Defending One’s Country Against Invading Enemies

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
VICTORIES ARE ON THE SIDE OF PRUDENCE; SOMETIMES NOT ON THE SIDE OF JUSTICE
THAT IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE WHETHER THE COMMANDER IS AN UPRIGHT MAN OR NOT

The worshiper of himself and of nature confirms himself against Divine providence when he reflects according to his perception that victories are on the side of prudence, and sometimes not on the side of justice; and that it makes no difference whether the commander is an upright man or not.

Victories seem to be on the side of prudence, and sometimes not on the side of justice, because man judges from the appearance, and favors one side more than the other, and that which he favors he is able to confirm by reasonings; nor does he know that in heaven there is a spiritual justice to a cause and in the world a natural justice — these are conjoined by means of a connection between things past and things future that are known only to the Lord.

It makes no difference whether the commander is an upright man or not; the wicked perform uses equally with the good, and the evil from their fire with more ardor than the good, especially in wars, because the evil man is more crafty and shrewd in contriving devices; and from a love of glory he takes more delight than a good man in killing and plundering those whom he knows and declares to be his enemies; for a good man is prudent and zealous only in defending, and rarely is prudent and zealous in any degree in attacking. It is the same as with spirits of hell and angels of heaven; the spirits of hell attack, while the angels of heaven defend themselves. From this comes the conclusion that it is allowable for any one to defend his country and his fellow-citizens against invading enemies, even by means of wicked commanders, but that it is not allowable to become an enemy without cause. A cause that looks to glory alone is in itself diabolical, for it is of the love of self.

(from Divine Providence 252)

Wars are Ruled by the Lord's Divine Providence

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The worshiper of himself and of nature confirms himself against Divine providence when he reflects that wars are permitted, and the consequent slaughter of so many men, and the plundering of their wealth.

It is not from the Divine providence that wars exist, for they are connected with murders, plunderings, violence, cruelties, and other terrible evils, which are directly opposed to Christian charity; and yet they must needs be permitted, because, since the time of the most ancient people, meant by Adam and his wife, the life's love of man has become such that it wills to rule over others, and finally over all, also to possess the wealth of the world, and finally all wealth. These two loves (to rule over others and to possess the wealth of the world) cannot be kept bound, for it is according to the Divine providence that everyone be allowed to act from freedom in accordance with reason; furthermore, without permissions man cannot be led from evil by the Lord, and thus be reformed and saved. For unless evils were permitted to break out man would not see them, and therefore would not acknowledge them, and thus could not be led to resist them. For this reason evils cannot be prevented by any providence; for if they were they would remain shut in, and like the diseases called cancer and gangrene would spread about and consume all that is vital in man.

For man from birth is like a little hell, between which and heaven there is perpetual discordance. No man can be withdrawn from his hell by the Lord unless he sees that he is in hell and wishes to be led out; and this cannot be done without permissions, the causes of which are laws of the Divine providence.

For this reason there are wars, lesser and greater, the lesser between the possessors of estates and their neighbors, and the greater between the rulers of kingdoms and their neighbors. Between the lesser and greater there is no difference, except that the lesser are kept within bounds by the laws of the nation, and the greater by the laws of nations; also that while both the lesser and greater wish to transgress their laws, the lesser cannot, and the greater can, although not beyond its abilities.

There are many other reasons stored up in the treasury of Divine wisdom why the Lord does not check the greater wars, with their kings and commanders, connected as they are with murders, depredations, violence, and cruelties, neither in their beginning nor in their progress, but only at the close, when the power of one or the other has become so reduced that he is in danger of destruction. Some of these reasons have been revealed to me, and among them is this:

that all wars, however much they may belong to civil affairs, represent in heaven the states of the church, and are correspondences.

Such were all the wars described in the Word, and such also are all wars at this day.

The wars described in the Word are those that the children of Israel waged with various nations, as the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Philistines, the Syrians, the Egyptians, the Chaldeans, and the Assyrians; and when the children of Israel, who represented the church, departed from their commandments and statutes and fell into the evils signified by those nations, they were punished by some nation, because each nation with which the children of Israel waged war signified some particular kind of evil. For example, when they profaned the holy things of the church by foul idolatries they were punished by the Assyrians and Chaldeans, because "Assyria" and "Chaldea" signify the profanation of what is holy.

Like things are represented by the wars of the present day, wherever they occur —

for all things that take place in the natural world correspond to spiritual things in the spiritual world, and every thing spiritual has relation to the church.

It is not known in this world what kingdoms in Christendom answer to the Moabites and Ammonites, what to the Syrians and Philistines, or what to the Chaldeans and Assyrians, and the others with whom the children of Israel waged war; and yet there are those that do answer to them.

Moreover, what the quality of the church upon earth is and what the evils are into which it falls, and for which it is punished by wars, cannot be seen at all in the natural world, because in this world externals only are evident, and these do not constitute the church; but this is seen in the spiritual world, where internals are manifest, in which the church itself is, and there all are conjoined in accordance with their various states. The conflicts of these in the spiritual world correspond to wars which are governed by the Lord on both sides correspondentially, in accordance with His Divine providence.

That in this world wars are governed by Divine providence the spiritual man acknowledges, but the natural man does not, except when a festival is appointed on account of a victory that he may return thanks on his knees to God that He has given the victory, also by a few words before going into battle. But when he returns into himself he ascribes the victory either to the prudence of the general or to some measure or occurrence in the midst of the battle, which they had not thought of, from which nevertheless came the victory.

That the Divine providence that is called fortune is in the least particulars of even trivial things; and if in these you acknowledge the Divine providence you must certainly acknowledge it in the affairs of war. Also the successes and favorable occurrences of war are called in common language the fortune of war; and this is Divine providence, especially in the plans and preparations of the general, even although he then and afterwards may ascribe it all to his own prudence. And let him do this if he will, for he is in full liberty to think in favor of the Divine providence or against it, and even in favor of God and against Him; but let him know that no part whatever of the plan or preparation is from himself; it all flows in either from heaven or from hell — from hell by permission, from heaven by providence.

(from Divine Providence 251)

Parallelism and Correspondence

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, Take me a heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old*, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.   Genesis 15:7 - 10

And he took unto him all these and divided them in the midst, and laid each part over against the other; and the birds he did not divide. "He took unto him all these," signifies that it was so done; "and divided them in the midst," signifies the church and the Lord; "and laid each part over against the other," signifies a parallelism and correspondence as to celestial things; "and the birds he did not divide," signifies spiritual things, wherein there was not such parallelism and correspondence.

He took unto him all these. That this signifies that it was so done, is evident without explication.

And divided them in the midst. That this signifies the church and the Lord, is evident from what follows; for celestial things were signified by the heifer, the she-goat, and the ram, and spiritual things by the turtle-dove and the young pigeon; and these, when divided and placed opposite to each other, can have no other signification.

And laid each part over against the other. That this signifies a parallelism and correspondence as to the celestial things, may be seen from the consideration that the parts on one side signify the church, and the parts on the other the Lord; and when these are placed opposite to each other, this is nothing else than a parallelism and correspondence; and as the heifer, the she-goat, and the ram were so divided and placed, and by these celestial things are signified, it is evident that there is a parallelism and correspondence as to celestial things. It is otherwise with spiritual things, concerning which presently. Celestial things, as has often been said, are all that pertain to love to the Lord and to love toward the neighbor. It is the Lord who gives love and charity; it is the church that receives. What unites is conscience, in which the love and charity are implanted; and therefore the middle space between the parts signifies that in man which is called perception, internal dictate, and conscience. The things which are above the perception, dictate, and conscience, are the Lord's; those which are below, are in man. Because they thereby mutually regard each other, there is said to be a parallelism; and because they correspond to each other, as the active and the passive, there is said to be correspondence.

SPIRITUAL THINGS

And the birds he did not divide. That this signifies spiritual things, and that in them there is not such a parallelism and correspondence, is evident from the signification of "birds," as being what is spiritual [as distinguished from what is celestial], and as treated of in verse 9*, just above; and from the statement that he did not divide the birds in the midst; consequently that there is not such a parallelism and correspondence.

By spiritual things are signified, as often said before, all the things of faith, consequently all doctrinal things, for these are called things of faith, although they are not of faith until they have been conjoined with charity. Between these and the Lord there is not a parallelism and correspondence, for they are such things as do not flow in by internal dictate and conscience, as do those which are of love and charity, but they flow in by instruction, and so by hearing, thus not from the interior, but from the exterior, and in this way they form their vessels or recipients in man.

The greater part of them appear as if they were truths, but are not truths, such as those things which are of the literal sense of the Word, and are representatives of truth and significatives of truth, and thus are not in themselves truths; some of them even being falsities, which however can serve as vessels and recipients. But in the Lord there are none but truths that are essentially such; and therefore with these there is no parallelism and correspondence on the part of those apparent truths, but still they may be so adapted as to serve as vessels for the celestial things which are of love and charity. These apparent truths are what constitute the cloud of the intellectual part, before spoken of, into which the Lord insinuates charity, and so makes conscience.

For example: with those who remain in the sense of the letter of the Word, and suppose that it is the Lord who leads into temptation and who then torments man's conscience, and who suppose that because He permits evil He is the cause of evil, and that He thrusts the evil down into hell, with other similar things: these are apparent truths, but are not truths; and because they are not truths that are such in themselves, there is no parallelism and correspondence. Still the Lord leaves them intact in man, and miraculously adapts them by means of charity so that they can serve celestial things as vessels. So also with the worship, the religious teachings and morals, and even with the idols, of the well-disposed Gentiles; these likewise the Lord leaves intact, and yet adapts them by means of charity so that they also serve as vessels. The case was the same in regard to the very numerous rites in the Ancient Church, and afterwards in the Jewish Church; which in themselves were nothing but rituals in which there was not truth, but which were tolerated and permitted, and indeed commanded, because they were held as sacred by parents, and so were implanted in the minds of children and impressed upon them from infancy as truths.

These and other such things are what are signified by the statement that the birds were not divided. For the things that are once implanted in a man's opinion, and are accounted as holy, the Lord leaves intact, provided they are not contrary to Divine order; and although there is no parallelism and correspondence, still He adapts them. These same things are what was signified in the Jewish Church by the birds not being divided in the sacrifices; for to divide is to place the parts opposite to each other in such a manner that they may adequately correspond; and because the things which have been spoken of are not adequately in correspondence, they are obliterated in the other life with those who suffer themselves to be instructed, and truths themselves are implanted in their affections of good.

That in the Jewish Church for the sake of this representation and signification the birds were not divided, is evident in Moses:

If his offering to Jehovah be a burnt-offering of birds, then he shall bring his offering of turtle-doves or of the sons of the pigeon. And he shall cleave it with its wings, he shall not divide it (Lev. 1:14, 17).

And the same in the case of the sacrifices for sin (Lev. 5:7-8).

(from Arcana Coelestia 1828-1832)