new church life:
j u ly / au g u s t 2 0 1 5
The Rev. John L. Odhner has served as a pastor in Florida and
California, and was a key person in revising the General Church
Liturgy. He is assistant to the pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church,
teaches in the Bryn Athyn Church School, works on the Office
of Outreach Internet Project, and is one of the directors of the
Stephen Ministry Program. He lives in Bryn Athyn with his
wife, Lori (Soneson), and their family. This paper is also on the
weblink: http://newchu rchteachings.org/nct/suicide
Contact: [email protected]
O U R N E W C H U RC H V O C A B U L A R Y
Part of a continuing series developed by the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, 1961-1966.
CORRESPONDENCE
As this term covers a fundamental doctrine which is found only in the Writings,
its meaning should be clearly understood. The basic idea can be expressed very simply.
Correspondence is both a causal and a functional relation between the Divine and the
spiritual or between a spiritual and a natural thing.
When a natural object, activity or phenomenon is the effect of which a spiritual thing is
the cause, and when the two perform analogous uses to the body and the mind, respectively,
they are said to be in correspondence; and the natural thing is said to correspond to the
spiritual, or to be a correspondent.
Correspondence is therefore also the law or mode of influx. In another usage, the term
means agreement that makes influx possible, as where it is said that man’s external mind must
be reduced to correspondence with the internal mind. (See Arcana Coelestia 3225; Apocalypse
Explained 1080; Heaven and Hell 89, 107.)
As the terms, representative and significative, are related, it may be useful to note them
here and observe the distinctions involved. When a natural thing re-presents its cause on
another plane and in another form, it is said to be a representative. Note, however, that a
representative is, by definition, not the thing that is represented. In general, things have a
correspondence; persons and their actions, in the Word, represent; and the actual words of
the Scripture which are the symbols for things, persons and actions, signify. (See Arcana
Coelestia 3225, 2988.)
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