n e w c h u r c h l i f e : j u ly / au g u s t 2 0 1 3
A similar garland is seen where the woman clothed with the sun’s crown
is pictured as a weaving together of 12 stars: the infinite variety and all aspects
of faith. This is truly a picture of making one (universal?) church out of many.
From there Thane goes on to discuss the importance of the connection
between, and a cluster of, churches, which together form the New Church, one
that unites, rather than divides, its people. The promise of the New Jerusalem
is to “supersede and replace the ruins of the old…by restoring what has been
true and hopeful in every faith tradition.” (My emphasis)
There is no doubt there have been dramatic changes in all churches since
the Lord’s Second Coming: changes for the good, I believe.
There have been some interesting papers posted in New Church Perspective:
The Rev. Solomon Keal’s on the changes that have happened in the Catholic
Church and the Rev. Frank Rose’s recent article about the use of “Church
Specific,” a term not used in the Writings.
It’s surely better to think of us all being people created by God who need
His guidance: none of us is in any way superior or exclusive. The Lord came to
save us all from the hells we would cast ourselves into.
In his final paragraph Thane speaks of what that connection between us all
could look like: that we would have “faith in a God who loves all people, works
to save all people coming from different viewpoints, and to extend a charitable
spirit toward people of all faiths; to recognize that these myriad people with
differing faith perspectives may well be part of our Lord’s New Church.”
Amen to that.
Julie Conaron
Hospice chaplain and interfaith minister
Willow Grove, Pennsylvania
Give all the Credit to the Lord
To The Editors:
I was reading the March-April issue of New Church Life – the book review
of the new Century Edition of True Christianity (page 194) – and was struck
by a small exchange between the reviewer, the Rev. Dr. Thane Glenn, and the
editor, the Rev. Dr. Jonathan S. Rose.
Mr. Ros e had noted that Latin favors the passive voice, while English favors
the active voice. Mr. Glenn asked for “a specific example where translating to
active seems to change the meaning of the passage.”
He was given an instance in No. 776 where “detectum est,” which had
usually been translated, “it has been disclosed,” has now been translated, “I
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