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. —
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.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.
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.
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 Lordswhich 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.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.
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.
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, 23This 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)