would simply be differences of opinion on the mysteries of faith. True Christians
would leave such issues up to the individual and the individual’s conscience. In
their hearts they would say, ‘A person who lives as a Christian –who lives as the
Lord teaches – is a real Christian.’ One church would come out of all thedifferent
churches, and all disagreement due to doctrine alone would vanish. Even the hatred
of one denomination for another would melt away in a moment, and the Lord’s
kingdom would come on earth.
That sounds like the faith of Lincoln – and perhaps the influence of
Swedenborg.
(BMH)
the cake and the icing
Here is a simple metaphor to describe the essential difference between the
faith of the New Church and the “faith alone” theology it replaces. Think of a
cake and the icing on it. The cake is the main thing; the icing goes with it and
adds to it, but the cake is primary.
According to the old doctrine of “salvation by faith alone,” the cake is
faith, and charity is the icing. The icing (charity, good works) was important as
a sign of one’s faith, but faith was the main thing.
The situation is reversed in the doctrine of the New Church: the
cake is charity, and the icing is faith. How someone actually lives is
what determines whether he or she goes to heaven or not, not what
he or she professes to believe. The icing is certainly good, too; it rests
upon the cake and is what you see first. The truths of faith are necessary
to inform and elevate and guide charity, but the chief thing is charity.
(WEO)
a three-layer cake
As long as we’re talking about cake, a cake with three layers makes a nice mo FV