Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Man acquires faith by going to the Lord, learning truths from the Word, and living according to them.The Summaries of Faith
Faith enters into all parts and each part of a system of theology, as blood flows into the members of the body and vivifies them. The general principles which the New Church teaches respecting its faith are the following:The Esse of the Faith of the New Church is:
- 1. Confidence in the Lord God the Savior Jesus Christ.
- 2. A trust that he who lives well and believes aright is saved by Him.
- Truth from the Word.
- 1. Spiritual sight.
- 2. Accordance of Truths.
- 3. Conviction.
- 4. Acknowledgment inscribed on the mind.
- 1. Infantile faith, adolescent faith, adult faith
- 2. Faith in genuine truth and faith in appearances of truth.
- 3. Faith of the memory, faith of reason, faith of light.
- 4. Natural faith, spiritual faith, celestial faith.
- 5. Living faith, and faith founded on miracle.
- 6. Free faith, and forced faith.
As the constituents of spiritual faith have been presented in a summary, so also shall those of merely natural faith, which in itself is a persuasion counterfeiting faith, and a persuasion of what is false, which is called heretical faith. It may be designated as follows:
- 1. Spurious faith, in which falsities are mixed with truths.
- 2. Meretricious faith from truths falsified, and adulterous faith from goods adulterated.
- 3. Closed or blind faith, which is a faith in things mystical that are believed, although it is not known whether they are true or false, or whether they are above reason or contrary to it.
- 4. Wandering faith, which is a faith in several Gods.
- 5. Purblind faith, which is a faith in some other than the true God, and among Christians in any but the Lord God the Savior.
- 6. Hypocritical or Pharisaic faith, which is a faith of the lips and not of the heart.
- 7. Visionary and distorted faith, which is falsity made to appear like truth by ingenious confirmation of it.
- Spurious faith, in which falsities are mixed with truths, may be compared to that disease of the eye and consequently of the sight, called white specks on the cornea, which produces dimness of sight.
- Meretricious faith which comes from truths falsified, and adulterous faith which is from goods adulterated, may be compared to that disease of the eye and consequently of the sight, called glaucoma, which is a drying up and hardening of the crystalline humor.
- Closed or blind faith, which is a faith in things mystical that are believed, although it is not known whether they are true or false, or whether they are above reason or contrary to it, may be compared to the disease of the eye called gutta serena or amaurosis, which is a loss of sight while the eye still looks as though it saw perfectly, which arises from an obstruction of the optic nerve.
- Erratic faith, which is a faith in several Gods, may be compared to the disease of the eye called cataract, which is a loss of vision, arising from a stoppage between the sclerotic coat and the uvea.
- Purblind faith, which is a faith in any other than the true God, and among Christians in any but the Lord God the Savior, may be compared to the disease of the eye called strabismus.
- Hypocritical or Pharisiac faith, which is a faith of the lips and not of the heart, maybe compared to atrophy of the eye, and consequent loss of sight.
- Visionary and distorted faith, which is falsity made to appear like truth by an ingenious confirmation of it, may be compared to the disease of the eye called nyctalopia, which is seeing in darkness from an illusive light.
(True Christian Religion 343-346)