The Real Reason Jesus is an Inspiration

Todd takes a fresh look at Jesus as a role model. Even if we can't personally live up to His example, we can be blown away by His commitment and love. Todd takes us through the real meaning of Jesus' actions and shows us the amazing inspiration to be had from contemplating His example.

I can see why mainstream Christianity gets so much inspiration from Jesus: just before we were all going to hell, Jesus stepped in front of His Father and said, “Take me instead.” He stood up to the Almighty for us. That’s inspiring. However, my New Church educated brain knows things did not actually happen that way. Instead a divine human was on earth that straightened out the mess that finite humanity created. That, to me, never was a fair fight. Infinite good versus finite evil? “He could not but conquer” (Arcana Coelestia 1812). Of course hell was going to lose! It never had a chance.

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Editor's Box | Why was the Lord's Second Coming Less Impressive than the First?

I'm writing to offer a couple responses to the question Makram Max raised. (Granted, Makram asked the question differently than I did in my title).

This question seems relevant to me. For anyone who has grown up in the Swedenborgian religion, the thinking and claims become normal and acceptable because one's context has always included them. But anyone not raised with a Swedenborgian approach to the second coming must be flabbergasted to find that there are people who think this event has already happened. As far as a I know, most people think of the second coming involving massive, physical world disturbances. The transition to seeing it as a new revelation and opportunity for spiritual enlightenment must be a difficult mental shift—even if the case is reasonable. But Makram's question doesn't compare Swedenborg's second coming claims to conventional claims but rather compares them with the first coming.

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The Culture of Heaven: An Explication of the Wine-making Process as Corresponding to Spiritual Reformation and Rebirth

Johanan likes to think about the process of making wine. He shares ideas ranging from the factual process of fermenting grape juice to its spiritual implications and meanings. This article delightfully balances the tangible and the philosophical as it unpacks one of the key spiritual images in the Word.

Heaven is not as far away as we often think it is. Heaven on earth is a state of mind, available to those who are willing to live their lives in such a way as to be receptive of what God offers all people: the opportunity to find happiness through serving others. By believing in God, a person accepts that all of creation is designed to serve God’s ultimate purpose: establishing heaven from the human race (Divine Love and Wisdom 330; Divine Providence 323). Since everything serves this purpose, everything in the natural world must have relation to spiritual things. Knowing how the natural world relates to the spiritual world is the prerogative of a heavenly mind because having an understanding of this relationship is angelic knowledge itself, and is the means of communication with heaven (Heaven and Hell 87). Thinking in terms of correspondences between the natural and spiritual worlds requires a mindset that is practiced in recognizing and discerning how spiritual principles are reflected in natural events. A fully integrated mindset is the same as a way of life, and a collection of individuals (such as a family or community) with this heaven-oriented mindset can be said to be an example of heavenly society, or heavenly culture. In this paper we explore the idea of a heavenly culture and correspondence in the process of wine-making, which we relate to the process by which the Lord introduces us as individuals into heavenly culture.

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Clothing

What do clothes say about who you are? Is it reliable? What's up with angel's clothing? What about envying or desiring nice clothes? Malcolm tackles some of the spiritual ideas behind one of our three basic necessities: clothing.

Introduction

George Carlin observed, “Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?” The same principle applies with clothing. People make lots of different choices about clothing—how much money to spend on it, what style to go for, how much time to spend putting together an outfit on a given day, etc.—and those that make different decisions than we do are either slobs or snobs.

So, in an effort to get beyond thinking of each other as a bunch of slobs and snobs, here are a few different New Church perspectives on clothing.

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We, Distinct from Our Teachings

Derek challenges the reader to examine the dissonance between actual teachings in the church, the culture surrounding it and the community of believers by looking at three pertinent examples. He argues that we are often not clear enough about what mean when we use the term “church.” Through an exploration of the teachings about acceptance, use and marriage, Derek seeks to start a conversation in which people learn to see what is taught in distinction from what is culturally absorbed. -Editor

Consider this: when you think about the New Church, when you comment on it or complain about it, when you praise it or when you hate it, to what specific reference point is your action directed? In other words, what is the object of your complaint, praise, or thought? Is it the people in the community around you? Is it the doctrine itself? Is it an interpretation of that doctrine? Often the concept of the New Church is lumped into a conglomerate whole and we fail to challenge ourselves to define and delineate its separate aspects. In my view, there are three primary components of the Church: the teachings, the organization, and the culture. As people of the larger New Church society, we need to recognize these as distinct elements in order to build a healthier community, and ultimately, to better align them.

Think: where do they not align? Where has a cultural trend supplanted a doctrinal teaching? In such an instance, would we even be aware of the shift, or in our oversimplification of the definition would we be blind to the difference? Let’s take a closer look at how this pertains to a few specific and fundamental New Church principles: acceptance, use, and marriage.

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Protecting Ideals and the Reality of the World in which We Live

From a mother's perspective, Stephanie asks the hard questions about balancing ideals with the challenges of reality. Stephanie is insightful and penetrating in her questions but remains gentle in her conclusions as she acknowledges how difficult and personal the struggle is for each person trying to make the best choices she can. -Editor

The New Church offers beautiful teachings with unadulterated ideals about marriage. Something I struggle with is how to hold and protect these precious, perfect ideals I've been privy to have an awareness of, and how to love and accept myself and others in our imperfect states and world. Specifically, I struggle with the ideals of conjugial love and the myriad ways in which it is adulterated. Some questions that arise in my mind include relationships outside of marriage (including homosexuality, cohabitation, pre-marital sexual relationships, open relationships, etc.), the spectrum of the presence of mothers, and the roles and specific duties of men and women within marriages.

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