n e w c h u r c h l i f e : j u ly / au g u s t 2 0 1 4
especially in childhood, which has stayed with us.
“Church talk,” by the way, enters into our everyday speech much more
than in most churches because the Church is such a big part of our lives, not
just a side interest; and because the doctrines of the Church are doctrines of
life, with vital meaning and wide application.
(WEO)
two most important terms
The two most important New Church terms are the Lord and the Word. People
in other churches speak mostly of God and Jesus, and the Bible.
In the New Church we speak of the Lord – with a clear understanding that
the Lord Jesus Christ is God. We also refer to God, of course, and occasionally,
in certain contexts, to Jesus – but mostly just to the Lord.
This is in accord with the usage of the Heavenly Doctrine, as explained
at the beginning of the Arcana Coelestia: “In the following work, by the name
LORD is meant the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, and Him only; and He is
called ‘the Lord’ without the addition of other names.” And it is noted that in
John 13:13 that this is what He “commanded” His disciples to call Him, saying:
“You call Me Lord, and you say well, for I am.” (Arcana Coelestia 14)
It is also in accord with the usage of the Writings that we call the Bible
“the Word.” Others also use that term, but not so consistently as we do, or
with the significance the term Word has for the New Church. The thing that
makes it the Word is the internal sense, and our use of that term to refer to it
is a reminder of that.
(WEO)
biblical literacy
Twenty-five years ago E. D. Hirsch published a popular book, Cultural Literacy:
What Every American Needs to Know, and updated it in 2002 with The New
Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. Each included lists of hundreds of names and
terms that every educated person should be expected to know – a baseline of
knowledge for functioning effectively in contemporary society.
But a strange thing is happening. As technology and social media expand
access to everything we could ever hope to know, cultural literacy is declining.
Man-on-the-street TV interviews, for instance, show “educated” college
students who can’t name the Vice President of the United States or locate
Canada on a map. To them, Jackie Kennedy and Marie Antoinette are just two
women in history, irrelevant to their lives.
But as cultural illiteracy increases, Biblical illiteracy is growing as well.
With the Bible removed from American public schools and the public square,
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