first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33; emphasis added) This, I believe, is the kind
of righteousness – the kind of good zeal – that exceeds the righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees. May it become a part of our daily practice.
The Rev. Dr. Ray Silverman is Assistant Professor of Religion,
English and Moral Philosophy at Bryn Athyn College. He was
ordained in 1984 and into the second degree in 1985, and has
served congregations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Atlanta,
Georgia. He and his wife, Star (Bruner), live in Meadowbrook,
Pennsylvania. Contact: [email protected]
O U R N E W C H U RC H V O C A B U L A R Y
Part of a continuing series developed by the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, 1961-1966.
ESSE, EXISTERE, ESSENCE
Here we have another series of philosophical terms. Esse is the being of a thing; existere
is the manifestation or forthstanding of the esse; and essence is that in which the real character
of a thing consists – the attributes which make it to be what it is. These attributes are spoken
of individually as essentials.
Thus the Divine esse is the Divine love; the Divine existere is the Divine wisdom, and
the Divine essence is the Divine love and wisdom together and related as esse and existere.
The Divine love and wisdom may also be spoken of separately as essentials of the Divine.
Note that esse is more universal than essence, and that existere should not be rendered as
“existence,” which refers to things by which the essence comes forth. (See Arcana Coelestia
4985, 1096, 1807; True Christian Religion 36)
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