Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1871-01-18

not remote from this world on some un-
known planet, as is commonly supposed.
It is right here, close to this world, and
within it. When a man lives good
life, he draws angels and good spirits
who inhRbit the spiritual mOrld near to
him; if he lives an evil life, he draws
evil spirits around him.
RepOrter-What is the difference'be-
tween a good spirit and an angel, and
an evil spirit and devil?
Mr.. HitchcOck-A good spirit is n good
human being who has passed form this
world, but has not yet become an angel.
An angel is a good human being who
has been perfected in the spiritual world
up to the status of angelhoOd, and been
thereby elevated into heaven. An evil
spirit is a wicked human being who has
passed from this world, but has not yet
become q devil. A devil is a wicked
human being who, having passed into
the world of spirits, has blossomed out
into full blown devilhOOd and gone to
his home in hell
Reporter-YOu talk about the
.f.- WORLD OF SPIRITS
as though il were a place to which good
and had spirits go in common prOvions
to their being sent to heaven or hell.
Mr. Hitchcoek--Yes, the world of
spirits is an intermediate state between
heaven and hell. 1t is where we all go
Immediately after death, before we are
finally sorted out and disposed of accord
ing to our real characters. Now, to
come back to the spirits which man
draws around him in this world by his
life, and OF which I must predicate my
explanation of the work of salvation
which the Saviour did for US. BY the
instFumentality of good spirits and an
gels the Lord is always trying to save us
from the Vaccinations of evil spirits and
devils But when the whole human
race is unspeakably wicked, as it was at
the time of the Lords appearance on
earth, special efforts to this end are ne
cessary. At the time of the Savior's adj
vent the evil spirits and devils had got
such hold upon men as to take posses
sion, not only of their minds and hearts,
but of their bodies also, as we read in
the Gospels, and the instrumentality of
angels and good spirits was not suffici-
ent to resist them. The Lord, therefore,
came himself down to the plane of hu-
man life, and on that plane fought with
his own Omnipotence against
HE'LL
and its allies, drove them back, and thus
saved men from destruction.
Reporter-DO you mean that it was
| God himself who did that?
Mr.. Hitchc0ck-Yes, / do. There is
but one God. The Son of God is the
name given to his manifestation OF
Himself here on earth, and the Holy
Spirit is the holy influence that pro-
| ceeds from Him.
Reporter-What becomes of the vicari-
Gus atOnement then?
/ Mr.. HitcheOek-The Viearious atone
ment, as expended by Old-fashiOned the
] Ologians, is a rmiseOnception of the truth,
! just as the PtOlemaie system of astromy
was a miscoRceptiOn of astronomical
! facts. Itrests upon the assumption that
] God was angry with His creatures, and
needed to be pacifed, and would not lei
up on the offenders until somebody had
been adequately punished for their of.
! fences. Gods alleged anger is an ap.
lpearance produced by our guilty con.
science. The truth is that God
. LOVES THE SINNER
Just as much as He loves the saint, and
always seeks the sinners good. To re,
move this appearance of anger, it is on,
| ly necessary for US to repent of our sin:
and turn to the Lord; just as, to come
! from night to day, it is necessary for the
earth to turn, and not for the sun tC
change its position. The sun shines OF
just the same all the time, whether it bt
hidden by clouds or shut out from us by
the earth's turning away from it; and 81
too does the Lords love shine on JUS
the same all the time, no matter how i
may be Obscured by the clouds of evil
oys shut ont of O11r boovF o,,r
away from the Lord. So YOU see tha
redemption was a deliverance from thu
powers of hell to enable us to turn agaiI
to God, and was nota deliverance from
the wrath of God, as that phrase is usu
ally understood. The work which tht
Lord did in redemotion was indeed
vicariOus. He did in our place what W.
could not do for ourselves. Atonement
again, means reconciliation-or as it il
sometimes spelled, at-One-ment; and i
is we who are recOnciled to God, anC
not God to US. He does not need am
reeonciling, but we do; because it is We
who have
GONE AsTRAY.
It is we who must be brought back. L,
repeat our astronomical illustration
there is no change in God any morC
than there is in the sun; it is the eartI
which must turn in order to receive tn
SUMS heat and ligh.
Reporter-All the preachers say thu
same thing-that we must turn to thu
Lord and seek salvation, Is your wa7
of doing that different from theirs
Mr.. Hitchcock will not attempt t,
state their method, hut viii only tell yOl
what ours is. Our way of turning to tn
] r = - -, r,Fo 1
the Lord for help, and above all to keeI
: the commandments.
RepOrter-That seems to be orthodox
I was brought up a Methodist; and tha
/ is lust what they preached. There doe
not seem to be much practical differenc
after all between you and the rest of tn
religious world.
: Mr.. Hitchcock should be very gla
to believe that was so. The use of al
religion is to make good men and VIC
men on earth, and angels in heaven
: So far as the Methodist, Catholic or Nc
hamedan religion can do that, it ha
: my hearty sympathy. Indeed, Swed
enborg teaches that, in the providenC
of the Lord, believers of all forms ofre
, ligion are saved, if they only live goo
: lives according to their religious prt
T cepts.
i Reporter-What is the advantage
7 your form of religion, then, over other
2 Mr.. Hitchcock-The advantage cOnsis
i in being free from the errors and miscoI
: ceptions which embaTTass and mislea
: believers in other systems.
Reporter-What errors and misconcel
tions do you refer to?
i Hitchcock-That of Gods being angT
with US, and demanding victim to al
y y pease
d HIS WRATH,
o for example, and the CONSEQUENT mi
n conception of the real nature of IL
atonement; the trinity of three distint
It persons; the doctrine that heaven ar
u hell are arbitrarily given by the Lor
o and are not the result of eternal law
/ these, ,Iand kindred errors flowing frOl
them, puzzle and confuse people
+ minds, and prevent them from doing
ie well as they would if they knew IL
truth.
-e man to hell, who does send him there
A swEDENBoRGIAN sTUNNER.
A. Hitchcock-He goes there Of his oW
accord, and because he likes is bett
81 than he likes any other place.
re ReporteT-That's a sumner. If "
will enable me to comprehend that, al
lr to see that it is true, you will cont
in butte much to my peace of mind.
Hitchcock-HOw so? Would it co
le tribute to your peace of mind to see tn
If YOU should ever become an inmate
u, one of those loathsome hells of t
x Forth or Sixth WaTd-say negro dane
n hOuse-it would be because you had |
j. come so degraded that you would
Id there, and live there, and make yo
Eh !. L E.cnnn In