For a Man to be Purified —

Selections from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

He that hath bathed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is wholly clean (John 13:10).

"He that hath bathed" signifies one who is inwardly clean; and "needeth not save to wash his feet" signifies that then he must be cleansed outwardly, for "the feet" signify the external or natural man.

FOR A MAN TO BE PURIFIED
BOTH THE INTERNAL OR SPIRITUAL AND THE EXTERNAL OR NATURAL MUST BE PURIFIED
AND THE EXTERNAL BY MEANS OF THE INTERNAL

. . . the man who is being regenerated is conceived and born anew, wherefore regeneration is called a new birth, but spiritual. Man is indeed born of his parents as a man, but he does not become a man until he is reborn of the Lord. Spiritual and heavenly life is that which makes a man, for this distinguishes him from brute animals.  (AC 3860)

. . . Advancement is said to be made from what is external toward things more interior, when it is made from the memory-knowledge which is of the understanding, to the will; or, speaking spiritually, when it is made from the truth which is of faith, to charity. For the understanding is that which proceeds from the will, and which manifests the will in a certain visible form; in like manner, faith proceeds from charity, and manifests charity in a certain form. From this it is evident that the understanding is the external of the will; and that faith is the external of charity; or what is the same, that the will is the internal of the understanding, and charity the internal of faith. Thus to advance from what is external to things more interior, is to advance from faith in the understanding to faith in the will, consequently from faith to charity .... Be it known that by faith, when distinguished from charity, is meant truth, such as the truth of doctrine, or such as there is in the confession called the Apostles' Creed; and this is according to the general sense in the church; for to have faith in truths is believed to be the faith by which is salvation. Few know that faith is trust and confidence, and among these few, still fewer know that trust or confidence is from charity, and is not possible with anyone who has not lived the life of charity.  (AC 3868)

And she conceived again, and bare a son, and said, Because Jehovah hath heard that I was hated, and hath given me this one also; and she called his name Simeon. (Genesis 29:33)

I was hated. That this signifies a state of faith if the will be not correspondent thereto, is evident from the signification of "being hated," as being not loved, for such is the state of faith if the will does not correspond to it.

In the internal sense the subject treated of is the progress of man's regeneration from external to internal; that is, 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.

But this faith, which is separate from charity, and therefore contrary to charity, is represented in what follows by Reuben, in that he lay with Bilhah his father's concubine (Gen. 35:22), and concerning which Jacob, then Israel, expresses his detestation in the words:

Reuben, my firstborn, thou art my might, and the beginning of my strength; light as water thou shalt not excel, because thou wentest up on thy father's bed, then defiledst thou it; he went up on my couch (Gen. 49:3-4).

The will and affection of this faith, namely, that which is separated from charity, as being contrary to charity, is also described in the same chapter by Simeon and Levi in these words:

Simeon and Levi are brethren; weapons of violence are their swords; let not my soul come into their secret; into their assembly let not my glory unite itself; for in their fury they slew a man, and in their will they unstrung an ox. Cursed be their fury, for it was fierce; and their anger, for it was cruel; I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel (Gen. 49:5-7).

That it is faith separate from charity. which is here described by "Simeon and Levi." .... (AC 3870)

WHAT IS SUCCESSIVE, NAMELY, FAITH IN OBEDIENCE OR IN THE WILL, AS SUCCEEDING FAITH IN MEMORY-KNOWLEDGE OR IN THE UNDERSTANDING

. . . the second during man's regeneration and when he is becoming a church; namely, obedience, or the will of doing the truth of faith; into which obedience, and in which will, charity is implanted, which next succeeds ....(AC 3872)

. . . The successive state that is here signified by the "three sons," is that charity now arrives; for while man is being regenerated, that is, being made a church, the first thing must be for him to know and understand what the truth of faith is; the second must be to will and to do it; and the third is to be affected with it. And when man is affected with truth, that is, when he perceives delight and bliss in acting according to truth, he is then in charity or mutual love. (AC 3876)

. . . with respect to charity is that it contains within itself the willing of truth; and through this it contains within itself the understanding of truth; for whoever is in charity has these. But before man comes to charity, he must first be in the external, namely, in the understanding of truth; next in the willing of truth; and lastly in being affected with truth, which is charity. And when man is in charity, he then looks to the Lord .... (AC 3877)

A Sorceress

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live. Exodus 22:18.

"A sorceress" signifies those in whom something of the church has been conjoined with the falsities of the evil of the love of self."

Those in whom something of the church has been conjoined with the falsities of the evil of the love of self, is evident from the signification of "sorceries," as being the falsities of the evil of the love of self conjoined with such things as are of the church.

• There are two things which make heaven and thus spiritual life with man — the truth of faith in the Lord, and the good of love to Him.
• There are two things which make hell and thus spiritual death with man — the falsity of faith, and the evil of the love of self.

The two latter are conjoined in those who are in hell, and make the infernal marriage; but the two former are conjoined in those who are in heaven, and make the heavenly marriage. So far as possible, the Lord withholds man from the conjunction of truth and good with falsity and evil, because this conjunction is profanation. Nevertheless many of those who are within the church cannot be withheld, because from early childhood they have learned the things of the church from the Word, and from doctrine drawn from the Word; and some of them have become imbued with such things, and have made them of their faith. When these persons have arrived at mature age, and have begun to think from themselves, and not as before from others, then they have made nothing of the things they had made of their faith, and in their stead have seized on falsities and imbued themselves with them. These are they who have conjoined within them truths with falsities; for those truths which have once become truths of faith remain, and cannot be rooted out; and the falsities which are afterward made of their faith conjoin themselves with them.

It is this conjunction which is signified in the internal sense by "sorceries."

The reason why these falsities are falsities of the evil of the love of self, is that all evil springs chiefly from this love, and together with evil, falsity, because they cohere together. From this it is evident that in such persons there is no spiritual life, because it has been destroyed by falsities of evil; and insofar as they have conjoined these falsities with truths, so far they have extinguished spiritual life within them; and as in this way instead of being alive, they have become dead, it is said, "Thou shalt not suffer them to live."

That the conjunction in question is signified in the Word by "sorceries," is plain in Isaiah:

She said, I shall not sit a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children; but these two things shall come upon thee in a moment in one day, loss of children, and widowhood, because of the multitude of thy sorceries, because of the exceeding greatness of thy magical deeds. Thou hast trusted in thy wickedness; thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge have led thee astray; when thou saidst in thine heart, I am, and there is none else besides me. Therefore shall evil come upon thee which thou shalt not know how to ward off; and calamity shall fall upon thee which thou shalt not be able to atone: devastation shall come upon thee suddenly, thou not knowing. For indeed persist thou in thy magical deeds, and in the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast labored from thy youth. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsel. Let the searchers of the heavens, the stargazers, and those who know the new moons, now stand and save thee from the things that shall come upon thee. Behold they are become as stubble; the fire hath burned them; they shall not rescue their soul from the hand of the flame (Isa. 47:8-14).

That "sorcerers" denote those who conjoin the falsities of the evil of the love of self with the truths of faith, and thus perish, is plain from every particular in the above passage viewed in the internal sense, for they are here described.

The extinction of their spiritual life is described by "widowhood and loss of children."

• "Widowhood" denotes the privation of truth and of the derivative good
• "Loss of children" the privation of truth and good.

The origin of falsity, as being from the evil of the love of self, is described by these words, "thy wisdom and thy knowledge have led thee astray when thou saidst in thine heart, I am, and there is none else besides me;" and the evil itself of the love of self, by these words, "behold, they are become as stubble, the fire hath burned them, they shall not rescue their soul from the hand of the flame;" "fire" and "flame" denote the love of self. That everything of spiritual life has been extinguished, is described by these words, "evil shall come upon thee which thou shalt not know how to ward off, and calamity shall fall upon thee which thou shalt not be able to atone." They are called "searchers of the heavens, stargazers, and those who know the new moons," from being in external things without any internal; for such see from the external man and not at all from the internal, thus from natural light and not at all from spiritual light; for in the internal sense "heaven," the "stars," and "new moons" denote knowledges and memory-knowledges; here, such as are seen from the world, and not from heaven.

That "sorceries" denote such falsities, is also plain in Micah:

I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strongholds; I will cut off sorceries out of thine hand; and thou shall have no soothsayers (Micah 5:11-12)

"the cities of the land" denote the false doctrinal things of their church, which are called "sorceries" because they destroy the truths of faith.

In Nahum:

Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well- favored* harlot, the mistress of sorceries, that selleth nations in her whoredom, and families in her sorceries (Nah. 3:4)

"whoredoms" denote perversions of truth; and "sorceries," the falsities thence derived. In like manner in the second book of Kings:

Jehoram said unto Jehu, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, even unto the whoredoms of thy mother, and her many sorceries? (2 Kings 9:22).

That those are "sorcerers" who have been taught by themselves, and trust in themselves alone to the extent of loving themselves and desiring to be worshiped as deities, is also plain from passages which treat openly of the coming of the Lord, who will teach them and cast out the sorcerers; for he who shall be taught in the truths and goods of faith must be taught by the Lord, and in no wise by himself. Wherefore it is thus written in Malachi:

Behold I send Mine angel, who shall prepare the way before Me; and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple, even the angel of the covenant whom ye desire. And I will draw nigh to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and those who swear to what is false (Mal. 3:1, 5)

"sorcerers" denote those who have been taught by themselves, and who thus destroy truths which are from the Lord; "adulterers" denote those who destroy goods; and "those who swear to what is false," those who confirm falsities. That it is the Lord who will cast them out is plain, for it is said, "the Lord shall come to His temple, even the angel of the covenant."

So also in Moses:

When thou comest unto the land which Jehovah God will give thee, there shall not be found in thee anyone that maketh his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one that divineth divinations, and one that questioneth the hells, and an augur, and a sorcerer, and an enchanter, and one that consulteth a familiar spirit, and a soothsayer, and a questioner of the dead. For everyone that doeth these things is an abomination to Jehovah; and because of these abominations Jehovah thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Jehovah thy God will raise up to thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; him shall ye obey. Jehovah said in Horeb, I will raise him up a prophet from the midst of their brethren, like unto thee; and I will put My words in his mouth, that he may speak unto them all that I shall command him. Whence it shall come to pass that the man who will not obey My words, which he shall speak in My name, I will require it of him (Deut. 18:9-19).

By "diviners," "augurs," "sorcerers," and the rest who are here named, are meant in the internal sense those who destroy the truths and goods of the church by means of memory-knowledges wrongly applied; thus who do so from their own intelligence and through falsities from the evils of the love of self and the love of the world, consequently who learn and teach from the cupidity of profit and of honors, and not from any affection for the truth of faith and the good of life. And as all falsities of doctrine and evils of life come forth from this source, mention is made of "a prophet who shall come and teach." That this "prophet" is the Lord, is known in the church, and was known also to the Jews and Gentiles of that time, as is evident in Matthew 21:11; Luke 1:76; 7:16; 13:33; Mark 6:4.

Those are taught by the Lord who read the Word not for the sake of self and the world, but for the sake of good and truth itself, for then they are enlightened. But when men read it for the sake of self and the world, they are blinded.

"A prophet" signifies one who teaches, and in a sense abstracted from person, doctrine; thus the Lord as to the Word, that is, as to Divine truth.

(Arcana Coelestia 9188)

A Man's Life's Love

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

THE EXTERNAL OF MAN'S THOUGHT IS IN ITSELF OF THE SAME CHARACTER AS ITS INTERNAL

Man from head to foot is of the same character as his life's love.

In the first place, therefore, something must here be said about the life's love in man; for this must precede any consideration of the affections associated with perceptions which constitute man's internal, and of the enjoyments of affections associated with thoughts which constitute his external.

Loves are manifold; but two of them, heavenly love and infernal love, are like lords and kings.

• Heavenly love is love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor
• Infernal love is love of self and of the world.

These two kinds of love are opposite to each other as hell and heaven are; for those who are in the love of self and the world have no good will for any but themselves; while those who are in love to the Lord and in love towards the neighbor have good will for all. These two loves are the life's loves of man, but with much variety.

• Heavenly love is the life's love of those whom the Lord leads
• Infernal love is the life's love of those whom the devil leads

But the life's love of no one can exist without derivations, which are called affections. The derivations of infernal love are affections for evil and falsity, which, strictly speaking, are lusts; and the derivations of heavenly love are affections for good and truth, which, strictly speaking, are dilections (Latin: dīligĕre, meaning to love or esteem).

• Of infernal love there are as many affections, or strictly speaking, lusts, as there are evils
• Of heavenly love there are as many affections, or strictly speaking, dilections, as there are goods.

Love dwells in its affections like a lord in his realm, or like a king in his kingdom. The dominion or sovereignty of these loves is over the things of the mind, that is, the things of man's will and understanding, and thence of the body. The life's love, by means of its affections and perceptions therefrom, and its enjoyments and thoughts therefrom, rules the entire man, — the internal of his mind by means of affections and perceptions therefrom, and the external by means of the enjoyments of the affections and thoughts therefrom.

The form of this rule can in some measure be seen by comparisons.

• Heavenly love with its affections for good and truth and perceptions therefrom, together with its enjoyments from these affections and thoughts therefrom, may be likened to a tree distinguished for its branches, leaves, and fruits. The life's love is the tree; the branches with the leaves are affections for good and truth with their perceptions; and the fruits are the enjoyments of affections with their thoughts.
• Infernal love with its affections for evil and falsity, which are lusts, together with the enjoyment of these lusts and thoughts therefrom, may be likened to a spider with its surrounding web. The love itself is the spider, the lusts of evil and falsity with their interior subtleties are the net-like threads nearest the spider's seat; and the enjoyments of these lusts with their deceitful devices are the remoter threads, where the flies are caught on the wing, and are ensnared and eaten.

THOSE WHO IN THEIR SPIRIT MAKE EVILS ALLOWABLE

The conjunction of all things of the will and understanding, that is, of the mind of man with his life's love, is made evident by these comparisons, and yet not made rationally evident.

The conjunction is made rationally evident in this way.

There are every where three things together that make one; these are called end, cause, and effect; here the life's love is the end, the affections with their perceptions are the cause, and the enjoyment of the affections with their thoughts are the effect; for just as the end through the cause enters into the effect, so does the love through its affections come to its enjoyments, and through its perceptions to its thoughts. The effects themselves are in the mind's enjoyments and their thoughts, whenever these enjoyments belong to the will and the thoughts to the understanding therefrom, that is, whenever the agreement is complete. Then the effects belong to the spirit, and if they do not come into bodily act, still they are as if in act when there is agreement. Furthermore, they are then together in the body, and dwell there with the life's love of the man, and aspire to action, which takes place when nothing hinders. Such are lusts of evil and the evils themselves in those who in their spirit make evils allowable.

Now as the end conjoins itself with the cause, and through the cause with the effect, so does the life's love conjoin itself with the internal of thought, and through this with its external. This makes clear that the external of man's thought is in itself of the same character as its internal; for the end imparts itself wholly to the cause, and through the cause to the effect; for there is nothing essential in the effect except what is in the cause, and through the cause in the end. And as the end is thus the very essential which enters into the cause and the effect, so cause and effect are called mediate and outmost ends.

Sometimes the external of man's thought does not appear to be in itself of the same character as the internal; but this is because the life's love with its surrounding internals places a vicar below itself, which is called the love of means, and enjoins upon it to take heed and watch that nothing from its lusts appear. This vicar, therefore, from the cunning of its chief, which is the life's love, talks and acts in accord with the civil requirements of the country, the moral requirements of reason, and the spiritual requirements of the church. Some do this so craftily and ingeniously that no one sees that they are not such as their speech and act indicate; and at last, from the habit of concealment, they scarcely know otherwise themselves. All hypocrites are such

• Such are the priests who at heart care nothing for the neighbor and do not fear God, and yet preach about love of the neighbor and the love of God
• Such are the judges who give judgment according to bribes and friendship, while they show a pretended zeal for justice, and from reason talk of judgment
• Such are the merchants who are insincere and fraudulent at heart, while they act sincerely for the sake of gain
• Such are adulterers, when from the rationality that every man has they talk about the chastity of marriage, and so on.

But when these same persons strip this love of means — this vicar of their life's love — of the garments of purple and fine linen with which they have invested it, and clothe it in its domestic garb, they then think, and sometimes with their dearest friends whose life's love is similar, they speak from their thought in a wholly opposite way. It might be supposed, when from their love of means they have talked so justly, sincerely, and piously, that the character of the internal of their thought was not in the external of their thought, and yet it was. There is hypocrisy in such; there is a love of self and the world in them, and the cunning of that love is to secure reputation for the sake of honor or gain, in respect to outmost appearances. This character of the internal is in the external of their thought when they so speak and act.

But in those who are in heavenly love the internal and the external of thought, or the internal and the external man, make one when they speak; nor do such know any difference between these. Their life's love, with its affections for good and the perceptions for truth belonging thereto, is like a soul in their thoughts, and in what they speak and do from them.

• If they are priests they preach from love towards the neighbor and from love to the Lord
• If judges they judge from genuine justice
• If merchants they act from genuine sincerity
• If married they love their wives from genuine chastity, and so on.

The life's love of such has also its love of means as its vicar, which it teaches and leads to act from prudence, and clothes with garments of zeal both for truths of doctrine and for goods of life.

(from Divine Providence 106-110)