Authority in the New church ...

Preface

THE greater portion of the following pages was read before the Conference of New Church ministers in America which was held in Frankford, near Philadelphia, during the first week of June 1876. After the reading, the following action was taken by the Conference : —

"The Conference of Ministers having listened with great interest and attention to the reading of a large portion of Dr. Tafel's paper on ' Authority in the New Church, ' it was unanimously resolved that the members of the Conference extend to Dr. R. L. Tafel their hearty thanks for his very thorough paper on ' Authority in the New Church,' and while regretting that time will not allow them to hear the whole of the paper, they would express an earnest desire that the paper may be set before the whole Church by publication ; and that Dr. Tafel may also find time [to edit and publish with the paper a full index to its contents. "

By a subsequent resolution, a committee of three was appointed to carry out the purpose of the above resolution. This committee submitted the following motion to the decision of the Conference : —

" On considering the subject referred to them, the Committee have come to the conclusion, in view of the importance of Dr. Tafel's paper, that it should be recommended for publication to the Board of Publication. They therefore ask the signatures of the members of Conference to the request appended hereto.

(Signed) J. R. Hibbard, j

Joseph Pettee, ? Committee."

T. A. Plantz, )

PREFACE.

The request of the Committee resulted in the following application being addressed to the Board of Publication : —

" The undersigned members of the Conference of Ministers respectfully recommend the paper of Rev. R. L. Tafel on ' Authority in the New Church ' to the Board of Publication for publication.

Joseph A. Lamb.

N. C. BURNHAM.

L. P. Mercer.

Chauncey Giles.

Willard G. Day.

A. F. Frost.

W. F. Pendleton.

W. H. Mayhew.

J. P. Stuart.

E. C. Mitchell.

Wm. M. Goodner.

L. H. Tafel.

F. H. Hemperley.

Jabez Fox.

S. S. Seward.

Saml. M. Warren.

Geo. F. Stearns.

Chas. Hardon.

J. E. Bovvers.

J. W. Lever.

Wm. H. Benade.

W. H. Hinkley.

F. W. Tuerk.

Saml. Beswick."

SWEDENBORG ON THE LORD'S ADVENT, . . 255

APPARENT CONTRADICTIONS IN THE WRITINGS OF THE

Chapter I

AUTHORITY is a necessary, yea, an indispensable consequence of order ; for order is an harmonious arrangement of parts, of which those that are like are associated together or co-ordinated, and those which are lower are placed under or subordinated to those which are higher.

The most perfect system of order, and hence the most perfect arrangement of parts, is presented by the human body, where like parts are associated or co-ordinated so as to compose the various members or organs of the body, and where the extremities are subordinated to the trunk or the body proper, and the body to the head. And as we are taught that everything in the natural as well as in the spiritual universe has reference to man, and hence to the human form, it follows that everywhere, both in the worlds of matter and of spirit, like parts are co-ordinated and lower parts subordinated to higher; whence it further follows that the principle of co-ordination and subordination is inherent in the very order of things, and that without this principle creation, and hence the worlds of matter and of spirit, would be an impossibility.

Order, therefore, and hence the principle of co-ordination and subordination, in a true sense, is the very condition of our creation and our continued existence. This principle also, which includes an acknowledgment of the principle of authority, has been regarded from time immemorial as indispensable to the welfare of the human race ; for everywhere, in all relations of life, whenever there is work to be done or danger to be averted, or whenever the welfare of mankind is to be placed on a firm and secure foundation, mankind instinctively introduce a form of order in which some parts are invested with the duty or the right of governing, and in which the duty of other parts consists in obeying. The principle of authority, therefore, has been acknowledged by mankind at all times as indispensable to its welfare, and as its only salvation from a state of anarchy and of public and private disorder. Upon order finally, and hence upon the proper co-ordination and subordination of parts in the natural and the spiritual universe, the very presence of the Lord in our midst depends ; for we read :—

( i . ) " The Lord is order itself ; wherefore, wherever the Lord is present, there is order ; and [on the other hand] wherever there is order [i.e. wherever a just principle of co-ordination and subordination prevails], there the Lord is present " {A. C. 5703).

The principle of authority, therefore, is a heavenly and Divine principle, and is inherent in the very order according to which the universe has been created ; and upon this principle the welfare of the Lord's kingdom in heaven and on earth, and thus the welfare of the Church upon earth, and notably the welfare of the Lord's New Church upon earth, depend. In order, therefore, that the Lord's New Church may be established, and that it may prosper upon earth, it must have a distinct authority to which all its parts, i.e. all its members, must bow, and its welfare and prosperity depend altogether upon the obedience which its parts or members yield to this authority.

As in heaven there is one Head, one Source of authority to which all the parts of heaven, i.e. all angels, bow, so also in the Church upon earth there must be one authority to which all the members of the Church must bow ; and in proportion as they bow to this one authority, they are in a state of order, and the Lord can be with them, and strengthen and establish the Church by their means.

While acknowledging the necessity of a fixed authority in the Church, it may here be retorted that the Church which the Lord establishes among men is an internal state, that it is the conjunction of goodness and truth in the hearts of men which results from a proper subordination of man to his Maker ; but that this has nothing to do with an outward or external organization of men in this world, styling itself a Church, or claiming for itself the name of the Lord's New Church.

A complete answer to this objection is furnished by the analogous case of the Lord's kingdom in heaven ; for heaven also is an internal state, or according to the Lord's words, "is within us," and according to the doctrines of the New Church this internal state is a conjunction of goodness and truth. But although heaven is an internal state, it is at the same time an external organization ; wherefore Swedenborg defines heaven (H. H. i) as composed of angels, and he thereby declares angels to be the parts of which heaven is the aggregate.

On the same principle, we hold that although the Church is defined as an internal state resulting from a conjunction of goodness and truth in man, it is at the same time an external organization ; and we conclude that as heaven is composed externally of angels, so the Church, or the Lord's kingdom upon earth, is composed externally of men. Yet according to the quality of the men such will be the quality of the external Church organization which they form, according to these words : —

(2.) "The spiritual man is a Church in particular, and several together are the Church in general. Unless man in particular were a Church, there would not be a Church in general. The congregation in general is commonly called a Church ; but in order that it may be a Church, every one in the congregation must be a Church. Each general involves parts similar to itself" {A. C. 4292).

From this extract it follows that the Church is not only an internal state in the individual, but also that it is an external organization formed of a plurality of individuals. These individuals, however, in order to be parts of the Church in general, must have the Church in themselves ; that is, they must be conjoined to the Lord by acknowledging Him as their authority, and by subordinating their own life to the Lord's life.

Concerning the Church at large, we read that in the eyes of the Lord it appears as one man ; from which it follows that all those principles which apply to the

Church in the individual apply also to the Church at large. And from this it follows further, that as the Church in the individuals is established by their acknowledging the Lord as their authority, and subordinating their own life to the Lord's life ; so, also, in order to establish the Church at large it is absolutely necessary that its members should have a fixed and final authority to which they all look, and by which they are willing to be judged, and which thus may become a common bond to unite the members of the Church in one homogeneous fraternity.

The question now arises, Where, and what, is that ultimate authority to which all the members of the Lord's Church at large, and especially the members of the Lord's New Church, should look, and by which they ought to be willing to be judged ?

It is unpopular to speak of an authority which New Churchmen as such ought to acknowledge. This acknowledgment of an authority, in the eyes of some, seems to conflict with the principle of spiritual freedom which ought to prevail in the New Church, and which they see taught in its watchword, " Now it is allowable to enter intellectually into the mysteries of faith." And yet, unless the members of the New Church acknowledge one final and ultimate authority, and unless they are willing to conform the life of their will and of their understanding to this authority, the New Church will neither grow in them, nor will it grow in the general bodies or external organization which they form in conjunction with other men.

The great power and strength of the Roman Catholic Church lies in this circumstance, that they have a common authority to which they all bow, and by which they all become soldiers of one grand army bent upon establishing their religion among mankind.

Our purpose in adverting here to the strength and power of the Roman Catholic Church is a twofold one ; for, on the one hand, it furnishes an instance of the power a Church acquires when it acknowledges a final and ultimate authority, and, on the other, it furnishes a clue to the reluctance and opposition which some in the New Church have to such a final and ultimate authority in the Church.

In the Roman Catholic Church the final authority in all matters belonging to the Church is a human being, whose utterances in respect to the Church are declared to be infallible, and thus of Divine authority ; and this is supposed to be the necessary and unavoidable consequence of a belief in a final and ultimate authority in all matters pertaining to the Church. For this reason, also, such a determined resistance has been made of late to a regularly ordained ministry in the external New Church, every ordained minister being considered as a pope in disguise, or as a pope in a state of incipiency.

All this opposition, however, we believe, arises from a misapprehension of the nature of the final authority in the Church. It is supposed that this final authority is claimed to be vested in the persons of the ordained ministers of the Church. We admit that this claim is set up in the Roman Catholic Church, and to some extent also in the Anglican Church, by the dogma of the Apostolic Succession. But we hold that this is a perversion of the true doctrine respecting authority in the Church, and that this perverted doctrine has nothing whatever to do with the true doctrine.

The true doctrine of authority in the Church leads its members into spiritual freedom, and not into spiritual slavery ; and the true authority of the Church is the very strongest bulwark against an abuse of its authority by those who administer the government of the Church in this world.

We see, therefore, that there may be true order in f the Church or perverted order, and hence that there J may be a true principle of subordination and authority in the Church or a perverted principle. This difference we shall now endeavour to point out.

All authority in this world is exercised by persons ; so we read : —

(3.) "Order cannot be preserved in the world without superiors or heads, whose duty it is to notice everything that takes place according to order and against order." And further — "Among the superiors, again, there must he order, lest any one at his good pleasure, or from ignorance, allow evils to take place which are opposed to order, and by which order is destroyed ; which is guarded against when there are superiors, higher and lower, in authority, among whom there is subordination." And finally — "The superiors who have charge of the things of heaven, or of ecclesiastical things among men, are called priests, and their office is called the priesthood" (H. D. 312-314; A. C. 10,790-10,793). In like manner we read again — "The things of the world, or civil things, are administered by magistrates, and by kings where such forms of government exist" {H. D. 314).

But does it follow from this that priests are the sources of authority and power in the Church, and kings and magistrates in the State ? Or does it follow from this that the will and the thought of the priests form the ultimate authority in the Church, and the will and thought of the magistrates and the king in the State ? This question is answered in the affirmative by the Roman Catholics, who believe in an infallible pope, whose will and thought is their authority in all matters pertaining to the Church ; it is also answered in the affirmative by those who believe that bishops and priests assembled in conventions or convocations are infallible, and that the findings of such councils are the final and ultimate authority in the Church.

This question is also answered in the affirmative on the civil plane by those who teach and uphold a personal or despotic government, and who believe that the will and thought of the emperor or king is the final authority in matters of a civil or political nature.

This question is, however, answered in the negative by the writings of the New Church, and by all those who believe what these writings teach ; and it is also answered in the negative by all those who believe that the law and the constitution of a land are an authority above the magistrates and the political rulers of a land, and who believe that the laws and the constitution of a land are the ultimate and final authority to which every officer of the State and every governor of the land must bow.

The law, and the sacred observance of the law, are the salvation of a land ; and where the laws of a land are administered fairly, honestly, and energetically, there the citizens live in peace, and there the power of malefactors and criminals is broken and annihilated. But where the laws are not respected, and where the balances of justice are in the hands of unprincipled and ignorant men, there crime increases, and the interests of the public are sacrificed to the interests of individuals. In such a land order is inverted, and the servant is made the ruler, and the ruler the servant : for when true order prevails in a land the laws are the rulers, and the governors and prefects are the servants and executors of the laws ; but when true order is perverted in a land, then the officers and governors become the rulers, and the laws are the servants by which they enforce their wills.

The same case has happened, and may happen again in the Church ; for in the Church also, as we have seen, power and authority are exercised by persons or individuals. If these persons regard the law of the Church as superior to themselves, and if they in all matters of the Church consult this law, and act strictly in accordance with this law, without looking either to the right or to the left, then these persons are good and faithful servants in the eyes of the Lord, and the Lord speeds the work of their hands, and blesses all their efforts in the establishment of His Church upon earth.

But if the servants, i.e. the priests, make themselves superior to the law of the Church, either by denying that there is such a law, or by undermining and reasoning away its authority, in that case order in the Church becomes inverted, the servant becomes the ruler, and the ruler — that is, the law of the Church — becomes a mere instrument in the hands of the priests, by which they seek to establish their own rule over the members of the Church. Such has been the case in the first Christian Church ; it has become perverted io AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH.

and destroyed because its ministers and priests set themselves above the law of the Church, and so shaped and perverted it that by means of it their own authority became established over the consciences of men. Such also will inevitably be the case in the New Church, unless it acknowledge a law which is above or superior to the persons of those who compose the Church, and its downfall will be hastened unless such a law be acknowledged and submitted to by those who are its governors and leaders.

The question now arises, Is there such a law in the New Church to which both its clergy and its laity must bow ?

If we ask this question of the natural man, he will at once answer that he acknowledges no law by which the consciences of men are to be bound ; for the natural man is impatient of restraint, and does not wish to be limited in the enjoyment of the natural loves of self and of the world. Nay, in order to prove the position that the consciences of men are free, the natural man goes to the writings of the Church, and fortifies himself with the statement, oft quoted of late, " Nunc licet ! — Now it is allowable to enter intellectually into the mysteries of faith."

If we ask this question of the spiritual man, who on all points of doctrine, i.e. on all points concerning the Church and man's spiritual welfare, goes to the writings of the Church, we obtain a different answer altogether.

He first proves the necessity of a law as a final authority in the Church by referring us to T. C. R. 55, where we read : —

(4.) "Who cannot see that it is impossible for an empire, a kingdom, a duchy, a republic, a town, or a house to exist, unless it is established by laws which constitute the order and form of its government? In every one of these the laws of justice are in the highest place, those for the government of the State, or political laws, in the second, and those for the government of the houses, or economical laws, in the third ; and if they are compared to a human being, the laws of justice form the head, political laws the body, and economical laws the garments, wherefore also these like garments may be changed. With respect to the order, however, into which the Church has been established by God, this order is such that God must be in each and everything belonging to it, and this order must be exercised in respect to the neighbour. There are as many laws of this order as there are truths in the Word ; the laws which have respect to the Lord ought to constitute its head, those that have respect to the neighbour its body, and ceremonies ought to constitute its garments ; for unless the latter hold the former in their order, it would be as if the body were laid bare, and exposed to the heat in summer and to the cold in winter, or as if the walls and ceilings were taken away from a temple, whereby the sanctuary, the altar, and the pulpit, by being exposed for a long time, became a prey to various kinds of violence."

From this passage we learn that there is no order without laws, and consequently that there can be no order in the Church without laws. We learn also that the laws of the Church, on the one hand, have respect to the Lord and to the neighbour, and thus to internal worship, and, on the other hand, to ceremonies, and thus to external worship.

We further learn that there are as many laws of order in the Church as there are truths in the Word. We read further : —

(5.) "As priests are the governors or heads who are to administer those things which belong to Divine law and worship, so kings and magistrates are the officers for the administration of those things which belong to civil law and to judgment. " And again — " The royal power consists in governing according to the laws of the land, and in judging according to them from a principle of justice. A king who has respect to the laws as above himself is wise ; but he who regards himself as superior to the laws is not wise. A king who has respect to the laws as above himself places the royal power or authority in the law, and the law rules over him; for he knows that the law is justice, and that all justice which is justice is Divine. But a king who regards himself as above the laws places the royal authority in himself, and thinks either that he himself is the law, or that the law which is justice is from himself. Hence he arrogates to himself what is Divine, when yet he ought to be subordinated to it" {H. D. 319, 322).

There is exactly the same relation between the Divine law, or the law of the Church and the ministers, as there is between it and every other member of the Church. The law of the Church teaches them everything respecting internal and external worship ; and their duty as members of the Church consists in carrying out this law and in obeying it ; and they ought not to place themselves above the law of the Church, and to declare either that their own will is the law of the Church, or that the law of the Church is derived from themselves. Or, in other words, the members of the Church, and especially its ministers, must believe that everything respecting internal and external worship has been revealed to them from God out of heaven, and that nothing respecting internal and external worship must be derived from themselves.

The downfall of the first Christian Church was caused by the men, and especially the ministers, of the Church placing themselves above the laws of the Church, all of which are truths from the Word, and by declaring that they themselves, i.e. the ministry of the Church, are in the place of a law to the Church ;

and further, that all the laws of the Church are derived from themselves. And to such a danger the Church of the New Jerusalem would be exposed by not acknowledging a law superior to itself ; i.e. a law which is not man-made, but which has been revealed from God out of heaven.

The question now arises, Where is the law which both the clergy and the laity in the Church of the New Jerusalem ought to be willing to acknowledge ?

The answer to this question is : The law of the Church of the New Jerusalem "in respect to the Lord, in respect to the neighbour, and in respect to the ceremonies of the Church," are the doctrines of the internal sense of the Sacred Scripture, which have been revealed by the Lord at His Second Coming for the special benefit of this Church, and which are contained in the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg.

This is the law which the Church of the New Jerusalem as an outward organization must acknowledge, and before which all those in authority must bow.

Let us be thankful that we have a law in our Church, a law to which we can go for light as to our duties towards God and towards our neighbour, and a law to which we can go for instruction in everything concerning the external worship or the ceremonies of the Church; for in revealing this law for the New Church the Lord was mindful of every want of His*- people, and whoever seeks will surely find there what he needs.

We are aware that in claiming the authority of a law for the doctrines of the internal sense of the Word as taught in the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, we expose ourselves to criticisms and objections on various sides. We shall endeavour to answer these objections in order.

Chapter II. The Doctrines Of The New Church Not Human But Divine

THE first objection is : By declaring the doctrines of the New Church as contained in the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg to be the law, and thus the final authority in the New Church, you make them equal to the Word of God, and thus of Divine authority.

To this we unhesitatingly reply : We do believe and acknowledge that the doctrines of the New Church which are contained in the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg are of Divine authority ; and we believe and acknowledge them to be of Divine authority, because the Lord in and by these doctrines has effected His Second Coming upon earth. We believe, further, that the doctrines contained in the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg are the doctrines of the internal sense of the Sacred Scripture ; yea, we believe that these doctrines are the internal sense of the Sacred Scripture itself in a form accommodated to the rational understanding of mankind.

In order to accommodate the doctrines of the internal sense of the Sacred Scripture to the rational understanding of men, the Lord revealed these doctrines to the rational mind of Swedenborg ; and in order to enable him to receive these doctrines from the Lord, according to his own statement, Swedenborg " was prepared by the Lord for his work from his earliest youth" (T. C R. 850).

After receiving the doctrines of the New Jerusalem, or the doctrines of the internal sense of the Sacred Scripture, in his rational mind, Swedenborg was commissioned by the Lord to make them known to the world by the press. This we are taught in these words : —

(6.) "As the Lord cannot manifest Himself in person, and yet foretold that He would come again and establish a New Church which is the New Jerusalem, it follows that He would do this by a man who could not only receive the doctrines of that Church by his understanding, but also publish them by the press. " And this man, as it is further declared, was Swedenborg himself ( T. C. R. 779).

From this it follows that the Lord's Second Coming was effected by a man — yea, by means of the man Swedenborg; and that the Lord's Second Coming was effected by Swedenborg's " receiving the doctrines of the New Jerusalem by his understanding, and publishing them by the press." So that the Lord effected His Second Coming in and by means of those works which Emanuel Swedenborg published by the press. That this is meant in the Apocalypse by the New Jerusalem descending out of heaven is proved by the superscriptions to Nos. 779 and 781 in T. C. R., when read in consecutive order : —

(7.) "The Lord's Second Advent takes place by a man, before whom He manifested Himself in person, and whom He filled with His Spirit,

THE DOCTRINES DIVINE NOT HUMAN. 17

so that he might teach the doctrines of the New Church by the Word from Himself. This is meant in the Apocalypse by the new heaven and the new earth, and the New Jerusalem descending thence."

From this it follows that, in writing those works which he afterwards published, Swedenborg " was filled by the Spirit of God" and thus was inspired, so that what he wrote was from the Lord, and not from himself. It follows, also, that the doctrines contained in the theological writings of Swedenborg are meant in the Apocalypse by " the holy city, New Jerusalem, descending from God out of heaven." And it follows, further, that the contents of these writings come to us with Divine and not with human authority, and that the publication of these writings in this world constitutes the Lord's Second Coming, which was promised in the letter of the Word. That Swedenborg, in writing his theological works, wrote from inspiration is further taught in the heading to the Coronis, No. 18, where we read :—