"Neither is there salvation in any other [than the Lord Jesus]; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." The redemption wrought by the Lord Jesus, was the redemption of the whole, not of a part, of the human race; the whole of which must utterly have perished, had he not in mercy assumed and glorified the human nature, as a medium by which to perpetuate the conjunction of heaven with the world, and keep the gate of salvation open for all who approach it with the only available passport of practical holiness of life; and therefore it is perfectly true, as affirmed in the text last quoted, that salvation can be attained through no other name, the Lord, as Jesus, the Saviour, having established the only channel through which it flows, as well to those who know not his blessed name, as to those who do know it.

Let us, for the sake of clearly illustrating every proposition as we go along, quote summarily what the New Church unfolds to us on this momentous subject:—

"It is believed at this day in all Christian churches, that God, the Creator of the universe, begat a Son from eternity, and that this Son descended, and assumed the humanity, for the purpose of redeeming and saving mankind; but this is a great error, and is overturned by its own absurdity, if it be only considered that God is one, and that it is a more than fabulous imposition on reason to suppose, that one God should beget any son from eternity; and further, that God the Father, together with the Son and the Holy Spirit, each whereof singly and by Himself is God, form but one God. This fabulous account of the Deity totally vanishes, like a meteor in the air, when it is demonstrated from the Word, that Jehovah God himself descended and was made Man, and also the Redeemer." [Here follow a multitude of unanswerable proofs, for which we must refer the reader to the True Christian Religion, from which work we are quoting.] **** "Several causes exist why God could not redeem mankind, that is, deliver them from damnation and hell, by any other process than that of assuming the humanity. For redemption consisted in reducing the hells into subjection, and bringing the heavens into an orderly arrangement, and renewing the church on earth by these means; and ground of the seed, that is, of truth, which evil of life is incapable of receiving; for if those who are principled in evil, were to be instructed a thousand ways, and this instruction was of the most perfect kind, still the truths of faith with them, would enter no farther than into the memory, and would never penetrate into the affection of the heart; wherefore also the truths of their memory are dissipated, and become no truths in another life."-Arcana Calestia, n. 2590, 2591.

there was no other possible method by which the omnipotence of God could effect these purposes, than by assuming the Humanity ;just as there is no possibility for a man to work without hands and arms: wherefore, the humanity is called in the Word, the arm of Jehovah' (Isaiah xl. 10, liii. 1.) ****“For God, who is in inmost, and thus in purest principles, could not possibly, by any other means, descend to ultimate or lowest principles, in which the hells are, and in which mankind were at that time,—comparatively as the soul cannot act without the body; or as it is impossible to conquer enemies while they remain out of sight, or whilst they cannot be approached and attacked with some kind of weapons, such as spears, shields, or guns." **** "For Jehovah, as he is in himself, cannot, by all his omnipotence, approach unto any devil in hell, nor any devil on earth, so as to curb his fury and subdue his violence, unless he be in ultimate as he is in first principles; and he is in ultimates in his humanity; wherefore he is called in the Word, the First and the Last, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending." **** "In the section concerning the divine Omnipotence and Omniscience, it was shewn that God introduced ORDER, at the time of creation, both into the universe and all its component parts; and that, consequently, the omnipotence of God, in the universe and all its parts, proceeds and operates according to the laws of his own order. Now, since God did descend, and since he is order itself, it was necessary for him, that he might actually become a man, to be conceived, be carried in the womb, be born, be educated, be successively instructed in the sciences, thus be introduced to intelligence and wisdom." **** "All this process was accomplished because divine order requires that man should prepare himself for the reception of God; and in proportion as he so prepares himself, God enters into him, as into his house and habitation." **** "It is declared in many places, that none shall enter into heaven, except those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. But those persons who are unacquainted with the Lord, as is the case with numbers in Asia and Africa, and also in the Indies, if they believe in one God, and live agreeably to the precepts which their religion enjoins, are saved by virtue of such faith and life; for those who know their duty, and not those who are ignorant of it, are the objects of imputation, whether of righteousness or guilt;-just as blind men, when they stumble, are no objects of blame; for the Lord saith, 'If ye had been blind, ye would not have had sin but now ye say, we see, therefore, your sin remaineth' (John ix. 41)."-True Christian Religion, n. 82, 84,

:

89, 107. "It may be observed, that if the Lord's church were to become entirely extinct on the earth, mankind could in nowise exist; but each and every one must necessarily perish. The church is like the heart, which, so long as it lives, imparts vitality to the neighboring viscera and members; but as soon as it dies, each and every part of the body dies with it; for the whole race of mankind, even those who are out of the church, derive life from the church of the Lord on earth. The reason of this is at the present day utterly unknown; but that some idea may be formed of it, we may observe, that the whole human race resembles the natural body with its several parts, in which the church acts as the heart; and unless there were a church, with which, as with a heart, the Lord might be united, through heaven and the world of spirits, disjunction would ensue; and in consequence of this separation from the Lord, man would instantly perish. Hence, since the first creation of man, a church has always existed; for, even when about to perish, it always remained with some. And this also was the cause of the Lord's advent into the world; for unless, out of his divine mercy, he had come, all men on the face of the earth must have ceased to exist, the church being then at its lowest ebb, so that scarcely any good and truth remained. The reason why man cannot possibly live, unless he have conjunction with the Lord through heaven and the world of spirits, is, because, regarded in himself, he is far viler than the brutes, and, if left to himself, would rush headlong to his own destruction and that of all others; since he desires nothing but the ruin of them and himself. Order requires one man to love another as himself; but now each loves himself more than others, and thus in reality hates them. It is, however, otherwise with the brute animals, their order being that in which they live; hence they live altogether according to order,—but man, entirely in opposition to his order. Unless, therefore, the Lord had compassion on him, and conjoined him to himself by the ministry of angels, he would never be able to live a single moment." Arcana Cœlestia, n. 637.

The quotation of the foregoing will both reconcile with each other the two passages previously adduced from St. Paul and the Acts, and demonstrate the truth of the observation made in the article for January, that "there is a positive spiritual benefit effected by worship, even when idolatrous, provided no better mode of worship is known; a benefit which places the mind of the worshiper in a far better state for the reception of genuine truth and goodness, and thus lays the foundation for the enjoyment of heavenly blessedness, far more completely than is commonly supposed." It will explain, too, at once,

N. S. NO. III.-VOL. I.

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Le principles of divine operation, on which the church, as the contuctress of heavenly good into the world, has been removed from >oint to point among the gentiles, as it successively became suffocated with evil in the different foci assigned to it, the whole human race enjoying alike the compassionate regard of the Almighty Father, and the course of his divinely appointed periods, revolving under the light of his revelations, as the earth revolves to receive in all its parts the light of the sun,-and those who at any time are farthest from the meridianal line, being still as truly, though more remotely, in the enjoyment of its benefits, as are the natives of either pole in that of the blaze prevailing at the equator.

It is these delightful truths, and many others of a kindred nature, glowing in the doctrinal love of the New Church,-the bride and wife of the Lamb,-that give not only a peculiar zest, but also a high degree of instructiveness, to the subject on which we are entering; since they restore in our hearts the sympathies of brethren towards those vast masses of mankind, whom we thereby see replaced under that sheltering cover of the Almighty's wings, hitherto deemed to be stretched out only over ourselves, and excite in us a lively curiosity to know how they gradually strayed from the centre to the verge of that shelter, and to what aspects, as contrasted with ours, this comparative alienation gave rise in their diversified modes of life and worship.

This wide and rich, and yet untrodden field, allures us so from our present point of view, that we propose extending our survey of it much beyond what the first article intimated,-ranging, in fact, over the whole, and drawing from it as much light of an historical and theological nature, as the talismanic key supplied in the New-Church writings, enables us to unlock, in the hitherto thickly clouded parts of sacred and profane lore.

Another definition is necessary to introduce us correctly into our subject; and that is, that idolatry had its origin in a lapse from high heavenly primeval intelligence, into a progressively deepening state of worldly darkness and sensuality; and not, as is very commonly supposed, from a glimmering dawn of man's rational faculties, out of a previous night of utter natural barbarism. The proofs of this are as conclusive as they are important and interesting; but to give them here, would far exceed our space, while to enter upon and divide them, would hurt their effectiveness. We therefore stop short at the present point, and reserve the whole for a future number.

Νεόφυτος.

ON CORRESPONDENCE.

REMARKS ON THE ESSAY THAT APPEARED IN THE LAST VOLUME OF THE “INTELLECTUAL REPOSITORY," SIGNED H. L., AT PAGE 655.

THE progressing state of our Church, as to numbers, intelligence, and holiness of life, imperatively require, that those, who pray for the peace and prosperity of the New Jerusalem, should devote their most earnest attention to the elucidation of this all-important science. It is not only our imperative duty to render this highly necessary, and much to be desired service to the church: charity and interest both combine to urge us to its performance. For this science is, assuredly, the key-stone of our doctrines, and the focus in which all our strength, as a church, is concentrated. Establish this, and the church will be placed on a sure and unassailable foundation; neglect it, and although we may defend her from the assaults of her enemies, as, by the divine mercy of the Lord, we most assuredly shall, yet we shall never be able to lay down our weapons of defence, and enjoy that calm repose which the Word of truth promises. For we can never so fully detect and expose the sophistry of the worldly wise, demonstrate the falsity of prevailing dogmas, prove the futility of current objections to the truth, or progress in the knowledge and practice of the sublime verities of our holy religion, as by an interior and living knowledge of this divine science.

From a deep impression that these important benefits would most certainly accrue to the church from the cultivation of this delightful science, I had indulged the pleasing anticipation that some of my brethren, who for many years have walked about Zion, gone round about her, told her towers, marked well her bulwarks, and considered her palaces, would have come forward and contributed the acquisitions they had made to the furtherance of so desirable an object: but finding that no communications are being made on the subject, I feel induced to forward the subjoined thoughts on the contents of the above Essay, and may, probably, enlarge upon them at a future period; unless, as I trust will be the case, some of my fellow-citizens of the New Jerusalem, who possess a more comprehensive knowledge of the subject, should supersede my feeble efforts.

It is to be observed that we can never demonstrate the universality of Correspondence, or attain to such a knowledge of its laws, as shall enable us to apply it in all its bearings, unless we first ascer