Charity and Good Works (pt. 4)

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Charity and Good Works (pt. 4)
v Doctrinal Series v

I. THERE ARE THREE UNIVERSAL LOVES:
THE LOVE OF HEAVEN, THE LOVE OF THE WORLD, AND THE LOVE OF SELF.

That these three loves reside in every man from creation and therefore from birth, and that when rightly subordinated they perfect him, and when not, they pervert him.... It may serve for the present merely to state, that-

these three loves are rightly subordinated when the love of heaven forms the head, the love of the world the breast and abdomen, and the love of self the feet and their soles.

... the human mind is divided into three regions.

From the highest region man looks to God, from the second or middle region to the world, and from the third or lowest to himself.

The mind being such it can be raised and can raise itself upward, because to God and to heaven; it can be extended and can extend itself to the sides in all directions, because into the world and its nature; and it can be let downward and let itself downward, because to earth and to hell. In these respects the bodily vision emulates the mind's vision; it also can look upward, round about, and downward.

The human mind is like a house of three stories which communicate by stairs-

in the highest of which angels from heaven dwell, in the middle men in the world, and in the lowest one, genii.

The man in whom these three loves are rightly subordinated can ascend and descend in this house at his pleasure; and when he ascends to the highest story, he is in company with angels as an angel; and when he descends from that to the middle story he is in company with men as an angel man; and when from this he descends still further, he is in company with genii as a man of the world, instructing, reproving, and subduing them.

In the man in whom these three loves are rightly subordinated, they are also coordinated thus:

The highest love, which is the love of heaven, is inwardly in the second, which is the love of the world, and through this in the third or lowest, which is the love of self; and the love that is within directs at its will that which is without.

So when the love of heaven is inwardly in the love of the world, and through this in the love of self, man from the God of heaven, performs uses in each.

In their operation these three loves are like will, understanding, and action-

the will flows into the understanding, and there provides itself with the means whereby it produces action.

But on these points more will be seen ... that these three loves, when rightly subordinated, perfect man, but when not rightly subordinated, pervert and invert him.

In order that what follows ... may be so presented in the light of reason as to be clearly seen, it is necessary to premise something respecting the will and understanding, good and truth, love in general, the love of the world and love of self in particular, the external and internal man, and the merely natural and sensual man. These things must be made clear, that the rational sight of man, in his perception of what follows further on, may not be as it were in a dense fog, and in that state be like one wandering through the streets of a city until he knows not the way home. For what is theology separated from the understanding, or with the understanding not enlightened when the Word is read, but like a lamp in the hand giving no light, such as were those of the five foolish virgins who had no oil?

(True Christian Religion 395 - 396)

To be continued ...

Charity and Good Works (pt. 3)

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Charity and Good Works (pt. 3)
v Doctrinal Series v

I. THERE ARE THREE UNIVERSAL LOVES:
THE LOVE OF HEAVEN, THE LOVE OF THE WORLD, AND THE LOVE OF SELF.

These three loves must first be considered for the reason that these three are the universal and fundamental of all loves, and that charity has something in common with each of them.

• The love of heaven means both love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor; and as each of these looks to use as its end, the love of heaven may be called the love of uses.

• The love of the world is not merely a love of wealth and possessions, but is also a love of all that the world affords, and of all that delights the bodily senses, as beauty delights the eye, harmony the ear, fragrance the nostrils, delicacies the tongue, softness the skin; also becoming dress, convenient houses, and society, thus all the enjoyments arising from these and many other objects.

• The love of self is not merely the love of honor, glory, fame, and eminence, but also the love of meriting and seeking office, and so of ruling over others.

Charity has something in common with each of these three loves, because viewed in itself charity is the love of uses; for charity wishes to do good to the neighbor, and good and use are the same, and from these loves everyone looks to uses as his end; the love of heaven looking to spiritual uses, the love of the world to natural uses, which may be called civil, and the love of self to corporeal uses, which may also be called domestic uses, that have regard to oneself and one's own.

(True Christian Religion 394)

To be continued ...

Charity and Good Works (pt. 2)

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. 2)

It is an unchanging truth, that, for man to have spiritual life, and therefore salvation, faith and charity must not be separated. This is self-evident to any man's understanding, even if it is not enriched with the treasures of learning.

When one hears it said, that whoever lives well and believes aright is saved, does he not see this from a kind of interior perception and therefore assent to it with his understanding? And when he hears it said that he who believes aright and does not live well is also saved, does he not reject it from his understanding, as he would a piece of dirt falling into his eye? For from interior perception the thought instantly occurs, How can anyone believe aright when he does not live well? In that case, what is believing but a painted picture of faith, and not its living image?

So again, if anyone hears it said, that whoever lives well is saved, although he does not believe, does not the understanding, while reflecting upon this or turning it over and over, see, perceive and think, that this also is not consistent, since right living is from God, because all good that is essentially good is from God? What then is living aright and not believing, but like clay in the hands of a potter, which cannot be formed into a vessel that would be of use in the spiritual kingdom, but only in the natural?

Furthermore, cannot anyone see a contradiction in these two statements, namely, that he is saved who believes but does not live well, and that he is saved who lives well but does not believe? Since, then, living well, which pertains to charity, is at this day both understood and not understood - living well naturally being understood, while living well spiritually is not - therefore this subject, because it pertains to charity, shall be treated of, and this shall be done under a series of distinct propositions.

(True Christian Religion 393)

To be continued ...