Reading the Word

Selection from Conjugial Love ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

That the Word is the medium of conjunction, because it is from the Lord and thus is the Lord. The Word is the medium of the Lord's conjunction with man, and of man's with the Lord, for the reason that in its essence it is Divine truth united with Divine good, and Divine good united with Divine truth.

this unition is in each and all things of the Word, in its celestial and its spiritual sense

From which it follows that the Word is the perfect marriage of good and truth; and because it is from the Lord, and what is from Him also is Himself, it results that -

when a man reads the Word, and takes truths therefrom, the Lord adjoins good.

For man does not see the goods that affect, because he reads it from the understanding, and the understanding takes from it nothing but its own things, which are truths. That good is adjoined to these by the Lord the understanding feels, from the delight that flows in when it is enlightened. But this does not take place interiorly with others than -

those who read it to the end that they may become wise; and the end of becoming wise is with those who wish to learn more of genuine truths there; and by means of them to form the church within themselves.

But they who read it only for the glory of erudition, and they who read it from an opinion that the mere reading or hearing of it inspires faith and conduces to salvation, do not receive any good from the Lord; because the end of these is to save themselves by the mere words, wherein is nothing of truth; and the end of those is to become eminent for learning, with which end there is no spiritual good conjoined, but only the natural delight that comes of worldly glory. Because the Word is the medium of conjunction it is called the covenant - Old and New - a covenant signifies conjunction.

(Conjugial Love 128)

What is from Order and According to Order

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Religion with man consists in a life according to the Divine commandments, which are contained in a summary in the Decalogue. He that does not live according to these can have no religion, since he does not fear God, still less does he love God; nor does he fear man, still less does he love him.

Can one who steals, commits adultery, kills, bears false witness, fear God or man? Nevertheless everyone is able to live according to these commandments; and he who is wise does so live as a civil man, as a moral man, and as a natural man.

And yet he who does not live according to them as a spiritual man cannot he saved; since to live according to them as a spiritual man means to so live for the sake of the Divine that is in them, while to live according to them as a civil man means for the sake of justice and to escape punishments in the world; and to live according to them as a moral man means for the sake of honesty, and to escape the loss of reputation and honor; while to live according to them as a natural man means for the sake of what is human, and to escape the repute of having an unsound mind.

All laws, civil, moral, and natural, prescribe that one must not steal, must not commit adultery, must not kill, must not bear false witness; and yet a man is not saved by shunning these evils from these laws alone, unless he also shuns them from spiritual law, thus unless he shuns them as sins.

For with such a man there is religion, and a belief that there is a God, a heaven and a hell, and a life after death; with such a man there is a civil life, a moral life, and a natural life; a civil life because there is justice, a moral life because there is honesty, and a natural life because there is manhood. But he who does not live according to these commandments as a spiritual man is neither a civil man, nor a moral man, nor a natural man; for he is destitute of justice, of honesty, and even of manhood, since the Divine is not in these.

For there can be nothing good in and from itself, but only from God; so there can be nothing just, nothing truly honest or truly human in itself and from itself, but only from God, and only when the Divine is in it.

Consider whether anyone that has hell in him, or who is a devil, can do what is just from justice or for the sake of justice; in like manner what is honest, or what is truly human.

The truly human is what is from order and according to order, and what is from sound reason; and God is order, and sound reason is from God.

In a word, he who does not shun evils as sins is not a man. Everyone who makes these commandments the principles of his religion becomes a citizen and an inhabitant of heaven; but he who does not make them the principles of his religion, although in externals he may live according to them from natural, moral, and civil law, becomes a citizen and an inhabitant of the world, but not of heaven.

Most nations know these commandments, and make them the principles of their religion, and live according to them because God so wills and has commanded. Through this they have communication with heaven and conjunction with God, consequently they also are saved.

But most in the Christian world at this day do not make them the principles of their religion, but only of their civil and moral life; and they do this that they may not appear in external form to act fraudulently and make unlawful gains, commit adulteries, manifestly pursue others from deadly hatred and revenge, and bear false witness, and do not refrain from these things because they are sins and against God, but because they have fears for their life, their reputation, their office, their business, their possessions, their honor and gain, and their pleasure; consequently if they were not restrained by these bonds they would do these things.

Because, therefore, such form for themselves no communication with heaven or conjunction with the Lord, but only with the world and with self, they cannot be saved. Consider in respect to yourself, when these external bonds have been taken away, as is done with every man after death, if there are no internal bonds, which are from fear and love of God, thus from religion, to restrain and hold you back, whether you would not rush, like a devil, into thefts, adulteries, murders, false witnesses, and lusts of every kind, from a love of these thus from a delight in them. That this is the case I have both seen and heard.

(Apocalypse Explained 948:4,5)

Everything is Possible which is Conformity with Order

Selection from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And Moses' father-in-law said unto him, The word that thou doest is not good. Wearing thou wilt wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee, because the word is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to do it, thou alone. Now hear my voice, I will counsel thee, and God shall be with thee.  Exodus 18:17

That this signifies that it is not possible because not in conformity with order, is evident from the signification of "a heavy word," as being that it is not possible. That "a heavy word" here denotes that it is not possible, is evident from what precedes, namely, that wearing he would wear away, and the people that were with him, by which is signified that the truth which has been implanted would perish; and also from what follows, namely, Thou art not able to do it, thou alone; and afterward, If thou do this word, thou shalt be able to stand; by which is meant impossibility unless a change is made.

That it is not possible because not in conformity with order, is because in the other life everything is possible that is in conformity with order.

The Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord is what makes order, and is order itself.

Consequently as everything that is according to Divine truth is according to order, it is possible; and as everything that is contrary to Divine truth is contrary to order, it is impossible.

That this is the case may appear more evident from examples:

It is according to order that they who have lived well shall be saved, and that they who have lived ill shall be condemned. Hence it is impossible that they who have lived well should be sent into hell, and that they who have lived ill should be raised into heaven. Consequently it is impossible that they who are in hell can of the Lord's pure mercy be brought out therefrom into heaven and be saved; for it is the reception of the Lord's mercy while they lived in the world through which everyone is saved. They who receive it then are in the other life in the Lord's mercy, for they are then in the capacity of receiving it there. To give it to others, and in general to everyone at pleasure, provided they have faith, and thus believe that they are cleansed from sins, is impossible, because it is contrary to order, that is, contrary to the Divine which is order.

It is according to order that faith and charity be implanted in freedom and not under compulsion, and that the faith and charity which have been implanted in freedom, endure; but not if they have been implanted under compulsion. The reason is that what is done in freedom is insinuated into the affection, and thus into the will of man, and is therefore appropriated; but not what is done under compulsion. Consequently it is impossible for man to be saved unless, seeing that he has been born in evil, he is allowed to do evil, and to desist from evil. When in this freedom he desists from evil of himself, the affection of truth and good is insinuated by the Lord, whereby he has freedom to receive the things which are of faith and charity, for freedom belongs to the affection. From this it is plain that it is impossible to compel man to salvation. If this could be done, all men in the world would be saved.

It is according to order for all in the other life to be associated together according to the life which they have acquired to themselves in the world; the evil with the evil, and the good with the good. Consequently it is not possible for the evil and the good to be together; neither is it possible for those to be in good who are evil, because good and evil are opposites, and the one destroys the other. For this reason also it is plain that it is not possible for those to be saved who are in hell; thus that it is not possible for salvation to be from mercy alone however a man has lived. They who are in hell and are there tormented, impute the torments there to the Divine, saying that the Divine can take away their torment if He will, because He is omnipotent; but that He will not, and that therefore He is the cause of their torment; for he who can and will not, they say, is the cause. But to take away such torments is impossible, because it is contrary to order; for if they were taken away, the evil would rise up against the good, and would subjugate the angels themselves, and destroy heaven. But the Divine wills nothing but good, namely, the happiness of the good, and for the sake of this, the bridling, and at the same time, the amendment, of the wicked. This being the end — the end of the Divine love and of mercy itself — it is not possible that torments should be taken away from him who is in hell.

From these examples it can be seen that everything is impossible which is contrary to order, howsoever it may appear as possible to those who do not know the arcana of heaven.

(Arcana Cœlestia 8700)

The Delights of the Soul are Imperceptible Beatitudes

Extracts from Conjugial Love and Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

There are three things which flow from the Lord into our souls as one. These three as one, or this trine, are love, wisdom, and use.

Love and wisdom exist only ideally, being solely in the affection and thought of the mind; but in use they exist really, being together in the act and deed of the body; and where they exist really, there they also subsist.

And because love and wisdom exist and subsist in use, it is use that affects us; and use is to perform faithfully, sincerely, and diligently the work of one's function. The love of use and the consequent devotion to use holds the mind together lest it melt away and, wandering about, absorb all the cupidities which flow in from the body and the world through the senses with their allurements, whereby the truths of religion and the truths of morality with their goods are scattered to all the winds. But devotion of the mind to use, retains these truths, and binding them together, disposes the mind into a form capable of receiving wisdom from them; and then at the sides it banishes the mockeries and stage plays of both falsities and vanities.

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As first created, man was imbued with wisdom and the love thereof, not for himself but that from himself he might communicate it to others. Hence, it is inscribed on the wisdom of the wise, that-

none is wise and none lives for himself alone unless at the same time for others.

From this comes society; otherwise society would not exist. To live for others is to perform uses. Uses are the bonds of society, which are as many as there are good uses; and uses are infinite in number. There are spiritual uses, which pertain to love to God and to love towards the neighbor; there are moral and civil uses, which pertain to love of the society and state in which a man resides, and of his companions and fellow citizens among whom he lives; there are natural uses, which pertain to love of the world and of its necessities; and there are uses of the body, which pertain to the love of its preservation for the sake of the higher uses.

All these uses are inscribed on man and follow in order one after the other; and when they exist together, the one is within the other. Those who are in the first uses, which are spiritual, are also in the uses which follow; and such men are wise. But those who are not in the first and yet are in the second and from these in the following, are not wise in the same way but only appear to be so from their outer morality and affability. Those who are not in the first and second, but are in the third and fourth, are anything but wise, for they are satans, loving only the world and themselves from the world; and those who are only in the fourth are the least wise of all; for they are devils, living for themselves alone, and if for others, it is only for the sake of themselves.

Every love, moreover, has its own delight, it being by delight that love lives; and the delight of the love of uses is a heavenly delight which enters into the delights that follow in order, exalting them according to the order of their succession, and making them eternal.

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With regard to use: those who are in charity, that is, in love to the neighbor (from which is the delight in pleasures that is alive), pay no regard to the enjoyment of pleasures except on account of the use.

For there is no charity apart from works of charity; it is in its practice or use that charity consists.

He who loves the neighbor as himself perceives no delight in charity except in its exercise, or in use; and therefore a life of charity is a life of uses.

Such is the life of the whole heaven; for the kingdom of the Lord, because it is a kingdom of mutual love, is a kingdom of uses.

Every pleasure therefore which is from charity, has its delight from use. The more noble the use, the greater the delight. Consequently the angels have happiness from the Lord according to the essence and quality of their use.

(from Conjugial Love 16;18 / Arcana Cœlestia 997)

Man's Part in the Removal of Evil

Passages from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Evils in the external man can be put away only by man's instrumentality, because it is of the Lord's Divine providence that whatever man hears, sees, thinks, wills, speaks, and does, seems to him to be wholly his own. Without this appearance there could be in man no reception of Divine truth, no determination towards doing good, no appropriation of love and wisdom or of charity and faith, and therefore no conjunction with the Lord, consequently no reformation and regeneration and thus salvation. Without this appearance repentance from sins, and even faith, are evidently impossible. It is also evident that without this appearance a man would not be a man, but would be devoid of natural life like a beast. Let any one who will consult his reason and see, when a man thinks about good and truth, spiritual, moral, or civil, whether there is any other appearance than that he thinks from himself; let him then accept this doctrinal, that everything good and true is from the Lord and nothing from man; and will he not acknowledge this consequence,

that man must do good and think truth as if of himself, and yet must acknowledge that he does it from the Lord; and furthermore, that man must put away evils as if of himself and yet must acknowledge that he does it from the Lord?

Many are not aware that they are in evils, inasmuch as they do not do them outwardly because they fear the civil laws and the loss of reputation, and thus from custom and habit fall into the way of shunning evils as detrimental to their honor and profit. But when evils are not shunned from a religious principle, on the ground that they are sins and antagonistic to God, the lusts of evil with their enjoyments still remain, like impure waters confined and stagnant. Let such examine their thoughts and intentions, and they will find these lusts, provided they know what sins are.

This is the state of many who have confirmed themselves in faith separate from charity, who, believing that the law does not condemn them, do not even think about sins; and some question whether there are any sins in them, or if there are, whether they are sins before God, since they have been pardoned. In a like state also are natural moralists, who believe that civil and moral life with its prudence accomplishes everything and Divine providence nothing. Such also are those who strive with great eagerness after a reputation and name for honesty and sincerity for the sake of honor or gain. But those who are of this character, and who have also despised religion, become after death spirits of lusts, appearing to themselves as if they were men, but to others at a distance like treacherous forms (priapi*); and like birds of night they see in the dark and not in the light.

(Divine Providence 116 - 117)

* a god, son of Dionysus and Aphrodite, personifying the male procreative power; an image of this god, often used as a scarecrow in ancient gardens.

Those Led By Their Own Loves

Selection from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Those who are led by themselves and by their own loves do not believe in the Lord, for to believe in the Lord is from Him, and not from self. From this it is also that such persons make of no account the union of His Human with the Divine Itself, and also of regeneration by the Lord; and thus also make of no account the truths of the church; for they say to themselves, "Of what value are such things?" Or, "What does it matter whether we know them? or even think them, and desire them? Are we not still alive, like other people? What difference is there?" The reason why they so think is that they think from the life of the world, and not from the life of heaven. The life of heaven is a thing unknown to them, and no one can think from what is unknown; and therefore such people cannot be saved, because they have not heaven in them, and therefore they cannot be in heaven, for their interiors are not in agreement with it. For unless these have been disposed by the Lord according to the image of heaven, there is no conjunction with heaven.

(from Arcana Cœlestia 10731)

The Abuse of Good Divine

Selection from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.                            Matthew 6:24-34

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It is termed "abuse," when there arises what is alike in ultimates, but from a contrary origin.

Good arises from a contrary origin, when it does so from man, and not from the Lord; for the Lord is good itself, consequently He is the source of all good.

The good which is from Him has in it what is Divine; thus it is good from its inmost and first being; whereas the good which is from man is not good, because from himself man is nothing but evil; consequently the good which is from him is in its first essence evil, although in the outward form it may appear like good. The case herein is like that of flowers painted upon a tablet, as compared with the flowers that grow in a garden. These flowers are beautiful from their inmosts; for the more interiorly they are opened, the more beautiful they are; whereas the flowers painted on a tablet are beautiful only in the outward form, and as to the inward one are nothing but mud and a mixture of earthy particles lying in confusion, as the Lord also teaches when He says of the lilies of the field that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these (Matt. 6:29).

Such is the case with the good that is from man in comparison with the good that is from the Lord. A man cannot know that these goods are so different from each other, because he judges from outward things; but the angels well perceive whence comes the good with a man, and consequently what is the nature of it. The angels who are with a man are in good from the Lord, and as it were dwell therein; but they cannot be in the good that is from a man; they remove themselves from it as far as they can, because inmostly it is evil.

Good from the Lord has heaven in it, for this good is the form of heaven in an image, and in its inmost it stores up the Lord Himself, because in all the good that proceeds from the Lord there is a semblance of Himself, and consequently a semblance of heaven; whereas in the good that is from a man there is a semblance of the man, and as from himself a man is nothing but evil, there is a semblance of hell in it.

So great is the difference between good from the Lord, and good from man.

Good from the Lord is with those who love the Lord above all things and the neighbor as themselves; but good from man is with those who love themselves above all things and despise the neighbor in comparison with themselves. These are they who have care for the morrow, because they trust in themselves; but the former are they who have no care for the morrow, because they trust in the Lord.

They who trust in the Lord continually receive good from Him; for whatsoever happens to them, whether it appears to be prosperous or not prosperous, is still good, because it conduces as a means to their eternal happiness.

But they who trust in themselves are continually drawing evil upon themselves; for whatever happens to them, even if it appears to be prosperous and happy, is nevertheless evil, and consequently conduces as a means to their eternal unhappiness.

( Arcana Cœlestia 8480)