OF INDEPENDENT WITNESSES TO THE TRUTH, VALUE, NEED, AND SPIRITUAL HELPFUL- BY B. F. BARRETT, AUTHOR OF "THE GOLDEN CITY," "HEAVEN Revealed," "THE NEW VIEW CALIFORNIA PHILADEPHIA: THE SWEDENBORG PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION, GERMANTOWN, PA. oca B645,38 PREFACE. Let me assure the reader here, in the outset, that this volume has not been written in the interest of any particular sect or denomination, but purely in the interest of religious liberty and unadulterated Christianity. Hitherto there has prevailed throughout Christendom an intense prejudice against Swedenborg and his teachings, especially among ministers and churches claiming to be evangelical; and much of this prejudice still lingers, even in the most enlightened communities, though with its former intensity and acerbity considerably diminished. Church members are advised by their pastors to shun the writings of this man and his expositors as they would shun what they knew to be spiritual poison; and sometimes excommunication is threatened, and even practiced, as the penalty for reading and accepting the teachings of Swedenborg. The Young Men's Christian Associations generally regard Newchurchmen as non-evangelical, and refuse to receive them into membership on equal terms with other Christians, however blameless and excellent their characters as revealed in their daily lives. I am sure that no one who reads the following pages can fail to see that this prejudice is utterly blind 383321 |