The Divine Trinity (pt 5)

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

(Continued pt 5)

When it is said that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the three essentials of the one God, like soul, body, and operation in man, it seems to the human mind as if these three essentials are three persons, which is impossible.

But when it is understood that the Divine of the Father, which constitutes the soul, and the Divine of the Son, which constitutes the body, and the Divine of the Holy Spirit or the proceeding Divine, which constitutes the operation, are the three essentials of the one God, the statement is comprehensible.

For God the Father is His Divine, the Son from the Father is His Divine, and the Holy Spirit from both is His Divine; and as these are one in essence and one in mind they constitute one God.

But if these three Divine essentials are called persons, and if to each person is attributed his own property, to the Father imputation, to the Son mediation, and to the Holy Spirit operation, the Divine Essence, which in fact is one and not divisible, becomes divided: and thus none of the three is God in fullness, but each has a sub-triple power; and this a sound understanding must needs reject.

From the trinity in every man, then, who can fail to perceive the trinity in the Lord?

In every man there is soul, body, and operation; so also in the Lord, for in the Lord dwells all the fullness of Divinity bodily, according to Paul (Col. 2:9); therefore in the Lord the trinity is Divine, but in man it is human.

In this mystical notion that there are three Divine persons and yet one God, and that this God, although one, is nevertheless not one person, everyone can see that reason has no part, but has been lulled to sleep, and still it compels the mouth to speak like a parrot. And when reason is put to sleep what is speech from the mouth but dead speech? When the mouth utters that which reason turns away from and dissents from, is not speech foolish?

At this day human reason, in respect to the Divine trinity, is bound like a man in prison, manacled and fettered; and it may be compared to a vestal virgin buried alive for permitting the sacred fire to die out; and yet in the minds of men of the church the Divine trinity ought to shine like a lamp, since God in His trinity and in the unity thereof is the All in all the sanctities of heaven and the church. But if the soul is made one God, and the body another, and the operation a third, how does this differ from making three parts, each distinct from the other, out of these three essentials of one man? And what is that but cutting him in pieces and slaying him?

(True Christian Religion 168, 169)

The Divine Trinity (pt 4)

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

(Continued pt 4)

These three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are the three essentials of the one God, and they make one as soul, body, and operation make one in man.

In anyone thing there are both general and particular essentials, and these together make one essence.

The general essentials of the one man are his soul, body, and operation. That these constitute one essence can be seen from this-

that one is from the other and for the sake of the other in an unbroken series

for man gets his beginning from the soul, which is the very essence of the semen; and the soul not only initiates, but also produces in their order all things that pertain to the body, and afterward all things that proceed from the soul and body together, which are called operations.

From this production, therefore, of one from the other, and the consequent ingrafting and conjunction, it can be seen that these three are of one essence, and therefore they are called three essentials.

Everyone acknowledges that these three essentials, namely, soul, body, and operation, both were and are in the Lord God the Savior. That His soul was from Jehovah the Father cannot be denied except by Antichrist;

for in the Word of both Testaments He is called the Son of Jehovah, the Son of the Most High God, the Only-begotten;

consequently the Divine of the Father, like the soul in man, is His first essential.

From this it follows that the Son whom Mary brought forth is the body to that Divine soul; for in the mother's womb nothing is furnished except the body that has been conceived and derived from the soul; this, therefore, is His second essential.

Operations constitute the third essential, since these proceed from soul and body together, and what proceeds is of the same essence as that which produces it.

That the three essentials, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in the Lord are one, like soul, body, and operation in man, is clearly evident from the Lord's words, that the Father and He are one; that the Father is in Him and He in the Father; and in like manner He and the Holy Spirit, since the Holy Spirit is the Divine that goes forth out of the Lord from the Father, as fully shown above from the Word; therefore to show it again would be superfluous, and like loading a table with food after the appetite has been satisfied.

To be continued...

(True Christian Religion 166, 167)

The Divine Trinity (pt 3)

Selection from True Christian Religion  ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
(Continued pt 3)

But in what manner these passages are to be understood, whether as meaning that these are three Gods, who in essence and consequently in name are one God; or that they are three objects belonging to one subject, that is, merely qualities or attributes of one God which are so named; or in some other way, the reason left to itself is incapable of seeing. What then is to be done?

There is no other way than for man to go to the Lord God the Savior, and under His auspices read the Word; for He is the God of the Word; and man will then be enlightened and will see truths which reason also will acknowledge.

But on the other hand, if you do not approach the Lord, (though you read the Word a thousand times, and see therein the Divine trinity and the unity also), you will never understand otherwise than that there are three Divine persons, each one of whom singly is God, and thus that there are three Gods.

But because this is repugnant to the common perception of all men throughout the world, to escape reproaches men have invented the notion that although there are in truth three Gods, it is indispensable to faith that one God only, and not three, be named. Furthermore, lest they should be overwhelmed with censure it was determined that on this point especially the understanding should be imprisoned and held bound under obedience to faith; and that this should evermore be a sacred principle of Christian order in the Christian church

Such a paralytic birth resulted from their not reading the Word under the Lord's auspices; for everyone who does not read the Word under His auspices reads it under the auspices of his own intelligence, which is like an owl in such things as are in spiritual light, as all the essentials of the church are.

When one so reads in the Word what is said of the trinity, and from what he reads, thinks that although there are three Gods they are still one, the matter appears to him like a response from a tripod, which, because he does not understand it, he rolls about between his teeth; for if he should set it before his eyes it would become a riddle, which the more he tries to solve the more he involves himself in darkness, until finally he begins to think about it without understanding, which is like seeing without an eye.

In short, those who read the Word under the auspices of one's own intelligence, as is done by all who do not acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven and earth, and therefore approach and worship Him alone, may be likened to children at play, who tie a bandage over their eyes and try to walk in a straight line, and even think that they are going straight ahead, when yet they turn step by step to one side and finally go in the opposite direction, and strike against a stone and fall.

Such are also like mariners sailing without a compass, who run their vessel on the rocks and perish. They are also like a man walking over a wide plain in a thick fog, who seeing a scorpion takes it for a bird, and attempting to seize and pick it up with his hand receives a deadly wound.

Such again are like a waterfowl or a hawk, which sees above the water a little of the back of a big fish, and darts down and fixes its beak in it, and is drawn under by the fish and drowned.

Again they are like one entering a labyrinth without a guide or a cord, and the farther he goes in the more he loses sight of the way out.

A man who reads the Word not under the Lord's auspices but under the auspices of his own intelligence, thinks himself a lynx and better sighted than Argus; and yet he inwardly sees not a shred of truth, but only what is false; and under self-persuasion this falsity seems to him like a polar star towards which he directs all the sails of his thought; and then he no more sees truths than a mole does, or if he sees them he bends them to favor his phantasies, and so perverts and falsifies the holy things of the Word.

To be continued...

(True Christian Religion 165)

The Divine Trinity (pt 2)

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
(Continued Pt 2)

There it a Divine Trinity, which is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

That there is a Divine trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is made clearly evident in the Word, as in the following passages:

The angel Gabriel said to Mary, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee therefore that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35).

Here three are mentioned, the Most High, who is God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Son of God:

When Jesus was baptized, Lo, the heavens were opened, and John saw the Holy Spirit descending as a dove and coming upon Him and lo, a voice out of heaven saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matt. 3:16, 17; Mark 1:10, 11; John 1:32).

And still more plainly in these words of the Lord to His disciples:

Go ye and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19);

and still again in these words in John:

There are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit (1 John 5:7).

Furthermore, the Lord prayed to His Father, and spoke of Him and with Him, and said that He would send the Holy Spirit, and He did send it.

Finally the apostles in their Epistles frequently mentioned the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

From all this it is clear that there is a Divine trinity, which is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

But in what manner these passages are to be understood, whether as meaning that these are three Gods, who in essence and consequently in name are one God; or that they are three objects belonging to one subject, that is, merely qualities or attributes of one God which are so named; or in some other way, the reason left to itself is incapable of seeing. What then is to be done?

To be continued...

(True Christian Religion 163)

The Divine Trinity

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The Divine trinity, which is known and yet unknown in the Christian world

Only through this can a right idea of God be acquired

a right idea of God in the church is like the sanctuary and altar in a temple, or like the crown upon the head and the scepter in the hand of a king on his throne; for on a right idea of God the whole body of theology hangs, like a chain on its first link; and if you will believe it, everyone is allotted his place in the heavens in accordance with his idea of God. For that idea is like a touchstone by which the gold and silver are tested, that is, the quality of good and truth in man. For there can be no saving good in man except from God, nor any truth that does not derive its quality from the bosom of good.

• There is a Divine Trinity, which is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

• These three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are the three essentials of one God, and they make one as soul, body, and operation make one in man.

• Before the world was created this Trinity was not; but after creation, when God became incarnate, it was provided and brought about; and then in the Lord God the Redeemer and Savior Jesus Christ.

• In the ideas of thought a Trinity of Divine Persons from eternity, or before the world was created, is a Trinity of Gods; and these ideas cannot be effaced by a lip-confession of one God.

• A Trinity of Persons was unknown in the Apostolic church, but was hatched by the Nicene Council, and from that was introduced into the Roman Catholic church, and from that again into the churches separated from it.

• From the Nicene Trinity and the Athanasian Trinity together a faith arose by which the whole Christian church has been perverted.

• This is the source of that "abomination of desolation, and that tribulation such as has not been nor ever shall be," which the Lord foretold in Daniel and in the Gospels and in the Apocalypse.

• So too, unless a new heaven and a new church were established by the Lord there could no flesh be saved.

• From a Trinity of Persons, each one of whom singly is God, according to the Athanasian Creed, many discordant and heterogeneous ideas respecting God have arisen, which are phantasies and abortions.

To be continued...

(True Christian Religion 163)

'Flesh and Blood' in the Holy Supper

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

He who does violence to truth does violence likewise to good, because truth has been so conjoined with good that the one belongs to the other; and therefore if violence is done to the one, it is done to the other also.

He who knows nothing of the internal sense of the Word, knows no otherwise than that by "bloods" in the Word are signified bloods; and that by "shedding blood" is merely signified killing a man. But -

the internal sense does not treat of the life of man's body, but of the life of his soul, that is, of his spiritual life, which he is to live forever.

This life is described in the Word in the sense of the letter by such things as belong to the life of the body; namely, by the flesh and blood. And because the spiritual life of man exists and subsists through the good which is of charity and the truth which is of faith, therefore in the internal sense of the Word -

the good which is of charity is meant by "flesh,"

and the truth which is of faith is meant by "blood."

And in a still more interior sense, the good which is of love to the Lord is meant by "flesh," and the good of love toward the neighbor is meant by "blood."

But in the supreme sense, which treats of the Lord alone, -

"flesh" denotes the Divine good of the Lord, thus the Lord Himself as to Divine good;
and "blood" denotes the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, thus the Lord as to Divine truth.

These things are understood in heaven by "flesh and blood" when a man is reading the Word; in like manner when he attends the Holy Supper; but in this the bread is the flesh, and the wine is the blood, because by "bread" the same is signified as by "flesh," and by "wine" the same as by "blood."

But this is not apprehended by those who are sensuous, as is the case with most men in the world at this day; and therefore let them remain in their own faith, provided they believe that in the Holy Supper, and in the Word, there is something holy, because from the Divine.

Granting that they do not know wherein this holiness consists, nevertheless let those who are endowed with any interior perception (that is, who are able to think above the things of sense), consider whether blood is meant by "blood," and flesh by "flesh," of the Lord, in the following passage in John:

The bread that I will give is My flesh. Verily, verily, I say unto you Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye shall not have life in you. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me, and I in him. This is the bread that came down from heaven  (John 6:51-58).

That the Lord's "flesh" denotes the Divine good of His Divine love; and that His "blood" denotes the Divine truth proceeding from His Divine good; can be seen from the fact that these are what nourish the spiritual life of a man.

From this also it is said, My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed; and also, this is the bread that came down from heaven. And as man is conjoined with the Lord through love and faith, it is also said, he that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me, and I in him.

But as before said those alone apprehend this saying who can think above the sensuous things of the body; especially those who are in faith and in love to the Lord, for these are raised by the Lord from the life of the sensuous things of the body toward the life of their spirit; thus from the light of the world into the light of heaven, in which light those material things which are in the thought from the body disappear.

(from Arcana Coelestia 9127: 1 - 5)

God Opens the Eyes

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

It is said that "God opens the eyes" when He opens the interior sight or understanding; which is effected by an influx into man's rational, or rather into the spiritual of his rational. This is done by the way of the soul, or the internal way, unknown to the man.

This influx is his state of enlightenment, in which the truths which he hears or reads are confirmed to him by a kind of perception interiorly within his intellectual.

This the man believes to be innate in him, and to proceed from his own intellectual faculty; but in this he is very much mistaken; for it is an influx through heaven from the Lord into what is obscure, fallacious, and seeming with the man, which by means of the good therein, causes the things which he believes to be similar to truth. But they only who are spiritual are blessed with enlightenment in the spiritual things of faith. It is this which is signified by "God opening the eyes."

That the "eye" signifies the understanding is because the sight of the body corresponds to the sight of its spirit, which is the understanding; and because it corresponds, in the Word the understanding is signified by the "eye" in almost every place where it is mentioned, even where it is believed to be otherwise; as where the Lord says in Matthew:

The light of the body is the eye; if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light; but if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness; if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness (Matt. 6:22-23; Luke 11:34).

Here the "eye" is the understanding, the spiritual of which is faith, as also is evident from the explication: "if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness."

So too in the same:

If thy right eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee (Matt. 5:29; 18:9).

The "left eye" is the intellectual, but the "right eye" is its affection: that the right eye is to be plucked out means that the affection is to be subdued if it causes stumbling.

In the same:

Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear (Matt. 13:16);

and in Luke:

Jesus said to the disciples, Blessed are the eyes which see the thing which ye see (Luke 10:23).

Here by the "eyes which see," intelligence and faith are signified;

for their seeing the Lord, and also His miracles and works, did not make them blessed; but comprehending them with the understanding and having faith, which is "seeing with the eyes;" and obeying, which is "hearing with the ears."

That to "see with the eyes" is to understand, and also to have faith - for the understanding is the spiritual of the sight, and faith is the spiritual of the understanding.

The sight of the eye is from the light of the world, but the sight of faith is from the light of heaven. Hence it is common to speak of seeing with the understanding, and of seeing by faith.

Also in Mark:

Jesus said to the disciples, Do ye not yet perceive, neither understand? Have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes see ye not? And having ears hear ye not? (Mark 8:17-18);

where it is manifest that not to be willing to understand and not to believe, is to "have eyes and not see."

In Luke:

Jesus said of the city, If thou hadst known the things that belong unto thy peace; but now it is hid from thine eyes (Luke 19:41-42).

And in Mark:

This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes (Mark 12:11);

where to be "hid from the eyes," and to be "marvelous in the eyes," means to be so to the understanding, as is known to everyone from the signification of the eye even in the common use of language.

(Arcana Coelestia 2701)

Sight from Within

Selection from Arcana Coeletia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

A man sees in himself whether what he thinks and wills, and consequently what he says and does, is good or evil, and consequently whether it is true or false. This is quite impossible unless he sees from within.

Seeing from within is seeing from the sight of the internal man in the external.

The case is the same as with the sight of the eye: the eye cannot see the things which are within it, but only those which are outside of it. From this then it is that a man sees the good and the evil that are in himself. Nevertheless one man sees this better than another, and some do not see it at all.

They who see it, are they who have received from the Lord the life of faith and charity, for this life is the internal life, or the life of the internal man.

Such persons, being from faith in truth, and from charity in good, can see the evils and falsities in themselves; for evil can be seen from good, and falsity from truth; but not contrariwise. The reason is that good and truth are in heaven, and in its light; whereas evil and falsity are in hell, and in its darkness. From this it is evident that those who are in evil and thence in falsity cannot see the good and truth, nor even the evil and falsity, which are in themselves, consequently neither can they see from within.

But be it known that to see from within is to see from the Lord; for it is the same with sight as with everything that exists, in that nothing exists from itself, but from that which is prior to or higher than itself, thus finally from the First and Highest.

The First and Highest is the Lord!

He who apprehends this can also apprehend that everything of life with man is from the Lord; and that as charity and faith constitute the veriest life of man, everything of charity, and everything of faith, are from the Lord. He who excels others in the gift of thought and perception, can from this also apprehend that the Lord sees each and all things - even the most minute - that are with man. But evil and falsity do not come forth from what is higher than themselves; but from what is lower. Consequently they do not come forth from the Lord, but from the world; for the Lord is above, and the world is beneath. Wherefore with those who are in evil and thence in falsity, the internal man is closed above and open beneath.

From this it is that they see all things upside down; the world as everything, and heaven as nothing. It is also for this reason that before the angels they appear upside down; with the feet upward, and the head downward. Such are all in hell.

(Arcana Coeletia 9128:2, 3)

Spiritual Life

Excerpt from a passage in Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

[I]t is not known what spiritual life is, thus neither that spiritual life is an interior life distinct from the natural life, which is exterior.

Spiritual life is given by the Lord to man through the reception of the truth of faith in the good of charity. ...

[W]hen a man of the church who is in the good of faith reads the Word, angels adjoin themselves to him, and are delighted in the man, because of the wisdom which then inflows to them through the Word from the Lord.

From this is the conjunction of heaven with man, which would not be possible without the Word. For the Word is such that there is not even a point or a jot in its original tongue which does not affect the angels, and conjoin them with man.

(Arcana Coelestia 9152)

The Steps to Heaven

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The Divine Energy and Operation, which are meant by the Holy Spirit, are, in general -

• reformation and regeneration

and in accordance with these -

• renovation, vivification, sanctification and justification

and in accordance with these latter -

• purification from evils, forgiveness of sins -

and finally salvation.

These in their order are the energies made operative by the Lord in those who believe in Him, and who adjust and dispose themselves for His reception and indwelling; and this is done by means of Divine truth, and with Christians by means of the Word; for the Word is the sole medium through which man draws near to the Lord, and into which the Lord enters

The Lord is Divine truth itself, and whatever goes forth from Him is Divine truth.

But Divine truth from good must be understood, which is the same as faith from charity, since faith is nothing but truth, and charity is nothing but goodness.

It is by means of Divine truth from good, that is, by means of faith from charity, that man is reformed and regenerated, and also renewed, vivified, sanctified, justified, and according to the progress and growth of these is purified from evils; and purification from evils is remission of sins.
...
It must be understood that these saving graces are continually made operative by the Lord in every man; since they are the steps to heaven, and the Lord desires the salvation of all.

Thus the salvation of all is His end; and he who wills an end wills also the means.

The Lord's coming, redemption, and the passion of the cross were for the sake of man's salvation (Matt 18:11; Luke 19:10). And as man's salvation was and eternally is the Lord's end, it follows that the above mentioned operations are mediate ends, and salvation the final end.

(True Christian Religion 142)

A State of Temptation Which One Overcomes

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Temptations are attended with doubt in regard to the Lord's presence and mercy, and also in regard to salvation. The evil spirits who are then with the man and induce the temptation strongly inspire negation, but the good spirits and angels from the Lord in every possible way dispel this state of doubt, and keep the man in a state of hope, and at last confirm him in what is affirmative. The result is that -

a man who is in temptation hangs between what is negative and what is affirmative.

One who yields in temptation remains in a state of doubt, and falls into what is negative; but one who overcomes is indeed in doubt, but still, if he suffers himself to be cheered by hope, he stands fast in what is affirmative. As during this conflict the man seems to urge the Lord, especially by prayers, to be present, to have mercy, to give aid, and to deliver from damnation ...

(Arcana Coelestia 2338)

The State of the Church Changed When the Word was Made Flesh

Selection from Sacred Scriptures ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

• The Lord came into the world to fulfill all things of the Word, and thereby to become Divine Truth or the Word even as to ultimates

• The Lord came into the world to fulfill all things of the Word

• He thereby became Divine truth or the Word even in ultimates is meant by these words in John:

The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth  (John 1:14).

To "become flesh" is to become the Word in ultimates. What the Lord was as the Word in ultimates He showed His disciples when He was transfigured (Matt. 17:2, etc.; Mark 9:2, etc.; Luke 9:28, etc.); and it is there said that Moses and Elias were seen in glory. (By "Moses and Elias" is meant the Word)

The Lord, as the Word in ultimates, is also described by John in Rev. 1:13-16, where all things in the description of him signify ultimate things of Divine truth or of the Word. The Lord had indeed been the Word before, but only in first principles, for it is said:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word; the same was in the beginning with God  (John 1:1, 2);

but when the Word became flesh, then the Lord became the Word in ultimates also. It is from this that He is called,

The First and the Last  (Rev. 1:8, 11, 17; 2:8; 21:6; 22:13).

The state of the church was completely changed by the Lord's becoming the Word in ultimates. All the churches that had existed before His advent were representative churches and could see Divine truth in the shade only; but after the Lord's coming into the world a church was instituted by Him that saw Divine truth in the light. The difference is like that between evening and morning, and the state of the church before his advent is also called "the evening," and that of the church after it "the morning."

Before his coming into the world the Lord was indeed present with the men of the church, but mediately through heaven, whereas since His coming into the world He is present with them immediately, for in the world He put on the Divine Natural, in which He is present with men. The glorification of the Lord is the glorification of His Human that He assumed in the world, and the Lord's glorified Human is the Divine Natural.

Few understand how the Lord is the Word, for they think that the Lord may indeed enlighten and teach men by means of the Word without His being on that account called the Word.

Be it known however that every man is his own love, and consequently his own good and his own truth. It is solely from this that a man is a man, and there is nothing else in him that is man. It is from the fact that a man is his own good and his own truth that angels and spirits are men, for all the good and truth that proceeds from the Lord is in its form a man. And as the Lord is Divine good and Divine truth itself, He is the Man, from whom every man is a man....

(Doctrine of Sacred Scriptures 98 - 100)

The Divine Human Serves the Divine for Mankind's Salvation

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And Jehovah appeared to him in that night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father; fear not, for I am with thee, and I will bless thee, and will multiply thy seed, for the sake of Abraham My servant. And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of Jehovah, and pitched his tent there, and there the servants of Isaac digged out a well.   Genesis 26:24, 25

That this signifies from the Lord's Divine Human is evident from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord's Divine, and also the Divine Human; and from the signification of "my servant," when predicated of the Lord, as being the Divine Human;

Not that the Divine Human is a servant, because this also is Jehovah, but because the Lord by this serves the human race; for by this man is saved, inasmuch as unless the Lord had united the Human to the Divine, so that man might be enabled with his mind to look upon and adore the Human of the Lord and thus have access to the Divine, he could not possibly have been saved.

The conjunction of man with the Divine itself which is called the "Father" is through the Divine Human which is called the "Son"; thus through the Lord, by whom the spiritual man understands the Human, but the celestial man the Divine Itself. Hence it is evident why the Divine Human is called a "servant," namely, because it serves the Divine, in order that man may have access thereto, and because it serves mankind for their salvation.

This then is what is signified by "Abraham my servant" as also in David:

Remember his marvelous works that He hath done, his wonders and the judgments of His mouth, O ye seed of Abraham His servant, ye sons of Jacob, His chosen ones. He sent Moses His servant, Aaron whom He hath chosen. He remembered the word of His holiness with Abraham His servant (Ps. 105:5-6, 26, 42);

where by "Abraham his servant" is meant the Lord as to the Divine Human. In like manner also the Lord as to the Divine Human is meant in the supreme sense by "Israel his servant," by "Jacob his servant," and by "David his servant"; by Israel his servant, in Isaiah:

Thou Israel my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham My friend; thou whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the wings thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art My servant, I have chosen thee (Isa. 41:8-9);

where "Israel my servant" in the supreme sense is the Lord in respect to the internal things of the spiritual church; and "Jacob" as to the external things of this church. Again:

He said unto me, Thou art My servant Israel, in whom I will be glorified. It is a light thing that thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to bring back the preserved of Israel; and I have given thee for a light of the Gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth (Isa. 49:3, 6);

where "Israel, in whom I will be glorified," manifestly represents the Lord's Divine Human. That he is called "servant" from serving is manifest, for it is said, "that thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to bring back the preserved of Israel."

That the Lord as to His Divine Human is meant also by "Jacob my servant" is evident in the following passage from Isaiah:

I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, for Jacob My servant's sake, and Israel My chosen (Isa. 45:3, 4);

where by "Jacob My servant, and Israel My chosen" is meant the Lord, "Jacob My servant" having respect to the external things of the church, and "Israel My chosen" to the internal things of the church.

The same is also signified by "David my servant" in Ezekiel:

I will gather the sons of Israel from every side. My servant David shall be king over them; there shall be to them all one shepherd. They shall dwell upon the land which I have given unto Jacob My servant, and they shall dwell therein, they and their sons and their sons' sons even forever; and David My servant shall be their prince forever (Ezek. 37:21, 24-25).

"David My servant" plainly denotes the Lord's Divine Human, and this from Divine truth, which is signified by "king," and here by "David."

That truth itself also is relatively a servant, may be seen above (n. 3409); and because it is so, the Lord Himself calls Himself one that serveth" or "ministereth," in Mark:

Whosoever would become great among you shall be your minister; and whosoever would be first among you shall be servant of all. For the Son of man also came not to be ministered unto, but to minister (Mark 10:43-45; Matt. 20:26-28).

And in Luke:

Which is the greater, he that reclineth at meat, or he that ministereth? Is not he that reclineth at meat? But I am in the midst of you as he that ministereth (Luke 22:27).

(Arcana Coelestia 3441)

The Lord Fully Glorified His Human

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Jesus cried with a great voice, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.  He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. This He saith of the spirit which they that believe on Him were to receive; the Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified   (John 7:37-39).

It is clear from this that the Holy Spirit is Divine truth, proceeding from the Lord, which flows in with man, both immediately from the Lord Himself and mediately through angels and spirits; for the Lord says first, that he who believes on Him, out of His belly shall flow rivers of living water, and then that He spake this of the spirit which they were to receive; for "water" in the spiritual sense, signifies truth, and "rivers of living water," Divine truth from the Lord in abundance; the like is therefore meant by "the spirit which they were to receive." ...

And as Divine truth proceeds from the glorified Human of the Lord and not immediately from the Divine Itself, for this was glorified in Itself from eternity, so it is here said, the Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

That to "glorify" is to make Divine -The Lord fully glorified His Human, that is, made it Divine by His last temptation and victory on the cross

It is greatly wondered at in heaven that the man of the church does not know that the Holy Spirit, which is Divine truth, proceeds from the Lord's Human, and not immediately from His Divine, when yet the doctrine received in the whole Christian world teaches that:

As is the Father so also is the Son, uncreate, infinite, eternal, omnipotent, God, Lord; neither of them first or last, nor greatest or least. Christ is God and man: God from the nature of the Father, and man from the nature of the mother; but although He is God and man, yet they are not two, but one Christ; He is one, but not by changing the Divine into the Human but the Divine took the Human to Itself. He is altogether one, not by a mingling of two natures, but He is a single person, because as body and soul are one man, so God and man is one Christ. (This from the Creed of Athanasius).

Now as the Divine and the Human of the Lord are not two, but a single person, and are united as soul and body, it may be known that the Divine which is called the Holy Spirit goes out and proceeds from His Divine through the Human, thus from the Divine Human - for nothing whatever can go forth from the body except from the soul through the body, since all the life of the body is from its soul.

And since "As is the Father so is the Son, uncreate, infinite, eternal, omnipotent, God and Lord, and neither of them is first or last, nor greatest nor least," it follows that -

The proceeding Divine, which is called the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Divine Itself of the Lord through His Human, and not from another Divine that is called the Father;

for the Lord teaches that the Father and He are one, and that the Father is in Him and He in the Father.  But the reason why most of those in the Christian world think otherwise in their hearts, and thence believe otherwise, is, the angels said, because they think of the Lord's Human as separate from His Divine, although this is contrary to the doctrine which teaches that -

the Divine and the Human of the Lord are not two persons, but a single person, united as soul and body.

That this should be the doctrine of the whole Christian world was provided by the Lord, because it is the essential of the church, and the essential of the salvation of all. But they have divided the Divine and the Human of the Lord into two natures, and have said that the Lord is God from the nature of the Father, and man from the nature of the mother, because they do not know that when the Lord fully glorified His Human He put off the human from the mother, and put on a Human from the Father....

(Apocalypse Explained 183:10, 11)

The Confession of the Faith of the Church in General

Selections from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Faith in the understanding or doctrine, which is the first thing of regeneration

The complex the truth of doctrine by which the good of life can be attained

The church which begins from faith would cease to be a church unless this Divine truth remained in it - that the Lord's Human is Divine, for this is the supreme or inmost truth of the church.

This supreme or inmost truth, that the Lord's Human is Divine, is denied by those in the church who are in faith alone; and yet because they know from the Word that in the Lord there is the Divine, and do not apprehend how the Human can be Divine, they therefore attribute both to the Lord, making a distinction between His Divine nature and His Human nature.

Those however who are in a life of faith, or in charity, adore the Lord as their God and Savior; and when in adoration, they think of the Lord's Divine without separating it from the Human, and thus at heart acknowledge all in the Lord to be Divine. But when they think from doctrine, because they likewise cannot comprehend how the Human can be Divine, they speak according to their doctrine.
***
That acknowledgment and adoration of the Lord's Divine Human is the life of religion...

Men are of such a nature as to desire to worship that of which they can have some perception and thought, and sensuous men even that which they can perceive by some sense, nor are they willing to worship unless the Divine is therein. This is common to the human race.

For this reason Gentiles worship idols in which they believe there is the Divine, and others worship men after their death whom they believe to be either gods or saints. For nothing can be called forth in man unless there is something to affect his senses.

Those who say that they acknowledge a Supreme Being, of whom they have no idea of perception, for the most part acknowledge no God, but nature instead, because they comprehend this. Very many of the learned among Christians are such, and this also because they do not believe the Human of the Lord to be Divine.

Lest therefore men who have removed themselves so far from the Divine, and have become so far corporeal, should worship wood and stones; and lest they should worship some man after his death, and thus under him some devil, and not God Himself, because they could not in any way perceive Him, and thus everything of the church should perish, and with the church the human race, the Divine Itself willed to assume the Human and to make it Divine. Let the learned take heed therefore, lest they think of the Lord's Human and do not at the same time believe it to be Divine, for in so doing they make for themselves a stumbling block, and at last believe nothing.

(Arcana Coelestia 4731; 4733)

Those Who Climb Up Some Other Way

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Spurious faith is all faith that departs from the true faith, which is the one only faith, and this is the faith that is held by those who climb up some other way, and regard the Lord not as God but as a mere man.

That spurious faith is all faith that departs from the true faith, which is the one only faith, is self evident; for if the one only faith is the truth, it follows that what departs from it is not truth.

Every good and truth of the church is propagated by the marriage of the Lord and the church; thus everything that is essentially charity and that is essentially faith is from that marriage; and on the other hand, whatever of charity and faith is not from that marriage, is not from a legitimate but an illegitimate bed, thus from a polygamic bed or marriage, or from adultery.

All faith that acknowledges the Lord but adopts the falsities of heresy is from a polygamic bed, and the faith that acknowledges three Lords of one church is from adultery. For this may be likened to a harlot or a woman married to one man and spending her nights with two others, calling each one her husband while sleeping with him. Therefore such faith is called spurious; and in many places the Lord calls those holding such a faith "adulterers," and they are also meant by "thieves and robbers" in John:

Verily I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber; I am the door; by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved  (10:1, 9).

Entering into the sheepfold is entering into the church, and also into heaven. It is entering also into heaven because heaven and the church make one, and nothing makes heaven except the church that is in it; consequently as the Lord is the bridegroom and husband of the church, so is He also the bridegroom and husband of heaven.

It may be inquired into and may be known whether faith is a legitimate or a spurious offspring by the three indications ... namely-

Acknowledgment of the Lord as the Son of God

Acknowledgment of Him as the God of heaven and earth

Acknowledgment that He is one with the Father.

Therefore, so far as any faith departs from these its essentials, it is spurious.

Faith is both spurious and adulterous with those who regard the Lord not as God but merely as a man. The truth of this is very evident from the two abominable heresies, Arianism and Socinianism, which have been anathematized in and excommunicated from the Christian church, and this because they deny the Lord's Divinity, and climb up some other way. But I fear that those abominations lie concealed at this day in the general spirit of the men of the church.

It is remarkable that the more anyone deems himself to be superior to others in learning and judgment, the more prone he is to seize upon and appropriate to himself the idea that the Lord is a man and not God, and that because He is a man He cannot be God; and whoever appropriates to himself these ideas, introduces himself into companionship with Arians and Socinians, who in the spiritual world are in hell.

Such is the general spirit of the men of the church at the present day, because with every man there is an associate spirit; for without this man would be unable to think analytically, rationally, and spiritually, and thus would not be a man but a brute. Moreover, every man attaches to himself a spirit in harmony with the affection of his own will and consequent perception of his understanding.

To the man who introduces himself into good affections by means of truths from the Word and a life according to them, an angel from heaven is adjoined; while he who introduces himself into evil affections by the confirmation of falsities and a wicked life adjoins himself to a spirit from hell, and when this is done the man enters more and more, as it were, into fraternity with satans, and confirms himself more and more in falsities contrary to the truths in the Word, and in Arian and Socinian abominations against the Lord.

This is because no satan can bear to hear any truth from the Word or to hear Jesus named; and if they hear these they become like furies, and run about and blaspheme; and then if light from heaven flows in they throw themselves headlong into caverns and into their own thick darkness, in which there is light to them, as there is to owls in the dark, or to cats in cellars watching for mice. Such do all those become after death, who in heart and faith deny the Divinity of the Lord and the holiness of the Word. Their internal man is of this nature, however much the external may play the mimic and feign to be Christian. That this is true I know, because I have seen and heard it.

Of all who honor the Lord as the Redeemer and Savior with the mouth and lips only, while in heart and spirit they regard Him as a mere man, it may be said, when they are speaking of these things and teaching them, that their cheeks are like a bag of honey, and their heart like a bag of gall; their words are like cakes of sugar, while their thoughts are like emulsions of aconite; they are also like rolls of pastry containing snakes. If such persons are priests, they are like pirates on the sea who hoist the flag of a peaceful nation, but when a ship sailing near hails them as friends, they raise a piratical flag in place of the other, seize the ship, and carry away those on board into captivity. They are also like serpents of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that approach like angels of light, carrying in their hands apples from that tree painted with golden colors, as if plucked from the tree of life; and they offer them, saying:

God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil (Gen. 3:5).

And when these have eaten, they follow the serpent into the lower world, and there they dwell together. Round about that world are the satans who have eaten of the apples of Arius and Socinus. Such as these are meant also by the man,

Who came to the marriage without a wedding garment, and was cast into outer darkness (Matt. 22:11-13);

"the wedding garment" meaning faith in the Lord as the Son of God, the God of heaven and earth, and one with the Father. Those who honor the Lord with the mouth and lips only, but in heart and spirit regard Him as a mere man, if they declare their thoughts and persuade others, are spiritual murderers, and the worst of them are spiritual cannibals -

For a man's life is from love to the Lord and faith in Him; and if this essential element of faith and love — that the Lord is God-Man and Man-God — is taken away, man's life becomes death; thus in this way man is killed and devoured as a kid by a wolf.

(True Christian Religion  380)

Men Who Speak from Themselves

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

That man's Own is nothing but evil and falsity has been made evident to me from the fact that whatever spirits have at any time said from themselves has been so evil and false that whenever it was made known to me that they spoke from themselves I at once knew that it was false, even though while speaking they were themselves so thoroughly persuaded of the truth of what they said as to have no doubt about it.

The case is the same with men who speak from themselves.

And in the same way, whenever any persons have begun to reason concerning the things of spiritual and celestial life, or those of faith, I could perceive that they doubted, and even denied, for to reason concerning faith is to doubt and deny. And as it is all from self or their Own, they sink into mere falsities, consequently into an abyss of thick darkness, that is, of falsities, and

  When they are in this abyss the smallest objection prevails over a thousand truths, just as a minute particle of dust in contact with the pupil of the eye shuts out the universe and everything it contains.

Of such persons the Lord says in Isaiah:

Woe unto those who are wise in their own eyes, and intelligent before their own faces (Isa. 5:21).

And again:

Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath turned thee away, and thou hast said in thine heart, I, and none else besides me; and evil shall come upon thee, thou shalt not know from whence it riseth, and mischief shall fall upon thee, which thou shalt not be able to expiate, and vastation shall come upon thee suddenly, of which thou art not aware (Isa. 47:10-11).

In Jeremiah:

Every man is made stupid by knowledge [scientia], every founder is confounded by the graven image, for his molten image is falsehood, neither is there breath in them (Jer. 51:17).

A "graven image" is the falsity, and a "molten image" the evil, of man's Own.

(Arcana Coelestia 215)

Those Who Incline to Their 'Own'

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help as with him. And Jehovah God formed out of the ground every beast of the field, and every fowl of the heavens, and brought it to the man to see what he would call it; and whatsoever the man called every living soul, that was the name thereof. And the man gave names to every beast, and to the fowl of the heavens, and to every wild animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a help as with him.  Genesis 2:18 - 20

• By "alone" is signified that he was not content to be led by the Lord, but desired to be led by self and the world

• By a "help as with him" is signified man's Own, which is subsequently called a "rib built into a woman."

• By "beasts" are signified celestial affections, and by "fowls of the heavens" spiritual affections; that is to say, by "beasts" are signified things of the will, and by "fowls" things of the understanding.

• To "bring them to the man to see what he would call them" is to enable him to know their quality, and his "giving them names" signifies that he knew it.

But notwithstanding that he knew the quality of the affections of good and of the knowledges of truth that were given him by the Lord, still he inclined to his Own, which is expressed in the same terms as before - that "there was not found a help as with him."

In verse 18 it is said, "It is not good that the man should be alone, I will make him a help as with him" and presently "beasts" and "birds" are spoken of, which nevertheless had been treated of before, and immediately it is repeated that "for the man there was not found a help as with him" which denotes that

Although he was permitted to know his quality as to the affections of good, and knowledges of truth, still he inclined to his Own; for those who are such as to desire what is their own, begin to despise the things of the Lord, however plainly they may be represented and shown to them.

(Arcana Coelestia 138; 142; 146)

Affections, Both Good and Evil

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens the man and his wife; and of the beast that is not clean by twos, the man and his wife. Genesis 7:2

By "every clean beast" are signified affections of good
  • By "sevens" is signified that they are holy
     • By "man and his wife" that the truths were conjoined with goods.

By the "beast not clean" are signified evil affections
  • By "two" that they are relatively profane
    • By "man and wife" falsities conjoined with evils.

That affections of good are signified by "every clean beast"...

The reason why affections are thus signified is that man in himself, and regarded in what is his own, is nothing but a beast. He has very similar senses, appetites, desires; and all his affections are very similar. His good, nay, even his best loves, are very similar - as the love for companions of his own kind, the love of his children, and of his wife; so that they do not at all differ.

But his being man, and more than beast, consists in his having an interior life, which beasts never have nor can have. This life is the life of faith and love from the Lord. And if this life were not within everything that he has in common with beasts, he would not be anything else.

Take only one example-love toward companions: if he should love them only for the sake of himself, and there were nothing more heavenly or Divine in his love, he could not from this be called a man, because it is the same with beasts. And so with all the rest.

If therefore there were not the life of love from the Lord in his will, and the life of faith from the Lord in his understanding, he would not be a man.

By virtue of the life which he has from the Lord he lives after death; because the Lord adjoins him to Himself. And thus he can be in His heaven with the angels, and live to eternity.

Even if a man lives as a wild beast, and loves nothing whatever but himself and what regards himself, yet so great is the Lord's mercy - for it is Divine and Infinite - that He does not leave him, but continually breathes into him His own life, through the angels; and even supposing that he receives it no otherwise, it still causes him to be able to think, to reflect, to understand whether a thing is good or evil - in relation to what is moral, civil, worldly, or corporeal - and therefore whether it is true or false.

As the most ancient people knew, and when they were in self-humiliation acknowledged, that they were nothing but beasts and wild beasts, and were men solely by virtue of what they had from the Lord, therefore whatever pertained to themselves they not only likened to but called beasts and birds

• things of the will they compared to beasts, and called beasts
• things of the understanding they compared to and called birds.

But they distinguished between good affections and evil affections. Good affections they compared to lambs, sheep, kids, she-goats, he-goats, rams, heifers, oxen-for the reason that they were good and gentle, and serviceable to life, since they could be eaten, and their skins and wool could furnish clothing. These are the principal clean beasts. But those which are evil and fierce, and not serviceable to life, are unclean beasts.

(Arcana Coelestia 713 - 715)

The General Meaning of Beast in the Scripture

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And Jehovah God formed out of the ground every beast of the field, and every fowl of the heavens, and brought it to the man to see what he would call it; and whatsoever the man called every living soul, that was the name thereof. And the man gave names to every beast, and to the fowl of the heavens, and to every wild animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a help as with him. Genesis 2:19, 20

By "beasts" are signified celestial affections, and by "fowls of the heavens" spiritual affections; that is to say, by "beasts" are signified things of the will, and by "fowls" things of the understanding.

To "bring them to the man to see what he would call them" is to enable him to know their quality, and his "giving them names" signifies that he knew it. But notwithstanding that he knew the quality of the affections of good and of the knowledges of truth that were given him by the Lord, still he inclined to his Own*, which is expressed in the same terms as before - that "there was not found a help as with him."   (Arcana Coelestia 142)

*Innumerable things might be said about man's Own in describing its nature with the corporeal and worldly man, with the spiritual man, and with the celestial man.

• With the corporeal and worldly man, his Own is his all - he knows of nothing else than his Own, and imagines ... that if he were to lose this Own he would perish.

• With the spiritual man also his Own has a similar appearance, for although he knows that the Lord is the life of all, and gives wisdom and understanding, and consequently the power to think and to act, yet this knowledge is rather the profession of his lips than the belief of his heart.

• But the celestial man discerns that the Lord is the life of all and gives the power to think and to act, for he perceives that it is really so. He never desires his Own, nevertheless an Own is given him by the Lord, which is conjoined with all perception of what is good and true, and with all happiness. The angels are in such an Own, and are at the same time in the highest peace and tranquility, for in their Own are those things which are the Lord's, who governs their Own, or them by means of their Own. This Own is the veriest celestial itself, whereas that of the corporeal man is infernal."   (Arcana Coelestia 140)

That by "beasts" and "animals" were anciently signified affections and like things in man, may appear strange at the present day; but as the men of those times were in a celestial idea, and as such things are represented in the world of spirits by animals, and in fact by such animals as they are like, therefore when they spoke in that way they meant nothing else. Nor is anything else meant in the Word in those places where beasts are mentioned either generally or specifically. The whole prophetic Word is full of such things, and therefore -

One who does not know what each beast specifically signifies, cannot possibly understand what the Word contains in the internal sense.

 But, as before observed, beasts are of two kinds - evil or noxious beasts, and good or harmless ones -and by the good beasts are signified good affections, as for instance by sheep, lambs, and doves; and as it is the celestial, or the celestial spiritual man, who is treated of, such are here meant.   (Arcana Coelestia 143)

The Lord as A Householder

Selection from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: (Matthew 21:33)

It is permitted him [the celestial man] to enjoy all these things, but not to possess them as his own, because they are the Lord's.

• The celestial man acknowledges, because he perceives, that all things both in general and in particular are the Lord's.
• The spiritual man does indeed acknowledge the same, but with the mouth, because he has learned it from the Word.
• The worldly and corporeal man neither acknowledges nor admits it; but whatever he has he calls his own, and imagines that were he to lose it, he would altogether perish.

That wisdom, intelligence, reason, and knowledge [scientia] are not of man, but of the Lord, is very evident from all that the Lord taught; as in Matthew, where the Lord compares Himself to a householder, who planted a vineyard, and hedged it round, and let it out to husbandmen (21:33); and in John:

The Spirit of truth shall guide you into all truth; for He shall not speak of Himself, but what things soever He shall hear, He shall speak; He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine, and shall declare it unto you (John 16:13-14).

And in another place:

A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven (John 3:27).

That this is really so is known to everyone who is acquainted with even a few of the arcana of heaven.

(Arcana Cœlestia 122 - 124)

What are not from Love and Faith, and Thus from the Lord...

Selection from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Be it known ... that there is no wisdom which is not from love, thus from the Lord; nor any intelligence except from faith, thus also from the Lord; and that there is no good except from love, thus from the Lord; and no truth except from faith, thus from the Lord. What are not from love and faith, and thus from the Lord, are indeed called by these names, but they are spurious.

(Arcana Cœlestia 112)

Where There is Little Good, There is Little Truth

Selection from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

They who are in the affection of truth have little truth in comparison with those who are in the affection of good, this is evident from the fact that it is from the meager and obscure good appertaining to them that they regard truth.

The truth in a man is exactly according to the good that is in him.

Where there is little good, there is little truth. They are in a like ratio and in a like degree, or, as we say, they march with even step. This indeed may seem a paradox, but still the case is so.

Good is the very essence of truth, and truth without its essence is not truth, although it appears as if it were; it is merely a sounding brass, and is like an empty vessel.

In order that anyone may have truth in himself, he must not only know it, but also acknowledge it, and have faith in it; he then for the first time has truth, because it then affects him, and remains. It is otherwise when he only knows truth, and does not acknowledge it, and have faith in it; for in this case he has not the truth in himself. This is the case with many who are in evil: they are able to know truths, sometimes more than other men; but still they have not the truth; nay, they have it so much the less, because at heart they deny it.

(Arcana Cœlestia 2429:2, 3)

Loving the Lord's Kingdom

Selection from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The Lord's kingdom is the neighbor in a higher degree than the church in which one is born; for the Lord's kingdom consists of all who are in good, both on earth and in the heavens — thus the Lord's kingdom is good with every quality of it in the complex; and when this good is loved, everyone who is in good is loved. Thus the whole, which is all good in the complex, is the neighbor in the first degree, and is that Grand Man ... which Man is a representative image of the Lord Himself. This Man, that is, the Lord's kingdom, is loved, when from inmost affection those are benefited who are men through that man from the Lord, thus with whom is the Lord's kingdom.

(Arcana Cœlestia 6823)

A Man is Our Neighbor According to the Love in which He Is

Extracts from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

There are two affections, namely, the affection of good, and the affection of truth. The affection of good is to do what is good from the love of good, and the affection of truth is to do what is good from the love of truth. At the first view these two affections appear to be the same; but in reality they are distinct from each other both as to essence and as to origin. The affection of good, or doing what is good from the love of good, is properly of the will; but the affection of truth, or doing what is good from the love of truth, is properly of the understanding. Thus these two affections are distinct from each other in the same way as are the will and the understanding. The affection of good is from celestial love, but the affection of truth is from spiritual love.

***

Within the affection of truth of those who are in this affection, there is the affection of good, but so obscurely that they do not perceive, thus do not know, what the affection of good is, and what genuine charity is. They do suppose that they know, but it is from truth, thus from memory-knowledge, and not from good itself. Nevertheless they do the goods of charity, not in order to merit anything thereby, but from obedience; and this insofar as they apprehend that it is the truth.

For they suffer themselves to be led by the Lord out of their obscurity of good by means of the truth which appears to them to be truth.

For example: being ignorant what the neighbor is, they do good to everyone whom they suppose to be the neighbor; especially to the poor, because these call themselves poor on account of being destitute of worldly wealth; to orphans and widows, because they are so termed; to strangers, because they are such; and so on with all the rest and this they do -

so long as they are ignorant what is signified by the poor, by orphans, widows, strangers, and others.

Nevertheless seeing that in their affection of apparent truth there lies in obscurity the affection of good, by which the Lord leads them to such action, they are at the same time in good as to their interiors, and in this good the angels are present with them, and are delighted there with their appearances of truth by which such persons are affected.

But they who are in the good of charity, and from this in the affection of truth, do all things with discrimination, for they are in light; since the light of truth is from no other source than good, because the Lord flows in by means of good.

These persons do not do good to the poor, to orphans, to widows, and to strangers, for the mere reason that they are so termed;

for they know that those who are good, whether poor or rich, are neighbors more than all others;

since by the good, good is done to others; and therefore insofar as these persons do good to the good, they do it to others through them. They also know how to make distinctions among goods, and so among good men.

They call the general good itself their neighbor in a greater degree, for in this there is regarded the good of still greater numbers. As still more their neighbor to whom charity is to be done they acknowledge the Lord's kingdom on earth, which is the church; and the Lord's kingdom itself in the heavens even still more. But they who set the Lord before all these - who adore Him alone and love Him above all things - derive the neighbor in all these degrees from Him; for the Lord alone is the neighbor in the highest sense, thus all good is the neighbor insofar as it is from Him.

But they who are in the opposite derive the degrees of the neighbor from themselves, and acknowledge only those as neighbor who favor and serve them - calling no others brethren and friends - and this with a distinction, accordingly as they make one with them.

All this shows what the neighbor is, namely, that a man is our neighbor according to the love in which he is; and that he is truly the neighbor who is in love to the Lord and in charity toward his neighbor, and this with every possible difference; thus it is the good itself with everyone that determines the point in question.

(Arcana Cœlestia 1997; 2425)