, 1877-02-04

come with the caas'ity1 But shall the calamity
come! God forbid ...-
4 D1sGusrED CuuRcHMAN.
WHAT Is TRUTH?
TIE NEW D1sPESsAr1oS.
And /, John. saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem:
coming down from God, out Of Heaven. prepared
As u bride adorned for her husband. And He that
sat upon the throne said, Beho1d, make All Ihhes
| ueW.-Ker. XXI, =, ..
10 tie Editor at Tie Tribune.
Chicago, Feb. o-Thc above Divine words
arc reyercntly quoted for the. purpose OF intro
ducins subject which. judging from retro
spcct Of the past few mouths, cannot fail to cn-
| gage the interested attention Of a great propor-
| ton Of the readers of The TRIBUNE. Men arc
! everywhere eagerly asking, "What is truths"
! The conflicting answers from the differing
standpoints Of Orthodoxy, Unitarianisln, Cni-
yersalisn, ctc., give the individual opinions OF
tue spokesmcn Of the old Church, but the new
lispensation gives the infallible answer Of Him
who is Truth itself.
| The commotion in the religious world is like
| the fer,ncnt OF cask Of new wine, and it is
hoped it will effect separation Of tha ia1sities
OF doctrine, to fall to the bottom, and leave the
pure wine OF truth to nourish and cnivcn a
united Church. To this end the truth must first
| be made known, and then received by all we'll
disposed persons
| The scenes witnessed By John in the spiritual
| world, aud described in the twcnty-first chapter
Of Revelation, were prophetical cublesns show
ing the descent FROM God cut o. Heaven OF
new system Of Christian doctrine,
suetea and take new the pSns0e pae Of Il
first CAristiau Church. This is the second conl-
lug Of tae Lord, disrclling the clouds OF the lit
erll sense Of the Word, and revealing, Jesus
Christ In the Divine Humanity as the only God
OF Heaven and earth. It is not coming IN
person in the clouds Of the earth, but coming
Or revelation OF the spiritual sense OF the
| Word within or above The literal sense. Inc
Jews in accordance with the literal sense of thelr
Scriptures were expecting Messiah who would
CONE aud reign over theia as their King, and
lead then, to glory and victory. But When He
came He declared that His Kingdom was not of
| this world.
Tic Christian Church, forgetful Of tie lesson
which was then taught, las been looking for
| the literal accomplishment of the prophecy
that He should ''con,c IN the clouds Of heaven
with power and great glory.'' Instead Of this
F.! He has come as u new revelation Ut Irvine
truth in His Holy Word.
| Both tile first Gnd the second advent Of the
Lord have now been accomplished; while Jews
and Christians stand waiting for the literal ful~
flln,ept Ut the predictions with regard to Him,
| the one Tor u temporal dcliycrer, the other
| for His visible appearance in the clouds.
'.Thls second coming, III the Lord is effected BY
| means of man before whom lie has manifested
| Himself, and whom He has filed With His
Spirit, to teach the doctrines of the New Church
| through the Word from Him." It was ncccs-
| sary that this man should be able not only to
| receive the doctrines OF this Church with his
understanding, but also to publish them by the
tho Lord to hold this most Important office,
and, in the fullncss OF time, being illuminated
by Divine Truth, hc recorded and published the
internal or spiritual sense of the Word, as made
| known to him By its Divine Author.
1'Ihis is the light that has come into the
world" aud why should It be hid under tue
| buehc1 OF limited society organization! It is
to cnlighten the whole world, and the object Of
tho writer is not to help build up the society
holding these truths, but to do what he may to-
ward extending tue knowledge Of this system
OF heavenly doctrine.
The lcaling doctrines OF the New DISPENSE
tion arc briefly expressed in the following sum-
mary:
i. God is One in Essence and in Person, in
whom there is 4 distinct aud essential Trinity,
called In the Word the Father, Son, and holy
Spirit, and the Lord Jesus Christ IS this God,
and the only true object of worship.
2. In order to he saved, man must believe On
the Lord, and strive to oocy His command
1nents, looking to Him alone for strength and
assistance, and acknowledging that I'LL life and
| salvation arc from Him. e..
T. 8. Sacrel Scriptures, or the Divine Word, Is
not only the revelation OF the Lords will and
the history of His dealings with men, but also
contains the Infinite treasures Of His wisdom
| expressed in symbolic or correspondential lam
| guaee, and therefore in addition to the sense Of
the letter there is in the Word an inner or spir-
itual sense which can be interpreted only by
tho law of correspondence between things
! natural and things spiritual.
]. Now Is the time Of the second coming of
the Lord foretod in Matt, XIV, and the cs-
| tablishmcnt Of the new church sgnilied BY tho
coming is not visible appearance on earth, but
| q disclosure OF Divine truth and the prOmulga-