New Church Life Mar/Apr 2015 | Page 33

      The lesson is that it is okay to have our differences, but that we should hold them lightly, with humility, and let God build something good out of those differences. Day Three looked at how all of this relates to the current state of Bryn Athyn College. Like the images in the Word of “all tongues” gathering to praise the Lord, (Revelation 7:9-10; Isaiah 45:23, 66:18), the College has opened itself to people of “all tongues” – all different backgrounds of doctrines or beliefs. (Apocalypse Revealed 282, 505) So how is this working out? How can a church – or a college – be built from “all tongues”? With a much more diverse student body, Thane said, we are still novices in creating an atmosphere in charity of leading to the Lord, but we are progressing. He is one of three instructors teaching the introductory religion course to all students in the College, using The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine as its base. People hold their faith close to their hearts, he said, and we need to welcome different perspectives while also challenging them with new ideas. Most students new to the Church are not willing to have their faith challenged directly by Swedenborgianism, he said, but they are willing to be challenged about what is in the Bible. So he has reframed the course to focus on what the Bible is calling us to, comparing the New Church perspective, and invites the students to reason together about the differences in their perspectives. If Jesus was willing to ask a lawyer who tempted Him (Luke 10:25-26) how that man read and interpreted what was written in the Law, can’t we start there by carefully asking about what is in the Bible: What is your interpretation? Together instructor and students look beyond surface readings of Scripture to see what the real message of the Bible is. Then The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine becomes a complement to what is in the Bible. The process is sometimes messy but richly rewarding. There are moments when we know we are failing, he said, but also moments of success. Course evaluations – which are overwhelmingly positive – include such comments as: “a vision of Christianity for all people” and “Bryn Athyn College taught me how to be a human.” As students progress through their academic careers, he sees more unity and civility emerging. And within