Fraternity-Testvériség, 1962 (40. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1962-12-01 / 12. szám

2

FRATERNITY

works are widely studied by ecclesiastical and lay scholars alike. The Swedenborg Foundation, a New York publishing body independent of any church organization, has been kept busy for well over 100 years, supplying Swedenborg’s Writings to students of all faiths throughout the world.

Swedenborg’s main concern was for the Christian Church, although he was not unfamiliar with the non-Christian religions of the East. The Church of the Lord is spread over all the globe . . . “and all those are in it who have lived in good of charity according to their religion.” Today these words embrace far broader horizons than Swedenborg originally envisaged.

With the end of colonialism came the decline of the Christian missionary. Many converts remain confirmed Christians but many also revert to the beliefs of their forefathers. All four of the great religions offer spiritual fulfillment.

Where, then, is the meeting point?

For Mohammedans there is a single, all powerful God who controls the destiny of every human event; the Jews recognize one omnipotent God and are still awaiting the Messiah’s coming; Christians believe in the same omnipotent God, but acknowledge

that Jesus Christ is the God-head revealed; even Buddhism —

belief in human perfection only attainable through supplication and devotion — expresses its belief in a single ideal.

Where, then, is the dividing line?

Independence has given these religions room to expand, to have their voices heard not just in the wilderness but in the

cities of the West, too. But the voices of all religions must be heard by the spirit within; to quote again from Swedenborg: “The church is within man and not without him; and every man is a church in whom the Lord is present in the good of love and faith.”

Can there be division in unity?

In seeking religious unity thoughtful leaders realize that progress will be impeded according to the degree of dogmatic insistance on doctrines, and to surmount that obstacle man’s freedom of thought must be respected and preserved. If a new organization is to become the “Crown of Churches”, it must be

built on the foundation of the three essentials as distilled by Swedenborg, and ■—• recognizing the soundness of his aphorism, “Doctrines divide but Charity unites” — allow for doctrinal divisions which, as he puts it, “may be compared with so many jewels in the King’s Crown.” (S. F.)