New Beta Version of heavenlydoctrines.org

For the last month or so the many people who rely on heavenlydoctrines.org to search the Heavenly Doctrines have been frustrated to find an error message rather than the site they were looking for. Now if you go to heavenlydoctrines.org you find a message that says,

This is version 4.0 Beta. We are still developing the features and the look of the site, but we wanted to give our users access as soon as possible. We realize that the interface and document presentation need work.

We have included some new documents which are:

• Additional translations of some of Swedenborg's theological works.
• New Church Life – A monthly journal published by the General Church of the New Jerusalem since 1881.
• "Books and Monographs" - A collection of works by New church authors.

Try out the new beta version.

Great Article About Why Sexual Fantasy is Harmful

Caring For Marriage puts out a newsletter with articles, stories, and thoughts about marriage. For one of them Rev. John Odhner wrote a great article about why sexual fantasy is harmful. He writes,

Acting out sexually can have huge consequences—disease, pregnancy, divorce, emotional trauma, financial loss, ruined reputation or jail. Fear of these things keep many people from actually doing things they fantasize about, but frequently people assume that fantasy itself may be harmless, and even be helpful. .... The Lord's message is contrary to this. He asks us to look at where our thoughts are going: “Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27). .... The flood of evil in Noah’s time was not that much different from today—it was in people’s fantasies: “The imagination of the thoughts of their hearts was evil every day” (Genesis 6:5). ....

Another reason why fantasies are so harmful is that they are so pleasurable. Yes, they can spice up you sex life, but so can crack. The problem is that we easily become dependent on fantasies to create sexual excitement, but we become more tolerant, so we need newer, more daring and forbidden fantasies to maintain the same level of excitement. .... The bottom line is that fantasy is focused on getting pleasure for oneself, while true love is feeling the joy of another as joy in oneself, so that each wants to think and intend as the other does.

Many people believe that chastity is simply abstinence from adultery physically, even though this is not chastity unless it is also at the same time abstinence in spirit. For a person's spirit—meaning here his mind in its affections and thoughts—is what makes him chaste or unchaste. (Conjugial Love 153).

New Website for Bryn Athyn College of the New Church

On Monday Bryn Athyn College of the New Church launched its new website. In their news article about the new site they say,

The launch of our new website marks more than just a new layout; it demonstrates the College's emphasis on student perspectives by allowing current students to speak directly to potential students about the Bryn Athyn experience.

There are lots of videos throughout the site. Two of my favorites are the one on this page the one on this page.

Each Person Believes in His Own Way

It can seem like everyone in the New Church should believe the same things in the same way, but we know from experience that that's not the case. Even if two people both believe something that doesn't mean that they'll explain that belief in the same way or that that belief will have the same significance to both of them. I was excited to find a quote that speaks of people believing and perceiving things in their own ways.

That the Lord as to the human was made new, that is, glorified (or what is the same, was made Divine), no one can possibly conceive (thus neither believe) who is in worldly and corporeal loves; for he is altogether ignorant what the spiritual and celestial is, nor indeed is he willing to know. But he who is not in worldly and corporeal loves, is capable of perceiving this, for he believes that the Lord is one with the Father, and that from Him proceeds all that is holy; consequently that He is Divine even as to the Human; and whoever believes, perceives in his own way. (Arcana Coelestia 3212:2)

Student Article About Prayer

Bryn Athyn College student Annika Fitzpatrick had a paper she wrote for a college class published in the April issue of New Church Life. Her article titled, “Prayer: Our Connection to the Spiritual World,” discusses various aspects of prayer and explains how prayer works in terms of our spiritual associations.

Regular, sincere prayer, whether spontaneous or from the Word, is essential to spiritual life, and there are no excuses for repetition due to laziness or bad planning. Imagine telling the King of Heaven that you don’t have time for Him today! Instead, we must invest ritual prayers with meaning for our lives. ....

Prayer is not just about asking. If prayer is speech with God, it should not be one long wish list, or a recitation of the things in our life that we want the Lord to change for us. Speech involves thinking, thanking, praising, laughing as well as scolding, yelling and crying. The purpose of prayer is to yank us out of our self-absorption. It calls to mind the fact that life is not just about what we want for ourselves, it is about what we can give to others by following God’s voice. ....

God, and the associate spirits He sends to guide our spiritual footsteps toward heaven, are as close as they can be, but it takes prayer to conjoin us to God and heaven, which will change our spheres such that we can feel their influence. We need to be reminded not to pray, but that we are already praying. Our lives are our prayers, and we must continually strive to use our lives to forge an ongoing connection with heaven.