New Church Life July/Aug 2013 | Page 52

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] 380