Books: Personal Experience of a Physician
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John Ellis >> Personal Experience of a Physician
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CHAPTER X.
FINAL APPEAL TO THE CLERGY.
I again appeal to you, as Christian men, to lay aside prejudice and
preconceived ideas, if you are troubled with any that have come down to you
from darker ages, and to patiently examine the writings of Emanuel
Swedenborg.
If you desire and are prepared to read with open eyes and a willing heart,
you can but see that the fig-tree is putting forth its leaves, and that we
are living in the dawning light and warmth of a new summer. Look at the
radical changes which have taken place within the last one hundred and
thirty-five years, and are taking place to-day with increasing rapidity, in
every department of science, arts, mechanics, medicine, and even in the
religious sentiments of the people and in theology, and in civil and
ecclesiastical governments, and you may rest assured, that as certain as
the Word of the Lord is true, so sure it is that we are now seeing but the
beginning of the changes which are yet to be witnessed; for the sure word
of prophecy is, "Behold, I make all things new"--New Heavens and a New
Earth--old things are to pass away, and we can see that they are passing
away.
Swedenborg assures us that he was permitted by the Lord to witness the Last
Judgment in 1757, which, like all general judgments, took place in the
spiritual world. The Lord when on earth declared, "Now is the judgment of
this world, now is the prince of this world cast out." Swedenborg tells us
that between the Lord's first coming and His second coming vast societies
were organized in the world of spirits, which is intermediate between
heaven and hell, from among those who were not fully prepared for either
heaven or hell; and they were associated with those of like affections and
persuasions in this world. As the First Christian Church became gradually
perverted by false doctrines and evils of life, and as its members
increased in the spiritual world, their influence was more and more felt
among the religious societies in this world, interfering with the inflowing
of good and truth from the Lord and His Word into the minds of men, and
threatening their ability to see and obey the truth. The judgment consisted
in a new influx of Divine truth into such societies, the effects of which
were such that those who were really good were received into heaven, and
those who were evil joined their like in hell, glad to escape from the new
inflowing of heavenly light and life. In this way they were separated from
men on the earth and human freedom reestablished. The effects of that
judgment are to-day gradually being manifested here on earth.
Swedenborg tells us that he witnessed the downfall of Babylon the great in
the spiritual world. By Babylon is meant those who are in the love of
spiritual dominion over the souls of men. And also he witnessed the casting
down of the Dragon. By the Dragon is meant those who are in the doctrine of
salvation by faith and ceremonials alone.
As the above vast organizations in the spiritual world were then removed
from contact with men, I will let Swedenborg speak of some of the results
which followed that judgment in the spiritual world, and of those which are
following and which must follow in the Church on earth.
"After the Last Judgment (in 1757) a new heaven was formed from among
Christians, only from those, however, who acknowledged the Lord to be the
God of heaven and earth, and also repented in the world of their evil
works. From this heaven the New Church on earth, which is the New
Jerusalem, descends, and will continue to descend.... And the New Church
on earth makes one with the New Heaven." (Preface to A.R.)
"In this new Christian heaven are all those who, from the first formation
of the Christian Church, worshiped the Lord and lived according to His
commandments in the Word, and were therefore in charity and faith from the
Lord through the Word." (A.R. 876.)
Swedenborg tells us that "the slavery and captivity in which the man of the
Church was formerly" were removed by the Last Judgment; so that "he can
now, from restored liberty, more easily perceive interior truths if he has
a desire for them." (L.J. 74.) And again he tells us that, as a result of
the Last Judgment, the people of Christendom "would be in a more free state
of thinking on matters of faith, that is, on spiritual things which relate
to heaven, because spiritual liberty has been restored to them" (L.J. 73);
and that consequently "the state of the world and of the Church before the
Last Judgment," compared with what it was, or was to be after, "was as
evening and night compared with morning and day." (Contin. L. J.)
Now can we not all see that the very changes anticipated in the above
quotations are rapidly taking place in the Christian world all around us?
Men and women are beginning to cease to be willing to be led blindly by
clergymen and creeds, with their understandings under subjection to dogma.
Many of our clergy, we see, are not willing to be thus led. Swedenborg
tells us that in this New Dispensation men are to be led in freedom
according to reason, and that professing to believe doctrines which they
neither understand nor perceive to be true is of very little use to men.
As false doctrines are passing away, is it not of vast moment that true and
rational doctrines should take their place, that our houses and churches be
not left desolate? Somewhat extensively among the clergy, and far more
extensively among scientists and intelligent people, is the Divine origin
of the Sacred Scriptures being called in question. In the writings of
Swedenborg, as has already been stated, you will find this question clearly
and distinctly settled, for you are there shown that they are written
according to the law of correspondence between natural and spiritual
things, and therefore that they contain a connected spiritual sense which
causes them to differ from all merely human writings, and demonstrates
their Divine origin to all who are willing to examine and to see the truth.
The day is not far distant when, in the Christian Church, the Sacred
Scriptures will be reverenced as they have never been before; for the
coming of the Son of Man in the Clouds of Heaven, or in the literal sense
of the Word, is with power and great glory.
Even now in the dawning light old false doctrines are rapidly passing away.
Look! What congregation would be willing to sit quietly and hear the
doctrine of infant damnation proclaimed? Who is satisfied with the doctrine
of election and predestination as taught but a few years ago? That favorite
doctrine of my childhood's days, the vicarious atonement as taught then, is
trembling in the balance, for it is being found not to accord with the Word
of the Lord, nor does it appeal to human reason. The doctrine of a trinity
of Divine Persons will soon follow. How few even now believe in the
resurrection of the material body! Our church members are rapidly coming to
believe with St. Paul that there is a natural body and there is a spiritual
body, and that the spiritual body is raised at death, and that flesh and
blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. The doctrine of a literal hell of
fire and brimstone, as taught but a few years ago, is rarely taught to-day.
And now, Christian ministers, as these old doctrines are departing, what
have you to substitute for them? You know very well that when extreme views
are given up, there is great danger that opposite extreme views will be
substituted.
Troublesome questions are arising to-day before the clergy and in our
churches, which require to be handled with care by intelligent and wise
men, if the Lord and His Word are to be reverenced in our churches as they
should be, and men are to be led to live heavenly lives.
The question of probation after death is troubling many clergymen and
laymen at this day. They see that men and women often leave this world in a
very uncertain state of life, so far as they can judge, ill prepared for
either heaven or hell; what is to-become of them is the question. Are they
all to put away their false doctrines and evils of life and go to heaven,
as some believe; or are some of them to go through purgatory and finally,
after being purified, to enter heaven, and the rest go to hell, as others
believe? Or again, has a man the same chance of choosing and the same
ability to choose between truth and falsehood and good and evil, and of
shaping his life there, as he has here?
Upon these questions the New Revelations made by the Lord through Emanuel
Swedenborg throw a flood of rational light. They show us that heaven is not
a place into which a man can be let as a matter of favor; but that, for a
man to enter heaven, heaven must be within him. Heaven consists in loving
supremely the Lord and the neighbor, or obedience to the Divine
Commandments. Hell consists in loving self, money, vain show, ruling over
others without regard to use, or sensual gratifications supremely. Before a
man can become a resident of hell, hell must be within him. Men enter the
other world in much the same state as they leave this world; death does not
change their essential characters. Good angels appointed by the Lord strive
to teach heavenly truths to all, and to lead all into heavenly affections
and societies who are willing to be led. But as the Lord respects the
freedom of all men in this world and compels no man to love Him, his
neighbor, or obedience to the Divine Commandments supremely, He compels no
man there. The Lord casts no one into hell, but when our material bodies
are put off and we appear among the inhabitants of the spiritual world, our
thoughts and intentions can be seen more clearly than in this world;
consequently the good and evil necessarily separate; and finally every one
sooner or later associates with his like, the good forming heavenly
societies and the evil, infernal societies.
It is evident that those who are guided in all they think and do by either
love of the Lord, the neighbor, or of obeying the Divine Commandments, need
no penal laws or punishments. It is equally evident that men who are
actuated by the supreme love of self, vain show, or sensual gratifications
must be restrained, in that world as in this, by penal laws and
punishments. But we are told that the Lord governs the hells as well as the
heavens through His angels, and does not permit vindictive or unjust
punishments. All punishments in that world are reformatory, or for the
purpose of restraining spirits from evil doing, and protecting others, as
all punishments should be in this world. The Lord's tender mercies are
around all His creatures in that world as well as in this, and He strives
to make all happy. Even the evil man is permitted to enjoy his delight so
long as he does not interfere with or harm others or himself.
Here in this state of probation good and evil men dwell together in the
same society, so that the evil have good instruction and good examples, and
every chance for repentance and reformation; but in hell they dwell among
their like, and it would seem that they are not so favorably circumstanced
for changing their life's love there as in this world. In the world of
spirits into which we enter at death, all who are not fully prepared by
their lives here for heaven or hell tarry until their characters are fully
developed, when each one goes to his own congenial society either in heaven
or hell, according to his ruling love.
Swedenborg, so far as he was permitted, describes what he saw in the
spiritual world; but he did not claim to be a prophet--the future, he
tells us, is known to the Lord alone, not even to the angels. Some of the
readers of his writings, from certain passages contained therein, have come
to think that the Lord in His loving kindness may yet so change the
inhabitants of hell that they may be received into heavenly societies, as
some have drawn from the letter of the Sacred Scriptures a similar
conclusion; while a majority of readers, in both cases, have come to a
different conclusion. But the future is known to the Lord alone, and He is
love itself, and in His hands we may safely leave the inhabitants of hell;
especially as our belief one way or the other will not change the final
destiny of a single individual one iota; therefore it is not a practical
question.
PREVAILING EVILS OF LIFE.
We are living in the midst of prevailing evils of life which should command
the special attention of every clergyman and every Christian. Even infants
and children are dying on all sides, and those that survive are being
contaminated often even in our churches by the example of clergymen and
prominent members.
But yesterday, as I was speaking to a very intelligent, well-known citizen
of New York, he expressed to me the opinion that gambling and a desire to
obtain money or valuables without returning a due equivalent, by purchasing
lottery or chance tickets and stock gambling, is a greater evil than
selling and drinking intoxicating drinks; and he most earnestly blamed many
of our clergy and churches for the prevalence of this great evil; for, as
is well known, it is at church fairs that the young and even children
frequently take their first lessons, enticed thereto by the hope that they
may be able to obtain an article of much value for a trifling sum. In this
the work of demoralization commences, and leads naturally to gambling for
money, betting on games, horse-racing, buying lottery tickets, and stock
gambling, stimulated by the hope of making fortunes by risking small
amounts, not stopping to think that what they gain, if successful, others
must lose who are probably no better able to lose than they are. How much
short of stealing is this? Look at the sad results which follow the
practice started in so many of our churches--the poverty, the thieving, the
failures, the breaches of trust, the disgrace and loss of character, and
the poor wretches in prison, and others who merit punishment. Christian
ministers, is not this a most fearful evil which you, if guilty of
encouraging it, should put away from your own lives and teach your people
to shun as a sin against God?
Again, it is the duty of husbands and wives to reproduce their species or
to multiply and replenish the earth, and this is the most important use of
life. Yet a vast multitude of women, by tight dressing to gratify vanity,
impair health and their ability to bear healthy, well-formed children, and
even their ability to nurse such as are born to them; and such deformed
women walk into and out of our churches as examples to young girls, without
one word of admonition. And some church members deliberately shirk the
responsibility of rearing families of children, either because it is not
fashionable to have large families, or because children would interfere
with their selfish or sensual enjoyment; and this is not the worst which
could be said of some.
Now, although it is equally the duty of all husbands and wives to multiply
and replenish the earth, yet church members who, either for the want of
ability or inclination, have no children, and bachelors and maidens who do
not marry, will stand idly by and see the husbands and wives, however poor
they may be, who are willing to do their duty, take the entire care of
their children until they reach adult age; they deliberately leave the
entire responsibility upon the parents of caring for and raising the money
required for the support of the children, who are to be the men and women
of the next generation. Is this right? It is true that public schools have
been established, for all feel that it will not be safe for the children,
who are to rule our country a few years hence to grow up in ignorance.
Men and women will roll in their thousands and hundreds of thousands and
even millions, and see the toiling, struggling, hard-working brothers and
sisters, sometimes even in the same church organization, striving to do
faithfully their part in the care of the children who are to people and
replenish the earth, without feeling that they have any responsibility or
duty to perform in the way of giving a helping hand in this most important
work of life. Now I ask you, brethren of the Christian Church, are such
things in accordance with the grand and noble precepts of Christianity, in
which we profess to believe--thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself? Of
course, husbands and wives who are able are but too glad to take care of
their own children; but there are multitudes who need help. If wealthy
husbands and wives are not willing or able to have children, or if
bachelors and maidens are not willing to marry and have children, have they
no duty to perform toward aiding, even financially, and by their own hands
if such help is needed, those who do this most important work, and thus add
to the number of intelligent and Christian inhabitants of our country? for
the want of whom our country is being flooded by multitudes of the most
ignorant of other nations, who have comparatively no knowledge of our free
institutions and of religious freedom.
It is true that our poorhouses are established at the expense of the
public, to which parents who are without means or employment or adequate
wages to support their children can go with their children to avoid
starvation; but what parents desire to take their children to such
institutions? And we have also charitable institutions to which children
can be sent to prevent their starving and going naked; but what father or
mother likes to part with their children? It is not charity that such need,
but the kind, helping hands of Christian brothers and sisters. All things
are to be made new. As the light and especially the heat or love of the New
Jerusalem descend into the minds of men, hard-hearted selfishness will
disappear, and true Christians will love and strive to help one another and
all men as they may need.
And now, in conclusion, I appeal to you, Christian ministers, one and all,
to diligently read the Revelations made by the Lord at His second coming
through His chosen servant, Emanuel Swedenborg, for they will give you new
light and, if you are willing, new life. The light is spreading from the
East even unto the West, and the day is not far distant when a clergyman,
to be acceptable to an intelligent Christian congregation, must be familiar
with the grand and rational doctrines and precepts revealed by the Lord for
the benefit of the men of our day and the Church of the future.
It must be evident to you even now that many of the clergy and intelligent
laymen are steadily drifting in one of two directions; either to a distinct
recognition of the Supreme Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the
holiness and Divinity of the Sacred Scriptures and of the life of charity
or of obedience to the Divine Commandments as the only way of salvation; or
to an ignoring the existence of a personal God, and of course of all
revelation from God. There is no middle ground. Choose ye this day whom ye
will serve.
Below you will find a notice of a work on the Science of Correspondences,
the science in accordance with which all material things were created and
the Sacred Scriptures were written. Send for it. It will give you new
light.
[Advertisement Page]
ADDENDUM.
A REVIEW OF AN ARTICLE ENTITLED "CHRIST AND THE TEMPERANCE QUESTION"
IN "THE CHRISTIAN UNION."
In the _Christian Union_ for July 11, 1891, will be found an article
written by a clergyman which should not be allowed to go unnoticed. The
reverend gentleman assumes in that article that "the life and teaching of
Jesus Christ constitute a Divine standard for all His followers." And so do
I most unequivocally; but I also claim that we should not be blinded by
either strong confirmations or sensual appetites in favor of false views
and evil habits, so that, having eyes, we see not the truth and
consequently cannot lead a life in accordance with the truth. The writer
truly says: "Christ is not to be blindly, but intelligently, followed." In
other words, I would say the light afforded by science, by well-known facts
and ancient history, must be allowed to shine upon such an important
question as the one under consideration. Then again, the testimony of
distinguished scholars who have devoted years to a careful consideration of
the wine question in the light of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, of
ancient history and science, should not be ignored, and statements made
which have repeatedly been shown to have no foundation in truth, but which
are contradicted by facts which at this day should be known by every man
who attempts to write upon such an important question.
In the consideration of this question the above writer appears to utterly
confound good and truth with the evil and false, which, it is manifest,
should never be done. His whole argument is based upon assumptions which we
shall find, the more carefully we examine them, have no foundation in
truth. He assumes that fermented wine is a good and useful article to be
used as a beverage, and, after admitting that he thinks the law of
Christian love requires a general abstinence at the present day, he says:--
"But I trust that this necessity belongs simply to the present epoch, and I
am not without hope that we shall yet come to a time--though not in my
day--when a pure wine can be used by society with no more seriously evil
results than now are produced by the use of tea and coffee."
By pure wine he means fermented wine. He apparently thinks that tea and
coffee are harmless drinks. Of this more hereafter. Again he says:--
"Any permanent temperance reform, however great emphasis it may lay on a
Christian duty of total abstinence, must draw sharply and maintain stoutly
the distinction between total abstinence and temperance, between
drunkenness and drinking. It must recognize drunkenness to be everywhere
and always a sin, drinking to be made so only by the circumstances;
temperance to be always and everywhere a duty, total abstinence to be only
a means now to be employed for promoting temperance."
Now let us examine this assumption in the light of science, facts, and
history.
First. It is known that all the drunkenness in the world up to the sixth
century--and history and even the Bible shows us that there was plenty of
it, and this the above writer admits--was caused by drinking fermented wine
and other fermented drinks, for the art of distillation was unknown. And
almost all of the drunkenness in our country at this day results either
directly from men and boys drinking wine, beer, or other fermented drinks,
or from the appetite thus formed leading them on to the use of distilled
liquors; for it is rarely that they commence by using such liquors. There
has never been an age in the world's history when the drinking of fermented
wine did not lead large numbers of those who drank it to drunkenness, and
it is safe to say that in no age of the world has there ever been more
drunkenness among those who drink at all than there is at this day.
As to temperance: That old philosopher, Aristotle, tells us that temperance
consists in the moderate use of things good and useful, and total
abstinence from things injurious.
Second. Fermented wine is either one of the good gifts of God, to be used
as a drink to build up and supply the wants of the human body, and may be
used freely as we may use milk, the unfermented juice of grapes, and water,
or it is not. Let us examine this question carefully for a few moments. We
all know that there are animal, vegetable, and mineral substances which act
as poisons when taken into the stomach, and that to thus use them is to
violate the laws of health and life and to seriously endanger health,
reason, and life; and not a few are destroyed by their use. The Divine
commandment in regard to all such we know is, "Thou shall not" use them if
they kill or endanger life when used. We know that there are other
substances which are useful and necessary to nourish and build up the body
and give it strength and health. How are we to distinguish these two
classes of substances? By their effects on the body we may distinguish
between good and useful substances and poisons. There is a natural appetite
for wholesome food, which is satisfied by the usual quantity, and the
middle-aged and old do not require any more nor even as much as the young
man. But for poisons, unless they are made sweet by other substances, there
is no natural appetite, but it has to be cultivated by using the poison;
but when the appetite is once developed no other substance in nature will
satisfy the appetite for it, and the appetite demands that the quantity
taken shall be steadily increased to relieve the craving and diseased
symptoms which the poison has caused; and if the natural inclination to
increase the quantity or frequency is followed, unrestrained by caution or
conscience, the individual comes at last to be able to take a quantity with
impunity which would kill more than one person not addicted to its use. We
all know that this is notably true in regard to fermented wine and other
alcoholic drinks, opium and tobacco.
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