and usefulness in carrying out the objects of the institution may be opened and extended. Several friends, especially the Rev. J. Bayley of Accrington, Mr. Coffey of Ramsbottom, and Mr. Lowe of Heywood, addressed the meeting in a delightful strain, both as to the uses which have already been effected in pro moting a knowledge of pure Christian doctrine; and as to the zeal with which we should support in every possible way this useful institution. We shall again advert to the proceedings and claims of this Society when the report is published. NEW PUBLICATIONS. A Report of a "Discussion on the Doctrine of the Atonement, between the Rev. D. Howarth, of Salford, and Mr. Figg, of Accrington, at the Wesleyan Association School Room, Heywood." p.p. 40. Also a Report of a "Discussion on the Doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone, between the same parties, at the same place; March 13th, 1844." pp. 40. (Taken in short-hand.) These discussions were originated by certain parties of the Methodist persuasion, and especially by Mr. Figg, who in different parts of the country has assailed the Doctrines of the New Church. Our readers will remember that the same champion (See I.R., March, p. 117.) of "Faith Alone," and of "Instantaneous Salvation," &c. engaged in combat at Accrington with the Rev. J. Bayley. Being, however, defeated in that place, he came to Heywood, sixteen miles distant, where he heard a New Church Society existed. Here he renewed his attacks, and challenged the advocates of "Swedenborgianism" to public debate on the subjects of Doctrine mentioned in the above reports. The Rev. David Howarth, of Salford, came forward to engage in the discussion against this Goliah of Solifidianism, and although the debate occurred in the very centre of the enemy's encampment, where, it is supposed, at least 2,000 persons were present, it was obvious to all, and especially to the neutral and impartial, that Mr. Figg was defeated in all the points he endeavoured to maintain against the doctrines of the Divine Word as advocated by the New Church. This will also be obvious by a perusal of the discussion, which we recommend to our readers, who, in the clear statements and arguments of Mr. Howarth, will find not only an admirable specimen of keeping to the point in a debate; but he will see how powerful the sword of truth is in the hands of one who is enlightened and guided by genuine doctrine. We are glad to hear, that in consequence of these debates, many persons have been induced to read the doctrines of the New Church, and to examine for themselves; and a considerable accession of members both to the Society at Accrington and to that at Heywood has been the result. We are, however, not favorable to public debates as a means of promoting the Gospel of Truth and Love, and the members of the New Church have never engaged in these debates, but when assailed and challenged by their opponents. There are, however, on such occasions, certain persons present, who belong to neither party, and who are always benefitted by the scriptural proofs, and solid rational arguments, which the New Church employs in confirmation and illustration of its doctrines. Third Appeal to the Candid and Reflecting of all Denominations, and especially to the followers of John Wesley, in reply to the third Letter of the Rev. W. J. Skidmore, to the Swedenborgians, by the Rev. J. Bayley, Minister of the New Jerusalem Church, Accrington. This is a truly able appeal on all the points it discusses, and Mr. Skidmore, we think, will scarcely venture again into the field of polemics against the doctrines and views of the New Church. Every time he appears his "Banner" seems more drooping and mutilated, and emblematic of error and defeat, rather than to the attention of our readers the able of victory. We particularly recommend argument at pages 16-19, in respect to the apostolic epistles, and the difference, as to inspiration, between them and the Gospels. ERRATUM. In the first article in the May number, "On the Correspondence of Rain, Snow," &c., dele the word "Holy" in the last line of the first paragraph. THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY, OR THE WORD OF GOD IN ALL LANGUAGES, AND AMONGST ALL PEOPLE. Of all the striking signs of the present age, in respect to the aspect, both religious and social, of the human races, none is more important than the universal diffusion of the Divine Word in all languages and amongst all people. The member of the New Church considers this as one of the most wonderful events that could possibly be brought to pass in the history of mankind. And yet it has been so gradually accomplished, and by means so apparently insignificant, as to assume, almost imperceptibly, the present important magnitude which characterizes the operations of the British and Foreign Bible Society and its Auxiliaries throughout the civilized world. The commencement of this great work, about forty years ago, was like the first germination of the "mustard seed, which is the least of seeds," and it is now growing into a magnificent tree, whose branches shall extend over all the earth. That this mighty movement received its impulse from above, is admitted by all, but that it is one of the first important results of the Lord's Second Coming is not so generally admitted. That these great events are produced by corresponding great events which have transpired in the spiritual world, cannot be doubted, if we admit that all effects in the natural world are produced by causes operating in the spiritual. To accomplish changes so great as have been brought to pass during the last sixty years upon earth, and especially the universal diffusion of the Scriptures, requires an adequate cause in the world of spirits, which has there produced changes correspondently great and momentous. And what cause, we would ask, can be adequate to these mighty movements, all tending to improvement, although through much agitation and fermentation, and finally to establish the most signal blessings for the enjoyment of mankind,-what cause but that of a General Judgment executed in the world of spirits-the intermediate world between heaven and hell ?* * See Swedenborg's work on the "Last Judgment," &c. N.S. NO. 55.—VOL. V. H h By this JUDGMENT the dense clouds of spiritual error and falsehood, which for ages had accumulated around every subject of theology and of spiritual and moral order, and which, at length, had shrouded the human mind, as it were, in the grave-clothes of spiritual death, were scattered and dispersed. The world of spirits is the world of mind; the laws of that world are the laws of mind; and no true mental philosophy can ever be established, but in proportion as that world is known, and its laws rationally seen and acknowledged. Evil and error, as well as goodness and truth, belong to the mind; the spiritual world is the scene both of the salvation of the good, and of the condemnation of the wicked; and it consequently follows that that world is also the scene of "Judgment," both general and particular,—both upon the Church in general at its consummation, or end, and on every individual in particular, who, as Paul says, must appear "before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." (2 Cor. v. 10.) Here the apostle plainly teaches that the spiritual world into which man comes immediately after death is the scene of judgment. Now the New Church alleges as the only adequate cause for the production of changes upon earth so great as have been experienced during the last fifty years, that a General Judgment has been accomplished in the world of spirits; and the effects which might almost necessarily be expected from so great an event, have come to pass. Have not the most horrid wars and desolations been abroad in the earth; and has not the entire face of the civilized world been changed? Has not a kind of judgment been executed upon every institution, both ecclesiastical and political, in human society, its evils and abuses exposed and condemned; and has not the voice of reform been loud and piercing in its demands for an improved, and a more liberal state of things both in the civil and religious communities of mankind? And have not the modes of thinking, and the general state of ideas, been greatly modified and extended, and the actuating spirit become more enlarged and liberal in its operations, and more soft, gentle, and sympathizing in its tone? In short, is not the human mind undergoing a mighty change as to its perceptions of the Good and the True, the Evil and the False, which now, as antagonist principles, stand out in bolder relief, and in more decided opposition, than at any former period? The mighty work is still going on, and we know that it will terminate in a new order of things, in the introduction of new principles of Truth and Goodness,-in the establishment of genuine Christianity, which is the complex of every benefit and blessing, both social, religious, and spiritual, that mankind can enjoy. Whenever judgments are executed, blessings are ready to be dispensed. No sooner is darkness dispersed, than the sun rises again with "healing in his wings." Thus many blessings have followed the dreadful judgments, which, in nearly every country of Christendom, have, during the last half century, changed the aspect of human society. How much has the light of knowledge spread! How general has the work of education become! And the spirit of union, combining thousands together for the universal cause of good to man, in hundreds of ways by which that good can be established, is one of the delightful signs of a new order of things gradually appearing in the world. But the British and Foreign Bible Society is, in our estimation, the first and foremost among the unions established for universal good. Truth is the precursor of all good, and the Word is the Treasury of all revealed truth, through which alone genuine and eternal good can be received and enjoyed by mankind. Now, at the period of so great an event as a general Judgment executed in the world of spirits, and the effects of which have been so generally exhibited upon earth, it might reasonably be expected that two great causes, arising from a new and powerful influence from the Lord, would become powerfully active. One of these causes would operate so as to produce an immensely extended knowledge of the divine Word amongst men, as well as an opening of its Spiritual Sense, by which the human mind could be liberated from fallacies and false doctrines, and by a "spiritual discernment" receive the "spirit and life" of revealed truth. And as the Spiritual Sense of God's Word could not be known without manifesting a great variety of particulars concerning the spiritual world, the state of man after death, and, in general, concerning the nature of heaven and hell, hence a communication of this knowledge would likewise follow the execution of the General Judgment, and attend the Second Coming of the Lord. For these two great events are in the same relation to each other as the dispersion of night is to the rising of the sun. Another cause coöperative with the former, and arising from the same primary cause, is the new and powerful influx operating upon the common mind of the human race, liberating the human will from numerous gross, earth-bound, bigotted sentiments, and quickening and elevating the rational faculty, so as to enable it to take a wider range of thought, a more ample survey of intellectual objects, and to see with eyes less biassed by the love of self and the world. We will here give a synopsis, or general view of what the British and Foreign Bible Society has hitherto done :-- .... During 1843 its issues of Bibles and Testaments were Society .... Bible Societies in connexion with the British and Foreign 982,060 15,020,904 159 107 In Great Britain In the Colonies and other dependencies cluding their branches, are about 2,911 3,500 Here is a mighty engine, supplied with wonderful machinery, actuated by the joint operation of fire and water,-the fire of love, and the water of truth, which, descending from its divine Origin, the Lord Jesus Christ, in His Humanity, is the cause of all spiritual, intellectual, moral, and, by correspondence, of all natural power also. All admit that this mighty engine for the universal spread of the Divine Word, has been organized and set in motion by power from on High. In making these remarks, we have nothing to state in reference to the particular individuals who are employed either as subscribers or as agents in carrying on this glorious work. The doctrinal opinions of many may be either true or false; the motives of some may be either natural or spiritual. The work itself, independently of the mediums through which it is accomplished, is a divine work, and to our contemplation one of the greatest signs and attendants of the Lord's Second Coming.* We know that the Lord, at His First Advent, came as the "Word made flesh." At His Second Advent it was divinely predicted that He should come also as the Word, but as the Word made “Spirit and Life." This prediction, clothed in the divine language of Scripture, states that the "Son of Man shall come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." The Son of Man is the Lord as to His Word, the clouds are the Word in its literal sense, and the power and great glory are the Word in "its spirit and life," or in its spiritual sense. The Lord can come and manifest Himself both in general and particular, to the entire church in heaven and on earth, and to each individual, in no other way than in and through His Word, which is Divine Truth itself, the light of life "which glads the adoring angels' sight," and gives intellectual light and power to the human mind. As, * In order to see the True Nature of the Lord's Second Coming, we especially refer the reader to a work entitled an "Appeal in Behalf of the Eternal World and State," &c., by the Rev. S. Noble. Sec. I. and IV. |