Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-21
SWEDENBORG AND
HIS TEACHINGS

To the Editor of The Star:
In the Sunday Magazine accompanying
The Sunday Star of June l6 there Is an
article, written with considerable liter
airy finish and apparently with a desire 10
do the subject justice, on the VISIONS of
Swedenborg" While there are some mis-
statements of fact, such as the charge of
epilepsy, etc, the article is undoubtedly
a treatment of Swedenborg in a serious
vein from the standpoint of present-day
psychic principles without the oldtime re-
course of disposing of him Summarily as a
mailman and dreamer. But the writer evil
IDENTIFY is not familiar with Swedenborg
wonderful theological system. Those things
in the writings of SWedenborg which most
attract the curious and wonder-oving are
the things which his followers pay the
least attention to. SWedenborg had no de-
sire to appeal to the love of the marvellous
in human nature; he went about his treat
ment of theological tenets in IS cold and
matter-of-fact manner as teacher OF
anatomy would dissect human body. No
religious teacher has been so void OF en-
thuSiaSm. Nowhere in his writings is there
any appeal to the emotions. He recognized
that the age of reason was approaching,
and he has laid down the ineXorable law
that nothing can really be believed and
held on to that Is not seen in clear intellec-
tual light. When the angels are asked to
believe thing on mere faith, he says, they
first demanded that it be shown to them
that it is true. And this led him to despise
miracles as a means of producing faith,
for miracles close up the reason and lead
a man to accept from wonder, and after
ward to deny what mere wonder had eff
fected, happened many times with the
children of Israel
But the great characteristic of Sweden
borgs writings is his treatment of the ma
ture and person of our Lord and His word.
After full seventeen centuries of contro-
versy over the Lord as the second of three
persons in trinity, merely the son
of Joseph. Swedenborg comes forward with
the astounding declaration that both sides
to the controversy were wrong, and that
He who appeared among men Jesus of
Nazareth was none other than Jehovah of
the Jews yelled in humanity-in other
words, was actually God-which incarnated
human nature served as a mediator be-
tween Him and the world anl prevented
the world by reason OF the glory OF his
person, from being consumed by the inten-
sity of His being, for the Lord God is
sun we are told consuming fire, the light
Of His world, etc. Without taking on this
human nature he could not have descended
to men. and angels, and devils in he'll; for
His approach would have been torment.
The incarnation of Jehovah God
orderly work in creation. In his treatment
Of this question Swedenborg stands alone
and unique among theologians. and his po-
sition must in time be accepted. He gives
US the only rational exposition of the incar-
nation. it's nature and object, and shows
beyond doubt to the unbiased mind that our
God was tempted in Jesus Christ
The Word of God in SWedenborgs sys-
tenn is a medium, by means Of picture,
parable. symbolic writing, by which the
denizens OF two diverse worlds. the spirit
ual and the natural. can be he'd in close
relation to each other and to God; thus the
word sun" conveys to us an idea of the
natural sun, or that by which our universe
is held in order but this sun does not
shine in a spiritual world, and those there
have lost all recollection Of it. the word
conveys to the Anglic mind the idea Of
deity for the spiritual world derives all its
light from the effulgence which proceeds
from the Lords person. for the glory OF
cessible. the psalmist says-Snai was on
fire from His presence. Paul was blinded
by His light, etc. Sun worship came from
this fact.
But to take up swedenborg's system as
an entirety would never do. for lack of
space but one important fact I would like
to bring out. which bears strong testimony
to his credibility, and that is what he has
to say respecting the nations Of remote an
tiquity.
1t has remained for recent times to throw
discredit on the belief long held that the
Jews and their progenitors were the au-
thors or monotheistic worship, with a sur
rounding world stepped in base idolatry
All OF sudden the Christian world, and
especially the religious and piestistic part
Of 1t. is startled by the cry Of archaeology
that He whom 1t had long regarded as ex-
clusively the God OF Abraham. Isaac. Jacob
and their descendants had been devoutly
worshiped long before their time by tenn
ing millions in the valleys Of the Tigris and
Euphrates as Jehovah. But the most sur
prising feature about this new revelation
respecting tho remote past Is that 1t has
been anticipated by Swedenborg with the
claim that he got his Information from the
other world. and not from this. Passage
after passage in his writings are to this