CHAPTER I.
THE NEW DOCTRINE.
"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation."—Is. lii. 7.
We have seen how prevalent—how almost universal was the belief in the doctrine of infant damnation, prior to the time of Swedenborg, through whom, as it is believed, a new dispensation of Christianity was vouchsafed unto men. This has been shown by copious extracts from books and other printed documents, whose authority no one will call in question. We have seen that this doctrine, false, cruel, loathsome and absurd as it now seems to almost every one, was once believed and taught for Bible truth, by men who have been looked up to and revered as distinguished luminaries in the church. We have seen that it was held by those celebrated "Reformers," Luther, Melancthon, Calvin, and Beza—by many eminent ministers of the gospel and professors of theology, who have taken the lead in theological opinion since their time—by the English and German churches—by the famous
