Charity and Good Works (pt. 23)

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Charity and Good Works (pt. 23)
v Doctrinal Series v

VI. TO LOVE THE NEIGHBOR, VIEWED IN ITSELF,

IS NOT TO LOVE THE PERSON,
BUT THE GOOD THAT IS IN THE PERSON

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Good is the neighbor, because good belongs to the will, and the will is the being [esse] of man's life.

The truth of the understanding is also the neighbor, but only so far as it proceeds from the good of the will; for the good of the will take form in the understanding, and makes itself visible there is the light of reason.

That good is the neighbor is evident from all experience.

Who loves a person except from the quality of his will and understanding, that is, from what is good and just in him?

For example, who loves a king, a prince, a general, a governor, a consul, any magistrate or judge, except for the judgment from which they act and speak? Who loves a primate, a minister of the church, or a canon, except for his learning, his integrity of life, and his zeal for the salvation of souls? Who loves the general of an army or any officer over him, except for bravery combined with prudence? Who loves a merchant except for his honesty? Who loves a workman or a servant, except for his fidelity? Nay, who loves a tree except for its fruit, the soil except for its fertility, a precious stone except for its value? and so on.

And what is remarkable, it is not only the upright man who loves what is good and just in another, the man who is not upright does so also, because with him he is in no fear of losing reputation, honor, or wealth. But the love of good in one who is not upright, is not love of the neighbor; for he loves another interiorly only so far as he is of service to him. But loving what is good in another from the good in oneself is genuine love to the neighbor; for the goods then kiss and mutually unite with each other.

The man who loves good because it is good, and truth because it is truth, loves the neighbor eminently, because he loves the Lord who is good itself and truth itself. There is no love of good and love of truth from good, that is, love to the neighbor, from any other source. Love to the neighbor is thus formed from a heavenly origin. It is the same thing whether you say use or good; therefore performing uses is doing good; and according to the quantity and quality of the use in the good so far in quantity and quality the good is good.

(True Christian Religion 418 - 419)

To be continued ...

Charity and Good Works (pt. 22)

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Charity and Good Works (pt. 22)
v Doctrinal Series v

VI. TO LOVE THE NEIGHBOR, VIEWED IN ITSELF, IS NOT TO LOVE THE PERSON,
BUT THE GOOD THAT IS IN THE PERSON

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Who does not know that a man is not a man because of his having a human face and a human body, but because of the wisdom of his understanding and the goodness of his will? As the quality of these ascends, he becomes the more a man.

At birth man is more a brute than any animal, but he becomes a man through instruction of various kinds by receiving, which his mind is formed, and from his mind and according to it, man is a man.

There are some beasts whose faces resemble the human face, but these enjoy no faculty of understanding or of doing anything from the understanding; but they act from the instinct which their natural love excites. The difference is that a beast expresses by sounds the affections of its love, while man speaks them as they are formulated in thought; also, a beast with his face downward looks upon the ground, while man with his face raised beholds heaven all about him.

From all this it may be inferred that man is a man so far as he speaks from sound reason, and looks forward to his abode in heaven; while so far as he speaks from perverted reason, and looks only to his abode in the world, so far he is not a man. Yet even such are men potentially, though not actually; for every man enjoys the ability to understand truth and to will what is good; but so far as he has no wish to do good or understand truth, he can only counterfeit man in externals and play the ape.

(True Christian Religion 417)

To be continued ...

Charity and Good Works (pt. 21)

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Charity and Good Works (pt. 21)
v Doctrinal Series v

V. THE CHURCH IS THE NEIGHBOR WHO IS TO BE LOVED IN A STILL HIGHER DEGREE,
AND THE LORD'S KINGDOM IN THE HIGHEST DEGREE.

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The Lord's kingdom is the neighbor that is to be loved in the highest degree, because the Lord's kingdom means the church throughout the world, which is called the communion of saints; also heaven is meant by it; consequently he who loves the Lord's kingdom loves all in the whole world who acknowledge the Lord and have faith in Him and charity towards the neighbor; and he loves also all in heaven.

Those who love the Lord's kingdom love the Lord above all things, and are consequently in love to God more than others, because the church in the heavens and on earth is the body of the Lord, for those who are in it are in the Lord and the Lord in them. Therefore love towards the Lord's kingdom is love towards the neighbor in its fullness; for those who love the Lord's kingdom, not only love the Lord above all things, but also love the neighbor as themselves; for love to the Lord is a universal love, and consequently is in each thing and all things of spiritual life, and in each thing and all things of natural life; for that love has its seat in the highest things in man, and things highest flow into lower things and vivify them, as the will flows into all things of intention and of action therefrom, and the understanding into all things of thought and of speech therefrom. Therefore the Lord says:

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you (Matt. 6:33).

That the kingdom of the heavens is the Lord's kingdom is evident from these words in Daniel:

Behold, there was coming with the clouds of heaven one like unto the Son of Man; and there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom; and all peoples, nations, and languages shall worship Him. His dominion is a dominion of ages, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed (Dan. 7:13-14).

(True Christian Religion 416)

To be continued ...