Stopping Up the Wells

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And all the wells that his father's servants digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped them up, and filled them with dust.   (Genesis 26:15)

That this signifies that they who were in the memory-knowledge of knowledges were not willing to know interior truths which are from the Divine, and thus obliterated them, is evident from the signification of "wells," as being truths, here, interior truths which are from the Divine, inasmuch as the wells, by which truths are signified, are said to have been digged by his father's servants in the days of Abraham his father, for by Abraham is represented the Lord's Divine Itself; from the signification of "stopping up," as being not to be willing to know, and thus to obliterate; and from the representation of the Philistines, as being those who are solely in the memory-knowledges of knowledges.

Appearances of truth of a lower degree are now treated of, in which they may be who are in the memory-knowledge of knowledges, and who are here meant by the "Philistines." With interior truths which are from the Divine, and which are obliterated by those who are called "Philistines," the case is this: — In the Ancient Church and afterwards, those were called "Philistines" who applied themselves little to life, but much to doctrine, and who in process of time even rejected the things which are of life, and acknowledged as the essential of the church the things which are of faith, which they separated from life; consequently who made light of the doctrinal things of charity, which in the Ancient Church were the sum and substance of doctrine, and thus obliterated them, and instead thereof vaunted much the doctrinal things of faith, and made the whole of religion to consist in these; and inasmuch as thereby they departed from the life which is of charity - that is, from the charity which is of life - they preeminently were called the "uncircumcised;" for by the "uncircumcised" were signified all who were not in charity, however much they might be in doctrinal things.

—

Gentiles, who are outside the church, may be in [truths], but not in the [truths of faith]. Their [truths], like the precepts of the Decalogue, are that - parents are to be honored, that men are not to kill, steal, commit adultery, or covet things that belong to others; also that the Deity is to be worshiped.

But the [truths of faith] are all doctrinal things concerning eternal life, the Lord's kingdom, and the Lord Himself, which cannot be known to the Gentiles because they have not the Word.

These are they who are signified [in the Word] by "sons that are strangers who are not of thy seed," and yet were to be circumcised, that is purified, together with them. This shows that they can be purified, equally with those within the church; as was represented by their being circumcised. They are purified when they reject filthy loves, and live with one another in charity; for then they live in truths, since all truths are of charity; but in the truths already mentioned. They who live in these truths readily imbibe the truths of faith, if not in the life of the body, yet in the other life, because the truths of faith are the interior truths of charity, and they then love nothing more than to be admitted into the interior truths of charity.  The interior truths of charity are those in which the Lord's kingdom consists.

In the other life, a memory-knowledge of the knowledges of faith is of no avail - for the worst, nay, the infernals, can be in the memory-knowledge of them, sometimes more than others, but that which avails is a life according to the knowledges, for all knowledges have life as their end. Unless knowledges were learned for the sake of life, they would be of no use except that men might talk about them, and thereby be esteemed learned in the world, be exalted to honors, and gain reputation and wealth.  From this it is evident that a life of the knowledges of faith is no other than a life of charity; for the Law and the Prophets, that is, the universal doctrine of faith together with all its knowledges, consists in love to the Lord and in love toward the neighbor; as is manifest to all from the Lord's words in Matthew 22:34-39 and Mark 12:28-35 —

And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

But still doctrinal things, that is, the knowledges of faith, are most necessary for forming the life of charity, which cannot be formed without them.  This is the life that saves after death, and by no means any life of faith without it; for without charity there cannot be any life of faith.

They who are in the life of love and charity are in the Lord's life, and by no other life can anyone be conjoined with Him.

Hence also it is evident that the [truths of faith] can never be acknowledged as [truths], that is, the acknowledgment of them so much talked of is impossible, except outwardly, and by the mouth, unless they are implanted in charity; for inwardly or in the heart they are denied, since, as already said, they all have charity as their end; and if this is not within them they are inwardly rejected. When the exteriors are taken away - as is done in the other life - the interiors are manifest in their true character, in that they are utterly contrary to all the truths of faith.  When men have had no life of charity - that is, no mutual love - during their bodily life, it is utterly impossible to receive it in the other life, because they are averse to and hate it, for after death the same life remains with us that we have lived here. When such persons merely approach a society where there is the life of mutual love, they tremble, shudder, and feel torture.

Such persons, although born within the church, are called "sons that are strangers, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh," who are not to be admitted into the sanctuary, that is, into the Lord's kingdom; and who are also meant in Ezekiel:

No son that is a stranger, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into My sanctuary (Ezek. 44:7, 9).

Again:

To whom art thou thus become like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? and thou shalt be brought down with the trees of Eden into the lower earth, thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain by the sword (Ezek. 31:18);

where Pharaoh is treated of, by whom are signified memory-knowledges in general); by "the trees of Eden" with which they should go down into the lower earth, are also signified memory-knowledges, but those of the knowledges of faith. All this shows what "the uncircumcised" is in the internal sense, namely, one who is in filthy loves and the life of them.

(from Arcana Coelestia 2049)

—

Those who thus departed from charity removed themselves also from wisdom and intelligence; for no one can be wise and intelligent in regard to truth unless he is in good, that is, in charity, because all truth is from good, and looks to good; so that they who are without good cannot understand truth, and are not even willing to know it. In the other life, when such persons are far from heaven, there sometimes appears with them a snowy light; but this light is like that of winter, which being devoid of heat produces no fruit; and therefore when such persons draw near to heaven their light is turned into mere darkness, and their minds are plunged into the like, that is, into stupor. From all this it can now be seen what is meant by the statement that those who are in the mere memory-knowledge of knowledges were not willing to know interior truths which are from the Divine, and thus obliterated them.

And all the wells that his father's servants digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped them up, and filled them with dust.   (Genesis 26:15)

And filled them with dust —

That this signifies by means of earthly things, that is, by the loves of self and of gain, is evident from the signification of "dust," as being that which is of this nature. The meaning is that those called "Philistines" (that is, those who are not in life but in doctrine) obliterate interior truths by earthly loves, which are the love of self and of gain; from these loves they were called the "uncircumcised". For they who are in these loves cannot but fill the wells of Abraham with dust (that is, obliterate the interior truths of the Word by earthly things), because from these loves they cannot possibly see spiritual things (that is, the things which are of the light of truth from the Lord); for these loves induce darkness, and darkness extinguishes this light. For as before said, on the approach of the light of truth from the Lord, they who are in doctrine only, and not in life, are in total darkness and stupor, and even become angry, and in every way busy themselves to dissipate truths; for the love of self and of gain is of such a nature that it cannot endure the near approach of anything of truth from the Divine. Nevertheless such persons can glory and take pride in the fact that they know truths, nay, they preach them from a kind of zeal; but it is the fires of those loves that kindle and arouse them, and their zeal is merely a fervor thence derived, as is sufficiently evident from the fact that they can preach against their own veriest life with a like zeal or fervor.

These are the earthly things by which the Word itself, which is the fountain of all truth, is blocked up.

(from Arcana Coelestia 3412-3413)

The Uncircumcised

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? (1 Samuel 17:26)

In the Ancient Church all those were called Philistines who talked much about faith, and declared that salvation is in faith, and yet had no life of faith. Therefore they preeminently were called "the uncircumcised," which means those who are devoid of charity. That they were called "the uncircumcised" may be seen in 1 Sam. 14:6; 17:26, 36; 31:4; 2 Sam. 1:20, and in other places. Because they were such, they could not but make the knowledges of faith matters of memory; for the knowledges of spiritual and celestial things and the very mysteries of faith themselves become nothing but matters of memory, when the man who is skilled in them is devoid of charity

The things of the memory are like things dead unless the man is such that from conscience he lives according to them.

When he does this, then at the same time as they are things of memory they are also things of life; and only then do they remain with him for his use and salvation after the life of the body.

Knowledges [scientiae et cognitiones] are nothing to a man in the other life, even though he may have known all the arcana that have ever been revealed, unless they have affected his life.

Such [as those described above] are everywhere signified by "Philistines" in the prophetical parts of the Word, and also in the historical, as for example, when Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines, and made a covenant with Abimelech, the king of the Philistines (Gen. 20:1 to the end; 21:22 to the end; 26:1-34). As the knowledges of faith are here signified by the Philistines, Abraham, because he represented the celestial things of faith, sojourned there, and entered into a covenant with them; and likewise Isaac, by whom were represented the spiritual things of faith; but not Jacob, because by him the externals of the church were represented.

That the "Philistines" signify in general a mere memory-knowledge of the knowledges of faith, and specifically those who make faith and salvation consist in knowledges alone, which they make matters of memory, may be seen in Isaiah:

Rejoice not thou whole Philistia, because the rod that smote thee is broken; for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a basilisk, and his fruit shall be like a fiery flying serpent (Isa. 14:29).

Here "the root of the serpent" denotes memory-knowledges; "the basilisk," evil from the derivative falsity; and "the fruit of a fiery flying serpent," is their works, which are called "a fiery flying serpent" because they come of cupidities.

In Joel:

What are ye to Me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the borders of Philistia? Will ye render a recompense upon Me? very speedily will I return your recompense upon your own head. Inasmuch as ye have taken My silver and My gold, and have carried into your temples My desirable good things; the sons also of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the sons of the Javanites, that ye might cause them to remove far from their border (Joel 3:4-6).

Here it is evident what is meant by the Philistines, and by "all Philistia," or all "the borders" of it. "Silver and gold" here are the spiritual and celestial things of faith; "desirable good things" are the knowledges of them. That they "carried them into their temples," is that they possessed and proclaimed them; and that they "sold the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem," signifies that they had no love and no faith; "Judah" in the Word is the celestial of faith, and "Jerusalem" is the spiritual of faith thence derived, which were "removed far from their borders." So also in other places in the Prophets, as in Jer. 25:20; 47:1 to the end; Ezek. 16:27, 57; 25:15-16; Amos 1:8; Obad. 19; Zeph. 2:5; Ps. 83:7; 87:4. And concerning the Caphtorim in Deut. 2:23; Jer. 47:4; Amos 9:7.

And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, and Pathrusim, and Casluhim, from whom went forth the Philistines, and Caphtorim. (Genesis 10: 13,14)

"Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim," signifies so many nations, by which so many kinds of rituals are signified ... the doctrinals of rituals from a similar origin, which were only matters of memory-knowledge; "from whom went forth the Philistines," signifies a nation thence derived, by which is signified the mere memory-knowledge of the knowledges of faith and charity. Its being said that they "went forth" signifies that with them knowledges are mere memory-knowledges. (from Arcana Coelestia 1193)

That they "went forth" signifies that with them knowledges are mere memory-knowledges is evident from what has been stated. They are not said to have been "begotten" by those who were of Egypt, but to have "gone forth" from them, because they are not such as reason from natural memory-knowledges concerning spiritual and celestial things, and thereby frame doctrinals for themselves ...

but they are such as learn the knowledges of faith from others, and know and retain them in the memory, with no other end in view than such as they have in learning other things which they care nothing about except merely to know them, and except for the reason that they may thereby be advanced to honors, or some other such reason.

So distinct is this mere memory-knowledge of the knowledges of faith from the memory-knowledge of natural things, that they have scarcely anything in common; and therefore it is said, not that they were "born," but that they "went forth" from them. Such being the character of the "Philistines," they cannot but pervert even the knowledges of faith by reasonings from them, and thence form for themselves false doctrinals; and therefore they are among those who can with difficulty be regenerated and receive charity, both because they are uncircumcised in heart, and because principles of falsity, and consequently the life of their understanding, prevent and oppose.

(from Arcana Coelestia 1197-1198)

There is No Faith, If There is No Charity

Selection from Last Judgment and Babylon Destroyed ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

It is supposed that faith exists, so long as the doctrinals of the church are believed; or that they who believe, have faith; and yet mere believing is not faith, but willing and doing what is believed, is faith.

When the doctrinals of the church are merely believed, they are not in man's life, but only in his memory, and thence in the thought of his external man; nor do they enter into his life, before they enter into his will, and thence into his actions: then for the first time does faith exist in man's spirit; for man's spirit, the life of which is his life itself, is formed from his will, and from so much of his thought as proceeds from his will; the memory of man, and the thought derived from it, being only the outer court by which introduction is effected. Whether you say the will, or the love, it is the same, since everyone wills what he loves, and loves what he wills; and the will is the receptacle of love, and the intellect, the function of which is to think, is the receptacle of faith.

A man may know, think, and understand many things, but those which do not accord with his will or love, he rejects from him when he is left to himself, to meditate from his own will or love, and therefore he also rejects them after the life of the body, when he lives in the spirit — for that alone remains in man's spirit which has entered into his will or love, as was said above. Other things after death are viewed as foreign, which he casts out of doors, and regards with aversion, because they are not of his love.

But it is another thing when man not only believes the doctrinals of the church which are from the Word, but wills them, and does them; then he has faith; for faith is the affection of truth from willing truth because it is truth; for to will truth itself because it is truth is the spiritual man, for it is withdrawn from the natural (which consists in willing truth, not for truth's sake, but for the sake of self-glory, fame and gain). Truth regarded apart from such things is spiritual, because in its essence it is Divine; wherefore, to will truth because it is truth, is also to acknowledge, and to love the Divine. These two are altogether conjoined, and are also regarded as one in heaven, for the Divine which proceeds from the Lord in heaven is Divine truth, as may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell:

The Divine Truth is light to the angels because angels are spiritual and not natural.

Spiritual beings see from their Sun and natural beings from theirs. It is from Divine Truth that angels have understanding, and their understanding is their internal sight which flows into and produces their external sight. Therefore, in heaven whatever is seen from the Lord as the Sun appears in light. This being the source of light in heaven, the light there is varied in accordance with the reception of Divine Truth from the Lord, or what is the same, in accordance with the intelligence and wisdom in which the angels are, thus differently in the celestial kingdom and in the spiritual kingdom and differently in each particular society.

In the celestial kingdom, the light appears flaming because the angels there receive light from the Lord as a Sun; but in the spiritual kingdom, the light is white because the angels there receive light from the Lord as a Moon. So, too, the light is not the same in one society as in another. It differs in each society, those in the middle being in greater light and those around them in less light. In a word, the angels have light in the same degree in which they are receptions of Divine Truth, that is, in intelligence and wisdom from the Lord. This is why the angels of heaven are called angels of light.

As the Lord in the heavens is Divine Truth, and the Divine Truth there is Light, so in the Word the Lord is called the Light, likewise every truth from Him, as in the following passages:

Jesus said, I am the Light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8:52.

As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world. John 10.

Jesus said, Yet a little while is the Light with you. Walk while ye have the Light, lest darkness overtake you. . . . While ye have the Light, believe in the Light that ye may he sons of Light. . . . I have come a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness. John 12: 35, 36, 46.

Light hath come into the world, but men have loved darkness rather than light. John 3: 19.

John says of the Lord,

This is the true Light which lighteneth every man. John 1: 9.

The people that sit in darkness have seen a great light, and to them that were sitting in the shadow of death, light is sprung up. Matt. 4: 16.

I will give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the gentiles. Isa. 42: 6.

I have established thee for a light of the gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth. Isa. 49: 6.

The nations of them that are saved shall walk in His light. Rev. 21: 24.

Send out Thy Light and Thy Truth; let them lead me. Ps. 43: 3.

In these and other passages, the Lord is called the Light from the Divine Truth which is from Him, and the truth itself is called light. As light in the heavens is from the Lord as a Sun, so when He was transfigured before Peter, James and John, His face appeared as the Sun, and His garments as the light shining and white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can whiten. Mark 20: 3; Matt. 17: 2.

The Lord's garments had this appearance because they represented the Divine Truth which is from Him in the heavens. "Garments", in the Word, signify truths,# consequently it is said in David,

Jehovah, Thou coverest Thyself with light as with a garment. Ps. 104: 2.

(Heaven and Hell.128-132)

and they are angels in the heavens, who receive it, and make it of their life. These things are said, in order that it may be known, that faith is not only to believe, but to will and do, therefore there is no faith if there is no charity. Charity or love is to will and to do.

(Last Judgment and Babylon Destroyed 36)