Seeing, Doing, Works of Charity

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The progress of man's regeneration

from external to internal — from the truth of faith to the good of charity

The truth of faith is external, and the good of charity is internal. In order that the truth of faith may live, it must be introduced into the will, that it may there receive life; for truth does not live from knowing, but from willing.

Life flows in from the Lord through the new willing that He creates in man. The first life manifests itself by obedience, which is the first of the will; the second by the affection of doing the truth, which is the progression of the will, and which exists when delight and bliss are perceived in doing the truth. Unless there takes place such a progress of faith, truth does not become truth, but becomes a separate affair from life, sometimes confirmative of falsity, and sometimes persuasive of it, thus a foul affair; for it couples itself with the man's evil affection, or cupidity; that is, with his own proper will, which is contrary to charity. Such is the faith that by many at this day is believed to be faith, and to save without the works of charity.

(from Arcana Coelestia 3870)

The Lord's Kingdom in the Ultimate of Order

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

“How fearsome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Genesis 28:17

Mention is made of the "house of God" in many passages of the Word, and in the external sense, or according to the letter, it signifies a consecrated building where there is holy worship, but in the internal sense it signifies the church; and in a more universal sense, heaven; and in the most universal sense, the Lord's universal kingdom; in the supreme sense, however, it signifies the Lord Himself as to the Divine Human.

In the Word we sometimes read of the "house of God," sometimes of the "temple," both having the same signification, but with this difference - that the "house of God" is mentioned where good is treated of, but the "temple" where truth is treated of. From this it is manifest that by the "house of God" is signified the Lord's celestial church, and in a more universal sense the heaven of the celestial angels, and in the most universal sense the Lord's celestial kingdom, and in the supreme sense the Lord as to Divine good; and that by the "temple" is signified the Lord's spiritual church, and in a more universal sense the heaven of the spiritual angels, in the most universal sense the Lord's spiritual kingdom, and in the supreme sense the Lord as to Divine truth. The reason why the "house of God" signifies the celestial which is of good, and the "temple" the spiritual which is of truth, is that in the Word a "house" signifies good, and also because among the most ancient people the houses were constructed of wood, for the reason that "wood" signifies good; whereas "temple" signifies truth, because the temples were constructed of stones; and that "stones" signify truths.

That "wood" and "stone" have such a signification, is not only evident from the Word where they are mentioned, but also from the representatives in the other life; for they who place merit in good works, appear to themselves to cut wood; and they who place merit in truths, in that they have believed themselves to have been better acquainted with truth than others, and yet have lived evilly, appear to themselves to cut stones; which things have often been seen by me. From this I was assured what is the signification of wood and stone, namely that "wood" signifies good, and "stone" truth; and also from the experience that when a wooden house was seen, there was instantly presented an idea of good; but when a house of stone was seen, there was presented an idea of truth; concerning which I was instructed by angels. For this reason, when mention is made in the Word of the "house of God," there is presented to the angels the idea of good, and good of such a quality as is treated of in that connection; and when mention is made of a "temple," there is presented to them the idea of truth, and truth of such a quality as is treated of in that connection. From this again we can infer how deep and utterly hidden are the heavenly arcana in the Word.

The reason why by the "house of God" is here signified the Lord's kingdom in the ultimate of order, is that Jacob is treated of, by whom is represented the Lord's Divine natural, as frequently shown above. The natural is in the ultimate of order, for in this all the interior things are terminated and are together; and because they are together, and thus things innumerable are viewed together as a one, there is relative obscurity there. This relative obscurity has been spoken of several times before.

(from Arcana Coelestia 3720)

And this is the gate of heaven. That this signifies the ultimate wherein order closes, through which ultimate there is apparently as it were an entrance from nature, is evident from the signification of "gate" as being that through which there is going out and coming in. That this signifies the ultimate in which order closes, is because the natural which is represented by Jacob is treated of. That through this ultimate there is apparently as it were an entrance from nature, is because it is the natural mind in man through which the things of heaven (that is, of the Lord) flow and descend into nature; and through the same mind the things of nature ascend; but that the entrance is only apparently from nature through the natural mind into things interior.

It appears to man that the objects of the world enter through his bodily or external senses, and affect the interiors; and thus that there is an entrance from the ultimate of order into what is within; but that this is a mere appearance and fallacy is manifest from the general rule that posterior things cannot flow into prior; or what is the same, lower things into higher; or what is the same, exterior things into interior; or what is still the same, the things which are of the world and of nature into those which are of heaven and of spirit; for the former are of a grosser nature, and the latter of a purer one; and those grosser things which are of the external or natural man come forth and subsist from those which are of the internal or rational man; and they cannot affect the purer things, but are affected by the purer things. . . From this then it is said that through the ultimate in which order closes, there is apparently as it were an entrance from nature.

(from Arcana Coelestia 3721)

The Lord's kingdom in the ultimate of order, in which higher things are as in their house. As regards higher things being in the ultimate of order as in their house, the case is this: Such an order has been instituted by the Lord that higher things inflow into lower ones, and therein present an image of themselves in general, and consequently are together therein in a certain general form, and thus are in order from the Highest, that is, from the Lord; from this it is that the proximate image of the Lord is the inmost heaven, which is the heaven of innocence and peace, where those who are celestial dwell; which heaven, because nearest to the Lord, is called His "likeness." The next heaven, namely, that which succeeds and is in a lower degree, is an "image" of the Lord, because in this heaven, as in something general, there are simultaneously presented the things which are in the higher heaven. The ultimate heaven, which succeeds this again, is similarly circumstanced, for the particulars and singulars of the heaven next higher inflow into this heaven, and are therein presented in general, and in a correspondent form.

The case is similar with man, for he has been created and formed to be an image of the three heavens. In man that which is inmost inflows in like manner into that which is lower; and this in like manner into that which is lowest or last. The natural and corporeal consists of such an influx and concourse into those things which are beneath, and finally into those which are last. In this way there is a connection of the last or ultimate things with the first, without which connection that which is last in order would not subsist a single moment. Thus it is manifest what is meant by higher things being in the ultimate of order as in their house. Whether we speak of things higher and lower, or interior and exterior, it is the same; for to man's view things interior appear as higher; and for this reason man places heaven on high, when yet it is in what is internal.

(from Arcana Coelestia 3739)

The Origin of All Dissensions, Controversies, and Heresies in the Church

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Dissensions arising in the church when the understanding of the Word is destroyed

By good, the good of love to the Lord and the good of love towards the neighbor are meant, since all good is of love. When these goods do not exist with the man of the church, the Word is not understood; for the conjunction of the Lord and the conjunction of heaven with the man of the church is by means of good; therefore if there is no good with him no illustration can be given; for all illustration when the Word is being read is out of heaven from the Lord; and when there is no illustration the truths that are in the Word are in obscurity, thence dissensions spring up. That the Word is not understood if man is not in good can also be seen from this, that in the particulars of the Word there is a heavenly marriage, that is, a conjunction of good and truth; therefore if good is not present with man when he is reading the Word, truth does not appear, for truth is seen from good, and good by means of truth. (That in the particulars of the Word there is a conjunction of good and truth)

The state of the case is this:  so far as man is in good the Lord flows in and gives the affection of truth, and thus understanding; for the interior human mind is formed entirely in the image of heaven, and the whole heaven is formed according to the affections of good and of truth from good; therefore unless there is good with man, that mind cannot be opened, still less can it be formed for heaven; it is formed by the conjunction of good and truth. From this it can also be seen that unless man is in good, truths have no ground in which to be received, nor any heat by which to grow; for truths with the man who is in good are like seeds in the ground in the time of spring; while truths with the man who is not in good are like seeds in ground bound by frost in the time of winter, when there is no grass, nor flower, nor tree, still less fruit.

In the Word are all truths of heaven and the church, yea, all the secrets of wisdom that the angels of heaven possess; but no one sees these unless he is in the good of love to the Lord and in the good of love towards the neighbor; those who are not, see truths here and there, but do not understand them; they have a perception and idea of them wholly different from that which pertains to these same truths in themselves; although, therefore, they see or know truths, still truths are not truths with them, but falsities — for truths are not truths from their sound or utterance, but from an idea and perception of them. When truths are implanted in good it is different; then truths appear in their own form, for truth is the form of good.

From this it may be concluded what the nature of the understanding of the Word is with those who make faith alone the sole means of salvation, and cast behind the back the good of life, or the good of charity. It has been found that those who have confirmed themselves in this, both in doctrine and life, have not even a single right idea of truth; this, moreover, is why they do not know what good is, what charity and love are, what the neighbor is, what heaven and hell are, that they are to live after death as men, nor, indeed, what regeneration is, what baptism is, and many other things; yea, they are in such blindness respecting God Himself that they worship three in thought, and not one except merely with the mouth, not knowing that the Father of the Lord is the Divine in Him, and that the Holy Spirit is the Divine from Him. These things are said to make known that there is no understanding of the Word where there is no good.

And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. (Revelation 6:4)

It is here said that to him that sat upon a red horse, it was given "to take peace from the earth," because "peace" signifies a peaceful state of the mind [mens] and tranquillity of the disposition [animus] from the conjunction of good and truth; therefore "to take away peace" signifies an unpeaceful and untranquil state from the disjunction of good and truth, which is the cause of internal dissensions — for when good is separated from truth evil takes its place, and evil loves not truth but falsity because every falsity belongs to evil, as every truth to good.  When, therefore, such a person sees a truth in the Word or hears it from another, the evil of his love, and thus of his will, strives against the truth, and then he either rejects or perverts it, or by ideas from the evil so obscures it that at length he sees nothing of truth in the truth, however much it may sound like truth when he utters it. This is the origin of all dissensions, controversies, and heresies in the church.

(from Apocalypse Explained 365:2-4)