Professional Documents
Culture Documents
BY THE
~ JI ~
The ~~New Church"
"A Great Voice out of
Heaven"
BV THE
20 HART STREET,
LoNDON, W.c. l
CONTBNTS
PA.GE
A Christian Church 7
What is a Church ? 8
Jesus, Divine . 12
The Christian . 44
A Fulfilment of Prophecy 45
3
What the New Church Is
Perhaps the answer to the question, "What is the New
Church ?" can best be given by stating in as simple and brief
a wery as possible what the New Church teaches.
But ftrst it should be dearfy understood that the New Church
is deftnitefy and unfalteringfy Christian. It is founded upon a
belief in the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom it looks
for enlightenment and direction in ail matters.
The New Church teaches that in Jesus Christ we have the
/tillness of the Divine,. the Father, according to His own
statement, being in Him, and the Hofy Spirit proceeding from
Him, as when He breathed upon His disciples and said,
" Receive ye the Hofy Spirit."
It teaches that the inspired books of the Old and New Testa
ments were dictated by His Spirit,. that within the sense of
the letter there is a Spiritual and Divine sense, having reftrence
solefy to the things of heaven and the Lord,. and that their
inspiration, and their daim to be the Word of God, consist in
and are proved from this.
It teaches that Salvation is deliverance not from the conse
quences of sin, bllt from sinning,. and that the Atonement is
the reconciliation not of God to man, but of man to God.
It teaches the continuity of life after death,. and the reality
of the spiritual world,. that ail are immortal,. that those who
bave loved goodness and truth and tried to do right, to serve
God and their neighbollr, go to heaven, and are happy for ever ,.
and that onlJ those who have chosen evil ftnd their place in hell.
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lt leachu Ihat ail are created for heaven, and none for hell
and that they who go to hell do so of their own accord.
lt teaches that Judgment is the disclosing of charactsr, .nti
that our final abode hereafter is with our own kind.
lt teaches that the Divine Providence rules ail things,. that
it is the Government of Divine Love and Wisdom,. that nothing
con happen in this or any other world apart {rom it,. that
then is no such thing as Chance.
lt teaches the Second Coming of the Lord as an event that
has alreacfy oceurred,. not in any dramatic or physical manner,
but in the opening of the spiritual sense of the Word whereby
He is enabled to come in the fullest possible wCfJ to the conscious
"ess of the individual soul.
lt teaches that he onfy is a Christian who lives as a Christian.
The New Church is the fulftlment of the Scripture: "And
l, John, saw the Hofy City, new Jerusalem, coming down from
God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for ber hus
band.' And of the promise: "Behold, 1 make ail things
New."
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The" New Church"
A Christian Church
IRST, it should be clearly understood that the New
F Church is definitely and unfalteringly Christian; it
rests upon the old foundation: "For other foun-
dation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ"; it is Christianity itself, re-stated and re-born.
The New Church is founded upon the rock of Faith in
the sole and absolute Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ,
to whom it looks for enlightenment and direction in ail
matters.
By a belief in His Divinity is meant the acknowledg-
ment that He, and He only, is God over all-Divinity
itself; the self-existent Maker of heaven and earth.
The New Church makes this acknowledgment with-
out reservation or qualification of any kind, not merely
as an item of its creed but as the fundamental and
universal principle, the beginning and end, first and last
of al! it has to teach.
The New Church holds that apart from this acknow-
ledgment there is no true Christian religion, and can be
no true Christian Church.
A Christian Church is a Church in which Jesus Christ
is held supreme.
The acknowledgment of this supremacy of Jesus is
no mere matter of Hp confession: no lip confession can
make a Church. It is more than knowledge: the Church
does not exist from knowledge. It is more than inte1-
lectual assent. The Church of the Lord exists from love
of Him.
The true Christian Church is found where the Lord
Jesus Christ is recognized and confessed as God of
heaven and earth; where His commandments are obeyed,
and He is loved with al! the heart and ail the mind and
aU the might.
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The "New Church"
What is a Church ?
l
III
IV
II
The" New Church"
Jesus, Divine
N the FAITH OF THE NEW CHURCH, which fonns a
I _ preface to the LlTURGY issued by the General Con
ference, the opening words are, "That there is one
God, in whom there is a Divine Trinity, and that He is the
Lord Jesus Christ."
This is what the New Church teaches, in briefest surn
rnary, with respect to God; it is its answer to the question,
Who is He?
He is the Lord Jesus Christ 1
There is no other God in heaven or earth. He it was
who came into the world in fuifilment of His promise,
repeated through the ages, "1 will come and save you " ;
"Look unto Me and be ye saved aIl the ends of the
earth, for l am God, and there is none else"; and of
whorn it is written, " His narne shal! be cal!ed Irnmanuel,
which being interpreted is, GOD WITH us."
Thus the New Church proclairns that the notion of
three Persons in God is contrary to Scripture, and in
itself beyond rational acceptance; a quite unthinkable
proposition, only to be entertained by the suppression of
reason and the denial of cornrnon sense.
It is indeed rnost true that the idea of a Divine Being
who is Maker of heaven and earth and al! things therein,
transcends the capacity of the nnite hurnan mind to
grasp in all its issues. But the idea of a Divine Being
does not therefore contradict what the human mind is
able to lay hold of; the faith that entertains it is a faith
that sees 1
The faith that sees is that of an enlightened intelligence
-enlightened frorn above-and, strictly speaking, there
can be no other faith.
Faith has been supposed to irnply a belief in things
that cannot at al! be seen. But this would declare faith
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The "New Church ..
blind. Whereas a blind faith is a contradiction in terms.
Faith cornes by enlightenment, through the hearing of
the Word and by the exercise of the organ of aIl vision,
both natural and spiritual, which is the eye of the mind.
It is the mind that sees in every case; and only the
intelligent, seeing mind can have real faith. To say that
you have faith in what you do not see to be true is to
deceive yourself. You may believe that what you see
faUs short of the reality; but you cannot believe if you
see nothing.
True faith is seeing God! It is the inward perception
of His presence 1
The God who is seen must be a Person ; there is no
seeing of an impersonal Deity. Neither is there any
seeing of a Being who is more than one. The idea of three
persons making one God, as suggested by the Athanasian
Creed, is beyond conception. Even to caU it an " idea "
involves contradiction; for an "idea" is something sem;
and who is there that can see a God who is both One and
Three?
The New Church teaches, and by its teaching enables
the intelligent, affirmative mind to see, that there is one
• God in whom there is a Divine trinity.
The trinity in God is not one of persons, but of attri
butes or aspects and essential parts.
There is a like trinity in every created thing. It may be
recognized in a flower, a bird, a human being. There
exists a trinity even in a grain of sand. It is not in
these indeed such as is the Divine trinity; but it is one
in which the Divine is surely reflected; it is a three
in-one of substance, form and proceeding sphere. These
three make every one thing. But three flowers do not
make one flower at any time; nor do three birds make
one bird; or three human beings one human being.
But three essentials make one God; and these are speci
ficaIly the Divine substance, the Divine form, and the
emanating Divine sphere. The Divine substance is His
Love; the Divine form is His Wisdom; and the Divine
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The" New Church "
sphere is His going forth to influence, sustain and bless
the all-pervading effluence and operation by which the
universe is created and maintained. In these three con
stituents the fullness of the Godhead consists. They are
all that the Divine is, has been, or ever can be. And
there is nothing more than these in heaven or earth. All
that presents itse1f to the senses is but their reflection and
expression.
The New Church teaches, and by its teaching enables
the intelligent, affirmative mind to see, not only that this
is the fullness of the Divine, but that all this fullness was
embraced in Jesus, and is in Him still. He was and is
Incarnate Love; He was and is Incarnate Wisdom, the
visible and effective embodiment of these constituent
e1ements. He was these effectually focused and brought
down to earth to dwell with men. And these are the
superlative things, possessed of greatest worth, inviting
human worship, promising heaven to all who can receive
them, because they are Divine. They are not abstractions;
neither do they exist in ether or in air; but their
dwelling is in persons, and their fullness is the Personal God.
The New Church teaches that there is one God in whom
is a Divine trinity; and that He is the Lord Jesus Christ 1
In Him the Divine of Love, Wisdom and Power were
•
manifested and contained according to His own repeated
declarations: "The Father, who is in me, He doeth the
works." "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father."
"1 and the Father are one." And that the Holy Spirit
was no other than His own all-vivifying sphere, the
creative breath of His life, He clearly showed in breathing
upon His disciples and saying to them, "Receive ye the
Holy Spirit."
" Breathing is an external representative sign of Divine
inspiration."
Does He not thus breathe upon us now, that we too
may have the true breath of life from Him, the quickening
and reviving influence of wisdom and of love, the in
spiration of every living soul ?
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The" New Church"
The Father who was in Jesus, as the soul of a man is
in the instrumental body, was that impelling Love by
which He sent Himself into the world; the all-originating
soul of the living God. Love itself is Father of us ail ;
Parent of ail good. There is nothing born into the world
except from Love. Love begets Wisdom, and Wisdom
issues forth in Power to bless. Thus in the beginning
the heavens and the earth were made, and do still subsist.
Thus were we created, and are now maintained, in
being from moment to moment. Love is our Heavenly
Father. Yet in no impersonal or abstract sense is this the
case. The Love that is our Father is that which stooped
in Jesus to our estate. It is HIS Love. This was His
Father, and also ours. It is this that has ail power in
heaven and on earth. Nothing else has any power. For
Power is the proceeding of Love, by Wisdom, into
Effect. There is no other power.
We have power-so-called-to destroy. You can
crumple up a rose in your fingers and ruin it beyond ail
recognition; you may trample it under your feet. But
to create one of its delectable petaIs is beyond you. You
have sorne ability to take life, but none to give it. How
poor a thing-how utterly deceptive-is your " power"
when you come to examine it; it is only a semblance, a
shadow, a mere usurper and pretender of power. Power
itself is productive of ail good, from truth. Jesus alone
had this power. It was in Him and it proceeded from
Him. By it He caused the deaf to hear and the blind to
see, the lame to walk and the dead to live again. He
created them anew. And ail that He did was good. He
set imprisoned spirits free. He opened the gates of
heaven. He went before; for He was the Way, the
Truth and the Life. And no man cometh to the Father
but by Him. For in Him dwells al! the fuilness of the
Godhead bodily. He is "one God over ail, blessed
for ever."
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The" New Church"
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The" New Church"
Church writings as "The Ancient Word." Moses, we
are told, took his account of Creation, of the Garden of
Eden, and the Flood, with the rest of the early Genesis
stories, from it. Similar stories occur in practically all the
sacred writings and traditions of the human race. They
have a common origin.
And before the time of the Ancient Word there was
Oral Tradition, instruction in Divine things conveyed
from mouth to mouth. And there was, from the very
beginning, communication between earth and heaven.
There has never been a time, since time began, when
the world was without a revelation of the existence and
nature of the all-creating and sustaining God.
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Jesus comes into the world a first time for aUI When
the story of His coming is received, and the confession
made, tbat He who was born in Bethlehem was veritably
God, the timeless miracle of the ages has been wrought in
cime; the central happening of bistory is realized. The
Lord is then present with man, saying, "1 will come
again, and receive you unto Myself."
He must come again, in power and in glory, that we
may behold Him from within, in that spaceless place of
the spirit where every eye may see Him, as in His trans
figuration with Face sbining as the sun and raiment as
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The "New Church "
the light; even as He appeared to John in Patmos, with
eyes as a Rame of tire, saying, "1 am Alpha and Omega,
the Beginning and the Ending, who is, and who was, and
who is to come."
He must come again that we may look on Him with
spiritual eyes; that we may hear Him with the quickened
ears of the spirit; and touch .Him with the extended
hand of faith and of will to personal service, recognizing
and acknowledging Him as our only Lord and God, " To
Whom be glory and majesty, dominion and power both
now and ever, Amen."
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The" New Church"
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The" New Church"
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The" New Church"
The Christian
The New Church teaches that
He only is a Christian who lives as a Christian!
In other words, it puts the whole significance of the proud
tide, and the justification for its use, not in creed, nor in
any kind of Hp profession, but in the aetuaHties of dail y life 1
It caHs to our remembrance, with renewed emphasis
and a persistence that is never satisfied, the teaching of
the W ord-made-flesh: "If ye know these things, happy
are ye if ye do them "; "Not every one that saith unto
Me, ' Lord, Lord,' shaH enter into the kingdom of heaven ;
but he that doeth the will of My Father who is in heaven " ;
" He that doeth truth cometh to the light." ,
And it proclaims again the message of the prophet
Micah: "He hath showed thee, 0 man, what is good ;
and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly,
and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy GÇ>d?"
What is it to live as a Christian? Surely it is above aU
things to obey the law of love. Jesus said, "A new
commandment l give unto you, That ye love one another ;
as l have loved you, that ye also love one another. By
this shaH aH men know that ye are My disciples."
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The "New Church"
A Fulfilment of Prophecy
It is claimed for the New Church that it is itself the
fulfilment of the Scripture: "And 1, John, saw the Holy
City, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of
Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" ;
and also of the promise: "Behold, l make aH things new."
Scripture is fulfilled when its inner content has been
realized; it is accomplished in the experience of the
developing human soul.
The essence of aB Scripture, God-inspired, is Revela
tion; and Revelation is the opening of faculty, it is being
given 10 see !
There is no Revelation of things on the natural plane;
nor any fulfilment of prophecy to be looked for there.
Jesus said, "The kingdom of God cometh not with
observation: neither shaB ye say, ' Lo here ! or, 10 there ! '
for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
In the Holy City, New Jerusalem, seen by John as
coming down from God out of heaven, the kingdom of
God-the ceaseless topie and the end in view in aB our
Lord's teaching-is envisaged and presented in figure. In
the figure of a city it should not be difficult to see the
representation of a Church. For a city is a complex of
human relationships and activities; it is essentiaBy a com
munity of life. The Holy City is the ideal Community,
the perfect human life; it is the achievement of that
Fellowship of the Spirit for which the Church exists, and
of which it is, ideally, the embodiment.
And in the figure of the Bride adorned for her Husband,
the symbolism of a Church is hardly less manifest; the
Woman is the Church in relation to the Divine Being
who has caBed it into existence, who bestows upon it aU
its beauty, and inspires it with His life.
If the existence of a New Church in the world is
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The" New Church"
conceivable; if the possibility of such a thing is aUowed,
this claim to be the ful@ment of Scripture can hardly
be rejected: if there is, or can ever be, a New Church in
the world, it must be this, it can be nothing less.
If there is a New Church in the world to-day--and he
surely would be presumptuous indeed who would deny
the possibility-its newness will be seen, and proved
beyond aU controversy, in the fact that it reveals new
things, which are also true things; new readings of the life
inspiring and sustaining Word; new visions of the world
to come; "new thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven."
It will show itself to be the Church of the new man,
who is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him
that created him.
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The" New Church"
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