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2. The Return of the Christ:
Is it a Present Reality?
WILLIAM F. WUNSCH
"
American New-Church Tract and Publication Society
Philadelphia
and
The Massachusetts New Church UnioR
Boston
1955

3. The three chapters of this bookl-et
The Return of the Christ:
reproduce the substance of three talks
given at Boston a few rnonths after
1s it a Present Rea litY ?
the meetings of the W01'ld Council of
Churches of Christ in Evanston, Ill.,
during August, 1954. At those 1neet­
ings part .of the discussion was over 1. THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST:
the h.ope of the Lord's Return. The THE SCRIPTURE PROMISES
discussion, it was recogn1:zed by aU,
was by no means concluded, and the il. A FULFILMENT:
talks reproduced here are an effort to IN RENEWAL OF CHRISTIANlTY
present wh-at the writer's church, The
Church of the New J erusalem, has to m. A FULFILMENT:
offer for discussion. IN A WORLD REDEMPTION

4. THE RETURN OF' THE CHRIST 5
L
THE RETURN OF THE CHIUST:.~lIE SCRIPTURE PROMISES
S' an idea in the Bible or intheology, the subject of the
A Lord's Second Coming can hardly be expected to have
the attention of many besides students in those fields; 'The
event, on the other hand, would or could engage the atten­
tion of aily and aIl. What could have more significance to
Christians and indeed for the world than the Return of the
Christ? In these pages it is not merely a view of the
Lord's Return that is to be presented, though that be a
view gathered from the Scripture promises; a possible ful­
filment of the predictions is to be brought to the reader's
attention. Fulfilment, the writer is convinced, ls a present
and powerful reality. l think that the Lord is dealing now
in his Second Coming with his following, in judgment, in
,', the grant of further light, and in inspiration to a renewed
and deepened Christian experience.·· His Coming affects
Christendom more illIlInediately, but of coursè concerns aIl
mankind.
Until a possible fulnlment has made itself known for
what it is, or is an acknowledged reality, consideration of it
has to be won by showing that it,answers to the predictions
~ ~_.
of it. So the Lord's First Coming or the reality of it was
",
originally urged upon men; did itnot fulfill Scripture hope
and prediction? Before long, it commanded conviction for
what it proved to be. First of aIl, then, let us examine the
predictions that the Lord would come again. Did he draw
a picture of his Return? What i5 the picture? He himself,
we know, is the Authorof the hope that he will come again.
Christians could hope that he would return because of what
he was and is,and because it would be such a blessing and,
as many think, an instant rescué from chaos and calamity,
were he to 1!eappear. But he himselfchel'ished the hope and

5. 6 THE RETURN ,OF, THE CHRIST
THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST 7
excited it in his disciples. Next to keeping him, they longed
for him to return. Utterances of his own, then, are the In aIl three Gospels the discourse is substantially the sarne,
warrant of our hope. What expectations andwhat ideas however, and whatever the difficulties with it, we have the
of his Return do his utterances - and any related Scrip­ heart of what the Lord said, his assurance that he would
ttires - allow us to entertain or encourage us to have? . come again, and the general picture which he drew of his
Return. .
The Christ rarely spoke an extended discourse, but on this
subjecthe did. Thefirst record we have of it is in the Suppose we revive the occasion on which the Lord spoke
earliest of the four Gospels, that of Mark, where it occupies about his Return. It is the last week of his life on earth ­
the thirteenth chapter. Matthew also records l't, with sorne how natural that he should speak then about coming again!
elaboration, in his twenty-fourth chapter. Luke, in his The first day of that week he had made his triumphal entry
twenty-first chapter and elsewhere, reproduces parts of it. into Jerusalem. The next dayhe had rested in the quiet and
Known to students of the Bible as "the little apocalypse," hospitable home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus in Bethany.
this discourse is not readily understood. The cast of thought Now, the third day, he has been in the Temple again, teach­
and the manner of expression are foreign to us. There are ing hour aHel' hour. The afternoon has worn on, and he and
other difficulties with it. Only four of the disciples heard his disciples leave for the Mount of Olives across the Kidron
the discourse. They reported it, and of course reported it Valley. As the little company starts off and the Temple
as they understood it and recalled it. Then the writers of looms high and large behind them, one of the disciples cries,
the Gospels (two of whom - Mark and Luke - were not "Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings
disciples, .and none of whom heard the Lord speak) gave are here!" (Mark 13:1.) The Lord's gaze turns to the
the discourse to the world as it was reported to them and Temple; how sobering his comment is! "Seest thou these
as they comprehended it. Between our reading and what great buildings? there shaH not be left one stone upon an­
the Lord said, therefore, we have the understanding of the other, that shall not be thrown down." (Mark 13 :2.) A
four disciples and then of the three evangelists. This may little earlier that same day the Lord had intimated as much.
account, as we shall see, for sorne difficulties in the discourse. Lamenting ovel' the city, "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou
Mark, and even Matthew with his full el' account, have in aIl that killest the prophets," he had declared, "Behold, your
probability condensed what the Lord said,bringing sorne house is left unto you desolate." (Matthew 23 :37, 38.)
sayings closer together than the Lord spoke them; this the Two days earlier, as he drew near the city at his triumphal
four·who heard and reported the discourse may have done entry, he had wept over Jerusalem and predicted its
in thefiis:t place.Two sayings, for example, standing as destruction.
close together as they do, seem to contradict each other. If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in tilis
thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!
Verily l say unto you, that this generation shaH but now they are hid from thine eyes.
not pass, till aIl these things be done.
(~rk 13:30; ~tthew 24:34.)
,For the days shaH come upon thee, that thine
enemies shan cast a trench about thee, and compass
But of that day and hour knoweth nO man; thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the
.Son, ~l,Ï.tthe Father. (Mark 11h32; Matthew 24:36.) And shaH lay thee even with the ground, and thy
children within thee; and they shaH not leave in

6. 8 THE ·RETURN OF ·THECmuST THE RETURN O'!!' THE, CHRIST .~
thee Elne stone upon, another; because thou knewest both events to be imminent., As for, the one happening, the
not the Ume of thy visitation. (Luke19:42-44.) overthrow of city and Temple, of this the Lord unques~
This, then, the disciples hear now for the third time. We tionably speaks as immin~nt. It will occur, he says, in the
can imagine that as they trudge after the Lord up the slope lifeti-n,le of his listeners. He speaks words of warni,ng about
of Olivet, they are amazed, depressed, 'and sunk in thought. it. When armies begin to appear in the neigl1lborhood of
Are sorne of them so sunk in thought that they continue Jerusalem, "then know," he says, "that the desolatiol1
walking on when four of them come to a halt beside the thereof is nigh." Then let 8111 fiee for their lives who can;
Christ? John and James, Peter and Andrew find them­ a siege will'set in with untold suffering. He speaks words of
selves alone with him. They gaze back over the valley to compassion. May none of those fieeing be heavy with child,
the Temple, large at even this distance, and gleaming in nor may 'the time be winter with its hardships, or the
the sunset. Is aU that magnificence to be swept away? Sabbath, when so many things to help oneself cannot be
"Tell us," they bid the Master, "when shall these things done. The destruction of the city did come as soon as
be?" (Mark 13 :4.) predicted. About fort y years later Titus, son of the Roman
emperor and general of the armies, did away with Temple
Mark records only this query about the destruction of the and city. The siege he laid' to the city lasted five months
Temple and the leveling of the city. Matthew says that the and was as bitter as the Lord had predicted. Hundreds of
four asked a further question, about the Lord's, Return. thousands of men, women, and children died of starvation
The disciples would naturally connect the Lord's Return or disease or both as for all those months they were "kept
with a crisis. "And what shall be the sign of thy coming, in on every side."
and of the end of the world?" (Matthew 24 :3.) This was
their further question. While Mark does not quote it, he as We are concerned, of course, not with the fall of Jeru­
weIl as Matthew records the Lord's answer to it. He plainly salem so long ago, but with the Lord's Return. He spoke
implies that the question was asked. of both events because he had been asked about both, but
The Lord has seated himself. He speaks both of the des­ was there not another reason to do so? Whatever connec­
truction of J erusalem and of his coming again. His though t tion the disciples saw between the two occurrences, was not
moves back and forth between the two subjects. He is speak­ the Lord treating the first event as typical in sorne ways of
ing of the second before he is done with the first, in sorne the second, and drawing parallels between them? The fate
ways, it appears, the first is typical of the second. We have of Jerusalem was a judgment on the city for having disre­
to take care when he refers to the destruction of J erusaIem, garded its own well-being and peace. A judgment would
and when it is his Return to which he refers. We have to likewise attend, the Lord said, on the coming again of the
be the more careful because the disciples or the evangelists Son of man. That is one paraUel - in each event a judg­
or both, tending to tie the two events closely together, ment befalls. A se~ond parallel is apparent in the discourse;
may not always have distinguished between the references something more is true of each occurrence. The fall of
or held to the sequences of the Lord's discourse. For ex­ Jerusalem took place at, the end of ,an age, namely,' th~
ample, as the early Christia,ns in general did, they considered OldTestament era. The Lord's cooning would occur at a

7. THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST 11
10 THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST
similar juncture, namely, the end of an age. The disciples, tuaI one was ushered in. Neither then nol' in theother
we note, had such a juncture in mind, wherever they placed instances were the sun and the moon blacked out and the
it: "and what shaH be the sign of thy coming and of the stars dark. The physical world continued as ever. Are the
end of the world," that is, of the age? We shaH have to words not figurative language, poetical rendering of the
consider how the two parallels are followed up in the Lord's prose "end of an age"? Very interestingly Luke mixes
discourse and first, this thought of the end of an age. figure of speech and plain speech, adding to the words of
Mark and Matthew; he writes,
In his discourse the Lord did not use the words "end
And there shall be signa in the sun, and in the
of the age," it is true. He was replying, however, to the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress
disciples' question about the end of the age. And at his of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves
roaring;
ascension sorne forty days later the Lord did use this Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for look-
language. He assured his disciples that he would be with ing after those things which are coming on the
them "always, to the close of the age." (Matthew earth: for the powers of heaven shall he shaken.
28:20, R S V.) In the discourse on Olivet, the Lord moreover, (21:25, 26.)
used equivalent words, words that picture the end of an age. EspeciaHy if we feel that the added words are Luke's and
They are the well-known-if too little understood-words: not the Lord's, they seem to be meant as a plainer rendering
But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun of the figurative words to which Mark and Matthew confine
shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her themsèlves. Conditions are depicted which speH and mark
llght, the end of an age.
And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the
powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. At such a time, then, the Lord is placing his Return.
(Mark 18:24, 25.)
Conditions that bring an age to an end precede his Re-
This was traditional language for depicting, not the end of turn and indeed necessitate it. "Then" will the Son of
the physical world, but the end of an age. Isaiah spoke in man come. (Mark 13:26; Matthew 24:30.) The impression
this way of the end of a political period in his times. made is that the Lord's Return is at a considerable distance.
For the stars of heaven and the constellations
While therefore he could say of the destruction of J erusalèm
thereof shaH not give their light; the sun shall be and the Temple that it would be soon, in the lifetime of that
darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not generation, of the day of his coming, he said,
cause her light to shine. (18:10.)
But of that day and that hour knoweth no man;
The prophet Joel used the same language about the end of no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the
Son, but the Father. (Mark 18:82.,)
a religious era.
It is like saying, "But, while l can give the time for what i3
The sun and the moon shaH be darkened, and the near, that far day l cannot name; only the Father, in his
stars shaH withdraw their shining. (8:15.)
infinite foresight, knows." Othersayings in the discourse
At Pentecost the Apostle Peter was to quote these words also imply that the time of the Lord's Return is distant.
of Joel's; to his mind an age expired then and a more spiri- Love would have waxed cold with many, the Lord declares.

8. 12 THE RETURJ.'l OF THE CHRIST THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST 13
That would be a condition calling for his Return, for does he or attaching to the record of it, as we have seen; but at this
not mean that the love with which Christianity started out point we can bring a difficulty to the discourse. M,any
would have waxed cold? Iniquity would abound, he said ­ interpreters entertain such concepts as "the end of time"
it would be above the average, provoking redemption again. and "the end of history," which are much more sweeping
On one occasion the Lord associated a decline of faith with concepts, but find the end of a Christian age inconceivable.
his Return - assuredly a decline of faith among his fol­ Need this mean more than the end of a first Christian age?
lowers: "When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith In the light of sorne other sayings of the Lord, does it
on the earth?" (Luke 18:8.) Still another saying indicates, mean more? It is odd that Christians should think that
and perhaps more plainly, a distant day as the time of the the Lord would come the second time to wind things up,
Lord's Return. This is the declaration: "And this gospel as though it was all a bad experiment, and even roll up the
of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a universe, which has remained orderly. Are not "the end
witness to all nations; and then shaH the end come." of time" and "the end of history" disguised ways of per­
(Matthew 24:14.) Can this be understood to have reference petuating a literalistic understanding of the passage about
to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.? At that time had the sun, moon and stars to mean the destruction of the uni­
Gospel been preached in even the then known world? For a verse; for what gives us "time" except the sun and moon
world-wide evangelization we must come well down on our and the cosmos 'about us? How differently the Lord spoke!
own times. Had the Lord's thought moved to the subject of Instead of saying that at his coming the end of things was
his Return and his listeners not followed him? Other say­ near - the end of history or of time or of the world
ings, we must judge, were misplaced because of the too he assured his hearers:
close association into which the disciples brought the fall of
And when these things begin to come to pass
Jerusalem and the Lord's Return. There is the verse im­ [these things, be it noted, inc1ude the signs in sun,
mediately preceding the Qne about the preaching of the moon and stars, and "distress of nations" and "men's
Gospel world-wide: "but he that shall endure unto the end, hearts failing them"] then look up, and lift up your
heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
the same shall be saved." (Verse 13.) Who could these be? (Luke 21:28.)
Certainly not those who were caught and lost in the siege When ye see these things come to pass, know ye
that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
of J erusalem. This is language used of followers of the (Luke 21:31.)
Christ, enduring to the end in their loyalty, however cold That is, a new Christian age begins. Why should not the
the love of many might grow, and iniquity might abound.
Lord come the second time as he came the first time, to
Do we not carry away the impression that the Return, put
re-inaugurate the kingdom of God on earth?* Are not his
at the end of the age, is put at a distant day? purposesconstant, and constructive? The Son of man
cornes in order to re-establish his kingdom.
Must not the age of which an end is predicted be the
"An ioterpreter of Matthew 24 who holds the concept of "the eod of hi'tory" w:1l
Christian age? That seems too startling to be credited, and dedare that the.I"ord's return will bring h,!§1O!~..n>_1i1fë"i!;-anà""Trl the "ery
yet it is the Christian age out over which the Lord is next sentence dcclare: ~'This ~ige-villDë-~lIperseded br a permanent arder of
righteousness and pooce, the kingdom of God." But this, God bas in the hen"ens
looking. His discourse has sorne difficulties inhering in it of the spiritual l"orld, and only in the world of immortal life can he ha ve a
"permanent order of righteousne~s and peace, the kingdo", of Go<l." What
does the Lord corue again to do here?

9. THE RETURN.OF .THE CHRlS.T 15
14 THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST
literaHy attend, they appear in a figure of speech. At the
So much - and it is startling enough - we learn about giving of the Decalog clouds surrounded the top of Sinai and
the tiine of the Lord's Return. It will be a day hidden in . hid Jehovah from sight. Clouds are God's chariot - sa he
the infinite foresight, but a day marked by conditions which moves in the forces of nature or in the events of history,
constitute the end of an age. This can hardly be other not plainly seen. Nahum caHed the clouds the dust of
than a first Christian age, with promise of a second. What Jehovah's feet. Daniel saw a vision of the Son of man
is there to learn about the manner of the Lord's Return? coming with the clouds of heaven. (Daniel 7:13.) The
Asked how they think the Lord will return, Christi ans vision was of the Lord coming the first time. And was not
are more likely to reply that he will come in the clouds of God's presence in the Man of Nazareth obscured by much­
heaven than to give any other answer. The Lord told his the human nature, the physical presence, the subjeetion ta
four listeners on Olivet that the Son of man will come "in témptation and suffering, the limitation ta years and
the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." (Mark locality? Revelation speaks of the Lord's coming just as
13:26; Matthew 24:30.) Luke renders the saying, "And MŒrk and Matthew do: "Behold, he cometh with clouds."
then shaH they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with (l :7.) In a manifestation of Gad, along with manifesta­
power and great glory." (Luke 21 :27.) In Acts 1 :9, de­ tion there is a veiling of the divine presence. ls this not the
scribing the Lord's Ascension, Luke writes that "a cloud large, general suggestion in the Lord's coming in the
received him" out of his disciples' sight, and says that in clouds? When the Son of man cornes, his presence will in
like manner the Lord would come again. What can it mean a measure be veiled.
that the Son of man will come in the clouds or in a cloud?
Two sayings in the Lord's discourse make a common under­ We noted that the book of Acts also depicts this manner
standing of the words impossible. On the strength of thè of Return. Describing the Lord's Ascension, it says that
words many expect a physical reappearance of the Lord; a cloud received him out of the sight of onlookers, and adds
for what other can be made in the clouds of the sky? But that as he was taken up, sa he would come again. The Lord
such a coming would inevitably be at sorne point in space, did not then cease ta be present with men, but his presence
and the Lord declared that men could not cry at his Return, became veiled. But is that aH that the passage in Acts
"Lo, here," or "Lo, there." Indeed, he went on to say, has ta tell us of the manner of the Lord's Return? Should
"For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth the reference in the words "in like manner" be confined ta
even unto the west; so shaH also the coming of the Son of the cloud in the total pieture? Let us turn ta the pas·sage
man be." (Matthew 24:27; cf. Luke 17:24.) Far from for what more it may have ta tell us. The Lord's Ascension
being localized, the Lord's Return is in some way ta be came at his eleventh recorded appearance after his resur­
capable of wide diffusion. rection. At that appearance he spoke of the outpouring of
the Holy Spirit saon ta come, as it did at Pentecost ten
But that is only saying what the coming in the clouds days later. When he had finished speaking, sayS' Luke,
cannot mean; what can it mean? The Scriptures in general
provide an explanation. They regularly depict a manifes­ .... while they beheld, he was taken up; and a
cloud received hw out of their sight.
tation of Gad with clouds attending on it; if clouds do not

10. 16 THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST 17
And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven
as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in Lord's Return. The world of the spirit will come to view
white apparel; then in some way. The Risen and glorified Lord it is who
Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand will come.
ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which
is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come We are seeking to bring together, out of the Lord's own
in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
(Acts 1:9-11.) words principally,* an idea of what his Return will be like.
We have yet to consider the constant designation of the
The incident holds two very weighty suggestions for the
Lord as the Son of man in connection with his Return.
picture of the Lord's Return. In the first place, on whom
"Then shaH appear the sign of the Son of man," "they
were the "men of Galilee" looking? Was it not upon the
shaH see the Son of man coming," "the Son of man cometh
Risen Christ? If "this same Jesus" was to return, it would when ye think not." Should not the emphasis on this
be the Lord Risen and glorified who would manifest himself. designation check the inclination to regard the outpouring of
This is one significant suggestion to be derived from the
the Roly Spirit** as the Second Coming? The gift of the
picture of the Ascension for our picture of the Lord's
Roly Spirit was an integral part of the Lord's first coming,
Return. A second suggestion is already present in the first.
was it not? It was one culmination of that coming. The
Beholding the Risen Lord, who was not seen by aIl but only
Risen Lord breathed upon his disciples, and said, "Receive
by those whose eyes were opened, the Galileans were be­ ye the Roly Ghost." (John 20 :22); and this did not wait
holding the Lord in the world of the spirit; by resurrection
until Pentecost. But what can be regarded as the force of
he had passed into that world, and now was ascending
the designation "the Son of man" for the Lord when he
even above it. The two men in white apparel were so comes again? The Son of man, the Lord said, sows the
described in order to say that they were men in the world
Word. Intensive teaching fiHed the three years of the
of the spirit. They did not belong to the company of the
Lord's ministry on earth. Are we to associate explicit teach­
disciples, nor were they of this world, but brought enlight­
ing with the Son of man as we do a general enlightenment
enment from their world. If aIl this has something to teil
which is wordless with the Spirit? The Lord, the Teacher,
us about the way in which the Lord will return, must we
not conclude that at his Return the world of the spirit will -The Apostle Paul, wrillng betore the Lord's discourse about his retllrn was
be markedly in evidence? The Lord himself spoke on Olivet recorded ln the Gospels, expressed not onl~' his own thought but l.he thollr,ht
of early Chrlstians generally on the subieet. He eonsidered the relurn imminent
of other-world activity at his coming. 1 Thessalonlans 4 :14-li, 5 :2-3). The idea had some undesirable rcactions _
ordinary work was abandoned b~' sorne, who became burdens on the smal! Chr!st­
ian groups. }'irst, Paul Qualified the idea, and then as the years went by wilh
They shall see the Son of man coming in the no retum ln sïght, he no longer volee<! it. Of course, Il proved to be mislaken.
clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Pau!'s general idea of the retum was literaIistlc: "We that are allve shall be
cllught up in the clouds to mect the Lord in the air" (1 Thessolonlans 4 :17).
And he shall send his angels with a great sound Jt confiicted ..-lh the Lord', sa~'ing that one conld not cry "J.o, here" or "J,o
there." Are not the Lord's words determinlng, and do they not have the precodcnce?
of a trumpet, and they shaH gather together his
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to
the other. (Matthew 24:30, 31; Mark 13:26, 27.) --To regard the outpourlng of the Spirit as the Lord's retllm seem, to many
Interpreters to splritualize what they regllrd as the Illerallstie pletures of
Matthew and Mark. The Gospel of .John. which omits the discourse on the
These are two momentous suggestions to be gained from Mount of Olives, 18 thought to do 8ueh splrltuallzing. Bave we found eilhcr
tbat dlscourse or the description of the Ascension at alI llteraIisUc? The
the description of the Ascension for our conception of the Fourth Gospel also omlta the Lord's Prayer, the Beatitudes, and the Sermon
on the Mount as a whole.

11. 18 THE RETURN· OF THE CHRIST THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST 19
also said, "1 have yet many things to say unto you." passage we considered in Acts we concluded that the spiri­
(John 16 :12.) tual world would be in evidence in sorne way at the Lord's
Return; according ta these parables one way in which it
We have finally to take up the second of the two parallels will appear is in connection with the judgment attending
drawn in the Lord's discourse on Olivet between the fall of on the Return.
J erusalem and his Return. As the former event took place
at the end of an age, so would the Lord's Return; this The predicted features or aspects of the Lord's coming
parallel we have considered. As a judgment befell Jeru­ which we have been able to deduce from his words and from
salem at its destruction, a judgment would attend on the sorne other Scriptures are for the most part large features
Lord's Return; this parallel we now consider for a moment. and somewhat indistinct features, like, for example, the
A judgment and the end of an age are closely linked; a capacity of his coming to be widespread like the lightning.
religious age can hardly be said to be ended except in a This is one reason, no doubt, why the Lord bade men watch
judgment on it. Throughout the Lord's discourse there are (Matthew 24:42; Mark 13:33, 35, 37); a reason, too, why
intimations that a judgment will attend on his coming. he bade them pray. They would need to discern what might
Twice the "elect" are spoken of (Matthew 24:22, 31), and answer to his words and need to rise into caring for his
the "saved" are (verse 22), also those "taken" and those way of fulfilling their hopes. Furthermore, no more than
"left." (Verses 40, 41.) There is the comparison with the at his first coming would he want by unmistakable predic­
days of Noah (verse 37), when the deluge came in judg­ tion to force acknowledgement of him and make it auto­
ment on mankind. In the mention of Noah, incidentaIly, matie and matter-of-fact. The picture is left very much
we have an implication that a judgment closing one age an outline. Did it not have to be left so? It could not be
breaks the way for a new age; for in Noah the Lord named, precise any more than the hour or day could be named,
not a representative of the age gone by, but the progenitœ' and for the same reason, aIl was in the keeping of infinite
of the age to come in those pre-historie days. The Lord's foresight. To say this in another way, only the event would
discourse on Olivet about his Return is also followed by define the predictions. Was this not true of the first
three parables of judgment, the parables of the wise and Advent? Predictions of it led few to expect the historie
foolish virgins, of the talents well used and unused, and of Nativity scene at Bethlehem. Have we not another meaning
the sheep and goats. Commentators regard the chapter here for the idea that the Son of man cornes with clouds?
made up of the parables, chapter 25, as one discourse with As men await his coming with mistaken anticipations, and
chapter 24. In these parables, more plainly in the second the most discerning are not clear what will happen, is the
than in the first, and most plainly in the third, the scene Lord not coming with clouds? The Son of man will steal
of judgment, we should note, is the world of the spirit. on us like a thief in the night. Yet the Lord also said,
"And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: "Behold, 1 have told you before." (Matthew 24:25.) "Watch
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew ye therefore." (Mark 13:35.) "What 1 say unto you 1 say
25:30.) "And these shall go away into everlasting punish­ unto aIl, Watch." (Verse 37.) Had he not said enough for
ment: but the righteous into life eternal." (46.) From the guidance and for prayerful alertness?

12. 20 THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST
Concluding our examination of the Scripture promises, let
me summarize what we have gathered from them about II
the Lord's Return. We havefirst of aIl a confident "that" A FULFILMENT: IN RENEWAL OF CHRISTIANITY
- that the Christ will come again. We have a startling
"when" - when a first Christian era has run low in spil'it­
uality and redeeming power, in such measure as to be end­ A re we justifieddoes regarding anythlngpicture heLord'g
Return which
in
not answer to the
as the
drew
ing. We have assembled sorne ideas about "how" the Son of it?
of man will come. One manner of advent is not to be First of aIl, therefore, we examined his words for the
e){peeted - a coming here or there. By implication a guidance they offer. He said, "1 have foretold you," and he
physical appearance is not to be expected; that would have bade men be alert to discern his coming, as though he had
to be here or there. Rather the coming will be made in given sufficient guidance. Principally we studied the long
such a way that it can extend far, traveling, the Lord said, discourse which the Lord spoke on the subject to four of
like the lightning that shines from east to west. It would his disciples two or three days before the Crucifixion (Mark
be of a kind to ,be described in the language traditionally 13 and Matthew 24 and portions of chapters in Luke). We
used of divine manifestations, that is, a coming in the also examined the passage in Acts (1 :9-11) describing the
clouds - the Lord's presence would be veiled in its nature Lord's Ascension, for it assures us that as he ascended,
or obscured by our dim perceptions. The Son of man it is "so in like manner" he would come again. In the pages
who cornes, who on earth taught so intensively. A judg­ imrrnediately preceding we summarized what we gathered
ment in the world of the spirit accompanies the Lord's from these Scriptures in the way of an anticipatory picture
Return. It closes one age only to break the way for an­ of the Lord's Return. Included in this picture are indica­
other age. From the description of the Ascension in Acts tions of the manner of his Return - it will not be so un­
we concluded that as the Lord would come as he ascended, mistakable but that faith is necessary to discern it, nor
"this same Jesus," the Lord Risen and glorified it would can it be hailed with "Lo, here" or "Lo, there" ; accordingly,
be who would manifest himself. The same Scripture, we it will not be a physical reappearance which must be here
found, lifts the world of the spirit into prominence at the or there; rather will it be in a way to enable the Lord to
Lord's Return. come widely. A signal judgment will attend on his coming
again. He will come as the Son of man, who came teaching.
We inquire next whether any fulfilment of the hope that
As at the Ascension the world of the spirit will in sorne
the Lord will return can have occurred.
way he in evidence. It will be the Risen and glorified Lord
-"this same Jesus" who ascended - who will manifest
himself. Added to these features of the manner of the
Lord's Return is a general indication of the time; the day
is not fixed, but the time is characterized - Christian love
will have lost its ardor, and faith declined, so much so tIiat
a first ,Christian age can be said to have ended. At that

13. 22 THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST 23
far....day a new age will dawn, for the Lord will come as ever heralds it, and says indeed that in his books he is serving it.
to renew his kingdom.
What does he consider it to be? Or, to take him at his
Is there any occurrence or development which we can word, that he heralds it, what does he find the Second
feel answers to this picture of the Lord's Return? May it Coming to be? Does it answer to the anticipatory picture
be that we have his Return to hail today? The possibility which we have gathered from the Scriptures?
is earnestly presented, to be earnestly pondered by any who
One of the first things that Swedenborg says about the
cherish the hope of the Lord's Return.
Lord's Return is that it is not a physical reappearance.
We move a long way down the Christian centuries for the We concluded from the Lord's predictions of it that it would
day about which the Lord talked with the Four on Olivet. not be. There would be no possibility, the Lord said, of
A long way - but then we have the end of an age to which crying "Lo, here" or "Lo, there," as one certainly could of
to travel! We pause a little more than midwày in the a bodily reappearance, which perforee must be at sorne
eighteenth century. By that time the Christian era has point in space. The Lord himself cornes, but not by this
achieved more than the length of the Old Testament era. manner of manifestation. Was there an inadequacy in the
We have exchanged ancient Palestine for quite modern First Advent, which was made in the ftesh or by physical
Sweden. We are in another capital, not Jerusalem, but appearance, for another such appearance to be made? Was
Stockholm. In a study in his garden, a serene man with not everything to he accomplished by tbat manner of com­
contemplative eyes is writing one more book. For he has ing perfectly and forever effected? The Incarnation stands
been writing a numher of volumes, sorne large, sorne small, unique. Still, suppose that the Lord returned in a physical
about God and the Bible and Christianity for more than a appearance, he would enter, would he not, on a ministry of
score of years. In these books he has 'heen formulating the his Word? Suppose again that he does this apart from a
teachings of the Word in a massive restatement of the physical reappearance? At his first coming, when soane
Christian Gospel. In the Word of Old Testament and New questioned whether he was the promised Christ, others
Testament he has been expounding a spiritual meaning asked what more the Christ could do than Jesus was
which has to do with our experience in regeneration and doing. (John 7:31.) If the Lord cornes, then, the second
with the Lord's experience in glorification of his Humanity. time with light and leading, is that not what we seek and
On the Christian hope of immortality he is sure that a expect? This manner of Return, we shaH find, instead of
further, informative light now faIls. It is difficult to name throwing doubt on the adequacy of his first coming, makes
a reality of the Christian faith or life which is not dealt that coming more meaningful than ever. The Incarnation
with in the thirty volumes that have come from Emanuel is made to mean more than ever, so is the Lord's redemp­
Swedenborg's hands. He also has a most arresting reply tion of the world, so is his life; his very Person cornes to
to make to our question whether the Lord's prediction about mean more. For the Lord comes the second time, says
coming again has had any fulfilment. For years he has Swedenborg, in his Word; there he makes himself still
been giving a confident answer in the affirmative. He says better known. The Second Coming, then, Swedenborg finds,
that the Lord's Second Coming is in progress. He hails it, is not a physical reappearance of the Christ, and thus his

14. 24 THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST 25
report of it complies in that respect with our anticipatory the Lord come teaching, as the Son of man did? Have we
picture of it. The Lord's Return is a coming in spirit and fulfilment or satisfaction of another feature of our antici­
in truth. patory picture of the Lord's Return?
ln still another aspect of it, the Lord's Return or the
We concluded from our examination of Scripture that
manner of it was likelled to the lightning shining from east
the Son of mail it is who cornes, who in the life on earth
to west; in the manner in which it was made it would be
taught so intensively. The Lord comes the second time,
capable of wide extension. Do we come upon any satisfac­
says Swedenborg, with explicit teaching. This, he says,
tion of this prediction in the Return of the Lord which
he was commissioned to convey to men. Do we mean that
Swedenborg says he serves? What is capable of such
we find revelation in the volumes of theology, Scripture
diffusion as an idea or ideas are? Truth spoken often goes
interpretation and other-world disclosure, which came from
far. Printed, it is diffused far more widely and surely.
the hand of Swedenborg? AlI this, he said, was revelation
We recall that the Lord said that the Gospel would be
to him. Many an idea of his was relinquished as he
preached to aIl nations before he was to come. That did
gathered up the teachings of the Word into a unified whole;
not take place until weIl down towards Swedenborg's day,
unexpected meaning in Scripture was disclosed to him; and
when the printed Bible went with the missionary around
by a marvelous mercy and privilege, he said, the world of
the globe. With his lively sense of God's hand in history,
the spirit was let come to his consciousness, for him to tell
Swedenborg regarded the printing-press as a providential
men of it. If the age is clear that revelation there cannot
means for the spread of the Gospel. Providence is relying,
be, may the Lord have spoken from a prescience that that
he says, on the same means for the spread of the truth of
might be the case? "When the Son of man comes, shaH
the Lord's Second Coming. For his work as a revelator
he find faith in the earth?" (Luke 18 :8.) Shall not the he had to possess unusual powers of mind. Modestly he
Lord, when he cornes again, reveal anything? Is it not says that a man was.needed who could "receiye in his under­
expected that he will, and eagerly desired that he should'? standing" the body of teaching to be revealed to him. He
Truly he does, declared Swedenborg; coming in the Word makes just as much of a second requirement, that it must
he cannot but come in revelation. Swedenborg expounds be someone who could publish the teachings by the press.
the spiritual sense (as he calls it) of the Word of the Lord; He was in position to do this, and out of bis pocket paid
he throws endless light on the hope of immortality vhich the costs of the thirty volumes of teachfiig' mat a-ppeared
we have in the Gospels; he incisively takes to pieces tradi­ over the years. How can a body of teaching be carried
tional teachings which have done injustice to the Gospel, around the globe and be deeply settled in mankind's atten­
and he makes a commanding restatement of the Christian tion except, like the Bible, by products of the printing­
message. This explicit teaching is of such proportions as
press?
to be a lifetime study. It is far more than a theology and
a biblical exegesis. It is many-sided revelation, so rich that 1 quote a paragraph from the last book which Swedenborg
theologies cannot soon assimilate it or introduce its signifi­ saw through the press. It is the passage which speaks of
cance into the reconstruction of Christian thought. Has his reliance on the press. It also touches on what we have

15. 26 THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST 27
said so far about features of the Lord's Return, that this assurance, "We know this man whence he is:' Flesh and
is made in the Word and not by physical reappearance, also blood brought mankind the Christ, but also o~d him; J
that revelation is part of it, even to disclosure of the near­ it was not flesh and blood that revealed him to Peter.
nes~ and nature of the spiritual world. Some of Sweden­ (Matthew 16:17.) The Lord also came III the thick of mis­
borg's terms calI for understanding. When he says that ., conceptions of the predictions about him; in that respect,
~ in~louds,--.I1.Jv.â§.Jo be much the Sl,!me at his RetuE,n.
'
the Lord cannot manifest himself in person, that is to say
he does not come by physical reappearance; the Lord him­ To be discerned at aIl, his Return would have to be dis­
self does come. The "new Church" whose teachings Sweden­ cerned by faith. ~ the human side l'aises the doubts ­
borg is to "receive in the understanding" is not another
ecclesiastical body, but the renewed Christianity which .the
can the Lord for even a part of his coming utilize a mortal?
::;::
But once on a Ume he was born in a mortal body in order
­
Lord cornes to establish. This passage is one of Sweden­ to come. And has not his first coming been carried to
borg's chIef statements of how and why he was called to the world in Epistles and Gospels written by servants from
serve the Lord at his Second Coming. among men? Beyond the meanings which we have already
As the Lord cannot manifest Hlmself in person given for the coming in the clouds, another meaning
... and yet has foretold that he was to come and to emerges with fulfilment of the prediction. The Lord cornes
establish a new church ... it follows that he wil do the second time, we have said, in the Word. In deep
this by means of a man who is able not only to re­
ceive the doctrines of that church in his under­ meanings of the Word of Old and New Testament-----...:::­
a light
standing, but also to publish them by the press. shines on rebirth in man's experience and on the glorifi-J
That the Lord has appeared to me, his servant, and·
sent me to this office, that he afterward opened the cation of his assumed humanity in the Lord's experience.
eyes of my spiI1it and 50 introduced me into the ThaUl&:htJhe...-ScriI!tures ~ouds. Bringing us
spiritual world and granted me to see heavens and
hells and to talk with angels and spirits, and this that light the Lord cornes in the clouds - and in the clouds
continuously for many years now, l affirm in truth; of heaven - with power and great glol'Y. Anyone who
as also that from the tirst day of that cali l have not
recelved anything whatever pertalning to the doc­ reads at aIl comprehendingly Swedenborg's expositions of
trines of that church from any angel, but from the the spiritual and celestial senses of the Word - his
Lord alone, while l read the Word.
(Troe Christian Religion, No. 779.) Arcana Coelestia or his Apocalypse Revealed - gains at 1
least a hint of the power and glory with whic.h the LOrd )
In coming in the Word and with a body of teaching, how
can the Lord be said to come in the clouds of heaven with .. - --­
will come when the Chri§.ti9-~ld rises into that light.
In the internai sense of Scripture, thel'e is a light
power and great glory? That is a principal description of comparatively like the sun1j~ht a,J:l.aye the clouds.
the manner of the Lord's coming again. We noted the We read in the Word, therefore, that Jehovah is 1
borne .!ID the clouds, rides on them, fiies on them,
more general meanings that the words can have. In any that he has his chamber on'ihem, and thaT'he will
coming of God his presence is veiled or accommodated to come in the clouds of heàVen.
(Arcana Coelestia, No. 8781.)
human view. Was it not veiled in the Christ? Did eyer~r­
one who saw the Clu'ist know him for what he was? Many This prediction about how the Lord will come takes on new
àSked, "ls not this the Carpenter?" Others said with and definite meaning in the fulfilment of it. ­
------~
"'--­

16. 28 THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST 29
Is Swedenborg prepared to say that in his day a first Nature was not going to suffer a cataclysm; rather,
Christian age has ended? The Lord was to come at such naturalism was blacking out the spiritual life. Once more
a juncture. This prediction, too, Swedenborg says, has ful~ent brought more meaning to prediction.
come true in his day.
How can Swedenborg be so confident that conditions had
The Lord will reveal himself in the sense of the
letter of the Word, and will open its spiritual sense, arisen bringing a ,first Christian age to a close? On what
~L.the-ChUIch. can he base his assertion? To earnest souls at that time
(Apocalypse ReveaIed, No. 24.) '
the Christian Church was a professional ecc es'asticism and
The idea that a first Christian age could come to an end
sadly bereft of spiritua~lousands left the Continent
was not such a startling idea to Swedenborg. In hisread"=
and England for America seeking sornething freer, more
ing of mankind's religious history he discovered a se~'ies
vital, holier and mor~man. IILEngland Methodism Wl}S
of religious eras. Two pre-historie ages, he found, were
arising in protest. Historians tell of the irreligion, scepti­
symbolically portrayed in the stories of Adam and Noah.
cism and hollôwness ilf Cjlristian_Rrofession. More than
The Lord in the discourse on Olivet said that what would
one man, looking back, has called that period the midnight
befall the age over which he looked forward would be like
of the Christian Church:- At the tirne Sweilen50rg called
what befell in the days of Noah. We al~d
it night, the same night, he said, in which previous religious
of the Old Testam~llLg.ge and the ~~ginlling_oUh.e. New
agesÎlad expired. But his conviction did not l'est on history
1TestamenL...age. The traditional language in which the - history of that time was yet to be written. And does
Lord described the conditions that constituted the end of history ever reveal how far humanity rnay be departing;
the first Christian age, also acquired a rnost precise mean ­ from the life eternal? Even now no history uncovers t~
ing for Swedenborg. Blacked out sun and moon and fallen conditions that moved thëj1msttOëOrrië""the first time, or }
stars did not rel11ain just a general figurative language hfiïts anhe woeful state of mankind which he discernecl.
meaning the end of an era. They did mean the end of an What history can make good the words, "Ye are of your
era, he said, not the destruction of the universe. That father the devil," or "1 saw Satan fall as lightning from
understanding of the words, cornmon in his day, came of heaven"? Only a holy Presence brings into sight the 1
not appreciating oriental figure of speech, but, added unhol:y and perverted:-"NOr did -~nborg l'est his èOn-
Swedenborg, also for lack of knowing the deeper sense of viction on observation of Christendom around him. Then,
Scripture. He found a precise correspondence between the on what does he base the declaration that the end of a
·f
natural phenomena of darkened sun, unlighted moon and first Christian era has come? It will be granted - will it
fallen stars, and the dark spiritual conditions which pre ­ not he insisted? - that to say love and faith and insi@t
~ailed in Christendom - the ftre of such outgoing love as have been extinguished to such an extent that an age is
Christ inspires was failing, faith that reflects this ardor enaed is a judFmenf only God can render. In the picture
was faint, heavenly insights had deteriorated into unseeing of the Lord's Return a judgment attends on his coming.
credal formulations, and the influence of heaven orfu Swedenborg reports one taking place. If he is to serve
force of religious lJurpose on earth was feeble, indeed. and describe the Lord's Return in anything like its full

17. 30 THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST 31
extent, he must be enabled in his other-worId experience ta Consider how knowledge of that world could at once deepen
witness the judgment attending on it. He decIares he did. and elevate any Christian doctrine! Each of the chief
We shaII have much more to say of this in our next chapter. doctrines of Christianity is formulated .~ Sweden6o~g in J
Now we point out that the judgment attending on the the Iight of his knowledge of the world Qf the ~rit.
Lord's Return made it evident to Swedenborg that a first The concept of that world is an organ of thought with him.
Christian age had l'un its course and discovered to him Is it not obvious that far more can be said about Providence
th.e inwar~dliion of Christendom at_his jay. Accord­ if something is known of the other world? The go~f
ingly, one more prediction - that a judgment wiII attend history and of human existence to which Providence leads,
1 on the Lord's Return - is fulfiIIed in the Second Coming are to be found there; unse~nnels of God's providence
as Swedenborg describes it. and grace must exist there. How very much more Sweden­
borg was enabled to say about the Incarnation! God, tran­
From the passage in Acts describing the Ascension we scending the finite spiritual world, must for Incarnation
concIuded that as at the Ascension, so at the Lord's Return have traversed that world, as he "bowed the heavens.·'
the world of the spi:r:it would be in evidence. It is rn evi­ Catching sight of the realm of the spirit and its residence
dence in the judgment of which we have just spoken; the and constant activity in the physical universe, swedenbOrg]
spiritual world is the scene of any judgment and of a could also erect a philosophy of a spiritual-natural or
judgment on a religious era. For this must faB upon persons psycho-physical universe, in the very constitution ;)fWhlch
who have Iived during that era and are now in the world of
spirit. The other world came into evidence for Swedenborg in
l religion has a secure function and is altogether_at llOme.
In so many ways the world of the spirit is prominent in
the first place in h1s being enabled to see and hear in it, as_he the Second Coming hailed and served by Swedenborg. The
did for nearly thirty years. He was granted the experi­
. ­ description of the Lord's Ascension in Acts encouraged us
ence for a mission, and the range of it was commensurate to IhIîïk it w-ould he:- If the würid of the spirit has reality
( with what he was caIIed upon to do. He was to make known for us at the Ascension, should itnot no'; i~ QUrcmlCept
new depths of God's Word and to give in words of our
language an idea of how the Word is understood in heaven. - - ~ "­
of ffïël:;orâ'sRêtüm? - - ..-- ­
He was to note the intimate residence of the spiritual world We have to consider, finaIIy, the second inference whicll
in the natural world, and the relationships of the two, we drew from the passage in Acts about the Ascension.
something here corresponding always to something there. If, as that Scripture says, "this same Jesus" returns whom
Those correspondences also exist between the Scriptures the disciples saw ascend, then it is the Risen and glorified
and the grasp which men and women in the heavens have Lord who manifests himself on bis Return. That mani­
of the Word. And, of course, the servant of the Lord was ) festation is 1Q...t~ mind, of course, and not to the bodily
to teII of that world, as h~ d~ "from thillgs heard ~nd eye - at the Ascension it was not to the bodily eyaU'ilce
seen," and thus inform the Christian hope of immortality. hèw men heard and saw with their eyes, looked upon and
In stiII other ways the world of the spirit cornes in evidence, touched the Word of life. (1 John 1 :1.) The more sUl'ely
as prediction indicated it would at the Lord's Return. in the memory of that experience the Risen Lord is God

18. 32 THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST THE RETuRN OF THE CHRIST 33
vi~to thoug.llt, and in him is God beyond our thought went ta Gad. The manifestation of the Lord ta us, in
or invisiblrThe humanity which enabled "that which was doctrinal concept, in biblical insi~ht, in heaven's knowledge
from the beginning" to come under the eyes and be heard of him, is manifestation ta the mind and heart of his
by the ear and be handled by human t2.J!Çh - this humanity, l creatures. Tt can be endlessly revealing. ]t is acquaintance
assumed from Mary, God incatnate made aIl his own; it
was reborn as weIl as begotten of the Infinite, and was
1 going .fu.r...J:lexond eye and ear and. touch. In being this
manner of Return - a revelation of the Lord in his abiding
glorified with God's own self. (John 17:5.) In this Divine / Presence - it earns the best of the Scripture names
Humani t y God_manifesis.JÜmselLat his Return and iS"Iieal' for it: Parousia.
ta l~Of the total Deity Swedenborg speaks as the Lord Whether it is what Swedenborg can only herald, like the
[ Gad the Saviol' Jesus Christ, in whom is Father, Son and. judgment, which is divine action, or what he actually gives
Holy Spirit. A Scripture often quoted by him is: us, which he sets down in his books, has it ta do with any­
For in him [namely, Christ] dwelleth ail the thing but Christianity? Is it not aIl for the renewal of
fulness of the Godhead bodily. (Colossians 2:9.) Christianity? The end of the age is ta the servant of the
The depth of infinite B~ing known only ta himself is the Lord not the end of time, or of the world, or of history, but
Father; the Divine HuillJl.nity in which he is known ta ~ end of an age, to be followed by another. The king­
men is the Son; the life he has ta impart is the Holy Spirit. dom of the cn:rrst is ta be reinaugurated. New heavens and
In one Persan, in Whom unity and trinity dweIl, the Lord new earth, as the Book of Revelation says, are ta come.
manifests himself at his Return. Is Swedenborg assemb­ "Behold, l make aIl things new." In the next chapter of
ling doctrine from the Word? In aIl the doctrine it is the this leaflet we shà1f note sorne of the hopeful consequences
Risen and glorified Lord who is spoken of as God - Gad of the judgment attending on the Lord's Return, especially
who made us, guides us, bids us be about his purposes, s.Qme results in the temper and tone of Christianity. For
hears our prayers, forgives us. Is Swedenborg telling about the remainder of this chapter we consider how the explicit
the world of the spirit? Gad in his Divine Humanity is teaching given in revelation through Swedenborg makes for
the Gad of heaven. He is the Center of heaven's life, the the renewal of Chris~ty, especially sorne resuIts which
Source of goodness and truth. His burning and inexhaus­ have come for Christian thought.
tible love for mankind is the blazing Sun in heaven. Or is When the Christ came the first time, he not onIy carried
the -servant of the Lord laying open a deep meaning in OId T.estament insights ta greater helghts; he sought ta
Scripture? One Divine Figure moves throughout Scrip­ [ correct mistaken ideas and traditions that made the Word
ture in that profound meaning - One who could say, of Gad of none effect. Shall we not expeet the Lord i~
"Before Abraham was, l am." We encounter only Gad as returni.ng ta 7fnd that many a traditional and even honored 1
we can know him in the Risen and glorified Christ. In the teaching is, howêver, a departure from his mind and fro
very deepest sense of the Ward we follow the inner life of his spirit? Part of his servant's commission n.ill' weIl be
the Christ on earth and learn the way in which, having ta recall us from errors. Swedenborg cr~esa number
(
come from Gad, he in the glorification of his humanity of teachings prevalent in the church at hîSàày. Sorne of

19. 34 THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST THE. RETURN .oF THE CHRIST 35
these he a~ with something more than vigor. with
If Christianity was to be renewed, Swedenborg was ch~ar
vehemence. Among those which he at1acks the most sternly
that many an in"y'eterate idea mus~ go. It should go, if
is an idea of the Trinity in God whÎch amounts to having
it did the Gospel injustice.
1 _three Divine Beings. That idea has led to other impossible
Noticeable reconstruction of Christian thought h1l:s come
ideas - that one Divine Being ~o ll-nother the pen,Mty
since Swedenbol.'g'S-day. He was confident that reconstruc­
~ind owes; that God did not come into the world, but
tion would come, just as he was sure that teaGhings_w.hj~h
another Being did; and is not the path and object of prayer
dLd the Gospel injustice must go. A êPirit of inquiry would
COnfUSed? The idea of God, "rent asunder," says Sweden­
arise, he said, recasting Christian thought. Many--earnest
borg, has let the discourazed mind drop back into natural ­
Christians'~today have never.. h~a.J'<.Lgf the traditions which
ism. He assails other ideas. The idea that God predestines
... Swedenborg_assaileJl so earnestly. Most of the teachings
sorne to ~en, sorne to an infernal region, exalted one
that he criticized have come under general criticism since.
truth, the sovereignty of God, but forgot about his justice
Thinking has sought to l'id the truth of the -Trinity from
and his love. Swedenbo:r&:..J:Yas a...p~.lkd at the kind of God
the bedevilment of tritheism. Religious inquiry, with the
L - ­
folks must have in miI!.d who think that a baby who diës
help of psychology, has supplanted instantaneous salvation
unbaptized on that aêcount enters something short of a
with the lJ!alization that regeneration is one's graduaI
_ full heaven; could this be the God we know in Christ '?
growth into a Christian charader. As for faith as the
He was appalled.- too, to think what kind of God folks have one reliance for salvation, how strong the note is in Chris­
in mind who think that salvationis confi.nedtû Christliill's. tianity today which Swedenborg sounded many decades aga
The idea that Christ's m~its_could be imputed to a person, - one must seek to realize"'the spiritual or Christian life
saving him, and the idea of an instantaneous salvation, he with al! one's powers of heart and mind. The good sense
denounced .as~cal and unreal, deterring persons from that the world of the spirit is peopled by human beings,
seekin$ tl:!.e slo~ regeperation that could be their salvation. m~n and women who have lived on -earth, has been spread­
Swedenborg deal1 hëavy blows at what he cal!ed faith alone ing. So has the good sense that a person cornes to con­
or the idea that beii:f, the stoutest belief in the truth, too, sciousness in the immortal world soon after death, and that
was saving - he was sure one !las to try t.2._JiY.,e.unJo that the physical body is al! that dies, is left behind, and of
truth. Of course, in the light of his spiritua1=-world experi­ course is never resumed. * Swedenborg had his vision of
ence, he found many impossible ideas of the other life Christian unity - to him a profound reality, meaning more
current. One of these was our supposed bodily resurrection. than existing in a single organization, which is undesirable,
Another was the idea that on death a prolonged sleep and more than doctrinal agreement, which is unnecessary.
fol!ows until a last trump. Th.e..:.body is left, he reports, 1 AlI who are actuated by love to the Lord and charity to the
a~d_nev~ res1!,med; and consciousness of the w.m.:ld-of....the neighbor are one body in the Lord's sight. Christian unity
spirit comes soon after the body has ceaosed to function.
In the heavens he found regenerating merCiriiLwomen ­ 'Perbaps the changed or challlling thlnkinll is most appluent on the subject of
lb~ure h~jlr. Many of the changes mentloned above ln thoul1ht of the llfe
..:::;:;.:a. -
~omen
no other angels; and in the hells he found men .........
~~.
after death are voiced ln After Oeath. by Leslle D. Weatherhead, a book
popular slnce 1914 ln Englanaand Amerlca~ And that a challgEfil Ulnkllll! has
who ar~cling:ing to th.eir.~l'Yerted lives - no o~er devils. 1come Is testl!led to· by the subUtle of the book: UA Populnr Statement of the
Modern Christian Vlew of Llfe Be)'ond the Grave." _ ­

20. 36 THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST
has come to pre-occupy thought and effort. A Christianity III
of a 'different 'mind has been struggling into existence. A I<~ULFILMENT: IN A WORLD REDEMPTION
~ Where Christianity is seeing renewal, and the Christian
e have been discussing the Lord's Return as though
mind is gaining new insights, whose work is it? Is it the
intention and result of human wit? Is it his activity and
W it is in progress. At the beginning of this leaftet
his enlightenment of the minds of his servants, who said, the conviction was expressed that his Return is a present
"Behold 1 make aIl things new"? Leaders in the move­ reality - that he is dealing now in his Second Coming with
ment t;ward Christian unity declare 1... . h-e-,.C.,...h-r-:-is~t-in-
h-a.,..t-t... his following, in judgment, in inspiration to fresh Christian
spires t~m tO that movement. Swedenborg would have experience, and in the granting of light on that experience.
us recognize this truth generally. The Lord is dealing with ln the preceding chapter we tried to show that the light is
his following now in his Second Coming, in judgment, in a shining to sorne effect. Yet the question may be asked
grant of light, in inspiration to a new day. In the explicit why aIl this, if it is true, is not more evident. The Lord,
restatement of the Christian message in his books Sweden­ in his predictions of his Return, represented it as some­
borg is offering a!). intellect~.§ns from his Master for thing which must be discerned, and 4iscerneci ~ith, ~ ('
the renewal and redirectiôn- ôf Christian thought. More ~ch. Think bll:ck, moreover, to his first coming - ,1
than that, he is putting into firm ~nd steadying~ta~nt -n:ow litUe known that was at the time! Thegreat world
the truths th~t will make their way - by his, .!;>ooks or knew very little of Palestine, an obscure corner of the vast
~ otherwise - iuto Christiiln thought, refashioning it. He Roman Empire, and a country that had habitually kept
sees those trutlls faring forth into the Christian mind ­ to itself and to its peculiar ways. The Man of Nazareth
they and not he will do the refashioning of it. They are was as little known as was his native land. Indeed, only
truths on which Christianity depends for renewal. To in the three years of his ministry had he becorne known
progress vitally and with redeeming pOwer, must not inPaÏestineamong hisown people. His ministry went by,
Christianity make more of the Christ and see God more his CrucTIixion did, his Resurrection did, a good part of the
clearly in him? Must not Christianity get more from the peop1ëSfill unaware of the day of divine visitation. A poem
B~ble, not only find the Word of God in it, as it has hitherto, by Dorothy Parker brings out the fact poignantly. A
but a profounde:r meaning in it, speaking directly and every­ woman who had been a maid-servant at the inn in Beth­
~here to spiritu_al need and exp_eri~"ll~e?-Necessary, too, is lehem recalis Mary and the Child, the cold nigh t and the
it that Christianity shall make far more of the world of the dreary barn, and at the very time of the Crucifixion is
spirit. ~ will you stem materialism and absorption in praying that aIl may be weIl with Mary and her Son! Not
t.b-is world unle;ss a wo!:.ld oftn~ spiriCis rëal aii'ëlCOiïSë­ al~ in Palêstine, _and ",haLa JinLhandful in an the world,
quential enougl1 to Pit against an engrossing material knew of the LOl:d'~ first coming at the time! Only as .....
world? When the Lord cornes again, do we not expect just ~kind looked bac1l: did they appreciate in swelling num­
these things of him? More wordortneworlà where he bers and nation after nation that the Incarnation of God
prepares a plaëe for us? A deepening of the understanding had occurred - the most momentoqs event in -the planet':;
of his Word? Fuller, m..Qre intimate r~velation of himself? lilstory. Why should not the course of thinKs be mych the

21. 38 THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST
THE. RETURN OF THE CHRIST 39,.
§.ame on the Lord's Return? Any light and leading which
he offers, such as have been described, must become more Coming as this is understood and hailed andserved by
pronounced in its effects; effects must be more widely felt Swedenborg. We want now to consider that judgment more
from any judgment which accompanies his Return.* at length andshaIl ask what re1cmlts that wecan see hAve
We can give thanks that the Lord's Return is so gentle come from it.
and inconspicuous, and hope that it will not be turned
spectacular by a world catastrophe. The Lord came into To start with, l avail myself of a phraseology to be found
the world to set men free from hatred, from the desire to in the reports made to the World Council of Churches on
kill, and from resort to force. Th~QP1)Osition to him grew the theme of its Evanston meetings. The reports more
Y.iQLen.t, ho.}V~er, and culminated in the Cross. rIhe cornes than once describe the Lord's First Coming as "a Le­
today in the freedoms of h.uman lue - and how can he do constitution of the world." The idea is left with those
otherwise? - tyrannies which are antagonized may be pro­ ·wards. NaturaIly o~e asks, what world was re-constituted?
voked to launch the dreadful war of an atomic age. In Q_bviou~y it walLno.!. the physical universe. Was it ~
Luke's account of the Lord's discourse on Olivet the time mental world or, more comprehensively, the world of
of the Return is described in these words: th~e thoüght and affection, faith and aspiration? That was
dis.t!"ess of nations, with perplexity, and men's hearts will changed, of course, wherever Christianity went, wherever
be failing them for fear, and for looking after the thÎngs the Lord's coming had effect. The re-constitution con­
( sisted in the freeing of new forces for good, and in a new
which are coming on the earth. (21: 25, 26.) Fortunately,
that is not aIl that is to be said of our times, but for part will to figh t evils, some of them e~i!§.Jl2t before recognized
of what is to be said, can we fmd more expressive words? as evils. Christianity of this transforming power was the
l shaIl dweIl on the more auspicious world climate to result glory of the first Christian era. But is this the total world
from the Return of the Lord, (butUhe di:r:e..}}O~ili.tie..s. w~h which the Lord's coming re-constituted? This earthly world
"Y:.eigh mankind down should iWt go unmentioned, and they of hope and faith and life? His own words indicate there
will be mentionelâgain. But now, in addition to recalling was more - far more. Not aIl that his coming accomp­
th,e inconspicuousn~sê of the Lor.<fs_First Coming for an lished was done in Palestine. His battle, for instance, was
àÏ1swèÏ' to the question why the Second Coming, if it is not only with scribe and Pharisee, ~ui...Fith man's total
being made, is not a palpable fact, let us ho~and ,pray .perversitY-2.r "Satan." Ho~ conscious he was of invisible
t~ it will not entail catastrophe - àÏidf"a CrôSIor man­ forces, goodand bad, good forces playing on men from on
kin - in ordërto be better known. high, out of the heaveng,-àïldCOî.ning from God who alone is
.- We consider in tlîis chapter the judgment which, accord­ good, and evil influences reaching men from the depths of
ing to prediction, was to attend on the Lord's Return. We human perv&sity- i~infernal regions! He saw men and
have said that a judgment does attend on the Lord's Second women aligned with one or the other, like Nathaniel and
Judas Iscariot, or indecisive between them, like even Peter.
"He would come again; and one may surely believe that!.­
spiritual revlval, a 'reblrth of Chrlstlanlty,' subsequent age~se_~liii~~i<Œb~r.
The Lord's victory was a victory for the heavens. He saw
and Interpret It aS: a 'Second Com1ng' àrter ail.' -An Introduction
Stanley Cook, p. 200.
Satan faIl as lightning from heaven. The prince of the
world, he said, hê:d be~n judged. In many other ways the

22. 40 THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST 41
Gospels make it plain that the Lord at his First Coming You will recall that the Lord said that the day and hour
accomplished something of world dimensions - re-consti­ of his Return was known only to Infinite foresight. The
tuted the world in the seJ)se~that he_ga..ve mankind a more conditions that would necessitate the Lord's Return must
aq,spicious unseen m~ral and spiritual enviroiiment. ~d likewise have been hidden in God's knowledge. So must
this he d'id by means of a judginént i~hë world of the the stages of the long decline down tü those conditions
spirit. have been known to Infinite foresigllt. But what is ltidden
in Infinite foresight can also be hidden in God's Word. So
In the judgment attending on the Lord's Second Coming, Sv,'edenborg found, and said that the deeper meaning of
a similar reordering of the world of the spirit took place, Scripture could be disclosed now that the judgment had
says Swedenborg. As he describes it, heavens were re­ l taken place. (Apocalypse Revealed, No. 312.) In the spirit­
ordered, hells were subdued, and an advancing spiritual life ual sense of the chapters about the Lord's Return (Matthew
was sped earthward. We know that a greater good - like 24 and Mark 13), in which the Lord looks out over the age
international good-will - has emerged on our vision, and to its close, the stages of the cl line he firS't Christian
that sorne inveterate evils seem a little less formidable. As era are described. And in the spiritual historical sense of
we have noted, Swedenborg declares that in his other-world 1ë Book of Revelation (that book has also to do with the
experience he witnessed the judgment that effected this Lol'd's coming) Swedenborg found the conditions at the
world-re-constitution. We noted that it was the judgment close of the period depicted and the judgment on them pow­
wlùèh assured him that a first Christian era had come to erfuIly narrated. The story was .al~~e! The Word
its close. From that judgment he learned, also, what the vitnesses to what he said he witnessed.
redemption at the Lord's First Coming was like; It has What did he see and report? What can be said in the
the same pattern. None of this othel'-wol'ld experience of space of this chapter must be highly fragmentary, As we
his was curious or vacant; it was in awful earncst. Ft'om noted, he felt that he was selective to a degl'ee in the two
day to day he noted in his diaries what he was observing, slight volumes we named. We shaIl have to be much more
These notes he assembled finally in volumes entitled The so, although now, as judgment and a world-redemption
Last Judgment and Continuation Conce?'ning the Last Judg­ become the subject, the magnitude of the Lord's Return
ment. He reports in detail, for like John of Patmos in cornes into sight.
vision he also hears the command, "Write." In those two
slight volumes, however, he says that he cannot reproduce While the judgment fell on an era, it did not fall on aIl
very much of the story of the last judgment. He presents who had lived during that era. Countless lives had met
much more in two large volumes explaining the Book of judgment on entering the spiritual world. Right along men
Revelation, and entitled Apocalypse Revealed. Why should and women had been gathered to their spiritual kindred
he tell of the judgment in his exposition of the Book of either in heavenly societies or in infernal communities.
Revelation? He finds that the story of the judgment is told The openly good found their places in heaven, and the
in the deeper meaning of that book in greater detail than frankly and outright evil theirs in hel!. In the penetrating
he can tell it. May 1 stop on this point a moment? light of the spiritual world one's actual character is soon