The following is not an attempt to convert or convince anyone, so I’m not going to defend it against attacks. I’m providing an example of a Christian theology that does not depend on literal interpretation of the bible or sacrificial atonement.
When Swedenborg talks about the “Word” it essentially means God’s promise. As in, God gave us his word that he will hold us in good and protect us from falsity. In New Church theology, the stories and narratives of the OT, Gospel accounts and the Apocalypse, symbolically represents God and records his on-going relationship to humanity. In order to convey these spiritual truths the form of the scriptures are were written by men in ways to accommodate man’s natural perspective, but in such a way that each word and phrase retains an inner meaning. Basically, historic narratives were fudged and other parts are pure allegory. Other scriptures and other religions, from Greek Mythology to Buddhist koans, reflect to greater or lesser degree these same spiritual truths. It is just a matter of being receptive to them, even if that means on an unconscious level.
For example, previous prophets prior to Jesus served symbolic representations of the Word. Their actions symbolized the status of God’s covenant with humanity. When God commanded Hosea to marry a prostitute, it served as a metaphor for the way the Israelis whored the Word. God also commanded Ezekiel to eat cow dung, because the Israelis had mixed falsity and evil into the Word. Jeremiah wore a yoke to show how the priests and scribes had burdened the Word with man-made rules and commands. At the time Jesus prayed in Gethsemane he struggled with the call to represent through his own body. By that time the church despised, tortured, and ultimately murdered the spiritual meaning of the Word.
The death and resurrection of Jesus is particularly significant. If the corpse of the Jewish carpenter, Jesus, had remained dead then you would see the Word destroyed for all time. But that is not what the Gospels record. He arose. This symbolizes that the spiritual meaning of the Word cannot be destroyed. In the New Church, there are no scape-goats or escape from the sins of the past, only repentance and a commitment to choosing goodness and truth over evil and falsity.
When Swedenborg talks about the “Word” it essentially means God’s promise. As in, God gave us his word that he will hold us in good and protect us from falsity. In New Church theology, the stories and narratives of the OT, Gospel accounts and the Apocalypse, symbolically represents God and records his on-going relationship to humanity. In order to convey these spiritual truths the form of the scriptures are were written by men in ways to accommodate man’s natural perspective, but in such a way that each word and phrase retains an inner meaning. Basically, historic narratives were fudged and other parts are pure allegory. Other scriptures and other religions, from Greek Mythology to Buddhist koans, reflect to greater or lesser degree these same spiritual truths. It is just a matter of being receptive to them, even if that means on an unconscious level.
For example, previous prophets prior to Jesus served symbolic representations of the Word. Their actions symbolized the status of God’s covenant with humanity. When God commanded Hosea to marry a prostitute, it served as a metaphor for the way the Israelis whored the Word. God also commanded Ezekiel to eat cow dung, because the Israelis had mixed falsity and evil into the Word. Jeremiah wore a yoke to show how the priests and scribes had burdened the Word with man-made rules and commands. At the time Jesus prayed in Gethsemane he struggled with the call to represent through his own body. By that time the church despised, tortured, and ultimately murdered the spiritual meaning of the Word.
The death and resurrection of Jesus is particularly significant. If the corpse of the Jewish carpenter, Jesus, had remained dead then you would see the Word destroyed for all time. But that is not what the Gospels record. He arose. This symbolizes that the spiritual meaning of the Word cannot be destroyed. In the New Church, there are no scape-goats or escape from the sins of the past, only repentance and a commitment to choosing goodness and truth over evil and falsity.
