new church life: march / april 2014
says, a lot of the core terminology of the New Church – shunning evils as sins,
regeneration, the as of self, and use – comes from the Acts and Epistles. It is of
great importance to read them in the light of the Prophets, the Gospels, and the
Book of Revelation; and we must be forewarned that they contain some difficult
material. But Swedenborg never said we should not read them. We should be
reading them, along with the rest of the Word.
“The more I study the Acts and Epistles,” Jonathan said, “the better I
understand the Writings.”
What the New Church is Going to be Like
The Writings are all about the New Church and its teachings, but what do they
tell us about what the Church will actually be like?
There are occasional mentions, such as in Arcana Coelestia 2417, that in the
New Church the Lord will restore the doctrine of charity, which was primary in
the Ancient Church. But there is not much presented about what the Church will
really be like.
Finally, the la