February 28, 2020

The Nature of Memory-Knowledge

Selections from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
What the Nature of Memory-knowledge - Properly signified by "Egypt"
In the Ancient Church there were doctrinal things and there were memory-knowledges. The doctrinal things treated of love to God and of charity toward the neighbor, but the memory-knowledges treated of the correspondences of the natural world with the spiritual world, and of the representatives of spiritual and celestial things in things natural and earthly. Such were the memory-knowledges of those who were in the Ancient Church.

Egypt was one of those countries and kingdoms where the Ancient Church was; but as in Egypt it was chiefly memory-knowledges that were handed down to posterity, therefore such knowledge in general is signified by "Egypt;" and it is for this reason also that Egypt is so often treated of in the prophetic Word, and by it such knowledge is specifically meant.

The very magic of the Egyptians also had its origin thence; for they were acquainted with the correspondences of the natural world with the spiritual, and afterward, when the church among them was at an end, these correspondences were abused by being turned to magical things. Now because they had such knowledges (that taught correspondences, and also representatives and significatives) and as these knowledges were of service to the doctrinal things of the church, especially to the understanding of those things which were said in their Word (that the Ancient Church had a Word both prophetic and historic, similar to the present Word; therefore by "being brought down to Egypt" is signified to the memory-knowledges of the church.

... When the Lord glorified His internal man, that is made it Divine, He was first imbued with the memory-knowledges of the church, and from and by them advanced to things more and more interior, and at last even to those which are Divine. For it pleased Him to glorify Himself, that is, to make Himself Divine, according to the same order as that in which He regenerates man, that is, makes him spiritual, namely, from external things, which are memory-knowledges and the truths of faith, successively to internal things, which are of charity toward the neighbor and of love to Him.

From this it is plain what is signified by the following words in Hosea:
When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt. (Hos. 11:1)
that these words were spoken of the Lord:
And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called My Son. (Matt 2:15)
The interior things of memory-knowledges are those which approach more nearly to spiritual things, and are applications of memory-knowledges to heavenly things; for these are what the internal man sees, when the external only sees the memory-knowledges in the outward form.
***
Be it known that the memory-knowledges of the ancients were altogether different from those of the present day. As before said the memory-knowledges of the ancients treated of the correspondence of things in the natural world with things in the spiritual world. The memory-knowledges which are now called philosophy, such as that of Aristotle and others like him, were unknown to them. This is evident also from the books of the ancient writers, most of which were written in language that signified, represented, and corresponded to interior things, as is evident from the following instances, not to mention others.

• They located Helicon on a mountain, and by it they meant heaven
• They gave to Parnassus a place below on a hill, by which they meant memory-knowledges, where they said that a flying horse, called Pegasus,
• Broke open a fountain with his hoof;
• The sciences they called virgins, with other such traditions.

For they knew from correspondences and representatives that:-
• a mountain denotes heaven;
• a hill, that heaven which is beneath, or which is with man;
• a horse, the understanding;
• the wings with which he flew, spiritual things;
• a hoof, the natural mind;
• a fountain, intelligence;
• the three virgins who were called the Graces, affections of good; and the virgins who were called the Muses, affections of truth.

So also they assigned to the sun horses, the food of which they called ambrosia, and their drink, nectar; for they knew that the sun signified celestial love, horses the intellectual things therefrom; and that food signifies celestial things, and drink spiritual things.

From the ancients also there still survives the custom for kings at their coronation to sit upon a silver throne, to be clothed with a crimson robe, to be anointed with oil, to wear a crown on the head, and to carry a scepter, sword, and keys in their hands, to ride in royal pomp upon a white horse whose hoofs are shod with silver, and to be waited on at table by the chiefs of the kingdom, with other ceremonies; for they knew that a king represented Divine truth which is from Divine good, and hence they knew what is signified by a silver throne, a crimson robe, anointing oil, a crown, a scepter, a sword, keys, a white horse, hoofs shod with silver, and being waited on by chief men. Who at this day knows these significations, and where are the knowledges that teach them? Men call such things emblems, not knowing anything whatever about correspondence and representation. From all this it is evident of what nature were the knowledges of the ancients, and that they brought them into a knowledge of spiritual and heavenly things which at this day are scarcely known to exist.

The knowledges which succeeded those of the ancients, and are properly called philosophy, rather draw away the mind from the knowledge of such things, because they can also be applied to the confirmation of falsities; and moreover when truths are confirmed by means of them, they plunge the mind into darkness, because they are for the most part bare expressions, whereby confirmations are effected which are comprehended by few, and regarding which even these few are not agreed. From this it is evident how far mankind has receded from the erudition of the ancients, which led to wisdom. The Gentiles received those knowledges from the Ancient Church, the external worship of which consisted in representatives and significatives, and the internal in those things which were represented and signified. These were the knowledges which, in the genuine sense, are signified by "Egypt."
***
... Because "Egypt" is memory-knowledge, it is also the natural; for all the memory-knowledge in man is natural, because it is in his natural man, even the memory-knowledge concerning spiritual and celestial things. The reason of this is that man sees these knowledges in the natural, and from it; and those which he does not see from the natural, he does not apprehend.

But the regenerate man, who is called spiritual, and the unregenerate man, who is merely natural, see these knowledges in different ways.

With the regenerate man, the knowledges are enlightened by the light of heaven, but with the unregenerate, not so, but by the light which flows in through spirits, who are in falsity and evil; which light is indeed from the light of heaven, but becomes in them opaque, like the light of evening or of night; for such spirits and hence such men see as owls - clearly at night, and obscurely in the daytime, that is, they see falsities clearly and truths obscurely, and hence see clearly the things of the world, and obscurely, if at all, the things of heaven.

From these considerations it is evident that genuine memory-knowledge is natural truth; for all genuine memory-knowledge, such as is signified by "Egypt" in a good sense, is natural truth.
(Selections from Arcana Coelestia 4964-4967)

February 27, 2020

The Divine of the Lord Makes Heaven

Selection from Heaven and Hell ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
The angels taken collectively are called heaven, because they constitute heaven, but yet it is the Divine proceeding from the Lord which inflows with the angels and is received by them, that makes heaven in general and in part. The Divine proceeding from the Lord is the good of love and the truth of faith. To the extent, therefore, that they receive good and truth from the Lord, in that measure they are angels and in that measure they are heaven.

Everyone in the heavens knows, believes and even perceives that he wills and does nothing good from himself; and that he thinks and believes nothing of truth from himself; but from the Divine, thus from the Lord, and that the good and truth which are from himself are not good and truth because they have no life from the Divine in them. The angels of the inmost heaven also clearly perceive and feel the influx, and the more of it they receive, the more they seem to themselves to be in heaven, because the more are they in love and faith and in the light of intelligence and wisdom and in heavenly joy therefrom. Since all those [states] proceed from the Divine of the Lord and in these the angels have their heaven, it is clear that it is the Divine of the Lord that makes heaven, and not the angels from anything of their proprium.* This is the reason heaven in the Word is termed the "dwelling-place" of the Lord and "His throne" and why those who are there are said to be in the Lord. The manner in which the Divine proceeds from the Lord and fills heaven will be told in what follows.

Angels, from their wisdom, go still further. They say that not only everything good and true is from the Lord but everything of life as well. They confirm it by this, that nothing can come into existence from itself; but from something prior to itself. Therefore, all things come into existence from a First, which they call the very Being (Esse) of the life of all. Similarly, all things continue in existence, for continuing in existence is a perpetual coming into existence and what is not held continually by intermediates in connection with a First disappears there and then and is entirely dissipated. They say, further, that there is but one fountain of life and that man's life is a stream therefrom, which, if it did not unceasingly come into existence from its fountain, would immediately flow away.

Again, they say that from that one fountain of life, which is the Lord, nothing proceeds except Divine Good and Divine Truth which affect each one in accordance with the reception. Those who receive them in faith and life find heaven in them, but those who reject and suffocate them turn them into hell, for they turn good into evil and truth into falsity, thus life into death. The fact also that everything of life is from the Lord they confirm by this, that all things in the universe have reference to good and truth;
The life of a man's will, which is the life of his love, relating to good, and the life of a man's understanding, which is the life of his faith, relating to truth. Therefore, since everything good and true comes from above, it follows that so does everything of life. This being the belief of the angels, they refuse all thanks for the good that they do and are indignant and withdraw if anyone attributes good to them.
They are astonished that anyone believes that he is wise from himself or does good from himself. Doing good for one's own sake they do not call good because it is from self; but doing good for the sake of good, they call good from the Divine, and they say it is this good that makes heaven because this Good is the Lord.

Such spirits as have confirmed themselves during their life in the world in the belief that the good that they do and the truth that they believe are from themselves or are appropriated to them as their own - which is the belief of all who attach merit to good actions and claim righteousness to themselves - are not received into heaven. The angels avoid them, regarding them as stupid and as thieves, stupid because they continually have themselves in view and not the Divine, thieves because they would take away from the Lord that which is His. These are opposed to the faith of heaven that the Divine of the Lord present with the angels makes heaven.

The Lord also teaches that those who are in heaven and in the Church are in the Lord and the Lord is in them, when He says:
Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without Me, ye can do nothing. (John 15: 4, 5).
From these things it can now be established that the Lord dwells with the angels of heaven in what is His own, and thus that the Lord is the All in all things of heaven. The reason for this is that Good from the Lord is the Lord with the angels, for that which is from Him is Himself. Similarly it is plain that it is Good from the Lord which is heaven for the angels, and not anything of their proprium.
(Heaven and Hell 7-12)
* The Latin word proprium means "what is one's own". Swedenborg uses it in a special sense involving "what is of the self".

February 26, 2020

The Word in Three Senses — Supreme Sense, Internal Sense, Lower Sense

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
As the Word is from the Lord, and descends from Him through heaven to man, it is therefore such that it is Divine as to every particular; and as it has descended from the Lord, so it ascends, that is, is uplifted to Him, and this through the heavens.

It is known that there are three heavens, and that the inmost heaven is called the third heaven, the middle heaven the second heaven, and the lowest the first heaven; and therefore when the Word ascends as it descends, in the Lord it is Divine; in the third heaven it is celestial (for this heaven is the celestial heaven); in the second heaven it is spiritual (for this heaven is the spiritual heaven); and in the first heaven it is celestial and spiritual natural, and the same heaven is also so termed. But in the church with man, the Word as regards the sense of its letter is natural, that is, worldly and earthly.

From this it is manifest what the nature of the Word is, and how the case is with the Word when it is being read by a man who is in what is holy, that is, in good and truth. For it then appears to him as worldly, or as historical, within which there is nevertheless what is holy.

• In the first heaven it appears as celestial and spiritual natural, within which there is nevertheless what is Divine;
• In the second heaven it is spiritual
• In the third heaven it is celestial
and
• In the Lord it is Divine.

The sense of the Word is circumstanced in accordance with the heavens
• The supreme sense of the Word, in which the subject treated of is the Lord, is for the inmost or third heaven;
• Its internal sense, in which the subject treated of is the Lord's kingdom, is for the middle or second heaven;
• The lower sense of the Word, in which the internal sense is determined to the nation that is named, is for the lowest or first heaven;
and
• The lowest or literal sense is for man while still living in the world, and who is nevertheless of such a nature that the interior sense, and even the internal and the supreme senses, can be communicated to him. For man has communication with the three heavens, because he is created after the image of the three heavens, even so that when he lives in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor, he is a heaven in the least form. Hence it is that within man is the Lord's kingdom, as the Lord Himself teaches in Luke:
Behold, the kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21).
(from Arcana Coelestia 4279)

February 25, 2020

Celestial and Spiritual Things

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
In the Lord's kingdom there are celestial things and spiritual things.

Celestial things are of good, and spiritual things are of the derivative truth.

There is nothing in the universe that does not refer to good and truth.

Whatever is of use, and of life, refers to good; but whatever is of doctrine and memory-knowledge, especially concerning use and life, refers to truth; or what is the same, whatever is of the will, is called good or evil; but whatever is of the understanding is called truth or falsity; and therefore good, which is solely of love and charity, and which flows in from the Lord, is celestial; whereas truth, which is therefrom, is spiritual.
(from Arcana Coelestia 3166)

February 23, 2020

The Universal Principle of Faith

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
The faith of the New Heaven and of the New Church in its universal form is as follows:

The Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah, came into the world to subjugate the hells and to glorify His Human; and without this no mortal could have been saved; and those are saved who believe in Him.

This is called the faith in its universal form because this is the universal principle of faith; and the universal principle of faith must be in each thing and in all things of it.

• It is a universal principle of faith that God is one in essence and in person, in whom is a Divine trinity, and that He is the Lord God the Savior Jesus Christ.

• It is a universal principle of faith that no mortal could have been saved unless the Lord had come into the world.

• It is a universal principle of faith that He came into the world to remove hell from man, and that He did remove it by means of contests with it and victories over it, and thereby He subdued it and reduced it to order and made it obedient to Himself.

• It is a universal principle of faith that He came into the world to glorify His Human which He took on in the world, that is, to unite it with the Divine from which [are all things], and thereby He eternally holds hell in order and under obedience to Himself. As this could be accomplished only by means of temptations admitted into His Human, even to the last of them, which was the passion of the cross, He endured even that.

These are the universal principles of faith relating to the Lord.

The universal principle of faith on man's part is that he should believe in the Lord; for by believing in Him there is conjunction with Him and thereby salvation. To believe in the Lord is to have confidence that He saves; and as only those who live rightly can have this confidence, this, too, is meant by believing in Him. And this the Lord teaches in John:
This is the Father's will, that everyone that believeth in the Son may have eternal life (John 6:40)
and again:
He that believeth in the Son hath eternal life; but he that believeth not in the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him (John 3:36).
(True Christian Religion 2)

February 21, 2020

Two Kinds of Dominion

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
When the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. (Matthew 12:24-30)
Dominion from evil and falsity is altogether contrary to dominion from good and truth.
• Dominion from evil and falsity consists in desiring to make all slaves
• Dominion from good and truth in desiring to make all free.
• Dominion from evil and falsity consists in destroying all.
• Dominion from good and truth in saving all.
From which it is evident that dominion from evil and falsity is of the devil, and that dominion from good and truth is of the Lord. That the two kinds of dominion are altogether contrary to each other may be seen from the Lord's words in Matthew 12:24-30 (above); also from His saying that no one can serve two masters (Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:13).
(from Arcana Coelestia 1749:3)

February 20, 2020

Where Divine Providence Leads

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
The Divine Providence differs from all other leading and guidance in the fact that Providence continually regards what is eternal, and continually leads unto salvation, and this through various states, sometimes glad, sometimes sorrowful, which the man cannot possibly comprehend; but still they are all profitable to his eternal life.
(from Arcana Coelestia 8560)

February 17, 2020

What Is Meant By Loving the Lord and Loving the Neighbor

Selection from Divine Love ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
So far as man is in the love of use,
so far is he in the Lord,
so far he loves the Lord and loves the neighbor,
and so far he is a man.
From the love of uses we are taught what is meant by loving the Lord and loving the neighbor, also what is meant by being in the Lord and being a man.

• To love the Lord means to do uses from Him and for His sake.
• To love the neighbor means to do uses to the church, to one's country, to human society, and to the fellow-citizen.
• To be in the Lord means to be a use.
• And to be a man means to perform uses to the neighbor from the Lord for the Lord's sake.

To love the Lord means to do uses from Him and for His sake, for the reason that all the good uses that man does are from the Lord; good uses are goods, and it is well known that these are from the Lord. Loving these is doing them, for what a man loves he does. No one can love the Lord in any other way; for uses, which are goods, are from the Lord, and consequently are Divine; yea they are the Lord Himself with man. These are the things that the Lord can love. The Lord cannot be conjoined by love to any man, and consequently cannot enable man to love Him, except through His own Divine things; for man from himself cannot love the Lord; the Lord Himself must draw him and conjoin him to Himself; and therefore loving the Lord as a Person, and not loving uses, is loving the Lord from oneself, which is not loving. He that performs uses or goods from the Lord performs them also for the Lord's sake. These things may be illustrated by the celestial love in which the angels of the third heaven are. These angels are in love to the Lord more than the angels in the other heavens are; and they have no idea that loving the Lord is anything else than doing goods which are uses, and they say that uses are the Lord with them. By uses they understand the uses and good works of ministry, administration, and employment, as well with priests and magistrates as with merchants and workmen; the good works that are not connected with their occupation they do not call uses; they call them alms, benefactions, and gratuities.

Loving the neighbor means performing uses to the church, one's country, society, and the fellow-citizen, because these are the neighbor in the broad and in the limited sense; neither can these be loved otherwise than by the uses that belong to each one's office. A priest loves the church, the country, society, the citizen, and thus the neighbor, if he teaches and leads his hearers from zeal for their salvation. Magistrates and officers love the church, the country, society, the citizen, and thus the neighbor, if they discharge their respective functions from zeal for the common good; judges, if from zeal for justice; merchants, if from zeal for sincerity; workmen, if from rectitude; servants, if from faithfulness; and so forth. When with all these there is faithfulness, rectitude, sincerity, justice, and zeal, there is the love, of use from the Lord; and from Him they have love to the neighbor in the broad and in the limited sense; for who that in heart is faithful, upright, sincere and just, does not love the church, the country, and his fellow-citizen?

From what has now been said it is plain that loving the Lord is performing uses from Him, and loving the neighbor is performing uses to him, and the object on account of whom uses are performed is the neighbor, use, and the Lord; and that love thus returns to Him from whom it is. For every love as source through love for its object returns to love as source, which return constitutes its reciprocal. And love continually goes forth and returns through deeds, which are uses, since to love is to do. For love, unless it becomes deed, ceases to be love, since deed is the effect of love's end, and is that in which it exists.

So far as man is in the love of use so far is he in the Lord; because so far is he in the Church, and so far in heaven; and the church and heaven from the Lord are as one man; the forms of which (called higher or lower organic forms, also interior and exterior) are made up of all who love uses by doing them; and the uses themselves are what compose that Man, because it is a spiritual Man, that does not consist of persons, but of the uses with them. Yet all those are there who receive from the Lord the love of uses; and these are they who do them for the neighbor's sake, for use's sake, and for the Lord's sake; and since this Man is the Divine that proceeds from the Lord, and the Divine proceeding is the Lord in the church and in heaven, it follows that they all are in the Lord.

These are a Man, because every use that in any way promotes the general good or serves the public, is a man, beautiful and perfect according to the quality of the use, and at the same time the quality of its affection. The reason of this is, that in each single part of the human body there is, from its use, an idea of the whole; for the part looks to the whole as its source, and the whole sees the part in itself, as its agent. It is from this idea of the whole in each part that each use therein is a man, in small as well as in greater parts; there are organic forms in the part as well as in the whole; in fact, the parts of parts, which are interior, are men more than the composite parts, because all perfection increases toward the interiors.

For all organic forms in man are composed of interior forms, and these of forms still more interior, even to inmosts, by means of which communication is given with every affection and thought of man's mind. For man's mind, in all its particulars, extends into all things of his body; its range is into all things of the body; for it is the very form of life. Unless the mind had such a field, there would be neither mind nor man. From this it is that the choice and decision of man's will are determined instantly, and produce and determine actions, just as if thought and will were themselves in the things of the body, and not above them. That every least thing in man, from its use, is a man, does not fall into the natural idea as it does into the spiritual; in the spiritual idea man is not a person, but a use; for the spiritual idea is apart from an idea of person, as it is apart from an idea of matter, space, and time; therefore when one sees another in heaven, he sees him indeed as a man, but he thinks of him as a use. An angel also appears in face according to the use in which he is, and affection for the use makes the life of the face. From all this it can be seen that every good use is in form a man.
(Divine Love 13 adjoined to Apocalypse Explained)

February 14, 2020

Everything is Impossible which is Contrary to Order

Selection from Arcana CÅ“lestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
And Moses' father-in-law said unto him, The word that thou doest is not good. Wearing thou wilt wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee, because the word is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to do it, thou alone. Now hear my voice, I will counsel thee, and God shall be with thee.  Exodus 18:17
That this signifies that it is not possible because not in conformity with order, is evident from the signification of "a heavy word," as being that it is not possible. That "a heavy word" here denotes that it is not possible, is evident from what precedes, namely, that wearing he would wear away, and the people that were with him, by which is signified that the truth which has been implanted would perish; and also from what follows, namely, Thou art not able to do it, thou alone; and afterward, If thou do this word, thou shalt be able to stand; by which is meant impossibility unless a change is made.

That it is not possible because not in conformity with order, is because in the other life everything is possible that is in conformity with order.
The Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord is what makes order, and is order itself.
Consequently as everything that is according to Divine truth is according to order, it is possible; and as everything that is contrary to Divine truth is contrary to order, it is impossible.

That this is the case may appear more evident from examples:
    It is according to order that they who have lived well shall be saved, and that they who have lived ill shall be condemned. Hence it is impossible that they who have lived well should be sent into hell, and that they who have lived ill should be raised into heaven. Consequently it is impossible that they who are in hell can of the Lord's pure mercy be brought out therefrom into heaven and be saved; for it is the reception of the Lord's mercy while they lived in the world through which everyone is saved. They who receive it then are in the other life in the Lord's mercy, for they are then in the capacity of receiving it there. To give it to others, and in general to everyone at pleasure, provided they have faith, and thus believe that they are cleansed from sins, is impossible, because it is contrary to order, that is, contrary to the Divine which is order.
    It is according to order that faith and charity be implanted in freedom and not under compulsion, and that the faith and charity which have been implanted in freedom, endure; but not if they have been implanted under compulsion. The reason is that what is done in freedom is insinuated into the affection, and thus into the will of man, and is therefore appropriated; but not what is done under compulsion. Consequently it is impossible for man to be saved unless, seeing that he has been born in evil, he is allowed to do evil, and to desist from evil. When in this freedom he desists from evil of himself, the affection of truth and good is insinuated by the Lord, whereby he has freedom to receive the things which are of faith and charity, for freedom belongs to the affection. From this it is plain that it is impossible to compel man to salvation. If this could be done, all men in the world would be saved.
    It is according to order for all in the other life to be associated together according to the life which they have acquired to themselves in the world; the evil with the evil, and the good with the good. Consequently it is not possible for the evil and the good to be together; neither is it possible for those to be in good who are evil, because good and evil are opposites, and the one destroys the other. For this reason also it is plain that it is not possible for those to be saved who are in hell; thus that it is not possible for salvation to be from mercy alone however a man has lived. They who are in hell and are there tormented, impute the torments there to the Divine, saying that the Divine can take away their torment if He will, because He is omnipotent; but that He will not, and that therefore He is the cause of their torment; for he who can and will not, they say, is the cause. But to take away such torments is impossible, because it is contrary to order; for if they were taken away, the evil would rise up against the good, and would subjugate the angels themselves, and destroy heaven. But the Divine wills nothing but good, namely, the happiness of the good, and for the sake of this, the bridling, and at the same time, the amendment, of the wicked. This being the end — the end of the Divine love and of mercy itself — it is not possible that torments should be taken away from him who is in hell.
From these examples it can be seen that everything is impossible which is contrary to order, howsoever it may appear as possible to those who do not know the arcana of heaven.
(Arcana CÅ“lestia 8700)

February 10, 2020

The Faith of the Church

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
No other faith is meant as being the internal of the church than that which is of love or charity, that is, which is from love or charity.

Faith, in a general sense, is all the doctrinal teaching of the church. But doctrine [doctrinale] separated from love or charity, by no means makes the internal of the church, for doctrine is only knowledge which is of the memory, and this exists also with the worst men, and even with infernals.
But the doctrine that is from charity, or that is of charity, does make the internal of the church, for this is of the life.
The life itself is the internal of all worship; and so is all doctrine that flows from the life of charity and it is this doctrine that is of faith which is here meant. That it is this faith which is the internal of the church, may be seen from this consideration alone, that he who has the life of charity is acquainted with all things of faith. If you will, just examine all doctrinal things, and see what and of what quality they are; do they not all pertain to charity, and consequently to the faith that is from charity?

Take only the Precepts of the Decalogue. The first of these is to worship the Lord God. He who has the life of love or of charity worships the Lord God, because this is his life. Another precept is to keep the Sabbath. He who is in the life of love, or in charity, keeps the Sabbath holy, for nothing is more sweet to him than to worship the Lord, and to glorify Him every day. The precept, "Thou shalt not kill," is altogether of charity. He who loves his neighbor as himself, shudders at doing anything that injures him, still more at killing him. So too the precept, "Thou shalt not steal;" for he who has the life of charity would rather give of his own to his neighbor, than take anything away from him. And so with the precept, "Thou shalt not commit adultery;" he who is in the life of charity the rather guards his neighbor's wife, lest anyone should offer her such injury, and regards adultery as a crime against conscience, and such as destroys conjugial love and its duties. To covet the things that are the neighbor's is also contrary to those who are in the life of charity; for it is of charity to desire good to others from one's self and one's own; such therefore by no means covet the things which are another's.

These are the precepts of the Decalogue which are more external doctrinal things of faith; and these are not only known in the memory by him who is in charity and its life, but are in his heart; and he has them inscribed upon himself, because they are in his charity, and thus in his very life; besides other things of a dogmatic nature which he in like manner knows from charity alone; for he lives according to a conscience of what is right. The right and the truth which he cannot thus understand and explore, he believes simply or from simplicity of heart to be so because the Lord has said so; and he who so believes does not do wrong, even though what he thus accepts is not true in itself, but apparent truth.

As for example, if anyone believes that the Lord is angry, punishes, tempts, and the like. Or if he holds that the bread and wine in the Holy Supper are significative, or that the flesh and blood are present in some way in which they explain it - it is of no consequence whether they say the one thing or the other, although there are few who think about this matter, or even if they do think about it, provided this is done from a simple heart, because they have been so instructed, and nevertheless live in charity: these, when they hear that the bread and wine in the internal sense signify the Lord's love toward the whole human race, and the things which are of this love, and man's reciprocal love to the Lord and the neighbor, they forthwith believe, and rejoice that it is so.

Not so they who are in doctrinal things and not in charity; these contend about everything, and condemn all whoever they may be that do not say (they call it "believe") as they do. From all this everyone can see that love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor are the internal of the church.
( from Arcana Coelestia 1798)

February 8, 2020

How A Person Acquires Wisdom

Selection from Conjugial Love ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Man possesses knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom. Knowledge is a matter of knowing facts, intelligence of reasoning, and wisdom of how to live. Wisdom regarded in its fullness takes in knowing, reasoning and how to live. Knowing comes first, the reason is formed by this means, and wisdom is formed by them both, arising when people live according to reason as dictated by the truths which have been learned. Wisdom is, therefore, a matter both of reason and of living taken together; and it becomes wisdom when it is a matter of reason and so of how to live; but it is wisdom when it has become a matter of how to live, and so of reason. The most ancient peoples of this world knew of no wisdom but that of how to live — this was the wisdom of those they called 'wise men' (sophi ). But the ancients after this earliest period recognized the wisdom of reason as wisdom — they were called 'philosophers' (philosophi*). Nowadays many people also call knowledge wisdom, for educated and learned men, even those who merely know a great deal — are called wise. So has wisdom declined from its heights to the trough.

But some remarks must be added on what wisdom is like when it arises, and then when it reaches its full development.

The matters to do with the church, what are called spiritual matters, occupy the inmost position in a person. Matters to do with the state, called civil matters, occupy a lower place; and those which are to do with knowledge, experience and skill, called natural matters, make up their footstool.

The reason matters to do with the church, those called spiritual, occupy the inmost position in a person is that they establish a link with heaven, and through heaven with the Lord; nothing else comes into a person from the Lord by way of heaven.

The reason why matters to do with the state, called civil matters, occupy a place below the spiritual ones is that they establish a link with the world, for they belong to the world. These are the statutes, laws and regulations which bind people together to form a fixed and stable society and state.

The reason why matters to do with knowledge, experience and skill make up their footstool is that they are closely linked to the five bodily senses, and these are at the outermost position, on which the inner positions, those of the mind, and the inmost positions, those of the soul, rest.

Now since the matters which fall in the realm of the church, spiritual matters as they are called, are lodged at the inmost position, and since what is lodged there makes up the head, and what comes beneath them, civil matters as they are called, make up the body, and what comes beneath them, natural matters as they are called, make up the feet, it is evident that when these three elements are arranged in the proper order, a person is in a state of perfection. For in these circumstances they exert similar influence. Just as what belongs to the head influences the body, and through the body the feet, so too spiritual matters influence civil ones, and, by way of these, natural ones. Now since spiritual matters are illuminated by heaven's light, it is plain that they have light to illuminate the next steps in order, and give them life by their heat, which is love. When this happens, a person acquires wisdom.

If, as said earlier, wisdom is to do with how to live and so with reason, it may be asked what is the wisdom of living.

To sum it up briefly, it is shunning evils, because they damage the soul, the state and the body; and doing good because these actions benefit the soul, the state and the body. This is the kind of wisdom meant by that with which conjugial love forms a tie — for it does this by shunning the evil of adultery as a plague to the soul, the state and the body. Since that wisdom wells up from spiritual sources, which have to do with the church, it follows that conjugial love depends upon the state of the church in a person, which depends on the state of his wisdom.

The more a person become spiritual, the more he has truly conjugial love. For it is the spirituality of the church which make a person spiritual.
(from Conjugial Love 130)
* Literally 'lovers of wisdom'

February 7, 2020

Heavenly Love vs Love of Self

Selection from Heaven and Hell ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
The love of self is wishing well to oneself alone, and to others only for the sake of self; even to the Church, one's country, or any human society. It consists also in doing good to all these solely for the sake of one's own reputation, honor, and glory; and unless these are seen in the uses he performs to others he says in his heart: "How does it concern me? Why should I do this? What shall I get from it?" And therefore he does not do it.

Evidently, then, he who is in the love of self does not love the Church or his country or society, nor any use, but himself alone. His delight is solely the delight of the love of self — and as the delight that comes forth from his love is what makes the life of man, his life is a life of self — and a life of self is a life from man's proprium, and man's proprium, regarded in itself is nothing but evil. He who loves himself loves also those who belong to him, that is, in particular, his children and grandchildren, and in general, all who are at one with him, whom he calls his. To love them is to love himself; for he regards them as it were in himself and himself in them. Among those whom he calls his are also all who commend, honor, and pay their court to him.

The quality of the love of self can be confirmed from a comparison with heavenly love.

Heavenly love is loving uses for the sake of uses, or goods for the sake of goods, which are done by man for the Church, his country, human society, and a fellow-citizen; for this is loving God and loving the neighbor, since all uses and all goods are from God, and are the neighbor who is to be loved. But he who loves these for the sake of himself loves them merely as servants because they are serviceable to him. Consequently, it is the will of one who is in self-love that the Church, his country, human societies, and his fellow-citizens, should serve him, and not he them, for he places himself above them and places them beneath himself. Therefore, so far as anyone is in the love of self he separates himself from heaven, because he removes himself from heavenly love.

Furthermore, so far as anyone is in heavenly love, which is loving uses and goods and being moved by delight of heart when doing them for the sake of the Church, country, human society, and a fellow-citizen, he is so far led by the Lord, because that love is the love in which the Lord is, and which is from Him. But so far as anyone is in the love of self, which is performing uses and goods for the sake of himself so far he is led by himself and so far as anyone is led by himself he is not led by the Lord. And from this it also follows that so far as anyone loves himself he removes himself from the Divine, thus also from heaven.

To be led by one's self is to be led by one's proprium and man's proprium is nothing but evil.

Man's inherited evil is loving self more than God, and the world more than heaven. Whenever man looks to himself in the good that he does, he is let into his proprium, that is, into his inherited evils; for he then looks from goods to himself and not from himself to goods, and therefore he presents an image of himself in his goods, and not an image of the Divine. That this is so has also been proved to me by experience. There are evil spirits whose dwelling-places are in the middle quarter between the north and the west, beneath the heavens, who are skilled in the art of leading well-disposed spirits into their proprium and thus into evils of various kinds. This they do by leading them into thoughts about themselves, either openly by praises and honours, or secretly by directing their affections to themselves; and so far as this is done they turn the faces of the well-disposed spirits away from heaven, and to the same extent they obscure their understanding and call forth evils from their proprium.

That the love of self is the opposite of love towards the neighbor can be seen from the origin and essence of both.

The love of the neighbor with one who is in the love of self begins with oneself, for he claims that anyone is neighbor to oneself — it goes forth from him as its center to all who make one with him, diminishing in accordance with the degree of their conjunction with him by love. All outside of this circle are regarded as of no account; and those who are opposed to those in the circle and to their evils are accounted as enemies, whatever their character may be, however wise, upright, honest, or just. But spiritual love towards the neighbor begins with the Lord, and goes forth from Him as its center to all who are conjoined to Him by love and faith, going forth in accordance with the quality of the love and faith with them. So it is clear that the love of the neighbor that begins from man is the opposite of the love towards the neighbor that begins from the Lord. The former proceeds from evil because it proceeds from man's proprium, while the latter proceeds from good because it proceeds from the Lord, Who is Good Itself. It is clear also that the love of the neighbor that proceeds from man and his proprium is corporeal, while the love towards the neighbor that proceeds from the Lord is heavenly.
(from Heaven and Hell 556-558)

February 1, 2020

Heaven and Heavenly Joy

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Hitherto the nature of heaven and of heavenly joy has been known to none. Those who have thought about them have formed an idea concerning them so general and so gross as scarcely to amount to any idea at all. What notion they have conceived on the subject I have been able to learn most accurately from spirits who had recently passed from the world into the other life; for when left to themselves, as if they were in this world, they think in the same way. I may give a few examples.

Some who during their abode in this world had seemed to be preeminently enlightened in regard to the Word had conceived so false an idea about heaven that they supposed themselves to be in heaven when they were high up, and imagined that from that position they could rule all things below, and thus be in self-glory and preeminence over others. On account of their being in such a phantasy, and in order to show them that they were in error, they were taken up on high, and from there were permitted in some measure to rule over things below; but they discovered with shame that this was a heaven of phantasy and that heaven does not consist in being on high, but is wherever there is anyone who is in love and charity, or in whom is the Lord's kingdom; and that neither does it consist in desiring to be more eminent than others, for to desire to be greater than others is not heaven, but hell.

A certain spirit, who during his life in the body had possessed authority, retained in the other life the desire to exercise command. But he was told that he was now in another kingdom, which is eternal; that his rule on earth was dead; and that where he was now no one is held in estimation except in accordance with the good and truth, and the mercy of the Lord, in which he is; and further, that it is in that kingdom as it is on earth, where everyone is rated according to his wealth, and his favor with his sovereign; and that there good and truth are wealth, and favor with the sovereign is the Lord's mercy; and that if he desired to exercise command in any other way, he was a rebel, seeing that he was now in the kingdom of another. On hearing this he was ashamed.

I have conversed with spirits who supposed heaven and heavenly joy to consist in being the greatest. But they were told that in heaven he is greatest who is least, because he who would be the least has the greatest happiness, and consequently is the greatest, for what is it to be the greatest except to be the most happy? it is this that the powerful seek by power, and the rich by riches. They were told, further, that heaven does not consist in desiring to be the least in order to be the greatest, for in that case the person is really aspiring and wishing to be the greatest; but that heaven consists in this, that from the heart we wish better for others than for ourselves, and desire to be of service to others in order to promote their happiness, and this for no selfish end, but from love.

Some entertain so gross an idea of heaven that they suppose it to be mere admission, in fact that it is a room into which they are admitted through a door, which is opened, and then they are let in by the doorkeepers.

Some think that heaven consists in a life of ease, in which they are served by others; but they are told that there is no possible happiness in being at rest as a means of happiness, for so everyone would wish to have the happiness of others made tributary to his own happiness; and when everyone wished this, no one would have happiness. Such a life would not be an active life, but an idle one, in which they would grow torpid, and yet they might know that there is no happiness except in an active life. Angelic life consists in use, and in the goods of charity; for the angels know no greater happiness than in teaching and instructing the spirits that arrive from the world; in being of service to men, controlling the evil spirits about them lest they pass the proper bounds, and inspiring the men with good; and in raising up the dead to the life of eternity, and then, if the souls are such as to render it possible, introducing them into heaven.

From all this, they perceive more happiness than can possibly be described. Thus are they images of the Lord; thus do they love the neighbor more than themselves; and for this reason heaven is heaven. So that angelic happiness is in use, from use, and according to use, that is, it is according to the goods of love and of charity. When those who have the idea that heavenly joy consists in living at ease, idly breathing in eternal joy, have heard these things, they are given to perceive, in order to shame them, what such a life really is, and they perceive that it is a most sad one, that it is destructive of all joy, and that after a short time they would loathe and nauseate it.

One who in this world had been most learned in regard to the Word, had the idea that heavenly joy consists in being in a glorious light, like that which exists when the solar rays appear of a golden hue, so that he too supposed it to consist in a life of ease. In order that he might know himself to be in error, such a light was granted him, and he, being in the midst of the light, was as delighted as if he were in heaven, as indeed he said. But he could not remain long in it, for it gradually wearied him and became no joy at all.

The best instructed of them all said that heavenly joy consists solely in praising and glorifying the Lord, being a life destitute of any doing of the goods of charity, and that this is an active life. But they were told that praising and celebrating the Lord is not such an active life as is meant, but is an effect of that life; for the Lord has no need of praises, but wills that they should do the goods of charity, and that it is according to these that they will receive happiness from the Lord. But still these best instructed persons could form no idea of joy, but of servitude, in doing these goods of charity. But the angels testified that such a life is the freest of all, and that it is conjoined with happiness unutterable.

Almost all who pass from this world into the other life suppose that hell is the same for everyone, and that heaven is the same for everyone. And yet in both there are endless, diversities and varieties, and neither the heaven nor the hell of one person is ever exactly like that of another; just as no man, spirit, or angel is ever exactly like another. When I merely thought of there being two exactly alike or equal, horror was excited in the inhabitants of the world of spirits and of the angelic heaven, and they said that everyone is formed by the harmony of many components, and that such as is the harmony, such is the one, and that it is impossible for anything to subsist that is absolutely a one, but only a one that results from a harmony of component parts. Thus every society in the heavens forms a one, and so do all the societies together, that is, the universal heaven, and this from the Lord alone, through love. A certain angel enumerated the most universal only of the genera of the joys of spirits, that is, of the first heaven, to about four hundred and seventy-eight, from which we may infer how innumerable must be the less universal genera and the species in each genus. And as there are so many in that heaven, how, illimitable must be the genera of happinesses in the heaven of angelic spirits, and still more so in the heaven of angels.

Evil spirits have sometimes supposed that there is another heaven besides that of the Lord, and they have been permitted to seek for it wherever they could, but to their confusion they could never find any other heaven. For evil spirits rush into insanities both from the hatred they bear against the Lord, and from their infernal suffering, and catch at such phantasies.

There are three heavens: the first is the abode of good spirits; the second, of angelic spirits and the third, of angels. Spirits, angelic spirits, and angels are all distinguished into the celestial and the spiritual. The celestial are those who through love have received faith from the Lord, like the men of the Most Ancient Church treated of above. The spiritual are those who through knowledges of faith have received charity from the Lord, and who act from what they have received.
(Arcana Coelestia 449-459)