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
through learning and trials and many ups and downs, to be sure. But on the
inside – perhaps in a way that is largely unconscious to us much of the time –
we know whether we want to live for others and for God or for our self.
Eternity is not a matter of time. Eternity is a state. It is now. No amount of
time after death – of endless learning – is enough to change what we truly love.
The Lord’s will is that every one of us comes to recognize that our life
is a gift from Him. His will is that, after experiencing the joys of loving His
goodness and truth, and of being in loving connection with other human
beings, we will respond with consent to His way and His leading. We must
make this consent full and “our own” by actually living in harmony with Him.
The very context in which this Divine purpose can be achieved demands
that we live in a finite world, as finite receivers of life, that we be given lower
loves which support such a life as a basis for our response. That is where the
potential of human rejection of God and evil arises. But unless these lower
loves, and the finite context, and freedom are given, the Lord’s deepest goal
cannot be brought about.
In the concluding article we will consider teachings about the finite context
in which human beings take form. This has implications for the question of
whether people can change and be brought to heaven from hell after death.
Finally, we will consider the issue of interpretation: can we read the Writings
to be teaching universal salvation, when it is clearly not what Swedenborg
believed?
about the author
The Rev. Grant H. Odhner was ordained in 1981, and into the second
degree in 1982. He has been pastor in Boston, Massachusetts, and Oak
Arbor, Michigan, and Headmaster of the Oak Arbor New Church
School. He teaches Theology in the Bryn Athyn College Theological
School. He is visiting pastor for the New York City Circle and chairs
the General Church Publications Committee. He and his wife, Sarah
(Bruell), live in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania. Contact: [email protected]
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