Charity and Good Works (pt. 1)

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

CHARITY (OR LOVE TO THE NEIGHBOR) AND GOOD WORKS

v Doctrinal Series v

Charity and Good Works (pt. 1)

Having treated of faith, charity now follows, because faith and charity are conjoined like truth and good, and these two like light and heat in spring. This is said because spiritual light, which is the light that goes forth from the sun of the spiritual world, is in its essence truth; and consequently in that world wherever truth appears, it shines with a splendor proportionate to its purity; and spiritual heat, which also goes forth from that sun, in its essence is good. This too is said because it is the same with charity and faith as with good and truth; for charity is the complex of all things pertaining to the good that a man does to his neighbor, while faith is the complex of all things pertaining to the truth that a man thinks respecting God and things Divine.

As, therefore, the truth of faith is spiritual light, and the good of charity spiritual heat, it follows that it is the same with that light and heat as with the light and heat of the natural world, that is to say, as by the conjunction of the latter all things on earth spring forth, so by the conjunction of the former all things spring forth in the human mind; but with the distinction that on the earth this growth is effected by natural heat and light, but in the human mind it is effected by spiritual heat and light, and this latter being spiritual, is wisdom and intelligence. Moreover, as there is a correspondence between these, the human mind in which charity is conjoined with faith and faith with charity is in the Word likened to a garden, and this is what is meant by the garden of Eden. ...

Again, having treated of faith, charity must be treated of for the further reason that otherwise what faith is could not be comprehended, since, as stated and shown in the preceding (Doctrinal Series), faith without charity is not faith, nor is charity without faith charity, and neither of them is living except from the Lord; also that the Lord, charity, and faith make one, like life, will, and understanding, and if they are divided, each perishes, like a pearl reduced to powder; and finally, that charity and faith are together in good works.

(True Christian Religion 392)

To be continued ...

Faith (pt. 46)

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
(Continued pt. 46)

X. WITH THE EVIL THERE IS NO FAITH.

(2)Those in Christendom who reject the Lord and the Word have no faith, although they live morally, and even speak, teach, and write rationally about faith.

This follows as a conclusion from all that precedes; for it has been shown that the true and only faith is faith in the Lord and from the Lord, and that a faith that is not a faith in and from Him, is not a spiritual but a natural faith, and merely natural faith has not the essence of faith in it. Moreover, faith is from the Word; it is from no other source, since the Word is from the Lord, and consequently the Lord Himself is the Word. Therefore He says,

That He is the Word (John 1:1, 2).

From this it follows that those who reject the Word, reject the Lord also; for these cohere as one; also that those who reject either of these also reject the church, since the church is from the Lord through the Word.  Furthermore, that those who reject the church are outside of heaven, since the church introduces into heaven; and those who are outside of heaven are among the damned, and these have no faith. Those who reject the Lord and the Word have no faith, although they live morally, and even speak, teach, and write rationally about faith, for the reason that such have no moral-spiritual life, but only a natural life, and no rational-spiritual mind, but only a natural mind; and merely natural morality and rationality are in themselves dead; therefore as dead men there is no faith in them. A man who is merely natural and in regard to faith is dead may indeed talk and teach about faith, charity, and God, but not from faith, charity, and God. That those alone have faith who believe in the Lord, and that others have not, is evident from the following passages:

He that believeth on the Son is not judged; but he that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18).

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

Jesus said, When the Spirit of truth is come, He will reprove the world of sin, because they believe not on Me (John 16:8, 9);

and to the Jews He said:

Except ye believe that I am, ye shall die in your sins (John 8:24).

Therefore David says:

I will declare the decree Jehovah said unto Me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and ye perish in the way. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him (Ps. 2:7, 12).

That in the consummation of the age, which is the last time of the church, there will be no faith, because there will be no faith in the Lord as the Son of God, the God of heaven and earth, and one with the Father, the Lord foretells in thee Gospels, saying,

That there shall then be an abomination of desolation, and tribulation such as hath not been nor ever shall be, and that the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven (Matt. 24:15, 21, 29).

And in the Apocalypse,

That Satan, loosed out of his prison, shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea (20:7, 8).

And because the Lord foresaw this, He also said:

Howbeit, when the Son of man cometh shall He find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8).

(True Christian Religion 384)

Faith (pt. 45)

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
(Continued pt. 45)

X. WITH THE EVIL THERE IS NO FAITH.

(1) The evil have no faith, since evil belongs to hell and faith to heaven.

Evil belongs to hell, because all evil is from hell; faith belongs to heaven, because all truth that pertains to faith is from heaven. So long as man is living in the world he is kept and walks midway between heaven and hell, and there he is in spiritual equilibrium, which is his freedom of choice. Hell is under his feet and heaven above his head; and whatever comes up from hell is evil and false, while whatever comes down from heaven is good and true. Because man is midway between these two opposites, and at the same time in spiritual equilibrium, he is able to choose, adopt, and appropriate to himself from freedom either the one or the other.

If he chooses evil and falsity he connects himself with hell; if he chooses good and truth he connects himself with heaven.

From this it is clear not only that evil belongs to hell and faith to heaven, but also that the two cannot be together in the same subject, that is, the same man. For if they were together, the man would be drawn in different directions, as if two ropes were tied around him and he were drawn upward by one and downward by the other; and so he would become like a thing suspended in the air. Or he would be as one flying like a blackbird, now upward and now downward, in the former case adoring God, in the latter the devil. Anyone sees that this is profanation. That no man can serve two masters, but will rather hate the one and love the other, the Lord teaches in Matt. (6:24).

That where evil is there is no faith, may be illustrated by various comparisons, such as the following: Evil is like fire (infernal fire is nothing but love of evil), and it consumes faith like stubble, reducing it and all that pertains to it to ashes. Evil dwells in darkness and faith in light; and evil by means of falsities extinguishes faith, as darkness extinguishes light. Evil is black like ink, while faith is white like snow, and clear like water; and evil blackens faith, as ink does snow or water. Moreover, evil and the truth of faith can be joined together only as what is fetid may be mixed with what is fragrant, or urine with flavorous wine; nor can the two exist together except as a noisome corpse in the same bed with a living man; and they can no more dwell together than a wolf can dwell in a sheepfold, a hawk in a dovecote, or a fox in a henhouse.

(True Christian Religion 383)

To be continued...