is embodied in the theological writings of Swedenborg; and these writings, which are the same to-day as they were when first given to the world a hundred years ago—or rather, we should say, the Sacred Scriptures as interpreted by these writings, are the standard to which all New Churchmen appeal. But the Old Theology—not, perhaps, as embodied in the written creeds, but as understood by its living expounders, and as proclaimed from the pulpits of Christian lands—is perpetually changing, and has been for the last hundred years or more. Its ministers all appeal, indeed, to the written Word; but, for lack of some acknowledged and reliable standard of interpretation—some authorized and uniform method of eliciting the true meaning of the Word, their interpretations differ widely, as might be expected. And the popular interpretations of the present day, differ on many points still more widely from those of a few centuries ago, as will appear from the extracts cited in these pages. For there is no doubt that the prevailing belief among Christians now, upon the subject of our present inquiry, is quite in harmony with the doctrine revealed through Swedenborg a hundred years ago; and how different this doctrine is, from the one almost universally held as orthodox prior to the New Dispensation, will manifestly appear from the following pages.
