The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-12-11
LIVEDIN BOTH WORLDS.
rBrExpERrExCE OF THE FOUNDER
orxEwJERUsALEM CHURCH.
Talk With the Preacher VINO Ie"ches
the Doctrine of swedenborg In hch-
mond-what the Sect Believes

IN The Times announcing services NJ the
New Jerusalem mission room. No. east
Clay street, the following Sunday.
The unusual wording of the announce
ments and the name given to the mission
has caused more or less speculation IN
the mind OF the people as TO the manner
of the doctrine professed.
The New Jerusalem or New Church mis-
sion is conducted by the followers OF
Swedenborg, and are commonly known 10
the world as Swedenborgians.
Mission work OF this denomination nas
been prosecuted here at various times lOF
several years.
Last summer and the summer previous
services were held in Wilkinsons han ny
Rev. Frank Small OF Washington. Rev. -
u. Smith Of Eastern Maryland, Rev
Thomas King OF Baltimore, ana rev. D.
p. Cabell Of Wilmington. Del.
The mission is now in charge OF Rev
Lewis f. Hite. CT Frederick county. Va
who IL holding regular Sunday services
and conducts a Tuesday evening reading
circle each week at No. s east Clay street.
II have met Mr.. Hite on several occa-
sions and learned some interesting par
ticulars about this movement and ascer-
tanned that Swedenborg'S relation 10 the
New Church IS different from what Is
generally supposed.
In answer 10 a question on this point
Mr.. Hite said:
TO answer the leading question l may
remark that there Is great confusion ana
misapprehension in the public mind as 10
what Swedenborg and the New Church
stand for.
1.-THE briefest statement / can make Is
this: Swedenborg says over and over
again in his writings that he was pre- =
pared, called and instructed by the Lord
TO unfold the deeper meanings Of the
Bible: and, in order that he might receive
the instruction. that his spiritual senses
were opened and for nearly thirty years
he lived consciously and fully in both
worlds, the natural and the spiritual, AT
the same time; that he saw the sights,
heard the sounds, conversed with the In
habitants of the spiritual world with the
same degree of familiarity and consta.lcy
as he did in this natural world
"The New Church as an organized body
of believers is founded on a new knowl-
edge Of the spiritual truth. which Sweden
borg, as a divinely-instructed teacher, has
shown to be in the Bible
"The New Church, therefore, while ac-
the divine Providence. looks to the Lord
alone as its founder
These claims are so astounding that II
is necessary TO show some reasonable
ground for their assertion, before men ore
willing to give them any consideration.
THE learned recall the numerous line or
imposters, dupes and religious fanatics
which history furnishes, and the UNI
learned dismiss them as Of no practical
Importance.
THAT Swedenborg was not an impostor,
dupe or religious fanatic. his biography
and the judgment of competent critics
sufficiently attest.
las TO the practical value Of his con-
tribution to human thought there has
been a steady growth of favorable opin-
ion and the high appreciation in which
ne, as a man and asa thinker, not TO say
originator, by such men as Coleridge,
Carlyle Emerson. James Freeman Clarke,
Lyman Abbott, T.. T. Munger and many
others Of equal rank is enough to prove
that his writings have great value. Add
10 this the fact that over 100 900 Of his
three books, THE True Christian Relig-
ton,' The Apocalypse Revealed Heaven
and He'll and a small biography, have
been distributed on application and pay
ment OF postage TO the Protestant clergy
throughout the country; and many Of the
ablest and most useful ministers Of all
denominations are known to be reading
them and to hold them in the highest es-
TEEN; and we have basis Of fact sufficient
TO lead every earnest seeker after truth to
examine for himself"
What is the accepted belief concerning
Swedenborg's claim of divine communion
ton?
"As TO the reality Of Swedenborg's spir-
itual experience. that is n matter of great,
though secondary. Importance. The main
question is: Do his writings contain new
truth? and are they free from error? and
this question everyone must decide for
himself. 1t may be said, however, that
thte difficulty of believing and under
standing Swedenborg's spiritual expe-
rience is both exaggerated and miscon-
ceived
MEMS minds are habitually so much
engrossed in the activities of worldly life
and the life OF the senses, and the immense
recent development of the physical sci
ences has so immersed thinkers in mate
rialism and naturalism, that we live in
an atmosphere of materialism, and are
apt to forget entirely that we are spirit
ual beings. When once we get familiar
with the fact that we are spiritual beings
and learn more about our nature as such.
we will have little difficulty in believing
what Swedeborg tells us about the splr-
itual world and his experience in it,
'Niy point here is that the difficulty Is
not inherent and necessary, but is due TO
our temporary condition OF natural mind
edness."
Do you look on these as actual divine
revelations?
II assert on the assumption Of his
DIV lf,1, 10,
epert testimony as to the reality, the con-
stitution, the laws and facts of the spir-
itual world. and 1 submit that the posi-
tive knowledge and the rational insight
which his writings give on these subjects
is one of the greatest needs of the Chris
tan world"
Is not the New Church based entirely
on Swedenborg's teachings?
"As TO what the New Church is, the
public mind is more burdened with con-
fusion and Misrepresentation than it is in
regard to Swedenborg
''This is due to its comprehensiven.s ass,
its depth and to the immense variety Of
the truths 1t teaches.
1T is necessary 10 distinguish between
the New Church as a body OF believers
and the New Church as a body Of doc
trine.
las a body Of doctrine It Is the New
Jerusalem described In the Book Of Re-
violation. Tho way TO reach this belief is
to see I'm the spiritual meaning OF this
description the identity. III other words,
the doctrines Of the New Church can be
seen to ccircide with the spiritual mean
ing of the description OF the New Jeru-
salem. The final question here is whether
the Bible has a spiritutl meaning or not,
and II so do the doctrines of the New
Church with
part Of that meaning? This question
also every enc must decide for himself
THE popular conception of the New
l-lLl.nh La.l.. 81 IL rim.