Extracted text
Source-led transcription, lightly normalized from the cited page scans; historical claims remain attributed to The Flaming Sword.
How do Koreshans Pray ? How should a Koreshan pray? When and how would one know when his requests were received, provided mental prayers were made?—J. W. E , Cactus, Kan.
Koreshans pray scientifically, in the con- fidence of the knowledge of the laws which necessitate answer to desire.
The earth prays to the sun for renewed energies to replenish its strata; that is, there are vi- brations in the earth to which the sun re- sponds; and the sun responds in propor- tion to the levic energies received from the earth's shell.
The sun is the great store- house of the universe; and the earth iscon- tiually sending to it tithe substances for re-elaboration, which are sent back for use in the crust.
The body of man prays to the blood, and the blood supplies the flesh with fiber and cell.
The blood prays to the organs of digestion, and the blood is replenished.
Koreshanity demonstrates the interde- pendence between God and man; that is, the Almighty is inseparably connected with the universe of humanity.
He is in the human world, and has never been out of it. Jesus came in fulfilment of divine law; he announced that the Father was in him alone, and not in the thousands, for they were "from beneath. "
To whom did Jesus pray? He prayed to his own interi- or; for God was nowhere else than in him.
And the disciples? They were taught to pray to the Father which was in heaven— in the interior of the divine Tabernacle then manifest.
This necessitated obedi- ence to the first commandment, "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me."
They recognized Jesus as the Messiah, and in obedience to the law, they loved him su- premely.
He was the object of their love, the positive pole of the human battery which he established in the work of pro- mulgation of his gospel.
A current of thought is just as dynamic as a current of electricity. All thought is substance; and thought travels in the direction of desire.
Persistent desire in a given direction is prayer. Every desire, whether good or bad, finds response from some sphere of mentality.
If a desire is righteous, and the vibrations intense enough, the divine mind in humanity re- sponds at the proper time. With a knowl- edge of the law of the relation existing between Messiah and disciple, one may know how and when the response is made.
A knowledge of the Koreshan System is necessary to a correct attitude toward the Messenger of truth at the end of this dis- pensation.
Without an understanding of
Editorial Discussions and Miscellany.
THE EDITOR. the scientific truth of the purpose of God in humanity, one cannot know what to desire.
However, every earnest prayer or desire to know the truth will ultimately lead the mind to recognition and accept- ance of the Messenger and his truth.
Jesus did not teach the multitudes how to pray; but only his disciples; and no one could be his disciple except they followed a n d obeyed him.
Recognition and love of the Anointed of every dispensation constitute but the first step in obedience to the law; every other step depends upon the first.
Every desire is answered according to its quality, intensity, and persistency. No Deception in Koreshanity.
EDITOR FLAMING SWORD:—I write to ask what are the conditions of co-operative membership in your movement, and what is the aim? Is it socialistic in its teach- ings? Please send me a copy of the Con- stitution.
I want a plain statement—the truth. I do not want to be deceived in any way. I want to join your movement if it is just in ail its ways, without any crooks. —W. B., St. Louis, Mo.
The aim of Koreshanity is to purify so- ciety, reform the world, and save human- ity.
We mail you a copy of the by-laws and constitution of the Koreshan Co-oper- ative System, as requested.
You do not wish to be deceived. Very well; the best way in which you can satisfy yourself that there is no deception in Koreshanity, is to investigate the Koreshan System as a whole; and this you can do through our literature.
The Koreshan System is so- cialistic, communistic, and co operative. Its socialism is founded on scientific prin- ciples; and in this respect, as in many others, it is different from other social- istic movements.
We receive both men and women as members. In a single reply we could not thorough- ly satisfy your mind; besides, you should not join the Koreshan movement without understanding the fundamentals of the System.
On the other hand, we should want to know something of you. You desire to know something of our motives and purposes; and it is necessary for us to know something concerning the moral character of applicants.
Take plenty of time to study the prin- ciples and conclusions of Koreshanity. Assistance can be rendered you by the So- ciety Arch-Triumphant, the avenue through which other departments of the System must be entered.
Through your relations with this Society, we could be- come better acquainted with each other.
You can be a member of this Society and remain where you are, until you are sat-
isfied that the System is righteous and true. You may address the President of the Society Arch-Triumphant, BERTHAL- DINE, MATRONA, 99th Street and Oak Avenue, Chicago, for particulars as to membership, if you desire to take a step further, in the direction of co operation with our movement.
Promiscuous Replies. If celibacy, and not the family relation, is the divine ideal for humanity, what is the real meaning of Gen. i : 28, and other Scriptures which seem to sanction mar- riage ?
Do you think that the common mar- riage fulfils the divine ideal ? We do not; nor do we think that celibacy is the ideal life. "Have ye not read that he which made them [the sons of God, or new race of men] at the beginning, made them male and female?"
The divine ideal is the perfect man; that ideal was fulfilled in Jesus the Christ. He did not enter into the common marriage relation, neither was he a celibate; he was a virgin, both male and female in one personality. Jesus performed the functions of divine genera- tion through projecting all of himself into the church.
The Almighty, sent Jesus into the world to increase and multiply; and he will fulfil that purpose in his own multiplication into 144,000 sons of God.
The same commandment was given to Adam. The divine injunctions refer to the divine marriage, in the exercise of the functions of divine generation.
Celibacy is only a stepping-stone to natural immor- tality.
Humanity at large will never, at any one time, adopt celibacy. Mortal man is always propagated through the exercise of common generative functions.
It is in a specific plane of existence. The divine kingdom or type of immortal men is as much higher than the present hu- manity, as humanity is now higher than the animal kingdom. Have you not heard of the Bride, the Lamb's wife?
She will be the new Eve, the divine Mother. The Almighty's own marriage is the only one that is divine.
Why is it that the Koreshan Geodetic Survey, conducted as it was in accordance with irrefutable principles of exact sci- ence, has been almost wholly ignored by the so called scientific world?
Are there no honest seekers for truth among the sci- entific men of the world today ?—G. F. H.
The laws of cosmic form and function were not discovered by a recognized sci- entist; and it would not be "professional" for so called scientists to condescend to investigate a system having its origin
outside of their own ranks. They are as conservative, bigoted, and non-progressive as are the clergymen of the modern church, or as the doctors of divinity were in the time of Jesus the Messiah.
It has been the policy of popular teachers of the world never to accept an idea until they must.
History repeats itself; professional astronomers of the Ptolemaic school with- stood Galileo, in the face of the facts ob- served through the telescope; and the physicians of the ancient school refused to witness Harvey's ocular demonstration of the circulation of blood in the h u m a n system.
We do not expect to convert the modern scientists until we undermine their support in the conversion of the people.
- Error in the Century Diagram. We desire to correct an error made in the construction of the diagram on page 4 of l a s t w e e k ' s issue of T H E FLAMING SWORD, illustrating the leading article by K O R E S H .
It is not as the author intended that it should be. In the diagram as it appeared, the sections of the bars are numbered from left to right, and the circles in the order of the hours on the clock face.
The numbers should run in the opposite direction on both bars and the circles. For instance, the right-hand bar in the diagram should appear thus : 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 with other lettering to correspond.
The point overlooked in the construction of the diagram, was that the article referred to unit's and ten's places.
It is obvious that when we write 1000, unit's place is on the right; ten's next, to the left, and so on, from right to left.
If the article is re-read, with the order of numbering reversed as here illustrated, the mathematical points made in the article may be better under- stood.
- The Waning of Christianity! Prominent Clergymen Reach the Conclusion that One Half of Church Member- ship is Worthless. "If the rolls of the Protestant churches of this city were pruned conscientiously, and every bit of dead-wood cut away, the total membership would be decreased by fully one half," said the Kev. Artemas J.
Haynes. He was speaking particularly of the pruning process which is going on now in his own church, Plymouth Congre- gational.
In the effort to get rid of the names of all b u t those actively identified or inter- ested in the church, in order to put the membership on a "business" basis, the Plymouth Prudential committee is redu- cing the number on the rolls from 850 to 500.
The First Presbyterian, Dr. Chi- chester's church, with similar purpose, is cutting its roll from 900 to less than 700;
the Third Presbyterian, Dr. McCaughan's, is reducing its list from 2,000 to 1,000; and the Fifth Presbyterian, Dr. Irwin's, is pre- paring to do likewise.
Dr. Chichester especially believes in this pruning process.
The Kev. Mr. Haynes has been investi- gating church conditions in Chicago and elsewhere and has reached conclusions which may be summarized thus: A large number of churches are report- ing memberships vastly in excess of the number of active working members.
Were it not for exaggerated membership lists the numerical strength of the church would be shown to be on the wane.
Church membership is held so loosely that the church is losing power as an organization.
The need is for a moral revival, which shall throw down the bars of theological belief.
Other pastors acknowledge that the rolls of the older churches in Chicago carry hundreds of names of persons having no longer any relations with the church, wTho are counted each year as part of the total membership.
Many of these ministers believe the rolls should be brought down to an honest basis.
Falling off of Net Increase. " T h i s matter has been taken up to a certain extent in the last few years,"
Dr. Chichester said, "and the pruning of the lists is partly responsible for the falling off in the net increase in the presbytery."
These are the figures for the Chicago Presbytery: NET INCREASE.
1893 40,000 I 1898 17,000 1894 26,000 | 1899 8,000 Asked whether statistics of church membership in general are a fair test of the actual strength of the church, the Kev. Mr. Haynes said: " T h a t which is true of Plymouth Church I believe to be true to some considerable extent of most of the churches in the cities.
Our own effort to revise our church roll until it represents the actual and effective membership will result at the first preliminary attack in a decrease of more than one third of the number heretofore recorded.
And of the number remaining it is safe to say that not more than one half give anything more than a mere perfunctory allegiance to the church. "I am convinced a majority of Christian people hold their church relationship more loosely than any other connected with their lives.
When they join a Chris- tian church they pledge themselves to certain well-defined duties.
To neglect or refuse to perform those duties properly subjects them to the discipline of the church.
And that body should act with the same swift precision that characterizes any social club.
The church should not go before the people as a beggar, willing to tolerate any small dole of effort that the people may care to fling it.
Hundreds are leaving the Ministry. " T h e r e are too many general reform movements.
If we could sweep the board of the whole begging lot of them and put the time, money, and energy which they represent into the church of Christ it would mean infinitely more for the cause of religious progress, and, in my opinion, of social progress as well.
"The revival is no l o n g e r possible among people of average intelligence. It was built on a system of theology that has broken down.
More smd more it is becom- ing evident that people will not subscribe to the old doctrines. "People are asking why so many men are leaving the orthodox ministry. The answer is plain, though painful.
But here is a fact that does not get into the news- papers—where one preacher steps down from the pulpit half a hundred laymen quietly pass out of the door.
And those who go out are not to be numbered with those who are kept out for the same reason.
The effort which the religious papers arc putting forth to prove an increase of church membership is in itself suspicious.
The Church Falls With its Creeds. " P u t our church membership, to begin with, on a sensible business basis.
Insist on financial support where it is possible. A man who lives luxuriously, even com- fortably, and does not bear his proportion- ate share of the financial burden should be dropped instantly. " T h e n I would emphasize the moral side of life rather than theological opinion.
There are too many people in our churches whose lives are not right beiore the people. No minister should remain in a church one hour after discovering such an individual without some tactful attempt to reform him.
If this is impossible the man should be dropped from the roll. "I might add that it seems to me the solution of this difficult problem is to come through a moral revival. The church should throw down the bars of theological belief entirely.
But it should emphasize most strenuously the great moralities on which all righteous-loving people stand."
Names of the Dead and Insane on the Rolls. Frank G. Logan, member of Plymouth Church Prudential committee, said: "Our committee came to the conclusion, after an examination of the membership list, that Plymouth Church had main- members on its roll who had moved away, died, or been removed to asylums or re- treats.
They determined that an honest count of those actively identified or inter- ested in the church, and near enough to attend its ministrations, was proper and praiseworthy. "In talking with the officers of other churches 1 have found much the same con- dition of affairs, and perhaps an indis- position on the part of such officers to in- vestigate too closely, as it will affect the numerical showing, but for the general good it seems it is a worthy example, and, once the pace is set, is likely to be fol- lowed by other organizations."—Chicago Trihnne.
- Meeting Interrogation Points. Inquiries Aroused by Advocates of Koreshan- ity in the Field of Work.
The Koreshan System is new to the world generally; and in its promulgation among the people, Koreshan missionaries meet with various experiences.
Occasionally they find minds seeking for truth, and it is a delight to present the truth to them, and then they are repaid for all the hard things said against the System by those who desire to know nothing of it.
Many are interested sufficiently to ask questions when the striking features of the System are presented; and those who do not ac- cept it now, are apprised of the existence of Koreshanity—and they can never forget it.
The following is the report of a fare-
The Flaming Sword · Vol. 14, No. 11 · Feb 2, 1900 · PDF pp. 11-12