The Divine Good of Love from The Lord in Heaven and in the Church

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Whatever represents the Lord represents Him also in the men of the church and in the angels of heaven, thus it represents heaven and the church, because the men in whom the church is constitute the church in general, and the angels in whom heaven is constitute heaven in general. Nevertheless, regarded in themselves, the men themselves do not constitute the church, but the Lord in them; and so neither do the angels regarded in themselves constitute heaven, but the Lord in them. For the Lord does not dwell in anything of the man's or angel's own but in His own with them. Hence it is that when the church and heaven are spoken of, the Divine of the Lord is meant with those who are there, from which it is plain how it ought to be apprehended that the Lord is the all in all of heaven and the church, and that the Lord Himself is heaven and the church. This is also evident from the doctrine known and received in the Christian world, that all the good of faith and of love is from God, and nothing from man and that whatever is from man as from himself is not good. Hence also it is that no one has merit or righteousness from anything of his own.

These things have been said in order that it may be known what the Lord is in heaven and in the church, thus what heaven and the church are.

What representative of Him is meant by the altar and its anointing —

All things were anointed that were to represent the Lord and the Divine things which are from the Lord, as the altar, the Tent of meeting, the tables which were therein, the lampstand, the ark, Aaron himself, his sons, and their garments, and when these were anointed, they were called holy. Not that the oil induced any holiness, but because they thus represented Divine things from the Lord, which alone are holy. Oil was employed for this use because "oil" signified the good of love, and the Divine good of the Divine love is the Divine Itself, for it is the Being itself of all things; and so in order to represent it, inauguration was effected by means of oil.

The Divine Itself which is the Being of all things was in the Lord alone, for He was conceived of Jehovah; and every man has from his father the being of his life, which is called his soul. From this it is evident that the Divine good of the Divine love was in the Human of the Lord as the soul of a father is in a son.

And as with man nothing lives but his soul, for the body without the soul does not live, and because everything of the body is produced from the soul, thus after its image, in order that the soul may be in a state that is adapted and accommodated to its functions in the ultimates of order, which are in the world, it hence follows that the Being itself in the Human of the Lord was Jehovah, which is the Divine good of the Divine love. And that which is the Being of life makes everything that comes forth from It after Its own likeness, and so the Lord, from the Divine Itself which was in Him, thus which was His, made also His Human the Divine good of the Divine love.

Moreover, it is said in the Athanasian Creed, which contains the faith received throughout the Christian world, "As the body and the soul is one man, so the Divine and the Human in the Lord is one Christ." He therefore who is acquainted with the union of the soul in the body, and the image of the former in the latter, may in some measure know the union of the Divine and the Human in the Lord, and the image of the one in the other, and from this he might know that the Divine which is called the Father, and the Human which is called the Son, were one, and the one in the other, that is, the Father in Him and He in the Father, according to the Lord's words in John 10:30; 14:10, 11.

I and the Father are one. (John 10:30)

Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. (John 14:10-11)

But as at this day it is not known what the soul is, and scarcely that it is from the father, and that the body is its image, and that the two are one as are the prior and the posterior, or as being and that which comes forth from it, therefore man has separated the Divine from the Human in the Lord, and has distinguished them into two natures, and from this has conceived no other idea of the Human of the Lord than as of the human of a man, when yet the soul of a man is finite from his father, and has evil in it by inheritance. Whereas the soul of the Lord, being from Jehovah, was infinite, and was nothing else than the Divine good of the Divine love, and consequently after glorification His Human was not like the human of a man.

For this reason the Lord took up into heaven all His Human glorified, that is, made Divine from Himself, and left nothing of it in the sepulchre, otherwise than is the case with man. That the Lord glorified His very body even to its ultimates which are the bones and the flesh, the Lord also manifested to His disciples, saying, "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Feel Me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have" (Luke 24:39); and yet He entered through doors that were shut, and after He had manifested Himself became invisible (John 20:19; Luke 24:31). These things have been said in order that it may be known that the Lord alone as to His Human was the Anointed of Jehovah, not indeed anointed with oil, but with the Divine good itself of the Divine love, which is signified by "oil," and which was represented by anointing.

(from Arcana Coelestia 10125)

What The Church Is

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

That which makes heaven with man also makes the Church, for the Church is the Lord's heaven on earth.

That is called the Church where the Lord is acknowledged, and where the Word is; for the essentials of the Church are love to the Lord from the Lord, and faith in the Lord from the Lord; and the Word teaches how a man must live in order that he may receive love and faith from the Lord.

The Lord's Church is internal and external —
• Internal with those who do the Lord's commandments from love, for these are they who love the Lord  • External with those who do the Lord's commandments from faith, for these are they who believe in the Lord.

In order that the Church may exist — there must be doctrine from the Word, because without doctrine the Word is not understood. Yet doctrine alone in a man does not make the Church in him but a life according thereto. From this it follows that faith alone does not make the Church but the life of faith which is charity.

The genuine doctrine of the Church is the doctrine of charity and at the same time of faith, and not the doctrine of faith without that of charity; for the doctrine of charity and at the same time of faith is the doctrine of life; but not the doctrine of faith without the doctrine of charity.

Those who are outside the Church, and yet acknowledge one God, and live according to their religion in a kind of charity toward the neighbor, are in communion with those who are of the Church, because no one is condemned who believes in God, and lives well. From this it is evident that the Lord's Church is everywhere in the whole world, although specifically it is where the Lord is acknowledged, and where the Word is.

Everyone in whom the Church is, is saved. But everyone in whom the Church is not, is condemned.

(from Arcana Coelestia 10760-10766)

Degrees of Love to the Neighbor

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Every man individually is the neighbor who is to be loved, but according to the quality of his good.

Man is born not for the sake of himself but for the sake of others; that is, he is born not to live for himself alone but for others; otherwise there could be no cohesive society, nor any good therein.

It is a common saying that every man is a neighbor to himself, but the doctrine of charity teaches how this is to be understood, namely, —

that everyone should provide for himself the necessaries of life, as food, clothing, a dwelling, and other things which are necessarily required in the social life in which he is, and this not only for himself, but also for his family, nor for the present alone, but also for the future. For unless a man acquires for himself the necessaries of life, he is not in a condition to exercise charity, since he is in want of everything.

But how every man ought to be a neighbor to himself may be seen from the following comparison —

Every man ought to provide his body with food; this must be first, but the end should be that he may have a sound mind in a sound body, and every man ought to provide his mind with food, namely, with such things as pertain to intelligence and judgment, but the end should be that he may thereby be in a state to serve his fellow-citizens, society, his country, the church, and thus the Lord.

He who does this provides well for himself to eternity. From this it is plain what is first in time, and what is first in end, and that the first in end is that to which all things look.

It is also like building a house; first the foundation must be laid, but the foundation must be for the house, and the house for a dwelling place.

He who believes himself to be a neighbor to himself in the first place or primarily, is like one who regards the foundation, not the dwelling, as the end; and yet the dwelling is itself the first and the last end, and the house with its foundation is only a means to the end.

What it is to love the neighbor shall be explained.

To love the neighbor is not alone to wish well and do good to a relative, a friend, or a good man, but also to a stranger, an enemy, or a bad man. But charity is to be exercised toward the latter in one way and toward the former in another; toward a relative or friend by direct benefits; toward an enemy or a bad man by indirect benefits, which are rendered by exhortation, discipline, punishment, and consequent amendment. This may be illustrated thus —

A judge who punishes an evil-doer in accordance with law and justice, loves his neighbor; for so he makes him better, and consults the welfare of the citizens that he may not do them harm. Everyone knows that a father who chastises his children when they do wrong, loves them, and that, on the other hand, he who does not chastise them therefore, loves their evils, and this cannot be called charity.

Again

if a man repels an insulting enemy, and in self-defense strikes him or delivers him to the judge in order to prevent injury to himself, and yet with a disposition to befriend the man, he acts from a charitable spirit. Wars that have as an end the defense of the country and the church, are not contrary to charity.

The end in view declares whether it is charity or not.

Since, therefore, charity in its origin is good will, and good will has its seat in the internal man, it is plain that when anyone who has charity resists an enemy, punishes the guilty, and chastises the wicked, he does this by means of the external man; and therefore, after he has done it he returns to the charity that resides in his internal man, and then, so far as he can, and so far as is useful, he wishes him well, and from good will does good to him. Those who have genuine charity have a zeal for what is good, and that zeal may appear in the external man like anger and flaming fire; but its flame dies out and is quieted as soon as his adversary returns to reason. It is different with those who have no charity. Their zeal is anger and hatred; for by these their internal man is heated and set on fire.

Before the Lord came into the world scarcely anyone knew what the internal man is or what charity is, and this is why in so many places He taught brotherly love, that is, charity; and this constitutes the distinction between the Old Testament or Covenant and the New. That good ought to be done from charity to the adversary and the enemy the Lord taught in Matthew:

Ye have heard that it hath been said to them of old time, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that hurt you and persecute you; that ye may be sons of your Father who is in the heavens (Matt. 5:43-45).

And when Peter asked Him how often he should forgive one sinning against him, whether he should do so until seven times, He replied:

I say not unto thee, until seven times, but until seventy times seven (Matt. 18:21, 22).

And I have heard from heaven that the Lord forgives to everyone his sins, and never takes vengeance nor even imputes sin, because He is love itself and good itself; nevertheless, sins are not thereby washed away, for this can be done only by repentance. For when He told Peter to forgive until seventy times seven, what will not the Lord do?

Since charity itself has its seat in the internal man, wherein it is willing well, and from that is in the external man, wherein it is well-doing, it follows that the internal man is to be loved, and from that the external; consequently that a man is to be loved according to the quality of the good that is in him. Therefore good itself is essentially the neighbor. This may be illustrated thus 

When one selects for himself from among three or four a steward for his house, or a servant, does he not try to find out about his internal man, and choose one who is sincere and faithful, and for that reason love him? In like manner a king or magistrate from three or four persons would select one competent for office, and would refuse the incompetent, whatever his looks, or however favorable his speech and actions.

Since, then, every man is the neighbor, and the variety of men is infinite, and everyone is to be loved as a neighbor according to his good, it is plain that there are genera and species and also degrees of love to the neighbor. And because the Lord is to be loved above all things, it follows that the degrees of love towards the neighbor are to be measured by love to the Lord, that is, by how much of the Lord or of what is from the Lord the other possesses in himself; for thus far he possesses good, since all good is from the Lord.

But as these degrees are in the internal man, and the internal man rarely manifests itself in the world, it is sufficient that the neighbor be loved according to the degrees that are known. But after death these degrees are clearly perceived; for the affections of the will and the consequent thoughts of the understanding form a spiritual sphere round about those in the spiritual world, which is felt in various ways; while in this world this spiritual sphere is absorbed by the material body, and encloses itself within a natural sphere, which then flows forth from man.

That there are degrees of love towards the neighbor, is plain from the Lord's parable of the Samaritan who showed mercy to the man wounded by thieves, whom the priests and the Levite saw and passed by; and when the Lord asked which of those three seemed to have been the neighbor, He was answered,

He who showed mercy (Luke 10:30-37)

It is written,

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God above all things, and thy neighbor as thyself (Luke 10:27).

To love the neighbor as oneself is —

not to hold him in light esteem in comparison with oneself, to deal justly with him, and not to pass evil judgments upon him.

The law of charity set forth and given by the Lord is this —

All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them; for this is the law and the prophets (Matt. 7:12; Luke 6:31, 32).

So do they love the neighbor who are in the love of heaven; while those who are in the love of the world love the neighbor from the world and for the sake of the world; and those who are in the love of self love the neighbor from self and for the sake of self.

(True Christian Religion 406-411)