Swedenborgians have their own, somewhat unique spin on the book of Revelation.
Swedenborg, a man of 1700's Europe, wrote his explanation of the Apocalypse using somewhat divisive language, identifying "The Reformed" Christians as "the dragon" and The "Roman Catholic" Church as the "Whore of Babylon."
Maybe it's just me, but that strikes me as a bit off-putting if you belong to either (any?) of the above-mentioned organizations. And, uh, doesn't that pretty much cover the whole of Christianity? (Except for a few splitters, like, say, Swedenborgians which, of course, didn't exist at the time of Swedenborg's writing....)
The thing is, Swedenborg's style of writing makes it oh-so-easy for Swedenborgians (or anyone who self-identifies as not Reformed and not RC) to point fingers and say, "Thank God we are not like they are."
"The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men. . . ." Luke 18:11
Whoops. My experience is that the Word is never about somebody else being wrong.
If a weakness or tendency is highlighted in the Biblical narrative, it is in all of us, no matter what our flavour, colour, gender, or planetary origin. Nobody gets to say, "Thank God I'm not like them...."
The more dramatic an image in the Bible, perhaps the more God is asking us to pay attention to the attitudes and qualities embodied in that image.
The dragon and the woman of Babylon are fairly dramatic images. Yet nobody wants to point at either and say, "Yes! That's me!"
These images are not in the Bible to shame us---they are there to remind us to pay attention. All of us tend toward both the intellectual arrogance of the "right club" mind-set (dragon); and the "my choices and actions are saving me, so I need to help control and educate everyone else (who are not as lucky as me) so they can be saved too" (whore of Babylon) mind-set.
The dragon and whore basically boil down to Arrogance and Control, two qualities which may appear to oppose each other, but actually mirror and complement each other. Whenever you find the one, you won't have to look far to find the other. They are like partners in an unhealthy marriage, appearing to oppose and fight, while depending on each other for their very survival.
Arrogance (dragon) includes certainty of one's rightness, an attitude of entitlement, a "chosen people" mind-set, and can be clothed in a buzzing energy of fear for "loved ones," praying for them to join the same "right club." It can manifest as all sorts of social and emotional manipulation of others "for their own good,"---a decidedly unattractive and divisive quality in a family member. It can also manifest as intellectual arrogance, unnatural emotional attachments or lack of attachment (all religiously explained and justified), and behaviours that illustrate an attitude of special status---like breaking copyright laws and tax evasion, and justification of the oppression of the poor. (Did you know that some of the worst tax evaders are Christians? According to them, they are justified because they are "saving money for God." What, exactly, is their definition of God?)
Control (whore) goes hand-in hand with arrogance. It has a different spin, but is just as dysfunctional. The thing about control is that it can't stand to lose power and influence. By necessity, it needs its adherents to stay dependent on it. It requires a hierarchy in which an upper echelon dictates to the lesser ranks The Rules. Members are rewarded for proper adherence to The Rules, and there are definite consequences for non-adherence, from simple social coldness, to gossip, to demotion or job-loss if one happens to be employed by the Powers that Be, to shunning or out-right excommunication. The Roman Catholic Church by no means holds a corner on this dynamic. The Mormons, the Amish, and the GCNJ all practice variations on the same theme. I'm sure lots of religious bodies wrestle with this dynamic from time to time.
But any religious order that requires dependents is like a parent that needs to keep her children under her thumb, even though they've reached maturity. A church's job is to raise spiritual adults, not perpetual spiritual children.
The dragon is in all of us. We steer clear when we develop humility, and when we refuse to fall for the attractive illusion that our one denomination is the one true-est, rightest faith system. Each faith is one among many in God's created universe. Each is from God. Each has gifts and weaknesses. Each serves a purpose. There is no chosen people. We are all chosen people.
The harlot of Babylon is in all of us too. It is far too easy to become drunk with the notion of our own superiority. Sometimes we seem to think we can speak for God---that we have more truth than others and need to control and protect the things of the church for God. The flocks of such churches become spiritually underdeveloped---specifically trained to subjugate their intelligence to the dominating leadership. Thinking for oneself---challenging the status quo---is highly threatening to the church and is discouraged in every possible way, even when the church claims to encourage thinking for one-self (so long as you think the right things).
We need to hang in there, always steering back toward humility, both personal and institutional, and back to minding our own spiritual business. I have enough work keeping my own house clean. It is far from helpful for me to be trying to tell others how to clean theirs.
Instead of supporting the disfunctional alliance of Arrogance and Control, we can support the healthy alliance of humilty and respect.
(We all live in glass houses. Could we please stop throwing stones?)
Swedenborg, a man of 1700's Europe, wrote his explanation of the Apocalypse using somewhat divisive language, identifying "The Reformed" Christians as "the dragon" and The "Roman Catholic" Church as the "Whore of Babylon."
Maybe it's just me, but that strikes me as a bit off-putting if you belong to either (any?) of the above-mentioned organizations. And, uh, doesn't that pretty much cover the whole of Christianity? (Except for a few splitters, like, say, Swedenborgians which, of course, didn't exist at the time of Swedenborg's writing....)
The thing is, Swedenborg's style of writing makes it oh-so-easy for Swedenborgians (or anyone who self-identifies as not Reformed and not RC) to point fingers and say, "Thank God we are not like they are."
"The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men. . . ." Luke 18:11
Whoops. My experience is that the Word is never about somebody else being wrong.
If a weakness or tendency is highlighted in the Biblical narrative, it is in all of us, no matter what our flavour, colour, gender, or planetary origin. Nobody gets to say, "Thank God I'm not like them...."
The more dramatic an image in the Bible, perhaps the more God is asking us to pay attention to the attitudes and qualities embodied in that image.
The dragon and the woman of Babylon are fairly dramatic images. Yet nobody wants to point at either and say, "Yes! That's me!"
These images are not in the Bible to shame us---they are there to remind us to pay attention. All of us tend toward both the intellectual arrogance of the "right club" mind-set (dragon); and the "my choices and actions are saving me, so I need to help control and educate everyone else (who are not as lucky as me) so they can be saved too" (whore of Babylon) mind-set.
The dragon and whore basically boil down to Arrogance and Control, two qualities which may appear to oppose each other, but actually mirror and complement each other. Whenever you find the one, you won't have to look far to find the other. They are like partners in an unhealthy marriage, appearing to oppose and fight, while depending on each other for their very survival.
Arrogance (dragon) includes certainty of one's rightness, an attitude of entitlement, a "chosen people" mind-set, and can be clothed in a buzzing energy of fear for "loved ones," praying for them to join the same "right club." It can manifest as all sorts of social and emotional manipulation of others "for their own good,"---a decidedly unattractive and divisive quality in a family member. It can also manifest as intellectual arrogance, unnatural emotional attachments or lack of attachment (all religiously explained and justified), and behaviours that illustrate an attitude of special status---like breaking copyright laws and tax evasion, and justification of the oppression of the poor. (Did you know that some of the worst tax evaders are Christians? According to them, they are justified because they are "saving money for God." What, exactly, is their definition of God?)
Control (whore) goes hand-in hand with arrogance. It has a different spin, but is just as dysfunctional. The thing about control is that it can't stand to lose power and influence. By necessity, it needs its adherents to stay dependent on it. It requires a hierarchy in which an upper echelon dictates to the lesser ranks The Rules. Members are rewarded for proper adherence to The Rules, and there are definite consequences for non-adherence, from simple social coldness, to gossip, to demotion or job-loss if one happens to be employed by the Powers that Be, to shunning or out-right excommunication. The Roman Catholic Church by no means holds a corner on this dynamic. The Mormons, the Amish, and the GCNJ all practice variations on the same theme. I'm sure lots of religious bodies wrestle with this dynamic from time to time.
But any religious order that requires dependents is like a parent that needs to keep her children under her thumb, even though they've reached maturity. A church's job is to raise spiritual adults, not perpetual spiritual children.
The dragon is in all of us. We steer clear when we develop humility, and when we refuse to fall for the attractive illusion that our one denomination is the one true-est, rightest faith system. Each faith is one among many in God's created universe. Each is from God. Each has gifts and weaknesses. Each serves a purpose. There is no chosen people. We are all chosen people.
The harlot of Babylon is in all of us too. It is far too easy to become drunk with the notion of our own superiority. Sometimes we seem to think we can speak for God---that we have more truth than others and need to control and protect the things of the church for God. The flocks of such churches become spiritually underdeveloped---specifically trained to subjugate their intelligence to the dominating leadership. Thinking for oneself---challenging the status quo---is highly threatening to the church and is discouraged in every possible way, even when the church claims to encourage thinking for one-self (so long as you think the right things).
We need to hang in there, always steering back toward humility, both personal and institutional, and back to minding our own spiritual business. I have enough work keeping my own house clean. It is far from helpful for me to be trying to tell others how to clean theirs.
Instead of supporting the disfunctional alliance of Arrogance and Control, we can support the healthy alliance of humilty and respect.
(We all live in glass houses. Could we please stop throwing stones?)
"And, uh, doesn't that pretty much cover the whole of Christianity?"
ReplyDeleteUh, no. I mean, I know Swedenborg says so, but... I spent some of my school years outside the GCNJ educational system, and I learned about the Eastern Orthodox Church, from which the Roman Catholic Church split away in 1054. It certainly has as valid a claim to Christianity as the western branches, if you ask me.