WORLDWIDE BIBLE STUDY
citations, those from the Prophets are
People throughout the world are
more than double the next closest – the
tuning in to a live Bible Study with the
Gospels. And in another handout on
Rev. Dr. Jonathan Rose, Wednesday
which part of the Bible is the source of
evenings at 7:30 p.m. EST/DST.
the first extract in a given number in the
first volume of the Arcana, the Prophets
The link to the live-stream broadcast:
have 61 percent – far more than any
www.ustream.TV/channel/
other section of the Bible. This suggests
nunclicetbiblestudy
that the Arcana is actually an exposition
There is also a Facebook page:
of Genesis and Exodus in the light of the
www.facebook.com/
Prophets.
SpiritAndLifeBibleStudy
Jonathan said this suggests a new
prioritization of the Word. The Prophets
and Revelation are the primary works for the New Church. Yes, it is easier to
understand the story of David and Goliath, but it is important that we get into
the Prophets, he said – to read and love them, and “do the heavy lifting” to
understand them.
In fact, Last Judgment 60 suggests that the reason Swedenborg had his
spiritual experiences was to keep the Book of Revelation from being rejected.
It is all about the Word.
Acts and Epistles
Swedenborg says that these are good books for the Church but we tend to treat
them as though they are not, and prefer to talk of the Word, not the Bible.
This is based on some strong statements in the Writings – that they have
no internal sense and are not the Word. (See Secrets of Heaven 10325) But
there are also numbers such as True Christianity 154.1, stating that “the Lord
filled the writers of the Epistles with His Holy Spirit.”
Jonathan had a handout with 20 numbers both negative and positive
toward the Acts and Epistles – with the negatives coming in Swedenborg’s early
phase, 1749-1763, and the positives in his second phase, 1764-1771. In fact,
toward the end of Swedenborg’s life he referred to them in Coronis as “the
Apostolic Word.”
Swedenborg, Jonathan said, was dealing with the Protestant view that the
Epistles of Paul were of the highest priority, while the Gospels were more for
Sunday school. The Arcana, the first of the Writings, never quotes the Epistles,
which bothered people in Swedenborg’s time.
There are a lot of quotes from the Acts and Epistles, however, in Swedenborg’s
final work, True Christian Religion, which concludes with three such quotes.
The dividing line seems to be 1764, when Divine Providence began citing them.
Jonathan presented a paper on the Acts and Epistles to the Council of the
Clergy last year, and he freely refers to them in his Bible study class. In fact, he
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