From Spiritual to Celestial

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host [the army] of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.   (Genesis 2:1-3)

• Man is now rendered so far spiritual as to have become the "sixth day"
• "heaven" is his internal man, and "earth" his external
• "the army of them" are love, faith, and the knowledges thereof, which were previously signified by the great luminaries and the stars

That the internal man is called "heaven" and the external "earth" is evident from the passages of the Word from Isaiah:

I will make a man more rare than solid gold, even a man than the precious gold of Ophir; therefore I will smite the heavens with terror, and the earth shall be shaken out of its place (Isa. 13:12-13).

Thou forgettest Jehovah thy Maker, that stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundations of the earth; but I will put My words in thy mouth, and I will hide thee in the shadow of My hand, that I may stretch out the heaven, and lay the foundation of the earth (Isa. 51:13, 16).

From these words it is evident that both "heaven" and "earth" are predicated of Man; for although they refer primarily to the Most Ancient Church, yet the interiors of the Word are of such a nature that whatever is said of the church may also be said of every individual member of it, who, unless he were a church, could not possibly be a part of the church, just as he who is not a temple of the Lord cannot be what is signified by the temple, namely, the church and heaven. It is for this reason that the Most Ancient Church is called "Man" in the singular number.

WHEN THE CELESTIAL PRINCIPLE, AND NOT THE SPIRITUAL, BEGINS TO BE THE PRINCIPAL

The "heavens and the earth and all the army of them" are said to be "finished" when man has become the "sixth day" for then faith and love make a one. When they do this, love, and not faith, or in other words the celestial principle, and not the spiritual, begins to be the principal, and this is to be a celestial man.

GOD BLESSED THE SEVENTH DAY, AND HALLOWED IT

God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it He rested from all His work which God in making created.

The celestial man is the "seventh day" which, as the Lord has worked during the six days, is called "His work;" and as all combat then ceases, the Lord is said to "rest from all His work."

THE SABBATH

On this account the seventh day was sanctified, and called the Sabbath, from a Hebrew word meaning "rest." And thus was Man created, formed, and made.

That the celestial man is the "seventh day" and that the seventh day was therefore hallowed, and called the Sabbath, are arcana which have not hitherto been discovered. For none have been acquainted with the nature of the celestial man, and few with that of the spiritual man, whom in consequence of this ignorance they have made to be the same as the celestial man, notwithstanding the great difference that exists between them.

As regards the seventh day, and as regards the celestial man being the "seventh day" or "Sabbath" this is evident from the fact that the Lord Himself is the Sabbath; and therefore He says:

The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath (Mark 2:27)

which words imply that the Lord is Man himself, and the Sabbath itself. His kingdom in the heavens and on the earth is called, from Him, a Sabbath, or eternal peace and rest.

THE MOST ANCIENT CHURCH WAS THE SABBATH OF THE LORD

The Most Ancient Church, which is here treated of, was the Sabbath of the Lord above all that succeeded it.

Every subsequent inmost church of the Lord is also a Sabbath; and so is every regenerate person when he becomes celestial, because he is a likeness of the Lord.

The six days of combat or labor precede.

These things were represented in the Jewish church by the days of labor, and by the seventh day, which was the Sabbath; for in that church there was nothing instituted which was not representative of the Lord and of His kingdom. The like was also represented by the ark when it went forward, and when it rested, for by its journeyings in the wilderness were represented combats and temptations, and by its rest a state of peace; and therefore, when it set forward, Moses said:

Rise up, Jehovah, and let Thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Thee flee before Thy faces. And when it rested, he said, Return, Jehovah, unto the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel (Num. 10:35-36).

It is there said of the ark that it went from the Mount of Jehovah "to search out a rest for them" (Num. 10:33).

The rest of the celestial man is described by the Sabbath in Isaiah:

If thou bring back thy foot from the Sabbath, so that thou doest not thy desire in the day of My holiness, and callest the things of the Sabbath delights to the holy of Jehovah, honorable; and shalt honor it, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own desire, nor speaking a word; then shalt thou be delightful to Jehovah, and I will cause thee to be borne over the lofty things of the earth, and will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob (Isa. 58:13-14).

Such is the quality of the celestial man that he acts not according to his own desire, but according to the good pleasure of the Lord, which is his "desire." Thus he enjoys internal peace and happiness — here expressed by "being uplifted over the lofty things of the earth" — and at the same time external tranquility and delight, which is signified by "being fed with the heritage of Jacob."

When the spiritual man, who has become the "sixth day" is beginning to be celestial, which state is here first treated of, it is the "eve of the Sabbath" represented in the Jewish Church by the keeping holy of the Sabbath from the evening. The celestial man is the "morning" to be spoken of presently.

COMBAT CEASES WHEN HE BECOMES CELESTIAL

Another reason why the celestial man is the "Sabbath" or "rest" is that combat ceases when he becomes celestial. The evil spirits retire, and good ones approach, as well as celestial angels; and when these are present, evil spirits cannot possibly remain, but flee far away. And since it was not the man himself who carried on the combat, but the Lord alone for the man, it is said that the Lord "rested."

WHEN THE SPIRITUAL MAN BECOMES CELESTIAL

When the spiritual man becomes celestial, he is called the "work of God" because the Lord alone has fought for him, and has created, formed, and made him; and therefore it is here said, "God finished His work on the seventh day;" and twice, that "He rested from all His work."

By the Prophets man is repeatedly called the "work of the hands and of the fingers of Jehovah;" as in Isaiah, speaking of the regenerate man:

Thus hath said Jehovah the Holy One of Israel, and his Former, Seek ye signs of Me, signs concerning My sons, and concerning the work of My hands command ye Me. I have made the earth, and created man upon it; I, even My hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their army have I commanded. For thus hath said Jehovah that createth the heavens, God Himself that formeth the earth and maketh it; He establisheth it, He created it not a void, He formed it to be inhabited; I am Jehovah and there is no God else besides Me (Isa. 45:11-12, 18, 21).

THE WORK OF THE LORD ALONE

Hence it is evident that the new creation, or regeneration, is the work of the Lord alone. The expressions to "create" to "form" and to "make" are employed quite distinctively, both in the above passage — "creating the heavens, forming the earth, and making it" — and in other places in the same Prophet, as:

Everyone that is called by My name, I have created him for My glory, I have formed him, yea, I have made him (Isa. 43:7),

and also Genesis chapters one and two: "He rested from all His work which God in making created."

In the internal sense this usage always conveys a distinct idea; and the case is the same where the Lord is called "Creator" "Former" or "Maker."

(from Arcana Coelestia 83 - 88)

The Creation of a Church

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

• The celestial man is delighted with celestial things alone, which being in agreement with his life are called celestial food.

• The spiritual man is delighted with spiritual things, and as these are in agreement with his life they are called spiritual food.

• The natural man in like manner is delighted with natural things, which, being of his life, are called food, and consist chiefly of memory-knowledges.

~~~

• All things relating to the knowledges of faith are called spiritual.

• All things that are of love to the Lord and our neighbor are called celestial.

The spiritual belong to man's understanding; the celestial to his will.

~~~

THE WORK OF THE FINGERS OF GOD

The times and states of man's regeneration in general and in particular are divided into six, and are called the days of his creation; for, by degrees, from being not a man at all, he becomes at first something of one, and so by little and little attains to the sixth day, in which he becomes an image of God.

Meanwhile the Lord continually fights for him against evils and falsities, and by combats confirms him in truth and good. The time of combat is the time of the Lord's working; and therefore in the Prophets the regenerate man is called the work of the fingers of God.

Nor does He rest —

until love acts as principal

then the combat ceases.

When the work has so far advanced that faith is conjoined with love, it is called "very good;" because the Lord then actuates him, as His likeness. At the end of the sixth day the evil spirits depart, and good spirits take their place, and the man is introduced into heaven, or into the celestial paradise. (from Arcana Coelestia 62 -63)

FROM BEING A DEAD MAN, HE BECOME SPIRITUAL, THEN FROM SPIRITUAL, HE BECOMES CELESTIAL

• Genesis chapter one addresses the spiritual man — who was formed out of a dead man.
• Genesis chapter two addresses the celestial man — the seventh day, on which the Lord rests.

~~~

THE NATURE OF THE CELESTIAL MAN — THE SPIRITUAL MAN — THE DEAD MAN

First,
•  A dead man acknowledges nothing to be true and good but what belongs to the body and the world, and this he adores.
• A spiritual man acknowledges spiritual and celestial truth and good; but he does so from a principle of faith, which is likewise the ground of his actions, and not so much from love.
• A celestial man believes and perceives spiritual and celestial truth and good, acknowledging no other faith than that which is from love, from which also he acts.

Secondly:
• The ends which influence a dead man regard only corporeal and worldly life, nor does he know what eternal life is, or what the Lord is; or should he know, he does not believe.
• The ends which influence a spiritual man regard eternal life, and thereby the Lord.
• The ends which influence a celestial man regard the Lord, and thereby His kingdom and eternal life.

Thirdly:
• A dead man, when in combat almost always yields, and when not in combat, evils and falsities have dominion over him, and he is a slave. His bonds are external, such as the fear of the law, of the loss of life, of wealth, of gain, and of the reputation which he values for their sake.
• The spiritual man is in combat, but is always victorious; the bonds by which he is restrained are internal, and are called the bonds of conscience.
• The celestial man is not in combat, and when assaulted by evils and falsities, he despises them, and is therefore called a conqueror. He is apparently restrained by no bonds, but is free. His bonds, which are not apparent, are perceptions of good and truth.  (from Arcana Coelestia 81)

Food, in the Time of Reformation

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And God said, Behold, I give you every herb bearing seed which is upon the faces of all the earth; and every tree in which is fruit; the tree yielding seed, to you it shall be for food.      (Genesis 1:29)

• The celestial man is delighted with celestial things alone, which being in agreement with his life are called celestial food.

• The spiritual man is delighted with spiritual things, and as these are in agreement with his life they are called spiritual food.

• The natural man in like manner is delighted with natural things, which, being of his life, are called food, and consist chiefly of memory-knowledges.

~~~

The "herb bearing seed" is every truth which regards use; the "tree in which is fruit" is the good of faith; "fruit" is what the Lord gives to the celestial man, but "seed producing fruit" is what He gives to the spiritual man; and therefore it is said, the "tree yielding seed, to you it shall be for food." That celestial food is called fruit from a tree, is evident from the following chapter, (Genesis chp. 2), where the celestial man is treated of. In confirmation of this we will here cite only these words of the Lord from Ezekiel:

By the river, upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, there cometh up every tree of food, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed; it is born again in its month; because these its waters issue out of the sanctuary; and the fruit thereof shall be for food, and the leaf thereof for medicine (Ezek. 47:12).

"Waters issuing out of the sanctuary" signify the life and mercy of the Lord, who is the "sanctuary." "Fruit" is wisdom, which shall be food for them; the "leaf" is intelligence which shall be for their use, and this use is called "medicine." But that spiritual food is called "herb" appears from David:

My shepherd, I shall not want; Thou makest me to lie down in pastures of herb (Ps. 23:1-2).

~~~

And to every wild animal of the earth, and to every fowl of the heavens, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is a living soul, I give every green herb for food; and it was so.      (Genesis 1:30)

The natural meat of the same man is here described. His natural is signified by the "wild animal of the earth" and by the "fowl of the heavens" to which there are given for food the vegetable and the green of the herb. Both his natural and his spiritual food are thus described in David:

Jehovah causeth the grass to grow for the beast, and herb for the service of man, that he may bring forth bread out of the earth (Ps. 104:14),

where the term "beast" is used to express both the wild animal of the earth and the fowl of the heavens which are mentioned in verses 11 and 12 of the same Psalm.

The reason why the "vegetable and the green of the herb" only are here described as food for the natural man, is this. In the course of regeneration, when man is being made spiritual, he is continually engaged in combat, on which account the church of the Lord is called "militant;" for before regeneration cupidities have the dominion, because the whole man is composed of mere cupidities and the falsities thence derived. During regeneration these cupidities and falsities cannot be instantaneously abolished, for this would be to destroy the whole man, such being the only life which he has acquired, and therefore evil spirits are suffered to continue with him for a long time, that they may excite his cupidities, and that these may thus be loosened, in innumerable ways, even to such a degree that they can be inclined by the Lord to good, and the man be thus reformed.

In the time of combat, the evil spirits, who bear the utmost hatred against all that is good and true, that is, against whatever is of love and faith toward the Lord — which things alone are good and true, because they have eternal life in them — leave the man nothing else for food but what is compared to the vegetable and the green of the herb; nevertheless the Lord gives him also a food which is compared to the herb bearing seed, and to the tree in which is fruit, which are states of tranquillity and peace, with their joys and delights; and this food the Lord gives the man at intervals.

Unless the Lord defended man every moment, yea, even the smallest part of every moment, he would instantly perish, in consequence of the indescribably intense and mortal hatred which prevails in the world of spirits against the things relating to love and faith toward the Lord.

The certainty of this fact I can affirm, having been now for some years (notwithstanding my remaining in the body) associated with spirits in the other life, even with the worst of them, and I have sometimes been surrounded by thousands, to whom it was permitted to spit forth their venom, and infest me by all possible methods, yet without their being able to hurt a single hair of my head, so secure was I under the Lord's protection. From so many years' experience I have been thoroughly instructed concerning the world of spirits and its nature, as well as concerning the combat which those being regenerated must needs endure, in order to attain the happiness of eternal life. But as no one can be so well instructed in such subjects by a general description as to believe them with an undoubting faith.

~~~

And God saw everything that He had made, and behold it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.      (Genesis 1:31)

This state is called "very good" the former ones being merely called "good;" because now the things which are of faith make a one with those which are of love, and thus a marriage is effected between spiritual things and celestial things.

All things relating to the knowledges of faith are called spiritual, and all that are of love to the Lord and our neighbor are called celestial; the former belong to man's understanding, and the latter to his will.

(from Arcana Coelestia 56 - 61)

Food for the Celestial, Spiritual, & Natural Man

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

• The celestial man is delighted with celestial things alone, which being in agreement with his life are called celestial food.

• The spiritual man is delighted with spiritual things, and as these are in agreement with his life they are called spiritual food.

• The natural man in like manner is delighted with natural things, which, being of his life, are called food, and consist chiefly of memory-knowledges.

~~~

As regards the food of the man who is to be regenerated, the case is this:

         Before a man can be regenerated he needs to be furnished with all things that may serve as means — with the goods and delights of the affections as means for the will; and with truths from the Word of the Lord, and also with confirmatory things from other sources, as means for the understanding. Until a man is furnished with such things, he cannot be regenerated; these being for food. This is the reason why man is not regenerated until he comes to adult age. But each man has his peculiar and as it were his own food, which is provided for him by the Lord before he is regenerated.

         Goods and delights constitute man's life; and not so much truths, for truths receive their life from goods and delights.

         From infancy to old age nothing of knowledge or of reason is ever insinuated except by means of what is good and delightful, and such things are called "food" because the soul lives and derives its sustenance from them; and they are food, for without them a man's soul cannot possibly live, as anyone may know if he will but pay attention to the matter.

THE THINGS THAT ARE IN MAN'S MEMORY

         Both goods and truths should be gathered in man before he is regenerated; for without goods and truths gathered together, through which as means the Lord may operate, a man can never be regenerated.

         That goods and truths are the genuine foods of man must be evident to everyone, for he who is destitute of them has no life, but is dead.

         When a man is spiritually dead the foods with which his soul is fed are delights from evils and pleasantnesses from falsities — which are foods of death — and are also those which come from bodily, worldly, and natural things, which also have nothing of life in them.

GIVE US OUR DAILY BREAD

         Moreover, such a man does not know what spiritual and celestial food is, insomuch that whenever "food" or "bread" is mentioned in the Word he supposes the food of the body to be meant; as in the Lord's prayer, the words "Give us our daily bread" he supposes to mean only sustenance for the body; and those who extend their ideas further say it includes also other necessaries of the body, such as clothing, property, and the like. They even sharply deny that any other food is meant; when yet they see plainly that the words preceding and following involve only celestial and spiritual things, and that the Lord's kingdom is spoken of; and besides, they might know that the Word of the Lord is celestial and spiritual.

         From this and other similar examples it must be sufficiently evident how corporeal is man at the present day; and that, like the Jews, he is disposed to take everything that is said in the Word in the most gross and material sense. The Lord Himself clearly teaches what is meant in His Word by "food" and "bread."

Concerning "food" He thus speaks in John:

Jesus said, Labor not for the meat [or food] which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall give unto you (John 6:27).

And concerning "bread" He says, in the same chapter:

Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the Bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living Bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this Bread he shall live eternally (John 6:49-51, 58).

But at the present day there are men like those who heard these words and said: "This is a hard saying; who can hear it?" and who "went back and walked no more with Him" (John 4:60, 66), to whom the Lord said: "The words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life" (John 4:63).

And so with respect to "water" which signifies the spiritual things of faith, and concerning which the Lord thus speaks in John:

Jesus said, Everyone that drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing up unto eternal life (John 4:13-14).

But at the present day there are those who are like the woman with whom the Lord spoke at the well, and who answered, "Lord, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw" (John 4:15).

That in the Word "food" means no other than spiritual and celestial food, which is faith in the Lord, and love, is evident from many passages in the Word, as in Jeremiah:

The enemy hath spread out his hand upon all the desirable things of Jerusalem; for she hath seen that the nations are entered into her sanctuary, concerning whom Thou didst command that they should not enter into Thy congregation. All the people groan, they seek bread; they have given their desirable things for food to refresh the soul (Lam. 1:10-11).

No other than spiritual bread and food are here meant, for the subject is the sanctuary.

Again:

I have cried out for my lovers, they have deceived me; my priests and mine elders in the city expired, for they sought food for themselves, to refresh their soul (Lam. 1:19),

with the same meaning.

In David:

These wait all upon Thee, that Thou mayest give them their food in its season; Thou givest them, they gather; Thou openest thine hand, they are satisfied with good (Ps. 104:27, 28).

Here likewise spiritual and celestial food is meant.

In Isaiah:

Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no silver; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without silver, and without price (Isa. 55:1),

where "wine" and "milk" denote spiritual and celestial drink.

Again:

A virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and thou shalt call His name Immanuel; butter and honey shall He eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good; and it shall come to pass that for the abundance of milk that they shall give they shall eat butter; for butter and honey shall everyone eat that is left in the midst of the land (Isa. 7:14-15, 22).

Here to "eat honey and butter" is to appropriate what is celestial-spiritual; "they that are left" denote remains, concerning whom also in Malachi:

Bring ye all the tithes into the treasure house, that there may be food in My house (Mal. 3:10).

"Tithes" denote remains.

The nature of celestial and spiritual food can best be known in the other life.

The life of angels and spirits is not sustained by any such food as there is in this world, but by "every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord" as the Lord teaches in Matthew 4:4.

Reception and affection are according to the form of the recipient.

         The truth is that the Lord alone is the life of all, and that from Him come all things both in general and in particular that angels and spirits think, say, and do, and also what evil spirits think, say, and do. The reason why these latter say and do evil things is that they so receive and pervert all the goods and truths that are of the Lord. Reception and affection are according to the form of the recipient.

         This may be compared to the various objects that receive the light of the sun, some of which turn the light received into unpleasing and disagreeable colors, while others turn it into pleasing and beautiful colors, according to the form, determination, and disposition of their parts.

         The whole heaven and the entire world of spirits thus live by everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord, and from this each individual has his life; and not only the whole heaven and the world of spirits, but also the whole human race.

         I know that these things will not be believed, nevertheless from the continuous experience of years I can assert that they are most true. Evil spirits in the world of spirits are not willing to believe that this is so; and therefore it has often been demonstrated to them - to the life - even until they have acknowledged with indignation that it is true. If angels, spirits, and men were deprived of this food they would expire in a moment.

(portions from Arcana Coelestia 56; 671 - 681)

How the Human Race Continues to Exist

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

THROUGH THE CHURCH
THOSE ARE SAVED
WHO ARE OUT OF THE CHURCH

THE SALVATION OF ALL WHO ARE IN GOOD

No others are in the faith of charity than those within the church, for the faith of charity is — truth of doctrine adjoined to good of life.

There is no faith except where there is charity, it is charity itself which is meant in the internal sense by "seed."

SEED — THE FAITH OF CHARITY

It is evident that not only the man who is within the church is meant, but also the man who is without the church, thus the whole human race. Wherever there is charity, even among nations most remote from the church, there is "seed" — for heavenly seed is charity.  No man can do anything of good from himself, but all good is from the Lord.  The good which the Gentiles do is also from the Lord.

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.   (Genesis 3:14, 15)

That the "seed of God" is faith.  By faith there, and elsewhere, is meant the charity from which is faith; for there is no other faith that is faith, than the faith of charity.   (from Arcana Coelestia 1025)

The case is this: The Lord's kingdom on earth consists of all those who are in good, who though scattered over the whole earth, are still one, and as members constitute one body.  Such is the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, where the whole heaven represents one man, which is therefore also called the Grand Man, and what is wonderful and hitherto unknown, all parts of the human body correspond to societies in heaven.

THE SOCIETIES WHICH CONSTITUTE HEAVEN

 

There are three heavens: the First is the abode of good spirits, the Second of angelic spirits, and the Third of angels. And one heaven is more interior and pure than another, so that they are most distinct. Each heaven, the first, the second, and the third, is distinguished into innumerable societies; and each society consists of many individuals, who by their harmony and unanimity constitute as it were one person; and all the societies together are as one man. The societies are distinct from one another according to the differences of mutual love, and of faith in the Lord. These differences are so innumerable that not even the most universal genera of them can be computed; and there is not the least of difference that is not disposed in most perfect order, so as to conspire most harmoniously to a common unity, and the common unity to unanimity of individuals, and thereby to the happiness of all from each, and of each from all. Each angel and each society is therefore an image of the universal heaven, and is as it were a little heaven.   (Arcana Coelestia 684)

And therefore it is sometimes said that some societies belong to the province of the head, some to the province of the eye, others to that of the chest, and so on, which correspondence will of the Lord's Divine mercy be spoken of by itself.

WITHOUT A CHURCH SOMEWHERE ON THE EARTH
THE HUMAN RACE COULD NOT SUBSIST

The case is the same with the Lord's church on earth, where the church is like the heart and lungs; while those outside the church answer to the parts of the body which are supported and live from the heart and lungs. Hence it is manifest that without a church somewhere on the earth the human race could not subsist, as the body could not without the heart and lungs.

From this cause it is that whenever any church is consummated, that is, becomes no church because there is no longer any charity, a new one is of the Lord's providence always raised up; as when the Most Ancient Church called "Man" perished, a new one was created by the Lord, which was called "Noah," and was the Ancient Church that was after the flood; and when this degenerated and became none, the Jewish and Israelitish representative Church was instituted; and when this became altogether extinct, the Lord then came into the world, and set up again a new one; and this for the purpose that there might be conjunction of heaven with the human race through the church.

(from Arcana Coelestia 2853)

The 'Miraculous' Change

Selections from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.  (Genesis 1:26, 27)

In the Most Ancient Church, with the members of which the Lord conversed face to face — the Lord appeared as a Man... On this account they called no one "man" but the Lord Himself, and the things which were of Him; neither did they call themselves "men" but only those things in themselves — as all the good of love and all the truth of faith — which they perceived they had from the Lord. These they said were "of man" because they were of the Lord.  (from Arcana Coelestia 49)

Male and female created He them. What is meant by "male and female" in the internal sense, was well known to the Most Ancient Church, but when the interior sense of the Word was lost among their posterity, this arcanum also perished.

Their marriages were their chief sources of happiness and delight, and whatever admitted of the comparison they likened to marriage, in order that in this way they might perceive its felicity. Being also internal men, they were delighted only with internal things. External things they merely saw with the eyes, but thought of what was represented. So that outward things were nothing to them, save as these could in some measure be the means of causing them to turn their thoughts to internal things, and from these to celestial things, and so to the Lord who was their all, and consequently to the heavenly marriage, from which they perceived the happiness of their marriages to come. The understanding in the spiritual man they therefore called male, and the will female, and when these acted as a one they called it a marriage.  (from Arcana Coelestia 54)

• The state of the Most Ancient Church was such that they had from the Lord a perception of good and the derivative truth.

• The state of the Ancient Church, or "Noah" became such that they had a conscience of good and truth.

Such as is the difference between having perception and having conscience, such was the difference of state of the Most Ancient and the Ancient Churches.

• Perception is not conscience: the celestial have perception; the spiritual have conscience.

The Most Ancient Church was celestial — The Ancient was spiritual.

With the celestial man, who possesses perception from the Lord; for in him particulars and singulars of particulars can be insinuated.

For example:

True marriage is that of one man with one wife; and that such marriage is representative of the heavenly marriage, and therefore heavenly happiness can be in it, but never in a marriage of one man with a plurality of wives.

The spiritual man, who knows this from the Word of the Lord, acquiesces in it, and hence admits as a matter of conscience — that marriage with more wives than one is a sin; but he knows no more.

The celestial man however perceives thousands of things which confirm this general, so that marriage with more wives than one excites his abhorrence.

As the spiritual man knows generals only, and has his conscience formed from these, and as the generals of the Word have been accommodated to the fallacies of the senses, it is evident that innumerable falsities, which cannot be dispersed, will adjoin and insinuate themselves into them.  (from Arcana Coelestia 865)

The Most Ancient Church had immediate revelation from the Lord by consort with spirits and angels, as also by visions and dreams; whereby it was given them to have a general knowledge of what was good and true; and after they had acquired a general knowledge, these general leading principles, as we may call them, were confirmed by things innumerable, by means of perceptions; and these innumerable things were the particulars or individual things of the general principles to which they related. Thus were the general leading principles corroborated day by day; whatever was not in agreement with the general principles they perceived not to be so; and whatever was in agreement with them they perceived to be so. Such also is the state of the celestial angels.

The general principles of the Most Ancient Church were heavenly and eternal truths — as that the Lord governs the universe, that all good and truth is from the Lord, that all life is from the Lord, that man's Own is nothing but evil, and in itself is dead; with many others of similar character. And they received from the Lord a perception of countless things that confirmed and supported these truths. With them love was the principal of faith. By love it was given them of the Lord to perceive whatever was of faith, and hence with them faith was love, as was said before.

But the Ancient Church became entirely different.  (Arcana Coelestia 597)

~~~

And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. ... And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; and with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.  (Genesis 9:1;8,9)

And I, behold, I establish My covenant. That this signifies the presence of the Lord in charity, is evident from the signification of "covenant" — a "covenant" signifies regeneration, and indeed the conjunction of the Lord with the regenerate man by love; and that the heavenly marriage is that veriest covenant itself, and consequently so is the heavenly marriage with every regenerate man.

With the man of the Most Ancient Church the heavenly marriage was in the Own of his will part, but with the man of the Ancient Church the heavenly marriage was effected in the Own of his intellectual part. For when man's will part had become wholly corrupt, the Lord miraculously separated the Own of his intellectual part from that corrupt Own of his will part, and in the Own of his intellectual part He formed a new will, which is conscience, and into the conscience insinuated charity, and into the charity innocence, and thus conjoined Himself with man, or what is the same, made a covenant with him. So far as the Own of man's will part can be separated from this Own of the intellectual part, the Lord can be present with him, or conjoin Himself, or enter into a covenant with him. Temptations and the like means of regeneration cause the Own of man's will part to be quiescent, to become as nothing, and as it were to die. So far as this is done the Lord through conscience implanted in the Own of man's intellectual part can work in charity. And this is what is here called a "covenant."

(Arcana Coelestia 1023)

When Charity is Principle

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?

And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.  (Genesis 15:1-3) 

• In the internal sense are continued the things concerning the Lord after He had endured in childhood the most severe combats of temptations, which were directed against the love which He cherished toward the whole human race, and in particular toward the church; and therefore being anxious concerning their future state a promise was made Him; but it was shown at the same time what the state of the church would become toward its end when it would begin to expire; but that still a new church should revive, which would take the place of the former, and the heavenly kingdom would be immensely increased.

• The Lord's consolation after the combats of temptations.

• The Lord's complaint respecting the church, that it was in externals only.

• These are true historicals, but still each and all of them, even to the least of what was done, are representative; and the words themselves by which they are described, are, as to the smallest iota, significative. That is to say, in each and all of these things there is an internal sense; for each and all of the things contained in the Word are inspired, and being inspired they cannot but be from a heavenly origin; that is, they must necessarily store up within them celestial and spiritual things, for otherwise it could not possibly be the Word of the Lord.

• These are the things contained in the internal sense; and when this sense lies open, the sense of the letter is obliterated, as if there were none; and on the other hand, when attention is given solely to the historical sense or that of the letter, the internal sense is obliterated, as if there were none.



HEAVENLY LIGHT TO THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD


These two are related as is heavenly light to the light of the world; and, conversely, as is the light of the world to heavenly light. When heavenly light appears, then the light of the world is as thick darkness; as has been made known to me by experience; but when anyone is in the light of the world, then heavenly light, if it appeared, would be as thick darkness.

The same as with human minds: to him who places everything in human wisdom, or in memory-knowledges, heavenly wisdom appears as an obscure nothing; but to him who is in heavenly wisdom, human wisdom is as a kind of obscure general affair, which, if there were not heavenly rays in it, would be as thick darkness.

(from Arcana Coelestia 1778-1780; 1783)

~~~

THE CHURCH WAS THEN ONLY IN EXTERNALS

He in these words complained, saying, "Behold, a son of my house is mine heir," by which is signified that there would thus be only what is external [before Ishmael or Isaac] in His kingdom.  But consolation follows, and a promise concerning what is internal, in the verses that follow.

Behold a son of my house is mine heir.  That this signifies that there would be only what is external in the Lord's kingdom, is evident from the signification in the internal sense of an "heir" and of "inheriting."

To become an heir, or to inherit, signifies eternal life in the Lord's kingdom.

All who are in the Lord's kingdom are heirs; for they live from the Lord's life, which is the life of mutual love; and from this they are called sons. The Lord's sons or heirs are all who are in His life, because their life is from Him, and they are born of Him, that is, are regenerate. They who are born of anyone are heirs — and so are — all who are being regenerated by the Lord, for in this case they receive His life.

In the Lord's kingdom there are —

• Those who are external
• Those who are interior
• Those who are internal

• Good spirits, who are in the first heaven, are external
• Angelic spirits, who are in the second heaven, are interior
• Angels, who are in the third, are internal

They who are external are not so closely related or so near to the Lord, as they who are interior; nor are these so closely related or so near to the Lord, as they who are internal.

The Lord, from the Divine love or mercy, wills to have all near to Himself, so that they do not stand at the doors, that is, in the first heaven (see Psalms 84:10).

He wills that they should be in the third; and, if it were possible, not only with Himself, but in Himself. Such is the Divine love, or the Lord's love ...

What pertains to doctrine does not itself make the external, still less the internal, as before said; nor with the Lord does it distinguish churches from each other, but that which does this is a life according to doctrinals, all of which, provided they are true, look to charity as their fundamental.

WHAT IS DOCTRINE BUT THAT WHICH TEACHES HOW A MAN MUST LIVE?

In the Christian world it is doctrinal matters that distinguish churches; and from them men call themselves Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinists, or the Reformed and the Evangelical, and by other names.  It is from what is doctrinal alone that they are so called; which would never be if they would make love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor the principal of faith.  Doctrinal matters would then be only varieties of opinion concerning the mysteries of faith, which truly Christian men would leave to everyone to hold in accordance with his conscience, and would say in their hearts that —

A man is truly a Christian
when he lives as a Christian
that is
as the Lord teaches.

Thus from all the differing churches there would be made one church; and all the dissensions that come forth from doctrine alone would vanish; yea, all hatreds of one against another would be dissipated in a moment, and the Lord's kingdom would come upon the earth.

The Ancient Church just after the flood, although spread through many kingdoms, was yet of this character, that is, men differed much among themselves as to doctrinal matters, but still made charity the principal; and they looked upon worship, not from doctrinal matters which pertain to faith, but from charity which pertains to life. This is meant where it is said (Genesis 11:1), that they all had one lip, and their words were one.

GENESIS 11:1-9

And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. (Genesis 11:1-9)

THE STATE OF THE ANCIENT CHURCH

In this verse, and by these few words, is described THE STATE OF THE ANCIENT CHURCH as it had been, that it had one doctrine in general; but in the following verse it is described how it began to be falsified and adulterated; and from that to the ninth verse, how it became altogether perverted, so that it no longer had any internal worship. Then, a little further on, the subject treated of is the second Ancient Church, that was begun by Eber; and, finally, the third Ancient Church, which was the beginning of the Jewish Church. For after the flood there were three churches in succession.

As regards the first Ancient Church, in that although it was so widely spread over the earth it was still one in lip and one in words, that is, one in doctrine in general and in particular, when yet its worship both internal and external was everywhere different - as shown in the preceding chapter, where by each nation there named a different doctrinal and ritual were signified.  the case is this:

In heaven there are innumerable societies, and all different, and yet they are a one, for they are all led as a one by the Lord.

THE RESULT OF THE MUTUAL LOVE

In this respect the case is the same as it is with man, in whom, although there are so many viscera, and so many little viscera within the viscera, organs, and members, each one of which acts in a different way, yet all and each are governed as a one, by the one soul; or as it is with the body, wherein the activities of the powers and motions are different, yet all are governed by one motion of the heart and one motion of the lungs, and make a one. That these can thus act as a one, comes from the fact that in heaven there is one single influx, which is received by every individual in accordance with his own genius; and which influx is an influx of affections from the Lord, from His mercy, and from His life; and notwithstanding that there is only one single influx, yet all things obey and follow as a one. This is the result of the mutual love in which are they who are in heaven.

THEY ALL HAD ONE DOCTRINE

The case was the same in the first Ancient Church; for although there were as many kinds of worship — some being internal and some external — as in general there were nations, and as many specifically as there were families in the nations, and as many in particular as there were men of the church, yet they all had one lip and were one in words; that is, they all had one doctrine, both in general and in particular.

The doctrine is one when all are in mutual love, or in charity.  Mutual love and charity cause them all to be a one, although they are diverse, for they make a one out of the varieties. All men how many soever they may be, even myriads of myriads, if they are in charity or mutual love, have one end, namely, —

the common good, the Lord's kingdom, and the Lord Himself.

Varieties in matters of doctrine and of worship are like the varieties of the senses and of the viscera in man, as has been said, which contribute to the perfection of the whole. For then, through charity, the Lord inflows and works in diverse ways, in accordance with the genius of each one; and thus, both in general and in particular, disposes all into order, on earth as in heaven. And then the will of the Lord is done, as He Himself teaches, as in the heavens, so also upon the earth.

(from Arcana Coelestia 1799; 1285)

A Church that will Stands Forever

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

During all the days of the earth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease.  (Genesis 8:22)

During all the days of the earth.

That this signifies all time, is evident from the signification of "day" as being a time; wherefore "the days of the earth" here mean all time so long as there is earth [terra], or inhabitant upon the earth [tellure].

An inhabitant first ceases to be on the earth when there is no longer any church. For when there is no church, there is no longer any communication of man with heaven, and when this communication ceases, every inhabitant perishes.

IT IS WITH THE CHURCH —
AS WITH THE HEART AND LUNGS IN MAN

So long as the heart and lungs are sound, so long the man lives; and such also is the case with the Grand Man, which is the universal heaven, so long as the church lives; and therefore it is here said — "during all the days of the earth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."  From this it also may appear that the earth will not endure to eternity, but that it too will have its end; for it is said, "during all the days of the earth" that is, as long as the earth endures.

But as to believing that the end of the earth will be the same thing as the last judgment, foretold in the Word — where the consummation of the age, the day of visitation, and the last judgment are described — this is a mistake; for there is a last judgment of every church when it has been vastated, or when there is no longer in it any faith.

OF THE MOST ANCIENT CHURCH

The last judgment of the Most Ancient Church was when it perished, as in its last posterity just before the flood.

OF THE JEWISH CHURCH

The last judgment of the Jewish Church was when the Lord came into the world.

OF THE PRIMITIVE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

There will also be a last judgment when the Lord shall come in glory; not that the earth and the world are then to perish, but that the church perishes; and then a New Church is always raised up by the Lord; as at the time of the flood was the Ancient Church, and at the time of the coming of the Lord the Primitive Church of the Gentiles.

And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. ... And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

The Abomination of Desolation

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) (see Daniel chapter 2 and 9), then let them which be in Judæa flee into the mountains: let him which is on the house top not come down to take any thing out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. ... For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase [dead body] is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

The Coming of the Son of Man

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.  (from Matthew 24)

A CHURCH THAT WILL ENDURE FOREVER
        — THE NEW JERUSALEM —

And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.  (Daniel 2:43. 44)

So also will there be a New Church when the Lord shall come in glory, which is also meant by the new heaven and new earth, in like manner as with every regenerate man, who becomes a man of the church, or a church, and whose internal man, when he has been created anew, is called a new heaven, and his external man a new earth.

And I saw no temple therein; for the Lord God Almighty is the temple of it, and the Lamb, signifies that in this church there will not be any external separated from the internal, because the Lord Himself in His Divine Human, from whom is the all of the church is alone approached, worshiped, and adored.

By "I saw no temple therein" is not meant that in the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, there will not be temples, but in it there will not be an external separated from the internal. The reason is because by "a temple" is signified the church as to worship, and, in the highest sense, the Lord Himself as to the Divine Human, who is to be worshiped.

And since the all of the church is from the Lord, therefore it is said, "for the Lord God Almighty is the temple of it, and the Lamb" by which is signified the Lord in His Divine Human.

By "the Lord God Almighty" is meant the Lord from eternity who is Jehovah Himself, and by "the Lamb" is signified His Divine Human.   (Apocalypse Revealed 918)

OF EVERY MAN

Moreover there is also a last judgment for every man when he dies, for then, according to what he has done in the body, he is adjudged either to death or to life. That nothing else is meant, consequently not the destruction of the world, by the consummation of the age, the end of days, or the last judgment, is clearly evident from the words of the Lord in Luke:

In that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken and the other shall be left; there shall be two women grinding together, the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left  (Luke 17:34-36)

where the last time is called "night" because there is no faith, that is, no charity; and where by some being "left" it is clearly indicated that the world will not then perish.

(from Arcana Coelestia 931)

Things Signified by 'The Last Judgment'

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

. . . that nation whom they shall serve will I judge (Genesis 15:14)

Will I judge.

That this signifies visitation and judgment, may be seen without explication. By "judging," or "judgment," there is not signified any last judgment, as people in general suppose, that is, that the heaven and the earth are to perish, and that so a new heaven and a new earth will be created, as spoken of in the Prophets and in Revelation; and thus that all things are to perish, which opinion has spread itself so widely that it has even taken possession of the minds of those who are best instructed; and this to such a degree that they do not believe that the dead are to rise except at that time. And therefore because this time was foretold, and still, after so many centuries have since passed by, they see that it has not come and is not at hand, feeling safe they confirm themselves in their assurance that there is no such thing, and therefore that they will not rise again.

But it is to be known that by the last judgment, or by the destruction of heaven and earth, no such thing is meant.

According to the sense of the letter it is so; but not at all according to the internal sense: in this sense the last judgment means the last time of the church — the heaven and earth that will perish, mean the church as to internal and external worship, which becomes NO church when there is NO charity.

There was a last judgment of the Most Ancient Church when all charity and faith had failed, and when there was no perception, as was the case just before the flood. The flood itself was the last judgment of that church; heaven and earth, that is, the church, then perished, and a new heaven and a new earth, that is, a new church, were created, which was called the Ancient Church. This church likewise had its last time, namely, when all charity grew cold and all faith was darkened, which was about the time of Eber. This time was the last judgment of that church; which was the heaven and earth that had perished.

The Hebrew Church was a new heaven and a new earth, and this too had its last time, or last judgment, when it became idolatrous; and then a new church was raised up among the descendants of Jacob, which was called the Jewish Church, and which was a church that was merely representative of charity and faith.

In this church, that is, among the descendants of Jacob, there was neither charity nor faith, and therefore NO church, but only the representative of a church, for the reason that it had become impossible for there to be immediate communication of the Lord's kingdom in the heavens with any true church on earth, and therefore a mediate communication was effected by means of representatives.

The last time of this SO-CALLED church, or its last judgment, was when the Lord came into the world; for the representatives then ceased, that is, the sacrifices and similar rites; and in order that these might cease, the Jews were cast out of the land of Canaan.

After this a new heaven and a new earth were created, that is, a new church, which is to be called the Primitive Church, which was commenced by the Lord, and afterwards gradually became stronger, and which at first was in charity and faith.

The destruction of this church is foretold by the Lord in the Gospels, and by John in Revelation; and this destruction is what is called the Last Judgment.

THE LAST JUDGMENT IN GENERAL

Not that heaven and earth are now to perish, but that in some quarter of the globe a new church will be raised up, the present one remaining in its external worship, as the Jews do in theirs, in whose worship it is well known that there is NOTHING of charity and faith, that is, NOTHING of the church. So far as regards the last judgment in general.

THE LAST JUDGMENT IN PARTICULAR

In particular, there is a last judgment for everyone immediately after he dies; for he then passes into the other life, in which, when he comes into the life that he had had in the body, he is adjudged either to death or to life.

THE LAST JUDGMENT IN SINGULAR

There is also a last judgment in the singular, for with a man who is adjudged to death, every single thing condemns him, for there is nothing in his thought and will, not even the least thing, that does not resemble his last judgment, and that does not drag him to death.

In like manner with the man who is adjudged to life: in him every single thing of his thought and of his will presents an image of his last judgment, and all carry him on to life. For such as is man in general, such is he in the singulars of his thought and of his affection. These are the things that are signified by the last judgment.

(Arcana Coelestia 1850)

How Long Halt Ye Between Two Opinions?

Portions from the Sacred Scriptures ~ 1 Kings

And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

...  And it came to pass after many days, that the Word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.

And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab.

And there was a sore famine in Samaria.

...  And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?

And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim. Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table.

So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto Mount Carmel.

And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, —

How long halt [limp] ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.

And the people answered him not a word.

Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the Name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God.

And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.

And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.

And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.

And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.

And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him.

And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the Word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name: and with the stones he built an altar in the Name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time. And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.

And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, —

LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at Thy Word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.

Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, He is the God; the LORD, He is the God.

And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.

And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.

...  And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time

 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.

(portions from 1 Kings 17, 18, 19)

Is Not Religion a Matter of Life?

Selection from Conjugial Love ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— THE DOCTRINALS OF THE CHURCH WHICH IS MEANT BY THE NEW JERUSALEM —

I. That there is one God, in whom is the Divine Trinity, and that He is the Lord Jesus Christ.

II. That saving faith is to believe in Him.

III. That evils are to be shunned because they are of the devil and from the devil.

IV. That goods are to be done because they are of God and from God.

V. That these are to be done by man as of himself, but that he must believe that they are done by the Lord with him and through him.

God is one, in whom is the Divine Trinity, and He is the Lord Jesus Christ — Is not God one and indivisible? Is there not a Trinity? If God is one and indivisible, is He not one person? If one person, is not the Trinity in that person?

• He was conceived of God the Father (Luke 1:34, 35) so that as to the soul He is God, and hence, as He Himself says: The Father and He are one (John 10:30).

• He is in the Father and the Father in Him (John 14:10, 11).

• He that seeth Him and knoweth Him, seeth and knoweth the Father (John 14:7, 9).

• No one seeth and knoweth the Father but He who is in the bosom of the Father (John 1:18).

• All things of the Father are His (John 3:35; 16:15).

• He is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no man cometh to the Father but by Him (John 14:6).

• He is from Him because He is in Him; and according to the teaching of Paul, that: — In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 2:9).

And besides: —

• He hath power over all flesh (John 17:2)

• He hath all power in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18)

• He is the God of heaven and earth.

Saving faith is to believe in Him —

• This is the will of the Father, that all who believe in the Son shall have everlasting life (John 6:40).

• God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

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

Evils ought to be shunned because they are of the devil and from the devil; goods ought to be done because they are of God and from God. And that these things ought to be done by man as if of himself, yet that he ought to believe that they are done from the Lord with him and through him.

(from Conjugial Love 82)

Three Proofs of True Faith

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

True faith is the ONE ONLY FAITH, which is a faith in the Lord God the Savior Jesus Christ, and this is held by those who believe Him to be the Son of God, the God of heaven and earth, and one with the Father.

True faith is the ONE ONLY FAITH, because faith is truth, and truth cannot be broken or cut into fragments, with one part tending to the left and another to the right, and the truth of it still remain. In a general sense, faith consists of innumerable truths, for it is the complex of them — but these innumerable truths constitute, as it were, a single body, and in that body there are truths that form its members, some forming the members that depend on the chest, as the arms and hands, and others those that depend on the loins, as the legs and feet; while interior truths form the head, and the truths first proceeding from them, form the sensories located in the face. Interior truths form the head because interior means the same as higher; for in the spiritual world whatever is interior is also higher. This is true of the three heavens there. Of that body and of all its members, the Lord God the Savior is the soul and life; and this is why the church was called by Paul "the body of Christ," the men of the church, according to their states of charity and faith, constituting its members. That the true faith is the ONE ONLY FAITH, Paul also teaches thus:

There is one body and one spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God; and He gave some for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come into the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, and into the perfect man, into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:4-13).

BELIEVE THE LORD TO BE THE SON OF GOD

That the true faith, which is the ONE ONLY FAITH, is a faith in the Lord God the Savior Jesus Christ. But those who believe the Lord to be the Son of God also have the true faith, because such believe Him to be God, and unless faith is faith in God it is no faith. That of all the truths that enter into faith and form it, this is the first, is evident from the Lord's words to Peter:

Peter said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, and Jesus answered, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, and I say also unto thee, upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matt. 16:16-18).

By "rock" here and elsewhere in the Word, the Lord in respect to Divine truth is meant, and also Divine truth from the Lord. That this truth is the first truth and is like a diadem on the head and a scepter in the hand of the body of Christ, is evident from the Lord's saying, that upon that rock He would build His church, and the gates of hell should not prevail against it. That this is the first thing in faith, is also evident from these words in John:

Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him and he in God (1 John 4:15).

BELIEVE THE LORD IS THE GOD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

Besides this characteristic of being in the true faith, which is the ONE ONLY FAITH, there is another, which is to believe that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth. This follows from the former, that He is the Son of God; also from the following:

That in Him dwelleth all the fullness of Divinity (Col. 2:9)

That He is the God of heaven and earth (Matt. 28:18)

That all that the Father hath is His (John 3:35; 16:15).

BELIEVE THE LORD TO BE ONE WITH GOD THE FATHER

A third proof that those who believe in the Lord are interiorly in faith in Him, thus in the true faith, which is the ONE ONLY FAITH, is their believing the Lord to be ONE with God the Father. That He is one with God the Father, and that He is the Father Himself in the Human is plainly evident from the words of the Lord Himself:

That the Father and He are one (John 10:30)

That the Father is in Him and He in the Father (John 10:38; 14:10, 11)

That He said to His disciples, that henceforth they had seen and known the Father; and He looked at Philip and said, that he then saw and knew the Father (John 14:7-10).

These three are distinguishing evidences that men have faith in the Lord, and thus the true faith, which is the ONE ONLY FAITH — for not all who approach the Lord have faith in Him.

For true faith is both internal and external, and those who possess these three precious things of faith are in both its internals and its externals so that it is not only a treasure in their hearts, but also a jewel in their mouths.

It is otherwise with those who do not acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven and earth, and as one with the Father. Such look interiorly to other gods also who possess like power, although this power is to be exercised by the Son, either vicariously or as one who on account of redemption is worthy to reign over those whom He has redeemed. These break the true faith in pieces by dividing the unity of God, and when this is done, there is no longer any faith, but only the ghost of it, which when seen naturally looks like some image of it, but seen spiritually, becomes a chimera. Who can deny that the true faith is faith in one God, who is the God of heaven and earth, consequently, a faith in God the Father in a human form, that is, the Lord?

These three marks, testimonies, and indications, that faith in the Lord is faith itself, are like the touch-stones whereby gold and silver are known; or they are like stones or fingerposts by the wayside, pointing the way to the temple where the one and true God is worshiped; or they are like lights on rocks in the sea, whereby those who are sailing at night may know where they are, and to what quarter to direct their ships. The first characteristic of faith, which is that the Lord is the Son of the living God, is like the morning star to all who enter His church.

(from True Christian Religion 379)

Precepts of Regeneration

Selection from A Brief Exposition of
The Doctrine of The New Church ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Truly Saving Faith, which is Faith in One God, united, with good works — is in God the Savior Jesus Christ which in its simple form is as follows:

I. That there is One God in Whom is the Divine Trinity, and He is the Lord Jesus Christ.

II. Saving Faith is to believe in Him.

III. Evils ought to be shunned, because they are of the devil, and from the devil.

IV. Goods ought to be done, because they are of God, and from God.

V. And they ought to be done by man as of himself, but it is to be believed that they are from the Lord, with him and through him.

THIS IS THE FAITH OF THE NEW CHURCH IN ITS SIMPLE FORM

It is necessary that this preliminary concerning that faith should here be briefly illustrated.

• That there is one God, in whom there is the Divine Trinity, and He is the Lord Jesus Christ, is summarily illustrated in the following manner. —

It is a certain and established truth, that God is one, and His essence is indivisible, and that there is a Trinity; since, therefore, God is One, and His essence is indivisible, it follows, that God is one Person, and when He is one Person, that the Trinity is in that Person. That this is the Lord Jesus Christ, appears from this, that He was conceived from God the Father (Luke 1:34, 35); and thus as to His soul and life itself He is God; and therefore, as He Himself said, that:

The Father and He are One (John 10:30).

He is in the Father, and the Father in Him (John 14:10, 11).

He who seeth Him and knoweth Him, seeth and knoweth the Father (John 14:7, 9).

No one seeth and knoweth the Father, but He who is in the bosom of the Father (John 1:18).

All things of the Father are His (John 3:35; 16:15).

He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one cometh unto the Father but by Him (John 14:6);

thus from Him, because He is in Him, and thus is He Himself; and according to Paul that:

All the fulness of the Divinity dwells in Him bodily (Col. 2:9).

And according to Isaiah:

Unto us a Boy is born, unto us a Son is given, whose name is God, Father of Eternity (9:5).

And again, that:

He hath power over all flesh (John 17:2).

And:

He hath all power in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18).

Thence it follows that He is the God of heaven and earth.

• Saving faith is to believe in Him

Jesus said, he that believeth in Me, shall not die to eternity, but shall live (John 11:25, 26).

This is the will of the Father, that everyone who believeth in the Son may have eternal life (John 6:40).

God so loved the world, that He gave His Only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:15, 16).

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

The three remaining propositions, namely, —

• That evils ought to be shunned, because they are of the devil and from the devil;
• That goods ought to be done, because they are of God and from God;
• but that it is to be believed that they are from the Lord, with him and through him.

There is no need to illustrate and demonstrate these; for the whole Sacred Scripture, from beginning to end, proves them, and, in short, teaches nothing else but to shun evils, and do goods, and to believe in the Lord God. Besides, without these three there is not any religion, for religion is of the life; and life is to shun evils and do goods, and man cannot do goods and shun evils except as of himself. Wherefore if these three are removed from the church, the Sacred Scripture, together with religion, is likewise removed at the same time: which being removed the church is not a church.

(from Brief Exposition 43-44)

Freedom of Choice in Spiritual Things

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

IF MEN HAD NOT FREEDOM OF CHOICE IN SPIRITUAL THINGS,
ALL THE INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD MIGHT IN ONE DAY BE LED TO BELIEVE IN THE LORD;

BUT THIS CANNOT BE DONE,

BECAUSE THAT WHICH IS NOT RECEIVED BY MAN WITH FREEDOM OF CHOICE
DOES NOT REMAIN.

That God could, in one day, if freedom of choice in spiritual things had not been given to man, lead all the inhabitants of the world to believe in Him, follows as a true conclusion from the Divine omnipotence when not rightly understood.

Those who do not understand the Divine omnipotence, may suppose either that there is no such thing as order, or that God can act contrary to order as well as according to it; when yet, without order, no creation was possible.

The primary thing of order is for man to be an image of God, consequently, that he be continually perfecting in love and wisdom, and thus becoming that image more and more. To this end God is working continually in man; but this would be in vain, for it would be impossible, if man were destitute of freedom of choice in spiritual things, whereby he could turn to God and reciprocally conjoin himself with God. For there is an order from which and according to which the whole universe, with each and all things in it, was created; and because all creation was effected from that order and according to it God is called order itself. Thus it is the same whether we say, acting contrary to order, or acting contrary to God.

God Himself, even, cannot act contrary to His own Divine order, since this would be to act contrary to His very Self; and therefore He leads every man according to that order which is Himself, guiding the wandering and the fallen into it, and the resisting toward it.

If man could have been created without freedom of choice in spiritual things, what would have been more easy for an omnipotent God than to lead all the inhabitants of the world to believe in the Lord?

Could He not have implanted this faith in everyone, both without means and by means,

• without means by His absolute power and its irresistible operation, which is unceasing in its efforts to save man;
• by means, through torments brought upon man's conscience, or through mortal convulsions of the body and awful threats of death, if he did not receive that faith;

or still further,

• by the opening of hell and the presence of devils therefrom holding frightful torches in their hands, or by calling forth therefrom the dead whom they had known, in the forms of fearful specters? But to all this there is a reply in the words of Abraham to the rich man in hell,

If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead (Luke 16:31).

NO MIRACLES TODAY

It is asked at the present day, why miracles do not take place as formerly; for it is believed that if they were to occur, there would come from everyone a hearty acknowledgment. But miracles are not now wrought as formerly because they compel [belief] and take away man's freedom of choice in spiritual things, and make man natural instead of spiritual.

Everyone in the Christian world, since the Lord's coming, has the ability to become spiritual, and he becomes spiritual solely from the Lord through the Word; but the capacity to become so would perish if man were led to believe through miracles, because, as just said, miracles compel and deprive man of freedom of choice in spiritual things; and everything that is compulsory in such matters betakes itself to the natural man, and closes the door, as it were, to the spiritual man, which is the truly internal man, depriving it of all power to see any truth in clear light, with the result that man then reasons about spiritual things from the natural man alone, which sees everything truly spiritual inversely.

But before the Lord's coming miracles were wrought because the men of the church were then natural men, to whom spiritual things, which belong to an internal church, could not be disclosed; for if these had been disclosed they would have been profaned. Therefore all their worship consisted in rituals which represented and signified the internal things of the church; and they could be led to observe these rituals only by means of miracles; and not even, indeed, by means of miracles, because those representatives had in them a spiritual internal, as is evident from the children of Israel in the desert, who, although they had seen so many miracles in Egypt, and afterward that greatest of miracles upon Mount Sinai, still, after Moses' absence for a month, danced around a golden calf, and shouted that it had led them out of Egypt. In the land of Canaan they acted in a like manner, although they witnessed the great miracles wrought by Elijah and Elisha, and finally the truly Divine miracles by the Lord.

Miracles are not wrought at the present day, especially for the reason that the church has deprived man of all freedom of choice. This it has done by decreeing that man is unable to contribute anything whatever toward the acquisition of faith or toward conversion, or in general toward salvation. The man who accepts this belief becomes more and more natural; and the natural man, as said above, looks at everything spiritual inversely, and consequently thinks in opposition to it. In this case the higher region of the man's mind, where freedom of choice in spiritual things has its primary seat, is thereby closed up, and the spiritual things which miracles seemingly confirm occupy the lower region of the mind, which is merely natural, and the falsities respecting faith, conversion, and salvation, thus remain above this region, and in consequence it comes to pass that satans have their abode above and angels below, like hawks above chickens. Then after a little while the satans break down their bars, and rush forth with fury upon the spiritual things which hold a place below them, not only denying these, but also blaspheming and profaning them; and the result is that the latter state of man becomes worse than the former.

The man who by means of falsities respecting the spiritual things of the church has become natural, must needs think of the Divine omnipotence as superior to order, and thus of a Divine omnipotence without order, in consequence of which he would fall into the following insane thoughts:

• Why the Lord's advent into the world, and why was redemption effected in that way, when by His omnipotence God could have accomplished the same thing out of heaven as well as upon the earth?
• Why might He not by redemption have saved the whole human race without an exception?
• How is it that the devil has since been able to prevail over the Redeemer in man?
• Why is there a hell?
• Could not God have blotted out hell by His omnipotence, and cannot He now do so, or else deliver all men from it, and make them angels of heaven?
• Why a last judgment?
• Cannot God transfer all the goats from His left to His right, and make them sheep?
• Why did He cast down the angels of the dragon and the dragon himself from heaven, instead of changing them into angels of Michael?
• Why does He not to all of these impart faith and impute His Son's righteousness, and thus forgive their sins, and justify, and sanctify them?
• Why does He not cause the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fishes of the sea to talk, give them intelligence, and introduce them along with men into heaven?
• Why did He not, or does He not, make the whole world a paradise, with no tree of the knowledge of good and evil and no serpent in it; and where all the hills would flow with generous wine and produce gold and silver naturally, so that all might live therein with jubilee and song, and thus in perpetual festivity and joy, as images of God?

Would not such things be worthy of an omnipotent God? Besides other like questions.  But, my friend, this is all idle talk.

The Divine omnipotence is not without order; God is Himself Order; and all things were created from order, in order, and for order, because they were created from God. There is an order into which man was created, namely, —

THAT BLESSING OR CURSE DEPENDS FOR HIM
UPON HIS FREEDOM OF CHOICE IN SPIRITUAL THINGS

for, as said above, it is impossible to create a man without freedom of choice, nor even a beast, a bird, or a fish. But beasts have only a natural freedom of choice, while man has not only natural freedom of choice but also spiritual freedom of choice.

(True Christian Religion 500-503)