Justified By The Lord

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
GOOD CANNOT DIE, BECAUSE EVIL CAN BE SEPARATED FROM IT

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22: 36-40)

In regard to justification, the case is not as is commonly supposed, namely, that all evils and sins are wiped away and utterly blotted out when men, as they imagine, believe - even if it were their last and dying hour - however they may have lived in evils and in misdeeds during the entire course of their lives; for I have been fully instructed that not the smallest evil which a man during his bodily life has thought and has carried out into act is wiped away and utterly blotted out; but that it all remains, even to the very least of it.

The truth is that with those who have meditated and practiced acts of hatred, of revenge, of cruelty, and of adultery, and who thereby have lived in no charity, the life thence contracted awaits them after death, nay, so do all things of that life both in general and in particular, which return in succession; and from this comes their torment in hell.

Whatever a man has done in the life of the body successively returns in the other life, and so does all that he has even thought. When his enmities, hatreds, and deceits return, the persons against whom he has indulged hatred and has clandestinely plotted are made present to him, and this in a moment. Such is the case in the other life....

The thoughts a man has harbored against others make their appearance openly, for there is a perception of all thoughts. Hence come lamentable states, for there concealed hatreds break out openly.

With the evil all their evil deeds and thoughts thus return, to the life.

But it is not so with the good. With these all their good states of friendship and love return, attended with the highest delight and happiness.

But with those who have lived in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor, their evils of life also all remain, but they are tempered by the goods which during their life in the world they have received from the Lord by means of a life of charity; and thereby they are uplifted into heaven, nay, are withheld from the evils which they have appertaining to them, so that these do not appear.

They who in the other life doubt their having evils with them, because the evils do not appear, are let into them until they know that the case is really so, and then are again uplifted into heaven. (Arcana Coelestia 823)

This then is what is meant by being justified; for in this way men come to acknowledge not their own righteousness, but that of the Lord.

As to its being said that those are saved who have faith - this is true; but in the Word by "faith" nothing else is meant than love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, and thus a life from these loves. The doctrinal things and dogmas of faith are not faith, but belong to faith; for they are one and all for the sake of the end that a man may become such as they teach him to be, as may be clearly seen from the Lord's words that in love to God and love toward the neighbor consist all the law and the prophets, that is, the universal doctrine of faith (Matt. 22:34-39; Mark 12:28-35).

(from Arcana Coelestia 2116)

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And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.... be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? (Genesis 18: 17-21; 25)

To cause the righteous to die with the wicked, that so the righteous be as the wicked. That this signifies that good cannot die, because evil can be separated from it, is evident from the signification of "righteous," as being good, and of "wicked," as being evil. Hence to "cause the righteous to die with the wicked," is to make good die with evil. As this ought not to be done, and causes horror to think of, it is removed in the internal sense, and then there is presented this: that good cannot die, because evil can be separated from it.

How this matter stands, is known to few, if any.

Be it known that all the good a man has thought and done from infancy even to the last of his life, remains; in like manner all the evil, so that not the least of it completely perishes. Both are inscribed on his book of life (that is, on each of his memories), and on his nature (that is, his native disposition and genius). From these he has formed for himself a life, and so to speak a soul, which after death is of a corresponding quality. But goods are never so commingled with evils, nor evils with goods, that they cannot be separated; for if they should be commingled, the man would eternally perish.

In relation to this the Lord exercises His providence, and when a man comes into the other life, if he has lived in the good of love and of charity, the Lord then separates his evils, and by what is good with him elevates him into heaven. But if he has lived in evils, that is, in things contrary to love and charity, the Lord then separates from him what is good, and his evils bring him into hell. Such is the lot of everyone after death; but it is a separation, and in no wise a complete removal.

Moreover, as the will of man, which is the one part of his life, has been utterly destroyed, the Lord separates this destroyed part from the other which is his intellectual part, and in those who are being regenerated, implants in this intellectual part the good of charity, and through this a new will; these are they who have conscience. Thus also, speaking generally, the Lord separates evil from good. These are the arcana which are meant in the internal sense by the statement that good cannot die, because evil can be separated from it.

(from Arcana Coelestia 2256)

Entangled in Natural Knowledge

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

It is false memory-knowledge which chiefly infests those of the spiritual church; because they have no perception of truth from good, but only the memory-knowledge of truth from doctrine - they who are such are very much infested by memory-knowledges. For memory-knowledges are the most general vessels, which sometimes appear contrary to truths, until truths being let into them make them transparent, and thus not to be noticed. Moreover, memory-knowledges are full of the fallacies of the senses, which cannot be dispelled by those who are in mere knowledges from doctrine, and not in the perception of truth from good; mainly because the light of the world predominates with them, which light appears clear so long as the light of heaven does not flow into it, but as soon as the light of heaven flows in, instead of light it becomes obscurity. Hence it is that these persons are enlightened and clever in the things of the world, but obscured and dull in the things of heaven.

These believe themselves enlightened when they have confirmed in themselves the doctrinal things of the church, but it is a sensuous light from the light of the world which then deceives them; for doctrinal things of every kind can be confirmed, as — Jewish doctrinal things by the Jews - enthusiastic ones by enthusiasts - Socinian ones by the Socinians - heresies by heretics of every sort — when they have been confirmed, they appear to them in the sensuous light as very truths. But they who are in the light of heaven are in enlightenment from the Lord; and before confirmations, by looking into the memory-knowledges which are beneath and are there arranged in order, they discern whether it is a truth that may be confirmed or not. Hence it is evident that these latter have an interior view, which is above the memory-knowledges, and thus is distinct; whereas the former have a lower view, which is within the memory-knowledges, and thus is an entangled one.

(from Arcana Coelestia 6865)

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Behind, caught in a thicket. (Genesis 22:13) That this signifies entangled in natural knowledge, is evident from the signification of being "caught," as here being entangled; and from the signification of a "thicket" or "tangle" as being memory-knowledge.

That the spiritual are held entangled in natural knowledge in regard to the truths of faith, is as follows.

The spiritual have not perception of good and truth, as the celestial have, but instead of it conscience formed from the goods and truths of faith which they have imbibed from infancy from their parents and masters, and afterwards from the doctrine of faith into which they were born. They who have no perception of good and truth have to be confirmed by knowledges. Everyone forms for himself some idea respecting the things he has learned, and also respecting the goods and truths of faith - for without an idea, nothing remains in the memory otherwise than as an empty thing. Confirmatory things are added thereto, and fill up the idea of the thing, from other knowledges, even from memory-knowledges. The confirmation of the idea itself by many things causes not only that it sticks in the memory, so that it can be called forth into the thought, but also that faith can be insinuated into it.

As regards perception in general, since few know what perception is, this must be declared.

• There is perception of what is good and true in celestial and spiritual things.
• There is perception of what is just and equitable in civil life.
• There is perception of what is honorable in moral life.

As regards the perception of what is good and true in celestial and spiritual things, the interior angels have this perception from the Lord, the men of the Most Ancient Church had it, and the celestial, who are in love to the Lord, have it. These know at once, from a kind of internal observation, whether a thing is good and whether it is true; for this is insinuated by the Lord, because they are conjoined with Him by love.

Spiritual men, however, have no such perception of good and truth in celestial and spiritual things, but instead of it have conscience which dictates; but as before said, this conscience is formed from the knowledges of good and truth which they have imbibed from their parents and masters, and afterwards from their own study in doctrine and in the Word; and in these, even though not entirely good and true, they put their faith. Hence it is that men can have conscience from any doctrine whatever; even the Gentiles have something not unlike conscience from their religion.

That the spiritual have no perception of the good and truth of faith, but say and believe that to be true which they have learned and apprehended, is sufficiently evident from the fact that everyone says that his own dogma is true, heretics more than others; and that they are not able to see the truth itself, still less to acknowledge it, although thousands of things should declare it. Let everyone explore himself and see if he is able to perceive from any other source whether a thing is true; and if when a thing most true is made manifest to him he still does not fail to acknowledge it. As for example, one who makes faith the essential of salvation, and not love: even if all should be read before him which the Lord spoke concerning love and charity —

Now will we do worse to thee than to them. That this signifies that they would reject the good of charity more than the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding, is evident from the signification of "Lot," as being the good of charity; for Lot represents those who are in the good of charity; and from the signification of the "men," or "angels," as being the Lord as to the Divine Human and Holy proceeding.

Hence it is evident that to "do worse to thee than to them" has this meaning.

The reason why they who are in evil within the church reject charity more than they deny the Lord, is that in this way they can favor their concupiscences by a kind of religion, and have external worship with no internal (that is, worship of the lips and not of the heart), and the more they make this worship to be Divine and holy, so much the greater are their dignities and wealth, besides many other causes that are hidden and yet are manifest. Nevertheless the truth really is that he who rejects the one (that is, does so in doctrine and at the same time in life) rejects also the other (for even if he dare not do this openly he does it in his heart); and this is here expressed in the sense of the letter by its being said that the men of Sodom drew near to break open the door, by which is signified that they came even to the endeavor to destroy both. But that which prevents this endeavor from bursting forth into act is by no means hidden. (n. 2373)

— and if he should know from the Word that all the Law and the Prophets hang upon love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, he will nevertheless remain in the idea of faith, and will say that this alone saves. It is otherwise with those who are in celestial and spiritual perception.

As regards the perception of what is just and equitable in civil life, however, those in the world who are rational have this, and also the perception of what is honorable in moral life. These two perceptions distinguish one man from another, but by no means do such men for this reason have the perception of the good and truth of faith, because this perception is higher or more internal, and flows in from the Lord through the inmost of the rational.

The reason also why the spiritual have no perception of the good and truth of faith, is that good and truth are not implanted in their will part, as with celestial men, but in their intellectual part. Hence it is that the spiritual cannot arrive at the first degree of the light in which the celestial are, but have what is obscure in comparison. That the spiritual are entangled in natural memory-knowledge in respect to the truths of faith, follows from this.

That a "thicket" or "tangle" in the internal sense signifies natural memory-knowledge, that is, that knowledge which sticks fast in the exterior memory, may also be seen from other passages in the Word.

In Ezekiel:

Behold, Asshur was a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful foliage, and a shady grove, and lofty in height, and his branch was among the tangled boughs (Ezek. 31:3);

where Egypt, which is memory-knowledge, is treated of; "Asshur" denotes the rational; which is also the "cedar," and also "Lebanon," in the Word; "among the tangled boughs" means among memory-knowledges, for the human rational is founded on its memory-knowledges.

In the same:

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, Because thou art exalted in stature, and he hath set his branch among the tangled boughs, and his heart is lifted up in its height, strangers, the violent of the nations, shall cut him down, and cast him out (Ezek. 31:10, 12);

concerning Egypt; to "set the branch among the tangled boughs" denotes sticking fast in memory-knowledges, and regarding spiritual, celestial, and Divine things from them. In the same:

To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves in their stature, neither set their branch among the tangled boughs, nor that all that drink waters stand over them in their height, for they shall all be delivered unto death, to the lower earth in the midst of the sons of man, to them that go down to the pit (Ezek. 31:14);

here those are treated of who by reasonings from memory-knowledges desire to enter into the mysteries of faith - they are made altogether blind. To reason from memory-knowledges is to "set the branch among the tangled boughs."

In the same:

She had plants of strength for the scepters of them that bare rule, and her height was exalted among the tangled boughs (Ezek. 19:11);

this has a similar meaning.

In the same:

The slain of Israel shall be among their idols, round about their altars, and under every green tree, and under every tangled oak (Ezek. 6:13);

this treats of the worship which those form to themselves who have faith in themselves, and thus in the things which they hatch out from their memory-knowledges; the "tangled oak" denotes the memory-knowledges in such a state.

The like is found elsewhere in the same Prophet:

They saw every high hill, and every tangled tree, and there they sacrificed their sacrifices (Ezek. 20:28)

a "tangled tree" denotes the things which are dictated not by the Word, but by one's own memory-knowledge.

In Isaiah:

Wickedness burneth as the fire; it devoureth the briars and thorns, and kindleth in the thickets of the forest (Isa. 9:18);

the "briars and thorns" denote falsity and cupidity; the "thickets of the forest," memory-knowledges. In the same:

Jehovah Zebaoth shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one (Isa. 10:34);

the "thickets of the forest" denote memory-knowledges and "Lebanon," things rational.

In Jeremiah:

Set up a standard toward Zion, for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction; a lion is gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations; he is on his way, he is gone forth from his place, to make thy land a waste; thy cities shall be destroyed, without inhabitant (Jer. 4:6-7);

"from his thicket" denotes from memory-knowledge; and that which ascends into Divine arcana from this makes the "land a waste," that is, lays waste the church.

The reason why in the Word memory-knowledges are called "thickets," is that they are comparatively of such a character, especially when the cupidities of the love of self and of the world, and the principles of falsity, seek for them.

• Celestial and spiritual love is that which disposes into order the knowledges which are of the exterior memory.
• The love of self and of the world is that which perverts the order, and disturbs all things in it.

These things the man does not take notice of, because he places order in perverted order, good in evil, and truth in falsity. On this account these things are in entanglement; and also on this, that the things of the exterior memory, where these knowledges are, compared with those in the interior memory, where rational things are, are as in a thicket, or as in a dark forest. How shady, opaque, and dark it is there in comparison, a man cannot know so long as he is living in the body; for he then supposes that all wisdom and intelligence are from this source; but he will know in the other life, when he comes into the things of his interior memory. The exterior memory, which is proper to man while he is living in the world, nothing is less to be found than the light of intelligence and wisdom; but that all is relatively dark, disorderly, and entangled there.

(from Arcana Coelestia 2831)

Man Ought 'AS OF HIMSELF' To Put Away Evils

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The internal cannot be cleansed from the lusts of evil so long as the evils in the external man are not put away, since these obstruct.

This follows from the preceding statement, that the external of man's thought is in itself of the same character as its internal; and that the two cohere like things that are not only one within the other but also one from the other; consequently one cannot be set aside unless the other is also. It is so with every thing external that is from an internal, and with every thing posterior that is from a prior, and with every effect that is from a cause.

Since, then, lusts with their subtleties constitute in the evil the internal of thought, and the enjoyments of lusts together with their devices constitute their external of thought, and the latter and the former are joined together as one, it follows that the internal cannot be cleansed from lusts so long as the evils in the external man are not put away. It should be understood that man's internal will is that which is in the lusts, and the internal understanding is that which is in the subtleties, and that the external will is that which is in the enjoyments of the lusts, and the external understanding is that which is in the devices from the subtleties. Anyone can see that lusts and their enjoyments make one, and that the subtleties and devices make one; also that these four are in one series, and together make as it were one bundle; and from this again it is clear that the internal, which consists of lusts, can be cast out only by the putting away of the external, which consists of evils. Lusts through their enjoyments produce evils; but when evils are believed to be allowable, which comes from the agreement of will and understanding, the enjoyments and the evils then make one. It is acknowledged that this agreement is equivalent to doing the thing; and this is what the Lord says:-

Whosoever looketh on another's woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matt. 5:28).

It is the same with other evils.

From all this it can now be seen that evils must surely be put away from the external man that man may be cleansed from the lusts of evil; for until this is done there is no possible exit for lusts; and if there is no exit the lusts remain within and breathe out enjoyments from themselves, and so they urge men on to the consent, thus to the doing. Through the external of thought the lusts enter the body; when therefore there is consent in the external of thought the lusts are at once present in the body; and the enjoyment that is felt is there. That as the mind is such is the body, thus the whole man, may be seen in the work on The Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom (n. 362-370). This may be made clear by comparisons and also by examples.

• By comparisons: —

Lusts with their enjoyments may be likened to fire; the more a fire is fed the more it burns; and the freer the course given it the further it spreads, until in a city it consumes the houses, and in a forest the trees. In the Word the lusts of evil are likened to fire, and their evils to its burning. Moreover, in the spiritual world, lusts of evil with their enjoyments appear like fires; infernal fire is nothing else. Lusts may also be likened to floods and inundations of water when dikes or dams give way. They may also be likened to gangrenous sores and ulcers, which, if they run their course or are not cured, bring death to the body.

• By examples: —

It is made clear that unless the evils in the external man are put away the lusts and their enjoyments grow and multiply. The more a thief steals the more he loves to steal, till at last he cannot refrain; so with the defrauder, the more he defrauds. The same is true of hatred and revenge, of luxury and intemperance, of whoredom and blasphemy, and the like. Every one knows that the love of ruling from the love of self increases as rein is given to it; equally the love of possessing from love of the world; these seem to be without limit or end. All this makes clear that so far as the evils in the external are not put away their lusts multiply, and that lusts increase to the extent that evils have loose rein.

Man is not able to perceive the lusts of his evil; he does perceive their enjoyments, although he does not think much about them; for the enjoyments divert the thoughts and banish reflection.

Consequently, unless one knew from some other source that his lusts are evils he would call them good, and from freedom in accordance with the reason of his thought he would give expression to them; and when he does that he appropriates them to himself. So far as he confirms evils as allowable he enlarges the court of the ruling love, which is his life's love. Lusts are what constitute its court; for they are like its ministers and attendants, through which it governs the exteriors that constitute its kingdom. But as is the king such are the ministers and attendants, and such the kingdom. When a king is a devil his ministers and attendants are insanities, and the people of his kingdom are falsities of every kind, which his ministers (whom they call wise although they are insane), cause, by means of reasoning from fallacies and by means of illusions, to appear as truths, and cause to be acknowledged as truths. Can such a state in man be changed except by putting away the evils in the external man? For thereby the lusts that cling to the evils are put away. Otherwise no exit is open for the lusts; for they are shut in like a besieged city, or like a closed ulcer.

The evils in the external man can be put away by the Lord only through man's instrumentality.

In all Christian churches the doctrine has been accepted that before man approaches the holy communion he shall examine himself, shall see and acknowledge his sins, and shall do the work of repentance by refraining from evils and by rejecting them because they are from the devil; and otherwise his sins are not forgiven, and he is damned. The English hold the doctrine of faith alone, and yet in their exhortation to the holy communion they plainly teach self-examination, acknowledgment, confession of sins, repentance, and renewal of life; and those who fail to do this are threatened in these words that unless they repent the devil will enter into them as he did into Judas, and will fill them with all iniquity, and destroy both body and soul. The Germans, the Swedes, and the Danes, who also hold the doctrine of faith alone, have the same teaching in their exhortation to the holy communion, threatening also that all such will be subject to infernal punishments and to eternal damnation for mixing the holy and the profane. This is read by the priest with a loud voice before those who are about to come to the Holy Supper, and is listened to by them with full acknowledgment that it is so.

And yet when these same persons listen on the same day to the preaching of faith alone, and at the same time that the law does not condemn them because the Lord fulfilled it for them, and that they are not able from themselves to do any good except what is meritorious, and thus works have nothing saving in them, but faith only, they return home entirely forgetful of their former confession, and discarding it so far as they give their thought to the preaching about faith alone. Which of these, then, is true; this or that? For two things contrary to each other cannot both be true, as on the one hand, that without self-examination, recognition, acknowledgment, confession, and renunciation of sins, thus without repentance, there is no forgiveness of sins, thus no salvation, but eternal damnation; and on the other hand that such things contribute nothing to salvation, because the Lord by the passion of the cross has made full satisfaction for all the sins of men, for those who have faith; and that those who have faith only, with confidence that it is true, and with a trust in the imputation of the Lord's merit, are without sins, and appear before God like those with washed and bright faces.

From all this it is clear that it is the common religion of all the churches in the Christian world that man should examine himself, should see and acknowledge his sins, and afterwards refrain from them; and that otherwise there is not salvation, but damnation.

Moreover, that this is the veritable Divine truth is evident from the passages in the Word, where man is commanded to repent; as the following:-

John said, Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance. Even now is the axe laid unto the root of the tree; every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire (Luke 3:8, 9).

Jesus said, Except ye repent ye shall all perish (Luke 13:3, 5).

Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom of God. Repent ye and believe the gospel (Mark 1:14, 15).

Jesus sent forth His disciples, and they went out and preached that men should repent (Mark 6:12).

Jesus said to the apostles that repentance and remission of sins should be preached unto all nations (Luke 24:47).

John preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. (Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3)

Think of this with some understanding; and if you have religion you will see that repentance from sins is the way to heaven, that faith separate from repentance is not faith, and that those who are not in faith because they do not repent are in the way to hell.

Those who are in faith separate from charity, and have confirmed themselves in it from Paul's saying to the Romans, That a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law (Rom. 3:28), adore this saying like men who adore the sun; and they become like those who fix their eyes steadily on the sun, by which the sight is so blurred that they can see nothing in ordinary light. For they do not see that "the works of the law" there mean, not the commandments of the Decalogue, but the rituals described by Moses in his books, which are there always called "the law." Lest, therefore, it should be thought that the commandments are meant Paul explains by saying, Do we then make void the law through faith; God forbid; yea, we establish the law (verse 31 of the same chapter).

Those who have confirmed themselves by this saying in faith separate from charity, from gazing at this passage as at the sun, fail to see where Paul enumerates the laws of faith as being the very works of charity; and what is faith without its laws? Nor do they notice where he enumerates evil works, and declares that those who do them cannot enter into heaven. This shows clearly how great is the blindness that has been induced by a wrong understanding of this single passage.

Evils in the external man can be put away only by man's instrumentality, because it is of the Lord's Divine providence that whatever man hears, sees, thinks, wills, speaks, and does, seems to him to be wholly his OWN. Without this appearance, there could be in man no reception of Divine truth, no determination towards doing good, no appropriation of love and wisdom or of charity and faith, and therefore no conjunction with the Lord, consequently no reformation and regeneration and thus salvation. Without this appearance repentance from sins, and faith even, are evidently impossible. It is also evident that without this appearance a man would not be a man, but would be devoid of natural life like a beast. Let any one who will consult his reason and see, when a man thinks about good and truth, spiritual, moral, or civil, whether there is any other appearance than that he thinks from himself; let him then accept this doctrinal, that everything good and true is from the Lord and nothing from man; and will he not acknowledge this consequence, that man must do good and think truth as if of himself, and yet must acknowledge that he does it from the Lord; and furthermore, that man must put away evils as if of himself and yet must acknowledge that he does it from the Lord?

Many are not aware that they are in evils, inasmuch as they do not do them outwardly because they fear the civil laws and the loss of reputation, and thus from custom and habit fall into the way of shunning evils as detrimental to their honor and profit. But when evils are not shunned from a religious principle, on the ground that they are sins and antagonistic to God, the lusts of evil with their enjoyments still remain, like impure waters confined and stagnant. Let such examine their thoughts and intentions, and they will find these lusts, provided they know what sins are.

This is the state of many who have confirmed themselves in faith separate from charity, who, believing that the law does not condemn them, do not even think about sins; and some question whether there are any sins in them, or if there are, whether they are sins before God, since they have been pardoned. In a like state also are natural moralists, who believe that civil and moral life with its prudence accomplishes everything and Divine providence nothing. Such also are those who strive with great eagerness after a reputation and name for honesty and sincerity for the sake of honor or gain. But those who are of this character, and who have also despised religion, become after death spirits of lusts, appearing to themselves as if they were men, but to others at a distance like treacherous forms (priapi); and like birds of night they see in the dark and not in the light.

Therefore man ought as if of himself to put away evils from the external man.

Explained in three articles in the Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem: —

First, That no one can shun evils as sins, so as to turn away from them interiorly, except by combats against them (n. 92-100)

Secondly, That man ought to shun evils as sins and fight against them as if of himself (n. 101-107);

Thirdly, That if one shuns evils for any reasons whatever except that they are sins he does not shun them, but only prevents their appearing before the world (n. 108-113).

Then the Lord cleanses man from the lusts [of evil] in the internal man, and from the evils themselves in the external.

The Lord cleanses man from the lusts of evil when the man, as if of himself, puts away the evils, for the reason, that the Lord cannot cleanse him until he does this because the evils are in the external man and the lusts of evil in the internal man, and the two are connected like roots and trunk; consequently until the evils are put away no opening is possible, for the evils obstruct and close the door; and the door can be opened by the Lord only by man's instrumentality, as has been shown just above. When, therefore, man as if of himself opens the door, the Lord roots out the lusts and the evils together.

Another reason is, that the Lord acts into man's inmost, and from the inmost into consequent things even to outmosts; while man is simultaneously in outmosts. Therefore so long as man from himself holds the outmosts closed there can be no cleansing, but only such operation by the Lord in man's interiors as the Lord carries on in hell (the man who is both in lusts and in evils being a form of hell) and this operation is only an arrangement to prevent one thing from destroying another, and to prevent the violation of good and truth. The Lord continually solicits and urges man to open the door to Him, as is clear from His words in the Apocalypse:-

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with Me (3:20).

Of the interior state of his mind or of his internal man, man knows nothing whatever. Although there are infinite things there, not one of them comes to man's cognizance. For the internal of man's thought, or his internal man, is his spirit itself; and in it there are things as infinite and numberless as there are in his body, and even more innumerable; for man's spirit is a man in its form, and all things belonging to it correspond with all things of man in the body. And just as man has no knowledge from any sensation of the manner in which his mind or his soul operates in all things of the body, conjointly and severally, so neither does he know in what manner the Lord operates in all things of his mind or soul, that is, in all things of his spirit. The operation is unceasing; in it man has no part, and yet the Lord can cleanse man from no lust of evil in his spirit or internal man so long as man holds his external closed. Man holds his external closed by means of evils, every one of which seems to him as a single thing, and yet in every one there are infinite things; and when man puts away an evil as a single thing the Lord puts away the infinite things in it. This is what is meant by the Lord's then cleansing man from the lusts of evil in the internal man, and from evils themselves in the external.

• Many believe that man is cleansed from evils by merely believing what the church teaches;
• others by his doing good;
• others by his knowing, talking about, and teaching the things of the church;
• others by his reading the Word and pious books;
• others by his attending churches, listening to sermons, and especially by coming to the Holy Supper;
• others by his renouncing the world and devoting himself to piety;
• others by his confessing himself guilty of all sins; and so on.
Yet none of these cleanse man in the least unless he examines himself, sees his sins, acknowledges them, condemns himself for them, and repents by refraining from them; and all this he must do as if of himself, but with acknowledgment from the heart that he does it from the Lord.

Until this is done the things that have been mentioned above do not help at all, for they are either meritorious or hypocritical; and those who do them appear in heaven before angels like beautiful harlots, smelling badly from their corruption, or like ill-favored women so painted as to appear handsome, or like masked actors and mimics on the stage, or like apes in human clothing. But when evils have been put away the things enumerated above belong to the love of those who do them; and such appear in heaven before the angels as beautiful human beings, and partners and companions of the angels.

But it must be well understood that when a man wishes to repent he must look to the Lord alone; if he looks to God the Father only he cannot be cleansed; nor if he looks to the Father for the sake of the Son, nor if he looks to the Son as merely a man. For there is one God, and that one is the Lord, His Divine and Human being one person, as shown in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord. In order that man in repenting might look to the Lord alone He instituted the Holy Supper, which confirms the remission of sins in those who repent. It confirms this because in that Supper or communion every one is kept looking to the Lord alone.

(Divine Providence 111-122)

Prayer is NOT to be Relied Upon

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And Jehovah said unto Moses, Why criest thou unto Me? speak unto the sons of Israel, that they set forward. And thou, lift up thy rod, and stretch out thy hand over the sea, and cleave it asunder; and the sons of Israel shall come into the midst of the sea on the dry. And I, behold I harden the heart of the Egyptians, and they shall come after them; and I will be glorified in Pharaoh, and in all his army, in his chariots, and in his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah, when I am glorified in Pharaoh, in his chariots, and in his horsemen  (Exodus 14:15-18).

Why criest thou unto Me? That this signifies that there was no need of intercession, is evident from the signification of "crying unto Jehovah," as being to intercede, namely, for liberation from temptation. Hence "Why criest thou unto Me?" denotes why dost thou intercede when there is no need of intercession? and therefore it follows, "speak unto the sons of Israel, that they go forward," by which is signified that they shall have aid, but that still the temptation will be continued, even until they are prepared.

As to there being no need of intercession, the case is this. They who are in temptations are wont to slack their hands and betake themselves solely to prayers, which they then ardently pour forth, not knowing that prayers will not avail, but that they must fight against the falsities and evils which are being injected by the hells. This fight is performed by means of the truths of faith, which help because they confirm goods and truths against falsities and evils. Moreover in the combats of temptations, the man ought to fight as of himself, but yet acknowledge and believe that it is of the Lord —

Stand still, and see the salvation of Jehovah. That this signifies salvation from the Lord alone, and not at all from them, is evident from the signification of "standing still and seeing," as being to have faith; and from the signification of "the salvation of Jehovah," as being salvation from the Lord. Here, where the subject treated of is liberation from temptations, the meaning is salvation from the Lord alone, and not at all from them.  It is here said that they must have faith that salvation is from the Lord alone, and not at all from them, because this is the main thing of faith in temptations. He who when he is tempted believes that he can resist from his own strength, yields; the reason is that he is in what is false, and that he therefore attributes merit to himself, and thus demands to be saved of himself, and thus shuts out the influx from the Divine. But he who believes that the Lord alone resists in temptations, conquers; for he is in the truth, and attributes the merit to the Lord, and perceives that he is saved by the Lord alone. He who is in the faith of charity ascribes everything of salvation to the Lord, and nothing to himself. (Arcana Coelestia 8172)

~~~

Jehovah shall wage war for you. That this signifies that the Lord alone sustains the combats of temptations, is evident from the signification of "to wage war for you," when said about Jehovah in temptations, as being that He sustains alone the combats of temptations.  That the Lord alone sustains the combats of temptations, and conquers, is because the Divine alone can conquer the hells. Unless the Divine acted against them, they would rush in like a vast ocean, one hell after another, for the resisting of which man is of not the slightest avail; and the less so because in respect to what is his OWN, man is nothing but evil, thus is hell, from which the Lord then withdraws him, and afterward withholds him. (Arcana Coelestia 8176)

If man does not fight as of himself, the good and truth which flow in through heaven from the Lord are not appropriated to him; but when he fights as of himself, and still believes that it is of the Lord, then they are appropriated to him. From this he has an OWN [proprium] that is new, which is called the heavenly own, and which is a new will.

Moreover they who are in temptations, and not in some other active life than that of prayers, do not know that if the temptations were intermitted before they had been fully carried through, they would not be prepared for heaven, and thus could not be saved. For this reason, moreover, the prayers of those who are in temptations are but little heard; for the Lord wills the end, which is the salvation of the man, which end He knows, but not the man; and the Lord does not heed prayers that are contrary to the end, which is salvation. He who conquers in temptations is also confirmed in the truth stated above; whereas he who does not conquer entertains a doubt with respect to the Divine aid and power, because he is not heard; and then sometimes, because he slacks his hand, he partly yields.

From all this it can be seen what is meant by there being no need of intercession, namely, that prayer is not to be relied upon. For in prayer from the Divine it is always thought and believed that the Lord alone knows whether it is profitable or not; and therefore the suppliant submits the hearing to the Lord, and immediately after prays that the will of the Lord, and not his own, may be done, according to the Lord's words in His own most grievous temptation at Gethsemane (Matt. 26:39, 42, 44).

(from Arcana Coelestia 8179)

Lest Heavenly Love Become Dry

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God. (Exodus 16:11, 12)

And the sun grew hot, and it melted. That this signifies that it vanishes away according to the degree of the increase of concupiscence, is evident from the signification of "the sun growing hot," as being increasing concupiscence (of which in what follows); and from the signification of "melting," as being to vanish away.

That "the sun grew hot," denotes increasing concupiscence, is because "the sun" in a good sense signifies heavenly love, for the reason that the Lord is the Sun in the other life, and that the heat which is from it is the good of love, and the light is the truth of faith. Consequently in the opposite sense "the sun" denotes the love of self and of the world, and "the heat" or "growing hot of the sun" denotes in this sense concupiscence.

How the case herein is, that the good of truth, which is signified by "the manna," vanished according to the degree of increasing concupiscence, which is signified by its "melting when the sun grew hot," shall be briefly told.

Lest the good of heavenly love becomes as it were dry, and afterward is loathed as a thing of no value.

The good of truth, or spiritual good, is indeed given to the man of the spiritual church when he is being regenerated; but as all the delight of the love of self and of the world, which had previously constituted his life extinguishes this good (because they are opposites), therefore the pure good of truth cannot long abide with that man, but it is tempered by the Lord by means of the delights of the loves which had belonged to his previous life; for unless this good were so tempered, it would become undelightful to him, and thus would be loathed. Such is heavenly good at first with those who are being regenerated. Insofar therefore as the delights of the loves of self and of the world rise up, so far the good of heavenly love vanishes away, for as before said they are opposites; and it is the same the other way about.

Hence it is that in heaven there are alternations of states, to which correspond the alternations of times in the world —

... the changes of state in the other life are circumstanced as are the times of day in the world, namely, morning, noon, evening, and night, or twilight, and again morning. Be it known that in the spiritual world there are perpetual changes of states, and that all who are there pass through them. The reason is that they may be continually perfected, for without changes of states or without variations continually succeeding one another in order, they who are in the spiritual world are not perfected. The changes of states which succeed each other in order like the times of the day and the times of the year, never return quite the same, but are varied. The beginning of every state corresponds to morning on the earth, and also in the Word is sometimes meant by "morning;" but the end of every state corresponds to evening, and is likewise sometimes called "evening" in the Word. When it is morning they are in love; when it is noon, they are in light or in truth; but when it is evening they are in obscurity as to truths, and are in the delight of natural love. This delight is what is signified by the quail which they received in the evening, and the good is what is signified by the manna which they received every morning. (from n. 8426)

and that thus by means of alternations they are remitted into the delights of natural pleasures; for without a change of the states the good of heavenly love would become as it were dry, and of slight estimation; but it is otherwise when it is tempered by means of natural delights at the same time, or successively. From this it is that at first when the manna was given to the sons of Israel every morning, the quail was also given in the evening; for by "the quail" is signified natural delight, and also the delight of concupiscence.

But be it known that the concupiscences into which they who are in heaven are remitted when it is evening with them, are not concupiscences that are opposite to heavenly good, but those which in some measure agree with this good; for they are the delights of conferring benefits in a large way, and consequently something of glory, in which nevertheless there is benevolence and a study to be of service; they are also the delights of magnificence in the embellishments of home and the ornaments of dress, and many other similar delights. Such are the delights which do not destroy the good of heavenly love (but still they hide it), and at last, according to the degree of the man's regeneration, they become the ultimate planes of heavenly good, and then they are no longer called "concupiscences," but "delights." That without a tempering by means of such things the good of heavenly love becomes as it were dry, and afterward is loathed as a thing of no value, is signified by the sons of Israel calling the manna dry food, and vile food, as we read when the quail was no longer given them, in Moses:

The rabble that was in the midst lusted a lust, whence the sons of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall feed us with flesh? now our soul is dry, our eyes have not anything [to look at] except the manna (Num. 11:4, 6).

The people spake against God, and against Moses: Wherefore have ye made us come up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? there is no bread, nor water; now doth our soul loathe this most vile bread (Num. 21:5).

Jehovah afflicted thee, and made thee hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might teach thee that man doth not live by bread alone, but by every utterance of the mouth of Jehovah doth man live (Deut. 8:3).

In like manner as by "the manna," so also by "the unleavened bread," there is signified good pure from falsities, which bread is for a similar reason called "the bread of misery" (Deut. 16:3). From all this it can now be seen what is meant by the good of truth vanishing away according to the degree of the increasing concupiscence, which is signified by "the manna melting when the sun grew hot."

(from Arcana Coelestia 8487)

The Life's Love in Man

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

[Concupiscences — The derivations of infernal love are the affections of evil and falsity; proverly, concupiscences.]

The external of man's thought is in itself of the same character as its internal.

That man from head to foot is of the same character as his life's love.

In the first place, therefore, something must here be said about the life's love in man; for this must precede any consideration of the affections associated with perceptions which constitute man's internal, and of the enjoyments of affections associated with thoughts which constitute his external.

Loves are manifold; but two of them, heavenly love and infernal love, are like lords and kings. Heavenly love is love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor; and infernal love is love of self and of the world. These two kinds of love are opposite to each other as hell and heaven are; for those who are in the love of self and the world have no good will for any but themselves; while those who are in love to the Lord and in love towards the neighbor have good will for all. These two loves are the life's loves of man, but with much variety. Heavenly love is the life's love of those whom the Lord leads, and infernal love is the life's love of those whom the devil leads.

But the life's love of no one can exist without derivations, which are called affections.

The derivations of infernal love are affections for evil and falsity, which, strictly speaking, are lusts; and the derivations of heavenly love are affections for good and truth, which, strictly speaking, are dilections (love; preference; choice). Of infernal love there are as many affections, or strictly speaking, lusts, as there are evils; and of heavenly love there are as many affections, or strictly speaking, dilections, as there are goods.

Love dwells in its affections like a lord in his realm, or like a king in his kingdom. The dominion or sovereignty of these loves is over the things of the mind, that is, the things of man's will and understanding, and thence of the body. The life's love, by means of its affections and perceptions therefrom, and its enjoyments and thoughts therefrom, rules the entire man,-the internal of his mind by means of affections and perceptions therefrom, and the external by means of the enjoyments of the affections and thoughts therefrom.

The form of this rule can in some measure be seen by comparisons.

Heavenly love with its affections for good and truth and perceptions therefrom, together with its enjoyments from these affections and thoughts therefrom, may be likened to a tree distinguished for its branches, leaves, and fruits. The life's love is the tree; the branches with the leaves are affections for good and truth with their perceptions; and the fruits are the enjoyments of affections with their thoughts. But infernal love with its affections for evil and falsity, which are lusts, together with the enjoyment of these lusts and thoughts therefrom, may be likened to a spider with its surrounding web. The love itself is the spider, the lusts of evil and falsity with their interior subtleties are the net-like threads nearest the spider's seat; and the enjoyments of these lusts with their deceitful devices are the remoter threads, where the flies are caught on the wing, and are ensnared and eaten.

The conjunction of all things of the will and understanding, that is, of the mind of man with his life's love, is made evident by these comparisons, and yet not made rationally evident.

The conjunction is made rationally evident in this way.

There are every where three things together that make one; these are called end, cause, and effect; here the life's love is the end, the affections with their perceptions are the cause, and the enjoyment of the affections with their thoughts are the effect; for just as the end through the cause enters into the effect, so does the love through its affections come to its enjoyments, and through its perceptions to its thoughts. The effects themselves are in the mind's enjoyments and their thoughts, whenever these enjoyments belong to the will and the thoughts to the understanding therefrom, that is, whenever the agreement is complete. Then the effects belong to the spirit, and if they do not come into bodily act, still they are as if in act when there is agreement. Furthermore, they are then together in the body, and dwell there with the life's love of the man, and aspire to action, which takes place when nothing hinders. Such are lusts of evil and the evils themselves in those who in their spirit make evils allowable.

Now as the end conjoins itself with the cause, and through the cause with the effect, so does the life's love conjoin itself with the internal of thought, and through this with its external. This makes clear that the external of man's thought is in itself of the same character as its internal; for the end imparts itself wholly to the cause, and through the cause to the effect; for there is nothing essential in the effect except what is in the cause, and through the cause in the end. And as the end is thus the very essential which enters into the cause and the effect, so cause and effect are called mediate and outmost ends.

This vicar of their life's love.

Sometimes the external of man's thought does not appear to be in itself of the same character as the internal; but this is because the life's love with its surrounding internals places a vicar below itself, which is called the love of means, and enjoins upon it to take heed and watch that nothing from its lusts appear. This vicar, therefore, from the cunning of its chief, which is the life's love, talks and acts in accord with the civil requirements of the country, the moral requirements of reason, and the spiritual requirements of the church. Some do this so craftily and ingeniously that no one sees that they are not such as their speech and act indicate; and at last, from the habit of concealment, they scarcely know otherwise themselves.

All hypocrites are such.

Such are the priests who at heart care nothing for the neighbor and do not fear God, and yet preach about love of the neighbor and the love of God; such are the judges who give judgment according to bribes and friendship, while they show a pretended zeal for justice, and from reason talk of judgment; such are the merchants who are insincere and fraudulent at heart, while they act sincerely for the sake of gain; and such are adulterers, when from the rationality that every man has they talk about the chastity of marriage; and so on.

But when these same persons strip this love of means — this vicar of their life's love — of the garments of purple and fine linen with which they have invested it, and clothe it in its domestic garb, they then think, and sometimes with their dearest friends whose life's love is similar, they speak from their thought in a wholly opposite way. It might be supposed, when from their love of means they have talked so justly, sincerely, and piously, that the character of the internal of their thought was not in the external of their thought, and yet it was. There is hypocrisy in such; there is a love of self and the world in them, and the cunning of that love is to secure reputation for the sake of honor or gain, in respect to outmost appearances. This character of the internal is in the external of their thought when they so speak and act.

Those who are in heavenly love.

But in those who are in heavenly love, the internal and the external of thought, or the internal and the external man, make one when they speak; nor do such know any difference between these. Their life's love, with its affections for good and the perceptions for truth belonging thereto, is like a soul in their thoughts, and in what they speak and do from them. If they are priests they preach from love towards the neighbor and from love to the Lord; if judges they judge from genuine justice; if merchants they act from genuine sincerity; if married they love their wives from genuine chastity; and so on.

The life's love of such has also its love of means as its vicar, which it teaches and leads to act from prudence, and clothes with garments of zeal both for truths of doctrine and for goods of life.

(from Divine Providence 106-110)

Christian Religion, Mohammedan, Gentile

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Because the Divine providence acts into the affections that belong to man's love and thus to his will, leading him in and from his affection into another that is near and related to it by means of his freedom, and so imperceptibly that man has no knowledge of how it acts, and in fact hardly knows that there is a Divine providence; for this reason many deny providence, and confirm themselves against it. This is done in consequence of the various things that happen and arise, as that the arts and deceits of the wicked are successful, that impiety prevails, that there is a hell, that the understanding is blinded to spiritual things, and that this gives rise to so many heresies, each one of which, starting from a single head, flows out into assemblies and nations and becomes permanent, like popery, Lutheranism, Calvinism, Melancthonism, Moravianism, Arianism, Socinianism, Quakerism, Enthusiasm, and even Judaism, and with these naturalism and atheism; and outside of Europe extending through many kingdoms, Mohammedanism, and also paganism, in which are various kinds of worship, and in some cases no worship at all.

All who do not think on these subjects from the Divine truth say in their heart that there is no Divine providence; and those who are perplexed about it assert that there is a Divine providence, but that it is only universal. When either of these hear that there is a Divine providence in every least particular of man's life, they either give no heed to it or do give heed to it; those who give no heed to it, casting the truth behind them and turning away, and those who do give heed to it turning away like the others, and yet they turn back their faces, merely to see whether there is anything in it; and when they see they say to themselves, This is mere affirmation. Some of these latter do affirm the truth with the lips, but not with the heart. Since, then, it is important that the blindness arising from ignorance, or the thick darkness arising from absence of light, should be dissipated, it is permitted to see.

The Lord teaches no one immediately, but mediately through those things in man that are from the hearing and sight.

This follows from what has been said above [last couple of articles]; to which it must be added that immediate revelation is not granted to man except that which has been given in the Word, such as it is in the prophecies and gospels and histories; which is such that everyone may be taught according to the affections of his love and the consequent thoughts of his understanding, those who are not in good of life receiving very little, but those who are in good of life receiving much, for these are taught through enlightenment by the Lord.

The enlightenment is as follows: Light conjoined with heat flows in through heaven from the Lord. This heat, which is the Divine love, affects the will, from which man has the affection of good; and this light, which is the Divine wisdom, affects the understanding, from which man has the thought of truth. From these two fountains, which are the will and understanding, all things of man's love and all things of his knowledge are affected; but only those things that pertain to the subject are called up and presented to view. In this way is enlightenment effected by the Lord by means of the Word, in which everything, from the spiritual that is in it, communicates with heaven, and the Lord flows in through heaven into that which is at the time under man's view; and the influx in everyone is continual and universal even to the minutest particulars. It is comparatively like the heat and light from the sun of the world, which operate upon each and every thing of the earth and give life according to the quality of the seed and the reception. What, then, must be the effect of the heat and light from the Divine sun, from which all things live? To be enlightened by the Lord through heaven is to be enlightened by the Holy Spirit, for the Holy Spirit is the Divine that proceeds from the Lord as a sun, from which is heaven. From this it is clear that the Lord teaches the man of the church mediately by means of the Word according to the love of his will that comes from his life, and according to the light of his understanding that he gains by means of knowledge; and that this cannot be otherwise, because this is the Divine order of influx.

And this is why the Christian religion has been divided into churches, and into heresies in general and in particular within the churches. Neither can those who are outside the Christian world, and who do not have the Word, be taught in any other way, for they are taught through the religious principle that they have instead of the Word, which is in part from the Word. The religious principle with the Mohammedans was in some respects taken from the Word of both Testaments. Others have a religious principle derived from the ancient Word that was afterwards lost. With some it was from the Ancient Church that extended over a great part of the continent of Asia, which, like our church at the present day, was divided into many, all of them having that ancient Word. From these the religious principles of many nations were derived, although in process of time these became in many cases more or less idolatrous.

Those whose worship is from that origin are taught by the Lord mediately by means of their religious principle the same as Christians are by the Word; and this is done, as has been said, by the Lord through heaven, and thus by a stirring up of their will and also of their understanding. But enlightenment by means of those religious principles is not like enlightenment by means of the Word. It is like enlightenment at evening when the moon is shining more or less brightly, while enlightenment by means of the Word is like enlightenment in the daytime from morning to noon, when the sun is shining more or less brightly. Thus it is that the Lord's church which, as to its light, which is Divine wisdom, extends through the entire globe, is like the day from noon to evening, and even to night; while as to its heat, which is Divine love, it is like the year from spring to autumn, and even to winter.

Yet the Lord provides that man may be reformed and saved by those things that he adopts as his religion.

In the entire globe where there is any religion, since there must be conjunction, there are two that constitute it, namely, God and man; and there are two things that constitute conjunction, namely, the good of love and the truth of faith; the good of love is from the Lord immediately, the truth of faith is also from God, but mediately. The good of love is that through which God leads man, and the truth of faith is that through which man is led. This is the same as what has been said above. The truth of faith appears to man to be his own, because it is from those things that he acquires as if from himself. Therefore God conjoins Himself to man through the good of love, and man conjoins himself to God as if of himself through the truth of faith. Because the conjunction is such the Lord compares Himself to a bridegroom and husband, and the church to a bride and wife. The Lord flows in continually with an abundance of the good of love, but He cannot be conjoined to man in the fullness of the truth of faith, but only in that which is with man, and this varies; it can be given in greater fullness with those who are where the Word is, and in less fullness with those who are where there is no Word; and yet the fullness varies in both in proportion to their knowledge and their life according to it, and consequently it may be greater with those who have not the Word than with those who have it.

The conjunction of God with man and of man with God is taught in the two tables that were written with the finger of God, and called "the tables of the covenant," "of the testimony," and "of the law." In one table is God, in the other man. All nations that have any religion have these tables; from the first table they know that God must be acknowledged, regarded as holy, and worshiped; from the other table they know that they must not steal, either openly or secretly by crafty devices; that they must not commit adultery; that they must not kill either by the hand or by hatred; that they must not bear false witness in a court of justice or before the world; and also that they must not will these things. From his table man knows the evils that must be shunned, and just so far as he knows them and shuns them as if from himself, God conjoins the man to Himself and enables him from His table to acknowledge Him, to regard Him as holy, and to worship Him, and also enables him not to will evils, and so far as he does not will evils to know truths in abundance. Thus these two tables are conjoined with man, and God's table is placed above man's table, and they are put as one table into the ark, over which is the mercy-seat, which is the Lord, and over the mercy-seat the two cherubim which are the Word and what is from the Word, in which the Lord speaks with man as he spoke with Moses and Aaron between the cherubim.

Since, then, there is conjunction of the Lord with man and of man with the Lord by these means, evidently everyone who knows them and lives according to them, not merely from the civil and moral law, but also from the Divine law, will be saved; thus everyone in his own religion, whether Christian or Mohammedan or Gentile. And what is more, a man who from religion lives these truths, even if in the world he knows nothing about the Lord, nor anything else from the Word, yet he is in such a state as to his spirit that he wishes to become wise; consequently after death he is instructed by the angels and acknowledges the Lord and receives truths according to his affection and becomes an angel. Every such person is like a man who dies an infant, for he is led by the Lord and is educated by the angels. Those who from ignorance and from having been born in such a place have known nothing of worship, are after death instructed like little children, and according to their civil and moral life receive the means of salvation. I have seen such, and at first they did not appear like men; but afterwards I saw them as men, and heard them speaking sanely from the commandments of the Decalogue. To instruct such is the inmost angelic joy. From all this it is now clear that the Lord provides that every man can be saved.

For every nation the Lord provides a universal means of salvation.

From what has been said above it is clear that in whatever religion a man may live he can be saved; for he knows the evils and the falsities from evils that must be shunned, and having shunned them he knows the goods that must be done and the truths that must be believed. The goods he does and the truths he believes before he has shunned evils are not in themselves goods and truths, because they are from man and not from the Lord. Before that they are not goods and truths in themselves because in the man they then have no life. A man who knows all goods and all truths, as many as can be known, but does not shun evils, knows nothing. His goods and truths are swallowed up or cast out by the evils, so that he becomes foolish, not in the world but afterwards; while the man who knows few goods and few truths, but shuns evils, knows those goods and truths and learns many more and becomes wise, if not in the world yet afterwards. Since, then, everyone in every religion knows the evils and falsities from evils that must be shunned, and having shunned them knows the goods that must be done and the truths that must be believed, it is clear that this is provided by the Lord as the universal means of salvation with every nation that has any religion.

With Christians this means exists in all fullness; it also exists, though not in fullness, with Mohammedans and Gentiles. The remaining things, by which they are distinguished, are either ceremonials which are of little consequence, or are goods that may be done or not done, or truths that may be believed or not believed, and yet man be saved. What these things amount to man can see when evils are removed. A Christian sees this from the Word, a Mohammedan from the Koran, and a Gentile from his religious principle. A Christian sees from the Word that God is one, that the Lord is the Savior of the world, that all good that is good in itself, and all truth that is true in itself, is from God, and nothing of it from man; that there must be Baptism and the Holy Supper, that there is a heaven and that there is a hell, that there is a life after death, and that he who does good comes into heaven, and he who does evil into hell. These things he believes from truth and does from good when he is not in evil. Other things that are not in accord with these and with the Decalogue he may pass by. A Mohammedan sees from the Koran that God is one, that the Lord is the Son of God, and that all good is from God, that there is a heaven and that there is a hell, that there is a life after death, and that the evils forbidden in the commandments of the Decalogue must be shunned. If he does these latter things he also believes the former and is saved. A Gentile sees from his religious principle that there is a God, that He must be regarded as holy and be worshiped, that good is from Him, that there is a heaven and that there is a hell, that there is a life after death, that the evils forbidden in the Decalogue must be shunned. If he does these things and believes them he is saved. And as many Gentiles perceive God to be Man, and as God-Man is the Lord, so after death when they are instructed by angels they acknowledge the Lord, and afterwards receive truths from the Lord that they had not before known. They are not condemned because of their not having the ordinances of Baptism and the Holy Supper; the Holy Supper and Baptism are for those only who are in possession of the Word, and to whom the Lord is known from the Word; for they are symbols of that church, and are attestations and certifications that those who believe and live according to the Lord's commandments in the Word are saved.

(Apocalypse Explained 1176; 1177; 1179; 1180)