The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1890-03-27
DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH.


DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH.
Concluded.
For the exercise of thought, there
must be the real and the apparent
the true and the false-the good and
che evil. This gives the mind a
plane of comparison; furnishes it with
endless subjects of thought; culti-
vp ties the rational faculty; leads to
the recognition of the laws of crea-
ton, and gives that sense of progress
which is the highest delight of man,
and which alone distinguishes him
from the beast. Now these mental
activities-the exercise of the affec-
tions, thoughts, and reasoning pow
ers of the mind-are the life of man
yes, his whole life. And this they
will be forever Love is not like mon
ey, that you have less by the amount
you give to Others. The more you
give away. the more will your love
increase, and as love, or affection, is
the cause of all thought, we shall
grow in goodness and truth, and the
knowledge of the Lord to all eterni-
ty-that is, if we are not growing in
the wrong direction. According to
Swedenborg, there are three heavens:
In the highest. or third heaven, love,
the celestial principal, is the ruling
law of life; in the second, or middle
heaven, truth, the spiritual or intel
lectual principle, rules; and the first
or lowest heaven is ruled by the nat
ural or sensitive principle. These
three heavens are based upon the
three planes or discrete degrees of the
mind, and our home in heaven will
be determined by the degree which
has become the ruling principle of
life. Now the proof of all this can be
seen in the world. We see some who
obey the laws simply from a princi
pie of obedience, or the obligations
of duty; others rise to an appreciation
of the true principles of law and good
government, and are led, not by the
written law, but by the spirit of
truth. Others, again, are led by the
law of love; these do good from the
love of good. and are kind even to
the evil and the unthankful. But
there are two more classes of men to
consider. One of tn 'se obeys the law
only throu gh feur. and the other
openly violates it. Now we have all
the different characters in the world
fairly before us; let us consider them
for q few moments in the light of ex-
perience, of known law, and of the
word of God. We all begin life on the
natural or sensuous plane of the
mind, which brings us into commu-
nication with all the forms and forces
of the natural world; and, as we have
seen, into the appearances of truth.
And it is this natural man or mind,
that falls into sin, and needs there
fore to be regenerated. There, then,
we first meet the Bible, and find only
such things as are suited to our low
state. Now let us see what an evil
man will find. He opens the book
and sees a passage that says God is
love-" But it finds no responsive
chord in his bosom; he is puzzled-he
does not understand it-there is
nothing in his own heart that can
appreciate such a quality, and he
turns to another place. Here he
reads that God is angry with the
wicked; that his wrath is kindled
against them; that he will cast them
into the lake that burns with fire and
birthstone, and will utterly destroy
them. Instantly a look of triumph
overspreads his faee-his eyes fairly
glitter with satisfaction-he has
found God. "Why, of course God
will punish his enemies-that's rea-
sonable-anybody can see that. "
Here is a being he loves because he
has enemies himself whom he wants
God to visit with all the wrath that
omnipotence can supply. Now this
is only the God of his own evil heart,
and not the true God. But if he is a
preacher he will preach the gospel of
infinite wrath without regard to the
character of his hearers, and if this
drives some of them to insanity or
suicide, he will consider it as evidence
that God was angry with them But
fortunately, he is himself awfully
afraid of his God, and although, ac-
cording to Swedenborg, he is already
in hell, fear will keep him from out
breaking sin; make his condition
more toIerable, and is the only mo
tive by which he could be restrained.
Now who will say that the Bible has
not met this mans case in the only
wav that could possibly benefit him?
Let us now notice another natural
man, also a sinner, and see what he
will learn from the Bible. He reads
the same things the other man did
some passages representing God as
possessing the evil passions of men
as being angry with men, and pun.
| ishing them; others declaring that
he is good, kind and merciful; his
heart is inclined to accept the latter
but his understanding can not rid it.
self of the former. So he concludes
though he can not see it, that there
may be no inconsistency in these con
flicting statements, and seeing that
the Bible is an infalliable rule of life.
and that is his duty to obey God, he
puts away evil and begins to obey
| The commandments until finally he
likes to do this-has set his house in
order on the natural plane of the
mind, and entered the first heaven
Should this man become a preacher
the doctrines of the orthodox
churches" will compel him to preach
things that belle his heart. l have
myself seen such men shed bitter tears
while preaching doctrines from which
their hearts recoiled. God bless them
for doing the best they could under
such adverse circumstances. But fol
the cruel doctrines handed down to
us from the dark ages, the Bible
had met their case perfectly. Nov
let us see how the same Bible affect.
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