#SundaySermon: 4/30/23 “Into the Light”
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Category Archives: Theology
Rewatch Rev. Sherrie’s Sermon from 4.23.23 “Walking with Jesus”
#WeekendPlans: 4/30/23 “The Return of the Light” w/Pete Toot
This Sunday, the theme of the message is “The Return of the Light.” Not by accident is that it is also the theme of May Day, or Beltane, the ancient celebration of the beginning of summer, still celebrated with bonfires, dancing, and rituals from pagan spirituality and Christian practices.
Join us via Zoom this Sunday, 4/30/23, 11 am, with lay-leader, Pete Toot, as we take a look at the wheel of the seasons of the year, and explore the inner meaning of seasons and their connection with spiritual growth. Join us as we dive into some of Emanuel Swedenborg‘s correspondences and what the Bible can tell us on these things that seem strangely connected. Link provided to church members and their guests.
#PalmSunday #BibleStudy w/Rev. Sage Cole
“When the Lord comes in, let us be the one to celebrate…Let us welcome Him in.”
Rev. Sage Cole
#SundaySermon: “What is it?” By Rev. Julie Conaron
If you missed Sunday’s sermon on Manna with Guest Minister Rev. Julie Conaron, you can watch it on our YouTube channel.
#SundaySermon 3/11/18:“God’s Well of Living Water”
If you missed last Sunday’s sermon with Rev. Dr. Sherrie Connelly, you can watch it here:
#ThursdayTheology: Zoroastrianism & #ReligiousRoots
Back in August we posted an article about the beginnings of the Parliament of World Religions at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. That article spoke about one of the contributions from what was at the time a little known religion to people in the United States, namely A Brief Sketch Of The Zoroastrian Religion And Customs, An Essay (1893), by Ervad Sheriarji Dadabhai Barucha. In it Mr.Shaeriaji mentioned that though little is known about the early history of Zoroastrianism, it may be confidently asserted that the kings of the Achaeminian Dynasty such as Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes, and others (B.C. 559-329) were Zoroastrians, for they emphatically speak of Auramazda, the greatest God, as does every Zoroastrian…”
That was back in 1893 and the essay was delivered from Bombay, India, now known as Mumbai. Leading up to the 2023 convention of the Parliament of the World’s Religions, once again in Chicago, FEZANA (the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America) has contributed an online pre-Parliament event called
CYRUS’ CYLINDER: A Timeless Zoroastrian Legacy. which the public is invited to watch. To find out more about that event here is a link which describes the event and provides registration information.
As Swedenborgians are People of the Book, a name for followers of the major faiths whose sacred scriptures stem from the Old Testament Bible, our interest is in seeing what we know about Cyrus and his connection to our religious heritage, and in what ways might the Zoroastrian faith of Cyrus impacted the historical path of the Jewish people of his time.
Some extracts from the Jewish Virtual Library follow. Note that “Deutero-Isaiah” or Second Isaiah, refers to that part of Isaiah (chapters 40-55) attributed to a second author. The first author addresses Judah prior to the invasion of the Assyrians, The second author takes up the story much later, after Assyria, and near the end of the Babylonian captivity.
“Cyrus holds a special place in the history of Israel. He is mentioned in the prophecies of Deutero-Isaiah, in the Book of Ezra (and at the end of Chronicles), and in the Book of Daniel. In these passages he appears both as one destined to save Israel and to fulfill for it a certain mission on behalf of the God of Israel … and as one whose edict and command served as a foundation for the return to Zion and the erection of the destroyed temple. Apparently the successes of Cyrus, particularly the preparations and steps that indicated that a struggle between him and Babylon was pending, were in part responsible for rousing Deutero-Isaiah to utter his prophecies on the imminent redemption of Israel and the impending destruction of Babylon. The hopes of the prophet are clearly expressed in chapter 45:1–13: God turns “to His anointed, to Cyrus,” whom He helped in the past and will further help in the continuation of his activities (“I will go before you, and level the mountains; I will break in pieces the doors of bronze, and cut asunder the bars of iron”). Cyrus is to rebuild Jerusalem and restore the exilic community. “An explanation of the relations between Cyrus and the Jews rests upon an understanding of his general policy, particularly in Babylon itself. This policy was based upon benevolence toward the conquered, support and sympathy for their gods, and a correction of the injustices done to them by the previous ruler Nabonidus, or in the case of the Jews of Babylon, by Nebuchadnezzar. In conformity with this policy, he restored the Babylonian gods to their temples,reconstructed temples that had been neglected in the time of his predecessor, and even returned exiles to their homes. His policy toward the Jews was similar to that toward the Babylonians.”
The return of some of the Jews from Babylon is the start of the Second Temple Period, but most of them did not end up in Judah and the diaspora began – the majority of Jews immigrated to others areas in the middle east – Syria, Egypt, and later Greece and Italy. Many other changes happened in Judah – prophecy ceased, monotheism became firmly entrenched, and Judah became colonies not only of Persia (under Zoroastrian leaders) but of Greece by Grecian rulers in Egypt and then Syria. Greek-Syrian rule ended with the Maccabean Revolt, when the Maccabeans took Jerusalem and reestablished Jewish practices (though the Maccabees were neither descended from David nor of the tribe of Judah). When the Maccabeans finally controlled all of Judah they formed an Alliance with the Roman Republic. The Romans later replaced the Jewish leadership, and shortly thereafter the Second Temple Period ended when Rome put down a revolt and destroyed the temple in 70 CE. This whole period saw many major cultural, political, and religious developments, including the rise of messianic ideas and movements, and formation of the sects of the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots, and early Christians.
Though Cyrus was not ever thought to be a Jewish convert by any means, doing his deed for Judah out of his Zoroastrian background, he was well thought of by the Palestinian rabbis. Not so much by the Babylonians. Cyrus is supposedly descended from Japeth, a character from Genesis who demonstrated “commendable behavior toward Noah when drunk.” So there is a line through the Old Testament connecting Cyrus with from early times up through the beginning of a 500-year movement that opened the way for the initiation of Christianity. It was likely the Babylonian captivity itself that was the primary driver for the many changes in Judaism in that time, while Cyrus was the catalyst needed to return the elite of Judah back to the promised land.
#ThursdayTheology: Zoroastrianism, part 1
Back in 1893, the Swedenborgian Judge Charles Bonney initiated the first World’s Parliament of Religions, the largest of all the congresses held in conjunction with what we think of today as a world’s fair. Swedenborgians are still recognized today as a strong proponent of interfaith efforts, and the New Church of Montgomery’s programs are flavored with the basic idea that all religions can be honored for the wisdom they offer, and for their various approaches to encouraging a universal friendship across peoples. Our own faith celebrates the infinite expressions of the kingdom of heaven, as Christians call it, and those who inhabit it, and those who, knowingly or not, grow towards it as they live the best they know how. Here we shine a light upon one of the world religions represented among the many presented at this 1893 exposition, and with which we maintain connections in 2022.
Consider this little piece of historical text
This letter is used as the preface for an essay reprinted as part of the Kessinger’s Legacy Reprints, A Brief Sketch Of The Zoroastrian Religion And Customs, An Essay (1893), by ErvadSheriarji Dadabhai Barucha. While the essay itself is quite long and provides much historical and theological perspective, one thing that can be easily found is some basic ideas that 129 years later still can be found to apply to the local Zoroastrian Community in Cincinnati.
In this posting we include a few excerpts from the essay, and some commentary on our recent interaction with the Zorastrian congregation some of our parishioners participated in a few weeks ago.
First some historical notes right from the essay: “While other religions of the ancient world, such as those of ancient Egypt, Chaldea, Assyria, Babylon, Greece, and Rome have disappeared from the face of the earth, this [Zoroastrianism] has survived many trials and vicissitudes and still flourishes, if not in all its pristine vigour and glory, with many of its distinctive features preserved practically intact. In the earlier days of its greatness its adherents were counted by millions, and it had a considerable body of renowned literature.” Today most of the literature has been destroyed or hidden, and only now (in the 2000’s) are recent finds coming to light that can shed some light on the history of both the life of Zoroaster and the development of the religion. The number of adherents has dropped to a quite small number, due to repeated persecution, mostly situated today in India and the United St ates. “…this religion and this ancient customs of its followers … possess certain striking and interesting features which have always excited the admiration and respect of those who have brought a liberal and sympathetic spirit to bear on their study…”
The essay goes on to speak about what little information is known about Zoroaster, rather, Zarathushtra in ancient Iranian, and about the early personages involved in supporting or denigrating his teachings. However, in this short offering we’ll just point to it’s peak time and influence in the world, and what things the events of those times reveal about the religion.
“Leaving aside the prehistoric times and coming to the historical, it may be confidently asserted that the kings of the Achaeminian Dynasty such as Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes, and others (B.C. 559-329) were Zoroastrians, for they emphatically speak of Auramazda, the greatest God, as does every Zoroastrian…” For a thousand years it was the dominant religion during three mighty Persian empires, that stretched west towards Rome and Greece, east to India, north into Russia, and south into Egypt. At that time it was the largest empire geographically that had ever existed in the world. When Cyrus conquered Babylon, during the time the Jews had been held in captivity there, he returned the jews to Israel and financed the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. This illustrates one of the principles of Zoroastrianism, namely its openness to other religions and cultures, and those dynasties of the Persian Empire were (like the later Roman Empire) largely successful due to their integration of conquered peoples into the empire, rather than practice subjugation and oppression, as many other conquerors did.
Being one of the other faiths (meaning similar to our own) that has a particularly universal perspective on how God and the world’s people operate in a cooperative fashion that includes everyone as a worthwhile and loved child of God given the opportunity to strive for the success of goodness over evil, it is instructive to learn how similar and different our two faiths really are in practice. In a future post we will examine this and other faith groups that can be working hand in hand to advance our common missions.
#ThursdayTheology: Chauncey Giles
“Rich people often assume a great deal of superiority on account of their wealth. They think this gives them some advantage and makes them better, and others are apt to accept their own estimate of their superiority… It is best, however, to forget our outward conditions far as possible and to feel kindly toward all, and to act out your kind feelings freely to one person as to another when opportunity offers.”
Chauncey Giles – Swedenborgian pastor 1864-1870
Spiritual Thanksgiving
The image of living on the earth in harmony with creation and therefore the Creator, is a helpful image for me… Each day we are given is for Thanksgiving for the earth. We are to enjoy it and share it in service of others. This is the way to grow in unity and harmony… It allows for diversity within the unity of the Creator… There are many teachings in the aboriginal North American nations that use the symbol of the circle. It is the symbol for the inclusive caring community, where individuals are respected and interdependence is recognized. In the wider perspective it symbolizes the natural order of creation in which human beings are part of the whole circle of life. Aboriginal spiritual teachers speak of the reestablishment of the balance between human beings and the whole of creation, as a mending of the hoop.
James Treat, Native and Christian: Indigenous Voices on Religious Identity in the United States and Canada (New York: Routledge, 1996), 54-55.
New Church of Montgomery, in Glendale 