n e w c h u r c h l i f e : m ay / j u n e 2 0 1 4
(Arcana Coelestia 605, 920, 4442) They thought up Noah and the Ark, and the
“light” to enlighten them meant by Ararat. (cf. Ibid. 850)
To conclude the real story of Noah’s Ark, the remnant Noah instructed
the gentile Enoshites using the prior Word of Enoch, but some of the Gentiles,
mocked the whole process. Ham saw Noah drunk and naked and reacted that
way. But the instruction continued with difficulty by concentrating on what
was good and true. (Ibid. 1175) The other gentiles, Shem and Japheth, walked
backwards to cover Noah. When the family, i.e. human race, finally came out
of the ark – the return to Canaan? – the Ancient Church began among a few
struggling individuals. (Ibid. 1126) But then they got the hang of it, and that
church grew to be “the” religion, very numerous among all the city states:
“Assyria, Mesopotamia, Syria, Ethiopia, Arabia, Libya, Egypt, Philistia as far
as Tyre and Sidon, and the whole land of Canaan, on this side and beyond
Jordan.” (Ibid. 1238)
We might well include all those city states and ancient empires known
today from archeology: Troy and Çatalhöyük (Wikii entry) in Turkey, Moenjo
Daro, in India, plus Rome and Athens, of course. But first, Gobekli Tepe. They
all had the Ancient Word – not just Genesis 1 to 11, but the Wars of Jehovah,
(Numbers 21.14) Jasher, (Numbers 21:14, 2 Samuel 1:18, Joshua 10:13); and
Utterances, (Numbers 21:27) The “sun and moon standing still” (Joshua 10.13),
was just a quotation from the Book Yasher! Would the Lord really destroy this
planet’s rotation just to make a point? The spiritual sun was seen with spiritual
eyes opened.
Ever since the Ancient Word was first composed, all readers knew exactly
what Noah’s flood was really all about. Nowadays, everyone thinks it was a
boat with animals and people, stranded on Mount Ararat. But enjoy the movie
anyway – or groan at its false theology. There was, after all, an ice age in there,
and boats on water carrying livestock were the imagery selected to recapture
the real story, in terms familiar to the contemporary population, revealed
“according to man’s comprehension.” (Arcana Coelestia 2533)
The Rev. Dr. Erik E. Sandstrom is retired and serves as Acting
Curator of Swedenborgiana in the Swedenborg Library in Bryn
Athyn. He was ordained in 1971 and into the second degree in 1972.
He has served the Olivet Church in Toronto, Canada; the Michael
Church in London, England; the Hurstville Society in New South
Wales, Australia; as assistant professor of Religion in Bryn Athyn
College and its Theological School; and as editor of New Church
Life. He and his wife, Lynn-Del (Walter), live in Huntingdon Valley,
Pennsylvania. Contact: [email protected]
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