Perception and Reception - Intelligence and Wisdom

From Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

... all intelligence and wisdom are from Divine truths according to the perception of them and their reception in the life.

To see truths, and to see what they are, is of perception; and to live according to them is of reception; and according to perception and reception there is intelligence and wisdom.

Intelligence and wisdom which are not from Divine truths, but from worldly things only, are not intelligence and wisdom but merely knowledge [scientia] and thence a faculty to reason; for intelligence is seeing inwardly in oneself whether a thing be true or not; but they who are wise from worldly things only do not see truths inwardly in themselves, but from others; and to see from others is merely to know [scire]; and such things come no farther under the mind's vision than that they may be confirmed. In such a state are most persons at this day within the church who make faith alone, separate from life, to be saving; consequently truths do not enter into their spirit, but merely into the memory of the natural man; and yet the light of heaven, which is Divine truth, can enter by no other way with man than by the way of his spirit, which is also the way of his soul; and man's spirit is such as his life is, but not such as his memory apart from his life is; and the light of heaven enters into man's spirit when he is in the good of love and of charity from the Lord, and when he is in that good he is also in faith.

(Apocalypse Explained 198)

God Blessed - The Presence and Grace of the Lord

From Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

That "God blessed" signifies the presence and grace of the Lord, is evident from the signification of "to bless."

"To bless" in the Word, in the external sense signifies to enrich with every earthly and corporeal good, according to the explanation of the Word given by those who abide in the external sense - as the ancient and modern Jews, and also Christians, especially at the present day - wherefore they have made the Divine blessing to consist in riches, in an abundance of all things, and in self-glory.

But in the internal sense, "to bless" is to enrich with all spiritual and celestial good, which blessing is and never can be given except by the Lord, and on this account it signifies His presence and grace, which necessarily bring with them such spiritual and celestial good. It is said presence, because the Lord is present solely in charity, .... The Lord is indeed present with every man, but in proportion as a man is distant from charity, in the same proportion the presence of the Lord is - so to speak - more absent, that is, the Lord is more remote.

The reason why grace is mentioned, and not mercy, is for the reason - which as I conjecture, has been hitherto unknown - that celestial men do not speak of grace, but of mercy, while spiritual men do not speak of mercy, but of grace. This mode of speaking is grounded in the circumstance that those who are celestial acknowledge the human race to be nothing but filthiness, and as being in itself excrementitious and infernal; wherefore they implore the mercy of the Lord, for mercy is predicated of such a condition. Those, however, who are spiritual, although they know the human race to be of such a nature, yet they do not acknowledge it, because they remain in their Own, which they love, and therefore they speak with difficulty of mercy, but easily of grace. This difference in language results from the difference in the humiliation. In proportion as anyone loves himself, and thinks that he can do good of himself, and thus merit salvation, the less capable is he of imploring the Lord's mercy. The reason why some can implore grace is that it has become a customary form of speaking, in which there is but little of the Lord and much of self, as anyone may discover in himself while he names the grace of the Lord.

(Arcana Coelestia 981)

What Love Dictates

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

What are truths of faith from love?

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.  (Matt 22:37-40)

Truths of faith from love are truths which love dictates, thus which derive their being from love.  These truths are living, because the things which are from love are living.  Consequently the truths of faith from love are those which treat of love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, for these are the truths which love dictates. The whole Word is the doctrine of such truths; for in its spiritual sense the Word treats solely of things which belong to the Lord and the neighbor, thus which belong to love to the Lord and toward the neighbor. It is from this that the Word is living. This is meant by the statement that "on these two commandments hang the Law and the Prophets" (Matt. 22:34-40); "the Law and the Prophets" denote the Word in its whole complex.

But truths of faith from love are not bare knowledges of such things with man in the memory, and from this in the understanding; but they are affections of life with him; for the things which a man loves and therefore does, are of his life. There are also truths of faith which do not, like the former, treat of love; but which merely confirm these truths more nearly, or more remotely. These truths of faith are called secondary truths.

For the truths of faith are like families and their generations in succession from one father. The father of these truths is the good of love from the Lord and consequently to Him, thus it is the Lord; for whether we say the Lord, or love from Him and consequently to Him, it is the same thing; because love is spiritual conjunction, and causes Him to be where the love is; for love causes him who is loved to be present in itself.

(Arcana Coelestia 9841)