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