John Hargrove Hotson The Future Of The New Church 1970

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John Hargrove Hotson

Isaiah 42, 9 Behold t the former things aré come to paSSt and new things do l declare: before they spring forth l tell you of them.

Revised Edition June 1970

PREFACE -

THOUGHTS ON THE

NE~J

CHURCH vJORLD ASSEMBLY

"The Church is various as to truths, but is one through charity. li A. C. 3451 iI~ •• that in heaven there are innumerable varieties of good and truth, but that by harmony they never the less make one, like the organs and members of the body.il A.C. 684, 690, 3241

"The case with the Lordls Kingdom on earth, that is, with His Church, is that as it has its doctrinals from the literal sense of the Word~ it cannot but be various and diverse as to those doctrinalsoc.Thus the Lordls Church ••• will differ every­ where, and this not only according to communities, but some­ times according to the individuals in a communitYj but a dis­ agreement in the doctrinals of faith does not pre vent the Church from being one, provided there is unanimity as to will­ ing well and acting wellen A. C. 3451

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"At this day scarcely anyone knows what the internal of the ChUrCh is: t~ it ~s chari~y towards the neighbor in will, and \ from the will in act, and thence faith in perception, who knows this? •• n They who do not know that this is the internal and thus the essential of the Church stand at the most remote dis­ tance from the first step towards the understanding of (the things here explained), thus from the innumerable and ineffable things which are in heaven. 1l A. C. 4899

"And there was given me a reed like a staff, signifies that the faculty and power of knowing and~eeing the state of the Church in heaven and in the world was given him by the Lord. By la reed l is signified fe~ble power, Buch as man has from himSelf; and by l~taffr is signified great p~,er, such as a ) man has from the Lora~n- A. R-: 48"5 We all i'know il the above passages, but how shall we apply them? Even when the New Church has achieved an inner spiritual unit y - as it must, for there is no internal worship in faith alone - differences in doctrinals and worship will still exist-­ facets of the same diadem--varieties of goods and truths which perfect the Lordls Kingdom. We must not expect the currents set in motion by the 11970 World Assembly ta bring early organizational mergers--still lessa monolith-wït~uniform creed and worship. Such an idea is a false concept of unit y and destroys the hope of the genuine unity.w~ can attain. he eyes cannot perform the y function of tlie ears, nor the heart the function of the lungs, but we can recognize that the Lordls Church forms one body spirit­ ually seen f and st rive to ultimate that truth in life. l believe that it would be very much in order for a continu­ ing "most general body performing uses which are in common ll to result from the coming together to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the Second Coming of the Lord. Such a body was long aga suggest­ ed by Bishop W~ F. Pendleton in his e:3say "Unit y in the New Church." This body could do much to promote understanding and mutual aid and like John the Baptist could prepare the Way of the Lord.

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This paper, which l originally wrote in 1962, is being re­ issued now in the hope that it is of use to the Church as she 1 strives ta make herself ready to become the Bride and W~Qf 't~Lard. Rereading it and the correspondence l had concerning

it with ministers and laymen of all branches of the Church l

considered whether a major rewriting of the paper was necessary.

l have decided that, although many things l tried to say could

have been said better, and sorne things l said might better have

been left unsaid, to leave the paper as it was save for minor

corrections. Rere l shall merely indicate my own thoughts regard.

ing the reactions to several points raised and a few further

thoughts.

First a disclaimer. The theme of the paper is that from the

teachings ~f the Word concerning the changes of state of the

Church, and man in his regeneration, that it is possible to know

why the New Church has developed as it has, and form sorne ide a re~

garding its future. The paper seeks to apply sorne of the great

series of the Word - The Seven Days of Creation, the Four Churches,

The Sons of Jacob and others to the histories of the organized

bodies of the New Church. It does not attempt to say anything

about changes in the state of the Church Universal, or the individ­

uals in these bodies in th~ir own regeneration. These are immense,

and immensely important subjects. Doubtless there are essential

correspondences between these three subjects, but little is said

concerning them here. We are taught that the Church where the

Word is and is understood is as th heart.. and(lungs t (A.C. 9256)

./ and doubtless as its state changes the state of the whole Church,

and those in the world outside of the Church, change also.

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If the central argument of the paper concerning our present situation-...;that the New Church is in its Third Day--is correct it certainly helps to account for the incrëàsing des air evident in the worJ-d for we are taugh t, "Th; las t~;-of the Church is there­ fore signified by the Third Day. " (A.C. 1825) ifbs there ever a time wh en a total damnation mosre stood at the dQor and threatened than now? On every plane man seems to have reached a dead end. If the weapons science has given him do not destroy him it seems his numbers, chemicals, and waste products will. All the apparent goods and self justifications of the nations are exposed as rotten within. Man plunges toward death and unless the Lord saves us man will destroy himself utterly. But He will save us. When the pre-ad vent Churches had sunk

te a me ~~e tative of a Church the Lord made His First Âdvent.

When the Christian Church fell the Lord made His Second Coming.

His New Church is the Crown of the Churches. In a world historical

Isense this Church is the Seventh Day of Creation (A.C. 9741) on

which the Lord shall rest to eternity. We may be sure of His final

triumph over all the hells in man. Rowever, in its own development,

the New Church must go throu h man trials before it cornes to a full

state.

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11But,1I I have been asked, fiwhat warrant do you have for an

attempt to know the State of the Church? Where is it taught that

man can know this, or should want to know?"

There is nothing in my paper that all in the New Church do not affirm in general--that the spiritual sense of the Word trcats chiefly Ofeihe Chu~ (th: c~lestial, chiefly t~eats of(~::he Lor~) (Last Judgmen 80); that lt lS now wlth a few ln early, ext<::rnal states; that it must ss throu~~~t~t~s_c~rrespond~n~to childhood, youth, and maturity; that it lS lnfested b Bab lon and the dragon JJ but will overcome them rom the Lord. What-New Church man denles any of this? What is questionable is my application of these truths in a particular way to the history of the particular organizations which have grown up in the first 200 years of the New Age. These applications should be questioncd. For a thing is not so because any man says so, but because the Lord teaches it in His Word. We can rightly understand nothing in the Word unless the Lord gives us to see. We should, however, look for the Doctrine the Development of the Church in the Word. ~e know there is a special providence over every aspect of its growth as wc affirm in the favorite hymn:

01

Oh Zion, rise in glory, and shine before thy Lord; Behold thy wondrous story unfolded in His Worw. There are myriad t~ngs concerning the development of the Church. Of what use are aIl these teachings l we can mak no ap lication of them? The Future of the New Church is my attempt to understand why the New Church movement became divided and to see what the future might hold. I am aware that 't partial and poorly expréssed. It may be quite wrong--a weak r~ed that will pierce the hand.~(~saiah 36:6) If so l can onl hop~-t_hélt thE Lord vQ,~l_p-E0v~_d~ a staff to som~onJL ~_~t ~nstructed than I. For the men of the Chu ch cannot help but have sorne "doctrInel! or fltheoryil of the developm~nt of the Church. If we do not have a weIl developed doctrine based 6n the Word and ;Xperienëe we will hold some poorer concept--as . that 'the true New Church is -e denomnation wehappene-cr to be born into and that aIl others are to be held as heretics or dead 1 churches" This 11doctrine" ~aths forth the fires of the ""d'ra~on ol-!aith alone, which must overcome. -­

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John Hargrove Hotson

R. R. # 3

Preston, Ontario

June la, 1970

THE FUTURE OF THE NEW CHURCH

Arcana Coelestia 2913 The Church would be one if all had charity, notwithstanding a difference as to doctrinals and worship. Malachi

3, 1-4

Behold l send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me, and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Angel of the Covenant whom ye desire. But who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner's rirë; and like fuller's soap; and He shall sit refining and purifying silver, ' and shall purOfy the sons of Levi, and shall purge them as \) gold and silver, that they may bring to Jehovah-an offering in Justice.-~hen shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem b~sweet unto Jehovah; according to the days of an age and according to former years. Genesis l, 14-19 And God said, Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens, to distinguish between the day and the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years. And let them be for luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth; and it was so. And God made two great luminaries, the greater luminary to rule by day, and the lesser luminary to rule by night; and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens, to give light upon the earth; And to rule in the day, and in the night, and to distinguish between the light and the dark ness; and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. Arcana Coelestia 10 The fourth state is when the man is affecteLw.-it.tL.love, and illuminated by faith. He indeed previously discoursed piously, and brought forth goods, but he did so in consequence of the temptation and straitness under which he labored, and not from faith and charity: therefore faith and charity are now enkindled in his internal man, and are called two "lights-."

The Doctrine

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May

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pevelopment of ~h~ Seen in The Word

N~w

Church

What can we know of the~future states of the Lord's New Church S before the states occur, since fore néWied~elongs-to the:Lord alone? We can know this much: this Church is the Crown of aIl the Churches which have hitherto existed in the world. We could be wrong about everything else in our belief about the future; this cannot fail \ to be. We know that the final state of full instauration of the New Church is represented in the final chapt ers of the Apocalypse as the ll Holy city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Knowing this do we really know any more about the' future of the New Church on earth" than a -!Jlember of the Apostolic Church kne~bout the fu ure 0 the First Christian Cnurch? Such a member knew from the Apocalypse that the "world" would "end" when the Last Judgment occurred and the Lord made His Second [ Coming, Qut in every detail~ the Last Judgment and the Second Coming he was in fallacious ideas. Or ~rhaps we should compare ourselves to ~JPbers of the Jewish ëhurch who were 1n patient expectation of the Messiah and yet in utterly fallacious ideas about His First Coming. Both the Jew and the Christian knew that the Lùxd was ta come, ~t of how He was to come they knew nothing:--­

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Can we know anything of the future of the New Church? Can we rightly understand the past and present sA tes of the development of the Church? Can we know whether we stand~ t the first dawn of the First Day of Creation in Genesis 1:1, 0 ear the ct f the AP9~~ly~se so that we may hope to see the Holy City descend into our midst? In the very first sentence of the first number of the first 1 volume of the first work which Swedenborg wrote as the Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, as thou h to give it emphasis above aIl else, this teaching is given: -- ­ "From the mere letter of the Word of the Old Testament no one would ever knQw that this part of the Word contains heavenIy arcana, tthd that everything within it both in generül and pnrticular has reference to the Lord, to His heaven, to the church, to faith, und to aIl things connected therewith." A. 1:1

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From this number we can see that our situation is quite different from that of the Jew or Christian. One attempting to form a doctrine of the development of the New Church from a study of the Word is confronted not with any~de~t~ of teachings on the subject. Rather he is given such a richness and variety of teachings, not only in passages which openly treat of the development of the Church, but also in many others which in the letter treat of other matters, that there is a danger that the mind will be overwhelmed and that no connection and or~ering of the teachings can result. Indeed, ~less one's readin~f the Word is supported by- doctrine from the Word a)ld_E:nlighte~ment from the Lord.t the m1nd must flounder. Either one will come to no c ear conclusion or to a heresy. That doctrine support the Word and how one is enlightened by the Lord we are taught in A. 9424.) -­ l

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"He who does not know the arcana of heaven must needs believe that the Word is supported without doctrine from it; for he supposes that the Word in the letter, or the literaI sense of the Word, is doctrine itself o But be it known that aIl doctrine of the chureh must be from the Word~ and that the doctrine from any other source than the Word is not doctrine in which there is anything ~f the church, still less anything of heaven. But the doctrine must be collected from the Word, and while it is being cô11ected, the man Imust be in enlightenment from the Lord; and he is in enlightenment ) when he is in the love of truth for the sake of truth, and not for the sake of self and the world. These are they who are enlightened in the Word when they read it, and who see truth, and from it maka ~tr1nel for themselveson.they who are in~the genuine doctrine of t~~rrom the Word, and in enlightenment when they read the Word, see everywhere truths that agree, and nothing whatever that is opposed;.ooNor are the ed astra b falsities from the fallacies o!-the external senses, as is the case with heretics especial1y the Jews and Socinians; nor b f, ~s~~nf~~·~e~s~~r~IO~~e?-ï.o~v~es of ~ and the world, as is the case ~t~ose who a~~_~eant y "B~L" As noneoftheSë--cailEe-enlightened, they ~ts-h "OUtfrom . j tll~~_~1~F-1:!-a:L.ê~nse aIone a 'octr~ne ~n favor of theiI!:'J1tn loyes, and add thereto many things from tne~r own; whereby the Word is by no means supported; but falls."

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One who seeks to collect doctrine from the Word must examine his ..motives~ for desiring such doctrine to see if he is motivateg:Jiij" i(- "!ive qf truth for tlie sake of trutli,11 or a love of truth, "for the sake of 1 self it'rid the worIa." Those to whom such an effort is presented must 'kikewise examine it to see if it is in accord with the genuine sense of the Word and is a further support to the understanding of it, ~ o see where, and if, the cl'lllector has "hatched out from the external sense alone a doctrine in favor of jliis70wn 10ves. 1I and addedthere­ to anything from his own. Thus doctrine must ass throug efining fire and aIl dross consumed befor~itbecomesdocf~ for the church asv_ell as for an individual. 1

Those who examine such efforts, and hard labor, are, like the laborer, in a twin danger. One they may accept false doctrine as enuine because the falsities erein appeal to t 'r sel ves. Two they may reject genuine doctrine because i condemns and judges evils a. . ies which élll.e bee confirme. Le 11 ray that r in His rovidence will gran.t us pe_u_e.Jltj._ Ilg'-oLint.etior-t.rltth so that we may draw doctrine from the Word which will be of use ~n the UPbuilding of His C. hurch. May we he en1ightened to distinguish between J ~ genuine doc tri tained in the Word Dnd D.p1?earances of.. the letter.

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To return to the questions asked above: it is my belief that from the Word we can understand a very great deal about the past, present, and future of the Lord's New Church. We can know what the present state of the ehurch is, and mueh of what ~ s t go, and become, to .'lcome to the far fuller states of con 'unction with the Lord which are in our future o l believe there is a definite or cr and progression . ordained for the church ou~f the Lord's Div~ne Providence wh~c we can see not only in general and in the abstract, but that in revi~wing th~history_o t h ~ c h thus far we can make definite app ications and judgment.

3 l believe that this universal teaching concerning the ~evelopment -:f the church is-given not once, but over and "-ver, and

that each time it ~s-given new aspects of the same truths are imparted to increase our understanding. l believe further that these series indicate that we are about to enter a most lorious §tage in the ~ns a onaf the New Cnurcli:- Al-though there are greater struggles I~nd ~fare against evil and-falsity to be waged in this state than anything the church has yet encountered, there is to be in this state a_closer union with the Lord than an thin. any congregation of the New _Church has_ yet known, wi th greater love and wisdom inthe church

~nflowing from the Source of all love and wisdom.

Because l want ta bring together sa many teachings and series ta show their harmony and union, l must express ideas in as few words as possi~e and will not be able at all to âevelop t~m in fulnes~~his brevity will also make it appear that l am saying, "1 know," when cbviously l should only say, "Perhaps ••• , is it not reasonable, etc." With this in mind, l would proceed as follows. Everyone who is being regenerated by the Lord is passing througp the Seven Da s of Creation. ~h~New Church must likewise pass through the Seven Da s, for an individual is a church in least-form, and what iS true for a lesser form is true for the greater also. The sam~ even ~tat~s are also contained and reflected in the whole book-of Genesis ( in the histories of Adam, Noah, Eber, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph o In recognition of the ap~lication of these seven states of regeneratnon to the successive states of development of the New Churcbmnr rThe Lordls New Church which is Nova-Hierosolyma in 1956 adopted a doctrinal statement, The Formation of the Church, based on this Genesis series~ It was seen rrom the Arcan;-that the Fourth State, the call of Abram, represents the First-C~ming of the Lord to the Church and that Joseph represents His Second Coming. See the appendix for this statement. For a further development of this statement see, A Study

1 of the States of the Formation of the Church, by Reverend Rarr W.

~rnItz where-rt is shown that~he Seven Days QI Creation contain the

Seven~es of the Formation of the Church.

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It is also well known in ~he Apocalypse deals with the last sta~es of the old church and he e ~nn~n s 0 ~ew; the New Church being particularly t eated of in the letters to the Seven -C~urches which~are in Asia~ the sealing of-the Twelve Tribes of Israel, } Th~~V_man Clothed with the Sun, who flees into the Wilderne~s from the

tê-ces of the aragon, -the M-arriage Supper 0 the LamE, and f~nallyt-ne

church is depicted as the Roly City. Much attention has rightly been

focused on ha ter 12 of the Apocalypse bec~use it ha ee1lrecognized

~ that whatever_else they have been-alld beco~, none of e t~ee organ­

ized bodies of the New Church; Conferenc ·'-C_Q!lvention, The General ­

'éhurch, The Nova Hierosolyma, ha-s yet "made herself ready"-to pasa

~ond the wilderness state to De ome the Bride and Wife of ttie amb.

It is not merely in these first and last books of the Old and New Testaments that we find series which the Third Testament shows to treat ~f the develo ment of the ew Church. The Twelve Sons of Israel and tne-tribes-thence describe in their nativitie:s, blessings, histories and several conjunctions, all the goods and truths of the church.

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The hi.st~ries of the four churches, Most Ancient, Ancient, Hebrew, and Christian, which have existed prior to the New Church, the depiction of the state of the fallen Christian Church, and of the Lord's Ministry and Glorification, are aIl full of meaning fer the development of the New Church. Doubtless there are many more series than these, but already we have a seemingly great complexity.

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In seeking to apply these series we must ever remember several universal principles concerning the opposition of evil and falsity to r the Lord's building of His New Church. We know that trust in self rather than tr~_iB~he ord is the universal evil that destroys aIl

1 churches o We are further instructed, as in~. 741a, that the evils

which infest the church are of two kinds symbolized y the n;agon and (Babylon~ The(Drag,~rv represents those who make God three, ttie-ifu.d two, and make faitn ~ saving. (A.R. 537) Babylon represents self worship and t~e desire froID self to rule over the truths of faith. (A.E. 1029) These evils f~ow in froID evil societies in the spiritual J 1 world and persecute the New Church. We cannot understand the history y of the New Church apart frOID this infestati~ Nor can the churc~ . b~rul in§iau~tad-un~it has reco nized in what manner ~ has been infested, Fe ents of evi~s and falsities to which ~ as been se ucea, and casts out nraconic and Babylonic influences where ever they are recognized. Our pride and selI tr~tell us that our church has not been seduced, l"'ttiougninfes a . n can be recognized in the "other two" branches. The Arcana Coelestia tells l1S that "every church is s~ch that it ip.cludes a true internaI and a corrupt interna , a true extern~qnd a corrupt ext rnal." (A. 1238) To trust in self is to dêstroy our church, to trus in the Lord's Word is to build it.

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That the New Church is to be infested by the dragon is taught plain1y in the Apocalypse Explained and Apocalypse Revealed in explan­ ation of Chapter 0 the Apocalypse. The New Church is there depicted as pursued and warred ~n by the dragon. Verse 9 states that the "great dragon(Y;as cast out, ca11ed the devil and satan, that àeduceth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth," To seduce the whole earth is to pervert aIl things of the church. (A.E. 741) Further in verse 13, "'And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman that brought forth the son,' sign­ ifies that the dragon in the world of spirits, immediately upon their bein thrust down, began to infest the New Church wn account of it-é j doctrine 0" (A .R. 5-60 The dragon cannot_ be cas~ out of the New Chu~ch, ,asOût Mf t~~ Heaverl"'ünti! we~o nize the success he has had in Ylperv:rting the thin~s of aIl branches of the New Church.

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T~ recognize the things of the dragon(with USiwe must read the passages ~f the Word which treat of the dragon, that old serpent, from his seduction ~f Eve in the Garden to the depiction of his terrible power over Protestant Christianity not as mere history. ~ real Use of these IDany passages is not at al~o make us feel superior to former churches, but to enlighten us as to how t~e still e~isting infernal societies frOID these ~h~rchës infest the New_Church today. We know frOID the Word that "the Devil is come down" unto us IIhav"ng great anger, knowing that he hath bu~sh.9rt time." (Rev. 12,12) because his defeat by Michael and his angels in the heavens is to be re eated in the "earth" which is theJ~w Cnu!'ch.

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In the same manner we must see that Babylon is not finally destroyed and cast like a millstone into the sea ~ long as such

,.~b lonish strivin for( su remacyl con inuLwithin the New ure.

IIndeed, en tnousan~ years m now when he Catholic Church is as

dim a memory as the M0s.1.-A-ncient Church is 'today, these passages'will still have living meaning for the New Church. We learn in the remarkable number~64 that the "crafty" and "pernicious .. reasonings cf those meant y e dragon about the separa­ tion of faith from good works, ••• are only with the learned lead~rs of the church, and are not known to tne eo e 0 e c urc ecause they are not understood by them, therefore 1t is b the latter t at the New Chured hich is called the Holy Jerusalem, is helped and also grows." _ Tt--is also manefestly true that it lS e pr1ests and m1nisters6f the ' 'New Church who are most im~eriled by seduction to babylon1an love of

rule since their Use requires of them le3dership and a certain pre­

) leminence. Caution, prudence, and true charity must ~used in seeking

to apply this knowledge. Thot we must recognize and cast out the

/Dragon and Babylon does not mean that we must cast out some minister

because, in our opinion, his doctrine tends to divide God, or faith

( from charity, nor should we of the laity feel pride that we have dozed

'--through innumerable sermons an doctrinal classes and thus "helped the chureh" by not receiving any dragonish reasonings which may have been present! Nor are we competent to judge whether a given leader is animated by a pr~per love ef rule from the love of Use, or a Babylonish love. We must ever learn again to examine .these tendencies' apart from person: If we should see that a tendency which was later seen to be dragonish, entered the thinking of the church through the agency of a c~rtain individual, w~ must look on hmm as the dragon's victim, not condemn him as himself a dragon. We cannot know another's interiors, and furthermore, a an's state ~hanges. The good that we have done is the Lord with us; we must not merit in it or worship others because this good is with them. The ~vil we have done is fr~m the influx ni hell; let us not eonfirm it in ourselves nor condemn others for i~ .presence.

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That we must never condemn individuals/does not mean that we must not review the histor of the New Church to date in order to see where the dragon has infested her and prevailed against her. Nothing is more ïmportan than that we do this. How can we recognize the dragon? We have been told already; the dragon are those who make God three, ~ Lord two, and who make faith al one saving. Further, it is the dragon who divides the church. "'That he might cause her to be swallowed up by the river,' signifies~hat the church mi ht be b~ed and scattered by reaspnings." C
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the Church

( It is a Universal Law that "the Lord when He operates, does not operate from first princ-ï'ples by mediates into ultimates, but from first rinciples by ultimates, and so into mediates. ' ! (A.E. 1087.

6 The Lord, in establishing His New Church operated from ~~~f$ and created His C~urch of the New Jerusalem now enerally called the Conferen_ce or Conven'tion. He then 0l'erated by l timates land • :reated the General Church of the New Jerusalcm. He thereupon operated ~n(mediate~and created The Lord's New Church which is Nova Hierosolyma. In l~ke manner the church responded, he~onference-Convention~coming into exist .ce from an acknowledgment of the Lord ~n ~rs St as the Divine Man; he General Church coming to an acknowled ent of His presence in lasts, in the Letter of the Writings, an he Nova Hierosolyma attaining to an acknowledgment of His presence in mediates, in the Doctrine and Life of the Church. AlI three of these are the Lord's N~Church. "Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture." Psalm 100,

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Had it not been for the infestation of the dragon~ this successive operation of the Lord in primes, ultimates, and mediates would not have resulted in corresponding separations in the church. Since this~/p_
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These planes of prime.,-_ultimate" and mediate in the Lord are also meant b Father~(son, and~ irit or Divine Proceeding; and the rLor~ the Wor 'an the'Doctrin~from the Word. These are One Lord and they must foFm'one Church, E9t b~ separated into three go~orshiped )J by three churches.

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~ The Church of the New Jerusalem, often called the(Conferen~or Convention; as the first body of the Lord's New Church ~s an essential c~spondence with aIl first things of love, life, and faith. This it corresponds to the First Day of Creation; toFa1th in the Understanding, the first of the church and of regeneration; to the Most Ancient, or Adamic, Church; to the first son of Jacob, Reuben; to the state of the church represented by Jacob and his sons when they dwelt in the Land of Canaan; to Peter, the first of the disciples; and to the first of the Seven Churches which are in Asia, Ephesus. ,..r-' 1-""'" 2 The\General Church 'of the New Jerusalem, created by the Lord in -/lasts, andla~ e Word, has an essential correspondence to the Second Day of Creation; to the acknowledgment of and hearkening to the Word in its Letter; to Faith in the Will; to the Ancient, or Noachic, Church; to the second of Jacob's sons, Simeon; to the state represented by Jacob and his sons dwelling in Egypt, thus with the Ancient Church, and with aIl descents into Egypt; to Andrew; and to the second church in Asia, Smyrna"

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7 The Lord's New Church which is Nov~ Hierosolyma, created by the Lord in mediates, corresponds to the Third Day of Creationj to the acknowledgment and following of Doctrine out of__the Wordj to Faith in the Act, or Charity; to the Second Ancient, or Hebrew, Churchj to Jacob's third son, Levij to the state of the church represented by the twelve tribes w~ndering for 40 years in the-wilderness under Moses~d ~onj to Jacob, the third disciple; a;~o-th~fllird church~Asia, Per~~moso ~

The New Church which is soon to be, to which we must look, for ,which we must labor as~of ourselves, but knowing it is the Lord's creation, is ~ presented ~y the Fourth Da~ of creatio~· the Celestial of Love to the ~or, he en of reform~tion and the e inning 0 true regenera 10nj ~Abrahamj by the four h of Jacob's sons, Judah; by the "Children of Israel entering the Land of Canaan under Joshuaj ~n, jthe d'ciple whom Jesus lov~d; by tbe church in Th atira; above tt this fourth state of the church rnyese ts the First Comin of the Lord and the r1 'an Church thence. As He by His Coming into the world .glorified His Human, uniting it to His Divinity, so 3hall He gather u , "uplift, and g}orify the goods and truths of His existin~, partial New C urches so that the y may become truly His.

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Without entering into a full treatment of any of the se series, let us illustrate the History of the New Church so far by means of the series of the First Three Days of Creation and the first three churches thencej Adamic, Noachic, and Hebrew, showing the correspondence of1U1e conven~ General Church, an Nova ~erosolyma.

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First Day

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/The Conference-Convention

If the first chapter of Genesis is applied to the creation of the New Church, rather than the regeneration of the individual, the result is somewhat as follows. 1. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." The Lord in His Second Coming created the New Heavens and a New Church in place of the former Christian Church.

'2. "And the earth was a void and emptiness, and thick darkness was upon the faces of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the faces of the waters." The judgment of the former Christian Church that it was without good or truth and thus consummated.

3 .. "And God said let there be light, and there was light. 1l The enlightenment of the understandings of those who were to be of the New Church.

4. "And God saw the light, that it was goodj and God distinguished between the light and the darkness. And God called the light day, and the darkness called He night." The separation of the New Church from the former Christian Church.

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5. "And the evening and the morning were the first day." The evening is the consummation of the Christian Churchj the morning, the be~i~ng of the New Church., "'Evening' means every preceding state, because it ± - state of shade, or of falsity and of no faith; 'morning' is every subsequent state, being one of light, or of truth, and of the cognitions of faith ••• As it is 'evening' when there is no faith, therefore the Coming of the Lord into the World is called, 'morning,' and the time when He comes, because faith is no faith is called 'evening.'" A. 22

8 The morning state of the First Day of the New Church is unfolded ·in the creation of Adam and his state in the Garden of Eden. It a primitive celestial-sensual_state of love to the Lord and charity to­ \ war he ne~Dor, 0 joyful perception that the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the only God of heaven and earth, that He is aIl love and aIl wisdom, that He wills to save aIl men, that He condemns no one, that He ' is making His Second Coming. It is a state of tender love, genuine ~thusiasm, and faith in the underst~ing which is a first~-rue-enlight­ { enment. Like the Most Ancient Church which had no written Word, it is an approach to the Lord as the Divine Human largel~ apart from an acknowledgment of., and entering into, the scientifics of the Word. Perhaps nowhere is this Adamic plane of the New Church and the two essentials of love to e LQ d and charity toward the neighbor better expressed than in Convention's beautiful Declaration of Faith.

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"We worship the One God, the Lord, the Savior Jesus Christ, the Creator and Redeemer of the world; in whom is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; whose humanity is divine; who for our salvation did come into the world and take our nature upon Him. He endured temptation, even to the passion of the cross. He overcame the halls, , and so delivered man. He glorified His humanity, uniting it with the Divinity. ~f which ~t was l?egotten. (....ê3 H~ became the Redeemer of thè ( worTa •. W1thout th1S no mortal could have been saved: and they are saveâ who believe in Him and keep the commandments of His Word. This is His commandment, that we love one another, as He hath loved us. Amen." Here we have no mention of the Lord as the Word, the Second Coming, the Spiritual Sense of the Word, and the Life after Death, matters which are the concern of the creed of the General Church. Love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor are the aIl in aIl. Convention~~-!Èe Mamie Chureh reborn , "that. acknowledged no faith than that of love to the Lord and love towards the Neighbor." A. 337 Who in the New Church does not know the story of the downfall of the Adamic Church? That they were forbidden to Gat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, i.e., forbidde~~o~n~~re into the mysteries of a~th~y means thin of sense_and_s~ientifics: (A. 126) that they inclined to their ro rium or Eve, the evil and falsity that springs from love of self and the world, and trusting self rather than the Lord land the Word; that Eve harkened to the voice of the serpent or sensu~l land did eat of the tre~~ desiri_n to be e~~y_self rather than the Lord, and that her husband, the rational, consented.Thattheywere removed 1 from the Garden., ~.~., r~duced to the state they had been in revious J to regeneration (A. 284) and finally d~riv~d of aIl knowledge of what is good and true lest theY-shOuld profane the holy things of faith; • ~8~) tna in time faith with them destroyed charity, representedùby Cain killing Abel, and their remnant was destroyed by a flood of evil a -fals."ty. AlI this is known, but beeause it is not known that Convention corresponds to this Adamic Church the many indications in e Third Testament that these states refer to the New Church are dis­ regarded, or if confessed as true, th~cQnfession is one like the general confession of sin in the Reformed Church,~which does not become confessi ~n articula~'î~, an us brings aboul;ï1o repen anee • .

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9 Conventi~is the Adamic New Church. The Lord addresses it aS the church WhlCh is in Ephesus with words of praise, love, consolation, and instruction as to what is necessary to restore this Adamic plane~ "But l have this against thee that thou hast left thy first charity. Be m~ndf ther~fEre of whence thou .has a ~en, and repent, and do the first worksj ~i-f not l will come unto thee quickly, and will~e thy lampstand Ol!t of its place, except thou re ent~" Rev. 2, 4-5. The promise to retore the Adamic is openly giVên: "To him that over­ ( cometh will l give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God." Rev. 2, 7.

The Second Day - The General Church

6. "And God said, let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it divide, between the waters in the waters," This first distinguishing of the second day involves the distinguishing between the things ~f fantasy or self-intelligence and the pure scientifics of the Letter, the things actually said in the Writings. It was the will toward this distinction, or the acknowledgm&nt o~ ~__ "Divine AuthQrity 0i the Writings" that led t'Othe -separation of the General Church from the Convention.

7.

"And God made the expanse, and divided between the waters which were under the expanse, and the waters which were above the expansej and it was so." This secc.nd distinction of the second day involves the distinguishing not only between those things whiçh are oî h~ ~d and those things which are ,roper to man, (A. 8) but also a first \Igen~ral awar~ness of the Interna Sënse of the Word in the Writings as distinct from the scientifics of its Letter. These two acknowledgment~; the acknowledgment of the Divine with man, and of the Intern e of the Th~rd Testament, were the two basic cognitions that led to the development 2!(the ova Hierosolym~ since these have never been fully ~ received in the General Churcn;--~evertheless, theLord remains present in the Genuine InternaI of the General Church where ~here is a true reverence for His resence in the Litera ense of the Third Testament for wrchin this there may arise that spiritual affëëtion of Truth that is the essence of Charity.

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8. "And God called the expanse heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day." The acknowledgment of the existence of the internaI man and the presence of the Lord wi th man 1 s inter..nal. A. 24 When the Adamic Church fell into evils and falsities, the Lord raised up the Noachic, or Ancient, Church. This r~ ras~nted boxh a descent and an ascent. A descent(f~om the celestial to a spiritu~ churchj and an ascent from the sensual 0 pane 0 sc. cs or me~ knowledges in the rirs c~ to have a written Wo~ Similarly, when onventi~ failed to foll~the Lord in lasts, the Lord raised up the Ge era éhurch This likewise represen etl descent and an ascent. A descen in that this second New Church tended to lose the celestial. } quality of love to the Divine Human in which Convention in its best s1at8ËÏhad beenj an ascent because the General Church accepted the "Writings" as Divine Revelation, the Lord in lasts as the Word, and thus infsllible. Its members entered into the cognitions (spiritual plane) and scientifics (plane of memory knowledges) of the Word, determined to order aIl states of the life of the New Church by the teachings of the Word. This is a progression from faith in the under­ standing to faith in the will, where man seeks ta order his life by what ( he sees in the Word, not from his corrupt will.

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~ In order to protect the new body from the "flooçl" then swee~ng Convention, the founders of tl'i'e General Church determined to form communit~es and schools in which aIl social and educational life as Well as worship should be within the sphere of the New Church; thus a 1 veritable. Noah' s Ark. "And Noah did according to aIl tha t God cOiiiliïanded him; so â3..a: he." Gen. 6, 22. The basic faith of the Second Day is perfectly presented by the Creed of the General Church~

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"I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the almighty and everlasting God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the Redeemer and Savior of the World. l believe in the Sacred Scripture, the Word of God, the Fountain of wisdom, the Source of life, and the Way to heaven. l believe in the Second Coming of the Lord, in the Spiritual Sense of the Word, and in the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem. l believe i~ the New Angelic Heaven, in the New C~istian Church, in the communion of angels and men, in the repentence from sin, in the life of charity, in the resurrection of man, in the judgment after death, and in the life everlasting." Here we see the recognition of lasts, the Lord as the Word, not even mentioned in Conyention's Declaration, made of equal importance as the Lord in firsts as the Divine Hunan.. Certainly there is development here. There is also a falling away from the "faith of love" of the Convention. (In the General Church Jcreed the "life of charity," the ) second essential of the church, becomes a mere doctrinal lost among

scientifics.

Is it merely for convenience and simple expression that the Third Testament refers to the Ancient and successive churches as "the new church" (nova Ecclesia) or is this done to remind us that this "new church" corresponds to a development in the New Cpu~? The adjective "nova." could easily be avoided by the use of "another," "additional," or "succeeding" chur~h. In the manuscripts in Sweà-enborg's own hand a statement clearly refering to the New Church is often written "nova Ecclesia." AlI initial capitals are consistently used only when the proper name "Nova Domini Ecclesia ll is used. "The subject now treated of is the forma.tion of the ncw ul'c~, which is called IINoah"; and its formation is described b the ar into which living things of every kind were received. But, rel="nofollow">a s wont to be the case~ b.Efore ~ha.t ew chur.cIL. Qould ilrise i~s ) necessary that the man of the church should .§.ttffer many tem tations, \ which are described DY the lifting up of the ark, its fluctuation, and its delay upon the waters of the flood. And finally, t~at he became a true s i r i t · man and was t free, is d scribed QY tpe )IJ ;essation o~ the waters, and the many things that follow. No one 1 can see his who a he~to ~g~ense of th~ letter only, in 1 consequence (and especially is this the case hera) of al~ things being historically connected, and presenting the idea of a history of events o " A. 605.

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Nor can one who "adheres to the sense of the letter only" see the essential correspondence of the Noachic {élrla- eneraÎlChurches. However, if one considers that the Celestial-Sens~ am~plane corresponds to the physical infanc -of the indiv1dual: to the spiritual infancy of that individual in the "First Day" of his rœ:generation, and to the "First Day" ?f the New Church, which i ~ëiitIOn, he can also see CJ.earlY that the Sp:i.ritual-Scientific Noac 1C lane corresponds to the cnï.anoo Jf the individual? both naturally and-spiritually, and to the cn1ldhood of the New Church ~.n(~e General Church

Again, neithe~ the mOTn~ng? or genuine, state, or the evening, or opposite: state of th2 General. Churr.h can be treated adequately here. They are contained in the Arcana Coelestia in the spiritual sense of the buildi~g and v()ya~~ of_the A~ko of the Lord's blessing of Noah and his sons, of the bow in the cfOuds, signifying that such a flood would never again inundate the church, and of Noah planting a vineyard, thus . becoming instructed i~ doctrinal things and becoming a spiritual ~ church. (Ao 1067) The decline of the Ancient Church is fi t treated lof in Noah' becoming drunk with t~ ~ine he had made, which signifie~ ,to fall into errors, (Ao 1072) and his illtreatment by Ham, who represents the ancient enemy of the Church, e dragon of it i~~ut J charity (A o 1061) who is the father of external worship apart from int~als which is Canaan. How much there is for us to t~e ta ~ea~t in~he tëachings-CO~erning this event. Here we see what our attitude should be when we see, or believe we see, th8 piritual drunkenness, and nakedness of another o Let us with Shem and Japheth excuse errors---­ ( rather than deride with Ham~ The Ancient Church aIse f~ victim OfJ] t at other enemy? ri s~~orship and love of dominion as ~pre~ed in the rise of the 'Tower of Babel and tb§ conse~uent confusion of tongues~Th8se dë;ïining st~tes are summarized in A. 1250 in explan-. a ion of Genesis 11: l-~

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"Concerning /the first Anciènt Church f s7 first state, that 0.11 had one do'ctrine (verse 1) j its second state,-that it began ta decline (verse 2); its third~ that the falsities of cupidities began to reign (verse 3); its fourth, that men b~gan t~rcise dominion by eans of Divine worship (verse 4); and therefore the state of t e church was changed (verse 5 and 6); so that none had the good of faith (verse 7 to 9)0

The "confoundi.ng of their lip" and aOJ;isèquent c.hurch -was a Divine jud ment upon it.

sc~ring

of the

IIICome, let us go down, and there confound their lip, that they hear not a man the lip of his fello~·' 'Comè, let us go down,' signifies that a judgment was thus effected; 'and there confound 1 their lip,' signifies that -no -one has the truth of d..Q.c...t~ine; 'tha t 1\ they hear not a man thë lip of his fellow,' signifies t~t aIl are 1 at variance with one nnother." A. 1319. ­ ~

That this state of confounding their lip "that they hear not a man the lip of his fellow, Il indeed occurred in the General Church a t the time of the "Ha ue Cont:.::."oversy" was keenly fel t by Bishop DeCharms as w1tness his statemen

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"From the very first replies to the printed statements of the Hague Position, we have been met ~nsistently with the declaration: "You 0 not understand~" This has been the out standing character­ istic of the present controversy." New Church Life, Vol. LVII 1937.

It is of great interest to see such a, possibly unconscious, confirmation of a change in the state of the church from one present at the time. It is probable that a stud of sermons, articles, and doctrinal classe~ver the ea s would bring to light many s~ [ ~onf~rmationso Di~he earliest New Churchmen see themselves as~nd­ ~ng_~t the first dawn of creation and warn against the eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Did the founder§ of the Academy and the General Church compare Distinctive New Church Education and social life to the Ark which Noah built? Did the ioneers of ---. {he Nova Hierôs~l ma . ee themselves as, like Moses, leading the church up from the Land of E t of mere seientifics? l believe that the answer is Ilyes" to all of these questions, and that in so speaking they spoke 1 spiritual truth~

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The General Church is the Noachic New Church. The Lord addresses the General C ure as the second church in Asia, Smyrna. Smyrna represents the second state of the church, "those who are in the know­ ledges of truth and good, and also in a life according to them, thus those who are in the affection of truth from a spiritual source." (A.E. 112,/M Smyrna also represents i1those wi-thin the church who w:hsh to understand the Word, but do not y~ understand." (A.E. 111) The Lord is here, "the First and the Las, who was dead and is alive," I(Revo 2, 8) recalling the General Church' acknowled ment of the pre­ s~nce of the Lord in ~ s as well 'as Firsts. He warns of the afflic­ tion they must suffer ecause of the infestation of "them who say 1hat they are Jews and they are not, but are of the synagogue oi Satan." The Lord counciis His faithful disciples in Smyrna, "be thou faithful even till death, and l will give thee the crown of life ••• He that overCOmeth shnll not be hurt by the second death," signifies tha i2..e wh02:.s ) steadfast in the genuine affection of truth to the end of his life in 1 the world sha come ~nto the new eaven." (A.E 1.11)

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The Third Day -

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Nova Hierosolyma

9. "And God said~ let the waters under the heavens be gathered together in one place, and let the dry f.ïanil appear; and it was so." The w~ters under t~e heavens being gathered together into one place in -an outmost sense signifies that the Writin sare ac nowledg~ tO.ê...-...the Word equa~y' . h e Q1 and New Testaments, whereby the Three Testa­ m~nts of the Word are united. In a deeper se~, this gathering to­ ~ gether of the waterssignifies the acknowledgment of the need of the Lord gathering together and ordering of the scientifics in the hüffian mind, by His Holy, SRirit, thus the acknowledgment of Doctrine, Spiritual o Celestial origin, this being the crowning acknowledgmeEt which led to tl!e Nova Hierosolyma. The "dry" is the external man itself, which first appears in its real natural quality when man, by virtue of (genuine Doctrine, ~no lon er assumes that the scien~ifics from the Letter in his external memory are spiritual truths,"" or mis-a plie.§ the appearances_o~he Literal SeEse to the loves of self and the world. [

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10. "And God called the dry ;Iand7earth, and the gathering together of the waters called He seas; and God saw that it was good." The distinguishing between the Presence of the Lord in the Letter ~d His Presence in the human mind, by the gathering together and ordering of the scientifics t e:nce into the form of Genuine Doctrine. Also the distinguishing between doctrinal things in the underst:anding (the seas) and the f~llowing of Doctrine in the natural life of repentance (the dry) whereby the seeds of Truth, Spiritual and Celestial, may be im­ planted and received. It was the will to th e distinctions that led to the separation of the Nova Hierosolyma and the General Church. 11-12. "And God said, let the earth bring forth the tender herb, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree bearing fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth; and it was sOG And the earth brought forth the tender herb, and herb yielding seed after its ~ind, and the tree bearing fruit, whose seed was in itself, after its kind; and Gad saw that it was good G" The L~rd calls upon His New Church to repent pf the evils and falsities out of its "co.a:u. in.:ter11ê:l" int~ it~s "corr pt external" which destroy the first three daysj the false celestialism, sensual reasonings, and heresies of îaith nlone by which Cain, the tiller of the soil, killed Abelj the spiritual drunkenness, derisiveness, and l dom:i.Aion which des~rùy' the Spiritual-4Scientific plane; the idolatry by which ours and others g limited, Natural-Rational understanding of Truth becomes a false god, the "work of our own hands" worshipped in place of the Lord, which was the end of the third church in history. The church out of , the good enrth of repentance brings forth the "tender herb" - a humble, loving worship and true natural charity out of Celestial originsj "the herb yielding seed" - a mutual affection of the True, the "seed" being the spirituaJ. cognitions within the natural scientifics; and finally, "the fruit tree bearing fruit whose seed was in itself" - a humble, natural-rational understanding and perception of Doctrine out():(which the genuine external of the church i8 prepared for ttre Advent of the Lord in the Fourth Day. As summarized in Arcana Coelestia the Third Day of Regeneration is: "The third state is that of repentance, in which the man, from his internal man, speaks piously and devoutly, and brings for th goods, Î like goods of charity, but which, nevertheless, are inanimate, because he thinks they are from himself. These are called the "tender grass," and also the "herb yielding seed," and afterwards the "tree bearing ( fruit .. " Again in the change from the Second to the Third Day we see both an ascent and a descente An ascent from the scientific ta the doctrinal or rati9pal, a descent from the spi~~al to the natural gooiL-of faith This descent is not~decline, but an advance, in that J and obedience. the New Church thus advances from Spiritual ch11Qhood to S iritual youth so that the Celestial and Spiritual seeds may come forth from the " ood earth." It can be seen that while the Nova Hierosolyma has entered the ThirdJDay, most ojf its work has notlb,Ben accompl~ed as ye~indeed, most of its work cannot be accomplished by the Nova Hiero­ sOlyma alone. The external of the New Church must be re-formed so that) He-may-open and form its internals. s did the Hebrew ro ets of old; so must the men of _the No~ierosolyma prepare the New chur~h for--the Lord's Ministry of the Fourt ay.

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The genuinely priestly Use of lending by truths of Doctrine ta genuine repentance and the life of charity first becomes ossible 'n the Third Dayo For t e Priestho.ad is given ta Jacob' s third son, Levi. Although the Lord Himae ,as the Good of Life, cannat be inmostly Eresent with us until we have repented of the dragonish and babylonish things which prevent this inwar~ con 'unction, let us never forget t at He is omnipresent prepûrin His Church. As we labor ta pre are the "good .round " let us remember the promise given in Isaiah 53, 2 ta this New Church of the Third Dûy:

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"Far He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground." 'l'he early third day quali ty of ther'Nova Hierosol ma,....,·a t i ts inception is clearly sfiown in ffie statemen "Leading Theses Propounded in 'De Hemelsche Leer'''. Here are se en the separations treated of in Genesis l, 9-10, which begin the Third Day rather than the unfinished tasks for the Church in Genesis l, Il. The gathering of the waters, distin uish­ ing of the dry, and the worship of the Lord's third attribute, the Holy Spirit or Doctrine, are clearly stated.

"1. The Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg are t he Third Testament of the Ward of the Lord. The DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE .J

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SACRED SCRIPTURE must be applied to the three Testaments alike. The Latin Word without Doctrine is as a candIe stick without light, and those who rend the Latin Word without Doctrine, or who do not ~quire for themselves a Doctrine from the Latin Word, are in darkness as to aIl truth. (cf. SS 50-61). 2~

3

The genuine Doctrine of the Church is spiritual out of celestial origin, but not out of rational origine The Lord is that Doctrine itselL (cf. A.C. 2496, 2497, 2510, 2516, 2533, 2859; A.E. 19)."

The Natural-Rationûl and even "dry" quality of· the Nova Hierosol ma may be seen in it state ent, ~ Essentials of the Church. This chûnge in the inward quality of the church is contained in the very opening words of the creeds: j'We worship" - "I believe" - "The acknowledgment." . The celestial things of infancy have been left behind and the celestial ~ings of adult life have not yet been attained. ' "le The acknowledgment of the Lord Jesus Christ in His Divine HU!!lan as the one only God of heaven and earth, in whom is the Divine Trinity. 2. The acknowledgment of the Word of the Lord in its three Testaments, the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Writin s of Emanuel Swedenborg, which are the~rd Testament. In this Third Testament '\t e Lord has ~ulfilled His Second Coming, and aIl the Divine Human is present therein from firsts to lasts, in fulness, holine~s and power. What is said in this Testament concerning the Sacred Scrlpture or Word applies also to itself.

3. The life of faith, charity and love into the Lord that is of heaven being the Divine essence of eternal life in man and in the Church."

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We who are the present membership of this third church7have merely begun to understand our task~and what the accomplishment of this st~~gle of repentance will allow the Lord to rëVeal t~us:--For the answer to the questio~ "How lon must the church be temPted and I;persecuted in the wilderness?~is "hidden" in "plain sight" in-~732 an 0 her numbers. The New Church is to endure infestation in the wilderness for "three and a half days" that is, until the evening state WhiCh commences the Fourth Day of Creation, the mornin bein the JJ Coming 'of the Lord. The Fcurth Day-- Tpe Coming of the

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It is a different matter to treat of the first three days of the development of the New Church than it is to treat of the Fourth through Seventh DaYn The former, l believe, are past and present, the latter are the future. Nevertheless, something concerning them can be seen and stated by following the same series of days, churches, sons and disciples. The great importance, beauty, glory, and holiness of the u~th of the Church is manifest in every series. It is the Day in which the two great luminaries, Genuine Charity and Faith, are enkindle~ in the internal man. CGenesis l, 14-19, A. 10) It is the state of the " reat reversal." Prior to this state the regenerating man, and the church in its instauration, has looked te good from truth. After this state has been realized it looks ta tr~th . om lLood. Peter, the first apostle, represen s Faith and Tru h whic as appeared to be prior to Joh the fourth a ostle, who re resents Love and Charity. Reuben and Judah have a similar signification. It is when ~ ~s known by an '~'inward dictate or affection that Love or Charity is the Sun, the greater ~uminary, and that Faith or Truth is bu~ e ~n, that one has known the Coming of the Lord. To know the Coming of the Lord is t receive H~s Divinely umFn Love for the Salvation of the Universal - H1!..man Race as ones own loye. ----­ ~tate

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"They who ••• have received the Divine things of the Lord, that is, His Love towards t . human race, and consequently they who J\~ received Charity toward the neighbor and also the who have j received.the reci rocal love to the Lord, are endowed ••• with intell­ , ~gence and wisdom and with ineffable happinessj for they become angels and thus truly men." CA. 4220)

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The intimate relationship between~her;egenerati~n'of the individual and the instauration~f the Church ~s s own in many passages, as A. 3759. -­ "Afterward by the birth of the four sons of Jacob by Leah is described in the supreme sense the ascent from external truth to internal goodj but in the representative sense the state of the church, which is such that it does not acknowledge and receive the internaI truths that are in the Word, but external truthsj and this being the case, it ascends to interior things according to this order, namely, that at first it has the truth which is said to be of faithj next practice according to this truthj afterwards the consequent charitYj and final elesti ove. These four degrees are signi­ tied by the four sons of Jacob borne to Leah, namely Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah.

16 Perhaps nowhere is the holiness of this Fourth State of the New Church more wonderously portrayed than in Jacob's blessing of Judah and the InternaI Sense given in the Arcana. "Thou Judah, thy brethren shall celebrate thee, thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies, thy father's sons shall bow down to-­ thee. Juda~ is a lion's whelp; from the prey my son thou art gone up; he bowed, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The scepter shall not be removed from Judah, and a lawgiver from between his feet, even until Shiloh come; and to him is the obedience ~f the peoples. He binds his young ass unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washes his clothing in wine, and his covering in the blood of grapes; his eyes are red with. wine, and his teeth are white with milk." Genesis 49, 8-12. "'Thou Judah, , signifies the celestial church, in the supreme Iisense the Lord as the Div.in Celes~ial; 'thy brethren shall celebrate thee,' signifies that this church is eminent above the rest; 'thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies~' signifies that the 1 infernal and diabolical cre wiL t his resence; thy father's 1 sons shall bow down to thee,' signifies that truths will submit them­ selves of their own accord, 'Judah is a lion's whelp,' signi ~es innocence with innate forces; 'from the prey my son thou art gone up,' throu h the celestia1 1 there is deliver­ , s~gnifies that trom the f man from hell; 'he bowed, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion,' signifies the good of love a~the derivative truth in ( their owerj 'who shall rouse him up?' signifies that he is ~afe among aIl the hells, 'the scepter shall not be removed rom Judah,' signifies that sovere" _nt h n t de art from celesti l ood;'and a lawgiver from between his feet,' signifies truths from t.~s good in lower thin s; 'until Shiloh come,' signifies the comin the Lor~ ~n e tranquility of peace thenj 'and to him is the obedience of tfie peoples, , s~gn~ ~es :-;-rom His DI"vine'IH~n shall oceed ( truths, 'he binds his young ass unto the vine,' signifies~~ t~~nat~~al for the external church; 'and his ass's colt unto the choice vine,' signifies~truth from the rational for the internaI \J~hurch;~'he washes his cl~thing in wine,' signifies thatlfiS-natural J is Div~~ truth from His Divine &ood; 'and His covering wi the blood of grapes,' signifies that ~is intellectual is Divine Good from H~s _i~ ve~ 'his eyes are red with wine, , sign~es th~t the (intellectunl or internaI Ruman is nothing but -ood; ~nd his teeth

~ are white with milkj 'signifies that the Divine natural is nothing

j but the good of truth." • 3~

l

f'-

lm

Indications abound that in this Fourth Day the New Church shall It shall no longer lie scattered, broken, Jerusalem a heap and Êi""'1i'lssing--'lf.-dr in the wilderness. 'J "In the fourth state_a man is affected with love ••• The Church would~beone if aIl had Charity." (i:. 10, 2913) of the Day of the Lord's First Coming Isaiah wrote:

1/ be united.

l

\

"Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be seven fold, a~e igh±~of seven da~S' in the ~ th t the Lord ind u the.breach of His people, ~d he h the stroke of their wound." Isaiah 30,2 • (See A. 91 3 and T.C .R. 641)

17 In Isaiah 58, 12 we are exhorted to cooperate with t ing as if of ourselves:

he

ord's

"And'the that shall be of thee·shall build the old waste places~ and the y shall raise up the foundations of many generations; an th9u shalt be calLed The re airer of the breach, The resto~er of paths to dwelï1.n." ­ ......,

f

If aIl were as one in the Declaration of Faith(ôf-convention~ in the Doctrine of Love to the Lord and Love to the Neighbor, the New Church would never lLave sp~~. T~e further true d velo pments which became th IGeneral Church" posit..iQg)and the "Nova Hier yma ll positions would have occurred without a separation in the Church. If aIl had Charity:

1

l

"Then would each person say, in whatever doct~in whatever outward orship he might be, This is my brother, I-J3ee that he worships the Lord, and is a good man." A. 2385

We see from the Word, however, that true Charity, which Will~t~ the Church, ~s a state of Love that must -be attained through t~e stru les of re entance This repentance must take place ~n aIl three existing partia ew Churches. We are not yet prepa~d for the FotlJrth Day. INe have first to bring forth from the "genuine internaI" 9f each of these churches "goods, like the goods of charity.i1 As we do this, as of ourselves~ormrng the genuine external of the church~the ~inelY--Human s h f the Lord's Own Love w~l d~scen to ~s and doctrinal differences, which now divide the Church, will be slowly ( brought into their proper harmony. This as of self re-formation is \ the ministry of John the Ba tis •

r--

/1 l

l

"And he shall go before Him"~e s irit and ower of Elias~ to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobëdient to the wisdom of the just; to make r~ady a people prepared for the Lord~" Luke 1 17. For the Lord comes to restore aIl the genuine states known to the churches and ead them to still more interior things. <:::-­ estoraD is the message of the prophecy from Malachi on the t~ e page ' 0 ~ paper., By "the sons of Levi" are meant-all ho are in the .E;ood ) tof ~ty, thence in thE;' good of fai th. To Il urif the sons of Levi" and 'purge them as gold and silver" is t purif the Celestial, Spirit. ual an Natural of the Church. "The offer~ng of Judah and Jerusalem 1 shall be ngreeable unto Jehovah" signifies that t~n there will be t. acce t· e worship from the good of love to the Lord. "According to ,r~ ~ t e da s of an a e and according to former years," signifies acc ~ding to the worship of the Mosl; nci""Ul Cliurc , and the Ancient Church. (See A.E n 433b, 444b) As is pointed out in these numbers, this ro h~cy ~of the restoraI of the worship of the Most Ancient and AncientChurches w~s not u ~ ed in the Jewish Church. Nor was it truly fulfilled in ./ th~former Christ~an Church,.althou ~ t~ e was th~ ue celesti 1 of li ~~ ~ love to the Lord ~n the earl~est- r~st~an Church. (See T.C.R. 638 fi whe;e the Auostolic Ch rch is likened to the Adamic.) It is in the New Church that th, prop:g.~~y is to be fulfill~with the~sto§of its damic and Noachi lanes.

)J "Pre-Advent"

~

--=:--­

18 The Lord will unite His New Church, for He has promised it. Ta "t.his united New Churc1:L He will evermore brin.,g His Children, the U!!J.­ ~v~rsal Human R~ce ta whom He has Come again.

J'

"And other sheep have l, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and the y shall hear my voicej and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." John 10, 14-16. The Fifth

throu~h

Seventh Days

l believe that the diagram below, adapted from one used by Rev. Harry W. Barnitz, will aid in a brief discussion of the remaining days of creation.

.....:•.:\(../

Spiritual Degree

i

V

3rd Day

Natura il

~6th Day

Spiritual

"

Natural Degree Celestial States

li Churches

It can clearly be seen in Genesis and the Àrcana-ih~t the Days of Creation are linked as shawn in the diagram. On therFirst Da~ a first light of love and faith is given in the heavens or Celestial plane. thefFourth Day 'the two great luminaries shine forth. On the Sec nd the waters b~ne&th are divided and the waters above distinguished. the Fifth Day this spiritual plane is populated with living things, "the créëping thing, the livingsoul" ta populate the waters, and winged fouI ta fly above the earth. On the ird Day1the dry land brings forth the tender herb, herb yielding seed, and fruit tree bear­ ing,fruit. On th Sixth Da~the earth brings ~orth the beast wild a~imal, and finally spiritual man himself. On the Seventh Day the Celestial Man is formed. "The celestial man is the seven aYt_on which the Lord rests." A. 74. Correspondentially we see here the states of the development of the Church. We can see, for example, t at the Ce10stial of the First \ D~y of regeneration and çorresponding 'damic~NewIChurch, is the Celestial of the Natural, while the Celes 1al of he Fourth Day and corresponding Christlan New Church is the Celestial of the Spiritual: The Celestial of the Natural is external, the Celestial of the Spirit­ ,ual Ls interior, and the Celestial Itself is internaI. In Coronis 51 we read "that the men of the Ancient C)lu~ch were external and natural, nor could they becooe internaI nd,spiritual as men can-Bince- e _Advent of the Lord." In .C .R. 78 we are taught that aIl chur~ before the Cooing of the oro-were not in the truth, and i T.C.R. 10~ we are taught that they were representative churches. Man before egeneration is a dead man (A. 81), by passing through theS1X nays

19

in the first chapter of Genesis man becomes a living, or Spiritual man. Applying this truth to the church we can see that it is only coming-ro life. Indeed, the first living thing created is the "tender herb" of the Third Day, which, l believe, we must now struggle to come to. In His F~ing the Lord descended into the Natural Norld to free mankind to enter a more full conjunction with Him. In His S~ond ~ng ., e lifted the man Swedenborg into the Spiritual World to ~l to mankind the "things heard and SE:en." The Celestial Itself out of which the New Church Itself descends cannot be firially forme~until the men of the church have likewise known the Second COill1ng of the Lord. r f(That is, until they h ve been brought t such a state of e cra ion l' as to receive inmostl the Celestial DQYtrine which is within ~he Third Testament. From this the Spiritual and atural planes of this Cel stial state of the Church will be ordered into perfect harmony as the Holy­ City New Jerusalem descends from God out of heaven. Although this !~~l Sabbath st~ ma ~e '1" distant, we must aver look t~ it~must ever pray for the peace of Jerus~lem when ter warfare shall be accom­ ,Iplished, must ever, "remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy."

l

1

In a world historical sense, the time until the New~Church is

fully instaurated is not long, but very short. In such G world sense,

~fie-New ~urc , the Crown of the Churëhes, is itself the Seventh Day = r upon which the Lord shall rest ta etergity. ~~~e Six Days of la or are ----~ 1lthe historie Adamie Noachic, e 1" w, ~ successive states of the ,~~hristian)Church containë in Genes1s 1. The New Church commences in Genesis 2 with the Sabbath Day. However, just as the Sabbath of one week is the beginning of the next, so within its own develo mënt~he New Church COIl1L1enceS with the 'damic the Celes.t{a-~f the Natural, and must from this develop to its full state.

J

1

As we look forward with hope to the Fourth Day, or Christian

state of the Church, we must recognize chat it is not the final state.

For, as we know, the Christian Church fell. It is only in the church

of the centuries before t e icean Council thé.l.t we can see the§e

illritual states of our futur n erverted. It is in tl:.e Christian

state hat the-most erribie forms of Babylon and the Dragon came out

in the Catholic and Protestant Churches. After Nicea there is a

certain corres ondonce of the Catholic Church with the 'ou th ay, of

( the Protestants with the Fifth Day, and the Holy Spirit sects, such as

the Quakers, with the Sixth Day, but it is nearly aIl an ex opposito,

or from the corrupt internal, one. The flying things are-not birds

but the winged dragon and the wild beast is that upon which the harlot

Sitteth. Nevertheless, .~w~ have 1" al" to the best states of

ném rom the

( Christe dom to the genuine internaI and external w1E Lord, we can see s;;ething-Qr-wha -m~gnt have een/had not ~hristendom

been s.e.duced to "make God three, the 'Lord two, and faith alone saving,"

and to pervert all truths of religion to self worship. We can therefore

see what the New Church must become, aS weIl aS overcome, as it passes

through corresponding states. ls there not something of the genuine

Christian internaI to be seen in the blessing of the Sixth Church that

is in Asié.l., Philadelphia~ For it is around the Philadelphia founded

b the Quakers, or properly The Society of Friends, that ver mUCh

of the develo ment_of__the w hurch so far has taken place.

20 Let us turn now to the unhappy, but necessary discussion of how the Dragon and Babylon have infested the New Church. This is an un­ ~happy discussion because the night prior to the Coming-9f the Lord is Na great spiritual crisis. All three degrees of the Church have been~ opened~ They have also been perverted. Thus it is of the corrupt

internal and external, or proprial things, and opposite states of the

organized bodies of the New Church that we now turn our attention.

This is a necessary discussion because we cannot repent of an evil or

falsity so that the Lord may remove it from us until we have seen it

and acknowledged it to be evil and false.

1

In introduction to this section let me say this. The Word teaches ervert ~ f th fore he is ~ .overcome. It is not for us, therefore, to argue whether the Word is c5rrect, this is the negative principle of consulting the rational which leads to all folly and insanity. (A 2568) It is rather for us to "ai:::'irm the things which are of doctrine from the Word;" to use -our rational faculty to discern how the truths of the Word have been borne out in the history of the ChÜÏCh. ~us that the Dra on will

It will, nevertheless, be objected that to treat of these things

is to judge and mock the Church, to condemn with Ham. Surely there is

this danger and it also leads to "faith alone." Our finest patriotic

(hymn speaks of true loyalty and charity in the line, "America, America, God mend thine every law" !Ne must with Shem and Japheth excuse errors, i ter ret them to good, and most of all, w amendment and healin of the church. We are not, however ,1\ to blind ourselves to rand call this charity. The following is my attempt to see how Churchmen have been seduced to: make God three, the Lord two,-to ~~~-a-Iô'ne, and to divide the Church. They Have Made God Three The teachings of the Third Testament are so clear that the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the only God of heaven and earth, that it would not be possible for us to split God into three persons; neverthe­ less, by approaching only one of the Lord's three attributes, and main­ taining that this attribute is the only way in which man can approach ~and by means of which the Lord can be present with man, the bodies of

the church have divided God anew. So mueh has b~en said on this above

that here we need merely summarize as followSé It is the tendency in

Co vention to worship the Lord apart from the ~ord and Doctrine from

the Word. It is the tendency in the Gener Church to worship the Word

apart from the Lord and Doctrine from the ~ord. It is the tende~f

the Nova ~_-rosolyma to worship the Doctrine from the Word apart from

the worsfil of the Lord and apart from e Word. All of thcse are

false worship and do violence to the Lord. For He is the Divine Human

or God in Firsts. He is the Word or God in Lasts. He is the Doctrine

or God in mediates and these three are One Lord. Further, the Dragon

having fragmented God, tends to a worShIp of God the Father, or God

above the Heavens, only, with which no conjunction is possible. liNo

one cometh to the Father but by Me."

...

21

In the Catholic Church the Lord's Divine was separated from His Hunan so that the Popes and losser clergy could appropriate to them­ selves the Lord's power on earth. Any similar claiming to ourselves of the Lord's authority and consequent unleashing of the love of domin­ ion by means of Divine Doctrine and Worship is to make the Lord two. We have already seen this Babylonic evil in the subverting of t e Noachic plane; however, it is particularly in the Christian lane of ~he New C~ch that the most grievoüS ~rms of this evil-must be combatted. However, just as the New Church was not seduced t ~ake God three in the sarne way in which the "old church" did, so the New Church makes "The Lord two l1 in a different manner than Was Cilone in the former Christian Church. We know from the Word that the Lord is operating both "mediately" and "immediately" to make His Second Coming manifest and to establish His New Church. There is a tendency in the church to look to 0 ~y one of these modes of oper tion and to deny the other. Many in Convention have laid such stress upon the Lord's operation by a universa permeation of the chur h univ~sal as to deny all import­ ance to the church s ecific, the organized New Church. They thus con­ fuse the genuine principle and very real evidence of the permeation of the Christian world by light from the New Heaven, with purely human states of good citizenship, humanitarianism, scientific advance, and ( even utopian cultism. Again we recognize the Celestiûl-Sensual which

becomes unable to tell true perceptions of the celestial from false

heavens.

The attitude of the members of he General ChurcÈJis quite differ­ ent o They seern to lack all perception of the D~v1ne Operation, of change, of movement, within or without the church, to feel that the etate of "Noah 1 s Ark" will last for ever. or t Cl there are no -fû.lse eavens, other than Bryn A~nyn 1tse f,- and the operation of the Lord in mediates means that when the world becomes__good e ou h the ~w Church will be recœived as it is now,--on y bigger. "and tooorrow J shall be as this day, and much more abunden .f Isaiah 56, 12.

JI

The Nova Hierosolyma. tends to regard only the operation of the Lord witn1n the ew-~ urch and even only within the Nova Hierosol~Ja. This is to look to only a particulû.r reception of the Lord, neglecting {the universal presence of the Lord in the natural and s~mple-Planë of 1 faith and charity. Thi~is to forget that the Lord is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent. There is also the tendency to regard only the operation of the Lord within the regenerating man of the church. There is a need fo balance Qere, the Lord is both oQjective and sub­ jective~ Turning to a purely subjective "Lord within" was the very sin itself of the "Holy Spirit" sects, the detest ble heresy that tb-e Lord has ceased to be Himself and has iufused Himself into men. It is also (the Lord as the Word in His Second Coming tha t the existing New Church has "made two." if/hen, in centuries to cone, the Church has matured and counts its adheren~s in he bi~ lons ra er than thousanas~i will be aS difficult for the~ to understand the l2ng dis utes on whether the "writings" are the "Word" or not as it is for 'a present day Cnr1stian to n erstan the on ~~ruggle the e~rly ( Cpristians went through before they dared hold the Four Gos els to .be Il( e~ual to Genes~s and Isaiah. For which is more Divine Reve ation: 1

-

22

Malachi? which orete of the Messiah; the Apoc ypse which jApocalypse Explained which ells of the Second Coming? grieve that the true doctrine is received by so few may comfort them­ selves with the reflection that this particular overcoming of the dragon is aIl but automatic. The New Church of the future, having ( strength and numbers, out of self assertiveness, if nothing deeper, would elevate its Sacred Books into the Third Testament. Each of the existing bodies of the New Church has, however, tp_~LQ~d~-Huma~t rom is i inity in regard to this Third T~ ment of th Word. Convention has done this in accepting the "New England Heresy;' the a se distinction between the Word by which is meant only the Old and New'"Testa!I!.ents, and "Swedenborg's writings." This is to make the Third Testament merely human. di~ide

"This new revelation is indeed imperfect in many respects o It is given to man's'reaso, and to reason in its freedom; and that this --~ freedom be more perfect, it is not given by inspiration. "No intelli­ g~nt receiver of ~ t uth auglLt Swedenborg regards him as inspired, or considers his writings aa supe~aing or equal to the Bible.ooHis words are not God's words, but his words." Theophilus Parsons, Outline ~f the Relig~on and Philosophy 2! Swedenb~ In one tremendous passage Swedenborg has given us the sword with. which to dispose of this head of the dragon. "Not a word which 1 set forth and write is mi~e, as 1 CHn sacredly testify; wherefore if anyone should attribute to me one iota of the things written, which are verities, whether he be on earth or in heaven, he infl,:i.:.fls so great an i!1J~:.!:y_ on God Mel?-~ia.!LIli"~lf, that it can be condoned by no one except God Messiah Himself." aversaria II, 1654. The General Church accepted the Writings as Divinely inspired, and thus the Word, but when some saw that no book is part of the Word un­ less it has internaI senses, they again made the Lord two by segregating the "Heavenly Doctrines" as they came to calI them, from the rest of the Word, insisting in remaining in their letter~ or the "plain teach­ ings of the Writings." However, the plain t~chings of the Writings are that the Writings are the Word and that they have an InternaI Sense. "They /Certain spirits? said ••• that those things which l have written are so rude and gross, that they judged that nothing which is interior could be understood from these words or the mere sense of the words; l preceived moreover by a spiritual idea that it was so, that they were most rude, wherefore it was given me to reply that 1 they were merely vessels, into which purer, better and interior things mi ht be poured in, El. • were a literaI sense; that such vessels, as it were, are the man senses of the letter with the prophets, and that they are not only rude, but also from the mire and the dunghill, 'and from the mud, but yet into them there might be infused interior, clean and sacred things ••• thus it was given to add that if they wished to remain in the senses of the letter, then they could h~ve formed their knowledge from similar filthy things and vessels, and they wno-/derive tb-ence their?doctrine, can be mightly deceived?" (Spiritual-Diary, 2185 ­

--~

23

How could Swedenborg have been given to state more forcefully that

the Writings have an InternaI Sense thun to show that to remain in the

senses of their Uetter is to form knowledge from the mud and the dung­

hill? To see that the General Church, when put to the test in the

l 30s, insisted on doing this, is to recognize another of the dragon's

seven heads which must be cut off.

How then does the Nova Hierosolyma separate the Divine from the

Human? Certainly not by sepurating the W~itings from the Word or by

denying that they have an InternaI Sense. Rather it is by a n~t

klof the Lord's Human the Natural o~rinB of faith and life given in J~the LiteraI Sense. The more obvious falsity, in which sorne of the Nova Hierosolyma had been, of believing that since they acknowledged the InternaI Sense t?ey were not bound by the LiteraI Sens~, has been con­ demned and repudia edj however, more subtle falsities remain. There ,is a gloryin in doctrinal hicn are_abstract, minute, and aIl but incomp~ehensiÈ..le; an exaltation of the "truths of faith" above the "truths of love," and a spurning of anything seeminly plain and obvious. Tpis is to buil.d ourselves a false "secret chamber," and this the Lord. has condemned. l

)J)

"Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, behold, Hf' is in the

desert; go not forth: behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe

it not. For as the li htnin cometh out of the east, and shineth

even unto th west; so shall the coming of e of Mun be."

Matt. 24, 26-27

From this passage we can also see 'that the maSs of humanLty- are a Divine command not to have anything to do with the New Church until it has overcome tlie dra on and left this wilderness and desert. It is not their blindness, but our unreadiness whic revents the s~d of tne New Church. - ... ~nder

They

~ ~

in Faith Alone

Ever since "Cain" killed "Abel" in the Adamic plane of the ~w

Church, it has tended to remain in faith alone, in aith without

~ty, in a tendency for doctrinal differences to kill charity and

to divide the church. The genuine state of the Convention/is represent­

ed by the blessings of Reuben and Peter, the firsf son and the first

disciple.

"Reuben, my firstborn, thou art my strength, and the beginning of my forces, excellent in eminence, and excellent in power." Gen. 49,3 "And l say also unto thee, That thou art(peter and upon this rock l will build my church; and the gates of he Il salI not prevail again­ st it. And l will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 17, 18-19 1

The opposite state of Convention is shown in the next number of

Jacob's prophecy concerning Reuben, and in the very next words the

Lord spoke to Peterj

"Light as water, thou shalt not excel, because thou wentest up to thy Father's bed, then profanest thou itj he went up to my couch." "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men."

j.f',

24

The General Church, Simeon, and the !Nova Hierosolym~" Levi, like­ wise have enjoyed genuine states of faith and charity from the Lord inflowing into their genuine internaI and thence into their genuine external. How this is,_and how this state is changed into faith alQne we are taught in A. "5773/ in explana tian of the words, "And they put the stone in its place again upon the well's mouth." Genesis 29, 3. "As regards the Word being opened to the churches, and being afterwards closed, the Case is this: In the beginning of the sett­ ing up of any church, the Word is at first closed to the men of it, and is afterwards opened, the Lord so providingj and thus they learn that aIl doctrine is founded on the two commandments--that the Lord is to be loved above aIl things, and the neighbor as themselves. When these two commandments are regarded as the end, the Word is openedj for aIl the Law and the Prophets, that is, the whole Word, so de pend on these commandments that aIl things are derived from them and therefore aIl have reference to them. And whereas the men of the church are then in the principles of truth and good, they are enlight~ ened in every thing they see in the Wordj for tpe Lord is then

present with them and teaches them by me ans of angels, and teachee

them (although they are unaware of this), and also leads them into

the life of truth and good.

This may be seen also from the case of aIl churches, in that they were such in their infancy, and worshiped the Lord from love, and loved the ne~g or from the heart. But in process of time churches withdraw from the se two commandments, and turn aside from the good of love and charity to the so-called things of faith, thus from life to doctrinej and so far as they do this, so far the Word is closed."

l

In their genuine sense the first four sons of Jacob represent four stages of regenerationj faith in the understanding, faith in the 1will, faith in]the act, or charity, and the fourth, celestial~love. It is ( in their opposite sense that the first three sons represent faith alone. (A. 6346) Or more specifically, Reuben signifies faith alone, Simeon, faith without charity, and Levi, the absence of the good of charity. (A.E. 443b) How dreadful are the hells inflowin . to the "corrupt internaIs" r ro r' thin s of the Gener::Ü Church a the No~HjerQso1Yma can be se en in Jacob's prophecy concerning Simeon and Levi and the Third Testament's e~planation of them o "'Simeon and Levi are brethren' signifies faith separate from charitYj 'instruments of violence are their swords' signifies that their doctrinals serve to destroy the works of charity, thus charity itselfj 'into their s~cret let not my soul come' signifies that spiritual good does not wish to know the evils of their willj 'in their assembly let not my glory be united' signifies that spiritual truth does not wish to know the falsity of their thoughts; 'for in their anger tliey slew a man' signifies that they have Wholly turned themselves away from truths, and in their aversion have ex ~ngu~s ed fa~ j an ~n their good pleasure they unstrung an ox' signifies that-from their depraved will the y have wholl dis' led external good wh~c ~s 0 c~ty; 'accursed b~ their anger, for it was fierce' signifies a grievous aversion from good, and consequent damn­ ation; 'and their wrath, for it was hard' signifies aversion from truth that is from good; '1 will divide them in Jacob,' signifies that this faith is to be exterminated from the external churchj 'and scatter them in Israel' signifies from the internaI church--also." A.E. 443a

25 In thianumber it is clearly taught that this prophecy has ta do with the establishment of the church, and thus the New Church. "The first three sons, Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, were rejected and condemned by their father Israel because that prophecy describes the establishment of the church, and the church is not ~~a~lished ~y faith separate from charity, but by truth and good from the Lord; for the church, even at that time, had fallen into the error that merely 1 knowing the Ward, and saying that it is holy, is the essential of the 1church, and not life and charity, and that the Gad of heaven and earth is some other than the Lord." In the historical sense of the Ward? Simeon and Levi were cursed for having slain the Shechemites o They had done this~because Hamor, the prince of that city? had taken their sister Dinah and wished ta r marry her. As explained in A 4425 ·nd subsequent numbers, Hamor, his father Shechem, and the people of their city represent the truth of doctrine of the Ancient Church. Here we see one of the marvelous interconnections between the internaI sense of these series, for Simeon and Levi here tRe corrupt ~ro rial things of the General Church and Nova Hierosol ma) are cursed for. extin uishing "aIl "fhe trutn of doc rine wh~ch was of the Ancient Church," thus of their awn churches, the First and Second Ancient Churches. Thus remined of the explanation of "and there confound their lip," that it signifies "that no e h s the truth of ~ne," let us have the humility ta see that ta the extent that~they were in hatred and condemnation of those who disagreed with them, neither si de participating in the "Hague Controversy" was in Truth. May this crushing indictment of evils we have allowed to be with us bring us to abject humility and repenirance sa that the Lord may . indeed "divide" these evils lI~n Jacob and scatter them in Israel," for these hatreds must be exterminated before we can come ta the Fourth Da. e must not, in this humilitYl gi~e way to despair for as the :cord tells us, "As many as l love, l rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore and repent~" Rev n 4, 19 and in Paul, "for whom the Lord love th He chasteneth, and acourgeth every son whom He receiveth n If ye endure chastening, Gad dealeth with you as with sons; for what SO:1 is he whom the Father chasteneth not?" Hebrews 12, 6-7 Th2X Have

if

r

Divide~ ~he

Church

That it is the dragon of faith al w~~&h a .~ d the church has been amply sh~wn above. The New Church has twice been divided by doctrinal "sword figh1s" from faith alone o The dragon will b~r­ come in anô by eunitin th~church ta mirror the union of the Tri~ity ~n ~~Lord and the 1 Marriage of Good nd Truth in Him, truly seen in t-he Doctrine of the Church. - î t i s particularly the function o..!.....!-he ~\ Nova Hier9s01yma ta work for this in preparation for e ourt Day.~ Befor WB an-oe of Use ta our brethren falsities which have been accepted inYhis church~of the Third Day must be overcome. must first remove the oeam in our own eye.

-We

26

1

It h~s been ..a favorite saying al1!Qng. sorne of us that the éonvention' and ~neral Church are 'dead churches rr because of their doctrinal . errors, 0 w ic much hafu een said above, and that we in conse~uence should have nothing to do with them. "Let the~a bury their ea " IThere is a certain truth in thisj we cannot return to the childhood of - f the Church but an even lar er a . • T ere is an appearance 0 eat in the series of the Pre-Advent churches, in that the Adàffiic C urch
Th...,e:;-=:-:-=:=~~-7--7-=-~";:;;';~~=:-""';'~~ ::=~~~~~~~:::;;; ~--.:...=--=..:..::::~~--:=-:=--....!~_

-====è

1

If the~nvelition/and therGeneral Gener- Church were truly dead, the ova 3Hierosolyma)would not survive a generation_as it is so de end­ ent on tnem. Reu en me ans !to see' recalling God's fiat, "let there. be light." It is the special Use of the Qonve~tionlto publish the Word, to let men see it and thus to evangelize. Simeon means 'to hear, 0 ey, be instructed.' It is the special Use of the GeneralLChur~to educate from the Word, to let men hear the Word. Levi means 'to cleave,~oin to.' It is the special Us~ the ova Hierosolyma)not only to draw w~aDd de velo octri e from the Wor , büt-especially also the Priest­ ly function itself, given to Levi, of leading by means of Trut 0 the Good of LJ..fë, of re aring for the FQYIth ~D.yo It is to the enti~ congregation, the whole New Church, that his Use is to be performed, nQt merely to the Nova Hierosolyma. Truly a priest must prepare him­ self in his "chamber" by stud ra er ùnd "fasting," but he should not look upon this as his Usel' ,Rather must he prùy that he may "offer unto the Lord an offering in Justice,n that he may truly lead bl Truth to the Good of Life o For the Novù Hierosolyma to enter i~Use will require an effort that the dragon in aIl threA churches will resist with aIl the ower it has. For it is probably more difficult for the {Convention and General~hurch to overcome their-proprial pride and admit that the/....N ova Hie osolyma,)is a genuine development from the Lord, 1\ than it is for the Nova Hierosolyma to concede that its "eIder brothers" still live, and that it lives on y as they live and rosper. Many many more passages and series of passages could be 6'll1ducéd to demonstrate further that~, •• :the Word)~.both in general and part­ ieular has reference ••• to ~he Church.'~ have treated hardly at .all \I\of the CalI of Abraham; the Book of r IsaJ..aÈ0from end to end is a cal} ~to the ouE1h-D~Y and a looking to the Seventh; ~lachi, short as it is, contains mueh tha we must see and apply to ~b upbuilding of the New Church. Ne completeness in demonstrating this truth is possible, however, as we are taught in A. 1965, the internaI sense is:

c:.­

27

le

"illimitable ••• i~the internaI sense, each and aIl things in the o/0rd/-:e ard~he or •• they also ••• treat ~t the same time ••• of the hurch 1'l. Similarly they trea t QL ever on in whom is the Lord' s kingdom ••• But 0 extend the explanat~on further would be tao tedious." 1

Before closing this paper, l wish ta turn briefly ta four further series because, l believe, each of them tells us something about he history of the New Church and its futur which we otherwise woulâ not know. The Journeys of the Twelve Tribes of Israel There is a sense in which~he Nova Hierosolymaj the dry of the Third Day, is particularly the New Church in the w{lderness. This is brought out in a series ta which l have made reference several times; the wanderings of the Twelve Sons of Israel and the Twelve Tribes thence. Their dwelling with their father in Canaan in this series is representative of the Adamic plane of the New Church. Joseph being sold into Egypt and prospering there represents the Academy movement. and the beginning of the Second Day. When there came ta be a "famirl'e" in the Land of Canaan, aIl the Sons m~ved into Egypt where Joseph ruled in the Spiritual-Scientific General, or Noachic, Church. However, there "came a Pharaoh who knew not Joseph" and it was time for Moses ta bring the Tribes up out of Egypt. That Moses' ministry represents )the Nova Hierosolyma is indicated in many ways. His very name means, "because drew him out of the Waters," and his signification is further confirmed, in this marvelous interconnection of series, by the fact that Moses and Aaron his brother were of the tribe of Levi. When their geneqlogy is given in Exodus 6, 14-25, the families of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi are enumerated, but no other tribes, ta indicate the 1 state of the church. (See A. 7230-1) At first Moses did not attempt separation, "Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the Wilderness," but llGod hardened 1 Pharaoh's heart" and he would not compromise. The people--mu8 be kept busy ma~ing bricks for the Tower of Babel! After great struggles, Moses was able ta bring the Church up from the plane of Spiritual­ Scientifics along the Nile ta the dry and thirsty wildernesS-or-lhe Naturaî-Rational, and how "dry" much of it has been! However, the Lord hap providë]lboth water and manna ta keep us alive: in which regard the connection ta the Church in Pergamum is complete. The Lord is here "He that hath the sharp two-edged sword," of Genuine Doctrine (and recalling aIs a Sime~n and Levi's swords of falsified doctrine without charity, here' "the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which l hate.'.') The "few things" He has against the Church, "that thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak ta cast a stumbling­ block before the sons of Israel •• " refer ta the wilderness state under M~ses and the Nova Hierosolyma. We are told (A. 1343, 1366) that - ­ Balaam was from the Hebrew Church, here he represents th~vils_infestI~ing this Third Church. The Lord romises to feed His Church of the )JJThird Day o1;lt of the octrine of the Genuine_ ~e. "Ta him that over­ come n-will l give ta eat of the hidden manna, and l will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." Rev. 2, 17.

28

Moses and his generation were not allowed to cross over the promised land. How much longer it must be before the Tribes reen er~ ­ the CelihJtial,. the Land of Canaan, we cannot say. Perha s it WiTl be ~~~ raI Q ears. These years correspond to the 40 days the Lord { was t~mpted before commencing His earthly ministry. J~ua, who led the Tribes across Jordan to take Jericho and slaughter the heathen

U~Canaanites, represents the Lord as to combat. In ed, Joshüa and

~)Jeshua, or Jesus, are the same name; thus--the fourth state is here

represented. This series continues through e ~x ay with King

David's capture of Jerusalem and the Seventh Day with Solomonls~build" i~g of the Temple, representative of the full instaurat~on 0 the Lord's

( New Church.

,--.::..-.~...:.. The Life Lord - -_. - -of -the - ---.­ In the supreme sense aIl things of the ~ regard theLLor.9~ At

the same time the Word treats of the Church;and)the regenerating

individualo We may, therefore, apply the Gospel account of the Lord's

earthly birth, childhood, and ministry, to the life of the Church with

the assurance that if we truly seek truth for the sake of tru h, and

for use, that we will "see ever~h~re truths that agree. fI

Although the most essential things of the f'''i Advent of the Lord have

( not been realized in the church an canno e realized before the

~Fourth Day, the Lord's life on earth also contains the entire Seven

Days an thus correspondentially in the things of His i~c and,

youth we may see again the history of the New Church.

l believe that the primitive celestial things of love which infill

the Christmas story are reflected in the early~nferen~ and Convent~

ion., Th~ s~ephe~ds who watched their flocks_by nignt were those among

tn€ clergy to whom Swedenborg sent copies of the Third Testament who

r esponded with joy and acknowledgment. Through them the darkness of

Christian theology has been permeated by light from the New Heaven.

How truly do men speak when the y calI the late 18th century the "Age of

Enlightenment. fi The coming of the wise men is reflected in the period

r of e mid 19th cer: ury, now al~ ut...i~ otten, when ~t-2.~he learned knew ~f and read Swedenborg. To name them is to name most of the great literary, artistic-;-and musical figures of the "Romantic" era: Blake, Goethe, Whittier, Balzac, Emerson, Coleridge, Baudelaire, Poe, Lincoln, Yeats, 'Robert and Elizabeth Browning, Henry and ~illiam James,~erlink' ~agner1 Berlioz, George Sand, and Chopin. Some of these "wise men" also becam;-"g:Gînts" and "mighty men01~;"';id" and did the infant New Church considerable damage by mixing her truths with things of their own imagination.

)~

~ r

f l

Why this period came quickly to a close and w ~e New Church is

practically unknown today is made manifest in the story of Herodls

~ttem t on the ord's life and-the fli ht into Egypt. Here, and the

return 0 N~areth, where none but e ary and osep knew Who He ] was, we have the General Church period in the life of the Church. These are "silent years" as far as the impact of the New Church on the world is concerned, but in this silence the church "grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom." Luke 2, 40.

in

[!

29 l believe th~t the beginning of the Nova H~solyma state may be seen in M~ry and Joseph after a three day search finding the Lord in ( the Temple at the a e of twélve "sittin in the f the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions." Luke 2, 46. ... Many things about the history and future of the New Church can be seen in this series. Among these l would mention two. The first is a truth which a too narrow application of the doctrine of the Coming of the Lord on the Fo~h and Se enth Day would cause us to slight. This Iitruth is that the Lord is ever present protecting and preparing His IIChurch. Secondly, we can see that when the Church comes into-tbe statE rrrwllJ..ë1f- corresponds to the beginnin~ of the Lord 1 s ministry the rotect-· VI ion of being virtuall unknown will be emoved. The ew hurch will . again be known and listened to. Her missionary efforts will again~e \11 successful. She will aIs be vio~tl attacked and even crucified, • ( -- ,1 even as the Lord Himself, before the re '..'C.fLC on 0 the Seventh Day.~ ... When these troubles come some will no doub ook back to the "good old daysil of her quiet childhood and blame her afflictions on the rate at which the church will th en be growing.

1

The State of the Church What is the state of the Church in this, the Third Day? We stand on a road leading down from Jerusalem to Jericho. At our feet~ lies the Adamic New Church, stripped of his raiment, wounded, and half dead o Ahead ef us on that road strides a priest, or rather, teacher, who has looked on the affliction cf his brother, concluded that the injuries. were self inflicted and wall deserved and then passed by on the other side. How d~ we look upon~~n;) with brotherly love, concern, helpfulness, gratitude, an respec? Instead of concern there is con­ demnation, instead of respect there is contempt, instead of excusing; with Shem we deride with Ham. Will we e moved to compassion? Will WE bind up his wounds, pour in oil and wine, set him on our own beast, take him to an inn where he may_be healed and instructed, that Reuben may live and not die? (Deut. 33, 6) We will note The Levite is cogitating on elevated and difficult matters concerning life, faith,) the union of the Divine and the Human, and his own "hidden evils." The interruption is not welcome and must not be allowed to cause a "descent of his thought" to a "merely apparent g.ood of external charitJ...I Besides Convention is not half, but wholly dead/~ Thus does Levi deny his brother, even as Moses prophesied conc rning him:

f

"Who said unto his father and his mother, l have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children:" Deut. 33, 9. . Thus does the cry of Ezekiel ring down through the ages to us today, to Levi and to aIl the "shepherds of the flock."

30 "And the Word of the Lord came unto me saying,CS:;-n of ma , prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy~say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds: Woe be t9 the shepherds Of Israel that do feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the f locks? Ye eat the fat, and ye cloth you with" the wool, y~kill_~ that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. Theiseased have ye not --Strengthened~ neither have ye healed that which wà~~, neither have ye bound up that which was broke ? neither have ye brought again that which was driven a~~, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force an with cruelty have ye ruled them." Ezekiel 34,~-4p

j

The Lord, Himself, is the Good Shepherd who will gather His flock to a llgood pasture upon the high mountains of Israel." 'II will seek that which was lost and bring again that which was driven awaYA and w~ll bind ~p tha1r whic~ was~ro~, and will strengthen that WhlCh was l slck:J but l ~111~e~~roy the fat and the strongj ~!ill feed them wi judgment. " Ezekiel 34, -1~6.

Thus, supremàly, it is the_Lord Himself who is the Good Samaritan that vgll heal our brother Reuben. But~ within the church will respond to the Lord's Love to be themselves good samaritans? Are they not those 1 within all three church~s, who give to love and charity its actual priority and who do not allow doctrinal things to rise up and kill Abel in their own lives? But what can change the "priest" and "levite" within USj Simeon and Levi whose doctrinals serve to destroy the works of charitYj the smugness and self righteousness which mistakes the innoëent victim for the draconic thieves themselves? Can we / s~e that the fall of the Most Ancient Ch~rch is inevitable 1 in human { history, in the Formation of the Chcirch with an individual, and within

, the development of the New Church? Spiritual infancy must fall, the

AArk of s iritual childhood must come to rest on the' and of ~~e

Q.TÈird D~y before genuine Faith an Cari y, e Ce eS~la of t~e S lritual" can he enkindled o Nor can the Churc be gathered before

these two great luminaries shine forth to replace the light of the

First DaYe

no

..

Certain it is that~ventiont like Peter out of the repentance of bitter weepin- has an illustrious future~ "Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath deslred you, that he may sift you as wheat; but l have prayed for thee s that thy faith fail not; and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethreno" (Luke 22, 31-32) This may a~~.so be seen in that final ordering of the Tribes in Revelation 7 wherelJudah,lReuben, 'land [Gad are bound as the [,ove isdom and U~ of the Celestip.l Church, . while Simeon. Levi, and Issachar orm a similar trine in t e lritual J __..J • IJv ______ Church o Let us pray that he Lord speedily come to fulfill these ~ses and that we may worthily follow His leadingj s~ ma see Moses pro hec conce~n~g_~urlah-G~m ~o on our day: ~

~

lJ!J

"Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people: let his hands he sufficient for himj and be Thou an help to him from his enemies"" Deuteronomy 33, 7.

31 They Ought to be Together What is the present state of the New Church? We are instructed in the passages from Genesis and the Arcana Coelestia which forro the last page of this paper. We are three droves of cattle lying by a clos~d weIl. The Lord Himself has drawn near to us. He elevates the na ural s ate we are in and addresses our ministers, the shepherds of the flock. He inquires of our leaders whether they know the origin of Charity. They reply that it is from llthe collateral good of a common stock." He questions them again, "Have they the good of this stock?" Our ministers reply that they do. He again questions them, "Is not this good from the Lordls kingdom?" They affirm that it is and--nïat from this good comes aIl affection of interior truth and interior doctrinal things. The Lord, having examined our ministers and being satisfied with their answers gives them the following specifie charge. l"The state of the Church is now advancing, but "the goods and truths of the churches and of doctrinal things could not as yet be gathered into L a one," therefore ....they are to instruct the few from the Word. Our ministers make the following affirmation to the Lord. The three droves "ought to be together" so that the things of the Word may be disclosed and the Church be instructed from the Word. What is this "good of a common stock" which leads to aIl interior things? Is it not a humble, loving worship and tr ~tural charity QU~f celestial ori~ns? ls it not a looking upon aIl who love the Lord andï;Orship Him in His Second Coming as our fellow New Churchmen no matter how our "so called things of. doctrine" differ? ls it not~t e tender grass? Let our ministers then keep their promise to the Lord, le ~ em imbue the flock,(arr~dY __One Church in the Lordle e es, with

the "Truths of Love" sa that when the Lord Himself opens the Ward out

of a love for Rachel, t!Le affection of Interior Truth, who brings-1he

flock of the Fourth Day, the droves ma then unite und the opened

Word. -­ ~

"They ought to be together." This simple affirmation the Lord requires of us. When we, from a heart filled with the Truths of Love, repeat these simple words, "They ought to be together," and will labor to the end that they be together, the Lord may cease to lament over His scattered flock, His New Jerusalem:

--

-

"Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would 1 have gathered thy children together, even a~ hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For 1 say unto you, Ye shall not see me ~e~eto~h, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Matthew 23, 37-39.

32

THE FUTURE OF THE NEW CHURCH

Genesis 29,

1-11.

Arcana Coelestia

3758-3801

1. And Jacob lifted up his feet, and went to the land of the sons

of the east.

2. And he saw, and behold a weIl in the field, and behold there t~ee droves of the flock lying by itj for out of that weIl they watered the droves; and a great stone was upon the well's mouth" 3. And aIl the droves were gathered together thitherj and they rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock, and they put the stone in its place again upon the well's mouth. 4. And Jacob said unto them, My brethren whence are ye? And they

said, Of Haran are we.

5. And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him. 6. And he said unto them, Hath he peace? And they said, Peace; and beGold Rachel his daughter cometh with the flock. 7. And he said, Behold as yet the day is great, it is not time for

(\the cattle to be gathered together: water ye the flock, and

Ji~go and feed them. .

80 And the y said, We cannot until aIl the droves are gathered

together, and they roll the stone from the well's mouth; then

shall we water the flock.

9. While he was yet speaking ~ith them, R~l came with the flOCk) which was er ather's~ she was a she erdess. 10. And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob came near, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother. Il. And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. Il:it is not time for the cattle to be gathered together,' signifies that the goods and truths of the churches and of doctrinal things could not as et be gathered. to a olle); 'water ye the flock and go and feed them, , signifies instruction therefrom to a few; 'and they said, We cannot until aIl the droves are gathered together,' signifies that they ought to be together." A. 3784.

THE FORMATION OF THE CHURCH 1. The presence of the Lord through the perception of His Divine in the Word, and the acknowledgment of His Omnipotence, Omniscience and Omnipresence.

2. The reception of the scientifics and cognitions of the Word and the doctrinals of the Church in the understanding, looking to its separation from the will.

3. The life of repentance, obedience and faith in the Lord, and thence the reformation of his external man, in order that the internal may be opened and the longing for the presence of the Lord's spirit to save man may be fulfilled.

4. The conjunction with the Lord through the opening and forming of the internal man, and the working thence of His Divine Human through love and faith, and the longing for a new human from Rim. 5. The formation of the rational through the affection of the scientifics and cognitions of the Word and the doctrinals of the Church, its subordination to the internal, the perceEtion that Doctrine is spiritual out of celestial origin, and the birth of a new rational and natural in which the Divine of the Lord may be present. 6. The life of charity, acquired by the conjugial of the true of the natu~al in the sphere of the Lord's Divine Human, with the affections of the true of the Word and of Doctrine in human things, and the submission to the good of: the natural from the Divine Human, and the conjunction with the rational.

7. The perception of the Divine Human out of the rational, and thence the appropriation of the good of love and true of faith, in the natu;:,.al, the 'subm:Lssion of the external mind opened to the world to t~e good and true of the internal opened to heaven, and thus the presence of the Lord's Kingdom on earth. Doctrinal statement adopted by The Lord's New Church which is Nova Hierosolyma in 1956.

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