Nine Questions - Nine Answers

Addendum to the Doctrine of the Lord ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

• QUESTION 1.

In what sense did the Lord call Himself the SON OF MAN, if He took only flesh from the mother, and not a rational soul? Has the human sonship regard solely to the human flesh?

ANSWER.
The Lord called Himself the Son of man because He was the Word or Divine truth even as to the Human; for in the spiritual sense "Son of man" signifies the truth of the church from the Word. The same was signified by "prophet," because the prophets taught truths from the Word; and therefore the Lord, who was a Prophet in a pre-eminent degree, and also the Word, and therefore the Divine truth, called Himself, as to the Human, the Son of man. This is why, in the Prophets and Psalms passim where the vastation of truth in the church is treated of, it is said that the Son of man abides not there; and this also is why the prophets themselves were called sons of man, as Ezekiel in Ezek. 2:1, 3, 6, 8; 3:1, 3-4, 10, 17, 25; and very frequently in the succeeding chapters; and also Daniel. That such is the case has been shown from many passages quoted in the Angelic Wisdom concerning the Lord, which consult if at hand.

• QUESTION 2.

Had the Lord a rational soul from Jehovah the Father, to which was united the Divine Esse, whence He became very God and very Man?

ANSWER.
The Lord from eternity (that is, Jehovah) was Divine love and Divine wisdom, and He then had a Divine Celestial and a Divine Spiritual; but not, before He assumed the Human, a Divine Natural. And as the Rational is predicated solely of the celestial and spiritual Natural, it follows that by the assumption of the Human, Jehovah the Lord did also put on the Divine Rational. He had a Divine Rational before the assumption of the Human, but by means of influx into the angelic heaven; and when He had manifested Himself in this world, He did so by means of an angel whom He filled with His Divinity. For the purely Divine Essence (which as just said was purely Divine celestial and Divine spiritual) transcends both the angelic and the human Rational. But that Divine Rational existed by means of influx. Its nature may be inferred from what is said below on the sixth point. Luther and Melanchthon teach that in Christ Man is God and God is Man, which also is according to Holy Scripture, as may be seen in the True Christian Religion, n. 137. But Calvin denied it, and merely affirmed that Christ is God and Man.

• QUESTION 3.

Was there not always a Trinity in the Divine nature, to be understood in this way: the Divine Love, the Divine Wisdom, and the quickening Spirit, or Holy proceeding?

ANSWER.
The Divine Trinity in one Person is to be understood as soul, body, and proceeding operation, which together constitute one essence, for the one is from the other, and therefore the one belongs to the other. In the same way there is a trinity in each man, which taken together constitutes one person, to wit, the soul, the body, and the operation that goes forth. But in man this trinity is finite, because man is only an organ of life; whereas in the Lord the Trinity is infinite and thus Divine, because the Lord is life itself even in respect to the Human, as He Himself teaches in John 5:26; 14:6; and also elsewhere.

• QUESTION 4.

Does not the Son, by whom Jehovah is said to have created the worlds (Heb. 1:2; 11:3), signify the same as the Divine wisdom in Jer. 10:12; 51:15; so that the essential Wisdom or Logos of God in first principles, is now become the Truth or Logos of God in ultimates?

ANSWER.
That the Lord (that is, the Word or Divine truth through which all things were made that were made, and through which the world was created, John 1:3, 10) was the Divine wisdom which together with the Divine love constitutes one Divine Essence, and thus one and the same God, follows of course; for the Divine wisdom is also the Divine truth, because all things of wisdom are truths, and wisdom produces nothing but truths, for it is their containant, exactly in accordance with Jer. 10:12; 51:15. The same is understood also by the statement that is made in Ps.33:6. The "spirit (or "breath") of Jehovah's mouth" also is wisdom; and the "word" there mentioned is the Divine love and the Divine wisdom together, for it is said, "And God was the Word" (John 1:1).

• QUESTION 5.

Is not the "Holy Spirit" in the New Testament the same as the "Spirit of God" in the Old Testament, with the sole difference that before the Lord's incarnation it proceeded either immediately from the Divine Esse or Jehovah, or mediately through angels, and after the incarnation through the Son or Divine Human? Is not the Holy Spirit the same as the sphere of God?

ANSWER.
The Spirit of God and the Holy Spirit are two distinct things. The Spirit of God neither did nor could operate on man except imperceptibly; whereas the Holy Spirit, which proceeds solely from the Lord, operates on man perceptibly, and enables him to comprehend spiritual truths in a natural way; for the Lord has united the Divine Natural to the Divine Celestial and the Divine Spiritual, and He operates from these two through that. Besides, "Holy" in the Word is predicated solely of Divine truth, thus of the Lord, who is Divine truth not only in the celestial and spiritual but also in the natural sense; and therefore it is said in the Revelation that the Lord alone is Holy (15:3, 4). (See also the Apocalypse Revealed, n. 173.) It is also said in John: "The Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (7:39).

The Holy Spirit is the same as the Divine sphere if by this is meant the Divine love and Divine wisdom, which two proceed from Jehovah the Lord from the sun of the angelic heaven, as do heat and light from the sun of the natural world and constitute its sphere. For in its essence the heat of the sun of the angelic heaven is love, and the light wisdom. And to these two the heat and light of the sun of this world correspond.

• QUESTION 6.

Was the Divine Human of Jehovah, before the incarnation, a Person subsisting per se, as the Manifestation [existere], Form, or Body of God? Or was it an angelic form assumed on occasion for the sake of manifestation? Does it not follow that the Divine Human before the incarnation was different from the Divine Human which now is since the incarnation, seeing that the Divine Trinity is in the Lord's Person?

ANSWER.
Before the incarnation there was not any Divine Human except a representative one by means of some angel whom Jehovah the Lord filled with His Spirit, as has been said above. And as that was representative, all things of the church at that time were representative, and like shadows; but after the incarnation the representatives ceased, like the shades of evening or night at the rising of the sun. That representative Human in which Jehovah then presented Himself in this world before His actual advent, was not of such efficacy as to be able spiritually to enlighten men, and therefore enlightenment was then effected solely by means of types and figures.

• QUESTION 7.

May not the Most Holy Trinity be properly said to be one and the same Lord in three characters, distinctions of offices, or relations toward men, as Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Divine Esse, Divine Human, and Holy proceeding: not as three Persons, out of which there would necessarily be made three Gods?

ANSWER.
The Most Holy Trinity in one Person is to be apprehended as the Divine Esse, the Divine Human, and the Divine proceeding; thus as soul, body, and derivative power [virtus] and operation, precisely as given in the Memorable Relation inserted in the work entitled The True Christian Religion, n. 188. As productions from these there follow in order creation, redemption, and regeneration; for creation is an attribute of the Divine Esse, redemption of the Divine Human from the Divine Esse, and regeneration of the Holy Spirit, which is the primary power [virtus], or operation, by the Divine Human from the Divine Esse, according to what has been advanced in the True Christian Religion, n. 153-155.

• QUESTION 8.

It is said in 1 Cor. 15:45, "The first man Adam was made a living soul;" and in the genealogy in Luke 3, he is placed as the first after God, and it is said, "who was the son of God." Does not the regarding of Adam as a church contradict this?

ANSWER.
In the genealogy in Luke it is said that Adam was "of God, "that is, created by God, and not the son of God.

• QUESTION 9.

If there was no individual called Noah, how comes it to be said in Ezek. 14:14: "Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job," etc.? I lay no great stress on these matters [says Mr. Hartley], but I had a mind to propose them.

ANSWER.
The reason Noah is mentioned in Ezek. 14:14 is that he had been mentioned in Genesis, and consequently the same is signified in the Prophet as in Moses, namely, that the man with his three sons was significative of a subsequent church, on which subject see what has been delivered in the Arcana Coelestia.

(Nine Questions)

Man is Regenerated (Made New) By Temptations

From Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Good cannot be conjoined with truth in the natural man without combats, or what is the same, without temptations.

Man is nothing but an organ, or vessel, which receives life from the Lord; for man does not live from himself.

The life which inflows with man from the Lord is from His Divine love. This love, or the life thence derived, inflows and applies itself to the vessels which are in man's rational, and to those which are in his natural. In consequence of the hereditary evil into which man is born, and of the actual evil which he acquires, these vessels are in a contrary position within him relatively to the inflowing life, yet insofar as the life which flows in can dispose the vessels to receive it, it does so dispose them. These vessels in the rational man, and in the natural, are what are called truths, but in themselves they are merely perceptions of the variations of form of these vessels, and of the changes of state according to which in divers ways these variations come forth, being effected in the most subtle substances, by methods inexpressible. Good itself, which has life from the Lord, or which is life, is that which flows in and disposes.

When therefore these vessels, which are to be varied as to forms, are as before said in a contrary position and direction in respect to the life, it is evident that they must be reduced to a position in accordance with the life, or into compliance with it. This cannot possibly be effected so long as the man is in that state into which he is born, and to which he has reduced himself; for the vessels are not obedient, being obstinately resistant, and hardening themselves against the heavenly order according to which the life acts; for the good which moves them, and with which they comply, is of the love of self and of the world; which good, from the gross heat that is in it, causes them to be of such a quality; and therefore before they can be rendered compliant and fit to receive anything of the life of the Lord's love, they must be softened. This softening is effected by no other means than temptations; for temptations remove all that is of the love of self and of contempt for others in comparison with self, consequently all that is of self-glory, and also of hatred and revenge on this account. When therefore the vessels have been somewhat tempered and subdued by temptations, they begin to become yielding to, and compliant with, the life of the Lord's love, which continually flows in with man.

Hence then it is that good begins to be conjoined with truths; first in the rational man, and afterwards in the natural; for as before said truths are nothing else than perceptions of the variations of form according to states that are continually being changed; and these perceptions are from the life which flows in. This is the reason why man is regenerated, that is, made new, by temptations; or what is the same, by spiritual combats; and that he is afterwards gifted with another nature; being made mild, humble, simple, and contrite in heart. From these considerations it may now be seen what use temptations promote, namely, that good from the Lord may not only flow in, but may also dispose the vessels to obedience, and thus conjoin itself with them. ... ...

But as regards the Lord ... He by the most grievous temptation combats reduced all things in Himself into Divine order, insomuch that there remained nothing at all of the human which He had derived from the mother, so that He was not made new as are other men, but altogether Divine. For the man who is made new by regeneration still retains in himself an inclination to evil, and even evil itself; but is withheld from evil by an influx of the life of the Lord's love, and this with a force exceeding great; whereas the Lord utterly cast out all the evil that was hereditary to Him from the mother, and made Himself Divine, even as to the vessels, that is, as to truths. This is that which in the Word is called "GLORIFICATION."

(Arcana Coelestia 3318)

The Perfection of Life Consists in the Perception of Truth from the Light of Truth

From True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

There are three degrees of love and wisdom, and consequently three degrees of life, and that the human mind is formed into regions, as it were, in accordance with these degrees;

In the highest region life is in its highest degree, in the second region in a less degree, and in the outmost region in the lowest degree. These regions are opened in men successively -

• the outmost region, where there is life in the lowest degree, from infancy to childhood; and this is done by means of knowledges:
• the second region, where there is life in a larger degree, from childhood to youth; and this is done by means of thought from knowledges:
• and the highest region, where there is life in the highest degree, from youth to early manhood and onward; and this is done by means of perceptions of moral and spiritual truths.

It must be further understood that it is not in thought that the perfection of life consists, but in the perception of truth from the light of truth. From this it may be inferred what the differences of life are in men; for there are some who the moment they hear a truth perceive that it is true; and these in the spiritual world are represented by eagles. There are others who have no perception of truth, but reach conclusions by means of confirmations from appearances; and these are represented by singing birds. Others believe a thing to be true because it has been asserted by a man of authority; these are represented by magpies.

Finally, there are some who have no desire and no ability to perceive what is true, but only what is false, for the reason that they are in a delusive light, in which falsity appears to be true, and what is true seems either like something overhead concealed in a dense cloud, or like a meteor, or like something false. The thoughts of these are represented by birds of night, and their speech by screech owls. Of this class those that have confirmed their falsities cannot bear to hear truths, and the moment any truth strikes the ear they repel it with aversion, as a stomach overcharged with bile from nausea vomits its food.

(True Christian Religion 42)