Selection from Charity ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
THE NEIGHBOR THAT IS TO BE LOVED, IN THE SPIRITUAL IDEA, IS GOOD, AND TRUTH
Man is man not from his form, but from the good and truth in him, or what is the same, from will and understanding. It is known that the will and understanding are the very man, and not his form, which appears in the face and body as a man. Some are foolish and insane, and yet appear as men; some are so natural that they are like animals, save that they can speak; others are rational and spiritual. The human form of these last may appear less beautiful, and yet they are men more than the others. Take away the good and truth from them, and the human form remains, in which there is no man; they are as pictures and sculptured forms, and as apes.
It is said, good and truth, that is, will and understanding, because good is of the will and truth is of the understanding; for the will is the receptacle of good, and the understanding is the receptacle of truth.
And yet good and truth cannot be except in their subject. Nothing can be separated from its subject. Therefore man is the neighbor; but in the spiritual idea good and truth, from which man is man.
Therefore the good and truth in a man is the neighbor that is to be loved. Set before your eyes three or ten persons, whom you are choosing for some domestic employment. Do you choose otherwise than according to the good and truth in them, whence man is man?
If you are choosing one among ten for the performance of some service, do you not inquire into his will and understanding?
The one who is chosen is your neighbor who is loved. A man devil may appear with a similar face as a man angel. Should not the man angel be loved, and not the man devil? You show favor to the man angel, on account of the good and truth in him, but not to the man devil. It is charity that he should be punished if he does evil, and that the man angel should be rewarded.
If you observe ten virgins, among whom five are harlots and five are chaste, and would choose one for a wife, do you not choose one of the chaste, according to her good, which accords with your good?
The quality of the neighbor is according to the quality of the good in a man; or such as the man is, such is the neighbor. That all men are not equally the neighbor, the Lord's parable of the man wounded by robbers teaches, —
And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?"he is neighbor who showed mercy on him."
And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. Luke 10:29-37
Whoever does not distinguish the neighbor according to the quality of good and truth in him may be deceived a thousand times, and his charity become confused and at length no charity. A man devil may exclaim, "I am a neighbor: do good to me." And if you do good to him he may kill you or others. You are placing a knife or a sword in his hand.
The simple act thus. They say every man is equally a neighbor, and that they deem it no business of theirs to search into his quality; but God looks to that; I may only render assistance to a neighbor. But this is not loving the neighbor. He who from genuine charity loves the neighbor inquires what the quality of a man is, and does good to him discreetly, and according to the quality of his good.
Such simple ones are withdrawn and separated in the other life; for if they come among diabolical spirits they are allured to do good to them, and to do evil to the good. These spirits cry out, "Set me free! Help me!" This is the greatest strength which the evil acquire. Without help from and, as it were, conjunction with them, they have no power at all; but with them whom they have deceived by the name of neighbor, they are strong.
Genuine charity itself is prudent and wise. Other charity is spurious, because it is of the will or of good alone, and not at the same time of the understanding or of truth.
The degree of neighbor is according to the degree of good and truth in a man; consequently, one man is not neighbor in the same degree as another. Good is distinguished, according to degrees
- • civil good
- • moral good
- • spiritual good
Moral good, which is actual human good (for it is the rational good according to which man lives with man, as a brother and associate), is neighbor so far as it is derived from spiritual good; for moral good without spiritual is external good, is of the external will, and is not internal good. It may be evil, which is not to be loved.
Civil good is the good of a life in accordance with the civil laws; and its first and fundamental principle, is not to act contrary to those laws on account of the penalties. If within this good there is not moral good, and within this, spiritual good, it is none other than the animal good which beasts have, when kept shut up or chained, towards those who give them food, or who punish or caress them.
These goods a man learns in his early infancy from the Decalogue. The laws of the Decalogue first become civil laws, afterwards moral, and finally spiritual; and then first do the goods become goods of charity, according to their degree.
Charity itself regards first the good of man's soul; and loves that because conjunction is effected by it. Next to that it regards his moral good; and loves it, just in proportion as he lives a moral life according to the perfection of reason. And, lastly, it regards civil good, according to what the man is in his interaction with the world. Through his civil good the man is a man of the world; according to his moral good he is a man above the world, and lower than heaven; and according to his spiritual good he is a man of heaven, or an angel. The consociation of man with man is effected by this good, and then by goods of the lower degrees, according to their degree. For example: There is the spiritual man who wills well and does not understand well, and he who does not understand well does not act well; he is, therefore, scarcely a rational moral man. And there is the man who understands well and does not will well. Such a man is not the neighbor according to his understanding; but he who does not will well is not the neighbor, however well he may understand.
In a word, the will constitutes the neighbor, and the understanding so far as it is of the will.
The good of the internal will is the neighbor that is to be loved, and not the good of the external will, unless this makes one with the other. There is an internal will and an external will; likewise an internal and an external understanding.
The internal will has conjunction with heaven, and the external will with the world.
All good is of the will, and the very good of charity is good of the internal will.
These are wont to be separated in a man; and are most widely separated in hypocrites, dissemblers, and flatterers for the sake of gain.
But when these wills make one then the goods of both make one good, which is the neighbor. These principles may be illustrated by examples and comparisons.
Truth is the neighbor as far as it makes one with good; and it makes one as do form and essence. Every form derives its quality from an essence. Therefore whatever the quality of the essence is, such is that of its form.
This may be illustrated by the fact that such as the will is such is the understanding, in itself regarded.
It may also be illustrated by sound and speech, and by many other things.
That truth is good in form may be seen in the Apocalypse Explained.
It is clear, then, that in the spiritual idea good is the neighbor that is to be loved, or the man according to his good.
(from Charity 42-71)