Scientific discovery of Spiritual Laws given in Rational
Scientific Revelations
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101
PLAIN STATEMENTS OF DOCTRINE the
Writings is that it is inimical and destructive of the attitude which brought
about the ACADEMY and the GENERAL
CHURCH. This we cannot see. We regard it as
But, Bishop de Charms does not like
it. He thinks it is wrong
and that
it has
no support
in the
Writings themselves. How far his loyalty to the attitude which,
102 the
mind from them, for this would involve a 'physical influx', such as the Writings
declare to be impossible. It
Now, I claim that this shows a complete misunderstanding of what DE
HEMELSCHE LEER teaches, and therefore is a misinterpretation of what the Hague
position stands for. Even when I was opposed to some of the new doctrinal
thoughts published in the magazine, I could not see that meaning in what has
been said there.
To those who have the new attitude toward the Writings
By regeneration of the natural degree of the mind a spiritual rational is
begotten and grows in man, receiving influx from the second Heaven. The light
from that Heaven is then shed on the teaching of the letter of the Word; it
pierces the cloud, the literal sense of the Word then no longer hides the Glory
of the Lord, but becomes 103
PLAIN STATEMENTS OF DOCTRINE sanction
and authority to the truths seen in the light from that higher Heaven, and they
become to the man of the Church the Doctrine of the Church, spiritual out of
celestial origin. THE
LORD'S OWN WITH MAN
BY THE REVEREND THEODORE PITCAIRN.
It has been repeatedly stated that DE HEMELSCHE LEER teaches that man is
Divine. This statement by itself is totally misleading, for there is but one
sense in which it can be said that man is Divine, a sense clearly taught in the
Latin Word, but a sense in which the word Man is used in a special meaning which
is entirely different from the usual meaning. It is only when Man is used with
the meaning defined in the following number that he may be said to be Divine:
"In the Most Ancient Church, with the members of which the Lord conversed
face to face, the Lord appeared as a Man; concerning which much may be related,
but the time has not yet arrived. On this account they called no one Man but the
Lord Himself, and the things which were of Him; neither did they call themselves
men but only those things in themselves, as all the good of love and all the
truth of faith, which they perceived they had from the Lord", A. C. 49.
That the goods of love and the truths of faith which are from the Lord
with man, and which are essentially Man, are Divine even in the natural mind, is
taught as follows: "In the present chapter in the internal sense the
subject is the natural, and how the Lord made it Divine in Himself. Esau is the
good thereof and Jacob the truth. For when the Lord was in the world He made His
whole Human Divine in Himself, both the interior Human which is the rational,
and the exterior Human which is the natural, and also the very corporeal; and
this according to the Divine Order, according to which the Lord also makes man
new or regenerates him. And therefore in the representative sense the
regeneration of man as to his natural is also here treated of, in which sense
Esau is the good of the natural, and Jacob the truth thereof, and yet both
Divine, because all the good and truth in one who is regenerate are from the
Lord", A. C. 3490. 104
In the above number the infinite difference between the Lord and man is
evident. This difference consists not only in this, that the good and truth in
the Lord was infinitely above the good and truth with man; but also in this that
Good and Truth with the Lord was in and from Himself, and was therefore
intrinsically in Him and was His Own Another
difference between the Lord and man is involved in A.C. 3490, quoted above,
namely that the Lord made the very corporeal in Himself Divine, while with man
the corporeal is not regenerated.
As the Most Ancient Church called only the Lord and the good and truth
with them from the Lord "Man", with the fall of that Church this truth
was profaned into the idea that they themselves as men were Divine, and
therefore like gods. This profanation is described as follows: "There were
Nephilim in the land in those days; and' especially after the sons of God went
in unto the daughters of man, and they bare to them, the same became mighty men,
who were of old, men of renown. This signifies that they became Nephilim when
they had immersed the doctrinals of faith in their cupidities", A.C. 582.
Concerning these perversions we are told that they were of a more 105
THE LORD S OWN WITH MAN interior
nature than any that have existed in the world since, and for this reason that
they were a perversion of celestial troth. While the New Church will not be able
to
It was a remnant of this perversion that passed down through the Indian
religiosities and passed into Europe by
The object of regeneration is to remove the things of man's proprium. In
so far as these are removed man is in 106 the
Lord's Proprinm, for we read: "The internal man of the Angels . . . in so
far as their proprial things do not hinder, is the Lord", A.C. 1745; and
again: "This is the celestial proprium, which in itself is of the Lord
alone appropriated to those who are in good and thence in truth", A.C.
3813. It is the nature of man's proprium to wish to have goods and truths as its
own, and as none but Nephilim dare to claim the Divine as their own, therefore
with others it is of the proprium to deny that goods and truths with them are
Divine, in order that they may believe that in some sense the goods and truths
with them are theirs.
While the goods and truths with man from the Lord are Divine, they are
not the Infinite Divine as they were with the Lord after Glorification.
Concerning the Divine truth which constitutes the wisdom, intelligence, and
science of Angels and men we read as follows: "Divine truth in its descent
proceeds according to degrees, from the highest or inmost to the lowest or
ultimate. Divine Truth in the highest degree is such as is the Divine that
proceeds most nearly from the Lord, thus such as is the Divine Truth above the
Heavens; and as this is infinite, it cannot come to the perception of any Angel.
But Divine Truth of the first degree is that which comes to the perception of
the Angels of the inmost or third Heaven, and is called celestial Divine Truth;
from this is the wisdom of those Angels. Divine Truth of the second degree is
that which comes to the perception of the Angels of the middle or second Heaven
and constitutes their wisdom and intelligence, and is called spiritual Divine
Truth. Divine Truth of the third degree is that which comes to the perception of
the Angels of the lowest Heaven and constitutes their intelligence and science,
and is called celestial-natural and spiritual-natural Divine Truth. But Divine
Truth of the fourth degree is that which comes to the perception of the men of
the Church who are living in the world, and constitutes their intelligence and
science; this is
called natural Divine Truth, and its lowest is called sensual Divine
Truth", A.E. 627.
That the Divine Truths which constitute the wisdom, intelligence, and
science of Angels and men, refer to truths when received and not to truths
before reception, is taught 107
THE LORD'S OWN WITH MAN "which
proceeds from His Divine Good and inflows into Heaven, in the celestial kingdom
is called the Divine celestial, and
in the spiritual kingdom the Divine spiritual; thus the Divine spiritual and the
Divine celestial are so called relatively to receptions", A.C. 6417. See
also A.E. 496, where, speaking of Divine Love celestial and Divine Love
spiritual, it says: "But the Lord's Divine love in the Heavens is called
celestial and spiritual merely from the reception of it by the Angels".
Further concerning the reception of good and truth with man, as being the Lord's
with him, we read as follows: "The Lord cannot love and dwell with man
unless He is received; . .. to enter to any
It is indeed profane to say that man is Divine, unless by the word Man is
understood solely what is from the Lord, who is the only Man. DE
HEMELSCHE LEER EXTRACTS
FROM THE ISSUE FOR DECEMBER 1933
MATTHEW XXIII : 37-39 ADDRESS
BY H. D. G. GROENEVELD AT THE SOCIAL SUPPER OF OCTOBER 29TH, 1933.
0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets, and stonest them
which are sent unto thee. How often would I have gathered thy children, even as
a hen gathereth her chickens under the wing's, and ye would not! Behold,
your house is left unto you desolate. For
I say unto you: Ye shall not see Me henceforth, till ye shall say: Blessed is He
that cometh in the name of the Lord.
MATTHEW XXIII : 37-39.
Jerusalem represents the Church where the Word is, and in particular the
Church where the Writings are accepted as the Divine Doctrine or the Word, and
more singularly the Church where the Doctrine of the Church is seen as spiritual
out of celestial origin. The mentioning twice of the word Jerusalem indicates
the things of the celestial kingdom and the things of the spiritual kingdom or
the things of the good and the things of the truth of the Doctrine. From the
words , one hears the deep sorrow arising from the love for the Church, and
especially for the Church where the Doctrine of the Church is seen as spiritual
out of celestial origin, and they implore retreat and repentance. The Prophets
signify the doctrinal things of the Word, and being sent indicates the human
things in which the doctrinal things are present and by which they come to the
outside. To kill has reference to the will, and to stone to the understanding.
Thou that killest the Prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, thus
signifies that the Church,
where the Doctrine of the Church is seen as spiritual out of celestial origin,
destroys with the will and combats with the understanding the doctrinal things
of the Word which in the human things come to the outside and which thereby are
clearly shown. 110 It
is the
evil of
the will
that deprives
the essential
or the internal of the doctrinal things of life, and it is the falsity of
the understanding that with the hardness of natural reasoning directs itself
against the external or the body of the doctrinal things.
Man has two faculties which are the Lord's with him, namely the faculty
of freedom or that of the will and the faculty of rationality or that of the
understanding. By these, man has life as if from himself. Since man with regard
to the human things is born into evil, he therefore in the natural has an evil
will. Evil charms him, and in it he feels his freedom. Every infringement upon
his will is 111
MATTHEW XXIII : 37-39
of
the will then uses the scientifics acquired by the understanding as means to
combat in the natural the essential things of life. Thus they have the
appearance of truths, but since the essential for conjunction is lacking, they
are as lifeless things. These are the stones by which the body of the doctrinal
things has now been wounded to the quick.
By receiving with the understanding the truths of the Word and of the
Doctrine of the Church, man is indeed willing to be in conjunction with the body
of the Church, but he desires no conjunction of the body of the Church with him.
As long as the will is not on the way of regeneration, man suffers no
interference with the affairs of his will, since he desires no interference with
his freedom in the human things, bound as he is to the lusts of the evil of his
will, while it is just the will that is on the way of regeneration that desires
the conjunction of the body of the Church with him, in order that they be one in
the Divine Human of the Lord. The evil will does not desire to breathe with the
heart of the Church and therefore does not seek charity in the spiritual things
but in the natural things. It does desire conjunction with the Divine things but
not with the human things from the Lord, as a consequence of which it does
desire the Doctrine but not the life, while yet the Doctrine is the Lord's, who
is Life itself, and has only life for end. The man who desires no conjunction of
the body of the Church with the human things, does not accept the cleansing of
the human things and therefore not regeneration. He does acknowledge the Father
but not the Son and consequently not the Lord as the Creator of Heaven and
earth. Innumerable are the excuses when the conjunction of the body of the
Church with the human things is at issue. All the excuses find their origin in
the love of self and the love of the world, that is in the affections and
thoughts of the man in the human things. It is the natural body which alone is
of essential significance to him and not the spiritual body. All things of the
natural body, however, should be directed to and made subservient to the things
of the spiritual body. Here lies the strife of life for man and not in the
things of the natural body, while it is just there that the fight is carried on
and considered of essential importance. Not to acknowledge the possibility of
deliverance of the
112
H. D. G. GROENEVELD human
things is not to acknowledge the Glorification of the Lord and therefore not to
acknowledge that the Son is one with the Father.
For the conjunction with the body of the Church and thus with the Divine
'Human of the Lord, no excuse can apply on the strength of things of the natural
body, whatever those things may be. It is thus not of essential importance
whether one takes up the truths of the Word and of the Doctrine of the Church,
if one does not have 'for an end the conjunction with the body of the Church and
thus with the Divine Human of the Lord. In the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel
by Luke the excuses, and indeed the three degrees thereof, are described. We
read in verses 15 to 20 as follows: "And when one of them that sat with Him heard these things, he
said unto Him: Blessed is he that eateth bread in the Kingdom of God. Then said
He unto him; A certain man made a great supper, and bade many; and sent his
servant at supper time to say unto them that were bidden: Come, for all things
are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first
said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it;
I pray thee, have me excused. And another said: I have bought five yoke of oxen,
and I go to prove them; I pray thee have me excused. And another said: I have
married a wife, and therefore I cannot come". The
15th verse describes to us the man who takes up the truths of the Word and of
the Doctrine of the Church and rejoices in them because they give him the food
of the real things of life and thus of the Divine Human of the Lord. That this,
however, is not sufficient, appears from the 16th verse, where the invitation is
spoken of to partake of a great supper, by which is indicated the conjunction of
the body of the Church or the Divine Human of the Lord with the human things.
That it is just the conjunction with the human things that is at issue appears
also from the servant being sent.
The first excuse is: "I have bought a piece of ground, and I must
needs go and see it". To buy a piece of ground signifies with the
understanding to come into the possession of a Doctrine out of the Word in the
natural. To go and see signifies to remove one's self and to further 113
MATTHEW XXIII : 37-39 investigate
with the understanding. The first excuse is thus expressed by the man who with
his understanding has come into the possession of a Doctrine out of the Word in
the natural and removes himself from the body of the Church, in order to
investigate that Doctrine with his thinking only. He will only pass on to the
shunning of evil and the application of the truths in his life, if he has
certainty and confirmation of the truths of the Doctrine. Since thus the
essential is lacking there is no will for the conjunction of the human things
with the body of the Church. The excuse in its essence comes from the man who
sees life only in the entering of the thinking into the problems of life. The
understanding and not the will is regarded as the essential of man. The shunning
of evil as sin against the Lord and thus the purification of the human things is
not seen as of direct importance, since the elevation and thus the salvation of
the human
The second excuse is :"l have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to
prove them". An ox signifies the natural good and five yoke of oxen
signifies few goods and truths of the natural good. To prove means, if possible,
to apply them to life. The second excuse is therefore uttered by the man who
with his understanding has come into the possession of few goods and truths of
natural good and 114
H. D. G. GROENEVELD
The third excuse is: "I have married a wife". A wife signifies
love in the most exterior or the sensual things, in this instance the love of
self and the love for the world. To be married signifies to be conjoined. The
third, excuse therefore is uttered by the man who is conjoined with the love of
self and the love of the world in the most exterior or the sensual things, thus
by the man with whom the evil of the will is active. Here the will alone comes
to the fore, for which reason also the reply follows that he cannot come.
According to the natural signification of the words many have felt in life the
bond where the wife is the ruling one in the conjunction, but an unfolding in
the spiritual sense would show every one how he is riveted to the evil of his
will and that by that evil he is in conjunction with his deepest hells. The evil
of the will is always conjoined with the most exterior or the sensual things. It
there shows itself in an innocence, gentleness, and beauty, with so much
cunningness and craftiness that on the outside it has the appearance of being
innocence, gentleness, and beauty itself. It brings such a charm that man cannot
think otherwise but that therein lies the actual life. In these things is the
power and thus the might of the will. Man becomes powerless and cannot maintain
himself against this song of the sirens, unless he clings to the principles,
that for him are irrefutable, of truth out of the Word and the Doctrine of the
Church, or above it hears the song of the Angels concerning the conjunction of
truth and good in the Divine Human of the Lord, or the truly conjugial love.
from these things also the charity of man springs forth. The not-favoring of
these things is seen as a lack of a feeling for the needs of the neighbor. All
charity is directed towards the most exterior or the sensual things, because it
can only express itself in these, and also considers only these things as of
essential importance. In this way man clothes himself with an appearance of
charity, since the evil of the will and thus the love of self is present
therein. This love oppresses and encompasses the neighbor, and thus deprives him
of his freedom. All affections and thoughts of man must be directed to his
conjunction with the body of the Church or the Divine Human of the Lord. The
charity proceeding from the heart of the Church views only the actual human
things from the Lord. Man there- 115
MATTHEW XXIII: 37-39 fore
should get loose from his conjunction with the most exterior or the sensual
things. He must not, however, despise the sensual things, for the Lord has given
these things to man to possess them as from himself, and therein to have a life
of joy and blessedness into the eternal. The joy and blessedness therefore does
not consist in the possession of the sensual things in themselves, but in the
use or soul thereof, that is in the Divine Human of the Lord. The evil of the
will is bound fast to all things of the life of man in the natural world. The
words "I have married
"How often would I have gathered thy children", signifies that
in the truths
which have been given to the
Church where the Doctrine of the Church is seen as spiritual out of celestial
origin, the Lord was always present with the effort of gathering the human
things into the body of the Church. "Even as a hen gathereth her chickens
under the wings", signifies that there was the effort of the Lord, because
in the essential or internal of the doctrinal things in the natural, the warmth
or love is present to gather the human things under the power and thus the
protection of truth in the external or the body of the doctrinal things.
"And ye would not", signifies that there 116 REVEREND THEODORE PITCAIRN
body
of the Church is to be possible and thus with the -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JACOB AND RACHEL A
SERMON BY THE REVEREND THEODORE PITCAIRN. * And
Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept.
GEN. XXIX : II.
The signification of Jacob kissing Rachel, and his weeping, is given in
the ARCANA COELESTIA as follows:
"3800. And Jacob kissed Rachel; that this signifies love towards
interior truths, is evident from the signification of kissing as being unition
and conjunction from affection, consequently love, because regarded in itself
love is unition and conjunction from affection; and from the representation of Rachel, as being the affection
of interior truth. Hence it is evident that by Jacob kissing Rachel, is
signified love towards interior truths.
"3801. And he lifted up his voice and wept; that this signifies the
ardor of love, is evident from the signification of lifting up the 7'01Ce and
weeping, as being the ardor of love; for weeping is of sorrow, and also of love,
and is the highest degree of each of them".
There is nothing more important to the man of the Church than to know
what is meant by the affection of interior truth and to know how to pursue it.
Jacob, we read, labored twice seven years to win Rachel, and it seemed but a few
days for the love he bore her. If we are to become a spiritual Church, the New
Jerusalem, in fact as well as in name, we must serve with ardor twice seven
years to win the affection of interior truth. If we do not win this affection of
truth, We cannot win spiritual or celestial good; for the reason that a man's
truth qualifies his good. This idea is expressed in the ARCANA as follows:
"Good does not become the good which is called the good of charity until
truths are implanted in it, and such as are the truths that are implanted in it,
such does the good become. For this reason the good of one person, although it 117
JACOB AND RACHEL may
appear precisely similar to that of another, yet is not the same".
Let us first consider what the affection of interior troth is not.
First it is not curiosity about interior truths. Curiosity is a quality
of the normal mind before regeneration. It may be a means of leading a man to
spiritual truth; but it must be dropped and left behind before a man can come
into the affection of truth. Just as the love of the sex is said to be like the
matrix of a precious stone in which conjugial love, like a jewel, may be formed,
so curiosity may be a matrix in which the affection of truth may grow, but the
matrix must be destroyed before the jewel can appear. The Angels are not
curious.
Neither is the affection of truth the love of understanding interior
truth. This love, like curiosity, is innate in many men. The love of
understanding is a natural love; it is something for which a man does not
necessarily have to strive. A man may love to understand truth, even to
understand interior truth for many reasons. This love may give him a certain
mental satisfaction; it may give a sense of elation to his natural conceit, or
it may come from more ulterior motives. Like curiosity, it may be instrumental
in leading man towards the affection of truth, but in itself, it is a natural
love, and does not necessarily introduce man to the spiritual affection of
truth.
The affection of interior truth, represented by Rachel, is a state of
mind in which a man is affected by interior truth, when he is moved by a feeling
of delight and love
We live in a day and age when the cold intellect and the animal passions
are worshipped. Really deep affections are apt to be despised and called
sentimental. We of the New Church are ever in danger of being affected by this
118 point
of view. If a man were to lift up his voice and weep on hearing a profound
spiritual truth, this sceptical generation could scarcely believe in his
genuineness.
In the early days of the ACADEMY, Jacob indeed rolled the stone from the
well's mouth. The well is the Word. It was the recognition of the Lord in the
Writings of the New Church that rolled the stone from the well's mouth. And
immediately after this act, Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and
wept, this is, the members of the Church were profoundly moved at the beauty of
internal truth, which they then beheld.
But what of our generation? Our fathers planted the seeds; these seeds
have grown. There is considerable interest in the Doctrines of the Church.
Discussion of its teachings are not infrequent. There is a certain willingness
and desire to work ?or the Church. But this is not all that is
We must serve the Church; we must do its work, for in serving the Church
we serve the Lord. But like Mary,
There is possibly no better illustration of the nature 119
JACOB AND RACHEL of
the affection of truth than that which we find in the Prologue of Swedenborg's
ANIMAL KINGDOM, where we read: "To rightly constituted minds, truths are
not only pleasing, but also ineffably delightful, containing in them,
"Whenever a truth shines forth, the mind exalts and rejoices".
"Above all, it behooves the mind to be pure and regard universal
ends, as the happiness of the human race and thereby the Glory of God. Truth is
then infused into our mind from Heaven, whence as from its proper fountain, it
all emanates. Plato used frequently to say, — so the philosopher relates, —
that when his soul was engaged in contemplation, he seemed to enjoy the supreme
good, and incredible delight; that he was in a manner fixed in astonishment,
acknowledging himself as part of a higher world; at length wearied, he relapsed
into Fantasy, and became sorrowful. ... Again the soul, as it were freed from
the body, ascends, and is enlightened". Swedenborg concludes: "But
this may appear like a mere fable to those who have not experienced it",
thereby implying that h6 himself had been in such a state. Swedenborg's love was
always the affection of internal truth, represented by Rachel; but like Jacob,
after seven years of service, he found himself married to Leah, the affection of
external truth. If in this state while writing the ANIMAL KINGDOM he valued the
affection of truth so highly, finding in it
But how are we to win this affection of internal truth? Truths we can
learn; truths we can teach to our children; but the affection of truth we can
neither learn nor teach. The affection of internal truth must grow in the mind..
We
Some of the hindrances Swedenborg mentions in the Prologue of the ANIMAL
KINGDOM. To quote: "The way to the principles of truth involves an innate
love of truth, an eager desire of exploring it, a delight in finding it; also
the ability to recall the mind from the senses, from the lusts of the body, the
enticements of the world and 120
REVEREND THEODORE PITCAIRN its
cares, all which are distracting forces, and of keeping it on its own higher
sphere".
Every man has a certain amount of what we might call psychic energy, or
energy of the soul. If this energy is applied in one direction it detracts from
the energy that can be applied in another direction. As this energy is applied,
so is the mind formed. The scientist who applies all his energy to acquiring
facts, loses the power to see truth; the man who applies all his mental energies
to achieving success, loses the ability to be affected by truth. With nearly all
men their mental energy is divided into various channels. If a man is to become
spiritual, a reasonable amount of life force must be used for meditating on
spiritual things; if a man is not willing to give a part of his very life for
this purpose, there is no hope of his acquiring the affection of spiritual
truth.
Success in modern life requires mental energy; preparation for life in
the world requires mental activity. The great danger is that we will use up this
vital stream in the things of this world; that we will not save sufficient for
quiet meditation to enable the spiritual mind to grow; and that 'in our school
system we will over develop the scientific and practical mind so that the
spiritual mind becomes dwarfed. But some may ask, did not Swedenborg have an
enormous amount of scientific learning; did he not know nearly all the facts of
his time? True, but this was part of Swedenborg's work; besides which, with
Swedenborg, facts were merely a means to a spiritual end. The search for the
soul, the knowledge and the praise of God were the ever active motives in his
mind. Nothing which did not reveal some spiritual law interested him. He seemed
to scarcely turn his face a moment from beholding God. His eyes were continually
on God as the soul and life of His creation. If he beheld the human body with
his earthly
Swedenborg's whole life was centered upon acquiring the affection of
internal truth. When therefore this truth was revealed to him, he rejoiced with
exceeding great joy.
On the other hand, we are apt to pursue unorganized dead knowledge with
such energy that the affection of internal truth has no chance to grow; added to
which, our 121
JACOB AND RACHEL life
in society is want to grow so complicated that internal thought becomes as a
small voice that is drowned in the noises of the day.
We all have a love for the Church, implanted in many of ns from
childhood, but if we give expression to this love, we are, may be, too apt to
give it all in the way that we are accustomed to live in the world, namely
externally, forgetting the better part of Mary who sat at the feet of the Lord.
When we go to classes or attend Church, our minds are often distracted
from the main purpose by pondering over problems, by reasoning in ourselves
about this and that, instead of giving all our attention to beholding the Divine
Truth in its beauty, in marvelling at the comeliness of Rachel.
Reasoning about spiritual truth, and discussion, has its place, but if it
is over-indulged, it destroys the perception of truth, and finally the affection
of internal truth. Reason is a God-given means of learning truth, but if we
reason too much, if we do not see the truth, and seeing love it, but continue
ever to reason about it, then does reason become a destroying fire. If we
over-emphasize reason so that we wish to know the reason of everything instead
of delighting in what God has revealed in the nature of His creation,
To train youths in external loyalty to the Church is not so difficult as
might be imagined. To impress upon them the importance of keeping the Ten
Commandments in their external form can be accomplished in most cases, but to
aid the growth in them of the internal affection of truth which gives spiritual
life to the keeping of the Commandments, is indeed a difficult task, but still
an all-important one. Without this affection a man is relatively dead, even
though he may be admitted to the lower regions of Heaven after death. Spiritual
life must characterize the New Church, and spiritual life is a manifestation of
the affection of internal truth. If we have this affection. we are spiritually
living. All good must have this affection as its foundation. Preparation for the
implantation of this affection is therefore of paramount importance, and it is
the duty of every minister and teacher to reflect and meditate on what will best
conduce to this end. 122 The
ACADEMY recognized from the beginning that spiritual truth and good are the
neighbor, and that charity in its essence looks towards these. This was their
first love. Let us ever heed the warning of the
Church of Ephesus, that we lose not our first love. And if we do, that we
repent and do the first works, lest He that holdeth the seven stars in His right
hand, come quickly, and remove our candlestick out of its place. Amen.
123 DE
HEMELSCHE LEER EXTRACT
FORM THE ISSUE FOR JAN.-MARCH1934. THE
ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETINGS 1933
THE BISHOP'S ADDRESS
A REPLY BY THE REV. ERNST PFEIFFER. The
Word of the Third Testament contains much teaching on the difference between the
Word and the Doctrine of truth existing in the Church out of the Word. The
essence of the .new doctrinal position which has been advanced in DE HEMELSCHE
LEER, is that that teaching applies also to the Third Testament itself. It is
therefore a fundamental principle of the new position that the Word itself
teaches the reality and the importance of that difference; and it has been
pointed out from the beginning that a concept which cannot be confirmed by the
very letter of the Word cannot be maintained. So the issue for July 1930 of DE
HEMELSCHE LEER contains the following statement: "The Doctrine of the
Church in order to establish its authority, will never refer to its own literal
sense, but always exclusively to the literal sense of the Word itself".
First Fascicle, p. 121, and in order to show that this principle has governed
our thought even at the time of the first appearance of DE HEMELSCHE LEER, I
wish to quote the following passage from a letter of April 18th 1930 from the
present writer to the Bishop: "May I take this opportunity to emphasize
that it is the very basis of our thought that the letter of the Word is the one
only source and foundation of all truth, and that a concept which cannot
manifestly be shown to have its origin in the letter of the Word and which
cannot be confirmed by the letter of the Word, must be rejected as
untenable".
To one who has come to see that the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg are
the Third Testament of the Word of the Lord, the Word in a new letter, the
Divine Truth revealed in lasts for the rational mind, and who at the same time
124
THE BISHOP'S ADDRESS realizes
the difference between the Word and the Doctrine of truth existing in the Church
out of the Word, these Writings in fact begin to teach and to confirm those
theses in every singular statement. It then becomes plain that the three
discrete degrees of truth into which man can come by the opening of the three
degrees of the mind, are the natural rational, the spiritual rational, and the
celestial rational; that these three degrees of truth in the letter of the Latin
Word are all together, according to the teaching "that the celestial and
the spiritual senses of the Word are simultaneously in the natural sense of
it", S.S. 38, since "in the outermost or last things all interior or
higher things are simultaneously", D.P. 230; but that the letter to man
yields just that degree of truth which belongs to the degree of the mind which
by regeneration with him has been opened. This is meant by the teaching that the
Doctrine must be drawn out of the letter; for the Doctrine is the genuine truth
existing in the Church, and there are three discrete degrees of genuine truth
which can be drawn out of the letter, where all degrees are together in lasts.
In DE HEMELSCHE LEER hundreds of passages have been quoted to confirm the truth
of the necessity of applying those laws to the Third Testament. All these
confirmatory quotations, however, have made no impression upon those who are
opposed to the new position. But this is not surprising if one is beforehand
confirmed in the negative, for it is a law that a truth cannot be seen if a
negative attitude is taken. On the other hand to one who is affirmative the
testimony of the Latin Word to the truth of this
view becomes overwhelming practically
in every single statement.
May I be allowed to illustrate this with the experience of a
fellow-minister who has accepted the position. In a letter of July 25th 1933 to
the Rev. Theodore Pitcairn the Rev. Elmo C. Acton says: "The truth of the
position as presented in DE HEMELSCHE LEER becomes clearer and clearer every day, and is
seen confirmed on every page of the Writings". The same writer in a letter
to the Rev. Albert Bjorck says: "The Word is the final court of appeal in
discovering the truth of any doctrine drawn by the Church, but when the Doctrine
in this way has been seen to be true, then the Word in the letter must be read
in the 125
A REPLY BY THE REVEREND ERNST PFEIFFER light
of the Doctrine, and unless it is so read the Word is a closed book, and the
spiritual sense for ever remains hidden and buried in the letter. . . . The
authority always rests in the letter". And another minister, the Rev.
Hendrik W. Boef, in a letter of July 12th 1933 writes: "I am convinced now
of the truth of the theses in DE HEMELSCHE LEER. To me they are simply the
teachings of the Writings. I have been astonished at the abundance of
For still further confirmation that this is the experience of all those
who are not obscured by misunderstanding but who really have grasped the essence
of the issue, may I be allowed to quote here also the testimony of the Reverend
Albert Bjorck. His ultimate experience ensuing from the correspondence between
him and us, which was published in the Fourth Fascicle, is already known. He
then, under the date of October 29th 1932, wrote: "But I can also claim
that I have made efforts to understand your position, and . -. with the
understanding has also come the conviction that your position is in agreement
with the teaching of the Third Testament. This is of course what matters",
Fourth Fascicle, p. 141. And in a letter of March 5th 1933, Mr. Bjorck writes:
"I am more than ever convinced of the truth of your position, and see
everything said in the Latin Testament in a new light streaming out from the
position you hold". The Reverend Theodore Pitcairn, in
While on the one hand we must maintain that the actual position of DE
HEMELSCHE LEER as to all its essential concepts is drawn out of and confirmed by
the very letter of the Latin Word, on the other hand we readily admit that the
position which has been ascribed to DE HEMELSCHE LEER in the Bishop's address
certainly could not have been so drawn and confirmed. When we, including the
Reverend Theodore Pitcairn and the other ministers 126 who
have understood the principles involved, were listening to the Bishop's
presentation, we stood aghast at what
1. The Writings of
Emanuel Swedenborg are the Third Testament of the Word of the Lord. The DOCTRINE
OF
2. The Latin Word
without Doctrine is as a candlestick without light, and those who read the Latin
Word without Doctrine, or who do not acquire for themselves a Doctrine from the
Latin Word, are in darkness as to all truth, cf. S.S. 50—61.
3. The genuine
Doctrine of the Church is spiritual out of celestial origin, but not out of
rational origin. The Lord is that Doctrine itself, cf.
A.C. 2496, 2497, 2510, 2516, 2533, 2859; A.E. 19.
These theses present the true aspect of our faith, but they have found no
consideration in the Bishop's address, the essence of which is a repetition of
the arguments which in the history of the New Church very justly have been
brought forward against the absurdities of celestialism. That the Bishop should
not have seen the immense difference, namely that celestialism is a result of
the negation of the Word, while the above quoted theses are in fullness drawn
out of and confirmed by the very letter of the Word, is difficult for us to
understand. The end of celestialism is that the proprium may rule, but the end
of these theses is that the Word outside of man may also become the Word within
man, in order that, the proprium being removed by regeneration, the Lord may
rule.
After an introduction in which the Bishop expresses the idea that a
Church which has the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg should not have a stated
creed, and that therefore the GENERAL CHURCH has never authorized a formal
statement of its belief, to which are added some remarks 127
A REPLY BY THE REVEREND ERNST PFEIFFER on
the concept of the Writings of Swedenborg as the Word, as it existed in the
ACADEMY and in the GENERAL CHURCH, the Bishop says: "A new doctrine has
developed within the borders of the General Church which calls itself the
'Doctrine of the Church' ", p. 268. A little further on, in the same page,
the Bishop says: "As it is given, the New Doctrine so far is purely
spiritual. It has come down from heaven", etc. And in a similar style the
address is full of remarks, the tendency of which is to bring the thought
concerning the teaching on the essence of the Doctrine drawn by the Church out
of its Word, which has been brought forward in DE HEMELSCHE LEER in an abstract
The Bishop on p. 268 says: "This Doctrine teaches that the Writings,
because of their accommodation to worldly ideas and language, are heavily
sealed, ... and that, because of this sealing or veiling, the Writings must
themselves be opened by means of a correspondential resolution of their direct
meaning". This presentation does not even touch the reasons for our belief
in the application of the science of correspondences to the Latin Word, reasons
which have been fully developed and demonstrated m DE HEMELSCHE LEER, and which
indeed have been the main subject of my address on the first day of the Council
meetings. These reasons are that in the letter of the Third 128 Testament
all discrete degrees of the rational, the celestial rational, the spiritual
rational, and the natural rational,
The Bishop adds: "And this by and with the indispensable aid of the
New Doctrine, which is now for the first time born into the church". Our
reference to the teaching of the Word itself, namely, that the Word without
Doctrine is not understood, and that there are three means to
The expression that "the Doctrine has been born with us", which
occurs in two or three places in DE HEMELSCHE LEER, and which apparently has so
greatly aroused the indignation of our opponents, has entirely been
misunderstood. This expression with us came into use as a result of our
experience of one or two years, when the concept that the Doctrine concerning
the Sacred Scripture should be applied to the three Testaments alike, which was
first conceived as a new seed of truth, still deeply hidden and difficult to
grasp, had at last taken such visible and tangible form, being seen confirmed on
every page of the Word, that then it could be said to have been born. That there
is such a difference between a concept first being conceived and later being
born, can be plain from the teaching of the Word. When it is born it has become
self evident and indispensable in use, with those with whom it is born.
It seems that the Bishop has developed his argument exclusively under the
impression which he has received from the statement which has indeed been made
in DE HEMELSCHE LEER, namely, that unless this new truth be seen of the
necessity of applying the Doctrine concerning the Sacred Scripture fully to the
Third Testament, the 129
A REPLY BY THE REVEREND ERNST PFEIFFER Church
would remain only in the natural sense of that Testament. The fact that this new
concept was first conceived and born with us, seems to have so entirely engaged
his thoughts, that he could not see the essential thing involved, namely that
every man must make his Doctrine for himself. So, it seems to us, the Bishop has
come to the unjust charge that we claim that we now have made the Doctrine for
all, a Doctrine which everybody simply has to accept, while in truth our
position is just the opposite, namely that in so far as a man accepts a Doctrine
made not by himself but by anyone else, he cannot enter into the interiors of
the Word.
But as to the fact that it has indeed been said in DE HEMELSCHE LEER,
that unless this new truth of the necessity of applying the Doctrine concerning
the Sacred Scripture to the Third Testament be seen, the Church cannot see the
interior senses of that Testament, this either is a Divine truth or it is not.
The only thing which matters therefore would have been to prove that it is not
true. But not even an attempt has been made to disprove the reasons which have
been given, First Fascicle pp. 38—43, 82—95, 127—131; Third Fascicle, pp.
86—108. Is the view that if the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg are the Word,
their true essence can only be seen in the light of what has been revealed about
the essence of the Word, in itself so absurd that it does not even need
disproving? What is gained by raising the question of human superiority? If it
is a Divine truth, it is not our truth but the Lord's.
The Bishop adds: "Once born, this 'Doctrine', we are told, will live
and grow throughout the unending ages". If the difference is seen between
the Word, which is infinite, and the Doctrine existing in the Church out of that
Word, it is self-evident that the New Church will increasingly draw its genuine
Doctrine out of the Third Testament. The statement of this simple truth which
has been advanced in DE HEMELSCHE LEER in a purely abstract way, cf. Second
Fascicle, p. 152, is here turned into a meaning which is entirely foreign to our
thought and whereby its real contents remain unseen.
The Bishop adds: "But/being in itself purely spiritual and Divine,
it must, even like the Writings, be expressed in natural ideas and language, in
order that it may be of 130 service
to the church. This, of necessity, forces upon the New Doctrine a heavy veiling
which, it is indicated, will not be lifted until the advent of a promised
Celestial Doctrine, which will sooner or later be on the way, if it be not now
at hand". The subject is the three discrete degrees of truth, the natural
rational, the spiritual rational, and the celestial rational. That the spiritual
Doctrine of the Church, which is the spiritual rational, cannot be seen in its
own proper form by the natural rational man, and that the celestial Doctrine of
the Church, which is the celestial rational, cannot be seen in its own proper
form by the spiritual man and the natural man, but only in a corresponding
spiritual rational or natural rational form, again is a simple and self-evident
truth, which can only be denied by one who denies the three discrete degrees of
truth. It is evident that if the spiritual Doctrine in its own
Further on, page 268, the Bishop ascribes to us the assertion that the
belief in the GENERAL CHURCH on the subject of the Writings being the Word
"was defensively made, and as such it was a self-made doctrine".
Certainly we do not doubt for one moment that it is from mis- 131
A REPLY BY THE REVEREND ERNST PFEIFFER understanding
that the Bishop has been induced to such
132
THE BISHOP'S ADDRESS Revelation
of Truth, or the Word, cannot be given unless it be given in lasts, and
of the law that there are three discrete degrees of the rational
accessible to man, two views therefore which are in evident opposition to the
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. These two
fallacies are later ideas, and the fact that they have become especially
prevalent at the present time, is the only reason why we have pointed to them.
On the other hand it certainly cannot be said that the original faith of the
ACADEMY and the GENERAL CHURCH in the
Writings was
in opposition to the
DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE; we have never entertained such
a thought and so too we have never entertained the thought that that faith was
based upon or the result of a self-made doctrine. From this it follows that the
words of the Bishop occurring in the same place, namely that "the belief in
the General Church on this subject was defensively made", involve the same
misunderstanding. What we consider the motive which led to the faith of the
GENERAL CHURCH may be seen on p. 15 of the Fourth Fascicle, namely the
perseverance in the combat against the proprium, and the affection of truth,
which has led to
What confusion must arise from such a misunderstanding is illustrated by
the further words which the Bishop adds: "Yet to this one 'self-made'
doctrine the General Church owes 'all its prosperity up to the present time',
and all its 'internal life' ". The statement of DE HEMELSCHE LEER is that
the Church owes its prosperity The
same confusion is manifest in the words which follow a little further on, p.
269: "None the less, as
indicated, this 'self-made' doctrine was sufficiently rational in form to
receive the New Doctrine". The thought which is here under consideration is
that of the progress from the general perception that the Writings of Swedenborg
are 133
A REPLY BY THE REVEREND ERNST PFEIFFER the
Word to the clear realization in particulars that the DOCTRINE OF THE NEW
JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE is the only possible Doctrine
concerning the Third Testament. Even by those who are unable to see this
thought, it should be admitted as a most important possibility,
and worthy
of serious
consideration. That those
fallacies of the natural mind, namely that the letter of the Writings of
Swedenborg is the spiritual sense itself, and that the rational does not admit
of discrete degrees and thus of correspondences, are not rational at all, and
could therefore, if confirmed, never receive a truly rational vision of the
essence of the Latin Word, is plain.
The same confusion occurs again at the bottom of that
That, however, the faith of the ACADEMY and of the GENERAL CHURCH was the
result rather of a genuine general perception that the Writings of Emanuel
Swedenborg are the Word, than of a realization of the rational principles
involved, could not have been proven in a more conclusive way than has been
done by the quotation from the WORDS FOR THE NEW CHURCH in the
introduction to the Bishop's address. All the details of that quotation plainly
show this. We note especially the statement: "Nor 134 teaching
of the Word; for in the measure one restricts the holiness of the letter of the
Writings of Emannel Swedenborg, one also restricts their Divinity. The words
"that they were not an enlargement of the volume of parables, types and
correspondences", p. 266, clearly indicate that it was not seen that
essential correspondences are between the discrete degrees of truth, and in the
rational Third Testament, therefore, between the natural rational, the spiritual
rational, and the celestial rational.
It is a universal law that a truth must come to a Church first as a
general celestial perception, and that only in the 135
A REPLY BY THE REVEREND ERNST PFEIFFER Word
must pass through this development. These laws are the orderly means for the
Church, offered by the Word itself, of the understanding of which it necessarily
must avail itself, to gain a comprehension of the past and of the possibilities
of the future.
May I be allowed here to suggest that the fact of the faith of the
ACADEMY having been rather a general celestial perception than a rationally
developed concept, also explains the disinclination of the Church towards a
stated creed. Not the fact that they made creeds in the first Christian church 136 cation
of this law. But there are three discrete degrees of the rational, and even the
lowest degree, which is that of the natural rational, with man is not genuine
unless it is both out of the Word and from the Holy Spirit. That which
distinguishes and divides the different bodies in the New Church, is not the
Writings of Swedenborg, but the differing understandings of those Writings, or
the differing doctrines which have been developed, that is, the differing
creeds. Whether a Church is willing or ready to state it "in a fixed
formula" or not, it cannot help having a creed. If-it had no creed, it
would have no faith, and it would be no Church. That the Church should have a
creed and that it should also state and teach it, is not in disagreement with
the teaching "that the government and dominion over the Church is a
predicate of the Word alone", and that the Church should "not confide
in any council, but trust in the Word of the Lord, which is above all
councils", p. 265, for it is not
the Word which
makes the
Church but
the understanding of the Word. It is true indeed that the Word alone
should govern the Church, but the Word cannot possibly do this except from the
Holy Spirit. Outside of the Holy Spirit the understanding of the Word is false.
If the Church is governed by an understanding of the Word which is not from the
Holy Spirit, an understanding which in reality is not the Lord's, while it is
given the Church to feel it and to act from it as if it were its own — an
understanding therefore which is not Divine — it is not governed by the Word
but by the proprium of man. It is a vain claim of the Church to say that the
Writings of Swedenborg themselves as the Divinely given Word are its Doctrine
and its Creed, for this would involve that the Church in itself is God Himself.
The Writings of Swedenborg indeed will more and more become the Doctrine of the
Church, but only in the measure they have Divinely been received. While giving
the understanding such a great power, the Word itself has provided a sufficient
safeguard that the Church should not, fall a prey to the proprium of man. For we
are taught that the Doctrine of the Church must be confirmed by the letter of
the Word, and specifically: "That the Doctrine of the Church, unless
collected and confirmed out of the sense of the letter of the Word, has no
power, ... but the Doctrine out of the sense of the letter, and together with 137
A REPLY BY THE REVEREND ERNST PFEIFFER it",
ON THE
SACRED SCRIPTURE
FROM EXPERIENCE, XVIII.
While, therefore, the New Church also will be bound to make and to continually
develop its Creed and to state it, it
must at the same time have the
basis for its Creed in the letter
of the Latin Word, and it must not expect any one to accept it unless it is
plainly seen to be confirmed in the very letter. And so we believe that the
thought of the Writings being the Word may very justly be called
The Bishop continues: "We see, then, that this 'Doctrine',
138 THE BISHOP'S ADDRESS who
believe and adore the Word, but only its external which is the sense of the
letter, and do not penetrate more interiorly, as do those who have been
enlightened, and who make for themselves Doctrine oat of the Word". It
certainly is greatly to be regretted that the Bishop should present these new
principles of truth, which are taken out of the Word itself, and which are
concerned with the regeneration and enlightenment of every individual member of
the Church, as if they were a merely human claim. There is nothing unusual or
astonishing in the idea that the man of the
New Church is commissioned
to extract,
by the orderly means given, the internal sense from the Old and the New
Testaments; and if it is seen that the Third Testament contains the three
discrete degrees of the rational, it is not any more unusual or astonishing that
the man of the New Church is also commissioned to do the same with regard to the
Third Testament. It is a misinterpretation to make it appear as if the
realization of this possibility and necessity were an exceptional and amazing
claim, amounting to the giving of a new revelation comparable with the giving of
a new Word. This again is the very opposite of what we actually have brought
forward. If the principles involved are understood, it will be plain that the
endeavor to enter into the interior degrees of the Third Testament is an orderly
thing, laid upon every member of the Church by the Lord Himself as a vital task.
The Bishop adds: "And, in so doing, repeat the mode employed by the
Writings in drawing the internal sense out of the former Testaments". It
has been said in DE HEMELSCHE LEER that "the Word of the Latin Testament is
an infinite unfolding of truth, but the Doctrine is only 139
A REPLY BY THE REVEREND ERNST PFEIFFER mode
employed by the Writings" is an infinite mode which
The Bishop continues: "In this work the New Doctrine is confronted
with conditions in the letter of the Writings not unlike those which the
Writings met in interpreting the former Scriptures". Here again it can be
clear that DE HEMELSCHE LEER has not been concerned with "conditions with
which 'the New Doctrine' is confronted", but its concern was to understand
and point out in the light of the teaching given in the Latin Word the
conditions with which every member of the Church is confronted, who wishes to
enter into the discrete degrees of truth in that Word. — It is the position of
DE HEMELSCHE LEER that it is contrary to the rational understanding to speak of
"the Writings interpreting the former Scriptures"; this cannot be the
language of those who see that the Writings of Swedenborg are a new Word, the
revelation of the Rational of the Divine Human. To call this revelation, which
followed the revelation of the Natural of the Divine Human given in the New
Testament, an interpretation, must appear inappropriate to any one who
understands the principles involved. This is rather the language of those who
deny that the Writings are a new Word, but consider them to be a commentary on
the Word. Similarly it is not according to reason to call an interpretation, the
Doctrines of the interior discrete degrees of truth contained in the Third
Testament, into which every member of the Church should endeavor to enter. That
the term "interpretative doctrine" used for the Doctrine of the
Church, as well as the term 'derivative doctrine", is a misnomer, has been
pointed out in DE HEMELSCHE LEER, fifth Fascicle, p. 17. The
Bishop adds: "That is, there are teachings in the direct sense of the
Writings which confirm the New Doctrine, and those which do not. Those which
directly confirm are said to be 'open', and those which do not must be resolved
by a correspondential interpretation to bring out their
inner concordance with
the teaching of the
New
140 Doctrine.
Note here that correspondences always yield to the doctrine which guides
them". We are at a loss to explain how the Bishop could come to this
amazing statement. The subject is the teaching of the Latin Word that the
Doctrine must be drawn out of the letter and confirmed by it. In the first place
it must here be said again that the subject discussed in DE HEMELSCHE LEER is
not "the New Doctrine" but the Doctrine which every man must himself
draw out of the letter. In the sense of the letter all the discrete degrees of
truth are contained together as in lasts. To the celestial man all the direct
teachings of the letter are open even as to their celestial contents, and to the
spiritual man all the direct teachings of the letter are open as to their
spiritual contents. But to the natural man all the direct teachings of the
letter are closed as to their spiritual and celestial contents. The process of
the unfolding of the discrete 'degrees of truth in the letter
of the Latin
Word has
been described
in DE HEMELSCHE LEER in many
details. It is too complex to be repeated here. But it is evident that nothing
of what has been said about this subject has been understood by our opponents.
To draw Doctrine out of the letter is the same thing as to open the letter as to
the discrete degrees of truth; if this is done according to order, that is. if
man in making the Doctrine does not consult his own rational but follows the
genuine rational which is spiritual out of celestial origin, whereby the man
comes into the true Spirit of the Word, it will appear that the whole letter in
its direct teachings does confirm such a genuine Doctrine. The revealed order
according to which the Church 141
A REPLY BY THE REVEREND ERNST PFEIFFER again
is the exact opposite of our position. Never has it been in. our thought and
never has it been said that teachings in the direct sense of the Writings which
do not confirm ths Doctrine "must be resolved by a correspondential
interpretation to bring out their inner concordance with its teaching". If
the teaching of the Latin Word on the order of the making of Doctrine out of the
Word is understood, it can be seen that we have never given an occasion for the
warning "that correspondences always yield to the doctrine which guides
them". It is just to point out this danger that DE HEMELSCHE LEER has
brought forward the teaching out of the Word that also the Latin Word without
genuine Doctrine is not understood, and that those who do not from the Holy
Spirit for themselves make Doctrine, remain in darkness as to all truth
contained in that Word.
The Bishop continues: "We observe further that since the New
Doctrine is in itself of Divine origin, Essence, and Authority, it (to quote) is
'the only and indispensable basis for imparting the Holy Spirit, and that
without this Doctrine the Writings remain a dead letter, and the interior
degrees of the mind remain closed' (DE HEMELSCHE LEER, First Fascicle, p.
80)". The Bishop here combines an actual but only partial quotation with
his own words, whereby the meaning is utterly changed. That the Bishop must have
misunderstood the position of DE HEMELSCHE LEER here becomes fully evident. The
full quotation begins with the words: "The Doctrine of the Church is the
only and indispensable basis for the imparting of the Holy Spirit", etc;
the Bishop, however, uses the words: "The New Doctrine is 'the only and
indispensable basis for imparting
the Holy
Spirit'," etc; in
other words the Bishop ascribes to us the claim that our doctrinal
position is the only and indispensable basis for imparting the Holy Spirit.
Never has such a thought been in our minds, and never has it been expressed. It
has been brought forth in DE HEMELSCHE LEER out of the Latin Word, that just as
with the Lord the Holy Spirit proceeds from the
Divine Rational — the Holy
Spirit according to LUKE I : 35 having existed before there was a Natural
Human of the Lord — so with man the essential dwelling place of the Holy
Spirit is the interior or celestial rational,
142 while
the lower degrees of the rational, being in the natural, namely the spiritual
rational and the natural rational, receive only an unconscious influx of the
Holy Spirit. This is the reason why only a celestial man is in the continuous
realization of the presence of the Lord, and therefore in the essential love of
the Lord. And since the genuine rational is the same as the genuine Doctrine of
the Church, namely, the interior or celestial rational the same as the celestial
Doctrine, the exterior or spiritual rational the 143
A REPLY BY THE REVEREND ERNST PFEIFFER
rational
are not formed, the interior degrees of the mind remain closed. "That the
Word of the Lord is a dead letter, but that it is vivified from the Lord in the
reader according to the faculty of each one", is literally taught, A.C.
1776, cf. MEMORABILIA 1877: "The Word of the Lord in itself is dead, toy it
is only a letter; but in the reader it is vivified from the Lord, according to
the faculty to understand and to perceive of each one, given from the Lord; thus
it is living according to the life of the man who reads". How heavily
veiled and how deeply hidden in the Third Testament are the spiritual rational
and the celestial rational arcana which are accessible to man, may here clearly
be seen. For this Testament appears so rational, so self-explanatory, and so
living, that many at first hearing, with indignation reject the idea that also
the Latin Word "is a dead letter but that it is vivified from the Lord in
the reader according to the faculty of each one". But once the reality of
the three discrete degrees of the rational is seen, it becomes self-evident that
this teaching applies to the three Testaments alike.
The Bishop adds: "The importance of this announcement is manifest,
and to none is of more immediate concern than to the members of the General
Church, whose primitive conception of the Writings as the Word was as a mother
to the New Doctrine. The proponents of this 'Doctrine' have noted this fact in
saying (to quote), In the measure in which the Church will now acknowledge the
Divine origin, the Divine Essence, and the Divine Authority of its genuine
doctrine, acquired as from itself, it will, from its
state of
infancy be introduced into
its adult state, with its genuine rational, spiritual and celestial
things'. (DE HEMELSCHE LEER, First Fascicle, p. 80)". Although the
quotation is given in full, and its meaning can be clear, here again the
'appearance is created as if with the words "its genuine doctrine" the
doctrinal position of DE HEMELSCHE LEER were meant, while the words clearly
indicate that all genuine doctrine is meant which the Church will acquire as
from itself. This fact is sufficient to prove that the concepts involved which
have been brought forward in DE HEMELSCHE LEER out of the Word itself, have not
been understood. They have been pointed out in great detail in DE HEMELSCHE
LEER;
144
THE BISHOP'S ADDRESS we
must here confine ourselves to a few remarks. If the Word is Divine in its
natural rational sense, it is of course also Divine in its spiritual
rational sense and in its
celestial rational sense, for it is Divine throughout. That the Church in its
orderly first states, which are natural and correspond to the ages of 'infancy,
boyhood, adolescence, and early manhood, cannot but believe that the Word itself
is the Doctrine of the Church, and that the spiritual state, which is that of
its manhood, is characterized by the making of Doctrine, has been proven with a
great number of quotations from the Word.
The Bishop continues: "Here also there can be no argument, save to
say that if this be so or not depends upon the verity or non-verity of the two
prior announcements or enunciations, — first, that the General Church has been
in a purely natural state, and second, that the New Doctrine is the result of an
opening of the spiritual degree of the mind in the church, i.e., somewhere
therein". It is not feasible and it cannot be expected that we should here
repeat the many passages which have been quoted in DE HEMELSCHE LEER, to show
that the Church in its natural state
cannot but identify the Word with its Doctrine, and that the literal sense of the Word unites
man with the ultimate Heaven. It is only in its spiritual state, which
corresponds to the age of manhood, that it can consciously enter upon making as
of itself its Doctrine out of the Word. These are abstract problems of truth,
plainly taught in the very letter of the Latin Word, and as such they have been.
treated in DE HEMELSCHE LEER. Never has it been said in DE HEMELSCHE LEER
"that the GENERAL CHURCH has been in a purely natural state"; this
again is an incorrect quotation. The Bishop evidently refers to a statement on
page 9 of the First Fascicle, which reads: "The concept ... that the
Writings of Swedenborg are ... that Doctrine of the Church itself, ... has up to
the present kept the Church as a whole in a purely natural state". We did
not think at all of the GENERAL CHURCH when we wrote that passage, but of the history of the New Church
as a whole, which as every Church has to go through all the ages of a man,
involving a progress from a natural through a spiritual to a celestial state.
And since the natural state, 145
A REPLY BY THE REVEREND ERNST PFEIFFER according
to the teaching of the Word, is characterized by the fact that the Church then
takes its Word to be its Doctrine, not being aware of the difference between the
Word and the Doctrine existing in the Church out of the Word, it is an orderly
and inevitable conclusion that a Church to which such a description applies, is,
as to the basis for its thought, in a purely natural state. It should be
evident, however, that this in no way implies a personal judgment; for in every
state of a Church as a whole there may be natural men, spiritual men, and
celestial men. Nor does DE HEMELSCHE LEER contain an "announcement or
enunciation ... that the New Doctrine is the result of an opening of the
spiritual degree of the mind". DE HEMELSCHE LEER has advanced the position
that the letter of the Third Testament contains all the discrete degrees of the
rational, and that the natural man is in its natural rational sense, the
spiritual man in its spiritual
rational sense,
and the
celestial man
in its celestial
rational sense.
These interior senses
must be drawn out of the letter and confirmed by it. The interior senses
once being confirmed by the letter can be seen to be true by all who are willing
to see; for the discretely more interior rational concepts then take a
corresponding form in the discretely more exterior rational thoughts. The
exegesis of the letter as to the interior senses is a most important task laid
upon the Church by the Lord Himself. If then an endeavor is made of such an
exegesis, and that which is believed to be an interior sense is brought before
the Church, the only orderly thing for the Church to do is to go to the Word and
see whether it is true. If it is not true it will be possible to point it out;
the proof that it is not in agreement with the Word is the only orderly means
for the invalidation of a pretended interior truth; but it is in itself a
disorderly thing to raise the question of the regeneration of the exponents, for
in doing so, that which should be considered as an abstract problem of truth is
made a purely personal thing. Any thought of
person at once
brings obscurity
upon the
truths involved. It can
therefore be clear that the question
whether the position of DE HEMELSCHE LEER, including its conclusions with regard
to the historical development of the Church, is true or not, depends exclusively
upon 146 the
verity or non-verity of its fundamental thesis, of which it firmly believes that
it is the teaching of the Word itself, namely that the DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE
SACRED SCRIPTURE is the only source of light in which the essence of the Word
given to the New Church and the essence of the Doctrine drawn by the Church out
of that Word
The Bishop continues: "If these two claims are true, any
protestation will be futile. If they are not true, or if it is not of order that
doctrine should be verified on the assumption that the spiritual mind is open,
then all the charm of the close reasoning of the New Doctrine will vanish, along
with its verity. But in this question of factual truth or non-truth, the New
Doctrine is not under the necessity of proving its judgments. It rests secure
within itself. Therefore, it offers no proof of either of its two fundamental
claims, i.e., by any outward evidence, but rests content with the simple
assertion of them", pp. 270—271. Nothing could be more contrary to the
position of DE HEMELSCHE LEER than what is here ascribed to it. There can be no
other explanation for these unfounded charges than a complete misunderstanding
of what has been said. How such a misunderstanding could be possible we cannot
explain. But it is evident that nothing of the teachings on the difference
between the Word and the Doctrine existing in the Church out of the Word, which
have been brought forward out of the Word itself, has been understood. This is a
fact beyond 147
A REPLY BY THE REVEREND ERNST PFEIFFER
possibly
distinguish between a genuine Church and a deviated church, between a genuine
Heaven and an imaginary heaven. Many pages have been filled in DE HEMELSCHE LEER
with a wealth of detailed reasons, confirmed by many quotations from the Word,
to show the general line of development of the Church according to the ages of a
man,
Moreover, as stated before, the meaning of the words that the Church as a
whole has been in a purely natural state, has been misunderstood. They have been
understood to apply to the GENERAL CHURCH in a way which aroused such an
indignation that the real meaning could not possibly be seen. The bitterness and
sarcastic spirit which are so characteristic of many of the articles and
speeches made against DE HEMELSCHE LEER, are evidently due to this indignation.
The idea that the Church as a whole is in a purely natural state as long as it
identifies its Word with its Doctrine, is taken from the Word itself, and there
is here no reason for indignation, since it is according to order
148
THE BISHOP'S ADDRESS that
the Church as a whole should pass through a natural state before it can enter
into its spiritual state. Moreover this statement contains no judgment whatever
with regard to the regeneration of the individual members of the Church, since
in all states of the Church, as in all Churches, and even with the gentiles, the
individual can be regenerated even to the inmost degree.
The Bishop adds: "In this, as in what follows, the 'Doctrine' speaks
as with a Divine voice, as if from the Holy Spirit, or as the first and so far
the only authentic manifestation within the church of the promised 'illustratio
loquens' ". The teaching of the Word is that "the Word in the letter
cannot be grasped except by Doctrine out of the Word made by one who is
enlightened", A.C. 10324; and "that the genuine truth which shall be
of the Doctrine, in the sense of the letter of the Word, does not appear to
others than those who are in enlightenment from the Lord", T.C.R. 231. From
this teaching it follows that whatever truth a man sees in the letter of the
Third Testament with him must have been from enlightenment. It is impossible to
see the genuine truth in the Third Testament which shall be of the Doctrine,
without enlightenment, that is, without the presence of the Holy Spirit. Here
again many have thought that the truth in the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg is
so manifest, and that they are so self explanatory, that the above teaching does
not apply to them, but only to the Old and the New Testaments. DE HEMELSCHE LEER
does not contain one single statement to justify the charge that it claims to
present the first
The Bishop continues: "Yet the 'Doctrine', as it is delivered, comes
to us on its practical side as a method of exegesis applied to the Writings. As
such it will not, of course, open the spiritual degree of the mind of anyone.
That is reserved for the regenerate only. The method, therefore, is external,
but the truth it would reveal is internal, and belongs only to the spiritual
degree of the mind". The method described in DE HEMELSCHE LEER by which to
come to the interior senses of the Word, which are the genuine Doctrine of the
Church, is the application of the 149
A REPLY BY THE REVEREND ERNST PFEIFFER three
revealed means, namely the science of correspondence, the Doctrine of genuine
truth, and illustration from the Lord. This method can also be seen involved in
the signification of the words experience and text, of which the one refers to a
wrestling through the natural, and the other, which means weaving, to the
spiritual out of the celestial, being the result of the accomplished wrestling.
All these concepts have been drawn out of the letter of the Word and have been
confirmed by many quotations, see First Fascicle, pp. 104-117. This method,
therefore, intends to bring about the mutual conjunction between the internal
and the external, from which it follows that essentially it is an internal and
not an external method, just the opposite, therefore, of what the Bishop says.
It is just this method which is the orderly way for the opening of the interior
degrees of the mind; again the very opposite of the Bishop's words: "As
such it will not, of course, open the spiritual
The Bishop continues: "It is interesting to note that this
'Doctrine' places certain limits upon itself, in that it 'will never extend
beyond the influx of truth out of good with man' ". The subject of the
passage from which this quotation is taken, First Fascicle, p. 121, is again not
"this 'Doctrine' ", but the difference between the Word and the
genuine Doctrine existing at any time in the Church out of the Word. It is not
"this 'Doctrine' " which has placed "certain limits upon
itself", but the Word itself has placed such limits upon all Doctrine in
the Church. Many quotations have been given from which this truth can be seen
sufficiently confirmed. We must confine ourselves here to the following two:
"The internal sense, which is called glory, cannot be comprehended by man
unless he is regenerated and then enlightened", A.C. 8106; and: "No
truth is possible with man unless he is in good", A.C. 10194. See also n.
5997: "Doctrine is out of spiritual good". 150
The Bishop adds: "Yet this appears to be sufficient"; the exact
opposite of what has been said in DE HEMELSCHE LEER, and indeed on the very same
page from which the quotation is taken: "But the Doctrine of the Church in
order to establish its authority, will never refer to its own literal sense, but
always exclusively to the literal sense of the Word itself", First
Fascicle, p. 121.
The Bishop adds: "Since the 'Doctrine' in question is the only
doctrine by which the heavens themselves can be built up". The teaching
here involved is that man must be regenerated during his life in the natural
world and that the Church is the seminary of the Heavens. The quotation, taken
again from the same page 121 of the First Fascicle, reads in full: "It is
only the Doctrine of Genuine Truth by which the Heavens themselves can be built
up; for, even as the spiritual and celestial with man can only be built up on
the basis of the natural, so too in general the Heavens can only be built up on
the basis of the Church. As, however, it is not the Word which makes the Church,
but the understanding of the Word, it is evident that the Heavens cannot be
built up by anything else than by the Doctrine of Genuine Truth". It can be
clear that only a complete failure to understand this truth could have caused
the appalling misinterpretation that we should have claimed that "the
'Doctrine' in question is the only doctrine 'by which the heavens can be built
up' ".
The Bishop further develops an argument against the concept of DE
HEMELSCHE LEER of the difference between the Son of God as the Word, and the Son
of man as the faith of the Church. The Bishop says: "We may here note that
while the Son of man signifies the 'faith of the church', it is also revealed in
the Writings that the Son of man signifies the Word. ... But as the Son of man
is both the faith of the church and
the Word, it may well
be concluded that the Son of man as the Word was just that which was
given to be and become the faith of the church; and since we believe the
Writings are the Word, so may
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