It may now appear that the "Divine virtue and operation of the spirit," in relation to the clergy, referred to in the passage quoted at the commencement of this article, applies to the influence received from the Lord by mediate influx, for it is not till it has received a human quality by such means that its active presence becomes consciously perceived. Speaking on this subject, Swedenborg further explains that "influx and illustration are effected when man looks upwards towards the Lord, in which case he is elevated as to his interiors by the Lord to heaven, thus to the Lord." "The interiors also are actually elevated, and when this is effected the interiors are actually elevated into heaven, and into its light and heat. Hence he has influx and illustration; the light of heaven from the Lord as a sun illuminates the understanding, and the heat of heaven from the same source enkindles the will. Since man in such case is amongst the angels, there is communicated to him from them, that is, through them from the Lord, the intelligence of truth, and the affection of good. This communication is what is called influx and illustration. It is, however, to be noted that influx and illustration are according to the faculty of reception in man, and that this faculty is according to the love of truth and good." (A. C. 10,330.) An illustration of this occurs in what took place on the day of Pentecost, when Peter, being filled with the Holy Ghost, stood up and spake from a degree of illumination of which we have no previous example in the history of the Apostles (Acts ii. 14). A similar illustration is also afforded by Stephen in his defence before the Council which condemned him (Acts vii.). In reference to the former of these two events, Swedenborg explains that " by the fire seen on this occasion was signified the love of truth; and by being filled with the Holy Spirit, the reception of Divine truth from the Lord." (Ap. Ex. 455.) As to the gift of tongues according as the Spirit gave them utterance, "by which was signified confession," it was doubtless imparted for the occasion by the spirits associated with the Apostles flowing in from their own memories. The operation signified by the Holy Spirit conveys to all who are receptive of it the gift of illustration, as well as the graces of regeneration, but more particularly so to the clergy, because their office has teaching for its special object. For as the Apostle has justly remarked, "There are diversities of gifts but the same spirit; and differences of administrations but the same Lord. . . For to one is given by the same Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith, &c. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal." (See 1 Cor. xii. 4-11). It is not, however, to be inferred that the clergy receive a larger portion of the spirit than other Christians, but that the Divine operation is modified according to the specific requirements of their office. There is one point which arises out of this inquiry, to which, although somewhat foreign to the present subject, a brief remark or two may be devoted. Swedenborg declares "that the Second Coming of the Lord was effected through the instrumentality of a man (meaning himself) before whom He manifested Himself in person, and whom He has filled with His Spirit, to teach from Him the Doctrines of the New Church by means of the Word (T. C. R. 779). Ministers who accept the doctrines of the New Church teach them from the Word, but it cannot be said that the Lord comes through them; whence it follows that the relation in which Swedenborg stood was sui generis. The distinction appears to be that the spiritual sense and doctrines of the Word were communicated to him directly from the Lord, and not through the mediate agency through which it is conveyed to others; and this to be distinctly implied in the statement which rests on his most solemn attestation, "I never received any thing relating to the doctrines (these italics are his own) of that Church from any angel BUT FROM THE LORD ALONE, while I was reading the Word." (Ibid.) appears It only remains to add that the mode in which ordination conveys the graces peculiar to the ministerial office is by bringing the party who receives it into a peculiar relationship to those spirits who are the media of conveying illustration and illumination according to the principles involved in the statement (A. C. 10,023),* relative to the effect of the contact of spirits in congenial states in the other world, in which the laying on of hands had its origin. Extended as this paper has been, the space devoted to the subject has nevertheless been insufficient fully to develop all the phases of which the subject is capable. Enough, however, has probably been said to lead the readers of the Repository to carry on the investigation for themselves, and that must suffice. WOODVILLE WOODMAN. ORDINATION AND THE IMPOSITION OF HANDS HAVING carefully read Mr. W.'s article on "Ordination and the Imposition of Hands," which appeared in the May number of the Intellectual * See the passage quoted at length in the number for May, pp. 242, 243. Repository, and being one of those to whom it has been "particularly addressed;" and who happen, from the reading of Swedenborg to have arrived at conclusions directly opposite to those of Mr. W.; it seems but fair, that the same publicity should be given to the arguments of the other as to the one. At the most, we can only prevent the conquest of truth for a short time. And if Mr W.'s conclusions are wrong, however triumphant they may ride to-day, still their days of triumph are numbered, and vice versa with the conclusions of his opponents. Further, this controversy with me is not a personal matter, and if, in the following pages, I have made Mr. W. illustrate his own principles, it is not because I lack respect for him, but because a principle can only be fully grasped when seen in ultimates. Mr. W. is one of the best examples of his own principles it is possible to obtain. But even supposing that he had not been, Mr. W. could not have objected to his being tried by the words of his own mouth, or the principles he maintains. As a man, I have a sincere regard for Mr. W.; his opinions I honour enough to weigh them word for word; but, much as I respect him, if Mr. W.'s shadow should come between me and the truth, I shall be plain enough to do as Diogenes did to Alexander, when that monarch intercepted the direct rays of the sun, and tell him kindly to just "stand out of my sunshine." And with these few opening words of explanation, I would observe that it is a merciful provision of creation, that there are two sides to every question, and therefore that there are two sides to the question of an ordained ministry. Mr. Woodman has made out a very good case for his party. And no doubt many wavering souls have been built up in "the faith," and are resting tranquilly upon the bed of Mr. Woodman's doctrine. It cannot be denied that Swedenborg seems wholly to support the the priesthood and ordination, as prescribed by Conference. The quotations adduced by Mr. W. are, as they stand, unanswerable. And could they be taken as they have been presented, apart from counter assertions of our author," I, for one, should have no hesitation in accepting the consequence. But with the mass of evidence wholly antagonistic, furnished both by scripture and Swedenborg, to say nothing of common sense, I am bound to join issue with Mr. Woodman. 66 I do not accuse Mr. W. of perverting the truth for the sake of gaining a point; but I do accuse him of misleading the readers of his last article by partial quotation. Take an example. Mr. W.'s great argument in favour of ordination is one drawn from 146 T. C. R. where Swedenborg says, "The reasons why the clergy are particularly gifted with the graces of illustration and instruction are, because those graces have particular relation to their ministerial office, and their ordination to the ministry conveys those graces." Now, any one taking that quotation as it there stands, must naturally yield at once, and take ordination to-day as a rite enforced by Swedenborg, unless he turns dogged, and will not move from a position he has once maintained. Mr. W., however, seems something like "Voltaire, who could write history better without facts than with them," as the paragraph from which his quotation is taken proves. The whole paragraph, bearing upon the subject, runs thus: "But the reasons why the clergy are particularly gifted with the graces of illustration and instruction are, because those graces have particular relation to their ministerial office, and their ordination to the ministry conveys those graces; and they believe also that while they are preaching in the heat of zeal, they are inspired like the disciples of the Lord, on whom he breathed, saying, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit; some of them (the clergy) also affirm that they have perceived the influx.” 66 66 One has only to read the whole paragraph to see that Swedenborg is not speaking about the clergy of the New Church at all. The word “also” makes utter nonsense if the New Church clergy are the subject of discussion. 'They also believe." Who are they?" The New Church clergy? Take Mr. Woodman as one of them. And, let us ask, does he believe" while he is preaching, he is inspired like the disciples of the Lord?" Or does he "affirm that he has perceived the influx ?” Or further, will he boldly affirm that he is a special object of the graces of illustration and instruction, and that no man can be gifted as he is unless he allows some one to lay hands upon his head? Nobody doubts the power of preaching and teaching, of illustrating a dark subject, and of perceiving the meaning of mysterious passages, with which some of the ordained ministers of all churches are gifted; but to say that ordination gifts men with illustration and instruction, is an assertion that ten thousand ordained witnesses, some in and others out of the New Church, live to refute. Every one knows from experience that the ministry, like all ordinary professions, requires that a man shall be naturally organized for it, and that a blockhead ordained is a blockhead still, and that if he had not the power of illustration and instruction when he was plain Mr. the title of Rev. will not generate it. Let the whole passage be taken in its entirety, and it will be seen that Swedenborg was speaking of the clergy of the Old Church who mistook frenzy for the Divine inspiration. It will be seen, too, that in the latter part of the section, they are spoken of in the severest terms of censure, and are described as "of the character of Lucifer," those "who are of Babel," the deniers of the word, and the society of Jesuits, terms which are in no sense of the word applicable to the clergy of the New Church. Still, if Mr. W. insists that they are, while I may offer a gentle remonstrance, I, of course submit to his decision, not being one of the body. This partial quotation is the pivot upon which the arguments of Mr. W. turn, and yet when viewed in connection with the whole passage it has but the remotest connection with the subject in question, if, indeed, it has any connection at all. Nor do I stand alone in this criticism. Professor Bush of America, in his Miscellanies, says, that "the whole section, when read connectedly, is seen to refer primarily to the clergy of the Old Church, who were in imminent danger of mistaking a fiery zeal for a Divine inspiration." If it be urged that Professor Bush had the dust of prejudice in his eyes, it will be enough to remind our friends that such assertions are as valid in one person's mouth as in another. I presume we are all friends at heart, and all we contend for is the truth. All I quote Professor Bush for, is to show that I am not singular in the interpretation of this passage. Professor Bush is no mean authority; and we all know there are people in the world who will take a thing from one man which they will not from another. Then as to the clergy themselves. The next question is, who are the New Church clergy? Now Swedenborg uses three terms in speaking of preachers or ministers: viz., clergy, preachers, and priests. In H. and H. 225, 226, he says, "All the preachers are from the Lord's spiritual kingdom, and none from the celestial kingdom." "All preachers are constituted by the Lord, and thence in the gift of preaching it is not lawful for any except them to teach in the temples. They are called preachers but not priests; the reason that they are not called priests is, because the priesthood of heaven is the celestial kingdom." Thus we see, in the true sense of the word, a preacher and a priest are radically different. The one is a kind of appendage to the pulpit, while the other has no connection with it at all. Nor can we blink the other conclusion, that a preaching priest is an ecclesiastical fiction. But not only are priests essentially different from preachers; but clergy are different from both. In 398 A. R. we read, "The Church is internal and external; internal with the clergy, and external with the laity: or internal with those who have studied its doctrines |