internal of the New Church. But every church must have an external as well as an internal; and these cohere together, and form, not two churches but one church. The external is not a different or a separate church from the internal, but is only a portion of one and the same church — yet a necessary portion, and one, without which it would not be a 180 THE NEW CHURCH. church. " A church/' says Swedenborg, " in order to be a church, must be internal and external. . . . Where the interna] church is, the external must be also, for the internal of the church cannot be separated from its external; and also where the external church is, the internal must be also." — {A. C, 6587.) This is plain enough. And being told what class of persons consti- tute the internal of the New Church — viz., all who are " in truths of doctrine derived from the good of love through the Word from the Lord" — it is proper to inquire who constitute its external ; for these, be it re- membered, are none the less a part, and a necessary part, of the New Church. They belong to this church just as truly as do those who are in more interior states. Who, then, make the external of this New Heaven and New Church? Swedenborg has answered this question in language that cannot be misunderstood. The seer of Patmos, after reciting the number sealed out of each of the twelve tribes, proceeds (ch. vii., v. 9): "After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number," etc. — which language as expounded by the great seer, " signifies all the rest who are- not among the above recited, and yet are in the Lord's New Heaven and New Church, being those who compose the ultimate heaven and the external church, whose character no one knows but the Lord alone." — (A. R., 363.) And in the Apocalypse explained, the character of this " great multitude " is described in a general way . It, includes, we are told, " all those who are in the good of life according to their religion, in which there are WHERE AND WHAT IS IT? 181 not genuine truths ; " while the twelve thousand sealed out of every tribe, and who constitute the internal of the New Church, denote "those who are of the church in which there are genuine truths." We are further told that the portion of this " great multitude" denoted by "people, and tongues," signifies " all who are in falsities from ignorance, and from vari- ous religions ; ... in the present case, those who are in falsities of doctrine from ignorance ; . . . for what is false is not imputed to any one who lives well accord- ing to the dogmas of his religion, inasmuch as it is not the fault of such an one if he does not know truths." — (A. K, 452, '5.) Now the important fact, and one to which I would call special attention, is this : that a large class of people, who, according to Swedenborg, belong to the Lord's New Church (for those who constitute the external of this church, are "numerous " — A. C, 6587), are " in falsities of doctrine from ignorance," but at the same time " are in the good of life." And who are those good people who are in falsities of doctrine, and where are they? Swedenborg says they are "in the Lord's New Church" though they compose the external of this church. But are they in the organized or nominal New Church ? Are they all Swedenborgians ? Surely not, unless you admit that Swedenborgians are " in falsities of doctrine from ignorance." And the question would even then arise, Where is that " great multitude," or that " numerous " class of persons who constitute the external of the New Church ? Are they to be found in our New Church organizations ? If not, where then ? Can there be any doubt that the larger portion of them 16 182 THE NEW CHURCH. are to be found in the various Christian organizations which embrace a multitude of pious and excellent people, though in falsities of doctrine from ignorance or from erroneous instruction. Other passages might be adduced from Swedenborg, in harmony with those already cited. But it seems unnecessary. If the inference drawn from those re- ferred to, is to be set aside or questioned, I doubt whether the multiplication of extracts or references would serve any valuable purpose. DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE OLD AND THE NEW ORGANIZATIONS. But a separate church organization, it is said, based on the doctrines taught by Swedenborg, is in some cases unavoidable. Perhaps so. But may we not have a separate organization based upon the new doctrines, without, at the same time, unchurching other Christians, or claiming that we alone are the Lord's true church to the exclusion of all others? May we not have a separate church organization, without including within it all the Lord's people, or without assuming to be the Apocalyptic New Jerusalem? Nay, how are we to guard against the ingress into the new organization of some who are not the Lord's people, unless we are able to penetrate the inmost recesses of the heart ? The only visible distinction that we are able to rec- ognize between the Old and the New, viewed as sepa- rate church organizations, is the distinction based solely upon doctrines ; and this we do recognize. What else but doctrines distinguish our communion from others that bear the Christian name ? An ecclesiastical organi- WHERE AND WHAT IS IT? 183 zation, therefore, which is distinguished from others solely by its doctrines, is not necessarily and on account of its purer doctrine, more self-denying and righteous, or nearer to the Lord than those others. For we are expressly taught that " doctrinals alone do not serve to distinguish churches before the Lord." — (A. C, 1799.) And that this distinction of names among Christians, arising solely from doctrinals, " would never have taken place if the members of the church had made love to the Lord and charity toward their neighbor the prin- cipal article of faith." — (Ibid.) It would seem, then, not to be in accordance with the spirit or teachings of the New Jerusalem, to seek to perpetuate a distinction among churches such as the Lord does not recognize. Setting aside, then, all merely outward, doctrinal or nominal distinctions, we affirm that the New and the Old have been intermingled here on earth ever since the time of the Last Judgment. Neither is to be found pure among any body of people at the present day. The New is everywhere interpenetrating, modifying, reforming and vitalizing the Old. It reveals itself in the new spirit and life as well as in the new and higher truths which are continually flowing into the literature of our times — into science, into art, into politics, into all social, industrial, educational, philanthropic, and re- ligious institutions. Slowly, but surely, the Lord is fulfilling that great prediction, "Behold I make all things new." NON-SECESSION IN SWEDEN. Look at Sweden. Hear what an intelligent citizen of that country and devoted student of Swedenborg 184 THE NEW CHURCH. (Mr. Kahl) says of the manner in which the New Church is descending there : " As Swedenborg did not separate himself from the Swedish national church, his admirers and friends after him in his country have also, even to our days, embraced the principle of non-secession, and rested tranquil in the external position of the Old Church, respecting its order as the basis of religious fellowship. Their prin- cipal and almost only endeavor has been to examine, amend and improve the internal and essential parts of the church, the articles of faith and the moral doc- trines." And what has been the result? Let this Swedish brother himself answer : " To high and low, at the Court, in the universities, and almost throughout the whole country they [i. e., Swedenborg's writings] have in a friendly manner been introduced." "Thus we find a number of persons in all classes of the people, among peasants, tradesmen, clergymen, noblemen, even princes and kings, who have read and admired Swedenborg's theological works." " Almost every year, some little book at least of this good stamp [defending the doctrines of the New Jeru- salem] has appeared in the book trade. It seems as if the old symbolico-Lutheran anathemas have forever been silenced. A milder genius has from day to day begun to prevail in our national church. Even the orthodox, so zealous before, have been more favorably affected toward the New Jerusalem and its heavenly doctrine. . . . They now regard the friends of Sweden- borg rather as confederates or allies than as antagonists, and suffer them, uncensured and unreproached, to write and preach according to their conscience." And the doctrinal tenets of the national church have been greatly modified. WHERE AND WHAT IS IT? 185 " For this alteration in theological sentiments," con- tinues our brother, " our thanks are due to the Divine Providence. It is, no doubt, a very good omen. It proves that a new religious age is about to begin even in Sweden." [About to begin ! Does it not prove that a new religious age has already begun there ?] " The more enlightened among our theologians do not preach a heartless and dead. dogmatism, or ' faith alone.' On the contrary, they agree with Swedenborg, that love to the Lord, and charity toward our neighbor, are the essentials on ' which hangs all the law, and concerning which all the prophets speak/ They appear to have read and laid very much to their hearts the instruction of our great author in Arcana Ccelestia, section 1799, which teaches the supreme importance of charity, and inculcates the broadest Christian catholicity." — {Letter in the London Intellectual Repository for Aug., 1862.) Such are some of the results of " the principle of non- secession " from the Swedish national church, early em- braced by the readers of Swedenborg in that kingdom. And what happier consequences have resulted from the opposite principle in other countries ? There is more of the professed or nominal New Church — vastly more New Church societies — in England or America than in Sweden. But can we say with equal confidence that there is more of the Neiv Church f Taking the above statements of our Swedish friend as a basis of calcula- tion, is it fair to conclude that there is in Sweden less knowledge or belief of the heavenly doctrines, less of heaven-born charity, less of the sweet and catholic spirit of the New Jerusalem, than in England or America, in proportion to population ? The evidence, we submit, is clearly the other way. We believe that the light and warmth of the New Jerusalem are to day being diffused 16* 186 THE NEW CHURCH. more widely throughout the kingdom of Sweden, than in either of those other countries — and this, too, chiefly because .of " the principle of non-secession/' referred to. We believe that the New Church is descending more rapidly, and that there is now more of it in proportion to population, in Sweden than in either England or America. MR. CLOWES 1 IDEA OF THE NEW CHURCH. And the course of non-separatism which seems to have been attended with such happy results in Sweden, and which, (as we have already shown,) the great seer him- self so unmistakably enjoined, by example as well as by the general tenor of his teachings, is the very course pursued and earnestly advocated by that most estimable and saintly man, Rev. John Clowes, who was cotempo- rary with Mr. Hindmarsh but strongly opposed to his theory of the New Jerusalem and his attempt to organ- ize it, or to present it " in its ultimate or external form." Mr. Clowes always retained his connection with the Episcopal church, and publicly proclaimed to a large and admiring congregation in Manchester for more than fifty years the truths taught by Swedenborg. Dur- ing that period he did more towards disseminating these truths than has ever been done by any other man ; and certainly no one ever had a clearer understanding of them, or presented in his own life and character a more striking exemplification of their sweet and heavenly spirit. Rev. s Mr. Noble, who knew him well, calls him " the principal instrument " in diffusing the truths of the New Church throughout the kingdom of Great Britain ; and says : WHERE AND WHAT IS IT? 187 " In Mr. Clowes Swedenborg found a genuine ' brother/ — a kindred spirit, eminently qualified as another Aaron to be his ' spokesman unto the people.' This character he sustained not only by the translation of his works from Latin into English — but by a talent for bringing down the interior truths which they con- tain to the comprehension of the most simple and com- mon understanding, and presenting them in the most engaging form, even to the adapting of them for the in- struction of children. . . . No wonder, then, if one who was to be the instrument of such extensive usefulness, was called to the work by as special a divine interpo- sition as was vouchsafed to Swedenborg himself." And this good man spent his life in teaching the pre- cious truths of the New Church, or the genuine truths of the Christian religion. And no one has ever taught them with more eminent success. But so far was he from desiring to establish a new external organization, — so far from believing that any new visible body was, or could be made, identical with the Apocalyptic New Je- rusalem, he steadfastly set his face against this idea. He not only remained in the Episcopal Church for more than fifty years after his acceptance of the new truths — meanwhile approving himself all the more devoted, efficient and useful as a minister of Christ on account of the new light he had received — but he earnestly ad- vised others to do the same. He did not believe in an abrupt separation from the communion of other Chris- tians. He regarded such separation as wholly unau- thorized — as fraught with danger and mischief — as originating in a sectarian spirit, and tending to foster the evil of sectarianism. He therefore spoke against it, wrote against it and acted against it till the day of his death. Nor do we believe he is any the less opposed 188 THE NEW CHURCH. to it now, albeit for many years breathing the sweet air and enjoying the serene light of the celestial realms. In 1792 Mr. Clowes published an address on this sub- ject, under the following title : " An Address from the translator to the readers of the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, intended to point out the general design and tendency of those writings, and particularly to show that they do not authorize the readers in a sepa- ration, at this time, from external communion with other professing Christians." And after remarking upon some of the dangers to be apprehended from such separation, he adds — and in view of what has since transpired, his words sound like the words of a gifted prophet : — " Would the compass of this address permit, I could here point out some other dangers to be apprehended by the New Church from a sudden separation from ex- ternal communion with other professing Christians, such as particularly the danger of falling into a sectarian spirit, and thereby despising or thinking lightly of all others, who are not worshipping God according to cer- tain forms expressed in a peculiar language. But I trust that what hath been already said, will be sufficient to convince every candid reader of the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, that such separation is neither prudent nor expedient at this time, whilst the New Church is in its present infant state, nor yet agreeable to the sentiments of our enlightened author." In this Address, also, Mr. Clowes gives us his idea of the nature and whereabout of the New Church. He says: " It is a church not to be limited by any external forms or ceremonies of worship, neither to be pointed out by a lo ! here, or a lo ! there, but universal as the reception of heavenly truth and obedience to its die- WHERE AND WHAT IS IT? 189 tates, consisting of the upright and sincere in heart amongst all people, nations, and languages, and form- ing one grand body or kingdom here on earth, whereof the Lord Jesus Christ is the soul or head, and of which all are living members, who worship Him in spirit and in truth. " Woe be to those, who would endeavor to confine this blessed tabernacle and temple of the Most High and Holy One, within any pale of their own framing, under the delusive imagination that any mere opinion, specu- lation, doctrine, form or ceremony whatsoever, can of themselves constitute that spiritual building, in which the almighty and eternal Jehovah Jesus dwells, with all the blessings of his parental love, and the powers of his salvation ! Whereas it must be very plain to every attentive reader, both of the Sacred Scriptures and of the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, that the church of Christ consists solely of the humble, the upright and the obedient, agreeable to those words of the Lord, 1 My mother and my brethren are these, which hear the Word of God, and do it.' (Luke viii. 21) ; and in an- other place, 'My sheep hear my voice ' (John x. 27) ; where to hear is to obey." And in another of his works, this wise and saintly man tells us what the New Church is and what it is not, ac- cording to the best of his judgment. And if purity of heart and life contributes to clearness and strength of mental vision, we know of no one whose judgment in such a matter is more worthy of confidence than his. " I apprehend that by the term New Church, is not meant a mere new Sect, or particular denomination of Christians, as Quakers, Moravians, Methodists, and the like ; but that it denotes a Dispensation of universal grace, mercy, and truth, to the whole human race, without exception or limitation of time, place or sect." — {Dialogues between Sophron and Philadelphus.) 190 THE NEW CHURCH. " [Under the New Jerusalem Dispensation] men will no longer judge one another as to the mere externals of church communion, be they perfect or be they imperfect ; for they will be taught that, whosoever ac- knowledges the incarnate Jehovah in heart and life, departing from all evil, and doing what is right and good according to the commandments, he is a member of the New Jerusalem, a living stone in the Lord's new Temple, and a part of that great family in heaven and earth, whose common Father and Head is Jesus Christ. Every one, therefore, will call his neighbor Brother, in whom he observes this spirit of pure charity ; and he will ask no questions concerning the form of words which compose his creed, but will be satisfied with ob- serving in him the purity and power of a heavenly life." — {Ibid.) Such was Mr. Clowes' idea of where and what the New Church is. So sound and sensible was he in his interpretation of Swedenborg, so eminently catholic and Christian in all his views and feelings. And there is reason to believe that no man was ever more thor- oughly imbued with the spirit of the New Church than he, or better qualified to give us the true meaning of the writings of its illustrious herald. The Manchester Courier, in its obituary notice of him, only gave expres- sion to the general estimate of his character among the thousands who had known him long and intimately, when it said : " In recording the excellence of this venerable man and truly apostolic minister, it may be allowed to mark, as prominent features of a character in which all was lovely, his child-like simplicity, his singleness of heart, the elevation of his devotion, the cheerfulness of his piety, the beauty of his holiness, the charity of his zeal, his bright imagination, his lively fancy, the ease of his WHERE AND WHAT IS IT? 191 seriousness, the innocence of his mirth, the purity of his exuberant joy. " He was admirable in all the faculties and powers of an enlightened mind ; but the charm by which he won and ruled the hearts of all, was that grace in man which is the nearest image on earth of a holy and merciful God, — the boundless benevolence of a truly catholic spirit." MR. PARSONS' IDEA OF THE NEW CHURCH. Then it is worthy of remark in this connection, and a fact of some significance as well as of interest to all liberal and progressive minds, that Mr. Clowes' idea of the New Church, which, as the reader will readily perceive, is identical with Swedenborg's, and the same as that advocated in these pages, is coming to be embraced and openly avowed by some of the best thinkers and ablest writers even in what claims to be the organized New Jerusalem in the United States. To cite the most re- cent and conspicuous example confirmatory of this: The Hon. Theophilus Parsons — himself a member of the General Convention — who has for thirty years or more occupied a foremost rank among American Swedenborgian thinkers and writers, in his late and ad- mirable work on " the Religion and Philosophy of Swe- denborg," takes occasion, in his concluding chapter, to discuss the question of what some consider " the slow growth of the New Church " ; and he says : " How happens it that the growth of this church has been and is so slow, if its doctrines are all that we who hold them suppose them to be ? " There are many answers to this question. One among them is, that its growth has been greater than is 192 THE NEW CHURCH. apparent. It is not a sect. Its faith does not consist of a few specific tenets, easily stated and easily received. It is a new way of thinking about God and man, this life and another, and every topic connected with these. And this new way of thinking has made and is making what may well be called great progress. It may be. discerned everywhere, in the science, literature, phi- losophy, and theology of the times ; not prevalent in any of them, but existing, and cognizable by all who are able to appreciate these new truths with their bear- ings and results. If we hold that the spiritual world is the world of causes, and this world the world of effects, then we must hold that the New-Church will be an effect of influences which come, as the New Jerusalem is said by John to come, ' from God out of heaven.' " These influences are constantly at work to promote the establishment of this New-Church upon earth. Not suddenly, not violently, for the Lord is infinitely pa- tient ; but slowly, step by step, and only in such wise as is compatible with that spiritual freedom of mankind which is never violated. " Let it not be supposed that by the New-Church is meant the organized societies calling themselves by that name." Then — after referring to what Swedenborg calls " the three essentials of the church, an acknowledgment of the Lord's Divinity, an acknowledgment of the holi- ness of the Word, and the life which is called-- charity," which three, rightly interpreted, resolve themselves into the one great doctrine of love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor; and concerning the importance of which, the same enlightened author remarks : " If these three had been held as the essentials of the church, intellectual differences would not have divided but only varied it, as light varies colors in beautiful objects, and WHERE AND WHAT IS IT? 193 as various gems add beauty to the crown of a king " — Mr, Parsons proceeds : "Where these are, there is the church. Whoever holds these essentials in faith and life is a member of the New-Church, whatever may be his theological name or place. Only in the degree in which he so holds these essentials, is any one a member of that church. Those who, holding or desiring to hold these essentials in faith and life, unite and organize that they may be assisted and may assist each other in so holding them, constitute the visible [or part of the visible] or professed New- Church. But very false would they be to its doctrines, if they supposed themselves to be exclusively members of that Church, or if they founded their membership upon their profession or external organization. For there is no other true foundation for this membership than every man's own internal reception of the essen- tials of the church, and his leading the life which its truths require." — p. 301-303. Need we pursue the subject further? The question, Where and what is the New Church ? has now been answered, I trust, with sufficient fulness, and in a man- ner, I hope, satisfactory to all candid minds. It re- mains for us to show more particularly in what the newness of this Church consists ; and this we shall aim to do in the next succeeding chapter. 17 N V. THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW EARTH. DURING those fearful persecutions under the reign of the emperor Domitian, near the close of the first century, when no cause was less popular than the cause of Christ, and no kingdom seemed weaker or less likely ever to triumph than his, the disciple whom Jesus loved — he who had been nearest to and most intimate with the Divine Master, and had imbibed his spirit in largest measure — he, the beloved John, far advanced in years, is banished by order of the emperor to a little island in the iEgean sea. There, in Patmos, a convict and an outcast, the victim of imperial malice and the object of imperial scorn, he has grand and heavenly visions. The senses of his spirit are opened ; and scenes and objects above nature, of transcendent grandeur and deep significance, are then and there dis- closed to him. The veil is lifted, and light from the celestial realms streams in upon him. The state of the church as it would be in the then distant future, is shown him pictorially. Its consummation is foreseen, when darkness hangs over the world like night. To his couched eye the sun becomes black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon as blood, and the stars of heaven fall to the earth. And then, as the closing scene in this magnificent drama, he sees a new heaven and a new earth, and a city of stupendous proportions " de- 194 IN WHAT CONSISTS THE NEWNESS? 195 scending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God." And as the central figure and the object of supreme interest in this splendid panorama, the prophet sees " one like unto the Son of Man " — his well remembered Lord and Master : not, however, as when He trod the plains of Galilee, but transfigured, glorified, radiant, beaming with an inexpressible brightness. " His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength." How significant, too, the positions in which he beheld Him ! At first, in the midst of the seven golden candle- sticks ; and by this was represented the great truth that He is the Enlightener of all minds, the central Lumi- nary in all the churches. Afterwards he sees Him seated on a throne, and surrounded by myriads of ador- ing angels who sing with a loud voice "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and bless- ing ;" and by this was represented that other truth, that in the church of the future typified and fore- shadowed by the city New Jerusalem, Christians will acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ alone as King and Judge and Lawgiver of the moral universe ; that around Him as the one living Centre, all faithful souls will cluster and revolve, and to Him will be ascribed the supreme homage of their hearts. And what was typified by the new heaven and the new earth which the seer beheld, when the former heaven and the former earth had passed away ? No material orbs are here referred to, as Christians have been in the habit of supposing ; for the Scripture in its true sense treats of things and beings belonging ] 96 THE NEW CHURCH. to the supersensual realm. The former heaven was that imaginary Christian heaven formed in the world of spirits from the time of the Lord's advent to the year 1757. We call it an imaginary heaven, because it was not a true and real heaven — was not founded on any enduring basis of inward or God-like character. It was a heaven merely on the outside. Most of its denizens were internally evil. But because they were good and pious outwardly, they all imagined themselves in heaven. And the former earth was the first Chris- tian church which was in sympathy and fellowship with that imaginary heaven — was one with it in spirit and in belief. And because that heaven was not a real heaven, nor that church a true church, therefore they were both destined to pass away. This was in the order of Divine Providence. Both did pass away at the time of the Last Judgment (1757). And a New Heaven of angels was then formed, and a New Church on earth then com- menced. IN WHAT DOES THE NEWNESS CONSIST? But what are we to understand by a New Church ? Not simply a new ecclesiastical organization, with new doctrines, a new ritual and a new ministry; but some- thing vastly more comprehensive than this. We are to understand a New Age or Dispensation ; that is, an Age characterized by new thoughts, swayed by new motives, burning with new desires, animated with new hopes, inspired with new ambitions, kindled with new freedom, governed by new principles, baptized with a new spirit. IN WHAT CONSISTS THE NEWNESS? 197 In short, we are to understand a new condition of our terrestrial humanity, a new state of thought and feeling and life and action. Such is the real meaning of the new heaven and the new earth which the seer beheld in vision coming to take the place of the former ones which were seen to pass away. The vision was prophetic. And it began to receive its fulfilment one hundred and nineteen years ago, when the former heaven passed away. Then, also, the first Christian Age or Dispensation was consum- mated. It had lived out its destined term. It had ac- complished its mission. It had come to its end. And so the former earth passed away ; and a new earth (i. e. a new Church) commenced. And in this Church, according to divine prophecy, everything was to be renovated. " Behold I make all things new," is the proclamation that came from Him whom the seer beheld seated on the throne. At the time of the Last Judgment the Christian Church was immersed in spiritual darkness. Its ac- cepted doctrines w r ere false. Its philosophy was sensu- ous and material. Its spirit was not that of the Master whom it professed to follow. Its life was not the life of heaven. Its charity was spurious. Its liberty was — a mockery. Freedom of thought in religious mat- ters was unknown to the multitude. All the essential things of a true church were wanting, or very different from what the Lord "desired they should be; for they were contrary to the spirit and true meaning of his Word, contrary to the laws of his unselfish love. They were anti-Christian — the opposite of what they w T ere supposed to be. Therefore they all needed to be changed. 17* 198 THE NEW CHURCH. And it was intended that they should be changed at the Lord's second coming. His coming, indeed, in- volved and necessitated their change, just as the rising of a new day involves the dispersion of the shades of night. Not that these things were to be made new all at once; for no radical change in the church or in human character is ever wrought suddenly. And as all subordinate but auxiliary human interests — all civil government, social order, educational methods and industrial processes, are but the normal outbirths of the more interior states of the church, therefore these also must be made new as fast as the new truths and the new spirit descending out of heaven from God, shall be received into the minds of men. The second coming of the Lord is to be understood as a spiritual coming. It is the advent of new and higher truth, for He is " the Truth ; " the opening and revealing of the spiritual which is the true sense of the Word ; the coming, therefore, of this sense to the understandings and hearts of men, through the ob- scuring mists or " upon the clouds " of the letter. And whoever witnesses or experiences in himself this advent of the true and living Word, knows that it is, indeed, as predicted, " with power and great glory." NEWNESS IN RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. And the first thing made " new " by this coming, is the doctrine concerning the Lord himself. In the new revelation He is presented as a Being altogether lovely; as a Being divinely human, yet without the least trace of human infirmity ; a perfect Divine Man ; endowed IN WHAT CONSISTS THE NEWNESS? 199 with " all power " on earth and in heaven ; sympathiz- ing with us in our sorrows, commiserating our weak- nesses, strengthening and encouraging every good en- deavor, and continually striving to deliver us from the bondage of evil and falsity ; not as three Persons, but one, and that the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. This new doctrine, the doctrine of the Divine Hu- manity, is to the new theological system, what the sun is to our planetary system. It is the great central doc- trine. It irradiates and unitizes and vitalizes all the rest. Instead of three centres of thought and affection, it offers to the believer one only centre, Christ. It pre- sents Him as the central light and life of the church, the manifested Jehovah, " God with us." And this new doctrine of the Lord which, rightly in- terpreted, is the doctrine of heavenly life, could not fail to produce a new system of theology. This was a logical necessity. It could not fail to modify or make new all the other doctrines of the church. And so, indeed, it has. In the doctrines revealed through Swedenborg, which all radiate from and beautifully cohere with this central doctrine, we are presented with a new view of the Sacred Scripture ; a new view of redemption ; a new view of the nature and way of salvation ; a new view of the trinity, atonement, and regeneration ; a new view of life and death ; a new view of clxarity and faith ; a new view of heaven and hell ; a new view of the resur- rection and life beyond the grave. And these new views clearly set forth in the revela- tions referred to, are now seen to be gradually working their way into all the best literature of our times, and some of them into nearly all the churches : agreeably 200 THE NEW CHURCH. to the divine prediction : " For as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be " — a prophecy which clearly points to a general enlightenment of the human race. And has not this enlightenment been actually going on — rapidly, since 1757? Do not people think very, differently on religious subjects nowadays, from what they did a hundred years ago ? True, the creeds have undergone but little change ; and to outward appear- ance the churches remain about as they were. But in- wardly they are different. Inwardly they have all been touched by the light of the New Morning They have all felt the transforming power of the New Dispensa- tion. They are all receiving some measure of the new light and life. And thus they are all being gradually made new. How few intelligent Christians nowadays entertain the same views on theological and religious questions, that were generally accepted a hundred years ago ! How few now really expect to be saved by faith alone ! All are coming to regard righteousness of life as indis- pensable. How few believe the old dogmas of infant damnation, imputed righteousness, unconditional elec- tion and reprobation, or a hell of literal fire and brim- stone, such as was preached and generally believed a century ago ! These dogmas may still be found in the creeds. But they are not among men's real beliefs; certainly not among their deep convictions as they once were. So surely has come to pass, and so obvious is its fulfilment even to the most casual observer, what the herald of the New Church wrote more than a hundred years ago : IN WHAT CONSISTS THE NEWNESS? 201 " Hereafter, the church will be similar, indeed, in the outward form, but dissimilar in the inward." And he tells us why: "For henceforth the man of the church will be in a more free state of thinking on mat- ters of faith, because spiritual liberty has been restored to him." Yes — spiritual liberty; entire freedom of thought on all doctrinal and religious subjects, which is one of the benign effects of the Last Judgment, this is the rea- son for the changed and continually changing beliefs of men in nearly all the churches. However the written creeds, then, may remain unal- tered, the real beliefs of Christians are not what they were prior to the memorable year 1757. With multi- tudes they are altogether different. New and more rational views on religious subjects are everywhere being accepted. And so we find that, in respect to the doc- trinal beliefs of the churches, the Lord is gradually making " all things new." NEWNESS OF SPIRIT. And the churches are being made new in spirit not less than in doctrine. In most of the denominations, no matter what their accepted creed, the old, hard, ex- clusive, sectarian, intolerant spirit is perceptibly dying out. It is everywhere condemned as a spirit that comes from beneath — as the spirit of anti-Christ ; and a far different spirit is beginning to take its place — a spirit more mild, tolerant, charitable and just, more akin to that which reigns in heaven. Not that persecution for opinion has altogether ceased in the churches ; I do not say nor mean that. But I do mean and say that the 202 THE NEW CHURCH, persecutors are not now, as they were once, among the influential classes, but among those least respected. The best minds are everywhere coming to see, and prac- tically to acknowledge, that unity of spirit is compat- ible with considerable diversity of belief; and that per- fect agreement in all the minutise of religious thought or doctrinal statement, is neither to be expected nor desired. And so we find that, along with the new ideas or new intellectual convictions which thoughtful men and women in all the churches are gradually reaching, a new spirit is descending into the heart of humanity, softening, expanding, mellowing, sweetening, and grad- ually lifting it up to loftier and serener summits. It is the spirit of the Lord in his Divine Humanity; the spirit of Him whom the seer of Patmos beheld seated on the throne, and who is coming and proclaiming in the ears of the nations, with a voice louder than seven thunders, " Behold I make all things new ! " Manifestly, then, new views of religious truth and a new spirit and life are fast finding their way into all the churches ; and faster still, perhaps, into many outside of them all. And thus a new earth is being created through the instrumentality of the new angelic heaven. NEWNESS IN HUMAN AFFAIRS. And since religious truth is the highest truth, and religious life the highest life, it is evident that any change or newness in these, must shortly produce a cor- responding change in all subordinate human affairs ; just as any radical change in a man's convictions, feel- IN WHAT CONSISTS THE NEWNESS? 203 ings and purposes, is sure to produce ere long a corre- sponding change in his outward conduct. And who, looking at the Christendom of a hundred years ago and the Christendom of to-day, cannot see that in all the less vital yet subsidiary human interests, stupendous changes have taken place and are still going on, which nothing less than some great change in the supersensual realm and a new dispensation of truth from heaven, can adequately account for ? Who cannot see that, during the last hundred years, the Lord has been making all things new in science, philosophy, literature, legislation, the mechanic arts, industrial processes, methods of education, modes of travel and transporta- tion, modes of communication between distant peopl s, in everything, indeed, which pertains to the welfare and progress of our race ? So plainly is the prophecy, " Be- hold I make all things new," receiving its fulfilment before the eyes of all mankind, that one would think even the dullest of apprehension could hardly fail to recognize the fact. Estimating the progress of the New Church by the popular standard, that is, by the numerical increase of those who accept its doctrines and acknowledge their belief in a New Dispensation, its growth has been ex- tremely slow. But estimating it by what we believe and have shown to be the true standard — by the ad- vance of the new ideas for which it stands, the spread of the new philosophy which it announces, and the growth of the new and more Christ-like spirit which constitutes its very essence and life, its progress has been truly astonishing. Measured by the popular standard whose fallacy has been demonstrated in these 204 THE NEW OHURCH. pages, the New Church to-day is but a feeble and insignificant rill scarcely discernible among the great streams from the mountain. But measured by the true standard, it is seen to be a broad and mighty river " proceeding out of the throne of God and the Lamb ; " rolling on majestically through the world with steadily augmenting volume ; imparting freshness and verdure and bloom wherever it goes ; its banks on either side thickly covered with the tree of life whose " leaves are for the healing of the nations." How much better is it, then, to estimate the progress and present dimensions of the New Church by the high and true standard of measurement ! Better for those who openly acknowledge its doctrines, as well as for all others. It lifts up the "receivers" and enlarges their horizon. It brings new hope and strength and refresh- ment to thsir souls. It broadens their sympathies and fills them with a joyful sense of wider fellowship. It makes them feel that all good men and women of what- ever name or creed, are spiritually their kith and kin, heirs of the same heavenly inheritance, yea, members of the same church as themselves. Thus do we behold and welcome the New Jerusalem, not as a new ecclesiasticism — not as another added to the already numerous and conflicting sects — not as a new and sharply defined organization to which the arithmetic may be applied, and which may be pointed at with a " Lo, here ! " or a " Lo, there ! " but rather as the breaking of a New Day for humanity ; rather as a glad and glorious light which, coming out of the east, shineth even unto the west. Even " so," agreeably to divine promise, " shall the coming of the Son of Man be." VI. A PRACTICAL QUESTION, IN view of what has been said and shown, an impor- tant practical question arises, which is : What is to be done with the existing New Church organization ? Whatever may be said of the spirit or misconception in which it originated, of its needlessness, or its evident lack of justification from the teachings of the great seer, its existence is to be accepted as an undeniable fact. Because we are now able to see, from Sweden- borg's exposition of divine prophecy, that the separation begun nearly a hundred years ago, and continued up to the present time, was not a thing of divine order — that, on the contrary, it was the purpose of Divine Provi- dence that the New should remain with the Old "until it grows to its fulness " — shall the new organization be at once given up? Shall all existing New Church societies disband, and their members seek a home in other communions ? Is this the logical conclusion, or the only alternative ? By no means. The fact of a new organization must ibe accepted as a providential event, even though it be classed among events permitted. And it could not have been permitted but for some end of use. Besides, the mischief lies not so much in the fact of a separate or- ganization, as in its unauthorized and presumptuous claims. It is natural that those whose interpretation 18 205 206 THE NEW CHURCH. of the Christian religion is nearest alike, should be drawn together. It is natural, in the formation of societies for religious instruction and worship, that those •%of like views and feelings should gravitate toward each other. There is nothing wrong or objectionable in this, if it be not permitted to interfere with our usefulness. It is quite in accordance with the order of heaven where the great law of spiritual affinity is allowed complete sway. But when we not only separate from others, but claim to be more truly the children or church of God than they, and this merely on the ground of our beliefs, we assume towards them an offensive attitude. We break the laws and do violence to the spirit of Chris- tian charity. We sunder or weaken the bonds of brotherhood. We encourage and strengthen the spirit of sect. We offend and wound the Master whom we profess to honor. We would say, then : Let existing New Church societies, so-called — especially those that have attained to considerable maturity and strength — remain. Let them retain their organization. But let them as speedily as possible lay aside or overcome the hurtful spirit of sect. Let them dismiss all thought of anything like superiority to other Christians — all thought of being pre-eminently the church of the Lord. Let them cease to claim any special prerogatives, or to imagine that the Christian ordinances when administered by them- selves, possess any peculiar efficacy or validity. Let them acknowledge and treat as brethren all who pro- fess the Christian religion and exhibit anything of the spirit of the Divine Master, whatever their name or creed; and endeavor to enlarge their fellowship by A PRACTICAL QUESTION. 207 bringing themselves as quickly and as far as practicable into fraternal relations with Christians of every denomi- nation. Let their ministers try to draw near to, and cultivate friendly and intimate relations with, all other ministers in their vicinity ; and invite an exchange of pulpits with all, and gladly accept it with such as are willing to exchange. Let their members cheerfully and actively cooperate with other Christians in the various benevolent and philanthropic enterprises of the day; and in their private intercourse, let them seek rather to exhibit and magnify the points of agreement than the points of difference between themselves and others. Let them, in these and other similar ways, seek to mani- fest the tolerant, catholic, kind and loving spirit of the New Jerusalem ; and while openly acknowledging and fearlessly defending, on all suitable occasions, the new truths which they have received, let them by all means avoid violent and irritating assaults — any hostile attacks, indeed — upon the beliefs of their Christian neighbors. Who cannot see that, if such a course were adopted and pursued by all existing New Church societies and their ministers, the present hostility of other churches toward the truths of the New Dispensation would shortly subside; and multitudes whose minds are now closed against them, would ere long come to rejoice in their glad and cheering light. Good men and women, hith- erto offended by our ecclesiastical pretensions, and re- pelled by our exclusive and sectarian spirit, would be so affected by the spirit and conduct here recommended, that it would indeed be strange if no desire should be enkindled in their breasts to look into, and understand 208 THE NEW CHURCH. more about, the truths of the New Jerusalem. And so, by enlarging their fellowship and coming into more intimate and friendly relations with other Christians, these societies would largely increase their membership ; for their attractive and love-awakening power would be vastly augmented. But small and feeble New Church societies — num- bering from five to forty individuals, more or less (and there are many such scattered throughout the country at the present time) — what course shall they pursue ? It is difficult to give any general advice that would be applicable alike to all such. For the circumstances wiil be found to differ in almost every case. It may be advisable for many of these to keep up their organiza- tion, and hold public worship on Sundays, even if they are not yet able to maintain a minister. For if they pursue the course here recommended, they may safely count upon an increase in numbers and in strength. But in view of what has been said and shown, we submit that it would be perfectly right and proper for any such feeble societies to disband, and for the mem- bers to distribute themselves among the Christian de- nominations in their immediate neighborhood according to their tastes or inclinations. This would probably be the wiser and better course for many such societies. And in taking this step it would be natural and right that they should associate themselves with a society that would be most ready to fellowship them, and to concede to them all their Christian rights and privi- leges. Of course they should not deny any truth that they hold, nor seek to disguise their honest convictions. They should assert their right to read, lend, speak of, A PRACTICAL QUESTION. 209 or quote from, the writings of Swedenborg, with the same freedom that they would those of Paul, Luther, Milton or Channing. But while doing this, they should be careful not to disregard the rights or feelings of their associates, — should never ridicule or assail their religious beliefs, and never offensively obtrude their own. If they join the church, or become teachers in the Sunday school, or take an active interest in any of the Society's work (and it would be wise and useful for them to do all this if allowed), they should not do so under any disguise, but with the distinct understanding and in the open acknowledgment of what their religious beliefs are. And there are not many churches at the present day that would not readily admit to full membership any reader or receiver of the teachings of Swedenborg, whose life was seen to be in accordance with what the heavenly doctrines teach. But even if they should not at once be received into membership, let them not be disturbed nor repelled. Let them show how meek and gentle and affectionate and sweet-tempered they can be under the refusal. Let them continue their social intercourse with the members, and by no means slacken but rather quicken their exertions in every good work which the Society undertakes. Let them exhibit more and more of the Divine Master's spirit ; and the chances are that they will in this way render a noble service to the cause they love. They will spread the truths of the New Je- rusalem faster and more effectually than they could in any other way. For letting these truths shine out in their daily lives and practice, others could not fail to see them nor to desire to know more about them. 18* O 210 THE NEW CHURCH. Prejudice against the heavenly doctrines, instead of being intensified as it has been hitherto by the theory and practice of the separatists, would be disarmed. Ministers would not be alarmed at the introduction of Swedenborg's writings among the people of their charge, when they saw that the perusal of these writings did not make their people worse but better Christians ; did not alienate the hearts of the readers from their breth- ren, nor tend to divide their flocks. On the contrary, seeing that the readers of these works are among the most faithful, devoted, sweet-tempered and charitable of their members, and that the reading of them tends in all cases to refine, spiritualize and improve the char- acter, it would indeed be strange if some desire to read them should not be enkindled in the ministers' own hearts. While the practice prevails — and is every- where encouraged by Swedenborgians — of withdrawing from the communion to which one belongs as soon as he becomes at all interested in the writings of Sweden- borg, what wonder that the ministers and people of other denominations should set their faces against these writings ? What wonder that they should speak against them ? — that they should regard them as mischievous and dangerous ? — that they should urge all whom they love, to shun them as they would poison ? — that they should look upon their introduction among them as a sad calamity, threatening strife, alienation and division among brethren ? All this is the normal result of the theory and prac- tice of separatism. Can we not see, therefore, how such theory and practice tend to strengthen existing preju- dices against the heavenly doctrines, and so to hinder A PRACTICAL QUESTION. 211 their progress among men ? Our mistaken theory and practice obviously prevent the earth from " helping the woman " as it otherwise might. The theory of separatism has been faithfully tried for nearly a hundred years. Individuals have displayed rare devotion, and contributed liberally of their wealth to carry it out. No effort has been spared to build up a new and separate organization upon the basis of Swe- denborg's teachings. And what has been the result ? A new organization, known as "the New Church," exists both in this country and in England. But has its growth been healthy and prosperous, or are its pres- ent character, condition and prospects in either country encouraging? Do we find that union, harmony and love among the members of the organization, that vital and practical religion, that deep and unselfish devotion to every good work, that health and growth and manly vigor in its societies, which we might reasonably expect if the separate organization were an orderly and heaven- appointed thing? I will leave these questions for others to answer — merely remarking that, while the spread of the heavenly doctrines during the last decade has been exceptionally rapid, and while there are more interested readers of Swedenborg to-day than ever before, the increase of the organization during the same period has been slow and feeble ; and never, perhaps, was its condition so languid and discouraging as at the present time. It cannot with truth be said that the new organization has pros- pered, or that it is now in a prosperous or encouraging condition? Its spirit has been conspicuously narrow and sectarian, not the large, tolerant, free and loving 212 TEE NEW CHURCH. spirit of the New Jerusalem. Will it ever be essen- tially different while its attitude and pretensions remain as at the present ? But the^New Jerusalem is descending from God out of heaven — never more plainly or rapidly than to-day. And it is the special mission of this Dispensation not only to enlighten the minds of men as to the meaning of God's Word, and to things pertaining to the soul's progress and highest welfare, but to uproot and destroy the mischievous spirit of sect ; to break down the high walls of partition among the followers of Christ, which have been reared upon the dogma of salvation by faith alone ; to develop the love element in the soul and in human society, and assert its supremacy over every other ; to reveal God as a tender and loving Father — nay, as Love itself, pure and perfect and unchangeable; to exalt charity above faith — life above doctrine — both inside and outside of all the churches ; and thus to make men one in the spirit and temper of their* minds, and show how they may live and act together like brethren, in unity, notwithstanding the diversity in their doctrinal beliefs. Arid everywhere we behold this new and benign in- fluence operating upon the minds and hearts of men. Everywhere the old bigotry is perceptibly dying out, and the old sectarianism is being condemned ; and a larger, freer and more Christ-like spirit is gradually taking their place. Everywhere we witness this new and second coming of the Lord, not merely in the dis- closures of new and higher truth concerning Himself and his kingdom, but conspicuously in the manifestation of a spirit more tolerant, free, fraternal and sweet — a A PRACTICAL QUESTION. 213 spirit more akin to His own. As the author of that beautiful and majestic prose-poem, "The Heart of Christ," truly says : "The denominations are becoming more fully pos- sessed with the mind and spirit of Christ. If you doubt it compare the present century with the last, or com- pare the modern with the mediaeval ages as pertains to the golden fruits of a true faith, righteousness, charity, brotherhood, and universal love. The beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount, the humanities of the Sermon on Mount Olivet, and the love that breathes through the Johannean discourses, never beat with more tender pulses than now, to move and inspire all the ecclesiasti- cisms of the Christian world. Worthier and lovelier views of the Divine character and attributes; zeal for Christ purged of all bitterness from the gall of the un- regenerate heart ; tolerance of error in opinion ; intoler- ance of wrong to any child of God, or of cruelty to any creature He has made ; better theories of human nature and destiny ; and better feelings of human fellowship that make §very man not only the image of God but the image of every other man, — these mark the ad- vent of Christ as John foresaw it — Christianity dis- placing at length the old Judaism and heathenism, as the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven." THE END. PUBLICATIONS OF CLAXTON, REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER. Letters on the Future Life. By B. F. Barrett. 12mo. Extra cloth, $1.00. "A small volume with a great deal in it." — The Golden Age: "Any one fond of such speculation will read this lively little book with interest ; for the presentation of the subject is animated and earnest." — New Haven Palladium. "No one of the many works in the same vein — some of which that are singularly able and lucid, have been prepared by Mr. Bar- rett — have more earnestness, practically applied, than this." — Phila- delphia North American. " A grand and impressive statement of the New Church doctrine of the Future Life, eminently calculated to enlighten and interest the general reader." - — New Church Independent. Letters on the Divine Trinity. By B. F. Barrett. New and enlarged edition. 12mo. Extra cloth, $1.00. A trenchant but friendly criticism of the popular doctrine of three Divine Persons in the one true God ; and presenting with great clear- ness and force the doctrine of the Trinity as taught by Emanuel Swedenborg, together with the Scriptural and rational evidence in its support. The New View of Hell ; Showing its Nature, Where- abouts, Duration, and How to escape it. By B. F. Bar- rett. 12mo. Extra cloth, $1.00. "A succinct and intelligible statement of Swedenborg 7 s doctrine of retribution. It contains . . . much that is profoundly true, and much that is exceedingly suggestive." — New York Independent. "A really valuable contribution to the world's stock of religious ideas. . . . And we commend it to our readers as worthy of attentive perusal." — New York Sum. "There is not a Christian man or woman in the world, who would not be benefited by the reading of this book." — Westfield News-Letter. " In ' The New View of Hell ' is put forth one of the most striking and pregnant of Swedenborg's thoughts — that, too, whose influence on orthodoxy has been most observable — his conception of Hell as a state, not a place ; and as such, the chosen home of all who go there." — New York Evening Mail. PUBLICATIONS OP CLAXTON, REMSEN & HAFPELFINGER. Lectures on the New Dispensation, signified by the New Jerusalem of the Apocalypse. By B. F. Barrett. 12mo. Extra cloth, $1.25. The design of this volume is to unfold and elucidate the leading doctrines taught by Emanuel Swedenborg. And it is considered one of the best works for this purpose ever published. The London In- tellectual Repository calls it " an admirable work for making one acquainted with the doctrines of the New Church [as taught by Swedenborg]." The Golden City. By B. F. Barrett. 12mo, pp. 253. Extra cloth, $1.25. " The work will commend itself to liberal minds of every denomi- nation — for its spirit is catholic, its views comprehensive, and its temper sweet." — Boston Daily Advertiser. "According to Dr. Barrett, the true New Jerusalem, which is ... a life of love and obedience, is steadily descending to the earth. It is found in all churches and outside of them all. It is shown in a new spirit of toleration and philanthropy, a perpetual breaking away from the bondage of the letter to the, love and service of the spirit, and a growing disposition towards a real union of all true souls on spiritual and practical ground." — New York Daily Graphic. "The most important book concerning the New Church which has been written for years. Its extensive circulation in and out of the external organization of the New Church would do very great good." — Boston New Church Magazine. " Mr. Barrett writes with great earnestness and with an evident familiarity with Swedenborg's writings, and . . . sets forth in brief space and with much clearness some much misunderstood facts with re- gard to the opinions of the Swedish seer." — Phila. Evening Telegraph. " The work is from the real New Church stand-point, able in exe- cution and catholic in spirit." — The Living Way. "This treatise is thoroughly liberal, and will undoubtedly con- tribute to popularizing and expanding a form of faith that has grown quietly without such a valuable help." — The North American and United States Gazette. " The volume is pervaded by a large, free, and truly catholic spirit, which is likely to render it acceptable to all who are striving for unity without uniformity among Christian believers." — Boston Evening Transcript. $wu ■ ■ &< ■ ■ ■ **> H 6,.-; H ^r ■ ■ H ■ ■ ■ I -v*. ■ ■ *v£;. ■ ■ ■ ■ ..i, ^ .~ ■ .<# ■B -v . 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