Course on Theistic
Psychology by
Selections
from Student Reports
On
Full reports available at:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/theistic/readings.htm#Part%202
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459s2004/cooper/report3.htm
The two main textbooks to this
course were Testimony to the Invisible Edited by James F. Lawrence and Spirituality
that Makes Sense by
Spirituality the Makes Sense
is a book written by Swedenborgian minister
Through the reading of these two
texts as well as the ever-growing pages of the lecture notes, one is presented
with plenty of material to investigate and attempt to understand the works of
Emanuel Swedenborg. That is, if one feels so inclined. By a proper
investigation of the texts and lecture notes, one is able to discuss the main
topic of this course, which is, mystical vs. rational spirituality.
(...)
Quotations from "Spirituality
that Makes Sense"
“Our idea of God governs and controls all our
wishing and thinking, whether we realize it or not.” –
This quote comes
from one of the first sentences of
God is the
fountainhead of all ideas. God is the greatest possible idea that man can
fathom. God is the most important idea also. One’s idea of God determines all
of our other ideas. For if God is an idea that contains infinity, then God must be within every other idea. For any other
finite idea cannot exist apart from the infinite idea of God.
If one trusts in
an all-loving God, then this idea floods into all other thoughts and feelings,
especially when one deals with fear. If one sees God as malign, then that idea
can cause an individual to be more harmful, frustrated, angered, paranoid, or
anxious. The idea of God affects everything in our minds, whether we are aware
of it or not.
“We are meant to have an enlightened faith,
a faith through understanding.”
-
-
This statement I
hold to have the utmost importance. Faith and religion lie at the hearts of
man, whether they are aware of it or not. But the direction that the modern
mind is developing is a direction that relies more and more on logical
coherency, reason, and understanding. If faith is going to be something that
people incorporate into their lives, it needs to be a faith through
understanding. It is important that an understanding and rationality is applied
to faith, because if it is not, then it is merely blind, ritualistic,
persuasive, or mystical. If this were the case than man would not be in true
agreement with what faith he attributes himself to.
The purpose of
faith through understanding is so that faith makes sense. If it doesn’t make
sense then it is without substance. It is through the understanding that man is
able to raise his love into higher spiritual warmth. In order to develop ones
faith to higher levels, one must raise their understanding of faith and
spiritual matters. For faith trying to endure without understanding is like a
plant trying to grow without the light of the sun.
“The Lord never casts anyone into hell. Nor
is anyone cast into hell against his or her own wishes. People freely choose to
go there for eternity because, while living on earth, they have chosen hell in
preference to heaven in most situations.”
-
I enjoy this quote
for a number of reasons. The main reason is that it addresses questions that
many people have when it comes to the topic of God. Such as, “How can there be
evil if God is all good?” “Why is there a hell? Why doesn’t God take everyone
to heaven?”
People aren’t
punished by a life in hell; they choose to go to hell. While we are in this
world we are blessed with the gift of freedom. Through or conscious use of our
free will, we choose what to do. When we choose to do and think things that
contain hellish characteristics, then we are forming hellish habits. We are choosing
to look away from heavenly warmth and light. When we do this we become more
comfortable with hellish things. Thus, we make ourselves spiritually nocturnal.
People are in hell, because that is where they choose to be, because that is
where they feel most comfortable. They don’t enjoy heavenly things, because
they didn’t live that kind of life on earth, they aren’t comfortable in heaven.
They choose hell.
The point of this
quick discussion is to show, briefly, that many spiritual topics that man
struggles with, can be explained in a way that makes
sense. It can be understood. Spiritual clarity exists.
Mystical
or Rational?
In a word, the two
textbooks that we studied during this class represent both the mystical and
rational approach to spirituality. Testimony to the Invisible is the
more mystical approach, while Spirituality that Makes Sense, as its
title suggests, is the much more rational approach.
Testimony to the
Invisible is a mystical
approach to Swedenborg because it is a collection of many people’s
interpretations of Swedenborg’ Writings. Many of the authors or the people
discussed in the essays were not investigators of what Swedenborg had to say,
because they couldn’t get past the idea that Swedenborg had his spiritual eyes
open. Because of this, they had to take on a mystical approach, or resulted in
questioning Swedenborg’s sanity rather than data.
Throughout the book
Swedenborg is often referred to as a “visionary” or “mystic”, which quite
obviously suggests a mystical approach to the subject.
In the first quote
that I cited,
The third quote I
discussed about Emerson is the one that I believe displays the books lack of
rationality the best. In the book, Emerson disregards Swedenborg’s
correspondences and invents his own. This shows that Emerson missed the point
entirely. The correspondences that Swedenborg discovered were not some sort of
symbolic invention, but were based on his empirical observations in the
spiritual world. If one interprets correspondences as a subjective
interpretation by Swedenborg, then one is approaching Swedenborg mystically.
For this suggests that Swedenborg was somewhere far away from reality, and sees
him as more of a visionary, literary figure than a rationalist and scientist.
As long as one
focuses only on the subjectivism, and experience of God, without referring to
the rational nature of God, then one treads the line of mysticism. One can see
this throughout Testimony to the Invisible because it is many people’s
subjective interpretations of Swedenborg rather than the objective
investigation of Swedenborg (save Suzuki’s chapter).
Spirituality the
Makes Sense is a much more
rational approach to Swedenborg than Testimony to the Invisible. The
purpose of the whole book seems to be “making sense” of God, the Spiritual
world, and many other topics such as the virgin birth and the trinity. Throughout
the book
Never once, does
=========================
From: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459s2004/castro/report3.htm
I always wanted to know what happens to
those who committed criminal acts, such as murder when they reach the spiritual
world. There are many forms of murder, such as physically killing someone,
gossiping, and ostracizing. Gossiping and ostracizing can cause emotional
damage and can lead to consequences, such as isolation, suicide, and denial of
God. Some victims of gossip and ostracism are severely affected by these
negative words that they are unable to build or regenerate their character or
think rationally. Some individuals overcome these negative remarks, while
others have a more difficult time in doing so. This in a way is like murdering
someone's spiritual soul. In Spirituality
That Makes Sense by
I really liked the chapter on the Spiritual
World because we are able to learn what our life will be like once we leave the
natural world. Unlike the natural world, which operates by the laws of nature,
the spiritual world is a world that is operated by our mind. "Everything
happens there according to the laws of the spiritual world, according to the
laws of the mind" (Spirituality That
Makes Sense,
I always wanted to know what makes hell
"hell".
Personally, I want to do more charitable
works, such as giving food and clothes to the homeless. The chapter
on "Saving Faith" really made me reevaluate myself and made me
want to start charity works. I really like the passage "This charitable
attitude or good will is the motivating force within good deeds that makes them
genuine works of charity" (Spirituality
That Makes Sense,
I definitely agree that "Faith is
progressive. It grows as charity grows" (Spirituality That Makes Sense,
I am happy to learn that the Lord won all
the battles of temptations so he could bring order in the spiritual world.
"He restored order in the world of the spirits, so that the warmth and
light of heaven could once more flow down and be received by human minds"
(Spirituality That Makes Sense,
Testimony to the Invisible represents the mystical approach to spirituality and
God. The chapter on A Mystic Looks at
Swedenborg is a great example of the mystical approach to
spirituality and God. Mysticism is "the first-hand experience of direct
intercourse with God" (Testimony to
the Invisible, Wilson Van Dudeen,
pg.126). Having a personal relationship with God and being a part of God's life
is what makes up mysticism. It's like being connected to God through prayer,
faith, worship, and love. "Mystics who write attempt to
share their experience and its subsequent understanding with others"
(Testimony to the Invisible, Wilson Van Dusen, pg.133). Some people may
view mystics as irrational because they may think that their works are not
factual and unscientific. "The mystic is simply one who has direct
experience of the Divine" (Testimony to the Invisible, Wilson Van Dusen,
pg.133). In my mind, Swedenborg would be considered a mystic since he came into
direct contact with the Divine through his travels in the spiritual world.
"Having experienced God once, one
acquires a taste for it. The mystic learns how to find his or
her way back into that communion" (Testimony
to the Invisible, Wilson Van Dusen, pg.106). Mystics believe
that God and humans are able to connect as one entity, which assumes that they
have similar consciousness or minds. Mystics also believe that we can
experience God if we are able to become one with Him. Emerson writes that
"My concern is with the universal truth of Swedenborg's sentences, not at
all with he circumstances or vocabulary" (Testimony to the Invisible, Eugene Taylor, pg.163). In my
mind, Emerson questions whether Swedenborg actually went to the spiritual world
where he conducted experiments and interviewed angels and demons. Emerson
admits that " Swedenborg's life was one worthy to
be held up as a window into the world soul" (Testimony to the Invisible, Eugene Taylor, pg.162). In my
mind, Emerson praises Swedenborg for teaching individuals about their interior
soul and about themselves. Mystics believe that Swedenborg was a mystical
visionary because he recorded his experiences, which are abstract and spiritual
in meaning. It seems that mystics do not agree with the fact that Swedenborg
traveled to the spiritual world and conducted his experiments. The mystical
approach is different from the rational approach in that it incorporates
"experience with God" and one can form "one mind and
consciousness with God." These ideas are different from that of a rational
approach, which is logical, scientific, and incorporates God and humans as two
distinct entities.
Spirituality That Makes Sense by
"But the teaching also shows us the way
to free ourselves from evil feelings, by remembering that they do in fact
belong to hell and not to us" (Spirituality
That Makes Sense,
==========================================
From: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459s2004/clark/report%203.htm
On the other hand, “Spirituality That Makes Sense”
by
In “Spirituality that makes
sense”,
“Wickedness does indeed burn
like a fire. Surely all the evils condemned by the Lord in the Ten Commandments
are hot and burning and insatiable. What
other hellfire need there be? What else
is it but our burning, all-consuming selfishness that results when we have
completely and deliberately rejected the Lord; our fiery passions and
ambitions, our burning lust, our heated arguments our hot anger and fiery
tempers, our smoldering resentment as we burn for revenge? These are the fires of self-love burning
within---the fires of hell…The punishment of hell, then is self-inflicted. The
Lord casts no one into hell, but many people find their eternal abode there, of
their own free choice.”(Spirituality that makes sense
p.35-37). The suffering in hell
is self-inflicted because evil brings upon itself suffering as its punishment,
and it is this rational concept that supports the labeling of
=========================
From: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459s2004/valle/report3.htm
Spirituality That Makes Sense, by
Jesus said: “I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.” (John 8:42)
“The Father is greater than I.” (John 14:28)
“This is my beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased.” (Mathew 3:17)
I am a fan
of this book and recommend it to anyone who is seeking rationality in religion,
spirituality, or passages from the Bible.
================================
From: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459s2004/essig/report3.htm
Spirituality
That Makes Sense
In Spirituality
That Makes Sense,
In the first chapter of his book,
“How
can the most noble and important idea that there is be impossible to grasp—a
mystery? If God is completely beyond our
comprehension, then He is invisible to the human mind….To think of God as
invisible to the human mind means that we have a blind faith in God.”
This is a new concept to those already
familiar with Christian doctrine and ideas.
He presented some interesting ideas that if we have this kind of distant
relationship with God (if we cannot understand the idea of God), then we would
begin to think of God as unimportant because we would stop trying to even begin
to understand who he is. In turn, this
would affect our willingness to remain obedient to his laws and we would
eventually think about God less.
This idea served as the first entry, and I
think it laid the foundation of understanding the rest of the book. Without accepting the idea that there is a
God, and that God should be accessible by all of us, then Swedenborg’s
teachings would be useless. I think that
we need to go beyond the fact that God is infinite. I think that for so long, this has remained
an excuse for further exploration at the character of God. Although I do not accept everything that
Taylor presented in his book, I do think that it is time to stop hiding behind
the excuse that God is too big for us to understand who he is because it would
so easy to give up at trying to know him, and therefore be apathetic in our
search for the truth.
Later in the book,
“It
is very important to be able to visualize the God you are praying to, the God
you worship. Many sincere Christians
find themselves at some point wondering whom they should worship or pray to…
But when we believe that in Jesus Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead
in heavenly form, we can visualize the Lord Jesus Christ. We have an object to worship, someone whom our
minds can focus its sight. That is why
it is so important to have this concept of the visible God.”
There have not been too many passages that I
have come across in studying Swedenborg that deal with the person of God directly. Although this is a theistic theory, I was
beginning to wonder where “God” actually fit in. The ideas of heaven and hell, spiritual
truths, or marriage are quite frequently covered, but it seemed that God
himself was more difficult to discuss. I
think that it is important to establish the relationship between God and
man. Yes, he is the creator, but beyond
that, who is he? Why do we need God? Why did God have to become a man? Why did God create us? I think that these are important questions
that need to be covered in order to truly understand Swedenborg’s theistic
theory.
“Belief
in the Divinity of the Lord is the work of God.
God put that light into our mind, into the higher or inmost part of our
mind—everyone’s mind. So
that part of the process of believing in the Lord is entirely His work.”
From this passage, one could conclude that
it is not by our free-will that any spiritual truths are revealed to us, rather it is God’s choice to reveal anything to us. And this pretty much contradicts one of
Swedenborg’s main ideas. But if you look
further into the passage, you get clearer picture that it is through one’s
unity with God that these things are revealed.
I think that many are interested in learning more about what God’s truth
is. We are all seeking revelations from
God to understand our purpose in life. This an important area to explore in order to give people
the right motivations to seek love and wisdom in this world. This will in turn affect our spiritual life
in the afterlife.
I think that although Testimony to the
Invisible tried to be as objective as possible, it was a much more emotional
response to Swedenborg’s writings. For
example, Raine was moved by Swedenborg and described
his writings as “great splendor”. Suzuki
was very touched by Swedenborg’s lifestyle and work ethic, as well as his
theology. There was a sense of awe of
the essay writers in this book. While
the emotional connection to God was important, there lacked rational or
intellectual thought in these essays.
Also, there was a lot reference to
Swedenborg’s mysticism, whether indirect or direct. As noted earlier,
On the other hand, Spirituality That Makes Sense, used a cause-and-effect method which made it much
more rational. Each section of the book
was broken down and often times, the Scriptures were used to support the ideas
of Swedenborg. Each chapter addressed a
specific issue and gave adequate definitions and evidence to back it up.
===================================
From: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459s2004/jones/report3.htm
Quotations from Spirituality That
Makes Sense
“No light can be shed on this
miracle of human birth until we human beings admit that we do not have life in ourselves, that life flows into us. We receive life; we are only receivers or
recipients of life from the Lord, who alone is life in itself… No human father
gives life to his children.”
-
This passage helped me to understand how the virgin birth could be
possible. Prior to reading this
rationalization, I had often doubted the accuracy of the Virgin Mary. Now, when I think of all life coming from the
Lord and a man’s semen as “the means of transmitting the soul” I can understand
that because God was the father of Jesus there did not need to be a seed to
transmit the soul into Mary’s womb. All
life comes from God; therefore, there did not need to be a seed to transmit the
life of Jesus into Mary’s womb. Jesus
inherited tendencies toward evil, as witness by his many temptations, from his
earthly mother. However, because his
father was the Divine, from him he inherited only good. This explains how Jesus could have had
temptations greater than most, yet was still able to reject this evil.
“Here the last vestiges of the
human body from May (and its mind) were crying out in desperation to the Divine
Soul within, which seemed remote, afar off.
The Divine soul seemed to have forsaken the human part. “Why have You
forsaken Me?”
-
-
I, as have many others, have often wondered that if Jesus was God in the
human form, then why did he ask the Lord this question
while he was on the cross. This passage
helped answer this question. Jesus was
part human from his human mother Mary.
The Divine soul was still within him while he was on the cross. When I read this part of the text, I thought
of how many time I talk to myself during the day. I thought about how my mind, or my soul, is
within the spiritual world as well.
Therefore, when I am speaking to myself, could it be that I am
conversing with my spiritual mind?
Although this sounds confusing, it made sense to me that Jesus, the
human, while on the cross was speaking not to a separate entity, but instead to
his Divine Soul which was residing in the Spiritual world.
“The Lord never casts anyone
into hell. Nor is anyone cast into hell
against his or her own wishes. People
freely choose to go there for eternity because, while living on earth, they
have chosen hell in preference to heaven in most situations. The Lord provides us all with opportunities
to choose heaven and hell.”
-
This passage made perfect sense when I
stopped to think about two facts. First,
the fact that heaven and hell are within a person’s mind; therefore, if a
person chooses, through freewill, evil then that person will reside in the hell
of his mind. Just as if a person chooses
good, then that person will reside in the heaven of
their mind. When the earthly body is
gone and a person is in the spiritual world, that person must choose to reject
evil and accept good or live forever in the hell of his mind. This may seem as though the Lord is “casting”
that person into hell for not accepting His truths. However, if the person has lived a life with
a love for evil, then heaven will not be a gratifying place. Understanding this concept allows one to
accept that it is the person who chooses heaven or hell, not God choosing it
for the person.
Each of texts delves into the topic of the Writings of Swedenborg. Testimony
to the Invisible looks at Swedenborg as a mystic. There is no scientific rationalization of the
Writings within this book. Spirituality That Makes Sense, on the
other hand, examines Swedenborg’s Writings in a rational manner. This can be noted while reading each
book.
Testimony to the Invisible seems to embrace a
“oneness” with the Lord by seeing the happenings of the world as
mysterious. An example of this can be
seen in Wilson Van Dusen’s essay “A Mystic Looks at
Swedenborg”. Van Dusen states, “His
writing are rational, but that is their style, not preeminently their nature…
not only are his writings the work of a mystic, they are meant to help create
mystics…” Throughout this book
Swedenborg is referred to as a mystic, a great mystic. These essays do not view Swedenborg, or
religion, in a rational manner. However,
the book helps the reader learn how many great people throughout history Swedenborg influenced.
Spirituality That Makes Sense goes to great lengths to explain God in a
rational manner.
=======================================
From: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459s2004/nakamura/report3.htm
The second book, Spirituality that Makes Sense (hereafter
referred to as Spirituality) by
A question of why God put on a human form was answered in the beginning
of Chapter 5. Since I have never read
the Bible, this part was particularly interesting to me (I have never been
interested in a topic such as this until I took this course).
Another interesting topic in the book was Chapter 11, “When Good Deeds
are Good.”
“That charity and faith do not profit a man so long as they remain in
only one part of his body, that is, in his head, and are not fixed in works, is
evident from a thousand passages in the Word” (True Christian Religion 376 cited in Spirituality, p.165).
Both Testimony to the Invisible and Spirituality that Makes
Sense examine Emanuel Swedenborg and attempt to make sense of his
Writings. However, the two books differ
in their approach. Although both books
praise Swedenborg in their own way, every essay in Testimony to the
Invisible refers to Swedenborg as a mystic.
This means that he was either delusional, he was in a trance, or his
works are fictional. Not only do the
writers categorize Swedenborg as a mystic, but his close followers such as
William Blake and Ralph Waldo Emerson are labeled mystics as well. Conversely,
================================
From: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459s2004/le/report3.htm
Spirituality
That Makes Sense
By
In this book, Spirituality That Makes
Sense,
“The
concept of a spiritual world distinct from the world of nature is basic to all
religion. In addition to belief in God, what makes a religion to be a religion,
and what distinguishes it from a system of ethics and morality, is the idea of
a spiritual world in which we are to live after the death of our body--a
spiritual world where the Lord is and from which the Divine influence goes
forth.”
(Spirituality
That Makes Sense,
I thought this quote was very true. There
are many religions that exist out there and most of them involve the concept of
a spiritual world. I say “most” because we have belief systems that either deny
God or the spiritual aspect altogether. I had mentioned earlier in this report
as well as in Report 1 that I consider myself to be Buddhist, but I also believe in God. After I came across this passage, I
was curious as to how it related to my own beliefs.
Buddhism possesses spiritual concepts, however, it does not include a belief in God and a
spiritual world in which we are to live after the death of our bodies. I figured
that I had conflicting beliefs. From a Buddhism perspective, it is safe to say
that the concept of the spiritual world is distinct from the world of nature,
but the belief in Buddha, reincarnation, and past lives (the ideas I grew up
with) does not fully agree with the view of Theistic Psychology. So, in
reference to this quote, is Buddhism a religion? At this point, I continue to
question where I stand in terms of my beliefs surrounding spirituality.
“The
heavenly or spiritual part of our mind is always in a state of order, always
enlightened by the Lord. Only our earthly, conscious mind is ever our of order. The whole purpose of our life on earth is to
cooperate with the Lord in bringing our natural mind back into order so that
heavenly feelings and thoughts can flow in.”
(Spirituality
That Makes Sense,
In class, I had learned about and accepted
the idea of a distinct spiritual existence. In doing so, I was able to draw a
difference between the physical brain and the mind. This quote really made
sense to me when I read it. Throughout our lives, it is important to work
towards developing our natural mind in order to open the higher levels of our
mind, even if we have no consciousness of our inner mind. The formation of the
heavenly mind is necessary in the process of preparation for life in the
spiritual world after physical death.
Although I am still unsure of my destiny
after my death (in this life), I find this concept to be very interesting and
rational. I suppose I can apply it to reincarnation to a certain extent. If
Enlightenment is the main objective, a purpose of development exists. In this
case, with every rebirth on this earth, the soul grows and continues to prepare
itself. In spite of the many logical explanations I have been exposed to about
what happens after one (physically) dies, I have yet to make up my mind about
what I believe in. I felt that the concept of this quote was reasonable, but I
also find logic in the idea of reincarnation (of Buddhism).
“So
any good actions we do before evil motives are shunned as sins are not really
good. They only appear to be good. Can a bad tree bring forth good
fruit?”
(Spirituality
That Makes Sense,
There is a great deal of bad people in this
world who do a good job of concealing their evil motives. When I read this
quote, it reminded me of how I often get suspicious of others’ reasons for
doing things. It is true, someone may “appear” to be kind through his/her
actions, but in actuality, his/her underlying reason is nothing of that sort.
As the text that followed this excerpt pointed out, one’s good actions of an
evil motive could bring about a good effect, nonetheless, he/she really does
not benefit from it. Consequently, no one can get away with such wrong-doings.
Although bad intentions can’t always be detected by others, the mark is left on
the wrong-doer’s soul and there’s no escaping that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rational or Mystical Approach?
Rational spirituality is based on a rational
consciousness of God. “We can be ‘conjoined’ with God in a reciprocal
duality where the parts always and forever remain distinct from each other, and
there is never a ‘melding’ or other ‘oneness’ possible” (Lecture Notes, Dr.
The two books discussed above are of two
different approaches. Testimony to the Invisible represents the mystical
approach to spirituality and God. Instead of focusing on the facts and concepts
presented by Swedenborg, the authors of this book put an emphasis on his
experience with God. That would be the only commonality among the individually
subjective chapters. Furthermore, they did not seem to fully accept the idea
that Swedenborg had dual-consciousness and was able to travel to and from the
spiritual world. This is the reason why he was continuously referred to as a
“mystic” or “visionary” throughout the book. Of the many different
interpretations of Swedenborg, I felt that the chapter of Wilson Van Dusen (A
Mystic Looks at Swedenborg) clearly revealed the mystical approach. Here
are some quotes to illustrate my point:
“You
might wonder what the mystical experience does to personal identity. Sensing
the All, would I not be greater than most who don’t do
this? Not in the least. Sensing the All, I am the equal of all--the equal of
tar paper, a dog’s bark, and stars.”
(Testimony
to the Invisible, Wilson Van Dusen, p. 109)
“The
full mystical experience leaves a very broad signature on the inner life that
then finds itself expressed in many ways. The sense of familiarity is so
consistent that I would question whether the experience of déjà vu might not be
a part of mysticism.”
(Testimony
to the Invisible, Wilson Van Dusen, p. 121)
“It
would be fair to ask what the mystic ultimately discovers. Swedenborg’s
writings contain some of the better descriptions.”
(Testimony
to the Invisible, Wilson Van Dusen, p. 123)
Like the title suggests, Spirituality
That Makes Sense is a book of the rational approach to spirituality and
God. Unlike the authors of Testimony to the Invisible,
“It
is true that the finite human mind can never fully comprehend the Infinite. We
would indeed require an infinite, Divine intellect to
have a complete understanding of the Infinite.”
(Spirituality
That Makes Sense,
“In
summary, the Creator Himself came on earth as the Redeemer, and this coming was
achieved with the cooperation of the Virgin Mary.”
(Spirituality
That Makes Sense,
“Hell
is inhabited by men and women who have rejected the Lord and His commandments.
They have chosen deliberately not to live according to those
commandments.”
(Spirituality
That Makes Sense,
“Wisdom
implies understanding. The concept of the Lord as a Divine Person makes it
possible for us to think of Him, to think of His Divine qualities, and also to
picture Him as a real and living Person. This cause
Him to be present in our mind.”
(Spirituality
That Makes Sense,
================================
From: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459s2004/leman/report3.htm
In the second text, Spirituality that
makes Sense by
(pg. 4) In response to "the first and
great commandment that we should love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind
and strength" (Deuteronomy 6:5, Mark
(Pg. 24) "Thought brings presence"
is a law of the spiritual world. In both the mind and the spiritual world,
thought brings presence. Think of him clearly. The quality of the thought
determines the quality of the presence." (Pg. 30) "Receiving what
comes from the Lord is what makes heaven; rejecting that is what makes hell. "The
The baptism, representing as it did the
baptism of temptation--the washing away of hereditary tendencies to evil--was a
forecast of what the Lord was about to do. A dove is well known for
instinctively remaining faithful to one mate. The dove has also become a symbol
for peace, the essential idea in peace being unity rather than division,
strife, or separateness. A dove in the Word of God stands for truth wedded to
goodness. The truth tells us what is good, but we must actually do the good
thing. Then truth and goodness are wedded together; there is a union, a
marriage, between what we know and what we do. (Pg. )
Pg. 34, "All the evils forbidden in the
Ten Commandments and elsewhere in the Divine Word are what make hell to be
hell. They are the opposites of the good qualities that make heaven." (Pg.
37) "The punishment of hell, then, is self-inflicted. The selfish love of
dominating is what makes hell to be hell." "Heaven may be the
dominion of love, but hell is the love of dominion" (spiritual Experiences
5000). Pg. 45. "The Lord always provides a church
on earth to ensure that there is a link between heaven and earth, so that the
Lord's will may be done on earth as it is done in heaven." Pg. 66 The Lord did not save us by His death. He saved us by His
life, every moment of it. While He lived on earth the Lord was continually
battling against the hells. (Luke 4:130) Jesus is our role model.
On page 116 of Wilson Van Dusen's "a Mystic Look At Swedenborg
"Quite obviously, we stand on the borderline of a new
domain of knowledge, and we know as little of it as Marco Polo knew of
================================
From: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459s2004/vuu/report3.htm
Spirituality That Makes Sense
" If hell continues to rule inside us here, we will also
have it outside of us all around us hereafter. If heaven reigns inside us
here, it will be all around us hereafter. We will continue to be the same
kind of person after the death of the body. "
Spirituality
That Makes Sense,
When I read this passage from the book, I
had to read it several times to understand the meaning of it. To me it
seems that what the author is trying to put out is that death is unavoidable
and being so, we have to prepare our minds for the spiritual world. It is
only true that when death comes, it only takes away our bodies, yet our spirit
lives on. From what the book is saying, death is
only the shedding of our topcoat. Because our spirit lives on, we have to
prepare our mind and spirit in the heavenly way. We should put what is
right in our lives now while we are still in this physical body and here on
earth, so that when death comes upon us, our spirit will remain true to
ourselves so that we will reside on whichever side of heaven or hell that we
choose.
" A knowledge of faith is only a theoretical kind of
faith. It is like the theoretical understanding of a recent graduate from
engineering school. They have the knowledge in their heads, but they have
not experience. They know what they are suppose
to do but they haven't done it. "
Spirituality
That Makes Sense,
This is such a great reminder. This
just shows to remind us that we need to act on what we believe or we might as
well not believe it at all. Simple as that.
" From all this we can conclude that no one is born an
angel; everyone has to be reborn an angel. Consequently, everyone who is
now in heaven lived at one time as a man , woman or
child on some earth. They are now in heaven because while they lived on
earth, they were prepared for heaven, cooperating with the Lord. They
learned to love Him and to love the neighbor as themselves, which made them
angelic..."
Spirituality
That Makes Sense,
This brought about questions to mind.
Upon reading this, from what I understand that
It is very obvious here to me that in the
text Testimony to the Invisible, it perceives more of a Mystical approach from
the writers that were involved with that book. They pointed out falsities
of Swedenborg that denied his notion of entering the spiritual world then
coming back. Yet they stood strong by their faith in supporting that
Mystical belief is the truth. Spirituality That Makes Sense is a definite
supporter of Swedenborg in that
=======================
From: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459s2004/piper/report3.htm
Spirituality that makes Sense
by
"Can
anyone think of an idea that is higher or more important than the idea of
God? Surely, there is no loftier idea possible for the human mind to
grasp. The idea of God is not just an academic matter-an idea intended
only for theologians and for dry-as-dust theorizing. Our idea of God
governs and controls all our wishing and thinking, whether we realize it or
not. Even atheists' ideas of God as a nonentity enter into all of their
thoughts and influence their feelings and their lives-much more than they
realize."
Spirituality that makes Sense, by
Being only the second page of this book, I
was surprised about how much this paragraph made sense to me. There is no
"loftier idea" than God. This is the most difficult and
trying subject in my life. I have tremendous trouble just having faith
about God. This is a subject that everyone has an opinion about.
That means that it is in our minds much more than we are conscious of.
God is in every culture or society of people. The "idea of God
governs and controls all wishing and thinking" is hard for me to
grasp. But just the other day, my mother told me to pray for someone and
then she corrected herself because she knows I do not pray to God like
her. But I do kind of pray if you want to call it that. It is more
of meditation for me. Praying to me is putting all my thoughts and mental
energy toward a certain person or certain situation. Sometimes I even
look up into the sky and speak aloud. I have never thought of this as
praying. And I consider myself an atheist. But this sure does sound
very similar to praying. I just do not pray to an entity called
God. So I guess this passage is correct. It plays a part of my life
much more than I realize and much more than I want to admit.
"The
Lord from eternity who is Jehovah, came into the world
to subjugate the hells and to glorify His Human; and without this no mortal
could have been saved; and those are saved who believe in Him."
Spirituality that makes Sense, by
It is not just this passage that drew my
curiosity but the explanation after the passage. The first time I read
it, it sounded just like the bible passages that were read when I was a kid in
the Christian church. But reading a little further in the book explained
the differences. This statement is different than what the Christian
church believes about the trinity. It says "Jehovah"
rather than his earthly name of Jesus Christ. It is interesting because
Christians say Jesus came to this earth separating Jesus' identity from Jehovah
or God and the Holy Spirit.. The trinity is a
difficult concept to grasp in Christianity. Here Swedenborg is not
separating them. He is saying it is the same entity. The most
interesting part of this passage is that Swedenborg says "His
Human." Instead of confusing people and referring to God as
three parts (Father, Son, and the Holy spirit)
Swedenborg worded it so there would be no confusion. "His
Human" is referring to God in human form - Jesus who was born from a
virgin and was crucified on the cross for the sinners of this world. I
think is just simplified the Christian version so it is understandable and more
believable. I always thought I was being scammed or tricked when
studying Christianity because of all the little inconsistencies like the
trinity. Saying it this way is much easier to comprehend.
"Those
who are in doubt before they affirm are those who incline to a life of
good"
Emanuel
Swedenborg, Arcana Coelestia 2568:6
Spirituality that makes Sense, by
This is fantastic statement. I truly
believe this and try to live by this. You can apply this to politics and
what is happening in the world today. There are too many people out there
that just accept things without investigating both sides of an issue. How
many people just vote democratic or republican without seeking the position of
the candidate? There are too many college students that I hear in my
classes that hear something from a parent or a teacher or on TV and
automatically believe it without testing it or seeking both sides and then
making a choice of their educated view on something. We need to think as
individuals. Too many Christians just blindly have faith. This to
me is a follower. They do not know why they believe they just do. I
think Swedenborg is telling us to take a proactive position. We need to
search and study and find out what makes sense to us. If we find out what
and why we believe, I think that we will have more answers and live a fuller
life. Explore all other religions or beliefs systems. Have
doubt. Ask why. Study and learn until it is logical to you.
You will be much more fulfilled and life will have meaning for you - not anyone
else.
"Swedenborg
deepens our ideas of the neighbor to be loved by showing that the goodness
received from the Lord is the neighbor; he also widens our view, extending the
neighbor beyond the good received by one individual to include the goodness
in:
-a
group of individuals
-one's country
-the
whole human race
-the church
-the
Lord's kingdom, including the heavens
-supremely,
the Lord Himself"
Spirituality that makes Sense, by
When we think of our neighbor, we think of
who live next to us or a few doors down. This is not what Swedenborg is
meaning when he says "neighbor." We need to think more
globally when we say "neighbor." There is a reason why I
wrote them in ascending order. The book refers to it like rungs on a
ladder. The top of the ladder is the "Lord Himself." This
is the neighbor we should all be considering. If the "Lord
Himself" is the neighbor on the ladder that we want to affect, all the
other neighbors will also be affected that are below. Our good deeds and
charities should affect many other "neighbors" other than the one's on our street. I think of my parents
church that they go to now,
"The
Lord, being the source of the goodness that is the neighbor on all these
levels, is supremely the neighbor to be loved.
Spirituality that makes Sense, by
Your motives must be in the right
place. If you do a good deed to get higher up in the church, this is not
for the Lord. Your motives are for yourself and not the Lord. Make
sure you understand what your motives are behind your charities. It
should be done for "supremely, the Lord Himself."
"The
ascending levels of the neighbor are a great guide in decision making,
imparting much-needed clarity."
Spirituality that makes Sense, by
Both of the books are very
different. Testimony to the Invisible I thought was a very
difficult read. Each chapter is written by different authors who wrote on
something completely different material. None of the chapters seemed to
co-relate to each other. It is considered the mystical approach
spirituality. This mystical approach finds a more deep meaning in the words of
Swedenborg and the bible. In other words, there is more depth than the
words themselves. There is meaning behind the literal translation.
The stories are seen as life lessons, a parable rather than actually believing
that Swedenborg had consciousness in the spiritual world. The mystical
approach also thinks that they can have oneness with God. "Sensuous Consciousness
of the Divine" (Dr. James lecture notes) is what a mystic
believes. Humans are not equal to the Divine - God. This is seen as
"non-duality" (Dr. James lecture notes) because the
belief is that God and humans can become one "form". This is an
arrogant point of view, thinking that the mind of a human can combine with the
mind of the Divine - God.
To me this book showed how the
Swedenborgian view has been around for years and has influenced people we all
have studied about. It showed how the concepts of Swedenborg influenced
important people in history. We all have been introduced to some of the
concepts of Swedenborg but have not been aware of it. Most of the authors
talked about someone else in history that had followed Swedenborg and adapted
to the mystical approach. As an introduction to the Swedenborg concepts,
I do not think this book is a good choice. I wanted to know what
Swedenborg wrote not what and how other people in history were influenced by
him.
In the first
chapter, Jorge Luis Borges starts out by talking about Ralph Waldo Emerson.
"In
his famous lecture of 1845, Ralph Waldo Emerson cited Emanuel Swedenborg as a
classic example of the mystic." (page 3)
In the
second chapter, Czeslaw Milosz
talks about Dostoevsky Crime and Punishment.
"Swedenborgian
Elemnts in Crime and Punishment" (page 26)
In the third
chapter, Kathleen Raine starts out with another
famous man, William Blake.
"The
poem by William Blake entitled "The Devine Image" comes from Songs of
Innocence..." (page 51)
The second book we read was Spirituality
that makes Sense. This book was much easier to read and to
understand. With the background of the majority of students being
Catholic or Christian, this book was much easier to read and make sense.
This book is considered the rational approach to spirituality. The
rational approach uses the writings of Swedenborg as it is literally
written. There are no hidden messages with this approach. This
rational approach believes that Swedenborg did have a special consciousness
that allowed him to visit and learn from the spiritual world. The stories
are believed to be true and that Swedenborg experienced them himself,
empirically. In the rational approach, it is understood that the human
mind and God's mind are not on the same level. There is a
"duality" (Dr. James lecture notes) between humans
and the Divine. Humans are finite and God is infinite. These two
can not be united together in oneness. Although all of our influx comes
from the Divine, there must be a distinction between to two. If there is
not a distinction made it will eventually cause "corruption of the
mind" (Dr. James lecture notes).
With my background in Christianity, this
book was much easier to follow and it quoted the bible and gave Swedenborg's
explanation of the passages. This book also talked about things that are
important in life and discusses questions that we all have about spirituality
like: the idea of God, the virgin birth, heaven, being saved, faith,
evils, and charities. This book also showed that Swedenborg's writings
are easier to understand than the bible. It is almost like a translation
for the bible. At least for me, I understand Swedenborg's words more than
the bible. This book shows the differences between the bible and the
writings of Swedenborg. The writings seem to be much more
straight forward and does not use flowery language as the bible
does. It seems to not leave the translation of what is being said up to
man to distinguish as happens in many Christian and Catholic churches.
Chapter
2: The Creator as the Redeemer (page 9)
"True
Christian Religion 2: The lord from eternity, who is Jehovah, came into
the world." Swedenborg
"Isaiah
9:6 says: For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is Given; and the government will be upon His
shoulder." Bible
Chapter
2: The Creator as the Redeemer (page 15)
"Apocalypse
Explained 635:2: It is always the Divine that bears witness concerning
the Divine, and not man form himself" Swedenborg
"Matthew
16:17 says: As the Lord on earth said to Simon Peter after he had
declared His Divinity, Flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but My
Father who is in Heaven." Bible
Chapter
8: What is "Saving" Faith? (page
97-98)
"True
Christian Religion 3:2: Saving faith is to believe in Him."
Swedenborg
"Psalm
111:10: A good understanding have all those who
do His commandments." Bible
============================
From: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459s2004/wilson/report%203.htm
From the text “Spirituality that makes
sense” by:
Tylor also made a very interesting summery of matters of
faith in the true Christian religion. Matters of faith has
two parts “god is one, in whom is a divine trinity, and the lord god the savior
Jesus Christ is that one. Saving faith is to believe in him.”(Taylor 185) This
means it is our duty to believe in and have faith in god. The only salvation
for our faith is to maintain that faith in god. There is only one god, no
matter all of his aliases there is only one. The next set is matters of
charity. Matters of charity being “ Evils should not
be done, because they belong to the devil and are from the devil. The opposite
being, Good things should be done,
because they belong to god and are from god.”(185) This
means if you do evil you are playing with the toy of the devil, if you do good
you are playing with the toy of god. The toys of god will make you play nicely, the toys of the devil will only get you hurt.
==================================