Charity and Good Works (pt. 37)

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Charity and Good Works (pt. 37)
v Doctrinal Series v

XII. THE FIRST THING OF CHARITY IS TO PUT AWAY EVILS;
AND THE SECOND IS TO DO GOODS THAT ARE OF USE TO THE NEIGHBOR

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In the doctrine of charity this holds the first place, that the first thing of charity is not to do evil to the neighbor; and to do good to him holds the second place. This tenet is like a door to the doctrine of charity. It is admitted that evil is firmly seated in every man's will from his birth; and as all evil has relation to man both nearly and remotely, and also to society and one's country, it follows that inherited evil is evil against the neighbor in every degree. A man may see from reason itself, that so far as the evil resident in the will is not put away, the good that he does is impregnated with that evil; for evil is then inside the good, like a kernel in its shell or like marrow in a bone; therefore although the good that is done by such a man appears to be good, still intrinsically it is not good; for it is like a healthy-looking shell containing a worm-eaten kernel, or like a white almond rotten within, with streaks of rottenness extending even to the surface.

Willing evil and doing right are two essentially opposite things; for evil belongs to hatred towards the neighbor and good belongs to love towards the neighbor, or evil is the neighbor's enemy and good is his friend. These two cannot exist in the same mind, that is, evil in the internal man and good in the external; if they do, the good in the external is like a wound superficially healed, within which there is putrid matter. Man is then like a tree with a decayed root, which still produces fruit that outwardly looks like well-flavored and useful fruit, but is inwardly offensive and useless. He is also like rejected scoria, which, being bright on the surface and beautifully colored, may be sold for precious stones; in a word, he is like an owl's egg, which men are made to believe to be a dove's egg.

Man ought to know that the good that a man does by means of his body proceeds from his spirit, or out of his internal man, the internal man being the spirit which lives after death. Therefore when the man [above described] casts off the body which formed his external man, all there is of him is in evils and takes delight in them, and is averse to good as something inimical to his life.

That until evil has been put away man cannot do good that is good in itself the Lord teaches in many places:

Men do not gather the grape from thorns or figs from thistles. A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit (Matt. 7:16-18).

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside of them may become clean also (Matt. 23:25-26).

And in Isaiah:

Wash you, put away the evil of your doings, cease to do evil, learn to do well, seek judgment. Then although your sins have been as scarlet, they shall become as white as snow; although they have been red like crimson, they shall be as wool (Isa. 1:16-18).

(True Christian Religion 435)

Charity and Good Works (pt. 36)

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Charity and Good Works (pt. 36)
v Doctrinal Series v

XI. THE DIVERSIONS OF CHARITY ARE DINNERS, SUPPERS, AND SOCIAL GATHERINGS

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As to social gatherings, they were composed in the primitive church of such as called themselves brethren in Christ; they were therefore assemblies of charity, because there was spiritual brotherhood. They were also a consolation in the adversities of the church, seasons of rejoicing on account of its increase, recreations of mind after study and labor, and at the same time opportunities for conversation on various subjects; and as they flowed from spiritual love as from a fountain, they were rational and moral from a spiritual origin. There are at this day assemblies of friendship, which regard as an end the delights of sociability, the exhilaration of the mind by conversation, the consequent expansion of the feelings and the liberation of imprisoned thoughts, and thus the rekindling of the sensual faculties and the renewal of their state. But as yet there are no gatherings of charity; for the Lord says,

In the end of the age (that is, at the end of the church), iniquity will be multiplied and charity will grow cold (Matt. 24:12).

This is because the church has not yet acknowledged the Lord God the Savior as the God of heaven and earth, and gone to Him directly, from whom alone genuine charity goes forth and flows in. But social gatherings where friendship emulating charity does not bring minds together, are nothing but pretenses of friendship, deceptive attestations of mutual love, seductive insinuations into favor, and sacrifices offered to the delights of the body, especially the sensual, whereby people are carried away like ships by sails and favoring currents, while sycophants and hypocrites stand in the stem and hold the helm.

(True Christian Religion 434)

Charity and Good Works (pt. 35)

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Charity and Good Works (pt. 35)
v Doctrinal Series v

XI. THE DIVERSIONS OF CHARITY ARE DINNERS, SUPPERS, AND SOCIAL GATHERINGS

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It is known that dinners and suppers are everywhere customary, and are given for various purposes, and that with most they are given for the sake of friendship, relationship, enjoyment, gain, and remuneration; also that they are employed for corrupting men and drawing them over to certain parties; and that among the great they are given for the sake of honor, and in kings' palaces for splendor. But dinners and suppers of charity are given only among those who are in mutual love from similarity of faith.

With the Christians of the primitive church dinners and suppers had no other object; they were called Feasts, and were given both in order that they might heartily enjoy themselves, and at the same time be drawn together.

In the first state of the establishment of the church suppers signified consociation and conjunction, because evening, when they took place, signified that state. But in the second state, when the church had been established, there were dinners, for morning and day signified that state. At table they conversed on various subjects, both domestic and civil, but especially on such as pertained to the church. And because they were feasts of charity, whatever subject they talked about, charity with its delights and joys was in their speech.

The spiritual sphere that prevailed at those feasts was a sphere of love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor, which cheered the mind of everyone, softened the tone of every voice, and from the heart communicated festivity to all the senses. For there emanates from every man a spiritual sphere, which is a sphere of his love's affection and its thought therefrom, and this interiorly affects his associates, especially at feasts. This sphere emanates both through the face and through the respiration. It is because dinners and suppers, or feasts, signified such association of minds that they are so frequently mentioned in the Word, and nothing else is there meant by them in the spiritual sense; and the same is meant in the highest sense by the paschal supper among the children of Israel, also by their banquet at other festivities, and by their eating together of the sacrifices near the tabernacle. Conjunction itself was then represented by the breaking and distribution of bread, and by drinking from the same cup and handing it to another.

(True Christian Religion 433)