Charity and Good Works (pt. 24)

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Charity and Good Works (pt. 24)
v Doctrinal Series v

VII. CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS ARE TWO DISTINCT THINGS,
LIKE WILLING WELL AND DOING WELL

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In every man there is an internal and an external. His internal is what is called the internal man, and his external what is called the external man. But one who does not know what the internal man and the external man are, may suppose that it is the internal man that exercises thought and will, and the external that speaks and acts. These latter belong, indeed, to the external man, and the former to the internal; yet they are not what essentially constitute the external and internal man.

In common perception indeed man's mind is his internal man, but the mind is itself divided into two regions; the one region which is higher and more internal is spiritual; and the other which is lower and more external is natural.

The spiritual mind looks mainly to the spiritual world, and has for its objects the things that are there, either such as are in heaven or such as are in hell; for both are in the spiritual world. But the natural mind looks mainly to the natural world, and has for its objects the things that are there, whether good or evil.

All of man's action and speech proceeds from the lower region of the mind directly, and indirectly from its higher region, since the lower region of the mind is nearer to the bodily senses, and the higher region more remote from them. There is this division of the mind in man, because he was so created as to be both spiritual and natural, and thus a man and not a beast.

All this makes clear that the man who looks primarily to himself and the world is an external man, because he is natural, not only in body but also in mind; while the man who looks primarily to the things of heaven and the church is an internal man, because he is spiritual both in mind and body.

He is spiritual even in body, because his actions and words proceed from the higher mind, which is spiritual, through the lower, which is natural. For it is known that effects proceed from the body, and the causes that produce the effects proceed from the mind; also that the cause is everything in the effect.

That the human mind is so divided is clearly evident from the fact that a man can act the part of a dissembler, a flatterer, a hypocrite, or an actor; and that he can assent to what another says and yet laugh at it; doing one from the higher mind and the other from the lower.

(True Christian Religion 420)

To be continued ...

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 ...