Personal Experience of a Physician Part 6

O Lord! how long? how long shall such evils continue in our churches?

Of course I replied to the article in the New-Church paper alluded to above, and others replied to me, and I to them in return; but it was not long before notice was given that the discussion would cease, and that with three unanswered articles against me in one number of the paper, and that in a paper edited by a clergyman, and published by the General Body of the Church. Well, looking for the welfare of the Church and its members which I loved, I could not stand still and see such false and dangerous views boldly and dogmatically proclaimed in the most extensively circulated periodical of the Church without doing my best to counteract them.

Consequently I wrote a reply in a tract form, and sent it to every New-Churchman whose name I could obtain. This was but the beginning. An article appeared in another periodical of the Church to which I was allowed to reply; but the discussion was soon closed, and I was given no chance to reply to the last communication, and a reserved communication which was published afterward. Finding that there was no chance to present the temperance side of the wine question fairly before the readers of these two periodicals, I was led to write several pamphlets in reply to such articles as appeared in favor of the use of fermented wine, in which I endeavored to present fully and fairly, generally in the language of its advocates, their views of the question, and I endeavored to answer them in the light afforded by the Sacred Scriptures, the writings of the Church, ancient history, science, and well-known facts as to the manufacture and preservation of unfermented and fermented wines in all ages.

Several pamphlets were published in reply to the advocates for the use of fermented wine in our New-Church periodicals in the course of five or six years, of which about 10,000 of each were printed and sent to all Newchurchmen whose names I was able to obtain in this country, England, and elsewhere, hoping to reach as far as possible the readers of the writings of my opponents and others. The following are the names of the pamphlets written, printed, and sent, viz: "Pure Wine, Fermented Wine, and Other Alcoholic Drinks," published in 1880; "The Wine Question in the Light of the New Dispensation," in 1882; "Reply to the Academy's Review," in 1883; "Intoxicants, Prohibition, and our New-Church Periodicals," 1885, to which was added "Deterioration of the Puritan Stock," 1884; making in all, with index, 736 pages.

Finally, I had printed an edition of all of the above pamphlets from the plates, and bound in cloth, of which I sent a copy to all New-Church ministers in the world whose names I could get, and to some others.

My controversy with the clergy on the wine question led me to fear that there were other evils gradually creeping into the Church organization which should be exposed, and against which both laymen and clergymen should be warned; therefore, I wrote a tract ent.i.tled, "The New Church: its Ministry, Laity, and Ordinances, with an Appendix on Intoxicants and Our New-Church Periodicals," published and sent out in 1886, the latter part to answer some articles which had recently appeared in the Church papers. This tract was sent to about 10,000 or 11,000 Newchurchmen.

Then I wrote and compiled and condensed from my previous writings, including "The Avoidable Causes of Disease," a work of 511 pages, fully presenting the wine question in all its aspects, and the use of tobacco and opium, and the bad habits of women, faulty methods of rearing children, etc., etc., of which in paper covers I sent out over 10,000 to my New-Church brethren, and about 40,000 copies I sent to clergymen of various denominations.

In the year 1883 my attention was seriously called to the signs of deterioration of the Puritan stock in New England, especially in Ma.s.sachusetts, my native State, where it was shown that in six years, ending in 1881, the deaths among the native population fully equaled, if they did not exceed, the births; whereas, among the people of foreign birth, the births exceeded the deaths by over 87,000. And I found, on visiting my native town in Western Ma.s.sachusetts, and the school district where I attended, where we used to have about thirty scholars in the winter and twenty in the summer, when I was a boy, and although there are but two families less residing there now than when I was a boy, and all native Americans, still I found that they had but eight or nine scholars during the winter, and not enough to keep up a school in summer.

As a result of my inquiries I wrote a work of 52 pages, calling attention to the spiritual and natural causes of such decline of the native stock, and especially to the bad habits and false ideas of men and women which have produced it. This pamphlet I ent.i.tled, "Deterioration of the Puritan Stock, and its Causes," and printed 140,000 copies, which I sent to all the clergymen and physicians in our country whose names I could get, regarding them as the teachers and leaders of the people, and largely responsible for the existence of at least some of the prevailing evils of life.

Within the last few years pamphlets have been written by prominent clergymen of some of the prevailing denominations advocating the use of fermented wine, especially for sacramental purposes, in strong language, and claiming that it is a good and useful fluid. This seemed to aid and comfort distillers, brewers, and saloonists very much. At last one appeared ent.i.tled "Communion Wine," in which the advocates for the use of the "Fruit of the Vine," or pure unfermented wine, were a.s.sailed in no very gentle language. Several thousand of this pamphlet were sent by a Rev. Doctor of Divinity to clergymen, with a special request from him, to at least some of them, that they should read them and give him their opinion as to its merits. About 285 clergymen responded, most of them in favor of the views contained in the pamphlet, but 22 most decidedly opposed. The arguments in favor of fermented wine were based upon a.s.sumptions which were entirely groundless, and which have again and again been exposed. I could but feel that the time had come when a concise statement of the truth upon the wine question should be written and placed in the hands of every clergyman in our country; and as, in the controversy extending over several years, I had had occasion to examine the wine question in all of its various aspects, and to read whatever I could find written on both sides of the question, and had had suggestions from, and the cooperation of, some of the most distinguished scholars upon this question in this country and England, I felt that it was my duty to write a reply, which I did, of 38 pages, which was printed in connection with a short article on "The Holy Supper is Representative," by Mr. J. R. Hoffer, editor of the Mount Joy _Herald_, Mount Joy, Pa. Of this pamphlet over 80,000 were sent by Mr.

Hoffer to clergymen in the United States. And of my reply alone, in a tract form, which is based upon the letter of the Sacred Scriptures--the testimony of ancient writers and science--about 50,000 copies have been printed and distributed by Mr. J. N. Stearns, 58 Reade Street, New York, who keeps a supply on hand to fill all orders.

The last pamphlet before this one which I have written is one recently published by "The Swedenborg Publishing a.s.sociation," of Germantown, Philadelphia, Pa., ent.i.tled "The Essential Points of the Wine Question Carefully Examined," which, with an Addendum of 6 pages by W. J. Parsons, son of the late Professor Theophilus Parsons, contained 70 pages. This pamphlet was written for Newchurchmen and based upon the Sacred Scriptures as unfolded by the Science of Correspondences revealed through Swedenborg.

This pamphlet was sent only to 10,000 Newchurchmen.

THE RESULTS OF EFFORTS IN BEHALF OF TEMPERANCE.

The reader may reasonably inquire what results have followed all the efforts which I have made to call the attention of the clergy and laity of the New Church, and the clergy of other churches, to the importance of using as a communion wine, the genuine "Fruit of the Vine" as the Lord has organized, ripened, and sweetened it in the grape, instead of a leavened or fermented wine, which, when used as a beverage, causes disease, drunkenness, insanity, and death, in innumerable instances, among the clergy and laity of our churches, and enslaves their children often before their rational faculties are fully developed. I am happy to say that to-day there are quite a number of New-Church clergymen, in this country and England, and a large number of laymen, who, after a careful examination of the subject, are satisfied that the good wine of the Word and the Writings, and the only wine suitable for use as a Communion wine, is always the fruit of the vine, and never fermented wine. Many of these clergymen and church members have not always thought thus, and did not when I commenced writing upon the subject.

At the Annual Meetings of the General Convention of the New Church, when unfermented as well as fermented wine has been permitted to be used, and full notice has been given, nearly or quite one-third of the members present have deliberately partaken of unfermented wine.

I am satisfied, from what I have seen and heard, that one of the most useful works which the Lord has enabled me to do was the writing and sending the reply to "Communion Wine" to over 80,000 clergymen. The clergy of the prevailing organizations are not so difficult to reach upon this subject as are a majority of those of the New Church, for they have not confirmed themselves in favor of fermented wine from the writings for the New Dispensation. It is one thing to see new truths when they are revealed, but it is another step to be willing to see that those truths condemn falses in which we have strongly confirmed ourselves, or evil habits in which we delight, and to avoid confirming ourselves in falses, and to avoid striving to justify evils. To do the latter means to endure and resist temptations, and to engage in a warfare until the old man with his deeds is put off.

The New Church is descending from G.o.d out of heaven, and as it progresses, fermented wine is disappearing from the Communion tables of Christian Churches.

"The new wine," says Swedenborg, "is the Divine Truth of the New Testament, and thus of the New Church." (A. R. 316.)

The new wine for the New Christian Church is unfermented wine, pure as it comes from the hands of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, in the fruit of the vine, and not a leavened wine. And when men return to its exclusive use, mult.i.tudes now enslaved, diseased, and insane from leavened wine will be set free, cured and restored to their right mind by the Great Physician--by the inflowing life from Him through this physical representative of His blood.

The New Church is not a new sect or organization, but a new faith and a renewed life resulting from a revelation of Divine Truth, made by the Lord through Emanuel Swedenborg, for the benefit of all sects and all men, that the Christian Church may "revive again" and be reunited in the bonds of Charity, by worshiping the one G.o.d whose name is one--even the Lord Jesus Christ--and by striving to live a life according to His commandments.

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 a.s.sured, 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 pa.s.s away, and we can see that they are pa.s.sing away.

Swedenborg a.s.sures 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 h.e.l.l, from among those who were not fully prepared for either heaven or h.e.l.l; and they were a.s.sociated 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 h.e.l.l, 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 G.o.d 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 antic.i.p.ated 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 pa.s.sing 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 pa.s.sing away.

Look! What congregation would be willing to sit quietly and hear the doctrine of infant d.a.m.nation 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 G.o.d. The doctrine of a literal h.e.l.l 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 subst.i.tute for them? You know very well that when extreme views are given up, there is great danger that opposite extreme views will be subst.i.tuted.

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 h.e.l.l; 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 h.e.l.l, 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. h.e.l.l 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 h.e.l.l, h.e.l.l 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 h.e.l.l, 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 a.s.sociates 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 h.e.l.ls 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 h.e.l.l they dwell among their like, and it would seem that they are not so favorably circ.u.mstanced 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 h.e.l.l tarry until their characters are fully developed, when each one goes to his own congenial society either in heaven or h.e.l.l, 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 pa.s.sages contained therein, have come to think that the Lord in His loving kindness may yet so change the inhabitants of h.e.l.l 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 h.e.l.l; 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 G.o.d?

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 mult.i.tude 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.