Here in concrete terms,
previously difficult to
articulate, is the source of
the real problem facing
the 21 century. Science
creates an appearance
of the complete picture
when in reality it has only
ever been a partial view,
made possible by the
eradication of all things
spiritual, as though the
whole universe were
its subject matter.
discover the limits of the kind of
mind that is “absorbed in the study
of the natural sciences.” In a modern
context, that phrase covers just about
all levels of experience. It almost goes
without saying that the promotion of
st
such study goes hand in hand with
a simultaneous demotion of religion
that reduces it to metaphor at best, a
kind of poetic expression viewed as
typical of a pre-scientific age.
What I am suggesting is that,
for many people at least, the surfeit
of “things” provided by the modern
world no longer have the ability
to hold us in their thrall, and this
has given rise to a sense of lack,
of something missing. There is a
growing army of people under the
radar of public perception who live
in a silent awareness indicated by
expressions like, “there must be
more to reality than this.”
This kind of loss of confidence over time is described by Swedenborg as
a process of “vastation,” something easily grasped by newcomers like myself
aware of a need for a kind of reality more radical and substantial than modern
culture can provide. This is because the solution to human yearnings is mostly
cosmetic, providing the same things in a new format that ultimately fails to
satisfy our deepest human cravings.
In short, one could view Swedenborg’s thought in commercial terms as
identifying a substantial niche in the market that is currently going begging. It
is clearly a market that is identified in Words for the New Church.
With this in mind, try to imagine what it must be like for people coming
upon New Church thinking for the first time. Keep in mind that they will have
some memory of a past in which they learned and absorbed Bible stories, and
that some key figures will be etched in their memory. For who has not heard of
Adam and Eve, the serpent in the garden, events like the flood, and much else?
Though rarely discussed, they are part of the reason why they have
intellectually separated themselves from religion. For instance, the story of the
serpent in the garden will bring up all the old, negative associations that story
has for them. (Couldn’t be true, a harsh and unfair judgment, and so on.)
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