the Lord is also “the life of love toward the universal human race.” (Arcana
Coelestia 6467e)
He said his paper was all about reminding his colleagues that we have
a tremendous responsibility: we have the doctrines and we are supposed
to use them to lead people. He compared people to a chrysalis, which may
look like a mess inside but which, if given time and patience, develops into a
beautiful butterfly. From a sight of doctrine we may be inclined to insist that
what is done in heaven must be immediately done on earth – what he termed
“imitation theology.” But people begin life with great imperfection, and the
Lord allows for this “mess” to persist as regeneration unfolds. His concern
is that in teaching the ideals – as we must – we should not add a burden that
inadvertently makes them seem unattainable.
While essential truths (the Two Great Commandments, the Ten
Commandments, etc.) are at the top of the “mountain,” at the bottom are many
non-essential doctrines like trees in a forest. He urged that priests not make
belief in these to be compulsory or so central that people lose sight of the
essential things that are at the core of spiritual life.
Following discussion, Mr. Appelgren further clarified his main point by
saying that if you have an ideal, and you put people off, you haven’t reached
them. We can improve at how well we use doctrine so that more than “being
right” we are doing right.
A Doctrinal Duel
The next session led by two ministers was more philosophical. The Rev.
Stephen D. Cole led off with levity by literally throwing down a gauntlet in
challenging the Rev. Dr. Erik E. Sandstrom to a doctrinal duel. At issue was the
way the Lord presented Himself to people before vs. after His advent.
The Lord’s presenting Himself to humankind by passing through the
heavens is termed “transflux” in the Writings. The “duel” was over whether
transflux changed or whether it ceased with the Lord’s advent, that is, whether
or not the Lord still presents Himself by means of the heavens.
Mr. Cole’s paper was titled: “The Angel of the Lord – Divine Transflux
Then and Now.” He set out passages from the Heavenly Doctrine that showed
both 1) that before His advent the Lord had presented His Divinity in Human
form by taking on the whole of heaven as He inflowed through the heavens,
and 2) that at His coming the Lord took on the Human form which had been
with the angels and made it Divine. (See Arcana Coelestia 3061:2-3; 5663:3)
He then showed that the Lord now flows into natural things directly from
Himself, but still, working through heaven from Himself. (See Divine Love and
Wisdom 233; Apocalypse Explained 1166:3) So although the Lord still gives to
the heavens their human form and flows through that, what is different is the
477