MY
RELIGION
by
Helen Keller
Copyright by
Vioubleday, Doran & Co.
l
®
H . ¢ ean enjoy the sun and
fi. vers and music where there
is nothing except darkness and
sil:nce you have proved the
Mystic Sense—Helen Keller
1 WNU Service
(Continued from last week.)
Swedenborg’s works, especially the
#Arcana Celestia,” confirm much of
what Ingersoll and other critics of the
Bible say about the untrustworthi-
ness of its literal statements; but at
the same time it is demonstrated that
they are quite wrong in their conclus-
jons about its value from a different
point of view. I have had abundant
opportunity to learn how defective
th: sense of the letter is in the light
of modern science, how strange some
of the stories are, and how often they
lack outward harmony. Nevertheless,
I have also observed that there is a
meaning beneath the letter that can-
not be read in word but only in sym-
bol, and this meaning holds good
throughout the parts where it oc-'
curs. There is g compelling example
of it in Psalm 78:
“] will open my mouth in a par-
able; I will utter dark sayings of old,
which we have heard and known, and
our fathers have told us.” Then fol-
lows in the Psalm a summary of the
experiences of the Israelites in
Egypt, and their pilgrimage to Ca-
naan. This record is true history;
but here it is pronounced to be a par-
able which only the initiated can fully,
grasp. And what a deep parable it
is! It describes perfectly our exodus
from materialism and ignorance, and
our slow, difficult progress toward
the happier life, which the beautiful,
fertile land of Canaan represents. I
am giving this simply as an allustra-
tion of how Swedenborg always re-
gards the Bible as a vehicle of Divine
Truth, 7380 i
~ It is of interest to recall that in the
“gear 1753 Astruc made his famous
discovery of two or more documents
in the Pentateuch and at that very
time Swedenborg was publishing,
anonymously, in London, the “Ar-
cana” explaining Genesis and Exo-
dus. The latter did not believe that
Scripture had anything to do with the
physical creation or a literal deluge,
or that the first eleven chapters of
Genesis were about individuals named
Adam and Noah. It was a very dif-
ferent phase of the subject which
came to his attention. He was en-
abled by the study of Hebrew and
by his mental illumination to see that
the early chapters gave an account in |
an ancient paral olical style of the
spiritual life of the race from the
beginning down to the J ewish era. He
pointed out that the first chapter
contains the stages of evolution by
which the mind of man, at first dark
and chaotic, was developed until it
reached the Eden of simple truth and
happiness. This age continued until
self-interest asserted its power, and
the innocence of childhood was gradu-
ally lost. At last wrong ideas flooded
th. world. Then a keen race of men,
denoted by Noal. in the ark, began a
new age. Intelligence grew rapidly,
and the rod of conseience replaced the
voice of the pure soul. The symbol
was no longer a garden but a vine-
yard. Mankind grew up like an am-
bitious youth, building the great em-
pires of the East whose records we
are recovering year by year. The
civilization of that period was exten-
sive: but in time it declined. Poly-
theism and idolatry came into being.
War and violen.> threatened to cover
the face of the earth with ruins, and
another dispensation had to be estab-
lished. That was the beginning of the
Jewish Church which kept monothe-
ism alive until, in-the fullness of time,
Christianity dawned upon the world.
The first Christian Church, or civili-
zation, was essentially a continuation
of the Mosaic one—full of the rough
makeshifts and tallow candles and
flickering torches of a faith fitted to
a turbulent society. The sense-pic-
tures and fair engravings of ritual
and the sceptre of authority beheld,
as it were, in the margin of the Word
were superstitiously revered; but the
Divine Meaning remained unread. So
passed the perverse manhood of the
world, and we continue to feel its
passionate outbreaks and downfalls
and unhappy moods. But now the
arc light of a more enlightened faith
shines upon humanity, and the crea-
tion of a new man goes on step by
step; yea, the Sabbath of peace in all
hearts and in the outer world shall
yet come, and the reign of selfish,
blind instincts shall vanish forever.
Thus the Bible is portrayed as one
vast glorious parable. All the way
one may read in it lessons of life and
its phases—its first innocence, its
youthful waywardness, its saving con-
version, and its incalcuable possibili-
ties of service and joy. It is a com-
plete circle from paradise to paradise
—“the circle of the earth upon which
sitteth the Lord forever.” The lim-
ited language and imperfect modes of
thought of days long gone by are
only the body of a heavenly message
that declares God to be always with
jus, imparting new and higher gifts
and capabilities. '
-. The higher criticism of the Bible,
i soul within him.
|
as Swedenborg indicates, does not!
take away a jot or tittle of its essen-
tial meaning, but corrects erroneous
views of the early Jewish writers.
In this view, then, there is no con-
flict with the accumulating data of
archzology, geology, and the study
of different documents. The Bible is
lifted to a higher level than ever be-
fore, and is clothed with holiness. The
old view was most unworthy of the
Great God of all souls. He was sup-
posed to have said nothing until Si-
nai. He had left no room for science
to work without making trouble for
faith. His instruction of the race had
been through the narrow and exclus-
ive ray of light to Moses. His provi-
dences were chiefly heartless neglects.
All nations except Israel were under
His ban, and millions must have been
swept into the abyss. Then His “be-
loved Son” interceded, and offered
Himself up as a sacrifice upon the
Cross for an otherwise doomed race,
then the “Father” was propitiated,
and cancelled His sentence, but only
for persons in whose behalf the “Son”
spoke a good word! This old view
was Swedenborg’s arch enemy; for it
was constantly taught in the schools,
preached and proclaimed with the ut-
most zeal and eloquence. Its gigantic
shadow lay on the baby’s cradle,
brooded over the prison and the
death-bed, it had penetrated even the
smallest acts and common sayings of
every day. Skeptics and atheists nat-
urally sprang. up everywhere. Faith
in the Lord and His Word seemed to
demand the suppression of science
and philosophy and the smothering of
all generous sentiments. h
But Swedenborg confronted this
giant with a new view that brought
fresh hope and appreciation of the
Bible. The God he followed is the
God of all nations and all times. In-
finitely patient and unselfish, He has
watched over the whole world. At
first He led childlike man by the same
law of spontaneous growth by which
He forms a beautiful tree; then He
taught him in the parables of garden,
flood, vineyard, and tower, afterward
Jin the books of Moses and the Proph-
ets. As to geology and other sciences,
pictures from them are used to sym-
bolize the regeneration
There always have been laws of jus-
tice in every land; and the code of
Hammurabi, who was Amphrael in
Genesis, is well known. But the Dec-
alogue was given at Sinai in a pe-
culiar manner, so that it might pre-
figure the spiritual laws which wis-
dom and science were to reveal as the
centuries passed. Only by having
definite pictures of life stamped upon
our memories can we learn to imagine
“more beautiful ones and make them
living realities. Whenever the Jews
turned aside from their trust for all
men, they were rebuked pointedly
. with the example of many other peo-
ples who did not have the Word °n
writing, but upon whose wise and
noble minds the truth was inscribed
as with letters of gold.
Swedenborg holds up many of ine,
Jentiles of his day as examples of sin-
cerity and well-doing which should put
Christendom to shame, and lo! now it
is they who are showing the most de-
termined courage for the cause of
brotherhood, while we devise more
effective ways to kill one another in
ihe next war. Truly, the Word of the
words stands forever, though the old
"heaven and earth of literalism melt
away.
If it is indicated in Swedenborg’s
teachings that evolution is the Di-
vine method of creating, he also shows
that it is not complete without previ-
ous “involution.” Since God is Life
itself or Soul, He cannot help putting
a form of soul into everything that
comes from His Hand, and each soul
takes hold of matter and shapes it
into the image of something which
God has thought. It is still true, as
Plato taught, that something cannot
be made out of nothing, and intelli-
gence cannot be evolved out of mat-
ter because it lies in such a different
plane of existence.
has been developed from a lower to
a higher form, yet he has been im- |
mortal from the beginning. He did !
not, however, enjoy his higher capaci-
ties until he became conscious of the
It is also asserted
that he has fallen from a childlike
simplicity and innocence, while he has
made tremendous material progress,
and is returning by long, steep ways
to the heights where is God, “thr
meeting place of all souls.”
Swedenborg’s revelations take from
every grave its fear. Before he was
raised up into heaven, the future life
was, for most “Christians,” full of
terrors. It was a disputed question
whether life or death brought greater
opportunity—whether death was the
istence. Now we are positive that
the larger, nobler life is beyond the
grave. The child dying in his moth-
er’s arms was an intolerable thought.
Now we know of the sweet, unclouded
childhood which awaits him, the
bright abodes where angels will teach
him to speak, think creative thoughts
and do the work for which he is best
fitted, where he will grow up in
beauty and go forth to deeds and ad-
ventures mightier than were ever be-
held upon earth. We know now that
every faithful love which has been
thwarted here has tenfold greater
joy in store for it on the other side.
Heaven and hell have become facts
in our deeper consciousness about
which there can be no dispute. We
have an intuitive certainty of them
—not a halting knowledge inferred
from arguments or reasons which we
can accept or reject as we choose.
Only such face-to-face knowledge
gives reality to things, since it
springs from life, and Swedenborg’s
living testimony will shed a low but
of man. !
Although man |
end of life or the door to another ex- ;
ever-increasing light upon the dark
“hinterland” of our soul experience,
and reinforce our groping efforts with
the daring of immortal purpose.
It is all very well to talk about the
folly of other-worldliness, but men
have tried living without it and ended
in tragic failure. It is true, only a
very few of us see the way out; but
these words were dictated to Sweden-
borg: “Truths derived from good
have all power.” If we only let the
Lord inspire us from His Divine
Truth, the strength of Samson shall
pass into us mentally, and we shall
yet be able to lift the dead weight
that shuts the vast majority of the
race out from their splendid possibili-
ties of development. It is significant
that Emerson, who stood at a great
distance from Swedenborg in many
beliefs, saw the fundamental truth
of his selfless attitude, and wrote:
“The weakness of the will begins
when the individua! would be some-
thing of himself. And the blindness
of the intellect begins when it would
be something of itself.” Nothing but
letting the Divine Life have its war
through us will deliver the world.
This is the true significance of
Swedenborg’s message from “the hills
whence cometh our help.” It was not
immortality he stressed, but the re-
sponsibilities it imposes upon us. He
did not regard his extraordinary in-
tercourse with angels as an end itself,
but as a means of opening his under-
standing to a true interpretation of
God’s Word, and of making the knowl-
edge thus acquired the common heri
tage of mankind.
So it must be understood that,
while the possibility of communicat-
ing with departed spirits is conceded, |
we are never encouraged to cultivate |
it. When prophets, apostles, and seers
are needed to wake the sleeping
hearts of men, it is useful for them
to be in conscious association with an-
gels and devils because the Lord then |
supervises the work Himself, and |
prevents confusion. But as a rule,
such intercourse exposes man to great |
danger, because he is so easily influ-
enced by deceiving spirits who know
his weaknesses, and use him for sel-
fish purposes.
If, therefore, Swedenborg states
chat every human being is attended
by at least two angels from heaven,
and two bad spirits from hell, he also
maintains that our peace of mind and
orderliness of life depend upon our
being unconscious of our invisible al-
lies and enemies. As John Wesley
rightly said, we have all we need to
know in those revelations, and the
rest is for us to follow the Lord alone,
trusting to His protection and guid-
ance.
The Lord Jesus Christ ig named in
the beginning and in the closing sen-
tence of the Book of Revelation; He
is the central figure of the book. He
is the Jesus of the New Testament. |
“Revelation” is the sequel to the Gos- !
pels, which tell of the Lord’s work
upon earth. His crucifixion and His
resa rection.
how He has continued His work in the
might of His glorified Humanity—
the supreme Example and Inspirer
In the Gospels He said, “Lo, I am
with you alway, even unto the end of
the world”; and He often spoke of the
comfort and enlightenment He would
vet bring to men.
What has become of this promise:
Except for the coming of the Holy
Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the
wisdom to teach and the courage and |
joy which disciples felt for a short
time, the Promise appears to have
Yeen quite forgotten.
But Swedenborg shows that “Rev-
elation” takes up this Promise and
prophesies its fulfillment. By symbols
it pictures the nature of the risen
Lord, the blessings which flow from
His Presence, and tells explicitly what
we must do to prepare our minds for
Him. It gives fully the
Christian life which shine like stars
around this glorious Presence, and
which are only faintly outlined by the
Apostles; it exposes the cruel beliefs
and evils of life which must be over-
come before these ideals can become
a part of ourselves. It shows the
chief obstacles to true Christignity—
faith. without charity, and the greed
for domination by means of rituals
and superstitions and terror. The
beasts arising out of the sea and the
bottomless pit repreesnt such mental
monsters as predestination, intellec-
tual bondage, and the idea of three
gods, which has divided men’s minds
and rendered “one-pointed” conduct
impossible, as the Hindoos would say.
For such ideas destroy all power of
spiritual concentration, breed unbal-
anced emotions, tear asunder the tex-
ture of ethics, and drive away phil-
osophy which lives only in the Unity
of God. The dragon of “Revelation”
is every effort of unscrupulous men
to reason away the Divinity of the
Lord, and the necessity of keeping
His commandments. Babylon is all
pride and conceit that prevent the ac-
knowledgment of Him and a life ac
sording to His Truth,
Many chapters of the Apocalypse
are full of scenes of judgment in the
world of spirits. Seals are opened,
and trumpets sound, which means
that the darkness and hypocrisy of a
decadent church are uncovered.
Through all the scenes moves the
Lord in His Divine Humanity. The
strength of His Love, the purity of
His Wisdom and the zeal of His
Providence are symbolized by the gol-
den girdle about His breast, His head |
like snow, and His eyes like flames
of fire and His face shining as the
sun in all its glory. His voice like
many waters is the spreading of new
thoughts and higher beliefs into the
systems of earth. He clearly tells
herein why His Presence has been so
little felt since the days when He
walked upon the earth, beheld by
The Apccalypse tells |
ideals of !
mortal eyes, and why there has ‘been
such small comfort from His Spirit.
Dominion and oppression have robbed
Him of us, as it were, and the Church
in past ages has so narrowed educa-
tion that man’s thought has been long
coming up to the degree of knowledge
necessary for a new message from
Him.
turns to gladden heaven and earth
descends—a new dispensation. We
men,” and again, “I saw no temple
therein; for the Lord God Almighty
and the Lamb are the temple of it.”
The Lord’s own human nature is the
“tabernacle of God with men,” thr
Temple of His Presence.
Swedenborg interprets the measure
of the Holy City—a full, generous
measure, the measure of that perfect
manhood attained by the Lord in the
world. The waters flowing from the
throne of God are abundant, refresh-
ing truths from His Word for those
who truly unite their lives with His.
| For the acknowledgment of the Di-
vine Humanity of the Lord is the
wisdom which opens the inexhaustible
! fountains of truth in Old Testament
| parables, psalms and prophecies, in
‘ong-sealed book of “Revelation.”
when rightly understood! The piec-
ture of the seven candlesticks and in
the midst of them one like unto the
Son of Man stands as the frontispiece
of this book, and, under the inspired
touch of Swedenborg’s mind, it grows
brighter and richer until it culmin-
ates in the vision of the City with
the river of life and the tree with
i leaves of healing for all nations, and
' the sunshine of the Lord’s own Pres-
ence, never again to be hidden fror
' His children.
| Swedenborg’s two books explaining
| the Apocalypse are a fulfilment of
| the age-long prophecy in the mind of
{ him who sees “the Son of Man com-
{ing in the clouds of heaven with
is to understand, “the clouds of
heaven” are the letter of the Word,
and “the Son of Man coming” is the
! Lord in the power and glory of the
Spiritual Sense shining through the
Above the Cross was placed ,
| Letter.
the inscription, “Jesus of Nazareth,
King of the Jews,” written in He-
| brew, Greek, and Latin, foreshadow-
likeness, revealing the hidden mean-
ings of the Hebrew Word, and the
Greek New Testament in Green, and
giving the Spiritual Sense in Latin.
In this language Swedenborg wrote,
the symbols of the Bible into princi-
ples of practical life for the use and
. happiness of mankind. He did not
, even put his name to many of his
, works. “Servant of the Lord Jesus
i Christ” was his pen name. He said,
| “It is not unknown to me that many
will say that a man can never speak
with spirits and angels while he lives
tasy, others that I state such things
to gain credit, others other things;
but I do not hesitate on this account,
for I have seen, have heard, have
touched.”
I have read with wonderment that
students of psychic life like Sir Oli-
| ver Lodge have scarcely referred to
Swedenborg’s voluminous works deal-
| ing with the same subject. Sir Oliver
| Lodge has published a number of in-
. terviews with his “dead” son, Ray-
mond, who told how the inhabitants
of eternity do the work they like best
and live in the company they like best,
how they are fed and clothed. But
the information thMus conveyed is
scanty and fragmentary. It was ex-
tracted by elaborate rappings, and in
a manner not at all resembling Swe-
denborg’s face-to-face : conversations
with angels and spirits, or his super-
human poise while he noted down a
multitude of rational happenings and
visible truths sparkling like diamonds.
He saw memory ossified, he heard the
complaints of bad spirits when they
darkness. He found that angels could
not breathe
them and he saw the delicious fruits
and mind!
When we think of all those whe
would rejoice to have colorful details
of that Unseen World to which their
loved ones have gone, the sacred re-
sponsibility of satisfying their doubt-
ing hearts is obvious.
joice to know that one hundred and
seventy-five years ago there arose a
trained scientist who, contrary to all
his expectations and plans, and the
wishes of his mother, found himself
a seer, and gave to the world without
stout octavo volumes crammed full of
details of definite contacts with the
spiritual universe! He stood right
up to his claim, let his wealth go,
lived simply, printed all his own
works, distributed them in a humble
yet dignified manner. He remained
cool in temperament, weighing all he
did and said. He never showed signs
of being racked by passion or impulse
or any excitement of a supernatural
kind. He never forsook his inductive
habits of thinking or denied any sen-
suous truths or scorned the smallest
joys of his fello. men. No matter
how absorbed he might be in his stag-
gering mission, he responded to every
demand for his assistance or sym-
pathy in the practical needs of daily
life. On his death-bed he was asked
if all he had written was strictly
true, or if ke wished any parts to be
excepted, and he replied with unfal-
tering warmth: “1 have written noth-
ing but the truth, as you will have it
more confirmed hereafter all the days
From the scenes of Judgment He |
with His smile as the New Jerusalem '
read, “The tabernacle of God is with
the Gospels, and especially in thir |
How divinely beautiful it all is .
power and great glory.” For to “see”
ing as it were the time when the Lord
would satisfy longing souls with His ,
translating, as the Lord taught him,
in the body; and many that it is fan-
looked into heaven and saw thick '
in an atmosphere to
which their thoughts had not raised |
of charity which nourish both body
They can re- |
any profit for himself twenty-seven
of your life, provided you always
keep close to the Lord, and faithfully
serve Him alone, in shunning evils of
all kinds as sins against Him, and
diligently search His Word, ‘which
from beginning to end bears incontes-
table testimony to the truth of the
doctrines I have delivered to the
world.”
CHAPTER V
Guided by the light of the Divine
Word, Swedenborg saw the Oneness
of God in Essence and Person, and
Jesus Christ as God in the humanity
which he assumed on earth, and the
Holy Spirit the Infinite Power for
creating and maintaining goodness
and happiness. This Truth is the
centre of all sound Christian teach-
ing, and unles. one perceives it
clearly, the Scriptures cannot be ra-
tionally explained. So one can joy-
ously cherish the One God without de-
nying but rather infinitely exalting
| ality toward whom millions of hearts
have yearned during the ages.
for all must love the human form,
i In heathen, Turk, or Jew:
Where mercy, love, and pity dwell
There God is dwelling too.
The joy inspired by such a concept
Such teachings lift one up to ¢
mountain summit where the atmos.
phere is clear of hatred, and one car
perceive that the nature of the Di
vine Being is Love and Wisdom anc
Use, and that He never changes ir
His attitud: toward anyone at any
time. It is shown that all men can:
not be made better because some ar¢
incapable of desiring self-improve
: ment. Some people never find God
| Those who think constantly of them
|
|
of the Lord is like the sun with its '
three-fold glory of warmth, light, and
activity. It is like the satisfaction
with which one beholds the happy bal-
ance of soul, mind, and body in a
beautiful human being, or the perfect
sequence of seed sprouting into blos-
som, and the blossom yielding luscious
fruit.
pable of fitting into the nature of all
things such a concept is!
How sane and easy and ca-
Yet what |
prodigious effort it cost Swedenborg °
flourish! He uprooted vast encum-
brances of argument and conjecture
on the Trinity and justification by
faith alone, just as Francis Bacon
substituted direct observation of Na-
ductive reasoning. They both obeyed
the call of everlasting Truth, com-
mitted themselves to the difficulties’
and the solitude of a new era, and
upheld their opinions against the hos-
that they might provide for coming
generations a guidance more faithful
and secure. They both found that
“the doctrines which find most favor
with the populace are either conten-
tious and pugnacious, or specious and
' empty, so that no doubt the greatest
wits have been very fain for reputa-
tion’s sake to bow to the judgment
of the time and the multitude.”
sith Bacon, “The degenerat: kind of
learning di. reign chiefly amongst
the schoolmen, who, having sharp
and strong wits +nd abundance of
leisure, did, out of no great quantity
of matter, and infinite agitation of
wit, spin unto us those laborious webs
of learning which are extant in their
books.”
The new thoughts abcut the Unity
of God which Swedenborg offered to
replace the old are precious because
they give one the insight to distin-
zuish between the real Deity and the
repelling appearances with which a
wrong reading of the Word and the
anthropomorphic attributes
which passion-driven men have in-
vested Him. The following extracts
from his “True Chrisiian Religion”
show how he strove to supplant those
unchristian concepts with a nobler
faith:
“God is omnipotent, because He has
all power from Himself, and all
others have power from Him. His
power and Lis will are one, and be-
ture for the scholastic method of de- ;
Swedenborg cculd also have saia "like owls and bats.
to plant it so that it could grow and ;
Jesus Christ—that beautiful Person- ' blind”
selves never see visions. Their souls
drown in the materiality that rises
about them ..ke a flood and sweep:
them beyond their level. They set
nothing but others who are struggling
in the dark waters like themselves
They are indifferent to saving them
selves or helping anyone else. Bu
all through Swedenborg’s book:
shines an image of the Eternal Low
which embraces every human being
and seeks to restrain him from sink
ing into deeper sin. It is explaine
why the Lord is called “deaf anc
in Isaiah—that He is a
though He does not see the sins o
men; for “‘e does not chastise o
break His children, but gently bend
and turns them to good as far as the;
will yield to His influence and co
“perate with Him. a
Another doctrine, revolutionary i
those days, is that there is no suc
thing as predestination to hell, tha
all are born for heaven, as the see
is born to become a flower and th
little thrush in the nest is intende
to become a song-bird, if the laws o
life are obeyed. In other word:
all have been redeemed, and all ca
be regenerated, and it is a man’s ow
fault if he lives and thinks himsel
out of heaven. But he does go ther
every time he thinks a noble thought
and he stays when it has become hi
happiness to serve others.
Some have sai¢ that Darwin mad
a laughing-stock of heaven and hell
but they are made no laughing-stoc
in Swedenborg’s writings, and the
. never should be from anyone else
point of view, so long as men ar
capable of sinning and feeling r¢
morse. We are taught there is n
hell of the medieval kind; but the:
{s a mental hell into which people
who are self-confirmed lovers of evi
! and who wilfully deny God in the’
tility of public opinion with the hope
heart. They do not fall into liter:
fire, and as they punish themselve
more than enough, God takes awa
from them even the anguish of co:
science. That is why they are neve
forced to put themselves into state
of heavenly feeling—they would on’
be suffocated and robbed of the on:
' pleasures they have. But they “burr
with selfish instincts and love «
dominion. They see as they think-
They debate ar
' litigate and fight; they practise en
less arts of magic and “faking,” the
must labor herd for air and food, ar
some of them seem always to be cu
ting wood and mowing grass becau
on earth they worked so furious
for rewards. Misers hug to the
hearts imaginary money-bags. Sire
try painfully to beautify their pitif
forms and enjoy their images 1»
: ected in the dull lights as of a cha
coal fire. Each gang of crooks striv
. to outwit all the rest, and the fier
i jc. of rivalry slines luridly on the
with |
cause He wills nothing but what is
good, therefore He can do nothing |
In the spiritual . for the sake of self to be of serv
but what is good.
world, no one can do anything con- :
trary to his will; this they derive
there from God whose power and will
are one. God also is good itself;
therefore, while He does good, He is
_ in Himself and cannot go out of Him-
self. From this it is manifest that
His omnipotence proceeds and oper-
ates within the sphere of the exten-
sion of good, which is infinite.
“It may be evident how delirious
they are who think, still more they
who believe, and yet more they who
teach, that God can condemn anyone,
curse anyone, cast anyone into hell, | dey, espenially zo Ho alone Fas |
, :
predestine the soul of anyone to eter-
nal death, avenge injuries, be angry
or punish. He cannot even turn away
, His face from man and look at him
| with a hard countenance.”
| “It is a prevailing opinion at this
' day, that the omnipotence of God is
, like the absolute power of a king in
| the world who can at his pleasure do
. whatever he wills, absolve and con-
' demn whom he pleases, make the
| guilty innocent, declare the faithless
faithful, exalt the unworthy and un-
deserving above the worthy and de-
serving; nay, that he can under what-
ever pretext deprive his subjects of
their goods, and sentence them to
death; with other such things. From
this absurd opinion, faith, and doc-
trine concerning the Divine omnipo-
tence, as many falsities, fallacies, and
chimeras have flowed into the church
as there are subjects, divisions, and
derivations of faith therein; and as
many more may yet flow in as pitch-
ers might be filled with water from
a large lake, or as serpents that
creep out of their holes and bask in
the sunshine in the desert of Arabia.
What need is there of more than two
words, omnipotence and faith; and
then to spread before the people con-
jectures, fables, and trifles, as many
as occur to the senses of the body?
For reason is banished from them
both; and when reason is banished,
in what does the thought of man ex-
cel the reason of a bird that flies over
pishepd?”
marred faces. Those who have he
tentaciously to their eruel, stug
opinions, talk hour after hou: to the
own idiotic kind znd to dumb spiri
When they are weary of their fut
efforts, all the genii, gnomes, ¢€
chanters, and rcbbers take hands a
dance, like the crazy fantasies of
fevered dream.
But these unfortunate beings 2
not left useless or despised by t
Lord. He brings them into exterr
order, and, as far as they can be |
by their affectiuns, He induces the
to others. They enable man to ¢
the evil he is to avoid as well as
good he is to choose. They keep al:
the fires of ambition in him when
does not care about ideals or the p1
lic welfare, but desires: rather fa
and honor. They sharpen some mir
for unpleasant truths which the cl
dren of light must surely learn if t}
are to help guard humanity agai
brute force and every form of oppr
sion whether it Le by one or by ma:
Even the worst of the devils ne
escape the sense of attraction ti
feel toward Him they would £:
divine grace of always being ni
them, and tender with their foll
Let anyone who would rage agai
his fellow men as fools and evil-do
beware, even though they may clea
prove everything they say to be jt
Truly, as Balzac asserted, “Swed
borg has absolvea God from the
proach attached to Him in the e
mation of tender souls, for the
petuity of revenge to punish the
of the moment—a system of injus!
and cruelty.”
(Continued next week.)
NEW $5 BILL IS TURNED
YELLOW BY LAUNDRY SO
Washing powder and water h
caused one of the new five dc
bills to change its original green
shade of gold but no concern is
by treasury officials as a result.
The bill was presented at a Bx
mont, Texas bank, and its altera
in color caused officials to believ:
first that it was counterfeit.
Treasury representative visited Te
to inspect the currency.
Henry Herrick Bond, assis’
secretary of the treasury, said
day the investigation indicated
money had ‘been sent to a laur
in a shift’ and had been was
thoroughly with a solution used
cleaning clothes.
“We dont expect much of the
ney to be subjected "to that tr
, ment,’ Bond said.