The Endowment of Free Will in Spiritual Things

From True Christian Religion (Appendix) ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The serpent became more subtle than any wild animal of the field, which Jehovah God had made. He said to the woman, Yea, wherefore hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And when the woman said unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the tree we may eat; only of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die the serpent said, Ye shall not die for God doth know that in the day wherein ye shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil. The woman therefore saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and to be desired to give understanding; therefore she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat and she gave to her husband with her, and he did eat (Genesis 1-6).

The decline from light to the shade of evening, that is, the falling away from wisdom and integrity, consequently, the state of vastation of this church, is described by these words, because man was made a "likeness of God" (by which is signified, in the entire appearance that he thinks those things which are of wisdom, and wills those things that are of love, from himself, as God does, ... he believed the serpent's words, that if he should eat of that tree he would become as God, and thus also be God in knowing good and evil. By this "tree" is signified the natural man separated from the spiritual, which, when left to itself, does not believe otherwise.

Every man has a natural mind and a spiritual mind, distinct from each other like two stories of one house connected by stairs; in the upper story of which dwell the master and mistress with their children, but in the lower the men-servants and maid-servants, with other helpers. The spiritual mind in man from birth even to early childhood is closed, but after that first age it is opened step by step; for there is given to every man from birth the faculty, and afterwards the power, of procuring for himself steps by which he may ascend and speak with the master and mistress, and afterwards descend and execute their commands. This power is given him through the endowment of free will in spiritual things. Nevertheless no one can ascend to the upper story, by which is meant the spiritual mind, unless he eat of the trees of life in the garden of God. For by eating of these a man is enlightened and made whole, and conceives faith; and through the nourishment of their fruits he acquires the conviction that all good is from the Lord, who is the tree of life, and not the smallest portion from man; and yet by abiding together and operating together, hence by the Lord's being in him and he in the Lord, he must do good of himself, but still be in the belief and confidence that it is not from himself but from the Lord.

If a man believe otherwise, he does what appears like good, in which there is evil inwardly, because there is merit; and this is eating of the trees of the knowledge of good and evil, among which dwells the serpent, in the dreadful persuasion that he is as God, or else that there is no God, but that nature is what is called God, and that he is composed of the elements thereof. Furthermore, those eat of the trees of the knowledge of good and evil who love themselves and the world above all things; but those eat of the trees of life who love God above all things and the neighbor as themselves. Those also eat of the trees of the knowledge of good and evil who hatch out canons for the church from their own intelligence, and afterwards confirm them by the Word; but on the other hand those who procure for themselves canons for the church by means of the Word, and afterwards confirm them by intelligence, eat of the trees of life. Those also who teach truths from the Word and live wickedly eat of the trees of the knowledge of good and evil; but those eat of the trees of life who live well and teach from the Word. Universally speaking, all eat of the trees of the knowledge of good and evil who deny the Divinity of the Lord and the holiness of the Word, inasmuch as the Lord is the Tree of Life and the Word, from whom the church is a "garden in Eden at the east."

(True Christian Religion (Canons) 29)

The Lord's Divine Providence Is Universal

From Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

• The Lord in no wise acts upon any particular thing in man singly without acting simultaneously upon all things

• The Lord acts from inmosts and from outmosts simultaneously.

The Lord in no wise acts upon any particular thing in man singly without acting simultaneously upon all things of man, for the reason that all things of man are in such connection, and through this connection in such a form that they do not act as many but as a one. It is acknowledged that in respect to his body man is in such a connection, and through this connection in such a form. The human mind also is in a like form from a connection of all things in it; for the human mind is the spiritual man, and is actually the man. From this it is that man's spirit, which is his mind in his body, is in its entire form a man; consequently man after death is just as much a man as he was in the world, with this difference only, that he has cast off the coverings that formed his body in the world.

Since, then, the human form is such that all the parts make a general whole, which acts as one, it follows that one part cannot be moved out of its place and changed in state except with the consent of the rest; for if one were removed from its place and changed in state, the form which acts as one would suffer. This makes clear that the Lord in no wise acts upon any particular thing without acting simultaneously upon all. Thus does the Lord act upon the entire angelic heaven, since the entire angelic heaven in the Lord's sight is as one man. Thus, too, does He act upon each angel, because each angel is a heaven in the least form. Thus also does He act upon each man, primarily upon all things of his mind, and through these upon all things of his body; for the mind of man is his spirit, and in the measure of its conjunction with the Lord is an angel, while the body is obedience.

But it should be clearly understood that the Lord also acts upon every particular in man singly, and even most singly, but simultaneously through all things of his form; and yet He does not change the state of any part or of any particular thing except harmoniously with the whole form. ... the Lord's Divine providence is universal because it is in particulars, and that it is particular because it is universal.

The Lord acts from inmosts and from outmosts simultaneously. This is true for the reason that in this and in no other way can all things and each thing be held together in connection; for intermediates are connected in unbroken series from inmosts even to outmosts, and in outmosts they are together; for in the outmost there is a simultaneous presence of all things from the first, ... It was for this reason also that the Lord from eternity, or Jehovah, came into the world, and there put on and assumed Humanity in outmosts, that He might be from firsts and in outmosts together; and thus from firsts through outmosts might rule the whole world and thereby save the men whom He is able to save in accordance with the laws of His Divine providence, which are also the laws of His Divine wisdom. And thus it is, as acknowledged in the Christian world, that no mortal could have been saved unless the Lord had come into the world.  And this is why the Lord is called "The First and the Last."

(Divine Providence 124)

Affections, Understanding - Impelled to Action

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

That within the good of love which flows in from the Lord through angels is all truth, which truth would become manifest of itself if man lived in love to the Lord and in love toward the neighbor, is evident not only from the things that take place in heaven, but also from those which take place in lower nature; and from the latter, because they are in plain sight, I may draw some illustrations.

Brute animals are impelled to action in no other way than by means of the loves and the affections of these into which they have been created and afterward born; for every animal is carried whither his affection and love draw it; and this being so, they are also in all matters of knowledge that ever belong to their love; for they know from a love resembling conjugial love how to come together, cattle after their kind, and birds after their kind; birds know how to build their nests, lay their eggs, brood upon them, hatch their young, and how to feed them, and this without any instruction, merely from the love which resembles conjugial love, and from love toward their offspring, which loves have implanted in them all these matters of knowledge. In like manner they know what things to eat for food, and how to seek them. And, what is more wonderful, bees know how to seek their food from flowers of various kinds, and also to gather the wax with which they make their cells, wherein first they deposit their offspring, and then store up food; they also know how to provide for the winter; not to mention very many other things. All these matters of knowledge are included in their loves, and dwell there from their earliest origin. Into these they are born, because they are in the order of their nature into which they were created; and thereafter they are moved by a general influx from the spiritual world.

If man were in the order into which he was created, namely, in love toward the neighbor, and in love to the Lord (for these loves are proper to man), he above all animals would be born not only into matters of knowledge, but also into all spiritual truths and celestial goods, and thus into all wisdom and intelligence; for he is able to think of the Lord, and to be conjoined with Him through love, and thus to be elevated to what is Divine and eternal, which is not possible to brute animals. Thus in the supposed case man would be directed by no other than general influx from the Lord through the spiritual world. But as he is not born into order, but contrary to his order, he is therefore born into ignorance of all things; and for this reason it has been provided that he may afterward be reborn, and thus come into as much of intelligence and wisdom as he receives of good, and of truth through good, in freedom.

(Arcana Coelestia 6323)

The Man Who Does Not, From Natural, Become Spiritual

Selection from True Christian Religion-Appendix ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The order into which every man was created by God, is, that after infancy he may become a man. For, when he is born, he is only an external image or form of a man, and at that time less a man than a new-born beast is a beast; but, so far as he is inwardly perfected in this form, as to his mind, or his spirit, in wisdom and love, he becomes a man.

A man is like a tree, which first grows from a seed into a shoot, and, when it increases in height, puts forth branches, and from these, twigs, and clothes itself continually with leaves; and, when it comes to maturity, which takes place in its middle age, puts forth blossoms, and produces fruits; in every one of which it deposits seeds, which, being cast into the earth, as into a womb, grow up into similar trees, and thus into a garden. And if you will believe it, that same garden remains with the man after death; he dwells in it, and is every day delighted with the sight of it, and with the enjoyment of its fruits. It is such a man who is described in David by these words:

He shall be like a tree planted beside the rivers of waters, which shall yield its fruit in its time, and its leaf shall not fall (Psalm 1:3; and likewise Rev. 22:1, 2).

But it is different with the man born in the Church who, when he has spent his morning and advanced into the first light of day, whereby he has become rational, then stops, and does not produce fruit: such a one is, or acts, like a tree abounding in leaves, but not bearing fruit, which is rooted up out of the garden, its branches cut off, and the trunk cleft in pieces with axe, or saw, and the whole then cast piecemeal into the fire. The light of his Rational becomes like the light of the days of winter, in which the leaves of the trees first grow yellow, then drop off, and lastly decay. His Rational, also, may be compared with a tree whose leaves are consumed by worms in early spring; likewise with a crop that is choked by thorns; and also with vegetation which is laid waste by locusts. The reason is, that his Rational is merely natural, because it takes its ideas solely from the world through the senses, and not from heaven through the affections and the perceptions thence. And since, on this account, there is nothing spiritual inwardly in his Rational, if he then converses on any one of the spiritual things of the Church, his voice is heard by the angels no otherwise than as the voice of a parrot or a goose; for his voice is merely animal because merely natural, and not human because not inwardly spiritual; for it flows forth from the respiration of the body only, and not from any respiration of the spirit. Such is the man who does not, from natural, become spiritual; and no one becomes spiritual, unless, after he has become rational, he brings forth fruits, that is, puts on charity by life.

(True Christian Religion (Coronis) 7)

Man Possesses Power to Obey

From True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

(1) God is order itself.

(2) He created man from order, in order, and into order.

(3) He created man's rational mind in accordance with the order of the whole spiritual world, and his body in accordance with the order of the whole natural world; and this is why man was called by the ancients a little heaven and a little cosmos.

(4) Therefore it is a law of order that man from his little heaven or his little spiritual world should govern his little cosmos or little natural world, just as God from His great heaven or spiritual world governs the great cosmos or natural world in each thing and all things of it.

(5) It is a resulting law of order that it is needful for man to lead himself into faith by means of truths from the Word, and into charity by means of good works, and so reform and regenerate himself.

(6) It is a law of order that man by his own exertion and power should purify himself from sins, and not stand still, believing in his own impotency, and expecting God to wash his sins away in a moment.

(7) It is also a law of order that man should love God with his whole soul and with his whole heart, and his neighbor as himself, and should not wait and expect that God will in an instant put these loves into his mind and heart, as bread from a baker may be put into his mouth.

It is ... a law of order that man by his own exertion and power ought to acquire faith by means of truths from the Word, and yet believe that not a grain of truth is from himself, but from God only; moreover, that man by his own exertion and power ought to justify himself, and yet believe that not a single point of justification is from himself, but from God only. Is not man commanded to believe in God, and to love God with all his strength, and his neighbor as himself? Consider and say how this could have been commanded by God if man possessed no power to obey and do it.

(True Christian Religion 71)

Even If You are in Heresies...

From Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The merely natural man confirms himself against the Divine providence by the fact that there have been and still are so many heresies in the Christian world.... For he may think to himself, If the Divine providence were universal in its least particulars, and had the salvation of all as its end, it would have caused one true religion to exist throughout the world, and that one not divided, still less torn into heresies. But make use of your reason, and think more deeply, if you can, whether a man can be saved unless he is previously reformed. For he is born into the love of self and love of the world; and as these loves do not carry in them anything of love to God or of love towards the neighbor except for the sake of self, he has been born also into evils of every kind. What is there of love or mercy in these loves? Does he [from these loves] think anything of defrauding another, defaming him, hating him even to the death, committing adultery with his wife, being cruel to him when moved by revenge, while cherishing in his mind a wish to be highest of all, and to possess the goods of all others, and while regarding others as insignificant and worthless compared with himself? If such a man is to be saved must he not first be led away from these evils, and thus reformed? This can be done only in accordance with many laws which are laws of the Divine providence.... These laws are for the most part unknown; nevertheless, they are laws of the Divine wisdom and at the same time of the Divine love, and the Lord cannot act contrary to them, because to do so would be to destroy man, not to save him.

Let the laws that have been set forth be reviewed and compared, and you will see. And since, then, it is in accordance with these laws that there is no immediate influx from heaven, but only mediate influx through the Word, doctrines, and preaching; also, for the Word to be Divine it must needs be written wholly by correspondences; it follows that discussions and heresies are inevitable, and that permissions of these are also in accord with the laws of the Divine providence. Furthermore, when the church itself has taken as its essentials such things as belong to the understanding alone, that is, to doctrine, and not such as belong to the will, that is, to the life, and the things that belong to the life are not made the essentials of the church, man from his understanding is then in mere darkness, and wanders about like a blind man, everywhere running against something and falling into pits. For the will must see in the understanding, and not the understanding in the will; or what is the same, the life and its love must lead the understanding to think, speak, and act, and not the reverse. If the reverse were true, the understanding, from an evil and even a diabolical love, might seize upon whatever presents itself through the senses, and enjoin the will to do it. From all this the source of dissensions and heresies can be seen.

And yet it has been provided that every one, in whatever heresies he may be in respect to the understanding, can be reformed and saved, if only he shuns evils as sins, and does not confirm heretical falsities in himself; for by shunning evils as sins the will is reformed, and through the will the understanding, which then first emerges from darkness into light. There are three essentials of the church, an acknowledgment of the Divine of the Lord, an acknowledgment of the holiness of the Word, and the life that is called charity. According to the life which is charity is every one's faith; from the Word comes the knowledge of what the life must be, and from the Lord are reformation and salvation. If the church had held these three as essentials it would not have been divided, but only varied, by intellectual dissensions, as light varies the color in beautiful objects, and as various circlets give beauty in the crown of a king.

(Divine Providence 259)

Man Altogether As His Love

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

What the perception and acknowledgment of the Divine from love are - Every man's quality is known from his love; for love is the being of the life of everyone, from it springing the veriest life itself; such therefore as the love is with a man, such is the man. If there is the love of self and of the world, consequently the love of revenge, of hatred, of cruelty, of adultery, and the like, the man is a devil as to his spirit, or as to the interior man which lives after death, however he may appear in the outward form. But if there is with a man the love of God and the love of the neighbor, and consequently the love of good and truth, also of what is just and honorable, then however he may appear in the outward form, he is an angel as to his spirit which lives after death. But He with whom there is Divine love, which was with the Lord alone, is God; thus His Human was made Divine when He received in the Human the love of His Father, which was the being of His life. From all this it can be seen what is meant by the perception and acknowledgment of the Divine from love.

That man is altogether as is his love, is a constant truth, as is plain from the angels in the other life, who when seen appear as forms of love, the love itself not only shining forth, but also exhaling from them, so that you would say that they are wholly nothing but loves. The reason is, that all the interiors of an angel, as also of a man, are nothing but forms recipient of life, and because they are forms recipient of life, they are forms recipient of loves, for loves make the life of man. When therefore the inflowing love and the recipient form are in agreement, it follows that the angel or man is such as his love is; and this not only in his organic beginnings, which are in the brain, but also in the whole body, for the body is nothing but an organ derived from its beginnings.

From all this it can be seen that man is made altogether new when he is being regenerated, for then each and all things with him are so disposed as to receive heavenly loves. Nevertheless with man the prior forms are not destroyed, but only removed; but with the Lord the prior forms, which were from the maternal, were completely destroyed and extirpated, and Divine forms were received in their place. For the Divine love does not agree with any but a Divine form; all other forms it absolutely casts out; hence it is that the Lord when glorified was no longer the son of Mary.

(Arcana Coelestia 6872:2-4)