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"The Church is Christ'—this is her Essence, just as bare fallen humanity is Adam. She is Christ's Body: He is the Head, she is the Body; her members His members; her life nothing but His life, imparted to and energizing in her and in every part of her. The Church who thus came out from God, and is Christ, is all that she is by His mission and by the power of His transforming spirit; etc. Again,1

"We have seen that the Church is, in her origin Divine, the coming forth of God manifesting Himself to the world; that she is the body of Christ, in fact, Christ Himself, as St. Paul teaches; that she is thus one with her Lord by mission from Himself, as He, in His Incarnate life, is what He is by mission from God the Father. Again,2

"No man can come unto Me, says Christ, except the Father that sent Me draw him.' This is that Christ of whom it is said by St. Paul that the Church is Christ, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all. Again,3 3

"How then is the Church Christ? By His mission, as 'My Father has sent Me, even so send I you.'

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'Now, as it is said that as the Church has received a mission from Christ to be Christ, so likewise as being Christ, she is said to be existing in the world as the continuation of the Incarnation. Accordingly, the visible Church,' says Moehler, in his Symbolism, 'from the point of view here taken, is the Son of God Himself, everlastingly manifesting Himself among men in a human form, perpetually renovated and eternally young, the permanent Incarnation of the same, as in holy writ even the faithful are called the Body of Christ.'

"As then the Church is said to be Christ, the Word perpetually incarnated, so likewise, as the incarnate Word is God manifest in the flesh, the Church herself is said to be God manifest in the flesh ; hence, thereby it is said,5

"Just as the essence of humanity is to be the image of God, so the essence of the Church is to be God manifest in the fleshChrist; His body which is the Church; for which He reigns in heaven, and which is there seated together with Him. Again,

"We have seen her (the Church) coming forth from God as her manifestation of Himself, in the person of the Eternal Son, whose body she is; and who has sent her into the world with the mission which He had Himself from the Father.

"Now if the Church is Christ; if it be a continuation of the Incarnation; if it be God manifest in the flesh, what must be said of the alleged Reformation of the Church? Must not any attempt to reform it be impious? Speaking of any proposal to reform the Church, the Tublet observes: 7

"None but a reprobate could make a proposal in which is concen

1 "First Principles," p. 27.

Ibid. p. 16.

* lbid. p. 253. See also "The Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost," by Dr. Manning, p. 223.

"First Principles," etc., p. 18.

2 Ibid. p. 16.

• Ibid. p. 36.

7 March 4, 1876.

trated every foolish and impious thought that can traverse the human brain. To reform the Church, though multitudes fail to see it, is exactly the same project as to reform God. Accordingly, What is said to be the character of the Reformer? The answer is The Nicolaitans, hateful to God, were perhaps the first of the race of Reformers. Like their successors in every age, and especially Anglicans in ours, they deemed themselves wiser than the Church. A man must do that before he can begin to be a Reformer. He must be quite sure that God has weakly allowed His Church to fail, and requires his assistance (the Reformer's) to make a better one. When he has arrived at that rational conviction, he is fit to be a reformer. In other words, he is only worthy of that eminent title, when he has learned to surpass idiots in folly and demons in pride. In order to be qualified to purify the Christian religion, he must first have lost every vestige of the Christian character. Instead of humility he must prefer insolence; instead of charity, hate; instead of unity, division; instead of obedience, revolt. That is, he must have become a demon.'

"Now, it seems to me that this is a fair and logical conclusion from the original premises; for if to reform the Church be the same as to reform God, we who are reformers must be all that we are here declared to be.

"But if such be the language of the Catholic Church, What, according to the church, is the language of the written Word of God? "The Catholic Church, we are told, is the only channel through which we can learn the meaning of Scripture; from no other interpreter can the true meaning of Scripture be ascertained. Nay, the Scriptures are said to be the property of the Church: separated from the Church they perish. Accordingly, observes Cardinal Manning,1 "The Church is the sole witness and guardian both of the meaning and of the Book; and it is itself both the interpreter and the interpretation-present, visible, and perpetual.'.

"Upon this principle, then, the existing Catholic Church is itself the interpretation of Scripture in its objective form, and as the Church says that to reform the Church is to reform God, so, according to the Church, the Scripture says the same thing, i.e. the Scripture teaches that to reform the Church is to reform God.

"Now it is universally admitted that the Second Advent of our Lord has relation to the church's state; as such it has necessarily a relation to the state of Scripture interpretation, not of one passage only, but of all Scripture; for all Scripture from beginning to end is said to teach that "the Church of God" (which is the same with the Roman Catholic Church)2 is the presence of God, and the mind of the Church is the mind of God, and the voice of the Church is the voice of God, and hence that to reform the Church is to reform God. In this case, whatever the reformer may think of the Church which teaches this doctrine, he must think the same of the Scripture as thus 1 "Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost," pp. 209, 190. "Internal Working of the Holy Ghost," p. 77. Temporal Power of the Pope," p. 78.

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interpreted by the Church. Hence if the Coming of our Lord has an immediate relation to the Church, it must have an immediate relation to the interpretation of the Scriptures; and it will then be seen whether the Scriptures thus interpreted are like the angel enlightening the Church with its glory, or whether they are like the scarletcoloured beast, 'full of the names of blasphemy.'

"What is wanting in the present day is a more distinct perception of the inseparable connection between the Second Advent and the state of the interpretation of the Scriptures; if we saw this connection, we should recognize, as precursors of the Second Advent, not the dethronement of monarchs or political concussion of kingdoms, but the publication of such works as those of Bishop Colenso on the one hand, or, on the other, their mighty antagonist, the works of Swedenborg.

"Now, on this subject we are not without witnesses. A modern, liberal, pious, and thoughtful Roman Catholic1 has recently observed:'That the deposit of the faith admits of development is a recognized principle, and it is obvious that the Scriptures contain mines of truth which have as yet been imperfectly explored. As in the sixty-three elementary bodies which chemistry has discovered, there are possible combinations that have not yet been formed, so in the Bible there are passages-allusions, hints, coincidences, prophecies, types-which will hereafter enter, as it were, into new combinations, and, by the aid of fuller experience, so illustrate and explain each other as to exhibit truths previously unknown.'

"But if this can be said of a liberal and pious Roman Catholic, what is it that is said by a well-informed and orthodox clergyman of the Church of England? He says: 2-A long study of the Holy Scriptures, and especially of the Old Testament, has convinced me that the principle of development has been that on which the Almighty acted in His revelation to man-a gradual leading from a lower to a higher knowledge of Divine truth. I see the same principle running through the New Testament and ecclesiastical history, especially during that period when the Church was one and undivided. I cannot doubt that the same spirit which guided the prophets of old to reveal the mighty realities of Divine wisdom to Israel, executed the same office in the New Israel, the Church of Christ; and I do not hesitate to express my belief, that when the Church now unhappily divided is re-united, and acts in concert, that further revelations will be vouchsafed; and many of those difficulties which are distressing and perplexing the minds of the faithful, will be cleared up, and the truth made manifest.'

"This, however,' adds the same author, we cannot expect, until the spirit of love and peace has driven out the demon of hatred, variance, and strife from the Body of Christ.'

1 "The Spiritual Body," by J. C. Earle, B. A., preface, p. 38.

"Doctrine of Development in the Bible and in the Church," by E. L. Blenkinsopp, M.A., Rector of Springthorpe, preface, p. 10.

"Moreover, a Scotch divine, the author of Apocalyptic Sketches,1 observes: 'I do not know but there may be depths and heights in this glorious volume to which we have never yet risen; and which will only be evolved in the course of more patient, prayerful, and devoted inquiry.'

"Let me now refer you to a statement made on two different occasions to two different Congresses of the Church of England, and which has not only not been contravened, but has been received with distinguished favour by some of the highest authorities in the Church of England. In his address to the last Congress, Mr. Imre, Fellow of Ex. Col., observes: A great opportunity is now open to Christian teachers in the Universities. In view of the vast range of subjects studied, a pressing duty lies upon them (if I may quote the words of Dr. Westcott, spoken at a Church Congress three years ago) to bring within the scope of theology new thoughts and modes of thinking which have not yet been co-ordinated with the faith, and to do so by lifting them up to a region above all personal conflicts or interests.'

"It seems to me that the Bishop of Peterborough was referring to the same new thoughts, and modes of thinking, when in his last visitation charge, alluding to ritualism on one side, and scepticism on the other, he said: 'I am not sanguine of the immediate future of our Church. If she is to be saved from her present perils from unbelief, her deliverance will not come from vestments, and lights, and incense, or from the erroneous doctrines which these are made to symbolize, for we shall never conquer materialism or philosophy by importing it into theology. It will come by the uprising of some school of Christian apology, which shall silence the adversaries of the supernatural, and give its friends breathing space in which to grow calm, and wise, and moderate again.'

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Continuing his address, the Chairman reminded the meeting that sixty-six years ago, a few gentlemen deeply imbued with the value of the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, and having a devout belief that the Second Coming of the Lord would be manifested in the opening of the spiritual sense of His Holy Word, founded that Society. founders," said the Chairman, "have most of them departed this life. We, acting as their executors, are assembled to-day to report and to hear what has been done during the past year, and what we propose to do in the present; to fulfil and carry out the purposes for which the Society was instituted in the year 1810.

"If we take into account the period which the Society has existed (considerably over half a century), some perhaps may feel dispirited at the apparently small effect produced by our efforts to spread abroad the writings, which contain the grand and blessed truths of the new Dispensation of Light and Life now manifested in the Second Advent of our Lord.

"But is it a fact that the effect of our efforts is small? Is it not really a fact that the effect has been great, knowing the obstacles which

1 Dr Cumming. Second Series, p. 382.

have had to be encountered? The prejudice against the very name of Swedenborg, coupled with the gross misrepresentations respecting the nature of the doctrines he taught, has for years deterred many fearful minds from reading the books, to which may be added the strong antipathy of the natural man to receive anything spiritual, especially anything which disturbs the belief in the doctrines of the perverted prevailing theology.

"Happily some of these obstacles are diminishing; the report of the Committee, now about to be read, contains some encouraging instances that such is the case; the greatest instance, however, is the fact that nearly 5000 applications have been received by the Society from the various ministers of religion in the United Kingdom for a copy of the True Christian Religion, and this large number has been sent to them. "The truths contained in this book have now been introduced to a number of ministers, many of whom perhaps never heard of them before. The occupation and duty of these ministers is to teach truth; many, it is hoped, will have their minds enlightened by reading the book, and become the channels for teaching its truths to others.

"The reception by the ministers of the True Christian Religion has induced the Committee to supplement this work, by offering to present in like manner gratuitously to every minister in the United Kingdom a copy of the Apocalypse Revealed (now complete in one volume).

"It is impossible to over-estimate the possible good which may result from this action of the Committee.

"The Book called the Revelation of St. John the Divine cannot be read without a conviction that it has in every chapter a deep and interior meaning; the wondrous visions recorded therein are full of mystery. To explain these mysteries we are sending the Apocalypse Revealed, which unfolds the spiritual sense, without which the literal sense cannot be understood. Can there be a doubt that in this age of inquiry, many to whom this book will be sent will read with joy this new revealing, and will, by the Divine blessing, be enabled to realize in themselves the descent of the New Jerusalem from God out of heaven?

"In undertaking to give thousands of copies of the Apocalypse Revealed to the ministers of religion in the United Kingdom who will accept the book, the Committee have not been unmindful that a large sum will be required; the cost will be great, but the object is far greater there is good ground for a hopeful expectation that the vivifying power of truth will attend the reception of this book. The Committee therefore earnestly invite the members and friends of the Society to come forward and give the increased support which the occasion demands, as without this increased support it will not be possible to carry out fully the intentions of the Committee."

The Secretary read the Minutes of the last Annual Meeting of the Society, which were confirmed.

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