The Lord, The One And Only God

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

It is said in the church that from the three who are called "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit," there comes forth one Divine, which is also called "one God;" and that from the Father proceeds the Son, and from the Father through the Son proceeds the Holy Spirit; but what this proceeding or going forth means, is as yet unknown. The ideas of the angels on this subject are quite different from those of the men of the church who have thought about it, for the reason that the ideas of the men of the church are founded upon three, but those of the angels upon one. That the ideas of the men of the church are founded upon three, is because they distinguish the Divine into three persons, and attribute to each one special and particular offices. Hence they can indeed say that God is one, but they cannot possibly think otherwise than that there are three, who, by a union which they call mystical, are one. In this way they may indeed be able to think that there is one Divine, but not that there is one God; for in their thought the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. One Divine is one by agreement and thus unanimity; but one God is absolutely one.

The kind of idea or thought a man of the church has about the one God, is clearly manifest in the other life, for everyone carries with him the ideas of his thought. The idea or thought of such people is that there are three gods; yet they dare not say "gods," but "God." A few also make one out of three by union; for they think in one way of the Father, in another way of the Son, and in another way of the Holy Spirit. From this has clearly appeared the nature of the faith the church has about the most essential thing of all, which is the Divine Itself; and as in the other life all are conjoined or separated by the thoughts which are of faith, and the affections which are of love, therefore those who have been born outside the church, and have believed in one God, flee from those who are within the church, saying of them that they do not believe in one God, but in three gods; and that those who do not believe in one God under a human form do not believe in any God, because their thought pours itself forth into the universe, without determination, and thus falls down into nature; which they thus acknowledge in the place of God. When asked what they mean by "proceeding," in saying that the Son proceeds from the Father and that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son, they answer that "proceeding" is a term of union, and that it wraps up this mystery within it. But their idea of thought about this, when examined, has been found to be that of a mere word, devoid of reality.

But the ideas of the angels about the Divine, the Trinity, and Proceeding, are quite different from the ideas of the men of the church, for the reason, as said above, that the ideas of thought of the angels are founded upon one, whereas the ideas of thought of the men of the church are founded upon three. The angels think (and what they think they believe) that there is one God, and that He is the Lord; that His Human is the Divine Itself in a form; and that the holy proceeding from Him is the Holy Spirit; thus that there is a Trinity, but still it is One.

A notion of this is obtained from the idea that exists about the angels in heaven. An angel appears there in the human form, but still there are three things in him that make a one. There is his internal, which does not appear before the eyes; there is the external, which does appear; and there is the sphere of life of his affections and thoughts, which pours out from him to a distance. These three make one angel. But the angels are finite and created, whereas the Lord is infinite and uncreated. And as no man, or even angel, can have any idea about the Infinite except from things finite, therefore such an example may be given in order to illustrate what the Trinity in One is; and that there is one God; and that He is the Lord, and no other.

(from Arcana Coelestia 9303)

Thinking Rightly About God

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— A Memorable Relation —

IN THE NATURAL WORLD MAN'S SPEECH IS TWOFOLD, BECAUSE HIS THOUGHT IS TWOFOLD, EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL; FOR HE CAN SPEAK SIMULTANEOUSLY FROM INTERNAL THOUGHT AND FROM EXTERNAL THOUGHT; AND HE CAN SPEAK FROM EXTERNAL THOUGHT AND NOT FROM INTERNAL THOUGHT, AND EVEN CONTRARY TO INTERNAL THOUGHT; AND THIS IS THE SOURCE OF PRETENSES, FLATTERY, AND HYPOCRISY. BUT THIS TWOFOLD SPEECH MAN DOES NOT HAVE IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD; HIS SPEECH THERE IS SINGLE; HE SPEAKS AS HE THINKS; OR IF NOT, THE TONE OF HIS VOICE IS GRATING AND HURTS THE EAR. NEVERTHELESS, HE CAN BE SILENT AND NOT DIVULGE THE THOUGHTS OF HIS MIND. SO WHEN A HYPOCRITE GETS AMONG WISE MEN HE EITHER LEAVES OR BETAKES HIMSELF TO A CORNER OF THE ROOM AND AVOIDS NOTICE AND KEEPS SILENT.

At one time a large number had assembled in the world of spirits, and were talking together about this matter, saying that to be able to speak only as one thinks is a hardship to such as have not thought rightly about God and the Lord whenever they come into association with the good. In the midst of the assembly were the Reformed and some of their clergy, and next to them the Papists with their monks. The clergy and the monks spoke first, saying, "This is not a hardship; what need is there for anyone to speak otherwise than as he thinks? If perchance he does not think rightly, can he not close his lips and keep silent?" And a clergyman said, "Who does not think rightly about God and about the Lord?"

But some of the assembly said, "Let us try them." And they asked those who had confirmed themselves in a trinity of persons in the Godhead to say from their thought ONE God; and they could not. They twisted and folded their lips in various ways, but were unable to articulate a sound into any words except such as were harmonious with the ideas of their thought, which were of three persons, and consequently of three Gods.

Again, those who had confirmed themselves in faith apart from charity were asked to utter the name Jesus; but they could not; although they could all say Christ, and also God the Father.

They wondered at this, and inquired the cause; and they found it to be that they had prayed to God the Father for the sake of the Son, but had not prayed to the Savior Himself; and Jesus signifies Savior.

Again, from their thought of the Lord's Human they were asked to say Divine Human; but not one of the clergy there present could do so, though some of the laity could; and therefore this fact was made a subject of serious discussion.

• First, the following passages from the Gospels were read to them:

The Father hath given all things into the hand of the Son (John 3:35);

The Father hath given to the Son power over all flesh (John 17:2);

All things are delivered unto Me by the Father (Matt. 11:27);

All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth (Matt. 28:18);

and they were asked to keep in their thought from these passages that Christ, both as to His Divine and as to His Human, is the God of heaven and earth, and then to pronounce the words Divine Human; but still they could not. They said that although from these passages they retained from the understanding some thought about the matter, they still had no acknowledgment of it, and therefore they could not bring it into speech.

• Afterwards there was read to them from Luke (1:32, 34, 35) that the Lord as to His Human was the Son of Jehovah God, and is there called "the God of the Most High," and in many other places, "the Son of God" and also "the Only begotten;" and they were asked to retain this in their thought, as also that the only-begotten Son of God born in the world could not but be God, as the Father is God, and then to utter the words Divine Human. But they said, "We cannot, because our spiritual thought, that is, our more internal thought, does not admit into the thought which lies nearest to speech any other ideas except those that are in harmony with the internal thought; and from this we perceive that we are not now permitted, as we were in the natural world, to divide our thoughts.

• Therefore, the Lord's words to Philip were read to them:

Philip said, Lord, show us the Father. And the Lord said, He that seeth Me seeth the Father. Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? (John 14:8-11)

and also other passages, as:

That the Father and He are one (John 10:30)

and they were asked to retain this in thought and then to say, Divine Human; but because that thought was not rooted in the acknowledgment that the Lord is God even in respect to the Human, they twisted their lips into folds till they grew angry, desiring to force their mouths to speak the words but they did not succeed; and for the reason that with those who are in the spiritual world the ideas of thought which flow from acknowledgment make one with the words of speech; and where these ideas do not exist words cannot be had; for in speaking, ideas become words.

• Still again, there was read to them the following from the doctrine accepted throughout the Christian world:

The Divine and Human in the Lord are not two, but one, even one person, united like soul and body in man.

This is from the Athanasian Creed, and has been recognized by the councils; and it was said to them, "From this certainly you can gain an idea grounded in acknowledgment that the Human of the Lord is Divine, since His soul is Divine; for this statement is from the doctrine of your church which you accepted while in the world; moreover, the soul is the very essence of the man, and the body is the form of this essence; and essence and form make one like esse and existere, or like the effecting cause of the effect and the effect itself." This idea they retained, and from it wished to utter the words Divine Human; but they could not; for their more internal idea of the Human of the Lord banished and erased this new adscititious idea, as they called it.

• Once again, this passage from John was read to them:

The Word was with God, and God was the Word, and the Word became flesh (1:1, 14).

Also this:

Jesus Christ is the true God and eternal life (1 John 5:20).

Also from Paul:

In Jesus Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the Divinity bodily (Col. 2:9)

and they were requested to think accordingly, namely, that God who was the Word became Man, that He was the true God, and that in Him dwelt all the fullness of Divinity bodily. This they did, but only in external thought; and therefore, because of the resistance of internal thought, they were unable to pronounce the words Divine Human; and they said frankly, "We can form no idea of a Divine Human, because God is God, and man is man, and God is a Spirit, and we have always thought of spirit as being wind or ether."

• Finally, it was said to them, You know that the Lord said:

Abide in Me, and I in you. He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit; for without Me ye can do nothing (John 15:4, 5).

And as there were some of the English clergy present, the following from one of their exhortations at the Holy Communion was read to them:

"For when we spiritually eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ, then we dwell in Christ, and Christ in us."

And it was said, "If your thought now is that this is not possible unless the Lord's Human is Divine, pronounce the words Divine Human from acknowledgment in thought." But still they could not, so deeply impressed upon them was the idea that the Divine could not be Human, nor the Human be Divine, and that the Lord's Divine was from the Divine of a Son born from eternity, and His Human like that of any other man. They were asked, "How can you think thus? Can a rational mind ever conceive of a Son born of God from eternity?"

• Then the inquirers turned to the Evangelicals, saying that the Augsburg Confession and Luther taught that the Son of God and the Son of man in Christ is one Person; and that He, even as to His Human nature, is omnipotent and omnipresent, and as to that nature sits at the right hand of God the Father, governs all things in heaven and on earth, fills all things, is present with us, and dwells and operates in us; also that there is no difference of adoration, because the Divinity that is not discerned is worshiped through the nature that is discerned; and that in Christ God is Man, and Man is God. Hearing this they said, "Can this be so?" And they looked around and said presently, "We did not know this before; therefore we are unable to say Divine Human." And first one and then another said, "We have read this, and we have written it; and yet when we thought about it in our minds it was mere words, of which we had no interior idea."

• Finally they turned to the Papists and said, "Perhaps you can say Divine Human, since you believe that Christ is wholly present in the bread and wine of your Eucharist, and in every part of them; and you also worship Him as God most holy when you exhibit and carry about the host; also because you call Mary 'Deipara,' that is, 'Mother of God;' consequently you acknowledge that she gave birth to God, that is, to the Divine Human." Then they wished to pronounce it, but they could not, because a material idea of Christ's body and blood then suggested itself, and also a belief that His Human is separable from the Divine, and with the pope is actually so separated, since to him the human power only, and not the Divine, was transferred. Then one of the monks arose and said that he could conceive of a Divine Human with reference to the most holy virgin Mary, and also with reference to the saint of his monastery. And another monk came forward and said, "From an idea of my thought which I now entertain I am able to say Divine Human, but with reference to his holiness the pope rather than in reference to Christ." But some of the Papists pulled him back, saying, "For shame."

After this heaven was seen open, and tongues like little flames were seen descending and alighting upon some; and they then celebrated the Divine Human of the Lord, saying,

HAVE DONE WITH THE IDEA OF THREE GODS, AND BELIEVE THAT IN THE LORD DWELLS ALL THE FULLNESS OF DIVINITY BODILY, THAT THE FATHER AND HE ARE ONE, AS SOUL AND BODY ARE ONE, AND THAT GOD IS NOT WIND OR ETHER, BUT A MAN, THEN YOU WILL BE CONJOINED WITH HEAVEN, AND FROM THE LORD YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SPEAK THE NAME JESUS, AND TO SAY DIVINE HUMAN.

(True Christian Religion 111)

Enlightenment from the Lord

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

As few know anything about the enlightenment that the understanding of a man who is taught by the Lord is in, something shall be said about it.

There is an interior and an exterior enlightenment from the Lord; and there is an interior and an exterior enlightenment from man.

By interior enlightenment from the Lord, a man perceives at the first hearing whether what is said is true or is not true. Exterior enlightenment is from this in the thought.

Interior enlightenment from man is from mere confirmation; and exterior enlightenment from man is from mere knowledge. About each one of these something shall be said.

A man who is rational from interior enlightenment from the Lord immediately perceives, when he hears them, whether many things are true or not true; for example, that love is the life of faith, that is, that faith lives from love. Also by interior enlightenment man perceives that whatever one loves he wills, and what he wills he does, consequently that to love is to do; and again, that whatever man believes from love, this too he wills and does, consequently to have faith is to do; also that a wicked man cannot have love of God, thus neither faith in God.

By interior enlightenment a rational man perceives as soon as he hears it that God is One; that He is omnipresent; that all good is from Him; also that all things have relation to good and truth; and that all good is from Good itself, and all truth from Truth itself. Man perceives these things and other like things interiorly in himself when he hears them; and he has this perception because he has rationality that is in the light of heaven, which gives enlightenment.

Exterior enlightenment is an enlightenment of the thought that is from the interior enlightenment; and the thought is in such enlightenment so far as it continues in the perception that it has from interior enlightenment, and also so far as it has knowledges of truth and good; for from these it draws the reasons by means of which it confirms. Thought from this exterior enlightenment sees a thing from both sides; on the one it sees the reasons that confirm, on the other the appearances that invalidate; the latter it disperses, the former it collects.

Interior enlightenment from man is wholly different. By it man sees a subject on one side and not on the other; and when he has confirmed it he sees it in a light apparently like the light spoken of above, but it is a winter light. For example, a judge who judges unjustly because of gifts or for the sake of gain, when he has confirmed his decision by the laws and by reasons, sees nothing but justice in it. To some the injustice may be evident, but as they do not wish to see it they mystify and blind themselves, and thus do not see. The same is true of a judge who is influenced in his decisions by friendship, or by a desire to gain favor, or by the ties of relationship.

Such men regard in the same way every thing that they hear from the lips of a man in authority, or a man of celebrity, or that they have hatched out from their own intelligence. They are rationally blind; for they have their vision from falsities, which they confirm; and falsity closes the sight, while truth opens it. Such see no truth from the light of truth, and no justice from a love of justice, but only from the light of confirmation, which is a delusive light. In the spiritual world they appear like faces without heads, or like faces that resemble human faces behind which there are wooden heads; and they are called rational animals, because they have rationality potentially. Those have exterior enlightenment from man, who think and talk from mere knowledge impressed on the memory. Such are scarcely able to confirm any thing from themselves.

(Divine Providence 168)