Seriatim Remarks on the Doctrine of Charity (Pt. 5)

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Things of Charity —

In what precedes it has been told what the neighbor is: it is now to be told what the charity or love is which there must be toward the neighbor.

The very life of man is his love; and such as his love is, such is his life; nay, such is the whole man. But it is the ruling or reigning love, that is, the love of that which he has as the end, which makes the man. This love has subordinate to itself many particular and singular loves, which are derivations, and appear under a different shape; but still the ruling love is in each one of them, and directs them, and through them, as through mediate ends, looks to and aims at its end, which is the first and last of them all; and this both directly and indirectly.

There are two things in the natural world which make the life there, namely, heat and light; and there are two things in the spiritual world which make the life there, namely, love and faith. Heat in the natural world corresponds to love in the spiritual world, and light in the natural world corresponds to faith in the spiritual world. Hence it is that when spiritual heat or fire is mentioned, love is meant; and when spiritual light is mentioned, faith is meant. Moreover, love is actually the vital heat of man, for it is known that man grows warm from love; and faith is actually the light of man, for it can be known that man is illumined from faith.

The heat and light in the natural world arise from the sun of the world; but spiritual heat and light, or love and faith, arise from the sun of heaven. The sun of heaven is the Lord; the heat which comes from Him as a sun is love, and the light which comes from Him as a sun is faith. That the Lord is light is evident from these words in John:

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 8:12)

and that the Lord is a sun is evident in Matthew:

When Jesus was transfigured, His face shone as the sun, and His garments became white as the light (Matt. 17:2).

From this correspondence it can also be known how the case is with faith and with love. Faith without love is like light without heat, as is the light of winter; and faith with love is like light with heat, as is the light of spring. That in the light of spring each and all things grow and flower, is known; and also that in the light of winter all things become torpid and die. It is similar with faith and love.

Now as love is the source of man's life, and as the whole man is such as is his love, and also as love is spiritual conjunction, it follows that all in the other life are consociated according to the loves; for everyone's life, that is, his love, follows him. They who are in love toward the neighbor, and in love to God, are consociate in heaven; but they who are in the love of self and the love of the world are consociate in hell; for the love of self is opposite to love to God, and the love of the world is opposite to love toward the neighbor.

It is said "love to God," and there is meant love to the Lord, because in Him is the Trinity, and He is the Lord of heaven, for He has "all power in heaven and on earth" (Matt. 28:18).

(from Arcana Coelestia 7080-7086)
(series to be continued)

Seriatim Remarks on the Doctrine of Charity (Pt. 4)

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Things of Charity —

It is a common saying that everyone is neighbor to himself, that is, that one should take care of himself first of all. The doctrine of charity teaches how the case herein is. Everyone is neighbor to himself, not in the first, but in the last place. In a prior place are others who are in good; in a still prior place is a society of many; in a place still prior is our country; in a place still prior is the church; in a place still prior is the Lord's kingdom; and above all men and all things is the Lord.

The saying that everyone is neighbor to himself, and that he must take care of himself first of all, is to be understood in this way. Everyone must make provision for himself so as to have the necessities of life, as food, clothing, a place to dwell in, and other things which are necessarily required in the civil life where he is; and this not only for himself, but also for his family; and not only for the present time, but also for the future. Unless each person procures for himself the necessities of life, he cannot be in a state to exercise charity toward the neighbor, for he is in need of all things.

The end in view declares in what way each person must be neighbor to himself, and must first of all take care of himself. If the end is that he may become richer than others merely for the sake of riches, pleasure, eminence, and the like, the end is evil; and therefore he who from such an end believes he is neighbor to himself, injures himself to eternity. But if the end is that he may acquire wealth for the sake of the necessities of life, for himself and for his family, so as to be in a state to do what is good according to the commandments of the doctrine of charity, he takes care of himself for eternity. The end itself makes the man, for the end is his love, because everyone has as the end that which he loves.

How the case herein is can be further seen from this similar example. Everyone ought to take care of his body in respect to its food and clothing. This must come first, but to the end that there may be a sound mind in a sound body. And everyone ought to take care of his mind in respect to its food, namely, in respect to such things as belong to intelligence and wisdom, to the end that his mind may thus be in a state to serve the Lord; he who does this, takes good care of himself for eternity. But he who takes care of his body merely for the sake of the body, and does not think of soundness of mind, and who does not take care of his mind in respect to such things as are of intelligence and wisdom, but in respect to such things as are contrary thereto, takes bad care of himself for eternity. From all this it is evident in what way everyone ought to be neighbor to himself, namely, not in the first place but in the last; for the end must not be for himself, but for others; and where the end is, there is the first.

Moreover, the case herein is like that of a man who is building a house. He must first lay the foundation; but the foundation must be for the house, and the house for a place to dwell in. And so everyone must first take care of himself, yet not for himself, but in order that he may be in a state to be of service to the neighbor, thus to his country, to the church, and above all to the Lord. He who believes that he is neighbor to himself in the first place, is like one who regards the foundation as the end, and not the house and dwelling in it; when yet the dwelling is the very first and last end, and the house together with its foundation is only a means to the end.

As is the case with possessions, so also is it with honors in the world; everyone is at liberty to provide himself with these also, yet not for the sake of himself, but for the sake of the neighbor; he who provides them for the sake of himself, provides ill for himself; but he who provides them for the sake of the neighbor, provides well for himself. For he who turns his ends to himself turns himself toward hell; but he who turns his ends from himself to the neighbor, turns himself toward heaven.

(from Arcana Coelestia 6933-6938)
(series to be continued)

Seriatim Remarks on the Doctrine of Charity (Pt. 3)

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Things of Charity —

With respect to the Neighbor, more must be said, because without knowing who the neighbor is, no one can know in what way charity must be practiced.

It was said that every man is the neighbor, but not one in like manner as another; and that he who is in good is more the neighbor than others, thus that it is the good in a man which is to be loved; for when good is loved, the Lord is loved, because it is the Lord from whom is good, who is in good, and who is good itself.

But not only is man in the singular the neighbor, but also man in the plural. For a society, smaller or greater, is the neighbor; our country is the neighbor; the church is the neighbor; the Lord's kingdom is the neighbor; and so above all is the Lord. All these are the neighbor who is to be benefited from charity. These also are ascending degrees of the neighbor; for a society of many is the neighbor in a higher degree than is an individual man; our country in a higher degree than a society; in a still higher degree the church; and in a still higher degree the Lord's kingdom; but in the highest degree the Lord is the neighbor. These ascending degrees are like the steps of a ladder, at the top of which is the Lord.

A society is more a neighbor than an individual man, because it consists of many. Charity is to be practiced toward it in like manner as toward an individual man, namely, according to the quality of good in it; thus quite differently toward a society of the upright, from the way in which it is to be practiced toward a society of those who are not upright.

Our country is more the neighbor than a society, because it is like a parent; for there the man has been born; it nourishes him, and protects him from harm. Our country is to be benefited from love, according to its necessities, which chiefly regard its sustenance, its civil life, and its spiritual life. He who loves his country, and from good will benefits it, in the other life loves the Lord's kingdom; for there the Lord's kingdom is his country. And he who loves the Lord's kingdom, loves the Lord, because the Lord is the all in all of His kingdom; for what is properly called "the Lord's kingdom" is the good and truth from the Lord in those who are in it.

The church is more the neighbor than our country, because he who has regard for the church, has regard also for the souls and eternal life of the men who are in the country. And the church is cared for when man is led to good, and he who does this from charity, loves the neighbor, for he desires and wills for another, heaven and happiness of life to eternity. Good can be instilled into another by anyone in his country, but not truth, except by those who are teaching ministers; if others do this, heresies arise, and the church is disturbed and rent asunder. Charity is practiced, if through the truth which is of the church, the neighbor is led to good. If in the church anything is called truth which leads away from good, this is not worthy of mention, for it is not truth. Everyone must first obtain for himself truth from the doctrine of the church, and afterward from the Word of the Lord; this must be the truth of his faith.

The Lord's kingdom is the neighbor in a higher degree than the church in which one is born; for the Lord's kingdom consists of all who are in good, both on earth and in the heavens; thus the Lord's kingdom is good with every quality of it in the complex; and when this good is loved, everyone who is in good is loved. Thus the whole, which is all good in the complex, is the neighbor in the first degree, and is that Grand Man which has been treated of at the end of many chapters, which Man is a representative image of the Lord Himself. This Man, that is, the Lord's kingdom, is loved, when from inmost affection those are benefited who are men through that man from the Lord, thus with whom is the Lord's kingdom.

These are the degrees of the neighbor, and according to these degrees charity ascends; but these are degrees in successive order, in which a prior or higher degree is always preferred to a posterior or lower one; and as the Lord is in the highest, and He is to be regarded in every degree as the end to which each tends, therefore He is above all, and is to be loved above all things.

(from Arcana Coelestia 6818-6824)
(series to be continued)