# The Last Judgement and Second Coming of the Lord Illustrated/Preface

PREFACE.
On the wrapper of the Intellectual Repository for January, 1863, the editor acknowledged the receipt of one hundred pounds, from "Philalethes," to be offered in two Unequal sums, for the best and second best essays on "The Last Judgment, and the Second Coming of the Lord as the Son of man, foretold in the Gospels and Revelation." In the following number of that publication, the conditions and arbiters were announced; and in the March issue the letter of "Philalethes" to the editor on the subject appeared at length. In that letter he stated his ideas respecting the broad and Christian spirit in which the essays should be written, and made some suggestions concerning the range of the review which should be embraced. He also indicated that, for the sake of the multitude, the work should be handled in a popular manner, and that as large a use as possible should be made of the literal sense of the Scriptures, in order that light might be thrown upon it by Swedenborg's explanations. This essay was selected by the arbiters for the first prize. It is designed to illustrate the teachings of the "New Church" on the various subjects of which it treats, and it is hoped that the results will be useful to the cause for which it is written.
​Although the work was undertaken in consequence of the advertisement referred to, the author has felt the necessary study for its execution a labour of love. While engaged in the exposition of what he humbly but earnestly accepts to be the truth, he believes that he has not been influenced in the performance of it by any motive more earnest than that of making the work suggestive and useful to the Christian reader. He loves the Christian Church, considered as a spiritual institution, designed to teach Scriptural truths for the rational faith of mankind, and to insist upon the cultivation of charity as an essential for their salvation. For this Church he has laboured, for this he hopes to continue his labours to the end of his career; it is among his chief pleasures; he owes to it a variety of blessings; he looks to its existence as the medium of a thousand mercies which the world is now enjoying, without a sufficient knowledge of their source; and he regards it as a medium of spiritual light which future generations will embrace with wonder at the hesitation and obscurities felt by the present, and employ it as the handmaid of heaven for the purpose of promoting the Divine teachings.
Of course, with opinions long formed on the subject of this essay, it was scarcely possible to treat them with entire impartiality: no one can reasonably pretend to be indifferent to that which he honestly believes and loves; but the effort to explain and confirm it does not necessarily imply a sectarian advocacy: it simply requires that those who undertake such efforts should love the truth and be ​equitable to the sentiment of others, while attempting to do justice to their own perception of it. In this respect the author has endeavoured to be careful and conscientious. Sectarianism is a section, a something cut off from the general body: a part only; and, therefore, it is in danger of being one-sided in its views, limited in its aims, and narrow in its mode of defence. These defects he has endeavoured to avoid. Truth is of no party: it is broad and liberal in its announcements, kind and charitable in its expressions, it is universal in its purposes, it offers itself frankly to the consideration of the learned, to the acceptance of the pious, and as the teacher of all who are willing to learn. It can afford to be tender and indulgent to the opinions of others, without dimming the lustre of its own brightness, or relinquishing the prerogatives which are proper to its nature; and, surely, a time will come when it will be met with more welcome and generosity than it at present receives; and when the Judean question, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" shall be silenced by the invitation, "Come and see." The realization of that period will be most advantageous to religion and the world: at how great a distance it may be from the present, none can tell; but come it must, if prophecy be true, although it may not be for us to know the times and the seasons. Our duty is to work in faith, and wait in hope, and the Divine mercy is sure, sooner or later, to crown the labours of honesty and conscience, with satisfaction and success. In this faith the author lays down his pen, and commits this work to ​the wise providence of Him whose predicted judgment he has endeavoured to interpret, and whose wonderful advent he has attempted to explain. Whatever defects may attach to the reasonings and opinions set forth, belong entirely to the author. No cause is compromised by his statements, or by his treatment of the subjects, nor are any responsible for his utterances but himself.
Preston. August, 1867.