Man's Part in the Removal of Evil

Passages from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Evils in the external man can be put away only by man's instrumentality, because it is of the Lord's Divine providence that whatever man hears, sees, thinks, wills, speaks, and does, seems to him to be wholly his own. Without this appearance there could be in man no reception of Divine truth, no determination towards doing good, no appropriation of love and wisdom or of charity and faith, and therefore no conjunction with the Lord, consequently no reformation and regeneration and thus salvation. Without this appearance repentance from sins, and even faith, are evidently impossible. It is also evident that without this appearance a man would not be a man, but would be devoid of natural life like a beast. Let any one who will consult his reason and see, when a man thinks about good and truth, spiritual, moral, or civil, whether there is any other appearance than that he thinks from himself; let him then accept this doctrinal, that everything good and true is from the Lord and nothing from man; and will he not acknowledge this consequence,

that man must do good and think truth as if of himself, and yet must acknowledge that he does it from the Lord; and furthermore, that man must put away evils as if of himself and yet must acknowledge that he does it from the Lord?

Many are not aware that they are in evils, inasmuch as they do not do them outwardly because they fear the civil laws and the loss of reputation, and thus from custom and habit fall into the way of shunning evils as detrimental to their honor and profit. But when evils are not shunned from a religious principle, on the ground that they are sins and antagonistic to God, the lusts of evil with their enjoyments still remain, like impure waters confined and stagnant. Let such examine their thoughts and intentions, and they will find these lusts, provided they know what sins are.

This is the state of many who have confirmed themselves in faith separate from charity, who, believing that the law does not condemn them, do not even think about sins; and some question whether there are any sins in them, or if there are, whether they are sins before God, since they have been pardoned. In a like state also are natural moralists, who believe that civil and moral life with its prudence accomplishes everything and Divine providence nothing. Such also are those who strive with great eagerness after a reputation and name for honesty and sincerity for the sake of honor or gain. But those who are of this character, and who have also despised religion, become after death spirits of lusts, appearing to themselves as if they were men, but to others at a distance like treacherous forms (priapi*); and like birds of night they see in the dark and not in the light.

(Divine Providence 116 - 117)

* a god, son of Dionysus and Aphrodite, personifying the male procreative power; an image of this god, often used as a scarecrow in ancient gardens.

Those Led By Their Own Loves

Selection from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Those who are led by themselves and by their own loves do not believe in the Lord, for to believe in the Lord is from Him, and not from self. From this it is also that such persons make of no account the union of His Human with the Divine Itself, and also of regeneration by the Lord; and thus also make of no account the truths of the church; for they say to themselves, "Of what value are such things?" Or, "What does it matter whether we know them? or even think them, and desire them? Are we not still alive, like other people? What difference is there?" The reason why they so think is that they think from the life of the world, and not from the life of heaven. The life of heaven is a thing unknown to them, and no one can think from what is unknown; and therefore such people cannot be saved, because they have not heaven in them, and therefore they cannot be in heaven, for their interiors are not in agreement with it. For unless these have been disposed by the Lord according to the image of heaven, there is no conjunction with heaven.

(from Arcana Cœlestia 10731)

The Abuse of Good Divine

Selection from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.                            Matthew 6:24-34

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It is termed "abuse," when there arises what is alike in ultimates, but from a contrary origin.

Good arises from a contrary origin, when it does so from man, and not from the Lord; for the Lord is good itself, consequently He is the source of all good.

The good which is from Him has in it what is Divine; thus it is good from its inmost and first being; whereas the good which is from man is not good, because from himself man is nothing but evil; consequently the good which is from him is in its first essence evil, although in the outward form it may appear like good. The case herein is like that of flowers painted upon a tablet, as compared with the flowers that grow in a garden. These flowers are beautiful from their inmosts; for the more interiorly they are opened, the more beautiful they are; whereas the flowers painted on a tablet are beautiful only in the outward form, and as to the inward one are nothing but mud and a mixture of earthy particles lying in confusion, as the Lord also teaches when He says of the lilies of the field that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these (Matt. 6:29).

Such is the case with the good that is from man in comparison with the good that is from the Lord. A man cannot know that these goods are so different from each other, because he judges from outward things; but the angels well perceive whence comes the good with a man, and consequently what is the nature of it. The angels who are with a man are in good from the Lord, and as it were dwell therein; but they cannot be in the good that is from a man; they remove themselves from it as far as they can, because inmostly it is evil.

Good from the Lord has heaven in it, for this good is the form of heaven in an image, and in its inmost it stores up the Lord Himself, because in all the good that proceeds from the Lord there is a semblance of Himself, and consequently a semblance of heaven; whereas in the good that is from a man there is a semblance of the man, and as from himself a man is nothing but evil, there is a semblance of hell in it.

So great is the difference between good from the Lord, and good from man.

Good from the Lord is with those who love the Lord above all things and the neighbor as themselves; but good from man is with those who love themselves above all things and despise the neighbor in comparison with themselves. These are they who have care for the morrow, because they trust in themselves; but the former are they who have no care for the morrow, because they trust in the Lord.

They who trust in the Lord continually receive good from Him; for whatsoever happens to them, whether it appears to be prosperous or not prosperous, is still good, because it conduces as a means to their eternal happiness.

But they who trust in themselves are continually drawing evil upon themselves; for whatever happens to them, even if it appears to be prosperous and happy, is nevertheless evil, and consequently conduces as a means to their eternal unhappiness.

( Arcana Cœlestia 8480)