The Sultan is the Turks. There is no doubt that their condition as subjects was This is a matter in which Christians of all creeds, as well as citizens of all political opinions, have a common interest and a common duty. And we are sure the members of the New Church are not behind others in the desire to do all that can be done to deliver the oppressed and relieve the destitution to which a ruthless power has reduced the survivors of its fearful atrocities. Miscellaneous. "THE APOCALYPSE REVEALED."-A and charge him to discourse on anything correspondent sends us the following and everything, possible and impossible notice of this work, which appeared on ridiculous, grave, clear, cloudy, mean, July 14 in the Methodist Recorder:-"This majestic, pure, impure-sycophantic, (the Swedenborg) Society is just now won- awful, blasphemous, the result, I am derfully active in circulating the works satisfied, will reveal the Apocalypse as of their amiable heresiarch. The work intelligently and beneficially as The is fairly printed, and valuable as a Apocalypse Revealed by E. Swedenborg. literary curiosity, and something more. May the Divine Spirit of Truth preserve There is an exposition of the ' seven us clergy from this revived 'ism."" heads and ten horns,' which may perhaps have a wider reach of application than was intended. 'Intelligence derived from the Word, at first holy, afterwards none, and at last insanity.' 929 Such, says our correspondent, is this brief notice. Where has the last sentence been copied from? 66 66 66 The circulation of this work has also called forth a letter from the Rev. N. NEW CHURCH LITERATURE.—One of M'Grath, which is published in the the features of the present time is the Record, the organ of the Evangelical or frequent notice of New Church publicaLow Church party in the Establishment. tions by the public press. Some recent The letter is a mere compilation of the publications have been in this manner oft-refuted slanders and misrepresenta- extensively and favourably noticed. This tions of the late Rev. J. G. Pike of is especially the case with Prof. Parsons' Derby. We are informed by a corre- Outlines of the Religion and Philosophy spondent that a letter was sent by a of Swedenborg. A notice of the work member of the Auxiliary" to the appeared in the Spectator, which from Record, in which the writer simply drew its descriptive and Catholic character, attention to the fact that Mr. M'Grath can scarcely fail to draw attenhad drawn all his charges against tion to the work. Notices have also Emanuel Swedenborg from Pike, appeared in several other periodicals. which charges were thoroughly refuted One in The Literary World is comat the time of their appearance by Hind- bined with a notice of Dr. Maudsley's marsh and others, and urging such of statements in his work on Body and the clergy as desired to ascertain Swe- Mind." It is late in the day to talk of denborg's real sentiments to read his Swedenborg's insanity, yet this is the writings for themselves. This letter was theory gravely intimated by the writer. refused insertion in the Record. A com- At the same time the author suffers munication has since been addressed by this accusation in good company. "It the "Auxiliary" to Mr. M'Grath, draw- would almost seem," says the writer, ing his attention to several of the mis- "as if, in a certain sense, insanity and conceptions he has borrowed from Mr. inspiration went together, in the same Pike's pamphlet. way as we must break down and become bankrupt with regard to the things of time and sense before the things of eternity impress us with their due weight and importance." This is a new theory of inspiration; and, if true, it may admit of question whether the world is not more indebted to its insanity than to its wisdom. The Church has never ceased to teach that true wisdom is not "the wisdom of this world," but "the wis The following is the way in which this Christian minister speaks of one of the most learned and uniformly virtuous of men :-"Given a lunatic, if not an impostor, sour, prurient, imaginative, autocratic; din into him the thesis of the seer that the Lord is the Creator of heaven and earth, and that the Father took our nature, glorified it and made it Divine;' give him time and materials, We offer no comment on this language. Our only feeling is one of pain and surprise that any man occupying the position of Mr. M'Grath could so far forget himself as thus to expose his total want of Christian charity, and utter ignorance of the subject on which he writes. dom which descendeth from above." All, however, is not barren in Swedenborg. "It is not to be denied that there are many-an increasing number we should say-of those who are unprepared to admit anything supernatural in Swedenborg's visions, who nevertheless can see such scattered germs of truth in his writings that they would be loath to describe them as the mere rhapsodies of an eminent man of science who was off his head. Such short and easy methods of dealing with a question of this kind are suspicious, precisely because they are short and easy. Turning to Mr. Parsons' summary of Swedenborg's doctrines, we are struck with the service which later interpreters have rendered to the visions of the founder of the Church of the New Jerusalem. They have made coherent what seemed to be incoherent, and given shape and consistency to what seemed the wanderings of a mind unable to write or think coherently." Can the writer have ever carefully read through a single volume of Swedenborg's? Surely no one who had done so would have penned a sentence so wide of the mark as the last we have cited. "Still," says the writer, "we can truly say that we have read Mr. Parsons' outline of Swedenborg's theology and philosophy with an interest which we have never been able to feel for any of Swedenborg's own writings." The views of Swedenborg on "the Trinity, the resurrection of the body, and the relation of heaven and hell to this world, are thought rationalistic by some and fanciful by others; but whichever they be, they offer as good solution of the insoluble problem as the current orthodoxy. It would be easy, indeed, to show that the Swedenborgian conception of the Trinity, as Wisdom, Love, Power, the tri-partite, not tri-personal conception of the one living God, has as much Scripture on its side as the ordinary Athanasian theory. In any case it is remarkable how Swedenborg's views silently spread among those who are by no means disposed to enrol themselves as members of the New Jerusalem Church." THE CARES OF LIFE.-The Literary World of August 11th contains a lengthened and warmly appreciative notice of this able and excellent publication. The writer infers, "from the publisher's name, which is connected with the issue of Swedenborg's writings, that Mr. Hancock has sympathies, more or less pronounced, with that [the Swedenborgian] school of thought." This inference does not prevent him from recognizing the great merit of the work, which he warmly commends to Christian readers. "That we may disarm prejudice beforehand," the writer continues, "we hasten to add that there is nothing in these discourses which marks them out as belonging in any exclusive sense to this section of the Christian Church. On the contrary, they are sermous which will be read with enjoyment and profit by Christians of all shades of thought. All that is needed to enjoy and relish them is a taste for spiritual truth, and a desire to see God in everything. If we can but believe that earth is the shadow of heaven, and time of eternity, that the things which are seen are temporal, and the things unseen eternal, and further that the relation between the two is not that the one comes only after the other, but is, in fact, the essence and kernel of the other, in that case we shall be at the point of view to enter into and enjoy writing like this of Mr. Hancock." The writer indicates some of the leading features of the work, giving in two cases pertinent extracts. He exposes in unsparing terms much of the worldliness of the professing Christian world, and concludes his notice in these words :— "In conclusion, we have only to add that as there is much unspiritual religion which passes current with the religious world because it has the orthodox ring about it, so, on the other hand, discourses like these are to be prized because they help even unspiritual persons to see what the spiritual life is in its essence. We cannot improve on this distinction between the spiritual and the unspiritual in life. 'Good is disinterested, and goes out to give. Evil is selfish, and seeks only its own. No man can mistake his quality in the main if he tries his actions by this simple test-Am I trying to give, to help, to guide, or am I trying only to gain or to enjoy?' All is contained in this test, and by applying this fearlessly and faithfully to the average class of men, this writer has done a service to truth, and helped on spiritual religion more effectively than many authors who have at UNREST OF THE CHURCHES.-There is unrest in all the churches. In the Congregational body this is seen in the dissatisfaction of many of the people with the preaching of the ministers, and in the widespread desire for change among the preachers. In the Christian World newspaper attention has been drawn to the subject by a leading article, which has led to an extended correspondence. The several letters which have appeared admit the fact, and suggest various remedies of a more or less practical kind. One writer contends for the liberty of the people to criticise the preachers—a liberty which is generally supposed to be pretty freely exercised. Another writer discusses the subject at length. "There can be," he says, "no doubt but what there is a wide sense of unrest or feeling of dissatisfaction, especially among the younger portion of our ministry, with regard to their present position in the churches. And if a canvass were taken, I venture to say that two-thirds, or, at the lowest estimate, one-half, of them would be glad of a change." Speaking of the causes of this unrest he says, "We cannot be ignorant of the enormous advances that have been made within the last few years in what is called 'religious thought.' Philosophy and science have invaded the domain of theology, which has been regarded as the special preserve' of the Christian minister, and have spoiled for him much of his game. Theological dogmas have been divested of their authority and much of their sanctity. Men can no longer dogmatize about the nature of God, the origin of man, the Person of Christ, inspiration, and the Atonement, as formerly. We feel, in the interests of truth, that we must concede something that we once held dear. We feel that we dare not brand the conclusions of honest, and laborious, and patient workers in the fields of mind and matter as unproven, as mere speculations,' wanting the elements of certainty and fact. We honestly confess that they have revealed more of God to us, and have deepened our reverence for His Name more than all the theologians left the denomination for some other. of the last and present centuries. Here, And hardly a week passes without then, is a mighty influence abroad, and losing some one from our ranks, and tained a sounding reputation from the an influence which is permeating the religious world.” minds of the younger portion of our brethren unconsciously as well as consciously. Silently and yet powerfully is it working its way into their mental system, so that when called upon to face anew some old theological problem, they are startled by the new forms into which their thinking falls. They find that they have unconsciously drifted from their old moorings, and are out to sea before they knew it." But while these changes of opinion are going on, how do they affect the laity? "Have minister and people," inquires this writer, "travelled together? Can the hearer appreciate the intellectual standpoint of his teacher? Or, if there has been no mental growth or advance on the part of the majority in our churches, has there been a growth of charity, of sympathy, of love? If not, then Pew and Pulpit must stand towards each other at drawn daggers. A split must take place, and as in the majority of disturbances of the kind, physical force overrides the intellectual. The minister is snubbed as a heretic, or left to labour amidst coldness and suspicion. Here, I apprehend, lies the cause of the present unrest among our ministers. Between an orthodox brother and an orthodox church peace may prevail; unbroken harmony may exist for years. In the midst of such peaceableness what desire can there be for change? It is only when a man dares to speak out the honest convictions of his soul, and face the narrowness, and prejudice, and superficial living of his day, that he is assailed, and renders his position uncertain and painful. Young men cannot labour successfully under such circumstances, and neither will their love of truth and principle cause them to submit to any unjust compromise. They must either come out, or be left to the liberty of free speech." The state of things thus indicated must lead to other changes than those taking place in the several churches of the Congregational body. And this we are informed is actually in progress: "Within the last few years," says this writer in conclusion, "I could enumerate no less than a dozen young men among my own personal acquaintances who have "9 losing what would eventually prove the flower and manhood of our ministry. We can ill afford the loss, but unless greater sympathy is shown, and wider liberty accorded to the rising ministry, I, for one, fear for the future of Congregationalism." What is the remedy for this unrest? We unhesitatingly say such a faith in a Divine Human Saviour as shall anchor the soul to this Rock of Ages; and such a knowledge of the true meaning of the Word as shall enable the preachers to present the treasures of its wisdom for the enlightenment and guidance of the people. THE CHURCH OF THE FUTURE is the title of a remarkable discourse by Rev. Reuen Thomas, preached before the professor and students of Amherst College, Massachusetts, U.S.A., and (in part) at Christ Church, Westminster Bridge Road, London; from the text—“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word; that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me" (John xvii. 20, 21). The subject thus discussed by the preacher is that of Christian unity. This unity is presented, in appearance at least, more perfectly in the Catholic than the Protestant Churches. This, Mr. Thomas contends, is only an appearance. "The Catholic Church," says the preacher, "is a compound of imperialism and traditionalism, which never, under any circumstances, can allow that legitimate freedom which God has given to man to use his heart and mind as is fitting. Some persons talk of finding rest in Catholicism. Rest! there can be no rest there except for the dead. God never intended us to have that kind of rest here on earth, which consists in the non-exercise or prescriptively-limited exercise of intelligence, of conscience, and of heart. These noblest powers accept the Divine nature of Christ there is ten times more unity than appears. In heart, in conscience, in aim, in hopes, there is at least as much unity as between the different States of the American Confederation in relation to the Central Government. We are regiments in one army. All the greater the pity that we are not more thoroughly united in appearance, and before the world. Actually we misrepresent ourselves." The unity of Protestantism, though less in appearance, is greater in reality. My own conviction " says the preacher, "is, that among those Protestants who 66 Mr. Thomas is describing in these words the feelings and aspirations of the more advanced section of Protestant thinkers and teachers. It is refreshing, however, to know that this section of the Church is becoming more powerful and influential. But from these negative statements, he proceeds to discuss the hopes and aspirations of the future. Among the signs of the future, Mr. Thomas predicts—“We shall have more teaching as distinct from preaching and evangelizing. Also a broader and more inclusive church-fellowship, enabling us better to bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. We shall have a more satisfactory method of interpreting Holy Writ-a method more scientific, more philosophic, truer to the facts of life, yet more spiritual. Very few who have been diligent Bible students for years can have failed to arrive at the persuasion that the Book is a whole, and that every part of it needs every other part for its interpretation. That wretched system of supporting a doctrine or practice by a single passage cut out of its connection will be abandoned. That dishonest, tricky system of being a strict literalist in one passage when it suits our convenience, and quite something else in another passage, will be relegated to the men who have some other cause to serve than that of the kingdom of Christ." SPIRITISM. The Metropolitan of use, and one might as soon think of bandaging the head and limbs of a growing child so as to prevent their growth, as to seek rest in any ecclesiastical system whatsoever." have to be developed into strength by August 26th contains a well-writen and thoughtful article on Angelic Revela tions, being a review of the work recently published under this title. The writer admits the possibility of intercourse with those who have departed, and shows the wide extent of belief in this fact. The fact is accepted; the revelations are not discussed. Most New Churchmen will concede the fact, but |
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