Personal Experience of a Physician

by John Ellis

CHAPTER VI.

A NEW DAY TO OUR EARTH.

"'Behold He cometh with clouds,' signifies that the Lord will reveal Himself in the literal sense of the Word, and will open its spiritual sense at the end of the church."—A. R. 23.

A church, we are taught, comes to its end when the true doctrines of the Word are falsified by its members, to justify evils of life; or when the members of a church who are in the love of ruling over others in civil and ecclesiastical affairs, for their own aggrandizement, or for vain show, or who love money or sensual gratification without regard to use, strive to justify the gratification of their perverted loves and appetites by an appeal to the Sacred Scriptures, and thus frame creeds and doctrines which exalt faith and ceremonials above a life of charity, and when men come to live in accordance with such false doctrines the church comes to its end. At the same time, there remain some who are still in the good of life, or striving to live good lives in obedience to the Divine commandments. Such comprise the common people who receive the Lord with joy at His coming, and follow Him, among whom a New Dispensation of Divine Truth commences. Such may be found both among the clergy and laity. The end of the world is the end of the Dispensation or Age, and not of the material earth—"The earth endureth forever."

We are told by Swedenborg that the angels rejoiced greatly that it had pleased the Lord to reveal a knowledge of correspondences so deeply concealed during some thousands of years; "and they said it was done in order that the Christian Church which is founded on the Word, and is now at its end, may again revive and draw breath through heaven from the Lord."—Conjugial Love, 532.

So we are not to look for the destruction of the prevailing religious organizations, but for the rejection of their false and irrational doctrines, and the receiving of new light and life from the Lord. And how is such a result to be brought about?

It was apparently the opinion of Swedenborg that his writings would be read by the clergy, who would teach the doctrines therein contained to their congregations; and thus the glorious truths for this new Era or crowning Church would be spread among the people; for, in speaking of the descent of the New Church, or New Jerusalem, from God out of Heaven, he says it can only take place "in proportion as the falses of the former Church are removed; for what is new cannot gain admission where falses have before been implanted, unless those falses are first rooted out; and this must first take place among the clergy, and by their means among the laity."

That Swedenborg's anticipations are surely and somewhat rapidly being realized at this time seems beyond question; for over 30,000 clergymen of the various religious denominations of our country have already sent for and obtained Swedenborg's "True Christian Religion" and "Heaven and Hell," and over 25,000 have received his "Apocalypse Revealed." It is known that large numbers are reading the above works with great interest, and that hundreds if not thousands are full receivers of the doctrines therein contained, and that they are teaching them to their people as fast as they find they can receive them. In fact, many of Swedenborg's writings were translated into English by the late Rev. John Clowes, Rector of St. John's Church, Manchester, England, who, for many years, without ever being required to sever his connection with the Church of England, openly and boldly taught the doctrines revealed through Swedenborg. Mr. Clowes says:—

"Nothing, therefore, can be plainer than that the New Jerusalem Dispensation is to be universal, and to extend unto all people, nations, and languages on the face of the earth, to be a blessing unto such as are meet to receive a blessing. Sects and sectarians, as such, can find no place in this General Assembly of the ransomed of the Lord. All the little distinctions of modes, forms, and particular expressions of devotion and worship will be swallowed up and lost in the unlimited effusions of heavenly love, charity, and benevolence with which the hearts of every member of this glorious New Church and Body of Jesus Christ will overflow one toward another. Men will no longer judge one another as to the mere externals of church communion, be they perfect or imperfect; for they will be taught that whosoever acknowledges the incarnate Jehovah in heart and life, departing from evil, and doing what is right and good according to the commandments, he is a member of the New Jerusalem, a living stone in the Lord's new Temple, and a part of that great family in heaven and earth whose common Father and Head is Jesus Christ. Every one, therefore, will call his neighbor Brother, in whom he observes this spirit of pure charity; and he will ask no questions concerning the form of words which compose his creed, but will be satisfied with observing in him the purity and power of a heavenly life."

"The Gentiles," says Swedenborg, "cannot profane the holy things of the Church like Christians, because they are not acquainted with them." "They are afraid of Christians on account of their lives." "Those who have lived well, according to their religious principles, are instructed by the angels, and easily receive the truths of faith, and acknowledge the Lord," "for they have not formed for themselves any principles of falsity opposed to the truths of faith, which would need to be first removed."

"Although Gentiles are not in genuine truths during their life in the world, they receive them in the other life from a principle of love."

"The Church of the Lord exists with all in the universe who live in good according to their religious principles, and acknowledge the Divine Being; and they are accepted of the Lord and go to heaven."

The above is in strict accordance with all that Swedenborg has written; for he says:—

"In the spiritual world to which every man goes after death, it is not the character of your faith into which inquiry is made, nor of your doctrine, but of your life, whether it has been of this character or that; for it is known that such as a man's life is, such is his faith—nay, more, such is his doctrine; for life forms its doctrine and faith for itself." (D. P. 101.) "For the good of life according to one's religion contains within it the affection of knowing truths, which such persons also learn and receive when they come into the other life." (A. C. 455.)

"Evils which belong to the will, are what condemn a man and sink him down to hell; and falsities only so far as they become conjoined with evils; then one follows the other. This is proved by numerous instances of persons who are in falsities, and yet are saved." (Ibid. 845.)

"It has been provided that every one, in whatever heresy he may be as to the understanding, can still be reformed and saved, provided he shuns evils as sins, and does not confirm heretical falsities in himself; for by shunning evils as sins the will is reformed, and through the will the understanding, which then first comes out of darkness into light. There are three essentials of the Church: the acknowledgment of the Divine of the Lord, the acknowledgment of the holiness of the Word, and the life which is called charity. According to the life, which is charity, every one has faith; from the Word is the knowledge of what the life must be; and from the Lord are reformation and salvation. If the Church had held these three as essentials, intellectual dissensions would not have divided but only varied it, as light varies its colors in beautiful objects, and as various diadems give beauty in the crown of a king." (D. P. 259.)

Here, then, we have a broad spirit of charity which acknowledges every man as a brother who believes in a Supreme Being, shuns evils as sins, and strives to live conscientiously and honestly according to the light he possesses.

As many who will be likely to receive this pamphlet may know little, if anything, in regard to the claims which Swedenborg makes, that he was the human instrument chosen by The Lord through whom to reveal to the world the truths of a New Dispensation, even of the Second Coming of the Son of Man, it may be well to allow this chosen servant to speak for himself as to his mission. He says:—

"I have been called to a holy office by the Lord Himself. I can sacredly and solemnly declare that the Lord Himself has been seen of me, and that He has sent me to do what I do, and for such purpose has opened and enlightened the interior part of my soul, which is my spirit, so that I can see what is in the spiritual world and those that are therein; and this privilege has now been continued to me for twenty-two years. But in the present state of infidelity, can the most solemn oath make such a thing credible or to be believed? Yet such as have received true Christian light and understanding will be convinced of the truths contained in my writings, which are particularly evident in the book of 'Revelations Revealed.' Who, indeed, has hitherto known anything of importance of the spiritual sense of the Word of God, of the spiritual world, or of heaven and hell; the nature of the life of man, and the state of souls after the decease of the body? Is it to be supposed that these, and other things of like consequence, are to be eternally hidden from Christians?"

Again, in the "True Christian Religion," at a later date, toward the close of his life in this world, he says:—

"I foresee that many who read the relations after the chapters, will believe that they are inventions of the imagination; but I assert in truth that they are not inventions, but were truly seen and heard; not seen and heard in any state of mind buried in sleep, but in a state of full wakefulness. For it has pleased the Lord to manifest Himself to me, and to send me to teach those things which will be of His New Church, which is meant by the New Jerusalem in the Revelation; for which end He has opened the interiors of my mind or spirit, by which it has been given me to be in the spiritual world with angels, and at the same time in the natural world with men, and this now for twenty-seven years."

In a letter to the King of Sweden, with characteristic simplicity and boldness, he says:—

"When my writings are read with attention and cool reflection (in which many things are to be met with hitherto unknown) it is easy enough to conclude that I could not come to such knowledge but by a real vision and converse with those who are in the spiritual world. I am ready to testify with the most solemn oath that can be offered in this matter, that I have said nothing but essential and real truth, without any admixture of deception. This knowledge is given to me by our Saviour, not for any particular merit of mine, but for the great concern of all Christians' salvation."

When asked why a philosopher was chosen to this office he replied:—

"To the end that the spiritual knowledge which is revealed at this day might be reasonably learned and naturally understood; because spiritual truths answer unto natural ones, inasmuch as these originate and flow from them, and serve as a foundation for the former."

To the Swedish clergymen who visited him a short time before his death, and who urged him to recant what he had written if it was not true, he replied, with great zeal and emphasis:—

"As true as you see me before you, so true is everything that I have written, and I could have said more had I been permitted. When you come into eternity you will see all things as I have stated and described them, and we shall have much to discourse about with each other."

Here, then, we have in this illustrious seer the unparalleled instance of a man, not in the enthusiasm of youth, but at the mature age of fifty-six years, standing among the first in the philosophical world, with reputation unsullied, high in office in his native country, with proffered promotion, giving up all, and proclaiming to the world that he was called by the Lord to the important office of revealing new truths of vast moment to his fellow-men—even the truths of a new dispensation, or of the second coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Now, I appeal to you, one and all, Clergymen of the Christian Church, of every name, to obtain and read his writings. In the good Providence of the Lord, three among his most important works can be obtained without money and without price by the clergy and theological students of our country, by simply ordering them and sending the postage—as will be seen on the second page of the cover of this pamphlet.

Swedenborg does not require or desire you to believe anything contained in his writings on his simple declaration, but you are to believe the statements made, and doctrines proclaimed, in his writings, only as you perceive them to be true, and in strict accordance with the Sacred Scriptures. What have you to lose by reading his writings? Thousands of laymen and clergyman testify to you that they have found the greatest help and strength from reading them, even where they may not have read enough to fully recognize his claims.

Canon Wilberforce, of Southampton, England, one of the most distinguished clergymen of the English Church, visited this country a few years ago; and while he was here, being a prominent temperance man, the National Temperance Society gave him a reception, during which some one introduced me to him as a believer in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. Stopping a moment, and looking steadily at me and those in the immediate vicinity, he exclaimed, most emphatically: "Emanuel Swedenborg has done the Christian Church an immense service! an immense service!! especially in his explanation and illustration of the doctrine of the Lord." These words were spoken manfully and boldly in the presence of members and clergymen of his own and other Churches. The doctrine of the Lord is the chief corner-stone of the New Jerusalem now descending from God out of Heaven. Let that doctrine be accepted by our Churches, and their creeds, so far as they are based on a tri-personal God, will need no revision; they will disappear.

"All things," says a great authority, "are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath committed unto us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." (2 Cor. v: 18, 19)

The late Professor George Bush and a large number of distinguished scholars and clergymen, after a most thorough and careful examination of Swedenborg's writings, assure us that in them they find the truths of a New Dispensation, even of the Second Coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven. The light of a New Day is shining. Christian brethren, will you close your eyes against it?

Was there ever any greater need of a new revelation from God to teach men anew that, if they would reach heaven and happiness, they must repent and shun evils as sins against God, and strive to live a life according to the commandments? Look at the fearful evils which prevail in our beloved country; the love of rule, civil and ecclesiastical; the miserly love of money, selfishness, vanity and sensualism, in their worst and most degrading forms! Customs and habits prevail which threaten the extinction of at least the Protestant portion of the community in large sections of our country. A Catholic bishop stated, a few years ago, that one quarter of the inhabitants of New England are Catholics, and that one-fourth of the population give birth to 70 per cent. of the children born in New England. More recent inquiries, it is stated, show that the average number of children in a family among the Canadian French settled in New England, averages 5; whereas among the native New Englanders the average number of children in a family is 1-1/2. It is not difficult to see by whom the land of the Puritans will be ruled within the next quarter of a century. Seventy years ago, the average number of children to a family among New Englanders was fully equal to the number among the French to-day. Why this change? Fashionable habits of dress—tight lacing, which is worse to-day than ever before—has, to a large extent, destroyed the ability of the New England and other native American women to bear healthy and well-developed children, and to properly nurse them after they are born. Among our present deformed women, child-bearing is attended with much more danger and suffering than among well-developed, symmetrical, and beautifully formed women. No man who desires peace, health, and happiness in his home, and desires to leave children behind him, and to thus perform the most important use which can be performed in this life, should ever think of marrying a small-waisted woman.

Then again, to have a good family of children is thought not to be fashionable, among those who are led by fashion, as it interferes too much with one's selfish pleasures, they think; most dearly do they pay in after life, if they live many years, for their folly. Children are a blessing; and yet the most unnatural and injurious measures are adopted to prevent bearing children, even to the destroying of the unborn. The Catholic Church, through the confessional, holds some restraint over Catholics; but what restraint do our Protestant Churches hold over their members in regard to such evils? Look at the miserable caricatures of the female form printed in our fashionable magazines, and even in our daily papers, and sent forth and freely spread before our young girls, for them to pattern after, and thus deform themselves.

Look at the drunkenness, the leaden and congested faces of our steady drinkers of intoxicating drinks, and the innumerable deaths and the wretchedness and sorrow which follow such drinking; and remember that the chief support of such drinking at this day is the use of the drunkard's cup instead of "the fruit of the vine" as a communion wine in so many of our churches, and the example of so many of our clergy, backed up by the prescribing of such drinks by so many of our doctors. Do away with these two chief supports, and prohibition would be enacted and enforced throughout our land within five years.

Look at the use of tobacco, which is to-day recognized as one of the most deadly poisons, which when used by the young prevents the development of the human body, and at all ages causes innumerable diseases and deaths and an inability to withstand the encroachment of other causes of disease; and the smoke and saliva from the nostrils and mouths of those who use it, which are so unpleasant and disagreeable to those who are not accustomed to them, but who yet are so frequently compelled to breathe a polluted atmosphere. Please read the following and tell us whether to thus prevent the development of the body and lessen one's ability to withstand the causes of diseases should be shunned as a sin against God or not:—