Page:The Doctrines of the New Church Briefly Explained.djvu/243

Rh . Yet so prevalent was this belief in all branches of the Christian church, both Catholic and Protestant, prior to Swedenborg's time, that the few who rejected it were counted as heretics. Yet this old doctrine finds few believers now in any of the churches, though it is still taught (by implication, at least) in some of the creeds. It belongs to the Old Christian Age which is fast passing away, and is part and parcel of that huge heap of theological error which had been accumulating for fifteen centuries, and which finally brought the former Christian Church to its end, and made a New Dispensation necessary.

Why is it that this old but once prevalent belief has become so unpopular in our time, and now looks so hideous to everybody? Why does it everywhere shrink from exposure, and anxiously seek to hide its head? Why is it no longer proclaimed from the pulpit, or defended in theological treatises, or owned and accepted even by the stanchest Calvinist? Why, indeed, but because new light has dawned on the world, making more and more manifest the things of darkness? Why, but because heaven has been opened, and the rejoicing beams of the spiritual Sun have begun to