Page:Swedenborg, Harbinger of the New Age of the Christian Church.djvu/26

 other. The errors of both were sustained by a fundamental misunderstanding of the Trinity, which was unfortunately conceived as of distinct persons with different attributes. The Father was regarded as avenging justice and the Son as loving mercy, by which He atoned for the never-forgiven sin of Adam in taking upon Himself the punishment of the cross, the Father accepting the sacrifice so far as to pardon those whom the Son should elect.

Thus darkened was the Sun of heaven. This unreasonableness of doctrine and lack of Christian charity, wars and massacres under the flag of Christian faith, with the profligate luxury of church officials in contrast with the desperate poverty of the people, easily bred contempt for religion at a time when by the art of printing great strides had been made in popular education. What wonder that atheism and deism were having their own way! Religion and morality in the eighteenth century were fast disappearing. The judgment of the Christian Church in the view of its sanest adherents was near at hand.

John Albert Bengel [d. 1752] said, "The doctrine of the Holy Spirit is already gone; that of