The Chief Doctrine of the New Church

Selection from Doctrine of the Lord ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— The doctrine of the Athanasian Creed agrees with the truth provided
that by the trinity of persons is understood the trinity of person which is the Lord. —

Christians acknowledge three Divine Persons, and thus, as it were, three Gods because there is in the Lord a Trine, one of which is called the Father, another the Son, and the third the Holy Spirit; and because this Trine is mentioned in the Word under distinct names, just as the soul, and the body, and what proceeds from these are named separately, when yet they are one. Moreover, the Word in the sense of the Letter is such that it distinguishes things which are one, as if they were not one. Hence it is that it names Jehovah who is the Lord from eternity, sometimes Jehovah Zebaoth, sometimes God, and sometimes Lord; and at the same time Creator, Saviour, Redeemer and Maker, and also Shaddai. The Word also gives to His Human, which He assumed in the world, the names Jesus, Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, the Son of Man; and in the Word of the Old Testament, God, the Holy One of Israel, the Anointed of Jehovah, King, Prince, Counsellor, Angel, and David.

Now, since the Word is such in the sense of the Letter that it names several who yet are one, therefore Christians, who in the beginning were simple men and understood every thing according to the literal sense of the words, distinguished the Divinity into three Persons. This was permitted on account of their simple nature; yet they did so in such a way that they also believed the Son to be Infinite, Uncreate, Almighty, God, and Lord, in all respects equal to the Father; and further, they believed that they were not two, or three, but One essence, majesty and glory, and thus in Divinity.

Those who believe these things in simplicity according to the doctrine and do not confirm themselves in the idea of three Gods, but who consider the three as One, are after death instructed by the Lord through angels that He is that One, and that Trine. This faith is received by all who enter heaven; for no one can be admitted there who has three Gods in his thoughts, however he may say with his lips that they are one. For the life of all heaven and the wisdom of all the angels are founded on the acknowledgment and consequent confession of one God, and on the faith that this one God is also Man; and that He is the Lord, who is at once both God and Man.

From this it is manifest that it was of Divine permission that Christians in the beginning should receive the doctrine concerning three Persons, provided they also accompanied it with the belief that the Lord is the infinite God, the Almighty, and Jehovah. For if they had not received this, the Church would have perished, since the Church is a Church from the Lord, and since from Him, and from no other, is the eternal life of all.

That the Church is a Church from the Lord may appear from this single fact that the whole Word from beginning to end treats of the Lord alone, ... and also from the declaration that we must believe on Him, and that those who do not believe on Him have not eternal life; indeed, that the wrath of God abideth on them, John 3:36.

Since every one sees for himself that, if God is One, He is One in Person and in Essence (for no one does or can think otherwise, while he thinks that God is One), I will now quote the whole of the Creed which takes its name from Athanasius, and then show that all its contents are true, provided, instead of a Trinity of Persons, we understand a Trinity of Person.

The Creed is as follows:

He who would be saved must keep this Catholic (or, as some authorities say, Christian) Faith. If any one does not keep this faith whole and entire, without doubt he shall perish for ever. This Catholic (or, Christian) Faith is: We worship One God in the Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the substance (or, essence). For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit; but the Divinity of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is one and the same, the glory equal, and the majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit. The Father is uncreate, the Son is uncreate, and the Holy Spirit is uncreate. The Father is infinite, the Son is infinite, and the Holy Spirit is infinite. The Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, and the Holy Spirit is eternal; and yet there are not three eternals, but one eternal; and there are not three infinites, nor three uncreates, but one uncreate, and one infinite. As likewise the Father is Almighty, so is the Son Almighty, and the Holy Spirit is Almighty; and yet there are not three Almighties, but One Almighty.

As the Father is God, so the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; and yet there are not three Gods, but one God. Although the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Spirit is Lord; yet there are not three Lords, but one Lord. For as by the Christian verity we are obliged to acknowledge each Person by Himself as God and Lord, yet still we are forbidden by the Catholic religion to say there are three Gods or three Lords (or, still we cannot, according to the Christian faith, name three Gods or Lords). The Father was made of none, neither created nor born; the Son is of the Father alone, not made nor created, but born; the Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son, neither made, nor created, nor born, but proceeding.

Thus there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. And in this Trinity there is no first and last, and there is no greatest and least; but all the three Persons are co-eternal, and are altogether equal. So it is just as was said above, that the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, is to be worshipped (or, that three Persons in one Godhead, and one God in three Persons, is to be worshipped), He therefore who would be saved, must think thus of the Trinity.

Moreover, it is also necessary to salvation that he believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ (or, that he firmly believe that our Lord is very Man). For the true faith is: that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; God of the substance (that is, essence, or, nature) of the Father, born before the world; and Man of the substance (or, nature) of the mother, born in the world; perfect God and perfect Man, consisting of a rational soul and a human body, equal to the Father as to the Divine, and inferior to (or, less than) the Father as to the Human. Although He is God and Man, yet He is not two, but one Christ; one, not by conversion of the Divine Essence into a body, but by the assumption of the Human into God (or, He is one, yet not so that the Divine was transmuted into the Human; but the Divine took up to itself the Human). He is altogether One, not by the fusion (or, mingling) of substance, but by unity of Person (or, He is altogether One, yet not so that the two natures are mingled; but He is One Person).

As the rational soul and the body is one man, so God and Man is one Christ. He suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, and rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father, [God] Almighty, whence He will come to judge the quick and the dead; at whose Coming all men shall rise again with their bodies; and those who have done good shall enter into life eternal, and those who have done evil, into eternal fire.

All the particulars of this Creed, as it is verbally set forth, are true if, instead of a Trinity of Persons, we understand a Trinity of Person. This may appear if we transcribe it again, with this Trinity of Person substituted for the other.

The Trinity of Person is this:

THE DIVINE OF THE LORD IS THE FATHER, THE DIVINE HUMAN THE SON, AND THE DIVINE PROCEEDING THE HOLY SPIRIT.

When this Trinity is understood, a man can then think of One God, and can also say One God. Who does not see that otherwise, a man must think of three Gods? This was evident to Athanasius, and for this reason be inserted in his Creed these words: —

As by the Christian verity we are obliged to acknowledge each Person by Himself as God and Lord, yet still we cannot, according to the Catholic religion or the Christian faith, say, or name, three Gods or three Lords

which amounts to this: "Although it is allowable by the Christian verity to acknowledge, or think of, three Gods and Lords, yet it is not allowable by the Christian faith to say or to name more than one God and one Lord." And yet it is acknowledgment and thought that conjoin man with the Lord and with heaven, and not words alone. Besides, no one comprehends how the Divine, which is one, can be divided into three Persons, each one of whom is God. For the Divine is not divisible; and to make three one by essence or substance does not take away the idea of three Gods, but only conveys the idea of unanmity between them.

All the particulars of this Creed, as it is verbally set forth, are true if, instead of a Trinity of Persons, we understand a Trinity of Person. This may appear if we transcribe it again, as follows:

He who would be saved must keep this Christian faith. This Christian faith is: We worship One God in the Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, neither mingling the Trine of the Person, nor dividing the Essence. The Trine of the one Person is what is called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is one and the same, the glory and the majesty equal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit. The Father is uncreate, the Son is uncreate, and the Holy Spirit is uncreate. The Father is infinite, the Son is infinite, and the Holy Spirit is infinite; and yet there are not three infinites, nor three uncreates, but one Uncreate, and one Infinite. Similarly, as the Father is Almighty, so the Son is Almighty, and the Holy Spirit is Almighty; and yet there are not three Almighties, but one Almighty.

As the Father is God, so the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; and yet there are not three Gods, but one God. Although the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Spirit is Lord; yet there are not three Lords, but one Lord. Now, as by the Christian verity we acknowledge a Trine in one Person, who is God and Lord, so by the Christian faith we can say one God and one Lord. The Father was made of none, neither created nor born; the Son is of the Father alone, not made nor created, but born; the Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son, neither made, nor created, nor born, but proceeding.

Thus there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. And in this Trinity none is greatest, or least, but they are altogether equal. So that it is just as was said above, that the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.

This is what is said in the Creed concerning the Trinity and the Unity of God. There follows next what relates to the Assumption of the Human by the Lord in the world, which is called the Incarnation; and those particulars as they are verbally set forth in the Creed are true, if we understand the Human from the mother, in which the Lord was when in the state of humiliation or exinanition and when He suffered temptations and the cross, to be distinct from the Human derived from the Father, in which He was when in the state of glorification or union. For the Lord assumed in the world a Human conceived of Jehovah, who is the Lord from eternity, and born of the Virgin Mary. Hence He had both a Divine and a Human, a Divine from His Divine from eternity, and a Human from the mother Mary in time. This latter, however, He put off, and put on a Human which was Divine. This is what is called the Divine Human, and what is meant in the Word by the Son of God. When therefore the particulars which come first in the Creed concerning the Incarnation are understood as relating to the maternal Human in which He was when in the state of humiliation, and those particulars which follow are understood as relating to the Divine Human in which He was when in the state of glorification, then all the particulars agree with the truth.

The following passages, which come first in the Creed, relate to the maternal Human in which He was when in the state of Humiliation:

Jesus Christ was God and Man, God of the substance of the Father, and Man of the substance of the mother, born in the world; perfect God and perfect Man, consisting of a rational soul and a human body; equal to the Father as to the Divine, but less than the Father as to the Human.

Also:

This Human was not converted into the Divine, nor mingled with it; but it was put off, and the Divine Human was assumed in its place.

The following passages, which come after in the Creed, relate to the Divine Human in which He was when in the state of glorification:

Although our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man, yet there are not two, but one Christ; indeed, He is altogether one, for He is one Person; for as the soul and body make one man, so God and Man are one Christ.

God and Man in the Lord, according to the Creed, are not two but one Person, and altogether one as soul and body are one. This appears clearly from many things which the Lord Himself said; as, that the Father and He are one; that all things of the Father are His, and all His the Father's that He is in the Father, and the Father in Him that all things are given into His hand; that He has all power; that He is the God of heaven and earth; that whosoever believeth on Him hath eternal life. Further, it is said that both the Divine and the Human were taken up into heaven, and that, as to both, He sitteth at the right hand of God; which means that He is Almighty. There are many more passages from the Word copiously quoted above concerning His Divine Human, all testifying that GOD IS ONE BOTH IN PERSON AND IN ESSENCE, IN WHOM IS THE TRINITY AND THAT THE LORD IS THAT GOD.

These truths relating to the Lord are now for the first time made known, because it is foretold in Revelation 21 and 22 that a New Church, in which this doctrine will hold the chief place, is to be instituted by the Lord at the end of the former Church. This Church is what is there meant by the New Jerusalem, into which none can enter but they who acknowledge the Lord alone as the God of heaven and earth. Moreover, I am enabled to declare that the universal heaven acknowledges the Lord alone, and that whosoever does not acknowledge Him is not admitted into heaven: for heaven is heaven from the Lord. This acknowledgment itself, from love and faith, causes those in heaven to be in the Lord and the Lord in them, as the Lord Himself teaches in John:

At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. John 14:20.

Also in the same:

Abide in me, and I in you ... 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. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth . . . John 15: 4, 5, 6; 17: 22, 23

This was not seen from the Word before, because if it had been seen before, still it would not have been received. For the Last Judgment had not yet been accomplished; and prior to that the power of hell prevailed over the power of heaven. Now man is in the midst between heaven and hell; and therefore if this (doctrine concerning the Lord) had been seen before, the devil, that is, hell, would have plucked it out of the hearts of men, and would, moreover, have profaned it. This state of power of hell was completely broken by the Last Judgment, which has now been accomplished. After that Judgment, that is, now, every man who desires may become enlightened and attain wisdom.

(Doctrine of the Lord 55-61)

Works, Love, Will, and Act, also Man's Life, MAKE ONE

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, Write, Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth; Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; for their works do follow with them. (Revelation 14:13)

For their works do follow with them, signifies that they have spiritual life, which is the life of the angels of heaven.

This is evident from the signification of "works," as being spiritual life, such as the angels of heaven have (of which presently); also from the signification of "to follow with them," as meaning to be in them, for what follows with anyone, when it is predicated of his life, is in him, and is as it were himself; therefore it is said "to follow with them," not follow them. "Works" signify the life of man because they constitute his life. For man has thought, will, and from these two, action. That which is in a man's thought and not in his will is not yet in him. That which is in thought and in the will, and not in act, this indeed enters the man, and forms a beginning to his life; and yet it goes forth and disappears, because it has not been terminated. But that which is in a man's will, and from that in act, constitutes his life, and remains, whether it be evil or good. That thought alone does not constitute man's life can be seen from this, that man is able to think many things that he does not will, because he does not love them. The thought and the will of man without the act do not constitute his life, because the will is not made sure, and a will not made sure is like water passing off into vapor, since it is easily changed by a love opposed to it. From all this it can be seen that by works which are acts of the will man's life is signified.

Since here as in many other passages in Revelation, "works" are mentioned, and here it is said that "their works do follow with them," which signifies spiritual life, something shall be said about how that life is acquired, and also how it is destroyed by the faith of the present day.

Spiritual life is acquired solely by a life according to the commandments in the Word. These commandments are given in a summary in the Decalogue, namely, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet the goods of others. These commandments are the commandments that are to be done, for when a man does these his works are good and his life becomes spiritual, because so far as a man shuns evils and hates them, so far he wills and loves goods.

For there are two opposite spheres that surround man, one from hell, the other from heaven, from hell a sphere of evil and of falsity therefrom, from heaven a sphere of good and of truth therefrom; and these spheres affect not the body, but they affect the minds of men, for they are spiritual spheres, and thus are affections that belong to the love. Man is set in the midst of these; therefore so far as he approaches the one so far he withdraws from the other. This is why so far as a man shuns evils and hates them, so far he wills and loves goods and the truths therefrom, for:

No one can at the same time serve two masters, for he will either hate the one and love the other (Matt. 6:24)

But let it be known, that man must do these commandments from religion, because they are commanded by the Lord; and if he does them from any other consideration whatever, for instance, from regard merely to the civil law or the moral law, he remains natural, and does not become spiritual. For when a man acts from religion he acknowledges in heart that there is a God, a heaven and a hell, and a life after death. But when he acts merely from the civil and moral law, he may act in the same way, and yet in heart may deny that there is a God, a heaven and a hell, and a life after death. And if he shuns evils and does goods it is only in an external form, and not in an internal form; thus while he is outwardly as to the life of the body like a Christian, inwardly as to the life of his spirit he is like a devil. All this makes clear that a man can become spiritual, or receive spiritual life, in no other way than by a life according to religion from the Lord.

I have had proof that this is true from angels of the third or inmost heaven, who are in the greatest wisdom and happiness. When asked how they had become such angels, they said that it was because during their life in the world they had regarded filthy thoughts as heinous, and these had been to them adulteries; and had regarded in like manner frauds and unlawful gains, which had been to them thefts; also hatreds and revenges, which had been to them murder; also lies and blasphemies, which had been to them false testimonies: and so with other things. When asked again whether they had done good works, they said that they loved chastity, in which they were because they had regarded adulteries as heinous; that they loved sincerity and justice, in which they were because they had regarded frauds and unlawful gains as heinous; that they loved the neighbor because they had regarded hatreds and revenges as heinous; that they loved truth because they had regarded lies and blasphemies as heinous, and so on; and that they perceived that when these evils had been put away, and they acted from chastity, sincerity, justice, charity, and truth, it was not done from themselves but from the Lord, and thus that all things whatsoever that they had done from these were good works, although they had done them as if from themselves; and that it was on this account that they had been raised up by the Lord after death into the third heaven. Thus it was made clear how spiritual life, which is the life of the angels of heaven, is acquired.

It shall now be told how that life is destroyed by the faith of the present day. The faith of this day is that it must be believed that God the Father sent His Son, who suffered the cross for our sins, and took away the condemnation of the law by fulfilling it; and that this faith without good works will save everyone, even in the last hour of death. By this faith, instilled from childhood and afterwards confirmed by preachings, it has come to pass that no one shuns evils from religion, but only from the civil and moral law; thus not because they are sins but because they are damaging. Consider, when a man thinks that the Lord suffered for our sins, that He took away the condemnation of the law, and that merely to believe these things or to have faith in them without good works saves-whether this is not to regard as of little worth all the commandments of the Decalogue, all the life of religion as prescribed in the Word, and furthermore all the truths that teach charity. Separate these therefore, and take them away from man, and is there any religion left in him?

For religion does not consist in merely thinking this or that, but in willing and doing that which is thought; and there is no religion when willing and doing are separated from thinking.

From this it follows that the faith of this day destroys spiritual life, which is the life of the angels of heaven, and is the Christian life itself.

Consider further, why the ten commandments of the Decalogue were promulgated from Mount Sinai by so great a miracle; why they were engraven on two tables of stone, and why these were placed in the ark, over which was placed the mercy-seat with cherubs, and the place where those commandments were was called the Holy of holies, within which Aaron was permitted to enter only once a year, and this with sacrifices and incense, and if he had entered without these he would have fallen dead; also why so many miracles were afterwards performed by the ark. Have not all throughout the whole globe a knowledge of like commandments? Do not their civil laws prescribe the same? Who does not know from merely natural lumen, that for the sake of order in every kingdom adultery, theft, murder, false witness, and other things in the Decalogue are forbidden? Why then were those same precepts promulgated by so many miracles, and regarded as so holy? Can there be any other reason than that everyone might do them from religion, and thus from God, and not merely from civil and moral law, and thus from self and for the sake of the world? This was the reason for their promulgation from Mount Sinai and their holiness; for to do these commandments from religion purifies the internal man, opens heaven, admits the Lord, and makes man as to his spirit an angel of heaven. And this is why the nations outside the church who do these commandments from religion are all saved, but not anyone who does them merely from civil and moral law.

Inquire now whether the faith of this day does not cancel all these commandments, which faith is, that the Lord suffered for our sins, that He took away the condemnation of the law by fulfilling it, and that man is justified and saved by this faith without good works. Look about and discover how many there are at this day in the Christian world who do not live according to this faith. I know that they will answer that they are weak and imperfect men, born in sins, and the like. But who is not able to think from religion? This the Lord gives to everyone; and with him who thinks these things from religion the Lord works all things, so far as he thinks. And be it known that he who thinks these things from religion believes that there is a God, a heaven, a hell, and a life after death; but he who does not think of these things from religion, I affirm, does not believe them.

(from Apocalypse Explained 901-902)

The Power of Natural Truth from Spiritual

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And He shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of My Father. (Revelation 2:27)

Who is to tend all the nations with an iron rod, signifies that this doctrine by the power of natural truth from spiritual will convince and refute those who are in falsities and evils and yet are in the church where the Word is. ...

It is the power of the truth of the natural man from the spiritual that is signified by the "iron rod," because all the power that truths in the natural man have is from the influx of truth and good from the spiritual man, that is, from the influx of Divine truth from the Lord through the spiritual man into the natural; for the Lord alone has power, and He exercises it through Divine truth that proceeds from Him.

But that this may be more clearly perceived it shall be shown:

(1) That the Lord has infinite power.

(2) That the Lord has this power from Himself through His Divine truth.

(3) That all power is together in ultimates, and therefore that the Lord has infinite power from things first through ultimates.

(4) That so far as angels and men are recipients of Divine truth from the Lord they are powers.

(5) That power resides in the truths of the natural man so far as it receives influx from the Lord through the spiritual man.

(6) That the truths of the natural man without that influx have nothing of power.

(1) That the Lord has infinite power can be seen from this, that He is the God of heaven and the God of earth; that He created the universe filled with numberless stars, which are suns; and in the universe so many systems and earths in these systems; these systems and the earths in them exceeding in number many hundred thousands; also that He alone preserves and continually sustains these because He created them.

Moreover, as He created the natural worlds, so He created the spiritual worlds above them, and these He perpetually fills with angels and spirits to the number of myriads and myriads. Under these, again, He has hid away the hells, as many in number as the heavens.

And to each and every thing in the worlds of nature and in the worlds above nature He alone gives life; and because He alone gives life, no angel, spirit, or man is able to move a hand or foot except from Him. What infinite power the Lord has is especially evident from this, that all who come from so many earths into the spiritual worlds, numbering some myriads every week from our earth alone, consequently so many myriads from so many thousand earths in the universe, the Lord alone receives, and by a thousand secret ways of Divine wisdom leads everyone to the place of his life; the faithful to their places in the heavens, and the unfaithful to their places in the hells; and the thoughts, intentions, and wills of all, everywhere He rules in most particular and in most universal things; and He causes each and every one in the heavens to enjoy their happiness, and each and every one in the hells to be held in their bonds, even so that not one of them ventures to lift a hand, much less to rise up to do harm to any angel; and all are thus held in order and in bonds, howsoever the heavens and the hells may be multiplied to eternity. These and many other things too numerous to be mentioned, could not possibly be if the Lord did not have infinite power.

That the Lord alone rules all things He Himself teaches in Matthew:

All authority is given to Me in heaven and in earth (Matt. 28:18).

And that He is the Life (John 5:26; 11:25, 26; 14:6)

(2) The Lord has infinite power from Himself through His Divine truth, because Divine truth is the Divine proceeding, and from the Divine that proceeds from the Lord all those things that have been said above in respect to His infinite power are effected. Divine truth regarded in itself is Divine wisdom, which extends itself in every direction, like the light and heat from the sun in our world; for in the spiritual world, where angels and spirits are, the Lord is seen as a sun, from Divine love; all that proceeds from that sun is called Divine truth; and that which proceeds brings forth; also that which proceeds is Himself, because it is from Him; consequently the Lord in the heavens is Divine truth. But that it may be known that the Lord has infinite power through Divine truth, something must be said of its essence and existence. This cannot be comprehended from the natural man and its light but by means of such things as proceed from the sun of the world, from which and by which that sun has all power in its world and in the earths that are under its heat and light. From the sun, of our world auras and atmospheres proceed as from their fountain; these are called ethers and airs. From this source nearest about it is pure ether, at a greater distance from it are less pure ethers, and at length airs; but these ethers and airs are around the earths. These ethers and airs when made active in mass produce heat, but when modified in their least parts give light. Through these the sun exercises all its power and produces all its effect outside of itself, thus through ethers and airs by heat as a means and at the same time by light as a means.

From this some idea can be formed of the Lord's infinite power through Divine truth. Likewise from Him as a sun similar auras and atmospheres emanated, but such as are spiritual, because they are from Divine love, which constitutes that sun. That there are such atmospheres in the spiritual world is clear from the respiration of angels and spirits. Those spiritual auras and atmospheres that are nearest to the Lord as a sun are the most pure; but according to the degrees in which they are removed from Him they are less and less pure. Therefore there are three heavens, the inmost heaven in a purer aura, the middle heaven in an aura less pure, and the lowest heaven in an aura still less pure. These auras or atmospheres, which are spiritual, because they have sprung from the Lord as a sun, when made active in common exhibit heat, but when modified in their least parts exhibit light. That heat, which in its essence is love, and that light, which in its essence is wisdom, are called specifically Divine truth; but together with the auras, which are also spiritual, they are called the Divine proceeding. Now from these the heavens were created, and also the worlds — for all things that exist in the natural world are produced from the spiritual world, as effects from their effecting causes. From this the creation of heaven and earth by means of Divine truth proceed from the Lord as a sun, which is above the angelic heavens, can be seen as in a natural mirror. It can also in some degree be comprehended that the Lord has infinite power by means of the Divine proceeding, which in general is called Divine truth. This also is meant by these words in John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word; all things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. And the world was made by Him (John 1:1, 3, 10).

And in David:

By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made (Ps. 33:6).

"The Word" signifies Divine truth.

(3) All power is together in ultimates, and therefore the Lord has infinite power from first things through ultimates. What is meant by ultimates shall first be explained. First things are the things that are in the Lord, and those that most nearly proceed from Him; ultimates are those that are most remote from Him, that is, the things in nature, and the ultimate things in it. These are called ultimates because spiritual things, which are prior, close into them and rest and repose upon them as upon their foundation; therefore they are immovable, and are called the ultimates of Divine order. All power is in ultimates because prior things are together in them, coexisting therein in an order that is called simultaneous. For there is a connection of all things from the Lord Himself through the things which are of heaven and the things of the world even to these ultimates; and because prior things that proceed successively are together in ultimates, as has been said, it follows that power itself is in ultimates from things first. But Divine power is power by the Divine proceeding, which is called Divine truth, as has been shown in the preceding article.

For this reason the human race is to the heavens as a base to a column, or as a foundation to a palace; consequently the heavens subsist in order upon the things of the church that are with men in the world, thus upon Divine truths in ultimates which are such Divine truths as are in the sense of the letter of the Word. What power there is in these truths cannot be told in a few words; into these ultimates with man the Lord flows in from Himself, thus from things first, and rules and keeps together in order and connection all things in the spiritual world.

Now because Divine power itself resides in these ultimates the Lord Himself came into the world and became Man that He might be in ultimates at the same time as in things first, to the end that through ultimates from things first, He might reduce all things to order that had become disordered, namely, all things in the hells and also all things in the heavens. This was the reason of the Lord's coming, for at the time just before His coming there was no Divine truth in ultimates with men in the world, and none whatever in the church which was then with the Jewish nation, that had not been falsified and perverted, and consequently there was no foundation for the heavens; unless, therefore, the Lord had come into the world and had thus Himself assumed the ultimate, the heavens that were made up of the inhabitants of this earth would have been transferred elsewhere, and the whole human race on this earth would have perished in eternal death. But now the Lord, on the earth as in the heavens, is in His fullness, and thus in His omnipotence, because He is in ultimates and in things first. Thus the Lord is able to save all who are in Divine truths from the Word, and in a life according to them, for He can be present and dwell with such in ultimate truths from the Word, because ultimate truths are also His, and are Himself, because they are from Him, according to His words in John:

He that hath My commandments and doeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and My Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with Him (John 14:21, 23).

(4) So far as angels and men are recipients of Divine truth from the Lord they are powers. This can be seen from what has been said above, namely, that the Lord has infinite power, and that He alone through His Divine truth has power; also from this, that angels, and men also, are nothing but forms recipient of Divine truth; for this reason angels signify in the Word Divine truths, and are called "gods." It therefore follows that according to the measure and quality of their reception of Divine truth from the Lord they are powers.

(5) Power resides in the truths of the natural man so far as it receives influx from the Lord through the spiritual man. This follows from what precedes, namely, that Divine truths in ultimates from things first have all power, and the natural man is a receptacle of ultimates. But to the natural mind of man there are two ways, one from heaven, the other from the world; the way from heaven leads through the spiritual mind into the rational and through this into the natural, and the way from the world is through the sensual which stands forth nearest to the world and clings to the body. From this it can be seen that the Lord flows in with Divine truth into the natural man only through the spiritual, and so far as the natural man receives influx therefrom is there power in it. By the power in it is meant power against the hells, which is the power to resist evils and falsities, and to put them away; and so far as these are resisted and put away man comes into angelic power and also into intelligence, and becomes "a son of the kingdom."

(6) The truths of the natural man without that influx have nothing of power. This follows as a consequence from what has just been said. The truths of the natural man without influx through the spiritual man have in themselves nothing of the Lord, thus also nothing of life; and truths without life are not truths, and in fact when regarded interiorly are falsities, and falsities have nothing whatever of power, since they are opposites of truths, which have all power. These things have been here set forth to make known what is meant by the power of natural truth from spiritual, which is signified by the "iron rod with which the son a male born of the woman is to tend all nations.

(from Apocalypse Explained 726)

His Divine Human is the Word

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
The Lord in respect to His Divine Human is the Word, that is, the Divine truth

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made 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 1:1-14)

☼☼☼

Such a power of persuading and confirming any heresy whatever from the Word is well known in the Christian world from the many heresies there, everyone of which is confirmed from the sense of the letter of the Word and thus they are persuaded. The reason is that the sense of the letter of the Word is accommodated to the apprehension of the simple, and therefore consists in large part of appearances of truth; and it is the nature of appearances of truth to be capable of being adapted to confirm anything that anyone may adopt as a principle of religion and thence of doctrine, thus even when it is false.

Consequently those who place genuine truth itself in the sense of the letter of the Word only, are open to many errors unless they are in enlightenment from the Lord, and in that enlightenment form doctrine for themselves that will serve them as a lamp.

In the sense of the letter of the Word there are naked truths as well as truths clothed, and these latter are appearances of truth, and appearances of truth can be understood only from passages where naked truths stand out — out of these, doctrine can be formed by one who is enlightened by the Lord, and according to that doctrine all other things can be explained. This is why those who read the Word without doctrine are led into manifold errors.

The Word was so written in order that there might be a conjunction of heaven with man; and there is a conjunction because every expression in the Word, and in some passages every letter, contains a spiritual sense, in which the angels are; consequently when man perceives the Word according to its appearances of truth the angels that are about man understand it spiritually. Thus the spiritual of heaven is conjoined with the natural of the world in respect to such things as contribute to man's life after death. If the Word had been written otherwise no conjunction of heaven with man would have been possible.

And because the Word in the letter is such it serves as it were as a support for heaven — for all the wisdom of the angels of heaven in respect to things pertaining to the church terminates in the sense of the letter of the Word as in its basis; consequently the Word in the letter may be called the support of heaven. For this reason the sense of the letter of the Word is most holy, and is even more powerful than its spiritual sense, as has been made known to me by much experience in the spiritual world, for when spirits bring forward any passage according to the sense of the letter they immediately excite some heavenly society to conjunction with them.

From this it can be seen that all things of the doctrine of the church are to be confirmed from the sense of the letter of the Word that there may be in them any sanctity and power, and moreover from those books of the Word in which there is a spiritual sense. Thence it is also evident how dangerous it is to falsify the Word even to the destruction of the Divine truth that is in its spiritual sense; for by so doing heaven is closed to man. That this is done by those who confirm by the Word the separation of faith from its life, which is good works.

(from Apocalypse Explained 816)

Why the Lord Willed to be Born on Our Earth, and Not on Another

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

There are many reasons why it pleased the Lord to be born and to assume the Human on our earth, and not on any other, concerning which I have been informed from heaven.

The principal reason was for the sake of the Word, in that it could be written on our earth, and when written could then be published throughout the whole earth; and once published could be preserved for all posterity; and that thus it might be made manifest even to all in the other life that God had become a Man.

That the principal reason was for the sake of the Word, is because the Word is truth Divine itself, which teaches man that there is a God, that there is a heaven and a hell, and that there is a life after death; and which teaches besides how a man must live and believe in order that he may come into heaven, and thus be eternally happy. Without revelation, thus on this earth without the Word, all these things would have been utterly unknown; and yet man has been so created that in respect to his internal man he cannot die.

That the Word could be written on our earth, is because the art of writing has existed here from the most ancient time, first on wooden tablets, later on parchment, afterward on paper, and finally it could be published in print. This has been provided by the Lord for the sake of the Word.

That the Word could afterward be published throughout this whole earth, is because there is here an interaction of all nations, both by overland travel and by navigation, to all places on the globe. Therefore the Word once written could be carried from one nation to another, and could be everywhere taught. That there should be such an interaction has also been provided by the Lord for the sake of the Word.

That the Word once written could be preserved for all posterity, consequently for thousands and thousands of years, and that it has been so preserved, is known.

That thus it could be made manifest that God has become a Man, is because this is the first and most essential thing for the sake of which the Word was given; for no one can believe in and love a God whom he cannot comprehend under some form; and therefore those who acknowledge the incomprehensible, in their thought fall into nature, and thus believe in no God. Wherefore it pleased the Lord to be born here, and to make this manifest by the Word, not only in order that it might become known on this globe, but that by this means it might also be made manifest to all in the universe who come into heaven from any earth whatever; for in heaven there is a communication of all.

Be it known that the Word on our earth, given through heaven by the Lord, is the union of heaven and the world; to which end there is a correspondence of all things in the letter of the Word with Divine things in heaven; and that in its supreme and inmost sense the Word treats of the Lord, of His kingdom in the heavens and on earth, and of love and faith from Him and to Him, consequently of life from Him and in Him. Such things are presented to the angels in heaven, from whatever earth they come, when the Word of our earth is read and preached.

On every other earth truth Divine is made manifest orally through spirits and angels, as has been shown in the preceding chapters, where the inhabitants of the earths in this solar system have been treated of; but this takes place within families; for on most of the earths mankind live separate according to their families. Wherefore Divine truth thus revealed through spirits and angels is not conveyed far beyond the families; and unless a new revelation is constantly following, what has been revealed is either perverted or perishes. It is otherwise on our earth, where truth Divine, which is the Word, remains in its integrity forever.

Be it known that the Lord acknowledges and receives all, from whatever earth they may be, who acknowledge and worship God under a human form, for God under a human form is the Lord. And because the Lord appears to the inhabitants of the earths in an angelic form, which is the human form, therefore when spirits and angels from these earths hear from the spirits and angels of our earth that God is a Man in actuality, they receive this Word, acknowledge it, and rejoice that it is so (see n. 7173)

To the reasons already adduced may be added that the inhabitants, spirits, and angels of our earth bear relation in the Grand Man to the external and bodily sense, and the external and bodily sense is the ultimate, into which the interior things of life come to a close, and in which they rest as in their common receptacle. The case is similar with truth Divine in the letter, which is called "the Word," and which for this reason also has been given on this earth and not on another. And because the Lord is the Word, and is its first and its last, therefore in order that all things might come forth according to order, He also willed to be born on this earth, and to become the Word; according to these words in John:

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. All thing were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father. No man hath seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath set Him forth (John 1:1-3, 14, 18)

"the Word" denotes the Divine truth. But this is a secret which will fall into the understanding of only a few.

That the inhabitants of other earths rejoice when they hear that God took on Himself the Human, and made it Divine, and that thus God is Man in actuality,

(Arcana Coelestia 9350 - 9361)

The Source of Angelic Wisdom

Selection from the Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
The Word is in All The Heavens and is the Source of Angelic Wisdom

Hitherto it has not been known that the Word is in the heavens, nor could it be made known so long as the church was ignorant that angels and spirits are men like the men in this world, and that they possess in every respect like things to those possessed by men, with the sole difference that they themselves are spiritual, and that all things they possess are from a spiritual origin; while men in this world are natural, and all things they possess are from a natural origin. So long as this fact was hidden it could not be known that the Word exists in the heavens also, and is read by angels there, and also by spirits who are beneath the heavens. But that this might not be forever hidden, it has been granted me to be in company with angels and spirits, to converse with them, see what exists with them, and afterwards relate many things that I have heard and seen. This has been done in Heaven and Hell, published in London in 1758; in which work it may be seen that angels and spirits are men, and that they possess in abundance all things that men possess in this world. ...

As regards the Word in heaven, it is written in a spiritual style, which differs entirely from a natural style. The spiritual style consists solely of letters, each of which contains a meaning, and there are points above the letters which exalt the meaning. With the angels of the spiritual kingdom the letters resemble printed letters in our world; and with the angels of the celestial kingdom the letters (each of which also contains a complete meaning) resemble the ancient Hebrew letters, curved in various ways, and with marks above and within. Such being the style of their writing, there are no names of persons and places in their Word such as there are in ours, but instead of the names there are the things which they signify. Thus instead of Moses there is the historical Word, instead of Elijah, the prophetical Word; instead of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Lord as to His Divinity and Divine Human; instead of Aaron, the priestly office; instead of David, the kingly office, each of the Lord; instead of the names of the twelve sons of Jacob, or of the tribes of Israel, various things of heaven and the church; and like things instead of the names of the Lord's twelve disciples; instead of Zion and Jerusalem, the church in respect to the Word and doctrine from the Word; instead of the land of Canaan, the church itself; instead of the cities therein on this side and beyond Jordan, various things of the church and of its doctrine; and so with all the other names. It is the same with the numbers; neither do these appear in the Word that is in heaven, but instead of them the things to which the numbers that are in our Word correspond. It is evident from these examples that the Word in heaven is a Word that corresponds to our Word, and thus that the two are a one, for correspondences make a one.

It is a wonderful thing that the Word in the heavens is so written that the simple understand it in simplicity, and the wise in wisdom, for there are many points and marks over the letters, which as has been said exalt the meaning, and to these the simple do not attend, nor are they even aware of them; whereas the wise pay attention to them, each one according to his wisdom, even to the highest wisdom. In every larger society of heaven, a copy of the Word, written by angels inspired by the Lord, is kept in its sanctuary, lest being elsewhere it should be altered in some point. In respect to the fact that the simple understand it in simplicity and the wise in wisdom, our Word is indeed like that in heaven, but this is effected in a different way.

The angels acknowledge that all their wisdom comes through the Word, for they are in light in proportion to their understanding of the Word. The light of heaven is Divine wisdom, which to their eyes is light. In the sanctuary where the copy of the Word is kept, there is a flaming and bright light that surpasses every degree of light in heaven that is outside of it. The cause is the same as above mentioned; it is that the Lord is in the Word.

The wisdom of the celestial angels surpasses that of the spiritual angels almost as much as this surpasses the wisdom of men, and the reason is that the celestial angels are in the good of love from the Lord, while the spiritual angels are in truths of wisdom from him, and wherever there is the good of love there resides at the same time wisdom; but where there are truths there resides no more of wisdom than there is good of love together with it. This is the reason why the Word in the celestial kingdom is written differently from that in the spiritual kingdom; for goods of love are expressed in the Word of the celestial kingdom, and the marks denote affections, whereas truths of wisdom are expressed in the Word of the spiritual kingdom, and the marks denote perceptions.

From what has been said may be inferred the nature of the wisdom that lies hidden in the Word that is in this world. In fact all angelic wisdom, which is unutterable, lies hidden in it, for it is the container of the same, and after death a man who is being made an angel by the Lord by means of the Word comes into that wisdom.

(Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture 70-75)

The Spiritual Sense of The Word

Selection from De Verbo ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— The Word of the Lord from Experience —
Correspondences

Each and all things which are in nature, correspond to spiritual things; similarly each and all things which are in the human body, as may be seen in two articles in the work on Heaven and Hell. But it is not known at this day what correspondence is, but in the most ancient times the science of correspondences was the science of sciences, thus the universal science, so that the most ancient people wrote all their manuscripts and books by correspondences. The fables of the most ancient times and the hieroglyphics of the Egyptians are nothing else: the book of Job, which is a book of the Ancient Church, is full of correspondences.

All the ancient churches were churches representative of heavenly things; all their rites and also their statutes, according to which their worship was instituted, consisted of nothing but correspondences. Similarly the church with the sons of Jacob; the burnt offerings and sacrifices with all their particulars, were correspondences; likewise the tabernacle with the single things therein, as also their feasts, such as the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of tabernacles, and the feast of first fruits, and also all their statutes and judgments; and because correspondences are such things as exist in the ultimates of nature, and because all things of nature correspond, and the things which correspond also signify, therefore the sense of the letter of the Word consists of nothing but correspondences. The Lord also, because He spoke from His Divine, and spoke the Word, spoke therefore also by correspondences. What is from the Divine, and in itself is Divine, in the ultimate falls into such things as correspond to Divine, celestial and spiritual things, thus such as in their bosom conceal and signify celestial and spiritual things. What, further, correspondences are, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia, in which the correspondences which are in Genesis and in Exodus are explained. And again a collection of citations from that work concerning correspondences, may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem and in the treatise on Heaven and Hell. The spiritual or internal sense of the Word is nothing else than the sense of the letter unfolded according to correspondences; for it teaches the spiritual which is perceived by angels in the heavens, while man in the world is thinking in a natural way of that which he reads in the Word.

I have heard and perceived from heaven that the men of the Most Ancient Church, who are those meant in the spiritual sense of the first chapters of Genesis by Adam and Eve, were so consociated with the angels of heaven, that they could speak with them by correspondences, and hence the state of their wisdom was such that whatever they saw on earth, they perceived at the same time spiritually, thus conjointly with the angels. It was told me that Enoch, of whom mention is made in Genesis (Chap. 5:21-24), with his associates, collected correspondences from the mouth of those people, and transmitted the knowledge of them to posterity. From this it came to pass, that the science of correspondences not only was known, but was also cultivated, in many kingdoms of Asia, and especially in Egypt, Assyria and Babylon, Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia, and also in Canaan. From thence it was carried over to Greece, but was there turned into fables, as may be sufficiently evident from what is told of Olympus, Helicon and Pindus near Athens, and also of the winged horse called Pegasus, as, that with the hoof he broke open a fountain, by which the nine virgins [the Muses], established their seats. For a mountain, and thus Helicon, from correspondence signifies the higher heaven; the hill under the mountain, which was Pindus, signifies the heaven below it; the winged horse, or Pegasus, signifies the understanding enlightened by the spiritual; the fountain signifies intelligence and learning, and the nine virgins signify the knowledges of truth and the sciences. Similar were the rest of the things which are called fabulous, which were written by the most ancient writers in Greece, and which were collected together and described by Ovid in his Metamorphoses.

But when the representatives of the church in the course of time were turned into idolatries, then by the Divine Providence of the Lord that science was successively obliterated, and with the Israelitish and Jewish nation it was altogether destroyed and extinguished. The worship of that nation was indeed altogether representative, but still they did not know what any representative thing signified. For they were altogether natural men, and hence they were neither able nor willing to know anything about the spiritual man and about his faith and love, consequently nothing about correspondences.

That the idolatries of the nations in ancient times derived their origin from the science of correspondences amongst them, was because all things that appear upon the earth have a correspondence, as not only trees, but also cattle and birds of every kind, as well as fishes, and the rest. The ancients, who were in the science of correspondences, made themselves images, which corresponded to spiritual things, and they were delighted with those things, because they signified such things as are of heaven and thence of the church, they therefore not only placed them in their temples, but also in their houses, not for the purpose of adoration, but for the recollection of the heavenly thing that was signified, thence in Egypt there were set up calves, oxen, serpents, boys, old men, virgins, and many other things. For a calf signified the innocence of the natural man, oxen affections of the natural man, serpents the prudence of the sensual man, a boy innocence, old men wisdom, virgins affections for truth, and so on. After the science of correspondences was there lost, their posterity, who were ignorant what the images and likenesses set up by the ancients signified, began to worship them as holy, and finally as deities, because they were placed in and near the temples.

The Egyptian hieroglyphics are from the same origin. So was it also with other nations, as with the Philistines in Ashdod, where was Dagon, formed like a man above and like a fish below, which image was so contrived because a man signifies rational intelligence, and a fish natural knowledge. From similar origin was the worship of the ancients in gardens and groves according to the kinds of trees, as also their sacred worship upon mountains; for gardens and groves signified spiritual intelligence, and each tree something thereof, as the olive its good of love, the vine its truth of the doctrine of faith, the cedar its rational, and so on. A mountain signified heaven, and therefore the worship of the most ancient people was upon mountains. That the science of correspondences remained with many oriental nations until the coming of the Lord, may be evident from the wise men from the East, who came to the Lord when He was born.

Therefore a star went before them, and they brought with them gold, frankincense, and myrrh. It was also said to the shepherds, in order that they might know that it was the Lord Himself, that it should be a sign unto them, that they should see Him in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes, because there was no place in the inn. "The star" which went before the wise men signified knowledge from heaven, for stars in the Word signify knowledges. "The gold" signified celestial good, "frankincense" spiritual good, and "myrrh" natural good; all worship being from these three. "The manger" in which the infant Lord was found by the shepherds, signifies spiritual nourishment, because horses, which are fed from a manger, signify intellectual things. "The inn" where there was no place signified the Jewish Church, in which at that time there was no spiritual nourishment, because everything of the Word and thence everything of worship with them, had then been adulterated and perverted. Hence it is said that this would be for a sign to them that it was the Lord (Luke 2:12).

Nevertheless, the science of correspondences was altogether none with the Israelitish and Jewish nation, although all things of their worship, and all the statutes and judgments given to them, and all things of the Word, were pure correspondences. The reason was that that nation was idolatrous in heart, and such that it did not even wish to know that anything of their worship signified anything celestial and spiritual. For they wished that all these things should be holy from themselves and with them in externals. Wherefore if spiritual and celestial things had been disclosed to them, they would not only have rejected, but would also have profaned them. For this reason heaven was closed to them so that they scarcely knew that they were to live after death. That this is so, is manifestly evident. They do not acknowledge the Lord, although the whole Sacred Scripture prophesied concerning Him, and predicted Him they rejected Him for this sole reason, that He taught them of the heavenly kingdom, and not concerning an earthly kingdom, for they wanted a Messiah who would exalt them above all nations in the whole world, and they did not wish any Messiah who would provide for their eternal salvation. Moreover, they say the Word contains in itself many arcana, which are called mystical, but they do not wish to know that these treat of the Lord and His Kingdom; but they do wish to know when it is said that they are concerning gold and alchemy.

That this science was not disclosed after those times, was because the Christians in the primitive church were very simple, that it could not be disclosed to them, for if disclosed, it would have been of no use to them, nor would it have been comprehended. After those times darkness arose over the entire Christian world, on account of the Papacy, which at length became Babylon, and they who are of Babel, and have confirmed themselves in its falsities, are for the most part natural, sensual men, and these are neither able nor willing to apprehend what is spiritual, thus what is the correspondence of natural things with spiritual.*

But after the Reformation, because they began to make a distinction between faith and charity, and to worship one God under three Persons, the three Gods, whom they only named one, heavenly truths were then concealed from them, lest if revealed they should falsify them and bend them to faith alone, and none of them to charity and love. If therefore the spiritual sense of the Word had then been revealed, they would have shut heaven to themselves even by the falsification of its truths.

For everyone is allowed to understand the sense of the letter of the Word in simplicity, provided he does not confirm the appearances of truth which are there, so far as to destroy genuine truth; for to interpret the Word as to its spiritual sense from falsities of doctrine, closes heaven, and does not open it; but to interpret the spiritual sense from truths of doctrine, opens heaven, because that is the sense in which the angels are, and so man by means of it thinks together with angels, and thus conjoins them to himself in his intellectual mind.

But if a man is in falsities of doctrine and wishes to explore the spiritual sense from some knowledge of correspondences, he falsifies it. It is otherwise if man is already in genuine truths; that sense agrees with truths and appears from them, because that sense is in the light of heaven. Cloud on the other hand agrees with falsities, and if anything of this truth should appear, instead of the light of heaven thick darkness would arise, for angels turn themselves away from him, and so close heaven to him. The spiritual sense of the Word is meant by the inner garment of the Lord, which was without seam, and which the soldiers were not permitted to divide; but the natural sense of the Word, which is the sense of its letter, is meant by His outer garments, which the soldiers divided. Garments in the Word signify truths, and the Lord's garments Divine truth, wherefore also the garments of the Lord, when He was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, appeared shining white, like light.

At this day the spiritual sense of the Word has been revealed from the Lord, because the doctrine of genuine truth has now been revealed, which doctrine is partly contained in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, and now in the small works, which are being given to the public; and because that doctrine, and no other, agrees with the spiritual sense of the Word, therefore that sense, together with the science of correspondences, has now for the first time been disclosed. That sense is also signified by the Lord's appearing in the clouds of heaven with glory and power (Matt. 24:30, 31), in which chapter it treats of the consummation of the age, by which is meant the last time of the church.

By the cloud of heaven, there and elsewhere in the Word, is signified the Word in the letter, which there, in respect to the spiritual sense, is as a cloud. But by the glory there, as also elsewhere in the Word, is signified the Word in the spiritual sense, which also is the Divine truth in light; and by the power is signified its power in the Word. The revelation of the Word as to the spiritual sense was also promised in Revelation, where that sense is meant by the "White Horse" (Chapter 19:11 to 14), and by the great supper of God, to which all were invited and gathered together (Rev. 19:17). By many that sense will not be acknowledged for a long time. Those alone who are in the falsities of doctrine, especially in regard to the Lord, and who do not admit truths, will not acknowledge this is meant by the beast and by the kings of the earth, who make war with the one sitting upon the white horse (Rev. 19:19). By "the beast" are meant the Roman Catholics, as in Rev. 17:3, and by "the kings of the earth" are meant the Reformed who are in falsities of doctrine. The mystical things which some seek in the Word, are nothing else than the spiritual and celestial senses.

(De Verbo 7)

* [MARGINAL NOTE.] For thus they would be convinced that by Peter is not meant Peter, also that the Word even to its inmosts is Divine; and that a papal decree is of no account in comparison.

God is a Man in Actuality

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

There is one God, who is the Creator of the universe and the Preserver of the universe, thus who is the God of heaven and the God of earth.

There are two things which make the life of heaven with man; the truth of faith, and the good of love. Man has this life from God, and nothing whatever of it from man; and therefore the chief thing of the church is to acknowledge God, to believe in God, and to love Him.

Those who have been born within the church ought to acknowledge the Lord, His Divine and His Human, and to believe in Him and love Him, because all salvation is of the Lord. This the Lord teaches in John:

He that believeth in the Son hath eternal life; but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the anger of God abideth with him. (John 3:36)

This is the will of Him that sent Me, that everyone who seeth the Son, and believeth in Him, may have eternal life; and I will raise him up in the last day. (John 6:40)

Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in Me, though he die, shall live; but everyone that liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. (John 11:25, 26)

Wherefore those who within the church do not acknowledge the Lord and His Divine, cannot be conjoined with God, and thus cannot have any lot with the angels in heaven, for no one can be conjoined with God except by the Lord and in the Lord.

That no one can be conjoined with God except by the Lord, the Lord teaches in these passages:

No man hath ever seen God; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath set Him forth (John 1:18).

Ye have never heard the voice of the Father, nor seen His shape (John 5:37).

No one knoweth the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal Him (Matt. 11:27).

I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one cometh unto the Father but by Me (John 14:6).

That no one can be conjoined with God except in the Lord, the Lord also teaches in John:

As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine; so neither can ye, unless ye abide in Me; for without Me ye can do nothing (John 15:4-5).

That no one can be conjoined with God except in the Lord, because the Father is in Him, and They are one, as also He teaches in John:

He that seeth Me seeth Him that sent Me; and ye have known My Father, and from henceforth ye have known Him; He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; Philip, believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 12:45; 14:7-11).

The Father and I are one; that ye may know, and believe, that I am in the Father and the Father in Me (John 10:30, 38).

As the Father is in the Lord, and the Father and the Lord are one, and as He must be believed in, and whoso believeth in Him hath eternal life, it is evident that the Lord is God. That the Lord is God is taught everywhere in the Word, as in these passages:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father (John 1:1, 3, 14).

Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called God, Hero, the Father of Eternity, the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6).

A virgin shall conceive, and bring forth, and His name shall be called God with us (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23).

Behold the days come when I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, who shall reign as king, and shall prosper; and this is His name whereby they shall call Him, JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS (Jer. 23:5-6; 33:15-16).

All those who are of the church, and are in light from heaven, see the Divine in the Lord, and this in His Human. But those who are not in light from heaven see nothing but the Human in the Lord, when yet the Human and the Divine in Him are so united that they are one, as the Lord taught in another passage in John:

Father, all things that are Mine are Thine, and all things that are Thine are Mine (John 17:10).

Those who in regard to the Divinity have an idea of three Persons, cannot have an idea of one God. If they say one with the mouth, they nevertheless think of three. But those who in regard to the Divinity have an idea of three in one Person, can have an idea of one God, and can say "one God," and also think "one God."

Men have the idea of three in one Person when they think that the Father is in the Lord, and that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Lord; and then the Trine in the Lord is the Divine Itself which is called the Father, the Divine Human which is called the Son, and the proceeding Divine which is called the Holy Spirit.

Every man has from his father his being of life, which is called his soul. The derivative manifestation [existere] of life is that which is called the body. Consequently the body is the likeness of its soul, because by means of it the soul pursues its life at its pleasure. From this it is that men are born into the likeness of their fathers, and that families are distinguished from each other. And from this it is evident what was the nature of the Lord's body or Human, namely, that it was like the Divine Itself, which was the Being of His life, or the Soul from the Father; and He therefore said:

He that seeth Me seeth the Father (John 14:9).

That the Divine and the Human of the Lord are one Person, is also in accordance with the faith received in the whole Christian world, which is to this effect: Although Christ is God and Man, nevertheless He is not two, but one Christ. Yea, He is altogether one and a single Person; for as the body and soul are one man, so also God and Man are one Christ. This is from the Athanasian Creed.

That the Lord was conceived of Jehovah the Father and thus was God from conception, is known in the church, and also that He rose again with His whole body, for He left nothing in the sepulchre. Of this He also afterward confirmed His disciples, saying, "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; feel Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have" (Luke 24:39). And although He was a man in respect to the flesh and bones, He nevertheless entered in through closed doors; and after He had manifested Himself He again became invisible (John 20:19, 26; Luke 24:31). It is different with every man, for a man rises again only as to the spirit, and not as to the body; and therefore when He said that He is not a spirit, He said that He is not like any other man. From this it is now evident that in the Lord the Human also is Divine.

Those who make the Human of the Lord like the human of any other man, do not think about His conception from the Divine Itself, nor about His resurrection with the whole body, nor about Him as seen when He was transfigured, in that His face shone as the sun. Neither do they know and apprehend that the body of everyone is a likeness or effigy of his soul, nor that the Lord is omnipresent even in respect to the Human, for from this is the belief in His omnipresence in the Holy Supper. Omnipresence is Divine (Matt. 28:20).

As all the Divine is in the Lord, He therefore has all power in the heavens and on earth, as also He Himself says in these passages:

The Father hath given to the Son power over all flesh (John 17:2).

All things have been delivered unto Me by the Father (Matt. 11:27).

All power hath been given unto Me in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18).

The Lord came into the world in order to save the human race, which otherwise would have perished in eternal death; and He saved it by this:

that He subjugated the hells which were infesting every man that came into the world and that went out of the world; and at the same time by this: that He glorified His Human, for in this way He can hold the hells in subjection to eternity.

The subjugation of the hells and the simultaneous glorification of His Human, were effected by means of temptations admitted into His Human, and by continual victories then. His passion on the cross was the last temptation and the full victory. That the Lord subjugated the hells, He Himself teaches in the following passages:

Jesus said, Now is My soul troubled, Father, rescue Me from this hour; but for this cause came I into the world. Father, glorify Thy name. There came forth a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and I will glorify it again. Then Jesus said, Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out (John 12:27, 28, 31).

Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

Who is this that cometh from Edom, marching in the multitude of his strength, great to save? Mine own arm performed salvation for Me; therefore He became their Savior (Isa. 63:1, 5, 8; also 59:16-21).

That He glorified His Human, and that the passion of the cross was the last temptation and the full victory through which He was glorified, He also teaches in these passages:

After Judas was gone out, Jesus said, Now hath the Son of man been glorified, and God shall glorify Him in Himself, and shall straightway glorify Him (John 13:31-32).

Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee. Now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was (John 17:1, 5).

Now is My soul troubled, Father, glorify Thy name; and there came forth a voice from heaven saying, I have both glorified it, and I will glorify it again (John 12:27, 28).

Ought not the Christ to suffer this, and to enter into His glory? (Luke 24:26).

"To glorify" denotes to make Divine. From this it is now evident that unless the Lord had come into the world, and had become a Man, and had in this manner freed from hell all those who believe in Him and love Him, no mortal could have been saved. This is meant by its being said that without the Lord there is no salvation.

To love the Lord is to live according to His commandments. That this is to love the Lord, He Himself teaches in John:

If ye love Me, keep My commandments. He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me. If a man love Me, he will keep My word; but he that loveth Me not, keepeth not My words (John 14:15, 21, 23, 24).

And that those are saved who receive the Lord, and believe in Him; but not those who are in evils and the derivative falsities, because these latter do not receive Him and believe in Him, He teaches in John:

As many as received Him, to them gave He power to be sons of God, to them that believe in His name; who were born, not from bloods, nor from the will of the flesh, nor from the will of man, but from God (John 1:12, 13).

"To be born from bloods, from the will of the flesh, and from the will of man," denotes to be in the evils of the love of self and of the world, and in the derivative falsities. "To be born from God" denotes to be regenerated.

When the Lord had fully glorified His Human, He then put off the human from the mother, and put on the Human from the Father; and therefore He was then no longer the son of Mary, but the Son of God, from Whom He came forth.

That there is a trine in the Lord, namely, the Divine Itself, the Divine Human, and the proceeding Divine, is a secret from heaven, and is for those who will be in the Holy Jerusalem.

(Arcana Coelestia 10815-10831)

Without the Lord, There is no salvation!

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The Lord came into the world in order to save the human race, which otherwise would have perished in eternal death; and He saved it by this: that He subjugated the hells which were infesting every man that came into the world and that went out of the world; and at the same time by this: that He glorified His Human, for in this way He can hold the hells in subjection to eternity. The subjugation of the hells and the simultaneous glorification of His Human, were effected by means of temptations admitted into His Human, and by continual victories then. His passion on the cross was the last temptation and the full victory. That the Lord subjugated the hells, He Himself teaches in the following passages:

Jesus said, Now is My soul troubled, Father, rescue Me from this hour; but for this cause came I into the world. Father, glorify Thy name. There came forth a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and I will glorify it again. Then Jesus said, Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out (John 12:27, 28, 31).

Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

Who is this that cometh from Edom, marching in the multitude of his strength, great to save? Mine own arm performed salvation for Me; therefore He became their Savior (Isa. 63:1, 5, 8; also 59:16-21).

That He glorified His Human, and that the passion of the cross was the last temptation and the full victory through which He was glorified, He also teaches in these passages:

After Judas was gone out, Jesus said, Now hath the Son of man been glorified, and God shall glorify Him in Himself, and shall straightway glorify Him (John 13:31-32).

Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee. Now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was (John 17:1, 5).

Now is My soul troubled, Father, glorify Thy name; and there came forth a voice from heaven saying, I have both glorified it, and I will glorify it again (John 12:27, 28).

Ought not the Christ to suffer this, and to enter into His glory? (Luke 24:26).

"To glorify" denotes to make Divine. From this it is now evident that unless the Lord had come into the world, and had become a Man, and had in this manner freed from hell all those who believe in Him and love Him, no mortal could have been saved. This is meant by its being said that without the Lord there is no salvation.

(Arcana Coelestia 10828)

Heaven in Ultimates

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The Word in the letter consists of representatives of celestial and spiritual things, which are of heaven and the church, and therefore in the internal sense these are signified. Hence the Word of the Lord may be called as it were heaven in ultimates, for in the ultimates of heaven all things which are seen and heard are representatives of such things as angels in the higher heavens are speaking and thinking, all which bear relation to the truths of faith and to the goods of love.

That in the ultimates of heaven such things are representative, is because they who are in the ultimates of heaven do not apprehend the interior things of angelic wisdom, but only such things as represent them. It is also according to Divine order that when higher things fall down into lower, they are turned into such as are similar, and are thus presented before the external senses, thus accommodated to the apprehension of everyone.

From this it is that the Word in ultimates, that is, in the sense of the letter, is representative, and consequently significative, of celestial and spiritual things which are in the higher heavens, and is hereby presented in a form accommodated to the apprehension of men. In this way it is also of service to the heavens as a basis and foundation.

(from Arcana Coelestia 10126)

The OPENED Word

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

... as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when He had OPENED the book, He found the place where it was written ... (Luke 4:16, 17)

And a great stone was upon the well's mouth. That this signifies that the Word was closed, is evident without explication. The Word is said to be closed when it is understood solely as to the sense of the letter, and when all that is in this sense is taken for doctrine. And it is still more closed when those things are acknowledged as doctrinal things which favor the cupidities of the love of self and of the world; for these especially roll a great stone upon the mouth of the well, that is, close up the Word; and then mankind do not know, neither do they desire to know, that there is any interior sense in the Word, when yet they may see this from many passages where the sense of the letter is unfolded as to the interior sense; and also from the doctrinal things received in the church, to which by various explications they refer all the sense of the letter of the Word.

What is meant by the Word being closed may be seen especially from the Jews, who explain each and all things according to the letter, and thence believe that they are chosen in preference to all nations on the face of the earth, and that the Messiah will come to bring them into the land of Canaan and exalt them above all nations and peoples of the earth; for they are immersed in earthly corporeal loves, which are such that they altogether close up the Word as to interior things. Therefore also they do not yet know whether there is any heavenly kingdom, whether they shall live after death, what the internal man is, nor even that there is anything spiritual; still less do they know that the Messiah has come to save souls. That the Word is closed with them, may be sufficiently evident also from the fact that although they live among Christians, they do not receive the least of their doctrinal things-according to the following words in Isaiah:

Say to this people, Hearing, hear ye, and do not understand; and seeing, see ye, and do not perceive. Make the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes. And I said, Lord, how long? And He said, Until the cities be waste without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the ground be wasted to a solitude (Isa. 6:9-11; Matt. 13:14-15; John 12:40-41).

For insofar as a man is immersed in loves of self and of the world, and in the cupidities of these loves, so far the Word is closed to him; for these loves have self as their end, which end kindles a natural lumen, but extinguishes heavenly light, so that men sharply see the things of self and the world, but not at all those of the Lord and His kingdom; and when this is the case, they may indeed read the Word, but it is with the end of acquiring honors and riches, or for the sake of appearance, or from the love and consequent habit of it, or from piety, and yet not from a purpose of amending the life. To such persons the Word is in various ways closed; to some so much that by no means are they willing to know anything but what their doctrinal things dictate, whatever these may be.

For example: should anyone say that the power of opening and shutting heaven was not given to Peter, but to the faith of love, which faith is signified by Peter's keys, inasmuch as the love of self and of the world opposes this, they will by no means acknowledge it. And should anyone say that saints ought not to be worshiped, but the Lord alone, neither do they receive this. Or if anyone should say that by the bread and wine in the Holy Supper is meant the Lord's love toward the universal human race, and the reciprocal love of man to the Lord, this they do not believe. Or should anyone assert that faith is of no avail unless it is the good of faith, that is, charity, this they explain inversely; and so with everything else. They who are of this character cannot see one whit of the truth that is in the Word, nor are they willing to see it, but abide obstinately in their own dogma; and are not even willing to hear that there is an internal sense wherein is the sanctity and glory of the Word, and even when they are told that it is so, from their aversion thereto they loathe the bare mention of it. Thus has the Word been closed, when yet it is of such a nature as to lie open even into heaven, and through heaven to the Lord, and it is closed solely in relation to man, insofar as he is in the evils of the love of self and of the world in respect to his ends of life, and in the consequent principles of falsity. From this it is evident what is signified by a great stone being upon the well's mouth.

(Arcana Coelestia 3769)

Ends Effect the Arrangement

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
The elevation of truths and of the affections of them
and their orderly arrangement in generals

The truths and the affections are elevated when the things of eternal life and of the Lord's kingdom are set before those which belong to life in the body and to the kingdom of the world.

When a man acknowledges the former as the principal and primary, and the latter as the instrumental and secondary, then with him truths and the affections of them are elevated; for in the same proportion the man is carried away into the light of heaven, within which there are intelligence and wisdom; and in the same proportion the things which are of the light of the world become to him images and as it were mirrors in which he sees the things of the light of heaven.

The contrary happens when the man sets the things of the life of the body and of the kingdom of the world before those of eternal life and the Lord's kingdom; as when he believes that the latter have no existence because he does not see, them, and because no one has come from there and made them known; and also when he believes that if they do exist, nothing worse will happen to him than to others; and when he confirms himself in these ideas, and lives the life of the world, and utterly despises charity and faith. With such a man, truths and the affections of them are not elevated, but are either suffocated, or rejected, or perverted; for he is in natural light, into which nothing of heavenly light inflows.

From all this it is evident what is meant by the elevation of truths and of the affections of them.

As regards their orderly arrangement in generals, this is a necessary consequence; for insofar as a man sets heavenly things before worldly ones, so far are the things in his natural arranged in order according to the state of heaven, so that as before said they appear therein as images and mirrors of heavenly things, for they are corresponding representatives. It is the ends that effect the arrangement into order, that is, the Lord through the ends in the man. For there are three things that follow in order, namely, ends, causes, and effects. Ends produce causes, and through causes, effects. Such therefore as are the ends, such come forth the consequent causes, and such the consequent effects. Ends are the inmost things with man; causes are middle or mediates, and are called mediate ends; and effects are ultimates, and are called last or ultimate ends. Effects are also what are called generals.

From all this it is evident in what consists orderly arrangement in generals, namely, that when the things of eternal life and of the Lord's kingdom are regarded as the end, all the middle ends or causes, and all the ultimate ends or effects, are arranged in order in accordance with the end itself; and this in the natural, because the effects are there; or what is the same, the generals are there.

Every man of adult age who possesses any judgment, and will give the matter any consideration, is able to know that he is in two kingdoms, namely, in a spiritual kingdom and in a natural kingdom; and also that the spiritual kingdom is interior, and the natural kingdom exterior; and consequently that he can set one before the other, that is, he can regard one as the end in preference to the other; and thus that the one which he regards as his end, or prefers, rules with him. If therefore he regards the spiritual kingdom as his end, and prefers it (that is, the things that belong to this kingdom), he then acknowledges as the principal and primary, love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, and consequently all things that confirm this love and charity, and are said to be of faith; for these belong to that kingdom; and in this case all things in his natural are arranged and set in order in accordance therewith, in order that they may be subservient and obedient.

But when a man has as his end and sets first the natural kingdom (that is, the things it contains), he then extinguishes all that is of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor, and all that is of faith, insomuch that he makes them of no account whatever; but makes the love of the world and of self, and all that belongs thereto, to be everything. When this is the case, all things in his natural are arranged in order in accordance with these ends, thus in utter contrariety to the things of heaven; and in this way he makes hell in himself.

To regard as an end is to love, for every end is of the love, because whatever is loved is regarded as the end.

(from Arcana Coelestia 4104:3-5)