tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030257666913290314.post3548450681078894264..comments2024-03-11T07:53:25.838-04:00Comments on Spirituality, Dreams and Prophecy: Quit the Old Church, and Join the NewDoug Webberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11071107950046910342noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030257666913290314.post-29877258687106489912018-10-12T21:27:43.461-04:002018-10-12T21:27:43.461-04:00As for external forms of worship, I guess I dont r...As for external forms of worship, I guess I dont really care but I think the general guideline is for order to be maintained, and that any ritual be symbolic in form. There should be teaching (which is the spiritual meaning of the Sabbath), communion, baptism, and singing. Communal worship should not be rejected, but as it is now, I sort of have to teach in a hidden way when I attend other churches. Once in a while a light bulb turns on. Jesus went to Jewish synagogues and obviously the Jewish teaching was completely corrupt, but Jesus did not cease engaging them. However since in Christian tradition authority is accepted without question, that tends to stifle discussion or freedome of thought.<br /><br />Matt. 24 teaches that when one sees the abomination of desolation - that is, when one sees that the church is corrupt, Jesus advises that those of Judea should flee to the mountains, which means despite the corruption we should still practice a life of love. The top of the mountain is a bit lonely, but that is the way to go, one cant follow the masses.Doug Webberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11071107950046910342noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030257666913290314.post-28944963666952050922018-10-12T21:17:37.056-04:002018-10-12T21:17:37.056-04:00Hello Lee, apologies this blog is getting bombarde...Hello Lee, apologies this blog is getting bombarded with spam and I finally started to go through them and found some real comments.<br /><br />As the way it is now, the New Church is represented by the woman hidden in the wilderness described in Revelation 12. My personal opinion is that the period of 1260 days (or 42 months) represents a period of 1260 years. Given that the revelation was given in the mid 18th century, we are looking at after the year 3000 A.D. before the New Church comes out of obscurity and into the light. I have blogged about these prophetic time periods but it will probably not be generally accepted as Swedenborg only discusses the highest universal concept for these time periods.<br /><br />There are several passages, where the true spiritual nature of the western Christian world is shown, and it is dark and evil. Capitalism and materialism reigns, and this is partly represented by the dragon in the book of Revelation (America happens to be mainly Protestant, and Swedenborg identified the dragon as those who separate faith from charity). At the end of True Christian Religion, Swedenborg is shown that the New Church will probably revive in Africa. For the U.S., probably a long period of spiritual decline since for most money is the end all in life.<br /><br />So those are my thoughts for now, I guess its a bit dismal but probably its a realistic one.Doug Webberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11071107950046910342noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030257666913290314.post-34430437568864528482018-07-03T13:52:41.410-04:002018-07-03T13:52:41.410-04:00Hi Doug,
I agree with the general point and direc...Hi Doug,<br /><br />I agree with the general point and direction of your article. My big question at this point in my life is: What would people actually join?<br /><br />The organized New Church as it currently exists has major problems, and is in serious decline. I question whether it really represents what Swedenborg taught. I think it has put the new wine of Swedenborg's teachings into the old wineskins of traditional religious institutions, culture, and forms of worship.<br /><br />Having grown up in the organized New Church and even become an ordained minister in it, I now think that the organized New Church as it currently exists will most likely cease to exist along with the institutions of traditional (and now corrupted) Christianity that the new church Swedenborg spoke of will, in time, replace.<br /><br />Along these lines, see my article:<br /><br /><a href="https://leewoof.org/2013/07/26/christianity-is-dead-long-live-christianity/" rel="nofollow">Christianity is Dead. Long Live Christianity!</a><br /><br />One of my big questions right now is what this new church will look like. I no longer think it will look like a church with pews, a chancel, and a priest or minister leading people in a ritualized worship service. But I have no clear sense yet of what it actually will look like.<br /><br />Swedenborg said that in the new church there would be no externals separated from internals (I'm quoting from memory). This means to me that whatever the new church is like, it will spring organically from people's spiritual lives rather than being a ritualized representation of them. So my main theory so far is that the new church will mostly exist in the living out of people's daily lives rather than in some institutionalized and ritualized form.<br /><br />However, that's not really something you can "join."<br /><br />About as far as I've come in a more formal sense is that people will still need spiritual teachers to guide them toward the truth and toward a direct relationship with Jesus Christ. That's why, though I've ceased to be a pastor, I still continue to teach and lead people through my blog, and have plans for other modes of teaching in the future as well.<br /><br />It is striking to me that when Swedenborg describes a worship service in Marriage Love #24, it consists of a sermon explaining a particular subject closed with a prayer delivered by the preacher, and nothing else. No order of worship, no ritual.<br /><br />I would be interested to hear any of your thoughts on what the new church will look like in human and societal terms.Lee Woofendenhttps://leewoof.org/noreply@blogger.com