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A Doctrinal Class By The Rev. Robert S. Jungé

From New Church Life October 1965

The Need for a Philosophy

The subject of the class tonight is missionary work. On the basis of the passages in the lesson, and many others, we assume that this work is an essential use of the church. We do not, therefore, ask whether we should conduct missionary work, but rather, how.

Now you will recall that for many years before the Academy was established, schools came into existence within the church and flourished for a time and then failed. Time and again sincere New Church men were disappointed in their educational efforts. Some even claimed that there was nothing said in the Writings about Education. The practical vision of New Church education at that time was not drawn from the Writings with conviction. But as soon as the members of the Academy looked to the Writings to guide their education, they discovered in them unlimited applications to work in the classroom. They learned from the doctrines not just that they should educate, but how. New Church education became founded upon the rock of the Writings themselves.

Now, today, in the field of missionary work, we face just such a need to discover in the Writings themselves, not just that we should evangelize, but how to do the missionary work. We need, not just the conviction of the need, but some indications as to what practical methods we should try. Some work has been done in experimenting with missionary techniques throughout the General Church and other New Church bodies. But if our missionary efforts are to find lasting success they cannot be guided by experience alone. Nor have they been. For many years a few individuals, the Rev. Karl R. Alden in particular, kept alive the need for establishing this use. His conviction was that missionary work would be effective only if it led to the authority of the Writings themselves. You simply have to believe them in order to interest others. On the practical side, even a superficial comparison of Convention's rate of growth to our higher rate of growth from new members alone, without counting the growth from our children, confirms the need for a strong belief in the Writings. Still, in spite of all this progress, it becomes more and more apparent that the Lord, through the Writings, must be our guide in co-ordinating all our past and future studies to form an over-all philosophy of missionary work analogous to our growing philosophy of New Church education.

It has been truly said that becoming a New Church man is just a matter of education. The principles of true education, being from the Lord, are universal. In a sense, the philosophy of missionary work is merely seeing these same principles applied to those outside of the church rather than to our own youth. But this does not take away the need for seeing the direct application of the Writings to the missionary field itself.

We read:

"The Lord's New Church is spread through the whole world, but its inmost is where the Lord is known and acknowledged and where the Word is. From that inmost light and intelligence are propagated to all who are round about and are the church [that is, the church universal], but this propagation of light and intelligence is effected in heaven."

"Is effected in heaven." Such communication is by means of affections and delights which all men receive from heaven. It is dependant upon our association with the heavens through reading the Word. If we are to co-operate with this spread of the church through affections, we have our first duty to live and act as New Church men. In this way the Lord can lead to those who are ready, gently through their affections, to ask that question: "Just what does the New Church teach?"

Now too often our people stumble over this and forget this affectional leading. The conversation runs something like this. "What is the New Church?" "Swedenborgian." "Never heard of it: what's that?" "We believe in the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg." "Who's he?" "A great eighteenth century scientist turned theologian." "Oh..." Not very many people are interested in eighteenth century philosophy.

Fortunately many of our people are much more successful than this example might suggest. Experience has shown that without specific drives or programs, the most effective missionary work so far accomplished by the New Church is through personal contact with a friend. And this will probably always be the case. One of our major problems, therefore, is not what we advertise, but what should we answer when someone asks us, "What does your church teach?" Of course, there is no pat answer, any more than there is a specific answer to the question, what shall I teach my children when they ask about life? But there are many principles from within the Writings and experience which can help us.

The Parallel Between Entrance to the Church and Entrance Into Heaven

In seeking these principles we read: "A man of the church in particular is in heaven, a church, and a kingdom of the Lord in least form." "When heaven is spoken of the church is also meant, for the heaven of the Lord on earth is the church."

Certainly it follows that the preparation for entrance into heaven by regeneration is also preparation for real entrance into the church. There is a series of seven steps in entering heaven, carefully defined in Heaven and Hell. Can we therefore find an analogous series of seven steps for entrance into the church to make a beginning set of principles for missionary work, even if it is only an analogy? The steps of resuscitation and preparation of the spirit to find his place in heaven clearly seem to parallel the steps through which a newcomer passes in approaching the church.

The resuscitation process begins very gently. We find good men of all faiths being led to heaven. We find sincere people who have just begun to reform, and those who have come a long way in regeneration, each seeking his path to heaven, some quickly, some slowly. We see how angels, far superior teachers than we, lead and guide them to find their habitation in the Lord's heavenly kingdom. We also find the evil sorting themselves out, turning their backs upon entrance into the Lord's kingdom, and so preserving and protecting it. Let us try to see from doctrine and from experience how the way that the spirit enters heaven is parallel to a man's entrance into the church.

We must never forget that evangelization is the Lord's work. The process is firmly in the Lord's hands. Just as the Lord alone knows when man is ready to die and begin his life in the other world, so the Lord alone knows who is ready to learn of the New Church, and when. This is clearly taught in the Arcana Coelestia, and it is also added: "There will be few within the church."

The Celestial Angels and Inmost Affections and Remains

We know that the celestial angels are the first to come to a novitiate spirit. The celestial angels keep the novitiate spirit engaged in pious and holy thoughts, thoughts about eternal life. They try to keep him in such affections as would move him to love the Lord. Their presence is accompanied by an aromatic odor which protects the novitiate from the attacks of evil. Although it is not to my knowledge directly stated, it is clearly implied that the celestial angels are dealing with man's celestial remains of infancy as well as his inmost adult affections. Their effort is always to draw out the good in man and to hold in it, if he so wills.

The teachings concerning this state bear many lessons to missionaries. The first effort is to appeal to the inmost affection that man has. From earliest infancy and childhood all men are given these remains by the Lord. Our efforts in the beginning should be to rekindle these earlier affections. Let them know that there is a way for a Christian to have a clear idea of one God and of the purpose and meaning of life. Inspire them to believe again in the Word and to cultivate the innocent willingness to follow. Five them hope of eternal life and the eternity of true marriage. Give them the hope of the satisfaction and peace which we associate with the highest angels. The words, peace and satisfaction, are important, and involve much more than merely satisfactory answers to intellectual questions.

Some summers ago a number of us took interviews with those who has joined the church in recent years. The newcomers described the desperate need for satisfaction which they felt prior to joining the church. In spite of the 55 different individuals involved, from their stories we pieced together certain basic and common patterns of approach to the church. Typical beginning states were described: "I was going around in circles." "The New Church sure was easier than living the mixed-up life I was leading before." "Our life was compatible, but it was a certain type of hollow life. There was something void." "Meaningless," "drifting," "utterly unsatisfied," torn between their ideals and the hard realities of life. This is the state which needs the New Church; and to that state we gently try to bring peace. Often this is an almost unconscious attraction to the church, which may last only a short time. Yet knowing this desperate state, we can understand one man's explanation of his reading of Heaven and Hell when he said: "I was thrilled no end, and there's no description for the joy or thrill that I received from reading it."

Beginners need simple, affectionate, friendly discussion. To argue or dispute abstract terms will only increase their frustration. When we are tempted to argue, let us remember what is said of the celestial angels and their calm communication of their thoughts largely through their affections and example. The Writings say of them in the Spiritual Diary: "I could know nothing of the subject of their thoughts...except that they made no account of the fallacies and falsities of spirits, but as puerilities [or childish things], yet by no means deriding them, thus accounting them as nothing [they never looked down on them], themselves remaining in their own tranquil state." You aspiring missionaries who get into heated arguments note-"themselves remaining in their own tranquil state."

Let us remember, too, that the celestial angels protect man from evil spirits. Evil spirits bring doubt and temptation to him. Now is the time to hold the newcomer to the church in high ideals. Pass by for a time his errors, not introducing those matters which might cause doubt. This first appeal to inmost affections is clearly indicated in the whole sweep of the Writings, both in the educational philosophy and in all teaching. It is the remains of innocence in individuals that are essentials of the remnant from which the church is to grow.

The Spiritual Angels, Affections for Truth

Now we know that newcomers frequently become impatient if we give them only high ideals. They want to know why and how these things are true. In fact, they are looking, not just for satisfaction in their life and will, but looking for answers. There is a desire for learning in every man's heart. One man interviewed summarized his former life as one big question of "Why can't we understand?" Another said that he felt like a lost dog hunting for his master. Still another said: "Everything was vague and generalities. There were no answers, at best wishy-washy answers." Another said: "The liberals get you to give the answer and then say, 'we'll go along with it.' " They are "teacherless." They give you "only darkness, never light." These phrases clearly describe the need for understanding and light. Of course, this parallels the coming of the spiritual angels. We know that without knowledges no one can become a man of the church. The church is from the Word justly understood. But we should make a clear distinction here between this state with the spiritual angels and the state of interior instruction which comes just before the novitiate enters heaven. This is a first vision or glimpse of the church. Usually the newcomer to the church needs even to have his desire to learn rekindled. If we look closely at the work of the spiritual angels in resuscitation, we find that it seems to be rekindling and reorganizing the affection for truth. For this reason, in instructing newcomers our teaching must be warm and alive. These are not times for abstract doctrines. These are times for seeing the doctrines in life. The surprise of a novitiate after death in learning that he is a spirit is often paralleled by the surprise of a newcomer discovering a commonsense approach to religion. Many described this state as "too good to be true. Yet what a wonderful thing it was."

Frequently the world in which the novitiate spirit finds himself seems very much like the world in which he formerly lived. How often we hear from newcomers: "Why that's just what I believe." Our temptation at such times is to jump right in and show them that this is not so. But this is not the time for judgment. We read of the novitiate spirit: "When he has come into the enjoyment of light, the spiritual angels render to the new spirit every service he can possibly desire in that state and teach him about the things of the other life as far as he can comprehend them."

Notice how gradually they are led by the spiritual angels to see the value of the light of heaven. We read: "If these spirits have been good, they are taken up into heavenly society to be instructed and are passed from one society to another in order that they may receive living experience that there is light in the other life and this more intense than is ever found in the world; and they may at the same time take notice that in so far as they are in light there, so far they are in intelligence." What a wonderful step it is for newcomers when they come to realize that in so far as they are in the light of the Writings they are in intelligence.

Novitiate spirits are even taken into the homes of angels. This is the time, I believe, to begin to introduce the newcomer into our society. While we do not pretend to be angels, if we are all endeavoring to do our first duty as missionaries, to live a New Church men, than when a newcomer enters a New Church home or church, he should sense something deep and wonderful. This exact effect was noted time and again in the interviews.

When a novitiate spirit is allowed to see the life of heaven, if he is good, his affection is kindled and he desires to be a part of that life, even though gradually he learns that he is not yet ready and that he has work to d before he can. We hope that a similar thing will take place with newcomers to the church. We should be delighted, then, not disappointed when they say, "I wish that I could believe that." But the difficult secret is to show them by living experience that others like themselves have been able to learn and believe. This is the power of the newcomers or inquirers class.

The seeds for a second all-important step are sown at this time. There is a transition which comes with seeing that these things are not just good ideas which their personal friend has, but that all in the church have these ideas. If they all have them, affectionately, if not intellectually, the newcomer is being prepared to see that these ideas are not from individual men, but from the Lord alone. The normal path is beginning to be laid for accepting the Writings as Divine.

The first state, then, is a state of delight, typified by such a phrase as, "that certainly is a beautiful thought." The second state is ruled by a desire to learn. It is typified by such phrases as, "I wish that I could believe that," or, hopefully, "Where can I find out more about this?"

But many people ask, and rightly so, what thought, what subjects, have real appeal to newcomers. Let's let some of those who have come into the church speak about that. Here is what they said in their descriptions. These are typical remarks, and illustrate in order of their emphasis, or how frequently they were mentioned, the common problems and subjects. They recognize common sense in the teachings. One summarized:

"We had tasted of the truth and it was good and realized that it was right."

Another tried to put this in words:

"I just adopted the church because I could go along with everything I had always felt. Not that I had always felt, because I hadn't paid any attention to my feelings, but the new, this more genuine urge that I had to feel. I felt this church just ht the spot."

The life after death has a strong appeal. Here's what they said:

"To me it has been a big help to think of life after death and not just thinking, like when I was young, that thought of heaven with angels floating around. And hell was in the dark or something like that. You get such a different feeling about not having angels swinging up somewhere in the air."

Another:

"Well, there was nothing. There is absolutely no understanding in the old church today about life after death, and of course that is the thing I was searching for."

Still another:

"What about this next life, because this one's doing to go, that's routine, and it horrified me to think of lying in the grave, not knowing; and there didn't seem any purpose to work for something and never know what it was going to be; and even more important, that is, the old church speaks of you this way: You die, your soul goes to someplace-heaven or hell-but they never say you do. You die, your soul, see. 'Lord take my soul,' but not me. Well, I wasn't worried about my soul. To me, it wasn't me."

The doctrine of marriage has strong appeal, and practical appeal. One person said:

"We had sort of fallen off in the art of communicating. The mutual togetherness on coming together to the New Church, and also the teachings on conjugial love that we both read, helped us to see that that was the main function of the couple, to make a mind and not just to coexist."

Another said:

"I had all these children and a husband-and I didn't know what either one of them was for."

Newcomers want something they can test or try. One expressed it:

"I tried the doctrines right away, and quite frankly, I don't think it took any time at all to see that they worked...."

Freedom was one of the biggest helps, especially realizing that every man, regardless of his church, has the right to freedom. The doctrine of use was indicated as an important appeal.

"There were a lot of things at work that used to raise havoc with me. The idea that you should make a certain amount of money, these various types of rewards, somebody should pat you on the back. Quite frankly, from the teachings we have on use, and the kingdom of use, this has given me a lot of peace of mind."

Other subjects mentioned less frequently, but still strongly indicated on the survey, were: the internal sense of the Word, Divine Providence, the oneness of God, the fact that all men can be saved. It is probably true, as with teaching, that the way a subject is presented is sometimes more important than what the subject really is.

If we are really interested in people and their problems, our gentle concern and interest will probably make a stronger impression than the specific things which we say. Frequently people said they could not remember what was said in the home they visited, or from the pulpit, but it was the sphere they felt which attracted them, We must have a thorough-going interest in others.

Once a person is beginning to get a grasp of the church, his zeal may wane, just as the novitiate spirit gradually tires of his instruction from spiritual angels. He then passes to the natural angels, or good spirits. It is interesting for all members of our church, particularly those with prejudice towards visitors, to note the teaching: "All who come into the other life are without exception welcome and accepted as guests."

The good spirits continue to man's instruction, but on a still lower plane. In this state the externals of our societies take their part. Now our foal is that the natural, social and home life of our church shall be in obedience to our interior principles. We hope that as a newcomer is introduced into out social life it will reflect something new to him, even in externals. If not doctrinally, we hope at least it will reflect something stemming from a worthwhile basis. In the world of spirits we find a drawing our fro the novitiate spirit of his good natural affections, but not necessarily an intellectual or a complete drawing out. In missionary work, we can appeal to such natural affections as storgé, that the newcomer may have the desire to arouse that his children should have what we offer. He may be touched by the external marriage happiness that New Church men seem to have. On this lower plane it is not always easy for the newcomer to see the differences; but these exterior planes, appealing to the natural good in man, have their place, even though it be the ultimate place. We should remember the use of mediate goods. We are taught:

"When a man is being born anew by the Lord, he is led by various affections of good and truth which are not affections of genuine good and truth, but are of use merely to enable us to apprehend these, and then to enable us to become imbued with then; and when this has been done, the previous affections are forgotten and left behind, because they have served merely as means."

Newcomers need to feel the warmth of the New Church on all planes of their lives. A great deal of instruction and preparation takes place through external New Church social life. Much is done through a natural admiration of New Church people.

These three states are in a sense life dream states with a novitiate spirit, yet they are very powerful and essential to him. With newcomers, it is similar. They find themselves deeply stirred, moved to learn more, and to make these things their own; respectful of New Church men, yet at the same time scarcely consciously knowing how this has taken place.

The Fourth and Fifth Steps

But the novitiate spirit soon finds himself actively living as of himself in the world of spirits. He is in a state of exteriors, the fourth step. His life is a mixed state, much as if he were in the world. National, racial and external ties in general are still predominant. Newcomers to the church often find themselves faced with problems of family ties, bonds of external friendship-ties with the old, yet drawn to the new. In a sense they are life what we read of good novitiate spirits, "connected with some society in heaven...and yet only as regards interiors."

Let us remember to be patient with this state. This is the beginning of the very often painful process of altering between exteriors and interiors, the fourth and fifth steps. The newcomer, like the novitiate, must reject some of his past life, and re-evaluate the rest. The novitiate who is to become an angel must come to let his interiors take the first place. We read that the novitiate unconsciously glides into this state of interiors. This is the real time for judgment. With the sincere newcomer, he has come so far that he cannot turn back; yet he realizes that to go forward means rejection of his past, a coming out of the old church of his former beliefs.

It is striking how many newcomers to the church actually become aware for the first time of the interior things of life. Prior to this they have thought of themselves as decent moral people, but now they see regeneration for the first time as something far more than cleansing the outside of the cup and the platter. Those newcomers who are going to reject the New Church will soon find their objections. They will become critical of New Church society and its people and fail to see that the truth is far more than these externals of life. They will soon reject and return to their place outside of the church, some violently, and some quietly. While this is true, we must remember that some who are not ready for the church in this world may be in the next.

It is true that we try to avoid casting our pearls before swine. But we also should remember that the truth placed on a candlestick cannot be hid and will bring its own judgment. I believe that it is very important for us to remember that the Lord alone judges. We are not to take delight in stripping the newcomer of the things he has loved. Our task is to lead him to the truth, and the truth will bring judgment upon him. Remember, the evil novitiate casts himself into hell by fleeing from the good, whose sphere he cannot bear. Newcomers who are not ready or not willing to receive the New Church will flee from its sphere, provided that we make sure that the sphere of the church is strong enough. It would be wrong for us, from fear, to turn in only on ourselves. A key source of heresy is those who labor from themselves to protect the church. The Lord will keep the city.

The good novitiate is stripped of his evils, his former convictions, by having them exposed. Often these are exposed by his being let into these beliefs and affections, and seeing their direful nature. Many evil spirits wait in the world of spirits, eager to press falsity and evil upon man, little knowing that through them good novitiates are prepared to see clearly and to love purely, so that they can enter heaven. Many in the former churches, in the past life of those who come to the church, unwittingly perform such a function in trying to coax their members back into the fold. This state of vastation is often a long and painful process of alternating between interiors and exteriors. One man said, "I got it from all sides." It is often necessary to fall into error, to follow out false delights, that they may be fully rejected. Above all else, we must be patient with these states.

The Sixth Step, The Third State After Death

Now we turn to the sixth step, or the state of interior instruction, which is only for the good. It is the direct preparation for the novitiate's entrance into heaven, and for the newcomer's entrance into the church. Having at length rejected the past and seen the beauties of the new the newcomer eagerly takes up the task of learning and seeking his place in the church. We find newcomers reading at great length, often forgetting their lengthy preparation, and not understanding why the whole world does not see these things. They are ready for and enjoy the interior instruction for which the church must stand-for the church can never allow beginning instruction so to pervade her sphere that the sight of new truth and new uses which is her life ceases. We cannot sacrifice the sphere of the church for the sake of bringing in newcomers, for it should be apparent that in doing so we would at length destroy the very effectiveness of that missionary use itself.

A number of people being interviewed accused the New Church of being cold. Carefully examining their comments led me to believe that they do not mean that the handshake and welcome wagon are not in evidence after church. In the beginning they almost always felt that the New Church people were friendly and wonderful. They mean rather, not being accepted for what they are in this later state, fellow New Church men. One woman summarized: "It is just as if you have a tag on you.'' When we reflect on the life of heaven and its uses, we realize that it depends on each individual's being accepted for what he is. This does not apply just to newcomers. Every human being feels the need to be accepted and to be appreciated. Uses are the key. Just as novitiates are eager to find their place in heaven, so newcomers are eager to find their use and place in the church. Those who do are far less likely to talk of the coldness of the New Church. It is important that all of us find uses that we can do for the church, for the Writings set forth the ideal of knowing the satisfaction of works done for the sake of the church which, they say, are the "best of all."

At length, freely, as if of himself, the novitiate spirit finds his spiritual home. And in like manner the newcomers come to the church and freely offer their love to her. So they enter the church even as the novitiates enter heaven, when they see as of themselves that they are ready.

The interviews from which I have quoted are not carefully written answers to specific questions. They are the spontaneous remarks of people, many of whom you know, trying to describe their approach to the church. Yet in spite of the tremendous individuality of these experiences, a basic pattern was unmistakable. In short, experience and what the Writings imply about missionary work, open the door to seeing a set of principles for missionary work which any New Church man can apply in his conversation with friends outside of the church. Doctrine and experience indicate that missionary work should be a very personal and human endeavor, in which we all have a part. It requires inspiring teachers and companions along the way. It requires high ideals and practical application. It cannot possibly be accomplished solely by the priesthood, any more than New Church education could be accomplished only in the pulpit and in the religion classroom. Many of these states are best fed by others. Converted Mohammedans for example teach novitiate Mohammedan spirits. In the light of the Writings, with our working together as a church, this use can grow like the grain of mustard seed. The goal of this use makes one with the goal of the Lord's heavenly kingdom, for, "evangelization is annunciation concerning the Lord, His advent, and concerning the things which are from Him, which belong to salvation and eternal life."