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spoken of as necessary, are meant governors of both classes, both ecclesiastical and civil. And we find in the Coronis, (n. 17,) and elsewhere, that according to the views of order recommended by E. Swedenborg, the number of degrees in the ministry should be three.

2. With regard to the functions belonging to ministers, E. Swedenborg states, in the chapter of the Heavenly Doctrine already referred to, that they are to teach men the way to heaven, and likewise to lead them therein" (n. 315); and that "they are appointed to administer those things which belong to the divine law and worship.” (n. 319.) This, of course, includes the administration of the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper; nor is any intimation to be found either here or elsewhere, throughout the whole of the writings of the enlightened author, that these functions can lawfully be discharged by any others.

What Swedenborg thus delivers as the doctrine, upon this subject, of the New Church, is founded, like all the doctrines of the New Church, upon the statements of the Holy Word.

The Lord Jesus Christ, when about to leave the world, gives the command, "Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matt. xxviii. 19, 20.) This command, as we find from ver. 16, was delivered to “the eleven disciples" or apostles, who were the first Ministers of the Christian Dispensation. In cases of necessity, as when a child was not expected to live, and no minister was to be had, it certainly was the practice, from early times, to allow the baptism to be performed by others; but that the duty is properly part of the ministerial office, and not to be undertaken by others without such necessity, appears clear from this passage.

In regard to the administration of the Lord's Supper, the testimony of Scripture is not so direct; but it necessarily follows, that if the administration of the ordinance which is introductory into the church, belongs properly to ministers, that of the ordinance which is introductory into heaven is not less peculiarly their province. Indeed, this may probably be intended to be intimated in the Lord's words at the institution of his supper, Do this in remembrance of me :" this injunction was addressed to the twelve apostles; and while the words, "Take, eat; this is my body," &c. are addressed to them as receivers of the Lord's Supper, the words "Do this in remembrance of me," appear to be addressed to them as the future ministers of the Christian church, and to all who should succeed them in that capacity; if so, they contain a command to the ministers, and to the ministers only, to administer the ordinance of the Lord's Supper.

Thus we find that the Word of God, as far as it speaks at all upon the subject, sup ports and sanctions the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, as delivered by E. Swedenborg, in regard to the functions of ministers. They are appointed to administer those things which belong to the divine law and worship," which especially include the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper; and no sanction whatever can be drawn from the inspired pages for the administration of those holy rites by any other persons.

If reasoning by analogy, from the practice in previous dispensa ions, is admissible on this subject, the case, with regard at least to the Lord's Supper, will appear in fuller light still. Swedenborg declares, that baptism was appointed in lieu of circumcision, an of the washings used in the Jewish Church, and that the Lord's Supper was instituted in lieu of the sacritices. But, in the Jewish Church, the performance of sacrifice belonged solely to the priests of that dispensation; the inference is direct, that the corresponding ordinance of the Christian Church belongs solely to the ministers of the Christian dispensation. With respect to circumcision, nothing can be concluded with certainty, from the only place where it is mentioned in the Levitical law (Lev. xii. 3), as to the persons who performed it. Certainly, however, it was either administered by the priests altogether, or not at all; as it was not allowable for others, under that dispensation, to perform the priestly functions. But it is certain, that baptism was first administered, after the Christian dispensation had commenced, by the apostles and other ministers, who were the priests of that dispensation; and it cannot be proved from any of the books commonly included in the New Testament that it was ever performed by others.

3. With respect to the third question, How ministers are to be appointed.-Swedenborg has not given any instructions in a direct form; but he has plainly intimated that,

according to his views of divine order, a solemn inauguration, or a devotional service, accompanied with imposition of hands, is the proper method. To cite only one passage out of several to the same effect, he says in the Conj. Love (n. 396), «The reason why communications of the mind are effected by the sense of touch, is, because the hands are the ultimate principles of man, and his first principles are together in the ultimate, whereby all things of the body and all things of the mind are kept together in inseparable connexion. Hence it is that Jesus touched infants (Matt. xvii. 6 Mark x. 13, 16), and that he healed the sick by the touch, and that they were healed who touched him; hence also it is that inaugurations into the priesthood are at this day effected by the laying on of bands." C. L. 396.

That he understands that the imposition of hands should be accompanied with prayer, is plain from what he says respecting the order to be observed in the dedication of places of worship; that, after all things are prepared, it is to be "sanctified by prayer. that God would make it the abode of his presence," &c.-(Tr. Chr. Rel n. 126.) If prayer is requisite at the dedication of a building to the service of the Lord, it assuredly is no less necessary at the ordination of the minister who is to perform that service.

That such was the order of proceedings at the ordination of priests or ministers from ancient times, is stated generally by Swedenborg, and is evident from the Word of the Old Testament. In the Word of the New Testament there is not, indeed, any express command upon the subject; but what, under the Christian dispensation, was understood to be the requirement of order, is plain from the practice of the apostles. The appointment of the first deacons, though their peculiar duties were not altogether ecclesiastical, was, by the choice of the people and ordination from the apostles. We learn from Acts vi. 3-6, that, at the desire of the apostles, the people chose seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost, and of wisdom, whom they set before the apostles; and, when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them." And Paul says to Timothy, (1 Tim. iv. 14.) who had been appointed chief minister at Ephesus, "Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery;" the presbytery were the other ministers. So he says again (2 Tim. i 6), I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands." Strictly in agreement with this, is the statement of Swedenborg, speaking of illustration and instruction as the peculiar graces of ministers, that their ordination to the ministry conveys those graces" (T. C. R. 146); meaning, of course, with those who worthily assume the office. We see, then, that the order of inauguration into the ministry from ancient times, and as practised in the primitive Christian Church, and recognised by Swedenborg as the right order still, is, by prayer and the imposition of hands.

What then is the result of the whole? That the administration of the sacraments properly belongs solely to the ministry; and that admission into the ministry can only be lawfully performed by the religious solemnity which is of divine origin.

It is plain, then, that the Conference can have no power, by any act of theirs, to confer directly the right of administering these ordinances. The Conference is a mixed body, partly civil and partly ecclesiastical; consequently, it cannot itself administer ecclesiastical functions. All that it can lawfully do in the appointment of persons to perform ecclesiastical functions, is what the primitive Christians did in the case of deacons, as stated in the passage above cited from the Acts-to present to the ministers, for ordination by them, such persons as they (the Conference) deem suitable characters. And did the Conference consist altogether of ministers alone, they still could not appoint persons to officiate in holy things by a mere vote or resolution; to give effect to such vote, the solemnity of ordination must be duly performed. For the Conference to undertake to dispense with the requirements of divine order upon the subject, would be to assume a papal power indeed. They might as well undertake to dispense with the observance of the ten commandments. And any acts which might take place under such dispensation, would be in themselves null and void, being contrary to the prior obliga. tions of the laws of God.

SOME REMARKS ON THE SAME SUBJECT.

BY THE REV. D. HOWARTH.

Whatever may be the final decision of the Conference upon the long agitated question of arranging the ministry, &c., it may be useful, in the mean time, to state in what manner the Committee appointed by the last General Conference entered upon the performance of their duty, and to mention, also, some of the ideas suggested, and conclusions arrived at, while thus engaged. Their labors were begun upon the understanding, that the object of the various Conferences, under whose view the subject has been brought, was, first, to constitute the Ministry of the New Church into a trine or threefold order, answering to the three degrees of life in man, the three heavens &c.; second, to extend and facilitate the means of having the Sacraments administered to the various Societies, according to their respective wants, and to inquire whether it be allowable, upon the principles of order, for unordained persons to administer either or both of them.

In attending to the first part of this object, namely, to constitute the Ministry into a trine, they were led to examine what is contained in the Word of God, and in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, as to the order of the priesthood in the representative Judaic dispensation; for although that Church and Ministry was merely external, yet its outward rites and official distinctions were the exact emblems of the orders which ought to prevail in a truly spiritual church. What the three orders in that priesthood represented, is declared, in very explicit terms, by the enlightened Swedenborg. "There are (says he) three things which succeed in order; there is the celestial principle, which is the good of love to the Lord; there is the spiritual principle, which is the good of charity towards the neighbor; and there is the natural principle thence derived, which is the good of faith; inasmuch as these three things are what succeed in order. There are also three heavens, and in them goods in that order. The work of the salvation of those who are in celestial good, is represented by the priesthood of Aaron: but the work of the salvation of those who are in spiritual good, is represented by the priesthood of the Sons of Aaron; and the work of the salvation of those who are thence in natural good, is represented by the priesthood of the Levites." (A. C. 10,017.) This passage sufficiently evinces, that the Jewish priesthood consisted of three orders or degrees, and, also, that they were, both nominally and actually, distinct peculiar duties were accordingly appointed to each; one class or degree being prohibited from interfering with the duties of another, under penalty of death, as appears from Numb. chaps. iv., viii., xviii., and elsewhere.

The Committee, therefore, thought, that if the Ministry of the New Church is to be formed into a trine, answering to that of the three heavens, the three degrees in man, and their representative - the priesthood amongst the Jews, it should be a trine, not in name only, but also in reality, consisting of a distinction in ecclesiastical privileges; since it cannot, with propriety, be affirmed, that any difference of titles and civil privileges can constitute an ecclesiastical trine. Could the peculiar duties of each order in the representative priesthood, and their exact relations to the duties of the Christian Ministry, be accurately ascertained, the analogy would assist in forming a right judg ment concerning a threefold order in the Christian church; and although information on this subject may not be to the full extent of our wishes, it is, notwithstanding, worthy of some attention.

The representative Church of the Jews was distinguished by the rite of circumcision, various washings, burnt offerings and sacrifices, meat offerings and drink offerings, all of which are comprehended in, and were succeeded by, the rites of baptism and the holy supper in the Christian church. (See T. C. R. 670, 674, 675; A. C. 2165. 2830, 10,143.) Whence it is manifest that by baptism and the holy supper, the same things are signified as were represented by the whole of the rites, sacrifices, and oblations amongst the Jews. If, therefore, their priests, of divine appointment, performed those things, it follows, by parity of reasoning, that the administration of the corresponding tites-baptism and the holy supper-is the proper duty of the Ministry in the Christian

church. Whether the priests, after their formation into three orders, were the operators in the act of circumcision, is not declared with sufficient clearness in the Holy Word, to furnish the means of a satisfactory decision; but that the washings and sprinklings were done by them, and under their direction, may be concluded from Levit. vi. xiii. xiv. xv. xvi., &c.; and that they were appointed to do the work of sacrifices and offerings, and, indeed, all things of public worship, is abundantly evident. Their duties are also summarily stated by Emanuel Swedenborg, in the following words; "Inasmuch as the priesthood was representative of the Lord, as to all the work of salvation derived from the Divine Love, therefore, also, all divine worship was of the office of the priest, which worship, at that time, chiefly consisted in offering burnt-offerings, sacrifices, and meat-offerings. and in arranging the bread upon the table of faces, in kindling the lamps every day, and in burning incense; consequently, in expiating the people, and in remitting sins; more over, also, in explaining the law divine, and in teaching, on which occasion they were, at the same time, prophets that Aaron, with his sons, performed all these things, is manifest from the institution of the priesthood of Moses." (A. C. 9809.) They who officiated in holy things, were called priests, and were of the seed of Aaron, and Levites." (6148.) Holy things, denoting the gifts which they brought to Jehovah or the Lord, that they might be expiated from sins, which [gifts] were burnt-offerings, sacrifices, and meat-offerings." (9937.) "Because priests presided over worship, and likewise taught. therefore by their ministry was signified worship and evangelization." (9925). These passages establish the fact, on unquestionable authority, that the performance of the various rites of worship in the representative Church, belonged, of divine appointment. to the priesthood, and therefore, on the principle of analogy, divine order requires, in the Christian Dispensation, that the corresponding rites-baptism and the holy supperbe also performed by the ministry.

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With regard, then, to a trine of duties, if the above conclusion is just, baptism and the holy supper are two acts or duties peculiar to the ministry, to which may be added a third-that of ordaining or inaugurating others into the office. These three functions. therefore, whether exactly answering to the relative duties of the three orders of priests in the representative Church, or not, would, at least, mark a real distinction between three orders in the New Church; whilst, at the same time, preaching and expounding the Word would be common to the whole. This plan or some other, amounting to a real as well as a nominal difference, must, it is presumed, be adopted, or otherwise the idea of a trine, as a principle upon which to arrange the Ministry, must be abandoned What were the particular duties of the first order of priests-the Levites, more especially after the building of the temple, it is not very easy to ascertain; but it appears from Numb. iv. and other places, that they were of a lower kind than those of Aaron and his sons; which may also be inferred from the following remark of Emanuel Swedenborg: "The Levites were given to Aaron and his sons, that they might perform the ministry of the priesthood under them." (A. C. 10,017.) If the administration of bap. tism can justly be considered a lower duty, when compared with that of the holy supper, it clearly follows that, so far at least, it answers to the lower duties of the Levites, compared with those of Aaron and his sons, and therefore might properly distinguish the first order in our Ministry.

The holy supper, it has been already shown, involves the same things as the sacrificial duties of Aaron and his sons, aud therefore might correspondently belong only to the second and third orders; and as Aaron, in his peculiar work, was the highest representative of the Lord in that priesthood, so he who performs the solemn act of ordinationconferring ministerial functions upon others, sending them forth on their sacred missions, after the example of his Divine Master, stands pre-eminently, as it were, in the Lord's place; and therefore such a duty is proper only to the highest order of the Ministry. The propriety of thus dividing the two sacraments, by appointing the first order of the Ministry to perform the one and not the other, may perhaps be questioned; yet it appears this was done in the days of the apostles; for the deacons, whom they ordained, preached and baptised, as may be seen in the Acts of the Apostles; but there is no account of their administering the holy supper. That the two sacraments are indeed quite distinct, is sufficiently clear from the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. "Baptism (says he) is an introduction into the church, and the holy supper is an introduction into

leiven. These two sacraments are, as it were, two gates leading to eternal life; by baptism, which is the first gate, every Christian is initiated and introduced into those truths and doctrines which the Church teacheth out of the Word concerning a future life, all which are so many means whereby he may be prepared for, and led to heaven; the other gate is the holy supper, through which every one who hath suffered himself to be prepared and led by the Lord, is introduced and admitted into heaven. After passing through the first gate, he cometh to a plain, over which he is to run his course, and at the end of which is the other gate, where is the goal and the prize, towards which his course was directed." (T. C. R. 729.) Again; "those two sacraments may be compared with a double temple, one of which is below, and the other above; in the lower whereof is preached the gospel concerning the new advent of the Lord, and also concerning regeneration and salvation by him in consequence thereof; from this temple, about the altar, is an ascent to the upper temple, wherein the holy supper is celebrated; and from thence is a passage into heaven, where the worshipers are received by the Lord. They may also be compared with the tabernacle, in the inside whereof appeareth the table on which the show bread is placed in order, and likewise the golden altar for incense, and the candlestick in the midst with lighted tapers, which, by their light, render all other things visible; and at length, for those who suffer themselves to be enlightened, the veil is opened to the holy of holies." (T. C. R. 669.) The plain inference from these extracts, is, that the two sacraments are as obviously distinct as the life of man upon earth, and his life in heaven, or as the two stories of a house, or as the two parts of the tabernacle, which latter, in particular, inasmuch as they represented two heavens, are therefore clearly indicative of a discrete degree, and if So, the divid ing the sacraments, as above suggested, is in perfect agreement with order. And if the proposed arrangement would at all facilitate the more frequent administration of baptism in those Societies who experience the want of it, such a circumstance is an additional recommendation to its adoption, grounded in utility and expediency. Both sacraments, it is true, should be duly attended to wherever practicable, but the holy supper may be more or less frequent according to circumstances, and the communicants can generally be present, without much inconvenience, at such times and places as may be appointed, even should the place be several miles distant from their abode; but with respect to baptism, the case is otherwise; the taking an infant a similar distance is far more inconvenient, and attended also with considerable risk of injuring its tender frame; neither can baptism so properly be subject to any stated periods, for children are being born at various and almost all periods of time; and their baptism, on account of its spiritual uses, should not be protracted, but take place as soon after birth as may be, consistently with safety and real prudence. To show the necessity and uses of baptism, and the expediency of its early administration, the following observations of Emanuel Swedenborg will suffice:- Baptism signifies initiation into the Church, thus it sig nifies regeneration; not that by baptism any one is regenerated, but that it is a sign thereof which should be remembered." (A. C. 4255.) They who are of the Church are distinguished from all others in the universal orb of earth by baptism." (10,238.) "As soon as infants are baptised, they are placed under the tuition of angels, by whom they are kept in a state of receiving faith in the Lord; and as they grow up, and become capable of thinking and acting for themselves, the tutor angels leave them, and they draw into association with themselves such spirits as make one with their life and faith; hence it is evident, that baptism is an insertion amongst Christians, even in the spiritual world." (T. C. R. 677.) "In the spiritual world all things are most distinctly arranged, both in common and in every part, or in general and in every particular, and on this distinct arrangement the preservation of the universe dependeth; this distinct arrangement, however, would be impracticable, unless every one, after his birth, be distinguished by some sign whereby it may be known to what religious community he belongeth; for without the Christian sign, which is baptism, some Mahometan, or some idolatrous spirit, might apply himself to new-born Christian infants, and instil into them an inclination in favor of their religion, and thereby distract their minds, and alienate them from Christianity, which would be to distort and destroy spiritual order." (T. C. R. 678.) In these passages, the importance of facilitating, as far as possible, the administration of baptism whenever infants can be brought, is clearly set forth, and also the

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