November 23, 2018

THE INTERNAL AND THE EXTERNAL MAN (pt. 2)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
THE INTERNAL AND THE EXTERNAL MAN
(pt. 2)

Every man has an internal and an external; but they differ with the good and the evil. With the good, the internal is in heaven, and in its light, and the external is in the world, and in its light, which light with them is illumined by the light of heaven, so that the internal and the external act as one, like the efficient cause and the effect, or like what is prior and what is posterior.

But with the evil, the internal is in the world, and in its light; as is also the external; for which reason they see nothing from the light of heaven, but only from the light of the world, which they call the light of nature.

Hence it is that to them the things of heaven are in thick darkness, whilst the things of the world are in light.

From this it is manifest that the good have both an internal and an external man, but that the evil have not an internal man, but only an external.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 37)
In the manuscript, the author, Emanuel Swedenborg, annexed to each section of the doctrine extracts from the Arcana Coelestia, because in the Arcana Coelestia the same things are more fully explained. Arcana Coelestia is available in print or online.

November 22, 2018

THE INTERNAL AND THE EXTERNAL MAN (pt. 1)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
THE INTERNAL AND THE EXTERNAL MAN
(pt. 1)

Man is so created as to be in the spiritual world and in the natural world at the same time. The spiritual world is where the angels are, and the natural world where men are. As man is so created, there has been given to him an internal and an external; an internal by which he is in the spiritual world, and an external by which he is in the natural world. His internal is what is called the internal man, and his external is what is called the external man.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 36)
In the manuscript, the author, Emanuel Swedenborg, annexed to each section of the doctrine extracts from the Arcana Coelestia, because in the Arcana Coelestia the same things are more fully explained. Arcana Coelestia is available in print or online.

November 21, 2018

THE WILL AND THE UNDERSTANDING (pt. 4)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
THE WILL AND THE UNDERSTANDING
(pt. 4)

They who are in good and truth have will and understanding, but they who are in evil and in falsity have not will and understanding; but instead of will they have cupidity, and instead of understanding they have science.

For the truly human will is the receptacle of good, and the understanding is the receptacle of truth; for which reason will cannot be predicated of evil, nor can understanding be predicated of falsity, because they are opposites, and opposites destroy each other.

Hence it is, that the man who is in evil and thence in falsity, cannot be called rational, wise, and intelligent.

With the evil, also, the interiors of the mind, in which the will and the understanding principally reside, are closed.

It is believed that the evil also have will and understanding, because they say that they will, and that they understand; but their willing is only cupidity, and their understanding is only knowing.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 33)
In the manuscript, the author, Emanuel Swedenborg, annexed to each section of the doctrine extracts from the Arcana Coelestia, because in the Arcana Coelestia the same things are more fully explained. Arcana Coelestia is available in print or online.